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absolutebl · 6 months

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This Week in BL - Taiwan has one show, but that's all they need

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

April 2024 Wk 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Two Worlds (Thurs IQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - I don’t say this often but I LOVE this love triangle. The longing gazes = chef's kiss. I like that we are finally getting flashbacks to Tai’s side of the love affaire. This show remains highly engaging. So pleased for MaxNat.

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 5 of 8 - More lesbians! Yay! Meanwhile, when our leads make up they make out! (Yes I’m proud of myself.) I think this might be BLs first rooftop sex scene. We’ve reached new heights, BLabies. (Yes I’m proud of that too.) Anygay, basically a soap opera at this point, I'm not thrilled but I don’t mind.

"Do you apologize for being straight?"

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 10 of 12 - It was lovely. Very well done celebrity leaving the closet ep. Nice ensemble work too. Next week is doom! As expected.

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 1 of 12 - New main couple for GMMTV in an idol romance about a boy who dances good and a food stand vendor. It’s fine but overly very pulp feeling for something from GMMTV. I'm a little concerned.

1000 Years Old (Thurs iQIYI) ep 8 of 12 - meh.

To Be Continued (Sat C3 Thailand grey) ep 7 of 8 - Never turned up on my usual sites. So will have to wait until next week.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues YouTube & Viki) ep 7 of 11 - Qian was, indeed, the one who couldn’t let go. This show is fucking fantastic. It's the best thing I'm watching right now by a mile.

Jazz for Two (Korea Gaga/grey) eps 3-8fin - The bully and the blue-haired drummer side pairing were great. I hated the father. Hated him so much. Our main tsundere seme was a bit too tsundere for me. I was v annoyed by the time he finally softened. I'm amused by all the ways they finagled boys kissin-but-not-kissing in the first half of this show. 2024's "pan around the back of the head" has now become a "dipping of the brolly." We did, however, eventually get an okay kiss.

Honestly?

This was basically what I wanted from Given and didn’t get. So I’m pleased. The music still wasn't great, but you can skip those bits. A solid enemies to lovers BL, where the sins of brothers' past haunts the present. Great optics, decent chemistry, and a tidy script even if tsundere characterization went a bit extreme in some cases. 8/10 RECOMMENDED trigger for suicide

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 5 of 6 - We got the past betrayal in detail and it was decently bad. Bitterness understood. Too soon to live together! The BL U-Haul strikes again. I do like their weird curry passive aggressive argument. This is an interesting show. Do I LOVE it? No. But I think I like it.

On a not-really-related note: adoption, including adult adoption, is actually pretty common in Japan (comparatively). It's often tied to business scionism.

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 8fin - It all turned out to be a tragic GL in the end. Not BL = not my problem. No rating. I will forget its existence right about… now.

Love is like a Cat (Korea Mon Viki) eps 1-2 of 12 - Okay, weirdly kinky with the head scratching. Not much has happened and I’m not wild about what has.

It's done, ready to binge, but I suck

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps

It's airing but...

We Are (Weds GMMTV iQIYI) ep 1 of 16 - University ensemble BL featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawinPoon - basically the good kind of messy gay friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is queer. I'm IN but I need my other computer and I'm traveling as usual. So I'll get caught up next week and probably won't regularly be able to watch this one.

Graduation Countdown (Taiwan YouTube) - It's too much for me to keep up with 2 minute verticals, I don't have that kind of TikTok endurance training.

A Secretly Love (Thai Sat WeTV grey) 10 eps - Completed. Worth watching?

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) 6 eps - It’s so boring DNFed at 2.

Close Friend Season 3: Soju Bomb! (Weds iQIYI) 6 - The problem with situational comedy BL is it must be situational, comedic and a BL. This show gets 1 of 3 claims correct. 33% is not a passing grade. Dropped at 3.

In the news

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari is getting the undeserved honor of Furritsubs. Follow them for details. Tip 'em if you like 'em. (Will I watch it? Oh, probably. Damn it.)

Then Next Prince turned out to be a trailer only. Word on the webs is we will be lucky if we get it this year. It’s BL Princess Diaries. Jimmy has a new pairing (that boy from Night Dream) which is... interesting. All in all, this show does not look good. Pretty but not good.

Next Week Looks Like This:

4/11 Gray Shelter AKA Gray Currents (Korea ????) 4 eps - SooHyuk is only just surviving and reunites with YoonDae, an old friend. They end up living together. One of the leads is played by Choco of Choco Milk Shake.

4/12 Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - Kindly Ryota goes off to uni only to find his new roommate is his childhood bestie, Kazuhito. Kazuhito doesn’t have a girlfriend and Ryota tries to help him figure out why, they fall in love along the way. Same director as Old Fashion Cupcake.

Still to Come in April

4/18 At 25:00, in Alaska AKA 25 Ji, Akasaka de (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - Yuki lands his first starring role in a BL drama alongside superstar Asami (previously his senior at uni). Said superstar suggests they form a sham relationship until filming concludes. As they actually begin to fall in love, the spotlight begins to burn. I think I've seen this before (joke) and also the trailer doesn't inspire confidence.

4/26 My Stand-In (Thai iQIYI) 12 eps - adaptation of Chinese novel "Professional Body Double" by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KP (not a recommendation IMHO - my biggest criticism of that show was the clashing directing styles). This one looks well complicated, lemme try: Joe is a stuntman for famous actor Tong. Joe falls in love with Ming but Ming sees Joe as nothing more than a Tong-replacement. After learning this horrible truth, Joe dies. Joe then wakes up in the body of another man also named Joe. He manages to rebuild the same life as before—with the same people eventually re-meeting Ming. Ming wants Joe back but Joe doesn't understand why. But Ming seems to know what's going on and wants to give him some kind of explanation.

I'm exhausted just trying to describe the plot.

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous partner) and Best, news here.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

NOTE: It looks like one of my personal favorites of last year Unintentional Love Story is getting a spin off!

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

See City of Stars & Unknown.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are too much work.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

220 notes · View notes

ooihcnoiwlerh · 4 months

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I have provided fresh meat, my Darlings!

The link to the entire fic as well as the new chapter is provided above.

@blazeflays @wo-ming-bai @richardslady121 Also please let me know if you would also liked to be tagged with updates!

CW: dubious consent; arranged marriage; forced marriage; forced pregnancy; rough sex; implied/referenced child abuse; blood kink; problematic smut; implied/referenced sexual abuse; implied/referenced torture

Chapter summary: Feyd-Rautha and the Reader look at each other and think, "They need work, but it's fine. I'm training them."

Chapter Notes:

-This chapter doesn't have quite as much plot or action and is generally more introspective/kind of shows a turning point and transition to both the Reader starting to learn to play the game and Feyd-Rautha seeking to challenge and unnerve her. Basically the Reader thinking, "I don't think I can reasonably make him better but I can make him treat me better" and Feyd thinking, "I can make her worse😈" -There have been a lot of interpretations of Feyd-Rautha's Darlings given that there's little information we're really given within the movie and I really like the theory that I've seen going around that they're effectively animals with human bodies that were experimented on by the Bene Tleilax.

CHAPTER SEVEN: YOU'RE LEARNING

You wake up early the next morning to your morning coffee and a reminder of your mother’s advice. She dispensed it more than once over the years, enough that you were able to repeat it verbatim: sometimes a person isn’t a person, but an obstacle. Sometimes they’re obstacles that you need to face, problems that you need to solve. Find out what they need that you can use to get ahead.

So what does Feyd-Rautha want and how do you get it for him in order to temper him, make him more amenable to you? He’s made clear at this point what he doesn’t want: compassion that he’s undoubtedly misconstrued as pity, any reminders of his childhood and adolescence, and any insinuations–intentional or otherwise–that he’s inadequate as a man.

That leaves what he does want from you, and for the most part you think you know. He wants you to have his children, and that’s in progress if not now, then soon. He wants, well, other than last night, he’s been transparent that he wants you , carnally if for nothing else.

He also wants you to properly learn to fight at the level he wants, and there’s no way it’s just for your sake, or even wanting you to stay safe as the mother of his future children. Those are a given.

You can’t forget the way he’d gotten hard during your training and the way he spoke about it later. You hadn’t seen it in the arena when he was slashing throats with theatricality and precision but little else, but this must be intimate for him. It doesn’t surprise you once you think about it; a man who enjoys the taste of your blood would most certainly get off on getting a knife at your throat, even if he’s not allowed to cut it.

So how do you use that? The Reverend Mother Mohiam all but stated that seduction was the key to tempering and subduing him into something you can handle but that’s easier said than done. You’ve understood on some level for years now that you’d one day have to learn to use your sex as a tool, but it’s easier to implement in theory rather than practice. The limited experience you’ve had before this–kisses both stolen and given freely at night when you’d slipped away unsupervised, fondling over the clothes, above the waist, and once grasping and sliding your hand over a boy you’d liked as he’d panted and moaned directions at you and you’d frantically tried to finish him off before either of you could get caught--weren’t for an agenda but for its own enjoyment. Before your wedding night the only person who’d dared go beneath your skirts was you. And then, of course, you’re reasonably certain that most men don’t keep an entire armoire of devices to use or have used on them while in bed, that most men aren’t eager to taste their wife’s blood, that most men don’t carry around the kind of shame and buried anger that your husband does wrapped in a deep-seated need to hurt and be hurt.

But that’s the hand that you’ve been dealt, and the only leverage you’ll be getting out of this marriage is by appealing to those desires and using your own body as a tool to keep him satiated and keep you in the best of his care.

By the time you’ve finished plaiting your hair you’ve decided that you’ve learned enough since your wedding night that you can try and use to your advantage. You’ll keep adapting and if one of the ways to win him over is at knifepoint, then so be it.

And if he wants to banish everyone from the Training Halls so he can rut into you like an animal next to a rack of knives, then fine. You can take him however he comes to you.

You try to keep all this in mind as you leave your chambers and take to the Training Halls for another lesson.

Feyd-Rautha already appears to have broken a sweat. Drills, you assume, and done alongside his men if their matching sheens are anything to go by.

Korvo’s back to train you, he says. He needed to have part of his jaw wired shut but otherwise he’s fine; he just won’t be able to talk much for a while.

And strangely enough it’s true; whatever Healer Korvo went to did an excellent job because there’s not a lot of bruising or swelling. It occurs to you that he looks a few years older than Feyd, and you can’t help but wonder what Korvo thought about the hushed rumors about the Baron’s proclivities years ago. About Feyd-Rautha, the boy who’s become the man he now serves.

As for your husband, it’s as if the past couple of nights never happened. He seems indifferent as he hands you your shield device and a knife. There’s not a trace of the quiet rage from early yesterday morning nor the cold domination of last night. Not that you were ever going to ask him, especially not with other people around, but he gives you your answer to the silent question, When are we going to talk about yesterday? The answer? Never .

He has Korvo start off slowly with you, a warm-up of sorts, movements guarded as you go over strikes and parries before taking over for the rest of your session.

You think you’re prepared for it this time as he starts to speed up, stops going through the motions and actually starts sparring with you. You tell yourself that no one’s going to catch you unawares again, but well. His training is a lot more extensive than yours. You let out a yelp, realizing yet again that you weren’t focused enough on his footwork and he’s taken the opportunity to trip you. You stumble, catching yourself just in time to avoid a fall.

“You’ve had a day to rest,” Feyd says. “There’s no reason you can’t be pushed farther.”

To rest . He was the one that told you not to come and train yesterday. You clench your jaw and strike again. If anything Feyd-Rautha seems amused by your irritation and sends you stumbling again with a swat on the backside with the flat of his knife.

You turn, incredulous and with an insult on the tip of your tongue.

“Don’t strike in anger,” he says, holding back a smirk. You raise your chin and try to level your gaze at him as you try to collect yourself.

Hey, this is actually a good sign , a part of you realizes. There’s something almost close to playful in the way he’s looking at you right now. He’s already in a far better mood than he was yesterday . This is working for him.

You roll your shoulders and take a defensive stance, silently gesturing for him to strike first, and this time he actually grins.

Breakfast afterwards is its own task. You’ve gotten your appetite back this morning, but only when you forget everything except your own hunger and especially try your best to ignore the man at the head of the table. You’ll try to bury what you know about the Baron for now, or at least try to act like he doesn’t disgust you. Not that he’d care what you think of him, not like you can do anything about it.

Instead you wonder about what motherhood looks like on this planet. You’ll not want for anything, you’re sure, in terms of space for the baby and help raising it, but you hope the Baron isn’t an indicator of how children are raised here. You haven’t seen many children in the Fortress–the sons and daughters of captains and generals, you’re sure–and you haven’t interacted with any. Feyd-Rautha mentioned military and combat training for any sons you’ll have but what about general schooling?

When the children come, surely you’ll be a part of their lives somehow? You’ll make certain of it. You have to; they’ll be raised in the Harkonnen culture but they’ll still be half you , and you’ll do everything to make sure they never forget that, where you come from and the half of them that you represent.

“Not too tired from your training session, are you?” Feyd-Rautha asks, and you realize that you’ve been drifting off, staring into the distance. You hadn’t expected him to notice.

“Oh, no, husband,” you tell him. “Just lost in thought. Actually, I was curious about where one might put a nursery in the private quarters.” Not that there would’ve been any use for them within the royal family in decades, but surely there must have been something installed before?

As soon as Feyd starts to answer, the Baron interrupts, “What are you training her for?”

“Just in the event of an emergency or ambush, I want her to be prepared to defend herself. If the time ever comes that I’m not there to do it for her,” Feyd-Rautha adds.

The Baron looks at him with those beady blue eyes. “You really think such a thing will ever happen, boy?” he asks, and there’s an undercurrent to his tone that makes you look away, never mind that they’ve started talking about you as if you aren’t there.

Boy . As if not just Feyd’s title but his very manhood is a privilege his uncle bestows on him that he can revoke at a moment’s notice.

Feyd ignores the taunt. “Just planning ahead,” he says. It doesn’t come back up. When you excuse yourself to use the bathroom the Baron doesn’t react when you come back. He barely seems to notice you’re there.

To him, you are not family. You are the orifice his handsome young nephew buries himself in and the birthing canal that will add to the Harkonnen lineage, but not a real person who’s earned any familiarity with him nor will you ever be. That suits you just fine and you find that you’d rather he ignore you than pay any special attention to you, just so long as he never gets to sink his claws into your future children.

Speaking of which, “The Fortress has everything you could need,” Feyd says. “Our children will have their own quarters and plenty of staff to watch over them.”

And how about allowing me to watch over them? you want to ask, but won’t, especially since you’re not alone. Or do ladies of leisure outsource all of that here? Idrisa will know; you’ll save your real questions for her.

After breakfast Feyd-Rautha offers you his arm. “I imagine you’re interested in the relaxation chambers now?” he asks. “They provide massages. Great for the joints.”

“I could be persuaded,” you tell him, feeling not just sore from earlier this morning but from two days ago. You’d never considered yourself a lazy person but you’ve also never committed to any kind of daily training regimen and the nighttime and occasionally additional morning routines in the bedroom certainly haven’t helped.

“It’s interesting,” you tell him, “training with you and seeing how you do it, even if I’m not there for all of it.”

“That wasn’t my last training session for the day,” he says. “I’m going back soon.”

You blink. “Why?” you ask him. He’d clearly started early and gotten his heart pumping by the time you’d arrived.

“To be as physically prepared as I can for the arena showing on my birthday. It’s less than three weeks away at this point,” he says.

You look over at him with your brows furrowed. What does he really need extra preparation for? He’s in no danger, there’s no real risk.

He seems to understand your confusion. “It’s important that I look like I'm in top form,” he explains, which just presents further questions.

How will they even know what your body looks like? If it’s anything like last time, you’ll be the only fighter in the arena that’s fully dressed .

“Well, alright,” you finally. You look back at him. “So you’re going to have to get changed again into training gear, and then shower again and change again after that?”

“Yes,” he says, voice curt. “Appearance is important here.”

Yours is, certainly , you don’t tell him. But you do realize that your uncle’s still the Baron and he floats around in his suspensor chair wearing a long nightgown? If he’s ever cared about his appearance, he must’ve stopped years ago . You suppose that it’s one of many ways that Feyd’s turned out differently from him, although not the most important. It’s not for nothing that even though you have no idea how he’ll turn out as a parent–yet another thing that scares you about this–he still won’t be as bad of a parental figure as his uncle.

He looks at you for a moment and you realize that you haven’t spoken and have just enough sense to realize that giving a simpering compliment about his looks will come across as not only disingenuous but suspicious. “My apologies,” you admit. “I was just thinking about what expectations will be placed on our children.”

“Our son, although we’ll need more than one, will embody all Harkonnen core values: power, ambition, resilience, intellect. I’ll accept no less and neither will anyone else on Geidi Prime,” he says. How long has he been thinking about fatherhood, you wonder? Or is he repeating what he’s been told time and time again what the Baron wants out of him?

“And if one of our children is a daughter?” you ask, hoping that doesn’t happen. It’s bad enough to be a man on this planet.

“She’ll be expected to be gracious, discreet, and always careful and cognizant of her surroundings,” Feyd says. “She’ll be composed even under pressure and adaptable.”

You try to absorb this, wondering how much he thinks you fit that mold yourself and assuming that you come up short. “I thought the first word you were going to say was fertile ,” you tell him.

“That goes without saying,” he says. “It’ll be her greatest contribution to the family to add to its lineage.”

I think you just described my responsibilities and expectations here, you think as he escorts you to the relaxation chambers.

Before he leaves he gives you a brief kiss–a little reward, perhaps, for minding yourself. “You’re learning,” is all he says.

You’d expected the rooms to have the same austere black and gray background as the Dining Halls, the Throne Room, even the bedrooms, but whatever materials used for the doors and panels emulate the colors and patterns of cedar even though you doubt it’s real wood and the textured walls are painted a warm, pale cream. It feels like a different environment entirely, reminiscent of the women’s bathhouses on your home planet. The attendant inside recognizes you immediately, although you assume that it’s hardly a challenge. “ You can’t mistake the Na-Baroness ,” you’re sure servants tell each other, “ she’s the only one in this Fortress with hair. ”

Most of the attendants are women, and again most of them seem young, hardly more than girls.

“Welcome, Na-Baroness. We do so hope that you enjoy our accommodations,” the first attendant says, her head in a respectful decline as she curtsies. “How may we be of service today?”

When you tell her that you were hoping for a simple massage because your joints have been feeling stiff she reacts as though you’ve told her that all your bones have shattered.

“I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been in discomfort, Na-Baroness,” she says. “We’ll make sure to ease all aches and pains.”

As she guides you away and towards a private room you sense people looking at you and notice a couple of higher-ranking women in dressing robes, undoubtedly here for a bit of relaxation themselves. As soon as you look over at them, they glance away, pretending that they’re looking off into the distance. You want to stop, walk over, and introduce yourself to them ( they know who you are, though. Everyone knows that the Na-Baron just married an arranged non-Harkonnen bride from another planet ) but you don’t get the chance. Instead you tear your gaze away to follow the attendant to another room with what you must assume is a synthetic material that effectively mimics the appearance and grain pattern of wood, complete with a changing station, a table with oils and towels, and in the middle a covered massage table with a servant on either side who bow as soon as you enter.

It’s an interesting experience, to be sure. The servants attending to you are quiet and gracious, but you’re made starkly aware again of your foreignness.

Your hair confuses them, for one thing. They look at and touch it as if they’re not sure whether or not they think it’s attractive when you've spent your entire life before Geidi Prime being told that it’s beautiful. They’re gentle with you, careful when undressing you and guiding you to a massage table. When kneading oil into your sore muscles they treat you as if you’re delicate, even though they’re smaller than you are. They work silently, your own muffled moans when they work out a particularly sore spot the only sounds other than the ambient mist coming from the next room.

You wonder at first if it’s because they only speak Harkonnen and not the Imperial Standard, but as they’re getting finished one of the young women–probably not much older than you, although it’s still difficult to tell without any hair or eyebrows to better indicate her age–timidly asks, “Would the Na-Baroness like to be given stimulation as part of her massage?”

You blink, not sure you heard correctly, and raise yourself up on your elbows. “Stimulation?” you repeat, brow furrowing.

“Some people enjoy other kinds of massage as a form of relief, Na-Baroness. We’d be honored to indulge you if you prefer,” she says, looking down the moment you look up.

I’m still lost , you almost tell her before it sinks in. “Oh!” you say, the single word slipping out. The woman flinches, undoubtedly worried that she’s offended you. It’s probably why she hasn’t said a word this entire time; she has no idea how to talk to you, what you would consider appropriate or not, and would rather not speak at all than risk saying the wrong thing. You gape for a moment before managing, “No thank you. A-a normal massage is plenty.”

She bows. “Very well, Na-Baroness. Is there anything else we can do in service to you?”

You’d been curious about the other rooms but suddenly you wish for nothing more than to leave. “No thank you, not today. The massage was all I needed.”

“It was our pleasure, Na-Baroness. We are at your disposal,” the woman says, words you’ve already heard multiple times. “Let us help you redress.”

They gently wipe off any excess oil with damp washcloths and dry you off before guiding you back into your clothes as if scared they’ll hurt you, or rather, scared that you’ll say something that gets them in trouble. Even a foreign woman commands fear if she’s married to the right Harkonnen, even if she’s never going to be a true Harkonnen herself and whether they’re scared of you because of who you’re married to or also because of who you are, it makes no difference.

In spite of everything, when you get back to your quarters you realize that physically, you feel great ; better than you have since your wedding. You feel pliant and loose-limbed, your skin soft and supple. In theory it should give you all the energy you need to continue your studies of this planet and its language.

But your self-imposed Harkonnen lessons aren’t holding your attention; the grammar structure is fairly simple, and you’ve learned a few basic words and phrases (and obscenities, because you’re pretty sure that that’s most of what Feyd-Rautha grunts in your ear when he’s fucking you) and you can’t help your restlessness as you settle back in your chair.

You tap your fingertips against your desk, mind wandering to your husband, your body remembering with a throb how he feels inside you. You’re getting used to it more and more, for the most part even learning to enjoy it.

He might be coming back from his second training session soon. Maybe he’s already come back and is taking his second shower or bath of the day. Maybe you’ll ask him about his armoire, which he hasn’t opened for you since that first night, but, and you pause, thinking it over, picturing him sweaty from his training, and think, no. The armoire can wait. If you want to improve your seduction game, you can start by being the one to initiate your encounters. You can start now.

You strip again, wondering how he’ll react to you entering his chambers. Hopefully amenable to it; he probably won’t dismiss you if you come to him like this. If nothing else he has an incentive to put a baby in you, you think as you wrap yourself up in one of your robes and pad over to your bathroom.

You press your ear to the door joining your bathroom to his. The water’s running: he must be showering. You wait, heart pounding, thinking, It will be fine. Think about this morning; he seemed reasonably happy with you this morning.

You shut your eyes for a moment, take a breath, and open the door.

He’s standing in the middle of his shower, his eyes on you from the moment you step inside. He turns the water off and watches you silently, eyes falling to your robe. He must be fully aware of the fact that you’re wearing nothing underneath.

“Sorry to interrupt, husband,” you say, hoping that your intuition is correct. “I was just…” bored? Interested in your company? Curious about how else you decompress after training? You swallow, fiddling with the sash of your robe.

Feyd says nothing at first as he steps out of the shower and onto the soft mat on the black granite floor. Any words you have die before they can reach your lips as he steps in closer and the height difference between you feels vaster than it’s felt before.

His eyes flicker to your robe. “Take that off,” he says.

You look him in the eye, raising your chin slightly as you unfasten the sash around your waist and brush the robe off your shoulders and onto the floor, presenting yourself for him as naked as the day you were born. The two of you stand in silence for a moment; he’s dripping wet and you’re, well…you bite your lip and hesitate before reaching out, wrist turning as you wrap a hand around him. You feel awkward in the ensuing silence, brushing your thumb over the tip of him and glancing between his face and his cock, breath catching in your throat as you see the way his gaze darkens. You open your mouth to speak but find yourself at a loss for words.

It doesn’t occur to you that he might prefer this to any polished seduction or that he likes your nerves, your earnestness. That you've come to him as if yesterday never happened and like he's a whole intact man with no buried shame. He stiffens rapidly under your touch, silently daring you to keep fondling him. You wonder if it would be worth it to sink to your knees and take him into your mouth–you’ve done it once before as a preamble to the act itself and remember every detail and lesson of it vividly–when Feyd-Rautha starts walking you backwards, backwards, until you reach his bathroom wall and you drop your hand in surprise.

“I…” you start and he silences you with a kiss, gripping the back of your head and tilting your head up to meet him. Once he has you where he wants you, your arms wrapping around his shoulders, his hands slide down your sides, over your hips and ass, coming to the backs of your legs, nudging you forward.

“C’mon,” he says, his rasp quiet but commanding in the echoes of his bathroom. You can’t help your nervous laugh as you hop up and he catches you, hands under your thighs that he quickly wraps around his hips, holding you in place as his cock brushes against your folds, your lower belly. It’s filled out and ready and you bite your lip as you think: how to maneuver…?

You glance back up at him and his expectant gaze. Come on, pet, he seems to tell you. You’re a clever little thing, you can figure it out, and so you grip his cock again and position it at your entrance, almost laughing at how two weeks ago you’d have been hard-pressed to know exactly where it is and how to properly penetrate it.

You gasp, head falling forward as you sink down onto him and cry out as he jerks his hips up, filling you the rest of the way. It’s always such a deep ache and stretch when he buries himself in you and you’re never quite given enough time to adjust to the size of him before he starts moving and it feels like he’s so deep in you that can hardly breathe. Every time he picks a new angle to fuck you in it almost shocks you how he seems to find another way to make as though there’s no part of your insides that he hasn’t touched, and you hold onto him, trying to rock back down on him, and finding you can only really cling to him. He buries his face in your neck, breathing in the scent of your hair and the tonic you use for it, before pausing, shifting you further onto him, and moving away from the wall. You yelp, tightening your thighs around his waist and wondering what he’ll do next, where he’ll take you.

He carries you, then, out of the bathroom and to his bed where he drops you unceremoniously on your back and following you as you go. You both grunt as he lands on top of you and pushes your legs further back towards your chest and he braces his arms on either side of your head.

It’s hard and rough and fast, your knees pushed back nearly to your shoulders that he spreads wide to make room for his own. Your cries as he pounds into your open, vulnerable body spur him on and he drops his forehead to yours, panting against your mouth. He speaks in the Imperial Standard this time when he says, “Like a little songbird, making pretty noises for me,” and brings his mouth to the juncture of your neck and jaw.

You let out a whine as he continues, his tongue flickering and then lapping at the sensitive skin like he’s done before to your cunt. You gasp and readjust your grip on his shoulders, almost stunned at the visceral reactions he can pull from just that. You’d known it was a sensitive area, had been kissed there before, but especially juxtaposed against the pounding of him inside of you it’s–it’s–

“A -aaah! ” you manage, clenching around him, barely holding on, your legs shaking as he speeds up, his mouth continuing the onslaught. The whimpers that spill out of you escalate and turn to a sharp cry as he bares his teeth and bites down.

He grunts, hips pumping, as he comes inside of you, his teeth and lips on the sensitive skin of your neck and your arms wrapped around him. He gives one final thrust for good measure before dropping his head to your neck, his breath harsh. You hold onto him for a moment as he pauses and pulls out.

Will you let me hold you again? I liked that. I liked when you rested on me and I got to pet you as if you could ever be made docile . You don’t ask, and don’t know how to. He rolls over onto his back.

“I trust that training went well, husband?” you ask instead after you catch your breath and start to come down.

He grunts an affirmative and for a moment you think that’s the end of it. He takes a breath, though, mulling over the silence between the two of you. You wait, sensing his realization that you’d like to hear more. That the two of you can have a normal conversation like a normal married couple. “Sparred with a few of my men, then a couple of criminals in the dungeons. They don’t provide as much of a challenge but it still keeps me alert to practice on someone who actually wants to kill me.”

“They weren’t sedated?” you ask.

He shakes his head, exhaling. “Not these ones. Didn’t want to contaminate their bloodstream,” he says.

You think back to over a week ago, and something Idrisa told you. “So you could safely feed them to your Darlings afterwards?” you ask.

He turns his head to you and you do the same, mirroring him. His full lips part as he mulls your words over. “Now where’d you hear about them?” he asks, clearly trying to think back to a time when he’s mentioned them to you and coming up with nothing.

“Idrisa,” you add when you don’t see any recognition in his eyes at the name, “my personal attendant, mentioned that you had pets that you fed human remains.”

This piques his interest, it seems. He rises up on one elbow, turning to his side, leaning over you. “How did she describe them?” he asks.

You shrug, not sure how that makes a difference. “She didn’t. She just said that you feed human flesh to what you called your Darlings,” you say, not bothering to hide your distaste. You’re not going to pretend to like or condone everything he does; not like it would stop him.

Feyd-Rautha’s eyes glint. He breaks into a smile that is equal parts delighted and cruel. “Is that really all she told you?” he says. He doesn’t move a millimeter, but you can sense his growing excitement coiled tight within him like he’s ready to pounce.

“So…what are they? Canine or feline? Or aquatic?” you ask, not sure if you want to know or get a more specific image but asking all the same.

Feyd-Rautha looks at you as though you’ve given him the greatest gift he didn’t even have to ask for. “Would you like to meet them?” he asks instead of answering your question.

No, of course not , you want to tell him. I have no interest in meeting a bunch of animals who devour people whole . “Sure. Why not,” you say.

His black teeth and gums are unnerving against the pallor of the rest of him before his smile turns closed-mouthed again into a smirk.

When you’ve both dressed and left his chambers, you assume that he’s going to lead you to a dungeon, but he instead starts walking down a corridor not far from the private wing.

“I’d keep them closer,” he says over his shoulder, “but they make such a mess.”

So a pool or a moat would be out of the question, but a shark tank is still feasible , you think.

He reaches a door, and the first moment you step inside and see what’s on the padded platform in front of you, you want to roll your eyes and walk back out.

So he’s taken me on a detour first to meet his concubines , you think.

Three naked, lithe, bald-headed women lie curled up sleeping, nestled against one another like a pile of kittens. You raise your eyebrows, letting out an irritated huff. You should’ve known that he keeps concubines; most leaders from Major Houses do. It’s just that he’d seemed so preoccupied with you that you’d almost forgotten that very possibility. These are the women he normally slakes his lust with and what he’ll go back to once you’ve confirmed that you’re carrying his seed. You have a snide remark on the tip of your tongue about how nice it is to meet the other women he fucks.

But then you notice that there’s blood drying on their hands, caking their sharp-nailed fingertips and you realize what the smell of the iron tang that permeated the air really is. Dread settles in the pit of your stomach.

“What’s going on?” you say aloud to no answer.

The women stir, and then they open their eyes. They have neither pupils nor irises. Pure ink black, stares, unthinking, back at you.

When you first met him you’d been quick to assume that Feyd-Rautha lacked all humanity beyond his physical form, but this is what it truly looks like when a person has no human essence. You’re not sure what they’re seeing when they look at you but they perceive nothing except the sight of warm meat.

Abomination! Abomination! you think, too frozen to scream it out loud, the sound of it only coming out of you in a pitiful squeak when they start to move, clambering towards you.

Oh, Great Mother, they move like animals, on all fours . One of them opens her mouth, teeth and gums as black as her master’s but her teeth are sharpened into fangs she bares in what may be a smile, may be a snarl.

Oh, fuck this.

You turn and start to run when Feyd-Rautha holds his arm out to grab you around the chest and pull you to his side as he says something in Harkonnen that you try to grasp.

Something-something woman something-something food. Okay, that was a negation. He’s saying something like “she’s not food.” You gasp and dig your nails into his forearm, unable to look away from them, the way they tilt their heads at you.

You can hear them hiss and chatter, put out that he hasn’t presented them with a meal, and you realize that they’re speaking in neither the Imperial Standard nor Harkonnen battle-language but a vague imitation of human speech.

“What the fuck? What the fuck? ” you say aloud, struggling in Feyd-Rautha’s grip, watching as they scurry closer to the two of you, sniffing at you in particular.

You stare at the fathomless depths of their unblinking black eyes and how they tilt their heads, even their curiosity utterly fucking terrifying.

“You said you wanted to meet my Darlings,” Feyd-Rautha says in a satisfied tone. “Don’t be rude. They like you.” He says something in Harkonnen to the women that you can’t decipher, and their chattering ceases and demurs into near-purring.

One of them sniffs and nuzzles at your stomach and you flinch, wondering how quick she’d be to open her mouth and take a bite of your sensitive skin if her master allowed it. Your stomach that within a few months will swell with Feyd-Rautha’s heir. Does she understand what any of that means? Do any of them?

How naive you were, thinking that he kept animals as his pets, normal women as his concubines. How silly and childish to think that he wouldn’t be as much of a degenerate as you feared.

Just when I think I’ve adjusted to this insane planet I see something even worse.

Feyd-Rautha closes the door and directs his gaze up and down the length of your body, the tremors in your hands, your entire body shaking, in fact, and settles on your face. He says nothing, waits for you to go first.

“What…” you bring a hand to your forehead, hoping that this is a nightmare, “ are they?”

He doesn’t smirk but you can sense his satisfaction. He undoubtedly gets some entertainment out of each time he gets to introduce someone new to his Darlings, or rather, inflict his Darlings on them. He probably doesn’t get the opportunity as often as he’d like. “They’re a Bene Tleilax experiment,” he says. “They thought we might enjoy them.”

“Why would they…” commit a crime against nature like this?

“Because they can,” he says.

“Then why have them?” you ask.

He looks at you as if you’re the unreasonable one. “They already exist, and I’ve found some use for them.”

As his concubines . “So you…” you feel nauseous at the idea, barely able to say it aloud, “...fuck them?”

Your shoulders sag with relief when you he says, “No, I don’t fuck them, Y/N. They’re nice to look at but it would be akin to fucking a wild animal. They can be entertaining, though. And they’re a decent tool for intimidation.”

Entertaining . You could use hundreds of words to describe what you just saw and the wretched nature of their existence and entertaining would not be one of them.

Still, you realize what he means. His menagerie needs to eat to stay alive, and it provides incentive to stay on the Na-Baron’s good side. No one wants to end up as food. And how many men can honestly say, “ If you don’t do as I say I’m going to feed you to the trio of feral cannibal women I keep in my Fortress” ? It’s a far more unique and memorable threat than any you’ve heard.

So they’re not his concubines; you don’t believe for one moment that he’d care enough to lie to you about that, which just makes you wonder where his real concubines are. “Who were you fucking before I was assigned to you? I wasn’t your first.”

Feyd-Rautha’s lips quirk up for a moment in a brief almost-smile. “There are times when people see me in the arena and want to know if I’m as much of a brute as I seem,” he says.

“Are you? With them?” You haven’t forgotten that he’s expected to be better-behaved with you than he probably would be with someone else. Someone potentially disposable.

His expression is carefully neutral as he seems to think on how much he wants to frighten you some more or how much he’ll let your own imagination do the work. “I give them what they’re looking for,” he says after a moment.

You glance back over at the door. How many people whisper about his trio of naked women the way they keep their head down about the Baron? Does that not bother him, how people who know about this undoubtedly think, If he’s willing to stick his cock into them , what else is he capable of?

“You do know that calling them your Darlings, having them naked like this–it makes it seem like you have sex with them,” you tell him.

Feyd-Rautha looks unsurprised and unmoved. “They can be sedated into being dressed sometimes. It’s just too cumbersome to try and change them every day,” he says. “Besides, people can think what they want,” he says. “I don’t care, just as long as they fear my name.”

Very Harkonnen of you , you think. “What are their names?” you ask instead.

He seems amused by the question. “Didn’t bother. They don’t need them,” he says.

You look back at the door. They can’t always have been like this, could they? “Did they not have names once? Before…this?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “They won’t remember.”

You can’t help but stare at him when he says that. These were people once , you don’t need to tell him because he doesn’t care. You don’t know what to say to him; the words dry up in your throat. Here you were trying to bring out the human side to him when you get a stark reminder that for many people that side of him doesn’t exist. You try to remember how the Reverend Mother assured you that he has weaknesses that you can use, just like any other man. How he has his own, albeit twisted, moral code and sense of honor.

Count yourself lucky that it extends to you, you think.

You don’t like yourself very much when you think about it, the palpable fear he instills in everyone he thinks he can readily discard, and the fact that you’ve already decided that you’ll do your best to overlook it, for now anyways. You have yourself and your future child to look after first.

#dune part 2 #dune 2 #feyd rautha #feyd rauth harkonnen #feyd x reader #feyd smut #feyd rautha smut #feyd x you #austin butler

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hoeforhao · 1 year

Text

Chipmunk Cheeks 🍥🧁🍡🍧|| Joshua Oneshot ||

ꔫ pairing: husband!joshua × wife!reader

ꔫ summary: your arranged husband takes care of you in your period pain.

ꔫ genre: pure fluff,mentions of blood and pain, reader sort of has body dysmorphia

ꔫ series: svt as boyfriends

ꔫ author's note: walking into the traffic if i don't find myself a joshua hong cuz am dying from period cramps atm!!

Masterlist

Marriage was never on your book of life and wouldn't ever be your cup of ale. Did your parents know this since the very beginning? Yes! Yet they absolutely went out of their capacity to defy your choices and arrange your betrothal to none other than the Hong Joshua.

Mrs Hong was your mother's colleague, more specifically her best gossip buddy. They were literally known as the gadgets of their office. And when both the women saw that their little ones are getting old with no potential chance of finding their partners by themselves, they settled upon the dreaded agreement.

All your pleas about not wanting to get married to someone you have barely had three to four conversations with, someone whose entire personality, preferences literally everything was unknown to you, were completely left unheard by your parents. Apparently they wanted their daughter to have a "secured future". Literal BULLSHIT.

The most terrifying day of your life was just two weeks ago and here you lay whimpering in pain on the bed of someone you've barely spoken to or looked at since the wedding.

"What a nice time for you to pay your visit, you bastard" you internally curse at your periods.

Yes you're basically dying from period cramps. You didn't know where the nearby medical shop was around here neither did you've the energy to go downstairs and get yourself a hot pack. You were quite literally awaiting your death from organ crumbling pain in your ''husband's room". Too dramatic for just period cramps? Yes! But why react to anything normally when you've the option to absolutely lose your mind over it.

You were so damn lost in your nonsense rantings to the walls of your room, that you failed to register joshua being back from work already.

Finding the house engulfed in absolute silence made his nerves falter for a moment. Usually it would either be filled with loud tv noises of you watching cinnamoroll on the couch or clanking of the utensils as you baked yourself another new dessert recipe.

He quickly throws his coat over the armrest and hops towards your room with those little bunny legs of his ; only to find you completely curled up like a boba ball under the blankets as small painful moans echoed through the walls.

"Y/n, w-what's wrong?" you jolt up from your little coocon as Joshua's warm hands grazes against your forehead.

"Are you okay? You don't seem to have a fever. Did you've a bad day? Did anyone make you cry? Are you missing your parents? If so let's go to their place right now" he grabs your arm gently to pull you out of the bed.

"Would you let me answer or just assume things by yourself Josh!" you unwrap your hands from his while literally burning holes into his face.

"Y-yeah sorry. I was just wo- umm worried." his face hangs low from embarrassment or maybe even a bit of hurt? Not being able to understand what's bothering his wife.

"It's okay. I was j-just having really bad p-period cramps" your face now starts turning crimson, not because talking about periods with a man makes you uncomfortable but because it was h-him...your 'arranged husband'.

"Oh my god Y/n why didn't you call me!!!! I would've run back home from office immediately and brought you treats. Did you eat anything? Where is your hotbag!! Goddamn girl why aren't you taking care of yourself" you wonder if joshua participated in speed talking competitions earlier judging his ability to blurt out sentences without a single pause.

"Calm down Mr Bunny Teeth!!! It's nothing special. I've these every month. The pain will ease out gradually." you nod at him trying to reassure the man that you're infact, not dying.

"No no no way you can talk this so lightly!!! What if you burst from the pain huh! I can't clean up a bloody mess. Hell No" Joshua's last remarks ends up earning him a hard smack from you, making both you chuckle lightly. Dang your husband was even more dramatic than you!

"No seriously tho, you need to take care and pamper yourself during these days. Wait I'll get you some treats" he stands up from the end of your bed to leave towards the kitchen when your arms grabs his from the back.

"I-i don't e-eat sweets or rather I umm can't" your face droops low trying to fight the stray tear making its way onto your lap.

Joshua turns towards you in a swish and bends down to the floor, not caring about bruising his knees on the cold marble; both of his palms reaching to cup your cheeks.

"Why y/n?" a two word sentence was enough to make you break down into a crying mess.

"I - i was a-always told that I'm f-fat and s-so i stopped e-eating my favorite food w-which was s-sweets" you were talking like a five year old, words mixed up with your sobbing and face stained with snot and tears at the same time.

Joshua's firm hands gently grazed over your face as he wiped the mess off of it with his satin white shirt, while the other refused to leave your cheeks.

"You will eat as many sweets as you want love, as you buckets of ice cream you wanna feast on. And I'll be sitting right here infront of you so that each time you think about stopping yourself because of what the world thinks, your face will be planted with a kiss." you've turned completely red by the choice of his last word, the pain in your belly now mixed with a tingling sensation.

"You are perfect the way you're y/n! I can't even imagine a single milligram of you leaving this world. Like omg just think what a great loss will this universe face then!!! I want to see you eat to your heart's content, enjoy each and every meal. Do you even know how bright that smile of your glares when you munch on your food like a happy raccoon, cheeks stuffed up like a smol little chipmunk."

"S-shua you-"

"Sshh! No more words love. Sit here 'til I bring all the food from downstairs and then we'll sit together and watch sanrio, okay chipmunk?" Joshua's slender fingers draw against your lips, sending a flutter of butterflies all over your bones.

Sitting on the bed like an obedient wife you wait for him to arrange a literal feast of sweet treats infront of you, alongside tucking you into the duvet with the hot bag on your belly, making a literal cinnamon roll out of you ; wrapping his arms around your shoulders as your head now rests on his, taking in the sweet scent of his lilac cologne as you two draw yourselves into solace while watching tv together.

"Marriage isn't that scary afterall"

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weepingfromacedartree · 9 months

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Ten Milestones: Epilogue

Hi friends! The epilogue is live!!!

Still can't quite believe this is the end... But thank you to everyone who has been following along on this story. Appreciate you all 💛💛💛

Epilogue

One Year Later: April 26th, 2024

Relationship Status: Engaged

꙳

Yesterday

In the end, neither Colin nor Penelope felt the need to rush down to the court house immediately after becoming engaged. For both of them, the promise of forever was enough.

(For a year, at least.)

Tonight was the wedding rehearsal — which, knowing their respective families, was just as chaotic as one could expect from such an affair. Both Colin and Penelope vastly prefer the more intimate (albeit similarly chaotic) afterparty currently being held in their honour.

In a secluded library at the family home on Grosvenor Street, all Bridgerton siblings and spouses are gathered.

By the door, Kate is offering Gregory advice on law school (far more helpful than Anthony’s advice, by Gregory’s account). By the window, Benedict, Sophie, and Eloise are discussing plans for tomorrow’s afterparty. On the settee, Daphne and Simon are flirting — like they always do on nights like this (seven years into their marriage). In the corner, Francesca and Anthony are discussing a certain bet in extremely hushed tones. On the couch in the center of the room, Hyacinth is interrogating the bride and groom on the details of their union. She asks one particular question that appears to cut through all other mini conversations in the room.

“Penelope — how did my brother trick you into marrying him, anyway?”

Her question had been asked in jest, but in response, Penelope cannot help but admit…

“There actually was some trickery involved in his proposal.”

With one arm wrapped around his fiancée’s shoulders, Colin blushes.

“‘Trickery’ is a strong wo—”

“Ooh,” Sophie cuts in, already taking a seat next to Hyacinth. “Do tell.”

Colin and Penelope do tell. They tell the others all about the little game they played to determine their future together.

“And you were successful?” Hyacinth asks in disbelief. “You did everything a couple should do while just friends?”

“Best friends,” Colin clarifies, much to Eloise’s chagrin. “But yes.”

“And what requirements were on that list of yours?” asks Anthony. “Living together?”

“Yes, actually.”

Anthony squints at his younger brother from across the room.

“You two lived together before you started dating?”

“Yes. Penelope lived with me for a month during lockdown.”

“That doesn’t cou—”

“Shh, Ant,” Colin interrupts. “I nearly have her down the aisle. Don’t mess this up for me now.”

As Penelope starts to giggle, Daphne smiles and clears her throat from over on the settee.

“What about discussing your dreams for the future? That would certainly be on my list.”

“Yes,” answers Penelope. “That was one of the first we crossed off.”

“Hmmm,” Benedict hums dramatically. “Almost like you two should have married a long, long time ago.”

As the others chuckle, Colin simply smiles and asks, “And what would be on your list, Ben?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Benedict’s eyes dart around the room before eventually settling on: “Surviving a trip to Ikea. That one’s vital, actually.”

Sophie nods emphatically at this. “Was Ikea on your list?” she asks the engaged pair.

“No,” Colin answers with a shrug. He then turns to Daphne and (defensively) continues, “But Daph — you’re happily married and have never stepped foot in an Ikea in your life. Right?”

“I’ve been to Ikea,” Daphne claims, just as defensive as her brother. “Of course I’ve been to Ikea!”

“Babe. I’ve never been to I—”

“Shh,” Daphne interrupts, laughing as she leans into her husband’s shoulder. “What’s on your list, babe?”

Simon considers the question momentarily, then smirks.

“Befriending the family.”

“Jesus Christ,” Anthony mutters inaudibly from the other side of the room. Louder, Hyacinth adds…

“Well, that’s easy. I’ve always preferred Penelope to Colin.”

“Hey!” Colin shoots out while Penelope continues to giggle incessantly. It takes her a minute to catch her breath and ask the others what milestones are on their hypothetical lists.

On Francesca’s: “Having the ‘kids’ conversation.” (Check.)

On Sophie’s: “Finding ways to make each other laugh.” (Check.)

On Kate’s: “Making your relationship a priority.” (Check.)

On Eloise’s: “With our family? Surviving a week at Aubrey Hall with your sanity intact.” (Check.)

On Gregory’s: “Adopting a pet.” (Check.) (Technically.)

On Hyacinth’s: “I don’t know. A hall pass?” (Unchecked.) (Thank god.)

That last response is met with such a loud chorus of boos that Violet — who had been searching for the group for the last hour — is finally able to locate them on the third floor. She bursts into the library just as Hyacinth exclaims, “What?! That’s what engaged people do before they get married, right? You know — to get it out of their systems?”

“What is going on here?” Violet asks from the doorway.

“Nothing mum,” several of her children claim all at once. When she appears unconvinced, Gregory explains, “We’re just making sure Penelope and Colin are ready to get married tomorrow.”

At this, Violet chuckles.

“I’ve been waiting twenty years for this wedding. What could there possibly be left to discuss?”

The group explains the game one final time. When asked what milestone would be on her list, Violet smiles and answers, “Falling in love. Everything after that is just… extra.”

Still standing in the doorway, Violet glances around the library. Her smile deepens as she looks to each of the wonderful, happy faces looking back at her. To Kate and Anthony. To Francesca and Eloise. To Simon and Daphne. To Gregory and Hyacinth. To Benedict and Sophie. To Colin and Penelope.

“Well,” she sighs contentedly. “It’s quite late. If any of you wish to be prepared for tomorrow, I suggest breaking up this party and getting some sleep.”

“Mum has a point,” Benedict admits, looking down at his watch. It’s 11:53. “We should separate the bride and groom before midnight strikes. Bad luck and all.”

Most of the room agrees and, thus, begin saying their goodbyes for the night. They stand from their spots, gather their belongings, and empty into the halls in separate directions. Not Colin, though. He feels too sure of everything tonight to bother worrying about “luck” for a single moment.

Gregory is last to leave. He gives Penelope a sidelong hug in the doorway before disappearing down the hall, which is when Colin finally stands from his spot on the couch. As he treads forward, he hears Eloise call out “You coming Pen?” somewhere out of sight; he reaches past Penelope and shuts the door before she can answer.

“Is everything okay?”

“No,” he says, leaning down and laying a kiss on his fiancée’s lips. “Everything is perfect.”

When she breaks away from him, there’s a smile plastered on her face.

“You heard your brother,” she murmurs through taught lips. “It’s bad luck for us to see each other after midnight.”

Colin spares a single second to glance down at his watch. It’s 11:58.

“Time is a construct. And I’m still jet lagged from our last trip, so if you think about it —”

“That was a month ago,” Penelope giggles. “And last time I checked, Berlin is an hour ahead of London.”

“Exactly. Why bother running off now, if we’ve already tempted fate by an hour?”

Colin leans in for another kiss, but Penelope just barely manages to push past her temptations and pull her head back an inch.

“Let’s continue this in the morning.”

Rising onto the balls of her feet (and pulling him down a few inches for good measure), Penelope places a single chaste kiss upon her fiancé’s lips. Colin doesn’t think he’s ever tasted anything sweeter.

“Goodnight, Colin.”

“Night, Pen.”

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

Today

They married at St. Bride’s Church this morning. It was sunny and warm and perfect. They recited their vows in a magnificent cathedral. They took portraits in front of a spire that resembles a wedding cake. They travelled in a little white car from Fleet Street to Mayfair, where hundreds of people are currently celebrating their union in an opulent white wedding hall.

It’s not so sunny anymore, Colin realises while gazing out the nearest window. It’s the first time in hours that he’s taken note of the weather outside. (It also happens to be the first time in hours that Penelope is out of his view — gone to the loo with Francesca in tow.)

The night is nearly done. Family portraits have been taken. Toasts have been toasted. The first dance has been witnessed. But even noting the time, the skies outside are quite dark. From where he stands by the window, Colin can practically hear the phantom sounds of thunder at a distance.

“Question, mate,” says a distinctly Scottish voice behind him. After blinking several times, Colin turns to find Michael Stirling staring back at him.

“Hmm?”

“Is that your sister —” He discreetly points one finger towards Eloise on the dance floor. “— who has been dancing with Phillip Crane all night?”

Colin is suddenly overcome by such a distinct wave of hubris that he barely registers the strange way in which Michael emphasised the word “Crane.” He does manage to ask how Michael knows Phillip, though; Colin only met him last year while self-sequestered in Kent.

Michael mumbles something about playing football against his brother during uni, then inquires about Phillip and Eloise’s apparent connection again.

“That was my doing, actually,” Colin gloats.

“That so?”

“Yeah. While Pen and I were putting together the seating charts, I had a bit of an epiphany and sorted him next to El. Now look at them.”

He nods towards the couple on the edge of the dance floor. Colin has never seen his sister look so pleased while partaking in “a voluntary act of public humiliation.” (Her words.)

“I’m practically cupid.”

Not a second passes before Colin is hit by a sudden realisation. Just as Michael opens his mouth to voice aloud whatever sarcastic quip is currently on his tongue, he continues…

“I saw you dancing with Francesca quite a few times this evening.”

When Michael keeps his mouth notably shut in response to this, Colin suppresses a smirk and asks, “You two came here together, right?”

“As friends,” Michael clarifies, only after several additional seconds of silence. The indignation in his tone is not lost on (or foreign to) Colin.

“You know… Penelope and I went to Benedict’s wedding together. As ‘friends.’”

Again, the other man waits before responding. Just when Colin is tempted to open his own mouth and drop some unsubtle metaphor about sitting in traffic, Michael chuckles before continuing…

“Sorry. I just realised something quite funny. Hilarious, even.” When Colin raises an eyebrow, he explains, “If your attempts at matchmaking Eloise and Crane are successful, you will also be successful in making your ex-girlfriend an official part of the family.”

Colin’s smirk drops, suddenly smacked by confusion.

“You know,” Michael continues, patting him on the shoulder in one dismissive blow. “You should really be more careful about who you invite to be an in-law.”

When Michael begins to step away, Colin turns to follow. He’s about to ask what the hell he was talking about, but that question gets lodged in the back of his throat when he spots something out of the corner of his eye.

His wife.

Penelope has been his wife for several hours. Colin has been ready for her to be his wife for several months. (Years, even.) But the weight of that word — wife — hits him squarely in the chest, even now.

He watches as she steps down the staircase with her skirt in her hands. As she continues chatting with Francesca. As she weaves through the crowd. As she meets his eye and a smile lights up her already bright face.

Colin watches his wife with a tender fire in his chest. He starts to lean down, led by an undying desire to have her close to him. But before he can wrap his arms around her, Penelope reaches out, seizes his hand, and pulls him in a new direction. Towards the nearest exit, specifically.

“Sorry,” she laughs as they step onto the terrace. It’s empty — likely due to the brisk night air and imminent rain. “It was getting a bit crowded in there, I think.”

“I think so, too,” Colin murmurs, finally leaning down to place a kiss against her lips. “How long until we can kick them all out?” He kisses her again. “Or simply save ourselves and flee.”

Penelope laughs again as she tilts her chin down and to the side. She presses her body against his and he wraps an arm around hers. He pulls her in as close as he can get her.

“Not yet,” she mumbles into his shoulder. “But soon.”

Without having to ask, Colin and Penelope fall into a sort of dance — a routine that has solidified and evolved over all these years. Their bodies sway to the music as it drifts in from the ballroom. Their fingers intertwine like they were made to fit together. Their chests are so close that he can feel her heart beating through the flimsy fabric of his shirt.

It’s perfect. All of it.

“Was today everything you hoped it would be?” Colin asks, his voice quiet enough that it’s nearly drowned out by the rain in the distance. Nearly.

“Today was perfect.” She extracts her head from his shoulder to look up at him. She’s smiling. “But I think I’m ready for it to be over. I’m ready for what comes next.”

Colin almost says something in response to that, but after some consideration, he doesn’t feel the need. Penelope summed it all up too perfectly.

Instead of talking, he momentarily pulls his wife away from him and spins her around. She laughs. So does he. They keep time to the rain, for the music has grown too faint for them to rely on. They dance a little while longer, even as the downpour quickens and raindrops start pelting into them sideways.

Colin is more aware than ever before that he has his heart in his hands and against his chest. He knows he isn’t letting go.

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

Tomorrow

The sun is just beginning to rise over London. The sky is maroon, but it will be blue again soon enough. With her head resting on Colin’s shoulder, Penelope keeps her eyes trained on the massive window ahead of her. She watches as twilight bleeds into daybreak. As red turns to pink. Pink to orange. Orange to yellow.

When the first sliver of blue appears in the sky, she lifts her head and looks into her husband’s eyes. He looks tired (for obvious reasons), but also happy.

“I forgot to tell you something yesterday.”

“Oh yeah?” Colin smirks. “Something you forgot to mention in your vows?”

“No. Something Gregory let slip.”

“Dear god.” He runs a hand across his brow before tentatively asking, “What?”

“Apparently your siblings had a betting pool on the date of our wedding. They started it back at Kate and Anthony’s wedding.”

Over the course of about ten seconds, Penelope watches as several emotions cross Colin’s face. Intrigue turns to disbelief. Disbelief to indignation. Indignation to resigned acceptance.

“Of course they did,” he mutters. “Who won?”

“Anthony. He beat Benedict by a few weeks.”

Colin lets out a single strained laugh, then rubs another hand across his eyes.

“I knew we should have eloped last spring.”

Penelope laughs, too. The air is light against her lips.

“You and I have very different recollections of our wedding planning process.”

Again, Colin laughs. He looks like he’s about to protest, but before he can, a voice blares through the intercom above.

“Good morning, passengers. Flight 185 from London to Vienna is about to begin the boarding process. Please make your way to the gate.”

With a light huff, Colin stands from his chair, grabs both of their carry-ons, then extends a hand towards his wife. As they make their way towards the gate together, he squeezes her palm once.

“I don’t know if you’re aware,” he says, smirking down at her. “But I’m actually quite an experienced traveller.”

“Oh.” She laughs. “Is that so?”

“Yes. An occupational hazard, really. I travel for work.”

“How exciting.”

“It can be. Really depends on the company.” He squeezes her hand one more time before continuing, “You know… If you ever want to abandon real life for a couple of days and tag along, the door is always open.”

As they arrive at the gate and stand beside their fellow passengers, Penelope looks up at a face she knows so well. He still has those tired, happy eyes from daybreak. He still has that smile that made her stomach flutter as a child. He’s still Colin — but he’s her husband now, too.

She almost makes another sarcastic comment. She thinks about calling him a dork. She considers abandoning words altogether and pulling him down for another kiss. But in the end, Penelope smiles up at her husband and says the truest words she holds in her heart.

“I know.”

#did I plan to post this on my birthday??#no #but now im 25 and have a completed 100K+ word fic #👍😬👍#polin #fanfiction #bridgerton #weepingfromacedartree #fanfic #ao3 #ten milestones #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #penelope x colin

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magic-belodie · 1 year

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I finished MCLAL Kentin episode 6. It cost me 1.206 AP. I got the illustration. Here is the summary: (This summary is the sequel of the summary of the proposal route episode 5: https://www.tumblr.com/magic-belodie/708420728642486272/i-finished-the-proposal-route-of-mclal-kentin?source=share)

You start this episode in the van. The dogs get up from the place where they were sleeping and start wagging with their tails. That can only mean one thing. Kentin comes inside the van and asks if you had a good day. The dogs jump up on Kentin and Kentin hugs them back. Then you pull Kentin towards you to kiss him. Your day was not bad, you saw Rosa, Alexy and Thia and eat ice cream with them. Kentin's day was a little bit tiring, because the customers were tiring. But after work he went to his parents. His parents are doing good, they are still really excited about the wedding. They asked all kinds of questions about the wedding. The wedding is only weeks away, and you two haven't done much of the preparation. But you two have a place for the wedding. Kentin looks a bit tired. The last two months, Kentin worked multiply jobs. You try to cheer him up with some food. Kentin has the week for the wedding free. Like planned. Kentin can't wait. The food is ready. Kentin sets the table outside and you two go sit and eat. The day after tomorrow you two are going to choose the rings in the morning, then Kentin is free. You also arrange to go to the caterer this Friday. It was the only spot they had left. But Kentin can't, he has to work. If he works this Friday, you are able to choose every menu you want. But you want Kentin to go with you. You don't care about that. You just want Kentin to be with you, and do those things with you. Kentin will call his boss tomorrow and change his schedule. You thank him for it. It is the wedding for the both of you. It is much more fun to do those things together. Kentin smiles at you. You are right, Kentin is excited to do those things with you. But Kentin is very tired now. Kentin and you clear up the table and go to bed. You have problem falling a sleep. You are a bit worried that Kentin is working too much. Kentin has been working so hard because of the wedding. He really wants it to be the best. But you haven't seen him a lot since he is working so hard. You didn't imagine organizing, and the time before your wedding, would be like this. If things go on like this, you have to talk about it with Kentin. The next day started normal. You confirmed the caterer for Friday. You walk the dogs and work as a waitress at the Cozy bear café. But when you get back, Kentin is already at the van. Kentin asked to get free for Friday, and it didn't go well. His boss was not happy that Kentin wanted free, after he arranged everything that Kentin could work more hours. Kentin requested it. You ask Kentin why he did that. He is already working enough. Kentin did because of the wedding. You ask Kentin what is going on. You and him have enough money for a wedding. We are in the budget if we stick to what we said. But Kentin wants to be able to do the things big without any limit. It is a really important moment for most girls. For Kentin, of course also. But he wants you to have the wedding of your dreams. That you could just choose any ring or dress you want, and that you don't have to look at the price tag. You can't help but smile, Kentin is so cute. You feel like Kentin is the one with the greatest ambition of the two of you. And three weeks of work is not going to change the budget that much. Plus, the choosing is part of the fun. You want to choose things with Kentin. Kentin wants to choose two, but he wants those things to be covered in diamonds. He wishes he can give that to you. Kentin is so sweet. You are very touched to hear him say that. But the rings, cake, dress, it is all decoration. And it makes you happy to do it and choose it. But the most important is Kentin. If it puts this much pressure on him. It is not worth it. The only thing that matters to you is to share everything with Kentin. You would marry Kentin in secret in the back of the van, without hesitation. Kentin smiles at you. Would you really marry him anywhere? Yes, you would even do it in the cave where you found the dog on your last trip. But you have already booked a place. It is better if you take advantaged of that. Kentin cares your cheek. Let's make the wedding day the best day within you two means. Plus, Kentin is already going to give you the best gift, his last name. Kentin is surprised. He didn't know that you had already made up your mind. Kentin's name Lerhay fits you like a glove. Kentin takes you in his arms and spins you around. You would have told him sooner if you knew that it had this effect on him. Kentin is going to call his boss. He is going to participate in all the choosing stuff. His boss has to understand and otherwise who cares. You are both so happy. The wedding rings Hand in hand, Kentin and you walk to the jewelry store. You two first look outside at the window. You both see multiply things you like. But Kentin and you have to choose. Kentin kisses your forehead. He has been in a fantastic mood since yesterday. You both walk inside the store. The sales lady asks if she can help you two. You two would like to see wedding rings. She shows you where they are lying. Kentin and you are pointing out all the rings. It is hard to choose. And seeing them lay on a cushion reminds you that you haven't chosen the ring bearer. It would be logic to go with Cookie or Muffin. So definitely a dog. They both have an important place in your history. But normally a child would do that. You two could ask Thia. She would like it. Or a friend, Alexy is Kentin's best man. Maybe you two could ask Armin. Kentin says that you may choose. You choose to let Cookie and Muffin do it. Each of them would carry one ring. That way, no one is jealous. Maybe Joker and Siska would be. But Kentin is sure they would understand. It will be perfect. Then you two look back at the rings. You are sure. You want the crossed rings. Plus, the ring that fits with it was the first one that Kentin liked. They will look perfect. Kentin gets the sales woman. She takes your measurements and makes sure they are ready. Kentin and you walk out of the store. Kentin can't wait for all the other choices. You are both so happy. Kentin and you walk to the ceremony place. Both your parents are already there. You all hug each other. And then you tell them about the rings you two have chosen. But they don't get to see them, it will be a surprise. The place looks beautiful. It was a little climb to it. You are 1500 feet high. Kentin was the one who chose the place. Kentin knew the guy of the place. He worked for him a few seasons ago. At the altar you have a view of the whole valley. At the bench you have a view of the mountain. It will be safe, there are fences everywhere. Your parents point out that you both look so happy. And you do, who wouldn't be with a place like this. The meal is going to be served in the big building over there. There will also be dancing and you can park your car behind it. Kentin's parents ask if he still manages everything with work. Kentin took some free time for the wedding. Everything is going great. You discuss a lot of other things for the wedding, and the bachelor party will be organized by the maid of honer and the best man. They ask who you choose. Kentin chose Alexy. You asked Kim. The athletic girl who works at the gym. Your mom thinks it is a good choice. You want to ask them their opinion about activity between the ceremony and the meal. It is a good thing. You all come up with things to do. You like the musical chairs option. Kentin likes it a lot, two. Kentin and you walk back to the van. It was a nice moment with both of your parents. Kentin is also still really happy with the rings. And he can't wait to get his suit tomorrow. You also can't wait to see what Rosa has planned.

The Dress Kentin and you are at Leigh's shop with Rosalya and Leigh. They are both really happy to see you. Kentin points out that you should take the dress you want the most and don't care about the price. Rosa will make sure that happens. Leigh and Kentin leave to get his suit. You stay behind with Rosa. Rosa shows you the dresses. They are all beautiful. There is one Rosa likes the most, but she doesn't want to influence you. You have to discover the one you love on your own. And no matter what you choose, she has a matching outfit for Kim. The same goes for Kentin with Alexy. Rosa tells you a bit about every dress. Then you get to try all the dresses on. As soon as you put on the breathtaking one, you know it is the right one. You get to pick the dress. There is only one option to choose. This dress was Rosa's favorite. Kentin and Leigh are back. He found the perfect suit. Kentin and you see them back at your bachelor parties. Kentin and you leave the shop. You are both really happy with the outfits. The wedding is coming together. The caterer Kentin and you have tasted all the appetizers. You don't know what to choose. You taste again and choose the forgotten vegetable verrine. It is very colorful and tastes so good. And it is light, a good way to start. That way, Kentin and you will still be able to dance in the evening. Then we can move on to the main course. Since the wedding is in the mountains, they made something special. Balsamic pork tenderloin with cured ham and a salt-crusted potato. You taste the food. It is really delicious. Kentin has no words for it. It is so good. They also have a vegetarian option, which is also perfect. Then you get to choose the dessert. It will be a decorated cake or a tired wedding cake. You get to taste all the options and choose to go with the decorated cake and chocolate taste. It is one of the classics they are selling a lot of them. It is not a surprise. Then everything is set.

The Bachelorette Party Kentin and you still haven't decided on the honeymoon yet. You two have some time left before your parties start. Kentin was already looking at a place for you two. A paradisiacal place. That you two have never been before; Cuba. During the dry season, it will look incredible. Kentin always has wanted to go. You two already have been to a few of the Caribbean islands, but not to this one. Kentin asked if you had already thought of a place. And you did. You thought of Canada. The adventure of the nature. The forest and the snow, it calls to you. Or you could go to a hotel spa and have a relaxing retreat. The opposite of the van. Kentin likes both the options. You choose to go with Canada. Cuddling up with Kentin in a cabin. Spending days in the forest and the snow. Kentin also likes the idea. It sounds like a great program. It would be a nice change. He can already picture it.

You have to leave for your party and walk to the park entrance. There you see Rosa. She asks if you are ready and lets you turn around. Then you see all your friends; Priya, Kim and Melody. You all hug each other and go into the limo. The limo takes you to the beach. There you have a treasure hunt. The puzzles were about your travels with Kentin. They also arranged a meal and a sleeping place. It was amazing.

The Big Day You are with Rosa in the van, and you are very nervous and not able to stand still. It also makes Rosa nervous. If she doesn't get your dress good, you have to marry in your underwear. So you keep standing still. But you are still nervous. You shouldn't think of everything that could go wrong. You should think of everything that could go right. Kim keeps you updated on how it is going at the location. Everyone has arrived, and the cake looks beautiful. Muffin and Cookie already have the rings. You start to relax. Everything is going to be okay. Your dress is ready. You look like a princess. Rosa and you go to the ceremony location.

Your dad is waiting for you and walks you to Kentin. Kentin looks stunning. You get to read his mind. When he saw you, it felt like the whole mountain was rocking. Kentin was waiting for this moment, his whole life. It wasn't just a feeling. He dreamed of this moment for so long. And it is finally here. You are even prettier than you have ever been. He can't take his eyes off you. Kentin is afraid you will disappear if he does that. But you are really there. The moment he has dreamed of so many times. And now he is living it. It is even more beautiful than he could ever dream. He hopes that this moment also meets your expectations. The story switches back to you. You are at the altar and hold Kentin's hand. It is time for the vows. Kentin starts. He is necessarily not the most comfortable when it comes to words. And he already hopes that you know how much he loves you since always. But he wants to tell you again in front of family and friends. And above all, to tell you again here, it's the closest thing to the top of the world. In any case, it's the highest we can get without having to get married in an insulated jacket. Because that is where he wants to be with you. On top of the world. That is where you belong. You deserve nothing less. Kentin has known it since the first time he saw you. At that moment, he knew he liked to go to the end of the world with you. He wants to go everywhere, and that you feel like he feels now everywhere. Happy, loved and the world at your feet. You have tears in your eyes. But now you have to say your vow. You have always felt like that. Ever since you and Kentin found one another again. It took you some time to realize it. To realize that your idea of a lot of things was wrong. That you had the possibility of being happy, as you have never been before. You just had to agree to change your perspective. This place is perfect for the both of you. You never have made a better decision, then to leave and see the world with Kentin. And if Kentin is right that you deserve to be on the top of the world. It is all thanks to him. And you be rather anywhere else with him then here alone. And you want to thank him for that. That is always why you loved him. Kentin has tears in his eyes. Everyone is clapping. The rings are coming towards you two. Muffin and Cookie walk over the aisle. They both have a ring on their color. The dogs sit at your feet so you both could take a ring and put it on each other's fingers. You both say I do. Kentin and you may kiss. He takes you off the ground and into his arms. You kiss him passionate. You get the illustration. Then the episode ends.

#MCL #mclal #alternate life #my candy love #episode 6 #mcl kentin #mclal kentin #my candy love kentin #kentin #alternate life kentin #summaries

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bloomingkyras · 1 year

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Less then 48 hours before "The Wedding".

Since they both haven't done anything with the wedding, to Tartosa we go.. Its just for a day and they manage to buy a cake (although Jar'deen mum had made for them) and a hand bouquet cause everything had been set up by the WO (wedding organizer). And they spend a few hour at the beach before flying back to Evergreen Harbour on the same day.

#sims4 #postcard legacy #the freegan #gen three #Jar’deen Neilsen Chamberlian #the sims 4 #the kannedy chamberlian family #sims 4 challenge #sims4 stories #sims 4 legacy challenge #sims 4 legacy #postcard legacy challenge #sims 4 story telling #tarynbauman by estah for bloomingkyras #Jar'deen Taryn Journey TF3 #spending every hour before the day #might be back at tartosa soon or sulani.

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camaro-and-smokes · 1 year

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Pretty (wo)man

Chapter 4: All aboard!

Tags for this chapter: fluff, feelings realisation. See rating, warnings and tags for the whole fic on AO3. General warning: This work as a whole includes themes related to and mentions of prostitution, sex work, and sexual abuse. I will add tags with every new chapter and notes when anything particularly nasty is being depicted, but if this kind of content isn't your cup of tea to begin with, please move on. Now, consider yourself warned. Please, proceed.

Summary: Billy and Steve arrive at the yacht. Which offers surprises of few kinds.

Other chapters on tumblr >>

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The plane landed at an airfield close to a marina where the yacht was already ready to sail. A small coach bus took Billy and Steve directly to the peer.

When they got out of the car, Billy looked at the yacht from end to end with wide eyes. “This is not a yacht, this is a fucking Titanic,” he said, immediately slapping his hand on his mouth.

Steve let out a laugh. “It's called Nero. It usually sails on the Mediterranean.”

“Okay...” Billy said, wide-eyed. “It's really far from home then.”

"Well, they do trips on this side of the pond too, so not really. Just between us," Steve said conspiratorially. "I think Amanda's parents rented it."

"So?"

"Well, if they did, she's not getting any other wedding gift from them."

Billy frowned. "Why wouldn't she?" he asked and opened the bottle of water he had with him, taking a gulp.

"This baby costs five hundred thousand euros for a week just to rent."

Billy spat most of the water from his mouth on the peer as he started coughing.

"Yeah, exactly." Steve grinned and tsked. "She was always so much looking for an apartment or a house as a wedding gift from them. What a shame."

"You really could buy a pretty nice house with that money," Billy said breathlessly when he could finally talk again.

"Indeed."

A deckhand came to take their bags and guided them into the boat. A stewardess welcomed them on the deck.

"It's Steve Harrington plus one," Steve introduced himself.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Harrington," the stewardess said, looking at her tablet, and frowned. "It seems that we’ve booked you into one of the smaller cabins. There's only one bed in that one. If you want, I can ask one of the other guests if they want to change."

"No, there's no need for another bed. One is fine," Steve said, feeling his cheeks heating.

Billy couldn't help smiling at Steve’s reaction, and he turned to look around the deck. A tall brunette was walking towards them and when she noticed Steve, she looked at Billy curiously.

"Steve?" she asked and smiled widely. "So nice that you made it!"

Steve turned around and his face fell. "Uh...Hi, Amanda. I wouldn't have wanted to miss this for the world."

"Amanda! Hi, I'm William," Billy said with a voice that was dripping sweet honey, extending his hand and smiling his most disarming smile. "It's so great to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."

Amanda looked at Billy, confused, but shook his hand.

Billy linked his arm around Steve's. “I've never been on a yacht this small. But when Steve mentioned about Nero sailing all the way from the Mediterranean for your wedding, I just had to see it." He turned to look at Steve. “Isn't that right, darling?”

Steve looked at him, surprised, but quickly caught up. “Yeah, yeah,” he said nodding, “it would've been a drag if we'd had to travel all the way to Naples for it.” He turned to look at Amanda with a smile and winked with his other eyebrow.

Amanda looked at Steve, stunned, and then back at Billy. "I, uh..." she started, blinking, her gaze moving from Steve to Billy and back, clearly dying to know why Steve was having a man with him who also called him darling. "I...I hope you enjoy it. Uh, there's a...a small get together at the aft salon at five. Or if you traveled from far and want to rest a bit, the dinner is at eight."

"Thank you, Amanda," Steve said and looked at Billy. "We'll probably join you for the dinner. Right, darling?"

Billy looked at Steve, smiling and biting his lip. "Yeah, I think so."

Steve laughed as soon as he closed the cabin door behind them. "Where did that come from? Her face was priceless!"

Billy was standing by the bed, looking around mesmerized, and he glanced at Steve, smirking. "I've only shown you one of my many talents so far. I am on stage all night, every night."

“Can't wait to learn about the other talents then.” Steve paused. “I'm so glad that you're here with me.”

And Steve meant it. God, he hadn't meant a lot of things in a long time, but this he did.

When he'd woken up in the afternoon after having spent the night with William, he'd been heartbroken to find out that he was alone. Even though he'd been living with heartache pretty much ever since Amanda had left him, this had been the worst. Having something he hadn't known he'd wanted so badly and then waking up as if it was a dream hurt. The only thing that had assured him it hadn't been a dream had been the note from William on the kitchen counter with his number.

“You’ll reach me from this number. Call me if you want to come with me to buy clothes. Or for anything else. Sweetie.”

He'd re-read the note a few times. The handwriting had surprised him with its evenness and it had made him suspect William wrote a lot by hand. But what had really caught his eye was the dot on top of the i in the name. It had been small, but it had been most definitely a heart. He had thought that it had to have been just the way William wrote his stage-name and had scolded himself for reading so much to such an insignificant gesture.

A small or a big gesture, it had all been the same to him as he'd almost ran back to the bedroom to find his phone to call him. But then the door phone had rang, and, well, the past had literally come knocking his door, pulling him back where he didn't want to be anymore.

So, having William here with him, in this moment, in the present, was everything.

Billy's smirk softened into a smile, and he sat on the bed. “So, do you still want a short rest or?”

Steve chuckled and set the room key on the table next to the door. “As much as I'd like to rest with you, I have to check my work emails. But you can check out the bathroom.”

Billy frowned, but got up and walked into the bathroom. “No fucking way!” He came back and looked at Steve, stunned, pointing at the bathroom. “That is almost as big as my apartment. And there's a separate shower and an enormous bathtub!”

Steve nodded. “Mh-hmm. Take a bath. Relax. Get ready to be pretty for the dinner.”

Billy looked at Steve, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes, and nodded. “Okay, if you say so.”

Steve tried to keep his eyes on the screen of his laptop, but he couldn't help glancing at William undressing. Because William wasn’t seemingly bothered by his gaze, he must’ve thought that he was concentrating on his emails, and taking off his clothes wasn't a performance like it had been on the previous times. This was the real William, or whatever his name really was, taking off his clothes. Steve licked the curve of William’s neck with his eyes as he put his hair on a bun, and then the curve of his buttocks as he leaned down to take off his boots, checked the heels and put them in the back of the closet. He admired the toned abs as he took off his shirt and checked it, picking off some hairs. Suddenly he cursed under his breath when he apparently found a stain and turned around, forcing Steve to look quickly back at the screen and hope that he did it fast enough to not get caught.

"Uh, Steve?"

"Yeah?" he said, raising his gaze, pretending that he'd been working the whole time.

"There's a stain on my shirt. Is there a laundry room where I could clean it?"

"Just leave it on the bed in the morning with a note to have it cleaned and the maid will take care of it."

William stared at him for a while. "Oh. Right. Of course." He looked down at the shirt and let out a breath.

"I can call the maid to come get it now. You'll have it back within an hour," Steve said when he noticed the desperate look on William's face. "If you want."

"It's not that," William mumbled.

"What is it then?"

William chewed on his lip. "I didn't even know that. How am I supposed to act like I've been with you for a long time if I know shit all how jet-set life really works? That, of course, there's always someone else to pick up after you."

Steve leaned back in his chair. "Think of it...inside out to what you’ve used to: there’s always someone doing things for you unless you specifically want to do something yourself. No one enjoys cleaning or doing laundry, so you pay for a maid to do it for you."

"But what if I don't want to pay someone doing something I might not enjoy, but I can do?"

"That's called plain old decency," Steve said with a small smile. "Too many people with money have forgotten what that is."

William looked back at the shirt in his hand. "Is there something I really could fuck up everything with?" he asked, and looked back at Steve. "Something that's, like, the minimum I should know?"

Steve folded his arms on his chest and frowned, pondering. "Always start from the outside."

William frowned. "From the outside?"

"Yeah, at the dinner table. There are several courses, and with each course you use a new set of forks and knives. You always start with the outer ones and work towards the plate."

A smile crept on William's face, the desperate crease between his brows melting away. "I think even I can remember that one."

"You'll do fine. Just be yourself."

William snorted. "You're so going to regret saying that."

"It worked well when we came on board."

"Well, that was easy. I could smell she was a bitch from a mile away."

Steve laughed. "Have a bath. I really need to reply to at least one of these emails."

"Then try to concentrate on that instead of staring at me when I undress."

"I wasn't staring!"

"Yes, you were. I could see you in the mirror," William laughed and pointed at the mirror that was in the closet door next to him, facing Steve directly.

Steve blushed and buried his face in his hands. "It's your fault, really," he muttered, looking at William through his fingers.

"Oh, is it?" William asked with a knowing grin, and took off his jeans. "I'm going to take off the lingerie in the bathroom then," he said, running his thumbs under the waistband of his panties, "so that I don't keep your concentration off the emails."

"Tease," Steve said when William vanished into the bathroom, wiggling his ass.

Billy closed the bathroom door and leaned his forehead against it, laughing. It felt good to have a little fun like this with someone. Not having to be afraid that you walked out of the situation with nothing if a tease went a bit too far. To be comfortable enough to actually joke around with someone, for real. He had missed that.

He turned to look around the bathroom. The bathtub was inviting, and he really wanted to take a bubble bath. He'd never had a bathtub that big. Having his intimate areas exposed though, he settled for a long, hot shower and enjoying the view to the sea.

There was a knock on the door. “William?”

He opened the door ajar and peeked through it. “Yeah?”

Steve handed him a small box. “Use these. If you want to listen to music in the bath. They’re waterproof and... I got them for you. As a gift.”

Billy’s eyes widened when he saw the brand on the Bluetooth earbuds box. “These are, like, super expensive,” he replied.

A smile spread across Steve’s face. “They hardly made a dent in my budget. And I wanted to get you something nice, something you could actually use.”

Billy looked at the box for a while and bit his lips together, words abandoning him. “Thank you.” He raised his gaze back to Steve. “That was really sweet of you.”

“You’re welcome,” Steve said, and turned around, walking back to his laptop.

Billy looked after him for a moment and then closed the door. He stared at the box in his hand. The warm swelling had returned to his chest and lured its way to his throat, making him swallow hard.

A gift from a client shouldn’t mean this much, no matter how expensive it was. But he couldn’t fight it. He was a lost cause, and he knew it.

He turned on the water and let it get hot while he took off the bra and the panties. The earbuds connected to his phone with no hassle, unlike the cheap ones sometimes did, and he put on his favorite playlist. It included all the favorite hard rock hits from the 80s, his favorite music era. He walked into the shower stall, closed the glass door, and let the water envelop him along with the music.

Bon Jovi’s ‘Runaway’ and Skid Row’s ‘18 and Life’ accompanied him while washing his hair and his body taking his sweet time, and when Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ started he couldn’t help but to hum with the tune as he looked out to the sea from the wall high window, enjoying the warm water enveloping him.

He couldn’t keep it to himself anymore when the next song hit his ears.

...What a funky lady,

She like it like it hmm hmm,

Oh, he was a lady...

Steve startled at William’s slightly out-of-tune singing in the bathroom. When he recognized the song, he couldn’t help but to let out a laugh. If that wasn’t a song that described his realization of who William was, he didn’t know what was.

“These towels are so thick and fluffy!” William said contentedly when he walked out from the bathroom wearing a bathrobe and drying his hair on a towel. “I think I could actually sleep in this robe.”

Steve smirked. “Enjoy Aerosmith much?” he asked.

William’s eyes widened. It was the first time Steve saw him actually blush.

“Was I that loud?” he asked, concerned.

“This cabin isn’t that big, and yes, you sang your heart out.”

William squeezed his eyes shut and crunched his nose in embarrassment.

Steve couldn’t help but to find it endearing and he smiled. “It’s okay. Really. I like it you were comfortable enough to do that.”

“I forgot where I was for a moment...” William said quietly.

“The song is about you, by the way,” Steve said, raising his other eyebrow and winking.

William let out a hearty laugh. “I know,” he said, pursing his lips. He got up and walked to Steve, his hips swaying. “Which is why I love it.” He closed the lid of Steve’s laptop and kissed Steve, who moved his chair away from the table and let him straddle to his lap.

“Okay, maybe we can have a quick rest,” Steve said, grinning, and grabbed William’s buttocks with his hands and squeezed.

::::::::::

Author notes: I love to include real life facts into my fics. Nero is in fact a real yacht, but it’s not entirely described in this fic as it really is. It sails on the Mediterranean and the Caribbean seas, and yes, it actually costs around 500k € a week to rent it. Read more about it at Neroyacht.com or check out the introduction video of it on Enes Yilmarez's YouTube channel. It’s absolutely stunning vessel.

Oh, and the Aerosmith song is ‘Dude (Looks Like a Lady)’ ;)

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#harringrove #harringrove fanfiction #billy hargrove #steve harrington #billy x steve #pretty woman #Youtube

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