#on one hand it's drama on the other I can and will call a spade a spade or in this case a douchebag a douchebag | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

italoniponic · 2 years

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May i request the first year gang trying to confess to an super oblivious reader? As hcs if thats okay (^-^)

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭

| Notes: Hi, anon! Lucky you, I was finishing reading this wholesome fluffy shoujo manga some weeks ago (obviously with this type of drama) and oh God, I really don’t know if I should throw hands at oblivious reader (I may be one myself irl) or cheer more on the boys to make the reader understand their feelings finally. Well, let’s see what happens!

The colored 12th hc is an ending where the Oblivious Reader strikes again! So if you want to pretend everything got right, just pass through it~ Thanks for the request! |

Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Jack Howl, Epel Felmier, Sebek Zigvolt x g!n super oblivious reader

fluff / overall comedy / crush shenanigans / double ending / use of “you” pronouns

Warning!: no offense to the requester, but I made the reader seriously stupid so proceed with caution.

Cherry's Harvesting event 🍒 Masterlist

I Love You, Don't You Get It?

“Okay, here we come. I love you!,” Ace said at once. You were at the door of the Ramshackle, it was late afternoon and Ace had said he wanted to do one last thing before the day was over. It was very important to him. After so many weeks corroding himself with this feelings, Ace wanted to confess himself to you;

And... you laughed. It was the first indication that you hadn't quite understood what he said. “I love you too, silly. I know you're not much of a feelings-guy but the others will be happy to know that you appreciate them too!,” you advised, thinking Ace was just meaning he liked you all more than he'd like to admit;

Which is kind of true but it's not the truth he was actually dealing with! Have you really not noticed all this time? The looks that Ace directs at you, the jokes and teasing that imply how much he wants to go out with you, the way he defends you from the bullies out there, the way Ace stays close to you at any opportunity;

But it's a lot harder than it sounds. You understood all this as Ace wanting to be more your friend and compensate for his past mistakes, no other intention. And that was kind of a reality before Ace started falling for you. Before it was more like he wanted to have your trust, but now the game has changed;

And you don't know the rules. It was frustrating like playing solitaire with someone who is used to chess. Ace knows you have just good intentions in interpreting him in another way — Heavens, it's one of the things he likes about you! But he dies a little inside every time you laugh and think he's not being serious;

Perhaps this is the karma of being “the group’s clown” that Deuce talked about so much. Ace’s fame had reached a point where you would need more than simple words to understand that he was not joking about any of this. His feelings are real, concrete... and you are looking at him as just your funny friend;

Given this, Ace tries to be a little clearer and more insistent. He gives you a red rose whenever he can, he tries to call you to go to the movies and watch a clearly romantic movie even if it makes his stomach turn a little, all the magic tricks he does end with you having an Ace of Hearts in your hands with your name in the Heart suit;

And you understand all of this just as well as Heartslabyul students understand their dorm rules. You think Ace is giving you flowers to adorn the Ramshackle. You’re loving to discover this world's most famous movies. And the card of Hearts corresponding to Ace at the end of each magical trick? Wow, he has a very interesting signature to end the show!;

Ace's pillow is almost featherless with how much he strangles it and throws around the poor thing to take out his own frustration. Deuce has already prepared the burial for the pillow and the geese’s feathers who have done their best to try to make Ace have better dreams. But he is getting desperate and impatient. It would be easier to throw a table in your face with both your initials carved on it;

Well, ridiculous situations require even more infamous solutions. If saying it clearly and directly makes you confused, maybe if Ace left the statement complicated you would understand better. That's the strangest logic he could come up with but it was worth a try. With Cater’s help, Ace puts together a whole journey of puzzles for you. You’ve walked the entire school until you reached the main street where it all began;

“The person who loves you the most in the world is the one who brings trouble with the wind,” you read to the statue of the Queen of Hearts. Said and done, a gust of wind came from nowhere and took the paper out of your hands. Ace appeared beside you, winking. “Woke up from your dream, love of my life?”

“Ace...! I don't get it. I'm already awake,” you replied, laughing then. You really want to give him a heart attack, huh?

“I… I l-love you! I said it!,” Deuce confessed. It had been easier than he thought, but at the same time, it required more courage than planned. It was like guessing up a question in the history test... and as always happened, Deuce had got it wrong. You stared at him for a moment with a confused look, until you finally revealed what you felt;

“I love you too, Deuce. You are the best of the best friends I have ever had!,” you replied, smiling. It was Deuce's turn to not understand what you said. Your words were positive but what did they mean? Were you still friends? Were they already dating? Was everything still as before or did something move out of place? What a mess;

But since nothing out of the ordinary was announced, Deuce could only come to the conclusion that his love confession went in through one ear and out the other. You didn’t notice anything and understood everything wrong. He couldn't tell if that was better or worse than a rejection. At least you two are still best friends;

Since Deuce has never had many real friends, this statement was good for him but maybe it's more because he doesn't understand much about romance. Ace filled his ears about how he should do something before he was forever stuck in the Friendzoneland and things starts to really get worrisome;

At first, Deuce tried to carry on doing things normally — although the degree of his nervousness at your side hasn’t diminished a bit. He helped you the most in class, sat right next to you in the cafeteria and assured you that you can come to him at any time to ask for help with anything;

A short time later, he decides to help you with more things, especially after picking up some books and movies to consult and have as a basis. So when it rains, Deuce takes off his blazer for you to walk over the puddles and also offers for the two of you to take a walk with Grim and some flamingos from Heartslabyul. Old romance movies, you should imagine — but you didn't;

The new plan is to try to cook you something romantic and that makes Deuce's feelings very explicit, so he asked Trey for help in this situation. The plan was to bake several heart-shaped cookies but, Deuce didn't explained their purpose before you split them among the first-years;

Love is a pain and loving definitely sucks at times, but Deuce doesn't want to let himself get easily knocked down by such a thing. Even if it's hard or takes years, he won't give up on making you understand how he feels;

You watched one of the romantic movies that Deuce rented at the Ramshackle — unfortunately with the whole group. Deuce tried to put his arm around your shoulder but your response to that was to surround him and Ace with your arms in the middle of that deep emotional scene. Luck isn't on his side yet but watching the finale gave him an idea;

Classes were over and Deuce asked you to wait near the statue hall on the main street. Sometime later, he showed up with a dark blue Magical Wheel to hang out with you — he had convinced (unknowingly using force) some Ignihyde students to let him be the test pilot the other day — and you two practically flew school out;

Wind in your hair, you couldn't help but remember the final scene of the movie you saw where the main couple rode off on a motorcycle into the sunset with romantic music playing in the background. And on the radio, he played the exact same song. You made a stop in a high part of the island, where you could see both the school and the sea. Deuce whispered in your ear, “I want to feel the love of those two with you, really.”

“Deuce, did you... take me to a hill just to ask to watch the movie again?,” you asked. Deuce didn't know what to answer so he just agreed.

“I’m not the best with words but… the thing is: I love you,” Jack confessed. It was noon, lunchtime and Jack found a way to have a moment alone with you in the garden. It was a point very close to the trees that guaranteed privacy and quietness. He had prepared your favorite food to symbolize how much you mattered to him;

“Aw, Jack, I'm glad to see you taking the time to express how much you love your friends. Will you do the same for others?,” you asked, not really understanding that it was all a love confession. Jack made some excuse and let you eat the food, wondering where he went wrong;

He spent a good deal of time on the walk back to classes and on the return to the dorm in this numb state, a simple funeral mood. On the way, Ruggie tried to warn him of a book flying in his direction — the guys in the dorm were playing games — and Jack didn't even feel anything. Everyone decided to leave him quiet in his corner;

All his life Jack has heard that even if a person does some actions, words are a perfect complement to them. One is not mutually exclusive to the other and just as he did good things, he might also be able to say beautiful things. And declaring your love to someone is the greatest gesture in the world, the most powerful words too. And you understood absolutely nothing!;

Past the initial shock, Jack found himself thinking what would really make you understand that he likes you. Deeply and sincerely. He tried to be as clear as possible with you and even then, the meanings of the words flew through your head without you understanding the real meaning of them. Yes, we’re back again to express ourselves with concrete actions and gestures;

Talking about it with Ruggie, Jack found himself faced with an interesting idea — which, in fact, was a joke that he took more seriously than he should have. What if Jack acted like a husband to you? It was very characteristic behavior and would not fail to make you at least question the reasons of why he was acting this way;

At first, Jack felt kind of weird because it looked so much like he was trying to imitate his dad and failing miserably at it. Jack would hold your books, carry your groceries, help you fix Ramshackle’s problems, and even say “I'll see you later, I love you” when you go to class, which always scared the others;

Jack also wrote some letters to you, which are more like notes because he cutted out half the text before he’s convinced that’s good enough. It was made on a simple but clean paper, which you ended up collecting over the weeks. You don't understand why he's delivering them to you but you find it funny;

On a particularly exhausting day, Jack allowed you to stroke his fur. A permission that you knew was important but not exactly for what. He noticed your confusion but he didn't interrupt you at any point. When you came to scratch his ear, those insignificant worries were gone;

Since certain things need to be said one way or another, Jack has prepared to declare himself again to you. You agreed to eat something at the dinner Ramshackle and he prepared a special decoration of a siamese cactus — two small stems were together on the same base, like a couple — to stand on the table between you;

“I've said it before and I'll say it again as many times as I have to. I love you,” Jack said. It was out of nowhere but you didn't mind stopping to listen to him. You two were near the window and the reflection of the moon made Jack's eyes shine, although they always have that glow when he is staring at you.

“I love you too, buddy!,” you replied. Jack sighed. Not to act like a angsty sixteen year old but... oh, life sucks.

“What I really want to say is I love you,” Epel concluded. Simple, passionate, his way. Night had come and alongside it, Epel with an apple carved with your initials. That apple was supposed to be his heart which he gave to you. And that’s because he said he wasn’t that much of a romantic guy;

You took this as a very cute and caring way for Epel to say that you both were great friends and he enjoyed your company. “You are very cute. Please, never change!,” you said, hugging him. Epel stared into the void, confused and frustrated. Such a perfect plan, a delicious apple and thoughtful words so that you don’t understand one darn of his intentions;

It was almost like you telling him to his face that he wasn't a man! You were saying that...? No, you weren't. Epel was just frustrated that nothing had worked out and that he still had some stupid obligatory evening skin cleanse to do after that. What a terrible night! But he wouldn't give up so easily;

So Epel rolled up his sleeves and prepared to really fight for you. Even though people often interpret Epel's manner as that of a shy boy, he just doesn't have much confidence in himself yet to act completely cool, like Leona for example. However, if you haven't noticed that he likes you, he needs to do whatever it takes to change your perception;

And being as direct as possible can be the solution! Meemaw Felmier said that the fastest way to cut down a tree is to throw the ax at the base with all your strength and have precise and direct movements. Epel applied this knowledge in the form of offering to carry all your things or even yourself when you are tired of walking;

Epel even sets out to fight some horde of students to get the lunch you want. He also delivers you various flowers that he finds in Pomefiore and apples carved with hearts, images of lovers and other figures that look like they came out of a Valentine's day store. Is it direct enough? Is it obvious enough?;

In your eyes, Epel seems to act like a Jack that speaks what comes to his mind — a compliment that has managed to motivate him to try harder. It got to the point where Epel started trying to flirt with you. Only the most creative countryside pick-up lines for his “sweet apple pie”, although using the nickname that his grandpa uses for his grandma makes him crawl on his insides;

Epel’s entire courtship is of a typical Harveston boy with good intentions and who wants to impress both his beloved and their parents — in this case, your friends who have begun to serve as a jury for these things. Epel also prepared meals that are normally served for two… only to see you split them with Grim;

As the situation wasn’t getting out of place, Epel was forced to seek help from Rook. He was so desperate that the idea of Rook launching an arrow at Ramshackle with a simple “Epel loves you” didn't seem so bad. It was only cut because Jack didn't think it was very safe;

Finally, the ultimate attempt. Again, it was night and Epel called you to Ramshackle’s entrance. To your infinite surprise, he was riding a white horse when he entered the garden. In his hands, a platter with a fragrant apple pie made with all the care in the world. Manly and princely to the extreme!;

With skill, Epel got off the horse without unbalancing the pie plate and stood in front of you. He had rehearsed with Rook several things to say to you but, in the end, being himself would be the best way out. Because you always liked him the way he is. “You don't have to dream of the day your prince will come. You already have a man who loves you right here.”

“Where?,” you asked, looking around. Good Heavens. You really want Epel to break this pie on your head, I'll tell you what!

“For all that is sacred, my love for you is eternal,” Sebek proclaimed. He had done everything according to the fae customs, especially of the Zigvolt family. He brought you a small bouquet of rosemary and dark red carnations, symbolizing love and affection between lovers, and knelt before you;

Perhaps because it was Sebek who called you at the breaking dawn, you were surprised to hear his voice making a proclamation in a normal tone. Still strong and imposing but that didn't make your ears bleed. He looked magnificent like a knight. The bouquet in his hands was adorable, just like the sparkle in his eyes;

“But why did you call me this hour just to give me flowers, Sebek? Ah...!,” Sebek fidgeted when it seemed that you had understood. “Is this your way of establishing our friendship? Wow! Awesome! I've never seen anything like it!” A terrible time for you to admire the customs of fairies;

A terrible, damned hour for the nerves of poor Sebek who returned to Diasomnia as if he had fallen off his horse. He had that sad, confused look of someone who hasn't fully processed the tumble he took. When Lilia offered him the jar of liquor sweets and he accepted, Silver knew immediately that many things went wrong;

It was with great cost and patience that Lilia made Sebek understand that you simply didn’t understand what he meant and it was no “human way” to disregard and make fun of the courtship between faes. Not that realizing your obliviousness cheered Sebek up. He had prepared everything with care and wanted it to work out… and it didn’t;

But a guard who serves the great Malleus Draconia does not cower at a failed attempt! So Sebek pulled himself together and prepared to try as many times as he had to. For days, Sebek did his best to declare his love to you. As you have never seen before, he was docile and attentive;

It was like keeping up with those moments after a storm, where the rain starts to get weak and the thunders calm down. Delicate and careful, as if dealing with Young Master himself, Sebek wrote letters and more letters detailing your qualities and achievements in his life, the joy you brought him and the dreams he planned for you two;

Sebek cleaned the entire Ramshackle and filled the building with flowers and lights, which you received as a big action of care among good friends. Favor. But it wasn't just a favor! Why didn't you notice?!;

He then began to talk more about his parents and to Sebek’s own surprise, he understood his mother better at that moment. So that's what it was like to fall madly in love with someone? Even having an unparalleled patience for this loved one’s obliviousness? Mr. Zigvolt was just like you, according to Mrs. Zigvolt’s stories;

He was annoyed by this for a while but slowly came to understand his mother’s reasons and forgave his father. If he got everything right with you, he would have a lot to apologize for on the next vacation. Hearing about the Zigvolt's story interested you a lot, and you were happy to see Sebek start talking better about his own father. But you couldn't come up with a better explanation of why you were listening to all that;

Since it passed a lot of time and Sebek thought he had tried everything, his patience began to falter — Silver wasn’t surprised by this. But everybody got surprised when Sebek took you by the shoulders in the middle of the hall and began to shake you, shouting: “With a thousand of spindles, nigen, I love you! I love everything about you! What part of it did you not understand, stupid?!”

#twisted wonderland #ace trappola #ace trappola x reader #deuce spade #deuce spade x reader #jack howl #jack howl x reader #epel felmier #epel felmier x reader #sebek zigvolt #sebek zigvolt x reader #first years x reader #twst imagines #twst headcanons #twst x reader #oblivious reader #cherry's writing #cherry's harvesting

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cinemacentral666 · 10 months

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The Kingdom (1994, 1997) & The Kingdom: Exodus (2022)

"Movie" #1,133 • Ranking Lars Von Trier #5

There are so many inexplicable twists and turns and forced cliffhangers in the last fifteen minutes of what remains the series finale, the eighth and final episode of The Kingdom, that you might forget how smooth and cohesive the otherwise bonkers story came together in totality. Clocking in at nearly ten hours, Lars von Trier's "Twin Peaks in a hospital," shot and released on Danish TV in the mid 90s in two 4-episode seasons (1994 & 1997), is a hard-to-find gem that deserves far more attention if not recognition for being just about the weirdest fucking thing I've ever seen released on a mainstream platform (if we can call Danish TV a "mainstream platform").

I was perhaps most impressed by LVT's ability to juggle upwards of a dozen different storylines which seamlessly crossed and merged when they needed to. I feel some unease with how it ended given this segment of an interview I recently watched on YouTube with a slightly demented-seeming if not sickly Trier. Is he really going on about how not having an ending is a problem? Did he ever even watch this? Does he have any recollection making it? But for the love of god, this man can't help but being an insane and inscrutable maniac for one minute; so, he can get away with it. Few can.

Saying one thing when you mean another is a trick, which is not unlike the whole of LVT's filmography. On one hand, this is among his most accessible works: a procedural genre drama. And on the other, it's a thing where Udo Kier plays the double role of Demon from Hell and a baby born with a normal adult-sized head whose body grows exponentially gigantic by the day until he's like seventeen-feet long screaming for his mother to kill him, which–SPOILERS!–she does.

I will hold off from saying more at this juncture as, apparently, there might be a third and final season on the way, à la another famously long-dormant television franchise from a luminary auteur. But this being Lars von Trier, who the hell knows.

THREE YEARS LATER…

"With this being Lars von Trier, who the hell knows" was an appropriate way to end my initial review of The Kingdom for the S.O.B. went ahead and did it: he finished his small screen masterpiece and gave it an ending for the ages. Having just completed the long-awaited Season 3 here in 2023, with future von Trier projects somewhat up in the air after his recent Parkinson's diagnosis (he says he will continue making movies for as long as he can, and I hope he does, but who knows), I can say that if that is indeed his final project, it's certainly a worthy one to go out on.

To get this out of the way (as anyone writing about The Kingdom: Exodus is legally required to mention within the first two paragraphs): the comparisons to Twin Peaks: The Return are as unavoidable as they are perfectly and eerily apt. LVT was getting compared to Lynch well before he decided to complete his own visionary TV show 25 years later as well. But, while the initial inspiration for The Kingdom had to have been spurred by the groundbreaking Twin Peaks, his conclusion and how he went about it is vastly different. Both are phenomenal, in my opinion, but where Lynch departed from the original framework and story to the nth degree, von Trier's return is firmly grounded in the tone and aesthetic of the original run. Outside of a very meta beginning and ending, Exodus feels like a natural continuation of the story, in the same location with the same sepia-drenched sheen. There's no excursions to the purple ocean world or Buckhorn, South Dakota here.

Not to say he doesn't get weird or try different things within this original landscape, because he does so IN SPADES. It's a thrilling, hilarious and endlessly wild ride in five one-hour installments. The biggest hurdle (and main reason the final season was shelved for so long) were the deaths of several notable actors in prominent roles. He handles this with nuance and boundless creativity. It never feels like an homage because it's so rich, fresh and new. Ernst-Hugo Järegård's Dane-hating Helmer is replaced by his son (as Helmer Jr., comically nicknamed "Halfmer" by the Swede-roasting staff); Jens Okking as Bulder is simply exchanged for a look-alike (Nicolas Bro); and Sigrid Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes), the truth-seeking heart of the show is swapped out for a new lead, a similarly aged Karen (Bodil Jørgensen), who begins the action in the non-sepia "real world" watching the original two-season run of The Kingdom on DVD; and Udo Kier… well, please just watch it to see what they do with Udo Kier.

The meta narrative is fascinating, as everyone in Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet is well aware of the madman Lars von Trier and his awful, fucked up TV series. LVT's own credit-roll commentary also returns (although he speaks behind a red curtain now out of vanity; only his jittering shoes are visible), as does a new Greek chorus of male and female dishwashers: gone are the actors with Down syndrome, replaced by a robot (who's constantly breaking dishes) and a man with a different, and a more severe genetic disorder. As is often the case, many of these choices range from squeamish to deliriously comedic, often simultaneously, but when — MAJOR SPOILER — von Trier himself arrives in a helicopter in the role of none other than Satan, how can you not smile?

If I had known going in that some of the threads in Exodus were going to touch on culture wars stuff, I would have said, "Oh no." But everything is handled with such ease — from #MeToo to Nazism! — and, more importantly, humor. This shouldn't work on paper, but it does.

I watched this on the heels of the Nymphomaniac Director's Cut and came away with a similar take: that LVT is really great at longer form storytelling. Some of his very best work is also the longest, and I don't think that's an accident. He's always tried to distill BIG IDEAS into thoughtful if not nihilistic and absurdist scenarios (Willem Dafoe plays one of the devil's minions who's also an owl), but even when the action makes you want to scream or walk into traffic, there's a cleverness at play which brings it full circle. The shift from the neurological to the cardiological departments (via Birgitte Raaberg's character) is such a lovely and simple notion. The head vs. the heart. You can make a big complicated thing with boundless metaphors, but what does it matter if you don't feel anything? The idea that this is all just a mad artist's foolish creation seems to be the ultimate point and that is a fitting send-off for von Trier in a way, I think. It's cheap on the one hand (it's supposed to be), but also a perfect example/explanation of art as entertainment and/or vice versa. Exodus — yes, like The Return — is as standalone fascinating as it is successful; honoring, but more importantly elevating the original series in the most magical ways.

SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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smol-nevi · 3 years

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I don't generally make this kind of thing a habit, but I think if you happen to be on the Crystal RP Discord, aka @crystal-rp-ffxiv, you should probably be aware of this kind of behavior, so here goes.

If you're on Crystal RP and the admin team decides they don't like you, you're going to be living under a microscope while they wait for you to mess up, if not bait you, probably while making up conspiracies about you as well. As for how I know this, I was a moderator for about a week's duration and saw it first-hand.

Unapologetically lengthy post. Receipts in the link above, long version below the cut.

From the first time I looked in the mod chat I knew something was wrong. I read backwards in the channel, thinking I'd acclimate myself and see what kind of rules precedents had been set and that sort of thing. I mostly just found out that they had it out for a particular member (at the time using the name Jericho) for not much reason. They'd spent a troubling amount of time over the past few months watching him and another member like vultures, believing them to be the same person and waiting for them to make some kind of mistake that would justify banning both of them...despite keeping different schedules, having different personalities and typing habits, and visibly being two different people. The admin team had come to the conclusion that Jericho was a troll who wanted to make them look bad, and anything he said or did was scrutinized to a ridiculous degree for evidence that would corroborate their belief.

Except none of the things they believed at all were true: he'd had a minor argument via DM with the head admin Benjimir Thursby's wife, Tessariel Aerlinn, who had made an overly broad statement about anime and Asian culture. Jericho had told her that overgeneralization about 'Asian culture' is potentially racist, and she became extremely angry, saying that because she's Asian, she can't be racist against Asians. After that, it seemed that Jericho was considered fair game for whatever retaliatory actions the two of them could justify.

Even a cursory glance at actual racism in Asia pokes Tessariel's statement entirely full of holes, and having personally read the conversation I didn't see anything actually inaccurate in his statement even if she believed it didn't apply to her. I asked what he had done that would merit such a response, because it felt very disproportionate to anything I'd ever seen him do publicly, and that was what I was told. The exchange via DMs had been screencapped and kept in a channel for evidence, and while I didn't get a copy of it, I did read it, and I said that I thought it sounded awfully one-sided and punitive and would have been much better as an actual conversation. I also expressed that I was concerned how much of the channel had been solely devoted to what was basically a witch hunt, considering that some of the server members had over the course of the past couple of months commented that the admins' behavior towards Jericho seemed biased.

I basically got a pat on the head and told that my opinion was "valued" but wrong. This would happen a lot over the course of the week.

Shit continued to escalate. Their favorite punching bag, who was acutely aware of the grudge by now and probably trying to be nice and discuss something that he thought they could all talk about, brought up some articles that stated that LOTRO might be having a graphical overhaul. This actually ended in him being put into some kind of time-out mute, because "everyone knows those articles are debunked already" despite them still being hosted on reputable games news sites. Back-channel, the admin consensus was that he was in fact trying to bait Benjimir and Tessariel into somehow looking stupid in public, because [paraphrasing] 'he knows how important LOTRO is to them.'

Benjimir in fact went off publicly about how he knows the dev team and they sent him 'personalized swag' for 'being himself' and that everyone should just listen to him because he's right. Someone else made a reasonable request for sources on statements that Benjimir made about the LOTRO improvements not happening, and they immediately became the team's private #2 punching bag.

The whole time I reiterated that this was really uncomfortable and I had serious concerns about the way they were handling Jericho. And as always I received a pat on the head and was told to not worry about it, there were really good reasons for it, really. He was 'bringing down the quality of discourse' on the server somehow. Benjimir decided that the only way he would unmute Jericho is if Jericho talked directly to him, and that Jericho tried to talk to any of the more level-headed members of the team first was taken as obvious evidence that he wanted to evade rules and create problems. I asked when we planned to unmute him, and Tessariel immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had messaged me, which wasn't incorrect but the way she worded it felt highly accusatory and I was beginning to feel that I was also in trouble somehow for not agreeing with the rest of the team.

Things came to a head quickly when I woke up and looked at the mod chat and they were having an animated conversation that started with Benjimir asking if it was 'bad that he was laughing at Jericho' and most of the rest of the team talking about how he was stupid, uninformed, a troll, etc. for the sin of having some misgivings about cryptocurrency, of all the things. One of the mods self-described their behavior as bullying. I said that this was extremely unprofessional and that I thought they should keep conversation to actual moderation matters, and if they had a personal disagreement with a server member they should handle it in a personal venue, not via official server moderation channels.

I was, for the final time, patted on the head, and told that this was not something they would consider, because the moderation team 'needs to be able to vent for their mental health' (never mind that the job was not stressful except for the rest of the team committing worse behavior than the server members) and that maybe I was in fact too sensitive for the job. Benjimir heavily implied that I had become too close to Jericho and was being manipulated, managed to misgender me somehow despite my having used solely male or neutral pronouns the entire time I'd been on the server, and after relating a story in which a couple of years ago a well-liked moderator left after having the same complaints as I did (which he saw nothing at all troubling about), suggested that I should be demoted to babysitting the lore channel.

So I took some time to collect receipts, which are linked at the top of the post, and told him where to shove it.

Since that time, things have actually somehow gotten worse on Crystal RP. Benjimir posted an entire page screed vaguely talking about "rampant negativity" that stated anyone with questions should DM him.

Upon DMing him with questions, Jericho was banned, the only reason given being that he was a 'poor fit' for the server in some vague way. I was immediately banned afterwards for calling out this decision as being driven by a personal vendetta in the feedback channel and let him know afterwards via DMs in no uncertain terms that I had logged everything I needed and would be building my case (and that he is an asshole). Jericho was reinstated, though I'm not sure what the conditions of his return were as that was after my ban and I didn't ask since I didn't want to stress him out further. Benjimir also reprimanded someone for discussing asexuality, stating in a DM to them that the conversation was somehow ERP related. I called him out on this via DM as well. Tessariel was not much later caught posting my last DMs to Benjimir in an entirely unrelated server, though she didn't include the part after that where I brought up his aphobia (during Pride Month, in a server with a rainbow icon no less). Benjimir for some reason decided to suddenly start following my FC's Tumblr well after our falling-out.

And as of today (6/24), Crystal RP now has seven pages of draconian rules, because it wasn't micromanaged hard enough before or something. Notably, a lot of these rules describe behaviors that they wanted to punish Jericho for but couldn't at the time justify, or that they'd like to punish me for but have nothing they can do to me. Or they exist to justify their own behavior, as now seen in the very beginning of the channel:

"This approach also provides our volunteers with leeway to act in good faith without the burden befitting a professional occupation."

"So we afford them the means to speak openly, vent, lament, candidly and yes, sometimes crassly and raw about everything and one."

Not only did they behave unprofessionally and shit-talk before, they have now encoded in the rules that this is acceptable and even good moderator behavior, because they saw someone else do it so it's fine (a lot of this wording is very similar to what I was told when I protested it). So rather than address anything I ever said past or present, Benjimir is choosing to double down and giving himself and his team explicit permission to be shitty, right in the opening paragraphs where you'd have expected a mission statement or at least some sort of welcome.

Which is about all you need to know about that server and its owners, in my estimation. I'd considered not even posting to Tumblr about it, but given that it's only getting worse, I think it should be generally known that this is how you can expect to potentially be treated.

#FFXIV #FFXIV RP #Crystal Data Center #Crystal RP #Balmung RP #Mateus RP #on one hand it's drama on the other I can and will call a spade a spade or in this case a douchebag a douchebag #this shouldn't be surprising to anyone who knows me even a little

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sleeping-on-cracking-ice · 3 years

Note

Hi, I have an idea for Chishiya if it's okay! He have something going on with Kuina's friend, and after she didn't came back from a game everyone thought that she died, but she actually just left (she didn't want to become too attached to Chishiya maybe?) and 1 month later the militants found her and Chishiya is rather cold toward her because she left him without saying anything. Happy ending if possible, please

Thanks for requesting, here you go. Enjoy! 🥰

Home | Shuntaro Chishiya

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

Character(s): Chishiya (ft. Kuina, Niragi)

Summary: You run away from the beach, but soon were found by the militants again. Chishiya, your closest companion, is mad when you return for not saying anything.

Warning: mention of sexual harassment, swearing, grieving, heavy angst

Word Count: 4.8k

*reader is female

Author’s Note: I’m sorry if the ending is a bit cliché, but I really enjoyed writing this one!

“I’m so sick of this shit Kuina. She’s gone. What the hell do we do now?”

Chishiya and Kuina sat on the top roof of The Beach. Their legs were dangling over the edge, above the groups of people who sang their hearts out over the loud music. They couldn’t be down there themselves, not that night.

“It’s so unfair,” Chishiya grumbled, rubbing his stained eyes with his hands. “I hate how everyone just moves on like nothing happened.”

Kuina sniffled, trying to control her runny nose as she listened to Chishiya’s pained words. “Look Chish, it was going to happen to one of us three at some point, it just happened to be Y/N.” Kuina tried to keep her voice stable, but the occasional voice crack gave away her sadness.

“Yes I know, but it still hurts so fucking bad.”

You hadn’t returned from your game. You hadn’t returned back to Chishiya and Kuina. You hadn’t returned home.

*******

“Oi Y/N! Slow the hell down!”

You heard Kuina yell out to you from down the hall. You laughed at her desperate attempt to catch up while Chishiya walked at his own pace watching you guys.

“Why are we suddenly having a race?! We have all day to get down to the pool!” Kuina called out. You stopped in your tracks and turned around to face her. “I want to get down there before the sun comes out and everyone wakes up! Don’t you want to have it just for us three for a while?”

“I suppose so,” Kuina breathed out heavily.

Chishiya’s lips pulled up into a smile as he watched you too bicker. “Oi you two. Be quiet. People in these halls are still sleeping,” he said.

Kuina turned to Chishiya and pulled a mocking bored face towards him. “Well you’re fun this morning,” she muttered in a sarcastic tone.

All three of you made your way to the pool on the bottom floor of The Beach, tripping and shoving each other playfully while giggling. You hardly ever did this together, because Chishiya always slept until noon, so you were excited about having the pool to yourselves before the sun came up.

When you reached outside, your chatters and the sound of your bare feet on the pavement broke the silence of the night. You hoped that Hatter kept the windows closed to his suite because you knew if you woke him up he would come down and beat your asses for being awake so early.

You looked over towards the pool that was still lit up with underwater neon blue lights from the night before. You’d think that they would shut all the lights off at least to save a bit of electricity, but apparently not.

Kuina had thrown her towel down carelessly on a nearby deck chair and was now chasing after Chishiya, who powered his short legs to try and escape her.

“Chishiya you’re going in the pool! You can’t chicken out forever!” she yelled as she caught up to him and wrapped her strong arms around his waist.

You could tell the years of martial arts training paid off for Kuina as she lifted Chishiya into her arms like he weighed nothing. “Bitch, put me down! I don’t want to go in the pool! Why is that such a crime!?”

You doubled over in laughter as Kuina held the cat-like blonde in her arms, him squirming more violently as she got to the side of the pool.

“Goodbye!” she yelled and dropped him into the pool. His screaming cut off as he was submerged into the water. You walked over and placed your stuff down, listening to Kuina and Chishiya bickering in the background.

It was a shame that you were planning on walking out on these guys. But in a world like this, the bad moments really outweighed the good ones.

“Alright you’re next!” you heard behind you, making you snap out of your short daze.

“Wait, no!” you bellowed as Kuina repeated the same thing she did with Chishiya. This time, it was his turn to laugh at you.

“Jesus christ woman. The fuck got you so lively this morning?” you laughed at Kuina, who gracefully dived into the pool to tease you two.

You felt Chishiya tuck his chin on your shoulder gently, taking you by surprise. “I guess we got to act as happy as we can now. Our five day visa ends tonight.” Chishiya mumbled to you two.

The air around the three of you suddenly became stiff at the mention of the games. You lifted your hand and placed it on Chishiya’s damp hair. “It’s alright, it was a fun and relaxing five days while it lasted,” you said cheerfully.

“Don’t say that like as if you’re going to die,” Chishiya scolded you. “You won’t die, none of us three will.” He was trying to reassure himself that he would come back from his game with you all happy and healthy waiting in the lobby for him. He hoped for that exact reality every time he had to leave you to restore his visa. He panicked even when you were ten minutes later than usual. It was a constant battle with anxiety when it came to caring for you in a world like this.

But unfortunately, while Chishiya was willing to fight against the growing anxiety that came with loving you, you didn’t want anything to do with it.

You and Chishiya have been as tight as two peas in a pod since Kuina introduced you. Kuina and you happened to meet at a diamonds game that was further in the centre of the city which was where you appeared in the game. She was nice enough to take you back to The Beach, because she thought that your intelligence and gentle personality would be useful.

But the plan of using you for Kuina and Chishiya’s own personal gain went out the window when both of them built a strong connection with you. They tried so hard to stop it, but in the end, they decided to make you an addition to their little manipulative games with the others. A mysterious duo became a peculiar trio.

That’s when Chishiya began to notice other things he felt.

He began feeling an irrational attachment to you, always wanting to be around you and always wanting to make sure that you were safe. You began noticing his additional little quirks as well, as soon you both fell for each other, without the other knowing of course.

Kuina obviously knew, as she was incredibly observant. She always kept her mouth shut though, wanting to see the drama play out in front of her. It was entertaining at times.

“You two are cute,” she gushed at you and Chishiya, holding a cheeky smile on her face.

Chishiya tucked his face into your neck to hide his blush, but it only made your heart skip a beat. “Shut up,” he mumbled into your skin.

You sighed heavily as he kept his place there, snaking his arms around your waist. This was honestly normal. The closer you’ve gotten with Chishiya, the less shy he’s been to convey physical affection. You loved and hated it at the same time, because you knew the more he made your heart race, the harder it would be to leave him.

At times you thought you’d rather deal with his cold and untrustworthy personality, like how he was when he first met you. It was easier to dislike him then, but now that his real personality has shown through, you realized how good of a person he actually seemed to be.

Chishiya never became close to someone, because he knew it would be hard to pull away when he needed to use them for his own survival. So he’s just always chosen to keep everyone at a distance.

You on the other hand, you hadn’t fallen down the deep whole of caring fully for someone in this world, but you knew you were about to stumble off the edge.

While Kuina and Chishiya waited to renew their visas, you waited to run away from the stress of waiting for your friend’s potential deaths.

******

You, Kuina and Chishiya trudged down the steps that led to the lobby. Hatter had called everyone to meet there a few minutes ago to prepare for the games. Hearing the familiar bell ring throughout the so-called paradise made your heart weaken. It was calling you to your end, every single time.

The trio of you took your usual place towards the back of the lobby, leaning against the cement walls and looking over everyone’s heads. How weird it felt, that by the time you gathered here next, the number of people would reduce by a couple dozen. It made your stomach sink in remorse. You truly were nothing more than soldiers fighting a war that wasn’t your own.

You looked down at your own feet, beginning to feel guilty about your plan of running away. The people you would abandon, the friends who would miss you. And even they can’t come find you, but you knew it was for the best. For both you and them.

You felt something tickle your hand. You glanced your eyes down to see that it was Chishiya, trying to sneak his hand into yours as Hatter began his booming speech across the crowd. You looked up to the blonde’s face, but he was focused on Hatter. You smiled sadly and accepted his hand into yours, earning a soft squeeze from him.

Kuina placed her head on your shoulder, leaning closer towards you. It was as if they knew, and they were trying to get you to change your mind. You felt tears building up in your eyes, but quickly wiped them away with your hoodie sleeve before anyone noticed.

Damn. You were never going to forget them.

******

Chishiya sat in the leather lounge in the lobby. He had just arrived back from his spades game. Wasn’t too difficult, for him at least.

Only now he was stressing inside, leg bouncing up and down on the carpet quickly. He knew you wouldn’t return for a good while, but yet he always was worried about you. No matter the situation.

Niragi didn’t help the situation. He strolled over earlier with a few of his militant mates and roughed Chishiya up for a bit. He honestly wasn’t in the mood for their antics, so he didn’t fight back much. They eventually got bored and walked away.

There hardly was anyone in the lobby, it was strangely quiet.

Chishiya looked towards the entrance to the lobby where a small group of people just walked in from. He recognized them as the group Kuina was placed with, so he stood up from his seat and quickly made his way over.

He managed to spot Kuina walking by herself at the back of the group. Chishiya let out a relieved sigh and strolled up to her. “Thank god you’re okay,” he said, giving her a short hug. “You too,” she replied.

They walked back over to where Chishiya was sitting beforehand and sat down. “Do you know who Y/N went with?” Kuina asked.

“No idea, I had to leave with my group before hers,” he answered.

They both sat in silence for a while, hearts squeezing in on themselves from tension.

As group after group piled into the lobby and moved to go to the back pool to celebrate their wins. While their hearts and minds were overflowing in joy of surviving, Chishiya’s and Kuina’s slowly became heavier and heavier with grief.

One of the last groups finally came back, being a few hours later than everyone else. Chishiya searched the small crowd for your familiar face, but didn’t see it.

“Kuina,” he started with a tense voice. “Don’t say it,” she immediately cut him off. “Don’t say anything Chish. She’s fine, I know it.”

That became harder and harder to believe the later into the night it got. Soon enough, no one was left in the halls and the lobby, either gone to bed or stayed out in the pool area.

Chishiya didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t feel anything. His body was tired from the constant tensing, the constant anxiety.

He stood up abruptly and looked towards Kuina, who had her head in her hands. He gave her a sad smile, and reached his hand out to help her up. “Come on, let’s go to the roof like old times,” he smiled, fighting the tears building up in his eyes.

*********

When they reached the top of the building after climbing many annoying flights of steps, Chishiya tilted his head back to feel the wind blow around his head. He opened his eyes and saw the galaxy of stars above him. ‘So weird,’ he thought to himself. ‘In a horrible place like this, such beautiful things can still exist.’

Kuina and Chishiya sat on the edge of the roof, feet dangling off the edge. Complete silence took over them. Neither of them knew what to say.

Kuina broke her gaze off the staggering height of the drop below them and glanced at Chishiya. He was staring straight ahead of him, hoodie covering his face so she couldn’t see what he was looking at.

“Chish, are you okay?” Kuina asked quietly, leaning forward to try and see his face. It felt strange to her, having Chishiya be completely silent for a change. Usually he would be making a smartass comment or a teasing joke towards her or Y/N. It was like the happiness in him had drained out.

He didn’t answer for a short moment, but then he turned his head to look at Kuina in the eyes. Kuina was taken back.

Chishiya had pools of tears cascading down his pale face, mixing with the sweat that he still endured from the game. He let out no sobs and no cries. Just dry, empty tears running down his cheeks like doves flying down the edge of a cliff.

“No, I’m not okay,” he muttered to her. “This fucking sucks.”

*******

It had been a few weeks since your death, not that there was a huge difference at The Beach from your disappearance. Everyone carried on like normal, everyone except Kuina and Chishiya.

They became secluded, more than usual. Kuina spent most of her time in the hotel’s gym, trying to distract herself from everything that happened. She wanted to get stronger so she could win games, she knew that’s what you would have wanted.

Chishiya however, he wasn’t taking your death well at all. Chishiya lost his fire, his headstrong attitude and snappy remarks. He kind of disappeared himself, but only his body stayed.

He felt stupid at times. What would he have expected? Of course you died, knowing his luck. He began irrationally thinking, believing that the world took you away because he didn’t deserve someone as warm-hearted as you. He felt cheated almost. It was like the universe had you dangling on a string in front of him, and when he finally had the courage to reach towards you, it yanked you away out of his view.

When he was having particular hard days, he would lie on his bed in his room for hours, not bothering to get up for food or the bathroom. He felt numb inside, he honestly thought nothing would be able to hurt him anymore, because he’s endured the worst of his emotions.

The mirror in his room was smashed, due to his own doing. He broke it a few days after the incident, screaming into the stuffy air of his room and throwing one of his makeshift knives at it. He watched in pain as it crackled and crumbled under the impact, seeing his own reflection fall into a million pieces, much like how he was feeling at that moment.

He had never experienced this kind of hurt before. He always thought other people were being dramatic when they broke down crying after hearing their significant other or friend didn’t make it back to The Beach. He thought that it should’ve been expected, that they shouldn’t be surprised that it happened. But he guessed you never know what another person is feeling unless you experience it yourself.

But god, does he wish he didn’t, because it hurt more than a thousand knives to his cold, stone heart.

**********

One day, Chishiya was standing on the edge of a balcony that looked over the entrance to The Beach. He enjoyed standing up there because he loved the spectacular view of the ocean. It reminded him of his real home, when he used to ride his bike down to the beach with his friends and swim in the water for hours. He missed life when it was so easy for him.

The breeze was cool on his skin, giving him goosebumps. It felt refreshing and somewhat free, a small taste of bliss for him. His eyes were shut as he listened to the crows screech in the distance and the ocean waves hit the shore. The sound of nature rang in his ears, making his endorphins swirl in his brain.

It was a good break every now and then from the usual melancholy emotions that swarmed around him, keeping his happiness locked down in chains. While he was on that balcony, actually breathing fully and normally for once, his demons decided to let loose of the chains that held his sweet happiness trapped.

Chishiya opened his dark eyes and glanced downwards towards the bottom level and saw something that caught his eye.

A group of three militants seemed to have a young woman in their grasp, one of them being Niragi himself. Chishiya watched as they tried hard to hold the smaller person at bay, as she was thrashing around trying to escape.

He frowned, confusion painting across his face. That girl, she looked oddly familiar.

Niragi told the militants to bring her around the side of the building, where a small alley was located beside the entrance. Chishiya knew that’s where the militants dragged people to kill them off, they were planning on killing her.

Chishiya wondered what she did that was so bad. Hatter hardly ever gave the order to kill someone, unless the situation was betrayal or anything worse.

He moved himself along the balcony towards where the commotion below him was occurring. He wanted to hear what they were saying, because who knows what shit Niragi gets up to without Hatter knowing. It seemed a little too suspicious to be dragging someone to their death in broad daylight, especially where everyone could see.

Chishiya heard slight fragments of what they were yelling: “You thought- … run away?!” Niragi screamed in his psychotic voice. “Let go of-...! …could have just left me there!”

Chishiya felt his heart drop. That voice, it was all too familiar. How could he have forgotten what your voice sounded like.

He lifted his head and stared forward in shock. That couldn’t be right, you’ve been dead for weeks!

He thought for a second, trying to come to a possible conclusion with the horrific yells in the background of his mind. How is it possible you could still be alive?

That couldn’t be you, it just couldn’t be. Chishiya shook his head and chuckled. “The fuck am I thinking? Great, now I’m hallucinating. No one told me that was another stage of grief.”

He turned his body to walk back inside to look for Kuina, until he heard the young woman getting attacked yell again, this time, clear as day.

“Chishiya! Kuina!”

That was it. That was definitely you.

Chishiya lifted his legs and began sprinting towards the staircase inside. There was no doubt in his mind that that wasn’t you. The way you said his name was too real to not be you.

He tripped and stumbled down the stairs, almost falling flat on his face on one flight. He had to get there before you were dead, for real this time.

As he pushed his entire body weight against the entrance doors to the hotel, he pulled a small knife out his white hoodie pocket. He had made it out of glass from his broken mirror, considering that Hatter wouldn’t allow him to have his own weapons.

Your screams were much more prominent now, more desperate sounding and more fearful. The sound pierced through Chishiya as he made his way quickly around the side of the hotel.

There you were, being pinned against the wall by two militants while Niragi held the barrel of his rifle against your chest, right over your heart.

Chishiya yelled out, which probably wasn’t the best idea considering his current situation. It was three tall men with guns against a small, frail man with a makeshift knife.

“Chishiya! The fuck you doing here?” Niragi asked with a cheeky smirk on his face. God, Chishiya wanted to punch him so bad.

“Let her go Niragi, you don’t want this to get ugly do you?” Chishiya threatened, holding his glass knife out.

Niragi laughed along with the other two militants. You still struggled against their grip, seemingly more calm with Chishiya distracting them.

“How cute ‘ey? Little blonde twink coming to save the love of his life, how sweet of you.” Niragi pressed, pushing his rifle harder against you just to push Chishiya’s buttons.

“If you haven’t noticed Chishiya, she ran away! She never died like you thought she did! She ran away from The Beach, she ran away from you!”

His words were like bullets in Chishiya’s chest. He felt belittled and mocked, he hated it.

“Shut up! She wouldn’t do that!” he yelled frustratingly.

“Oh really?! She wouldn’t?! Then explain why we managed to find her strolling the streets of Tokyo! Not a scratch on her, and she seemed smart enough to run away when she saw us.”

Chishiya’s scowl dropped on his face. He looked at you to see if you would deny it, but you had stopped struggling against the two men and hung your head low, not looking into his eyes.

He shook off the hurt he felt from this fact. He had to focus on getting you away from Niragi before he took time to think about other things.

“Niragi please. Just let go of her, I promise I’ll make it up to you,” Chishiya begged. He felt small, never has he ever begged for something in his life.

“Hmm? How though? I was just about to have some fun with her before I killed her off. Why should I give that up just because you want me to,” Niragi spat at him. Your eyes widened in fear and you thrashed around in the grip that the militants had on you, panicking from Niragi’s threat.

Chishiya thought for a second. He would honestly give anything to bring you over to him. “My cards. You can take credit for every card that I collect for a couple of months. If Hatter or Aguni asks, just say I’m slacking. I’ll take any punishment they throw my way.”

You saw Niragi consider it before lowering his weapon off of your torso. You breathed out heavily in relief.

“Fine, but don’t expect me to do this again. You can’t bribe me with everything you sneaky fuck.” Niragi growled. The two militants let go of you and followed him out of the alleyway and into the entrance of The Beach.

You leant against the wall, staring at Chishiya as he stared down at the ground below him. The air between you two was tense. You could tell he was mad, Chishiya was always silent when he was incredibly angry.

“Chish, I-”

“Don’t talk to me. Just come.”

Don’t get me wrong, he couldn’t have been happier to see that you were alive and well. But the betrayal he felt from the fact that you ran away from him greatly outweighed his happiness.

He walked briskly ahead of you, you didn’t dare walk next to him or too close to him. He was scaring you a bit, and you wanted nothing but to sprint to your own room and hide from the rest of the world.

You were embarrassed and also frustrated you were caught. Trust Niragi and his cocky ass to find you.

Chishiya stopped in front of his own room, opened the door and gestured for you to walk inside. You hesitated before slowly making your way through the door. You hated how tense it was, it was the complete opposite of what you usually felt when you were around Chishiya.

You sat down on his bed, sitting in an awkward position and looked towards Chishiya. It was complete silence as he was frozen at the door, back towards you and holding the door handle harshly.

“What the fuck Y/N?” he mumbled. It was almost inaudible, but you could hear pain in his words, which made you immediately feel guilty.

“What the fuck was that? You ran away!?” he turned and yelled at you, tears building up in his eyes.

You flinched as his loud voice. You had never heard him yell in anger before, usually he kept his calm. You looked down to the ground, feeling your own eyes fill with hot tears. You felt like you were back in high school with your parents screaming at you for running away from home.

“I THOUGHT YOU DIED!” he shouted louder, “DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PAIN YOU PUT KUINA THROUGH?! HOW MUCH YOU PUT ME THROUGH?!”

You couldn’t breathe. Pain and suffering dripped off his words like rain on a roof, coming together and creating an atmosphere that held air that was unbreathable. You suffocated on the oxygen, making you choke and cause tears to begin running down your cheeks.

“Why!?” he cried. “Why did you run!? There was no reason, me and Kuina could have protected you if you were too scared! Why did you think that running away was the only option!?” Chishiya stumbled closer to you, almost tripping over his own feet.

You flinched heavily as he placed his cold hands on your shoulders roughly. They were shaking from trying to hold your sobs in.

“WHY DID YOU LEAVE-” “Chishiya!” you interrupted him by snapping your head up to meet your eyes with his. His face dropped as he saw the sadness behind yours, replacing the wonderful and cheerful happiness that once swam in your eyes like dolphins in a sea.

“I l-love you,” you mumbled out between your shaky breaths. “That was the problem Chish. I-I’m in love with you and it hurt too fucking bad to know that you could disappear out of my reach at any moment. I ran because I didn’t want to watch you and Kuina die!”

Chishiya’s own hands shook violently against your shoulders. He gazed into your eyes which were red and puffy from your tears. They were shining more now than they had ever before.

“You don’t have to leave Y/N,” he whispered, still trying to control his own breathing. “I want you here, next to me. Not out there, because when you’re out there, I can’t be with you.”

You nodded and smiled sadly. Chishiya pulled his hand from your shoulder and cradled your face gently. He swiped his thumb over your cheek to get rid of the tears there. “I love you too, but I can’t be without you.”

A grin crept onto your face as you looked into his eyes. You felt safer than ever in his arms, why did you think of ever leaving?

Chishiya wiped his own tears with his hoodie sleeve and put on a happier smile. “You want to know how pathetic I am without you?” he giggled and held your hands in his.

“I almost threw myself off the top of the hotel the night you didn’t come back. Kuina had to tackle me to the ground to keep me away from the edge.” he laughed at himself.

You chuckled along with him. “Imagine if you did! What a shocker it would’ve been if I came back and Kuina saw me alive after you killed yourself because you thought I was gone!”

You both sat on Chishiya’s bed and laughed at each other. You had to do it, humour is best in times of stress and anxiety.

*********

You opened your eyes slowly, only to be met with the blinding light of the sun seeping through the blinds. You hissed and turned your head the other way.

Chishiya chucked at your reaction, making his chest that was underneath your head vibrate. “So cute,” he muttered to himself.

You pushed your face deeper into his chest and breathed in his scent. It felt good to be back with Chishiya. It felt good to be home.

Author’s Note: oKaY so this ended up being a lot longer than expected. Please send in some requests if you have any! 🥰🥰

1K notes · View notes

gildedmuse · 3 years

Text

I started this as a series of ZoLaw AUs Nobody Asked For prompts based on All Hearts and somehow it just got hella long. Here are the first two. I have no real excuse for these. I thought they would be fun?

More to follow.

(credit to @jhaernyl for talking with me through all this)

Move a few things up three years and Luffy isn't there to find Zoro tied to a post because of honor (but also drama ). Instead, Zoro is "rescued" by Ace, if you can call it a rescue (sure, Ace warned him about the planned execution and took it upon himself to retrieve Zoro's swords, but the sixteen year old is adamant that it doesn't count seeing as he had to save Ace's ass from all the marines he pissed off rampaging through their base, not to mention taking down that axe-handed piece of shit who apparently has been terrorizing Shells Town since he got here a couple months back; Zoro may still be a "naive little kid" according to Ace, but he knows enough to know that if a captain has to have his crew cowering in fear than he isn't really a captain) and is subsequently informed that he's lucky enough to become the second official crew member of the notorious Spade Pirates.

His new captain is a queer fish. Sometimes the other pirate is warm and outgoing, and Zoro thinks he'd probably make a really good Uchidachi or sworn brother type, that is until the idiot goes and does something brazenfaced and reckless, leaving Zoro to save his dumb ass. This only gets worse when they end up shipwrecked on some island with a masked no-one and one oversized bird that spits a treasure chest at them before flying off before Zoro can turn it into dinner.

The chest has one rotten looking apple in it which Ace says they should share, but what kind of first mate would insist on eating while his captain starved? It's just a stupid piece of fruit, so Zoro refuses his piece, letting Ace and the masked man split it between the two of them while he glares into the distance, searching for any trace of a ship or island he could swim out to.

Until right then, Zoro had never heard of a devil's fruit before - he prefers meat, fish, and rice, anyway - yet somehow it's not all that surprising when Ace can suddenly ignite, turning from flesh to fire and back again like it's as natural as the sea itself. Zoro has no use for fate and fortune. Those who go on about how shit is meant to happen are just trying to justify failing when it's really down to their own indolence; if a person really wants something they won't let something as weak as destiny stand in their way. But Ace getting this particular weird ability doesn't come as a shock to him. Seeing actual flames dancing around him isn't that different from his usual aura. Zoro doesn't think it was preordained or anything, but it feels natural and right.

Once they build a boat that Ace can "fire sail", and Zoro is sure his captain won't burn it down in the process, they set out plus one new, nameless cremate. That one turns into eighteen (Zoro is there for most of the recruitments and he still isn't sure how Ace talks these idiots into following him), the Striker becomes the Piece of Spadille, and the calm, tropic waters of the East Blue turn into the wild, unpredictable seaway called the Grand Line where there is a barrage of bounty hunters, annoying marines, eerily inviting villages and damned devil fruit users all of whom seem to take one look at Zoro's captain and decided they want him dead.

Zoro's having the time of his life.

The Grand Line isn't just obsessed marines and Islands that all seem to be under the thumb of some asshole. There's also plenty of other pirates, although most of them aren't worth dulling Zoro's blare on. Most of them act all tough at first, then they see what the Spade Pirates can do. After that, they tend to give Zoro and his crew a wide berth. Then there is Trafalgar Law.

Kimel and Ganryu call him an Ice Trawler, but Mask Deuce makes it clear Zoro isn't to say that, which is stupid, Zoro can say whatever he likes - the crew sometimes treats him like a child when he's only a few years younger than most of them - and anyway, he isn't going to bother calling the other pirate by some silly nickname.

He just called him Torao, same as his captain.

The northern has an obnoxiously attractive arrogant smirk and stormy eyes that flash like lightning when he spots trouble. He might act exasperated and sniping that their captain is a, "hotheaded, impetuous green-hide" - which only the other Spade Pirates are allowed to say no matter how much of an idiot he's been - but Torao can't hide his the devilish glee he gets in anticipation of a good fight. Zoro's sure that's why, despite all the bickering they do, he and Ace are such keen rivals.

In Zoro's opinion, a worthy rival is the second most important relationship you can have; even the best sensei in all the Blues is no replacement for a half decent rival. A rival helps hone your skills, they force you to become better, they drive you forward even after your feet are numb and your hands and cheeks full of splinters from hours spent handling half worn bokken. Sometimes, when the two crews clash over a useless treasure or who can claim victory in some spontaneous competition, Ace and Torao will have a sort of face off. Not a real fight, but certainly real enough for any unlucky soul who got caught in the crossfire. Zoro isn't jealous, not exactly, he certainly doesn't begrudge Ace a good tussle…. But it seems to him that it doesn't make sense that the older boy should always get first shot at taking on Torao. After all, Ace doesn't use a sword (which, having once had to witness him swinging a priceless meito around like a kid playing with a stick, Zoro is incredibly grateful for) but Torao is a fellow kenshi. It's not just a tool in his hands, either, though it's already impressive the weight he can give his strikes with a sword meant to be carried by horseback. Torao commands the sword, with that sort of effortless style and a confidence that is born from a mutual respect between the roguishly cunning swordsman and the cursed, hungry blade in his hands. Zoro likes Bear-po. He's surprisingly agile even if he does apologize way too much (it's Zoro's own fault he got electrocuted, he should have had his eyes on his opponent instead of the two power users). Still, it feels like he should get to cross swords with Torao at least once, just to see if he'd make as good a rival in kendo as he does at pirating.

But Torao is Ace's rival first and foremost, and Ace is Zoro's captain. And the only bond more important than respect between rivals is loyalty between nakama.

Which makes it kind of hard to take when Ace decides they5re no longer a crew. At least, not the same one.

"We're still nakama," Ace argues, and most of the crew seems to believe him. It's only Zoro and Deuce who are the hold outs, arms crossed over their chests as they stare down Ace. Zoro knows he looks skeptical. He can't actually tell what emotions Deuce might bebe feelling behind his mask. "What's it matter what jolly roger we sail under?"

Zoro gets off at the next port.

He spends time jumping from island to island and fight to fight, but everything feels strangely quiet. Zoro should like it, but he doesn't.

He sees Torao in some bar just this side of the red line. He has the nerve to look amused when Zoro tells him about Ace.

"It's a very cute prank," Law chuckles, while Zoro doesn't find any of this in the least bit funny. "Fire Fist-ya didn't device it himself, that's obvious. It's not very subtle, but them sending just Zoro-ya, and having him claim he's so unattached and alone, is exactly what makes it so likely to be it does take a small bit of thought." Zoro frowns, no idea what the other pirate is taking about. Torao takes another sip of his sake. Zoro has the feeling this isn't his first. Zoro doesn't see Bear-po or his funny hat wearing crew anywhere. "Sending you in to act as bait. I wouldn't have thought your crew capable of such a level of observation."

Whatever. Like it matters to him of Torao believes him or not. Zoro turns to go when suddenly there's a cold grip at his wrist. Long, inked up fingers hold him back with surprising strength. Zoro can't help but raise an eyebrow. It doesn't hurt, not even close, but he wonders if Torao knows how much force he's using. "Let's say," Torao starts, voice much quieter now, less amused. "I believed you, Zoro-ya. That you left your crew and happened to stumble into this bar on this island. There's still no reason to take the seat next to me."

"Unless…" Torao still hasn't dropped Zoro's wrist. He cocks his head, his false smile entirely gone. Instead he's taken to staring at Zoro like he's something Torao can take apart, the way he does with marines and lesser pirates and, that one time, Ace. "You wanted something from me."

Zoro tilts his head, though he doesn't really have to give it any thought. "I've always want to challenge you," he admits.

Torao gives a mirthless chuckle. "You already do that plenty."

Zoro barely has time to brace his hold on his sword when Torao let's go of his wrist, spreading his fingers wide. "Room!"

"Shambles!"

Mihawk finds a young Zoro and sees the potential in the child, but it's one thing to appreciate someone's talent and spirit, another to, you know, raise a child. Shanks, on the other hand, is more than willing to take on the young orphan Mihawk found! (Poor Benn does not get a say).

So continuing Roger and Rayleigh's tradition of making astonishingly poor parental choices, Zoro is raised by the Red-Hair Pirates. This somehow results in him being more laid back/chill while also more chaotic and self assured. He's also given a lot of freedom to go roaming off on his own, even before he hits thirteen. (Hey, Shanks will come save his ass if anything too terrible happens. He'll be fine. Come on, Beckmen, let the boy have some fun!)

So when Law meets this highly skilled, ridiculously powerful kenshi who appears to be on his own, unflappable, and possibly insane based on how eager he'd been to face down a vice admiral he immediately sees it as an opportunity. On the one hand, the green haired kenshi is unpredictable, sure, but if Law can harness the boy's raw power then he could be a huge asset (his other assets certainly don't hurt Law's opinion of him, either). After they take down the vice admiral and his crew, Law asks the lone pirate if he'd be interested in an alliance. Before he can even get to the incentive (if the swordsman is looking for a challenge, how about going after a warlord and a pirate emperor?) the boy shrugs his broad shoulders, drops to the wrecked, blood stained deck of the former navy vessel, makes an offhand sound of agreement, and then apparently settles in for a nap despite the fact that they're still drifting at sea and he's on a half destroyed ship with a total stranger who could easily kill him while he sleeps. Not that he is about to murder the only person in all the blues possibly crazy enough for Law's plan, it's the principal of the thing.

The more time he spends with Zoro-ya, the more he suspects some kind of strange devil's fruit is at play. The boy follows him around without question, doesn't inherently distrust everyone they meet, never second guesses himself, sleeps in the middle of everything from hurricanes to naval battles, and yet comes out of the most precarious situations without a scratch. It's almost as amazing as how he isn't put off by Law's coldness or his casual mockery of Zoro-ya's occasional naivities. The other pirate stays at Law's side, brushing off any of Law's suspicions with a simple, "We're allies, aren't we?"

(Law isn't sure where Zoro-ya picked up his definition of a pirate alliance, but they don't usually involve such loyalty and support, not to mention other, less innocent activities. Law certainly isn't about to correct his misconceptions on the matter.)

With his crew having already set off towards Zou, that leaves Law with only Zoro-ya for nearly two months. Which allows him to get strangely familiar with the younger kenshi. In a way he hasn't been with anyone but some of his crew in a long time. He's learned Zoro-ya's habits, his favorite foods, his training regime. He knows all sorts of small, intimate details about this boy.

Law: A vivre card?

Zoro: Mm? Oh, I thought I'd lost that back with that porcupine idiot.

Law: It's gotten highly active all the sudden.

Zoro: The captain mlust be nearby. Guess you'll get to meet my crew.

Law: Your captain...

Law: Wait. What?

That's right, it's two months into this alliance and Zoro-ya only now mentioned that he isn't, as Law had presumed, a lone pirate wandering from island to island. He agreed to enter an alliance and never thought to mention there were others!?

(In Zoro's mind, that whole deal is between him and Law and doesn't involve the crew, but it HAS been a few months since he's seen the guys, and he'd like to drop in and catch up. He figures he might as well bring Law along, and introduce his captain to his new ally.)

Zoro: Don't let them intimidate you. They can sense weakness

Law: I'm not easily intimidated. If you're part of their crew, why don't you sail with them?

Zoro: They've never had a problem with me going off on my own for a while. I've been doing it since I was a kid. I always find my way back.

On his own? On purpose? Law highly doubts that.

This clears up some of his suspicions, since Law hadn't missed the small hints that Zoro-ya had been raised at sea, likely by pirates. It appears as if this is less a threat to their current agreement, more an introduction. A "meet the folks" scenario.

Only the folks turn out to be Akagami Shanks and Benn fucking Beckmen! How did you fail to mention your captain was a goddamn YONKO, Zoro-ya?

Law, beforehand: *All cocky* If you want me to meet this crew so bad Zoro-ya, I'll be happy to go with you. (And meet these old "swashbuckler" types, ha probably just merchants dealing in illegal fruits or something.)

Law, actually in front of Shanks and Benn: Hello, sirs. I, uh, ai'm allied with your son. But we're very safe about it!

Zoro: He is also my lover and we are very safe about that too

Because he was raised by Shanks.

Law is seriously contemplating just throwing himself over the side of the ship. Of all the situations to find himself face to face with one of the four emperors. Not that he's afraid. Law will gladly stand up to any shichibukai or yonko and dare to take them on. This isn't exactly an all out battle for victory, though Law definitely feels his life is on the lines. Something in Benn's eyes says that he's definitely dispatched of guys Zoro has slept with before, at least that's what Law is seeing. He's not fooled by Akagami-ya 's faking being all merry and drunk, either.

Zoro: What? It's just Shanks. If you're scared of anyone it ought to be Benn.

That. Does. Not. Help.

Benn pleasantly asking questions to Law while Shanks parties and catches up with Zoro. Just getting to know Zoro's new "ally".

Law's fear/nervousness lasting just until Shanks let's slip that it's good that Zoro found someone closer to his own age. Not that he doesn't love Miha, but the way his friend looks at Zoro is definitely not child friendly.

At which point Law's attention swerves immediately to their conversation. "Excuse me, but who is "Miha"?"

And Law getting to hear all about Hawkeye Mihawk's apparent obsession with Zoro-ya (at least, that's the way Shanks tells it, but keep in mind, Shanks is still pretty upset about the scar - come on, Miha! He promised Beckman he wouldn't let the kid get seriously hurt!). Law is bristling the entire time.

Shanks snickering and nudging Benn in the stomach at how obviously possessive Law immediately gets, suddenly having no qualms about touching Zoro in front of them, or constantly making sure Zoro is focused on him.

(Ahh, look how much their little kiddo enjoys all the attention, Benn!)

Zoro doesn't know what's gotten into Law but it is both utterly distracting and absolutely enjoyable. Usually, Law is all about keeping things quiet and no one can know they are lovers, they have to behave like allies. But right now Law is the one with the arm around his shoulders, fingers playing with Zoro's earrings. Asking all those strangely pointed questions about his scar and the training he did with Hawkeye. Which Zoro would rather answer than let Shanks because his captain has a way of making it all sound so dirty when, honestly, he just spent two years training with Mihawk on his abandoned island.

But it's hard to articulate the details when Law keeps rolling his earrings between his fingers, giving light tugs as they pass from one digit to the next and then back again. (Zoro's mouth is so dry and there's no amount of sake that can wet it up again. )

Shanks makes it sound as if Hawkeye was walking around shirtless - which, sure, but that's just Hawkeye - making Zoro work up a sweat while watching his every move. Which is true but only because of training. He tries to correct the whole idea that Hawkeye looks at him like - to quote his captain - a tall glass of wine - but everything Shanks says just gets a frown and a, "Oh, really?" from Law who then pulls ever so slightly harder at his earrings. Scattering any thoughts Zoro managed to gather.

(Mihawk definitely has less than pure thoughts about Zoro, but Shanks might be purposefully making his friend out to be more of a pervert than necessary. Well, Miha, next time maybe don't return Zoro nearly cut in half and missing an eye!)

So meeting Shanks and Benn Beckmen, terrifying. But then he looks just about ready to fight Mihawk at first sight right about now. (Which isn't going to happen. Zoro has claimed that fight. He has dibs on beating Hawkeye.)

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astaroth1357 · 4 years

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Demon Brothers being Soft for Their Daughters

Might just be me but I think there's nothing cuter than a Dad who loves his daughter so I made a hc for our boys. Strap in, it’s a long one!

IMPORTANT! Watch out for first half spoilers! Assumed that the child is a half human/half demon with the MC!

Lucifer

Tries to be really strict but ends up being kind of a pushover.

Oh there ARE rules that even his little girl can't break, but most of the time she can get away with almost anything if she's cute clever enough.

Pushes her to be the best at almost anything she tries, expectations be real high; gonna take the MC stepping in to remind him winning isn't everything and please cool it on the pressure.

Lowkey learned his lesson before and doesn't want to make another Satan situation so tries to take MC's advice to heart and not be quite so controlling.

Her favorite uncle is Mammon and he gets cold sweats about this every night.

Wasn't able to be there for a lot of her firsts due to work and gets real sulky when he misses out. Videos just don't offer the same experience...

Feels bad that work keeps him so busy so he tries to make up for it with toys, clothes, jewelry, pretty much whatever she likes at the time.

Would never admit it, but his black heart melts every time he comes home and sees she's excitedly waiting by the door.

One of those parents who will never stop bragging about how amazing their kid is to anyone who will listen, but never when she's in the same room.

100% that overprotective "I'm going to give you a brief tour of the torture chamber, then we’ll browse my whip collection. Oh, make sure she's home by 8" kind of dad if she were to ever bring home a date. They will know that his baby is not to be messed with (like anyone's crazy enough to try honestly).

Mammon

So over the goddamn moon that someone actually wanted to have a kid with him that he couldn't shut up about it for weeks.

Treasures his little girl more than anything he owns, even Goldie. When she's a baby the two of them are practically inseparable.

The biggest pushover to ever be pushed. She's about the only person he's ever unconditionally generous to and he really spoils her rotten.

She's just as materialistic as her father, honestly, but MC made sure their girl was raised with good morals. The first of which being no stealing. Ever. She works for every cent she spends.

On the one hand, he's actually pretty damn proud and relieved that she won't be called "scum" or anything like her father, but on the other hand like… Ew. Who raised you? (No one remind him it’s kind of his doing anyway).

For once in his greedy existence, he can tell a sob story about really needing that loan or those shoes for his beloved daughter and actually mean it… most of the time 😏

Even when she's young, though, she will ask him if a gift he's giving her was taken from someone else and, man, he cannot lie to her face. People shame him for stealing all the time but the little look of disappointment she gives him hurts WAY more than all of his brothers’ insults combined.

Probably one of the most supportive and involved dads in existence. He will be at every game, every recital, every meet. Even if he's complaining the whole time, if anyone so much as suggests that he just shouldn't go he'd be appalled.

…. He's perhaps a little too involved because he's also totally the kind of father who will lowkey stalk his daughter's dates to be sure nothing bad happens. MC, please step in. She needs privacy too.

Leviathan

Was incredibly worried about having a kid, he's not even had the best track record when it comes to pets and parenting is some high-level normie stuff. But his little girl's first smile absolutely melted his doubts away.

That being said… he's still not the greatest with little kids. For a long time if the baby so much as sneezed unexpectedly he'd start shouting for the MC and checking every website he can like??? My half demon baby won't stop sneezing, is it pneumonia???

Gets a lot less panicky as the child gets older, but in those early years he'd practically want to stick them in a bubble wrap suit.

He passed on his love of the ocean and underwater creatures pretty early on. The running joke is that his girl knew how to swim before she knew how to crawl.

Family aquarium trips are an absolute must.

The second they're old enough to understand plot he's introducing them to his favorite shows, but only the best (and most child-friendly) ones of course. He wants his daughter to grow into a woman of culture, damnit! Pop culture that is.

Sooo much text/chat lingo between these two. It's not her fault really. She was bound to pick it up but man can it sound like they're speaking tongues at times.

With practice she can and will beat her old man at most video games and, yes, it makes his cry tears of equal parts pride and aggravation.

Has a mini-panic attack every time she hits a new milestone, like, yes he's so fucking proud but also don't you think she's growing up too fast??? MY BABY GIRL!!! 😭😭😭

Cries like a baby to the MC when she goes out on her first date because he realized she's really, truly, growing up and he's afraid his little girl isn't going to want to spend time with her lame old dad anymore.

Satan

Tries to be strict and IS strict but mostly on schoolwork.

Her grades best not be slippin' or this Book Papa will take all her stuff away. End of discussion.

Otherwise, he's surprisingly chill being the Avatar of Wrath and all. He of all people understands the desire to just have your own life and do your own thing.

She'll inherit his temper though, that's a given, and if they both get going then watch out. Fights between them can get verbally explosive, but never physical. Even at his angriest Satan would never once lay a hand on his daughter.

Read to her every night when she was young: storybooks, novels, mythologies, didn't matter to him. Whatever she wanted to hear. Still, he was so proud the day she told him that she wanted to read on her own.

100% makes nearly everything in life a teachable lesson but also helps her when she needs it. He wants her to forge her own path but is still very supportive when the situation calls for it.

Would never EVER admit it, but he does just as many dad jokes as Lucifer.

Of all the brothers, he's probably the most typical father to have, there for his kid just enough while also making sure they're not getting away with murder.

Is totally chill with her dating because he knows he doesn’t have to be super protective of her. She can more than handle herself if something goes wrong, in fact, if he were to step in it would probably add insult to their already grievance injury.

That being said, he IS the Avatar of Wrath. If someone hurts his girl he’s going to have a turn one way or another.

Asmodeus

Oh YEEESSS, he's not normally the commitment kind of guy but he and MC raising a child? They'd be the most gorgeous thing in the universe!!! (Not counting himself of course)

Beautifying his baby since day one, but the MC keeps him from doing anything too extreme. A lot of baths, good moisturizer, hairstyling (when she grows enough of it), etc.

Soooo many outfits. She'll practically never wear the same thing twice and Asmo coordinates his own clothes to match hers all the time.

He actually goes out and parties LESS if you can believe it, especially when she's young and needs a lot of supervision. But he'll get pent up real quick so learning how to do a quiet quickie during naptime is a must.

His girl is all over his Devilgram, nearly every milestone is snapped up and recorded. He loves her more than anything and would just scream about his pride and joy from the rooftops if social media didn't provide him that outlet.

Makes sure his daughter knows that she is gorgeous, she is loved, and passes on every bit of self-confidence he has. Doesn't matter if she grows up a girly-girl, tomboy, or anything else under the sun. When you're feeling good just being you, heads will turn on their own accord!

Not the best at discipline and would only really step in if he thinks she's being a real jerk about something. Day to day attitude adjustments are totally up to the MC.

He is, however, the best sex-ed teacher one could ever ask for and makes sure his daughter knows there's no shame in what comes natural, just be sure you're respectful and responsible!

Completely unfazed when the suitors began lining up, I mean she is HIS daughter. It was inevitable. Offers tips and advice when he can but lets her go off and experiment naturally. Young love is a beautiful thing! (Just don't break his girl's heart though because he may lowkey curse your whole bloodline)

Beelzebub

….. MC, you're going to be eaten out of house and home.

Though his daughter's appetite isn't AS bad as his, Beel could tell it's going to be an issue from day one but he's ready for it.

Dedicates his freaking life to being sure she never goes one night hungry. He'll cook, he'll shop, he'll even share from his own plate if he has to. The thought of her going through anywhere near the level of starvation he feels on a daily basis is enough to crush his soul (if he has one)

You better bet there will be eating competitions. She never wins, but the fact she can even get close will have him grinning anyway.

That being said, he will push for a healthy and active lifestyle for her too.

Highkey wants her playing sports and doing team activities because he genuinely thinks it will help her stay healthy and make friends.

Just the right amount of discipline. Tries to be understanding but also knows when to call a spade, a spade and express his disapproval.

Very in-tune to her emotions and her needs even if he can’t quite grasp WHY she's feeling the way she is. Keeping up with teen drama is going to be the bane of his existence...

Uncle Belphie=That one cool uncle who lets you get away with anything and probably gives out sugar after bedtime.

One of the only brothers who makes a point of his daughter also seeing and exploring her human heritage too and not just treating her like a pseudo-demon… And it's totally not just for the added excuse of sampling human world cuisine, like, come on who do you take him for? 🤫

Somewhat cautious about her dating, but ultimately just wants her to be happy. He'll usually trust her judgment but he's pretty good at reading someone's character and if he gets real bad vibes from anyone he's not above telling her, "No. Not that one." Whether or not he's listened to depends on the situation.

Belphegor

Lol MC, you could have picked a much better choice. Borderline Deadbeat/Cool Dad here!

Kids… not his thing. He doesn't dislike them exactly, they're just a lot of work and he's sort of allergic to that. He's more of a semi-irresponsible babysitter type.

Case in point, "Belphie, watch the baby" becomes "Belphie, if you're going to take a nap at least hold onto her leg so she doesn't go anywhere."

Only saving grace is she takes after him so most days she's pretty dang sleepy too. Naptime is a good third of the daily routine (not that anyone is complaining).

Shit at discipline because, like, what leg does he have to stand on? If she wants to ditch class, why not let her? Once or twice ain't that bad.

Takes her on a lot of "field trips" to the human world like he would with Lilith. Genuinely wants her to experience both sides of her identity and encourages her to explore her human side just as much as her demon.

The kind of chill dad that you feel comfortable going to when you've got to talk out a problem or need life advice. He might not be able to offer many answers, but he tries in his own way.

Will prank his kid and will not feel sorry, but is never cruel about it. In fact, this will only spur on a mutual prank war between the two.

Uncle Beel=that genuinely nice uncle who tries to teach you life lessons and how to take care of yourself… while also eating a ton of food.

Would be super confused at first if she started dating like?? How? He kind of sees her like a mini-him at times and his human came to him. Since when did she stay awake long enough to leave the house?? But otherwise he goes with the flow. Whatever she wants, her life.

He might get a bit more agitated if she starts to date a human, like, lowkey bad flashbacks to the whole Lilith situation and the MC would probably have to cool his jets about it. Different circumstances after all.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #shall-we-date-obey-me #obey me headcanons #obey me luficer #obey me leviathan #obey me mammon #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me scenarios

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whereisten · 4 years

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Porcelain

A Yangyang fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: After a falling out with your friends, you wander into a forest and find a mysterious mansion with an even more mysterious inhabitant, Yangyang.

Pairing: rich boy!Yangyang x female reader

Genre: romance, fluff, fantasy, mystery, suspense, drama

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: Violence

(A/N): hey y’all! So the timing for posting this story worked out so well because it’s Yangyang’s birthday (in America!) :D Anyway, this is our second story for our Halloween Series for NCT 2020 and we hope you enjoy! I’m so excited to be writing for one of my biases. I know my writing needs a lot of work but I hope you guys enjoy it. Yangyang is precious. Stan Yangyang, y’all. Shoutout to Krys for inspiring me everyday and for proofreading my story! You are my rock!

_______

It was October 10, the day in which your small town came together for a big bonfire to celebrate the fall season. Your town of Celestial was known for celebrating something every week but the atmosphere was always special at this time of the year. Classes ended for the week and your friends were excited to go to a party in the woods.

Unfortunately for you, you were abandoned off the side of the road after having a falling out with your friends Dowoon and Sana for blowing off the mayor’s son’s party. You’d recently been rebuffed by him in the senior hallway. Your rejection was followed by your classmates mocking you all day long. You wouldn’t be caught dead at Peter’s party. And you were especially in no mood to put up with your friends’ preference for a good party over their recently spurned friend’s feelings.

You said screw them but they would probably end up screwing each other anyway. They were platonic but their drunken hookups always said otherwise. So sometimes you felt like a third wheel. Which was also why you didn’t want to go. You wanted a new experience this spooky season. And you were probably getting one now that you were 2 miles outside of town. Damn your pride. Dowoon and Sana insisted you get back in the car but the driver, the school quarterback, quickly drove them off. What a sense of community, you thought.

It was freezing in Celestial at this time of year so you were layered up, saving your pair of ruby red mittens for last. The overcast sky appeared to promise snowfall. If not for tonight, the snow would surely fall tomorrow

You knew this area well enough to walk back into town but as you took a few steps forward, you noticed smoke in the distance. Like it was coming from a chimney.

That was odd, you thought. Who lived on this side of town?

As you walked in the direction of the smoke, you moved past the dense evergreen trees and before you knew it, you stumbled upon a mansion out of an old-time movie. Dating back to at most the 1800s. The mansion was a Renaissance chateau, big and domineering. Something that could’ve made Celestial a tourist destination like Asheville had with the Biltmore Estate.

How was it possible that anyone could live here, you thought. Surely, this would be the talk of the town if anyone knew. And if it was off-limits, it would’ve certainly kept the town on their toes.

The mansion was quiet and there was no trace of movement or inhabitants. Then again, it was large so you could be incorrect. The chateau’s main entrance was big and made of the most pristine marble. The only thing missing was a moat. There were several fountains in the entrance. The water froze due to the colder weather. You didn’t understand how you could keep moving forward. You didn’t know this place. You didn’t know who could be inside. But you found yourself taking steps up to the massive double doors. Your hand moved to the doorknob and turned it over. The door creaked open and without a second thought, you walked in.

The door slammed shut behind you but you weren’t afraid. In fact, you were mesmerized by the atmosphere of the mansion. From the outside the mansion looked preserved like a fine piece of art in a high-surveillance museum: cold and unwelcoming and way out of your price range. But on the inside, it felt...warm and bright. It felt like home. It smelled of cinnamon and freshly baked bread.

You walked through the entryway and found everything illuminated by candle light. There was no indication of light from the outside. It was almost as if the real goings-on were hidden from the outside world.

There were shoes at the entrance. You took your boots off to not track dirt into the residence. Winter coats were hung up on the coat rack. You hang your coat up as well. There was a half-full cup of tea that was beside the sofa of the sitting room. You admired the interior: the expansive first floor library, the dining room table that sat seven, the pristine kitchen area, the music room...

As you stood in the doorway of the music room, you heard the sounds of a violin playing a somber but sweet melody. Rather than grow alarmed, you longed to find the source, thinking that whatever it was could only bring you joy.

The music room was massive, with a skylight in the shape of a spade on the ceiling. The sunset colors of the sky never looked more stunning than they did at that moment. A grand piano lay at the center. You longed to touch it but something inside you warned you against it. Instruments of all kinds were splayed across the area. But there was no violin in sight.

When you turned around to continue exploring the mansion, that was when you found the source of the music.

A boy about your age stood before you with his violin rested against his collarbone. He continued to play as he smiled knowingly at you. He had straight brown hair that nearly fell into his warm brown eyes. He donned a black tuxedo that was more regal than modern. His eyes crinkled as he watched you, delighted to meet such a beautiful stranger.

You nearly jumped at his presence. “Who…are you?”

Quirking an eyebrow, he replied as he continued playing, “I should be asking you that. You’ve broken into our home.”

“Our?” You asked.

He shook his head. “What brings you here, miss?”

You knew you’d been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to but you couldn’t help it. This place called out to you and you’d hoped you could stay longer. But it looked like your time was up. You lamely said, “I…need to borrow your phone.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to. What’s this ‘phone’ you speak of?” His refined voice was not like that of the locals. He sounded well-traveled, worldly. But definitely from a long time ago.

The more you spoke to this young man, the more you realized that he didn’t sound like he lived in the same century as you.

You frowned. “You don’t know what a phone is? Come on, you’re kidding, aren’t you?”

He halted from playing and gave you a look. “Tell me. What is a phone?”

“…It’s a device that lets you speak to someone who isn’t with you…” You attempted an explanation that was as eloquent as possible, thinking that if you spoke in a more refined tone, he would get what you were saying. Where on earth could this boy have been from to not know what a phone is? He really sounded like someone from a century past.

“Like a medium?” He asked as he set his violin down in its case. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked slowly back to you. Your breathing stalled as his face was mere inches from yours. He was indeed very handsome. His high cheekbones. His glorious tan skin. A pearly white set of teeth. His legs were dangerously long as he faced you.

Your face warmed up and you hoped he couldn’t tell. You backed away as you locked your eyes on the piano instead. “No…It’s like if I were two miles away from here and you needed to get a hold of me, you could use a phone to contact me on another phone. It’s an electronic device.”

He nodded. “Oh, I’ve heard of those…My family and I could not acquire them, unfortunately.” His expression became sad, longing.

Hearing his defeated voice, you turned to him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Why is that?”

He looked at you, defeated. “I’d rather not say, miss…”

“Y/n,” you answered.

“Y/n,” he replied, liking the sound of your name.

“It’s okay,” you replied, “I should probably go…I’ve overstayed my welcome, sir….Your name?”

“Yangyang,” he answered, anticipating the sound of his name off of your lips.

“Yangyang…Would it be possible to get a ride back into town? I can pay you for your trouble.”

He smiled apologetically. “My sincerest apologies but I’ve no means to take you.”

“Oh…” It was all you could say.

You felt a small pang of worry at the pit of your stomach, especially now that night had fallen. Perhaps, you could make your way back into town if Yangyang offered you a torch. He would have that much, at the very least.

“It’s dangerous to go out on your own at this time of night, y/n…” He said, quietly. It was a little eerie that he read your mind at that moment.

“I know. I’m such a fool…I couldn’t borrow my father’s phone for the night so I have no way of calling anyone…I…just couldn’t help myself when I walked in here…” You said as you looked around the music room. “It was like…”

“Something pulled you in,” he finished.

“Yes, exactly.”

Yangyang began, “I know it’s out of turn for me to say this but I can offer you a room to stay in for the night…Then, you can make your way back into town in the morning.”

You were beyond lucky your parents weren’t home for the weekend. Otherwise, they’d be worried sick. But even so…How could you say yes to a total stranger? Even if you were only a few miles out of town, you didn’t know Yangyang. You didn’t know what his intentions could be.

Another part of you told you to trust him. Because what would you do in the woods at night? You couldn’t account for the wolves or the other creatures of the night. You didn’t know who else could linger in the woods.

As far as you could tell, Yangyang was an odd but attractive guy. And if he was offering a separate space for you to sleep in, then you should take it.

_______

There was a snowstorm in a matter of minutes when Yangyang escorted you upstairs. How odd for it to be snowing in early October, you thought. You rejoiced over how your jerk of a crush's party was a bust. You wondered if Sana and Dowoon made it home safely. You wondered if they worried about you now. After they left you in the middle of the road.

Maybe you should stop being friends with them. You felt like you were more disappointed in them with each passing week. You wondered when they would do something for you. It always seemed to fall on you to pick them up from parties and cover for them when their parents called your house when they went to a 21+ club. You just wanted a simple night in to watch a movie and share ghost stories. Maybe they didn’t want to do those things anymore.

You wouldn’t say they grew up but maybe...the three of you just grew apart.

You pushed thoughts of them to the back of your mind as Yangyang stood in front of an ornate door, decorated with flower engravings, painted in several colors. The initials at the bottom were “W.T.”.

Yangyang pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door for you. He handed the set of golden keys to you. “These are yours for the duration of your stay. You can trust no one will come in...Unless it be your wish, y/n.”

He dropped the keys into your hands. “Thank you,” you whispered.

Yangyang smiled. “You are welcome. Supper will be ready in an hour. I’ll come for you when it is time.”

You couldn’t look at him for too long without your eyes burning. He was too radiant. Too beautiful. Almost otherworldly. You looked down at your socks as you entered the room. You shut it gently behind you.

You locked the door from the inside, trusting that Yangyang gave you the only set. You took a sigh of relief as you took in the bedroom.

This had to be a mistake, you thought.

This had to be the master room. It felt like you were in a 19th century penthouse suite, if such a thing had existed. Your room for the night started with a fireplace and a sitting area. When you walked past it, you entered the study area that was bigger than the first floor of your house. You had a massive walk-in closet filled with gowns and shoes of every color. You even had a room full of fine jewelry on display, including tiaras studded with diamonds. Your mouth remained open as you walked through the “bedroom”.

You shouldn’t have access to any of these things. For they must have belonged to someone. Why would Yangyang let you sleep in here?

Lastly, as your heart couldn’t take anymore, the bedroom was plush and luxurious. The carpet embraced the soles of your feet. After resisting the urge to touch everything else in the bedroom, you allowed yourself to sit on the king-sized bed.

Sleeping in this bed would’ve compensated for all of the all-nighters you’ve pulled in your life. It was a shame you wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, though.

You were many things. Naive, innocent, studious, and quite impulsive at times. But you weren’t about to fall asleep in a stranger’s home.

Half an hour passed as you washed up and warmed up by the fireplace.

Yangyang knocked at your door. You thought it odd that he would be escorting you down himself. Shouldn’t he have servants, living in a place like this?

You opened the door and Yangyang stared at you in shock.

“What?” You frowned. You looked exactly the same as you did when you first met him, he realized.

“Were none of the gowns to your liking?” Yangyang asked, genuinely confused.

You did a double take. “What? Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly...Those aren’t mine. I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality. No more than I already have.”

Yangyang was stunned at your decision. He thought you would have tried on all of the dresses in the past half hour and don the diamond tiara with golden accents...But no...The suite he’d given you was relatively untouched. You were certainly a woman of your word. You would’ve looked stunning in the red sleeveless dress, he thought. He snapped out of it and said, “No matter. You had the option...That’s why I gave you this room. Everything within these mansion walls is at your disposal.”

You laughed. “You’ve done more than enough for me so don’t worry. Now...can we go eat? I really can’t turn down a meal.” You hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

Yangyang laughed at your candor. “Of course.”

As you walked down the grand wooden staircase, you could hear more people in the house. You heard chairs being pulled, laughter, clinking of glasses, and the piano being played.

You turned to Yangyang. “Who...”

Yangyang replied, “My brothers will be joining us for supper.”

“Oh,” you said, surprised. When you entered, you were shocked enough that Yangyang was there. Who knew more people resided here? Up until now, it was so quiet that you could probably hear a pin drop.

That, and Yangyang’s violin. Which you longed to hear again.

You felt quite underdressed upon meeting Yangyang’s brothers in the dining room, which boasted a lot of paintings and miniature statues to the men who stood before you. There was another grand piano in the dining area, where one of Yangyang’s brothers sat and played a lively piece. Three of the brothers were laughing about an anecdote that the tallest of the group told. The final two men sat as...to your surprise, servants finished setting the dining table, lighting the flames of the candles in the center. The servants’ dresses had turned up collars with plain neckties. Yangyang’s brothers all donned suits of dark reds, blues, and grays. They looked like members of a royal family.

At the sight of you, the music stopped and all of the men started moving towards you and Yangyang.

“Yangyang, an introduction is in order,” the pianist asked as he got up from his seat.

“Brothers, this is y/n. She is staying with us before she returns to town in the morning,” Yangyang said, the humor in his voice when he spoke with you vanished. He moved closer to you, you noticed.

The pianist asked for your hand and kissed it. “Enchanted to meet you, y/n. I am Wei Kun, the oldest of the Wei children.”

You coughed, a little shocked at how forward Kun was. It was a culture shock to you. Most boys thought they were too damn special to ever make eye contact with you.

You shook hands with the other brothers. They were all very happy to see you. But you couldn’t quite place what kind of joy it was so you remained on your toes.

“Please, sit,” Winwin said as he led you to the seat right next to the head of the table. Kun sat down at the head of the table and smiled at you. The rest of the brothers joined you.

The servants began to bring out the drinks and the first course. Ten was about to sit next to you when Yangyang immediately claimed the seat.

“Calm down, brother,” Ten said, “It won’t do you harm to let her sit beside someone other than you.”

Yangyang remained in his seat. “She is my guest.”

Ten chuckled as he sat across from you. “So y/n, what brings you to this neck of the woods?”

A servant poured a glass of water for you. “Thank you,” you replied and tried to meet her eyes.

The servant quickly turned away and headed to the kitchen, you assumed. That was odd.

“Well,” you continued, “My friends and I were going to a party in the woods. We got into a fight and I got out of the car that was on the road not too far from here…”

“A car?” Xiaojun frowned, his bold eyebrows furrowed. He took a bite of his salad.

So these men didn’t know phones or cars... “Oh...Well, they’re these machines that can transport people from place to place…”

“Like a carriage?” Yangyang offered.

“Ah.” The rest of the boys said in realization.

You nodded as you drank your water, “Yes, but it runs on gasoline.”

The boys were amazed at your tales about modern technology. You went into as much detail as you could about phones and cars. The boys were an odd bunch. It was almost as if they never left this house.

Although it seemed like that, they told you tales of their travels to Asia, South America, and Europe. They told you about their cultural expeditions and their visits to the natural wonders of the world. Ten, the painter of the family, motioned to the paintings you’d seen earlier. They were paintings of places like Machu Picchu, the Colosseum, and the Parthenon. They were paintings of the places they visited. They were so vivid and lifelike. Ten was an incredible painter. Talent ran in the family, that was a sure thing. You were as much in awe of their tales. You were thankful the spotlight wasn’t on you like you’d expected, being the sole stranger of this household.

You enjoyed the salad, the tomato soup, the roasted duck, and the dessert, which happened to be your favorite: strawberry shortcake.

“Would you care for another slice?” Yangyang asked in a whisper as the other boys talked. He noticed your face come alive at the first bite of the cake.

You nearly choked on the last bite of your slice. You must have looked gluttonous to him. You should’ve eaten slower, you thought. You must have not been very ladylike at that moment. You shook your head. “That’s alright. Thank you. Everything was delicious.”

Yangyang looked at you once again in confusion. You clearly wanted another slice so why weren’t you asking for it, he asked himself. “Very well…” He murmured.

Lucas got up from the table. “Well, Yangyang, the boys and I will retire early...Although we wish you would let us be in y/n’s company…”

Yangyang quickly replied, “Good evening, brothers.”

They all pouted but wished you a good evening.

You laughed. “Your brothers are a lot of fun.”

Yangyang scoffed. “That’s one word for them. The minute they caught wind that I had a visitor, they insisted on joining us for dinner. I am so sorry, y/n. You must have been overwhelmed.”

You shook your head. “It’s nice to know that it isn’t just you in this house.”

Yangyang was stunned at your words. You were so...kind. Thinking of others, always. Thinking of him, basically a total stranger. You were as kind as you were trusting. It made his heart ache.

He pulled your seat back for you. He offered his arm. “Are you tired?”

Exhausted, actually. But once again, you were in a stranger’s house. And now that you knew he wasn’t alone, you wanted to be more on guard.

“Nope...I am wide awake.” You smiled as you took his arm. He was warm to the touch. The electricity ran between both of you.

Yangyang laughed. “What would you like to do, y/n?”

“I’d like to hear you play,” you said.

He was shocked at your honesty. He liked when you expressed yourself honestly most of all.

It was the truth, you thought. Frankly, it was part of your ruse to stay up as late as possible but if Yangyang could keep you entertained, it would certainly help a lot.

And truly, you could listen to his violin for hours.

_______

Back in the music room, you sat on the couch, serving as Yangyang’s audience. He loosened his tie and took off his jacket, setting it aside on a chair. He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt.

He warmed up his hands and fingers for a few minutes before he tuned the strings of his violin. His fingers were so elegant and slender. The veins of his arms protruded as he flexed his hands. He looked so focused and determined and just unbelievably beautiful. The violin was an extension of his heavenly hands. This was the most attractive he’d ever been. You bit your lip.

You told yourself to calm down, for he was a complete stranger.

Sure, up until this point, he gave you the bedroom of your dreams. A dinner that nearly brought you to tears from the flavor and comfort it gave you. And he was playing his beloved instrument for you...But you couldn’t get attached so quickly.

He couldn’t meet your gaze because the look in your eyes made him feel something he wasn’t prepared to acknowledge. Time had slipped quickly and his heart was deceiving him when it shouldn’t have.

“So...what will you be playing first?” You asked. How many songs could you get out of him before you both retired to your rooms?

Yangyang grinned excitedly. “An original I’ve been working on...I finished composing it today.”

“Really? Today?” You asked.

He gave you the knowing smile he had the moment you met him. “You helped me finish it.”

“Is that so? Well, I’m ready when you are.” You smiled, about to kick your legs up like an overly excited schoolgirl.

“The piece is called ‘Found’,” Yangyang said as he positioned his bow against the strings and began.

Yangyang was truly an otherworldly being, especially under the skylight. The snowstorm was long gone and only the moonlight shone down on him. His skin illuminated like porcelain. His sculpted face tilted as he immersed himself in his song.

You realized the song was the piece he played when you entered the music room the first time. The song was somber at first. The notes were low and left you feeling down. Yangyang’s face was so melancholic at the start of the song. However, as he continued, the notes became lighter and freer, picking up towards the end, signifying hope. Your heart swayed with each three-note chord he played.

You weren’t entirely sure of the story behind the song but meeting you must not have been a low point of his day.

You clapped for Yangyang. “I loved it! It’s...too beautiful to be called merely beautiful...You are so talented.”

Yangyang’s cheeks were now a rosy pink. He bowed for you. “Thank you.”

You laughed giddily. You wished you could’ve recorded this performance, you longed to keep it with you for the rest of your life.

Yangyang continued playing his original pieces. He was truly gifted in his craft. His compositions were nothing to sneeze at. He should be a world-famous musician with all of the work he’d done.

As he played, he would meet your eyes and give you a little smile. You could watch him for hours. He could play for you for hours.

You two were in this perfect little bubble, then. Reality didn’t take effect. It was divine.

Yangyang’s hands grew tired and after his last song, he sat beside you.

“You look sleepy, y/n,” he noted, “Did my performance actually bore you?” He mocked taking offense.

You fought a yawn but couldn’t let it escape you so turned away from him. You lifted a finger and told him to wait.

You let out a yawn, trying not to be noisy. Yes, you were tired. A long day at school, a falling out with your friends, and an evening at the Wei Mansion did its number on you.

You faced Yangyang again. “I’m wide awake.”

Yangyang lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. “Perhaps you would like something to drink?”

You nodded. “Something warm...Would hot cocoa be possible?”

“Absolutely. It’s a staple at this household this time of year,” he said.

He offered his hand to you and you took it. Both of you were taken aback by how immediate you were to hold hands but neither of you let go as Yangyang led you into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, he tended to you. The servants were nowhere in sight. The mansion felt like it had when you first came in: empty.

It felt like you two were the only people in this house, a world in itself.

He poured you a cup of cocoa he made and you were in love. The cocoa tasted amazing. You drank it slowly, savoring every sip.

You shivered a little from the cold that creeped into the mansion. Yangyang left for a moment and returned with a blanket. He wrapped it around you.

It was plush and made of the softest material you could ever imagine. If you snuggled too much against it, you would fall asleep right then and there.

But your energy started picking up again...It must have been the cocoa.

“We can go into the library...I’ll start up the fire.” Yangyang offered as he drank his cup of cocoa.

It seemed Yangyang was eager to stay awake with you, you thought.

“Aren’t you tired?” You asked.

He looked up from his cup. “What?”

“You don’t have to force yourself to stay up with me. I’m the one who can’t sleep.”

Yangyang knew you were keeping yourself awake on purpose. He knew you didn’t completely trust him or this house. Slowly, however, you opened yourself up to him and he was quite fond of you. He wanted to be by your side for the night. He didn’t know why exactly but he just did.

He met your gaze. “I hope it is not too forward of me to say this...But I want to remain at your side.”

You looked down, flattered at his words. Then, you mustered your courage and met his unwavering stare. “Okay.”

The truth was, you felt safer with Yangyang. And you couldn’t lie to yourself: you liked him. He was kind, attentive, charming, and a wonderful musician. The moment you met him made you forget all of your troubles...if only for a moment.

You two walked into the dome-shaped library. It was bigger than any commercial bookstore. You wondered how old the family’s collection was.

Yangyang started the fire at the fireplace by the reading couches. He motioned for you to take a seat.

You sat down and nearly sank into the couch. It was so comfortable. You were living in the lap of luxury.

“Y/n, are you alright?” Yangyang asked.

You laughed. “Yeah...why?”

“Your eyes rolled to the back of your head,” he said, smiling confusedly.

You laughed again. “It’s because this couch is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on.”

Yangyang smiled and shook his head. “The simplest things please you.”

“Nothing about this house is simple,” you said.

He shook his head, smiling at you and picked up a book off of the shelf. He scanned the title and the summary. “What do you like to read, y/n?”

You answered, “Horror.”

Yangyang’s eyes widened. “Really?”

You nodded. “Yes. I like the suspense and the kinds of creatures the writers come up with.”

Yangyang was wrong to assume you were a romance kind of girl. He’d hoped to woo you with some Shakespeare. He took it in stride and put the book he had back on the shelf. He took a rolling step ladder and positioned it farther away from you. He got up on the steps and picked up another book off the shelf.

“It’s called ‘The Mysterious Mansion’,” he said, biting back a laugh.

“How fitting,” you said, laughing.

You and Yangyang shared a couch as you took turns reading to each other. The story was dark and twisted but got your heart racing.

Well, maybe Yangyang’s being so close to you may have had something to do with it.

The hours pass and you finish off the last page. Yangyang leaned against the other end of the couch and simply watched you. He loved the sound of your voice and the way it cracked.

He gave you a glass of water to relax your voice. He loved how your eyes scanned word for word. The crease between your eyes as you interpreted the author’s words. But you kept on reading aloud. He’d read “The Mysterious Mansion’ several times but this time was his favorite reread.

You could hear Yangyang talk forever when you heard him read the passages. His voice was soothing and full of wonder. The grin on his face right before he read a twist to the story. The crinkle of his nose when he laughed at your reactions. He’d become a friend.

A friend you wanted to kiss.

This was the most fun you’d ever had. This cold October night with this enchanting young man. You kinda wished it would never end but you were still resolved to...Stay...awake…

Your eyes grew heavy and you curled yourself against the couch. You pulled the blanket tighter around you.

Yangyang realized you were drifting. He quickly moved over to you and shook you awake.

You two had stayed up all night and it was nearing daybreak. And he had to move fast.

“Y/n!” He yelled to wake you up.

You grumbled. “What?”

“Please wake up. You need to leave right now,” Yangyang demanded.

You rubbed your eyes and snapped out of it. How the hell did you almost fall asleep, you fool, you thought to yourself. The alarm in Yangyang’s voice also was a cause for concern. “What’s wrong?” You asked.

He shook his head rampantly. “There’s no time to explain. Do you have everything?”

You nodded. “I have to get my coat and boots at the entrance.”

Yangyang grabbed your hand and you both ran towards the entrance. You put your coat and boots on. Yangyang did the same and he nearly dragged you out the door. You quickly moved down the staircase and set foot on the dewy grass. Yangyang kept his foot on the last step of the staircase.

The sky overhead was mostly black but shades of oranges, pinks, and red were breathing through. Dawn was imminent.

That was when you realized you had no mittens. You’d left them in the bedroom.

Yangyang noticed your bare hands. He pulled off his royal blue mittens and slipped them onto your hands.

“You don’t have to-“ You started.

“I want you to have them. A fair trade. Yours for mine?” He smiled.

He squeezed your hands before he let them go.

“Thank you...for tonight, Yangyang,” you said. Even though it was through the weather and the night that you had no other choice, you had a magical night with a boy who was so wonderful, he must’ve been out of a classic novel. He’d treated you like a friend and listened to you: about what you wanted to do and what you liked. You’d wished you could’ve gotten to know him more but you appreciated that he listened to you attentively.

You were sad the night had ended but you’d succeeded in staying up nearly the whole night at least. You were meant to leave now. You’d overstayed your welcome and you needed to get home. That was the most important thing.

Yangyang moved closer to you and moved some hair away from your face. He touched your cheek with the back of his hand. Once again, you both did something with no thought.

You got up on the staircase and kissed him. He pulled you in to deepen the kiss. He picked you up off the ground as he continuously took your breath away.

But as quickly as this piece of utter bliss started, it quickly ended.

He let you go and set you down on the grass. “Goodbye, y/n.”

“Goodbye, Yangyang.” As you walked into the forest, you turned back once more and watched as Yangyang stood there, his face unreadable.

You waved at him and his expression softened as he waved back.

You laughed as you turned back now and kept on moving. The path to the main road took a little longer than expected because it was still dark. However, the sun rose before you knew it and you were able to see the main road again.

And you were shocked to find several people on the main road. Cop cars were parked off the side of the road. A news reporter for Channel 23 News could be heard saying.

“It is Day 8 into the search for y/n y/l/n. She was last seen on this road, Road 116 by her friends and has not returned home. If you have seen y/n or have any information that can help our police force find her, please call the number on the screen: 1-800-RES-CUES. Again, that’s 1-800-RES-CUES.”

Dowoon and Sana were being interviewed by another news station.

Dowoon was on the brink of tears, his eyes stained red. “This is all our fault.”

Choking on her tear, Sana continued, “We shouldn’t have left her on the road...We thought she went home...We were so stupid…”

What the hell was going on?

You walked into the road and several people turn to you in shock. They gasped and screamed your name.

Your parents broke out of the crowd of people that has accumulated. “Y/n!” They both yell.

They run up to you and wrap their arms around you, weeping hysterically.

Your mom yelled, “Y/n, where have you been? My baby!”

Your dad held your face in his hands, “What happened to you? Are you alright?”

You were shocked at their reaction. “What are you guys doing here? I thought you guys were in New York until tomorrow.”

Your parents, not letting you go, gave each other a meaningful look.

Your mom’s eyebrows furrowed. “Tomorrow? Y/n, we came back a week ago.”

You laughed in disbelief. “No, you guys left Friday morning, yesterday morning.”

Your dad shook his head. “Y/n, you’ve been missing for a week now.”

You laughed again. “No...You guys are messing with me.”

But then you looked around at all of the worried looks on the people’s faces. The police officers came right over. You even saw Dowoon and Sana sobbing not too far from Sana’s car.

“You guys...I stayed in a mansion not too far from here for the night because of the snow…”

“What mansion? What snow?” Your parents asked in unison.

You darted your eyes to everyone else and whispered to them. “Come with me.”

“Y/n, we need to get you home…” Your mom pleaded.

You shook your head. “I need to show you where I was and that I wasn’t in danger.”

“Y/n, we should tell the police-” Your father offered.

“No!” You snapped. “Please trust me. He didn’t do anything to me. He’s my friend.”

At the mention of “he”, your parents were up in arms and motioned for the police to come over.

“We will go with you, y/n…” Your mom said.

She meant that they’ll go with you if you have a police escort.

You shook your head and led the party to the mansion. You couldn’t believe this. Missing for seven days? That was impossible. You’d only been gone for the night. How could anyone have known you’d been gone? Your parents were away.

Once you got out of the forest to the Wei mansion, you saw that there was no mansion. Only an abandoned cabin.

What?

“Is this where you were detained, y/n?” Police Officer A asked.

“I was not detained. This isn’t the mansion I-”

“A mansion?” Everyone looked at you skeptically.

You entered the cabin, knowing that everything you believed in was slipping through your fingers. Tears quickly ran down your cheeks. The cabin was shabby, the furniture inside covered in dust. It had been unlived in for quite some time.

“Y/n!” Your parents yelled.

The police rushed in after you and Police Officer B held you back. “Let me go!” You demanded.

“It’s dangerous.”

The police officers searched the entire cabin three times over and came up with nothing. “There is no trace of anyone having been here for years,” Police Officer A said.

Well, of course not, this wasn’t the mansion that you stayed at.

Clearly, the more time passed, the more concerned everyone looked. It was possible you heard the words “rehab” and “therapy” and “mental break” thrown around.

You had to calm down. You knew you weren’t crazy. You knew it because you wore Yangyang’s gloves.

Yangyang.

Where is he? Where were his brothers? Where was the Wei mansion?

Police Officer B released you and you browsed the area. Your parents trailed behind you. You entered one of the bedrooms, encased in dust. You sneezed and found a chest with a lock on it. The chest was engraved with the letter “W” at the center.

You recognized the engraving. It was the same handwriting from the bedroom door in the Wei Mansion. Your bedroom door...The keys.

You remembered you still had them in your pocket. It was a long shot but you pulled them out. You placed the key inside of the lock and opened the chest.

You found seven porcelain dolls. The dolls were more sophisticated than any doll sold at the local stores. They were almost lifelike. The way their eyes and lips were drawn. Each doll bared a striking resemblance to the Wei brothers. You could see them all: Kun, Ten, Winwin, Lucas, Xiaojun, Hendery, and…

Yangyang.

The last doll was definitely Yangyang. The doll held a toy violin and wore…

Your ruby red mittens.

Fin.

_______

Epilogue.

Yangyang sat in the music room alone, holding on tightly to your red mittens.

Hendery charged into the room. His brothers trailed behind. “You fool! Why did you let her go?”

Yangyang shrugged. “I’ve had it.”

“What are you talking about?” Xiaojun demanded. “You were smitten with her. She was clearly enamored with you.”

Kun laughed. “It’s because he’s in love with her.”

All of the boys looked at their oldest brother, confused. Yangyang avoided their stares.

“You changed your mind,” Kun murmured.

Yangyang sighed, “She was not like-”

Winwin rolled his eyes. “Please do not give us the story of ‘she was not like other girls’. She seduced you and you let her go. You fell for her game. She outsmarted you.”

Yangyang snapped. “Do not test me, brother.”

Ten interjected. “Okay, okay, everyone needs to calm down...We are just curious...Why? She could have stayed here with us forever...With you forever.”

Yangyang didn’t want to speak to them. Every moment that passed, he missed you more. “She did not wear the jewels or the dresses...She left everything untouched. She did not come to us because she sought material possessions. She wanted a friend…”

Lucas laughed. “How pathetic.”

Yangyang groaned. “You lot would not understand…”

“Do not act like you are better than us, little brother,” Kun began condescendingly.

“I am not-”

“You think you’re better than us because you let a prisoner go this time, do you not? Well, let me bring you back to reality. Our spirits are confined into those tacky porcelain dolls...So what do we do to ease ourselves? We bring people into this realm to reside with us. Materialistic, selfish, and vain people. Y/n is no different from the rest of them.”

“Shut up,” Yangyang muttered.

The rest of the boys were stunned to silence but Kun heard him clearly. “Repeat that, Yangyang. You know the consequences.”

Yangyang got up and shoved your mittens in his pockets. “Shut up, Kun.”

Kun smiled and laughed. The other boys faked laughter so as not to upset Kun even more. His smile quickly faded as he punched Yangyang to the ground.

Kun gave Yangyang a harsh beating and the rest of the brothers watched. No one dared to step in and upset Kun even further. Yangyang couldn’t blame his brothers. Besides, he wanted this. He wanted to feel a pain other than the pain of missing you.

He may have been damned for the rest of eternity but he was thankful to have met you. You proved to him that not everyone could be consumed by the deadly sins, as he and his brothers had. You were an angel that gave you a moment of compassion, of affection. And for that he would always be thankful.

_______

Come back tomorrow the third installment in our Halloween Series! :)

598 notes · View notes

witchlyboo · 3 years

Text

Definitely, maybe.

Part three: The one with the biggest head.

Introduction. Part 1. Part 2. Part 4. Part 5.

Paring: Latina!reader x Logan Lerman x Tom Holland x Ben Hardy x Timothee Chalamet x Pedro Pascal x Michael B. Jordan

Warnings: angst??? language, misspellings, and me learning how to write properly.

Word count: 5.5 k

a/n: This Timothée is also an actor but not based in the real one, this is all for drama purposes. This took me a long time thanks to college but I'm on vacation now so you'll see me more, also, 150 followers is a lot for me so thanks to everyone that decided that I'm interesting enough.

“He wrote his number on my left boob and drew a penguin with a spade next to it.” You say to Beth, your new friend and the other unpaid helper, a beautiful dark skin woman with two kids, something that made you respect her instantly, being a mother sounds hard enough, but two, Dios.

Two weeks ago was your first day at work, and even when you tried so bad not to get too excited, every single thing in it was even better than you imagined. The movie you’re helping is some kind of Pride and Prejudice, or that’s what you can tell by the costumes since you can’t read the script or go to the set yet, you're some kind of intern anyway.

“Sophisticated” She mumbles sarcastically while you iron one of the extra's pants, of course, do this isn’t the funniest part of the journey but it’s ok, you are learning a lot, meeting interesting people and of course, Jacqueline Durran. People say meet your idols is disappointing but this isn't the case, she's a sweet and hardworking woman, you haven't much time to talk with her but see her in action is enough satisfaction. For now. “My husband hid my wedding ring in my son's tooth under his pillow when I was about to change it for money, so he isn't a standard for romance either.”

“The Tooth Fairy, you meant.” You whisper when some people of the crew enter the trailer looking for something.

“No, we don't do that, I won't let that bitch take the credit for my money, no Santa, no Easter Bunny, anything.” You look at her like she just said her children eat only purple food.

“What, why?”

“I don't like to lie to them and they have the whole experience with gifts, money, and stuff. The point is, people have weird ways to express their affection, maybe Ben wanted you to know how much he likes your body and the penguin is a metaphor of how it's not just physical, a funny sparkle. Oh, and the spade is because he is a serial murder but you are his only exception.”

“What's your problem with Santa?” You ask ignoring the rest of her speech, the relationship with Ben is, weird, sometimes you feel like he likes you too much, and then ignores you for three days, you try not to think about it, you send messages to each other constantly with memes and shitpost, nothing serious, not that you wanted to but no appreciate the confusion. Beth hit you on the head with a fabric roll and you laugh.

“I don't like the idea of an old white man getting in my house in the middle of the night, and you're changing the subject.” But she didn't have time to elaborate because they called you to meet Durran outside the building. All the interns being anxious and ready to jump off a cliff if she asks for it.

“I need extra hands on set so everyone comes with me. You bring an extra makeup box.” She said pointing at some guy you never talked to “And you get ahead and prepare Anya.” She said to Beth. This is the most exciting moment you ever got, meet the actors, see the set and do some real and important work for the movie. “I'll take all the assistants with me today but as usual Mr. Chalamet arrived late so I need someone to prepare him.” She is examining everyone until her eyes stop on you, a little pink Chihuahua full of energy and emotion. “Yeah, you darling, you seem pretty and he probably won't eat you alive, he's in his truck. Everyone else, come with me.” She claps her hands, sign to everyone to do what they have to.

Oh, shit.

On one hand, you have your first important task, on the other, you have to deal with the biggest pain in the ass in Hollywood. Mr. Chalamet is a huge diva, with a bad mood and cute hair, you weren't disappointed to hear that, he already has a reputation as a hot brunette Draco Malfoy being bossy around the set. Why everyone seems to forget that, what's the secret behind being a total jerk and get away with it? Being handsome, yes, being the son of one of the most important actors of his time, ok, but most importantly, he is extremely good in what he does. Everyone thought he would be slowly lost in his father's shadow as many other nepobabies but he got two Oscar nominations for two different movies oh his debut year and since that, every movie he is part of, is a blockbuster.

Being constantly compared with someone must be stressful and sometimes you feel empathy for him; but not now, no when you see him sitting in his trailer like Joffrey Baratheon asking for your head. But that's not the right attitude, you are extremely professional and you promised yourself not to be on the list of fired people by him, and who knows, meet him could be exciting.

“Good morning.” You say trying to sound more self-confident than you actually are, you don't bother to look at him and go directly to the work table, he doesn't seem to care since is too busy watching his phone. His makeup it's done and his costume on, so the last thing to do is his hair, the new American treasure. He is sitting in front of the mirror wall, with a serious face and no intentions of giving you a good first impression.

“Where’s Fake Blonde Big Ears?” He says abruptly, surprising you, You give a little jump that you hope he didn’t see. His eyes connected with his phone with no interruption, not even a glance; you were aware that he is mean but, is he really ignoring your pretty white boots with tiny shiny strawberries that you sewed yourself, on purpose? There’s no way he didn’t see them, he isn’t ignoring you because he’s too cool to talk with an intern like you, he is ignoring you because he’s acting cool, and for some reason, that gives you some kind of comfort.

“Who?” You ask with a voice that sounds way softer and high than you pretended. You cough trying to clarify your throat and start preparing the brushes, you know how to do his hair, you studied every single part of the costume department for a moment like this, all of the helpers did, you don't have any reason to be nervous.

“If you have an audition problem tell me now, I hate repeating stuff, something that obviously isn’t a problem with Fake. Blonde. Big. Ears” He said the last part slowly as if he was talking to a senior person. You grip the brush hard until your fingertips turn white, but you managed yourself and start fixing his hair.

“I don’t have a problem but I don’t know anyone with that name.” Good, a diplomatic answer, kind, polite, no need to start a fight with your temporary boss, tomorrow you will be back at the studio with nice dresses and leather boots, they'd never insult someone for their looks, and most importantly, they can't fire you.

“I’d call acting idiot a problem, you know who I talk about and you choose to play dumb and be nice instead.” You look at him through the mirror to find his big green inexpressive eyes looking directly at your soul, slowly taking the life of it, or that’s how you feel it.

Don't look at a violent animal directly to the eye, advice your grandma gave you once and this is the perfect example of it.

“I don’t see why not being an asshole is a problem.” You almost regret saying that, but he was pushing you just in the right places and your temper is winning over you. Your hot blood gives you confidence enough to keep doing your work, doesn't matter what he says or what power he has. You work for Jacqueline, not him.

“Are you calling me an asshole?” He asks with the same stupid beautiful face, but you take the look away of the violent animal, hoping that's enough for him to not bite.

“Did you call me idiot?” You say ignoring the gaze that is pointing at you like the red dot sight of a gun in your forehead.

“I said you play like an idiot.”

“Then I guess I did.” And before he could say anything else you turn on the hairdryer and keep doing your thing gladly that you have to move your hands too much so he can’t see them shaking. You are pretty sure that you will regret every decision you made since you entered this room but it’s too late to get back to the nice girl.

An assistant knocked on the door giving the five minutes remain and you stop holding your breath, the fresh memory of the world outside this trailer is enough to keep you sane.

“Done.” You say finally putting the things you used back in their place, waiting for him to leave, but he is not leaving, of course, he doesn’t care about getting late for the shooting, everyone is there for him including you.

“You didn’t answer my question.” The sound of his voice behind you gives shiver to your spine even when he isn’t that close. You feel really stupid for giving him that power over you, is just a bully and you're not scared of them.

“Her name is Paulette and she’s helping on set.” Her ears are that big? You never noticed it, that makes you wonder what bad things he sees in you that you don’t.

“You look at people when they talk to you. Turn around.” …What? You do what he asks with frown eyebrows, he must be kidding, there’s no way an adult could talk like that to another adult, you almost break in laughs. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry, is just that I’ve never seen a head this huge.” You respond with a soft smile, and walking beside him, ready to run to your freedom and probably dismissal. His hand in your arm stops you suddenly, the tension of your body warns you that your about to choose violence.

“Brave comment coming of the ugliest boots that ever existed.” You knew he saw them, don’t appreciate the review but he didn’t completely ignore you. “At least I hope they’re comfortable enough to walk through the unemployed life.”

“Oh, they are, thanks for the concern Mr. Chalamet, I don’t understand why everyone says you’re such a dickhead.” You have an extracorporeal experience listening to yourself, you can’t let him get into your head and give him reasons to fire you and take the only thing in your life that has sense. You calm your breathing and look at him with an eased expression. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't...”

“Don’t ruin it.” He cuts you off rolling his eyes and lowering his grip to your forearm, softer and even sweet, like an unintentional caress. Your confused face makes him smile and shakes his head. “Just when you got my attention.” He whispers in your ear and proceeds to leave the truck with no other explication, leaving a shocked and scared pink woman with the eyes wide open and about to fade out. He is even more terrifying when is kind.

↬☁︎

“I’m home!” You yell closing the apartment door behind you, ready to jump into the couch, watch a corny movie that you never would admit you like, and cry. “I need Sheep’s special soup, I had one of those days!” You keep yelling at the empty space and go directly to the fridge.

“She went to the store.” A male voice beside you makes you scream and throw a ketchup bottle at his bare chest since is the first thing you find.

“Who the fuck are you?!”

“Michael, I’m dating Stella, I thought you knew, hey.” He offers you his hand and you look at it cautiously.

“Prove it.” You respond still hiding behind the fridge's door and looking for another thing to throw at him, something more harmful after the unsuccessful condiment.

“Prove it?” He laughs crossing his arms surprised at your demand. “Ok then, Stella is 21 years old, studies acting, blonde with small beautiful blue eyes, and shares this apartment with his Hispanic best friend with commitment problems and anger issues.“ You gasped feeling hurt by the second stranger insulting you today.

“She would never say that… the anger issues at least.” You close the fridge door now sure that he isn’t some kind of thief pretending to fix the heater to rob your cool handmade dresses and paintings of random people at the park. Not today but those things will be priceless someday.

“Yeah, she didn’t say that part but I can hear you screaming in the background when I call her, so.”This is not a good day to put your attitude in perspective, you don't want to add anything to the stereotype of Hispanic people being loud and dramatic but maldita sea, these Americans couldn't be more annoying today.

“Ok I’m loud, does that means I have anger issues? Typical Michael, judge, nosy, a hateful know it all and whiney, yes she told me about you and I won't tell you which part of that is what she didn't say.”

“Heeeey!” Sheep opens the door at the perfect moment for her to hear you insulting her new boyfriend and you run to hug her because she is the only person that never makes you feel judged “Oh no, honey, what happened?” She leaves the shopping bags and wraps you with her arms softly caressing your back.

“I insulted Timothée Chalamet, he said that my boots are ugly, then your half-naked boyfriend with tiny nipples said I have anger issues, something that is probably true because I called my boss an asshole and I’m surely gonna get fired because he said that I got his attention and I don't know if he was flirting with me o threatening me to death.” You whine on her shoulder releasing everything you kept for yourself on the way back home.

“I'm going to need more information... Timothee Chalamet?” She asks giving a step back to look at you, but you only whine in response. “It's ok love, it's ok, I'm going to make your soup and everything will be more clear later.”

She hurries to the kitchen and you see Michael's gaze mocking at you, you stick your tongue out at him and follow your friend. “Her name is Sheep, you pretentious fratboy.” You whisper when pass next to him.

↬☁︎

“Dickhead? I need to teach you how to swear, that's really the best you could think of?” Ben laughs through the phone making you blush, of course not, you have a thousand insults better than that, but none of those sounds good in English so you stick with the basics.

“Shut up, I was terrified and trying not to be that rude, I love that job.” You answer still doing your homework. When you get a job with industry relevance the college gives you some facilities for you to keep studying, but that includes tons of no mercy homework.

“After the boots comment? No way, I would have punched him in the face right there.” You heard him giggling.

“Careful, I still can get even with someone.”

“No, I’m for real I like them, actually, the next time I see you I want you to wear nothing but them.” He knows that the path to your smile is flattering your clothes because of how hard you work on them.

“It’s easier to say it since I haven’t seen you in a week.” You say making a big effort to not sound that needy, he has a way to make you forget everything around you, and even when that’s not a healthy choice, you crave for that feeling lately.

“I know, I want to see my cute Jigglypuff too but I want you to miss me badly so when I come back you can show me.” He says lowering his voice, making your stomach flinch, you love it when he uses that tone.

“I can show you now.” You say playfully and stopping to pretend that you care about your homework.

“Ok, fuck, just let me go to my room because I’m supposed to be at a reunion with the band and I didn’t know that press you to talk about your day would bring us here.” You laugh hearing his breath get cut for what you think is him running.

His band is making a small tour in towns around, just to make sure they have the zone covered before making a big concert and sold out, he is supposed to be back in a week and you can’t be more excited about seeing him again. His presence is so intoxicant and addictive, not caring about real-life problems, and not being able to see all the things about yourself that you don’t like. But, you like him that way? You have asked that question to yourself the last few days but since you're not ready for the answer, you don’t get deep into it.

↬☀︎︎

The next day you wake up with your phone in your hand, you turned off the alarm in your sleep and now you are terribly late to work. This is unusual in you but Ben kept you awake up for hours and then homework for the rest of the night. Say you had three full hours of sleep would be excessive.

“I’m sorry, I’m here! I overslept but I brought you a coffee and a firm excuse for my first and last delay.” Out of breath you start overwhelmingly Ted, the helper's manager, and offer him the drink you bought for yourself but seems more useful to charm him.

“It’s ok, he arrived ten minutes ago but is still eating breakfast so that gives you another five at least.” He says without looking at you but taking the coffee, you had no idea what he’s talking about and why your coworkers are looking at you like you have a fatal disease you don’t know about.

“I’m sorry, who arrived?” You ask hugging yourself, needing some kind of support. He finally looks at you and scans from head to toe, not rudely, just analyzing.

“Aren’t you...” He looks at his phone looking for something. “Hispanic. Pesky. Nice Ass?” He finishes putting his phone down and ignoring the awkwardness of bringing your ass to the conversation.

“...I guess, I mean yeah, could be.” There’s no other Hispanic intern in that department and ok, you have a nice ass, not sure about the pesky part, especially because you don't know what that means but if it's the way Timothée described you, you couldn't wait to be something completely kind.

“No one told you, huh?” He says with a distressing look. “Congratulations, you are the new cosmetologist of Mr. Chalamet, you are a paid employee from now on... if you see the good part, HPNA.” He says referring to the initials of your new nickname while starts walking away.

“Wait! No, I’m not a cosmetologist, I’m a costume designer, well, I aspire to be, I work for Mrs. Durran...” You start saying following him and trying to keep his track, is way taller than you.

“And she doesn’t care about you, she gets another intern in a second. This is a real and lifetime opportunity, some people would give a hand for a thing like this, and I'd be more worried about doing a good job and put his name in my resume. Now go to his trailer because he specifically asked for you.” You stop walking and see him getting away from you taking your complaints with him. He is right, this is a big moment for your career. But at what cost?

You go to his trailer and knock at the door with a different attitude than yesterday, you are mad, he has absolutely no right to take you of your workplace and claim you as his, and for what? Revenge? Insult you again? It doesn’t matter, you won’t let him win, the filming will last another two weeks and then you’ll be free, with a star in your curriculum and money.

“Mhm.” You hear subtly from the other side of the door. Ugh, he doesn’t even mind to offers you a complete word, no, you won’t give him the pleasure of seeing you mad again. You enter the trailer with a kind smile that obviously he doesn’t see because he doesn’t look at you, again.

“Good morning.” You say joyful, if what he's interested in is you doing drama then that's exactly what you won't give him.

“You are really making an effort to look like a cartoon character.” How could he say that? He didn't even see you, or that's what you think, his gaze never leaves the phone.

Today you chose baby blue shorts and tank top with white buttons in the middle, a necklace with cotton balls all around that look like tiny clouds, matching earrings, and white sneakers with big rainbow platforms. You look pretty, doesn't matter what he says so you give him a soft polite laugh, the one you'd give a teacher.

“Glad you notice.” You answer going for your tools with the same cheerful tone.

“Your hair is even blinder than yesterday.” He keeps saying, clearly expecting a shrewd answer from you, but you still the same when starts doing his makeup.

“Oh, thanks, I use a special shampoo, I can give you the name if you want to.” You answer like an actor of a commercial, credible enough. You lean to his face to cover the shine with a brush but he stops you by holding your wrist.

“How long do you think you can keep this stupid attitude?” He says softly in a velvet voice that would have melted you if you weren't this mad. He pulls you a little bit to his body and you don't put up resistance, not sure why.

“Until the very last moment.” You answer, release yourself from his grip and get back to your work. His smile increases devilishly while yours is weakened.

“Will see.”

↬☀︎︎

The next days happen as a long nightmare. You wake up every day after two or three hours of sleep, go to work, college, make a lifetime of homework, cry for five minutes, take a shower, and sleep as long as your alarm allows you. But the worst part is, not a surprise, Timothée Chalamet who works hard day by day humiliating and pushing you to your limits making you go for his food, spoon-fed him, cut his pills, ruin his hair to make you do it again, call you names, makes jokes about your clothes or hair and flirt in a passive-aggressive style that made you reconsider how much you want to keep working in films. He's not callously rude, is more like a naughty kid playing with his nanny, in other times you would have gone along with him but you're not there for that and the chaos around you just make it worst.

Ben has been your stand the whole week, making you smile with every message or just distracting you by saying stories of his crazy fans. You're not ready to have a relationship again but eventually, if the things with Ben keep going as great as now, you could give it a try.

“All I'm saying is that no one would blame you if you knock him off, everyone knows he's is a jerk, even me, and I've watched like three movies.” Ben says with a sleepy voice, he insisted to call you before work and since Timothée takes his time to arrive, you've been talking for almost an hour.

“His face must be assured for millions and I'm lucky if I buy a burger to lunch.” You say amused outside the trailer waiting for your headache of the day.

“I'll take you to dinner when I get back.” He replies using his flirty voice showing the multi intention of his offer.

“You'll be lucky if see me for five minutes. You should come one of these days and show him your muscles so he thinks I have a boyfriend double his size, maybe that calms him.” You laugh but he doesn't join you, instead, there's an awful silence that stabs you in the cheast. “Not that we are boyfriend and girlfriend, but he could think that.”

“Oh, great!” Now he laughs and sighs audibly, too much to not be offensive. “I thought we were about to have that awkward conversation where I tell you that we are not dating and we're just friends having a good time, hanging out with other friends too, and is nothing serious.” You laugh too but not for the same reasons. It's not that you want anything else right now, but just friends that see other friends? That is almost hurtful, or just hurtful, that means that he has been living the great life with his friends when you can't even hang out with your actual friends. You're not sure what bothers you the most, there's a long list to check.

“No, we are clear in that, even when we haven't mentioned any of that, and one could get confused... not me, obviously.” You see Timothée arriving at the perfect moment because you don't think that you can keep lying without getting upset. “I gotta go.”

“Ok love, I see you in three...” But you don't let him finish before hang up and enter in the trailer before the brunette does, that surprise him, and the absence of your forced smile and greeting.

“Buenos días.” He says in regular Spanish trying to catch your attention unsuccessfully. It may be the lack of proper sleep, eat, or Ben's new attitude but you are tired of keep playing with him a game that you can't win no matter how you see it. You don't answer but that's not his biggest fixation, your outfit is completely black, jeans, hoodie, and shoes, no sparkle or surprise detail, you look like a normal college student with a messy bun and eyebags. “I don't get the concept of your outfit today, are you the shadow of Peter Pan?”

“Not today.” You murmur ordering the things in your backpack because like if it's not enough you have an important exam today, the reason why your about to break your personal record with no sleep.

“Oh, Princess Bubblegum is moody today, so sad, but you can use that energy to take my car to the service after we're done here.” He starts saying walking to you gracefully, like a panther charming his food, if that has any sense.

“Not today.” You repeat slowly feeling the anger stuck in your throat, you are trying so hard not to yell and show how exhausted you are of everything. He takes another step forward and places a hand in your backpack putting it down forcing you to look at him.

“Shit, you look terrible.” He mumbles looking careful at your face, was that concern?

“You know what, Mr. Charmander? From now on you have the permission of three insults per day, after that, it would be very nice if you shut the fuck up for the rest of the journey. Or even better, what if you just shut the fuck up forever and that's it!” You start saying raising your voice gradually, avoiding look at him because that would take the pinch of boldness you found somewhere inside you.

—Y/n...

“Oh, you know my name! That's a fucking miracle Timothée because this must be the first time you say it and it's sadly the only expression of respect you have had for me.” You feel the blood up in your cheeks while you are fighting against the rage tears threatening to come out.

He waits until you stop talking and gives another step to you, but you are too emotional to care that your bodies are separated by just a few centimeters. He looks at you with affection and concern, for the last days he watched you lose your sparkle and it was almost hurtful. “What else?” He asks in a soft murmur that caresses your ears, the calm of his voice when he's not trying to be a pain in the ass is peaceful.

“Your selfish ass can't help to take everything you want. You had absolutely no right to take me off my job, do you have any idea of how hard I've worked? I can't sleep, I can't eat, I don't even enjoy what I study anymore, and none of that is your fault but being a complete dick and make my life miserable for your own entertainment is.” You realize how high you are talking but you don't care.

“Keep going.” He insists leaning his face to yours just enough to not be intrusive.

“You are rude, arrogant, cynical, and not as handsome in person.” You continue finally looking at his olive absorbing eyes that look more joyful at every second. “I don't know if you have some sort of SM fetish and you enjoy when I insult you but fuck it, don't make me part of this.”

“Are you done?” He asks with a grin and his hand taking the claw clip off your hair making it fall, he moves a lock behind your ear, and is at that moment that you realize the amount of sexual tension in the room, allowing yourself to smell his scent for the first time, perfume more expensive than your parents car, dim essence of herb mixes like mint or eucalyptus, and grape chapstick, you can see it glowing slightly on his lips.

“Enlisting all about you that pisses me off? It'll take several days.” Your voice get back to its regular tone and your eyes follow the trail of his hand that slides from your hair to your arm. You have chills. This is a new kind of mental torture?

“Good, the longer, the better.” His giggles dissolve the stress from your body and you take your time to breathe properly again, the new problem is your heartbeat. You should be mad at how he gets away with the rude things he did to you just smiling like a high schooler and touching you like a dog. But you are not. “I didn't know you wanted to be an intern, I assumed you'd love to work with me... because my head is giant.” He murmurs and you believe in his words, later you could blame the vulnerability that sleepless nights gave you. “I liked you and I thought that we were both playing.”

“I'm not a stray you adopt and play with it.” You stay firm even when his touch is melting you inside. “And tell my boss I have a nice ass, you call that a compliment? You have the romantic personality of a 13 years old boy.”

“Was that or Hispanic Pesky Clown Style, I had to be very specific.” He says amused, not offended by your words.

“Ya tuve suficiente...” You start saying and about to push him in the chest to walk away but he holds your face and takes you in a deep kiss that freezes you, the hold of his hands is soft and warm, not forcing you to stay close but enjoying your presence and claiming for more.

You hold his waist and end the space between both of you, receiving the comfort you didn't know you need. He holds the back of your neck and presses it just enough to make you stand on your tiptoes to reach his relief. You're not thinking clearly with your arms in his lower back and his tongue caressing your lips, it just feels correct at the moment.

He walks forward making you step back against the wall, you gasp against his mouth, he tightens the grab on your neck and you have to hold him harder fir you to not fade out. He gets that as a need for proximity and uses his free hand to take your thigh and lift you up, using his own body to give you support.

The time stops, the entire existence is reduced to a distant memory when you put your hands in his hair, the one you been fixing and secretly wanted to mess up with your fingers like you're doing right now. He lifts your hoody enough to touch the bare skin of your waist, his fingertips are cold but the palm is warm, a proper mix, you think. His mouth goes down to your jaw and leaves small bites that he proceeds to lick, putting out the fire.

You look for the edge of his shirt to lift it up but the five minutes remain knock at the door arrives and you freak out pushing him too hard that he almost fell against the makeup table and you collapse on the floor.

When you see each other seconds later, both burst out laughing.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Taglist:

@eridanuswave @cjand10 @deluxeplanteater @rorodendra

Thanks for all the love and support, if you have opinions, suggestions or you want to be part of the tag list (Or don’t want to be part anymore) Let me know, I appreciate every message.

#tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland #ben hardy imagine #logan lerman #michael b jordan #pedro pascal #smut #timothee chalamet #tom holland blurb #fanfic #imagine #angst #ben hardy #logan lerman fc #michael b jordan fc #timothee chalamet fanfiction

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nessinborderland · 3 years

Text

Be Mine (05)

Pairing: Niragi x Reader / Chishiya x Reader

Genre: Smut, Angst, Fluff, Omegaverse

Word Count: 4.4k

Summary: You were able to stay unbounded throughout your life. You didn’t want an Alpha; you didn’t need one. You would rather die than to give yourself to some random male. But the man that saved your life thinks differently.

Warnings: Alpha/Omega, Dubious Consent, Vaginal Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Finger fucking, Rough Sex, Rough Kissing, Unprotected Sex, Creampie, Breeding, Pregnancy Kink, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Drama, Developing Relationship, Past Abuse, Scars, Death, Blood and Gore, Animal Death, Trauma, Bath Sex, Blood and Injury

Notes: Here is the so awaited chapter nº5! It’s pretty much just Niragi’s funeral, but I think you’re gonna enjoy it either way :) I’m kidding lol, there’s no funeral. Also if ya'll want some music recs, I had Kai's first mini-album on repeat as I was writing this chapter. Is just so damn good. Enjoy <3

AO3 Link Masterlist

“He’s dead,” Chishiya says like he’s announcing the weather. It’s so cold and impersonal that you feel yourself getting angry at him. It doesn’t last more than a second though; his words hit you like a ton of bricks. He can’t be dead; you would feel it. You don’t know how or why, but you would know. Your legs go weak again under you, but this time you lean against a stone pillar. That’s where you absently notice you’re on the front steps of a big red house.

“N- no,” you gulp, trying to control the tears that threaten to fall. No, he can’t be dead. “You’re lying…” you whisper that last part.

He just looks at you for a moment, without saying a word, before walking to an information board you haven’t noticed before. A card is stuck to the board by a pin. The Ten of Spades. He takes it and approaches you before putting the card in your hoodie’s pocket. Then he speaks.

“Why would I be lying, Y/N?” his tone is so condescending. Anger rises inside you again. “And why do you care so much?”

“Why do I care?...” you repeat his question to yourself. Why do you care? You don’t know. You barely know Niragi. But he saved you and was weirdly sweet to you on your first night together and he...you...you just care. You’re like eighty-five percent sure that this is your wolf talking, but you don’t care either way, “I’m going to find him,” you say as you practically drag yourself down the stone steps, cursing your injured foot.

“No, you’re not. Stop,” the order makes you stop on instinct, and your mind fogs for a moment. Your eyes go wide as you realize what he’s trying to do.

“Fuck you,” you hiss in his direction, “Go manipulate someone else.” You turn and continue limping down the path. You hear a growl, and he’s suddenly in front of you, now back in his wolf form. His teeth are bare, but you ignore him and walk right past him. “If you’re not going to help, just go away,” you say over your shoulder. “I will find him and bring him back by myself.”

You can’t hear him behind you anymore, but you can smell him close by. You ignore his scent to focus on Niragi’s, trying to find your way back to where you last saw him. You groan in pain at your ankle; it hurts more at every step. The blood seeping through your makeshift bandage doesn't make walking any easier.

You finally catch his scent and try walking faster. Part of you is thankful for the park lights that are now on, almost giving the impression of daylight; it makes the path so much easier to walk through. The con is that you can also undoubtedly see the bodies and blood. You see them everywhere in the open field you were just moments ago; animal and human. It's a bloodbath. You ignore the blood, and the ripped limbs, and the open wounds.

“Niragi!” you can’t help but scream when you see him.

He’s face down on the ground, still in his human form, like he had tried to crawl before passing out. You ignore the possibility that he might be dead. You finally get to him, falling on your knees to assess his condition. He’s covered head to toe in blood, and you hesitate to touch him. You’re afraid to hurt him more if you try to move him.

“Niragi?” you call in a trembling voice, “Niragi, can you hear me?”

No answer.

“I told you he was dead,” Chishiya says, right behind you. You ignore him and finally touch Niragi’s skin. He’s warm to the touch; way too warm to be considered dead. A grunt coming from him startles you.

“Oh my God! ” you exclaim, maybe a little too loudly, “Niragi, can you hear me? Can you move?”

“That’s just gas leaving the body,” Chishiya again, “C’mon, let’s go.” You roll your eyes and keep ignoring him, focusing on what matters.

Niragi’s hand moves as he grunts again, this time louder, and you realize he’s trying to talk.

“What-”

“Stop saying I’m dead-” he turns his head to the side, and you can finally see his face as he mumbles. “You fucking dog-... I hope you get leishmaniasis-... and die.”

You can’t help the sudden laugh that leaves your lips before you can stop it; people dying don’t talk like that. He opens one eye at hearing you, and you see his brow furrow even with all the blood on his face.

“Me dying is funny to you?” he asks in a croaky voice.

You shake your head and quickly wipe the tears that had started to fall. “No, I- I’m just glad you’re alive.” You turn to face Chishiya, a stern expression on your face “Will you help me, or I will have to do it by myself?”

The man rolls his eyes and grunts, before turning back into a wolf without a word. You help Niragi onto Chishiya’s back, ignoring the wolf’s snarl and the man’s constant complaints. You think most of the bleeding has stopped, but you still fear the open wounds, especially the arrow that made one on his chest. Thankfully, it had hit far from the heart and lungs. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t cause for concern.

You finally got to the front gates without much difficulty; Chishiya had dropped Niragi only once, and you considered that a win. Your own injured leg shot pain through you every step, but Niragis' condition put that out of your mind. You noticed the bundle of clothes both of them had left on the ground before turning, so you limped to grab them before joining them by the car. You also get Niragi’s rifle as you pass by the entrance. You put it in the trunk before helping Niragi inside. Chishiya turns back and puts on his clothes before getting in the car without a word.

“My shirt?” Niragi asks as you’re about to close the car door.

“Oh- Oh right,” you forgot he was naked. You didn’t think you could possibly get him dressed in his state, but it’s obvious he wants to cover up. You pass him the shirt and stare in confusion as he puts it on instead of covering himself. “Niragi, you shouldn’t-”

“I don’t give a fuck if anyone sees my dick,” he says with a grunt as he tries to pass his injured arm through the armhole. You’re about to say something when it hits you; his back. Of course, he doesn’t want anyone to see it. You nod and take off your jacket, now in only your swimsuit top, and cover him with it. He looks at you but says nothing. Lucky for you, you’re able to cover your own back with a scarf before Chishiya notices.

You drive back to the Beach in silence. Chishiya drives as you sit next to him, absently biting the nail of your thumb. Finally seated, you addressed your own injury. The holes the trap made were deep and still bleeding. You can hardly move your ankle now the pain has set. You hear Niragi moan in pain in the backseat as the car runs over bumps that Chishiya purposefully ignores. Besides that and the occasional sigh, the air is filled with awkward silence. Now that the game and fear and adrenaline has passed, you know that is only a matter of time before they’re at each other’s throats again.

You let out a sigh of relief when you get into the Beache’s parking lot. Chishiya is out of the car and gone before you can even say a word to him. Well, it seems like his generosity has come to an end. You sigh and get out of the car, helping Niragi get out as best as you can. He tries to stand by himself, but his mangled foot quickly gives up on him. You both almost fall before three militants nearby see you and decide to help. He looks on the brink of passing out, and his skin burns like it’s on fire.

“Take me to my room,” he says to the men in a faint voice. You’re about to say something against it; he needs special medical care. He stops you like he knows what’s going through your mind. “I don’t-... I don’t need no nursing student-... putting his hands on me. Room.”

You limp behind them in silence, wondering if he will want you in his room. Probably not, but you’ll at least leave his gun there before passing out in your bedroom. You fear a fight, but you’re honestly too tired for that. You do feel guilty for sleeping with Chishiya, but Niragi is at fault here too. He left you alone and purposely ignored you for a damn week. Besides, it’s not like you can control any of it; not anymore. Whatever self-control you had over your wolf seemed to have evaporated the moment Niragi’s hands were on you that first time.

You stand by the door as the men lay him on the bed before he orders them to leave. You lean his gun against a corner and stand there for a moment, considering what to do next. It doesn’t take you long before you decide. You leave the room and walk around the hotel until you find what you need, returning to his room with arms full of medical supplies, a basin, and some clean rags. His eyes are on you as soon as you open the door, a surprised expression on his face. It’s quickly replaced by a scowl.

“What’re you doing here?” he asks. You ignore his tone and focus on organizing the stuff you brought on the bedside table.

“You say you don’t want a specialist looking after you, so you’ll have to settle for me,” you answer as you limp towards the bathroom to fill the basin with warm water. You can feel his eyes on your back as you wait for the bowl to fill. Going back to his side, you start cleaning his skin, starting with his face. You don’t even try cleaning and detangling the mess that is his hair. You keep your gaze on specific points of his face, avoiding his eyes. You’re actually surprised he hasn’t tried to stop you. You clean his face until the water is pink, the gash on his forehead now clearly visible. It has stopped bleeding, the fast Alpha healing clear in the way the wound has started to scab. You stand up to change the water, and again his eyes are following you as you walk to the bathroom.

“How’s your ankle?” you hear him faintly ask over the sound of running water.

“It’s going to heal,” you answer as you go back to his side. You move to unbutton his shirt, but his hand lightly grabs your wrist. Your eyes lock. His eyes have a strange shine to them, and you wonder if he has a fever. By his body temperature, you wouldn’t doubt it. “Can I open it?”

He stares at you for a moment before nodding. You resume unbuttoning his shirt, opening it to reveal his chest. You keep doing the methodical task of rubbing his skin clean, barely noticing when he falls asleep. There are several lacerations and bite marks all over his chest and sides, but those seem to be healing properly too.

You also notice, to little surprise, that he has several tattoos adorning his pale skin; a tangle of thorns rise from his hip to his ribs, a single black rose in the middle of the artwork; an open winged raven stares at you from his pectorals, the kanji for power in the eyes of the animal; a smaller tattoo of a howling wolf marks his hip. They’re beautiful, and you wonder what their exact meaning is. It’s a shame that they will be covered in scars when he’s finished healing. You wonder if he has more tattoos on his body.

An hour goes by before you finish cleaning and bandaging his front. His foot is by far the worst injury, and you wonder for a moment if he will be able to use it again at its full capacity. You haven’t tried to take off his shirt or turn him around; you know he probably wouldn’t want that. Your eyes are heavy, and you almost doze off several times. You cover him with a blanket and stand up to clean things up. Your now swollen ankle reminds you you have yet to care for it, so that’s what you do, after making sure that Niragi hasn’t stopped breathing in his sleep.

You crash beside him with a tired sigh, eyes closing as soon as your head hits the mattress.

You wake up hours later, startled by the sound of hushed voices right next to you. You stay still, hoping they won’t catch on the fact that you’re now wide awake.

“I know it was you,” Niragi’s voice, faint and rough, “You pushed me into that fucking trap.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chishiya. “All I did was play the game.”

“So now what, you’re here to wish me a fast recovery or to finish the job?”

“Just came to check on her.” You can feel both of their gazes on you. You know they know that you’re awake, but neither of them says anything about it. You hear Niragi exclaim a rushed ‘hey’ and some rustling. “And to get this,” Chishiya adds. You know he’s talking about the card, still in your jacket pocket.

“She’s never going to be yours,” Niragi says in such a low tone you can barely hear him. You can feel the growl in his chest vibrating the mattress. “So fuck off my room.”

“Hmm, guess we’ll see about that,” Chishiya says in his usual unbothered tone. You hear him as he walks away and gently closes the door behind him. Niragi shifts next to you with a grunt of pain. You can feel the heat radiating from him in waves.

You stay still for a few more moments, trying to understand their conversation. Had Chishiya really tried to kill Niragi? You wouldn’t doubt it, but still, the idea scared you; he had been so close to succeeding.

You realize something. These are dangerous men; of that, you have no doubt. You’re sure that if it wasn’t for you being an Omega, they wouldn’t think twice about hurting you badly or even kill you. In what mess did you get yourself into? Why these two, of all the Alphas in the world?

“Why did you fuck him?” Niragi’s question breaks you out of your thoughts. You say nothing for a beat or two, before shrugging.

“For the same reason I fucked you, I guess,” you say with a sigh, “I couldn’t control my wolf from getting what she wanted,” he says nothing for several moments, so you decide to just say what else is on your mind. “He also was there when I needed. These guys were messing with me and he just...he was there. I- I did try talking to you several times but you just kept avoiding me so… when Chishiya appeared I… I didn’t even think twice, to be honest.”

“Would you bond with him?” he asks in a hesitant tone. This makes you turn to him. His eyes are focused on the ceiling, and you notice how heavy his breathing is.

“No,” you say without a second thought, “If I’m going to be bonded with someone, it’s not going to be with him,” it’s true. You really don’t want to be bonded with that man; not after how he acted with you. “Not if I have any say in it.” Which you fear you may not have. But you don’t want to put that into words.

Niragi takes a deep breath and nods, before closing his eyes again. His fists are closed by his side, and you know he’s trying to control his emotions, whatever they may be. He opens his eyes after some time and locks his eyes on you. They still have that weird shine to them.

“Would you bond with me?” he asks before you can ask how he’s feeling.

“I- I don’t know,” you really don’t. You don’t know anything about him, and you have the feeling that you wouldn’t like him even if you knew him better. “We don’t know each other. The last thing I want is to be bonded to someone I’m incapable of loving. I know everyone thinks I must be insane for refusing to accept my own biology but I- I would rather die than make my future children go through the same shit I went through.”

Niragi just hums in response, processing your words.

“Love is a myth.” he finally says, “The faster you accept your nature and that little fact, the easier life will be for you.” He moves to sit up, before making a sound of pain and falling back down on the mattress, “Fuck-”

“Don’t move!” you order, afraid he will just hurt himself further, “What do you need?”

“I’ll be damned if I need your help to take a piss,” he tries to sit up again, grunting as he successfully rests his back against the wall, “I’m not a fucking invalid.” You ignore his words and stand up to support him as he slowly makes his way to the bathroom.

You’re waiting on the other side of the door when you hear a sudden ‘thud’ from inside. You open the door to see Niragi on the floor, curses streaming from his lips as he tries to stand up. You run to his side, but his hand swats at you.

“I can stand up by myself, goddammit,” he mumbles to you. He suddenly drops against you with a groan. You start to panic; his skin is damp and hot as a furnace.

“Niragi, you have a fever,” you try to think of what to do, and your eyes fall on the jacuzzi bathtub in a corner of the large bathroom. “C’mon, I’m going to give you a cold bath.”

“No- Don’t you try to bathe me...damn woman,” he says, still trying to stand up by himself. You sigh and half-drag him half-support him to the bathtub. You lean him against the wall as you turn on the faucets, trying to get the perfect water temperature. You move to take off the bandages you had put on him just hours before, leaving only the one on his foot. He’s still naked except for his black and white shirt, just like the one he had given to you. You try to take it off of him, but he vehemently shakes his head no.

“Don’t- don’t you fucking try to take this off me,” he manages to say, eyes closed as he takes labored breaths. You don’t even think twice as you take the scarf off your shoulders and pull down your swimsuit, turning so your naked back is in full view to him.

“My father did this to me when I was eleven years old,” you talk fast, and your voice trembles, but you still force yourself to say the words. “He was drunk all the time, and I did something that made him mad, and he snapped.” you pull your swimsuit back up and turn around to face him. “I’m not asking to see your back or for you to tell me how you got them, I just want to put you in that goddamn bath! I couldn’t care less about your scars!” you’re not being completely honest, but your words apparently work. Niragi’s scowl lightens a bit, and he gives you a small consenting nod. You brush off the knot in your throat, focusing on getting him undressed of that crusty bloody shirt before helping him get in the tub.

He gasps as his trembling body hits the water, teeth chattering as he grips the side of the tub which so much force that his knuckles turn white. You take that time to focus on cleaning the rest of his body, including his matted hair, the water immediately turning pink. He visibly flinches when the rag touches his back, before leaning forward to give you better access.

You can’t help but look; of course you can’t. While your scars are just a slash of claws that go from shoulder to hip, his are...messy. They cover his whole back from shoulder to tailbone, some fine and silver, others wide and red. You have a sudden urge to cry, but hold it in; you know he wouldn’t react well to pity. Not that you pity him; not exactly. It’s more like it triggers your memories of the happening, and you remember how much it had hurt; how much that had been a turning point in your life. How much it still hurts, even though they’re no longer open wounds. You fear it’s the same for him.

You can’t resist passing a light finger over one of the deeper scars. You hear him gasp before fully accepting your touch. The sensation of your skin against his never loses that spark of electricity, doesn’t matter how many times you touch him.

“You smell like him,” he snaps. You can’t place his tone, but his sudden reaction makes you freeze and widen your eyes. His hand grabs your wrist, and he pulls you slightly against him. You have to brace yourself not to fall inside the large tub. “Get in here,” he orders. Your surprised expression is replaced by a raised brow; he sure sounds good enough to order you around now.

“I’m not getting in there,” you say as you try to release yourself from his grip.

“Oh yes you are, you fucking stink,” he retorts, pulling you even closer.

“How dare- “

You’re falling in the cold water bath before you can finish your sentence. He grunts in pain as you fall on top of him, and you don’t know if you should worry or be happy about it. His hands go to your hips as you try to get out, pressing you against him.

“You idiot, you’re going to open your wounds!” you decide to worry. You put your hands on his shoulders for support, and you notice you’re now nose to nose.

“I don’t care,” Niragi says, eyes locked on yours. “I just can’t stand you smelling like him anymore.” he tugs at your shorts, “Take this off.”

“Niragi, no,” you say as you try once again to get out of his grasp, “You’re sick and this water is dirty from your blood. I’m not bathing in here”

“I want you to smell like me,” he says like he hasn’t heard you. “Take it off or I’ll take them off for you.”

“Niragi-”

“I’m not repeating myself,”

You comply after a moment of consideration, sighing as you struggle to take off your wet shorts. His body is still hot under you, and that’s what’s stopping you from shivering in the cold water. There’s an uncomfortable moment where you just stay there, straddling him and so close to his face that you can see the specks of gold in his dark eyes.

Then he’s kissing you, and you’re kissing him back with as much ferocity. His hands rise from your hips to the straps of your swimsuit, and you let him pull them down to reveal your breasts. His mouth is on them in seconds, pierced tongue playing with one of your nipples as a hand gropes the other. Your arms go around him, pulling him closer as you moan in his ear. It feels so good. You can feel the growing wetness in your cunt as he keeps sucking on you, his hardening member pressing against your center.

You desperately want him. You don’t even try to fight it. You just want him in you as fast as you can. His mouth never leaves your breasts, but his hand moves down, pushing your swimsuit to the side. He’s inside you with a swift push, and you almost scream at the stretching sensation; he makes you feel so unbelievably full. You start moving almost immediately, chasing that indescribable sensation of pleasure that he provides.

Your joined moans echo in the large bathroom, mixing with the sound of skin splashing on water. The tip of his cock hits your g-spot at every thrust, the angle only allowing him to fuck you even deeper. Neither of you speaks, involved in each other’s embrace, lips kissing and sucking every inch of skin you can reach on each other.

You know you shouldn’t be doing this; you’re both injured, exhausted, and you had fucked a different guy just the day before. But none of that matters. You’ve been wanting this since the first time he came in you.

“You feel so good inside me,” you can’t help but moan as you ride him. You can feel your orgasm growing, your pussy clenching around him every time you impale yourself on his shaft. He just kisses you harder in response, tongue pressing against yours as you moan into his mouth.

Your orgasm hits you like a wave, the pleasurable sensation running over you from head to toe. You lean against him, your limbs feeling like jelly. He’s coming inside you not long after, teeth grazing the skin of your neck, so close to your marking spot that you think you can come just from that. You whine in satisfaction at the warm sensation his cum leaves inside you.

Neither of you moves for several minutes, gathering your breath while still connected and in each other’s arms. You don’t want to move; it feels too good. It feels right. You’re also extremely tired, and your eyes soon close, lulled by the fast beating of his heart under your palm. You doze off for a moment, before the feeling of his fingers on your back jerks you awake. You tense for a moment before relaxing to his feathery touch; his fingers are so soft.

“Now you smell like me,” he says in a gruff voice. There’s undoubted satisfaction in his tone.

You smile, snuggling even more against him.

Maybe Niragi isn’t such a bad choice.

Next Chapter

#alice in borderland #alice in borderland fanfic #niragi suguru #niragi fic #niragi x reader #chishiya shuntaro #also on ao3

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mrsalwayswrite · 3 years

Text

To Call Forth Love - Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter! Yay!

Words:5500

Warnings: mild swearing, possessive Ivar (maybe?), mild sexual tension, hint of violence

Series Masterlist

Tags: @youbloodymadgenius

"Korítsi, one of these days I'll convince you to take a day off." (Greek: girl)

Kari smiled as she re-tied her ponytail. Glancing over at her boss, she replied. "You would miss me too much. Besides you know I like working here."

The woman shook her head. "You need a life outside of working- friends, a lover, anything besides this studio."

"You just like listening to drama."

"I'm happily married with my dream job; I need you ladies and your drama to keep me entertained.

Kari could only laugh along with her boss. Lydia Hansen was the best boss she could ever have asked for. The woman was in her mid-thirties, settled in life and always happy with a smile on her face and a kind word to share. She also had a mischievous side where she loved listening to the drama of her female workers, many coming to her for romantic advice or to vent about relationships.

Lydia leaned forward in her chair, putting an elbow on the desk beside her as she watched Kari. Even under the fluorescent lights, Kari thought the woman looked beautiful with her naturally tanned skin, short black hair and strong Mediterranean features. Kari could not help feeling like a used ragdoll next to her.

"Why don't you come in at nine tomorrow morning, I can open the studio."

Kari turned around after grabbing her purse from her locker. "Tonight is date night for you and Nels, which means several glasses of wine and you naked in your bed. If your stories are to be believed. So I'm guessing you don't want to be here at six-thirty tomorrow morning. Really, it's fine. I don't mind opening. I do it often enough."

"And that's the problem. You've opened the majority of the time the past two weeks."

"It's only until Sasha comes back from her family's funeral." Kari reminded her.

"Fine." Lydia huffed, then pointed a finger at her. "Then you're taking time off. I'll bar you from coming to work if you try to sneak in."

"What if I want to come for classes?"

"No. I'll kick you out of my studio. Do your yoga at home. By the skies above, you are a yoga instructor yourself. Just pretend to be teaching but alone….and at home!"

The brunette smiled at her boss, knowing all of this was because Lydia actually cared for her employees. Both their physical and mental health. "No promises. Tell Nels 'hi' for me. See you tomorrow."

"Go do something fun for once!"

Kari walked out of the office, chuckling. She waved to a coworker as she passed the front entrance before stepping outside into the late afternoon sun. Checking the time on her phone, she tossed it into her teal hobo bag and slung it over her shoulder, making her way towards the bus stop. In her black leggings, sneakers and purple racerback tank top with Whole Wellness Yoga Studio printed on the front, she could not help but feel slightly out of place as she walked the streets. Though no one gave her a second glance, she always felt like a fraud as she passed others by. The location of the yoga studio she worked at was certainly in the more affluent part of the city, and it showed by the manner of businesses in proximity and the looks and clothing of those who passed her by.

At one time she had worn expensive clothing, never paying attention to price tags, but those days were in the past. Although she adored working at the yoga studio, it barely made ends meet. Lydia mentioned once promoting her in the future to a manager, which came as a surprise since Kari had only been working there for just over a year. For now though, she was content with life. Happier than she had been in a long time. Even if her life seemed boring to others, only focusing on work and what the next book or TV series to enjoy was. It was her life, her choices.

For a brief second, she paused in her walk, thinking she had heard someone call her name. Which was highly unlikely since, truthfully, she hardly knew anyone in this city. With a mental shrug, she continued on, enjoying the feeling of the sunshine on her exposed skin.

"Kari Larsen! Don't you ignore me!"

The sudden scream made the brunette freeze in place, stunned and slightly terrified. Hesitantly, she turned, scanning around to see who had yelled for her attention. Luckily, it did not take long to notice the tall, blonde wearing the thigh-high boots and white, boho dress waving like a mad woman as she leaned over the short half-railing, separating the sidewalk and the restaurant's seating.

Smiling, Kari made her way back towards the woman, who beamed at her. "Gyda! When did you get back?"

"Just yesterday. I know I say this every time but jetlag is a bitch." Gyda sighed dramatically, though her eyes twinkled in mirth. Leaning against the half-railing, she towered over Kari. On a good day, she stood just under six feet but with the short-heeled boots today, she peered down like a goddess from Valhalla surveying the lesser mortals.

"I don't know how you do it." Kari shook her head, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"Eh, you make it work." Gyda turned and peeked over her shoulder for a second before looking back at Kari. "What are you doing? Just get off work?"

"Yeah. Heading home."

"Do you want a ride?" She offered, tapping a finger along the railing.

Kari could feel the stares of the other patrons sitting outside and the wait staff, most likely wondering why someone like her was conversing with Gyda. Awkwardly, she toyed with her trusty diamond stud in her earlobe. "Not this time, but thank you. I'm sure you want to get back to your friends."

"It's just some of my many siblings and Torvi."

"Oh, you'll have to tell her I said 'hi'."

Gyda was a regular at the yoga studio when her schedule allowed. As a freelance writer, her schedule was chaotic at the best for time. Lately most of her works had been commissioned for traveling magazines, so her time coming to the studio was sporadic based on when she was in the country. It was through the studio that Gyda and Kari met. They would occasionally exchange pleasantries before or after Kari's class or in passing. Their friendship solidified only after Gyda found Kari standing at the bus stop in the cold rain months ago and offered to give her a ride home. They had met up a handful of times so Kari could hear all about the latest places Gyda visited and see the pictures she took, satisfying her own travel-wandering soul, sealing their friendship.

And through Gyda, Kari met Torvi. Though both women were at least ten years her senior, she enjoyed their presence and conversations. Torvi only came occasionally with Gyda as her guest to the yoga studio. At first, Kari was surprised when she learned they were sisters-in-law because of how close they seemed. Yet she found it refreshing, since most of her experience with family was tense to say the least. It was nice to know her own family's tendencies were not the norm.

"I will." The blonde exclaimed, her smile widening. "Oh! Do you want to meet Bjorn? I know you've heard Torvi and I talk about him enough that it's funny you haven't met him yet."

"Oh, I'd hate to interrupt…."

"Shut up. You're meeting him. Come on, I'll let you in through the main door, meet me over there." Then she spun on her heel and sashayed away, garnering a few lingering looks from nearby patrons.

If there was one thing Kari learned over the past several months of knowing Gyda, it was that the woman was head-strong and always got her way. So with an amused roll of her eyes, Kari headed around the restaurant to its main entrance just off the side of the busy sidewalk. The restaurant screamed money and prestige, something Kari learned both Gyda and Torvi had in spades. It was unnerving at first but their welcoming and kind presences help alleviate Kari's fears of being viewed as less.

Sure enough, Gyda stood waiting for her by the door. Chatting like a bird, she slipped her arm through Kari's and led her past the shocked waitstaff. The restaurant was even more impressive inside than how it appeared from the street. It was modern with a sharp black and white color scheme, tasteful and exquisite photos on the walls, and dark wood tables and chairs. Kari figured the price of a meal here was similar in cost to her monthly rent.

Gyda led her to a table that was outside in the sun, but partitioned from the street by the half-wall railing she had leaned over earlier to get Kari's attention. The brunette quickly counted five people already sitting there, apparently carrying on a lively conversation if the laughter meant anything. Before she could get a good look, Gyda directed her towards Torvi who reclined next to a man with an imposing physique and a long, blond, braided ponytail in a smart suit.

"Kari, this is my brother and Torvi's husband, Bjorn."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Kari smiled politely, taking his outstretched hand in a handshake.

"Likewise. So, you are the famous yoga instructor these two go on about?" He asked, with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. "I must confess, I find yoga a peculiar activity but with it helping Torvi's flexibility while we…."

Torvi smacked his shoulder, making the men around the table laugh. "Ignore him, Kari. I don't know why I bring him out in public."

"Hey!" He pulled her closer and planted a loud kiss on her cheek. "You love me."

"Mmm…. most days."

At that point, Kari looked up to peek at the others sitting at the table, ready to greet and then head out. Except the first thing she saw was a pair of stunning blue eyes that captured her gaze. Unable to move or look away, as if he was physically restraining her with only his gaze, her heart soared and stomach dropped simultaneously.

It was only when Gyda started to introduce the others at the table that she ripped her gaze from his, all the while feeling his eyes never leaving her.

"Let me introduce these other assholes quick. At the head of the table is Uncle Floki, and the two idiots across from us are Bjorn and my half-brothers, Hvitserk and Ivar."

Hvitserk greeted her with a flirty smile on his boyish face; while the strange-looking man, Floki, just gave a single nod in acknowledgement.

"We've already met," Ivar said with a wicked smirk, letting his eyes blatantly trail over her form while he ran his tongue over his bottom lip, "isn't that right, kitten?"

Kari hated how just from the sound of the pet name, her heart beat increased traitorously and a flush rose to her cheeks. It brought to mind how his hands gripped her hips, caging her to him, how his lips and tongue caressed her skin, the peak of pleasure that crashed over her without warning...and about all the ice cubes and make up she had to use to get conceal the marks and hickeys he decorated her skin with. "Um, yeah, sort of. I…. I didn't catch your name though."

"It's alright. I can't blame you as we were otherwise…. preoccupied." The blue-eyed devil teased, either uncaring or not noticing the inquisitive looks from the others at the table. It was unfair how striking he looked in a simple black t-shirt, showcasing his broad shoulders and muscular arms that were award-worthy.

Mortification was the best description of emotion causing Kari to further flush but also avert her gaze to the food-laden table. For some reason she figured the likelihood of her ever meeting Ivar again was slim to none. Clearly they ran in different social circles and really they had no reason to bump into one another. Apparently universe, fate, whatever decided her life was going too well and decided to throw a curveball at her. Then to make matters worse, here he sat arrogantly and alluding to what occurred between them in front of his family.

It had not gone unnoticed by her that Gyda mentioned Ivar was her half-brother, making her a Lothbrok too, even if she did not go by that last name.

Kari peered around the table, a polite smile on her face in a poor attempt to mask any further revealing thoughts. "Well, it was lovely to meet you all but I need to be going."

"You sure you don't want a ride?" Gyda kindly offered again, already reaching over to grab her own purse. "It's not a problem."

"No, stay. The bus should be here in a couple minutes. Your food is getting cold."

Gyda opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to reconsider and instead gave her a quick embrace. "Ok, I'll stop by the studio this week and we can catch up."

"I'll hold you to that." Kari returned the hug; her body tingled as if bugs crawled all over skin making her want to flee the restaurant even faster. With a hurried "goodbye" to everyone else, trying to avoid Ivar's penetrating gaze, she headed out of the restaurant. With the looks she received from the waitstaff and patrons, she quickened her pace, feeling like an intruder in the lavish establishment.

Soon as she stepped outside, back onto the busy sidewalk and warm sun, she inhaled a deep breath. A part of her felt awful for how quickly she ditched Gyda, who had only ever been kind to her. Truthfully, she had wanted to meet Bjorn because of the stories both Gyda and Torvi shared.

All of that had been eclipsed by the sight of the man she had made-out with over a week ago in that dark club…. Ivar Lothbrok.

Never aloud would she admit how often she thought about him since their encounter. Yet she knew it was best to stay away from him, ever if a part of her fought the notion. It would be safer, for both of them.

Now suddenly coming face-to-face with him, her emotions warred within her as to how she should feel.

Her feet hurried along the sidewalk, worried she would miss her bus because of her detour in the restaurant….and maybe a piece of her needed to put distance between herself and the handsome, cocky man that plagued her thoughts. At the crosswalk, she practically bounced on her toes, willing the light to change color faster. Her mind whirled with the new information of Gyda's relations. Could they still be friends? It also answered her unspoken question of where the wealth came from that Gyda and Torvi were accustomed too. The Lothbroks may not be a household name but it was certainly known in the business world, especially since the many sons had stepped up and expanded its empire.

Without warning, a firm hand grabbed her upper arm, whipping her around. A shriek stuck on the tip of her tongue at the unexpected action. She turned to be greeted by a stunned pair of eyes and open mouth.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were someone else." The flustered man said, retracting his hand from her and rubbing his beard with it self-consciously. "No wonder you didn't answer when I called…. I thought you were ignoring me. Are you OK? I'm so sorry again. "

She placed a hand over her chest, heart hammering almost painfully. The man appeared so concerned about scaring her, it was endearing. "It's fine. You just startled me, I guess I was thinking too hard."

He shuffled his feet for a moment, looking down at them before looking up again. "I'm Daniel, by the way."

"Kari."

"You headed, ah, to the bus stop too?"

A genuine smile touched her lips as he sided up next to her amongst the crowd of others waiting to cross the street. "Yeah, actually. Just got off work."

"Hey! What a coincidence. I plan on going home, eating whatever is in my fridge that doesn't have mold on it yet and sitting on the couch watching TV for at least the next three hours."

"That sounds amazing. I may have to steal that idea."

He turned to face her, placing his hand on her shoulder, and stared at her in mock seriousness that made her giggle. "I give you full permission, no need for thievery. And don't eat something healthy, it's a perfect night for gluttony."

Before she could respond with her own quip, someone grabbed Daniel from behind, throwing him to the ground. Bystanders barely made it out of the way as Daniel just caught himself on his hands and knees.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HER!"

Kari stared in horror as Ivar loomed over Daniel, fists clenched and eyes blazing. Everyone nearby drew back, creating a wide circle and warily watching the fight that was threatening to happen.

"Ivar, stop!" Kari tried to move between the two men but he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back behind him effortlessly.

Daniel hesitantly got up, scraped hands held up in surrender. "Sorry, man. I swear I wasn't trying to make a pass on your girl. Just making conversation."

"Sure. Now fuck off and don't let me fucking see you around her again." He seethed; the words spat out from between clenched teeth.

Eyeing Ivar as if he expected the man to suddenly attack him again, Daniel started walking away in the opposite direction, casting occasional glances over his shoulder.

At this point the light for the crosswalk turned green and those bystanders waiting began to move, all the while still leaving a wide berth around Ivar and Kari. Though she tried to ignore them, she could not help but catch a few looks of concern and pity directed towards her.

Pulling away from the arm still around her waist, Kari made to cross the street when Ivar grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you going?" He demanded, lingering fury coloring his tone.

"My bus is just up there. I need to go or I'll miss it."

"No, I'm giving you a ride home."

"What? No, I don't need…. I told Gyda it's fine."

He scoffed, relinquishing his hold on her wrist. "I'm not doing this for Gyda, now come on."

"No, really, I…."

"It wasn't a suggestion."

Equal parts dumbfounded and angry, she looked back up the street only to see the doors of the bus closing. She closed her eyes for a second, begging for patience and understanding. What she really wanted to do was ignore Ivar and walk away, find somewhere to wait for the next bus. But if Ivar had followed her from the restaurant and was now demanding he give her a ride home, she figured he would not be beyond dragging her over to his car, or whatever he rode in, and continuing to make a scene. It made no sense why he would follow her to offer a ride or attack a random man. She wondered if this was the Ivar Lothbrok that her friends warned her about.

Deep down, she found herself still wanting to be around him again. To see if the man she met at the club was the real him or just a mask…. plus, she hated to wait for the next bus. There was a creepy lady that liked to sit next to her and tell her about the latest escapades of her many gerbils or the newest “friend” her adult son brought home for the night.

"Fine." She stated, turning back to him.

"Good girl. This way."

Silently, she followed him back towards the restaurant and down the next street to a luxury Mercedes car. In her mind, she decided that just because she was getting a ride from him did not mean she had to be friendly. Her plan was to ignore him and stare out the window. Hopefully that was enough of a hint to leave her alone. He was the one who chased her down to give her a ride. His infuriating actions may have spurred her pettiness to supersede the wisdom of ignoring him, especially knowing he was a Lothbrok.

The driver held the door open for both of them to slide in. The bench seat was spacious with a detailed leather interior and that unique new card smell. Another time, Kari may have loved to ride around in a vehicle like this, pretending to be a celebrity or someone important. Now she just wanted to get home. Even if that traitorous part silently ogled him, an arm’s length away from her.

"Where to, sir?" The driver asked once he took his seat in the front.

Then with an arrogant smirk, Ivar rattled off Kari's address.

Kari's plans to ignore him flew out the window. She stared open-mouthed as he leaned back in the seat, brace-covered legs spread out obnoxiously. The first real trickle of fear since meeting him danced up her spine.

"How? I mean…. are you…. stalking me?"

He laughed, cocking his head to the side, to eye her lazily. "You're harder to track down than most people. No social media really. Pay most things with cash. It's like you're trying to hide something."

She gulped, the revelation he could find out all that about her so easily was unnerving. But his last statement hit a little too close to the truth to bring her comfort.

"But it wasn't too difficult." He added brazenly, apparently ignorant of the anxiety his prior statement caused. "And now I found you."

"Why? I mean… why were you looking for me?"

He stared at her, those predatory eyes prying into her soul. She shifted awkwardly, wishing to be free from his gaze but unable to tear herself away on her own accord. Caught in his trap, his web, all she could hope for was mercy. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted down to view his lips, the memory of them against hers at the forefront of her mind…. even more than the anxiety still skating on her nerves.

In an instant, he reached over and hauled her across the bench seat and into his lap. A squeak flew from her as she abruptly found herself sitting sideways on his legs.

As her mind raced to figure out what to do, and honestly how to feel about this, his lips descended on hers and all prior thoughts vanished. His tongue invaded her mouth, forcing hers to comply, demanding attention. Without hesitation, she gave in. Her hands traced his sideburns and the braids on the top of his head. No matter how many times she tried to forget his touch, his kisses, it haunted her. Now having his lips on hers once again, she found even her memories were incomparable to the actual feel, of his lips, his hands, his breath, his body, his scent. It all drew her in like a beacon, directing her to her greatest desire and darkest temptation.

"All I can think about is you." He murmured, his tongue tracing her bottom lip. "Fuck…. how good you taste, how good you feel…. I could barely focus on work."

"Ivar…" she moaned, feeling herself melting under his touch. As he pressed kisses along her jawline, a quiver ran through her but instead of feeling ashamed like before, she tilted her head to expose more of her neck. Normally so reserved with physical touch, for some unexplainable reason, she felt safe enough to embrace her wanton side with him. Somehow, she knew he would not make fun of her actions. Perhaps it was because of his reaction when finding out her virginal status. All she knew was his touch, his very presence, drew forth a side of her previously unknown while making her feel safe.

His hands gripped her with an almost possessive hold. "Gods, I want you." He groaned against her pulse point, the sound wicked with the sheer desire infused in it.

And for some reason, those three words broke the spell holding her hostage to him.

She froze. Slowly she leaned back to stare at him. The truth, the confession, tasted like poison on the tip of her tongue.

"I…. I can't." She whispered, hating how weak her voice sounded.

"What are you talking about?"

"I won't…. I'm not having sex with you."

What lust and tenderness towards her vanished in the blink of an eye. His hands that had been caressing, now gripped painfully. Eyes that beheld her as a goddess, now threatened to cut her without remorse. The very air between them threatened to catch fire with a single spark due to the tension.

"Why not? Cause I'm a cripple?" He snarled at her like an enraged animal. "You'll kiss me and let me get you off but you won't fuck me? Or did your friends tell you who I am? Is that it? Now that you know who I am, you're going to run away?"

"No, it's not… no, I don't think I'm the kind of girl you'd want." Tears welled in her eyes, both from fear and the physical pain he was causing with his forceful grip.

"And what the fuck does that mean? You know me so well, huh?"

That poisonous truth dripped off her tongue once again. How could she tell him that if he truly knew who she was, he would reject her? It was not even a question but a fact. It was better for both of them to stay away, to never see one another again. How twisted was her truth, how deceptive was she in the face of a man known for his violence. Even as her innermost being begged to let go of her past self and embrace this…. embrace him.

"I'm nobody. I'm boring. I don't have money or influence. I just am…. You'd get tired of me in like two days." She took a steadying breath, her hands fiddling in her lap as to avoid his piercing gaze. The lilac color on her nails was starting to chip at the edges, redirecting her attention for a brief second. Even if all she wanted to do was run, avoid this conversation like the plague, she knew in a way, she owed him the truth. Her next words came out in a rush, otherwise she knew they would never pass her lips. "And I don't want to have sex until I'm ready and with someone who cares about me."

She wondered if this was the spark to set him off. How quickly he would reject her, push her off his lap, laugh in her face for her orthodox ideal, call her frigid like others before. Mentally, she prepared for it, even if every time the words were still a dagger to her heart. This time would be no different.

What she did not expect was after almost a minute of painful silence, for him to gently grip her chin and turn her head to face him once again.

"Go on a date with me."

She balked. "What?"

He stroked her cheek, his hand that had been gripping her thigh, most likely leaving vivid bruises, now created soothing circles. It was his voice that shocked her the most. What had been harsh and unrelenting in cruelty now was soft and gentle. "Let me take you out. I'll even follow your damn rule of no sex. Though I know you want me just as much."

"Ivar…."

"You can't deny it." He taunted, with a devilish grin, "You like the idea of me touching you, bringing you pleasure, showing you what you've been missing with my fingers," teasingly, he glided his fingers along her inner thigh, close to her core, "and my tongue," he licked the shell of her ear before whispering the next part, "and my cock. Tell me you haven't thought about it."

Her breath hitched with each movement of his, his filthy words making her wet without her conscious approval and the cocky bastard knew it. "I…. please stop…." She tried to plead, only to make him laugh.

"Stop lying to both of us."

"Please, don't do this. I just can't."

"Why not?" Jaw tense, he regarded her with a look of pure hunger but also exasperation. "Give me a damn good reason."

"It's better if we don't."

He leaned back fully in his seat as if examining her. That devious and deadly gaze pinned her, reading her very thoughts and secrets. Beneath it she felt vulnerable and naked, something she detested. She tried to squirm out of his lap, to put necessary distance between them. His hands only tightened on her, keeping her restrained in his lap.

"It's not…" he started then stopped to lick his lips. And there it was, a glimpse behind the mask, that vulnerability she caught a peek of when they were at the club, "...because I'm a cripple?"

"What? No, not at all. That doesn't…. no, you're beautiful." Soon as the last word left her mouth, her absolute shock at his question morphed into humiliation. Both of her hands flew up to cover her face, burning with embarrassment.

"Beautiful, huh?"

"Shut up."

He chuckled, running his nose along the column of her neck and sending a shiver down her spine. "And you still won't go on a date with me?"

Cautiously, she eased her hands from her face to meet his amused gaze. "I'm sorry." She replied with a shake of her head.

He eyed her as if trying to suss out more of her secrets, head tilted to the side and eyebrows furrowed slightly. After a long moment, he smirked. "Alright. We'll see about that."

"What?"

"You heard me. You'll change your mind eventually. I can be very persistent with something I want."

With a push of a button on a nearby console, loud music filled the air but he did not release her. Instead, he continued to stroke her back or legs as he gazed out the window. Every time she tried to squirm out of lap, he would tighten his grip on her hip or thigh, silently demanding she remain. Finally, she gave up and relaxed against him, enjoying his soothing touches and the warmth of his body.

Ivar Lothbrok was the most complicated man she had ever met. Just in the past hour, she witnessed him go from cocky to murderous to sensual and now dare she even say…. charming. It baffled her that he purposefully sought her out, even if it was stalker-ish. That he wanted to go on a date with her, knowing she would not put out at the end for him. Her image of him and the one painted by her friends were so vastly different…. she wondered which one to believe. Not that it truly mattered, since they would not be seeing each other after this. She could not open that door. It was better this way.

She was disheartened when they reached her home. The way their bodies fit perfectly together, how comforting his touch and presence was, it was unnerving and intriguing. A small part of her wished the drive was longer so they could continue remaining in this bubble of illusion. That she could soak this feeling up just a bit more, for something to hold onto when she was alone. How life could have been between them if fate was different.

The driver pulled up the luxury car in front of the unoccupied, short driveway. With no car there, that meant her roommate was not at the townhouse. Probably for the best, since if Alana had seen Kari getting out of a vehicle with Ivar, she would have lost her shit.

"Come on… tonight." He whispered into her ear, entwining their fingers, those exquisite eyes begging for her to change her mind. "Let me take you out, kitten."

"I can't…. but we can be friends... if you want."

Soon as the words left her mouth, she cringed. What kind of stupid thing was that to say? She needed to stay away from him, she knew it. But seeing that last hopeful gleam in his eyes and the despair that replaced it as she told him 'no' once again…. it was too much.

A cocky smirk slowly spread on his lips, like he knew something that she was not privy to. He laid a kiss on the back of their entwined hands. "If you say so."

Carefully, he helped maneuver her off his lap, and out of the vehicle, his hands grazing over her hips and thighs quickly. She turned around and raised an eyebrow, for him to only stare at her in an innocent expression. Instead of being upset, like she should have been, she just rolled her eyes and unsuccessfully tried to keep the smile off her lips.

"Um, thanks for the ride."

"Yeah. See you soon…. friend." With a teasing wink, he closed the door and a second later, the vehicle pulled away.

She watched the car drive away and wondered why the word 'friend' left a sour taste in her mouth.

#vikings #vikings fandom #vikings fanfic #vikings fanfiction #modern ivar #ivar x ofc #ivars heathen army #ivar romance #ivar the boneless #ivar x oc #vikings ivar #modern!ivar #modern!ivar x oc #hvitserk #floki #gyda #torvi #vikings bjorn #mzwrites

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themonotonysyndrome · 3 years

Text

Chaos Horizon

Part 6 of the ‘Successors of the Future’ is out! Man, next week is already the new year... what a year this has been! Anyway, I don’t have a lot of things to say today so let’s get right to it! Oh, and have a happy holiday everyone!!

Let us never forget that this whole series begin because of the amazing @tri3tri and her equally amazing fics and galaxy brain. If you haven’t check out her blog yet, then please do! I’m such a sucker for family drama and yandere characters and her blog continues to feed me whenever work stresses me out.

A year has passed in Twisted Wonderland. More importantly, for the students in Night Raven College.

Renata has learned quite a few important things just this one, short year. Yes, she needed allies for the time when her father finally discover her presence here in Night Raven College, but she never expected to honestly care and dare she admits it, love Hoyle and Rex.

They were nothing like the friends she made in her old school back at the other world. She noticed their true personalities underneath the surface with each passing days. Underneath his sarcasm, gung-ho attitude and sly tongue, Hoyle Trappola is someone who cares deeply for those who managed to see through him; see past his defences. Renata felt blessed to be his close friend after a night the three of them shared in her bedroom, just playing games and watching movies on his laptop. In a rare window of honestly after Renata explains about her family life and circumstances, Hoyle repaid her honesty by admitting that he wish that he could be a better son to his Dad. Being a single father is tough and despite doing his best to shield him from the hardships and struggles, Hoyle overheard one night when his Dad is talking to his grandparents on the phone. How they urged him to consider marrying a woman so he could have someone to support him and Hoyle in the house.

This was when he was still a child.

Renata didn’t offer sweet, comforting words. She knows that all Hoyle wanted was to vent, so he let him talk while tucking her head on his shoulder and pressed close to his side. She listens because that was Hoyle needed.

Rex is the total opposite of Hoyle, yet just as bright and amazing in his own way. Underneath his serious demeanours, resting bitch face and volatile impulses, Rex Spade is actually an insightful and gentle-hearted boy who looks out for Renata and Hoyle even when it’s unwarranted. Though it’s quite easy for them to persuade him to join in their shenanigans with a few teasing words and in Hoyle’s case, a challenge.

Never had Renata enjoyed her school life with friends like these!

The other important thing - or realisation - that Renata discovered is that her Mama’s friends always kept her in their thoughts.

Though Hoyle’s Dad gobsmacked expression when he brought her to his home for Winter’s Break was, uh, an experience. To put it very mildly.

Renata originally planned to return home via the same spell that Headmaster Crowley used all those years ago to send Mama and her siblings back to her world during Winter’s Break. But while Hoyle, Rex and her were hanging out and playing cards in Heartslabyul’s main lounge, Hoyle brought up in mid conversation that his Dad offered their home to stay if she had no way to go during the holiday.

“You’ve been talking about me to your Dad?” Renata had asked, folding her cards on the table. It sucks to learned that she’s terrible at poker and she pouts whenever Hoyle snickered at another bad hand on her. “Or have you been complaining about me?”

Beside him, Rex stares down at the cards in his hands, hard. As if they hold the answers to the universe. Around them, the other Heartslabyul students gave their table a wide berth, though there were a few brave souls that greeted Renata when they came over to tease Hoyle.

Renata happily introduces herself to them as a show of appreciation.

“A bit of both. Mostly complaining when we had to clean the Hall of Mirrors.” Hoyle easily admits without a shame. He gathered all their cards into a deck and shuffled them. “Anyway, you down? My Dad seems to know your Mum so he offered our place to stay if you don’t have any plans.”

Ace trappola, one of Mama’s best friend that she mentioned before. Renata would like to see just what kind of man he is.

With a nod, Renata reply, “If it’s no trouble then, yeah. I’d like to hang out at your place for Winter’s Break. I’ve never been to the Rose Kingdom before.”

And we’re now back to the present - where Renata and Ace are hanging out at his home; both waiting for Rex to show up with his Dad.

It’s the last day before they had to returned to Night Raven College.

“Have you met Rex’s Dad before, Hoyle?.” Renata asked, her eyes glued to the TV as she munches her bowl of cereals. They could hear his Dad walking about upstairs.

“Have I met him before? Dude, he’s my godfather.” Hoyle scoffed, scarfing down the last bits of his own cereal before placing the empty bowl on the coffee table in front of them. A simple breakfast while watching the morning cartoons are the best. “Rex got his stick-up-the-ass attitude from his Dad.”

“Ah. So he’s super strict?” Renata guessed.

“More like serious, but he’s actually silly.” Hoyle amended. “He and my old man love to argue literally about anything and everything. They’re weird like that.”

Renata just hums. She’ll get to meet him soon enough. Upstairs, his dad hollered at him to clean up so they could go out as soon as the Spade arrives. While the Trappola are getting ready, Renata gathered the dirty dishes from their breakfast and went to the kitchen to wash them.

Mama always told her to be on her best behaviour if she’s under someone else’s house.

Just as she puts the last bowl away, she heard heavy footsteps - heavier than Hoyle’s - coming from behind.

“You really didn’t have to clean the dishes, you know. Usually Hoyle does it before we go out every Sunday.” Said Ace, leaning against the wall.

“It’s not trouble at all, Mr. Trappola.” Renata assured him. She dry her arms by blowing hot air onto them before turning around to face her Mama’s best friend. “It’s nice that you finally look at me, instead of my horns.”

“A-Ah, you noticed that?” Ace stammers, abashed that he wasn’t as subtle as he thought.

“It’s cool, Mr. Trappola. I get that a lot at school too.” Renata admits easily. She’s gotten annoyed at him tip-toeing around ever since Hoyle introduces her. It was obvious that he has questions; it just that he doesn’t know how to ask them.

Scrambling to salvage the situations, Ace took a moment to exhale harshly before he decides to be his honest self. “It was rude of me, yeah? We all didn’t know what to think when your mother just... disappeared one day and then suddenly, my kid brought back her own kid who just so happen to look like the King of the Valley of Thorns...” He trailed off and then he regards Renata with a severe expression. “What happened your mother, Renata-chan?”

“It’s a long story, Mr. Trappola.” Renata said instead, smiling ruefully. “And I don’t want to ruin our day. Can I tell you and everyone what happened to Mama and us later tonight?”

“Sure, kiddo... Is it alright for me to called you that?”

“Mm-hmm! So what are we doing today, Me. Trappola?”

It was nice to see the ice chip away from Ace little by little, now that the man sees past her appearance. While waiting for the Spade to arrive, Renata had a lot of fun chatting and laughing with Hoyle and his Dad, now that there’s no awkwardness lingering between them. Ace didn’t waste any time telling the teenagers all the trouble her Mama and him got into at Night Raven College and hearing the life that Mama had before Father kidnapped her was a blessing to hear.

Judging from Ace’s story, it sounded like her Mama had a lot of people who truly loves her. It’s good to hear it.

The buzzing of the doorbell interrupted Ace mid ranting how it was Deuce who often got them all in trouble - not him! - and MC never seem to realised that and no one back him up. His reminiscent were put on hold when Hoyle went up to usher the Spades in.

Deuce Spade immediately blanked out, mouth slack-jawed the moment Renata waves hello to him. He looks as if he just saw a ghost.

“Yeah, I know how it looks like.” Ace interjects when Deuce couldn’t stop spluttering and stammering, his eyes kept switching to Ace and then at Renata...and then back to his best friend. Ace just clap his shoulders in a comforting manner. Meanwhile, Rex ducked underneath the two men to scurried over where Hoyle and Ace are seated. He squeezes himself in between them to show them the new café that just open up in the Rose Kingdom through his phone.

Once Ace managed to stressed out to Deuce that Renata will explain hers and MC’s story later in the evening, they all head out to town.

“You said that you’ve never been to the Rose Kingdom before, Renata?” Rex asked out loud for the others’ benefit. The town nearby to the Trappola house is bustling with life today. “Then there’s so many things you gotta check out! Do you like desserts? What kind of desserts do you like? Have you ever tried ice-cream cake before?”

“Easy there, Rex. You’re going to overwhelm the poor girl.” Deuce lightly scolded his son. His eyes linger a little too long at Renata before he caught himself and jerk away. “A-Anyway, how about we all walk around first and see what catches Renata-chan’s attention.”

“Sounds like a plan, Mr. Spade!” Renata internally wondered if all of Mama’s friends would react this way when she introduces herself to them.

That entire day, the Spade and Trappola played the perfect hosts to her. As they brought her to one shops after the other, chill out at the park after lunch and regale how the Queen of Hearts used to govern her kingdom, Renata found herself comparing the Country of Thorns to the Rose Kingdoms with every little things that she saw. Everything is so bright and... open here. The sun is shining down on them and everywhere they go, humans occupied the land but Renata did notice a few beastmen going about with their lives. It was nice to truly witness the world outside of Night Raven College and the Valley of Thorns.

Hoyle and Rex made sure they kept close to Renata, shielding her with their bodies when strangers stare at her a little too long for their liking and would usher her into a shop or café to distract her from their curious stares. They weren’t subtle about it, but she is touched that they care about her that much.

Renata is beginning to understand why Mama always talk so fondly about their Dads.

After dinner, everyone returned to the Trappola’s house so Renata could finally explain herself. The living room is packed full and it reminded Renata of her siblings and Mama crowding in front of the TV to watch a movie.

“Did Mama ever told you guys that while she was at Night Raven College, she met Father at night?”

“Father... so your... Dad... really is...” Ace began, but unsure how to even continue but Renata save him the trouble with a nod.

“Malleus Draconia. Mama said he’s a pretty big deal during his time at the school, being one of the top 5 strongest Magician in this world and all...”

Hoyle scoffed. “Understatement, Renata. He’s the strongest Magician in all of Twisted Wonderland now. The number 1.” He explains.

Well. Renata wonders how her little sister would react to this when she tells her later.

Renata then continue on with the story. “Mama explained that they were friends and that in the beginning, everything was fine. But in the end, their story completely went off the train tracks.”

And so, for the rest of the evening, Renata did her best to explain what had happened to Mama as honest as possible. They love Mama and so they deserve the truth.

She told them everything that Mama had told her and her siblings. Of Mama’s friendship with Malleus Draconia and how what looked like a happy ending turned horribly wrong when her Father was consumed with the horror that one day he would outlive his wife and one and only dear friend. His intense love, possessiveness and obsession with her and their children blinded him to everything else - to the point that he kept their Mama and them in a gilded cage.

Renata kept her dislike over Bellatrix to herself when she explains how they managed to escape from the castle on the eve of her Father’s second wedding. In the end, it was thanks to Headmaster Crowley that they could live freely in the other world.

Until the Ebony Carriage came to pick her up and now, here they are.

Renata watches her audience did their best absorb the information overload.

“I never thought...” Ace muttered, distressed. His bit his lower lip, thinking hard. “I never thought that Malleus Draconia had MC all along... what a fucked up situation!”

Deuce is troubled as well. “Poor Prefect... to think the Malleus Draconia fell in love with her... No wonder we couldn’t find her!”

Beside him, Rex nods furiously while Hoyle is already growing bored of this conversation. “It sucks, but it sounds like your Mum is pretty badass for a magicless human. I mean, being able to escape from the most powerful Magician ever in Twisted Wonderland? The King of all dark Fae? Kudos to her.” Hoyle interjects. “So, what’s gonna happen now? You said that your Dad is crazy possessive over you guys, so I very much doubt it if he’s not looking for you guys. Even until now.”

Finally! They’re getting to the good parts.

And so with a curious smile, Renata asks, “Funny that you mentioned that. Do you guy know what Sebek Zigvolt is up to these days?”

Night Raven College’s Entrance Ceremony is always a big event on this island every year.

He was one of the main characters last year - of the many that was addressed by the Mirror of Darkness - but as a Second Year student, he’s standing among the rest of the older Savanaclaw students now. Scenting the newly sorted First Year cubs and waiting for the whole thing to wrap up already.

At the centre of the chamber, the headmaster continues to called out names to step forward and face the Mirror of Darkness.

Amber Leech, Aeacus Shroud, Felix Felmier... the ceremony goes on.

“Psst! Bakari!” A voice suddenly whisper.

Bakari turn his head to the side and there’s Renata with her ceremony robes’ hood up, beaming at him. She’s standing away from her Diasomnia mates, a good space between her and the crowd at the back that no one seems to pay her any attention.

Bakari slips away from the rest of the Savanaclaw students in favour of walking towards her.

“How’s the fresh meats?” Was the first thing that Renata asked him.

“Some of them look promising.” Bakari admits. “More predators than preys so far.”

“Oooh, Savanaclaw’s hierarchy is so harsh.” Renata reply a bit absentmindedly. Bakari notices that her green eyes are scanning the room and the crowds around them. Looking for someone. Something unpleasant churns in his stomach but he resolutely ignores it. “Are you gunning for the Dorm Leader’s position?” She wondered.

Bakari scoffed, his tail flicking irritably just at the mere thought. Unlike his Dad, he has no lofty ambitions to secure a powerful position for himself. “Savanaclaw is governed by the laws of the strong eating the weak. You have to be the strongest in order to be the Dorm Leader and I have better things to do than watching over my dorm members.”

Like figuring out how to appease his Dad after he told him to stay away from the lizard bastard’s whelp during Winter’s Break. Regardless of her surname.

As if he’s going to do that though. He wants to fully unravel the mysteries of Renata MC/S. For the time being, she’s the most interesting creature in Night Raven College.

“Sounds tough.” Renata murmurs. “Well, it’s a good thing that you don’t want to be a Dorm Leader! Otherwise your workload would take you away from me.”

Bakari just hums. Already gotten used to her offhanded flirting.

The two of them watch in the background as the group of First Year students gradually thinned out. The headmaster’s loud voice carried to the back of the chamber.

“... Sherrie MC/S, please step forward!”

Murmurs erupted when said student pulled down her hood, a pair of black horns is clear for all to see.

Bakari glance to his side to see Renata beaming. “You were looking for your sister?”

“Something like that! It’s so nice when everything is coming together, don’t you think?” Renata chuckles, pleased with herself for some odd reason. It just made Bakari more and more intrigue.

And the uncomfortable feeling within him vanish just like that.

“...Octavinelle!”

The murmurs now turn into confused whispers and fingers are pointing as they all watch Renata’s little sister melded into the crowd of new Octavinelle students. Some of the students nearby even glance behind to stare at Renata and when she cocked an eyebrow at them, they quickly turn away.

“Octavinelle? Did the Mirror made a mistake?”

“I thought only merfolks are sorted into Octavinelle.”

“Those horns looks just like her’s. There’s no way she’s a merfolk!”

“Maybe her magic is not as strong to be sorted to Diasomnia?”

The students of Night Raven College sure love to gossip, Renata couldn’t help but internally mused. Even worse than those back in her old school.

“Guess you’re planning to catch up with her after the ceremony?” Bakari assumed, casting a sideway glance to gauge her expressions.

“I’ll meet up with her tomorrow, after she settles in for the night.” Renata answered. “There’s no need to rush. We have lots of time to prepare for the future.”

Ok! I think I did ok with this oneshot. Editing, was as usual, a bit tedious but the power of Miku’s songs prevail and I manage to push this through! Hope you guys have a wonderful holiday.

#fanfic #twisted wonderland #ace trappola #deuce spade #Draconia Family series #Second Wive AU #tri3tri

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theroguequeenaniki · 3 years

Text

Questions 2009 -> 2021

This is from my Facebook. It popped up on my memories page thing. I originally answered this in 2009 when I was 15, it’s now 2021 & and I am 27, so I’m gonna do it again. Leaving the original answers. Original answers will be italicized. Commentary on the original answers in parentheses & crossed out? Lol. (I’m not gonna tag anyone, but, like, I guess if you want to answer these random questions from Facebook 12 years ago, go ahead lol)

Questions

Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose people to tag. Don't forget to tag me so I can see your answers! To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours. Easy! Next, tag people that you think may enjoy this (in the right hand corner of the app). Click publish (at the bottom). Have fun! :) 1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth? My cup with my Big Red in it The straw to my Kate Spade tumbler to drink my HEB Cola Lol.

2.Where was your profile picture taken? I got it off the internet. it's a random anime girl. My bedroom. 3.Can you play Guitar Hero? Never played it. Probably wouldn't be good at it. Not to good at video games. But I am good at Mario Cart, both 64 and the Wii. plus I'm good at some Sonic games. Still never played it. Idk if I’m any good at Mario Cart or the Sonic games anymore, I haven’t played either in years lol

4.Name someone who made you laugh today? Doctor Who TikTok. My cats.

5.How late did you stay up last night and why? Umm, probably about 10:00 cause it took me forevor to get into bed. Uh..Past 4am. Lol. B/c my sleep schedule is fucked. I was in bed by 3am though, but I was playing games & watching TikToks on my phone. Lol.

6.If you could move somewhere else, would you? Yes. I'd move to either New York or Sweden. I don’t know. Part of me says yes. But part of me says no..b/c even though Texas has it’s faults (a LOT of them), I cannot imagine living anywhere else long-term..

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? HAHA. Yeah right. I've never even been kissed! Still nope. I have been kissed though. He just didn’t kiss me under the fireworks the one NYE we spent together...

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? Um, I think R, but D might also. D is accross Stasney from me and R is a couple blocks down (I don’t talk to these people much anymore & I’m not going to share their names on Tumblr) Uh. I think Maybe Raven? B/c they’re the only one who lives in the same city still. But, Sarah might technically be closer distance wise? Hold on. Ok, yeah, Sarah’s closer, even though she doesn’t live in this city anymore.

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? It all depends on the situation.(I totally stold M's answer but it's true) (I don’t talk to this person anymore & I’m not gonna share their name on Tumblr) I mean, yeah. Two of my best friends are each others exes and they’re still friends. I haven’t stayed friend with my ex, but, uh, he ghosted me so? Lol.

10. How do you feel about Dr. Pepper? I love it. I still love it. Lol.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? I can't remember. I don't think it was that long ago, I had a light cry on Saturday, but I don't remember the last time I cried really hard. When we got back from our trip in July. Had a full on breakdown that night. Overheated all weekend. Overwhelmed. Anxiety. It was not a very good vacation..I cry a lot though.

12. Who took your profile picture? I got it off of google. I did.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Umm, either myself, or one of my family members. Aside from myself. I think my dad, on his phone, b/c there was a cicada on his shoulder and he wanted to ask the family group chat if he could keep it. Lol. I take a LOT of pictures of cats though. Lol.

14. Was yesterday better than today? Hail yes! To much drama today! And I couldn't avoid it cause I was in the middle of it! (Oof, what drama was 15 yo Linda dealing with that she couldn’t avoid? Lol. I mean, I guess, Sophomore year was a bit full of drama lol) Anyway, I mean, they were pretty much the same. One wasn’t better than the other. One wasn’t worse than the other.

15. Can you live a day without TV? yeah. Now Music there is something I can't live without! Yep, Do it almost everyday. Sentiments about music remain the same. Lol.

16. Are you upset about anything? Yes. I'm annoyed about something and it's making me upset. (I assume this has something to do with the the drama mentioned earlier lol) Always. Anxiety & depression are a bitch. My rooms a mess & I can’t get myself to clean it. My shelves are still a mess.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? yeah. though i havent really had one yet. I mean, yeah. Even though I haven’t had one last, aside from friendships, but they’re worth it.

18. Are you a bad influence? I hope not. If so, let me know.(again I took M's answer but it's true) Probably. Idk. Lol.

19. Night out or night in? Depends on what's going on and how I feel about it. Night in usually. I do like going out sometimes, but, like, to dinner. Maybe a movie or a show. But, you know, we’ve been in a panini press, the only thing I’ve been comfortable doing is going to dinner (fully vaxxed & masked). But I also prefer staying home anyway. (Like I usually just go to dinner with my family lol)

20. What items could you not go without during the day? my computer. my book. my journal and a pen. My phone. My journal (b/c I write in it every night, as a diary, 14yo Linda wrote stories). Uh. I didn’t take food or drinks into account in the og, so I won’t in those. But, yeah. My phone & journal. I can go a day without my laptop if I need to. (Went the whole trip in July without pulling it out, though maybe that’s not a good example since my anxiety on that trip was so high..) I want to say a book, but I’ve been in a massive reading slump so...I wish I read as much as 15yo Linda did..

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? I don't remember. I think it was myself.(if you want to know, ask me in person) I honestly don’t know. I don’t remember the last time I was in a hospital.

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? "Mrbobbybones: wish ted would finally meet their mother already. geez. get to it. However, I see myself in that character more and more each episode." yeah. That's what it says. It's from Twitter. (Huh? and I can’t even go check b/c my inbox doesn’t go back to 2009 on Twitter?? (I haven’t had my account that long) Wait wait wait just remembered I used to get tweets to my phone as text messages lol)

Facebook messenger: “ Cool” From our group chat. Lol.

From actual text messages on my phone: “ heeey! Just put up the Tuesday PDS just for you it’s a big one.” From Phillip Defranco’s text line Lol.

23. How do you feel about your life right now? I'm loving and hating it. but hey nobody gets out alive right? Uh..I mean. I’m alive. I have WiFi. Food. Family. I haven’t seen my friends in 2 years. (Minus Alex, b/c they were here in July to cat/house sit, but I saw them for like, one night..) There’s a lot that could be better. A lot that could be worse.

24. Do you hate anyone? yes!!! Oof. I mean, kinda.

25. If we were to look in your Facebook Inbox, what would we find? some random conversations. most of my convos on her though have been in chat or through comments. Facebook Inbox is now Facebook Messenger. So you’ll find all my Facebook Messenger convos. Mostly our group chat. And side group chats for secret planning (birthdays & stuff). Plus other chats? Lol.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? I better! (excuse me miss 15yo Linda you absolutely could have passed a drug test you ALSO didn’t drink or smoke or take any drugs lol) Yeah. Absolutely. I don’t drink or smoke or take any drugs so, yeah? Lol.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?

Yes. But I can't remember when... Yeah. Pretty sure.

28. What song is stuck in your head? Gee by SNSD(Girls Generation) They're Korean. A few My Chemical Romance songs

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be? EDWARD CULLEN! Joke! lol. No I don't know. If it was Edward, I'd call the cops. whoever it is though better have an explaination or they are gonna get hit in the head with my Book of Shadows. (Maybe I wouldn’t mind Edward at my window though? Lol.) Uh. My friends? Lol. Idk if I want anyone knocking on my window at 2am.

30.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? I don't know....... Uh. No? Idk. Most likely not gonna happen.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow? I can't think of anything right now... Eat. Should probably clean my room.

32. Do you think too much or too little? Way to much! lol. Way way way too much

33. Do you smile a lot? i try to. I think I do. I get told that alot in Theater...

I think so

#questions #throwback #is this a get to know me #idk

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grey-eyed-menace · 3 years

Text

Like A Dame (Snapshots)

Mammon: *trying his best at being casual* ...so, uh, why're you and Flower-Girl in suits?

Sora: *looking down at her watch in vague interest, frowning at the time* Diavolo provided our outfits for the evening, I complied, Mio guilt tripped Lucifer and Satan into providing a mishmash of their clothes.

Mammon: *visibly disappointed* Don't ya still have a bunch of leftover dresses from the other times?

Sora: And deal with Asmo's appraising glare? No thanks, I get enough flack from him as is about my lack of taste in fashion. I mean, fuck the rest of the Devildom, but I live with Asmodeus. I have to deal with that shit, I'm not Mio, I can't just zone out.

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

[Pan behind the refreshments where Leviathan, Mio, and Beel have decided to hide out for the night. The latter two of which are currently splitting what looks like to be an entire raspberry cheesecake, and the former seems to be playing a Gacha game on Mio's phone.]

(Luke stumbles upon them, wearing a rather pretty sailor dress, with his hair done up in pigtails. He puts his hands on hips, frowns cutely, and looks down on them in disappointment.)

Luke: Is this really how you spend every event? No variation?

Mio: *casually fork wrestling Beel away from her three claimed slices of cheesecake* Not every event, no. Sometimes, Belphie or Satan join us, other times Levi and I shack up in the coat room, or Beel decides too safeguard the entire refreshment table. There's plenty of variation.

Luke: That's not what I meant and you know it.

Mio: And you're hiding from Phenex, aren't you?

[In the distance, a rather high pitched call of 'Luke!' can be heard as an incredibly pretty female looking aqua haired demon traverses the dance floor.]

Luke: ...*sighs* Can you slide over?

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

Sora: So that was Marchosias?

Satan: Yes, unfortunately, it seems she's not incredibly fond of you.

Sora: *blinks stupidly* Not fond? She's my lab partner. If anything, she loves me. It's just... Well, I'm hanging out with the guys she kind of... You know, followed into hell? It's awkward dude. Like... I think I've seen her vault out a six story building just to avoid Beel.

Satan: Truly?

Sora: *shrugs* Hey, a large majority of people avoid their family like the plague, others try to stay connected, and some, like Phenex, decide that they're gonna be said families problem. Whether they like it or not.

Satan: And you? What's your category?

Sora: *without so much as pausing to think* Reluctant orphan adoptee with five siblings, three cousins, and a really fucking weird extended family.

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

Solomon: Ah, Diana!

[Solomon rushes over to his old student with a bright smile, clad in a black form fitting dress with white accents, paired with a gold sash, and silver heels. He also, rather inexplicably, has a rather modest set of breasts.]

(Diana, by comparison, is dressed in a rather oversized midnight blue tux with a grey bowtie, and a white sash around her hips, a large spade sewn over her heart.)

Diana: *blinks tiredly, presses a hand to her face, and sighs, preparing herself for an oncoming clusterfuck* Yes Solomon?

Solomon: *grin persisting* I'm calling in a favor, I need you to help me with something.

Diana: *closes eyes, breaths in, and then exhales* ...next time, next time, I'm taking Bridget and Eirny up on that fourth honey moon.

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

Spade: Has anyone ever told you that you're infuriating?

Phenex: *humming as they drag him around the dance floor* Constantly, you?

Spade: Only my children.

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

[As the party begins to wind down, Mio has decided to briefly venture out from behind the refreshments table, only to come upon a staring contest between Phenex and Simeon.]

(Simeon looks incredibly uncomfortable. Phenex is simply Smiling, it's not a pretty smile, no, it's the smile that got Diavolo to back down from including them and Luke in the butler fiasco.)

Mio: ...do I want to know?

Simeon: *still uneasily meeting Phenex's gaze* No.

Phenex: *still Smiling* It's just drama between siblings, you understand don't you Mio-chan?

(Mio raises an eyebrow at Simeon, then turns to Phenex, and back to Simeon, before casting her gaze to where Luke and the others were at before sighing.)

Mio: Right, uh, well, I'll be leaving then, see you guys at R.A.D. tomorrow, I suppose.

(Mio proceeds to speed walk back to where Beel, Levi, and Luke are without a second thought.)

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

[By way of an escaped Lucifer, the Ubuyashiki-Shibata cousins are currently dancing with one another.]

(Mio is leaning against Sora's shoulder, as the latter leads her through the steps of a butchered slow waltz.)

Mio: How's day been so far? Well, I know mine hasn't been the best, Levi stole the last cupcake.

Sora: *sighing* I see you've been dreadfully bored.

Mio: Bored doesn't begin to cover it, I miss the more... Nerve wracking events!

Sora: Mio, we nearly die everytime those events happen.

Mio: Not always! Sometimes I get lucky! I got to hold Mammon's hand during that room by room puzzle!

Sora: ...Lord above *pointedly ignoring the scandalized gasps from passing demons* you two are pathetic.

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

[After what seems to be an eternity, Diana and Spade join together on the dance floor.]

(Sora and Asmo watch from by the refreshments opposite to the one Beel, Levi, and Mio are hiding behind, Diana and Spade gliding right by them, completely ignorant of their presence, only focused on one another.)

Sora: *eyes following them* Please tell me you feel like your intruding, please, I don't want to feel alone.

Asmo: *humming, already going about fixing Sora's bun* I don't know why you're hoping to find solidarity with me Sora, I mean, it's cute, but honestly? This just excites me. To see something so intimate and gentle... Ah, it makes me ache for simpler times.

Sora: *whimpers*

Asmo: *pats her shoulder reassuringly*

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

[It's the last dance of the night, and the Ubuyashiki-Shibata cousins are each dancing with their own prospective partners completely stone-faced.]

(Sora, dressed in a silver suit and black tie, with her hair up in a braided bun reminiscent of Arturia Pendragon, is dancing with Mammon.

Mio, by comparison, dancing with Belphie, and therefore helping support him, is dressed in an odd mishmash of Lucifer, Asmo, and Satan's clothes. A pair of navy blue slacks, a black dress shirt, dark pink tie and white blazer. Her hair is gathered into a short ponytail at the base of her skull, tied off with a red ribbon. Asmo is distinctly glaring at her from where he's dancing with Diana.)

Mammon: What's got you pissed off Girlie?

Sora: *still completely stone-faced* Fate, the world, Phenex's continued existence, an array of things. Most glaringly, perhaps it's the fact that you couldn't ask my cousin to dance so you stole me away from Beel and Belphie?

Mammon: *clears throat, as Sora leads him into an awkward dip* ...right, got me there Girlie.

(Across the floor, Belphie stirs enough to ask a question.)

Belphie: Why're you so stiff? Actually, why aren't you Sora, and where is Beel?

Mio: *pointedly smiling at Asmo as he passes by with Diana before answering* Mammon's a coward, and Lady Rose is genuinely convinced I'm a man.

Belphie: *already drifting off again* Got it...

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

[After the ball ends, the brothers and the Ubuyashiki-Shibata cousins proceed with the trek home.]

(Beel has taken to supporting Belphie with his left arm, while Sora, on his right, proceeds to routinely supply him with snacks.

Mio has taken to trying to convince Levi to give her phone back before they arrive at the House of Lamentation, while riding on Mammon's back piggy back style, grin plastered on her face, with Levi arguing hotly about being in the middle of raid on a mobile dungeon game of some sort.

Asmo is on Mammon's left side, mumbling obscenities about Mio's fashion choices.

Meanwhile, Satan and Lucifer are at the back of the pack quietly bickering about something or other.

Phenex, as usual, is stocking the poor 'family' of nine from the shadows.)

Sora: It was a good night, you know.

Beel: *chewing around a candy bar of some sort, and shifting Belphie's weight slightly* Yeah, it kinda was, wish there was more food at the refreshments table though, it was good.

Sora: Meh, I'll take your word for it, all I had was some of that Blood Punch, which... Yeah, not really for me, I think Solomon spiked it with something for the lesser demons.

Beel: Is that why Diana looked like she wanted to drop dead every time Diavolo came by for a drink?

Sora: Mmh, that and I think it was because she was forced to dance with Phenex for most of the night, she and Mister Spade only danced once, even if lasted the rest of the night.

(They silent the rest of the way to the House of Lamentation. At which, they all separate, undress, and promptly pass out, well, except for Levi, who remains with Mio's phone held hostage well until early morning.)

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

[The next morning, the household is rather groggy as they make their way down to breakfast.]

Mammon: Last night must 'ave been something else, my feet freakin' hurt.

Beel: You're one to talk, I feel like my ankles are planning a mutiny.

Mio: I woke up in a binder, guys, a binder. What the hell? I thought I wasn't going to be the Dame!

Sora: At least you didn't feel like you were suffocating the entire night, my chest still feels like it's about to cave in, fucking hell...

Levi: *shrugs* I'm actually fine with whatever happened.

Belphie: *head thunks against the table*

(Several moments later, there's an array of notifications from Asmo's phone. Loud shrill beeps are all that make up the next two or so minutes.)

Lucifer: *sighs* ...It seems I forgot about the social media ban, lovely.

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calamitycons · 3 years

Text

For @laineybug04 !

fluff or angst? - I like to include both in my work. I draw from my own experiences, and most of the time those get turned into cute or humorous moments (i.e. fluff). That way when things fall apart, you actually care about that angst because you got to know and fall in love with the characters through the fluff.

favorite character to write? - I struggle to write one character in a vacuum. I don't know if you know about my Homestuck AU at all, but my favorite dynamic between characters to write is the one I developed between Spades Slick and Karkat Vantas. I haven't written a lot of Sonic related things, but I like to imagine how Shadow could be introduced to the Fleetway universe and interact with characters like Fleetway Amy, Tekno the Canary, etc.

favorite ship to write? - I don't really know how to answer this question. I am a very low drama person, so romantic entanglements, will they won't they, meet cutes, miscommunication, and other romantic tropes like those are more likely to aggravate me so I don't write those. But when a ship is already established and I'm writing for it, I don't write them particularly differently from any other combination of characters. The dynamic between their personalities is always most interesting to me, but that barely counts as a specific ship to write? Again, I don't know how to answer this question.

favorite fandom for write for? - I have written fanfiction for Homestuck, Transformers, and Mass Effect. Right now I'm most engaged with my Homestuck fanfiction, but my interests shift and change all the time.

do you/would you write smut? - Sometimes I imagine how characters would interact sexually, like their own ideas on what it means to them and how a sexual interaction between them might go. If I ever write it down, though, I'd be unlikely to share it. I don't think I'd give the people who are looking for erotica the experience they'd be seeking out.

fave fic you’ve written/fic youre most proud of? - My Junkon's Treasure fancomic was very ambitious and full of great ideas, but I was not able to complete it, which makes me sad. Out of things I've actually completed, Adding Fuel To Flames (another Transformers fan comic) gets into it more.

fave trope to write? - Found Family. I also like to write jokes and situational gags that make people laugh or smile. ESPECIALLY if the humor comes from the characters just being themselves and acting silly.

fave type of au to write? - Whatever you call an AU that takes everything about the canon and reconfigures it into a completely new story. I think that's called like, a reimagining?

how do you get yourself in the mood to write? - I listen to music I already know will get me in the groove, and lose myself in that.

what inspires your fic ideas? - All sorts of things! Usually it's a combination of thoughts that I'm having at any given time. My current Homestuck fic was inspired when I thought about Homestuck and The Iron Giant at the same time.

canonverse or au? - I like to stick as closely to canon as possible. If I wasn't interested in the canon then I wouldn't be making fan fiction for it! Even though my current fic project is an AU, I try my damnedest to keep the characters close to their canon personalities and include all the things I loved from the original work, just with my own spin on it to make it fit the new worldbuilding I did.

any fics planned? - Fleetway Amy Rose rescues Shadow the Hedgehog from Prison Island, and introduces him to the Fleetway canon while evading GUN.

fave line in a fic you wrote? - My favorite moment that I ever wrote is completely audiovisual. https://mspfa.com/?s=32611&p=267

have a quote from a WIP? - "[Aria grins wide]

ARIA: ha ha ARIA: n0t what i meant ARIA: but i can take a hint DD: Mm. ARIA: swedish fish are delici0us by the way DD: Agreed. ARIA: can i have s0me

[DD turns back to his pinboard, munching on the fish. He offers the contents of his bag to Aria with his other arm. Aria stuffs her hand down the bag, grinning.]

DD: Container's bottomless."

#ask meme

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acequeenking · 4 years

Text

Hadestober #8

Man With Feathers on His Feet - Hermes comes to Hades office with questions. Mr. Hades offers him a drink. (T; post-canon, Hades/Persephone and Hades & Hermes¹)

Mr. Hades watches Hermes; it is not often that his nephew comes into his office. Mr. Hermes, by now, has surely heard the girl’s fate: gossip never seems to last long before it arrives on Mr. Hermes doorstep. Hades is not and has never quite been sure whether Hermes goes out of his way to find it, or if he’s just simply so fast he’s always running into the drama first hand. Either way, ain’t quite his business, and Mr. Hades doesn’t suffer from the terrible desire to know every little thing on earth the way most of his relatives do. Never was curious beyond his measure. Get burned that way.

“Quiet here now,” Hermes says. What he means is: Hadestown’s quiet, the mills and the mines not going overtime. And that is true. He has not gone there to crack the whip. He cannot, not just as of yet. Even a dog as old as he needs time to lick his wounds.

Or run a victory lap, as the case may be. Suppose he’s won the day, ain’t he? Proved his case. Love ain’t enough, no matter how much he wants it to be.

“Always quiet, this time of year.” He shoots back; what he means is: my house is empty. What he also means: you yourself is the cause, always taking her away from me. Not his fault entirely but Mr. Hades keeps his grudges. “Missus does make her absence known.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hermes’ mouth shifts into a grin that once might have been cocksure; now, it’s too weathered for that. They’re all too weathered for that. “Sister makes herself known in all contexts.”

“That she does.” He smiles. Always liked that about his bride. Most girls played demure, but not his. Never his. First time she looked at him, he felt the ring of fire ‘round his throat and he had liked it. Knew right then and right there that he would marry her, whatever the gossip on Olympus.

Already misses her. His throat tightens. Funny how the icy absence of the woman hurt more than the scalding heat of her gaze.

“Drink?” He asks. Proper to be polite and Mr. Hades is always proper. Despite his grumpy reputation there’s rules to be obeyed, and he’s not unfamiliar with the requirements of playing host.

“Always been fond of a beer,” Hermes says.

“Whiskeys all I got.” Doesn’t keep the stocks so well-watered with poisons, so to speak, without his wife around to guzzle them down.

And he himself has never been one for soft liquors. Ain’t worth drinking if it doesn’t burn your throat.

“Please.” He nods at the desperation in his voice; Hermes has heard about the boy, then. He pours Hermes a double. Hermes nods appreciatively.

“Thanks, kindly.” Hades serves himself his own glass.

“To Persephone,” Hermes offers, which surprises Hades, but he’ll not contest it. An agreeable enough toast.

“To the queen.”

They clink their glasses together. Hermes swallows down his whiskey in one long gulp; Hades does the same. Neither of them says anything for a long, long moment.Both, he suspects, making the measure of the other. Hermes never does come for a social call to Mr. Hades.

“Rather thought you might offer the toast for Orpheus,” Hades says, finally breaking the silence.

Hermes shrugs. “Won’t help him, now.” Hermes says it flatly, without a hint of emotion. That feels off; Hermes has never been a stoic one.

“Thought you might be calling to…hmmm,” he pauses, studies Hermes. Hermes looks tired more than anything else. Certainly drained, and Hades cannot blame him there. He feels drained, too. Mr. Hades stares at his cards and opts to fold. He’s a big enough fellow that he doesn’t have to play the game when he doesn’t want to. “Renegotiate. For your boy.”

“Uncle,” Hermes says, quiet. Odd; he ain’t called Hades such often, though such is true. Their relationship has never quite been so close, and, frankly, ain’t a lot of people on earth Mr. Hades ain’t uncle to, given his brother’s proclivities to screw anything and everything that moves. Hermes goes quiet again, and Hades wordlessly refills his tumbler. Can afford to be generous can’t he, Mr. Hades who has his wife’s love, Mr. Hades who has his souls still toiling, Mr. Hades who has everything but proof that love and love alone is enough and therefore ought to feel a damn sight happier than he does?

“Thanks.” Hermes clears his throat. “As I was saying.”

“Yes.” He puts his boots up on the desk, pours himself a double. He should be happy, should be gloating his power. He ain’t.

“Only a fool attempts to renegotiate when the other party has all the power.” He cocks one eyebrow, looks Hades dead in the eye. “And I am a lot of things, Mr. Hades, but I sure as hell ain’t a fool.”

He laughs, despite his own melancholy. Hermes is many things indeed. And not a damn one of them is a fool.

“Boy broke the rules. He failed the trial. Wish it wasn’t so, but…” Hermes sighs. “Simple as that. Simple as that.”

“Yes.” Hades frowns into his glass. Wasn’t as if he wanted the boy to fail. Wasn’t as if he wasn’t hoping desperately for some – any – other result. Sure he knew the odds were long. Always has been a fan of the long-shot ponies, Mr. Hades. Paid off for him many a time, though gambling does tend to fall under his purview. “Why are you here, Hermes?”

“My job. Ferrying souls to where they need to go.” He puts down the glass on Mr. Hades table with a definitive bang, and Hades feels a chill come over him.

He raises his eyebrows. “I’m where I’m supposed to be, boy. Bigger forces than you dictated that.” Older forces than him. If he could undo it, he would have centuries ago.

“Yes and no.” Hermes folds his hands into his lap. He looks confident, like he’s gone through this before, though such is of course right impossible, impossible to the right highest order. Mr. Hades has a very good memory. And a very long one. And he would have recalled such before.

“What?” He thumps his own hand on the table, time to call a spade a spade. “Cut the bullshit.”

Hermes smirks slightly. “I’ve always liked that about you, uncle. Never stand much on ceremony, no matter how many times we’ve been through this.” The eerie feeling of a spider walking down his back bristles the back of Mr. Hades neck, and Mr. Hades, himself being a man who has refused to be intimidated upon many an occasion, even in in his incredibly long life, keeps his face perfectly still.

“You’re wondering, I know.” Hermes looks directly at him, eyes still tired, emotion still muted. “Why you think it feels familiar. Why when I say when we’ve been through this before, you feel like spiders go walking down your neck.”

Hades gives no indication of being frightened; however, he does reach for the phone at his desk, and he does most certainly reminds his fingers not to shake as he dials the one number he has memorized above all others.

“She’s fine, but by all means.” Hermes waives a hand. “Go ahead.”

He punches the numbers in hard, each one a punctuated silent statement. He doesn’t take his eyes off Hermes as he puts the reciever up to his year. It rings. Hermes blinks. It rings again. Click - someone’s picked up.

“Hello,” he says; prays its the daughter and not the mother. More likely than not his mother in law will hang up on him.

“Hey,” comes his wife’s voice: soft, concerned. “You…alright?”

Now that is off-tempo; normally ,Persephone would be full of fire if he dared to call for anything short of an emergency; ain’t his time, she’s too free up there and as such cannot to be tied down with telephone wire when there’s fruit to grow and vines to climb, yadda yadda.

“I’m fine,” he says, though he is not. “You fine?“

"Told you, she is,” Hermes says, and Hades gives him a glare.

“Yeah, of course.” She snorts. “You sure you’re fine?” Hermes raises his eyebrows, as if to suggest see?

“Hermes is here.” He changes his topic. “Guess I just…wanted to make sure you made the trip safe. Himself is being a bit coy about such." Now for many women, such would lead to questions like now why would he do that, but Persephone is way too smart to be distracted by the obvious question.

"Those kids–” She clears her throat. “I looked and I didn’t find them. Are they…?”

“Call you back,” he says, and hangs up.

Hermes raises his eyebrows. “You could have told her.”

“It’s a private conversation,” he snaps. “Now: what do you mean we’ve been through this before?”

Hermes spreads out his arms, and the feathers dangle underneath. “Been through this before. Lots of times. Fates keep playing with us.” He takes a deep sip of his whiskey, and Hades listens carefully on every word. “Every time, the story ends wrong, so…” He shrugs.

“Every time someone starts it again.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and tries to sense a time-loop. Doesn’t. But then, when have the fates ever made anything easy for him? Hermes doesn’t look distressed about the situation, and that alone tells him the key piece of information Hermes has left unsaid.

“You’re the one starting it,” he murmurs. “You are."

Hermes nods. "A favor, from the fates. Not easy to sweet talk them but…” He smiles. “Always had a silver tongue, Mr. Hades.”

“Golden tongue,” he admits; such was never a talent of his. “But the Fates must certainly ask high prices, charmed or not.”

“Very.” He holds his arms out again, and Hades notices now how threadbare they are, the spaces between the feathers. “Running out of chances, I’m afraid. Not a lot of feathers left.”

“So you’re giving up?” He is not sure if he is upset at the thought or not. Mr. Hades has won: won the girl, won his wife, won the town and all the souls therein. Won everything but his own happiness.

“No.” Hermes stares at him, clearly expecting him to offer up something that he does not. He clears his empty tumbler, takes Hermes as well, sets them neatly back on the tray.

“What do you want, Hermes?” He raps his knuckle on the table. “Say it plain for an old man.”

“I want the girl.” Hermes raises an eyebrow. “Fates won’t mess with the souls that aren’t on the table, so to speak. Got to have capital to gamble. Her soul’s…well, you know.”

“Hm.” He snorts. “Only a fool, nephew, tries to negotiate without something to bargain with.” Hermes nods his head, says nothing. Mr. Hades calls the play. “So what are you offering me?”

“Rewind time, and you get her back again sooner. Close your eyes, and when you open them…” He snaps his fingers. “There she is, on the veranda, drinking your whiskey, playing your games. Skip the six months. And if things go right, well..maybe spare her the problem of the girl. Simpler, easier. That’s why you have to - have to forget. Her, too.”

“Hm.” It’s a better offer than he’d like it to be. He has many souls; he has only one wife. And her absence pulls like a yolk at his neck, and he would do just about anything to get rid of it. “Fine.”

He digs through the contracts on his desk; finds the girl’s. Holds it out.

“Splendid.” Hermes rises; always has places to go, the man with feathers on his feet. “I’ll be going then.”

“One thing.” Hermes turns back to face him, already half out the room. “Persephone and I, do we…do we ever make it? Any time?” He does not quite say what he is asking: do I ever wait? Is it always bad? Has there ever been a time when we were in love without such complications? If Orpheus fails every time, then so must Hades, as well?

“Only one way to find out,” Hermes says; he smiles, but Hades knows well enough that he’s dodged the question.

Still. He lets him go. Part of being a king, to know when to let things go, and when to demand tribute. Today, he lets him go. Today, he is charitable.

He closes his eyes, waits for things to change. Won’t be that long, he knows.

And maybe things will work out this time.

Rashly, before time can start over, before Mr. Hades can allow himself to think too much about it, he redials the same number he’d dialed while Hermes was around. Risking her wrath, dialing twice, but he’s willing to play the game: she won’t remember this, anyway.

"Yes?” His wife says. Her voice is curious; he’s lucky,he knows, that she picked up, and not her mother.

“Forgot to say I love ya.” He says, and he smiles. “Always did, you know.”

If the world has to end– or end for now – better fire than ice, he thinks, and lets the flames take him.

#Hadestown #Hadestober #Hermes #Hades #Hades (Hadestown)#Hermes (Hadestown)#apologies that this evidently went on people's dashes without a cut #tumblr mobile evidently ate it

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