#there's so many things i think would be fun to explore in characters in universe but i just don't have the brains to think about where i

[secretlythatsme]

anyway, i think my hot take regarding the whole canon vs fanon thing for the dpxdc fandom is that fanon is fine but it also gets boring. there's a reason why 90% of the dpxdc creative content feels exactly the same. i'm not trying to like,, shit on anyone's work, but so many of these fics are very, very similar in plot and dynamics. and that's a product of the fact that most of the fandom doesn't actually know anything about dc.

if you're relying solely on fandom osmosis to learn about the characters and events, then you end up missing out on a lot. it's not Bad, but it's basically the footnotes. the sparknotes. the starred review compared to the actual book. you aren't getting a lot, is what i'm saying. and that's why so much of the content feels exactly the same! it's because everyone is getting their info from the same decade old jokes. so creative work ends up blending into each other because the creators don't actually have anything else to work with (because they don't Know anything else) so they rely on the same five fanon jokes and headcanons that they do know.

as a dc fan, i Do encourage dpxdc fans to look into dc and read the comics and be more active on the dc side of things, not because fanon is inherently Bad, but because it opens up so many more avenues for creativity. i'd love to see people talk about danny fighting evil vampire nightwing or going on missions with karen or having fun with kara. but most dp fans don't even know characters outside of the most popular 10 and know even less about any of the plots or universes. so like, it's not exactly a surprise that every fic sounds the same. and like. does that not get boring to you guys?

[feybeasts]

Was having a convo with friends, and we hit on an important thing that I think a lot of people nowadays forget about worldbuilding. Namely- do not explain everything.

You know what makes something like Warcraft nowadays miserable (from a story perspective, anyways, I could Go On about what’s wrong with modern Blizzard,) at least in part? Why Wookiepedia and the Star Wars EU are often joked about? Because everything, every character, every concept, every strange and mysterious force has been given whole paragraphs of lore at some point or another, and inevitably, a canon explanation of an unexplained thing will be disappointing once the mystery is gone.

You NEED weird background aliens with no purpose other than to be fun setpieces, you NEED strange magic with unclear or hazy rules, you NEED to have mountains not explored, caves un-plumbed, ruins untouched, because these places are where mystery lives, and the human mind eats mysteries up. I could talk about what exactly the process to create biogel is in Faye’s universe, tell you who created the Archives in Lena’s setting and why, and you know what? It would suck, because nothing I come up with is better than what your own imagination as a reader or audience could create.

In many ways, a good setting is a conversation with the reader- it invites them to fill in the blanks, to imagine why things are the way they are, and most importantly, it lets them have their own explanation. It’s why I love something like Armored Core or Elden Ring, even Minecraft- because they understand that anything they could say about where Creepers come from, the face of Greater Order, whatever, is not nearly as good as a rich fanon and healthy exploration of the mysteries they hand you.

Like so many things, friends, it’s a balancing act. As you write, consider not only what to say, but what not to say- your audience and your world will thank you when they’re presented with so many wonderful threads to pull on.

[thankskenpenders]

Sonic Prime: "Season 2"

Eight more episodes of Sonic Prime are out! They're labeled as "season 2" despite just being the next eight episodes of the first (and presumably only) season, allowing Netflix to market it as multiple seasons without having to give the cast and crew raises. They love doing that shit to their original cartoons. Ugh.

Anyway! Last time, I gave the show some leeway because it was still finding its legs. This time, though? We're now two thirds of the way through the series, and sadly, I think it's time to accept the truth:

While there are parts I like, a lot of this show... kinda sucks?

This multiverse sucks and Rouge was robbed

Previously, I noted the pattern of each universe spotlighting a different friend of Sonic's (Tails in New Yolk City, Amy in the jungle world, Knuckles in the pirate world) and predicted that, hopefully, Rouge would get her time to shine next. And with 16 episodes left, surely there's time to explore new worlds that are more interesting than the jungle and pirate worlds. Those were just the warm up act. Right?

...Right?

Nope! That's it! There are no more worlds.

This multiverse show where anything is possible really is just about another Eggman-controlled dystopia world, a jungle world, and a pirate world. That's all they came up with! Just those three, and two dead worlds that don't really count - one a featureless wasteland, the other a ghostly echo of the original Green Hill dubbed "Ghost Hill." (Sonic's friends appear here as holograms stuck repeating a single line each. It gets old immediately.)

The jungle and pirate worlds and their inhabitants being so overwhelmingly generic becomes unforgivable the moment you realize this is all we're gonna get. It just leaves me wishing they'd thrown this whole concept out and finally made a normal Sonic cartoon with no twist in its premise. A few of the new takes here are good, particularly Nine as a darker riff on Tails, but so many of them don't feel anything like the fun characters they're supposed to be. They're stock cartoon characters wearing the Sonic casts' skins.

I'll admit my bias is showing, but god, Rouge is REALLY done dirty by this setup. The normal Rouge we see in the first episode is so fun for how briefly she appears, but then in all the other worlds she's reduced to a generic action girl with zero personality. What's her purpose, exactly, when every AU version of Amy is ALSO a straightforward action girl? It drives me absolutely insane that they gave us a PIRATE ROUGE and she doesn't care about treasure. They do nothing with this! How!!!!!!!! She's just never gonna get her turn. It's so obvious that Rouge is only in this show so that they can have another girl, but you could swap her out with another character like Blaze and it'd make no difference.

Speaking of the pirates, though...

The way things play out in the pirate world is so stupid

Previously, with the Paradox Prism shard within reach, Captain Dread Knux was regressing into his old obsessive personality. I'm fine with this. Sonic and Dread both want the shard, they're gonna fight over it. Obvious stuff. But the actual impact it has on the story is maybe the stupidest bit of writing in this entire show so far.

Basically, while fighting a couple of the Eggmen and their robots at sea, Sonic has to briefly run over to the enemy ship to fight them and grab the Paradox Prism shard while Dread and his crew remain back on their ship. Dread goes "Oh my god, look! Sonic's abandoning us! Traitor!" While Sonic is... like 200 feet away. Still in clear view. Fighting the guys who are trying to kill them. Retrieving Dread's beloved treasure for him.

And yet, Dread's crew buys this! And when Sonic runs right back over with the shard in hand, they're all like "HOW DARE YOU BETRAY US" and turn on him.

It's just. What?!

This isn't a huge part of the "season," but I highlight it as maybe the worst moment of the show's character writing. I'm reminded of Thorn Rose's backstory from last time, where she was depicted as suddenly snapping one day when she saw her friends pick one too many berries in the jungle. Sometimes a character just needs to pivot for the story to work, and they aren't really interested in getting there smoothly.

The Chaos Council fucking sucks

I tried so hard to like these guys, but they drag the show down so much.

The choice to have a team of five different Eggmen really just means that Eggman has been split into five one-note characters. Four of them revolve entirely around the most trite, predictable, boomer-ass jokes based on their ages. The teenage one is whiny and just wants to play video games. The young adult one is a vegan hipster who does yoga. The old one is cranky about all the whippersnappers and has a bad back. The baby is a baby. These are jokes that would've been tired if this show aired 20 years ago.

The odd man out is Mister Doctor Eggman, the middle-aged one with a toupee who's the stand-in for regular Eggman. But even he kinda sucks. The other four all being one-note joke characters means that he has to be the straight man of the group, so he's just very dry and serious and plot-focused without any of Eggman's fun eccentricities. He's neither particularly funny nor particularly sinister, which is just about the worst place for an Eggman to be.

He doesn't even have any incompetent robot lackeys to bounce off of, because the unfunny alternate age Eggmen fill the quota for bumbling secondary villains. But also, like... Orbot and Cubot are in this show! They were in the first episode! Where are they? God, I never thought I'd miss them so much...

But, okay. It's not ALL bad.

The highlights

There's a recurring theme here, which is that the best episodes are the ones where Sonic is pitted against a foe who can match his speed and they just let the animation carry it.

The first of the new episodes is mostly about Sonic fighting Shadow, and BOY is their fight fun to watch. Said fight happens because Shadow blames Sonic for shattering the universe and doesn't trust him to fix things. Shadow wants to restore their world, but he refuses to see the various AU counterparts as the same people Sonic once knew, and he doesn't really care what happens to them. Ultimately, though, he begrudgingly accepts that Sonic really is the only one who can hop between dimensions for Plot Reasons, and therefore lets him go try to do things the nice way. He sadly spends most of his time waiting around in the void between worlds, but in the last episode of the batch he and Sonic get to team up against the Chaos Council's forces and it's very cool.

As far as recent interpretations of Shadow go, this is a good one. He's a great foil for Sonic, which just makes me wish he could travel with Sonic to the different worlds. He's cynical and overly pragmatic in his approach, but his points aren't entirely wrong. His anger feels justified. They even let him have some snark! And Ian Hanlin is really great in the role - definitely a contender for Shadow's best voice ever. He just sounds so natural.

The other speedster Sonic fights is Chaos Sonic, the Chaos Council's take on Metal.

He can talk! Deven is basically doing a Jaleel impersonation for him? People are very mixed on this.

The idea behind Chaos Sonic is to turn Sonic's obnoxious smack talk and zingers back around on him, and I don't hate this idea, even if a lot of fans find him annoying compared to Metal Sonic. (Some comparisons have been made to Archie's Shard, but I assume this is a coincidence.) Like the rest of the script, his dialogue certainly isn't anything to write home about, but the fights he gets into with Sonic and co. are so damn fun and dynamic that I have to like him. I also like how expressive his eyes are on his dome screen face, and the animators have a ton of fun with the fact that his torso and head can rotate 360 degrees.

Unfortunately, he's destroyed at the end of his debut episode. I'm praying he gets rebuilt, because this show desperately needs better villains than the Chaos Council.

Again, the animation in Prime is maybe the best animation in any official Sonic media, period. I just wished I liked the characters and worlds enough to be invested in more of the fights. It's hard to care about the dozenth group battle against the generic Eggforcer bots and the baby in his Fisher-Price mech.

The note we end on

After fighting a giant glowing replica of the normal Eggman for... some reason? Episode 16 ends with Sonic and Nine getting into an argument over what to do with the Paradox Prism shards. Sonic wants to restore his original world, but Nine still wants to create a new, better world out of the one that's just an empty wasteland, believing he doesn't belong anywhere else. Nine angrily runs off with the shards, and Sonic is distraught as he realizes that Shadow was seemingly right about how he shouldn't trust Nine.

I kind of like this conflict, mostly because Nine is the standout character of this show. But my main problem is that we don't know what will happen when everything is fixed.

The logical assumption is that the alternate worlds will just... stop existing, right? That must be the idea if Sonic and Nine are treating restoring the original world and creating a new one in the Shatterverse as mutually exclusive options, right? If the Shatterverse disappears, will Nine and the rest all stop existing, too? The show seems unwilling to discuss this possibility, so I'm left not really knowing what the stakes are in this conflict. Nine becomes a whole lot more sympathetic and Sonic becomes a whole lot more monstrous if restoring the world will erase most of this show's cast from existence, but the thought that this could even happen doesn't seem to have crossed Sonic's mind. Sonic seems to want to take his AU friends back to the regular Green Hill - he at least wants to introduce Nine to his normal friends - but like... he can't really do that, can he? They're not gonna have four Tailses running around.

I don't really know what direction this is all headed in. I guess we just have to keep watching, even if I'm past the point of accepting that this show is mostly very mid.

It's just frustrating that everyone else working on this show is clearly giving it their all while the writers at Man of Action phone it in for so much of its runtime. The scripts drag this show down so, so hard. There are moments and episodes I like, but you have to slog through so much mediocrity to get there.

[islandofsages]

Hey ! Can I ask for a male!reader that is a 4th or 3rd year at the NRC (in the dorm you want), and Yuu, Grim and Ortho after seeing him just decided to adopt him like their father ?

The reader is the definition of a good father, and Yuu, Grim and Ortho made him sign the adoption contract (give by Azul).

(Maybe the reader can be the boyfriend of Idia ?)

I just want a reverse adoption with Grim, Yuu and Ortho bc they need a good father.

characters: ortho, yuu and grim with fourth year male reader

tags: platonic, fluff, fic format

warnings: none

author's notes: sorry i didnt do the characters separately, i think they would have similar reactions. also reader isnt with idia bc im keeping this blog fairly romance-free :) thank you for giving me an excuse to write fourth year reader tho, the concept is so interesting and fun to explore!! and hes not in any specific dorm, wanted to keep it ambiguous hehe. honestly this whole thing was my own spin so word count: 974 words

You haven't gone back to NRC in a while. Despite the absolute chaos that goes on way more than often in that school, you’ve grown to harbor fondness for that familiarity. Luckily, you're due for a report of the progress of your internship. Instead of merely sending an email to your professor, you’ll go meet up with him yourself and check up on your underclassmen (maybe even get to know the freshmen) in the meantime.

You are just one of the many seniors of NRC but you found that your dorm members are quite fond of you for whatever reason. So when you come back for that short time period, a few of them come to greet you and catch up with you. Apparently, the abandoned dorm is now occupied by not one but two new students. You didn't even know there was an abandoned dorm!

“One of them can't even use magic and came from a different universe or something? And one of them is literally a magical monster! The school totally got weirder when you left, (Y/N),” one of your dorm members explains. You try to imagine it in your head. Yeah, no, if nobody told you that’s exactly what happened, you wouldn’t have known. You only believe the dorm member because you trust them enough.

“Oh, and remember Idia? The one with the robot brother? He’s a housewarden now. And his brother's a student now. He's an actual freshman,” more gossip makes their way to you. Your eyes widen at the news. You feel like you may remember them, the Shroud brothers - you could tell Idia was trying really hard to stay on the down low so you did him a favor and left him alone for the most part.

You don’t stay at your dorm for very long - you did come to NRC for a reason - and that was to send in that report of yours. Though you already dropped it off before checking up on your underclassmen, you plan just walking around school and taking in the sights that were once so familiar to you. And you haven’t even really graduated yet.

You walk down the hallways and say hi to whoever you recognize, basking in that comfortable familiarity. Some friendlier students stop to chat with you and to be perfectly honest, you feel a little old compared to everyone. You don’t mind but what’s rubbing it in is how some of the students are calling you “Dad” to tease you. You know they’re being playful for the most part but you can’t help but feel a little awkward with the nickname.

Then you run into those three.

You recognize the younger Shroud brother - hard not to with his flames for hair - but you can only guess the other two are the new students occupying that abandoned dorm; one’s uniform seems foreign and the other is not even remotely humanoid. They're definitely eye-catching, especially together. And apparently, you're pretty eye-catching too, with the way they lay their eyes on you while you were talking to another student.

The younger Shroud brother leads the group as they make their way to you excitedly. You're already preparing yourself for what you assume is a normal conversation with these kids. Too bad normal is the wrong thing to expect from these three, you will come to know.

“(Y/N)! You’re back at school!” The younger Shroud - Ortho, that’s his name - exclaims as he flies slightly upwards, happy to see you again. The other two look at you curiously, head tilted to the side and all. You offer them a jolly laugh as you tell the other two who you are and update all of them of how your internship is going. They’re eerily silent when you’re relaying your story but you appreciate not being interrupted. ‘What polite freshmen,’ you thought.

Until they aren’t, because they interrupt you with-

“Can you adopt us?!”

Their eyes twinkle as they clasp their hands together and gaze at you with their best puppy-eye look. Oh, they’re being genuine. This is escalating way too quickly - the nickname was weird enough, you’re not sure what to feel about a bunch of age-ambiguous freshmen wanting a fellow (though presumably older) student to adopt them. You sigh and put on your best smile so as to not disappoint them.

Truth be told, it really isn’t as bad or weird as it sounds. People were already teasing you about it so might as well run along with it. But still. Legally adopting these freshmen would still be too much for you to handle. After all, you’re still going to be preoccupied with your internship. You won’t be present for most of their school years and the last thing you want to be is a father who forgot to bring the milk back home.

You tell them you will think about it, in case they were actually joking and you’re somehow dumb enough to not catch on. They agree to allow you to take your time… but then they start muttering about “getting a contract from Azul” and you immediately step in to stop them from taking any drastic measures.

After that whole ordeal, you leave school more exhausted than you thought you would be. After all, three freshmen literally asked you to become their father and adopt them and were about to get you to agree to some contract.  But then, you find out, they turn out to be the best children you’ve ever had. 

They can be a handful, sure - Ortho is way too curious for his own good sometimes, Grim can’t sit still and picks fights with people often, and Yuu is… Yuu. Being a single father is definitely not the easiest thing to do with them as your children.

Yet you wouldn’t trade them for the world.

[cellbitupdates]

CellbitEng on Twitter did a translation of Cellbit's preface from Sobrevivendo ao horror! Below is the image of the original and then the English translation from them with some minor edits from me.

The Paranormal does not come to our reality easily.

That's how things should be, at least, but Reality is a terrifying, merciless and brutal world. Even the most trained agents, who dedicate their lives to learning special techniques, rituals and combat skills, often cannot face the horrors of the Other Side.

But that doesn't mean we can't connect and have fun because of it. Actually, I would say that Paranormal Order is what it is today thanks to the suffering of many characters that had the misfortune of being born within Reality. They suffer, we suffer alongside them… and for some reason, we love it.

Order started in 2020, with just a horror story I wanted to create with my friends, and today it has become one of the most played RPGs in Brazil. As someone who played RPGs with my brothers even before I started playing video games, even before I learned how to read and write properly, I couldn't feel more proud and grateful of everyone who is part of this story. Both the team that made all of this happen and the friends who lived it all with me, but, specially, to you, who make this world truly come alive.

Sometimes I think about what my 8 year old self, whose punishment meant my parents hiding my RPGs dice instead of a Super Nintendo, would think if he knew about all this. Actually… he would probably be terrified that I saw the future.

And here we are, once again adding a new chapter to this journey. I always see everything we produce for Paranormal Order RPG as a door opening, an opportunity that answers the question: what's the next step that I, as a creator, would love to have as a tool to tell my stories? And "Surviving the Horror", a name that pays homage to the classic video game genre "Survival Horror," emerged with this exact purpose: a way to make stories even more tense, immersive, diverse, and fun. But above all, a way to make the characters I love suffer even more!

We added new origins to the game (including some created by the community itself. Thank you for being so creative!), new subclasses, class powers, paranormal powers, new mechanics, creatures, rituals, and even an entire new class, the survivor. Additionally, I was able to write more narrative details about parts of this universe that I always wanted to delve into, like details of conjuring Rituals and the way the Entities change people.

Besides all this content for the players, to those who prefer to GM (like me!), there are a lot of newer features for chasing and stealth scenes, more depth to the existing investigation mechanics, with also being able to delve into exploring your characters' fears. After all, what could be more Paranormal Order than solving enigmas and facing Fear?

Now, gather your friends, prepare your character sheets and have fun while being scared and moved by your beloved characters surviving (or dying brutally!). After all, the stories are fictional, but the feelings are real.

Rafael "Cellbit" Lange June, 2024

[ghostingcrows]

I used to talk about this a lot but 

IDW Prowl is probably one of the most complex characters in the comics and I absolutely hate it when hes reduced down to “the asshole character”

Cause like

Yeah sure hes got a bit of a stick up his ass

But I feel like people just end there analysis of him there

Has he committed a lot of war crimes and done unethical stuff

Yes

But so has literally EVERYONE else in this universe

Starscream is literally the pinnacle of war crimes

The comics make a point calling out even Optimus for his questionable actions and orders during the war with the Dinobots saying he makes them do the dirty work for him

Megatron literally commits genocide and yet his story ends with an alternate version of him going free and exploring the universe with the LL

The literal war lord was treated better and is looked upon more positively than Prowl and I think it just came down to how fucked Prowl got by the writers

Because while Megatrons redemption was all in your face and you got a shit ton of flashbacks that try to justify the eventual atrocities he would commit you don’t get that with Prowl

Even when Prowl is absolutely in the right you constantly have it disregarded by characters making jokes about him overreacting (being mad OP is sending the space tyrant away with free reign of his own ship isn’t overreacting btw-) and as such you start to think of him as a genuinely irrational character when hes not

Prowl is bad at keeping the relationships he forms yes 

But he is not always at fault for that

While his relationship with CD ended poorly Chromedome is also shown to be kinda of a dick sometimes and commits his fair share of fucked up things such as when he literally ATTACKS PROWL AND FORCES HIS WAY INTO HIS MIND TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM THE CONSEQUENCE OF HIS ACTIONS WHEN PROWL THREATENS TO TELL REWIND ABOUT THE SHITTY STUFF HE DID IN HIS PAST

This leads to Prowls inevitable snowball out of control when this attack leads to an opening for Bombshell (I think its been a while since I read the comics) to use his tech to mind control him forcing him into combining with the contructicons

Something we learn is an immensely intimate thing with their minds being kinda melded 

This was something Prowl did not want 

And when all was said and done and he was calmed down he still had to live with that gesalt he was forced into with them following him around like fanboys

Nobody ever even really stopped to check in on him 

And as such he understandable went a little bit insane

He had just faced an immensely traumatic invasion of his body and mind and on top of stress form feeling like everything was out of his control and like he couldn’t stop the bad things from happening alongside bitter emotions being brought back up with a return visit to Earth and reunion with spike AND the fact that he feels like Optimus doesn’t trust him and like hes just letting Starscream do whatever he want (something that understandably freaks him out seeing as how he spent 4 million years fighting Starscream) he just kinda snaps

He trys to destroy the space bridge so that no one else can leave or get through and so he can regain some semblance of control

Is it wrong

Yes

But he was not in a good state of mind and no one was helping him at all 

And immediately following his arrest afterward Prowl is confronted by OP who is supposed to be his friend and when Prowl doesn’t say the right things to him to placate him Optimus’ response is to punch him out a window and beat the shit out of him

And not being given any room to breath this is immediately follow up my him getting kidnapped by Tarantulas who is very obviously an impactful and negative part of his past

Prowl just has bad event, one after the other, happen to him over and over again and not only does no one check up on him afterwards to see if hes okay but everyone actively makes fun of him for being understandable unstable

Prowl is a fucking tragedy and not many people seem to be able to see beyond what characters in the comics think of him

[distant-velleity]

“Now… Shall we share a dance?”

[SR] Sinner's Garb Yuhua is here!!! For @beneathsakurashade's fan event~

I. I lowkey think I MASSIVELY misinterpreted the event's rules but--- But------ If I was wrong just pretend it's an alternate universe where he got this role 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (School has fried my brain I am so sorry) I also just came up with the name for the card on my own so I'm also sorry about that OTL I'm really taking too many creative liberties

Anyway um you can tell I've fixated on Evillious Chronicles before so. Yeah!!! UI-less card and voicelines are continued under the cut as per usual <3

~

Summon: A tale of seven sinners and their punishments… Sounds interesting. 

Groovification: — LOCKED — 

Set to Home Screen: The stage is set, and the actors are in place~

Home Transition 1: “I haven’t yet told you that I love you…” ♪ Isn’t that tragic? All these sinners met pretty ironic endings.

Home Transition 2: I heard that there’s going to be a party after the musical. I might not go, though; parties aren’t always my… thing. …but they did promise refreshments…

Home Transition 3: The best actors are the ones who understand their characters. Like, hating your past self so much that you’d erase any trace of it… I get that feeling a little.

Home, after login: “Seven flowers dance and sin is now released / I cover the ugliness of my true self as I continue to drown in lust…” ♪

Home Transition (Groovification): — LOCKED —

Tap Home 1: Isn’t this role better for taller people? I lose any enchanting aura I could have had when you realize I’m short… Well, at least these boots have heels. 

Tap Home 2: Any performer worth their salt should be able to prevent personal feelings from interfering too much with their performance… in theory. *sigh*…

Tap Home 3: According to the duke’s story, the vessel of lust is a sword. I actually dabbled in swordplay for a year, so I’m not totally out of my element. 

Tap Home 4: If I had to assign myself a deadly sin, I don’t think it would be lust. But I guess that’s what makes this musical so fun—exploring the narratives of people who did give in and sell their souls. 

Tap Home 5: Aren’t you afraid of what might happen if you look into “my” eyes for too long? Haha~  

Tap Home (Groovification): — LOCKED —

~

taglist (ask to be added or removed): @thehollowwriter @theleechyskrunkly @elenauaurs @casp1an-sea @nahelenia

@skriblee-ksk @boopshoops @scint1llat3 @nyx-of-night @nemisisnemi

@the-banana-0verlord @kathxrat-01 @lumdays @twistedwonderlandshenanigans

[hauntedestheart]

Ok so I just found and read Security Measures and I’m kinda actually in love with Dante. Do you think he might make a return? Ngl he seems like a prime opportunity for some Consensual Possession(tm) fun for the boys.

Since "Security Measures" is just a bunch of non-linear vignettes I didn't actually have any plans for Dante to return, but this was such a sweet ask that I was inspired to revisit his character!

I wanted to try and explore what "consensual possession" would be like but fair warning, it does get pretty explicit towards the end.

----

Extra Security: Dante (Male Possession)

A side story from the Security series detailing a meeting between Andy and Dante, the friendly body hopper they met in Security Measures - Bodyhoppers

Robin's Egg Brew was located right on the edge of campus so despite its eye roll inducing name (and painfully blue decor), it did good business. It was a minor miracle that Andy had managed to snag a seat at a small table because the place was packed with bodies, and while Andy wasn't the type of guy who minded waiting fifteen minutes to get his order, the crowd did present him with a problem- the person he was meeting up with a body hopper, who could be anyone in the room.

Since their first encounter and the subsequent hookup, Dante had become a friend to Andy and a sometimes fuckbuddy whenever the stars aligned for a three-way with Trevor- although his unusual lifestyle meant that they couldn't get together too often. When they did hook up, it was always with Dante's real body (because Trevor said it would be "hypocritical" of them to take advantage of one of Dante's hops), but when it was just him and Andy hanging out as buddies there was no telling who he'd turn up as.

Normally, Dante would send a quick selfie to let Andy know who to look for, but today he was being strangely evasive and had only given his friend one clue.

💪🏿Dante🐇: You'll know it's me- just look for the hottest guy there.

Andy read the text again, humming thoughtfully under his breath, and took another look around. Seated with his back to the wall he had a good vantage point of the rest of the cafe, and he casually took a sip of his coffee as a cover while he eyed the other patrons and tried to scope out which one his friend was hiding inside of.

He'd seen enough of Dante's "conquests" to have a sense for his friend's taste, so he felt pretty confident he could figure it out on his own. The first thing he did was disregard all the women- Dante had explained that while there were hoppers who enjoyed crossing gender lines, he wasn't one of them. There weren't many older people in the cafe, but Dante liked to stick to his own age demographic anyways, so the few that were present were off the list as well.

It was tougher to thin the field after that. Dante had made his preference for bigger guys clear (his jokes about how he wanted to take Andy's stacked body out for another spin always ended with a "hahaha... unless?") but that still left quite a few options. The easy choice was the burly dude who looked like a lumberjack reading by the window, but he had a waxed mustache and Dante would never. There was a guy from the university wrestling team (still in a form fitting singlet, extra points) who seemed like a promising lead, but he was disqualified after his girlfriend showed up and the two started making out.

Andy was still debating between the chubby dude with glasses waiting in line and the gym rat who had just come out of the bathroom when he felt a hand on his shoulder; he instantly lit up when he saw who it was.

"Trevor!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement at the sight of his skinny little brown skinned boyfriend. He squeezed Trevor's hand tight. "You came!"

"'Course I did," Trevor said, smiling back with all his teeth, then he ruffled his own hair with his free hand. "I wouldn't miss out on a chance to see Dante, Dante's the best."

Andy scooted over and patted the space on the bench next to him, slinging his big arm over Trevor's shoulder the second he was seated and nestling his smaller boyfriend into his side possessively. Sometimes Andy worried that he was a bit too clingy in situations like this, but Trevor pressed in closer, so he figured he was in the clear. He held in his sigh of contentment though- he had to maintain some dignity.

"So, have you found Dante yet?" Trevor asked, leaning his head on Andy's strong chest and letting one of his hands idly rest on Andy's abdomen. Andy shook his head.

"Nah, he's being weird about it this time," he replied, taking another glance around the crowd- the chubby guy he'd had his eye on was walking out with a cup of coffee and the gym rat was racing back into the bathroom with a queasy look on his face, so it was back to the drawing board. "No photo or nothing, just said he was gonna be 'the hottest guy here.'"

"Oh really?" Trevor sounded amused. His hand was drifting up and down lazily like he was petting his Andy's abs through his shirt, which was making it a bit hard for the big guy to keep his head on straight, and Trevor peered up at his boyfriend with one raised eyebrow. "Hottest guy here, huh? Tell me, which one of these guys is the hottest to you?"

"Trev," Andy teased, nuzzling the top of his boyfriend's head "No one here is hotter than you."

And Andy knew Trevor had a thing about PDA, but the little guy looked so cute and the moment was so perfect that he couldn't resist leaning down and stealing a quick little peck on the lips. A brief kiss- but it gave Andy pause.

He pulled back and Trevor smiled at him, but Andy's eyes were searching the familiar features of his boyfriend's face for something. His brow furrowed, then he surged forwards and went back in again for another kiss. The one was deeper and more aggressive, with the big guy practically pinning his twinkish companion into the wall as his tongue quested inside of his mouth, but the lightning round make out session ended abruptly with Andy bolting to his feet in shock and his partner falling flat on the bench.

"Dante?" Andy asked, staring down at the form of his boyfriend with shock, and the 'Trevor' in front of him lifted his head up and gave a snort of amusement.

"Damn, that's it?" Dante said, using two fingers to throw Andy a cheeky little salute. "I thought I'd have you going for a few minutes at least. Being friends with normies is making me lose my touch."

Still sprawled out on the bench, the body hopper took a moment to stretch out his borrowed form (making sure to arch Trevor's back and show off his tight little booty in a way that the real Trevor never would) and Andy awkwardly averted his eyes. Then Dante pushed himself to his feet and slipped around the table to claim the empty chair Andy had been saving for him.

"I wish you could have seen what you looked like when you thought I was actually him," Dante gave a good natured roll of his eyes and gestured for his friend to sit down; speechless, Andy complied. "You practically melted into a puddle of butter. I hate how disgustingly cute you two are, it's indecent."

"You hopped Trevor? My Trevor?" Andy shook his head with disbelief, then leaned forwards on his elbows (flexing his biceps to make sure he looked as big as possible) and lowered his voice a bit. "Look man, you're my friend so I don't wanna accuse you of anything, but I... I thought it was clear that Trevor was off-limits."

Dante just smiled and leaned back in his chair, running his hands down the length of Trevor's slender body like he was smoothing out some clothes- but Andy practically growled at him, so he lifted his hands and held them up in a we cool gesture.

"You can settle down loverboy, Trevor was the one who suggested this. Said it would be fun for you to see him being the one to get snatched for once," the body hopper folded his arms behind his head and glanced sideways at them, frowning at how skinny they looked. "And I agreed even though it meant hopping into a twink, so you're welcome for that."

The two young men held eye contact for a moment, Andy looking like he was debating whether or not to explode as he scrutinized the hopper who had stolen his boyfriend's body, but then he let out a sigh and retreated. His fists unclenched and he relaxed back against the booth, body practically deflating as the bluster abandoned him and the tension bled from his big muscles.

"Okay," Andy said, voice still a bit pinched, and he winced at Dante apologetically. "I mean, I trust you man, it's just... you know..."

"Nah man, it's all cool. I get it!" the body hopper shrugged his ethically borrowed shoulders and gave Andy his most charming smile, batting Trevor's pretty eyelashes sweetly up at the boy's boyfriend. "You don't like people fucking with the love of your life, I respect that."

Dante took great pleasure in watching the way that Andy grew all flustered when he said that (it never stopped being funny that such a big guy turned into a blushing schoolgirl whenever it came to Trevor, homeboy was whipped) and he took advantage of the distraction to snatch his friend's coffee cup off the table and steal a sip of it. Considering the fact that they'd been swapping spit a minute ago, he didn't think Andy would mind.

Andy cleared his throat and gestured to the cup. "I would have gotten you your usual but I didn't know if whatever body you were in would like the taste of black coffee with a bunch of caramel in it," then he paused and wrinkled his nose. "Kinda don't know how you like the taste of that either."

Dante snorted and slid the cup back across the table. "Now I know the man who guzzles lemon ginger ale rum isn't coming for my taste..."

"Oh yeah?" Andy crossed his arms and grinned. "Don't lie, I'll bet you wish you were guzzling shit with my tongue right now. Thirsty motherfucker."

Dante rolled his eyes and flipped Andy off, and then the two men burst out laughing. The shared moment gave Andy permission to relax and clear the doubts from his head- they were just two buddies hanging out as usual, nothing weird about it at all.

"I fucking missed you dude, how've you been?" Dante asked, giving Andy a quick once over. The guy was still as ridiculously hot as ever, and Dante wasn't afraid to comment on it. "You're looking good- maybe too good actually, I bet those muscles are like catnip for hoppers. You been snatched lately?"

Andy grinned- he and Trevor liked to keep his "condition" on the down-low (for obvious reasons) so one of the best parts about having a hopper for a friend was having someone to talk to about this kind of stuff. Though Dante could be pretty cagey about certain aspects of being a hopper, it was clear he was in a similar boat, so whenever the two met up they always had wild stories to share.

"No hoppers actually, but I did get caught out by a ghost the other day, and body swapped with a high schooler," Andy reported, shuddering at the memory of being stuck back in puberty for a few days while the kid was out there guzzling beers. "Also a guy from my chemistry class started messing around with astral projection and was taking me out to clubs so Trevor glued his third eye shut."

Dante sucked in a sympathetic breath and winced. "That sounds exactly like something Trevor would do."

"Yeah..." Andy said softly, and there was a moment where he looked at Dante with this fond look in his eyes before he remembered that he wasn't it real Trevor. Dante pretended not to notice and let Andy recover with a sip of coffee. "How about you, man? Haven't heard from you in a minute, you kinda dropped off the map for a bit."

"I was on tv, if you can believe it," Dante said, nodding cockily as Andy flung his hands up shouted "DUDE!" at the top of his lungs. He inspected the back of Trevor's hand nonchalantly as he spun his yarn. "Managed to hop a guy who was on a reality dating show but didn't realize it meant I'd get sequestered for like a month- coulda hopped out but, well, I wanted to win. I'll show you later, it's on Netflix." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I was totally the fan favorite, made sure they got lots of shots of his big old ass."

"Ah yes, Dante, the biggest ass man I know," Andy teased, and Dante didn't even bother trying to deny it- especially when sitting in front of one of his favorite asses he'd ever hopped. "That's insane dude. And a month- that's a long time for you stay in one guy, right?"

"Yup, set a new record for myself actually," Dante said proudly, grateful for the chance to flex his hopping prowess a bit, and the two fist bumped.

Andy leaned forwards, excited. "Did you win the show?"

"Buddy," Dante raised an eyebrow. "That's a spoiler."

The two chatted for a while, trading a few more stories, complaining about the latest updates to some of their multiplayer games, making plans to watch an upcoming movie- to any onlooker who knew Andy & Trevor, it might have even looked like a normal date between the two boyfriends. It wasn't until later, after the barista called out Dante's name (well, Trevor's name) and he got up to go collect his drink, that Dante caught Andy staring at him with a strange look on his face.

The body hopper stood still for a moment, staring blankly back at his friend from behind the face of his boyfriend, then he sighed and plunked himself down on the bench next to Andy.

"This is weird for you, huh?" he asked, setting his coffee down on the table then leaning back against the booth and looking sideways at Andy. Andy looked like he might try to protest, but Dante decided to be nice and let him off the hook. "I'm not offended, Trevor said it was gonna be a little awkward."

"It's just weird," Andy admitted with a shrug, suddenly struggling to look over at his friend Dante. "Don't get me wrong, I'm cool with you being a hopper, but usually you show up as some random guy I've never met. Seeing it happen to someone I'm so close to, it's..."

His voice trailed off and Andy studied Trevor's face, his favorite face in the whole world, but it wasn't really his boyfriend's face. Trevor didn't squeeze his cheeks like that. Trevor didn't flare his nostrils like that. The look in his eyes was completely different. This wasn't him.

It was especially strange because he'd gotten used to picking out Dante's different little quirks no matter what body he was in, so seeing them plastered onto Trevor of all people just felt... wrong.

And Trevor has to deal with seeing me like this all the time, Andy thought to himself, feeling guilty as he threw another entry onto the giant list of things he felt he owed his boyfriend for.

Emotions played out very visibly on Andy's face and as Dante watched his turmoil, for a second, he felt a twinge of guilt. But he shook it off pretty quickly- a hopper never felt bad about taking someone's body, least of all one they were invited into.

Still, Andy was his friend, so he rubbed his friend on his hulking shoulder and smiled sympathetically. "You know I wouldn't hurt him."

"I know that, you're a cool guy and I didn't mean to-" Andy gestured vaguely at the air with his hands, hoping that his gesture articulated what he felt without words, and Dante nodded his acceptance. Then, curiously, Andy glanced around to see if anyone was listening before leaning in close and nudging Dante on the side. "Look, Dante, I gotta ask... man to man... what's it like in there? How do you feel?"

Dante furrowed his brow- Andy usually held back questions about Dante's lifestyle, so the question came a bit out of the blue. "How do I feel?"

"Sorry, is that like, a racist question to ask a hopper?" Andy winced and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I just know you've been in a lot of guys before and since it's Trevor I'm... curious."

"Nah, you're fine, it's just not usually something hoppers talk about much," Dante paused for a moment, weighing his options, and then he shrugged. "But I guess since it's your boyfriend's body, it's only fair."

Andy leaned forwards, not even bothering to hide the way curiosity radiated off of him. Hoppers valued secrecy above all else, so Andy always tried to listen whenever Dante was willing to drop some nuggets of wisdom- and besides, Trevor would definitely want to hear about it later.

Dante rubbed at his chest (Trevor has NO pecs, he thought glumly) and stared into the distance, pondering how to best explain it to a non-hopper. It wasn't something he thought hard about often, and he talked about it still less.

"Did you know that babies are born knowing how to swim?" he began, and Andy looked a bit confused, but this was as simple as Dante was going to be able to make it so he just kept going. "Babies can actually swim really well, but their brains don't hold on to the information so they lose it as they grow up. Hoppers don't forget."

"And humans are like... pools. Anyone can jump into a pool if they know how to swim, but some are gonna be easier to swim in than others," the hopper paused and licked his lips, staring dreamily at Andy's hunky body. "Slipping into you, my friend, is like slipping into a hot tub. You're a spa day. A four star luxury vacation."

Andy crossed his arms and frowned. "Seriously?"

"What? It's a compliment!" Dante gave his friend a shit eating grin, which faded to something a bit more serious a moment later as he looked down at the hands he was currently using. "Slipping into Trevor is like diving headfirst into the Pacific Ocean. I don't know if I'd still be in him right now if he didn't want me here- I gotta give it to him, he's a tough little dude."

"He sure is..." Andy mumbled wistfully, staring at Trevor's body with that puppy dog look in his eyes again, and the moment was getting a bit too sentimental so Dante had to course correct.

"And he's got tight little body too," he said, leaning back and pulling Trevor's shirt up so he could look down at his stomach- while he didn't have crazy abs like his boyfriend, he was flat and had some decent tone to him. "You know that I'm usually all about the big guys but I'm kinda digging how compact everything in here is. I was worried I was gonna feel like a scarecrow but he's not that bad- his butt is a lot bigger than you'd expect too, especially for his frame."

"Trust me, I'm very familiar with Trevor's butt," Andy commented, then he reached over and tugged Trevor's shirt back down protectively. Dante pouted. "And I should have known you were gonna comment on it- if there's one thing Dante's gonna do, it's focus on a guy's butt."

"I can talk about his dick too if it makes you feel better," Dante taunted, then he spread his legs and palmed at the bulge in the front of his pants- Andy looked scandalized, but there was nothing he could do to stop it without risking drawing attention, and the hopper made sure to stare right into his eyes as he toyed with his boyfriend's dick. "It's cute! Not the biggest, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in tenacity. Trevor is horny- I don't know how he keeps the whole 'shy' act up when this thing is practically spring loaded and his balls seem to have some kind of infinite cum hammer space inside of them."

"I know what you mean..." The thought of Trevor's penis stirred up happy memories for Andy, and he smiled fondly. "You know how Trevor and I swapped before we got together? That was the first time I saw his dick and it had me losing my mind- I jacked off three times before I went to go find him."

"See?" Dante squeezed Trevor's privates one more time before releasing them with a grin. "People give hoppers so much shit for messing around with guys, but put one of you inside of a hottie's body and you're exactly the same as us. We're all just after the same things in life."

"Speaking of which..." he said ominously.

Without warning, Dante hoisted himself up and flipped around so he was sitting on top of Andy, straddling his lap and pressing their bodies close together in a completely shameless display of public affection. The real Trevor would never dare to be caught in such a position, which is what made it so fun for Dante- and the look of complete shock on Andy's face was priceless.

"What the fuck Dante?" Andy exclaimed, glancing around wildly to make sure no one was looking. His hands shot out on instinct and curled around Trevor's skinny waist as he tried to stabilize his body so he wouldn't fall, and it only made the scene appear more lascivious, and Dante was living his best life.

"What? Did you think that Trevor let me hop him so the two of us could sit here and complain about patch notes?" The body hopper tilted his head back dramatically and shook out Trevor's hair like a porn star peacocking for the camera, checking to see if anyone in the crowded cafe had noticed them (many of them had and were staring with mixed shock and amusement) then he snapped back up with a wicked glint in his eye. "Nah man, this is business. We're here to bang."

He hammered his point in with his butt, flexing it so the round cheeks would caress the fat bulge they were resting on top of, and Andy's dick (in a Pavlovian response to the feeling of Trevor's body) instantly sprang to attention and tried to fight its way through their pants to get to Trevor's hole.

"Shit man, I didn't think it was possible, but you feel even bigger right now," Dante ground down on the bulge and groaned with delight, drawing even more eyes to them. "Maybe that's one nice thing about being smaller."

"Dante, people are gonna see us," Andy squeaked- he meant to growl, but because of the way his belly was flipping he was lucky he was able to get any words out at all.

"Oh no!" Dante gasped, glancing around with mock surprise, then he turned back to Andy and curled Trevor's face into a smile so lecherous that would never belong to the real boy.

He pressed his hands onto Andy's pecs, savoring the feeling of those huge muscle tits of his through his shirt, and gave them a rough squeeze. Andy groaned, eyes almost rolling back up into his head as he fought to keep himself under control. "

We wouldn't want them to think you're cheating on your boyfriend. Wait-" Dante laughed. "I guess that's not really a problem right now! I guess the bigger problem is they might start to think that your sweet little boyfriend is a shameless whore."

"Actually, do you wanna know a secret?" Dante asked, and he leaned in close to Andy's ear so no one else would hear him. Trevor's dick was fully at attention now and he rutted it lazily into Andy's belly, feeling the ridges of his abs even through multiple layers of clothes, and he let the lust he was experiencing leach into his voice. "I wasn't wearing anything when I hopped him. I'm completely exposed inside of him right now and I've been sitting here this whole time, butt naked behind your boyfriend's face, and no one had a clue. Not even you," he teased, nipping at Andy's ear, and felt the man's massive body shiver. "Kinda feels naughty, huh?"

"Dante-" Andy began, chest heaving with heavy breaths, but Dante placed one Trevor's fingers on his lips and silenced him.

"Shhh," he whispered, unable to resist the urge to milk the moment. "Trevor's gonna kill me when he gets his body back and found out I made him act like this in public but come on, he can't blame me! Doesn't he look so hot like this? Doesn't it make you wanna just rip his pants off and bend him over this table and-"

"Sorry guys," said the mildly irritated looking barista who'd been tasked with interrupting their inappropriate display. "You can't be doing that in here."

Dante schooled his expression and turned over his shoulder to apologize (Trevor would never forgive him if he got them banned from this cafe, and for his own safety Dante liked to stay on Trevor's good side) but Andy beat him to the punch.

"We were just leaving anyways," Andy said, practically throwing Dante to his feet and dragging him out the door in record time. They left their coffees on the table.

---

Like most hoppers, Dante had a somewhat complicated relationship with his own body, especially when it came to sex. He was so painfully average in terms of height, build, and appearance, why bother using his boring old form when he could just go out and find a better one? That was one of the charming things about Andy & Trevor- they wanted to fuck around with him, not just whoever he could be for the night.

(And it didn't hurt that the couple were both hot as fuck.)

But at his core, Dante was still a hopper, and every now and then he managed to talk his fuckbuddies into some well-deserved possession play. Andy was okay with being used as long as he knew what was coming, so Dante would slide inside of him and worship that incredible body of his while Trevor watched.

He and Andy would take turns fucking Trevor, using the big guy's heaven sent dick to plow away at the twink's hole while Dante slipped in and out of the hunk's back, trading off control so Trevor never knew who was the one screwing him. Sometimes he'd even switch positions mid-fuck, pulling out of Trevor and letting the smaller guy take a crack at Andy's juicy ass so when Dante gave Andy control again it felt like he went from the top to the bottom in the blink of an eye. Andy's body really was the ultimate sex toy!

But this was his first time using Trevor, and it was a completely different world. When he slipped into Andy he felt powerful and in charge, a Hercules with a dick to match, but slipping into Trevor was the opposite. Slipping into Trevor made him feel... vulnerable, especially once he was on all fours and there was a giant man rocking up behind him to make him his bitch.

Dante had bottomed for Andy in his real body so he had firsthand experience of what it was like to have all that muscle bearing down on him (not to mention practice taking that giant dick of his), but his body had some healthy inches and pounds on Trevor's body that apparently made a lot of difference because he felt like he might snap in half at any second as Andy bottomed out inside of his borrowed hole.

"You make his ass feel different," Andy grunted, clinging tightly to Trevor's hips and holding still for a moment to give his partner time to adjust before he began rocking back and forth slowly. "Is that crazy to say?"

"Not at all," Dante reassured him, his voice a bit strained as he himself being filled up with inch after glorious inch of Andy. The sensation of that massive tool pressing against his walls was... incredible, and seemed heightened with his new nerve endings. "Your dick- fuck -feels different in his ass than mine."

Andy froze mid-thrust and grabbed at his partner's shoulder, touching concern radiating from his eyes. "Am I hurting you?"

"Actually, I think it's easier as him than as me," Dante admitted- part of why he avoided bottoming in other bodies was that he never knew what the person's limits would be, but he'd been surprised by how eagerly Trevor's hole stretched for Andy (especially considering the size of the battering ram being shoved into him) and how quickly his slender body was relaxing into it. "Your boyfriend is tougher than he looks."

"Oh, good," Andy looked relieved and resumed the motion of his thrusts, but the movements were still slow and a bit tentative. Dante could tell from experience (internal and external) that he was holding back.

The hopper huffed out in frustration- what was the point of Trevor letting Andy fuck him like he fucked his boyfriend if the stud was gonna screw him like a stranger? Seemed like a waste of two hot bodies.

"That all you got?" Dante taunted, glancing back over his shoulder and rolling his eyes at Andy. "I've been inside of that body, I know what it can do. You need me to take over? Because I know I'd do twice as good a job using all that meat of yours to destroy your boyfriend's sweet little ass. I'll do it myself if you aren't feeling man enough."

And there was something very Trevor-like about the way Dante looked while he said that that made Andy grin... because if Dante wanted to get fucked like he was Trevor, Andy could fuck him like he was Trevor. He just didn't know if the hopper was prepared for it.

"Challenge accepted," Andy growled, and he started going at it in earnest, and Dante shut the hell up.

The two fucked hot and heavy for a while, and after a few minutes with Andy going at full force, Dante had to admit that the guy definitely knew what he was doing when it came to Trevor's body. He was hitting all of the right spots (some of which were deep inside him) and he was kind of jealous that Andy never pulled these moves on him when he was in his own body, but he also had his doubts about whether his own body could stand up to him like Trevor's could. He had severely underestimated the durability of this skinny little body- maybe twinks aren't so bad after all.

Trevor's dick was swinging back and forth between his legs as his body shook and Andy reached down and seized it, one of his huge hands teasing up and down its length and squeezing it with just the right amount of pressure, and Dante knew he was a goner. But he wasn't quite done with his fun yet, so the body hopper grunted out a warning to Andy, and then made his move.

Trevor rocketed back into control of his body and barely had a second to process where he was (his bedroom) and what was going on (Andy's dick was in his ass) before the orgasm hit him. There was no time to muffle himself like he usually did so he wound up shrieking wild expletives in Spanish as his cock erupted all over the bed, and he barely had the strength to keep himself propped up on his elbows as his partner continued to plow him all through his climax and kept the pace up even after he'd spilled out every drop of cum in his balls.

"Surprise," Andy's voice rumbled behind him, but Trevor wasn't fooled for a second. The angle of the thrust was all wrong.

"That wasn't fair Dante," Trevor panted- though he was still riding the high of endorphins and it was taking most of his energy just to cope with the feeling of his insides being stretched out, he mustered up the attitude necessary to turn his head and glower at the man topping him. The body hopper gave him a cheeky wink and a slap on the ass before his eyes flicked lower and he got distracted watching the way Andy's giant pecs bounced every time he thrusted.

While Trevor couldn't blame the hopper for looking (it was an impressive sight), he did think it was a bit rude to ogle his boyfriend while actively fucking him, so out of a twisted sense of revenge, Trevor flexed something deep inside himself and made his hole tighten in that way he knew drove Andy wild.

Dante didn't stand a chance. "Holy shit, what the fuck did you-"

Trevor watched over his shoulder as Andy's whole body tensed and the real Dante slipped out of his back, and barely a split second later the climax came. Andy gave a series of deep, guttural groans, his body wracked with pleasure, and Trevor felt heavy pulsing in his ass as Andy's balls emptied into the condom.

Both of them collapsed onto the bed, Andy's softening cock still buried deep inside Trevor as his hulking body smothered his smaller partner, and but he was feeling too boneless to move so he just mumbled out an apology and laid there and let the twink luxuriate in the feeling of being buried beneath a mountain of hot, sweaty muscle.

Dante stood above them, harder than he'd ever been in his life as he stared down at the tangle of debauched men before him, and he only had to jerk his own cock a few times before he was adding his own load to the mess already splattered across the pair. He collapsed on the bed next to them, spent and raw after what was basically the longest orgasm of his life, and watched out of the side of his eye as Andy and Trevor adjusted their positions so they could lie face to face with each other. Andy reached down and brushed Trevor's bangs away from his eyes, and Trevor gently took his hand, and it was all so Disney that Dante could barely watch.

"Fuck!" Dante grunted out, flopping onto his back and talking to the ceiling rather than the sickeningly in love couple next to him, and he grinned with all his teeth. "I've always wanted to try my double orgasm trick with three people, that was insane!"

As soon as he felt like he could move again (look at that, he thought, the body hopper not being in control of his body) he threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, looking away so Andy and Trevor could have a private moment together. Instead, he wobbled his way over to their television and pulled out the remote, flipping the screen on and navigating to Netflix.

Trevor caught what he was doing and pushed himself up, away from Andy's embrace, though he kept one hand on his boyfriend's chest as he called across the room towards their hookup with an exasperated look on his face.

"Dante, you're our friend, but no matter how good the sex was I am not watching that shitty reality show you were on," he said flatly, but then Andy nestled his head onto Trevor's shoulder, murmured something into his ear, and the twink relented with a sigh. "Okay, a few episodes, and no one can get mad at me for rolling my eyes."

Dante smiled. It was always fun when the three of them could get together.

[kazehita]

hi! i noticed your recent post recommending the fic natural satellite and i think i've noticed other isat fics around your blog too. because of that, i was wondering if you had a list of recommended isat fics! i will admit i am not someone who just peruses around on ao3 but i love reading about these characters so if you have any recs, i would greatly appreciate them! thanks and i hope you have a lovely day :3

I love ALL isat fic - each and every one is so special and wonderful - but if I listed the whole archive that wouldn't really help huh... So! Im going to list just some off the top of my head., this is in no way definitive. Isat spoilers ahead - get all the way through the game and the secret before proceeding.

Big recommendation list below:

Additionally, mind the tags for each fic - I wont be specifying the content warnings here.

(don't just read the complete ones!!! Incomplete fic is just as delightful I promise :3)

Complete: Bloom - Level99Eevee Most people know it, it sits at the top of the tag! It's my every wish fulfilled for post-cannon moments.

Memories of defeat - dirtbagtrashcat Stuff in and immediately after the loops, fantastic extrapolations!!!! Very much Loop <33 I find this very grounded and realistic!!!!

Emotion Sickness - dirtbagtrashcat Post cannon fun/trauma with siffrin and the gang.

Memories of Touch - dirtbagtrashcat look i just really like their work sjkdjkfjkasdf its all good go through their profile. This is Isa thoughts.

And if I were not myself, would this be easier? - rabbit_soup Post-game! I love how they flesh out the world.

The Understudy - kittyorange Suuuuch a loop fic I love it to bits. Post cannon loop and the gang stuff.

Star-Speckled Skin - Lora_Blackmane Funn angsty moment, title is very descriptive. Lives in my head rent free.

Clinging to dying embers - Coffeewolf67 Odile's perspective of sif using the dagger. appropriate content warnings apply :)

between the end and a new start - glowingjellyfishtreelights SICKFICCC I had a very funny experience with this one where due to memory mishaps I got to read it for the first time twice! Absolute banger.

What's in a name? - Raaj Explores siffrins love of plays. I have to regularly reread this for my brain to function.

Starstruck - Dusk_Illusionist Isa yearns. The fic. It rocks.

Saturn Devouring His Son (Time Choking on Stone Choking on Blood)- BasilPaste Post cannon moment... I like it...

(Why) you can't let them know by Mayasynth sasasap fic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i like it. i hold it. i like it. UGH theres more but I have already listed so many.. my other favorites... im so sorry.,.. i love you guys too... Incomplete:

How To Rest by rabbit_soup Sequel to "And if i were not myself, would this be easier?" Loop is here and I love violence.

TRY IT AGAIN, CHEATER! by discatded "[Loop returns to their own universe after everything. It's hard.]" - from the summary. Love it love it. I will never get enough of this premise.

To Extend our Reach to the Stars Above by Cinnamin_Is_a_Star "Sif if he was team rocket" and is so fun. Very excited to see this one pan out!

until we move on. by Anonymous (also known as lozy) LOOP MY BELOVED..! loop returns to their universe and promptly looses it like the universe intended. Cant get enough of it.

Natural Satellite by dirtbagtrashcat If a single fic makes me the Most insane its natural satellite if I'm honest.... like bro... It just gets right to me...

Sunder by Miranda_tries_their_best Post-cannon Loop fic!! They travel on their own for a bit (but not forever), and I love it dearly.

Face the Light by Kaimiiru Post-game, I hold it close to my heart.... Ah... It's so dear to me.

These next two are sloop so if that's not your thing you have been warned :]

raconte-moi qu’on puisse crier tout bas by bibliomaniac I'm holding this high above my head so everyone can see it the characterization is off the charts.

To Cut You Open With a Knife and Find Your Sacred Heart by Hexea_Art Changeling Loop fic!! What a fun concept. I am excited to see where it goes. yay! AGAIN... THERE ARE SO MANY I LOVE SO MUCH but im forcing myself not to look through the tag else I'd add everything. Honestly, I do recommend just launching right on into the ao3 tag for ISAT even if you aren't super familiar with ao3. Just be sure to filter out anything you don't want to see!

Consider this a good starting point ^^

[ganondoodle]

still thinking about how even just the decision to basically act like the shiekah tech never existed is just ... so baffling to me

bc again you could have done all the sonau tech does with shiekah instead, and they were perfect to be explored more in a sequel, why wouldnt you grasp that potential, the literal building blocks for more??

if you are that tired of shiekah tech .. dont make it a fuckign sequel to the game prominently featuring it???? totk doesnt take place generations after botw in which things could have changed drastically, its just a few years afterwards??

you want to reuse the map and get rid of shiekah tech? ok fine take LINK into the past then and the focus is for you to find a way to return; do some neat twist where its revealed that link was the one who sealed gan bc he couldnt defeat him without zelda or something if you dare (they wouldnt)

want less work than that and still reuse the map and get rid of shiekah tech AND reuse characters? ok then make it some alternate universe thingy like majoras mask in which everythign is the same but also isnt, its weird and creepy how characters you thoguht you knew suddendly dont act like themselves, shiekah tech doesnt exist, malice is now miasma, etc, it would give reason to why you feel so much like something about this world is familiar yet also very wrong

as far as im aware every "sequel" we have had so far were either generations apart from the first one, some alternate universe or a different location altogether- in all of which its plausible that things are different, things seem weirdly familiar but also wrong, or that another continent just works different from hyrule

but totk does none of that, its supposedly just a few years after the first game, same world same character, but its BUILT like some strange jumbled mess of stuff from botw and new stuff out of nowhere that just .. doesnt fit, but feeling a strange sense of otherness, a déja vu of something you know but it acts off, like an imposter, thats NOT intentional and it shows, its a mess of botw stuff, from stuff that people missed from the old games and entirely new stuff; i dont doubt it CAN work but the way it turned out is like a mix of 3 different puzzles forced together and being told 'see it fits!' even tho you can clearly see the pieces dont look right in these places

again it feels like a sequel that desperately wants you to forget the first game happened, that anythign from it mattered at all

and that isnt really ... the sense of a sequel? why insist on it being one when it only creates problems? is it marketing?? just like it was marketing to call age of calamity a telling of what happened before botw but then it wasnt that at all and that is still the sole reason why i dislike it? bc i was lied to? totk is like 10000 times worse than that, its a main title and doesnt even have the excuse of yeah its basically an excuse to play all your fav characters in fun ways and the game beign well aware that being its main appeal; what is totk appeal? a toybox with botw aestethic and none of the flavor?

(on a sidenote; the sonau tech doesnt even .. matter? in botw at least calamity ganon was made of shiekah tech parts and him overtaking other tech is a big point, the sonau tech doesnt serve anything but .. idk minerus useless mech? gan doesnt even aknowledge it, he doesnt care, all it is is toys for the player, not link, but the player. the monsters mining the tech materials? what for? gan doesnt give a damn and they dont work for the yiga either??)

i said it before but it gives me the feeling that the way botw invited you to theorize, to look beneath the surface, the way it intrigued you and laid the groundwork for so many interesting things without denying anything.. was accidental? or perhaps put in the game without the directors noticing? i cant stop thinking about them saying sth like "after botw zelda wondered if the kingdom of hyrule needed to keep existing the way it had been before the calamity, but then totk happens" bc it just feels like they realized too late that botw naturally led into questioning the status quo and they scrambled to fit it back into a flat and boring road we have seen so many times before (or even worse really) with totk

zeldas character naturally leads into her questioning and reexamine their history and set of rules? we gotta teach her a lesson of why she is importante god given monarchy girl that has to keep it bc what if evil brown man shows up again for no reason

maybe im grasping at straws here but looking at it this way the sonau .. make more "sense"; the shiekah were a group that was under the rule of the royal family, and misstreated before (oh no look soemthing interesting) so they dont lend themselves well to be used for teaching zelda that lesson- the sonau however are tailored really to be just that; they are a supposedly godly race from the literal sky that founded this version of hyrule, that had tech even more advanced and better than the shiekah, she gets put in the past to meet the perfect god king of goodness personally, also his very fridgy wifey that zelda later replaces in a way, shes put there and treated like family and then gets to see just how evil that evil big man from the desert is, sonia is falcon-punched to death solely so zelda can feel obligated to take over her role, have her new, better 'family' hurt by gan; similarly so raurus sacrifice, look what a noble and good king he is, he payed the ultimate price to lock that evil man away, now zelda you cannot let their sacrifice go to waste, rebuild that divinely good kingdom like it was!!

and even though they go so much out of their way to put the cart back onto the rails of black and white-good and evil in an even flatter way than the old games, it still doesnt feel right, at least to me, it still feels like zelda shouldnt have gone along with all of that, it feels like even her character from botw was walked back entirely, except for the intro, it made her feel like a stranger to me-

because this is a sequel, i know this zelda, she wouldnt act like that after all that shes been through, this feels ... off

and it all just insulting to anyone who cared about botw more than surface level, or the zelda lore in general, i dont even care much about the timeline, but theres alot of lore and themes beyond it that felt ignored, especially so given that .. its a damn sequel, non AU, not generations apart, directly part 2-

but its not.

it even feels very "corporate", put zelda in a dress again, people liked that, put crazy abilities in the game to flashbang people with how insane it is even if its not the best for the gameplay or the story, put a new asthetic into it out of nowhere bc its 'new' and act like its been there the whole time, put gan in there bc people miss him and find him sexy even if his role is just as flat as that of an evil cloud monster-

*sigh*

you know, i saw a post that said aoc was like a bad fanfic (affectionate) and totk was like a bad fanfic (derogatory) and tbh thats like one of the best comparisons/summaries i have seen ..

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

(Sorry if this is too weird for you. You can just ignore it if you like.)

So...what's it like to drink the Ghoul's piss? I'm wondering about taste, smell, temperature, and side-effects.

*blush*

(*Homelander voice* Go ahead...let's light this candle, huh??)

Friend, when I said this blog is kink-friendly and I don't judge, I meant that this blog is kink-friendly and I don't judge. I've yet to get a single ask/question/request that's made me uncomfortable, or even made me look at it funny, and this certainly isn't the point where I'm gonna start. With that said...

The taste? Oh babe, lemme tell you, it's not good. Don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone in the Fallout universe would have inoffensive-tasting piss (chronic dehydration is too widespread and frankly these people have fucked-up diets, plus constant radiation exposure for most of them). But I fully believe that ghoul metabolic processes are streamlined to utilize any beneficial resources with maximum efficiency (chiefly, calories and water; this would fall in line with characters like The Ghoul being put into situations where they survive for years and years with no food or water). To be blunt, I don't think his kidneys are producing a ton of urine, save for the bare minimum of biological waste that comes from them simply operating.

Long story short, I think the man maybe pisses once every few days if he's had enough water, and it would be dark and STRONG, both in smell and taste.

I also have a headcanon that ghouls run noticeably hotter than regular humans due to the sheer amount of energy that gamma radiation produces. The radiation alone may not produce much measurable physical heat, but I think a human body plied with it down to the cell level would basically work as a space heater. I don't think most ghouls worry about thermoregulation in the heat.

You know what that means, though? Incredibly hot piss. Like, steaming hot even when it's not cold outside. Hot enough to make you gasp when it hits your skin, startling without actually burning you.

In terms of side-effects from contact or ingesting, I'm envisioning the same sort of deal as with ghoul cum (which I elaborated on in an almost-equally unhinged post here); it's incredibly radioactive and will make you very ill if you fuck around too much. Getting a little on you probably wouldn't be any worse than trudging through your average puddle of nuclear waste, but if you're intending to have it inside you in any way, especially swallowing it, you need to be careful. Prep with Rad-X (which reduces the amount of radiation that "sticks" to you, up to a certain point), finish up with Radaway (which removes already-accumulated radiation) if you're determined to be a piss queen or a ghoul cum dumpster. No judgement! I just want to make sure you know you're in for some pretty severe nausea, open sores/burns (especially in your mouth), bleeding from the nose, and bruising if you're not careful. We love nasty fun around here, but we also love safety.

Also, you didn't ask about this, but based on what you DID ask, I'll assume you'd also be interested in knowing what his reaction to you bringing up such things would be.

And honestly? I think you'd get essentially the same reaction from Prewar!Coop and The Ghoul.

I think he'd be hesitant. Not because he finds it too gross or off-putting or anything, but he'd worry that it'll be disrespectful to you in a way that he, as a man, shouldn't engage in (moreso Prewar!Coop), and because he's worried it could be harmful to you (moreso The Ghoul). Don't get me wrong; I think he'd certainly be intrigued, and I think you being both bold and vulnerable enough to ask for such a thing would make his head spin in the best possible way. What a display of trust! As I've said before, I think this man had (and has) lots of weird kinks himself, he just hasn't had the opportunities to explore them that he needs. Many of those kinks he doesn't even realize he has.

But even though you can see that intrigue in his pretty eyes, see the forming bulge in his pants, you may have to be persistent if you really wanna try it out. He's very firm about not doing anything that'll really harm you, and he isn't initially convinced this won't.

If I'm quite honest? Prewar!Cooper would be even more turned on by it than The Ghoul once he came around to the idea. I think it would arouse him so much to see his favorite pretty little plaything so enamored with him that they'll do anything to please him, for him to make them feel good, including debase themselves completely. I think that you being so into him that you want him to piss on you, in you, would both stroke his ego and feed his most primal, possessive urges.

Best bet to get him started? Hop in the shower with him, get him all worked up as per usual, and then drop to your knees and start blowing him. Once you get him worked up enough that he could very nearly cum, pull back and keep stroking him slowly while you beg for it. Provided you've timed things right, there's no way he'd be able to say no...just give him a second. It's difficult to piss with a massive, throbbing erection. Maybe if you played with the head (with your tongue) while he tried, that would help. Who says you have to pull away when he finally starts if you don't want to?

Hope you're ready for an engagement ring after that.

The Ghoul mostly finds appeal in how filthy it is, in seeing this clean, gorgeous young thing having to dirty themselves to survive. Eventually, fully embracing the filth because they're part of the Wasteland now, coming to enjoy filth to some degree. I think that aspect of it would really get him going. Remember that scene where he watches Lucy drink the contaminated water that ultimately makes her sick? I saw a post on here when I first started the blog (I can't find it now!) about him offering Lucy an alternative to that when she was begging for some of his water...it really awakened something in me. Enough said.

I think he'd enjoy it as much as you, when it came down to it, but I think he would also make you beg for it, loudly and fervently, every single time you want it. From the very first time, it's gonna rile him up like no other that his pristine little companion is begging him to dirty them in such a disgusting way. I don't think he'd be too keen on letting you swallow it, honestly, much like I don't think he'd be too keen on letting you swallow his cum because of the radiation. But I think if you ask pretty enough, nasty enough, he'd be more than happy to piss on you or in your other holes. Only if he knows you're set up with plenty of Radaway, though.

People don't really get "engaged", or even married anymore, per se, but if you think you're getting away from this man after you let him do that to you, you're sorely mistaken.

[msnova-scotia]

Maybe a weird idea, but what if for Fantasy High: Senior Year, it was set ~50 years in the future or so, where all the Bad Kids are seniors now (hence the name). This can allow the Fantasy High series to get out of just the high school setting, the huge time jump means the characters can be level 20, the plot doesn’t have to revolve around immediate things that happen a year after this last season.

Fig can have her separation from the group where she’s lived many years doing her own thing growing. Emily can even choose to keep her retired, saying she’s happy just being a rock star or arch devil in hell or whatever she wants Fig to ultimately do, and can have another character or bring Fig back for a little here and there if she wants, without it being expected to bring Fig back.

Fabian can have his little sibling all grown up, and we can explore more about that. Chungledown Bim can be defeated during the time skip or even as a side plot during the season. He can be retired and not have to worry about keeping up his maximum legend status all the time, and live peacefully but accomplished.

Riz will probably have spent tons of his time exploring other planes of existence, being a secret agent with his dad, taking down all kids of baddies across the universe. He won’t have to be so stressed all the time having to keep tabs on his friends and make sure they don’t get themselves killed (though now he does have to do this with all of the newbies at his job).

Kristen is finally living her best life with a huge congregation following her pantheon of gods, spreading the word of doubt and justice and the true meaning of what these gods stand for. And who knows, maybe Kristen resurrected even more. Now Kristen is making sure each god has a following that believe in and shape the gods in the way the gods want to be shaped.

Adaine has long killed her mother at this point. Her and Aelwyn are best friends, inseparable, though each with their own independent life. I’ve also seen a couple posts about how Adaine would make a good principal (much better than Augefort at least), so she could be doing that as well as changing Fallinel to be less stuck up and pompous. Also she’s settled into her role as the Elven Oracle, and while it may still annoy her that every elf and their mother seems to want a prophecy from her, she at least accepts that her visions are important enough to change the tides of the world and her role shouldn’t be taken so lightly.

And lastly, Gorgug has proven himself as the greatest wizard of all time. Barbaficer has become as common as any other class. He’s changed the world with his inventions, and could be head of some engineering department or whatever that’s brought the entire world of Spyre into the future with crystals and vehicles and all sorts of technological advances that could never have been dreamed of before he came along.

And after all of this personal growth each of the characters had, they have to get together for “one last adventure, for old times’ sake.” But none of them have really adventures in a couple years. Not like when they were younger, that is, but whatever’s going on can’t be stopped by just anyone.

I was also thinking that tbh, it would be neat to maybe explore permanent deaths for the characters at the end, whether it’s from the final battle or the epilogue where each Intrepid Hero gets to choose how their character finally passes, and ends their story. It can put the Fantasy High series to rest in a good way, maybe leaving an open ending to give way for a new generation of heroes but also a final ending to the Bad Kids (so fans don’t keep asking for another year, then another, maybe college this time, etc etc.)

It would also be fun to start off the season with their deaths, have the typical introductions and scene settings that happen with each season, and then the end of the episode: BAM! They all die, put to rest, who will avenge them, the story begins, the Intrepid Heroes start their actual characters, and the whole season is whatever the cast wants it to be, I’m just not sure how well that would work, or how it would still play into being Fantasy High without the main characters. Maybe it could be a side quest or even a longer one-shot or something if they did it this way

[kommandonuovidiavoli]

A little reflection on lore and AUs

This is something that's been roaming in my mind for a while, I just want to put it down on "paper".

All of us have their main AU. And with AU, I mean a universe where their characters are canon in the KND lore and live their own adventures. All of us have a main timeline with the main characters that will go on living their lives and adventures.

This AU can generate more AUs within it, where little things change, and these will be labeled as "AUs" by the creator since they derive from the main plot but then develop into something else. And these kinds of AUs are fun because you can explore different possibilities within your own story!

Now, that being said, let's talk about "adding someone else's OC into your story". I see it can have 4 main situations:

The OCs and their lore are now fused with your own, and you accept the existence of said OCs in your story since they don't change the end result, if anything they make it funnier to achieve;

The OCs are a different AU and you know it, and you just play it as a different AU from your plot, it's just for fun;

This is a "different universes meeting" kind of deal, a portal opened somewhere, and now the AUs are interacting. They won't change their final story, but this is a fun little moment that can be canon or not;

You acknowledge these OCs may exist in your own universe but also specify that, even if they might have the same story and personalities, they also might be a different experience from the main AU the creator invented for them. They just exist in your universe, but they are not the same exact people.

I love the 3rd plotline a lot, I find myself doing that but with past and future, having them meet for the lolz (even if it's just an AU into my story). I am also up for RPing AUs meeting because I find the concept really funny and interesting, with characters explaining their deal and then going on adventures together (also because let's be real, Penny ain't gonna meet anyone's OC anytime soon since there's age difference).

But when I introduced the idea that @artsygirl0315's Sector PHP meets Irwin I started diving into the 4th case: these OCs might exist in my universe but they are not the exact same.

As an example, still using Sector PHP: let's say I will have them show up for the Nightmare War and help others win it. They will be canon in that part of the lore (if the creator wants), but of course, in their main story the Nightmare War never happened and they will never experience it, and I won't force them to add it to their canon, since this is completely my creation and *I* only know how to develop and end.

Another example (sorry for dragging you in but this is relevant lol), is @roguephenon, who has the plan to make Penny canon in his AU story, but she's gonna be a different version of Penny, even if they might end up having the same main traits. He can have Penny do what he wants, and he can modify her a bit, but still, Penny is now canon in my AU and his AU too! Maybe one day these two will also meet and tbh I LIVE to see that moment!

Honestly, usually, the fandoms I was in were canon-oriented, there weren't too many OCs, and if there were, I and other creators would go the 3rd route and have AUs somehow meet.

This is the first time I find myself actually wondering if I can make it somehow canon that someone else's OC exists in my AU. And I like it!

Of course, if you don't like the idea just hit me up (literally, with a bat) and say you don't want your OC into my lore but you're up for AUs meeting or whatever you prefer!

So far, I am just playing around with OCs meeting and having fun but... well, I do need people for the Nightmare War LMAO.

What do you think? What is your favorite thing to play?

[thoseyoulove]

Reacting to The Vampire Lestat - Part III (with a bit of spoilers)

I like Gabrielle.

I'm not sure I love her, but I really like her.

I feel wrong using feminine pronouns with her, though. I feel like Gabrielle is whispering in my ear that is they/them. Like, I've never had a headcanon so strong before? I don't know about labels, but for me those are the pronouns Gabrielle would use. It's just so clear to me.

I won't use them because the book doesn't do it, the fandom doesn't do it, which I'm not criticizing because it isn't exactly 'official', so it wouldn't be real canon to... But I feel like if the books were released today, it would be. And I hope the show changes that and we can gradually adjust too.

I hope that when they write season 3, they show signs of her gender dysphoria even before she says something explicit like the "you're the man in me" conversation. I want lines that imply that, I want a look in her eyes and expressions on her face whenever she gets gender envious of guys or has to do something "feminine". The book doesn't do a lot of that because Lestat is the narrator and he is away from her, so we barely see her before the transformation/'transition' but the show has the opportunity to explore more of it and I hope they use it.

Gabrielle was born to be a vampire. I think she would nail it even without Lestat's counseling. It's just second nature for her. You go, bruh!

Gabrielle actually seems to be more fun and even affectionate than I expected? I was worried that she'd might be too confident, powerful, badass, empowered etc that she would feel cold and emotionless, because that's usually what happens with characters like these and I hate that... But so far it hasn't been the case.

She really blossomed with vampirism. Feels like she is finally getting the opportunity to have the life she was meant to live.

The only downside is the hair. That moment with the hair was so visceral. I feel bad for her. Imagine being stuck with a hair you hate and gives you body dysphoria forever. I hope the show lets her hair be short. Like, maybe her illness affected her hair or something. Or at least give her hairstyles that make it look shorter than it really is. Or make her cut it every day. I don't care. Let the dude have short hair! Period.

Lestat's reaction to all this is like... Mixed feelings. He doesn't love it. Which, I get it, all his life he knew her as a "woman". It can be weird adjusting to that, it may feel like you're losing someone. But there are these gentle moments when he separates accessories (if I remember it correctly, rings) that are masculine for her because he figures she would prefer them and when he says he'll cut her hair every night if she wants to, so it's more of unlearning and grieving what/who he thought was 'real' and adapting to a new reality. It's not an "okay, let's go!" reaction as if nothing happened, specially for the time being (1700s), it's complicated, but he seems to be open. I can't speak for everyone who is trans and/or under the non-binary umbrella, but it was human to me and I have no problems with it.

Alright, so whether it was incestuous before or not, now it clearly is. I do hope it started now and not when they were human, though.

She was my mother, my fledgling, my child (sort of), my roommate, basically the only friend I had and my lover. I mean, not exactly, but I thought the joke was funny.

I feel like if I talk about the incest, it has to be on another post because it would probably take too long. There are way too many things to talk about and I'm still approaching the middle of the book.

Let's just say it sort of makes works with how the book, the characters, this species and universe are written. I can sort of get it, at least for now. Is it necessary? No. Would the show suffer if they don't do the incest? Not all. Is it random, irrelevant, only for shock value and because "let's get nasty freaky and controversial these are vampires and this is gothic horror grow up cupcakes deal with it hahaha"? Also no! It has some kind of logic. But I feel like Lestat and Gabrielle are already layered enough with their parent/child/maker/fledgling/sort of envious of each other (including the fact they're both gender nonconforming to some extent) dynamic on its own, that there's plenty to cover here without incest. Still, if the show goes there (and I'm afraid they will), I also expect it to make sense and not be just for the sake of being seual, weird and controversial. I believe Rolin is too good to write something that mediocre and poor. So, I can live without it, but I'm also trusting the show to do whatever their thing is. Let's see, I guess.

Also, at least at the moment, it's not as big as people make it out to be. Again, to talk about this properly I'd need another post, but it's not like they sleep together, they're head over heels in love with each other or anything. Like I said, there's some logic that is kind of complicated to explain here, but it's not that radical and it's not that often. Sometimes I even genuinely and wholeheartedly forget about it. Fortunately, there are way too many other (and more) interesting things going on to focus on.

Gabrielle learning about her powers is really fun too, maybe even more fun than Lestat since she's such a natural at this whole thing.

And their maker/fledgling dynamic is entertaining as well.

She's like, climbing walls, jumping from roofs etc like a cat, just having the time of her life and while Lestat gets pretty adventurous and experimental with his powers too, it's not as much? Gabrielle takes it to the next level (good for her).

Like, sometimes he has to stop Gabrielle like a father with his kid, like "CAN WE PLEASE JUST GO HOME WE CAN DO MORE TOMORROW" and it's simply hilarious.

Stop it, Lestat, let Gabrielle HAVE FUN!

Gabrielle just gives major Cat Woman vibes. Now I need Cat Woman-esque scenes on the show with her climbing and jumping between buildings etc. WE HAVE SO MUCH POTENTIAL AND THE VISION IS CO CLEAR. Do it, Rolin!

It's cool that Lestat finally has some real company and someone with whom he can be open about being a vampire.

Loneliness is the biggest thing for him on the show and I have a feeling it's the same thing on the books. And it's even worse here, because there are moments where he is completely alone and in so much pain (and we haven't seen that on the show yet). Having Gabrielle around made things better for him and he hasn't cried in a little while (and he was crying A LOT on those first two chapters, for very understandable reasons), so this was a nice turn for him and the story.

I also think he enjoys being her mentor, like it gives him a sense of purpose and pride. Reminds me of how he talked about the way he felt at the monastery. And it's sweet to see him teaching Gabrielle stuff.

And sometimes he feels like an old and tired single dad and it's just funny. Like, Gabrielle is ready to create the vampire Olympics and win gold for every single sport and he just wants to sleep. Lestat is too much and loves playing around, but Gabrielle is too much even for HIM. Imagine having more energy than the actual ADHD child. What a legend. They're hilarious. A lot of room to play with humor with these two and I hope they use it.

P.S. Nothing is permanent, opinions might change and this is based on Lestat’s narration, which can be unreliable. I’m reading the books so I can find out more about the characters, what potential events might happen in the show, what I can expect etc. This is my favorite show in the universe, so I want to be as informed as possible. I have no idea if I’ll become a legit fan of the books or not, but so far I’m enjoying it. I’m posting these comments only for fun.

[christiansorrell]

RPG Read-through: .dungeon//remastered

For a while on Twitter, I've been doing read-through threads where I post my thoughts as I'm reading through a game for the first time. I recently did the same with Snow's .dungeon//remastered, a TTRPG where you are players logging in to a dead/dying MMO and exploring the digital fantasy world. I'm adapting those thoughts here for a proper Tumblr post! Enjoy!

First up, credits! Good folks who do good work in my experience. Also, we get the first of what seems to be a common through-line here that I enjoy: an online fandom bent to this all being a sort of GameFAQ style guide for an in-universe game.

My initial impression from most of the interior spreads I've seen just flipping through it is that I really love the style and layout. I think black and white layouts are underrated generally, but it really pops here with the pixelated text/symbols and the old school GUIs.

It's interesting to have these kind of "no bigotry" rules you see in many games couched within an in-universe framing. I think this more personal angle actually makes them land better for me than they typically do in games.

Of course, the author is still powerless to stop the players (just like with any instance of these rules, and all game rules in general tbh) BUT this is worldbuilding too, and it gives me a greater sense for the kind of in-universe fandom that's risen up around .dungeon.

Similarly, here's the game's unique version of safety tools - an in-game help menu that reworks things like lines/veils, x-card and more into the game world itself. I really like this.

Once again, the art in this is just great. I love the Fez-like runes/symbols. My ARG brain wants to know if there's a hidden message here.

I was surprised it was jumping right into the starter adventure, Tutorial Town, but I quickly found out that this is character creation AND a starting area/adventure all wrapped into one, video game-style, and that's so cool.

Each room of the starting area introduces a step of character creation. It's interesting that stats are based on real-world (not you the player at the table real-world but your PC at the "real-world" computer playing the game) ability. Your game knowledge, response time, etc.

As a long time Dota player, I also just really enjoy that the saving throw-like stat here is TILT. I have tilted many times and known many of my teammates to tilt regularly. Just fun to see that phrasing in a TTRPG.

There's more of the in-universe real-world player here than I expected coming in. Definitely has some really intriguing potential. I do wonder though if the intent is to be playing a "real-world" level character or if you are "playing" as yourself at that layer. Both would work.

Monster statblocks. Easy to parse and straightforward to run as the GM (tho at time the layout does have one two many things laid on top of one another that can make them hard to read at first glance - like where "GOBLIN" is here):

Health here is SYNC, and it's shared across the whole party - I'm interested to see how that full mechanic plays out and how it may affect play.

Reaction rolls. I'm surprised to see them given the video game setting, cus mobs in MMOs just always attack you. I've gone back and forth on it with my video game-inspired TTRPG. Don't think it's a bad choice, just one that means the game world is more than a usual video game.

So you have your real-world level Job (based on your characters' out of game job) and your in-game "Role" which follow the classic "holy trinity" of MMO design:

PCs and monsters can team up to attack and can forego damage for stunts - potentially fun/interesting moments happening from that. Monsters deal dmg to SYNC but only per type is interesting, means a crowd of one-enemy is more a long trickle of damage than an overwhelming burst.

Not knowing the ramifications of SYNC damage yet, I'm not sure what the Risk v Reward looks like for Respawns but it's intriguing. Letting your avatar die to keep the party in a stronger position overall (but being able to re-join after a fight) is definitely unique.

This is another fun room (and I like that other than saying late 90s/early 2000s it leaves appearance options open). I am not sure where to find the starting origins tho (they aren't on this spread and there's no page reference). Sadly, the PDF isn't bookmarked either, it seems.

This feels like a smart roadblock to place in player's paths early on. It's unlikely they'll have a lockpick at this point so really, it's about getting players into that creative mindset. What is in the room for you to exploit? What gear do you have you can use in a new way?

Might seem basic, especially to the OSR-experienced out there, but you'd be surprised how many players don't have experience with thinking more freeformly about the game in this way. No fault to them, most trad games condition you to use your PC's abilities/skills as a menu.

Another cool interaction between the layers of the game here (tho I do wish they all played more off of something more than just the tarot card being in the real-world layer). Still wondering if most folks play as themselves or as a real-world level PC.

This is interesting. I wonder if there is going to be a real-world layer to play or if this is meant to be the amount your party can heal between sessions of play (like when the actual real you stops playing in actual real life - this meta layer stuff is tricky to communicate).

I like this - a very short and sweet travel system.

I continue to love this art. Also, this tease here around dual-wielding requiring the discovery of new Roles out in the game world somewhere first is really enticing (I added the highlighter there btw).

This is fun - there are both in-game NPCs and PUGs which are other real-world players' in-game avatars. That extra layer to those types of NPCs is really fun and them running the gamut of fully out-of-character chatting to being hardcore RPers is fun to consider.

Whenever it leans into the digital world aspects, I'm super into it. Very much my kinda thing. I do wonder though how often players can swap their Roles. I don't believe I've seen that said yet - my inclination would be once on the fly (like Final Fantasy's Job systems).

And if these various layers weren't enough, .dungeon also features in-game collectible cards that are sort of enchantments and buffs. I wonder if my real-world level character can spend real money to buy Bytes to buy more packs from a merchant in town? lol

I won't spoil/detail too many more of these but these kind of fun (and common to video games but rarely seen when thinking of the world of a game or the intended way to play) moments are really appealing. Also, this game has Goons in it. Oh no.

Now I'm thinking the intention is the "real-world" level of play should be the real actual you, the person playing .dungeon the TTRPG (as opposed to a real-world level character still within the fiction of the game) since stuff like this would be tricky to track. Cool item!

Tutorial Island is cool, a good blend of char creation, intro to what the game is, and just a fun adventure with a session or more of play to it. I'd have to run/play this to really see but I find the Sync being tied to essentially your real-world session length interesting.

This stuff is cool and leans into that meta/fan-level play that only comes out of these big community-driven games, both MMOs but also things like Dark Souls.

A lot of these kind of possible secrets come as comments in the text, possibly just to inspire the GM and to get players interested in ways that the table can build out on their own over time. So far, I don't see some of the more esoteric secrets to be laid out (which I like).

The rest of the book, as far as I've seen, is lots of resources, gear tables, monsters, etc. to build out the game after player's leave Tutorial Island. The game world here has that anything goes Final Fantasy bent to it. There's swords & wagons, but laser guns & skateboards too.

The setting here is also explicitly queer (mostly seen so far in the "real-world" PUGs) and includes things like sex workers and other elements that it maybe could not have had but that would certainly lessen the richness of its world, the fandom presented throughout, etc.

The spellcasting uses the in-game money as mana points essentially. That's a cool way to limit spellcasting and motivate player's, especially spellcasters, to get out there and make some $$$.

Okay, here's the real-world explanation I was waiting for (after the in-game gear lists and such). This is cool - it's fun to have a real-life layer to this and to have the game's world support that sort of dropping in and out, doing things outside of a full party session, etc.

I know a lot of folks do this with ongoing campaigns anyway, but this is one of those fun things to include here to build that in as an expectation in play. You have your raid nights with friends and you have your little solo sessions after work where you sell your loot.

Now, the rest is a nice collection of random dungeon, NPC, settlement, hexfill tables and more. Everything you'd expect from an OSR-like ruleset but occasionally with some fun added meta-layers.

Players getting a quest from an in-game Moderator and then being able to become a Mod themselves is a really fun idea and something I could envision becoming a long-term goal for one or more players at a table. The threat of encountering an Admin is scary as well!

To finish it up, we've got a cool AASCII-style character sheet, complete with MingLiU-ExtB font (my beloved)!

And that's .dungeon//remastered! I really enjoyed reading this, and I think it has a strong core that's really enhanced by its real-world interaction layer. Gonna put this on "Play Soon" list. There are some smart rules in particular I'll likely steal for a future project.

.dungeon//remastered is available digitally NOW with, I believe, physical copies coming soon. I backed the Kickstarter to get this digital version. CHECK IT OUT HERE!

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Finding Comfort in Autumn (M) ~Changbin

Pairing: Werewolf!Changbin x Werewolf!F.Reader Themes: Supernatural/Fantasy AU | Fluff | Smut | Angst | Slow Burn | Rivals? to Lovers | Roomies to Lovers Warnings: unconventional a/b/o dynamics · mentions of abuse (unrelated to Changbin) · self-loathing · graphic depictions of intercourse (warnings under the cut) · pet names (puppy/pup) Word Count: ~16k | AO3 Summary: Changbin was an alpha. He had always been an alpha, but he had a secret. A secret he had only ever shared with the alpha of his pack, a secret he had kept buried as deep within him as he could, a secret he had decided to ignore, until the presence of that annoying omega coworker of his wouldn’t let him ignore it anymore.

Author’s Note: again, where did all these words come from? anyway, i wanted to explore a different type of a/b/o dynamic, and this is what came out of it, if you’re reading this, hope you enjoy it, and if you did, don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts~ [This story takes place within the It’s Cold Out universe, meaning it’s part of my WereRoomies series].

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for an adult audience only. Minors please do not interact.

Changbin’s WereRoomies Instalments: Finding Comfort in Autumn · Heat · The Love I Always Dreamt Of.

Smut Warnings: oral (F.Rec) · mutual masturbation · protected penetration (piv) [it’s all pretty vanilla, oops]

Disclaimer: the story represented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

Changbin had always known he was an alpha, just as did his parents. He displayed alpha traits since he was very young; he was opinionated, liked to assert dominance among his peers, and got incredibly upset when people touched his toys, so when puberty hit him, and his true scent started to ooze off of him, it was no surprise to anyone that his scent was that of an alpha. His parents were ecstatic as soon as their suspicions were confirmed, immediately gushing on and on about the possibility of their son ever leading a pack.

The moment his alpha status started to be recognised in his teenage years, something had changed in Changbin, and not for the better. He became more aggressive, he’d snap at people over the smallest things, and he’d get himself in physical altercations just out of the pure anger he felt coursing through his veins.

There weren’t that many werewolves in his school, humans obviously didn’t know about their existence, but every werewolf knew of the other, and even though each one tried to keep to themselves or to their own small groups from the same pack, Changbin seeked them. He seeked conflict often, almost as if he was trying to prove something.

If there was another alpha he’d try to fight them, if there were any betas or omegas he’d intimidate them into submission, using his alpha voice or his predator stare. Hell, he would even try to intimidate humans, too. He loved seeing them cower from him, seeing them avert their gaze when he used his predator stare–or at least, he used to think he loved it.

There was always that one person, though. That one person at school that never cowered, that, if anything, stared back at him, defied him. You, a werewolf from a different pack. Changbin could still remember the very first time you stood up to him, he had pushed one of your friends out of the way, rather violently, making them stumble to the ground as he snickered.

You, completely furious, stood right in front of him, pushing on his chest with force. “Stop being a fucking jerk!”

Changbin was stunned for a few seconds, only enough to get a whiff of your scent, a mix of nutmeg and ginger, and, to his absolute shock, the scent of an omega. His stunned expression quickly changed, staring you down as his alpha voice came out even before he could register it. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

He saw the moment his tone reached your ears, the moment your stare faltered just slightly, but you didn’t avert your eyes, nor did you back out. “I said, stop being a fucking jerk. Are your ears not working? Fuck right off, leave us alone”.

Oh, Changbin was seething, how could an omega dare talk back to him? And stare him right in the eyes as they did at that? He couldn’t help but let out an incredulous, sarcastic laugh. “And what’s the puppy gonna do about it, huh?!”

“This puppy’s gonna tear your balls off your body and make you eat them if you continue to torment us like this”.

Before Changbin could retaliate, before he could even attempt to make you submit, a call of your name finally made you look away from him, turning instead to the man calling for you. Your gaze shifted then, finally recoiling and turning your eyes to the floor as the man came to stand next to you, eyeing Changbin up and down. “Is there a problem here?”

Hyunwoo, another alpha werewolf at school, a handful of years older than Changbin, his confident demeanour coupled with his strong scent startled Changbin, but he answered him regardless, gritting his teeth slightly. “Not at all”.

The man looked around them for a second, and then stepped into Changbin’s space, flooding Changbin’s senses with his alpha scent and staring him down. “Thought so”, taking a hold of Changbin’s upper arm, gripping him tightly, he tugged him closer, enough for Hyunwoo to whisper in his ear. “Don’t you fucking dare come close to my omega, understood?”

Changbin gulped the saliva that had collected in his mouth, eyeing you for a second until he nodded, so Hyunwoo finally let go of his arm without saying another word. He turned to you instead, taking your wrist and tugging you away, and Changbin could’ve sworn he heard him muster a ‘you and I are gonna talk once we’re back at the den…’ as you two left.

Back then, that encounter had left Changbin so shaken, so utterly out of his element he kept to himself the rest of the day. Confused by the entire thing, by the omega that stared back at him, and the alpha that managed to shut him up. But his behaviour didn’t particularly change after that, he decided to move on and pretend it never happened at all.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later, that Changbin finally had his wake up call.

“C’mon, this needs to stop. You can’t keep hurting yourself like this, what the fuck’s gotten into you?” Chris had told him one day as they sat at the nurse’s office in their school. Changbin had gotten himself in a fight with a guy from another class, over what exactly Changbin couldn’t even remember. He could only remember his fist hitting the guy’s jaw and the other hitting back, leaving him with a split lip and a bruised eye.

“What’s gotten into me?” Changbin had lounged at Chris back then, too, grabbing him by the collar of his uniform and pulling him close to him. “I’m an alpha, am I not? This is who I fucking am! This is who I’m supposed to be!”

“This is not who you’re supposed to be!” Chris tugged on Changbin’s wrists, effectively getting his hands off of him so he could push on his chest, removing Changbin from his space. “I’m an alpha, too, remember? This has nothing to do with your fucking designation”.

Chris was a couple of years older than Changbin, and even if they were not in the same year at school, they belonged to the same pack, so they had been friends for a long time. Much like it happened with Changbin, no one was surprised when Chris’ alpha designation presented itself once puberty hit him. However, he had reacted completely differently than Changbin had when he found out.

Chris seemed to always be so sure of himself,so sure of his place in the pack. As if he knew exactly who he was and what he wanted to do, which always puzzled Changbin. How could Chris feel that way, when he was struggling so much?

“Then what the fuck am I supposed to do?!” Changbin had snapped that day, but not in the way he had been snapping at people for the past few months. This time, his words came out as a desperate sob, tears quickly welling in his eyes as he brought his fists to press on his eye sockets, shamefully hiding from his friend. “What the hell am I supposed to do, then?”

Changbin could still remember that day vividly. How Chris had tentatively wrapped his arms around him, holding him as he cried. It was the first time he had shown vulnerability, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of how much his face hurt from where he had been hit, or if it was Chris’ general comforting aura that caused it, but he broke down right there in the nurse’s office.

“I don’t know what to do… I don’t know who I am, this all feels so wrong”, Changbin had admitted back then as he sobbed against Chris’ chest.  

“We can… We can figure it out together, but stop hurting yourself like this, and stop hurting others too, please…” Chris had pleaded back then, and it wouldn’t be until much later that Changbin would realise how much those words of Chris’ had impacted him.

Changbin and Chris were both of the same designation, the same status, but somehow Changbin always felt as if he wasn’t even close to Chris’ level. This was something he felt whenever he was close to every other alpha he had ever met, he felt as if he wasn’t ‘alpha enough’, a conclusion he had reached after a long time spent doing a lot of introspection, helping him realise that his anger issues in his teenagehood rooted from just that, that struggle he felt within himself, something he was able to work on as he grew up.

By the time Changbin was close to finishing his last year in High School, he had already realised his wrong-doings, how fucked up everything he had done had been, so he spent his last year going to those he had hurt during his lowest time to deeply apologise for his behaviour, all with the support of Chris and Jisung–an omega werewolf they had met after he transferred schools a couple of years prior.

Some people had accepted Changbin’s apology, some even told him they barely even remembered any encounter they had had with him. But then, there was you. You, the omega from a different pack that somehow always managed to press his buttons in all the wrong ways. You, the omega with the nutmeg and ginger scent, masked almost completely by the earthy scent of that one alpha Hyunwoo. You, the only one in his class that continued to defy him time and time again, to get better scores, better ideas for assignments, the only one that tried to be better than him and say it to his face.

Changbin had to apologise to you, too. That was what Chris and Jisung had told him at least. After all, he did try to intimidate you with his predator stare the first time you properly interacted with one another. However, you had gotten on his nerves so many times throughout your school years in different ways completely unrelated to your… Supernatural condition he almost didn’t reach out to you.

‘Don’t do things in halves, dude. You’ve apologised to everyone else, you must apologise to her, too’, was all Chris told him when Changbin voiced how much he just didn’t want to do it. Eventually, though, he figured Chris was right, so he did approach you one day, just as you were shoving books from your locker into your bag.

“What do you want, Seo Changbin?” You slammed your locker closed and then started to walk away from him, making him sigh in annoyance and follow you.

“I want to–God, would you stop walking and look at me?” 

You stopped, and looked him right in the eyes. “Why? So you can use your predator stare on me?”

Changbin held your gaze for a few seconds, but then he dropped to look at your nose instead. “I wanted to… To apologise for… For trying to intimidate you all those years ago”.

You were clearly taken aback by the sudden apology, holding your bag a bit tighter. “Okay…?”

“Yeah, so… It was wrong of me to use my status like that, I shouldn’t have and I’m deeply sorry. I’ve learnt my lesson”, Changbin bent at the waist, regarding you with a short bow before he straightened himself again, turning his eyes back up to look at your face.

You were quiet for a moment, just looking at him, your mouth opening and closing a few times until you finally shook your head a bit, clearing your throat. “Apology accepted”.

Oddly enough, Changbin did feel relieved, almost as if the weight of his actions had finally lifted off of his shoulders.

“What I won’t forgive you for is copying my final project’s topic, though”, you added as you continued to walk, which made him scowl.

“I didn’t fucking copy your topic. If anything, you copied me!”

To which you simply scoffed and turned around the corner, finally leaving his sight.

You had accepted his apology back then, but your bickering didn’t stop. If anything, it kept up until the very last day of school, until you both graduated and moved on with your lives. Regardless, Changbin couldn’t undo what he had done, but he had finally owned up to it, and at the very least he did learn his lesson, something his friends commended him for.

As Changbin continued to mature and to work on himself, he finally came to another realisation. Everyone had been able to notice Changbin’s alpha traits when he was growing up, they were painfully obvious, so his other traits, those that he only displayed on occasion, or that he would unconsciously hide from other people, went unnoticed for years. Changbin was incredibly sensitive, he was, essentially, a softie. Something that didn’t usually comply with the image expected of an alpha. He had no real desire to lead a pack, or to lead in general.

Which is why, when Chris decided to start a pack of his own, Changbin was more than happy to follow him as his right hand. Changbin’s parents were not exactly thrilled by that decision, since they always had this inexplicable dream of him leading a pack–a thought so incredibly ludicrous to Changbin he couldn’t even laugh about it–but they supported him anyway, giving them a place to start their den for it to be soon filled with their friends.

However, Changbin had a secret. Even though Chris was his best friend since childhood, and they knew more of each other than probably any other person ever would, Changbin had never revealed his secret to Chris. It wasn’t until they moved to their den, until Chris had become Changbin’s pack alpha, that he finally shared his secret with Chris.

When Changbin was on his own, when he didn’t have to put up a façade, he yearned of being pampered, of being taken care of, something so not alpha-like he had kept it hidden so deep within him he almost couldn’t believe when the words came out of his mouth as he confessed it to Chris. Changbin had half expected Chris to laugh at him, to judge him–even though logically he knew Chris would never do something like that to him, not when he was being this serious about the topic discussed–but Chris had simply stared back at him, offering a ‘huh, interesting. Never thought an alpha could have omega urges, but I guess it doesn’t sound crazy either’.

Omega urges, as soon as those words left Chris’ mouth Changbin had recoiled, mostly out of reflex. But seeing no judgement in Chris’ eyes as he said it, Changbin started to realise that was exactly what it was. Changbin was an alpha. His scent was that of an alpha, and he behaved much like an alpha most of the time, but deep down, there was a bit of an omega in him, and the moment he understood that, he was finally able to accept himself–or at least, to cope with the fact, acceptance was probably something that would come in due time.

Even after he accepted that fact, though, he still kept it hidden, as his little secret that only he and the alpha of his pack knew. Changbin never really told his packmates either, nor did he ever tell any partner he had ever had–not that he had had that many, to be honest. Whenever he was in a relationship he behaved as an alpha, something that he thought he didn’t mind much, but as his relationships kept on failing and failing because something was never right, he realised it did matter. Yet, he never had the guts to fully show himself to anyone he was intimate with, turning instead to hookups and one night stands to fulfil his physical needs when necessary.

Eventually, though, that stopped, too, after the first scare he had. It was hard for a werewolf to get drunk, their metabolism was much faster than that of humans for alcohol in moderate amounts to do anything to them. Unless, of course, they consumed an ungodly amount of spirits crafted specifically for his kind in a very short period of time. Changbin couldn’t even remember how much he drank that day, but he did remember the fact that his judgement was completely clouded, enough to hook up with someone without protection of any kind, without knowing if the other person was clean or not, and the moment he woke up the next day he was scared shitless.

Thankfully–after a mild scolding–Chris and his roommate went with him to one of those pop-up clinics to get checked, both even testing themselves, too, giving him much needed emotional support, even when he finally came up clean after.

So Changbin decided then to stop seeking any physical relief altogether, turning instead to the gym to relieve stress and focusing on his job and any pack matters that they had to deal with, which were already enough of a task on their own. Chris’ pack grew quickly–maybe quicker than they had anticipated. At first, it was only the three of them, Chris, Changbin, and Jisung, but throughout their entire university studies more of their friends joined, finally forming a tight pack of eight.

At the very early stages of their pack, maintaining order was tough, with only Chris as their leader and Changbin as his right hand to organise the rest of them, until Minho joined them and quickly became Chris’ left hand. And eventually, Chris’ roommate came into the picture. A human. A human they had invited to live in their den by sheer chance, a human that, after finding out about their condition, after understanding the bond between pack members, had naturally fallen into the position of pack mum, even when she wasn’t even romantically involved with Chris in any way–although eventually she did get involved romantically with Chris, something that shocked absolutely no one in the pack, considering how painfully obvious Chris’ feelings were, how painfully obvious her feelings were…

Regardless, with the four of them as the foundation of their pack, it became easy to deal with pack matters. They could rely on one another without hesitation, so as the weight of their responsibilities distributed among the four of them, Changbin didn’t have to excessively worry about pack matters anymore. Which meant that most of his stress came from his job.

When Changbin had decided on a whim ages ago to study computer science he didn’t expect it to be difficult, and, to be honest, his journey through university wasn’t any more difficult than anyone else’s, so he was able to graduate within the expected time, with an added extra year to specialise in network engineering. The difficult aspect of his profession came when he actually started to work in the field. People who work in IT weren’t exactly liked within their companies. End users liked to complain about things they didn’t know about, and even when he politely explained in the simplest way he could why something wasn't as easy as they claimed it to be, they always said he simply didn’t want to help and called him names.

This was something Changbin had to deal with on the regular, which wasn’t usually a problem, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant to deal with. Funnily enough, though, there was no worse enemy to someone working in the IT department of a company than another person who was also working in the IT department. This was something Changbin came to understand during his many different jobs in many different companies, but it was especially true in the company he was working for right now.

Having your IT services in-house these days wasn’t a common occurrence, but this particular office wanted to keep things simple, to keep everything ‘within the family’, so around a year ago, Changbin was hired as their network engineer. He was excited for the job position, it’d pay well and the company wasn’t so bad. That excitement almost died on his first day on the job, when he was introduced to one of the IT coordinators of the building.

He had been called to a room for his first IT department meeting, and the second he stepped through the door of the meeting room he was hit with the scent of nutmeg and ginger, a scent he had not smelt in years, since high school, the scent that to this day he’d dream about sometimes–although he’d never say that outloud. And sure enough, the moment Changbin had followed the trail of the scent he was greeted with your surprised eyes looking back at him.

So when the meeting ended, Changbin had reached out to you. You had politely greeted him, introducing yourself as the IT coordinator and offered a ‘hopefully things go smoothly moving forward’. A long time had passed since you two had last seen each other, so surely things had changed, surely you could be amicable with one another.

How wrong he had been. 

You were still the same, only more mature–and more beautiful, but Changbin wouldn’t let himself admit that. You were still the same opinionated, bossy omega he had come to know in school, and as months went by, he realised you were one of those IT coordinators that liked to be on top of everything, sometimes too much, getting your nose in other people’s business, in his business.

The very next day you had come to Changbin with an absurd proposition, a way to better monitor the network in the building, Changbin couldn’t help but notice how your scent was again almost hidden under Hyunwoo’s earthy scent, a complete contrast to how it had been the day prior, but he decided to ignore it, focusing on the impossible idea you had suggested to him based on some end user complaints you had received.

And maybe it was the fact that Changbin was almost wired to bicker with you at this point, but at the time he couldn’t help but scoff, offering an admittedly condescending ‘that’s not gonna work’ that had you scoffing as well, effectively reigniting the rivalry that had started since the very first day you met. 

It went like this for a while, you offering ideas that Changbin would shut down, Changbin proposing changes that you would be against. However, sometimes, when you two did agree on some points, you were actually able to work on a project together pretty well, with minimal eventualities.

You wouldn’t interact with Changbin outside of work, though. And not because Changbin didn’t make any attempts. He had invited you for drinks a few times, to celebrate the success of a finished project–usually inviting other people as well–but you always declined, alleging you had things to do as soon as work was over. There were no other werewolves in the office, so no one really questioned it, but Changbin knew your ‘things to do’ were probably related to your pack.

One day the department decided to go together for drinks after work, and surprisingly, you accepted. Changbin and you had naturally drifted to each other to talk that night, after all, you did share your condition. And admittedly, when you were not being stubborn and overly questioning of his job, you were okay to talk with, nice, even. So Changbin thought that night would mark the end of your pseudo-feud.

You didn’t go to work the next couple of days after that, and Changbin thought nothing of it, until you came back the following week. There was something off about you that week, you’d talk and interact in meetings, dealing with agreements and disagreements with one another, but outside of those, it was almost as if you were avoiding him, and every week after that it was almost as if he could barely catch your scent at all, only getting whiffs of Hyunwoo whenever you passed by.

But Changbin never really thought too much about it, he figured you were just mad at him for the last few meetings you had had where there had been disagreements between the engineers and the project managers and IT coordinators, so he simply let it be, just as he always did. 

Until one day, he couldn’t just let it be anymore.

Changbin was fond of rainy days like these, especially after a long day at work. He already had a plan in his mind for the evening, brew himself some tea, play a lighthearted movie on the huge-ass TV he just got for his living room, and ultimately become one with his sofa. It was the perfect plan, and he had been looking forward to this since the second he stepped out of the office that day.

The kettle whistled, letting him know his water was ready, so he went through the familiar motions of serving himself some tea. Whole milk, two sugars, exactly how Changbin loved it, he had even used his favourite cup with its matching plate–a basic white ensemble, but the shape and depth of it was just exquisite. With lazy steps, he took his perfect cup of tea to the coffee table, setting it on the coaster he always kept there for this purpose, and it was just as he was about to let his bum hit the heavenly cushions of his sofa that a loud, hurried knocking resonated throughout his flat.

Changbin’s right eye twitched, feeling annoyance build and build rapidly within him the more the person on the other side knocked. Who dared have the audacity of disturbing his peace? He had been so close to getting his perfect evening, all of that now just ruined, flushed down the toilet with those relentless knocks. So he made his way to the front door, completely fuming. Who would be on the other side of the door? Jeongin? Jisung? Felix? He could hardly register the scent when he was this mad.

“What the fu–” Changbin’s words died on his tongue, his annoyed frown quickly disappearing as his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Out of all the people he could’ve imagined would be standing behind that door, you were not the one he would’ve ever expected to see. Especially not in the state you were in.

Chewing your lip nervously you just looked at Changbin, your hand holding the strap of the rucksack you carried on your back so tightly your knuckles were turning white. Changbin blinked slightly, still shocked. “What are you… What are you doing here?”

“I…” You shifted your weight from one foot to the other. The longer Changbin looked at you, the longer you stood there, he started to get whiffs of your scent, that scent he hadn’t smelt for weeks now, since it was usually hidden under your alpha’s scent. He was used to your scent, but right now, as you stood there, something didn’t feel quite right… It felt… Different, somehow. More distressed. “I didn’t know where else to go, to be honest…”

Changbin just stared at you. Were you… Were you shaking? You were soaking wet for sure, the rain certainly had done a number on you. The more he got that distressed scent, the more he looked at you shivering there at his doorstep, he just couldn’t help his alpha instincts from kicking in. Regardless of how much Changbin didn’t like you–because he didn’t like you, not even a little bit–he just couldn’t leave you right there when you looked so defeated. So he stepped to the side, signalling you to come in.

As soon as you stepped through the threshold he closed the door, leaving you taking your shoes off by the entrance as he made his way towards the bathroom to find a clean towel. When he returned to the living room you were just standing there, looking around, still shaking like a leaf and holding onto your rucksack for dear life. 

“You can just leave that anywhere”, Changbin pointed to your rucksack, and you just dropped it on the floor right there where you were standing. “Here”, handing you the towel, he took the rucksack and put it next to a dining chair so neither of you would trip on it.

Changbin had seen you in so many different moods throughout the years. Playful, teasing, fuming, annoyed… But this… Whatever it was, was something that completely caught him off guard, so much so he couldn’t stop looking at you as you tried your best to squeeze water out of your hair. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked again, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at you.

You took a deep breath, wrapping the towel over your shoulders and keeping it close to your body. “Do you mind if I… If I sit?” you pointed towards one of the stools by the kitchen island, to what Changbin simply nodded, his eyes following your every move.

“Changbin, could you… Not look at me? You’re close to using the predator stare and it’s not making it any easier for me to talk”, was he using the predator stare? Changbin hadn’t even realised, it was probably because he was angry when he opened the door, which he immediately explained to you and apologised for, to which you simply nodded. He cleared his throat, looking away from you then, and going into the kitchen, switching the kettle on again. 

After a few moments of silence you spoke again. “I… I ran away from my pack”.

Changbin almost dropped the cup in his hand, his eyes going wide in surprise, almost bulging out of his skull. “You did what?!”

Swallowing thickly, and contradicting your earlier request, you seeked his gaze. “I ran away from my pack–”

“I heard you, okay… Shit, why would you do that and why are you here?”

“I told you! I didn’t know where else to go!” You were still trembling slightly, still holding onto the corners of the towel wrapped around your shoulders, but even then you still spoke to him in that tone of yours that sometimes made his eye twitch. “I don’t know any other werewolf outside the pack and I know it’s nuts that I’m here, okay? I’m aware…” Bringing your hands to your face, you inhaled deeply only to exhale right after. Once, twice, thrice… Were you… Were you trying to calm yourself down?

“Listen, I…” Once you removed your hands from your face you looked at him, right in the eyes. “I left because I was being mistreated, okay? It’s… I’ve been abused for years and I… I couldn’t stand it anymore”.

Changbin recoiled slightly, this was a turn of events he would’ve never expected, and he immediately felt concern flooding him. “I’m… I’m sorry, I had no idea–”

“Of course you had no idea!” You spat, and Changbin’s eyes went wide, stunned as he saw tears well in your eyes. “No one knows… No one knows how Hyunwoo runs his pack, no one dares speak about it so of course… Of course you don’t know”.

Curse his alpha instincts, Changbin just couldn’t bear seeing the tears run down your eyes, he couldn’t bear smelling the distress in your scent, so he moved around the kitchen island, reaching for you. “Listen–” To his horror, you flinched as soon as his hands were on you, so he removed them immediately.

“Please, don’t touch me right now…” There was a sob, there was a sob and it broke him. Suddenly whichever pseudo-feud Changbin had with you didn’t matter, this was serious shit.

“I’m sorry”, was all he could say, whether it was for approaching you so suddenly or because of your situation, Changbin wasn’t too sure.

You simply shook your head, bringing your hands to your face once again and you continued to sob. “I don’t know what to do…” Your voice was barely a whisper, but Changbin could hear you, and the feelings your distress evoked in him were not pleasant at all. 

“You… Listen, first, you need to warm up…” Changbin moved, reaching for the already boiled water and serving you a cup of tea. “You can… You can cry all you want. If it helps you, cry”.

And you did. You cried a lot. For a while, actually. And Changbin didn’t know what to do. He just sat there next to you on the kitchen island, moving either to bring you a dry towel or to leave a glass of water next to you. His mind was racing as he waited for you to calm down, he really didn’t know much about Hyunwoo’s pack, just that he became the alpha right before you finished school and that you were a member of the pack, but just by the way you flinched when Changbin tried to touch you, it was clear something messed up was happening in there.

Once you managed to stop crying, you reached for that glass of water, dawned it in one go and took a hold of the corner of the towel to ungracefully blow your nose. “This is so messy, I’m sorry”.

“It’s… It’s fine”, and as Changbin said it, he realised it was. You guys didn’t get along, at least not frequently, but this was a much bigger issue than that. “Do you even have a place to stay?”

You shook your head. “I just… Left. I put anything of value in that rucksack and left. I don’t want to get too into detail right now, to be honest, but I had to leave today or it would’ve been over for me”.

Changbin nodded, understanding. He had to make a decision now. You had nowhere else to go, and he couldn’t just leave you on the streets on your own to deal with the distress of leaving your pack and dealing with your abuse at the same time. So he took a deep breath, dragging his hands over his face briefly only to look at you after. “Listen, I gotta talk to Chris–You remember Chris, right?” You nodded, so he continued. “For now you can just… Take a warm shower, change into some dry clothes and we can talk when I’m back. Do you even have clothes in that rucksack?”

“Yeah, just a few shirts and trousers… I couldn’t… Most of my clothes were scented so I decided not to take them”, ah, so Hyunwoo was purposefully scenting your clothes, no wonder Changbin could smell him on you all the time.

“Alright. The bathroom is that way, first door on the left. I’ll be back in a bit”, and then, as an attempt to lift the mood, he added, “don’t steal anything from me while I’m gone”.

To which you simply huffed a chuckle, wiping the tears on your face.

The further away Changbin walked from his flat the more he felt his mind spiralling out of control. What the fuck was he going to do with you? It was all nuts, so by the time he reached Chris’ flat he was almost in full panic mode.

Changbin started to knock on Chris’ door, very fervently and incessantly. A few moments of this passed, until the door opened slightly, enough for Chris to peek his face and look at him, annoyance very clear in his face. “We’re fucking, what do you want?”

Of course they were fucking, when were Chris and his girlfriend not fucking. “Sorry, man, but I really need to talk”.

“Can’t it wait like… Two hours?”

“Two hours?!” Changbin shrieked. “No it cannot wait two fucking hours! It’s really urgent!”

Chris sighed, turning his gaze away from Changbin and into his flat, to look at his girlfriend, Changbin supposed. After a few seconds, he turned back to Changbin. “Fine, give me a few minutes”, was the last thing Chris told him before closing the door, leaving Changbin waiting there in the corridor as he chewed his lip nervously.

When Chris opened the door again, he was wearing nothing but his shorts–admittedly not an uncommon sight, so Changbin was completely unfazed by this. “What’s going on?” Chris asked as he made his way into the kitchen and started to put away some items that were scattered on the counter.

Changbin tried his best to ignore the scent of sex and the lingering pheromones in the air, but it was too strong and distracting to ignore. “Dude, were you guys fucking right here?” 

“On the sofa”, Chris shrugged, like it was nothing.

“We sit on that sofa for movie nights, Christopher…”

“And?” Chris snorted. “Didn’t take you for a prude, Changbinnie. Plus, there’s nowhere on this flat we haven’t fucked on”, he slammed his hand on the kitchen counter for emphasis. “Nowhere”, Changbin looked at the counter and immediately removed his hands, making an act to gag, to which Chris simply chuckled. “But anyway, what do you need to talk about?”

“I, uh… Need your advice…” Chris shot Changbin a look, his eyes scanning his face for a moment only to go back to his task and gesture for him to continue. “You remember that girl from work? The one I talk about sometimes?” Changbin moved to sit on one of the stools.

“The omega that drives you absolutely insane? That went to school with us? Yeah, I remember”.

“She came to my door twenty minutes ago… She ran away from her pack”.

Chris froze on the spot, a bag of mini brownies crunching slightly in his hold as his fist tightened, his eyes snapping up to meet Changbin’s, wide in surprise. “Why’d she… Why did she come to you?” He placed the bag back on the counter, moving around to pull out one of the stools and sitting in front of Changbin, giving him his undivided attention.

Changbin simply shrugged. “She said I’m the only other werewolf she knows outside of her pack, but I… I’m not sure what to do. She has nowhere else to go…”

Chris’ fingers drummed on the counter as he pondered. “You want her to stay here?”

Changbin shrugged. “I guess, I don’t know… Is there any other option?”

Chris eyed him for a bit. “Is she a good person? I haven’t seen her since school”.

Were you? Were you a good person? Changbin was used to bickering and getting into petty arguments with you, you got on his nerves more than he would like to admit. However… When you weren’t addressing him, Changbin had seen the other side of you, the friendly, and supportive side of you. And, admittedly, when you two were able to work without arguments, he had experienced that directly, too.

“I think… She might be. We argue all the time, but to other people she’s… Fine, I guess…”

“Who’s fine?” Chris’ girlfriend appeared from the hall, using a towel to squeeze water out of her hair.

“Changbin’s brought in a guest”, Chris’ eyes followed her, just like they always did and Changbin couldn’t help but roll his eyes and smile fondly at the sight.

“Oh? A guest guest? You want someone to stay?” She regarded Changbin with a smile, busying herself with the rest of the items left on the counter, putting them away into their designated place in the kitchen.

“She’s a fri–” A what? A friend? You and Changbin were certainly not friends, so he corrected himself immediately. “A coworker…”

Changbin filled Chris’ girlfriend in with the details, by the time he was done she was standing in front of where Chris sat, slotted between his legs, as his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him, resting his chin on her shoulder. 

“Basically what I’m trying to say is, do you think it’s a good idea for her to stay?” Changbin asked, fidgeting with a random twist tie he found on the kitchen counter. 

Chris eyed him for a moment, until he finally spoke again. “You do know this is your building, right?” A smirk crept onto his lips as he looked at Changbin, and it made him let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Correction, it’s my parents’ building, and you’re our alpha for crying out loud, you should have the last word on who stays in the den or not”.

“Are you hoping I’ll say no?” The question was pointed, and it almost made Changbin wince.

Changbin stayed silent for a moment, only to finally move his eyes from Chris to his girlfriend. “What do you think?”

She simply shrugged, her hands absentmindedly caressing Chris’ arms around her waist. “No werewolf leaves their pack just like that, right? From what I’ve read and what you’ve told me it’s a hard thing to do, even physically painful… If she’s done that, something serious must’ve happened… I don’t see why she shouldn’t stay, at least for tonight. We could meet her tomorrow once she’s rested and you two can reach an agreement then”, with her last sentence, she pointed to Chris and Changbin.

“I agree. Unless you don’t want me to even consider it at all. Then I’ll just say no”, Chris gave Changbin a look. He always wanted what was best for his packmates, and that sometimes meant making them make their own decisions and supporting said decisions. Which sucked for Changbin, because now he truly had to make a decision.

After his talk with Chris and his girlfriend, Changbin went back to his flat to find you already showered and in dry clothes sitting on his sofa, hugging your legs to your chest. Your face snapped in his direction as soon as he was in your field of vision, and Changbin literally saw the exact second your body tensed up when he started to walk in your direction, hugging your legs tighter against your chest.

Dropping himself on the other end of the sofa, Changbin simply switched on the TV, he figured some background noise would help the awkward aura that had settled in the living room. So, he took a deep breath–trying his best to ignore the way your scent almost shocked his senses–and looked at you. “You can stay here tonight, but tomorrow you’ll have to talk with Chris directly. He wants to meet you in person before he decides if you can stay or not”.

You looked at him, blinking slightly, looking almost shocked. “What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’?”

“You’re… You’re offering me shelter?” You sounded truly incredulous, which in turn made him feel confused.

“Why are you here if not for shelter?”

You just continued to look at him, your eyes jumping around his face for a bit, until finally, you swallowed. “I… I didn’t… Changbin, I truly have no idea what I’m doing here. I just… Started walking, and next thing I knew I was here. I feel so numb right now, I don’t even know what’s going on”.

Changbin figured you could be in shock, so he decided to make the decision for you. “Okay… Let’s do this, you can stay here tonight, rest, get your bearings, and we can talk more about it tomorrow, okay?”

You just stared at him for a bit, until Changbin saw tears well in your eyes, but only for a second, as you brought your hands to your face right after. “Okay…” Your voice was barely a whisper, but Changbin heard you. There was a shift in your scent, it wasn’t exactly distress as before, but it wasn’t entirely pleasant either, more like a tint of defeat and hurt.

Shifting a bit in his seat, Changbin couldn’t help the words that came out of his mouth after. “Do you… Do you want a hug?”

You were silent for a bit, just crying as you shielded your face with your hands. Changbin thought for a moment you might’ve not heard him, until you finally nodded, with the tiniest ‘yes…’ falling from your lips. So Changbin moved as slowly and carefully as he could to not startle you, moving to sit next to you and pull you into his arms, tucking your head in the crook of his neck.

You were slightly trembling, but you let him pull you to him, and to Changbin’s surprise, one of your hands moved away from your face to clutch his shirt as you continued to cry.

The third re-run of The Mummy that week playing on the TV and the pitter-patter of rain against the windows were the only background noises in the flat, mingling with the occasional hiccup or sob leaving your lips. And Changbin couldn’t help but try to make it better somehow. “Shh… It’s okay. You’ll be okay, pup”.

Changbin hugged you for as long as you needed, the occasional word of encouragement leaving his lips, and eventually, you simply fell asleep right then and there in his arms.

“Hey! Nice to meet you!” Hyunjin had a bright smile on his face as he opened the door of Chris’ flat once Changbin knocked on it.

The night before, after you fell asleep and Changbin tucked you into bed in his spare room, he had quickly texted Chris about your kind of shocked state and for him to expect some odd behaviours from you when he met you, to which Chris suggested that maybe having another omega in the house at the time along with his girlfriend could help. So here Hyunjin was, with a showercap on his head and his apple and pear scent mingling with the unpleasant smell of hair bleach radiating from the showercap.

“Come on in, we’re having a selfcare day”, Hyunjin signalled you and Changbin to come in just as he stepped further into the flat, leaving you two by the open door.

You shot Changbin a look, lightly worrying your lip with your teeth, to which he simply gave you a brief pat on the shoulder and a nod. Selfcare days weren’t an uncommon practice, they usually happened in Hyunjin and Felix’s flat, but Changbin figured Chris thought it would be a good idea to settle a more relaxed aura around him, in hopes of easing your nerves a bit.

“Pretty, stop moving so much”, Chris’ giggling voice could be heard as soon as Changbin and you stepped through the door, and once Changbin stole a glance your way he could see your eyes go wide in surprise as you saw the alpha of his pack right there, sitting on his sofa with his girlfriend’s hand in one hand and a brush on the other as he tried to paint her nails.

“You’re taking too long, baby!” Chris’ girlfriend was holding the bottle of nail varnish for Chris to keep dipping the brush into, smiling fondly at the man in front of her as he did his absolute best to not make a mess of her hands.

“Selfcare day and you didn’t explicitly invite me? I’m hurt”, Changbin couldn’t help but joke, clutching his chest dramatically as he walked further into the living room. Chris simply huffed a ‘you were coming anyway’ before he greeted you with a big smile on his face, one of his genuine smiles that made his eyes disappear. Chris was already an overall welcoming person, but when he smiled like this, that feeling heightened tenfold, and Changbin immediately felt you relax a bit where you were standing next to him.

Changbin introduced you to Chris’ girlfriend as well, and in no time all of you were sitting around their coffee table as Hyunjin brought tea from the kitchen.

“You’ve grown so much”, Changbin was surprised when those words left your mouth as you addressed Chris, the comment making him laugh immediately, offering a ‘so have you!’ in response.

It was all smooth sailing from there. You seemed to quickly realise that the dynamic of Changbin’s pack was completely different from whatever dynamic your former pack had, so you loosened up a bit, and Changbin could practically smell how much less stressed you were, which was reassuring in a way–although why he had to feel reassured about that in the first place was beyond him.

Chris asked you for a few details, you simply answered the same way you had to Changbin the day before, that you were being mistreated but didn’t want to get too much into detail because, in your words, ‘I honestly just don’t want to start weeping as soon as the words leave my mouth… Need to… Digest it all first’, which Chris seemed to wholeheartedly understand. 

Chris shot Changbin a look, almost as if he wanted to ask him ‘are you sure you don’t want me to say no?’ to which Changbin gave him a minute nod of his head. Something about having grown up together and lived together for so long made it easy for them to communicate wordlessly, and it became even easier after Changbin became Chris’ right hand in the pack, so, after taking a deep breath, Chris simply said, “you can stay here if you want”.

Your eyes went wide in surprise, but before you could say anything, Chris continued. “Although I must warn you, bills really are expensive as shit here. If you can afford it yourself, great. If you can’t, I suggest rooming with someone. I tried on my own, didn’t work. Now I’ve got a lovely roommate and girlfriend, though, so I guess I won anyway”, he reached to pinch one of his girlfriend’s cheeks as he said it, which made her laugh.

A smile formed on your face at the sight, it was small, but it was there and it might’ve been the reason why Changbin spoke his next words. “You can stay with me if you want. We can split the bills”.

You seemed to ponder for a bit, just as Hyunjin left the room to go wash his head with Chris’ girlfriend’s help. Finally, you just nodded. “I think that’s a good idea”.

“I think so, too”, Chris said confidently.

“Is there… Anything in particular I should be aware of regarding omegas in the pack?” 

Chris looked at you for a moment, blinking slightly. “I mean… No? We don’t… Honestly, our designation hardly ever influences anything here. If anything, the only rule is to treat everyone with respect, and help out when someone needs it… And we all chime in to pay the communal bills of the building, that’s pretty much it”.

You seemed slightly taken aback by that, a tiny ‘oh…’ leaving your lips as you readjusted yourself in your seat. There was one thing Chris forgot, though, so Changbin added it for him. “Also make sure you inform the group chat when you think you might be going into heat or when you do go into heat… There’s a couple of flats on this floor we use to, uh… Lock ourselves in for those days if we need to”.

“Oh, that, too”, Chris nodded. “Also, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you don’t necessarily need to think of us as your ‘new pack’. These things take time, yeah? So let’s see it as just childhood friends helping each other out, we’ll see how it goes in the future”.

“Sounds… Reasonable… Thank you. Truly”, and Changbin could really hear the thankfulness in your voice.

Just like that, you became Changbin’s roommate. A roommate he wasn’t even looking for, and that he didn’t even need, but as you both made it back to his flat, he realised he didn’t mind all that much.

Changbin had been living on his own for so long he had forgotten how it was like to share his space with someone else. He was wary at first, because he wasn’t sure how you would be outside of your work or school persona, maybe you’d try to move things around to your liking, or maybe you’d be messy and loud and annoying. But the truth was, for the first few days of you being there, Changbin barely even saw you, which was kind of odd considering you decided to take a couple of weeks off of work to deal with your situation, so you definitely were in the house.

You mostly kept to your room, coming out only for food or to go to the bathroom, and whenever you did that when Changbin was there, he could always see the bags under your eyes and the redness from all the crying he supposed you had been doing. He could smell your scent, too, your usual nutmeg and ginger mingling with pure defeat, which, again, wasn’t pleasant at all. He truly hated that you were feeling defeated in the first place, and he truly wished he could make it better somehow.

Eventually, you started to come out more. Changbin would come home from work and find you on the sofa, curled up in a ball, wrapped in blankets with your eyes glued to the TV. There was always food on the stove, which you offered as soon as Changbin came through the door without removing your eyes from the big screen.

Those times, Changbin would simply sit down with you on the sofa, telling you stories about the office, whichever IT mess had been going on that day, essentially having an amicable conversation with you, something that, after a while, made Changbin wonder why you would get prickly with him in the first place before all this happened, so he asked exactly that one day.

“I…” You gulped, then took a sip of the tea in your hand. “I was doing it on purpose”.

Changbin looked at you, confused. “On purpose?”

“Mm”, you moved your eyes from his face back to the TV, tapping your fingers lightly on the mug in your hands. “You’re too friendly sometimes, and I couldn’t let you get too close to me or Hyunwoo would… I mean, he didn’t like it when I got close to other men, much less alpha males”.

You said that statement like it was normal, like you had accepted that to be your fate at the time, and it made Changbin’s blood boil right there where he sat. Suddenly, he remembered… “The night we went out for drinks… You didn’t come to work for a few days after, was it because… I had been talking to you?”

Looking down at the mug in your hands, you nodded with a grimace on your face. “He… Accused me of a lot of things that night. Things that were not true, obviously, and he made it a point to scent me as much as he could in… In ways I don’t even want to describe, honestly. Can we talk about something else?”

Changbin did drop the topic completely that day, but it plagued his mind for a long time. Sure, there was a level of possessiveness to their alpha nature, but it was never supposed to be like this. It was never supposed to overpower their protective nature, above all else, an alpha should take care of their partner both physically and emotionally, they should protect them, it was one of the few alpha traits Changbin was actually proud of having, and this man Hyunwoo had it all twisted and the fact that he had hurt you because of it angered him beyond belief.

Changbin did offer once–although mostly as a half-joke–to go beat him up, to which you simply said ‘If anything, I’ll try to get strong enough so I can beat him up. That’d be more satisfactory. But honestly, I’d much rather pretend he didn’t exist’, so Changbin tried to never speak about Hyunwoo again after that.

You eventually went back to work, got back into your routine, only now you wouldn’t avoid him at all, if anything, you remained somewhat close and friendly. Sure, you still defied his proposals when you had to, and Changbin defied yours when he had to, but it was mostly amicable, nowhere near as hostile as before.

You confessed to Changbin one day that you had even started to go to therapy to try and cope with everything, and he couldn’t help but commend you on taking such an important step in your healing process. 

Soon enough, you got acquainted with his friends, you started to join them for movie nights, for selfcare days, and eventually, before Changbin even realised it, you had flooded his life, with your presence, with your scent… Your scent… That mix of nutmeg and ginger, that mix that had become so familiar, so… Alluring, in a way. He’d be caught dead before admitting that to you, though, but that was certainly the best way he could put it. Alluring. Like freshly baked cookies, and he quickly realised he didn’t mind it one bit.

Changbin was truly fond of rainy days like these, especially now that he had a companion to spend them with. At first, you both would only sit down on your corner of the sofa and watch some mindless film, sometimes you would play the occasional board game–although Changbin quickly discovered you got a bit too… Enthusiastic, to not say aggressive, so the board games were quickly removed from the routine. 

Gradually, though, you started to gravitate towards each other. Changbin wasn’t even sure how it happened, really. Sitting on your corner of the sofa became sitting closer to the centre, until eventually your shoulders started to touch, your thighs grazing against each other, providing some warmth during the colder days. One day, you had your arm tossed over the back of the sofa, almost, almost on Changbin’s shoulders… You were really engrossed in the series you were watching, Changbin wasn’t really paying much attention to it, he was just slouched on the plush cushions, scrolling on his phone and then suddenly, he felt it.

Your eyes were trained on the TV, and you were chewing your lip as a particularly stressful situation was happening in the show you were watching, so when your fingers found their way to Changbin’s hair, mindlessly playing with it, Changbin was more than startled by the sudden contact, but, at the same time, he realised he liked it, so he didn’t say anything, instead he just let himself enjoy your touch, your soft caresses against his scalp, and it wasn’t until the episode had finished that you realised what you were doing, quickly removing your hand from his head and mumbling apologies.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to–”

“I don’t mind”, Changbin interrupted you, the words left his mouth probably way too fast, heat quickly making its way to the back of his neck as he cleared his throat. “It’s fine, you can… You can do that. I really don’t mind”.

Changbin saw your slightly stunned expression, your eyes moving away from his face just the tiniest bit as the next episode of your show started to play. When you looked at him again, you gulped, blinking slightly. “Do you want to… I mean it’d be easier if you… You know, lay your head on my lap or… Yeah, otherwise my arm will get tired, you know?”

Changbin looked at you for a few bated breaths, until he tentatively complied, relishing the warmth of your thighs and your tender touch on his hair as you continued to watch the show. 

From then on, the space between Changbin and you on that sofa after work became nonexistent. Him laying his head on your lap quickly turned to him laying on your stomach, to him even laying on top of you sometimes, resting his head on your chest as you mindlessly massaged his scalp, his shoulders, his back, his arms. You never really spoke about it, it just sort of… Happened, and you both let it happen.

Changbin simply had convinced himself this was an entirely platonic exchange, just two acquaintances enjoying some warmth as you quietly wound down from your stressful day. Although he did know it was kind of weird, he was well aware. Cuddling with your coworker turned roommate this closely surely wasn’t normal, yet neither you nor him would stop it. Changbin wasn’t sure why you didn’t, as for himself, he just absolutely loved to cuddle… To cuddle with you.

He loved hearing your heart beating against his ear, he loved the feel of your hands on him, he loved the nutmeg and ginger of your scent flooding his senses, and it wasn’t until a few weeks after the entire thing started that he realised this could potentially hurt him deeply. It happened in an instant, just as you both laid on the sofa, him on top of you, your hand mindlessly caressing his nape, his face buried in the crook of your neck, and suddenly, he got an urge. Changbin wanted to place a kiss on your neck, he’d gotten so used to being this close to you without any restraint that he had almost done it, but he managed to stop himself.

Cuddling was one thing, kissing… Kissing felt like it could become too much, too quickly, so he buried that urge deep within him, pulling himself away from you entirely with the excuse of wanting to make dinner. You didn’t question him, of course. You never questioned any of Changbin’s actions when you were in this type of mood, so he thought he was in the clear. It had probably just been a fluke, something instinctual that would naturally happen when he was so close to your neck.

Oh, but he had been so wrong. That urge he tried to bury deep within his heart quickly grew legs, dancing all around the place as if it owned it, mocking him. Changbin wanted to have his lips on your skin, the thought quickly mingled into him wanting to have his hands on your skin, into him wanting to have your lips on his skin, and before he knew it, he was down bad and it was too late.

It wasn’t appropriate, was it? You were his coworker, his roommate, his friend, and it wasn’t appropriate to think about a friend that way, he was sure, especially considering the things you had been through–although you did tell him you were making progress with your therapy, good progress, which Changbin was really happy about, but that didn’t mean it made it okay. So Changbin tried his best to ignore it all, to pretend those urges and feelings weren’t there, indulging only in your cuddling, and only when you wanted it–because there was no way he could give that up now, not when you seemed to also enjoy it as much as he did.

Until one day, you didn’t let him ignore the elephant in the room anymore.

“Do you think it’s weird?” You suddenly asked, startling him slightly, your hand in his hair not stopping its movements.

Changbin tensed slightly, but he decided to play aloof. Afterall, he wasn’t really sure what you were truly referring to. “That what’s weird?”

“This”, you tugged on his hair gently, and Changbin had to use every single ounce of willpower to not make any obscene sounds. “The way we cuddle”.

‘The way we cuddle’, that was your answer. It wasn’t ‘that we cuddle’, but specifically the way you both cuddled. And Changbin couldn’t help but prop himself on his elbows to look at your face, making you move your hand away from his head. “In which way are we cuddling, pup?”

“Well, you know…” You gulped, and Changbin could’ve sworn you were looking at his mouth. “It’s mostly… Me kinda… Kinda doting on you. Not the other way around”.

Changbin blinked slightly, and he couldn’t help the feeling of dread that was starting to build within him. “Uh… Yeah. It’s you doting on me, yes”, Changbin gulped the saliva that collected in his mouth, nervousness suddenly flooding his brain.

“You’re an alpha”, there was no ill-intent in your voice, none at all, yet the words struck Changbin’s heart, and suddenly he couldn’t bear looking at your face anymore, feeling as heat quickly made its way to his face as he scrambled to remove himself from you entirely. He saw the alarm on your face, but honestly he could barely register it as he swiftly got to his feet and tried to get as far away from that sofa as possible.

“Bin? Why are you–”

He couldn’t have this conversation. He’d only truly ever had it with Chris, and he wasn’t sure he could have it with you right now. Changbin had indulged, and for a few months he had experienced something he had always craved, but just as he had expected, it couldn’t be as simple as that. You’re an alpha, you’re an alpha, you’re an alpha, the words repeated in his mind incessantly, making it hard for him to hear anything else other than them.

“Changbin, wait!”

Changbin slammed his bedroom door shut, pressing his back to it and bringing his hands to his head as he felt tears well in his eyes. Changbin was an alpha. It was wrong of him to crave these things. It was weird and wrong and unnatural, he was weird and wrong and unnatural.

There was a knock on his door, tentative, shy, almost. “I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…” Oh, God. You sounded genuinely hurt, and he hated it. Why were you hurt? Why were you apologising? He was the fucked up one, and the second he got a whiff of your scent, even with the door that separated you two, he could just feel how distressed you were, and he realised then that you could probably also smell how distressed he was, which made everything just so much worse.

You stayed behind his door for a while, for a long while. All as Changbin let himself cry in silence out of the pure frustration he felt, until he eventually calmed down. By that point, though, you had already left, retreating to your room.

Changbin avoided you like the plague after that encounter, at home, at work, opting out of movie nights with the pack, he’d try his absolute best to not cross paths with you. Mostly out of shame, out of the sheer embarrassment he knew he would feel the moment you found out about his hidden flaw.

Server rooms were always too loud. And if it was loud to a human, it was even worse for a werewolf. Changbin always felt as if he was trapped in a tin can with the most obnoxious cricket whenever he came down here to check the switches, but he couldn’t neglect his job just because of his supernatural capabilities, so here he was, tinkering with the damn thing to try and figure out why the network in the third floor was down.

He would like to blame that loudness in the room shocking his senses for the fact that he hadn’t noticed a person coming into the room. Changbin didn’t notice them, until suddenly he got a whiff of nutmeg and ginger and turned around with wide eyes to find you already staring at him, your brows furrowing in concern.

“You can’t keep avoiding me”, your tone was firm, stern, even. “We live together, we work together… We can’t continue playing cat and mouse, Changbin. I need you to tell me what I did wrong”.

Changbin looked you in the eyes, and you stared right back, just like you often did, just like you always did. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he heaved a sigh, averting his gaze to look instead at the flashing lights of the server behind you. “You didn’t do anything wrong, pup…”

“Then? Why are you avoiding me?” You took a step closer, trying to get his gaze back on your face, but Changbin didn’t move one bit.

“Because you are right. I’m weird”.

You were quiet for a moment. “I didn’t say you were weird?”

Changbin looked at you then, at the puzzled expression on your face. “Yes, you did”.

“No, I didn’t”, there was a frown on your face, and there was nothing more that Changbin wanted right now than to flatten it out. “I said… I asked if the way we were cuddling was weird. I asked if you thought it was weird. I never said you were weird”

“I mean…” Changbin gulped. “Do you think it’s weird?”

“I… Kinda do think the way we cuddle is weird, but not… Not in a bad way. I, uh… I like the way we cuddle, Bin”, you sounded so confident, so absolutely sure of it Changbin was slightly taken aback. 

“But I’m an alpha”, he didn’t mean to sound that incredulous, but it certainly came out that way, and you seemed to pick up on it.

“Yes, and I’m an omega”, you were stating the obvious, but you were also clearly trying to make a point. “An omega that… That has… Has always felt uncomfortable in her own skin”.

Changbin blinked slightly, confused. “You… What?”

Taking a deep breath, you dragged your hands over your face, returning your eyes to his right after. “You know why… You know what was my trigger to finally run away from Hyunwoo and his pack?”

You never told him, and he didn’t ask, so of course Changbin didn’t know, so he simply shook his head, and you took this as a sign to continue. “He… He wanted to mate, like, forever mate. He wanted me to submit fully to him by mating with him. He had coaxed me into submission for so many years, with his stupid predator stare and his stupid alpha pheromones and scent… I always hated it, because it wasn’t me, so before it was too late, I finally ran away… Ran away to… To the only alpha I’ve ever known that’s never truly looked down on me”, your eyes went wide in surprise, almost as if you had just realised your last statement.

“But all those years ago in school I–”

“I accepted your apology for that, remember? It was a one off encounter, we’re all assholes at some point in our teenage years. Besides, you never used your status with me again, even when we were bickering. Hell, Changbin, I defied you back then, you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because… Because you smell like freshly made fairy floss… And… And peppercorns”, you gulped, your eyes darting all around his face. “I couldn’t… I mean, I’m sorry to say, Bin, but I really didn’t feel threatened by you at all. I never have”.

“Huh…” Changbin wasn’t sure how to reply to that, how to feel about that, mad because he wasn’t able to succeed at intimidating people as an alpha?–after all, he had been wired to think of that as the norm–or feel happy because he was able to make you feel comfortable around him, even that one and only time he tried to intimate you? It was a lot to unpack, so he decided to ignore it, focusing instead on something else. “Fairy floss and peppercorns?”

“Mm. Fairy floss and peppercorns”, you stated simply, your gaze jumping from one of his eyes to the other.

Gulping the saliva that had collected in his mouth, and encouraged by the lack of judgement in your eyes, Changbin decided to come clean, too. “I’ve been… Trying to get away from you because I was embarrassed. Because I’m an alpha that also doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin. I think it’s weird, out of the norm, but I like the way we cuddle, too. I’m sorry if I made you think you did anything wrong, you didn’t”.

You quite literally exhaled a sigh of relief, a soft smile making its way onto your face. “Good. Then let’s stop the awkwardness, yeah?”

Changbin nodded, a smile of his own painting on his lips. With one final bright smile, you finally turned away from him, opening the door to leave the server room and return to your work.

“And just so you know”, you said right before you stepped out the door, turning back to look at him. “I… I like fairy floss… And… And peppercorns”, Changbin’s eyes went wide in surprise. “So, you don’t need to feel embarrassed around me for being you”.

Before Changbin could say anything, you were already out of his sight, the door quietly clicking shut behind you. Changbin couldn’t quite understand what had just happened, but he felt heat spread on his face. Only that this time, it wasn’t out of embarrassment.

Changbin was truly, truly fond of rainy days like these, even more so now that he could spend them cuddling with you again. As soon as you talked to him in the server room, as soon as Changbin let himself be vulnerable with you, your cuddling sessions were back in order–if anything, they were even more frequent now.

Sometimes, when it was late at night and you felt particularly cold, you’d shyly knock on Changbin’s door, patiently waiting for him to signal you to come in, only to tuck yourself under the covers and push your body against his right after, and Changbin loved it. He’d often wake up in your arms, either with his head laying on your chest or with you spooning him from behind and dear heavens if he loved being a little spoon, your little spoon. 

Changbin was used to cuddling his younger packmates, skinship wasn’t uncommon in their pack–on the contrary, everyone was stupidly touchy with each other–but when Changbin got to cuddle with you, it all felt so starkly different, warmer, safer, so he’d go into your arms as often as he could, just as he was doing now.

This was by far his favourite position to cuddle with you as of now, with one of your hands softly caressing his back and shoulders, with your fingers in his hair massaging his scalp, with his head on your chest, feeling your beating heart under his ear, feeling the rise and fall of your chest with each intake of breath, enjoying the cushion of your breasts. It was soothing, and Changbin would often find himself drifting off to sleep when you cuddled like this.

Today something was different, though. Among the pitter-patter of rain on the windows of your home, among the sounds of the third episode of Merlin you were watching today, he could also hear your heart, beating a bit faster than usual. So he couldn’t help himself when he asked, “you okay?”

“Mm”, was all you mumbled in response, your eyes still glued to the TV, your soft caresses not stopping.

Changbin simply hummed in response as well, closing his eyes again and burying his face further in the crook of your neck, almost brushing your skin with his nose. “You smell like autumn”, he couldn’t help but mumble.

“Like autumn?” You asked with a chuckle, burying your fingers further in his hair.

“Mm. Nutmeg and ginger. Like autumn and freshly baked cookies”.

You hummed, angling your head the tiniest bit to the side, almost as if you were giving Changbin more space to get even closer to your neck.

“I like freshly baked cookies…” He really couldn’t help himself when he inhaled deeply, taking in your comforting scent. It was almost overwhelming, how it coursed through his body, reaching areas deep within him, transporting him to that everlasting autumn. And maybe it was that feeling of comfort, or maybe it was the fact that he just couldn’t keep his urges hidden anymore, but before he knew it, he had pressed a soft kiss to your neck, right on your pulse point.

Changbin would’ve panicked once he realised what he’d done, but your reaction was enough for him not to. A satisfied hum that vibrated against his lips, your heartbeat picking up just the tiniest bit, and the fingers you had threaded in his hair almost, almost pushing him further into your neck. So, instead of shying away, he did it again, and again, and again, and again… Slowly, leisurely pressing kisses on the expanse of your neck to his heart’s content, revelling in the warmth of your skin on his lips.

However, Changbin quickly realised it wasn’t enough, that he had opened a dam in his heart that couldn’t be closed off anymore. So, emboldened by the lack of distress in your scent, by the quickening of your heartbeat, and by the almost inaudible rumble that started in your chest, his lips ventured further up, finding your cheek, and pressing soft kisses there, too. Many kisses. Pecks of his lips on your cheek where he could feel your skin heat up under his touch. And before he knew it, he found your lips, where he placed a kiss that lasted longer than the rest, a rumble of his own starting deep within his chest as he felt your lips react to him, pressing pecks of your own on his lips for as long as he did.

When Changbin pulled away from your lips and finally opened his eyes, he could’ve melted right then and there. There was a deep blush spreading all over your cheeks, but you looked so relaxed as you looked back at him, so content, he started to feel his cheeks heat up as well. Changbin was going to say something, to address what he had just done, but before he could, your hand was on his nape, pulling him down to you, sealing your mouths again.

This kiss wasn’t the same, though. It was loaded, heated, your tongue softly swiping over his bottom lip to get him to open his mouth, which he couldn’t help but do as soon as he registered the movement of your wet muscle on his skin. Your fingers threaded in his hair, holding the strands firmly between your fingers to angle his head to your liking as your tongues got acquaintanced with one another. Your previously barely audible rumble was now reverberating against Changbin’s chest full force, and the combination of his and yours had the whole sofa vibrating as you continued to kiss.

Soon, the sound of the raindrops hitting your windows, the sound of Merlin and Arthur speaking in the background, and the sound of your combined, synced rumble mingled with the wet sounds of your kiss, that, added to the overall feeling of it, to the feeling of your tongue and your lips against his, to the warmth of your body below him, had Changbin’s head spinning. And it all only intensified the moment he started to smell the change in your scent, from its usually relaxed tint to what Changbin knew to be lust, and he was sure you were noticing it in his, too. There was no way you wouldn’t, not when each graze of your tongue against his had all the blood rushing from his head to his crotch, and eventually you would notice that, too.

Pulling on his hair you got Changbin to detach his lips from yours, got him to look at you. “Changbin…” Your eyes darted all around his face, from his eyes to his nose to his lips and back up, and when you finally looked him in the eyes again, Changbin couldn’t help but swallow the saliva that had collected in his mouth.

“I like you”, you said simply, the words rolling off of your tongue easily as you stared confidently into his eyes, just as he stared right back.

“I like you, too, pup. So mu–” Before he could finish talking your lips were on his again, making him moan.

“How much?” You mumbled against his lips, just as he felt your legs shuffle below him, shuffle so you could press one of them further against his crotch, feeling him up.

“So, so much”, Changbin mumbled back between pecks of his lips, rolling his hips the tiniest bit so you could feel him even more. “Can’t you feel it?”

“Mm, I can”, your free hand set a trail down his spine, and Changbin couldn’t help but shiver with the motion. “But I want you to show me”.

Changbin’s mouth detached from yours then, so he could look you in the eyes. Your pupils were blown, your scent was everywhere, almost clouding his senses completely, but he had to ask. “You… You sure?”

“Positive”, the hand you had on his lower back moved further down, for you to grab a handful of his bum. “Are you?”

His lips were back on yours in an instant, a shared moan of relief escaping you both upon contact, getting lost in the other’s mouth. Changbin trailed kisses from your mouth, to your cheek, finally finding himself back on your neck, inhaling your scent and kissing your pulsepoint to mumble a ‘so fucking sure’ against your skin just as his hand sneaked below your shirt, dragging all the way from your belly to finally settle on your ribs. He wanted to be careful, he wanted to enjoy it, he wanted you to enjoy it, and before his brain could send the signal to his hand, your hand was already on his, pushing his further up to cup your breast.

Changbin couldn’t help but groan as he squeezed and kneaded the tender flesh, relishing the way your breath hitched in your throat from the motions of his hand. “Is there anything I shouldn’t do?” He mumbled against your neck, just as his thumb grazed your nipple.

“Don’t call me degrading names”, he could feel the movement of your throat against his lips as you swallowed, and he acknowledged your request with a hum. “Let’s… Let’s keep it simple for now, is that okay with you?”

Changbin moved away from your neck to look you in the eyes, the movement of his thumb on your nipple stopping, but he kept his hand there. “Yes. Tell me anything you want and I’ll do it. Anything”.

“Anything?”

Changbin nodded, so you continued. “I’ve been thinking… Fantasising…”

“Oh, have you? Of?” Changbin couldn’t help but smirk, making you scoff a laugh.

“Yes. Don’t look so smug, makes me want to wipe the look off of your face”, you pressed your leg further against him, making him inhale deeply. “Give me head”.

Changbin’s mouth watered immediately. And it was just as he was about to move his hand off of your breast that you added, “always wanted to know how it felt like”.

Changbin paused his movements immediately, seeking your gaze. “You… Never?”

You shook your head. “Never”.

Changbin couldn’t help but scoff, incredulous, mumbling a ‘what a shitty alpha’ that made you chuckle before he started his descent down your body. You wanted him to give you head? Oh, he would give you head. He’d give you the best head he’d ever given. Hooking his fingers on the waistband of your shorts, he gave you a final look, seeking your confirmation, which you gave him almost immediately, so he pulled the shorts off of your legs. You weren’t wearing any underwear, and he would’ve commented on it had he not been too focused on the sight.

Admittedly, he had thought about this, too. Too many times, maybe too frequently, and now that Changbin had your consent, now that he knew you wanted it, too, he was more than eager to comply with your wishes, bringing a hand to your core and spreading your folds with his fingers. He couldn’t help but swear under his breath, feeling himself grow impossibly hard as he stared, until finally, he dived, landing tentative licks on your clit that your thighs twitching and an incredulous ‘oh…’ falling from your lips.

He went slow first, letting you adjust to the feeling. Or at least, he tried to go slow first, it wasn’t long until your hand made its way to the back of his head, pushing his face further into you and making him groan. “More…”

So he gave you more, eagerly licking you, kissing you, tasting you, and in no time Changbin started to feel your grip on his hair tighten, your soft moans becoming louder and more frequent. That, coupled with the sight of your flushed cheeks looking back at him had him twitching and leaking in his underwear. 

“You–You’d give me…. Anything? Anything I want?” You were breathless, pausing between words as you swallowed thickly.

Changbin simply hummed against your skin, nodding slightly, the movement of his tongue and his lips on you not stopping for one second. 

“Finger me, too”, Changbin couldn’t help but groan against your heat as the words left your mouth, bringing a finger to your entrance to collect your essence, getting it wet before he finally pushed it in, earning him a satisfied groan from your lips. The warmth he felt around his digit had his mind reeling, and he wanted nothing more than to stuff you full and have you come undone under his tongue.

“More… Shit, Binnie, I’m not gonna break, give me more”.

Who was he to deny such a request? Changbin quickly added another finger, letting you adjust as he pumped in and out of you, as he rubbed all those sensitive spots within your warm walls, until eventually, he added another, and then another… Stuffing you full of four of his fingers to stretch you open as much as he could without causing any discomfort, with his lips around your clit and his tongue flicking it in his mouth. 

Your other hand eventually joined the other one that had been tugging on his hair, holding Changbin’s head in place as you rolled your hips to rub yourself against his tongue, to push yourself against his fingers, the most delicious noises leaving your lips, moans and groans and grunts and swears, and it was all so much, so much and so good, and he truly, truly wanted to make you come.

“Shit… Fuck, I’m–” Your words died on your tongue, replaced by a restrained moan as you bit your lower lip to contain the sound within your mouth. 

And then finally, after a few more thrusts of his fingers, after a few more flicks of his tongue, Changbin felt your walls clench around his digits, the repeating flutter ripping a growl out of his chest as he continued his movements to help you ride your high. It wasn’t until then that he realised he had been rutting against the sofa, the action would’ve made him feel embarrassed had he not been too enthralled by the blissed expression on your face to care.

Your hands finally moved away from Changbin’s head as you lightly gasped for air, propping yourself on your elbows to look at him, just as he removed his mouth and his fingers from your core to pepper kisses on your thighs and to spread the remnants of your release on the soft skin.

“Well, fuck…” You were panting slightly, a soft chuckle falling from your lips.

“Did that show you how much I like you?” A smirk made its way onto Changbin’s face as he took in the sight of your flushed cheeks.

You simply nodded, eagerly. “Now… Sit down and let me show you”.

Changbin did as asked, sitting on the sofa just as you straddled his lap, bringing your mouth to his for a heated kiss. Tugging on his shirt, you mumbled an ‘off’, moving away from his mouth just so you could remove the garment from his frame. “Fuck, look at these”, your hands found his pecks, squishing the relaxed muscles of his chest, feeling him up as your eyes fixed on the movement of your hands.

“My eyes are up here, pup”, Changbin couldn’t help but chuckle, his hands finding purchase on your waist.

“Uhum, and your tits are down here, shit”, you squeezed him a few times, making him laugh, a truly hearty laugh and he couldn’t help his cheeks from heating up. You finally turned your eyes back up to his, smirking. “Getting me all distracted with these, damn”.

Before Changbin could even reply to your comment, you had already tugged your shirt swiftly off of you as well, and he couldn’t help but zero in on your breasts as they jiggled slightly with the motion, making him swallow thickly. Taking a hold of his jaw you pulled his head up to make him look at you with a smirk plastered on your face. “My eyes are up here, Bin”, with that you connected your mouth to his, sealing your words with a heated kiss.

Changbin couldn’t stop his hands from moving lower, settling on your bum to fondle the flesh, a desperate groan falling from his lips and disappearing into your mouth once you leaned forward, pressing your bare chest against his and laying your hand palm flat on his abs, letting him enjoy the warmth of your bare skin against his. Trailing your hand further down, you settled on his crotch, finding his bulge with ease and feeling him up, making him buck his hips forward.

“Wanna touch you, Bin”, you mumbled against his lips, emphasising your words with a squeeze on the outline of his length.

“Touch me”, Changbin was surprised at how desperate his own voice came out, but he was honestly too horny, too distracted by your touch, by your warmth, by your scent, to care at all. “Touch me however you want…”

Sneaking your hand under his shorts and his underwear, your palm made contact with his bare skin, and he couldn’t help but inhale deeply, an action he did to try to ground himself, but that only made him take in more of your delicious scent, further clouding his senses. Resting your weight on your knees you hovered over his lap a bit to pull the garments down enough to free his length, lowering yourself on his thighs and wrapping your hand around him immediately after.

“Fuck… Wanna… Wanna touch you, too”, Changbin couldn’t help but moan as you tightened your grip around his cock, pumping him almost teasingly.

“Touch me”, you mumbled against his lips, and it was all he needed to move one of his hands from where it was gripping your rear to your core, easing two of his fingers into you, scissoring you open, relishing the way you moaned as soon as he did.

“You’re so hard, Binnie. Is this all for me?” You were breathing heavily, talking between kisses as you rolled your hips ever so slightly to enhance the feel of Changbin’s fingers within your walls. Separating your lips from his for a bit, you removed your hand from him, bringing it instead close to your mouth so you could spit on it, wrapping it around his cock immediately after and starting a fast pace around him.

“All for you, shit…” The feel of your hand around him, pumping him, your walls around his fingers, clenching with every single one of his movements, had him twitching and leaking in your hand, had his mind racing and his mouth watering with every single movement. “Want you…”

“Mmm… Want you, too”, your hand around his length slowed down, just as you kissed him briefly. “Condom?” You mumbled against his lips, moving away to press kisses on his neck.

Changbin gulped, trying not to get too distracted by the feel of your tongue on his pulse point. “In my bedroom”.

You hummed, grazing your teeth against his skin, making Changbin inhale a shaky breath. “Your bedroom it is”.

Removing his fingers from your core, Changbin brought both hands to your rear, making sure his hold was secure before he stood up from the sofa, carrying you safely in his arms as you continued to press kisses on his neck, admittedly making his steps less steady than they should’ve been, especially when you started to mumble in his ear just as you tugged on his hair. “Want you in me, Binnie. So bad…”

“You’ll have me, pup. However you want”, Changbin dropped you on his bed, pulling the drawer of his bedside table with more force than necessary, making everything in it ungraciously rattle with the motion. He found the box of condoms with ease, dropping it on his bed right next to where you had propped yourself on his pillows before he got rid of his shorts and his underwear, and crawled on top of you, claiming your lips once again.

The feel of your bare chest against his again had Changbin groaning upon contact, you were warm and soft and he wanted nothing more than to continue feeling your body against his, nothing more than to bury himself in your cunt and give you anything you asked him for. Changbin felt your hand reaching for the box of condoms as you kissed, and by the time he had propped himself up away from your mouth you had already torn the foil open and taken the condom out.

Licking your lips, you took his length in your hand, pumping him a few times, making Changbin swear under his breath. “Scoot back a bit”, you instructed him, and he did, moving away from you just as you pushed on his chest until he was sitting on the bed. Slowly, carefully, you slid the condom down his cock, Changbin’s hand wrapping around himself right after to make sure it was secure in place with a couple of pumps just as you leaned in to kiss him.

“Sit more comfortably, Bin”, you mumbled against his lips. “Wanna ride you”.

Changbin did as asked, holding his breath as you straddled his hips and took a hold of his cock, lining it with your entrance, until you finally sank down on him, taking him in in one easy motion. There was a shared groan of relief, and a loud ‘fuck’ falling from your lips as soon as he was buried to the hilt within your walls. Your warmth, the way he fit within your walls, had his senses on edge, and Changbin’s self-inflicted months of celibacy were certainly catching up to him right now. 

“Shit, puppy… Don’t think I’ll last, you’re so fucking tig–” Changbin choked on his words as you started to move, bouncing up and down his length with fervour, barely giving him any time to catch his breath.

“And you’re so fucking big”, taking a hold of his hair, you tugged his head back, making him grunt and his cock twitch. “So fucking big like the alpha you are, huh? Stretching me open so good with your fucking monster cock, fuck…” Your lips were on his in an instant, and Changbin felt himself flush. The movement of your hips, the hold you had on his hair, and the words you were saying to him had him moaning against your mouth, he would’ve felt embarrassed, had he not been completely engulfed in your scent, almost overwhelmed by how horny you were, by how horny he was.

With his hands on your rear, Changbin bounced you up and down his length, aiding your own movement and gripping your flesh tightly, making you squeal. And when you removed your mouth from his to attach it to his neck and suck harshly on his skin he decided he didn’t want to hold back in any way, if there was anyone he knew that wouldn’t judge him it was you. So he moved his head, baring his neck further for you, just as he felt his cock leak fluids into the latex. “More… Puppy, more… Please…”

He was barely making any sense, but it seemed like you understood him, since you continued to pepper love bites on his neck, and Changbin had to make the conscious effort not to drool. Alphas shouldn’t let others close to their neck like this, it was an act of vulnerability, of submission, and it was much worse to let others mark them. A love bite was, essentially, a wound, and a wound on the neck of an alpha was usually something to be ashamed of. But alas, Changbin was no ordinary alpha, just like you were no ordinary omega.

When you pulled your lips away from his neck and looked him in the eyes, Changbin couldn’t help but tighten his grip on your rear and bounce you faster on his cock, making you throw your head back and bite your lip to muffle a groan. “Fuck… Warm… Tight…” Changbin could barely talk, he was feeling lightheaded, the feel, the sight, the scent… It was too much.

“You look so pretty, Binnie. So fucking pretty”, you were also breathless, your sentences breaking between moans and groans of your own, and Changbin’s brain was close to shutting off completely, his body moving almost on instinct as he brought a hand to your clit, diligently rubbing circles on the bundle of nerves that had your cunt clenching harder around his cock and whines falling from your mouth.

Your walls had a vice grip on his cock and Changbin felt his abdomen tensing further the more you bounced on top of him, reaching dangerously close. So his hand sped up, determined to get you to your peak, too. “Close…” 

“Close, Binnie? Me too. So, so close… Almost there…” Changbin could only frantically nod to your question. “Wanna… Wanna come around my alpha’s cock, fuck…” Changbin couldn’t help but groan, my alpha, my alpha, my alpha, those two words wouldn’t stop resonating in his head, and his reason was slipping between his fingers the more you moved, the more you talked, words of his own starting to play in his mind, my omega, my omega, my omega.

“Wanna make my omega come… Wanna… Wanna come for my omega, too. Please, puppy…” With a few more flicks of his fingers on your clit, Changbin felt you tense up, a quick warning flying past your lips, the movement of your hips stopping as you finally came undone, trembling on top of him.

Returning his hand to your rear, Changbin bounced you on his cock as fast and hard as he could, chasing his own release, feeling his abdomen tighten further and further until finally, he came, a groan of relief flying past his lips as his seed filled the condom and he pushed your hips flush to his to keep you around him for as long as possible just as he dropped his body to the bed, completely spent. “Fuck…”

You leaned into him, pressing kisses on his face, his neck, softly caressing the skin of his chest, making him flush further. “Fuck indeed”, was all you said, which made him chuckle, incredulous.

Wrapping his arms around your waist, Changbin hugged you tightly for a moment, only to release you almost right after. “Gotta get rid of the condom, pup”.

You straightened yourself, pouting, making him chuckle just as he held the condom at the base of his cock for you to remove yourself from him. As soon as he was sitting again he carefully removed the latex from his length, tying a knot and ungracefully dropping it on the floor to pick up later. Clean up could wait, there was something more important he wanted to do right now. So Changbin laid back down next to where you were, pulling you close to feel your bare skin against his and kiss you deeply, a satisfied hum resonating within you as he did.

When you pulled back from his kiss, you regarded him with a smile that could’ve easily outshine the sun, and you brought a hand to his neck, caressing his skin softly. “Can’t believe you… You trust me enough to let me do this”.

“I’d trust you with anything”, and as Changbin said it, he knew it was true. “I’ve been… Hiding myself, my real self for so long. I don’t want to anymore”.

“I don’t want to, either. Hide my real self… I trust you, too. You make me feel safe, Bin. I do want you to… To be my alpha for real”.

Changbin felt himself flush, but he also felt like teasing you a bit, so he did. “That’d be a problem, then, Chris is the alpha of our pack!”

“Oh, God”, you groaned and weakly slapped his chest. “You know what I mean!”

“Yeah, I know what you mean”, Changbin felt as if his face was going to split open from how wide he was smiling, and, pulling you to him, he placed another kiss on your lips. “I want you as my omega for real, too”.

With a soft chuckle, you pressed a peck on his lips. “Let’s do that, then”.

“Yeah, let’s do that”, cupping your cheek, Changbin simply leaned in and kissed you, relishing the rumble that started to resonate again in your chest, just as his own rumble did, too.

Author’s Notex2: if you want to read more of this couple you can checkout my sort of part 2 to this: Heat.

© therhythmafterthesummer 2022-2023. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate my stories.

Constructive feedback is always welcome :)

Changbin’s WereRoomies Instalments: Finding Comfort in Autumn · Heat · The Love I Always Dreamt Of.