#tie them to a doorknob and slam the door

[sirompp]

you think your life is hard? well IM an EXTROVERT and i HAVENT SEEN ANY OF MY FRIENDS OR JUST RANDOM OTHER PEOPLE in THREE WEEKS!!!

[pseudowho]

It was in the corridors of Jujutsu High, that Nanami Kento first learned that one of the First Years had gone missing.

Whispers of varying voice rose and fell along the wood-panelled walls as Kento walked with a growing unease. Rumours rose on both sides around him, as if in some uncanny valley.

"...off the rails..."

"...not answering calls apparently..."

"...unauthorised? Gojo's not here..."

"...gone rogue. Sukuna's vessel?"

Kento paused, outwardly unreadable as his blood ran cold, with his hand upon the doorknob. Balanced on a knife edge, he moved again, slow and considered, stepping out before closing the door behind him. His feet paddled madly beneath still water, and Kento pulled out his phone, typing fast.

His phone to his ear. A pause.

"Hi, Fushiguro-kun? Do you know where Itadori-kun is?" A pause. A single flat command. "Tell me, immediately."

Another pause; a nod, a pen and paper not required.

Kento waited until he was completely out of the line of sight, to begin running beneath Jujutsu High's tree-lined torii gates.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Scum.

Yuuji's red boots skid, bloodslick, and he stumbled around a corridor with his breath loud in his ears.

--execute him already--

He wasn't experienced enough for this; but he knew that when he came, hoping to earn his own goodness as proof, to those who determined his worth based on the monster he contained.

--better off dead--

And maybe I am, Yuuji thought, slammed by flailing bestial limbs into concrete, that crumpled like wet paper beneath his body. Slumping down against the wall, Yuuji accepted that the only dignity he could afford himself, would be to choose a good death for himself, as the boy he was, fighting to save lives, instead of the beast within, fighting to take them.

"Itadori-kun. Move behind me. I'll take it from here."

Yuuji looked up from the floor, slow and stunned. Kento stood before him, stony-faced as he bound his spotted tie around his fist, alight with swathes of blue fire.

"...Nanamin...I--"

"I'll scold you after. Behind me."

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Yuuji's eyes were downcast, and chunks of rubble shook from his hair to his thighs, when Kento slammed his car door. As Kento stepped into his own seat, Yuuji caught the tail end of a conversation.

"...coming home to ours. Gojo knows. He's got it handled with the school. Yes. Alright. We won't be long."

The car rumbled to life. Yuuji's fists clenched in his lap, his face twisted with pain, guilt, the crushing weight of failure and embarrassment. Kento allowed him this, for a few minutes, driving seamlessly through the Tokyo evening traffic.

"Are you going to explain what you were doing, Itadori-kun?"

Yuuji was silent, gagged by the sheer volumes he could speak, all fighting for precedence. He heard the faintest sigh from Kento.

"Yuuji?"

Still, nothing. Kento's hands gripped the wheel a little tighter.

"I see. We shall talk after dinner."

"...you can just drop me back to the school--"

"We shall talk after dinner."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Your hands worried the baggy sleeves of your cardigan before you heard the front door unlock. You stopped, plastering on a smile, and walking over to greet Yuuji as the door clicked open, Kento guiding Yuuji in and shutting the door behind him.

Yuuji's eyes never left the floor to accept your smile. He was thoroughly reduced, hidden behind cloud. Your eyes flicked to Kento, sensing his fixed cool anger, and you redoubled your efforts for Yuuji.

"Busy day, huh? You hungry? I've made lots...come on."

You sat together, tense in silence. Kento ate, robotic and clipped. Yuuji pushed the food around his plate, utterly silent. Kento pressed a napkin to his mouth, lowering it and clearing his throat. He repeated himself.

'Yuuji. Are you going to explain what you were doing?"

Silence. You placed your knife and fork down, your throat thickening with impending confrontation. Yuuji squirmed in his seat as frost formed beneath Kento.

"...I just...just wanted to be useful."

"Useful?"

"...just...wanted to be better than they say I am."

"They?"

You felt Yuuji's stress climbing, racking exponentially with Kento's insistent dig for clarity. You opened your mouth to try to soften Kento's blows before Yuuji blurted.

"Anyone who matters at Jujutsu High thinks I'm scum. Thinks I'm--I'm-- no better than--than him." Yuuji snapped, gesturing to the slits of Sukuna's other eyes on his face, and shoving his plate away with a clatter. Kento bristled, the frost thickening.

"Control your temper, Yuuji--"

"Oh yeah? And why should I? I could have died a good death there-- trying to help people, if you hadn't--"

Kento slapped his napkin down on the table, moving to stand, and you felt yourself shut down beneath the gravity of his rage, knowing it was all concern, but terrifying nonetheless, and you felt the escalation as Yuuji stood, too, facing Kento with combatant teenage fury--

"And who, exactly, were you helping, Yuuji? Were you helping the sorcerers who would have come to rescue you, if I hadn't? You call that a good death, giving the higher ups exactly what they want--"

"--well they can fucking have what they want, then, can't they, nobody gives a shit about me anyway--"

"--language, Yuuji--"

"--nobody fucking cares--"

"I care."

Yuuji's face crumpled, his anger burning out hot and fast. Transitioning from man to boy again, his sleeves rubbed the rage tumbling out as tears.

Kento's chest heaved with the fever-pitch of battle. He turned on the spot, one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair, as he stared up at the ceiling, calming himself. He turned to Yuuji again.

"I care. And I need you safe. And while I cannot fathom the stress you are under, I am so disappointed with you, that you view yourself with the same ill-regard as those with such pithy, ignorant understanding."

Yuuji's hands hung limp at his sides, now, the tears falling freely. Kento rubbed one hand down over his own face, appraising Yuuji with ruffled impassivity.

"...finish your dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

A sigh, weary. "Then go and get cleaned up, and go to your room."

"I...dont have a room, here."

"You do. Third door on the left."

A heavy pause. Slow footsteps carried Yuuji away. Your head rested on steepled fingertips, your dinner churning in your stomach as you bit back nausea.

You thought of all of the words you could say to Kento, but dismissed them as soon as they came into your head; all too visceral, none of them helpful, and maturity held your tongue.

"...you get cleaned up, too. I'll tidy away dinner."

"No, no. You cooked. I'll tidy--"

"Nanami Kento. Do as you are told."

Kento was silent, stewing. Eventually, he stood, walking away down the corridor. You heard two showers, running. You left spare pyjamas in Yuuji's bedroom.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

A gentle three knock-knock-knocks sounded at Yuuji's bedroom door, and he sat up fast in his borrowed pyjamas, wide eyes tired in a tearstained face. He sniffled.

"Y-yeah, uh...come in."

You peeked your head around the door, smiling. Yuuji offered a watery smile in return.

"Alright, kiddo?"

Yuuji swallowed thickly, nodding, resting his chin on drawn-up knees. You sat at the end of his bed, pressing a mug of hot chocolate into his hands, and he felt it balm his soul before he had even drunk it; the act of receiving it, so much more significant than its imbibement. You let him warm in the gesture for a moment.

"...he cares about you, Yuuji. A lot. You know that, right?"

Yuuji's mouth puckered, and he shrugged his rejection, churlish. You raised one eyebrow at him, a gentle, chastising challenge, and Yuuji blushed.

"...yeah, I guess. I mean...I...I know."

"You know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I do."

You smirked, eyes twinkling. "What gave it away? Was it the running to save you in battle? Or the bringing you home for dinner?"

Yuuji's mouth was obscured, buried in his knees. He paused. You didn't manage to hear the words muffled by his legs, and you tilted your head to one side.

"...sorry?"

"It was--...was when he said he was...disappointed with me."

[wrathofrats]

Do you ever think Swiss tried self bondage and got stuck? Strung up and helpless? You think he secretly hopes someone finds him and takes advantage of his stupidity? Idk.

-void

I got carried away is anyone surprised

Keep Me Lit and Salivating

Read here or on ao3

“Awe what happened to you starlight? Someone string you up and leave you?” Ifrit cooed, sitting on the bed next to him. He ran a finger down his chest, admiring his rope work and snapping the middle tie against his skin.

Or 1.7k of aether and ifrit ruining Swiss

Warnings for: dubious consent, Swiss says no but he doesn’t mean it, small bits of objectifying, and just a small bit of quintessence fuckery

Swiss has a thing for self bondage. Something just a little risky about tying himself up, wearing a harness under his clothes. He loves the feel of it being only for himself and no one else. He does it as almost an act of self love, feeling intimate and personal with himself. He takes delicate care with his ropes, making sure to make them tight enough to keep his brain on edge but not to hurt him.

Restraining himself and respecting it for his own pleasure, always knows how to get out of his own ties but something in his brain won’t let him, won’t let him be bad even if it’s just for himself.

He plays with himself a little before, teasing the head of his cock until he’s got a nice little bit of pre beading up, threatening to fall down his shaft. Works a couple fingers in himself, easing himself open to nudge one of his vibrators inside.

It’s already mind numbing. Swiss uses his quintessence to bring the toy all the way out, slamming it back in with a gut punched whine, before raising his wrists to the headboard to cuff them snugly with the key in his palm.

It’s always the plan to get himself close before he struggles. Swiss lets himself cum and be a bit overstimulated before untying himself. He likes the way it hurts for a minute, feels too good, too sensitive, maybe even lets it milk him dry, just feeble drops of cum running down his shaft after a particularly intense session.

This time he wasn’t so lucky.

His legs shook, abdomen trembling as his orgasm washed over him. A line of drool left his lips as he rode it out, feeling his cock twitch on his stomach. Swiss felt all his muscles clench as the vibrator continued long past the pleasure, quickly turning into pain with the high settings. He fumbled with the handcuffs, haphazardly attempting to position the key with the way his body convulsed and tried to get away from the strong sensation.

Before he could react the small piece of metal slipped from his palm. Clattering to the floor below.

“Fuck” Swiss bit out through a whine.

He didn’t have many options. He could attempt to brute force the chain, but the cuffs dug into his wrists uncomfortably and only got worse with every pull. He had more of a possibility to seriously hurt himself than to actually break them to get undone, and as much as Swiss was a masochist, even this was a little ridiculous.

Swiss needed to yell out. Call for help and hope someone walks by at some point in the next couple minutes in order to hear him and hopefully get him unstuck.

“Help!” He cried. The vibrations started to melt into pleasure once again. Hot and painfu but long past what he really wanted. He let out a small yelp as he shifted, driving it further into his prostate.

“Swiss? You ok?” Aether called out, There was a small knock on his door, aether twisting the doorknob tentatively.

“Oh thank Satan- aether please I’m stuck”

The door swung open, aether and ifrit rushing his side with concern before they could really take in the situation in front of them.

Swiss looked absolutely pathetic. He had tears in his pleading expression with his arms cuffed high above his head. His chest was adorned with red rope, tied tight under his pecs and down his stomach, almost making his chest bulge out of it. His stomach was covered in his own release and his cock leaked more down the sides of his abdomen and onto the sheets. He wasn’t going to last much longer. Swiss had a pained expression in his face as his hips bucked into the air like they had a mind of their own.

It really seemed like he was presented before them. Wrapped up for aether and ifrit to unravel and play with.

“Awe what happened to you starlight? Someone string you up and leave you?” Ifrit cooed, sitting on the bed next to him. He ran a finger down his chest, admiring his rope work and snapping the middle tie against his skin.

The vibrations continued to make Swiss’ brain fuzzy, he tried to focus on the question between focusing on how long it would take before he could actually be uncuffed.

“Please-“

“Oh ifrit I think he did this to himself” aether said in mock surprise. He stood behind ifrit, moving Swiss’ thigh so he could see him stretched open on his vibrator. “You know how much this thing loves a real cock in him”

Aether pushed against it, shoving it further into Swiss.

Swiss let out a choked whine, writhing as he came again. It was too much, too soon, painful white hot pleasure putting a ringing in his ears as he tried to breath through the waves of his orgasm. The vibrations never let up, aethers pushing never let up.

Once Swiss opened his eyes again he could feel the toy being slowly pulled out of him. The silicone made an awful wet pop as it came out, dripping with lube and his own slick.

“Forgot he was part water ghoul” ifrit reached for it, admiring the way it shined in the small bit of light in the room. The liquid ran down to his palm before he quickly chased it with his tongue. Swiss let out a choked noise as ifrit took his time to savor his taste, moaning softly at Swiss’ slick on his tongue.

Aether leaned in with a grin to drag his tongue up the other side, staring Swiss in the eyes. They were trying to put on a show for him. Get him all worked up again after being spent and covered in his own fluids. Ifrit slowly kissed up the side of the vibrator while aether moved to meet his lips. They were practically making out around the thing just to make Swiss writhe, wet smacking sounds filled the room as they kissed each other over the toy.

“Wonder if our starlight tastes any better” aether breathed pulling away from ifrit.

“We can’t just let him go without cleaning him up can we?”

Swiss looked almost terrified. A growing warmth in him desperate to be touched but he knows he’s still sensitive, it would still be too much for him. His wide eyes with drying tears on his cheeks almost made him more tempting for the other two ghouls to continue to ruin. All tied up with nowhere to go, really who could blame them for taking advantage of the situation?

Ifrit took his place next to Swiss at the top of the bed. Sweetly curling into his side with his head in the crook of his neck to nip at the sensitive skin. It was an interesting juxtaposition, the nice, caring demeanor that combated the fact that they were keeping him tied up just to play with.

Aether rested between his legs. He kissed along Swiss’ thighs, placing a firm hand on his legs when Swiss tried to prematurely get away from his mouth where he knows it’ll end up.

“Oh don’t be like that sweetheart.” Aether scolded, nuzzling into his pubic bone, “just trying to be kind and not leave you all messy”

Aethers mouth was hot, tongue feeling almost like sandpaper as he licked along Swiss’ stomach to clean up the cum that had pooled along his navel.

“Just-“ Swiss gasped as aether dove to lick a fat stripe up the base of his cock, “aether please”

“Awe he even remembered his manners aeth” ifrit praised, still absentmindedly kissing and sucking along Swiss’ throat and jawline. He looked absolutely wrecked, bruised and limp on the bed, eyes screwed shut as aether continued to tease his spent cock. He lapped over the head, trying to coax him back to full hardness while ifrits hands roamed over his chest.

“Poor thing still can’t get hard though,”

“You could help him, he asked so nicely after all”

The sensations were mind numbing, he could feel all the blood slowly rush to dick with a spark of quintessence as his arms and hands started to tingle. Ifrit plucked at his nipples with a hum aether finally took Swiss fully in his mouth. He was still sensitive, painfully so but all he could do was drool and clench his muscles. It was all artificial, aether was forcing him to be hard with his magic and the back of his throat tasted metallic with it while aether used him.

He wanted to fight against the feeling growing in his stomach. The combination of pain and pleasure that he knew would gut punch him if they actually made him cum again. The ropes were rubbing his skin raw at this point, and ifrit wasn’t helping with that as he continued to pull and maneuver the ropes while he played with Swiss’ chest.

“Gonna have to tie you up all the time if it makes you this easy huh swissy?” Ifrit kisses into his skin. Swiss felt like he was on fire, a suffocating heat in the room as he slowly grew closer and closer.

Swiss didn’t have the brains to warn either of them before shamelessly toppling over the edge. He had barely anything left in him, almost completely milked dry even if aether sucked and swallowed as if his mouth was full. The magic wore off as Swiss settled into another round of almost overwhelming overstimulation.

“There you go sweet boy,” aether rubbed along his skin, as he pulled away, trying to soothe him just a little bit.

“Let me go now?” Swiss looked like a kicked puppy, his breathing was still heavy, voice seemingly raw from trying not to moan and cry.

“Of course not” ifrit laughed, pressing a peck to Swiss’ lips

“I still haven’t had my turn”

[inkonparchment]

Leon Kennedy x Reader - what a curious hotel in the middle of nowhere with a strange receptionist.

cw- blood, skulls, exposed bone, themes of drugging and kidnapping, dub-con if u squint. is this dead dove???😭

It's hot. The car's ac had long given up, blowing tepid air on your face. One hand gripping the steering wheel, you run your free hand around your neck, gathering perspiration on your palm and then flicking it away. The leather of the seats sticks uncomfortably to your exposed skin making you unable to relax, constantly shifting around, the unsticking sound making you grow more hot under the blaring sun.

You had been driving for so long now, the actual time gone from your mind. You weren't even sure where you were, the map haphazardly strewn about in the passenger seat of your old mustang. You grasp your empty water bottle shaking it dejectedly and then tossing it into the backseat.

You push up your sunglasses on the nose, sunlight reflecting from the road harsh on your features. You were driving on an abandoned single road, barren land on both sides, cacti dotting the faraway line of sight. Your throat was dry, lips parched as you continue on your journey, regretting not stopping over at the rest stop a few miles back.

You squint behind your shades, heat so sweltering that it was forming mirages of lakes right in front your eyes, so close in reach but disappearing in a moments notice. You breathe a sigh of relief when a lonesome signage greets you; "Hotel De La Mort UP AHEAD".

You keep your eyes peeled, leaning away from the leather of your seat, hair sticking to the back of your neck. You notice a tall, red building a little way down the road. You don't dare to blink in the case you blink and it disappears like the previous visions of lakes.

It doesn't and you can feel relief wash over you.

The sound of the handbrake is loud when you pull it, throwing open your door and clambering out, slamming it shut behind. You stand in its shadow, the red bricked building towering over you. You take off your sunglasses, holding them by the tips of your fingers, curiously looking at the peeling paint of the building the sign "Hotel De La Mort" a little skewed from its axis.

You shrug, walking towards the big brown doors, gold doorknob encrusted with glittering jewels, cool under your touch. You twist the knob, cool air bursting through the cracked open door, grabbing you in its embrace and lulling you inside. The door shuts with a loud click, the noise reverberating in the hallway.

Your jaw falls away. The room was huge, deceptively so from the humble look it had from the outside. Multiple grand chandeliers hang from the ceiling, various gems adorning the gold of the chandelier, the colours glittering down onto you. Large columns decorate the sides, drapes of maroon velvet curtains hanging from them, paintings on gigantic canvases littered across the walls. The furniture is almost Victorian, matching with the drapes in maroon and black.

You try to locate the air-conditioners or the vents, anyplace from where the cool wind was bellowing from, carrying a scent so sickly sweet with it. Despite the blazing sun outside, it was completely dark inside save for the lights from the chandeliers and the light fixtures.

A throat being cleared breaks you from your gawking, eyes searching for the source. You finally find it; a man standing diligently behind a desk with a sign that says "Welcome" on the dark wood just a few paces from in front of you. You eye the man who is looking at you intently, hands neatly folded in the front of him.

He's clothed in what you assume is the staff uniform. A maroon blazer, black collar shirt with a black tie and black trousers, stripe of gold on every article. The golden of his hair accompanied with striking blue eyes, glittering like sapphires is what catches you off guard. You approach the desk.

"Checking in?" He smiles wide and sweet.

You lick your parched lips, "I don't have a reservation."

He shakes his head, chuckling with a glint in his eye, "You don't need one here."

"Oh," You shift on your feet. "Yes I'd like to check in."

He simply nods, sweet smile widening but not reaching his eyes. The sickly sweet smell returns, a blast of chill air, you blink and the façade flickers; blood fills your nostrils, oozing from the walls, rips in the perfect curtains and the canvases. The receptionist's visage flickers, handsome angular, face replaced by torn skin one side showing a hollow skull staring back at you, clothes tattered, collarbones protruding from his flesh.

Before you can gag, you blink and it disappears. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up, goosebumps fresh on your skin. You look over your shoulder in fear but there is nothing to be afraid of, the state of the hotel still pristine. You look back at the man, still smiling, as he hands you keys.

"Your luggage will be brought to you." He steps back. "We hope you enjoy your stay with us." And then disappears behind the door at his back.

You stand there dumbfounded, staring at the keys he had given you, the bronze cold against your palm. Room 013. You shiver, hand against your forehead, owing the crazy vision to your dehydration.

You locate the elevators and walk towards them. The thirst grows on your tongue, the sweet smell greeting you once more, coming across a small table on your way. You stop to inspect it. Sitting on top of it is a bowl of pomegranates, a bronze pitcher and a tall glass filled with red liquid.

The sight of it salivates your tongue, hand moving on its own accord as your fingers wrap around it. You bring it up to your lips, ignoring the screaming voice in your head telling you to stop, and drink. The sweet and sourness of the juice floods your taste buds, the sickeningly perfumed smell filling your nostrils.

The world slips from your grip, glass crashing against the floor as your slump. But you don't hit the ground, encircled by a pair of strong arms pulling you taught against a muscled body. With heavy lidded eyes to look to see who it is who has saved you.

And its the man from the reception. Only he looks different. His golden hair is now pulled back, styled into various curls and waves, glint in his blue eyes, dressed in a sharp all black suit with golden cufflinks. He grins wide at you, nothing in it to warm you but to plunge you in icy waters.

He leans down, lips capturing yours softly, his tongue darting to run against yours, lapping up the speckles of the red liquid left behind. He rests his forehead against your, his breath fanning against your nose as your consciousness is pulled into the dark.

"My wife."

[cloudcountry]

SUMMARY: Azul inks on a date with you and you share a moment in the lounge's bathroom.

WARNINGS: None!!

COMMENTS: i wanted to write a little drabble of azul inking (IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE 500 WORDS MAX!!!!!!!!!!) and it ended up being over 1k oops

All Azul wanted was a nice date with you.

After spending no less than an hour in front of his vanity, combing his hair to make sure it was just right, he’d fretted over which shade of purple bow tie to wear. The Leech brothers invaded his room to accost him occasionally, which Azul did not take kindly to. He had looked over every inch of himself in the mirror before actually presenting himself to you, thanking the stars above he was wearing gloves so you couldn't feel how sweaty his palms were.

He also did not take kindly to them barging in on your date as the waiting staff in order to tease the two of you relentlessly.

Perhaps selecting the Mostro Lounge as his venue wasn’t the best decision, in hindsight.

It all comes to a head when the Leech twins “mess up your order,” serving you calamari instead of the dish you’d selected. Azul tries to breathe, but he’s so overwhelmed that his plan to make this a beautiful night is going up in flames and he can’t do anything about it because the Leech brothers march to the beat of their own drums.

“Azul?” he hears you whisper from across the table, eyes wide with gentle concern, “Are you okay?”

“Oooh, would ya look at that, Jade!” Floyd cackles, “Azul inked!”

Jade chuckles politely, eyes closed in a devious smile. “It would seem so, Floyd.”

Azul gasps, grasping at his chin. It’s slick, and when he pulls his hand away his glove is stained black. Azul practically throws himself out of his chair and runs to the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Great. Just great. Leave it to Jade and Floyd to push him to the point of ruining his date himself. Azul grabs a handful of paper towels and runs them under the cold water, dabbing at his face in the mirror. His eyes are bloodshot and he can feel the ball in his throat that signals tears. He doesn’t let it burst. All he needs is to compose himself, and then he’ll apologize for how gross and unnatural that was.

“Azul? Are you okay?” he hears your voice on the other side of the door.

You sound so worried. It’s a sweet thing, being worried about. But it also makes Azul feel even more pathetic.

“Please, don’t mind me. Return to your dinner. I assure you, I’ll deal with these...ah, unpleasantries, and if you still wish to continue the evening we will do so.” he says all of that in one breath, and tries not to feel too relieved that he managed to get the words out without stuttering.

“Azul, it wasn’t unpleasant. It’s natural for octopi to do that, isn’t it? Besides, I think your ink is pretty,” you say, and you say it so brazenly that Azul almost chokes on his spit.

“It is not pretty, angelfish. Now, please excuse me!” he squawks, furiously wiping away the excess ink still left on his chin.

You say nothing else, but he never hears you walk away. You’re still standing out there, but you’re not coming in either, and Azul doesn’t know which one is worse. Does he have to face you? Can’t he just smooth-talk his way out of this? There’s got to be some way he can get you to leave.

There isn’t. He knows there isn't. If there’s one thing Azul knows about you, it’s that you’re persistent.

And so Azul huddles in the corner and sulks. He sulks just like he did in his childhood, he sulks just like the pathetic little octopus he tried so hard to defeat, he sulks like a man who wishes he wasn’t a slow, clumsy octopus.

“Azul?”

And you’re still out there.

“Azul, you’ve been in there for too long...and you’re not responding.” you murmur, and the doorknob rattles, “I’m coming in.”

He wants to yell, to tell you to go away, but his voice dies in his throat as you open the door. He scrambles to his feet as you walk inside, his knees shaking and palms sweating. Your fancy shoes click across the tiled floor and you reach him in seconds.

“I said not to come inside.” he hisses under his breath.

“No, you told me to go back to the dinner table. You said nothing about not entering the bathroom.” you reply, and Azul gnaws at his lower lip.

You’re right.

“I was worried about you.” you whisper, gaze softening, “I know Jade and Floyd were putting some stress on you—”

Understatement of the year.

“—but I still thought it was fun.”

“You what? How was any of that fun!?” Azul huffs, face blooming red again.

“Because it was with you.” you murmur, staring so deep into his eye he thinks you might just find his soul and pull it out of him, vulnerable and on display for you to do as you please.

You take his hand, you take his ink-stained glove into your hand and squeeze, smiling at him like he’s never made a single mistake in his life.

“Everything is fun when I’m with you.” you whisper to him. It’s a quiet sentence, one said with reverence for the moment you two are sharing in the bathroom, but it rings as loud and clear as a declaration in front of a silent, anticipating crowd.

And Azul thinks you just might have pulled his soul from its place in his body because his heart gives a soft twitch that can only mean he wants to believe you.

There are still bits and pieces of the octomer that was turned hard and cold by the cruel merpeople below the depths. There are still pieces of him that think about how cheerful and happy he used to be before the kids he knew turned on him.

He wants to believe you.

He doesn’t yet. You know he doesn’t.

You cup his cheek where the ink was before and stare at him like he’s the only man in the world, and Azul feels his knees go weak. He needs more of this. He needs you.

Azul is a notoriously greedy man, after all.

[pattypanini]

Lay All Your Love On Me

Chapter 10- Always You

Josh Kiszka x Reader and Jake Kiszka x Reader

Word Count: 5.6k

TAGLIST

AN: Hi everyone! Here is the tenth chapter of Lay All Your Love On Me from me and @mar-rein12! This chapter is filled with so much fluff. We got asked for more sentimental stuff in our inbox a while ago, so this goes out to them. We have decided with our schedules that we will be posting one chapter every Friday for now on. The chapters will be longer, like the 9th chapter. Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy the tenth chapter, Always You.

PS sorry for the late chapter but we wanted it to be perfect <3

Warnings: 18+, Fingering, Slight coercion, Dirty talk, Slapping, Kissing, Physical and verbal fighting, Blood, Cursing, Angst, FLUFFFFFFFF, Cuddling.

Y/n’s POV

2:14am Jake: I know he’s asleep. Come to the bathroom now. 

Oh God. You just told Josh that you want a relationship with him, and tie up loose ends but the ‘loose ends’ have you in a knot. 

Nothing good would come from you following him to the bathroom, yet you still wanted to. You're sick. You need to end this. It’s not right for you to lead Jake on and lie to Josh. Would you come clean to Josh about all of this? You weren't exactly sure at the moment, too many thoughts swirling around in your head. You make your final decision, you are going into that bathroom. 

You spring off the couch, careful to not wake Josh, and quietly tiptoe down the hallway. You see a shadow approach you and before you know it, he's shoving you into the bathroom. The bathroom being lit by only a small night light above the sink. The door shuts quickly behind Jake and quietly, making sure he does not slam it. 

“I need you y/n, please just give me a few minutes baby and let me talk to you.” He begs in a whiny tone.

“Jakey we can’t do this. Josh and I are becoming official soon we can’t… I’m sorry. Trust me if I could have you both I’d take that offer up in a heartbeat”, You begin to walk towards the door, being grabbed before you could reach for the doorknob.

“Y/n baby, please, just talk to me. One more time please.” He begins to guide you with his body back to the counter. Your ass taps against the cool, granite, and you are swiftly lifted onto the counter. 

“Jake, I told you we are done.” You say in a loud whisper. His hands begin to travel down along your waist and graze over your hips, a shiver traveling up your spine. You wanted it so bad. But you couldn’t. You can’t hurt Josh again. You aggressively peel his hands off your body, and slam them onto the counter. “Jake, come on.” 

His hands find his way back to your hips and he leans in close to you, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. You can feel his warm breath fan over your throat, causing your own breath to hitch. “Jake…” You quietly moan under your breath.

“Y/n…” He leans his lips up to graze along the shell of your ear. You give him a little moan, which fuels him to attach his lips to your neck. “It’s not fair that he's the only one to have you tonight.” 

“But I am his Jake, I’m sorry that you don’t want to accept that but that's just how it is.” You can’t stop him though, no matter how hard you tried you were enjoying his touch. In fact, you want more. 

“I know your body y/n, don’t act like you hate this.” He grabs harder at your hips this time, making you wince. His mouth reattaches to your neck, leaving sloppy wet kisses everywhere.

“Mmm…” you can’t help but give in to him. Your hands find your way to his silky hair, gently pulling at his scalp. 

“Fuck, harder.” He sighs against your neck. Without a second thought, you obey him, yanking the hair harder. 

“You like me doing this to you, knowing Josh could walk by any second, hearing you moan like a little slut. You probably want him to catch us.” He groans into your ear at your filthy words. “Jake, stop.” Your hand travels up his neck to warn him, squeezing it just enough to catch his attention. 

“I can't, darling. You’re too fucking sexy.” His hand starts to travel down your hip and closer to the waistband of your pants. His pointer finger sliding in between your skin and the silky fabric. “Please just let me have you one more time. I'll make it worth your while baby, I’m sure it's gonna be a thousand times better than what you and Josh were doing earlier.”

“Hm, I don’t know about that,” you lean into his ear to whisper,”it was reallyyy good, Jakey.” 

He stands there between your legs, his jaw agape trying to process what you had just said. He was speechless. “W-what did you guys do?” 

“You don’t want to know Jakey…it might hurt your feelings,”  You pout your lips down at him, smoothing his hair down from the knots you caused. 

“I just want to know what I can do to make things even better for you.”

“What you can do is keep this whole ‘situation’ between you and I, and never tell a soul. Even if Josh and I weren’t dating it would kill him. So keep your mouth shut, got it? Or I’ll make you.” His eyes widen at your remark, and you see a smirk spread across his face. 

“Maybe, I want you to make me.” Jake says as you glare up at him, and grab a hold of the back of his neck. You pull him closer to you, lips almost touching but not quite. 

“What do you want Jake, one final time and that's IT. After this, your mouth is sealed and you never speak of this again.”  In response, Jake nods at you. “Tell me… that you’re not going to say a single word. I need words, Jake.” 

“I won’t tell a soul. I promise.” As he says that, he takes his fingers that are hooked in the waistband of your pants and slides his hand fully inside them. “I just need to feel your pussy one more time. How warm and soaking wet you are.” You gasp as you feel his hand cup your pussy, he looks down to where his hand is inside your pants. 

“No underwear? Such a dirty girl. And your pretty pussy is still so wet from earlier when you were with my brother, right?” A chill travels up your spine from his foul words, the only noise you can make is a little whimper, begging for more from him. “Tell me darling, who made this pretty pink pussy soaking wet?”

“Josh, does that make you mad Jakey?” He stares down at you.

“No, because I know I’m gonna make you cum harder with my fingers than he did with his dick.” He quickly swipes a digit over your swollen clit, a sharp moan escaping from your chest.  

“Prove it.” Without a second thought his finger pushes hard into your entrance.

Your mouth attaches to his shoulder, biting down hard to suppress your yelp. 

“Oh, Fuck.” You release from your mouth into his shoulder.  

“Such a slut, letting me finger fuck you while my sweet brother is asleep in the other room. You probably want him to hear you don’t you?” He whispers into your hair.

“No no, I don’t. We shouldn’t be doing this… fuck.” His fingers curl up into you hard, in just the right spot.

“Yet you're sitting here letting me do it to you. Go ahead, get up right now and walk back into the living room to Josh.” His fingers continue slowly. You knew you should go, but you couldn’t allow your body to move. The only movement that your body allows is your hands clutching onto his arms. 

“Jake…” you moan louder than you should have. “Give me more, Jakey. Please.” 

“More…?” With no warning Jake retracts his fingers and replaces them around your throat. A quick slap is placed across the right side of your face. “... you want more whore? Tell me what you want?” His grip around your neck tightens slightly, willing you to answer him. 

“Suck my clit, Jake. Please, I want- no I need it so bad.” Your hands travel through his strands, petting and gripping his hair. At this moment, you have no cares about Josh or what he would think about this. All you know is that you need him. Your concern for your relationship with Josh was out of mind, and that's what made Jake so dangerous. The way he took over your mind, body, and soul was something no one else has ever done. Is Jake the one? But an hour ago there was no other thought than Josh. 

“I don’t think you were clear enough darling, repeat that for me.” Jake says in a condescending tone.

Your head nuzzles into his neck, as you speak into it, “I said I need your mouth sucking my clit Jakey. I need you to eat me out, I don’t care about Josh right now I need to squirt in your mouth and for you to tell me how good I taste. Please Jakey I can’t take this anymore. I need your tongue right now. Please please please please…” Jake pets your hair softly.

“Damn baby… you are just so pathetic. How do you think this whole ‘relationship’ with Josh is going to work out when you're constantly running back to me. Can he not please you? Is it gonna be your 1 year anniversary, he’ll take you out to dinner, and then you’ll be running to me that night to get your pussy ate. So upsetting, but good for me.” Jake’s hands begin to travel to your pants once more as he attempts to pull them down.

What am I doing? You finally come to your senses. Hearing it come from Jake's mouth makes you realize how awful and incredibly wrong this is. 

You grab onto his shoulders and gently push him back. He looks so confused, you see a flash of worry in his eyes. “D-did I do something wrong?” 

“Um, no. I’m- nothing. Thank you for making me realize what's wrong with me.” You hop off the counter and go for the door. “Once I leave this door we never speak of this again, or at all.”

“Y/n.” Jake says with sorrow.

“Yes?”

“I love you.” You see the sadness written across his face. When you leave this bathroom, that would be the end of whatever this was. As much as it pained you and as much as it pained him, it could never work out, only causing more problems. 

“Jake… you don’t mean that…” You give him a warning, as you grip the doorknob in your hand turning to look at him. 

“But I do mean it. I love you. I’ve loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you, y/n. There were other girls, sure, but none of them are anything compared to you. You might hate me for this and that's fine, but I can’t keep it in any longer. So go date Josh, just know it was always you for me, y/n. It will always be you” Jake walks around you, exiting the room, leaving you there with nothing but your thoughts. 

But you couldn’t think. Your heart was beating so fast you thought you might pass out. The room was closing in on you and all you wanted was to leave, but you could never explain it to Josh. His words cut deep, and you can’t say you don’t feel anything towards Jake either. 

Your head is spinning and your legs threaten to collapse. You lean your back against the wall, attempting to steady yourself. You slowly slide to the floor, your face resting in your palms. A sob racks through your body, tears beginning to stream down your face. 

You were incredibly overwhelmed. With what Jake just admitted to you and your conversation with Josh earlier, you didn’t know what to think. You were embarrassed, but you couldn’t go out there, but maybe the comfort of Josh would help. You're an awful person, you never settled down with one person before. Maybe what people say is right.

 I am a slut. 

You wanted to dig a hole, bury yourself inside of it, and never come back out. Maybe if you come out to Josh about it all he would understand, but you’ll just have to wait. There’s no way you could tell him right now. You turn on the lights and check yourself in the mirror. After wiping your eyes and fixing your hair. You compose yourself and make your way out to the living room. He was still sound asleep, he was so calm and peaceful. And you had the nerve to go into that goddamn bathroom with his brother. 

As you begin to adjust yourself onto the couch you wake up Josh. 

“Are you okay y/n?”

Oh shit.

“Yes sorry, I just was getting uncomfortable on the couch.”

“That's okay, we can go back to the bedroom.” He begins to lift himself off the couch and walk back to the room in his groggy state. 

When you finally make your way back into the bed, you lay down and are quickly wrapped up by Josh. 

“Thanks for tonight Josh, it was very special. I’ve never been on a real date like that.”

“You’ll be getting a million more baby, I promise.” He places a soft kiss onto your forehead before he passes back out. His words alone could have made you cry, but you held it in knowing that doing it would just make tonight worse. You stare at the wall wondering what you had just done, but you knew what you just did, and there was nothing to do but let your guilt eat away at you.

—

Monday classes were a drag. Your mind was spiraling with so many thoughts. It was a very strange weekend to say the least. You spent the weekend in bed deciding what you were gonna do about the whole situation. You decided coming clean to Josh isn’t what you had to do at the moment. You tried convincing yourself that what you did wasn’t wrong but deep down you knew it was. 

While you walked to practice you were dreading the full walk through of the show you were going to have to do. You didn’t know how you would act around Josh especially after last night. But there was no time to even think about it because as soon as you walked into the doors he was there. 

His eyes dart up from his phone as he stands right next to the doors of the auditorium. A smirk is plastered across his face as he shoves his phone into the pocket. 

“Hi baby, I missed you yesterday.” His hands travel to your sides where your backpack wasn’t covering. You just had to go along with it like you always would. 

“I missed you too. I’m sorry I didn’t text yesterday. I wasn't feeling the best.” You force a smile, dragging your hands up and down his biceps. 

“It’s okay, I hope you’re feeling better. We have a walk through today.” Not being able to stop yourself, you roll your eyes. “Yeah I’m not too excited either, but as long as I’m spending time with you I don’t care.” 

A smile forms from the genuineness that he exudes. You begin to make your way down the aisle and drop your backpack on one of the chairs in the audience. You got there a little early so you took a seat, placing your head in your hands. Josh makes his way behind you, feeling two strong hands beginning to massage your shoulders.

“Are you sure you’re okay mama, you don’t seem well.” He leans down to whisper in your ear.

“I’m fine, just not happy about today, I don't want to be here.” He pets your hair softly, pulling your hair into a makeshift ponytail with his hands.

“I don’t either, but it’ll be good. Let's just enjoy our time with each other. Wanna get dinner again tonight? We can go wherever you want”

“You don’t need to do that, you just took me to dinner. You could come over to my place and we can make dinner. Charlotte is going to a sorority event, and then going to one of the frat guys' houses tonight.” 

“Really baby, that would be awesome. Play a little house?” He says with a cheeky smile. 

The idea of living with Josh sounded beautiful. Being able to fall asleep next to him and wake up wrapped in only him and the thick, fluffy duvet. A golden light shining through the window, as you roll over to plant a kiss on his plump lips. Being able to take him wherever and whenever you want. The more you think about it the better it sounds. 

“ALRIGHTY EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!” Coleman shouts interrupting your blissful daydream. “As you all know we're doing our first walk through today. We have about three more weeks before the big show. I know this show is going to be spectacular, you guys have been working so hard on this. Many of you have heard through the grapevine that we have a few old friends of mine that are on Broadway coming to see this show. Those of you that are looking to take this to the next level are in luck because they are coming here to recruit and put your name into the industry.”

As cool as that sounds, you knew that wasn’t what you wanted to do, but meeting some big names would be sweet. Josh’s eyes light up though. You know that all he’s ever wanted to do was perform, it’s his calling. Maybe this would be his chance to get his name out there, and you would do anything to help him get that goal.

After getting through the first act you get to the intermission. Everything was pretty smooth except for the part where Sophia tripped you when you were making your way across stage. But thanks to Josh’s improv he caught you and made it seem like it was all part of the show. 

After the water break, you hop right back into it with act two. You and Josh’s connection has strengthened so much over the past month, and you were proud. And it was quickly building during the past hour, in many different ways. The tension was building between the two of you. You know Josh’s body and you can tell when he’s turned on. Other than the obvious boner he had, he couldn’t keep his hands off you and was staring at your, well, everything. You have a tank top on that shows your cleavage and midriff, and although you have leggings on that doesn’t stop him from grabbing whatever he can when people aren’t looking. 

You were looking forward to tonight, not that you were expecting anything to happen, you were hoping it would. Especially with how he looks today. He had a tight black compression shirt on and gray sweatpants. You would take him in the bathroom right now if you could. The veins in his big hands were making you feral. Along with the sweat was building up around his hairline and made his cheeks red, just how he looks when you're done in bed. You couldn’t ignore your feelings either, the pool between your legs was becoming unignorable.

Running the last act was hard to get through. You were so tired and extra tired with the way Sophia had been acting. She would be trying to lean on him, or touch him whenever she could and it was really pissing you off. You were glad Josh wasn’t playing into it, though, you were wondering how he was feeling about it.

Josh’s POV

You tilt your water bottle up to your lips, taking a big swig. You prepare to run through the entire show for the second time tonight. You were exhausted and just wanted to rest with y/n back at her place. As you were going to turn to y/n and ask her about tonight you feel a cold hand grab your bicep, spinning you to face whoever is grabbing you. 

Sophia.

“Hey Joshy, I just wanted to let you know you look so strong and muscular in that shirt. You could probably lift me up and throw me around so easily.” She bats her eyelashes at you, twirling her hair around in her small hands. She wraps her unoccupied hand around your bicep, lightly squeezing. 

“Get off me Sophia. I don’t want to be around you, and I’m going to be with y/n tonight anyways.” 

She’ll be the one getting thrown around. 

“Come on Josh you know you’d rather be with me than y/n. She’s so boring, you need someone who's going to make your life more exciting.” She says adding a little squeeze to your bicep.

As you rip your arm away from her and turn around to find y/n, she is walking up behind you. 

“Sophia, he said let go. Clearly he isn’t interested in you.” Y/n says.

“Oh fuck off y/n. He seemed pretty interested at that frat party a few weeks ago. Right Joshy?” She turns to face you again, batting her long eyelashes in innocence. 

“Okay, I was trying to be nice but YOU can fuck off. No one here likes you. You’re an annoying pussy ass bitch who sticks around every man like a virus just waiting for one of them to give you a chance. Josh isn’t giving you a chance because he knows how fucking obnoxious and pathetic you are.” Y/n spits at her, sticking up for herself and for you. 

“You’re such a fucking cunt. Everyone here likes me except you, did you ever think YOU’RE the problem.”

“Just me my ass. Sophia ‘Bitch’ Michaels. No one fucking likes you bitch, not even the men that are just using you for your body. I know I slept around but you're just pathetic, you're practically begging these men to sleep with you.” Their faces are inches apart now, Y/n’s eyebrows scrunched up in anger, her face beginning to turn red. Sophia forcefully shoves away Y/n. You see a fire light behind her beautiful, sparkling eyes. 

“Whatever Sophia.” She begins to turn away back to sit down before it is interrupted by Sophia’s big mouth.

“Pussy.” She grins, laughing at her own remark.

Without any warning, y/n whips around, her hand colliding hard against Sophia’s cheek. You watch as her right hand wraps around her pitch black hair, yanking her to the floor. You didn’t know whether you should step in, but you knew this is what she deserved so you decided to step back and watch it unfold. 

Y/n stands there looking down at Sophia, helpless on the ground. She was unfazed. Like she had done it before. Y/n wasn’t one to let someone control or talk down on her. As y/n’s foot winds up preparing to kick her, Thomas pulls her away. 

“Someone call the health center!” Coleman says, running over to Sophia’s side. “We’re done for the day, we will be discussing this tomorrow.” 

Sophia wasn’t too injured. A nose bleed, bruised cheek, and messed up hair was all that Sophia endured. Y/n was unscathed. 

Is it messed up to be turned on by this?

She just looked so fucking hot beating the shit out of her, after all of the things she said. Y/n makes her way to her pile of things to collect in order to leave, completely disregarding the situation at hand. “Y/n?” Coleman speaks, you watch as her shiny hair whips around her shoulders to look Coleman right in the eyes. 

“Hm?”

“You’re not getting off that easy. If Sophia goes to report this, there will be consequences.” You notice the worry behind Coleman’s stare. 

“Sophia laid hands on me first, so if she wants to go and report it then it’ll be both of us going down. GOT that Sophia.” Y/n yells down to Sophia, still laying on the ground with a hand draped over her face.

“I-I’m not reporting it. I deserved it, I’m sorry y/n.” Sophia croaks out. 

Y/n rolls her eyes and goes for her backpack once again, throwing it over her back and turning to Coleman. “I’m not one to do that kind of thing, but I can’t just stand there and take insult after insult Coleman. You have to understand that.” Y/n starts walking furiously towards the door. You quickly grab your bag and follow behind her. 

“Baby please wait up.” You say as she quickly exits the building, turning when she realizes you had followed her out. Her face immediately is filled with guilt. “Y/n please don’t feel bad about this. She deserved it.”

“She caused a fucking scene, I never wanted to hit her,” she gives you a knowing look, a smile spreading across her face. 

“You lie so fucking bad.” You joke at her, bringing her into a hug. 

“You ready to go back to my place now?” You wrap your arm around her neck, as she looks up at you. 

“Of course baby lets go.” She begins to walk back to her dorm, walking with her head held high despite claiming she didn’t want to hit Sophia. The sunset was beautiful tonight, almost as pretty as her. The waves of pink, purple, and orange blended together perfectly. You let her walk a little ahead of you before taking a quick picture of her from behind, the sunset cascading around her. When she finally notices your absence she turns to look back at you. You try to hide your phone but she isn’t stupid.

“What are you doing Josh?” Letting out quiet giggles.  

“Oh, just taking some pictures of my pretty girl.” You pull your phone back out, snapping a few more candid photos of her. 

“Josh…” You watch as her cheeks blush over, you snap another picture of her mid-laugh. 

“What? I can’t help it, you're just so beautiful.” She grabs your hands, and begins twirling you around her in a circle. The moment is so perfect. You wish you could replay it over and over in your head. 

“I love y- the sunset. It's so pretty. Especially with you standing next to it baby.” 

No way you almost let that slip. Did you love her? You hadn’t known her for too long. You didn’t think she noticed the slip up so you went along down the sidewalk to her dorm, like nothing had happened. After finally arriving at the door she unlocks it and lets you in. It had been a while since you were there last, reminding you of a memory you tried to suppress. 

She drops her keys and bag onto the dining table, and turns to face you. “So, what do you want to make for dinner? I know we have some chicken in the fridge and I could chop up some potatoes. I think we might also have some green beans too. Maybe rice? Whatever you want to do. Do you cook a lot?”

“One could say I’m a chef.” You smirk at her, leaning on the counter. She playfully shoves your shoulder. “Chicken, potatoes, and green beans sounds lovely my dear.” 

She scurries over to the fridge pulling out the chicken cutlets and broccoli, sitting them on the counter. “I can peel the potatoes if you bread the chicken.” She rolls the potatoes out of the bag sitting on the counter, beginning to dig through the drawers in search of the peeler. 

“I’ll do whatever you want me to, mama.” You take the cutlets out of the packaging, laying them on a plate. You walk over to the fridge to look for an egg, cracking it into a bowl, and coating the chicken breast in the egg wash. Your mom always had you helping in the kitchen, so cooking was something that reminded you of home.

As you coat the chicken in the breadcrumbs you hear a yelp out of the corner of your ear. When you look over you see y/n holding her hand and a small puddle of blood beneath it. 

“Baby, what did you do?” You grab some paper towels and wrap up her cut. 

“I don’t know. I’m not the best with the peeler.” She takes the paper towel and squeezes it around her finger.

“Where do you keep your hydrogen peroxide and band-aids?”

“In the bathroom.” You quickly hurry to the bathroom and look in the cabinets to find the supplies. After returning to the kitchen, you lay everything out and assess the cut. It was deep but not to the point where she’d need stitches. 

“Give me your hand mama.” You take her hand over the sink and pour the hydrogen peroxide over the cut and let it disinfect it, followed by a wince from y/n. “Maybe I should peel the potatoes. You can put the chicken in the oiled pan… on second thought, maybe not.” She giggles at your remark. 

“Maybe I’ll just sit back and admire you, you're going to be an amazing husband and father one day.”

One day? With her?

As if she can read your mind her eyes go wide.

“You know just in general, not with me specifically… not that I was assuming that. I- never mind.”

“Well I appreciate that y/n. I think you’ll be an amazing wife and mom as well.” You look down to her, then her hand. You grab the bandage and wrap her hand around a few times, making sure it was keeping enough pressure on it. 

As you continue on with the food, y/n sits there watching your every move. Barely looking down to her phone, it almost looked like she was in a trance. You could see yourself cooking for her everyday. After a long day you’d still come back and cook for her. Whatever she’d want, and spend hours in the kitchen if it was needed. You just wanted to make her happy. 

After finishing the food, you plate it up for the two of you and make your way to the dining table. “Josh, do you want me to put a record on?” 

“Yes, of course!” 

“How do The Beatles sound?” 

“Whatever you want mama.” You smile and pull her seat out for her. She runs back and takes a seat as the record begins to play. You both begin to dig into your meals. After a long practice a good meal was needed.

“This is so good Joshy. You need to come over and make me dinner more often.” She smiles and jokes.

“I would baby, I’d come over every day to do it if you wanted me to.” You sounded pathetic, but it was true. You were truly enamored by her. As you both continue to eat and talk about life, specifically practice, and everything going on with it you get to the end of your meal. She takes both of your plates and brings them to the sink, getting ready to wash them. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” You ask, making your way over to her.

“I’m gonna quickly wash the dishes before we go to bed, I’m really tired.”

“That sounds boring though.” You pull her into you as All My Loving begins to float through the air. You let the music take you and guide you into a little slow dance. Her head on your chest, arms wrapped around your neck. It felt like a middle school dance, but the girl before you was more special than any other girl in the world. “You’re so beautiful baby, you know that.” She giggles softly into your chest. “I mean it, look at me.” She looks up at you. “Such gorgeous eyes, everything about you is so perfect. I don’t know how I didn’t talk to you before the musical.” 

She leans up and gives you a gentle kiss on the lips. “Thank you, Josh. You’re so sweet to me, too sweet.” You feel her hand travel up your neck, threading her fingers through your hair as she tenderly massages your scalp. You continue to sway back and forth with her wrapped up in her warm embrace. You felt at home with her, happy. 

You quickly turn off the record, scooping her up and carrying her back to the bedroom. “Joshy, what are you doing?” She giggles. 

You plop her on the bed and begin to take your clothing off. She gives you a confused look, not thinking this is where the night was going. 

“Don’t worry, I don't wanna do it. But is it weird if I wanna feel your skin against mine. Is that okay mama?”

She smiles, and before giving you an answer starts taking her clothing off. She hops under the covers, you joining in after her.

She lays next to you, feeling the warmth of her skin against yours. It is buttery soft and you never want to forget the feeling. “Goodnight baby, I love… I really loved today.” 

You wish you could say it. 

“I loved today too, Joshy. Goodnight.” She presses a kiss to your lips.

 It was an early night and you knew you would wake up in time for your 2 o’clock class but weren't going to set an alarm for it. If you could sleep through tomorrow with her next to you, you would. Nothing could ruin the relationship you guys have made. You knew that she was the one for you, and you would make that official very soon. 

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@demonrat444 @gvfstuddedmajesty @jordie-gvf @jazzyfigz @slut4lando @gvfmarge @peaceloveunitygvf @jjwasneverhere @areuirish @mar-rein12 @woyayaofdreams @freyjalw @musicspeaks @jennabobenasblog @do-it-jakey-baby @dannys-dream @its-interesting-van-kleep @josh-iamyour-mama

[squeakyfir]

The Love from A Skeleton [Jack Skellington X Reader]

Plot: Halloween... The time of year you absolutely hate. Not because of the ghouls and monsters, you enjoyed that kind of thing, it's because of trick or treaters. They get free candy and whine and complain to their parents if they didn't get what they expected, which is the whole bowl of candy. Anyways, since you don't celebrate that holiday, you decide to go for a late stroll through the woods on the hiking trail. While walking, your whole life changes. And I mean that literally... Everything started to change drastically until you find trees with holiday symbols on it. One of them being a Jack-o-lantern. Being curious, you enter through the door and discover a world that would represent a children's book written by Stephen King. But the leader of this place was a king. Not just any king... A pumpkin king. His name is Jack Skellington. He's a very tall and slender skeleton with a pinstripe suit, a black cat bow tie and ghost dog named Zero. He discovers you and welcomes you to Halloween town until he can figure out how to send you home. But this place is perfect! No taxes to pay No drama And no more loneliness Jack believes that your hideous. But don't worry, hideous in the Halloween town definition means... Beautiful. Enjoy! *I do not own the Nightmare before Christmas. All rights belong to Tim Burton and Disney™*

Chapter 1

~ Next

Halloween. The one holiday you hate, only because of trick or treaters coming to your house trying to get free candy. You hate spoiled, rotten kids. One time, you didn't buy candy for those dumb kids and when it was time for the trick or treaters to go trick or treating, the little demons were banging on the door and kept ringing the doorbell like physcopaths.

You answered the door and they said 'trick or treat' but in a threatening way. You slammed the door in their face and had to face angry parents. One particular parent got so mad that he called the police. The cops showed up and the only good thing that happened was that the cops took your side and told the parents and kids to leave.

That was two years ago and ever since then, you were always on guard. All lights were off and the doors and windows were locked to prevent anyone from entering. But on this Halloween, the weather was nice and cool. Trick or treating wouldn't start for another hour, so you decided to take a walk in the woods to clear your mind before turning into a territorial animal.

The woods was charming at night with only the sounds of the rustling leafs, the twigs snapping underneath your shoes, the distant owl making its hooting sounds, and a small nearby stream constantly running. There was a trail, but you decided to go your own way.

Which was way off course.

The woods started to change, in a weird way. The trees started to look the same and the moon was becoming more illuminated. Before long, the ground became a color of brown with a small hint of black. You looked around wondering what happened but you then saw some trees planted in a circle.

'That's weird' you thought to yourself. It was like a mushroom circle, only, the shape was more accurate. Upon closer inspection, the trees had symbols on them. One had a turkey, another had a Christmas tree on it, and one had a heart, another had a shamrock, and one had an Easter egg.

But the last one caught your eye. It was a pumpkin with a face carving. You walked up to it and when you were only two feet from it, its little triangle nose was a small doorknob. Being as curious as you were, you twisted the door knob and opened the pumpkin door.

There was nothing inside. 'Well, that makes no sense' you thought. You were about to close the door, but a sudden gush of wind pulled you inside and you screamed as you went down a dark void with the pumpkin door closing.

You wake up on the ground, feeling drowsy and a little shaken. The trees still looked the same but the moon was so bright and was now a full moon. Before, it was a crescent moon. You stood up and tried walking but you fell down. You groaned in pain and stood up again to continue forward.

There was no path. You were lost. What was that pumpkin door!? You started to panic and continued to walk, hoping to find something that could tell you where you are. The walk was long, but you eventually came across a narrow walk way that led to a cemetery with a hill that had a long curl at the end.

You continued walking but something caught your attention. From the distance, you saw that it was man. A man who was out of shape and seemed to be hunched forward. Something was sticking out of his head. It looked like a stick, but it looked more like an axe! This man was hauling a scarecrow on a mount and heading through the big cemetery gates to a very creepy looking town.

It looked like it was the only piece of civilization within miles. You followed after the axe man and could faintly hear singing. When you got closer, the singing became clear but you decided to hide behind a stone wall and peek over the top to see what was going on. And what you saw was the strangest thing you ever laid your eyes on.

There were monsters, all over the place. There were witches, a clown on a unicycle, a walking tree with a face and with skeletons hanging from the branches by the neck with nooses, a devil, a weird man wearing a ribbon on his top that said 'Mayor', a werewolf, vampires, zombies, some weird fish looking monster, a man with his face constantly melting, a small mummy, a monster with a spider on his head and with snakes as fingers, and a monster with striped sticks sticking out on top of it's head.

This was very strange to look at but what they were singing was intriguing.

In this town,

Don't we love it now.

Everyone's waiting for the next surprise.

The axe man was then seen hauling the scarecrow on the mount and was walking towards the fountain in the middle with green water spewing from it.

Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back

And scream like a banshee

Make you jump out of your skin.

This is Halloween,

Everybody scream

Won't ya please make way for a very special guy.

The scarecrow on the mount grabbed a torch that someone was holding and held like he was going to do something with it. And he did. He lit himself on fire and started dancing on the mount.

Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch

Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King!

This is Halloween! x2

Halloween! x4

The scarecrow jumped off the mount and dived into the fountain. The monsters continued to sing the rather catchy song.

In this town,

We call home,

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song.

What you saw next was very intriguing. A very tall and very slender skeleton emerging from the fountain with his long arms wrapped around him. He had a smile on his skull and the monsters seemed to worship him. This skeleton wore a pin stripe suit and a striped and spikey bow with a small black cat face in the middle of the bow.

The two witches started laughing and the other monsters started to congratulate one another for what they did. The tall skeleton stepped down from the fountain and the one with the mayor ribbon said, "Great Halloween, Jack"!

"I believe it was our most horrible yet. Thank you everyone" said the skeleton. "No! Thanks to you, Jack. Without your brilliant leadership" said the mayor. "Not at all Mayor".

The monsters started praising him. They sounded more like insults rather than complements. The skeleton, who's apparently named Jack, started to look like he was getting uncomfortable and making his way towards the way you came. "Hold on, it's time for the rewards" said the mayor.

Jack, the skeleton, ran off and you went behind the wall and found another gate and slipped through. You could hear Jack and someone else speak. "Nice work, bone-daddy".

"Yeah, I guess so. Just like last year. And the year before that... and the year before that..." said Jack as the gate opened and he started to head towards the cemetery. In all honesty, he seemed to be the most normal out of the rest of the monsters, so it would be best if he could point out where you are and how to get back.

So, you should follow him before he gets away.

[another-whump-sideblog]

Fixing Tracy -- Introductions

TWs in the tags

Masterlist

Tracy wakes up to sunlight on her face.

Her first thought is “that feels nice.”

Her second thought is “shit, I missed my alarm!”

Her third thought is “wait… where am I?”

She jolts out of bed. Not her bed— it’s far too comfortable to be her bed. This isn’t her room. 

Is she dreaming? She can’t think of any other reason she’d go to sleep in one bed and wake up in another. She closes her eyes and focuses very hard on waking up. Nothing happens.

So… either she doesn’t remember going here of her own will, or someone took her here while she was unconscious.

No matter which is the case though, one thing is clear: she’s in danger. She would never forget something like traveling to a new location unless someone did something to her to make that happen, and obviously being moved while she was unconscious means someone has bad intentions.

She looks around for cameras, but finds none. She'd feel more reassured if she had found any, that way she could be reasonably confident that was all there was and find a way to deal with them. This way she's uncomfortably aware that there could easily be a camera or a bug she missed in her search.

She scans the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. There's not much. There's a bookshelf, but all of the books are paperback and none look thick enough to do more damage than a slap would. There's a dresser–

Tracy freezes. It's full of her clothes. She can recognize some of the stains and tears. There are some new items, but the large majority would've had to have been taken out of her apartment. More importantly, they're neatly folded and organized in a way that Tracy never keeps her clothes. She didn't put them there and forget, someone else took her and her clothes and who knows what else and brought them here. They would've needed plenty of time to get everything all neat in the dresser, too. How long was she unconscious?

Focus. Right now the most important thing is finding a weapon. There's a spinny chair next to a desk, but it seems too bulky to carry around. She'll keep it in mind, it's definitely heavy enough. The lamp, maybe? She tests it out, but it seems too light to do any damage. There is a lightbulb, though. She takes off the lampshade (plastic, no wires that could be used for lock picking), unscrews the lightbulb, and breaks it against the nightstand like an egg. She breaks off enough that all that's exposed is sharp, jagged edges, which she should be able to do a good amount of damage with if she has to. She cut her hand a bit, but not enough to matter right now.

No one's come for her yet. Maybe she can get out the window and run for safety? It's far out of her reach and frosted so that she can't see anything out of it, but maybe if she moves some furniture around…

She quickly finds that every piece of furniture in the room besides the spinny chair is nailed down, and the spinny chair isn't steady enough to let her stand on it to try and break the window with enough force without falling.

She sets down her improvised weapon and holds the spinny chair upside down, then slams one of the wheels against the window as hard as she can. It makes a lot of noise. She would've barricaded the room first if she could move anything else (unfortunately the hinges are on the inside of the room, so she wouldn't have been able to tie the doorknob to something with a blanket to keep the door closed), but she can't, so she just hopes that either the chair or the lightbulb will be able to fight her captor(s?) off.

The window doesn't crack or show any sign of being weakened no matter how hard she hits it. She starts to hit it to a rhythm– three fast, three slow, three fast. S.O.S., or close enough to it. She knows she wouldn't go investigate if she just heard banging against someone's window, but she would if that banging was saying S.O.S. in Morse code, and she hopes there's someone nearby enough to hear that's similar.

Once her arms are so sore they start to shake, she sets the chair down and picks up the lightbulb again. If she kidnapped someone and didn't come to stop them when they started pounding on a window, it would be because she knew there was no chance of the window breaking or alerting anyone. Her chances of escaping this way are slim.

That just leaves the door to the room. She doubts it's unlocked, but when she twists the doorknob she meets no resistance. This is where they want her to go, then.

There's a lock on her side of the door. That's… odd. She pulls the door open a crack and peaks out, but doesn't see anyone. She opens it a bit more.

There's a lady with long, blond hair sitting on a couch reading a book. There's no way she didn't hear all the racket Tracy was making, but she doesn't seem phased at all. Maybe she's deaf?

The door creaks and the lady looks towards it, destroying that theory instantly. She heard everything, she was just that confident that nothing Tracy did in there would negatively impact her.

"You're awake! How are you feeling?"

Tracy slams the door shut and rushes into the closet of the room. There are more of her clothes and the closet smells like her apartment–

She covers her mouth with one hand to quiet her breathing and holds out the lightbulb with the other. When the lady comes, she should be able to catch her by surprise.

She waits, and waits, and waits, and no one comes. The lady isn't going to give Tracy a chance to catch her by surprise. If she wants to leave this room, it has to be through the door, towards the person that most likely kidnapped her in the first place.

The cuts on her hand have mostly stopped bleeding, and the blood that ended up on her face from covering her mouth has dried. She hopes that makes her look intimidating… probably not, though, since the lady most likely knows full well the only person in here is Tracy.

Tracy opens the door again and holds the lightbulb out in front of her. "Where am I?"

The lady puts a bookmark in her book and gets off the couch. She gasps when she gets a good look at Tracy.

"Oh, dear, what happened?" Her eyes flicker to the lightbulb, Tracy's empty hand, and back to her face. "Is it just your hand that's hurt? Come, let's get you cleaned up."

The lady is weirding Tracy out. "No! Don't come any closer, don't touch me." She waves the lightbulb to accentuate her point. "Where am I??"

The lady raises her hands in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you. Well, I guess if you were to attack me with that I would have to defend myself… I have no intention of hurting you. You're safe. Can you take some deep breaths for me?"

"Tell me where I am!"

The lady gestures to the room around them. "Your new home."

Tracy's stomach drops. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. I told you, I have no intention of hurting you. Do you want to sit down?"

"Why– how– Who are you!?"

"Oh, right, I forgot you don't know. I know so much about you, it's hard to remember that to you I'm just a stranger. My name is Molly. It's nice to finally speak to you, Tracy."

Tracy's legs feel weak. "You're– you–"

"Just relax. From now on, you have no responsibilities, no stress. I understand if you need to keep fighting, though." Molly gestures at the lightbulb. "You need to feel like this is completely out of your control, or else you’ll feel guilty for resting. It’s alright. Fight until you’re satisfied that there’s no escape. I won’t take it personally. I'd really like to take care of your hand first though. You wouldn't be surrendering or anything like that, just taking advantage of your resources. It would be a lot harder to fight with an infection, right? And who knows, maybe if you act compliant I'll let my guard down enough to give you an opportunity to escape. You can accept my help guilt-free, it doesn't mean anything more than that you're smart enough to care for your injuries."

Tracy hates that Molly's reassurances are actually comforting. Cooperating wouldn't hurt anything, and it would benefit her quite a lot… Still, she's suspicious. She wants to figure out what the catch is. "I– please, can I take care of it on my own?"

"Of course! The bathroom is through that door over there, and the First Aid kit is under the sink. I'll stay right here if you want."

Tracy backs into the bathroom, pointing the lightbulb towards Molly the whole way. Like the bedroom, the bathroom locks from the inside. Tracy closes the door and locks it before setting down the lightbulb.

She cleans the blood off her face, then cleans the cuts on her hand and bandages them.

Her best option right now is to cooperate and gather information. Molly is extraordinarily confident that there's no way for Tracy to escape, so Tracy needs to figure out why and how to get around that before anything else.

When she exits the bathroom, Tracy takes a deep breath and heads to the sitting area. She still points the lightbulb at Molly, but she sits in a seat facing the couch Molly was reading at. She's just gathering information and gaining Molly's trust. She can do this.

Molly smiles and sits back down next to her book. "You look much better. I'll admit, I was worried you'd try and break the mirror and just cut yourself more, so I'm glad you're satisfied with the weapon you already have."

Tracy's not sure how to respond to that. "...what do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you, dear. I want peace and joy and health for you, but you don't have to do anything."

"Why?"

"Because you're broken, Tracy. And I'm going to fix you."

[elkdiaries]

darcy olsson headcanons because she’s cute and i miss her.

she was that kid who would tie her loose teeth to doorknobs and slam the door. one time she did it in the elementary school bathroom and got in big trouble because she screamed.

she’s like. scary good at chess. something about the strategies needed to play it just sits right with her. she likes to plan in advance.

she always falls asleep when she and tara are hanging out. she has so much energy around groups of people but the second the two are alone she buries herself in tara’s arms and passes out.

she works like twelve million summer jobs. she loves to have money saved up for fun little things and the chaos keeps her from getting too bored.

she’s big into 70’s rock… emphasis on bowie. she also somehow knows the words to every 80’s ballad she hears.

on a musical note, she’s totally a headphones girl. tara and elle surprise decorated her headphones with little stickers once. she cried when she saw.

when she was younger she taught herself how to backflip so she could be the coolest kid at the pool. she still knows how and sometimes whips it out as a party trick.

she’s totally one to guide tara and her closer friends around by holding their shoulders. or when she’s moving past them, she’ll adjust them with a gentle palm to their back so they aren’t startled.

specially made for @jjjjsjds thank you for your sweet request, i hope you enjoyed these! reminder to anyone who enjoyed that i love making headcanons, moodboards and the like regarding my favorite stuff, so don’t hesitate to request if you feel so inclined <3

[literaryfandomangel]

The Promise- Chapter Twenty-Six

By the time the clock showed it was nearing 8 p.m., I was a nervous wreck. I had finished the dinner preparations and iced the cupcakes, so nothing was left to focus my attention on. I removed the apron that protected my clothes from the food preparation and smoothed the front of my shirt.

As the clock struck eight, Max showed up promptly on time. Sam attempted to open the door, but I gave him a look. My little brother slunk into the kitchen as I opened the door. Max was dressed in a suit and tie. He looked like an intelligent man with kind eyes. Max was the type of man who looked gentle, but I could tell he wasn’t a pushover.

“You must be Aria,” Max gave me a smile and presented me with a daisy.

“Thank you, Max,” I smiled at the man. “Please, come inside.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Max almost purred as he strode into the cabin. He stopped a few paces inside the door, pausing to clean his glasses.

“Dinner is ready,” I informed Max, who nodded. I motioned to the dining room just as the sound of the motorcycle's engines roared into the driveway. “Please, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. I shut the door behind me, waiting for the four males to shut off their engines. As soon as they had cut the engines, I descended towards them.

“Hey, kitten,” David greeted me, reaching a handout. I remained out of reach, causing him to frown. All four could tell that I was visibly nervous about something.

“What’s wrong?” Dwayne asked, deep voice rumbling in the night as he stood up from his bike. I swallowed hard, about to answer, when the door opened.

“Tell them to get in here!” Sam shouted from the doorway. “Dinner’s getting cold!” Sam slammed the door, and I sighed.

“Mom wanted us to meet her date,” I whispered, shuffling my feet. I didn’t dare meet any of their eyes.

“Look at us, kitten,” David commanded, his leather pants making that familiar creaking noise as he got off his bike and walked toward me. He stopped right in front of me. A warm, gloved hand lifted my chin.

“Can you come in?” I pleaded. “Eat dinner with all of us, then we can go out?”

The four males smirked as they realized why I was so nervous. This was the first official time they would meet my family. My nerves turned into slight fear at the sight of the mischievous glances Marko and Paul were sharing. Thankfully, Dwayne put his hands on their shoulders, giving them both a warning glare.

“Sure, princess,” Dwayne nodded his head. David exhaled smoke from his cigarette. He then crushed it into the dirt with his heel. David motioned to the others to follow me as I approached the porch.

“Please,” I turned at the last moment, hand on the doorknob. I gave them all a pleading look, begging for mercy. “Please behave?”

“Don’t worry, babes,” Paul chirped, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “We’ll be on our best behavior.”

I sighed; my worries were not alleviated. I knew how the four could be, especially in enclosed settings. I had no choice but to trust them. Hopefully, Marko and Paul wouldn’t start any of their antics because they could see how much tonight meant.

I opened the door, letting the four males into the house. They looked at the decor, and Marko whistled as he wandered toward the stuffed bear. I shook my head at my boyfriend, who was poking at the claws of the wild animal.

“Marko!” I hissed. He turned his attention towards me, following me as I led the way into the dining room. I knew something was wrong when the five guests had eyes on one another.

The four males behind me stiffened at the sight of Max. I thought I heard a faint hiss, but that was probably just an air intake. Max, however, gave the four teens a faint smile. Mom, Sam, and Grandpa were already in the room, though Grandpa was filling up a plate to take back to his taxidermy studio.

“Honey!” Mom greeted me, taking the attention from Max and the guys. “Everything looks spectacular!”

“Thanks, Mom,” I smiled at Mom. “Take a seat anywhere you like,” I informed the guys. They nodded, taking seats. David remained standing, waiting until I took one of the two seats between the guys. He slid the chair forward before taking the chair to my immediate left.

“Chicken alfredo?” Mom asked, handing over the bowl of salad. It was passed around as everyone filled their plates.

No one said a word as I had a different plate of food than the rest. Instead of the rich, creamy Alfredo sauce-drenched noodles with chicken and broccoli, I had a piece of baked chicken with steamed broccoli and a bit of salad. I could tell that Max was curious as I cut each piece into tiny bites before proceeding to chew for longer than necessary.

Marko discretely reached over and squeezed my right thigh in pride. He nonverbally conveyed his happiness that I was eating, albeit in small amounts. It made my cheeks flush.

“So, Aria, is this your senior year?” Max asked. I blinked before I looked over at Max.

“Yes, this will be my senior year at school,” I confirmed, nodding my head.

“Do you have any college plans?” Max questioned. I just shrugged, uncertain of what the future held.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted, tilting my head as I thought about my future. I hadn’t made any concrete plans since I was thirteen. I had been convinced that I would die before gaining any weight.

“If you ever need any extra money, I’d be happy to help in the movie shop,” Max smiled fatherly. I nodded my head.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Maybe,” Mom hummed. I knew the unspoken words. Maybe when I got a little healthier. I was too much of a liability to work with the unexpected fainting and the inability to lift items heavier than fifteen pounds.

“What about you, Sam?” Max turned the questioning to my little brother. He just mumbled out a nonsensical answer, giving Max suspicious glares.

I didn’t know that Max and the four guys were having a private conversation about me. Once everyone had completed their meal - I had managed five heads of broccoli and maybe a fifth of the chicken breast - I collected the dishes. Sam helped before we brought out the dessert - chocolate cupcakes. I could almost see how Marko’s eyes brightened at the sight of the sweet treat.

“I love you,” Marko proclaimed, kissing me quickly before cramming an entire cupcake in his mouth. I watched, amazed and bewildered, as Paul and Marko went feral for chocolate cupcakes.

“They love chocolate,” Max sighed, shaking his head.

“Do you know them?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow as I turned to look at Max. He gave me a fond smile that spoke about their tumultuous past.

“They are my adopted sons,” Max sighed, shocking me into silence.

“What?” I exclaimed, looking at Max as if he had just declared he was the embodiment of Medusa.

“Yes, we’ve had some issues in the past,” Max sighed, shaking his head. “But they are my sons. I love them very much.”

“Talk about a small world,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I love them all very much.”

“I know,” Max gave me a genuine smile. “David told me about you.”

“Hopefully, only good things,” I forced a light laugh from my lips.

“Only the best,” Max assured me. “I’m really sorry about your date.”

“It’s fine,” I waved Max’s apologies off. “My mom seems to like them. I think they are keepers.”

“Ready to go?” David sauntered to my side, glaring at Max, who rolled his eyes.

“Yes,” I nodded my head. I left David’s side to tell my mom that we were going. Once I had gathered the belongings necessary to go on a date, we left the house. I slid onto the back of David’s motorcycle, trusting the four men. I knew that I loved them. Nothing would change that.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

[thefandomcassandra]

Malaprop (3/9): Clean Up the Debris and Tie the Noose

mal·a·prop — /ˈmaləˌpräp/ (n) - the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco ). — He shouldn't be here. (Sequel to Champion)

Content Warning: disordered eating, smoking, alcohol, drug use, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide, body horror

Reigen's alarm woke him with screaming klaxons. It was tinny, pitchy, and the same every morning. He had set it half an hour in advance so he could slam snooze and roll over. He did just that.

Twelve minutes later, his alarm went off again. He hit snooze.

Twelve minutes later, his alarm went off again. This time he got up and slowly made his way to the bathroom.

Face, hair, teeth. Shower if he had the time or energy—not today, it seemed. Keys, wallet, shoes, out the door. Lock it. Check to see if he locked it. Double-check.

Doubt himself the whole way to work, even though he had his keys in his damn pocket.

His stomach hurt. It'd been doing that lately, little twinges that turned into pangs if he thought about it too long. He should really invest in quick food. Some kind of granola. Hell, even fucking smoothies. Anything to take the edge off.

Work was...it was work. It was always work. He pretended to be some kind of good person. He lied about being psychic. He gave some foolish sod a massage and force-fed them spoonfuls of self help platitudes about this, that, or the other and then it was a couple thousand yen in the lockbox and see you next week.

Sometimes there was something new here and there. The kid the other week who thought he was being haunted (it was a small cat that lived near his house causing a fuss), the woman two days ago who said she felt like she was being watched (stalker, easily taken care of), and the man yesterday who insisted he was also a psychic (he just wanted someone to talk to after his children grew up and left home). But overall? Same thing day in, day out.

Close shop, lock up, and walk home. There was this black cat that followed him sometimes. Today it was there so he bent down and pet it. It meowed at him and purred.

("Do you know how incredibly lucky you are that you haven't starved like this before? What was feeding you? It was keeping you alive. You will not have that luxury here.")

He walked past the convenience store and, giving in to the desire itching at his lungs, bought a carton of cigarettes so he wouldn't have to stop by tomorrow. He was going through them faster and faster these days. If he wasn't careful, he might wind up like his pops, with a pack a day habit. That'd be an easy way to hemorrhage money that he couldn't afford. So one carton for a month, no more no less, and he could cut back.

The pang in his stomach flared up so he bought a hamburger from MobDonalds. A treat. He deserved a treat every now and then.

It didn't help all that much.

He fumbled his keys on the way back in, dropped them, hit his head on the doorknob when he bent down, hit his head on the way back up too, then finally unlocked his door. Dinner was cup ramen. It also wasn't as filling as he would have liked. He collapsed in his bed and stared at the ceiling.

It was getting harder and harder to go to sleep these days.

His alarm woke him with screaming klaxons.

("I wonder," the fly on his garbage can posited, "how long you can keep this up. Already you are fraying at the edges. You're strong-willed, even without your past emboldening you, but I can see the scars beneath the surface. This is the truest version of yourself." It rubbed its feet together and fluttered its wings, bluebottle eyes watching with scrutiny. "When you finally give way, it will be an implosion, beautiful and catastrophic. I cannot begin to express my delight at the thought.")

Reigen took another smoke break. He shouldn't be smoking as much but it cut the hunger—the strange hunger that he could not place or satiate—so why wouldn't he? If it made the discomfort go away, even as a stop-gap, then it would be worth the monetary cost. As he exhaled a plume of smoke, he wondered what his life would be like if he just kept his head down and did as he was told.

It would be easier, sure, but certainly more boring. He liked fighting for what he wanted, tooth and claw. He was a stubborn kind of man.

("When you finally choose to debase yourself, lower yourself to that of an animal," the crow on the telephone pole pointed out, "you will truly be your most authentic self. What a pity your little friend won't be able to see the process. He might learn something from the whole ordeal.")

Laying in bed at night was a ritual more than a relief. Sleep never came, no matter how hard Reigen tried. Warm milk, alcohol, more medication than he probably should take, no matter how much of what cure he used, sleep eluded him. So lately he just laid there, stared at the ceiling, and silently screamed.

He knew how many cracks were on his bedroom ceiling. He knew when his neighbor's mistress left and his wife came back. He knew when the children across the hall had a holiday break. He knew every intricacy of the people upstairs' sex life. He knew the exact minute every morning that the dog upstairs was taken for a walk, like clockwork.

He wanted this to stop. He wanted it to end. He wanted to sleep more than anything in the world, the screaming hollow in his chest stealing any joy he might have had in his miserable life. He felt grey and washed out, as dark as the night.

And then the sun came up and he finally found respite, eyelids iron curtains slamming shutters on his mental shop. His childish complaints faded to bitter grumbles and his consciousness melted into nothingness.

Minutes later, his alarm went off.

Read the Rest on AO3

[hopelessromantic1352]

RCDAW Day 2 - Wonder

Day 2 is here and again I somehow managed to include all three prompts 😂 don’t ask me how, I have no idea.

Prompts will be in bold! Besides the photo prompt, you’ll just have to read the description 🤣

RCDAW tags: @choicesrcd2022 @promptnonny @alj4890

Thomas tags: @alleksa16 @choicesmakemychoices @marycarrillo21 @lxaah11 @kuladekiwi @ajayismybae @choices-dan @miss-indecisive-says @mfackenthal @ethanplaysfavorites @amillionmoonsred @usuallyamazinglyaverage @thethots-plicken @hhiggs @jlpplays1 @lilyoffandoms @moodyvalentinestories

Warnings: None

****

Black asphalt winds through the snow laden forest. Big flakes fall and the windshield wipers race to clear their accumulation. Although winter rages outside, inside the sedan the heat blows and the seats warm their passengers. Soon, the forest melts away to reveal the body of water with a beautiful resort stretching alongside it.

The fluffy, white flakes blanket the ground overlooking Lake Tahoe. While the lake itself doesn’t freeze, the world around it is blanketed in a frozen, white wonderland. The sprawling Edgewood Tahoe Resort stands impressively along the shore of the lake and its beauty is accentuated by the nature around it.

When Thomas puts the car in park under the cover at the entrance, he sighs loudly, a frown forming on his lips. “It’s so white.”

Natalia’s eyebrows furrow together in confusion and she looks up from her purse. “It’s snow, Thomas.”

“I live in Hollywood. I don’t know what weather is, let alone snow.”

She rolls her eyes, “Don’t be dramatic. Most everyone has seen snow at least once.”

“Just because I’ve seen it, doesn’t mean I enjoy it.”

His quiet grumbling isn’t missed by her and she turns a glare towards him. “If you did not wish to come, then you could have just said so.”

Without another word, she exits his sleek Mercedes-Benz and slams the door, causing Thomas to curse under his breath at the blatant disregard of the care of his vehicle. He watches as she marches straight into the hotel and checks them in, leaving him to deal with the valet and the bags.

AN HOUR LATER

“What do you mean you’re going out?” Thomas is standing in front of the door to their suite with his arms crossed, staring down at the woman who causes many emotions to roll through him.

Annoyance being the top one currently.

“I have rented some skis and I am going out.” Natalia looks away from him and tries to reach around him to the doorknob, but he blocks her.

“I was under the impression that this trip was a romantic getaway before the holidays. Typically, romantic getaways include activities with both the man and the woman.” His eyes soften and he begins to reach out for her hands.

But before he can get close, she jerks away from him. “Yes, well, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of past experience.”

Surprised, Thomas stiffens, which allows her to sneak by him and out the door.

“What on earth?”

LATER

By the time she returns from her ski tour, he has come up with an elaborate plan to show her he really does care for her. Loves her. So when she walks back into their suite, he is in front of their mirror, adjusting his tie.

When Natalia closes the door behind her, he turns around, donning a jet black suit and crisp white shirt. Stunned into silence, she just stands near the threshold, staring at Thomas.

“Do you see something you like or are you still angry with me?” He gives her an unsure smile, uncharacteristically insecure in front of her.

The surprise in her eyes is accompanied by rosy cheeks still cold from the winter outside. He can’t help but drag his eyes over her bundled form. The way her red cheeks brighten her face and her eyes still twinkling as she gazes upon him makes his heart swell in a way he would never tire of.

Seeing him obviously trying to apologize for earlier makes her more guilty for the way she left. The way she had treated him when they arrived at the resort and the way she threw his past in his face. It was all so childish. So, while she was headed back to the resort, she had practiced the speech she was going to give over and over and over again. Now, seeing him like this, it made her forget everything but the man in front of her.

“I’m so sorry.” Slowly, she begins walking towards him, not making eye contact. “I acted immature. I suppose I just expected you to be enthusiastic about everything and I forgot that you… well, you’re you.”

“I’m—” Thomas frowns fiercely when he’s cut off, but concedes nonetheless.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way.” She reaches him and takes his hands in hers, relishing the warmth. “I have come to love everything about you. Which includes the moments you are completely insufferable.”

The softness in his face quickly hardness at the insult, but the kiss she presses to his lips relaxes him. His arms wrap around her, deepening the kiss, inhaling her heavenly scent and as they break apart, he runs a finger down her chilled cheek, sighing as his frown melts away.

“I understand that I can oftentimes be… difficult, but nevertheless, you have imprinted yourself into my life. Quite often, I wonder how on earth I became so lucky to earn your love. I am someone who does not allow others in easily, someone who keeps to myself, and someone who does not allow silly, cliche notions to overtake my ideas. But with you,” he pauses, cupping her cheek adoringly as he gazes into her eyes, “I wonder how you made me fall so quickly and effortlessly. I have never loved anyone or anything as much as I love you.”

No more words are said. The night is filled with tangled sheets and limbs before room service and more intimate dessert later. Neither could explain the connection they have besides pure love that came fast and strong.

And nothing could ever make them wonder what it would be like to be apart when together everything is perfectly imperfect.

[warlordfelwinter]

Tales from the Dancing Sea Dragon

Part One: Dragon Heist

Chapter Seven: Breaking and Entering

--

celeste breaks a door and we all break the law (but it's fine)

~3k

--

“How do we want to approach this?” Corivier asked. He looked to either side of the warehouse, as if trying to see if he could make a circuit around and find another way in. The buildings were all too close together, sharing walls. Celeste doubted there was another way. 

He shrugged, pushing open the metal gate. It was unlocked and the old hinges squeaked as it swung inward. “Maybe we should just knock,” he said, walking across the small enclosed yard toward the door with the snake on it. “This is all probably just a misunderstanding, anyway.” 

“Right… I’m going to stay back here, just in case,” Corivier said. He came into the yard, but stayed away from the door, letting Nyalori and Celeste approach. Nyalori immediately reached for the door handle and then stopped, seeing Celeste lifting a hand to knock. 

He knocked and waited, glancing at Nyalori when there was no answer. She shrugged and tried knocking as well. 

“Hello?” Celeste called. “Is anyone here?” 

Again, they were met with nothing but silence. Celeste tried the doorknob and found it locked, but the door itself felt rather weakly attached and he wondered how difficult it would be to break the lock. He glanced around and hummed, indecisive for a moment before taking a few steps back. He’d never done this, but he’d read about it in various heroic fiction novellas. He ran back forward and slammed his shoulder into the door. 

The lock and hinges broke at the impact and the door fell inward. Swiftly, Celeste caught it before it clattered to the ground. He flashed Nyalori a sheepish look and leaned the door against the wall. They both stepped inside, looking around. 

Inside, the warehouse appeared disused and ransacked, but Celeste hardly got a glance at it before his attention was taken by the corpses. About a dozen of them were dragged over to one side of the room they had just entered, their weapons lined up next to them. Around a table nearby, there stood four short avian creatures, wearing hooded black cloaks that all had weapons drawn and were staring at Celeste and Nyalori. 

“Hello, sorry about the door,” Celeste said, with a friendly smile. He was tense, but tried not to show it. “In our defense we did knock, and I can pay to have it fixed if you’d like. Anyway, we’re looking for someone who may have been here. His name is Floon. Human, reddish hair. Have you seen him?” 

One of the birdfolk cocked their head at him. “Tie the pretty boy up,” they said. 

Celeste blinked. “Excuse me?” 

“Excuse me.” 

He exchanged a glance with Nyalori. 

One of the others spoke, shifting forward slightly. “No time to loot the place, just get him to the boss,” they said. 

“Lock the doors,” another said. 

“Well… that’s going to be difficult,” Celeste murmured, glancing at the door he’d knocked off its hinges. 

One of them moved forward. “Just get him to the boss.” 

Celeste shifted back, tightening his grip on his quarterstaff. “Look, we’ll leave you alone if you just tell us what you know about Floon.” 

“Tell us what you know,” one chirped, in a decent imitation of Celeste’s voice. Hearing that, a vague old memory clicked into place in Celeste’s mind and his eyes widened slightly.

“What’s going on?” Corivier called from his place in the yard. 

“There are… birds,” Nyalori said, uncertainly. 

“That’s a little rude, I think,” Celeste said. “They’re not birds, they’re kenku.” 

“A little rude,” one chirped, getting closer to a perfect mimic of Celeste’s voice. 

“Please stop doing that,” Celeste said before he could catch himself. 

“Please stop doing that,” the kenku said, like an echo.

Celeste glanced over the bodies along the wall again, seeing identifiers of both the Zhentarim and the Xanathar, and wondered if they were the ones who had followed Floon. If the kenku were mimicking what they’d heard, maybe ‘pretty boy’ was in reference to Floon. If that was the case, it sounded like maybe he’d been taken to their boss. But which boss? 

Nyalori moved forward slightly, making gestures that Celeste didn’t recognize. It looked like a kind of sign language. The kenku simply mirrored her movements and she sighed, frustrated. She dug around in her bag and produced a coin, holding it out. 

“Will you tell us what you know if I give you this?” she asked. 

“A little rude,” one of the kenku snapped. 

“Hm,” Nyalori huffed. She put the coin away and backed up as the kenku started to advance, actively threatening now. The subtle stripes in her skin lit up again and Celeste felt whatever that magic was press up against his mind, but he was able to ignore it this time.

“Corivier! I think this is going to turn into a fight!” he called, readying himself. One of the kenku struck at him and Celeste dodged back. He brought his staff around and slammed it into the figure, knocking them back slightly. 

Corivier ran in behind them as Nyalori brought her trident down on the head of one near her. Celeste spun, hitting the one again that he’d hit before, knocking them unconscious. He used the momentum to shift and kick another of them that had run up. The kenku lunged forward, striking at Corivier. Their blade sliced into his arm, hitting against what almost looked like silver scales, nearly imperceptible. 

Fairly quickly, they knocked two more of the kenku unconscious, leaving only one who started to look nervous. Celeste held a hand up to the other two. 

“Would you like to help us find Floon now?” he asked. 

“Here, since you can’t really speak, why don’t you draw or write?” Nyalori offered, pulling what looked like an old map out of her bag and offering it. 

The kenku looked between them and then slowly lowered their weapon. “No time to loot the place, just get him to the boss,” they said, again. 

“Who’s your boss?” Celeste asked. Corivier moved forward, taking the kenku’s sword away from it. 

“Xanathar sends its regards,” they said, in a new voice. 

Celeste hummed. “So you work for Xanathar?” 

The kenku gave him an uncertain look, shrugging and nodding slightly. 

“But where’s Floon, then? Was he taken to your boss?” 

“Pretty boy in the backroom,” they said. 

Celeste looked up at the sort of loft in the warehouse. “Maybe he’s upstairs…?” 

Corivier pulled a seat at the table back and drummed his fingers on the back, giving the kenku a look. They sat down and Nyalori placed the map and a pencil in front of them. They hesitated for a moment and then quickly scribbled something down in common. 

Don’t know a Floon I just do as told. Please don’t hurt.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Celeste said, “you’re being helpful. Is there someone upstairs?” 

Pretty boy upstairs. Other one taken to sewer hideout.

“Sewer hideout?” 

Follow yellow signs. Next to that, it drew a symbol, like a circle with radiating spokes. 

Celeste nodded. “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful. Could you do me a favor and not tell anyone we were here?” he asked. 

The kenku held out a taloned and scaly hand. Celeste grabbed it and shook it, smiling. They stared at him, almost disbelieving. 

“Oh,” Celeste said, realizing his mistake. He pulled his hand back and pulled five gold dragons out of his purse, handing them over, noticing Corivier’s face go slightly pale at the amount. 

The kenku took the money and quickly darted off away from them out of the door. Nyalori picked up her map and folded it back away into her pouch. 

“Upstairs, then?” Celeste asked. 

Corivier nodded. “If there’s someone up there, we should help them. And maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll be Floon.” 

“Maybe. Or Renaer. I think the other one they spoke of must be him, he was with Floon, right?”

They made their way across the warehouse and up the stairs into the rooms in the loft. The smell of rancid, rotting fish, vinegar, and oil was worse up here. Evidently this warehouse had been abandoned before anyone cleared out the leftover wares. The rooms upstairs looked mostly to have once been offices, now full of broken crates and discarded canvas, every remaining piece of furniture smashed and ransacked. 

Celeste was poking through some of the ruined furniture vaguely, his mind more actively focused on wondering how he’d gotten here. He was never one to think through his choices before making them, but it was occurring to him what an odd circumstance he’d found himself in. A dancer, by no means an adventurer, who had been resettling into his uneventful life in the North Ward for the past several years, and now here he was. In the Dock Ward looking for Renaer Neverember in a pile of trash. In a building he’d broken into. With two complete strangers he’d met in a bar. 

“Hello?” Nyalori called, and Celeste looked at her, startled out of his thoughts. Both she and Corivier looked focused, as though they were listening for something. Celeste listened too and heard the distinct sounds of someone trying to quiet panicked breathing. He saw a tiny hint of movement underneath some canvas and walked over, lifting it up with the end of his staff. 

The man underneath scrambled back, staring up at Celeste with wide eyes. 

“It’s all right,” Celeste said. “We’re here to rescue you, I think.” 

He was human, middle aged and handsome, with red hair that was currently a mess. His gaze flicked over them all and he relaxed slightly. 

“Thank the gods,” he mumbled, taking Celeste’s offered hand to help him to his feet. “I’m Renaer. Not that I’m not grateful but what are you all doing here?” 

“We’re looking for someone called Floon. Volo hired us.” 

Renaer exhaled. “Right.” 

“You were with him?” Celeste asked. 

“I was, yeah. I saw him at The Skewered Dragon by himself and, well, I'm sure you know it’s not safe for someone dressed that nicely to be in the Dock Ward alone at night. Especially drunk,” he said, glancing briefly up and down Celeste’s figure, taking in his attire. “So I kept him company for a while and then I was going to walk him home. We were followed and ambushed. The way I heard them talking, I assume this is more trouble between the Zhentarim and the Xanathar and if that’s the case I have to assume they mistook Floon for me.” 

“Why would they want you?” Corivier asked. 

Renaer looked at him, taking him in for a moment. “You’re not from Waterdeep, I imagine, so I’ll give you the quick version. My father, Dagult Neverember, used to be the Open Lord of the city here. Now, the Zhentarim are pretty sure that, during his tenure, he embezzled a large amount of gold and hid it somewhere in the city. The artifact they think they can use to find it—the Stone of Golorr—used to be in the hands of the Xanathar, but it’s since been stolen. That’s part of what sparked all this nonsense between them. This is just theory on my part, but given they grabbed myself and a man who looks somewhat like me, I’d reckon they’re hoping to get information of where my father hid the gold out of me since they don’t have the stone.” 

“Did your father embezzle all that gold?” Celeste asked. 

“To be honest, I’ve no idea,” Renaer said. “I haven’t spoken to the man in over a decade.” 

Corivier caught Celeste’s eye, his gaze questioning, and Celeste shrugged. Renaer seemed honest, to him, and what little he knew about both him and his father was enough for him to think that what Renaer was saying might be true. 

“The point, right now, is that Floon is still in danger,” Renaer said. “If whoever jumped us thought he was me… he won’t know anything about what they’re asking. I’m afraid of what they’ll do to him. You all were hired to find him, you said? Have you found anything that might hint at where they’ve taken him?” 

“The sewers,” Celeste said and Renaer looked at him. “One of the kenku downstairs told us that he’d been taken to the sewer hideout and to follow the yellow signs. They also implied they were working for Xanathar.” 

“Yellow signs… I wonder—” 

Before Renaer could finish, there came a noise from downstairs. 

“City Watch! Come out with your hands up!” 

Renaer startled slightly and then looked at them. “You should probably put your weapons away,” he said. “Let me go first, I’ll make sure they understand you were rescuing me.” 

Corivier and Nyalori put their weapons away and Celeste shifted his grip on his staff, treating it more like a walking stick as they followed Renaer out of the ruined offices and back down the stairs. 

“It’s all right!” Renaer called as they came into sight of the several Watch officers who had entered the building. A few of them were investigating the corpses and the unconscious kenku and others held weapons ready, looking at the group as they came downstairs. 

“I am Renaer Neverember and these three adventurers have just rescued me,” he said. One of the officers, in slightly different armor than the others, waved his hand and they all lowered their weapons. 

“Lord Neverember,” he said, surprised. “We’ve been looking for you. I have to admit we weren’t expecting to find you here, though, we were just responding to a report of a break-in and some sounds of fighting.” 

Celeste glanced away, gaze falling on the broken door before he averted it toward the ceiling, suddenly becoming very interested in the rafters. 

“Ah, yes, well, that would have been my rescuers,” Renaer said. 

“We didn’t do that,” Celeste said, quickly, pointing at the corpses along the wall. “We did knock the kenku out, but we didn’t kill anyone.” 

“That’s good…” the Watch officer said. “You did still break in, though?” 

Celeste smiled and shrugged. The officer narrowed his eyes slightly and then turned. 

“Tie the kenku up, we’ll question them once they wake.” 

“Captain Staget, if I may,” Renaer said. “My new friends here were here looking for a friend of mine who has likewise gone missing. We were jumped. Abducted. I was left here, but by what these nice people tell me he’s been taken by the Xanathar Guild down into the sewers somewhere. Would you possibly be able to spare some people to go find him?” 

The captain hesitated and Celeste could see the conflict in his eyes. He didn’t want to tell a noble ‘no’ but he was about to. 

“I am sorry, Lord Neverember, but we’re already stretched so thin trying to deal with both the Zhents and the Xanathar. I’m not sure I can spare anyone to look for one man.” 

“Then could you give us some sort of pass or something that would allow us to go into the sewers without getting in trouble, should someone else see us?” Corivier asked. 

Staget looked at him sharply. “To be frank the only reason I’m not arresting you is because Lord Neverember says you’ve rescued him. Otherwise you’ve already broken quite a few laws tonight. Stay out of the sewers and let the Watch do our jobs.” 

“We wouldn’t have had to break the law if the Watch had been doing their jobs,” Celeste sighed under his breath, evidently not quiet enough to not get him an annoyed look from Staget. 

“Why don’t we just be on our way and let the Captain finish up here?” Renaer said, loudly, ushering the three of them outside. “I don’t mean to offer unsolicited advice but maybe don’t sass the Watch officers next time? Or ask them for free passes to trespass,” he said once they were outside. 

Celeste didn’t reply. It had been a long day on top of how poorly he’d slept last night. He wasn’t particularly worried about annoying a Watch officer. 

“Do you all intend to keep looking for Floon?” Renaer asked. They all glanced at each other and nodded, and Renaer smiled. “Then I’d like to come with you. I feel as though I’m partially responsible for all of this since they almost certainly wanted me. And I promise I’m not just dead weight, I can hold my own if we run into any trouble.” 

“Do you have a weapon?” Corivier asked. 

“Ah, not on me, but I’m sure Captain Staget wouldn’t mind if I took one off of one of those bodies inside,” he said. “I’ll be right back.” 

“While you’re in there, maybe grab Nyalori some boots,” Celeste said. “If we’re going into the sewers.” 

Renaer went back into the warehouse for a few moments and emerged with a rapier and a pair of boots in about Nyalori’s size. He handed them to her and led the way out of the yard. Nyalori put her boots on, a look of pure disgust on her face, and followed them, stepping carefully and occasionally shaking her feet like she was trying to get them off. Celeste stifled a laugh.

“I wonder if we can find which sewer entrance they used… I’d be surprised if no one saw them drag Floon off,” Renaer suggested. “Maybe we can ask around…” 

“That didn’t work well for me,” Celeste murmured, remembering their experience trying to find the tavern when everyone had ignored him at best. 

Renaer glanced at him and smiled. “You’re too pretty,” he said, by way of explanation. 

“Thank you?” 

After asking a few people who had come out into the nearby streets to see what the City Watch were up to, Renaer found someone who had seen someone being dragged into a sewer entrance. Near it, discreetly painted on the wall, was a yellow circle with radiating spokes. 

“The yellow signs we were meant to look out for, I think,” Renaer said. “Looks a bit like a beholder. I suppose that confirms this was the work of the Xanathar.” 

He crouched, starting to mess with the plate covering the entrance.

[radarsteddybear]

Whumptober Day 14 - Where Is She?

Fandom: Original Fiction (H.O.U.N.D.S.) Prompt(s): blanket, found family, "You will regret touching them." Rating: Teen Additional Tags: whump, hurt/comfort, friendship, found family, spy-fi

Cassandra kicked down the door and found herself face-to-face with a number of F.E.L.I.S. agents.  Sylvester Bailey, top brass.  Both began to rise, but Cassandra pointed her gun at him.  When she spoke, her voice was low and dangerous.

“Where is she?”

Minnow hadn’t been heard from for days.  H.O.U.N.D.S. had reached a dead end trying to find her, and now Cassandra was pulling at threads.  But she had a feeling that, even if Minnow wasn’t here, this F.E.L.I.S. hideout was the key to getting back on the scent.

Bailey settled back in his chair.

“Impressive,” he said calmly.  “You had to go through a lot of agents to get to my office.”

Cassandra came closer and slammed her hand down on the desk.

“I am not playing games,” she said.  “Wilhelmina George.  Tell me where she is or I will shoot.”

“Oh, yes,” Bailey said.  “The H.O.U.N.D.S. agent.  She was a particularly fragile one, wasn’t she?”

Cassandra grabbed Bailey by the shirt collar and hauled him up until his face was just inches from hers.  “You will regret touching her.”  She tossed him aside.  

As much as he tried, there was no way for the F.E.L.I.S. agent to fall onto the floor gracefully.  He sat back up to find himself staring down the barrel of Cassandra’s gun.

“I will give you ten seconds,” she said.  “Where is she?”

Though his voice was calm, Cassandra could see a faint sheen of sweat begin to form on his skin.  “She’s in the prisoner block.  Down the hall, take the first staircase on your left, and then make the first right.  You can’t miss it.”  

Cassandra had really hit the jackpot this time.  She wasn’t just on the scent; she was practically on standing top of it.

“Which cell did you put her in?”

“Oh, you don’t need–”

Cassandra put her foot on the man’s chest, forcing him back.  “Which. Cell?”

Bailey swallowed nervously.  “M38,” he said quickly.

Cassandra shifted more weight onto the foot holding him down.  “If you are lying to me, I will hunt you down and rip you apart limb from limb.”  She removed her foot and began to back towards the door, keeping her gun trained on Bailey.  She felt behind her for the doorknob and slipped out of the room.

Cassandra sprinted down the corridor, following the directions she’d been given.  She’d worked hard to tie up or get rid of as many F.E.L.I.S. agents as she could, but it was only a matter of minutes now, if not seconds, before those who’d been called to her diversion realized that it was a trick.

“Minnow!” she called.  “Minnow, where are you?”

Cassandra heard a groan echo off the sterile walls.  “Cass?  Is that you?”

“I’ll get you out in a jiffy.  Just hang on.”  Cassandra skidded to a stop in front of a cell–M38.  She could smell Minnow inside, even behind the heavy iron door.

The door that she didn’t have a key to.

No matter.  Cassandra took off her shoe and removed the heel, revealing a small compartment holding a small amount of a powerful explosive.  Cassandra pressed the explosive putty into the door’s keyhole.

“Minnow!  Get away from the door!” she called.

“All clear!” Minnow called back.

Cassandra pulled her matchbook out of her breast pocket and lit the fuse, then quickly moved out of range.  She plugged her ears just before it went off like a firecracker on the Fourth of July, then she rushed back over, burning her fingers on the door as she tried to open it.

Once the door was open, Cassandra was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.  Aside from the bruise blossoming on her cheek and the trickle of blood coming from her temple, Minnow looked to be in one piece.  She sat up wincing on her cot.

“Are you ok?” Cassandra asked.

“I will be.”

“Can you run?”

“I think I have to, don’t I?”

Cassandra grabbed her by the hand, and together, they began to run.  Luckily, getting out was easier than getting in.  Unfortunately, outside was where Cassandra had lured all the F.E.L.I.S. agents, and they didn’t miss the two H.O.U.N.D.S. agents racing out into the open.

Cassandra swore under her breath.  “If only it were night,” she said.

“Come on!  This way!” Minnow said, pulling her into the woods at the edge of the property.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Cassandra asked.

“I think so,” Minnow said, but Cassandra noticed she was starting to drag.

Cassandra caught sight of a break in the trees–on the opposite side of the woods as the hideout–and began to recognize their surroundings.  She pulled Minnow forward, and soon she was able to find the H.O.U.N.D.S. car she’d hidden in the brush.  They both got in, and Cassandra was able to finally, finally relax.

She reached into the back seat and pulled out the blanket she kept there for emergencies.  “Here.”

Minnow took it as Cassandra started the car.  She pulled away from the trees and back onto the road, keeping an eye on the rear view mirror as they headed back to H.O.U.N.D.S. headquarters.

“We should probably let Mr. Thaddeus know,” Minnow said.

“Good idea,” Cassandra said.  “Do you still have your communicator ring?”

Minnow shook her head.  “Lost it.”

“I thought as much.”  Cassandra pulled her own ring off her finger and handed it over.  “If you’ll do the honors…?”

Minnow twisted the ring’s gem and spoke into it.  “Open channel.”

“Channel open.  Miss George, is that you?”  Mr. Thaddeus’ voice was unmistakable no matter how much static and interference there was.

“It is.”

“It’s good to hear from you.  We were starting to get worried.”

Minnow glanced at her partner’s exhausted form in the driver’s seat.  “I can see that.”

“Are you well?  You seem to be transmitting on Miss Jacobson’s communicator, so I assume you’ve broken free of wherever it is you were.”

“I have.  We’re on our way back to Headquarters.  I’ll make my full report as soon as I’m cleared by Medical.”

“Sounds good.  I look forward to reading it.  Over and out.”

Minnow twisted the gem into the “off” position.  Suddenly, the familiar sound of an explosion shook the ground.

“What was that?” Minnow asked.

“Let’s just say that I left a nice present back at that F.E.L.I.S. den,” Cassandra smiled.

“Ah,” Minnow said, leaning back in her seat and pulling the blanket up to her chin.  She tried to think of a quip in return, but before she knew it, the motion of the car had lulled her to sleep.

Cassandra didn’t bother to stifle her fond smile as she looked at her partner, safe and sound next to her, right where she belonged.

[crybabyalexxx]

Nova

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You and Bucky have a secret arrangement. Inspired by Billie Eilish’s ‘Billie Bossa Nova’

Warnings: NSFW 18+, submissive Bucky, dominant reader, BDSM involved

A/N: This was very fun to write as always. It is my first time writing anything for Bucky but this song just reminds me so much of him and I couldn’t help myself. Hope everyone enjoys it! I always get so nervous before posting a story.

Word Count: 2k

Here you were at another one of Tony’s parties. It’s not like you weren’t having any fun, it’s just that you’d rather be somewhere else. With someone else. It was rare when everyone got a moment for themselves so you all enjoyed it when everyone was together. Made you feel like a real family. But tonight, you only wanted to be with one person.

“Hey stranger, you’re quiet tonight. Everything alright?’ Natasha makes her way up to you, drink in hand. She always made sure you were treated well and felt comfortable. You were so thankful for her.

“Yeah, just a little tired.” Across the room from you was Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes. The Winter Soldier. You two came face to face a few times on missions, before and after you joined the team. He hates to admit it but you were a tough one to fight. You love to remind him how easily you can kick his ass. You loved it when you got him down on his knees.

Bucky couldn’t keep his eyes off of you all night. From the moment you walked into the room with that silk green dress. It was causal, yet he adored you. He was quieter than usual, but everyone blew it off as ‘Bucky being Bucky’, and he didn’t mind. He just needed you. Bucky knew you thought the same thing too, it was the way you were looking at him. Like you wanted him on his knees. He wanted to obey.

Nobody knew but you and Bucky would regularly meet. When everyone was asleep, you and the Winter Soldier would sneak off and hide behind closed doors. It all started one night after training, the way he was breathing against you. Your legs wrapped around him tightly. Then it happened again after a mission, him knocking on your door and you pulling him in. It’s hard to stop it once it starts. After a while, Bucky told you about him wanting to be submissive. It threw you off at first, you figured after being mind washed for all those years that he would want to be in control for once.

“Sometimes everything becomes too much and I just want someone to take a little control every once in a while.” Bucky lied with you on one of the many hotel beds you’ve been in together.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, James. I understand, I’ll do it. I was always good at getting you on your knees for me.”

“I think I’m gonna go ahead and get to bed. Behave for me will ya?” Natasha smirks and gives you a wink.

“You know me y/n, I like to have a little fun before bed.” You wink back at her and head out to the elevator, with a Bucky Barnes hot on your heels. You didn’t even have to look at him to make him come to you. It won’t be the only time tonight either.

“Fuck, I’m sorry Doll.” It had been a while since the two of you had been in the same room together. So when you both heard you had the weekend off, you couldn’t let that opportunity pass. He’d been worked up and you didn’t want to wait any longer. You loved it when he came without a warning, sometimes waiting can get so boring. You wiped the cum off your hands with your tongue. “Don’t apologize, James, I like how worked up you get.” Bucky chuckles and shakes his head in disbelief. “Only you do it how I like.”

You and Bucky don’t say anything on the way up to your room. You were lucky enough to have your rooms across from each other, nobody would know that he was secretly with you. It was like a routine, a dance between the two of you. Bucky undressed and waited for your command. You walk around him in circles, like he was prey. He wanted you to devour him already.

“On the bed.” He grew an erection immediately. Just by your three simple words. He did as he was told like a good soldier. He even held his hands above his head without having to be told. You straddle his waist as you tie him up. Bucky shuts his eyes tight, he knows he won’t last long with the way you look, fully dressed and slightly grazing him where he needed you most.

You smirk and grind your hips roughly, causing Bucky to throw his head back hard into the pillow. It was as if somebody knocked the wind out of him. His eyes shot open and he swore there was nothing more beautiful than the sight above him. You smiling down at him, your hair coming down loosely. He wasn’t going to last long. You could feel him squirming slightly underneath you. “Y/n, please.”

“Name?”

“Nova.” When you and Bucky weren’t back at the compound, you were in different hotels. Using different names at hotel check-ins. It was routine. Being together for the night, just to feel something. You wanted to be in control and Bucky was more than happy to be controlled by you. You hadn’t realized how much you enjoyed it, having him this way. He could easily take control if he wanted to. But you had him at your mercy, and you were an addict for him.

You were never the sentimental type, but there was something about the way he looked right now for you tonight. Tied up and an absolute mess. You wanted to keep him like this forever. “You make me wanna take a picture of you, James.” You were completely naked for him now. His erection trapped in between your folds, you raked your nails up and down his arms and chest. You made sure to take your time with his metal arm. Made sure he knew that all of him deserved to feel good tonight. “All tied up and wrecked because of me.” Bucky rolled his hips forward to get some sort of friction from you. You held his hips down and tsked. “Be a good soldier now Barnes.” You could make a movie with him that you both would have to hide.

Bucky grunted and threw his head back in frustration. “The things you do to me, Doll.”

You kiss your way up to his neck, “Don’t get sentimental on me James.”

You’d been ignoring bucky all day. It was one of those days where everyone just kind of kept to themselves. You read a few books and paid no mind to Bucky when he walked in the room. You didn’t even look at him when you two were alone in the library. You could feel his eyes on you every second. You could feel how squirmy he was because of it. Even when he caught up with you on the elevator, you simply pulled out your phone and acted like it was the most interesting thing to you. It pained Bucky to not be able to reach out to you. It was torture not having you all over him, your hands pulling at his hair, grabbing his waist, and dragging him to your room. He almost went back to his room, but before he reached the doorknob he looked back at you one last time. He was surprised to see you staring back at him, then you entered your room without closing the door behind you. He took that as an invitation.

Once he closes the door behind him he grabs you and pins you against the door. “Look at me when we’re alone, please.” You knew it wouldn’t take much to get him going. You knew it was torture though. He kissed you like you could one day slip away. “I know, I know.”

You were glad that these walls were soundproof. The noises he was pulling out of you, the sounds he made in your ear. It was like a song you never got tired of hearing. The way he stretched you out, yet fit inside you so perfectly. This was all you needed. He was all you needed. If anybody saw you two this way, you don’t know what they would think. The Winter Soldier begging to come. Moaning out your name. You squeeze around him at the thought. “Fuck! If you keep doing that I’m not gonna last much longer.” You lean in closer to him and squeeze around him once more. “Promise?”

Bucky couldn’t get enough of you, he left hickeys anywhere his mouth could reach. “You leave a strong impression don’t you Barnes?” It might be more of an obsession.

“Anyone see you?” He layed you down softly on the bed.

“No, you?” There was a slight knot in your stomach. You didn’t understand it.

“No.” Bucky continued his assault on your breast.

They won’t see me in your arms, you thought.

You’re not sentimental but there’s something about the way he looks tonight. Desperate, aching, and all yours. You could feel bucky tense up beneath you so you decided to drag this out a little longer. You rocked your hips back and forth slowly. Taking his cock in and out of you torturously slow. “Please Doll.” You’ll never get tired of hearing him beg.

“Who do you belong to?” You started to slam into him and Bucky saw stars.

“I won’t repeat myself, James.” You squeezed his throat gently.

“You! I belong to you y/n! Fuck.” You were going to be the death of him.

“Good Soldier.”

Sometimes you thought about being with Bucky. What it would be like to not have to sneak around and just be with each other. You wondered if Bucky thought the same. You wanted everyone to know the people you two became when you’re alone together. Even make them jealous for a change.

‘What are you thinking about?” You layed in Bucky’s arms, not having the energy to go back to your room yet. If you were being honest with yourself, you enjoyed the feeling of being in Bucky’s arms. The coolness of his metal arm with the warmth of his body. You stayed silent for a while. Debating whether or not to tell him the truth.

“That I’m the only one who does it how you like.”

You climb off of him and ride his thigh instead. Bucky whimpers and stares at you. He could feel how wet you are. You lean down and leave hickeys on his hips roughly. Once you are satisfied you climb completely off him and leave him hard and bare. He takes in a deep breath and pulls against his restraints. It was torture, but you both loved it. Bucky shuts his eyes again. ‘Please.” It won’t take much to get him going. “I know, I know.”

You walk around to the foot of the bed, fully naked. You saw your masterpiece. He was a work of art to you. The way his chest rose, the redness in his cheeks. The trail of your lips splattered all across his body. You were obsessed.

Bucky can hear your soft footsteps. He doesn’t dare look, he knows he won’t last long if he does.

“Look at me a little more James.” It took everything in him not to come the moment he saw you. He could see the wetness dripping from your cunt. The small hickeys covering your body, the ones he left. You were worth waiting for. He was obsessed.

His heavy breathing could have you on the floor. You watched him look your body up and down like it was a piece of art. You didn’t have to say anything, Bucky knew what you wanted. He wanted it too.

“I’m yours.”

You weren’t sentimental, but tonight there was something about him.

“I’m yours.”

[yumpty-dumpty-inactive]

liar ♡

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characters included: kazuha ♡

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warnings: pregnant! female-bodied! reader, angst, abandonment, crying, sadness

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pronouns: female-bodied reader, but no her or she pronouns <3

---

"kazuha, are you alright?" "hm...? o-oh, yes. i'm fine, love"

he can't shake it. for weeks, this one feeling just hasn't gone away. he feels there needs to be a layer of caution placed upon himself in your presence, a feeling he's never felt, ever. he doesn't yet possess the knowledge as to why this churning in his gut continues to happen, but time will tell, I suppose.

"kazuha, do you, want children? one day, I mean."

the question was harmless and innocent, and at this point, only natural. the two of you had been an item for five years at this point, and were now in your mid 20's. you had recently stumbled upon old friends of yours, who had given birth to their first child. the one thing that startled kazuha, however, was your look. the expression of admiration and envy you wore when watching that child explained everything for itself. he knew, now, what it was you wanted.

"good question, but i'm not sure. I haven't given it any thought."

liar. he had given it thought. much thought. for the past week, that exact thought kept him awake for hours, as he tossed and turned, trying to avoid the thoughts that invaded his mind.

"oh..."

---

he knew it. he knew it the minute you ran up to him, a bright smile engulfing your charming face. the moment you told him you were pregnant, his world crumbled. a family? he'd never had one, and suddenly he had his own? it made no sense.

"you're...pregnant?"

your smile faded.

"y-yes? is there something wrong with that?"

"no, not at all. this is...wonderful news."

"I know right? we're going to be a family!"

"yes, yes we are"

that night, everything seemed darker. the shadows seemed larger, the bed seemed colder, and his mind only ran faster. enough was to be had, and kazuha rose from your shared bed, slipping into his regular attire. slipping out of the bedroom, he grabbed his anemo vision, the glowing orb resting in its case. hand on the doorknob, he sighed, about to head out when he heard your sleepy voice,

"kazuha? where are you going...?"

the sleepy and innocent look in your eyes crushed him, your pure mind completely unaware of what he was about to do.

"just for a walk, love. I'll be back soon"

liar.

"oh, would you like me to come with you?"

liar.

"no...I'll be alright."

liar.

"oh, okay..."

liar.

he watched your form disappear into the darkness, hearing the distant sound of the bed creak, signaling your return to it. he almost felt sorry for you, sorry that he had to abandon you like this. opening the door, he left, not to return.

---

"it's cold..."

that was your first thought. you opened your eyes, only to see his side of the bed empty. the sheets were cold, the warm body of your lover missing. rising from your bed, you searched the whole house, but he was nowhere to be found.

---

it was three weeks later when you received a letter, addressed to you. you opened the intricate envelope, reading the letter:

my dearest (Y/N),

hello, I'm aware that we've not spoken in a while. if you're wondering where I am, which knowing you, you probably are, I shall tell you. I'm away. away on a trip. one I will never return from.

"what?"

I'm sorry I've abandoned you like this, and I know it must hurt. I cannot bear to watch you suffer, but for a family, I am not ready. the chained love that once bound us, I'm afraid is gone. it has faded, and I'm afraid it will not return. like waves on the sea, my mind can change in an instant. I'm sorry it's changed now, of all times.

tears began to spill.

I love you, but not nearly as much as I once did. it's not fair to tie you down in a way such as this, so (Y/N), I'm setting you free.

you sobbed.

you are indeed the last of your kind as I've always told you, and I hope you find someone who realizes that and embraces it, unlike me. before I fully set you free, there is something I want you to know.

when you decide to move on, please, don't let these painful memories blind you. as far as our child goes, please don't reject them. it's not their fault I've left, it's mine. don't let the past remind you of me, let it remind you of better memories.

farewell, (Y/N)

kazuha

you ran. you ran as fast as you could, away. away from everything. from kazuha, from your child, from your house, everything.

you found yourself at the alcor, sprinting desperately below deck into the captain's cabin. slamming the door open, you collapsed, letter in hand, panting desperately. the captain's eyes widened, scooping you up, calling for help while studying your letter.

---

he had watched. he had watched from afar as you opened the letter, breaking down in a state of shock and despair. it hurt him, yes. but he was a liar. he couldn't help it. he was running away. running away out of fear, something he had always done. he was clawing his way out of his pit of despair, only to lose balance and fall into the abyss once again. he told you he'd always be with you, he told you he'd never leave you, but then again,

he was a liar.