#the conditions are that you show him your dog and you’re not married to him

[kinokoshoujoart]

find yourself an AnWL bachelor who barks but only in conditions that contradict each other which means his barking dialogue will never actually show up in th

[gurugirl]

A Balancing Act | Ch. 3*

Series Summary: Harry is a famous, rich, handsome, pop star and he’s been in therapy since his boy band days. When he meets Y/n, a beautiful and successful artist, he cannot take no for an answer when it comes to her. He’s determined to make her his even if he has to bend the rules a little at first.

Chapter Summary: Y/n has some explaining to do and Harry wants to show her exactly what he likes.

Warning: 18+ only, NSFW, smut, dom & sub dynamics (with use of implements), angst (light), mentions of death.

Word Count: 12,003

Commissioned by @cinnamonone (thank you!! xoxo)

A Balancing Act Masterlist

“She was married,” Harry started off their session before Pat even had a chance to sit in her usual spot.

“Who? Y/n?”

Harry nodded and sighed, “Yeah. She never told me. She’s not married now. Well, he died actually. Health condition. But I was… I just didn’t expect it. I mean…” he shook his head and crossed a leg over his knee, “I was surprised. Like… it’s a lot. You know? And it’s selfish of me to think this way but how can I be better than someone she loved enough to marry? And now he’s just gone and it’s not because he did anything wrong. She still loves him. It’s been a few years since he passed but she has this big wedding photo framed in her living room. That’s how I found out.”

Pat listened closely as Harry talked about how it made him feel. He’d gotten very good at being able to describe his feelings and was comfortable enough to verbalize them to Pat.

“So when you saw the photo what happened? I’m assuming you were at her home? You said it was in her living room.”

Harry looked up at Pat, “Oh yeah. I uh… went to visit her. We kind of had a rough go. She did find out about the girl I kissed so I flew out to see her. She was on a date and I… well I went to where they were and saw them and then-“

“Harry Styles! You did not!” Pat lambasted.

Harry gulped as he nodded, “I know. It was a questionable move. Quite immature of me, but she knows that it’s us. There’s no one else that she can connect with this way. She wound up leaving with me anyway so-“

“I’m gonna interrupt you again because I’m shocked! That is kind of the opposite of how you should have gone about seeing her again, Harry. Are you two still seeing one another? Talking?”

“Yeah, we are. She wound up telling me she liked me more anyway. It worked out. I know I shouldn’t have done it that way but it’s already done.”

“And here I thought you wanted to talk about how she’d kept a big secret from you. How you were hurt by it and how it made you feel. But having you go and intercept her during a date? She should have told you off, had you go back home. And you’re right. That was very immature. Feels like a step backward from all the work you’ve put in. You’re really good at making things happen and getting what you want,” she emphasized as Harry sighed and shook his head, “but sometimes it’s not healthy. What you did was very coercive. You can’t force your will on everyone, Harry.”

“I know. I told you I’m selfish. I don’t know why I did it. I just feel like she and I are really good for each other. I needed to make a move. Do something dramatic to prove it to her. Especially after she learned about the kiss.”

“And how did she take that news when you told her?”

Harry pulled his lips into his mouth and looked down at his hands.

“You were the one to bring her the information, correct?”

He shook his head, “She saw it in some gossip article.”

“And she still welcomed you and even left her date for you? Maybe you should have her come see me too. Sounds like you both could use some emotional support and therapy.”

Harry grinned and gave Pat his sweet puppy dog eyes, “Maybe. Perhaps I can convince her to move in with me and you can see us both.”

“Okay. I think you’re moving too fast here.”

“I don’t. I’ve never felt this way before, Pat! I know it’s insane but I’m not kidding you when I tell you that she’s really good for me. I’m good for her too. Like… I’d marry her tomorrow if I could. I’m so down to just be with her.”

The therapist nodded, “So, you’re not actually bothered by the fact that she has a dead husband?”

Harry put his leg down and leaned back into his chair, “No. I am upset. Not at her because I understand why she didn’t tell me. It doesn’t make me not want to be with her. It’s just something to contend with is all. It was a shock.”

“I bet. So you really feel very deeply for her then? And she feels the same?”

“I think she does. Asked her to be my girlfriend before I left Chicago too. I know it’s fast but she’s incredible.”

“Girlfriend, huh? That’s kind of a big step.”

“I know. I’m just… I think I love her. I can’t get enough of her. I’ve never felt like this.”

“I feel like you’ve fed me those same lines before.”

Harry shook his head and looked up at Pat, “No. I swear. This time is different. I know I can’t convince you of that but it is. I love to fall in love but with Y/n it’s like life. A gift.”

Pat sighed and put her notebook down. She could see that Harry was very excited about Y/n. That he did what he thought he needed to. And while she was used to his occasional antics of forcing his hand to get his way and the way he fell in love too fast; she could see that this was indeed a little different. Even with months apart he still went after her. He still seemed to be just as excited about her.

“I see that. I’m happy for you, Harry. So what are your plans with her for when you leave for Europe in two weeks? You’ll be gone for nearly two months again. How do you intend to maintain the relationship when you’re going to be apart for so long?”

.        .        .

One week earlier

Her heart dropped when she realized what he was looking at. She hadn’t planned on telling him this way. She had planned on telling him at some point. But it was always a strange thing to bring up to people who didn’t already know about her past.

Robert was a great guy. She met him in college when she was dating around. They had a few dates but then broke up and they both dated other people but remained friends for a couple of years. Until one day he told her he didn’t like her seeing other people. That it made him jealous. She hadn’t realized.

And she hadn’t really been jealous when he was going on dates with other women. But the notion that there was a man, who was her friend, that was jealous of her going on dates, wanted her, felt this way about her… well it was quite flattering and unexpected. And the rest is history.

They got married and bought the house she currently lived in. He was a high school teacher. A genuinely nice man. A bit of a homebody at times, but she loved him with all of her heart. After they’d been married for a year he was diagnosed with having Wilson’s Disease. He was born with it (which no one knew) but only ever started showing symptoms at age 25. And by then it was too late. He was already having some major health issues. His liver was failing.

Y/N knew something was wrong when he was slurring his speech badly one evening and they had only been drinking water. And then the following day he was still slurring and he called off work because he was too tired to get out of bed. So she booked a doctor’s appointment for him and after nearly a month of running tests, one doctor suggested a urine sample, and the labs came back the following day with high levels of copper. Which indicated cirrhosis of the liver, which then pointed to Wilson’s disease.

And only six months after his diagnosis, he was gone.

She and Harry sat on her couch and she told him everything. Harry was stunned. He didn’t even know she’d been married before. But to know her husband had died? And she did admit that she still loved him. But of course, she did. Harry didn’t know how he could compete with such a thing.

“Well… I guess that kind of killed the mood. Didn’t it?” She looked at Harry who had been pretty quiet throughout her confession.

“It’s just sobering,” he looked at her as he spoke, “but, maybe we could order something in to eat? Some wine? Talk some more?”

“Harry, you don’t have to sit here and listen to me talk about my dead husband. If you want to go you can. It’s okay. Really.”

Harry scrunched his brows together and pulled her hands into his, “That’s not… Do you still want me here?”

“Well, yeah. I mean I’ve come to terms with all of this already. I just know when I talk about it to people who don’t already know they always pity me and it changes everything. So, I’m just giving you an out.”

Harry cleared his throat and slowly dragged his thumbs over her knuckles, “I don’t want an out. I want to spend time with you. Maybe we can eat, though. Kind of let this idea settle a bit and then drink some wine and put a movie on. See where the night takes us.”

And so that’s just what they did. Y/n hadn’t eaten anything because she had left the restaurant with Harry before dinner was served. And Harry hadn’t eaten either. So it was actually a perfect idea.

They talked more. Harry was practically glued to her side. Holding her hand, keeping her glass of wine filled, watching her closely, brushing his fingers down her arms. They watched a movie and Harry pulled her into his chest as they lay together on her couch.

But after about thirty minutes of having Harry’s chest pressed into her back, she felt something hard and stiff tucked into her bottom. She hadn’t taken off the dress she wore on her date and Harry wasn’t watching the movie at all. He was looking down over her pretty profile, her hips, her bum…

When she felt his lips graze over the back of her ear she realized he wasn’t actually totally turned off about hearing of her past. In fact, he was very clearly aroused. Closing her eyes she let him gently press kisses down her neck and allowed him to pull her into him tighter, grinding his hips into her plush bottom and she was relieved he still wanted her at all.

At first, she thought that he was just being sweet. Because he was a sweet guy. Maybe he felt bad for her and didn’t want to make her feel bad so he stayed. But now? Well, she was quite excited by his sudden change in demeanor back to what it had been before they’d walked into her house.

Harry’s hand smoothed down her hip to her thigh and stopped at the hem of her dress before he began pushing the material upward, “Is this okay?” He whispered against her skin.

Y/n nodded and put her hand over his, assisting him in pushing her dress up, “Yes.”

That was all he needed to have them both return to the state they’d been in before he saw the framed photo of her on her wedding day.

“Good. Then let’s turn this terrible movie off and get you naked.”

She remembered him telling her he’d brought some things. But what his small suitcase revealed was not expected, a vibrating wand, black bondage tape, 2 sets of cuffs, and various sizes of clamps. And a bottle of lube.

Harry explained everything to her as he kissed her gently and removed her clothes, “We don’t have to use any of this. But I thought it would be fun to try. I think you’ll like some of these. Have you ever been tied up?”

Y/n shook her head as she ran her fingers over the smooth tape, “No. How does this work?”

He plucked the roll from her hand and began to unwind the tape as he spoke, “This won’t stick to your skin, it only sticks to itself. But it’ll work nicely to bind you. It’s not as harsh as rope and it’s easy to come off.”

When he pulled the wand out of the little cloth bag it was in he handed it to her, “Lie flat and put this over yourself. Place it where it feels the best and whatever setting you like the most.”

Harry was slowly getting into his dom mode and Y/n could see it. He started off gently and slowly. Lots of kissing, touching, talking… he had her feeling comfortable and she trusted him. The way he slowly kissed her arms and her tits, lowering his wet lips to the heavy underside of her breasts and squeezing her nipples as he dipped over her tummy and praised her, “Fucking gorgeous. Hard to believe I got so lucky.”

But when he told her to lie flat on the bed something had shifted into a different gear. It was a minute transition but it was noticeable. He unwound the tape as he watched her do as she was told.

She was completely naked while he was still dressed, which made her feel very vulnerable, exposed. She clicked the wand on to its low setting and placed the head in a spot she knew she’d like. It did feel good. She was already a bit wet from the kissing and the gentle touches but it didn’t take long for her to begin seeping and coating the vibrating silicone bulb that was pressed against her.

Harry kneed up to the bed and pushed her thighs further apart so he could see her better, “Because you’re new to this you probably don’t have any kind of safe word in mind yet. So if you don’t like anything, just tell me. Say stop and I will. If you like all this we can think of something to use in lieu of just stop. But for now, we’re not going to get too much into that kind of roleplay so no or stop will work.”

He wanted to show her the things he liked. These were all easy introductions into the way he liked to play and if they were going to be seeing one another more he felt it was good to start her out like this. Give her a slow, soft launch so she could explore the things she liked too. He’d move it up a notch later on. For now, the debut into dom and sub-dynamics would be very delicate because she had never played this way. Eventually, they’d both learn what she liked together, that is if she wanted to stick around.

She nodded and Harry leaned over her and took the wand from her hand, “Arms over your head,” she quickly moved her arms upward as he positioned the wand against her clit and used the bondage tape to secure it in place, wrapping the tape around the handle to the top of her thigh and keeping the vibrating bulb at her pussy to give her just enough stimulation.

He climbed up and pushed her over to her tummy, the wand still working its magic, and pulled her hands behind her back, “I’m going to bind your wrists together like this,” he showed her the position and paused to make sure she didn’t have any objections, “and then,” he pushed her legs up by their shins, her ankles and feet up, thighs down, “use the tape to bind your ankles too. Is this okay with you?”

She nodded, “Yes.”

“Ah ah ah… Yes who?” He chided.

She bit her lip and smiled, “Yes, Daddy.”

Harry gave her a swat to her bottom, “There you go. I’ll give you one pass. If you forget to address me properly again we’ll take a break while I spank your bottom red.”

Her bottom stung from the one swat and she nodded, mostly to herself as he explained the rules. She couldn’t see the work he was doing because he was behind her but she could feel his hands on her skin and smooth tape wrapping around and between her wrists. It was gentle and he was right. The tape wasn’t sticky on her skin so it wasn’t pulling the fine hairs she had on her arms, which she was thankful for.

Then he used the tape on her ankles, securing them together in much the same way he did her wrists, around and in between. Meanwhile, the wand was still vibrating against her pussy and causing her heart to race. She didn’t know what to expect but this was quite exhilarating. Exciting. Harry was exciting.

“So pretty. Goddamn,” he said as he let his hands roam over her thighs and her bottom. He dug his fingers into the soft flesh and then smoothed his hands up to her low back before he moved his warm lips to the small of her back. She felt his hair ghost along her spine as he kissed his way up to her neck.

“How do you feel?” Harry’s voice was strained as he spoke.

“I’m good. Feels really good so far.” And it did. She wasn’t just saying it to appease him either. She loved this more than she could understand. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever delved into before. She hadn’t realized the way it would make her feel. She was a little nervous about her body on display for him in this way. She was chubby and this was quite the compromising position to be in when Harry Styles, with his very fit body, was in the room and inspecting all of her nooks and crannies. But there was something about being exposed to him this way, unable to move from being tied up, totally naked with all her parts available to him to see and touch that sent her adrenaline to spike.

She felt him push her ankles flat to the bed and then pull her up at her hips, causing her knees to dig into the mattress until her body was upright with her back into his chest. He stayed behind her bringing his hands up to her breasts and began palming over each, “How sensitive are your breasts? Do you play with them when you masturbate?”

Her brain was having a hard time focusing with the way he was touching her and speaking but she swallowed and closed her eyes to answer, “Uh… I think they’re pretty sensitive. Sometimes I squeeze them to make my nipples hard, but not all the time.”

Boobs weren’t really much of a part of sex for her. When Robert was alive he enjoyed them a lot. But to her, she could take it but mostly would have preferred to leave it. Because her nipples were quite sensitive and sometimes the stimulation was too much. So she generally would gently brush over her bud and work them up to get hard as she looked in the mirror. If she felt like playing with them. Which she usually didn’t.

“Let’s see what you like. Okay?” He continued squeezing and massaging the flesh, his thumbs focusing on her nipples, his lips on her neck causing her to keen and pitch her head to the side.

“Your nipples need some attention, Y/n. I can tell you’re very tender here,” he lightly pinched each nipple and she gasped, “See? We’ll take it easy. Work you up to something a little more stimulating.”

The sensation of the slow squeezing and soft pinches at her nipples was leveled out by the way he kissed at her neck and sucked her skin into his mouth, nipping very gently. Not to mention the vibrator taped into place and pressed to her pussy. Now, the way it was attached it wasn’t over her clit (thankfully she figured) but it was pulsating an inch below the spot that would have her losing it. The vibrations were strong enough that her whole core was feeling it, though, and she imagined it had been placed purposely in just that spot with the intent that she would slowly lose her mind until she was begging and aching for more.

So, yeah, everything he was doing was feeling really good. Having her nipples toyed with was even nice. The varying sensual touches were unexpected but quite welcomed. His whispered words were sweet and dirty.

“Oh baby, you are gonna be so ready for my cock when I’m done with you. Aren’t you?”

She nodded and her answer came out in a whine, “Yes.”

Harry chuckled and nosed at her ear, “Got the front of my trousers all wet. Would you like a taste of what your pussy is dripping?”

Another first… in bed with a man. She’d tasted herself out of curiosity a couple of times but never in front of anyone. She’d already gotten into it this far, she figured tasting herself would be fine so she nodded.

Harry removed a palm from her right breast and drew his fingers through her slippery cunt, spreading her labia and lathering his fingers in her before grasping her chin with his other hand and tilting her head back so he could watch as he stuffed his drenched fingers into her mouth.

She closed her eyes as his fingers dragged over her tongue and his knuckles rubbed at the roof of her mouth. She was just as she’d tasted before. It wasn’t a surprise but the gesture, the way it was happening, being held and tied and taken care of… it was hot.

“You taste so good, Y/n. Needed to share it with you. Let you taste first. Before I have my turn.”

Harry pulled his fingers from her lips and then brought his hands back down to her breasts and this time his mouth caught hers, keeping her head turned so he could have access, as he rolled her nipples between his fingers. She whimpered into his mouth and couldn’t believe how pathetic she sounded.

Slowly, he released her chin as he pushed her to bend at the waist with her ass in the air, face smushed into her mattress.

Harry groaned as he put his big palms over her round-as-a-plum bottom and squeezed. Her bum was his favorite. He’d never seen one so perfect. Her thick tush and soft thighs were beckoning to him. It was one of the first things he’d noticed about her when they first met in fact. And now here he was getting to touch it and smack it.

But before he could get to the piece de resistance he leaned in and licked over her glistening crease. She gasped as she jerked her body, not expecting a tongue to be gliding through her needy slit but that didn’t deter him. It only made him go in harder, lapping at her and moaning as he pressed in harder, the tip of his nose pressing into her anus as the vibrator was set as close to her clit as it could get.

She wanted to grab onto something but was unable to with her hands tied behind her back. Her face was smushed into the mattress as he ate her out from behind. Another thing she’d never been on the receiving end of. Being eaten out from behind with her bum hole exposed and a nose nudging into her. Probably smelling all of her.

“Harry!” She shrieked when he sucked her clit into his mouth and pushed two fingers in as far as they’d reach.

Harry chuckled as he kissed her pussy and moved away to speak, “Do I need to spank you? I really would prefer you to address me properly when we’re playing.”

She panted and squeezed her eyes closed as he continued fingering her, “Fuck… Daddy. Sorry.” It was hard for her to remember all the rules and calling anyone Daddy in this setting was foreign to her.

Harry got back to lapping at her leisurely. He could feel the vibrations from the wand making her labia buzz softly against his lips and his fingers.

He felt his cock digging into the inside of his zipper and it hurt. He needed to let the beast out for relief so he reluctantly backed away and undid his pants, pulling his cock out. He pressed himself to her entrance, letting the underside of his bare cock lather in her wetness.

She felt how warm he was as he let himself slide through her pussylips slowly. The vibrator was putting her on edge fast, “Please! Fuck me, Daddy…” she groaned lowly and Harry hissed when she backed herself toward him, his tip nearly getting swallowed by her drippy pussy.

“Yeah? Need Daddy’s cock? Which hole do you want it in?”

This had her suddenly caught off guard. She assumed something else but when his tip was pressed at her other hole she wasn’t sure how to respond.

Harry noticed her silence but wasn’t deterred, “It’s okay if you don’t want to try. But I think you’ll like it. I can start off using my fingers like last time, fuck your pussy for a bit and then let you decide if you think you want it.”

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s try that first,” her words were mumbled with the way her cheek was smashed into the bed.

He was prepared with a bottle of lube next to him and he squirted a healthy dollop over her bum, pressing the slick liquid into her hole gently with one finger. His thick tip was positioned at her desperate little pussy hole and he sighed at the view. One of his fingers taking up space in her bum and his cock ready to push its way inside, “Shit, baby. I have to grab a condom,” he spoke lowly as he toyed with her opening a little more, tempting fate and allowing the smallest bit of his cock to press into her cunt.

“No! Please, Daddy… just like this. Just fuck me. Please,” she was nearly shaking as she felt his smooth crown dipping into her. She wanted him bare. Wanted to feel him rigid and unsheathed inside of her.

Harry pulled in a deep breath and moaned. It was music to his ears. He hadn’t wanted a condom with her. He was desperate to push inside without any barriers and she was giving him permission.

Plunging in the smallest bit before pulling back out, his tip was coated in her arousal, “Yeah? You want Daddy’s cock raw, baby? Want me to fill you up now? Fuck you like I was meant to?”

She tried to push herself back onto him with the bit of movement she was able to conjure and she moaned when she felt him pushing into her, but this time, he didn’t pull out as he slid his second finger into her ass and plunged his wide cock into her pussy, spreading her apart, he groaned at how absolutely sopping she was already.

Much like the first time he fingered her ass and fucked her, the tension and the tight feeling were the same, but it felt good, the pleasure blossomed and felt heavy, thick, tangible. It was as if something inside of her was becoming unfastened. But unlike last time she had a vibrating wand sending shockwaves over her body leaving goosebumps under Harry’s hand when he touched her skin.

Oh, and she was bound by her wrists and ankle so there was that too.

Harry pressed into her until his balls were flush against her body and the vibrations of the wand were making his insides nearly burst. He didn’t want to come too fast, but he had been on edge for over an hour. An hour of torture. Beginning with their steakhouse restaurant bathroom antics, to the way she licked and sucked him in the car ride and until now. And not having a condom on was going to be something to contend with. The condom helped to decrease the delicious sensations he was currently feeling with her warm, wet walls squeezing around him tightly.

Harry slowly moved out and back in, watching his prick as her pussy gripped him and sucked him in, glazing his cock in her cream, dampening his pubic hair at his base.

Y/n loved the feel of him bare inside of her. He felt harder and thicker, the friction was more intense and the idea that he was fucking her without a condom was a turn-on as well. Her breathing deepened as she felt him dip into her so far it ached. He was going in slowly but every time he bottomed out he jerked himself into her as if to make a point about what they were doing. He was being gentle, but his cock was pressing into her guts and making space for its size.

He could tell her breathing was becoming labored and louder. She was arching her back slightly more and rolling her hips the best she could. She was searching for her orgasm. It was close. The intent was to fuck her slowly until she came and shivered and wept and begged. And then he’d fuck into her until she’d calmed and finger her ass deeper and harder until she was ready for his dick.

He angled his two fingers upward and twisted slowly as he rocked his hips into her. Everything was vibrating. His cock was throbbing and aching to come as he fingered her bottom and watched as she slowly got used to the intrusion.

“You can come, baby. Come on Daddy’s cock. Let’s see it.” He urged her.

She was so close. So so so close. Her body was sweating and buzzing. Her clit was just out of reach of the toy but she knew she could come. Her clit might not have had anything touching it directly but the wand was thrumming just below it and making her button pulse and jolt.

“I wanna come! I wanna come, Daddy…” she groaned as she pinched her eyes closed and felt tears forced from her lashes.

“Then do it, little girl. Fucking come, baby,” Harry continued using his fingers and his cock on her but he had to close his eyes. The sinful scene was too much for any mortal to withstand. Harry was going to come if he kept watching. He gritted his teeth as he felt her shaking and a soft rumble fell from her mouth. Her thighs stiffened and her gentle moans and gasps turned into breathy panting and then shouts of his name as she erupted in bliss on his cock.

Harry coughed out a gasp and continued his slow thrusts as his balls tightened readying for an orgasm. But he sucked in a sharp breath and let his mind wander to another place that gave him a second wind of sorts. Something to keep him from coming prematurely. He wanted to praise her and watch as she spasmed and pulsed around him but for the sake of good sex, he had to hold back. He needed to wait to come. His priority was her. And to be able to get the chance to fuck her ass.

When her shivering thighs slowly melted and her body relaxed Harry pulled out with a gasp. Just in the nick of time. He panted as he gathered himself, his throbbing cock was wet and cooled by the air of her bedroom, “Fuck baby. Almost made me come you felt so good.”

He kept his fingers inside of her, and now she was relaxed around his fingers. With his free hand, he gathered up her arousal on his fingers and smeared it around her hole before pushing a third finger inside of her. She moaned softly and opened her eyes at the feel of the extra finger pressing into her.

Her body was spent but there was still a spark of heat and arousal there. As if she hadn’t yet been fully satisfied, despite the intense orgasm she’d just endured. The vibrating of the wand was still going strong.

Harry poured a little more lube onto her anus as he pushed into her deeply, his fingers fully submerged, fucking into her.

“How does this feel?”

Sucking air into her lungs she felt the dampness of the blanket under her mouth where she’d drooled, “So good. It’s good, Daddy.”

Harry grinned as he began to increase his steady pace to something a little harder, faster. He held onto her low back as he fucked her ass with his fingers. The lube was making it slippery and her tight hole was easing up its grip little by little.

“Want me in here? Want to feel what it’s like to have Daddy’s cock stuffed in this little hole baby?”

She did. Yes, she did. So she nodded and grunted as she tried turning her head the slightest to see him.

Harry had composed himself considerably and he felt that he could last a bit longer, not much, but he could give her a nice preview of what it was like. A good handful of minutes, five he hoped he could last.

With his fingers still inside of her, he poured more lube over her backside, pressing the liquid in and around, and kissed her cheeks softly before finally, slowly, bringing his fingers out.

Harry bent down to continue softly kissing her tush. Making her keen as he neared the sacred little, undefiled hole he planned on desecrating.

When she felt his tongue glide from her core to her ass she shuddered. His lips and tongue on her anus were warm and wet and then she felt cool liquid drip and smear over her bum.

“Keep relaxed like you are, baby. Doing so good for me. Tell me to stop if you need. I will.”

He grasped her hips and tucked his front to her bottom, holding his shaft in his hands he pushed his tip to her hole as he massaged the spot just above her anus. His cock was already covered with her arousal as he began to gently, slowly, tactfully press in.

She immediately tensed and he stopped, “You’re doing good, baby. Just relax for me. Gonna push past this little tight muscle and then it’ll feel like heaven. Okay?”

She panted and nodded. The vibrating wand keeping her aroused and loose.

It was very tight. Harry knew, though, that once he passed the entry and had her spread apart she’d like it. It would feel incredible. Her little opening was slowly relaxing into the intrusion as he nudged his way in, little by little.

It hurt. She could admit that it hurt. But not in an unpleasant, no-go kind of way. In a this’ll only hurt for a second but will be worth it in the end kind of way. She knew that he would take care of her and he was so gentle and soft with his words and his touch that she urged her own body to relax and indulge with him.

The small snap of his tip pressing past her tight ring had her popping her eyes open and groaning. The sting of it made her sinuses burn but then… oh… then it was… oh my! Heavy and achy and divine. Something flipped over from an unpleasant sting to an intense need that wound its way over her backside. Goosebumps erupted over her bottom and she was struck with a full feeling like nothing she’d ever experienced. Her breath caught in her lungs as she felt him slice into her slowly, the pinch disappearing and being replaced with something… something edible, bitable? almost. She couldn’t pinpoint the way to describe how it felt as if she should be biting into something toothsome and mouthwatering. Yummy and textural. But heavily laden with sex and wet and heat.

Harry blew out through his mouth as he slowly entered her. The wand was making everything even feel intense on his cock, “Ooh, you like that don’t you, baby girl? I knew you would. Feels so fucking good.”

Y/n was stuck with her mouth wide open and eyes clamped shut. The saturation of tactile sensation was like a craving being placated. A craving she didn’t know she had until she felt it. She couldn’t move or respond or think. She could only feel. Accept. Surrender.

Harry’s thrusts became tighter as he got into a rhythm, slow and methodical. Not wanting to push her too far, nor himself for that matter. If he could make it last just a few moments longer he would take his time so he could luxuriate in the way she felt on him and the way she looked wrapped tightly around him.

Finally, a gasp from her lips and a moan as her hands balled into fists behind her back. Harry had his fingers digging into the soft flesh on her hips, slowly thudding into her and feeling his heart thunder behind his ribcage.

Her hole began to squeeze around him and her thighs tightened and stiffened as she mouthed unintelligible words and noises into the soft blanket below her face.

Harry blinked his eyes and cooed at her when he realized she was coming. Coming from anal sex. From the wand just barely close enough to stimulate her clit and his cock inside of her.

“Holy fuck… come baby.” Harry wouldn’t come inside of her. Not yet. The sensation might be too much for her on her first time but now he struggled to hold himself back. He didn’t allow himself to look away this time, fully immersing himself in the experience of her coming from his cock reaching as deep as it could possibly go inside of her. Her breathy moans and mumbles of gratification filled the room as the bed gently rocked under his shallow thrusts.

The moment she wobbled and softened as her orgasm began to subside he pulled out as gently as humanly possible before he could come, pumping himself in long strokes, his palm now wetted with his lover’s slick as he pulled his shaft and doused her bottom and low back with his sperm.

Y/n heard him groaning in breathy ecstasy as he poured onto her bum, wet ropes of his come cooled her hot skin when the air hit the wet streaks on her backside as one of his hands clamped onto her hip. She was so close to just collapsing, but Harry’s firm grip kept her hips up.

Harry milked himself as he watched the breathtaking sight of his sweet girl’s puckering hole and drippy pussy coated in his come as it dripped down over her in a sinful font. 

She breathed slowly as she let him finish and then felt his fingers unwrapping the tape from her wrists. When her arms were free she put her palms into the mattress and Harry pulled her down to her side and removed the tape from her ankles and then from her thigh, turning the wand off once and for all. He was still breathing deeply from the exertion of his orgasm. She watched the black tape as he flung it toward the end of the bed and then laid himself behind her body, pressing his chest into her back in silence.

It was nice to be quiet for a moment. The noise of sex and labored breaths, panting, and moans, and metal springs in the bed were now only a lustful memory. But the wetness between her legs and on her back was still very much present. Though she had no mind to get up to clean herself in that moment. To bask in the silence and the soft breaths in Harry’s arms was a treasure.

Harry’s thoughts were all over the place. He’d just had raw sex with her. And anal. And she liked it. And she left her date for him. And she used to be married but her husband was dead. And he was falling for her hard. It was a lot but he welcomed it all.

He ran his fingers through her hair and the nap of her neck was sweaty like his was. She sighed as he felt his heart pounding still. Not from exertion this time but from just being next to her. Having her in his arms. Being with her.

“How do you feel?”

Y/n pried her eyes open and turned to see him from her peripheral, “So relaxed. Really good. But, in truth… it does kind of hurt a little right now. Stings a bit.”

Harry kissed her cheek and smoothed his hand down her hip and was quickly reminded of how messy they were. His come was still on her skin and he’d just smeared it down to her thigh, “Do you have Epsom salt? We can take a warm bath and let you relax a bit. It’ll help.”

Y/n decided that warm baths after sex were her new favorite thing. Well, that could have been because it was with Harry who was attentive and soft and loving. The warm water with Epsom salts did actually soothe her muscles and relaxed her body.

Harry had his head leaned against the wall with his eyes closed and Y/n pressed into his chest, snug between his thighs with the back of her head leaned on his shoulder when Harry finally spoke again, “Be my girlfriend.”

She fluttered her eyes open and pinched her brows together, “Are you asking or are you telling?”

Harry chuckled and pushed his face into her neck, puffs of his breath falling into bursts on her sensitive skin as his chest vibrated against her back, “Asking. Of course. Choice is yours.”

The small peck to the nape of her neck sent goosebumps cascading down her back and sent her heart to wallop around in her chest.

“Are you serious? Why?!”

“Well, geez! You make it seem like you’d never consider it. What’s wrong with being my girlfriend?” Harry jested.

“I just… I’m already trying to wrap my head around the fact that you even want to sleep with me. But… girlfriend?”

“Why would it be hard to believe I want to sleep with you?”

Sighing she sat upward and turned to face the naked tattooed man that sat in her tub, “I’m… well I’m not that attractive. Not on your level of attractive-“

“You’re still on that? Thought I made it clear how gorgeous you are. If anyone should be feeling that way it’s me. I’m lucky you even gave me the time of day.”

The small, surprised smile on her face slowly grew wider. She knew he liked her. She really did. But it still felt so foreign. So unlikely.

Harry’s grin softened as he dragged his gaze down to her tits. He couldn’t help himself. Her body had him boiling hot and the way she was sitting had her breasts peeking out from the water just so. When she pushed at his shoulder with a laugh to bring his attention back up to her face he pulled at her arm and brought her back into his chest, “Be my girlfriend. Please.”

.        .        .

Waking up together was even better than the first time they did it. Because now they were a couple and she was feeling things for Harry she hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time. She was also feeling a bit sore. Again. After she nodded and laughed out an ‘Okay, fine!’ when Harry asked her for the second time (or more so told her) to be his girlfriend they had sex again. But it was much softer. There was no bondage tape or vibrating wand, spanking, or pinching.

Harry laid her down on her bed and fucked into her slowly, their damp bodies slipping together, not having had the foresight to dry off before lying on her comforter. But it didn’t matter. Harry’s languid strokes filled her so perfectly and the bed shifted softly under them in rhythm with his thrusts while he brought them both to orgasm as Harry released inside of her for the first time. They stared at one another as they came. Harry had both of her hands in his, fingers slotted together and arms raised above her head, “My girlfriend. Gonna be so good to you, baby.”

Y/n sighed and gasped at the new sensation. His loving movements and the way he was looking at her, kissing her softly, with his cock deep inside, praises, and promises were all making her lose composure. She could fall in love. She definitely could.

And Harry? Well, that was his goal. He wanted her love and he wanted all of her. She was his and he was already hers. His heart was hers.

Just remembering how sensual and gentle Harry was made her heart burst. She turned her head to see Harry fast asleep still. Dark curls strewn about in a wild mess on his head. She lightly pushed his hair off of his forehead to get a better look at the sleeping beauty. Pink lips smushed into the pillow, dark lashes pressed to his skin… a true beauty.

Before even opening his eyes he spoke, “Morning.”

Y/n grinned and ran her fingers further into his hair now that she knew he was awake. She wanted some more of him. Loved what they’d done the night before. Maybe anal sex could be for another day, she would need a little break back there, but the tape on her wrists and the way she had very little control felt exhilarating. It was like deep sea diving for the first time ever and finding your true passion was marine life and the sea.

She trailed her hand down to his clavicle and traced the inked sparrows, “Did this hurt?”

Harry opened his eyes, tired and puffy as he looked at his lover who was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so to speak, “Yeah. They all hurt a bit. But it’s part of the process. Started getting tattoos when I was pretty young.”

Y/n nodded and smoothed her hand down over the butterfly and then grazed his nipples with her fingers, “You look so good with all of them. Would you get more?”

He smiled and stretched his arms overhead and then took her hand in his bringing it up to his lips, “Yes. Always thinking about what’s next. You don��t have any yourself I noticed.”

Shaking her head she spoke, “Never thought to get anything. Figured it would hurt too much.”

The sudden cheeky smirk that appeared on his face was a dead giveaway that he was about to say something that matched his expression, “Not any more than a penis in your little bum hole.”

“Oh my god, Harry!” She snorted as he laughed out through his nose, dimples making him look more innocent than he was.

“How do you feel?”

That was a question he seemed to be asking her a lot. And her answer was always the same, “I feel great.”

Keeping her eyes on his she pulled her hand from his and continued to move her hand downward so she could touch his abdomen, fit and tight with a light scattering of hair down to his happy trail. He was naked and the lower she got, the hairier he was under her fingers.

Harry licked his lips and allowed her to continue her path downward with her hand and then parted his lips, letting out a small puff of breath when her palm met his thickening prick.

“Can we go again? And then I’ll make breakfast?” She raised her brows at him as she slide her hand over him, feeling him plump up quickly under her palm.

Harry snorted a small laugh from his nostrils, “Would never say no to that.”

She was swiftly being pushed down to her back and having her thighs pushed apart as Harry positioned himself between her legs, his face kissing down her thick thighs he looked up at her, his lips moving over her skin as he spoke, “Wish I could bite into you. So perfectly plumpy and juicy,” he ran his tongue downward close to her hip before moving over to her other side, “Soft like a pillow,” he moaned as he lowered his face over her cunt.

When he spit down over her clit she groaned as she watched him begin to lick into her. It was sloppy and wet. Not only because she was already wet, but because Harry was drooling and spitting as he went. Lapping her up and spreading her out with his tongue and his fingers.

“Prettiest little pussy. Giving Daddy something to snack on so early. Such a good girl.”

Y/n rolled her eyes to the back of her head and moaned as she let herself fall back into the pillow and enjoy him. One hand worked his fingers into her while his other held her thigh and squeezed her soft skin, adding more bruises to the canvas of her flesh.

Before she could come, right before, Harry lifted his face up and removed his fingers, slowly sliding his hands up her tummy and to her breasts. Gently rolling her nipples between his fingers she gasped, “You’re so fuckable, Y/n. Your tits are begging for something to pinch at them. Can I pretty girl?”

She didn’t know what he meant exactly. She assumed he was going to pinch down harder over her but when she nodded he got up from the bed and pulled out a small stainless steel chain with tiny rubber-tipped clamps at each end her eyes widened.

She pushed herself up to sit as he sat back down next to her, “These can be adjusted so it only pinches as hard as you like. Want to try this out. Is that okay?”

She inspected the chain and clamps and felt her heart race. The man was quite kinky and who would’ve known? If he brought bondage tape and clamps in his bag she wondered what sort of things he had at home. She knew he was into a bit of BDSM, that he was dominant and enjoyed playing with her that way, but it was still somewhat of a shock because his stage persona was sweet and fun and flirty.

She looked up at him and slowly nodded, “Okay. But maybe just like gentle. At first. I’m still really sensitive.”

Harry grinned and put the clamps in her hands before bringing his large palms over her breasts and slowly massaged, “I know you’re sensitive. Which is why I think this is going to feel really good once you get past the initial bit of pain. Go on, try them on. That little knob can make it as tight or loose as you like.”

He watched as she put them on herself. He would have loved to have done the honors but he wanted her to take her time and get the right tension. When the clamps were tight enough to hold on to her nipples and the small chain was hanging down between her breasts Harry delicately pulled at the chain and brought her forward so he could kiss her.

The feel of the clamps tugging on her nipples sent a shock of ice down her body. Was she crazy to be letting this happen at… she turned her head to see the time on the clock- 8:39 am? Yes. Perhaps she was crazy.

“Don’t look at the time. We’re not punching a clock today, are we? We’re just gonna have a bit of fun and then have some breakfast.”

Y/n laughed but it was quickly cut off by his small yank, her nipples perking under the pull of the clamp.

Harry moved off the bed, his hard cock bobbing as he shifted and pulled Y/n so her bottom was at the edge of the mattress. He pulled her legs up over his thighs and painted his cock through her labia, wet and ready. The sound of him pushing her arousal around was drowned out by her moans when he pulled at the center of the chain at the same time as he entered her.

Harry’s feet were on the floor, one hand at her hip and the other on the chain as he rocked into her. He gently pulled the chain each time he pushed deep into her, her breasts being tugged upward.

“Oh my god!” She panted her words as he began to fuck into her with more muscle, his strong thighs steadying and working himself into her harder.

“Like that? So pretty like this, baby,” Harry cooed at his girlfriend as he manipulated her tits. He didn’t want to yank too hard but he loved how she clenched around each time he pulled at the chain.

“Ffuck!” Y/n did like it. She was surprised. Harry was so good at what he did, only tugging the chain and making her nipples pinch when he dipped into her achingly deep. He knew what he was doing. Trying to help her equate the pain from her nipples being wrenched up by the clamps with the pleasure of his cock gliding through her walls. Pain with pleasure. It worked. She was so wet and so desperate to come in record time that even Harry was surprised. He figured she’d enjoy it but she was fast to respond.

“Ooh! Oh, ffff! M’gonna come, Harry!!”

Harry groaned a laugh, though nothing they were doing was funny. He was only caught off guard by how fast she was being tipped over the edge.

Pulling his cock out quickly she gasped and whined, “What?! Harry?”

“How do you address me?” He raised his brows and swatted her thigh with a pop.

“Fuck!” She groaned. It was going to take some getting used to, calling him Daddy, “Sorry. I keep forgetting,” she panted, “Daddy.”

Harry lifted the chain upward slowly, pulling her tits upward as he cocked his to the side and watched her face twist up, “I think you should tighten this a little. Let’s take the training wheels off shall we?”

Y/n’s eyes widened, already feeling the discomfort of the clamps as he tugged her nipples. But just underneath that discomfort was electrostatic energy bursting in her veins that gave her a rush of arousal. In other words, she was very turned on by it and Harry could see that.

“I’m not sure I can. It’s already so tight,” she spoke in breaths.

“Well then just say you can’t and we won’t,” he countered.

She kept her eyes on his, understanding that she could say no and he’d stop. But did she want to say no? Did she think that maybe having the clamps a little tighter might feel a little more painful and be too much? Or possibly even spark something that turned her on even more?

Harry waited a bit for her to answer, knowing she was trying to determine what she wanted. This was all new to her after all.

“Do you want me to do it for you?”

Harry let go of the chain and reverently kneaded her fleshy breasts as his thumbs swiped just under her clamped nipples.

“Okay. Yes. Please. You do it. Just a little, though. I’m nervous.”

Harry grinned as he brought his gaze over her beautiful tits and started with the left side, twisting the knob to tighten the clamp little by little. He watched her face when she let out a huff of a gasp, “Okay?”

She nodded her head and looked at him, “Yeah. You can do a little more.”

Y/n was surprised that she could have the clamps any tighter than they had been, but the pinch was welcome.

Mostly.

“Okay! That’s enough!”

Harry chuckled as he released the knob and stopped twisting, “Want more on this side?”

Y/n was panting as she nodded, “Yes, just slowly- oh god…”

He began twisting the clamp to tighten slowly, her nipples being compressed under the rubber tips.

“Yes. Okay, that’s good.”

“Good girl. Now. What can I do to help you to remember the proper way to address me? Hmm?”

She was still lying flat on the mattress as Harry stood with his feet planted on the floor, his hard cock just above her, where he was inside of her only moments earlier. She swallowed and pushed herself up a bit, “Is this not enough?” She gestured over the clamps.

Harry grinned and shook his head, “I mean, I think you like it. That’s not really punishment at all is it?”

Her mouth dropped open and she looked to the corner of the room before turning her gaze back up to the naked man above her, “I don’t know.” Her voice was small suddenly.

“Well, then I’ve got an idea,” Harry spoke casually as he backed away from the bed, “You are so good at giving head and I really need to come so I’m gonna fuck your mouth while I pull at that chain. You had enough orgasms last night I think. Perhaps today you don’t get to come at all. You’re just gonna be Daddy’s little fuck toy today instead. How’s that sound?”

Sitting up fully, pressing her palms into the mattress she scrunched her brows together. No orgasm? She guessed this was part of the way he played. The way he liked to do things sometimes. And if she was going to do this with him then she figured she’d go along with it. Even though she really really wanted to come.

“Like orgasm denial?”

Harry gave her a mocking smile, “Yes. Like orgasm denial. So you learn your lesson and remember to call me Daddy.”

She nodded and stayed put in her spot, “Okay. Whatever you want, Daddy.”

“Good girl. Lie back on the bed but have your head right here at the edge so I can put your mouth to good use.” And so he could pull at the chain connected to the clamps secured to her nipples and give her a bit of pleasure. A bit of pain.

She did as she was told, scooting her body around until her head was at the edge of the bed and she could see Harry standing over her upside down.

Harry gently stroked over her neck, “I’m fuck this pretty throat until I come,” he pulled at the chain, “and tug at this while I do so.”

She groaned at the feel of her heavy breasts being lifted up by her nipples.

“If you need me to stop just pinch my thigh or something. But I expect you to be a good girl and to take your punishment nicely. Then later on if I’m feeling generous maybe I’ll let you come.”

He instructed her to open her mouth up and stick her tongue out. Harry dipped himself in past her plump lips and pulled out before thrusting in again slightly deeper, only to pull out as he watched strings of spit from her mouth stick to his cock. Holding himself at the base he tapped her lips with the crown of his prick and she tasted herself all over him. His entire shaft tasted of her, his balls and the pubic hair, coated in her arousal still.

Finally, he plunged in and pushed himself down her throat and watched it bulge with his long dick. At first, he started off slowly. Letting her get used to the sensation, pulling out a little to let her catch her breath and delicately pulling at the chain, causing her to moan around his cock in a delicious torment.

She had never had her throat fucked before. And it wasn’t what she’d call pleasant. Nor was getting her tits tugged at by the metal implement clamped to them. But his groans and choked words made her heart pound. He was enjoying the way she felt. He was using her body to get off and somehow, in some sick and twisted part of her brain, that was hot. It was so enticing to be a thing for Harry Styles to get off on. To use and to fuck and to come inside of.

The harder he went in and the more she gagged around him the more she enjoyed the feeling of the discomfort his cock caused her. The drool that dripped down her face into her ears cooled her skin and her tongue was beginning to ache from the rigid position she was holding it.

But it was the way he was tugging her nipples that sent that familiar electrostatic burst through her veins and it felt… like she could burst. She tried squeezing her thighs together and rolled her hips upward as she clamped her eyes closed and moaned around his cock. She was given a moment to take in a breath before he thrust back into her throat and he moaned, “Fucking, gorgeous, baby. Hottest woman I’ve ever seen.”

The praise had her head spinning and the arousal that was slowly building continued to flow through her core. She was unable to control the way her body responded to her nipples being painfully wrangled under the clamps.

Harry could see her clenching her thighs and swaying her hips as she moaned and gurgled. God, he’d found the perfect woman. She didn’t even know she liked any of this before him. It’s a good thing they met, he thought to himself with a smirk.

“Holy… fuck, fuck…” Harry coughed his words as his hips stuttered. He tugged the chain and watched as he manipulated her beautiful tits to his liking as his balls began to tighten. He knew he’d come fast like this. He’d already been on the verge earlier when he fucked her pussy.

He pulled himself out as he kept the chain in his hand with her breasts lifted upward. He needed a moment. He wanted to come but wanted to make it dramatic.

Releasing the chain he bent down to put his lips over hers and cooed, “So good. My little come vessel? You ready for Daddy’s load? Gonna take it like a good girl?”

Y/n groaned and raised her hips, needing something, anything. God, she was on edge but she knew her punishment was that she couldn’t come. Not yet anyway. She’d be sure to be very good and very sweet so maybe he’d let her come later. She realized she liked this a lot.

“Yes, Daddy. I’m ready.” Her words came out in a rasp.

“Open up that mouth wide,” he spoke, his face still hovering over hers as he tapped her cheeks.

She reopened her mouth and stuck her tongue out then suddenly felt his saliva slide down her tongue and into her throat, catching her off guard the slightest bit. But just as quickly as she realized that he’d spit into her mouth he was repositioning himself over her and stuffing his cock down her throat.

Harry’s gasps and moans were like music to her ears. She loved his singing voice, and the way he sounded when he was fucking her was quite the same she determined. He had a pretty voice whether he was talking, singing, or fucking.

This time, his thrusts were rough as he yanked at her nipples. Her eyes went wide at the sudden sharp pain but then the spark drove down her ribcage into her tummy and shocked her cunt with a dose of arousal she had not expected. She’d heard of women being able to come from nipple play alone and now she got it. She understood it now as her throat was being railed and air was being blocked from getting into her lungs. She moaned and rolled her hips as Harry pressed in balls deep and gritted his teeth.

She tasted the first bit of his come as he gasped and then pulled out. She gulped air into her lungs and then felt his come pour out onto her lips, her chin, and eyes, then over her neck and down to her tits that were being tugged at harshly. It hurt and it felt like heaven.

Her mouth was wide open as she sucked in oxygen and arched her back toward the pull of the clamps as Harry drained himself on her, his own loud moans overtaking any noise she might be making.

Suddenly he pressed his cock back into her throat and released the last bit of his come down her esophagus and into her belly before pulling back out and stroking his cock over her face, milking the last bit of his release over her cheeks and nose.

Her chest was heaving just as hard as his. She groaned when he let go of the chain. She thought for a moment, the smallest moment, that she would come if he continued pulling at her nipples the way he was. Her buds were sore and pulsing but the radiating pain was coupled with that pleasure that she always got when she was turned on and slippery wet.

Harry stood back and looked over Y/n’s body, “See? I’m an artist too? I can sing and I can paint,” he laughed lowly as he helped her sit up and smirked, “My canvass is beautiful, though, so it was easy to make pretty.”

She laughed and shook her head, “Wow. A real comedian.”

“I am known to crack a few good ones. My fans love my jokes.”

She gestured toward her face, “Uh, can I… ?”

Harry helped her into the bathroom to clean up. She was quite the mess. While he handed her a damp towel to wipe off he loosened the clamps slowly and pulled each one off.

She hissed once the implement was removed from her final nipple and Harry groped at her tits and licked over each nipple, giving a proper kiss over them before standing upright and clapping his hands together, “Time for breakfast!”

.        .        .

Most of the weekend was spent at her house. Harry fucked her, tied her up, clamped her nipples again (which she requested), and spanked her as she came around his cock while he had her lying flat on her tummy.

It was… fun. She had fun with him.

On Sunday afternoon they went out to the little pizzeria in town and sat in the dining room to eat the Neapolitan-style pizza they ordered.

“So, I guess now that you’re my girlfriend I should warn you, and I’m sure you know this, about what to kind of expect.”

This had her attention. She knew they needed to discuss some of the details.

“You and I will be photographed together occasionally. Sometimes it’ll be fans that catch us, sometimes the paparazzi will know where I’m at. They already know my schedule, my usual hotels, the gym I go to, things like that. And they’ll probably start to learn yours as well. You may see them yards away and not even realize it at first.”

Y/n sipped her coffee as Harry explained what she might experience with the paparazzi and his fans.

“But it will be more invasive than just that. People will find out everything they can about you. They’ll make up lies about you and me. Some straight-up wild conspiracies. They’ll be mean. Some might even reach out to you directly and threaten you.”

“Has that happened before? An ex was threatened?” She raised her brows in surprise.

Harry nodded, “Yes. Some years ago an ex was at my concert and she was cornered and we had to get security involved. So, after that, I learned that anyone I date has to have security nearby if they’re at my concert. Also, direct messages on Instagram or Twitter too. But that’s not as scary. You can limit who comments on your posts or just make your accounts private.”

Harry reached across the table and took her hand in his, “But I need you to keep trusting me. To ignore what you read and probably just don’t read it at all. It’s best to not even open up the comments section when you see photos of yourself or us anywhere.”

Just then, as if by some kind of karmic summoning, a light flashed and the sound of a cellphone's camera rang out, two, then three times. Harry put his hand up, “That’s enough. Would be polite if you asked first next time.”

The two young girls, who were actually closer to your age than anything, squeaked out a sorry! before scurrying off.

Harry pointed toward where the girls were headed, “That’s a good example right there. Taking our photos and videos without our permission while we’re at dinner. They might not share it with anyone but chances are at some point those photos will be seen. I just want you to be prepared.”

Y/n nodded and realized that now, people were looking. They hadn’t noticed before but suddenly they were aware that Harry Styles was sitting only feet away in a small pizzeria in suburbia Illinois with a woman. The girls with their forced impromptu photo op had alerted the other patrons         of his presence. She sighed.

“So, can you do that? Keep trusting me?”

She nodded again, “Yeah. I think so. I guess we’ll see how it goes but I like you a lot. I want to see where this goes.”

Harry squeezed her hand, “Good. I hope you feel I’m worth it. It’s going to get a bit bumpy but if you can ignore that sort of nonsense and noise then we’re gonna be great.”

The pizza was delicious. Y/n knew it would be. She’d eaten at the pizzeria many times and she knew she had to bring Harry before he left. They’d been doing nothing but eating delivery, having sex, taking baths, and sleeping the whole time. It was necessary to get out of her house and comb her hair once and for all and it felt good. But she did feel the grating presence of eyes on them as they ate and even when they left the restaurant together.

Back at her house, she pouted as Harry started to pack some of his things away. She wasn’t ready for their little weekend to end.

“Hey, no pouting,” Harry said as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, “I’ve got an idea.”

Tilting her head back to look up at him she raised a brow in question.

“Come back with me. To LA. We can ship all your stuff to my house and then you can come with me to Europe. I don’t want to be away from you.”

Blinking her eyes and shaking her brain of the puzzlement she continuously seemed to feel with him she smiled with her eyes wide, “Really? You want me to come with you?”

Harry shrugged with a dimpled grin, “Course I do. I need you to. Will you?”

“I mean… I can’t fly out with you tomorrow. I’ve got to get a few things to get in order but it’ll take only a few days. When do you leave for Europe?”

“Week and a half.”

“Um… Well, how about I fly out to LA a few days before you leave and… if you really want then I can come with you- but are you sure? Is that not too much?”

“I can do what I want, Y/n. This is my gig. I want you there. I need you there.”

Swallowing down her doubts and looking at his mouth and then to his eyes she felt nothing but excitement in her bones as she nodded, “Okay. I’ll go with you to Europe.”

Chapter 4

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[bradsmindbrain]

So (at least according to the wiki page) Jack has a sister Lissa whos also a werewolf. Maybe him inviting her over to meet Ted, since he's now married?

Familia

Summary: Jack and Ted are visited by someone neither of them quite expect.

TW: None

It was lunchtime when Ted heard Jack’s doorbell ring. It was a nice meal, some chicken empanadas ack had made for the two of them, and as always, Jack’s cooking was delicious. He watched Jack’s head perk up when he heard the ring, obviously confused. Jack hadn’t said anything about guests coming over today, so this was very puzzling indeed. Jack took one last bite out of his empanada before gesturing for him to get out of sight. He complied, ducking into the laundry room as Jack made his way to the front door.

He heard Jack give a surprised gasp when he opened the door, “Lissa!” 

Lissa? He tried to recall where Jack had brought that name up from before. It took a moment, but then he quickly recalled that Lissa was the name of his younger sister. Jack never talked about his family all that much, and he knew better than to pry about the topic, but Jack had often talked fondly about Lissa, and how much fun they had together when they were younger.

He remembered Jack saying that Lissa knew about his condition, hell, she also had it, so there was no reason for him to be hiding. 

“Come on in,” he heard Jack say.

“Nice place you have here,” he heard Lissa say, hee voice much like her brother’s, cheerful, comforting, warm.

He peeked out the door to get a look at her and he had to admit, she was very pretty. He could immediately tell she was related to Jack, with her shoulder-length brown hair, tan skin, and moss-green eyes, but she looked a bit younger than him. He watched as Jack led her into the kitchen, a smile on his face, “My apologies for not getting anything ready, la hermana, your visit really caught me off-guard.”

“It’s fine Jack, I would’ve called, but I wanted my visit to be a surprise,” Lissa replied. “Who were you eating with anyway?”

He practically heard Jack smile, “My husband, Ted.”

Lissa laughed, “Well where is the lucky bastard?”

He figured he’d show himself now, opening the door with a creak and stepping out. He made his way into the kitchen, standing behind Lissa before grumbling.

She turned around and practically jumped a foot into the air when she saw him. Jack gave a small laugh, “He says, “Hello.””

After a moment, Lissa laughed, “I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you.”

Jack rolled his eyes, “Ha, ha, very funny Lissa. At least I have a husband.” 

“Wow, Jacob, that was really uncalled for,” Lissa responded.

Ted practically snickered, Jacob? He had always assumed that Jack was short for something; but never once had he considered that it was short for Jacob. He grumbled with amusement.

Jack looked at him, “Yes, it’s short for Jacob, Teddy Bear, it’s not that funny.”

Lissa snickered, “You deciding to shorten it to Jack when you didn’t know that a Jack Russell is a breed of dog on the other hand is pretty funny.”

He gave a rumbling laugh, giving Jack a gentle shove.

His husband looked at him with mock offense, “Really, Theodore? You’re taking her side?”

He rolled his eyes, grumbling back in response.

Lissa smiled, “Regardless, I’m happy for you, Jack. It’s nice to know there’s someone looking out for you.”

Jack turned her attention back to Lissa, “Thanks, Lissa, it’s nice to hear that.”

He grumbled, looking at Jack.

His husband grinned at him, “Ted says thank you as well.”

Lissa grinned, “So how did you two meet, and what’s his story?”

Jack grinned, “Well, a little over a decade ago I was hunting a particularly nasty beast in the Everglades. He was a lot tougher than I thought, but Ted here rescued me and incinerated it.”

Lissa cocked an eyebrow, leading Jack to clarify, “Uh, he senses people’s emotions, and when he senses fear he creates this acid that burns people. His emotion sense is also how I can talk with him, I’ve been with him so long it’s created this… I dunno, telepathic bond.”

She nodded, “That makes sense, I guess, but where did he come from?”

He looked at Jack, prompting his husband to respond, “I think it’s best if he tells you once he establishes a bond with you, it’s kinda a touchy subject for him, but he was a human.”

Lissa nodded before trying to change the subject, “So do you have any empanadas left or?”

Jack shook his head, taking his off his plate and taking a bite, “I can make you some, can’t guarantee they’ll be as good as mom’s though.”

He watched as Jack finished off his empanada before heading back to prepare some for Lissa. He had to admit, it was nice to finally meet his sister-in-law, and he was glad she accepted him. He trilled as he watched Jack cook. God, he was so lucky to marry into such a nice family.

[sofipitch]

3 14 18 19 and a special personal question, do you prefer to read physical books or like ebooks and stuff? Hope you’re doing well 🖤

3. What is your favorite genre?

That is kind of a hard question bc I do read a lot of genre stuff like horror or historical but when you think of the big names, like Stephen King and Dean Koontz for horror, that's not really what I like. According to Storygraph my highest genre is fantasy but I hate high fantasy. So probably horror, historical, or fantasy but like usually the less hardcore versions of that genre if that makes sense

14. Do you ever mark/dog ear books you own?

Yes, I was taught to dog ear to save my place by my mom and I literally never knew it was a thing ppl hated until like high school. And it's just a piece of paper... I also will dog ear a library book (not write in tho) and I like seeing creases where other ppl have dog eared. I think it shows love. I also crack spines on hardcover and paperbacks. It's my book and I would like my hand not to hurt when holding it. The book I'm currently reading I got from a used bookstore and was in kind of rough condition and I dropped it and it split in half, it's currently taped back together, I think it looks cute.

18. Do you like historical books? If so what period?

Yes! I love historical fiction, I learn things and am entertained. I will read any time period except WW2. That time period is incredibly overused in the USA bc "we were the good guys!" It's often a propaganda machine and has extremely oversaturated the historical fiction section

19. Most disliked popular books?

Oh boy. This actually just came up at dinner so The Poppy War I don't think I can go into everything I hated in a reasonable amount of time so: bad politics and trauma porn. It also has a TON of overused tropes to the point I predicted a lot of the plot ahead of time. A Little Life, also trauma porn. A Thousand Ships, literally the worst Greek myth retellings. The whole thing is supposed to be feminist and will rub your nose in it too, not subtle, yet it still mostly summarizes myths about the male characters in a boring way. I don't think saying "hey the women deserve more attention!" And then not doing that makes sense. Also bad opinions on Helen, again #feminist yet enjoys slut shaming 🤔

For VC books, everyone knows I don't like books 4-10, however I have not read a lot of the worst offenders. So out of the ones I have read, Pandora and Blood Communion. Blood Communion had like 0 plot and what it has hinges on Lestat acting INCREDIBLY OOC. Pandora I was SO disappointed in. I liked her in QOTD so I thought I might enjoy her book, she is a 2 thousand year old vampire, this should be epic right? No it is extremely limited and only focuses on the part of her life involving Marius, basically anything that does not involve him is not included, like HUGE time skips. Even when we meet Pandora at age 30 before she was turned she had been previously married and we hear nothing of that. After her big fight with Marius when he abandons her, her life is just summarized in a few pages, saying she lived for thousands of years depressed bc of this one guy. Girl, get over him. Also I mentioned how I love historical fiction, Pandora not only has like accuracy issues but she doesn't experience a lot of events herself, she will summarize important events like gossip/AR reading a Wikipedia page. To me the appeal of historical fiction is to feel like you are actually there experiencing the event. Pandora telling me some previous emperor drama when she never interacts with them is not it. It was SUCH a huge let down and did not pass the Sofi Feminism test

Do you prefer to read physical books or ebooks?

If I read with my eyes I prefer a physical book, I like that I don't have to worry about charge or internet. I'm also just used to it, having to scroll on a page feels weird. I also accidentally tap and turn pages when I didn't mean to a lot

Thank you for your questions, this was a lot of fun 💗💗

[mrsjavymachado]

“scare me like that again and we’re getting a divorce” (ice recounting the many times he’s been called to a hospital or waiting to find out if mav is alive)

fact: tom “iceman” kazansky and pete “maverick” mitchell are two of the best naval aviators of their generation. also fact: maverick is a fool who gets injured often.

ever since the mission and their subsequent partnership ice and mav have been spending a lot of time together, and ice’s crush on mav went from kinda there to wanting to put mav up against any solid surface and show him a good time but also get to married and have kids?? (ice isn’t really sure but all he knows is that he’s ass over tits for his wingman and he’s certain he has no chance because while he knows mav will flirt with anyone with a pulse, he also knows that mav doesn’t date)

anyways, all their feelings came spilling out the first time he’d gotten a phone call out of the blue from a hospital. mav had been on his way to ice’s place from base on his motorcycle when some guy ran a red light and hit him dead on, luckily he wasn’t going too fast, but still, the force from the impact threw mav off his bike (and totaled it in the process) and he ended up in the street bleeding and bruised within an inch of his life. the guy hopped out his car and frantically dialed 911, then had a mini melt down when he saw mav’s dog tags and realized he’d hit someone in the fucking military. paramedics got on scene fairly quickly and took mav to the hospital and rushed mav to the nearest hospital.

now cut to ice pacing in his living room because mav was supposed to be at his house 30 minutes ago and the short ride from base to his apartment was only 10 minutes and mav hadn’t told ice about any detours when the phone rang. “kazansky” ice had said as he rushed to pick it up, hoping it was mav (it wasn’t) “hello, this is natalie with western centre medical. im calling because you’re listed as an emergency contact for a lt. pete mitchell.” and all ice could do was breathe out a soft, “fuck.”

he’d listened as natalie rattled on about the accident and pete’s conditions and ice had assured her that he’d be there in 10 minutes. (the hospital was 20 minutes away) arriving and getting inside as fast as possible, he must’ve looked like a wreck because the nurse sitting at the desk quietly showed him the way to maverick’s room after he’d all but demanded to know where he was.

going inside he found mav, his wingman, laying in bed with a shattered collar bone, a nasty gash along his forehead, two broken ribs and a fractured wrist. walking into the room ice sat down heavily in the chair next to him as mav (who just had gotten out of surgery and really shouldn’t have been awake) turned to him, surprised, “ice? what are you doing here?” and while tom knew that maverick was an idiot, but he didn’t know the man was that much of an idiot. “what am i doing here? pete they called me and told me you were in an accident. you’d almost died, and you’re asking me what im doing here? im here for you, sweetheart. why did you think i wouldn’t be here, you’re my wingman.” and ice could see something in mavericks eyes that made him pause, leaning forward he cupped mavericks jaw in one hand, “pete, listen. i know you don’t think people care about you but they do, i do. i care about you so much, and i was so scared that i’d lost you before i could’ve even had you.” and mav, who’d leaned into ice’s hand, eyes wide as he heard his name on ice’s lips, just looked confused. “but you do have me? im your wingman.” and ice chucked dryly as he pressed a small kiss to the top of mav’s head, leaving the other pilot blushing, “i want you as more than my wingman, pete. i want you, in every way you’ll have me. im in love with you mitchell, i have been for a while now.” kiss mav gave him in response just seems to make everything fall into place. “i- i have always wanted you ice, even during top gun, there’s no one else i’d rather be with.” and ice smiled as he felt mav pull him into another blinding kiss.

eventually, once their able to let eachother go, ice asks why mav always seemed off when ice would ask him if he was going to ever settle down with someone and mav responded that he’d always been so touchy at the subject because he’d wanted to date ICE made him feel admittedly a little stupid, but that was a the start a long, beautiful relationship between the two of them. (mav enjoyed ice playing nurse after they got home and ice nearly had a conniption because mav wanted to be up in the air three days after he was released)

unfortunately, the calls never stopped and mav was never quite able to quit being himself (dangerous). so ice was no stranger to waking up in the middle of the night, or being pulled out of meetings because mav ended up in another hospital bed. (ice swears mav’s broken jsut about every bone there is to break but mav says he’s just dramatic) oncce bradley had started staying over at their house more, he too was no stranger to mav’s spontaneous bouts of recklessness. from broken bones to dehydration they’d both swear maverick was either invincible (bradley) or incredibly fucking lucky (ice).

nevertheless one of the worst times ice can remember was a random tuesday. bradley and ice were both at home, with bradley in the living room playing video games and ice on the kitchen working

on dinner. maverick was supposed to be home in about an hour when the phone rang, “hey baby goose, get that for me?" "yeah uncle ice, i got it.”

"hello?" said bradley innocently, "hello, i need to speak with admiral kazansky, is he home?" and bradley knew it was never a good call when people started pulling rank, so bradley muttered a quick , “hold on.” before running to give ice the phone, "their asking to speak to admiral kazansky,” was all bradley needed to say for ice to nod, taking the phone, “kazansky." the officer on the other side of the phone made quick work of his call.

maverick was running a test on an experimental plane, and it went up in flames suddenly. there was no parachute sighting and it had been 2 hours since search and rescue came up empty handed. “oh my god." was all ice could muster as he sagged against the counter and bradley, who'd been waiting the whole time jumped, “uncle ice!" and ice just held a hand up to bradley before telling the officer to keep him informed and hung up the phone.

ice tried to process the fact that this husband, his pete, bradley's father, had been missing for two hours, there was an explosion, no parachute and nothing insearch and rescue. ice felt sick. he was all to familiar with what this looked like and he wasn't prepared to loose his husband, he wasn't. there's no way and oh god— bradley. he'd be destroyed.

ice was spiraling and he knew it, but he also knew that he had to keep it together for the young boy infront of him looking at him with concern in his

my eyes. clearing his throat, ice moved to stand up, pulling bradley to him, looking him in the eyes. "bradley, maverick's missing.”

explaining to your godson (step-godson?) that his father (because ice knew that while mav tried to deny it, bradley was his kid— their kid, and had been for a while now) was missing and how grave the situation looked was the hardest thing ice has

ever had to do. pulling bradley in the rest of the way he felt him sob into his arms and ice was right there with him with tears falling pouring down his face.

the next few ours were devastating, to say the least. ice had talked bradley out of at least 3 different panic attacks and had held him when he passed out, tears on his face as he curled into ice's chest.

once bradley had fallen asleep ice had sobbed quietly thinking about his husband. how'd he'd never get to wake up to mav groaning at the time and curling back into ice asking for “five more minutes hun.” he'd never get a chance to see their next wedding anniversary or see bradley graduate from high school. there was so much ice still wanted to do with mav, but as he started spiraling again he remembered what he'd told bradley. "pete is as stubborn as he is a great pilot, he'll come back to us.”

tom was counting on his husband to come back because he honestly doesn't know if he's strong enough to handle both himself and bradley if mav was really dead.

hours and passed and it was well into the early hours of the day when the phone rang, starling bradley and ice awake and they both stared at each other as ice steeled himself to answer the phone, “kazansky."

they'd found maverick. they'd found him but he wasn't looking good. bruised to all hell. several broken bones and fractures, probably a concussion, a nasty laceration on his neck from where his parachute chocked him and a stab wound in his lower right abdomen where he'd been impaled by a tree branch. ice breathed in deeply trying to calm himself and asked where may was going to be hospitalized.

after he'd wrapped up the conversation he turned to bradley, tears shinning in his eyes. “they found him alive, but he's not out of the woods yet. grab a bag with some clothes for the next week." and bradley nodded quickly before running off and doing just that.

as ice made his own bag and met bradley outside in his truck, bradley demanded that ice tell him all that was wrong with may but ice just shook his head, “not this time bradley, when we get there you'll know. just understand that it's bad, okay?"

and bradley could do nothing more than nod and hold back is tears as he looked at his uncle ice. iceman and maverick, tom and pete, they’d been there for bradley for years— they were his dads and bradley had always thought that they were invincible, but he’s older now, he knows better. he’s lost his mom and his dad and he’s so scared that he’ll lose mav too so he turns to ice and says as much, and he feels ice pull him into a side hug and press a kiss to the top of his head, “i am too baby goose, i’m so scared of loosing pete, but i know he’s strong and i know he’ll pull through. you have to have faith in him, okay?”

ice and braldey drive for hours and hours as they reach the hospital that mav is being held in. he grabs their bags and walks in and he’s met with superior officers and young lieutenants alike, they all snap to attention at the sight of him. ice just waves his hand, “at ease, i’m not here as an admiral, i’m here for the same reason you are, to make sure that maverick makes it out of this okay, so can anyone tell me what i’ve missed?”

a man that i’ve recognized as mav’s CO, steps forward with a nurse and let’s them both know what’s going on— maverick’s out of surgery. he lost a lot of blood in the hours it took them to find him and get him to help. he’d broken 4 ribs and shattered his left ankle, he was burned and bruised all along his back, suffered serve smoke inhalation, and a bruised throat from the string of the parachute around his neck, along with a severe concussion but they’re expecting him to make a recovery.”

ice held onto bradley as he felt the boy stiffen in his arms. they’d both known that mav was going to be badly hurt, hell ice had heard most of these from the initial call they gave to tell him that his husband was alive, but hearing it all listed out? that was a different story. cleaning his throat, ice looked at the officer, “when can i see him?”

ice held onto a shaking bradley as they were brought to mav’s room. opening the door, ice dropped their bags on the floor beside a couch and walked over to maverick, his maverick m, laying on the bed looking so small. he had an oxygen mask on a if possible, looked so much worse than the picture in ice’s head when the nurse was describing his injuries. pete was always so much larger than life, bigger than his small frame, but here just looked like a man.

bradley’s chocked out sob of, “dad,” brought ice back from where he was as he turned to hold their son in his arms again. this couldn’t have been easy for bradley, hell, it wasn’t easy for ice either, “he’ll be okay, he’s alive, he’s gonna wake up and then we can yell at him for being stupid, okay?” and it got bradley to laugh shakily as he held onto mav’s bruised hand.

the next few days were a blur of waiting for mav to wake up and speaking his hospital staff about his condition. he was doing fine, thankfully, pulling through and expected miraculously to make a full recover but it wasn’t going to be easy. intense muscle spasms in his back were expected, along with months of physical therapy, trouble eating, confusion, maybe even memory loss and just overall aches and pains. it was going to be a while before maverick could even think about being up in the air, but doctors were certain that mav would bounce back if he worked hard at his recovery and had a great support system, both of which ice and bradley eagerly reassured the doctors that he would.

on the fourth day of them being in the hospital mav had woken up. doctor’s rushed around him making sure he was as physically okay as he could be, and poked and prodded until they felt like he was alright to take off his oxygen mask, and then felt the three of them in mav’s hospital room to catch up. “h-hey tom, hey bradley.” was the only thing pete got out before bradley was across the room in tears sobbing on mav’s chest, and ice was right there behind him. “we- we thought you died, thought i was never- never gonna see you again. you’re my dad, i can’t loose you!” bradley’s speech was miffed by his tears and mav’s hospital gown but he got the gist of it and kissed bradley’s head, holding his as close as he could with a wince, “i’m not going anywhere okay? i love you, both of you,” he said looking up at ice and tearing up at the sight of his husband and kid, “it’s gonna take more than this to get rid of me.”

bradley nodded as he curled up on mav’s chest as best he could, mindful of his injuries and finally spelt, mav kept one hand on his back, as he felt bradley start to calm down and sleep. “he’s been sick with worry for the past few days, this is probably the best he’s slept since they told us.” ice had said as he sat on the edge of mav’s bed, a hand on his cheek, feeling a vague sense of deja-vu.

“mav— pete.”

“i know.”

“no, pete, you don’t, this time wasn’t like the others, i-i don’t know what i would’ve done with myself, with bradley! we were so scared—“

mav put his free hand on ice’s chest, and instinctively, ice leaned down to let mav kiss him, letting the tears flow freely down both of their faces, “when the engine blew up and the parachute was choking me before i blacked out, all i could think of you and bradley. how i’d never get to see you both again, never get to kiss you again, never get to finish seeing bradley grow up. it was awful, but it doesn’t matter now. im okay, i’ll be okay, and im gonna get through this because i have you both with me. that’s all i need.”

ice sighed as he wiped his tears and kissed maverick again, slowly, pouring all the he hand into the kiss, mindful of the sleeping bradshaw on ice’s chest, “scare me like that again and we’re getting a divorce.”

and maverick could only laugh, “okay ice, i promise i wont.”

maverick, the liar, did not in fact stick to his promise and was back in a hospital bed a less than a year later. (bradley was very amused and ice was not, but he still drove the both of them to the hospital, grumbling the whole way there about idiot husbands and enabling kids)

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: WWX is one of JGS's bastard sons, raised by his mother and her husband - until they die when he's young. Then he gets taken into the Jin sect instead of the Jiang.

Right Hand Man - ao3

It was a bad day.

All the days were a little bad, but this one was especially bad.

“He’s Cangse Sanren’s child,” Jin Zixuan’s father said, tapping his fan against his palm so that he would look more like a scholar. Secretly, shamefully, Jin Zixuan thought that it didn’t really work – he just looked like one of those scoundrels that tried to pay for their meals with calligraphy instead of pennies. “Taking him in will show our strength.”

“You dare bring one of your bastard children here,” Jin Zixuan’s mother said, “and I will drown A-Xuan myself rather than let him suffer through the shame of it.”

Jin Zixuan shivered. No matter how many times he heard his mother say that in her cold and vicious voice, he never got used to it. She’d explained to him that it was the only thing that might work on his father – the fear of losing face like that, of shaming his ancestors, of cutting off his legitimate line – and she was his mother so of course Jin Zixuan believed her, but sometimes when she said it like that he thought she might really go ahead and do it.

“It’s the immortal mountain,” his father argued, ignoring the threat. “The perceived connection is only to our benefit…and anyway, he wouldn’t be legitimized or anything. Legally, his father is that Wei Changze – I could even bring the boy in as a servant if that pleased you more!”

“Nothing you say or do will ever please me,” she said, and that’s when she started throwing things and he started shouting and Jin Zixuan waited until they weren’t paying any attention to him before slipping out.

They’d make a decision one way or another.

It didn’t have anything to do with him.

-

Wei Wuxian was nominally brought in as a guest disciple, but everyone knew he was really a servant.

Jin Zixuan’s mother made sure everyone knew.

Despite this, Wei Wuxian smiled at everyone, seeming as carefree as a butterfly. It didn’t seem to bother him when he wasn’t allowed to wear sparks amidst snow, or even the usual gold of the guest disciples – Jin Zixuan’s mother said that it was better that he wear plain colors, like white or black, to represent his father and mother and show the world that he hadn’t forgotten his filial piety. It didn’t seem to bother him that he had to room with the other servants, or that he wasn’t invited to dinner at the same time as the rest of them, or that he got less training time –

Whatever it was, it didn’t bother him.

It bothered Jin Zixuan, though.

He started having the old nightmares again – the ones where his mother belatedly found out that he’d been swapped in the cradle for another bastard child of Jin Guangshan, and started treating him just the way she treated all the rest of them while praising some other boy up to the heavens – and his temperament, never considered especially good, got worse due to lack of sleep.

“Go talk to him,” Mianmian suggested. “Maybe if you see he’s reallynot bothered by it…”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s not bothered,” Jin Zixuan muttered. “It’s that I would be bothered if I were him.”

She didn’t understand, of course. Most people didn’t.

They couldn’t understand why Jin Zixuan was so bothered by the knowledge that his parents’ love was conditional on his bloodline and legitimacy – after all, he was the beneficiary of that bias, wasn’t he? What did it matter to him if they were cold to others?

Jin Zixuan didn’t know how to explain that the problem was in knowing that their love was conditional.

It didn’t help that Wei Wuxian was excelling despite all his disadvantages – all their teachers praised him in private, or else when they thought that no one surnamed Jin was listening. All of his mother’s dark speculations about what his father would do if ever there was a bastard child brought back that turned out to be even more talented than he was rang in Jin Zixuan’s ears, and he couldn’t help but look at Wei Wuxian, and wonder if this was it, this was the moment, if he was finally going to be replaced…but no, that would never happen. He was the one with the right blood.

It didn’t matter if he wasn’t actually the best.

Nothing he did in life mattered, really. Nothing had ever mattered since the day he’d been born from the right womb.

“He’s actually really nice,” Mianmian said, and Jin Zixuan looked up, wondering what she was talking about, only to blanch when he realized that she was talking to Wei Wuxian. “Just shy, that’s all –”

“Mianmian!” Jin Zixuan hissed, rushing over, horrified. “He can’t be here! If my mother finds out –”

“Is that what you’re afraid of?” Wei Wuxian asked, his face brightening. “I thought you just didn’t like me!”

“I don’t know you,” Jin Zixuan said. “How could I dislike you? But really, my mother –”

“We can be friends!” Wei Wuxian declared, and Jin Zixuan was rendered immediately mute. What exactly could he say to that?

He wanted to be friends, too.

-

His mother found out, because she always found out, and when she did, she threatened to feed Wei Wuxian to the dogs.

It turned out that Wei Wuxian was scared of dogs, something Jin Zixuan’s mother had figured out pretty quickly. That wasn’t a surprise – she knew best how to find people’s weaknesses, and also how to use them. Looking at Wei Wuxian’s sickly pale face, it was clear to Jin Zixuan that this wasn’t the first time dogs had appeared in one of his mother’s punishment, although this was clearly more severe than in the past.

“It was my idea,” he lied, acting on impulse. “Mother, I want him to be my personal servant.”

“Ridiculous,” she scoffed.

“Why is it ridiculous?” he asked. “Wouldn’t the contrast between us only be magnified that way?”

She pursed her lips, but that wasn’t a ‘no’.

Seeing a possible waver, Jin Zixuan decided to trade away one of the very few point on which he and his mother had long disagree.

“He’s charming,” he said. “He can help me woo the Jiang sect girl.”

His mother knew him well enough to know that he was trying to manipulate her, but he also knew that she liked it when he did that. Men were supposed to be upright, straightforward, and virtuous, and yet she liked to see him being subtle and sly – it reminded her of herself. It made her feel like he was more her blood than his father’s, even though in actuality those traits could very well be his father’s, too.

Unfortunately, sneakiness wasn’t really in Jin Zixuan’s nature. Comparing his straightforward and even a little stupid self to his clever and cunning parents, he didn’t know who he took after – it was part of the reason he had so many nightmares about being some cuckoo’s child left in the Jin sect’s nest.

“Fine,” his mother said at last. “He gets one shot.”

Later, when she’d swept off, an empress with her retinue, Mianmian looked at Jin Zixuan with wide eyes. “But Jin-gongzi,” she said. “You don’t wantto marry the Jiang sect girl.”

“I’ve never met her,” Jin Zixuan hedged, which was also true but a little vaguer. He didn’t want to marry a girl he’d never met, one who was several years his elder and who had been described to him only as ‘nice’ and ‘average at best’, just because her mother was his mother’s old friend. He didn’t want his marriage to be yet another thing he had to do because he was someone’s child, rather than his own man.

He wasn’t going to get a choice, though, no matter what he did, just as always. Might as well use it for something good.

Wei Wuxian crashed into him a moment later, clutching him so tightly that it hurt.

“I’ll pay you back,” he promised, his voice tight. “I’ll make it up to you. I’ll be your best friend ever!”

“That’s good enough,” Jin Zixuan said, his face suddenly hot. “There doesn’t need to be anything more.”

-

Wei Wuxian really was very charming when they went to visit the Lotus Pier, far more charming than Jin Zixuan ever was or would be, and his future bride seemed positively enchanted by him, which was probably a bad thing.

Jin Zixuan felt he should probably do something about it, but he didn’t know what, so he just snuck off and went to go dip his feet into the river, something he almost never got the chance to go while at home.

“I’m sorry,” the Jiang sect heir, Jiang Cheng, said, sitting gingerly next to him.

Jin Zixuan looked at him sidelong, a little surprised. He’d thought that Jiang Cheng hated him. “What for?”

“My sister. Your half-brother.” Jiang Cheng looked uncomfortable. “I can’t even imagine growing up with someone who’d flirt with the person I was engaged to.”

Jin Zixuan thought it over, then shook his head. “I don’t think he likes her like that. Or her him, either,” he said, since it seemed like Jiang Cheng had misunderstood both Wei Wuxian and his own sister. “Wei Wuxian’s just – like that,” he added. “Always. Everyone loves him unless they’re specifically told not to.”

“That’s worse.” Jiang Cheng wrinkled his nose. “He’s the ‘other person’s child’ here, you know. My father really liked his parents – he’s always talking about him. My mother says he wishes he were his son, instead of your father’s.”

“Now that sounds awful.” Probably better for Wei Wuxian, though. Jiang Fengmian would probably treat him like a real son, not the way Jin Guangshan did, like a pawn or a liability or a bastard brought in just for his possible connections – but it would probably be much worse for Jiang Cheng, who’d have to live with that happening right in front of him. It seemed mean to wish for such a thing. “He’s actually pretty nice? We’re friends. I asked him to help me make friends with your sister…I’m not really good at making friends, when it’s just me.”

He hadn’t expected them to hit it off that well, though. At least to Jin Zixuan’s eyes, they’d clearly all but adopted each other as brother and sister the moment they laid eyes on each other…which in his opinion was actually a little bit worse, since he felt like he himself was still painfully trying to figure out what being a sibling was like, and maybe failing at it.

And in all honesty, he felt a little resentful at Wei Wuxian for being picked, too – or was it a little bereft? No one ever picked him just because they wanted to; it was all because of who he was.

Who his parents were.

“I can be your friend, too, if you like,” Jiang Cheng said. He was scowling into the distance. “A better one.”

“Uh,” Jin Zixuan said, startled. “Don’t you – not like me?”

“We’re friends now,” Jiang Cheng scowled at him. “Deal with it!”

-

Jin Zixuan liked Wei Wuxian a lot, and he liked Jiang Cheng, too, and Nie Huaisang, who he’d just met, fit in with the two of them as if they were three peas in a pod, so he guessed he must like him, too – but if those three endlessly chattering idiots didn’t shut up and let him study he was going to throw himself off some cliff in Gusu and be done with it.

“You really don’t mind me sitting here?” he asked Lan Wangji, who nodded.

Nodded and did not respond verbally – blissful silence!

Still, Jin Zixuan lingered a bit by the door to the peaceful little pavilion he’d found and thought to claim for himself as a secret study place – necessary on account of the fact that Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Nie Huaisang spent all their free time together making trouble instead of studying, because Wei Wuxian just did that to people, winning them over despite themselves and then leading them into mischief – only to learn that it belonged to Lan Wangji. It was filled with gentians, which were more Jiang Cheng’s color than Jin Zixuan’s, but Jin Zixuan had seen enough peonies for a lifetime and needed the concealment besides.

It was very kind of Lan Wangji to let him stay, but he still felt he ought to apologize.

And not just for the intrusion.

Wei Wuxian’s ignominious departure from Lan Qiren’s classroom had made it much more peaceful, but that had come at a cost to Lan Wangji’s own education and opportunity to make friends with others – and while Jin Zixuan liked Wei Wuxian a great deal, he wasn’t sure how Lan Wangji felt about being stuck having to monitor him all day.

And now Lan Wangji was being nice to Jin Zixuan, letting him disturb his privacy like this without complaint, and even agreeing to let him stay so that he’d have somewhere quiet to study…he really ought to say something. Maybe apologize for Wei Wuxian, if that was appropriate. It probably was: he was responsible for him, in his own way. The only problem was that he wasn’t sure how to start the conversation –

“Do you like Wei Wuxian?” he blurted out, then felt his face go bright red. He hadn’t meant to ask it that way! After all, who didn’t know how much Lan Wangji disliked Wei Wuxian? He was always glaring at him and saying he was speaking nonsense and telling him to get lost and –

Lan Wangji nodded.

Jin Zixuan blinked. He did? But then why –

“Oh,” he said, suddenly realizing. “You’re socially awkward, too!”

Lan Wangji frowned at him, and Jin Zixuan waved his hands.

“No, no, I don’t mean that as an insult,” he said hastily, trying to cover for his blunder. “It’s like me! I always say the wrong thing, so most of the time I try not to say anything – of course people always get the wrong idea anyway, thinking I’m being quiet because I’m looking down at them…Wei Wuxian’s getting better at understanding people, but he’s still not very good at it, either. I bet he has no idea! If you like him, you should say as much.”

Lan Wangji shook his head.

“…I could say it for you, if you want?”

Even more urgent head-shaking.

Honestly, if Lan Wangji were a woman, Jin Zixuan would’ve thought that he had a crush.

As it was, he was probably just like Jin Zixuan: naturally awkward, and shy about it, too.

“It’s all right,” he said encouragingly. “Next time they throw a party, you can come and sit with me; we can have tea and pretend not to know them. It’s what I always do.”

Lan Wangji stared at him for a long moment, and then finally nodded very slowly.

“I appreciate the offer,” he said, voice neutral. “Thank you.”

-

When the time came and the Wen sect pushed things too far, naturally Jin Zixuan stood up for Mianmian.

Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Lan Wangji all did, too.

Naturally, this made Jin Zixuan feel like complete crap on their account – Mianmian was his friend, his sect, and naturally he had a responsibility towards her; the rest of them were just helping because they were good people, and good friends. But at this point they’d done it, and Wen Chao was angry at them all over it, and there was nothing to be done about it.

And then there was the Xuanwu of Slaughter, and they were all trapped inside with it.

Sometimes, he really hated the Wen sect. Often, even.

“Jiang Cheng, you and Jin Zixuan lead the way out,” Wei Wuxian instructed. “No, don’t protest! You’re heirs of Great Sects; everyone will follow you and listen to you, and that’s critical – you’ll need to evade the Wen sect’s efforts to recapture you. That means cohesion, and cohesion means hierarchy. I’ll stay behind to distract the Xuanwu…”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Jiang Cheng exclaimed.

Jin Zixuan nudged him. “Wei Wuxian’s usually right about this sort of thing,” he reminded him. It was a good thing they’d gotten over that period in their lives when Jiang Cheng thought Wei Wuxian was an evil thief who wanted to take away his older sister and Jin Zixuan’s rightful spouse, when they’d fought all the time while Jin Zixuan desperately tried to get between them. He still had no idea what magic alchemy had happened that had suddenly made them best friends – he suspected Mianmian, or maybe Jiang Yanli – but he was deeply grateful for it. “And we can’t risk the majority. Preserve human life above all else, remember? Teacher Lan’s lessons were very clear.”

“I will remain with Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, to no one’s surprise. They’d been more or less inseparable after Jin Zixuan had recruited Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang to help them get along better after Wei Wuxian’s temporary exile to the Library Pavilion had ended. It helped that Lan Qiren had pulled Wei Wuxian aside for personal lessons to help him catch up with the rest of them, and that those had somehow metamorphosed into afternoon sessions about inventing new types of musical cultivation techniques in which Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were the most enthusiastic, and only, students.

Best of all, it had given the rest of them a chance to finally actually do their work.

Well, not Nie Huaisang, but that was only to be expected.

“But your leg –” Wei Wuxian started, and Jin Zixuan nudged him.

“He’ll only be more worried if you don’t let him stay back and join you,” he said reasonably. “Anyway, it’s good for you to have an incentive not to detour into some big flashy heroic bullshit.”

“Awww, but Jin Zixuan, I like big flashy heroic bullshit!”

Jin Zixuan was, by this point, almost entirely convinced that Wei Wuxian actually was the biological child of Wei Changze, and that his father had lied, both about the man’s supposed infertility and possibly about having slept with Cangse Sanren at all. From Jiang Cheng’s stories, inherited from his father, it seemed that Wei Changze was also the sort of person who went in for big flashy heroic bullshit and reckless humor, the sort that would win him a disciple of an immortal mountain as a bride; it certainly seemed more likely than him sharing blood with Jin Zixuan or his father or even Jin Zixun, all of whom tended towards arrogance, but whose flash was all in their clothing.

Not that it mattered at this late date, of course. They were brothers now – as Nie Huaisang would put it, there were no takebacks allowed.

“No bullshit, you hear me?” Jin Zixuan repeated, looking pointedly at Wei Wuxian. “Not allowed. Take care of yourself, okay? Don’t make me have to tell Mistress Jiang that I lost her favorite idiot friend.”

“You tell her?” Jiang Cheng grumbled. “I’ll have to tell her. All right, let’s go.”

-

Jiang Yanli was not impressed with the fact that they’d left Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji alone in a cave with a giant murderous turtle.

She still made them soup and gave them bandages to wrap up their bloody feet, though.

(Jin Zixuan was never going to make a good impression on her, no matter what Jiang Cheng said.)

-

“Wen Chao has demanded recompense for the mess at the Nightless City,” Jin Zixuan’s mother said, reading a letter. Her lips curled up in a strange little smile. “He said Wei Wuxian’s right hand would do.”

“Mother,” Jin Zixuan exclaimed, leaping to his feet with his eyes wide. He’d only been home a week from the indoctrination camp, and Wei Wuxian was still lying in bed most of the time, pretending he wasn’t exhausted; Wen Chao must have sent the letter almost immediately after he’d realized they’d escaped. “You can’t be serious!”

“Why not?” she asked. “It’s just what the little bastard deserves, always trying to outshine you.”

Jin Zixuan shook his head, frantically trying to think of a way out of this, because he knew his mother wouldn’t so much as hesitate to order such an atrocity. She’d never forgiven Wei Wuxian for the possibility of being a threat to Jin Zixuan’s position, however remote the chance, and she’d tried very hard to convince Jin Zixuan of it, too – it was the only thing they didn’t agree on, the only thing Jin Zixuan didn’t yield to her on, and he hated every moment of it.

But not as much as his mother hated it.

It was the only thing she couldn’t control in his life, and she hatedit, and hated Wei Wuxian for it, too.

(She couldn’t hate Jin Zixuan. She couldn’t, because he had the right blood, because he was her son, because he was the heir of Lanling Jin and the source of all her power. But sometimes, when the light was dim and she glanced over too quickly and thought she saw his father when she looked at him, he thought that she wanted to.)

“You can’t be serious,” Jin Zixuan said a second time, keeping calm by sheer willpower. No one but him would dare to object if his mother made a move, especially in his father’s absence…and even if his father was there, Jin Zixuan wasn’t sure his father cared enough about Wei Wuxian to endure another fight with his fearsome wife. “Mother, he’s my servant – my responsibility. Whatever he does is my responsibility, whether to my credit or to my deficit. That’s how that works. They may be asking for Wei Wuxian’s hand, but who’s to say, when they come to claim it, that they won’t seek mine instead?”

“They wouldn’t dare.”

“It’s the Wen sect,” Jin Zixuan reminded her. “What don’t they dare?”

She pursed her lips, thinking it over, and for a moment he thought he’d won. “Perhaps,” she allowed, and before he could even breath a sight of relief continued, “But no matter. They’ve set the price, and we can pay it, so why not? We can cut off his hand and send it to them as a peace offering in advance. After all, they’re important allies of ours, and he’s just a bastard.”

“But –”

“No, A-Xuan. No more arguing; I’ve decided.” Her smile broadened. “We’ll do it now.”

Jin Zixuan couldn’t fight with his mother. He’d never had the courage – he was as spineless as his father.

Almost as spineless.

“Yes, Mother,” he said, and drew his sword.

“A-Xuan..?”

“My servant, my responsibility,” he reminded her, and he knew that she’d misunderstood, that she thought that he was going to go take care of the grim task himself. He knew, because for a brief moment in time she looked happy – not true joy, but the only way she ever looked happy for as long as he could remember, like she’d won one over on someone and gotten her way despite everyone’s efforts. He hated to disappoint her. “I have my honor to think of, too.”

-

Jin Zixuan sent Wei Wuxian to the Lotus Pier, bearing words of warning. His father’s spies had reported that the Wen sect would probably target them first, using Jiang Cheng’s interference in the Xuanwu cave as an excuse – there wasn’t any point going after the Lan sect a second time, and the Jin sect were longstanding allies of Wen Ruohan, with Jin Guangshan being a coward at heart; if Wen Ruohan could keep him out of the inevitable war for a little longer by playing nice, he would.

Word came back not long after that they’d been right: the Lotus Pier had been destroyed.

It also said that Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli were missing – missing, but not dead. It didn’t say anything about their parents, and that was suspicious, too.

Maybe sending Wei Wuxian had helped after all.

“We should reach out to the Nie sect,” Jin Zixuan told his father. “With our money and their strength, we can resist the Wen sect long enough for the smaller sects to catch up.”

“The Wen sect is all-powerful,” his father objected. “What’s even the point of resisting? We’d be better off reaching out to them to see if we can reach a peaceful agreement.”

“We’ve already seen what agreement they want to reach,” Jin Zixuan said, and his father’s gaze dropped guiltily to his waist. Jin Zixuan didn’t bother looking down himself. He didn’t do that much, these days. “Am I your heir or am I not? You promised me that I’d inherit a sect, not slavery. Reach out to the Nie sect.”

Jin Zixuan should not talk that way to his father. He had always been a filial son, and a spineless one; his father’s son, and nothing else. The only thing he had going for him was the right blood – and even that wasn't that sure a bet, these days. He knew his father was already thinking about Jin Zixun in a way that suggested that all those rumors about his ‘cousin’ having a different father than the one everyone said he had might have some merit.

It seemed, though, that when pushed to it, he was also his mother’s son.

He hoped she choked on the knowledge.

“Reach out to the Nie sect,” he said again. “With all the cultivation world uniting, the Wen sect’s fall is inevitable. If we don’t act now, we’ll be seen as cowards, hanging back and waiting to see how things fall out to eke out the best advantage – if we act, we’ll be seen as heroes.”

“But what if you’re wrong, and the Wen sect does win?”

“Then we’ll tell Sect Leader Wen that we’re perfectly positioned to negotiate the other sects’ terms of surrender, and use that to win anyway,” Jin Zixuan said, less because he thought that was an acceptable course of action and more because he knew it would be what his father would do anyway. “Call the Nie sect.”

-

“I’m going to kill you,” Jiang Cheng hissed, wild-eyed, and Jin Zixuan blinked at him, taken aback.

“Is it because I wasn’t able to do more to help with the Lotus Pier?” he asked, feeling helpless. “I really did try to convince my father to send more people, but I barely even got him not to block my sending Wei Wuxian –”

“Not because of that!”

Jin Zixuan took a step back. “Uh, then –”

“You cut off your own hand you maniac!”

“The situation –” Jin Zixuan started backing up. “It was necessary – Wei Wuxian, help!”

“No, he’s right,” Wei Wuxian said, arms crossed. His eyes were teary, but they’d been that way since he’d left Jinlin Tower – ever since the Wen sect’s letter. “You’re a maniac, and Jiang Cheng’s going to kill you, and you’re going to deserve it.”

Lan Wangji, standing beside him, nodded.

“It’s not that bad, really.” Jin Zixuan tried to explain. “My mother and father would never have accepted anything else – threats to me are the only thing that work on them, and even that’s stopped working after all these years. Only a real injury would have an impact. If they hadn’t been so shocked, they would’ve just continued to ignore what the Wen sect was doing, or offered them an olive branch, and then then the Wen sect would’ve used that as an opportunity to come and divide up everyone else. We’d lose precious time to regroup, and the Wen sect would only get stronger and stronger –”

“You. Cut. Off. Your. Hand!”

“The Wen sect demanded the hand of the person who started the rebellion in the Xuanwu cave,” Jin Zixuan said quietly. “That was me, not Wei Wuxian. Why should he pay my debts?”

Everyone still seemed very upset, but maybe a little less murderous. Definitely a lot more teary-eyed.

“Couldn’t you have at least picked your other hand?” Wei Wuxian mumbled. “Your right hand – that’s your sword arm.”

Jin Zixuan shrugged. “They demanded the right hand,” he said. “Anyway, it’s fine, I’ve been using my left, and it’s been going smoothly enough…you know, I think I might actually be left-handed? I never knew; everyone always made me use my right.”

“Does it hurt?” Lan Wangji asked suddenly, and Jin Zixuan hesitated, not sure how to respond to that.

Unfortunately, everyone else took that in the worst way possible, and insisted on taking care of him, no matter how much he tried to explain that it didn’t hurt, not really, not anymore; it was just the strangest feeling of absence. Like something that had always been there wasn’t there anymore.

A bit like his mother. She wasn’t talking to him anymore.

He was a terrible son, and would probably end up spending eternity in some afterlife hell being tortured for failing to properly honor his parents.

He’d already resigned himself.

“How are your parts of the war going?” he asked, trying to change the subject. “Chifeng-zun says it’s going well, but you know how he is; it’s all business with him, you never hear any stories. Did Wei Wuxian really knock out old Sect Leader Jiang when he refused to leave the Lotus Pier? Tell me he didn’t.”

“He did,” Jiang Cheng said, and he looked amused about it – maybe he’d be in the next boiling pot over in the afterlife of unfilial descendants. “He was a little frantic, you see, on account of not wanting to fail you by letting them die. After all, you had just cut off your own hand for him…”

“Are you ever going to let that drop?”

“Sure. As soon as you have two hands again.”

“…so, never.”

“Yes,” Jiang Cheng said patiently. “Never. Never ever, if that makes it clearer for you.”

-

Jin Zixuan’s new hand was made of steel and wire, under the gilding, and functioned using some of the innovative new talismans that Wei Wuxian had invented. He couldn’t help but hope that they weren’t part of the subset that constituted demonic cultivation because people were being really weird about that.

“It’s like people wanted for me to just die in the Burial Mounds,” Wei Wuxian complained. He was dressed in black and grey and red, which he’d apparently adopted as his new sect colors – Jin Zixuan had only managed to send him out of Lanling the first time by officially ejecting him from the Jin sect, a decision his father had initially endorsed but now, he suspected, was regretting.

It was a lot easier to throw out a servant than it was to invite back the founder of demonic cultivation, especially now that he was a war hero and a sect leader.

“You didn’t have to be in the Burial Mounds to begin with,” Jin Zixuan reminded him, to no avail. “I know I said I needed an army because my father wasn’t supplying us properly, but I didn’t mean ‘invent an entirely new cultivation technique and raise an army of the dead’. You know that, right?”

Wei Wuxian shrugged it off, because of course he did.

“You know, they’re calling me the Yiling Patriarch?” he said, and grinned. “It’s because the Burial Mounds are in Yiling, and because I’m founding my own sect. Or whatever. Like I wouldn’t be supporting you, anyway.”

“It has to be your own sect because otherwise you might be forced to share your secret techniques,” Jin Zixuan explained, not for the first time. “Rogue cultivators don’t have the same protections that sects do, even small sects. It doesn’t matter if you’re the only person in it. Or, well, you and Lan Wangji, I guess.”

“I still can’t believe he’s willing to leave the Lan sect to join me,” Wei Wuxian sighed happily. “He’s such a good friend.”

Jin Zixuan wasn’t sure about the strength of his new hand, which was the only reason he didn’t try to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You’re a bad influence, you know,” he said instead of trying to explain to Wei Wuxian that people didn’t generally leave their natal sects for the sake of a ‘good friend’. “I nearly hit a girl the other day.”

“You did? You? What’d she do?”

“She gave me soup and implied that she’d made it,” Jin Zixuan said. “Except it tasted exactly the same as the soup Mistress Jiang is always making for you – I’ve had it recently enough to know. Sure enough, I push the issue a bit and it turns out it was Mistress Jiang’s. The girl was just trying to claim credit as an excuse to get close to me.”

He sighed. He’d been so angry about it. They were at war! People were dying, losing their homes, losing everything, and this stupid girl could only think about how to plot and scheme to try to get to a prized position as the future Madame Jin. Had his mother done the same, when it’d been his father…?

“You’ve had shijie’s soup recently?” Wei Wuxian asked. His expression looked slightly odd. “Shijie made you soup?”

“Yeah, I think she’s been dropping off whatever’s left over at my tent when she’s done,” Jin Zixuan said, shaking his head. Jiang Yanli was so nice, really truly genuinely nice. He’d never met anyone like her. “Could you thank her for me? I appreciate the thoughtfulness – it’s filling enough that I don’t need to go to the mess, which means there’s more left over for everyone else.”

“…sure,” Wei Wuxian said. “I’ll tell her. Or, and here’s a thought – why don’t you tell her yourself?”

“Why would I? You’re the one she likes,” Jin Zixuan said, puzzled. “I mean, you’re her adopted little brother, aren’t you? She’s practically your second soulmate, after Lan Wangji.”

“I’m really busy,” Wei Wuxian announced, despite having been lazing around complaining that they didn’t have any encounters with the Wen sect lined up for a whole week only a few moments before. “I couldn’t possibly take the time out of my schedule to go talk to her – you see, I’ve had an idea, which is going to keep me very busy…in fact, I’m not even going to be here at all! I need to go to the Lan sect encampment to consult with Teacher Lan.”

Discovering that Lan Qiren had a mad scientist streak when it came to musical cultivation had been extremely disquieting, Jin Zixuan reflected. The world might’ve been better off if Lan Qiren had never had a chance to actually get friendly with Wei Wuxian – Wei Wuxian provided the terrible ideas, Lan Qiren scolded him about them and then helped him smooth the kinks out of them anyway.

Teacher for a day, father for a lifetime…

“All right,” Jin Zixuan said, though he still didn’t exactly understand what had just happened. “I’ll go talk to her, I guess.”

-

“I just wanted to make sure you know you’re not obligated to make me soup or anything,” Jin Zixuan said, not sure where this conversation had gone off the rails.

Probably around the time that Jiang Yanli had started smiling at him, because he always turned into an idiot whenever that happened. She was so very nice, not just average at all no matter what anyone said, and blissfully down-to-earth – she wouldn’t be wasting her time and everyone else’s thinking about how to politically advance herself despite there being a war on. She spent all her time learning field medicine and helping cook meals for the mess and –

And he’d better stop thinking because he was turning red again.

“I enjoy making soup for you,” Jiang Yanli said peaceably. “Especially since I know you enjoy it, too.”

“I do! It’s just, I don’t know, you already do so much, with the medics and organizing and everything…It’s – uh – I – listen, I know our parents – you don’t have to pay attention to that. I only have one hand, I’m not – don’t feel obligated, not because of that. And don’t let Wei Wuxian make you think making soup is the only thing you’re good for, no matter how much he likes it, okay? You do so much more than just that!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, covering her smile with her hand. “You’re very sweet, you know.”

Jin Zixuan made an incoherent sound.

He would need to do something in return, he thought, a little frantic; he really didn’t know how to deal with a sincere compliment from someone he actually liked. Maybe poetry? Girls were said to like poetry. He couldn’t write poetry worth a damn, but he could pay someone –

She kissed him on the cheek.

All thought abruptly departed.

“Don’t worry, it’s not inappropriate – after all, we’re already engaged,” Jiang Yanli said cheerfully. “Which I’m very good with, so don’t worry about that. Good luck in your next battle, Jin-gongzi.”

At some point she must have left, because she wasn’t there anymore, and Jin Zixuan was still opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

Mianmian peeked in, then snickered. “Oh no,” she said. “She broke him. Everyone! Come look! She totally broke him!”

-

“Did you actually cut off your hand to save a servant?” Jin Guangyao asked.

“It was a bit more complicated than that,” Jin Zixuan said, uncomfortable, then added, “Welcome to the family.”

Jin Guangyao smiled.

For some reason, Jin Zixuan felt a shiver run up his spine. He didn’t think he liked this new brother of his, and he felt bad about it – he’d welcomed Wei Wuxian whole-heartedly, hadn’t he? Was it really that different when it actually was someone of his own blood?

He didn’t like that thought.

“I hope we can be friends,” he said, willing it to be true, and Jin Guangyao murmured something agreeable in return.

Jin Zixuan wished he liked him.

“My mother is going to hate you,” he said, because he knew that she would. “If she does, let me know, and I’ll try to stop her…not just her. If anyone treats you wrong, just tell me. I’ll stand up for you.”

Jin Guangyao smiled again.

“You’re so kind,” he said, and for some reason Jin Zixuan had the feeling that he didn’t mean it at all.

-

Jin Zixuan had been engaged since before he was born, and it still somehow came as a surprise to find himself married. Not just the event, either – these days he woke up with his wife in his arms and was forced to just stare at her lying there in the soft morning light and wonder how he got so lucky.

He was married.

To a very nice girl, who actually seemed to like him a great deal – she’d made that clear enough when she’d had a chance. Very clear, in fact, which was why there was also a very slight curve in her belly that meant that soon enough he wouldn’t just be married, but a father.

“You’d tell me if I was dreaming, right?” he asked Wei Wuxian, who was visiting again. He did that a lot, but in fairness he didn’t really have a settled place to live – everyone knew the supposed ‘sect’ he’d founded was little more than a sham. He’d been technically kicked out of the Jin sect and refused all offers to rejoin, and it seemed he wasn’t quite ready to scandalize the entire cultivation world by marrying into the Lan sect no matter what Lan Xichen had been hinting. Sometimes he and Lan Wangji spent time at the Lotus Pier with Jiang Cheng, or the Unclean Realm with Nie Huaisang under Nie Mingjue’s long-suffering gaze…everyone called Wei Wuxian the Yiling Patriarch, on account of him ‘founding’ his sect there – or rather, summoning up extra resentful energy from the Burial Mounds for the purposes of obtaining an army while minimizing the number of disturbed graves – but he wasn’t, not really. He didn’t live there or anything.

Who would want to live there?

“I would,” Wei Wuxian agreed, but he didn’t follow it up with teasing or anything the way he usually did.

He just looked very uncharacteristically perturbed.

“What is it?” Jin Zixuan asked. “Can I help?”

“No heroic bullshit,” Wei Wuxian said at once, which meant that there was a possibility of heroic bullshit. Given Wei Wuxian’s personality, that also meant that it was heroic bullshit that would be bad for the Jin sect, which he still felt bad about on account of them raising him and all…in all honesty, it might be a good thing in the long run that Jin Zixuan’s father and mother had been so awful to Wei Wuxian as a kid, and that he’d known it. If they’d been good to him, he never would have been willing to leave. “But, uh, remember Wen Ning?”

Jin Zixuan blinked. Wei Wuxian had told him some stories: a junior disciple of the Wen sect, from a branch family – Dafan Wen – who’d helped Wei Wuxian out a few times when he’d been smuggling the Jiang clan to freedom.

More than a few times: he’d been Wei Wuxian’s first disciple in matters of resentful energy, which Wei Wuxian had apparently been thinking of since forever and started playing around with more or less the moment he was no longer officially tied to a sect, and had been a valuable contact during the early period of the war before events had changed and he’d been lost.

“Yes,” he said. “What about him?”

He hadn’t thought of Wen Ning in ages, beyond abstractly hoping he was doing well. It might be hard, with a surname as he had, but surely there was somewhere in the cultivation world for those surnamed Wen – Wei Wuxian had argued fiercely in favor of leniency for the remaining Wen cultivators, and the Lan sect had backed him, thanks to Lan Wangji. The rest of them had been exhausted, Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng and his parents, even Jin Zixuan…his father had ended up volunteering their sect to help with resettlement of the refugees, which had been a pleasant surprise.

Sure, Jin Zixuan knew his father well enough to know that he was only doing it for the clout and possible advantage it would give him, but he was pretty sure the Wen civilians didn’t especially care why they were going to get a reprieve from death and a new place to live, only that they did.

“I’ll get there,” Wei Wuxian said. “It’s a bit complicated…you know how Jin Zixun’s in charge of resettlement?”

Jin Zixuan nodded, puzzled. “What about it?”

-

“You can’t do that!” one of the guards shouted at Wei Wuxian. “We’re disciples of the Jin sect –”

“Is that so,” Jin Zixuan said, and they all turned to look at him, each one of them blanching in utter horror. “And why didn’t I know that my Jin sect had such people as you?”

“Where’s Wen Ning?” Wen Qing asked Wei Wuxian, looking desperate. “I don’t see him…Where is he?!”

“That monster?” one of the guards blurted out.

“My brother is not a monster!”

“He’s been hiding in the woods,” one of the Wen civilians volunteered. “He’s been raiding the camp, rescuing people who are being abused –”

“Our response was reasonable in light of his aggression,” the guard argued. “He used demonic cultivation – he’s a monster! We had no choice –”

“We’re going to need to question them,” Jin Zixuan said to Lan Wangji, who was looking faintly murderous in his usual righteous sort of way. “To find out who’s their backing – Jin Zixun wouldn’t have dared something like this, not on his own. Can you bind them for me?”

-

It was his father.

Of course.

-

“A-Yao, what do you want?” Jin Zixuan asked, and Jin Guangyao stopped in his tracks, staring at him in confusion – as well he should, since he’d only come into Jin Zixuan’s study in order to say good morning on his way to breakfast. “No, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I meant, you know, in life.”

Jin Guangayo blinked at him.

Probably not the best question to spring on someone before breakfast, Jin Zixuan reflected.

“It’s about the trouble that my – that our father got into,” Jin Zixuan explained. “The other cultivation sects are furious to no end that he took advantage of their trust in order to do such a disgraceful thing…I’ve ordered Zixun to be confined for now, and I suspect he’ll have to be banished to some country house for a few years. And as you know, my father will be retiring soon and handing over the position of sect leader to me…”

Neither of them especially wanted that to happen, his father as loathe to give up power as Jin Zixuan was to take it. But what other solution was there after such a scandal?

The Lan sect, ever concerned with morality, had been horrified when they’d found out what had happened; the Jiang sect, despite their close relationship to the Jin sect, had immediately denounced it, and Jiang Yanli, who was Wei Wuxian’s friend, was the very first to speak. The Nie sect, never a firm ally for the Jin sect, was growling about righteousness, and if Nie Mingjue was sincere about that being his only concern – and having worked with the man, Jin Zixuan believed he was – then there were plenty of others in the Nie sect that had their eyes on the greater influence and power that would accrue to their sect if Jin Zixuan’s father were allowed to bring his sect down with him.

Handing over power was the only way to make sure their Jin sect remained strong.

“He won’t be alone, at least,” Jin Zixuan sighed. “I won him that much.”

Jiang Fengmian had agreed to step down from his position as sect leader as well, making it seem as though Jin Guangshan’s retirement were voluntary, part of a joint agreement of the older generation handing over power to the newer. Everyone would know in their hearts that that wasn’t the case, but it would be far less shameful than the alternative – saving a little bit of his father’s face.

“You did well,” Jin Guangyao said, listening with a neutral expression. “In uncovering everything, and revealing it.”

“I would’ve brought you in to help, but I couldn’t,” Jin Zixuan explained. “I know he asked you to help in finding demonic cultivators to join the Jin sect, and…”

He hesitated.

“He implicated me?” Jin Guangyao asked.

He had. Their father was shameless: he’d even sought to move all blame to Jin Guangyao’s back, whether as the actual mastermind or, when that was rejected, as the inciter of the scheme. Nonsense, of course.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. Even if Jin Guangyao had suggested it, it would have been his father’s responsibility to refuse.

“No one believes it,” Jin Zixuan said, which was only partially a lie. “Even Chifeng-zun laughed in his face and said you wouldn’t be nearly that stupid.”

Jin Guangyao looked – oddly pleased by that, if Jin Zixuan had to guess.

“Still, it’s awkward,” he said, rubbing his head. “People talk, and our subsidiary sects have never been as quiet as some others…you don’t have to tell me right now what you’re planning, or what you want in the long term. But maybe – uh – you have two sworn brothers. Is there any chance…”

“I could go visit them for a while?”

Jin Zixuan smiled helplessly. “I wish it weren’t necessary. And if you did know what you wanted, I could take it into account when planning the future…”

“No, no,” Jin Guangyao said. “Visiting my sworn brothers will be – fine.” He looked thoughtful. “You said Chifeng-zun didn’t think I was involved?”

“Zewu-jun was also vociferous in your defense,” Jin Zixuan said, trying to elide the fact that it wasn’t so much that Nie Mingjue didn’t think Jin Guangyao was capable of such atrocities, but rather that he declared, and loudly, that if Jin Guangyao had intended to do something horrific like that, he’d have handled it better. Judging by Jin Guangyao’s amused expression, he might have guessed anyway. “I appreciate your understanding.”

Jin Guangyao smiled.

Jin Zixuan thought he might even mean it, this time.

-

“I’m an uncle!” Wei Wuxian crowed, holding Jin Ling in his arms. “I’m an uncle, I’m an uncle!”

“Big deal,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, which would be more convincing if he wasn’t beaming foolishly. “So am I. Hand him over...hey, A-Ling! It's me, your jiujiu!”

“Can I be an honorary uncle?” Nie Huaisang asked – Jin Zixuan had no idea when he’d even arrived, or why he was here, or anything, really, but that was probably because he hadn’t really slept on account of over-excitement. “I mean, my brother’s sworn brothers with Jin-xiong’s brother, so it works, right?”

“That’s ridiculous –” Jiang Cheng started.

“No, I love it!” Wei Wuxian immediately declared. “That means Lan Zhan’s his uncle, too!”

“Wei Wuxian…!”

“Don’t worry,” Jin Zixuan said, hugging Jiang Cheng out of sheer excitement. “You’re his only jiujiu, right? Everyone else is related through me, so they have to share.”

Jiang Cheng seemed pleased by that, and Wei Wuxian laughed.

Nie Huaisang was calculating on his fingers. “You know,” he said thoughtfully. “This might be the most well-connected baby in the entire cultivation world? The only thing we’re missing is the Wen sect…Jiang-xiong, how about you marry Wen Qing? Then we’d have them all!”

“That is not how I’m determining my marriage!” Jiang Cheng yelped, but notably didn’t reject the idea.

Jin Zixuan looked at Jiang Yanli, who looked back at him, and they both started laughing.

There was more noise after that, and eventually Jin Ling woke up and started crying, making everyone start fussing like a bunch of old hens surrounding a long-suffering Jiang Yanli who’d already grown accustomed to it in a way the rest of them hadn’t.

It suddenly occurred to Jin Zixuan that everyone who was here was here because they wanted to be. Not because of his name or his wealth, not because he was Sect Leader Jin, not because of the circumstances of his birth, but just because they liked him – because they wanted to celebrate with him, and to cherish his child, to share his joy.

It was a good day.

All the days were a little good, but this one was especially good.

[teddy06writes]

It Was Yours, Why Does It Have To Be Mine?

Requested by this anon who decided to break my heart: “Hear me out. Dream x fem!reader angst. Originally, the reader was the one who wore the smiley faced mask. Dream and the reader were in love and dream proposed, reader said yes, then later that night, the reader passed away (either sickness or getting hurt idc) and in order to keep her memory, dream wears the mask in her absence.” 

Dream x fem!reader

trigger warnings: some swears, character death, general angst

premise: in game au; You and Dream have been together since what feels like the beginning of time, and it had always seemed like you would be together, and now he had finally had the confidence to propose, unfortunately, Wilbur and his new developing country of L’manburg have other plans for you

{hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this one hurt}

{I listened to Sebelius : Finlandia Op.26 on repeat while writting this and only questioned my sanity twice}

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

You giggled, “Where are we goingg?”

“Somewhere special,” Dream said, raising your entwined hands enough to press a kiss to your knuckles, “Trust me, your going to love it.” 

You laughed again, free hand reaching back to adjust the knot holding your mask in pace, “You’re ridiculous.” 

Today had marked the four year anniversary since you and Dream had started dating officially, and he had insisted in abandoning all his duties to the smp for a day to take you out. 

The two of you had been wandering through the woods for a while now, and you were fairly convinced that he had no idea where he was going, but still you didn’t say anything. 

“It should be just through here.” He said, leading you down between two trees. 

A moment later you came into a clearing, decorated with lights, a picnic set up in the middle, with a perfect view of the rest of the hill side. 

“Oh my god!” You squeaked. 

“You like it?” He asked. 

“I love it! This is so cute, Dream!” 

Dream chuckled, “Bad found the spot, and I got Sapnap to help get all this stuff out here.” 

You grinned to a point where he could tell even with your mask on, “It’s perfect.”

Carefully he flicked at the edge of the wide mask, “Take that stupid thing off and kiss me.” 

“It’s not stupid!” You protested, “Come on Dream just kiss the smiley face, its good enough.” 

Reluctantly he pressed a kiss to the mask and you beamed, immediately moving to slip it off,  kissing him properly before going to sit down on the picnic blanket.

You looked back up at him, “While don’t just stand there, come on! Sit with me!” 

~~ A while later, after the food had been eaten, you were leaned back against Dream, eyes closed happily, mask still off to the side, “Thank you, for this.” 

“Of course.” He smiled, “But, uh, actually there's one other thing?” 

You hummed, peaking up at him, “Whats that?” 

“Well- I- I’ve been thinking about it for a while and- well- I was wondering, if you’d- if you’d marry me?” He asked. 

Your eyes shot open to see the ring box in his hand, “Your- you’re not kidding? This is real- this is for real?” 

“Course its real,” He chuckled, “Would you rather have me get on one knee to prove it?” 

Dream quickly maneuvered to be In front of you, on one knee, the ring box held out in front of him, “I have loved you, since the beginning of time (y/n) and now I’m asking you to become my wife.” 

Your hands moved to your face in shock for a moment before dropping back down as you practically tackled him, “Oh my god!”

“Is that a yes then?” He chuckled, doing his best to sit up with your weight still on him. 

You nodded eagerly, and he slipped the ring onto your finger, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

Dream grinned, kissing you once more- only to be distracted by a yell from down the hill. 

“Dream! Dream!” 

“Oh god,” He muttered, standing up, “I’ll be right back” 

You stood as well, stooping to grab your mask and fastening it on your face before following him. 

By the time you had caught up, Sapnap was giving a report on what was going on. 

“He’s starting a new country- says their starting a rebellion.” 

“Who is?” You asked. 

“Wilbur,” Sapnap said curtly, motioning over to where wall were being built, “TommyInnt, Tubbo and Eret have all joined this crazy plan.” 

“Thats insane.” You muttered. 

Dream frowned, “I won’t have this. We’ll stop them. Sapnap, see too it that all of there resources are destroyed.”

The man nodded, and hurried away, already pulling out his flint and steel, and Dream turned to you, “This is the exact opposite of what I was hoping for today.” 

“We’ll figure it out, together.” You assured. 

~~

Later that night, after you had returned home, Dream had gone out again, hoping for a civilized discussion with Wilbur, before getting launched into any war. 

He stood at the gates of L’manburg, looking up at were Tubbo sat on watch, “I need to speak to Wilbur.” 

“Why?” Tubbo challenged. 

Dream crossed his arms, “Because this doesn’t have to become something bloody and violent, now get inside and get him.” 

Scared, Tubbo quickly scrambled down off the wall and toward one of the buildings that had risen with the walls. 

A moment later he came back to open the gates, Wilbur following behind, “I was beginning to wonder when you would show up. I knew you’d have a problem with this.” 

“Wilbur whatever this is it needs to be shut down, now.” 

“That's exactly what I thought you’d say,” Wilbur said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “That's what tyrants always say.”

“I am not a tyrant!” Dream protested. 

“Is that why you’re forcing your agenda on us? Read the fucking message dick head, we don’t want to deal with you any longer. ‘ere. read this, its the conditions of our independence. We are free and there is nothing you can do to stop us.” 

Dream took the book Tubbo thrust into his hands, ‘the declaration of independance’ 

“Forever the nation of the dream smp has cast sin upon our great land of the hto dog van,” Wilbur quoted, “This book declarers that the nation that shall hence forth be known as the L’manburg is free and independent from the DreamSmp, totally, completely and wholly.” 

“You’re starting a fight you can’t finish.” Dream warned, handing the book back. 

Wilbur scoffed, “On the contrary Dream. You’ve threatened a country that is more than willing to fight back. Tommy, hurry up and get inside!” 

As Wilbur barked the last words Dream turned to see Tommy coming out the darkness, an empty bottle in one hand and a dagger stained a dull rust color in the other. 

“It’s done.” The teen muttered. 

“She put up a fight?” Wilbur asked. 

Tommy, even scared by what he’d done, couldn’t help but look at Dream, a glint in his eye, “(y/n) won’t be a problem anymore.” 

On pure instinct Dream ran, the only thing in his mind that he had to get to you. 

The stillness of the house was broken as Dream crashed through the door, “(y/n)? (y/n)?!” 

Shaking he moved through the house, the was no sign of a struggle, no sign of a break in, but there was a slight lingering affect of a potion in the doorway leading to your shared bedroom. 

From the color of the particles he knew it had been weakness, and he carefully pushed through into the room. 

It was dark, and for a moment, with your form stretched out in bed, he could almost think that everything was fine, that you were just asleep, waiting for him. 

Turning on a light he saw that the reality was much different. 

Blood pooled around you, dripping from the bed and soaking the sheets, evidently coming from the gaping holes in your stomach. 

The worst part of it was the mask clasped in your hands, held out, almost like you were offering it to him. 

“(y/n)...” He whimpered, still frozen in the door, “What do I do? Now that your gone? Oh god what did he do to you?” 

Some how the fact that Tommy had seen your face, the one thing you kept hidden from everyone, except him, seemed to hit Dream the hardest, even as you lay dead. 

Slowly, he moved forward, taking the mask from your hands.

~~ Dream stood at the top of the hill, looking over the crater. 

Somewhere off to the side Phil and Techno were celebrating the victory over everyone, the huge hole where L’manburg had been stretching all the way down the bed rock. 

The porcelain was cold against his face, but Dream had long since gotten used to the uncomfortable feeling of the mask. 

With the mask that you had given him, the mask he had unwillingly taken from you had kept everyone from knowing his pain. And now, he had made sure they felt all of yours and his own. 

The chain with your engagement rings felt heavy around his neck, but he couldn’t help grin at Tommy, who had barley made it out of the wreckage, “Looks like you won’t be a problem anymore.” 

[mothmxwhump]

Bastet, Basil, and Poppy

Soooo

This is like. Mostly an attempt to go more in-depth with side characters. But enjoy. For reference, Lucia is Rupert’s little sister and recently married to Virgil. And Basil’s real name is Linari, they’re Nym’s younger sibling.

Tw: Deaf whumpee, brief ableism mention, nonhuman whumpees, nonbinary whumpee, male whumpees, female whumper, male whumper, multiple whumpees and two whumpers, cages, conditioned whumpees, fantasy racism mention, defiant whumpee, institutionalized slavery, cursing, dehumanization, idk if there’s a better term but whumpees arguing with each other.

He’d given up. He had been resigned to this life for 7 years. He certainly couldn’t begin resisting now. Virgil had wiped any memory of a home to miss, any fight left in him. So Bastet just… stopped.

He knew it was bad. He wasn’t /broken/. No matter how much Virgil and Lucia thought that, he wasn’t a perfectly loyal pet.

He hated Virgil more than anyone on the earth. But he knew how the world worked. He was a hybrid. A criminal. And deaf. There was no chance for him anywhere else. Even if he got away, he’d end up the pet or slave of some other noble.

So he gave up. Truly, really gave up.

There was no point in fighting it. Not /really/.

So he let Virgil treat him like a toy. It didn’t matter. When he was good, Virgil would feed him and take care of him. The humiliation was tolerable.

But Basil and Poppy sent him for a loop.

The two were polar opposites, Basil a bit older and angrier while Poppy was twenty at most and timid.

Their owner, Lucia, was a familiar face. She’d moved in with Virgil— something Bastet resented— and brought her two pets with her. Basil was an elf, blonde haired and pale and gorgeous. Their eyes glimmered bright blue, with a spark of defiance.

Poppy was practically infatuated with Lucia. He was a golden retriever hybrid, with honey-blond hair and big brown eyes that always seemed fixed on his owner. He never once left her side unless ordered to, genuinely loyal to Lucia.

Bastet couldn’t pretend he didn’t envy Poppy. The boy was constantly getting extra food or comforts, always on his owner’s good side. And he didn’t seem /unhappy/. Bastet almost wished that he could be that perfect, especially since Virgil started to show preference for Poppy.

The two new pets had been given space in Bastet’s room. Basil was supposed to sleep in it’s crate, while Poppy got a plush dog bed and blanket.

Virgil and Lucia got a bit drunk one night, enough that they practically crashed in the master bedroom while leaving their pets to their own devices. Poppy seemed anxious without Lucia’s instructions to guide him.

“B-Basil! Y-you’re supposed to, to sleep in your cage! You, you can’t, can’t break the, the rules!”

“Gods, can’t I fucking /sleep/ without someone on my case?! I’m not gonna sleep in a damn dog crate!”

“M-mistress will be angry!”

“She’s not even here! She doesn’t need to find out, Poppy.”

Bastet huffed, watching the two argue from his little sleeping platform. He hopped down, glaring at both of the pets.

“Will both of you stop?” He signed, giving Basil a sharp look. “Poppy, just go to sleep, I’ll take care of them.”

Basil glared at him as Poppy finally curled up in the little dog bed.

“You need to go to sleep too.”

“Gods, you’re just as bad! Just ‘cause you and Poppy have some sick fucking obsession with those creeps doesn’t mean—“

Bastet huffed angry. “Get into the crate. I don’t give a damn what you want, none of us want the shit beaten out of us.”

Basil raised a brow at that. “…fine. Whatever.” Slowly, they crawled into the small metal box, pulling their knees to their chest. Bastet sighed, grabbing the blanket off his bed and tossing it to them without another word.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

The Proposals

MAIN MASTERLIST

bucky barnes x reader

Word Count: 2,325ish

Summary: Bucky tries to propose to you, but nothing ever works.

Bucky knew on the second date, that he was going to marry you. But he also knew, that it would freak you out that if on date three, he asked you to marry him. So he waited. But a man in love could only wait so long. By the time you and him had been dating for seven months, Bucky couldn’t wait any longer. He dragged Steve and Sam to jewelry stores across New York, in search of the perfect ring.

After losing hope for the perfect ring, Tony offered to design one. For free. Bucky struggled with Tony’s offer, but eventually gave in once Tony and Steve showed him the sketches and mock ups they’d put together. Wanda and Natasha helped put everything together when the night came. There were lights strung up everywhere on top of the compound, a small table was set up for the two to enjoy dinner, and Bucky and ordered your favorite meal. Bucky had been nervous all day, he got dressed in his best suit hours before you two were scheduled for your date.

You were suppose to be coming home from a long Avengers business trip tonight. You had been going to different countries, advocating for the Avengers Initiative. Bucky and you talked everyday, but that was not enough for either of you. You were currently on your way back to the compound, flying on a quinjet from London. Exhausted, you decided to put the quinjet into autopilot and get a few moments of sleep before your date with Bucky tonight. The blissful thought of sleep soon was far away when a call came in from Fury.

“I have an emergency assignment for you,” he stated.

“Sir, I’m just coming off a long assignment,” you explained. “All I want to do is see my boyfriend and sleep.”

“You’re the closest to the emergency. I’ve already got your quinjet rerouting to the location and the information of the mission is being sent to you.”

“But—“

“And I have Rogers in charge of telling Barnes that you won’t make it. Good luck.”

You sighed, running a hand down your face before getting up and changing into your hero gear. All you longed for is a lazy night with Bucky but, as you skimmed through the information Fury sent, that seemed to be a few more days away.

Steve, on the other hand, was trying to pawn Fury’s assignment off on anyone else on the team. No one would take it. They were all hiding in the lab, trying to get someone to go up to the roof and tell Bucky the news. They had all witnessed his nervousness all day, and were even subject to some aggression from it. So they were all a little scared for their lives when it came to telling him that you wouldn’t be home for a few more days. Eventually, when the time came that you were suppose to be arriving home, Sam gave in and sat that he’d do it, as long as everyone else came as back up. They all agreed and headed up to the roof.

Bucky was pacing like crazy when they arrived. Tony had to suppress the urge to make a comment about wearing through the roof the closer they got.

“Hey, Buck,” Steve called. He had really tried to control his tone, but his best friend was an assassin. There was no hiding from him.

“What’s wrong?” Bucky quickly asked, fear taking over his whole figure. “Did something happen? Please tell me that Y/N’s okay.”

“She’s okay, Barnes,” Sam stepped forward. “She just won’t be able to make it tonight.”

Bucky’s face fell. “What? Why?”

“Fury called her in on another assignment. Looks like she won’t be able to come home for another couple of days.”

The team all flinched as Bucky’s metal hand hit the table, making the objects on it go flying. They all took a step back as they watched the anger in him grow. He suddenly flipped the table over before stomping to the roof stairs. The rest of the team stood their watching, feeling bad for him. They all knew that Bucky was nervous about this and that it was hard for the man to be open like this, but there was nothing that could have been done.

Bucky was moody the rest of the days you were gone. No one could stand to be around him, mostly because they were a kind of afraid for their lives. When he wasn’t taking his feelings out in the training room, he was locked away in your shared bedroom. Four days after the planned proposal, you stumbled out of the quinjet. The mission had not been as easy as Fury made it out to be. You were successful, but you were now more exhausted than you ever thought possible, had a bleeding cut down your leg, and you were pretty sure your ankle was sprained.

Everyone was there waiting for you in the hanger and were not happy to see your condition as you stumbled from the quinjet. Bucky was the least amount of happy about your condition. Anger was again his best friend. But the more he watched you move closer to him, the more worried he became. Bucky rushed over, immediately sweeping you up into his arms, bridal style.

“Oh, doll,” he whispered, his eyes worriedly raking over your wounds.

“I’m fine, Buck,” you said quietly, clearly worn out. “Just tired.”

“Let’s get you to the med bay.”

The proposal was long forgotten in the midst of taking care of you. Yes, Bucky wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. But it was more important right now that you get healed. You were ordered off your leg for at least a month. Not making you very happy, but Bucky was. That meant that you were kept safe from harm and he could take care of you whenever he wasn’t away on missions.

Both Natasha and Wanda pushed Bucky to try and propose several times while you were benched and he was taking care of you. But nothing ever worked. He’d get called away on a last minute mission or you’d be too exhausted from physical therapy to do anything. He tried 4 times during the time you were benched, nothing worked. And Bucky was getting frustrated.

After about two and a half months, you were given the clearance to train and put weight on the leg again. And Bucky went back to planning another proposal. He knew he didn’t want to do the same thing he had planned to the last time, bad luck and all. So this time, he was going simpler. He planned a movie night, just the two of you. Bucky bought all your favorite treats and your favorite pizza. The only thing he forgot to mention, apparently, was the fact that it was a date. He was getting everything set up when you walked in with Tony, Bruce, and Sam.

“Hey, Bucky,” you smiled, coming up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Theses guys told me that they were bored tonight. So I invited them to our moving night. Is that okay?”

Bucky’s hands clenched into fists as he looked at the men behind him. He immediately reprimanded himself for not letting the team in on his plan. When his eyes came down to look at you, he was met with your best puppy dog face and he could never say no to that.

“Sure,” he grumbled. “Why not.”

“Thank, babe!” You gave him a peck on the lips before helping the others get settled.

The rest of the night, Bucky was constantly crumpling things in his hands while he felt like the small box in his pocket was burning a hole into thigh. You were too engrossed in the movie and talking to Tony to notice Bucky’s irritation. But Sam did, and simply just smirked at the man.

When the others had left and Bucky and you had started cleaning up, you began to notice his mood by his silence and way he was throwing things away.

“What’s wrong, babe?” You asked, folding up a blanket.

“Nothing,” Bucky answered, far too quickly.

“Are you sure?” You moved to stand in front of him, curling your arms around his waist. “Did Tony say something to upset you, or Sam even?”

“None of them said anything. I’m fine.” He pushed away from you, moving into the kitchen with the trash.

“I don’t believe you.” You followed him closely. “Why won’t you tell me the truth?”

“I am!” Bucky yelled, turning sharply to face you.

You jumped back, taken back by his reaction. Bucky had never raised his voice at you, ever. Tears pricked your eyes as you tried to calm your racing heart. Bucky’s anger slowly faded, being replaced by guilt as he watched you shrink into yourself.

“Doll, I—“ He went to apologize and reach out for you but you took another step back.

“I don’t know what happened tonight to make you mad,” your voice quivered as you spoke, “but that reaction was not okay.”

“I’m so sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to shout.”

“Yet you did.” You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m going to go sleep somewhere else tonight. Let you calm down.”

“No,” Bucky frantically shook his head. “Please, don’t.” He tried to reach for you again, but you walked away.

“Some sleep might do you some good, Buck. We’ll talk in the morning.”

And then you were gone. Bucky fell back against the fridge and slid down it, head buried in his hands. He’d really done it now. You were never going to accept his proposal now.

You spent the night in Natasha’s bed, since she was away on a mission. Though, you didn’t get much sleep. You never did when you weren’t with Bucky, and same with him. And it clearly showed on the both of you in the morning. Dark bags under the eyes, slow movements, blood shot eyes, and solemn expressions. To the rest of the team, it was clear that something happened last night. They were just all too scared to ask what.

Bucky spent most of the next day in the training room, taking out his aggression, while you spent most of the day in your and Bucky’s shared space in the compound. You were trying to rack your mind around why Bucky had been acting so ornery lately. You were in your room when Steve called you in for a mission. It was going to be a smaller mission with just you and Steve. You were getting ready when Bucky walked into the room.

“Y/N, we need to talk,” Bucky stated.

Those words cause your heart to crack a little. Those were never good to hear. “Yes, Buck?” You replied, still getting ready while trying to keep yourself together.

“There’s something that’s been on my mind lately and I— wait. Where are you going?”

“Steve’s asked me to join him on a mission.”

“Already? I know you were approved, but are you sure? I’m worried that you—“

“Well you don’t need to be. I’ll be fine.” You flung your backpack over shoulder. “Will you be?”

“Will I be?”

“You’ve been acting strange lately. And then you come in saying that we need to talk… Bucky…” You sighed. “Did you come in to break up with me?”

“Break up with you? No!” He shook his head. “I would never.”

“Then what’s going on? You’ve been so aggravated lately and yesterday… well… you’ve never shouted at me like that before… it honestly hurt.”

“Baby…” He walked up to you, setting a gentle hand on your cheek. “I’m so sorry about last night. I just… I’ve been trying to…” His hand fell down to his side with a sigh. “I was going to propose,” he mumbled.

“What?” Your jaw dropped.

“And it hasn’t been the first time I tried… I’m sorry for taking it out on you. I was just so frustrated that none of my plans have worked.”

“Y-you…. You’ve been trying to propose? For how long?”

“My first attempt was when you were suppose to come home after your long business trip. But then Fury sent you on a mission and you came home injured… I tried multiple other times, but then I was called away or you were too tired. Then last night, that’s why I ordered your favorite pizza and snacks. I just wanted it to be you and me and—”

“And then I invited the boys. Oh, Buck.” You engulfed him in a hug. “I’m so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?”

“I would always forgive you.”

You and Bucky let your lips meet for a kiss. Upon parting, you decided to be brave.

“So,” you whispered, “are you going to ask me?”

Bucky quickly retrieved the small box from his pocket and opened it as he got down on one knee. “Y/N L/N, I love you will everything I have. I can’t picture my life without you. Will you—“

“Hey, Y/N,” Steve called, barging into the room. “Are you— woah.” He froze, studying the situation in front of him. “Am I interrupting something?”

Bucky groaned, allowing his head to fall against your stomach. You laughed as you set your hands on Bucky’s head.

“You think?” You giggled.

“I’m just gonna— yeah,” Steve rushed as he ran out.

“Is he gone?” Bucky said into your stomach.

“He’s gone. Now hurry before the team shows up.”

He leaned back into his original position. “Y/N, will you marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Hallelujah,” Bucky muttered as he slipped the ring on your finger.

“Hurry up and kiss me so that we can escape before we’re never left alone again.”

[saintobio]

i am honestly SPEECHLESS again… what the actual fuck. too much for my heart saint😭😭 all the surprises got me shook and im sorry for the long ass rant but let me go step by step:

this was shocking but expected… i just knew that eula didn’t really love her husband. she literally just used him to climb up. also that knowing smirk she had the other day when y/n was there… she knew about everything. mei mei… ofc. just like her canon self doing anything for money. as much as i dislike satoru, i dislike his dad and stepmom even more. idk if to wish for they downfall or not bc gojo’s dad deserves it but gojo kinda doesn’t. i feel so conflicted bc i actually love satoru but can’t help but feel hate and unpleasantness for him bc of his actions. the way he treated y/n when she didn’t do anything to him. the fact that it is bc of him that her heart condition has been getting worse. he has hurt her so much even i have spilled tears over his shit. but his stepmom is a horrible horrible person. satoru being the way he is is related to her; mostly his dad but also her. so like i truly dont know how to feel about this😭

always reading about him makes me happy… i love this dilf so much. i truly want y/n to fuck him just once. please saint😩😩😩

are you one of those countless men toji??😩 do you wanna show y/n what you’re thinking about? wanna treat her right??😏😏😏😏

wym that would never happen?!!! toji baby, dont be so pessimistic🙄🙄 i just know in an alternative reality him and y/n together and you cant change my mind🙄. though i’ll admit that toji knowing about naoya and eula and not telling y/n makes me feel some type of way… does toji know about eula’s plan?? like he doesn’t have to tell y/n but still idk it’s confusing😭😭 saint you got my feelings all over the place.

im usually all over a man being possessive but it doesn’t suit satoru. he has no right to feel possessive considering he a cheater who always put his mistress before his wife. like the audacity of this man bro. he too comfortable. im sorry but its too late for this shit.

i know y/n didn’t mean it as a payback for what he did with the diana shoes but YASSSSSS🤪🤪🤪 this got me so happy knowing he got a taste of his own medicine. but he still had it in him to get upset like man… have you got no shame??😭😭 he truly wants to act like he didn’t do shit and as if y/n is the one stepping over the line. y/n got so much patience i could never. also y/n talking about how she would never cheat back.. respect for my girl bc i would have cheated back a long ass time ago. or maybe gotten a divorce and be a single woman who can freely fuck toji or even better, just marry toji. especially during these times satoru acting like he cares so that it stings him more😹 i wanna see him crying

i literally cried reading this… i feel so bad for y/n bro. like why cant she catch a break? my poor baby😢😢 this is why im always saying i ship her with toji. every time.. every single time you get too comfortable with satoru this shit happens. it’s literally every time. its too much for her and she might truly end up dying like this😔

YOU FUCKER! YOU MOTHER.FUCKER!! I WILL REIGN HELLFIRE UPON YOU!! UGHHHHHHHHH I HATE THIS BITCH SO MUCH. SAINT PLEASE ALLOW ME TO DRAG THIS WHORE PLEASE. I CANT TAKE THIS. I CANT!! THE AUDACITY! i do not give a fuck that it is understandable where she is coming from. she is a fucking whore that deserves the worst. how dare she talk this way about y/n??? not even the evil stepmom talks shit about y/n like this stupid ugly racist stupid poor dumb lizard ass wrench does!! like how dare she??!! she doesn’t even love him or care about his problems to be getting so hurt. she just mad no other rich man would lower himself with a disgusting piece of shit like her. she is literally dog shit that you scrape off your shoe. stupid ass whore. i hate her.

this was honestly very shocking to me… i did not expect mr.gojo to end things with her. i truly did not. i thought it would take longer for him to do this since there are so many chapters left but now i see what the other chapters gonna be about. there’s so much more than just y/n, gojo and sera.

(TW.SUICIDE)TOXIC MUCH?!!! what the actual fuck???😧😧😧 this bitch really pulled the suicide card😹😹 as if we care, do me a favor sera and actually kill yourself. you’ll be doing the world a favor😹😹 wait actually no bc then there’s her family depends on her😔 ugh thats the only reason why ill try to not wish death upon her. her poor (no pun intended) sweet mom. i hit the 10 image limit but what does she mean she will make us pay?🤨🤨🤨 bro i can see this bitch teaming up with eula but idk since her hate is towards y/n and eula’s plan mostly affects satoru but then again sera doesn’t really love satory and is just in love with the idea of him so hmmm. IM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS WAS SAINT BUT BEFORE I SUBMIT THIS LET ME JUST SAY I LOVE YOU! thank you so much for this amazing story. this story is one of the few things i always look forward to.

HAHAH what a very detailed reaction!! thank u very much for sending these through <33 enjoyed reading them !! :’)

[thewritingginger]

More Daddy AU please 🥺 the rest of the boys deserve it. Plus imagine telling Luke he's going to be a godparent, that'd be the cutest little moment I just can't-

Undateables React: Baby?!?

I have to say I’m so glad you mentioned something for Luke cuz idk how long it would’ve taken me, if I even did one for him, cuz he baby himself lol

So here's our other boys! I admit IDK how well or satisfying these are considering I don’t know them too too well. 

bUt I hope they are still enjoyable 😅

Fandom: Obey Me! Pairing(s): Undateables Word count: 1,070 words Warning(s): Pregnancy

Enjoy ~

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Diavolo:

YAAAASSSS!!!

But really, he just laughs triumphantly when you tell him

Is happy about having an heir but is slightly worried for you

“This wasn’t planned and I want to make sure you’re happy.”

Buys you anything and everything that you wish for or need

Late night talks about your future child

When you’d ask what he wants the baby to be he would just respond with “As long as it’s part of you, I don’t mind either way.”

But you know what he wants

And to his pleasure, You and Diavolo have a baby Boy!

The moment he’s out Diavolo turns into Rafiki from the lion king

So proud of the work you had done

Praises you till you have to shut him up

After you’ve gone to bed he spends his first real night as a father holding his son, whispering praise and sentiments of love

You wake up many mornings to see your little one resting gently on his big tiddies chest

Barbatos :

Was a bit taken aback

Not that you being pregnant is bad news just unexpected

Tells Diavolo as soon as you let him

“I have to report this to Lord Diavolo, I wouldn’t want him to think I'm just being careless and negligible with my work because I’m taking care of you.”

Once he informs Diavolo of your condition, he wastes not time in developing a schedule for himself that not only allowed him to sufficiently do his duties with Diavolo but also make time for you and your care

In your later months he waits on you, hand and foot (literally! Helps you put your shoes on every morning)

Has tea with you each day (only herbal or ones w/no caffeine in them obviously) with cakes and sandwiches (or anything you’re craving)

You and Barbatos have a baby Girl!

Doesn’t show it but is SO excited

Very reserved about it but you know he adores taking his little girl into work with him when you’re too busy to watch her

You walked into the kitchen one day to pick her up and over heard him talking to your daughter as he was making up lunch

“Do you want papa to make you something special for lunch?”

He coos to your child more often than he’d admit to

Not that he doesn’t want others to think he doesn’t love his daughter, just he has a professional image to uphold that doesn’t stop Diavolo from saying anything tho lol

Simeon:

The Angel hugs you feeling elated but couldn't help but feel a bit guilty

Worried that you may be upset with him because this child wasn’t planned and you weren’t married (not that he’d force you but did ask if that’d make you feel more comfortable and secure)

Once you explained that although you were nervous, you were glad it was with him he relaxed a bit

“I will make you and this child the happiest people in all the 3 worlds!”

In actuality you being pregnant didn’t really change your relationship that much

Simeon was always a gentleman and very caring

Open doors, pulls out your chair, all that jazz

But you did notice a slight change in the way he looked at you

Not a loving gaze cuz he always had that it was more of a mixture of deep thought and bliss

When you’d ask him why he was looking at you he just responded with “It’s just you’re gifting me something I’ll never be able to repay you for.” He says it as if that wont melt your fucking heart

You and Simeon have a baby Girl!

Is very torn.

He thought you were the love of his life and the only girl he needs but… now there's her

Of course he still loves you but… her!

Always watches over her. While she plays. While she eats. Especially while she sleeps.

“Baby, you have to come to bed.” “I will, just 5 more minutes.”

Wonders what he did to be so blessed

Luke:

GoDfaThEr?!? PrEgNanT?!? BaBy?!?

“Who? When? How?... wait don’t tell me how.”

Poor babe is very confuzzled

Regardless of the father, angel or demon, this little dog is very protective of you and your unborn child

Will bake you any treats you want

Luke is the proud godfather to a baby Girl!

Stressed even more

“GUH! I’ll make sure no one touches her!”

Mighty Chihuahua Activated! 

As she got older he would teach her about angelic work, what rules to follow and about the angel Michael while he watched her

He also made sure he did things like bake and play cuz he’s ‘fun too!’

As she got older he was still watchful but backed off when she asked him to poor guy sulked the first time it happened

Solomon:

You tell him when you’re on a study date

You couldn’t help it, it just came out

When you told him he seemed taken aback then started laughing, less like Diavolo, and more so like you said a joke

But realized you were being serious when you didn’t laugh along

“Wait you’re serious? I put a spawn in you?”

After talking for a bit it was fine

He actually took the news quite well, you’d think you just told him about the weather or something

“What’s there to worry about. No going back now, what's the worst that’ll happen.”

Took care of you during the pregnancy

Made you tonics for nausea or any other symptoms that are causing you discomfort  

You and Solomon have a baby Boy

You already expected this but he is sorta the “cool dad” so to speak

Super chill but don’t get it twisted he’ll still throw down for his kid

The moment you recognize signs of magic in your little boy Solomon jumps on that in a heartbeat

You had to have a very serious conversation with him about that

“If I let you teach him you better keep him safe. And NO explosive or reactatory spells.” “Don’t worry about a thing baby. I understand.” you didn’t buy he’ll follow your rules and... you’d be right smh

One day when your son was about 6 you see a cloud of smoke coming from under a door. When you opened it you saw Solomon and your son, hair sticking up, covered in soot. Yeah Solomon knew he was in for a ‘talk’ rip

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Thank you again for reading and requesting :)

We stan baby daddy AUs lol

I hope to keep slowly getting my millions of wips done. I am in school and the quarter is ending in the next month so yeah 

Till next post my loves :3

💛 ~

[frozensriracha]

🖤💙EJ and his s/o taking care of Artemis headcanons🖤💙

A gift for @thatoneweirdnerdygirl! Enjoy~

So, I’ve mentioned on my blog that EJ has a dog, whom he loves like a child. Her name is Artemis, and she’s a hellhound. Below is how I imagine her to look:

Artemis probably introduces herself to you fairly quickly. As he’s her primary caretaker and she functions partially as a seeing eye dog and a guard dog, she’s very protective of him, and when a new human, especially one who’s close to him, comes into the picture, she gets very suspicious.

Artemis will never be mean or even growl, EJ was very diligent in training her, but she probably will be a bit standoffish at first. You may assume that she doesn’t like you, but EJ will reassure you that this isn’t the case; she just needs time.

Soon after the initial introduction, EJ starts easing you both into interaction. He suggests that you accompany him and Artemis on walks (which totally isn’t an excuse for a romantic walk through the woods to enjoy the sounds of nature, no,) and after a few walks, he lets you take her leash, and probably puts his hand on top of yours.

After spending some time together and seeing you’re not a threat, Artemis will quickly grow to adore you. EJ is thrilled that you two are getting along so well. He doesn’t usually like bringing Artemis on dates, but if it’s nothing fancy, he will gladly pull out her leash and bring her along (much to her happiness)

She’s a very playful pup, and as much as she enjoys running around in the forest, she always prefers engaging with you in a game of fetch or tug of war. EJ is her primary walk guy, since he knows the forest best, but she definitely will not complain if you take her, especially if it’s to the city. Artemis knows she has a lot of energy and can be tiring, so she always turns around when she senses you’re ready and goes home for some well-deserved cuddles

She may pretend to be all tough, but she melts when you call her a good girl, especially if it’s followed up by scritches (and treats don’t hurt either). Her two favorite places to be petted are under her chin and ears, and when you pet them, be prepared for a barrage of licks and snuggles.

That, and sometimes, when you and EJ try to kiss or cuddle, she wedges herself in between so she can get some of that good good hooman love

When you and EJ start sleeping in the same bed, Artemis will be ecstatic. Her two favorite people, both sleeping by her? Score!!

She normally acts as a foot warmer, but if it gets cold, she’ll cuddle up between you guys. One particularly cute thing she likes to do is lay across both your laps!

You and EJ once woke up to her cuddled up between you, softly snoring as she rested her chin on your pillow.

Artemis’ guilty pleasure is human food. EJ resists her pretty easily, seeing as he can’t see her puppy dog eyes, so she usually begs you for food. She has no medical issues, so EJ doesn’t mind her having a scrap of dog-safe human food every once in a while. Key phrase: every once in a while. After she once flipped a lasagna off the table, you, with Sally’s help because she and Artemis are friends, took to the kitchen and started making Artemis some treats! She was slightly skeptical at first, but they’re her favorite treats now. You recently showed EJ how to make them, and he never realized how much he missed simple domesticity until you two were cooking together on a winter evening with your sweet dog sitting on the couch

As a hellhound, Artemis is a smart girl, and she can read you very well. If you’re sad, and gives you little nuzzles and licks. If you’re nervous, and goes into a protective stance even when there’s no danger. If you’re angry, well, she will personally hunt down the source of your anger, bite it, and then look at you with the cutest puppy eyes for pets.

Going off that last one, Artemis is. Lowkey overprotective over you. If you’re sick or hurt, you will have not one, but TWO demons constantly at your side. EJ can do the medical stuff, but Artemis designates herself your emotional support dog, and stays by your side until you’re all better. Once, when you were out and some creep wolf whistled at you, Artemis barked and chased them into the forest. She didn’t attack them, but she did scare them and promptly informed EJ so he could do the same

Artemis also does tricks! EJ helped Sally teach her a few, and she’ll do them for treats. She knows how to sit, roll, shake hands, high-five, open and close doors, spin, and even play soccer and hide n’ seek! She likes doing those last two with you and EJ a lot. She’s not a good hider, and she’s a tad clumsy, but she enjoys herself.

If you have any other pets, she’ll be fine! She’s pretty easygoing unless provoked, so unless another animal tries seriously attacking you or EJ, she won’t mess with them.

Artemis isn’t scared of much, but she is scared of loud noises, mostly thunder and gunshots, and when she hears one, she’ll usually hide under a blanket and cry for you and EJ. The first time you saw Artemis scared during a very bad thunderstorm, it was heartbreaking. She calmed down pretty well when you started holding her and when EJ came along a bit later to spoon the both of you. EJ’s purring noises also have a calming effect on both of you.

When Artemis gets pooped out after playing and going on the odd mission with EJ, she likes watching either nature videos or animations! She likes nature, and she likes the simple shapes and bright colors of animation, despite her being colorblind. Unfortunately, there is one drawback to the nature videos: Artemis tries to interact with them. Once, you tried to show her a National Geographic documentary, and when a squirrel came on, her brain went “SQUIRREL!!!!!!!” and she jumped at the TV. The TV was unharmed, but Artemis’ nature video rights are limited.

About six months in, Artemis will lead you to a small room in the mansion. When you open the door, you’re going to be greeted by four small puppies! She’ll individually bring them over, dropping them one by one in your lap. The puppies will LOVE you. They’ll run up to you and lick you and nuzzle you, dropping toys at your feet and getting you to play with them.

At a certain point in your relationship, EJ will want to build a nest with you. Artemis respects the bond between mates and generally stays out, but she’d be so happy if you invited her. If not, she will probably guard the nest.

If you two get married, Artemis will be the flower girl. I don’t make the rules. She does. Also, EJ will never admit it, but if you call yourselves Artemis’ parents afterwards, he will melt.

If you and EJ ever have children, Artemis will be all over them. If you get pregnant, she’ll curl up next to you and refuse to leave your side. She’ll try bringing you food! It’s not exactly in consumable condition, but she tries her best.

Regardless of whether you have children biologically or not, she will become even more protective of you. She even growled at EJ once or twice before being told no. When the kids come home, she will automatically adore them. Once, you and EJ were looking for her, and you found her curled up in the middle of the playroom with the kids snuggled up to her. She probably introduces her puppies too, which pro

Although she may be suspicious at first, once you win Artemis’ trust, she and her puppies will love you fiercely and will be proud to call themselves your fuzzy friends for life ❤️

[feralaot]

gabi and reiner bro headcanons in a modern au pls!!

the chaotic cousins my beloved

Gabi + Reiner bro headcanons 🙏

no warnings

modern au

if reiner doesn’t buy gabi mcdonalds at least once a week she’s going to go completely feral and probably bark at him until he does. that being said she’s a little stubborn and will only accept the food if a... certain condition is met:

reiner: here’s your chicken nuggets gabi: reiner: [sighing] I got you chickie nuggies because you’re epic gabi: gimme

reiner has banned gabi from having energy drinks of any kind because he let her have a sip of redbull one time and within a few minutes she was quivering like a chihuahua and tripped over her own feet like three times

gabi has had the same favorite movie for years and she always makes reiner watch it with her so naturally he’s seen spirited away at least 30 times. however his favorite ghibli film is ponyo so the deal is that for every 5 times he has to watch spirited away, gabi has to watch ponyo

gabi was the flower girl at reiner and bert’s wedding which eren was in attendance of so when she passed him she shoved petals into his face then carried on like nothing happened

gabi is a feral child at school and gets into fights almost every other week so reiner has been called into “parent” conferences several times and the principal and teacher are usually questioning why an exhausted 21 year old man is showing up for a conference regarding a 12 year old. he says “it’s a rough story”

sometimes he has to get pieck to babysit her so she doesn’t blow something up without supervision. yes this is a lesson he learnt through experience

gabi has a lot of sleepovers with her friends where they do little makeovers on each other so sometimes she forces reiner to let her paint his nails for him so she can practice. she’s terrible at it so he’s kind of just 😑 the whole time

if gabi tells him he should adopt a kid he probably just goes “you have the dog” in reference to reiner and bert’s red irish setter, warrior. and of course why get another child when you already have like 4 of them (gabi and her friends)

gabi calls him a boomer for having matchbox twenty CDs in his car even though he’s literally 21 years old (though admittedly he’s not very tech savvy)

when she gets out of hand in public he either a. threatens to put her on a leash or b. picks her up from under the arms and holds her out at a distance like rafiki and simba. she kicks around and screams at him but can’t escape so he just carries her away for timeout. usually the leash threat is enough

she’s such a fucking pest like reiner will be trying to read and gabi just comes up and bonks him on the head with an empty water bottle, or she’ll t-pose in the doorway of his room early in the morning, or she’ll say incredibly obvious shit, such as:

gabi: you have a crush on my cousin, huh? huh? don’t you? bertholdt: ...we’re married?

they have a lot of dumb nicknames for each other that was started by gabi (naturally) and reiner didn’t indulge in it at first but eventually she started calling him “rhino-r” so he called her “gab-itha” which only fueled the fire. the nickname war is still raging

[robininthelabyrinth]

Good Help - chapter 3 - ao3 link

-

Everyone was required to come to the Nightless City to pay homage to the Emperor, no matter their status, and any number of sects had chosen to pay another visit during the Emperor’s absence – whether in search of profit or merely credit for fulfilling their duties, preferably without the risk of incurring their volatile Emperor’s attention.

One of those sects was Lanling Jin.

Meng Yao felt both disappointment and relief when he learned that Jin Guangshan would not be coming himself, declining on the grounds that it was just too miserable to go without his good friend the Emperor there, though it was far more likely that he didn’t want to have to acknowledge the presence of Meng Yao, standing there in the Emperor’s place. Instead, his father sent his one legitimate son and heir, Jin Zixuan, and Jin Zixuan brought his wives.

The rumors of friendship between Wen Ruohan and Jin Guangshan were exaggerated for effect, in Meng Yao’s opinion, but there must be some basis to it. Otherwise, there was no way Jin Zixuan would have been allowed to hold such a treasure in his hands: he had married the last survivors of the Jiang clan, Jiang Yanli and her younger brother Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Yanli, at least, was considered a prize, given that she brought with her the bloodline and legitimacy of a former Great Sect and had at least a technical claim to a frankly eye-popping dowry, should the Emperor ever decide to allow her to reclaim the ownership of the Lotus Pier, even if in practice the place had been rapidly converted into a pleasure palace by his second son.

Jin Zixuan had managed to win that race, having had the advantage of being already engaged to Jiang Yanli since birth, his mother having apparently been friends with the former Madame Jiang, known better as Madame Yu. Given Jin Zixuan’s character – not known to be especially good at either politics or finance – Meng Yao was of the belief, as were many people, that he had only taken Jiang Cheng as a bride in order to please his wife by saving the life of her younger brother after the Jiang sect was destroyed, since Jiang Cheng, the son of a fallen clan, represented little more than a gigantic target on the back of anyone who might claim him.

Of course, rather than admit it, Jin Zixuan denied all such rumors and maintained consistently that he had been in love with both of them, desperately, and that had been the reason he’d petitioned for the right of marriage.

(Meng Yao also heard rumors that Wen Ruohan had found his insistence funny and agreed to the match on the condition that their marriage bed be witnessed, which sounded very much in line with what he knew of Wen Ruohan’s character – he would have enjoyed forcing them to consummate their fake marriage, luxuriated in their humiliation, and laughed when they failed to look each other in the eye later. Still, what wasn’t worth doing to preserve a life?)

At any rate, regardless of anything else, Jin Zixuan was still the Emperor’s subject, and therefore he had to come pay homage the same as anyone else. Meng Yao’s brother by blood (although frustratingly not by law) had trouble looking directly at Meng Yao during the ceremony, but he managed to conduct the ritual of swearing loyalty moderately well regardless, with no indications of disrespect and perfect etiquette. It was only after, when Meng Yao had maliciously invited him to share a cup of tea to extend the duration of the awkwardness, that something broke – and it wasn’t Jin Zixuan at all.

“Is it true?” Jiang Cheng asked abruptly, the first words he’d said in this visit, and Meng Yao turned to look at him even as Jin Zixuan’s face turned pale. “That the Emperor started fucking Huaisang?”

Huaisang, Meng Yao thought, rolling the name around in his mouth – was A-Sang originally a Jiang, then?

But no, if he was, Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have that look of desperation on his face, of longing and despair; whoever this Huaisang had been in his previous life, before he’d become an Imperial Consort, he’d been someone that Jiang Cheng had been close to. Maybe someone he had even lost his heart to.

Interesting.

Or, well – interesting, but ultimately irrelevant.

“I have no insight into the Emperor’s personal affairs,” Meng Yao said, calm and placid as ever. “Especially while he is far away on a long voyage.”

Jiang Cheng scowled at him, but his sister put her hand on his shoulder and he subsided, still looking upset.

Meng Yao decided to show pity as a stratagem to put Jin Zixuan into his debt, and said, affecting a tone of mild sympathy, “I have no reason to think that he is based on his conduct before leaving, and I understand that his travels were motivated by a search for a spiritual item capable of improving cultivation. It may be that he took Imperial Consort A-Sang with him on account of the Consort’s reputed scholarly achievements.”

To the extent A-Sang had any scholarly achievements other than carting around a scholar’s fan, anyway.

Jiang Cheng still scowled, but his shoulders relaxed a little, and Jiang Yanli sent Meng Yao a grateful look.

Jin Zixuan seemed only a little moved, picking up his tea cup and continuing the former conversation without a hitch, but when everything was done he unexpectedly reached out and caught Meng Yao’s arm.

Meng Yao tensed, but Jin Zixuan took no movement against him, only looked at him. “It was an unexpected pleasure to meet you,” he said, nothing he couldn’t have said without touching, but then his hand shifted and Meng Yao felt the prickle of paper beneath his palm.

Meng Yao put a smile on his face and said some pleasantries, and as soon as Jin Zixuan left he looked at the note he’d been smuggled.

You are being targeted, it said, which – was rather unhelpful, actually.

“He couldn’t have included more details of who, what, or when?” Meng Yao complained to A-Jue later, making sure to look piteous out of habit even though he knew A-Jue didn’t believe him at all. Or at least, he shouldn’t by this point, or else Meng Yao’s lessons on how to detect a liar were all going to waste. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s me that he didn’t want to commit to saying too much, there is that awkwardness there, but it’s not like I don’t know people are trying to kill me. I’m the Emperor’s viceroy! I’ve been making changes left and right in his absence, some of them extremely unpopular –”

And yet others that were extremely popular. He’d known the Watchtower idea would win him acclaim among the common people, and that even if the smaller sects complained about the encroachment at first they would soon – or at least, eventually – realize that it was in their own best interest.

“ – and really. He left a note! Why be ominous and vague in a note?”

“Perhaps he meant something more general,” A-Jue said.

Meng Yao looked at him, and A-Jue shrugged, averting his eyes. The action – so obviously indicating that he had something to say and wasn’t saying it for whatever reason – should have irritated Meng Yao, but by now he’d grown to find A-Jue’s thorough inability to dissemble directly rather adorable. Such a big man, older than Meng Yao, and he still blushed when he tried to lie to your face.

“You can go on,” Meng Yao coaxed. “I’m not going to be angry.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m five.”

“Who’s a big boy who knows something he’s not saying? You are, yes, you are!”

A-Jue tried to look disapproving but ended up having to hide his sniggering into his sleeve. “That’s more like you’d treat a dog, viceroy Meng. Not that you’d know, given how much you hate them.”

“I don’t hate dogs,” Meng Yao said. “I gave Jin Zixuan’s eldest a spiritual dog just last year, a husky. It’s gigantic man-eaters I object to.”

“Northern mountain dogs are a bit large,” A-Jue conceded, a little reluctantly, but in fairness at his size the mountain dogs were probably proportional in size to regular dogs. Actually, A-Jue’s accent, however blurred by time and assimilation, suggested he was from somewhere to north of the Nightless City – maybe he’d drunk the same water as the dogs growing up, explaining how he reached his current heights. “And aren’t you the one who’s always saying that you only keep things from people that they don’t need to know?”

“I like being the person to decide who needs to know what,” Meng Yao said. “Now, you clearly want to tell me, so tell me already.”

A-Jue sighed. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the job is supposed to kill you?”

Meng Yao frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’re the Emperor’s viceroy,” A-Jue said. “He appointed you, and then he immediately left you alone to more or less run the entirety of his domain – he gave you the power of authority, to speak with his voice. That’s a pretty big promotion from chief torturer, wouldn’t you say?”

Meng Yao would not describe being the deputy in charge of the Fire Palace as ‘chief torturer’ – prisons required a great deal of management, he wasn’t just torturing people anymore – but he couldn’t exactly say that A-Jue was wrong.

He’d enjoyed his success, but he’d been startled by it, too. He’d had to fight and scheme for every last thing that he’d ever wanted, before this, and while he’d had to do more than a bit of tussling to keep this role over the overtures of the other deputies, it did sometimes feel as though this promotion came a little too easily, too suddenly.

“What do you think, then?” he asked, folding his hands together under his sleeves so no one could see how his nails dug into his flesh. If there was one thing he truly hated, it was the scorn of others, of those who thought they were better than him.

Being schemed against was a very close second.

“Some of your policies are in fact very unpopular,” A-Jue said. “Even though we both know that they’re necessary…the Emperor would know that they were necessary, too.”

“You think he wants me as what? A scapegoat?”

Wen Ruohan didn’t pay attention to things like popularity, officially taking the position that strength was all that mattered, and yet only a fool ignored such things entirely, and Wen Ruohan was no fool.

“The Emperor is friends with Jin Guangshan,” A-Jue said quietly. “Not merely for show, and although Jin Guangshan does exaggerate it somewhat, it’s not as much as people think. Before he became Emperor, back when they were peers, they would often spend time together, do things together…and your existence offends Jin Guangshan. People laugh at him for not having accepted you back then.”

That was as Meng Yao wanted. He’d wanted to rub into his father’s face how stupid he’d been – and Jin Guangshan had done nothing, had just taken it, and in retrospect that seemed rather uncharacteristic of someone of his reputation.

“So, what?” he asked, ignoring the blood on his nails from where his flesh could no longer take the pressure. “You think he’s pressing the Emperor to have me executed for failing to live up to his expectations?”

“Maybe,” A-Jue said. “And perhaps the Emperor has incentivized others to try to make you fail.”

Having people try to kill a stand-in would be a very effective way to see how those same people would try to kill you. It wasn’t a bad plan, not really, but Meng Yao really didn’t appreciate it when it was aimed at him.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Meng Yao said. “I will not fail. I will succeed, and so thoroughly that even the Emperor will be unable to deny my success – he enjoys being thought of as someone who rewards merit, and killing me would just be seen as petty. He won’t do it. I have my brain, my talent, my competence – I won’t let him.”

Assuming, of course, that he survived until Wen Ruohan’s return.

“You have me, too,” A-Jue said.

It was a nice sentiment, Meng Yao thought, and patted A-Jue on the shoulder, and A-Jue didn’t even flinch this time. He didn’t expect that A-Jue really meant it, of course – A-Jue was a guard of the inner hall, and to get that sort of position he had to be loyal to Wen Ruohan first and foremost – but it was nice of him to say it regardless.

Meng Yao wondered, briefly, if now was a good time to let his hand linger on A-Jue’s shoulder, to turn the contact into a caress. He didn’t think he’d even need to order A-Jue to his bed at this point, although he’d be more than willing to do so if A-Jue liked things like that – he was moderately sure that A-Jue sincerely liked him, and that there was more to that liking than mere friendliness or even the stirrings of loyalty. If he asked, or even just indicated interest, A-Jue would probably come to him entirely of his own volition.

And yet…

Meng Yao removed his hand, turning the conversation forcefully to some other subject, much to A-Jue’s evident relief. He was too busy, he told himself. There was no time to spend on dalliances.

And anyway –

He’d had his fill of sharing with Wen Ruohan.

[bokutoslittlebird]

Request : Scenario Matsukawa as Hades?🥺

I’m assuming the reader is Persephone so if you want something else, let me know! Also like, shoutout to @cutie-satori for the Greek mythology lesson(s)

Matsukawa x f!reader

Matsukawa as Hades

> ok, Matsukawa is Hades, that’s given, but what about the other Seijoh boys? So, Oikawa is Hecate, Iwaizumi is Thanatos, Kunimi is Hypnos, Hanamaki is Keres, Kindaichi is Charon, and Kyōtani is Cerberus (yes he’s the dog). (Also most of them aren’t important but I just needed to let you know)

> So, in the original myth, I believe Persephone plucked a flower Hades placed so he could kidnap her, but I imagine Matsukawa isn’t looking for a bride, he enjoys his job without a wife. So he just.. ignores his brothers’ wishes of him marrying to deals with lost souls.

> Then you fall from the ceiling and suddenly he’s very confused and you’re also very confused.

“How did you get down here?” He asks. Although nothing grows below the ground, he noticed small flowers blooming under your legs.

“There was a pretty flower. I hadn’t seen it before and wanted to show my father,” you say, running your fingers in the earth. “Ask him about it and see what he says,”

“Who is your father?”

“Shinsuke Kita,”

> He finds out you’re the goddess of spring and is like “alright, we’ll get you out of here in a minute. Don’t move” and you’re just sitting there like “okay!” So it’s all good, right?

> Wrong.

> Hanamaki sees a pretty young thing like you and is like “Matsukawa has a girl down here? And he left her alone???” But he’s nice to you, seeing as you’re just sitting there. Then.. Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi looks a bit scary, but he’s kind and he offers to stay with you. Politely declining, he decided to go look for Matsukawa.

> Hanamaki asks if you’re hungry. Once more, you decline, but he offers pomegranates. “Delicious, right?” He asks, watching you eat one seed at a time. Oikawa is the one who stops you and immediately calls in the other two gods because you ate the pomegranate seeds

> Hanamaki feels bad, he didn’t think you would leave them so he assumed you’d be down there forever anyways. But, of course, Matsukawa has to let Kita know that his daughter is currently stuck in the Underworld and ate some pomegranate seeds.

> At least Kuroo and Bokuto are happy their brother finally has a bride, although Matsukawa is kind of unwilling. You’re sweet and all, but he wasn’t looking for a wife.

For 6 months, you must stay in the Underworld by Matsukawa’s side, leaving the world above to fall victim to the harsh conditions of autumn and winter. This is the consequence of eating 6 pomegranate seeds, one seed per month. At least Matsukawa seems interesting, despite the lack of stories you’ve heard aside from his brothers and your father.

He does his job well, and he’s not mean to you at all. He lets you explore and tells you what to do and what to not do without his supervision. Everywhere you walk, more greenery and flowers bloom, making the place seem more alive. Though the plants will not live long, it makes you happy to see them. Matsukawa finds you easily, following the trail of blooming buds and lush grass.

Maybe it isn’t too bad that you’re stuck down here, he thinks, as he looks at the roses blooming in the bed where you both lay together. He can’t touch them, lest they die upon his touch, but he does watch them and enjoy their presence. They make his life a bit less gloomy.

[yanderecandystore]

Black and Red take the advantage of Buddy being gone to flirt and drop hints about wanting to have another child with the s/o. Blacks wants to have the s/o be in a relationship now while Red wants to wait a bit more. Also I hope you feel better! Self care is best care :o - Cold Anon

Wow, I loved when I received both of your requests because like- Oh shit this fits so well!

If y'all don't mind, let's make this a complete Headcanon with both of your requests!

TW/Tags: NSFW // Forced relationship // dubcon (I don't condone this actions irl, so please read this with caution if the subject triggers/harms you in anyway) // Poly/Threesome (although it's only like half mentioned because I took way too long to write this lmao) // if you're confused on what is going on, you may want to check this [🧃] // delusional thinking and manipulation // non gender specific yandere boys and female reader just cause I'm kinda want to to make this one female just because- // swearing

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Thank God the walls are soundproof [Yandere!Among Us x F!Reader - Headcanon]:

Okay but let's first have a real talk, like- Imagine your alien dog just went missing out of nowhere, and then these hoes come in and say some shit about "family" and "mating" and all that jazz-

Bitch, my dog just ran away, control your horniness-

I think that they have been up to this point pretty much saying "we dig you, like a lot!" but also making it seem like it's nothing too serious?

Since they know you're unaware of their true feelings and intentions, it felt only right to give you some time and ease you in this relationship as quickly and smoothly as possible. Some flirting and constant compliments should have done the trick, yet you weren't really understanding what they meant with it.

You thought it was weird to see two people suddenly expressing so much affection to you despite the fact they were both married to each other and that you never felt like the type of person to attract people, so seeing two people to openly flirt with you made you think they were only joking around.

It could be their little thing, right? Flirting with other people in front of one another? Yeah, that could be it-

Of course you have assumed the possibility of them being polyamorous and are trying to call you to their family and form a triad, but then again, sounds kinda hard to believe, right? Two people wanting so badly to be with you? Sounds like something straight up out of a fantasy story.

Although, you couldn't lie that you kinda wish it to be true, since they were very pleasant to be around and well… You found them attractive and pretty charming in a weird way. Their romance with one another seemed so passionate and pure that you felt a little jealous and maybe craving a little bit of their attention.

I guess you tried your best to stay oblivious to their advantages either unconsciously or just defensively, as it can be quite shocking to receive so much attention out of nowhere from those two.

They always seemed so… I don't know, in their own little world….

After Buddy had disappeared, their presence had started to seem more stronger, it was so oddly coincidental how they started to act more friendly than ever towards you after Buddy disappeared.

You shouldn't be so suspicious of them, after all, it was only common sense that people would start to be friendlier and start comforting you after a tragedy.

Yet, you still doubted them, and right now you realize exactly why. Their weird attachment to you was starting to make a lot of sense.

It was the third time you had a breakdown after Buddy disappeared, and it's been the third time that they helped you by "comforting you out", even though you don't feel necessarily more comfortable by their constant caresses and odd words- they keep going on and on about how things will get better soon, that you'll be part of bigger family that promises to cherish you and never abandon you.

And although their words were strange and oddly soothing considering that you felt lonely due to your sweet boy running away, you still felt odd about their exact words and expressions that were thrown at you, but you disguised it as "being their awkward way of showing affection". Because it's a lot easier to lie to yourself than to admit that you were surrounded by possibly dangerous people, it was easier to believe that Buddy was going to come back anytime soon than to admit that the possibility of him already being dead was possible.

But sometimes reality will pull your hazy brain to observe the intriguing situation you found yourself in, since you were still a little hazed by the constant crying and the despair you felt for your best friend, it took you some to realize them both cuddling with you and placing small kisses here and there.

Either you had ignored/blocked out the feeling of invasive touches and phrases that were so off the rails, that even if they sugar coated their speech you would still feel threatened by it, or you were simply disassociating from this particular event.

Who would've guessed that being locked in your own room all day with only two people to talk with has started to make you crave their attention? You just felt like letting them touch you and say nice things despite how it felt…. Weird.

You started to feel guilty, to feel awkward whenever they praised you and touched you a little more roughly in more private areas. You felt good yet awful, you felt like this situation was wrong but it did feel right in some weird way.

You felt ashamed of their soft voices- Or more accurately, Red's soft voice and Black's deep breaths covering your skin with each kiss. They seemed to be on their own little worlds, just like you were a couple of seconds ago.

When you tried to free yourself and get up, Red took the opportunity to make you sit in their lap facing your back to them, they shushed you as you noticed Black felt a bit sad at your sudden reaction. You weren't expecting to be stopped from getting away from their hold which made you feel wary of the situation.

You've let them pamper you for too long, you've let them touch you and crave you for way too long. Black took the fact you were stuck on their partner's lap and decided to take a bite for themselves. A deep kiss that although heavenly sweet to them, it tasted bitter and provoked you to start wriggling against Red to get away from their hold. This was starting to be suffocating.

Yet nothing, they didn't let you, they chuckled at your struggles just like a person would chuckle at an infant playing around and trying to get their attention. Red whispered sweet nothings while Black seemed to be enjoying licking your skin, from your shoulder to your neck, it felt good yet somehow a little too… Good? There was something like desperation starting to appear in Black's breathing, their licks felt sloppy and the sounds coming from deep in their chest made your mind hazy, made your body crave more of this mix of rough and soft touches coming from them both.

Yet your mind told you otherwise, your conscious kept telling you about more important things that you should be worrying about. You felt like this was not exactly what you wanted at the moment, but your body was betraying your own thoughts as you felt yourself getting just as needy as them.

You still told Red you felt like this was happening too fast for your comfort, yet they only told you to relax and enjoy the view.

The "view" was Black getting more and more agitated, they seemed high out of their mind if not completely lost in their own instinct. Drooling like an animal, breathing like they have runned up a hill, and although there was only lust and admiration in their eyes, there was something in that frantic laugh that made you feel like there was something else in their hearts.

"- Black, we talked about this… Look at her, your scaring [Y/N], babe." Red said while pushing Black to back off a little, without putting too much pressure, just telling them to get back a little.

Black didn't take it personally yet still whined like a lost puppy. Black surprisingly hasn't said much considering the situation you were all in, you would at least hope for them to say something, yet they couldn't make any comprehensive sounds except for growling and heavy breathing.

"- Can you see it, [Y/N]? It's so adorable when they get like this, it's even better if you let them get impatient, not like you'll have to wait much, they're simply too easy to please, you know?" Red giggled into your ear as Black was grinding the bed like a desperate dog in heat, which still scared you a bit-

How hungry their eyes looked made you squirm and distance yourself from them, which led to Red holding you tighter since you were getting closer to them. It felt like it was normal for them, this sort of ritual, and you just seemed to get yourself involved in, not knowing how to respond to anything.

"- Uhn- R-Red- I…. I think we should go to sleep already-" You said, it was indeed very late, and you were starting to feel like not being part of this- Something was very, very off, your gut told you that much as you started feeling pretty nauseous.

"- So soon? Are you feeling nervous darling? I did tell a certain someone that they should have been more patient, yet they said they couldn't wait any longer-" Red said, mentioning Black who was flustered and angry at how their partner seemed to act so casually about their "condition".

"- But I don't think you need to worry your little head, after it we can go to sleep together, okay?" Red answered you while nuzzling your neck, now they noticed how much they were craving this moment, yet still not as much as their shape shifting partner.

"- No! I-I mean- Shouldn't you two sleep in your own rooms- I think the others would get suspicious of three people sleeping in the same bed." You managed to stutter out, yet you felt like your words had caused more harm than it should have.

Black growled in a more animalistic manner while also hitting their hands in the bed to try to take your attention, their expression was of anger mixed with disappointment.

Red just sighed and shook their head, they put their hand in your face and guided you to look at them, their tone sounded patronizing and disappointed.

"- It's that really what you're worried about? What other people think… This has nothing to do with anyone but us, love. So please try to focus on the now instead of how they'll react. And besides, we wouldn't want to miss this opportunity, now would we?" They said while kissing you just as passionately as Black did. Yet you didn't get what Red meant with that, so you obviously asked.

To which they didn't really respond, just hugged you again after slowly pulling away and saying:

"- Normally we have to wait up to six in six months to get their next heat, but apparently it came earlier than it should have! Isn't this beautiful darling? It's like all the stars have been perfectly aligned for us to be together." Red squeaked excitedly about the pattern of luck they've been having lately! First started with your dog disappearing, then it went to you being more comfortable with them around you, to you downright accepting being part of their family!-

The truth was actually rather bitter, you didn't really agree to any of these and you seemed to have tried to get out whenever you could, but both Red and Black took your lack of response as a sign of acceptance rather than anything else. Why else would you let them cuddle you three times in a roll, if not because of love? Why would you let them kiss you, if not because of love?

"- It's going to be so much fun adding two new members to the family, don't you think love?" Red spoke once again although not really towards you, but rather to their very attentive partner that was fuming with the idea of a new kid ever since their heat began about three days ago.

Thanks whatever cosmic entity to have granted them not only the privilege of holding you for so long during this time of need you were facing, but to also have gifted them this marvelous opportunity. Their species are fertile only periodically, it's not like they can do this any time they want, so to be in heat while your stupid bodyguard is missing it's a fucking miracle.

Yet I guess it would be really rude to mention that to you in person, after all you did love that mutt with all your heart, so-

Well, it's not like Black can express how desperately they want to pounce on you, they go through a thembofication when they're needy like this, besides- What good are words if they can simply let their moans filled the room and let it clear through actions how fucking long they have been craving this.

Your dog would have smelled them a lot sooner and tried to warn you about this, he could have prevented this but it seems like he ditched you, which is so unfair, none of them would ever leave you alone, but who cares about Buddy anymore, right? They're pretty sure that after you have a baby you'll forget him, because children and dogs are literally the same thing, ask Mini Red about it-

The fear that overcomes you when seeing them take off their disguise through your very eyes it's both heartbreaking and a little exciting. It's horrible for Black to see you screaming and trying to get out of the room despite the fact the door is locked tight and the walls being soundproof, were you really that disturbing that you couldn't handle?

Or maybe you realized who has been going around, ya know, eating people? And you thought you would be one too, which seemed to be the first time both of them understood what your worries were.

"- Oh no darling, don't worry okay! Shh- Everything it's fine- Look, we know this is sudden but it only felt right to show you the truth right now. You understand that right?"

Red tried to calm you down while simultaneously putting more fear in your heart.

"- Let me go! I-I- don't want anything to do with- With that thing! Or even you for that matter!" You spat venom at them while you squirmed in the mattress as Red was holding your arms and Black was holding your legs from kicking them.

So much hatred in only one sentence, truthfully, this wasn't going to go so well.

For you, that is.

You'll see that you love them, you see that this pity party you're throwing is absolutely ridiculous, weren't you kissing and whimpering at their touch five seconds ago? Honestly dear, hypocrisy doesn't look good on you.

But maybe you just need to relax a little, and let someone take care of you. Clearly the disappearance of "Whatever his name was" took you by surprise and made a big impact in your consciousness, but after proving you how much they have to offer, surely you'll understand their point of view.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭