Tumgik
#unlikely but the beauty of shows like this is they can adjust easily to added and removing people
derekscorner · 4 months
Text
Ghost of Ramblings: Dad of Boi
Tumblr media
Started a New game plus Recently
I have been playing God of War from Ascension in chronological order over the past few months and I've finally made my way back to GoW 2018 and it's new game plus.
It's been a hot minute since I played the NG+ and it took even more minutes to adjust to it's combat after playing Classic GoW for so long. I got hooked on Ghost of Sparda and GoW3 for quite a while.
The whole while I was just taking in how beautiful the whole game is. Remembering the story beats or how this one game got me into the whole series. My god slayer journey began here with Dad of Boi.
Tumblr media
I was reminded of how good its story truly is. How tightly written and delivered it's dialogue is. The nuances of Kratos hit harder too since I have played classic GoW this time unlike my first time playing Dad of Boi.
Back then all I had was curious youtube and wiki searches to get a grasp of Kratos' world. It's hard to explain but it truly does feel different if you play GoW 2018 after playing, at minimum, GoW 1, 2 and 3.
Hell, I'd even argue that GoW 2018 will hit different after plaything through it's own sequel Ragnarok. I know Ragnarok has some harsh critics, I'm not one of them, but it is hard to deny that it's predecessor is just written better.
Every little story in the boat, every little dialogue when exploring, the whole adventure is a bonding and learning moment for Atreus and Kratos. Every scene with Odin's kin, the parallel to Freya and Baldur in particular, shows what Kratos is trying to avoid.
A pacing and blend so well done that I'd call it a lightning in the bottle moment.
Tumblr media
I love this scene ^^^^
Nothing in this world is perfect mind you but it's hard to talk about GoW 2018 and not praise its story.
Of course, Ragnarok is still an improvement in gameplay overall. I had grown too addicted to the customization options for appearance. The very fact that I can unlock and play young Kratos in Ragnarok is amazing to me.
It does make me wonder what went wrong in the story department of Ragnarok though. As I said, I'm no harsh critic of Ragnarok but I can't deny it has pacing issues.
Thankfully they added scene skip so even the Atreus segments can be skimmed on repeat playthroughs. They didn't bother me on the first run but I can only handle so many two hour stretches of Atreus wandering Ironwood.
Tumblr media
I've always heard rumors that it's because they chose to make the Norse story a duology which I could believe. Ragnarok feels like it needed to be the third game not the second one.
The whole personality shift of Freya truly does feel rushed. As beautiful as that scene is when she lets go it needed more time to be truly believable.
I also think it would've made her conflicted feelings more conceivable if she had witnessed Kratos' memories in some magical mumbo jumbo way. It's hard to imagine he's talk so freely about his family yet I also think it's crucial for Freya to shift the focus of her rage after hearing about Calliope.
Kratos did do her wrong while trying to do something right but I think that would only get through to Freya if she saw that moment. Kratos was by no means a good person but his love for his family was real and it drove him to a madness that ended a pantheon.
Kratos is easily the only man there that understands her feelings.
Tumblr media
I glitched the blades in these scenes somehow
But even this is a minor complaint. I do not consider the narrative of Ragnarok worth some harshness I see it get. It's badly paced to be sure but it's not offensive.
If anything, I hope they learn from it for their new projects. I have next to no interest in Atreus since he genuinely is annoying in Ragnarok but I wouldn't mind giving him a shot in a spin off if they learn from it.
Or, ya know, send him to Greece. I do not care how annoying the boy of war is. I would pay them money to see him walk through Greece and see the monster that his father was.
I'd even give them my respect if Atreus realized just how hard Kratos worked to channel his bottomless rage into a weapon to use. I know many fans hate how weak Kratos seems to be now and I personally find the "holding back" excuse weak on the devs part.
So I relate a bit. I do not fully agree since I began the series with 2018 so my opinion is forever biased on such topics.
Tumblr media
I have no real point to make with this post by the way. I am just gushing about a game I like and rambling about the contrast it has to it's own sequel or predecessors.
The whole of my praise is also limited to GoW 2018's narrative. In terms of world building or story consistency I could rip the God of War series apart.
The classic games weren't exactly consistent with some things like the potential paradox of using Fates threads, Kratos losing that time travel power in 3 despite using it moments prior in 2's ending, or the whole ambiguity of his godhood. (I wont even get into the last minute hope thing in 3)
It's not a mess like I'd rant about with Kingdom Hearts or Bleach. Sure, there are some details in a novelization or two, a comic story here or there, but it's nothing you need to know.
Kratos even references a novel detail in Ragnarok. When asked why he doesn't just throw his blades away Kratos will retort with an annoyed statement that he "tried".
Tumblr media
Step into the light Boy
That doesn't confirm a novel as 100% valid but it does show subtly that the blades follow him against his will.
My own personal take on Kratos' continued godhood is also a curse. He's got to live as what he despises most until something powerful enough finally kills him in a way where he won't burst out of Hel's gates.
That's a tangent all its own I think. I just felt like rambling a bit, there's even a lot I left out. Like the pure pointlessness of a lock-on in either game due to how often the enemies dart around and break the targeting.
I wonder what many of you think about 2018 now that Valhalla has come and gone. Ragnarok may have been hit or miss for many but Valhalla is nearly as good as 2018 I feel.
Though, not having young Kratos speak with his original voice actor in that one scene felt like a missed opportunity imo.
Oh well, I'm done now. Bye~
9 notes · View notes
ritsblogs · 6 months
Text
Top Reasons to Kayaking Rentals near Chicago for Your Beach Vacation
Picture this: gentle waves lapping at the shore, a warm breeze caressing your skin, and the sun painting the sky in hues of orange and pink. Now imagine adding a touch of adventure to this idyllic scene – that’s where kayaking comes in. If you’re looking to elevate your beach vacation near Chicago, Kayaking Rentals near Chicago might just be the missing piece to make your getaway truly unforgettable.
Tumblr media
Why Choose Chicago for a Beach Vacation?
Chicago may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of a beach vacation, but this vibrant city has much to offer beyond its stunning skyline and deep-dish pizza. Nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago boasts beautiful sandy beaches where you can soak up the sun and enjoy the cool lake breeze.
Unlike traditional beach destinations, Chicago offers a unique blend of urban energy and waterfront relaxation. You can spend your mornings exploring world-class museums and iconic landmarks like Millennium Park before unwinding on the beach in the afternoon. With an array of beachfront restaurants, cafes, and bars nearby, you can easily transition from sightseeing to sipping cocktails by the water.
Whether you’re looking for a family-friendly getaway or a romantic escape for two, Chicago’s beaches provide the perfect setting for your next vacation. From swimming and sunbathing to kayaking and paddleboarding, there’s no shortage of activities to keep you entertained along Lake Michigan’s picturesque shoreline.
Advantages of Kayaking Rentals near Chicago
Embarking on a kayaking adventure near Chicago offers a myriad of advantages for your beach vacation.
First and foremost, kayaking rentals provide the opportunity to explore the stunning waterways around Chicago in a unique and exciting way. Paddling along Lake Michigan or the Chicago River allows you to witness the city’s skyline from a whole new perspective.
Moreover, renting a kayak is incredibly convenient as it eliminates the need to transport your own equipment. Simply show up at the rental location, grab your gear, and you’re ready to hit the water in no time.
Additionally, kayaking is not only a fun activity but also offers a great workout for both your upper body and core muscles. It’s a fantastic way to stay active while enjoying nature’s beauty.
Furthermore, navigating through calm waters can be incredibly relaxing and therapeutic, providing a sense of serenity amidst the bustling city life of Chicago.
Safety Measures and Precautions while Kayaking
Before embarking on your kayaking adventure near Chicago, it’s crucial to prioritize safety. First and foremost, always wear a properly fitted life jacket to ensure buoyancy in case of emergencies. Familiarize yourself with the kayak and its equipment before hitting the water – know how to adjust foot pedals, use a paddle correctly, and be aware of emergency procedures.
Check the weather forecast beforehand and avoid kayaking during storms or high winds. Stay visible by wearing bright colors or using reflective gear, especially if kayaking in busy waters. Plan your route ahead of time and inform someone of your itinerary in case you encounter any issues while out on the water.
Be mindful of other watercraft sharing the area and maintain a safe distance from them. Stay hydrated throughout your journey and protect yourself from sun exposure by wearing sunscreen and a hat. Prioritizing safety ensures a fun-filled kayaking experience near Chicago!
Conclusion
Kayaking Rentals near Chicago for your beach vacation offers a perfect blend of adventure and relaxation. With the stunning backdrop of Lake Michigan and the vibrant cityscape in the distance, kayaking in this region provides a unique and memorable experience. Whether you’re a beginner looking to try something new or an experienced paddler seeking new waters to explore, renting a kayak near Chicago is definitely worth considering. So, pack your sunscreen, grab your paddle, and get ready to embark on an unforgettable kayaking adventure on the shores of Chicago!
FAQs
How far in advance do we need to book a kayak rental near Chicago?
If you are planning to explore the beautiful waters around Chicago by renting a kayak, it is important to know how far in advance you need to book. Generally, it is recommended to book your kayak rental at least 1-2 weeks in advance during peak season (June-August).
What types of kayaks do you have available for rent?
Are there any age or experience requirements for renting a kayak from your company?
At our kayak rental company, we welcome individuals of all ages and experience levels to rent from us. Whether you are a seasoned kayaker or trying it out for the first time, our team is committed to providing an enjoyable and safe experience for everyone.
Are reservations required in advance for kayak rentals, and what is the cancellation policy in case our plans change?
At most kayak rental companies, reservations in advance are highly recommended to ensure availability and a smooth rental process. While some companies may allow walk-in rentals, it is always best to call ahead or make an online reservation to guarantee the availability of kayaks for your desired time slot.
0 notes
maria-murphy · 2 years
Text
Why is Python the Best Language for Game Development
Tumblr media
As you’re probably aware, there are an enormous number of programming languages out there that can be used to create games.
Some are focused on speed, some are designed to reduce bugs, and others offer better support for high-level game design concepts like object-oriented programming and event-driven programming. 
But when it comes to providing all of the above features in one language, Python stands head and shoulders above the rest as the clear choice for game development. 
We’ll take a look at some of Python’s most important features in this article and why they make it so great for making games.
Let’s get Started
Find Out How Python is Best For developing Game Apps
Clear syntax
Python has quickly become one of the most popular languages in the world, and it’s easy to see why. Python has a clean syntax and efficient programming capabilities that make it an ideal choice for game development.
The major advantage that Python has over many other programming languages is that it requires little or no modification before being used. 
Python makes many complex things simple with its versatility, robustness, scalability, and multitude of modules, which allow you to do tasks such as data mining, machine learning, web scraping, and general AI-related tasks with relative ease.
Python may not be everyone’s first language choice, but with good reason. 
As a programming language, it’s clean and easy to read while also offering a robust array of pre-existing libraries that make game development quick and easy. 
Plus, thanks to its rapid development cycle, there are new features constantly being added that keep Python on top as a go-to coding language in any industry.
Flexible Object Orientation
Python’s object orientation uses properties and methods that can be altered and redefined. Unlike most object-oriented languages, it does not require classes or subclasses to be set before any other coding takes place.
With these features, game developers are able to create games without adding a lot of additional lines of code when they want to change something in a class hierarchy. 
This can help reduce debugging time because it allows you to make changes more quickly without much need for adjustments elsewhere in your program.
The beauty of this design also means that programmers do not have to spend hours building a single function; instead, they can simply alter an existing one.
3. Gaming-based Libraries and Frameworks
Start with Pygame, a library that makes creating games easy. It provides a high-level interface to draw basic shapes and handle mouse and keyboard input. Gameplay, like drawing images on the screen, is already taken care of by its parent package, Python. 
Since it’s cross-platform, you can make your game work on Macs or Windows without any trouble. For things like physics simulations, Pyglet uses OpenGL’s underlying C++ engine to do all of the heavy liftings under the hood.
In this way, it is optimized as opposed to using PyGame, which would be writing your own time-consuming code to handle 2D gravity along with collision detection. 
To make your game even more polished, take advantage of Tkinter, an extension that allows you to create a user interface so players can easily interact with their surroundings. And if 3D graphics is what you’re after, try either three.js or pyglet 3d (built on top of Pyglet). 
These libraries are invaluable when building a stunning gaming experience because they help programmers create better animations and manipulate pixels more efficiently.
4. Dynamic Typing
One of the great features of Python is that it’s a dynamic language. This means that, unlike static languages like Java or C++, there are no types, and hence types are inferred at runtime. The implications of this are huge: 
1) It becomes much easier to identify bugs in code as they will only show up when running the program and not while typing it out. This means you can fix them quickly and move on to new parts of your game without wasting time chasing down bugs in places where they don’t exist.
Explore Once: Metaverse Development Company
What’s more, adding a function that takes an object with certain properties doesn’t require any modification of existing functions because everything’s just an object.
Dynamic typing also has the added benefit of allowing scripts to take advantage of type-specific optimizations if they need to by simply annotating objects with different types. 
2)The ability to call any class from another module without having to import it first. As long as the module exports all its classes, then you’re good to go! 
3)Type annotations help improve readability and reduce mistakes for newcomers.
4) Since most projects will use third-party libraries, you won’t have to worry about compatibility issues or accidentally importing external libraries twice because Python checks imported modules against dependencies before executing anything from those modules.
5. Massive Community Support
Python has a large and active community of contributors which means that it is always up-to-date with the latest technology trends. Plus, when you are stuck, there are developers out there who have been in your exact situation and are willing to lend a hand. You can also hire Python developers in India to develop robust game applications.
If you’re looking for help on how to get started or make something more complicated, just do a quick Google search. There are tons of tutorials, guides, and articles on every possible subject related to Python programming. 
There are also a ton of other resources at your disposal: Stack Overflow (a Q&A site), Reddit (/r/Python), and YouTube Tutorials from professionals.
6. Robust Performance
Python is known for its robust performance. New language features are often implemented in C, then ported to Python. This method not only reduces bugs but also prevents performance degradation over time. 
Visit Also: Unity game development Services
As a result, with the speed and scalability of modern CPUs and data centers, the Python language can outperform many other general-purpose languages. 
The simplicity of the language allows it to scale smoothly from small scripts up to large projects involving hundreds or thousands of developers. 
7. Inherent Scalable 
One of the key benefits of using Python for game development is that it scales well with your team size and project requirements.
It doesn’t have many limitations on specific platforms or hardware configurations. Python can be used to create games in almost any genre. 
The Pygame library makes this even easier by giving you an API for creating 2D graphics, drawing shapes and text, playing sounds, loading images from files, and getting input from the mouse and keyboard – all within one simple package.
Summing Up!
Since we discussed in detail the essential features and benefits of using Python for game development, you can easily comprehend why Python is preferred for developing robust game applications.
Python offers clear syntax, dynamic typing, and robust performance and has vast community support that makes it the first choice for game application development.
If you are also looking to develop high-performing games, I would recommend you use Python for game development projects.
You can also contact a game development company to help you create an efficient game application.
 Original Source: Why is Python the Best Language for Game Development?
0 notes
ethanesimp · 3 years
Text
THE OAK TREE // ZERO E.T. 
Pairing: Ethan Torchio x GN! Reader
Summary: Everyone at the Oakes Academy is aware of the rivalry that exists between two of the school’s best students, Ethan Torchio and Y/N L/N. What nobody knows is what a brilliant team they are when they’re at risk of their reputations being damaged and a killer’s on the loose.
Word Count: 2.6k
Warnings: Just Ethan and Y/N behaving like children, mentions of killing someone (as a joke), swearing.
Masterlist // Taglist link in bio
TEASER
A/N: This is the first chapter of The Oak Tree! I hope you guys enjoy :) Huge thanks to @night-girl-301​ for proofreading this and cheering me on! I was like... scared as shit to post it so yeah.
Taglist (strike means it won’t let me tag you):  @oro-e-diamanti @gretavanfleetlove @victoriadeangeliswifey @cheese-toastie-11 @selenophiliaxx @superchrystaldrug @petit-poussin @bidet-and-legolas @fallingforyou123 @ethaneskin @soft-boy-ethan @teenyweenynightghost @reputationdamiano @cantaraiilmionome @tabi-toast @queen-of-brokenhearts @geklutst-ei @juststalking @cruz-ata @ohtorchio​ @ethan-torchio-angelo​ @unitermoonshine​ @everythingisdefinitelynotfine​
Tumblr media
It was only a few minutes past two-thirty when you managed to open the door that led to the greenhouse. The key, more often than not, would get stuck in the lock, and you’d have to spend a few minutes trying to yank it free, but this time around luck seemed to be on your side.
You placed your large black backpack on the stool that was always by the door before closing the entrance again. Mr. Murphy was still watering the plants, completely oblivious to your presence thanks to the loud music coming from the small stereo he kept near the gardening tools. You tapped his shoulder gently not to startle him; it wouldn’t be the first time you’d come into the place unannounced and you didn’t want to be the reason why he had to walk around with a cast on his arm again. 
He smiled fondly at you and adjusted his large glasses that were starting to slide down his nose. Mr. Murphy was an old man with long white hair and kind blue eyes, he’d been in charge of the greenhouse at the Oakes Academy for almost twenty years and had been the first person to show you kindness after you first arrived at the place years back.
“I thought I told you to take the afternoon free, Y/N,” He shook his head disapprovingly and you could only shrug. You had to work at the greenhouse at least three hours a week to maintain your scholarship per the Academy’s rules and it’d been long since it stopped being a task and instead became your favorite part of each day. 
“We were let out of Philosophy earlier so I thought I’d come by before I go study. Can I help with anything?” The older man sighed but nodded. He adjusted his glasses once again and wiped the dirt from his jeans.
He pointed at the corner where all the pink anthuriums were kept, shielded from direct sunlight, “Please water those, put a bit of fertilizer on the ones that arrived on Wednesday, and if you’ve got time, can you please feed the worms?” 
“Sure thing, anything else?”
“Just those three things. I’ve got to go help unload the groceries so please lock up both doors once you’re done,” He asked with a smile on his face as he buttoned his coat and grabbed his walking cane from where he’d dumped it on the floor right next to him. Back when you’d only known him for a few days, you’d always rushed to his side to pick up his cane and help him, but quickly realized it was a thing that annoyed him because of how independent and stubborn he was. “Oh and, before I forget, the kid’s outside. I don't want to come back and see you two trying to tear each other's heads off."
A laugh escaped past your lips and you shook your head as you tilted your head to the side so you could look through the hole in one of the windows. Just like he’d said, the boy with the long hair was sitting outside by the oak tree reading a book. You looked back at Mr. Murphy and shrugged, "No promises."
"I'm serious. You're smart Y/N, and I'm pretty sure you could easily find something you've got in common. That much hatred isn't good for either of you." Those were Mr. Murphy's last words before he walked out of the room.
You stood by the plants for a few minutes as you played around with the headphones that hung around your neck. You’d already sort of been startled by the topic you’d seen during Philosophy that day and you hoped that being at the greenhouse would serve as a little distraction but Mr. Murphy’s words hadn’t helped much.
You huffed and looked around for the hose to water the pretty anthuriums to get your mind off of everything that had gone down that day.
-
Hours later, you were still unable to shake Mr. Murphy’s words off. It wasn’t the first time he’d insisted on voicing his thoughts against that rivalry you had going on with the person standing between you and your biggest dream coming true. The thing that pissed you off though, was that his words had reminded you of what your best friend, Rory, had told you just the previous night while you did your usual hate rant. According to them, it was a good way to destress yourself.
You scoffed at the thought alone and let your chin rest on your palm as a frown appeared on your forehead. There was not a thing you could name that made you even remotely similar to the person sitting only a few feet away from you at the quiet school library. Ethan Torchio, a.k.a. Your archnemesis, the person you disliked the most in the face of the earth, was biting on the tip of his pencil as he concentrated hard on the thin black book he was holding up. Those dark eyes that shone honey whenever light hit them just right and those long strands of hair that graciously fell down his back accompanied by his signature turtlenecks and pretty smile were enough to make someone’s knees weak, but they only made you gag. 
You were sure he felt your eyes bore holes into the dark depths of his soul because it didn’t take long for him to look over his shoulder and meet your stare. Ethan smirked and his eyebrows shot up as he sent you a wink and a small wave. You knew that expression of his, he was teasing you, riling you up, hell, maybe he was trying to intimidate you. As crazy —and maybe a bit pathetic— as it made you sound, a simple smirk wasn’t just that when it came to him, never had been. Those dark eyes of his communicated his devilish intentions to you while he looked like an innocent child who’d never break a plate to anyone else.
You held his stare and mirrored his expression, which made him chuckle softly. It was nothing more than a silly game you’d play with one another to see who’d get tired of it first. The stare-off didn’t last too long that time around because his attention was stolen by one of his friends, Thomas. You simply shrugged and went back annotating on your copy of the black book. It was nothing more than one of those books written for the sole purpose of boring people to death. You loved reading, but when it came to those school-issued books that took around three pages to describe the sky-blue sofas in the main character’s living room, you couldn’t read more than a few pages before wanting to aggressively chuck it out the window. 
In a desperate attempt to distract yourself from the book that did nothing other than make you feel miserable, you stood up. You walked over to the large window that went from floor to ceiling. To your delight, the curtains were drawn back, which allowed sunlight to illuminate the otherwise dark library with its beautiful hues of orange and yellow. The librarian was a grumpy woman that loved when the curtains covered all the windows and blocked any source of light that wasn’t the soft glow of the lamps placed all over the dark room. You were almost convinced this woman had never felt the warmth of the sun against her pale and ashy skin, sometimes you even thought of her as a vampire that’d burn to death if she dared to stand outside for a few minutes. 
You looked out the window and admired the green gardens that adorned the front yard of the Academy’s largest building. The Oakes Academy was old and had been around since 1057. However, unlike most ancient schools like this one, the school board hadn’t been too interested in renovating the place outside of simply reinforcing the structure enough to fulfill the basic safety guidelines and the installation of optical fiber wires for a better internet connection. Even then, it was still considered to be one of the most prestigious schools to study at, and if it hadn’t been for the generous scholarship you were offered, you wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway.
“Still plotting that little plan of yours to end the human race?” You bit down on your bottom lip to stop the colorful curse words from spilling as you turned sideways to look at Ethan. He’d decided to wear one of those annoyingly tight black turtlenecks of his and a pair of plaid trousers that made him look taller than he already was.
“Yes, and I’ll start with you first,” You smiled sarcastically at him, “In fact, I’ll swing by your dorm and murder you in your sleep,” You added while you choked the air for dramatic effect.
Ethan laughed and rolled his eyes. He had that spark of hate in his eyes that was always present when he was talking to you. That look alone told you that all that hatred and disgust you felt towards him was returned in the same magnitude. This rivalry of yours that consisted of dirty looks and constant arguments had been going on since eighth grade and it just seemed to get progressively worse as graduation approached. 
Everyone at Oakes knew how much Ethan and you despised each other, it wasn’t a secret. Even the Head Professor had been a witness of plenty of your many petty fights and you didn’t doubt that the people in charge of the Student Welfare department were sick of the many reports you’d filed against each other for breaking the ‘student rules of politeness’. No one remotely important cared much about your reports anyways because they were far from serious and, more often than not, childish.
“How cute. Although I don’t think that’d work too well for you, would it amore? If something were to happen to me they’d know it was you,” He commented. You shrugged and bit your lip in anger at the nickname he knew very well you detested. 
You casually leaned against the window, “Meh, it’d be worth it if I knew I wouldn’t have to see your face again. Now please get away before someone starts getting the sick idea that we’re friends.”
Ethan rolled his eyes but backed up a few steps either way, “God forbid someone would think such a horrific thing," He scoffed and raised his hand only to show you his middle finger when he knew the librarian wasn’t looking.
Before either of you could utter out another word, Damiano, one of Ethan’s closest friends, walked up to where you two were standing, effectively ending the conversation between you.
He waved at you and offered you a kind smile, which you immediately returned. Unlike his best friend, Damiano was a delight to be around. He was one of the kindest and nicest people you had ever met. You were quite close thanks to the fact that he’d been dating Rory for a while and you got used to spending long nights with the two of them doing silly things like playing board games or watching films. You were basically their third wheel, but neither of you minded much, if at all. 
“Hey, what’s up?” Damiano smacked Ethan on the shoulder as he started a conversation with him. You took it as your chance to leave and just awkwardly walked away after mumbling something about having to find Rory. They had told you something about eating dinner together, and while you’d initially refused because you were supposed to finish the book and start on your report, you were tempted to accept their offer and forget about the stupid book for a little bit more.
Just as you were about to leave the library, your phone vibrated inside the pocket of your warm cardigan. You took it out and chuckled when you read Rory’s message about their new phone but groaned when you realized they wanted to see you after curfew. You sighed and left the library as you tried to think of a great excuse to tell your roommate Emilia so she’d cover for you while you snuck out.
Ethan had his eyes focused on your figure as you left the library but turned back to look at Damiano when he spoke up, “If you’d only talk to them Ethan, I-” He sighed and interrupted his best friend, already irritated by the conversation he’d had with you.
“No, I will not talk to them, okay? Not like we can even talk because we start arguing like two toddlers,” Ethan mumbled out the last part and took a deep breath in. Truth be told, no part of him wanted to talk to you. You were annoying, rude, and didn’t seem to have more than one brain cell in his eyes, so why lose his time talking to you? Not like there’d be anything to talk about.
“They’re just so exasperating!” He spoke up and Damiano rolled his eyes as he saw his hate rant start approaching. They were both aware that once he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop, “I just- They try so hard and it’s annoying. Like I swear they’re also a huge hypocrite. I know you don’t see it but I do, I’ve never met anyone mo-”
Before he could end his last sentence, he felt a body slam into his and arms snake around his waist. Ethan huffed at the impact but wrapped his arms around her frame once he noticed it was Adeline Rossi, or Addie as everyone liked to call her. 
She pulled back and looked at both Damiano and Ethan excitedly, “You will never believe this but the craziest thing just happened… Hey, where’s Vic?” She trailed off as she started looking around for her friend.
Ethan chuckled lightly when he saw Thomas quietly approach Addie while she was distracted. They all knew she was the easiest person to scare, so it didn’t take more than a slight push and a soft boo for her green eyes to go wide and for her to jump. She was quick to turn to where Thomas was standing and didn’t think twice before smacking his shoulder with the heavy book she was carrying.
Thomas put his hands up in defeat as he took a step back and rubbed his shoulder, “Okay, okay shit. Stop, that actually hurts,” He whined and Addie only shrugged as Damiano and Ethan watched the whole interaction with amusement. 
“Right, so, ignoring all that,” Addie spoke up once again and shifted her attention back to Ethan, “Since she is nowhere to be seen, could you please help me with some stuff? It’s just this little interview for one class of mine and I’ve already interviewed Damià and Thomas but I need just one more.”
He nodded and said a quick goodbye to his two best friends before following the shorter girl out of the library. However, while he was walking, he felt his phone vibrate inside the pocket of his jeans. He fished it out and frowned as he read the text that had just been sent to him but laughed once he noticed it was only his girlfriend Emilia from her new phone. 
Then he sighed and rolled his eyes once he realized she wanted to see him past curfew again and he knew Will would ask him for money in exchange for not ratting him out. He quickly texted her back and slipped his phone back into his pocket as he followed Addie to her dorm.
Next
GOOGLE DRIVE 
61 notes · View notes
avengerscompound · 4 years
Text
Canvas
Tumblr media
Canvas: A Captain America Fanfic
Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Steve Rogers x F!Reader
Word Count:  1844
Warnings:  smut (vaginal sex, messy sex,)
Synopsis:  Steve has been painting you for a while.  In a lot of ways you’ve been his must.  This time, he has decided to use a whole different canvas to practice his art on.
Tumblr media
Canvas
The brush was soft and tickled your skin.  Paired with the cool, wet paint, it set off a ripple of goosebumps in its wake.
Steve was an artist.  You hadn’t known that when you’d first started seeing each other.  The serious and stoic Steve Rogers who had devoted his life to protect the world as Captain America didn’t seem to be the soft artistic type.
He had surprised you though.  First with the fact he wasn’t as serious as he made himself seem when he was in uniform.  He was funny and snarky, and he cared deeply about people.
And he liked to paint.
You’d first discovered his artistic side when you’d woken up to find him sitting on the end of the bed sketching a picture of you sleeping.  There was a way about Steve - an open vulnerability - that meant he could get away with doing things like watching you sleep that didn’t feel creepy.  There was something romantic about the way that he wanted to capture the moment.  Not with a camera to show how it was, but with a pencil to show how it made him feel.
Since that day he’d gotten more and more into his art when he was around you.  Your place and his became littered with sketches and drawings, mostly of you, but sometimes just of things that made him feel real.  Not the symbol of America, but a real man who wanted a quiet life with someone he loved.
When the painting started, you would sit for him.  You were his muse and when you would sit for him, you’d find yourself holding all kinds of unlikely positions, in a variety of different states of undress.
It was a strange feeling being his life model.  Sexy.  Uncomfortable.  Flattering.  Safe.  The best part was seeing the finished product.  It was like getting to see yourself through the eyes of the person who loved you most and there was nothing more intimate than that.
Today Steve was interested in a different canvas.
You stood naked in his home office, a drop cloth below you to capture any stray drops of paint.  Steve had his shirt off too, and there were already a few smears of paint on his perfectly sculpted chest.  There was something sexy about the look.  Like the mess made him seem raw and unbridled in a way Steve rarely was outside of sex and battle.
The brush moved down and around the curve of our breast in a long sweeping motion.  You shivered as the cool of the paint sent a tingle up your spine.  Your nipples hardened and you weren’t sure if that was only because of the cold.  Steve’s eyes drifted from the line of his paint to your breasts and his cheeks turned slightly pink.  “Is it very cold?”  He asked.
“It’s cold, but I’m not sure that’s the whole problem,” you coyly answered.
The blush deepened in Steve’s cheeks and his tongue glided over his plump bottom lip.  “Mm… for me too,” he said and leaned down, pressing his mouth to your breast.  Your nipple fit perfectly between his soft lips, and as his tongue swirled over it, you let out a sharp breath.
“Steve…” you sighed, your hand going to his shoulder to steady yourself.  He sucked on your tender flesh, his tongue curling around your hardened nipple, and as he pulled back, his teeth grazed over it, making a buzz spiral out under your skin.
He returned his attention to his art, leaving you trembling slightly from the brief interlude.  You blinked and shook your head as you tried to focus on the art, rather than the heat building between your legs.
You watched as he added some black to the blue he was painting on your skin, darkening the shade as he filled in the color under your stomach.  “What are you painting?”  You asked.
“You’re just going to have to wait and see,” he said.
“It’s not a flag, is it?”  You asked.  “I don’t want you to paint me to look like a flag.”
Steve laughed softly and shook his head.  “No.  It’s not a flag.”
He dipped his thumb into the purple on his pallet and ran it down between the two shades of blue on your stomach.  It tickled and you squirmed away from him a little.
“I need you to try and stay still, sweetheart,” Steve said.
“You try it when someone’s doing this to you,” you teased, and poked him in the abs.  He jumped away with a laugh.
“That’s cheating,” he said, grabbing your wrist.
You giggled and he kissed your hand before letting your wrist go again.  His fingerprints remained on your skin.  Blue spots to mark where he’d held you.  You studied them as he returned to painting.  Admiring the way they marked how easily his large hands wrapped around your wrists.
You took one of Steve’s spare brushes and dipped it into the red paint.
“What are you doing?”  Steve asked, raising his eyebrow though he didn’t look away from his work.
“Thought I’d do a little bit of body painting too,” you said and pressed your red palm against his chest.  When your hand left his body, the perfect impression of your hand was left in scarlet against his pale milk skin.
Steve’s lips quirked at the side and he shook his head.  “Very pretty,” he said.  “Shall I give you one?”
“Won’t it mess up your design?”  You asked.
“I can paint over it,” he said as he began painting his palm with purple paint.  “Where should I put this?”  He teased, waving it in front of you.
You squealed but your body seemed to curve toward him like it was aching for his touch.  He hovered his hand over your breast.  “Here?”  he whispered and watched as you shivered slightly, pushing your chest out toward him.  He licked his lips and moved his hand up to your neck.  “Maybe here?”
You swallowed thickly.  “Please?”
He moved his hand down around your waist and smacked it down on your ass.  It was firm and made a sharp crack as his skin met yours, but it wasn’t painful.  You gasped and he dragged your forward, his fingers digging into your ass.  “Here?”  He said, bringing his lips to yours.
You kissed him hungrily, his other arm curling around your waist.  You moaned into his lips and pressed your body against him.  You could picture the mark on your ass.  His large palm staining your skin purple.  His hands slid around your waist, smearing the paint as he moved them, leaving a wet trail up to your ribs.  His fingers tightened and he pushed you back against the wall.  You submitted to him, melting under his touch.  His hands gripped your chest just under your breasts and he dragged them up, breaking the kiss so he could lean down and suck your breasts.  You let your head fall back against the wall and wrapped a leg around him, pulling your bare cunt against his clothed crotch.  His cock was hard and strained against the thick fabric of his khakis.  You cunt smeared your fluids on his jeans as the friction drew them from you, sending a hot tingle spiraling out through you.
He sucked and bit at your breasts like a hungry man.  Dutifully moving from one to the other and back again, sending a dull ache down to your core.
“Steve,” you moaned.  “I need you.”
He groaned and spun you guiding you back to the tarp and knocking his paints to the floor so they splattered over the drop cloth.  He lay you down, ignoring the paint as it pooled around your body.  You put your hands in the wet mess and watched as he hurriedly unfastened his pants.  As he positioned himself above you, you spread your legs wide and wrapped your arms around him, welcoming him in and marking him as your own.
He was kissing you again, hard and passionately.  You matched him, bringing your tongue to meet his and swirling it around.  He lined himself up and with a hard thrust, he was inside you.  You gasped arching up into him as an eclectic pulse passed through your body.  He didn’t wait for you to adjust, he just began thrusting into you again and again.  The head of his cock hitting your cervix and sending sharp jolts through you again and again.
You cried out and bunched your hands in his hair.  The paint on your hands clung to the strands, sticking them together and making them stick up in clumps.  You could feel your climax building, and you nudged him.  He took the hint flipping you over.
The paint you’d been lying in dripped down your back onto his thighs.  He smeared his hands through it and then used it to finger paint on your body as you rode him.  You started slowly, swirling your hips like you were doing a seated dance, his cock moving inside you and pressing against your walls.  You began to move faster, bouncing on his cock.  Steve groaned as he watched you, his hands caressing his body.  Faster and faster you moved, up and down, up and down.  Sweat mixed with the paint as you chased your orgasm.  Steve began to snap his hips up into you, your bodies slapping together each time you connected.
He pushed you back, first so you were seated face to face, you sitting in his lap, and then pushing you back on the floor again.  He pushed your legs up so they were pressed against your chest.  His cock penetrated you so deeply you thought it was going to split you in two.  You cried out and your orgasm hit, shuddering through you and making all your muscles seize up.  Steve kept thrusting, fucking you through it, and as he reached his own climax, he pulled out pumping his cock in his fist and releasing, spattering your stomach and chest with thick white ropes that stood out against the rainbow of paint.
You lay back panting as you came down from your orgasm high and Steve lay down beside you.  “God, you’re beautiful,” he sighed.
“We ruined your art,” you said, looking down at yourself.
“I think we made it better,” he said.  “I know I’m going to remember you like this for a long time.  My gorgeous artwork.”
He brought his lips to yours and kissed you deeply and tenderly.  You closed your eyes and hummed, relaxing into it.  When he pulled back he smiled at you.  “We really should go shower.”
You giggled and Steve helped you to stand.  He looked down at the drop sheet below him and smiled.  “I think I might frame that,” he said.
You looked down at the colors.  They swirled together, but you could see everywhere the two of you had touched.  You liked the idea of hanging it in the apartment.  A permanent reminder of what you and Steve had.
199 notes · View notes
sophlubbwriting · 3 years
Text
Shifting to your arms - 02
Pairing: Loki x Reader
Summary: This is a slice-of-life series where you, the reader successfully shifted realities with the goal to spend time with Loki. Nothing too intense.
A/N: I was quite scared to write a fight scene, especially since my knowledge about actual fights was... limited... but here it is! I hope y'all like it!
Feel free to shoot me a request and I'll see what I can do!
Taglist: @gingerspicetalks​ @adoreyou976​
Feedback is always appreciated!
Chapter Summary: Fight training with the god of mischief. There isn’t much else to it.
Chapter warnings: fight training, self doubts, Loki being Loki
Word count: 2016
Tumblr media
9:50pm.
Lucky for you, a pair of black sweatpants plus an oversized zip-up hoodie just waited for you in your wardrobe.
You couldn’t waste any more time and felt comfortable with your choice of clothes, so you opened the door and stepped out on the hallway. The whole tower felt more silent than it had been a few hours earlier which might be caused by the time Loki had picked. Everyone was following their respective evening routine, but it isn't too late to be seen in the corridors.
While strutting to the gym, you checked whether you had everything with you. You got a bottle of water, that's it. After all, what else did you need?
Contemplating your choice, you were doubting yourself. Would Loki be a good teacher? What would he teach you? He is a true genius when in regards to all things magic, he was also a master manipulator, but the god of mischief doesn't seem like someone well-versed in hand to hand combat.
However, Loki really seems to love his daggers. Honestly, it's kind of weird how he isn't the god of daggers as well, it would surely be a fitting title. Maybe you can somehow convince him to give you a dagger and show you how to fight with it.
Receiving one of Loki's truly beautiful daggers sounds like a great idea, but it would probably hit too close to home for Loki. Giving someone their dagger, is a huge tradition in Asgard connected with courting someone after all.
So, looks like you won't get a dagger.
As you entered the gym, the smell of new gym mats and sweat flew in your face, but what ended up taking your breath away was the backside of someone's infamous asgardian combat clothing. Why was he standing there? Has he been pacing up and down while waiting for you? You couldn't help but smile at the thought of him waiting for you impatiently.
“Oh look at that, right on time. I didn't expect that  from a midgarian.”
Of course Loki would talk down on you based on your midgarian heritage, that was predictable. It would have been out of character if he didn't, honestly.
He sighed and he finally turned around, a hint of a smirk was still visible on his face.
“But at last you're here, so let's...”
Slowly mustering you, he took a moment to finish his sentence, dropping his smirk.
“...begin. Is that what midgarians deem as 'fashionable'?”
And with it the grin you wore was washed away. His mischievous tone vanished rather quickly, causing you to feel quite self aware. Your confidence from earlier? Gone, just like that.
His words hurt you more than you anticipated, but you tried your best to hide your vulnerability.
In an attempt to defend your choice in clothes, you told him that you valued comfortability over style. “Unlike you, I don't have to dress to impress.” you added. Scrunching his nose the god wanted to drop another sassy comment, but he decided otherwise.
You shook your head. Being still a bit salty after his rude comment, you voiced your doubts.
“Honestly, I don't know anymore if you were the correct choice.”
Nothing.
You both just stood there and looked into each others eyes. For a second you thought Loki's eyes looked... disappointed?
The silence was unbearable, but neither of you knew what to say, until Loki found his voice again.
“Pardon me?” he asked, finally breaking the silence after what felt like hours, but could have been only seconds.
In an effort to do some sort of damage control, you couldn't stop yourself from rambling and explaining yourself.
“You're an awesome sorcerer and I can't even imagine what you're capable of doing with those... those daggers, but... how much do you actually know about hand to hand combat?”
Now, he stopped being disappointed, if he ever was. He chuckled and started acting offended:
“I know my magic abilities are... out of this world, but I can assure you I have earned my fair share of experience in hand to hand combat.”
“But having experience doesn't mean you're good”, you intervened his arrogant praise with a sly smirk. Having seen a glimpse of emotional vulnerability in his eyes, you felt oddly calm around him. Your newly found confidence manifested itself in one sassy comment after another. “If I recall correctly, Valkyrie easily bested you.”
“Why don't you go ask Valkyrie for help then?” Loki asked boldly.
“Touché.”
Just like that, you both stepped into the boxing ring.
“I would assume I'd have to explain the basics to you first, now.”, Loki exclaimed whilst spreading his arms. “Everyone has their very own distinct style. Whereas Valkyrie” - he made sure to stress that name derogatorily - “likes to show off and tends to pride herself with... well, everything she possibly can, whereas I personally-”
“You prefer debating, silver-tongue. I get it.” you taunt him with a smirk. He didn't seem touched by your commentary. While you rolled your eyes, the god of mischief continued his speech.
“It's usually easier to complete the missions stealthily or to talk yourself up the ranks. Infiltrating the enemy, that's my speciality. You shouldn't underestimate the power of subtlety.”
You knew he was good, but you couldn't help yourself but to keep teasing him. To see him mildly annoyed filled you with joy, letting him taste his own medicine, although you felt as if you started to understand, why he made the comments he made.
“Is that because you can't-”
Loki requited your comment so quick, you hadn't the opportunity to finish it. The next thing you knew was how your back hit the floor and you saw Loki towering over you.
“First lesson: You shouldn't aggravate your opponent unnecessarily, you might end up with a... disadvantage.” He emphasized the last word with his raspy voice, not imaginable what he was alluding to.
With a slightly hurt pride you stood up again. “You're quick.” you stated the obvious. Acting like you would know more than you did, you put your fists up and in front of your face the way you saw it in movies often. The adrenaline rushed through your veins, you could feel it, and you glared at the god in front of you.
With a quick jab, you aimed for his stomach and were sure to hit, but with a swift step he avoided your punch altogether. Astounded by his quick movement, you weren't able to retrieve your arm quick enough to protect yourself from his counter.
He grabbed your arm and stepped a foot behind your leg. In one fluid motion your legs were kicked up and you were sent flying with an involuntarily backflip. Lucky for you, your forearms were at least quick enough to protect your face.
“Oh dear, you really don't know anything about fighting, do you?”
With an exasperated groan you pushed yourself up, back on your feet. This was way more exhausting than you thought it'd be. With heavy breaths you assessed the situation for the first time.
Loki was way quicker than you, a surprise attack wouldn't work. A feint attack? He'd probably still be quick enough to evade, if not counter. But what if...
“Al...right” you panted demotivated. “I...” and you fell forward and followed through with your plan.
Loki's reflexes forced him to catch you. Predictable. You slithered your arms around his neck, adjusted your position and swung your legs around his waist. Due to the momentum of your legs you were able to make the god stumble, but it wasn't enough to make him fall yet.
In your books, that was a win. Not only have you been able to make contact at will, you have successfully tricked the god of trickery.
Who would've imagined that thinking before doing something would ever turn out to be so efficient?
Of course he was quick to push you off and have you land on the floor again, but that wasn't enough to negate the sense of achievement that was flooding your mind.
You didn't even try to hide the grin.
“I have tricked you” you joyfully retold the event, small giggles escaping your lips.
“I'm still standing” he nonchalantly stated. While he wasn't wrong, you felt like you made progress.
“But I made you stumble.”
After a few more rounds of your attacks and some sparse tries to defend yourself, you didn't have any more energy to focus on fight training. It must have been midnight already, two hours filled with training have passed. Your zip-up hoodie was thrown in a corner, discarded a while ago as you felt like you were sweating too much, and you had revealed the plain t-shirt you wore underneath.
“Alright, my dear, I think this is the time to finalize the conditions of our little deal.” Loki tried to conceal his heavy breathing and knelt down next to you, not bothering helping you up. Reluctantly you sat up and told him to go on.
“Since you want to learn how to fight properly, we'll have to train more often, however I am not going to do so without... compensation.”
This simple sentence rang alarm bells in your head, especially since you are already planning on baking a cake which you intended to be enough. There was no way he had forgotten it already.
“You can't have forgotten it already.” You shot him a quick glance as he followed up with something that lead you to believe he was planning something.
“Lemon cake, I didn't forget, but I'm afraid that won't be enough for all lessons, darling. Let's just say... you owe me. Plus, today I was just assessing your skills. I have yet to show you a few exercises to train for yourself.”
Scrunching your nose at his not very concise proposal, you decided to bluff an told him you were just going to ask someone else to teach you, if he was being serious, but to no avail Loki saw right through it. He proclaimed “If I were you, I wouldn't do that. I figured you would prefer me to keep these interactions a secret, wouldn't you?”
The god of mischief clearly had the upper hand in this negotiations.
Albeit you were visibly displeased by his threat to tell everyone you couldn't fight, you gave him your final reply with a scoff.
“Well, I don't really have much of a choice now, do I?”
There it was. That mischievous twinkle you saw in his eyes earlier, paired with a smirk. You don't know how, but you couldn't stay mad at him. You just couldn't.
You shook your head and smirked again. “It almost feels like I just sold my soul.”
Surprising to you, Loki tried to calm you down. Did he think you were actually afraid of losing your soul to him?
“Don't worry, my dear, even if it would be possible to separate one's body from one's soul, I would never intend to steal yours. Quite frankly, I wouldn't even know, what to do with it!”
He even put his hands up in front of him to show you, he wasn't trying to 'grab your soul' or something. It looked rather adorable and made you laugh, which left Loki staring at you confused.
You were contemplating whether you should explain it to him in full, but ultimately decided against it, it would take too long. Instead, you said the next best thing. “I was kidding, Loki!”
After some more laughing you asked him what has been on your mind since you sealed the deal.
“So, when will we meet again?”
The raven haired god turned to you and thought about it for a second while looking at you. You looked in his eyes for longer than you should have, but the answer he gave you with a smirk was quick to grab your attention.
“Tomorrow, same time. If you want to see me only at the gym, that is.”
You copied his smirk with a quick glance at lips.
“You'll see.”
74 notes · View notes
tenderlyrenjun · 4 years
Text
[4:05 P.M.]
Tumblr media
“Na Jaemin!” you exclaim, running into your friend’s arms. 
Renjun follows slowly, walking behind you like an escort, even though he made sure to hire a few. They all assume positions around the estate - your guest bedroom, the kitchens, a few entrances, the gardens. ‘A few’ to him includes an elite, small group of trained warriors whose sense of duty got enhanced after bitten; to you, ‘a few’ should have meant taking Mark and his trusted favorites, but Renjun convinced you to let them safe guard your own manor.
You hug Jaemin over his shoulder, letting him melt into your neck. His guards take microscopic steps that your ears became accustomed to before they were even born. “Tell your newborns to back off,” you hiss in his ear, “or I’ll do it myself.” You pull away, smiling sweetly.” And you know I don’t play nicely.”
Jaemin rolls his eyes. “They’re all at least 200 years old.”
You give him a serious look, red flashing across your irises. “Still.” You do not ... react very favorably with guards standing at attention so closely to your every move, especially with Renjun in the room. “I’ve had whiskey older than them.”
Jaemin rolls his eyes again, a pacifist’s smile on his face, but complies with your request nonetheless - probably something to do with Renjun’s presence. He silently brushes his nose, telling the guards to stand down. Jaemin embraces Renjun in the same manner, hugging him tightly. “Tell your mate to quit threatening my guards every time you two stay here.”
“Can’t,” Renjun mutters in his ear. They pull away then grasp each other’s forearms, sharing a look: can’t, or won’t? Renjun breaks the silent conversation first, shaking Jaemin to break the spell. “Separate minds and all.”
“Yet in all 700 years I’ve known you two, never have I seen you separated.”
You slide into Renjun’s side, kissing his cheek as an annoying public display of affection that does not bother Jaemin in the way it would your partner had his mate been present. Even so, Renjun accepts you, draping his arm possessively over your shoulders. “And we have no intention, moving forward.”
“The infamous ‘we’ couple of the Huang Coven,” Jeno announces loudly, bouncing down the stairs, into the throne hall, dramatically. Renjun rolls his eyes; he hates that moniker. Maybe while the two of you visit the Na, he can convince Jaemin to change the title. Jeno, his antithesis, oppositely more traditional, tightens the watch under his suit. And you just know Renjun wants to poke fun at you. Wearing business casual, over streetwear, was a smart choice. Although, Jaemin’s guards wear sunglasses and leather jackets, indoors.
You speed over to Jeno faster than the others, embracing him in the same fashion as you did Jaemin. And he accepts it, all his friend congregating closely by the exit. “It’s been too long, old friend.”
“What are you doing here?” Renjun asks half-jokingly. “Doyoung actually let you outside?” The Kim Family patriarch is rather ,, protective of his members, and has been for the last millennia, even more so actually since officially turning Jeno sometime during the Second Dark Age.
Jeno hugs you in return, his friendship grip crossing diagonally over your back, unlike Jaemin’s around the neck position or Renjun’s more romantic hold. He pulls away seconds after to extend handshakes with the other two. “Doyoung is actually more relaxed than you think,” he admits, hoping that enemy ears are far (one cannot be too careful, especially as other covens accumulate members, like grains of rice - for power, he assumes). “And you would know that,” Jeno redirects to Renjun, “if you got to know him.”
“Hmm,” Renjun hums, not really considering it. You return into his arms, hugging his waist like a newlywed incapable of separating. “The air between us is always so ... tense.”
“Awkward,” you correct. Renjun glances down at you, pinching your side as you continue, “He means awkward. Speaking of -” You smack Renjun’s hand away and spin to Jaemin. “- how is Jaehyun? Ever since breaking off his -” Renjun clears his throat, asking you not to say the word coven, and you nod your head, easily persuaded. “- family, things have been tense between you two, no?”
“No,” Jaemin denies. He refuses to admit that he is awkward with anyone, although his introvert tendencies appear when in large groups, especially if he does not see those people daily. “Jaehyun just added two new members - Jungwoo and Sungchan.”
“Oh, cool,” Jeno interrupts. “That’s why I’m here too.” He passes off a calligraphed note to Jaemin, whose shoulder you nosily look over until Renjun tugs your back into his chest. “His name is Donghyuck, or Haechan when uses his special ability - luring blood with his voice.”
“He and Renjun should get along well,” you comment. “Their powers are compatible.”
“Not as much as yours and mine, love.” Renjun kisses the crown of your head, hanging his arms around your shoulders, to which Jaemin rolls his eyes. You are starting to think Renjun is just making Jaemin jealous, on purpose. Psychologists say that people start complaining about being single while near couples, and since Renjun hates all the formal meetings, getting Jaemin a long-term mate might back him off.
“You don’t have a special ability though,” Jeno points out.
“No,” Renjun disagrees, shaking his head. “Beauty.” You take your turn, for the Huang Clan, to roll your eyes. He always says that your natural looks became enhanced after you turned (however, he usually keeps the flirting private), and although you disagree, you cannot stop him from saying so. His own natural ability becomes stronger when he is happy, which is anytime around you.
Tumblr media
As the sun settles into the sky’s middle, everyone sits around a short, long table. Renjun assumes the head across Jaemin, you at his right hand and Jeno at Jaemin’s. Your mate was granted hosting duties, despite being a nomad to this estate. Probably because he is the best at straining tea. And to begin the ceremony, he asks the first question:
“So, Jaemin, how is Jisung fairing? Adjusted to vampire yet?”
“No,” Jaemin shakes his head. He accepts a glazed cup though, with both hands, from Renjun, who hands out empty earthenware as a way to keep track of who is drinking. Jaemin has an extra servant at beck and call in case anyone wants something more or he wants coffee. This set is meant to remain empty until he starts pouring the first round (into new glasses). “I think he’ll get over it once we turn him in a few years.”
“Aish,” Jeno mutters, waving his hand across the table. “Recruitment is starting younger and younger these days.”
“Yet none of us look a day over 23,” Renjun comments. He starts a fire under the second teapot, an empty one that he will fill with blood in a few minutes. “Did you get water from the spring outside, or did you have a servant retrieve a bottle from Nunobiki again?”
“The latter,” Jaemin nods, popping a white sugar cube in his mouth. He relaxes more on the pillow cushion, stretching a legs underneath the table. “It is a special occasion after all. I haven’t seen you three in the same room in what? 80 years?”
You push his shoulder, throwing him off balance. “We’re not divorced. You can visit us any time.”
“I haven’t left the compound in -” Jaemin looks at his watch. “- God, ninety years.”
“All the more reason to. Plus you’ll never guess what Renjun got us into!”
Speaking of the devil, Renjun clears his throat, asking for attention as he places a strainer over a teapot, pouring cold blood into the wide opening. He takes the now hot water and drizzles it in as well while the conversation comes to a stop, the ceremony’s second phase. Everyone watches closely, your eyes more permanently sparkling red, almost like having being starved for weeks. Renjun pours the now warm mixture on some leaves, then removes it just as quickly, repeating the process twice more, to fully rinse the leaves. When he takes the pot of boiled blood, spilling into the decanting bowl, you hear a guzheng in the steam, transporting you to the park in 1500 where Renjun would escort you to feed the ducks. No wonder Jaemin relinquishes hosting duties to Renjun; he always emits a beautiful memory. Renjun starts an hour glass, timing five minutes for the water to cool while everyone resumes conversation.
Jeno bites into an hojicha brownie, chewing the hazelnuts extra thoroughly (it takes like bits of flesh, which make it all the more delicious. “You were saying? What did Renjun rope you into this time?”
Renjun rolls his eyes, already groaning, and you smirk, knowing that your friends will take your side.
“College,” you seethe.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds!” 
“It is,” you point at Renjun, though he knows you are at least half-joking. You look at Jaemin, who sports an amused look; he, nor Jeno, has never seriously entertained college, preferring their current roles. “We’re registered for a full year of classes. I want to come visit three weeks ago, but midterms and projects take up extra hours of our time.”
“We don’t sleep though,” Jeno points out, siding with Renjun. “It can’t be as hard as it is for mortals who need 8 hours a night.” He taps Renjun’s shoulder. “Ha, remember being 20?”
“Heavens,” Renjun sighs nostalgically, reclining on his pillows in thought, staring at the ceiling like it can show a movie of his first lifetime. “Learning how to write from pictures? Carving lines into bronze with literal ancient tools? Computers are so much better.” He gently kicks your foot. “It’s why I signed you up for that Microsoft class.”
“Microsoft?” Jaemin scoffs. “Does your school not provide Apple courses?”
“No.” You roll your eyes. “Not that it matters anyways. I have to perform calculus by hand. I didn’t even do that during the Han dynasty! I still have the original suanpan in my study.”
“Yes, but,” Renjun drawls, “you have to admit how much easier it is to type integrals into that new graphing calculator I bought you.”
You turn to Jeno, deadpanned. “Everyday, I have to do homework, but yeah, no, you two should totally try it.”
The last grain of coarse sand falling onto the pile echoes loudly for your vampiric ears, so all of you stare at it, suddenly dehydrated again. And ever so slowly, almost theatrically (ever the moongwa), Renjun takes the original pot, adding some extra warm water until the blood’s color becomes translucent enough to see the pretty leaves. He pours everything into the decanting bowl, disrupting the ration between blood and water. The ceremony’s final phase comes to an end as he serves the drinks, handing one to Jaemin first as a sign of respect. You are next, his co-leader, then Jeno, the only member without a title (ironic, considering that he was a prince in his first lifetime, higher than any of you), and himself in closing. Everyone waits for Jaemin to take the first sip, ignoring the fact that Renjun assumed a host’s role. When his reaction is satisfactory, you take the second sip. It is very sweet, the floral aroma lingering the longer you keep the small cup near your nose. Renjun’s stoic demeanor does not give away anything you recognize, possibly because he is too humble or because he additionally drinks in all the praise. When Jeno takes the last first sip, reciprocating the tastefulness, you all resume conversation and the ceremony, more laxed.
Jaemin gestures for a guard to let one of the servants enter and asks for an iced americano, ending his tea drinking.
Renjun waits for you to also ask for coffee before also ordering it, and Jeno follows suit when the last pot empties.
“It is our cycle to sleep,” Renjun announces, cleaning his hands with a wet wipe. A servant comes in to clear the table, and all of you wait for the table to be emptied before retiring to your individual rooms.
Tumblr media
Renjun starts tossing the extraneous throw pillows on the bed foot bench, already dressed in a comfortable matching pyjama set while you still have yet to change. He runs around the bed, after he finishes preparing it, nestling his chin into the crook of your neck.
“Come to bed.”
You hear him whine, interlocking his fingers above your liver, one of his most favorite places to drink your blood, once he punctures the right spot. His fangs start growing, gently knocking your skin for an invitation. You give it to him freely, extending your head left - better access, wordlessly.
“These meetings are infinitely more tolerable with you here,” he whispers, already reliving the ambrosial tea that seems to just be steaming through your tiny pores. He takes one lick, preparing you for the deep puncture. “You should come to them more often.”
You anticipate his bite but he only nibbles your jugular, grazing his teeth ever so lightly when his lips part too wide. “If I went with you, then I wouldn’t miss you.” You spin around, still enveloped by his arms. Renjun pushes you into the wardrobe, and your hands brace his shoulders, like a prey trying to escape, except your fingers dig into his shirt, attempting to pull him impossibly close. “We wouldn’t have these moments if I always went with you.”
“But we’re having this moment now, while you’re with me.”
“You’re so clingy,” you whisper as he tugs your hair by the base of your scalp. You sigh, knees faltering. 
Renjun places a singular kiss on your neck, displaying immense restraint against drinking you dry. You feel his fangs reach maximum length despite not sinking into your skin yet, so you draw him in by his throat. And he smirks. “Who’s the clingy one now?”
“Bite me.”
“Well, if you insist.”
101 notes · View notes
sophiethewitch1 · 4 years
Text
Meteoric Chapter 1 - A New Life, A New Me!
Tumblr media
Death should be simple, you think.. You die, and that's it. However, considering how much pain and nausea you feel at the moment, you can guess that it’s not actually that simple. Your eyes open slightly, the bright light blinding you.
So, wait… what happened after death then?
Your eyes finally adjust to the bright light, and you realise you’re lying on your back staring up at a white-haired toddler.
Hold on… it’s… flying? It’s flying. What the hell.
You blink up at the floating thing in front of you, shock evident on your face. It's… It’s floating. You don’t think you can understate that this small child is floating. It’s floating. FLOATING! It frowns at you, and you think it calls out to you, but you’re too busy turning onto your side and throwing up absolutely nothing but water because god wants you to suffer. Did you drown? Who knows.
...Okay so heaven has been ruled out, not much surprise there.
The thing cries out in shock, moving closer to you patting you on the back and moving your hair out of your view. Finally, you stop retching up, breathing heavily and coughing the l. You roll away from the toddler and are shocked by the view in front of you. You’re at the beach. Maybe you did survive, you think looking at the cliffs and the ocean in front of you. Did you get swept away by the ocean to some strange land?
You turn back to look at the floating thing and realise, yup they are most definitely defying gravity.
What the hell is going on.
You then notice something incredibly strange.
It’s… Paimon.
Paimon? Paimon. That is most definitely Paimon. From the halo to the cape to the little star clip in her hair, everything about it is most definitely Paimon.
What the actual hell.
“Aether! She’s woken up!” it says in a voice that sounds absolutely like Paimon.
You think you’re going to pass out.
“Really? About time,” you turn your head to look at the voice and you shouldn’t be surprised really, but right there is definitely the male MC from Genshin. The same long blond hair in a neat braid.
And that’s when you finally recognise your surroundings.
You… are in Monstadt. Specifically, the starting beach where the game begins the tutorial. You look past the beach and squint, barely able to make out the silhouette of the secret island you spent thirty minutes trying to get to with Kaeya since you fell and drowned at one point.
Damn you really wish you got Venti, you could’ve just flown there if you had.
Wait…
Is Venti… real?
You look back at Aether and Paimon, eyes wide. You played with Lumine so you didn’t often get to see Aether but you knew what he looked like from online. You knew it was him, and yet…
You couldn’t quite believe it.
“Aether… Paimon?” the words come out of your mouth unprompted and you wince, realising that there's no real way you should know their names.
They blink, shocked like you expected they would be, and glance at each other. You notice the familiarity in that action and remember at this point they’ve been adventuring together for at least two months now.
“How long… have I been asleep?” you ask, your voice is quiet and hoarse from your coughing. And there was a salty taste at the back of your throat too, likely from the water. You really must’ve drowned then.
You think you really did die.
Paimon hesitates for only a second before speaking.
“We don’t know! Aether saw a shooting star fall near here and we came to investigate… and we found you in the water! Thought you were dead but we checked your pulse and found it still beating. And then you woke up and coughed up all that seawater!” she says, her hands clasped behind her back and her whole body tilted to the side slightly.
You look to the side, quiet. You don’t know what to say. You were a talkative person when you felt comfortable, and right now you were definitely out of your comfort zone.
Silence.
“...How did you know our names?” Aether asks, breaking the fragile quiet, and you want to sigh in relief. That is until you realise what he asked and freeze, not knowing how to answer him.
You continue to look off into the distance, the midday sun sitting above the calm waters of Monstadt.
“...Well then! Paimon thinks we should be headed off, we should get you to a doctor too! Let’s get going!” she says, pointing towards the edge of the beach where a teleport beacon sits. You get up, brushing the sand off you and are shocked when you stumble forward slightly.
Aether moves forward to help you, grabbing your arm and stopping you from tipping over, you laugh and he looks at you weirdly. You felt dizzy, like the air was lighter here... like you were lighter. You couldn’t tell if you liked it or not, but you did know it was strange.
You were starting to realise you were actually in a different world.
You shake your head, your laughter tapering off.
“Are you alright?” Aether asks, and you look up to him.
He was slightly taller than you, which was strange because in your last life you were definitely not near the same height as Aether was, he seemed way shorter than you. Once again, it’d make sense since this is a different world.
Whatever, you could process this all later, for now, you just wanted to find somewhere safe to cry.
“Yeah, I’m… I’m perfectly fine,” you lie through your teeth, and you think he can tell. You pull away from him, and he lets go without any hesitation.
This was all so strange.
Paimon calls the two of you over to the beacon, and you approach it with awe. Aether reaches a hand towards the stone and it turns from red to blue, a symbol of its activation.
You find it’s familiar blue glow somehow surprising you. It really shouldn’t, since it is such a common sight in the game but… it’s floating too. You come to realise physics should stop being a top priority of yours here. If any of this is actually real.
Hm. Maybe you were dreaming? You heard that there was this theory about after your death where you would dream for the few milliseconds before your brain completely shut down.
Well, it made more sense than being reincarnated into a video game…
You follow the two of them passed the point and reach the cliff, Paimon says something about having to climb it, and Aether scales the small stone wall easily. You stare at it. You’d done indoor rock climbing before, but they all had obvious and brightly coloured hand-holds. Your eyes move up from the wall to Aether and Paimon staring expectantly down at you.
Well, here goes nothing.
You jump up, grabbing onto the edge of the stone, pulling yourself up. Luckily the wall is angled slightly away from you, so it’s easy to get your weight up by leaning on it. You pull yourself up again, moving your feet up until you finally grab Aether’s waiting hand and pull yourself up.
“Wow, you’re not much of a traveller are you? Not too fast with climbing,” Paimon says, and you have the urge to punch her out of the sky.
But all you do is awkwardly laugh, and rub the back of your neck. Whatever, emergency food, neither of us are the star of this show and you know it.
Aether ignores the two of you and keeps walking on, stoic and cool, which was unlike what you expected. When you played Lumine she was an absolute mess, and you thought there wasn’t any difference in their characters, but this wasn’t the game, so it made sense. It was either a very strange ‘life-flashes-before-your-eyes’ moment or reincarnation.
You didn’t like either option, to be honest.
“Okay, let’s take the route we planned!” Paimon says, floating past you quickly towards Aether, “We’re off to… a statue of the Seven! Which of the Seven are you looking for, exactly?”
It is very surreal to hear her dialogue lines in real life.
Aether keeps walking along, paying no attention to the beautiful scenery around you. You, however, are staring in complete awe at the gorgeous greenery and cliff faces surrounding you, you even spot a waterfall!
Striding purposefully along, you can barely keep up with him. Evidently, he wasn’t a ‘stop and smell the flowers’ type like you were, so you run to catch up with him.
“Oh wowwww!” Paimon coos, and you can’t help but agree with her. In front of you is a gorgeous view, the cliffs at the side of your gaze moving your eyes naturally to its centre where a lake sits, a statue of The Seven in the centre of it. In the background, you can barely make out Monstadt, with it’s Church and windmills. Some birds fly across the canyon, adding to the wild beauty of the place.
Wide-eyed, you stare.
Yeah, this might just be real.
“That’s the statue of the Seven!” Paimon points down at the statue, a beacon of light piercing the sky. She drops her hand, “There are a few of these statues across the land to show The Seven’s protection over the world. Among the seven gods, this god controls the wind. Paimon’s not sure whether the god you’re looking for is the Anemo God, but…”
She clasps her hands behind her back, looking worryingly at Aether.
“Paimon’ll take you to the Anemo God first and there’s a reason why~”
You can’t remember what the reason is, so you just nod along. Not adding anything to the conversation, not that Aether was either.
“Let’s go,” he says, which you find hilarious. A true silent protagonist, all stoic and mysterious… You really couldn’t take him seriously. He starts running down the mountain, and you follow after him as fast as you can.
“As we all know, poetry and language flow like the wind…” you always loved that part of Anemo, you were a hopeless romantic so such a lovely element had your heart quite quickly simply because of that. It was the element of freedom, and you always wanted to be a free soul.
“There’ll definitely be someone there who knows about your sister. At least, that’s what Paimon thinks! Whether the Gods actually answer you is a different story. You never know unless you try,” she turns to look at you, floating next to the two of you running down the hill.
“And there will definitely be someone here who can check up on you! You’ll be in good care!”
You smile at her, a little wobbly since you were still running along at a speed you were definitely not used to.
“Thank you,” you say, almost tripping over a rock on your way down.
She nods at you, a closed-eyed smile on her face.
“So let’s hop to it!”
You finally get down to the little lake and Aether doesn’t even hesitate before diving into the water after Paimon. You scowl, following through with them. You notice you’re still wearing your camping gear, if not a little more worn and torn. Oh, does that mean…? You wiggle your finger in your pocket and frown when you find the hole still there.
Whatever, keep going.
You move forward, wading through the water, and swimming the small distance to the island. You get out of the water, sopping wet and grumpy, but your mood quickly changes when you look up at the Anemo Archon’s statue in front of you.
It feels like it’s… calling to you.
Aether steps forward and lays a gloved palm upon the golden insignia at its base, turning the glowing light from faintly yellow to a brilliant aqua. Your eyes follow the aqua light until you focus on how its forms in the Barbatos statues hands. The light grows brighter and brighter, till an anemoculus pops out and floats down into Aether’s chest. The ghostly symbol of Anemo fading away and being absorbed into the boy's form.
He looks around, eyes curious and open. It’s kind’ve adorable.
He lifts a hand up to grab a wisp of light but it’s gone by the time he opens his hand.
“Ooh! Did you just feel the elements of the world? Seems all you had to do was just touch the statue to get the power of Anemo!” Paimon says, holding her chin in the ‘I’m-thinking’ pose.
You take a step towards the statue, the words of the two behind you starting to drown out. You can hear something, it almost sounds like… a violin? No… a lyre.
A flash of Venti appears in your brain and the hand hovering above the statue freezes. You turn to look at Aether. If he can get his powers due to being an Outlander, wouldn’t that mean…
You step back from the statue.
You almost hear it whining out your name, which is incredibly silly. It’s just a statue, a statue of immense power, but a statue nonetheless. It can’t yearn, and certainly not for you.
Another step backwards, and that tugging feeling in your chest disappears. You can’t stop thinking about the statue, so you focus on Aether and Paimon calling you across the water. You swim through it again, not worrying about your wet clothes this time.
You follow them, watching Aether use his new powers, the obvious wonder painting your face. Magic… he’s got magic. Watching the wind release from his hands and sword in controlled blasts is surprisingly the first thing about this endeavour that made you happy.
You’d always loved magic, you’d gotten involved in earth’s version of it, but you could never do anything like this… He aims a blast at another slime and then swiftly cuts it in two, and you smile.
“So she can actually smile,” Paimon says, crossing her arms and smirking at you.
Your smile quickly turns into a frown.
“I’ve smiled at you…” you say, staring at her. Your voice hurts a little less than earlier, which is a relief. No permanent damage to be seen, it seems.
She rolls her eyes and places her tiny hands on her hips.
“A real smile, silly! Not one of your sarcastic laughs either! I seriously thought you were a huge debbie-downer!”
You laugh and Paimon grins in triumph. She didn’t know what was wrong with you, but she knew something had happened. She wanted to help.
A growl sounds from above you and a giant shadow swiftly passes over your head. Your eyes snap up, and to your never-ending shock, a familiar blue dragon flies past. You barely get a glimpse, but you see it’s gorgeous butterfly patterned wings and it’s long elegant tail soar over the canyon. Both Aether and Paimon gawk up at it as well, and Paimon says-
“Wow! What is that?!”
Dvalin. It’s the legendary dragon Dvalin.
“There’s something huge! In the sky! It’s headed towards the heart of the forest. We must proceed with caution,” she warns, and you follow after the path Aether leads, your eyes still flickering up to the sky.
You’d be meeting the dragon soon.
And a certain mischievous God too.
Well, this was going to be a long day…
-
Unknown to you, a power simmered. Rejected and angry, it’s strength gathered, hoping to lure it’s chosen closer. It is determined, all for it’s beloved.
A statue along the coast begins to crack.
107 notes · View notes
wlfkssd · 3 years
Text
A Palm Touch
based on the prompt ‘ubbe + palm touch’ sent in by @ritual-unions-gotme <3
summary : a short piece about ubbe and torvi taking floki and the kids to the beach in the golden land. and some palm touching. 
warnings : mentions of children dying ( asa, hali and angrboda ), mentions of helga’s death, mentions of floki’s failing memory ( which i presume is dementia ), brief mention of torvi being pregnant again.
pairing : ubbe x torvi.
words : 1,013.
Days such as these in the Golden Land feel almost like dreams. From the flourishing settlement they've built, close to Floki's treehouse, it's only a short walk down to the shore. Unlike Norway, or more specifically the harbour in Kattegat, there is no wind most days and the salt from the sea doesn't mark the fair skin of the children's faces. In fact, the only things that do are the red or white stripes of paint, put there often by the Natives.
Ubbe carries his son, Ragnar, on his shoulders - as his father often did when he was a child - and allows him to catch a leaf here and there from the slightly higher branches of the trees that line the well-used trail. He's always shown them immediately; marvelling at their wonderous colour. Greens in summer, browns in autumn and nothing but cold, bare twigs in winter.
Torvi walks in her husband's wake with their daughter on her hip. Floki lags behind one or two steps, making faces so as to bring laughter to the little girl. There's no sweeter sound than that echoing about the woods.
"You can hold her, if you want, Floki. I trust you." Torvi stops and turns, eyes devastatingly caring. For a moment, she can see him considering it.
"No, no. Why would I want to do that?" Floki almost recoils though; voice whimsical. His face scrunches as his head tilts, once broad shoulders now dwarfed by a huge blanket to keep him warm despite the humidity. "I don't even like children, anyway."
The look that passes between them is one of absolute knowing. And then Floki laughs - that contagious little snicker - to signal he's not going to explain further. But Torvi knows that the death of his own daughter and the loss of Helga at the hands of a child she tried to help still holds firm in whatever memory remains.
"That is a shame. We might have named our second son after you." Turning back, Torvi continues on down the path, watching her step and hearing the giggles of her child.
A while later, they're settled and the sound of the waves brings about a peace unlike life ever allowed back home. Here, there is no more war. No more death.
"I don't know if you ever visited the Seer in Kattegat but it was practice to lick his palm." Ubbe tells her, smiling, both hands preoccupied with one of Torvi's as they lay beside each other, midday sun warming their tanned faces. He moves her fingers across the sky, using the spaces between them to let the light through, then blocking it again with her palm. It almost feels like a game Ubbe could play forever.
"Would you lick my palm for a prophecy?" Torvi jokes. Fingers of her free hand, closest to her husband, lazily play with the short hairs at his forehead.
"I would do anything you ask." His response seems subconscious as Ubbe traces the lines on Torvi's palm as though he were Floki; respecting each and every soft groove like the keel of the most beautiful ship. Almost as an after-thought, he brings her hand down for a lasting kiss. One that turns to two, then three as weather-chapped lips make their way up and up and up until he's half rolled over and leaning in to press their noses together. To breathe in one another.
"Stay close to your brother, Helga!"
Ubbe's attention turns from Torvi to where Floki sits, wrapped in his blanket a little ways across the beach. Thin-boned hand gesturing and Torvi's eyes follow as she sits up, slowly.
"You know, perhaps we should tell him one day that her name isn't Helga." Torvi remarks, gaze drawn to the children, playing in the shallow waves by the ocean's edge. They laugh and splash one another; Ragnar's hair having grown long enough for his sister to pull now. Ubbe grunts beside her, focus still upon the old man.
"Don't you think he's been through enough? Let him call her Helga if he wants to." Ubbe shrugs, clear eyes turning up to squint against the sun. He's outstretched, propping his weight on his elbows. An ankle resting easily atop the other as they lounge together upon the dry sand of the golden beach. "Who is it harming, hm?"
"Nobody, I suppose, but himself. Isn't that why we agreed not to call her Lagertha?"
Torvi has a point and Ubbe can't argue with it. Instead, he adjusts himself to sit properly as well, reaching over to lay a protective touch to the bump barely showing at her stomach. "You're right. But I don't think it would make any difference. His mind is worse these days. Do you really want to upset him like that?"
"I don't want to upset him at all but I'm afraid. One day she will ask who Helga is and will you be the one to tell her?" Ubbe catches her worried glance and keeps it. Though they may be some years apart in age, their minds work in very similar ways. He leans to kiss Torvi's hair.
"If I am the one she asks, then yes. I will tell her." He murmurs, lips still close to the crown of her head, before easing away and smiling again. "What do you think we should call this one?"
For a moment, Torvi only blinks. Then she sighs and lets him change the subject; adding her own warm and stroking touch above his on her belly.
"I don't know. Perhaps if it's a boy, we should call him Bjørn. After all, it is because of him that we are together like this." Much as it hurts to admit - and it really does hurt - Ubbe once again cannot deny that Torvi is right. Though they both still mourn the loss of Asa and Hali, the grief lessens with each passing day; the future they have together blossoming from the ashes of their shared tragedies.
"And if it is a girl?" Ubbe asks.
"Then we will call her Helga."
17 notes · View notes
keys-to-the-kinkdom · 3 years
Link
Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg Characters: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg Additional Tags: Body Modification, Consensual, Consensual Kink, Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex, Strap-Ons, Geralt gets a vagina, and loves it, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rituals Summary:
When Geralt gets curious, Yennefer uses her magic to indulge him. Neither of them expected quite how much fun they would have with his new anatomy.
The fire had burned down to softly glowing embers, filling the room with a soft glow. Yennefer lay draped over Geralt’s chest. They breathed together as the sweat cooled on their bodies. Geralt rumbled in quiet pleasure. Yennefer yawned and snuggled deeper under his chin.
‘I didn’t think it was possible for someone to come that many times in a row,’ Geralt murmured, running a warm hand up and down her back.
Yennefer chuckled. ‘It’s difficult not to when you’re being fucked by a cock as nice as yours,’ she said.
Geralt hummed and lay still for a long while.
‘How does it feel?’ he asked eventually.
‘How does what feel?’ Yennefer asked, sounding like she had been asleep, or as near as made no difference.
‘Getting fucked,’ Geralt clarified.
‘I can show you sometime, if you want,’ Yennefer mumbled, then began to snore.
It took Geralt a long time to get to sleep after that. The words bounced around his brain. They were still there in the morning, taunting him by popping up at the most inopportune times. The thing was, Yennefer had fucked him many times before. She had a variety of cocks, some more realistic than others and they had made enthusiastic use of them. Somehow, Yenn had made this offer sound different.
It all came to a head when they sat down for their evening meal.
‘What did you mean, last night?’ Geralt asked, ‘When you said you could show me sometime.’
Yenn’s smirk was truly beautiful, if a little bit ominous.
<hr></hr>
The ritual ink was cool on Geralt’s skin and he had to resist the urge to scratch it. Yennefer stood outside the circle and began her chant. The Elder words meant nothing to Geralt, but he could feel the rising Chaos taking effect on his body. Unlike the mutations, it didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel entirely pleasant either. He breathed through it and then all of a sudden it was over. He stood very still, not wanting to break Yenn’s concentration in case she was still working. He took inventory of his body. Nothing hurt. The space between his legs felt... different somehow. It wasn’t like he was ever particularly aware of his dick, but the absence of it screamed in his senses. He pressed his thighs together and nearly moaned at the sensation. His newly created clit was sensitive as hell.
‘Feel good?’ Yennefer asked, looking up and smirking.
‘Yeah,’ he moaned, ‘feels so good.’
‘Want to take your new cunt for a spin?’ Yennefer’s smirk was downright filthy. Geralt couldn’t help but moan again.
He would never be quite sure how they got to the bed. Every step rubbed the fabric of his braies against his clit and shot little sparks of pleasure up his spine. There could have been portals involved for all he cared, but the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back in Yenn’s huge bed, moaning into her mouth as she kissed him and raked her fingers down his chest.
‘So, darling,’ she purred, ‘would you like to find out how it feels to get eaten out?’
Geralt’s whine was embarrassingly high and thready, but Yennefer kindly took it for the assent it was and helped him scramble out of his braies. The cool air hitting his bare cunt felt amazing and highlighted just how wet he was already. He felt dizzy with it, warm and wet and <em>aching</em> to be filled. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t muster the words. Instead, he reached out and flailed around until he could grasp Yenn’s hand and pull it to his temple. He felt her slip inside the edges of his mind, hovering there with a vaguely questioning air.
<em>’Is it always like this?’</em> he thought at her.
She laughed. ‘Not quite. It’s all new to you. Your body is used to processing arousal differently, so it’s a little overwhelming for you at the moment. It will get easier, especially if we get you off a few times.’
She removed her fingers from his temple and slid down the bed. He spread his legs at her urging and felt her settle between them. Her warm breath ghosted over his centre and he quivered with a sudden onslaught of need. The first touch of her tongue to his folds set him keening in startled pleasure, his hands fisting in the sheets below him so that he wouldn’t grab at her hair. He needed more. Thankfully, she seemed to sense his desire and pushed the flat of her tongue against him, letting him rock into her. One of her dainty hands pressed down on his hip, not enough to hold him in place but enough to make him want to stay. He stilled, belly quivering as she enfolded his clit with her lips and swirled her tongue around. His thighs clenched and he howled at the feeling. She repeated the motion, driving his need higher and higher. He could feel something building at the base of his spine, desire pooling through his hips and into his achingly empty cunt. She sucked harder and flicked her tongue just so and the feeling cracked apart, shivering through him and causing him to wail out. He could have been shouting words, but he wasn’t sure. Everything was subsumed by the rush of blinding pleasure. He could feel his cunt spasming on nothing and wished he had something to clench down on. The feeling spread out through him, fading slowly and leaving him twitchy with fizzing aftershocks and Yenn gentled her mouth. Eventually, she pulled away entirely and let him pant through the last of the feeling. Yet, even after he’d returned to something approaching a baseline, he was still desperate for something more.
‘Was that everything you hoped for?’ Yenn asked, licking her lips with a smug little grin.
‘Yenn, Yenn, please, I need you to fuck me,’ he gasped.
Her smirk grew wider and darkly predatory. She slid from the bed and made her way to the small chest by the wall. Geralt whined, knowing exactly what the chest held.
‘I’m not going to start too big,’ she told him, perusing her selection. ‘I know you want it, but the stretch will be more intense than you’re anticipating. I don’t want to hurt you.’
Geralt nodded, frankly uncaring as long as she fucked him with <em>something</em> as soon as humanly possible.
It was both far too long and hardly any time at all before Yennefer was crossing back to his side, a slim wooden prick in her hand. It was one of the pretty ones that curved, with two ends, one for her and one for him. She let him see it as she teased one end between her legs, letting her slick drip down over it until it glistened and slid in easily when she pressed. Once it was fully seated she whispered a handful of words and Geralt’s medallion leapt on his chest as her violet magic sank into the wood. This time, when she stroked her hand down the external end of the prick, he could see her shiver at the sensation.
He felt himself grow wetter as she prowled towards him. When she settled between his legs, he reached for her, stroking a hand down her side. The position was a familiar one from all the times Yennefer had used her collection of wondrous pricks to fuck him silly before, but there was something different about knowing that she was soon going to be slipping into his warm, wet cunt. The reversal felt somehow illicit and all the more thrilling for it.
Yennefer brushed her fingers up the inside of his thighs before she lined the slim head of her prick up with his entrance. He felt himself spreading around it, the stretch odd, but not unwelcome. It almost, but not quite, burned and he whined at the edge of <em>too much</em> that he was feeling. 
‘Ready?’ Yenn asked, catching his eyes.
He was too overwhelmed to speak, and just nodded at her, but she was used to that and took him at his word, pushing in slowly and steadily. Geralt threw his head back and howled as he was split open. He had just enough of his faculties left to be thankful that she had chosen one of her smallest pricks, because even with that, the stretch was intense. He felt it as she bottomed out in him, their hips pressed flush together. Her breasts heaved as she struggled to stay still and let him adjust. It took a moment, but he finally felt like he wasn’t going to fly apart immediately. He twitched his hips and moaned at the sensations sparking through his nerves.
‘Move,’ he groaned.
Yennefer raised one eyebrow at his demanding tone, but started twisting her hips in a sensuous wave, thrusting in slowly and steadily. The head of the wooden prick pressed against a spot just inside him that felt wonderful. He couldn’t help but match her rhythm, caught between rocking her into that spot and taking her as deep as he could to feel the stretch. He could feel that same pressure building, but it plateaued before it could break. No matter how he moved or how hard Yennefer thrust, he was caught. He whimpered.
Yennefer laughed, not unkindly. ‘A lot of people need a little helping hand when they’re getting fucked,’ she explained and reached down to fondle his clit with one hand. Her long, dextrous fingers wrapped around it, gently tugging and pressing. The pressure was suddenly building again, much faster now. 
When Yennefer bent over and kissed him, all teeth and delicious possession, Geralt lost himself in a wave of pleasure. His whole body tensed and shook and he ground down on the hardness inside him, chasing the shocks of pleasure it provided. He was vaguely aware of the noise he was making, but he didn’t, <em>couldn’t</em> care when his whole body was lit up with such incandescent sensation. 
Eventually, he relaxed and began to come down from the intensity. Yennefer pulled out of him just before it became too much and let him pant quietly for a moment. 
‘D’you want?’ he asked, waggling a hand vaguely towards her.
She laughed, ‘I came while you were busy, but thanks for checking.’
Geralt hummed and drifted for a while longer. He listened to the sounds of Yennefer cleaning off the wooden prick and returning it to its place in the chest. He heard her splash some water into the bowl and wet a cloth, then run it between her legs. He flinched a little as she came and did the same to him, cleaning up his slick and sweat and also causing twinging aftershocks to light up his clit. She threw the cloth aside and then climbed into bed to wrap around him, stealing his heat as she always did.
‘Was that everything you wished for?’ she asked, quietly.
‘How long will it last?; Geralt asked.
‘I tied the spell to your own innate Chaos, so theoretically, as long as you want.’
‘Hmm,’ Geralt hummed, happy and sated, ‘Think I might keep it a while. Maybe until after winter.’
9 notes · View notes
quickspinner · 5 years
Text
MLValentines2k20 9. Cupid
Playing catch-up a little bit; I still have one more of these I want to finish before I call it done.
“Jagged,” Luka sighed, hands on his hips as he surveyed the set before him. “You know I usually trust your judgement, but I think your designer’s lost her mind this time.” He’d never met Jagged’s favorite designer, but Jagged had insisted they bring her in for this album cover. Jagged raved about her, but Luka generally tuned him out after the first few sentences. Jagged really only had two modes: total enthusiasm or absolute distaste. Either way, Luka always took his opinions with a grain of salt.
XY had bitched about her, but Luka had ignored that too, inferring from it only that the designer was attractive and that she’d had enough taste to shoot XY down. Luka hadn’t said anything, though. Speaking badly about the boss’s son was frowned upon even for up and coming rock stars. Unless Jagged decided to go independent and took Luka with him, they both had to put up with both Bob Roth and XY for now.
Jagged unknowingly mimicked Luka’s pose, giving away his uncertainty even though his words were confident. “Just...wait. Have a little faith. Let’s hear her out, I’m sure Marinette has a plan.” 
“Her plan better not involve making my album look like a perfume ad, Jagged.” Luka replied, wrinkling his nose. 
“I have asked you repeatedly to call me Dad,” Jagged said absently. 
“This is a disaster!” wailed a voice from the other side of the room. Luka and Jagged both looked that way to see a young lady in a business suit with her hands buried in her blue-black hair as she stared at the same set they’d been staring at. “This isn’t what I requested at all! This will never work, it’ll look like a perfume ad! How did this happen?”
“But Marinette,” said a saccharine voice that made Luka cringe. He couldn’t see the speaker but that voice made his skin crawl. “This is exactly what you asked for. I followed your directions.” The words that followed were smug. “To the letter.” 
“Oh my—” The young woman sighed, taking her hands out of her hair and straightening her back. She unbuttoned the coat of her suit and slipped it off, tossing it over the back of a chair and began unbuttoning and rolling up the sleeves of her blouse. “Right. Okay. This is not happening. Jagged and Luka will be here any minute and we’re going to do this shoot and it’s going to look amazing, and not like it belongs on the front of a Valentine’s card. When I was talking about Cupid, I meant the mythical Cupid, Lila, you know, the hot young guy with the bow, the literal embodiment of love and desire? NOT the chubby little baby cupid that sits on a cloud. You said you understood. Did you even look at the pictures I sent you?”
“But, Marinette, your notes said—” 
“Forget it,” Marinette said briskly, stepping up to the set under the lights. “I don’t have time for your excuses. I have to fix this.” She started ripping out the clouds. “Do we have any paint? Because there is no way we are photographing Luka Couffaine, the hottest rock star in the country right now, on this.” 
Holy hell, she was gorgeous, bold and determined and in charge, her feet planted as she reached up and pulled another piece of cotton batting down. She waved at the baby blue background. “Someone get me some black paint.” 
A hand waved in front of his face and he became aware of Jagged calling his name. He blinked and looked back at Jagged. “That’s your designer?” Luka asked inexplicably breathless.
“Best in the business,” Jagged said proudly. “Come on, wipe the drool off your face and I’ll introduce you.” 
Luka very much wanted to be introduced. He also wanted her phone number and a personal guided tour of the nearest supply closet. 
“Listen,” Jagged said, grabbing his arm and turning him so that the two men were eye to eye. “You watch how you treat her. I can make another son but I will never find another designer with that kind of talent, and if you piss her off I will put you right back on that boat with your mother where I found you, understand?
“Love you too, Dad,” Luka muttered, and Jagged apparently took that for agreement, hauling Luka forwards with him. 
“Marinette!” he called, and Marinette turned, a pretty smile lighting her face.
“Jagged!” Then she caught sight of Luka and her eyes widened slightly, the smile dropping immediately. “Mr. Couffaine!”
“Luka, this is Marinette, the most rock ‘n roll designer you’ll ever meet.” Jagged looped one arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “Tell us what you’ve got planned for us, Mari.” 
“Actually—well, I—” She only fumbled for a moment before she got her bearings back and straightened, stepping out from Jagged’s arm to turn to Luka with a professional air that didn’t make her one bit less attractive. Luka blinked at the not-quite-fake smile she gave him, absently noting the light smattering of freckles across her nose. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Couffaine, it seems there was a bit of a, er...misunderstanding and the set up is all wrong. I apologize for taking up your time but I’ll have this fixed as quickly as possible. In the meantime, is there anything we could get you while you wait? Would you maybe like a snack?” 
Jagged stepped on his foot before he could answer. It didn’t do much thanks to Luka’s heavy boots but it did remind him of Jagged’s threat. Not that that was necessary. Jagged was the one renowned for losing his shit in public, not Luka. No matter how much he really did want this particular snack, no one would know. Besides, he wasn’t XY. The woman was here to do a job, not entertain Luka’s fantasies, and he needed to get his mind off her very pretty mouth and back on the job.
Before he could come up with a professionally appropriate answer, though, another girl popped up at Marinette’s elbow. “Mr. Couffaine, if you’d like to come with me I’d be happy to make sure we find you something satisfying while Ms. Dupain-Cheng fixes her mistake.”
Luka recoiled slightly; this was the saccharine voice he’d heard before and it was even less pleasant up close. “No, thank you,” he said automatically, barely even glancing at her. “I’m fine.” He looked back at Marinette. “It’s fine, I don’t mind waiting. Honestly I’m relieved, I was a little worried when I saw the set.”
“Of course you would be,” the other girl said sympathetically, and Luka, who hadn’t moved his eyes from Marinette, saw the designer visibly grind her teeth.
Still, her tone was entirely professional as she said, “Lila, please go get us the black couch from the casting room, the one with the silver studs. I’m sure with your persuasive talents you can find some help to get it here.”
“Of course, Mar—Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” Lila said, and Luka doesn’t even have to look at her to know that her bright, helpful tone was completely insincere. She brushed past him, her fingers lingering on his wrist for a moment. He twitched it away without a glance in her direction.
“Well, if you’re sure you don’t need anything, Mr. Couffaine,” Marinette said, turning back to Luka. “Then if you and Jagged wouldn’t mind waiting, I hope I’ll have this cleared up shortly.”
“I have no doubt,” Luka replied, with a slow grin. “And please call me Luka, I hate being Mr. Couffaine.” 
“Of course,” Marinette smiled. “Feel free to call me Marinette. Jagged certainly does.” She made a cheeky face at his father, and Luka missed what Jagged said in response because Marinette laughed, and it was a beautiful sound and that was a real smile on her face and...wow, those eyes. 
His heart was suddenly pounding. Those eyes were familiar. Did...did he know her? He watched her, fascinated for a different reason, as she went over to take the can of paint from the assistant who’d brought it. She went with purpose to the backdrop, standing back for a moment as if to consider. Then she took a wide brush and began painting across the blue background in broad strokes that she left ragged at the edges. 
“I can change the color in post,” she mumbled. “Psyche’s lamp would be shining from...here, so this area stays light.” 
Jagged, easily bored as always, excused himself, leaving Luka there alone as Marinette made quick work of the backdrop. When she was done the smell of paint hung thick in the air but the scene was much better. A few more changes and the perfume ad look was replaced by a much grittier but still fantastical scene. The fluffy carpet was gone from the floor, revealing a hardwood platform. Marinette had taken some of the prop arrows and broken them in half (and watching her snap them like so many twigs had set his blood rushing again). Then she turned to Luka with a wide, much more sincere smile than she’d had before. “All right, I think we’re ready for our Cupid.” 
Oh...right. That was him. Luka sighed, but unbuttoned his shirt and took it off as he’d been instructed and removed his heavy boots, leaving him in his ripped jeans embellished with chains. He’d been through hair and makeup before they came. 
“We’ll start with you on the floor,” Marinette directed. “If Lila actually manages to get us the couch,” her tone seemed to indicate she thought it unlikely, “We can try that later and see what we like best. Vincent, can you show him where please?”
Luka followed the photographer’s directions and waited while they adjusted the lights. “I should warn you,” Luka said, glancing up at Marinette with a hint of trepidation. “I’m not a model or an actor. I’m not actually good at this part.” 
“I’ve seen you perform,” Marinette smiled reassuringly, and why were those eyes so familiar? “I’m not worried. If you can evoke that much emotion on stage I’m sure we can pull some of it out here.” 
Genuinely flattered, Luka smiled up at her. Marinette patted his bare shoulder. “It’s just another kind of performance,” she told him, and then she seemed to grow flustered, snatching her hand back. Luka couldn’t help a smirk. Marinette turned away, cheeks pink. 
Then it was business as usual, trying different poses while trying not to look bored out of his mind. Watching Marinette skitter about was entertaining, at least, but he couldn’t follow her constantly.
“He is so stiff,” Vincent complained, straightening and putting a hand on his hip. “Marinetta, can you not inspire the boy a little more?” Luka winced and sighed. Well, he warned her.
“Let’s take a break,” Marinette said, looking completely unbothered by this turn of events.
Luka sighed, sitting up and propping his elbows on his knees as she approached. “Told you,” he shrugged. Marinette knelt on the floor next to him and pulled out her phone. “Cupid brings love to everyone,” she told him, “but he never finds love himself until he meets Psyche. But he won’t let her see his true self until she comes into his room with a lamp while he’s sleeping. That’s what we’re going for with this shoot.” 
“Right,” Luka answered automatically. This had all been explained in the pitch, though he hadn’t paid all that much attention at the time. He actually didn’t get a whole lot of say in his album covers.
“Obviously we’re taking some liberties here,” Marinette continued. “Instead of being passive and asleep, you, as our Cupid, are finally ready to show your lover your true self, so you’re waiting for her to come in so you can really let her see you, and in doing so, allow yourself fall for her.”
His own music began to play from the speakers on her phone. She turned the volume all the way up, frowning in concentration. “There,” she said, looking up from the phone to meet his eyes. “The way you play the bridge, that’s what we’re looking for. That’s what inspired the shoot.”
Luka pursed his lips. The song was all about being ready to find love again after heartbreak, and the bridge was about that moment when you lock eyes with someone and choose to either look away or let yourself fall. It actually fit very well with the story Marinette had told him. He nodded slowly. “Play it again please.” 
Marinette complied, and Luka closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself sink into the music. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Marinette. Her lips parted in something like surprise, but she didn’t turn her gaze from him as she nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s it. Can you do that for the photos?”
“Can I look at you?” Luka asked. “It’s kind of hard just...staring into the lights.” 
Marinette’s cheeks pinked, but she nodded. “Okay. I’ll get Vincent to tell me where he wants you to look, and I’ll stand there. Don’t worry about the camera, just listen to the music and keep your eyes on me, okay? Vincent will do the rest.”
He felt the corner of his mouth tug into a smile, and had to take a breath to compose himself. “Yeah, okay.” Marinette smiled at him and again he was hit with that wave of familiarity. Luka tilted his head slightly. “Have we met before?” he asked. “You just...you look familiar.”
Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she looked mildly embarrassed. “I didn’t think you’d remember that.” 
“So we have met?” Luka asked, a little too eagerly. “It’s just—I swear I remember your eyes.”
Marinette blushed again, maybe even a little darker than before. “I went to school with Juleka. We, um, met on your mother’s boat once the year you left with Jagged. The music festival? You played with Juleka’s band and...I was there.”
Luka’s brow creased as he thought back to that day. “Ma-ma-marinette,” he whispered, a broad smile spreading across his face. 
Marinette made a face. “Oh good, you do remember.” 
Oh, he remembered. He absolutely remembered her now, as a skinny little kid with those beautiful eyes huge in her face as she babbled that they were ready for him to rehearse. She’d been so cute then, and he’d chatted her up a bit between the rehearsal and the concert, but then Jagged had come to the boat and everything had come out, and his whole life had been turned upside down, and he hadn’t seen her again. “Wow,” he breathed. “You’ve come a long way.”   
“So have you,” Marinette pointed out, giving him a hint of that cheeky smile she had turned on Jagged. “You’re a big rock star now.” 
“Oh, well I...yeah,” Luka slumped his shoulders a little bit, feeling his own face heat a little. “It’s been...well it’s been a trip, that’s for sure.” 
Marinette smiled. “You’re doing great. Are you ready to try again?” 
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Luka said, relaxing back into the reclining pose he’d been in. “Ready when you are.” 
“Okay.” She got up. “Hey Vincent?” 
Luka watched her, still marvelling that this confident little dynamo was the stuttering, blushing girl he’d met way back then. 
Well. She still blushed, he thought to himself with a smirk. 
“All right, we’re ready, Luka,” Marinette called, walking to a point off to his left. “Just like we talked about.” She played the song again, and Luka closed his eyes, getting into the music. Then he lifted his head and looked at Marinette, and she smiled. “Go, Vincent,” she said. “Just keep your eyes on me, Luka.”
Not a problem at all. The rest of the photo shoot was easier. Occasionally Marinette moved, directing Luka’s gaze to a different spot, while Vincent clicked away. Luka had long since stopped listening to the music she played. For one thing, he had a new song taking shape in his head...and for another, it was getting increasingly easier to look at Marinette like she was the girl of his dreams. 
Marinette was thrilled with the outcome of the photo shoot as she stood over Vincent’s shoulder, watching him click through the proofs. She knew immediately which series she would be using. The pose where Luka was half-reclined, looking off camera with an enraptured, expectant expression. He held one of the broken arrows in his hand, the point against his heart, ready to stab himself with his own arrow if it meant finding love again. She’d add wings made of light in post that would look electric against the dark background. She would darken the pale sky blue on the outside of the dark area she had painted to something that harmonized with Luka’s dyed hair, and then she would add a light source here for Psyche’s lamp…
It would be perfect. Not exactly like her sketch thanks to Lila’s sabotage, but just as good, if not better. She nodded in satisfaction, and went to tell Luka they had what they needed. 
He was hovering nearby, his shirt back on but only half buttoned. 
“You did great,” she told him, smiling. “I think we got everything we need. I’ll have the proofs in by the end of the week, but as long as you’re satisfied then I can say it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” 
“Thanks,” Luka said, ruffling his hair as she was sure he’d been itching to do since the whole thing started. Most of it fell right back into place, stiff with product. He raised his eyebrows slightly. “So do you actually work for me, or…” 
“I work for Jagged most of the time,” Marinette replied, already checking her schedule on her phone for the next thing she had to do. “I suppose you could say I’m on retainer with him in a way. I work directly for him on his personal looks and concert gear when he needs me, and the rest of the time I run my own business. I’m not affiliated with the label unless Jagged brings me in for a project like this as an independent consultant.” She gestured vaguely, indicating the shoot. “So today, technically I work for Bob Roth,” both of them made a face, “But Jagged calls the shots.” 
Luka nodded slowly, and then ducked his head a bit, hunching his shoulders so he didn’t tower quite so far over her. “Well then. First let me say that Jagged said he’d kick me off the tour if I upset you.” Marinette gasped and Luka chuckled. “He told me that he could make another son but he’d never find another designer like you, and having met you now I completely agree with him.” Marinette sputtered, having no idea how to respond to that, and to her embarrassment Luka chuckled through his nose at her. “Okay now I really believe you’re that Ma-ma-marinette.” Marinette pouted, folding her arms as Luka continued. “I’m just telling you this because I want to make sure you know there’s no pressure on you for what I’m about to ask, and if you say no I won’t breathe a word about it ever again. Okay?”
Marinette blinked. “Okay.”
“So...with that said, I’d really like to take you out sometime. Would you go on a date with me, Marinette?” Luka grinned, and it wasn’t at all like the rock star smirk he wore for his fans. It was sweet and hopeful and more like the boy from the boat than anything Marinette had seen since that day so long ago, when he’d teased her gently and played music just for her. She’d never forgotten that day and his kindness and she’d been happy to see him doing so well as he followed his dreams. 
Marinette found herself smiling back at him. “I’d um...I’d be open to that, if Jagged’s okay with it. You might not be my boss but you’re still the boss’s son, and…” She shrugged helplessly.
“I get it,” Luka smiled. “You’re a professional, I know that.” He raised his chin slightly to look over her head. “Hey, Dad!” he called. Marinette’s eyes widened and she turned around to see Jagged poking his head back into the studio. “Can I date Marinette?” 
“Oh God,” Marinette whispered, anticipating Jagged’s reaction. 
“Just wait until we announce our engagement,” Luka chuckled as Jagged’s whoop carried across the studio, the man himself barreling towards them. 
Marinette looked back at him in surprise. “You’re sure of yourself.” 
Luka’s grin only widened. “I’m sure about you. Pick you up at eight tomorrow?”
Marinette managed a weak “O-okay,” and then Jagged was on them, and nobody else got a word in edgewise for quite some time.
376 notes · View notes
danwhobrowses · 4 years
Text
Ghost of Tsushima: Thoughts, Ideas and Hopes for DLC and Sequels
Tumblr media
So I recently Platinum’d Ghost of Tsushima, I finished the story last week after 30 entries of livestreams which saw a whopping viewership of at most 2 people including one asshole that decided to spoil the end of Act II before I got there because I was playing stealthy and the way I wanted to play. But then wrapped up the Achievements on my own time. After a bit of stewing I’m ready to talk gush about it, including what I liked, a small bit of stuff I disliked and stuff I would suggest for future DLC and Sequel(s)
Spoilers for the Game, unlike that Commenter on my Stream I will not Spoil you on this, it is truly something you should experience for yourself
Because Good Lord, What A Game. Easily my Game of the Year, which compared to all the big hitter titles released is amazing, I mean Crash Bandicoot could still blow me away and Cyberpunk, Watch Dogs, Godfall, AC Valhalla and Miles Morales in waiting but probably not in this way. It is a magnificent game, one made with fantastic care and beauty, but before I go all out, let’s get the negatives out of the way 出る杭は打たれる。: A Flawed Masterpiece Ghost of Tsushima is brilliant but not without its faults. Most of these faults are admittedly minuscule and fixable, but until they are fixed they remain flaws. The biggest disappointment for me with the game was the lack of Japanese lip syncing. I loved the Japanese track, it also highly appealed to me to hear One Piece’s Roronoa Zoro voice Jin, but you have to kinda avoid looking at the mouths because it doesn’t match up, the models still speak in English and it’s a heavy shame that can kill some immersion. I guess they didn’t have the finances for it, because they could’ve done the lip syncs at the same time as they did the English ones if they had the Japanese track too. Combat for the most part was great, aiming could be wonky at times and Jin’s attacks didn’t carry on to a 1 foot ledge, but my main gripe with combat was the Camera getting in the way. It was adjustable most times, but other times it was not. Doing standoffs in the tall grass was night impossible at the later stages without the knees giving us a tell, one standoff I had was completely obstructed by a tree - I’m not making it up, a tree was literally all I saw for the Standoff. You lose so much health for failing a standoff too, bit harmful in later levels. The remaining issues are probably more personal, I didn’t quite like some of the sword kit designs - the ones with fluffy sleeves and I didn’t really like the armor dye you get for 100%ing the achievements, some weapons seemed to lose their luster in later parts of the game (particularly the half bow and Explosive Arrow, the former was only good for killing the angry doggos and the latter only killed Mongols if near another explosive to stack), that one Masako quest mission where you have to follow and pick off Straw Hats one by one without being seen, but will fail if you pull a triple assassination before the outpost where Masako’s lesbian lover was leading them all to so there’s more Straw Hats to blow my cover! (it wasn’t difficult it just annoyed me that it failed me for killing them all early) and the completionist in me hates that there are empty slots in the arrow and blowgun sections, but they can be worked in what I’ll talk about a bit later down the line, alongside some minor loose threads. Also you killed my horse man!
Your horse will accompany you on your entire journey - Ghost of Tsushima UI Message
Don’t you dare lie to me like that again Sucker Punch! Just because you’re named that doesn’t mean you can live up to it, we already lost one horse at the beach! Had to spend the final act with Not-Sora and Kaze with a hole in my heart never to be filled. But with that dealt with, let’s talk about some things I loved about the game
花は桜木人は武士 :  Living into a Legend With these games it is very easy to fall into the Elder Scrolls prototype of an array fun side quests and exploration and a so-so main story. Ghost of Tsushima though decided to have both the array of side quests and exploration and a great, complex and partly tragic story. There were many times I wanted to get back to the main story but held off because I wanted to be prepared. Long distances didn’t feel too bad to travel when the roads were uncharted either thanks to radiant battles, new settlements, vanity gear and side missions to ease you on the way. Additionally, the characters are for the most part fantastic, I cared for the safety of most of my allies and Jin himself, I wanted the Khan dead in a cerebral villain (albeit one whose final battle fell into cowardice) and I was open to the complexities of Ishikawa and Tomoe. I did feel that Shimura was being a tad ungrateful but I think it was intended for us to be frustrated to the edicts of the Samurai code - my frustration led me so much to deep dive to prove myself justified since the code was subjective and many agreed to aspects of ‘win no matter what’ and ‘do what protects the people the most’. Along with the main quest was paired with the character journeys of our allies as well as the Mythic tales which granted some extra strength and challenges to overcome in order to expand Jin’s arsenal. I particularly liked the observation and killing of leaders to learn new stances, as well as the widely acclaimed Stand-Off and the duels. The Arkhamverse fan in me did appreciate the focused hearing for stealth and that assassination speed could be upgraded. The idea of collecting vanity gear, armour dyes and equipment that are remains of the conflict showed that SP had completely immersed their plot into the world of Tsushima, with a great amount of exploration and nuances nodding to Japanese folklore And Tsushima is certainly stunning, it’s amazing that the PS4 can hold this much when we know how the PS5 is meant to be with ray tracing. The landscapes are beauteous which makes exploration and travel much more fulfilling, as well as the photo mode and the scenic builds to some of the major battles. What’s also wonderful is the calligraphy cutscenes for Mythic Tales and the loading screens, some wonderful artistry. Artistry which is added to by the brilliant uses of Haiku spots, Bamboo Strikes, Lighthouses, Shrines, Altars which you bow to, Fox dens where you can pet the Foxxos and even the Hot Springs for some ‘Man-Butt Action’, each positions that fit to Japanese media in soaking in a moment without killing any pace, especially added to the fact that each one contributes to a purpose. I will admit, I chose wrong at the end, I was thinking more of Shimura (said ungrateful uncle)’s honour rather than what Jin would what, feeling that Shimura would’ve done it himself had Jin not. But seeing the spare ending made me wish I chose that one and it’s something I’ll touch on later. But both endings are fitting and tragic for Jin’s journey from Samurai to the Ghost, being inspired by his allies and his connection to Yuna, there has been conflict throughout regarding the line of protection, honour and vengeance explored through other people’s tales that blend together perfectly with the main plot.  It is pretty political as well with the argument presented by Jin and Shimura’s conflict. Samurai while still romanticised were still shown to be bound to the blind loyalty towards the Shogun and Jito, you did not defy because it inspired others to think freely. Jin became a champion of a people by defending the people rather than listening to the jito - represented by the shogunate - and their stringent ideas that the Samurai who failed on the beach would be able to out-muster the force and brutality of the Mongol invasion regardless of the collateral and yet still call that honour. In the current climate in 2020, that hits a chord a little closer than expected. And the main story certainly has their stellar moments, the ups and downs really hit you - like killing my freaking horse! I had to lose Yuriko, Taka and Sora in a single playthrough. Losing Taka was inevitable, but still heartbreaking because of how much we struggled to save him and how much we want to still be Yuna’s friend, but then the highs just blow you away from the opening act, Ghost Stance, raiding Castle Kaneda and Shimura and the final raid at Port Izumi. Also did I mention that you can pet the Foxxos? Because that’s very important, also NPCs walk at your pace most of the time, which is a fantastic addition. I could probably go deeper but there’s other stuff I want to cover, but understand that the world and the story is wonderful and if you’re a fan of Assassin’s Creed, Arkhamverse and just Japanese culture in general this should tick your boxes. And hopefully there’s more to come.
石の上にも三年 : Strait to DLC The sad thing that happens when a good game is over is the void. Even if its days, having nothing left of the game to play is still a shame, and I know that Legends DLC is announced, but multiplayer involving fighting Oni as mythic legends isn’t my pace, I’m still not done with Jin and I feel like there are things we could still do. There are still 3 conflicts Jin’s story never resolved that could still be resolved now, each as multi-layered quests. The first is this ‘Ghost Army’ mentioned by the wagon guy in Omi, we are not leading this so who is? We may not be able to stop them but we could reduce the amount of people thinking we’re leading them to fight. The second is Daizo, if you don’t know that name it’s because the guy is never seen in the game, you only read about him in the Records of ‘Conversations with the Khan’. This Japanese Monk clearly has a thing for the late Khotun and he feels that the Ghost is being a dishonorable monster, this Khan lover is still at large and a confidant of Khotun, we could link with Norio in a quest to ensure he doesn’t rally or try to spread his appreciation of the Khan to others to try and complete Khotun’s work. The final conflict is one that eats me up: How did the Mongols Know About the Poison? Yuriko died showing me how to make the poisons, made more potent from her own herbal poisons which were crushed down, if she didn’t tell and I didn’t tell, who told? Because the Mongols drank the evidence and we could make a story of an Omi village traitor or even someone from Shimura’s camp leaking the info to the Khan to try and preserve ‘honour’. On top of these loose ends I’d very much like to see our allies again, even if they’re just at their home doing their own thing, as well as some other minor side characters like the Tadayori descendant Kaede, Flame Swordsman Bettomaru (who would’ve both been mighty useful with this Mongol affair beyond their sole missions) and the Yarikawa Archer Daikoku, I also would like to see confirmation on Jin and Yuna - there is clearly something there but that could be just me. What is also just me would be the suggestion of a shrine that can let you redo the Shimura decision, it’s not a too ‘out-there’ thing to do either considering we fought a Tengu. The shrine could be for Omoikane, Kami of wisdom and intelligence or Ame-no-Koyane, the ‘First in Charge of Divine Affairs’ which’d subject the player to a gauntlet of bosses past; Ryuzo, Kotun and Shimura, if the player goes against their initial decision, they will trade their ghost armour dye for the other and get a Charm of Pondering, if they stick to their guns they get both ghost armour dyes and a Charm of Strengthened Stance. In similar vein we could have a master Mythic Tale that stacks the duels of those tales into one for another special attack, weapon or armour. It’s also possible that we could add more duels, some remnants trying to avenge Khotun or even some Samurai sent by the Shogun in promise of becoming Jito. Likewise we can use this to complete the weapons set; for the Half Bow, take the Mongols’ poison arrows (which can be a reward for finding who leaked the poison to them) which can just eat at lesser enemies’ health and take a chunk of stronger enemies’ health before resolving out of it, as well as a sticky arrow that could slow enemies or weaken their armour, or a perfume arrow that can mess with the falcons and angry doggo’s senses. For the Long Bow we could have...okay I’m drawing a blank here but I’m not meant to do all the work XD For the Blowgun at least you could have a Blinding Dart to aid in stealth and a Panic Dart to increase chances of Terrify. We could even have a few more upgrades to our ghost weapons and stance combats, even increase the amount of kills Ghost Stance can yield. In addition to more Fox Dens, Shrines, maybe new resources to bolster upgrades, Sword Kits, Haikus, Banners, Flute Songs, dyes and so on. But I know what you’re thinking, we can’t put that all in Tsushima? We’ve covered the entire island and it’s unlikely that SP would make a fictitious island. And to that I say, I have that covered. In the Tsushima Strait between the island and the mainland there is Iki Island, part of the same prefecture and equally ravaged by the Mongols during the invasion, it’s also the base of pirates which can offer a stop point for a Tomoe reunion or simply travel via Umugi Cove. A small bit of expansion wouldn’t hurt, as long as Iki isn’t planned for something else that is.
能ある鷹は爪を隠す : Hopes for a Sequel Now part of me would be content if this was a one and done, the game shines perfectly on its own. But I would not turn one down. Though many would feel that Jin’s journey is done (I even heard a suggestion of Tomoe, I could see that but not right now, maybe for a third) but not me, there’s still a few glaring issues at hand. For one, the Shogun now wants you dead, new clans are moving in on you and there will probably be a new Jito regardless of the ending choice because of Shimura’s failure, Adachi will also need to look at another clan taking its land. There’s also the vacuum left behind by the clans’ subsidiaries; Nagao particularly but also Adachi’s rival clan Kikuchi, there’s easily possibilities to use canon Sō, Abiru, Shōni and Imagawa, there’s also room for Kikuchi Takefusa, who survived both Mongol invasions  . A sequel could offer some clan territorial tensions in that regard as the people of Tsushima side with the Ghost over the mainland. That conflict is one we have touched on in the end of the first, Jin has fought for his country’s safety so how will he act when his country wants him dead? The first was a story of sacrifice perhaps the next can be a story of maintaining his legend, inspiring the mainland Samurai and even redeeming himself in the eyes of the non-Tsushima natives. It’s also worth remembering that Komoda was the beginning of the invasion, and there was a second invasion 6 years later where Tsushima was attacked once more, the death of non-canon Khotun could spark other higher ups of Kublai’s ranks to avenge or clean up for Khotun, Kublai also had counsel from different nations to understand his enemy so we could have an even more vicious and cerebral enemy be made, or even a group of enemies led by advisors like Liu Kan or Yao Shu, maybe even Marco Polo if we move the time after the first invasion. In terms of gameplay we could also see Jin expand from Tsushima to Iki and maybe some more naval warfare, growing in his equipment (like Caltrops, Kusari-Fundo and Suntetsu) and maybe even his weapon, an Ono, Jitte or a Naginata to rotate with his not-yet-made Katana to combat with Samurai or the army of a Mongol threat, maybe even use the Bo-Hiya for ranged fire archery learned from the Hwacha. And like the Mass Effect games (or Dragon Ball Xenoverse if you wanna pick a franchise that didn’t end in a bitter aftertaste) you could have the option to transfer over some data from the PS4 save to the next one, which’d inevitably be on PS5 at the least - also don’t be surprised if this gets a PS5 remaster too, especially if it does win Game of the Year. What I suggested for DLC could be used here too, if there is a sequel with Jin I really, really hope that SP don’t opt for the route of killing Jin (or Yuna) off for effect, I was nervous about the current game ending with Hara Kiri and I’d rather not have that or a downer of a death for the legendary Ghost (I am a happy endings guy after all). An alternative route to go (other than following Tomoe to the mainland to rip off the Ghost) is to work backwards, call it ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ working towards a story of a more ancient time, where a thief could become a samurai clan. A clan Sakai or Shimura origin would sell in that way too and avoid the idea that we have to start again from zero but still have the more ‘dishonorable’ stealth tactics.
義は険しい山よりも重く、死は大鳥の羽よりも軽い : Conclusion In the end, this game was worth the wait, worth the delays and worth the price tag. I feel like this will be one of the games I’ll fondly remember when thinking of the PS4, which has truly had a stellar library of awesome games like Spider-Man, God of War, the Crash, Ratchet & Clank and Spyro Remasters, DMCV, Jedi: Fallen Order and more. This truly ticked the boxes for the anime nerd within me and the history buff, even the Haikus spurred the poet in me a little too. If anyone hasn’t played this game, they should, and I hope that Sucker Punch realises that people like me want to see more. If it stands alone so be it, but I’m not ready to leave Jin or Tsushima just yet. いってらっしゃい
Tumblr media
15 notes · View notes
msblackjack139-blog · 4 years
Text
Lucky Lady's Charm Slots Free Download
Tumblr media
About Lucky Ladys Charm Deluxe
Lucky Lady’s Charm is a 5-reel, 9 paylines slot game developed by Novoline. They added it to their bestselling list and recently launched a Deluxe version of it, adding another payline to the game.
Lucky Lady’s Charm Deluxe is a very flexible slot game. Suitable both to casual players and high-rollers. Players wanting to play all paylines on every spin can do so from the minimum of one credit per line (10 credits for a full spin) up to 100 credits per line, with maximum bet of 1000 credits for a full spin. It offers a 4500 coins reward when a player lands 5 Lucky Lady’s Charm symbol to fill all the reels. Paytable & Bonus: Get 15 Free Spins and 3x Multiplier. Free spins: in the Lucky Lady’s Charm slot free the scatter symbol triggers up to 15 extra spins when it appears on the screen. It is not reel specific, meaning that it pays when 3. Lucky Lady's Charm Deluxe 6 Slots. Regulars at online casinos offering software by Novomatic should be familiar with the Lucky Lady as she is one of the most famous faces in their library of games and her masses of fans will be chuffed that the Lucky Lady’s Charm Deluxe 6 video slot sees her return to our screens once again – but will she prove to be as charming as ever and leave you. PlayNovomaticSlots.com treats you right with the ultimate Lucky Lady's Charm version. Here you can play without a time limit, no registration, and no download required. We provide free credits so you can freely play such a great release of your favorite slots game. The bonus in Lucky Lady's Charm is really good because you get 15 free spins and every one of them gives you 3X pay. So, if you were to hit 5 of the ladys in a row, you would win $2700 on a $1 spin! Lucky Lady's Charm Slot Machine.
The theme of the slot, as its name says, is the fortune you can win through the unexpected twists of luck. Lucky Lady’s Charm game is centered around the traditional symbolistic of luck and it features charms like rabbit’s foot, ladybug, a crystal ball, horseshoe, the four-leaved clover, and so on. The lucky charms are accompanied by the usual play card slots: A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9.
The center character of the theme is the Lucky Lady herself, a blonde, mesmerizing presence who also doubles as a Wild symbol. That means that she can replace any other symbol like a Joker would in a classic card game.
Scatter Symbol
Following the Lucky theme, the Scatter symbol in Lucky Lady’s Charm game is a pink crystal ball. Unlike most other symbols, the Crystal Ball doesn’t have to show up on adjacent reels for you to win, but it is enough for it to appear anywhere on the board. If you have three or more crystal balls on the board, you win a special bonus.
Bonus Features
1. Gamble When you get a winning spin, the “Gamble” button activates and flashes. In the Gamble screen, you can double your winnings if you guess the card color that will be drawn (red or black - 50/50 chance.) If you select correctly, you can play 5 times in a row; if you select the wrong color, you go back to your original winnings. 2. Double and Triple the Prizes The Lucky Lady symbol acts as a double multiplier in winning combinations, or even a triple multiplier in bonus rounds. 3. Get Bonus Rounds Bonus Rounds are given when the Scatter symbol (crystal ball) appears three times on the board. You get 15 bonus rounds, or even more if you keep getting the crystal ball in winning combinations.
Paylines
Depending on which version of the Lucky Lady’s Charm game you are playing, you have 9 paylines with the original or up to 10 paylines with the Deluxe version. The game displays the minimum betting amount per line, which you can easily adjust at any time in the game. Select any number of lines you want (up to 10) and the game will display the total bet per spin.
Paytable
Tumblr media
The Paytable screen is an information board that displays the values of the possible winning combinations for the selected lines and the betting amount you have entered. This way, you can calculate the risk and decide how much you are putting into the game.
One of the most successful Novomatic slot, the Lucky Lady’s Charm Game offers great fun while showing an impressive return to player rate of over 95,2%. Here on our website you play the game for free on your PC, tablet and mobile devices. If you want to spice it up a bit, take one of the best online Novoline casino bonuses under this text. Try it out and enjoy the ride!
Lucky Lady's Charm Slots Free Download Online
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
What are the rules of this free online casino fun?
Lucky Lady's Charm Slots Free Download Free
To start playing, the gambler should first settle the active lines (from 1 to 9) and define the bet for each of them, then choose the maximum possible bet for all the lines activating the Max Bet key. Having finished your preparations just push the Start button to make the reels spinning.
Tumblr media
After each winning combination takes place the gamer can double the win. Press the Bet key and a downturned card will appear on the screen. Guess the card color and (Bet One signifying the red color and Max Bet stands for the black one) you make your bet twice as big. You can repeat the try, but in a case of failure, your win will return to zero. To come back to the main game, press the Start button.
Lucky Lady's Charm Slots Free Downloads
As a rule, three or more equal symbols form a praised combination, but sometimes even two equal pictures compose a winning unit. The portrait of a beautiful Lady Charm can help you in the formation of the prized pattern. She is the Wild symbol here and is empowered to perform functions of any other sign. The Crystal Ball is a unique symbol for even in the scattered order in different lines it composes a winning combination and three or more pictures of this type result in 15 free spins doubling the win.
Tumblr media
1 note · View note
3c1i1v · 4 years
Text
Photo Mainpulation Assignment
‘Summer Beauty In Toronto’ and ‘On the shore’ are the names I gave the two photos.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
The Summer Beauty was captured by me on the way to grocery shop. The sky was blue at that time and you couldn’t see the edge at a glance. The only regret is that the yellow grass in the photo remind me that the long and cold winter is not over yet. My thought at the time was ,how nice it would be if it were a warm summer day. So I used Photoshop software to select the grass part and changed the grass to green by coloring.By adjusting the color of the grass, the shooting time of the photo has been changed, which can make the audience mistakenly believe that this photo may have been taken in the summer, and the name I gave it will be more convincing.
Tumblr media
The photo named ‘On the shore’ was taken in the restaurant where I work. This crab was in the seafood aquarium of restaurant. I cut out the crab from the original picture, superimposed a picture of the beach, adjusted the color and finally presented this photo. It would be very hard to capture a photo of a crab crawling on the beach. It is almost impossible for the crab to pose and wait for you to take a photo. Using photo edit technology, I can easily get a desired photo. Before the photo was modified, this crab was delicacy on the tale that was about to be slaughtered. However, by adjusting the location of the photo, the crab is now walking freely on the beach. The retouched picture is very deceptive, it it difficult for the audience to image what the original films looks like.  
Tumblr media
These two photos were processed by Photoshop software, which changed the original appearance and subverted readers perception of the original photos. Through the edited picture, the audience obtains information that is completely opposite to the original picture.”Summer beauty”comes from a photo taken in winter, and the crab in “On the shore” is an ingredient to be sold in restaurant.if I do not show the original picture and explain the editing process, the viewer will never understand the original appearance of the picture and the hidden truth behind.
News pictures try to show the truth, fairness,comprehensiveness,and freshness of new events. Therefore, it is not possible to take photos of sudden hard news, such as the occurrence of a major disaster or a scene of a fierce battle.The posing at this time is a recreation of the scene, no different from fake news. “Photojournalism distinguishes itself from other forms of professional photography by its adherence to the principles of journalism: timeliness, accuracy, fair representation of the context of events and facts reported, and accountability to the public.”(Photography school, 2016). Even so, news photos are not absolutely impose to edit. News images can be modified, but the modification must be justified and does not affect the truthfulness and objectivity of the news, such as bloody scenes, eroticism, privacy, etc. During this period, the photographer’s subjective emotions should not be added, and the pictures should be modified strictly in accordance with the news business standards to restore the most authentic news scene.
Both art and press photography use lenses to capture elements in reality to express language and convey ideas. But there is a big difference between the two. Firstly, the expression content is different.Photojournalism is the object of news dissemination.It must be substantial and truly show social life.”Photographic and video images can reveal great truths, expose wrongdoing and neglect, inspire hope and understanding and connect people around the globe through the language of visual understanding.”(NPPA,n.d). Art photography form of artistic expression. It is mainly to express subjective consciousness of the photographer. The photographer’s personal experience and life insights will be presented in the works. In addition, the differences in visual aesthetics between the two. News has the characteristics of suddenness and timeliness. Photojournalism requires true and accurate recording of news events. For photographers, it is very challenging to conceive in a very short time and face the complex shooting environment. For example, recording wars, or recording catastrophe moments such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, etc., will not give a second chance o re shoot. This requires a photographer to have a very keen sense of smell and a spirit of dedication to be able to shoot good photography. Unlike photojournalism, artists have a lot of time to create. Art photography can also be edited, and its forms of expression are more diversified. The work is based on the ideas of the creator and can be adjusted in any form. However, the audience’s understanding of photographic works will also be different, which is completely different from what photojournalism wants to accurately convey to the audience.  
 Reference
NPPA,”Code of Ethics”, Retrieved 4, March,2021 from https://nppa.org/code-ethics
Photography Schools,(Feb.,24, 2016),”A brief of history of Photojournalism”,Retrieved 4,March, 2021 from: https://www.photography-schools.com/photojournalismhistory.htm
1 note · View note
revisionaryhistory · 4 years
Text
Three Days ~ 35
Tumblr media
Catch up on AO3
~*~Emma~*~
Sebastian's hands are incredible. The way he touched my body set me on fire. His thumb on my clit was secondary to his fingers. He stroked the perfect spot inside me. I'd never had someone touch me so intentionally. Had he asked, I couldn't have told him what I needed. I had no idea. Sebastian did. I remembered what he'd said our first night, the sex would get better as he learned how to touch me. He was learning now, paying attention to my reaction and changing accordingly. I didn't understand a word he was saying and it wasn't solely because he was speaking Romanian. He spoke in long sentences next to my ear where I could feel his breath.
I felt the pressure start to build and dug my nails into his bicep.
Sebastian's face came into view and the Romanian stopped, "You gonna come for me, baby."
That I didn't instantly was a miracle. "I am." His touch became firmer. "Oh fuck, Bastian. Your fingers. .." My words were cut off by my orgasm. The last thing I saw before I went blind, I mean closed my eyes, was his smile.
Sebastian kissed my neck and moved his fingers from inside me to my clit. "Wanna come again?"
Thirty seconds later I did. My body shook and I grabbed his wrist, too sensitive for more touch. I fisted the hair on the back of his head and pulled him away, where I could see him. His blue eyes were sparkling and the line of his lips was edging close to a smirk, "Yes?"
I loosened my hold on his hair, "You have very talented fingers."
"I couldn't leave you hanging." He pushed his head back against my hand. "I like the hair pulling."
"I think I was going to kiss you." I squeezed my eyes together for a moment, "My brain's a little scrambled."
Sebastian brought his mouth to mine, his tongue gently caressing mine. The intensity was high. Not an excited ramping up, more of a not wanting to let go holding on. Still, over time we did. He held me tight and I relaxed with my head on his shoulder. I didn't really know where to go after literally being fucked into a wall. I heard myself sign contentedly.
Sebastian laughed, "Yeah, I agree."
I stretched out across his lap, leaning back on the arm of the couch and wiggling my toes. A question popped in my mind, "What were you saying?"
"You're beautiful. You make me feel good. I’m glad I got here early to spend more time with you." He kissed me softly, "And a bunch of dirty stuff that would sound bad right now, but I'II happily repeat later."
"That sounds fun!" I ran my fingers over his cheek and down his chest. "We got the tournament bracket last night."
"Did you?" He rubbed his hand on my hip. "What seed are you? Is there a team name?"
"There is a team name. We are the Demonic Crickets." I couldn’t help but laugh.
"I feel a story coming."
"It's from Schitt's Creek." His lack of expression said he hadn't seen it. I reached behind me, patting the table to find the remote. I quickly had Season 1 Episode 7 "Turkey Shoot” pulled up on Plex. "It’s the opening." I let it play, pleased with his expression and light laughter. I paused at the credits. "I wanted milky exoskeleton, but Pete thought it sounded dirty and would be hard to pronounce drunk."
"He might have a point with the second part. Doesn't sound dirty, unless maybe your drunk and it comes out milky secretions."
I laughed, "Pete said those exact words. You two are going to get along." I remembered the first part of his question, "We're the three seed. First round is at noon. Have to be there at eleven."
"Three is good. Not the pressure of the one spot, or the angry runner up number two, or too far down to be taken seriously. Three is perfect to sneak in and take over."
I wasn't sure if he knew anything about seeding or was being supportive. "I like being a three. We play the five seed and that should be a good match, we'll get the nerves out and can make adjustments if our plan isn't working. One plays eight and two plays seven. Those mess with your head more. If you struggle you question how you'll do with a higher seed, but if you win easy you can get overconfident. Plus, if you breeze through you don't figure out what adjustments you need."
"This is going to be fun."
"I hope you’ll have fun. I'll have a blast." I picked up the remote to turn the TV off.
"No, let's watch. I've never seen Schitt's Creek. We'll find something I love that you haven't seen and trade off."
"I'll go back to episode one, so you know what’s going on." I moved around to sit a little more facing the TV with my legs still over his lap. I wanted to be able to watch the show and his face. And I just wanted to look at him.
Several episodes, tons of laughter, and making out during the credits later I heard a strange gurgling sound. I put my hand on Sebastian's stomach, "Hungry, baby?"
"Sounds like I am." He put his hand over mine, assuring I didn’t move. "I made us a reservation at the place we went last week. I hope that's alright."
"Same place?" There were several good places around town, but he wouldn't know them.
"Good food." He smiled, "Last week I wanted to take a walk by the river, but the storm ruined it."
I mumbled, "Among other things."
We both laughed. "Good memories too."
He picked my hand up off his stomach and brought it to his mouth. "Very. Reservation at seven."
I hit the info button on the remote. It was almost six thirty. "I need to change."
"The fairy costume has grown on me." He fluffed my skirt.
"My wings are smashed. Besides us out to dinner with me in a fairy costume is a guaranteed picture on Instagram that I don’t want to explain."
Sebastian pulled me into a hug. "I should change too."
"At least zip your jeans." I flipped the fabric before I stood up. He still had my hand and I waited for him to stand. I was amused by how dressed we were. His pants were open and mine were by the door. It had been a very targeted activity.
The look on Sebastian's face told me he was thinking something similar. He nodded to the door, "I'll grab my bag and your pants."
"Thank you." We separated at the stairs and I ran up. What to wear. What to wear. I ducked into the bath room to freshen up and came out in my bathrobe. Sebastian was in his boxers and a t-shirt. My mouth watered.
Sebastian was pulling things out of his bag, laying them on the bed. He paused to look me up and down. "Next weekend I'd like to take you out someplace nice."
I clasped my hands between my breasts, raising my shoulders with excitement, "Dress up in girl clothes nice?"
His eyebrows raised with the nod of his head and smile, "Exactly."
I sighed dramatically, "I miss dressing up and going out to dinner." I closed my eyes, "Live music, plays, art openings."
"Then next weekend you’re in luck." He picked up his shaving kit, heading toward the bathroom. He stopped to kiss me, "I know places to go in NY, unlike here.”
"There's some fine dining places here. Haven't dated much here, but I can research. Won't have the same energy as the city."
He closed the bathroom door, "I’m happy and sad you don't know good date spots."
I walked into my closet to find something to make my date's pants tight. Casual, cute, and a touch of sexy. I was pulling on my white mini skirt with an eyelet bottom when Sebastian came to the closet door. He was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts, a black polo, and a pair of loafers. "You look handsome." I was still adjusting to his shorn beard, with how young he looked. There was a hook on the door for my robe and I slid it off, handing it to Sebastian. He missed the hook because he wasn't looking in the right direction. He was looking at me in a bra and miniskirt. I could see him swallow hard, "This closer to your fantasy?"
"Closer, but not quite."
I took my blue chambray shirt of the hanger and dropped it over my head. It had a loose contoured cut and gathered in a knot at my hip. I added a few long necklaces and matching earrings before picking up my wedge sandals. Sebastian was blocking the door, his body filling the space. I put my hands on his waist and smoothed around to his back. Our hips connected, but there was space between our upper bodies. He kissed my head, "We look like casual summer lovers out for a night.
"Pretty accurate."
"Causal looking, not casual lovers."
The look on his face stopped my heart. I pressed my lips to his for a quick kiss that took on a life of its own, morphing in to a lazy long kiss. I broke the kiss and buried my nose against him, "You smell fucking delicious." I drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh.
"Didn’t bring cologne to move my parents."
"We had many things working against up last weekend.”
"And yet here we are."
'Yes, we are." I sat down on the bed to put on my shoes. "Adversity becomes us."
Sebastian knelt on the floor in front of me, sliding my shoe on my foot, “This is the least difficult thing ever.”  He took my hands as he stood up and brought me into his arms.
We stood holding onto each other for a long time. Last weekend was touching on Friday, sharing secrets on Saturday, hugging on Sunday, and sex on Monday. Seemed tonight’s theme was romance. I closed my eyes and clung to him, feeling the hard plane of his chest against my cheek and the slight twitch of a muscle in his back. I’d ask him last week if it was crazy to think you were falling for someone after three days. Thankfully he’d said no, because I didn’t think I was falling for him now, I knew I was. I wasn’t in love with him, but it wouldn’t take long, which is different for me. I don’t get emotionally involved with people easily, except those rare times like with Angie. It takes a while for me to trust and attach. Standing here wrapped in his arms I didn’t want to let go. Part of not wanting to let go was as sure as I was that I could fall in love with him, I knew the same was true for him, and right this second it felt so good.
Sebastian kissed my head and ran his hand down my arm to take my hand before stepping away, “Ready to go?”
“Yeah.” I nodded slightly and hoped my legs were going to work. I grabbed my purse on the way out the door, “Do you want to drive?”
“Yes, please.”
I got a thrill at having this man driving my vehicle. Absolutely ridiculous. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was fifteen going my first date. It wasn’t even our first date. “Code is 0418.” He punched the code into the driver’s side door, hit the unlock button, and walked me to the other side of the car, giving me a kiss before closing the door.
He got in and adjusted the seat and mirrors before starting the engine, “I like driving.”
“I like being driven.” I waited until he buckled his seat belt before laying my hand on his leg. I couldn’t help but touch him and his smile made my stomach flip. “Remember how to get there?”
“Yeah.” He nodded and glanced over, “I drove. If I don’t drive, I don’t remember how to get anywhere. How far away is the tournament?”
“Umm, five minutes. It’s over by the Whole Foods. We should take an Uber.”
“Planning on getting me too drunk to drive?”
“And they set up checkpoints.”
The restaurant was quite a bit busier than last week. We were parked further away, but closer to the river walk. “Don’t move.”
He jumped out of the car and came around to my side, opening the door, and taking my hand. I needed to say something about this. I waited for him to close the door. “Wait a second.”
“What’s up?” He faced me and looked expectantly.
“You driving and opening doors, the chivalrous stuff. I appreciate it. I like how you treat me. You’re a gentleman.”
Sebastian smiled sheepishly, “I just fucked you into a wall.”
I gasped, “Oh my god.” I could feel my cheeks burning.
His expression dropped, “You’re blushing.” He pulled me close, holding my head to him. “Emma, I’m sorry.”
I started laughing, pushed him away and put my hand on his chest. “Just take the compliment, Seb.”
He laughed and wrapped his hand around mine, “Thank you.”
7 notes · View notes
amorisabelle · 4 years
Text
Boom!
INVOLVED: Maya Morgan, Levi Morgan, Isabelle Marshall, Alexander Marshall, Naomi King, Calvin King, Victoria Perry, Dominic Perry, Israel West, and Melaine Ashton TIME FRAME: Monday, December 23, 2019 LOCATION: Elk Trail Lodge; Denver, Colorado SUMMARY: The group of friends, plus Israel and Melaine sit down at the table to enjoy dinner. However, things turn sour as Levi gets jealous of Melaine’s interaction with Israel and Naomi calls Levi out on it. Then the bombs drop. 
Maya held her hands up and said, “wait, wait, wait,” easily to the large group of people as they all sat around a large table for dinner. “Israel was telling me that his parents lived in this house for 30 years and were married for 45,” she emphasized.
Alexander looked at Maya and said, “what was he saying?” gently as he forked some food up and into his mouth.
“Israel was telling me that his parents lived in this house for 30 years and were married for 45,” Maya emphasized loudly.
Melaine nodded her head, impressed by what Maya had just said at the table. She dipped her fork into her plate and sheepishly smiled at Israel who was nestled beside her.
Isabelle looked at Maya, nodding along with a small smirk on her face. “Wow,” she breathed out as she ate a bit of her food before she looked across the table at her husband.
“People do not stay married that long no more,” Naomi said shaking her head as she held her fork up ready to take a bite.
“Oh, I think Victoria and Dominic will,” Maya tossed out lovingly.
“I hope so,” Victoria said with a hum and a bit of a shrug.
Isabelle looked at Victoria a bit shocked. “You’re not sure?”
Naomi looked at Victoria and said, “sounds like trouble in paradise?” she asked her, jokingly, but very curious at the same time.
“Ain’t no trouble in paradise,” Dominic said dismissively almost instantly behind Naomi’s comment. People didn’t need to judge the marriage he had based off his wife’s backhanded compliment. He stuck some food into his mouth chewing lightly as he looked over at Victoria.
“You know… you never know what happens, you know.” Victoria began as she cut into her food a bit before she paused, looking up, across at Naomi before she looked to her husband at her side, “um, but you got to be willing to do the work.” She looked back at Naomi, a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Dominic looked at Victoria again and said, “yeah,” trying to hide his disapproval of the way she handled the compliment to them. “We aren’t perfect, you know, and we have our days,” he shrugged lightly. “But, you know, we remember that the bottom line is, we love each other,” he offered, eyes moving from his plate to Victoria again.
Listening to her husband, Victoria sat back nodding slightly. “And it’s the love that gets us through those tough days.” She looked at Naomi and Calvin before she looked back at her husband, “right, sweetie?”
“Mhm,” Dominic says in response to Victoria as he stuck another piece of steak into his mouth.
Maya lifts her wine glass from the table and she raises it saying, “to love,” with a smile on her face. As everyone joins in with her, raising their glasses and saluting love as well.
After they all sipped, Israel noticed the fallen napkin on the floor and he leaned down, picking it up as he said, “oh Melaine, you dropped your napkin.” Lifting up, he handed it to her easily.
“Oh,” Melaine replied looking at him with a smirk. “Thank you,” she said to him kindly as she grabbed the napkin back from him and placed it back on her lap.
Naomi looked over at the only two single people at the table and she smirked, her hand still clutching the glass unlike everyone else as she basked in another glorious sip.
“So, um you’re the big-time sheriff in this town, huh?” Levi asked Israel now as he gestured across the table a bit, interjecting in between him and Melaine.
Israel chuckled a bit dryly. “Eh, I wouldn’t exactly say big time,” he responded easily.  
“Well this place is beautiful,” Melaine said to Israel as she grabbed her glass and took a sip.
“Thank you. I think so, too,” Israel said easily. “I’d love to show you guys around before you leave,” he was speaking to all of them but looking directly at Melaine.
“Mm,” Melaine said to the man quickly, “thanks, but I can’t do that,” she replied to him without thinking.
Naomi picked her glass back up and took the longest sip she ever had as she overheard the conversation playing out next to her.
“We’d be up for that, yeah,” Victoria said looking around the table a bit at her friends.
“I’d love to honey,” Dominic said in response to his wife. “What time is good?” he asked Israel from across the table.
“Anytime…” Israel said looking around the table before he added, “how about tomorrow? Early?”
“Sounds good to me,” Alexander said to the group as she wiped his hands clean with his napkin. He cleared his throat a bit. “I don’t know if my wife will be able to make it though,” he said looking at his wife before he looked down at his plate. “She probably has to check her iPhone to see if she’ll be available,” he said as he cut a piece of his steak against his plate.
Maya licked her lips slowly and looked at Alexander before she looked off. What in the hell was that? Looking directly at her friend for only a moment before she looked at her husband.
Victoria looked at Alexander, her eyes a bit wide with shock at his comment. She had no idea where the comment had come from or why he felt the need to say it.
Dominic looked at Alexander as he spoke and his brows rose before he stuck some mashed potatoes into his mouth looking down at the other guest sitting at the table, avoiding Isabelle’s face.
Isabelle stuck her fork into her mouth, looking at her husband, her head cocked to the side slightly as she adjusted herself in her chair. Her eyes bored holes into him as she cleared her throat slightly, eating her food in silence.
Bouncing right off the back of Alexander’s comment, completely unphased, Levi leaned in slightly asking Israel, “so, tell me, how much does a gig like that pay, huh?”
“Oh my God, Levi,” Maya said in response to his words, she looked at Israel and lifted her napkin to cover her food filled mouth. “Forgive my husband, please,” she said pleadingly.
Melaine looked at Levi and her eyes then bounced on Maya before she discreetly eyed Israel next to her, taking a sip of her wine.
“No. I’m just saying it can’t be too much, that’s all…” Levi said, easily picking up his glass and taking a sip of his wine without a care.
Maya looked at her husband, jerking her neck a bit and leaning her chair disgustedly. He was being so damn rude for no reason at all.
Israel slowly looked up from his plate, gazing at Levi, looking into the man's eyes a bit challengingly as he said casually, “well, Levi, I don’t do it for the money.”
Hearing Israel, Isabelle took the time to look up at her husband and say, “some people do it for the enjoyment…” she made a face at him, letting him know that she was irritated by his comment, “hmph, how about that?” she said before she added, “Alexander,” making sure he heard her.
Melaine looked at Levi and she took another sip from her wine glass looking at him over it.
Alexander looked up at his wife, gazing at her with deadly glares.
Naomi smirked at the open window and she said, “Levi does it for the enjoyment,” cutely, adding her two cents in.
Levi looked over at Naomi, a bit amused by her comment. “Oh, you must need another drink, don’t you?”
Maya looked at Naomi and then at Levi as they bantered back and forth across the table.
“And you need some condoms, don’t you?” Naomi said back to him just as quickly and without thought. Sneering slightly at the man, raising her top lip.
Maya looked at her friend confused by Naomi’s comment, why would her husband need condoms? She looked to her husband before she bit her lip, they must have heard them several nights ago in the act. She was somewhat embarrassed now.
As the words left his wife’s lips, Calvin’s eyes went a bit wide and he looked over at Levi immediately, shaking his head at the man, his face pleading.
Levi snorted. “Heh, believe me…” he smirked at her, ignoring Calvin. “You don’t want to go down that road with me.” He lifted his fork and popped some food into his mouth as he stared at Naomi.
Dominic sat his fork down and he said, “how about we go down the ski slope,” chewing slightly. “Skiing,” he added, trying so very hard to change the subject for both parties right now. There was so much being implied here and none of it was good. “Snowboarding?”
Naomi eyes Levi for a very long time, if he said one more word she was going to reach across the table and slap the piss out of him.
Levi gazed right back at Naomi, watching her closely with a challenging look on his face as he chewed his food.
“Yes,” Victoria said nodding along to her husband’s suggestion. It was perfect timing because things were sure to get out of hand between Levi and Naomi and nobody needed that. “Snowboarding.”
“You two?” Alexander said with a head shake. “Snowboarding?” he asked with a chuckle. “Whatever,” he said easily. “Nah,” he told them playfully, “snowmobiles,” he countered, “I can’t do that race stuff,” he told them.
As everyone else went on and on, Israel was leaned over whispering to Melaine quietly.
Melaine chuckled at Israel brushing him off playfully.
Levi looked over at Israel and Melaine and asked, “what’s so funny?” growing a bit irritated with the antics. “You want two share with the table?” he asked, gesturing between the two of them.
Sighing heavily Naomi said, “Levi. Can you please let these single people have a private moment?” she asked him gesturing the man and woman next to her.
“I agree,” Maya said happily, a smirk on her face as she watched Israel and Melaine. She picked her wine glass up and took a sip from the glass.
“Maybe after dinner, you two could go for a ride or something,” Naomi said to both Israel and Melaine, stirring the pot even more now.
Levi looked at Naomi, gazing the woman up and down with irritation as he took his napkin, wiping his mouth some, licking his lips some. He slowly looked back down at his plate, shaking his head slightly, grumbling to himself.
“Oh, that sounds great,” Maya said leaning in with her glass still in her hand. “So nice,” she whispered to her friend across the table.
Melaine looked at Naomi and then to Maya, she tucked her lips in dimples creasing as she sighed internally over the dinner table antics.
“That sounds nice,” Naomi said mimicking her friend as she gazed at Levi from across the table. “Fun,” she smiled, her pearly white teeth shining for all to see as she got her rocks off over this.
Levi leaned forward, his elbows resting against the table as he picked up his wine glass, swirling the contents around a bit. “Melaine ain’t going nowhere with him,” he said aloud for the entire table to hear before taking a sip from his glass.
Maya looked her husband up and down, she sat the wine glass back down against the table and said “why not?” curiously.
“Why can’t this single woman go out with this single man?” Naomi asked confused, looking around the table with a shrug. “I mean…” she said looking back at Levi.
Melaine shook her head slightly at Naomi, she was barking up the wrong tree she might as well stop, truthfully.
Israel looked down at his plate, pushing his food around a bit, his eyes wide. This was about to get messy; he could feel it. He had already picked up on the fact that Levi and Melaine were sleeping together, that was obvious but clearly Maya had no idea. It was actually quite unfortunate; she was too much of a lovely woman to be treated this way.
Leaning against the table, Isabelle held her head up in her hand as she looked down. “Can we, uh, just drop this,” she said. Things did not need to get ugly. Secrets did not need to be shared. Not like this.
“I so agree with Isabelle right now,” Victoria jumped in, looking around at everyone knowingly before her eyes flickered right over to Naomi, needing the woman to stop taunting Levi.
“L-let him answer,” Naomi said pointing to Levi across from her. He acted as if he were supreme in this situation and she had no problem showing him exactly who ran the show when she was around.
“Calvin, get your wife,” Levi said without even looking up as he brought his fork to his mouth. He was over the games now.
Calvin reached across Naomi, trying to grab her glass. “C’mon baby, give me that drink,” he said trying to help defuse the situation that was arising.
Naomi instantly pushed Calvin’s hand aside. “No,” she said to him easily as she took another sip from her glass. “As a matter of fact, let me get another drink,” she said to them all. “So, Levi’s ass can tell us why Melaine can’t go out with Israel,” she emphasized each word looking over at the man.
Levi looked at Naomi before he palmed his face with agitation. He drug his hand down slowly before he rested his elbow against the table, holding his hand to his mouth as he tried to stop himself from saying anything else to the woman. He shook his head with a deep breath before returning to his food.
“Naomi, look… it’s no big deal,” Israel said softly, leaning over to her a bit, trying to stop the blow up. It was clear to him now, very clear. Everyone at the table knew but Maya.
Maya looked at Naomi and tilted her head mouthing to her to stop. “Calm down,” she breathed easily trying to make peace with her friend from across the table. She could see that Levi was getting increasingly pissed off.
Alexander looked between Levi, Maya, Naomi, and Melaine before he looked at Dominic. He sat back in his chair shaking his head before he said, “yeah, calm down Naomi…” reaching out a cautious hand.
Fed up, Levi dropped his fork, throwing his hand up as he looked to Naomi. “Okay… let’s do it.” He said back in his chair, a very unamused smirk on his face as he rubbed his hands together. “Let’s do it,” he repeated himself a bit more enthusiastically this time as he got adjusted in his chair, prepared for the verbal battle. “C’mon,” he said to Naomi.
“Levi,” Maya said as she rested her hand on her husband’s thigh. “Calm down,” she told him seriously not wanting things to escalate. She didn’t know why he and Naomi were at each other’s throat so much this trip, but they could resolve it as adults she knew. “Eat your food,” she said sweetly as she looked into his eyes. “Okay,” she breathed softly.
“No, no. Come on, talk to me,” Levi said speaking over Maya as she tried to calm him down.
“No, let him talk,” Naomi snapped back at Maya easily, firing off everything she had to say after her two other dumb friends made her hold her tongue for the jackass. “Let him talk, Maya,” she said, lifting up her hand to the woman.
“She’s just a little drunk,” Calvin said, still trying to reach for Naomi’s glass.
“You know what Calvin; I might be a little drunk,” Naomi measured with her fingers as she turned to him. “But somebody at this table got some damn secrets,” Naomi said as she turned her head towards Levi again, bitterly.
“Really?” Levi asked Naomi with an expression of try me.
“You guys that’s enough,” Isabelle said as she sat up some, looking towards Naomi.
“No, no, no, no….” Levi said quickly. “Isabelle… somebody got some secrets?” he questioned before he turned his head to look at Naomi with a shrug, “what are they?”
“You know I am so sick of this shit,” Naomi said as she raised her hands up at the table, her face scrunching as she did. “I am sick of it,” she said again. “The reason she can’t go with this man or any other man,” she said pointing to Melaine, “is it because she’s sleeping with yours, Maya…” she said looking over at the plus-sized woman now.
Maya had watched the two argue back and forth, though she thought it was a drag and so very unnecessary, she hadn’t said another word to either. However, at Naomi’s words she looked up, across the table at her. “What?” she said with a raised brow as she looked at Melaine shaking her head. A chuckle actually left her lips and she said, “no,” easily before she looked at Levi.
“Yeah, Maya,” Naomi said confirming it for her, the woman should have known as soon as they did, but they decided to hold the secret this long and for what?
Melaine swapped glances with Maya, she dropped her head for a moment before she looked back up averting her gaze elsewhere.
Maya looked at Naomi and she then looked back over at Melaine.
Alexander shifted in his seat, exhaling softly. This had to be the most fucked up situation ever, on top of it embarrassing and as usual it was at the hands of Naomi and her big mouth. Though he did feel like the woman should have been told the truth. This wasn’t the place or time for it. “Damn,” he said under his breath.
Isabelle looked down quickly, shifting very uncomfortably in her seat. It shouldn’t have come out like this.
Dominic looked at his wife and then over to Maya, he looked at Melaine as well. He couldn’t imagine the hurt Maya felt, but he also couldn’t really shake the guilty feeling he had knowing they all knew and she hadn’t.
Victoria tucked her lips in slightly, her expression very unreadable as she swapped glances with her husband before she looked around the table, unsure of what to say.
Maya looked at the many faces at the table, she felt her blood boil a little. Did everyone know except for her? Here she sat among them with egg on her face, a cheating husband, one backstabbing friend, and countless others who clearly cared nothing about her.
Israel looked around the table very slowly. This was some drama but it was not his drama. He very much felt like he was intruding on a private situation. “Well… uh… thanks for dinner…” he pushed his chair back some, “... but uh, I should be going…” he trailed off as he moved to stand.
Alexander looked at Israel and said, “you may need to hang tight, in case… you know… law enforcement should happen to need to enforced…” he stammered out.
“I’m sorry,” Naomi said shaking her head as she looked at Maya, “but you don’t need that sorry motherfucker,” she added, bitterly. It was the last thing she had to say. “I should beat his ass,” she sneered.
Maya looked at Naomi before she asked Levi. “Is it true?” as she turned to him looking into his eyes.
Levi stared at Naomi, his eyes squinted before he slowly turned to look at his wife. “Yeah… it’s true…” he nodded a bit, “that’s my secret… I am the bad guy,” he announced looking around the table very nonchalantly. “But I’m not the only married person with a secret at this damn table,” he sneered back towards Naomi. He squinted at her once more before he looked at his friends.
Maya shook her head slowly at her husband, God why was this happening to her, Lord. She inhaled sharply, her chin quivering slightly as she leaned forwards, her hands were pressed together and her forehead rested against them. She was here to save her marriage and now it was broken. He cheated on her with her friend. What did she do to deserve that shit?
“Alexander…” Levi shifted in his chair a bit, “have you told your wife about how you got a DNA test on Kenya ‘cause you weren’t sure she was yours?” he asked.  
Alexander looked up at his friend upon hearing his name. When he heard the secret that was told he swallowed hard, biting down on his bottom lip. He didn’t bother looking at his wife, he knew what hell this would bring.
Isabelle sat back slowly, looking across the table at her husband with disbelief and shock written across her face.
“Hey now Levi, don’t go telling secrets man,” Calvin interjected nervously, looking over at Levi.
“Oh, no, no, no, c’mon Calvin,” Levi said, shaking his head. “Y’all want to talk about me, hmm?” He pursed his lips slightly. “You threw my secret out there. Let’s lay everyone's secrets across this big ass table. Shall we?” he questioned before he whipped his head over to Isabelle. “Isabelle, have you told your husband about how you got an IUD after you had Kenya and didn’t tell him?” He looked at her expectantly, “hmm? That’s what Maya told me.”
Alexander looked at Levi again as he called his wife, the man needed to shut his damn mouth at the point of time. But no, he insisted on continuing. The news he dropped shocked him; his wife had been lying to him. He looked up at her heat brokenly, he gave her everything and all he wanted in return was a son but she’d already screwed him out of the long before he started his fight for it.
Isabelle looked over at Levi as he spoke her name, her jaw slackening slightly before she looked down, folding her arms over her chest slightly, avoiding her husband's gaze. She looked up at him for half a second before she dropped her eyes once more at his stare.
“I’m so sorry Alexander, so sorry, but your chances of having a boy? A bit slim right about now,” Levi said easily.
Alexander looked at Levi, his words couldn’t cut deeper if he wanted them to. He rested back against the chair defeatedly; Levi had won.
“Levi, now wait a minute. This has gone too far,” Victoria said sitting up in her seat, leaning forward a bit as she began to point with her finger, speaking with her hands. “You are going too far; you’re getting really dangerous now. You need to stop this,” she pressed. She had no idea what other secrets the man knew, but things were getting way too out of control.
Levi took a breath, letting Victoria, the perfectionist of the group say her little piece before he interjected, “Dominic…” he smirked slightly. “Since you guys walk around here like the perfect couple,” he lifted his hands using air-quotes, “will you please inform your wife about how you came literally crying to my house asking, ’how could she be so stupid and not strap your son in his car seat’,” he licked his lips before he hummed.
Dominic looked up as Levi called his name, this situation was not good at all right now. He needed to be stopped like his wife said. He didn’t know what dirt he was about to pull up on him but seeing as he loved his wife and didn’t do much of anything. It could only be one damn thing. He gazed at the man, daring him almost yet he did it anyway. Fuck. He turned his head not wanting to look at his wife, he almost did but he continued to look forward, ashamed. He felt that then, now he was trying to get passed it, and he knew his wife was hurting more than he.
Victoria turned her head very slowly now, looking at her husband with smoldering eyes. How could she be so stupid. She stared at the side of his face. She was so upset and felt so disrespected that she didn’t know what to do.
“You are fucking low down, you got damn bastard,” Naomi said as the man continued to dish out everyone’s dirt like he wasn’t the one to fuck himself over in all of this.
“Shut up!” Levi barked across the table at Naomi.
“No, you, shut the fuck up,” Naomi barked as she slammed her hand down against the table. “Bitch ass,” she said gazing at him. “You airing all of this shit because of some foul fucking move you chose to make,” she said.
“Calvin please!” Levi said pointing between the two.
Looking away, Calvin mumbled to himself. “Oh fuck…”
“Please tell this woman the truth!” Levi grunted out, “and I fucking pray that it sets you free. I pray, man.”  He said pointing his hand at them.
Looking dead at Levi, Calvin shook his head dramatically, pleading with the man through his eyes. “Levi…” he rushed out.
Ignoring it all, Levi went on. “But I’m telling you, tell this woman how Alexander had to give you a shot because you had VD.”
Calvin shook his head up until the very moment Levi dropped the bomb before he looked away quickly, staring at the table.
“Let’s talk about condoms now, shall we, Naomi?” Levi questioned.
Naomi looked between both Levi and Calvin before the secret was told for all to hear. She looked at Alexander before she said, “oh,” with shock and sarcasm laced in her voice. “So, you got VD?” she asked, turning to her husband fully.
“Checkmate,” Levi said as he picked up his glass, sipping some of his wine.
“Who have you,” she emphasized, “been with?” Naomi asked him as she looked him up and down. She just had to hear this one.
Leaning over to Naomi a bit, Calvin whispered, “Naomi… let’s discuss this in private.”
“No. You know what,” Naomi said looking away from her husband, “you motherfuckers have been talking in private e-fucking-nough,” she told him. “How long has your dirty ass had it?” she asked him.
“A week…” Calvin whispered, looking at Naomi out the corner of his eyes.
“Was it Aleeyah?” Naomi asked him next, not giving him much time to answer her as she fired off one thing after the next.
Looking at her out of the corner of his eyes more, Calvin’s eyes darted from her to the table then back and forth again as he nodded slightly.
“Hmph,” left Naomi’s mouth and she turned slightly. “Nah,” she said, shaking her head pettily. “You didn’t get it from her,” she told him smoothly, a lie from the pits of hell. “You got it from Daniel,” she told him smugly as she looked over at him again.
Looking at her crazily now, Calvin said, “what the fuck are you talking about? I ain’t gay.”
“No, you dumb fucking fool. I slept with his ass,” Naomi said pointing to herself. “I got a shot,” she said cutely as she raised her hands up looking around at everyone. “I was just waiting for you to say something,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “BOOM!” she said, raising two fake guns in the air as she got comfortable sitting back in her chair without a care.
Calvin stared at her as she admitted that she slept with whoever this Daniel person was before he nodded slowly, looking away from her. That made sense. He typically wrapped it up with Aleeyah. He only slipped up and didn’t use a condom every now and again. Sitting there, he let it all sink in before he turned and launched himself at Naomi, wrapping his large hands around her neck, squeezing tightly.
As the man lunged at her, wrapping his hands around her throat she fought against him. Grabbing his hands, Naomi dug her nails into his flesh as she yanked pushing her chair back and fighting against him.
“Don’t!” Victoria screamed out in shock as Calvin physically attacked Naomi.
Alexander hopped up and he moved for Calvin, grabbing the large man from behind; he tried to break up the physical altercation before him, in disbelief. He pulled the man off roughly as he told him, “stop,” angrily. “Come on man,” he said, “man, come on,” he added.
Isabelle, who had been sitting there mute, looked up quickly, her mouth dropping as Calvin choked Naomi.
Levi sat there, watching the entire thing and he took another sip from his glass. “I hope he breaks your fucking throat. TOUCHDOWN!” He spat out bitterly.
“Get off me,” Naomi yelled as she struck Calvin in the face, another individual's body wrapped around her pulling them apart. “Don’t be putting your hands on me motherfucker!” she yelled at him. “Arrest his ass,” she said angrily as she stood up from the chair trying to reach through Israel to get to her husband once more.
Calvin grimaced as he gripped Naomi by her beck, choking her as hard as he could as Alexander and Israel tried to pull him off, even as Naomi hit him in the face. He gripped her until Alexander managed to pull him away and he huffed hard.
“Get his ass. You see he trying to fucking kill me,” Naomi said to the officer. “Arrest him, Troy,” she said to her.
“Let me go!” Calvin growled, shoving Alexander off of him. “That’s why I slept with her! You so fucking evil!”
“You know what, you put your hands on the wrong fucking one Calvin!” Naomi said to the him her veins protruding from her neck.
Staring at Naomi, Calvin’s face scrunched with so much anger. “You know what, I’m out of here.” He grunted, shoving Alexander out of his way as he stormed off.
“Get your stupid ass out of here!” Naomi said in agreement to her husband.
Standing up now, Levi nodded. “Now, that’s the best idea I heard since we got up here. Let’s cut this trip short,” he said, turning to look at Melaine. “Baby, go pack our stuff. We outta here.” He sat down once more, looking at Maya.
Melaine looked up at Levi, a little shaken by what just played out. When he spoke to her directly, she did as she was told, getting up quickly and rushing away from the table as she moved upstairs.
Adjusting himself in his seat, Levi angled his body towards his wife, leaning against the table a bit. “Look, I’m sorry that you had to find out this way.” He sighed softly. “You could thank your friend over there but… it’s over.”
Maya continued to sit there, rocking slightly in the chair as she shook her head at all of this. She wanted a baby, she wanted them to work, she was trying to be what he wanted her to be and this is how he repaid her. For all the abuse both verbal and physical, for all the nights she spent alone and all the times he embarrassed her. He’d managed to finally break her, all of her.
At his remark Naomi rolled her eyes huffing from her now seated position and she pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Now, I’ll be more than fair, but I want a divorce,” Levi told her straight up. He grew quiet for a moment before a thought occurred to him. “Hey, you can have the rental property.” He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, as if he was being thoughtful. “I’ll have Ramirez put bars on there for you… don’t thank me or nothing. It’s a rough neighborhood.” He thought some more. “You can have your car and I’ll figure everything else out.” He stared at the side of Maya’s face, looking at her expectantly. “Huh?” he snapped by her ear. “Hello…” he said before he turned away from her moving to stand up, “whatever…”
Maya looked at Levi as he spoke every other word reaching her ear as he did. All she could do was watch his lips as they flapped and she swallowed hard. He snapped at her and then she snapped, he said whatever and it brought her out of her own subconscious. She back handed him across his face as hard as she could muster as she stood up, gazing down at him. She gripped his face in her hand, her nails digging into his flesh and she asked, “how could you?” before she grabbed a steak knife with her other hand. “I gave you everything” she said as she looked into his eyes, sliding the knife across the table.
Naomi looked across the table at her friend as she slapped the man across his face which was less than he deserved. She should kill his ass. However, when the woman picked the knife up, she gasped slightly, “Maya,” she called out.
Dominic sat there next to his wife trying to understand how this all came about. It was the most unnecessary thing they experienced as friends. Looking at Maya he stood up slowly, “Maya,” he said in unison with Naomi.
Alexander stood resting against the back of the chair he once was sitting in and he gazed at Levi. The man truly disgusted him. He had done more than enough yet that was not enough for him at all. As Maya slapped the man, he bit his lips, he deserved it. However, when she grabbed the knife he shifted on his feet prepared to stop her.
Levi fell to the floor as Maya smacked him and he looked up at her shocked as she gripped him by his face. “Maya,” he said as he gazed up at her, his eyes wide as his eyes moved to her other hand holding the knife.
“Oh. My. God.” Isabelle said quickly as she sat there.
Victoria looked back at Levi as he rested against the floor, watching in silence.
Maya watched as he laid there, he had the nerve to call her name. She hated his ass so much right now but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything further. She couldn’t kill him because love wouldn’t let her. So instead she stabbed the table and moved to leave the dining room. She walked towards the door bitterly snatching her coat down and walking out the front door slamming it shut behind her.
“Should've killed his ass,” Naomi said under her breath as she watched Maya leave.
14 notes · View notes