#right before the 3 shadow layers that got a little out of hand

[omaano]

Someone's either gonna get shot or burnt nice and crispy. Or both.

Or - Lil Firestarter is growing! And he's got a scarf of his own now! (here he is as Charmander. He's very baby :3)

[harryspet]

homestead [3] r.cameron

[warnings] dark!rafe cameron x pregnant!reader, farmer!rafe, pogue!reader, implied jj x reader, kidnapping, DUBCON, little editing,READ AT YOUR OWN RISK 18+

A/N: Hello guys, I know a lot of you asked to be tagged but I am only tagging those who reblog AND give me your thoughts on the story. Please refrain from asking to be tagged especially if you are not interacting with the story in any other way. Enjoy!

word count: 3.0k

In which you start to adapt to your role in the life Rafe's chosen for you.

homestead masterlist

During one of the three bathroom trips you made during the night, you realized your bedroom door wasn’t locked. You slipped on fluffy slippers that you’d found in your closet and slipped out of the bedroom before you could overthink your decision. Admittedly, after Rafe showed you the rest of the house, spending so much time in your room felt wrong. You thought you’d feel stronger, faster, but every thought of him gave you flashbacks to his hands pinning your arms above your head and gripping your thighs so hard that they bruised. The threat of that happening again loomed over you, and Rafe seemed to know that and used it to his advantage. 

You hadn’t known the time either, but the hallway was dark, and no light streamed in through the windows, telling you that it wasn’t yet daybreak. You moved slowly down the stairs, doing your best to reduce the creaking. You weren’t quite sure what your goal was. Escape, obviously, but it couldn’t be this easy. 

As you reached the bottom of the stairs, you were met with a silent house, except for the slight hum of the refrigerator. The front door was perfectly in view, and you quickly approached it. It was locked, but you had expected that. You noticed a small blinking red light near the front door as you looked around for something to break a window or unlock the door. The camera was pointed right at the front door. Who knows what type of alarm would sound if you even opened it. 

As you fully turned around, your eyes landed on a shadow looming at the bottom of the stairs. He crossed the walkway to the farther wall, flipping on a light switch, “What are you doing?” He asked as you rubbed your eyes, feeling blinded by bright lights. 

“Getting some water,” You lied, not making much of an attempt to look less suspicious, “Couldn’t find the kitchen.”

You should’ve known he’d have more layers of protection. After all, you were the newest addition to the livestock he was keeping. You noted his jeans, workboots, and t-shirt, realizing that he was up to start his chores. 

“Couldn’t find the kitchen?” He repeated back, his arms crossed over his chest, his face telling you he was close to lecturing you like a child. 

“I got turned around in the dark,” You added, “I’m sorry.”

“Let’s get you some water then,” He said, much to your surprise. You stepped towards him, and his hands found the small of your back again, and you instantly felt his hands everywhere. For you, he retrieved a glass from the cabinet and filled it from the refrigerator water dispenser, “Good morning, Honey.”

The clock above the stove told you it was almost five in the morning. 

You reached for the glass, but he held it out of your reach. “Good morning,” you replied back obediently. He withheld it still, leaning down to press his lips to yours. Just like on the nursery floor, you froze, but you didn’t pull away. 

When he finally let you have the glass, you tried your best not to shake. He was still watching you intently, even as you sipped at it. 

“How’s the little one feeling?”

The way he spoke was so warm and part of you wanted to accept it, to accept the care and love and warmth he so obviously wanted you to feel too. You could choose to be happier and let your baby feel that happiness too.

“Good,” you answered, “He’s fine.”

He wanted you to say more but you stared back, maintaining your calm. If you stayed calm, it was easier for him to perceive your obedience. 

“Good,” he echoed. 

You’d decided then that you wouldn’t hole up in your room if you could help it. You knew less and less about his daily schedule within the confines of your room, and you needed to learn exactly when he left, when he returned, and how long he was gone each time.

“You should get some more sleep,” You were practically pinned against the counter. Rafe reached out to tuck a piece of your hair behind your ears, letting his thumb trace against your jaw, “When I come back, we can talk about how you can start helping out around the house. That should keep you busy. Less wandering that way.”

You nodded, “Okay.”

When he finally let you go, you headed back upstairs to your room. Neither of you acknowledged the unlocked door. You didn’t want to give him a reason to change his mind, believing he was trying to quietly show you that he had loosened his grip. 

You woke again to a quiet house a few hours later. Your morning routine was beginning to consist of making the bed, taking a bath, and taking your vitamins. You found it strange when you got your own room at Pope’s house but now you found it even stranger to have your own room and not have to prepare to go to work. 

After your bath, you started spending more time just looking in the mirror, admiring your bump and how the bags under your eyes were already starting to look less drastic. You hadn’t realized you’d been depriving yourself of sleep. You rubbed stretch mark cream gently over your stomach, and you actually had the time to talk to your baby. 

Instead of your usual silk pajamas, you picked out a flowing white skirt and a blue button-up. The material felt light and breathable, which you usually required to withstand the summer heat in your current condition. 

From your closet, you pulled out the wicker basket you’d been piling your dirty laundry into. It felt wrong to open your door again, but it was a reminder that you’d been rewarded for your decisions so far. You carried your laundry downstairs, finding Rafe leaning against the kitchen island, enjoying an apple. His eyes lit up at the sight of you despite just having seen you hours ago. 

He looked dirty from the day already. His hat was turned backward to keep his long hair from his face, and sweat was on his brow. 

“You look pretty,” He said, his voice softer than you expected given his appearance. Instinctively, you wanted to roll your eyes but instead your lips pressed into a thin line. Of course he thought you looked pretty. Undoubtedly, he hand picked all the clothing in your closet. 

“Thanks,” You said, gesturing to the basket in your hand, “... I’m gonna start a load.”

He nodded his head to give you permission and you turned towards the laundry room. It was situated on a small hallway that contained the doors to the guest bathroom and a room he hadn’t shown you yet. The room was relatively small but there were tall white cabinets above each washer that seemed to provide a lot of storage. The washer and dryer themselves were updated and you assumed they’d be easy to use. You realized quickly that there was another laundry basket in the room, this one filled to the brim with what you assumed was Rafe’s work clothes. After finding the detergent, you started loading your dirty clothes into the laundry, deciding washing them with Rafe’s muddy ones would ruin the quality of yours. 

Later, you thought. You wouldn’t mind doing a load for him later. What else was there to do around here?

When you returned back to the kitchen, Rafe asked, “You think you can handle making dinner tonight? Gonna go back out later and it would be good to have a meal waiting.”

Your mouth parted. The idea of making dinner made you more nervous than upset at the fact that he was already filing you into your role as his housewife, “Um,” You started, standing on the opposite side of the island, “What would I make?”

“Anything you want, really. There’s cookbooks by the window seal if you need ideas,” He crossed his arms over his chest as he thought out loud, “Fridge and pantry are stocked. We’ve got about a million eggs and I just had one of the cows butchered so there’s plenty of beef.”

“I can try,” You said unsure.

“Good, and I know it’ll be great,” He smiled as he rounded the island, “Make yourself something filling for breakfast and then come up to my office after, okay? The door across from the nursery.” His hands brushed against your waist as he walked past. 

All you did was nod, your mind already calculating what you might possibly be able to throw together. You didn’t have much experience cooking, whatever foster family you were with when you were growing up could usually only feed you frozen stuff and ramen. With JJ, you lived the same and with Pope, his Mom usually did most of the cooking. 

Rafe seemed to have more confidence in your abilities than you expected. Or maybe he thought it was such an easy task that not even you could mess it up. 

+

You made yourself a bagel with cream cheese and after you finished it, you still felt like you were starving. You’d noticed that you’d started wanting to snack more often but you’d never had this much food available to actually do so. Rafe wasn’t nearly exaggerating enough when he said the kitchen was stocked. Knowing Rafe was expecting you, you grabbed a handful of blueberries and practically scarfed them down on your way up the stairs. 

You glanced at the nursery for only a moment before you turned toward’s Rafe’s office. “Come in,” You heard immediately after knocking, You expected some sort of dungeon but the room was painted a light color similar to the rest of the house. His desk was large but pressed against the furthest window. Shelves decorated each side of the walls and the only other seating was a smal, comfy brown couch, “C’mere, Honey.” 

He waved you closer and you walked until you were standing in front of his chair. On his laptop, you saw a screensaver of him and Wheezie out on the water in Kildare. You wondered if he’d told his little sister about you or if he was even planning on bringing his family around.

“Do you have everything you need for your room to feel comfortable?”  

You nodded and he grabbed ahold of your hand, “Have you thought about anything you want to add to the nursery?”

The nursery was a room you’d like to not think about for awhile, “No,” You said, “It’s a little early to have everything ready, don’t you think?”

“It's not too early, Y/N. You have to like, you know, nest.”

You raised an eyebrow, “Nest? Like a bird?”

“It means to get your environment ready for the baby. It’s like some natural, primal instinct Mom’s have. Some shit like that.”

“Huh,” You still gave him a questioning look, “Still getting used to this environment. Probably will be for awhile.”

Rafe smirked despite the fact that you were poking at him, “You seem pretty comfortable already,” He added, looking you over, “Speaking of getting used  to the environment. I wanted to go over my expectations.”

“Your expectations,” You mimicked. 

“I’m expecting dinner tonight but, in general, I want you to get in the habit of preparing at least two meals a day. I’ll let you sleep in most mornings because I have to be up so early but lunch and dinner should be prepared.” 

“Rafe, I—“

He interrupted you, grabbing your waist to pull you into his lap. You yelped in response but he continued on, “Keeping everything clean, vacuuming, mopping, doing the laundry, changing the beds, is also expected. I’m sure you can figure out how to do all those things.” 

“Rafe—“

“Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you do all of that when it gets close to your due date but I think those chores are reasonable.”

“Is that what you expect of me forever? To stay inside and clean and cook?”

“Only for now. I’ll show you how to do some of the outside chores sometime soon.”

“…that farmers market you were talking about. Will you ever take me there?” 

“What happens is really not up to me,” He pressed you closer to him, his hands started to trace the skin of your thighs, “Depends on how you react to things.” 

It was a clear message despite the fact that you didn’t want to hear it. “I think I can do more than be stay at home mom.” 

“I know you can do more, Honey. You have been doing so much more than one person should do,” Despite the fact that he was taking away everything you knew that you were, he managed to compliment you at the same time, “I can already see you’re gonna be a great Mom. Don’t you want time to just focus on being one? Yeah you’ll be home a lot but that’s so much time you can spend with the baby.” 

Not everyone gets to do that. It was a privilege. You were starting to feel ungrateful for not thinking that way. 

He continued, “Think about it. You can teach him everything, he’ll be so smart, and he’ll feel so loved because you’ll be right there to tell him — every morning, everyday, every night.” 

You turned your face from him, your eyes staring to well with tears, “Of course I want that.” 

“I want you to have that. You just have to be mine first, okay?” 

You brought your hand to your face, wiping tears before they fell, but wanted to roll your eyes, “I should get started on all those chores.”

You tried to stand, to push away from him, but he gripped your waist tighter. He placed his hand around the side of your neck, turning your head face towards him. “Don’t do that,” he was almost pleading with you. “I know you need more time … I just . . . I can’t help but get ahead of myself.”

“You’re right,” You gritted, “I need more time.”

“But the way your body responds to me,” He pushed you closer until your foreheads touched. With his other hand, he gripped your thigh tightly, and his hand started to move closer and closer between your legs, “Makes me feel like the good ol' times.”

His voice vibrated through your body, and you cursed how he could simultaneously make you feel so much. You needed the closeness desperately, but this was all wrong. You should be this close with JJ, but now you are even further from him. It made your heart ache, but Rafe’s hands and compliments made it a bit less. 

“Be gentle,” You warned. 

“I can be gentle,” He smiled against your lips before he pressed his into yours. You hesitated to move them in response, but he didn’t seem to mind. He just wanted you closer. He kissed you until you were practically out of breath, “I can be good.”

“Rafe,” You whispered, trying to find your voice.

“Relax, Honey,” He hushed you, lifting you until you fully faced him, straddling his lap. As his hands moved up your skirt, you closed your eyes, trying to control your racing thoughts. Soon, his fingers were pulling aside your underwear, “You like it, baby. You wouldn’t feel this wet if you didn’t like it. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell on you.”

His fingers were slow and careful, and soon you were letting out a breath and letting go of the tension in your body. You could focus for a brief moment. Forget that Pope and JJ probably thought you were dead. 

“Let me take care of you,” As you leaned forward, Rafe spoke in your hear. Your lips were tight, not letting a moan escape your lips but your body was shuddering, “That’s it, you’re doing so well.”

Your vow of silence didn’t last long when the waves of pleasure finally crashed over you. You moved your hips against him as he held you close, and he guided you through your orgasm. Of course, after the glow subsided, you regretted it, “The last time we did that, you were in the back of my truck,” Rafe said, and you could practically hear his smirk. He didn’t fight you when you climbed off his lap, fixing your underwear and skirt, “I believe you were wearing a skirt too then, your waitress uniform … You look even more beautiful now, though.”

That was hard to believe. 

He watched you with a smug smile, clearly pleased with himself. The flash of the memory made you feel like some part of you really hadn’t grown up, even after all this time. 

“I need to get started,” You said, your voice starting to shake. 

Without hearing another word, you quickly exited the office, your mind a whirlwind again. 

You spent the rest of the day immersed in household chores. You did yours and Rafe’s laundry, vacuumed the living room, and dusted wherever possible. The repetitive tasks gave you a sense of calm, a momentary escape from the emotions. You moved so you didn’t have to think, and the day seemed to pass faster that way. 

Using one of the cookbooks Rafe mentioned, you chose a recipe and made beef stew with roasted vegetables and a fresh salad. It was your first time making food that didn’t come inside a box with instructions on the side. It was more meticulous than you anticipated, and you found yourself trying the finished stew over and over, adding salt, pepper, and other seasonings as you saw fit. 

The aroma filled the kitchen, proving you a small sense of pride.

Rafe had gone back outside to work, but when he returned, he was slightly out of breath and carrying a rifle. The sight of it made your heart stop.

“What happened?” You moved closer, your voice laced with concern.

You watched as he tucked the gun into a compartment built into the wall near the door and he kicked off muddy boots, “One of our cows had a stillborn,” As he walked further into the house, walking further into the house, “Damn buzzards wouldn’t stop bothering it, and the mom was getting upset. Had to shoot off a warning shot to get them to go away. Had to bury it for her."

“Oh,” Was all you got out. The idea made you feel sick. You couldn’t help but get an ominous feeling. You rubbed your hand over your stomach protectively.

His demeanor shifted as he caught sight of you, his expression going from annoyed to excited, “Something smells good,” Rafe smiled; his mind had obviously moved on already. 

“Yeah,” Luckily, you felt your baby move inside of you, a small reassurance, “Dinner’s ready.” 

A/N: Hello guys, I know a lot of you asked to be tagged but I am only tagging those who reblog AND give me your thoughts on the story. Please refrain from asking to be tagged especially if you are not interacting with the story in any other way. Hope you enjoyed!

[shidouryusm]

✿༝༚༝༚ Wrapped in red ✿༝༚༝༚

・❥・Kuroo x reader

・❥・synopsis-> hey siri, what are the consequences of surprising your fiancé with a lingerie under a coat for his birthday?

・❥・ word count-> 5.6k words (nobody look at me)

・❥・content warning-> mdni, explicit smut, fem!reader, cun!lli!ngu$

・❥・a.n -> this is the last time I'll be reposting this if tumblr still doesn't like me I got nothing to do. Tagging a bunch of my mutuals so that atleast they can enjoy. may your cheese rot tumblr. Also happy kuroo day ignore I'm this late everyday is kuroo day stfu. dividers by @cafekitsune , @benkeibear and @quirrrky

Kuroo can feel the chills of the winter already settling in mid-November. The expanse of his living room is veiled with a thin layer of frigidness. The tiles were cold and a siren of silence rings through till the ends, until the little clock resting on the small table breaks through the curse with the beginning of a new day. 17th November. He stares at the clock. The slick hands points to 12, busy announcing his 29th birthday. It is a small, black, cat shaped clock that you found from god knows where and gifted him out of blue. Your justification being “it looks like you”. Kuroo snickers at the sudden wave of memory.

A whole lot of other things around his house are also extensions of you – the little section of potted plants on the shelves, the matching coffee cups, the red mittens hanging over the oven handle, kitchen magnets comprising pictures from both of your trip to Paris. They all are like pockets of your shadow scattered around, giving little hints of the day when you’ll ultimately mark your reign as the Mrs. of this house.

But as of tonight, each of them wildly indicates your lack of presence. Kuroo discerns that the silence was not any call of winter, rather it’s the sheer absence of your chortles and excited squeals around the house, especially tonight.

Kuroo was never that big on celebrating his birthdays, being on a competitive position in corporate asked for lot of compromises and Kuroo had wired himself to do that in his early years on job, not caring about forgetting his birthdays and stuff. Still, he manages to dig up time when it comes to yours or others. The man that he always is - relentless in his acts of services. 

However, you being around never quite made it possible for Kuroo to actually forget about his day. Always the more excited one, the best planner and as always, a little better than the previous years. Whether it be by throwing a grand party in a club for him or just by yourselves, with home cooked mackerel and rice, catching the golden sunset above and just savouring the day with a casket of good memories to look back on. Or it may be simply you by his side that makes each of his birthdays something to look forward to, even while being clutched by stress and non-stop work.  

He was indeed getting spoiled by such pampering because, as of this moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to be around you. To bask in the incessant warmth of your hugs and engulf himself in the pool of your kisses. Fuck. he really wishes you weren’t drowned in your work right now just so your singsong voice of Happy Birthday could reach his ears the first. He peers at his phone, several texts from his co-workers and friends wishing him were flooded in his notification bar, along with your last text, sent over an hour ago. 

Love♡♡ : work is so crazy right now, they should pay me for even gracing them my time this late >:(( anyways, good night. love you tets <;33

Nothing after that. He stares at the text. You weren’t online which meant you are either too busy in work or have already fallen asleep…without wishing him? 

A small twinge of hurt pinched his heart at the thought of it. Although he tries to reason it with your pressure at work. But it’s been like this for a few days, you completely submerged in work, barely getting the chance to even facetime, not being overly zealous atleast 3 business days before his birthday.

The little red demon above his head tries to play tricks yet his heart works with rationale – leading two projects at the same time meant things will slip up. Distance may be bound to form. Who knows? even paths of life may deviate from one another and eventually-

His train of thought cuts short by the sharp ring of the doorbell. It’s 12:30 already. Kuroo internally pleads that it’s not some surprise by his former teammates because without you, he doesn’t think he will indulge even a slightest bit. 

The door swings open and so does kuroo’s jaw. You, in your full glory, a ginormous beige jacket wrapped all over you, hair dishevelled from the wind, yet framing the most beautiful face in the world, stand at the threshold, panting and holding a large box of what seems like a cake. 

“Oh my gosh tetsu, I was almost about to punch the baker. Dumbass messed up my whole timing”

Kuroo was still busy steadying himself but he shifts from his place, allowing you to scoot past him and settle yourself in the dining seat, placing the cake there. 

Weren’t you asleep? Weren’t you way too busy to come? What is going on? 

He looks at you, making yourself comfortable at his space, like you are just meant to fit inside these 4 walls. The frosty silence suddenly vanishing by the cauldron of warmth you bring with you everywhere. He can’t wait for the day when it will be regular sight. 

“Baby, are you gonna stand there the whole night?” you giggle, striding towards his still figure beside the doorway. You hook your arms around his waist, your head tipping back as you stand on your toes, planting a soft kiss over his lips.

Kuroo’s eyes flutters shut as he draws himself into every fleeting moment of this kiss. His hands find your cheeks and large palms cradles them as gently as a rose petal, head dipping down to take in more of the feeling of your lips against him. The taste of your cherry balm engulfing him. 

You part from him, merely inches away as your lower lips bruses against each other. You whisper into the small gap, “Happy Birthday, my love. I’m not too late, am I?” 

“Doesn’t matter when your wish is what makes it worth. I almost thought you forgot” he hums, hands curling up against your neck, urging you to look at him. You crane your head up, meeting those honeyed eyes pooling with a multitude of emotions. 

“Awe you miss me that much? I have been real quiet this year on purpose. Trying something a little different”, you cheekily say, poking your tongue out. Kuroo quirks an eyebrow, “always a step ahead, aren’t you?”  he pecks your forehead while a small whisper of “I love you. Thank you for making this day something to look forward to” grazes over your skin. Your feel the kaleidoscope of butterflies zooming inside your ribcage, for the way his words echoed through the drums of your heart. As if the resonance between his and your heart just created more love to harbour.

"Tetsu", you grab his face, dipping his tall frame downwards to place another kiss. This time between his eyes. Hoping this kiss was equivalent to the million words he said with those gaze a few seconds ago. 

You take his hand, pulling him towards the cake, “now now,  it’s not the time to be all mopey. I fought for this cake and now you get to commemorate this day of high significance”. Kuroo chuckles, you were full of beans indeed. 

To think just a few moments back his thoughts were spiralling, he registers that that how much you being by his side grounds his inner monologue of hidden insecurity. Kuroo is always the epitome of  confident man but the inner cloud of anxiety yet rumbles time to time. Until, your presence acts like the yellowy sunshine after rain, banishing any grey thoughts that dare to delude him. 

“Why such high significance, may I ask?” you roll your eyes, amusement twinkling in your eyes and you answer like this is the most simple question ever, “Because you got to be born and be my boyfriend and then my groom-to-be, duh”, wiggling the left ring finger, you laugh. Shaking his head, he tunes into the peals of laughter with you. He cuts the cake, feeding you a piece before noticing you were still in your coat. 

“Baby, are you that cold? You know you could wait a bit more for your winter cloth haul” he gestures at the neck high coat. You squirm a little. He finally noticed.

“y-yeah, I know. there’s a…reason”, you send a sheepish smile on his way, effectively avoiding his gaze. 

Kuroo reaches towards you, curious at your shift in demeanor. He leans down, meeting your gaze with his ever sharp ones and you found yourself faltering a bit, heartbeat pacing higher than normal. 

“Princess, are you okay? you got a fever?” he runs his hand over your forehead to which you shake your head. Taking his fingers in yours, your fingertips glides over his knuckles. Unable to stall in any longer, you slung your arms around his neck. 

“Actually, I have your gift”, bringing your mouth closer to his ear as you whisper, “right under”, you murmur. His hand is now brought on your lower back, the feel of your skin right underneath the coat, clearly evident. 

Kuroo sucks in a breath, catching on to your innuendo immediately. Palms migrates towards your shoulder blades where he can feel the thin strap and bare skin over the coat. Curiosity killed the cat and now he just got fucking murdered.

“Hmmm? Should’ve said it earlier, princess.” kuroo hums, a mellowy timbre coating his voice. You gulp audibly, anticipating his moves. 

His hands trail over your shoulders, reaching up and stop around the collar of your coat, playing with the top button as he flashes his Cheshire like smile. Demeanor changing from concerned to smug in a flash of light. You keep your eyes on him, heavy breaths escapes your nose and mouth. Kuroo leans forward, his voice now merely a whisper tickling your ears.

“Should I guess what my present is?” he asks coyly. You can feel the teasing glint the words carry.  

“You can open it already, y’know?” your voice had an air of neediness, wanting nothing more than to indulge in his touches and losing yourself in him for the night. 

Kuroo tuts, shaking his head in faux disappointment, “tsk tsk tsk. it’s my present, princess. Let me enjoy it. in my way”. With that, he flicks the button open, his eyes catching a hint of red around your neck. A dark chuckle escapes his throat.

“Red, huh? You surely did some homework before”, another button pops open, this time, the base of your throat open up and a little red ribbon wrapped around the middle like a bow greets him. 

Kuroo felt his heart thrumming loudly, imagining what he could find after fully unbuttoning your coat. The suspense of the act spiking his blood and rushing downwards towards his crotch, he can already feel himself getting hard. God, you really knew how to outdo yourself every single year. 

Kuroo presses a kiss right beside that bow, feeling your erratic pulse against his lips. It curls into a smirk, right against your skin. You tip your head back, eyes closing and hands finding their way to the hem of his shirt. 

“Uh-uh, princess. Not so early.” Kuroo envelopes his hands over yours, before bringing them together behind your back, caging you between his hold. His right hand, once again,  flits back in its previous mission while his left hooks both of yours ; effectively locking them behind your back. “Not until I’m done unwrapping my present”. A kiss plants underneath your ear; the skin tingling with its effect. 

“You sure are taking a hell lot of time” you scorn. Kuroo chortles, popping another button open. This time a part of your sternum peeps out, he can make out the hint of cleavage from the skin exposed. More blood runs downwards and kuroo fights the urge to tear the coat off and bend you against the table to ravage you then and there. 

“Good things take time, princess. Moreover, you seem to enjoy it.” Kuroo muses, his hips roll against yours and you could feel the hardness of his crotch brushing up against your lower belly. “Take this as a punishment for being late to my birthday” he opens another button and the lace cupped cleavage makes their way.

“But it wasn’t my fault.” you pout. You’re so adorable, kuroo thinks. He laughs under his breath before pressing a soft kiss against your cheek. His hands trail over your sternum, dipping down towards the fat of tits spilling out before he ghosts over them ever so slightly, drawing a whine out of you from the untouched touch. 

“Oh but you were…” he drawls, “to think you went outside like this. Being a naughty little girl, are we now, princess?”. You open your mouth to say something  but his lips silences yours. His tongue almost immediately finding its way in your mouth and playing with yours. 

The kiss was sloppy with the way kuroo laps at your top lip, engulfing it in his mouth, saliva smears over your upperlips and drips down your lowers. The steamy makeout session in addition to the his hips grinding against your coat covered crotch leaves you staggering. 

One by one, he unbuttons the whole coat till the end, each time kissing a part of you he passes in the process, to all the way down, where he is kneeling. He looks above to see your figure hugged by this beautiful dark red fabric, only covering the bare necessities. 

He is eye level with your bare thigh, the plush skin adorned by a thin lacy garter, linked to the equally thin panties with a small band of cloth. You feel his hand runs across the back of your thigh, the cool band of your engagement ring gliding smoothly over your skin. The pads of his fingers dip down a little deep when he reaches your almost bare ass. 

“Fuck. what I’d do to you” you hear him murmur against your lace clad thigh. He scrapes his teeth against the fabric, peeling it off and exposing the beautiful skin out. The sharpness of his teeth mingles with the softness of his lips as he sucks and nips at the skin, leaving a purple well of mark around that area. Your breath hitches as you feel the dull throb of the hickey while he continues his ministration all over your inner thighs. 

“We better take this to the room before I end up taking you right here” his teeth still ghosts over your skin, now attaching around the band of your garter, tugging it gently before releasing it back, the elastic smacking your skin, causing a whine to tumble out your throat. His actions causing your pussy clench around the fabric.

He continues his journey up with his mouth before reaching your pussy. The material doing nothing to hide the outline of your cunt and looking closely enough he sees the dampness that is caused by your arousal. His fingers join in, smoothing upwards over the fabric gently. A moan leaves your lips, with the way he is being tantalisingly slow. If you could, you would have shoved his fingers inside. 

“Already wet and I barely did anything, baby. Wait for the real action atleast” his voice sardonic and praising simultaneously. He plants a kiss right over your crotch before trailing upwards. 

“Tetsu, you little-” you whine to which kuroo snickers. He loves you to death but he loves it more than anything when he is edging you and you are writhing and pleading.This is when he gets the chance fill you to brim with pleasure. The power surge he gets from this is immeasurable, when nothing leaves your mouth except his name. 

“What, my darling?” kuroo kisses below your navel, his lips smoothing over the surface with no friction. He peppers your stomach with nips and kisses before reaching under your breasts. A small kiss between the valley of your tits and then he finally rises up. He caresses the sides of your breats before holding you by your waist, squeezing you gently,pulling your figure flush against him. His hardened member now rocking against you with less obstruction. 

Kuroo tugs the coat off of your shoulder and it pools around your ankle, revealing your whole set to your fiance. Kuroo gawks at your figure, as if time stopped its track for him to drink your body with his eyes. 

“God you’re fucking beautiful” his voice low and husk filled. Kuroo peppers kisses on the curve of your shoulders, hiking his lips up into the crevice of your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses trailing towards your jaw.

You have always been the prettiest for him but this colour on you has popped out every feature of yours in the most alluring, elegant way. Kuroo huffs out short breaths as his eyes find it difficult to tear away from you, he eyes you from down to up before his eyes land on that ribbon. 

Oh fuck that ribbon. The way you made yourself like a present, kuroo is positive there isn’t any better gift in the whole planet than the one before his eyes. His lips find you again, passion and lust permeating through the kiss. His hands reach up to your breasts and he gives them a good squeeze. The nipples pert and poking through the cloth against his palm.

He guides your body along with his towards the bedroom without breaking the kiss, stumbling along the way but nonetheless reaching towards the edge of the bed. He pushes you, still connected with your lips, cradling your head before you fall into the heap of soft mattress. His body hovers over yours and one of his knees positions dangerously close to your cunt. 

“We gotta take this off before I tear it and that is the last thing I wanna do” kuroo husks, his hand deftly working their way to take off the top. 

Not that it did anything to cover what’s underneath, yet as he removes the bra and sees your tits spill out, he couldn’t help but take one in his mouth. Fondling the other one with his hand.

The feel of his mouth finally somewhere on you has you teetering on the edge, you let out out a moan. Your hands rake through his ink black locks while he tugs you nipple with his teeth. His knee presses against your almost bare pussy the sensation spikes your insides. 

Your hands reach for his shirt once again, urging him to take it off , to which he obliges but not before remarking something about it. 

“Can’t wait to see me naked, guess I can indulge in your desire a little bit”, you roll your eyes. Smug bastard. You feel him shift downwards, his knees touching the floor while leaving you sprawling on the bed, he adjusts your legs around his shoulders before scooting downwards.

His hands plays around your nipples, twisting and turning while his mouth travels south. He lets his teeth do the work, pulling at the underwear and tugging it off of you, finally letting the sight of your clenched cunt soothe his eyes. The way he keeps a unbreaking eye contact while doing the dirtiest of act makes your arousal seep down your cunt even more. He tugs the panties halfway through before teething at the garter again, slowly dragging it across you skin and pulling it off. 

“Practising for the big day, princess” he grunts, taking them off of you fully. You let out a light croon, even amidst the unholy acts of provocation, the gentle reminder of your promised near future sends you into a blissful train of thought. 

Kuroo’s sharp nip at your inner thigh brings you back. He stares at you with drooping eyes, silently challenging you to not break the contact as he lowers himself over your slit. He licks a stripe of your pussy, the feel of his tongue like millions of fireworks inside your nerves. You silently breath out a gasp while kuroo begins his onslaught of kitten licks over your cunt. Gradually reaching to your clit. He presses a kiss over the nub before capturing it with his mouth, gently sucking on it.

His tongue flicks your now swollen clit as you rock your body, bringing him closer, as if it’s anyways possible. Your mingled sounds of squeals and moans and whines mixes with the soft squelch of his fingers entering you. He prods them gently over your walls, knowing where to stretch and poke to evoke the most raw reaction from you.

“Tetsu…fuck...aah..” your voice are nothing more than little tufts of breaths as he shifts his pace every so often, while never leaving your puffed clit unattended. The alternate of his tongue and fingers works wonders to roll you over the edge. 

“Cum for me, baby” you hear his raspy voice vibrating across your skin, he sloppily makes out with your slit before driving his tongue inside, his face tilts as he tries to reach as deep inside you as he can. The grip of his hands on your thighs tightening. His cock feels heavy and the burning desire to replace it with his tongue flames his inside – but not before he makes you cum like this atleast twice. 

Two of his fingers drum over your clit while his tongue prods inside you. His jaw hurts but nothing matters when he gets to see the expression he draws out of you. Mouth falls open, while your head tips back. Not giving a damn about keeping eye contact because fuck if you could have exploded out of your body, you would. 

Kuroo groans at the irresistible feel of your essence around his tongue, “tastes so good for me”, he hums around your pussy. You could feel the wave of arousal waiting to burst and as you hear the words escape his mouth, your body reacts on accord. Back arches beautifully as you release yourself against kuroo’s lips.

Your mind levitates in the cloud of bliss while you feel Kuroo laps at your essence, the drag of his lips against you too euphoric. to joyful to get down from. But even while being on the daze, you feel Kuroo going at your pussy once again. 

“T-Tetsu…hnnggh”, you can feel the added force that his tongue applies as it drives inside you once again. 

“You thought I’d leave you to come around my tongue only once.” he rasps, his nose brushes against the overstimulated clit. He nuzzled himself against your cunt, his hands reaching over your ass and kneading the soft flesh. You let a wanton moan, too loud for the neighbours to not hear. Kuroo smiles, tongue thrusting inside your cushiony walls even more. 

You could feel your body quivering, preparing itself for another wave of orgasm not long after the previous one. You tug at his hair, your nails scraping against his scalp. Your other hand grabs at your breast to hold onto something. A sight Kuroo savours from behind his bangs that cover his face.

“I’m gonna…” you whine, thighs jolting around his arms while he keeps them locked. “Make a mess around my face, darling. Let go.” Kuroo was getting delirious at your taste. His cock nearly bursting his load in his pants. He rubs against the board of the bed, releasing some friction. He can sense your orgasm looming and naturally, he increases the pace, tumbling you over the edge for the second time. His teeth grazes the clit, giving it some attention before a harsh suckle has you going for the 2nd time that night. 

Your back arches, juices spraying out of your pussy. Kuroo is enthralled seeing you this dirty, this sexy, this sinful. You didn’t hold back  your sounds either, sweet melodies of his name with pleasured moans ringing throughout the room and satisfying Kuroo’s ears as he succeeds in making you spent. 

Not that he intends to stop yet.

Your body is still quivering, the afterwave of the pleasure still gushing inside your body. Kuroo caresses your thighs and hips, coaxing your body to relax. 

“You did so well, my sweet baby. looking gorgeous cumming around my face like that”, kuroo engulfs your mouth, his tongue shoves yours around and you decide to suck the tip of his tongue, relishing in the tangy essence of yours. A moan erupts from the man above as your wrap your hands around his sculpted back, losing yourself in the kiss. 

Kuroo helps you get down from the high before flipping you over. You notice the way he positioned you both, you are right in front of the dressing mirror. 

When did he even do that? 

Kuroo kneads your ass from behind, while another hand grabs your chin to make you look at the mirror. 

“Eyes up there, baby. Watch how I fuck this little pussy into oblivion”, you can feel his clothed cock grinding against your ass. Whimpering, you wiggle back, feeling more of him, causing Kuroo to suck in a breath.

“Behave, darling.” Kuroo lightly smacks your ass, watching the flesh ripple and groaning at the sight. 

You look over your shoulders at him. He looks so broad, the toned sculpture of his long hours at gym and sports really gifted you with a goldy sight. His face flushed with crimson and copper eyes blown out with lust. The contour of his abs to sexy to not gawk 24/7. His sweatpants are already hung low, cock whipped out, hard and swollen. The tip angry with precum dripping down the globes of your ass. You try to shift back, intending to return the favour he generously gave you a while back. 

But Kuroo , not-so-gently puts you back on your position, grabbing your shoulders and pushing you against the sheets. Your ass hiked up more to flash the clenching pussy in the air. The cold draft blowing around your sticky folds making you shiver. 

“Tetsu!” you exclaim, as he starts dragging his length over your folds, adding more of his arousal with yours, the spot lubed and moist for Kuroo to slide right in. 

“What did I say about behaving, princess? Are you looking for to get punished?” his voice dark and menacing, only reserved for you, in the bed. You shake your head, eyes locked with his through the mirror. Your nipples brush against your sheets with the way you are bent, adding more to the sensation.

You try to tug off the red ribbon, not wanting any ounce of fabric on your skin when kuroo grabs your hand, harshly. Hooking it over your back, he hikes your body up a little higher, his cock straight against your fold, the tip hitting snug the clit. His eyes are narrowed, eyes a little menacing, 

“Don’t you dare take that off. This stays on.” his voice low. You mewled an okay, too entranced with the way he looks behind your back to notice his manhandling. 

“That’s my girl”, kuroo hums before sliding inside you with ease. The remnants of previous shenanigans making it easy. Your mouth falls in a O as you feel the ridge of his cock gliding past your walls. With each of his inch bottoming inside you, you let out a moan, voice deliriously filthy. The sounds like a dulcet for him. 

He rams the last of his inch at once, making your body lurch forward. Your face scrunched in a beautiful frown, teeth digging at your lips. Hair falls over your face as you dip your head down to adjust to his size.  Kuroo becomes too busy admiring your features through the mirror. You look like a goddess, a goddess he brought down on her knees before him. 

He was probably too enticed because it wasn’t until the roll of your hips around his pelvis that dragged him down to where he was. “T-tetsu. movee” , he hears your plead. 

“As you say, baby girl.” kuroo starts drilling his cockinside, sliding in and out of you, the head colliding with the gummy walls near your cervix. You were pushed forward with the intensity of his thrust yet the feeling of his prominent vein grinding inside your wall was too heavenly to complain.

It was him and you, intertwined with each other, knocking the door of lust but beneath it was promises of love.  

The grip of his fingers around your hip was deathly. It sure is gonna leave a dent. Kuroo grunts and groans as he watches the base of cock froth with both of your juices. The squelching sound everytime he enters you fills the room along with the slaps of the skin. 

You could feel his balls hitting you right above the clit, light strokes against them making you dizzy . His hands snakes around your stomach, reaching your clit. He takes the nub between his two fingers, rolling them around and pinches it. You squeal at his actions, back bending away from him, but the grip of his arm around keeps you flush. 

“Your pussy is made right for me. Almost made me bust a nut the moment I slid my cock inside, sh-shit. so fucking tight and clenching” , his words are so vile, yet so sweet to hear. He bends down, back flush with his chest as he presses a hoard of kisses around your nape and shoulders. Suckling the skin and leaving out purple marks in its wake. 

“Tetsu..more…you feel so good against me” you cry, eyes rolling with the way he is snapping his hips against yours. The constant assault over your g-spot inside and the clit outside once again announces the impending avalanche. 

“More you say? Greedy girl.” he rasps before hoisting you up, one hand still playing with your clit while the other finding your left breast. 

Cupping the whole fat of it, he squeezes the mound hard. His hips unrelenting with their strokes. The bed creaks from the sudden movement. The headboard banged against the wall once. Now the neighbours are definitely gonna know.

“So fucking beautiful. Truly the best gift ever, princess. I love you so much”,  you turn sideways to face him, his molten amber eyes mirroring the heart eyes you are sending him across. 

You capture his lips in a soft kiss, your hands reaching his face to cradle the sides and pulling the front tufts a little. Vibrations of hums and moans share between you two in the kiss, while both your bodies work on their own accord. The golden light of the  lamp falls over your skin, the golden iridescence  reflecting of your skin makes you nothing less than a fallen angel. The halo like glow of your body makes Kuroo's heart gallop loudly. Makes him wonder how he managed to find someone as perfect as you are.

“Look at the mirror. See how ethereal you look while taking me like that. God really took time while making you” , you chuckle at his cheesy words. No matter how dominant he acts in bed, at the end it was still your dorky, corny Tetsu. 

You zero in the way he fucks you, the outline of his cock visible as he drills into you. A dragged moan fills the air. kuroo kisses around your temple, his thrusts erratically hits you, losing rhythm. You realise he’s close, so you arch your back, feeling more of him inside. Fucking himself inside you. 

Kuroo hisses at the act, his fingers pinching your clit in return. Your walls clamp around his shaft, making him lose all the threads he had been holding onto ever since he buried his face in your cunt.  

“Shit, baby...take me…take all of it. Let's cum together”, his babbles choking in his throat as he thrusts in you one last time before warm ropes of his cum fills your pussy. You came around the same time, pooling his thighs with hot, sticky mess. 

He kisses you throughout the high, a level of euphoria never felt before. He realises he didn’t use any condom today neither did you retorted against it. Kuroo slides out of you, your cunt clenches from the lack of his heavy cock. He gently lays you down, bringing a wet towel and cleaning off the spilled cum from your thighs and his. Your face beams with the post-coital bliss as you spread your arms over your head, breathing heavily. 

“You good?”, kuroo asks, his voice regaining the gentle hold back. You nod, closing your eyes and relaxing yourself. 

“If I knew you’d go this crazy over a lingerie set, I’d have thought it through before buying.” you breathily say, seeing Kuroo’s face turn a little red. The debauchery dawning on him a little.

“You could wear an overalls over a trash bag and I’d still fuck you the same. It’s you who’s this hot”, Kuroo plants a sloppy kiss on your cheek, his hands smoothing your hair. He scoots you over, finding himself a space beside, pulling you against his side. His fingers work through your scalp while you find warmth in his body.

The comfortable setting almost lulling you to sleep before you lurch up, face palming yourself. Kuroo sits back, concerned at your sudden leap, while you look at him with guilty eyes.

“I forgot your actual gift at home, while being too excited for this one.”, you hide your face between your palm, whining and falling back on his chest. A hearty laughter rolls out of Kuroo at your state while he rubs your shoulders. His mind already bent on to tease you.  

“Wanna suck me off to balance that out?” kuroo sends a sly grin your way, his voice holding a glint of tease but really not expecting you to wallow in.

To his surprise, you part away from his chest, face filled with a challenging gleam. Without any words, you straddle him, holding his cock by the base. A dopey smile spreading all over your face. 

“Say less. I’ve been meaning to do that since forever.”

a.n-> aint nobody leaving the house without giving him a sloppy. if tags dont work and it flops then im giving him an even intense sloppy

comments, likes, reblogs are appreciated

tagging : @stsgluver , @kuroosexuall @shotorus + @satoruhour @hannzai @tetzoro @mrs-kurooo @quirrrky @pastelle-rabbit @planetnini @selarina @sookisaurus @itadorey @utahimeow @this-is-still-mia @kamorikiri @shoyostar @screampied-main

[puckpocketed]

who is #43?

Hello !! First off thank u for visiting. If you clicked read more by accident rip sorry it’s a lot of text. ENJOY!!! <3

1. This was the photo reference I used. I really did mean it when i said he photographs well!! I really like how scrungly he looks at times lol. v paintable

2. here’s a timelapse for your viewing pleasure in video + gif form <3

3. Process breakdown below. I am not formally trained, so don’t take any of this as professional advice!! The way i paint has been compared to channeling some evil contract with a demon also. So um . Im saying that i dont remotely think that this is efficient or correct, its just whats comfortable for me <3

3a) the dreaded lining phase. I have 2 modes of operation when it comes to painting - either i go full-dick with fancy inking/sketching + cel shading (rare, unrefined, haven’t figured out a nice workflow yet) OR i do a very very basic chicken scratch set of lines like so:

It’s less about being realistic here and more about laying down some guide lines for the chaos ahead. If i thought i could get away with it, I would start every rendered painting i do with laying down colours — but unfortchh ive tried that before and it usually ends in really weird proportions. Even with the lines i still need to make adjustments. This is something no people except me would notice but look at the above sketch; the eyes are too big and slightly too far apart, the forehead is too small and thus the hair is also not quite big enough… I have a bad habit of drawing eyes too big on faces, they’re my favourite facial feature to draw.. i barely resisted giving him big cow eyelashes (I love big cow eyelashes… all of my OC’s and most of my more stylised fan art of characters get big cow eyelashes… god…. Big cow eyelashes SAVE ME……….)

Anyway. Structure of the face + hand somewhat established. <3

3b) Underpainting!! Okay stay with me here . Ever since i figured out i dont have to paint in 03925893853 different layers, I’ve joyfully painted on 1 layer as much as possible. I dont have the brain power all the time to be managing layers so I simply dont work with that many layers. For this painting, the skin in its entirety was painted on one layer, the hair on another layer, and the effects on the last layer. There was a placeholder background off-white/grey colour for a while there, and I duplicated the line layer — one for figuring out where to lay colours, and one hidden for later so i could check back to see how accurate to the sketch/proportions were to the actual painting. 6 layers, 2 of which i painted the bulk of the piece on, 1 more at the end.

3c) here’s where I started carving out features. I think about objects in terms of volumes and light rather than lines. i love painting and sculpting because of this!! Here you see where I’ve begun to define his features — his eyelids, his bags, his nostrils. Just refining what was there before. The suggestion of facial hair before i gave it up and left it for later (his face is so naked the WHOLE time)

3d) nose bridge highlight, suggesting his eyebrows, a cheek highlight. A touch more coral red and muted yellow pull away from the grey/blue underpainting. Strategically leaving some of it peeking through.

3e) i truly start messing with the fidelity of his features here. Red lipstick <3 and some violet/blue for shadows on the right side of his face.

3f) the part where it starts looking like q.hughes to me (though, my friend said i got his vibe pretty early on which is such a compliment.. waaaaa…..) I love this part of every painting i do. I know it’s definitely not the Correct order since other parts of the entire painting are simply Not Rendered or Done, but whos gonna stop me?? :3

I love love loveeee painting faces. Adding the little shinies to his eyes + lips + upper lip + nose … you don’t know how much of a difference it makes until you do it. Also i snatched his eyebrows

3g) i really pushed the red/coral/ochre/orange here. Note the yellow highlights on his cheekbones, the forehead, and the thin thin line of pink right between where his bottom lip ends and his chin shadow starts <- very important . To ME!!!!!!! Also highlighting his waterline and adding his lashes was so so fun <3

3h) FACIAL HAIR!!! And I started rendering his hand. Some micro adjustments made to his face for proportion check.

3i) i start painting his hair in earnest and realise his forehead is too small so i make the adjustment. I really love how it falls into his eyes in this photo. <3

3j) i make some final adjustments to his eyes — a bit smaller, closer together. And i refine the outline of his jaw, push the stylisation of it just a little.

3k) Finishing details; his flyaway hairs, his moles, a bit of texture on his face, shadows cast by his hair, his little forehead cut <3

3l) i adjusted his hand here, added more texture to his skin, refined his hair a tiny bit more, and made the decision not to fuck around painting his jersey because i wanted the focus to be his face <3

3m) Canucks blue and green. Captain at 23. His form bleeds into the background. He is the franchise.

theee most fun ive had painting anything. and i finally feel... warmed up? if that makes sense. art for me is like. if i dont do it in a while it feels like nothing goes right when i come back to it. i hate that feeling, and the most difficult hurdle to clear is letting myself feel that until i get back into my Zone. after all this time i feel like im BACK !!!!!!!

i loved painting this fella. hes SO Shaped. <3

Apologies i simply do Not have the energy to write the alt text for all of these so i hope the little blurbs are okay aslkjasdklj. i gotta post and go to bed . if u made it this far, thank you for reading!!

[melit0n]

Delicate Is The Flesh - Chapter 2

- Synopsis: On the brink of the bustling new city of Rosholt lies a forgotten palisade of abandoned homes, shops and streets that sit mummified after a chemical outbreak in the 70s, leaving the city uninhabitable.

Over the years however, the place has become a hotspot for urban explorers and crime junkies alike. Whispers of reanimated bodies stalking the dead streets and brutal murders worm their way into your friend's ears and, having nothing to do on your Winter break, you reluctantly agree to go exploring the abandoned city with them.

What could go wrong, right?

- Chapters ->

Prologue

Chapter 1: For Whom the Bell tolls

Chapter 2: Corvus and Krater (you're already here!)

Chapter 3: Belly of the Beast

Chapter 4: Something Forgotten

Chapter 5: Citrus and Cinnamon

Chapter 6: Mumbling Conscious

- Obsessive! Demon OC/Reader

- Word count (for chp): 7.2k

- Warnings for chp: None.

- Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55444003/chapters/144976447#workskin

“Come on then!” Jeanne exclaims, loose rocks clattering down the grassy hill as she makes her descent. 

“Wait a second-” Noah grabs onto the collar of her crinkled jacket, using you as an anchor as he holds Jeanne in place, keeping her from slipping. It’s quite a funny scene; Jeanne slipping and grabbing onto Noah’s arm for dear life as he attempts to pull her back up…with very little success.

“Proper Heracles you are.” You giggle out. As much as you find their suffering amusing, you make the decision to help, Helen shaking her head and making a move to follow. Stepping out of the gloom–charcoal and old incense layered thickly on your clothes–you three hoist Jeanne up from the point of no return and back into the tree line.

“Let's-” Noah lets out a puff of air, “-think about this first, yeah?” he begins, looking between the three of you. “We know, for a fact, that the police patrol the borderlines. If we get caught, we’re done for.” He eyes Jeanne, who rolls her own in response. “So-”

“-What you’re forgettin’ about, Bonsey, is how lazy cops are when it comes to shit like this,” Jeanne interrupts. “That article was like, at least six months old.” 

“Brilliantly encouraging to know you gave us out-of-date information.” You mumble to yourself, Helen nodding along. The adrenaline pumping through your veins at simply seeing the town was slowly ebbing away, your more rational side, worried about gunpowder and jail time, taking over.

She glances upwards and immediately begins attempting to placate you and Helen. “If anything, they probably have, like, one person on watch sat in his car half asleep.”

You begin another rebuttal, about how that was probably just one of her ‘lucky guesses’, but she beats you to it. 

“Plus, I had a chat with a coupla’ people who’ve been here before, and, fun fact, they said that the cops don’t even bother patrollin’ this side because of the hill.” She pats her hands against the ground. “And the thick ass forest.” She nods her head back to the woods. Then, she goes on to talk about how ‘most people get lost’ before they even get here, and that they park their cars on the road outside the woods; a place the police patrol regularly. 

Besides her thoughtful and strategic notes on avoiding getting caught, one thing stuck with you; most people got lost before they could even get to this point. You were sure you walked a pin straight route from the car right to here, following an old deer trail right to this point. But, as you look behind you, you see no trail in sight. No dirt road trodden by thousands of animals who will never again return to their burrows, no pine needle ridden route; no nothing. 

Just darkness. Darkness and the trees overhead.

You think, no, you know, that it’s just lingering paranoia, but you can’t help but want to move back out into the cool moonlight. Swathe yourself in Her lambent glow and hide away from that of which you cannot see.

You feel more seen draped in shadows than you do surrounded by light.

Jeanne drags you out of your thoughts with a puppy eyed look towards you followed by, “You’ve just gotta trust me on this one, okay, Oiseau?”

Oiseau. It was a–or rather the–nickname she’d called you ever since she was a kid; Bird. Per her own words, it was because you were ‘too afraid to leave the nest, but sky bound nonetheless’. You disliked it at first, but, as you grew older, you began to understand that Jeanne could see right through you, right down to your thrumming veins and ebbing viscera. Too bad you couldn’t do the same for her.

She also knew using nicknames could ease your head on almost anything.

With a small sigh, you let your shoulders fall and nod. 

“We ready, then?” Jeanne looks between the three of you and raises a questioning eyebrow. With hair still tussled from her previous escapade, it disappears behind her slightly wavy, dirty blonde locks.

You snort at the mental image of Jeanne without eyebrows, something you’re sure she’d do given enough encouragement. “Yeah.” 

“The fuck you laughin’ at, huh?” She says, a toothy smile on her face.

“Nothing for you to worry about.” You grab Jeanne by the hand, helping her up from her still seated position, as you all walk over to the edge of the hill, and begin your downhill trek. For once, you’re happy that Jeanne let you keep these hiking boots. Even if the toe tip is scuffed and gradually fading to dust, they keep you steady as ever on the decline, even if a few old rabbit burrows attempt to trip you up.

“Remind you of anythin’?” Speaking of the Devil, she appears beside you, keeping two arms out for stability.

You frown, “What, Hell Hill?” She loses her balance for a second, almost trips and grabs onto one of your arms to regain it. 

“Since when did you give it such a dumb-ass nickname?” She snorts, bitten down fingernails with chipping nail polish digging into your arm; she always had an iron grip, seemingly never knowing the proper time to execute it. You remember doing rock-climbing with her in primary school, and you found out quickly that she’d hold on to your hand harder than she would the anchors; you’d never been more glad for safety ropes in your life.

You huff loudly, “Since I fell down it twice and got thousands of brambles stuck on me. Still have the scars from all the brambles-”

“-the scars from all the brambles. I know.” Talking in tandem, she glances over her shoulder with a glint in her eye.

“Oh shut up.” You giggle. Feeling petty, you pretend to lose your own balance, and almost send her tumbling down the hill as well.

“You ass!” She pushes you right back, not caring how her voice somehow manages to get louder. Somehow manages to make the trees creak with annoyance above you. Looking back, they truly do tower over the four of you now; great shadows clawing at your heels and boughs groaning in the wind. Jeanne’s giggles are louder, though, taking your mind off of what looms over you. If only for a moment, at least.

With much tumult, something you probably could’ve avoided if you walked with Helen over the embodiment of pure energy known as Jeanne next to you, you finally reach the bottom of the somewhat steep hill. It wasn’t as hard as you thought it’d be, but you dreaded the climb back up. Still, easily, through the quiet, you can hear Noah huffing and puffing as if he just climbed Mount Everest.

Jeanne laughs, and knocks his back hard, taking even more air out of him. “Come on Noah, wasn’t that hard.”

“Says the person who’s got a set of properly working lungs.” He huffs with a smile, pulling his inhaler out of his back pocket. His asthma has gotten worse over the years, worsened by city smog and the few allergies he had. Jeanne poked fun at it often, but always kept a spare inhaler for him and, like the rest of you, sat with him through any asthma attacks he had. She whispers something to him. Something that brings a small smile to his face after he’s taken a few inhales. Something small, probably, and something you’ll most likely never know. In all her abrasiveness, she tends to have a way with things like that, at least when she isn’t pretending the issue at hand doesn’t exist.

Which is most of the time.

Turning away from the two, your eyes are now graced with the full wonder–or rather gloom–of the shell of a town. You stand at the brink of a small suburb, homes and shops left to waste away. Further in, further to the thumping heart of the town, apartments and high-rise buildings tower above. In the darkness, they’re like obsidian obelisks that rise from the dry ground, tearing at the night sky like astronomers of an age far gone. The wind whistles through each corpse, each dried lung, allowing what once was to howl and scream in the quiet of the night from the backs of their throats, fused by chemicals and memories.  

They look more like enormous tombstones–carving the land and marking the death of so many–rather than dwellings of people you’ll never know. Rather than a place of memories, old and new, you look, and will soon stand upon, what is more of a graveyard than a home. You guess that two are similar, in some ways. 

However, despite your own ideas and the thought of how many bodies have been buried under this concrete, your friends stare at the place with awe. You can’t really blame them. You yourself could feel another pump of adrenaline slowly making its way through you, and who were you to dampen the mood with your morbid thoughts? You already brought Noah’s spirit down, and that was with just talking about trees of all things, so you don’t bother to voice your unease.

The crinkled, blue and white police tape flaps in the wind.

Jeanne takes you by the shoulders, suddenly, and shakes you, excited jitters finally getting to her. “Are you fuckin’ seein’ this Y/N??” 

You nod and giggle, shaking her back and grinning with all your might in hopes that it’ll hide the hesitancy returning to your eyes.

Eventually, she releases you, eyes still glued to the town, before she takes a glance left and right. Noah does the same, Helen following, then you. As you thought before; absolutely barren.

The next time you look over to Jeanne, however, she’s disappeared from your sight, and already on the other side of the tape. Jerking her head to follow, she clicks on her flashlight, and lets light flood the town of shadows. Ever the sheep, afraid of being without your herd in the endless night, you follow with ease. 

“This place is mad…” Jeanne yet again mumbles out with venerance, letting her flashlight grace over the dead, or, rather, sleeping buildings.

“Mhm,” Helen responds, “So many homes, abandoned and left to rot just like that.” Even in all your fear, even with the story behind why this place is how it is, you’d easily admit how–for lack of better words–fucking cool this place was. It was like walking into those dystopian books your English teacher always set for home reading.

Having lived in suburbs most of your life, Noah and Jeanne included, seeing what was almost a mirror of one of your many childhood neighbourhoods was…eerie, to say the least. You can almost hear the sound of kids giggling as they chase each other down the road, the smell of somebody’s Summer BBQ, a distant radio playing some 80s song which you’d somehow be able to recite word for word. The daydream brings a smile to your face, but it’s ruined the moment your eyes adjust better to the dark: glass diamonds reflecting your flashlight’s light, littering overgrown lawns, bikes slowly being dragged under the soil by weeds and faded plastic toys staring into you with their beady, faded painted eyes. 

Helen shifts closer to you and weaves her arm with yours. You appreciate the distraction.

Watching videos and looking at photos of abandoned places, especially places where the owners just got up and left, doesn’t compare in the slightest to actually being there. It’s like dreaming about an old memory where something isn’t right, but you just can’t put your finger on it. Makes it all the more creepy only being able to see what your beam of light allows. 

Jeanne glances towards you and Helen, a snide smile appearing on her face. “Looks like someone’s getting a case of the heebie-jeebies!”

“Am not!” You call back, Helen’s shoulders shaking lightly in laughter.

“Are too! I can see the goosebumps and the way your hands shake from here.” She states, matter-of-factly.

“Even if I was, at least Helen isn’t making fun of me for it.” You joke back, holding your chin high, only to earn Jeanne shaking her head back and forth as a response.

While you hadn’t known her the longest, especially compared to Jeanne, you would easily consider Helen one of your best friends. She was almost regal and spoke in prose without even meaning to.

Unlike Noah, who Helen herself took in later down the line, you met Helen while simply waiting for the bus home. She’d recognised you from one of your classes–which you apparently shared–and began talking to you. You were sceptical at first, and already had your social battery drained by Jeanne each day, but within the half-hour bus trip home, you two clicked; the rest was history. 

She always made sure you were comfortable and gave off an undeniably calming aura that kept you grounded when you needed it. Technically, it was the bare minimum, but having a very limited friendship group your whole life, you didn’t really care. Either way, you had to admit that she truly did live up to her name: moulded with all the grace of marble and eyes that you were sure you could go to war for if asked.

Plus, she was a brilliant cook, and who were you to say no to her Baklava?

After a while of walking through the preternatural suburbs, Noah asks, “So…what buildings do you guys want to check out first?”

“How much time do we have here?” Helen responds, tilting her head slightly.

“‘Bout six or so hours, but we could go longer.” Jeanne cuts in, flipping her flashlight around in her hand. “Just depends on how much you want to explore, and when we’re all free next. I don’t think we could explore this whole place in one night anyways.”

As much as you all wanted to look at every inch of the town, you knew that it wouldn’t be possible with your time limit, let alone the fact that this was an entire town you were talking about, and not a small one either. Plus, as far as you knew, none of you had a map, so you didn’t even know where anything actu-

“Check it.” The bright light of Jeanne’s phone paints her face pale and ghastly at first glance. Looking over her shoulder, you spot that she does, in fact, have a map, albeit grainy and pixelated. If you squint, you think you could count each pixel with ease. She begins pointing out the general area that you're in, and then listing different so-called ‘famous’ locations for you to visit.

First, there’s a shopping centre, void of time and most likely frozen in the 70s. Although you'd imagine that place would have been heavily looted; people taking ‘souvenirs’ until all that was left was barren clothes hangers and dust ridden shelves. They could have fun with their chemical infested merchandise all they wanted; you wouldn’t be touching a thing in there. Jeanne should’ve brought gloves for you all instead of the tiny pocket knives… 

Second is an old primary school, which both you and Helen immediately say no to. Abandoned houses are one thing, abandoned schools are a whole other thing. Places like that keep memories soaked into the walls, and, you have to admit, children’s drawings always look demonic in the dark. There probably wouldn’t be anything interesting in there anyways, just a bunch of dust and forgotten childhoods. 

Third is the town’s old hospital, complete with an extensive psychiatric ward and paired with a small tuberculosis sanatorium. It’s another small reminder of how old this place is, well, old enough for most of its inhabitants to live with the fear of the disease for a few years. You haven’t been to many hospitals, let alone a sanatorium, since most are privately owned and very expensive to visit legally, so it catches all of your eyes.

Finally, Jeanne notes the chemical plant; the heart of the town that left everybody’s bodies and minds to rot. Even a mention of it sends an uncomfortable shiver down your spine. A quick flash of lidless eyes is enough for you to voice your discomfort, and you’re immediately put at ease when everyone agrees. 

Jeanne pauses, having you believe that those are all the big locations.

“Right then,” you look up from the tiny screen, “hospital it is? How far is it?” You all look questioningly towards Jeanne.

“Hold your horses,” she laughs. “I’ve got one more.” 

You all lean back into Jeanne’s too bright phone to try to spot whatever she’s pointing to. It’s nearer to the centre of the town, more low-rise and mid-rise buildings appearing…but, all you can really see is a couple pixels of gloomy grey. 

“These,” she pinches the screen and zooms in further as if in hopes that it’ll make the image clearer, “are the infamous block A and B apartments.”

Helen nods, then questions, “Why, exactly, are they infamous?” and glancing towards Jeanne to catch her eye.

Jeanne smiles one of her devious smiles, half smirk and half grin. “Well…”

“Here we go…” Noah mumbles, earning a half hearted glare from Jeanne.

“They’re mainly known to other explorers, and the internet, because they’re one of the few buildings that are pretty safe, structurally at least. Most people tend to leave all the shit there because it’s way closer to the old chemical plant than the other sites, so it’s pretty much exactly as it was in the 80s. However, they’re infamous because anybody who enters always sees some weird ass shit in there.”

“‘Weird ass shit’ as in drug deals, or ‘weird ass shit’ as in corpses?” You raise an eyebrow. While it was nice to know you wouldn't have a ceiling collapse on you, you don’t think you could mentally brace yourself for the sight of a human corpse. Ever. You could harbour all the disgusting and horrifying memories you wanted, but nothing would haunt you more than the hollow eyes and the uncanny stiffness. 

“Weird ass shit as in ghosts.” 

Now that, that catches your attention.

Noah huffs loudly, vocalising his disinterest with the topic and rolling his eyes so hard you think he’s been possessed for a second. All the same, you and Helen lean in further. Helen hadn’t ever, and never will be, one for horror. She could put on a strong facade all she liked, but sometimes slashers in masks were enough to scare her. Although, you think she’s more afraid of the things she can’t see–let alone understand–rather than the characters themselves. She’s right to be so, she and more than half of the planet’s population. 

“I’m talkin’ full body apparitions. Hearing people talkin’ that ain’t there, seeing things move right in front of their eyes-”

“-Do I need to remind you all that this town was evacuated because of a chemical outbreak from a chemical plant that is near the apartments that caused hallucinations?” Noah pauses, looking between the three of you incredulously before continuing. “If people truly saw a ghost, it’s either leftover chemicals causing them to hallucinate, or become paranoid for that matter, or because they’ve been told they’ll see ghosts. It’s like The Baader-Meinhof effect.”

You all look at him with utter confusion. 

He sighs loudly–something you’ve become accustomed to in the years you’ve known him–somehow expecting you all to just know what that is off of memory. “It’s a cognitive bias stemming from a phenomenon where something you recently learned seems to appear everywhere, making it feel like it's more common than it actually is. If someone tells you that a house is haunted, then, your senses become heightened and you carefully analyse every little thing with the expectation of ghosts. A creak in a hundred-year-old house’s floorboards becomes a footstep, the whistling of wind through a cracked window becomes a breath in someone’s ear, etcetera.”

There’s a heavy pause as you all process the information.

“Did your mum drop you on your right side when you were a baby? Have some whimsy, Jesus.” Jeanne mumbles.

There it is. 

Noah scowls. “It’s not my fault you have the intellectual and cranial capacity of an artichoke.”

“Oh, okay mister ‘I cut my hair with a knife and fork’-”

“-Says you, you-

“-May we not? Please. The longer you two argue, the less time we have.” Yet again, Helen intervenes in what you’re sure would be an absolutely hilarious back and forth between Jeanne and Noah. Even if he parades himself around to be above the ‘childishness’ of Jeanne, he’s most definitely not immune to her insults. 

After a disapproving look from Helen, the two of them zip their mouths shut, and you fall into gentle silence. Looking between your friends, you try to determine if they’re finished talking yet so you can get your two cents in, before repeating your earlier statement. 

“So…apartments?”

“Apartments.” They all speak in tandem with each other, nodding in agreement like Roman scholars. 

Within a few moments, you all determine which direction you have to go, with much debate on what way is West and which is East which has you losing brain cells every statement, and you begin the so-called ‘short, twenty minute walk’.

Being careful not to trip over any debris, you have the underlying feeling it’s going to be much longer than that. 

Ahead of you, Jeanne and Noah are mumbling indistinctly to each other, and you watch multiple–failed–attempts at trying to scare each other play out. Quietly, Helen walks next to you, her footsteps somehow silent on the dusty road. As you walk further into the town’s centre, buildings rise up around you like great maze walls, hiding the past in their shadowy alleyways. 

“It is weird, isn’t it?” Helen begins, her soft voice like the plucking of harp strings. 

“Yeah, this place gives me the creeps.”

“What? Oh- yes- it does, but I’m talking about how it is strange that it is already our final year. I should have made that more clear…” she mumbles the last half to herself, kicking the odd stone from her foot and keeping a keen eye on the two in front of you. Even if Noah was typically smart and sensible, Jeanne had the tendency to bring out a much more brash side of him.

“Oh, yeah.” You had met Helen at the beginning of this part of your education, and, suddenly, you were all nearing the end. Noah described it as happening in the ‘blink of an eye’, but, for you, it was a very languid, tiresome blink that left you burnt out and hating the education system more than you had as a teen.

Plus, as far as you knew, they were all going to different courses at different schools, aside from Jeanne, who insisted you applied to the same school. You haven’t yet built up the courage to tell her you don’t even know if you want to do more higher education anymore. Either way, it’d be…odd to not see their faces every day.

“Where’d all the time go, hm?” You half-joke, not completely sure how to respond. 

“My point exactly.” She agrees, and then you both fall into an awkward silence. You roll different thoughts around in your head, different words and conversation starters to help fill the quiet gap, before she beats you to it. Like everyone always seems to do.

She begins with a pleasant laugh, and, even in the dark, you can just imagine the nostalgic smile on her face. “I remember when I first met you and Jeanne. I thought you were both so odd.”

“What? Why?” You laugh out, utterly surprised. While you had technically met and became friends with Helen on the day of the fateful bus ride, she only met Jeanne about two weeks into knowing you. Half because you and Jeanne were stuck to each other's hip, and half because you had mentioned her off handedly to Jeanne and she became determined to meet and talk with the person who managed to befriend her ‘introverted homebody’. Even if she gave you those titles from a place of off-handed care, you never really liked them. Even if they were true.

Still, in all her grace and sensibility, you never would have thought her first impression of the two of you would be ‘odd’, of all things, especially since she was the one to start talking to you.

“Not in a bad way! Not in a bad way; I promise!” She repeats, laughing again. “It’s just…Jeanne was, well, is, an impulsive adrenaline junkie who would rather climb a cliff than study. Admittedly, not someone who I’d ever thought I’d be good, close friends with.” As she speaks, she glances over to you, careful to earn your acceptance with her descriptions of your oldest friend as if you’d fight her or something if she overstepped. You just laugh and shake your head; she’s right, as per usual. 

“And you…” she trails off, letting a thought simmer on the tip of her tongue before she speaks it. 

“And you…what? Are we insulting each other now?” You laugh out. You had to admit, her descriptions of her first impressions of Jeanne were dead on, as funny as it was. 

“You’re…you. Tired-eyed, reserved Y/N who is…much smarter and complex than they look.”

“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.” You grin, looping your arm with hers as she did before.

“Well, since it is coming from me, it is a compliment. I’d never insult you.” 

You snort, “Oh, Queen Helen of Sparta, daughter of Zeus-” She begins laughing, telling you to stop through her pearly whites as her skin changes to a deep shade of rose. “-With thy beauty matching none!” You unloop your hands and skip in front of her, curtsying and bowing deeply. “How graceful of you to gift praise to my humble vessel of a body with such praise.”

Helen’s loud laughter bounces off of the decrepit buildings, causing Noah to turn around and send a blinding beam of light your way. You watch as your bowed form casts an elongated shadow across the concrete, reaching for the suburbs now merely incongruous shapes in the stygian distance.

You hope you look holy, bathed in all this light. 

“What are you two laughing about?” Noah calls out, walking backwards.

With a smile, you recite a part of your conversation to him. He shakes his head back and forth, then slows his gait until he walks with you two, Jeanne eventually following along after realising she’d lost her walking buddy. Aimless conversation fills the cool air and you can’t help the way your body relaxes. 

The talk begins on the topic of pets and Noah starts with how his snakes–affectionately named Ekans and Arbok–at home are doing, mainly how big one of them has grown. If you remembered correctly, one was a Hognose, an absolutely adorable thing with the cutest face on a snake you’ve ever seen, and the other was some fancily titled ball python. 

Helen notes on her cat, Αστέρι, of which you could never pronounce properly no matter how many times you’d heard it. It was a stoic white and grey thing that kept itself well groomed and, no matter how hard you tried, seemed to hate you.

Jeanne doesn’t own any, unfortunately due to her land-lord's policies, but it sends her down a rant of how shitty the said landlord is and, if and when she moves again, she’ll get something like a Husky.

Then, after Jeanne has finished her aforementioned rant, the conversation shifts to places you all want to visit outside of urban exploring, and you find Jeanne is planning a gap year to go travelling. By the glint in her eye, you can tell she’ll ask later on if you’ll want to come along, which you’ll probably think about for a week or so before saying yes. 

You think you’d follow her until you were both nothing but dust, if you were honest.

Eventually, someone brings up the topics of bands, and sends Jeanne down another tangent, which you all listen to intently, storing the information away for future birthdays and Christmases and conversations. 

The three of them are chatterboxes, so they easily allow you to zone out and just simply listen–if you chose to–instead of keeping up with every word.

With full admittance, you felt much more at ease than you did back up on that hill. Even so, with a flashlight, each shadow moves as if living. Everything always looks much more haunted in the low light. It doesn’t help that each building feels…alive. Alive and hungry, albeit bleary. You can’t help but wonder if you look palatable. Appetising, even.

“Hey,” Noah gently nudges your side, “look up.” You’re confused at first, sending him a questioning glance, before you follow his gaze and look upwards. From high above, thousands of silver eyes stare down on your forms. Like a great snake of a time far past, a faraway galaxy ebbs and flows across the charcoal sky. Sparks of blue, almost like lapis lazuli, glimmer within the silver, framed by the ever-changing colours of a humming nebula. 

…you’ve never seen something so bright in your life. 

“Well, would you look at that.” Jeanne mumbles, eyes stuck on the extraterrestrial gold that glitters above.

You’re in utter awe of what you’re seeing; living near big cities meant that the sky barely got dark when you were younger, let alone to this point. Still, in all your wonder, you can’t help but catch the frown on Noah’s face. You wait patiently for him to voice his thoughts, but he simply stares and stays silent as a tomb. Rolling the thought around in your head, you open your mouth to ask what exactly has him looking so confused in the face of something so beautiful, but Jeanne seems to beat you to it. As per usual. 

“Hey, Helen,” you swear you haven’t heard her voice so soft for, well, years. You guess even she feels a bit humbled by the endlessness that stares back at her. “You’re big on stars and astronomy and shit, right? Spot anything you know?”

Helen tilts her head back and forth, before obviously seeing something recognisable in the endless cluster of stars. “Yes, um…see the large gathering of stars to the right- follow my finger.”

“There’s a lotta’ clumps of stars…” Jeanne mumbles, but diligently follows Helen’s hand, as do you and Noah. 

“Those are the Antennae Galaxies. Do you see them?”

“Where?” Jeanne squints at the sky.

“To the right, Jeanne.” You grumble, placing your hand on her head and turning her.

“I still don’t- I see it!” She shouts happily, earning a smile from all three of you.

Helen chuckles before speaking again, smiling to herself as she does so. “They look like a heart on a telescope…” 

“They’re a pair of colliding galaxies, right?” Noah questions, earning a nod from Helen. Because of course he knows about stars too.

“Yes! It causes a lot of new stars to form around that area…okay, now, look slightly to the left, there is a trapezium type shape of pale blue stars with a, um…a leg?” 

“Mhm.” You agree, squinting but being able to spot the small shape in the sky. 

“Good, and to the right of it is a similar shape, but with two antennas of sorts?” She looks between the three of you, watching for your reactions and smiling again when you all nod almost in tandem. “The one on the left is called Corvus, and the one on the right is called Krater. The line of stars that runs underneath them is called Hydra.”

“Wicked.” Jeanne whispers, and you have to admit, you don’t think you’ve ever seen her this entranced. “They got a story?” 

“Everything that has and will be has a story.” Helen begins, slipping her arm back into yours yet again. “There are two stories to tell here. The first one consists of Apollo, the Greek God of poetry, music and archery. He had a lover named Coronis, who was to bear one of his children. While she was still pregnant, she slept with a mortal man. Apollo was told this by a white crow, and then turned its feathers black in a fit of rage. Subsequently, she was then killed by Apollo–or his sister, Artemis–as punishment. To remind her of her betrayal, Apollo then turned her soul into the constellation Corvus.”

“That’s one way to punish cheaters, I guess.” Jeanne frowns, eyes still fixed on the stars. 

“What’s the other story?” You ask, taking your eyes off of the sky for a second to look at Helen.

“It is a lot less angsty,” she giggles. "Per his request, Apollo tasked one of his crows with fetching water. However, the crow stopped to wait for figs to ripen on a tree. Instead of telling the truth when asked, he lied and said that a snake–Hydra–” She points to the string of stars beneath the two constellations, “kept him from the water. Realising the lie, Apollo flung the crow, Corvus, the cup, Krater,” She moves her hand to point at the second constellation, “and the snake, Hydra, into the sky.”

“Apollo sounds like a fuckin’ asshat.” Jeanne scowls, tearing her eyes away from the sky and back towards Helen.

Immediately, she snorts, covering her mouth with her soft hand. “Yes, but so are most of the Gods. I think, when you have all that time and no fear of the end, you tend to take more pleasure in tragedies and horrors that will teach respect rather than kindness and sweet nothings.”

“Okay, so they’re all asshats, then?” You add on with a smile.

Helen simply laughs and shakes her head, Noah mumbling something about immortality that you can’t quite catch. 

You all begin walking again, but you stop when you notice Helen still transfixed with the stars.

Walking back to her, you ask, “You okay?” Standing at her side and glancing up again at the sky, trying to see whatever has caught her eye.

“Quite,” she mumbles, eyes still searching the stars like a prophet searching for a sign. “I am just a little confused. I’m sure it’s just my bad memory, but Virgo and Leo, the constellations above Corvus, have swapped places. And, to the far left,” she points, and you do your best to follow, “I think that is Orion? But it just looks…off. Orion is not even meant to be anywhere near the others.”

“Give me a second…” you mumble, shimmying your phone out of your pocket. You were no star expert, so you couldn’t really give any helpful opinions. Tapping on Oogle, you begin to type up the constellations she mentioned with her peering over your shoulder. But, alas… “No service, shit.” Grumbling, you shove your phone back into your pocket and stare back up at the sky with her.

“I’m sure it’s just my bad memory.” She shrugs, and drags her eyes back down to Earth with one last glance. “I’ve never even seen them so bright, especially since we’re still quite close to a big city.” You think she mumbles the statement to herself, but you hear it loud and clear, and think you’ve got an idea of what Noah’s frown was for.

Almost in response, as Helen turns her gaze and begins catching up with the others, you swear you see the thousands of eyes above you blink in tandem, the night sky becoming Cimmerian–utterly pitch black–for a split second.

“Y/N! Hurry up!” Noah calls you, tearing you out of your star gazing.

“Coming.” You whisper, barely a breath and no louder than a blink.

The pit in your stomach is back.

Eventually, you reach the decaying innards of the town. Despite the lack of skyscrapers–buildings that might as well touch Heaven–each building still towers over your small forms. You twist and turn through broken streets and alleyways, Jeanne your only wayward guide. 

As you thought, the so-called ‘twenty-minute walk’ turned into a forty minute one, with Jeanne getting lost twice–even with her rebukes that she swears the roads are changing under her feet–Noah tripping over an old bottle and falling flat on his face and both you and Helen almost undergoing multiple heart attacks with Jeanne jumping out from the dark to scare you both. 

Admittedly, you weren’t immune from the fun. At all. You got a good laugh out of scaring Noah shitless after jumping on his back; the bruised pelvis and numb upper arm where he punched you were well worth it. 

As you wandered through the streets, you couldn’t help but keep your eyes glued to the sky, keeping diligent watch on the silver and gold stars that felt less like balls of gas and more like omnipresent, ever changing eyes. And, now, as you stand in front of the apartments, you can almost feel the little confidence you had seep out of you and puddle on the concrete below like mercury. They look like ancient monoliths, grey and cracked and dystopian. Seemingly never ending layers of stubborn concrete left to crumble and crack like a father’s name; eclipsed by the son. From where you stand, they just manage to block out the little light of the new moon, leaving only the pewter stars to watch over you. They’re surrounded by what you’re sure was once a lovely community garden, now a mess of tall grasses, nettles and indistinct weeds that hide any path that might’ve once been there. 

No matter how many abandoned buildings you explore, you don’t think you’ll ever get used to seeing places that should be so full of life absolutely devoid of it. There’s always a small square of harsh light in every apartment building, always someone cramming, getting a late-night snack, or trying to stop the baby from crying. Always. Seeing a place so similar to where you live, even if the only real similarity is that they’re a pair of apartment buildings, sends an odd feeling crawling up your back.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

The quickened heartbeat under your feet does nothing to help the pit in your stomach, crawling slowly up your trachea and settling heavily in the back of your throat.

You’re brought out of your stupor with the heavy weight of somebody colliding onto your back and clinging to you like a koala. Easily, it knocks the air out of your lungs, and sends an out of breath shout tumbling out of your throat, as well as your flashlight out of your hands.

Helen and Noah quickly turn around, surprise and a speck of fear in their eyes, sending blinding flashes of light your way as you try to uphold the weight–of who you guess is Jeanne by the maniacal laughter–on your back.

“Ha! Got you good, didn’t I?” She leans over your shoulder, still attached to your back, and sends a proud grin your way. You grumble, annoyed, before attempting to put her down, only for her to wrap her legs tighter around you.

“Are you really gonna make me carry you?” You ask, exasperated.

“You bet.” As Noah walks up to grab your flashlight, she points forwards with her own and exclaims, “Onwards, mighty steed! There’s a back entrance on the furthest part of the left building that’ll be unlocked!”

“You sure?” You hoist her up further as you all begin walking, allowing her to hook her legs over your arms as you feel your back muscles ache with the sudden weight. “Considering you’ve gotten us lost so many times…”

Jeanne simply scoffs and points her flashlight in the direction you need to go. Your group stumbles through overgrown weeds as you pass by the cracking concrete walls, void of any vines, unlike the rest of the buildings you’ve passed. The apartment blocks are designed in a right angle, gazing down at an overgrown garden with, by the faded white paint, you guess to be a parking lot behind it, which then links up onto a main road. The grounds are bordered off by decrepit buildings, mainly old corner shops with the occasional homewares. 

After you’re sure you’ve been stung by stinging nettles on half of your body, you reach the other end of the leftmost apartment block. A rusted, possibly iron door stands before you. Locked and layered in thick chains that look like they could hold a God down. Unlocked your ass, this looked like you’d need the world’s most powerful pair of bolt cutters–maybe even a saw for that matter–to get through.

But, suspecting Jeanne may want to get down, you decide to take the chance to make it evens with scaring her. Without warning, you pretend to almost drop her, relishing in the surprised shriek and angry grumbles of “Putain de- oh, toi petite merde-” that leaves her as she grapples for any part of you to hold on to. She laughs sardonically, more like an annoyed chuckle, before you let her down and she wags a finger at you “Good one, good one…so gonna get you back for that…” She mumbles the last half to herself, but you catch it easily. 

She approaches the heavily locked door, and Noah begins voicing your exact thoughts with, “Unlocked door my a-” before she tugs gently at the heavy chains, which fall to the ground with a metallic thump.

Ba-dump-ba-dump-ba-dump

You can’t tell if that’s your own heartbeat thrumming in your ears or not. 

She sends Noah a shit-eating grin as he shakes his head and forth, and you find Helen at your side once again. She then grabs the chains, an easy weight to lift for her toned arms, and, with a rattle, chucks them in a nearby bush.

“You ready?” She glances between the three of you, awaiting a response as Noah stumbles through the overgrown grass over to the door.

“As I’ll ever be.” You shrug, Helen nodding along with you.

Even with the knowledge of many explorers having been here before, the opening of the door feels like the opening of some ancient tomb, especially with the scent of stale air and thick dust that greets your nose. Little vines that had wrapped themselves delicately around the hinges are tugged away as the door opens its gaping maw. Jeanne and Noah peek over from the edges of it as Helen’s torch light illuminates a dank, monochrome hall.

“Looks right out of a horror film.” You mumble, eyes attempting to adjust to the darkness as shadowy figures peek at you and your light from their dusty home. You almost expect a masked slasher to jump out of you, or some long dead spectre wrapped in the weight of their living sins, but nothing comes. The hall simply sits eerily quiet, almost like it’s holding its breath.

Jeanne walks in first, not a single bone in her filled with any hesitation, who’s then followed by Noah and Helen, who tugs you along with her. Despite the way your feet feel frozen to the cracked concrete below, you let her tug you along, and let the dark swallow you whole.

-----------

I wonder if those same Gods, timeless and easily bored, watch over you now.

I’d also like to remind my new readers that I have a very big soft spot for extended metaphors and symbolism; look close enough and you might find something interesting.

Plus, I made a little playlist for this, for anybody who likes listening to music while they read: open.spotify.com/playlist/1rw21OGGHndcHrNEPfdvv5?si=31a14ddea2b84d4f

Putain de- oh, toi petite merde = Fucking- oh, you little shit-

Αστέρι = Star

[kitakami-kid]

GWOHHH I GOT CAUGHT UP ON SCHOOL STUFF SO I FORGOT ABOUT THE APPLIN THING LOL- so here it is... almost 3 hours late, sorry!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who joined again! It really makes me happy that anyone participated at all. I loved all of the submissions, but this is a contest so they will be ranked.

3rd place

@basilcatchup 🎉🎉🎉

I've said it before, but the composition of this piece is very good! They're all arranged nicely and all the applins seem to have their own personality. (I especially love the hydrapple to the right. He's getting silly and he doesn't even have a license!) The little speckles and textures are also a nice touch! Overall, pretty great!

2nd place

@symphonypikachu 🎉🎉🎉

This piece is so pretty! The characters are well proportioned and posed, the shading is great, and I love the texture! Adding a background definitely gives you extra points, and you did a really good job! Especially the sky, the different layers of blue and white are subtle, but beautiful!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Before I get to the first winners, we should also recognize the other entries for this contest!

@a-plethora-of-midnight-roses 🎉🎉🎉

First of all, I'd like to say that hydrapple looks sick as fuck with those choice specs. He looks like he's about to shoot a 252spatk all-out fickle beam with helping hand against a 0spdef/0hp level 1 noibat, guaranteed OHKO. Adding a Hydreigon to the fray is super cute since they're both little dragons who grow up to be hydras. Very silly :3

@thesillyexpresser (idk why but tumblr isn't letting me tag you so I hope you still see this lol) 🎉🎉🎉

@glitchpunkz 🎉🎉🎉

Again with the adorable art! I really love the implication that Kieran might've doodled the porygon-z on the league club white board, so this just takes it a step further. The facial expression, the shadows, and the other little things on the whiteboard make this very fun to look at!

So without further ado...

1st place

OHHHH.... I ADORE this fic! Watching those two idiots give each other signs and completely missing it despite doing the same things is very in-character. This fic is so darn cute, I think it would even overwhelm Lacey. I enjoyed this piece in its entirety, and you all should go read it!

CONCLUSION

It's been fun to look at all this art, and I hope you three winners enjoy your shiny applins! Let me know if I should do more shiny giveaways, and if it should be a contest or a raffle. Winners dm me so we can work out when these trades will happen. This concludes the shiny applin contest!

[neonthewrite]

Grey Landing (Part 8)

I did it! Finally got the "Fire" prompt done, and we're back with Isaac and the giants. He's doing his best. I'm still having fun with the conlang I put together for them, so we'll just keep vibing with words that aren't translated (hopefully the vibes get across). But we at least get to some names!

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7)

(Part 9) (Part 10)

~~~

Traveling in a pocket was no simple cruise, no pleasant nighttime stroll. Isaac felt every heavy step the giant took. He rose and fell with a gait that shouldn’t be real. The pocket swung like a cramped hammock and bumped against a giant chest behind him. He didn’t see himself enjoying the sensation anytime soon, though the thought of letting the damn giants make a habit of this made him scowl briefly.

Behind him, in that broad chest, the giant cleared his throat. It sounded like a colossal growl, and Isaac flinched in spite of himself.

He looked over his shoulder and up to see the giant looking down at him. As soon as they made eye contact, the giant shifted his grip on the fish cooler he carried, propping it awkwardly against his side in order to free one hand. He only managed it for a few seconds, but it was enough to tap his own shoulder and say “Clei.”

Isaac couldn’t respond right away, instead lurching as the giant, Clei, had to regain his grasp on the cooler of fish. After the moment passed, though, he looked back up with a more appraising squint. “Clei,” he echoed, drawing out the ay a little more than he needed to. Then, he pointed at the man’s face and tried again. “Clei?”

The giant grinned and looked ahead at his companion, saying something quick and decidedly smug. The other giant scoffed and shook his head as he trudged on. Clei, however, wasn’t discouraged, and he glanced down at his pocket once more.

Isaac guessed the reason for that expectant look. He put a hand on his chest and said “Isaac.”

Clei blinked a few times. “Ay-sss … ?”

“Isaac,” Isaac replied, enunciating the soft z sound that Clei seemed to struggle with.

Clei laughed, a short, quiet sound, but before he could try again his companion barked a command at him. “Ugedal, suld plerfewn!”

Isaac hadn’t noticed, but when he looked ahead again he saw more light than just their lantern illuminating the woods. The footpath broadened into a clearing that hugged close around a truly enormous wooden cabin, the windows of which threw towering squares of light into the night. Over the clearing, the fog and some smoke from the chimney lent a hazy quality to the stars.

The construction itself was somewhat plain, with sturdy wooden walls and a gently sloped roof, creating the silhouette Isaac might expect out of a cabin if blown up to ridiculous proportions. Front steps led up to a porch canopied by some kind of netting draped overhead, though Isaac couldn’t see clearly what other decorations hung from it. The place was homey, if magnified beyond belief.

As the two fishermen trudged up those front steps, the wood creaked and echoed like it was greeting them. Once again, Isaac found himself marveling at something as simple as a sound, one so familiar and yet so strange at this scale.

From within the cabin, undeniable footsteps approached, a shadow briefly passing in front of one of the windows. Isaac tensed, turning his face away from the door just as someone within threw it open. More light spilled out over them, creating a silhouette in the doorway framed by the warm light of a lively fire blazing in a sunken hearth in the middle of the vast room beyond.

She was a stout woman, at least a head shorter than the other two giants, and a study in contrasts with them. Not only was she pale, with the firelight almost making her yellow hair glow gold, but her clothes bore multiple colors and patterns, patchworks and layers of skirts flowing around her. When she stepped back into the house to admit everyone, her cheerful smile came into the light.

“Gufnad! Clei!” she greeted as they tromped inside with their catch. She didn’t notice Isaac in Clei’s pocket, and he didn’t try to grab her attention. Instead, he looked around distractedly while the giants exchanged quick greetings.

Aside from the sunken hearth and the black iron pot hanging over its merry flames (a roaring blaze like a house going down to Isaac’s view but a cozy affair to the giant’s scale), the room sported sturdy furniture, most of it made of thick planks of the same wood that made up the cabin itself. Plush cushions adorned some armchairs near one side of the room, where a thick rug had long since given up its patterns to the passage of time and hundreds of giant footsteps. On that side of the room, doors of solid wood led elsewhere in the home.

Opposite the living area, and the giant’s apparent goal, was the kitchen and dining area. Counters lined the wall, along with a few large ice boxes. Herbs hung drying on delicate wires strung overhead, and something soaked in the basin. A few plates sat waiting on one end of the counter with some bread and cheese, along with empty bowls that would probably be filled from whatever was cooking over the fire.

Isaac noticed belatedly how fixated he was on those plates, and the simple bread on them. He winced as a noise in his middle reminded him of the persistent ache there. The scent of the nearby fish cooler in Clei’s arms had held off some of his hunger, but he couldn’t deny it completely. He was exhausted, and hadn’t eaten in far too long.

Not that he’d have a chance to inquire about the food. After Clei set his fish cooler down next to one of the ice boxes and straightened up, causing Isaac to brace himself for the lurching motions, the giant woman shrieked.

Everyone froze and looked at her. Isaac noticed with a sinking feeling that she was staring right at him, and her hands were over her mouth. “Clei, laor gre. Stei̯nd bid cras?!” Isaac could guess what she’d asked. He would ask what the hell he was too, if the positions were reversed.

He couldn’t help but feel put on the spot, though, and suddenly the cozy cabin felt much more foreboding. His hand twitched against the leather cord he’d used to tie his shield to himself. It wouldn’t be of much use at all, but if he had to, he’d go out swinging.

Clei held up his hands placatingly. “Trydi, sge,” he said, his tone much quieter, much calmer than hers, almost to the point of meekness.

The other giant (she’d called him Gufnad?) scoffed yet again. He took a step towards Clei, that customary frown on his face, and thrust a hand out, beckoning impatiently. Isaac didn’t need to understand their language to hear the very clear give it here in his barked command.

“I’d rather you not, lad,” Isaac spoke up, knowing they didn’t understand him either, but hoping his tone came across just as well. The lady giant squeaked in surprise to hear him form words, but Gufnad only narrowed his eyes.

Clei didn’t look ready to defy whatever this man was to him. Doubtful though he was, one of his hands inexorably moved to his pocket and coiled around Isaac despite his attempt to duck out of the way. There wasn’t much room for him to avoid a grab like that, and he found himself gathered up in a fist yet again. “Oi! Don’t you do it, Clei!”

Whatever Gufnad planned, though, it seemed he was going to get his way. Clei, after a beat of hesitation, muttered something before handing Isaac over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

@not-a-space-alien

@amenarae

[silvergolddraco28]

Scorched chapter 3

3

He then lunges at Monkey King trying to take Mk from him.

Wukong evaded burning his hand into the ground and pulled out a staff made from a mixture of red stone and hard diamonds in a familiar golden color while a thin layer of flames danced on the staff’s ends. Wukong’s other hand was rather busy securing Mk to his chest with the coat acting as a makeshift sling.

Mei looked in worry. “Nezha… What's wrong with Monkey King?”

“Wukong has lost himself to his instincts though it seems Macaque has as well,” Nezha responds.

“We've got to get Mk out of there,” Mei says, concerned at her best friend's new form as he is stuck while the others fight.

“No, we can’t intervene in this. Not unless you want to get killed.” Nezha says.

“Why not!” Mei asked in frustration not liking her best friend stuck between two homicidal monkeys.

“Because they're lost in their instincts they won’t let anyone near Mk as he is the source of it,” Nezha explains.

Macaque lowers himself into the shadows in the ground as he moves under Wukong and grabs him by the ankles and makes him fall backward.

Wukong lets out a growl slamming the new staff into the ground while protecting Mk’s little body. He missed the fact Mk was now glowing a soft purple until the little cub popped into his own shadow making Wukong scream out of parental concern looking around for the cub chirping out a somewhat distressed call for the cub to reply to.

Mk could hear the Monkey King but it sounded muffled from the shadow realm. Part of him wants to listen to Monkey King and curl up in his embrace but something in the back of his head is telling him this isn’t right. But he doesn’t know why. His instincts caused his head to be full of cotton and screamed at him to go back to his caretaker. As Mk tries to get his head cleared Macaque comes up from behind him and grabs him. Mk ots out a chirp that screams.

PREDATOR.

SCARED.

HELP.

A purr comes from behind him.

Safe.

Calm.

Stay.

Mk’s body automatically goes limp. Mind completely lost in his instincts now unable to even render a thought. He clings to his protector in contentment. Macaque purrs louder in satisfaction as he travels away from the other with his cub. Leaving behind a very distressed Monkey King.

Said king was getting even more frantic, causing the flames to grow, becoming a wild mane of dark red ‘hair’ with gold flecks.

Nezha took a breath before looking over at the scholar. “You have the power of Tripitaka. I’m going to tell you about the sutra. I need you to keep chanting it until Wukong passes out.” Nezha directly told Tang while Mei was busy helping Pigsy and Sandy out of their ice chunk.

“M-m-me?!?” Tang coward while laughing nervously. “You think I can stop the great sage! Are you nuts!” Tang yells.

“We don't have time!” Nezha says seriously.

Tang gulps then nods “Alright what do I do?” Tang asked.

Nezha speaks in a language Tang seems to instinctively know. “That’s the sutra. Only you and the Goddess of Mercy can use it in conjunction with the Filet.”

Tang gulps then begins the sutra. Wukong let out a wretched screech and began clawing at his head as he thrashed around in pain. Tang felt guilty for hurting the sage but having no other option continued.

Tang continued until Wukong passed out cold evidenced by the mane of fire extinguishing and his magma-like skin slowly turning back to normal skin if a little hotter to the touch and covered in thick scars along his wrists, neck, and chest.

The group was silent. Only the wind could be heard whistling in their ears. Nobody dared speak a word as they stared at each other, horrified. Their minds were racing, but they were all thinking the same thing: what were they going to do now?

“We need to get Wukong to an isolated place. One where he won't risk burning down a whole city. If only we had the original maker of the fire here. They would be able to at least touch Wukong without getting burned or a full dragon born.” Nezha sighed.

Mei recalled the history of the Samadhi Fire told to them by the Demon Bull family. Red Son had created the fire… but Red Son was so far away.

“I can try to carry him,” she suggested, watching the monkey unsurely. At Nezha’s odd look, she elaborated, “My great-great-something grandfather is Ao Lie. My whole family is dragons. It’s how I inherited my sword.”

She lifted the blade, its green surface glinting against the light of the moon.

“Try it. He might be clingy from being in pain, even unconscious.” Nezha warned the young girl.

Mei nodded and bit her lip in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. The unleashing of the Samadhi Fire had rattled her more than she wanted to admit.

She took a breath. She had to be strong - for Mk, for the world! She hoped her best friend was alright, wherever he was… Mei tiptoed forward and slowly wrapped her arms around the still Wukong.

She grimaced at the heat coming off him. “Dang, he feels like he’s got a bad fever,” Mei noted shifting Wukong to her back as his tail unconsciously curled around her waist, blood dripping down his face from under the filet. Said blood once free from his skin hardened and clinked to the stone ground looking like teardrop-shaped rubies. Mei looked at that with fear. “I don’t think blood is supposed to turn into gemstones.”

“He’s a stone monkey, which means everything in his body is stone, even the blood. Usually, it would appear like human blood but since his body has hardened to stone it will appear like one.” Nezha explains.

“That was too many words.” Mei deadpanned lost in what he said. Nezha sighs

“stone body equals stone blood” Nezha simplifies. “until his body returns to normal at least” Nezha adds.

Mei looks over her shoulder at Monkey King as she silently thinks to herself. ‘You better be fine, dumb monkey.’

“What the hell do we do now?” Pigsy says in anger. “ Because by the looks of it, we lost two fighters due to the samadhi fire.” Pigsy continues as his voice raises in volume. “AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY SON!” Pigsy yells in frustration but anyone who knows him could tell it only out of fear for Mk. The kid he adopted all those years ago. The kid arrived at his doorstep with no one watching or taking care of him. The kid who as he grew up continued to put himself in danger leaving Pigsy in great distress. Pigsy needed to find him as soon as he can.

“ We can't focus on that now.” Nezha says “We need to get Wukong out of here before Lady Bone Demon finds out he has the samadhi fire.” Nezha says.

“And leave Mk to that freak!” Pigsy yells. “ have you forgotten Macaque works for lady bone demon! He could be handing him over to her right now!” Pigsy yells in anger and fear.

“ All the more reason to get working out of here,” Nezha says. “If what you say is true then we need to get Wukong out of here or the lady bone demon will be unstoppable.” Nezha continues, “Leaving the child to be killed.” Nezha finishes off. Pigsy’s eyes go wide at the realization of the fear completely showing on his face.

“Alright then get out of here,” Pigsy says in a calm tone. Pigsy vows to himself that he’ll get the kid back no matter what.

“Tang, use my phone to call Red Son. See if we can meet him at a halfway point.” Mei requested the only other adult that wasn't as emotionally compromised.

“I can do that. I’ll see if he can't bring some clothes as well.” Tang started looking pale as he saw Wukong’s back.

Far above the group, a pair of glowing blue eyes narrowed at their departure. “My Lady will want to know of this development... It seems we will be going monkey hunting.” a creepy smile crossed the man’s lips before he stepped off the roof and disappeared in a swirl of blue mist.

The Lady Bone Demon smiled - a cruel smile, a vicious smile - as her servant arrived. His news was welcome. Fate will not stray from its path so easily. Sun Wukong and his… little followers were mere specs of dust in the sandstorm of destiny. Despite their pathetic, futile, attempts at stopping her, the future she foresaw all those years ago will come to fruition. She is, after all, nothing if not patient - hundreds of years of imprisonment will do that to you. All the pieces of the chessboard are in place. This time, she will win.

“Find the simian, I don't care how. He will be part of my machine one way or another even if we have to break him down,” she ordered her thrall, her ice creating a cage with thick bars and chains inside of it.

“Let's see how long it will take until your mate is a soulless husk, my runaway Macaque.”

Previous

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[firewoodwander]

🕸️Correel - Abandoned :3

Trick or treat prompts

Large, empty buildings should not, by rights, be as intimidating as they usually are. Tipoca City was huge and so regimented that any time other than shift change, class change or meal allocations left most halls empty and echoing and liminal. It was home, but the oppressive sensation it produced was vast.

Mereel has enough experience creeping through empty places. He’ll be fine.

Corr is crouched behind him, tampering with a door panel in the hopes that they can use what remains of this place’s power to sneak around rather than break into every room they find. The sensation of unknown eyes watching them from the dark persists. Mereel swivels his head as frequently as he dares, surveying both ends the corridor through his low light filter.

“Got it,” Corr mutters. His voice is low, his vitals on Mereel’s HUD are only slightly elevated. He’s doing impressively well.

The door mechanism shrieks bloody murder when it opens. So much for stealth—but they probably should have anticipated that. Mereel precedes Corr into the room, casing and clearing the exact way he wants Corr to emulate.

There’s even less light in here, dingy and damp and derelicting seemingly before their eyes. There’s a pervading cold that inches under Mereel’s armour like it’s more than just uninsulated duracrete chill.

“This what we’re looking for?” Corr asks, gesturing to the server bank in the back of the room. From afar it looks like it hasn’t been operated in years, but Mereel’s HUD has highlighted the uneven layers of grime and recently disturbed patches of dust that are lighter than the thick blanket over the rest of the room.

“Looks it,” he replies, and begins pulling out his slightly more advanced slicing equipment from his pack. “Watch the door. If anyone’s in here, they know we are too.”

Grunting, Corr steps soundlessly back towards the entrance.

The only sounds while Mereel works are the occasional scraping of grit under boots and the close, intimate sound of each other’s breathing down their in-helmet comm lines. Stillness, like the old facility is holding its breath around them, makes every click and fumble echo forever. But no one comes crashing down the corridor to apprehend them, and Mereel downloads the slow, bulky content of the server and inserts his favourite little virus with only a few minor hiccups along the way.

It’s not until they’re packed up and ready to move out that a noise like skittering stones comes bouncing down the hall towards them.

Both Mereel and Corr snap towards the sound and hold very, very still.

Nothing comes.

Nothing moves.

Corr takes a step back towards Mereel, and Mereel keeps his decee levelled and resists the urge to reach for him. “Rats?”

So far down, with few utility access ways and little to no food sources, it’s highly unlikely.

“Maybe,” Mereel says.

They move further through the building. Every so often something rattles, or thumps, or scratches like a boot scuffed over the floor. And every time they reach the source there’s nothing, no evidence, not even a shadow.

The entrance they used is a turbolift at the end of a long corridor of locked doors. It’s a relief to see it now, after being kept on the knife-edge of an adrenaline rush for the whole operation. But all of a sudden that sensation of eyes on his back sharpens and amplifies, severe and heavy like a physical weight; Mereel picks up his pace and shoves a hand against Corr’s backplate until they’re nearly running down the long stretch of absolutely empty, malevolent nothing.

The lift doors slide open when called and the two of them nearly crack their plates against the back wall in their haste to get in and get it moving. For another long, breathless moment, after the doors close and the floors start ticking up, neither of them say anything.

Corr shifts his weight, knocking vambrace to vambrace and spaulder to pauldron. Mereel leans into him and doesn’t even bother to pretend he isn’t looking for the same reassurance Corr is. Their fingers brush, distant through thick gauntlets but undeniably there, so Mereel curls them together and squeezes.

“There was something very wrong with that place,” Corr mutters, once they’re far enough away that the hunted feeling is beginning to fade.

“Yeah,” Mereel agrees immediately. “And I never want to find out what.”

[omaano]

SW Hades AU May Status Update

I wanted to make a dedicated post about what I’m currently working on for the Star Wars meets Hades AU that looks more consistent than just sharing bits and pieces whenever I’m tagged in a Last Line Challenge. Because what else do I have but the poly sketch requests and this AU for my weekends? (If nothing else I know that the Hades AU has got me XD)

Other updates: June - July - August

For now Obi-Wan and Maul are stuck at the same stage: they are both lined, have their base colours down as well as the two adjustment layers of coloured lighting.

I suspect if I were ever to get through the agonozing few hours of shading Obi-wan’s face it would be mostly smooth sailing from there. The problem is that there are at least 2 - if not 3 - separate stages where the shaded face looks like I have no idea what I’m doing, and you need to get through the whole thing before it really comes together 😅 on the other hand Hades 2 has a lot of the directional shading I might need for his character art so that might help to get me there.

It also needs to be said that Obi-Wan comes with the extra disadvantage that is the entire background behind him. I’m really hyped to line it finally, it is quite a challenge, but at the same time I’m slowly coming to the realization that I have no idea how I will colour it. Hades backgrounds are so so pretty and full of details and gorgeous colours, and while I’m not delusional enough to think I could match that on first try… I still wish I could, you know? At the same time I will have to erase or recolour a lot of my lines, which will hurt quite a bit, I imagine. I’m so bad at killing my darlings 😅 also I hate laying down flat colours. I just find it very difficult to immerse myself in that process, while lining and shading can have their flow.

I had covered up so many lines and details in Maul’s spider parts it’s a miracle I didn’t cry XD However, tips on grouping my shadows and allowing the shape to speak for itself and the details in them are very helpful and on point.

Worrying over writing dialogue for them is also not as far down my to-do list as I wish it were. I have a good enough idea for a quip for Obi-wan, but Maul? He’d need a whole melodramatic rant of his own XD

Aphra has gotten some new lines and I had fixed the satchel I had forgotten the last time I shared the rough sketch for her, thanks to the new character art for Hades 2! Seeing Odysseus and Hermès’s updated looks were great helps here, so I might as well move on to lining her, and finally adding another female character to the roster on top of Ahsoka!

And then there is the biggest update on these little guys below! I will need to clean up the ones I had drawn for Cobb and Boba (and Din) well over a year ago, but with these my version of chtonic companions are done, and thanks to @lesquatrechevrons I have a full list of keepsakes for each character as well. I’m not very good at drawing these little tchotchkes (I say with Rex’s blaster right there LOL) but I hadn’t been very good at lineart or cell shading when I started this project either, so through forced practice I’m determined to change that :D

(It’s not a screwdriver under Boga, it’s one of Cody’s antennas. “It will grow back, don’t worry,” he says as he snaps it off his pauldron and hands it over to Din. Rex backs him up on that one without question. They can't lie for shit but trolling the shiny is their thing.)

Additional fun fact: the reason why I’d picked up the chtonic companions concepts was because I’d been poking at minor details in the background behind Maul (aside from the Chaos doors), and I started adding credits and recoloured nectar to the corner (before I realized that they wouldn’t be visible once the character interaction comes up oops), and I tried to figure out to whose keepsakes Maul would react favorably. I also mixed up companion dolls and keepsakes, so that’s why the Ahsoka doll came to being (I also forgot that that one belongs to Rex, and not Ahsoka herself but uh… they are close enough that they should count by proxy anyway. It’s not Obi-wan’s cup of tea and that should be enough!). Also bless @mapleowl18 for suggesting Lil Soka as companion for Rex ❤️

So this is the current state of this AU project right now. I have my lists and notes, a few scribbled pose ideas in my sketchbook for Sabine (she might be next, unless Bo and her Nite Owls make a comeback), Satine and Omega (with Batcher), as well as some angry scribbles and question marks for Quinlan (who has apparently made his way back into this AU even though he didn’t get a little icon of his own originally orz), and Obi-wan The Second that would stand with Cody post reunion, but I cannot make that one work for now 😅

[goodlucktai]

I dunno if you’re still doing requests, so feel free to pass! But I started reading your whole page and I’m a little bit in love with your characterization of 2k12 Leo, and I was wondering if you might write something about his dynamic with April? to be clear I do not mean shipping! I just think they’re interesting friends and it’s hard to find fics that do her justice without mary sue-ing her, and I liked seeing them interact in the show. Anyway have a good day!

this is set in 2012—but the turtles are all different ages, like they are in rottmnt, because i love it <3

x

The lair is silent when April lets herself in. The TV in the den is on, down low, but Casey is the only one in there and he’s not even watching it. He’s sitting on the outer lip of the pit, his feet in one of the seats, knee bouncing anxiously. 

“Hey,” she calls over, unnecessarily. She thinks she’s had his attention since before she hopped the turnstiles. Running with a ninja clan has done wonders for Casey’s sense of awareness, and April’s, too. Still, she waits for him to look at her before she lifts the bags in her hands and says, “I got the food. Can you get the guys?”

“You think they’re really gonna eat?” Casey asks. There are shadows under his eyes. 

“They will when I accidentally let them see the receipt,” April says, lifting her chin and refusing to feel guilty about the underhanded play. “Five Guys isn’t cheap. They owe it to me.”

Casey blinks, and then a smile creeps across his face. It looks like it doesn’t know what it’s doing there. “Nice. Divide and conquer? It’ll take me like three business days to extract Don from the lab, but Raph’ll be easy if I lie and tell him we’re going topside to beat down some Dragons.”

“Deal,” April says, bumping elbows with him as they pass each other. 

The kitchen is dark, and there’s a thin layer of dust over the counter and the appliances. It feels wrong to disturb the room, almost like she’s upsetting a shrine—but she squashes that thought down hard and punts it out of her head for good measure. It’s not a memorial to anybody. It’s just a room they’re not really using right now. 

He would want them to eat, April tells herself. The thought lends her courage, because she knows it’s the truth. So she sets the bags down, takes a deep breath, and moves down the hall to collect Leonardo. 

She can hear the steady beeping of the EKG machine before she pushes open the bedroom door. Leo’s cool blue eyes meet hers from his vigil at the side of the bed, and he manages to scrape together a smile for her. 

“Hi,” he says at length. 

“Hi, Bossman,” she replies warmly, stepping inside. 

They moved Mikey into his room so that he’d be more comfortable. Donnie spent a full day getting the equipment set up just right—a blank, mechanic way about him as he arranged the pillows and stuffed toys and blankets until he was satisfied. 

It went unsaid that Mikey might be sleeping for a long while. He hit his head hard during that fight a week ago. He woke up once, very briefly, on the way home, but he wasn’t lucid enough to answer any of his siblings’ frantic questions. His muddy blue eyes skated across their faces, lingering as long as they could, and then closed again. 

His brain activity is strong, his vitals are stable, he just isn’t waking up. 

And poor Leo takes every instance of his brothers’ hurt so personally, but there’s something especially brutal about it when it’s Mikey. The baby. Fourteen years old, next to Leo’s crowning eighteen. Of course it’s hard. Raph and Donnie are miserable, too. 

But the weight of Leo’s imagined failures press him down and down and down until April can’t remember what he looks like with his head held high. He really hates himself for it, every time. 

He’s the leader. He’s the oldest. It’s his responsibility to look after the rest of them, and when he can’t—when he fails—it takes a little more from him each time. It chips away at that shining boy he used to be. April is worried, constantly, of what will happen when there’s no more for him to give.

She sits down next to him and puts her head on his shoulder. She hears his breathing hitch, but otherwise he doesn’t react. At times like these, she misses Splinter so badly it’s a real, physical ache in her chest. His kindness and wisdom is so sorely needed. His children hadn’t had a chance to outgrow him before he was ripped away—not even his eldest. 

“Dinnertime,” April says, her voice a gentle, unyielding thing in the warmly-lit room. 

“I’m not hungry,” Leo replies by rote. “Thank you, though.”

“I wasn’t asking, kiddo,” April says. This draws him up short. He turns to look at her so quickly that he dislodges her head from his shoulder. She doesn’t take it back, though; if anything, she digs her heels in. 

She’s picking up a heavy mantle, but she can’t bear the thought of leaving it for someone else to find. Or worse, the thought of no one else coming along, and Leo continuing on the way he always has—carrying it alone. 

She thought about it on the way over. She should’ve made this official much sooner.

“I’m not a kid,” Leo says slowly, more bewildered than anything. 

“You’ll always be a kid to me.” April folds her arms in all her nineteen-year-old glory, officially the oldest teenager in the room. “And as your big sister, it’s my job to bully you into that kitchen and feed you an overpriced burger. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Here’s a spoiler—the hard way is getting your big brother involved. And Casey’s version of asking politely is dragging you the whole way kicking and screaming. So what’ll it be?”

Leo’s eyes are wide and moonlike. He has no idea how to make sense of what he’s hearing. He’s never once been little-brothered by anybody. He hasn’t been the one taken care of since Splinter died. 

He doesn’t seem to hate the idea. 

But his eyes stray back to the bed like an act of gravity. “I don’t want to leave him,” Leo says quietly. “What if he wakes up by himself?”

“He won’t, dummy. ‘Cause I’ll be here,” April tells him. Of course she’ll be here. This is where her family lives. 

And the whole family is home when Mikey finally wakes up a few days later. Raph’s hoarse voice shouts down the hall, and the rest of them sprint with ninja-grade intensity all the way to Mikey’s room, jostling each other at the door. Mikey looks groggy and disgruntled, and stretches his limbs out like he’s waking up from a halfway decent nap, but he smiles automatically when he sees his siblings. And just like that, the sun comes out. 

Leo plants himself on the edge of the bed, and it would clearly take an act of god to move him. Donnie visibly resigns himself to working around him. That frightening, icy look in Donnie’s eyes has finally thawed back into that familiar blend of wicked cleverness and shy sweetness that his family so adores, and he keeps glancing up from the machines to catch Mikey’s eye like they’re telling a whole host of inside jokes in a secret, silent language. Raph and Casey are talking over each other, trying to catch Mikey up on everything he’s missed, more animated now than they’ve been in the last two weeks combined.

Mikey is still tired and not very talkative, but he soaks in all the attention like a little plant soaking up the sun. When April is able to muscle her way in, he beams up at her, and leans in to the kiss she plants on his forehead.

“Hey sis,” he croaks. He’s often a step ahead of the rest of them, but only those times when they least expect it. April has no idea what she’d do without him. “Thanks for keeping an eye on these jokers.”

“Of course, baby,” she says. She looks at Leo and adds, “That’s my job.”

Leo shakes his head, but he’s smiling. He’s holding his head a little bit higher than before. April will take it.

[ambroziadelphine]

Madara in the real world: Chapter 15

Masterlist

"Take a deep breath. Channel your chakra, then let the breath out. Imagine your image, your body, your face, your voice. Form the chakra into that shape." He whispered in my ear behind me, his hands gently holding my arms to my sides as I focused. It was now December 1st and we'd been practicing for hours. He wanted to try and see how well I've done in the past week, having me make clones of myself; if I could get up to 3 basic clones formed well enough, he felt confident in moving up in my training. What he didn't know is I wasn't just trying to make a regular clone, I wanted to impress him. I wanted to try a shadow clone jutsu.

I took a deep breath like he said and concentrated, I wanted to make Madara proud. I was working hard to be good at this, and it was quite the challenge beginning from nothing, but I've made it this far and there was no way I was going to stop trying now. I imagined myself, taking effort to remember every detail, I felt my mind shifting to last night's video shoot though. He had bent me over my vanity, forcing me to look at myself as he fucked the hell out of me; I felt myself shiver, blaming it on the cold as I tried to focus again, making the signs like in the show. I felt like something left me, not a physical energy, but something like it; I could still feel it but it wasn't in me, but beside me. Madara was silent as I peeked my eyes open, looking to my right to see a person very similar to myself stood there, only a few things out of place; my hair wasn't as long as it was supposed to be and wavier then I meant, my eye colour was a little off, my face shape was a little different and I was a little too tall.

"That is actually quite impressive for your first clone." Madara mused, letting go of me as he inspected the clone, she blushed under his scrutinizing eyes and looked down. "You have more potential then I thought." He muttered making my clone raise a brow.

"Does that mean you thought I'd suck at this?" The clone asked, Madara chuckling lightly and shook his head.

"No, just that you are surprisingly good for someone in a world where no one ever used chakra this way before." He clarified making me grin, only to frown as my clone vanished, suddenly feeling a little dizzy as I stumbled slightly. "Alex? What's wrong?" He asked, rushing to my side to steady me but I waved him off gently.

"I'm fine.. just got a little dizzy there." I said, leaning on him for support slightly only for him to scoop me up in his arms, my body instinctively curling closer to him for warmth as I tried to not be so surprised. I don't know if I'll ever get used to how easily he can pick me up.

"I think we've done enough training for today. You should rest." He said, walking inside the house before turning at the door and whistling, Seth coming running in and skidding to a stop on the wood floors with his wet paws.

"We're inside, could you put me down now please?" I asked, he smirked at me and paused for a moment to pretend he was thinking.

"I suppose I could." He said, reluctantly letting me down as I took my winter boots off, Madara doing the same. The snow had gotten thicker in the last week, now being about 2 inches thick already, meaning when training Madara made sure I had on enough layers so I wasn't cold, claiming he was used to harsh weather and wasn't bothered as much as I think. As soon as my boots were off however, Madara picked me up again, this time tossing me over his shoulder making me squeak, getting a smack to the ass in response. "Never said I'd let you stay down." He said before walking up the stairs.

"Jokes on you, I have a pretty good view from back here." I teased, my arms crossed on his back as I felt another smack on my ass.

"So do I." He said, only to pause as I, in turn, smacked his ass back. I bit my lip and waited to see what he'd do, knowing I may have just costed myself the ability to walk tomorrow but it would always be worth it if I get to smack his ass every once in a while, hehe. "I better not hear you complaining tonight, because I will make you pay for that." He warned, continuing his way into my bedroom as my thighs clenched, heat blooming in my lower stomach.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" I asked him, hearing him give an amused snicker before laying me down on the bed.

"Take your clothes off and find out." He said, smirking as he lifted his sweater off over his head, I grinned and immediately shed my clothes, tossing them to the side as I laid on the bed waiting for Madara. He crawled onto bed after undressing, a sexy smirk on his face as he stared at me with teasing eyes. "So eager." He taunted, chuckling darkly at my blush, his grin widening as I spread my legs for him, his hand trailing up my leg slowly as he looked over my naked and wanting form.

"Look at you.. is this what you were hoping for?" He asked making me bite my lip.

"Maybe." I said, his eyes narrowing as he kneeled between my legs, two of his large fingers stroking a strip up my core, spreading my arousal that had formed over my clit with a deep chuckle, letting out a soft moan.

"You're so wet, baby.. all this, for me?" He teased, knowing fully well what he does to my body with very little effort; he's gotten to know exactly what my body responds to by now, being very good at learning the subtle touches that get me going in every day life and the bedroom. I whined as he slowly rubbed my clit in soft circles, watching me intently with a confident smirk.

"Madara~" I moaned, eyes closing as he pressed harder, feeling my legs start to twitch as he hiked me up by my thighs, leaning down with his thumb still on my clit, dragging his tongue along my warm cunt. I gasped and moaned loudly, a hand tangling in his soft hair as he continued these movements before plunging his tongue into my trembling hole causing me to cry out and arch my back. He smirked as he continued to thrust his tongue in and out of me slowly, groaning softly at the taste before I tugged on his hair when he removed his tongue from me. Two of his fingers took his tongues place, thrusting in and out slowly as his wet muscle moved on to flick the small bundle of nerves causing my leg to twitch again. He grinned and did it again, his ego boosting as my body started to twitch under his touch; his fingers thrusted into me at a steady pace, curling them making me buck my hips as I cried out, his tongue on my clit making my body tense as I felt my climax approaching quickly. "Master!.. f-fuck.. 'm gonna cum!" I moaned, his fingers picking up their pace as he sucked on my clit, tipping me over the edge as I came, crying out his name as my back arched. He slowly pulled back, grinning at me as he stared at my heaving chest and flushed face, staring up at him with so much desire it was almost palpable.

"Fuck, I love you." He said, quickly climbing up my body and smashing his lips into mine, folding my legs up to my chest; his kisses were harsh and almost rushed as he ran his tip along my folds. I let out a loud moan into the kiss at the taste of myself on his lips, Madara claiming my mouth with his tongue as I pulled him closer by his neck, his tip sliding into me as we both let out loud moans. The stretch as he sheathed himself inside me making my fingers thread in his hair, tugging slightly causing a groan to escape him, his tip kissing my cervix when he slowly pulled back out before thrusting back in. He wasn't rough this time, it was almost more desperate then wild, almost as if he was trying to portray emotions he couldn't express to me otherwise. It sent my mind high in the sky to think he was holding in this much sensitivity, the way his hips thrusted gently into me, the sensual and slightly rougher kisses like he was trying so hard to not pound into me, the way his hands played my body like a rare instrument only he knew how to play. He trailed his lips slowly down my neck, the symphony of moans spilling from me as my nails clawed at his shoulders, his own groans echoing with my sounds as he laid sweet open mouthed kisses along my neck and collar.

"Oh, god.. Madara~! I love you!" I moaned, feeling his hips falter for a split second before his pace started to pick up, moving back to my lips as our kisses turned hot and sloppy.

"Say it again." He commanded between kisses, his breathing was turning heavy and his face was flushed, looking like a wet dream by the faces and noises he was making. I knew Madara was a little vocal in bed given the past few weeks, but this was different, like he was letting himself get lost in his pleasure for once.

"I love you! Fuck.. Madara, I love you- so much.." I babbled, repeating the words he wanted to hear over and over again, feeling my stomach tighten as his tip bullied my cervix, my eyes rolling back as he sat up a little, pushing on the back of my thighs more as he started to thrust faster with each word.

"Fuck, baby.." He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as his face scrunched up in pleasure. "Cum for me.. Fuck, please baby, cum.." He said, the rare begging tone of his voice enough to drive me over the edge as I felt the tightness in my stomach burst. I was crying out his name as I came hard, tears streaming down my face as he groaned above me, my walls squeezing him so tight as he made me ride out my orgasm, his pace not faltering for a moment as he chased his own release.

"Madara! Oh god, Madara!" I cried, unable to move with how harshly he was pressing me into the bed, but still loving every second of it.

"That's it.. damnit, you feel so good.." He groaned loudly, leaning down again to steal my lips in a kiss, his hips were pistoning into me by now, the same passion and feverish emotions still heavy in the air as he kissed me. I felt like I was on cloud 9 with him, my body twitching as I cried out from the overstimulation, feeling myself getting close to the edge once more. I was clinging onto him for dear life, my arms wrapped tight around him as my fingers scratched his back, red claw marks in their wake. I could feel myself almost tipping over the edge when suddenly his hand reached down, starting to rub tight and fast circles on my poor clit, my body convulsing as I came, my arousal soaking Madara's thighs and the bed. I cried out into the kiss, my eyes rolling back as I felt him twitch inside me, his thrusts getting sloppy as he neared his peak; he shifted his body weight to hold me down tightly as he roughly thrusted up into me one last time. "Fuck! I love you, Alex!" He groaned out, my eyes widening as I felt that familiar 'pop' I've felt before, followed by his seed filling me as he let out a long moan.

We laid there, panting heavily as we came down from our highs, Madara's face buried in my neck as he laid soft kisses along it, having let my legs down so I could properly wrap my arms around him. I could feel my cunt throbbing but I didn't care, any pain I was in unnoticeable as Madara held me close, my fingers softly running through his hair. I gave him light kisses on the side of his head, sighing in content as we basked in the afterglow; it felt so calm, so peaceful. Like everything was perfect in this moment.

Then I felt something on my neck.

I didn't notice it at first, but as the sensation of water sliding down my collar and shoulder, Madara's shoulders trembling ever so slightly, it became all the more clear as I realized what it was.

Madara.. was, crying..

I wrapped an arm around his waist, another laying on his head as I smoothed out his hair, holding him tight as I peppered light kisses along his skin.

"I love you." I whispered in his ear, his hold on me tightening as he buried his nose into the crook of my neck, more tears soaking my skin. "I love you so, so much." I said, giving him a small squeeze of reassurance as I rubbed his back gently.

"Thank you.." He muttered quietly against my neck.

"Thank you for loving me."

[jackwatters]

Simple Image Adjustments Homework Task

We're taking four images and adjusting them with photoshop, two of which will be black and white. The goal is to play and grow more comfortable using the techniques we used in our previous session.

Each of these photos were taken by me. The reason for this is because I understand my own intentions, while if I took an image from the internet I might be imposing my own preferences on other people's work, I don't really sit well on that.

1

For my first edit I wanted to use this picture of my dad I took on holiday up in Auckland. The image on the left is the unedited original version, and the one on the right is the edited version.

The first goal was to add a curves mask, and then adjust the brightness/contrast of the image.

I've moved the white point across the graph to light up the image and add some highlights, but I noticed if I moved it too far the highlights in the background, and on the hand would get overblown.

I also noticed that even doing so a lot of the clouds got overblown, so I added a gradient which stopped the mask before the clouds.

I've added this warm/cold colour contrast between the shadows and highlights to make the image pop.

2

Here I'm using a landscape photo I took. I decided to first adjust the brightness/contrast.

Just making the bottom collection of houses more present in the photo, while also bringing some darkness to the clouds, reducing the brightness.

I've added this colour balance plus a gradient to colour the clouds a red/purple tint.

I've added another colour balance with a gradient to just colour the houses, where I've coloured them a cool blue to try and contrast with the clouds.

I've added some more gradients to sort of lighten up and bring attention to the land, but I don't think it works very well.

3

Here's a photo of my friends, before and after the edit.

First I increased the brightness on the photo.

I've also added this small gradient around this my friend's head which slightly brings down the brightness as I felt it was a little too bright.

I felt the image was getting a little cold so I brought up the warm colours a little and made the greens pop a bit.

I felt like I added too much colour, so I desaturated the image, and it looks pretty good.

4

Here's a photo of Dunedin I took.

Here I've added some darkness and lightness to the image, putting emphasis on the shadows and lights to really have some strong contrast.

My goal is to contrast the foreground with the blue glow of the city lights. Here I've made it so the gradient only covers the foreground.

Adding a strong cold tint to the background using the photo filter mask. To further emphasise that blue glow.

Further more, I added another layer of warmth to the foreground for extra contrast using another photo filter mask.

And finally, saturating the foreground a little more to add some extra pop to those warm colours.

I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out, though it's important to note I cropped out some grass which really started popping out too much.

Overall, I'd say this helped me build my skills with constant repetition of those core concepts when applying Curve masks, Colour Balance, and Hue/Saturation, even if the content of what I made wasn't entirely what I wanted.

[ilycorisradiata]

as you like it

ಌ as you like it: tartaglia x transmasc!reader

ಌ theme: you meet a stranger at a train station, and your staring is a little too obvious. you both have a mutual agreement, and things lead from one thing to another...

ಌ cw: +18 NSFW, reader is transmasc, no pronouns really mentioned for reader, reader has had top surgery, reader has had no bottom surgery, reader is on T, bottom!reader, top!tartaglia, tart tells reader his real name, tart takes reader into an alleyway, public blowjob (tartaglia receiving), readers clit is referred to as a cock, said cock is sucked by tart lol, vaginal fingering and vaginal sex (but no language such as vagina, pussy or cunt etc, however one mention of lower lips), mating press, accidental creampie, tart doesn’t apologise and calls it hot when cum drips out of you, fingers go back in to keep it there a little longer, reader speaks about past experiences with bad hook up experiences and tart is very sweet, aftercare, cross-posted on AO3, solo edited + slightly edited

ಌ wc: 4.2k

Leaves were dancing around you, standing half-wasted in a practically deserted train station. It was 3 am, not many people were there, and you were thankful for that. After clubbing with friends, you were now standing with hardly any layers of clothing on with the horrendous winds howling around the sheltered area. You shivered, cursing to yourself about not wearing enough, looking in the direction that would tell you about the next train. Why the hell did you think the outfit choice was a good idea? You scolded past you. You did wear said outfit to garner attention at the bars you and your friends went to, but it gained far too much at the club that was a last-minute decision to go to. Women, men, and those who didn’t identify within the binary… They were all asking you out. Well, asking you out as in asking for a one-night stand. You rejected them all.

Hearing the station announcement go off for your train, you sighed in relief and got nearer the edge of the platform. That was mistake number two when it passes you and a cold, harsh wind nearly knocks you over. A hand on the small of your back stops you from toppling over, and you thank the person that helped you. Turning to see a man towering over you with copper hair, with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He nods at you, a ‘no problem’ escaping his lips, and gets onto the train carriage; you following shortly after him.

You decided to stand at the other side, where the doors wouldn’t open until your stop, leaning against them for support. The seats were empty, but you wanted to jump off the train as soon as it got to your stop. You didn’t want to waste time getting to your apartment, just launching into your bed and sleeping the whole day. You took out your phone to tell your friends you got on the train safely and told them that tonight was fun. The man that helped you before was standing at the doors you both entered, turned to the side so he was half facing you. You took a good look at him this time and realised you should’ve said more than just a ‘thank you’. All you could think about was how this man was gorgeous, you’d never seen him around before and you thanked the heavens that they graced you with someone like this late at night. Night? Morning? Who cares. You had literal eye candy in front of you. The lights on the train were dim, considering it was so early in the morning… So, when the light from outside hit him, it made him look amazing. It hit all of his features just right, especially his little dangling earing twinkling and then fading as the light disappeared into the shadows at another turn of the train. The way his leather pants hugged at his thighs were so…

You must’ve been burning a hole in his face, as you saw him dart his eyes in your direction before he quickly looked away again, smirk plastered on his face. You wanted to die right then and there, he totally saw you checking him out. You decided to chance another peak at him, one more look couldn’t hurt, but this time he was fully facing you. It was his turn to stare, burning a hole in your face. Your eyes widened in embarrassment; looking down at your phone and pretending to scroll through twitter. Yeah… trying to sneak another glance at him was a terrible idea. You heard him let out a quick huff from his nose, and you looked up to see him with his eyes closed, smirking yet again. You were giving him the reactions he wanted to see, internally cursing at yourself. Going back to your phone, you continued to scroll aimlessly on Twitter, liking and rolling your eyes at tweets here and there. You weren’t really sure what else to do, looking at the man again was definitely not happening after that embarrassment.

You forgot about the presence for a second, but it felt chillier in the carriage after a few stops. You shivered, looking up from your phone to see the man still staring at you. His eyes swam with something you couldn’t make out, but once another bright light from outside shined into the carriage and onto his face… It looked like total, carnal hunger. This surprised you, you don’t remember ever giving him something to have that look. He’s now pushing himself off the divider beside the doors, making his way over to you.

“I’ve been checking you out.” He’s got his arm above you, leaning it against the divider on this side. You scoff at this, and he arches a brow at you. He’s getting straight to the point… And you get jittery with how this could go. You put your phone away into your pocket, folding your arms and looking up at him.

“You don’t say, you’ve been staring a whole lot longer than I did, Mr…?” You tilt your head at the end of the sentence, wanting to see if the pretty face has a pretty name.

“Ajax– my name is Ajax. And you?” He cocks an eyebrow at you, a smile alongside it. You tell him your name, and he hums nicely to it. “Y/N huh… nice name. I don’t often get the chance to talk to someone… like you.” He looks you up and down, that hungry look reappearing in his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Ajax?” You were sure you heard a low rumble come from his throat, but you passed it off as nothing. He shakes his head.

“Nothing bad, I actually met you in the club. You turned me down after I asked you to hang with me, but I think you were too plastered at that point to remember.” Your mouth opened slightly, you wanted to say something, but you had been approached by so many people that you honestly didn’t remember him ever coming up to you. He continued, “You… probably don’t remember. That’s fine.” He smiles at you, and you just reciprocate it.

“Sorry, I was approached by a lot more people than I thought…” You scratch the back of your neck, and he hums at your apology. The train announces that it was your stop, and so you turn around, head peaking over your shoulder about to tell Ajax that this was your stop. Before you could do that, he got behind you and you felt his hot breath on the back of your neck. You freeze.

“This is my stop.” He whispered in your ear, in a low, sultry voice. You swear your heart was about to pop out of your chest, bolting out the train doors as soon as they opened. Part of you was screaming at you for just running like that, how he probably feels shitty being rejected a second time. You felt a hand grab your forearm, and you turned in a panic. He was scratching his head, looking defeated. You felt bad, so you turned to hear him out.

“Look, darlin’, I’ve been wanting to approach you for a while. We live in the same apartment complex, and you caught my eye too many times to count. So, when I saw you at the club and thought it would be my chance to get to know you, you rejected me. I got excited seeing you here, and you’ve sobered up now so…” He groaned at himself, rambling on and on. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry for scaring you back there without warning. Let’s have some fun, yeah? I’ll make it worth your while.” He looks at you head-on, and you can’t really tell what’s going on in that head of his with that dead looking gaze of his. Your mind was battling amongst multiple different opinions, but you guys were this close all this time? And you didn’t remember seeing this gorgeous man whatsoever? Eyes darting to his crotch, he was sporting a half hard-on. You knew what it entailed, and at this point you were more than up for it. You nodded at him, and he sighed in relief, letting the grip he had on your forearm go. “As much as I liked that you physically agreed, I’m gonna need verbal consent from you.”

“Yeah, show me what you have to offer… Ajax.” He perked up again at you saying his name, hand going onto the small of your back like it did earlier to help you from falling. He was ushering you in the direction of your apartment, and you were kind of glad he was sticking so close. It was freezing, the wind howling around you and Ajax. “Hey, do you mind if you–” Before you could finish that sentence, he already has his jacket draped over your shoulders. You tug at it, happy that you didn’t have to finish that sentence and he was more than willing to give you his jacket. You unconsciously inhaled, realising how he had such an attractive smell to him. Whatever aftershave he was using was to die for, it smelled like heaven. You didn’t see his reaction to you doing this, but he was growing really impatient. His face darkened, and he couldn’t wait any longer.

He dragged you into a nearby alleyway, his back hitting against a wall. Apologising and then shoving you on your knees. He’s quick to unbuckle his pants and pull his cock out, looking at you with dark eyes. You swallowed thickly, how was that going to fit anywhere? “You’re looking surprised at the size, but you’re definitely okay with this before I do anything?” You muttered a 'yeah', completely forgetting you’re outside. You shifted, bringing his cock to your mouth. You looked up at him from below, and you swear you heard that low rumble again. Holding the base of his cock, you licked a long, slow strip up the underside of it. He attempted to grip the wall; he had imagined this so many times in his head. Now that it was finally happening, he was getting greedier with what he wanted to do with you. You could tell how aroused he was simply by how much he was twitching, the amount of precum leaking out. You give his cock head a kiss, latching onto it and swirling your tongue around, hand giving the base a light squeeze. He hums, it sounding a little strained. So, you take him further into your mouth, slowly.

Before you could gradually get used to him, his hand flies to the back of your neck and shoves you further down his cock. You gag and moan in protest of his action, not exactly prepared to take the whole thing just yet. He groans a small ‘sorry’, cock twitching in your throat. Hating the fact all your spit is now violently dribbling down your chin, you grip at his thigh to let you start moving again. He obliges, letting you get back to work. You slowly ease him out your throat, whining at the slight sting that it left behind which sent a shiver through Ajax. You licked and sucked on him like your life depended on it, enjoying finally getting to do what you wanted. He had hissed when you licked along the massive pulsing vein on the side of his cock, and he really, really, wished this would last forever. The look on your face as you were doing it, gobbling him up like he was your last meal. His cock was twitching, and you could tell he was close.

“Gonna cum,” was all he could muster, so you let his cock go with a pop and went to suck on one of his balls instead. You hand jerking him off violently, and he sounds like a broken record with the amount of ‘fuck’s that came out of his mouth. You really didn’t want to admit it, but this had you soaked already. He hadn’t even touched you, and you hadn’t told him that you weren’t cis either. You had gotten so carried away.

You heard talking and footsteps, and this made you panic and remove your head to check they weren’t headed in your direction. Ajax uses this opportunity to pull your head back towards his cock again, shoving a little more than the tip in and spilling into your mouth. A torch was shining toward you both, blinding you in the process.

“Is somebody there?” A voice called out. You swallowed, not really having time to think before you’re being pulled back up onto your feet and rushed towards your apartment like you were originally meant to do. You thanked God that you somehow got away and realised just how risky doing that outside was. You were sure that was the police patrolling the area, you could’ve both been in massive trouble if you’d been caught but part of you was jittery and excited from it.

Before you knew it, you were standing in front of an unknown door, and you heard keys jingling beside you. You looked over, seeing Ajax fumbling to open his door. You snorted, and this earned you a look you couldn’t quite put a finger on. He’d finally slammed the door open, dragging you in by the hand. This was the first time he’d finally held your hand, and it was big, warm. Is everything about this man just large? You seemed to be forgetting something before you were dragged into his bedroom and pushed onto the bed. He was kissing you so tenderly, which was a total contrast to how desperate he had been to have your mouth wrapped prettily around his cock that he shoved it all the way into your throat without warning. You hummed into the kiss, and his hands wandered all over you. Stopping the kiss to push your top off of you, he hummed at the sight. Thumbing over one of your nipples, you shiver. His hands slid down your torso to your belt, and just before he could unbuckle it you froze, grabbing his wrist. He was confused, looking into your eyes.

“I- I have something to say before we continue...” Looking away from his face to where you held his wrist. He hummed, loosening his hold on your belt in the process. “I’m trans, and I don’t have the same… parts as you do.” You peaked at his face, hoping the reaction wouldn’t be awful. Trying to bite down any dread or anxiety. You squeezed your eyes shut waiting for the inevitable, what happens every time you go to hook up with someone. A huff escaped his mouth, and your belt was being unbuckled again.

“Sweetheart, I’m glad you had the courage to tell me but… All that’s going through my head right now is how much I want to bury myself inside of you.” His eyes are on you, and you swear whatever air you had in your lungs had been knocked out full force by his response. You felt giddy again, that anxiety of being rejected totally dissipating. Letting him undress you fully, and he’s quick to strip himself as well. You noticed something sparkling on his chest, and you swear if you weren’t already aroused at the sight of him then you definitely were now. His nipples were pierced, and you swiped your thumbs over both of them. He smirked down at you, “Like what you see?”

“Mhm. That’s hot, Ajax,” You grinned back, and he was quick to go down on you. Kissing down your abdomen, situating himself between your legs. Pulling your thighs to sit atop his shoulders, he latches his mouth onto your little cock and swirls his tongue. Panting, your hand flies to grab a fistful of his orange hair. You tug, humming when he sucks and licks you slowly. It doesn’t take him long to add a finger into the mix, working you open. You never knew these noises could escape from you, of all people. His finger was thick, and the way he curled it upwards… He was truly doing things to you. Humming around your cock, he adds another finger in. You felt the stretch this time, not knowing if you should curse or praise the fact and he seemed to be enjoying all your reactions as he picked up the pace. He was unrelenting with curling his fingers, the other hand snaking its way to sit at your abdomen, holding you down from bucking against his hand. He pops off your nub, giving it a long lick. You were whining, so so close.

“You’re absolutely soaking, darlin’. Do you hear that? That’s all you.” He was knuckles deep, the noises were obscene when he was pumping in and out. He pulled out slightly, adding a third finger. You didn’t know what to do with yourself, squirming in his strong hold and whimpering his name over and over. He was working his fingers in and out of you so nicely, hitting the bundle of nerves inside of you. He latches himself back onto your cock, sucking and giving it light nips that sent jolts through you. One final curl of his fingers had you coming undone, squirting all over his fingers and his chin. He pumps his fingers a few more times, before removing them and popping them into his mouth, licking them clean. Removing your thighs on his shoulders, he sits back onto his knees.

He’s quick to reach into his drawer, grabbing some lube. Squirting some onto his cock, pumping it a couple times before lining up to your entrance. He looks at you, and you nod a little too enthusiastically. He was too impatient to ask for verbal consent, slowly pushing into you. You really wondered if three fingers were enough to work you open, as you felt the burn still as he pushed his cock past the tight entrance. He hums in satisfaction, before gripping your hips with both hands and thrusting himself further into you with no word of warning. Bottoming out, he knocked against your cervix, and you swear he’d grown bigger since earlier on in the alleyway. He stills, grunting as you squeeze around him.

“Shit− You’re so fuckin’ tight… Gonna fuck you good, okay? But pet, shit, you need to loosen up a bit.” His grip tightening and loosening on your hips, abdomen rubbing ever so sweetly against your cock. He let get used to it, of course, taking in his full size. He pulled back slightly, free hand rubbing and jerking your little cock to try and get you to relax. You moaned loudly, hips bucking towards him. You still weren’t loosening enough for him to be confident in not hurting you and so he’s bending over to kiss you again. Tongue swiping over your bottom lip, and you open your mouth nicely for him. He wastes no time in devouring you, licking the inside of your mouth and groaning into the kiss that gets messy. He makes a mental note that you finally relaxed, so his hands go to the back of your knees, and he breaks the kiss. You whine, wanting his mouth back on yours. He all but smiles at you, before practically folding you in half into a mating press, with your knees beside your head. Pulling out nearly all the way, he looks at you and licks his lips. Your eyes widened as he slams back into your heat and a strangled moan fails to fully leave your mouth.

His hips were unrelenting, a bruising pace as he fucks you into his bed like he was on a mission to have you in a different one… Like one in a fucking hospital. He’s grunting more wildly, calling you all sorts of pretty names as he absolutely wrecks you. This was the first time that you’d been fucked like this, and God you hoped there was more to come between you and Ajax. There was actually, as you came again and again on his cock, lathering it up continuously.

“Fuck, so good. Look at the mess you’re making… Gorgeous, think you could keep creaming on my cock like you are?” You whined at him, and he smirked back at you. Tears were pricking at your eyes, the friction he was giving you against your cock as he slammed into you was dizzying. One hand flew behind you, the bedsheets in your hand tight in a vice-like grip and the other hand slapped over your mouth muffling your erratic moans. You heard that rumble again coming from him, one of the hands from behind your knees swiftly moving to rip your hand from your mouth and your moans were obscenely loud. He didn’t seem to care, as he pressed your mouth open and laid his thumb flat against your tongue. “Don’t cover up your pretty voice, I‘wanna hear it,” There was no way you hadn’t woken up the neighbours at this point, and now there were tears and drool running down your face as he pressed down onto your tongue firmly. Sounding oh so whiney and needy, he changed the position slightly so that it was less taxing on your back. You clenched around him again and came… again. He hadn’t even cum once yet, and you really wondered how far he could go without doing so. You felt his hips stuttering, however, cock pulsing and twitching inside of you. You started clenching around him more consistently, trying to coax him to give in already.

“Fuck−” Was all you heard before you felt a rush of fluid in you. Rope after rope, your eyes widened as you realised what had happened. He removed himself, from your hole as well as the thumb in your mouth, looking at you all proud. He pulled one of your lower lips to the side, the cum oozing out of you. “Hot.” Was all he said, not apologising for cumming in you, shoving his fingers in to keep it in a bit longer. You felt embarrassed, covering your face and groaning. He hesitates before pulling his fingers out and wiping them on his thigh. He hauls you up, whispering something along the lines of getting you cleaned up. Being carried to the bathroom, you bury your face in the crook of his neck and bite down hard. He yelps and you snort at his reaction. He smacks your thigh for it, placing you down.

“You need to pee; I’ll get a warm cloth, okay?” You nodded, and he hummed as he walked back out to find a cloth. You did as you were told. But now that you had a couple minutes alone, everything hit you like a truck. You were smiling like a maniac, realising that Ajax was the first one to ever react in that way. He wanted you, and something like that didn’t phase him. He wanted you because it was you. You didn’t hear him come back through, and he's speaking to you. Not hearing anything he was saying, he knelt in front of you and took your hands in his.

“Hey? You listening? What’re you smiling about?” He cocks his head to the side, and you swear you could see dog ears and a tail wagging at you. His face didn’t scream any type of emotion in general at this point, but you could just tell he was happy.

“Sorry, I just− Fuck, I’ve never had anyone react… I don’t know… Normal? To me admitting I’m trans? Especially before we were about to get more intimately involved.” He looks at you earnestly, humming after you explained.

“I mean, I was expecting you to hit me, curse me out, or even just throw me outside half-naked.”

“Well, comrade, I wouldn’t do that. You being trans doesn’t change the fact that I wanted you. You were brave as fuck; I obviously don’t understand fully how difficult it was to do that… And the fact you’ve probably had to say that every time you’ve had a potential hook up? I would’ve given up way before.” He huffs through his nose, his thumbs stroking the backs of your hands. The gesture, the way he spoke, and just everything were too good. How on earth you scored someone like this tonight was beyond you, and you were nervous that this was maybe the last time.

“Can you let me clean you up now? Gotta clean you out too, yeah?” He stands up, moving to go get the cloth. You stand up, and he comes back to wipe you down. Carefully removing the cum from you, kissing your forehead once he was done.

“Also, before I forget,” He speaks up again, and you look at his face.

“Yeah?”

“There’ll be plenty more where that all came from. Let’s not make this a one-night thing, yeah?” Your dumb, gay brain immediately saw that as a proposal. Wide eyes, mind immediately planning your wedding, you smack your cheeks. He’s startled by this reaction, cocking an eyebrow at you.

“Yes! I mean, of course. Sorry. My brain was moving faster than I could process.” He snorts, nodding and repeating the action he did twice before, hand on the small of your back but this time guiding you back to the bedroom for much needed rest.

[mikkomacko]

Home For Christmas

Steve Rogers x reader oneshot

Warnings: none

A/N: This was just a little something I was able to get out of my brain. Hoping it'll help me get writing more. It's super fluffy Steve Rogers coming home from a mission and I hope it makes y'all as happy as it made me <3

~

Thick flakes of snow gather on his shoulders, melt in the whisps of his hair making it stick to his forehead. The boots of his uniform crunch on the sidewalk, the only sound floating in the nighttime air of New York City. Everything gets quieter when it snows, gentle and soft. It's one of his favorite things about this weather. Usually the city is rowdy and chaotic, voices and car brakes squealing in his eardrums. The serum made his ears sensitive, something not a lot of people realize, so he appreciates the moments in which his ears don't feel like they're bursting.

Though he's exhausted, Steve let's himself take a moment to enjoy the scene around him. Shop windows painted with cartoon-like snowmen and boughs of Holly, big bubbles letters wishing all a happy holiday. Balconies twinkle with lights of all colors, dulled by the layer of white that's been building up since he landed at the tower a couple of hours ago.

He smiles, whisps of smoke floating up with every breath that leaves his lips. Before the serum, Steve would've never ventured out in a snow storm at 3 am. He'd be tempted to, but the phantom pain of past pneumonia and illnesses usually stopped him. Now though, he can sleep out here in the snow if he wanted and not have to worry about a thing. And he's so tired he feels like he could sleep right here but he's got too much waiting for him, too much he's been aching for.

Shaking off the drowsiness, Steve picks up the pace to make it the last two blocks. He's extra careful as he kicks off the snow on his boots, stepping into the lobby of the building. He'd hate to wake up any of the kids sleeping, especially on a night like tonight. Silent feet carry him up the stairs, his hand digging into his chest pocket for the key to the door.

The sight of the twinkling wreath on the door makes him sigh heavily, the weight of the past 4 days lifting off his shoulders. The memory of her giggle echoes in his mind, recalling how he much he fought with the hook on the door the day they hung that wreath up. He hadn't found the struggle as funny as she had, not that it matters. When she's happy and smiling, nothing matters but her.

Shadows dance on the walls of the apartment when he steps in, the front door softly clicking behind him before he twists the lock. Lines of multicolored Christmas lights light up the path to the living room, guiding him home. Steve doesn't hesitate to unlatch the shield from his back, propping it up against the wall and then prying off his boots and placing them next to it.

The background chatter of a TV commercial silences, replaced by the magical ringing of jingle bells. Steve let's the sound lull him, dragging his feet down the short hallway, past the dark kitchen and into the living room.

Tiny orange flames flick in the electric fireplace, washing the room in a soft glow. Two stockings hang from the mantle, the one on the left embroidered with his name and hers on the right. Steve had been the one to hang them, chest swelling with pride when he joked about being on her left and she laughed until her eyes watered and her face flushed.

Smiling, Steve pries his arms out of his suit, lifting the vest and undershirt over his head in one go. The heavy fabric drops to the floor with a thunk, melted snow sprinkling the floor. Steve pays it no mind, eyes dancing over the tree in the corner of the room. White twinkle lights fluttering through the shine of silver garland and reflecting off glass ornaments. Packages topped with bows lay underneath it, a stack he wrapped laying in the front. He placed them there before he left, praying to God he'd be back in time to give them to her.

His tactical belt is the next thing to hit the ground, adding to the pile he's begun. His combat pants follow, wet cloth dropping to his ankles so he can lazily kick them off. The warmth of the fire licks at his calves, the heat pleasant and welcome, but not the comfort he's looking for.

The Santa Clause plays on the TV, a sleigh and reindeer floating through a sky of snow, much like the one right outside the window. The volume is low and soft, just enough to keep the room from being silent but he's certain no human could actually pick up on what's being said. If he wanted to he could listen, but his mind is preoccupied as he tugs off his thick socks and throws them to the floor as well.

Under the quilt from their bed comes the sound of her breaths, a pile of fabric on the couch. Steve feels guilty seeing her there, knowing she hates sleeping in their bed without him. If he could, he would never leave that bed. Spend every moment left of his extended life between warm sheets, soaking in the feeling of her skin against his. He's always found comfort in the feel of her body pressed into his, skin soft compared to the scratchiness of clothes and blankets that's he's learned to ignore.

His bones ache to feel her again, the lay his head on her chest and feel it rise with each breath, hear her heartbeat so clearly he can feel it in his toes. It drives him to move closer to the couch, careful as he peels back the blanket covering her. She doesn't stir, doesn't even react when he lowers his tired body to the cushions beneath her. Red pajamas pants patterned with Santa hats and snowflakes cover her legs, and much to his relief all she wears with it is a black comfort bra.

A strangled whimper catches in his throat, Steve's eyes watering at the sight of her. He can't even explain how light he feels in this moment, how relieved he is to be back with her. It wasn't a long mission, but it was difficult. And it came at a time when he wanted nothing more than to just be existing with her in their home.

The cry he tried to muffle is what wakes her, just enough for her to realize that a warm hand is sifting through her hair and his large frame is sinking them further into the cushions.

"M'sorry sweetheart," he apologizes when she rolls to hear back, eyebrows pinching together in confusion. Steve squishes himself next to her, propping up on one elbow while he tucks himself under the blanket. "s'just me. No need to get up, s'just me."

Her body melts into his, instinctively snuggling into him when he rests a heavy arm over her waist. Steve presses a gentle kiss to her forehead, dragging his lips down the side of her pillow marked face. She smells of gingerbread and his body wash, skin warm and soft. He ghosts his lips over her parted mouth.

"Steve?"

He hums in confirmation, fully pressing his mouth to hers. Sluggish and uncoordinated with sleep, she lazily puckers her lips, returning his affection. He grins, relaxing back into the couch as she snuggles into his chest, nose pressed into his collar bone. His hands find her waist, fingers digging into the supple flesh as he pulls her further on top of him, bare skin soothing the homesickness that plagued him.

"Missed you so much," she whispers, breath hot on his skin. "thought you wouldn't be back."

His eyes have already fallen shut, sleep pulling at him heavily now that he's home with his best girl. He ghosts his finger tips up her spine. "Missed ya too baby," he confirms "couldn't handle another second gone."

His words seem to relax her because she sinks further into him, her breathing growing steady and rhythmic again as she falls back asleep. Steve tucks his nose into the messy whisps of her hair, drowning his senses in her. Soft skin under his fingertips, heart beating in his ears, and her welcoming scent tickling his nose, Steve let's himself fall into the depths of sleep, relieved that he's made it home for Christmas.

[falling-pages]

A hug and chicken noodle soup: Takashi x Reader

Feel better @ohshcscenerios <3

-

Maybe love was as simple as a hug and chicken noodle soup.

-

Takashi Morinozuka x Reader

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Warnings: None

-

Takashi was not used to being disobeyed.

The national martial arts champion, head of his own security firm, and father of three was used to holding power in his massive hands, for the room to fall silent at his command. He made the decisions, though with valid input from others, but he was the top dog, the one on whose authority they relied. Respect emanated from his veins, care and courage were his pedestal. When he gave an order, it was for the greater good of his company, or the safety of those he loved.

So when he returned home to find you washing the dishes, he was absolutely livid.

Not at your disobedience, per se. He was used to your sass, your jokes, your spitfire ways. Fourteen years of marriage would do that to a person, especially one as easygoing as him. But at your abject defiance, going against his advice for your own good--did you not trust him?

“What are you doing?”

You dropped the cup you were washing, the water splashing against your apron and the wall in retaliation. Soap bubbles clung to your arms, and with your deer-in-headlights stare, one would have thought he had just caught you stealing the Hope Diamond rather than just a simple chore.

“Takashi, I…” you sputter, wiping strands of hair away from your face. They had escaped from the bundle atop your head and creased your neck and forehead, though sticking with sweat or water he couldn’t be sure. If it were sweat, so help him, he was going to tie you down to the bed himself.

He left the shadows of the threshold and walked noiselessly towards you, groceries weighing heavily in his hands. You dare not move, pinned to the spot by his steely gaze. Your husband was a quiet man, not often prone to outbursts of emotions despite a wildly passionate heart. But like a predator towards prey, he came closer, until you saw the disappointment lining his brow.

Disappointment was always worse than anger.

But when he approached you, so close you could feel the energy radiating off his skin, so close but not touching, all that was left in his eyes was concern, a worried quirk on his lips that left knots in your stomach. Kindness framed him as he set down the groceries, took a towel, and wiped down your arms, leaving them soft and dry.

“I thought I told you to get some rest, love,” he whispered.

You swallowed, wincing at the ache in your throat. “I tried, I really did, but this was the only time I could get some chores done,” you whined. “The kids are with your parents this weekend, and it’s finally quiet and I can do stuff without worrying about watching them--”

“My parents took the children because you’re sick,” he responded, voice measured and even. His tone was stark, hands lingering on your wrist. Not tight enough to bruise, but enough to remind you of his strength. “You need to rest. I told you I would do the dishes once I got back.”

“But I--”

“Darling.”

His eyes flickered with hurt, and though he was never a man prone to begging, he would do anything to stop you hurting. Every weak inhale you took he felt in his own lungs, trapped and weak and congested. With the raging fever you were sporting this morning, it was a wonder you were even standing right now.

With a sigh, you let the dish fall into the puddle and stepped off your footstool--everything in this house was freakishly tall to accommodate his height--as he untied your apron, hanging it on the peg behind you. While his hands wandered around your waist, enjoying how you felt in his embrace, he bent to press a kiss behind your ear.

“I hate it when you’re hurting,” he murmured.

His warm voice broke through the gauze wrapping around your brain, and you sighed, relaxing against his chest. So warm, the only stable thing in your swimming vision.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” you said.

“Yes there is.” He scooped you up in his arms, bridal style, and smashed his mouth against your neck, kissing and nuzzling your sweaty skin. “Go to bed, and I’ll make you some soup.”

Despite your squeals, broken and congested before they left your mouth, hiccupped and weak, you didn’t push him away, finally letting him baby you into bed. He walked seamlessly to your bedroom and pulled back the covers with you still clinging to his neck. As he lowered you down, you could have cried at how soft the sheets felt, cool silk against your sore muscles, warmth immediately drawing you into sleep. He layered the blankets on top of you before walking to the other side of the bed, climbing in and drawing the sheets around him before spooning you back against his chest.

His arms were rapture in and of themselves, an escape from your burning head and weak lungs, so tight and strong that you knew he would keep you safe from any sickness trying to harm you. His gentle breaths against your ear calmed your heart, tickling that part of your brain that sparked with love. Even as his lips traveled across your cheek you could barely find the energy to scold him.

“Taka,” you whined, as seriously as your hoarse voice would let you. “Stop...you’ll get sick…”

“I’ll be fine,” he whispered, smooth and comforting like chocolate or rain. Another kiss to your temple, slicking down to the underside of your jaw. “My body has been through worse.”

Though that much was true, it still irritated you. How could he reprimand you for disobeying him and then not even listen when you do the same?

“‘S not the same,” you mumble. “Being shot is a different kind of pain, I’d imagine.”

Takashi chuckled against your neck. Your mind traced over the diagram of his body, the scars stretching across his chest and neck, dyeing his hands and striping through his legs. His line of work was dangerous, full of deceit and corruption, but you knew he’d never have it any other way. “You’re right, my love. A bullet hurts like hell.” He wrapped you so tight you almost couldn’t breathe, but you welcomed the loving suffocation. “But I’d take them all over again if it meant you and our little ones were safe.”

Grisly and gruesome though his words were, they comforted you, lulled you into the security that he worked so hard to provide. Though you prayed it would never come to it, you knew he would lay down his life in a second to ensure yours or your children’s happiness. He even showed his love in less extreme ways--for example, forcing you to rest, holding you as you slept, even at the risk of his own health.

Over and over again you were amazed at the selfless love of the man you married.

Before you could even stop it, the tears were falling from your eyes, stinging the hot skin of your cheeks. Your heart felt full to bursting, and its hammering through your chest didn’t help at all. The world felt full of sunlight yet you clinched your eyes shut to keep in the tears, but they didn’t fool him.

Takashi felt you shake and quickly turned you over onto your back, laying you beneath him as he hovered above, one hand wiping your tears as the other held fast to your waist. “Look at me,” he whispered, the urgency in his voice making your eyes pop open. He stroked your cheek, running his finger along your nose, cooing and shushing until your gaze met his. And as soon as you saw that beautiful smile split his tan face, you knew everything would be okay.

“There she is,” he whispered, tenderly stroking beneath your eye. “Does it hurt that badly?”

“No,” you whispered. “It’s not the fever. It’s the feeling of being loved so terribly.”

Never a man of words, he furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I love you so, so much.” A dry sob creases out your throat. “I’m so glad I married you, and I’m so glad you’re the father of my kids, and I’m so glad I not only know, but get to love such a wonderful man for the rest of my life.”

He chuckled at your delirious confession, words he had all heard before but sounded more tender in the context of your sickness. Such tenderness in your voice soothed the aches and quells of his body, the wounds he had sustained inside and out during his life, until all that was left was you with a rag and antiseptic and a bandage. He adored you so deeply that though he wanted to hear you say more, it was imperative that you rest.

“I’m so blessed to have you by my side. I love you,” he whispered, giving you a gentle kiss. He frowned at how hot your lips were and resigned himself for the afternoon. “Go to sleep, beloved. When you wake, I’ll make you soup.”

“Okay,” you mumbled, the crying finally tuckering you out. Pliantly, you rolled back over onto your side, and he laid back behind you, guiding your head to rest against his bicep and laying his other arm over your waist. As you drifted back off to sleep, you could only think of one thing.

Love really could be as simple as a hug and chicken noodle soup.

-

Kofi