#shadow monster x reader lemon

[lizzieolseniskinda]

TOM RIDDLE - soulmates don’t exist PT. 1

part one | two | three - x FEM!reader (POC!friendly)

(requests open)

SUMMARY: everything changes for you when snape gives you a certain memory. will you be able to do the task that dumbledore has given you?

WORD COUNT: 2335

GENRE: angst-ish (but not really)

CONTENT WARNING: soulmate & time travel au, english is not my first language

IB: people who used to make this wattpad stories, i used to ate those upppp🫣 & i love the tom hughes, tom riddle smmm

the air was thick, it smelled like blood and burning wood everywhere. the echoes of the battle was ringing faintly in the distance. hidden away from the chaos, severus snape laid crumpled on the cold floor, his body slick with blood, life slipping away from him with each passing second.

voldemort left him to die, discarded like a broken tool. nagini’s venom coursed through his veins, its poison cruelly efficient, and yet snape’s eyes remained sharp. his gaze was fixated on harry, standing just a few steps away, his face pale with shock and confusion. snape’ focus wavered as he turned his eyes weakly, finding you - your form trembling as you knelt beside him, your heart shattering at the sight.

you might not have the best bond with a teacher like snape, but never would you wish death upon someone.

“take it.. you both..” snape rasped, his voice a whisper and urgent. deep within his cloak, he pulled out one small vial and one small potion-like bottle. his hands shook as he reached for his own tear-streaked face. slowly he collected the silvery drops that clung there, memories shimmering with an otherworldly glow.

harry kneeled down beside you now, watching in silence, his confusion giving way to a deeper understanding. snapes dark eyes locked into yours as he extended the vial towards you.

“you need to.. know the truth.”

tears of your own spilled down your cheeks as you took the vial from his trembling hand. “you… were meant to change it all.” he whispered hoarsely

“you can save him.. save everyone. but only if you understand what must be done. the sacrifices you’ll have to take."

the weight of the vial suddenly felt heavier than before, as you sat beside snape’s lifeless body. his final words were echoing in your mind.

harry’s face was pale and grief-stricken. his eyes met yours and for a moment, neither of you spoke.

“we have to go,” harry said, his voice hoarse, snapping you out of your daze. he looked down at the vial of silvery liquid in your hand. “the pensieve. we need to see what he left for us.”

“yeah,” was the only thing you could mutter out, your throat was tight with a mixture of fear and urgency. without another word, both of you scrambled to your feet.

fires flickered in the distance, casting eerie shadows across the grounds and hallways as the final battle raged on.

harry led the way, his steps quick with you right behind him, clutching the vial so tightly in your hand that you though it might shatter at any given moment.

“we have to hurry,” he urged over his shoulder. “whatever’s in these memories, it’s important. snape wouldn’t have-“ his voice was caught in his throat.

you only nodded, your mind spinning with snape's last words. “you can save him.. but only if you know what must be done.”

save who? harry? voldemort? was there a part of tom riddle still left inside the monster he had become? and how were you connected to him? why you in the first place?

you reached the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to dumbledore's office. harry barely paused to spit out the password.

“sherbet lemon!”

the gargoyle sprang to life, and the two of you rushed up the spiral staircase, out of breath.

dumbledore's office had a heavy scent of old parchment and burning candle wax filled in the air. you and harry stood side by side, breathing heavily from the sprint through the castle. the weight of the vial, now emptied, felt almost meaningless in your hands. your heart pounded in your chest.

harry held your gaze briefly, his eyes filled with an emotion you couldn't quite place. "let's do this," he said, his voice straining slightly. you nodded in return, your throat too tight to speak. together, you leaned over the pensieve, letting you be pulled into the swirling memories.

the world around you started shifting, and suddenly, you were in the same office, just a few things placed differently.

before you could take your surroundings in further, you noticed him - severus snape, somewhat younger, his dark hair still hanging around his face. you and harry exchanged a look. snape stood rigid before dumbledore's desk, his expression (as always) unreadable.

"this is madness, albus," snape spat, his voice low and venomous. "you're going to send her back in time, while you know she will not be able to return? she will be trapped there - forever. a time turner cannot help her."

dumbledore leaned back in his chair, in his hand a quill as he gazed at snape with a somber, almost mournful expression. "i understand your anger, severus, but there is no other way." you took note of how snape looked younger but not that much younger. you saw the gash in his leg, and guessed this would've taken place during first year

"she doesn't know, does she?" snape's voice cut off your train of thought. "no, she does not," albus replied softly. "and it is better that way, for now."

'she' - that was you. this memory was about you. you felt your heart skip a beat.

"you're asking her to do the impossible - to change him. tom riddle cannot be saved. he was already lost when you met him in the orphanage."

"perhaps," dumbledore replied. "but she must try. if there is even the smallest of chance to alter the course of his soul, it is through her."

snape gave a slight scoff. "if she is to succeed, she must know everything!" you never realised how much he cared for you and your friends. "but you told her nothing of this?"

dumbledore's eyes flicker towards the parchment in front of him. "when the time is right, she shall know what to do." dumbledore sighed, rising from his chair. "and do not worry, she will know, severus, but not before the right time."

snape's face twisted in frustration. "and if she fails? what then?"

"her connection to tom riddle is delicate, and should she go back into the past with full knowledge, it could endanger everything. the balance between them is fragile,' dumbledore explained.

harry's hand clenched beside you, his breath quickening. "go back in time?" he whispered, echoing the questions that were swirling in your own mind. snape turned sharply, "you're asking too much of her," he said through gritted teeth. "sending her back into time, to tom riddle's fifth year... if she doesn't succeed in making him-"

"-experience love," dumbledore finished saying. "love is the key, severus." you felt as though the ground had dropped out from beneath you. tom riddle - love? that would be impossible, is this what dumbledore had planned for you all along? to go back into the past, to love a young tom riddle before he became lord voldemort.

"how.. how could anyone make riddle love someone?" i whispered to harry.

"you are condemning her to live out her days in a time that's not her own! she won't even be able to return! you've bound her to the past," snape stressed.

the headmaster's gaze grew sharper, though there was still that calm weight behind it. "she is connected to tom riddle in ways we cannot fully understand. if there is hope for him, it lies in her hands - her influence. but no, severus, she cannot come back. the magic involved in sending her back is ... irreversible."

"you will send her to a monster! to a boy who will grow to become the dark lord," snape sneered. "what happens if she doesn't succeed in her task?"

dumbledore's eyes closed for a moment. "if she cannot reach him... if he's heart remains as closed as it is now, then yes, voldemort will rise like he did. and our fate is sealed."

snape looked up at him. "you truly believe she can save him?"

dumbledore's eyes glinted, the faintest trace of hope dancing behind them. "i believe she is the only one who can." his voice dropped to a whisper, "she will remain in that time, she will live there, bound to the past..."

after the sensation finally stopped, you and harry found yourselves back in the present. the glow of the pensieve slowly faded, leaving only the silence of the room.

you stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what you had just witnessed - the conversation between snape and dumbledore. the weight of it hung heavy in the air, pressing down on you both.

"You stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what you had just witnessed — the conversation between Snape and Dumbledore. The weight of it hung heavy in the air, pressing down on you both.

"if you go, you can't come back," harry whispered , almost to himself, as thoug saying it out loud would make it reality. his face was pale, "once you go back into riddle's time... you're stuck there. forever."

"and if i fail..." your voice shook as the truth finally settled in. "if i can't change him, you'll have to battle him. harry, you'll die."

his eyes snapped to yours, and for a moment, he seemed as lost as you were. he ran a hand through his hair, pacing in front of dumbledore's desk. "i don't understand, dumbledore.. snape.. they planed all of this-" he stopped, turning to face you. "how are you supposed to change tom riddle?"

you shook your head, "i don't know, harry. i don't know how i'm supposed to make him love or.. stop him from becoming voldemort. what if i can't even do it?"

harry stepped toward you, his expression softening, though his own fear was palpable. "you've faced worse, right? you've fought death eaters. you survived this war with us, if anyone can do it, it's you," harry finished saying. "but i hate that it has to be you."

the weight of his words hung between the two of you.

"i don't- dumbledore said we were connected somehow, that we're soul-bound, basically... but what if that's not enough?"

harry's jaw tightened, frustration breaking through his calm. "its unfair! it's always unfair with him!" harry raised his arms. "he expects too much. first me, now you! he's always asking us to make these impossible choices."

you nodded, and your heart ached at harry's raw emotion. "i can't let you die, harry," you stated softly. "i can't stand by and watch that happen."

he shook his face fiercely, stepping closer so his hands gripped your shoulders. "and i can't let you go back in time, knowing you'll never come home."

for a moment, the two of you stood like that, caught between the devastating choice laid before you. you could feel the pull of what needed to be done.

"if this is the only way, then we'll find a way to make it work. we'll figure out how to change him, how to make him love. we'll do it together," harry nodded, sure of his plan.

you smiled through tears, "harry, once i go, i'll be alone."

his grip tightened on your shoulders. "you won't be alone. you've never been alone in this.you'll have everything we've ever fought for - the memories. and more than that.. you'll have hope."

tears were threatening to leave your eyes, but you swallowed them back. you nodded at harry.

harry took the small potion out of his jacket pocket. the liquid inside was an ethereal, shimmering gold, glowing faintly in the dim of the room. the potion, the one that would send you back in time - and trap you there.

your hands shook as you took the potion from harry. the glass feeling cold in your palm, the moment had come, and it was terrifying. once you drank it, you knew there would be no turning back, no returning to the world and people you once knew. no more friends, no more future. only the past, that would become your future

harry shifted beside you, "are you sure about this?" he asked, his voice low. there was a plea in his words, though he wasn't trying to stop you. he couldn't. he knew as well as you did that this was the only way.

"i don't have a choice," you whispered back, your voice shaking. you gave him a small nod, though your heart still pounded in your chest. you uncorked the bottle the faint scent of something sweet filled the air. the liquid seemed almost alive, swirling around.

you took one last look at harry, locking the image of his face - strong, determined, your best friend.this might be the last time you'd ever see him.

"i'll miss you," you whispered, barely able to say the words. harry's eyes glistened, but he gave a small resolute nod. "i'll miss you too."

with a final breath, you raised the vial to your lips. the liquid was warm, surprisingly smooth as it slid down your throat. at first, it didn't feel like something was happening. but then the warmth began to spread, starting in your chest and slowly moving through your body.

the world around you started to blur, and a dizzying sensation took over. harry's voice was distant now, "its happening."

your vision blurred, you could feel time itself shifting, bending, pulling you away from the present and hurling you backwards, into the past.

it was overwhelming, as though your existence was being unraveled and re-made into a different planet. you feared you might lose yourself entirely.

and then, everything came to a hurtling stop. the warm feeling of the potion faded, replaced by a cool, crisp breeze against your skin. you opened your eyes, heart still pounding, and took in your surroundings.

it felt so familiar yet completely different. hogwarts stood tall, the grounds were more pristine, untouched by the war, by the battles you grew so accustomed to. the castle's windows shimmered, and the air smelled fresh.

at last, you were in the past.

[dilatorywriting]

Monster Mayhem: Donkeys & Dragons [PART 4]

Gender Neutral Reader x Malleus Draconia Word Count: 6.7k

Summary: 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon.'

🌶️Obligatory Warning for Some Descriptions of Violence & Mild Suggestive Content

[PART 1] [PART 2] [PART 3] [PART 4] [EPILOGUE]

As detestable as they were, at the very least your assailants were well organized.

You were plopped neatly at the center of the room, in a very conspicuous location that would have made it difficult for a hypothetical someone to, say, just flat-out torch everything in sight without also catching his very tiny, mortal, companion up in said firestorm.

The group of them split off to tend to their tasks with a frankly shocking level of competence and foresight. Was this how adventurers were actually supposed to work? They didn’t just—I don’t know—saunter into an abandoned castle on a whim and a prayer, with no real end goal in sight and nothing but the perpetual bounding of a singular, shared, braincell to keep them on their toes? There was a plan? What was this madness.

“How much time do you think we have?” one of them called, busy working to set up some sort of wire trap that, in your humble ‘I have faced this legendary dragon and survived’ opinion, looked like it would do exactly diddly squat.

“Enough,” the Elf Wizard shrugged, thin arms crossed tight across his equally gaunt chest. “These vermin don’t have the same concept of time as we do. It may return soon, but we may also be waiting hours.”

Hours? Hours? You fought the urge to groan. And then remembered it hardly mattered if you did or not, because you were still trapped in a bubble of perpetual Silence, and that just made you want to groan louder.

Assumed-Rogue nodded tersely in response and continued constructing his pseudo-trap. The long, red, stripes of his sleeves were odd things—very in-your-face bold for a dude whose job you assumed it was to slip through shadows unseen. But then you noticed that the threads he was spinning were pooling from those slashes of crimson, and alright, that was fairly cool. ‘Your failure of a stealthy design gets a pass this time, good sir.’

“You’re certain this is one of the Briar Beasts, Lord Flamm?” Armored Lady piped in, busy shifting through the various swords strapped at her hip.

“Of course,” he hummed, flicking through his spell tome. “Have I ever led you astray before?”

Armored Dude snorted from his place across the room. “You’re not the issue. I just have trouble believing one of those monsters would still be alive at all after all this time.”

‘Lord Flamm’ snorted. “And why not? They’re like cockroaches—thriving through the worst of the world and gorging themselves on its corruption. This one is no different.”

Your brows twitched irritably.

Thankfully, Silence was not an indefinite spell. And after about ten minutes of muzzled misery, you felt its sticky, gauzy, gunk wash itself out of your throat.  

“I’m getting the impression that you’re really not a fan of dragons,” you said, testing your volume.

Lord Flamm stared down at you with a hawk-eyed sort of sneer. His pale, green, glare felt like a tangible thing crawling along your skin.

“They are unnatural,” he huffed after a moment. “No creature should walk the planes of this world for such a great span of time. Immortality is a perverse transgression against the sanctities of life and existence.”

“You are literally an Elf,” you replied, incredulous. His face scrunched up like you’d forced a whole lemon into his mouth, and then he dropped another dome of Silence over your head.

Another ten minutes crawled by, and words returned to your tongue.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit hypocritical?” you hummed, casually testing the arcane restraints binding your limbs. Those seemed to hold themselves in place with a great deal more fortitude than his on-again-off-again Mute Button, which was as frustrating as it was respectable.

“It’s not nearly the same. I was born into my burden,” he sniffed.

You blinked, confused. “I mean, so was Tsunotarou.”

Elf Wizard made a punched-out sort of noise, like you’d decked him right in the spleen.

“You named the beast?” he gawked. “Like a pet?”

“Look, man,” you grouched, offended on your scaly friend’s behalf. “If anyone’s the pet here, it’s me!”

Lord Flamm’s face went white, to red, and then nearly puce.

“Wait,” you spluttered. “That came out wrong—”

And then you were gagged once more.

The next time your muzzle was lifted, Lord Flamm was already pacing along the little, invisible, edge of the spell’s cage. You cleared your throat and he came to a stop a few feet away from where you were bound.

“I can see what’s happened here,” he said, stern, and you arched a brow in disbelief. You didn’t even have any solid idea what the fuck was going on, and you’d been living it for the past few weeks. He cleared his throat and glowered down at you. “You’ve been taken in by the monster’s wiles.”

You spluttered. “Not to just keep repeating myself, but really, if anyone did the ‘accidental seducing’ thing here, it was—”

He waved you off with a puckered grimace. “That hardly matters. At the end of the day, you are still the creature’s prisoner, and it is my duty as a man of integrity to assist you however I can.”

You frowned. Because while this whole thing had technically started as a hostage situation, it hadn’t really felt like one lately. Sure, Tsunotarou still threw tantrums that shook the foundation when you’d tried to put up a makeshift bathroom door, but he also listened to all your stories with the rapt attention of someone genuinely invested in the garbage pouring out of your mouth. He tucked you into your big mattress nest at night with his scaly nose, and endured all your griping with nothing but good humor. He showed you his treasures and told you terrible, dry, jokes that you were sure you only found so funny because he certainly hadn’t meant to be.

You sighed and dipped your head, expression shuttered.

Lord Flamm stepped forward and you felt a thin, gloved, finger tuck itself beneath your chin to tilt you back up to face him.

“I will save you,” he promised, something genuinely sturdy and righteous coating the words. “If you ask it of me.”

You took a deep breath in through your nose.

“There once a man from Trebucket,” you chirped, letting the jaunty tavern melody roll off your tongue like any good Bard ought to.

Lord Flamm arched a thin brow, in equal parts amusement and exasperation.

“Who really only wanted to find the dragon so he could fuck it—”

His face twisted in rage, and to the surprise of literally no one, you were Silenced yet again. Though this one felt the most like a victory so far.

And thus, the cycle repeated itself. Every quarter hour or so, the spell would drop and you’d start babbling some sacrilegious, borderline pornographic, nonsense that had him cursing you all over again. You counted each round of mockery softly in your head. Half to keep time, half to—

Your gaze trailed past the intricate, stone, entryway and caught. Perched atop the overhang were two gargoyles. Which was quite odd, seeing as you’d spent half a month living out of this room now and had never noticed them before (and you certainly would have, what with your host’s propensity for pointing out the gothic carvings each and every time one popped up in the castle’s architecture). Not to mention, they looked an awful lot like the pair of grey monsters which had been guarding the entrance when you’d first slunk in—the very duo that you’d sworn had tracked you and your friends with beady, gemstone, eyes and dug their pointed talons through solid rock.   

Ancient buildings always seemed to have a life about them—never quiet, never still. Always settling with strange noises and shifting shadows that danced oddly along surfaces that were forever decaying. And this castle was no different. So it took you really listening, really closing your eyes tight and straining your ears against the perpetual white noise, to make out the low grinding of the Gargoyles as they shifted atop their perch and curled their sharp claws.

You tilted your head at them, curious, and the one on the left seemed to bristle. As much as stone could bristle. The one on the right very softly dipped its chin, almost like a bow. Its purple, glass, eyes flashed in the lowlight.

‘Wait,’ that look said.

And so you did, sitting straighter and at proper attention.

The group of Dragon Slayers was still milling about making preparations. Eventually, one of the two yet-unclassified hench people slunk from the room, and when your gaze slipped back to the gargoyles, the one on the right was gone.

You made eye contact with the remaining carving, and it curled its lip at you like a grumbly hound.

There was a scream from beyond the threshold, and then a great clattering of noise not unlike an earthquake, or the resonating crunch of a building crumbling at its base.

Immediately weapons were drawn, shoulders hunched in panic. Defensive magic swirled through the air like ink in water.  

“What’s going on?!—”

With a shrieking roar, the remaining gargoyle lurched forward and collided with one of the armored attackers. The impact was like a crack of thunder, and it rattled around your skull like a gong.

And with that—dragon or no—the battle against the Hunters had officially begun.

With a panicked squawk, you began worming your still very bound self out of the dead center of this tornado of chaos. You flopped across the floor like a particularly determined caterpillar, or someone trussed up a in a sleeping bag with no limbs. You made it almost a solid twenty feet before you were scooped up by the back of your collar and dropped onto your knees.  

“Not so fast, you little cretin.”

And then there was a curved knife at your throat and a set of hands trapping your own. You gulped and the blade bobbed against your chin. Stupid rogues with their stupid stealth. You grit your teeth and clenched your fists, willing the meager scraps of magic that twirled in your veins to bob to the surface. You could feel the trace rumblings of a Thunderwave reverberating down your limbs, and it was certainly no Fireball, or Lightning Bolt, but maybe it would be enough to—

There was a spray of red, red, red and the Striped Rogue at your back collapsed in a puddle of gore.

Standing over the corpse of the felled assassin was a boy. Or, well, something that very much looked like a young boy. Or, not young. Just… It was strange. He was small, slight, with a cheerful youthfulness to him. But the mirthful expression lighting his crimson eyes chilled your bones like the seeping cold from a long-forgotten tomb. It was like looking at someone with dozens—hundreds—of faces. A kaleidoscope of lifetimes. It was disorientating.

“Hello, you,” the little demon cooed. He reached out to tap a clawed finger against your forehead and the arcane binds holding your limbs shattered on impact. “Let’s get you out of here, hmm?”

Something tugged at your brain as you gaped at that mess of choppy, black-and-pink, hair, and the glittering irises that matched the blood splattered across his cheeks almost too horribly well.

“Are you… Lilia?” you asked, dazed.

“Well done, little human,” he trilled, lips curling in delight as he hauled you back to your feet. “But there will be time for proper introductions later. Let’s get you somewhere safe first, before my silly ward really does tear this whole castle down.”

“Tsunotarou is here?” you frowned, anxious. “But these people are here to kill him.”

“We’ve done our best to keep him away for as long as possible,” Lilia hummed. “But I doubt he has much more patience for skulking about in the shadows. He never did,” He sighed, long and world weary. “And I loved this old haunt so much too. I hope it survives.”

“You—” you gawked. “You’re talking about the castle?!”

“Of course,” Lilia smiled, perfectly sweet. “Swatting these pests is going to cause more damage than they’re worth to begin with—”

You were yanked out of the path of an encroaching blade, and Lilia sidestepped the pair of you smoothly to safety.

“You’re not going anywhere!” the Paladin thundered, hand whipping out to leash a whirl of vibrating, bright, magic around Lilia’s wrists. “This fight is mine! And you will have no other!”

“Ah,” your savior sighed, looking down at the faint, yellow, glow circling his skin. “Now that is a doozy.”

The great sword came down with a crash, and Lilia ducked away from the destruction with ease. He gave you a light tap on the shoulder, pushing you forward, and you felt the flush of a Haste spell nibbling at your limbs.

“Go on ahead,” he said, with all the nonchalant politeness of someone lamenting that they were going to be late for afternoon tea. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

BOOM went the now glowing sword as it sliced through the air where your savior had been standing not a moment before.

“Do not take me so lightly, wretch,” the Paladin spat, and Lilia’s civil little smile twisted into something that sent shivers racing down your spine.

“If you insist,” he beamed, with a level of enthusiasm that was bordering on sociopathic.

You didn’t stay to see the fallout. Lilia’s orders to flee aside, you knew well enough what a cat looked like before it pounced—that smug, animalistic, satisfaction that came after deciding that it was going to play with its meal for as long as it liked. And the grinding, snapping, howling noises coming from their direction was enough to reinforce that looking back would be a very terrible idea indeed.

You’d only just made it past the threshold and out in the grand hall beyond when there came a whining groan that sounded familiarly enough like the protesting noises the banister would make whenever Tsunotarou dropped too much of his weight on top of it. You peered back into the room, and from the darkness at its rear emerged a long, thin, snout.

The Great, Ebony, Dragon slithered forth from the blackness like a snake through the grass. The sharp drag of his claws against the stone was earsplitting, and when he spread his wings behind him, he seemed to cast the entire cavern into shadow. Faster than you could blink, one, two, three of the Slayers were scooped up by those massive, pointed, teeth and tossed through the air—wherein the pair of gargoyles descended upon them like a set of well-trained attack dogs. Your dragon swiveled to spit black smoke across the rest of the echoing room and its occupants. Between the swirling smog seeping from his throat and the blackness of his wings, the brilliant, green, glow of his eyes were the only source of light in the gloom. It was all horribly eerie, but mesmerizing in a way that reminded you exactly why so many ballads and epics had been written about the terrible might of Dragons.

He reared his head back and roared. His bellowing seemed to shake the very foundation of the castle, and the sparks jumping from behind his canines bit through the smoke with harsh little pop-pop-pops. And man oh man, he reallymust have been taking it easy on you and your duo of idiots, because this would have had the three of you shitting your pants on the spot.

From there, the battle more or less became a one-sided massacre. The stone soldiers flew through the air, decimating the opponents as their master demanded. Occasionally there was a flash of pink, and then a cheerful laugh followed inevitably by a noise that was all kinds of unpleasant. And at the center of it all was your newfound friend—picking apart the opposition with all the careful rage of someone determined to sear the consequences of these Hunters’ folly into the memories of their lineages for ages to come.

And then—amidst all the quite frankly epic fighting that you would have to tell Ace and Deuce all about when they came back to visit—you noticed that not far from where you were hiding observing was a familiar, angry, gaunt face. Lord Flamm’s elaborate black and maroon robes swirled around his ankles as he paced, and he was leering at the chaos unfolding not a hundred feet away with an expression that calling murderous would have been kind.

You bristled immediately, limbs lancing through with a tight sort of indignation.

He was just—right there! Standing all the way out here! When the rest of his party was busy being chewed to itty-bitty pieces!

And sure, rationally you knew that Wizards were squishy, glass-canons not meant for close combat more intense than a round of rock-paper-scissors. Sure, when you and your idiots had been facing down a dragon, Ace and Deuce had ordered you and your equally ill-armored self to run for it. Someone had probably hurled the Elf from the room the moment combat began, or demanded he whirl away to safety.

But you wanted to be angry. Because this was the man who had strode, eyes wide open, into a hornet’s nest with the sole intention of crushing the poor bugs beneath his heel. He deserved to bear the brunt of the miserable, stinging, backlash.

It certainly didn’t help that he was glaring down Tsunotarou with near frenzied loathing. The tome in his hands was flipped open to a dense spell that you couldn’t even begin to make sense of, and he was casting. Something tedious, and extravagant, and with enough somatic nonsense to make your head spin. His gloved fingers glowed beneath a growing mote of magic that shone horrible and bright in the natural shadows of the castle. Whatever sort of magic it was, it was strong enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and push frantic adrenaline through your veins. Sigils swam through the air, and you swore you could feel it sapping at your own tiny pool of mana. If this was some kind of spell that would gobble up magic, then a dragon who was nothing but magic—then Tsunotarou—he would—This spell might actually—

You ran at that wretched little bitch with everything you had, and tackled him to the ground just as a bolt of crackling, pale, force magic boomed from between his fingers. The spell shot wide, and you thanked every divine being you could think of for the enduring shittiness of Wizard Muscles.

“I should have known you’d risk your life to save that unholy monster,” he seethed, rolling back to his feet and sending you tumbling off the side.

You stood firm and silent between this awful, garbage, Elf and the Dragon he so hated.

Lord Flamm raised a hand in your direction, incensed, and then you watched as something sharp and frightened slithered its way across his features. No sparks danced along his fingertips, no black miasma curled from his palms. You shoved your hands into your pockets and rocked back and forth on your heels like the most obnoxious piece of shit you could be.

“Wow,” you drawled, low in your throat. “That was impressive. I mean. How many times did you cast all those spells on me earlier? I’m shocked you have anything left.”

The already dark look coloring his face twitched into something truly foul.

“You were doing that on purpose,” he snarled. “You vile, loathsome, bumbling ignoramus of a bard!—"

“Ah, stop, stop!” You beamed, fanning yourself with a limp wrist. “You’re going to make me blush~”

You ducked out the way with a yelp as a mote of fire whizzed past your ear—singeing far too many hairs at it went. Because fuck fuck fuck. Cantrips were still a thing. And he was powerful enough that those simple, little, bits of magic would still probably be more than enough to fry the meat off your bones.

“It’ll be enough to kill you,” he seethed—like he could read your thoughts—teeth tugged into a hideous, gaping, sneer.

Your mind zipped through every possible escape route and settled frantically on the only option that had ever truly seemed to save your ass.

“What white teeth you have?” you tried.

He roared and another shot of brilliant, red, flames careened over your head.  

You ducked out of the way with a squawk just in the nick of time, nearly faceplanting into a wall in your haste.

And thus ensued a terrifying but morbidly hilarious Benny Hill chase through pillars, and behind rocks, and into holes. You killed your singular, daily use of Misty Step just trying to get out of one of said holes. And your brief attempt at tossing up a Mirror Image to throw off his groove did little but get you whacked with a Counterspell that made your bones ache.

Just as you’d burned through the last of your meager magic and were genuinely preparing to just try and deck the guy again, black smoke began to curl through the hall—soon followed by the ominous roll of thunderous growls and the heavy grindingof a gigantic beast clawing its way into the room.

You threw yourself at the dragon with more enthusiasm than was probably proper for a situation like this, and he immediately ducked his head to catch you against his snout. He curled himself around you with a rumbling snarl and your vision was drowned in a shifting sea of ebony scales. You squished yourself into his bulk with a shuddering sigh, fingers clutching a bit uselessly at the slippery surface of his natural armor.

A burst of orange flames rolled harmlessly off Tsunotarou’s scaled side and his lips curled unpleasantly over his canines. You could see the licks of emerald fire rolling off his tongue—dancing along his white teeth and lighting the hall in an ominous, sickly, glow.

Before the pair of you, Lord Flamm looked half-mad. If not fully consumed. His party wiped, his hostage freed, and the creature he hated so fiercely baring down on him with no escape.

He let his head fall back with a discordant trill of laughter and grinned at the approaching dragon without a hint of repentance. Fear, perhaps. Panic, certainly. But no remorse. He raised his hands once more, and another dredge of his own fire sparked along his fingers.

“And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit.”

The Great Briar Beast of Old opened his gigantic, black, maw and choked the hall in a torrent of emerald fire.

And Lord Flamm and his Dragon Slayers were no more.

You stared intently at the singed corridor, as if waiting for one of the piles of ash to jump to its feet and pull a sword. Which you might have excused as paranoid fretting if you hadn’t heard of necrotic magics capable of doing exactly that. But after a long moment of waiting with bated breath and tight fists, the monsters did not rise from their graves, and all seemed to be truly well and over.

You let out a gigantic gust of a breath and collapsed bonelessly against the dragon at your side. After a solid minute or two of just awkwardly trying to find a good way to hug a giant lizard more than a dozen times your size, Tsunotarou slipped out of his scales, and then he was warm and fleshy in your arms once more. Still too big, still earth-shatteringly strong, but human-shapedenough that you could merrily settle into his embrace without the risk of becoming a pancake.

“Tsunotarou!” you chirped past the lingering haze of smoke. “You’re okay!”

“Me?” he gawked at you. It was an awkward angle to make eye contact, seeing as he’d latched himself onto you like a particularly determined koala, but he managed nonetheless. “You were worried about me during all of that?” He blinked those wide, neon, eyes at you like you were some horribly long and tedious math equation that he couldn’t even begin to make sense of. “You were the one who was captured!”

“They were Dragon Slayers,” you entreated, brow furrowed. “They didn’t need me for much of anything. Of course I was worried more about you.”

When the constipated look on his face refused to fade, you prodded him gently in his side.

“Look, I promise if we ever run into Bard Poachers I will be exponentially more cautious.”

He didn’t look particularly convinced—whether because he was trying to suss out of if something like ‘Bard Poachers’ were an actual, factual, threat upon your person, or because you’d just openly hurtled yourself at a clearly overpowered, feral, wizard with no regards to your already shitty constitution to speak of, so a promise to ‘be more cautious’ was about as good as saying that maybe next time you wouldn’t outright flirt with death. Only subtly. A lil’ bit.

You reached up to smoosh your thumb along the sharp slant of his frown and smooth out the harsh edges that were practically digging into his jaw.

“Tsunotarou, if you keep making that face, it’s going to get stuck like that,” you warned.  

“Malleus,” he interrupted, firm. You blinked up at him slowly and your hand fell back to rest in the nonexistent space between you.

“A what?”

“Malleus,” he repeated, and you felt the weight of the word dance through the air like sparks. Like an invocation, or a curse. “My true name.”

You waited a moment in shocked silence before slowly repeating your own name back at him. He startled and snorted a laugh into your neck, some of that lingering, terrible, tension finally seeming to seep out of him.

“I am well aware of what you are called, Child of Man.”

“…I know that,” you mumbled, fighting the urge to fidget. Malleus, Malleus, Malleus. The syllables sat heavy on your tongue, like your mouth couldn’t figure out how to push them past your lips. “I thought you said that dragons don’t give out their real names.”

He drew back just enough to cup your cheeks in his ashy palms, brushing a clawed finger back and forth against one of the small cuts littering your jaw.

“There is power in a name,” he said. “It is not a gift readily bestowed.”

Then why—

You swallowed, nervous, and one of his thumbs tracked the movement along the hollow of your throat.

“This way, if you call for me, I will always hear you,” he promised, eyes going flinty and venomous as he gazed at the cinder piles of smoking intruders. “And something like this will never happen again.”

“I—I mean,” you spluttered. “Me being—And this being—I mean—” You cleared your throat. “That hardly seems like a good enough reason to—to—” To put something so important into the hands of someone who literally broke into your house less than a month ago. To give something so precious to someone so human.

“Isn’t it?” he smiled, that sharp anger melting back into something painfully soft. Your poor heart kickstarted itself all over again. He ducked forward to press his nose into your temple, and you could feel the soft puff of his breath as his grin sharpened into a smirk. “Though I would have liked to bestow my titles on you in other ways as well, if this little hero would be amenable.”

You squawked, and the only thing that shook you out of the immediate spiral into ‘did he really just ask me to—am I really going to be stuck in every goddamn bard’s trope existence of—of—'  was the merry laughter that bubbled up from somewhere behind you. 

“Careful, my Prince,” Lilia hummed from his place perched atop a particularly large heap of rubble. “If you come on too strong, you’ll only scare them away. Humans are flighty like that, I’m afraid.”

You could feel Malleus’s pout against your forehead.

“Not my human,” he grouched. His hands dropped from your cheeks to encircle your waist and clutch at your lower back. “And that besides,” he continued testily, “you were the one who only just this morning insisted I take decisive action.”

“That’s true,” Lilia agreed with a gentle bob of his head, resting his pointed chin against his palm. “But perhaps three sentences at least before the proposal?”

Malleus blinked, slow and serpentine, before flicking his neon gaze back to you. “That does seem fair I suppose. What do you think?”

“I think,” you gawked, trying and failing to process any of the words that were coming out of their fanged mouths, “that I am having a stroke.”

“NOT ACCEPTABLE!” boomed a voice from overhead. “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FALL ILL AFTER ALL THE EFFORTS WE TOOK TO KEEP YOU SAFE!”

You jolted in shock, and Malleus’s talons flexed reassuringly at your waist as he gently turned you back-to-chest so that you could face your accuser. He nestled his chin into your shoulder, and you could feel his horns bump against your skull as he tried to burrow in as close as possible. Which all would have been thoroughly distracting, but then you noticed that one of the Gargoyles from early had landed directly across from you. Its spiked head was swiveling back and forth as it appraised you like some particularly ruffled cockatoo. And that in itself was bizarre enough to help you focus on something other than the weight along your back and the steadily rising heat in your cheeks.

“Uhm, hello?” you tried.

“WE HAVE ALREADY MET!” It screeched. “THERE IS NO NEED FOR INTRODUCTIONS!”

“It talks,” you blanched.

“OF COURSE I SPEAK, YOU IGNORANT ENTERTAINER!” The Gargoyle thundered. Its yellow eyes flashed in indignation. “HOW COULD I NOT LEARN TO COMMUNICATE IN A RESPECTABLE FASHION WHEN SERVING SOMEONE SO MAJESTIC AS HIS MAJESTY?!”

“I think,” the other Gargoyle said, slipping forward so silently you could hardly believe it was made of such strong stone at all, “that what Sebek is trying to say, is that we are happy to finally be able welcome you into our home, even if it is under less than ideal circumstances. And that we are very pleased to be able to speak with you.”

“THAT IS WHAT I ALREADY SAID, SILVER!” the spiky one snarled. No one else looked particularly bothered by his ceaseless volume, so it was probably normal. He stuck his carved nose into the air with a harumph. “AND I HAVE HEARD OF THE WAYS OF YOU TRAVELING STORY TELLERS! IF YOU BREAK MY MASTER’S HEART, YOU WILL SUFFER AN ETERNITY OF TORMENT AT MY HAND!”

Malleus growled, low and rumbling, from over your shoulder. Instantly his stalwart guardian cowed—head dipping like a kicked a puppy.

“Of course,” it continued, much softer. “I don’t think this human would do that. And—And I think my master has made a very good choice in his mate, and I will be happy to serve you too.”

Lilia sighed a sigh that sounded very much like a doting mother overflowing with parental affection. Like the kind of noise one may hear on a cozy Sunday afternoon while helping prepare dinner, or while sitting on a little, floral, couch and sifting through little paintings of grandchildren. There was still blood splattered all along his cheeks.

“It’s so lovely to have the family all together again,” he cooed. “And I do think that you will make such a marvelous addition.”

“Oh. Well. Thank you,” you nodded jerkily, just as your knees buckled and you collapsed to the floor.

.

.

On the first day of the new month, Ace and Deuce made their way back to the forgotten castle nestled in a pool of lava.

“We should never have left them,” Deuce grumbled for what was maybe the ten thousandth time. Ace was sick of hearing it. He was even more sick of the fact that despite being constantly inundated with various versions of ‘oh, we’re such terrible friends,’ the little, twisting, spike of guilt in his gut never grew any duller. Wasn’t that how it was supposed to work? Something-something-repetitive-exposure-therapy, or whatever? This sucked. He wanted a refund on this whole ‘conscience’ thing. Maybe it wasn’t too late to sell his soul and become a Warlock or whatever. Surely that would help.  

“We didn’t have a choice,” Ace reminded him. Again. “They’re okay. I know they are. We’re going to show up and they’ll be, I don’t know, lying in a bed of gold being hand fed grapes or something.”

Deuce made a rumbly, whining, kind of noise that made him sound even more pathetic than usual and Ace sighed, determined to instead focus on the rickety rope bridge swinging beneath their feet.

The ancient, looming, monstrosity of a building was just as cold and dark as it had been the first time. If anything, it was more filthy. With walls stained with seeping ash and the charred, skeletal, remains of something that Ace was definitely, absolutely, not going to think about scattered throughout the grime.

The two of them made their way to the heart of the castle until they were standing at the entrance of a grand, cavernous, chamber that may have once been some sort of ballroom.

Ace didn’t know what he was expecting. Slaver’s coils maybe. A chain around your ankles and rags drooping from your shoulders. Or maybe you wouldn’t even be there at all—long since swallowed down as a little, midnight, snack.

He certainly wasn’t expecting to see you lounging contentedly atop a mountainous heap of soft blankets, with the master of this castle—terror-incarnate, death from above, an eldritch beast ripped straight out of legend—curled along the lumpy hills of your grandiose pillow fort, its great head nestled at your back as you reclined against its scales and chattered away. Like the goddamned, rambling, idiot you had always been.

One of the dragon’s large, green, eyes shifted towards the intruders at its door, and Ace froze in place. You paused your chattering to raise your hand with an excited little wave. Your tattered traveler’s clothes had been replaced with something silken and soft enough that it would probably melt in his fingers, and it swayed like mist around you as you made your way to your feet. You were practically dripping in platinum, and diamonds, and emeralds, and—he was going to stop counting them before he gave himself a conniption.

And yeah… it wasn’t exactly a throne of gold and gemstones, but it was almost just as impressive. And immediately indignation swept through Ace with a horrible kind of vengeance. Because how dare you actually be living it up over here when he had been so fucking worried just lying about all that cool stuff to keep Deuce from storming the castle gates?

“You made it!” you chirped, perfectly merry despite the gigantic maw full of sharp teeth hovering at your shoulder.

“Of—Of course we did,” Deuce stuttered, his blue eyes flicking back and forth so quickly from the dragon, to you, to Ace, to the dragon, to you—that Ace genuinely thought he might be having a seizure. “We promised we would.”

You stopped in front of them with a considerate little hum, sharp eyes tracing and cataloguing their varying reactions. After a moment of what was obviously some very smug preening and even smugger ‘I win this round’ silent gloating, you slipped out of the piles of entangled jewels with an exaggerated shrug. With the exception of an intricately carved emerald pendant hanging softly between the hollows of your collarbones, the rest of the infinitely expensive and rare gems fell to the ground with a series of clattering chatter.

“All that shit is so heavy,” you whined. Whined. Like you had any right to complain about anything at all for the rest of your existence. You leaned forward with a wink. “I was just hoping it’d make your thieving, money-hungry ass, jealous.” You smirked, proud. “And it looks like it worked, you goddamn traitors.”

Ace was about to splutter out the most scathing remark his spiteful little brain could come up with, when Deuce ruined everything by rushing forward like the blubbering idiot he was and scooping you up into a bearhug.

“You’re okay! You’re okay!” he wailed. “We missed you so much!”

“Speak for yourself,” Ace huffed, and twinged miserably when it came out sounding far too soft. He cleared his throat and decided to take a different approach. “You know, last time I was sort of joking about the whole ‘bards and dragons’ thing. But it looks like you’ve made yourself real comfortable. And here I thought you were always super opposed to the ‘fucking my way out of my problems’ stereotype.”

However, because the universe seemed determined not to give Ace any kind of win for the rest of his natural existence, instead of getting all embarrassed and mousey, you just huffed and turned up your nose at him.

“Well obviously not as a dragon,” you complained. “Do you know how big he is? How would that even work, huh?” The aforementioned dragon lowered his gigantic head to settle on the ground at your side, and you leaned against him good-naturedly when he grumbled low in his throat. “Yeah, no,” you said to the beast, rolling your eyes. “Nice try, but no.”

Deuce immediately choked and started hacking up a lung, and Ace wanted to die.

“You can talk to it?” the redhead asked instead of keeling over.

You shrugged.

“Not like this. But I’ve learned to interpret most of it.” You wiggled your fingers. “It’s my sixth sense.”

Ace’s nose scrunched. “Yeah, right. If anything, it’s your ‘I’ve been dicked down by a dragon and think that makes me soooo special now’ sense—”

The great, ebony, monster growled and the Fighter’s mouth snapped shut like someone had taken a hammer to his jaw. You snickered goodhumoredly and elbowed your companion gently at the base of one of its long, sharp, horns.

“He’s just joking around,” you said to the winged horror. “You don’t have to get all defensive.”

There was another grumpy sneer, but the dragon simply settled more heavily at your side with a defeated sort of huff. The gust of a sigh sent a wave of scorching heat along Ace’s front, and he fought the urge to cow immediately and beg for his life. Because apparently that wasn’t going to be necessary, because you had—you had—

“Are you in love?” Deuce blurted, because unlike Ace, the Barbarian was pure, and good, and still didn’t fully understand how eggs worked, let alone the concept of Fuck or Die.

And then you surprised him yet again by getting as flustered as he’d expected you to when he’d accused you (rightly) of bending over for a goddamn fucking dragon.

But before you could answer, the dragon lifted its head to press its temple against yours. Or, as well as it could do that when it dwarfed the lot of you the way an elephant might hover over a mouse. Mostly it just ended up being a very, very, delicate head bump. A deep, warbling, purr started from its chest and rolled all the way up and past its sharp, white, canines.

“Uhm,” you tried again. “You guys are invited to the wedding, I guess.”

“The what?!” Deuce howled, before promptly falling to his knees to fan himself like a devasted matron in a church.

You sighed and rubbed at the back of your head, clearly embarrassed. You mumbled something under your breath that sounded a bit like ‘it’s kind of a whole saga, y’know.’ And Ace, in all his infinite good will, decided to take pity on you just this once. And also because you were clearly loaded now, and all good friends know that sharing is caring, right?

“Come on then, Bardy,” he smirked, leaning down to kick Deuce flatter to the floor—half to knock the guy out of his frantic spiraling, half so he could perch on his back like a chair. Because the stone floor looked really uncomfortable, and he had a feeling that trying to slip into that nice nest of blankets of yours would not end well. “Tell us a story.”

.

.

.

[TAG LIST] CLOSED

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[admrlthundrbolt]

Masterlist

Stranger Things

Straight Through The Heart (Eddie Munson x Chubby Reader)

Jojo's Bizzare Adventure

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Okuyasu x Chubby Reader)

One Way Or Another (Selkie N'Doul x Chubby Reader

Voices In My Head (Secco x Chubby Reader)

How Did You Love (Polnareff x Chubby Reader)

Heal The Pain (Dragon Wamuu x Chubby Reader)

Black Magic Woman (Werewolf Santana x Chubby Reader)

Evil Walks (Poltergeist Esidisi x Chubby Reader)

Just What I Needed (Gorgon Kars x Chubby Reader)

Resident Alien

Warm Heart Pastry (Harry x Chubby Reader)

One-Punch Man

Love is a Battlefield (Garou x Chubby Reader)

Holding Out For A Hero (Mumen Rider x Chubby Reader)

Elevate (King x Chubby Reader)

Bullet Train

Apple Blossom (Lemon x Chubby Reader x Tangerine)

Stayin' Alive (Ladybug x Chubby Reader

Resident Evil

Your Love Could Start a War (Lady Dimitrescu x Cubby Reader)

Encanto

Dance Macabre (Bruno x Chubby Reader)

Harley Quinn

Have Faith In Me (Bane x Chubby Reader)

Overwatch

You Dropped A Bomb On Me (Junkrat x Chubby Reader)

The Road to El Dorado

I Put A Spell On You (Tzekel-Kan x Chubby Reader)

Camp Camp

Perfect World (David x Cubby Reader)

Spider-Man

Ashes (Norman Osborn x Chubby Reader)

Emperor's New Clothes (Doc Ock x Chubby Reader)

Firefly

Wait A Minute My Girl (Jayne x Chubby Reader)

Scream

You Spin Me Round (Billy x Chubby Reader x Stu)

Naruto

Sweet Tooth (Iruka x Chubby Reader)

Batman

Leather and Lace (Killer Croc x Chubby Reader)

Friday the 13th

Die To Live (Jason Vorhees x Chubby Reader)

Hunter X Hunter

Do It All The Time (Hisoka x Chubby Reader x Illumi)

Drag Me Down(Minotaur Uvogin x Chubby Reader)

Guardians of the Galaxy

Edge Of Midnight (Nebula x Chubby Reader)

What We Do in the Shadows

Under The Graveyard (Petyr x Chubby Reader)

Alone Together (Nandor the Relentless x Chubby Reader)

Inglorious Bastards

Some Nights (Hugo Stiglitz x Chubby Reader)

Halloween

Popular Monster (Demon Michael Myers x Chubby Reader)

Pokemon

Electric Love (Guzma x Chubby Reader)

Arcane

Reckless Paradise (Silco x Chubby Reader)

Terminator

One Of Those Days (Sarah Conner x Chubby Reader)

Mad Max

Radioactive (Furiosa x Chubby Reader)

Mario Bros

Love From The Other Side (Bowser x Chubby Reader)

Jeepers Creepers

Centuries (Jeepers Creepers x Chubby Reader)

Halloweentown

Tongue Tied (Luke x Chubby Reader)

Venom

Run Run Run (Eddie x Chubby Reader x Venom)

Stardew Valley

Therapy (Harvey x Chubby Reader)

[thehistoriangirl]

The Tides Have Veiled [First Interlude]

What's this? Another update? So quickly? Well, this is a peculiar one. Bear with me 👉👈 it'll make sense soon enough.

Viktor x Fem!Reader------Gothic AU/Spooky Sea AU-----1.8K----SFW

> M A S T E R L I S T < ← Previous // Next →

Synopsis: Piltover the Old has an old lighthouse that looms over an abandoned port. From the house in the wailing cliff’s edge, the lighthouse owner watches that the beacon is being lighten up each time darkness arrives, so that monsters wouldn't dare to crawl inland, or so legends say.

Both buildings are haunted, maybe even the man himself, by both past and present ghosts.

Surprisingly, the keeper’s work is beyond turning on the beacon every night— but the rest is on you to discover.

Chapter Summary: At the beginning, there was the keeper that built the beacon...

Tags: Strangers to Lovers| Slow Burn| Tragic Love| Dark Magic| Curses| Reincarnation| Sea Monsters & Mermaids| Dual Timelines

Taglist: @local-mr-frog @lunar-monster @bittercyder

This house forgets too quickly to your liking.

Green wallpaper changed into a boring white one, golden portraits of a broken family burned down in a makeshift fire outside the entrance, there where the smoke could fill your eyes with tears.

The clothes your mother used to wear, loose skirts and puffy sleeves to avoid much friction against her sensible skin burned all the same. Acrid smoke replaced the salty, yet sweet cadence of her essence.

Part of you hoped the same would occur to you, as you’re the last thing of your mother that is left. Even if it’s an amorph, broken shadow, one that would have probably horrified her.

Not belonging there, but neither here.  

A voice calls you from the relucent kitchen, pulling you out of the whirlpool of thoughts you'd been growing used to having ever since she came. Ever since she came and your mother left.

You don't feel your numb fingers from knitting all evening, but you have no choice, as there won’t be any trip to the city to buy clothes this year. Autumn is approaching, the days getting shorter as the wind picks up speed, wishing to take parts of the pitched roof as a souvenir to the end of the world.

Lady Luna Stell appears in your vision, and you can see her long fingers getting bruised and dried with the new chores of housekeeping. She hands you a rusty plater with lemon juice on a pitcher and a single, empty glass.

“Go to the lighthouse and give this to the keeper,” she says, cleaning herself into her stained apron. You stay there, frozen, a lump of fear settled in your stomach.

I can’t go, it’ll call me.

It always does.

The incessant, ruthless sway of the waves crashing against the rocks, echoed in the abyss of the cliff. They call you, and it breaks your heart to ignore them.

“What are you waiting for?” Luna says the disgust dripping from her voice makes you jump on your place, the lemon juice almost flowing over the pitcher’s rim. She scowls down at you. “I swear you’re a useless girl. At least you’re pretty enough to fool a man. You must consider yourself lucky.”

Luna knows the reason behind the strange aura surrounding you like a heavy cloak; the way the midwives first cooed happily at you while a baby, now growing with eeriness and a sense of doubt as you turn into an adult.

You look too much like her—like the madwoman who jumped off the cliff.

You turn away from her scrutiny, leaving behind the house that smells like overcooked meat and salty soup that nobody could eat at lunchtime. Perhaps another reason why Luna seems to be so on edge.

Or maybe the reason lies behind another destroyed fishing boat. All left behind with catch rotting in the sun and nobody on board. The words of your father, and you can only trust them, for you are forbidden to go near the sea.

The sky is clear today, a friendly breeze moving your hair against your face, the echo of your worn-out shoes against the rock, still uneven in the steps, still rough without the caress of feet going up and down, morphing it against its natural state to become it human-made.

You look up at the elongated shadow the lighthouse’s tower cast on it, like a giant that momentarily can hide the sun beneath white cement rock, so vibrant against the bright sunlight that its form is glued to behind your eyelids when you blink away.

The gate is open, the odor of oil painting stuck in your nostrils as you slip inside, looking at the tender garden starting to grow in crooked sprouts someone must attach little sticks to the stems to make them grow upward.

Not someone, but the keeper.

A black mouth welcomes you against the green and white of the gate, and you peek through it, looking neatly inside the lighthouse's ground floor.

Newly wallpaper in blue with wildflowers printed on it covering every wall—the same wallpaper your house used to be before becoming white and geometric; the old furniture all moved here. The squeaky chair you used to read fairytales in, the mattress your mother used to tuck all the way against the window to let the marine breeze in, even in winter.

In this space, everything is as it was used to; time stopping in the round walls of the tower, stopping it from slipping through the door as the only way from here is upward.

“Hello?” you say, your voice climbing the stairs before you are resolute to do it. Polished stairs made of red cedar support each of your feet without noisy complaints; the rail is thick enough to let your mind dare to see down once you're midway toward the beacon’s room.

“Hi?” you ask again, not without feeling stupid now that you are up here. A layer of sweat covering your face, sticky lemon juice falling all over the pitcher.

You’re almost expecting another earful from the keeper once he got to take the messy tray when you hear a grunt, the sound of a metallic object slipping, ricocheting over the wood to lay at your feet.

A golden gear the size of a lemon.

You observe the way it makes the sunlight reflect on the smooth surface, before rising your view to see where you could let the tray and pick up the gear.

The lighthouse keeper, however, is faster.

He stands up from his seated position against the beacon’s power wiring, and now it’s his time for the sun to frame him.

Honey-like eyes widen in surprise to see you standing there, some stains of oil against his pale skin that go down his arms that the rolled-up sleeves cannot cover. It could be the orangey hues of the upcoming dusk, but you can almost see his hair becoming aflame with the light pooling from the wide windows of this room that seems to be suspended in the air.

“Um, hi,” you hear yourself saying, cringing at the sound of your shaky voice resonating around the still space. “Hello. My moth… Mrs. Stell told me to bring you this,” you say, rising the plater slightly. “Where can I put it?”

There are no tables in the room.

From next to him, he retrieves a cane, his stance elegant as he walks toward you.

He’s much younger than you first thought he would be. Maybe a couple of years older than you, but no more than that. What is he doing here as a lightkeeper? You could almost picture him in a fancy suit in one of the so-many parties Luna and your father wanted to drag Adara and you.

For some childish reason, you feel your heart picking up a step as he stops close to you, so much so you can see the two tiny moles adorning his sculpted face; one under his left eye and over the right side of his lips.

Staring is rude, you chastise yourself.

The man points to the closed door behind him. “Good evening, Miss. You can leave it inside there,” he answers, his voice soft and with a cadence you’re sure people can hear once and then remember forever. “The door’s unlocked.”

He kneels carefully, and you can’t stop your eyes from following the movement. A hand grasping the cane as the other picks up the missing gear. The man must have felt your gaze because, after a blink, his golden eyes are settled on you.

He looks almost amused, eyebrows quirked.

You move away, heels quickly following each other as you made your way toward the room. The control panel room, you quickly recognize. With a table filled with books and wrinkled notebooks; a sofa cluttered with papers of machines and cursive calligraphy that flows like water, so easily.

You put the tray on the table, hands piling the books nearby to push them further onto the surface. You also accommodate the stray papers aside, not wanting that your mess of lemon juice get on the pages.

When you emerge from the room, Viktor is waiting for you, playing with an oil-stained rag between his hands.

“I apologize for my rude manners,” he says, his cheeks slightly pink as he extends a hand toward you. “I was caught off guard. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, your fingers sticky from the juice and the sudden sweat that accompanies your frantic heartbeat.

He looks awkwardly from his hand to yours, which is tucked against your stomach.

“Eh,” he says with a wry smile. “I’m Viktor.”

Sheepishly, your fingers graze his palm. And if he finds the texture uncomfortable, you can't see the disgust in his eyes. His hands are slightly cold despite being in constant movement, and you can only hope a hole can open under your feet.

You barely squeeze his fingers, even when he does. Your voice comes out like a trembling breath when you tell him your name.

His eyes squint in amused half-moons when his smile deepens. He tilts his head after a moment, letting go of your hand.

The carefree gestures throw you off guard. He doesn’t know about you, about what people in town say about your mother—about yourself. A desperate part of you wants to know if he's just pretending to like you to keep his job.

For your credit, he doesn’t swipe his hand clean on his rag. Instead, he gestures to the beacon.

“I’m afraid I have to resume work, Miss,” he says, his cane thumping against the floor even when he doesn’t move away. “But thank you for the water. I will return the tray and the dishes tomorrow.”

“I can retrieve them myself,” you hear yourself saying. Because that way you can know if he’s willing to tolerate your presence. You signal to the stairs. “I think it’s enough effort to climb up and down those to make you climb the ones toward my house, too.”

Viktor chuckles. “You’re very considerate, Miss,” he says. Just as your mind is already conjugating the way he will avoid you, he adds: “In that case, you can pass around here at any time. I will be here all day.”

You see the amusement in his eyes, and there’s no way your lips don’t curve upward. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Viktor.”

You turn around, toward the stairs, in case your face can unveil how flustered you feel—a strange kind of hope. Perhaps there could be someone who could make you company. And who could be more willing, than a man desperate enough to take the lonely job of a lighthouse keeper?

[detectivemarvelingcomics]

Not Your Classic Vigilante [Ch. 8]

Alternate Dimension AU

TW: Language, Mentions of Death, Descriptions of Violence, Scar Mention, Mentioned Body Horror

CW: OC Use, See the OC Guide [Here]

Genre: Angst, Light Comedy

Pairing: Batfamily x Batsis!Reader

(8/?) [First] | [Previous] | [Next]

[DC Masterlist] | [Not Your Classic Vigilante Masterlist]

YN Pronouns: Female (She/Her)

Word Count: 3.8K

Notes: It's time for my bi-annual update of this bad boy LMAOOOOOOO see y'all in another half a year! (I'm kidding, I'll try to get more updates out before the year ends if my schedule permits lmaooo) Seriously, though, thanks to anyone who stuck it out even though I'm not a good updater! I really appreciate you all <3

Not Your Classic Vigilante: @gabytodd @peachydoki @marshmallow12435 @f0leysgurl @luminaaz @lolsnack @akuri-shinsou @pansinspace @time-shardz @lovely-maryj 

Disclaimer: This series is originally by @fandom-meanderer who is a close friend of mine, but she has since fallen out of her Tumblr days and asked me to finish a few series for her, hence why I am now in ownership of the Not Your Classic Vigilante series, I hope I can still live up to her writing as I rewrite this series! (I promise not to change too much, hehe)

28 July 2022

As you’d probably expected, your slumber did not last long, as you was reminded of why you had a hard time sleeping in the first place. Of course it’d come back to you in such a vivid way, now that you’ve returned home and back to the crime scene. You wondered how different it looked now, or if any of your belongings remained there after so long.

Your nightmares were always the same, back in that horrific alleyway. Three years, and you still haven’t forgotten. Three years, and you can still feel everything. Three years, and you can still remember looking up to the sky and seeing that all too familiar smoggy sky. You can still remember, and recite from heart, the prayer you sent out to whatever god was out there to just end your suffering there. And, as your pursuer pulled on your hair, you would always wake up, your mind sparing you from reliving all of that trauma and, usually, you’d decide to work instead, but this time the circumstances were different.

‘Another nightmare?’

‘If nightmares are all I have then I’d rather not sleep at all.’

‘Tea, darling.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know, I just wish you were here, it’d be easier. Think you can walk me through that miracle recipe you usually make?’

‘Of course, why would I say no?’ Alex’s voice drained from your head and you made your way to the manor kitchen, ignoring the light in the library this time as you continued. ‘I’m sure you’ll have all the basics. Milk, honey, lemon, and whatever tea is available.’

You had always thought that the manor was too quiet at night like there were demons in the shadows and monsters in the closets. You remember that you used to wake up either Dick or Jason to come downstairs with you when you were younger. Dick, of course, always said yes no matter how tired he was, Jason would tease you about it and get upset but in the end, he’d follow, you always relied on them to scare the demons away, and, now that you thought of it, you weren’t sure what kind of demon would be afraid of a boy in bright spandex but that was beside the point.

Then you got older, you got older and suddenly you had your own younger siblings to watch over. You had to be the person to chase their demons away, but at that time, you had nothing aside from a flashlight. You remembered asking yourself if something were to happen, would you be defending your younger siblings or would they be defending you? You, a civilian, and them, the vigilantes. Hell, you were pretty sure your dad was friends with some demons. 

‘And now the demons hide from you.’

‘Very funny, Alex. Once we’re back together no more prying into my thoughts, alright?’

‘I wouldn’t pry if you were so loud.’

‘You’re insufferable.’

'I just want to brighten up your mood a little, darling. Unclench your jaw.’ You didn’t even realize that you were until he mentioned it. You scoured the fridge and pulled out the required ingredients. 

‘I’m not keeping you up, am I?’

‘Goodness, no, you could never. I’m just checking things on my end. We have what we need, when you’re ready, we can head home.’

‘I’m just worried that it was too easy. Nothing ever is with this family.’

‘Let’s just consider it a blessing, for now. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it otherwise.’

‘Right,’ you shook your head. ‘Have you located Cass yet?’

‘Cassandra is as elusive as ever. Carter and I have been keeping an eye out for her, though.’

‘Good, I think she’s the only one we really have to look out for,’ you looked over your shoulder. Your sister had a knack for stealth, one that you had been aware of since now. But, it wasn’t her famed stealth that concerned you, no, of everyone in this damned family, it will be her to find out that you’re lying. You were lucky enough to have landed here when she wasn’t at the house, otherwise, you’d be screwed.

‘We’re waiting outside for you. Whenever you’re ready.’

‘You’re outside? Be careful, I forgot to tell you both earlier about the traps.’

‘Oh, trust us, we know.’

~

Two Hours Earlier.

“Don’t move, don’t move,” Alex hisses to Carter, who was probably in the most uncomfortable position he’d ever been in.

“I’m not moving, dammit,” Carter takes slow breaths. “Thank god his highness made us play Twister with him so often.” He holds his position steady between the number of lasers that had suddenly sparked to life. “What’s our situation, Lex?”

“Best case scenario they’d slice one of our limbs off if we’re clumsy.”

“That’s the best case?”

“The worst case scenario is that they trip the alarm system and suddenly we’d have this Universe’s strongest family on our tails.

“Great,” Carter groans. “You know a lot about the Captain’s family don’t you?”

“I do,” Alex tries to turn slowly to a more favorable position. “You know, you could just call her (Y/N).”

“She outranks me though.”

“We worked together, she just happened to figure out the system faster than we did,” Alex sighs. “I also know you two have a certain... relation, if I may presume.” Carter nearly loses his balance, saving his position by grabbing onto a nearby flower pot.

“Fuck, wait, are you serious?!” Carter whips his head towards him with wide eyes. Alex only nods calmly, keeping his movements short as a red laser was right in front of his eyes. 

“I wasn’t 100% sure, but considering your reaction, I can say that I am more confident,” he says. “You make a sweet duo.”

“Ugh… we were so careful,” Carter sighs.

"Not careful enough, hard to hide things from someone who's known her since we were seven," Alex scoffs. “Anyway, I do like you, Carter, you're one of the few people in the Brigade I'd consider a friend, so, with your best interests in mind, be sure to be on the watch for his highness. He might order for your head if he finds out,” Alex says with a teasing tone to his voice.

“Alex, please tell me that you’re not planning on using this against me, are you?”

“That depends on your future actions,” Alex grins.

“I’m so fucked.”

~

‘Oh, and do be sure to shut down the lasers, please, I think Carter’s getting a muscle cramp.’ You could easily picture his smirk.

Alex’s side went silent and you reveled in the quiet. You never liked this telepathy thing, it was always so violating in your mind, and truthfully in his too. You both tried to avoid it until absolutely necessary, such as now. It was a by-product of your own curious case of two souls interlinked to allow for eternal life, or, at least, until Alex dies. You paused, half waiting for him to say something, mainly to correct you, but no such thing came.

Courtesy of the ruthless queen, she always held it above your head, how indebted you were to her. If there was truly one person you hated, it was her. Even your father’s stance, as absolute as it was before, paled in comparison to the queen and the leash she had around your neck. You were certain that she was somehow keeping tabs on you even here, after all, to move without knowledge of her majesty is akin to treason.

You really should be more careful. As they say, it comes in threes. You’ve died once here, you’ve died once in the other world, and the next one is bound to be your last chance. You shook your head.

“I hope Alfred didn’t move anything since I was last here,” you mumbled to yourself. It would do you well not to think about it right now, you should be more focused on the mission. Like you said earlier, it was too easy.

“He didn’t,” Tim confirms. You glanced over your shoulder and Tim smiles softly. “That used to scare the heck out of you.” Tim and Cass were, in some ways, too similar, as much as they’d argue against it. The only difference between them was that one didn’t hesitate. Ever.

“Not anymore, I guess,” you respond. You pull out a tea packet and fill the water heater to its maximum. 

“Hope you don’t mind if I join you.” He walks into the kitchen and pulls out a mug.

“Of course, I wouldn’t, let’s have a conversation, Timmy,” you nodded toward him, waiting for the water to heat. “Why are you still up?”

“Bruce asked me to go through some files, just some review stuff,” he answers. “Have you spoken to him?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m not sure if anyone told him.”

“I could tell,” you rubbed the back of your neck awkwardly. The water heater finished and you swiftly poured it into your and Tim’s mugs.

“Whatcha drinking?” He asks, nudging your shoulder. It was something he always used to do when you were younger. He was testing you. You nudged him back.

“Just something I saw on Pinterest.”

‘It’s like I don’t exist to you,’ Alex chides. You pay him no mind.

“Smells good,” he says. You both take a seat at the counter, silently blowing the steam away from the tops while seemingly trying to find out what to say to the other. Strange, you’d never thought that you’d feel awkward around Tim of all your siblings, yet here you were, with your words caught in your throat.

“How are you, Tim?” You finally ask. Tim taps his mug a couple of times, looking off into nothing while he thought of his response.

“I’ve been better, (Y/N), and you?” He tosses the question back.

“I’ve been better,” you repeated. “Crazy… everything that I found out today, and no doubt more, huh?” You ask. Tim could only nod.

“A lot has changed, (Y/N), I don’t even know where to start,” he shakes his head. “It’s okay though, right? We’ll have a lot of time to spend together,” Tim says with a small smile. Your chest clenched. Ah, Tim, what a horrible habit of his. You were worried that he already had you figured out. Had you slipped up somewhere? A mannerism you hadn’t done before?

‘Stop clutching your heart,’ Alex’s voice rang. Your hand dropped to your lap.

“I see there’s a new Robin,” you answered before Tim could get suspicious.

“Oh, no, Duke’s Robin trial’s over. He’s Signal now,” Tim explains.

“Another kid who fell victim to dad’s charms, huh?” You drank some of your tea, feeling your thoughts relax afterward.

“Something like that,” Tim mutters. “But, (Y/N)… there’s something different about you.” This conversation again. You had to stay on your guard, everything you say and everything you do can and will be used against you. Leave it to Timmy, always the skeptic.

“I mean… you know what happened,” you sighed. “Where’s Cassie?” You divert the conversation.

“Last I heard she’s helping out at Steel City,” Tim hums. “I should call her over,” he reaches for his phone, but you shake your head. Anyone but Cass.

“It’s fine, sounds like she’s busy, like you said, we have a lot of time to figure things out. I’m just proud,” you grinned. “I’m proud of all of you, looks like you’ve all been doing your best since I’ve been gone and… that makes me really glad,” you nudged his leg with your foot and he looks up from his coffee to you, a sudden grief in his eyes. You were telling the truth. You were worried about Tim more so than your other brothers actually, of them all, he was the most prone to overthinking. 

“What do you think?” Tim suddenly asks. You freeze.

‘He asked if you feel any different,’ Alex fills in for you.

“I’m not sure, Tim,” you sighed. “I feel like myself but, at the same time, not at all. I saw the news reports already, so… do you think…?” You looked down at your hands. Now, to be perfectly honest, you’ve thought about this before, plenty of times actually. This body you’re in, is it actually yours?

“I mean… if I may,” Tim moves his chair so he can be a little closer to you and reaches for your hand. Instinctively, you pull away and Tim’s breath hitches.

“Sorry… muscle memory maybe,” you tried to cover for your actions, placing your hand on his instead. Tim holds it gently, observing your wrist in particular, but ghosting his hands around yours entirely. You gave him your non-dominant hand for a reason. You couldn’t come up with an excuse to explain the calluses on your sword hand. “You have scar marks all around your wrist here,” he says, tracing the faint outline of the jagged cut made into it. As he did so, it was like you could feel the sharp pain from before. “Your hand was the first one they found, you know,” he suddenly says, a sharp tone switch. Again, you pulled your hand away, rubbing your wrist softly now.

“So I’ve heard,” you muttered.

“They never found your torso.”

“And yet, here it is,” you said next. He’s testing your answers now. It’s too late to act afraid. “That’s why, I had a nightmare last night, a body without a torso was running towards me,” you lied. Tim frowned, taking a sip of his drink before continuing.

“I wonder… is your situation similar to Jason’s? Or is it completely different?” He says aloud.

“Well… I don’t think I turned into an asshole, so I’m pretty sure I’m different,” you laughed. Tim broke a small chuckle.

“That’s true, that’s true,” he nods. “How do you feel about this, (Y/N)? About coming back to life and all?” Tim seems to have relaxed.

“I mean… it’s strange. You know my thoughts on death,” you mumbled. “I’m a bit glad, though. Maybe this was a gift, you know? I still have to pick up my degree from the university, I wonder if they kept it,” you rest your head against your palm now.

“Your degree?” Tim asks.

“Yeah? You know I went to college, right?” You looked at him with disbelief.

“Well, yeah, of course, I know that!” Tim defends tiredly. “It’s just… did you not see it earlier? Bruce hung it over the mantle,” Tim points to the general area of the living room and your eyes widened slightly. You didn’t even notice that.

“Oh… I guess it slipped my mind, I was too busy looking at your Boy Wonder pictures,” you chided.

“Whatever, I keep telling Alfred to move those, it’s so embarrassing,” Tim grows slightly red before his smile falls again as if remembering something else. What was he thinking right now? What was going on inside that head of his?

“Tim, are you okay?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine,” he nods his head unsurely. He looks back down at his coffee. “No… No, I’m not,” he corrects himself. You hesitated before putting your hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, do you want to talk about it? Is it my fault?” You asked. Maybe your sudden reappearance shocked him, or maybe you were wrong, maybe he hadn’t been holding up well.

“I just… (Y/N), I want to trust you, really I do,” he says, meeting your eyes once again. “But there’s something different about you, something I can’t really point out,” he shakes his head. He looks away again for a brief moment, as if in thought, then he looks at you, his eyes filled with the determination to solve the case that was you. “Who are you?”

“Timmy,” whatever warning tone was in your voice wasn’t intentional. Your hand moved up to his face, holding it as gently as possible. “I knew you’d be the first to find out.” You whispered. “And I’m so sorry, I love you, you’re my little brother but… I have to do this, please understand. It’s nothing personal…” In an instant, you slammed his head against the table, leaving him knocked out.

‘Well, that can only work once,’ Alex chides.

“I know,” you chugged down the rest of your drink. “Let’s get out of here.” You rushed out to the gardens. Dammit, you knew it, why did you entertain him? Five minutes, no, less. You had to get out of here as soon as possible. You spot your two teammates, both in compromising positions that they should care less about right now. “Don’t even worry about the security system! Let’s just go!” You shout, already configuring the device around your wrist. You heard doors slamming behind you, shouts or rushed speech, you didn’t have time to differentiate. The alarm system blared, no doubt a wake-up call, and the sudden lights that shot into the night sky, without a doubt, was to call the patrolling vigilantes back home.

“Ready when you are, captain!” Alex shouts. You couldn’t ignore the stares you felt. Which sibling was it?

“Count of three!” You shout. It can’t be Dick or Jason, they would’ve said something by now.

“Three!” Alex shouts. Tim was still knocked out, knowing him, he’d be hanging behind on the cams but a quick glance earlier showed that the garden cameras were fried beyond repair.

“Two!” Carter was next. Damian? No, can’t be, he would’ve reacted similarly to your older brothers, surely.

“One!” The three of you slammed your hands on the devices, a vortex quickly pulling you into your home universe.

The three of you tumbled onto the concrete floors of the Keep, your back slamming harshly against the table that, of course, Nixon finally bolted to the ground. Carter hit the wall, sending displayed weapons crashing down. And, as expected, Alex landed as gracefully as ever, standing up nearly immediately to brush the dirt off his uniform.

And, just like that, all your exhaustion caught up to you. The constant acting, the running around Gotham, running around the manor, and even the stress of your family. All in the span of two days, you deserved a vacation after even just looking at your father, that man just knew how to drain the life out of you. If you could, you’d rather sleep right where you were. Your lumbar vertebra only slightly fractured from the sheer force of hitting the table, but, give it a couple of minutes and it’ll be fine again.

As much as you hated to admit it, it made you feel better now that you were in a more familiar place. One that you felt comfortable in, at the very least. Sure, you spent the majority of your waking hours working in this place, but it was better than the stares you got over the two days you were at the manor. For once, these ugly concrete floors felt welcoming.

“Well, that went swimmingly, didn’t it?” Alex grins. You and Carter could only groan in response. You held up the flash drive regardless and Alex takes it from your hand. Then, as soon as the tingling feeling in your legs subsided, you took deep breaths.

“It almost went too well,” you shook your head against the cold floors. You pushed yourself up using the edge of the table. “Ugh… I’m beat, I’m going home,” you waved your hand absently.

“Oh, don’t forget to take lover boy with you,” Alex points to Carter.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, Carter, I’ll give you a ride,” you beckoned him with your hand.

“Oh, nah, it’s fine,” Carter shakes his hand.

“Okay, better for me, just walk,” you grabbed your keys from the counter, taking a glance at the clock next to you. “Oh shit,” you grabbed the digital device.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asks.

“It’s been two weeks here!” You shout. “Fuck! There’s going to be so much paperwork!” You ruffled your hair harshly.

“Ah, and so the captain faces her hardest battle yet,” Alex laughs, grabbing the door for you, “deadlines.”

“I can and will kill you, Alex.”

~

Cassandra stood at the top of Wayne Manor. Her knuckles had turned white from how hard she was gripping the chimney top. Maybe she shouldn’t have been lurking, but when Jason suddenly texted the group chat she knew she had to come immediately. But, when she saw you sitting in the living room, just waiting for your brothers to return, all the warning signals flew up in her mind.

Threat, thief, murderer, soldier, suspicious, trained, dangerous, and god knows how more. Cassandra couldn’t believe it, no, she didn’t want to believe it. You were just sitting there, how could you set off all those alarms in her head? Wait, how could you do that? You weren’t supposed to show those to her. You were supposed to be happy, relaxed, calm, excited, or maybe even worried or concerned. But, there was one signal that kept popping up over and over again in Cass’ head.

Liar.

You acted just like (Y/N), you looked just like her, you sounded just like her, but every subliminal thing about you was not (Y/N) Wayne. But, underlying all of those, was fear. Were you maybe keeping things to yourself? Was it to protect the family? Why? 

Why did you steal those files from the bat computer? Cassandra saw all of it, staying hidden in the shadows just as she was taught, she watched you upload details on who knows how many heroes into a simple flash drive, and how that was possible, Cass didn’t know. The security system should’ve fried that drive and alerted Tim or Barbara as soon as you pushed it into its port but it didn’t.

Yet, you knew the password. She saw you. You typed in the correct password, but you hesitated. Why did you hesitate? Why would you? It’s not like Bruce had ever changed it from your birthday. For a computer harboring so many secrets, the password to access it was just so simple. Your initials, underscore, then your birthday. Two capitals and no spaces. Not just anyone knew that password, Cass had only found out off-hand when, surprise, she watched Bruce put it in. Perhaps it was what she read off of you when you typed in your password. Anxious, and maybe even melancholic. Why would an imposter feel sad about a password? There would be no reason.

It was that reasoning that convinced Cass that you were, truly, you. Just with different life experiences, maybe. More experiences than death certainly. She only overheard it, your story about the lab. But when you said that, all your body language indicated were lies. How different could it have been, though? What happened to suddenly change your mannerisms fundamentally?

Did it, maybe, have something to do with your heart? Why did you continue to clutch it so throughout the short time you were in the manor?

Cass had too many questions, all of which she’d know would go unanswered. Now, just as she watched you disappear with two unknown figures, she could only feel her knees buckle while she sat against the roof tiles.

She didn’t even get to say ‘hello.’

[the-malewife-ever]

its 5am. i am very tired. i do not want to go through and pick out all the best responses when i have a test today. so what youre getting now is:

every single character that was submitted [unless i didnt feel comfortable adding them to the data]

^ this includes:

- i didnt feel comfortable putting them in [they are a kid is the most likely answer]

- they break the rules

and goodnight everyone im going back to bed you get your pairings later today. feel free to demand your malewife be in the pairings in the notes of this post all you want but be nice

and sorry to the ppl checking the tags in the search bar for ANY of these characters

read more because we got 301 and then some submissions:

The Top Submitted Characters:

Crazy Dave [Plants Vs Zombies] - 14

Kazuki Kurusu [Buddy Daddies] - 8

Hero [Omori] - 8

Saul Goodman/James McGill [Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad] - 7

Tatsu [Way of the House Husband] - 7

Thoma [Genshin Impact] - 7

Laszlo Cravensworth [What We Do In the Shadows] - 5

Percy de Rolo [Critical Role/Vox Machina] - 5

Ron DeLite [Ace Attorney] - 5

Brett Hand [Inside Job] - 4

Puss in Boots [Puss in Boots] - 4

Sanji [One Piece] - 4

Spamton G. Spamton [Deltarune] - 4

Got 3 Or Less Votes:

9 [9 (2009)]

Adrian Graye Vernworth [The Owl House]

Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir [Miraculous Ladybug]

Alador Blight [The Owl House]

Alistair Theirin [Dragon Age]

Andre Legris [Innocent/Innocent Rouge]

Asgore Dreemurr [Undertale]

Axel Summers [Lemon Soda and Coffee (Webcomic)]

The Baker [Into the Woods (1991)]

Bandit Heeler [Bluey]

Barry Draxum [Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]

Beacrox Molan [Lout of the Court’s Family]

Benny [Fallout: New Vegas]

Bilbo Baggins [The Hobbit]

BJ Hunnicutt [MASH]

Bob Belcher [Bob's Burgers]

Briefers "Brief" Rock [Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt]

Brock [Pokemon]

Bruno Buccerati [JoJo's Bizzare Adventure]

Bruno Madrigal [Encanto]

Calculester Hewlett-Packard [Monster Prom]

Caleb Wittebane [The Owl House]

Cardan [The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black]

Cecil Palmer [Welcome to Night Vale]

Chakotay [Star Trek Voyager]

Charlie Kelly [It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]

Chisaki Kai (Overhaul) [My Hero Academia]

Chris Pearson [Dan Vs.]

Chrom [Fire Emblem Awakening]

Clay Rockridge [The Sexy Brutale]

Colin Robinson [What We Do In the Shadows]

Connecticut Clark [FlorkofCows/The Saga of Clark]

Cove Holden [Our Life: Beginning & Always]

Cyclonus [Transformers (IDW1)]

DaLey Vigil [The Great Ace Attorney]

Daniel Cain [Re-Animator]

Darius Deamonne [The Owl House]

Dedue Molinaro [Fire Emblem Three Houses]

Dick Grayson [DC Comics]

Dick Gumshoe [Ace Attorney]

Do Hyun Soon [Flower of Evil]

Ed [Our Flag Means Death]

Eddie Munson [Stranger Things]

Elliott [Stardew Valley]

Faria [Thrilling Intent]

Flex Mentallo [Doom Patrol]

Fox Mulder [The X-Files]

Fukuo [Kiki’s Delivery Service]

Furio Giunta [The Sopranos]

Gao Yizhi [Iron Widow]

Garmadon [Ninjago]

Garry [Ib]

Geto Suguru [Jujitsu Kaisen]

Gilbert Nightray [Pandora Hearts]

Gomez Addams [The Addams Family]

Grover Underwood [Percy Jackson Series]

Hannibal Lecter [Hannibal]

Harrier du Bois [Disco Elysium]

Hazama Masayoshi [Samurai Flamenco]

Heinz Doofenshmirtz [Phineas and Ferb]

Herlock Sholmes [The Great Ace Attorney]

Hordak [She-Ra (Netflix)]

Howl Jenkins Pendragon [Howl's Moving Castle]

Hugh Neutron [Jimmy Neutron]

Hugh Test [Johnny Test]

Ianto Jones [Torchwood]

Ignis Scientia [Final Fantasy XV]

Ingo [Pokemon]

Izzy Hands [Our Flag Means Death]

Jake Sully [Avatar]

James [Pokemon]

Jason Todd [Batman]

Jesus Christ [The Bible]

Joel Hammond [Santa Clarita Diet]

Johnathan Harker [Bram Stoker's Dracula]

John Silver [Treasure Island (1988)]

John Watson [BBC Sherlock]

Jonathan Byers [Stranger Things]

Kaiden Alenko [Mass Effect]

Kai Satou [Your Turn to Die]

Kaito [Vocaloid]

Kakashi Hatake [Naruto]

Katsuya Serizawa [Mob Psycho 100]

Ken [Barbie]

Kermit the Frog [The Muppets]

Kim Dokja [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint]

Kim Gongja [SSS-Class Suicide Hunter]

Kingsley [Papa Louie Games]

Kisuke Urahara [Bleach]

Klavier Gavin [Ace Attorney]

Kojiro “Joe” Nonjo [Sk8 the Infinity]

Laurance Zvahl [Minecraft Diaries]

Lazarus Bleeze [The Hex]

Leon [Pokemon]

Lestat de Lioncourt [Interview with the Vampire (TV Show)]

Lieutenant Columbo [Columbo]

Light Yagami [Death Note]

Link [Breath of the Wild]

The Lobby Boy [The Hotel Podcast]

Loid Forger [Spy X Family]

Luigi [Mario Franchise]

Luo Binghe [The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System]

Mac McDonald [It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]

The Man in the Yellow Hat [Curious George]

Manolo Sanchez [The Book of Life (2014)]

Mario [Mario Franchise]

Marshall Eriksen [How I Met Your Mother]

Marvin [Falsettos]

Mendel Weisenbachfeld [Falsettos]

Me [The Mod]

Michael [The Good Place]

Miles Edgeworth [Ace Attorney]

Min-Gi Park [Infinity Train]

Minato Namikaze [Naruto]

Momo [Stray]

Mr. Mime [Pokemon]

The Narrator [The Stanley Parable]

Naven Nuknuk [Epithet Erased]

Oliver Queen [DC Comics (Green Arrow)]

Olruggio [Witch Hat Atelier]

The Onceler [The Lorax]

Palamedes Sextus [The Locked Tomb]

Paper [Inanimate Insanity]

Peeta Mellark [The Hunger Games]

Percy Jackson [Percy Jackson Series]

Peter Nureyev [The Penumbra Podcast]

Preminger [Barbie: Princess and the Pauper]

Qifrey [Witch Hat Atelier]

Quirrel [Hollow Knight]

Ramsey Murdoch [Epithet Erased]

Randy Valentine Jade [Dialtown]

Redd Rockridge [The Sexy Brutale]

Reigen Arataka [Mob Psycho 100]

Ronaldo [The Vampire Dies in No Time]

Rouxls Kaard [Deltarune]

Roy Mustang [Full Metal Alchemist]

Ryoji Kaji [Neon Genesis Evangelion]

Ryuuji Takasu [ToraDora!]

Samwise Gamgee [Lord of the Rings]

Sasuke Itachi [Naruto]

Satan [Puyo Puyo]

Satoru Gojo [Jujitsu Kaisen]

Seven [Zero Escape]

Shinya Fujikawa [Corpse Factory]

Sig Curtis [Full Metal Alchemist]

Silco [Arcane (Netflix)]

Sojiro Sakura [Persona 5]

Sokka [Avatar: The Last Airbender]

Soldier [Team Fortress 2]

Spirit Albarn [Soul Eater]

Spongebob Squarepants [Spongebob Squarepants]

Steve Harrington [Stranger Things]

Steven Grant [Marvel]

Suoh Tamaki [Ouran High School Host Club]

Sword Boyfriend [Transistor]

Tanjiro Kamado [Demon Slayer]

Thomas Sharpe [Crimson Peak (2015)]

Tohru Adachi [Persona 4]

Tom Wambsgans [Succession]

Travis Matagot [Campaign Skyjacks]

Tsukasa Jinguuji [Fabiniku (Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout)]

The Tumblr Boyfriend [Tumblr]

The Twelfth Doctor [Doctor Who]

Tyrell Wellick [Mr. Robot]

Vanitas [Vanitas no Carte/The Case Study of Vanitas]

Vash the Stampede [Trigun]

Victor Nikiforov [Yuri on Ice]

Waymond Wang [Everything Everywhere All At Once]

Whizzer Brown [Falsettos]

William "Spike" Pratt [Buffy the Vampire Slayer]

William “Dex” Pointdexter [Check Please!]

Yeza Brenatto [Critical Role]

Yoo Joonghyuk [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint]

You [The Voter]

Zagreus [Hades]

[the-goddess-of-mischief-writing]

Possessive Lucifer {1}

Chapter Summary; You dress up to go on a hunt, something Lucifer isn’t to keen on. However, with a warning to anyone who dares touch you, he sends you off. That, and a little souvenir to remind you that you’re his.

Pairing: Lucifer x reader

Rating: Mature

CHAPTER NO/ONESHOT: 1/2

Word; 3.700

Warnings; nudity, suggestive themes

Author; @the-goddess-of-mischief-writing​

A/N: So here’s the first of many drabbles for the SIN (Soulmates in nature) series. It was one of the first one’s I had planned and is a favourite troupe of mine for our beloved archangel.

MAIN MASTERLIST

It wasn't often you brought out your makeup. It wasn't often you needed to balance the few, yet essential, products on the edge of your sink to not slip down and break. Nor was it often you stared at yourself, hopeless of how you would be able to follow the tutorial playing on your phone.

"How can someone get good at this?" You mumbled as you attempted to follow the makeup artist's guide on 'how to succeed with your eyeshadow not appearing like a blob of diffused colours'. Their title a bit more eloquently put than your thoughts.

"I don't even understand why you humans think that makes you look more appealing". You dropped the small brush from your eyelid, shooting Lucifer a glare over your shoulder.

"If you could poof makeup like hers on my face, then I know you would change your mind", you huffed, using the makeup brush to point at the person creating a masterpiece on their face, one you tried to copy.

The devil cocked a brow at you from where he leaned against your dresser. "Who do you think I am?"

"I don't know. Genie?" You shrugged, turning around and examining the parts of your makeup that were better and the areas where it... wasn't. "Even though I wouldn't say no to his help, I don't think he would be as powerful as you".

"Flattery will take you nowhere when putting that paint on your face is far below what my powers can, or if I could, should be used for".

"I take back my statement. Genie is more powerful", you grumbled, reaching down to replay the part of the video you'd missed while speaking to Lucifer, not too thrilled you had to bite the lemon of doing your makeup yourself.

Hunting often didn't crave much of you, not much more than a potentially fucked up sleep schedule. You didn't count the gamble with your life. However, tonight was one of those few times you needed to dress up for a hunt.

Sam and Dean had found a case where people ended up dead with claw-like marks marring their chests, faces or any other places you could think of. According to official reports, a wolf was behind the attacks. And though many things about the physical encounter also pointed towards werewolves for you guys, after some investigation, you'd ruled out the lunar worshippers concerning the heart of each victim was intact. However, a particular part of the brain was always missing.

It had meant nothing to you when the doctors mentioned all victim's pituitary glands had been removed, other than a feeling it was more than an eerie coincidence. Although, to Sam and Dean, it had been the clue to solving what monster you were after. A kitsune.

You'd never run into a kitsune, heard of them from lores and stuff but never needed to hunt them. However, Sam told you that it wasn't weird concerning this particular fox-like creature was a rare occurrence. And yet, this Kitsune didn't hide in the shadow of the night. On the contrary, the incredibly normal-looking guy you were after was a successful businessman hosting a party to celebrate his newest project. Dean had joked that maybe the sicko eats brain as some kind of symbol for his own further success, as he'd said: 'Doubles the brain power, you know'.

Although thankful that you'd managed to get hold of tickets to the party, something you still don't understand how the brothers accomplished, you weren't all too excited about it. You barely owned more clothes than those suited for hunting and leisure, which meant you'd needed to go out in search of a formal dress.

You almost gave up, stole the Impala to flee back to the bunker, all while convincing Dean over the phone you would find something wearable in your closet, which you wouldn't have accomplished. But you didn't even come further than almost giving up, seeing how you didn't even succeed in persuading the older brother why you needed the keys to his baby. Instead, Dean hooked his arm in yours and dragged you along when he figured out your plan, stating that if he needed to suffer, then so would you.

In the end, it had been worth getting dragged along, seeing how you returned home with a dress you at least could admire for the rest of your life after tonight. Jewells decorated the bust, the stones fanning out the further down the eye journeyed until they gave away to fabric in a silky shade of sage, the material falling until it reached the floor.

Yes, it would be the prettiest thing you owned by a mile and for that reason, you hid it inside the cover you'd received when you bought it until the very moment you needed to put it on. In other words, you were scared to ruin it as you played with what you considered adult finger-paint.

"Can't get better now", you mumbled to yourself. The video had paused once it reached the end, so you cancelled the upcoming one in between attempts to touch up some parts of the makeup to get as close to perfect as possible. If someone would ask you, it didn't do much, but you could always hope a more experienced eye would say differently.

"Finally done?" You heard as you turned, finding Lucifer in not much of a different position than ten minutes ago.

"Nothing better to do than stand there and stare?" You shot back. Although he only shrugged in response, you doubted the archangel didn't have anything to say.

Lucifer's eyes flickered over your face, his head tilting as he, without a doubt, took in your dolled-up look. You couldn't fend off the twitch of your lip, which not long after curved your mouth into a smile, witnessing him so transfixed with you. And upon noticing your reaction, the devil's eyes swiftly found yours.

"Eating up your words yet?" You teased him with a chuckle.

"Still think it's unnecessary", Lucifer replied, seemingly unbothered, though the way he said it a bit too curtly spoke against it.

"Very well, if you've stayed for this long, there's no reason I should shoo you out when you can help me into the dress", you said as you walked over to your open door, which was the single place you had been able to hang up your dress, and hooked of the sealed package.

"Have you missed the wings, or do you just decide to ignore them?" You glanced over your shoulder as you closed the door, finding Lucifer pointing to the iridescent entities resting beside him.

"They're still very much there", you began as you wandered over to your bed, putting down the garment bag and sipping it open. "But I don't think you'll say no to seeing me naked, so something you have to pay for doing it", you continued, wiping your hands on your robe just to make sure no makeup resided on them before pulling out your dress.

"Pay to do it, you say?" Your gaze rose when Lucifer's voice sounded closer. He moved up alongside you, hands finding your hips as he stopped.

"Perhaps not, but you can spare a few favours for your mate, I believe". You looked up at the archangel as he brought you closer to him.

"That so?" Lucifer cocked a brow. "What would I get in return?"

"Well...", you pulled the word out. "Seeing me naked?"

He tipped his head back and forth as if truly contemplating your offer before his lips quirked. "Sounds fair".

"You better think that", you scoffed, taking a step away to pull at the belt of your robe and letting it fall to the ground. A low whistle was heard, and though you felt a heat enter your chest as Lucifer shamelessly let his eyes roam your body, only covered by your skimpiest pair of panties, you shot him a look.

"No bra, how dirty", he commented, gaze lifting to meet your unimpressed glare. "Could practically skip these as well". The devil reached forth, hooking his finger in the black strap curving over your hip and making it snap lightly across your skin as he let go.

Shooing away his hand, you bent forwards and plucked your dress out of its cover. "I said you can look, not touch". As you saw one of his hands stretching forwards again in the corner of your eye, you took a step to the side and held your dress in front of you, angling your body toward him.

"And, I want to be at least a bit comfortable as I wear this". You jostled the piece covering your front before continuing. "Neither do I want any ugly creases, so have it".

"I'm not complaining", he smirked, to which you rolled your eyes.

"Of course you aren't".

Your eyes widened, a gasp escaping you when Lucifer's hands shot out, anchoring on your lower back and pulling you against him. No matter that your dress was kept in place by how closely your bodies pressed together, your fingers curled further into the fabric.

"Someone's becoming bold". The devil cocked his head, gazing down at you.

You swallowed at his tone, feeling the earlier heat spread and conquering his radiating chill, which seeped so softly through the fabric of your dress. Despite the flush sensation, you raised your chin when his words echoed in your mind. "And what if I am?"

"Dangerous thing for the naked one to be".

"Dangerous? I hardly think that".

"Perhaps not dangerous", he hummed, eyes falling from watching yours to the heave of your chest. "But... pushing your luck".

You arched a brow, head shifting to the side. "And what happens if I continue to push?"

"What do you think happens to a vixen who plays with fire?" Lucifer's hands travelled down your back, beneath the sharp black line of your panties, until they caught by his wrists, naturally stopping his movements.

Your mouth opened, but rather than words leaving your tongue, a sharp breath wheezed past your teeth, only to escape your lungs a second later when the devil groped your ass, his strong hands bringing you to your toes as he forced you further up his chest.

He gazed down at you, head tilting as his blue eyes darkened. "What I wouldn't do to see you so prettily ruined right now".

Your mouth ran dry, a warm shiver sweeping over your skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. "I should be thankful that your ever-so-good moral keeps you from doing it then". A low sound escaped Lucifer as you said this.

"I should be recognised as a Saint for it", his voice had dropped and you couldn't help but mumble your reply thanks to this.

"Mhm, so will the to-be-crowned Saint help his mate with what he promised?".

"I remember no promise".

"Lucifer", you sighed. Even if he cheekily groped your ass one more time, he flashed you a smile, releasing you and stepping away so you could unzip the dress.

The devil followed your every move. His eyes burning seemingly all over your skin at once as you slipped into the dress. The material was cool as you pulled it up your body, the rhinestones pressing against your palm as you held the garment against your chest, preventing it from falling,

When you turn around, the zipper sways with the fabric and taps against your skin. You wait for Lucifer to help you secure the dress, but when you don't feel him step closer and the chilled zipper continues to rest against your lower back, you glance over your shoulder.

You find his eyes gliding over you, not hurrying to meet your gaze. It's a slow sweeping motion up your back, the curve of your shoulder, until his blue eyes finally settle on yours. You arch a brow, but Lucifer only shrugs at you before he steps closer. Deciding to not argue or tease him about the bloom of something you feel through the bond, the one he admittedly tries to downplay, you look forward.

A light touch at your lower back and you know he's found the zipper. When the knuckle of his finger slides along your skin right before the tightening of the fabric, you know he's relieving you of the task of keeping up your dress at the front. You know he's closed the entire thing when Lucifer's other hand raises to fasten the hook at the top to keep the pin in place.

There's a slight pause before you sense how he leans closer, not long after, how his lips find the easy excisable skin at your shoulder. You don't let him press more than two pecks along the curve of your neck, knowing where he would end up if you allowed him to continue on his path.

Taking a step forwards and out of his reach, you turn on your heel, almost catching on the dress' trail. "I don't want you ruining any of this before I even leave for the hunt". As you said this, something in Lucifer's demeanour changed. A dark bolt of lightning struck in his eyes as his lips pursed into a thin line.

"You're going out like that". It wasn't a question, more so a statement as the devil remembered you didn't only dress up like this for fun, or him.

"Lucifer-", you began, but before you could finish the sentence, one of his hands slipped into the slit parting over your left leg to possessively grip the backside of your thigh, the other engulfing your neck to keep your wide eyes pinned on him.

"If anyone looks at your wrong, if anyone touches you, if they dare even think about you, they're dead". Lucifer's voice was chillingly cold and yet something lit on fire in your lower stomach as the words dripped like venom from his tongue.

"Okay", you breathed, taken off-guard by his sudden display. The devil noticed -not because you made any effort to hide it- cocking his head with a smirk curling his lips.

"No rebuttal?"

"If I would've, it would jeopardise my makeup and concerning how my hair already is living close to the edge of surviving, I can't risk it". There was still the ghost of a smile adorning Lucifer's lips as he watched you.

He leant down then and you tried to move away, but he simply held you in place by your neck. The hand grasping your thigh found its way out from the fabric, sneaking upwards over your waist, then ribcage.

You wanted to struggle and complain about the hand burying itself further into your hair, but as if the archangel could read your thoughts, he spoke before you could voice your concerns.

"They're only gonna see if you move", he mumbled against your lips before his head dipped down.

He trailed kisses from your throat and downwards, light ones starting where your makeup didn't reach and you felt more of his stubble than the pillow of his lips. As if it already wasn't hard being still for the sake of your appearance, it became even harder to not squirm upon what he did next.

Lodging his thumb beneath the bend of your jaw, Lucifer tilted your head backwards. His head dipped to the edge of your dress to counter the movement of your head while his hand trailed upwards and over your breast, tugging slightly at the fabric covering it. As soon as the bejewelled part separated from your skin, his lips found the newly exposed part of you.

Your hand shot to the back of his head, curling into his blonde locks when he let his teeth graze you before his lips attached and he sucked at the supple skin.

A breathy sound passed your lips and though you knew you should tug at his hair until he relented with his action, you didn't have enough strength to do it. And so, you simply let him work the bruise into your skin.

It didn't take long before the telltale sting where his mouth rested upon you reached the surface and the whimper escaping you was Lucifer's sign he'd succeeded with what he wished and eased up not soon after. A kiss to the spot he'd concentrated on, his finger unhooking from your dress to let it drop back, a nudge to the back of your head and you gazed upon a smug-looking Lucifer again.

"See, no harm done". Your eyelids dropped close and you let out a heavy sigh at the devil's comment.

You shook your head, feeling the amused jostle of his body. "Depends on what you're talking about". You opened your eyes once more, the creases in the corner of his eyes more accentuated as his grin broadened.

"The pretty paint on your face, of course".

"You really live up to your name sometimes". You stepped out of his arms without any resistance this time.

"Was given it for a reason". You caught the smugness coating each word as you glanced down, finding that the hickey Lucifer created was just about covered by your dress.

"Thanks for that. I practically won't be able to move without someone seeing this", you concluded, eyes darting to the devil.

"As I said, don't move and they won't see it", he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Menace", you grumbled, not caring about continuing the argument -and how that definitely wasn't what he'd meant for the phrase to imply earlier- knowing very well that Sam and Dean soon would be knocking at your door if you didn't hurry up.

Moving to your bed, you sat down to step into the flats you would wear to and from the venue, snatching the heels you would torture yourself with in-between as you stood.

When you headed to the door, you caught yourself in the mirror above your sink. Stopping in the middle of a step, you turned to look at your reflection.

Even though it could've been worse, you brush your fingers through your hair to smoothen down those stray strands that Lucifer was the culprit of sweeping out of place. And, just as you thought about him, your eyes flittered to watch him walk closer in the mirror.

Hastily turning around, you faced him as you pointed at him to stop. "Oh, don't you dare". The archangel raised his brows.

"No goodbye kiss?"

Albeit feeling a tingle in your lips upon his suggestion, you scoffed, not falling for his attempt at making you look as tousled as you felt. "I think you've done enough kissing". You replied, moving towards the door and heading out of your room with Lucifer in tow.

The second you walk into the library, you find Sam and Dean dressed in black smokings. Albeit the younger one lounged in one of the chairs, seemingly unbothered by the not so often seen attire on either of them, the older of the two was pacing, repeatedly tugging at his collar.

"You two clean up well", you called out just as Sam turned to you, a gentle smile spreading as his eyes scanned your appearance.

"Thank you, though I think you'll be the one convincing people we belong at that party".

"Thought your brother was the charmer", you reply.

"And I thought I signed up for being a hunter, not an undercover spy dressing up all cute". You couldn't help but snort at that, shaking your head with a smile. "The sooner we get going, the sooner I'll be out of this", Dean continued, not waiting for either your or his brother's confirmation that you were ready before heading towards the stairs with long strides.

"I take that as our cue". Sam stands from the chair, making an over-exaggerated bow and a sweeping moment with his arm, showing you should take the lead, a 'my lady', following his move.

Not even before your lips could twitch into a smile at the display, a voice sounded from behind you.

"Careful, Sammy, don't want your outing to end before it even begins". Your eyes meet Sam's as he rises to his full height before both of you turn to watch the archangel standing behind you.

Lucifer's arms were crossed over his chest, face fixed into something that could be mistaken for a relaxed look, even if it so evidently wasn't. There was an underlying tension in his body, irritation flaring in his eyes and you saw how he worked his jaws as his gaze was set on the hunter behind you.

You switched to look to Sam when you saw him shift in the edge of your vision. Now his hands were raised, head tipping slightly.

"Duly noted". Compared to the younger Winchester's reply, you only rolled your eyes. If Lucifer was moody enough to snap at Sam about something like this -something he practically never was concerned about- you don't know if you looked forward to leaving him to cool down or feared he only would mull over it until you returned.

Turning on your heel, you move towards the devil, settling on the middle ground to your earlier train of thought.

As you near, Lucifer's eyes finally settle on you, eyebrows raising when you stop before him. Without any further ado, you lean up, planting a kiss on his cheek. At your back, you can practically feel how Sam does anything but look at you and Lucifer, still not entirely -even that was a stretch- comfortable with either of you well... living up to being soulmates.

"Didn't think you wanted to say goodbye", the devil retorted, arms remaining overlapped in front of him. Stubborn. You roll your eyes, knowing very well that if Sam wasn't present, they would've fallen to his or your side.

"Neither did I, just attempting to calm you". Lucifer cocks a brow, forcing you to give him a look when you see an argument arise, even if he hasn't worded it yet. "Don't deny it".

"Not denying anything", he countered curtly, leaning down so your shared breaths. "But I don't discriminate when it comes to carrying out my warnings".

"Aside from me". You pecked the archangel's lips, not fully catching the edge of his words, only trying to distract him from his own attitude with the brush of your lips. "Be good". While he stands tall again, he briefly closes his eyes and raises his brows, which you deem enough of an answer to turn around and save Sam from the awkwardness of examining the roof and finally head after Dean. Brushing past the heat -and not the entirely pleasant kind- rippling through your bond.

Taglist: PS, I tagged the same people as in the original series, if any of you don't want to get tagged in the updates for this series (drabbles, one-shots etc) just give me a heads up!

@the-fiery-ghost @ambivertedcroissant @xthefuckerysquaredx@americancowgirl19 @wayward-winsister @itsmeempar @alizayalove @aliceblxck @canyouimaginethatstory@musiclovinchic93 @eyghim18 @blueberrykushlovexoxo-blog@emiliasaffron @batavrahamvsara @fanfic-love-show@imagine-inc @randomheart551 @jana-jaeynneee @ay0nha @brooklynchrr420@shippinglover @bun-dpdbny @tardis-world@blonde-in-charge @jokersqueenofchaos @baybeekenzie1@fandomgeekforever @perilous-blue @mistress-sassafrass @book-of-anarchy @nerdettezebracorn333 @herlovetragedy @coolbean121@bagsy-not-it @abbyss @taikawho @sagyunaro @dementedsnowfox​ @kcam1621​  @acaotch​ @crispycooter @browneyedgirl22 @misstress-sassafrass @bun-dpdbny​ @imagine-inc @enby-thesbian​ @stradlingmrstradlin​ @violetlilites​ @luciferslittledevil666​ @butterflykiisies​ @antisocial-thing​ @destinationdesignation​ @big-bad-batsy​ @yournightmare-1987​ @tuttifuckinfruttifriday​ @brujaporfavor​ @galaxypox​ @whitetigerlover17 @loki-is-loved​ @leeannlips-blog @here4thespice​

[merakiui]

[8] 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 & 𝒟𝓇𝓎

yandere!xiao x (gender neutral) reader cw: modern au, yandere, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, kidnapping/captivity, dark/obsessive thoughts, implied stockholm syndrome, mention of suicide/death, thoughts of murder previous chapter → [bitter & savory]

“I’m sorry I hit you,” you admit, dabbing at the scratch on Xiao’s cheek with a damp towel. “I hope it won’t leave a scar. Your face is too cute for that.”

“It’s…fine.” he mutters, cheeks reddening at the compliment.  

Is it? the dark shadow who stands tall behind you asks. He bends down from his impossible height and drapes an arm around you. In one quick motion, he swipes his index finger along your neck, his pointed nail just barely scraping the surface of your skin. If it’s fine, why haven’t you apologized for hurting me? That’s not very fair, Xiao. 

Xiao glares at the lanky figure, but it does nothing to scare him off.

I’m your secret, too, you know, he goes on, tilting his head curiously. His snake-like eyes track the way Xiao’s shoulders stiffen and a wide smile splits his lips apart like a bursting wound. I’d say treat me with care, but you didn’t do that when I was alive. When his hand curls into a tight fist, the shadow barks out a cruel chuckle. It doesn’t matter anyway. 

The monster composed of burnt lemon rind disappears in a puff of billowing smoke.

 See you at work, Alatus.

“Xiao?” He’s brought back to Earth by the gentle, careful hands of a sugar star, who cradles his face as though it’s porcelain. He’s reminded at once that his secret could do no harm. You’re the only one he’ll ever have in this life—his only secret. “If something’s on your mind, you can tell me. I’ll listen.”

He glances at the cotton ball you’re now holding between two fingers, its softness drenched in antiseptic ointment. “It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine,” he says, and for once he means it. The morning sunshine is bright and warm, the street is bustling with people making their daily commute, and an unforgettable sweetness lingers in every crevice of his apartment. Even though the once vibrant bouquet sits in the trash, pale and wilted, he’s certain today holds a delicious promise he has yet to taste. “I’ll go shopping after work. Have you made the list?”

You nod and continue to press the cotton into the scratch on his cheek. Luckily, it isn’t too deep—just a surface wound that will heal in no time—but you can never be too careful. If patching up every blight that befalls Xiao is what it takes to keep his bitterness at bay, you’ll do it. It’s a small price to pay for the life you’re so grateful to experience. 

“Was that Ajax?” His pupils lock onto yours almost immediately. “The one who came here yesterday.”

“It was my boss.”

“Oh! The agreeable one. What did he want?”

“Nothing important. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so.” You toss the cotton ball into the trash bin and pick up an adhesive bandage. “It’s been a while since I’ve put a spell on anything. How about it?”

“Another spell?”

“One that will protect you! Spells for delicious food won’t do you any good if you’re working hard out there for my sake. And since I can’t protect you at all times, I want this to serve as a reminder that we’ll always be together.”

“Is that really necessary?” 

“Of course it is! Now watch closely.” You place a kiss upon the packaging, unwrap it until the bandage is out, and then hold it up with a grin. “And to make sure no harm will ever come to you…” It happens so fast that Xiao hardly has time to process it. His breath hitches when you lean in towards him and every instinct in his body tells him to pull away—tells him that you’ll reach out with your angelic hands and dig your heavenly fingers into his throat, sentencing him to an early death. Instead, your soft lips fall upon his forehead in a light peck. 

“What was that? What did you—”

“There!” You pull away and place the bandage on his cheek, patting it to make sure it sticks. “Now you’ll always be safe. My kisses are magical and I only give them to special people, so take good care of the one I gave you. It’s priceless, okay?”

“Priceless?” He stares at you, searching for a hidden motive. When one does not present itself, he heaves a quiet sigh. “Very well. I’ll keep it close.”

You beam at him and grab his hands, holding them as if you intend to transfer a blessing from your fragile palms to his calloused ones. “You’re important to me, Xiao. Please take care of yourself. If you don’t, I’ll have to do it for you.” 

He glances at your entwined hands and then at your sincere expression. You’re holding the same hands that have cut all sorts of people free from the strings of life and yet you aren’t disturbed. These are the very hands that were wrapped around your neck and had squeezed mercilessly, intending to kill you in the chilly hallway of his apartment. Despite all that has happened, you’re no longer scared of him. If anything, you’re the same as you’ve always been before he kidnapped you: his happy, nonchalant secret. When it’s like this, he’s able to forget every instance of intolerable bitterness. Every inch of you is pure sugar—so sweet and wonderful that it has him latching onto you like the anglerfish he is. Perhaps the overwhelming greed that envelops him whenever he looks at you and the insatiable urge to keep and hide that seeps deep into his bone marrow are justified. 

You are his secret. You will remain that way for as long as he breathes, as it is a fact of this candied life. Not even the shadows or the rotten binds that grab at him with their ugly talons can separate the two of you. 

He’ll swallow the sugar star whole if he must. He’ll lock you within the wasteland that is his heart. He’ll subject you to darkness because you are radiant enough to pierce through it. Anything to keep you within his reach.

Xiao’s reminded of his hatred for the office when he steps inside and his ears are barraged by an onslaught of clicking keyboards, ringing phones, and hushed chatter. It feels like an entire year has passed since he stepped foot inside the building, a drowsy place where reality digs into him with wicked teeth. He must do this for his secret. There’s no way he’d be worthy of keeping you if he wasn’t putting in the effort of earning money to support you. Even if it kills him, he’ll continue to work long hours in front of a blinding laptop screen. 

A few heads peek out from the cubicles, curious eyes trailing after him like lonesome phantoms. Xiao ignores the stares and continues down the hall, past the room with that nearly ancient photocopier, until he reaches the solid oak door of his boss’s office. He inhales a steady breath, steeling himself, and knocks on the door. A muffled voice tells him to enter and he grabs the door knob, hesitating for a split second, before opening it and stepping inside. The outside world falls away and is replaced with savory, homely warmth. Zhongli nods his greeting, a small, polite smile on his lips. 

Xiao shuts the door behind him, turns to face the savory man, and the wind is promptly knocked from his lungs in a swift, invisible punch that leaves his mind reeling.

Shards of sharp betrayal stab into the usually serene atmosphere, turning it frigid and dark. This is not the scent of home. 

“Xiao, you’re back!” Ajax, the sour devil on Zhongli’s shoulder, pops up from the chair he’s sitting in and throws his arms around him in an abrupt hug. It’s not the same as when his secret hugged him. This embrace is tight, almost like a python coiling around its helpless prey and constricting with the intent to kill. Every limb in Xiao’s body locks up at the physical contact and he stares at the painting above Zhongli’s head in silent shock. “Everyone was so worried, you know! Boss Zhongli even got a message from Director Hu.”

What’s going on? Why is he here? 

“All right, let’s settle down now,” Zhongli says and that seems to do the trick. Ajax releases him at once, coughing awkwardly into his hand and muttering out an apology. “Welcome back, Xiao. It’s nice to see you again.”

Xiao swallows a lump of nerves and manages a curt reply. “Thank you…”

He glances sidelong at Ajax, who has his arms folded innocently behind his back. His throat is obscured under his collared shirt, which is buttoned up for once, and he looks as healthy and alive as he could possibly be. 

No blood. No bruises, Xiao notes after a panic-stricken observation. How is he still alive? He’s not supposed to be here. I killed him. So why is he—

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go for lunch? Ajax has offered to cover the fees.” Zhongli gestures to him, as if his suffocating presence in the room isn’t already apparent enough. “You needn’t worry about the meetings you missed. I’ve had Ajax fill in for you while you were out. He’ll catch you up to speed throughout this morning and then we’ll leave for lunch.”

“It just wasn’t the same with you here,” he interjects in a dismal tone. “Director Hu kept saying we’d see you in a coffin before you came back, but I didn’t believe her. You wouldn’t die that easily, would you, Xiao?” His blue eyes hold the depths of the ocean and every lethal creature that resides in those murky waters, and Xiao knows that if he meets his stare for too long he’ll drown. 

After an unbearable minute of gazing at him, he tears his eyes away, unable to process anything other than the fact that Ajax is alive. He never died. 

And if he didn’t kill Ajax, then who did he kill? 

“Perhaps Wanmin would suit your taste,” Zhongli offers. “Miss Xiangling’s cooking is always a treat.” Xiao’s mechanical nod is more than enough for Zhongli to reach a conclusion. “Then it’s settled. Come lunch, the three of us shall depart for Wanmin Restaurant.”

“Sounds good to me!” Ajax flashes a bright grin in Zhongli’s direction and then turns to Xiao. His hand finds the small of his back and he guides him to the door. “Well, let’s get moving, coworker. There’s lots of work to be done!” 

Inhaling a rattled breath, Xiao spares one last glance at his boss, as if to plead for a rescue, and allows Ajax to lead him outside. 

Why did this happen? 

“I know it’s not my place to ask, but I can’t help it. Would you entertain my curiosity and tell me where you’ve been this whole time?” 

“It’s not important.”

I killed you. You shouldn’t be here.

Xiao pushes past him and heads in the direction of his own office—the only other safe space in this entire building. When he opens the door, he hopes to meet his secret on the other side, waiting with open arms and a friendly smile. Instead the boring, unmoving contents of his office return his listless stare. 

“I thought something bad had happened.” Ajax’s voice fills the air with useless chatter. “But Boss Zhongli said you were okay and it seems like you are. Looks like everything’s back to normal.”

“Then there’s no reason to be concerned.” 

You don’t know me, so stop acting like you do. 

“You’re right. What matters now is that you’re here.” Ajax plops down in the chair, comfortably stretching his legs out as if this office is his dominion. “You missed a really important meeting, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. It was a proposal for merging two departments. If I’m allowed to share my opinion on it, it sounded like a terrible idea, so I’m glad that’s all it is for now. Both departments handle completely different things. I don’t know why anyone would want to merge them. It’s like trying to fit a puzzle piece in the wrong place and no matter how hard you cram it in there it just won’t fit.”

I don’t care about that, he wants to hiss. 

Instead he nods along to everything he’s saying. He can’t be bothered with Zhongli’s decisions regarding the company and its departments, nor does he have the time to agonize over reports, financial figures, and endless stacks of data. He needs to focus on the issue that’s sitting before him in the flesh. Xiao looks at the clock on the wall, watching the hand move sluggishly through every second, and he recalls the night he supposedly killed Ajax in brief flashes. They come to him in vivid succession—short bursts of energized recollections that have twisted together in a mess of blood and anger. 

“Maybe that’s why people are kidnapped.” 

He snaps out of his daydream, eyes flickering to Ajax. “What did you say?” 

There’s a glint in his oceanic hues. It’s just as it was before—when he held up his phone and showed Xiao that incriminating, sour photo. 

Right. The photo. 

Of course it still exists. As long as Ajax lives, so does his phone and the evidence that could send him right to law enforcement’s doorstep. 

“I said, ‘maybe that’s why people are kidnapped.’ It’s just a thought, though.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, an attacker and a victim aren’t exactly a happy match. One does the hurting and the other hurts—if that makes sense.” He shakes his head, a sullen expression weighing heavy on his face. It doesn’t match his normally charismatic optimism. Xiao wishes he could just scratch it off. “Most of the time it’s someone you know. Like a significant other or a family member. And sometimes it’s a complete stranger. Weird how that works, isn’t it?” 

“I guess.” 

“I actually thought you were the one who had gotten murdered. When I heard about it on the news, you were the first person who came to my mind.” He notices the disgust that scrawls itself across Xiao’s face and laughs. It’s a hollow, lifeless sound. “It’s grim. Sorry. I just assumed that might have been a plausible explanation as to why you were gone for so long and why Boss Zhongli refused to say anything. Either that or you killed yourself.” 

He says it so casually that it unnerves Xiao. It’s as if he’s a peddler of death and despair and is ready to exchange Xiao’s miserable soul for promised relief. 

When he remembers how he subjected himself to his own version of solitary confinement, a frown turns his lips down. In the past he considered suicide, but now he has a reason to live and cherish each day. He has happiness and love; it exists within his secret. And no matter how difficult his life gets, he knows it’s all worth the struggle. Because at the end of the day he comes home to a sweet environment, where he has the honor of being in the presence of you. And he wouldn’t dare do anything that would turn his relationship into something dirty and unsalvageable. 

Salty tears will dissolve a sugar star. He can’t allow that.

“How foolish,” he snaps, shaking his head in stern disapproval. “Are those the only things that run through your mind—murder and death?” 

“You’d be surprised at the stuff I keep in here,” he remarks, tapping a slender finger against the side of his head. “Enough of that, though. Let’s get you caught up!” 

Xiao nods and sits down in his office chair, opening his laptop and waiting as it comes to life. Ajax tells him all about the content in every meeting and the work he did for him while he was out of the office. Xiao tries his best to listen, but every update falls on deaf ears. His haunted expression glowers back at him from the dark monitor, a reflection of itching paranoia. There’s so much Ajax doesn’t know, yet it feels as though he’s just laid Xiao out and has read through him as if he’s nothing more than a textbook. 

So what will you do? the tiny voice in his head asks. You know what they say. If you don’t succeed the first time… 

As easy as it would be to put an end to this bothersome masquerade, Xiao doesn’t want to dye his hands in such a fierce color. What would his secret say if he came home looking like he had on that terrifying night? You might hate him, fear him, regard him with abhorrence. You would become so bitter and nasty, staring with wide, fear-filled eyes as he shuts the door and locks the both of you inside: a predator with his prey. 

If his foolishness leads to something terrible—if he takes one wrong step and loses you—he’ll be right where he was before you fell into his ocean: alone and depressed, contemplating final wishes as he stands in the snack aisle of a desolate convenience store. He made the mistake of instilling fear in you once and he vowed to never do it again.

He must stay true to that promise.

“It’s weird.” 

“Huh?” He blinks and the screen brightens with light. His memories turn to ash and are swept away by icy winds. “What’s weird?” 

“The murder took place in the same area where that person was kidnapped.” 

“Oh.”

“Do you think they’re connected?” Ajax’s eyes glaze over in contemplation. “What if it’s the roommate? They’re always the first one you’d suspect, so it sounds a little cliché, but it’s possible. Isn’t that scary? The one person you’ve lived with for so long, holding you captive inside your own house. Sounds like a horror movie to me.” 

“This isn’t a movie.” Xiao frowns and then adds, “Why do you care so much about it?” 

“Movie or not, it makes you wonder who’s behind it all. I can’t help but feel bad for the people involved.” Ajax shakes his head. “It’s been on my mind for a while, but let’s not get distracted. There are some figures Boss Zhongli had me review and I need you to check them for me before I hand them in.”

“Sure.”

Yeah. I wonder who’s at fault. 

If Xiao had to choose between an eternity of suffering or a simple luncheon with his colleague and boss, he’d choose the former without hesitation. At the very least he’s accustomed to the agony of living. A lunch date is not something within his field of expertise. And as he sits at the table with the Devil and his Savior, withholding the truth behind a stitched mouth, he contemplates valuable distractions. 

The dark shadow who looms in the doorway of the restaurant is not who he thought he’d see, and for once he’s grateful for Ajax’s unnecessary commentary. As soon as he speaks, the creature vanishes from his view, hiding within the nooks of his peripheral sight. 

“Smells good,” Ajax comments after observing the youthful chef flit about the room, balancing various dishes on a large tray and delivering each one to its designated table. She grins at his compliment and calls out her thanks.

Zhongli nods in agreement and then looks at Xiao. He fidgets awkwardly with the menu. “Please choose whatever you’d like, Xiao. There’s no need to hold back.” 

“I’m not hungry.”

“Nonsense. You ought to eat. A full stomach leads to a fulfilled mind and boundless energy.”

Xiao wishes it were that easy. If only he could eat specific dishes and feel the same fulfillment he gets from his spending time with his secret. Unfortunately, everything has always been so tasteless. He could consume his favorite dish one-hundred times and it still wouldn’t be enough to fill the gaping void in his heart. Only his secret has the power to repair it and fill it with all sorts of sweet things. Thinking about it has reminded him of the list he carries in his pocket—the one you so graciously handwrote—and he holds onto the hope that time will take his side in this endless battle and rush by even when he isn’t enjoying this moment. 

Gazing up from the menu, he watches Ajax and Zhongli as they discuss some meaningless topic and he wonders what his boss sees in that bothersome man. Just how he managed to land an internship at Wangsheng is beyond Xiao. Although he wouldn’t put it past Director Hu to spill some obnoxious poison into Zhongli’s ear. If he’s fun, he stays. If he’s boring, she’ll continue to pester him until he breaks from her sense of dark humor. It’s always been like that. When he first joined the company many years ago, she had been there with a stack of reports in her hands and a morbid joke on her lips. 

Telling the others I’d wind up in a coffin, he thinks, rolling his eyes. Of course she would. 

He can’t fault her for her thoughts, however brutal they may be. She’s in charge of a different department, so perhaps she’s never met the irritating flea that is Ajax. And if that’s the case, he’s back to wondering how he managed to charm Zhongli into letting him into the company. Perhaps he truly is the Devil and this is his own way at climbing the steps of the glorious world he once fell from—by tearing the most godly one from his rightful place and taking up residence like a ravenous parasite. 

“Sorry for the wait!” The young lady is at their table now, a pad of paper and a pen in her hands. She shoots the three of them a typical customer service smile, but to Xiao it looks genuine enough. “Have you all decided on what to order yet, or would you like some more time?”

“I think we’re just about ready, yeah?” Ajax exchanges glances with Zhongli and Xiao before gazing up at the girl. “How about we order drinks first?”

“Sounds good! I’m all ears, gentlemen.”

“What if we did a bottle of… Hm. A dry wine? Or would you prefer something sweeter?”

Zhongli ponders for a moment before shaking his head. “Just tea for me.”

“That’s no fun,” Ajax mumbles. “Then I’ll also have tea! What kind do you have?”

As the waitress rattles off every tea they serve, Xiao withdraws into his head to compose himself. 

It’s only lunch. Ajax doesn’t know anything. He’s just a childish true crime fanatic. If I can sit through this, I’ll get to see my secret. So I must endure it. For now… 

“And what will you have, sir?”

Everyone’s eyes are on him now and he swallows around lumps of gritty sand. “Just—” he clears his dry throat— “I’ll just have water. That’s all.”

“All right! I’ll be back shortly.” She scribbles something else in her notepad and then heads off in the direction of the kitchen. 

“Speaking of alcohol, you’re coming to the company party, right? It’ll be a mix of people from here and there. Some might even be from Director Hu’s department. What do you say, Xiao?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Aw. I was hoping I’d get to see you drunk. Well, how about you, Boss?”

“I’m considering it. The director has pestered me for quite some time now. She thinks it would be good for someone of my age to ‘enjoy the humor of the company’s youth,’ as she puts it.” 

Ajax chuckles. “You should come. It’ll be fun!” 

“Perhaps I will.” Zhongli smiles fondly once the waitress returns with his hot tea. “Thank you.”

“And your tea.” She places the cup in front of Ajax. “And your water.” 

Xiao stares at the ripples in the water as they settle into calm nothingness. 

“Is everyone ready to order now?”

Lunch. That’s all this is, he reminds himself and chooses a meal at random. By the time everyone’s ordered and the waitress has darted back into the kitchen to prepare everything, Xiao glances out the window. Someone’s taping a flyer to the lamppost across the street, his hands smoothing out the wrinkles when the wind rustles it. Ajax curiously follows his line of sight.

“Where do you think missing pets go?”

“Anywhere and everywhere,” Zhongli answers without missing a beat. “The world is their oyster. They are free to roam it in any way they please, unrestrained but also bound by the law of survival of the fittest. Such is the life of an animal who no longer possesses a collar.”

“I think they’ll find new homes instead. People pity strays, after all,” Ajax replies with a hopeful smile. He turns his attention on Xiao and asks, “Do you have any pets?”

He shakes his head. “My building doesn’t allow animals.”

“Really? Then what’s up with the bandage on your face? Did you get into a fight?”

“It was a scratch from a cat.”

“That’s not good. You should really get that checked out, you know.” He places his elbows on the table and leans forward ever so slightly. “It could get infected if you aren’t careful.” 

“I’ll be fine.” He catches Zhongli’s subtle stare, which is filled with a sort of parental concern Xiao’s not accustomed to, and nods. “I’ll be okay.”

“If you say so.” Ajax shrugs. “Did the cat have an owner?”

“No.”

“Ah, you should have called me! I’d like to adopt a cute kitty one of these days. Maybe I should’ve gotten to it before you did.”

“Maybe.”

The person on the other side of the road bleeds into the crowd and the only evidence of their existence is the poster, lonely fluttering in the breeze. Xiao holds eye contact with Ajax for a while longer, an odd tension brewing between the two of them, until Zhongli interrupts with, “Your homeland, Ajax. What is it like?”

“Oh, are you curious?”

Xiao tunes the both of them out again and when he allows his gaze to wander he finds the shadow crouching under the table next to theirs, poorly hidden from the light. 

Well? it seems to question. You’ve done this before. What’s one more?

He reaches for his glass, bringing it to his lips to quench the sudden dryness. 

He’ll find out eventually. What will you do when that happens?

Angling his body away from the table, he fixes his gaze on the bright signs of various businesses on the street. The shadow slips into his view again. 

What if he already knows? It cocks his head at him like a parrot studying a foreign sound. He’ll get your secret and you’ll be put in cuffs. Not a very fair ending for the stray who was collared for most of his life. 

It failed the first time, he thinks, eyeing Ajax’s unblemished jugular, so I’ll just try again.

His secret won’t have to know about it. The shadow figure seems to possess that same thought because it backs away from him until it’s perched on an empty chair, its head moving in what appears to be a nod. And then it does a strange, jerky motion with its amorphous body, as if it’s preening nonexistent feathers, and Xiao finally ignores its presence. 

Instead of your neck, I’ll aim for your sour heart.

When their meals are finally delivered, hot and smelling deliciously of different spices and steamed vegetables, Xiao excuses himself from the table. He makes a beeline for the restroom. It’s empty when he enters and stands at the sink, observing his reflection in the mirror. With a sharp inhale, he twists the handle and water comes pouring out of the faucet. 

Relax. He gathers cold water in his palms and splashes it against his face. You’re okay.

The door creaks open just as he lifts his head from the sink.

“Is everything okay?”

“Am I not allowed to use the restroom in peace?” he snaps, lowering his hands and glaring ferociously at the sour man. 

“My bad. You just seemed really…distant. Boss Zhongli wanted me to check on you. Consider this a chat from coworker to coworker.” 

“Well, I’m fine. Stop fretting over me.” He turns the handle and the water flow cuts off with a squeak. “And leave me alone.”

“You can tell me if something’s bothering you. I’ll do what I can to help.”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“I guess not.” He sighs. “Then could you help with what’s bothering me?”

“What could possibly be bothering you?”

Ajax seems to look through him rather than at him for a split second. He’s caught up in some deep thought, made apparent by the unreadable expression he wears. Eventually he shakes his head in what appears to be amusement. “Actually, it’s nothing. The problem will solve itself.”

“All right…” Xiao grabs a fistful of paper towels and dries his hands. 

He holds the door open for Xiao and although his demeanor is amiable enough the light does not reach his eyes. He pushes past him on the way back to the table but is promptly stopped by Ajax’s casual musings. 

“I didn’t know you had a sweet tooth.” 

Xiao glances over his shoulder at him and finds that he’s stuck in the middle of the restaurant. Tables surround him, some empty and some seating hungry patrons. The only escape route is through the way he came in. “A sweet tooth?” He stops short when he notices the familiar slip of paper in Ajax’s hand. Instinctively, he reaches into his pocket to secure the grocery list. 

It’s not there. 

“Oops.” The Devil smiles at him as he reads through it. “You dropped this.”

“Where did you—”

“I must say, your handwriting is always changing. That’s quite a unique skill you’ve got.” His voice lowers ominously as he holds the list out to Xiao. “You really are a nice person under all of those thorns.” 

Xiao blinks at him, fingers numb, and takes the slip from Ajax. 

“Oh! I was so busy reading your grocery list that I completely forgot we have a meal to enjoy.”

He stalks past him, snapping out of his foreboding stupor, and joins Zhongli at the table. Xiao’s legs move on their own accord and it isn’t long before he’s lowering himself into his chair across from Ajax, who cuts into his food with a knife and fork. His chopsticks remain on the table. 

“How is it?” Zhongli asks, if only to fill the void created by thick silence. 

“Delicious as always.”

“And what about you, Xiao?”

He picks up his own set of chopsticks and lifts a morsel to his dry lips. Despite the cheery atmosphere in the restaurant, he can’t bring himself to eat it. 

“Well?” Ajax tilts his head just like the shadow once did. “How is it?”

Xiao opens his mouth and tears the chunk of meat from his chopsticks in a quick bite. “It’s fine.”

It’s not fine.

“We should order dessert, too! You like sweets, don't you, Xiao?”

This is indeed a meal with the Devil.

“They’re okay…”

And he’s just found his way into Xiao’s sacred sanctuary.

next chapter → [bitter & starved]

[stardust-selfships]

Welcome to my SELF SHIPPING blog!

I'm mod 🏁 and I write imagines and self shipping stuff! Please read this entire post to know what's up, and what I can and cannot do!

This blog is space, arcade, and nostalgia themed!

DNI / Don'ts:

Pretty basic, the normal DNI criteria

No pr*shipping please

Do not ask for ships of two characters from the same source, this blog is for self shipping/self inserts only!

No NSFT, I am still a minor (17)! This may update in the future if I feel comfortable doing it

Please ask if I write for a character that isn't on the list, do not assume I will write for them

Do's:

Imagines, small write ups/fan fictions, x readers

AFAB/AMAB readers (Please specify!)

All body types, nationalities, disabilities, etc. Everyone is welcome here!

Slightly suggestive imagines (NOT NSFT, just slight suggestive content)

Interracial/species ships (mobian x human, etc) (you guys are super valid!!!)

Poly ships involving more than one character

Sexuality/gender headcanons

Hurt/comfort, horror, romantic, any love trope (enemies to lovers, etc)

Vent/heavy topic write-ups (like SH comfort head canons and things like that)

FANDOMS:

Sonic the hedgehog

Sonic the hedgehog (all versions!) (This includes movie sonic and ugly sonic as well! Love those guys)

Shadow the hedgehog

Silver the hedgehog

Amy rose

Dr. Eggman (movie, boomverse, games canon)

Scourge (anti sonic or scourge)

Knuckles the echidna

Boom!tails (no NSFT)

Miles "tails" prower (platonic only)

Fleetway super sonic

Toy story

Sheriff Woody pride

Buzz Lightyear (toy version only, sorry!)

Andy Davis (teen/adult only)

Child's play

Chucky/Charles Lee ray (human, doll, or Nica!Chucky)

Tiffany Valentine (human or doll)

Glen/da (doll only, and platonic only!)

Andy Barclay (adult only)

Steven Universe

Steven Universe (teen/young adult Steven ONLY)

Spinel (reset or normal)

Peridot

Pearl (pink, CG pearl)

Pink diamond

White diamond

Rose quartz

Rainbow quartz (1.0/2.0)

Jasper

Lapis lazuli

Invader ZIM

Invader ZIM

GIR (PLATONIC ONLY)

Dib membrane

Professor membrane

(TAK is a huge maybe, idk if I'll write for her or not)

Super mario

Super "jump man" Mario (main games version)

Bowser (main games version)

My little pony

Pinkie pie

Twilight sparkle

Rarity

King sombra

Queen chrysalis

Trixie lulamoon

Sunset shimmer

Starlight glimmer

Rainbow dash

Sonic.exe

Sonic.exe (2011)

Xenophanes

Lord X

Tails doll (platonic)

FATAL ERROR

Needlem0use VHS

Sarah Henderson (human, spirit, or sonic body)

Luther artwright (human (young adult or adult), spirit, or tails body)

Friday night funkin' and alike fandoms

Senpai

Boyfriend

Girlfriend

Pico

Lemon monster

Tankman/captain

Sarvante

Ruv

Selever (no NSFT)

Skid and pump (spacefatcat's adult versions, the kid versions are platonic ONLY!)

Roy (from spooky month, no NSFT)

I will probably add more to the list but yeah!

Have fun!

[ochamiko]

Himiko x Ochako playlist — and she was crying

01. Killer Queen by FIL BO RIVA

02. TEARS by HEALTH

03. Give and Take by Poor Mans Poison

04. Killer Love by Madame Macabre

05. Love bites by Ice Nine Kills

06. Boyfriend by Dove Cameron

07. I Want What's She's Got by D-A-D

08. Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard

09. Freak Flag by Ice Nine Kills

10. Killer Queen by 5 Seconds of Summer

11. I Love Rock 'N Roll by Joan Jett

12. Shadow On The Wall by Mike Oldfield

13. Rainy Day by Ice Nine Kills

14. Goodnight by Jayn

15. Come And Get Your Love by Redbone

16. The dance of the corpses by Kikuo

17. Perfect by My Enemies & I

18. she calls me daddy by KiNG MALA

19. La Di Da by VUKOVI

20. Who Is She? by I Monster

21. Hydrochloride by Ghostemane

22. Pretender by AJR

23. Hold me Back by Bass Up!

24. Little Dark Age by Lofis

25. favorite crime by Olivia Rodrigo

26. Strangelove Addiction by Supreme Beings of Leisure

27. Can't Pretend by Tom Odell

28. Bang Bang Bang Bang by Sohodolls

29. Slasher by Cassetter, Extra Terra

30. The Lion's Roar by First Aid Kit

31. Warriors by Imagine Dragons

32. Talking is Hard by Weathers

33. Novocaine by The Unlikely Candidates

34. Misfits T-Shirt by DREAMERS

35. Cheri Cheri Lady by Modern Talking

36. Freaky Deaky by Tyga, Doja Cat

37. Pursuit by Peyruis

38. Can You Feel My Heart by Bring Me The Horizon

39. Formula 666 by Sarah and the Safe Word

40. Sick on Seventh Street by Sarah and the Safe Word

41. rapunzel by emlyn

42. Let's be Friends by Emily Osment

43. Lobotomy by Lucy Loone

44. Toxic Valentine by All Time Low

45. i luv him. by Catie Turner

46. "99" by Barns Courtney, Kat Krazy

47. Golden Dandelions by Barns Courtney

48. Tall Glass of Cyanide by Adam Jensen

49. Feel Real Pretty by Paper Idol

50. Superhuman by Party Favor, K. Flay

51. Palm Reader by DREAMERS, Big Boi, UPSAHL

52. Super Psycho Love by Simon Curtis

53. Love Me, Love Me, Love Me by Kikuo

54. I Just Want To Be The One You Love by Boxout

55. Arms Tonite by Mother Mother

56. Bubblegum Bitch by MARINA

57. Love Taste by Moe Shop, Jamie Paige, Shiki-TMNS

58. Hermit the Frog by MARINA

59. Love Me Dead by Ludo

60. Suki Suki Daisuki by Jun Togawa

61. I Love You So by the Walters

62. The Dismemberment Song by Blue Kid

63. Stalker's Tango by Autoheart

64. Lesbian Vampyres From Outer Space by Scary Bitches

65. by Molchat Doma

66. Smells Blood by Kensuke Ushio

67. Every Day by bo en

68. You Always Eat The One You Love by Scary Bitches

69. Villain by Stella Jang

70. I Deserve to Bleed by Sushi Soucy

71. Blood and Bones by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra

72. Michelle by Sir Chloe

73. I Still Adore You by The Oozes

74. This Is Love by Air Traffic Controller

75. Entropy by Awkward Marina

76. Addict by Silva Hound

77. Happy Together by Slothrust

78. I'm Not Angry Anymore by Paramore

79. Screw Loose by Alli Mauzey

80. Cigarette Duet by Princess Chelsea

81. Lemon Boy by Cavetown

82. Sugar Dust by YukoEXE

83. She's Crazy but She's Mine by Alex Sparrow

84. Girls In Bikinis by Poppy

85. FAILURE GIRL by Karikibear

86. The Drug In Me Is You by Falling In Reverse

87. IN MY MOUTH by Black Dresses

88. Good Girl by Morganne

89. Poison by Alice Cooper

90. killer queen by Mad Tsai

[kim-monsterlings]

Edel - M Nokken x F Human (Reader) // NSFW

The pictures do not belong to me. I only created the mood board, with a thank you to @handy-dandy-monster-candy​ for helping edit the photos! Do not repost my work anywhere.

Content: NSFW/Lemon; mentions of moving home, selkie friend, light flirting, gifted flowers, bakery treats, slight angst, flirting with fae, kissing, receiving oral, penetrative sex (+ mention of protection), with a fluffy ending

Wordcount: 4302

Faebruary Summary: of your new neighbour and struggling to befriend him

Masterlist // Faebruary Masterlist

No more than twice before moving in had you met your soon-to-be neighbour. On both occasions – the first a tour of the cosy, ground floor apartment, and the second on the day of finalising the lease - he greeted you with the gentlest of handshakes, warmed by a tenderness born of restrained strength. He owned the building and lived in the flat across from yours, apparently for years now.

“Call me Edel. It’s my pleasure,” he’d said the first morning, with a tilted smile and a soft, almost musical accent. His voice distracted you the entirety of the tour so much so that the flat itself barely made an impression. Instead, you remembered Edel and the soft waves of long, dark hair, how the sunlight caught his cheekbones when passing large, bay windows. “You’ll love it here. I promise.”

Had you moved in for the neighbour with a crooked smile and his unimposing nature, a month from dragging indoors the last of your belongings, you would have been sorely disappointed. Even your first meeting left you wanting more; whether that came in a passing smile when crossing in the hall or more, you weren’t yet sure. With less than a couple of feet from his home to yours, you still couldn’t find it in you to initiate that new relationship, and now it felt like you had waited too long.

You didn’t need to wait any longer.

Moving entwined with an independence you had lacked. Now closer to work, closer to friends and with enough distance from home you really felt free, settling into a new routine preoccupied you for a month. That, and decorating with warmer shades of paint and softer cushions, so that now, curled beneath small window lights, you saw him.

The farthest end of your shared garden faded into outgrown woods, sheltering a lake so far only seen in the advertised photos of the property. Not a cloud marred the pale light cast over Edel’s bare back, shadowed by the hair loose against his shoulder blades. He left the back entrance of the building barefoot, never looking from the tree line before fading into it.

He hadn’t returned when you retreated to bed, no matter how slow you walked, peeking back and hoping for another glimpse. With a fresh coffee in hand the next morning, a blur drifted by, the slender form of your neighbour emerging from the woods. In this light, warmer and clearer for your prying, a slight sheen glistened over his bare body, curls where his hair before rested straighter. Steam no longer rose from your mug when you finally looked away, but it was harder to force Edel from your mind.

Retaining the picture of the slight hue beneath falling water led you into your favourite bakery hours later. Favourite not only because your best friend owned it, but now for its proximity to your home, too. This infatuation thrived in the space of a month alone, then being for the soft touch of his palm to yours a, his quiet laugh at your persistent questioning the flat before he answered each with enduring patience. It was more than that, now, and when your close friend found you in her doorway, the dappled pelt draped around her shoulders reconciled with your neighbour’s night passed in a lake, and his melodic way of speaking.

Isla’s loose braids of pepper hair rested along her coat, flyaway strands wisping around her dimpled cheeks when she grinned. Since your moving, where before you would only see one another on occasion, you would pass with a wave, either beckoned by her or entering with some time for catching up, just to make up for the distance no longer between you.

Though, not today, and without a word of pleasantry you said, “I think my neighbour is fae.”

“You mean Edel?” With Isla so close and her recommendation an incentive to renting the flat, her knowledge of the area was invaluable, even in muffling a laugh behind a cough. Her lips still curled when she continued, “he’s a nokken. Didn’t you know?”

She asked like your drawn eyebrows and frown hadn’t been answer enough. “Like fae? Water fae?”

“Distantly fae.” As Isla reached for your favourite treats, the light caught her pelt. “You seem to attract us.”

Her teasing warmed through you as she handed you the warmed bag. She refused payment, though didn’t turn you from the tip jar on the promise of seeing her tomorrow. 

This hadn’t changed anything. You loved your home and living with a nokken hadn’t – wouldn’t, change that.

Knowing what he was, tonight you crept nearer the windows at the faint creaking of doors opening in the hall. The same silhouette left and without the marring confusion or worry for him leaving so late, you tiptoed closer. On a darker night, the moonlight illuminated his muscles tensing with each step further from where a human would choose to rest.

Halfway gone, he faltered, a misstep bringing pale light to cast from his chest to his low hips. Hair darker than the shadows clinging to him tangled about his slender frame when his head tilted. With the slight wind fluttering his hair, it would frame his sharp features beautifully tied back, but then his eyes reflecting white light pinned you. Only then had you the sense to duck.

That shame clung to you long after retreating from your lounge. Maybe he hadn’t seen you, rather only the curtain swaying as you fled, but he had sensed you all the same, turned right to where the the netting tucked back for you to follow him down to the trees. If not for the signed lease, the mortification nearly had you packing your things.

Even as temptation tickled you with a shadow passing your window, you smothered it. Where you curled into the counter, kettle boiling, was far from view had he ever been able to see into your home; he couldn't through net curtains, but reminding yourself came with the sting of shame from last night.

Hiding from him worked until gentle raps came at your door. If he had come now to question your staring, to challenge your urge to watch him walk deeper like he belonged in the night, no defence would rise to your lips.

Edel braced himself on your doorframe. He'd just returned from the lake: hair curling now, the loose trousers cloying to his thighs. That little defence you had ready - an apology, really, drowned beneath the breath fleeing you at his fingers brushing your cheek.

“Come with me."

What little knowledge of fae you now cherished alarmed you, but not so much you didn't move from him. "To the water?"

"Wouldn't you like to?" Lake water followed the muscle of his chest, ending at the darker hairs of his abdomen. Edel's smile burned when you found him looking down to you. "Is that not why you watch me?"

"Call it curiosity," you said, though your breath trembled. He had seen you.

His warm hand fell from your cheek. "Tomorrow, then?"

With a noncommittal, "maybe," and a shared smile, Edel left you to collapse back against your closed door.

No invitation called you to the lake, but a water lily laid outside your door reminded you of the nokken across the hall. The cheaper rent - now, you knew, from fear of living with a creature like him, one related to fae - blessed you not only with a blossoming friendship, but fresh flowers brightening your home with his returns.

Each night on his path to the woods, Edel would pause. Sometimes that was all, just a second's hesitation, but other nights, he would turn and find you half-hidden. Those nights you treasured for the slight tipping of his head to the trees in an extended invite.

You never accepted, and he never stopped offering.

It wasn't so much the fear of entering unfamiliar waters with a nokken hindering you but that you would embarrass yourself. The bright lilies started your day warm, and to follow him would cross a line you weren't ready for; but one you so badly wanted to cross.

The soon familiar routine and its floral scent hadn’t seemed anything more than pleasantries, until a night you replaced the water for the flowers after waving Edel down the garden. Out of love for Isla when she waived a cost, you returned a tip, but you hadn’t offered anything for the flowers nor the smiles from your neighbour. Your friend would never claim a debt against you and while, you doubted Edel would, hoped he wouldn’t, the accumulation following weeks living on his property could amount to any kind of debt, if he chose to claim it.

What better way to appease fae, than with gifts in return?

"Fae like sweet things," Isla told you that afternoon. Sugar coated her fingertips from a long day, a slight dusting along her coat tucked at the back counter, never far from her. She gestured back to the shelves of recipes lining the old bakery.

That wasn’t all that you wanted, though. Isla waited while you fidgeted, seeking the right words. Of course fae liked sweet things, but you wanted Edel to like them, too. Not solely for their purpose in repaying a debt but for who gifted them.

“Like?”

"Bake him something sweet and the effort is gift enough. Try this."

Your friend scowled at the note tucked into her tip jar on handing over a recipe, but waved you out with a smile. The honey-sweetened scent lingered in your home with the flowers after meticulous effort, wafting with you into the hall.

Edel’s breath formed your name, your bodies brushing from his step taken out of his door. On time, too, and the flowery perfume rose from him, stronger and somehow sweeter. His gentle hands rose to your arms, thumbs rubbing slow circles. He was all that stopped you from trembling.

Through a warm accent, he asked, "have you come to join me?"

"Another night, maybe."

"Maybe," he echoed. His eyes fell to where you lifted a warm box. "Those smell lovely."

"They're for you. For the flowers."

"For the flowers," he whispered. The gentle embrace broke like he planned to accept your gift, but instead he brought a foot of distance between you. "You do not owe me anything. If the flowers created such an impression, I am sorry."

The forced tilt to his lips came and went before you could explain, and you stood in the hall long after the backdoor swung open and shut again.

He hadn't returned the next morning. No flower graced your doorstep but when you were just stepping indoors from work, the blur passed your window earlier than each night before, and your stomach dropped.

The tentative friendship fractured further come morning, at a time your absence was known. No flowers came when you left, but the backdoor closed as you turned down the hall. Your distraction allowed him time to leave without your seeing.

So when you finished a painfully long week of waiting and hoping to cross paths, you waited some more. You would go to the water as he had always hoped but going at a time when he was there hadn't been harder. He went to avoid you and by chance after waking late in the night unsettled, finding a glimmer of moonlight disturbed by your neighbour fading banished all remnants of sleep.

In all your nights of peeking through curtains, Edel had never shivered. It was cold. It was windy and dark and you had never been so far down the garden, spurred into the trees by the persisting ache in your chest. It eased when you neared the lake, but replaced with dread as you knelt on a small, wooden platform jutting over the bank.

The water was unforgivingly dark. An unholy screech tore from you when something skimmed your hand hovering against the surface. Edel rose faster from the water to steady you than you could comprehend, cold hands gripping you by your ribs before you toppled forward.

His thumbs stroked in slow circles as you forced yourself to calm down. "You deserved that."

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, your heart a weight in your throat. "I miss the flowers."

"Oh?" His head tilted, bringing long hair to cling to his chest in slight waves. "The flowers and their debt?"

Each word hit like a crack to your ribs. "I'm sorry."

When his hold left, it felt like more of a rejection than his avoidance, until he sighed. "It's late."

"It wasn't just repayment. It was a gift, too." He hadn't looked up again. "I promise I've not be waiting, either."

Edel breathed a laugh. "How did you know to come now?"

"I saw you leaving."

His lips rose as you seemed to lie, but before you could remedy it, his palms flattened to the deck. He rose on the strength of his arms alone until water lapped at his hips. It was when he continued to lift himself that the absence of any clothing had you staggering back.

Old wood groaned beneath you but it was quieter than when you said, "I can walk back alone."

At first unsure, his fingertips brushed yours. You hadn't looked back - he was standing, dripping, bare, but curled your hand with his until you muffled your surprise at the touch of webbed skin, as timid a touch as his following whisper.

"You don't have to."

The walk would have been silent, had you not asked to suppress the rising fluttering in your chest, "why aren’t you cold?"

"Are you cold?"

"Freezing."

Edel squeezed his hand to yours. "Then dress warmer tomorrow. Goodnight."

Tomorrow came so soon, with a soft tap to your door all it took before you were smiling up to find him leaning close. No lily, but he reached out to take your hand again.

"Before we go," he murmured, and you rested against the closed door, angled back below him. "Do you know how long this apartment was left empty? Before you?"

His face fell when you shook your head. "I knew it was empty for some time, but…"

"Two years. Over twenty-six months." His touch softened when he released your hand, revealing the thin webbing tickling you. Edel's lips twitched when you traced along it with your fingertip. "Do you know why?"

You hadn't the heart to say it, only nodding.

"Those lilies were gifts," he began and stared at your hands sliding together. "I may be folk, but I have no malicious intent in luring you to the lake. I only ever sing in the shower or beneath the water. If I ever-"

"Never," you said. Irrespective of whatever threat he thought of he posed, you didn't care.

"I'd love your company."

When you tugged on his hand, he fell in step. "I'd love yours, too." 

Late in the evening, Edel would meet you in the hall. Until you shivered or tired, you would spend the time on the deck while he floated in the water. The lilies returned after he ventured back to the lake, but without fail, he walked you back the short way to your door. His touch would pull on your hand until falling with a smile always soft on parting.

What little progress made found its way back to Isla when she urged you in, with instructions to offer him the same treats he before refused; not as a gift like they had been, but something you wanted to give him. You promised to meet him later, after you had warmed the honeyed puddings, even holding your ground when his frown tugged at your heart before leaving. Carrying them down to him was worth it, if only for the rising nerves in your chest - the good kind.

The scent teased him from the water. Edel extended a hand to draw you closer before his bright eyes widened. "Not in trade?" 

"Not in trade,” you nodded. “I promise."

"While I do believe you," he murmured, and your throat tightened as he lifted himself to your height. "If this is not in trade, give me something more."

His breath fluttered against your face. Your fingers curled against the edge of the platform. "Like?"

"One kiss." Edel's hand stroked from your crossed leg up, rising to your waist. "If you would like to. As a gift."

The wood might have splintered beneath your hands when you lifted your chin. Water dripped from his hair, cold to your face but the heat of him, his hand tight against your hip, lit a fire in your stomach.

It lasted no more than a passing second before water rose back to his chest. Edel grinned from the lake, his lips fleeting against your knuckles still locked tight to hold yourself from following him in.

He no longer left bare down to the garden since your accompanying him, though the night you first saw him, he hadn’t been either. Whether he dressed anticipating your stare choked you, but freed you to turn once to your door. Edel stilled at the kiss his cheek and you were inside before he could fully utter your name aloud.

His cheek tasted of the sugar form your honey treats.

Another week, you would have celebrated the weekend, but nothing helped pass the time until it was late enough his door opened. Edel hadn't closed it again before you were there, breaths fast and smiling up.

"I'm coming."

"Good," he breathed, before lowering himself to steal a light kiss. His hand tugged on yours. "Now?"

Though this had been why you were restless all day, having him soften, both hands rising to your cheeks to lift you closer, nearly made you faint. He whispered your name and kissed you so gently, you tiptoed and sought him again.

This time, he lingered. With your foreheads together, he ran his hands along your arms. "I've never kissed someone into stupor before."

"Don't tease," you gasped. He was still sweet on your lips and he carried that same floral scent you loved, clouding your thoughts.

"Was I not clear?" He kissed you again but lifted himself so you could see the warmth to his pale cheeks. "It's you I want, not just company."

"Me?"

"You."

"You want me?" Edel hummed, his touch tracing up your arms again. "Prove it."

He gasped and as he stared after you, inching backwards over the threshold, it felt like too much of an overstep. Then it passed and he followed you, the door closed and locked behind him.

His lips rose crooked. "Go on, then."

The apartment mirrored yours in layout and later, by his side, you would marvel at the softer hues in his decorating, more greens and greys, but you were running beyond the lounge, past large windows to an open bedroom door.

His arms came around you and aided in slipping free your clothes, until his bare chest warmed your back. "I'm to prove I want you, yes?" The heat of his palm stroked down your stomach. "Is that right?"

"Yes," you gasped, trembling already at his hand slipping lower.

"Kneel on the bed for me," he whispered to your throat and you were helpless, only hesitating at the end. Edel circled the bed and when he turned, your stomach fluttered at him tying his long hair up. His chin tipped in an unmistakable invitation. "Come here, beautiful."

His hands on your thighs lifted you closer when you gasped, astride his chest and swallowing hard. He kissed your inner thigh, undeterred by your small whine.

"Wouldn't this be better if I laid down?"

His tongue ran over his lips. "Please."

"If you need to stop," you whispered, though the strain of withholding yourself from bringing his flushed lips to where you ached most nearly overcame you. “Edel?”

"If I need air, I will tap your thigh. I won't, though," he teased, and guided you to kneel around his head, so grateful his hair had already been knotted back. "Come here…"

You lowered yourself evidently not fast enough, as Edel let free a groan and drew in a slow breath. The headboard trembled with your clutching it tight, knuckles aching like last night on the lake's platform.

One, slight touch of his hot tongue to your slit had you gasping, forgoing any inhibitions and rolling down against him. Edel made as many sounds of contentment and circled his thumbs into your thighs, parting your folds for him to lift his face higher.

"Do you… do you need me to-"

"Closer."

Edel's groan came when his lips softened against your clit, gentle at first before he focused there, mindful of how you clenched and what made you whine, then what made you gasp. The flattening of his down dragged, coaxing your cries louder. He drew on the coil burning in your navel with each stroke of his hot tongue, down until he curled it against your aching centre and tasted you around him.

One hand fell low, tugging at his hair to keep him close. Every flick of the muscle prolonged the tingling running down your spine, down to your toes curled on the sheets.

Soft palms gripped your thighs in aiding you back once your moans eased to harsher breaths. Edel settled you over his lap, but your body already so sensitive against him made you tingle again. He faced you with a glistening smile, one tended to by his tongue before you chased after his moan.

"Is that proof enough?"

Your forehead rested to his, breathing deep. "Proof?"

"Proof of how much I want you." He laid kisses along your throat and when you thumbed the waist of his trousers, his eyelids fell low with a hummed moan. "Say no."

"No."

His cheeks were flushed, hair curling at his temples from your body around him, so unlike the weight to his dark stare. "I'd like to prove my want with you sitting like this-" he rolled his hips up against you, and both of you shared a moan. "Is that what you'd like?"

Edel relinquished himself to you. Only in trousers, you caught yourself moaning just from reaching to stroke his length. He stretched from the bed for protection as you inched closer again. The tint of blue to his body tempted you closer, wanting nothing more than to already have him.

Edel kissed the heat falling from your cheeks down to your throat as you undressed him. The tint to his body captivated you, down to the blue hue to his dark head. He stretched back from the bed for protection, though trembled with the pad of your thumb tracing up the veins running along his length.

That shared thought brought his hands to your hips, your body lifting above him. His cock pressed to you, slick and aching, and you clenched around him when taking him deep. That sensitivity hadn't faded and dizzied you, adjusting still when he kissed you.

"I was right. My pleasure," he said, before his body moved against you, his cock dragging along your fluttering walls.

My pleasure, he'd greeted you on your first meeting, but you disagreed. Every arch of his body brought him deeper, and every kiss enticed another whimper until you were trembling so soon around him again.

"So beautiful," he whispered. His hand cradled your face, thumb running along your parted lips as he peppered touches along the column of your throat. "Everything I've ever wished for."

"Edel-"

He gasped with you as you tightened your legs around his hips, clinging to him at the returning pressure in your abdomen. The lake could wait. You wanted to spend forever in his arms, letting your head fall back so his tongue could trace down to your collarbones.

Edel grunted from your hand unravelling his hair, only to draw his lips to yours as his thumb graced your flushed clit. One firm stroke and you cried loud, your rhythm faltering as your orgasm overcame you. He continued to rub your nerves, an arm banded tight around you until he moaned your name and stiffened.

Until your breaths eased, you clutched each other close. The gentleness in his care as you rested by his side was no different than any other time, tucking an arm beneath your crown as you lazed in his hold.

You woke alone.

The bedsheets were cold, tousled and bathed in the same moonlight he had left you for. No light came from his lounge as you left in his trousers and your shirt.

The night wasn't so cold, but quiet. Each step nearing the lake matched your racing heart, and it rose to a crescendo finding him waiting in the water, reaching out to hold you when you undressed. Even if the night hadn't been cold, the water was, so you curled tighter to his chest.

"You left."

He waded deeper, kissing your temple. "I'd have been by your side before you truly woke."

"I'm awake now."

Edel breathed quietly against your hair. "I wanted you to feel free to go."

"Is that what you want?" If not for the water strengthening his embrace, you would have turned away. "For me to leave?"

His lips curled down, though he looked beyond you. "I'd rather now than later."

"Was I not clear?" Edel's shoulders softened from beneath his jaw. "It's you I want, until you want me gone."

Where his lips had been hours before, he kissed your throat, soft against your flitting pulse. It was promise enough as he cradled you to him, holding you all the way back to his bed, and neither of you planned on leaving soon.

[momolady]

Slime Girlfriend: Vida

Female Reader x Female Monster

It’s sort of a family thing to poke fun at your great-aunt. She was married very young to a wealthy man, who died early in the marriage. Ever since she lived as a sort of recluse in her massive home, which over the years she slowly renovated to her liking. The once-sleek, modern veneer of the place now looked resembled a home from the sitcoms and magazines of the 50s. There were rumors your great-aunt lived with someone, a caretaker perhaps, but no one had ever seen this mysterious person. The rumors about this mystery individual had mutated over time - a secret child kept locked up all these years, a kidnapped minor, and so on.

You connected a bit with your aunt while she was alive. As a child she used to have you sneak her appetizers so she didn’t have to approach anyone else in the family. As you got older she told you things no other adults would. She shared books and ideas that helped shape you into who you would become. She was the first person you approached when you began questioning your sexuality. To you she was a mentor, while the rest of the family treated her like a witch. Which she didn’t mind, considering her love of Bewitched.

Upon her passing, the very same family members who poked fun at her were rubbing their hands together with excitement over what she left to them. They didn’t seem to miss her, despite a few sad remarks, but they did revel in the idea of an inheritance. She had no children, so everyone assumed they would be getting a share. As if her home and bank accounts were a cake to be divided.

Well, you got everything. Her will was a loving letter of adoration to you, naming off all the little things about you she adored. You weren’t sure what to do with what she left you. Your aunt, for decades, had kept secret businesses and investments that made her a millionaire multiple times over. It was a shock to everyone except the lawyer, who was the only other person left anything, and only because your aunt wanted her to help you navigate this new life.

“Here are the keys to your new home. As per her instruction, when she died, the house was completely cleaned from top to bottom, and your things will be moved in right away.” She places the keychain in your hand, then passes you another letter. “Instructions for the house and its upkeep, codes to safes, hidden doors.”

You’re still mesmerized by the situation, so you haven’t been able to process everything. “Is this a Scooby-Doo house?”

The lawyer just smiles. “You know how to reach me, should you need anything.” She leaves the porch, going to the brand-new car she bought with part of her inheritance.

Sighing heavily, you look up at the pretty red doors of the house. The glass is covered by sheer curtains, so all you can see inside are shadows and faint shapes. Each key is color-coded, and the red one is for the front and back doors. You unlock the door and step inside. The place smells like Pine-Sol and lemon, clean and fresh. When you close the door behind you, the lights slowly brighten the foyer. Everything is retro-chic, bright pops of color against pure white, antique furniture, vintage linens. The whole house looks like a museum to the 50s.

You go into the living room and sit down on the sofa. Across from you is her chair, and you can remember the way she sat in it, smoothing out her skirt, tucking in the crinoline. You sigh sadly before opening the sealed envelope with her instructions.

“My dearest niece, by now you are in your new home, taking in the comforts and wallowing in your misery. I simply ask that you do not become haunted by my memory, but rather you revel in it. I am at peace now, content I lived my life as I wished no matter what anyone else said. I am with my husband again, which is all I ever wanted. For now, Vida will take care of you and help you navigate my home.”

You search the envelope for more. You even hold the paper up to the light to find hidden instructions, but that is all that’s there. “Who is Vida?” you murmur to yourself.

The sound of a door opening startles you, causing your hair to stand on end. Jumping from the sofa, you have two choices - run for the door or see who is there. You walk from the living room back to the foyer, listening for footsteps. You turn and look around, reaching for your phone to call the lawyer, when you hear someone in the kitchen. You tiptoe quietly, hoping to spot the intruder before you make a run for it. Peering through the glass door ,you see the fridge is open and a poof of bright yellow skirt jutting out. As the fridge closes you think there must be something wrong with your eyes, because all you see is glossy pink.

The figure takes a small plate and sets it on the counter, where a loaf of bread is laid out. She starts humming, singing to herself. You quietly open the kitchen door and step inside. Your eyes haven’t played tricks on you. This woman is entirely made up of some sort of slick, glossy substance.

She turns to look at you, nearly clear, sparkling with glitter that forms freckles on her face. She smiles brightly, clasping her hands together. “I was just making you lunch!”

You blink a few times. “I’m...” You have no clue what to say. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

She approaches you swiftly and takes your hand into hers. “My name is Vida, and I have been so eager to meet you!”

“Vida?” Your voice quakes.

She smiles brightly. She has glasses set over where eyes should be, and a sweet pouty mouth that’s darker in color than the rest of her. She wears a yellow dress and white apron, matching your aunt’s retro aesthetic.

“I was Lillian’s,” she states simply. “She rescued me from a raccoon and helped me to grow.”

“Uh...” You’re still not sure what to say or do.

“I’m a slime!” she says excitedly, posing for you.

You nod. “Okay.”

Vida recoils, clutching her arms to her chest as she looks at you. “Is everything alright? You look rather pale.”

You take a seat at the table and take a few deep breaths. “This is just a lot.” You laugh in frustration, then begin to cry. “I’m sorry I’m sure you’re nice. I just can’t...”

Vida pets the top of your head. “Lillian told me how close you two were. I’m so sorry. She told me to take care of you.” She uses the corner of her apron to mop up your tears. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I will be here by your side.”

“I don’t know what a slime is,” you whimper.

Vida chuckles softly. “It’s okay. I don’t know what you are either,” she says playfully. “But we have lots of time to learn about one another.”

Vida makes you a sandwich, quite possibly the best sandwich you’ve ever had. She tells you about living with Lillian, having her own room in the basement, where she runs a small business she and Lillian started together. She’s sweet, you can admit that. You just can’t get used to her glossy pink appearance. She’s your key to the entire house though. She clearly knows every nook, cranny, and secret passage that you have to learn about.

After lunch, your belongings are delivered and taken to the master bedroom, where you decide to unpack to keep busy. Vida helps by opening boxes and sorting things. “My, you do have a lot of black,” she remarks at one point.

“I know Aunt Lillian liked color.” You’ve never had a walk-in closet before, so as you hang your clothes you remark at how little it seems you have.

“I’m very good at sewing!” Vida says cheerfully. “I can measure you one day and make you all sorts of clothes.”

You look back at her, smiling brightly as she’s folding sheets that won’t fit your new king-sized bed. “You don’t have to do that.”

Vida takes another badly-folded sheet from the box. “But I’d like to. Just tell me what you like and I can start planning.”

You look back at your clothes, and your heart feels heavy. “How long were you with my aunt?”

“Oh, goodness,” Vida murmurs. “Ten years, I believe?” She rises from the bed, smoothing down her skirt. “Do you want to talk about her?”

You hang your head. “I thought I knew so much about her, but after she died, it’s like the wall she kept up finally came down. I feel like I didn’t even try to get to know her.”

Vida comes to stand beside you. “If it helps, she did that on purpose. She shared more of herself with you than anyone, but she kept herself a secret from almost everyone.”

The glitter that forms Vida’s freckles shimmered in the lights, making her face have a radiant glow. She looks sweet, acts sweet. You wonder if she even tastes sweet. “Even you?”

“There would be times I wouldn’t see or hear from her for days. She always had something to do, some business to take care of. She gave me my business, and it helped me to pass the time between seeing her and not seeing her.”

You sniffle and mop your misty eyes with your sleeve. “What is your business?”

Vida smiles brightly. “I can show you my workshop, if you like. Maybe taking a step away from all this moving will help.”

You nod, looking at all the boxes still left untouched. “Yeah. It’s a bit more overwhelming than I thought.”

Vida takes your hand and leads you away. You go back downstairs through the kitchen, and take a hidden door that opens behind the fridge.

“How many more hidden doors are there?” you ask in alarm.

“There’s one in every room,” she answers nonchalantly.

You stare in disbelief. “What for?”

Vida leads you down a set of stairs and into a workshop. On one side of the room are racks of clothes. There’s a desk with a sewing machine and bins full of bolts of fabric. On the other side is a counter with a sink, and above it there are tons of supplies, cups, containers, brightly colored dyes and liquids, tons of bottles of glue. The counter and shelves take up a whole wall, and the shelves even contain molds and more mystery containers.

“I do all sorts of things,” Vida says. “I have a shop just for clothing, a shop for slime, and I also make custom dildos.”

“That’s quite the enterprise,” you murmur. “Wait, you make slime even though you are slime?”

“It’s not the same thing. I’m made up of an entirely different substance than these slimes. I make them all from scratch just like everything in my shop.” She goes over to the sink and takes down a container filled with purple slime and white beads. “Lillian was a huge fan of the slime craze. We started making it together, and she helped me set up my shop so I would have something personal to do.”

You take the tub of slime, vacuum-sealed in plastic and bearing a pretty logo sticker. “Baby Slimes?”

“Isn’t it cute? I call them my babies, because well...” She giggles and covers her face with her hands. “No one else gets the joke, so it’s nice to finally share it with someone.” She motions to the racks. “I also started making clothes to sell when I discovered I have a knack for it. It’s really time-consuming, but I suppose that’s what I enjoy about it.”

“I had seen Aunt Lillian invested in a clothing line.  I guess this is it.”

Vida looks up at you and smiles. “Lillian was so supportive. She loved that I had an entrepreneur spirit.” She looks back to the counter. “She really liked my idea of dildo casting.”

“Yeah about that...” you murmur. “You seem so - no offense - saccharinely innocent. How did you get into that?”

Vida lifts her hand, twisting it around. “I have a pretty active social media presence. I’ve seen just about everything. I came across a few shops online that make monster sex toys, and it really piqued my interest! I learned how to make molds, and because of how I can shape myself, I just cast the shapes I can make.”

You furrow your brow. “People are into monsters like that?”

“Every subcategory has people who want to fuck it.” She says this with such an innocent smile and chipper voice, you hardly take in the words.

“Well, I suppose that’s true,” you murmur.

“I rather like it myself,” she says. “I really like dragons.”

You look over her soft, curvy shape and blush, feeling bad for thinking that way about her. “Well, apparently, I’m your investor now. So, keep up the good work.”

“I will!”

Over the next few weeks, you learn about your new businesses as much as you learn about the house. Your aunt seemed to have every finger in at least three pies, but you’re working with the lawyer to narrow things down, sell some, keep some, things like that.

Vida has been keeping you fed and on task. She’s a remarkable cook, able to take anything Julia Child could do and make it look easy. The dog-eared copy of ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ is falling apart in a few places, overstuffed with her own notes.

“You really don’t have to go out of your way every day to cook for me,” you tell her. “I don’t mind ordering takeout from time to time if you want a break.”

“Nonsense! I love to cook. Better yet, I love to see people enjoy my cooking.” She frowns. “Although, at this point, it’s really just been you and your aunt.”

You watch her slip on gloves to wash dishes. “Are you okay with being kept in the house all the time?”

“It’s my choice,” she says softly. She turns on the sink and squirts some soap into the stream. “Ever since I came here, I’ve wanted to stay here.”

“Why?” you ask in surprise.

Vida goes quiet, taking a sponge to the dishes. “Vida?” you ask gently.

She sighs. “I don’t want to talk about it now, please.”

You rise from the table and go to stand beside her. “Want me to help you with the dishes? It’s the least I can do.”

Her small frown becomes a big smile. “If you’d like. I have extra gloves if you want to pair.”

You smile back at her. “It’s alright. I’m fine getting wet.”

Vida stands close to you while you wash dishes together. You scrub, and she rinses and dries. Every so often her side will bump into yours and you’ll feel a rush of warmth in your cheeks and groin. “Actually,” Vida says in the sweetest voice yet. “Could I ask for your help with something else? I have a lot of packages to ship out tomorrow, and I could use the extra hands.”

“Sure. I’d be glad to help.” You wipe your hands on a dish towel. “Do you wanna start tonight or tomorrow?”

Vida acts shocked. “You’d really wanna give up your night? Surely you’d much rather go out or spend some time with somebody special?”

“I’m not seeing anyone at the moment,” you chuckle. “And I don’t really go out, so to speak. Those sorts of things have to be planned so I can prepare for them.”

Her smile is so cute. “Then I’m honored you would want to spend your time with me.”

You go downstairs with Vida, who lays out her method of packing shipments. She prints out the mailing slips and address labels, stacking them together so you go about each order one by one. As you packing up boxes, Vida seems to keep wanting to say something. Eventually, as the pile thins, she asks. “The first is when I open my toy shop, and I usually sell out in a day or two. Would you mind helping me again then?”

“Sure. I’d be glad to help you anytime.”

“Is there any way I can thank you for the help?”

“You cook for me almost every night! I owe you.” You finish sealing up a box. “There, that’s the last one. Would you like to watch a movie or something?”

Vida nods. “Sure. Just nothing scary. I hate being scared.”

“That’s fine, I was thinking of something milder anyway.”

You help her up off the floor and carry the bags of packages upstairs to set by the front door. As you set the last bag down, Vida plants a soft kiss on your cheek. You look at her with surprise, and the pink of her body shifts to a darker shade. “Thanks again,” she says softly. “It means a lot you’d want to help me.”

You touch your cheek and nod. “Of course. Thinking nothing of it, Vida.” Your heart hammers in your chest, and you smile. “So, um, what movie would you like to watch?”

“Something romantic,” she sighs. “I’m in a mood.”

Your heart skips a beat. “I think I am too.”

[teddi-too]

Masterlist

Hello fellow internet creatures - as I begin to put more of my writing on here I wanted to make a masterlist to make it easier to find things. PLEASE NOTE: This is an 18+ blog and much of the original content and reblogs are NSFW. Please do not follow or interact if you are under 18.

Monsters & OCs

Demon x GN! Reader (Lemon) Shadow x AFAB F! Reader (Lemon) Male Minotaur x GN! Reader(Lemon)

Fanfiction

My Hero Academia

Endeavor Hawks Omegaverse HCs (slightly NSFW) Gang Orca x GN! Reader (comfort, slightly NSFW)

Mystic Messenger

Yoosung X GN! Reader (fluff)

[dystopya]

I AM SO SORRY AOAKDOSK

KALVN X CORPSE HUSBAND X DREAM X GEORGENOTFOUND X SAPNAP X BIDEN X JOE X OBAMA X NAGITO X PEWDIWPIE X TECHNOBLADE X ED SHEERANM X JSCHLATT X SATAN X JUNE X MY DAD X PISS X HIS CLONE NEOPRONOUN USER X YANDERE DEV X ARIANA GRANDE X TAYLOR SWIFT X READER X OLIVER TREE X MOTHER MOTHER X YOUR MOM X NEOPRONOUN USERS X LEMON DEMON X NEIL CICIEREGA X SOLAS DRAGONAGE X BINGUS X JAMES CHARLES X PHIL SWIFT X OBAMA OBAMA X YAKKO WARNER X AYANO X YANDERE CHAN X SENPAI X KARKAT X BARBIE X MY MOM X BRATZ DOLLS X APHMAU X TOM NOOK X MONOKUMA X DAN AND PHIL X UNUS ANNUNS X VILLAGER XTRASHCANS X JACKSEPTICEYE X HARRY POTTER X DRACO MALFOY X MARKIPLIER X ISABELLE X BIGFOOT X FOXY X COOLGUYKAI X JEFF THE KILLER X WILLIAM AFTON X SMUPPET X PURPLE GUY X KURTIS CONNOR X JEFF THE KILLER X SPONGEBOB X ME X LEATHERFACE X ELSA X SAM PUCKET X JACK FROST X CLUB PENGUIN X CALL ME KEVIN X ROBLOX X THE ENTIRE CAST OF THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY X WILBUR SOOT X RTGAME X SLIMECICLE X TUMBLR X TWITTER X MOSHI MONSTERS X EDWARD CULLEN X PORTAL 2 X HEROBRINE X APPARI X MYSPACE X TERRARIA X SLENDERMAN X EDWARD CULLEN X CULLEN RUTHERFORD X SHART X SPLATOON X ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS X PLUTO X MARS X MALVIN X GREEDLER X DR EGGMAN X HATSUNE MIKU X SONIC X SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG X SEBASTION MACHELIAS X HIFUMI X EMMA CHAMBERLIN X MITUNA CAPTOR X RONALD KNOX X MCDONALDS X ANDREW HUSSIE X THE QUEEN X PAPYRUS X UNDYNE X THE WHOLE WORLD X ARSON X TELETUBBIES X @space girl!#0069 X TIKTOK X BYAKUYA TOGAMI X RENESMEE X HARRIET X JACK STAUBER X HOONI X JEFFREE STAR X MIKAN TSUMIKI X SOU HIYORY X BRIAN X MICKEY MOUSE X AMONG US X QUACKITY X BEN DROWNED X EYELESS JACK X JACKSON RAUF X LEVI X MICHEAL JACKSON X LESBIANS X TACO SEX X TACO X NEIL CICIEREGA`S CAT X TWO TRUCKS X IRON GOLEM X BTS X LOONA X MARVEL STANS X LEAFY X TREY PARKER X FIREY X GAY BRITAIN X THINGS IVE SHOVED UP MY ARSE X SCOTLAND X RUSSIA X TRADER JOES X MILEY CYRUS X MADAME RED X PERIOD BLOOD X POOP X USED TAMPON X TONY LOPEZ X MY OC X DIXIE DAMELIO X SAM

[brelione]

Feild Trip with a Rich Bitch (Rafe Cameron x Reader)

Part Two

Mentions of drugs,Rafe being a bitch,swearing and blow torches :)

Also,Goddess Part Three will be up by Friday afternoon.If you would like to be tagged please let me know :)

He had always hated Pogues.Then he met you.

You worked at a car repair shop in The Cut.He had come in on his bike,well,he had walked the broken piece of shit to the shop.You were the only one working that day.He couldnt help but think you looked adorable with your long sleeve yellow shirt under dark blue overalls,a backwards red hat and at least six silver chains draped across your neck.You had been extremely focused,sitting indian style as you smoothed a weird bump on a car with a nail file. “So are you gonna stare at me or are you gonna tell me what youre doing here,pretty boy?”You asked,not taking your attention off the task at hand.He blinked,surprised by your carefree yet assertive tone. “Uhh...somethings wrong with my bike.”He mumbled,attempting to smooth out his hair.You let out a small laugh as you dragged a paint brush along the smooth metal,fixing the messy spot. “No shit.What’d you do to it?”You asked,spreading more paint across the metal.His face turned red as he glanced around the shop.

There were paintings across the walls,multiple tool boxes and a wall of paint swatches.There were six other cars parked,some of them with large dents,holes or scratches. “I drove it into a tree.”He mumbled.You nodded. “Magnificent job,pretty boy.How are you gonna have a bike as expensive as that one then drive it into a tree?”You asked.He just shrugged,hands in his pockets.You put your paintbrush down into a cup of water,pulling out a blowtorch from seemingly nowhere.The flame hovered above the paint,drying and hardening it.Once you were satisfied with the paint job you stood up,brushing off your pants.You still had the blowtorch in your hand,the potential weapon swinging next to your thigh as you walked towards Rafe. “You gotta put the kickstand down,pretty boy.”You reminded him,gesturing to the bike.He nodded. “Right.”He nodded,putting the kickstand down and turning the handlebars so it would lean on the metal rod.One of the tires seemed blown out,a straight hole through the seat and multiple scratches across the metal.He watched as you looked over it.

You pulled at one of your chains. “So are you going to tell me what actually happened?”You asked,crossing your arms over your chest.That caused him to look down at your chest and the bleach stains across the front of your overalls.You snapped your fingers to get his attention back to your eyes.He cleared his throat,looking back up at you. “So how much for the repairs?”He asked.You smirked. “Well...i’d say $150 but you’re an asshole so thats an additional $15 and you’re also ruining my day so that would be another $15.”You twirled one of your chains,looking into his blue eyes.He bit his tongue,glancing between you and his bike. “And whats the fee for you not to tell anyone youre keeping my bike here?”He asked.You ran the tip of your tongue along your teeth with a devil like smile.God,this boy had never been in this kind of situation before.You werent even gonna tell anyone in the first place.You could probably charge him hundreds of dollars for all the things he’s done and he wouldnt be able to do anything about it.You were the best repair woman on the island and anyone else would go straight to his dad.It was 11 in the morning.You had pulled an all nighter for the third time that week and you hadnt eaten yet.Plus,if you sent Rafe to the store he could buy the expensive shit.

 “Theres a store three blocks away.Youre gonna go there and buy everything on the list and youre not gonna question it.”You told him.His eyebrows furrowed as he watched you take a notepad out of your pocket along with a pen,jotting things down.You tore the paper off,folding it and handing it to him.He took it,frowning and confused. “Hurry up.”You told him.He nodded,no words or sounds escaping his lips as he left the garage and made his way down the street.He knew what store you were talking about,the one with the sleeping cat outside.It was awfully quiet as he walked.Most of the time all the exciting things happened at night,not 11 in the morning.Either that or all the pogues were hiding from him,his gelled hair and his ugly ass khakis.He unfolded the piece of paper,reading it.Three large lemons,two large monster energy drinks,a bag of doritos and a pack of gum.It was a strange request but he wasnt supposed to question it.He had kept his head down at the store,grabbing three of the largest lemons he saw,two random monster energy drinks,the doritos and three packs of gum.

He didnt know what kind of gum you liked but you probably had to like one of the three,right?When he got back you were using your blowtorch on a part of the bike you had painted. “Put the bag on the work table and touch nothing.”You spoke loudly,confidently.He found your confidence unbelievably attractive.He never let anyone boss him around like this but ther was just something about you.You held some sort of power over other pogues,he could tell that much by the few boneyard parties he’d gone too.The others were attracted to you,some of them held their breath as you walked by,others just kept their distance.He didnt know where such nice chains had come from.They looked like they had weight,indicating that they were real.He had carefully walked over to your work table,seeing multiple small jars of paint,brushes,metal sheets,files,nails,screws and your cell phone.It was a pretty old model.He set the bag down on an empty spot,watching as a notification came across your phone.Eighteen days sober!Log this milestone.He frowned.Sober from what?

He shook it off,walking back around to where you were with his bike. “I was worried that you’d set my bike on fire or something.”He spoke quietly,trying to make conversation.You glared up at him,eyebrows casting shadows over your irises. “What?Cause im a dirty pogue?”You asked.He shook his head frantically. “Thats not what I meant I-”He began to explain himself but you cut him off. “So because im fixing your bike im different?”You asked.He sighed. “I just meant because of the blowtorch-Im sorry.”He mumbled.You stood up,blowtorch in hand. “Know your place,rich bitch.Your bike will be done by three,save yourself the embarrassment and go home to your mansion.”Your voice was dripping in venom,eyes narrowing.He gulped. “I cant go back home without my bike,my dad will kill me.”He mumbled,looking down at you.You smirked. “Good.”You replied before kneeling down again by the bike,getting back to work. “God,could you stop staring at me?Go sit somewhere or sue a tree or some shit.”You huffed.He almost tripped over his own feet,finding a chair and sitting down.He tapped his food on the ground anxiously. “So um...how long have you been fixing cars?”He asked.

You slammed the blow torch down on the concrete. “Could you shut the fuck up?Please?”You asked.He bit his lip. “I dont like the silence.”He replied. “And I dont like loud noises.”You answered. “What are you sober from?”He asked.You sat there for a moment,eyes locked on the ground.You slowly stood up,walking towards him. “You went on my phone?”You asked.His mouth went dry and he was lost for words. “Rafe.”You snarled.He looked back up at you,beads of sweat collecting at his hairline. “I-the notification-I just saw it and I just-God,im sorry (Y/N).”He sighed,looking away from you.Your hand reached up,gripping his jaw and making him look at you. “Didnt I tell you to shut the fuck up?”You asked.He looked away from you,only looking back when your grip tightened. “Yeah.”He muttered. “And you’re gonna be good and shut that pretty mouth of yours,right?”You asked,squeezing harder on his flesh.He hummed. 

“Good.”You mumbled,taking your hand away and getting back to work.You could feel him staring at you,the way your fingers moved as you grabbed your tools.He understood now.He understood the pogues’ fear and admiration of you.He felt like one of them,caught up in your beauty and the way you carried yourself while simultaneously being slightly afraid of you.You walked past him,grabbing one of the monsters.You grabbed a knife from the table.He watched as you cut open the bottom of the energy drink and shot gunned it,wiping your mouth when you were done.You grabbed a lemon from the bag,cutting an end of it off.You pulled a container of a white powder,opening it and coating the lemon slice in it. “Dont stare at me like that.Its salt,nothing you can snort.”You grumbled,taking the slice out and placing it in your mouth.Your eyes didnt squint and your eyebrows didnt furrow at the taste. “You...you eat lemons in salt?”He asked.You pulled the lemon slice from your teeth,biting the salt coated fruit as it left your mouth. 

“I do.”You replied. “It helps with cravings.”You finished your thought,going to fix the bike seat.Rafe had sat on his phone until one in the afternoon when he heard someone come in. “You havent answered your phone,thought you were dead or something.”A deep voice said.Rafe heard you giggle. “Only on the inside,sunshine.I’m busy with work right now,tell the others ill be around by seven.”He heard the tone of your voice.Friendly,happy and almost excited. “Alright.Did you eat today?”The voice asked. “I had a lemon slice,ive got some doritos so dont worry too much.I’ll see you later.”You had told your friend. “Alright,sounds like a plan.”THe boys voice said before leaving.Rafe watched as you rolled a tire inside,replacing the one he had destroyed.Once you had replaced it you went back to the bag of goodies,cutting open the other monster.You chugged it,sighing as you stared up at the ceiling. “Why do you hate me so much?”Rafe asked suddenly.A smile tugged at your lips.

 “You beat up two of my boys,you come around starting shit and blaming it on us,you think youre just so fucking amazing when youre really just a bitch,you ran over my fucking mailbox,you drink and drive,you gave another one of my boys a fucking concussion and a scar and you wonder why I hate you?”You ranted,fists clenching.He just sat there,hands gripping the arms of the chair. “You just fuck things up.”You sighed.He licked his lips. “You sound like my dad.”He mumbled.You laughed. “Oh dont get me started on your dad.That bitch ruined my life.”You sighed,grabbing another lemon slice.He raised his eyebrows. “What?How?”He asked.You just giggled to yourself. “You really have no idea what your father has done to my family?No idea at all?”You asked.He shook his head.You just laughed again,the sound filling the air.It wasnt like the way you had giggled with your friend.It was empty and sarcastic,hiding anger that was building up inside of you. “You wanna go for a field trip,Rafe Cameron?”You asked.

[delldarling]

mobile masterlist + nav

If you’re looking for the desktop version, you can find it here! ((Mobile and desktop have been updated as of October 13th 2021)) You can also find my patreon masterlist right here! It’s available to view even to non patrons and includes well over 522k words of unreleased fiction! =)

Below is the list of my current works! I edit and reblog regularly, so checking out this list via my pinned post is your best bet! If you happen to find a link that is broken, please let me know! I will get on fixing it up ASAP

Alien

Saire | “frustration” alien pirate x f!reader ; lemon

Bat Monster

Tobias | “both?” male bat monster x gender neutral reader ; lime

Celestial

Xathiel | “distraction” non-binary celestial x gender neutral half-demon!reader ; lemon

Changeling

Fynch | “ommittance” male changeling x f!reader ; sfw

Deity

Equinox | “overwhelming” genderfluid deity x gender neutral reader ; citrus

Spiros | male deity x female reader  1.”charting dreams” ; lemon  2.”pining” ; lemon  3.”bridge” ; sfw  4.”made of dreams” ; lemon  5.”changes” ; sfw

Holler | “the lord of frost” male deity x gender neutral reader ; lemon ficlet. “jasmine” ; sfw

Demons

Deger | “truth” male demon x transmale reader ; lemon

Elea | “best” female demon x female reader ; lemon

Feliere | “seen a ghost?” female demon x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Inkling | “spellwork” male shadow demon x gender neutral reader ; citrus

Valir | “hold on” genderfluid demon x magic user!gender neutral reader ; lemon

Dragon

Arroven | “the city is hoarding hearts” male dragon x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Heren | “adventurer” male dragon x gender neutral reader ; lime-ish

Sindre | male dragon x female reader 1.”treasure” ; lemon  2.”admiration” ; lemon

Zi | “pulled” female half human-half dragon x gender neutral reader ; lime

Drider

Irilen | “vantage” male drider x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Lace | “wrapping” female drider x gender neutral reader ; lime

Sirren | “games” male drider x male reader ; lime

Rook | “kindling” male drider x male reader ; lemon

Dullahan

Ciaran | “bouquet” male dullahan x female reader ; sfw

Owain | “dregs of sunshine” male dullahan x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Shuck | “home” male dullahan x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Elemental

Aspen | non-binary forest spirit x gender neutral reader 1. “forest rumors” ; sfw  2.”forest truths” ; lemon  3.”forest vows” ; lemon

Hyrian | “always, we return” non-binary rain spirit x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Elves

Aebren | “starlight” male elf x female reader ; fluff/citrus

Malgier | male elf x magic user!male reader ; sfw drabble

Fae

?? | “courtly” goblin fae x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Anthos | “trust” male flower fae x gender neutral faerie!reader ; lime

Casimir | male reptilian fae x female reader 1.”heater” ; lime  2.”reunion” ; sfw  3.”lazy” ; lemon  4.”teeth” ; lime 5.”lure” ; lemon  6.”jonquil” ; sfw

Feil | “wings” female fae x female fae reader ; sfw

Galvan & Finlay | male sparrow faerie x gender neutral reader x male eagle faerie ; lemon

Gar | “pining” male nature fae x gender neutral reader ; lime

Glad | female pixie x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Merrick | male fae x gender neutral reader chasing truth ; novel length reader story (masterlist)   oneshot.”tremble” ; lemon ficlet.”kiss” ; lemon

Owl Faerie | unnamed owl faerie x gender neutreal reader ; sfw 

Peregrine & Harper | male fae x gender neutral reader x female fae 1.”flirting with danger” ; sfw  2.”crossing the bridge” ; sfw 3.”choices” ; sfw

Peregrine | “horns” male fae x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Pyx | “lost things” female fae x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Roran | male fae x gender neutral reader 1. “dancing” ; sfw  2.“sigh” ; citrus  3.“taste” ; lemon/lime  4.”cattail” ; sfw/citrus

Roran & Aodhfin | “bandage” male faerie x gender neutral changeling!reader x male faerie ; sfw

Ruaidhri | “request” male unseelie fae x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Taran | male pixie x non binary witch reader  1. “love” ; sfw  2. “unexpected” ; sfw

Tinsley | “angsty reunion” female fae x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Wisp | unnamed wisp & gender neutral reader ; sfw

Wisteria & Oleander | “lost” female faerie x female reader x male faerie ; lemon

Faun

Verene | female faun x gender neutral reader  1. “eager” ; lime, 2. “impatience” ; lemon

Giant

Einion | “embrace” male giant x male reader ; lemon

Grimshaw | “fretting” male giant x gender neutral reader ; lime

Ghost

Honor | non-binary ghost x gender neutral reader 1.”the chill of honor” ; lemon  2.”daydream” ; lemon  3.”honor unbound” ; sfw

Goblin

Irux | “pretend” male goblin x female reader ; lemon

Gorgon

Erasma | “beloved” female gorgon x female reader ; lime

Griffin

Tyrith | “proven” male griffin x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Harpy

Vale | “command” male harpy x female reader ; sfw 1. “command” ; sfw  2. “be selfish” ; lime

Incubus

Harnish | incubus x transmale reader 1. “mine” ; lemon/lime,  2.”minutiae” ; lime

Kelpies

Winsome | male kelpie x gender neutral reader 1. “the muddy shore” ; sfw  2. “the woodland fort” ; lemon

Lizardfolk

Enver | “eggnog” male lizardfolk x male reader ; sfw

Mage

Harkspel | “chord” male mage x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Merpeople

Disios | “missed chances” merman x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Echo | “currant river” merman x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Iason | “caught” merman x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Loure | “for breath and land” non-binary merperson x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Nileas | “good ideas” merman x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Rivulet & Alethea | “flinch” male octomer x female human ; lemon (3rd pov)

Tal | “courting” male mershark x female reader ; sfw

Taron | “make me” merman x gender neutral reader ; citrus

Quay | “smirk” merman x female reader ; sfw

Westerley | “selective” mermaid x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Mothpeople 

Gethen | “translation” male death’s head hawkmoth x gender neutral reader ; lime

Iolanthe | “cold hands” female mothperson x female reader ; sfw

Ori | male mothperson x male reader 1.“a-dork-able” ; sfw  2.”dust” ; sfw

Mummy

Hior | “diving stars” male bog mummy x male reader ; citrus

Mystery Being

Illu | “sand & glass” non-binary being x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Naga

Calandra | “problem?” female naga x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Rada | “stay” male naga x female reader 1.”stay” ; sfw  2.”beyond words” ; sfw

Nightmare

Origen | “under the mountain” non-binary nightmare x ghost!gender neutral reader ; lime

Orc

Cadrem | “first sight” male orc x female reader ; lemon

Rilga | “longing” female orc x female reader ; lemon

Shorn | “stubbornness” female orc x elf!male reader

Sorsell | “with you” male orc x male reader ; sfw

Robot

Bower | “charging” male coded robot x male reader ; lime 

January | male coded robot x gender neutral reader ; sfw drabble

Selkies

Suileabhan | “trouble” male selkie x gender neutral reader ; lime

Shifter

Sketch | male shifter x gender neutral reader 1.”malleable” ; citrus  2.”sharing secrets” ; lime

Sirens

Kharis | “defenseless” female siren x female werewolf reader ; lemon

Succubus

Yeva | “resting” female succubus x gender neutral reader ; lime

Trolls

Jest | “matching” male troll x gender neutral faerie!reader ; citrus 

Unicorns

Baine | “sweet clover & a mocking mouth” female unicorn x gender neutral reader ; lemon/lime

Vampires

Daciana | “caramel” female vampire x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Haines | “proposal” male vampire x female reader ; sfw

Tuesday | “promise” female vampire x female reader ; sfw

Warren | “offering” male vampire x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Weres

Baz | “happiness” male werewolf x female reader ; lemon

Carvon | “save me” male werewolf x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Grey | “purring” non-binary werecat x gender neutral reader ; sfw

Morven | “mi cridhe” male werwolf x gender neutral reader ; citrus

Pyre | “bearberry bargains” male arctic werefox x gender neutral reader ; lemon

Yokai

Kusuo | “promises” male yamabiko x gender neutral reader 1.”promises” ; sfw  2.”first” ; sfw/citrus

To Be Written

Doran ; Male Faerie with a thousand faces x Male Fae!reader

____ ; Deity of Love x Gender Neutral Fortune Teller!reader

____ ; Armored Alien x Gender Neutral reader

The Unseemly ; Poly Fae Band x ?? reader

Vampiric Tree Nymph(s) x Gender Neutral reader

Goat Eyes ; Ghost? Demon? x Female Ghost Hunter!reader