#ive been ROBBED!! STOLEN!!

[butchfaith]

.

#just found out ive been robbed by my friends abuser (: #dont even fucking know what to do now #cant get the money back off him cant go to the police without my friend being involved #cant afford this right before Christmas too #its just. knowing that he will Never face any consequences for any of the shit hes done #because the police dont give a shit about abuse victims and will never help #hes stolen from so many of her friends and her parents too #and none of us are ever gonna get that back #shes never gonna get this year of her life back #he can just do whatever the fuck he wants and get away with it #i dont know what to do

[landofgay]

WAY funnier response than I was expecting

#i dont think im aware of this particular incident but i Am aware of my dads ability to wreck his mudic #for a fucking phsyical media collector he sure is brutal to his cds and dvds #ive always been the one making sure they dont get stepped on and wiping them off cause they get sticky with substances #also the way he phrased it reminded me of when he accidentally dumped soup all over his laptop #which is coming up on 10 years ago now and hes never gotten another laptop since #also fun fact that soupy laptop then got stolen when our house was robbed lmao!!!!! good luck with that criminals

[bradshawsbaby]

Si Vis Amari Ama

IV. Kissed by Fire

SERIES MASTERLIST

Pairings: Rooster (Roman Name: Gallus) x Female Reader (Roman Name: Sabina), featuring Hangman (Roman Name: Carnifex) x Phoenix

Summary: A girl whose freedom was stolen to pay her father’s debts. A gladiator enslaved for the entertainment of Rome. A love they never thought possible.

Author’s Note: This chapter ended up being a beast to write! It’s very Hannix-centered, so that you can have a little bit more context and background regarding Carnifex and Phoenix’s relationship. But fear not, for there are hints of Gallus and Sabina as well, and we’ll be back to our main protagonists in the next chapter!

Word Count: 11k

Warnings: 18+ ONLY. Explicit sexual content, slavery in the ancient world, gladiatorial training/combat, discussion of minor injuries, brief language, slight angst, idiots in love, alternating point of view.

She hadn’t meant to get tangled up with him. She really hadn’t. Yet here she was.

Phoenix prided herself on being a rational, intelligent, level-headed woman. Perhaps it was her Greek heritage, or maybe it was the fact that she had learned long ago that the less you said and the more you listened, the better off you would be in this world. Either way, in the years since she had been robbed of her freedom, she had learned to rely on no one but herself, save for a few trusted friends for whom she would gladly lay down her life. She didn’t expose herself to unnecessary dangers, and she didn’t enmesh herself in anything that would make life harder than it already was. She avoided complications at all costs.

Until him.

She hadn’t been able to stand him from the very first day he’d entered the ludus of Atticus Cornelius Juventus. A great champion, Dominus had called him while gloating about his latest acquisition during a dinner party. A mighty warrior. The only gladiator he had ever seen who could give even Gallus a run for his money.

Phoenix knew then who he was speaking of—Carnifex the Gaul. He was the opponent who had given Gallus the scar on his shoulder, the one whom her old friend detested so wholly and complained so bitterly about whenever they were pitted against one another.

She only had to know him for a day before she understood the sentiment.

Carnifex, the man so named because he had somehow managed to survive the hangman’s noose when his village in Gaul was put to Roman flames, was the smuggest man she had ever known. And that was saying something, considering she’d spent the better part of her life catering to the whims and fancies of some of the most spoiled men the Roman Empire had to offer. He was arrogant. Obnoxious. More in love with himself than Narcissus, and quick to throw all his fellow gladiators to the lions if it meant more fame and glory for himself.

He made her blood boil.

And what was worse? He knew it.

Almost from the moment they first met, Carnifex seemed to make it his personal mission to get under her skin as often as he possibly could. Whether it was winking at her from across the training grounds while she was working around the ludus, making disparaging comments about Gallus and the others when he knew she was within earshot, or smirking skeptically when she came to assist Titus with the gladiators’ medical needs, he seemed to know all the ways to make her grow hot with a rage so potent she almost thought it would choke her one day.

“Has he always been so unbearable?” Phoenix huffed in annoyance as she bandaged one of Gallus’ hands one day after a morning training session. Carnifex stood about twenty feet away from them, bragging to the younger, more inexperienced gladiators about his most recent victory.

“Always,” Gallus muttered darkly, frowning in the other gladiator’s direction for a moment before shifting his attention back to her. “Trust me, he hasn’t changed one bit since his arrival here. If anything, he’s only gotten worse. Keep your distance from him, as much as you can.”

Phoenix knew without having to ask what Gallus really meant when he shot her a pointed look. It was no secret among the household slaves that Carnifex was notorious for bedding the prettiest slave girls. And because he was a Pugio, one of Atticus’ champions, he got his pick of the litter. He never lacked for any willing volunteers either. She couldn’t count how many times she’d witnessed giggling, simpering girls tiptoe out of their slave quarters in the middle of the night, only to return a few hours later with hushed, breathless stories of what an incredible lover Carnifex the Gaul was. The others may have listened with bated breath, but Phoenix just covered her ears, shut her eyes, and tried to block them all out.

“After all these years, do you really think so little of me that you suppose I would fall into bed with a man like him?” Phoenix demanded, tying off Gallus’ bandage with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

Gallus winced slightly, a chastened expression in his dark eyes as he looked at her. “No,” he replied firmly, and she knew he meant it. “It’s him I’m wary of, not you. I just don’t want him getting any ideas in his head where you’re concerned, thinking that he can—”

“He won’t,” she cut him off, glancing over her shoulder at where Carnifex stood, having moved on from regaling his captive audience with tales of his conquests in the arena to tales of his conquests in bed. She felt the distaste on the back of her tongue like sour milk as she turned back to Gallus. “Trust me, he suffers from no lack of female company in this household.”

Gallus didn’t look so certain, but he let the matter drop.

His rivalry with Carnifex, however, was not as easy to let go of. Even as the months wore on, the two of them couldn’t seem to let go of the deep-seated tension and competition that had marked their relationship for as long as they had known one another. Being members of the same ludus, they no longer competed against one another for the crowds, but within the training arena, it was another matter entirely. Phoenix watched each day as they brutally battered one another, two powerful men refusing to cede the upper hand.

On a few occasions, however, the battering went beyond mere combat training. Brawls weren’t uncommon among gladiators—they were basically an occupational hazard—but between Gallus and Carnifex, they had a tendency to turn ugly and to turn ugly fast.

Atticus greatly frowned upon disorder in his ludus, so whenever a fight broke out between two of his greatest champions, everyone else was quick to step in and stop it. Magnus, Pollux, Felix, Caius, even Titus, were always on call to tear the two of them apart when things got too vicious.

On a few occasions, when she’d been near at hand, even Phoenix had gotten involved. No matter what had happened, or who had done what to whom, she always gave Gallus her attention first.

“Sure, take his side, like you always do,” Carnifex spat one day, nursing what was sure to be a black eye.

She was startled by the heat in his voice. As much as he seemed to love tormenting her, his tone was always teasing and borderline playful. But today, it sounded like there was something akin to anger in it. Hands still resting on Gallus’ shoulders, she turned to look at him and didn’t fail to notice the way his jaw tightened when he looked back at her, his eyes flickering down to her hands and then flitting back up to her face. Something burned in those green eyes of his that she couldn’t quite name.

“Forget it,” he snapped, kicking aside his sword and shield as he pushed past the others and stormed back to his cell.

She cursed herself for not being able to get that encounter out of her head for days afterward. What had upset Carnifex so deeply? Why had he looked at her like that? And why did it seem that his eyes now followed her whenever she was around the ludus, especially when she was talking to Gallus?

He drove her mad. 

Truly. She must have been going mad. That was the only reason she could come up with to explain why such an infuriating, insufferable man as Carnifex the Gaul was taking up more and more space in her head. At night, when the other girls giggled about his smile, she couldn’t help but recall the way it had touched his eyes when he’d turned it on her after his training bout. When they whispered about his muscles, she couldn’t fail to remember the way the sun glistened off his slick skin as he trained, his muscles rippling as he hefted his sword and shield with an ease almost too great to be believed. And when they gossiped about his talents in bed, she burned with an ache that settled deep in the pit of her stomach, pooling between her thighs until she squeezed her eyes shut and forced her traitorous body to go to sleep.

This was Carnifex they were talking about. Cocky, selfish, arrogant Carnifex. She would not allow herself to become another one of his playthings.

Yet each time she was around him, she realized with horror, her defenses seemed to crumble more and more. One afternoon, while she was handing out water to the men, he even managed to coax a smile out of her.

“Look at that,” he whistled softly, taking a satisfied gulp of water. “I finally managed to make the Grecian goddess smile.”

She flushed at his words, mentally kicking herself for it all the while. “I am capable of it, you know,” she shot back, arching a dark eyebrow as she gazed up at him.

“Perhaps, but I’ve never seen it,” he returned evenly, his green eyes sparkling in the midday sun.

“Maybe that’s because you don’t do anything to make me smile,” she offered, rolling her shoulders back and standing up straighter.

He leaned in a little closer, his breath tickling her cheek as he whispered, “Until now.”

She couldn’t help it. She blushed. And he smiled.

Damn him.

He got under her skin and he knew it. He enjoyed it.

From that day on, the two of them danced around each other, sparring with words the same way he and Gallus sparred with swords. And though she would never admit it out loud, Phoenix enjoyed the challenge of matching wits with Carnifex. He kept her on her toes, always pushing back and eliciting her own competitive streak as she strove to outsmart him.

Whenever Pollux or Felix or Caius or Gallus shot them sideways glances, eyebrows raised or silent looks exchanged among them, she always scoffed and brushed it aside. There was absolutely nothing going on between her and Carnifex, and there never would be.

Or so she thought.

She hadn’t intended to be over at the ludus that afternoon, too busy helping to prepare the household for a banquet that Atticus and Aurelia would be hosting in a few days time, but Titus was currently tending to Atticus’ ailing mother and had asked her to look to any injuries the men sustained during their training bouts.

As she approached the small arena where Gallus and Carnifex were training, she could feel the tension pouring off them in waves. They were both sweating and grunting, looking the worse for wear but unwilling to yield or admit defeat.

“Give it up, Gallus,” Carnifex growled through gritted teeth, bringing his sword down sharply against Gallus’ shield. “One of these days, that good fortune of yours is going to run out.”

“Maybe so,” Gallus snarled in return, lunging at Carnifex and aiming his sword at his exposed side. The other man quickly parried, jumping back to avoid the disastrous blow. “But not today.”

Phoenix felt her heart squeeze inside her chest as she watched the two of them go at it, viciously swiping and pouncing at each other. She noticed, with a stab of fear, the way that Gallus was starting to slow down, his breathing growing more labored as he tired out.

Carnifex noticed it, too. Not failing to take this rare opportunity, he lunged forward and expertly knocked Gallus’ sword from his hand, kicking it across the sand so that he would be unable to retrieve it. Smirking, he held his own sword up and aimed it at Gallus’ throat.

Chest heaving, Gallus just stared down his opponent, his shield still strapped to his arm as he realized that there was no way out.

“And so Carnifex the Gaul bests the Barbarian from Britannia,” Carnifex crowed triumphantly, slowly edging closer. He threw his sword and shield down, as they always did at the end of their training matches. “Looks like Rome will get to cheer for another dead Briton.”

Phoenix froze at his words, a feeling of dread sinking into her bones as she looked over at Gallus. Her friend’s eyes darkened in an instant, and she knew that in his mind’s eye, he was seeing his mother and father, and all of his people who had been slaughtered at the hands of Rome. She watched as something inside him twisted and snapped, and then he was on Carnifex in an instant.

“You son of a bitch!” Gallus roared, lunging at the other man and knocking him to the ground with a loud crash, quickly gaining the attention of everyone else on the training grounds, who immediately came running.

Carnifex made an admirable effort to fend off the blows, but Gallus was in another place altogether as he punched and kicked at his rival, landing one harsh hit after another on the other man’s exposed chest and legs.

“Get the fuck off me, you fucking barbarian!” Carnifex thundered, trying to hit back. It was difficult for him to do so, however, considering Gallus had him pinned to the ground. “Get off me!”

“Gallus! Stop!” Pollux exclaimed, he and Caius rushing forward to try to put an end to the violence. Even with the both of them pulling at him, however, Gallus wouldn’t be stopped.

His eyes had clouded over, and Phoenix knew he was in that place, that place deep inside his mind where he retreated during his fights in the Colosseum, when every decision and every move he made meant the difference between life and death.

But this wasn’t a matter of life and death. At least, not for Gallus. But if someone didn’t do something, it might be a matter of life and death for Carnifex.

“Gallus!” Phoenix shouted over the din of the restless crowd of gladiators, pushing them out of the way as she ran towards the fray. “Gallus!” she screamed again, louder this time, crouching down on the ground behind Carnifex’s head, right in front of him. “Stop!”

The sound of her voice seemed to penetrate that dark place inside him because as he looked up at her, blinking slowly, his fists came to a halt. Gasping for air, he gazed down at a bruised and blooded Carnifex, swallowing when he realized the magnitude of what he had done.

Everyone was silent as Gallus rose on unsteady feet, breathing hard and staring at his bloody knuckles. Phoenix saw shame wash over her friend, and she felt a stab of empathy for him, but she continued to kneel beside Carnifex as Gallus looked from the other gladiators, to her, to the man lying on the ground at his feet.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered brokenly, turning away from all of them without another word as he stumbled towards his cell and slammed the door shut behind him.

“That damn savage,” Carnifex muttered angrily, slowly starting to sit up and wincing as he did so.

Instinctively, Phoenix reached out her hands to support his back, her eyes quickly scanning to assess for injuries, the way Titus had taught her.

Pollux, Caius, and Felix were quiet, even as the other gladiators began murmuring loudly among themselves, questioning aloud what had happened to set Gallus off so tremendously.

“Back to work!” Magnus shouted, corralling all of the less experienced men back to their training. “There’s nothing more for you to see here.”

“You’re hurt,” Phoenix muttered, running her hands over Carnifex’s tender and swollen flesh.

“I’ll be fine,” he insisted, tensing under her touch.

“You don’t know that,” Phoenix shot back sternly. “Gallus really did a number on you. I have to check you out and make sure you’re okay.”

Normally, she was sure he would have made some ridiculous comment in response to her words, but today, he just looked at her and frowned. “No,” he said flatly.

“Yes,” Phoenix told him stubbornly. Two could play at this game. Turning to her friends, she said, “Felix, Caius, can you help me get him to his cell?”

As they stepped forward, however, Carnifex held up a hand and slowly rose to his feet on his own. “I’m not an invalid. I can get there myself.”

“If you see Titus, let him know what happened,” Phoenix called over her shoulder as she began walking with Carnifex, albeit a bit slowly, across the training grounds and towards his cell.

Once they were inside, Phoenix took charge. Tossing her dark braid over her shoulder, she closed the door behind them and ordered, “Sit,” pointing at his bed in the corner of the small room. She’d been in his cell countless times before, to serve him meals or tend to his wounds, but never by herself. She had never been more aware of that bed.

Carnifex frowned again, but did as she said, taking a seat on the edge of his bed and spreading his large hands out on his thighs, trying not to think too much about the pain that was throbbing in his limbs.

“How are you feeling?” she asked him in a calm, cool voice, stepping closer to him and carefully examining the discolored marks that would soon be bruises all over his body. “And tell me the truth.”

Swallowing back the lie he’d been about to tell, Carnifex sighed quietly as his green eyes searched her face. “I’m in pain. Mostly in my shoulders and my side,” he admitted, although reluctantly. “I might say a lot of things about Gallus, but the man knows how to throw a proper punch,” he grimaced, wincing as Phoenix pressed down on a particularly tender spot on his chest.

“Sorry,” she murmured, trying to be more gentle as she prodded and poked at him. “You said your side? Here?” she asked, resting her hand on a spot midway down his body.

He shook his head, reaching up and placing his large, calloused hand over hers. “No. Here,” he clarified, taking her hand and moving it downwards, until it rested just above his hip.

Somehow the room, already quite small to begin with, seemed to grow much smaller as the air between them grew heavy.

Clearing her throat, Phoenix carefully ran her fingers over the spot he had indicated, feeling for any swollenness that would indicate an internal injury. Thankfully, she found none.

“Well, luck seems to be on your side,” she murmured, glancing up and realizing with a slight start that his face was much closer to hers than she had first thought. “No broken bones and no deep damage, from what I can tell, though I’ll make sure to let Titus know to check you out. You’ll just be sore and have some serious bruising, but nothing you’re not used to.”

He was quiet for a few moments, absorbing her words as he continued to stare at her. “Why are you helping me?” he finally questioned.

“What do you mean?” Phoenix asked, taken aback. “That’s what I do. It’s one of my jobs.”

“You know what I mean,” he said in a low voice, which made her lean in even closer to be able to hear him. “This isn’t an injury I sustained from training. It’s because of a stupid fight I got into with Gallus. And you always take Gallus’ side when we fight. So why are you here, and not with him?”

“Gallus will be fine,” Phoenix murmured. She didn’t want to point out the obvious, but he had fared much better in this fight than Carnifex had. “You were the one who bore the brunt of it.”

“Which was my fault, right? Because of what I said? I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, his green eyes boring into her brown ones.

Phoenix took a breath, trying to organize her jumbled thoughts. “What you said—it wasn’t kind, but Gallus shouldn’t have reacted the way he did. I know why he did, but he shouldn’t have. He could have really hurt you.”

“He would have, if you hadn’t stopped him,” Carnifex pointed out, his expression indecipherable. “He listens to you.”

“We’re friends,” Phoenix said, as if that explained everything. “But just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I can’t admit when he’s done something he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t have hurt you like that. But you shouldn’t have said what you said either. Gallus has known more pain than you can imagine.”

“I have known pain, too,” he replied sharply, a trace of bitterness creeping into his tone that she had never heard before.

“I know,” she whispered. “As have I. As have we all. You and Gallus have far more in common than you know, if you would just put aside this petty rivalry.”

Carnifex just waved his hand and turned his face away from her, staring at the wall.

Sighing, Phoenix went to take a step back, but suddenly Carnifex’s head was whipping back around again, his eyes trained on her.

“Are you leaving?” he asked, looking oddly bereft at the thought.

Her mouth felt dry as she looked back at him. “Is there some reason I should stay?”

He didn’t say anything in response to that, just wrapped his fingers lightly around her wrist and tugged her towards him until their chests were pressed flush together. Her breath caught in her throat as his gaze flickered down to her lips. And then he kissed her. With one hand still wrapped around her wrist and the other cradling the back of her head, he kissed her with a hunger and an urgency that she could feel radiating through her body.

But before she could even process exactly what was happening, and what it was making her feel, he pulled back and released her, eyes wide. “I shouldn’t have done that. I—”

She cut off his excuses as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her fingers raking through his hair, the hair that reminded her of the sandy beaches of home. It took only a second before she felt his arms snaking around her waist, holding her tightly as their mouths melded together, desperate for a taste of the other.

As the kiss deepened, he reached up and buried his fingers in her thick braid, tugging fiercely at it until her beautiful dark hair came loose, cascading down her back. She let out a soft moan at the feel of it, and that sound alone seemed to unlock something feral in them both.

Rising from his bed, Carnifex wrapped his arms more tightly around her small body, pressing her to his chest as the two of them stumbled backwards in a lust-fueled frenzy, grasping at each other as they fell back against the wall on the other side of the room. Another moan of pleasure slipped from Phoenix’s lips as she felt the rough stone against her back, Carnifex’s thick fingers buried in her hair as his kisses began trailing from her lips, across her jaw, and down her neck.

“Phoenix,” Carnifex gasped, peppering her skin with hot, open-mouthed kisses. “Oh, Phoenix,” he groaned, running his hands up and down her body as she gripped his hair and brought his lips crashing back down onto hers. “Been dying to taste you for so long,” he panted against her mouth, nipping at her chin as she angled her face upwards.

“And?” Phoenix murmured, her brain fuzzy with wanting as she trailed a hand down his naked chest. “Was it worth the wait?”

He chuckled despite himself, despite the circumstances. “Yes,” he nodded, lifting a hand to her face and brushing his thumb over her lips. “Most definitely yes. Need to taste more of you,” he moaned, latching onto her throat and sucking softly.

“More,” Phoenix echoed breathlessly, her eyes fluttering as her entire body pulsated with desire. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this was crazy. She should leave before they crossed any more boundaries than they already had. But though the rational part of her knew that that was what would be best, she couldn’t force herself to do it. She couldn’t force herself to leave.

“More,” Carnifex whispered, his mouth covering hers as his hands slid up and began gently massaging her breasts through her thin tunic. He kneaded and caressed until her nipples hardened to sharp buds, standing out distinctly against the fabric that covered her. Pulling back just enough to look down and meet her eyes, he raised his eyebrows in silent question.

“Yes,” she moaned in reply, nodding her head slowly. “Yes.”

In an instant, his hands were on the knots at her shoulders, untying them with deft fingers, while she quickly discarded the cord around her waist. With just a gentle push, he sent her tunic pooling to the floor at her feet.

Naked and exposed, she stood before him and watched as he took the full measure of her. His eyes glowed with appreciation and she felt herself grow flushed under his scrutiny.

“You really are a goddess,” he whispered hoarsely, reaching up to cup her bare breasts in his hands. A shiver ran down her spine as he brushed his thumbs over her aching nipples. Eyes still on her, he lowered down slightly so that he could take one into his mouth, his tongue swirling around the bud as he hummed softly.

Her breath hitched in pleasure and she reached up to rest one hand on the back of his head, her other bracing against his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered shut as he continued to suckle gently, releasing her breast with a wet pop before moving to the other one. He repeated the process once more, eliciting soft mewls of arousal from her. She could feel herself growing slick with desire for him, a fire kindling deep inside her belly.

Grasping her hips in both hands, Carnifex slowly lowered down to his knees, kissing his way down her stomach and nipping lightly at her smooth skin. She hoped he couldn’t feel the way she trembled beneath his touch, the way her entire body quivered with delight at every kiss.

When she felt his hot breath between her legs, her hips bucked slightly and she let out a strangled gasp, immediately opening her eyes and looking downwards.

“Carnifex, what are you—?”

“Sh,” he murmured, pressing lazy kisses to the front of her thighs. “I wanted to taste you, remember?”

At any other time, she would have been mortified by the moan that escaped her lips at his words, but at that moment, she was too far gone to care. Reaching down and burying her fingers in his hair, she let out a short gasp of surprise when he lifted one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder, supporting her with a hand still on her waist.

“I’ve got you,” he winked, turning his head and smothering her inner thigh with slow, sensual kisses that already had her seeing stars. How would she possibly survive what else he had in store? Heart pounding inside her chest, she watched as his kisses began to trail inward, closer and closer to her center, to the place where her body was crying out with need for him.

When he finally reached the thatch of dark curls between her legs, he reached up with an almost breathless reverence and parted her with his fingers, prompting a small cry to fall from her lips. “Fuck, look at you,” he said quietly, almost to himself, as he slowly trailed a finger downwards. “Already so wet for me.”

“No games,” she gasped out, fighting the urge to press his face between her thighs. “Just….just…oh,” she moaned, her knees going weak when he began tracing the tip of his finger around the tiny bud at her center, the one that made it hard to think or move or breathe when he was touching it like that.

“Just what?” he asked, looking up at her with faux innocence as he pressed a kiss between her legs. “Hm?”

“Just keep doing that,” Phoenix sighed, her head falling backward against the wall. She reached up to run her hands over her breasts, overwhelmed by the sensations suddenly overtaking her body.

“Whatever you say,” he smirked, suddenly leaning forward and diving facefirst, his tongue tracing a trail up and down her soaked opening. Spurred on by her cries of pleasure, he wrapped his lips around her bud and sucked, feeling a surge of triumph when she began tugging on his hair and babbling out his name. Feeling that she was close, he gripped her thigh more tightly and teased her entrance with two fingers, coating them with her slick before slowly easing them inside her tight walls.

“Carnifex!” Phoenix practically screamed, biting down roughly on her lower lip to keep from being overheard. She felt so full, his large fingers stroking her walls as his tongue worked over the source of the most exquisite pleasure she had ever experienced. Unable to stop herself, she pressed her hand against the back of his head and began grinding herself against his face, chasing the high that he was giving her.

“That’s it. That’s my girl,” he praised her, lapping up her wetness like a starving man. “You’re so close, I can feel it. Just let go. Let go,” he encouraged her, squeezing her thigh and increasing the speed of his fingers.

“I—I—I’m—oh, oh, oh!” Phoenix gasped, the fire inside her belly building and building and building until it felt that surely she would be consumed by the flames. But she wasn’t. Instead, that burning sensation came to a feverish crescendo, and then suddenly there were white spots floating in her vision as her body rode out the waves of pleasure that crashed through her, making it impossible to catch her breath.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, do you know that?” Carnifex almost growled, rising and lifting her into his arms. She was glad for it, because she was suddenly certain she wouldn’t be able to stand on her own. He kissed her then, despite the fact that his mouth and chin were drenched with her nectar, and she found, surprisingly, that she wasn’t at all offended by the taste of herself on his lips.

He laid her down on his bed, and when she looked up at him, she could see his arousal clear as day in the front of the short tunic he wore wrapped around his waist. Sitting up on her knees, she crawled towards the edge of the bed and reached for his waistband, looking up into his eyes.

“Seems unfair that I should be the only one undressed here,” she told him, undoing his belt and pushing his tunic down to the floor, followed by the small cloth he wore for modesty while he was training.

He now stood before her, as naked as she was, and it was her turn to look him over with appreciation. She had known that he had a good body, of course, from watching him train and patching him up. And she’d heard from the girls in the slave quarters that his other assets were more than adequate as well. Apparently, for once, they hadn’t been exaggerating.

“Like what you see?” Carnifex asked with a small smirk, noting the way her eyes widened when she took in the size of his hardened length.

“Very much so,” Phoenix nodded, licking her lips as she felt her desire ratchet up once more. Not wanting to feed his already inflated ego too much, however, she quickly added, “But don’t let it go to your head, gladiator.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured her smugly as he pressed her down onto his small bed, clearly designed with only one occupant in mind, and mounted her.

If her body wasn’t craving this forbidden pleasure so badly, she would have been more than happy to smack that self-satisfied look right off his face. But as it was, his lips landed on hers once more and she was able to concentrate on nothing beyond the feel of his bare skin pressed against hers.

Moaning softly into his mouth, she hooked one leg around his waist and buried her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer as his fingers danced across her skin, tracing the contours of her body with a grip that was shockingly gentle, but which hinted at the power and strength that lay beneath the surface. She shivered at the thought of those rough hands, those hands that had ended the lives of so many nameless, faceless opponents, digging into her skin and marking her flesh—marking her as his.

His kisses were everything and nothing like she thought they would be, all at the same time. He kissed her with a bruising intensity, sucking and nipping at her lips as though he wanted her to know that she was his and his alone. Yet at the same time, his tongue was soothing and gentle, tracing the seam of her mouth with an almost painful tenderness. His kisses tasted sweeter than honey and finer than even the best wine their masters served at their fancy banquets.

If a girl wasn’t careful, she could get addicted to those kisses.

Groaning under his breath, Carnifex began muttering to himself as he ground his hips against her, his stiff, pulsing length burning her skin as it rubbed against her thigh. It took her a moment to become conscious of the fact that she didn’t understand the language he was speaking. It must have been the language of his people.

“What are you saying?” she asked, curious despite herself as their mingled pants and moans filled the air.

“Just how fucking crazy you make me,” he confessed, burying his face in the crook between her neck and her shoulder. As he began peppering her shoulder and collarbone with searing kisses, his hand slid down between their bodies, finding the apex of her pleasure once again and rubbing it slowly.

“I like it,” she whispered, running one hand over the planes of his handsome face, her back arching up off the bed as he stoked the fire inside her. “Your language.”

“The Romans find it savage,” he grunted, dipping a finger inside her while he nipped at her jaw.

“I’m not Roman,” she said firmly, spreading her legs wider beneath him and biting down on her lower lip as she felt that burning sensation filling her body all over again.

“No,” he replied, resting his forehead against hers, their noses bumping together as they stared into each other’s eyes. “You’re not.”

Wordlessly, Phoenix reached between their bodies and wrapped her hand around him, drawing a sharp hiss from deep inside his chest. She stroked him softly, feeling how rigid he was with need. Need for her. In that moment, he longed for her just as much as she longed for him. Something about that realization caused a chasm of yearning to open up inside her chest.

Still grasping him firmly in her hand, she drew him closer to her entrance and then released him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to kiss him once more. He hissed again, but this time it was in pain. Pulling back, she realized with a wince that she had pressed down on one of the tender spots from Gallus’ beating.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, heat rising to her cheeks. “Would you rather we didn’t—”

“Phoenix,” he cut her off, silencing her with a finger to her lips. “The gods themselves could not keep me from you right now.”

He smothered any further arguments she might have tried to make with a heated kiss, cradling her face in one hand as he lined himself up to her entrance with the other. For all their frenzied passion, he took his time about it, teasing her soaked folds with the tip of his length until she finally let out a small grunt of frustration.

“So impatient,” he smirked, slowly pushing himself into her, just an inch or so.

“Oh,” Phoenix moaned, fisting his roughspun blanket in her hands as he gripped her hips, watching himself sink further and further inside her, the both of them gasping at the sensation.

“Fuck,” he grunted once he was fully seated inside her, stilling his hips for a moment and just gazing down at her.

“Don’t stop now,” she told him in a breathless voice, reaching up to trail one hand down his chest and stomach. “Please.”

That little beg was all the encouragement he needed. Resting his hands on either side of her head, caging her within his grasp, he began to rock his hips against hers, her gasps and moans of ecstasy spurring him on until he was pistoning inside her, the sound of his naked body slapping against hers filling the small cell.

“Fuck, fuck, yes!” Phoenix cried out, her dark eyes screwing shut as she clung to him, her nails biting into the thickened flesh of his back, hardened from years of enduring the whip. “Yes, yes, yes, keep going!”

Grasping her jaw in one hand, he leaned in closer, his lips brushing against hers, and told her, “Open your eyes. I want you to look at me. I want to see you when you fall apart for me.”

Her eyes flew open instantly at his words, her pupils blown wide with lust and desire as she gazed up at him, seeing the same feelings reflected in his green irises. She knew she must be close to falling over the edge once more, for she could feel that same all-consuming fire burning in her lower belly, causing her legs to tremble and her breathing to become more shallow.

“Carn—Carnifex,” she groaned, digging her nails into his shoulders while her hips continued to thrust upward, aligning herself with his unforgiving pace as he chased her to higher and higher heights of pleasures. Aphrodite herself would envy her, she was sure of it.

“I know, I know,” Carnifex panted, letting his body drop down on top of hers and pressing his face into her neck. “I can feel you. Oh, you’re so tight. Let go. I want to feel you let go,” he whispered, sucking at the pulse point just beneath her ear.

She was right on the edge, dancing dangerously close to the precipice of no return. Her skin burned with a white-hot fire that he had started inside her, a fire that only he could extinguish. Somewhere in the hazy back of her mind, she couldn’t believe she was here, couldn’t believe she was in the arms of this man who had been the bane of her existence since she first laid eyes on him. And yet, somehow being here also felt so right. Her body felt so alive, every part of her tingling with a newness and a vibrancy that she didn’t understand, but never wanted to let go of.

Tears pricking the corners of her eyes, she cupped his face in her hands and pulled him down to her as she fell apart, her entire body quaking as the flames engulfed her, consuming every part of her until she felt like nothing more than ash and bone. She lay back in exhaustion, her chest heaving and sweat dripping down her body, not a single coherent thought in her head.

She only became aware that he had pulled out of her when she felt a strange emptiness between her legs, a soft, unconscious whimper escaping her lips at the loss.

“I’m here,” Carnifex told her, groaning as he pumped himself above her. “I’m right here.” Sweat poured down his chest, his skin flushed and hot to the touch as he reached his own finish, his seed spilling forth and landing on her stomach. Spent, he collapsed down beside her with a low grunt, struggling to catch his breath just as she had.

They lay side by side like that for several minutes, neither of them saying anything. As they slowly came down from their high, the magnitude of what had just transpired between them sunk in and the air in the room shifted.

Carnifex suddenly reached for her, opening his mouth to speak. “Phoenix, I—”

“I have to go,” Phoenix told him quickly, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of his bed. “They’ll be wondering where I’ve gone. Aurelia is probably looking for me.”

“Phoenix,” Carnifex said again, gripping her arm and sitting up beside her. “Please don’t just—”

“I have to,” she insisted, hurrying to grab a rag in the corner of the room and clean herself up. Without looking at him, she combed her fingers through her tangled locks and, fast as lightning, rebraided her hair, reaching for her discarded tunic and pulling it over her head. She’d gotten used to preparing herself quickly over the years, and within a couple minutes she already had her tunic knotted at the shoulders and the cord wrapped around her waist like before.

Stepping towards the door, she knew she should have walked through it without a backwards glance, but she couldn’t do it. Freezing in place, she turned and looked over shoulder, meeting his eye. He was still sitting on the edge of his bed, watching her. He hadn’t moved to clean himself up or get dressed. His eyes were simply fixed on her.

“We shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t say that,” he rasped, what looked to be pain flashing in his eyes. But maybe it was just a trick of the light. “Please don’t say that.”

“I have to go, Carnifex,” Phoenix murmured, regret coloring her voice. But what it was she was regretting, she couldn’t be sure. Was it falling into bed with him? Or was it the fact that she had caused that wounded expression on his face?

He didn’t say anything in response, just stared at her with those big green eyes until she finally turned away from him and slipped out of his cell, shutting the door firmly behind her.

If only she could shut the door on what had happened between them so easily.

But even as the thought entered her mind, she knew it wasn’t true. She would never be able to erase what had just happened, and the reality was, she didn’t want to.

She had never meant to get tangled up with him, but now she had.

And there was no going back.

He had never meant to fall in love with her. He really hadn’t. Yet here he was.

He should have known from the moment he first laid eyes on her that she would be trouble. She was the most infuriating, difficult, stubborn woman he had ever met. She was also the most beautiful, with those big brown eyes and that dark hair that reminded him of the wings of the ravens that used to nest in his village back in Gaul.

She didn’t like him. He could tell that right from the start. Those pretty eyes of hers always narrowed whenever he was around, her mouth, with those lips that he wanted to taste more than anything, puckered like she had just eaten something sour. She was always by Gallus’ side, so no doubt he had poisoned her against him.

And yet, despite the obvious disdain she felt for him, he constantly found himself caught in her orbit, like a moth drawn to a flame. She might not have offered him smiles or flirtatious giggles like the other slave girls in the household, but he found that the more she pushed him away, the more he desired to be by her side. She might have been infuriating and difficult and stubborn, but she was also witty and cunning and sharp. Every time she lashed him with her tongue, or put him in his place with her quick words, he found himself even more enamored with her.

He ached with need for her, particularly in the moments when she tended his broken body with those skilled, agile hands of hers. Of course the old medicus had chosen her to be his assistant in the ludus. There was no one more capable or intelligent.

There was no one he wanted more.

But she loathed him. She made that clear whenever she was in his presence. And so he chased his pleasure elsewhere, sought to satiate that ache that rested deep within his bones by bedding every simpering slave girl who batted her eyelashes in his direction. They adored him, praised him, coddled him, and begged to be his forever.

But they weren’t her.

Even he had enough shame left within him to feel disgusted with himself on the nights when he closed his eyes and pretended that the girl twisting and moaning beneath him was her. He’d turn his back when he was finished, disappointed when he opened his eyes to find it wasn’t her, and ashamed of himself for thinking it could ever be otherwise.

They never seemed to mind, the endless stream of women who came to his bed. To them, it was enough to have been bedded, even once, by Carnifex the Gaul. That was all he was to them. That was all he was to just about everybody.

He wanted to be more. He wanted to be more to her.

He hated himself for feeling the way that he did. Feelings like this, especially for a woman who couldn’t even stand the sight of him, were dangerous. Love made men weak, and he couldn’t afford to be weak, not when his very life depended on being the best of the best in the arena.

She was a distraction.

She was a stumbling block.

She was a thorn in his side.

She was everything he had ever wanted.

And just when he had been convinced that she was everything he would never have, somehow, by some miraculous intervention of the gods, she had ended up in his arms. In his bed. And for the first time, he didn’t have to close his eyes and pretend, imagining what her body would feel like or what her lips would taste like.

She was real.

She was there.

She was his.

At least, for that brief moment in time. But it wasn’t enough. No amount of time with her would ever be enough, not unless it was eternity.

She dodged him for days afterward, pointedly avoiding his gaze whenever she was working around the ludus, and conveniently finding ways to get around having to tend to his injuries after his training sessions.

It drove him mad.

She drove him mad.

Finally, just when he thought he couldn’t possibly stand it any longer, he managed to catch her while she was on her own, leaving the bathhouse after delivering fresh linens.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” he demanded, cutting straight to the chase as he snagged her around the waist and tugged her into a private alcove.

She looked startled, uneasy, her dark eyes shifting nervously back and forth, as if expecting some hidden figure to jump from the shadows. Not wanting to cause her such anxiety, he let go of her waist, but continued to stand in front of her, blocking her exit for the time being.

“I haven’t,” she lied, shifting back and forth as she blatantly refused to meet his eye. Even she couldn’t possibly believe the words that had just come out of her mouth.

“Phoenix,” Carnifex breathed out, leaning in closer, the tip of his nose bumping against hers as he angled his head downward. He knew the longing was evident in his voice, but he didn’t care.

“Carnifex, we shouldn’t,” she told him in a hushed voice, her breath catching in her throat as he reached up to cup her jaw, his rough thumb brushing against her skin.

“But we did,” he countered, his lips hovering above hers, waiting for her to push him away. When she didn’t, he closed the gap between them, slotting his mouth over hers and kissing her slowly, gently.

“This is foolish,” she rasped when they finally broke apart, her dark eyes turned upward to meet his gaze. “Someone could see.”

“So let them see,” he insisted, cradling her face in his hands and leaning in to kiss her again.

“No,” Phoenix shook her head in frustration, pushing him back. “No, it’s a terrible idea.”

“I want you,” he confessed, keeping a distance between them so as not to upset her further. What he felt for her went so much deeper than mere wanting, but he knew he couldn’t tell her that. Still, he had to try to make her understand. “And I know you want me, too.”

He counted it a victory that she didn’t deny his words outright.

“What does that matter?” she snapped, crossing her arms firmly over her chest and turning her head to look away from him.

“It matters,” he said firmly, taking one small step closer to her. “It matters because Rome has taken everything from us for her own pleasure. We deserve a little pleasure of our own, don’t you think?” he murmured, running one finger down her bare arm. He didn’t fail to notice the way it made her shiver, though she tried to mask it. Resting one hand on the wall behind her head, he ducked his head low and whispered against her ear, “I know I gave you pleasure.”

“What do you want from me, Carnifex?” Phoenix demanded, something catching in her voice as she tilted her head to look at him. It was the first time he had ever caught that look in her eye, that hint of sadness and brokenness that he had seen in the faces of so many others. He didn’t want to see it in her.

“I want you. Just you and nothing else,” he said simply, twisting a loose lock of her dark hair around his finger. “Whenever you’re able, come to me. Let’s find what pleasure we can, in whatever time the gods may grant us.”

“I won’t be your whore,” she told him sharply, recoiling from his touch. “I’m not your plaything that you can command to come and go.”

“Don’t you ever call yourself that,” he retorted, his voice just as sharp, his green eyes flashing. “You are not…I would never…” He took a breath, trying to collect his thoughts. “You’re free to come and go as you wish, whenever it pleases you. I would not hold you to anything.”

Phoenix swallowed, gazing downward for a moment as she seemed to contemplate his proposition. After several beats of silence, she lifted her head and raised one dark eyebrow. “It would be for pleasure and nothing more?”

By the gods, how he wanted so much more with her. But how could he ever expect that, with the lives they led? So swallowing past the lump in his throat, he merely nodded. “For pleasure and nothing more.”

She was quiet again, but this time she kept her eyes on him as she cocked her head to the side, thinking. Finally, she spoke.

“Alright.”

“Alright?” he repeated, eyes widening slightly. He was shocked she had actually agreed.

“But don’t expect me to always be available at your beck and call, gladiator,” she insisted firmly, poking him in the chest. “It’ll be when I’m good and ready.”

Carnifex couldn’t help but smirk at her words, a satisfied expression slipping onto his face. “How about tonight?”

“We’ll see.”

But she did come to him that night. And for many more nights that week. And then the week after that. And the next one after that, until eventually months had passed.

“We can’t tell anyone about this,” she panted one night as she rode atop him, her nails digging into his chest as he lay with his hands behind his head and admired her beauty. “It’s safer that way. For everyone.”

He knew she was right, but that didn’t mean from time to time he desperately wanted to shout from the rooftops that the most beautiful woman in all of the Roman Empire spent the majority of her evenings in his bed.

Especially when the others questioned him about the scratches on his back or the love bites on his chest.

“You need to keep it down at night, my friend,” Caius complained during one morning training session. He had the misfortune, as he often called it, of occupying the cell directly next to Carnifex’s. “Some of us actually try to get some sleep. Who was that girl you had in there last night anyway? The two of you could have woken the dead.”

Carnifex just smirked in response, though his eyes couldn’t help but slip towards Phoenix, who was hanging freshly washed tunics just a few feet away. He could tell from the ruddiness of her complexion that she had heard Caius loud and clear.

She made sure to keep her voice down that night, much to his amusement.

He loved each and every moment that she spent in his arms, but he hated what came afterwards. Even after months of their secret arrangement, she still refused to stay with him during the night, always grabbing her tunic and fleeing his cell as soon as the deed was done.

“Why won’t you stay with me?” he asked her one night, her body still pinned beneath his as he pressed lazy kisses to her neck and shoulder.

“You know I can’t,” she replied, matter-of-factly. “I can’t be caught in here with you, and it would be too suspicious if I spent the whole night away from the slave quarters.”

Damn her and her rational mind.

“Then stay with me just a little while,” he insisted, pecking the corner of her mouth. “Don’t run off as soon as it’s over.”

“Why?” she asked quietly, running her fingers through his hair absent-mindedly. He loved it when she did that.

Knowing he couldn’t give her an answer that wouldn’t scare her off and send her running for the hills, he simply shrugged, allowing that smug, overly confident mask to slip into place. “You help keep the bed warm.”

She seemed aggravated by his response, but he noticed that after that night, she wasn’t as quick to get up and go, sometimes lingering for up to an hour or more after they finished.

Tonight, she seemed more exhausted than usual, curling up against his chest and closing her eyes as he traced his fingers up and down her spine, enjoying the feel of her heart beating in tandem with his.

“You seem tired,” he voiced his observation out loud, glancing down at her and brushing some of her dark hair out of her face.

“I am,” she admitted, fighting back a yawn as she swirled her finger around his chest in lazy patterns. “Aurelia’s been working us like dogs lately. Except, I think she might actually treat dogs better than she treats us. Stupid bitch,” she muttered darkly, her hand stilling as her body tensed with resentment.

“Hey,” he murmured, nudging her gently until she looked up at him. His brow furrowed in concern, noting the dark circles under her eyes. He should have been paying more attention. How had he failed to notice them? He knew there was no love lost between Phoenix and their domina, but her voice held a particular trace of venom this evening. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing,” she deflected quickly, then let out a heavy sigh. “It’s just…she treats Sabina so badly. And it makes me so angry. She’s the last person on earth who deserves it, and I just want to be able to protect her.”

Carnifex hadn’t failed to notice how much you had come to mean to Phoenix since your arrival in the household a few months prior. He had never seen Phoenix interact with any of the other slave girls until you came along, and now you two seemed as close as sisters. And though he didn’t yet know you very well, from all the interactions he’d had with you thus far, he could at least say that he understood the impulse to look out for you.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured sincerely, stroking her back with a comforting hand. “I know how much Sabina means to you, and how much you already can’t stand Aurelia to begin with,” he added with a grimace. Was there anybody in the household who could stand Aurelia? He doubted even Atticus could.

Phoenix sighed again, rubbing at her eyes and sitting up slowly. “Speaking of Sabina, I should get going before she starts to worry. I promised her I wouldn’t be gone long.”

“Where does she think you go at night?” he asked curiously, reluctant to let her go.

Though their tryst had started before you had even entered the household, and though you and Phoenix had become as thick as thieves since your arrival, she maintained that she didn’t want to burden you with the responsibility of knowing what was going on between her and the infamous Gallic gladiator.

“It’s better that no one knows, Carnifex,” she often told him, whenever he insinuated that their closest friends might be piecing things together. “That way they won’t have to be responsible for lying for us, if it comes to that. Besides, it’s just sex, right? Why does anyone need to know?”

He pretended that those words didn’t cut him to the core.

Sitting up in his bed, Phoenix twisted her dark hair into a loose knot at the nape of her neck and glanced down at him. “Sabina is a smart girl. She doesn’t ask too many questions. And she knows I help Hrodebert with the accounts sometimes. I just let her believe that’s where I’m going,” she explained. “But I know she worries about me, and that it’s hard for her to sleep until I get back, so I have to go.”

“Gallus cares for her,” Carnifex said suddenly. He wasn’t sure why he said it, to be honest. It wasn’t his business, and Gallus’ love life was none of his concern, but perhaps he hoped it would keep Phoenix in his arms just a few moments longer.

She stilled at his words, leaning back for a moment as he draped an arm around her shoulders. “What makes you say so?” she asked, arching an eyebrow as she looked over at him.

“Is having eyes in my head not good enough?” he chuckled, running his hand up and down her bare side. “His eyes follow her everywhere she goes, at least whenever she’s in the ludus. Though I’m sure he wishes he could watch over her in the villa as well. He already made us promise that we’d ensure no harm comes to her.”

“He asked Hrodebert and I to do the same,” Phoenix nodded, recalling the worry that brimmed in her old friend’s eyes when he’d made the request. “I have to say, I’ve known Gallus a long time and I’ve never seen him like this before. It’s like she’s unlocked something inside him. He’s quite attached to her.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so concerned for another person before,” Carnifex agreed, though he frowned slightly as he looked at her. “Except maybe you.” His voice was edged with jealousy as he spoke the words aloud.

As if he hadn’t disliked Gallus, his old rival, enough when he’d first arrived at the ludus, he’d been even more frustrated to see the bond that he and Phoenix shared, a closeness that he could only dream of having with her.

“There’s nothing between me and Gallus,” she told him firmly, placing a hand on the center of his chest as she looked deeply into his eyes. “Nothing except the love borne between a brother and sister, between two people who have survived the worst together. We’ve known each other a long time and we look out for one another, Carnifex. That is all.”

When he didn’t respond, just shifted his gaze moodily, she leaned forward and pressed a long, slow kiss to his lips. When she finally pulled back, she couldn’t help but smirk a little bit. “And as you’ve already so astutely pointed out, he seems to have eyes for no one but Sabina.”

Just as Carnifex only had eyes for Phoenix.

She frequently teased him about how the other girls grumbled in their quarters at night, complaining that he no longer called for any of them the way he used to. It hung unspoken in the air between them, the implication that he now only sought her company in his bed, and what that meant.

“I have to go,” Phoenix whispered, kissing him one last time as she slipped out of his bed and reached for her tunic. “Get some sleep. Magnus has been working you all extra hard lately.”

“Be careful,” he murmured, climbing out of bed as well and wrapping his tunic around his waist as he walked her to the door of his cell. Touching her cheek lightly, he couldn’t resist the urge to press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“I will,” she promised softly, squeezing his hand once before she was gone.

She took a piece of his heart with her, every time she left.

Tiptoeing on quiet feet, Phoenix checked her surroundings to make sure no one was in sight before slipping across the training grounds, trusting the darkness of the night to shield her from anyone who might have been observing from a distance.

Once she was beyond the gate of the ludus and within the confines of the main villa, she breathed a little easier, knowing she would be able to come up with a simple enough excuse should anyone catch her out of the slave quarters.

What she hadn’t been expecting, however, was for Hrodebert to suddenly appear before her, candle in hand as he stepped out of the office where he did most of his accounting work.

Gasping, she slapped a hand over mouth, her heart jumping into her throat as she stopped short in the hallway.

“Phoenix?” Hrodebert asked in surprise, lifting up his candle to better see her face. His eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion and from his rapid blinks, she could tell they must have been aching from hours spent reviewing numbers and accounts. “What are you doing out here?” he questioned, raising his candle further and glancing over her shoulder.

“Oh, nothing, I just needed to return some things to the kitchen before I went to sleep,” she fibbed, biting down on her lower lip. It would have been easy to lie to a random slave or steward. It was much harder to do so to Hrodebert, who had been one of her closest friends for years now.

“At this hour?” he countered, raising a skeptical eyebrow. He glanced over her shoulder once more, then lowered his voice significantly. “You wouldn’t be coming from the direction of the ludus, would you?”

Her heart sank like a stone inside her chest as her eyes widened. “How did you—?”

“We’ve known each other a long time, Phoenix. I know you better than you might think,” Hrodebert said softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “But you need to be careful with him.”

Much to her surprise, Phoenix felt a surge of protectiveness course through her at her friend’s words. “He’s not as terrible as some people think he is, you know. He wouldn’t intentionally try to—”

“I’m not warning you about Carnifex,” Hrodebert interrupted, prompting another shocked look from her.

“I never said that it was—”

“You didn’t have to,” he told her, a small smile playing on his lips. “My eyesight might be poor, but I’m not completely blind, you know.”

She blushed deeply at his words, wondering if anyone else had figured out what she and Carnifex had been up to. “But if not Carnifex, who—?”

“Aurelia,” Hrodebert whispered in hushed tones, glancing over both his shoulders. “You know what she’ll do if she finds out he’s attached himself to you. You need to be very careful, Phoenix. Please.”

She could hear the worry in his voice, and it made her stomach drop.

“Don’t worry, Hrodebert. I’m always careful,” she assured him, reaching out to pat his arm. “Go get some sleep. I promise I’ll come help with the accounts tomorrow night.”

“Good night, Phoenix,” he nodded, heading in the opposite direction toward the male slave quarters.

A few moments later, when Phoenix finally laid back down beside you, thankful to find that you had already fallen asleep, she tried to shut her eyes and shake away the sense of foreboding that Hrodebert’s warning had cast upon her.

He was right, and she knew it. What Carnifex and her had, whatever it might be, was dangerous. She had known it from the start, and she had been foolish to allow herself to become complacent. She needed to talk to him, needed to let him know that her visits to his cell would have to become less frequent. They couldn’t run the risk of Aurelia finding out and ruining both their lives.

Months ago, Carnifex had told her that they should try to snatch moments of pleasure when they could, that they deserved it. But had she not been a prisoner of Rome long enough to know that that could never really be possible?

She and Carnifex stood no real chance at happiness, and she needed to accept that.

Fighting back the tears that suddenly threatened to engulf her, Phoenix wrapped her arms around you and fell into a fitful slumber, promising herself before sleep finally claimed her that she would do whatever she had to do to protect those she cared about most.

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster x reader #x reader #x female reader #hannix #hangman x phoenix #jake hangman seresin #natasha phoenix trace #top gun #top gun: maverick #Ancient Rome AU #si vis amari ama ⚔️

[shares-a-vest]

What do you mean it was the anniversary of the death of a dorky gay metalhead???

Tw: medical stuff/hospital setting. it's fairly mild

29th March, 1986

"Hey, Steve?"

He turns in his chair to look at Robin. She's standing side by side Nancy, who has her arm around Dustin, still red-eyed and tired. They'll all tired.

It has been just under 48 hours since Steve had used the last of his strength to lift Eddie (with the aid of Nancy, Rob and the wobbly stack of furniture on both sides of the Gate) out of the Upside Down.

Eddie was barely alive, bloodied and breathing shallow. The hard fall that Steve caught the most of probably not making the situation better as they tumbled back into the real world. Nancy had commandeered the stolen RV to the hospital, dropped them off and doubled back to the Creel house for Max and the Sinclairs.

Almost immediately they were separated, Eddie wheeled off to god knows where, while Steve was treated in emergency at Robin's insistence. Then at some point he'd passed out, a combination of the pain from his wounds and whatever drugs were pumped into him.

This fucking IV. Two days later, he's still hooked up to it, not dragging it along into Eddie's room like he did the first night because Robin has taken to wheeling Steve around in a wheelchair.

He's sitting by Eddie's bedside now. Watching. Waiting for him to wake up.

Apparently he awoke early yesterday morning with Wayne in the room. And if he's being honest (and he feels like shit about it), Steve is jealous he missed it. He was having his bandages changed. An excerise that took way too long because they were all quickly moved into the bowels of Hawkins General, top secret by the time Dr Owens suddenly popped up. By then, government clearance was needed to do any god damn thing. So he'd waited for hours between the old bandages going and the new dressings.

Robin would say it wasn't that long...

Anyway, Eddie had briefly regained consciousness in that time.

And Steve missed it.

He looks at Robin, eyes pleading. He shakes his head.

She thankfully nods, despite the smallest shuffle towards him that has Nancy making a sqeaking noise at her.

"Let's go sit with Wayne and have some lunch," she says quietly, squeezing Dustin (equally hesitant to leave the room) and nodding.

Nancy, ever the level-headed one, even in this situation the Scooby Gang had gotten themselves in, was managing everyone and their emotions. She was a godsend.

He tips his head towards the door, nodding along with Nancy. They trio lingered for a moment longer before leaving to venture up into the world.

Steve watches as the door closes, wheeling closer to Eddie's bed.

He reaches out a hand, stopping as he remembers his stupid drip. He yanks it around the left wheel of his chair, slapping it against the floor to free up some length. He reaches his destination this time, resting his hand on Eddie's right forearm, just below those cursed patch of bats. He grumbles at the sight of them and searches for somewhere else to look.

Eddie is covered in bandages, cuts, dried blood and iodine stains. They are still tubes everywhere, maybe a couple less than when Steve first saw him when he'd crept into his room late last night. He'd needed surgery of course, patching up his left side which had been torn to pieces. A nurse quipped that Steve and Nancy had saved him from blood loss with their triage work.

Turns out Steve had finally found a use for his First Aid training post-Lifeguard life. It's not like any life or death situations happened in Family Video...

He wishes he could sit on Eddie's left side, brush away the hair that was tangled with dried blood. He couldn't reach forward enough to brush away his fringe that's sticking to his forehead either.

Steve runs his palm down Eddie's right arm, reaching his hand that is only occupied by a pulse-rate clip on his index finger. He intertwines their fingers, shifting forward in his chair as best he can so he can press a soft kiss to the back of Eddie's hand.

He selfishly holds his hand to his own chapped lips, not caring if it's obstructing the pulse device.

He just needs a moment.

He screws his eyes shut, willing away tears.

"Please wake up for me, Eds."

#lmao writing this waiting for an iron injection #hence the medical details i guess gotta disassociate with my blorbos #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steddie fix-it #lilys ficlets #steddie s4 #steddie ficlet #healing steddie

[rfxiii]

hiiiiiii i rlly love ur headcanons :3 sooo was wondering if i could get some general north yankton related ones abt the boys? ive had north yankton brainrot so bad lately LOL

tysm and no rush or pressure at all !! 🩷

aahh! Tysm for the request 💕 I’ve been so obsessed with the North Yankton era and those three soggy idiots recently so ty for letting me indulge in it!

Tw: mentions of drug use

[1099 words]

General North Yankton HCs:

Michael was a regular at the local diner- so much so that they knew him by name and started making his usual order the second they saw him parking and heading in.

Trevor and Brad used to dare each other to do increasingly stupid and dangerous shit. Several of these instances resulted in Trevor having to get a rabies shot. That being said, they totally weren’t the reason that Michael found a raccoon in his bathroom…twice.

Brad and Trevor absolutely made each other worse. Brad only ever smoked weed really before meeting Trevor. But Trevor introduced him to things like coke, meth, and heroin and got him hooked almost instantly. After Brad was just as doped up on the shit as Trevor was, they’d feed off each others bad ideas- taking more drugs to see what they could handle, getting black out wasted and going for races down the highway, robbing liquor stores and even houses just for the fun of it and leaving bodies in their wake with sloppy to no cover up of evidence. Separately they were both dangerous, but together they were literally hell on earth.

Despite the sarcasm and occasional bickering, Lester considered Michael something like his best friend. Lester keeps himself guarded and he’s very much out for just himself and his own self interest, but he and Michael are closer than he’s ever been with any other person, which makes Michael his closest friend by default even if he will argue it.

Michael was well aware that Amanda was into Brad. He’s unsure if they ever hooked up, but he knows she did want him. She found Brad attractive- tall, big, strong, and his crazy personality was fun. But she picked Michael for being stable, kinder, and a long term option (and for free tits). Michael still counted it as a win.

Trevor was invited, but didn’t come to Michael and Amanda’s wedding. Michael getting married crushed him, and he went totally off the radar for almost a month after- getting black out drunk, high, and slaughtering hitchhikers in an effort to feel anything but the pain of having his best friend “stolen” from him.

Physical fights weren’t uncommon between the trio- mostly between Michael and Brad. Occasionally, Trevor and Brad would argue over stupid shit and fight. Trevor and Michael fist fought the rarest, but nearly every time they did fight, Trevor would cry after. Not usually in front of the others, but after disappearing on his own, getting high, and convincing himself that this was the fight that was going to make Michael abandon him.

Trevor remembers the exact date and time that he and Michael met. He lovingly refers to it as their “anniversary”.

The phrasing secretly pissed off both Amanda and Brad. Michael acted like he hated it, but was actually sort of endeared by it.

Brad was the first one to suggest he and Trevor go off on their own. Trevor only agreed a few weeks later after truly looking for the fact that Michael was pulling away from him. Honestly, Brad felt toward Trevor the way that Trevor feels toward Michael. He was obsessive, possessive, and hated how attached to Michael that Trevor was instead of seeing that he was “the better option”. Trevor was his person and he hated sharing him with Michael.

Trevor was, surprisingly, the peacekeeper frequently between the group. Whenever Michael would get angry about the crazy shit Trevor and Brad would get up to, Trevor would nag at him and make jokes until, often, Michael would back down and let it go. Brad would often go out of his way to say or do things to make Michael angry- enter Trevor defusing the situation before it came to blows or a shoot out. He started his fair share of fights between everyone too though with his antics and loud mouth.

Michael would pick up strippers and sex workers frequently in each town they went to- mostly slightly younger women to feel like he was reliving his “glory days”. Trevor always seemed to pick up MILFS from every bar he stopped at- older ladies love him and he loves older women who dote on him. Brad always had two or three girlfriends in each city- occasionally they’d all find out about each other and gang up to slash his tires or kick his ass when he came back through town.

Trevor hated being alone and made any excuse to share rooms when at random motels or safe houses. There could be two open motel rooms with extra beds or they could be staying in a three bedroom safe house, but either Michael or Brad would, more often than not, wake up with Trevor in bed with them or asleep on the floor beside their bed.

Brad was born into the system, and lived his whole childhood in foster care until he aged out of the system and was left to figure it out on his own. He was used to living in homes with a max of ten other kids and became very possessive of things/people (Trevor) as he was convinced they’d get taken away. And he was not good at sharing or coexisting in a space with people he didn’t like (Michael).

That being said, Brad shared almost everything with Trevor: clothes, girls, food they’d order at a diner, beds, practically everything.

Michael secretly wished, more than anything, that Trevor would calm down and grow up. Trevor was his best friend, and he did want him in his life and to be a part of his kids' lives. But between the drugs, his crazy lifestyle, and his refusal to slow down, Michael knew it was too dangerous to keep things up how they were.

(You mentioned it, and I think I’ve heard it other places too so I guess it’s just like a collective headcanon?? Or maybe it’s canon?? I seriously don’t know?) But Michael was a little older than Trevor. Maybe by like two or three years. But then Brad was younger than Trevor by a year or two also- making him like four or five years younger than Michael. And giving Michael the excuse of “being older and smarter” in his arguments about why his decisions were correct.

Trevor secretly hoped for a time that one day Michael would come to him and admit how “wrong” he’d been for marrying Amanda and they would run off together and live life how they used to back in their twenties when they first met.

#asks #gta v #gta 5 #grand theft auto v #grand theft auto 5 #trevor philips #michael townley #brad snider

[princeshilo]

oooooooo im. im wavibg my fingers tell me about juno

ooooooo

ooohhhhhh noooooo… ive been hypnotized by your finger wibbling…. i guess i have to talk about hiiimmmm……

@ my fellow players in the d4 campaign DONT READ THIS. none of them actively use tumblr but jic

(LOTS of text under cut)

the first thing i always always always say about him is that he fucking SUCKS. hes the worst man alive i hope he dies im literally obsessed with him. juno infyris is a tiefling celestial warlock :3 his patron god is homebrew that i made myself! basically he grew up in the underdark (gracklstugh to be specific) doing odd jobs to make enough money to leave. since almost all of the underdark is under lolth, he genuinely just didnt. think gods were real. he was an atheist he just thought everyone else was in a cult on something LMFAO once he was old enough he started a little shop of his own selling fake magic items (most of which he stole). like spamton but not actually like spamton at all. now while setting up his window display for candlenights he ACCIDENTALLY SUMMONED A DEITY. shes like ohhh brave one you have summoned me….. your wish is my command… i shall aid you in your journeys…. and hes like Uh Um Uhhh Can You Help Me Out. (<- INCREDIBLY UNSPECIFIC THING TO SAY TO A LITERAL GOD.) she takes this and fuckinf runs with it hes now soulbound to this deity thats trying to make him a better person and have him do good deeds and stuff amd he HATES IT. as aforementioned he is the worst fucking guy alive hes greedy and selfish and an all around bastard who literally scams people for a living and now all of a sudden hes forced to be a good person or else god will kill him and its the funniest dynamic ive ever written. anyways he escapes his master and leaves the underdark and meets up with the party etc etc etc BUT i wanna talk more about his life before then. see the underdark is a really shitty fuckinf place to live for like 90% of the population and basically anyone that isnt a drow or duergar. SO. you can imagine his life kind of sucks. he is forever in servitude of at least one master at all times & is FOREVER trying to convince everyone he meets to let him live. he used to have wings, in fact! however when they grew in, his master used him for his wings & made him do a bunch of shady shit for him before cutting them off, not wanting juno to seem too valuable to others and have him stolen. juno currently doesn’t remember ever having wings & is convinced hes just naturally discoordinated and clumsy but in reality he’ll never fully acclimate to living without his wings. for all of the 18 years he lived in gracklstugh he spent every day trying to be good enough so that he wouldn’t be deemed useless and killed. his main tactic for this is flirting. see, he knows he’s fucking annoying, and he’s spent years trying to ‘fix it’, and he just can’t. so if he cant change his personality, he believes his only use is his looks. he’ll flash a charming smile and a kiss on the cheek to the vendor he’s currently robbing, distracting them so that he can steal just enough to get by. he’s fucking pretty, and he knows it, so he uses it to his advantage. he exists as an accessory, something to be used, and believes that’s the entirety of his worth. when he escapes the underdark by killing his master (with the help of angel, another pc in our campaign), he takes his left eye out. the scar changes everything. if he’s not pretty, not appealing enough, then he’s fucking useless. he finally got his chance to escape the underdark and now he’s going to be left to die as soon as he sees the sun for the first time. OBVIOUSLY THIS ISNT WHAT HAPPENS. throughout the campaign, one of the other pcs, rpck (no that’s not a typo his name is rpck) falls in love with him. this shit changes EVERYTHING his entire worldview begins to crumble as he learns he can finally be loved and. Yeaghf. im fucking normal about him. theres ALWAYS more i can say abt him but this is long enough already LMFAO thank u for letting me ramble jack :-)

#d&d #oc tag #d4 campaign #juno infyris #ocs #frog answers

[panickinganakin]

stitches (ch 5)

a/n - hello everything! this is chapter 5 of an ongoing steddie fic! you can find all previous chapters here

*trigger warnings for this ch include blood/needles

Steve sucked in a breath. Eddie had woke up but then he had passed back out. "Give me that book. We need to get this IV in him," Robin sounded as if she was starting to panic.

"Calm down, Robs. He's gonna be okay. He just needs more rest."  Steve said this he passed her the book and started to untangle the tubing that was wrapped around the random bags of liquid. Steve looked down at Eddie. He watched as his chest rose and fell slowly. He couldn't help but frown. Eddie looked so sad but he also didn't even remember what happened. 

"What are we going to tell him? Ya know, when he actually wakes up? If he doesn't remember any of it at all..."

Steve's shoulders lifted in a shrug, "I don't know what we'll say. We'll wait until we know he's okay. Completely healed, no risk of infection or anything like that. Then, the first thing we'll do is tell Dustin. After that, we try hard to get his name cleared. Once he's cleared then.. I don't know what will happen from there."

Robin's eyes scanned the index of the book as she searched for the page she needed. After finding and flipping to the correct one she read for a few moments. "Hand me the needle," she told Steve. 

Steve watched as she put the gloves on then held her hands out. "Okay. Now, you put gloves on then take the alcohol wipes and clean the bend of his arm."

Steve did exactly as he was told. He ripped open the small pack of wipes and the scent of alcohol burned his nose. He wiped the wet cloth against Eddie's arm and tilted his head. Eddie was more muscular than Steve had realized before. "How come we have to do this? He isn't dehydrated yet. He just woke up an drank water?"

"To get a head start. He woke up today but we don't know how long it'll be before he wakes up again. If we wait until he's dehydrated it will be harder to insert a needle. Now, tie this above his elbow a sort of tightly while I get the air out of this bag."

Steve stared at his best friend in awe. Since meeting Robin she had never stopped surprising him. First, she was able to crack a secret russian code. Then, they both were captured and tortured by a group of these people then they helped fight monsters. Then, it was monsters again. 

He never would have guessed that Robin Buckley was a badass. If it weren't for Scoops Ahoy he may never have known either. He also wouldn't have a best friend. 

Robin moved next to the bed and bent down over Eddie. She poked the soft skin in the bend of his arm. "At least he's got some pretty visible veins." 

Steve held his breath as Robin pushed the needle in Eddie's arm. She put a piece of tape down to keep in place before she connected the tubes to the bag. She hung the bag on the large metal thing Steve had stolen from the clinic and sighed. 

She peeled her gloves off, "Well. At least I have some new stuff to put on our next resumes." She smiled then looked down at Eddie and back up at him. "I'm going to take a shower. If anything happens just come and get me."

Steve nodded at Robin and took a seat in one of the empty chairs after she left. He crossed one leg over the other and shook his foot slightly while staring at the window. The curtains were pulled together tightly that way if anyone came snooping around they wouldn't be able to see Eddie. 

He looked down at Eddie and his chest felt hollow. When he had left Dustin and Eddie to distract the demobats he had been very clear on the fact they weren't supposed to stray from the plan. Steve sighed and grabbed Eddie's hand with his, "I know you can't hear me.. But, you weren't supposed to try and be a fucking hero, man. You were supposed to stick to the plan. You could have died. Dustin thought you died.. He still thinks you're dead. Do you know what that did to him?" He couldn't help but imagining everything happening differently. What if when he and Robin arrived there wasn't a pulse? What if Eddie had really died?

Steve's throat started to feel tight and like a lump was growing in it. He couldn't even stand to picture it. This past week had changed his perspective on many things. One of them being his previous opinions of Eddie Munson. He hadn't had many of course, he barely knew he was; but he most definitely didn't think he'd be like this. 

Tears pooled in Steve's eyes and he tried blinking them away. His chest felt shallow at the thought of Eddie being gone. He hadn't realized until now how bad it would affect him. The thought of losing Eddie didn't feel the same as losing someone else. It felt like a darkness could swallow him completely whole. Like maybe he actually couldn't live without him. 

Steve stood up and paced the length of the room, taking deep breaths. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He mumbled out loud. Maybe the lack of sleep and food was making his brain fuzzy. 

He looked back at Eddie and sighed. When Robin got back he would take a turn to shower then he'd cook them something for dinner. Then maybe tomorrow... Maybe they would tell Dustin.

taglist - @ohmyitsfaith

#steddie fic #steddie #eddie munson #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve/eddie #stranger things eddie #stranger things ff #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #eddie x steve #eddie munson ff

[theragingbluwaffle]

Ive been away from Tumblr for a long while because ive been going through a lot of stuff. From being basically homeless, to being robbed, being sued, having my identity stolen.... Things have just been a mess and somehow, i managed to change careers. I got my CDL and things have started looking up, its probably been the best thing that's happened to me and im thankful for that change.

#cdljobs #who am i kidding ive survived a lot of shit #im here #ive changed #im growning #skill training #skilled trades

[maddiecopesblog]

Conversation with my parents (and grandparents)

I have so far probably discussed this project with about 20 different people as I want to make sure I'm getting the opinions and thoughts of women affected by this as I go. I've also found it completely invaluable to listen to stories where people think they could've benefited from pockets, or have felt the labour that was expected of them was too much. Basing all of my work off my personal experiences is only going to be relatable to a certain number of people. I want my work to be accessible and relatable to as many people that I can.

I've brainstormed with all of my housemates, about 10 of my course mates, Ive chatted with shop workers and just people around town, its been a really interesting time I have sat down and discussed thoughts and suggestions with the people around me and they've brought some great insight. Ill list some of the stories here:

One woman told me about having missed phone calls due to rummaging around in a handbag for her mobile, she blamed a lack of accessible pockets for this

Another woman said that her boyfriend expected her to plan all of their dates and meals for the both of them, when she brought it up, he didn't understand.

Another woman told me she'd had her handbag stolen.

These insights are incredibly useful, showing me that the idea of 'invisible labour' is experienced by many, and that pockets are an iestablished issue that is yet to have a soluation. I wanted to speak to some more women of different generations, so I decided to interview some of my family members.

When I first explained the project to my mother, she was confused.

'Can't you just have a handbag?'

My heart sank, she just didn't get it.

My mother has worked very hard her whole life, she's endured male dominated workplaces, raised two children, volunteered regularly, protested often and is my biggest inspiration. She is also the most stubborn person I know. She, like many women, have lived a life of enduring casual sexism, she has adapted to the 'woman's way' of purchasing handbags and carrying things outside of your person.

When I went into more depth, explained how handbags are a creation to get women to spend more money and they also put women at risk of being robbed, she started to understand it more and could see the appeal of pockets.

My grandparents reaction was quite funny. My grandfather stated:

'Women don't actually want pockets, it would spoil the line'

Thanks grandad.

I think you'll find that every single statistic ever recorded on this topic states otherwise.

My grandmother on the other hand, loves it and has very much enjoyed telling her friends when she finds dresses and trousers with adequate pockets.

I want my work to speak to all women, young or old, so addressing things like the presence of handbags is really important because that seems like quite an important part of middle-aged women's thoughts about this. There is an element of just 'putting up with' casual sexism that middle aged women had to do in order to fit in with society and that is something I will need to consider in creating my outcome.

The solution to this problem needs to be accessible. it will be difficult to create one that can reach ALL women however I can do my best to reach as many as I can.

#fmp

[explodedjunk]

I forgot to post the 3 other chapters 😭.

What has came? Chapter IV

Happy reading.

Story on Tumblr:

Summary:

Thor and the rest of his group goes to California but Loki causes mischief and once they go back to Asgard Loki was taken somewhere.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

They all met up in California, and Loki saw Sif.

“Þinn einn idiot/ You’re and idiot” Loki whispered.

“Vér allr óderstanð þú/ we all understand you.” Sif argued back.

*in asgardian* “Loki, you’re basically asgardian, we all know what happened for the past million years and we all have the all tongue. You’re not more or less special than any of us either if you’re odinschild or laufeysonschild.” She barked.

“My brother could do anything Sif. He’s better than all of us, just physical..” Thor laughed.

Loki was getting bored on Earth.

+Time Skip+

It’s the 5th day of being in California, Loki wants to cause mischief as always so he decides a plan. He robs a mall, but has shape-shifted into his brother.

As he is done robbing stores in the mall, he looks to the camera and pulls the hoodie over his head dropping every item on him as he says “Yes, it is I, Thor Odinson,”

He has a long pause as of how to get his brother into trouble “Arrest me” as he throws his hands down and runs off with everything he has stolen.

Loki comes back late at night, Thor waiting upon him. “Where’ve you been” Thor questioned Loki as he is eyeing Loki’s transformation as a version of himself.

Loki transform back to himself. “I have done nothing brother”

Loki then grabs some of the stuff he has taken.

“What’s with the stuff, where’d you get it” Thor confusingly asked.

It took Loki long to respond. “Jane gave it to me” as he hurried and grabbed his stuff to take it into his small room that him and Thor had to share.

They then went to sleep, but was awaken up by the pounding of a door.

Thor and Loki was woken up but Thor told Loki to just go back to sleep saying it was just neighbors maybe.

Thor opened the door. “Hello, we have a warrant arrest on Thor Odinson of Asgard, for his thievery at the mall.”

“What”

“Do you know where Tho-“ Thor cut him off.

“I’m Thor”

“Great, we’re going to need you to come with us.”

“LOKI” Thor called Loki down.

“What is it brother?” Loki questioned but then froze to see people at the door.

“What did you do at this mall”

Erik Selvik then fired a bullet that made Loki pass out. “What did you just do” Thor demanded an answer.

“Look, I know it wasn’t you. I called the cops off and told them you went back to Asgard. I know it was your brother and we need to take every Asgardian into questioning about your so called ‘Powers’”

“No” He then shut the door on Erik and called all his friends to show they had to leave. Loki had waken up but disappeared.

Loki went to an airport in California, but he was trying to steal hydra level type tech but then suddenly someone knocked him out and he was then placed in a hydra cell.

Although Loki didn’t wake up and it then was put into an emergency room as captain might’ve hit Loki way to hard then supposed.

Thor on the other hand, had gotten hold of heidmill to see where Loki is and once he found out. Thor flew there with his friends.

They then broke into the room shattering glass and grabbed Loki, but before they flew back. Natasha stopped him

“NO WAIT” Natasha yelled demandingly.

Thor waited “What is it you have to say”

“Your brother I assume, he’s passed out and will stay like that for maybe a few days, Hydra’s medical could help, just, let’s talk.” Natasha was calm although for the workers not really.

“Thor Odinson of Asgard or do you prefer God of Thunder?” Captain America asked.

“Just Thor, it doesn’t matter, now. What happened to Loki” Thor demanded.

“Loki was stealing high tech, is there any reason as to why he would need it” Nick Fury complained.

“He’s my brother”

“He robbed a whole mall and broke open a high tech room” Captain America mentioned.

“He’s adopted.” Thor said as he was covered in shame.

“My brother doesn’t need that tech as he is the God of Mischief and just decided to do his silly so called ‘pranks’ to keep his name as the God of Mischief, I assure you my brother doesn’t need your ‘tech savvy technology’”

“That’s good to hear but Lackey will have to stay with us until he awakes” Nick Fury reported.

“It’s Loki.” Thor hissed. “And no.” Thor added.

“You do not want to play this war with us and stark industries.”

“Then don’t play with actual Gods you foolish humans” As Thor approached Fury.

“Okay that’s enough” Captain America added as he pushed them away.

“I’m taking Loki back to Asgard” Thor argued.

“No, you’re not until we get our answers by him to know he’s not a threat”

“Loki better be safe here and done by the next 2-3 days but I will stay by his side without leaving him at all, or I will be your biggest threat to Earth you have ever seen.” Thor demanded

“Fine by me” Nick Fury rejoiced.

Thor then approached to Loki. “Brother I know your games wake up. No way you fell by a weaker species” Sif saw Thor as Thor held Loki in his hands. “Thor, we must go.”

“No, I can’t leave my little brother here” Thor said. “He’ll be alone, He will be scared” Thor then added, but Thor was enough with the crap either way so he then grabbed Loki and then lifted his head to tell Sif and his friends that its time to leave.

They then flew off breaking the window, Thor didn’t even know why he wasted time even talking or coming at all.

As they came back home Thor threw Loki on the ground.

“BROTHER, WAKE UP. YOU’RE NOT PASSED” Thor yelled as Loki opened his eyes laughing.

“I’m not trying to die this week brother, just Earth is so boring I had to make it better.” Loki scoffed.

Thor walked away, “Loki, I’m leaving you alone now.”

That cut off Loki as he then jumped immediately and started chasing after his brother.

“No, brother just wait a second.” Loki suggested. But Thor didn’t want to hear it and started running off.

“No Loki, go to Hela” he groaned.

But Loki followed him “I’m not going to listen you” he added as he smiled.

The whole time Loki chased him and Thor pushed him off. “No matter what you do I wont stop following you” Loki sang.

Thor then grabbed a gag and put it over his mouth.

“Loki stop, cut it out” Thor yelled.

Loki then pointed at the gag asking if he could speak, Thor then took it off.

“I’ll put it back on if you keep chattering” Thor suggested.

“I’ll stop just you stop” Loki said confused at his own words.

“Loki, you are basically spinning circles. You’re just so predictable.”

Thor laughed.

“Thanks Brother.” He said sarcastically.

Suddenly everything went quiet as the sky turned dark.

“Is this you” Loki asked being aware of his standing.

“No, it’s you. Loki stop that.” Thor demanded.

“I can assure you, its not me”

Then, BAM! All of Asgard went quiet. As everyone had passed out, and they were pushed by some sort of beam as it took Loki on a ship, while he smiled and waved bye to Thor jokingly as Thor tried to follow with his hammer but Loki and this group had disappeared in some sort of portal.

“LOKI” Thor yelled. As he sighed when had had disappeared.

Notes:

I know this chapter didn’t make much sense, but I can assure you i was just rushing this and being so lazy for this chapter, Thank you for reading <3.

I have plans for the next maybe 2 chapters will be about the chitari attack in New York in the Disney+ series ‘Avengers’

#hela #fanfic #fluff #loki marvel #loki odinson #loki of asgard #marvel #odinson brothers #thor marvel #fluff and angst #domestic fluff

[eatcandlewax]

i felt only fear as the footsteps came closer. i was caught. i'd been had. and now, ive been robbed of everything i owned. truly tragic. i worry i may not ever be the same again. such thievery will never be forgiven. how can one sleep at night knowing they've stolen my life's purpose. you should be ashamed, you tyrant! shame! shame on you!

#when someone revokes my rights to a sharp object #what if i need those scissors huh

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Disney's writer wage-theft is far worse than reported

Back in November, we learned that Disney had pulled a breathtakingly criminal wage-theft manuever on one of science-fiction's most beloved authors, Allan Dean Foster, an elderly cancer-patient caring for his sick wife.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/19/disneymustpay/#disneymustpay

Foster is the bestselling author of some of the most successful movie novelizations ever, from the first STAR WARS novel to ALIENS novels and more. Thanks to Disney's monopolistic buying spree of companies like Lucas and Fox, they now owned the movies and Foster's contract.

Here's where things get criminally weird. Disney argued that when they bought out Lucas, Fox, etc, they acquired their assets, but not their liabilities. In other words, they'd acquired the right to sell Foster's work, but not the obligation to pay him when they did.

This is not how copyright contracts work, period. If it were, then any publisher with a runaway bestseller novel could incorporate a new company, sell its assets - but not its liabilities - to that company, and stiff the writer.

Both Foster's agent and the Science Fiction Writers of America tried to negotiate with Disney quietly on this, but they were stonewalled and insulted (Disney insisted that they wouldn't even *discuss* a deal without first getting nondisclosure agreements from Foster, another unheard-of tactic).

After failing to make progress with private negotiations, they went loudly public, launching the #DisneyMustPay campaign. The good news is, the campaign was successful, and Foster has been paid.

The bad news is that the campaign flushed out *many* writers who are also having their wages stolen by Disney. The company is stalling them, too - refusing to search its records or volunteer info unless the authors can name the specific instances in which they've been robbed.

In response, SFWA has joined forces with the Romance Writers of America, the Horror Writers of America, the National Writers Union, Sisters in Crime and the Authors Guild to form a coalition called Writers Must Be Paid.

https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/

They have a form where writers who suspect that Disney has stolen their wages can report it, anonymously:

https://airtable.com/shrE1hJbqMHsjP9Ll

There's a reason for the anonymity: Disney's anticompetitive mergers (culminating with the destructive Fox merger) has created a monopoly with vast market-power to destroy creators' livelihoods by excluding them for speaking out.

The coalition has five modest demands for Disney:

I. Honor contracts now held by Disney and its subsidiaries

II. Provide royalty payments and statements to all affected authors

III. Update their licensing page with an FAQ for writers about how to handle missing royalties

IV. Create a clear, easy-to-find contact person or point for affected authors.

V. Cooperate with author organizations who are providing support to authors and agents.

More broadly, I hope this brings more creative workers into the discussion about competition.

Specifically, "monopsony," the excessive buying power that happens when a companies dominate access to a market, which allows them to squeeze their suppliers, especially workers.

#pluralistic

[johnnysnostril]

nct 127 as royals [18+]

♔ kingdoms + empires ♖

this has got to be one of my favorite scenarios so far. ive put together a little something for the people who are obsessed with the royal + medieval times. let me know which kingdom or empire you’re in! enjoy, xoxo 

empire of

❅ ELPIDA ❅

colors: yellow + gold

moto: “be delicate like a flower, hopeful like an angel.”

your position: the page ☾❀|❀☽

cares for the royal clothing

assist with dressing the royals

pick out ball gowns and attire for royal dances/weddings

emperor taeyong’s trustee: <<doyoung>>

shields you from witnessing illegal matters

protects you from unexpected dangers

accompanies you to royal fittings

his secret: you are his mistress. he comes to you whenever he’s feeling vulnerable and weak. you’ve been sleeping with the emperor for a few months now and you’re starting to fall in love with him. you want to admit your feelings to him but you know that he’ll never leave the empress just for a page.

sexual desire: <<blindfolding/handcuffing>>

look at you- tied up and blinded. now, i can explore your body without interruptions.

empire of

✤ IRIS ✤

colors: emerald green + white

moto: “listen to the gods- they will never lead you wrong.”

your position: the physician ☤

in charge of the royals health

partake in surgical procedures

assist in healing the wounded knights

emperor taeil’s trustee: <<taeyong>>

supplies you with out of country medicine

shows you how to make potions

provides you with illegal knives to perform difficult surgeries

his secret: emperor taeil is planning on poisoning the empress. with your help, along with his trustee- he is ending his arranged marriage, that he never wanted to be apart of. with her gullible attitude, the empress believes you are no harm. little does she know, that you are the one who will witness her last breath.

sexual desire: <<submission>>

tell daddy how much you love it when he makes you feel helpless.

empire of

ᕯ IPHIOS ᕯ

colors: cream + brown

moto: “show no mercy, show no fear.”

your position: the squire ⚘

apprentice to the knights

witnesses training for battles

eyes and ears of the empire

emperor johnny’s trustee: <<jaehyun>>

teaches you secret death pressure points

reveals all hidden secrets of the knights

shows you secret passage ways through the castle

his secret: he’s cheating on the empress with a queen from another kingdom. somehow, you ended up being his second mistress- landing the position of the squire, by promising to protect his secret from the knights- who are ordered to kill the queen mistress per the empress. although the empress has knowledge of emperor johnny cheating on her, she had no idea about you. and you and emperor johnny will keep it that way.

sexual desire: <<master/slave>>

you follow directions so well, don’t you? master will have his way with you and you’ll behave- like a good little slave, won’t you?

kingdom of

❈ THPHIC ❈

colors: peach + silver

moto: “all that is gold, shall be silver.”

your position: the watchman ✇

watches over the castle

report suspicious behavior

create safety tactics

king yuta’s trustee: <<jungwoo>>

supplies you with foreign bombs

helps you plan stakeouts

provides you with secret information about other kingdoms

his secret: his mother was a servant to his royal father. his blood is not complete royalty. you and jungwoo are the only ones who know his secret- the two of you protect it with your lives. every now and then, you and king yuta will sleep together- as a thank you for keeping his secret.

sexual desire: <<public sex>>

and while everyone is watching, you’d be screaming my name- begging me for more.

kingdom of

✵CHARMOLIPIL ✵

colors: black + burgundy

moto: “never let them see your weak side- show them what they will fear.”

your position: the messenger ∺

relays messages from the king to other kingdoms

witness court trials

bring threatening news to the knights attention

king doyoung’s trustee: <<taeil>>

provides you with weapons that you aren’t licensed to have

helps you falsify information to threaten other kingdoms

supplies you with poison potions

his secret: you witnessed him kill his father so he could take over the kingdom. king doyoung has demanded you be the messenger, running to other kingdoms to let them know that the king is finally dead. he uses you as his secret weapon- having secret late night meeting with you, informing you of your weekly work. as these meeting progress through the months, you start to slowly fall in love with him- letting him know that you’ll do anything to keep his secret and to cover him. the king is slowly catching feelings for you but won’t show his true feelings just yet.

sexual desire: <<threesomes>>

the both of you look so wonderful on your knees. now, please me.

empire of

✾ HALARA ✾

colors: royal blue + plum

moto: “wait for the perfect time, then attack.”

your position: the treasurer ∞

in charge of tax collecting

tracking debit with other empires

monitors the state of the empire

emperor jaehyun’s trustee: <<mark>>

helps you hide stolen money

forges numbers for the books

providing transportation and housing for your escape

his secret: you and emperor jaehyun have been stealing money from the empire. the two of you have convinced the empress that there is a traitor among the castle. emperor jaehyun has planned the escape for the both of you- leaving the empire behind for the empress, as he has fallen deeply in love with you. 

sexual desire: <<erotic spanking/servant play>>

ah- you’ve disobeyed me again, servant. bend over, you know what time it is.

kingdom of

❂ CHRYSEOS ❂

colors: red + violet

moto: “stay gold, always.”

your position: the marshal 〶

ensures that the kingdoms laws are enforced

responsible for securing the kingdoms boarders

organizes patrol and responds to threats

king jungwoo’s trustee: <<haechan>>

protects your illegal work regarding protection of the king

assists you with hiring hitmen for the ones who threaten the king

provides you with handguns/weapons for the knights

his secret: you and king jungwoo have been legally married in another country, for five years. the queen has no idea that she is technically a mistress. you plan to hire a hitman to take out the queen, robbing her of her jewls and kidnap the king- to live your life in your home country; where no one knows of your work with the king. 

sexual desire: <<roleplay>>

you look exquisite in royal clothing, my dear. what would be even more delicious, is you bent over the queens royal chair.

empire of

✥ MERAKI ✥

colors: gold + black

moto: “take everything, forgive no one and leave no trace.”

your position: the spymaster ⌖

observes the empires criminal elements

spies on other kingdoms+empires

uses collected information to protect the king

emperor mark’s trustee: <<yuta>>

supplies you with illegal torture devices

provides you with secret maps to other kingdoms+empires to break into their castles

helps you protect the king

his secret: you are his long lost love. as he was promised to another female at birth, he fell in love with you as a young man. you were brought into the castle by his father who was the emperor, as an orphan child of a passing village. before the emperor’s passing, you promised to watch after the castle and his reigning son. every now and then, you and emperor mark find yourselves in deep love with each other, but you can’t bring yourself to destroy the lee empire with your own desire.

sexual desire: <<face sitting>>

you’d look even more beautiful, straddling my face. i bet that you wouldn’t be able to ride my tongue without making a sound. 

kingdom of

۞ AGAPI ۞

colors: baby blue + gray

moto: “everything in the world is about sex, except sex. sex is about power.”

your role in the castle: the steward ❦

in charge of daily management and supplies needs for the castle and the king

responsible for financial and legal matters concerning the castles estates

represents the king in court, while he is away

king haechan’s trustee: <<johnny>>

covers up your mistakes

protects you from unwanted information being released

prints money illegally and uses it to help you pay for supplies

his secret: king haechan is planning to have the queen assassinated so you can fill her role once she is gone. johnny is the only person who knows that you and the king are sleeping together. although king haechan doesn’t know just yet, you are pregnant with his son-

sexual desire: <<domination and rough sex>>

no one will be able to hear you cry out in this dungeon, my love. but, i do think you need something to occupy that throat of yours.

#nct scenarios #nct fanfic #nct imagines #kpop fanfic #nct 127 #nct dream #nct 127 stories #nct 127 smut #nct 127 fan stories #nct 127 imagines #johnnysnostril #nct 127 taeyong #nct 127 taeil #nct 127 johnny #nct 127 doyoung #nct 127 yuta #nct 127 jaehyun #nct 127 mark #nct 127 haechan #nct 127 jungwoo #nct 127 kingdoms and empires #kpop royalty #nct royalty

[sonnet009]

Wilder: Royo’s Story (Route Summary)

PROLOGUE:

MC decides not to flee Ziya but to instead wait for the guards to arrive, trusting that justice and truth will prevail. She is promptly arrested and thrown in prison to await her execution.

CHAPTER I:

Weeks pass and MC grows weak and despondent. Then one day an audaciously dressed djinn appears, knocks out the guards, and rescues MC from her cell. The djinn introduces herself as Royo and says that she has been sent here by an important man with a lot of coin. Royo smuggles MC out of the palace in an empty wine barrel, barely keeping her cover intact when one of the palace servants treats her like a lowly slave.

Outside and in the clear MC learns to her dismay that Royo was not sent by Uncle Makram to bring MC home, but by some mysterious other man to whom Royo intends to take her. Unable to overpower her or call out for help without being sent straight back to the dungeon, MC reluctantly goes along with Royo who has a horse waiting to carry both of them away into the desert.

In the Shining Sands Royo and MC cross paths with slavers returning to the city. One of the men recognises MC and Royo kills all of them before they can cause trouble. MC is horrified but Royo only shrugs. “Problem solved, princess.”

CHAPTER II:

Royo takes MC up into the Western Hills in an attempt to shake off any potential pursuers. She refuses to divulge the identity of her employer and will say only that he is a man who believes in MC's innocence. MC asks if Royo believes she is innocent, but Royo only replies that she doesn't care. Suddenly the two women are surrounded by a hunting party of wild djinn. Royo whispers to MC that they should bide their time for now and allows the djinn to escort them to their leader.

The tribe's chief is quickly charmed by Royo and agrees to let them stay there for the night, though he insists that MC is tied to a tree. During dinner two djinn children come to bring MC some food. Royo later takes MC – hands still tied – to a river to wash the grime away, claiming that her employer will be annoyed if MC is delivered to him looking so disheveled. MC notes that Royo seems to be enjoying MC's humiliation. Royo doesn't deny it. After all, she had to endure debasement at the hands of humans for years. “You will survive one night of indignity, princess.”

In the night a sudden storm rolls in. One of the children MC met before is swept into the river but is only noticed by MC, and no one will listen to her. Unable to swim but with no choice, MC leaps into the river to save the child. She manages to drag him to the bank before collapsing. As soon as the storm passes, Royo insists that she and MC move on.

CHAPTER III:

Royo and MC head up into the mountains known as the Knives. Feeling weaker and weaker, injuries from her clumsy rescue throbbing, MC finally passes out and falls to the ground. When she wakes it is in a cave, lit by firelight, resting in Royo's lap. Royo, unaware she is awake, is murmuring apologies for not realising MC had a fever and commendations for being brave enough to jump in the river and insults for being stupid enough to jump in the river.

When MC reveals that she is awake Royo nearly jumps out of her skin. She caught some rabbits earlier and has been cooking them on the fire. The two eat dinner together and Royo finally opens up a little more. She explains that her employer is Yasir, a member of the Guild that rules the city of Umar. He is famous as the human who emancipated the djinn of Umar and has taken great interest in MC, who killed the shah in the name of the slaves. MC protests that she didn't kill the shah, not for the slaves or anyone, but Royo already knows. It's simply a rumour that Yasir wants to capitalise on.

Once MC has recovered she and Royo continue their journey, though now they are more at ease with each other. Royo hits MC with her first snowball. They bathe together in a hot spring. Royo checks MC's still-healing wounds and tells her, “Next time, count on me.” She also muses that the tribe will probably remember MC's actions for a long time. It's not the kind of revolutionary action that will force change on a grand scale, but it wasn't bad. For a princess.

CHAPTER IV:

Past the Knives now, on the way to the port town of Dijarah, Royo finally tells MC the truth about Yasir's expectations. He wants MC to marry him. MC is appalled. Royo is sympathetic but firm, insisting that Yasir is a great man and her best option.

She tells the story of her young life as a criminal, slave to a gang of thieves. One day she tried to rob Yasir, just a simple merchant back then, only to have him declare that, if she helped him, he would free not just her but everyone like her. It was like being reborn, she says with a profound solemnity. MC starts to wonder if Royo is in love with Yasir.

Hamza and his men ambush them on the road. Hamza overpowers Royo but is unprepared for the headbutt she plants on him. Fleeing with MC on her back, Royo gives the soldiers the slip and comes to rest in an old barn. Royo tells MC to sleep while she keeps watch for the night but MC instead chooses to stay awake by her side.

CHAPTER V:

Once they arrive in Dijarah Royo buys dinner for them both at a local inn. A drunk man bumps into them and takes offence to Royo's lack of subservience. Royo brushes him off and suggests to MC that they take in the sights at the Fish Festival that is happening tonight, though that means delaying their journey by a day. MC is touched that Royo would do that for her, though Royo denies any sentimentality.

During the festival they walk through the lively streets and Royo seems to be on a mission to give MC as many new experiences as she can. “I wish we could see more things like this,” she says quietly, but they both know that she cannot be swayed from her duty to Yasir. The drunkard from earlier reappears with his friends, hurling insults at Royo and threatening violence. Royo handily disarms him – his friends are no help – and sends them all running.

This incident has upset Royo in a way MC has never seen before. Royo says that she is sick of people like him. She is a free woman but they'll never see her as anything but beneath them. The next day she and MC board a ship bound for Umar, Royo distant and closed off again.

CHAPTER VI:

MC is treated like nobility on the ship, at Royo's insistence. Royo says it is what Yasir would want but MC suspects this is another way for Royo to distance herself from her. Every night MC sleeps in a luxurious cabin while Royo sleeps outside.

One day, alone on deck, MC is grabbed from behind by a mysterious figure who whispers into her ear, “Justice for the shah,” before pushing her overboard. Royo arrives in time to save her but does not see the would-be assassin. She investigates the ship but cannot find any passenger without an alibi. That night she sleeps on the floor in MC's cabin and they fall asleep holding hands, a vow to protect MC on Royo's lips.

Days pass with no further attempts on MC's life. Royo is stuck to MC like glue, but their unresolved issues turn this into a volatile situation. During an argument Royo nearly kisses MC, then backs off – horrified at herself – and leaves the room. While MC waits for her to return and sorts through her own feelings, the assassin slips into the room.

CHAPTER VII:

Though MC is injured in the ensuing struggle Royo returns in time to thwart the assassin – a man hired by Hamza to shadow MC and wait for the right moment to enact “justice”. While tending to MC's new wounds Royo berates herself for being a terrible escort so far. She admits that it's because she's starting to want not to hand MC over to Yasir.

Giving in to their growing passion and feeling the looming threat of their time journeying together coming to an end, MC and Royo embrace each other and spend the rest of the voyage together in MC's cabin. Royo calls it “making the most of the time we still have”.

But eventually their stolen time together must end. The ship reaches Umar and they disembark. Though pained, Royo makes sure MC knows that they can never speak of this or do it again.

CHAPTER VIII:

When MC is brought before Yasir, it is not him alone waiting for her. Hamza stands beside him, intent on arresting MC and taking her back to Ziya for her execution. With no other way to protect herself, MC accepts Yasir's marriage proposal on the spot and Hamza leaves to avoid a diplomatic incident. Yasir introduces MC to the Guild, the seven most important people in Umar who rule the city as one. Though they should be equal, Yasir clearly leads them.

Yasir throws a ball to celebrate the engagement. MC ends up fleeing to a guest room and Royo follows. Both longing for each other, they give in to temptation but soon stop when the miserable reality of the situation becomes too heavy to ignore.

The night before the wedding MC cannot sleep and wanders Yasir's manor, wanting nothing more than to find Royo and beg her to run away with her. She finds Royo in furtive conversation with another djinn and eavesdrops on them. Through this MC learns three devastating things: 1. Royo and her co-conspirators arranged for the shah of Ziya's murder. 2. They plan to kill Yasir tomorrow before the wedding. And 3. They intend to frame MC as the culprit, and Yasir as the second husband she has had killed.

CHAPTER IX:

The manor is too abuzz with wedding preparations for MC to find anyone who will listen to her. Yasir is cloistered in his chambers and has no interest in seeing her until just before the ceremony. When it is just her, Yasir and Royo in the room, MC is surprised when nothing happens. No assassination. Things are not going according to the plan she heard last night at all.

The wedding goes ahead, vows are spoken, but everything is suddenly interrupted by a number of black-clad and masked djinn who storm the ceremony. While one stabs Yasir through the heart, killing him, another attacks MC. Royo cries out, “No!” and shields MC from the dagger, taking the wound herself. As chaos erupts throughout the crowd MC only has eyes for Royo, cradling her as she bleeds out on the ground. Through shuddering breaths Royo tells MC that she wasn't supposed to be hurt. MC confronts her about the plan but Royo says she changed the plan, not wanting MC to be a pawn in anyone's plots anymore – especially not hers. MC doesn't understand why this has happened. Royo's final words before she is dragged away by guards is, “His...coffer...”

While Royo is confined to the dungeon, MC searches Yasir's chambers. She unlocks the golden coffer by his bed and finds a mountain of evidence that he was far from the good-hearted revolutionary he pretended to be. His freeing of the slaves was a political stunt and the ultimate goal was to have them slide back into chains over time. Royo must have discovered this some time ago and has been plotting his downfall ever since. Not just his, but the downfall of all the tyrants who would keep her people enslaved. The documents also implicate the Guild in a lot of shady practices. MC takes what she knows to them and promises not to expose them; she just has one demand...

BITTER END:

MC demands that Royo is freed and pardoned. The Guild accepts and gifts MC her late husband's manor and wealth as further insurance that she will not be a problem for them.

Royo stays with MC for a while while she recovers but living in the manor in wilful ignorance of the injustice still present in Umar and beyond becomes suffocating for her. One night MC catches her trying to slip away from their bed leaving behind only a note. Royo says that she has to go, has to see the change she wants in the world be done, but promises to return if she can.

SWEET END:

MC demands her late husband's place in the Guild. With little choice, they accept. MC uses her new power to free and pardon Royo. The two of them return to Yasir's (now MC's) manor and spend most of their time working together to draw up proposals to bring before the Guild, forcing them to enact real and lasting change for the djinn. The one MC is most excited to put in place would be increasing the Guild's number by making Royo a member.

MC and Royo make no secret of their relationship, now able to be lovers openly and without shame. Royo proposes marriage –  when enough time of “mourning” has passed, of course. The large scar Royo has from the wedding day has become both a point of pride for her and a reminder not to forget that she isn't alone in this anymore.

#Wilder #Royo #Route Summary

[josefavomjaaga]

Helfert, “Joachim Murat”, Chapter 4, Part 5

We left Murat after the defeat of Tolentino and now have a look at what was going on with the other King of the Two Sicilies, the one actually sitting in Sicily, Ferdinand.

Among the motives that led Joachim to consider a speedy retreat to Naples was the impending danger from Sicily.

There were still British garrisons on the island, and Ferdinand IV himself desired it, although he was almost constantly at odds with their leaders, and especially with England's diplomatic representative. A'Court was full of complaints about him. "The foundations of the constitution," he had written to Castlereagh on January 5, 1815, "or rather I should say its rhymes, for it has never had any foundations, are being swept out of the way on all sides, and it appears as if, as soon as Naples is won again, everything will revert to a mild despotism, or else, if the court does not succeed in this, will take on a strictly aristocratic character and make the already overconfident barons fully masters of the king as well as of the people." The parliament had recently convened on October 22, 1814, and had been in session for months into 1815, constantly preoccupied with the financial question, which it had been unable to resolve satisfactorily. There had been some of the most heated exchanges; one day towards the end of January, the deputies literally got into each other's hair, so that the guards had to intervene to break them up. When the English had cancelled the King's subsidies of 400,000 pounds sterling annually, which were to be discontinued on 1 March, the matter had become so urgent that Ferdinand IV had had to resort to an extraordinary measure, which, as we remember, was taken on both sides of the Faro at times of need. By royal decree of 18 February, until the parliament had succeeded in restoring financial order, the salaries of all civil servants and officers due at the end of the month had been suspended, which not only exposed the majority of those initially affected to bitter shortages and worries, but in its further consequences also had a terrible effect on public safety; hardly a night went by in Palermo without houses being broken into, the inhabitants robbed, everything that could be carried away stolen, so that all better-off families were in constant fear of their lives. But all these sufferings and worries now took a back seat to the greater events taking place on the mainland, which were bound to change the situation on the island.

On April 29th, an alliance treaty was concluded in Vienna between Austria, with the accession of Russia and Prussia on the one hand, and the Court of Palermo on the other, by virtue of which the latter, represented by Prince Leopold and Commander Ruffo, undertook to put 30,000 men into the field and to bear all the costs of the campaign. In the second article, the conditions were expressed under which Ferdinand was to take over the government of Naples again: no investigation and persecution, recognition of the sale of state property, guarantee of public debt, keeping the new (Buonapartist) nobility on an equal footing with the old, and generally maintaining all the honours, promotions and pensions conferred by the previous governments. On the evening of May 4, the Prince and the Minister departed from Vienna, and from that moment there was no longer a "King Joachim", no longer a "Queen Caroline", but only a "Mme Murat", a "Marshal Murat", of whom Castlereagh said in the British Parliament that he owed his fall only to the ambiguity of his attitude: "if his sentiments could have been relied upon, he would not have been deprived of his crown". In Bianchi's main quarters, in accordance with the instructions received from Vienna, the royal title was still maintained; only Lord Burghersh, following the example of his compatriot Bentinck, did not allow himself to be deprived of speaking of anything other than "Marshal Murat", even in official dispatches.

On April 30, the day after the Treaty of Vienna, of which Palermo was of course not yet aware, the king announced his imminent departure for Naples in a solemn parliamentary session and demanded the necessary means, which the Estates willingly provided. To his Neapolitans, however, Ferdinand issued a manifesto, dated May 1st, which his supporters were to smuggle in and distribute in both Calabria and the other provinces as well as in the capital. Mistakes that had been made were deplored without any intention of punishing them; peace and harmony, general forgiveness and forgetting, the retention of all civil servants and officers in their ranks were promised; laws were envisaged that would serve as a basis for future state institutions and as a guarantee of civil liberties. Ferdinand did not wish to wait for the final outcome of the war before preparing to sail to Naples; he decided to go to Messina for the time being in order to be closer to the development of events.

A British fleet of 20 warships of various sizes under Admiral Bellew sailed in the Tyrrhenian Sea and kept an eye on the coasts of the mainland.

In Naples, after the first unfavourable news had arrived in April, extensive precautions had been taken to put the capital and Capua in a state of defence, especially Gaëta, where a whole suburb was razed, all the inhabitants who did not know how to provide themselves with food for months were expelled from the city, and the government palace was prepared to receive the royal family. But all these measures, initiated with strength and prudence under the rule of the regent, could no longer help a cause which made the rampant licentiousness in the ranks of the army appear to be already lost.

On May 4, after the second day of the battle of Tolentino, the general retreat of the royals had begun, more sinister than the previous defeat. The Carafa brigade disobeyed its commander and the soldiers ran in groups towards the Neapolitan frontier. General Lecchi had to report to the king that he was no longer able to keep his soldiers in obedience; the situation was no better with the legion of the wounded d'Ambrosio; Carascosa alone led his "legion" back in good order. The closer they came to the borders of their homeland, the more numerous the deserters became. The onset of severe frost, "not like in the Italian spring but like in the gruesome winter of Switzerland", as Colletta puts it, plus heavy rain that drove all the water over the banks and thus caused stagnation in the columns, were as much occasions as cloaks for the desertion. With bitter sorrow, the king saw such a beautiful army, his pride and his joy, disappear before his eyes, dissolve into its components; his otherwise cheerful countenance, smiling happily for everyone approaching, was now darkened by heavy grief and large tears streamed from his eyes down his cheeks. It was at the passage over the Tronto, at the border of his kingdom, which he was to cross again as a defeated man, where the word "abdicate" was spoken before him for the first time. In the first surge of his anger he wanted to strike down with his own hand the general d'Aquine, who had hitherto always played the humble servant; but he restrained himself and merely relieved him of the command which he had not held with great glory. The king, for his own part, even in this ignominious retreat, often performed miracles of valour. General Colletta relates an instance in which the king, who was brave to the last moment and the last in the train, helped with his own hand to barricade a road at the entrance of which a detachment of Austrian cavalry was charging and firing. But Joachim could not be everywhere, and where he was not, there was nothing but disaster. The imperials made one capture after another. At Lanciano, 23 cannons, 10 howitzers, 20 ammunition carts and their crew fell into their hands. Manhès, who was only strong when he was raging, abandoned his position at the Garigliano, the important border river, on 6 May, without having seen anything of the enemy, so that the Queen relieved him of his command and persuaded the Minister of War to take his place in the field. On May 10, Joachim was in Bopoli, on the 11th he held a review of his troops; he still had 14,000 men with 16 guns. But already the apostasy in the provinces began to spread, which also had an effect on the ranks of the army. In those days, an appeal arrived from Isernia from the sub-intendant Milizia, in which the soldiers were called upon to abandon Murat's cause. When the king heard of this he exclaimed painfully, "And I, who have done nothing but good to this man!" He made a last attempt to retain the loyalty of his people and sent the General and State Councillor Colletta to the capital, where, together with Minister Zurlo, he was to draft the outlines of a constitutional charter; but Joachim urged them not to be too generous with the concessions to the people.

#joachim murat #caroline murat #naples #naples1815 #ferdinand de bourbon #napoleon #helfert murat #italy1815

[mandaloriangf]

ive been thinking a lot about this guy that robbed my grandma’s house after we had an estate sale (he purposefully robbed houses after estate sales and it even earned him a comic book like nickname) and im still so fucking angry about it. like we were grieving the loss of someone we loved and then he broke in and stole things with sentimental value plus it was my moms childhood home and she no longer felt safe there alone. and what sucks is we never got real justice for it because our case got dropped since apparently they didnt want to have to prosecute 30 (30!) cases.

also worth noting that when my mom found the house broken into and things stolen, she called the cops and they asked if there was anyone she could think of that would’ve done it and she said her sister (who actually had threatened to steal the chair previously daflsjdlkfjsdfj) and they said “its a family matter so theres nothing we can do” so the estate lawyer had to threaten to get the cops there

#he's still in prison iirc #one funny thing though is during the trial all the families he stole from had to appear to testitfy #which included my mom #and they all sat there so that he had to pass them all when he went to the courtroom #and when it was decided none of them were needed and could leave they all stayed so he had to walk past them all again