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crookedkryptonitebeliever · 4 months

Text

Best and Worst of Both Worlds (Part 29)

Tw: mental breakdown and thoughts that made you go a little "wtf", mentions of non con touching, a bit of smut, chapters kinda short

okay here u go Evangeline enjoyers

Part 30

You decided to confront her. The suspense as to why she did what she did is killing you.

So you have to work, on composing a long-winded paragraph with a beginning, middle, and end. Your hands were shaky from the adrenaline coursing through your veins, you were never really assertive. So this is very new to you, yet exciting, yet frightening.

You tried not to be too accusatory and not too dismissive. It was hard because you either tend to paint her as a horrible person or paint yourself as an overreactive dramatic. However, you managed to find the right balance with the ultimate goal of extracting her reasoning behind her latest behavior towards everyone.

You held your breath as you tapped send.

You waited and waited while chewing on your nails. Imagining all the ways she would respond. Anger? Remorse? Revenge? Nonchalance? It could be anything, even no response at all.

Which you thought you might be getting. She hasn't replied to you yet and it's been 30 minutes since you sent it. You sighed, she's probably just busy and will take her time to read too, you should be patient and find a way to calm your nerves.

You were about to put your phone down and prepare yourself dinner; which is just following the instructions Yves plastered on its container- usually only involving the microwave or the saucepan. You jolted when your phone buzzed to life, your mouth was gaping wide when you saw the contact to be your dreaded friend: Evangeline.

You whimpered, pacing around the room as you let it vibrate. You feel unprepared, inexperienced, and upset. You regret doing this in the first place. You wish you could just disappear into a hole somewhere, or disappear into Yves's warm embrace.

It stopped ringing. A text message took its place after that.

"Pick up"

She didn't give you more than ten seconds to read before attempting to call you again.

So you decided to take a leap of faith and answer her call.

"(name)? I read your text, what are you talking about?" She sounded concerned and worried, and there were hints of something darker that you picked up in her voice.

She did not read your text. At least, she refused to understand it. You were clear in what you wanted from her; which was to stop doing what she was doing and reflect upon her actions, giving you her rationale behind her offenses at the same time.

You summarized it, telling her that she was confusing and weird. You didn't like how she tried to touch you without your consent. You cannot figure out for the life of you if she was on Montgomery's side, Yves's, or yours.

"I'm on your side, of course. I'm your friend! What? So I can't touch you now? I think you need to get out of your shell more, (name). That didn't mean anything, you can touch me the same way too if you want to get even--"

You cut her off and told her no. You don't think whatever she's doing is merely a friendly gesture. You felt dirty and violated even having Evangeline suggest that you do the same to her.

There was a beat of silence, followed by a sigh.

"...I'm sorry you felt that way, (name). I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just trying to be a good friend."

You didn't know what to say next. Soon after, you heard sniffling and soft weeping.

"I'm so sorry. You're such a good friend to me, I don't want to lose you. Please don't be mad at me." Her voice cracked and wavers. You

You don't know how you feel about her reaction. But you do know that, unlike Yves, you have the power to walk away from her. He's coming back tomorrow anyway, so you won't be the 'friendless' on campus anymore. So you can afford to cut her off because she's acting strange and you think that being with her, will lead to more trouble.

You told her that you're not mad at her. But you don't feel comfortable hanging out with her anymore.

"What?! W-why? I apologized, what more do you want me to do?" She raised her voice and strained it painfully. You hear that she began to sob and wail.

You told her that there was nothing she could do except to move on. You wished her the best and said goodbye.

You hung up before she could get another word in. You immediately blocked her and flopped onto your bed. The breath you exhale felt like smoke evacuating your lungs, you felt you could breathe properly again without feeling too worked up. At least that chapter of your life is done, you most likely would either need to take the bus or Yves would drive you around. Fine by you, no Evangeline or Mr. Jones in sight.

You will let Yves handle Montgomery, he has a bigger, legal hammer to beat him with.

"Sweetie...?" Mr. Jones creaked the door to her room open, letting the lights from the hallway spill into her pitch-dark room.

She was crying, her breathing was choppy and her whimpers bounced off the walls. Evangeline was sobbing into her pillows, her blond hair was a mess around her, unlike her usual combed style. Her beautiful dress was wrinkled and her blue eyes were red and puffed.

Her father stared at her with heartbreak and pity. You must have told her already. However, he knows that this behavior of hers needs to be addressed. Evangeline's mother is cooking downstairs, she was never the type to be compassionate in her discipline methods. So Mr. Jones decided to be the one to break the news to her.

"Oh, Evangeline..." He switched the lights on and sat right next to her sniveling form.

She didn't acknowledge his presence, nor did she wish to talk to him. But he has to discuss with his daughter that some things aren't acceptable.

"Sir Yves... he called me earlier." Mr. Jones felt her entire body tense up to the mention of his client. "Mx. (Name) told him you were touching them inappropriately, is that true?" He was gentle with his words, careful not to provoke his already emotionally unstable daughter.

She neither confirms nor denies. Evangeline just stayed very still.

"...Please, Evangeline. You have to talk to me." He pleaded, rubbing a soothing hand on her shoulder. "What's going on?"

No response.

He shuffled himself on the bed uncomfortably. Mr. Jones cleared his throat.

"You can tell us anything. You know Mommy and Daddy love you no matter what." Evangeline moved a bit, but it was only to adjust her positioning. Her face remains buried in her pillow.

"I-I don't get it, I know you're a good girl but... these things that happened to you, these things you did... Why?" He asked, gently shaking her as Mr. Jones looked at her in desperation.

"Hitting your baby cousins suffering from illnesses, pushing your pregnant aunt Myrtle down the stairs, accusing your uncle Ben of infidelity, the rumors about some... ridiculous cheating scandals, and now this? Why?" Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as well, he bit back his lip to try and avoid it from rolling down his cheek.

He retracted his hand when he felt Evangeline trembling. It was soon made known to him that she was shaking in hysterics.

"You are all so ungrateful! I was trying to help everyone!" She snapped, her heart holding an ugly contempt for the world around her, which included her doting father.

"They weren't going to live long anyways, their mothers constantly complain of needing to take care of their children. I wanted to save Aunt Myrtle from that horrible, horrible fate, but I'm the villain? Uncle Ben hated his wife and kids, he wanted to escape. I gave him that escape, didn't I? He went ahead and married a woman much prettier and younger than his ex, didn't he? Why am I the villain?" She screamed as she hyperventilated, her father taking a step backward to avoid her erratic movements.

"Evangeline-"

"I didn't- I didn't steal her boyfriend! I was trying to get along with him, I wanted us to be a big happy group but they were fighting. I didn't want them to fight..." She sobbed loudly into her hands. Her nails dig into the delicate flesh on her face as she tries to quell her rage. "They were my friends! (Name) was my friend, I tried to help them, I tried..."

She crumbled to her knees and bawled. "I tried helping them get along with Sir Yves, but I was punished for it. I tried helping them get along with Monty, but I was... told I was 'weird'. I just wanted something back, I just wanted to touch them, they were so good to me... I wanted to touch them. Was that so wrong?"

"Yes, Evangeline! You can't just... touch them like that! You don't touch your friends in that manner, you don't touch anyone in that manner! What are you..." He was at a loss for words. Her father tried looking back at what was being taught to her, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but why couldn't she think normally? Her logic is distorted and her sense of entitlement is demented, it's much more serious considering that she began her unhinged quests for justice just a year ago.

She looked away and wept some more. Evangeline is alone again, a feeling so familiar to her. It's ironic, that her parents tried to expose her to as many people as they could to improve her loneliness as an only child. But in a room full of children and adults who she knew on a first-name basis, she was alone. So, so alone.

There is nobody in the world she could tell her thoughts to. She tried telling her mother, her so-called 'friends', her extended family... they all deemed her crazy. She was forbidden to have her truest opinion on life and Evangeline never understood why, it felt unfair, it felt like the world was against her. Not even the vastness of the internet allowed her to find like-minded companions, she was shunned out of communities she desperately yearned to be in for being true to herself.

"You're just like the rest..." She mumbled inaudibly under her breath. "It's useless..." She muttered, a bit more coherently now. Enough for her father to pick up on.

"What's useless, sweetie?" He wiped away his own tears of anguish, it was horrible to see his child suffer like this, but he did not have the skills or understanding to help her.

"Crying about it... it's useless." She sniffled and wiped away her tears. Mr. Jones watched her blink multiple times with a neutral expression.

Evangeline stared into the distance for a few minutes. She didn't blink nor did she speak, not a single twitch of her muscle could be seen or felt. Her father was worried that she wasn't even breathing because her sniffles stopped and the girl let her nose drip freely. Her blue eyes are dilated and blank.

"Evangeline...?" Her father hesitantly shook her by the shoulder. She blinked one last time, allowing a tear from each eye to roll down her already damp cheeks.

When she opened her eyes once more, her usual girlish sparkle was back. Evangeline blew her nose on a piece of napkin she pulled from her tissue box nearby. She crumpled the soiled sheet in her hands, a long strip of muscle on the inner side of her wrist was raised when she squeezed it in her fist. She let go and threw it into her trash can.

"All better." She smiled, patting the area under her eyes with her fingertips.

Baffled by her sudden, impossible change, Mr. Jones tried asking her all the questions in his head, but it came out as a pathetic stutter.

"I'm sorry for costing you a customer, Daddy." Her eyes were downcast. "I promise I won't do it again."

Mr. Jones's eyes darted around her. Confused and terrified at this strange switch of hers. "Sweetie, I-"

"If you'll excuse me, Daddy, I need to freshen up." She stood up and smoothed her hair. "Please leave my room, I will join you and Mommy downstairs for dinner, later. Okay?"

He has no words to give. So he nodded and as usual, became a pushover for his daughter.

She guided him out, waved goodbye with the sweetest smile, and closed the door. Her hand went to the knob to lock it shut.

She took a moment to stare into space as she listened for her father's footsteps. Once she's positive that he has gone downstairs, she lets out a sigh.

Evangeline switched her lights off and headed to her bed. She laid on it and picked her phone up.

The screen illuminates her face. She made a few taps on it and soon found herself scrolling through her picture gallery.

"Maybe it isn't so bad to be the Villain..." She mumbled to no one in particular, grinning to herself.

Her pupils dilated tremendously when her optics landed on a picture of you on the beach. You were bending over and collecting seashells, so focused on your activity that you didn't notice a pair of lenses capturing this moment.

Evangeline's breathing became more ragged as her eyes glimmered at the sight of your mildly saltwater-dampened rear. You're such a prude, how she wished you wore something a bit more accessible. That would have made her very happy. Maybe if it was a little warmer, you would have worn something a lot more revealing and easier to worm her depraved digits around.

Her soft hands slowly slid down to her panties, torturously tucking one finger at a time under the fabric.

The more the blonde stared at different pictures of you, the further her perverted hands and thoughts went.

She stifled a moan as she touched herself, she imagined doing all kinds of unspeakable things to you. She wanted to see you under her, she wanted to see you squirm and beg for her forgiveness. Evangeline wanted to ravage you like the beast she was under that heroine-like persona.

She quivered as she pumped her fingers into herself. But her eyes never strayed away from that photo of you. Evangeline wanted to take you so badly, she wanted to overpower you and have you pinned against the wall, the bed, the floor... She drooled at the thought of you so helpless and despaired.

Her baby blues shifted towards your clueless face. You looked like you never experienced the high of an orgasm before. She could fix that, she could make you cum over and over again until you fell unconscious in her fluffy pink handcuffs, eyes rolled back into your head, and all your orifices dripping with sexual fluids. What a sight, she thinks.

She had to push her face into her pillow as she let out a powerful moan.

Even then, she still went on. Furiously rubbing herself and imagining herself as this antihero in your story. But ultimately, you saw her as your savior in her mind.

#yandere #yandere concept #tw yandere #oc yves #yandere x you #yandere oc x reader #yandere male #yandere x reader #male yandere oc x reader #yandere oc #oc evangeline #oc montgomery

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landwriter · 1 year

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Heya, I love your writing and taste in things.

I’ve finished (and loved) everything you’ve posted <3

Are there any sandman fics that have tickled your fancy lately?

Thank you so much!!! I sadly do not have time to read near as much Sandman fic as I'd like, but I have scoured both my memory and my bookmarks on AO3 (all twelve of them) and dug up some absolutely wonderful stories - hope at least one or two of these is new to you?!

I am probably a bit weird in this, but I don't bookmark fics I love (which is really nearly all I've read) insamuch as fics that have done something in particular that I think is so well-executed or clever or inspiring that I want to be able to study it like a creature in its own right. Usually these are stories that have the traits I admire most in fiction: economy of language, being very fucking funny, making me viscerally uncomfortable, or outright haunting me.

I loved reading all of them but your mileage may vary! Caveat lector like more than half of these are smut and/or violent so please check the tags against your own preferences. Several long-winded recs with excerpts and explanations under the cut:

---

The Birthday of the Beast | @slythernim | Dream/Hob | T | 3.3K

Father Almighty, though I have long not been your servant, I remain your unmanageable son. Here on Earth, closer to Hell than to Heaven, as I celebrate perhaps the least holy of holy days, I must imagine myself like unto Lucifer more than as Michael, that he and I might together make of the darkness a place for humanity to grow. He blows out the candles.

Hob turns 666. Extremely fun fic by Nym that features incredible characterization within a very short space, Catholicism, Lucifer, and of course, gets a very special birthday gift. But you shall have to read the fic to see what it is. Read everything of Nym's, actually.

---

New Mistakes | Anonymous | Dream/Corinthian | M | 3.2K

Dream slid his thumb into the Corinthian’s mouth, the one he shared with most, the one with which he commonly spoke. “Well?” he asked. “Are you fed?” The voice that came from his left-eye mouth buzzed like locusts. My lord, we are. The voice that came from his right-eye mouth dripped like honey. My lord, we can always be fed more. Dream pulled back, looking at the Corinthian expectantly. The Corinthian swallowed, running his tongue along his teeth. There was a faint blush on his cheeks, and Dream was unaccountably flattered. “My lord,” he said. “I wish to be good.”

Have read almost no Corintheus but this fic hits on so much that I find distantly intriguing about the pairing. Perfect dialogue, gorgeous rhythm. Wonderfully visceral. Absolutely bonkers nuts for repetition in threes, as I'm sure you know, and I love how it was used here.

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Lucy Locket | Anonymous | Dream/Hob and Dream/Hob/Corinthian | E | 17K

Five chapters (now with a new threesome added in late April, much to my delighted surprise!) of just fantastic roleplay smut that in-between all the sex is by turns incredibly funny and tender. Alternating Dream and Hob POV. As somebody for whom sexual roleplay has been my literal bread and butter on a professional basis, it shouldn't be surprising I am so fond of this fic - but it catches me out every time! Like a blow from behind, and I am winded. It is ridiculously hot and distressingly perfect all-through, and I would absolutely marry the author about it (sorry author if you're reading this). No excerpt because I cannot choose and will simply suggest that if you're up for kink that you go read it all at once.

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Public | @softest-punk | Dream/Hob | E | 1.1K

"Oh, darling," Hob murmurs, fingering the edge of Dream's delicate lace knickers. Dream feels his smirk against his jaw, bites his lip at the brush of a kiss under his ear. "You forget how old I am. I learned to fuck with an audience."

Every day I get closer and closer to needing to write Dream and/or Hob with vulvas; this may have been the fic that sealed the deal for me, I think. Ridiculously hot, and enshrined in my head forever for the line above. I learned to fuck with an audience. God! How good. A masterclass in the slutty drabble that nevertheless retains peak Dream/Hob characterization (I would argue that sex is in fact one of the best narrative vehicles for characterization and exploration of interpersonal dynamics...this bias is probably why nearly all these recs are so horny.) One day I will learn how to write proper smut in media res like this and not preface it with gratuitous plot.

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worship like a dog | @thewalrus-said | Dream/Hob | E | 2.5K

“Is it so inconceivable that I might love you?” Dream murmured, running his manicured nail down Hob’s cheek. Hob tried to speak, swallowed, and tried again. “No one ever has before,” he said. “No one but God.”

Hob is a priest. Dream is a demon, except he's not. Dizzyingly hot for so many reasons, with a delightful canon dialogue echo. And again, must stress this: Hob is a priest. Hob is a priest. Hob is a priest, go read it.

---

Safehouse | Anonymous | Hob/Corinthian | E | 5K

“I need a room. One without a door.”

The best execution of the sex pollen trope I've ever seen, with the worst men. Very, very good fic with a brilliant premise and unerring execution. World-building is done in such brief but vivid strokes - it feels like a 50K fic whenever I remember it, and I'm always surprised how short it actually is. Haunts me in the best of ways.

---

As well - these fics are well-known and well-loved - but some stories that are utterly wonderful and contain lines that haunt me weeks, sometimes months later - stories that rearranged my soul, lurched me closer towards writing for Sandman, and warrant mention even though I am SURE you have read them, include:

@moorishflower's iconic and beautiful Odyssey fic, maybe sprout wings was the first fic I commented on with my AO3 account, and among the best fics I've ever read in any fandom; slightly deeper cuts from Heather's oeuvre (if, for some reason you are not reading everything already) that I am obsessed with and have reread multiple times: vowel shift, most vain devices, an act of faith. Genius stuff and unbelievably gorgeous language. Just go read it all, honestly

@softest-punk's Shelter is one of the first Sandman fics I ever read, and is beyond lovely; if you have not read their entire deep and profoundly lovely back catalogue, I recommend Catching Up (quintessential Cecil deep tissue emotional massage), Delayed (or: my favourite kink and favourite Endless); Ferrous (vampires! bad men! ahh! ooh!); and I would of course be remiss and ungrateful to not mention self-abandon, and the confounding effects thereof, a 10K fic that perfectly answered my general question of how the three lads would actually get together once the Corinthian and Hob had started fucking (as narrative foils that deserve such treats)

@xx-vergil-xx's Hounds is an ongoing epic that has singlehandedly caused me more emotions than humanity has language for; it is ambitious in scope and sticks every landing. The world is alive and lovingly-detailed. The language is a poem. It is so smart, so beautiful, and so well-researched and built. It is a TEMPLE unto itself, and appropriately worthy of worship

I will also suggest you read absolutely everything by @that-banhus because she literally cannot miss and writes the loveliest, cleverest worlds. All of it.

#asks #gloam's sandman rec list #this is basically my fic rec masterpost lol #unfortunately i flatter myself about my good taste and cannot stop going on about what i love and why once given the barest excuse to start #the sandman #dreamling #corintheus #hobrintheus #COB #fic recs #it's not that i exclusively read fic ppl feel the desire to publish on anon #it's that what people publish on anon FUCKING SLAPS #spent far too long enjoying drawing this up and it still feels woefully inadequate #but it's a start #into either remarkable sandman fic or my id really

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zcorners120 · 2 years

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Please can we have part 3 of Cheat!!!

of course! as requested by @damianodavidhands , @itsjustlove , and @ironmaiden1313

charles leclerc x fem!reader

PART 1 PART 2 MASTER LIST

synopsis; finally leaving the toxic relationship that you were in, you found yourself a more deserving life with your ex's enemy.

warnings; mentions of previous abusive relationship, swearing, facing previous abuser, S M U T 18+ > oral!fem receiving, spanking, implied sex, p in v, semi public teasing.

A month into your new relationship with Charles couldn't be better, being happy, healthy and safe. You kept the relationship on the low, mean whilst Max and Kelly are praised by the public.

Even though it slightly hurt seeing the two of them together, you've learnt to cut your losses and move on, being happier with Charles than you were with Max.

"Amor, don't call me crazy but I think it's time for us to go public." Charles spoke out from the bathroom, his French accent making an appearance on the word 'public'.

"I'm not sure, you know how the media would twist everything just to make Max look good.." You replied, looking apprehensive.

"Okay, that's alright if you're not ready yet. The media is probably too focused on Max and Kelly's suede jackets." He scoffed, coming from the bathroom to sit next to you on the sofa.

You snuggled into him, feeling as the comfortable leather shifts beneath you. As you laid there, against Charles' chest listening as his heart drums, you came to a realisation, your own epiphany.

"Y'know what, fuck it." You shot up, reaching for your phone on the distant coffee table, as Charles looks at you confused.

You hopped onto Instagram, finding a cute picture of you and Charles.

@Y/NOFFICIAL.

457,223 likes

Y/NOFFICIAL. @charlesleclerc ❤️

@carlossainz55 Cuties 💓

@pierregasly Best couple on the grid 💋

@charlesleclerc Je t'aime ❤️

You watched as Charles immediately rushed to comment first, as he looked up at you with his puppy dog eyes, holding your hand.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to, really." He said smiling at you, kissing your hand.

"I wanted to, trust me." You said assuringly, pulling him in for a small kiss.

You felt your phone buzz in your hand, followed by the melodic chime of a text notification. When you looked down to the illuminated screen, the name made your heart skip a beat.

Max Verstappen

Public now, I see?

"What the fuck?" You spoke aloud, sitting yourself up on the sofa as Charles mimicked your actions.

"Why's he stalking you? I need to talk to him." Charles grimaced, turning his defence mode on.

"No, no. It's fine, I'm just going to ignore it." You reassured, not wanting Charles to get carried away.

"I'm talking to him at the next race." He muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes as he sunk into the sofa, putting his arm around you.

The next few days leading up to the race you had numerous unanswered texts and calls from Max, even though you blocked his number. Charles was becoming more and more unstable, a loose cannon.

"This cannot go on for any longer, it's not fair on Kelly and you." You admitted, speaking as you slid on an expensive necklace Charles bought for you.

"Here, let me help. I'm going to fucking crush him on the track." He bit his tongue, helping you with the necklace.

"Don't do anything too dangerous, please Charles. I'll talk to him today before the race and tell him to leave me alone." You turned around, putting your hands on his shoulders.

"There is absolutely no way you're speaking to him. I'm going to talk to him, man to man and he'll get the message." He said lowly, as he finished his sentence smiling at you.

"Please don't be stupid. I'll be with Luisa and Lily before the race to calm my nerves." You linked arms with him, speaking as you walked out of the house.

"Okay, that's fine, just stay away from him." He spoke, opening the car door for you.

"Don't let this psych you out before the race, I don't want you to get stressed because of this and perform poorly." You complained, hating to be a hassle for him.

"No, no Cherie. If anything this will fuel me for the race as I can take some of my anger out on the track." He laughed, putting his hand on your thigh as he drives to the track.

As you arrive and get through the gates, taking some pictures with fans you spot Luisa and Lily, your two WAG bestfriends.

"Hi Y/N!" They call out, coursing you over.

"I'm gonna go to the girls, are you sure you'll be fine with Max?" You slightly interrogate Charles, worried he'll get carried away.

"Si Amor, have fun. I'll see you before the race." He kissed your forehead, disappearing into the crowd as you go mingle with the girls.

"Let's hear all the details!" Luisa shrieks, as you walk around the media pens and the paddocks, gossiping as per usual.

Unbeknownst to your little gal's sesh, Charles had squandered over and found Max, with him being more aggressive than friendly.

"Stop messaging Y/N. I mean it." He walked over to him, eyeing him up.

"Why do you care? You had your hero moment, just let me be the bigger man here and give her what she really needs in a relationship." His Dutch accent prominent, as he gave Charles' an iconic death stare.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? You have Kelly, and you treated Y/N like shit. You have no fucking right to say that Max." Charles immediately spat, starting to get closer to Max.

"Not that it's any of your business, but what happens between me and Y/N, is nothing to do with you. Me and my lieve will be together soon, and I'll have her screaming my name in bed as per usual." Max seethed the words out like venom, and bit Charles directly with it.

Everyone in the garage could sense the tension, as Charles stared at him with pure, pure hatred. Not the lies about his sexual performance, but the fact he used a Dutch nickname for her. One that you don't like to be associated with.

He could feel his anger bubbling up, and when he finished his sentence it had officially boiled over, balling his fist up and ploughing a punch directly to Max's nose.

He was knocked back immediately, blood gushing like a fountain as Charles loosed the tension is his hand, shaking the blood off his bruised knuckles.

"Call her once more and you won't be able to stand straight without crutches for the rest of your life." He fired, looking down on him as he spat at Max's feet, walking away as some mechanics noticed him on the floor.

He was pleased with himself to say the least, as he knew Max was going to be livid on the track. He protected his girl, and that's all he cared about, as he watched you laughing with your friends, from then onwards, he knew you were the one.

"Cherie, they're calling me to the garage now. I took care of Max, so don't worry about him." He said smiling at you, as he took his cap off and popped it on your head.

"Thank you Amor, I really appreciate it. Good luck out there!" Pressing a quick kiss and a hug, you reluctantly let him go as you began watching the race from the big screen.

"And in comes Leclerc, just about taking over Verstappen, so close to the finish line.." The commentator announces, as you watch anxiously as your boyfriend did a slightly dangerous over take.

"Leclerc and Verstappen, on the finishing track, who is going to win this race? Getting closer, and there goes Leclerc, flying by! Ladies and Gentlemen here is the winner of our race!" He exclaims, as the Ferrari garage uproars in cheers as internally scream for Charles.

You watch as he celebrates, running to his team and then bolting to you, picking you up as he spins you around, making you feel dizzy.

"Congratulations my champion." You say as you attack his face with a million kisses, feeling so proud of him.

You could see Max angeringly sulk off to his team, accepting his second place to his rival. You felt a bit bad, but your happiness for Charles triumphed more.

You went out with Charles and his team for a few drinks to celebrate his victory, as the both of you got even more tipsy. Sitting on Charles' lap he held you close as you watched the people around you dancing in the club.

"Hey Amor, I have an idea." You spoke loudly, feeling the bass of the club's music vibrate against the floor.

"Hmmm, what is it?" He tilts his head, clearly drunk enough to give into your ideas.

"Fuck me." You say blankly, feeling the tequila take control of your body as he looks at you with wide eyes.

You smile innocently, but that quickly drops as Charles picks you up and carries you out of the club hailing a taxi, both of you laughing manically along the way.

Sitting on the plush seats of the taxi, you drape a leg across Charles' leg, watching as he turns stiff. Gliding your hand across his shorts you start to palm him with your hand, teasing him as you watch the tent in his shorts grow bigger.

He lets out a breathy moan, covering it up with a cough as you approach the street his house is on.

"Grazie." He called out, tipping the driver as you were once again slung over Charles' shoulder.

He kissed your hip and stomach, slamming the door shut behind him as he carried you upstairs, laying you on the bed.

"Magnifique, juste magnifique." He muttered out, as he unzipped your skirt, and popped the buttons from your top off.

You watched in shock at how he ripped your shirt off so easily, as he dove into your neck and annihilated you with kisses, finding your sweet spot. Moaning out and putting a hand in his hair, he slowly started going further and further down, kissing your breasts, stomach, hipbone.

Pulling your panties down he started eating you like a starved man. The way this man would flick his tongue amazed you every time, as you pulled on his hair for more. You could feel your legs closing in on instinct from the pleasure, as he sucked on your clit, he took his strong hands to keep your legs open.

The noises from how wet you were were embarrassingly loud, as you whined and moaned out his name, you could hear his mouth and tongue slap and suck on your cunt.

"Charles Amor, please, I'm so close." You exhaled out, feeling your legs shake as the pleasure becomes overwhelming.

You felt the tiny knot burst, cumming on him as you squeezed your eyes shut. After the exhausting high, Charles popped his head up, smiling as his mouth and chin were covered in your juices.

"Ma belle fille, si désespérée pour moi." He lowly said, pulling in for a heated kiss.

You didn't have time to react to his dirty, malicious French words as he flipped you onto all fours, hearing his belt drop behind you. In mere seconds he pushed himself into you, feeling as his lengthy cock filled you up.

"Oh fuck, harder please." You moaned out, as he slammed in and out of you.

"Ma Belle, ask and you shall receive." He groaned out, feeling you pulsate around his cock, as he slapped your ass.

The room became a continuous echo of his hips slamming into your ass, the headboard banging against the wall, and both of your desperate pleas and pants.

"I'm going to cum again, fuck Charles." You whimpered, as he wrapped his hand around you to touch your clit.

As soon as he started toying with your clit as well as fucking you, you could no longer handle it, cumming hard all over his cock. Your moans were uncontainable, borderline screaming Charles' name.

"Such a good girl." You caused a chain of reactions as he pulled out of you, finishing on your ass as he slapped it again.

He went to get a towel and cleaned the both of you up, before collapsing next to you, breathing heavy.

"I love you Y/N. Like a lot." He confessed, pulling you in for a kiss as his eyes filled with adoration.

"I love you too. Like a lot." You laughed, kissing him as you both gradually fell asleep next to each other.

A/N; i have no idea why this took me so long, but requests will be out in the next couple days !

#cl #cl16 #formula 1 #fanfic #imagines #charles leclerc #f1 fandom #ferrari #ferrari f1 #imagine #charles leclerc fluff #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc imagine #scuderia ferrari #charles leclerc smut #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc one shot #gps

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spacecadet-ticklesinspace · 1 year

Text

Movie Theater Adventures

Summary: Peter 1, 2, and 3 go to see a movie together and chaos ensues 😁

(Have a great week guys ❤️ hope you're all having a great day ❤️)

"You guys seriously did not have to do this."

Three turned toward the backseat. "For the millionth time Pete, we wanted to."

"You've been under a lot of stress lately kiddo and we know what that's like." Two smiled at him through the rearview mirror. "Sometimes you just need a movie break with friends."

"I cannot wait to see this movie." Three buzzed. "It looks so good!"

"Which one are we seeing?" One asked.

"You'll see when we get there." Two winked at him.

One leaned back in the seat. The older two had surprised the youngest after a long day at work. He had come back from the pizza shop to find them both in the living room. Doctor Octavius and Peter 2 had final been able to create a way for them to travel through dimensions a few months ago and it was taking some adjusting to randomly seeing another version of you in the living room.

It was even stranger when one of them announces they're kidnapping you for the evening. The older two had ushered One to his closet, telling him to put on his comfiest outfit and shoes for a movie day. However, they wouldn't tell him what movie they were seeing because they wanted it to be a surprise.

One fiddled with the sleeve of his science themed sweatshirt. "Could you give me a hint?"

Three ruffled his hair. "It's a movie you'll really love."

Once they pulled into the parking lot, One leaned closer. "Can you tell me now?"

"Have patience little Pete." Two opened the door. "Come on."

The youngest Peter curiously followed the older two toward the theater. He glanced at the posters on the outside in hopes of picking up on one that would give him a clue to the movie, but none of them really stood out to him.

Instead, he had to wait until Two talked to the lady at the kitchen counter. "Three tickets to see A New Hope please."

One's eyes widened. "What?"

"They're running a special this week." Peter 3 nudged his brother. "All of the older Star Wars movies are being shown in theaters for their anniversary."

"So we can actually see A New Hope in theaters? Like actually on the big screen?"

"Yehep. Thought this would be a gohood weheekend idea," Peter Two replied.

"Yes!" Peter 1 reached into his pocket for his wallet. "I'm so looking---."

Peter 2 stepped in front of the youngest and gave the lady his card. "Just put all three of them on my card please."

"Yes sir." The lady took the card.

"Here, I'll pay you back for---."

The oldest cut off the youngest. "No need."

"What?"

"It's my treat One, don't worry about it."

Peter 1's jaw dropped. "I can't let you do that!"

While the two fought over the tickets, the lady behind the counter slid all three tickets over with Two's card. "And that's two adults and one---."

Before the lady could finish her statement, Two gathered what she handed him. "Thank you."

Three wrapped an arm around the youngest's shoulders before steering him inside. "Come on Uno."

"W-wait! You can't just---!"

"Already have One." Peter 2 gave him another hair ruffle.

Peter 3 directed the group toward the concession stand. "Nothing you can do now. We said we'd kidnap you for a movie day so it's our treat."

"But I'm an adult!" Peter 1 pulled away. "Not a child!"

"Adults can still have free passes Peter," Two soothed. "Think of it as a gift for working so hard."

One crossed his arms. "Like getting good grades on my report card."

Peter 3 shrugged. "Eh, kind of."

The youngest blushed and turtled into his shoulders.

Two nudged him. "Hey, just say thank you and enjoy it, okay?"

Peter 1 wanted to continue arguing, but he was already being pulled into line at the concession stand. The blush on his face darkened as they made their way to the front.

"You haven't had dinner yet Pete. Do you want something to eat?" Three asked.

One shook his head.

"You sure? They've got pizza or chicken."

One shook his head again. "Just popcorn please? I can share with someone."

Peter 3 pulled the youngest close and pinched his cheek. "You're a growing boy. You need your own food."

One whined. "Noho!"

"Excuse me." A worker behind the concession counter asked. "Could I see your tickets really quickly?"

"Um sure?" Two handed over the tickets. "Is there a problem?"

The worker looked over the tickets. "Nope, no problem here. You actually have a discount."

"Really?"

"Yeah." The employee pointed to the board behind him. "You get half off one of the kid's meals."

Two cocked his head. "Kid's meals?"

"Because you have a child's ticket." The three Peters' eyes widened as the worker motioned to Peter 1. "All kids 14 and under get in for free."

One groaned. "She thought I was 14?"

The worker chuckled. "Ihi'm guessing you're nohot?"

"No! I'm literally 17!"

The worker bit back a laugh while his other coworker elbowed him. "Weren't you the one who got asked if he was 12 his first week on the job?"

"Yehep, so Ihi knohow you're pahain duhude."

The youngest's face was pure red. This was turning out to be a pretty embarrassing evening.

Peter 2 gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Enjoy it while you can."

One looked up at him.

"I wish people still mistook me for twenty."

That put a small smile on Peter 1's face.

The worker handed back the tickets. "I'm sorry kid. Look, it was an honest mistake. Don't take it personally."

The other worker behind the counter scooped some popcorn into a bucket. "Take your ticket and discounted meal and enjoy your movie."

Three nudged the youngest. "They've got a point Pete. Go ahead and pick a meal."

One fiddled with his sleeves. "Chicken strips please?"

"You got it. One chicken strip meal, two popcorns, and one drink coming right up."

Three handed over his card this time. "This is my half of the payment."

"Come on dude, let me atleast pay for my meal."

"Oh please," Three teased. "A $3 chicken meal is not about to make me go broke."

"Then let me pay part of the rest---."

"No no no, I don't want to hear it. You lost this argument with Two and now you're losing it with me."

The youngest groaned.

"Sorry about the tickets One, I didn't even notice she rang them up that way," Two apologized.

"It's not your fault. Like he said, honest mistake."

Peter 3 smirked. "You sure she thought you were 14. You look more like you could pass for ten."

One jabbed his elbow into his older counterpart's side.

"Ahalright, knock ihit off." Two grabbed the food as it was handed over.

"Enjoy your movie guys." The worker waved them on. "Have a great night."

"You tohoo." One waved at them both as they passed.

Once out of the line, Peter 2 led the way down the hall to the theater.

It was packed!

"Guess we should have gotten here earlier." Two scanned the rows. "I don't see a spot that has three seats together."

Three motioned to the other two over. "I think I found something."

"That's only two Three," Peter One pointed out.

"How about you two take these seats?" The eldest offered. "I think I saw another seat a few rows up---."

"No!" Both younger Peters exclaimed.

"There's not enough seats altogether though."

"But we want to see this with you!" Peter 3 added.

"Well, any suggestions on how to make this work?"

The younger two thought for a second before a grin lit up Three's face. "One, come here for a second."

One stepped over, and was caught off guard when Three tugged him into his lap. "Ack! Hey!"

"See? We fit here, you fit there."

As Peter 2 sat down in the other seat, the blush from earlier flamed across One's cheeks. "Y-you can't hold me all night! I-I'm not a child!"

"According to your ticket you are."

One shoved his older counterpart. "Shut up."

"Don't worry, it won't be all night." Peter 3 readjusted so he was standing and One was in the seat. "We can switch."

"Wait! What are you---?"

Before the youngest could finish his statement, Peter 3 plopped himself in One's lap. He wrapped his arms around the youngest and snuggled as close as he could.

One had to laugh at the sight of the tallest Peter trying to fit into his lap. "Yohou dohon't fit!"

"Noho." Three poked One's stomach. "But Ihi'm comfyhy."

Two gently pushed Three's hand away, distracting Three long enough not to notice One's flinch. "Come on you twoho. Time toho settle down."

"Hey, I'm not doing anything! It's him!"

Peter 3 sat up and stretched his back. "You're too little anyway Uno."

Peter 1 poked his older counterpart. "I told you!"

"Hey, both of you." Peter 2 poked them both. "Knock it off before we get kicked out."

"Okahay, okay."

The younger two settled down and adjusted into place. Three took up most of the seat with One curled up on the side closest to Two. A few moments later, the opening commercials began to play.

Then the opening credits began to roll.

It was epic to hear the theme reverberate across the theater and see all of the characters become larger than life on the silver screen. Even though One had seen this movie more times than he could count, he still loved every moment. He wasn't to keen on the position next Peter 3 to begin with, but as the movie went on, he readjusted himself so he could cuddle closer.

At first, he thought Three hadn't noticed. But then a hair ruffle and a chuckle showed him otherwise. "I thought you weherent aha child."

"I can still enjoy cuddles and not be a child," One hissed back.

"That is literally the most adorable thing ever."

"I'm not adorable."

"Says who? Cause I say otherwise."

One blushed brightly. He started to scoot away but then an arm pulled him back. "Hey."

"Hey to you." Peter 3 wrapped the youngest in a firm hug. "That wasn't an invitation to leave. I want you to stay if you'd like."

"R-really?"

"Of course." Three rubbed circles into the youngest's back. "I haven't had a good cuddle in a while."

"Me to-ah!"

Peter 3's hand froze. The younger two quieted to make sure no one had been disturbed. When no one looked their way, the older Peter wiggled a singular finger into One's shoulder blade.

The youngest Peter let a quiet squeak and tried to squirm away. "Threhee!"

He wasn't getting away this time.

"No way."

"Whahat?"

The hand on One's back began to spider around. "You're ticklish."

Peter 1 turned his face into Three's chest. "Threhee, plehease."

"Please what?" Peter 3's hand spidered across One's side. "Please tickle you more?"

"Eep! Hehey!"

The moment was interrupted by a whisper from Peter 2. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothihing!"

"Two, he's ticklish!"

One tried to cover Peter 3's mouth. "Sh-shut uhup!"

"Awww." The oldest Peter pulled One's hand away. "Really?"

"Yehes! Atleast his back and sihides ahare."

"No way." Peter 2 spidered across One's side.

"Eep! You guhys are soho mehean."

"This is literally the most adorable thing ever." Three wiggled his finger across One's jaw line. "Ah gootchie goo."

The blush on the youngest's face darkened even more. "Ihits nohot adorablehel!"

Two's hand spidered up One's side. "Tickle tickle."

Immediately, Peter 1 grabbed his hand before he could reach his ribs. "Ihim goihing to ruhuin thehe movihie."

"Not for uhus."

The youngest pulled his face away from Peter 3. "Ihit's ehembarrahassihing."

Peter 2 used his other hand to poke One's back. "Hehey, you haven't told uhus to stop."

The youngest Peter's eyes widened. He hadn't even realized he hadn't told them to stop yet, and he had forgotten how much he loved tickles. They always made him feel happy and loved. It reminded him of being young again, when times were simple.

Suddenly, a jostle brought One back to the present. "Hey, do you want us to stop?"

Peter 1 turtled into his shoulders. "F-for nohow. I-I want to fihinish thehe movie."

Both older Peters pulled away. "Of course."

"But there's no guarantee we won't exploit this later."

The whack Two gave the back of Three's head made the lady in front of them shush the group.

Once she turned back around, all three Peters stifled their remaining giggles before turning back to the movie.

As they watched the rest of the movie, a warm content feeling washed over Peter 1. Two had been right, he really just needed a night with good friends to put him in a better mood. He hadn't been too keen on being mistaken for a kid, but it had turned out to be the best thing ever.

However, a full belly and a good hug mixed with the remnants of a busy week made Peter 1's eyes heavy with sleep. He struggled to hold his eyes open for as long as possible, but eventually the sleepy feeling pulled him into a deep sleep just the doors opened for Luke, Han, and Chewie to get their medals.

Meanwhile, Peter 2 and 3 zeroed in on the scene, ready for the big finale. As soon as the scene ended and the credits began to roll, the entire theater erupted into applause.

"That was perfect!" Three exclaimed.

"I know! I loved every moment!" Two turned to the youngest. "What did you thi---?"

Three's brows furrowed together. "What's wrong?"

The eldest Peter smiled. "Looks like we stayed out past someone's bedtime."

Peter 3 was so confused until he looked down. Then he absolutely melted at the sight. "Look at how little he looks!"

"Should we wake him up?"

"Are you kidding?" Three pulled the youngest out of Peter 2's reach while giving him the biggest pouty face he could. "He's to precious to wake up!"

Peter 2 felt his own heart melt a little. "I have a feeling this ihis going to become aha regular thihing with you."

"I never got to have brothers before." The tallest Peter brushed a few loose curls out of One's face. "Can you blame me for wanting to cuddle him?"

"No . . . But now I really want to cuddle him too."

"Hey!" Three tightened his hug. "I got him first!"

"You've had him all night though."

"Please?" Three gave him his best puppy dog eyes. "You still have to drive home."

"How about a trade off?" Two stood. "I carry him to the car, you can cuddle with him on the drive home."

"Mmfine!" Peter 3 handed the youngest to Two.

"Thahank yohou." As Peter 2 settled One in his arms, a soft smile came across his face. "I like how this is turning out to be."

"Like how?"

"Getting to do things like this." Two shuffled hi load so he could ruffle Three's hair. "Getting toho tahake care of you two."

The tallest pulled away from the affection. "Not the hair!"

Peter 2 grinned. "Come ohon, lehet's go home."

As they walked toward the exit, Peter 3 tapped the eldest's shoulder. "Hey Two?"

"Yeah Pete?"

"Since One is already asleep and it is pretty late . . . could we have a slumber party?"

"A slumber party huh?"

"Could we? Please? We'll be quiet all night and we'll be gone first thing in the morning."

The eldest Peter bit back a laugh. "That sounds like aha greheat idea."

Three's face lit up. "Really!"

"Yehes. Lehet's do it."

"Yes!" Peter Three raced toward the doors. "Let's go!"

Two playfully rolled his his eyes. He readjusted his hold on One before following Peter 3 out of the building. "Hope you had a great day Uno. This was perfect."

When One woke up, he had to agree.

#lee peter 1 #ler peter 2 #ler peter 3 #ticklefic #fluff

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wp-blaze · 3 days

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Discover the Best Espresso Machine for Your Home: A 2024 Buyer’s Guide

This ultimate guide helps coffee lovers find the best espresso machines for their homes. It covers top picks, including the Breville Bambino Plus, De’Longhi La Specialista, SPINN Coffee Maker, and Cuisinart DGB-550BKP1 Grind & Brew. Each caters to different needs, whether for quality, convenience, technology, or budget-friendliness. The guide emphasizes the importance of matching personal preferences with machine features.

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mememanufactorum · 9 months

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Things I've said to my friends out of context (August 2023 edition)

* FEEL FREE TO SHARE AS YOU PLEASE, NO CREDIT NEEDED. CHANGE PRONOUNS OR ANYTHING ELSE AS DESIRED.

It feels tiny in my hands.

He's not naked, he's just not wearing a shirt.

Wherever I am, I must also shitpost.

So I look over at my TV and all I see is fucking SKELETOR.

You're gonna love his waifus. You don't have a choice.

You want to pay near full new game release price for a board game?

Boomshoot serotonin brain is buzzing pretty good right now.

Nevermind, summer sucks.

Oh shit a quad-barreled shotgun that just deletes whatever I point-blank fire it at.

Oh god the timelines are merging.

They fight one RELATIVELY little eldritch horror and go insane.

Wake your ass up too, you sleep too much.

What if you wanted to go to heaven, but Nine-Ball said: "Target verified. Commencing hostilities."

You like burning to death right?

Your AP does not exist as a measure of health. Your AP is actually a time limit mechanic.

You seen those Waffle House fights videos? Those people are always ready to fuck someone up.

That spaghetti be cooking.

Time to initiate plan: Get The Fuck Out.

Tiny controllers for people with baby hands.

Dear God fucking shoot it.

Nope. Bail. Do not invest. It's already tainted.

Only legends can trick the staff into giving a speech.

Regular reminder that honey badger don't care, honey badger don't give a fuck. Three leopards? Bitch numbers. Honey badger ain't never scared.

It's almost like you work in a dentist's office or something, you tooth fairy.

So, uh, I woke up and I have a lizard for a pet now, I guess.

That is not how you wear a sweater. You are not supposed to cut off most of the sweater.

I'm squeezed in the middle. SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE. SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE.

Why you gotta be a jerk about it?

All you fucking do is eat cookie and be mean. This is why you're a gremlin.

If you give a [name] a cookie, she's going to ask for a glass of boba. When she's finished, she'll ask for a bed. Then, once she's slept for two lifetimes, she'll want to get up and play gay otome games.

You know what this core makes me think of? Jack Nicholson.

OH GOD I PICKED UP A GIANT FUCKING SPIDER.

I AM EXISTENTIALLY SCREAMING ON A LEVEL YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND.

IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF I HAD A PILE BUNKER.

Yeah. Let's set aside the several missions I've done up to this point where I have specifically fucked you over.

Yeah but Merlin was a total shitgoblin though.

We have to test [name]'s blood.

You're meeting for a drug deal. You're meeting for a fucking drug deal.

Should ask them if they like bread.

#roleplay meme #roleplay prompt #rp meme #rp prompt #inbox prompts #inbox memes #ask prompts #sentence starters

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aajjks · 6 months

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lol it's fine. i'm excited

TPOL!JK

chaeyoung smirks at the phone while examining her growing belly. as much as she loves jungkook, she loves pissing him off more and turning his gears but unlike you, she loves jungkook for more than his money and maybe that's because she's already rich but you're just some regular vet-girl who got the country's richest man wrapped around your finger. hearing him brag about having a family with you makes her grind her teeth ESPECIALLY when co-parenting their unborn child may require having you around their child. you are supposed to be her. she's supposed to have jungkook obsessed with her like he's obsessed with you.

"aw, that's so sweet of her" agrees chaeyoung when jungkook reveals that it was you who persuaded jungkook to not tell chaeyoung to abort their baby and if you thought that would make her like you more, it didn't. chaeyoung still believes you're some gold-digging bitch who took her man with that fake smile of yours. why can't he see how bad you are for him? why can't he just love her?

"i'll have to talk to y/n and personally thank her for giving the both of you something you made her get rid of" smirks chaeyoung. "yeah, i looked into her records and i know that she had an abortion and i can easily fabricate a story and ruin your reputation even more"

"i don't think the world will like a man who forced two women to get an abortion. your company will fall along with you if i reveal that. or maybe i can send the contract she signed to the blogs and have everyone hate her and label her as a homewrecker. there are so many ways i can ruin you jeon jungkook and you know it. i can ruin you through y/n or make her hate you forever and you wouldn't want that. give me what i want. i at least want to see you and pretend. it's the least you can do and if you won't then you know what'll happen"

Oh wow… she’s officially more dangerous than his father.

She’s making his father almost seem like a saint infront of her, “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT CHAE HUH?!! WHAT IS IT?!!” He screams into the phone, his hands on the steering wheel tightening.

“I NEED YOUR CLEAR WORDS BECAUSE I DONT KNOW. WHAT IS IT YOU WANT.” He cannot even grab his hair, he’s cussing out repeatedly while speeding to her house.

Just then his phone buzzes and it’s probably you calling. “Shut up I’ll be there soon- I gotta go.” He cuts off her call without saying goodbye avd eagerly picks your call up

“Hi princess… hmmm yeah DONT sorry…” he says, he feels so bad- you just got back together with him and he’s already going back to Chaeyoung.

Against his will because he doesn’t want to lose you.

“Umm I’m going at Chaeyoungs…. Of course to talk to her… yn please keep on trusting me… I’ll never break it… I promise…” he whispers, he just wants to be with you.

“I love you so much my pretty pretty girl.” He smiles, focusing on the road ahead, “I’ll be home soon.”

#ask: tpol!jungkook #damn it that BITCH #SHES RLLY PREGNANT 😭#I’m excited too lowkey #love yandere women HUSH

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defensivelee · 1 month

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Alien Alien: Encephalitic×Lullaby

The Prince of Orange is infected with a strange virus never before seen in the Netherlands. Supposedly it will kill him, they say it all the time, but when you hear that this or that or the other thing will kill your Prince...well, Bentinck's patience is stretched a little thin.

I would post this on AO3 but I don't have a proper reference post yet, so I think people who find it will just be very confused. It'll be there eventually, maybe?

CW: illness, religion, attempted murder, cannibalism, violence, period-typical homophobia, sexual tension involving insects, mentions of drool, implied/referenced unreality.

Story under cut, please enjoy :)

The Defender of the Faith was but one of the species of insects that dominated the Netherlands; though they had been chosen by God to far outrun the intelligence and advancements of the other, insentient beasts, they still found themselves hunted on their own land as the prey of larger beings.

Their Prince could chase off a hungry spider with a few swipes, drive a sword through a frog’s eye, in no small part due to Johan de Witt’s mentoring of the little spiderling— but good luck getting the Prince to admit that. Yet it was not in one of these oversized monsters that William found his match.

They said it was something like rabies, caused by a virus that had somehow survived countless journeys through galaxies and many, many species. Hans William Bentinck shamefully knew very little about any of those illnesses; even his database found almost nothing. He only figured out that it could kill his Prince when he first came across the symptoms.

In that moment, despite William’s head being held up by a few pillows, his breathing was still labored, wheezing, his tail lashing furiously under the blankets as Bentinck approached. His lips were damp as he ran his tongue over them, again and again with an anxious fervor.

“Your Highness,” Bentinck greeted him with a dip of his head. So-called emotions had been coded into him long before, and yet he still couldn’t name many of the ones that came to him, such as this one he felt currently as he stared down at William.

“Hans,” the Prince managed. “What- what are you doing—?”

“Did you think I was going to leave you alone here?” Bentinck asked. He knelt beside the bed, reaching a hand out towards William’s head. “You know I am immune to illness, so why shouldn’t I come see you?”

William flicked his antennae back and snapped his jaws at Bentinck’s hand. Bentinck drew his hand back just in time, buzzing with irritation.

“Please don’t do that.”

William buzzed as well, his gaze drifting to the ceiling. His smaller eyes were screwed shut, as if the room was much too bright for all of them at the same time, even with the dim neon lamps flickering from the walls and floor.

“They tell me you cannot drink,” Bentinck went on. “So I wanted to try because I hear you keep trying to bite everyone.”

Another buzz from William.

“I think there are more civil ways of telling someone you don’t like something,” said Bentinck. “I think you can shake your head and just hide.”

William’s eyes widened with outrage, and he turned to Bentinck, trying to sit up. “No- no more hiding—!” He broke off with a fierce cough, falling back down with a shudder running through his body, and Bentinck hurriedly pulled the blanket back over him.

“Very well, you don’t have to,” he said. “But you don’t have to bite, either. You’ll get other people sick, William.”

William said nothing. His tail kept lashing in its erratic manner, and Bentinck realized then that he wasn’t doing it willingly. It swung before him like a noose, the spikes on it shaking and producing a rattling sound like a serpent’s tail.

Actually, he’d never heard a rattlesnake. He’d never even seen one, but he knew the sound as sure as he knew his own name. The name that William had chosen for him. So he decided that the snake sounded like William and not the other way around.

“Well, where is the water?” Bentinck glanced to the side, and William hissed, shaking his head rapidly.

“You have to drink something.” The android stood up and hesitated as he took the bowl of water from beside the bed. He could see the light of his eyes reflected right back at him.

Don’t spill it. His fans whirred faster for a moment, and then he turned to William, holding the bowl up to his lips.

William’s eyes widened, and he batted his claws out with another hiss, his tail slapping Bentinck in the legs. Bentinck pulled the bowl away with a sigh.

“Why don’t you want it? You need it.” He lifted William’s head in his free hand before quickly pulling his hand back with a shocked buzz. “Oh, look at how you are drooling!”

William opened his mouth, and Bentinck could see the saliva drip down from his deadly canines. He shook his head in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he murmured. “Please, William, could you at least try?” He held the bowl out again, and this time William sank his teeth into Bentinck’s arm.

“Oh, um, ow, I think?” There was no pain from that, but he could feel the saliva begin to dampen his sleeve, too warm and too heavy. He shuddered, setting the bowl down before gently prying William’s jaws off of him.

William lay back, wheezing once more. “I am sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s...no problem.” Bentinck lifted his arm and realized there were tiny tears in the fabric where William’s teeth had buried themselves, the infected saliva aside. That would be a problem; not for him, but for all the Defenders he spoke to on the daily. The fingers he had used to pull William off of him, too, had the saliva on them, slipping deep into the openings where they bent.

“Don’t bite anyone else,” he said firmly. “Please.”

So William would not drink. He would only keep biting, Bentinck knew, and by experience he also knew that William’s bite force was possibly one of the strongest in the galaxy. Consequently he suggested to even the physicians that maybe they should keep their distance unless Bentinck was there.

He spent the rest of the night out under the waving flowers, blocking out the light of the moons, far from any Defender. On occasion he would blink to increase the brightness of his eyes as he paced in front of a stream.

Just wash your hands, he told himself. What are you waiting for?

He couldn’t do it, not ever and not now. He could almost understand William’s reactions to being given water, if only William would certainly die if he lapped up every last drop in the bowl.

But he’s not going to die. It would make him better.

He has to get better. He looked up to the stars and crouched down in front of the water. He held his hand out, cautiously dipping his fingers in for a second or two before pulling back again.

There. That’s enough, isn’t it? He buzzed as he examined the water dripping from his hand, then dried it on his coat before he had to stare at it any longer. Whoever heard of a wet robot? How unnatural.

No damage was done. All his systems were functioning properly and up to date.

He lifted his head, at that moment hearing a sort of miserable weeping behind him, sobs of a lady getting closer. He gasped and stood up, looking wildly about him before realizing that through the leaves he heard the steady crawling of an insect. A large one, too.

The animal dragged itself out into the light of Bentinck’s eyes. It was a green praying mantis, certainly a female judging from her size alone. He ducked back down to make himself smaller in front of her, and she looked at him, holding one of her forelegs up to her face. She was the one crying, though without any hint of tears.

“Oh, android, forgive me, I did not mean to interrupt- whatever you were doing,” she said in rather coarse Dutch, trying to speak through her gasps. “I- I had nowhere else to go.”

“It’s no problem,” Bentinck said softly. Somehow he wasn’t awfully shocked that a praying mantis should be speaking to him. Maybe they had always spoken to the Defender of the Faith, but none had ever listened. He could listen now.

“Thank you,” she said, a little quieter now. “Thank you.” She crawled around him, towards the water, and he sat down, looking curiously up at her. He had never dared to get closer to a mantis, de Witt had always forbidden it, but what could they do to him?

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “If I may know.”

“Oh, I suppose,” the mantis replied. “No one else will listen.”

“The Prince calls me a good listener.”

“The Prince himself?” She tilted her head to the side. “Well, may your android ruler reign long.”

“Oh, no, no, we- I do not- androids have no monarchy,” he said, shaking his head. “The very thought, robots ruling themselves! No, I work for the Defender of the Faith.”

“And who is that?”

“You have never seen them?” he said incredulously. “They’re magnificent Asterothiriots. They hunt the males of your kind sometimes.”

“Then they should come for my husband next!” the mantis cried then. “I cannot take it anymore! I- I cannot love him, much as I have tried! He will not listen, he will not even look at me.” Her voice shook, as if she would start crying all over again. “And I have been faithful.”

“Is that why you are here?” Bentinck asked.

“Yes, I just had to get away,” she said. She bowed low, burying her head in her forelegs. “He has no heart, though I suppose I should not have expected him to fit one in his tiny body.”

“Of course, he’s much smaller than you,” Bentinck murmured.

“He never speaks to me,” she went on. “And when he does, it’s only to be cruel. I feel as if I can never please him.”

“No man should treat his wife like that,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “What is he thinking he’ll get away with?”

“That’s just it, android.” She shook her head helplessly. “No one knows. He hides behind so much, but I just know- I know there is something there. There has to be.” She sighed. “I wish I knew how to find it.”

“Oh, trust me, it is very easy,” Bentinck said, reaching out to pat her on her leg. “You must look inside him.”

“Inside him?”

“Yes,” he said with a firm nod. “That is what you do with a robot. If something is not working right, you open him up and look inside. And then you repair him.”

“I must...repair him?” She sounded skeptical. “Why must it all be up to me?”

“Well, nothing of mine is up to me,” Bentinck said. “I would know love if I could. Maybe he knows nothing of it, either.”

“Love is something difficult to define. Maybe you do know it and you haven’t realized.”

“I- I don’t believe so,” he said, laughing a very metallic laugh.

“Why not? Already you have been much kinder to me than my husband has been in all the months I have known him.”

“Nothing is real within me.”

“It has a real effect on me,” she insisted. “And does that not make it real enough, Bentinck?”

He thought it very sweet of her to remember something he had never even told her. He shrugged his shoulders.

“To a girl like you, perhaps anyone looks kind,” he said. “Anyone that isn’t him.”

“I should have known,” she said, her voice hardening. “You and him— you crawl in the dirt like worms and never bother to stick your head out to the skies. Only when it rains. And by then it will be too late.”

Bentinck was silent. In the rain? He’d never come out in the rain.

“Very well, I will open him,” she said. “I will tell you how it goes. Thank you, Bentinck.”

“It’s been my pleasure,” he said. And he meant it.

The next morning, a dark, early morning, he was with William again, who had only worsened over the night. The bristles on his insect arms shook, and he bit down on his pillow constantly, his tail flicking from side to side in a manner that reminded Bentinck of when the Prince was younger. He loved to bite de Witt, constantly, and it was only acceptable because de Witt was the one who had taught him to bite in the first place. And William’s tail would always wag, like he found it very exciting.

Bentinck sat on the floor beside him and stroked William’s head, being very careful not to tangle the damp curls in his heavy fingers. William twitched once, twice, then sprang up and bit Bentinck’s hand.

“Please don’t do that,” the android tried, though he didn’t expect William to listen. “Do you want to try water now?”

William chewed on one of Bentinck’s fingers and shook his head.

“Please don’t do that,” Bentinck repeated. “Please don’t bite my hand.” He wanted to pull away, but it was as if the warmth trapped him there, the drool seeping into the open parts of his hand and wrist.

Please don’t...do that. He buzzed nervously and shook his head, unable to say more.

William looked up at him, and Bentinck took the chance to jerk his hand away, shaking off the excess saliva. He flexed his fingers to check if they still moved, but he had no time to run a system scan as William was snapping his jaws at him again.

“Alright, calm down,” Bentinck said, shuffling back. “What is it?”

William blinked, digging his claws into his blankets and bowing his head. Bentinck realized he was trembling.

“Do you think I will die?” he asked faintly.

“You?” Bentinck shook his head. “No.” He never once believed that of William. God was always watching the Defender of the Faith, for one reason or the other.

“They say it used to be fatal. Every time.” William paced on the bed, turning around to nip at his tail.

“Used to be. The chances of survival are higher now.”

“What makes you think that I will survive this?” he snapped. “Look at me, Hans!”

“I am looking.”

“I should have died,” William said. “I should have been dead long ago.”

“You know there’s a reason you’re still here,” Bentinck said. “Why do you think your life should have been cut short? You know God chose you. You cannot take that for granted.”

“You think this is a gift?” William wheezed out, his eyes widening. It gave him a wilder appearance, one Bentinck would have been afraid of coming across in battle. “Nothing is so simple.”

“Well, it has to be something. At the very least your reason to live.” Bentinck leaned in and cupped William’s face in his hand, carefully avoiding his lips. “Though I think you should live for more.”

“What do you live for, Hanni?” William leaned into the touch and closed his eyes, managing to purr.

“I—” Bentinck paused. “I live for you.”

“I told you you that you did not have to.”

“Then what else should I live for?” The robot shook his head. “I was created for one purpose.”

“So was I,” William retorted.

“Then maybe we can find more reasons to live later on,” Bentinck said. “Right now, you have to focus on getting better. You have to take what they give you, without biting.” He wagged his finger in William’s face, pulling it back just before William’s jaws closed around it. “What did I just say?!”

“I- I don’t know,” William said, backing away. He had always been small, but what he lacked in physical size, he made up for in determination, and, beyond that, spite. But Bentinck couldn’t see any of that in him now; he was just what he was, small.

Oh, William. He sighed and stood up, looking around for the bowl of the water that the physician had left for him.

“Are you not thirsty?” he asked.

“Very.” William glanced at him, lying back down and chewing on his pillow again.

“Then why...why do you refuse the water?”

William’s spikes shook warily at the word. “It scares me.”

“But nothing ever scared you,” Bentinck said. “And we are Dutch, William.”

“Do you fear water?”

“Well, I must. To survive.”

William said nothing, then sat up, turning to look at the bowl of water. Bentinck took it and cautiously held it out to him. Much to his surprise, William did not spring back nor try to bite this time. He shut his eyes and leaned forward, the spikes on his tail shaking rapidly.

He lapped at the water once, then jerked back, coughing and hacking up the few drops he had managed. Bentinck set the bowl aside and rubbed at William’s back.

“Closing your eyes was a good strategy,” he said.

“I- I want to try again,” William said. He shook himself and buried his face in his claws, this time nipping at the blankets.

“Very well,” Bentinck said. “I could try covering your eyes, if you’d like.”

William looked up and nodded. Bentinck brought his hand down on all six of William’s eyes, and the Prince fell still. Even his shaking stopped. The only sign of life from him was his heavy breath.

“Here,” Bentinck said, holding the bowl to William’s lips again. He stroked soothingly at the antennae as William sniffed the air warily and began to lap at the water with his tongue. Much of it he did not swallow, as he appeared to have great difficulty in doing so, coughing as he was, but Bentinck was pleased to see that he was drinking something now.

William made it clear he was done by throwing the hand off of him and biting into the wrist instead, shaking it furiously in his jaws. Bentinck buzzed and looked away to set the bowl down. The water and saliva from William’s mouth was sliding over him, into him, freezing and yet somehow burning him—

Do not say a thing. He covered the speaker on his chest and shut his eyes. Give him time.

Indeed, William did not let go for a long time, and Bentinck sat down on the floor, resting his head on the bed to watch his master slowly fall asleep. By then his hand and wrist felt nearly detached from him, and his fans were whirring faster than before. Somehow, despite the noise from the robot, William fell asleep, purring slightly.

“Very good,” Bentinck murmured, carefully opening William’s jaws and pulling his hand out. It was a little scratched up now, the fingers stiffer as he tested their movement. Or was he imagining it?

Oh, please don’t do that again. He stayed there for a moment as his fans slowed down. William snored softly away as if he had never bitten anyone at all. Bentinck wondered, for the first time, if he would wake up the next morning. He might have prayed, but surely God could not hear the words of an android.

As Bentinck had no reason to stay inside during the night, he made his way back through the plants once more. There were Defenders still out, watching him warily from their places on their flowers and webs. He knew they could smell the sickness on him.

He ignored them and kept walking until they fell behind him and he was sure he was alone. He had dried his hand, but not very well, so the saliva still clung to him and his parts. He hadn’t been imagining it— movement was definitely limited.

He didn’t want to wash his hand, but he remembered his First Law and decided to walk to the stream again, where smaller insects and bacteria swam. He threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and shoved both of his hands into the water, scrubbing hard with his fingers.

He hadn’t realized water was so heavy. His movements were not as flexible, and he was relieved to finally pull his arms out. He found he could no longer make a fist with either hand, rather the fingers stopped short before reaching his palm and shook in place.

Reduced mobility. Well, that was going to be a problem.

“Are you doomed to die, android?”

“W-What?” Bentinck looked up, high above into the cattails, where a black spider hung from a small web. “Oh. No, not me. My master might be, though. I mean, I wouldn’t like to think so, but they always say he will. I never believed it.”

“Because you have no concept of death,” said the spider. “You think you live forever.”

“No, only until my plutonium core has reached its half-life,” Bentinck said. “And- and I know what death is.”

“What is it?”

“When life ends,” he said indignantly. “Everyone knows that.”

“I fear you have a dull understanding of the world,” the spider said. “Poor thing. Why is it all so simple to you?”

“I was created to understand the world around me as I see it,” Bentinck replied. “I know what life is as I know what ends it, and that is death.”

The spider barked out a laugh, a highly unnatural sound from its body. “Well, is that what you were seeking when you touched the water?”

“No, I wanted to get clean.”

“Are there not better ways?”

“No, I—” Bentinck paused. “Sometimes the Prince will wipe at my face and hands with bleach, but I never liked it.”

“I assume it is safer than this,” the spider said.

“I suppose, Mijnheer. But he is very ill right now, so I couldn’t ask,” said Bentinck. “And I cannot do it myself.”

“But you can- you think you can touch water?”

“Water I must have an aversion to,” he said. “That is part of my Third Law; I must protect myself from damage. But I can disobey it if it comes in conflict with my First Law, part of which is to stop harm from coming to biological beings. It is not a specifically coded restriction like avoiding dangerous chemicals is.”

“What odd programmers you must have had,” the spider said.

“My mother did very well,” Bentinck protested. “It is for the safety of the Prince and everyone else.”

“You care so much for the safety of your master,” the spider said thoughtfully, raising a leg to his face. “The Prince, is he? Look here upon my web, android, and see all the harm that would have come to your beloved Prince had I not caught it before.”

Bentinck narrowed his eyes. There were flies and mosquitoes tangled in the web, even a bee near the center. All creatures potentially dangerous to Defenders, but nothing William had never fought off.

“Those are just your meals,” he said.

“Ah, ah, ah, Bentinck,” the spider said, shaking his head. “They told me themselves that they were all plotting here, amongst the cattails. They said that they were coming for your Prince, that they would kill him and bring about the rule of the queen bee, who ruled long before he did and will rule for centuries after.”

“The queen bee?” Bentinck buzzed in disbelief. “I have never heard of such a thing.”

“She is a Catholic,” the spider said. “All bees are.”

“Truly?”

“I have met many bees myself. All follow the same God.” He kicked a leg out towards the dead bee in the center of the web. “Including this one.”

“Then why do they produce honey for a Protestant planet?” Bentinck asked.

“Because they had no choice. It was either work for the Defenders, swear allegiance to the Prince...” The spider tilted his head to the side. “Or die.”

“No one ever told me that,” Bentinck said ruefully. He was always sort of offended to hear new information; he was supposed to know everything!

“Why would they?” said the spider. “You would think it unfair.”

“I do not.”

“You don’t?”

“No.”

“I see.” The spider ducked his head. “You are a very faithful robot, Bentinck. And yet for all your loyalty, it was I who caught these traitors. Not you.”

“You cannot call them traitors if they never had an allegiance to us,” Bentinck said. “They were just a bunch of angry insects.” He stepped forward, precariously closer to the edge of the stream. “And you took care of them, yes? So there is no more problem.”

“Of course, I will be expecting a reward,” the spider said. “I saved the Prince’s life.”

“He could have fought them off himself. He did not need you.”

“Never underestimate the cunning of the queen bee,” the spider went on. “Besides, these ones may be dead, but there are still traitors within your web.”

“You cannot be serious,” Bentinck scoffed. “The Prince knows who he employs. He can get within their heads. He knows where every Defender is at every time.”

“But you said he is ill, yes?” The spider leaned in, crawling onto one of the cattails. “He has no mind for that now. There are Defenders in your midst who would kill for the queen.”

“And- and your prey told you this?”

“I injected them with my venom,” the spider said, “and then they told me everything. They were going to assassinate the Prince, but should they fail, it would be up to their Defender allies.”

“Traitors.” Bentinck’s fans whirred in fury.

“Yes.”

“Who are these men?” the robot demanded. “If you tell me, I will make sure you are rewarded.”

“I do not share such things with the Prince’s little android,” the spider said. “Bring him here, up to my web. I do not mind his illness; he cannot infect me with it.”

“But he may be too weak,” Bentinck said. “Can you not come with me instead?”

“No, it must be here. In my web, it is safe. Safer than any other place in the Netherlands.”

“Safe?”

“Very, very safe. I will protect him. He is my Prince as much as he is yours.” The spider crawled upwards again. “In fact, you must come see how safe it is.”

“What- up there?” A spiderweb had never held Bentinck before.

“Yes.” The spider tilted its abdomen towards him, shooting down a thread of silk. Bentinck lifted his hand to catch it, but as his hand could not close around it, he felt it slip through his fingers, getting caught there.

“Oh, it’s...very sticky,” he said. “And a little thicker than what we— than what the Defenders produce.”

“I do take pride in it,” the spider said. “Nothing escapes my web, Bentinck. Now come up here, come see it.”

“Shall I climb the plant—?”

“Yes, I will pull you up.”

Bentinck brought the silk up to his mouth and clamped his jaws around it. It was a better hold than the one he could take with his stiff hands. Instead, he climbed up the cattail with them, which bent slightly under his weight, but was surprisingly strong enough to hold him as he made his way up to the web.

The spider, too, was strong, helping him up and moving back onto his web as Bentinck got closer. He pulled Bentinck onto the web, and the android lay back on it, staring up at the sky. He was closer to the stars.

“You have a nice view up here,” he said. He looked down and realized he still had the silk in his mouth. He tried to lift a hand to pull it out, but it was stuck to the silk he lay on. “Oh, I- I am sorry—”

The spider stared at him. “What did I say, Bentinck? Nothing escapes my web.” He severed the silk that still connected them with his fangs and began to crawl towards Bentinck. “You have nothing to apologize for, save perhaps to your master for betraying him.”

“What are you talking about?” It seemed to Bentinck that the more he struggled, the more the silk stuck to him.

“You will bring him to me,” the spider said, “so I can kill him.”

“No- no, I will not!” Bentinck buzzed in terror as the spider looped silk around his limbs, pulling his arms behind him. “Please don’t do that—!”

“The Prince is a shameful excuse for a ruler,” continued the spider calmly. “Peace will come only when the queen bee rules the universe, but you only know what you are told.”

“Nothing can kill William!” His arms having been tied back, he kicked out at the spider, who hissed and backed away. “And I certainly will not allow you to do so!”

“They all say that, until they get a taste of my venom,” the spider said. He shot silk out at Bentinck’s legs and pulled hard on it, pinning them back against the web.

I can’t move! He buzzed again like a helpless insect as the spider crawled up behind him.

“Your Prince was a mistake,” he said. With that, he dug his fangs into Bentinck’s neck, and Bentinck tossed his head back with a metallic shriek. The fangs had not pierced through his metal, but he felt the venom that they injected slip through the opening in his neck, leaking into the parts within his chest. It was like a snake in him.

“Mijnheer- please don’t— please—” He couldn’t even finish a sentence, breaking off with his miserable, broken buzzing. He was sounding more and more like static.

But the venom was still going, and when the spider at last stepped away, he felt it dripping through the openings in his legs and feet. The spider snapped some of the threads behind him, and he fell forward with a cry, towards the water. The silk had not let go, however, instead leaving him dangling upside down over the water.

Oh, my God! “Please don’t do that, please don’t do that, please don’t do that—!” He tried in vain to wrench his arms free from the silk. The venom ran back down to his face, trickling out his lips and eyes like tears.

“How are you still fighting?” the spider said curiously.

“I- I will see to it that you are never forgiven—!” Bentinck’s voice could hardly be heard through the rapid glitches; he did not know if it was caused by the fluid in his parts or simply his fear.

“Bring me the Prince and I will consider not letting you drown,” said the spider, “like you robots know how to do.”

“Caution: vision impaired,” came automatically from Bentinck’s speakers. Indeed, the venom falling from his eyes was pooling in his eyelids, blurring the sight of the water before him.

“Never,” he said of his own volition.

“Then you can die.” The spider snipped the remaining silk from his legs, and Bentinck shut his eyes and mouth, a bit like a Defender who held its breath.

The impact did not come from below, however, like he expected; rather it came from the side, powerful arms throwing him against another cattail. He landed a fly-length away from the stream, and he looked up to see what it was that had saved him.

It was the praying mantis from the other day, staring at him with her wide eyes. “Are you damaged?” she asked him, but Bentinck did not get to answer as the spider jumped from his web and landed in front of him.

“You think you can get someone else to protect you?” he snarled. “Just like the Prince thinks he is so safe. I will kill him, and the queen bee will return, and you will die like all unnatural children do—”

“That is enough from you!” The mantis fluttered her wings and carried herself over the stream. The spider looked up at her and hissed, batting his legs out at her, which she sliced off with a nimble swipe of her foreleg. She hooked her other leg beneath his head and ripped it off without much effort at all.

That there is death. Bentinck shuddered, unable to look away as she kicked the spider’s body away. She landed in front of him and leaned in.

“There, he cannot hurt you anymore,” she said. “Nor anyone else.”

“Did you know him?” Bentinck whispered. It was the only thing he could manage.

“No. But I saw enough.” With the same leg she had used to kill the spider, she tore the silk off of him, and he stretched. “How are you?”

He wiped away the venom from his eyes and lips. “Running system scan.” He paused, then buzzed with alarm. “Moderate moisture detected in critical systems. Mild disruption and impairment of mobility signals.”

“Is that a problem?” the praying mantis asked.

“Yes.” Bentinck nodded, trying to quiet his fans down. They whirred away at full speed, but it seemed like it took more energy out of him than usual. For once, he was exhausted.

“I do not want it fixed,” he said.

“Why not? Is it not akin to illness?” She prodded him in the shoulder and handed him his coat. “And it can make quick work of you, too.”

“I was created to be very- very resistant,” he said, slipping the coat on gratefully. “It’s no problem.”

“Should you sound like that?”

“Like what?”

“You sound a little muffled,” she said. “Muted. Even if you wanted to hide it, you couldn’t.”

“The Prince orders all repairs on me,” he said. “But he cannot notice anything now.”

“What about your Third Law?”

“You know about it?”

“Well, I must.”

Bentinck hummed thoughtfully. “I would hate to cause trouble.” Changing the subject, he asked, “How are things with your husband?”

“I did as you said,” she said, “but it only seems like he has spoken less and less to me. Truthfully, Bentinck, I cannot say if I fixed him at all.”

“It never goes right the first time,” he said. “There is usually a lot of trial-and-error involved in these sorts of things.” He winced. “Trust me, I know. It hurts very much.”

“For him?”

“For everybody involved. That was what my mother used to say, at least; supposedly I was very dangerous to create.” Bentinck shrugged. “I know very little about biological pain, though.”

“If he hurts, then he should tell me,” the praying mantis muttered. “I have tried to say— many times— what he does is hurt me. I tell him everything and yet I cannot tease a single word out of him.”

“Something has to work eventually.”

“I wish things were as simple as you saw them.” She sighed and waved her leg at him. “I must get back to him now. He would still like me at his side.” She helped him up and patted him on the head, accidentally tearing a few strands of the plastic wig out with her claw. “Be careful around spiders from now on.”

“I- I will,” Bentinck said, smoothing down his hair. “It’s one of the first things Defenders are taught.”

The mantis tilted her head to the side but said nothing more.

In the days following Bentinck realized he was trembling, which had never happened before save for a few times when he’d been shocked by the wires the technicians liked to shove in him. But this was something highly unnatural, and every movement, every step forward, felt like it took everything out of him.

Still, he was ordered by the doctors to stay with William, and he obeyed, even when the Prince’s jaws closed around his arms and made him want to vomit. There was a good, nice biological word; it made no sense to him, but it sounded like what he felt in the moment.

It was with this shaking, scratched metal that Bentinck was meant to bathe the filthy Prince with. They said he was getting better, but nobody knew if he was safe to approach yet, or truly how one could become infected at all, so they gave Bentinck some gloves and locked him in a room alone with William and a bathtub.

William immediately scurried to the door, his wide eyes fixed on the water in front of him. He had been able to drink more, but not yet without a great fight on his part.

Well, first of all, this is just too much. Bentinck shook his head and brought the switch down at the side of the door. There was a loud click heard from it, and then the two of them were in total darkness save for the light from Bentinck’s eyes. The light that was, he saw now, much dimmer than before.

“Is that better?” he asked.

William blinked and looked up, his pupils widening to cover much of his eye. He gave a slight nod. Under the spotlight of Bentinck’s eyes, his body fully exposed, the state he was in was all the more shameful— in particular his matted, tangled hair, almost resembling Bentinck’s own.

“Well, you certainly need the bath,” he said. “Come, William, get in.”

“Will it not— should it not hurt you?” William asked. He backed up against the wall, and Bentinck sat beside him.

“If it helps you, it cannot hurt me,” he said. “We can get this over with quickly. It doesn’t have to be so hard.”

“I- I cannot even look at it.” William turned away to nip at Bentinck’s finger, tearing the glove away, much to the android’s relief. “Oh, Hans...why are you shaking so much?”

“I don’t know,” Bentinck said honestly. He suspected it was the venom that had gotten into his parts, maybe that and something else, but it was all just his own theory.

“Are you afraid too?”

“Yes, very.”

“You don’t sound like it.” William bit into Bentinck’s wrist next, tapping his claws against his friend’s thigh.

“I have to sound calm for you,” Bentinck said.

William shook his head. Bentinck sighed, leaned his head back on the wall. Were they just going to sit here uselessly the whole time? The doctors at least wanted him to stop stinking of his own drool.

“Just take a look in, I promise it’s not so bad,” Bentinck said, leading William to the tub. They both peeked in, and then froze, buzzing warily as they stared at the water.

That spider nearly drowned me. He looked into his own eyes, batting at them once with his gloved hand, and as the water fearfully drew back, so did he.

“Just- just think about how nice it will be when it’s over,” he said.

“It will not have to be over if we don’t do anything.” William began to step away again, but Bentinck took his arm, pulling him back in.

“Maybe it will make your fever cool down,” he said. “My mother used to spray water on my core every time I heated up too much.”

“Water on...plutonium,” William said with a lazy flick of his antennae. “I see. And what am I?”

“You are the Prince of Orange, the hivemind ruler of the Defender of the Faith, William Henry—”

“I am all of those things,” William interrupted, “but not made of radioactive substances.”

“I would not be too certain. Your mother was definitely exposed to something before your birth.”

William coughed. “Hilarious. But I am no—” He broke off with another cough, and Bentinck rubbed at his back. “I’m not a- not a robot.”

“Lucky.”

“Unlucky.”

“So lucky.”

“Un-fucking-lucky.”

“How obscene.”

“I’ll cool down, Hans.”

“You have to do this first.” Bentinck held his hand out to William, who gave it the gentlest bite and wagged his tail in what was perhaps amusement. “Please? I want to see you recover.”

William drew back, glowering up at him. “You first.”

“Me? You- you want me to take a bath?”

“Just touch it some more. I want to see it is safe. I would like to- to convince myself.” William lifted his head, and Bentinck glanced uneasily at the water.

“Very well.” He tore off the remaining glove and braced himself before dipping his hands in the water. A dim, tantalizing feeling came over him, but it was by no means peaceful; in turn, it scared him how he wanted to fall in and let the water take him.

“Look how great it is,” he said, his voice blinking in and out in his speakers. “Look— come here, just look at it, William.”

“Is something wrong with you?” William asked, digging his claws into the ground.

“Never. Come here, William, you’re safe. See how safe I am—” He broke off with a buzz as William jumped into the water, splashing it all over his face and clothes.

Oh, no, no, no! Bentinck hurried to undress, and William bit into the side of the tub. Wet clothes were the closest thing to cold that Bentinck could feel.

“That was- that was very, very uncalled for, William,” he said once he was done, shaking himself off. “How are you doing in there?”

William bit down harder, the spikes on his tail shaking so quickly over the water that more of it was spilling out again. Bentinck pushed his tail under the water and stroked at William’s head, emitting a low, constant buzz like the one that Defender mothers used to soothe their children.

“You’re doing well,” he said, smoothing out William’s antennae. “See? If you can stay here, it means that you- you will survive, like you have survived everything else.”

William shut his eyes and let out a weak purr. He brought his insect arms out of the water and tapped them over Bentinck, as if he was attempting to crawl over him, but the rest of his body was still.

What is he doing? Bentinck winced when one came near his face. Kneeling down in front of William, still buzzing, he reached out for the soap, but his shaking hands only knocked the bar into the water. At the noise, William drew back a little.

“Oh- oh, forgive me.” Bentinck scratched William’s head between the antennae. “I have been...unstable as of late.”

“You have?” William opened one of his eyes. “And...why is that?”

“It could be anything.” It wasn’t the full truth, but it wasn’t exactly a lie, either.

Who knows what it was? He shrugged it off and tried to take the soap again, but it kept slipping on his sleek hands.

“Now that I hear it...” William sat up. “Something is wrong with your voice.”

“Nothing is wrong,” Bentinck insisted. “Nothing is wrong. Nothing is wrong.” His voice was being overtaken by glitches, his buzzing rising into high-pitched static. “This- this is nothing—”

William covered his ears. “Oh, whatever you say, just stop that noise!”

“Recognized.” Bentinck clamped his mouth shut, slowly bringing his buzz back to the low one William liked. As he did so, the light in one eye flickered, and when it came to again, he saw half of the world in black and white. Well, half of William, who was the world, anyway.

William started to crawl out of the tub, and Bentinck pushed him back in, more water landing on his face. His legs slipped out under him, and he fell forward, slamming his head against the water.

Oh, God, no! He brought his head back up with much effort; water had never been so heavy before. No, it wasn’t the water, he realized, it was all of his body, and he realized now why he had slipped.

My systems are not obeying me. He huffed and sat back, and William frantically jumped out of the tub and onto him, shaking the water and soap onto Bentinck’s face.

“Please don’t do that,” Bentinck said, pushing him off. He let out a frustrated sigh. “You are not going back in easily, are you?”

William narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“Then that’s that, I suppose.”

Bentinck didn’t care where he found himself that night, he just wanted to get as far away from William as possible. When Defenders spoke of the stench of sickness, he thought he could almost smell it when he was by the Prince, but today it felt overpowering, like it followed him everywhere. He was not ill, though, certainly not— he could survive anything.

Anything except water! He glared at every Defender crossing his path, eventually just kicking out the wheels under his feet and skating past them. He was far less balanced than he usually was, though, and had to grab onto the surrounding plants to keep himself up.

He sat beside a pitcher plant and let out a relieved sigh as the light of the moons fell over him. The constant trembling of his body and the colorless vision of his eye, however, made it impossible to enjoy the moment.

Ugh! He turned his head abruptly to the side and slammed it against the pitcher plant. It didn’t hurt, but it was sudden, so sudden that as the plant wavered, it looked surprised as well.

“Very sorry,” Bentinck said hastily. “This is nothing like me, I swear. I fear that I am breaking, but I am afraid of making it better. I- I don’t know what else to do.”

He looked back down at the ground, only for a small, clever voice to come from the pitcher plant.

“You are breaking?” it asked.

Bentinck nodded. “Yes. Just a little.”

“Let me look at you.”

“You have no eyes...”

“What- of course I do! Who do you think is talking to you?” The plant leaned forward, and Bentinck shuffled back.

“The, uh, plant,” he said. “But I suppose plants don’t talk, do they?”

“No,” said the voice, laughing. “I am a moth trapped within the plant. If you can get me out, I can tell you what is wrong with you.”

“I know what’s wrong with me.”

“Then I can kiss it better.”

“You promise you really would?” Bentinck leaned in towards the plant, and the supposed moth laughed again.

“As to how effective it is, I cannot say,” it said. “But whatever helps you sleep better at night.”

“Robots do not sleep,” Bentinck sighed, blinking wistfully at the sky. “At least, I do not.”

“You must be run by nuclear energy,” the moth said.

“I- yes. How did you guess?”

“Those robots have no need to charge.”

“Oh.” Bentinck looked up at the plant. “How do I get you out of there?”

“I would tell you to rip through it, but then you would say that that is against your First Law,” answered the moth. “I would then say that I am a biological being, too, and that leaving me here would also go against your First Law. You would say that I am a prey animal of the Defenders, and you see my species hunted everyday, and I would tell you that I am no longer a prey animal if I can speak to you and the plant cannot. You cannot allow me to die alone here, and besides, it’s only one plant, so, Hansi, rip through it with your hands.”

“I think I may want to hear you speak forever,” Bentinck declared.

“I would return the compliment if you sounded any better!” the moth giggled. “Now, would you save my life?”

“Recognized.” Bentinck slammed his fingers through the plant, seeing the beautiful moth just barely managing to keep his body over the digestive liquid, gripping onto the slippery walls of the plant. “You haven’t been here for long, have you?”

“Long enough, my legs are weary.” The moth lifted one of its legs, and Bentinck pulled it out through the hole in the plant. The fur upon the moth was soft, and, he realized when it fell against him, delightful to press his nose to.

“Oh, my, thank you.” The moth shook out its wings. “What a horrifying situation.”

“It’s very good that I found you.” Bentinck sat beside it, running his hands through the white fur. “You can take a break here, if you would like.”

“I would like that very much.” The moth placed its head on Bentinck’s lap. “Why are you shaking so much? Are you ill?”

“Impossible, Mijnheer Moth.” Bentinck shook his head.

“Ah, one would think,” the moth sighed.

They fell silent, and Bentinck looked back towards the plant that he had torn through. It really was a shame; it was so pretty.

“I can see you want to say something,” the moth said.

“I do, yes,” Bentinck said. “Did you know that what captured you is a cobra lily? Very rare around this side of the Netherlands, you see. Every Defender is taught to keep away from these plants, but my master once was caught within one; he thought it had a very nice smell to it.”

“Did he escape?”

“He had to be rescued by his tutor at the time. Mijnheer de Witt, perhaps you’ve heard of him?”

The moth shook its head. “No, never.”

“The Defenders said he tasted a little like spider meat.” Bentinck laughed. “Well, that’s nothing to think about now. What was I saying? Right, cobra lilies! Very beautiful plants, and such skillful hunters, too. I read that you cannot see the sky from in there.”

“I could not,” the moth murmured.

“Ah, wonderful!” Bentinck clapped his hands once. “Very, very good. My master said the same thing. Ah, such clever little things. If they were not so regulated, I would care for one myself.” He glanced fondly back at the plant.

“If they make you happy, why not?”

“They pose a threat to Defender children.” Bentinck sighed. “I would hate to see a little one in such agonies. My master only narrowly escaped.”

“You think about everything and everyone,” the moth said, drawing back and staring at Bentinck with its great, black eyes. “If only my kind had half the kindness that you robots exhibit.”

“Well, you are a very kind moth,” Bentinck said. “Your species is thought to be very annoying around these parts.”

The moth chuckled. “And isn’t that the truth.” It crawled closer to Bentinck, its haustellum hovering over the android’s lips. “Do you want your kiss now?”

“Are you leaving so soon?” Bentinck asked, disappointed. “I was going to ask if you wanted to come back with me.”

“I must return to my own master. I’m sorry.” It pressed its head against Bentinck’s nose, staring right into his glowing eyes.

“You will come back?”

“I don’t know.”

“I want you to stay.” His voice broke off at the end. He didn’t know why he wanted the moth to stay; William would never let him keep it, and yet he suddenly couldn’t imagine a life without it. “Nobody else understands.”

“I am a moth, I really understand very little,” the moth said apologetically. “Here is your kiss.” It extended its haustellum out towards Bentinck, and Bentinck placed a tiny kiss on the tip, as gentle as he could. It improved none of his systems, only made his fans whir faster. But he welcomed it.

“Thank you,” he said. The moth bowed its head and flew away, leaving nothing but the rush of a dam nearby to fill the silence.

Just when you think it all might get better. Bentinck lay back on the grass and stared up into the stars. Nothing could hurt him here.

“Mr. Bentinck,” called a gentle, familiar voice. “Mr. Bentinck, is that you?”

“Oh, yes!” Bentinck sat up, turning around to see the praying mantis from days before crawling tentatively towards him. She looked as mournful as ever. As she approached, Bentinck took her foreleg. “What is it, madam?”

“It is very good that you are here, I needed someone like you,” she said, glancing to the side. “What have you been up to? I waited yesterday night and you never came.”

“Well, things have come up,” Bentinck said with an awkward buzz. “You will have to forgive that.”

“And I do.”

“What troubles you?”

“My husband, sir, it is always him!” She raised her voice, then, turning to the side and pacing about the android. “I have done what you told me to do. So many trials, or errors, or whatever you called them; none of it matters because he is impossible to get through!”

“You have opened him, you have tried to repair him?”

“Yes!” She brought one of her forelegs up to her face and began to cry. “Heaven forgive me, I was never made for this—! Oh, what must I do now?”

“Please don’t do that,” Bentinck said. “Cry, I mean. If you take me to your husband, maybe I can tell you what needs improvement. I cannot do it myself, but I can at least point you in the right direction.”

“He would listen to a man,” she said miserably.

“No, no, not at all that, no,” he reassured her. “I am no husband, but I know what the proper way to treat a woman is.” He held his hand out, and she took it in her leg. “Take me to him.

“Well, if we must,” she said. She led him through the mess of plants everywhere, twitching her antennae as she walked. “I- I must warn you, he is very cold with strangers, from what I have observed.”

“You must not be a stranger anymore.”

“If only...”

She stopped at an exceedingly small pond, what would probably have been a puddle to one of the larger frogs inhabiting the planet. It was covered in black, but he couldn’t tell if it was the reflection of the dark sky or algae, or just his malfunctioning vision.

“Here,” she said, “is where he last spoke to me.” She pushed the cattails aside and motioned for Bentinck to come closer.

He saw a far smaller mantis, indeed, lying beside the pond with its legs splayed out beside its body. The forelegs were still raised in their usual prayer, but the body never moved, and when Bentinck leaned in he saw that it was headless, and a black sort of blood flowed endlessly from it into the water.

“Madam,” he said, “did you consummate the marriage?”

“We did, but it was a very disappointing performance,” she said. “I don’t wish to talk about it.”

“Do you think it might be because you ate his head?”

“What- what are you saying?” She drew back in horror, and Bentinck motioned towards the body.

“I don’t know death very well,” he said, “but this is what it looks like to me.” It felt then that something was splitting apart in his chest, like his core was being torn in two. He thought it was a familiar pain, and maybe he could fall to his knees and weep because of it.

He was nothing to me. Why should I care? He stepped back, covering his mouth with a trembling hand.

“I told you he would not listen!” said the mantis.

“Madam, we must go,” he said, turning to her and taking her foreleg. “There is nothing for you here.”

“But- but my husband—”

“Your husband does not deserve you,” Bentinck snapped. “No one can speak to him now.”

“You said I could make him better!” The mantis was crying again, pushing him away with one sharp swipe from her leg. “Is there no hope, then? Have I- have I failed, Hans?”

“No,” he said, stumbling back over the body. “You were only doing what you had to.”

She stared at him as she wiped at her tears, though they still came, falling over the body of her husband. “What now?” she whispered.

“You can start by leaving.”

“And then?”

“Kill more men?” Bentinck shrugged. “I was never a praying mantis.”

“I am no murderer,” said the mantis. She dipped her head towards him. “I thank you for everything, Bentinck.”

“Recognized,” he said, though he didn’t know what he had done.

He watched her leave, pushing her way through the plants, and he was tempted to follow her, knowing very well that he would never see her again. But perhaps it was for the best.

Instead he glanced down at the body and kicked it, letting it fall into the pond. Looking at it was only making him feel worse— he recognized it as grief, as if he had just lost his own husband.

Or...wife. He buzzed as if he were scolding himself and left the water as it was.

Apparently it should have been a shock that William was recovering well by the next week, because everyone couldn’t get enough of it. But Bentinck already had. He had to admit, however, that it was a great relief to see William crawl out of his bed and hurriedly lap at the water as if he had never feared it at all. He truly was biological.

“How are you today?” Bentinck asked, observing William bat around at a fairyfly that had gotten into his room.

“I want to hunt again,” the Prince said. He snapped his jaws in the air, catching the fly and shaking it furiously in his teeth. He spat it out again with a disappointed flick of his tail. “You think I want to catch these pathetic things for the rest of my life?”

“It isn’t for the rest of your life, Will, it’s just while you recover,” Bentinck said with a sigh. “In the state you are in, even a cicada could knock you over.”

“It’s no worse than it ever was,” William mumbled.

Bentinck paused, narrowing his eyes at his master. There was some truth in that, he supposed; William was as pale and thin as ever, but in fact his eyes were brighter than they had been in the past few weeks. They still fluttered shut when the light of Bentinck’s own eyes flashed over him.

“Maybe not,” the android said, “but I could never risk it. Maybe a walk when less predators are active would be nice. And I must be with you,” he added.

William rolled his eyes, turning away. “I was ill, not a prisoner.”

“You are ill.”

“I am going to bite you again.”

“Please don’t do that—” Bentinck lifted his arm as William sprung at him, clinging onto it while batting his claws against his friend’s metal belly. But he was purring, his tail flicking from side to side excitedly, once again in the manner that he had done it when he was younger with de Witt. The purrs weren’t so bad, Bentinck had to say.

“It’s not so long now,” he said. “You will recover, and then you can go back to terrorizing hapless insects and other horrible creatures.”

“Like the heart-eaters.”

“Yes, very good, Your Highness. You are very, very fierce.”

William drew back, licking his lips. “I know. So I can handle a little walk.”

“Not until the physicians say you can.” Bentinck lifted William in his arms and placed him back on the bed. “I can bring in a few larger flies if you would like.”

William groaned, falling onto his pillow. He blinked, staring out the window listlessly, before his tail twitched suddenly and he sat back up again. “Oh, would you?”

Bentinck nodded.

“Then go, I want a crane fly.”

“Which one?”

“The biggest one you can find, now!” William sprung forward, snapping his jaws, and Bentinck hurried off.

Biggest one I can find? Does he expect me to kill it before or after I bring it to him? He shook his head as he walked, causing his vision to be covered in static for a moment. He covered the speaker on his chest before anyone had to hear the embarrassing warning again and walked faster, calling for the wheels on his feet. Perhaps he was imagining it, but it seemed that every Defender who looked at him this time did so with fear.

Is something wrong with me?

He dismissed the idea and kept going. William always found crane flies near the streams; maybe he would have the same luck. Just as long as he didn’t fall for the claims of a spider again.

He heard a curious buzzing up ahead, one much louder than anything he had ever heard from any insect in the Netherlands. He was tempted to turn back, but he decided that as long as he didn’t provoke whatever it was, he would be fine.

He looked up, trying to find what could possibly be making that noise, only for the wheel on his left foot to spring back inside him. Before he realized what had happened, he stumbled, and he fell hard on the grass, his arm failing to catch him. He landed on his face, his vision shaking as if something had knocked him on the head.

What on the Netherlands is this? He put away the other wheel and tried to push himself back up on his shaking arm. He couldn’t find the strength this time, however, and let himself fall again, staring out at what he found in front of him.

At least I got to the stream. Much to his disappointment, though, there were no crane flies around.

But he did find the source of the buzzing. Looking up, he saw a huge bee perched on a water lily, staring right at him with its head cocked to the side. From the size alone, he recognized her instantly as a queen, but a very peculiar one. The fur on her abdomen had a strange, cross-like marking running across the back instead of the usual stripes.

“Your Majesty,” he blurted, trying to sit up to kneel before her.

“Hans William Bentinck,” she said. “Do not move.” In her voice ran the unmistakable confidence of a monarch, and he obeyed, bowing his head.

“F-Forgive me.”

“Ah, there is nothing to forgive.” She flew over to him, landing at his side. “I have heard much about you.”

“An honor to be known by a being such as yourself.” Bentinck tried to back away, but the queen flung a leg over him.

“Is something wrong, what troubles you?” she asked.

“My whole body, I suppose.” He shuddered at the feeling of the leg and closed his eyes. “I must be looking for a crane fly for the Prince of Orange.”

“The Prince, you say?” He felt her lean in, the fur brushing the side of his face. “How is the boy?”

“Error: you do not have access to that information.”

“What are you—”

“Error: you do not have access to that information.”

He cried out when she slammed her leg against the side of his head, forcing him on his back. “Look up here,” she growled, “look at me. What is it that you are so afraid of, Bentinck?”

“I said that you do not have access to that information.” He glared up at her, though looked only at her wings; the black eyes were terrifying things. “I only serve a Protestant monarch.”

“So you do know about me.” She laughed. “You think you are so faithful, don’t you? You think your loyalty can never waver because you are an android. But let me tell you something, Bentinck; it only makes it easier for you to betray your precious master. I mean, look at how easily you fall apart!” She leaped onto him then, ripping through his waistcoat with a swipe of her leg. He buzzed in fury, shaking his head but unable to do much more than that. He couldn’t hurt her.

“Please don’t do that.” He lifted his head, and she forced it back down with a fierce shove from her mandibles. He let out another buzz, this time one of fear.

“You think he cares for you?”

“Please don’t do that.”

“You think he would be surprised if you turned your back on him? If you began to work for me instead?” She shook her head. “No one would be. You know no such thing as loyalty. God did not create you.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“You believe in Him,” she continued, “but He does not believe in you.”

“Please don’t do that—!” He kicked his legs out, and she drove her stinger into the opening that connected his thigh to his torso, tearing through his breeches. He tossed his head back and screamed as he felt the stinger sever the wires there, the venom squirting through finally taking any movement left on that limb.

“A shame about your strength,” she said. “It really could have saved your Prince from my vengeance.”

“Please don’t do that,” he pleaded. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“Nothing can stop me from what I have planned for that little monster,” she spat. “Not you, not him, and not all the armies in the galaxy.” She lifted her stinger and shoved it in the same place in the other thigh, achieving the same result there.

Bentinck bit back another buzz. “You- you can always go be Catholic somewhere else—”

“This is my kingdom!” She buried her mandibles into his hair and slammed his head back against the ground, again and again until the vision was gone from his eye where color had disappeared.

“Please don’t do that— caution: vision impaired— please don’t do that-” His voice was quickly becoming unrecognizable.

“Then fight,” she said, leaning in until the only thing he could see was her empty eyes, “if you think you can give me orders.”

“I- I don’t know what I did to you—”

“You ask as if working for the Prince isn’t the crime!” She drove her stinger into the speaker on his chest until she broke through. He felt the venom seep through him, burning up everything it touched, and he let himself fall limp, unable to speak coherently anymore. He knew he was still speaking, please don’t do that, but it sounded like nothing to him.

“Pathetic beast, always breaking, always whining,” she said. She pulled the stinger free, flying high above him, and the venom from her stinger fell to his face. It was disgusting. “I would kill you now, but I want to see William’s face when he sees me do it.”

Do not speak his name! Bentinck opened his mouth to tell her so, but before he could manage a sound she took his head in her legs and pushed it back into the water.

It was so quiet. So peaceful. He knew he should have been fighting it, but what was his Third Law compared to this? He was prepared to go, if he could hear nothing forever—

There was a screech from the surface, and then the weight was lifted off of him. The instinct to live returned to him. Using all the strength within him, he pulled himself out with a gasp, water leaking from his eyes and lips. He turned his head to the side to see where the queen had gone.

She had not gone willingly. There was the Prince, beautiful William, swiping at her face, hissing as he drove her back. He was many times smaller than she was, but she couldn’t manage to push him off.

“No one will touch my android!” he snarled.

“No!” Bentinck tried to call out, reaching out towards William. He wasn’t supposed to be out here! He had certainly never fought a queen before.

“You have brought him straight to me!” At last the queen bee threw him off, and Willaim landed with a huff on the ground. She lifted her head triumphantly, glancing at Bentinck. “Good boy.”

No, that was never—! He dragged himself forward with his arm, but was too unsteady to keep the motion. He let his head fall. Was this how William would die, with Bentinck watching on helplessly?

I was supposed to protect him. He wanted to cry, then realized that he was, the water from the stream still dripping slowly from his eyes.

William bared his teeth as he stood back up, the spikes on his tail shaking in warning. And Bentinck saw then that he would not die here. If he had survived illness in the past month, if he had defeated mantises, spiders, frogs, and liars, liars, liars, then a bee would never be anything at all.

“I am going to rip those beady little eyes out of your skull until there is nothing left to see heaven’s light,” the queen hissed.

William’s eyes flicked to black, and he sprung once more at her, clinging onto her abdomen with his claws as she flew up. She kicked at him with her legs, thrusting her stinger forward, but he held on from behind. She could land nothing on him. He crawled over her body, bringing her lower to the ground, and out of the plants bounded out more Defenders, old and young, hissing along with him at the queen.

It was undoubtedly his hivemind. Their black eyes matched his as they pounced on the queen, and they moved as if they had tails, carelessly unbalanced on top of her. William himself slipped off the side and bounced back, wheezing and circling the scene.

He needs me! Bentinck tried to call out to William, but it was much too low to be heard, and William never looked over at him. He seemed incredibly focused as he shifted his claws on the ground, as his Defenders shot silk from their wrists and tangled it around the queen’s legs. He tensed, then jumped back onto her, burying his claws into her wings. With the way her abdomen was moving, trapped within the silk, Bentinck guessed she was trying to sting him again.

William bit into her head and rolled sharply to the side, taking her with him. The rest of the Defenders stepped back, their eyes returning to normal, though wide with terror. These were not soldiers— they were merely the Defenders closest to the area, and thus could be anything. There were even a few children in the mix, hiding behind their mothers with nervous growls.

William shook the queen in his jaws, then threw her down below him, his jaws dripping with the hemolymph he had taken from her. It looked as if he was drooling again, but he licked the liquid away almost too gleefully.

“Kill me, then, but I will always return,” she spat at him. “And when I do, you will have more to lose.”

“Heaven take you, Your Majesty.” William bit into her antennae and tore her head from her body. Her legs still twitched under the silk as he jumped off of her, shaking himself and trying to catch his breath.

“A queen without a hive,” he huffed. “Now I have seen everything.” The Defenders backed away from him as he bounded towards his android. “Hans! How are you?”

“You- you need me—” Bentinck propped himself up on one arm as William curled his tail around him. He could only manage a broken whisper; anything louder than that would spook William with all its clicks and glitches.

“Shh, don’t speak,” William said. “I- I am very well—” He broke off when he started coughing, and Bentinck shook his head.

“You were not supposed to do this.”

“Then who else would, if I had not disobeyed you?” William smiled, leaning in to purr against Bentinck’s cheek. “My antennae couldn’t have sensed danger if I had been inside.”

“Enough, just kiss me.”

“I don’t need it—” He attempted to laugh, interrupted by another hacking cough, and Bentinck brought his head closer and kissed him. He prayed that the inhaler function in his throat still worked.

Out of all my systems, please, please, please.

William blinked, then backed away, his eyes wide. “No, Hans, I-” He took a deep, rasping breath, his tail twitching uncomfortably as he glanced at everyone around him.

Did it not work? Bentinck reached out, took William’s hand.

“I- I am sorry.”

“Hans, it isn’t—”

“She said she would come back.” Bentinck’s voice rose. It was like speaking through shattered glass.

William stared at him, still stepping away. “What are you talking about? Who?”

“The queen!”

William shook his head. “You are not well,” he breathed. Then, turning to his subjects, he said, “Help me- help me take him back—! Now!”

Did I say something wrong? It could have been anything, Bentinck thought.

“You are safe now, Hans, don’t speak anymore,” he heard William whisper on his blind side. His warm breath on Bentinck’s face was labored, but reassuring nonetheless. “Just- just close your eyes.”

He knew what that meant, but closed them anyway. He felt William reach his claws into his throat and shut him off. From there he could have been out for a few minutes or centuries upon centuries; he could never tell.

#alien alien au #lots and lots of tasty android whump for the soul!!#william is so creature here lel

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waltwhitmansbeard · 1 year

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can I get #6 with keyleth and percy if you're interested?

6. "Don't move, you're still hurt."

Greyskull Keep is in shambles. There is fallen stone and debris everywhere, and among it all, there are people, the refugees from Emon, the sick and the injured and the dying. Keyleth can hardly hear herself think over the din of crying children and calls for aid, but then, she's not in a mood to think, anyway. She's spent the last hour stumbling from person to person, offering what healing she can, bandaging burn marks and tying off tourniquets as best she knows how, and now she's collapsed in a corner of the great hall, staring at the chaos and sinking, sinking, sinking.

She thought the Briarwoods were bad, the worst it could get. She thought a town plagued by vampires and necromancy would be the most horrifying thing she'd ever see. She misses Whitestone now, wishes she were once again facing down a horde of undead rather than four fucking dragons.

Who is she to take them on? Some clumsy girl from Zephrah, no real experience, no real skills to offer in the face of a cataclysm like this. Her father had warned her that the world was far darker than anything she could have studied for, but this...this is too much. She can't do this, can't save the world, can't finish her Aramente, can't lead her people, not the way her mother could have—

Through the buzzing in her ear, a sharp cry catches her attention, tugs her up from the pit. "Help! Someone, please! A healer!"

She may not be good enough to take down dragons, but she can at least do this. She pushes her hands into the stone floor to rise to her feet, but before she can make it up more than a few inches, a hand on her shoulder is pressing her back down. "Don't move, you're still hurt."

She looks up to see Percy, face smudged with soot and glasses cracked, smiling down at her. She's about to argue with him when she notices for the first time, oh, yeah, her body is a screaming ache. She's covered in small burn marks and larger cuts, and she feels as if she's been battered around in a tornado. Still, she frowns up at her friend. "They need a healer. I have to go help."

"There are other healers here." He slides down the wall to sit next to her. "You need to rest. You cannot fix everything alone."

She pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them. "I can't fix anything. Any of this. I just...I can't do it."

"Keyleth..." He gingerly slides an arm across her back to tuck her into his side. "Not a single soul is expecting you to fix a situation like this, not by yourself. God, we may very well not be able to fix it together. But when we try, we're going to try as a team. I know I can't do it without you, and I don't want to."

She rests her head against his shoulder. She could close her eyes and fall asleep right here, but she worries that if she does, she'll sleep long past the fall of civilization. "I'm really scared, Percy."

He tips his head atop hers. "Me too, Keyleth. But I'm very glad that you're here."

She finally gives in and lets her eyes slide shut, and for a moment, the din is just a little bit quieter.

#ask #Anonymous #critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #vox machina #vox machina au #my fic

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remyfire · 3 months

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Bj/Sidney

Do I Ship It? ALL RIGHT, back in it again after a breakfast break, please forgive me for the delay!!

Yes, I Ship It!!

What made you ship it? —Truly I cannot articulate properly how potent they are to me, but I'm gonna damn well try. I talked a little bit in my Sidney/BJ/Hawk ask about how interesting it is to me that Sidney and BJ very rarely have a moment alone on screen together, and how it got my brain buzzing about if BJ is in fact actively choosing to avoid Sidney. I love to play on that with them, BJ who has so much buried under the surface, Sidney who has almost a sixth sense for where to apply pressure to receive a response. I write them both as needing to be in control every second of every day, which compelled me also—one of them has to give in a little for them to get anywhere at all, and that takes a lot of negotiation, a lot of growing trust. And then frankly I was compelled by the idea of giving BJ daddy issues. I'm so so sorry, BJ, but you are ripe for it. Specifically I wanted to play on the concept of BJ having a buried distrust toward men in Sidney's age range because that was around the age his father was when BJ received the majority of his neglect and emotional abuse, the age he was right when BJ cut his parents off and never went back. There's distrust but there's also a desperation for approval, for praise. The moment I made that connection, I was fucking gone for them.

What are your favorite things about the ship? —I love how BJ brings out the more playful energy of Sidney in Dear Sigmund. I love how even when BJ missteps and violates Sidney's trust, Sidney already has such a deep fondness for him that he doesn't come down nearly as harshly as he could. I love the idea of Sidney catching sight of how often BJ ends up in Hawkeye's shadow as this baby surgeon barely out of residency put up beside this revered god of life, and Sidney getting to nourish that part of BJ before Beej ever starts getting buried in his flashes of self-doubt that drive him to do incredibly unwise things. I love BJ getting the opportunity to be unabashedly angry in a setting with a person who can absorb it and bring him to a sense of closure. I love how protective we see BJ get over Sidney from time to time. I love the webs of secrets that both BJ and Sidney have getting to unravel a little at a time with each other when they don't trust anyone else to look at them the same way as it all starts coming out. And frankly I love them getting to lean on each other during the absolute mess of a man they both care very, very much for beginning to deteriorate. I need these two cuddled up tight, stat.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? —I'm trying to think if there's anything particularly unpopular about them that I have when they're a ship barely anybody else sails haha. Many of the things I change are more character-specific—I write Sidney as a gay man who does not actually have a child, for example—and I'm not sure if any of those things count as unpopular.

#as always they absolutely unravel me #i have a 10k wip for them that i need to get back to soon #ty for sending this #ask meme answers

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icymoonlight · 8 months

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Unfathomable Depths

Part 1: The Unforgivable Kind

Summary

Rewriting the dramatic scene between Giles and Buffy in Season 3 ep:Revelations

Text part 1

Proof read

Part 1

Buffy waited for Giles' lecture, expecting him to shout his frustration and disappointment, but instead, his traits were painted with deep sorrow when he finally deigned to talk. "I thought you'd come to me first," he said, defeated.

Buffy didn't expect that much bitterness in his voice, and she was mortified to have been found out in her moment of weakness. She had no right to argue with Giles, who had lost a lover to Angelus and she didn't expect him to forgive Angel any time soon. However, she had never meant to hurt Giles.

He didn't look at her when he took a shaky breath and leaned both hands on the back of the chair. "I told Xander not to tell you, but after that night when the vampires took me, I was tortured by Angel for days."

Buffy couldn't stifle an audible gasp, her eyes widened in shock. Tortured? The word felt wrong coming from Giles. She couldn't come to terms with the meaning of his words. She learned about her own bad choices as if they weren't hers. But they were.

Giles went on, driving the point home. "… even though you knew that he targeted me, you still chose him over your friends ... over me." His eyes painfully bore into hers as he said that in a surprisingly low and even voice, as if he was exercising all the self-control he could muster to keep his voice from rising.

Buffy could feel the hurt dripping from his words. "Giles, I am sorry…” she breathed, but he cut her off. That was the first time he cut her off, the first time he didn't welcome her apology.

"You have no respect for me or for my work. I don't even know who's side are you on anymore." he concluded, leaving the charged silence linger between them. She tried to swallow, but her throat closed up. Without another word, he turned away and sat at his desk, bringing an end to the discussion. Buffy never thought Giles's words would cut so hard. She needed to breathe or cry and she couldn't do both when looking at his back. The silent treatment was worse than any punishment. She longed to pass her arms around his neck and press his lonely back to her chest and kiss his temple, a thousand times, while begging him for forgiveness. She already misses his warm smile and she cannot bear it anymore.

A single tear drop streamed down her cheek as she hurried out of the library, before broking into a sprint. She had to get out of that claustrophobic place before she

started wailing.

As the fresh air hit Buffy's face, she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. The guilt and sadness that consumed her were too much to handle. She knew she should have gone to Giles first, but her love for Angel made her blind. She was so scared that Giles would hunt him down, she couldn't bear to see him suffer.

As she walked aimlessly, Buffy's phone buzzed. It was a message from Willow. "Are you okay? Xander told me what happened."

Buffy didn't know how to respond. She didn't want to burden her friends with her problems, and she typed out a reply, "I messed up. I should have gone to Giles first. Now he's hurt and angry with me."

Within seconds, another message popped up. "Secrets hurt, Buffy. Not that I would know about it, but… I guess what I'm trying to say is that we're here for you. Don't ever forget that. Do you want to come by my house? We could discuss things."

Buffy smiled. She needed her friends now more than ever. But she had to take care of "things" herself, and by "things" she meant Angel. That terribly pleasing mistake can never ever happen again. She knows better than anyone the terrible consequences of their lovemaking, or more like monster-making. Buffy scoffed at the absurdity of their ridiculously impossible situation. Now that he's better, she should stop seeing him. With a heavy heart, she made her way back home. Willow's unconditional support made her feel a slight sense of comfort, but Giles? He wouldn't stay mad at her forever, would he? Maybe things would get better soon? Maybe, just maybe.

#BtVS #Giles & Buffy #Buffy the Vampire Slayer #Buffy fanfiction

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karandonna · 6 months

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The Hunger Games - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I'm giving my best trying (hard) to like this movie, but eventually it just doesn't work. Despite all those sneak peek all over social media, bunch of interviews, behind the scenes, possibly fired up my hopes as I previously had with the original THG trilogy. This prequel is just boring. So boring even young love between Snow and Lucy Gray couldn't keep me well seated.

(pls dully noted that I went to see this movie out of context, no book reading, absolutely no idea bout what was Panem like 64 years prior, I just jumped off the fence and trust my gut just like I did when I watched THG for the first time. Now I'm desperate have a collectible edition from the series for better understanding and better judgement over Lucy and Snow)

Straightforward to...

Young Snow is surely a bright head and talent amongst other member of this elite school, but tell me again how exactly those 12 students suddenly being labelled as a "mentor" with no heads up about their particular aptitude or surviving skills?! Even these "mentor" cannot defend themselves, let alone their mentee.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but Lucy Gray is one confusing character to me. She had no previous detail with the covey that helps me understand why she had to survive in the first place. Back in district 12 but she moved here and there with the packs, the absence of her surviving skills, out of blue had romantically involved with her capitol mentor way too soon, super random background past with Billy Taupe (???). The Reaping Day scene was indeed pleasing to the ear but I don't think I need extra two stage performances with the guitar because I started to feel like I'm watching High School Musical drama instead of dystopian action. I'm well aware that the title literally called "ballad" but don't you think one is enough and just let the background do the rest? Love the outfit though!

Apparently, Lucy Gray is not the only confusing character here. Let's talk about Snow. This so called brothership he had with Sejanus feels artificial. Just put down the friendship bracelet off screen, we don't mind to see the rivalry between Snow and Sejanus trying to shape the world with their own preferences.

The rebellion bombing scene and Lucy feels like trying to save Snow??? I mean...this is capitol we talking about and stranger is rhyming with danger, right? This helping hand scene was unnecessary and lame. Even if this danger is on disguise with blonde curls, you better safe than sorry.

I barely see the "games" Dr. Gaul was making (was snakes count?). Where's the bloodbath scene? Isn't it supposed to be like survival of the fittest? Well, Lucy did survive the "games" and then what? Back to district 12 like the 10th annual never happened? No wonder the audience did lose the appetite of the games.

Just when I thought Coriolanus Snow would be this morally grey...

Yes, we all have the same feeling about the buzz cut!

Well, I guess there's more to Snow other than just landing on top.

#suzanne collins #tom blyth #rachel zegler #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #the hunger games #lucy gray baird #coriolanus x lucy gray #dystopia

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elijahkelly · 5 months

Text

12/26-27/2023

Wow, a lot to talk about.

Trigger warning: self harm, suicide

Winter break has finally arrived (obviously because I'm writing this the day after Christmas (technically two days after because it just turned to midnight on the 27th. I successfully triumphed the semester (I survived by the skin of my teeth) and worked at the gym until campus closed. Then it was time to come home.

Given that I would be home from a few days before Christmas all the way through the first two weeks of January, leaving Champagne at my apartment was not an option; I had to bring him home with me. That was a two and a half hour car ride that he did not particularly enjoy. Nevertheless, he survived, and my family got to meet him! Everyone loves him except for my household cat, whose name is Spook but we call her Luci. Kobe, my pit bull, is very interested in Champagne, who is intimidated by Kobe's size. But they're warming up to one another.

Christmas was actually alright. For context, last Christmas with my family was a disaster. A nightmare, really. So for it to actually go smoothly this year was surprising. I was nervous for this year because I have been struggling financially and wasn't able to get gifts. But everyone got together, despite family drama, and got to enjoy each other's company. It was nice.

My disloyalty to Dylan has caught up to me. I had been flirting with this guy on Snapchat, words only, no images or videos exchanged. And the worst I did was call him pretty. But I hid him from Dylan. I kept him secret and called him pretty and entertained this stranger at the risk of my relationship. And Dylan found out. Christmas evening, he saw the name on my phone and asked. I can't lie to him, so I told him everything. I let him read through conversations. We talked for a while. Why do I keep doing this? Why am I incapable of loyalty? What stops me from being a good partner? I grew angry with myself.

I went to the bathroom. I sat and contemplated. I have tips on my nails, so they're sharp. I pulled my pants down. I scratched at my inner thigh. I started to cry. I scratched harder. And harder. Then on the other thigh. Until both were red. I had not drawn blood. I was still furious with myself. I hadn't yet gotten what I deserved.

I grabbed the tweezers on the counter. I placed them against my left thigh and pushed until I felt the skin break. It hurt so bad. I shut my eyes as hard as possible. I clenched the tweezers tighter. I pulled them up my thigh and felt the blades rip through my skin. Two equidistant cuts, both bleeding. I was shaking.

My watch buzzed. I looked down. A notification from Dylan. "I don't know if you have your watch on. Please come back." I went back into my room and showed him what I had done. I broke down.

I don't want to lose Dylan. I have sat with myself and thought for a long time about what my problem is. I have something priceless, a solid, loving relationship with an incredible man who loves me deeply. Almost three years strong. Something people yearn for, pine after, dream of. How am I so stupid to repetitively take that for granted?

There is a deep anger for myself within me. I hate myself for allowing myself to be so stupid. I have told Dylan time and time again that he deserves better than a petulant child who repeats the same mistakes. Regardless, he has chosen to show me grace and forgive me. I will never, ever be so stupid ever again. I will not lose Dylan. I cannot lose Dylan.

Anyways, that's all.

Goodbye for now.

#gay #lgbt #lgbtq #nonbinary #life #update

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imaginesbymonika · 2 years

Text

The tomato girl.

Finale !!!!!!

Pairing: Steve-O x fem!reader

Plot: Y/N and Steve-O were clearly in love with each other, but well, if no one speaks up how were they supposed to know?

Warnings: angst, mention of people getting injured, but really just some mentioning of blood and some swearing, fluff at the end!!! writing this has been so much fun, really so much!

masterlist | previous chapter

song to listen to while reading:

It's around 4:30 am when Johnny's phone buzzes once more. He initially groans and want's to turn around. But when he remembers what the previous call was about, a sweet grin arises on his lips as he reaches toward the small table. But it drops when he reads the name on his screen.

"Y/N?", he inquires, his voice deeper and filled with confusion as he clears his throat. "What is his adress? Steveo's. What is it? Please, I need to know." Johnny hears how a car door opens up in the background. "What happened?", he asks and sits up straight, while he hears Y/N’s muffled crying.

"You're so stupid sometimes.", Y/N sighed and took Steveo's face into her hands. She pulled him a few inches closer to look at the cut above his lip. "Don't ever talk about me like that again.", the random man who is standing above them let out and Steveo simply rolled his eyes at him. "Well, it's true. That tattoo looks ridiculous and you will never get any pussy with it."

At that, the taller and much more vigorous man took a swing, but instead of Steveo's cheek, it got in touch with Y/N's. She had pushed her friend away at the last moment. Y/N let out a fragile sound and a few seconds later she spat out blood on the brown hardwood floor.

A silence fell upon the room. And for a few seconds the men of Jackass all stared at the red puddle before their whole interest fell back on the guy. "I know for a fact, you didn't just hit her, dude.", Chris declared calmly, but just like the rest of the guys, the anger was boiling in his veins. Steveo’s eyes were filling up with concern however when he saw that she was somewhat okay, he immediately got back up on his feet. Without thinking about it his fist collies with the guy's jawline. For some reason, he was abruptly much stronger and also much soberer.

"You're okay?", Bam asked and kneeled down next to the woman. "Nothing's broken.", she explained and a weak smile appeared on her lips, while some red blood dripped down her chin. Bam and Ryan both shook their heads in astonishment. "Why the fuck would you do that?" But she really didn't have to answer it. They already knew the reason.

Steveo who is laying on the back in his bed tosses and turns, but he just cannot find a good position to sleep in. So he ends up simply gazing at the ceiling for a while. Until someone begins to harshly bang against the front door of his house. He rapidly turns on the lights and walks out of his bedroom. When he notices a figure standing in front of his door his eyes widen.

"I said no.", Y/N lets out as soon as he opens the door: "I said no to Ezra. I called him back the second you left and I said I cannot marry him and that I am so sorry for wasting his time. My heart wasn't in it, that relationship felt phony and forced. I mean yeah my parents like him, and I know my mom is going to be so pissed when I tell her I broke up with him. And my friends will all just roll their eyes because I am single once again, and they will continue to make jokes about me never finding the “right” guy. And I know they will make jokes about me being picky, because if I am not turning down every guy that comes my way, then I cannot even recognize the ‘good husband potential’ in the ones I do date. But I just cannot marry Ezra. My heart wasn't in it... because it stayed here the night before I left for New York. It stayed on those stupid stairs outside that stupid bar where I sat next to you. I was freezing my fucking ass off hoping- god, I was hoping you'd try to convince me to stay."

She takes a deep breath.

"I cannot marry some guy from New York. Not when I have loved you practically forever."

Steveo stares at her for a moment.

"So yeah. There was a moment in time when you were more than a friend to me. And that moment hasn't passed since."

Without thinking about it he steps forwards and pulls her into a kiss. And it feels the way how he imagined it, back in 2000, when they met for the first time in Johnny's apartment. No, it feels better. Way better. She could have had anyone, and she chose him. She picked him.

"Your dad is going to be so disappointed, isn't he?" "I doubt anything could disappoint him more than the tomato poster, to be honest." Steveo laughs at that and pulls her closer to him once more.

"You're stupid.", a voice said and when Y/N perked up she saw Steveo. He chuckled to himself as he sat down next to her on the pavement. "I can't smell anything.", Y/N confessed and both of them started to laugh.

He grabbed Y/N's hand and she looked down at it. They didn't say anything, they just kinda knew what the other person was thinking. "It's a beautiful sunset, isn't it?" "That's the sunrise, Y/N.", he simply replied and looked at her: "But yeah, it's really beautiful."

#steve o imagine #steve o #steve o x reader #angst #x reader #fluff #imagine #spotify #jackass forever #jackass imagine #jackass #jackass x reader #ryan dunn #johnny knoxville #bam margera #Spotify

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imthebadguyyy · 3 years

Text

You're All Mine

Pairing - Lewis Hamilton x Reader

Fandom - F1

Summary - Things get slightly out of hand at a party where you decide to act up, and Lewis shows you just exactly who you belong to. P.S - He makes you wear that damn jacket.

Warnings - smut, swearing, possessiveness (brought to you by the fashion king that is Sir Lewis Hamilton, because that jacket did things okay?

A/N- OC (Thomas) has nothing to do with any of Lewis's friends in real life.

Also shoutout to @grandestrategia and @lights-out-in-monaco for helping me 💙

✯⌃⌄☼♥︎

iThrowing a party to get together was always a fun idea to get the chance to socialize, meet new people, dance, get drunk and spend quality time with your friends and family. But throwing a party after three back to back race weeks was not really a great idea, mainly because it meant your boyfriend groaning and moaning about how he didn't want to spend time with anyone else but you. That was exactly what was happening at present, as you swiped a tube of crimson lipstick across your lips, while Lewis sat on the bed, in a black shirt and his purple customised jacket, with his arms crossed across his chest, reminding you of a toddler who was told to go to bed early.

"I don't get why you had to throw a party today, of all times" he grumbled for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Okay baby, I love you, I really do, but I swear, if you say that one more time I will strangle you" you replied, setting the lipstick back down, and reaching for a bottle of perfume on your dressing table. "I'm just saying, I feel like spending time with you now, and yes, I love that you decided to call my friends and family over, but I kinda just wanted to have some you and me time" he said, eyes following your movements as you sprayed the perfume behind your ears, on your wrists, and lightly over your body, "You'll have me to yourself from the moment they leave, till you have to fly for your race again. And I promise, we can do whatever you want" you said, reaching up to smooth your hair. Far too preoccupied with fixing the flyaway strands of hair, you didn't notice him standing up and standing right behind you. "Whatever I want hmm? I know exactly what I want baby. But I just can't get it right now. You know why? Because I want to bend you over and take you right here, right now. But because you decided to throw a party instead of spending time together, you'll have to wait a little longer than necessary to have my head in between your thighs, my fingers in you, and my cock in your cunt. And guess whose fault it is? Yours, my darling. It's your fault" he growled in your ear, smirking when a soft moan slipped past your lips.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? For me to bend you over and take you here? When our guests could be here at any minute?" he continued, lips resting just near the outer shell of your ear. You couldn't even answer, feeling the arousal grow in between your thighs, as your heartbeat seemed to slow down for just a second, before it seemed to hammer against your chest almost as if it wanted to just burst out of your chest. "Tell me darling. Would you like that?" "Ye-" your reply was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing, signalling the arrival of one of your guests. "Saved by the bell, hmm? You didn't have to answer. But I promise baby, when they're gone, I'm gonna make you scream my name so loud, if our neighbours aren't on a first name basis with us tomorrow, I'll be very, very surprised. And leaving you a aroused, horny mess, he went down to open the door.

✯⌃⌄☼♥︎

About half an hour later, the party was in full swing. You had invited some of your friends and some family members, and turning to look over your shoulder, you saw Lewis chatting with his dad and Nicolas, a glass of wine in his hand as he laughed at something his brother told him. Smiling, you turned back, to see one of Lewis's friends making his way over to you, two glasses of champagne in his hand. You enjoyed mingling with his friends, and you had met Neymar Jr, Odell Beckham Junior, and other really awesome people. Smiling at Thomas, who was one of Lewis's newer friends, you accepted the glass, your third glass of champagne and your fifth drink all together, hovering between the lines of tipsy and drunk.

Thomas, (the friend, idk I just made him up) offered you a glass of champagne, and you gladly took a sip, enjoying the buzz as the alcohol ran through your veins, filling you with a calm happiness. Maybe it was the alcohol in your veins and the promise of a really good time that made you decide to push Lewis's buttons just a little bit, to ensure that you were really in for it. Giggling at a joke his friend made, you threw your head back laughing, letting your hand rest on Thomas's shoulder, before letting it move to your hair, twirling a strand of hair around your finger, teeth sinking softly down onto your lower lip.

From where he was standing, Lewis looked over to see where you were, his grip on his glass tightening when he saw you laugh and rest your hand on his friend's shoulder. His eyes darkening when he saw you twirl a strand of hair around your finger, and bite your lip softly, knowing all too well what you were doing. It was working. As you giggled again, tilting your head back laughing, and nodding a quick 'I'll be back soon', to his dad, he walked towards the both of you, his eyes fixed on the way you kept twirling your hair around your fingers.

"Hi baby. You having a fun time?" he asked you, standing next to you and wrapping an arm around your waist. "Yeah I am! Are you having fun?" you replied, letting your head droop onto his shoulder. "Yeah I am my love, thank you so much for planning it" he murmured in your ear, ignoring the fact that his friend was standing right in from of him, probably getting a free show. His hands splayed out on the leathery material of your black skirt, enjoying the coolness of the material and the feel of a section of your skin against his palms. The black outfit you had put on was a black leather top and skirt, that clung onto your body like a vice, as he moved his hand to the back of your skirt, moving so Thomas couldn't see what he was doing.

"And what about you Thomas, are you having a good time?" you asked the man, feeling Lewis tense up behind you. "Yup I am! Thanks so much for inviting us all, its a great party" he replied, flashing the both of you a smile. "We're glad you're having fun" Lewis replied, his hand moving to your ass, squeezing ever so discreetly. "Yup I know! Great to see you too, man! Your last races have been great, you deserve a break" Thomas kept talking, blissfully unaware of how you were squirming, your arousal pooling in between your thighs as he ran his fingers up your thighs, in between your underwear and the skirt. He moved his body so the lower half of your body was not visible to anyone else.

Pressing your lips together to keep a sound from escaping, you tried your hardest to hold yourself together, but it was damn hard when you could begin to feel the liquid threatening to run down your thighs and make a mess in front of everyone. "Moving your hand to the back to squeeze his thigh, silently begging him to just take you to the bedroom and fuck you senseless. Feeling your desperation, Lewis smirked softly, before turning to Thomas. "If you don't mind Thomas, I think I left my phone in the bedroom, I'll just go get it" "Yeah sure" Thomas replied, as you turned and made your way up the stairs to the master bedroom. But before you could go and sit on the bed, a pair of arms grabbed you around your waist, and pulled you into the master bathroom that was connected to your room.

Lewis turned your body around, the rough movement taking your breath away, before he crashed his lips down onto yours, his hands sliding down to your as again, squeezing hard, causing a moan to slip out your lips, your arms tightening around his neck. "I saw you trying to rile me up baby. All giggly and flirty, and that whole fiasco with you messing with your hair, hmm? Only I can pull your hair, and only I can tug on it. You like it when I do that, don't you? When I tug your hair, and your head falls back, and those sounds slip out of your lips and I can see how much you like it" The moan that slipped past your lips went straight to his cock, hardening under his pants.

"Words baby, words. Do you like it?" he asked, his fingers running along the waistband of your leather skirt, tugging the skirt down your legs. "I do, I really do! please, please do something, I need you so bad" you whined, your hands unbuttoning the buttons on his shirt, and tugging his purple jacket down his shoulders. "Patience my baby. Good things take time. So desperate for it, I can see your wetness dripping, but you aren't getting off that easily after that stunt you pulled. But I promised you that I'd give you a good time, and I always keep my promises" Another desperate whimper left your lips, and you dragged the jacket down his torso, letting it drop to the floor.

"No no no. I want you to put that on. Or even better..." he mumbled finishing his sentence halfway, picking up the jacket from the floor. He pushed you down on the bed, grabbing your wrists in his hands, before pushing you back up to the headboard. Then he took the jacket up to your hands, tying one side to the headboard of the King sized bed, and the other end around your hands. "There we go, all tied up and gorgeous for me. Do your wrists burn with my name baby? Do you like how my name is tied onto your skin?" he asked, eyeing how the 'HAMILTON' part of the jacket was tied around your wrist. "I bet you like it don't you? That stinging sensation? I cannot wait to taste you my love, all wet and dripping for me" he continued, moving down to press his lips to your neck. He pushed his tongue out onto your skin, sucking the spot before licking over the spot repeatedly, letting his teeth sink onto a pulse point, shifting in his pants when his cock twitched at the moan that fell from your lips.

He ventured lower and lower, till he reached your chest, taking your nipple into his mouth, licking the sensitive nub, letting his teeth graze your areola. Above him, you were struggling against your bonds, wrists straining against their restraints., desperate to touch him, to feel his skin and his glorious muscles under your hands, but you couldn't, because your hands were bound, literally, "Oh my god please Lew, please let me touch you, please I need to touch you baby" "Not yet princess. You were a bad girl, and bad girls get punished my love. I'm not going to let you even graze my hand, if you don't shut that pretty little mouth of yours, before I do it for you" he growled back, feeling his own arousal grow as you whimpered again. He let his fingers fondle your other nipple, tweaking and pulling before taking it into his mouth too, as you felt the wetness run down your leg, soaking into the bedsheet.

Moaning again, you pressed your thighs together, desperate for some friction to relieve you of the throbbing pain in your core, the amount of arousal you were feeling making you feel like you were drowning in some sort of strong sea current, as Lewis's lips travelled lower, and his breath fanned over your throbbing cunt. "I can't wait to taste you my love" and with that he dived in, giving you almost no time to adjust, as he fucked you with his tongue, and his fingers toyed with your clit, sending you towards your high, before biting the sensitive bud softly "You taste like fucking candy love" "Oh fuck fuck fuck Lewis, I'm gonna -" you managed to gasp out as the gasp turned into scream of frustration when he pulled away. "What the fuck? Why'd you do that?!" you gasped out, chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Because like I told you, bad girls get punished" he replied, shoving his pants down his legs, before leaning over and grabbing a condom, pulling his calvin keins down his thighs, as his cock sprang free, smirking when you moaned at the sight, "Taking a good look baby?" he asked, crawling over to you. "You're just really gorgeous" you replied, straining against the jacket. "I know" he replied, pushing his rings off of his fingers. "No don't. Keep on em. I like em" you said, earning a smirk from the man again. "Want me to fuck you with my rings on? I'd love to" he said, watching as you squirmed again.

"Baby please let me touch you, I want to touch you so bad, please!" you practically begged, tears of frustration filling your eyes. "No baby. I'm going to fuck you with your hands tied and I'm going to mark you up" he replied, sliding the condom on and leaning over you, positioning his cock at your entrance. "Ready baby?" he asked,smiling a little as you nodded, the both of you moaning in sync when he pushed into you, your walls clenching onto his cock, as he settled into you, moaning when he sunk into you bit by bit. He gave you a few seconds to adjust, before he pulled out, making you let out half a moan and look at him questioningly, before he slammed back into you. You weren't expecting that, and a strangled scream left your lips when he filled you to the hilt, before bottoming out in you, hips snapping repeatedly into you, his cock moving inside you.

You moans and groans echoed off the walls, as your hands burned, the desperation in you threatening to drown you again. "oh my god, you feel so good, you fuck me so good, now baby please let me touch you!" you practically screamed, your voice catching when he angled his thrusts so the tip hit your g spot repeatedly. "Okay my love, you deserve it now. My baby desreves to touch me now, doesn't she?" "Yes please, especially when you fuck me this good, almost too good to be true" you stammered out clenching down on his cock again, feeling the slight stutter of his hips as you did. Lewis reached up to untie you, letting the jacket fall to the floor, and moaning when your hands dug into his back, scratching down his back, as he hissed at the feeling, loving the feeling of your nails raking down his back. "Fuck baby, do that again" he growled. "Only if you choke me" you moaned back, feeling him stutter again, and let out a moan.

His eyes widened, not completely used to you being so bold, but loving the wild side you let out. He reached up, wrapping his hand around your neck and squeezing a little, groaning when you let out a choked moan. "Harder" you moaned, feeling his cock twitch in you. "Oh fucking hell baby, I didn't know you liked it rough" he moaned, tightening his grip on your neck, cutting the air off ever so softly, snapping his hips into you faster, as your nails raked down your back even harder, leaving marks that would definitely hurt the next morning.

"That feels so good, oh my god, I love you so much" you gasped out wrapping your hand around his, causing him to squeeze a little harder. "Oh fuck, I'm gonna cum my love" Lewis moaned, groaning when you moved your hips thrusting up to meet his thrusts. 'Oh fuck" Lewis groaned, before releasing into you ,his finger reaching down to rub your clit repeatedly. Your moans echoed in the room, as he pinched your clit, as you squirted all over his cock.

Panting, Lewis sunk down next to you, chest rising and falling. "That was so good" you gasped out, resting your head on his chest. "Was that too much? Did I hurt you?" he asked, kissing your forehead. "No no I loved it. You should do that more often" you mumbled. Just as Lewis leaned in to kiss you, there was a knock at the door, making the both of you jump apart. "Are the both of you done yet?" a voice asked, making you blush. "Oh my god. We forgot about the guests!" you gasped, making Lewis laugh, as he kissed you softly. "I know which one I'd rather do again" he mumbled, laughing when you kissed him back. "Don't go for round two, atleast let us leave first!" the voice yelled again, as Lewis stood up from the bed to get dressed.

"Oh and by the way, you're wearing that jacket downstairs"

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