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agent-cupcake · 1 year

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Raptus Regaliter

A powerful friend helped me edit this. Fangs to her <3

Pairing: Zenos yae Galvus x f!Miqo'te WoL Reader

Synopsis: Alternate option for what happens after the cutscenes "The Time Between the Seconds" where you wind up in Imperial custody. Although a more accurate description would be: Zenos beats you up and then fucks you.

Warnings: explicit smut, violence, noncon, blood [lots of blood and violence]

Tags: size difference, choking, forced orgasm

Word Count: 13.1k

Notes: Look I know it's been a long time since I posted but please forgive me I'm giving you Zenos's massive cock as an apology.

There was nothing to make you profoundly regret every single one of your previous decisions like waking up bound, gagged, soaking wet, and with an unreasonably furious headache. Presumably—although you were a bit fuzzy on the details given the whole unconsciousness thing—the latter was from taking the hilt of a sword to the skull. Being wet had come from the bucket of cold water used to shock you awake before your march through what you could only assume was the Imperial-occupied Doma Castle.

“On your best behavior, savage,” the soldier holding your bound arm growled as he jerked you to an abrupt stop. His voice was twice muffled, once by his helmet and again by the sack pinning your ears flat against your head. In front of you, somebody opened another door.

Handcuffed, woozy, gagged, blind, and stripped of both your armor and your weapons, you had no idea what sort of misbehavior he expected. It was almost more than you could manage to stumble along as he pushed you forward. He released your elbow at the last second, letting you lurch forward and onto your knees. Instinct had your hands flying forward to catch yourself, but the only thing that did was cause the metal cuffs keeping them behind your back to tighten painfully. The smooth, cool marble floor hit hard. Red hot, aching pain radiated from the back of your head all the way down your spine and to your tail, chased upward by the jarring zing of falling onto your knees.

A rough hand on your shoulder jerked you upright and, with an unceremonious whip of canvas, the man pulled the sack off of your head. You squinted into the light, which was blessedly dim, waiting for your eyes to adjust to the sight of the two soldiers. They both wore full sets of armor, devaluing them into nothing more than faceless, nameless instruments of Garlemald. Why they had bothered with the bag in the first place was beyond you, it wasn’t as if you were familiar enough with this place to know your location from just a few halls. Scare tactic? Humiliation? As if being marched through the palace in nothing more than your underclothes wasn’t bad enough.

“Attempt to escape and your life is forfeit, savage,” the first soldier looming above you said, his hand threateningly resting on his sword.

“I’d like to see you try,” you said in response, although that’s not what came out around the mouthful of gag. Which was probably for the best. Despite the botched attempt at bravado, you didn’t really mean it. There was a chance you could take them and steal their weapons, but then you’d have to fight your way out of an Imperial infested stronghold without any clue of how to get out wearing nothing other than a tanktop and shorts.

Rather than respond, both soldiers gave a sharp Imperial salute, looking behind you.

Oh.

Knowing, and dreading, what you would find, you hobbled around to look behind yourself. The room wasn’t the torture dungeon you feared, but a lavish space with fine dark marble floor and ornate walls. Details were of little importance, your attention was focused only on the towering figure who stood at the far end with his back to you. Even though he wasn’t wearing his hulking Imperial armor, his size and long blond hair were too distinct for you to mistake him for anyone else.

Zenos. Seeing him triggered a rush of gut-twisting anxiety, fear, and helplessness. It overwrote your discomfort and fatigue entirely. Even shackled and disoriented, you clumsily struggled to get to your feet. Whether you meant to run or to fight, you didn’t know.

“On your knees, savage. You will show respect,” the soldier who had first spoken spat, forcing you back down with an elbow to the stomach and a heavy hand on your shoulder. You hit the floor for a second time with a muffled grunt, your body painfully tense. He cleared his throat, saluting again and raising his voice. “The prisoner, my lord.”

Zenos looked behind himself, giving you a flash of empty blue, before looking away. “Remove her shackles,” he ordered in a bored tone.

“Yes, my lord!”

The soldier behind you crouched down, pulling out a key. “Try anything,” he warned softly, “and you’ll regret it.”

You couldn’t see his face, but you could imagine the glare that accompanied the threat. And if it were just the two of them, you might have been formulating a plan of attack for the second you were freed. Surely you could take them. The real trouble stood at the other end of the room. So you swallowed your pride and nodded to show you understood. He unlocked the handcuffs, freeing your hands to pull the gag out of your mouth and toss it aside. Harsh red lines circled your wrists where the metal had cut deep indents into them.

“I will speak to the prisoner alone,” Zenos said, his back still turned. “See that we are not disturbed.”

With two more crisp salutes and cries of, “Yes, my lord,” the soldiers fled, sliding the door shut behind themselves.

As soon as the door was shut, you got to your feet. Zenos remained silent. Utterly motionless, his back to you. The casual dismissiveness was likely meant to flaunt his power, but you were glad for the chance to collect yourself in peace. He couldn’t see you wince as you straightened out and took stock of your body. Everything hurt, at least a little, but your head was the worst of it.

As the silence dragged on, you waited for Zenos to say something. He didn’t.

A fear tactic? A test?

Trying not to let it get to you, you focused on your surroundings. The room must have been for religious ceremonies at one point. You were pretty sure the far wall that Zenos was so distracted by, painted and decorated with symbols and iconography of the Doman kami, was a shrine. There were shelves for incense and to hang prayers, although that was all gone. Whatever furniture that might have once given the room comfort had also been removed, leaving it hollow and cold.

More importantly, the room lacked windows, leaving you unable to guess the time. It made you sick to think that you had been unconscious for very long. Your friends had to have been worried. Or, worse, they hadn’t gotten away. It was all so stupid. You shouldn’t have gone along with Yugiri in the first place, you should have done everything you could to stop her from the suicide mission. Your memories were cloudy and chaotic, but you recalled the fight, and Zenos’s missive, and the rescue. Everything would have been fine, but one of the Imperial soldiers had gone for Yugiri before Gosetsu got to her. You acted thoughtlessly, recklessly. All you got for your so-called heroism was the hilt of a sword to the head.

Smoothing your hands over your wet hair, and shaking out your ears, you considered how to play this.

Attacking was out. The room was empty, nothing for you to use as an improvised weapon. There was no way you would be able to win against Zenos in these conditions. Your captors had given you water when you woke up, but it had been at least twelve hours since you’d eaten and your only sleep had been from getting knocked out. It didn’t put you at a disadvantage entirely, but that was only if you were going against normal opponents. Running wasn’t much better. If Zenos had a mind to chase you, you knew firsthand how absurdly fast he could move.

That meant talking, didn’t it? Or trying to. If you were worth keeping alive and he requested you directly, that meant something. What had Zenos told you the night before? Whatever was meant by the time between the seconds was beyond you, but you understood his command to live. His odd display of sentiment seemed like leverage you could use, if only you knew how.

If only.

If Alphinaud were here, he would already have made his opening gambit to argue his way out of this. Estinien would be able to rely on his brute strength and talent to get out of here. Even Thancred would have already rattled off some sarcastic comment or joke to establish his confidence in a situation like this. You weren’t sure what you were meant to do, which approach suited you best. As the silence dragged on, however, you began to think that maybe saying nothing was worse.

“What magnificent creatures could have been given life by the prayers left at this altar, I wonder,” Zenos said, his voice quiet enough that you could barely hear him. “So much power, all wasted.” He sighed. Before you could respond, although you weren’t entirely sure he was talking to you, Zenos turned his head to address you directly. “I am disappointed in you.”

He turned in full, giving you a clear look at him without his helmet or the haze of rain.

So young. And with his long blond hair, kohl-lined baby blues, and angular features, Zenos possessed a disquieting sort of beauty, almost feminine in harsh contrast with his towering frame and the danger that rolled off of him in nearly tangible waves. While it was true that he was less bulky without the Imperial armor, the slightly more casual—assuming you could call a military coat worn on top of his shoulders like a cape with the sleeves hanging limp behind him casual—outfit only accentuated his figure. For several reasons, you weren’t sure that was a good thing.

“What?” you asked.

“I allowed you to go free, and yet you attacked like an ill-mannered dog the moment I turned my back, spitting upon the gift of my generosity,” he said. “Had you accepted the opportunity I so graciously offered, you would not be here.”

You opened your mouth to object before thinking better of it, clenching your fists to ground yourself so you could speak in a more measured tone. “I had no choice.”

Zenos didn’t visibly react to your answer, considering it with the same cool inscrutability. “You had a choice. You chose incorrectly. But if you are to be here regardless, I see no reason to deny my,” he paused, pulling in a breath through his teeth as he gave you a decidedly uncomfortable once over, “interest in you, hero.”

More aware than ever of your state of undress, nervous flutters battered the inside of your stomach, some intoxicating combination of fear and anticipation. Animal instinct told you to turn around and run no matter the cost, it screamed and scrambled in its panic to get away from him. Twice now he had beat you half to death, and that was while you were armed and rested. But there was another instinct that desperately longed to charge headfirst into the danger, to ease your discomfort through the traditional method. That is, with your fists.

“Did Yugiri… did everybody else escape?” you asked.

Zenos remained silent, his expression giving nothing away. His eyes were really blue. Soft, beautiful blue. And entirely, utterly empty.

Setting your shoulders, you forced yourself to hold eye contact, to prove that you weren’t afraid. “How long have I been here?”

More silence, broken only by the sound of Zenos’s footsteps as he began to approach you, walking in an arc rather than directly towards you. Circling like a wolf. All the while, his eyes didn’t waver. Even from across the room, he was physically imposing.

“Why did you summon me?” you pushed, a hint of desperation in your voice. Fear. You adjusted your stance in an attempt to orient yourself a little better. There really was no comfortable way to stand when you were so underdressed, no way to hide how vulnerable you felt.

He wasn’t going to answer. That wasn’t how this worked. Zenos yae Galvus wasn’t the type of man who was content to simply talk things out.

“You want information, right? About the rebellion,” you said, forcing yourself to sound strong. “Well it’s a waste of your time, I won’t tell you anything.”

At first, you thought he was going to ignore you again.

“There’s no need for that,” Zenos finally responded, taking another step. His expression remained completely impassive. It gave you the eerie sensation that, even without the helmet, he was still masked. “I do not concern myself with the petty antics of dead men. The savages of this desolate nation will continue to eat their own. I will not interfere unless she fails once more.”

You took a half step back, pursing your lips as you tried to glean some deeper understanding from his words. “So what do you want from me?” you asked.

“I mean to quit this wretched place. You will entertain me until my ship arrives.”

Your stomach flipped nervously, but you ignored the feeling, focusing on the far more pressing matter. “And after that?”

“I seek a greater prize elsewhere.”

That wasn’t what you asked, but that meant he intended to leave. Your ears perked up with the slightest bit of hope. “So you’ll let me go?”

That question sparked some emotion in Zenos’s empty eyes, they met yours with more focus. Curiosity, maybe. “I will not raise a hand to detain you any further, whether or not that means escape is your choice.”

“Swear it?”

Zenos didn’t respond, his gaze lowering until you realized it was following the nervous movements of your tail as it twitched back and forth. You froze, forcing it to straighten out with a bitter thought about every time you had been told to get better control over your ears and tail, how easily they betrayed your emotions. That wasn’t normally a problem.

“How surprising it was to learn that the hero of the savages would be one like you. More beast than woman. Even among the savages, yours is a lowly lot. Feral poachers, whores, and societal outcasts who lack discipline—nay, lack humanity.”

It took extra effort to keep your tail from flicking, but you held your shoulders up and your tail in place, refusing to be ruffled by his insult. Lots of people had echoed similar sentiments, unable to think that a runt Keeper could be any sort of hero. Besides, it was almost flattering that Zenos would bother knowing enough about Miqo’te to insult you in the first place.

Very, very flattering.

“People tell a lot of stories about your humanity too,” you said in what you hoped was a casual enough tone, even managing a smile. “Good thing we know better, right?”

Figuring out what he thought about your attempt to catch him off guard was impossible, Zenos’s expression didn’t change. It didn’t seem to anger him. So that was good. Or bad.

“Well then, my fellow beast, tell me,” he said, “why do you hold yourself back when we fight? I have been told of your exploits, of how you pitilessly slay your enemies without discrimination. And yet, I haven’t had the privilege to face the great warrior who has fought eikons and fell dragons. You are distracted. Reactive. Unfit for a proper fight. What will it take, I wonder, for you to bring your full might and mastery to bear?”

You frowned before catching yourself, trying to keep your expression composed. As if you didn’t already feel weak and impotent. Even most of your allies weren’t aware of the extent to which the business with the dragons had drained you. Your strength was coming back, but not nearly to where you were before. Every time you thought you were ready to really, truly rejoin the fray, you found yourself lacking. You wanted to think it didn’t bother you but right then, disarmed and weakened and having to crane your neck to look up at the tyrannical horror known as Zenos yae Galvus with the memory of your defeat painfully fresh, it bothered you a lot.

But you couldn’t let him know that.

“I can only conclude that I’ve yet to do enough to properly stoke the flames of your outrage,” Zenos said when you didn’t respond. “How fortuitous that your foolish aspirations and my duty conflict so spectacularly. I will steal from you those you wish to protect, raze the land you so pitifully try to defend, and extinguish the flame of rebellion you have lit for the misguided malcontents who think to defy Imperial rule.” With each promise, his voice raised from its calculated drawl with excited fervor. “Such is my mission—as per His Radiance’s wishes. Then, when you are ready to bring your all, you will come to me as a creature driven only by righteous vengeance and unadulterated fury.”

Zenos exhaled shakily, closing his eyes momentarily as if to calm himself. When they reopened, you were overcome with a fresh flood of icy cold dread. He didn’t look as crazy as his words indicated. There was a very measured sincere sanity to what he told you. That was more frightening than his cruelty, somehow.

“And if I refuse?” you asked. “I’m not the only one with a score to settle.”

“You are the only one who is worthy,” Zenos told you. “We stand at the precipice of a new era of power. Those who lack the resolve to ascend are but ants beneath my boot. You would feel the same—were you not bound by the manacles of duty.”

A prince lecturing you about the confining nature of duty. It would be funny if you weren’t so uncomfortable.

“But enough of this talk,” Zenos continued, his voice raising. “Entertain me. Show me the beast whose fury accomplished what so few else have, who bared her fangs when most would consider themselves beaten.”

“What?” you asked, taken aback by the sudden shift. Did he mean for you to attack him? “No, I don’t-” The fist buried in your stomach cut off whatever righteously indignant denial you intended, replacing it with a viscerally low grunt. Zenos held you in place by your shoulder, keeping you from flying away with the force of his attack. Keeping you curled around his arm, unable to even remember how to breathe, your entire body only existing in a state of breathless pain.

“Then I shall draw her out myself,” he said, his low words tinny and distant.

Zenos pulled his arm back, letting you crumple. You tried to stay on your knees, to maintain a shred of dignity, but you had barely hit the ground before you collapsed sideways. His heavy boot landed on your side, keeping you from getting up. Despite his already unreasonable height advantage over most people, his boots were heeled. Such a cruel, gratuitous choice struck you as almost tragically unfair. The edge of the heel dug into the soft flesh right above your hip, his foot long enough that his toe could put pressure on your ribs. Pressing down just enough to make you squirm, Zenos rocked you back and forth, forcing you to pay attention. If he stepped down with all of his weight, he would crush your insides into nothing more than a sticky mush. Wheezing in pain, you squinted up at him with streaming eyes. From here, he looked half eikon himself. A monstrously tall, malicious being of pure intent.

“I find torture to be tedious. There is, I allow, some artistry in it, but very little sport,” Zenos said. “To endure the mewling and whining of the weak and defeated is… grating.”

He kicked you, catching your ribs at a bad angle and sending you rolling away. The world exploded anew, condensed down to nothing more than the agony of where his boot struck. But you recognized, on some level, that he was holding back. He wasn’t trying to break you. More than that, you were durable. That attack might have grievously injured some people, but you were harder to break. Good at taking a beating, you knew that long before you ever took up a weapon, back when the bigger kids would break their hands hitting you before you would give up. Some people had a pretty singing voice or could paint nice pictures, you could survive all manner of fatal beatings.

Focus on breathing, you reminded yourself. In, and out. Focus on the rapid, thunderous beat of your heart, on the blood pumping through your veins.

Endure. You could endure this.

“However, I must acknowledge that it has its uses,” Zenos continued. “Pain is a tool, and one that serves me quite well on occasion. After all, it is unjust, is it not? To be subjected to pain and humiliation for no reason other than the pleasure of another—how easily it draws out the truest nature of man, stripping away the unimportant trivialities they cling to in favor of something worthwhile. Stimulating, even beautiful. But it is a delicate thing. Too much, and the prey loses their will to fight. Too little, and they feel no need to retaliate.”

Gritting your teeth, you got your arms beneath yourself. When he hit you, you’d accidentally bitten down on the soft flesh on the inside of your cheek. You had to spit out a mouthful of blood onto the pristine marble floor, coughing lightly to clear your lungs before wiping your mouth with a shaking hand. Holding back a grimace, you got to your knees, watching Zenos to ensure he didn’t rush you as you unsteadily stood up.

“I understand you are not inspired by selfish gain—such is the insipid conceit of the dutiful. But now I have seen your potential to rise above your mundane calling. Your facade has slipped, hero. Be it today or another, I mean to strip you of it entirely.”

His words rolled over you like water, a counter beat to the pounding of your heart, the roar of blood in your ears. You could feel the way energy coursed through your veins, easing all of your petty pains as you considered your next move. This wasn’t a fight. It wasn’t exactly torture either, the expression Zenos wore was too animated, his words shockingly friendly when compared to the way he had spoken to you previously. This meant something else to him.

Finally, you met his eyes, your stomach clenching unpleasantly at the sight. While you had been trying to sort out your thoughts, Zenos had been watching you intently. As predator, as appraiser, and opponent. What was he thinking when he stared at you so intently? You couldn’t even begin to guess. On the one hand, he seemed to be nothing more than a force of evil. On the other, you got the impression that the enjoyment he derived from this was pure.

“I am surprised you have stayed your hand thus far,” Zenos said. “Is it wisdom? Weakness?”

“Give me a sword and find out.”

Part of you expected anger, or annoyance. Instead, Zenos smiled. Although the expression mimicked the joy of any other person, his eyes narrowing and lips curling with amusement, it was wrong. Unsettling.

When he came at you, you were prepared, dodging to the side with the intention to get your back away from the wall. Zenos pivoted to cut you off, his white coat flaring like wings behind him. A hard kick to your shin sent you careening forward. Zenos grabbed you by a fistful of your loose hair, dragging you towards him as you fell. Gravity did the rest, driving his raised knee into your stomach.

Air burst out of your lungs like bellows, your body going limp. As if you were nothing more than a ragdoll, Zenos raised his leg higher to push you back upward. You saw his fist coming at the last second, reactively dodging and causing it to glance off of your cheekbone. In some ways, your lack of height was beneficial. The awkward angle of his punch pushed you further up, momentum sending you a few fulms back before collapsing onto your ass. Your tailbone connected hard with the floor, sharp pain zipping up your torso.

Without hesitation, you lurched onto your feet, no longer concerned with self preservation so much as answering the call of bucketfuls of energy dumping into your veins.

“A pitiful start,” Zenos remarked, his tone returning to that bored drawl.

He attacked again, moving way too fast for somebody so huge. Your dodge was messy, you stumbled over his outstretched foot and presented an easy opening for him to take advantage of. Your hip first, aligned as it was with his knee. Something cracked, you had no idea if it was the complaining of metal or bone. Then your chest, his forearm striking like an iron bar right beneath your collarbones. The coup de grâce was a hard punch directly to your kidney.

The world blurred and blackened as furious, blinding agony engulfed you entirely. Exquisite in its malice, pain was all that could possibly exist in that moment.

There was no thought when you were overcome so completely by your need to get away, driven by the primal instinct of an animal. Tanking another punch to the ribs, you grabbed his arm, the one he was holding you with, pulling at it like a bar. Zenos couldn’t shake you off fast enough, not before you could bite on the first available patch of vulnerability you could find. Right above where the leather of his glove ended and below the elbow. Gods bless his lack of armor, you could feel your sharp canines pierce the fabric of his shirt, digging right into his skin.

He swatted you away with a head turning backhand, sending you back until you slammed against the wall. At the very least, it kept you from falling again, giving you something to steady yourself against. Quickened by the fresh burst of energy gifted through pain, you quickly assessed your wounds. No broken bones. Probably no internal damage. Your face was the most distracting of the pain, his backhand had reduced the entire cheek to an unmanageable blaze of feverish skin.

Opening your streaming eyes and blinking your vision clear, you realized that your bite must have caught a vein in his arm, bringing along a spray of blood when he shook you off. Scarlet droplets stained the ornate white collar of his coat, soaking into the light colored fabric of your clothes. Even though you were unable to catch your breath and liable to collapse from the pain at any minute, you felt a pang of victory. When was the last time anybody had drawn his blood?

Zenos looked confused, almost. That passed quickly, his eyes focused on you with a predatory gleam. “Well, well.” He shrugged the coat from his shoulders without a thought given to how expensive the garment must have been. “More beast than woman indeed. Mayhap you should be muzzled.”

The stomp of his boot on the floor was all the warning you got, but you were able to spin out of his reach when he lunged at you, ducking beneath his sweeping fist.

“Better,” he remarked, following it up with a low swipe of his left arm and then a direct right. “But it won’t be enough.” Ignoring the taunt, you dodged his next cluster of attacks by a hair's breadth, the air tickling your sweaty skin. Zenos didn’t continue to rush you like you expected, straightening out and turning as you circled him.

He was baiting you into attacking. You knew that because, if you were the one with the upper hand, you would have done the same.

Realizing you weren’t going to take initiative, Zenos came at you again. This time, you were given no reprieve from his flurry of punches. Most of them were feints. Testing you? Teasing you? No. Tiring you out. You tried to step backward to catch your breath, but you didn’t move fast enough. He grabbed your arm before you were out of reach, wrenching you back towards him.

With a grotesque pop, your shoulder gave out. You ignored it, knowing the sort of sick trick he was about to pull, and forced yourself to orient to the change of momentum. Following it, you jumped. Your bare foot connected satisfyingly with his unarmored hip. Your other foot connected with his stomach, meeting the resistance of some type of protective shirt. You used that leverage to get away, twisting your arm out of his loosened grip. Pain lanced down that arm all the way down to your knuckles, the shoulder screaming in protest. As far as aerials went, it was horribly awkward in the limited space, and you barely managed to stick the landing. But it got you out of his reach.

“Clever girl,” Zenos praised you. He didn’t approach you again, merely watching you with that same disquieting smile. The lanterns on the far wall lit the gold of his hair into a halo, the rapturous depictions of kami rearing up behind him. “You enjoy this as much as I do.”

Panting and dizzy, you met his gaze, too immersed to feel shame. Unlike base predators that took eye contact as a sign of aggression, Zenos seemed to invite your attention. There was a sense of lucidity to him now, contrasting with your hazy thoughts. In your blurry emerald limbo, there existed only the absolute and physical. Pain and exertion and living and yourself and your opponent. The racing of your heart and the flow of blood through your veins, the taste of it in your throat and on your tongue.

“Oh yes,” he continued, his voice lowering. “That look in your eye belies the ideals you so fervently espouse.”

Either his tone or the words themselves—something about what Zenos said affected you in a way you would never admit in any realm outside of the fog of senseless frenzy. You could still taste his blood, feel the bruises he’d printed around your arm when he grabbed you. He was right in some ways. You wanted to fight him, to win. Not for any grand cause or because of the evil he had committed, but because you were compelled by the heat of the moment, by your own desire.

But you couldn’t. This was for his entertainment. His enjoyment. Zenos spoke as if there was some deeper meaning to this, but that was all talk. Words to lend virtue to violence.

You knew all about that.

Instinct kept you from breaking stance when Zenos rushed you again. Feet apart, knees bent, ready to move, to dodge. That was all you could do. Avoid his attacks until you couldn’t anymore. There was no running, no fighting. With its shoulder out of place, your left arm was borderline useless.

And it worked, for a time. Zenos attacked and you dodged, the two of you were practically dancing together. And it was, in a way, invigorating. You saw the same feeling on his face.

The moment of perfect invulnerability ended too soon. You misjudged where his fist was aimed and overcorrected, giving him an opening to clip the back of your heel with the hard edge of his boot. The tendon gave out and, yelping, you toppled forward. Rather than letting you fall where you were, Zenos grabbed you by the back of the neck.

“Caught you,” he teased. You struggled violently, freeing yourself and whirling around to hit him with your uninjured arm, moving right into place for his other fist to connect with your face. Blood exploded from your nose. You didn’t even feel it at first, just the overwhelming sense of disbelieving shock.

Grabbing your arm, Zenos tossed you into the center of the room, throwing you around like you were nothing. To him, you probably were.

You fell with a soundless, breathless cry, rolling to try and mitigate further damage before coming to a stop, dizzy and aching. All you could taste was blood, it was still gushing from your nose, painting the front of your sweaty undershirt in bright red.

“Again,” Zenos demanded, excited.

Panting hard, you tried to get to your feet, watching him with watering eyes. But the tendon he’d kicked gave out, pain incapacitating that entire leg when you put pressure on it.

“Is that it?” he mocked. With loud footsteps, he approached you slowly, as if to give you time to escape, but it was setting in finally that you were helpless. In every sense.

Yellow light had warmed the greens and reds of the room into a sort of unreality, your tear-glazed vision fading on the edges and sharpening in the center, your entire existence heightening to a pinpoint of the moment. Fear cast a dark shadow, but the absurdity and oversaturation of dramatics gave you a measure of recklessness, a retreat from your fear and anger.

“On your feet, hero.”

“Why?” you asked, your voice muffled by your bloody nose. It didn’t feel broken, at least. Zenos wasn’t trying to seriously hurt you, this was all just a game. A diversion. Biting your tongue to keep from making any noise, you took the opportunity to push your shoulder back into place. Nausea flooded through your stomach at the pain, but you choked it down. You would be fine.

“Why indeed,” he said softly. “You enjoy this too, do you not?”

You breathed out shakily, blood running into your mouth. The mental barrier that accounted for things like safety and morality was all but disintegrated by adrenaline and exhaustion.

“So stand,” Zenos insisted, his voice threateningly soft. He spoke so low, you could practically feel his voice. “Now.”

It didn’t matter one way or the other. Every choice he had offered was a falsehood, a chance for him to observe your reaction. Zenos wasn’t playing the role of predator or prey, he was taking on the role of ethologist. He wanted you to react, to struggle and fight and feed into his lust for violence.

“No,” you said, looking up at him with your jaw set in place. It wasn’t exactly the strong rejection you were aiming for, stuffed up by the blood that was finally slowing down. Everything was painted with the stuff, soon to become sticky and rusty. All the same, you felt a rush of pleasure at saying it, at denying him something he explicitly asked for. “Do what you will, I-I don’t care. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last, so wha-whatever you expect to get from this… It’s pointless. Compared to what I’ve faced… the horrors in this world… you’re… you’re insignificant.”

Zenos’s eyes narrowed and you met them with a raised chin. Part of that was because of the bloody nose, but most of it was out of stubborn defiance. The idea that you had gotten under his skin, even a little, filled you with hot satisfaction, almost enough to cancel out the pain.

And you expected retribution, maybe a part of you hoped for it. But instead of stooping down or kicking you or anything else that you expected, his arm swept forward so he could grab a handful of your loose hair, dragging you back up onto your knees. It hurt, of course it hurt, but the pain shot down right down your spine, and your verbal response, what should have been a cry of pain, was a loud moan.

Zenos froze. You did too, not even trying to escape the hand threaded into your hair. The silence physically pressed into you, broken only by your harsh breathing as you waited for him to say something. Part of you hoped he hadn’t heard it, or that he’d misinterpret the sound. It wasn’t your fault, it was a mixture of everything and you couldn’t help it, it had nothing to do with him, of course it didn’t. Just that the intensity and the helplessness and the way reality had dulled while your senses sharpened so acutely had worn away at your reasonable, rational mind, passion becoming indistinguishable.

Excuses. The frailty of youthful weakness had warped you, playing adventurer hero now didn’t change anything.

“Is this why you behave with such insolence?” Zenos asked softly.

A new type of fear and humiliation gripped your insides, keeping you silent. Instead, you thought to pry at his hand, trying to make him let go. But another sharp tug made you whimper, and you stopped.

“How very… unexpected.” Zenos dropped your hair and you immediately tried to escape, your sweaty, bloody palms slapping on the stone floor as you tried to lurch onto your feet.

What you didn’t expect, really truly genuinely didn’t expect, was to feel his hand close around your neck before you could make it even a step past him, pushing you until you hit the wall and up. Up until your feet were off the ground, up until your panicked eyes could directly meet his, up until he could stand close enough that you felt the heat of his body. Paint scratched your bare shoulders, reminding you of where you were: crushed helplessly between a shrine for somebody else’s gods and the man who would see them all destroyed.

Mad with panic, you grabbed onto his arm to keep from suffocating entirely, bracing yourself between him and the wall to relieve some of the pressure on your throat, your feet—raised at least two fulms off of the floor—kicking ineffectually. They would have an easier time knocking a hole in the wall than managing to hurt Zenos in any meaningful way. You lashed out with your free hand as well, hitting his chest, his arm. When you tried to claw at his exposed face, Zenos just raised his chin to keep it out of your limited reach. When you went for his hair, his hand tightened enough that the world blinked dark, his other hand pressing against your sore hip. Before you could pass out, he let up slightly. You choked, gasping, twitching pitifully.

“Is this all it takes to incapacitate you, hero?” Zenos mocked. “You have faced worse, have you not?”

Already the world seemed to be closing in, getting darker. You had wasted too much energy panicking. Although even if you hadn’t, you probably would have had an easier time moving mountains than prying Zenos’s hand from your neck.

He leaned forward slightly, his voice lowering and eyes burning into yours. “How pathetic.”

Your reaction to the insult, the one you did your utmost to hide from him, must have come through in some capacity. And he had to have been watching and waiting for it, because Zenos’s smile deepened to a truly devious expression.

“I should have known that you would have… unnatural tastes.”

Your face screwed up in disgust and you tried, with waning strength, to pry his fingers off of your neck. It was pointless. His body was blazing heat and impossibly solid, his face close enough that you could see the color in his cheeks, the inky dark brush of his eyelashes over sweet baby blue each time he blinked.

Even that, your entire world, slowly darkened, all of your pitiful choking noises cutting off.

“Don’t swoon,” he said irritably, like it was your own fault. But he did step forward so you could hold onto him. Pride demanded you refuse the offer, but survival won out. You clung to Zenos, easing the pressure off of your neck. The cruelty wasn’t lost on you, even in your frazzled state. He did nothing to help support you other than the hand around your neck. It forced you into dependency, your bare thighs chafing uncomfortably against his armored waist and your arms clinging to his broad shoulders, but it was still better than passing out.

Zenos watched with empty eyes while you, once again, tried to catch your breath. It was difficult, you were overly aware of the weight of his gaze. And the position wasn’t intimate in any sane way. It would be as easy as breathing for him to snap your neck, and you doubted anybody would label the look he gave you as lustful, but your body reacted to his proximity all the same. Not as a combatant, but as a woman. The hot, confused, nervous weight of being so near him scared you more than any threat of violence. It was a sickening sensation, blurring the pain with the onslaught of energy that had kept you going thus far. And it wasn’t your fault. Your passions so rarely had the opportunity to get twisted in this way when you were fighting monsters and eikons and crazy old men. Monsters had no right to be attractive, your brain lacked the wisdom to filter danger from lust, or violence from passion.

“Put me down,” you demanded, your voice hoarse.

“I am not loath to indulge you in such a way,” Zenos said, speaking as if he hadn’t heard you. “While you are too small for my taste, you are not entirely without appeal. You will not be easily broken either.”

You shook your head in panic, your stomach twisting into knots. Even as you choked on the smell and taste of blood, you could smell him too. It must have been his hair, amber clove and vanilla. “I-I don’t know what you think you’re-”

“And to claim the hero of the savages for myself,” he continued, cutting you off with amusement breaking through his tone. “It is not an unpleasant thought.

“No,” you told him emphatically, injecting every bit of strength and acid you could into the word.

“No?” Zenos repeated in a deadly soft voice, his head tilting as he considered your rejection. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. “Did you not grant me permission to do as I wished?”

You gasped harshly when his hand dropped between your legs, almost glad for the way his other hand restricted your ability to make any louder noise as his fingers pressed right between your thighs. Everything, even breathing, hurt your battered and exhausted body—assuming you could get a proper breath with his grip cutting off your airway—but that pain only made things worse, made you more sensitized. With nothing more than the thin pair of shorts and even thinner panties, you knew he could feel the heat.

“If this is, as you say, insignificant, why should you reject me?” Zenos asked.

The use of your own words against you was like a slap in the face. They had been spoken in a moment of contrary bravado, but you realized now how stupid they had been.

“Stop it,” you demanded in a crushed voice, fixing him with what you hoped was a properly angry glare. When you squirmed to escape, all it did was grind you against his hand.

“Have you shared your body with another before?” His fingers curled, pressing a little harder against your clothed pussy. By the Twelve, his hand was nearly double the size of yours.

“Stop!”

Without any other warning, Zenos pulled his hand away so he could shove it past the waistband of your shorts and panties. They weren’t meant to stretch that much, the fabric complaining against the stress. But you weren’t as concerned with that as you were with the shock of one of his fingers dipping inward, slipping between your outer lips. His calloused fingertip searched for a moment, drawn inward by smooth, slick flesh to your entrance. You hissed sharply, your thighs clenching around his waist.

“As I thought. You’re dripping for me, my beast.” While passion burned in his low voice, Zenos didn’t look pleased with the revelation. You couldn’t tell what he felt, or thought, only that you didn’t like it. “For the pain I’ve given you, the thrilling rush of violence we’ve enjoyed together. In this, we are of the same mind.”

“We’re not!” you insisted breathlessly. To punctuate the rejection, your body bucked clumsily, a desperate bid to displace his hand, senseless panic about what was happening well and truly setting in. It was predictably ineffectual. Without any other options, you pushed against his shoulders to move further up the wall, to get away from his touch. His hand just followed you, that finger drawing forward to press against your clit. A shiver ran through your body, fizzling out in your head. “Ss-stop this. You’re-you’re disgusting.”

“Finally!” Zenos exclaimed, his voice raising with manic glee. “That is the look I crave. I wonder, hero, will you hate me for exposing your true nature, or will you finally admit to what you are?”

Not waiting for an answer, he pulled his hand away so he could push your shorts and underwear down. The fabric strained loudly, painfully taut between your thighs and stopped by the obstruction of his body. But it was enough to make space for his hand. You tried to fight him, pulling at his arm desperately, but your attempts were pointless, Zenos just squeezed your throat a little tighter. Not enough to cut off your air completely, but enough to make you gasp and wheeze, enough to make you unable to anything as he pressed two fingers against the fluttering muscles of your entrance. You glared at him through squinted, teary eyes, giving up on the hand around your neck to pry at the one between your legs.

Zenos smiled. “Hate, then. Very well.”

With that, he drove two fingers into your pussy. They were big, and two was more than you could have been prepared for. But you were wet, and even if it hurt, he was easily able to work them in deep, his callouses scraping against your sensitive inner walls. You choked, a pained hiss leaving from between your teeth.

“Not a virgin then,” he said. “A pity. ”

When Zenos pulled his fingers out, you could feel the way your cunt worked around them as if trying to suck him back in despite the discomfort. Your hips twitched forward in a suggestive way. A little sound left your mouth when his fingers curled slightly, a sound that you didn’t want to think was pleasure but certainly wasn’t pain or discomfort.

“Mm. Consider yourself lucky, beast. I don’t often waste my time pandering to the whims of others, but I want you to remember this well. Your lust, your fear, your pain, your rage—I will have it all. I will take from you what no one else has.”

You shook your head, but, all too easily, your body turned against you. He thrust his fingers back in with a sloppy sound and you choked out a moan, your pussy squeezing his fingers as they pulled out.

Sickened by your response, by his words, you lashed out again. Zenos wasn’t expecting it this time, and you caught his cheek with your nails. Four shallow red lines marked his flawless ivory cheekbone, cut short when he used his grip on your neck to pull you forward and slam you hard against the wall, painfully knocking your head against it as he began to fingerfuck you in earnest.

Something cracked upon impact and, in the dizzy lurch of agony sweeping red hot behind your eyes, you thought for sure that you had just broken your skull.

But even the pain wasn’t enough of a distraction to let you ignore the fingers buried deep in your cunt. Zenos was cruel, pushing them deep enough that you could feel the leather of his fingerless glove each time. A helpless, nearly inaudible noise left your mouth.

Zenos exhaled sharply through his nose, although that was the only indication you got that he was affected by any of this. Rougher now, while you were still trying to get over the agonizing throbbing starting at the back of your head and working all the way down your body. Already he was setting a too-fast pace that had you rocking up and down against the wall, held in place by his hand and the grip you had on his shoulders. When you braved to look at him through wet eyelashes, the emptiness of his eyes struck you anew. Excitement, sure. Maybe even a sort of hunger. But not enjoyment or engagement. Not ‘need’ in the lustful sense.

“There is something… curious about lust born not of desire, but of violence. How similar the two can be, yet how different,” Zenos mused, unconcerned with the turmoil in your head, unconcerned with the act itself. You gasped and jerked and twitched with every thrust, but he wasn’t affected.

If murdering innocents wasn’t enough to get his heart rate up, chokeslamming you to the wall and fingerfucking you wasn’t likely to either. That bitter thought didn’t do much to curb your body’s reaction. Every pass was better than the last, his long fingers scratching an itch within you that you simply couldn’t, no matter how hard you tried. His other hand squeezed your windpipe ever so slightly at random intervals, keeping you from being able to breathe, to form a coherent thought. It kept you sensitized, entreated by each intoxicating rush of oxygen.

“I myself am not immune to its effects, but… that is agreeable to you, beast, is it not?”

There wasn’t much within you left to focus on Zenos’s words. All you could think was that you were going to come if he didn’t stop. He kept curling his fingers as he pulled them out, dragging his calloused fingertips—intentionally or not—against your g-spot. Not to mention how deep he could go. It was literal fingerfucking. You knew you were dripping past his knuckles and probably onto the leather of his glove. There was no resistance against his fingers, nothing to keep him from being rough, to twist and scissor them in a way that made your legs kick and back arch.

Foul. It was all foul, and Zenos enjoyed watching your conflict. If not with lust, then with great interest. You squeezed your eyes shut, turning your face as far from him as you could given the hand around your throat. You wouldn’t come. You didn’t enjoy this.

“Ah, ah, ah. Eyes on me, beast,” Zenos said, his hand squeezing your throat and fingers thrusting into you sharply, mercilessly adding a third. It made you squeal, a sound you couldn’t remember having made before. “Are you listening, hero? I will not repeat myself. You will look me in the eye while you come on my hand.”

You meant to object, but all you got out was a whine. The sound was choked and pathetic and obscene, adding to the obscene, sloppy noises created by each thrust of his fingers. Nobody would believe you were unwilling, not when you were so wet, not when your pussy clamped down around his fingers at the dark threat, and not when you were squirming like a woman possessed. Air had become a privilege and all you could taste was blood and you were sore in a dozen different places and none of that mattered.

Soundlessly begging with bloody lips, you did what Zenos said and met his eyes, feeling the inevitable twist and blaze of pleasure in your core as your body tightened. It looked like he knew, his eyes widening in excitement and body crushing you to the wall a little harder, his fingers setting a faster pace. Most men wouldn’t be able to maintain such a savage pace. Then again, you doubted most women would be able to find pleasure in such brutality. It was violent and painful and miserably cruel and every time his fingers moved you saw stars.

“Come now, beast. I don’t have all day.”

Zenos’s voice was low, intimate. You felt it more than you heard it, the sound going right to your pussy. That was all it took. Burning with self hatred and disgust and a bestial sort of lust that bordered delirium, you shuddered apart, pleasure rolling through you and easing every ache, every discomfort, even dread was dulled by the overwhelming sensation. Cruel eyes watched you get off to his abuse, you met Zenos’s gaze as you relented to the pleasure of his violence. Blue, cool and empty and absolute, ravaged your mind.

All too quickly, it was over, and you were back in the miserable heat and disgust of the situation. Trembling and feeling the creeping nausea return, you told him to stop in a broken voice, wincing as your body began to painfully reject the overstimulation. Zenos did, and you almost didn’t like that either because when he pulled his fingers out of you, he did so slowly, ensuring you could feel it, that he could see the way you shivered at the overstimulation when he brushed past your g-spot.

“Look at me,” Zenos demanded. You hadn’t been aware you had closed your eyes but you opened them quickly, glaring at the man as intently as you could. And Zenos had the gall to laugh, genuine delight dancing in his eyes. “A stirring sight, to be sure.”

You spat blood.

The glob of red saliva missed from how quickly he moved, hitting his shirt instead. Zenos dropped you with visible disgust, stepping back so you could fall to the floor. You didn’t feel the pain, although it must have been quite jarring. Like a panicking animal, you scrambled around his legs, desperate to get away.

“It is too late for that,” Zenos said, stopping your escape by stepping on your leg. It forced your hips flat on the cool floor, the rest of your body following suit.

“Stop!”

Zenos ignored you, removing his boot as he crouched down behind you only to replace it with a knee settled heavily on the back of your leg, the metal edge of his armor pressing painfully into the soft flesh. He made quick work getting rid of the scrap remains of your underwear and shorts, tossing them aside and leaving no room for interpretation as to what was about to happen. Although the noticeable bulge made that point well enough.

“Here now, beast,” he teased, his voice warm with amusement. “Heel.”

“Gah-no,” you cried, ignoring the pain and lashing out, desperate to get out from under him. “Let me go!”

Rather than argue, Zenos grabbed one of your ears. Instinctually, your body went stiff to spare itself. In combat, you kept your sensitive, delicate ears protected, but now they were completely exposed. Afraid of what he might do, you didn’t resist as he pulled you back, forcing you to sit upright on your knees.

“I understand the deformities of the beast savages are prone to exceptional sensitivity,” he said, pinching the delicate tip of your ear between his fingers to feel the fur. “Is that true?”

You grit your teeth, fresh tears forming in your eyes. “Let me g-” Zenos cut you off, taking advantage of your open mouth to shove his fingers past your lips. They were the ones that had been inside of you, that had made you come. Your mouth filled with the salty, heady flavor. It mixed unpleasantly with the tangy taste of blood. Using his fingers like a hook on the inside of your cheek, Zenos turned your head sideways to make you look at him.

His eyebrow quirked expectantly. “Clean up your mess.”

Oh.

Embarrassment welled up in your chest and part of you wanted to bite him, but Zenos pulled on your ear again. Of the two horrors, you picked the lesser and obediently closed your lips around his fingers, sucking them clean. You had no idea how much of it was about sexual gratification. When he pushed them deeper and made you choke, he just looked amused. Curious about your reaction, maybe. The amount of dispassionate control he had over the situation when you could barely think right was terrifying.

When Zenos decided you had done enough, he pulled his fingers out of your mouth with a deluge of bloody saliva, wiping them off on your sweaty tank top.

You might have felt relief when he released your ear, but it was followed by the suggestive clink of metal as he undid his belt, leather sliding against itself, and you tensed up, your breathing picking up speed. Between the panic and blood and choking and hyperventilation, you felt as if you hadn't gotten a full breath in hours.

“You can’t do this,” you said, putting as much steel into your voice as possible. It trembled along with the rest of your body.

Zenos didn’t bother responding. His belt dropped to the floor. You didn’t want to look back as you heard fabric being pushed aside, but you couldn’t help the impulse, twisting around to get a glimpse of him over your shoulder. Very little of Zenos’s body was revealed, only what was necessary. The bottom of a well muscled abdomen, a trail of blond hair, and his dick, the flushed head bobbing as he stroked himself fully hard. Zenos touched himself in a way that seemed to purposefully flaunt his body. As indifferent as he acted, the man was obviously vain. That wasn’t much of a concern right then. In his own hand, his cock was proportional, but considering you had felt those fingers inside of you already, proportional was synonymous with no way this was going to work.

“Take pride in inspiring my lust,” he told you with the faintest trace of a smile. “It’s not often that I feel compelled to satiate my base urges for any reason other than convenience. But this… I shall enjoy this.”

You jerked forward in an attempt to dislodge your leg, your sweaty palms slapping against the marble floor as you dragged yourself forward. Zenos calmly grabbed you by the tail to force you back into place. For the first time, he made you scream, the unexpected pain and shock zipping all the way up your spine to your pounding head.

“Stop!” you demanded, attempting to twist around only to be knocked down to your elbows when he released your tail in favor of getting his hands around your hips to pull you into place. He seemed utterly unconcerned with you, preoccupied with your body instead.

The time for playing had, at long last, ended.

“Spread your legs,” Zenos ordered, unnervingly dispassionate.

You didn’t, not even sure if you could will your body to expose itself like that.

Zenos wordlessly grabbed your tail again, using it to lift your back into a painful arch. Even with your thighs clamped together, the position forcibly exposed your bare ass and pussy to his eyes. The only way to hide would be to risk breaking your tail. He didn’t give you time to decide which was worse, his flat palm landing against your ass with a horribly loud smack. The slap was hard enough to make you yelp, hard enough to send your body lurching forward. Zenos patiently pulled you back into place by the tail, shooting fresh scores of pain up your spine. Red hot fire spread across your skin, you’d probably have a hand-shaped imprint there. The pain, however, was minor in comparison to the shock of being spanked. Like you were a disobedient child. And your body, the traitor, shuddered with the pain and humiliation.

“Ah—ff-fine,” you said, spreading your legs before he could hit you again, squeezing your eyes shut against the embarrassment. Wordlessly, Zenos’s fingertips lightly traced over the hand-shaped mark, almost gentle. And then he spanked you again. Harder, a little lower than the first, targeting the very top of your thigh as well. Your shout was hoarse and choked. And still, he said nothing.

Maintaining a firm hold on your tail to keep your back arched as high as possible, Zenos pushed his cock between your folds. You were so wet that it slipped, bumping against your clit in a way that made you shiver. With the same calculated patience, he pulled back and aligned the thick head with your entrance, pressing into you. There was some give, but even though he had prepared you with his thick fingers, this was different. Your body acted instinctively to protect itself, you couldn’t help it.

“Zenos, st—ah-” Your words cut off with a girlish yelp as he finally forced the head of his cock past the flinching muscles of your entrance. Your pussy clamped down hard around him, trying to keep him out, but that had the opposite effect. Given Zenos’s silent stoicism so far, hearing his little groan made the hairs on the back of your sweaty neck stand on end. It was wrong.

“Can you not feel how your body begs—nay, weeps for mine, beast?” he asked with muted fervor, exchanging your tail for a handful of your loose hair.

“N-nn-oh, stop,” you choked out, your hands scrambling for purchase on the smooth floor.

“No,” he said. The single, inflectionless word was worse than almost anything else he could have said, damning in its simplicity. There was nothing you could do to stop this. It was going to happen. Zenos let go of your hair and lifted you by the hips to mitigate the size discrepancy, it pushed him a little deeper, aided by how wet you were.

“Ss-stop!” you demanded again, your voice raised in panic when he kept pushing. Beyond the initial stretch, there was resistance. No matter how wet you were, you didn’t want this. That didn’t so much as give him pause. Zenos sighed, twisting your hips to ease his way. You drew up painfully tense, your breathing harsh and fast. The tension made it worse, made the uncomfortable stretch that much more obvious. “Stopstopstop—” you practically chanted, but there was nothing you could do, Zenos had complete control over the position. Over you.

“Does it hurt?” he asked mockingly, curling down over you. “Do you ache?”

A broken sound left your mouth, something like a sob. “Too much,” you got out through gritted teeth. “It won’t fit.”

“‘Tis your own fault,” Zenos said. “Mayhap if you weren’t such a runtish creature…” The disdain in his voice was utterly uncalled for. It wasn’t your size that was the problem, he was too much for anybody to reasonably take.

Without warning, he swept you up by the backs of your thighs, folding you against himself as he sat back. Gravity dragged you down further onto his cock, and a few upward thrusts of his hips did the rest. You were unable to do anything other than take it, the position left you without any room to struggle. The natural resistance of your body, the simple matter of size, only delayed the inevitable. With a terrible ripping sensation and a final few hard, shallow thrusts, you were fully seated on his cock. There was no relief or distraction you could find. There was nothing other than the pinching, pounding, splitting ache of being too full. The problem wasn’t just the length, his cock was too thick, greedily forcing your body to accommodate his own.

Zenos sighed in satisfaction. Above you, behind you, inside of you, all around you.

“There,” he said, the singular, satisfied word rumbling against your back. His armor scraped roughly against your bare shoulders, but even without it there would be no intimacy to this position. Now that you had sunk down his cock, your head didn’t so much as make it up to his chin. You may as well have been nothing more than a doll in comparison.

Unconcerned with your panting, trembling, pained reaction, Zenos leisurely rolled his hips. You could have sworn you felt his cock twitch inside of you. You wondered if he could feel your heartbeat like you could, pulsing against him. So deep, selfishly, cruelly deep. You whimpered despite your best attempts to stay silent when he rolled his hips again. It was, in a way, almost nice of him to be giving you a moment to adjust. You would have expected Zenos to fuck you violently, vicious and bloody. But he seemed content to take his time. It was hard to imagine it was for your sake, but he wasn’t reacting like it was for his own either.

Your breath caught when he began pulling out. It was what you wanted, but it still hurt, forcing you to feel the way your pussy unconsciously squeezed around him, your agonizingly raw walls fluttering in pain. Desperate to escape the splitting pain before he could fill you again, your body bunched up in an attempt to get away, but Zenos easily held you in place, his hips slamming upward. You wailed, thrashing helplessly against his hold.

“Quiet now, beast,” he warned in a low voice, “lest you wish for all to know how readily you take my cock.”

That dark threat kept you from making too loud of a noise in response to the next too-hard thrust, just a whimpery grunt from the strain it put on your body. The only benefit was that he couldn’t force you down all the way onto his cock each time in this position. A small mercy, considering how uncomfortably full you were anyway.

But you knew what would happen.

It didn’t stop aching, but you were more than aware that your body was easing into it. Submitting to him. Squeezing his cock, providing a fresh wave of lubrication, your hips tilting forward to match his. Rough sex wasn’t new to you, the only thing that set Zenos apart was his size. And the glaring fact that you didn’t want this. But, in any other circumstance, the manhandling and raw strength he casually displayed was something you liked. Even if your cognitive mind chanted that you didn’t want this, your body was stupid. It got confused about getting punched in the face, let alone being fucked.

“Ah, I knew you would come around,” Zenos said, a smile in his voice. Holding your legs with his arms allowed one of his hands to sneak down, dropping to feel where your pussy was stretching around him. The stimulation made you shudder, your hips bucking forward.

“Don’t,” you hissed, tensing up all over again. But Zenos didn’t seem to be listening, groaning at the way his touch made your pussy squeeze him, the rush of fresh arousal it brought to smooth his way. “Stop!” you whined, trying to writhe away from him.

He ignored you, his rough fingers continuing to tease you, making you squirm and jerk and tighten around his cock again.

“From now on,” Zenos said softly, “every time you allow another man to fuck you, I will be the one you think of. Be it with lust, hate, despair—your body will crave mine.”

Even if they were nothing more than hot air and overconfidence, his words made you moan. You wanted to be brave, to say something to shut him down like you had before, to insist that this didn’t feel good. It was so frustratingly unfair, so evil. Physical pain had never been able to weaken you into giving up, but a taste of pleasure could?

His fingers trailed up further. When they found your neglected clit, you choked, your body jerking against his hold. Zenos rewarded your reaction with a hard thrust and, for the first time, the sound you let out was without the slightest hint of pain, an open obscenity of pleasure.

Zenos groaned in turn, holding you tighter, his thrusts becoming more focused. The way he touched your clit was excessively good. Considering how much pain he had caused, it should have been impossible to think you could come from this. But you already had. And, in the absence of the adrenaline that had kept you alert while he was beating you up, there was a hollow within you. Hollow morals, hollow self preservation. Pleasure so easily filled the gaps in your empty mind, coiling up hot and tense inside of you with each thrust.

So full, so deep. Every time his hips thrust upwards your body was pushed into his touch against your clit. The thick head of his cock hit in a way that made choke back moans and gasps, driving so deep you could have sworn you’d feel him just by pressing against your abdomen. And then there was the pressure. The fullness. Full of him. Whenever your cunt squeezed with pleasure, it hurt. And it felt good.

“It’s almost too easy,” Zenos said, his voice finally showing the strain of pleasure and exertion. “You will come for me again, will you not?”

The moan you couldn’t bite back was meant to be denial. It wasn’t.

“Savor it,” Zenos said, even softer. “No other man will fulfill you as I do.”

By the twelve, his voice filled you like smoke, swirling in your head, inundating your entire body. It was all Zenos. The sweet scent of his hair, the solid strength of his body as he held you, as he fucked you. His cock. Gods, it reached places inside of you that you weren’t even aware of before then. The drag of calloused fingertips on your clit. You could hate him but right then you were practically choking on your pleasure, on the intoxication of it all.

And then you were coming, your pussy clamping down around his cock and your body going painfully tense. Behind you, Zenos grunted, and you met that with a helpless moan, shuddering apart, liquid heat making everything right for a few lovely moments.

Reality reclaimed you quickly. Sweaty, aching, bloody, trembling, and breathless.

“Ss-no-oh more,” you gasped out, your body shying away as pleasurable release became overstimulated horror and nausea. To your surprise, he did, holding your shaking body in place while you both caught your breath. After a moment of agonizing stillness, Zenos lifted you up and off of him, letting you fall onto the floor in a pile of awkward limbs, panting and trembling and reeling. Firm hands flipped you onto your back. The cold floor was uncomfortable against your bare shoulders, and painfully hard.

As you had several times before in far less disadvantageous situations, you stared up at Zenos. Behind him, the kami memorialized on the wall seemed to shiver in the warm yellow light, their painted visages watching the desecration of their shrine. Zenos’s hulking figure covered your view of the sun kami, his golden hair making him out to be a mockery of the divine.

He was still hard, his erection shining with red-tinged slick. The sight echoed the throbbing pain inside of you, inciting a fresh wave of panicked defensiveness. Before you could try and get away, Zenos grabbed your legs, callously hauling you up so your thighs could lay over his, your legs propped up against his torso.

“What’re-”

“Alas, our time together is running short. I can no longer entertain your needs.”

With one hand holding you in place by the bruised neck, he used the other to stroke himself, measuring his cock against your abdomen to gauge how deep he was going. The sight was dizzying. No wonder there was blood. The weight was startling as well, the pure overwhelming physical difference between the two of you. It all made your head spin. Your own arousal smeared in a pinkish stain across your skin as you squirmed, your pussy squeezing painfully around nothing. Zenos ignored your reaction, appraising the sight with an unreadable expression before his eyes dragged upward.

Throughout all of this, you had retained your undershirt and bra. The fabric was bunched up to your waist, drenched with sweat. Nearly translucent. He said that you were appealing earlier, but the way he looked at you didn’t betray any sort of attraction, nor disgust. Just interest, curiosity.

“‘Tis a shame we haven’t the opportunity to truly savor this,” he muttered, more to himself than to you, his expression remaining composed. “Your body is,” he let out a breath through his teeth, his eyes dragging further down, “uniquely gratifying.”

The praise, such as it was, made your pussy clench down around nothing, sending hot waves of pain throughout your lower half. And he intended for more. Gods have mercy.

“Nn-no more” you said hoarsely. “Anything else, I ca-ah-” You yelped when he grabbed you by the waist, effortlessly lifting you despite the way you thrashed. One of your kicks nearly landed, but he pulled out of the way at the last second.

Wordlessly, Zenos slapped you across the face. It wasn’t the hardest you’d ever been slapped, but the point wasn’t to hurt you. It was meant to stun you, to humiliate you. And it worked. The shock made you fall still, your face blazing. He used your compliance to work his cock into you. The inexorable stretch surprised you all over again. Impossibly hard, unyielding.

“You’ve naught else to offer, beast,” Zenos said, sliding you all the way down. You choked, shuddered, not wanting to watch him but unable to look away. Zenos’s eyes fluttered shut, chin tilting back with the faintest expression of pleasure. Almost serene. “Not yet. This is but a prelude of what’s to come.”

He rolled his hips once, twice before the trance was broken, and he looked at you, watching your reaction as he pulled you off of him, as you tensed and shuddered and grit your teeth against the pain as he thrust back into your pussy with a sloppy, filthy slap of skin. The position, the way he was holding you, the control he had over your body—it was borderline masturbatory. He was using you as somebody would use an object. Unlike before, he could thrust to the hilt every time. Too deep, skin slapping skin, his cock forcing your body to make space where there was none.

Despite the throbbing ache, you were wet enough to ease his way. You moaned brokenly, half sobbing. You couldn’t do anything other than take it. Zenos didn’t seem overly concerned with you anyway, focused on using your body to reach his own end.

You yelped when his hand closed around your bruised, sore neck again, your eyes meeting his in new panic. Zenos didn’t look at you like a lover, or even with overt pleasure. His eyes were wide and excited, his lips stretched in something like a smile. Insanity and bliss.

“Tell me, has any other man known you in this way?” Zenos asked, his voice unraveled into joyous breathlessness. “Known your thirst for pleasure through violence, for depravity through blood?”

“No!” you responded quickly, forcing the word out despite the pressure on your throat in the hopes he’d let up.

“This passion… it is new to me as well.”

“Zenos, please s-slo-” Your plea broke apart when he released your throat to grab your waist again, twisting your hips. Even through the pain, you could feel the way it changed the angle in which he entered you, and the raw echo of pleasure.

“The great eikon-slayer… would beg?” he asked. He was insane. He was insane and he was going to fuck you to death while smiling that insane smile. You whined, trying to get his hands to loosen enough for you to squirm away. For all the good it did. He wasn’t even fucking you, just sliding you up and down his cock with the unbreakable grip he had on your waist. “Go on then, beast. Beg.”

“N-no, Zenos, ss-stop.”

“Endure the pain,” he told you. And then, a moment later, “You are worthy of it.”

You whined, a sound that became a wail when he twisted your hips again. Everything was too loud, the ugly noise of skin slapping skin echoing off of the walls, your ragged breathing, and your heart thundering like an engine. It was more than you could take to hear Zenos moan too, low in his chest, his hips finally meeting yours as he grew closer to his own end.

You only realized Zenos didn’t intend to pull out at the point that his hips were stuttering, his hands holding onto you tight enough that his thumbs could touch, each uneven stroke pushing his cock as deep as possible.

“Nn-No, you ca-can’t,” you said, fresh tears in your eyes.

“You will take my seed,” Zenos said, openly wearing his pleasure at your reaction as he stared down at you. “Be grateful.”

It wasn’t any more or less miserable than all that had already happened, but the facsimile of intimacy made you whimper. So cruel. Zenos watched you as he came, his eyes half-lidded and hazy. His fingers dug bruises into your waist. Your entire body jolted with each uneven thrust, your cunt squeezing his cock as if you wanted this. And you could have sworn you felt his cum against your painfully raw inner walls as he came. He didn’t waste any of it, not pulling out until he was entirely finished.

Zenos let you fall onto the floor, his breathing heavy as he sat back. You curled your legs inward, wincing at the mess oozing out of you. There was no part of you that wasn’t painful and messy. Covered in blood and sweat and bruises, half naked, and utterly exhausted. Unlike you, Zenos didn’t look all that much worse for wear. Nothing that couldn’t be easily fixed. Sparing no moment for sentimentality of any kind, he fixed his clothes. There was nothing you could do about your own.

“You will forgive me,” Zenos said, his voice low and husky. “In my enthusiasm… mayhap I went too far.”

There was nothing to make you profoundly regret every single one of your previous decisions like looking into the empty blue eyes of your enemy feeling a mixture of blood and cum ooze out of you. Unsure if you could trust your voice, you just glared at him. His lips curled with the slightest promise of amusement.

“Yes, it is a shame our time was so limited,” he said, standing up. “But we both have more important matters to attend to.”

He stooped down to grab his coat on the way out. It was sprinkled with dried blood. You hoped it was ruined.

“I’ll kill you, you know,” you said when he was at the door. Your voice was hoarse and ruined, but the words were clear enough. You meant them too. Not even out of malice, it just seemed so strikingly obvious. “Unless you kill me now.”

Zenos hesitated and, for a second, you wondered if he was actually going to do it. “Go lick your wounds,” he finally said. Once the door was open, he paused again, speaking without turning around. “Until we meet again, my beast.”

#zenos yae galvus #zenos yae galvus x reader #zenos x wol #zenos yae galvus x wol #ffxiv zenos #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #my writing #not sfw #noncon //#i'm five ten but my personality four eleven

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fanartka · 2 months

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I've only watched 2 episodes so far, but I already want to highly recommend Blue Eye Samurai.

It's interesting and exciting.

It’s very beautiful, every frame can be viewed like a painting. I literally just rewinded to random places and took screenshots and look how beautiful they are.

And there is no censorship. The viewer is not bombarded with blood and nudity, but if the plot requires it, then it is shown as it is. This is quite normal for me, but if it’s too much for someone, I warned you.

And I like the fact that the characters feel like real people with their own history, which may not be told, but you understand their life path in detail.

An excellent reproduction of medieval feudal Japan... Although I am not a special expert, maybe experts will find inaccuracies. I just like part of Japanese culture, but I don’t like the attitude towards people and especially towards women and children in it.

I also like the fact that Netflix stops treating the viewer like a small child who might be upset by reality or the sight of blood. In the Avengers, it must be admitted that it was infuriating when in battles people could at most get a stylish scratch on their forehead or a bloodless wound. This can give people, especially teenage boys, the false feeling that battles, fights, wars are fun and cool, that at most the enemy will throw you back against the wall.

But the Blue Eye Samurai is honest. He shows that if you are rude to an armed bandit, the innkeeper will have to wash your parts from the ceiling and walls. That even if you are armed, you should not bully just anyone, otherwise you will have nothing to shoot with. And that even if you are a skilled fighter, your body is still soft and vulnerable, you are not immortal.

#strangescreenshot #netfix #samurai #anime #animation #screenshot #Japan #highly recommend #watch it #waaaaaaatcccch iiiiiit #blue eye samurai

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voraciousvore · 7 months

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In the Belly of the Giant (1/39)

Sequel to my story "Boarding School for Giants" which can be read here. This story follows Eren and Joey in their lives as adults, as well as other recurring characters. When Eren gets kidnapped, it's up to Joey to save her.

Total Word Count: 84,994

Content Warning: This story is very dark and nasty, with lots of vore and sex (both romantic and non-consensual). I don't spare details. Strictly 18+ only. I will flag the most offensive chapters as "mature."

Chapter 1

Joey woke up early, staring up at the ceiling tinged blue by the morning light. The ceiling fan above rotated in slow, lazy circles, producing a soothing hum and a cool breeze. His eyes drifted to the alarm clock on his bedside table; he had a solid twenty minutes before he had to get up for work. He almost lifted his arms up to stretch but then recalled the tiny woman soundly sleeping on his bare chest and refrained. She hadn’t stirred, although he could feel the lightest movement from her breathing.

It was the middle of summer, and the couple couldn’t afford the luxury of running the air conditioning in their new apartment, so neither of them needed to sleep with bedsheets. Fortunately, the heat wasn’t sweltering, but rather a warm, pleasing temperature. Joey was grateful for this fact: He doubted Eren would want to curl up on his giant body when he was sticky with sweat.

Even after several years, Joey still could scarcely believe his good fortune, to have a lovely, petite little women like Eren to call his own. If she hadn’t crashed her bike into his shoe that one fateful day, he might have never met her. Of course, since she became well-known at their high school for the novelty of being the only human, he may have still known of her existence, but he probably would have been too shy to approach her—too shy, despite being large enough to hold her in the palm of his hand. She wasn’t even as tall as his pinky finger, after all. Regardless, he loved how tiny and cute and precious she was; she made him feel big and strong by comparison. She had a fire inside her too, a vivaciousness and bravery that he admired deeply.

Eren shifted and mumbled incoherently in her sleep, then rolled over on her side. Joey felt her movements on his chest and listened with concern. After all the horrible things Eren had gone through when she was first introduced to the giant side of the wall, she was prone to occasional nightmares. Thankfully, Joey had successfully kept her safe in the time since. Her night terrors had subsided in the subsequent years, but Joey stayed vigilant nonetheless.

His protective instinct for his girl was a large part of his motivation to pursue a career in law enforcement. With his natural intellect and discipline, Joey had the option to choose from a wide variety of careers, if he had been so inclined. However, Joey hated bullies and criminals and anyone who would dare to hurt somebody as small and vulnerable as Eren. He had a strong sense of justice, and wanted to be the hero, the good guy to make the world a safer place for her so she didn’t have to be scared of giants hurting her. So, he had enrolled in the police academy and earned his badge.

Eren had followed a different path. Being as small as she was, her options for a career were more limited. Even so, she had been inspired by the human doctor she met in the hospital to become involved in the medical field. Rather than work in a hospital, though, she found her niche in dentistry. She was the only dental hygienist around small enough to fit inside a giant’s mouth, and she could do a very thorough and methodical job cleaning teeth.

Joey, feeling very relaxed and comfortable, soon slipped back into slumber, until the blaring alarm woke him up. He grunted and silenced the clock with a massive hand. Now that they both needed to get up, Joey stretched to get his blood flowing, raising his arms above his head with a satisfied groan.

Eren, feeling the landscape of warm flesh underneath her move, opened her eyes and raised herself into a sitting position with a yawn. Once Joey’s giant pectoral muscles flexing beneath his skin relaxed, she stood up and stretched her own limbs, getting all the kinks out of her joints. Joey put on his glasses and raised his head off the pillow to admire her miniscule form, ignoring the strain this motion caused in his neck. Living for several years in a world made for giants had made Eren very slim and fit due to all the exercise. Right now, because of the temperature, she was wearing nothing but a pair of black panties, exposing her sleek feminine curves, narrow waist, and perky breasts. Joey liked what he saw.

“Good morning, love,” he greeted her in a dulcet tone. Eren slid down the side of his chest, over the solid lump of his bicep and onto the bed so that he could raise himself up without knocking her over.

“Morning, handsome,” she yawned back. Joey sat up on the side of the gigantic mattress. They hadn’t bothered with buying a bedframe when furnishing their shared living space, since it would only make it harder for Eren to climb up, so the mattress lay on the floor, with a human-sized ladder propped up in a discreet corner. Eren gazed up at the handsome colossus towering over her. Now it was her turn to admire him.

Joey was no longer the gangly, awkward teenager with pimples she had first met in high school. He had physically matured, his lanky body sprouting and filling out into the body of a healthy young man. His workouts at the police academy had toned his physique with lean muscle. Without the pesky hormones of his teenage years, his skin was no longer plagued by acne. Eren, being a dental hygienist, had pressured him to be conscientious of his dental health, so he maintained his pearly white teeth and charming smile. He had developed just as much in mind as in body, becoming more confident and comfortable in his own skin.

Joey stood up to his full height, which Eren estimated was about two hundred feet tall, although she wasn’t certain, since obviously she couldn’t measure him with anything except her eyes. He started to put on his uniform, while Eren dressed in her first layer of work clothes. Due to her unique situation, she didn’t wear the typical clothing for a dentist: When she got to work, she would be adding an additional coat of rubbery, saliva-proof shielding.

Eren loved how sexy Joey always looked in uniform. Of course, she found him attractive no matter what he was wearing, but he looked especially crisp and professional when dressed up. The giant bent down to pick her up and she wanted to swoon into his expansive, soft hand. He lifted her up the great distance to his eye level.

“Would you like me to make you breakfast, sweetie?” Joey asked her, giving her a tender look with his chocolate eyes. By default, Joey was usually the one to cook, since Eren’s human portions would hardly be a crumb in his capacious belly. Really, he only needed to cook one plate of food for himself, and share the tiniest amount with Eren, with her whole body being barely the size of a bite of food to him. Nevertheless, Eren still appreciated the gesture.

“That would be wonderful,” she replied with honeyed words, rubbing his cheek with her hand. He brought her down to his giant lips and pressed them gently to her in a soft kiss, which she was more than happy to reciprocate. The feathery lightness of her touch made his heart flutter. He carried his girlfriend into the kitchen and set her on the counter to spend some time with her while he made breakfast.

The morning passed quickly. Joey whipped up some scrambled eggs and toast to share with his beloved. After they both ate, Joey placed Eren back on the floor where her human-sized bathroom was located, which basically consisted of a portable box with the necessary amenities and a built-in water tank that Joey could easily refill from the giant sink of his own bathroom. Their apartment was only made for giants, but clever designs like the box rooms could be easily added in for Eren’s comfort. They were expensive additions, as specialty products, but Eren’s magnanimous father had been generous in helping out.

Eren, as a dental hygienist, always made sure that Joey brushed and flossed his teeth every morning. Joey made a show of grumbling about it but in reality he didn’t mind. He thought it was cute when Eren became so insistent, as if she could force him with how small she was. He dutifully complied and cleaned his teeth to her satisfaction while she did the same with hers.

Eren had outgrown her moody gothic phase, so she no longer wore the heavy makeup, piercings, or edgy black clothes from her teens. She embraced a more natural look instead, particularly when she went to work since makeup wasn’t very practical or sanitary when she was inside a giant mouth cleaning teeth. She regretted her tattoo, but never bothered to mention it to anyone. Joey probably couldn’t even see the details on it anyways, since he was so enormous compared to her, so it didn’t really matter.

Just like how Joey would carry Eren to school in their younger days, now as adults he took her to work. The dental clinic that employed her wasn’t far from their apartment, and was on the way to the police station, so it was a convenient arrangement. Even if she worked far away, Joey would still be willing to take her. He did not like the idea of her walking or biking outside, on the giant sidewalks, by herself. Some oblivious giant could stomp by and unwittingly smash her, or a giant with malicious intent could take the opportunity to seize her up in his fist. Joey recalled with pain the sort of tortures she had been subjected to in the past. He remembered the time he had been shamefully unable to protect her, when he was beaten up by another student. He promised himself he would never let anything like that happen again, and had strengthened his body and sharpened his instincts accordingly. He was her protector.

Joey marched into the clinic, quickly sweeping the inside with his eyes to make sure no threats were present before relaxing his guard. He went to the front desk, where the secretary was waiting for him with a sparkling white smile. She was a tall and attractive giantess, with long auburn hair and stylish glasses with purple rims. Joey was a familiar sight at the clinic, since he was reliably there to escort Eren to and from work on a regular basis. After passing Eren safely off to the secretary, Joey reluctantly left for work, glancing back over his shoulder as he opened the door to leave. Eren waved goodbye with a cute smile that made his heart melt.

As Joey strolled along the sidewalk to his job, his cellphone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and answered, “Hello?”

“Joey! Is Eren around? Are you free to talk?” It was Mr. Henderson, Eren’s dad. He sounded excited.

“I just dropped her off at the clinic, and I’m headed to the police station now. Why?”

“Perfect! I have good news.” A dramatic pause. Joey could almost hear Mr. Henderson grinning on the other end of the line. “I got it.”

Joey perked up. “Really?! That soon? Have you looked at it yet?”

“Nope. I figured I’d wait until you get here. I’ll be at the school all morning.”

“Great! I’ll try to stop by during my patrol route, as soon as possible. Or at lunchtime, if I can’t make it earlier.”

“See you soon.” Mr. Henderson hung up. Joey was grinning ear to ear. It was shaping up to be a great day.

Chapter 2

Table of Contents:

Ch. 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39

Writing Masterpost

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echantedtoon · 7 months

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Demon Bride Ch29 Arrival

(Warning!!: Enmu IS his own warning. Possibly some innuendos. Mentioning of the Red Light District but THIS WIILL ABSOLUTELY STAY SFW AND NONE OF 'THAT STUFF' WILL EVEN BE MENTIONED!! IT. WILL. STAY. S F W!!! Rui being a bit sick. )

"Y/N-CHAAAAAANNN!~I love you.~ Please let me hold you in my arms!~ Call me a pervert!~ Call me pathetic again!~ Push me up against a wall!~ But please embrace me into your loving arms as you do so!!~"

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU PERVERTED PIECE OF CRAP!! SHE'S NOT INTO YOU LIKE THAT!! SHE WAS JUST THANKFUL YOU HAPPENED TO SAVE THE KID!!"

You just sat there happily with Rui sleeping in, and you wanted to go to sleep yourself but it was Impossible with these two shouting at each other. Enmu kept making advances to go towards your seat but was easily blocked by Kaigaku's larger form standing in front of the seat hissing back at him, although he looked less threatening in his human form. Every lean and move Enmu did was blocked by Kaigaku. A VERY wide and love struck look and smile painted on his features. You paid them no mind just trying to sleep to no avail. You thanked them and just wanted to rest.

"Respect the hierarchy system Kaigaku~," Enmu chastised leaning left only to be blocked again by a hand. "After all I rank higher than you, so you should do as I say.~ Aren't you the one always saying that we should respect the ranks?~"

"Not when it evolved my FUCKING fiance you asshole-"

"Both of you SHUT UP or I'll kick your behind! Rui's sleeping and frankly I want to too!"

"Y/n my begonia.~ Please allow me to help you achieve sweet dreams-"

Finally with an inhuman hiss, two strong hands grabbed onto Enmu's forearms and actually lifted the still smiling demon into the air and staring at Kaigaku's snarling, lipstick smeared face. "This stops NOW!" He growled lowly. "I mentioned I wanted to talk to you. And it's actually important this time."

Enmu cooed."More important than dear, sweet, fair maiden Y/n-chan?~"

"It DOES you lopsided perverted troglodyte!," He hissed back, ''But we can't talk here. It needs to be kept under wraps so to speak."

"Oh, I understand." He smirked cheekily. "Oh, Y/n darling.~ We'll be back in a moment dear.~ Kaigaku wishes to discuss some dissection methods.~"

You groaned leaning against the cool glass of the window. "Whatever. Just keep it down."

"You'll never keep your mouth shut will you?" Enmu only shrugged before he was literally carried away from the scene by Kaigaku. "Now listen carefully and don't cause any unwanted attention our way."

★★★★★★★

"A fully fledged demon you say? Her head was decapitated and regenerated?" Furious scribbling was heard as a pencil was jotting down words on a notepad. "Survived a stab to her stomach that she also regenerated? Aura changes...." A bold brow rose at the black haired samurai. "And she changed right back? Blood demon arts being performed? AND she doesn't remember a thing?!"

Kaigaku nodded arms folded. He had explained everything about the events that transpired from the start of what Rui told him happened with Kyogai's mansion all the way to the part where they first boarded the train sparing no details. Enmu had finally shut up about 'loving' HIS fiance and wrote down at least four whole pages worth of new Intel. Enmu was all but eager to learn about AAAALLLLL of this. His smile gone replaced with hums of thought.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me something about what the hells been going on here. You got anything from studying that blood?"

After a silent moment of just writing Enmu finally answered him by shaking his head no. "Unfortunately not. Both of the samples I took from her are completely normal human DNA, except for the strange flower smells they give off. I couldn't find anything that would make those smells, or anything out of the ordinary for that matter." He paused for a moment before looking up at him. "Which reminds me. I don't suppose that any of those demons who attacked you mentioned any weird smells?"

"...I think one mentioned aster blooms but Im not sure." More writing made him hiss. "What's the point in even telling you this if you aren't even any help?!"

"Well it gives me more to work with...I think I'll need another blood sample from her. If the battle you told me about was just three days ago then maybe there's still something fresh in her bloodstream that'll give me answers."

"I doubt that. Her entire body blood and all smells strongly of human again. If you got anything now, it won't be any good."

Enmu hummed disappointed. "A shame. It would've been really beneficial but I don't have any blood from that night."

The sentence made Kaigaku paused. Eyes going wide before slowly looking over to him. "Hey... That's not true." A lightbulb went off in his head before looking at him. "We do have blood from that night! Blood stains!" Enmu blinked obviously confused. "There's blood stains on her dress from her injuries that night!"

Enmu perked up. "Demon blood....If that blood was spilt while she was a demon then there might be a chance there's something in there leftover from her transformation!"

"Would it be any good though? It's a dried stain."

"I could still examine the dried blood cells. Even if there's nothing, it would be good to have it on hand. Do you think you could get me a sample?"

"Drop us off outside the Entertainment District as fast as you can and I'll get you it right now. Just don't tell her anything yet about this. I'm keeping her stress levels down for now."

"Deal! After all, the faster the better!"

...

Purple eyes opened up slightly from something slightly jostling her body but the world was still clouded by sleep. "Alright. Here's a piece of cloth from where that stab wound was. That's about as direct from the source as you can get." Something warm was dropped back over her. "Careful with it."

A pair of metal tweezers carefully plucked the torn off small piece of cloth from Kaigaku's palm. It's once pretty yellow fabric was destroyed by the dark red stains fitted across it. Yes. This would do nicely. He admired the pretty rust coloring before the cloth was safely shoved inside a small glass jar and a lid was screwed on top sealing it inside.

Enmu smiled widely with delight. "Yes. This will work nicely. It'll take me a week to finish my normal duties around the provinces but I should be able to investigate this later." The jar was then safely dropped inside the briefcase which shut with a click. "But rest assured, it'll be in goo hands."

"Better be. I don't trust you as far as your sanity goes. And there's not lot going on in your head."

"Aw.~ You pay attention to my brain?~"

"JUST GET US TO THAT DISTRICT!!"

"Hmhmhm.~ As you wish, Kaigaku. But I would be keeping a VERY close eye on her from here on out in case it happens again. If it does, see if you're able to get me a fresher sample."

Footsteps walked away as purple eyes blinked widely and tiredly as the world refocused and there was something black huffing before plopping itself down next to you. "Fucking assholes."

"Kaigaku?"

"Ah!" He nearly jumped from his seat when you, with wild bed head, smeared make up, and bags under your pretty eyes. Which slowly blinked. "Holy hell. Don't do that!"

You only yawned. "What time is it,?..How long have I been asleep?"

"Hmph. It's not morning yet I can tell you that much. Go back to sleep."

"Where are we going?," You asked instead turning your head to the window. It was still very much dark outside. "...I'm not sleeping until I know."

"Oh my GODS! You're more stubborn than a literal mule! Fine! If you must know we're going to the Red Light District."

There was silence only the sounds of the train speeding by. Your brain still fuzzy from lack of sleep processing what he said slowly.... Before purple eyes slowly widened and widened and widened to the size of plates and you turned to look at him. He stared back.

"What?"

"The Red Light District? As in....THE Red Light District?!"

"Yeah." He looked lightly surprised. "You know about that from your side of the mountain?"

You deadpanned at him. "Even if I never went anywhere EVERYONE knows what 'that' place is!" You frowned now. "And we're heading THERE?! Oh no! Nuh uh!" You shook your head arms shifting the weight of a dead asleep Rui in your arms. "There is absolutely no way I'm taking Rui into a place like that! Are you insane?!"

"What?! It's a perfect plan! No one sane would think to look there for you!," He insisted which only made you narrow your eyes more at him. "We're not even going to 'that' part of the district with those women! We're heading towards the market place in the frontal parts away from it all. You won't even be disturbed by the gritty bits." He explained further with a sigh and a hand rubbing his temples. "There's an inn there that's a secret sanctuary for any Upper Moons conducting business in the area or just passing through. But usually it's just used as a vacation house whenever Douma comes around the area for his own perverse reasons.'' With a deep inhale he turned back to you seriously. "But there's also another reason I chose that place."

"And that brilliant idea is?"

His eyelid twitched. "The men who attacked you aren't initiated into the Kizuki officially yet, so they wouldn't know about any of these places. If you're stashed there then you'd be safer than anywhere else."...Ok. You supposed that logic made sense now. And honestly it did kinda make sense from a demon's standing point. "We just need to sneak you both in there without attracting a lot of attention. That's what the disguises are for. Who'd look twice at a couple humans just walking down the street?"

"....I hope you're right about this."

"You're going to have to trust me on this. Believe it or not I'm trying my best here."

"I know..." Your expression softened. "I'm sorry. But...thank you. For saving us.'' He paused when a soft hand held his arm. "You saved us back there and I should thank you for that, but I guess Im just overwhelmed. I haven't expected my life to turn into one massive run away trip."

He stared at you, then at his arm, then back to you...before looking away with a huff. "Yeah. Well you should be grateful. I'm nearly exhausted from fighting and traveling. I didn't sign up for any of this you know, especially when a shrimp imprinted on my fiance."

There was silence before you spoke again. "You know we're not really engaged right?"

"...Come again?"

"I SAID we're not even engaged." You remembered you never really spoke to him about this but you needed to get this all straightened out now and not later. "I never accepted your proposal."

He stared at you blankly. "....What?"

"Dammit, Kaigaku. Do I have to repeat myself?" You poked his shoulder. "When you gave me this necklace I had no idea you were proposing to me."

"WHAT?!"

"I had no idea you were proposing to me until Kyogai explained your whole courting culture to me! I thought you were just trying to suck up so Akaza wouldn't kick your ass. I only wore it this long so you wouldn't throw a fit over me not accepting your gift! I had no idea it was a romantic gesture!" You inhaled deeply before saying. "Kaigaku. I was never interested in marrying you."

Silence.

The only sounds coming from the train as it rattled along. Kaigaku just...blankly staring at you. After a moment your hands reached up to your neck and tugged on the strings until they loosened and fell. The smooth surface of the magatama falling into your hands before they were held out. Kaigaku flinched and blinked when his hand was grabbed and it was placed back in his possession.

"Here. You should take this back now. You lost two just to get us this far, it wouldn't be fair if you lost a third, so just take this and accept the outcome." You dropped it in his hand and turned away from him back to the window breathing a sigh. There. It was done at last. He could throw a tantrum all he wanted but it was done and off your hands. One more problem solved.

Kaigaku however remained oddly silent. Just blankly staring at his hand and the magatama. In fact...he was silent for so long you nearly fell asleep back against the window and you would've if you hadn't felt it. The feeling of something thing on your neck. It made you jump back away and yelped at just how close Kaigaku was to your face, and his hands were busy tying something around your neck.

"Kaigaku! What are you doing?!"

He didn't answer until the string was tied around your neck once more and the taller male backed off. "There. That should be a good replacement."

You blinked.. before a hand reached up to touched your neck. It was a string firmly tied around it and soon after you felt the familiar smooth surface of a magatama charm. Bewildered you gave Kaigaku a look as he just gave you a half lidded look.

"The other one was damaged. That one is better suited for you."

"... Didn't you just hear what I said?" You rose a brow. "I didn't accept your proposal."

"I heard you. This isn't a proposal, it's a courting gift now." Your eyes went wide. "Don't give me that look. Did you really think I was going to give up on you that easily? I've thought about it and from where I'm standing I have at least seven other competitors. If I can't be engaged to you then I'm sure as hell going to be in the running for it."

You gawked at him. "Seven?! Where the heck did you get the idea that I have seven suiters on my ass?"

"It's obvious Kyogai and Akaza feel the same way about you that I do." He nearly growled. "Now Enmu's got that idea into his head, and there's the assholes you charmed somehow. I need to keep you undercover for a while. The woman instincts you have is bad for men."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"

"It means you need to shut up now and get some sleep! I'll wake you up when we're close. We won't be there until near sundown tomorrow anyways so that should give you plenty of time to rest."

You frowned at him...but soon found yourself lulled back to sleep and soon after fell back into a world of darkness.

...

"Hey! Wake up already!" Something shoved you back and forth until you woke up with a snort and found Kaigaku staring down at you but it was way brighter, day time had arrived. "Get up. We're nearly there and I have to cover the shrimp's head back up."

So that was fun. Turned out for whatever reason you just slept until almost sundown the very next day until Kaigaku woke up and had you help him wrap the blue obi back around Rui's head to cover up his head again so 'no one would recognize him' but this time you made sure that he didn't cover up his mouth to help him breath better. The reflection of you both in the window was... Nothing like you expected. There was you. Wearing an oversized coat obviously too big for you, bad bed head, and make up so smeared that you could've been mistaken for a monster. Then there's Rui who looked wrapped up enough to survive a blizzard with Mitch matched clothes of all colors. ..Whelp. Kaigaku was right about one thing. No one would tell who you were in this get up. You both looked too ridiculous. Hopefully if you just kept your head down and hurried no one would pay attention to you under the cover of many people and the darkness of night. The train rolled to a complete stop and Kaigaku pulled you up and off the train pretty quickly, you had to carry Rui as he was still asleep and try to keep up with the fast pace Kaigaku set. You guessed it was a good thing Kaigaku wouldn't let go of your arm because you were sure you would've been swept away as soon as you stepped off the train. You could only blink once bright lights hit your eyes but once you saw clearly...Your. Eyes. Widened.

THE AREA WAS HUGE!! YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE!!

BRIGHT LIGHTS WERE EVEYWHERE!! It nearly blinded you by the amount of lanterns and lights glowed warmly against the sky, when you looked up it was almost completely night again. The sun was just setting giving a small bit of light left. But that wasn't the most shocking bit. PEOPLE WERE EVERYWHERE!! TONS OF THEM!! All human too. Walking around, shouting at one another, talking loudly, and sometimes carrying objects like bags and boxes. The murmuring of voices together was loud enough to be a buzz like that of a bee hive. It rattled your head in a way that was unpleasant and new. You hissed and yelped as a strong arm pulled you against Kaigaku's side as a swarm of people ascended to board the train as fast as possible. It took a moment but you realized that you all were standing on the platform of a train station. The buildings surrounding the people were bigger than any of the ones back in your village. Two or three stories each. At the base of said houses were small stalls and wagons the tons of people swarmed but you couldn't see what they were about, there were too many different faces. It was dizzying.

"Where are we?"

"I told you. This is the marketplace of the district. All of these buildings are mostly small businesses or homes for the rich assholes who run the places." He scowled before huffing and the arm around your shoulders tightened. "Come on. Keep your head down, and act as normal as possible. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention even from bystanders."

You had no choice but stumble along as he pulled you along with him and tighten up your grip on Rui whom still slept soundly against you. How he could still sleep through everything was beyond you. You were pulled along with the taller demon and couldn't help but look around the scenes and people, they were hard to miss since Kaigaku just pushed your forms past people down the middle of the street making others curse at him or give annoyed looks not that the demon cared for.

"W-Where are we going?"

"The inn. Keep your voice low," he hissed, "Are you trying to get us caught?"

"Well it'd be nice to know how far we have to go-"

"Mother, I'm hungry."

Smack!

Kaigaku facepalmed himself. "Oh great. What a great time for him to wake up. Just keep him quiet. The inns not far from here now."

"What bit his tail?"

You shushed Rui who seemed less interested in the people and more interested in the delicious smells of food in the air. You were too to be honest. It felt like an eternity since you last ate and your stomach rumbled the more food stalls you passed. The sweet aromas of honeyed cakes and sweet meats mixed perfectly with each other in a way that was mouthwatering. You hoped there would be food once you got there. There was more pushing more shoving and Kaigaku pulling you both constantly down the long stretch of road only to sharply turn you left, and then right, and then a left again down another road until he forcibly made you stop just outside an alley way, looked around,....and then pushed you down into the darkened pathway with a yelp before ducking in himself. You gave him a frown but he only pushed you further down the dark path. The light was blocked out from houses making it hard to see, but you could see enough to spot discarded barrels or crates here and there full of old trash that overflowed out onto the street. This was a way to an inn? Guess this would be the last place someone would expect to find an inn at. He had you walk until you both turned a corner behind a house leading to nothing but a dead end. ...A literal dead end with nothing else here. Literally nothing. After a silent moment you and Rui exchanged looks before you looked to Kaigaku but again paused when you found the demon pushing on random wooden boards with his hands on one of the walls.

Your brow rose. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to remember which one of these dam planks opens the door! Give me a break! It's been twelve years since I was here!" He pushed against a wooden board above his head before cursing and just hitting the wall in frustration. CLICK!! He froze as a small clicking noise sounded. From under his palm a small thin piece of the wall slid in and away from view of you both. "....Hmph! See? I told you I'd find it."

You would've rolled your eyes but- "Who wishes to enter the Red Sanctuary?" A raspy old voice called out from the thin hole in the wall which made you jump and blink at it.

"Lower Moon Two." Kaigaku stared directly at the hole hands on his hips. "Open the dam door and let us in." You leaned over to peer at the blood shot eyes peering back out at you all. "We don't have all day old woman."

The eyes turned at you. "Mmm. Traveling with a companion?"

"If Douma can bring twenty of his followers with him then I can bring one woman!"

The eyes glanced between you both before looking back at him knowing. "If you wanted a lady's company there's-"

"ITS NOT LIKE THAT!!," He bellowed at the woman's eyes. "IM ASSIGNED TO LOOK OUT FOR HER!! NOW OPEN THE DAM DOOR!!"

The eyes looked at a part of his face. "...Mmm hmm. If you say so." Kaigaku growled and the hole was closed again only for there to be a larger clicking sound and a bigger part of the wall the size of Akaza fell away and revealed an old lady demon. She was about your height, with a plain blue kimono, two large fangs sticking out of her bottom jaw, and looked old enough to be your grandmother. "Welcome to Red Sanctuary, Lord Moon Two. It's a surprise to see you here." She welcomed with a bow but sounded bored. "Why don't you and your guests follow me and we'll get you settled?"

"That's more like it!"

Grabbing your arm again, Kaigaku pulled you in right behind him and the old woman leading the way through a hallway within the side of the alley with the door closing behind him. The hallway looked just the ones Kyogai had in his mansion and lit by lanterns filled with candles that lit up with a friendly warm glow, it was certainly a step up from the buzz outside. They continued walking until she stopped in front of a sliding door and bowed again.

"This would suffice for the three of you, unless you request a separate room for yourself, Sir." The old lady said raising a brow again staring at a part of his face.

"It's fine. Get us some food and towel, and get her a kimono to wear." He paused to glance at Rui. "And send for a doctor."

"Congratulations, Sir. It's always such a beautiful thing seeing young families blossom."

"The hell are on now old lady?"

"The doctor I assume is for your expecting lover is it not?"

The whole room suddenly turned a hundred degrees hotter as you both yelled, "WHAT?!"

"NO. THE HELL. IT'S NOT!!" The red faced samurai pointing at Rui. "THE DOCTOR IS FOR THE KID WHOS RUNNING A FEVER RIGHT NOW! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU EVEN GET THAT IDEA!?"

"My apologies. I'll get you everything you need in just a moment. Please pardon me." The old lady bowed again and turned to leave as the seething samurai yelled out in frustration.

SLAM!! The door was thrown open before Kaigaku pointed inside. "In. Just...IN!" Was all he was able to get out through his gritted teeth before stomping his way inside. "How could she possibly think something like that?!"

Rui deadpanned bluntly. "Probably because you still have lipstick on your mouth."

".....WHAT?!"

You leaned over to peer into the room only to find Kaigaku looking into a mirror hung on a wall. His red face looked panicked reflected back at him, and his eyes looked directly at the red lipstick still smeared across his lips from last night. The same kind you were still currently wearing... before he furiously began to wipe his lower face on his sleeve. Rui pointed and laughed but you quickly shushed him when Kaigaku snapped to your form in the doorway. .. Silently he walked back towards you with a frown and you blinked when he just pushed right past you.

"Stay in the room until I come back."

"Where are you going? We just got here."

"You'll need new clothes. You can't just keep walking around soaked in dried blood. I'll have to get you a new kimono and discard of any evidence."

"Evidence? Something tells me you're used to covering things up."

"A lot more than you think. It'd be good to blend in as much as possible while you're here, so you'll be needing something in style for everyone else here. Even if you'll just be staying inside-"

"Oh Nuh uh! No way!" You frowned at Kaigaku. "I've been forced to stay inside forever and now I have to stay more inside?"

"Just until this entire thing is sorted. Don't argue with me."

"Kaigaku I refuse to be stuck inside and trapped again."

"You might be crazy enough to risk your own safety but are you really going to risk his? What if one happens to recognize you and pieces together where the kid is? Do you really want to risk him being taken away?" You fell silent. "That's what I thought. I'll be back in a while.i have to make sure we weren't followed. The head maid here will make sure you have some food and clean clothes. You just stay put and take care of the shrimp."

Then he left leaving you standing there.. before you frowned and turned back into the room. Now you had a good chance to look over it. Holy crap. THIS PLACE LOOKED JUST LIKE OUT OF A RICH MAN'S MANSION!!! There was a giant futon that looked like it was made of the softest fluffiest blankets ever. There wasn't any windows but a bright giant chandelier with candles hung above, illuminating the pretty paintings and mirrors and vases lining the walls. In the middle of the room was a bear skin rug and on top of it was a small wooden polished table. The whole place felt like a dream. Eventually Rui wriggled out of your grasp and trotted over to a secondary door leading to what looked to be a decently sized bath room. It was like the one back in Kyogai's mansion only smaller and slightly more fancy. Eventually the old lady from before returned to you with clothes, and towels in her arms with a younger servant with a giant metal pot in her hands.

"Forgive us for the delays miss. But we have others guests to prepare for as well. I do hope you enjoy your stay with us."

"Other guests?"

"Yes. Very soon a very important guest and his servants will stay with us for some time, but do not worry. They won't be staying for long as they're just passing through and won't be taking your room."

"Oh." You wondered who that could've been. Perhaps it was this mysterious 'Master' whomever he was. "What food is that?" It smelt delicious and very similar to soup.

"Hotpot, Ma'am. It should be enough to tide you over. However I'm afraid I won't be able to provide you with any doctors. I am not allowed to reveal the location of Red Sanctuary to anyone who is not a Kizuki or under their employment."

You paused at what she said...but nodded. "It's ok. Rui isn't running any fevers right now so he should be alright."

Enmu said he only needed to rest for a few days and get plenty of food. So this should be perfectly fine. You thanked the ladies and from there it was a typical night almost like back at Kyogai's mansion. You both got cleaned up and then ate. You were sure Rui was feeling a lot better now cleaned up and gorging himself on most of the giant pot's contents of mushrooms, and meats, and broth. You yourself felt better not having to wear that make up anymore and the plain kimono you were given was better than the one with tears. The hotpot was good, was actually nothing that you'd ever tasted before. Fine meats and mushrooms. That night might've been the best sleep you had in a while but come morning the next day you awoke to a strange sight. Kaigaku was back and once again he was sporting that human disguise but this time his obi and black coat was back on his body, and he was staring right at you.

"About time you woke up. I've been waiting all night."

"Kaigaku?" You blurily blinked from the soft blankets of the futon. "W-What's going on?"

"We need to talk. I've been ordered to go back to the mountain border."

It took some time to fully comprehend the gravity of what he said but it had sunk in eventually and had you shooting up fast. Rui groaned but only burrowed further into the blankets. "What?!"

Kaigaku looked like he expected your wife eyed shock reaction because he only sighed where he sat. "Yeah. There's no other way to put it."

"You have to go now?! But we just arrived literally yesterday!"

"I expected that too. Apparently I pissed some higher ups when I left my post without telling anyone."

"Who? Your Master?"

"My Mentor." You looked at him confused. "Kokushibo. He's the second most powerful demon both in and outside of the Kizuki. He's pissed I left my post on the border and didn't help Kyogai stabilize his situation. I TRIED to explain it to him -" he threw up his arms with a growl. "-but he said Akaza was the one who was supposed to handle humans and he wants me to go back while he's away!"

"What about the demons that tried to take Rui?!"

"That's what I came to tell you." He inhaled deeply, slowly before letting it out and reaching a hand up to rub his temples. "*Sigh*.... I'm supposed to go back. I can't disobey him. You're going to have to wait here for Akaza."

"Akaza?!"

"Kokushibo's not happy. He's pretty pissed that there's five idiots who not only destroyed an important building but fucked up another job they were supposed to be doing." He held up his hands. "So-... Akaza was going to take care of Kyogai but Kyogai FUCKING panicked when he couldn't find, so Kyogai contacted Kokushibo. Then Akaza showed up and of course Kyogai told him so now Kokushibo told Akaza to go get me to help but I'm here with you, and now he's pissed I left my post without telling him. So Akaza was ordered to bring Hantengu's sons to him for questioning, I'm supposed to go back until Kokushibo can send assistance to Kyogai, Akaza is going to be the one to come take care of you within a few days, and Kokushibo's pissed because he's already dealing with a whole bunch of shit on top of this and I'm pissed because I can't be here for you!!" At the end of his rant he breathed heavily and you just sat there wide eyed.

"...Then what's going to happen to us here?"

His shoulders dropped. "Akaza is coming to fetch you four days from now. So including today that makes about five days you'll have to wait. He'll deliver those assholes to the Infinity Castle and then come get you here. He'll be bringing you back to his estate until things get assessed by Kokushibo himself. This thing is a right mess!"

"Then... I'm just going to wait here? For five days?!"

He nodded. "I'm risking being in more trouble because Iwas waiting for you to wake up to tell you." He then pointed. "I need you to stay here and take care of the kid until he arrives. But ...I need to know you won't leave this place until Akaza arrives. You're as stubborn as an ass, but I think you'll listen for the kids sake."

"....Do you really have to do this?"

"If I don't I'll be in bigger trouble and possibly put you in danger. It'll be better for everyone else if I left and you stay here. It's already been arranged, I talked to the head maid and paid for your stay in advance. You'll be fed and given plenty of privacy...Gods. I wish this hasn't happened. "

"It's alright. I'm used to handling things by myself, but could you..maybe...W-When does the next train leave?" Your hands tightened slightly on the blanket.

"I missed the morning train to tell you the news. The next one leaves in a few hours."

"Could-...Could you stay with us until you have to leave?"

"Even if you told me to go away, I'd keep my ass here until then."

You chuckle which made him pause. "I'm happy to hear that."

"Oh. I almost forgot something." You watched as he reached behind him and pulled out a green leafed fan, and held it out to you. "Here. If you need to defend yourself in anyway, use this."

You slowly took the strange leaf weapon from him, looked it over, before looking back at him holding it up. "What is this?"

"A weapon. I stole it from one of the demons who attacked you and tried it out. It works like this. It magically summons wind to blow things away, so the harder you flap it the more powerful the wind gust will be. Use it if you need to protect yourself if you need to. It's not a very deadly weapon but it'll be enough to protect you with. But only use it if you really have to!" He stressed pointing at you seriously. "And I mean ONLY if you really need to. It'd be best to not draw unwanted attention."

A weapon huh? That sounds promising to you. You were grateful to Kaigaku for once. However...

Things really did never go how you planned. Fate ALWAYS has the final say, and unfortunately fate and destiny was never really a kind hand who dealt pathways.

Kaigaku left that very evening. After telling you about a THOUSAND times to 'stay the hell inside' and 'dont draw any attention to yourself ' and to 'under no circumstances do NOT leave the dam sanctuary!' You agreed and repeated yes so many times that you could fill a whole book with just the amount of yeses you spoke out loud but he seemed satisfied enough to go before leaving to catch the train out of town leaving you with the sole responsibility to care for Rui. It's alright. You were used to taking care of yourself and other people. After all you took care of your grandma for years before she passed away, and you've been practically taking care of Rui since he first fell in your lap. This would be fine. You just had to stay inside and wait for Akaza in a few days. Sounded simple enough and for a bit it was. The rest of that day Kaigaku left was uneventful, you just spent the rest of the day in your room. Rui slept for most of that day but woke up when a lady came to deliver dinner and some water but right after he fell back asleep again leaving you to just sit there until nightfall eventually made you retire to sleep. The very next day was much like the first. Rui slept in but woke up when breakfast, lunch, and dinner was served but right after went right back to sleep. He sure had a healthy appetite. You supposed that was due to not being able to eat for a few days and that fever scare he had took a lot out of him. At least when he was asleep he'd be easy to handle however it just left you sitting around with nothing else to do but wait in your room. You're bored. Usually Kyogai would've lent you a book to read by now and you'd happily read it to pass the time. You'd just have to wait and be patient.

However... Disaster again decided to rear it's ugly head that night.

It started when you just retired for the night two hours early. Figured that if you didn't have anything else to do you'd just retire and get some useful sleep. However you weren't even asleep for an hour before you were shooken away again by small pale hands and were met with Rui's face looking like he was about to cry.

"Mother? I don't feel very good."

You pushed yourself up in an instant despite the sleepiness you felt blinking and rubbing at your face. "Rui? What's wrong? Are you alright?!"

"I'm too hot. I can't sleep anymore."

Your stomach dropped. Oh no...NOT AGAIN!! A hand instantly slapped itself onto his forehead only to feel how warm he was. "You're running a small fever. Oh no."

"Is it..bad?"

No. Not yet. Rui's little fever wasn't anything to worry over, but it could progress into something else that was much worse, and here you were without medicine. If it got worse ...You stood up suddenly making Rui blink before he also stood up. What to do? What to do?! That lady wouldn't let you bring a doctor here! Not after what she said! But...YOU COULDN'T take Rui out. He traveled enough against his will and you COULDN'T risk him getting caught by anyone again. ....There wasn't any choice. You'd have to go out and get him medicine yourself. You didn't really want to buy it was the only way you could get what Rui needed. It shouldn't be too long. Just go to the doctor, get medicine, and come back.

"Where's that weapon!? I'm heading out."

"I'm coming too!" Rui followed holding up a hand.

"No." You stopped him turning around and holding up a hand. "You're too sick. I can't risk a repeat of last time, and it'll be faster if I just went out by myself. I'll be back before sunrise tomorrow anyways. I know my way back. But I just need you to stay here."

"But-"

"No buts Rui. Not this time. You're just gonna have to listen to me just this once. Now to back to bed and STAY HERE until I come back. That's an order, Rui. Listen to your mother."

You found the weapon. You left the room. After assuring Rui whom started to tear up a little bit, you would be back soon. Very soon. You weren't gonna let Rui get worse again. Not by a long shot. In the hallway you ran into a maid carrying towels, and told her to care for Rui and to show you the way out. She did and you found yourself out in the alley way again where you first came in. Alright. Here we go. You just had to get that medicine and come right back here. With a determined face and deep inhale of breath and the comfort of the fan weapon tucked in your kimonos obi, you marched off down the alley quickly to return soon.

However

Fate rather likes to make things difficult for you.

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someonelookingpraediti · 1 year

Text

Illumicrate Unboxing

Better Together December 2022

So, I switched back to the full box! I emailed Illumicrate after my October book, asking to switch, knowing there was normally a waiting list. I actually only waited a month before they had a slot available for the December box: "Better Together".

It was great timing, as well, because we didn't get a calendar delivered this year at work for the office (budget cuts, go figure) and this month's box has a calendar in! But disaster! It's a desk calendar, not a wall calendar! I didn't even consider the possibility.

The featured book is "The Red Scholar's Wake" by Aliette de Bodard. It sounds pretty interesting, although not quite my cup of tea. The cover is a very, very slight recolouring, I believe. The hardcase is foiled, but simply. It has blue-to-purple ombre sprayed edges, which look really cool, and absolutely gorgeous endpapers.

The first item is a jewellery case. I've now had one of these from each subscription company, and there's only so many travel jewellery cases a girl needs. This one is nice, it's inspired by "House of Earth and Blood", and it's red with gold detailing, with a very pretty design.

Next is a mug, featuring Achilles and Patroclus from "The Song of Achilles". I love a mug, and I love the book. The design is ok, but it looks a bit washed out on the mug.

Next is a chain pin, inspired by "The Jasmine Throne". I like this a lot, although not sure I'll wear it! I'll try to find an occasion for it.

The last item, the one I thought was going to be oh-so-useful, is the desk calendar. Honestly, I'm not sure it'll actually be useful to work since it's not a wall calendar, but I'll take it in anyway, just in case. The spoiler card says it's "undated", but I don't understand how, since it very clearly does have dates? It features twelve literary couples, but I only recognise one!! Pictures below - if anyone can figure out who they're meant to be, do let me know!!

#unboxing #illumicrate #better together #the red scholar's wake #aliette de bodard

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aajjks · 2 months

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no no no! i got it now. that’s so cool! 🤩

TC!dad!JK

the woman sizes you up and down; sensing strong emotions all over you. she takes your hand, closes her eyes, and can see all kinds of colors around you. when she’s finished analyzing each color of your aura, she requests to speak with you alone which you nod your head and lead the woman outside of jungkook’s office so the two of you could talk.

“so” you begin “what did you see? can you ‘fix’ me?”

“it’s not about ‘fixing’ you, child. it’s about helping you understand and speak how you feel into existence. your feelings, aura…they’re strong. from what i could see, you’re sad. very sad and insecure with yourself. what is it you’re sad about?”

“i’m not sad. insecure? since when?”

“there is no need to lie to me, queen y/n. i’ve no doubt in my mind you’re in a deep depression from both postpartum and your relationship with the king…whom you love”

love?! okay…is this woman crazy? you love the king? jungkook? JEON JUNGKOOK?!

“excuse me?! no. nononono. you obviously didn’t see that right”

iseul smirks. “if that is not true, why create another human life with him?”

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!! it happened and-and it wasn’t planned, okay?!”

“it may have been an accident but making love with the king wasn’t. you two care about one another, no need to feel ashamed queen y/n. he’s seen you barer than i’ve seen you”

clearly, you’re in denial. what iseul is saying has you running your fingers through your long locks of hair and stressed. you won’t deny your depression but love? in love with the king? with the man that constantly blames you for everything? no way. it just isn’t right.

“why are you so ashamed to admit your feelings for the king?”

“because i don’t feel anything for him! he doesn’t feel anything for me so why should i? it was a mistake and it’ll never happen again”

iseul shakes her head. you were radiating strong colors of green and she has a feeling that this won’t be the only child you share with jungkook. instead of revealing that to you, she decides to not to tell you because revealing too much may overwhelm you and you’ll walk away.

“you may not feel like it but you’re an important asset to both the kingdom and the king. your aura is composed of a beige, golden-like color. it means comfort, wisdom, simplicity, and trust and you want someone who will understand that. the king will understand if you tell him but how will he know when you keep secrets?”

“iseul, right? listen, your ‘king’ is, excuse my language but, he’s an asshole. when i try to be transparent he’s cold to me”

“why do you think that?”

“BECAUSE HE’S CRAZY OBVIOUSLY!!”

“hmm, perhaps he is. didn’t you fake your death and hide your pregnancy from him?”

your eyes widen “he told you that?”

“these walls talk, my queen. they told me every detail there is to know about you. in no way am i saying what the king did to you was right but two wrongs don’t make a right. so why did you hide your pregnancy?”

although your walls are built up high and mighty, eventually you do put them down and decide to come clean about how you feel about everything.

“i hid it because i was scared. i…i thought i was going to get rid of the baby but i didn’t want to. i know i should’ve told jungkook but i couldn’t bring myself to. since you said these walls talk then you must know everyone in this palace isn’t too happy about a woman without royal blood being ruler and i knew if i put it out that i was pregnant people would chastise me even more. i hid it from him because i was selfish and didn’t realize he needed to process it just like i had to and i robbed him of that. we didn’t talk for the rest of my pregnancy term because of it but i hoped that if i told the maid to have him there for the delivery he’d forgive me but clearly he doesn’t”

“you wanted him there for the birth of his son?”

you nod your head. “maybe it’s love, i don’t know but i do care about him”

iseul smiles so there is hope for this relationship.. she wipes the tears threatening to spill from your eyes and says “you both need to talk to each other and become cordial for the baby. all this animosity doesn’t hurt anyone but the son you both share. take your time to enjoy parenthood together, okay?”

you nod your head and rise to your feet, pulling iseul up with you.

“and remember your worth. you’ll become a great queen for this kingdom, your highness. but you must believe it”

“you’re right. thank you ms. iseul this was…i really needed this. you should look at jungkook’s aura. what color is his aura? i bet it’s pink, red, blue, hmmm…purple? i don’t know”

“maybe you should ask him”

when you both walk back inside jungkook’s office, you’re met with your smiling son and goofy husband and their interaction puts a smile on your face.

“we are back. it is safe to say that things should be a little smoother now and the queen has a few things to tell you”

“but before it gets serious, can i know your aura color? i think it’s red”

or maybe his is the same as yours?

~🫧

Jungkook laughs.

You’re so cute when you’re curious, and he’s really glad to see that you’re not crying now because it hurts his heart a lot.

“My aura colours according to miss Isuel are maroon which represents force, depth, and passion..” he scratches the back of his head because that’s literally the truth. He’s forceful and his feelings have a huge depth- and he is a really passionate person- lover.

“Black. Which represents elegance, wealth, restraint, and power… haha quite fitting, purple because it’s associated with rarity and royalty and lastly red..” he looks into your eyes, his eyes full of emotions. “Hatred, anger, aggression, passion, heat and war.”

The Analysis for his color palette are really accurate so now he’s wondering what are the colors of your soul? “Haha… so… yn? Do you like miss Isuel? I don’t think you’re aware of this, but she actually helped my mother with her postpartum depression and. She had nursed me too as my mother was recovering for sometime…” he says, Jinseoul is cooing, and Jungkook melts.

“Her talent is beyond Amazing isn’t it? She could analyze our son, but he’s too young right now.” He laughs. “ if you want she could stay with you and whenever you’re struggling and I fail to understand you.. You could talk to her she’s like a mother to me.”

He makes sure to rock jinseoul. So he doesn’t get fussy but it’s kind of hard being a father… he’s also struggling just like you, but yours is way worse. “Ahhh she is saying that you have something to tell me, so what is it?”

#ask: tc!jungkook #his colors are really fitting hehe #Someone analyze my color palette 😭

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thebibliomancer · 7 months

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11 Days of Comics! 3/11: Megalith #1 (1989) "The Pope's Apprentice"

Continuity Comics! I don't think I've read anything of theirs before. But its been nearly two hundred random comics in random boxes and piles. One could have snuck in.

Continuity Comics was a comic book company formed by Neal Adams (famous for assorted Batman stuff and creator rights advocacy). The house style of Continuity was based on Adams' style and Continuity's claim to fame was publishing grittier and racier content than Marvel and DC would.

The company didn't last that long, closing in 1994. I don't know all the details but Continuity jumped wholeheartedly into all 90s trends and was hurt when the speculator market collapsed. Even before then, it was criticized for missing deadlines and poor editorial oversight.

The same issues that Image would get flack for but Image evidently could weather the rough times better.

Anyway. Megalith. He was introduced in Continuity Comics' Revengers #1 and presumably his deal was better explained there. Because Megalilth #1 only gives the cliff's notes of it.

There's this really, really strong guy, Joe Majurac. Due to an intense training regimen, he unlocked a mind-body link that makes him really, really strong.

The comic doesn't really explain it very well but it has similar feel to "using more than 10% of your brain." Another dude is introduced in this comic who also unlocked a mind-body link, to a lesser extent than Joe, and it gave him psychic powers.

Anyway, anyway, the comic starts with Joe wandering around Beirut looking for his parents when he spots some terrorists doing random terrorism with rocket launchers.

Joe tries to stop them but one rocket gets fired off and hits a random building. Joe rushes in to save lives. He shoves a small child out of the way of a collapsing wall but gets pinned under it himself, with a sharp piece of metal impaling his shoulder.

Bleeding to death under a wall is a good time to flashback so he does. But not to his whole origin. Fuck you, read Revengers, I guess.

Joe mentions at different points that he's really mad at terrorists in general because terrorists kidnapped his parents and ruined his Olympics dreams. But he also says that he was tricked by Germans and held prisoner.

He trained in secret until he unlocked the mind-body link and was able to break out and go to the American embassy.

At which point, the Americans tried to keep him captive to run tests on how cool and strong he is. Even faking a terrorist attack when he tries to leave.

But when they let him go for real, a real terrorist attack strikes the American embassy and the airport. And Joe goes and thwarts it.

That's when he meets General Colin Grantland, possessor of a mustache and the title "the Great Negotiator."

He's the other dude that unlocked the mind-body link. Although he doesn't say how he did. Just that his isn't as cool as Joe's. He explains that all the tests the American army was running on Joe was to try to replicate the mind-body link but no luck. Joe is a totally unique cool guy.

So Grantland gives Joe the codename MEGALITH, THE ULTIMATE MAN!

Which present Joe views wryly since he's dying underneath a wall in the very first issue of his solo comic book.

But he spots a folder with his name on it that was not there before a wall fell on him and he just KNOWS that it has information about his missing parents.

So he gathers his willpower and energy despite the pain and blood loss and PAWNCHs the wall off himself and then painfully pulls himself off the metal impaling him.

And the folder has a letter from the terrorist group the Cartel saying that they are perturbed he keeps interfering in their terrorism so they're going to make a deal to get him out of their hair.

They know where his parents are. So if he would like that information, he should stop by for a meeting next time they contact him.

Joe Megalith pulls himself out of the ruined building vowing that someone will pay for this! And then he passes out from blood loss. Just flops right to the ground.

End of issue 1.

So… the problem with this comic. Is that it doesn't really have a hook? Joe Megalith isn't that interesting? Nothing is really explained? I mean, maybe it was explained in Revengers but this is a jumping on point. As a new reader, I would not be tempted to look for Megalith #2 at my local comic book shop. If this were the year 1989 again.

Sorry, Neal Adams. This didn't grab me.

#11 Days of Comics!#liveblog #Megalith #Continuity Comics #x days liveblog

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magicalfirehideout · 1 year

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Chapter One: Ghosts and Demons

As I reached the landing on the back porch, two dark crimson-colored droplets of blood began to pool on the concrete with each beat of my heart. I tried to cover up the blood by grinding the bottom of my shoe into the concrete, but it only made it worse, and it was quickly replaced with more. I was trying to come up with a story or at least an explanation, but I was at a loss for words. Although my mind was in a dense fog of self-doubt and frustration, each step closer to home was starting to snap me back into focus, but not enough to compensate. One of the things that continually ran through my mind during the walk home was the old notion that life was full of choices. Tonight, I made several bad choices that led to unnecessary bloodshed.

When I stumbled my way towards the back door of my house the motion light clicked on from dimly lit, to a melt-your-eyeball mode. I was blinded. I put up my bandaged hand to protect my eyes, forgetting about the flowerpot I put there last week to spruce up the property. My right foot contacted the large ceramic pot, causing me to fall face-first. I was able to catch the doorknob with my right hand, but the momentum of falling forward made a large crashing sound as my body contacted the storm door. I was able to pull myself upright and as I stood back to dust myself off, I noticed the large blood smear I had left on my injured hand. I stood there for several seconds, transfixed on the smear's downward arc that was encompassed by a large dent in the aluminum door. I could hear movement in the house, and I knew what waited for me on the other side of the door. Should I just walk away? Should I go back into the fog and never come back? I immediately pushed these thoughts out of my mind and tried to work on my story about what happened and why I was covered in blood. A lie only hurt when the truth was exposed, right? I took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, before slowly releasing it through pursed lips. It didn't help. It never did.

I turned the knob with my right hand and spilled into the house holding my left thumb and hand slightly above my heart. The bleeding hadn't let up a bit on the walk home. I could feel the throbbing coming from the tip of my thumb, which was partially missing and bleeding profusely into the makeshift bandage of tissue and electrical tape. I tried direct pressure, but the pain was almost unbearable.

As I made my way through the three-seasons room and into the kitchen, I left droplets of blood that could easily be followed. I tried to bend down to whip away the evidence, but it only made it worse. Shit! I thought as I stood up and looked down at my new gray Under Armor t-shirt under the sobering glow of the hallway lights. The blood had already dried into the light gray fabric, and I could feel it sticking to my chest and stomach. Between the blood-stained front of it and the strong smell of the campfire, I was starting to get queasy. For a second time, I tripped over the door's threshold and almost fell into the wall. I had been meaning to fix the loose board for the past two years. It was on “the list” of things I would never get to but I kept adding to every chance it went unchallenged.

As I stood in the six by four foot newly remodeled bathroom, just off our bedroom, I was disgusted at what I saw looking back at me in the mirror. When I redid the bathroom last year, I added three high-voltage lights to better illuminate the bathroom. I regretted the decision to upgrade the light because it brought up every detail of the carnage. I reached out for the facet value with my good hand and fumbled with the faucet handle, trying to wrangle it loose to get some cool water on my eviscerated thumb. The pain was shooting up my left arm and I could feel it deep within my core. It is impressive how quickly pain can remind you of the human side of life and the impact of a stupid decision.

How many drinks did I have at night? It started out with one mixed but quickly turned into another. With each sip of alcohol, my anxiety was melting away and I was starting to feel invincible. Invincibility was something I needed at this point in life. In fact, if I could, I would pack up my things and hit the road before the true story came out. But, more on that later. I needed a change and maybe things were “too hot” to stay behind and face the consequences of my decisions. Alcohol has a funny way of turning off the rational side of your brain and making you think about things that you might not think about. Like, for a brief second on my walk home, I thought about ending it It wouldn’t be hard to do. One simple act to end it all. As quick as this thought entered my head, I snapped back to reality. Too many people care about me to end it. Plus, I couldn't do that to the boys and Lucy. Not tonight. Not ever. One attempt was enough and the fallout was horrible.

I started to dissect the bandage by unraveling the blood-soaked paper towel from my thumb. With each pull and tug, I could feel the exposed nerves rapidly firing throughout my body. For such a small part of my body, it was causing me a huge amount of pain. I welcomed it. I wanted to feel pain. Feeling pain meant I was alive. It meant I still had fight left in me. I took several deep breaths and looked away to regain my composure. Blood never really phased me. In fact, a week prior I had sat through an autopsy where I watched a sadistic Doctor cut the ribs away from a homicide victim with a set of garden sheers. As the Doctor chomped on spearmint gum, he was chatting away about how unfair the police were being treated and how he felt the defunding effort was bullshit. It was almost comical, except for the fact a dead guy was lying face up with his wide open with a bullet hole in his head. He had a shocked look on his face and the more I studied it, the more it sent chills up my spine. After transitioning to a soup ladle, the Doctor began pulling the excess blood from the abdominal cavity and pouring it down the drain, much like someone would do when filling up a bowl with tomato soup. In fact, other than some loose tissue, it was similar in consistency. It made my stomach turn.

As a took in another deep breath to slow the peeling process of the last bandage, I could still taste the tinge of blood that was still attached to my nose hairs from the autopsy. “Don’t go there,” I said to myself. "Stop it!" I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. "Fuckin' Stop it... I can’t take another flashback." Not now. I continued to slow my breathing and tried to focus on the task of removing the last bit of the bandage. Normally, this sort of weird behavior during an autopsy or even a sadistic thought process during police work did not bother me, but lately, I was struggling to keep my head straight. My mind was constantly racing with random thoughts that at times didn’t make sense. Suicidal thoughts were popping into my head more frequently than at any point in my life and it was becoming more and more difficult to dismiss them. They were more of suggestions to deal with the flashbacks and trauma I faced as a police officer. The inner voice was telling me it would be easier to end things than to deal with them anymore. it scared me, but I could control it with alcohol. At least, I thought I could. It had been years since this was a problem and the last time I dealt with it, I thought it was over. It was a secret I kept with me every day and something I refused to talk about. At times, I tried to find the words, but they escaped me when I tried to push them toward the surface.

Often, in times of crisis, we look toward the cause or at least try to pinpoint something that is a mitigating factor to our behavior. Prior attempts at therapy had taught me the importance of recognizing the warning signs and “backing off” when things became too difficult to deal with. Several months ago, I took a promotion to Detective, and it was shortly after this that things began to fall apart. Each case I took on exposed more of the cracks in my psyche, and unlike before, I refused to acknowledge them. Again, I kept it a secret and met each assignment and day with a smile. Deep down, just below the surface, I was struggling. With each death I was exposed to it was as if they were talking directly to me. They wanted me to join them.

Instead of turning to a healthy outlet, like therapy, or fitness to reduce anxiety, I did something that was easy and convenient. I self-medicated with alcohol. It started out slow. A tough week? A drink or two in the old recliner after work. Shitty day? A drink or two turned into a four to six. What started out as drinking on the weekends, slowly bled into the work week and eventually became a nightly ritual. A few drinks a night, quickly turned into shit-faced drunkenness. I slur my words and slump into bed exhausted. I was on a repeat cycle of behavior and each night I would come home, pour a glass of whiskey, and try to forget the inner politics of the job and the horrors of human existence. I felt like no one understood me and the only answer was the drink more. My sleep was poor and the more I drank to sleep, the less it came each night. I was running on fumes of alcohol and exhaustion.

Shit that hurts! I thought as I peeled away the final piece of tissue paper that was attached to what little skin I had left on my left thumb. “I need stitches,” I said to whoever was listening. My wife, Lucy, was in the next room tending to our two boys and yelled “why is there blood everywhere… are you okay?”

“No worries… I am fine” She was getting tired of my drunken endeavors and the last thing I wanted to do was further concern her about my latest alcohol-fueled shitshow. I closed the door and locked it. I didn’t want her to come into the bathroom and see me covered in blood. I turned on the shower and quickly balled up my clothing, placing them at the bottom of the hamper. I felt as though I was cleaning up a crime scene and hiding evidence, but honestly, that was exactly what I was doing. I was good at hiding things from those I loved. I was hiding another mistake. Another choice that resulted in a shitty outcome. My life was full of them lately and it was only getting hard to cover my tracks.

I start to run cold water from the sink over what was left of my thumb. I looked in the mirror and again was taken aback by what was staring at me. I didn't recognize myself. My eyes were bloodshot. My cheeks were puffy. “Damn,” I said out loud. “What are you looking at you piece of shit?” I looked like the classic alcoholic. Flushed, bloated skin that was oozing pure ethanol from every pore. I was my father. I was my grandfather. I was every family member who was alcoholic. I had finally made the transition.

The cool water helped a bit with the throbbing, but after some of the dried blood washed away, I needed a stitch or two to close the wound. I continued to inspect the wound and weigh the consequences of getting stitches versus letting it heal on its own. I couldn’t go to the emergency room in my current state and there was no way I was going to ask Lucy to drive me. I started to play with the flap of skin, moving it from side to side, not out of any real medical reason, but more out of curiosity. Bright blood continued to drip and glob onto the white porcelain sink and clean tiled floor, and with each droplet, I tried to find meaning. “Why am I here anymore?” I ask out loud to an empty bathroom. “What did I do to deserve this… I did everything right… gave it my all… and for what? To piss it all away.”

“Lee, are you okay?” Lucy asked from the other side of the door. “Let me in… you are obviously hurt.”

“Fine… just a little cut on my hand I am cleaning up,” I replied. There was no sense in trying to explain it. I wasn’t even sure I could explain how I did it since it was somewhat of a blur.

“Bullshit. Let me in to help. You’ve been drinking... I can smell it through the door... and YOU need help.” Lucy wasn’t having it and I could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn’t happy.

“I’m good… heading into the shower now. I just need to get some water on it and then get some sleep. It’s been a long day.” I replied. I quickly entered the shower and began washing my chest and stomach. The dried blood started to wash away, and I started to feel better about my decision to not seek medical help. “I am not actively bleeding right now, and I will bandage it up when I get out of the shower. Can you grab the medical kit?”

“If I do… will you let me in?” She replied.

“Yes, of course,” I replied.

She met me when I opened the bathroom door and handed me the first aid kit. “Thanks,” I replied.

“Let me see it,” Lucy replied while shaking her head.

I showed her my thumb and she immediately gasped. “It looks better now that I took a shower... just a flesh wound.”

“You need to go to the hospital for stitches… the top of your thumb is missing.” She replied.

“I’m fine. I will butterfly-stitch it. I want to get some sleep. It has been a long day.” I replied while reaching for the kit. I started to rummage through it for the gauze and bandages.

“Stop, you are getting blood everywhere. I will do it.” She replied as she grabbed my left hand and began to put pressure on the wound. “I’m gonna cut some strips of tape and butterfly it. Just try not to move.”

“Well, it hurts… so that means I didn’t sever anything internally,” I said with a smile.

“Yeah, I’d say. But you still need stitches.” She replied.

“I’m not going. Not like I need my thumb for a while… remember, I am on administrative leave pending investigation, right?” I replied with my smurk.

“All preliminary right now and you shouldn’t be stressing yet. How much did you drink tonight?” She asked.

“Two beers.” I quickly replied, fully knowing it was a lie.

“Bullshit, try again.” She replied as she began to wrap my thumb tightly with gauze. With each turn of the gauze, she pulled it tighter and tighter. My thumb was throbbing, but I didn't want to complain.

“Okay, fine… four, tops,” I broke the silence.

“Again, bullshit. You can barely stand. The boys can’t see you like this. In fact, I don’t like to see you like this. You need to get ahold of this.” She replied.

“I will. I promise.” I wanted to end the conversation because history taught me it was heading down a path I didn’t want to walk tonight. I wanted to sleep.

“I am going to get some ice and hopefully it will help with the swelling. Don’t worry about cleaning the blood. I am on it. I want you to sleep this off and we need to talk in the morning. I can’t keep this up night after night. It’s not fair. Okay?” She replied.

“Okay,” I replied. Honestly, it was the only thing I could say. I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to tell her what happened and why I was on leave. I wanted to tell her I knew I was turning into an alcoholic and self-medicating my depression and PTSD. I wanted to tell her everything, but it wasn’t the time and the words were lost in my mind because of the alcohol-fueled mix of emotions.

I stumbled over to our bed and plopped down onto the bedspread. I didn’t bother pulling down the covers and just laid there staring up at the ceiling. Although I was exhausted by the day, my mind kept going back to the conversation I had with the police chief earlier in the morning. His words kept swirling in my head over and over like a broken record. “Lee, you need help.” One might think his statement was endearing and he had nothing but the best intentions, however in my mind these words translated to “Lee, your career is over.” I kept going back to the idea of not being a police officer and what life was like without the identity it gave me. For almost seventeen years I identified as a police officer and within seconds my career took a turn for the worse. I went from the best in the field, to someone who was viewed by many as reckless and untrustworthy.

“Lee, are you okay?” Lucy asked from the doorway. I wasn't sure how long she had been standing there, but It was as if she didn’t want to enter the room for fear of what I might say.

“Yeah, just a bit tipsy and my thumb is killing me. Otherwise, all is good.” I replied. I was trying to stay upbeat, but my mind was racing. I knew what tomorrow meant and quite frankly I didn’t know if I wanted to wake up and face my demons in a sober state.

“Well, here is some ice for your thumb. The boys should be asleep shortly and we can talk if you want.” She replied.

I took the ice and placed it directly on my thumb. I immediately felt a sharp pain shoot up my arm. “Not tonight. Soon, okay? I am tired and I need to sleep it off.” I replied. I could tell she didn’t want to wait until morning, but I couldn’t get past the sudden feeling of dread. It scared me and I needed more time to think things through. I needed to be sober. I needed to feel in control. I was too vulnerable to open now.

“Okay, that’s fine. I am going to sleep in the boys’ room tonight to give you room. I don’t want to bump into your hand during the night. Please wake me if you need anything.” She replied.

“Will do. Thanks. Love you.” I replied.

“I love you. Again, I am worried. We will get through this… please promise me that.” She said as she stood up from the bed.

“Always,” I replied.

Sleep didn’t come easy. Between the room spinning from intoxication and the throbbing pain in my thumb, I couldn’t summons it. I felt stupid. Earlier in the day I was put on administrative leave from the police department pending the outcome of an internal investigation into my conduct. Instead of immediately seeking help or at least talking with someone about it, I decided to drink myself numb the minute I came home. At first, it was a temporary solution that made me feel better. In my ever-increasing drunk state, I had a sense that no matter what, I was going to be returning to the job I enjoyed. But, at some point, my blood alcohol level reached a point of no return, and it sent me down a dark hole of despair. My sudden confidence turned into self-doubt, then frustration, and eventually into self-loathing anger. This is way outside of my normal behavior, but it had been building for a while and I couldn’t keep it down any longer.

As I sat around the campfire with neighbors, hashing out the next steps of handling an internal investigation in my head, I took the fire poker from the pit and began smashing it down in a fit of blind rage. I don’t remember how many times I smashed it into the rocks or exactly what I said or did, but I only stopped when I saw the tip of my thumb hanging off like a strip of flaccid lasagna. When I looked around there was a sudden look of fear among those who watched and instead of justifying my actions, I quietly walked towards the direction of my house. I could hear them shouting for me to stop, but I kept walking. My neighbor caught up to me and silently handed me some paper towels and electrical tape to bandage my thumb. I quickly wrapped it and handed it back to him. We said nothing, but his look told me everything I needed to know. Pitty. Doubt. Sadness.

My mind shifted gears as I started to drift off toward sleep. Again, as exhausted as I was, I was fighting to sleep. When this happens, I can't help but think about the past. It was something I did often. My demons were always ready to boil up into my consciousness and remind me of their presence with subtle hints along the way. When I drank, it was like opening the floodgates of hell. I thought about death. Not my own, but rather everyone or every event I had witnessed in life. I thought about a little boy who died in my arms. I thought about the young mother who hung herself n the closet. I thought about the decapitated teenager who was rushing home to beat his curfew. Death was a part of me and my existence in the world. Each death scene took a piece of me and there just. wasn't anything else to give. I eventually slept, but restless, and not without the nightmares.

Looking back, I could catalog this point in my life as being an all-time low or even a tipping point towards turning things around, but unfortunately, my story didn’t end or start this night. If anything, it was a continuation of an underlying darkness in my life. In fact, until recently, there were only a few that know my story. With time, it has become easier to talk about the darkness.

My story started one sunny spring day in May of 1990. I was ten years old when I saw my first dead body. He was the closest thing I ever had to a brother and after his death, I walled myself off from the world. I hid myself brick by brick and refused to allow anyone in. His death was burned into my memory and haunted me at my deepest core.

On that fateful day, my innocence was ripped from me, and my life was set on a crash course that I continuously navigated, but rarely understood. Often, I blamed myself for his death and I fantasized about trading places. What if it was me that day laying lifeless in the street? Should it have been me? Eventually, this line of thinking quieted a bit in my teenage years, and I was able to develop a plan to make things right. I felt obligated to prevent what happened, and the only way I could surmise doing so was to become a police officer. The thought of working in a career that was built around protecting others consumed me and eleven years after my friends death, I entered the police academy. At the time, I was ready to lay down my life for others. I felt a calling so deep in my soul that I refused to think about anything else. I didn’t care about the mental toll it would take on me or the impact it would have on my interpersonal relationships. If anything, I was young and naive.

My life story is about the journey I took to find hope and meaning in life. It has taken me many years to find my voice and to be honest with myself and those around me. It is not easy to talk about one’s demons, but I have learned that the minute you shine a light on them in your darkest hours, they no longer hold power over you. In fact, the brighter the light you shine, the more likely it s that you will overcome them. It has taken me a lifetime to learn about facing my demons, and I hope you can learn something from my experiences that will help you in your own life. Trauma is all around us in life and no one needs to suffer alone.

Sadly, during my 19-year career as a police officer, I became consumed by my demons. They would often visit me on sleepless nights or drunk endeavors. I would try to hold them off by rationalizing my work or the potential to save a life. The darkness of “the job” wreaked havoc on my life and at times robbed me of a piece of my soul. Over time, I began to give up on any hope in humanity and gradually developed a serve case of cynicism that often led to arguments with Lucy and other family members. I was lost and suffering, but instead of seeking professional help, I went down the rabbit hole of dispair and distruction.

All I ever wanted to do in life was help others in the wake of my friend’s death, but ultimately, it almost cost me my own. I hope you enjoy the ride because it is a wild one.

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ericjodegard · 2 years

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Journal 3

Even after reading the 2 articles and video provided in the assignment instructions, I learned more about Six Mile Cypress than I knew before. I find it very inspiring that even though this preserve is not the most famous or known worldwide there is a group of people, Friends of Six Mile Cypress, that are willing to work hard for the conservation of this land for the current and future generations. I also noticed at the bottom of the Lee County website that Six Mile currently has railroad track that were once used to transport military supplies to Buckingham Army Airfield during WWII, which I found interesting.

We began our trip in the learning a little more about the slough in the welcome center. Where we learned that the preserve is over 70 years old and covers over 3,000 acres and has 1.2 miles worth of boardwalk. To me this was surprising because I always thought that it was much smaller than that. And that it also acts home for many of Florida's unique species such as otters.

Our first stop on the tour was at Gator Lake. At the lake we all sat under the roof of the amphitheater and talked about the difference between a slough and a swamp/marsh. A slough has water that is constantly flowing through it in one direction whereas a swamp or mash where the water is stagnant. We also discussed the process of cypress trees helping to filter the water that is flowing through their trunks which then works its way down through the limestone into aquifers. There was also a power quote from Chief Seattle that read, “We don’t inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Which is a coincidence because we had read a letter from Chief Seattle just a few days before in class about treating the land with respect for future generations. Below is me on the dock that overlooks Gator Lake.

Our next stop was at Wood Duck Pond, while at the pond we learned about more about epiphytes. Which we had discussed in the field trip before our guide pointed out many of the epiphytes that were in eyesight but one in particular piqued my curiosity, the resurrection fern. The resurrection fern can decrease it’s need for by up to 97% when there is a severe drought. It will shrivel up and turn a brown grayish color and appear to be dead, but as soon the rain comes it sprouts right back to a healthy vibrant green, hence its name. And as we were leaving Wood Duck Pond there was a small alligator, no older than a few months, blocking our boardwalk. I wish I could’ve gotten a picture of the little guy but he scurried away too quick.

Our third stop on this trip was at Otter Pond, which as I’m sure you could guess is named after the many otters that have been spotted there. Although we were not lucky enough to see an otter that day we did see a few large Florida Gar. A long slender fish that almost looks like it has a screwdriver for a mouth. I had not seen ones this big in years so it was very cool to be able to see these native fish grow so big. At Otter Pond we also further discussed the many ways that these native plants help clean the air around us. For example, the grey mossy spots we see on the trunks of trees is actually called Lichen and is not only harmless to the tree but also cleans the air from carbon dioxide. Lichen even comes in many varying color including a bright red Lichen, nicknamed Blood lichen.

And lastly our final stop at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve was at Pop Ash Pond. Pop Ash Pond is classified as a Cypress dome which was also part of our earlier field trip through the trails at FGCU. While we were at our last stop we were all standing a large covered area and around the three walls of the structure was pictures and details about many of the native birds, animals, and fish that you may find during your trip there. It was really mind blowing to see how much biodiversity there was in just this small portion of land, and really shows you that we as population need to be better when it comes to preserving pieces of land like this.

Everyone should be dedicated to the conservation of this slough not only because of it’s natural beauty and its astonishing flora and fauna, but because the work that goes on here directly effects us all. Six Mile Slough acts as a natural water filter, it helps filter out debris and make sure the water arrives to Bonita Bay clean. Which means if this preserve is not there a large amount of water ending up on our ocean would be polluted and tainted by our own fault. The biggest threat to this park would be the infringing human presence and as the long as southwest Florida remains this popular each year we will get closer to seeing it go under. This trip definitely taught me a lot about our ecological imprint and sustainability. The fact that we were only mere minutes from I-75, a major freeway, and there was whole other world that seemed to almost be in another time and world makes me want to do everything I can to decrease my ecological footprint and help to save and preserve places like these for others who have not yet had the ability to see it’s beauty.

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pubg-mobile-wh-pe · 2 years

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PUBG Mobile PC Emulator Cheats VN Hax Aimbot ESP High jump

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 As the most famous survival shooter game today, PUBG has built an extremely large community of players. In the game, you will have to overcome all challenges to become the last survivor. With the PUBG hack, every task will become simpler than ever. The game has created a rare fever in the game market. Although it has been around for a long time, up to now, PUBG has not shown any signs of cooling down. With a novel storyline, unique gameplay, the game depicts a harsh survival life with suffocating fierceness, tension and drama. At the beginning of the match, you and other players will be dropped into an empty area. Large map area with a variety of areas. The choice of which area to fight in is entirely up to the player. Immediately after landing, the first thing you need to do is find weapons, vehicles and other necessary equipment. The display mode of the game allows the player to observe from 2 perspectives. For individual solo play, you need to try to survive to the end. If shot down, the game is over. With a team-based match, if you are supported by your teammates to recover, you can still continue. The final destination is to destroy all enemies, becoming the winner. On the map there is a countdown time display. As time goes on, the safe zone narrows. At this point, if you are outside the safe area, you will lose blood and the possibility of being shot down is very high. Pay attention to the time, quickly enter the safe zone to avoid death. The narrower the safe zone, the higher the chance of clashing with the enemy. Therefore, you need to be very careful when collecting items as well as taking action. Many gamers search and download PUBG Mobile hack partly because of the special feature that helps players get many weapons and items. In this survival shooting game, gamers will have the opportunity to try a lot of weapons. Not only guns but also grenades, bows and arrows. Along with that is a series of melee weapons such as knives, sticks, pans, … After defeating the opponent, collect the spoils of weapons and items that they carry with them. With the mobile version, you can still experience the visual awesomeness. Characters, context, details in the game are designed extremely realistic and sharp. Vivid visual effects, bring the most real feeling to the player. Thanks to that, during the battle you can hear very clearly where the bullets are coming from. Currently, there are many websites that provide this game hack. Each hack is aimed at a different purpose. If you want to download PUBG hack with special features, please refer to the version below. The special features of the hack will give an advantage in the process of fighting and survival. Explore this article. Unique gameplay At the beginning of the match, you and other players will be dropped into an empty area. Large map On the map there is a countdown time display. Weapon systems and items Many gamers search and download PUBG Mobile hack partly because of the special feature that helps players get many weapons and items. Hacking Features Wall Hack. Hack drawing enemy bones. No Recoil anti-recoil. Hack Tele. Shows enemy health. Fix Lag: Plays well on mid-range configurations. New Features Clear grass and fog. Hack the speed of the car. Dead Spiner. Black Sky. Warning of dangerous areas before 20s. Send comment.

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petculiars · 2 years

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Crowntail Betta Fish - Care Tips

New Post has been published on https://www.petculiars.com/crowntail-betta-fish-care-tips/

Crowntail Betta Fish - Care Tips

One of the most popular types of pets that Americans own is fish. This article will give you a lot of cool details and facts about the crowntail betta fish. Keep reading this article especially if you want to own this beautiful, although pretty aggressive fish.

The Betta, also known as the Crowntail betta fish, is one of the more popular freshwater fish species. People also call it Betta Spender, or the Siamese fighting fish. It is said to have ancestors native to the rice paddies of Cambodia and Thailand. This creature is very easy to breed and has a very beautiful and colorful structure, making it a very in-demand breed.

Care Tips for this Fish

Taking care of a betta fish won’t be as difficult as you might think. As long as you follow the tips I`m listing below, you can add this attraction to your aquarium without issues.

You should never wash the things in the aquarium, like gravel stones, rocks, or plants, with soap. The soap can be harmful to your fish and it will be very difficult to rinse it from these types of things. If you still need clean these objects, use just warm water and brush them with an abrasive brush.

You should aim for a PH level of exactly 7.0 in your tank. You can always check the PH level inside the water with the help of a PH testing kit. These are easily available in local pet stores. If you notice the PH level being off this number, you can go for a solution that will either decrease or increase the level of the PH to reach the needed 7.0 value.

The easiest and most reliable way to clean the particles inside the fish tank will be to make use of a turkey baster. You don’t want to wait for the materials to settle down at the bottom of the tank either, as this will make the water pretty dirty, causing it to get a very foul odor.

Keep in mind that they are still called fighting fish for a reason, so you should never place more than just one male in one fish tank. They will not only fight with one another, but they will fight until only one is left. These fish will only form a safe and healthy combination with algae eaters or catfish.

A Betta fish will need the cleanest water possible to survive. Although this fish won’t need a filtration system inside the tank, it will require that the water is changed every three days inside the tank to stay clean and healthy.

The fish also needs a tank of appropriate sizes so it has enough room to move around. They will also require a huge space in which to dwell because they are pretty active most of the time. If the tank or jar isn’t big enough, the fish might start bumping into its walls, ultimately tearing off its fins and scales.

You should always put a lid on the jar or tank. This is a fish that will be aggressive in nature and will jump quite a lot. This is why it might even jump outside of the jar if not covered.

You should give them brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, or other types of live food. Betta pellets are also great for these fish and they can be bought from your local pet store.

If you try to decorate the aquarium or jar with some small rocks, you risk having your betta fish getting stuck in them. This is why to take the best possible care of these fish, you should put them in an aquarium with a smooth flat surface, where they won’t risk their life and wellbeing.

As a final tip, keep in mind that this pet fish is a living creature. Don’t forget to feed it from time to time and take it to your vet as soon as you notice anything weird in its behavior.

Betta Fish Facts

You might also like my articles on jellyfish, oscar fish, or black piranhas.

Most people don’t know this, but Betta fish will usually get sick pretty easily. The fish will only live a healthy and long life if you give it a hygienic environment and proper care.

Most betta fish are expected to live between 2 and 3 years. There are some rare instances in which the lifespan of this fighting fish might reach 5 years.

The betta fish will have a straight spine and floating fins. You can find the fighting fish in more than 25 colors but out of all of them, people tend to prefer black, white, purple, green, blue, orange, and red.

When threatened, a male betta fish will resort to expanding its flares.

If you keep more than one male betta fish in the same tank, they will fight until just one remains.

The female betta fish will be considerably thinner than the male.

This is one of the unique aspects of fish breeding.

Betta Fish Names

Names for Betta Fish Based on Their Colors

Firebrick

Violet

Turquoise

Salmon

Magenta

Cornflower

Chiffon

Golden Rod

Rose

Papaya

Tomato

Teal

Sienna

Coral

Cyan

Names for White Betta Fish

Spirit

Whisp

Ghost

Names for Black Betta Fish

Lurker

Stealth

Names for Yellow Betta Fish

Sunny

Sunshine

Goldie

Flare

Names for Blue Betta Fish

Chas

Charlie

Shark

Barracuda

Wave

Moby

Ocean

This is basically all you should know about the crowntail betta fish and the betta fish in general. Following all of the dots from above will ensure that you’ll have a healthy and happy fish as a pet.

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stargaze-issei · 3 years

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— 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 + 𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐦𝐚.

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭; how their teams react to the scratch marks on their backs (obviously provoked by you)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬; suggestive, few curse words, mentions of sex??

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞; crack (??? im not sure

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞; i love this hcs and wanted to do it for by best boys and my best teams. also no one ever mentions kawanishi and that's so sad bc i love him 😞

— 𝚒𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚣𝚞𝚖𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚓𝚒𝚖𝚎.

-> i swear it's not that he's rough.

-> i mean he is but sometimes he just want to have some good old vanilla sex and cuddle yk.

-> and last night was one of those times.

-> but my man is just– HE'S ROUGH EVEN IF HE DOESN'T TRY.

-> so he usually have scratches marks after you do it, although he is pretty careful about it.

-> he doesn't want the team to tease you and that's your intimate sex life like he's trying to protect you ok.

-> also he knows matsukawa and makki WON'T let it go and oikawa is not better.

-> but this time he just forgot.

-> he has a lot in mind and when he arrives to the lockers and starts changing the last thing he thinks about is last night.

-> he is a little thrown off by how silent everything is.

-> kindaichi, who usually speaks a lot to kunimi while changing, is dead quiet.

-> since iwaizumi's face is facing the wall, he can't see how everyone there is watching beholding his back.

-> sure, mattsun, makki and oikawa knew you had sex.

-> and the rest kinda knew too?? but ignored it??

-> but that was some EXPLICIT CONTENT.

-> "ohmygod y/n that poor thing" makki is the first one to talk.

-> iwa just stands there like ???????wdym

-> "is that– is that blood?" that one is watari.

-> "IS IT OKAY FOR US TO TALK ABOUT Y/N-SENPAI THIS WAY????" and this one is kindaichi, who is in all shades of red.

-> and then it hits iwa. just as oikawa walks in.

-> "IWA-CHAN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR B– oh"

-> iwaizumi can't even react he just puts on his shirt and (・_・;)

-> he doesn't even leave the locker he's just standing there, all red.

-> yahaba would be so jealous, but act cool, like he had done it a thousand times already pack it up virgin

-> kyoutani kinda doesn't care?? but he stares and secretly thinks he HAS to have more scratches whenever he does the deed.

-> watari is still trying to get over the initial shock.

-> and kunimi left the locker room like five minutes ago bc he doesn't care fr.

-> AND TOORU???? HE JUST STARTS TEASING.

-> one of the few times he teams with makki and mattsun.

-> "my iwa-chan, such a big boy" "should we check on y/n?" "i really thought you were vanilla"

-> hajime just takes the jokes like a champ, he knows they won't stop so he just gotta smile and nod.

-> but when you arrive to the gym, looking for him to walk home together, and oikawa teases you???

-> somehow iwa manages to throw like three volleyballs at him at the same time because NO ONE'S FUCKING WITH YOU.

-> you get it?? bc he did that last night but he didn't let oikawa mock u–

-> that was the day he became daddy iwa for the third years 😛

— 𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚖𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚜𝚑𝚒.

-> he is massive, ok?? massive.

-> homeboy doesn't even know how massive he is.

-> not until probably tendou pointed it out, and ushi would just be like:

-> "huh 😕"

-> so yeah, scratch marks are pretty common.

-> the thing is, he doesn't have a high libido, so you don't do it that often.

-> hence to why, he never had to worry about it.

-> he was a little shocked the first time you did it and he looked at his back after and ????you used it as a fucking canvas.

-> his only concern is wether you are okay tbh.

-> ANYWAYS.

-> he's always the first one to arrive to the locker room, until goshiki appeared and started to arrive earlier to show he's more committed than ushijima.

-> tendou and wakatoshi are like go off girl.

-> the rest arrive a few seconds later, and ushijima proceeds to take off his shirt.

-> lemme tell you, goshiki STARES at his body.

-> scratches or not, he (●__●) at his abs, his shoulders, his back, his arms, EVERYTHING.

-> who wouldn't tho.

-> so he's the first one to notice.

-> HIS FACE TURNS RED AND BEYOND AND HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO?????

-> does he has to have sex if he's the ace??? does he needs scratches???? looks like it hurt, but if ushijima-senpai can do it, then he can to 😤

-> "uh..." says reon, elbowing kawanishi at his side who elbows semi who elbows yamagata and they are not shocked but waiting for the kouhais' reactions.

-> AND FINALLY TENDOU ARRIVES.

-> "oh my sweet lord i knew this would happen"

-> ushijima genuinely doesn't understand what everybody's talking about, but he never does so he just stands there and listen trying to comprehend.

-> shirabu is a mix between disgust and amazement because his captain's back is sO marked, it's even a little swollen.

-> was he..... was he that big?

-> that's when shirabu starts thinking about what could you have done, like, in details.

-> his face suddenly becomes RED OH FUCK THAT'S Y/N-SENPAI HE'S THINKING ABOUT

-> semi has to do his best effort to hide his laugh but every now and then he lets out a giggle which leads to kawanishi laughing too.

-> AND THEN GOSHIKI GOES:

-> "are you okay ushijima-senpai?"

-> someone protect this child please.

-> wakatoshi is kinda thrown off by the question but he is feeling alright.

-> semi can't hold back and just burst in laugh.

-> shirabu is so distressed and yells "DON'T LAUGH HE'LL REALIZE"

-> ushi: 🤨

-> "did you have a fun night, wakatoshi?" asks tendou, a smirk on his face, shouting glances at his teammates.

-> "i did, i took y/n on a date, we had dinner and then..." he can't say what you did next.

-> "then...?" follows semi, gaining a hit from reon.

-> "i don't think y/n would want me to talk about this"

-> "we know, wakatoshi" that's tendou. and he slaps ushijima's back, a little too hard.

-> it's when he feels a subtle burning feeling he remembers.

-> "oh, yes, i have scratches on my back"

-> everyone's like who would've guessed 🧐

-> AND THEN TOSHI JUST LEAVES???

-> goshiki thought he was going to explain??? maybe give some advice???

-> anyways, shirabu STARES at you the next time he sees you and goshiki can't look at you without turning red.

-> kawanishi and semi TEASE and reon literally asks you if you're okay.

-> tendou is so surprised because he knew wakatoshi had to be rough but expectations WAY surpassed.

#haikyuu #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu headcanons #iwaizumi headcanons #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi fluff #iwaizumi hajime #ushijima x reader #ushijima headcanons #ushijima fluff #ushijima wakatoshi #– star's; originals! [❀]

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soobadnoonecanstopher · 3 years

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Touch it for Real, Part 9

Genre: Humor / Fluff / Angst / (Eventual) Smut 18+

Warnings: OMG they were roommates / slice of life / slow burn / mutual pining / crude humor / cursing / virgin!baek / idiots to lovers / unresolved sexual tension

Characters: Baekhyun X You/Female Reader

Description: You teach Baekhyun how to date. (Basically the Get You Alone M/V)

A/N: DO NOT YELL AT ME! It is going to be okay.

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10

You had a secret.

For such an abstract and shapeless thing you could sure feel it sitting in there.

It was pulsing.

Your secret felt like a splinter lodged just under a single taste bud that sat in the center of your tongue. You could feel your white blood cells attacking it, trying their best to push it up and push it out, but still it clung tight with its sharp barbs lodged within your cell walls. You brushed your tongue against your teeth.

The secret did not budge.

What you knew about them though, was that secrets did not like to stay hidden forever.

Your fork slipped and clanked noisily against the ceramic plate and the bright orange carrot ball rolled across the smooth white surface nearly sliding over the edge onto the white linen. Whoever decided that your steamed vegetables needed to be shaped into spheres simply for aesthetics should be forced to come out here and explain how you were supposed to spear one of these things while also avoiding the risk of it shooting across the table and hitting your date in the face.

Ben turned out to be very nice. If you were into tall, handsome, clean-looking, and responsible guys who drove their own cars and also had things like health insurance and retirement plans. When you first saw him, you were struck by the firmness you felt when he shook your hand and smiled brightly at you. He had all of his teeth and a head full of hair. He was definitely walking around on his real legs too. He looked like the kind of guy who didn’t let the clean laundry sit in the dryer for longer than a day and changed out his toothbrush every three months. You couldn't see a single fault.

You were trying your best to make a good first impression.

Really, you were.

Well, while also keeping an eye on Baekhyun who sat beside you with his focus down on his plate as he sliced his food into bite sized bits. His control of the fork and knife felt so careful and so exacting, it neared obsession. He had not ordered the steamed vegetables. None of his food rolled.

Across from him, looking just as cute in person as her online dating profile pictures conveyed, was Mia.

Mia was fine.

She was fine.

You didn't want to get into it.

Her clothes were fine. They were exactly the kinds of clothes you had expected she would wear.

Her hair was fine.

She actually had a hairstyle that reminded you of one of the characters in an anime you watched with Baekhyun once and you wondered about the upkeep costs of that particular shade of blue that streaked through her hair. You wondered if she had to switch to blue towels and blue pillow cases or if everything in her house was just stained forever.

Baekhyun’s cheeks blushed when he shook her hand and his smile was bashful, if not a bit tight when she complimented his glasses. Your mind briefly considered the plush, expensive white towels you both owned at home and a flash of horror overcame you for a split second when you imagined those towels streaked with a blue stain from the shower.

He bought those glasses at a store. Anyone can go to the store and buy glasses. Did such a superficial compliment really warrant such a deep shade of pink on his cheeks?

You took a sip of your glass of wine and the sweet, cool liquid had a tart aftertaste that lingered on your taste buds long after you swallowed and you stabbed roughly at the runaway carrot again, impaling it with the prongs of your fork.

Finally.

“I got it,” you said out loud to yourself with a wide smile and you held your prize up in front of your face for a second. Long enough for your eyes to drift across your table to meet Ben’s and you caught the soft amused chuckle that puffed from his nose.

You’d already gotten through the backstory. Starting with the curious question from Mia about how you and Baekhyun got to know each other and you took a quick glance toward Ben as Baekhyun explained that you and he had been roommates for a couple of years. You caught the slight smile on Ben’s lips as he looked down into his water glass and you wondered if he was pleased that he already knew the answer to this question as you had been quick to tell him this important detail about your life as you chatted with him during the last week or so.

Mia on the other hand simply let her eyes drift over from Baekhyun’s face to land on yours for a moment and you offered a disarming smile by way of explanation. Not that either of you had any explaining to do. You could live with whoever you wanted to live with. It took her ten seconds to return your smile, although you didn't quite believe it, or believe that she was done with her curiosities about this topic.

You couldn't really blame her although you’d given her nothing to be suspicious about. Not in the last 20 minutes since you’d all arrived and nibbled on shared appetizers, at least.

Hell, you hadn’t even touched him all day. From before you both arrived at this fancy restaurant and just relinquished your coats to some stranger simply because she held a hand out and sported a severe enough hairdo and manic look in her eyes that was too frightening to question. From the morning when you woke up and wandered into your kitchen to make toast for one and you ignored the sound of his feet shuffling in, half-asleep to grab a yogurt from the fridge. You hadn’t even helped him style his hair; which looked stunning, by the way, with the waves and the faded brown color that absolutely looked like something the perfect boyfriend would let you play with as he laid on your lap. He hadn’t even asked for your help picking out his outfit. He’d simply done it all on his own and waited for you by the front door wearing those jeans and smelling like that familiar scent that he bought for your date with him weeks back.

When had this all become so awkward? You’d never been afraid to touch Baekhyun before but now, well, the touches hadn’t ever concealed quite so much meaning before.

By the time the entrees arrived the conversations had moved on to hobbies and interests.

Ben was a movie buff, and his favorites were mostly mainstream blockbusters of the Marvel Superhero variety. He enjoyed many of the genres of films you’d mostly seen just the previews of. His top ten contained a bit more horror than you were comfortable with. One in particular, a prolific film based on a Steven King novel, had been the kind of psychologically terrifying film that made your chest rattle and you had spent most of the second half of that movie with your face buried in Baekhyun’s arm begging him to just describe to you what was happening and to tell you when the scary parts were over.

When he asked you what your favorite movie was you hesitated for a moment before pulling the movie Forrest Gump out of basically thin air. Yes you had enjoyed the movie. Yes it was something you’d seen more than once and if it was on television right now you would sit down and watch it from start to finish and you would enjoy it. It was a respectable favorite to have. It was the kind of favorite movie you would not be embarrassed to show to your grandmother.

But it wasn’t actually your favorite and you could feel the burden of Baekhyun’s eyes as he turned his head to look at your face when you said it.

Something about naming, out loud with your own lips — the light and fun, mindless guilty pleasure of the film that was actually your favorite movie that you’d watched hundreds of times and returned to watch again and again every time you felt even a little bit upset; something about saying it out loud to this table of people with countless of hours of media consumption under their belts and opinions about things like prolific directors, production companies, hefty CGI budgets, and overused, tired tropes that absolutely should be dropped in 2021, well it just felt too vulnerable for you to say out loud.

You swallowed a sip of your wine and refused to turn your head to look at Baekhyun until you heard the sound of his throat swallowing the ice water he sipped.

When Mia changed the topic to Anime you felt Baekhyun come alive beside you and Ben slinked back in his seat a little as the two of them got to talking about something that was highly anticipated and was slated to be released next year. Rumors about artists and directors with names you could not know flew easily from their lips and Mia mentioned the name of one previous work that you recognized.

In fact you had watched the entire thing last year with Baekhyun and you remembered talking excitedly about it with Mia during one of your early text conversations.

Your face lit up and you happily joined in, excited to finally know what in the world they were talking about when you accidentally let something slip when you reminded her of what she had said about the anime before. Luckily you stopped yourself before you could admit that you had actually been the one she had been chatting with at the time.

Still, she caught it. She was very quick and sharp and you watched her face as she registered that you’d referenced something that only Baekhyun should know about. Had you just fucked up?

“Ahh, we,” you raised your index finger and waved it lightly toward where Baekhyun had stiffened up in his seat beside you, “he told me about what you said.”

There was a moment when her eyes widened and she looked at Baekhyun briefly before returning her focus to you.

“He...told you about me?” She lifted a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, straightened her back and leaned forward with her forearms rested in front of her plate on the table. Her off-the-shoulders number dipped when she leaned in and you caught a bit of black lace and the bunch up of her impressive bosom.

She smiled a coy smile aimed across the table.

You followed the smile and your eyes reached Baekhyun. He’d been hit with the smile and had been too stunned to return it. Instead, he lifted a hand and rubbed it over the back of his neck twice before reaching the same hand forward to grab the ice water he’d been sipping all night as he pulled in a mouthful and puffed his cheeks before covering his lips with his flattened palm and swallowing noisily.

“I also mentioned you to my friend,” Mia said not quietly enough for it to be just for him and you dropped your eyes down to the half finished chicken on your plate.

She was fine. Mia was fine. She’d done absolutely nothing wrong. She was nice and she was probably a good person, but you kind of wanted her to die.

“So,” Ben interjected suddenly and you looked across the table at him as you tried to conceal the surprise on your face to find him sitting there.

You noticed he was done with his food and his plate had already been cleared away by the super attentive waitstaff.

The negligence of your own date weighed heavily on you and you angled your chest forward to face him directly for whatever questions he had for you.

He was pointing toward Baekhyun and Mia with his extended finger and raised eyebrows.

“You two work in computers?” It was a work question. He’d gathered this much from the brief introductions everyone had given and while you had failed to offer any insight as to what you did for a living, Baekhyun and Mia had both mentioned computers.

“He’s a software engineer, and I’m a programmer. Similar but not the same,” Mia explained. You weren't sure of any of the details or of how they were different. You hadn’t really put much thought into it. You knew Baekhyun worked the magic with the keyboard and could fix anything that you happened to break.

“I’m in advertising. Just got scouted by Comma Entertainment and I’ve accepted.” Ben had a hand raised to his chest and his eyebrows were up. This seemed important to him and you let your lips form into an impressed O shape as you raised your eyebrows. His tone and the way he said the name of his new employer seemed to warrant the excited reaction.

You weren't familiar at all with his industry but you knew how to react like you knew what he was talking about. He certainly seemed impressed by himself. Who were you to discourage his enthusiasm.

“You’ve heard of it?” You sold it too well. Baekhyun had leaned close to you and whispered an aside question and you shot him a tense look with your eyes as a warning, but you quickly pushed your smile wide for Ben who was, deservedly, very excited about his new position.

“Of course, who doesn’t know Comma for advertising. That’s a very big deal. Is that why you were so busy last week? We hardly got to talk.”

Your subject change was so slick. If you hadn’t been the one to do it, you’d have been impressed by it. The disappointed pout on your face sold it well.

“Actually I was at the bank a lot last week. It was so weird. I had a few accounts that seemed to be hacked but then it turned out to be nothing. Had to change all my passwords though, so that was annoying.”

“That sucks. They didn't take anything did they?” Mia spoke up from beside Ben; concern written all over her face.

“No. Whoever did it just seemed to access purchase histories mostly. Some loser of a hacker. Didn't even get any money.” Ben’s lips pulled wide and he was laughing with his head thrown back at his perceived victory over the hacker that had been messing around in his bank records.

“You can learn a remarkable amount of information about a person’s bad habits from their bank history, Ben. Sure utilities and rent; that’s boring. You can find out how often someone gets hammered at bars. How many of those bars are also strip clubs. How many maxed out credit cards they make minimum payments on each month just to keep their head above water. Their gambling losses and the motel rooms they book in the bad part of town…”

Baekhyun was speaking up beside you. You turned and you looked at his profile as he spoke so candidly and with what you could only describe as a certain smugness on his voice.

The only reason he’d stopped talking was to catch his breath. It was the most he had spoken all night and you honestly felt taken aback by the suddenness of his words and more, the topic he spoke on. It felt weirdly pointed. It just felt so detailed; almost accusatory.

“What?” You hissed the question; focused it hard and as under your breath as possible to the man seated beside you.

His lips closed up before his eyes turned to look at you and you caught a quick blink of his eyes that preceded a softening of his features that had no business looking that confrontational in the first place.

“I’m not saying any of that stuff applies to Ben.” Baekhyun lifted a slim dismissive hand to wave toward your date. “It’s just an example. For all we know Ben’s only weakness is eating fried chicken every day.”

Ben’s lips were pulled into a thin line on his face and his jaw unclenched when you looked back at him. Then he was smiling at you and it was bright and convincing. You smiled back at him and shook your head at your wacky roommate’s antics.

“Actually it’s pizza. You caught me buddy, I’m a hardcore pizza addict. Every night.”

“Well, not tonight.” Baekhyun shrugged with an odd smile landing on his lips.

Ben’s tight smile flattened and the two men seemed to be staring at each other for longer than you thought was polite for a shared first double-date.

“So what is it that you do?” It was Mia who ultimately broke the tension and you looked across the table into her eyes. She had a pleasant smile on her face and was still chewing on a piece of bread, clearly unbothered by the strange standoff that had just been going on between the two men at this table.

Surely you weren't the only one to notice how odd it had been. Had you just imagined the tightness in Baekhyun’s fist that laid over his thigh and the hard glare in Ben’s eyes?

With Mia’s question though, you felt your own lips pull closed and your eyes danced around the table to the other curious parties who also were now looking at you to answer the question.

You’d prepared well for this date. You’d made sure Baekhyun had the detailed first date topics, questions and answers for perfect small talk, even the section on table etiquette. You’d made sure he knew you’d be here to steer the conversations toward topics he was comfortable discussing and you’d even set up a safety signal he would use if he wanted to bail and just go home.

You’d planned it all out, down to the detailed progression of the evening and how at the end someone might even suggest going together for drinks. And should one of the dates wish to split off, it would be completely okay as long as the corresponding person felt comfortable. You’d even promised that under no circumstances would you abandon Baekhyun to do this on his own if he didn't want to. Not even at the behest of Ben, your date.

They were looking at you and you'd gone quiet. You’d been so busy preparing for this date that it never occurred to you that you were also actively involved and that someone might possibly ask a question about you and your work.

Your work. Well…

“Uhh...I don't really do anything worth mentioning.”

You felt it. It was a warmth that had pooled in the skin around your nose. Your cheeks felt warm and you felt just insignificant enough for it to take your undeserved confidence and throw it out the window.

Ben and Mia were watching you. You pulled your bottom lip in between your teeth and bit down on the dry chapped skin on the surface.

“Nothing?” Ben said and his eyes were wide with a look of confusion on his face.

“Well, not nothing.” You were not completely unemployed. You had been quite impressive before. You’d been working with the best publicists of an entertainment company and had been in charge of crafting and perfecting the asset sheets of many of your company's highest profile artists. You’d been the best at it and at one time had been highly sought out for your expertise. You had a way with it. You could work some real magic. You could make a dud of a raw potato sound like a five star course in a Michelin star restaurant. Losing your position in the spring of 2020 had really been a huge blow to your confidence. You looked back at how far you had fallen. Boring data entry jobs to make ends meet. Taking on weird side gigs so you could afford tiny luxuries like your favorite scented lotion or the name brand tampons instead of the store brand.

“I do have a job.” You added lamely. “It’s just not at all interesting.”

Ben dropped his eyes from yours and Mia shrugged her shoulders and stabbed a carrot ball expertly on the first try.

“Yeah but what is it?” Mia said as she chewed daintily. The heat in your cheeks spread and you let your eyes wander away from hers over the various dinner items that covered this table.

Beside you, Baekhyun’s movement caught your eye and you turned to see him place an elbow on the table in front of him and he leaned forward.

“She’s a dating coach. She’s really good at it, but much too modest when she talks about herself.”

Oh no. He wasn't about to spill the beans was he? This was definitely not something in the approved list of first date dinner topics. Wasn't this topic too incriminating? Wouldn't Mia put two and two together and figure out that you had been coaching Baekhyun all along? Also, wasn't this new profession of yours too brand new to start talking about so freely like this? What the hell was he doing?

“A dating coach? What’s that?”

Strangely, Mia didn't seem to be looking at Baekhyun with wheels turning and sirens blaring. She was looking at you with her mouth empty and hung open with a look of genuine interest in her eyes.

“Do you like, feed them what to say in an earpiece?” Ben was speaking up from the other side of Mia and you laughed at the absurdity of such a silly rom-com movie cliche.

“Well no. I’m not a pickup artist. I am a dating coach. Think about it like a sports coach. I am teaching my clients the skills to play the game. Skills to overcome dating anxiety, or I’m teaching them to identity and move away from self-sabotaging behaviors, limiting beliefs, or preconceptions that are detrimental to a healthy relationship.

I have clients that don't even know where to begin. My goal is to strategize with them and place them effectively within the dating scene so they stand the best chance. It’s incredibly hard to be objective about your own love life, but I provide an outside viewpoint. I step in and intervene when I see something that isn't in line with their relationship goals or the vision they have for dating.

I’m not teaching manipulation or just telling them what to say. There are no love spells to make someone fall in love with you. I’m changing the way they believe in themselves so they can present themselves to someone else in the absolute best way to begin a real relationship with someone.”

You’d been leaning in as you spoke animatedly with your hands. You felt the genuine excitement building with your words. You were surprised at how much of your previous profession’s language applied to this new exciting endeavor you were embarking on, but there really were tons of overlapping similarities between the two fields. The explanations just poured out of you.

You hadn’t said any of this out loud before to anyone but the more you talked about it, the more elated you felt about what you were doing with your life. With how much you had been helping Baekhyun and how much progress you had seen in just one day of helping your clients — Baekhyun’s friends Minseok and Sehun. Sehun had finally, finally sent you his first selfie that wasn’t taken from his lap after you’d sent him many examples of good selfies taken from different angles. Minseok was already halfway through the materials you’d sent him to study and had been working hard on identifying and changing the self-defeating language he’d used in his rough draft dating profile.

“She has an app.” Baekhyun piped up from beside you. He’d leaned back in his chair as you spoke.

Both Ben and Mia’s faces mirrored each other’s. Their eyes were wide and their mouths hung in amazement and you quickly closed up your own mouth and grabbed anxiously at your wine glass, feeling a little bit embarrassed about having talked so much. You couldn't resist the chance to smash their misconceptions about what your goals actually were with helping your clients. None of these people were unlovable. They were all worthy of finding someone and you were going to give it your all to help them see their own value.

“Not at all interesting?” Mia spoke up, “that’s super interesting. That’s really, really cool. Can—Can I have your contact info? I have a friend that would be interested in your services.”

“You have an app too? This is something we could advertise online. It would do extremely well on certain kinds of reddit forums and definitely in most online gaming communities.” Even Ben sounded excited, if not a bit overly judgmental, and you heard a quiet, but hostile scoff next to you.

You ticked your head toward the sound but did not turn to look at him. You knew that scoff well enough to hear the annoyance in his voice at whatever he thought Ben might be insinuating about online gamers and the connection to the incels that haunted the forums of reddit.

“I think it’s a bit premature to think about online advertising. I’m still only one person.”

Ben smiled and shrugged off your quick dismissal of his idea to partner up and advertise your business to the desperately lonely and pathetic gamers of the world. Hell, the more you thought about it, the less inappropriate Baekhyun’s annoyance was. Ben could use some coaching on choosing less insulting words.

Thankfully the dinner was over and the check had been taken care of. You looked away from the palpable awkwardness that slapped you across the face when Baekhyun waved away Ben’s card and paid for the entire bill with his own.

“You can get me next time, buddy.” He definitely said this word sarcastically. It was out of line and you simply could not find the right moment to pinch his leg under the table to get him to behave himself in a discrete enough way that would not get you caught by the other two people at this table.

You let it slide simply because you had no way to stop it. He was ignoring the way you waved your finger frantically at him down by your calf. You knew he could see you in his peripherals.

No, Baekhyun. Stop that. Be nice. Your hand was saying. He wouldn't even look at it.

The dinner was over and the movie was starting soon. You’d picked a restaurant that was close enough to the theatre that you could walk.

You paired off. It was far from natural. You actually caught Baekhyun’s eyes as you stepped quickly and walked ahead of him, falling into step beside Ben and you left behind Baekhyun and Mia to bring up the rear. It took every ounce of self control not to turn around and look behind you to see how closely they walked to each other. To see if Baekhyun kept his hands shoved securely in his pockets or if he swung his arms at his side as he walked, inching a hand closer and closer to Mia’s swinging hand in the hopes of a back of the hand brush of his warm skin against hers.

Your steps must have stalled. You’d reached the theatre and you looked up to locate Ben, only to find him at the box office purchasing four tickets for the movie you’d all agreed to watch days ago. For the life of you, you couldn't remember what you were seeing. You merely followed where you were led and found yourself seated in a center row of a movie house sandwiched between Ben and Baekhyun. You noticed the center armrests had been lifted when you arrived and simply did not bother to lower them since everyone was too full from dinner for any movie snacks or drinks.

The house was mostly empty and then lights dimmed as the movie began. You searched your brain and nearly pulled out your phone to check your chat logs for the name of the film but decided against shining a tiny bright light in a dark room.

The movie began and you were quickly drawn into the narrative. It was a dark film and as the soundtrack began to take on more sinister sounding tones you recognized that your heart was racing and you were feeling the tension all over your body. It was not a gorey horror film, but it was leaning more toward the psychological suspense thriller genre. Not really something you watched much of.

To your left, Ben sat completely still; focused only on the movie screen. He looked so calm and nearly unaffected by the terrifying things happening on the screen. He occasionally shifted in his seat but did not react to the jump scare that flashed before your eyes and made you flinch hard in your seat. You’d reached the point in the film when the main characters were in genuine danger and you began to wonder if anyone would make it out of this movie alive. Was this one of those films where everyone was doomed?

It happened again, another jump, another loud shocking sound and another noise startled you and you dove to your right, hiding your face in the warm shoulder of the man sitting beside you.

The realization was instantaneous. The second you felt the warmth of his arm, and the smell of him hit your nose, you pulled your head up and you straightened out your spine, mumbling a quiet apology to Baekhyun for using his arm to hide behind as you removed any and all contact points you had with his body. You angled your hips and your knees away from him and even went so far as to stick your hands well under your own thighs and keep them there so you didn't grab for him again. You had been doing so well by not touching him at all today. Why did it have to be a scary movie?

Things grew more frantic on the screen. You held your breath and tried your best to keep from reacting as much as you could. How long was this movie? How much longer did you have to endure this? You should have paid more attention to the details of this part of the date. This was your own fault. You were acting like a big baby because you couldn't handle a little frightening scenes in a movie.

It was coming again. You could feel it building. You closed your eyes and terrible sounds were erupting all over. You would just not look. You could make it through if you just didn't look. With your eyes closed the sounds felt louder than ever and when you thought you couldn't take it anymore you considered committing the enormous sin of getting up during the climax of the movie to use the bathroom just so you didn't have to sit through this anymore.

There was a shift beside you then. You felt warm fingers inching down your forearm, traveling the path your hand took that led below your thigh and someone was reaching for your hand and pulling it out from where you’d been sitting on it. Someone to your right was gripping your hand with his own warm hand and you opened your eyes to look down between the hidden space between your hip and Baekhyun’s hip. There, you saw the grip of his hand that wrapped securely around yours.

He squeezed down once and you followed the length of him up to catch a glimpse of the side of his face. He was looking up at the screen. His eyes were open and he did not flinch at all. He was so still aside from the occasional movement of his lips when he moistened them with his tongue.

You could handle this if he lent you a little bit of his strength like this. Your eyes returned to the screen but your mind wandered back down to the secure comfort you felt in his hand.

You felt your own secret throb.

It made you flinch just a little bit and Baekhyun’s hand shifted then. He moved, lifting the tight grip for a moment and you wondered if he was done, would he take his hand back and leave you cold and afraid again? The lift was for the shift of his fingers and you felt the push of each digit between yours. He pushed his fingers between yours; interlocking your hands together with his and his thumb moved lightly over your own thumb, brushing comforting strokes again and again through the loud and scary and shocking scenes that played over that screen.

This time the racing you felt in your chest had nothing to do with the scary movie. He was touching you. He was holding your hand in secret. It felt forbidden with his date sitting right beside him like she was and with your date seated right beside you like he was. All of your attention was down on the slow pressure you felt from his thumb as it traced the shape of your own thumb down from the very bottom up to the tip, around again. The simple up and down had a slow and sensual rhythm to it. When he lifted his hand his thumb moved and you held your breath to feel that same very slow touching trace the outline of the palm of your hand again and again. He drew absentminded shapes into your skin with the pointed tip of his thumb and your eyes drifted closed as the longing grew within you. He followed the paths of the creases in your skin like a palm reader. He did not even need light to see them, he simply felt them and traced along the paths.

You let him.

You felt bewitched.

You loved him.

The credits rolled on the screen and the lights switched on. The change was abrupt. You were taken by surprise and shocked by it like you were from the jump scares in the film.

His warmth left you. His wandering light touch, his deliberate and careful exploration of the lines that made up the palm of your hand vanished.

Everyone was standing and everyone was walking out of the theatre house and your mind felt clouded and dazed but you followed where their steps led and you found yourself standing outside of the exit doors with the three other people who you entered with.

Baekhyun stood beside Mia and Ben occupied the space of the sidewalk square that you also stood inside.

It was the end of a night. You felt an overwhelming urge for this evening to be done so you could go home and shower and maybe eat something sweet and distracting and maybe made out of chocolate.

“Well this was fun,” it was your own voice that ultimately called it.

Mia had been looking at Baekhyun who had been looking down at his own feet as he lightly tapped his foot on the concrete below. Three taps.

Tap, tap, tap.

You felt a jolt of realization. Baekhyun had just tapped his foot thrice on the floor below him well within your sight and you recognized what that meant. He was feeling done. He was done with all of this exhausting socializing and being out in public with so many people around and he wanted to go home now. This was him asking you for help now as he wasn't sure how to end the date but wanted it to be over.

“What about...grabbing some drinks, maybe...” Mia was talking only to Baekhyun as she looked at him, “if you aren't too tired.”

“Hey Baek, isn’t your grandmother coming over early tomorrow? Do you still have to get ready for that?” You interjected suddenly and Baekhyun looked up into your face with his mouth open and you watched his eyes move slowly over your face as he recognized what you were doing. You were giving him an out. Mia had asked him to go for drinks and you were giving him an excuse, should he need it.

You both knew his grandma came every other Sunday. You both vividly remembered the wonderful visit you had at the beginning of the week with her and she wasn’t due to arrive again until next Sunday.

He could simply correct you if he really did want to go with her. He could call you a dummy and tell you that you had the wrong week again and playfully tap you on the head to jog your brain back into functioning the right way as he often did when you got something mixed up.

“Oh, yeah she is,” Baekhyun grabbed your convenient reminder from the air and smiled a rueful smile directed at Mia. His smile widened with the wince on his face, “that’s too bad.” He added and Mia took it well.

She smiled and nodded her head and there were well wishes for a safe trip home all around as you all parted ways.

Ben said he would text you later. Baekhyun told Mia the same and you waited until they both walked away to follow Baekhyun back to his car for the quiet ride home.

The silence was heavy, but it was comfortable.

Baekhyun didn't speak at all and you could tell by the way he carried himself that he was tired. He wasn’t normally an extroverted person and found it very draining to carry on a full conversation with friends he knew well. Strangers like he had been with tonight, well, you could see the fatigue in his movements and you knew he needed something warm to drink and maybe some comfort with a familiar favorite tv show to zone out in front of.

You handled it better. You were used to having to go out of your home occasionally and you even enjoyed socializing with your coworkers on the few days you went in to the office for work. You felt a bit drained but mostly you were preoccupied with watching how he was handling it and you were also burning with curiosity to know how Baekhyun felt about the whole thing.

He’d wandered into the living room and he found the sofa. You followed him close behind and grabbed the remote, flipping to a familiar and funny cartoon that you often saw him playing in the background as he worked on things. He didn't usually watch it that closely but it was comforting enough to stay on and keep his mind occupied for a while.

You didn't speak. Everything you had to ask him could wait. Even the scolding you had for him about how he acted toward Ben could also wait. You’d let the man breathe a little first.

You busied yourself in the kitchen making two cups of hot tea and when you returned you found his head leaning against the back of the couch with his eyes still glued to the screen. He had a passive smile on his face and he reacted positively to the wacky scenarios the characters found themselves in. He would occasionally speak out loud, speaking along with a funny line he knew by heart and you found it impossible to resist saying the follow up joke. You knew this show as well as he did.

He accepted the tea with a smile and had a few sips and you set your mug on the coffee table in favorable of the comfortable side of the sofa, the side with the pillows that allowed you to rest your head comfortably as you watched the big tv.

You were feeling pretty good. Baekhyun had now officially gone on his first date with a real girl who wasn’t you and he’d had a nice time. You could see from where you laid your head down how relaxed his face was as he giggled at the show.

You stretched and you felt his warm thigh with your foot. This sofa was long enough for you to stretch out completely and you only barely reached where he sat at the other side. You wiggled your toes, unable to resist the light messing with him that you often gave in to and his hand reached down to grab ahold of your foot, which he held in place as he paid attention to the tv.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you sat up a little bit to pull it out.

You saw a text message from Ben.

From the preview you got the idea of what kind of text message the man would be sending you an hour after your first, and apparently your last date with him.

-Hey you seem like a super cool girl, but...

The preview showed you enough to know that he was dumping you before you’d even gotten anything started with him.

You opened the text. Your curiosity outweighed your sense of self preservation.

-...but whatever’s going on between you and your roommate, well it doesn’t really seem like there’s much room for me. I just don't think I can start something knowing I’ve already lost. Thanks for inviting me tonight. The movie was fun. Good luck with everything. - Ben

You felt the sting.

You couldn't help it. You’d spent all evening watching Baekhyun interact with Mia with every ounce of your self control devoted to not letting your jealousy show at all. At one point you’d been so damn engrossed in them that you forgot Ben was even there. What an unfair and shitty situation to have put him in. You quickly keyed out an apology for your crappy date etiquette and thanked him for going out with you tonight.

You couldn't even blame him for anything. He had been sweet and he had tried his best to be the perfect gentleman. What had you expected?

You sent the last message you would ever send to Ben and tossed your phone roughly toward the coffee table. It bounced but landed in the middle.

The racket called Baekhyun’s attention and he turned to look at you with his eyebrows raised in question.

“Ben just rejected me.”

Somehow saying this out loud to Baekhyun felt better than hiding it from him. It felt less miserable than keeping it inside of yourself and letting yourself suffer the sting of the rejection alone.

Baekhyun’s lips pulled into a small frown and he took out his cell phone from his pocket and tossed it roughly on the coffee table beside yours. It took a similar bounce and your eyes widened in surprise at the sudden gesture.

“No way, not Mia too,” you said in genuine fear and Baekhyun shook his head with his shrug still well in place.

“Nah, I just can't lay down with my phone in my pocket,” he said as he wiggled on the sofa trying to get comfortable, “though in hindsight I can see how you would think that, sorry. Mia hasn’t texted yet.”

He was wiggling, finding no comfort in all the positions he tried and you caught his wandering eyes for a second as you lightly tapped a hand over your belly.

This…

This would be fine. This was something you both did sometimes. Baekhyun said your belly was warm and comfy and made the best noises and he liked to use you as a pillow when he was just too tired to go to his own bed.

He moved right away at your invitation and you let your legs part around his chest as he laid his head down right on top of you. He turned his head to face the tv and didn't even squirm too much before he sighed out loud. His arms laid on either side of your waist and you felt the constriction as he lightly squeezed around you.

You really hadn’t gotten to touch him all day. Your fingers found their way into his hair and you felt a low moan from the back of his throat travel though your body as you raked your nails down the back of his head to his nape.

“Peanut,” you said softly, feeling every little bit of the annoying little tickle of that stupid secret sitting inside of you.

You could feel the heaviness of his body as he gave in and relaxed his muscles on you. You felt every breath he took and they seemed to be changing as you played with his hair and he gave in to the relaxing comfort you offered him.

“Hmm?” He replied after a long while. You angled your face and could see that his eyes were closed.

“How was the date? Was it nice?”

You had so many hopes for him. You were trying your best to ignore the pangs of your own selfish jealousy and get past it all to get to something good for him. Something that would make him understand how incredible he was. How beautiful he was inside and out and how precious of a human being he was.

“Mhmm, I liked it.” He said softly and he shifted and you felt him tighten his hold around your waist briefly before he relaxed again.

“Did you really? Do you think you liked Mia?” You kept your voice strong. You did not allow your fears to overcome your voice. You were okay with this if he was okay.

He did not answer right away. You’d stopped playing with his hair and you kept your hand rested over his head. He was so warm. He was so lovely.

“Do you want me to like Mia?”

No.

Mia would be so good to him.

You did not answer. Your answer would have been no. It would have been selfish. You’d just been dumped by your date, how dare his date have gone so well. You’d both been on the same date. You could still see the way she looked at him. She found him just as lovely as you did.

You felt a thickness at the back of your throat and you swallowed it down.

“I’m trying, Bug. She’s very nice to talk to. Do you think I should like her?”

Was this because of his mistrust of people? Was this his shyness about letting someone he didn't know very well in close?

You couldn't respond. You did not trust yourself to do the right thing.

“You should go rest if you’re sleepy,” you said, you know, like a coward.

It took him a few minutes of laying on top of you before he realized that you were right and he would be much more comfortable in his own bed. He nodded and pushed up with his arms, and his eyes stayed closed and his head stayed hung down as his feet shuffled and he made his way into his bedroom, leaving his door open you merely heard the loud sound of him plopping down on his bed.

You were stuck where he left you.

Stuck in about as crappy a mood as you’d ever found yourself.

You hated everything about this. You hated how much you loved him and you hated how receptive he was to the idea of dating Mia. You hated how she looked at him and giggled at his small jokes and you hated HATED the way his cheeks blushed and the shy smiles he gave her when she talked to him.

You laid there and you stewed in your mood for longer than was good for you and the only thing that made your it up was the simultaneous buzzing that brought both of your cell phones to life on the coffee table.

You reached for yours. It’s as your dating coach app. Baekhyun had received a new message from Mia. The feelings that surged through you were taking over your sense of what was good and what was right and what was proper behavior for someone like you to participate in.

You swiped to read the message.

-Hi Baekhyun. Sorry I couldn't wait until tomorrow to text you. I had an amazing time tonight and I was wondering if you would like to meet up tomorrow after your Grandmother’s visit for coffee? I have something I’d like to ask you.

You felt as if your body was on fire.

You could feel it deep inside your chest, deeper still inside your belly where his head had been resting moments before. You felt it in the palm of your hand where his thumb had traced the patterns of lines there. You felt it in your lips that he had kissed and in your tongue ached inside of your mouth from your stupid secret.

You reached for your phone. You opened the app for the power he’d given only to you and you responded to her message as if you were Baekhyun.

-Hi, Yeah, that sounds fine. I’ll meet you at 1pm.

Your hands moved on their own. You moved to the internal commands of your app and you deleted both of the messages from the chat history. When you picked up his phone you saw the notification for Mia’s message vanish before your eyes and when you unlocked it and accessed his chat log, there was no sign of the unimaginable and unforgivable sin you had just committed against him.

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10

Tag list: @j-pping @blahblahblah-boo @his-mochi-cheeks @amyeonzing@littleflowercrown13 @baekinmylife @insta1010 @nana-banana @f4ncyvelvet@bbhbeth @totallynerdstuff @byunbabybaek @maijinki @bbyunz@theclawofaraven @kingkushdealer @uhobob @baekswifey @punchmebaekhyun @xlxbaekhyuneex

#baekhyun #baekhyun fanfic #exo #exo fanfic #exo fic #baekhyun fic #baekhyun ff #exo ff #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun chaptered #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun angst #baekhyun smut

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holykillercake · 3 years

Text

Emergency Light

ᴋᴏʙʏ x ᴍᴀʀɪɴᴇ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

word count: 2.6k

summary:

Female reader developed a crush on Koby since he stood up against Akainu in Marineford. Someday at a party at the marine´s, you get drunk, too drunk. Koby takes you to your room before a disaster happens. You two get stuck in the elevator while everyone is busy partying.

highlight: You wondered if they were training kamikaze marines now.

warning: 1. ¨Do not press random buttons.¨ - LAW, Trafalgar; 2. Trafalgar Law is not part of this story, but his wise words are worth of quotation.

notes: *knock knock* Hi, guys! After a terrible writing block, I finally finished @pure-kirarin´s lovely lovely request, which I used as summary since it was really good! I really hope you like it! <3 A little disclaimer! At some point, the ¨too drunk¨ part vanished from my brain, so our reader is just... drunk, hahaha.

𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤, 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖!

¨Y/N-san!¨

You were wiping a sweat drop from your forehead when the pink-haired boy appeared beside you, offering an isotonic drink and a warm smile.

You did your best to hide the tiny heart attack you had.

¨Koby-san!¨ you shouted, smiling awkwardly. ¨Oh... is it for me?¨

¨Of course! You have been working really hard these days.¨

¨Thanks.¨ you took the drink from his hands. The heat and condensation caused a layer of cold sweat to wrap the bottle. ¨I just don´t know why they are making us help prepare this party. They have a team for this, Koby-san! Besides, we´re Captains now.¨ you pouted the last bit.

¨Yeah...¨ he scratched the back of his neck. ¨well, at least we get to spend some time together!¨

¨I know, I just-¨ you stopped talking as his words processed in your brain.

You felt your blood vessels dilating on your cheeks, leaving a hot sensation on your face.

Perhaps he was just being polite, or maybe you were making a big deal out of this, but you couldn´t help. You have been fond of him for a while now, and you couldn't stop that involuntary reaction of your body when he said such lovely things.

Koby realized the words that came out of his mouth, and the scene that followed made even your spirit giggle. His eyes opened wide, and you could almost feel his throat running dry with all his stuttering.

If that was a blushing competition, you would be down to the second place.

¨W-We´ve been on separate missions for ten months, right? I m-mean... and it´s not dangerous or anything, and-¨

¨Yeah, you´re right, Koby-san.¨ a smitten smile blossomed on your lips, and you tried to hide it by sipping the refreshing drink.

As stated by the boy, you had spent almost a year in different locations of the Grand Line, leading missions of your own. That was the kind of thing you had to do as promoted Captains.

You had no idea where Koby ended up going. These subjects could not be discussed over snail transponders, just for precaution. In fact, you barely spoke to him during this time. There were only a few nights when you would exchange coded messages.

Since you became Captains, your tasks have kept you apart for much longer than before. You couldn't help but miss him and wonder how he must be doing during those times.

You have already met thousands of Marines. Some even stronger and more agile than him, but no one had his willpower. You would put your hands on the fire for that.

Whenever you felt unmotivated or helpless, the memory of the boy standing up against Sakazuki, putting his life on the line to honor his fallen comrades made your blood burn hotter.

He did what no one else had the guts to do.

Too blinded by the bloodshed, in the end, the number of casualties made it clear that accomplishing the task was no reason to celebrate.

When the sole of your shoes stained with blood and the blade of your sword sliced through anyone who didn´t wear the justice symbol on their back, you questioned if the Marines had finally lost their purpose.

You should be civilized and do justice, but not at the expense of soldiers who had families to return to. If the target had already been eliminated, why were you still fighting?

A chill ran down your spine when, for the first time, you looked up and faced the massacre. It was as if before, you could look at everything and, at the same time, see nothing.

If Koby hadn´t stood up at that moment, you wouldn´t be here today. Maybe for leaving, maybe for dying. But his act of braveness and courage returned a bit of your hope.

You wanted to see how far he could go, and hopefully, you would be by his side.

Before, you used to watch him, along with his colleague Helmeppo, getting beat up and beat up by Garp and always put himself back on his feet.

You wondered if they were training kamikaze marines now.

From your room, you had a perfect view of the training circuit, so you could see the cycle repeating itself over and over again. Boys, seduced by the idea of absolute justice, strength, and power to fight bad guys, came to Marineford willing to prove their worth. They would fall a few times before the sparkle in their eyes started to fade.

Eventually, they would fade too.

Those boys, however, fell and fell, being punched to a pulp, then patched back together only to suffer on Garp´s hands again. Watching them became your late-night entertainment, and seeing their improvements and growth turned out to warm your heart.

At some point, you were assigned to be their opponent, and from that moment on, your days became brighter. They would share the craziest stories and tell the funniest jokes. Or not so much tell jokes. They were naturally clumsy and fun.

Although, if you could choose, you would prefer to spend more time with Koby. Nothing against Helmeppo, he was just too much sometimes. But apparently, they came in a two-for-one pack.

***

It has been only a few hours since the party started and you reached the jackpot. You had taken all your frustrations on alcohol and rice cakes, and it showed.

Every ten seconds, the memory of what you wanted to do disappeared, and that was somehow hilarious, making you explode in laughter and cause commotions. So for every ten seconds during the first hours, one of the last remaining sober in the enclosure had tiny cardiac arrests.

Everyone was drunk enough to have a good time without causing any trouble. But the detail worth mentioning was that your party had started a little earlier, under the statement that you needed a little incentive to help you through the night.

It meant that your energetically loud phase was close to reaching its end, giving place for your sleepy and distracted persona. Your eyes felt heavier by the second, light dizziness fogging your brain, but it felt relaxing.

¨You know Koby is a type of meat?¨ you said, resting your chin on the table and giggling to yourself.

¨Y/N-san, I-I don´t think that´s the name of it.¨ his face turned red as he shifted on the cushion, adjusting his posture.

¨Ugh, you´re so nervous Koby, you should relax.¨ you sang the last syllable. ¨Look at Meppo, he´s relaxing.¨

Your lips bent in a goofy smile as you watched your comrades building an okaki tower on Helmeppo´s head. The blonde had passed out on the table a few minutes earlier, too exhausted and drunk. He looked so peaceful in his sleep that a yawn escaped your mouth, catching Koby´s attention.

¨Y/N-san, you should go to bed already. Y-You look tired.¨ his voice trembled when he took sight of your sparkling but sleepy eyes, rosy face, and messy hair.

¨Hmm, no... I´m still good.¨

Another yawn.

¨Come, I can walk you to your room before you relax like Helmeppo.¨

Your brain was working in slow motion, so by the time you thought of answering him, your grip was already tight in his. A little tighter than necessary, but you were afraid your wobbly legs would cease, and honestly, he didn't object at all.

The air outside the salon made your nostrils hurt within every breath, not because it was freezing cold but because the alcohol made your body run hotter than usual. Your ears felt like they were clogged, but that was merely the tingling silence on the empty hall.

When he guided you inside of the elevator and pressed the corresponding button to your floor, your gasp, which echoed through the narrow walls, made Koby jump back, scanning for any sign of danger.

¨Oh my God, look at this, Koby!¨

He watched you walk closer to the panel, completely mesmerized. ¨Uh... what, Y/N-san?¨

¨Wow! They never did this before!¨ you shouted, falling on your knees and leaning in like a child on an ice cream shop showcase.

The boy kept staring at you, who pressed the buttons in a row with shimmering eyes. What was in that saké?

¨They never did...?¨

¨Look!¨ you clicked some more. ¨When I press the buttons... they light up!¨

A moment of silence fell upon the two of you, and although Koby always felt comfortable in your presence, he wasn´t sure what to do now.

You, on the other hand, didn´t seem to mind, too focused on your groundbreaking discovery.

¨Y/N-san, they have always...¨

¨This is so cool!¨

¨Y/N-san... I don´t think you should...¨

¨What does this one do-¨

A loud shriek escaped your mouth when the shaking of the elevator took you off balance, making your butt meet the floor in a thump. The lights flashed a few times before everything in your sight was pitch black.

You heard Koby call your name, asking if you were hurt, but all you could do was hold still, fearing for your life. The alcohol made the bouncing feel like a devastating earthquake.

¨Y/N-san!¨ you felt light pats on your shoes. ¨Are you ok? I can´t see anything!¨

Koby crawled on the floor, using your foot as a way to locate you.

¨Koby, stop moving.¨ you whispered, but he seemed not to hear, lost in his rumbles. ¨Koby, stop moving!. We´re going to fall.¨

¨Wh-no! Y/N-san, are you hurt?¨

¨No, I don´t think so.¨ you answered, head swirling and heart racing in your chest.

¨Y/N-san, did you press the emergency button?¨

¨No!¨ you stopped for a second, failing to hold your drunken giggles for yourself. ¨But that´d be a great idea right now. I think I remember where it is!¨

You twisted your body towards the panel, ignoring Koby´s attempts to stop you, and started to touch the many buttons, searching for the emergency one.

Click.

Click, click, click.

¨It´s not worki-¨ you squealed when the elevator struck again, piercing sound of creaking metal cooling every disc in your spine.

¨Y/N-san, please stop pressing the buttons!¨ Koby cried.

The feeling was too strange. You felt everything rocking slightly, no light was coming in, and the adrenaline made it difficult for you to calm down and adapt to the darkness.

Your breathing had already become irregular and heavier when the emergency light turned on. It was dim and greenish but better than nothing.

¨Oh, no.¨ he said.

¨No, no. Don´t say oh, no.¨ You shook your head.

¨Y/N-san, that´s the emergency light.¨

¨Yeah, so...?¨

¨So the elevators are not a priority now.¨

¨And that´s bad...?¨

¨Well, yes, because the energy is being used somewhere else.¨

You stared at him for a few seconds. All of his words made total sense, and in a normal situation, you would be able to handle it without further complications.

¨Koby, I don´t know if you´re getting somewhere...¨

¨Y/N-san, there was probably a problem with the generators, and they had to redirect the energy consumption.¨ you nodded, starting to connect some dots in your head. ¨I think they are sending everything to the kitchen beca-¨

¨Wait.¨ you said with a terrified expression painted all over your face. ¨We´re stuck?¨

He saw the panic grow in your eyes.

¨Y-Yes. B-But it should be back soon, don´t worry. Someone will come.¨

You remained in silence for the first hour, mainly because you kept falling asleep.

Little by little, the effects of the alcohol on your body began to cease and your temperature to cool down. Added to that, the darker the night fell, the chillier it got. So at some point, you couldn´t sleep anymore because your bones wouldn´t stop shivering.

Koby handed you his coat as soon as he took notice of your discomfort.

¨No, you don´t have to-¨

¨Y/N-san, you´ll end up getting sick.¨ he spoke, leaning a bit forward so you could take the piece of clothing.

¨Thanks.¨

A huge smile rose on your lips when the coat fell on your shoulders. It was incredibly warm and had his soothing laundry fresh smell.

Maybe with a hint of meat from the party.

It served you like a cape, so you pulled the collars closer to your body and curled up to retain the warmth. If you closed your eyes, you could almost feel like it was him.

That granted you another nap.

Still, after about twenty minutes, something woke you up. This time it was a sneeze from Koby, who leaned against the wall, hugging his legs close to his body.

Guilt hit you right in the guts.

You crawled towards him, gently poking his leg.

¨Koby-san...¨

He raised his head and mumbled something you didn't understand. Maybe he asked if you were ok.

¨I... I´m still a little cold... c-can I sit by your side?¨

¨Uh? Yes, of course.¨ he shifted on the same spot, only to return to the previous position.

His voice was a little nasal and rasped, probably from the cold. You hoped he wouldn´t get a sore throat.

The coat became a blanket that you used to cover both of your legs, although he made sure you had gotten the bottom end since it had more fabric.

¨Are you feeling better, Y/N-san?¨

¨I am, thank you.¨ you whispered.

¨Y-You can lay on my shoulder... if you want.¨

You smiled and did as he suggested, curling up closer to him. It took you very little to fall asleep once you rested your head on his shoulder. His body began to feel warmer, and he even asked if you wanted to hook your arm with his to maintain warmth.

Using the last bit of boldness provided by the saké, you reached for his hand. You had this sensation, deep down, that the feelings you carried for him were reciprocated. But you could deal with this some other time. For now, you focused on calming down the fireworks inside of your chest.

[EXTRA SCENE]

A roaring noise followed by a ray of light fished you out of whatever dreams you were having. You pulled the blanket up to cover your eyes and snuggled deeper into the warm body in front of you.

Nothing crossed his mind at that moment. All you wanted to do was get rid of the light and have a few more hours to sleep. However, a sound like a throat clearing caught your attention.

You blinked a few times, images of last night taking form in your memory. The last thing you remembered before blacking out was you leaning against Koby.

I must have slipped to the floor at some point.

Your hands were wrapped in a turquoise fabric, and it didn't take long for you to realize that the fabric was wrapped around someone.

Koby's scarf.

Koby!

You ended up lying in front of each other, sharing his uniform. Your face a few centimeters from his chest.

After yawning a couple of times, you opened a distance to look at him.

His face was wrinkled, brows furrowed, and lips turned into a pout. The round glasses were no longer on his head, and the bandana, like his hair, was frowzy.

So adorable.

A louder throat clearing made you turn your head. The groggy smile on your lips disappeared instantly with the image of the elevator repairer, Garp, and dozens of other marines staring at the two of you.

#one piece #oneshot #opfanfic #Marines #Koby #koby x reader #coby?#sakazuki #sengoku #monkey d garp #helmeppo

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