#that was before one of em had snake jaw powers

[itsza]

by yourself????

[chaotic-iguana]

Hushed loving

lawfirm partner! joel x paralegal! reader

request by @suckerforfanfic : the reader and joel having a secret relationship based on i can see you by ts, which could include like little smutty scenes

wordcount: 1.1k

warnings: smut. sexy times, falling in love ish, power play, boss/employee relationship

a/n: thanks for answering my random law related qs @theywhowriteandknowthings vi ur the best 

masterlist

But what would you do if I went to touch you now?

What would you do if they never found us out?

What would you do if we never made a sound?

'Cause I can see you waitin' down the hall from me

And I could see you up against the wall with me

And what would you do, baby, if you only knew?

That I can see you

“Shhh honey, can’t let ‘em hear us,” a rough whisper came from behind you as a large hand clamped over your mouth, his other hand snaking around your waist to snap the band of your underwear against your skin, making you squirm. 

“So fuckin’ needy, aren’t you?” a soft coo into the back of your neck; a frantic swipe of his fist ripping the ruined underwear off of you. It takes all your focus to clear the haze in your mind and just nod desperately.  

“Almost think you like the thrill a’ gettin’ caught. Would you like that, baby? For everyone to know you’re being fucked by the boss?” The mere thought makes you moan and throw your head back into the warmth of his broad shoulder, a garbled yes tumbling from your lips. 

It had taken months for Joel to so much as look at you. The intern, the nobody who was lugged with every menial task no one else bothered to do. You’d been working at his firm for nearly half a year, when an extremely late night at the office had you accidentally falling asleep on your desk instead of finishing up the brief you needed to have at Joel’s desk by the next morning. He was the first one entering in the morning, and when he found you slumped over your desk with files scattered everywhere, he’d started yelling at you until he saw the exhausted tears in your eyes, the slump of your shoulders, and how uncombed your hair was. His piercing gaze had softened, hands smoothing over your shoulders as he tidied your desk up and put your computer in your bag before he turned to you with a familiar scowl and told you to get the hell out before you tank anything else, sweetheart. 

He looked at you more often after that. Thanked you for the coffees his colleagues forced you to get as a cruel joke. Two weeks later, he recruited you in a permanent paralegal position, claiming he was impressed by your work for him so far. It had taken a few drinks and yet another late night for him to pin you with a dark stare, a rosy flush spreading down his cheeks and chest.

And now, months after that, here you were. At his mercy in an empty conference room while literally every single one of your colleagues were in the bullpen right outside. You were so sure everyone knew by now - it was practically obvious. Both of you always left the office within twenty minutes of each other, his so-called lectures to you had way less bite than before - he even called you sweetheart during one and your heart nearly leapt out of your chest until you realised everyone else took it as condescension - and oh, god the looks. Joel was always looking at you now. From across the room, from the other side of the glass pane of his office, in meetings, in hallways. In all honesty, you weren’t much better. A frenzied need for him overtook your mind at all times, rendering you entirely mindless beyond him. 

His rough hands groped the inside of your thighs, nudging you to spread your legs as he leaned back into the table behind him, settling you on his thigh. The palm clamped on your jaw moved down to curl around your neck, cutting off the whimper that escaped you while his thumb grazed your folds, an arm hooking under your thigh to hold you to him as your hips bucked. Two fingers inched into you, making your breath hitch as Joel curled them slightly and began pumping them rapidly. 

“Lookin’ so goddamn pretty in this skirt. Had to show you my appreciation, sweetheart. Fuckin’ love ruining you at work.” Another muted moan, your nails biting into his forearms as you let out a high-pitched whine at his words. You could feel the knot in your stomach tightening, your thighs beginning to shake at the onslaught and Joel picked up on it immediately. 

“Shit-fuck are you about’a come? Already?” At your nod, he huffed and sped up his fingers, angling them so his thumb was circling your clit furiously. “Think you’ve earned it? Botched a fuckin’ meeting with a client thanks to you. Maybe I shouldn’t let you come until we get home. Leave you high and dry, hm?” 

Your eyes went wide and before you knew it, you were pleading him. “N-no, Joel, please. Need to come, need it-“ His scoff cut you off, movements getting more brutal; more honed to the spots Joel knew made you see stars. 

“Need it?” The mocking words made you shut your eyes in embarrassment before Joel continued rasping into your shoulder from behind. Another mumbled please had him flat out laughing at you. 

“Well, I gotta give my girl what she needs, don’t I?” and with that, you were coming, hard. Trembling in his arms, you clenched around his fingers hard enough for him to choke on his breath as he muttered praises into your hair, working you through the high before you went limp in his arms. 

Hands that had groped, spread, and bruised you began gently fixing your skirt while pocketing your ripped panties, smoothing out the wrinkles in your clothes before he looked down at you with a glint in his eye. 

“Prep the paperwork for Johnson’s case. Get it done by tonight, and I’ll make you some chicken alfredo when you get home.” He dipped to peck your lips once, lightly - as if he was choosing this moment to be bashful - before slipping out of the room. 

His footsteps were interrupted by the sharp, irritating voice of his colleague - the one whose client you were supposed to have spoken to twenty minutes ago, which in your defense is what you stepped into the conference to do before Joel found you - a man who found every opportunity to point out flaws in your work. And you were about to give him a smoking gun. 

“Hey Joel, where’s your favorite paralegal? I’ve been looking for her for the past thirty minutes and I can’t seem to find her anywhere. Some kid said he saw her go into that conference room you just came out of. She still in there?”  

There was a pause of silence, and you could hear the sheer panic in Joel’s voice when he finally spoke. 

“Uh, I don’t have a f-favorite paralegal. And if she’s in there I definitely didn’t see her. She must have gone in and come out a long time ago. Because why would we both be in the same room for so long, right?” 

His rushed, shitty explanation made it so fucking obvious what was going on - as if the many, many sounds slipping from the crappily sound-proofed room didn’t. 

So much for keeping it quiet. 

hello loves, as always - thank you for reading. comment your thoughts or find me on ao3. stay hydrated and have a great day! taglist (message me if you want to be taken off): @imherefordeanandbones  @theywhowriteandknowthings , @josephquinnswhore ,@millerscoffee , @nostalxgic , @sscorpiiiio, @pedrosaidsheispunk, @its-nebuleuse , @sofiparallel , @mandoisapunk , @bastardmandennis , @evyiione , @breakfastatjoels dividers by @reveriesources

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Alex.

You were borrowing the rogues phone, yours in the next room charging. You decided to tease them a little, calling their name. The second they turned their head you tried to look livid. "Who the fuck is Alex?" You knew they weren't cheating but you figured a little tease compared to the antics they pulled on you wouldn't hurt.

The Riddler: He blinked, distracted by the anger laced in your voice. "Excellent question, who is this Alex and why do we care?" He looked over his shoulder and it took you everything in your power not to laugh. "No, Edward. Tell me now. I can see the name in your phone. Who is that?" You asked pointedly. "I don't know an Alex." He waved you off, dismissing you with a flick of his wrist. You marched up to him turning his chair and leaning over him. "I'm not gonna ask you again. Who the fuck is Alex?" "Are you dumb? Did I not just say- why are you laughing!?" He looked at you perplexed as you failed to hold back your smile. "You said 'excellent question...!'" You trailed off with a laugh. "Were you just joking around!?" He asked helplessly. You nodded, unable to breathe from your laughter. "Good grief, you're a menace!" He balled up a piece of paper and threw it at you as you backed away.

Scarecrow: Scarecrow gave you a condescending look. "I'm sorry, does it look like I've been charming anyone other than you? You're the only one stupid enough to be in a relationship with me, dearest!" At his blunt response you burst out laughing. You had nothing to say in response to that other than. "I was just kidding." A weak response admist your laughing. "Uh huh, yeah, that was obvious." Scarecrow smirked muttering along the lines of "Jonny is clearly rolling in all the admirers. We have a double life. Batman roams the streets at night whilst I become my secret identity, the Casanova." You burst out laughing and he joined you in laughter. "Ah, me seducing anyone but you. You're funny. I tell Jonny all the time. This is why we love you." He sighed fondly, turning back to his computer.

Two-Face: He shrugged. "Don't know, why?" Harvey asked. "Quit glarin' at us like that!" Harv' huffed. "You have a text from Alex. Who's that? Your bit on the side?" "You take that back!" Harv' fired back. Harvey sighed as he rose to a stand from the couch. "Gorgeous, why would you ever think something like that?" He asked. You stared him down. "Heads, we show 'em who's boss." Harv said gruffly. "How about head's, you quit the bullshit and tails you tell me who the fuck Alex is." You remarked. "Hey, now..." Harvey frowned. "Uncalled for. At least give me a last name. Alex who?""I don't know. Apparently, they're close enough you didn't find a last name necessary." You replied crisply. "Give me that!" Harv' snatched his phone and hunted through his contact list. "There is no Alex! I didn't even get a message from anyone! What are you-" The moment he looked up, he saw your smile. "You're playing with us!" Harv' huffed. "Heads! Heads!" He dug into his pocket. "Oh shit!" You squeaked and hurried to hide in the bedroom. "You better run, your ass is done!" Harv' called out.

Copperhead: "Alex? I don't know one, why?" They sighed with boredom. "Cops!" You covered you mouth, cutting yourself off like you were holding back anger but really were holding back a smile before masking it. "Oh, are you getting angry?" Copperhead smiled widely their foot travelling up your side. "Are you gonna spank me?" Their eyes gleamed as their snake like tongue slithered out between their teeth, smile wide. You took a deep breath once again masking your true excitement with anger. "Who is Alex?" You demanded. Copperhead pulled you into their lap. "I already told you I don't know, precious." They began to nibble on the side of your jaw. You grabbed their neck, tugging them away from your jaw and making them look at you. They hissed affectionately through a smile. "Larissa." You warned. "Oh, my real name? Sounds serious." They teased. "Tell me wh-" Your demeanor broke as you burst into laughter. "Damn it!" You cried out. "I was so close! All I could think about was you asking if I was gonna spank you. The fuck!?" You demanded through giggles. "Gets you every time, precious." They replied smug. "I'm being serious though, I don't know any Alex." "I know! I was joking!" You said loudly.

Penguin: "Alex? As in Alexand-... From the lounge? Don't imagine why I'd have any numbers for the dancers. That's why I pay for a landline in my office." Oswald rambled to himself, glancing over the newspaper in his hands. "Oz? Is there someone else you're not telling me about?" That question certainly had his attention. He turned in his seat, eyebrow raised. "You serious? Aw baby, you ain't gotta worry about that. You're my one and only! Does this really get to you?" He asked. You broke. "I was joking, you took me so seriously! I feel bad now!" You said loudly and he let out a sigh of relief. "Bloody hell, sweetheart, so there's isn't anyone on my phone? I was gettin' worried someone was messin' with my phone!" He beckoned you over with a shake of his hand. "You tryna give me a heart attack?" He asked as his hands cupped around your thighs. "Meh, my version of a little CPR." You winked. "How you wound me sweetheart! I'm old- not that old...I've got a few years yet." The more he spoke the more hesitant Oswald sounded. "Don't even go there, Oz!" You playfully swatted his shoulder. "We've already agreed, I'm going first!" He leaned back. "Since when!? I never agreed to that!" "Didn't need you to, that's just how it's going to go." You bent down and kissed his cheek.

[twofrontteethstillcrooked]

Suptober 3 Oct.: Digital

"Shh," Dean said, his mouth hot and insistent below Cas's ear, as though Cas had been making too much noise, and perhaps he had been.

deancas, s9 au, human Cas

A hiss-thwip sort of sound emanated from the record player like a pulse, the black vinyl fresh out of Zeppelin songs for the time being. Cas managed to drag himself out of bed and gently lifted the turntable arm to its cradle. 

"Side B?" he asked the lump on the mattress as the concrete floor froze his feet. He caught a flash of green and white under the blanket. "What?"

Dean's grin was all teeth and a peek of pink tongue. "Dude. You're super naked."

Cas quirked an eyebrow. "Yes. It didn't seem necessary to be dressed just to turn this off."

"Come back and warm up." Dean wriggled himself into a seated position, draped in linens. He caught Cas's wrist and reeled him in like a spider wrapping prey in silk, and Cas found himself cocooned skin to skin again before he could even object.

Not that he would've. Up close, the freckles that ran across the tops of Dean's cheeks and nose were watercolor and iridescent, deliberate and dappled; Cas thought he could almost taste them. He rubbed his nose along Dean's rough jaw, causing a sensation that seemed to pass between the two of them like static. A snap, a shiver.

"Shh," Dean said, his mouth hot and insistent below Cas's ear, as though Cas had been making too much noise, and perhaps he had been.

"You don't have any compact discs," Cas said. His voice maybe sounded a little shaky; Dean's hand was snaking lower.

"Nope." Dean was not easily distracted in some situations, Cas was learning. Nor easily sated.

"I understand why, though." Cas bit out the last word, lifted his hands to Dean's shoulders. "The digital compression of the music…ah. It's a much worse way to listen. Even as a human I can hear the difference." He panted through several breaths and let Dean's fingertips trail to a stop at his bare hip.

"Hadn't thought about it before, but I bet you really could hear a difference as an angel, huh?" Dean was interested in this; Cas could tell and found it charming. "I never got into CDs. Couldn't afford 'em as a kid, plus what would I have played them on since we moved constantly, no room for extra shit like that. My cassettes – Dad's cassettes – those were more manageable. I don't think I missed much good music anyway."

His expression faltered, a little. Cas, severed from heavenly powers, could still feel a vestige of loneliness bleeding off Dean. Felt it mirrored in himself, remembering celestial frequencies ringing through time, a vibrating polyphony without earthly counterpart that he was unlikely to ever hear again. But what there was to hear, here, was sweeter than Cas could've ever imagined before. He let himself nuzzle against Dean's throat, to console them both.

After a few minutes of them resting against one another, Cas could tell Dean's mood had rallied. 

"You said once that you liked experienced women." Cas must've caught Dean by surprise, since he blinked, and Cas quickly continued, "So it's funny to me that you're, um. That we're." He couldn't figure out how to say what he wanted to say. "As relates to sex. Since I am not. Experienced. I appreciate your patience, is all." 

Dean blinked at him a few more times, like he was truly unsure how to respond. "You're welcome?" he said finally, a smile at the corner of his mouth and eyes alight. Cas was relieved that Dean was blushing, since it made his own bashfulness seem less out of place. "And, uh. I mean. Yeah."

Cas nodded. 

Dean's eyes softened. "Way to change the topic, buddy." He kissed Cas like he wasn't bothered in the least. His blush deepened when he said, not looking at Cas, "Besides. I'm making an exception for you. You're different." 

"Oh." Cas knocked his forehead against Dean's. "I said that to you once."

"Yep." Dean looked at him so steadily then, Cas's throat tightened with longing. "Hey."

"Yes, Dean," Cas said, gaze dropping to Dean's soft mouth.

"Ready for side B?" Dean asked, and if afterwards neither of them moved to leave the bed, that didn't mean there was nothing to listen to.

[twothpaste]

( ok ok, one more sneak peek before i finish this sucker )

So. You delve into the jungle's jaws.

The vines and wires are first to lash out. Viper's fury. Constrictor's crushing snare. They'll slither up unwary ankles, and snatch away any clumsy hands that venture to tame them. Getcha hopelessly lost. Or tripped up, dragged to your knees, before ya know what hit ya.

Stairsteps nearly get the better of Kumatora. Stumbling over an invisible jumprope, with bright violet ribbons at either end. And an oversized king's cloak, bound to tiny shoulders. She bites her tongue. Hard. So as not to beckon concern with a careless "Fuck…!!"

Lucas may be daunted by the thicket. 'Specially in such murky darkness. Power's out, y'know. No candles. Princess' orders, which go sternly without saying. There's one difference between the domains of Hades and Lucifer - and that's hellfire. Kiddo knows the trick, though. With roots, and knotted hair, and throngs of cords. It's like one of those Chinese finger traps. Y'don't yank 'em. Y'take 'em nice n' easy. Power plugs. DVD Player. He hasn't the faintest idea what HDMI actually stands for, but he's soothing its fearsome tangle like a goddamn snake charmer.

While Kuma claws her way up the railing, straining against poison ivy clutches.

It seems a wreckful act. To rip such a fixture so tenderly from its seams. The sin weighs sleek and black and heavy in Lucas' arms. Severed veins trailing behind him. Bleeding wide-screen memories, in high-definition. Always aglow with homely women's recipes, or insightful documentaries, or some art film he'd never heard of before or since. They'd huddled close once - the two of them - between plush couch cushions and afghan blankets, to revisit a prehistoric childhood classic. A Land Before Time, if you will. He recalls slipping toward that sacred dozy dreamland of his. The pristine peace he's scarcely known, in these years of aftermath.

Now, the TV stand is a raw gash. Nothin' but loose shreds and exposed wood. Like when the city had his old favorite tree at the park reduced to a blistering stump. And him to a blubbering raincloud.

Flint's strength, in striking contrast, brims through his burgeoning muscles. Urges him along.

He'll carry whatever he's asked to.

And then some.

On his way out, a pair of big Coca-Cola eyes watch the great lumbering dinosaurs that ain't on the screen anymore. Sip o' birthday girl soda pop, through a glitter-dazzled crazy straw. Pink tutu. N' the tiger striped facepaint.

Lucas squints. Hesitates. At the doorway's precipice.

"What's wrong, Littlefoot?" she asks. In a voice like a ravenous bite of cotton candy. "Y'look like y'ain't never seen a ghost before."

[mackeydoodledoo]

The Demon Amongst Vampires

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x Demon (Fem!)Reader

Summary: Getting caught on the grounds of Castle Dimitrescu is one problem. Being a Demon hybrid is another. Getting caught WHILST being in your demon form is a whole issue. As you’re held captive in the castle, a Dimitrescu daughter has been enchanted by you.

Warnings: Blood, Slight G0R3 (Body dismemberment, but, not over-the-top gore), slightly nsfw

A/N: I didn’t understand the hype for Resident Evil 8 and now I understand why. Here is my contribution to you fellow simps. Also, since R is a demon, I’ve referenced some demon-anime characters. Bonus points if you get those references! R is My Character: Hydrangea Dragonfold! But her name is not mentioned in this story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

As you make your kill, you hear a faint buzzing sound. However, you think nothing of it, you've heard far worse. You recall back before you ran away from your home; the screams of your now dead family. You faintly remember somebody infusing their blood with yours. You don't remember who exactly but now you're a Demon. You don't remember how you got there but you just are. You can't exactly go back to being the person you used to be. 

"Who's out here?!" A demanding voice calls out 

You try your best to hide yourself however, you immediately knock over something with your elbow. 

"Well well, what have we here?" She asks you, immediately teleporting herself over to you 

She uses the end of her sickle to bash on the side of your head. Everything goes black. 

"Mother, look what I found roaming our grounds," a muffled yet familiar voice says 

As you gain your consciousness you look up just as some footsteps turn to face you. You were in awe, you didn't think you'd be in the presence of such a tall woman. 

"What have we here?" The tall woman asks 

Your mind was everywhere, you didn't exactly hear her question. You were still questioning how you got in the castle. 

"Answer mothers' question peasant!" A female voice yells, punching your jaw 

You cough out blood, your jaw seemingly broken. 

“Daniela don’t touch what isn’t yours!” a voice yells

“She wasn’t paying attention!” Another voice screams back

“Now now daughters, let’s all calm down now,” The tall woman says

Once you looked back up at the tall woman, you 'un-broke' your jaw, hearing it crack back into place. 

"No one special that's for sure," you groan 

"Well, anyone who can snap their jaw back into place without writhing in pain must be," the tall woman says, "So, let's see how special you really are." 

Two of the three hooded women begin walking toward you. You however, hold up your hand. 

"I'll do it myself," you sigh 

You hold up your pinky and its nail begins sharpening and turning black. You hold it against your wrist and slash it with no form of wincing in pain. Blood slowly seeps out from your cut as you hold it up to the tall woman. She takes your wrist and begins sucking on your wrist that you had cut. Not even a second in, she throws your wrist back down and gags in disgust. 

"That is VILE!" She screams 

You kind of felt bad for offering such bad blood. But you had no other choice really. 

"Then let's devour this woman's flesh quickly mother," the woman with strawberry-blonde hair suggests 

"But I'm the one who brought her here," the woman with blond hair says, “I should get the first bite!”

"My sincerest apologies," you sigh, letting your cut heal itself, "Being a demon sure has its bad blood taste.. Apparently.." 

"And what of this?" The tall woman gestures to your backpack 

"Nothing special," you say once more, "Just shoes..... A handful of them.... My feet you see.. Let's just say I wear them out a lot faster. Speaking of shoes.... Can I get some out I don't want to leave... A nasty stain on your lovely floors." 

The tall woman snaps her fingers and the blonde woman reaches into your backpack. She pulls out two black sandals. The other two women snicker. 

"Nice to have 'em cheap really," you add as you watch the blonde woman put them on your feet 

"Take this.. Demon, Bela," the tall woman says, "You're in charge of it." 

"I have a name and pronouns you know," you nearly spat, slightly angered

The blond woman flies to you and holds your chin, making you look up at her. 

"You sure have some nerve to be talking to mother like that," she smirks at you 

"Being a demon sure has its perks," you smirk back, "Well, you're in charge Ms. Lady." 

She drags you up from the ground to make you stand up. She grabs you by the arm and begins dragging you out of the tall lady's chamber. 

"So.... What's your plan with me?" You ask, monotonus 

"I'll make you my plaything," she smiles maliciously, "After I'm finished with you, I will eat your flesh." 

You just listen to her ramble on about how she'll kill you, unphased. However she stops when she doesn't hear a reply out of your mouth. 

"How are you not afraid?" She asks 

"I have nowhere else to be, no other family to go home to," you start, “So, what does a demon like myself have left to lose? Besides, you’d be doing me a favor hot stuff.” 

You saw her cheek flush a faint pink color when you realized you called her cute. 

"Also, I wouldn't want you eating demon flesh," you sigh, "You've seen how your.... Mother reacted to my blood. Can't really imagine what my flesh will taste like...." 

"Then why don't I find out?" She asks, menacingly 

You look at her confused however wince in pain when she takes a bite out of your arm. You watch her eat the part of your flesh and blood. However, mid-eating the flesh she tore off you, she stops and opens her eyes. 

"You're.... Divine," she moans, finishing her snack 

You look at her in slight awe, the moonlight complimenting her pale skin. Her eyes dilated from the apparent divine taste of you.

"One, a little warning next time you decide to snack on me,” You groan, watching the indent on your arm heal, “Two, I can regenerate my skin cells a lot faster than the average. But it'll regenerate slower if you continuously eat from the same spot. I can also snap my bones back into place. Hence me being able to snap my jaw back into place when your sister punched the hell out of me." 

The both of you stare at each other before she breaks the eye contact and dragging you to her chambers. 

"You okay with a demon in your room?" You ask, "Aren't you afraid of a sleep paralysis demon?" 

You asked it as a joke, however, Bela turns to you, confused. 

"What's that?" She asks 

"You've-you've never heard of a sleep paralysis demon?" You ask 

She shakes her head. 

"Well," you smirk, "You just might see one." 

Bela giggles, "well aren't you a sharp tongued little demon." 

"I'm not little," you growl 

"Aww the little demon is so cute when she's mad," Bela continues teasing you 

Having enough your instincts take over, a ring of bright blue fire takes over your body, two flame like horns protrude from your head, your pupils turning into vein like slits, your canines sharpening to a point, as do your nails and finally, your tail bone becomes an actual tail. Your nail dug into the other woman's wrists as she gazes up at your new appearance. 

"My my little demon aren't you all riled up," she says seductively 

You say nothing but look at her unamused. However, your grip on her doesn't loosen, trying to intimidate her with your supposedly terrifying secret. However, she moves her leg over you so that she’s straddling you. The grip you had on her subsides and she gives your wrists the same treatment. She leans down close so that one side of her hair drapes over you like a curtain and her lips within touching distance. 

"If you think you can come in here unannounced and nearly top me, you're in for a world of hell," she whispers 

"Well I was brought here against my will," you joke, "But, I don't think that's a bad thing at all." 

You smirk at her. You look at her lips then back up at her eyes. Feeling bold mysteriously, you raise your head up to meet her lips. You pull away the second you snap yourself back to reality. 

"Why did you pull away little demon?" She asks 

At that point you couldn't be mad at her for calling you by your now pet name. You couldn't find the proper answer. 

"I don't know," you half-assed it 

She lifts your arm and licks the blood that remains on your wrists, moaning in pleasure from how your blood tasted. 

"If you ever cross me like that ever again, I'll make sure you're going to pay for it," she whispers 

"Any way you want princess," you smirk

It was a restless night for you, you continuously fought with your demon self from transforming. You managed to persuade the other woman to have you sleep on the floor, out of fear of setting anything on fire. You couldn't stop growling. The tossing and turning wasn't helping either. 

"What's wrong micul meu demon?" The other woman asks, groaning 

"N-nothing I'm fine," you answer all groggy like, "Did-did I wake y-you?" 

"No," she says, "I'll help you. Come into bed demon mic." 

"I'm fine," you growl, almost letting your demon come out 

You feel a swarm of insects roaming around your body until you felt plopped down onto a bed. The other woman snakes her arms around your midsection and you suddenly felt your demon... Rest. That's never happened before.. 

"Better?" She asks 

"Yeah," you confess, settling yourself in, "Thanks..." 

You could feel her breath going right down your neck. You were both nervous and aroused. You turn your body so that you’re facing the other woman.

“Are you aright?” She asks

You nod, letting the feeling of the embrace and you take the opportunity to finally enjoy a nights sleep.

“Good night, micul meu demon,” Bela whispers into your ear

Of all things you’ve experienced in one day, a compassionate vampire lady wasn’t an expectation.

The next several months go by and you're beginning to open up with Bela and everyone else. Everyone has grown fond of you and you teach them about the different kinds of powers you have. You'd often have sparring sessions with Bela in order for her to brush up her skills. Majority of the time its been her catching you. For her “personal reward” she’d take a bite out of your flesh, blood, whatever she wanted to do with you. But today's sparring session, not this time you think to yourself as you navigate through the castle. 

"Nowhere to run demon mea," Bela teases as you navigate through the dungeons 

"Yeah?" You taunt back, "There'll be nowhere to hide once I get you!" 

From the shadows you could hear a swarm of flies form around you. You could feel Bela's presence, she hasn't even touched you and you immediately pin her to the wall, one hand holding her wrists above her head, the other almost clawing her face. 

"I got you little princess," you smirk, "I win." 

You lean in to kiss her fiercely. She returns the kiss as well. You let go of her wrists and coil your arms around her waist, she digs her fingers into your hair as you begin digging your lips into the crook of her neck. You didn't realize how hard you were sucking her skin until you tasted blood. You hear a moan escape out of her mouth as you suckle on her neck. 

"I don't know about me," you say, seductively, "But you are divine." 

Your hand unconsciously explores Bela's slim figure. Your hand travels further and further down before you reached a slit in her dress. Before you could even give her the pleasure you've been dying to give her, she lets out a strangled sigh and slaps your hand away. 

"Ow! Damn Bela," you growl, slightly upset, "What was that for?" 

"You haven't earned that perk yet micul meu demon," she teases, "Maybe tonight my love, during the full moon." 

Out of pure arousal, your demon form pops out, your tail wagging. You try to put them away but to no avail. 

"Micul meu demon," she whispers into your ear 

Blue flames ignite. You force yourself to stop them and control your heartbeat and breathing. 

"She's all riled up," Bela continues teasing 

"You're lucky I have no willpower to destroy you," you growl 

"Maybe you will tonight," she teases again 

You watch her disappear into bugs and fly off.. 

"Bela's really taking a liking to you," Cassandra appears, making you jump, "Oh I made the little demon scared." 

"Don't call me little demon Cass," You sigh, "Only Bela can call me that. By the way, shouldn't you be torturing some new plaything right now?" 

"I'm waiting for mother to bring in a new one," she says 

"Well have fun with that," you sigh, chuckling slightly 

Cassandra flies off to who knows where. Daniela is doing god-knows-what. Lady Dimitrescu is in a meeting with the other three houses, leaving you in your thoughts and awaiting Bela to return. 

An hour goes by and you haven't seen any trace of Bela.. You become slightly upset.. However, you just decide to go back into Bela's chambers until Lady Dimitrescu calls you for dinner or Bela calls for you. However, as you're ascending the staircase, you could hear Bela's voice. You open a window slightly to see her getting knocked to the ground by a mysterious figure you weren't familiar with. 

"Bela!" You call out 

You propel yourself from the open window and concentrate your fire power into your legs to reach Bela faster. 

"STOP!" You scream 

You forward flip and use one foot and attempt to heel the enemy trespasser from injuring Bela further. You missed however, the trespasser launches himself backward as you do the same, guarding Bela. Your demon taking control of you, you growl and snarl. 

"Who. Are. You?" Your demon voice and normal voice ask, combined, "What gives you the right to touch what isn't yours?!" 

"Oh, my mistake," he only says, "You weren’t around so I didn’t think. And a human plaything claiming that she owns a vampire? Don’t joke with me now kid." 

You snarl at the nickname as you were so used to Bela calling you 'My little Demon'. You've warmed up to the nickname and only Bela could call you that. 

"I wouldn’t be joking if I didn’t just launch myself from a castle window.” You say

The both of you charge at each other and engage in a fight. You try to yell back toward Bea to get Alcina or even Cassandra. But, each time you were able to turn around, you couldn’t tell her to get out of harms way. Letting your anger get the best of you, you gain the upper hand however, letting one opening in, the enemy elbows you in the stomach and throws you towards Bela's direction. 

"Micul meu demon! Are you okay?!" She asks, towering over you, trying to check you out for any severe injuries 

You nod, not able to form words from the wind being knocked out of your body. The both of you hear footsteps crunching the snow. Bela becomes her usual terrifying self from when the two of you first met and throws her body over yours, guarding it. 

“You keep away from her!" She growls 

"And what will you do?" He asks, laughing, "Protect this... Human? HAH! Don't make me laugh! This human isn’t special!" 

He kicks Bela in the chin and knocks her away from you. Something in you snapped, what the trespasser did to Bela alone made your blood boil. 

"As for you weak 'human plaything' I'll help myself to dinner and-" 

Before he could step onto your stomach, you catch his boot with your hand, digging your now black nails and singed arms into its soles. He looks down at you, noticing a bright glow emitting from below him. You were engulfed in blue flames. Your nails and arms singed up to your elbows. The pupils in your eyes had turned into slits and your upper and lower canines sharpened to a point. A tail and two flame like horns appear from your forehead. 

"Don't you EVER touch what's mine!" You snarl, your demon voice merging with yours, nearly overlapping your regular voice 

You launch him of the ground and elbow his stomach the same way he did to you, only, you elbow a lot hard and into the ground. He coughs out blood as he kicks you out of the way. This unphased you as you no longer feel the pain that had been inflicted on you earlier. 

"Damn kid," he coughs, "What's up with you?!" 

You only scream at him and charge toward him, footprints being singed onto the ground, melting the snow. Using whatever strength he had left, he slices your arm off, along with a leg, catching you off guard. This gives him the opportunity to launch you back away from him You snap out of your demon frenzy, but still remain in your form to protect Bela. 

"決起術 (けっきじゅつ)," you and your demon growl, your newly regenerated hand out toward the enemy vampire. The dismembered leg had also grown back. [Translation: "Blood Demon Art"] 

"H-how?! I cut off your limbs.... How are they now grown back?!" He asks demandingly, looking frantically for whatever you were reaching out for 

"熱血 (ばっけつ)!!!" You scream, closing your hand, a blue flame exiting from the two ends of your closed fist [Translation: "Exploding Blood!!"] 

From across the field, the vampire bursts into a blue flame. Hearing him scream, he begins writhing in pain. 

"Who are YOU?!?!" He screams 

"An offspring of The Devil," you announce, your human voice comes through, "I protect what's mine!" 

"Please just make it stop!!" He yells, "I won't come back and touch her again I promise!!" 

"And you never will," You only reply before making the flame ignite further 

You watch him burn to a crisp. Watching him become nothing more than ash. You turn to Bela to check on her. When you realized she wasn't moving, you skid across the snowy ground you try to get Bela to wake up. 

"Hey hey, come on princess," you say, "Don't you DARE leave me now. Come on speak to me!" 

You were practically yelling at that point. You hear other footsteps coming out to your direction and you look up; Alcina comes running out to your direction. 

"What on earth happened?!" Alcina asks, "What did you do?!" 

"An enemy vampire trespassed through your grounds, Alcina" you explain, "I didn't notice him until I heard Bela crying out for help." 

"Where is this trespasser?!" She asks 

"I burned him to a crisp," you answer 

She looks up at you, in disbelief. However, when you look at her, there was no joke in your voice or expression. 

"My daughter wake up," she tries calling out to her daughter 

As you watch Alcina try to wake her daughter, it hit you. You know what she needs. 

"B-blood, that's it right? You need blood!" You ask Bela, trying to get her to speak 

Without thinking, you strip off your leather jacket in an effort to Keep her warm. Not caring about your own body heat, you use your claws to make a scar onto your forearm. You take Bela into your un-bloodied arm as you hold out your bloodied one out above her mouth, squeezing the life out of your arm to have your blood drip. You gently open her mouth just as a blood drop falls into her mouth. 

"Come on, come on," you panic 

You watch as she begins to writhe and then watching her mouth latch onto your arm, drinking your blood. It was painful, feeling her fangs sink into your flesh, however, for her, you'd endure it. You place your palm under her head to keep her head steady. You couldn't help but smile slight as you continue to watch her suckling on your arm like a little baby. Bela finally gains consciousness and stops feeding on you. Praying she didn't drink too much. 

"Micul meu demon" she smiles, her fingers gently dancing across your features 

Tears rolled down your eyes as you kiss her unconsciously, regardless if there was now blood on your own mouth. 

"How did you-" Alcina asks 

"She... Apparently likes the way my blood and flesh tastes," you say, "One of the reasons why your daughter decided to keep me." 

You pick Bela up and walk back into the castle with Alcina and her two other daughters waiting for you three in the foyer. 

For the first time that night, you could finally sleep peacefully. The both of you were entangled in each others' embrace, wasting the remaining night away. You never expected that you’d be the demon amongst the vampires. It was never a thought to you that of all living creatures, you, a demon of all things, had caught the eyes of a vampire. Maybe being a demon is a blessing... 

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Do we know how Dee found out about the V's dragon thing?

When he felt the deep rumbling of the cave around him, Deceit finally sighed in relief.

The crumbling tube-like pitfall he had made near the southern entrance — one of many, all too solid to be triggered by Deceit or Ethel’s weight but easily crumbled under anyone else’s — had hopefully put an end to the intruder he had sensed almost an hour before.

They got further than Deceit expected they would. Deceit had listened to them through adjacent tunnels as they quickly and easily traversed his maze of twisting, trap-laden caverns. They walked with cocksure, thundering footsteps, and somehow sensed and called out swinging blades before they’d even released from their hiding places. But, they also cut down kobolds and monsters alike without letting even a dying gasp escape from their victims, despite how loudly they talked to themselves as they traversed the emptier tunnels. Whoever they were, their senses were sharp, and they damn sure had experience hunting dangerous creatures.

(Luckily, Deceit wasn’t too attached to the “guards” he had collected over the years, though it would be annoying to replace them. And to repair and reset his traps... Ugh, this was going to be a long night.)

The strangest part was how they ignored both of the false “treasure chests” Deceit had hidden in those pathways. Whoever they were, they were not an adventurer.

That fact alone was enough to scare Deceit away from confronting them himself, retreating to the safety of his inner chamber for a report of their demise. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to pull out any of his higher-energy illusions to scare them away; From the strength of those vibrations, Deceit could happily assume the intruder had been dealt with.

...Well, okay, not really. Deceit is nothing if not careful.

They were definitely trapped if not already dead, though. So, Deceit crouches down and extends his arm to let Ethel off of his shoulders and onto the ground.

“I’ll be close behind you, dear.”

“I know, Dee!” Ethel giggled, with all the excitement of a child who’s been made to sit still for too long. He loves to play scout, because it lets him feel like a bigger part of this operation. Deceit only lets him do it because he knows no one would travel this deep into a Dragon’s mountain and then bother themselves with a mundane snake.

Deceit follows until he’s close enough to the impact point to keep Ethel in his senses, but hopefully far enough that he won’t be sensed by the intruder. He can hear Ethel humming to himself in the back of his mind, busying himself with a human song they only each remember pieces of, and Deceit waits for the go-ahead to join him further in.

Then, suddenly and without reason, the humming stops.

Deceit gives it a second or two, assuming that Ethel is just engaging his little “stealth mode” and taking a look around, but the silence remains for much longer than Deceit is comfortable with.

“Ethel, dear?” He probes through their mental link, to no response.

In fact, to Deceit’s horror, it feels like their link has weakened somehow.

It’s not an unfamiliar feeling — attempting to reach the snake-boy’s mind is as sluggish and resistant as wading through a pool of curdling blood, sometimes — but it’s only ever happened when he’s eating or dying.

Thrown into a panic, Deceit rushes down the path to the collapse sight, and is frozen to the spot when he sees what he’s trapped.

Lying there with a few scuffs and bruises, trapped under a pile of boulders, is a Dark Elf.

He’s thin and lithe from what Deceit can see of his body, and he seems largely unhurt, just under too much weight to move himself. He’s lying on his back, and his one free hand is holding Ethel, who is curled around his arm and leaning down to sniff at his face. Ethel’s not hurt, and doesn’t seem to be injured or even threatened by the Drow, who is holding him very gently. But his eyes are slightly glazed over and empty, as if he were a normal, everyday animal. As if he’d been entranced by someone.

And then a new wave of sensation washes over Deceit, and he’s knocked wholly off his feet.

There is a powerful presence coming from that Elf. The same kind of feeling he’s felt every time he’s entered a room with his so-called “siblings,” and the same feeling that used to be washed over this mountain when they were all still alive. An energy, specifically, he hasn’t felt since the last time he stood in the core of the mountain with his Father.

The essence of a White Dragon.

Deceit’s own essence rises up, hissing and spitting to fight the rival drake, but Deceit can’t move. The Drow looks up (down?) from his position to look at Deceit, and his long white hair falls out of the way to reveal one brilliant amethyst eye.

“That's one of Marissa’s experiments.” Deceit realizes with a start, remembering the orders his Father had given her before she left,

“Wux geou vucot ssvabolen quellar ekesss vorq ihk. Asstahii re houpeir ir di wer ssviheleni, wer ausssir darasstrixi."

"Vorq ihk ulhar vur ssililoss ssaurivic.”

“What is it doing here?!” Deceit shrieks in the confines of his own mind, still too terrified to speak the words out loud. He scrambles backwards,

“She let it out?? Does she know— Did she send it to kill me, to take her revenge?!”

“Who do we have here~?”

A voice from behind him shouts giddily the second Deceit feels himself back into a wall. He looks up, and finds the loud-mouthed, heavy-footed something he’s been tracking grinning maliciously down at him.

And Deceit has just knocked right into their legs.

A yelp is ripped out of him as the disheveled, wild-looking giant grabs him with massive, gnarled hands, tossing Deceit over his shoulder as easily as he would a blanket.

Deceit fights and writes, hissing as threateningly as he can manage from this position. The giant just laughs at him, completely ignoring any of his attempts to kick and scratch. Deceit gets a look at the Drow-Dragon-chimera-thing from behind the oaf’s torso, and watches him turn into a cloud of smoke and seep out from the cracks of the wreckage, reforming next to his companion.

The drow-dragon-chimera-thing that went completely unnoticed in his tunnels, and was cutting down creatures left and right without a sound.

Oh.

"You're not even gonna pretend to be trapped?" The giant whines, like a petulant child, "C'mon, dude, strength is my thing! Let me rescue you from the rock trap!"

The Drow doesn't answer, but after a pause, the giant laughs again.

"Of course you got distracted by a cool snake. --No, I get it, if you moved you would have scared it away, I know I know,"

Janus, suddenly feeling like he's been impaled on an icicle, hurriedly dismisses Ethel entirely just to get him away from that thing.

Having clearly seen him do that, the two intruders pause again.

“I think we found the thief the clan has been complaining about,” The giant snickers between barks of laughter,

“Sure is a skinny thing, though! Seems harmless, aside from their little magic tricks... Maybe they’ll let 'em go easy if we tell them he's just a kid? C'mon, you know they'll buy it, and they know you!”

Deceit has no idea what clan they’re talking about, but that does not sound good at all. So, he releases the vice-like clench of his jaw and wills a cloud of noxious gas out of his core, a last-ditch effort to poison these creatures and be done with them.

The giant holding him starts to cough, thankfully, but his grip doesn’t slack at all. The Drow, completely unaffected, just waltzes over to his back and grabs Deceit by the scruff of his shirt.

He hauls Deceit up to look at him (but not off the giant’s shoulder, considering how much taller the redhead is) and then bats his doe-like eyes at him. Deceit is stunned and oddly comforted in the most terrible way for a moment — after all, Deceit is very much familiar with charm magic — but he doesn’t resist when the Drow raises it's other slender hand to caress his cheek, almost lovingly.

Not knowing when the assassin’s hand had reached his neck or when the poisoned thorn had ever bit into his skin, Deceit drifts asleep with only the passing memory of a sound,

“Well, I guess we found that ‘dragon,’ too!”

[olivemac]

1300 miles | chapter four | b.b.

Summary | Bucky Barnes is adjusting to civilian life, living in Brooklyn, visiting Sam in Delacroix when he can, and trying to figure out what he wants. When he meets Jo Landry, the tattooed lead singer of a New Orleans-based band, he thinks he might have found the answer. Too bad they live 1300 miles apart.

Time Frame | post-TFATWS

Pairing | Bucky Barnes x fem!oc

Rating | explicit

Warnings | mentions of combat-related injuries, alcohol use, tattoos/body piercings, coarse language, gay male character, bisexual female character, recreational/medicinal drug use (weed), pet names (doll, pretty girl, Sarge), smut [f/m, mutual masturbation, fingering, oral sex (f receiving), PIV, slight dom!Bucky, praise kink, very slight somnophilia], minor angst, and all the romance tropes/fluff because I'm a sucker for it; more warnings to come; 18+ ONLY, minors DNI

Tags | @mrs--barnes

Citation | Vernon, Justin, Dessner, Aaron, Mitchell, Anaïs. “Latter Days.” How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? Jagjaguwar/37do3d, 2021.

A/N | This only took 800 years to finish. Sorry for the wait. Hope it’s worth it. Xoxo

A/N, pt. 2 | Made some very minor edits to the previous chapters – nothing that changes storyline, etc.

series master list | AO3 link | full master list

🎶 1300 miles playlist 🎶

_____

previous chapter

_____

After breakfast, Bucky returns the borrowed motorcycle to Sam and grabs his backpack from Sarah's house. Sam only badgers him about if for a few minutes.

"So, you're abandoning us for Jo?" he asks Bucky teasingly.

Bucky grunts in reply. "It's not like that," he says.

“I get it,” Sam shrugs. “After eighty years, you’re finally getting some.” Bucky glares at him. “Just remember, bros before hoes,” Sam concludes, laughing and clapping Bucky on the back. Then he adds, "Don't tell Jo I said that."

Bucky's been debating how much he should reveal when he finally says, "I really like her, Sam."

Sam smiles. "Good," he says. "You deserve someone who makes you happy."

Bucky returns the smile.

"Come on," Sam says, "I've got errands to run in town. I'll drop you back at Jo's place." Bucky tosses his backpack into the bed of Sam's truck as Sam tells him, "Just remember, we promised AJ and Cass we'd take 'em out on the boat on Saturday morning."

"I'll be there," Bucky says.

_____

Bucky stays with Jo for the next two days, wearing sweats during the day while he lounges in her apartment – something he isn't used to, just lounging – and sitting alone at the end of the bar at night, watching her serve drinks with Danny.

They're inseparable for those 48 hours. There's an impending deadline – a sense that they need to fit everything they can into the next few days before Bucky returns to New York.

He slips out of her bedroom Thursday morning, still smiling from the night before, to find her practicing yoga in her living room. Bucky stops and leans against the wall to watch Jo move from one pose to the next, his eyes lingering on her hips and backside. When she moves into downward dog, she spots him from between her legs.

“Morning,” Jo says, sinking deeper into the pose and working to keep her feet flat against the mat. She notices the smirk on Bucky’s face. “Enjoying the view?” she asks.

His smirk only grows. "I am."

She walks her hands across the mat to meet her feet and stands. Before she can turn around, Bucky is behind her, his front pressed against her back and his hands on her hips.

"Best part of the twenty-first century," he says, "is skimpier clothing." His thumbs rub upward across the soft skin of her exposed belly until they're moving beneath the band of her sports bra.

Jo laughs and turns in his arms. "Not the medical or technological advancements?"

"Nope," Bucky says, "definitely this." He pops the band of her sports bra with his thumbs, then pulls her even closer, one hand sliding down her back.

"Breakfast?" she asks.

Bucky hums. "I'd rather eat something else," he says with a smirk, leaning down to press a kiss against her neck.

Jo laughs loudly. "No," she exclaims, "you can't expect sex after you say something so cringeworthy."

Regardless, she lets Bucky lower her to her yoga mat and hover over her prone body.

"You were saying?" he smirks against her lips before kissing her.

Jo hums and snakes her arms around Bucky's neck, pulling him closer. His lips move across her jaw and collarbone down to the tops of her breasts. Bucky pushes her sports bra up carefully to reveal her breasts before taking a nipple between his teeth. Jo scratches her short nails across his scalp and holds him to her chest. He worries his tongue over the hard peak and around the barbell ends on each side of her nipple.

“Bucky,” Jo sighs, arching her back.

Bucky smiles against the skin of her stomach as he kisses lower. He likes hearing his name on her lips. After not having control of himself for so long, he likes that he has this small amount of power over someone else, this ability to make Jo fall apart so easily.

He peels her leggings and underwear down and off before lowering his face between her thighs. He blows warm air across her cunt, making her tremble.

"Open your legs a little more," Bucky says, pressing his large hands against the inside of her thighs. "Good girl," he praises as her legs fall further apart. Jo sighs again as Bucky looks up at her. "You're beautiful like this, doll," he says. Then he licks a thick stripe across her folds.

Jo keens and her back arches off the mat. His tongue meets her clit as his hands grip her thighs, holding her open. Jo reaches down and cords her fingers through his thick hair, pulling slightly. Bucky moans against her cunt and continues to circle his tongue across her clit before sucking it between his lips. Jo rocks her hips against Bucky's face, and he reaches up to take her hips in his hands and guide her movements. She pulls his hair again, harder this time, and Bucky grunts. He alternates his movements against her clit until she's coming hard against his face.

"Bucky," Jo moans, her mouth falling open.

Bucky pulls back and slides up her body. When he kisses her, she can taste herself on his lips. She snakes her hand into his hair and holds him close against her mouth, kissing him deeper.

"Favorite meal," Bucky smirks when they finally break apart.

"That's it," Jo says, laughing and pushing at his shoulders, "leave. Get out. Go." She points to the door.

Bucky laughs. "You wouldn't," he says, with mock hurt in his voice, as his fingers tickle against her sides.

Jo squeals and squirms against his onslaught. "Fine, fine," she shrieks, laughing, "you can stay! But no more of that!"

"What? No more of this?" Bucky laughs. He rolls onto his back, pulling Jo on top of him to straddle his face, and rips another two orgasms from her before he finally releases her, helps her redress, and follows her to the kitchen to start breakfast.

_____

In the late afternoon, before the bar is set to open, Jo takes her guitar out onto the balcony to practice. After a while, Bucky sets down the book he was reading and joins her. He watches cars and pedestrians pass below them on the street while Jo plays a song with a sleepy pace and melancholy lyrics on lost innocence. Bucky thinks it sounds pretty in Jo's soft tone.

Stacked yourself against the odds

Talking back to an act of God

You and your clever mouth

You were laughing when the lights went out

When Jo finishes and sets her guitar aside, Bucky pulls her chair closer to his and leans in to kiss her, cupping both her cheeks softly in his hands.

"What was that for?" she asks, smiling.

Bucky shakes his head, then says, "Sam said you had a record deal."

"So, you and Sam were talking about me, were you?" she teases.

Bucky looks sheepish, but Jo just smiles.

“Yeah, I had a record deal. Years ago. In Nashville. Then Danny got hurt, and we didn’t know for a while if he was going to make it or have long-term complications or what. So, I came home. He got better. We bought the bar. I still get to do what I love, and I get to be with the people I love,” she shrugs.

Bucky can sense a "but" coming.

“But…Danny blames himself for me not following my dreams. When the truth is, even if he hadn’t gotten hurt, I would have come home. I had an ex tell me once that I'm only happy when I'm failing." She rolls her eyes.

"And now?" Bucky asks.

“I’m just waiting to fuck this up,” she whispers.

Bucky snorts. "If anyone is going to fuck this up, it'll be me, doll," he replies. "I'm a 107-year-old ex-assassin who can barely use a smart phone and hasn't dated in eighty years."

Jo cocks her head to the side and says, "We could fuck this up to together?"

Bucky smiles. "Deal." Then he kisses her, his hand cupping the back of her head and his tongue sweeping into her mouth.

_____

When things are slow at the bar on Thursday night, Jo grabs her guitar and plays an acoustic set for the small crowd of regulars. Bucky watches from his seat at the end of the bar top, nursing his beer. The thought that this is somehow all too good to be true, that he doesn't deserve Jo or any of this, creeps back into his mind. He takes another sip of beer and clenches his vibranium fist, willing the thought away. By the time Jo's eyes sweep the bar to meet his, the thought is gone.

He follows her up to her apartment after closing time, and when the door is locked behind them, he pushes her up against it, his arms on either side of her head, caging her in. He takes a moment to admire her, her green eyes shining with a mixture of amusement and lust. He leans down and nudges his nose against hers, his breath soft against her lips.

“You gonna be good for me, doll?” he whispers.

Jo nods.

“Say it,” Bucky says, his voice dark.

“Gonna be so good for you, Buck,” Jo whispers.

Bucky smashes his lips against hers, rough and demanding. Jo moans into Bucky's mouth. His kiss is all teeth and tongue, and his hands wander to her hips and down to her thighs to lift her into his arms. He doesn't stop kissing her until he has her on her bed.

Bucky presses hot kisses against Jo's neck, then tugs her faded Nirvana t-shirt up and over her head. The rest of their clothes follow quicky until they're both naked. Bucky kisses between the valley of her breasts and licks at the tattoo beneath her sternum before taking one nipple into his mouth. His flesh hand comes up to pluck at the other nipple, and Jo cries out. Bucky pulls his mouth from her breast with an obscene pop and scratches the stubble of his cheek across her tender flesh.

Jo's hands thread through Bucky's hair, and she tugs him back up to her mouth for a kiss.

"Thought you were gonna be good," Bucky mumbles against her mouth. Jo whines. She can feel him smirking.

His hand comes up to graze against her cheek, and he kisses her softly, taking his time now. He's demanding, but gentle, and Jo feels as if every inch of her heated skin is on fire. But she wants more.

"You can be rough with me, Sarge," she whispers.

"Yeah? You like it rough?" Bucky flips Jo over onto her stomach. "On your knees," he growls, pulling her hips up.

When she's on her knees in front of him, he uses his flesh hand to push her chest further into the mattress. His vibranium hand holds her hips in place as he slides into her without warning. Jo gasps and shudders.

“You look so good taking my cock like this,” Bucky praises. His grip on her hip tightens as he guides her back and forth over his cock before holding her still and slamming into her, setting a swift pace. Jo keens and her walls flutter around him.

"Harder," she gasps.

"What do you say?" Bucky warns through gritted teeth. His right hand moves upward to tangle into her hair, wrenching her head backwards.

Jo whines, "Please."

When he pulls himself almost completely from her body, then slams back in, Jo's eyes roll to the back of her head, and she sobs. She's consumed by the feel of him.

Bucky leans across Jo's back and whispers in her ear, “You’re doing so good, pretty girl.” His right hand slips down beneath her body to toy with her clit. "Fuck, you're so wet."

Jo cries out, and her body shakes. Bucky feels the way she tightens around him.

“I got you," he whispers against her ear, "I got you.” His soft tone clashes with his rough movements and makes Jo’s head spin.

Jo comes with a cry of his name, and it sends Bucky over the edge. His vibranium hand whirs as it clenches her hip, holding her still as he spills inside her with a low groan. He falls onto his side, pulling Jo with him and holding her tightly.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asks, his voice soft.

“Not at all,” Jo replies, squeezing his hand.

He presses gentle kisses against her shoulder until she slides from the bed to clean up. Then he slips into a dreamless sleep.

_____

Jo wakes Bucky up Friday morning with soft kisses across his jaw.

"Hmph," Bucky grunts, not ready to open his eyes.

"Danny and I are going for a run," Jo says. "Do you want to join us?"

Bucky cracks one eye open to look at her. "Why?"

"Because I like you, and I like spending time with you," she says, rolling her eyes.

The corner of Bucky's lip pulls up and he opens his other eye. "No," he says, "why are you going for a run?"

"Not everyone has the metabolism and stamina of a super soldier, Sarge," she says, poking him in the ribs. “Some of us need the exercise.”

"What's in it for me?" he asks.

Jo rolls her eyes again before answering. "You can run behind me and stare at my ass in tight leggings."

Bucky hums and slides his vibranium hand down Jo's back to cup her left buttock.

“How long do we have until this run?” he asks, letting his other hand trail up and down Jo’s right side.

“Half an hour,” she answers.

“Good,” Bucky says, rolling her onto her back and hovering over her as Jo laughs.

They end up being a few minutes late to meet Danny.

When they finally emerge from Jo’s apartment, Danny is standing at the bottom of the stairs with Greta. Jo reaches out and scratches the dog behind the ears.

“Morning,” Jo greets Danny.

Danny yawns before responding, “It is indeed.”

“Late night?” Jo asks.

Bucky doesn’t hear Danny’s response. He’s too caught up watching Greta sniff his vibranium hand. When she seems satisfied with her inspection, Bucky strokes the top of her head. There was a dog at the small farm where he stayed in Wakanda, and it was nice to have the company at night when his brain wouldn’t shut off and he kept reliving everything he had done as the Winter Soldier. He wonders if maybe he should get a dog. Or maybe a cat.

“Hey,” he hears Jo say from beside him.

He turns his head to find her watching him curiously.

“Where’d you go?” she asks. “Looked like you were stuck in your head.”

Bucky shakes his head and give her a reassuring smile. “I’m here,” he replies.

“Good,” Danny says, turning toward the door, “Because we’re not gonna take it easy on you on this run, Barnes.”

Bucky sees Jo roll her eyes and smirk behind Danny’s back.

“Oh yeah?” Bucky says. “How far are we running?”

Danny’s smirk mirrors Jo’s. “On Fridays, we run until we're hungry, and then we stop for beignets,” he says.

And that’s just what they do. They run three miles in the park before heading to a local cafe. Jo grabs a table for them on the patio while Danny pops inside to order after insisting on paying; Bucky joins him to help him carry their orders. Outside, Greta laps water from the cafe’s outdoor dog bowl, then curls up at Jo’s feet and waits for Danny to come back.

When Bucky and Danny join Jo at the table, their arms laden with plates of beignets and fruit and coffees in to-go cups, Bucky sits as close to Jo as he can. She's wearing an olive-colored sports bra and matching leggings, and she shivers in the cool early morning air. Bucky hesitates before shrugging out of his hoodie and handing it to her. Jo's smile and the sight of her dwarfed by his sweatshirt is worth exposing his arm in public.

Bucky's phone vibrates from the pocket of the hoodie Jo is now wearing. She pulls it out and hands it to him. It's a text from Sam: "Don't forget about Saturday morning."

Bucky responds, assuring Sam he'll be there, and sets his phone on the table next to his plate. Jo glances down and snorts.

"Why is Sam your phone background?" she laughs.

Bucky purses his lips. "He thought it was funny. And I haven't gotten around to changing it. I'm good with tech when it comes to covert missions, not," he holds the phone up, "this."

Jo laughs again and takes the phone from his hand. She holds it in front of his face to activate the facial recognition, and then opens the camera app and takes a picture of the two of them.

Danny reaches across the table for the phone. "Here," he says, and their breakfast shifts into a photoshoot that leaves them all in stitches from laughing so hard at their own antics. Even Greta gets pulled into some photos. At one point, Jo pulls a piece of hair from her ponytail across her upper lip like a mustache, and, for some unknown reason, Bucky suddenly thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen.

He probably has a hundred photos on his phone now, just from breakfast. He watches as Jo scrolls through them, and when he sees one of her laughing with her head thrown back, he says, "That one." Jo smiles and shows him how to set it as his background. Bucky takes his phone from her and looks at the picture again. It's perfect.

They're almost done with breakfast, and Bucky has forgotten about his bare arm when a teenage boy approaches their table.

"Hey man," the boy says to Bucky, "You're Sergeant Barnes, right? You work with Captain America? That's so cool, man," he says, barely taking a breath. His excited energy reminds Bucky of Peter Parker. "That shit with the Flag Smashers in New York," the kid continues, "that was crazy. You're, like, a real hero, man."

He moves closer to Bucky to snap a selfie, then holds his fist out, and Bucky knocks his own fist against it, hesitantly.

"Thanks," Bucky mumbles, not used to the praise.

"Tell Captain America it's cool he looks like me," the boy says, pointing to his skin, before heading inside the cafe.

Jo just smiles at Bucky, watching the blush creep down his neck, but Danny says, "You should start charging for pictures." Jo rolls her eyes, and Danny laughs. Bucky can see the similarities between the two of them, and for a moment, he misses his own sister.

"Ready to head out?" Danny asks, breaking Bucky from his thoughts.

"Yeah," Bucky says, standing, "yeah."

When they're two blocks from the bar, Jo slows down.

“My legs are sore. Carry me?” she pleads jokingly, and before she can argue that she was only kidding, Bucky's bending down in front of her and pulling her onto his back, guiding her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Jo laughs.

"You're going to spoil her," Danny says, but Bucky just smiles.

Inside her apartment, Jo pulls off Bucky's hoodie and returns it to him.

"Looked better on you," he says and kisses her gently. "I need to head back to Sarah's," Bucky continues. "Sam and I promised AJ and Cass we'd take them out on the boat tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"I'll drive you," Jo responds, and she's grabbing her keys before he can protest.

_____

Bucky returns to the bar on Saturday night with Sam in tow. Jo's band is playing, and the smile she gives him from the stage when he enters the bar makes up for Sam's constant teasing throughout the day. He likes watching her like this. She’s free, uninhibited, beautiful. Too good for me, he thinks. The thought has been creeping in more and more lately.

Later that night, after Sam has left and the bar has closed, Bucky lets Jo lead him up the stairs to her apartment and into her bedroom.

"Let me take care of you," she whispers, running her fingers beneath his t-shirt. Bucky nods and allows her to strip his clothes off before he helps her out of her own. Jo maps each scar on his body with her fingers and her mouth, and Bucky's heart swells at her tenderness.

She pushes him backward onto the bed and tries to take his cock in her mouth, but Bucky stops her. He's not ready to give up that control just yet, worried he won't be able to stop himself from being too rough with her. When she straddles his hips and sinks down on his cock, he holds her hips with his hands and guides her movements. He guides her own fingers to her clit and watches as she falls apart above him before flipping her onto her back and driving back into her. When he comes, it's with a shout of Jo's name, and he drops his head against her shoulder, panting.

As he holds her while she sleeps, the thought he's been having – that he doesn't deserve this – returns, and Bucky lays awake brooding.

When Jo wakes on Sunday morning, Bucky is gone.

_____

next chapter - coming soon

[nalu4emily]

Nure-Onna

Hello!

So I wanted to write a story based on chapter 74 of FT 100YQ. Mostly, I was happy with it, but I wanted to make it even more Nalu, and this was the result.

Yes, I am aware that this wouldn't actually happen, but it's fun to write up something that diverges from canon just a little, that's what fanfiction is for, so indulge me.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and if not, you can always read the real thing. :)

Summary:  With Lucy as the newly created Yokai - Nure-Onna - How is Natsu going to handle her snake like form and find a way to bring her back to him in one piece?

"It… hurts… But it feels so good…" He was being crushed between Lucy's sizeable chest, wrapped up in a crushing hold by her tail… "Hold on! You… Your legs! What's wrong with your body?!" He freaked, catching sight of the scaly snake like tail that held a vice-like grip around his body, making it hard for him to breathe.

As he stared into her eyes, he could no longer see those beautiful big brown orbs that once held so much love and care for others, now they were slitted and golden, almost predatory and followed his every move. Her face held nothing of the Lucy that once was, only the monster that she had become—what those witches had turned her into. He squirmed, tried to wriggle free which only made her coil tighter, a sickening smile adorning her cheeks. She was enjoying his struggle.

"Dammit! How's she so strong?!" He grunted, trying his hardest to fight against her bone breaking grip.

The nure-onna chuckled lightly, bringing her face slowly closer to the man in her hold, "Natsu." She called, her voice taunting, laced with darkness. Natsu could do nothing but stare, sweat dripping down his face as the sexy, snake girls lips were practically on top of him, gliding smoothly over his skin. "I'm gonna eat you up." She growled, licking her lips, the heat of her mouth fanned across his, giving him goosebumps. She opened it further, allowing her slippery tongue to glide over his cheek, causing a gasp and yelp to escape him.

This wasn't like Lucy; she would never be so… snaky, "Hey! You gotta change back, Lucy!" He was desperate now; he didn't want to see any more of this.

"Could you not talk so loudly into my chest?" Her tail unravelled from around the boys body and stuck the end of it straight into his mouth and down his throat, choking him. Without warning, she grabbed him around the middle and threw his body up into the air, before slamming him down onto the ground.

"Aargh! Damn, Lucy, that hurt!" He grunted, straightening himself back up, balling his hands into fists, brows furrowing as if battling his own internal conflict.

"But I thought you said it felt good when it hurt?" She chuckled lowly, licking her lips once again as she circled the boy, waiting for the right moment to strike. "Maybe I'll show you just how much I'd like to hurt you!"

"This isn't like you! Snap out of it!" He raised his voice, like he was trying to call to the other Lucy—his Lucy. "I don't wanna have to fight you, but I will if I gotta…" He lowered his voice, adorning a battle stance as he challenged the Lucy looking monster before him.

"Bad choice, Natsu... Now, you're mine!" She launched forward before the boy could even see what was happening and shoved him down into the ground again, coiling the end of her tail around his neck and dragged him up into the air. She approached the gasping young man, another small laugh rumbling through her chest. "You look tasty." Using her strong appendage she brought him back to her face, an evil glint in her golden irises that told him she'd won this before it even began.

He felt trapped, he didn't want to fight her but also felt like he had no choice, if he waited much longer, he'd be a goner for sure. Whilst she was distracted, he lifted his fist to the top of her tail and raised the temperature in it. She gasped and looked down, a fiery hand sizzling her scales, enough to scare her off and retreat but not enough to burn her.

Natsu dropped to the floor, coughing and spluttering, trying to refill his lungs of lost breath. He managed to stand up once again, a pained expression with hands encased in fire, ready and waiting.

"I'm mad now snake-Lucy." He leapt at her, fist drawn back about to strike her head on when he stopped.

"Natsu! Stop! It's me!" Lucy held up her arms in front of her face, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "Natsu!"

His own eyes widened. A moment of hesitation; a moment of hope.

Had she returned to him?

Giving her the opening she needed, she used the water to swirl around him, trapping him in her spell. She cackled, "You fell for it!" Slithering over to the boy, she forced him against the rock and used her newly found strength to hold him there, nearly breaking his back in the process. He groaned in pain. "What part should I devour first?"

Stuck in place, partially submerged under the water and unable to use his magic, he simply watched her ogle his body, using her hands to squeeze his muscular form, salivating by the feel of his muscles in her palms.

"Lucy… Please… I don't want to hurt you!" He grunted through the stinging of his skin scraping against the sharp rock behind him.

"Hurt me? Oh, Natsu... Do you not see yourself? With you as my opponent, I'd already won." She licked across his jaw and down to the scar on his neck, sucking on it harshly enough to bruise. "You're my prey and I'm going to savour every last inch of your hot body."

Sweat began beading across his face again, gritting his teeth through the discomfort of Lucy's mouth pulling and tugging on areas he hadn't known were so sensitive until now. In any other circumstance, this would have been quite the turn on. Nights had gone by where he'd dreamt of Lucy doing this to him, to feel her sweet mouth on his...

His eyes grew wide as an idea slowly formed in his head. That was it! The perfect way to win! To use her new found dominance against her. And he'd be lying if the thought wasn't a little exciting, even in her snake form. He just hoped she wouldn't remember when she finally returned to normal, for her own sake.

As she grazed over his nipple, a small hum of satisfaction rumbled through his chest, catching the snakes attention. "Hmm… You seem to like my touch." She said, gripping hold of the erect bud once again and twisting it this time. "How about that? You like that, too?"

He winced and hissed as she continued her sweet torture on his now sore nipple, but remained quiet nonetheless. As hard as it was not to moan from the pleasurable soreness, he needed to see if she'd take the bait and let down her guard.

Just as planned, the man eating serpent did just that. Pressing her mouth to the sore area and grazing it with her teeth. She eyed the boy above her, revelling in the contorted expressions he pulled, all the while becoming more and more distracted from her main goal—which he assumed was to devour him.

As he endured Lucy's heavenly mouth bite and suck his skin, Natsu held down his small victory as her grip began to slacken, giving him more and more freedom to move. Just as her tongue was about to lick over his lips, his teeth unexpectedly snapped at the wet muscle and bit down on it, causing her to yelp and jerk backwards, freeing him. He smirked, bringing his newly liberated hands up and encased the back of her head with them, holding her in place.

"You've had your fun, Snake-Lucy, but now it's my turn!" He growled, raising the temperature around them, slowly evaporating the water she'd created.

Hissing at the boy, the snake attempted to escape, yanking and pulling at his arms but his grip was unyielding. Stinging her scales with his heat, she struggled, not liking how the tables had turned in his favour.

"Natsu! It's burning! Natsu, please, you wouldn't hurt me, not your Lucy!" She screamed in a panic, writhing under the intense heat of his body.

He feigned sympathy, a worried look luring her into a false sense of security. He pulled her close, his hands cupping her clammy cheeks, "You think I'd fall for that again?" He smirked, brushing his lips up against hers.

He could hear the voice of one of Selene's minions, giving away just which of those bitches did this to Lucy, "Huh… I was sure she'd beat him! No matter, she was one of the weakest Yokai in my arsenal anyway."

"Weakest, you say?" Natsu may have been looking into Lucy's eyes as he spoke, but he was addressing the one he'd just made his next target, "If you knew Lucy, then you'd realise she's not weak."

"Of course she is! My Yokai would never humiliate me by losing!" Youko's voice was laced with disgust for the nure-onna she had created. "How pathetic!"

"Why you-"

"It seems it's true…" Lucy's voice cut through, a soft whimper as she stopped her struggle, her forlorn expression pulling at Natsu's heartstrings. It was the face of a girl who was giving up. Her eyes shone with the water droplets that were yet to fall, her irises flittering between golden and brown.

"Nothin' that thing says is true, Lucy, don't listen to her!" Natsu tried to make her see reason; to talk some sense into the girl who'd been turned into a monster.

"Even as a Yokai with all the magic power of Elentir, I'm still so weak." A lone tear fell from her eyes and Natsu knew with a little push, Lucy—human Lucy—just might come back to him. "Do what you must, I've no place as a human or Yokai…"

Natsu stared in shock; she was just going to except her fate? To give up? This wasn't like her—this wasn't her and there lay the problem. "Lucy, don't you dare give up, you're stronger than this… Than them up there. What they've done to you is unforgivable, and I'mma be sure to make 'em all pay, but first you gotta come back to me." In the deepest depths of those golden slits, he could see that his best friend was still in there trying to reach out to him. He knew she was, all she needed was that extra bit of encouragement.

"See! I told you, worthless! I should have just killed her and saved everyone the trouble." Youko laughed maniacally, spurring her comrades to cheer and laugh too.

"She's right, I'm just a burden not worth your time, just end this already, I'm tired of waiting." Snake-Lucy let more tears fall in her frustration, her thoughts conflicted and her heart in pieces.

"Fine, I'll end this." Natsu grabbed a hold of her cheeks and brought her face to his, welding their lips together in a fierce and heated embrace.

At first the nure-onna fought against it, but the longer he held on, the less she resisted until she all but melted into it, eventually responding to his inexperienced but determined ministrations. Their mouths danced in a steady rhythm with their tongues interloping, albeit, a little awkwardly.

Natsu fought to show just how much she mattered to him, to show her place in his heart and how deeply he cared for the Lucy that'd always been by his side. He loved her, there was no doubt about that and when they finally pulled apart, he looked deep into her eyes and smiled at what he saw. Those beautiful big brown orbs that shone with the love and care she had for everybody, even her enemies, had returned.

There she was—his Lucy—in all her two legged, naked, glory.

"But that's impossible! I turned her into a Yokai; how did she manage to change back so easily?!" Youko shouted, but neither Natsu nor Lucy took any notice, too entranced in each other.

"Natsu…" The blonde whispered, bringing her hand up to his face to caress his cheek, a small smile adorning her features, "Thank you."

And with that, her eyes closed shut; her body falling limp in his arms. Totally exhausted and her magic spent, the relieved slayer laid her on the ground, hidden from view trying to cover as much of her nakedness as possible. Once satisfied nothing would run into her whilst she slept, he stood back up, his eyes covered by his hair and spoke now directly to the women on top of the mountain.

"I hope you realise now, attacking my friends was a big mistake! Not only are they strong but we share a bond that'll never be broken by the likes of you." Natsu ignited his entire body, his eyes grew serious and angry.

Youko, still shocked by what'd just happened, felt a little fearful of the boy surrounded by flames; maybe they'd underestimated their opponents?

"I hope you're ready, 'cause I'm coming for ya and I won't stop until I see you all burn!"

[sp00kworm]

A Fayre (Part 1)

Pairing: Rakuh (Male Orc) x Gender Neutral Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: The requested piece for you all. A few people have been excited so I had to split this into two parts! Enjoy! 

Part 2 

---

---

The rolling hills leading to the main road were pretty, but not exactly the ideal place to break down when it was pouring with rain. The sheep had huddled underneath their shelter as rain poured down from the heavens and you frantically searched for the number for your breakdown company. Someone would be out within the hour, or so they had said. An hour and a half later, still looking on enviously at the sheep in their cluster, a tow truck and mechanic showed up. An Orc. You tried to hide your teary eyes from the elder looking Orc as he hopped out of his truck and smiled, tusks curling from his bottom jaw, poking out from his lips. He was a broad, greying Orc with his clothing covered in grease stains from working on other cars.

“Sorry!” He offered as he tucked his silver streaked ginger hair over his shoulder and tugged at his coveralls, “We’ve been busy at the garage with an exploded oil tank! Would ya believe it? Just after you called.” He offered his hand, “Gurlog’s the name.”

You tried to smile at the elder, “Thank you for coming.” You muttered, bottom lip trembling as you were ushered back along to the car, “I don’t know what’s wrong with it… It made a terrible snapping sound and then stopped working. I had to pull in here on momentum alone.”

Gurlog patted your shoulder as he opened the hood and propped it open, peering at the engine with a critical eye, his hands quickly getting to work to find the issues.

Gurlog whistled as he worked, moving his hands over the engine before he laughed and plucked the broken fan belt free of the runner. It was frayed and snapped, clearly no longer working.

“That’s your issue right there. No power if your alternator ain’t connected anymore.” Gurlog huffed a laugh, patting at his coveralls, smearing more oil over the heavy blue fabric, “Its an easy enough fix, sweetheart. I’ll tow ya back to the garage then we’ll get that belt replaced and you’ll be on your way.” He soothed as he snapped the hood back down and peered up at the sky, “You get yourself into the van. I’ll get your car up on the back.” Rough hands pushed you towards the passenger seat of the tow truck as Gurlog set to work finding the tow bar and humming, lowering the truck platforms before he snapped the hook and tow into place and got your car into place. The Orc cursed from outside the truck as the heavens opened once more, rain bouncing against the roof as more and more grey clouds rolled in. Gurlog opened the driver’s door and grumbled, tucking his ponytail back behind his shoulder before he laughed and turned on the heaters.

“Typical weather!” He huffed as he shifted the truck into gear and flicked on his headlights for navigating the torrential downpour on the hilly roads.

The garage was back in a small town, not too far from your own hometown. It was a quaint place. One main road ran through it with a main high street for shopping. The town was large but not large enough to have a large, departmental grocery shop. You looked at the old housing which melted into spotted cottages around at the edge of town, where Gurlog’s garage was. There was a large house alongside the garage, old but well lived in by numerous Orcs it seemed. Gurlog pulled into the garage and waved his hand outside of the window. The rain was still going, but a lot lighter, it was only drizzle, but it was enough to make everything, and everyone, damp and moody.

“Boys! Help me get this car into the garage!” Gurlog shouted through his window, chewing at a piece of gum as he waited for his sons to appear. One did but the other did not. The dark-haired Orc scoffed at his father, his hands placed in the window as he nodded to you and dragged a hand over his clean shaven chin, oil smudges covering his cheeks where his fingers grazed the skin. Brown eyes sized you up before he slicked back the hair of his mohawk and eyed your car curiously.

“Just a broken fan belt or two I think, Xurek.” Gurlog opened the car door and pushed it against his son with a laugh. Xurek scoffed again before grunting as the door winded him, “This is Xurek, my younger son.” Gurlog introduced you by name.

You’d managed to calm down enough to not have massively puffy eyes anymore. You took in the towering size of Gurlog’s youngest son and found yourself smiling at him. He was the bad boy looking sort, rings in his ears and snake bites in his lips, yet it was thrown off by the covering of freckles over his sage coloured skin. He was lighter in tone than his father but didn’t have the thick, ginger mane.

“Its nice to meet you, Xurek.” You offered your hand.

Xurek shook your hand with a smile, his small tusks exposed in the toothy grin, “Likewise.” He turned to Gurlog, “Rakuh said he’s busy and I’ve got to get back to servicing, but I’ll help you get it off the truck Pa.”

Gurlog huffed as he spun your car keys and tossed them to Xurek, “I’ll get him myself once we get this out of the rain.” He watched his son go up the ramp to help him spin the car back into the garage, “He’ll have his nose in something that doesn’t need doing on Mrs Owen’s car, again.” Gurlog sighed as Xurek back your car into the bay and rolled his eyes at his father.

Xurek hopped back out of the car, “How about you help me finish the service and you send Rakuh to do this? Stops him from chargin’ Mrs Owen double the price that way!” The younger son laughed as he shut the door and popped your keys up on the rack in the side of the garage.

Gurlog stroked his long beard, “You might just have a point.” He hummed before ushering you into the next bay along, “Come on. I’ll introduce you. He’s a bit frosty but I promise he doesn’t bite.”

Gurlog approached his son without any grace, thumping over to him loudly before standing behind him and waiting. Rakuh wasn’t paying attention. You heard Xurek snort with laughter behind you as Gurlog coughed into his fist. The elder son didn’t jump but turned his head towards his father with a glare.

“What?” He asked coldly as he reached for a rag to wipe away the oil from his hands. You looked up at the even larger orc with an open mouth. He was a stark contrast to his brother, his arms crossed over a bare barrel chest, covered in freckles, his skin a shade of sage, which was the only thing similar to his brother. Rakuh pulled his great ginger braid over his shoulder and made sure the ropes of braiding leading into the large one were intact before he looked down at you with judgemental brown eyes. His muddy gaze was quick to assess you, his upwards curling tusks making his huff whistle before he sniffed and fiddled with the gold septum ring in his nose. He also had earrings in his ears, gold flashing behind his braids as he looked between you and his father. You wondered if he didn’t poke his skin with the tusks that reached towards his nose.

“I need you to put a new fan belt in the car in the next room for this fine young ‘un.” Gurlog smiled and introduced you before cracking his open palm across his prickly son’s across the back, “I’ll sort Mrs Owen’s car out for you.” Rakuh flexed his arms to protest, tattoos around the top of his arm stretching. He turned and you noticed he had a band around his chest, beneath his pectorals as well, “She needs it properly fixing for once, then she might not be back ‘ere every fucking two months.”

“Rakuh! Language!” Gurlog shouted as the eldest son grumbled and scrubbed at his well-trimmed beard, “We have a guest so watch your fuckin’ language!” He quickly realised his mistake when Xurek burst into laughter against the wall. You shrunk back as Rakuh slipped past you into the other bay. He was quiet as he opened the engine up and got to work, not bothering to put on a shirt as he fiddled with the old belt, smearing grease and oil over his hands as he tried to find the right size among their new ones hung up on the back wall. It was then a woman burst into the garage.

“Gurlog! What have I told you about swearing at the lads?!” She howled from the door, her tusks larger than her partner’s and bared in a display of anger. Her fury amplified as she caught sight of you shrunk in the corner, “And with a guest!?” She screeched before thumping her way through her family, “Oh you sweet thing, I am so sorry! My name is Shul. These boys are just the worst with guests.” The female quickly ushered you into the warm waiting room of the office.

“Get your backside in this room, Rakuh!” Shul crossed her arms and made sure to glare at her son as he entered the waiting room.

“Ma is this really necessary?” He asked. Rakuh was quick to shut his mouth when his mother raised her thick brows and crossed her arms, “Pa literally just told me to sort the car!” He defended himself. It became obvious where he got his temper from as Shul growled, low and rumbling. Her son returned the noise.

“You’ve all scared ‘em deathly!” She howled at her son before pointing at the door, “Go and get a shirt on and make the poor thing a drink! You haven’t been dragged up, young man!” Shul smiled down at you, “Now don’t worry your head. Rakuh is a grumpy thing but he’s the best mechanic his Daddy’s got.” Their mother sighed before finding Rakuh’s shirt behind the desk in the cream painted room. She hollered after her son and made sure to push the t-shirt on his head as he returned with a scowl on his brow.

“Thank you.” You smiled at the greying, black haired woman.

She visibly brightened, her tusks exposed in a bright smile like Xurek’s as she tucked her hands back into her cleaning apron, “You’re welcome darling. I’ll be in the house but I’m sure Rakuh will behave now. Don’t be scared of him. He’s a darling inside all that ice.” She joked as she closed the door, letting the heater warm you back up from your escapade in the cold hills.

A fist thundered on the door of the converted, shipping crate waiting room. The handle dipped and you put on your best smile for the larger brother as he ducked back into the doorway. He held a tray in his hands, balancing a teacup and two teapots on top of it as he ducked inside and placed it on the small table.

“I made you some tea.” He offered both pots to you, dark eyes still guarded yet apologetic, “I made you peppermint and nettle. I didn’t know which you would prefer.”

“Peppermint is fine, thank you.” You watched him pour you a cup before he replaced the teapot on the table.

Rakuh sighed through his tusks, “I’m sorry for bein’ rude. Pa interrupted me working and he knows I hate it, but that doesn’t mean I should have taken that out on you.” He smiled and you watched the standoffish layers melt away a little as you nodded.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a hard day and I’m just frazzled. I thought I was going to be stuck up in the hills all night.” You chuckled as you took a sip of tea.

Rakuh offered you a sugar cube from the large bowl of sugar, “Not to worry. I’ll have that new belt in quick so you can get off home. I’ll get Ma to come and take your insurance details for the tow.” He waved once before he was off back out of the room, awkwardly ducking through the too small doorway. His braids swayed over his back as he shouted for Shul and flagged off his younger brother for making kissing faces.

“Fuck off, Xurek!” Rakuh hissed across the floor as Xurek made another suggestive look at him.

“RAKUH! LANGUAGE!” Shul hissed at her son as she fetched the paperwork for you to fill in for your insurance details.

It was closing time for the garage when Rakuh reappeared in the doorway of the waiting room. It had taken him a couple of hours to get the belts properly into the engine.

“I’ve finished up.” He announced before he grunted at his mother who was still sat with you. He groaned, out loud, with a sour look when he caught sight of his father, “Are you both in here slacking off by talking to the customer?” Rakuh threw his towel over his shoulder and stood in the doorway, looking at the three of your, sat in the old couches, laughing over a fresh pot of tea, “Ma, really? You brought the biscuits out?” The bulking mass of the orc male shadowed you as he thumped into the room. Little pieces of hair had frizzed from his braids, hanging over his forehead as he watched Shul take a healthy sip of tea and flash a biscuit at him.

Shul smacked at her husband’s hands, “That’s enough for you I think.” She smiled at her son with her short tusks, “I’m being kind, Rakuh! You could do with learning a thing or two.”

Rakuh rolled his eyes as he fished a biscuit from the packet in Shul’s hands, pushing it into his mouth before he turned back to the door.

“How about you come along to the BBQ we��re having next week? There’s some sunny weather on the horizon!” Gurlog smiled at you with a laugh, “I’m sure our boy could do with the company.”

Rakuh’s pointed, tapered ears went red as he growled, “I don’t need you to set me up on dates!” His nostrils flared as he purposely slammed the door behind him, rattling the old container with his anger.

“Let me take your number, sweetheart.” Shul chuckled, “I’ll talk him around.” She promised before wrapping an arm around your shoulders, “That boy doesn’t make tea for any old customer. The amount of times I’ve had to give girls and boys tissues!” She shook her head before shooing her husband out.

Shul was loud as she greeted you at the party, “Hello, sweetheart!” She cooed as her huge hands grabbed at your face, “Oh you do clean up well!” She joked before waving over Gurlog, “Come here, dear! Look! Its our little breakdown friend!”

Gurlog waved at a pair of Faun before he came over to his wife, laughing before he gave you a hug, “It’s good to see you!” He greeted before ushering you through the gate and taking the cake you had brought from your hands, “Oh look at this. You’re more than welcome here with such a delicious thing!” Gurlog cooed over the gooey chocolate cake with gusto before Shul snatched it from him and pointed to the next lot of guests. A woodland elf and young wizard laughed at the gate behind you as Shul ushered you to the table and tucked the cake away in the desserts.

“Rakuh and Xurek are around…” She hummed as she peered over the crowd with ease, huffing as she searched for her sons.

“Hey, don’t worry.” You soothed with a hand on her arm, “I’ll go and find someone to talk to. You better get back to the meeting and greeting.”

Shul placed a hand on your arm, “Be gentle with my cold-hearted idiot, hm? He’s not a very good talker.” She let you go with a smile and headed back to her husband, dark hair flopping as she went.

You took a deep breath as you looked around at the groups of various races, chatting and gossiping between one another. You felt a little out of place. Small among a family of orcs and various magical creatures from the surrounding hills.

“Woah!” A great, antlered Cervitaur smacked into your back, his tail flipping back and forth as he pranced lightly on his feet, “Sorry! A’ didn’t see you down there.” He dipped his antlers in a bow, his legs spread to let him peer closer at your face. His long silver hair draped around his horns, tinged with a green akin to moss around the bases, as his green eyes reflected the woodlands, and not your own face, “My name is Cernunnos. And yes, I know, my family were not tha’ kindest o’ people when it came t’ names.” Cernunnos’ hooves clicked on the patio as he put himself back upright.

You told the Cervitaur your name, “Its lovely to meet you.” You nodded before waving a finger around, “Would you happen to know where Rakuh is? Shul told me to give something to him.” You asked politely.

Cernunnos’ chest puffed slightly, the fur over his stomach bristling high as he stood tall and tucked his hair behind his ears again, “He was at the grill last time a’ saw him.” He flicked his dark coloured tail before pointing over to the far end of the garden, “Towards the shed.” Before you could go, he winked at you and gave a demure laugh as you rushed away.

Rakuh was stood by the large shed grilling, hidden from the crowds, a cold bottle of Orcish bitter in his hand as he flipped burgers and rotated a large pig which was slow roasting. The ginger seemed at home in his little bubble, cooking and drinking, ignoring the fluttering Pixies as they shifted shapes and tried to coo at him from the pool. Xeruk laughed from his place by the roasting spit, his mohawk flopping as the Pixies threw water at him, drenching his already wet-through t-shirt. Rakuh stood firmly out of their line of fire, dressed in a pale blue shirt and heavy shorts, as he turned burgers and ignored his brother’s flirting. You tried not to laugh as Rakuh flicked at a particularly small and handsy pixie, sending her soaring in a shower of wing dust.

“Hey there.” You smiled as the two brother’s span around. Xeruk’s face turned into an evil looking grin as Rakuh turned back to his grill gruffly.

“Nice to see you again!” Xeruk offered you a friendly, one-armed hug as before he let the pig sit over the fire. Rakuh ignored the two of you as he took a bunch of burgers off the barbeque and placed them into a buffet heater.

“Nice to see you both as well. How has it been up here in the hills?” You asked as Xeruk waved at a Water Nymph.

The younger brother shrugged his shoulders before winking at the ladies in the pool, “Its much more fun with some other people here for once.”

“Why don’t you go and flex somewhere else?” Rakuh grunted as he turned the chicken legs and pulled out a few lamb chops, “Like by the pool?” He grumbled.

Xeruk grinned, “You don’t have to tell me twice, brother.” He pulled off his t-shirt with another wave, “I know when you want someone to yourself!” The dark-haired male shouted before he sat himself near the Nymphs and Pixies in the pool.

Rakuh didn’t dignify the jab with a response but made sure to slam his beer heavily on the table before setting his dark eyes on you, “I’m sorry about him.” He offered quietly, his hair obscuring the blush on his cheeks and ears from your sight.

“Don’t be sorry. Everyone has that annoying relative.” You joked as Rakuh turned the hog over the fire again and returned to pulling meat from the large brick barbeque. He avoided your eyes as he worked.

“Still. He’s a rude fucker.” Rakuh grunted. His eyes widened as you began to laugh, “You alright?” He asked with concern painted on his features.

You quelled your laughter enough to shake your head, “I’m fine. You’re just not as cold as everyone makes you out to be.” You teased as you looked at his beer, “You think you could get me one of those?”

Rakuh looked at the beer on his table, “This?” He took hold of the bottle of ale and tapped the sticker on the front, “Orcish for a reason, love.” Rakuh placed the bottle back down on the table. You frowned at him before reaching for the bottle yourself and taking a sip.

“Holy shit!” You coughed after swallowing the mouthful, “Talk about alcohol content…” You stuck your tongue out at the bottle as Rakuh took it back from you.

Rakuh let out a great, deep laugh, his face curled into a smile, his jewellery jingling softly before he reached for a beer from the cooler, offering you a normal, human drink, “That will treat you better I think, but I commend you for tryin’.”

“You have a nice laugh.” You smiled as you Rakuh snapped open your beer with a flick of his wrist.

Rakuh paused, his face going red again as he went quiet, “Thank you…”

“You’re really a nice guy, aren’t you? You just like your work too much.” You smiled at the Orc brightly.

Rakuh smiled, a small smile which just turned up the corner of his lips, “Something like that.” He flipped over the hog again before turning, “How about we have a chat once I’m done cooking? Ma never did give me your number.”

“So not only are you a soft-hearted Orc but you’re a smooth talker too?” You laughed, “Consider me impressed, Rakuh.”

Rakuh rolled his eyes, “How about you go and eat first, maybe then I’ll tell ya just how soft I actually am?”

“Deal.” You took a plate from the table and made your way over to the food.

Rakuh was much more relaxed after cooking, and, with a few beers in his belly. The ginger male laughed as you explained your very jittery ride home the previous week in your car, his dark eyes creased at the edges with his smile.

“Don’t laugh at me!” You smacked at his arm, “It was terrifying driving back through the hills in all that rain. I thought I was going to get stranded again with all those sheep!”

“The sheep are the least of your worries up there.” He snorted before fiddling with the ring in his nose, “I heard there’s a pack of werewolves and…” He jabbed a thumb in the direction of Cernunnos, who was prancing before a group of women, “The woods near the tops are his domain.”

You curled your nose, “Yeah I think I’d rather not get stuck up in his woods…If you know what I mean?”

Rakuh grinned, chuckling in his chest before he shook his head at the Cervitaur, “He just doesn’t know when to stop. One too many times people have walked into those woods and come out with some weird prophecy about carrying a God’s child.” He grunted, “He’s a fae folk through and through. Takes what he wants and thinks humans are his play thing.”

“It seems like you don’t really like him?” You asked curiously.

“I don’t like anyone that plays with people for fun.” Rakuh snorted, “Plus, look at ‘im.” He snapped his fingers together in a click, “Wouldn’t stand a chance in an Orcish arena. I could snap him like a twig.”

You looked away from Cernunnos’ and smiled slyly, “What kind of Orcish arenas still exist? I thought they did away with the practice?”

Rakuh opened his mouth, the golden rings on the base of his tusks exposed before he grunted, “Nothing that involves killing anymore.” He grumbled, “Just re-enactments.”

“Wait…You do re-enactment fayres?” You grinned as you shuffled closer to him on the bench.

He gave a withering sigh, “Yes.” Rakuh ground out before taking several gulps of bitter, “Don’t go blabbing it around, alright?”

With another laugh you inched closer, “What sorts? I know your family are from a clan right? Is it those ancient sorts of ones?”

“Yeah. Early clan days stuff, from back when Orcs used to be mercenaries.” Rakuh grumbled out, embarrassment painting his cheeks and ears once more as you plied him with questions.

“Do you guys fight? What about armour? Is there an animal show?” Rakuh placed a finger over your lips to quieten your questions.

“Can you keep it down?” He hissed next to your ear, “I don’t want everyone knowing about it…”

Xurek whistled from behind you both at the buffet table, “Damn! I did not expect ya to move so fast Rakuh! Ma look at ‘im! He’s already kissin’ ‘em!”

“What do you mean my boy is kissin’?!” Shul’s dark hair peeked over the crowd and you laughed brightly as she gave a delighted noise and a thumbs up.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” Rakuh cursed as he buried his face into his hands, “I’m so sorry about them.”

When your laughter stopped, you wiped a tear from your eye and leaned over, hands on his massive biceps before you placed a soft kiss on his cheek, “There. Now no one can make fun.” You joked as you rubbed at the ginger beard and reached for your empty beer bottles. You stood up and shook the bottles at him, “Would you like another beer?”

“Sure. Please.” He stuttered out as Shul wandered over with another turkey leg in hand for her son.

As you wandered off, Shul patted her son on the shoulder, “So, do we actually like this one?” She joked as Rakuh took the meat from her.

Rakuh watched you collect the beers with a small smile, “Something like that.”

“Are you going to get…” Shul grinned at Rakuh’s scowl, “Well, I’ll leave you to it!” She managed to disappear into the crowd again just as you returned.

“Was that your mum?” You asked as you handed Rakuh another large bitter, “What did she want?”

Rakuh held up the large turkey leg, “Just to give me another leg. Like I haven’t eaten enough already.” He scoffed before touching a hand to his cheek and taking the beer from you, “You didn’t have to kiss me you know.” He whispered quietly.

Confused, you frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you don’t have to do all this stuff out of pity and…” Rakuh huffed, his anger quickly getting the better of him, “Don’t pretend to be interested in me if you ain’t.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” You touched his arm and smiled brightly, “I want to talk to you, and well, I came to say thank you for fixing my car. I did notice the oil change, and the windscreen wipers…and you fixed a dent over the wheel.”

“Well…Maybe I did fix those up for you.” He grumbled.

“At no extra cost as well.” You teased before patting him again, “Thank you. You did an amazing job.”

“No problem.” Rakuh grumbled before he looked at his beer and downed the rest of it, “Would you, uh, like to…”

“Give me your phone.” You snatched his large phone and typed in your number, “There. Now you don’t have to ask me for it.”

“Ah…Thank you.” Rakuh looked at your name in his phone and huffed a great laugh before he offered you the turkey leg off his plate, “’Ere. I don’t want it anyway.”

“Thank you but I’m alright too.” You held up your plate before pointing to the cake you made, “That’s the one I made. You should get some before your dad gets at it.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” You laughed as he rushed to beat Gurlog to the desserts.

“Rakuh! Give your ol’ man a piece of that chocolate cake!” Gurlog rumbled.

Shul appeared from the crowd again and grabbed her husband’s hand as Rakuh cut into the cake, “Diet, my darling.” She cooed annoyingly at Gurlog.

“Pa. You’ll eat the whole thing if ya start.” Rakuh sliced two pieces as his father continued to whittle on to his mother about how he could eat ‘just a little slice’.

“Had to near on fight ma Pa for a slice.” Rakuh joked as he returned, a small smile creasing his lips upwards as he passed you a slice of the cake. You took it from him and placed the cake next to you on the bench before you deposited your other food plate in the bin.

“I’m not surprised. He seemed very excited when I gave it to Shul.” You hummed as you picked up the chocolate cake and fetched two plastic forks. Rakuh took one from you and took a large piece of the cake into his mouth.

“This is delicious.” He said around the cake before taking another bite and humming.

You laughed around eating bites of your own cake as Rakuh finished one and got up for another, “Slow down! You’ll end up with cavities in your tusks!” You joked as he returned with another piece, “That or your dad will try and fistfight you for it.”

“Let him try.” Rakuh grunted, “This is great.” He pointed his fork to the cake before continuing to eat. You smiled up at the Orc before leaning against his shoulder and finishing your own slice of cake.

[moral-turpitudes]

Whiskey Glasses

A/N: Gif isn’t peaky related but the facial expression is on point. Anyways...can we just appreciate the beauty of this man? God damn.

Trigger Warnings: Fluff, Angst, Fighting, Swearing, Drinking.

Word Count: 2,006

Characters: Bonnie Gold x Reader

Summary: Y/n puts up a bit of a fight while out with Bonnie and the blinders, but it’s only a matter of time before the real fighter steps in.

Requested by: No one I’m just a ho for Bonnie lol BYE.

A/N:

I’ve noticed a pattern in my writing about hitting motherfuckers over the head with whiskey glasses. I’m kinda here for it though.

Also, you can peep this same oneshot on my wattpad @jetblackheartsx, I may be adding more that I’ve written on here, to there in due time.

Made this cute transparent cut line too. Credit if ya use it. :)

The sun set over the black and gold accents of the Garrison, casting a faint orange glow over its drunk patrons. The sounds of glasses clinking and whiskey being poured over ice filled the room. The pub was full and there was a group of men in the distance singing, slurring their words every now and then. You smiled at the sight, as you felt your boyfriends hand clasp around yours under the table.

You met him 2 years ago at a fabric shop just outside of Small Heath. He and his father had came in from a long trip and needed some extra fabrics for winter. He immediately fixated his eyes on you and you remembered him looking at you like you hung the stars in the sky. His father noticed how keen he was for you and gradually convinced him to ask you out that day.

Luckily you agreed to the date, and here you were with an amazing boyfriend and his father Aberama who soon became one of your best friends. Due to his line of work he often found himself in, he wanted to help Bonnie keep you safe, and so he helped you learn to punch and use various weapons over the years as you joined them on their travels. During the time you've known Bonnie and his father, you knew Bonnie wasn't always the violent type, but he did what had to be done when the time called for it. And god help anyone who crossed someone he loved.

As you and Bonnie made small talk in the pub, you glanced over your shoulder and saw a trio of men eyeing you. You quickly diverted your gaze back to Bonnie as you listened to him join a conversation between the peaky lads, the stone faced Thomas Shelby eyeing you as you avoided the creeping men in the distance.

"Are you okay love?" Bonnie asked watching your worried facial expression.

You looked up at him as he snaked his arm around your waist bringing you closer to him. You nodded and smiled, pushing the awkward moment to the back of your mind.

He smiled slightly and downed the last of his whiskey and you offered to get you and him a couple more drinks. You had began to feel a bit buzzed and so you walked carefully up to the bar.

"4 shots please." You said and placed some coins on the bar.

You waited and saw the men from earlier come up to the bar near you. You were a bit on edge and you turned to see Bonnie and the lads talking way off in the distance, probably discussing the next boxing match.

You always loved the passion Bonnie had for boxing. He was a skilled fighter and even though he had a slight build, he could pack a powerful punch. You had been known to join Aberama on the ropes, encouraging Bonnie and giving him a sly wink or a kiss every now and then before he would finish off an opponent. You were like his good luck charm as he once told you, as he had never lost a fight when you were there. And luckily you were there with him tonight.

You downed two of the shots as your nerves got the best of you, and you began to feel the effects of the alcohol kicking in as you waited on the other two. Feeling an uneasiness in your stomach, you turned around to see the guys behind you. All 3 were smoking and staring at you menacingly as you moved to grab the two shot glasses.

One of the men caught your wrist and chuckled.

"Woah there pretty lady. You can't drink all that. Don't want you falling eh?" He said, reeking of smoke and bad intentions.

"I can drink if I want. Now if you'll excuse me." You said and walked to the side of them with the two glasses in tow. One of the other men came near you, causing you to panic. Despite you inebriated state, you quickly thought to down the two shots meant for Bonnie and held on tightly to the glasses, preparing to whack one of them if they got too close.

"I'll give you 5 shillings to fuck off." You said, spitting at him. Your desire of wanting to hit the man growing the more you drank.

"How about you give me a couple more and we can have some real fun eh?" The third man said walking behind you.

You clenched your hand around the glass and quickly turned to strike him in the head. The glass shattered on his head, cutting your hand a bit from the impact. The drunk man stumbled back, grabbing his head which was now glistening with blood and shards of glass.

You looked desperately for Bonnie as you were sure your antics caught the boy's attention by now.

"Are you lot dumb? I said fuck off!" You shouted at the other two who moved in on you.

As the second man came up to you, you reached out to him to distract him. With a shaking hand, you hit him with the other glass you had. But it didn't do as much damage as last time.

You sucked in a breath, wincing as you saw the cuts on your hands starting to bleed more.

"You shouldn't have done that lovely." The first man said and grabbed your wrist roughly.

"Let go!" You yelled and finally saw Bonnie from amongst the crowded pub. He rolled his sleeves up and came close to you.

"I would let go if I were you." Bonnie yelled, his eyes darkening with anger.

"I can do what I want...and fuck who I want....I might just have to get her to come home with me. You...you aren't even from here. You and your razor caps can't do nothin’..." the man said, slurring his words angrily.

He got closer to Bonnie, and so he pushed you behind him protectively. You stood back and saw as the lads, including Thomas looked to see what was going on.

"That's my girl you're taking about mate, I suggest you shut the fuck up and get out." He said, cracking his knuckles and removing his cap he'd received earlier that day.

"Oh yeah? Are you gonna stop me?" He asked, and that's when you saw Bonnie swing. A single punch landing on his jaw, making a cracking sound in the process. The man fell back unconsciously and his friend went to attack, but Bonnie dodged his punches and hit him in the face with his cap gashing his face and then tackling him to the floor. He landed a couple of punches to the mans cut face before knocking him out completely. You stood shocked as he got up from the man on the floor and rushed over to you. His breathing was ragged and his hands were covered in the men’s blood.

"Are you okay y/n?" He asked wiping his hands on his button up before putting his cap on and taking a look at your hands. They were cut up in several places. You winced again and pulled your hands away, instead wrapping your arms around him in a hug. You let tears fall down your face as he held you for a moment, and then he led you through the crowd and back to where the lads were. They made room for you to set your hands on the table and Tommy, John, and Arthur left to most likely finish the drunk bastards off.

"It's so crowded in here we couldn't see what was happening till you yelled y/n!" Michael yelled over the slew of drunk patrons.

"I know! I didn't think I'd make it back here." You yelled towards him.

"What'd you do to your hands y/n?" Finn asked.

"Eh, those...those...bastards were trying to grab me and got too close...so I chugged all those damn things and smashed em' in their faces...." you said, your words slurring a bit as the 4 shots started hitting you.

You looked down at Bonnie who was undoing his tie and looking hot as hell while doing so.

"Not here are you crazy? Keep your clothes on while we're here at least" You said smirking. Finn laughed and Bonnie cracked a smile as you joked around more, a sure sign that you were drunk.

"Love, bite down on this okay? This is going to hurt a lot but it'll help the cuts to not get infected." Bonnie said inspecting your palms for glass and assessing if they needed any stitches. Luckily they didn't, but it was still a nasty set of cuts nonetheless. You nodded, as he placed the tie in your mouth and then quickly poured half a bottle of gin on your hands.

Tears fell from your eyes as the alcohol seeped in, burning like small fires along your palms. You stifled back a small scream as he poured more over them and gently patted them dry. Through your tears you looked to see Tommy, John, and Arthur dragging the drunk men outside. Those drunk excuses for men probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

You winced again as he wrapped your hands in some cloth he tore from his shirt. And when he was done he removed the tie and you frowned.

"You...you tore your shirt up Bon, what the fuck." You said, he practically destroyed his whole outfit trying to help you at this point.

"It's just a shirt love, I'll be fine." He said kissing your lips, then sitting back in the booth next to you.

"Well...I think that's been enough action for one night eh?" Bonnie asked you. You laughed in response and leaned against him.

"Yeah. Do....do you wanna go back? Wait where did-where's Aberama?" You asked whipping your head around suddenly.

"He's with Polly, remember her? We met her earlier before my match. Let them be, I'll take you back to the vardo." He said as you stood up, feeling a bit unsteady.

You felt him put a strong arm around your waist to support you. You smiled and closed your eyes for a second before hearing Tommy's voice from behind you both.

"Heading out?" He asked Bonnie, who turned to him nodded, tightening his grip on your waist as you moved with him.

"Yeah, she's had a long night. I'll be back in tomorrow for our meeting Mr. Shelby." He said.

"Alright. Good work today Bonnie. And good work to you as well Miss y/l/n..." he said looking at you. You could've sworn you saw a small smile playing at his lips.

"What'd I do?" You asked not comprehending that he was talking about earlier.

"Well you helped take down two men with nothing but whiskey glasses so that's at least worth something." He said, gently placing some shillings in your hand to pay you back for your drinks.

"Oh...thanks Mr. Shelby." You said smiling.

"It's Tommy, sweetheart. Now go get her home Bonnie. I don't want more glasses broken in my pub for tonight." He said, letting you all walk past him, you more so stumbling past.

Bonnie walked you down the long streets and over a couple of blocks to Charlie's yard where you all put the vardo earlier. The distance from there to the Garrison seeped terribly long as the night was grew colder, the fog clouding your already blurry vision.

"We're here babe." He said and helped you in. You immediately fell onto the bed inside and closed your eyes smiling, knowing Bonnie would be joining you after he looked over everything and made sure you all were safe. As you drifted off, you felt Bonnie come in and lie gently beside you, wrapping you into his arms protectively. Before slipping into a deep sleep, you thought about tomorrow and how you were going to have fun recovering from your hangover, and telling the family about your own little fighting experience.

[del-uxie]

Genesis

Genesis

You woke in a forest.

Even before you could react to your surroundings, you became acutely aware of just about everything. The sway of the breeze, the way the leaves would crunch if stomped on by some stray beast. The way that stars, vast expanses away, would explode and be reborn. The knowledge that eventually, the universe would die out, but eventually, it would come about once again, and nobody would know what came before or what will come after. Just the knowledge of existence in the moment.

You have just been born. For any other organism, this would be quite a lot to deal with, but owing to your unusual circumstances, you’re getting along just fine. The cold breeze flows around you, and towering trees emanate from just about everywhere. You cannot see the sky, or the heavens above. Your base life form couldn’t, anyhow, even though you know exactly what it would look like without the canopy above.

You hurt. Something seems to pang at the top of your body, somewhere you can’t quite detect, and you believe it’s due to straining your imagination too much. ‘Imagination’ is a strong word for it, when it’s really just a completely certain premonition – then that pang comes again. You realise your digression, and realise you’ll have to travel around to navigate your new environment. This form of yours is weak, and not at its full potential.

Burrowing through the earth, tunnelling through the dark depths of parasites and worms, you emerge once more in a bush. It’s a startling height for any life-form to traverse, but you are acutely suited to this sort of travel. A creature resides on the top of it – it has wings for swift flight, and eyes that glow in the dark. It has tall ears, and fur, yet there’s evidence of evolution from some kind of snake or reptile, a life-form that’s present quite far across the universe. You get another little pang, and decide to focus on your little discovery.

You inch closer. Now, you can feel the warmth of its body upon yours. It does not flee in spite of its strong hearing, and you realise there must not be many predators around. You do not feel that pang, and instead feel a little glimmer, knowing that your powers of deduction don’t affect your physical state. Its nose twitches, sensing something else – yet, its pupils do not dilate. The darkness around must not allow for such evolutionary advances – and in spite of yourself, you feel some sort of kinship to it.

You emerge from the bush, staring at it directly. It moves, but again, does not flee, instead deciding to sniff you curiously. You couldn’t possibly tell what it thought of you, but in that moment, it scurried off at not too fast a pace, leading you off into a clearing where several more of its species were situated. A family, it seems – two adults and a litter of their young, one of them looking rather sickly. They are all resting, and the one you met joins them for the night.

You pause for a moment, observing the way their chests rise and fall, and the way the adults curl up to one another, as if to say ‘Your warmth needs my warmth’. You feel a little self conscious about your lack of warmth, and then realise you have nothing to be self conscious about. You scurry back up into the bush you came from, and remain there for the rest of the night.

--

Midnight.

You’ve spent a lot of time thinking. You spent a lot of time observing those spaces you cannot see on this planet – and learn much of its past. This species is one of the few that survived a cataclysmic event many moons ago, its surprise evolution of wings due to cross-breeding being its sole saviour. They are due to die out due to strongly hereditary heart problems, but if they were conscious of this – or, indeed, if anyone but you were, you’re sure this could easily be bred out. They are all to die of something they have no control over, or knowing part in.

You enter the clearing again. Only one of them is awake.

When the sun rises, the clearing is empty.

--

There is still something you’re missing.

As you travel across this planet, you wonder how you’re going to get about. You have nowhere near enough energy to simply teleport yourself – something only you, an entity borne of uranium could do – that energy would have to come from the GREEN SUN, and having just been born, you’ve not had a trip over there. Well, ‘just been born’ would be an overstatement – you guess it’s probably been about 5, 10 years so far? On this planet, at least. Whatever, time is of no essence to you.

You don’t really think leaving this planet and getting more energy to truly explore further would fill that void, though. There’s something you don’t have that the mere mortal organisms do, and it’s eating at you. Not in an emotive sense, but in one of a severe incompleteness. You want what they have. You want what these pathetic creatures have – you want ears that prick up at noise. You want a leg that will bend if you tap it with a stick. You want a nose that will twitch at the smell of fresh berries.

In fact, you do just that as a tall figure lands, her wings flapping in the wind as she sets herself down to crouch by you. You can already tell she’s not a native of this planet. Her green skin and skeletal outside tell you as much – she must be a species specifically designed to weather almost any conditions, as she doesn’t react to the cold wind around her.

She speaks to you, in some tongue you don’t recognise, and after a few words more, you start figuring it out.

“…little guy. You don’t look like those other fellers I saw elsewhere. Some big meanie get your friends?” she says, her shawl fluttering in the wind. She has a distinctly rural accent, you decide, and prick your ears up at her, sniffing her.

“Guess you can’t understand what I’m sayin, huh? C’mere, little man.” She says, picking you up and placing you in her pocket, dangerously close to falling out. You rummage around in there, trying to get more comfortable, and she chuckles. “Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna getcha. Lookin’ for those folks that went n hurted your friends, that’s all.” She jumps up from the ground, flying up and away with her white wings, and spiralling out of the trees – and from there, you see light for the first time. A beautiful, pastel pink sky, with two small, dim suns in the distance. It’s about sunset, and you can see a castle on the hill.

You guess that must belong to her.

“See that place up there?” she says, stroking the bit between your ears while she flies, about ready to land. “That’s my place.”

“I’m Prosperity, by the way.” She smiles, her green, full cheeks lighting up.

“Pleased to meetcha, little no-face guy.”

--

You take up residence with the strange alien on this strange planet. You haven’t actually spoken to her, mind you – you’ve spent your time observing the way things work around here, attempting to get by without your immediate potential knowledge. You’re still not that good with your powers, you know that. You’ve got to get to the Green Sun, but for now, you’re stuck with this lady.

She looks at you one morning, curious. You stare at her back, in the middle of eating the gruel that she always feeds you. The lady doesn’t move, but gives you a hauntingly knowing smile – one that you don’t recognise. Your ears fall back, and you stop eating your food.

“I know what you are now. Asked around some.” she says, sitting down next to you. You don’t know what to do. If she’s figured you out, she might see to it that you never leave this place. These puny forms couldn’t possibly withstand a trip out to space, no matter what you devour and assume the likeness of – like it or not, you’re tethered to this woman. You just thought she assumed you were some defenceless critter of sorts, but this look in her eyes has scared you.

“Yer a changeling, aren’tcha? Those little critters that hop around galaxies, hiding by turnin’ into random animals.” She says. You pause for a moment, and realise she’s wrong – so you double down on the effect, pretending to be ashamed. Prosperity smiles at you, looking genuinely proud of herself. “Knew it. Y’don’t havta keep that form around me, y’know. I’d like to think we’re friends by now.” The lady places her clawed hand in her sharp jaw, observing you quietly. “Could at least gimme an apology. I unno what I did to inspire yer total silence, but unless yer under some monastic oath, y’could ‘splain to me a few things.”

You pause for a moment, and debate what to say.

“…I’m sorry I made you feel bad, Prosperity.” You say, mouth unmoving. Her smile alters a bit, as if unsettled by this – but then she does a little gasp of surprise, her wings fluttering.

“Haha, it’s no sweat, little guy! Why don’tcha tell me what a beastie like you is doin’ all the way out here in the schticks, huh?” she chatters, looking genuinely interested now. You relay the whole story to her, omitting a vast majority of the details, but still getting across your need to flee this planet. She gives you vast attention, more than you were used to from the wild animals and her disaffected small-talk of before, and it feels good.

“Well, little man, I dunno where this Green Sun of yers is. Plenty’a suns out there, and not one of ‘em that I’ve seen has ever been green. Guess I could scout a place like that out for ya, if ya need it.” She pauses, getting up and putting her jacket on, as if planning to leave immediately. Instead, she simply steps just outside to water the flowers on the windowsill, to which you clamber up on the counter to hear her better.

“Us cherubs have always been mighty good at space travel. Entirely independent of our host planets, didja know that?” she says, tending to her flowers. “I guess without that our race woulda died out long ago. Hell, for all any of us know, we already have. S’not like I’m seekin out any’a my kin, even though I’m ‘sposed to.”

You tilt your head at her, and she jerks her head over. “Oh, c’mon, y’can’t pretend you don’t understand me now. Y’owe me a little small talk, no-face.”

“…sorry. Do you really have to seek out others of your species? Why?” You say, feigning interest. She doesn’t pick up on this social cue, and grins, carrying on.

“Matin’ purposes, and suchlike. I tell ya, I don’t give a damn hoot about it.  I mean, we’re fated to fuckin’ DIE as soon as we repredouce! Reprodooce? Reproduce. Yeah, that’s it.” Her watering can empties, and she heads inside to fill it up again, the water clinking against the metal sides of the can. “So I just said, fuck it. I’ll be a ranger of space or some shit. Then I did just that. I wander around, helpin’ out whatever planet needs it. Not that I’m ever in time for some sentient conversation, so in that sense, you’ve been a huge help, little guy!” You frown internally, and decide next time you’ll pick a form that’s a bit less small.

“I can tell we’ll get along just fine.”

--

One morning, you notice she’s taken out a device of some form. It produces sound waves of differing frequencies, depending on the tension she applies to different parts of the object. You don’t understand it, so you hop up to her on the sofa, having gotten back from your daily exploration.

She doesn’t seem to really notice you, having gotten used to your rather free-spirited nature. The sounds continue playing, and she looks as if she’s about to open her mouth to create similar frequencies, when you realise she’d noticed you all along.

“What is that?”

“Ah, this ol’ thing? Lil’ relic from my home planet, this. Bet you’ve never seen anythin’ like it out here.” She says, her eyes glimmering. You detect a little something behind them, and say nothing for a bit, before continuing.

“What does it do?”

“Why, it makes music, little guy!” Prosperity grins, and scratches you between the ears again. It feels nice, and you don’t like that she can just do that. “Here, I’ll show ya… just sit tight, I gotta figure out how this one goes again.”

She plucks a few of the strings with her claws, their wornness becoming more apparent to you as she plays. Though her initial tones are erratic and confused, a tune begins to eke out once more, and once she gets going properly, she begins to sing. Her voice is beautiful, and like no sound you’ve ever heard before. It melds with the soft chirping of animals in the background, and her dulcet tones, singing of a home sweeter than this and a fire warmer than ours, reminds you of something. Something that you won’t ever have.

The song makes you sad.

She take note of this before long, and pauses, cuddling you up to her. She’s warm, and it feels nice. You feel warm now, too, and you realise that’s one thing you’ve gained on your time here, even if you haven’t managed to escape this planet yet and even if you haven’t managed to get to the Green Sun. While she cuddles you in her muscular arms, she smiles softly, strumming tunes idly in repetition.

“Y’know, there’s a reason us cherubs are s’posedta mate.” She says, still strumming softly. “When we’re lil’ kids, there’s two of us in this one body. We live like that n’til one of em’ fights for dominance, a fight that’s gotta be fairly won. ‘Therwise, yer fucked fer life, and can’t ever ‘scape yer homeplanet.” She strokes your back, and you shuffle over, prompting her to carry on petting your head again. “Anyway, in ‘xchange for bein able to live alone, there’s a price that’s paid.”

The tune changes slightly. “When ya separate, yer body chemistry alters permanently. T’that of the body you were always destined ta have, but fer some reason, those receptors for the other chemicals stay there. N’yer body always expects em.” Her eyes flit to the distance. “Causes some kinda deep, primordial loneliness. One that can only be filled by matin’, or so the old legends go.”

“…so why don’t you?”

“Huh? Well…” She stops playing for a moment, realising she’s lost track of the tune she’s playing. Prosperity gets up for a quick drink of water to clear her throat, then sits back down again, as you hop back into her lap, the instrument resting there as well.

“…I guess I just don’t wanna die. I mean, that sorta fear- it’s not meanta be part of our psychology. Otherwise, we’d all literally die out. I guess… fer some reason, I just had that fear.” Her finger circles your fur, getting under your wing and warming up the spot there. “I don’t have a lot ta leave behind, ‘part from you and the lil’ critters I find out in space. I guess I don’t even know there’s anything out there but you an’ I, unless I believe those ol’ scriptures on my home planet.”

“But I guess ahm… ahm still scared. I dunno what’s out there, and I don’t wanna find out. So I think- I think-“ You look up at her. Her eyes are wet. “I think I’m just gonna try an build a good life fer you’n’I. And find that Green Sun’a yers.”

“…you think you’ll make it?”

“Someday, little bit.” She says, scratching your ears. “Someday.”

--

You hear a thud from outside. She’s arrived home from her travels while you were resting. You scurry outside, pushing the door open with all your might, and see her standing there.

“I’ve found it.” She picks you up, and you nestle in her pocket, finally able to get comfortable. Prosperity is wordless as she packs the few supplies and bits she’ll need for the second journey, but you can tell it’s not that far. Otherwise, she’d be packing more.

She flies up out of the atmosphere of this planet, the deep purple sky leaving you behind and the murky abyss of space emerging. Little glimmers of light emanate all around you, and though she’s fast, you can still see just about everything around you. The lights spiral around, and you realise that there’s something bigger than even you out there. There’s something bigger than you, and you’ll either meet it or become it someday.

The thought scares you.

You wonder why she isn’t talking. You’re really thankful she did all this for you, and you want to express that, but the words just wouldn’t come out right if you said them now, so you stay quiet for a bit, before making some idle conversation. “Is it far?” you ask, and she says no, no it isn’t. She darts below and through some asteroids, dipping expertly around the terrain, and flying past planets – ones very different from the one where you were born, and ones that are similar.

There’s a peculiar spot not far up ahead. As you approach, it seems to get narrower and thinner, yet your speed increases – Prosperity shoots directly for this spot, and you tunnel through it, landing straight on the surface of a large asteroid with far more force than either of you could really withstand.

Her blood spurrels out of her jaw. You panickedly tell her that she didn’t need to go that fast, and that you had all the time in the world, trying to tend to her wounds, but she laughs and says it’s alright. It’s oddly silent out here, without the strum of her guitar and the quieter sound of her voice against the space atmosphere, and she says it’s alright. Her eyes are lowered, and you know she will be. Cherubs are built to withstand anything.

Right?

Right, she says. She leans up, and looks at you. She can go no further, she says. “Do you see this?” she speaks, pulling her half-burnt wing over to you. You didn’t even noticed, you were so focused on getting there together. It’s charred green, and you can barely look at the festered infected wound starting to grow there, tumours bubbling. “I- I can’t go near that thing. Not in a million years. N’you can’t… you told me you can’t live without it.”

She stands up, staring at the Green Sun. Though it doesn’t hurt her eyes at this distance, if she walked any further, the few remaining bits of her nigh invincible evolution would burn away. She holds something in her hand, and you realise why she looked so worn that day.

“…you didn’t.”

It’s an egg. An egg, with two spirals within it – one red, and one green.

“Little bit, I ain’t got anythin’ else in this world to care ‘bout no more. Ah- I knew when I first saw you that you’d be trouble, n’I guess you weren’t wrong.”

“So, here. It’s mine. N’with this exchange, ah- I had to kill another cherub. The only one I’ve ever seen, I had to- his body is out here.” She says, shaking, holding onto you. “His body is out in this fucking- the place, the one place, the place you told me to find. The place you’d be safe, and- I-“

“There’s nowhere to go from here, is there?” you say, staring out at the sun.

“No, there ain’t.”

She stands in front of you. You know what she wants you to do, and you know you can’t do it.

And the next morning, there isn’t a cherub in front of you anymore.

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

for the one word prompt— butterflies

Title: through murky waters and twisted paths

Summary: Only fools with a death wish enter the Forgotten Forest. Everyone knows trickster spirits lived there that would love nothing more than to make a quick meal or gain amusement out of a human. Virgil knows all the stories–he’s told them to the village children himself. None of that matters to him any longer.

Pairings: platonic intruxiety

Word-Count: 1.5k

Warnings: G/T, morally grey Remus, fantasy racism, body horror, ostracization, self-hatred & deprecation, suicidal ideations, hunger, death mention, blood mention, non-graphic references to violence, angst with a happy ending

hi I spent way more research on this fic than intended. I also forgot about this for like two months, opps. pls enjoy :)

-

As the sun sinks low into its’ grave Virgil ventures deeper into the Forgotten Forest, where the trees grow as tall as giants and the moss grows thick. Spirits live in the forest. Trickster spirits, ones that view humans as nothing more than amusement or an easy meal. He’s heard all the stories, he’s told them to the village children himself. None of that matters now.

(First came the cravings. He devoured everything in sight–his stomach never satisfied. At night he’d clutch his stomach as it growled. Always growling, wanting more, more, more)

With each step, he fights against the fear building with each heartbeat. It is quiet in the woods. Too quiet. Where are the bustling of the squirrels and chirping of the birds? Have they been eaten? Will that be his fate as well? As if to answer him, the earth trembles beneath his feet. Virgil stumbles, grasping a tree trunk for support. A choked cry escapes his lips.

(Then, as quickly as the cravings came, they stopped. He had little time to ponder this as exhaustion seeped into his bones. Sleep, he needed sleep. He pulled a blanket over his head, enclosing himself into a husk of darkness.)

“Whoa! You okay, little fella?”

Virgil’s breath seizes. The voice. It’s big and booming like thunder during a fierce storm. Quivering, he tilts his head up, up, up to a figure as tall as the trees themselves. A figure with pale-green skin and dressed in earthy colors. A crown of leaves rests atop their head. A spirit–a giant to be exact.

Virgil tries screaming. All that comes out is a pitiful squeaky click of his teeth.

(He awoke thrashing, constrained in an impossibly tight space. His first immediate thought was that he’d been buried alive. He needed to break out of the coffin. Out, out, out! He scratched and clawed to no avail. Fluid oozed out of him–blood? It had to be blood.)

“Whoa! Aggressive, I like it! Hiya, my name’s Remus, what’s yours?” The giant crouches down, his movements shaking the forest floor. Virgil barely manages to keep a hold on the tree trunk.

“V-virgil.” He tells the giant. He really shouldn’t give his name away just like that. Everybody knows you don’t give spirits that type of power. But he can hardly bring himself to care. 

“Virgil? Ooh what a juicy name,” Remus smacks his lips, “You know I could totally squash you with one finger!”

“Do it.”

“What?” The giant blinks, mouth agape. 

“Did I stutter?” Virgil asks, jaw clenching, “Do it–kill me, put me out my misery. I’m a monstrosity–I shouldn’t exist anyways.”

(His coffin cracked open. Except dirt didn’t come pouring in–sunlight did. He clung to the edge of it and froze. Something was wrong. His breathing–he couldn’t breathe! At least not in the way he was most intimately familiar with. Oxygen seeped through passageways. Not his nose or mouth but elsewhere. He looked down at not one, but two pairs of hands. He screamed. His skin no longer a pale complexion but an unnatural shade of purple. A pair of hands frantically clutched his face. He felt two normal ears, two normal eyes and two long strands of…hair?)

The giant’s grin vanishes as anger seeps onto his very large face. Virgil shudders, his instincts urging him to flee. He can feel air rushing behind him, his feet leaving the forest ground. Nothing happens because the giant snatches him up faster than he can blink. 

(It wasn’t hair. It twitched out of its own volition, smelling his very sweaty palms. With a shriek, he leapt backwards as the spot between his shoulder blades burned. Two brightly-colored appendages flare out from the corner of his eye–surely something horrid like another set of arms. He kept scrambling backwards, as if he could run away from himself. He never stood a chance against that rock. His foot caught the edge of it and Virgil went tumbling down.)

“Hey! Who says you shouldn’t exist?” Remus demands, lips curling backwards to reveal sharp teeth. He holds Virgil in a grip much looser than he expects. It still doesn’t stop Virgil’s heart rate from accelerating.

“I–I do.”

 “Well, I’ll mash up their insides and feed it to the–wait, you do?” Remus blinks, “why?” 

(He woke up to voices. Angry voices. Voices that once familiar and warm now bent with vitriol and disgust. Voices of people he’d called friends and neighbors. Voices of people that called him a demon and a monster. Voices that welcomed him in, gave him food and a honest living. Voices that drove him out, casting charms and wards against him.)

“Just–just look at me!” Virgil says, swallowing nervously, “I’m a demon, I’ll–I’ll possess your soul if you don’t kill me.”

“A demon?” Remus asks, before bellowing with laughter, “I’ve seen plenty of demons before. Best friends with one, lemme tell ya. I know them when I see ‘em and you ain’t a demon.”

“Then…what do you think I am?” 

(He found himself on the edge of the Forgotten Woods. Forgotten because it was so ancient. Forgotten because it was best to forget about it. Long before he was born, spirits took hold of the forest. Killing or thralling any humans who dared enter their domain. But he wasn’t quite human now, was he?)

Remus doesn’t directly answer Virgil. He summons something with his other hand. An oval-shaped object, with wooden trim and vines growing around it. A mirror. One that looms enormous over Virgil, but scaled to the giant is a hand-mirror. Remus’ grip on Virgil releases, causing him to fall back onto the giant’s  palm. Virgil’s teeth click again as he stands on shaky legs. His eyes trail upwards, into the face of his reflection.

(Black horns. Glowing eyes. A long forked tongue. These were the details he could make out in the murky puddle he came across)

Black antennas poking out of plum-colored locks. Watery, lilac-tinged spotted eyes. A thin long curled tongue between fangs. Violet skin smooth and hardened. Four arms entangle together in a tight embrace. His shoulder blades twinges as slightly crumpled wings emerge from behind his back. Dark velvet wings reminiscent of butterflies.

“See!” Remus asks, almost bouncing in place, “You’re a bruise-colored nightmare of a changeling! Why shouldn’t you exist?”

“Changeling?” 

“Yeah changeling–” Remus’ eyes widen, “Ooohhh. You didn’t know, did ya? What was it like? The hunger, I mean? What weird shit did you eat to satiate it? Or the chrysalis! Did you retain any memory inside of it while you turned into a gooey liquid? I bet it was cool–”

“I can’t be a changeling,” Virgil interrupts, a hand gripping at his hair, “I wasn’t super smart, or–or sickly. I was–”

“–a child,” Remus says, his voice suddenly calm and serious, “just a child no different than a human’s young no matter what those hypocritical bastards believe.”

(A few months ago he stood in the middle of the village, Mable’s and Urtha’s children swarming him. ‘Please Virgil,’ they chanted, ‘one more story! One more story!’ ‘Alright,’ he said laughing, ‘alright but just one more okay? I got work to do.

‘One day a mother checked on her child’s crib and cried out in anguish. For her child sported a beard and had long thin teeth. Sharp and spindly, good at tearing through flesh. The child’s grey eyes held a spark too wise. Its head was too small, disproportionate from its body. For it was not her child in the crib. It was a changeling.’)

“I don’t want this, please.” Virgil begs, slumping his head downwards.

The giant’s eyes, more than twice the size of him, regard him. With a flick, the mirror disappears. He reaches out with his other hand. Virgil tenses, waiting for the spirit to crush him. A single finger raises his chin up gently.

“I won’t kill you,” Remus says and with it Virgil’s heart plummets, “I mean, killing is fun. But this wouldn’t be fun for me or you, I promise. Ya know what’d be fun?”

“What?” Virgil asks. He wonders if he’s about to become Remus’ servant. Or worse, a plaything. Something for the giant to screw around with until he played too rough. There’s nothing Virgil could do to stop him. He’s too small to fight back even if he wanted to. 

“If we became friends.”

“Friends? What? Why?!”

“Why not?” The giant grins crookedly, “does there have to be a reason?”

“…I guess not.”

“Sooo?”

“Okay, fine, it’s whatever.” Virgil concedes, body drooping with exhaustion. He hasn’t eaten since he woke up changed and disoriented. He yelps, a jolt of adrenaline pumping through his veins as the giant presses him against his chest in a hug of some sort.

“Great! You won’t regret this!” 

“I think I do.”

“That’s the spirit!” Remus cheers, oddly unfazed as he still holds Virgil close to his chest, “now woulda like to meet my demon friend? Half his face is a snake!”

“Sure,” Virgil yawns. He can’t help it–Remus is warm and for the moment, doesn’t seem interested in maiming him. He falls asleep to the rhythmic stomps of Remus as he traverses through the woods, rambling all the way.

[ninja-go-to-therapy]

Whumptober 11: Psych 101

Crying

I honestly love the Destruction branch so much it’s so much fun to play with :)

Summary: Lloyd is done. If nothing is going to happen, he’ll make it. One way or another.

Trigger Warnings: violence, threats, death, breakdowns, mentioned kidnapping

1128 words

“Lloyd?” Nya called, her voice getting closer from somewhere down the hall. “What’s wrong, I heard something crash!”

His door slammed open, and Nya, though her eyes were red and puffy, was clearly ready to protect him.

She’d told him once that as long as she had breath in her body, she would protect him.

She was all he had left.

“I’m going to find them,” Lloyd said, through the tears that refused to stop coming. Still, he said it like a fact, because that’s what it was.

Nya looked at him carefully. “Of course we are,” she nodded. “I’ve been talking to the police, I think we’re close to a breakthrough—”

“No, Nya,” Lloyd said, staring at himself hard in the mirror and wiping at his face with his sleeve. “I don’t care what it takes to find them, but I’m done with the police.”

“Lloyd, I know it’s hard, but—”

“Don’t try to tell me I shouldn’t be. It’s been well over a year. I can’t sit around here any longer feeling sorry for myself, waiting for the goddamn police! I can’t go on without them any longer,” he said, sniffling. He let the tears continue falling without resistance. “We’re going to get them back. I don’t care how dirty we have to play to do it.”

Nya sighed, sitting beside him on his bed. “What do you suggest we do, then?”

Lloyd thought for a moment. “Interrogations seem like a good starting place,” he finally said.

“We’ve already interrogated all the criminals we could think of,” Nya said, shaking her head. “That’s a dead end.”

Lloyd narrowed his gaze. “You haven’t interrogated them with me there.”

———

Lloyd walked into Laughy’s, surveying the place carefully. Although they’d cleaned out the SOG a long time ago, plenty of scumbags still liked to hang around here.

He and Nya approached the counter, where Dareth was serving drinks to a customer. Lloyd cleared his throat loudly, and Dareth, having just finished up, turned to face them. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Lloyd, Nya,” he said, staring at them. Lloyd could understand his surprise — last he’d heard, Lloyd still wasn’t even getting out of bed.

“We don’t have time for small talk,” Lloyd said, getting right down to business. “We need to know if you’ve noticed anyone here that seems shady.”

“Oh, sure, plenty of guys here aren’t very friendly. I’d start with him,” Dareth said, gesturing to a guy decked out in attire similar to Zane’s old Snake Jaguar disguise. The memory made Lloyd hate the guy already.

“Thanks,” he said, Nya following him as they approached the guy.

Lloyd slammed his hands down on the man’s table, effectively grabbing his attention — and hopefully, scaring him.

“Yes?” the man asked, unbothered.

“What do you know about the missing ninja?” Lloyd demanded.

The guy looked between what were presumably his friends, and laughed. “Nobody’s heard nothin’ about them in months,” he said. “Wouldn’t you, all mighty green ninja, be the one who knows the most about this?”

Lloyd glared at him, leaning in. “I’m not going to ask again. Tell me what you know. Now.”

“Or what?”

Lloyd backed away—

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

—and then punched him hard in the face.

“What the fuck!” the guy yelled. “I told you I didn’t know anything!”

“Funnily enough,” Nya interjected, “We don’t believe you. Spill, and we’ll leave you alone.”

The man, and his friends, looked nervous now. Good.

“Tell us what you know,” Lloyd demanded.

The guy looked between them as if weighing his options. “Nobody knows what happened to them,” he said. Lloyd raised his fist again. “But! But, there’s a but. See, nobody knows what happened, but there are rumors. Nobody knows if there’s any truth to ‘em, but it’s better than nothing, right?”

Lloyd slowly lowered his hand, eyes narrowed. “Go on.”

———

“What’s up, guys?” Ronin asked, not looking up as he unpacked various boxes in his shop.

“What do you know about the others disappearing?” Lloyd said, getting right down to business.

“What? Why would I know anything about that?” Ronin asked. He looked nervous. Lloyd glared at him.

“Cut the crap, Ronin. Tell us what you know, now.”

Ronin laughed nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he said. Lloyd could tell the bastard was lying.

He strode toward Ronin confidently, prepared to wipe that stupid look off his face. He couldn’t deceive Lloyd. Not any longer.

He shoved Ronin against the wall.

“Kid, what are you doing? I told you I didn’t know!” Ronin exclaimed, beginning to panic.

“Tell me and I’ll let you live.”

“Nya,” Ronin called, looking past Lloyd. “Nya, come on, tell him he’s being crazy!”

“Lloyd, maybe you should tone it down a little?” Nya asked, “Ronin is our friend, I don’t think he would be hiding anything from us intentionally.”

Ronin looked uncomfortable, at that. Lloyd glared at him, pushing him harder against the wall.

“Talk!” he demanded.

“Lloyd—”

Lloyd lifted his fist, ignited with energy, threateningly. Ronin paled.

“Whoa, Lloyd, calm down!” Nya said. “Threatening him won’t get us anywhere!”

“I’m done playing nice!” Lloyd yelled, the glow only getting brighter. “I’ll fucking blast your head off!”

“I know what happened to Cole!” Ronin cried, just as Lloyd’s energy began to burn into him. Lloyd didn’t relent. Ronin scrambled to keep talking. “Last year, some guy paid me to get Cole for him. Paid me to drug him up and hand him off to the dude. But I was so sure that you’d find him — I thought it would all be okay! And I don’t know where the others are, I swear!”

Lloyd had never felt such rage before. Ronin, someone he had once trusted, had all but sold his brother away from them. It had been over a year, and the answer had been under their noses the entire time.

“Where is he?” Lloyd screamed, taking sick pleasure at the way Ronin winced in pain. He only pushed his powers further. He deserved to suffer.

“I don’t know!”

Upon realizing Lloyd didn’t like that answer, Ronin continued again. “But I think I can find out! I can probably trace the guy, I swear! Now please, let me down,” he begged.

Nya appeared at Lloyd’s side, and Ronin looked hopeful.

“You absolute bitch,” she said. Ronin’s face fell. “How dare you?” she yelled, punching him hard in the jaw. “How fucking dare you?”

Lloyd dropped him, stepping back and allowing Nya to take her own revenge.

“Fuck you!” she screamed, “fuck you!”

In the end, they got the information they needed.

They left the shop, not bothering to clean up the mess they’d left behind. Somebody would find the body. Eventually.

[skelanonymous]

DustCherry ?

Odd idea I’ll never fully flesh out. Have a cohesive scene. Only set up, we’re in an AU where Red is both the eldest prince of Fellsword kingdom under Gaster and Forge, the blacksmith who runs a criminal bar and supplies weapons for the rebellion. Dust is Dust kinda.

Words: 1.7k

“Heya Forgey.” Dust winked from behind the helmet. Red rolled his eyes and finished cleaning the glasses from the bar.

“Whatcha need Dust? You ran out of pieces to request. Already made all the armor you could need, all three of your weapons. “Red slid the glasses into the cabinet. “I doubt you’d greet me before killing me.”

“I’d totally greet you before killing you. I consider us friends.” Dust’s pointy grin, teasingly flipping a dagger in one hand. “But no, I don’t want to kill you. Quite the opposite really.” He snaked out a purple tongue to lick along the dagger’s edge. Red’s soul pounded in his chest, Dust’s eyes going half lidded, all sultry and wanton.

“Are you propositioning me?” Red face flushed. Dust only chuckled at his incomprehension. 

“That was the idea.” His eyes shifted from the purple to the more familiar dualtone. “I wanted to have a little fun and you’re the only handsome friend I have.”  Red lifted an eyebrow.

“I didn’t think you had many friends.” Red kept cleaning off the bar counter. “Thought assassins didn’t need ‘em.” Dust shrugged.

“Honestly, you’re the only I have as Dust. The rest are from my day job, and those don’t intermingle.” Dust leaned back, casually draping himself over a chair. “It does make you the most handsome by default.” He stuck out his tongue.

“How the fuck do you have a day job? I can’t imagine what you’d be like outside of this.” Dust seemed so well suited for assassin work. Picturing him baling hay, running a shop, baking? Dust laughed.

“I’m capable of behaving. Let me show you.” Suddenly leaned over the counter into Red’s space, Dust trailed a finger under Red’s jaw. Red grabbed his arm, but didn’t wrench it away.

“I’m guessing this comes with conditions. Nothing with you is ever that easy.” Dust licked his teeth at Red’s iron grasp.

“Either I keep the helmet on, or you agree to a temporary blindness spell. Can’t have you seeing my face.” He climbed over the counter, never pulling his arm free. He made a delightful little sigh when Red wrapped the other arm around his back. “I don’t mind you being in charge. I’m flexible.” 

“Uh-huh. You just get to see mine then.” Red glared at the horny assassin through the face guard. 

“Forgey, I’ve known who you were since Day 1.” He hooked a leg around Red’s waist. “Prince Red Fellsword helping rebels and causing chaos against his father. It doesn’t matter to me. I only care how good you are with your hands.” His free hand flipped up the face shield. 

“Dust! Pe-”

“Relax, there’s no one for a mile in any direction. Don’t forget who I am.” He dragged a sharp finger down his throat. “It wouldn’t be wise.”

Red huffed before releasing Dust completely. The assassin waited patiently in his space, still hooked tightly to his pelvis. He weighed his options carefully. This wasn’t a smart thing to do, not by a longshot, not with the most vicious murderer in all the kingdoms. But his soul pulsed at the thought of fucking someone that powerful.

“You get how fucking insane this is, right?” Red glared at the shorter assassin. His smile only got wider, toothier.

“Completely.” Red pinched his nasal ridge, then pulled Dust’s other leg up to fully seat their pelvises together. He snapped his fingers and they landed on Red’s bed down the hall.

“Fuck it, I guess I’m insane.” He removed the armor covering Dust with ease. The belts slipped off, plates clanging to the ground. Dust’s eyes got wider and hungrier. “Blind me whenever.”

“Once I’m down to the helmet.” Dust pulled at Red’s shirt, yanking it over his head and scraping his fingers down the ribs. Red pushed Dust’s tank up to his neck, hands wandering over his chest. 

“Didn’t know you were a skeleton like me.” He tended to the bones with practiced ease. He knew how to make Dust scream if he had bones like his. He hadn’t worked the pants fully off, but did squeeze right at the base of Dust’s tailbone. Then after a cursory lick across the collarbone, he bit down. Hard.

“Oh fuuuuuuck! Mark me up Forge.” Dust’s tongue lolled out of his helmet. He raised a hand and snapped. Red’s eyesight blinked out. 

There was the sound of metal ringing, and then a tongue in his mouth.

Dust devoured his mouth hungrily. The scent and taste of blood had him frenzied, clinging to Red’s body. When he broke away, Dust was suddenly by his ear. 

“Can I taste your blood?” Dust’s body rumbled with a groan. “Your mouth tasted so good with mine in it.” Red felt for and then bit down on Dust’s opposite shoulder. Red made sure to really get a mouthful, licking up the excess before trailing his hand to the back of Dust’s skull to kiss him again. Dust’s entire body shook with desire. 

“One bite Dust. Make it count.” Red felt Dust’s hands scrambling to remove both of their pants. He tried to help, but couldn’t do much about Dust’s clothes while blind. Then the shock of a wet tongue right on his pelvis. Dust licked upwards, attempting to force the shape. 

“Give me something to suck on.” Red’s body summoned the cock on reflex. Dust lavished attention onto him before pulling the entire cock into his mouth, taking the entire thing deep into his throat in three short bobs.

“I-ahhhhh- I’m not gunna last if you keep going at it like that.” Red didn’t hear a reply, per se, but he did hear some very enthusiastic hums around his cock. Dust’s tongue wrapped around him, stroking and tightening around the base as the head dipped further and further back into his throat. Red couldn’t see but he did feel the drool dripping out of Dust’s mouth onto his pelvis, could feel him holding onto his hips softly, coaxing him on with light circles, heard the moans increasing in pitch the faster he went. And if he listened in real closely, some very wet fingers playing with an equally wet pussy…

Red came right into Dust’s throat. And judging on the choking sounds and jolting around, he came right on his fingers.

When Dust let the cock out of his mouth, Red smelled something sweet by his face.

“Just getting nice and wet for you. Wan-oooooh…”Red had already stuck his tongue out for a taste. He guided the fingers into his mouth with one hand, and slipped the other right into Dust. He got in three fingers on the first try.

“I’m still sensitive, haaaaaaaaaaah, so cruel of you.” Red could feel Dust writhe against him, around his fingers. His skull laid against his shoulder, mouth open with whining pants, before it turned and bit down with those sharp canines. Red only tensed; he remained silent. Dust suckled at the bite, tightening with each draw of blood. He let go before Red got woozy.

“Reeeeeeeeed.” Dust’s voice took on his bloodlust form. Part of Red was worried. He flexed his fingers still buried deep in his cunt. “AHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Red pulled out his fingers, and gently flipped them over. It took a little feeling around, but he definitely got settled between Dust’s legs. He felt up those long bones, nipping along them, cleaning off his fingers before switching to the other femur. Dust sighed softly when Red finally lined them up.

“I’d kill to see the faces you’ve been making, but I guess I’ll live with just having you.” Red chuckled, pulling the legs up over his shoulders, kissing his shins. He pushed in with a guiding hand. “Oh fuck, you’re still tight?” Red groaned.

“You’re -Mmmmmmm- the only one-,” Dust moaned at the first thrust, still coming down from the blood high, “-whose fucked me.”

“Well you’re not a virgin either.” Red fucked Dust steadily. His pussy was still tight around him, not nearly loose enough to really let go and pound the hell out of Dust without making it uncomfortable. Dust panted and laughed.

“I’m. Usually. The one. Doing the fucking!” Dust whined as Red finally started to speed up, his body relaxing into the hard thrusts, begging for more. Red hadn’t planned the pace, he just couldn’t hold back anymore.

Dust fucked people, he did not let people fuck him. But here he was, letting Red take him. He offered himself without a thought, Red hadn’t even needed to negotiate.

“Then I’ll make you scream.” Red slightly changed angles until Dust’s voice escalated to pitchy moans of pure bliss. He relentlessly pushed them both further and further along, getting to really savor the moment after that first fast orgasm. Dust clawed up towards up, pulling himself off the bed to hit even deeper.

“AHHHHH!” Dust wailed, spasming around Red’s cock until he spilled into him.

They rode out their peaks in peace, finally separating when the sensations of touching overwhelmed them. Red laid back in his bed, fully expecting the absence of another body beside him.

“Don’t think this gets you a discount.” Red joked. He didn’t want to let this into his soul; loving Dust would lead to nothing but heartache.

“Of course not.” Dust chuckled, the subtle ringing of metal as Dust got dressed to go vibrating around the room. “Don’t think this grants you immunity.”

“Never.” Red stretched out his limbs, getting ready to relax. “As long as we understand each other, repeat performance is on the table if you want it.” He heard Dust’s shadow magic swallow his presence, already slinking off to the next target. But not before a whisper by his ear.

“I’ll keep it in mind.” He could hear the smirk in it, and with a snap, his eyelights came back to an empty room. He grinned before turning in.

Deep in the shadows, Dust shivered. Red’s magic was still leaking down his thighs, knees shaking. Keep it in mind? More like restrain the impulse to come here every night. He wanted the blacksmith bad before, and the fire in his soul was stoked by the night they shared.

Forge would be his, one way or another.

----

Currently working on a longer non-sexy Errorberry, but hey, making progress.

[yikesharringrove]

Zoo date as requested by @xgardensinspace

Here is a link to my post about Harringrove for BLM, and here is a link to Writers/Artists Against Police Brutality

Here’s also a link to the Masterlist of Harringrove for BLM coutesy of @harringrovetrashh

Thank you all for organizing, participating, and donating. 

-

Modern au

Please ignore my rhino facts I love them so much

Steve’s encounter with + reaction to the rhino is based on me from a few years ago

-

“Wait, this is, this is where you’re taking me?”

Billy was pulling into a spot in the parking lot of the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.

“Yeah. You’ve never been to this one, and I know how much you love a zoo.” Steve was vibrating in his seat.

This was one of the best zoos in the country.

He chucked off his seatbelt, making Billy laugh as he scrambled out of the car.

He danced around as he waited for Billy to grab the backpack he had put together for the day, before taking his wrist and dragging him to the ticket counter.

“Baby, I already got us tickets.” Billy shuffled him to the gate, jostling him past the birds at the beginning of the park. “We’re on a schedule, Pretty Boy. Gotta be there in ten.” He led Steve to the Ranger Base, walking up to the ticket window.

“Hi, we’re in the 10 am caravan group.” The woman behind the counter took their tickets, pointed them to another group a little ways away.

“Wait, are we doing one of the tours?” Steve was sitting close next to Billy, all pressed up against him. Billy kissed his forehead.

“You’ll see.”

Their tour leader began explaining a few of the rules of the caravan to them, shuffled them aboard, and set off across the park, leading to the large open African Plains.

Steve cooed at all the buffalo, taking picture after picture of any baby animals they saw, getting yelled at when he excitedly almost stood up in the moving truck.

“So, a few things about feeding the giraffes.” Billy could feel Steve begin wiggling next to him. “You each get three pieces of lettuce. Stand like this, hold the lettuce out, and let the giraffe take it from you. Do not touch the giraffe’s face or neck or anything.”

“Wait, Bill we get to, to feed them?” People had formed a line as one of the giraffes came loping slowly towards them.

“Yeah, this is like, the extra bitchin’ tour. You get to see all the animals real close, and feed ‘em and stuff.” Billy’s mom had taken him when he was little.

Steve was staring up at the giraffe, the first few people posing as the people they were with took pictures of them with the giraffe. Billy pushed him forward a little, taking about a fucking million pictures of Steve looking like a little kid, so fucking excited to feed the tall baby. Billy gave him one of his lettuce pieces so that he would keep smiling like that.

The caravan rattled on, transitioning to the Asian Savanna.

“Oh, my, God. Bill look at the rhino. Bill look.” Steve was slapping his arm. The guide laughed at him.

“You a fan of rhinos?”

“I love them. They’re my favorite.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” The cart stopped as the huge black rhino began lumbering towards them. “So, to feed Edison, our adult male Indian Black Rhino, wait for him to open his mouth, and toss a piece of apple in there for him. Everyone gets four pieces.”

Steve’s eyes were huge.

“You can touch his horn gently, but do not touch his eyes or nose. And he has the jaw power to rip your hand right off, so don’t put any fingers in his mouth.”

Steve’s fingers were tight around Billy’s wrist.

“Indian black rhinos come from northern India, Nepal, and Easter Pakistan. They have one thick horn, whereas African white rhinos have two long thin ones. Unlike most horned animals, a rhino’s horn is not made from bone. It is made from keratin, the same as your hair and fingernails, so it’s essentially like one big fingernail on it’s face.” Steve was nodding along. He knew probably every fact about the different kinds of rhinos. “White rhinos are typically larger, but the black male rhino has an average weight of nearly five thousand pounds.”

The rhino had approached the caravan. Steve was titled over the edge, staring at the thing.

“The Indian black rhino is now longer classified as endangered after the conservation efforts in the Indian subcontinent over the past two or so decades, unlike the northern white rhinos, with a population of two. Here at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, we are making conservation efforts in our frozen zoo, where we keep genetic samples from thousands of species. We are currently working on a way to artificially inseminate a female black rhino, or a southern white rhino with a northern white rhino fetus in order to try and grow the population that way.”

Steve was hanging onto his every fucking word.

They let everyone line up before them, Steve was too busy just fucking staring at the animal while he listened to the guide’s speech to move, apparently.

“See, this is why I got us on this one. Knew you’d lose your damn mind if you got to feed a rhino.” The guide handed Steve a few extra pieces of apple, shooting him a wink.

Billy stood behind him as he leaned over the side of the caravan, tossing apple into the rhino’s mouth, patting his horn.

“You’re the sweetest baby in the world. I love you so much. You are perfect, and amazing.” Billy stifled a laugh as he filmed Steve.

When he finally stood up he was fucking holding back tears.

“I just, I love them so much.”

“I know, Baby.” He put one arm around Steve’s shoulder on the ride back to the rest of the zoo.

Steve must’ve thanked the guide about a million times before they set off to do a loop around the park, stopped for close to twenty minutes in the petting zoo so that Steve could pet a little black goat.

Billy lost his fucking mind in the reptile house, spent at least a few minutes with his nose pressed to the glass of every terrarium.

“Stevie, fucking look at that tiny baby.”

The tiny baby in question was a twelve foot anaconda.

Steve kept his distance as Billy cooed over some scorpions, called a Goliath birdeater tarantula a beautiful boy. Steve knew his taste in animals was odd, but then They passed by the giant old tortoises, and Billy went berserk.

“They look like sweet little men. What amazing gentlemen. They are kind and wise.” He was passionately gesturing at the creatures, leaning over the rail around the enclosure.

Steve can’t fault Billy for going all soft at the desert cat nursery, as Steve was shoulder to shoulder with him as they smushed up against the glass to look at the tiny little things.

In the Australia section of the park, Billy only used an Aussie accent, would make Steve laugh because it was actually really good. He would make his voice all deep and say wallaby all drawn out, just to make Steve’s smile get bigger. Steve gasped when they saw the platypus.

“I didn’t think these were even real.”

“Are you serious?” Billy still had that fucking accent.

“Yeah. I mean, they sound so silly. They’re like, a duck and a beaver and a snake. They’re weird little hybrids with venom, Bill. Venom.” They watched the awkward little thing waddle across the field.

“It’s kinda growin’ on me.”

Steve got an amazing picture of Billy with about fourteen butterflies on him in the butterfly pavilion, And Steve got shit on by the parakeet they were trying to feed.

They hit the bird show on their way back to the entrance, would laugh and grab each other’s hands as large birds would swoop overhead.

They finally left the park after spending a minute at the gift shop, Billy surprising Steve with a soft stuffed rhino at the exact moment Steve presented him with a floppy stuffed tarantula. Billy couldn’t wait to put them on their bed.

Billy threw his arm around Steve’s shoulders as they walked to the car, the sun beginning to sink.

“That was a real good day.” Steve was slurping at the remains of an ice cream cone.

“For sure one for the books.” The tops of Billy’s shoulders on either side of his tank top were a little red from the sun.

“Thank you for bringing me. You know how much I love zoos. And getting to, getting to touch and feed a rhino, Billy that made my fucking life.” He kissed the side of Steve’s head.

“I’m glad, Sweet Thing.”