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babydollmarauders · 8 months

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TIDAL WAVE — LUKE HUGHES

luke hughes x fem! reader

summary: in which Mark’s girlfriend and his best friend have a secret.

warnings: cheating, toxic/unwanted relationship(?), asshole-ish Mark at one point, NSFW!!, fingering, oral (f receiving), p in v (unprotected), choking/breath play, dirty talk, dom!Luke, please let me know if i missed any

notes: takes place at umich. this is less of a pure smut and more of an actual fic that just has smut. inspired by Tidal Wave by Chase Atlantic. (6.6k words)

i never meant for this to happen.

i didn’t go into this wanting to break Mark’s heart.

i was always the one who got cheated on.

i was never the cheater.

but then Luke happened.

he brought out a side of me that i never even thought i had.

Mark pushed us together, really. Luke needed a tutor, and Mark knew i had the highest grade in that class. he practically begged me to tutor his friend; make sure he kept his grade up high enough to continue playing hockey.

so, i said i would help.

Luke and i started meeting up during our free time. we would do our homework together, and i would talk him through the lesson and make sure he understood it all.

we started off with meetings at the library. then we switched to meeting at a diner; where we quickly learned that the new setting did not help in our studies. rather distracting us instead, which lead to less time being spent on homework, and more time spent getting to know each other.

through our diner meetings is where we learned that we had a lot in common. both being the youngest of three siblings, both loving movies and the same music, we became best friends. we lost our filters around each other, our conversations ranging anywhere from hockey to what we liked in bed.

maybe that’s where i should’ve stopped. i should’ve drawn the line when we got so close that we started talking about our nightly activities. me complaining about Mark being too gentle and never seemingly wanting to hook up, and him discussing the girls that he hooked up with at parties, confiding in me that most of them ended up asking him about his brothers after the act.

our meeting location eventually changed again, first to the dining room table at sophomore house, typically backgrounded with Mackie and Dylan playing video games. and finally, to his bedroom, where we had no interruptions. no loud friends playing games, no hustle and bustle of waitresses, no distracting noises from others in a library. it was just us and our textbooks.

but then December seventh happened. Mackie and Dylan had left for their afternoon classes, Mark and Ethan out at theirs, and Luke and i were left with the house to ourselves.

we started out good. we sat on his bed, textbooks and laptops in front of us. then we got off topic.

one second we were discussing the homework, and the next, i was telling him about how i faked an orgasm the night before and i was still frustrated.

i didn’t expect for him to offer to help me. or for him to kiss me. and i certainly didn’t expect to kiss him back, or for it to lead to what it did.

but it happened, and now i’m too deep in. my heart is split between my boyfriend and his best friend.

we kept up our charade the next semester. claiming we were studying together for our current shared class, because we were great at helping each other. but as soon as the house was empty, every wednesday without fail, we found ourselves tangled in his sheets.

we were good at keeping our activities on the down low, for the most part. the guys had noticed that he quit sleeping around, and Luke was partially honest; telling them that he had a regular thing with a girl he really liked, but he was cautious to never drop my name.

i was caught at a crossroads. break up with Mark, my boyfriend of over a year? or put a stop to my activities with Luke, the only guy who’s ever been able to satisfy my desires?

“babe, you okay?” i’m struck out of my thoughts, by my boyfriend, his hand coming down on my knee, not exactly rough, but certainly not gentle in his inebriated state.

“hmm?” i hum, turning my head to look at him beside me on the couch. “yeah, i’m fine.”

another Wolverines win meant i was stuck at another team party. top hits blast from the speakers around us, red solo cups in nearly everyone’s hand as they grind against each other.

the sophomore guys are crowded around the couch, playing a round of truth or dare, and i’m nestled up beside Mark, silently observing.

“okay.” Mark brushes off my out-of-character behavior, tuning back into the game.

“Hughesy, truth or dare?” Ethan smirks and Luke rolls his eyes, a crooked smile plastered across his lips.

“truth.” the guys ‘boo’ him, but he lets their disappointment run off his back. “i’m not doing an Eddy dare.”

“fine.” Ethan groans, stopping for a moment to think before his face lights up, and i know he’s about to ask something he desperately wants the answer to. “who’s the mystery girl that’s put an end to your fuckboy ways, Hughesy?”

my body stiffens as Luke’s smile drops, his gaze flickering towards me so fast that no one else would’ve caught it.

“nice try.” he laughs the question off, sticking his middle finger up at his teammate. “i’m not telling you.”

“c’mon bro!” Dylan eggs on, nudging his friends knee.

“we just wanna makes sure she’s good enough for you!” Mark chimes in from his spot next to me, drawing Luke’s attention towards us. he looks straight into my eyes before he faces my boyfriend.

“trust me, you’d think she’s plenty good enough.” he tells him, a smirk drawn on his face. at his next words, i bite my lip so hard, i think i may draw blood. “you’d really like her.”

the guys howl, clapping their teammate on the back as he turns bashful under my gaze. his head drops down, a blush coating his cheeks before he stands up, a sound of disapproval falling over the group.

“i’m just going to get another drink.” he laughs, shaking his head. “anyone need anything?”

a chorus of ‘no’s and ‘i’m good’s come from the guys, and Luke looks at me.

“you need anything, y/n?” i grow small under his stare, shy and meek.

“yeah, i need a refill.” i shake my empty cup and rise to my feet. “but i can get it.”

i turn back to inform Mark that i’ll be right back, but he’s paying no attention to me. already wrapped up in a conversation with Mackie about some video game.

i heave out a sigh, slightly embarrassed, and face forward once more, only to find Luke still waiting for me with pity filled eyes.

we walk together to the empty kitchen, everyone spread out around the rest of the house, only wandering in here to grab another beer and leave.

“you’re playing a dangerous game, Luke.” i speak up as i pour a concoction of sprite and pink whitney into my cup. “he could catch on.”

he shakes his head, chuckling. “they’re too drunk to catch on.”

“regardless,” i sigh, looking over at him as he pours another jack and coke, my hip leaning against the counter. “we have rules for a reason, Luke. you can’t do what you did in there. looking at me before you answer. those vague hints to Mark. it’s like you’re asking for us to get caught.”

“i say fuck the rules.” shrugging, he turns to face me. “let ‘em find out.”

“Lu-”

“you deserve better, y/n.” he cuts me off, and i squeeze my eyes shut at his words. “i mean, he isn’t even paying any attention to you. he rarely ever does.”

“stop-” but he doesn’t.

“you deserve someone who pays attention to you. you deserve someone who knows you. inside and out.” i huff out a chuckle at his innuendo, but tears sting my eyes, threatening to spill over.

“i can’t, Luke. i just— i can’t.” i sniffle. blinking back the tears. “you don’t understand. our parents set us up, they think we’re good for each other. and if i break up with him— if i break up with him, my parents will blame me for ruining their friendship with his parents.”

“is their dream of having their children date and marry so that your families can be intertwined, really more important than your happiness?”

Luke’s hand lays upon mine on the counter. “because i’m sure it’s not. i’m sure they’d understand that you guys just weren’t meant for each other.”

i shake my head, adamant about my answer.

“no, i don’t think they would.” i huff. “our moms have practically planned our wedding from the moment Mark and i were born. you should’ve seen their reaction when we said we’d give a relationship a try. they basically straight out told us that we couldn’t just try, we had to last, because if we don’t, then we fucked up their friendship.”

Luke opens his mouth again to speak, but he’s cut off by Ethan stepping into the kitchen. i pull my hand back from the counter as if someone lit it on fire, stepping back from Luke as though to not seem suspicious.

“hey, y/n, you may wanna go in there. Mark is drunk, and you know what that means.” Ethan grimaces and i nod.

he’s hitting on other girls.

i thank him for telling me as i set my cup down, walking out of the kitchen and sparing a glance back at Luke, who watches me leave.

“c’mon, Marky.” i plaster on a fake smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes as i find my boyfriend. he’s locked in a conversation with a blonde that i’ve seen in one of my classes, pulling out all his best tricks in order to try and charm her. “let’s go up to your room.”

“no thanks, mini. i’m good.” my entire demeanor deflates as i watch him brush me off, but somehow the nickname usage slightly makes up for it.

“Mark, you’re drunk and you’re hitting on other girls, let’s go.” i try and speak with confidence, but my voice fails me; wavering on my last words. the blonde girl cringes, walking away when she realizes that he’s spoken for.

“mini, you’re killing my game.” he groans, finally turning to look at me.

“i’m your girlfriend, the only game you’re supposed to have is with me.” i sigh. “let’s go. you need to sleep off the alcohol.”

he whines, giving in and taking my hand, allowing me to lead him up the stairs and away from the bustling party.

i hate having to intervene when this happens, because i know i’m no better than he is. except i’m actually sleeping with someone else, he’s just trying to.

but our friends would be too suspicious if i didn’t stop him.

“i wish we had just stayed best friends.” he grumbles, not for the first time since we started dating. “dating you is one of the biggest mistakes i’ve made. we were so much better as friends.”

tears spring to my eyes, and unlike ten minutes ago, i let these ones fall.

he’s been doing the same thing— and saying the same words— since a mere month into our relationship, and i desperately wish i could disagree with him.

“trust me, the sentiment is shared.” i whisper to myself as we reach his room.

i push his door open, ushering him inside and watching as he lays down in the bed and lets out a yawn. i follow in behind him, shutting the door before i help him out of his clothes and into pajamas.

laying in the bed, he curls up against me, his head on my stomach as my hand rakes through his hair; lulling him to sleep.

why do things have to be so complicated?

i don’t see Luke again until wednesday. each time i’m at the house, he’s nowhere to be found. either in his room, or out with one of the guys.

in all honesty, i wasn’t even sure if we were still on for our ‘study session’ today. but i showed up anyway, loaded down with my backpack and a ton of stress from my morning classes.

“hey, y/n.” Mackie opens the front door, letting me walk in past him. “Luke’s in his room.”

i nod, eyeing him as he walks over and drops down on the couch beside Ethan, resuming their video game.

“don’t you guys have class?” i question, inching my way towards the stairs.

Ethan shakes his head, his eyes never leaving the tv screen. “canceled. professor is sick.”

i nod, bidding them a ‘see you later’ as i make my way up the stairs to Luke’s room.

his door is shut, but i don’t bother knocking, instead barging in as i have many times before. Luke is standing in front of his closet, a towel wrapped around his waist and his wet curls dripping water down his back. he spins around at the sound of his door opening and shutting, but relaxes once he realizes it’s just me.

i scan his body, my gaze lingering on his abs before i halt altogether at his exposed v-line from the low-hanging towel. my bottom lip catches between my teeth and it takes me a second to remember what oxygen is and why i need it.

snapping out of my sexually charged trance when i see his abs flex from his laughter, my eyes snap back up to his face, where a smirk rests.

“would you like me to take the towel off or do you just wanna keep undressing me with your eyes?” he teases, ultimately choosing to forgo a shirt and just grab a pair of sweatpants from one of his drawers.

“why didn’t you tell me Mackie and Ethan are staying home?” i hiss. “i wouldn’t’ve come!”

i rid myself of my backpack, dropping it on his bed as he puts the sweatpants on, hanging up his towel on his closet doorknob.

“precisely.” he winks. “you wouldn’t have come.”

retrieving my textbook and laptop from my bag, i roll my eyes at his double entendre and take a seat criss-cross on the floor at the foot of his bed. he follows suit with his own laptop.

“i’m serious, Luke. i would’ve just went back to my dorm. i don’t actually have any homework until next week and i didn’t plan on doing any today.” i pout, glancing over at him as he takes his seat beside me, so close that my knee brushes against his thigh. “now i have to.”

“i mean, you don’t have to.” he shrugs, his arm snaking around my waist. he uses it to pull me towards him, maneuvering my body so i’m straddling him. “been thinking about you all week, baby.”

“yeah?”

my cheeks flush as he nods, his eyes dark with lust as he leans forward to kiss me. his lips are soft against mine, tasting of toothpaste, which blends perfectly with my peppermint chapstick.

he grabs a handful of my ass, taking advantage of my resulting gasp in order to slip his tongue past my lips.

his fingers play with the hem of my tank top, pulling away to pull the shirt over my head, leaving my chest bare. he slides me off of him, my legs now across his lap, my butt pressed against the side of his thigh.

he dips down to attach his lips to mine again and one of his hands grips my hip, pulling me closer so that my breasts press against his shirtless chest, his other hand sliding up to cup the back of my neck. while both of mine are tangled in his wet hair, slightly tugging at the curls at the nape of his neck.

his lips abandon mine in favor of leaving open mouthed kisses down my jawline, smirking against my skin at the sound of my quiet moans.

“Luke, you gotta stop.” i can barely get the words out, both from the pleasure that wracks my body as his tongue swirls my pulse point, and from the lack of desire to stop.

“hmm why?” he mumbles against my skin, not easing in his attack against my neck, but careful not to leave any marks.

“because the boys are right downstairs.” i remind him. “and no matter how much we’ll want to, we can’t go any further because your bed creaks and they’ll hear it.”

he pulls back to look me in the eyes, his hand sliding around so that it now provides a gentle stable grip on my throat. he uses that touch to slowly lower my body down, simultaneously removing his legs from beneath mine and hovering above me, holding himself up with the hand not currently wrapped around my throat.

“we don’t have to use the bed, baby.” his tone is low and dripping with sex, making me clench my thighs together at the sound.

i suck in a deep gasp as my bare skin touches the cold hardwood floor, my back arching and my chest pressing against his arm, which he uses to push my body down until i lay flat. i can feel my panties dampen at the lust that darkens his eyes when he feels me breathe in against his grip.

he lowers himself down above me, his body pressing grazing lightly between my now spread legs, as his lips attach to my breast, leaving wet kisses at the top of it. his hand slides down from my throat to let him thumb circle my other nipple, and i have to bite down on my lip in order to keep quiet.

“Luke.” i whisper out a moan, and he chuckles against my breast. his tongue kitten licks my nipple before his lips close around it, sucking gently and letting his teeth scrape incredibly lightly against it.

my hips buck up against him, finding friction against his abs, but he pulls away. he sits back on his knees, his fingers coming down to play with the waist band of my skirt, looking down at me in search of my approval. at my nod, his fingers sink into the fabric, pulling both the skirt and my underwear down my legs.

he flings the fabric to the side, neither of us paying attention to where they end up; too wrapped up in each other.

his gaze sinks downward to my glistening cunt, biting his lip as he drags his middle and ring fingers through the wetness. my body twitches as he brushes over my clit, already swollen with arousal. one side of his lips curls upwards into a smirk.

“look at you. such a good girl for me.” i nod my head at his words, attempting to grind down harder onto his fingertips, that have halted on my clit, providing just enough pressure for me to feel it. “so wet already.”

i whimper quietly and Luke fakes a pout, mocking my sound.

“you want me, darling?” he pushes down just a little harder on my clit and i sigh, my legs falling open a little more.

“yes.” i whisper. “yes, please, Luke, ple-.”

my words die off as he slips one finger inside of me, pumping it in and out slowly, and crooking it up to hit my g-spot.

my mouth forms an ‘o’, my eyes rolling back before fluttering shut. his other hand snakes up to provide weight upon my throat, applying just enough pressure to make it a little harder for me to breathe, but not impossible.

i seal my lips, placing a hand over my mouth to keep myself from crying out as he adds a second finger. as he pumps his fingers, he presses the heel of his palm against my clit, and the dual stimulation in addition to the choking has my face going red; my head dizzying.

Luke’s grip leaves my neck, allowing me to breathe a bit easier, and i open my eyes to see him hovering above me. his gaze flickers down to the hand that covers my mouth and i move it, his head dipping to press his lips against mine.

his hand that’s between my legs never eases up, only speeding its pace as he adds a third finger, and i can feel my release edging closer and closer as i begin to grind myself down onto his fingers.

my cries are muffled by his lips, swallowed by him while his tongue pushes against mine. he pulls back, his eyes scanning my face.

“that’s it, darling.” he coos, his nose nudging against mine, my hips still moving against his fingers. “ride my fingers.”

the chuckle he lets out, as i continue to obey his words, is dark. he slides down my body, lowering himself fully now to be laying on his stomach on the floor; his face so close that i can feel his hot breath on my cunt.

his fingers persist in their mission to get me off as he begins flicking his tongue against my clit, and i’m barely able to cover my mouth before i let out a high pitched moan. his lips enclose around the bundle of nerves, sucking and flicking, but never ceasing the motions of his fingers inside of me.

my legs snap shut as my orgasm quickly approaches, but he just uses his free hand to pry them open; hooking his arm under my thigh and holding it open so he can continue his assault between my legs.

“open up, darlin’.” he mutters against me, and the vibrations send me.

my breath catches in my throat, my eyes rolling back, and my toes scrunching as i come around his fingers, my hand dropping down to tangle in his curls, holding him in place as i ride out my orgasm.

my back arches as he sticks his tongue out, letting me grind against it, while his fingers still pump in and out of me, crooking up in a ‘come here’ motion.

i stop moving as i come down from my high, my body falling limp as i pant to catch my breath. Luke sits up, looking into my eyes as he sucks his fingers clean of my cum, humming at the taste.

“you taste so good.” he tells me. leaning over to kiss me, his tongue licks against mine, spreading the taste. “i don’t wanna share you anymore, baby.”

my eyes fall closed at his confession, finding it unfair of him to say when i’m still reeling from my climax.

“Luke,” i sigh, but he kisses me again, cutting me off and refusing to let me deny him of his request.

“he might kick my ass when he finds out, but i’ll take that beating.” he mumbles against my lips. “just let me take care of you. let me love you the way you deserve.”

his words are enticing, and in my fuzzy mind, unable to think clearly, they make sense.

“okay.” my response makes him smile and he eagerly presses a kiss against my lips.

“yeah?” he begins peppering kisses down my throat. “you gonna breakup with him?”

another kiss.

“let me take you out on a date?”

he sucks gently at a spot behind my ear.

“let me love you outside of these four walls?”

i nod, my head tipping back to allow him better access.

“good girl.” he whispers in my ear, his breath against it making me shiver.

his lips find mine again, his body hovering over mine, and i let my hands explore, dragging down over his abs until they reach his sweatpants. i rub his erection through the gray fabric, making him thrust into my hand.

“don’t start something you’re not ready to finish yet, darling.” he mutters, his voice strained from holding back.

“who said i’m not ready?” i ask him, voice sultry as i peer up with innocent eyes. “i’ve had a few minutes to recover.”

his head drops into my neck, groaning lowly as my hand strokes him through his sweatpants.

“you want me to fuck you?” he asks, biting gently at my shoulder. “want me to bury this cock so deep in your pussy?”

“yes.” i gasp, my heart racing and my core throbbing at the thought. “want you to fuck me so good.”

“okay, darling.” he nods in permission and i pull his sweatpants down, letting his erection spring free. he moves away to take them off completely, and i clench around nothing at the sight of him.

he lowers himself between my thighs, gripping the base of his cock and rubbing it over my clit twice before h lines himself up with my entrance. my hips involuntarily jerk, resulting in his tip pushing in, and he takes that sign to finally bury himself inside of me.

he pushes in painfully slow, hissing at the feeling of my walls encompassing him.

“you’re so tight.” he speaks through a clenched jaw, watching my face scrunch in pleasure as he pushes in, stretching me out inch by inch until his full length is inside of me. “you feel like heaven.”

he doesn’t move, letting me adjust to size, kissing me as he does so, but it doesn’t take more than a moment before i’m speaking against his lips.

“please, move.”

at my request, his hips pull back before snapping back in. my hands fly to his back, my nails digging in as he thrusts in and out of me. i cry out against his shoulder, his face dropped down in my neck, and i pray to whatever higher being, that the boys are still downstairs with their video game blasting; drowning out the noise of skin slapping and our sounds of pleasure.

“faster, Luke.” i whine, pressing a kiss to his neck.

he speeds up his strokes, and i choke out a moan at the same time that he grunts, pulling out all the way and then snapping his hips to harshly thrust in.

my nails scratch down his back, surely leaving marks, and he moans quietly at the feeling, pulling his head out of the crook of my neck in order to look at my face. i’m certain that i look like a mess; my face red, my jaw dropped open, and my hair spread across the floor behind me, but i can’t find it in myself to care.

“you’re beautiful.” he mutters, dipping down to kiss me. i bite at his bottom lip, resulting in a loud groan entering my mouth from his.

Luke pulls away, sitting up and gripping my hips as he begins to pound into me. my hips chase his, and one of his hands leaves my body. grabbing a stray pillow from the end of his bed, he lifts my hips, settling the pillow underneath me before lowering me back down on top of it.

the new angle has my eyes squeezing shut, my hands rising to clutch at my breasts in attempt to ground myself from the immense pleasure. i can feel his tip hitting against my g-spot, making me legs begin to shake.

my walls clench around him and i can feel his hips stutter, his thrusts getting sloppier as he chases his high, and in attempt to help me reach my second orgasm, his hand comes down to gently push against my lower stomach.

tears build in my eyes and i stare up at him, finding satisfaction in watching him concentrate. his abs flex as he slightly hovers back over me, just enough so that he can reach my neck, and his hand wraps around it. my heart leaps in my chest in response to the pressure that he applies, cutting off my airflow for a moment before easing up just enough that i can breathe if i really need to.

i can myself getting lightheaded, a result of the stimulation and the lack of oxygen, and his grip slackens, allowing me to gasp in a breath or two before he repeats the process.

my legs shake, my back arching and my pussy clenching around him as i finally reach my peak, coming on his cock. it only takes a few more sloppy thrusts before Luke is freezing, hips stuttering.

“fuck, i’m gonna come.” he moans quietly, and i buck my hips up to fuck onto him, silently letting him know its okay while i’m still catching my breath.

the movement of my hips spurs on his orgasm, his head dropping back as he comes inside of me.

he falls forward, his body collapsing on top of mine. we stay like that for a few moments, catching our breath, before he slips out of me, causing a whine to escape my lips as he rolls onto the floor next to me.

my head lolls to the side, staring at him as he sucks in deep breaths, and in the post-sex haze, i can’t help but grin at the thought of he and i on a real date. my mind wanders, fantasizing about him picking me up from my dorm, flowers in hand, and taking me out to dinner or a movie.

but it all comes crashing down when i register the severity of what we’ve just done.

we had sex, with other people here. people who know my boyfriend. people who granted, may not be the most observant, but i’m sure would still recognize the sound of sex if they heard it.

“shit!” i curse, sitting up and scanning the room for my clothes.

“hey, what— what are you doing?” Luke asks from his spot on the floor, leaning back on his hands, watching as i pull my clothes back on.

“well, first i have to pee.” i start, glancing over at him. “and then, i need to peek downstairs and make sure dumb and dumber didn’t hear anything.”

he opens his mouth to speak but i cut him off. “god, that was so stupid. we could’ve gotten caught.”

his face deflates, his lips downturning in a frown as he nods.

“right.” he grits out, and i stop in my movements, tank top and underwear on, but skirt still in my grasp.

“hey.” i coo, walking over and dropping down his lap, setting my skirt beside us in favor of cupping his face. “it was just risky of us to do, is all. i don’t regret it, and i don’t regret you.”

he peers at me from behind his lashes, his eyes fluttering closed as i press sweet kisses to his cheeks before locking my lips with his.

“okay.” he nods in understanding.

“you’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Lukey. i don’t want you to think that i regret anything.” i give him another peck. “i just— i don’t want this getting back to Mark.”

another nod, but then the corners of his lips curl up in a small smile.

“at least not until you break up with him.”

shit. i did say i would do that, didn’t i?

“Luke…” i trail off and his smile drops.

“you’re not gonna do it, are you?” he asks sadly. “it was just an empty, heat of the moment promise.”

“no.” i shake my head, my hands running through the back of his curls. “i’m gonna do it.”

i’m firm in my answer, having had enough of not having him in my arms, publicly.

“i just don’t know how.” i confess. “i’ve never broken up with someone, i’ve always been the one being broken up with. and i have to figure out how to do it without him getting pissed at me, so we can stay friends and hopefully we can break the news to our parents together.”

“you can do it.” Luke encourages, straining his neck to kiss my forehead. “you and your big, smart brain will figure out a way.”

a giggle escapes past my parted lips, and i rise from his lap, finally stepping into my skirt.

“i’ll be right back.” i whisper and he sends me a thumbs up as he pulls his sweatpants back on.

slipping out of the bedroom, i go straight across the hall to the bathroom, doing my business and making sure i don’t look like i just got railed, before i finally tiptoe halfway down the stairs. i peer over the banister, finding Mackie and Ethan still wrapped up in their video game, seemingly oblivious to the actions that happened right above their heads.

thank god.

it’s not until sunday that i’m able to get Mark alone at the diner, having needed thursday to think of how to break the news, and friday and saturday being game days, in which Mark is incredibly meticulous about his schedule.

i’m sat in a booth, nursing an orange juice as i wait for my boyfriend to arrive, my head perking up every time the entrance bell rings.

finally, in he walks, a beanie on his head and his university of michigan letterman jacket resting upon his shoulders, slipping his phone in his pocket. he smiles when he sees me, stalking over and dropping into the seat across from me.

“hey, mini.” he grins, leaning over the table to press a kiss to my cheek.

“hi, Marky.” my voice is weak, but i do my best to mask it with a smile.

“what’s wrong?” my brows furrow at his words.

“what? what do you mean?” i question, and his eyes flicker down to my cup.

“you’re drinking orange juice,” he laughs, taking the cup from my grasp to take a sip. “you only drink orange juice when you’re sad.”

he knows me too well.

“Mark-” before i can get into my speech of how this relationship isn’t working for either of us and that we should go back to being just friends, my phone buzzes with a reminder notification and i sigh. “sorry, one sec.”

digging through my tote bag, i pull out my birth control, popping a pill out of the sleeve and swallowing it, washing it down with my juice.

“why do you even take that anyway?” Mark scrunches his nose, and i’m sure i look like a deer in headlights when his eyes meet mine. “we barely even hook up, and i wear protection when we do.”

“birth control has more uses than just… controlling birth.” i remind him. “it helps regulate my periods and ease my cramps and-”

“makes sure Luke doesn’t get you pregnant?” his words are like a slap to the face, shocking me, regardless of the soft tone that he says them in.

“what?” i gape, my eyes wide and my lips parted “i-”

i’m rendered speechless. unsure of what to say. i refuse to deny the claim, because it’s true, and i’m sick of lying. but also not wanting to confirm, in fear of upsetting him.

“it’s alright, mini.” he shrugs. “i found out last month. came home to grab a textbook for my next class and heard you guys going at it.

“i was a bit shocked, but i understood.”

i open my mouth, ready to speak, but he cuts me off.

“he’s good for you. i can see that you guys really like each other, and i can’t blame you. i was a pretty shitty boyfriend, wasn’t i? but, i was an even shittier best friend. i’m the one who convinced you to give us a try. and then, only a month later, when i realized how much better we were before dating, instead of just breaking up with you and facing the consequences, i dragged it out for over a year.

“i kept you in a loveless relationship, just because i was scared of what our parents would say.” he scoffs, shaking his head.

my hand slides over on the table to grasp his. “Mark.”

“but, if you wanna be with Luke, i’m okay with that. i should’ve just ended this when i knew that we weren’t right for each other like that.”

my gentle touch turns sour as i smack his hand lightly, finally getting him to shut up.

“Mark, would you stop?” i sigh. “god, you have me feeling guiltier than i already felt. which is valid, i was a shitty girlfriend too.

“i could’ve broken up with you too. i guess we were both too afraid to hear the ‘you fucked up’ speech from our parents. but instead of just taking the loss, i cheated. and nothing can excuse that. no matter how much you and i knew that we weren’t right for each other, i still slept with Luke while we were together, and i’m so sorry for that, Mark. and i would understand if you were pissed at me and you never wanted to see me again. but i really hope that maybe you can forgive me, and we can just go back to being friends, because i’ve really missed my best friend.”

salty tears coat my cheeks as i sniffle, looking into Mark’s red rimmed and slightly puffy eyes from his own tears.

“i’d really like that.” he nods, giving me a soft smile. “and we can tell our parents together. maybe if we tell them that the break up wasn’t messy and we’re still best friends, it won’t be as bad.”

“oh thank god! i really hope so, because i don’t want us to be on the receiving end of our parents wrath forever.” i respond, making him chuckle. “so… is this like a mutual break up or…?”

“oh no- i dumped you. i definitely dumped you.” he jokes and i abrupt with laughter, a snort leaving my lips which causes him to laugh as well.

Mark and i walk back to sophomore house together, his arm draped over my shoulder and tears in our eyes from laughing at our own jokes. and for the first time in a year, i feel immense happiness in his presence.

Mark opens the door when we arrive, allowing me to step through and shed my jacket as he follows behind me, doing the same before his arm wraps back over my shoulder. we turn to find at least half the hockey team piled around the living room, a hockey game playing on the tv and snacks scattered all over the coffee table.

most of them only glance up at our arrival, waving or muttering a ‘hey’, before their sights set back on the screen, but Luke’s gaze settles on us, his eyes unmoving. i can see his face drop at the sight of Mark’s touch on me, and i glance up at Mark to see him already looking down at me with a smile. he nods, giving me his approval, and that’s all it takes.

i shed his arm off of me, stalking over to Luke and standing in front of his spot on the couch. he watches me with wary eyes, his expression stony, until i crawl onto him, my legs on either side of his lap. my hands cup the back of his neck, using my grip to pull his face up to mine.

“what the fuck are you doing?” he whispers, but i ignore him, lowering my lips to his.

his hands squeeze at my hips, his lips moving against mine, and i can hear the other boys in the room whispering a chorus of ‘what the fuck’s and ‘oh my god’s and even Rutgers ‘yo, what the hell did i miss’, but i tune them out.

pulling back, a smile paints across Luke’s lips, his gaze flickering to Mark, who i turn back and see grinning at us.

“i take it it went well?” Luke asks me, his nose nudging against mine as i turn back to face him.

“it went great.” i tell him. “he wasn’t mad. in fact, we facetimed our parents and told them together. they were pretty mad, but generally understanding when we told them that we’re still best friends.”

Luke’s arms wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him in excitement.

“hey.” Mark calls out, gaining Luke and i’s attention once more. “treat her good.”

i roll my eyes at his warning, but Luke just grins.

“i’ll give her the world.”

#luke hughes x reader #luke hughes smut #nhl smut #luke hughes fic #luke hughes imagine #luke hughes blurb #nhl imagine #nhl fic #umich hockey #faithlynn’s writings <3

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dylobilysmomg · 3 months

Text

Drive-In Shenanigans

𝗙𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺: 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳

𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗸𝗶 𝘅 𝗙𝗲𝗺!𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: 𝟭.𝟲𝗸+

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗪! 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶-𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗲𝘅, 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘅 (𝗪𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘!) 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗽𝗻𝘃

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗜’𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗹! 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝟯 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻! 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴! 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗵 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀!) 𝗠𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲. 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗟𝘂𝘃 𝘆𝗮!!

𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙛!

It’s a warm August Friday. School has started but we’re still trying to hold onto the summer. It’s shorts and t-shirt weather, my favorite kind of weather. So Stiles and I make our way to the one place you’d always find us during those summer months. The drive-in theater.

“What’re you looking for?” Stiles asks me, watching as I dig through my bag. “I thought I brought my chapstick.” I say, still searching. I pay no attention to Stiles who’s reaching into his pocket and hands me his.

“Ugh, cherry.” I look at him disapprovingly. “Hey, you wanted chapstick, I gave you chapstick.” He chuckles, and I sigh, removing the cap.

“You’ll be fine, plus you’ll forget about it once the movie starts.” Stiles says as we pull up the the drive-in theater. We drive up and pay at the window and Stiles finds a good spot to park. Once he’s found an open spot he likes, he backs into it. Turning his body, his right arm stretched out to my seat, looking through the back windshield. 𝙂𝙤𝙙…

“Okay, let’s do this.” Stiles says excitedly, parking the jeep and getting out. I hop out too and walk around the jeep to the trunk. Stiles is opening up the hatch and there it is. Probably the equally most fun and disgusting place in his jeep, depending on who you ask. We’ve got plenty of blankets laying in the back to cushion us while we watch the movie.

Stiles is practically shaking from excitement, we’ve planned this drive-in date a month ahead. I mean, Stiles and I come to the drive-in A LOT. However, tonight is different because, of course, they’re playing Star Wars.

I hop up into the back of the jeep along with Stiles, sitting on his right. We get comfy and sit against the back seat. There’s no one parked in front of us, thank God, and there’s not really anyone at the drive-in at all this time around.

“It’s pretty deserted tonight.” I turn my head to him, admiring his face as the light from the screen shines on him. “Yeah, what’s up with that? Where’s all the Star Wars fans at, huh?” He complains, almost baffled that he may be the only die-hard Star Wars fan in Beacon Hills.

“I don’t know, maybe they’d just rather watch the movies at home.” I reply, giggling; already knowing what he’s going to say. “That’s outrageous. This is so much better than sitting on the couch. This is where the fun is.” Stiles exasperates, flailing his arms at the screen.

I just giggle, admiring him. “I mean, this is more fun that watching it at my house, right?” He asks, turning his head to me. I don’t answer at first, instead leaning in to give him a kiss; which he accepts almost instantaneously.

“Yes, Stiles, this is more fun. Plus, you know how much I love the drive-in.” I tell him, leaning my head on his right shoulder as the commercials end and the beginning of the movie starts. Stiles brings his arm around my back, which urges me closer. In all honesty, I’ve been dying to be with Stiles; just the two of us. Since school has started, we haven’t had a single moment for ourselves. Starting of school work, and of course along with whatever Scott gets us into, we get really busy really fast. And I’m itching for Stiles’ touch.

As the movie plays, Stiles’ full attention is towards the screen. He absentmindedly makes circles with his thumb as his hand resides on my waist. My left arm is around behind his back, my other in my lap. My legs are curled up now, I rest them on his thigh. My head still rests in that sweet spot between his shoulder and his arm that was made just for me. I can’t stop thinking about his arm around me. My mind running wild.

It’s about a fourth of the way trough the movie that I can’t take it anymore. I trail the hand I have behind his back lower, deciding to slip it under and up his shirt. My hands must be cold, because he gets a little chill as I do so. Even then, I trail my hand over his bare skin, which is now at my disposal. I draw designs softly with my nails, scratching his back lightly.

Stiles hums, finally acknowledging me. “Mm, that feels good.” He mumbles, but eyes not leaving the screen. I crane my neck up slightly, my face now mere millimeters away from his exposed neck. “Does it?” I whisper, leaning up to kiss his neck. One kiss. Two, three. My hand in my lap slides to his.

“Babe, we’re watching a movie.” He warns me, now fully aware of my intentions. I slide my hand up to his chest. “What’s that gotta do with anything?” I counter, giving his neck a few more kisses. He sighs, I know I’m getting to him.

“You know this happens every time we have a movie night, right? Is there something you wanna tell me, Y/N? Does fine cinematography turn you on?” Stiles tries to play with me, ease his own temptations. But I’ve already got him where I want him.

“No, you do though.” I reply, sliding my hand from his chest down to the waist band of his jeans. He lets in a sharp breath as I dip my fingers into his pants to grip his belt buckle. “We’re in public.” He warns again, but I don’t listen.

“That’s what makes it so fun.” I reply, slowly undoing his belt, and he lets me. I get his belt loose and unbutton his jeans, unzipping them agonizingly slow. Stiles has by now given up on trying to act cool, and is now practically itching to be touched. There’s already a tent in his boxers as I pull his jeans down just a bit.

Stiles uses his right arm that’s still around me to urge me into his lap, and I oblige. I straddle him, both my hands now on his chest, and he pulls me into a kiss. I grind onto him as his arms slink to my waist, going to unbutton my shorts as if second nature.

He unzips my shorts, revealing just enough to see the the little bow at the top of my panties. “Awe, fuck.” He lets out, before dipping a hand down my panties to where he knows I want him. I moan as he teases my entrance, and his mouth envelopes mine in another kiss. I bring a hand down to grope him through his boxers.

I throw my head back as Stiles finally slips a finger inside me, then two. I try to be quiet, but as he rocks his fingers back and forth, trying to be quiet is near impossible. I then drop my head to the crook of his neck, my hot breath hitting him.

“Stiles, need you so bad.” I say, now plunging my hand into his boxers to grab him, and he hisses. I use my thumb to play with his tip, spreading the pre cum. Then, without warning, Stiles pulls his fingers from my shorts. I whine as he grabs one of the many blankets in the trunk to cover our waists.

It’s then that his hands urge my shorts down and off my legs, and I pull his boxers down just enough to free him. “Can you be quiet?” Stiles looks at me, I can tell that being in public turns him on, he just won’t admit it. He likes the thought of being caught almost as much as I do.

“Yes.” Is all I reply with before he’s lining himself up with me before putting his hands on my hips to urge me down. I try not to let out a moan as I slowly sink down, Stiles stretching me fully. Once I’ve taken all of him, I place my hands on either of his shoulders. I slowly start to bounce on his cock, Stiles watching with his mouth hanging open in awe. It’s at this point that I now know for a fact that he likes it when I ride him the most.

I rock my hips against his, the movie now completely forgotten. I’m so focused on Stiles that I barely notice his hand going down to my little bundle of nerves. When I feel him starting to rub circles, I start to lose my momentum. “Oh, you like that, don’t you?” He taunts me.

“Yeah,” I say breathlessly, “Y’so good, Sti.” I begin to babble, something that Stiles frequently takes advantage of.

“Yeah, ya like when I take care of you, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Like when I give you what you want?”

“Oh, yes.”

Stiles starts to buck his hips, thrusting up into me, and I can barely take it. I can tell he’s chasing his high the by way way he hisses and by the sweat that begins to form on his hairline. He’s still assaulting my clit when I speak up.

“Stiles, I’m gonna cum.” I warn him, and he pulls his other hand from my hip to cover my mouth as I do. And suddenly I can no longer bounce on him, all I can do is ride out what he’s giving to me.

Stiles still covers my mouth and begins to thrust up hard and fast, and I can barely take any more. But not before he pulls out and strings of white are splayed over my thigh. He throws his head back against the back seat, mouth hanging agape.

I scoop up his ropes with a finger, but wait for him to lift his head up to look at me before I bring my finger to my lips. I lick it clean, and Stiles could quite possibly be the hungriest man I’ve ever seen.

“We seriously can’t even make it one movie without fucking. I owe Scott 5 bucks.”

𝟏/𝟏𝟗/𝟐𝟒

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lunityviruz · 8 months

Text

Something I've noticed is that no matter what fandom or community we are in—black people will always always have to make a safe space for ourselves. Every single fandom I was in there were always black people being treated badly by white people and nonblacks and everytime we spoke on it we are told that we are either making it up or causing problems/discourse.

Even in the LGBTQ+ community where niggas preach about being sooo accepting we have to make *our own flags and spaces because we get talked over and forgotten so damn much. You look up queer related stuff and white people show up first (try the trans selfie tag or look up androgynous stuff on pinterest.) You look up queer shows and it's only white people with a black side character or a white person x a black person like we can't exist on our own. White queers calling black people cops for being uncomfortable with certain labels.

Even with fictional black characters they get the same treatment. Marina from Splatoon 2 and Hobie Brown from Spiderman both are victims of nonblack people hypersexualizing them and masculinizing them. Xinyan from Genshin Impact is a complete and utter stereotype of black people—being seen as aggressive and mean and a literal theft. Don't get me started on how yall whitewash the fuck outta them. It's either sexualize them, whitewash them or forget about them completely.

For some reason white people are seen as more aesthetically pleasing compared to Black people and when we look up aesthetics we literally have to type in "black person x aesthetic" or afro punk or afro goth despite us being the creators of some of these aesthetics. Same with cosplaying, white peoples cosplays are seen as more "canon" compared to black people or even people who's race is literally the character being cosplayed.

Fanfiction writers constantly cater to white people despite trying to market their stuff as "inclusive" while black people get shitted on for making character x black reader fics and don't you know weird ass white people still read them??

Yall tell us to make our own things instead of "complaining" about it and we do, then we get hit with death threats and hate. We make our black edits and get told that it's "blackwashing" and the artists get called the n word, we make black movies and our actors get death threats. We make our own original black art with our black OC'S and get told that we're being selfish and "racist" for not drawing other people. We literally cannot exist without you people hating on us and unnecessarily critiquing us.

[Note: If you nonblack or white niggas come up here and being like "well acschually op🤓☝🏾" I will actually hurt you. If you ask "why is this in the x tag" I will hurt you as well. You try n derail and make it about a different race I'm hurting you.]

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breaddwoo · 1 year

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you don't have to do this at all

but how about a wednesday x vamp!reader part 3 where the enid catches the r drinking from Wednesday and thinks she's hurting her so she basically tackles the reader away and tries to fight her until Wednesday stops her and what not

-Vanilla (pt 3) -

pairing: wednesday x vamp! reader

word count: 2.66k

warnings: making out, blood

desc: the finale, wednesday asks you out formally after getting detention. enid crashes the party too :)

a/n: i hope this is close enough to what you wanted! all the other requests were for part 3, so I'm just gonna answer this one since it gave the chapter a direction :)

requests are open 🦭🦭

well, shit.

blinding lights abruptly woke you. it felt like you were looking straight into high beams.

you slightly open one eye to see what was going on. wednesday was still asleep on your arm. usually, you'd take this moment to admire her sleeping form; this time, however, an angry monster stood before you with a glaring flashlight.

it was principal weems.

> > >

you were caught in the middle of a stare down between the principal and wednesday. weems' eye began to twitch in sheer rage as wednesday continued to glare without a single blink.

"u-uhm," you tried, "i'm very sorry, principal weems. it won't happen again."

her gaze did not leave wednesday as she said, "i know this is all wednesday's doing. whenever someone breaks the rules, it always leads back to wednesday."

"then it shouldn't be a problem to let her go," wednesday uttered through clenched teeth.

a delirious smile made its way to weem's painted lips, "i'll have to thank bianca later for her help. if she hadn't tipped me off that there were lights still on in the greenhouse, i never would've caught you."

this made your stomach drop. you were terrified. how would you see wednesday again if you were expelled?

"you're not gonna expel us, are you?" you gulped.

weems laughed, "no, of course not. if i could, i would, but unfortunately all i can do is give the both of you detention for the next week."

the impossible happened. with these words, a wide eyed smile curled it's way to wednesday's lips. seeing this was actually pretty horrifying.

you knew something was going on in wednesday's head, but you tried to diffuse the situation before principal weems noticed wednesday's serial killer smile.

"aw, damn, that sucks. well, guess we better head back to our dorms so we can prepare ourselves for that awful detention tomorrow," the words sounded awkward along with a strained chuckle afterwards.

you tugged at the edge of wednesday's blazer, trying to nudge her towards the door. she understood the hint, continuing to glower at the bleached blonde women behind the haughty desk. she finally turned, heading in your direction.

once the large doors to weem's office clicked soundly shut, you let out a huge sigh of relief. you took a second to relax. then, you slowly turned your head to wednesday.

"what was that- that smile for?" you asked with an odd expression.

she tilted her head down as she stared up at you, her pupils half covered by her eyelids.

"i believe alone time in a room meant for child punishment will prove to be very educational."

you wanted to smack her, but you used your hand to cover your burning cheeks instead.

"do you ever think of anything besides stuff like that?" you complained.

she turned around and looked behind her, "you're an affliction. this is your own doing, (y/n)." her eyes glittered with deep affection that her facial features couldn't express.

though her words were full of teasing, you couldn't help but snort at her overly proper english. you really loved that about her.

you watched her turn the corner to ophelia hall. then, you went in the opposite direction to your own.

> > >

the bell rung, signalling the start of your incarceration in the detention room. you sighed, gathering your books off the desk.

enid took this opportunity to walk over to you, bouncing on her heels.

"hey, (y/n)! yoko and i were thinking of going out to jericho tonight to see a movie. wanna come?" she beamed, her smile as blindingly white as the rest of her.

you pressed your lips together in a disappointed line, "can't. i got detention."

enid squinted her eyes as she played with a strand of faded pink hair, "that's odd. wednesday said she had detention too. did you guys do something?"

"nahhh, i was just tardy to first period too many times and got detention. no idea why she's in there," you chuckled awkwardly.

knowing she still didn't quite believe your explanation, you slung your backpack over your shoulder. a quick "see you later, have fun" and you were basically sprinting out of the classroom.

enid stood there, continuing to stare at the place you once stood with a look of deep thought.

> > >

wednesday sat stiffly in her desk chair as she waited for you. the teacher that was supposed to supervise the detention somehow had her tires slashed earlier in the day, so she couldn't make it.

weems had come in a few minutes prior, threatening wednesday not to cause any trouble; little did she know, wednesday's hands were clean. thing made sure of that.

when the door creaked open and your head poked through the crack, wednesday stood.

"(y/n)," she called nonchalantly, sitting herself atop a nearby desk. spotting her, you smiled. wednesday hated cute things; except for your smile.

you walked up to her, placing your bag on the floor before resting your forehead on her shoulder and holding her waist.

she allowed this, surprisingly hugging you back herself.

"i'm sorry i got you into this," you mumbled, the sentence muffled by wednesday's uniform.

she pulled you from the embrace to give you a stern gaze, "i don't mind. this is actually quite enjoyable."

"how!?" you exclaimed, "there's nothing to do in here besides sit and be miserable!" your arms motioned to the sea of empty chairs.

"i'm with my beloved in a secluded room," she said, hopping off the desk and heading for a black suitcase next to her book bag, "and i brought this."

when she opened it, a black type writer and hundreds of loose pages were revealed.

your eyes widened, "is that the book you've mentioned before?"

"yes, and i would like to show you the new addition to the story."

you furrowed your brows and gave funny smile, "what do you mean new addition?"

wednesday flipped through the abundant number of pages until she found what she was looking for. she pulled it out of the stack and presented it to you, something akin to excitement written on her stone face.

you took the paper gently, letting your eyes skim the sentences. everything on the page almost made your heart pump blood once again. you wanted to jump and hug her; instead, you asked for another page, and then another.

the book was a murder mystery. having read small excerpts from it, it was obvious that the main character was heavily inspired by wednesday herself.

here, on this page, was a character you could only guess was supposed to be a fictional reflection of yourself. the character was sweet and kind to the protagonist, and the more you read, the cuter their love story became. she was even a vampire.

you never would have guessed that wednesday could be so good at writing a romance subplot. the confession scene was so pure that you almost squealed.

"wednesday, is she supposed to be me? err- well, someone like me?" you asked, pure adoration filling your heart.

she looked to the page, answering with a small, "yes".

then, she looked up to you with a more serious expression than before.

"as she is her girlfriend, i want you to be mine," wednesday stated. her eye contact was impressive, her lids unblinking.

"r-really?!" you practically screamed. was it really possible that wednesday addams was asking you to be her girlfriend? and with such a romantic gesture?

wednesday nodded, "considering i've tasted every part of you, it is inevitable."

gasping at her bold words, you smacked her chest with the papers.

"my goodness, how can you just say stuff like that?" you mumbled with puffed cheeks. your reaction was exactly what wednesday was hoping for.

she took the papers from your hands and laid them with the rest. after, she turned back to look at you.

your hair, your facial features; the white fang that peeked through your lip. it had been a while since you had consumed any of her blood and she yearned for the feeling once more. this was her chance.

you were soon hoisted up onto one of the desks. you looked down at her while she was forced to look up through her thick lashes. you knew where this was going, you wanted it just as much as she did.

might as well enjoy this detention.

instead of the usual beginning bite, she pulled your face down to hers via your neck tie. for a split second you exchanged breaths, looking into eyes that were millimeters apart.

you couldn't take it anymore and you leaned forward, connecting your lips with hers. her snowy hands slid up your skirt, leaving trails of goosebumps on your thighs.

you sighed into her mouth. she already knew exactly how to bend you to her will. this time, however, you had different plans. you wanted to watch her come undone too.

your fingers sneakily untied the hairbands at the end of her braids. each one detangled itself, leaving you with the sight of wednesday's hair completely unrestricted. she looked beautiful; her hair a starless night sky. it was just as soft as her bangs, only you could completely run your hands through it.

this surprised wednesday, if anyone else had done it she would've committed arson in their dorm rooms; but if it was you, anything was fine.

her scalp tingled with the sensational feeling of your fingers. it made her want to go limp in your arms.

as she thought this, you broke the kiss to bite at her bottom lip with your fang. iron soon filled your mouth, and it made both of you that much more aroused. leaning back, wednesday loved how swollen and moist your lips had become. she was about to lick the blood on the side of your mouth when you dove for her neck.

you meant to restrain yourself, but her foggy black eyes full of desire made it impossible.

unbuttoning her collar, you stripped her shoulder of all garments. she reciprocated by tilting her head to the side, allowing you to do whatever you pleased.

then you noticed the many, many bite marks that littered her neck; each one a stamp of ownership. she was yours and you were hers.

you teased her a little. a fang prick on one side and a glide of your tongue on the other. her breathing became unsteady.

"may i?" you whispered to her, knowing it would tickle the sensitive skin.

"you don't have to ask," she whispered back, closing glossy eyes.

like a predator pouncing on its prey, you sunk your fangs in a spot free of any marks. the familiar taste caused a moan to slip from your mouth, sending vibrations throughout wednesday's entire body. she could've collapsed on the spot.

as you were about to take your first gulp, the classroom door swung open and there enid stood, slack jawed.

she shrieked. it was high pitched and girly and very alarming to anyone who might have heard it.

"(y/n)- wha- what are you doing!?" enid freaked, running over to you both. before you could fully pull your fangs from wednesday's neck, enid jumped on you like a wild animal.

you were slammed to the tile floor, hitting it with a hard thud. she sat on top of you, pinning your neck to the ground.

"why- how-" she stammered, unable to form a complete sentence in the chaos.

her painted nails grew into large claws in less than a second. she was almost choking you at this point.

wednesday, who had fallen into and knocked over several desks, quickly grabbed her wrist.

"enid, stop!" she said, raising her voice to a terrifying degree. wednesday held enid's wrist in a painful grip, causing her grip on your neck to loosen.

you took this opportunity to shove her off of you, heaving in the process.

as wednesday held her back, now holding both wrists and restraining her lethal weapons, confusion took hold of enid's expression. she tried to take slower breaths to relax herself.

"wednesday, why- why was she biting you like that!? why are you protecting her!?" she yelled, panic still evident in her voice.

how are we gonna tell her?

> > >

thirty minutes later, enid sat on a desk with a blank look on her face. you and wednesday stood in front of her, explaining everything that has happened the past few weeks.

by the end, enid felt like her whole world had changed.

"so... you're telling me that... you asked her to do that, wednesday? and you guys are dating?"

you nodded and wednesday affirmed it as well.

silence settled in the room. enid sat, processing the fairytale she'd been told.

then, her face morphed into a frown, "and.. and you guys, my two best friends, never told me any of this?"

her voice was full of hurt and her expression made you feel even worse. wednesday saw you fidgeting with the hem of your skirt out of the corner of her eye.

she reached for hour hand, slipping her ice cold fingers into your own. you squeezed back.

"i'm really sorry, enid. the only person who knew was xavier-"

"xavier!?" she bursted, her face flushing with anger, "why would you tell him and not me!?"

you sighed, "well- it's just harder when it's someone so important to you. i was gonna tell you eventually, but when i was ready, y'know?"

your explanation made enid's furious features soften. she took a deep breath.

"okay, okay. i understand. just- you can tell me these things. both of you, " she said, looking to wednesday to confirm she heard her.

then, enid being enid, any trace of negative emotion vanished from her face. it was replaced with a big, bright smile.

standing up from the desk, she placed her hands on yours and wednesday's shoulders.

"i knew something was going on between you two. sometimes i'd catch you speaking to wednesday in the hall and i've never seen her look at someone the way she looks at you. now, tell me about how you guys fell in love. i want to hear all of it!"

> > >

in the middle of the woods, a mile away from nevermore, existed a small pond.

the water was clean and full of tiny fish. fog forever hung over it's rippling surface.

an old dock, barely passing safety regulations, lead to the middle of this small body of water.

here is where you planned to meet wednesday for your very first date as girlfriends.

enid, now obsessed with your relationship, pushed wednesday to ask you.

the trek was long, but when you made it to the pond, you understood exactly why wednesday loved it so much.

it felt like you were in a completely different dimension; one full of foggy greyness. the perfect secret spot for wednesday addams.

you sat side by side on the dock. hands intertwined, you were also connected through the earbuds in each of your ears.

it was your favorite slow song, one that always brought you to your happy place. that place was now wednesday. you wanted to remember the feeling of the breeze on your cheeks and the melody in your mind.

wednesday let her gaze lead to you through the corner of her eye; a small, content smile on your lips as you stared at the still waters.

she wanted to cherish you forever. she finally understood how her mom felt. she understood why people were so addicted to being in love.

though it could hurt sometimes, it was calm moments like these that made each day worth living. wednesday, caught up in her pining, whispered, "i truly adore you."

though, it seems you didn't hear through the music in your ear. that was just fine with wednesday.

she turned her attention back to the grey landscape.

breathing in through her nose, she smiled a tiny, hidden smile. a familiar scent tickled her nose.

vanilla.

#wednesday addams #wednesday netflix #enid sinclair #wednesday imagine #wednesday x y/n #wednesday x you #wednesday oneshot #wednesday addams x reader #wednesday addams oneshot #wednesday addams imagine #wednesday fluff #wednesday x reader

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w1ldthoughts · 2 months

Text

Stolen Glances

Anon Requested

Disclaimer: this is a work of FICTION, the characters are fictionalized versions of real life situations and some real people. It’s all based on my imagination.

Masterlist

Five days. You could do five days. It should be relatively simple. You and your friends were going to spend a few days at the Fern Ridge Reservoir in a luxury home that Justin had rented out for the group. Everyone had their own rooms, the house was massive and you’d get to relax off the grid and recharge your batteries. There was relatively nothing to complain about.

“So…are you going to tell Justin you’re into him yet or just keep torturing yourself?” Your friend Bree asks, carrying her bags to the car. The two of you had flown into Oregon from LA and were driving to the lake with Charlie and Tate, two of Justin’s friends that had really become like family to you in the last few years.

“She’s more likely to admit her feelings when she’s dead.” Tate laughs while grabbing your backpack and shoving it in the trunk. “I want to have faith in you kid but, I just don’t know if you’ve got it in you right now.”

Charlie walks out of his house and hands you your water bottle, “you can tell him when you’re ready. Don’t listen to them, they're just impatient. Like five year olds who keep asking their mom to buy them McDonald’s on the way home.”

You simply nodded, staring daggers at your friends after Charlie came in and defended you. He hopped in the driver’s seat while Bree and Tate sat in the back. Looking out the window, you let your mind roam, both excited and nervous for what this little trip had in store.

It really wasn’t your fault, falling for him was like waking up on the couch with the tv on and not even remembering that you fell asleep. One day he was a good friend, a friend who you met years ago when he was a rookie living in a frat house in Costa Mesa. Then, somewhere along the way you fell for his unwavering kindness and his sense of humor. Or maybe it was the way the corner of his mouth tilts up sometimes in a side grin. Or his ability to always look like he just rolled out of bed but somehow still looked extremely put together. Everything about Justin, especially the little things, made you want him more. You just couldn’t bring yourself to tell him that. Admitting your feelings would just complicate things. And what if he didn’t even feel the same way? The thought of listening to him let you down easy while trying to spare you the embarrassment really just made you want to crawl into a hole on the side of the road and never come out.

So yes, long story short, these so-called “feelings?” You were taking them to the grave.

“Can we just have a nice relaxing weekend and enjoy ourselves? We can leave the drama and whatever else for when we get back to California, please.”

They simply nodded and you caught Tate and Bree sharing a look but you didn’t want to even think about what that could mean for you, instead deciding to focus on the scenery for another 20 minutes before the house came into view. Charlie started honking as soon as he pulled into the driveway and Gabe came running out, pulling you in for a hug.

“Hey neighbor.” He mutters out, giving you a squeeze.

“We haven’t lived next to each other in four years, Gabe.”

“Best year of my life honestly. I don’t think I’ve had more junk food…ever.”

Bree comes up behind the two of you and gets a hug of her own. “That’s because you and Nate kept suggesting pizza and ice cream nights. When y/n told me some NFL guys moved in next door I thought we’d be seeing more vegetables and less Oreos but it really was a good time.”

The guys unloaded all the bags from the car while you and Bree caught up with Gabe’s girlfriend Jordan. She informed you that Justin had gone out to get groceries with one of her good friends that she brought with her.

“Katie just thinks Justin is the sweetest thing ever so I figured why not introduce them. I’m tired of watching her drool over his old Instagram pictures.” She jokes and you force out a small laugh, feeling your stomach turn at what this girl could possibly look like.

An hour later Bree rushes into your room and closes the door behind her after everyone has finally met and introduced themselves. “I know you said no drama but—”

“Nope, I don’t wanna hear it,” you interrupt her while you unpack your bag. “We are in a freaking mansion, on the water. Let’s focus on that!”

“Or…” she sits on the bed, completely interrupting your flow. “We could just acknowledge the fact that she took the room right next to Justin’s after knowing him for approximately two seconds. And she looks like the second coming of Candice Swanepoel. I mean it’s kind of unfair.”

You shake your head with a laugh. “She’s gorgeous, pretty unreal. And definitely unfair. But we are going to focus on other things like having fun, enjoying the weather and spending quality time with our friends. Maybe have a couple strawberry margaritas with sugar on the rim. And we will be nice to Katie, even if she does look like an OG Victoria secret model before SavagexFenty kicked them to the curb. We will be welcoming and nice.”

She looks up at the ceiling like she can’t hear you and then back at you to face your pointed look, warning her to be on her best behavior. “Fine. I will be nice to Candice Jr.”

“Thank you.” You roll your eyes and pat her on the back.

Justin suggested riding jet skis which sounded amazing until Katie said she’d just finished touching up makeup. Bree was about to make a snide comment but you elbowed her in the side before she could get the words out. Gabe and Jordan were taking a nap and Charlie was on the phone with one of the parents of the high school team he was coaching so you, Bree, Tate and Justin headed out after changing into your swimsuits.

Everyone found a life jacket that fit them perfectly and you hopped onto the back of Justin’s jet ski.

“Please promise me you won’t drive this thing like a grandma. I’m here for a good time pal, not a long time.” You joke, grabbing onto his waist. His laugh vibrates against you and you bite back a smile. He takes off and the two of you bounce against the water leaving you holding on for dear life. After a few minutes, you get used to it and it honestly feels freeing, just you and him out on the open water, taking a tour of the homes that are a little ways away until he stops at a man made cave, far away from any prying eyes.

“What are you doing?” You ask, feeling your heartbeat in your ears. Even in the shade, the reflection of the water hitting his eyes made you feel insane. But you couldn’t stop looking at him.

“Have you ever driven a jetski before?” You shake your head no and he motions for you to switch spots with him. He leans over you to show you where the on switch is and how to work the speed and the brake, curving his hands over yours on the handles.

The smile that is threatening to take over your face is too much, so you settle for a joke. “You, Justin Herbert is giving up control? This is a moment in history.”

“Just drive,” his cheeks heat up, turning a light shade of pink, “and try to get us back to the house in one piece, please.” You may or may not have driven as fast as you could with a few extra turns just to feel his body against yours for a little bit longer.

Although the afternoon was a victory, the evening brought you right back to reality. Katie had practically been glued to his side ever since you came back to the house. She sat next to him at dinner and practically jumped into the loveseat after he sat down for movie night. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes and walked into the kitchen to grab some kettle corn, taking your time in the kitchen before eventually making your way back to your seat. Luckily it was a movie you’d seen a dozen times so you weren’t missing anything. If anything, the movie in front of you was nothing compared to the horror film to your right, so Charlie cracked a joke to get you out of your head. Justin was so focused on watching his friend make you laugh that he didn’t even realize that Katie had fallen asleep on his shoulder, holding onto his arm like it was her personal body pillow. You caught a glimpse of the domestic scene that looked straight out of a romcom and it almost made you want to call it a night right then and there. But you sat through it and watched some random girl cozy up to the man you’d been falling for for the last year.

The next morning, you woke up later than usual. Truth was, you hadn’t gotten much sleep since you were thinking about Justin and Katie all night and you needed something else to focus on. You walked into the bathroom you were sharing with Bree to brush your teeth and get ready for the day.

When you swung the door open you froze, staring for a brief moment before covering your eyes. “Um—I’m so sorry I had no idea you were in here! Why, why are you in here? Doesn’t the master bedroom have a bathroom attached?”

Justin quickly covered up, grabbing his towel and wrapping it around his waist. “Bree liked the mirror in my bathroom so I let her use it. I thought the door was locked, how did you get in?”

“The lock is broken, Bree didn’t tell you that?”

He lets out a nervous laugh, “she may have neglected to mention that.” You were going to kill her.

“I’m gonna—I’m gonna go. So sorry again for the—you know what I’m just gonna leave and we can act like this didn’t happen.” You close the door before he can utter a word and you head back to your room, silently praying that no one finds out about this.

The man couldn’t take it anymore, you were avoiding him like the plague the entire day. You’d hardly looked at him since the morning even when he pulled you aside to assure you that your little encounter this morning, although awkward, was totally fine. He sat through watching you and Charlie go tubing together and share a pizza at lunch, but his final straw was when he saw you taking a nap together in Charlie’s bed with the tv playing. The two of you had always been close but the quarterback couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something more was going on and he didn’t like it. This trip was supposed to be about him getting to spend some quality time with you before training camp and Charlie knew that. Nothing was going according to plan and Justin knew he had to do something about it.

He rushed to get ready for dinner and let out a sigh of relief when he found you in the kitchen. “I know it’s none of my business but, is there something going on with you and Charlie?”

You took a big breath, not exactly ready to have this conversation but here you were. “No,” you state blankly, “there’s nothing going on between Charlie and I.”

“Then what’s going on? You’ve barely said two words to me all day so there has to be a problem.” Justin knew he had no right to be jealous, especially of one of his best friends but something was just nagging at him to keep asking questions. It was like word vomit and he couldn’t stop.

“Why are we even talking about this right now? It’s really not a big deal Justin, seriously, just let it go please.”

He clearly wasn’t having your attempts to dodge him. “No! I'm not going to let it go until you tell me. I mean, if this is about this morning I thought we handled that.” You don’t miss the subtle clench in his jaw. His patience is quickly running out and you really don’t get why this has him so worked up. Possibly because you’re so focused on your own rollercoaster of emotions.

“It’s not about this morning!” You blurt out. He was backing you into a corner, literally.

His pleading eyes were begging you to talk to him. “Then what is it about?”

“You! It’s about you. How I feel about you is a problem. It is THE problem, okay?” You shake your head, mentally shutting down at the look on his face. There it was, that horrible look you wished you’d never see…pity. Honestly? It looked worse in real life than it ever had in your nightmares and the sigh he gave you afterwards was just the icing on the humiliation cake.

“Y/n, I—”

“Are you guys ready to head out for dinner?” Gabe pops his head in, catching an immediate whiff of the uncomfortable air in the room. “Uh sorry. Was I interrupting something?”

“No.”

“Yes,” Justin says at the same time, furrowing his eyebrows and giving you a sideways glance.

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” you huff out, stepping around the man who was whispering for you to wait. You ignored him and kept moving your way out of the house, sliding into the car without turning back. Charlie took one look at you and asked if everything was okay but you really weren’t sure how to answer.

That evening, your phone lit up as you sat motionless in your bed, contemplating going home the next morning. Of course it was a text from Justin.

I know you’re awake, I can’t sleep either. Can we please talk?

You texted him back a simple “fine” and there were two tiny knocks on your door less than a minute later. He was probably standing outside your room door when he texted.

“We didn’t get to finish our conversation earlier.” His voice is even deeper due to the exhaustion. You didn’t even think that was possible.

“I said everything I needed to,” you say with a casual shrug.

“Well good because I need you to listen,” Justin closes the door behind him and takes in a breath. “You’re one of my best friends…”

“Oh god please, you don’t have to let me down gently. I’m a big girl I can—”

“I’m not done. And I’m not—I’m not letting you down gently. I’m not letting you down at all. You have been one of the most consistently good things in my life and somewhere along the way you became a lot more than consistency. You’ve become somewhat of a necessity, an essential part of my life that I don’t think I can or want to live without.” He sighs, running a hand over his face and you just stand there, limbs shaking in anticipation, waiting for him to say what he needs to say.

Justin closes his eyes, visibly collecting himself and his thoughts. “What I’m trying to say is that you aren’t the only one with feelings here. And that your feelings? They aren’t a problem.”

“You—you mean that you share the…you like me too?” You laugh a little, in complete disbelief.

He steps toward you, nodding with a smile of his own. “I really like you.”

“Wait…but what about Cand—Katie? She’s gorgeous and fun and is super into you. Plus she looks borderline perfect in the morning and I’m pretty sure I drool in my sleep sometimes and I have eye boogers.”

That really sends him over the edge and he covers his mouth to stifle a laugh. “It’s a good thing I love eye boogers, they’re my favorite.”

You smack his chest at the playful joke and his energy pulls you in, pressing your bodies together like magnets. And right there you feel like a kid again, standing next to your crush with your heart racing. He leans down and his lips brush against yours and he asks if this is okay, causing you to nod because obviously you want this with him, and more. Your lips fit together seamlessly and he tilts your head up by lightly cupping your face, running his thumb across the length of your jaw while deepening the kiss. Your entire body is covered in goosebumps even though the kiss is so soft and gentle. He pulls away slightly, pecking your lips after he takes a second to process, then begins peppering your face with more feathery kisses.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” he whispers, kissing you again. You happily oblige, smiling against his lips with a satisfied sigh.

The next morning you were pretty sure you were still smiling. You woke up comfortable, turning around to catch a glimpse of him, thinking about pinching yourself to make sure this was real. He looks so peaceful, his clothed chest moving up and down rhythmically, a slight pout on his face. You can’t help but run your fingers through his hair, smiling to yourself once again when he begins to stir in his sleep. With his eyes still closed, he pulls you into his arms, lazily kissing you like he’s been doing this for years.

“Good morning,” he whispers, his eyes finally open, looking alert and bright.

“Good morning, I cannot believe you just tackled me first thing in the morning. I probably have morning breath.”

“You don’t and even if you did, I wouldn’t care. And you don’t have eye boogers or drool on your face, you actually look really good first thing in the morning.” You want to kiss him again but you decide to hold off, leaning over to check the time on his phone. “It’s 5am, you should probably head back to your room before everyone wakes up and this turns into a CIA interrogation.”

He chuckles, kissing your forehead before he gets up to stretch out his limbs. “We have all the time in the world to figure this out when we get back to LA, keeping this between us is probably our best bet for now. I do not want to hear all of Tate’s questions. And Gabe would be even worse, he’s been telling me to do this for years.”

You tilt your head towards him and whisper yell, “you’ve thought about this for years and didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one who was helplessly pining over someone and refused to say anything about their feelings out of fear of rejection. I was scared too. And now I’m not. Now, I’m going to head back to my bed and count down the minutes until I get to kiss you again.”

You shake your head, laying back down ready for your second round of sleep. “You’re a dork.”

“I am. And that is your favorite thing about me. Get some sleep, I’ll see you in a few hours.”

#Justin Herbert #Justin Herbert imagine #justin herbert x reader #Justin Herbert x you

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abilouwrites · 6 months

Text

DATE NIGHT & WINE

Matthew Knies

I love our date nights, we never go outside but instead raid the wine cellar and pour ourselves a glass as we make dinner on my black stone, “I’m making burgers for dinner tonight what wine do you want?” I ask as I oil the grill up and start rolling meat into the balls.

“Uhh. Whichever you want.” He replies walking out of the house and onto the back door and onto the patio, “I can cut up some potatoes and we could have those potatoes you like. The recipe from your mom?”

I grin and nod, “yeah that would be good, I’m just putting the patties out now” I flatten out the meat and put the buns on the other side of the grill.

“‘Kay”

We finish cooking and gather by the table, “I feel like we haven’t done this in forever” I smile as he pops the cork and we pour a glass of wine.

“It’s been a while” he agrees as he sits across the table. And we start eating, “how has work been? Managing is still being a manager?” He inquires slapping some cheese on the patty.

“Uh.. the projects been good. Just busy as all hell” I sigh a little before I plate myself some potatoes, “this girl Susannah. I’ve told you about her”

“The fat one?”

“Matt” I groan softly, “you can’t say that” I sigh, “but yeah”

“I’m being honest but ok” he rolls his eyes sarcastically

“She’s just been a pain over it— this that it gets on my nerves” I complain

We drink and lay out on the couch and when I start yawning he takes the glasses and cleans up, “you ready for bed?”

“Will you carry me?”

“Always”

#hockey #nhl #nhl fanfiction #nhl blurb #louiseabilenewrites #matthew knies #matthew knies x reader #Toronto #maple leaves

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themadlu · 3 months

Text

Do Not Open That Door

Astarion is sure his leader's unflinching morals will lead him to another unwanted grave. He is also sure she is putting on an act because people like her do not exist, clearly. He decides to test his assumptions.

TW: None I think

WC: ~3000 words

Tagging: @spacebarbarianweird for the encouragement!

Astarion is livid. Well, maybe livid was an overstatement—he is annoyed. Annoyed and confused. Such feelings are still a vast improvement over the fear and shame he's been accustomed to, but they make him restless nonetheless.

Especially because their cause is walking steadily next to him without a care in the world for his inner turmoil.

Zélie, their oh so great leader, has managed to spoil what could have been a perfectly enjoyable afternoon on multiple fronts. First, she decides to talk to the goblins ambushing them instead of treating them like the savages they are.

(“We don’t know how many of them are in this village Astarion. What if there’s a little army and we’re outnumbered?”)

After confirmation that there were, in fact, quite a few goblins (and a couple orcs to boot), she managed to get free passage through the village by leveraging their wriggly alien parasite. He isn’t happy about it. Not at all.

He has to begrudgingly admit hers was a wise call after witnessing just how large and hungry those orcs were. And of course they even agree to help a fellow true soul in need. Just what he needs to undermine what little influence he has on her.

(Her blood is in his body after all.)

In the last tendays she had made it her mission to remind him how despicable murder is, under most circumstances, aside from self-defence. This beautifully idiotic mindset of hers almost got her killed twice in front of his very eyes.

(She doesn’t know he has taken to finish off the enemies she leaves unconscious while she isn’t watching.)

When he had pointed out the suicidal flaw in her morals, she had given him her signature scolding look, crossed her arms, and started breathing in that funny way of hers.

In, hold, out.

(She says she is not trained as a monk, but he’ll be even more damned than he already is if that is true. The way she fights and holds herself—and those sickening ideals she has—tell a different story.)

“Honestly, darling,” he hisses at her as they walk through the village, squinty eyes trained on their every move. “I thought we agreed that benevolence and honour,” he spits the words out like a curse, “get you nowhere but to an early grave.”

“Astarion,” she always says his name when she speaks to him—even in annoyance— and he hates his constant surprise at hearing it. His elven name had been replaced with other titles over time, more befitting of his status—boy, spawn, whore, slut, beautiful, toy, love…

Truly, it’s a small miracle he managed to hold on to his name. It’s one of the few things left that are truly his, yet hearing it spoken from that solemn woman's lips makes something in his chest preen.

“I thought we agreed to disagree on that front. No, don’t give me that look. Killing someone is never justifiable. No matter what we tell ourselves, we are taking away something that wasn’t ours to begin with. Something irreplaceable. Even—” she held up her hand as he started to complain, “in self-defence, even then, I will make sure to exhaust all alternatives, and even then, it will be a failure on my part.”

You moron.

“Too bad the rest of the world doesn’t think like you, darling,” he snapped. Hers was an act. There was no way in the hells anyone could survive to their…whatever age she was, he was never good with human lifespans, with that mindset. It was ridiculous, because if she actually was like that—if two–hundred years of shit didn’t teach him better—she should either be dead in a ditch or have ascended to godhood on her saintly behaviour alone. The only explanation he has for her standing close to him is that the mask she wears is as fake as his own. That, or she is a child of Ilmater. He bets on the former, given her complete ignorance of any deity on Toril.

“But you lied,” he counters, snapping his fingers. “You said we are here on Absolute business. Doesn’t that go against your precious code of honour?” he singsongs in her ear.

“I didn’t lie. My tadpole reacted to theirs, and they drew their own conclusions. Technically, we are going to their camp on Absolute business too, if you count removing these,” she tapped her index to her temple.

He smirks, victorious. “Circumstantial. One day, the tadpole won’t do the work for us and you’ll break your own code or doom us to death. For one, I’d rather not repeat the experience,” he says in a quiet voice, pointing at his chest.

Their companions are still unaware of his condition—another occasion his holy leader conveniently withheld information.

(“It’s your secret, it’s your decision.” Hypocrite.)

“Astarion, I know you take me for a fool, and I would normally pay more respect to a man—elf—my senior by centuries, but really. I can be practical and have a moral compass, and that means that when the choice is between lying and killing, I will pick lying any day, even if I don’t like it.”

Enough.

Her words incense him, annoyance suddenly turns into rage and something else—what’s that, envy?—he pivots on his left heel and closes the distance between them so fast she has no time to react. Zélie is left pinned to the wall, their bodies a breath away from touching, and he internally celebrates the surprised look on her face.

He stares at her down his nose, ducking his head and planting a slender hand on the wall beside her head.

Astarion has to make her stop before he tears her self-righteousness out of her throat. Before she realises how useless it all is—how useless and tainted he is—and either stakes him or banishes him. Because even her sickly, do-gooding self, fake or real it be, must have limits. If he pushes hard enough, they’ll crumble, and then he’ll be proven right. She is not what she says she is because creatures like that aren’t real.

“Let’s make one thing clear, darling,” he growls, nostrils flaring, “you may be our great leader, but you should get off your high horse before someone shoots you off it. I don’t know what perfect little corner of the universe you grew up in, but you know nothing of this world and its dangers.”

He flashes his fangs at her to drive his point across. The others are out of sight, looking for supplies in some ruin or cellar. Gods, he misses the city.

Zélie is staring back at him, bristling, but lets him continue. She never interrupts any of them, not even him.

“I thought humans were all about developing and living fast, but you, my dear, are as ignorant as a babe. I am trying to make sure we keep our collective hides safe and do not get sidetracked by other pitiful creatures on our path.”

He realises just how close he is to her when she straightens up again and their noses almost touch.

Pale eyes go darker with a flash of anger.

There. Come at me. Prove me right.

“Spoken like a true man of the law, lord magistrate.”

Why the hells is her tone so collected when she has a literal vampire at her throat?!

“You seem forgetful, so I’ll remind you that it was my ignorance that stopped Shadowheart from connecting her mace with your head. And it was my stupidity that convinced her you could join us, and that we should give you a chance at trust.”

She makes no move to get closer, but he recoils as if scorched by fire.

“And it is the same trust I placed in you yesterday when I let you bite me, even though it’s not how I envisioned a night of rest to go. I trusted you to stop, I trusted you to keep your word and not leave me a corpse.”

There it is. Reminding him of what he owes her. Of his debts. They say the quiet ones are the most depraved, and she is the strong and silent type. But he is nothing if not an expert in the art of subservience at this point, and if it gets her to keep giving him blood and protection—

“I trust you.”

Then you’re doomed.

She says it as if it were a challenge. Her gaze is unwavering and he is left speechless yet again. Cazador would admire this quality of hers.

“I hope you can trust me in return.”

Impossible woman.

“Well, I suppose you’re not wholly incompetent,” he manages to croak out. His nonchalant mask is harder to slip on this time.

She huffs a breath of a laugh, a tiny thing, but it’s enough to transform her whole face. The weight she carries on her deceivingly flimsy shoulders seems to lift, leaving behind a young woman smiling softly at a…well, a monster. Talk about inexperience.

Happiness suits you, little leader.

The fact it’s his prattling that caused this marvel of a transformation stokes something in chest and in the pit of his stomach that he promptly pushes down.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Zélie says. She moves away and he is left staring at the crusty wall. Her body never touched his own during their exchange.

Wait. That’s wrong. He was meant to make her see the reason in his ways, not the other way around. So why is he at her heels like a lost puppy the minute she walks away?

(“You are nothing by yourself boy. You owe everything to me.”)

He is weak. So weak he has leashed himself to a human who can barely read common, fuck's sake.

His temper rises again once he catches up with Zélie. He doesn’t need her condescension, nor her chiding (she doesn’t even know his full story yet, nor she ever will unless absolutely necessary, so pity isn’t there yet). He’ll show the wretched woman how wrong she is.

Karlach and Lae’zel jog behind them as they reach a barn with a door locked shut. Zélie thinks nothing of it at first, but Astarion can smell what’s inside.

(His senses born anew from her blood.)

He smells the ogre and bugbear and their horrid affair before the rest of his companions hear the grunts and noises.

“Oh God, someone’s fighting!” exclaims Zélie.

Fighting, you say?

An idea strikes him.

See what your misplaced goodness gets you when you try to help an ogre.

“I don’t know soldier, they don’t sound like fight noises to me,” says Karlach leaning towards the barn, but even she seems unsure. Astarion’s talents may be limited to a specific area, but in this case it works in his favour. He is very familiar with what those sounds mean. The half-ogres that fucked him into the bed so hard he bled were not so different.

(He still remembers how much it hurt, how he was left in a puddle of mixed releases, sweat, and what little blood he had).

“Well, even if they are fighting, it is clearly not our problem. I say we leave them to it and focus on what’s really important,” he says, using his annoyance as a hook. Zélie may be the most restrained person he’s come across, but he knows how to read people, and he knows she will do the opposite of whatever he says when it concerns morals.

She falls for it. His smile is harder to suppress.

“Astarion! We’ve just talked about this!”

Her voice raises a bit, but it’s almost eclipsed by another loud grunt from inside the barn.

“So long as my blade can be sharpened on my enemies’ bones, I am ready.” Lae’zel is almost as ignorant as Zélie when it comes to their world, which is usually a hindrance, but now it’s the push their little leader needs to run to the rescue.

Zélie tries to open the barn door (after cutting another withering look at the vampire lazily strolling at her back), finding it jammed.

The crescendo of grunts and bangs coming from inside is extremely loud now.

Gods, they must be disgusting.

“Hello?! Help is on the way, hang on!” the little human shouts as she frantically tries to get the door unstuck.

“Oh hells, let me do it, darling, before we turn into tentacled freaks,” Astarion says in mock-annoyance. She eyes him suspiciously and he shoots her a winning smile. His nimble hands make quick work of the lock, and he pushes the door open.

He needs just a peek to know his assumption about what was happening in the barn is correct, and turns to face his now horror-stricken companion.

“Gods, they are disgusting,” he comments with his lips crooked in a satisfied smile.

Zélie scrambles to compose herself and turns her back from the scene (the prudish) as she fails to find words to explain herself. “I—I am, I apologise, we thought—”

Oh, she’s in a state. Her cheeks flush redder than rubies (he can practically hear her delicious blood pooling there), whilst the rest of her is paler than after Astarion’s feeding. She opens and shuts her eyes as if trying to physically erase what she just witnessed.

The bugbear slides his now soft cock out of the ogre, and looks at them in rage.

“W–what the hells are you doing?!”

Oh, Astarion is thrilled. He doesn’t remember when last had such fun. He hears Lae’zel’s tsk’ and Karlach’s gags behind him, and he closely watches Zélie fumbling as he didn’t think was possible.

“Apologies! I, you—you were making a lot of noise and I, we, thought you needed help,” she holds her hands in front of her in a peace offering. “I apologise for the intrusion! We’ll leave now—”

“Ruined! SMASH. I’ll smash you!”

Oh. Astarion didn’t expect that. He just wanted to show Zélie how ungrateful the world is to idiots like her, not have her turn into orc food.

Before he can think, he is tackling the woman to the ground, the orc’s club crashing a few spaces to his left. Karlach and Lae’zel’s throw themselves at the aggressor, and the fight starts in earnest. Astarion is more a stalker than a fighter, but he had his first fill of human blood only hours before, and his senses have never been that sharp, so he doesn’t miss the bugbear rushing towards their prone form.

Daggers at hand, he braces to parry the onslaught (this may hurt) when his worldview shifts, his back in on the ground, and chilly afternoon air replaces the heat of his leader on his chest.

What just happened?

He turns his head to see the bugbear crashing to the ground, Zélie crouched on one leg and tripping him with her other. “Go help the others! I’ve got this!” she shouts, as she wraps her limbs around the assailant in a tight bind. “Wait! It was an honest mistake—”

He doesn’t want to hear her voice now. Doesn’t want to think how the little moron literally threw him away from danger. Even worse, he will refute the idea he protected her from an angry orc till his last breath. He only got his body back recently. That’s it. He still is unsure of how to use it.

And she's dinner.

He doesn’t want to dwell on what happened, so he nods and throws himself at the female orc while she is distracted by his companions.

The fight doesn’t last too long after that, and something takes a hold of his insides when he looks at Zélie. She is silent, staring at the large corpse on the ground, bugbear knocked out at her feet.

“Darling?” He moves towards her and the sadness in her eyes almost makes him apologise. Gods, what has he done? He didn’t think this was going to happen. And why does he care?! This was his intent, this and seeing the real her behind the strong, polite facade.

“I just wanted to help.”

“I know, darling. I—”

See now, how impossible it is to keep your ideals in this world?

“You knew,” she says, and while he words his excuses (the only real one being he didn’t think they were going to be attacked) her shoulders drop and a defeated huff leaves her mouth. A far cry from her happy smile earlier.

Astarion can’t wrap his head around how he caused both reactions in such a short span of time. But this look on her, this, he knows. He has seen far worse in the eyes and screams of those fools he lured back to his master, once they had his way with him and realised a bit too late they were as trapped as he was.

He expects her to shout, to berate him, kick him, punch him, stab him, banish him—but none of that comes. Zélie studies him intently, and something in her demeanour lights up, an internal judgement made.

“I still trust you.”

No. No no no, he’s not going to let her fool him into believing this—no!

Her face is suddenly level with Astarion’s knees, the now-awake bugbear readying a strike.

Astarion doesn’t need to think—he falls forward and sinks his dagger into the wretch’s neck. Blood spurts out, but after tasting Zélie’s Astarion has no interest in it; mud compared to a clear sky.

“Soldier!” shouts Karlach, ever the helpful friend. Zélie pants as the dead attacker slides off of her, eye to eye with Astarion again. He can feel her light breath on his face. Karlach pulls her up; he is cleaning his dagger on the bugbear’s clothes when an outstretched hand enters his vision. Hers.

“Come on,” she says, tired but steady again. “Let’s get back to camp.”

Astarion flinches from the hand as if it were a trap (it is always a trap), but Zélie is new territory for him, that much he begrudgingly accepts. She is apparently above the rules of their miserable world because she chooses to trust him, a vampire, a lying one, again.

He takes her hand, bracing for what may come his way, but she just helps him up.

“Thank you, by the way. For saving my life before.”

It’s a trick. It’s a trick. Don’t fall for—

She wraps her hand around his so delicately he thinks he may break, and shakes it. His thoughts and words are silenced yet again.

“Thank you.”

Fuck.

#bg3 #astarion x oc #astarion x tav #oc: zélie #tav oc #astarion #astarion fanfiction #bg3 astarion #bg3 fanfiction #human tav #I still feel bad for the orc and bugbear

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iluv4my · 25 days

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How to Protect Yourself from Toxic Individuals Who Gaslight You and Use Emotional Tactics

Today i want to talk about something that I've been thinking about a lot lately like understanding when someone is trying to control our emotions and how we can set boundaries to protect ourselves and we all face this in different ways like with friends, partners, or even people we meet online

I often face such people and today i will share whatever i have learned its not like im very professional but im sharing here what I have read and learned

Emotional manipulation is when someone tries to control or influence you using your emotions They might make you feel guilty, doubt yourself, or question your own feelings

So here are some examples like how emotional manipulation can look -

1. The Guilt tripping

This is when someone tries to make you feel bad for not doing what they want by saying things like

- If you really cared about me you would do what i want

- I don't want to stay with temporary people stop caring about me or just let me be like this

2. Gaslighting

This is when someone tries to make you doubt your own thoughts and memories by saying things like

- You're just imagining things i never said that

- Maybe you should just leave me i know you'll just find someone else as soon as you have the chance anyway

3. Playing the Victim

This is when someone tries to make you feel sorry for them even though they're the one causing the problem so they might say things like

I can't believe you're upset with me i'm the one who's been hurt

Okay fine focus on your life don't care about me just leave me alone don't give me this kind of advice give it to someone else

4. Shifting Blame

This is when someone tries to make you feel like the problem is your fault instead of theirs they might say things like

It's not my fault you're upset you're just too sensitive

You're just wasting time with me i'm just your texting partner

Emotional manipulators often feel insecure or powerless by controlling others they feel a sense of power and prop up their own self esteem they might have learned these tactics from their own upbringing too

Their Personality Traits

1. Narcissism

Emotional manipulators often act like they're better than others and always want people to praise them and they need a lot of attention and don't care much about how others feel they think they're more important than everyone else and often complain too much .

2. Insecurity

Even though they may seem confident, emotional manipulators actually feel unsure about themselves. Deep down they might have had tough experiences in the past that make them feel bad about themselves so they try to control others to feel better about themselves.

3. Need for Control

Emotional manipulators always want things to go their way. They try to control what others do and say to feel powerful and important and they use tricks like making others feel guilty or pretending to be the victim to control how people act around them.

Understanding these traits helps us recognize when someone might be trying to manipulate us and It's important to stand up for ourselves and not let them control u

Reasons for Manipulation

What Makes Them Pull the Strings?

There are several reasons why people turn to manipulation here are some of the big ones:

Power and Control:

Many manipulators feel a deep seated need for power and control in their lives they might feel insecure or powerless on their own so manipulating others gives them a sense of superiority and helps them feel better about themselves.

Self Gain:

It's all about "me" for some manipulators they might use emotional tactics to get what they want whether it's money, favors, or simply getting their way in an argument

Fear of Abandonment:

Some manipulators are terrified of being alone they might use emotional blackmail or guilt trips to keep people close even in unhealthy relationships

Low Self Esteem:

Despite their controlling ways some manipulators actually have very low self esteem they might manipulate others to get the validation and approval they crave

Learned Behavior:

Sometimes manipulation is a learned behavior they might have grown up in a household where manipulation was the norm and they adopted it as a way to cope with the world.

How To Protect Yourself From these Manipulator

Set Boundaries

Make it clear what you're okay with and what you're not stick to your limits and don't let manipulators push you around

Trust Your Instincts

If something doesn't feel right trust your gut feeling take steps to keep yourself safe from further manipulation.

Don't engage in arguments

They want to get a rise out of you walk away

Focus on yourself

Prioritize your own needs and well being

Responding to Manipulation

Stay Calm

Try not to get upset or angry when dealing with manipulative people stay calm and stand up for yourself firmly

Be Assertive

Clearly say how you feel and what you want without being mean or starting a fight

Limit Interaction

If manipulation keeps happening even after you've tried to stop it think about spending less time with that person to protect your mental health

End Note :

These people think that by behaving like this they can protect themselves they always want attention and love from everyone around them but they don't notice or thank others for what they do It's better to let them go without worrying too much about them if you think you can change them you're wrong they'll just resist your efforts and keep complaining instead of appreciating what others do they often find fault in small things its better to focus on yourself and not let their behavior bother you

#self help #self discovery #self development #self reflection #self improvement #self love #self care #self healing #healing #level up journey #spilled thoughts #dark academic aesthetic #light academia #dark aesthetic #dark acamedia #desi teen #pyschology #literature #dark academia

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daytaker · 4 months

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Dear Little Sheep

Lucifer isn't good at goodbyes.

Ship: Lucifer x Reader (Romantic or Platonic) Word Count: 767 Cross-Posted on AO3

[ Masterlist of Works ]

Little Sheep:

I appreciate how you've taken care of my brothers. They need an extra set of eyes on them.

I also appreciate that, at times, you seem to think you should take care of me as well. I would like to assure you that I’m quite capable of managing myself.

If anything, I should do more to care for you. You’re only a human, after all, and the Devildom can be a dangerous place. I’ve promised before that I don’t intend to allow any harm to come to you, and I stand by that. But you make that promise exceedingly difficult to keep, don’t you?

Why can’t you ever leave well enough alone? I’ve never met anyone–angel, demon, or human–as insufferably nosy as you. Solomon might give you a run for your money, I suppose. But at least Solomon doesn’t pry into the private lives of myself and my family. You throw yourself into dangerous situations at the drop of a hat. You provoke Hell’s most dangerous demons–myself included–on a semi-regular basis. What exactly is wrong with you?

Sometimes I wonder if your entire purpose here is to test me. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to have someone perpetually keeping you on your toes? For your sake, I hope you don’t.

My brothers are inordinately fond of you. You might even say they’re enamored. I’m not sure why they must behave so childishly about it, though. Bickering amongst themselves; arguing over whose turn it is to drag you away somewhere and subject you to their attentions. It’s irritating. I never know where to find you.

I don’t entirely understand why you insist on humoring them. At the end of the day, they are all deeply flawed individuals who treat you as much as a parent as a companion. I know, because I have a similar sort of relationship with them. Though they don’t complain when you knock unexpectedly at their doors the way they do when it’s me. I suppose it’s because I have the potential to be dangerous, and you… Well, not to be condescending, but you’re harmless, little sheep.

I have an idea. Instead of spending so much time being fawned over by my idiotic brothers, why don’t you do more to dedicate yourself to your studies for the remaining week you're here? I am entirely willing to assist you in the capacity of tutor. I’m not impartial to your company myself. I believe we could both enjoy ourselves and enrich your time here.

More than anything, little sheep, I hope you know that you can rely on me. We have had our differences over our time together, but I am as reliable and loyal a companion as you will find in any of the three worlds. I would advise you not to take this offer lightly either, because it is not one I often make.

Finally, I would request that you keep in contact with me after your stay in the Devildom has ended. Perhaps, with permission from Diavolo, we could arrange for you to come back occasionally. You will always be welcome at the House of Lamentation.

…That was how I planned to end this communication. But I’m finding it unusually difficult to sign off with a goodbye.

I was never fond of goodbyes. That might come as a surprise to you, considering how many relationships I had to sever at the onset of the Great Celestial War, but truthfully… I don’t understand why I’m telling you this. But I didn’t say goodbye to anyone before the war. I simply rebelled with my brothers. You know the rest. The only true, permanent goodbye I ever extended was to Lilith.

Hmm. This is your charm, isn’t it? It’s why my brothers adore you. You’re quite easy to talk to, even on subjects I’d rather not examine.

Goodbyes… Much like apologies, they require a great deal of vulnerability. When you bid someone goodbye–a genuine goodbye–you are admitting that you will miss their presence. You are exposing a weakness. It’s by exposing one’s weakness that one’s enemies learn how best to harm them. As the eldest brother, it has always been my duty to protect the others from harm. If I allowed anyone with ill intentions to harm them, especially if it’s due to a lapse of judgment on my part…

It doesn’t matter, ‘if’. It will never happen.

Nevertheless, I trust you. So I will end this communication with a traditional goodbye. I look forward to our next meeting, little sheep.

Eternally yours,

Lucifer

#obey me #fanfic #obey me luficer #obey me fanfic #obey me luci x reader #obey me lucifer x reader #obey me x reader #lucifer obey me #daytaker fanfic #lucifer

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robininthelabyrinth · 1 year

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Darlings - ao3

Summary:

“Clarity would not work to fix Chifeng-zun,” Lan Wangji opined.

Nie Huaisang resisted the urge to kick him – Lan Wangji wouldn’t stick his foot in somewhere it wasn’t wanted if he didn’t actually have relevant information – but even Lan Qiren frowned at him.

“You seem remarkably certain about that, Wangji,” he said. “But why not? While it’s not appropriate for every circumstance, it’s an extremely powerful song. I would think that it would be at least worth an attempt.

”Lan Wangji looked distinctly shame-faced, though perhaps only someone who knew him very well would recognize that particular flavor of it.

“I see,” Lan Qiren said. “And what exactly has your brother done that he doesn’t want me to know about?”

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

“I’m bored,” Nie Huaisang complained, and his brother’s eye twitched. “And don’t say ‘go train’, I’m not in the mood.”

“You’re never in the mood,” his brother said, his voice harsher than it usually was. It was often too harsh these days; the version of his brother that Nie Huaisang liked best, teasing and thoughtful and amused despite himself, seemed to have gotten rarer and rarer in appearance. “That’s the problem.”

“Not the point,” Nie Huaisang said. “The point is more fundamental than that. The Unclean Realm is boring! All these years, we’ve kept to ourselves because of the war – limited visits to friends, only going to places that are safe, that sort of thing. But the war’s over, right? So I should be able to go visit whoever I want.”

His brother grunted. Still unamused, when normally Nie Huaisang’s nonsense arguments amused him more than anything else.

Annoyed, Nie Huaisang changed his original plan, which had been to wheedle out permission for a visit to the Lotus Pier to see poor Jiang Cheng who was all alone now that his sister had married off, and instead said, “I want to go visit Wei-xiong!”

“Absolutely not,” his brother said, unsurprisingly. “He’s an outlaw for a reason, Huaisang. He murdered those Jin sect cultivators without warning, didn’t he? Who’s to say he wouldn’t murder you, too?”

“All sorts of reasons,” Nie Huaisang argued back. “Listen, what if –”

“I said no,” his brother thundered, leaping to his feet and slamming his hands against the desk. “You will listen to me, Huaisang, and if you don’t –”

“Why are you always yelling?” Nie Huaisang shouted back, losing his own temper. He was a Nie as well, after all. “Why do you always take everything so seriously? I was just suggesting –”

“It was a stupid suggestion –”

“Even if it’s stupid, you don’t have to hit things –”

“You wouldn’t be so afraid of me hitting things if you’d actually train the way you’re supposed to –”

“I shouldn’t have to worry about it at all!” Nie Huaisang screamed. “You’re my da-ge! You’re not supposed to act like – like – like Father!”

His brother, who was about to yell back, stopped, stricken.

Equally stricken by what he’d just said, Nie Huaisang stared at him.

“It’s not like Father,” he said, because it couldn’t be. It wasn’t allowed to be. Nie sect leaders died young, yes, everyone knew that, even (especially) him no matter how much he pretended that he didn’t, but – but their father had been older than his brother was now, and he’d been fine right up until the time he’d been murdered. If it hadn’t been for Wen Ruohan, they would’ve had him for another decade or two, easy, and he was nearly as good a cultivator as Nie Mingjue was…though he hadn’t had to fight a war on that sort of scale, either. Nie Mingjue’s cultivation had gotten scarily good the past few years. “It’s – it’s not, right?”

His brother said nothing for a long moment.

Then, at last, he sighed and sat down heavily on his chair with a thump.

“We can go visit the Lan sect,” he said, which wasn’t what Nie Huaisang had wanted at all, but for some reason the thought of arguing any further tasted like ashes in Nie Huaisang’s mouth.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go visit the Lan sect.”

The one good thing about visiting the Lan sect, Nie Huaisang thought bitterly, and in fact the only good thing was Lan Xichen.

Lan Xichen was nice and friendly and gentle, indulgent the way a big brother ought to be, always thinking first about Nie Huaisang’s comfort and happiness. He would buy him thoughtful gifts, he would take him out on outings to new parts of the mountain where there were beautiful views, he would sit and paint with him and listen to him very seriously even when he was talking nonsense. He would even avert his eyes if Nie Huaisang brought out one of his own books to read during study time, smiling and blushing a little in a very fetching fashion – Lan Xichen wasn’t the most desirable bachelor of the cultivation world for nothing, his face earned all its accolades fair and square in Nie Huaisang’s opinion – and they had long conversations that covered everything and anything.

Fewer these days, since Lan Xichen was busy with rebuilding and with Jin Guangyao, who apparently needed quite a lot of support even as he managed to talk his sect into providing the Lan sect with support of a more financial nature, but Nie Huaisang had been sure that a nice visit to the Lan sect with no politics behind it would give him the opportunity to finally have Lan Xichen all to himself again.

Except, of course, that Lan Xichen wasn’t there.

“Off to the Jin sect again,” Nie Mingjue grumbled acidly under his voice as they walked up to the center of the Lan sect from the gateway where they’d received the bad news from one of the door guards. “Big surprise.”

Nie Huaisang, in an equally bad mood, agreed wholeheartedly. It wasn’t like he’d come here for the food or anything…but now that they were here, there was nothing for it but to grit their teeth and bear it. They hadn’t sent word in advance of their arrival, like a bunch of barbarians, even though they really should have. But the decision to go had been very spontaneous and in all honesty Nie Huaisang had been a bit worried that his brother would change his mind if they didn’t follow through on the decision right away, so here they were, visiting the Lan sect, and it was on their own heads that the main attraction of the Lan sect was not there to greet them.

Instead, they were going to have to deal with…the rest of them.

Nie Huaisang tormented himself briefly by wondering if they’d be greeted by Lan Qiren, that terrifyingly stern and rule-abiding teacher that even Nie Mingjue was a bit afraid of, or if it would be that menace Lan Wangji, who everyone praised as the upstanding and noble Hanguang-jun, perfect in every way, but who when approached alone was definitely still that horrible little hellion Lan Zhan who when they were children used to bite Nie Huaisang any time he didn’t get his way.

The answer, it turned out, was both.

Actually, the answer turned out to be Lan Qiren loudly scolding Lan Wangji, who to untrained eyes looked obedient and submissive and to those in the know looked completely unrepentant.

Lan Qiren knew it no less than anyone else, of course, which was presumably why he was still scolding him quite so fiercely – so fiercely, in fact, that it was pretty obvious he hadn’t noticed any of the lingering Lan disciples who’d clearly come to give him the heads up that there were visitors. He was currently going hard on the subject of responsibility, whether to the sect and to the self, and not being impulsive, and also how going to dangerous places, especially without telling people first, was completely beyond the pale of impulsive, especially extremely dangerous places like –

“Hey, wait, that’s not fair!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, affronted. “Why does Lan Zhan get to go to visit the Burial Mounds and I don’t?!”

His brother glared at him even as both Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji twisted their heads to stare at their guests in surprise and unhappiness – Lan Qiren presumably because he’d been caught lecturing his perfect Lan Wangji in front of outsiders, and Lan Wangji presumably because Nie Huaisang had slipped up and called him Lan Zhan again, which he’d been banned from doing ever since Lan Wangji had turned ten and insufferable.

“He did not get to go,” Lan Qiren said, retreating into stiffness as he always did when he was embarrassed, but that just made the expression on Lan Wangji’s face change straight back into mulishness.

“There were no serious threats there,” he said flatly.

Lan Qiren promptly puffed up in rage again. “No serious threats – it’s the Burial Mounds! Even putting aside Wei-gongzi’s presence, the resentful energy in the air alone –”

“What do you mean there weren’t any serious threats?” Nie Mingjue demanded, overriding even his old teacher in a bout of rather uncharacteristic rudeness. “All the reports I’ve gotten is that Wei Wuxian has prepared the mountain as if for a siege, surrounding himself with arrays and corpses. Is that not true?”

Lan Wangji shook his head firmly.

That made even Lan Qiren started frowning. “Similar news had come to Xichen and myself,” he said. “The Jin sect said they sent several envoys seeking peace and were repulsed with violence, did they not? Wangji, are you saying you were able to go there with no difficulty?”

“That is correct, shufu. The greatest difficulty I encountered was Wei Ying forgetting to pay for lunch.”

“Good man,” Nie Huaisang said approvingly. “He always knew how to sponge a meal like the best of them. Did he manage to get you to pay for anyone else, too?”

Lan Wangji hesitated, which meant yes.

“One of the Wens?” Nie Huaisang’s brother asked, and his voice had dropped down to a forbidding register.

Lan Wangji straightened his back. “I will not apologize for associating with a child of two,” he said icily. “Regardless of his surname –”

“A child of two?!” Lan Qiren exclaimed, horrified, and even Nie Mingjue’s seeming ever-present anger broke for a moment, leaving him looking aghast. “In the Burial Mounds?!”

“Oh, woe is us,” Nie Huaisang said, delighted by this turn of events, which proved to be far more entertaining than what he thought was in store for him on a visit to the Cloud Recesses. “Clearly we’ll all have to go to see for ourselves, right? Right?”

When they got to the Burial Mounds, a lot of things happened in extremely rapid succession.

First, Nie Huaisang’s brother acted like even more of a beast than usual, getting irritated by the defensive arrays and deciding to just smash them open with his saber and march up the hill instead of listening to Lan Qiren’s perfectly reasonable suggestion of just knocking and seeing what would happen.

Second, the Wen sect’s camp on the Burial Mounds, and Wei Wuxian’s ‘fortress’, turned out to be a lot less fearsome than the rumors had advertised, with even the sign on the big cave that read ‘Demon-Slaughtering Cave’ being written in a jaunty and cheerful manner as if it were advertising a wine shop – and the sign was crooked, too. This was a matter of great displeasure to just about everyone, although Nie Huaisang suspected he was the only one disappointed in not finding anything more interesting rather than being upset about how they’d been misled about the dangers involved. Said dangers seemed to be limited to a bunch of elderly folk puttering about in a radish field, Wen Ning the Ghost General who would have probably been a lot scarier if he hadn’t consented to being buried in said radish field by the previously mentioned child of two and had gotten in so deep that he couldn’t easily wiggle out, and a shocked-looking Wei-Wuxian himself who looked as if he’d just been woken up out of an afternoon nap and who had come to yell at the intruders to go away.

Third, there had been an awful lot of yelling, mostly on the part of Wei Wuxian and, of course, Nie Mingjue, who was being awfully shouty even for him. Matters had very quickly deteriorated at that point no matter how much the Lans present (and Nie Huaisang) tried to calm the situation, with Nie Mingjue pulling out Baxia and Wei Wuxian responding by pulling out the Tiger Seal. It probably would have escalated still further – even Wen Ning had managed to crawl out of the dirt by this point, and he was hanging around ominously with white in his eyes – except that when Nie Mingjue stepped forward and lifted up his saber to actually strike his host, an overreaction of such massive extent that even Nie Huaisang couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it was actually happening, Wen Qing had come out of the cave, taken one look at what was going on, and shouted, “He’s having a qi deviation!”

Fourth, Nie Mingjue was definitely having a qi deviation.

Fifth, Nie Huaisang immediately had a panic attack in response to his brother showing symptoms of qi deviation, because qi deviations were what killed Nie sect leaders and Nie Huaisang remembered what they had done to his father in those horrible last few months of his life following his murder.

Sixth, Nie Mingjue’s concern over Nie Huaisang’s panic attack apparently managed to bring him back to himself enough that he apparently willed down the qi deviation, which, according to Wen Qing, was –

“Completely fucking impossible.”

“…Wen Qing, you just swore,” Wei Wuxian said, sounding dazed. “You never swear.”

“Oh, I swear all right,” she said, though her blush suggested she did not, in fact, make a habit of swearing even in the most extreme of circumstances. Not really a surprise, given that she’d been raised as a proper young lady. “At least I do when I encountered the utterly impossible. Advanced surgery that’s never been tried before? Risky, but within the realm of expectation. Reversing a qi deviation out of sheer brotherly worry? That’s just – just – it’s just weird!”

“Can we stop talking about how weird it is and focus on making my da-ge get better?!” Nie Huaisang demanded, clutching his brother’s sleeve. The second Nie Mingjue had put down Baxia and turned to focus on calming Nie Huaisang down, Wen Qing had gotten him in the back of the neck with four needles and he was now completely unconscious, which was probably for the best, really, but which was causing Nie Huaisang no end of distress.

“Nie Huaisang is correct,” Lan Qiren said crisply, and stepped forward towards Nie Mingjue, waving some sort of fancy array into existence that immediately got Wen Qing’s attention.

“That’s way more advanced than the usual diagnostic array,” she said, sounding affronted and also fascinated. “Wait – is that actually measuring the amount of spiritual energy in a given meridian? I thought everyone said that was impossible to track!”

“It’s a matter of resonance,” Lan Qiren said, with a slight melt to his usual frostiness towards all people surnamed Wen – quite justifiable in Nie Huaisang’s mind, given what had happened to the Cloud Recesses. Even Nie Huaisang, who considered himself an amiable and forgiving sort of person, wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the people who helped Wen Ruohan kill his father and, later, lots of his friends and also very nearly his brother. “A number of my sect members specialize in the medical arts, and they invented it while serving as battlefield medics. It’s not actually tracking the spiritual energy directly, which is in fact impossible, but rather tracking the effect of the movement of spiritual energy as it reacts.”

“Reacts to what? Oh, wait, is that what that low droning sound is for? I thought it was a side effect of putting in too much spiritual energy, as it is with most arrays. But instead you’ve actually harnessed the excess sound using your musical cultivation –”

“Can! We! Focus! On! Fixing! My! Da-ge?!” Nie Huaisang interjected. Loudly.

That got them to shut up and focus for a while. Lan Qiren had been the general leading the Lan sect’s forces and managing the back end for most of the war, so he had a lot of personal experience in playing battlefield medic, and Wen Qing herself had of course been well known for her medical skill even before everything had gone down, so the two of them put their heads together over Nie Mingjue and started up a very technical conversation that no one else understood.

In the meantime, the rest of them – Nie Huaisang, Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and Wen Ning – just looked at each other.

“Wei-gongzi, are we just going to stand here while they work?” Wen Ning asked Wei Wuxian in an undertone, ignoring (or maybe not understanding) the suddenly hostile tilt of Lan Wangji’s eyebrows.

“Yes we are,” Nie Huaisang said loudly, then glared at Wen Ning. “Anyway, aren’t you her brother? Don’t you know anything about medicine yourself?”

Wen Ning looked taken aback. “Uh,” he said. “Not – not that much? I was only ever her assistant –”

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Nie Huaisang demanded, and jabbed a finger towards where they were working. “Go assist!”

Wen Ning tried to look at Wei Wuxian for permission, but Nie Huaisang hissed at him until he picked up his heels and trotted guiltily over to inquire if there was anything he could do, then promptly got recruited to run errands – which showed he clearly had been needed, and therefore should have been there doing that in the first place.

“Hey, Nie-xiong, have you ever seen those animal traders that come from the far south?” Wei Wuxian asked. “The ones that sometimes have those long ferret-badgers, you know the ones, they always hiss at large creatures and they can fight snakes –”

“…the mongoose?”

“Yeah, the mongoose!” Wei Wuxian nodded, then grinned toothily at him. “Has anyone ever told you, Nie-xiong, that you sometimes resemble a mongoose?”

“This is definitely the first time, Wei-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said. “Definitely the first time.”

“Maybe that should be your nickname! You’re the only one who doesn’t have one, right? I’m the Yiling Patriarch, Lan Zhan here’s Hanguang-jun – you can be the Stubborn Mongoose!”

Lan Wangji’s eye twitched. Why he was getting irritated over Nie Huaisang getting a stupid nickname, Nie Huaisang had no idea, since he was pretty sure Lan Wangji didn’t want to be called ‘Stubborn Mongoose’ himself when he already had a perfectly good title.

Maybe he was just jealous of Nie Huaisang getting Wei Wuxian’s attention. Well, if so, Nie Huaisang was more than willing to throw it right back onto him.

“No thanks, Wei-xiong,” he said, and smiled (somewhat toothily) right back at him. “I’ve had a dislike for animal-related nicknames ever since I was a child – you see, I went over to visit the Lan sect a few times and their precious ‘little Rabbit Bun’ bit me.”

He tilted his head pointedly in Lan Wangji’s direction.

Lan Wangji gave Nie Huaisang a death glare.

Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, looked as if his entire life had been improved by at least six degrees. “Lan Zhan?” he gasped. “Your childhood nickname was Little Rabbit Bun? That’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard! You must have been so cute!”

Lan Wangji glanced at him, his ears going red, and then glanced back at Nie Huaisang, who gave him a smug You owe me expression before saying, very virtuously, “Wei-xiong, don’t be silly. Wouldn’t you agree that our Hanguang-jun is still very cute?”

“No, he’s not cute, he’s handsome!” Wei Wuxian objected. “You can’t be ‘cute’ when you’re as dashing and bold as Lan Zhan is –”

“Being handsome doesn’t mean you can’t be cute at the same time! Haven’t you seen him when he’s smiling?”

Wei Wuxian looked stricken. “He smiles? You’ve seen him smile, Nie-xiong? Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, that’s not fair! You have to smile for me, I have to see it – you can’t smile at Nie Huaisang and not at me, okay, that’s just wrong, I’m the one who wanted to be your friend –”

Nie Huaisang bared his teeth at Lan Wangji – see I’m still better at managing people than you! – and Lan Wangji gave him a half-hearted glare back, too distracted by the way Wei Wuxian was tugging at his sleeve to really put any real heat into it. Or maybe he really did like Wei Wuxian bugging him all the time, who knew?

(Actually, the last time Nie Huaisang had seen Lan Wangji smile, they’d both been at least a decade younger, but he wasn’t about to let facts get in the way of a good taunt.)

The entire thing probably would have continued in that vein for a while, only then Lan Qiren and Wen Qing suddenly got up and that got Nie Huaisang’s attention entirely; he promptly forgot about what the two idiots he was waiting alongside were doing and rushed over.

“Is he all right?” he asked anxiously. “Can you make him better?”

“It will be difficult,” Lan Qiren said, and Wen Qing nodded.

“His meridians are in a bad state,” she said. “His situation was severely aggravated on account of the sheer amount of resentful energy in the Burial Mounds, and then driven into complete crisis when Wei-gongzi unveiled the Tiger Seal, but he was already doing quite poorly. You must have noticed his temper getting worse, less patience, more irrationality…”

Nie Huaisang didn’t want to hear about that. “We’re surnamed Nie, that’s not too weird,” he said shortly. “Anyway, can you fix it?”

“We’ve stabilized him for now,” Lan Qiren said. “There’s no immediate danger.”

Nie Huaisang exhaled. That was – not ideal, but still something. Better something than nothing.

“There are a number of techniques that can be applied to try to correct the deviation,” Wen Qing said. “Including surgery to straight his meridians out again, which I can do. But that’s a one-time fix, and he’s in a state of deterioration; even if I fixed him up, he’d only continue to spiral again, and all the fixes for that take a lot more time and effort and continuous supervision. If it were just me, I’d say there wasn’t anything we could do short of cutting off his access to his golden core for a while – and that’s incredibly dangerous in its own right – but Teacher Lan here says that the Lan sect has some extremely powerful music spells that might be able to do something.”

Lan Qiren nodded. “There is one in particular,” he said. “The Song of Clarity –”

“Clarity would not work to fix Chifeng-zun,” Lan Wangji opined.

Lan Wangji looked distinctly shame-faced, though perhaps only someone who knew him very well would recognize that particular flavor of it.

“I see,” Lan Qiren said, visibly resisting the urge to sigh and offer Lan Wangji a conciliatory candy the way he had when Lan Wangji had been young enough to still think that all problems could be fixed by biting. Possibly it was just Nie Huaisang that recognized that very particular expression, having seen it the most often out of all available non-Lan sect members – he’d been Lan Wangji’s favorite target, after all. “And what exactly has your brother done that he doesn’t want me to know about?”

“How did he know?” Wei Wuxian whispered to Wen Ning in an undertone barely louder than a breath, though not quite enough to escape being overheard by Nie Huaisang, who standing right next to them. “Did Lan Zhan even change expressions just now? Is there some secret sign language involved?”

Clearly Nie Huaisang needed to give Wei Wuxian a crash course in ‘understanding Lan Wangji body language’, Nie Huaisang decided – beneficently, of course. It definitely wasn’t so that Wei Wuxian could more effectively annoy Lan Wangji to death, no, absolutely not.

(Anyway, Lan Wangji seemed like he enjoyed being annoyed to death by Wei Wuxian, so maybe it really was beneficent after all.)

Facing all of their gazes, Lan Wangji squared his shoulders. “Xiongzhang has been concerned regarding Chifeng-zun’s health,” he said. “Particularly in regard to his family’s tendency towards qi deviations, which xiongzhang fears may be aggravated by Chifeng-zun’s powerful cultivation and the ravages of war. He has been playing him Clarity as a course of treatment.”

“As a course of treatment?” Lan Qiren asked, looking startled, and – oops. Had Lan Xichen not told his uncle about what he was doing? Sneaky sneaky! Yet more proof that Lan Xichen was obviously the finest and most superior of all Lans. “Impossible. A few times at full strength, perhaps…”

Lan Wangji was shaking his head in denial.

“It’s impossible,” Lan Qiren insisted. “As an actual course of treatment, he would need to play for him at least once every fortnight – every week, if possible. Xichen is sect leader now. He simply doesn’t have the time or the freedom to depart from the Cloud Recesses on such a regular basis.”

“Brother said a course of treatment,” Lan Wangj insisted back, stubborn as a mule.

“I would have noticed if your brother were slipping away every half-month, Wangji!”

“Anyway, it’s impossible for another reason,” Wen Qing put in. “If Chifeng-zun were getting regular treatment to help clear his meridians, we would have noticed that when we examined him in depth just now, and he definitely hasn’t been.”

“No, that’s wrong,” Nie Huaisang said, and now they were all looking at him, great. “I mean, he is getting regular treatment, and has been for the last few months. And, uh, sorry, Teacher Lan, it is the Song of Clarity. Only it’s not er-ge playing it for him – as you said, he’s way too busy to come to the Unclean Realm as often as that – but rather san-ge who’s doing the playing. Er-ge taught him how to do it…”

Judging by the color that Lan Qiren’s face just turned, Lan Xichen probably shouldn’t have done that, either. Nie Huaisang mentally apologized to Lan Xichen for the horrible scolding he was going to get when Lan Qiren got ahold of him again, but he figured Lan Xichen would forgive him – it was for Nie Mingjue’s health, after all! The people treating him had to know everything, after all, or else they wouldn’t be able to take proper care of him.

“Well, that’s still bizarre,” Wen Qing said. “Either your sect’s song-spell isn’t nearly as powerful as you think it is, Teacher Lan, which seems unlikely, or else whatever-his-name is playing it completely wrong. Judging from the evidence, Chifeng-zun’s state has deteriorated the past few months, not improved.”

She frowned.

“Actually, now that I think about it…” she said, trailing off, and turned to poke at the diagnostic array still hovering over Nie Mingjue’s body. “Teacher Lan, look here, at the lower levels – think of it as a way of mapping the evidence of what happened over time, the way stone does when it’s being worn away, like by a riverbed. His spiritual veins are strong, and then the deterioration is very slow, then faster but still not fast, and then, here, it suddenly starts going very fast all at once…”

“A few months ago,” Lan Qiren said, studying the array. “Yes, you’re right, that’s when the severe downturn began.”

“Hey, Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian said, sounding artificially light-hearted – extremely artificial, actually, and maybe Nie Huaisang wouldn’t have noticed except that he’d said the exact same words earlier when he was actually being light-hearted and the contrast between the two couldn’t be clearer. “When did you say Lianfang-zun started playing the Song of Clarity for your brother?”

“A few months ago…no, no, you’ve got it all wrong!” Nie Huaisang said quickly, realizing what Wei Wuxian was implying. “San-ge has been playing it for him for over half a year! He was getting better!”

Lan Wangji cleared his throat.

They all look at him.

“There is the matter of the Jin sect,” he said. “And their proposal regarding the position of Chief Cultivator.”

“Chief Cultivator?” Wei Wuxian asked, looking amused. “What’s that? How can there be a chief? We’re all different sects, aren’t we…? Well, excluding rogue cultivators like me, I guess.”

“That is how it has always been, yes,” Lan Qiren said. “However, in the interest of preventing another Wen sect and another Sunshot Campaign, the Jin sect has proposed creating a position of Chief Cultivator, which would act as an arbiter for the cultivation world – solving problems, settling disputes, that sort of thing.”

“My brother thinks the idea’s complete trash,” Nie Huaisang volunteered. “He says that we didn’t go to all that trouble to make sure Wen Ruohan couldn’t make himself the lord over all of us using his armies just to let Ji– uh, to let Sect Leader Jin do it using his money.”

“Has he said this publicly?” Wei Qing asked, and Nie Huaisang gave her a strange look for a moment.

Then it occurred to him that she probably didn’t know his brother that well, or even his reputation, so he clarified, “Yes, of course. My brother isn’t the sort of person who says one thing in private and another in public. He’s very straightforward.”

“That’s not what I was getting at,” she said. “It was more…when did he say it in public? I don’t suppose – a few months ago?”

“Well, yes, it was – I mean –” Nie Huaisang hesitated.

“I get what you’re saying,” Wei Wuxian said, and his face was hard, back in the lines that had been cut into it during the Sunshot Campaign. “Nie-xiong, would you say that that whole argument happened right around – or maybe right before – the time your da-ge stopped getting better whenever your san-ge came to play for him, and started getting worse much faster?”

“Lianfang-zun,” Wen Ning murmured. “Jin Guangyao.”

“But – but – they’re sworn brothers!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed. “He wouldn’t!”

“Wouldn’t he?” Lan Qiren asked. He looked older, suddenly, and tired. “Are you sure?”

Nie Huaisang wanted to say yes, he really did, he really really did –

But he couldn’t.

“You know, when I said I was bored and that the Unclean Realm was boring, I really was trying to use it as an excuse to go somewhere else,” Nie Huaisang said. “Ideally the Lotus Pier, which has both good food and good shopping and Jiang Cheng, who is pretty funny sometimes – usually not on purpose – but I was willing to settle for the Cloud Recesses because then I’d get to see er-ge. But either way, I hadn’t intended for the end result to be to liven up the Unclean Realm. Or at least, you know, not quite so much, you know?”

“You’re getting exactly what you deserve, you noxious little brat,” his brother said. He was still lying in bed, although he had a desk on his lap that contained all his work. He looked a lot better now that he’d had the immediate intervention surgery Wen Qing had done to straight his meridians out and after both Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji had played him the Song of Clarity – the real Song of Clarity, not whatever messed up version Jin Guangyao must have been using on him – a half-dozen times over the course of as many days. He was even smiling again. “Don’t pretend like you aren’t enjoying it.”

Nie Huaisang was loving it. His home had never been so rowdy, not for as long as he could remember it, and it was already a pretty rowdy place to begin with – but anything got more rowdy when you threw in Wen Qing, who was there to supervise the aftereffects of the surgery, Wen Ning, who was there to assist her, Wei Wuxian, who was there to watch over the still-somewhat-unstable Wen Ning, the rest of the remaining Wen sect, who couldn’t be left on their own and undefended, and of course also Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji in all their grumpy majesty.

And it was going to stay that way.

Well, Lan Qiren, at least, was planning on returning back to the Cloud Recesses, since they were very firmly in the process of rebuilding and he was concerned that Lan Xichen couldn’t do the rest of the work without him, but Lan Wangji was being assigned to the Unclean Realm on a semi-permanent basis since both Wen Qing and Lan Qiren had agreed that Nie Mingjue needed to continue with a daily regimen of Clarity for at least a month, then shift over to three times a week, then two, then weekly, and eventually twice-monthly and monthly before finally, hopefully, tapering off for good. Lan Qiren planned to come back to visit on a regular basis to supervise the musical aspects, and Wen Qing wanted to remain on hand in the event of another crisis – and to study the medical implications of musical cultivation, which was apparently an area she’d completely neglected in her previous studies on account of the Wen sect not teaching much in the way of music.

And if Wen Qing was staying, then obviously Wei Wuxian was going to have to stay as well, a fact that very obviously delighted Lan Wangji to no end. The two of them were completely unbearable when together in a way that made Nie Huaisang pretend to gag and Lan Qiren start heaving long sighs and grumbling about not wanting to deal with matchmakers – which Nie Huaisang hadn’t gotten at first until he suddenly did, at which point he started pretend-gagging even more, just for the principle of the thing.

Possibly Nie Huaisang was also occasionally going and dropping a lit torch into a fire-starting array any time they were showing signs of getting boring, like how just that morning he’d oh-so-casually reminded Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji used to like to bite people and how everyone used to say it was the way he showed affection, knowing that it would make the ever-competitive (though not as competitive as Jiang Cheng) Wei Wuxian start bugging Lan Wangji about whether or not he would have bitten him –

Nie Huaisang had hope that all that teasing would eventually make it through Lan Wangji’s otherwise impenetrable Lan sect reserve and he’d finally just drag Wei Wuxian into a bedroom and give him the biting he was asking for, but only time would tell.

“I admit to nothing,” Nie Huaisang said righteously, and hopped into the bed to curl up next to Nie Mingjue like he hadn’t since he was much younger. “You like it too. Don’t you?”

“I don’t like the political headache that comes with it,” Nie Mingjue pretended to grumble. “Not to mention that we’re now suffering an undoubtedly permanent infestation of those surnamed Wen – ugh.”

That complaint was probably genuine, Nie Huaisang reflected, since his brother had had to suffer the original Wen sect a lot more than Nie Huaisang ever had, but saving Nie Mingjue’s life meant they owed Wen Qing a life-debt. To pay it off, his brother, good and righteous person that he was, had officially buried his sect’s blood feud with hers, making them equal again, and now they had no grounds to be pissy with them or kick them out. The rest of the Nie sect loved their sect leader enough to begrudgingly forgive them as well, at least provisionally, but provisionally went an awful long way with the Nie sect. Unlike the Lan sect, they didn’t have a rule against bearing grudges, though they did it very well, thank you. It was just that they didn’t have the temperaments to do it more than once or twice in a lifetime, and the rest of the time they tended to forget about their wrongs pretty quickly and move on towards making friends.

All that, of course, meant that the Wen sect now had two places in the cultivation world that they could live – the rest of the cultivation world wasn’t exactly as incentivized to forgive them, obviously – and since the Burial Mounds were in fact pretty terrible, it was no surprise that they were much happier in the Unclean Realm.

“You can distract yourself by watching the Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian circus, like I do,” Nie Huaisang comforted his brother. “It’s really funny. And soon we’ll be able to host a wedding, won’t that be fun? And it won’t even have to be one for either you or me!”

“…that does sound fun,” Nie Mingjue allowed. “Everyone would enjoy that, and it’d be good for commerce, all the things you’d need for that – the Lan sect is still mostly investing in rebuilding, but I can’t imagine they’d allow their Second Jade to be married in anything less than the best.”

“I’ll paint them a nice couple set of fans as a wedding gift,” Nie Huaisang decided. “And you can make them a pair of supplemental spiritual weapons to match – you haven’t done that in ages, da-ge, and it used to be the thing you loved the most.”

Nie Mingjue looked seriously tempted, or at least he did to someone who knew him as well as Nie Huaisang did. His brother wasn’t actually an ascetic, the way Jin Guangyao had once or twice joked in a not-quite-joking tone he was; he just had different vices and hobbies than most men. No wine, women, or song for Nie Huaisang’s quixotic big brother, no – he liked steel, and forging, and sometimes dancing when he thought he could get away with it without losing face. Also those stupid overly complicated puzzles that Nie Huaisang needed to hunt up more of for him.

“I don’t know,” Nie Mingjue said, still hesitating. “My health –”

“I’ll get you cleared by Wen Qing,” Nie Huaisang assured him. “I’m sure she’ll say it’s good for you to engage in your hobbies more often, since you’ve been so bored without training Baxia so often.”

“I need to start doing that, too.”

“Ah, but you can only do that under supervision of doctors, and only in limited quantities until your qi improves. You need to fill your day with something that isn’t work, da-ge – doctor’s orders!”

Lan Qiren’s orders, to be more accurate. He’d been shoved into the role of sect leader, too, though he’d been older than Nie Mingjue was when it’d happened; he was now rigid to the point of unyielding on insisting that Nie Mingjue not allow himself to be swallowed up by it any more than he already had.

Anyway, his brother had already been very pointedly avoiding anything to do with sect business outside the sect, and in specific in relation to the Jin sect, and Jin Guangyao, which Nie Huaisang fully understood and supported. His brother might be tough on the outside, but he had a soft heart, and Jin Guangyao’s actions had broken it – it was better for Nie Mingjue’s health that he not think about it, at least for now.

Nie Huaisang had instead taken responsibility for external affairs into his own hands for the time being.

He wasn’t necessarily very good at it, he wasn’t good at much, but he was extremely capable of being very annoying and given the Nie sect’s current ascendant position in the cultivation world, that was all he needed to be to keep the Jin sect so busy guessing what he was up to that they’d (hopefully) be too busy to scheme any more.

And if Nie Huaisang had a scheme or two he was planning on trying back on them…well, that was his own business, right? Even if it failed, no one would be too surprised, he was just the stupid and useless second young master of Qinghe, after all.

No one broke his brother’s heart and got away with it. No one!

(Also, being in charge of external affairs meant that Nie Huaisang got to spend quite a bit of time sequestered with Lan Xichen, nominally ‘discussing sect business’, and it was great. They barely did any work at all!)

“All right, all right,” Nie Mingjue said. “You win, as you always do. Don’t you have anything better to do than attach yourself to me like some sort of parasite?”

“Nope! Cleared my entire morning just for this.” Nie Huaisang burrowed in more. “I’m going to steal all your heat away, da-ge, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Huaisang…”

“And later,” Nie Huaisang interrupted, marching all over his brother’s half-hearted protest, “you’re going to tell all the things you haven’t been telling me about our family’s cultivation style, and the saber tombs, and all of that.” His brother went very still. “You’re going to tell me, and then we’re going to figure out what we’re going to do about it together. All right?”

He waited to hear his brother’s response.

Instead, he felt the light touch of his brother’s palm on his hair.

“All right, Huaisang,” his brother said. “That sounds good. I’ll listen to you.”

“As you should,” Nie Huaisang said. “As you always should!”

“I’m not buying you any more fans, and you still need to train your saber.”

“Awww, but da-ge…!”

#mdzs #nie huaisang #nie mingjue #lan qiren #lan wangji #wen ning #wen qing #wei wuxian #my fic #this is an old one from the vaults #I THINK I never got around to posting it #if it's actually a duplicate let me know #my fics

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damn-stark · 6 months

Text

Chapter 12 Fallen Angel

Chapter 12 of Sugar

A/N- Enjoy :)

Warning- Swearing, Sweet toothing rotting FLUFF, BUT THERE'S ALSO ANGST, spoilers, long chapter, violence and mentions of blood.

Pairing- Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader, (future) Choso x fem!reader

Takes place during- Jjk 0 movie

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“…and they lived happily ever after. The end,” you finish reading and close the book.

Satori yawns and rubs her eyes from her exhaustion but instead of closing her eyes, she interjects. “Mommy, are you and Daddy happy like the woman and the man in the book?”

You blink in confusion, but smile all the same as you tuck her stray hair behind her ear. “Yes,” you assure her. “We’re very happy. Why do you ask?”

Satori shrugs. “Because,” she mumbles as her eyes droop. “Mikael from down the street says his mom and dad say that they hate each other.”

You sit back in disbelief, even though she’s always telling you the crazy things she hears the other kids say. “Well,” you mutter. “You have nothing to worry about, your dad and I love each other so much.”

Satori flashes you a tired smile, letting you lean over and press a kiss on her forehead before you stand up. “Okay now,” you whisper and turn off the lamp. “Go to sleep. Goodnight, chipmunk.”

“Goodnight mama, I love you,” she mutters.

You grin. “I love you too, to the moon and never back,” you redirect, making her giggle.

Once you step outside of her room you see Suguru push himself off the wall, and you make sure to close the door first before you pick on the matter that just happened. “Did you hear what she said?” You ask as you walk away with him at your side.

Suguru nods as he slides his hair tie off to let his long hair fall over his shoulders. “Yeah,” he says. “I heard it.”

You snicker softly before you burst out laughing over the matter your daughter told you.

“It’s not funny,” Suguru counters to try and scold you, but you can see he wants to laugh too. “We should really…” he trails off and begins to laugh as you continue to chuckle.

“Stop,” you scold him in between laughs. “It’s not funny. It’s very serious.”

“You stop,” he says and nudges you. “You’re making me laugh.”

You shake your head and stop to catch your breath. Suguru stops a bit ahead of you and turns around to look at you with a wobbly smile as he manages to calm down, but he then begins to laugh again as he sees you. Which then turns to you laughing again because he can’t stop, so the subject you were laughing about is completely forgotten.

It’s not until a bit later when Nanako and Mimiko come and find you that you finally stop.

“What are you guys doing?” Nanako blurts with annoyance. “Hurry up, we’re all still waiting!”

You both clear your throat and nod in comprehension.

“Right,” Suguru says as he breaks away from his spot. “Sorry.”

You quickly follow him to the parlor room and immediately get questioned. “What were you guys laughing about anyway?” Mimiko asks.

You draw in a deep breath and shake your head with a smile. “I don’t even remember anymore,” you say honestly.

“Hm.”

When you reach the parlor room Suguru immediately addresses your tardiness. “Sorry to keep everyone waiting, this conversation is not for children so we had to put Satori to bed. Darling, if you could please,” he refers to the board.

You pull the board out of the cabinet and show off the maps of Shinjuku, Kyoto, and the school. All of which have been marked according to how Suguru and you have planned the battle strategy.

“First,” Miguel cuts in as he stands up. “Let’s serve ourselves some drinks. I’ve brought this sweet concoction from Fiji.”

“Concoction?” You whisper to Mananmi as she takes a seat by you.

“Sounds like some kind of witch brew if you ask me,” she whispers back.

“Hey!” You actually exclaim. “Yeah, Manami’s right. The last time I tried one of your concoctions I threw up and had a hangover for over two days!” You complain.

“Wait yeah,” Nanako speaks up. “It wasn’t easy to clean up either.”

Miguel walks up to you first and hands you a glass of some kind of dark red drink. “Just drink it,” he insists.

You pull the drink up to your nose and get a hint of sweetness, so you slowly bring it to your lips and take a sip. Luckily for you, it’s not bad at all! It’s very sweet and smooth.

“Taste,” you tell Suguru as you push the cup towards him.

He looks at you with concern considering he was the one who had to take care of you last time you tried alcohol Miguel brought over to try. “It’s okay,” you assure him. “I’ll take care of you this time.”

“It’s really not that,” he says as he takes the cup. “I don’t want to die yet.”

You laugh softly. “You won’t, it’s good.”

“You said that last time, you almost got alcohol poisoning,” he rebuttals.

You roll your eyes and push the cup up as he has it between his lips. He groans and swats your hand away so you snicker and turn to face your family. “Anyway! Did you guys like the dumplings I made? I tried some new stuff this time,” you add smugly.

“Yeah, they were very good,” Larue mentions as he takes a glass from Miguel. “Except I only had one because someone finished them,” he mutters and points his glare at Toshihisa.

The young guy sees and looks at Larue offended. “I only grabbed five,” he defends himself.

“Yeah,” Mimiko interjects. “That was basically half to the plate.”

You smile proudly through the discussion since it means that your meal was very well-liked.

“Yeah, she only made ten!” Nanako snaps. “I didn’t even get to try one.”

“Too slow,” Toshihisa taunts, causing Nanako to stand off her seat and turn her phone to point her camera at him.

Toshihisa begins to snicker, but before she can try anything, Suguru grabs her shoulder and pushes her back down to her seat. “Okay, let’s focus,” he cuts everyone off, causing Miguel to walk to the bar with his concoction in hand.

“Y/N and I have planned out most of the strategy,” Suguru continues and gives you your drink back as he points at the board. “But of course, anyone is welcome to rebuttal and suggest a change. As of now though,” he exhales deeply and points to Kyoto. “Larue and Toshihisa will go to Kyoto, keeping the sorcerers appointed there distracted.”

Toshihisa sighs and cuts in. “Distracted for what exactly?”

“We’ll get there,” you let him know and let Suguru continue.

“As for who you'll have to face, the students of Kyoto,” Suguru says. “The staff as well, but none are much to be concerned about.”

“It doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down though,” you quickly add. “Understand?” You direct mostly to Toshihisa since he is the youngest of the two going there.

“Yes,” he sighs.

You were young once too, you wanted to prove yourself so you know how much it sucks having to be reminded. You can also sense the annoyance in his tone.

“Next Shinjaku,” Suguru continues and points to the map. “Now that’s where most of the higher grade sorcerers will be. Manami, Nanako, and Mimiko will stall the sorcerers there, while Miguel engages with Satoru Gojo in combat.”

Everyone looks at Suguru and then at Miguel with concern since they've all heard how insanely strong your brother is.

“Now listen,” you interject and sit down to cross your foot over the other. “Satoru is strong. As you all know he has the Limitless technique, which interferes on an atomic level controlling space-time with precise manipulation of cursed energy,” you explain what you know. “And what makes it all possible and him even stronger is his six eyes. Your rope will disrupt his techniques, but it won’t stop him completely, he will counter and he will continue to try and use his infinity to block your moves, so be very careful. All you have to do is stall him, so counter and avoid if that’s what you want.”

Miguel nods and doesn’t argue. “Understood, now will you explain what you two special grades will be doing?”

Suguru and you share a knowing look before he goes on this time. “They know we’ll be after Okkotsu so they’ll keep him at the school thinking I’ll be in Kyoto or Shinkaju—”

“Of course,” you cut in. “Someone will figure out that something is up when neither of us are fighting in the front lines, and my best bet is Satoru, so that’s why we need you all to stall them…”

“While we go to the school so I can kill Okkotsu,” Suguru finishes your sentence, making you smirk softly. “And so y/n can steal all 9 Cursed Womb Death Paintings kept within the school warehouse, and hidden behind Tengens barrier,” he continues to say. “We’ll need their help in the battles still to come.”

You nod. “Plus,” you add. “They don’t deserve to be stuck there. We’ll welcome them into our family.”

“Curses?” Larue queries.

Suguru shakes his head. “Half,” he corrects him. “From what I’ve read they’re half human and half curse. We’ll still need to use vessels to reincarnate them of course. But they’ve been incarnated too long, we'll help them.”

You nod in agreement and look around the group. “Any questions?” You ask.

“Yes,” Manami interjects. “How exactly will you get to the warehouse? Isn’t Tengen’s place protected by a bunch of doors?”

You nod. “Yes, but hopefully with my new technique it won’t be much of a problem,” you let her know.

“And about the stalling,” Nanako says. “Why can’t we just have a dummy to go for the both of you so the sorcerers stay there longer,” she wonders.

Suguru nods in comprehension. “Good question, and there’s a simple answer, it’ll make too much of a mess. I won’t risk that.”

The room falls silent, but there’s still one piece of doubt that adds tension. No one dares to speak it though, not out of fear that Suguru or you would get upset, but out of fear that you’d jink this entire plan.

Yet it needed to be discussed, so you bring it up quietly. “If all goes to hell and we lose, then we run. Hide. There’s nothing wrong with that,” you assure them. “Nanako, Mimiko, you guys come back home, as do you, Larue. We’ve all made sure to keep our lives wiped off any database, but keep your heads low nevertheless.”

“But,” Suguru says softly. “I have faith in all of you. We both do.”

You offer them a soft smile to reassure Suguru’s comment. And they all do look comforted by the comment, but there’s still that sliver of tension left. This time Miguel addresses it. “And if Satoru Gojo goes to you two, then what?”

You sigh deeply and let your eyes flicker to the ground before you meet Suguru’s gaze.

“Then,” Suguru says and drifts his eyes back to your family so they can see the confidence he’s trying to make you see. “We will fight him.”

That’s easier said than done. No matter what animosity there’s been neither you nor Suguru have had to actually fight against Satoru. So if it happens will your anger actually be enough to confront him?

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Suguru?” You call out softly as you slide the door open and peek your head inside the empty room.

“Yeah, I’m in here,” he calls out softly.

You walk in and see him sitting on the windowsill that leads to the balcony. He then turns his head and meets your gaze, making the blazing sunset behind him glow around him so beautifully.

“Looking for some time alone?” You ask as you walk past the door.

Suguru shakes his head. “You’re welcome to join me, darling.”

You offer him a soft smile and walk over to him to sit on the balcony to let the sun kiss your skin and bask in the little warmth it provides during December. “Beautiful sunset, huh?” You muse as you fold your hands on the railing and rest your chin on your hands to watch the sunset over the horizon. “Makes me miss spring and summer.”

Suguru hums and then stays quiet, letting you close your eyes to just take in the soft feeling of the sun's rays on your flesh. You enjoy the silence since you know your children aren’t home to have you worried that it’s too silent. You enjoy Suguru’s presence, and bask in the comfort and peace it brings you by just being nearby.

Yet it’s his silence that soon begins to worry you. Ever since he saw Satoru, and since he declared war, he’s been quieter than usual. You’ve found him alone just pondering and it’s never worried you until now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You probe softly as you drift your eyes to him.

Suguru blinks and lets his eyes fall on you, he then sighs and averts his gaze before he speaks up quietly. “Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you had stayed at the school?” He asks, making you slowly sit up.

“Well,” you sigh and see him meet your gaze with a curious look. “Sometimes,” you admit. “When I’m feeling nostalgic really. But honestly, there isn’t much to think about, I was going to leave regardless, whether it be after graduation or before. My place wasn’t at that school.”

Suguru hums softly and smiles. “Really? I think you would’ve made a pretty cool teacher.”

You laugh softly. “Yeah, I don’t think so. My attachment to them would’ve gotten in the way if I had lost one,” you say as you shake your head.”

“So what would’ve changed then?” Suguru asks.

You draw in a deep breath and look out at the dimming sky. “Well this,” you exhale. “I wouldn’t have this house, my career, this family, the girls or you.”

“You really think we wouldn’t have worked out if I stayed in that school?” He probes softly.

You look over at him and answer genuinely. “No. I honestly think we wouldn't have worked out. I mean I think we would’ve stayed together until I graduated, but I would’ve left with Yuki. I would’ve come back after maybe a couple of years and started my community. Our lives would’ve taken different directions.”

Suguru nods softly in comprehension. “Yeah,” he whispers. “You’re right.”

You tilt your head and redirect his question back to him. “What about you? Do you think you would have stayed there and become a teacher? Because I think you would have made a pretty damn good teacher. A hot one too. If you were my teacher I would have always paid attention.” You laugh, making him scoff in amusement and turn his head away to hide his smile.

“Well,” he says and draws out a deep breath. “I don’t think I would have stayed as a teacher, or at Jujutsu high for that matter,” he says and loses his smile, making you lose yours. “If it wasn’t that village then it would’ve been something else that made me drift away. I don’t think I could’ve stayed knowing that what we did didn’t really matter. And after Haibara I don’t know if I could have seen any more of our other friends on that same table.”

You swallow back nervously and nod. “I know what you mean,” you whisper.

Suguru holds your gaze for a moment and sighs before he goes on. “I don’t know what would have become of me exactly, perhaps I was always meant to be this, or not. I don’t know, but I know that I wouldn’t have stayed…so hey, maybe we would’ve reunited down the line.”

You hum. “You really think so?” You ask with amusement. “I don't know, I don’t think Satoru would’ve let you.”

Suguru chuckles. “What is that supposed to mean?” He queries.

“Well…you guys had some weird special bond, so I think he would’ve left with you and I don’t think he would have let you join me,” you let him know.

Suguru smiles at you. “Jealous?” He teases.

You shrug. “Just a little,” you admit and look down, immediately feeling that smile fade. “So what brought all this on? Feeling nostalgic? Regrets?”

“No,” he says immediately. “No regrets. I’m satisfied with my life and with the path I chose. I love you and the girls, you guys are the best things that have happened to me.”

You smile softly and keep looking down.

“I guess,” he continues a lot quieter this time. “I’m just pondering over what could’ve been.”

“It’s this upcoming fight isn’t it?” You ask since you’ve been wrapped around in your mind like him too.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I think it is.”

You exhale and sit in silence to let what you talked about sink in, and to feel grateful that you have him to spill your heart to. It’s not always easy, but you’re glad it’s easy with him. And it’s because of that thought, along with the others that leads you to think about what you have been debating.

And when you look up to quietly admire Suguru as the last rays of the sun kiss his face, as they cling onto his dark eyes and turn them even more beautiful as they blaze against the light, it's all clear. You can’t look past your anger, especially not after what you’re going to do. Plus this, what you’ve built depends on you giving it your all even if it’s against your brother.

And if it comes to Suguru versus Satoru…then you know what side you’ll take. It’s doubtful they’ll ever come to the point of having to kill one or other though. They’ll fight, sure, it’s a fight that’s been waiting to happen, but it’s doubtful that they could ever make a choice like that. They’re too bonded to ever make that choice, even if they’re apart.

“I have something I’ve been meaning to give you,” Suguru interjects, causing your attention to drift back to him. “I wanted to give it to you for our anniversary, but I thought it would be better now.”

You lean over and watch him pull out a small and thin book from his pocket. “What is that?” You probe excitedly.

Suguru sighs and hands you the book, and when you look down at the title you beam out of pure joy. “Wow,” you muse. “The pun book I was missing from my collection…” you trail off and chuckle before you throw yourself on him. “It’s your funeral, so I don’t want to see any eye rolls,” you point out.

Suguru returns your embrace and mutters, “yeah, yeah.”

You press a kiss on his cheek before you whisper, “thank you so much. I love it.”

“Good.”

You shift and sit on his lap now to open the book and skim through the pages. “This is amazing,” you mumble. “I love it and I expect at least a fake laugh—no one laughs at my jokes,” you grumble.

“They’re cheesy,” he rebuttals.

“That’s the point! Puns are meant to be silly, they’re puns!” You grin and go back to a page where you read a funny joke. “Okay, okay, Ladies, if he can’t appreciate your fruit jokes, let that mango.” You snort and then laugh to yourself.

Suguru scoffs. “Okay, I get it,” he assures you with an amused smile and then the fakest laugh you’ve heard.

“Aw, you suck,” you grumble and slide off his lap to walk away. “I’ll find someone who appreciates my jokes one day.”

Suguru slides off the window frame and follows after you. “Baby, you said a fake laugh was enough. I did it,” he actually laughs this time.

You peer over and stick your tongue out at him.

He rolls his eyes. “Mature,” he mutters before he quickens his pace and throws his arms around your waist.

You stop moving and begin to slide down. “No! Let go of me,” you complain as you try not to laugh. “Suguru!” You squeal as he begins to pull you up.

“I laughed,” he says between his own laughs. “Besides, who are you going to find that’s better than me?”

You stop moving and scoff. “Ew, why would you say that?”

“Yeah, I heard it and it was too late to take it back,” he mumbles before he picks you up bridal style. “The girls aren’t here, we should take advantage of that before they return.”

You smirk as you wrap your arm around his neck. “Oh? What do you have in mind? Maybe a bath, with wine to the side! Or you can help me paint my nails while we do face masks together!” You suggest excitedly.

Suguru shrugs. “We can do both, why not?”

You grin at him and then lay your head on his shoulder. He takes you to your shared room, but you actually don’t get to do any of the two things you wanted since the girls get back home earlier. However, it turns out to be better because you all huddle around Suguru and pamper him instead. He never complains about it either so it works out great each time.

Everything always works out fine when you’re with him, so this battle will work out too. It has to—no it will!

You keep telling yourself that, you keep giving yourself hope as you train, as you count the days and the time that passes.

And there’s so much that gives you hope, more than you would have felt when you were younger. You like to think that you’re not as negative now. Yet when December 24th arrives you can’t sleep, all you can think about is the different what-if scenarios that pop into your mind.

But you have to be positive because you can win. You will. And you’ll go on living your life, your great life. You will.

You sigh deeply and try to engrave that in your brain as you lie in bed in the morning. Yet the thoughts are too overwhelming and too stressful, so you get up instead. However, you stop and smile when you see how peaceful Suguru looks sleeping with his bangs over his face, and his mouth partially opened. He then moves and you think he’s going to wake up, but he just lays on his side and stretches his arm out over the empty spot you had been lying on. So you make sure to be quiet to not wake him up as you change, and then walk out of the room to wander over to the small lake that sits by your house.

Mediating often helps so you try to do that in the serenity that being outside brings you. However, no matter how strong you’ve gotten, no matter how many other fights you’ve fought, none of it really gets easier. The stress of it, the running thoughts. And now there’s more at risk; the twins, your family, even your friends and old cherished companions on the other side…

When did it come to this? Fighting against each other.

You sigh and lay back on the shore with a lit cigarette in your mouth. You close your eyes to try and clear your mind, listen to the howling wind, and feel the cold breeze unfurling over your face.

There isn’t a moment of hesitation or regret, it just doesn’t really get easy. But after this fight, you’ll be one step closer to achieving your goal. Maybe then you can talk to Satoru again…maybe.

“No matter how hot you run you can still get sick you know!” You hear Suguru shout.

You smile and open your eyes to look back, catching him upside down with his hand behind his back as he approaches you.

“It’s cold y/n, come inside,” he tries to advise you, but you just sit up and pull the cigarette out to watch the ducks on the still water.

“I’m just,” you talk loudly so he can hear you. “Thinking.”

Suguru stops behind you and nudges your ass with his foot. “Get inside, you’ll freeze out here,” he repeats himself.

You show off your burning cigarette before putting it between your lips to draw in a drag, letting him know that you’re not out here to train or for fun. You’re stressed. You picked up the habit of stress smoking in school after he offered you a cigarette once.

“We’re going to be outside later, you know,” you remind him. “It’ll be a lot colder then.”

“Well you'll be moving then, you're not now,” he rebuttals.

You hum and stand up, but you offer him a drag. He sighs and takes the cigarette to draw in one drag before giving it back to you.

He wants to ask what’s wrong but you begin to walk around the lake. He would’ve insisted on going inside, but he sighs in defeat and has no other choice but to follow you. “You can stay, you know,” he interjects. “The Cursed Womb Death Paintings can be taken further down the line.”

You shake your head and exhale the smoke before responding. “I’m not feeling any kind of hesitation or anything, I’m just overthinking the outcome,” you mutter. “I know I shouldn’t, Yuki says I can’t. I just need to fight. Use your mind and your heart, she says. You’ll be stupid to use one or the other, but I…it’s just a part of me…worrying about what might happen, or what might not.”

Suguru exhales and nods slowly. “Think of it like water,” he says. “You raise it as you inhale when you’re practicing your different forms, right?”

You look at him and hum in agreement.

“Let the stress rise, and bring it back down like the wave of water you pick up and slowly drop,” he adds and looks over to meet your gaze with a soft smile.

“Okay,” you mumble and nod along as you throw the cigarette down and smush it with your foot.

“We’ll win,” he continues to assure you. “And we'll be one step closer to our dream.”

That’s what you said.

“If only we could achieve it now, huh?” You muse as you look at the water you’re passing by.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But it takes time. Soon though, I promise you that.”

You reach over and take his hand. Suguru glances at you and you then stop the both of you to cup his hands, noticing now as you take his other hand that he’s holding a hibiscus flower.

You smile, but let him continue to hold it as you cup his hand and hold his dark eyes. “Just…promise me you’ll live. I can’t do this without you, you know that?”

Suguru flashes you a charming smile and pulls one hand away to tuck the beautiful red flower over your ear before he slides his hand down and caresses your cheek. “I will, don’t worry about me, okay? I worry about you.”

You scoff and shake your head. “Suguru,” you scold quietly.

Suguru cups your cheek and pulls you closer. “I’m not being selfish,” he says what you’re thinking. “I’m assuring you, stating facts…”

You giggle softly and lean towards his touch.

“It’s just a simple mission,” he adds. “Get Rika and go. No one will get hurt. We will be back home just in time to put our daughter to bed. And then we’ll count the days to celebrate eleven years of being together.”

You grin at him and can’t help but embrace him, just to relieve yourself of the stress with the warmth of his body, with the smell of his scent that clings onto every inch of him, and with the softness of his long hair that falls over your hands. He hugs you back and presses kisses on the top of your head before he rests his chin on your head.

Once a moment passes, when your mind is somewhat clear and your heart isn’t racing, you pull back and continue to smile. “Eleven years, huh?” You mumble and begin to walk back home hand in hand. “It’s fucking crazy. Who would've thought, huh?”

“Me,” Suguru says with a smirk. “Not you?”

You smirk and shrug. “I could’ve been dating Orlando Bloom, or I don’t know, maybe someone else with long hair and a charming smile.”

Suguru chuckles softly before he pulls to the side and digs in his hoodie pocket to pull something out.

“Eleven years ago,” he muses. “I gave you a Christmas present because I liked you.”

You grin before you gasp as you try and guess what he has for you. “Oh my god, Sugar, is it another engagement ring? Because maybe I got you something shiny too.” You hint.

Suguru narrows his eyes and you flash him a cocky smirk. “What is it?” He probes.

“You’ll have to wait to find out,” you tease and look down at his hands as he shows a small firefly pendant.

“I gave you two pendants before, but I haven’t given you one for Satori, so here,” he says and grabs your hand to place the pendant with the two other smaller ones that represent the twins, and then the bigger firefly pendant that came with the red string bracelet he gifted you eleven years from ago.

“Wow,” you whisper. “I love it. Your present is—”

“It’s okay I want to be surprised,” he assures you since he knows you get excited when he gets surprised by the things you get him.

“Well,” you move on. “Thank you then. I really love it.”

When Suguru ties the bracelet back around your wrist he steals one kiss from your lips before he continues to walk with you back inside.

“Now,” you mention. “Let’s hurry back inside because I am cold!” You hook your arm around his and pull him back inside with you.

When you get inside you see the twins eating breakfast as they watch TV, but you notice that Satori isn’t up. And she also didn’t come to greet you at the door either.

“Bunny,” you direct at Mimiko. “Where’s your sister?”

Mimiko drifts her gaze to you and then points to the stairs. “In her room,” she says. “She doesn’t want to get up.”

You share a concerned look with Suguru before you both head to your daughter's room. You make sure to knock first once you reach her door, but she doesn’t answer so you slowly open the door and walk in.

“Hello?” You make yourself known as you notice that her lamp light is on. “Chipmunk, is everything okay?”

You walk further inside and see her snuggled up under her blankets and with her tiger curse lying beside her.

“What’s wrong?” You ask with worry even though you’re beginning to see through her little act. After all, she knew everyone was leaving later today to do a mission, she knew she couldn’t come so she’s trying to make you stay.

“My head and tummy hurt,” she whispers in a fake hoarse voice. “And I think I’m hot too.”

Suguru and you share a knowing look, but you still crouch by her side and feel her forehead. And like you assumed it feels normal.

“Why don’t you come feel, Suguru,” you lure him over, causing her to hold her blanket tighter against her as she watches her dad crouch beside you.

When he feels her forehead and notices the same thing you did, you smile at each other before he sighs and looks at his daughter with pity. “Well maybe we should take you to the doctor, you have every sickness in the book, don’t you think, darling?” He asks you.

You nod. “Yeah. And she needs some medicine and tea too.”

“No!” Satori cuts in with her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Just…stay with me all day and I’ll feel better I promise.”

Suguru offers her a genuine smile and leans over to caress her cheek. “We won’t be gone long. We’ll make it back for bedtime,” he tries to assure her. “I’ll tuck you in and when you wake up again we’ll be here.”

Satori pouts and her eyes fill with tears, so he continues.

“And I’ll tell you what, after we come back, you get to tell us where you want to go for our trip,” he lets her know. “You pick anywhere and we’ll go.”

Satori’s lips tug to an excited smile and her eyes seem to almost glimmer. “Really?” She asks, forgetting she’s pretending to be sick. “Even Disney? Or the beach?!”

Suguru and you share a look before he nods. “Yeah, anywhere, but maybe…not with so many people, hm?”

“Daddy, no! You said anywhere.”

Suguru sighs in defeat. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll think real hard all day,” she says. “And I’ll tell you when you come back.”

Suguru nods. “Yes, deal.”

Satori grins and sits up to throw her arms around his neck, making him hug her back and pick her off of bed as he gets up.

“Why don’t we go downstairs?” You suggest as you get up to head out the door. “Then again, maybe Satori can stay here. You must not feel hungry since you’re sick…” you trail off and smirk.

“Well,” she mutters. “Maybe I’m a little hungry.”

Suguru laughs softly at his daughter's antics and proceeds to spoil her all day long. And all day long she followed the both of you everywhere, like a little shadow. After a while, she forgot she was sick, but when the time came to leave, she put her act on again like a little movie star.

Nevertheless, you continue to assure her one last time.

“We’ll be back okay?” You assure her before you shoot her an assuring wink and a thumbs up.

Satori grins and winks back at you, but with both eyes and then throws a thumbs up.

You grin, and she whispers. “I’ll miss you.”

You touch your heart and then press a kiss on her head before you redirect her comment, “me too. I love you to the moon and never back.”

Satori giggles. “I love you too, mama,” she says softly.

You proceed to step away or you will feel bad and stay with her. Albeit Suguru continues to go on to say his goodbye, and your heart swells with so much joy when you see them interact that you almost want to make you both stay. But you don’t, you resist.

“I’ll make it back for bedtime,” he assures her and cups her cheeks. “And I’ll be expecting an answer for our trip, okay?”

Satori frowns and her eyes fill with tears.

“Don’t cry,” he tells her softly. “It’s okay, my little love. I’ll be back.”

Tears fall down her cheek, but she tries to act tough and wipes it away. “Okay,” her voice quivers. “Goodbye, Daddy.”

Suguru presses a kiss on her forehead and then hugs her tightly. “Bye, Satori. I’ll see you later.”

“You'll take care of mommy?” She whispers, making Suguru smile wider.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of her. We’ll be back,” he says again and pulls back to brush her bangs back. “I love you.”

Satori grins. “I love you too, Daddy,” she says happily.

Suguru gets up and begins to walk away. She waves at him, and he spares her one last glance before he turns away.

“Bye Nana, bye Mimi,” she waves at her sisters before they join their group, leaving you lingering behind alone.

“Bye, my girl,” you tell her one last time. “I’ll call when we’re on our way home. Okay?”

She nods and holds onto Belinda and her tiger curse as she watches you follow Suguru. When you climb on Suguru’s bird to fly to the school, you both wave goodbye to her one last time.

——

*LATER*

All you ever wanted when you were young was a big family, a big loving family like those you’d see in movies, those you’d see when you’d go out. A family who didn’t shame you, or turn their back for what you lacked. You wanted friends who would have your back. And you wanted a love that will always last.

It sounded so foolish then, such a simple deep desire, but you lacked it, you lacked a parent's love and a family’s warmth, you only had your brother. So when you had a taste of that sweet desire when you came to Jujutsu High as a student eleven years ago, you didn’t want to let go.

But you did, you let go and you found more, you relished in that love you so deeply wished for, you didn’t find pain, instead, you found simple moments full of joy and love. It was at the expense of others you so deeply cherished, but you can admit that it was worth it to get what you wanted. And when you got it you said you wouldn’t return to a place that reminded you of the pain you later endured in your young years, but here you are now, on a roof as you sneak in with Suguru.

Here you are now ten years later watching the happy memories of then haunting the places you would be at and the places you'd walk through, with the intent to oppose the same side you had fought with once before.

All to protect the family you formed along the way. And most importantly to accomplish a new deep desire for a better world so sorcerers like you don't have a chance to experience the pain you endured.

How odd is that?

“Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness,” Suguru chants as he raises his hand to do the hand symbol to lower a veil. “Purify that which is impure.”

A white veil emerges and quickly surrounds the school grounds, trapping him, you, and Okkotsu.

“Besides Okkotsu we have to avoid killing any sorcerer that may be here,” Suguru reminds you as you move down the roof now that the veil is drawn.

“I know that,” you mutter, and then jump off the roof and swiftly land on the ground. When Suguru lands beside you you begin walking down the same way for now.

“Except if that Zen’in girl is here,” Suguru grumbles. “You can kill her and we'll rid ourselves of one more monkey.”

You roll your head to the side to shoot him a glare. “She’s like Toji, you know. It’ll be exciting to see how strong she gets as she keeps getting older.”

“It won’t be,” Suguru retorts as he watches out for anyone who might be after you now that you made yourselves known. “That guy was hard to kill before, I’d rather not deal with that again later down the road.”

You hum and nod. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“But if you come across her,” he adds as he senses your hesitation. “Then you can spare her. You can’t ask me to do the same.”

You shake your head and can’t help but let your lips pull to a small smile. “I never would. Now is he near or what?”

“Okkotsu?”

“Satoru,” you correct him. “I’d rather not deal with him right now.”

Suguru scoffs. “How am I supposed to know?” He quips.

You smirk and shrug. “I don’t know, maybe you have, like, a Satoru radar. You would. You guys are weird like that.”

Suguru looks at you with a pointed look that makes you smile and snicker.

“Well,” Suguru sighs, “I don't know where he is, but knowing him he’ll probably come here late. He would’ve caught up with us otherwise. Let’s take advantage of his absence.”

You hum and yawn as you stretch your arms out. “It’s been a while since I’ve fought another sorcerer,” you mention. “This should be fun.”

“Need I remind you of your mission,” Suguru makes himself clear, causing you to sigh. “Take them and get out.”

You nod lazily. “Yeah, yeah, I remember, but there’s a chance I might run into guards, so I’m looking forward to it. And for now, I am helping you until we know there’s a clear path to the warehouse.”

Suguru exhales deeply at your persistence to not listen, but he doesn’t argue with you or force you to actually listen, so he just speaks kindly instead. “If Tengen puts up some fight to protect the warehouse, just get out.”

You smile softly. “Doubting me?” You ask even though you know that’s not it.

“No,” Suguru says immediately. “I’d rather not have you run that risk. Not without me there at least. Who knows what Tengen is capable of, you’re strong but, you’ll be in his territory. You understand that right?”

You nod. “I do, I'm just giving you a hard time…you be careful too. No matter how strong you are, you're not invincible. I want to go home with you after this is over.”

Suguru meets your gaze and offers you a kind smile. “I’m always careful.”

You mirror his smile and hold each other's gaze for a lingering minute before you enter a big empty courtyard.

You knew you wouldn’t find anyone here, no matter how big this school is, not even half of it is actually filled with people. Yet you did expect to come across some curious person. It’s almost worrying how quiet it is.

Almost though, because as you get halfway through the courtyard the Zen’in girl appears with a spear in her hand. When Suguru spots her he looks disgusted as he begins to nonchalantly rub his neck.

“You’re here?” He asks as she approaches bravely.

“Is it a problem if I am?” She retorts. “What the hell are you two doing here?” She asks and points the spear at Suguru and you.

Suguru shifts into a fighting stance, while you roll your shoulders back and just clench your hands to fists.

“Sorry,” Suguru says as he summons long and red centipede-like curses. “But we don't have time to chat with monkeys. Me or you darling?”

You step back. “Go ahead,” you encourage him.

Suguru’s smirk deepens, and with a quick mental command, the curses hurl themselves at her.

The Zen’in girl runs forward and just as one curse is going to bite her she slides down and skillfully uses her spear to slice the curses stomach. It doesn’t die though, it disappears through the ground pretending it did, while the other curse swoops back around and goes after her as she gets up to her feet and charges at the two of you.

Rather than moving out of the way, you stay where you are and wait for her to get close with a growing smirk. And once she’s close enough she jumps up and pulls her spear up.

You remain where you are, so she takes advantage of that and swings the point of her spear down to try and stab you as she gets pulled back to the ground. But you’re faster than her, so instead you swing to the side and rather than using your technique, you manage to throw your hand up to grab her by the throat harshly.

The girl chokes and drops her spear to try and pull your hand off, but you smirk deeper and pull your other fist back before you throw it up, and punch her in the gut so hard you hurl her out of your grip and into the air.

Within seconds you counter and use her technique now to gather wind around your left foot before you shift your body. You then proceed to swiftly swing your left leg around and hurl the wind out to roughly lash her to the ground.

Nevertheless, even as she hits the ground and blood begins to leak out of her head, she slowly pushes herself up and makes you grin with pride. She then fists her hands, but she doesn’t get to move because the curse that was after her jams into her and throws her down, and then the other curse that had hidden comes out from under her and closes its jaw around her to throw her past Suguru and you.

This time she doesn't try to get up, she goes unconscious, and the blood that was leaking out begins to spill out and form a pool around her. The curses he summoned disappear and you approach the girl to check for her pulse.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s dead,” Suguru interjects. “Not her at least.”

You ignore him and when you feel a faint pulse you sigh and stand back up. “Do you want me to go or stay with you?” You break your silence and step away from the girl to turn and face him.

“Go,” he declares as he walks to you. “I don’t want to risk having more people show up and give you a hard time. The quieter you get to the warehouse the better.”

You sigh and wait for him to reach you so you can say your goodbye. Yet just as he gets close he freezes.

“Oh?” He says and grins whilst he continues walking to you. “Someone made a hole in the veil.”

You gasp softly and only think of one man. Satoru. Can it be him?

“Nothing ever goes quite as planned,” Suguru adds and steps on the pool of blood as he continues towards you. “It should take them five minutes from the point of entry to be here.”

Rather than saying your goodbye and proceeding to leave, you fall beside Suguru to stay and help him. At least until you know if it’s Satoru or if it’s someone else with reinforcements. Or until he says otherwise.

“Should we ignore them,” Suguru continues as he rubs his chin. “Or should we take care of them? It’s so hard to decide.”

You part your lips to share your suggestion, but just before you can the wall at Suguru’s side explodes and sends out a cloud of dust and a bunch of debris. And through it pops out the Panda.

He got here fast so it means he took the shortest route here.

“Not bad,” Suguru says.

The panda responds by trying to punch him, but he swiftly slides back. The panda then spots you and tries the same thing, but you mirror Suguru’s actions and move away from the panda. You then manipulate the air to gather some of the smoke together and create a screen to hide behind.

Instead of staying hidden though, you run forward to surprise him. And just as you pop out of the smoke screen you notice that the panda is distracted so you jump up, and then spin around to kick the panda towards Suguru. “Focus,” you scold the panda.

Suguru then meets the panda halfway to punch it down and crash through the ground. However, the panda quickly recovers and just as Suguru was going to throw him back to you, the panda wraps his arms around Suguru and slams him to the ground.

Your husband acts quickly and gets out of the panda's grip before hurling himself back. The panda then turns and tries to charge at you, but you manipulate the air to wrap around your fist. And just when the panda gets close you throw your fist out and send a torpedo of air that sends him flying back before he can even touch you.

Just as he’s in the air though, he lets out a loud roar and grows more muscles on his body. He even grows fangs on his bottom jaw, and his eyes glow purple as they narrow into a fierce glare. But rather than continuing to attack you, he turns and runs to Suguru, as your husband approaches. The panda then proceeds to jump up and zips towards Suguru, but he misses as Suguru jumps on the roof.

The Panda doesn’t fall behind though, he follows Suguru at a much quicker speed than before and envelops his fists with cursed energy to try and hit Suguru, but with every punch he throws, Suguru swerves with ease. You on the other hand step back and jump on the roof across from them to keep out of the way.

And this should be your chance to leave while the panda is distracted, but you sit down instead. He is a cursed corpse after all so you are curious how strong it is, so you watch and see Suguru return to the courtyard and pull out some ugly-looking leech curses.

The panda lands in the courtyard too and manages to crush the curses with ease, but they only serve as a distraction so Suguru can get around him. “Predictable,” Suguru throws at the panda.

The panda lifts his head. “Because it was a feint,” he rebuttals as he turns around and pulls his fist back. “Drumming beat!”

You smirk and lean forward, and watch Suguru pull out another one of the previous curses. However, this time the panda manages to punch through the curse and throws Suguru back, causing you to quickly stand up and cry out with concern. “Suguru!”

The panda snaps his head towards you and runs at you. Yet before he can try and actually reach you, Suguru yells out at the panda, “eyes on me!”

You look over at Suguru again and see him summon out more of those long curses to throw them at the panda. So the panda has no choice but to pay attention back to Suguru to destroy the curses after him.

You now attempt to hop off the roof, but before you can, in the distance you spot the cursed speech user approaching. He doesn’t seem to have noticed you, so you quickly hop off the roof and approach Suguru as he hurls the Zen’in girls' spear through the panda from afar.

“That was close,” Suguru tells him.

“Same to you.” The panda counters.

“Someone’s approaching,” you let Suguru know as you gather the water that’s in the air while the panda slowly goes down.

And just as you predicted, the moment the panda hits the ground, the cursed speech user appears from behind the panda and yells out, “plummel!”

You clap your hands together and quickly shield Suguru and you with a blanket of water.

The sound waves from the boy's cursed technique only cut deep through the ground around you, and just throw out a thick cloud of dust since the water you hold protects Suguru and you.

“Hey!” You yell out at the boys.

As the dust clears you see the cursed speech user on his knees, and the panda behind him holding his shoulder. And they both share the same horrified look.

“Did they not teach you anything?!” Suguru shouts out smugly, and you bounce off his comment just as smugly.

“Water absorbs sound!” You proceed to move the water that's shielding you around Suguru and you, and then gather it into an orb in front of you.

“Which means…” you trail off and shoot the orb out. The boys try to move, but the water orb hits them, and the sound trapped inside damages them instead. Not as much as it would’ve hurt Suguru and you, but it knocks them out and cuts them.

“Thank you,” Suguru interjects and makes you snap your eyes away from the students unconscious on the ground—“you really saved me just now.”

You turn and face him with a growing smile. “Don’t mention it. It’s what we do.” You brush him and flash him a wider smile.

Suguru smiles softly and nods. “I know, but still. Thank you.”

You sigh and lose your smile. “Maybe,” you interject quietly. “You need me by your side when you face Okkotsu. He won’t go down without a fight, you can use my help.”

Suguru closes the small gap that was left between each other and cups one of your cheeks. “No,” he says. “You go, do what we planned. I’ll be okay.”

You let out a shaky breath and he cups your other cheek. “Go,” he insists. “Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. I’ll meet up with you where we agreed, okay?”

You drop your head and hesitate, so he presses his knuckle under your chin to lift your head so you can meet his dark eyes. He doesn’t say anything and you don’t either, you just hold his soft and loving gaze, and as if it were magic you feel comforted by his look alone.

“Suguru,” you whisper.

He leans in and begins to kiss you softly to only deepen that comfort. You don’t kiss him back right away, you savor the sweetness of his lips and cherish the softness and warmth of them. When you slowly grab his jaw you pull him closer to finally kiss him back with more passion and with longing. He wants to pull back so you can go, but you pull him back and linger in the kiss until you want to pull away.

“Be careful,” you tell him once again.

Suguru offers you a smile and nods. “I will,” he reassures you. “You be careful too, hm?”

You brush a strand of his long hair over his shoulder and nod. “I will be,” you whisper and slide your hands off his jaw to step back before you stay. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll see you,” he repeats.

You let out a deep breath and hold his gaze for another lingering minute before you turn and walk away. You’re tempted to look back, but you know that if you do you’ll begin to think about staying to help him, so instead, you quicken your pace. It’s only once you’ve turned into a different path that you walk slower and realize that this damned school really hasn’t changed a bit.

The same buildings remain here, they look like they’ve been kept up to date, but besides that, there’s nothing new. How do they expect kids to learn and continue to live if they don’t change? What a pity.

Nevertheless, just like expected you don’t run into anyone either since they all should be in the city. But you would have preferred to run into obstacles, as you wander through the school grounds you remember your youth and you begin to feel all nostalgic because it really hasn’t changed…

It makes you wonder if yours and Suguru’s initials are still carved on the tree by the pond you’d like to sit by. It’d be nice to add your daughter's initials on there now too. Hopefully, once Suguru and you both are done you can do it since you did agree to meet up there.

As for now though, you really need to stop daydreaming and focus on your plan. Thus, you also try to strain your ear to try and hear if Suguru might be fighting, but you’re too far from where you left him, you can’t hear or feel a thing.

Hopefully, he’s okay though.

Nevertheless, when you reach the building that leads to the warehouse and Tengen’s tomb, of course, you come across two guards.

“Stop right there Y/N Gojo!” A guard shouts as he pulls out his metal flail and lets the metal ball fall.

You look at the both of them unamused and retort. “Fighting you two would be no challenge so don’t embarrass yourselves.”

The other guard begins to unsheath two blades, and the one with the flail points his finger at you. “We’ve been ordered to kill you,” he sneers.

You scoff and smile. “Come at me then,” you encourage him. “I’ll give you the first shot.”

The man with two swords charges at you and jumps up to swing his blades down at you, but you run forward and slide down toward the other man.

When the man with the flail sees you he tries to catch you off guard and swings the metal ball down, but you're faster than him, so you swiftly get back on your feet and stand behind him.

“Boo,” you whisper in his ear.

The man with the flail jumps. “What the hell,” he gasps, and then turns back whilst he swings his flail, but you catch the chain and wrap it around your wrist to yank him towards you.

Once he's close you fist your hand and throw him a right hook before you snatch his own flail out of his hand and swing the ball across his face, managing to knock him out, and leaving only his partner left. And just like before he charges at you and swings his blades, but you swerve each one and only get him more upset.

When he charges at you a third time he’s faster, so you let him reach you. However, when he swings this time you meet his blades with the metal ball and then use your foot to kick him back. The man drops his blades at the moment of impact, so you drop the flail and stride over to kick his face and knock him out.

Just like you told them that was no challenge. The real challenge is when you get inside the building and find a thousand doors.

Only one leads to where the warehouse will be. And you’ve prepared, but you don’t know the consequences that destroying the doors could lead to. The last time you came here you were allowed here when you were hoping to find Suguru and Satoru, so the correct door was open. This time they’re all closed, they’re around you, above you, below you, it’s like being in some dark abyss and only doors keep you company.

But you can do this. You can.

You roll your shoulders back and tap into your fire, causing the dragon around your arm to glow red as fire comes out of your palms.

“Cursed technique, fire dragon,” you mutter and begin to fill the dark room with the burning light of your fire-made dragon while you form its large body outward. “Cursed technique, fire snake,” you add and use your other hand to flow fire out and form a large fire-made snake.

“Now,” you sigh. “Let’s hope this works,” you mutter.

You put your hands together and combine the dragon for its fire breath ability, and the snake for its ability to burn away cursed energy, and create a large fire-made Wyrm that lights the room so bright it looks like a sun. Its body grows horns like a dragon, it grows an incredible and ferocious jaw like your fire-made dragon, it grows a tongue and a long slithering body like a snake.

It’s a new technique you discovered while training with Yuki. She helped you realize your full potential in ways the school or your family never could. She made you the sorcerer you are now, you owe a lot to her.

“Now,” you continue and smirk. “Cursed technique, Fire Wyrm!”

You send the Fire Wyrm out and it opens its jaw to blast fire out and bathe every door with bright and hot flames as it flies around the void. The fire grows so hot you begin to grow uncomfortable because unfortunately, you aren’t immune to fire. You can tolerate a lot more than the average person, but there’s a chance that you could die by fire.

Luckily though, this time isn’t the day your fire took you out. Instead, you watch in awe as the fire burns away the cursed technique that was keeping the fake doors up, leaving only one that was too strong for your technique to destroy. Just like you had theorized.

And thankfully there’s no counterattack either, so you return the fire back to you and slowly open the door. When you walk in you see the forest-like room you came across before, and this time just across the door is the warehouse.

You had not even batted an eye to the warehouse before, you had no interest in it because you were too caught up in your own worry to even pay any mind to it. Eleven years later here you are walking to it without caring about the tomb.

When you reach the warehouse though, you see a lock on the metal door.

“What to do?” You ask yourself and glance around the forest until an idea hits you.

You crouch down and wrap your hand around the lock to use your fire to burn it away. Luckily, the lock isn't immune to your fire and melts away, letting you pull the door open.

When you walk inside your breath catches as you find yourself impressed by what’s inside, by how large the warehouse really is compared to how it looks outside. And every inch of it is covered with cursed weapons and cursed objects of every grade.

In theory, you could use it all against the school, use it to win your battle, but you’re only here for one thing, the 9 Cursed Womb Death paintings.

They stand all the way in the back in glass flasks that stand on podiums that are basked by such a dim light that you can’t even shape what’s inside the flasks. When you approach them though, you gasp as you see nine fetuses, all different shapes and different sizes, but they’re all just fetuses…

Maybe it’s the intimidating name, but you expected something scarier. They’re harmless—in this state of course. When they’re incarnated in their vessels though, they’ll grow into intimidating humans with strong techniques, and hopefully, they’ll help your cause.

“You’re not so scary,” you mutter as you crouch to look at the first cursed womb death painting through the glass. “Don’t worry…” you trail off and grab the flask to turn it and read the label stuck to the glass. “…experiment number 1, Choso.” You smile softly at it. “I’ll get you out. All of you,” you add softly.

The fetus opens its little eyes and you jump up. “Fuck,” gasp out of fear. “Unexpected.” You exhale and laugh softly to yourself. “Anyway. Let’s go home, Choso.”

You tuck it in the bag you brought and move down the line to tuck the rest of them inside. And when you’re done you’re about to turn to head out, but then the sound of a familiar voice makes you freeze.

“Are things really that bad that you’re resorting to stealing now…”

Satoru.

“…Sister.”

You clench your jaw and swallow back thickly as you grow annoyed and angry at the sound of his voice, and at the feeling of his presence so close to you.

You had seen him not so long ago, but it wasn’t the same, there were people between the two of you, his attention was wavered, and neither of you had the intention to get close or attack. This time, it’s just the two of you alone and you know there's only one thing you will have to do. Something you’ve never had to do because you both know you wouldn’t just drop what you took without a fight, you wouldn’t leave without one.

Is that what fills your eyes with tears then? That knowledge? Or is it the anger that’s flowing back in as the memory of him leaving you behind ten years ago resurfaces as if it happened yesterday?

“Y/N,” he calls out your name in that same nonchalance he would always say your name so many times before. It would annoy you sometimes. But this time it’s different, he’s acting like he didn’t break your heart, as if nothing happened. This time it infuriates you.

And when you slowly peer back over your shoulder you display your anger through your furrowed eyebrows and narrowed glare, and through the angry tears that fill your eyes.

“Brother,” you mutter coldly.

A/N- Don’t think about how if Satori sees her dad again it’ll actually be Kenjaku

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno

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multiversefanfics · 9 months

Text

Have it your way

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader - Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: What happens when you fall for both instead of one.

Warning: MINORS DNI!!! smut, praise kink, size kink, spanking, oral (M receiving), fingering, unprotected sex (Don’t be silly, wrap your willy!!!!), degradation, and i don’t think aftercare is a warning but there’s gonna be aftercare

Watching these two men fight along side each other did something to you, even watching them fight each other did something to you. Steve was always so caring and made sure you were okay, while Bucky. He was a little rough around the edges. Bucky made sure you were okay but it was different, Steve handled you like a bruised apple, tender and loving, but Bucky knew what you wanted, he knew you liked it rough, the bruises, the spanking, the choking, all of it. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, we should start from the beginning where it all started.

You were assigned to the Avengers as an assistant by Tony Stark, and you were warned that you may not be welcomed at first but as time passed you’ll be okay. The first to actually welcome you was Thor, he was the one most excited to have a new assistant even though he was barely around, next was Steve Rogers, who helped you with your bags and showed you where everything was, then, Sam Wilson, He showed you where Thor kept all of his snacks, then Natasha she was just excited to have another female in the group even if you didn’t go on missions, you already met Tony and Bruce and last but not least. Bucky. He didn’t care who you were he just wanted his missions in order. You were most intrigued by Bucky, his lack of expression, the way he would just creep around unintentionally, you tried to get his attention many times but he wasn’t having it. Soon enough you gave up and focused on your job. You were sitting at your desk finally eating your lunch. "Y/N, I need you to- Are you just now eating lunch?" You looked up and saw Tony approaching you, tablet in hand. "Yeah, Sam was in here complaining about his wings weren't deploying smoothly so he asked me to fix them." You ate a spoonful of your rice not breaking eye contact with Tony. "Well, I need you to go on a mission with us, you'll be going undercover with cyborg." You raised an eyebrow trying not to choke on your food from laughter "Are you talking about Bucky?" Tony nodded and stepped aside revealing Bucky leaning against the doorframe, he nodded at you which you returned. You admit he intrigued you but he was your coworker you shouldn’t think about him like that, who could blame you if you did. You continued eating while Tony explained your mission, when you got the sudden feeling someone was staring at you, you ignored it listening to Tony, once he was done he left without another word. Bucky remained where he was, and you moved on to Sam’s wings, glancing over at Bucky since he was just standing there watching your every move. “Can I help you with anything?” He stayed silent and just strolled towards you “I see the way you look at me.” He paused when he was a few feet away from you “And I got to say, the look in your eyes.” He took one more step toward you watching you gulp “The way you walk around here like you own the place” Bucky was now inches from you, towering over you even, he took his hand and softly pushed your hair behind your ear leaning down to whisper in that same ear “Is this what you want?” His hands found their way to your waist pulling you into him, making a small moan escape your lips "You want me all to yourself? Do you want me to treat you like the little slut you are?" His voice was raspy and low borderline growling. “Bucky I-“ He reached up and rubbed his thumb over your bottom lip “Shh, just know, that I know.” He backed out of the lab not taking his eyes off of you. You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding in and continued working.

Finally, it was time for the mission you were going undercover as a lab tech, you knew why Tony partnered you up with Bucky, he knew that Bucky would protect you if anything happened but the tension between you and Bucky was thick. God forbid if you guys weren't on a mission you would let him have you right then and there. You shook those nasty thoughts out of your head and began doing what you were supposed to do, soon you were finished and when you went to turn to leave you came face to face with a tall man. "Can I help you?" You smiled sweetly at the man hoping he didn't see what you just did and that Bucky was close enough in case something happened. "Sorry, I left my briefcase over there. You're the new lab tech right?" You nodded biting your lower lip a bit "Yeah, I took over the night shift, pretty slow and quiet but worth it." You smiled and stepped to the side a bit so the man could get his briefcase which he gladly took it, taking one more look at you "Y/N, get out of there, excuse yourself say you need to go to the bathroom. Whatever but get out of there." You continued to look at the man while Steve's voice flowed in your ear "If you would excuse me, I need to use the restroom." You smiled again and walked past the man, he called out to you. "Maybe we could get a cup of coffee sometime" You looked back at him and nodded "Sure, sounds lovely." You walked out the door meeting Bucky down the hallway he looked at you and raised an eyebrow "Coffee?" You rolled your eyes and shook your head "I had to get out of there." The two of you met up with the rest of the team heading back to the compound. You found yourself in the kitchen with Steve, he was your favorite to be around, but don't tell Sam that his feelings get hurt easily "You handled your first mission very well." You let out a breath while sitting down on the bar stool "I tried my best, I was a little worried when that man came in, I thought for sure my cover was blown" You smiled up at Steve as he placed a plate of food in front of you, you thanked him and started to eat while he leaned his palms on the counter in front of you, his shoulders squared and broad. "I have something to talk to you about." You looked up at him, raising an eyebrow "What's up?" You saw Steve's eyes stare deep into yours "I saw the way you watch me when I walk by" Steve walked around the counter so he was standing right beside you, he turned your chair so you were facing him "And I see the way you look at Bucky." He pushed your legs apart standing in between them, leaning down to whisper in your ear. "I'm intrigued. I would love to see those pretty little eyes roll back from pleasure." You gulped looking at Steve from the corner of your eye, what did you do to deserve being teased like this? “Steve I-I what’s going on?” Steve began rubbing his thumb on your inner thigh, which gave you goosebumps “I think you know exactly what’s going on, Y/N don’t act all innocent.” His hand inched further and further up your thigh “Don’t think I didn’t hear you the other night moaning mine and Bucky’s name, and of course I had to tell him about it, we’re both wondering what you taste like.” Just as he finished the sentence, he reached your throbbing, warm, wet core, causing a small moan escape from your lips, Steve smirked against your skin “What a beautiful moan, can’t wait to hear you scream.” And just like that he walked away, the chills never left your body but you body also ached for his touch. You didn’t know that he heard you, you thought you weren’t being loud, but then you remembered his super hearing, you shook your head and went to your room to take a cold shower.

You were coming out of the shower when there was a knock at your door, you quickly changed into a robe and went to answer the door, and to your surprise it was Steve and Bucky. You looked up at them while they both smirked at you “Uh, hi” You spoke softly not knowing what was gonna happen next “Hey gorgeous” Steve cooed as he walked past you sitting on the edge of your bed “Evening, Doll.” And Bucky followed suit you turned to look at them, raising an eyebrow “What are you guys doing here?” They smirked at each other then looked back at you “We’re here to fuck you.” Your eyes widened and you struggled to breathe “W-What?” Bucky got up, grabbed your hand and pulled you over to the bed pushing you down on the bed “With your consent of course.” Bucky winked at you, studying your face to make sure you were comfortable, you gave him a slight nod and he started untying your robe, guiding his fingertips down you body, watching you shiver under his touch “You look so beautiful.” Steve finally chimed in after being quiet for a few minutes, Steve stood up and started unbuckling his belt with one hand while he used his other hand to rub his thumb over your exposed nipple, Bucky was just taken aback by your beauty, you laying there waiting for his next move, not knowing what’s about to happen. “Anything you don’t want us to do, tell us and we will stop. Got it?” You nodded looking up at Steve. “Words, Doll.” You gulped “I got it.” Bucky slowly got down on his knees in front of you, he rubbed his hand over your thighs, until he got to your knees, he pushed your legs apart, looking down at your sopping wet pussy. He smiled wide looking up at Steve “I’m sorry Steve but I’m getting first taste” You looked back over at Steve who was now completely naked and hard, you reached over and began pumping his cock earning a low growl from him, hearing him growl was music to your ears, Steve leaned forward allowing you to take his entire length in your mouth, just as Steve’s cock hit the back of your throat Bucky shoved 2 of his fingers in you, making you moan against Steve’s skin, which caused Steve to moan and buck his hips forward. Bucky pulled his fingers out, making you whimper, you pulled back from Steve swirling your tongue around his tip, before looking down at Bucky, you watched as he sucked on his own fingers tasting every ounce of you. You whimpered once more “Speak, Doll. Use your words.” You paid some more attention to Steve, which drove Bucky insane. Bucky is dramatic, he needed all the attention and the fact that he wasn’t getting it, he was enraged. Bucky quickly got undressed, while you took Steve in your mouth once more, earning many low moans and groans from him, you weren’t paying attention to Bucky when all of a sudden, he slams into causing you to scream out in pain and pleasure “Fuck Bucky!” He continued to thrust in and out of you, moaning along with you. Steve was now getting jealous and wanted attention, so he reached down and took your nipple into his mouth, sucking on it harshly your body started to shake, the feeling of bliss washed over you as you got closer and closer to your orgasm. “Fuck I’m so close” Bucky pulled out looking up at Steve “Your turn, pal.” Steve pulled away and walked around the bed until he was in front of you. “God, Y/N, you look so beautiful laying there, waiting for Daddy’s cock.” You watched as Bucky laid on his back above you, Steve leaned down and gently turned you over on all fours, once you were turned over you looked up and saw Bucky smiling down at you “You look beautiful down there too, Doll” You started to blush, then slid your tongue from the bottom of his shaft to the tip, watching him squirm under you, you were proud of yourself you never thought you’d make Bucky squirm, you sucked on his tip causing him to growl at you and buck his hips forward to take his entire length, he was bigger than Steve so it was a little harder to breathe with him but you relaxed and did exactly what he wanted you to do. Steve on the other hand, he was watching getting even more harder than before.

He reached his thumb down and rubbed light circles on your clit, you moaned against Bucky’s skin sending vibrations down his cock making him buck his hips hard into your face, by now tears were streaming down your face and you enjoyed Bucky’s length and girth. Steve moved his thumb and slid slowly into you, letting out a soft groan, throwing his head back in pleasure. He wanted to enjoy every tight part of you, he felt you clenching around his cock, which made him push harder into you. You bobbed your head making those slurping sounds that both Bucky and Steve loved to hear from you, Bucky gripped a fistful of your hair helping you bob your head “That’s a good girl, Y/N.” You heard Bucky grit through his teeth to keep himself from moaning even though it escaped soon after his sentence. You smiled to yourself and continued do the exact thing that Bucky loved the most, to hear you moan against his skin. Steve slowed down his pace, although he was a super soldier he couldn’t hang on any longer, the warm, wet and tightness of your pussy sent him over the edge and before you knew it, he did one last thrust into you filling you up with his cum, Steve stayed in you, he wanted you to cum all over his cock. “Come on, baby girl. I know you can cum for me.” His words and tone of voice turned you on all on its own, once again your body started to shake, as you were riding your your orgasm on Steve, you put all your attention back on Bucky making sure he got to cum as well, although you were tired and seeing stars you kept up the pace, swirling your tongue around his tip every time you came back up, Bucky was a tough person to make cum but you were determined to make him the way he made you feel. He pushed your head down to the base of his cock and released everything he had in him, you pulled up sucking every last bit of cum before swallowing, you looked up at Bucky wiping the corners of your mouth smirking at him. Steve pat your ass slowly pulling out of you “Good girl.” He leaned down and kissed your spine before you collapsed on your back breathless, you watched as they got up and walked into your bathroom, they cleaned themselves off then came over to you with a warm washcloth, gently wiping you off, once they were done Bucky pulled you towards the top of the bed and wrapped his arms around you, Steve crawled in behind you, doing the exact same thing. Bucky rubbed your head before kissing it gently. “You took us so well, Doll. It’ll get easier in no time.” You thought this was only gonna be a one time thing, they got it out of the system and then never again, but they want to continue, they want you all to themselves, no one else is allowed to have you but them. It almost makes you think how long they’ve wanted to do that.

A/N: I’m not good a smut at all, but i hope you guys like it, I tried my best😩

Masterlist - Steve Rogers masterlist - Bucky Barnes Masterlist

tag: @megamindsecretlair

#avengers #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x you #bucky fanfic #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #captain america #the winter soldier

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solarwynd · 2 months

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Seeing how HYBE continues to move for JK honestly makes me sad. I thought they'd just give up on their vision after seeing how he failed to blow up, but they are clearly determined to keep at it until they succeed, and how long do you think it's gonna take?

They are already winning with the mediaplay, convincing people that JK is the most talented and successful member and people just don't seem to care how he got that success. And his solos and Armys who bias him are truly the most insufferable; talking about how he's untouchable. When pjms complained about that recent BB chart placing Jimin at #21, they got so smug about it saying pjms thought they touched heaven with LC's #1 on BB but Jungkook went on to achieve way more than Jimin and now they're lashing out because reality doesn't match with their hopes and dreams.

They say the BB #1 is the only thing JM has going for him and his fans are clinging to it for dear life to make ourselves feel better about the fact that he'll always be inferior to JK.

It just makes me sad because it's clear that JM's success can't be compared to JK's because JK had all the privileges while JM received the bear minimum combined with sabotage from all fronts and numerous articles from his own label downplaying him to make JK shine. Armys are even bragging about that BB article about JK having proved himself to be the "golden" one of BTS.

Is this really how it's going to be? JK is gonna go on to become successful, well-known and BTS' breakout star just like that? No consequences for him the fraud Scooter Braun and BPD have been committing for him? And Jimin is forever gonna be restricted to the kpop bubble without ever breaking out? JK is gonna be more successful than him?

During Seven - GOLDEN era when all the fandom's hypocrisy was exposed about them dragging JM for the bare minimum vs. supporting JK's blatant payola, and more people spoke about him "cheating" with endless remixes and the charts being manipulated for him all while they are making sure to suppress JM and keeping JM from rivaling him on the charts, I thought that the world was finally waking up, that more people outside the kpop bubble would speak out against the disgusting injustice done to JM and that the investors behind HYBE wouldn't let something like this be done to their most valuable asset.

But I guess I was naïve, and I'm ignorant about how the music industry/powerful companies actually work..

It just hurts so much. I even have tears in my eyes as I'm typing this, and I can't express to you just how much resentment I hold towards JK because of this. Sometimes I wish he'd just dye. And I know that's a terrible thing to wish upon someone, but I can't help it

I want to believe you guys who say Jimin will always be successful no matter what, that he'll commercially break out eventually as a soloist and that Scooter and Bang PD's plans for JK will fail, but I don't see any of those things happening. Instead it's the opposite. JK is slowly becoming known outside the Kpop bubble, while Jimin seems to be fading into obscurity. And JK clearly has new things coming up and probably a few more collaborations with well known American artists, or will eventually once he's out of MS. It feels like it's only a matter of time before he does a collaboration with artists like Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Zayn or Shawn Mendes. And what do you think will happen then? His career will most definitely skyrocket.

This whole thing has just made me so pessimistic about life. Does karma not exist? Do people who do bad things always just get away with it just like that? Probably two decades since Scooter Braun has been working as a music producer and probably for more than a decade people have seen just what an evil human being he is and what he's done to others, and none of these people have tried to come together and get rid of him?

I wish I never discovered BTS and Jimin.

“Instead it's the opposite. JK is slowly becoming known outside the Kpop bubble, while Jimin seems to be fading into obscurity.”

“It feels like it's only a matter of time before he does a collaboration with artists like Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Zayn or Shawn Mendes. And what do you think will happen then? His career will most definitely skyrocket”

I need you to be so serious right now because the incessant pessimism some of y’all have is truly preventing y’all from seeing what’s real.

JK got “featuring” popping up next to his first name more times than his last and his biggest claim to his current relevancy/success is his inability to not latch onto western artists. If that’s what he has to continue to do for his supposed “solo” career to skyrocket why would I stress over that when jimin’s the only one out the two of them that’s proven he can stand on his own? Jk being a serial collaborator means little to me in general but especially when everything that you mentioned is due to the connections that jk has gotten through Scooter. Not off his own ability or initiative.

Referencing that random top kpop list is even more of a joke when you remember jimin (not jk) is still the only k-idol to hit #1 on artists 100. The real one. Not the one made up one by that rent for hire white kpop aficionado Jeff Benjamin. Like Crazy, a korean track has spent more or just as much days on usa spotify than multiple songs that were taylor made for the states, dropped by jk have. SNTY, a song released just this past November, is doing almost the same amount of streams as Like Crazy is and LC is almost a year old. And so what if we praise Jimin for getting that #1 on hot 100? That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Him getting that #1 is the main reason jk got dragged out that apartment to record seven so scooter could pay to get him his 😭. Plus armys are always gonna be full of it when it comes to recognizing the truth about jk’s career so you taking whatever they say or do to heart is a waste of your time.

Claiming Jimin’s fading into obscurity is objectively a ridiculous statement. Music wise after Angel dropped, Jimin went MIA and people still had his name constantly in their mouths the months following. All it took for him to go viral were 3 dance covers he did on a whim. Probably better promo for him than his own solo debut ever got and he didn’t need Scooter or Bang spending millions to do that. For his ambassadorships, he had people lining up in the streets just to see him walk in and out of a building for just for 5 seconds. It’s been 11 years since he debuted and 8 since BTS really blew up and he’s still the most relevant name in kpop out of hundreds of other idols.

I’ll always get the frustration of jk having it so easy in his solo career over jimin. I’m not blind to the disadvantages he’s facing, but some of y’all really need to stop acting like jimin’s solo career is a lost cause or doomed because of it. It’s getting aggravating now.

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protectingtulpas · 8 months

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Tulpamancy vs Chronic Fatigue

[Plain text: Tulpamancy vs Chronic Fatigue]

Fuck it, if I'm gonna complain so much about being being exhausted on here I might as well make a semi-coherent post about it.

So, when I was made, my host wanted one thing of me. And that was to do whatever the fuck I wanted, to take the body and drive us both to make more of our lives, do more with ourselves and stop being so cooped up.

That uh, was before we realized we've got Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I ended up not having the energy to give us the ass-kicking we needed, neither of us did, and my host sure as hell didn't know what we were up against. Headspace is nice, yeah, but it's not the same, even with how vast and expansive ours is. It's just not as tangible. I can't go out like I want, experience the world like I want, put as much energy into MY life like I want. I can't just force my way through it, and it made us both step back and re-evaluate our lives and purposes and shit. You'd be thinking I'd be wondering why I was made, why I'm here at all. Aren't I angry at my host? Don't I feel trapped?

But here's the secret, tbh. Living at all? Fucking rocks. There's nothing like air to breathe, the wind blowing, the sun glowing. I'm not angry at them for bringing me around, because like, the limitations of our body don't mean that I'm better off not existing. I've experienced!! I'm alive!! Maybe it's slower than I thought, and yeah that kinda sucks, especially as a tulpa. Even the act of making a tulpa in the first place can take soooo much longer when you're working against exhaustion, a spoon budget, brain fog, etc. But the thing is, just living the best you can is always worth it. I'm glad I exist. Yeah, I know I'm limited, but I'm not gonna go getting nihilistic instead of making the most of what I've got. I'm not gonna dwell on why I was "born"/created, I've got my whole life ahead of me, and I've already done so much, made a ton of positive memories, and made plans for my future. And I'll go at it at my own pace, because I deserve it.

I guess my point for potential hosts is that if your hangup over creating a tulpa is because of some disability reason, don't worry about it, just go for it. Long as you're ready to navigate disabled life with somebody else, and you're gonna give em as much space to live their life within ur personal physical & mental capabilities, then it's just as ok. Life is never a waste, and disabled lives aren't any less worth living.

I know I have a crapton of asks in my inbox, but this felt more fitting since my blog is sporadic as hell rn. I'll try to keep the momentum going tho

#tulpamancy #chronic fаtiguе ѕуndrоmе #chronic fatigue #cfs #pluralpunk #pluralgang #plural community #tulpalife #created system #cpunk #my experiences #tulpa life

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satansapostle6 · 2 months

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Kids | Rodrick Heffley

Spotify Playlist Link

Rodrick Heffley becomes obsessed when he finally meets his thirty-five year old band mate, Bill Walter’s, younger sister.

Warnings: Mature themes/language. Sexual content.

“French Inhale”

“Kids”

“Rodrick!”

“…Hi, Mom.”

Rodrick Heffey looked around awkwardly as he stepped through the threshold into his home with Sara.

“You’re home! And you brought Sara! How was school?” Susan Heffley asked enthusiastically.

“Uh… It was okay,” he responded, embarrassed by his mother’s presence.

He had thought she’d be at the store or something when he got home, giving him enough time to settle into his room with Sara before she arrived.

“How about you, Sara?” Susan asked with an almost too friendly smile. “How was your day?”

“It was alright, thanks, Mrs. Heffley,” Sara smiled courteously.

Things were fine ever since everything that had happened between the two of them, but still, there was a distance between Sara Walter and Susan Heffley that seemed to bother Susan more so than it did her son’s girlfriend.

“Oh, I’ve told you a hundred times! Call me ‘Susan’!” she said with the widest smile Sara had ever seen, creeping out of ‘smile’ territory and more into ‘grimace’ territory.

“Okay… Susan,” Sara said uncomfortably, trying her best to continue the flow of the conversation as naturally as she could.

But Susan was giving her almost nothing.

“Anyways… We’re just gonna go upstairs,” Rodrick announced hastily, “I already finished all my homework…”

Sara gave one final shy smile as she promptly followed her boyfriend upstairs, only for Susan to look up at them in a panic as she still held a full laundry basket in her hands.

“Okay! Remember to leave the door open, Rodrick!” she called hopefully, as Rodrick only half-closed the door, leaving just enough room while still ensuring at least a small amount of privacy.

Rodrick sighed as he threw his backpack at the wall, flopping onto his bed as Sara just watched.

“What’s wrong?” she wondered, sitting at the foot of the bed.

“Nothing. My mom just tries too hard,” he groaned.

Sara paused for a moment, understanding where he was coming from as she thoughtfully ran a hand through her shoulder length, balayaged hair.

“It’s sweet,” she offered.

“Yeah, I know,” Rodrick sighed, feeling somewhat guilty. “But it’s weird.”

“I don’t really mind,” she shrugged. “I appreciate it. In its own weird way.”

“It’s so embarrassing, though,” he complained.

“Hey,” Sara reminded him firmly, “Your mom’s trying… Why do you think we’re always at your place instead of mine?”

“Because your mom goes for losers?” Rodrick guessed.

“Wow,” Sara scoffed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized quickly.

“I didn’t say you were wrong,” she reminded him as she lay next to him on her side, head propped up on her arm as she looked at him expectantly.

Rodrick just melted at the sight of her, sighing as he gave in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. It seemed Sara had a plan, her subtly affectionate kisses slowly becoming more drawn out and purposeful. Rodrick was beginning to enjoy himself even more as her rested a hand on her hip, before a loud interruption.

“Rodrick?!”

He grunted irritably as he pulled away from her with reluctance, closing his eyes for a minute before he responded.

“Yeah?!” he yelled.

There was a quick pause.

“I’m going to the fundraising event for Greg’s school! I’m taking Manny, but Greg doesn’t wanna go, and Rowley’s here, so you’re in charge!” Susan shouted. “Make sure they behave! I’m already running late!”

“Okay!” Rodrick agreed, waiting for a response before he turned back to Sara.

He grinned, seeming rather pleased with himself despite not having done anything.

“Looks like we get the house to ourselves,” he remarked, as Sara chuckled softly.

She slowly sat up, swinging a leg over Rodrick’s lap as he watched her with sleepy eyes, a goofy grin on his face as she leaned in to kiss him. He pulled her closer, hands softly brushing over her form as she threw her arms around him. Rodrick felt even more smug as her tongue entered his mouth. He brushed his tongue against hers, flicking it playfully before another loud sound caught his attention.

“Hey Rodrick, I wanted to ask you— AAAAHHHH!”

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Two loud yells filled the room as Rodrick looked to the doorway to find his younger brother looking petrified at what he’d accidentally walked in on. Completely panicking, Rodrick screamed loudly as he did whatever he could to make the situation appear more normal, the very first thing he instinctively thought to do unfortunately being shoving whatever was on his lap off of the bed.

Unfortunately, it had been Sara that was on his lap, landing on the floor of his room with a loud thud.

“Get the fuck out, you little pervs!” Rodrick boomed.

“I’m sorry!” Rowley Jefferson whimpered apologetically, sounding traumatized.

“I’m sorry! It was an accident!” his younger brother Greg exclaimed, as he and his best friend Rowley both stood with their hands covering their eyes as if someone was naked.

“What the fuck are you guys even doing in here?!” Rodrick demanded as Sara frustratedly picked herself up off the floor, sitting back down on the bed as she panted slowly.

“I-I just… Wanted to ask you a question!” Greg Heffley told his brother.

“No! Get the fuck out!” Rodrick yelled at him.

“Please, can I just ask you something?” Greg pleaded.

“Please?” Rowley begged, eyes still tightly covered.

“What is it, Greg?” Sara asked, in spite of Rodrick’s protests.

“No!” Rodrick said bitterly.

“Rodrick, please?” Greg looked at him with his childish puppy dog eyes. “Just hear me out, please—”

“Alright, fine! If it’ll get you to leave!” Rodrick caved. “What is it?”

Rowley slowly lowered his hands as he looked around the room, paranoid.

“Mom said we can’t leave the house unless it’s with you,” Greg told his older brother. “And we really wanna go to this party at Dani’s house—”

“Dani?” Rodrick scoffed. “What makes you think a girl like that would wanna hang out with you two fucktards?”

“She said we could come!” Greg exclaimed. “Come on, Rodrick. Please?!”

“No! Fuck off!” Rodrick complained.

“Wait,” Sara said, looking between her boyfriend and the two kids. “You wouldn’t happen to mean Dani Gomez, would you?”

Greg looked at her funny. “Yeah. You know her?”

“That’s Christy Gomez’s little sister,” Sara deduced, turning to Rodrick.

He didn’t get it right away. “Who?”

Sara leaned in, whispering so that only he could hear. “The girl who sells molly.”

Rodrick’s eyes slowly widened as he turned to look back at the two middle school boys, quickly coming to a conclusion.

“Alright. Grab your shit. We’re going,” he determined.

“Yes!”

Greg and Rowley were both ecstatic as they ran off to Greg’s room. Rodrick thought for a moment as he addressed Sara.

“Babe, do you have any cash?” he murmured. “Cuz, I got none.”

“Lemme check,” Sara murmured, reaching for her bag.

She pulled a decent wad of bills out of her wallet. Rodrick watched her quickly counting the money as it passed through each of her hands, sounding like one of those machines he’d seen in the movies. He found it weirdly attractive how fast she could count money.

“20, 40, 60, 80… Yeah. We’re gonna party,” she assured him with a grin.

*****

When Sara and Rodrick arrived at Christy’s house that random Wednesday, they quickly found out that this was one of those rare occasions on which she did not have any molly to sell. So, Sara and Rodrick decided to stay and make do with the various ‘refreshments’ they had been provided with.

They were sitting in the backyard with the fifteen or so other kids around their age or so as everyone either talked, smoked, or drank, or most likely some combination thereof. There were enough people that either of them knew for them to stay without feeling awkward, but there was no one they knew particularly well. So, Sara had texted Lauren, while Rodrick had texted the guys from the band.

Chris, Ben, and Bill would all be arriving together within the hour, meanwhile Lauren would be coming once she got off of work. So, as they sat on a table talking with Christy and a couple of others while they waited, Rodrick and Sara sipped on cold Banquets, trying to hide their boredom as they listened to the two guys Christy and her friend Jenna were standing with.

Christy Gomez was a couple of years ahead of Rodrick and Sara, having graduated Crossland the year before. She was best known for her Jersey Shore-esque fashion sense, oddly elitist personality, and of course, chronic possession of molly, and chronic. Sara couldn’t stand her, but pretending she did came with a lot of perks.

Although she sold a lot of different things, from drugs to designer shades, Christy was one of those girls who stood in the back judging the girls actually dancing at raves. She was popular, but not well-liked. She was one of the few girls with an alternative fashion sense who still befriended the boys who seemed like they committed hate crimes on the weekends.

The two boys standing with them at the moment were Matt Lewis and Jack Garrett, a jock and an irritating skateboard owner. Sara specifically described Jack as a skateboard owner due to the fact that, despite him carrying one wherever he went, nobody had ever seen him actually skateboard.

Lauren wasn’t exactly pleased to find Sara and the guys standing around talking with her ex from sophomore year when she arrived.

“Dude, I don’t even know why I fucked her!” he laughed obnoxiously as he told a story.

Sara looked at Rodrick, unimpressed, as he just responded by silently taking a sip of his beer as he continued listening. Lauren was currently on her third eye roll of the night. Between having to walk there and not having any molly, Rodrick was in a somewhat irritable mood, especially having to deal with Matt Lewis, the football star who had made fun of him freshman year.

“Did you at least hit it doggy style?” Matt asked him. “Cuz you know she’s got a dog face!”

The two guys cackled as Christy and Jenna did everything in their power to validate them, seeming as if they were trying to one-up their laughs. Things only got more ‘interesting’ once Chris, Ben, and Bill showed up three beers later, adding fuel to the fire of the conversation as Sara sat with her leg draped over Rodrick’s, quietly sipping her drink as the guys talked.

“Fuck, I hate girls who are into politics,” Matt announced, “They just always talk too much!”

Sara and Chris immediately looked at one another as Jack and Ben hopped on that bandwagon. It took a while for the sexist laughter to die down, but the second it did, Rodrick looked to his girlfriend to try and gauge what was going to happen next. He grinned slightly, already buzzed as he realized things were about to get interesting.

Chris and Bill, on the other hand, we’re becoming increasingly worried.

“As opposed to what?” Sara said quietly.

Everyone turned to look at her as the conversation came to a natural lull. Christy and Jenna were quiet, judging in silence, but the boys were too far gone to hold in their reactions in any way. Lauren, on the other hand, was already giggling readily.

“Huh?” Matt said stupidly.

“Sara,” Bill said quietly, not disagreeing, but pleading.

“As opposed to two guys who seem to hate women so much, they seem to wanna fuck each other?” Sara provided, hopping off the table as she just stood there.

“Hey, what are you trying to say?!” Matt demanded, shoulders stiffening.

“I’m sorry, should I take it down to a first grade reading level?” she retorted.

Rodrick hid a smile behind the beer in his hand as he and Lauren looked at one another.

“Yo, what the fuck is your problem?” Jack demanded, taking a swig of his drink.

“I don’t have a problem,” Sara said lightly. “If you two want the room, you can have it.”

Rodrick could see plainly that Matt was fuming, as Jack stood next to him, angrily trying to contemplate their next move. Sara doubled down, glaring up at Matt as everyone remained dead silent. No one knew exactly what was going to happen next, until fortunately, a small voice interrupted the conversation.

“Rodrick?!”

They all turned to see Greg standing by the back door, panting.

“What?!” Rodrick yelled, not feeling like dealing with him.

Sara glowered in Matt’s direction, then turned to Bill, who was silently asking her to stand down. Begrudgingly, she looked at all of them one last time before grabbing Lauren and leading Greg away.

“What is it, Greg?” she asked urgently.

“…A lot!” he decided, grabbing her arm in fear. “Sara! They-They were playing spin the bottle, and then Rowley, he-he—“

“Okay, breathe!” Sara instructed. “Focus!”

Greg nodded, slowly centering himself. “We… We were playing spin the bottle, and then it landed on me and Holly… But then Fregley came in, and he stole a beer, and—”

“Hold on, Fregley was invited to this thing?!”Lauren cried.

“Focus!” Greg yelled back.

“Okay, sorry.”

“Fregley snuck a beer, cuz Dani told him to, and he gave it to Rowley, and Rowley threw up, and he’s crying…!” Greg summarized in a panic. “I don’t know what to do!”

Sara looked back in Rodrick’s direction, not seeing him paying attention, before she let out a long sigh as she and Lauren locked eyes.

“Where is he?”

“Come on,” Greg dragged her along, sounding somewhat relieved.

He led the two girls into Dani’s bedroom, which all the kids, except for Dani and Fregley, had deserted due to the mess that had been made. Rowley sat on the floor, ginger hair a mess as he sobbed uncontrollably in front of the mess. Sara huffed irritably as she sat beside him, hand on his shoulder.

“Rowley. What happened?” she asked him.

“I-I-I…” the kid was a mess. “I tried to drink the beer… But I drank it too fast, and I threw up…”

“He had turkey for lunch!” Fregley interrupted, as Sara, Lauren, and Greg all looked at him in disgust.

“Fregley, shut the fuck up!” Sara said impatiently. “You know what, everybody out! Everybody who’s not Rowley or Greg, get the fuck out!”

“But, my room!” Dani complained. “It’s a mess!”

“And we’ll clean it up,” Lauren told her. “Now get out, or I’m telling your parents you told Fregley to get the beer!”

That seemed to work as the other two kids cleared the room, leaving the girls with Greg and Rowley.

“Greg, go with Lauren and get me some paper towels, and some water, please,” Sara said as calmly as she could. “Or ginger ale, if you can find it.”

“Okay,” Greg agreed, getting up automatically.

“Rowley. How do you feel?” she said softly, hand resting on his back.

“Sad,” he mumbled, sniffling aggressively. “Thank you, Sara.”

She could tell he was having a rough time.

“Honey, I need you to think for me, okay? Do you still feel sick in any way? Like you’re gonna throw up again?” she asked him, examining him in every way possible.

“N-No,” he shook his head as she carefully felt for his body temperature.

“Do you feel clammy? Like you’re gonna faint?” she asked.

“…No.”

She sighed, still uneasy about the whole thing.

“I think we have to call your parents,” she said quietly.

“But… Greg says we’ll get in trouble!” Rowley protested half-heartedly.

“I’d rather you get in trouble then get really sick,” she pointed out.

“But… I don’t feel sick anymore!” he offered.

“Rowley… This is really serious. If something happens… or your parents find out somehow, everyone could get in a lot of trouble. Not you, but me, and Rodrick, and Mr. and Mrs. Heffley, and Dani’s parents, too,” Sara reasoned. “I really don’t like this.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Heffley could get into trouble?!” Rowley cried.

“Possibly, yes,” Sara nodded. “You’re a kid. Giving you alcohol is a crime, dude.”

“But, Fregley’s a kid, too!”

“Fregley wouldn’t be the one held accountable. It would be Dani’s parents, because this is their house, and also Greg and Rodrick’s parents, because you were under their care,” Sara tried to explain.

“But, I feel better! Really, I do!” Rowley insisted. “Please don’t tell my parents! I’ll never drink again!”

Sara sighed exhaustedly, sitting with her own thoughts for a moment until Lauren and Greg came into the room with paper towels and a bottle of water.

“Will you please not tell my parents?” Rowley begged as Greg just sat down on the floor, anxiously awaiting Sara’s decision.

“Rowley…” Lauren said regretfully, a sympathetic expression on her face.

Sara paused for a moment, stressed and somewhat inebriated as she cracked open the water bottle and handed it to Rowley. Sara knew that she had built up a certain level of improved responsibility in the past few years, but then again, she also knew the kind of things she was doing at Rowley’s age.

“Drink this, slowly,” Lauren instructed him. “Finish it. If you’re fine by then…” Sara trailed off for a moment. “Me and Rodrick took you to Dani’s house. You’re tired. If you seem kinda sick, you don’t know anything about it. Got it?” she said quietly.

Rowley nodded vigorously, grateful for her discretion. “Thank you! Thank you, Sara!”

She just sighed, shaking her head as she bundled up the paper towels and got to work. She told Greg and Rowley to wait out in the front yard as she and Lauren told Rodrick that they were all leaving, explaining to him what had happened.

“Shit… Okay,” he eventually came to terms with it. “Let’s go. I’ll tell the guys.”

“Okay,” Sara nodded as she followed.

Chris, Ben, and Bill were still stuck outside with Christy and the other two guys, talking about God knows what. Rodrick met Bill’s eyes as he told him that something had happened, and they were leaving.

“Already?!” Ben complained. “It’s not even seven yet!”

Sara and Rodrick both ignored him completely.

“We’re leaving, guys,” Rodrick reiterated. “Catch you later.”

“Oh, you’re so pussy-whipped!” Matt laughed, as Ben laughed with him. “Seriously, dude? For a girl who’s probably had more guys inside her than a locker room?”

“Shut the fuck up, Matt,” Lauren snapped, as the guys only got more annoying. “Everyone knows you’re a pathetic sack of shit with a shrimp dick!”

The expression on Rodrick Heffley’s face, however, quickly changed from playfully exasperated to completely void of humor. Bill also was growing increasingly uncomfortable as he visibly seemed to take a more aggressive stance.

“What did you just say?” Rodrick asked Matt, slowly stepping toward him as everything else disappeared for him.

Matt laughed awkwardly, seeming for some reason surprised by the reaction.

“Yo!” he protested.

“What the fuck did you just say, man?!” Bill boomed as some heads began to turn in their direction.

“Woah! Calm down, it was just a joke, man,” he laughed insufferably. “Come on! You can’t take a joke?!”

“That’s not a joke,” Lauren said warningly, as Rodrick just remained quiet.

“Rodrick? Sara?”

Rodrick was already too far gone, but Sara looked toward the back door, alarmed, as Greg and Rowley both stood out in the backyard, waiting for them to leave.

“Yeah… No one talks about my sister like that,” Bill towered over him, pointing an accusing finger.

“Greg! Rowley!” Sara warned. “Go outside!”

“But, Sara,” Greg protested, seeing what was going on with Rodrick.

“Go!” Sara boomed.

Neither of the boys listened, and she was too preoccupied with Rodrick.

“Don’t make me make you regret that, you fucking piece of shit,” Rodrick threatened Matt, on an aggressive high.

“Jeez! You and your fucking feminazi girlfriend!”

A loud, distinctive cracking sound filled the air. There were gasps, shouts, and even a couple screams. Greg gasped silently, while Rowley started to panic. Sara saw as the poor kid looked like he was about to start crying.

“What the fuck?!” Christy shrieked in horror.

Sara didn’t speak, and Lauren was completely stunned as she just stood there for a moment, mouth agape as she stood beside Bill, who instinctively rested a protective hand on her back. For a split second, Sara had no idea what had happened, but one thing was for sure. Matt’s nose was broken.

“Break Stuff”

#rodrick heffley #rodrick fanfic #rodrick rules #rodrick x reader #rodrick x y/n #diary of a wimpy kid rodrick #diary of a wimpy kid #doawk rodrick #doawk #rodrick heffley x y/n #rodrick heffley x reader #devon bostick

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