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brownandblackpearls · 1 year

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🦇𝒯he 𝒱isitor (Alucard Tepes x BlackReader) Pt.7

PART 7 SUMMARY:

You and Alucard traipse from town to town together...until trouble strikes in the form of claws, fangs and delayed vengeance. With you left shaken and marked, your host isn’t keen on letting you back out of the castle anytime soon. Normally, this stifling limitation would annoy you...but Alucard has been spending more time with you, lately. Getting closer and closer...

...perhaps being stuck in the castle isn’t so bad, after all?

─── Alucard x black female reader

─── imagery + fiction

─── explicit smut

─── Fantasy, vampires, hurt/comfort, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, magic user, cute bats, gardening, cooking, cottagecore MC, castlecore Alucard.

☾ previous. ☾ next.

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The next chilly morning, true to his word, you and Alucard make your way down to the garden to gather the harvest.

You’ve switched into a road dress, not wanting to let the nicer gowns that Alucard has conjured for you go to waste. Your hair is bundled up in a scarf neatly behind your head. You’re wearing gloves, ready to work. Alucard makes his way over to the garden and leans down, showing you how he intends to prepare the harvest to take into town.

“This is how we’ll wrap them. Watch closely...You see? Show me.”

He is watchful at first, instructing you on how to bind and rope the packaging just so. It is to keep any of the stock from falling to the wayside while you’re both on horseback, leaving a trail of produce behind you.

His eyes are as sharp as ever, framed by lowered, dusky blonde lashes as he takes in your handiwork. The low rumblings of his voice give constructive critique, and you manage to avoid any accidents under his gaze. You wonder what he thinks of your hands briefly, before refocusing on the task.

You’re curious now, finding his instructive personality to be a much calmer one than his default. He seems so sure of himself here in the garden, and less walled off. Prepping vegetables is clearly something he had learned prior to your visit (as unseemly as it seemed to be for someone like him), and it is something he seemed more than willing to teach. Alucard seemed like one who liked to learn, now you thought of it.

Soon after, you wait as Alucard spirits away. He reappears with Brutus at his side and together, you prep the saddlebags before mounting the steed and taking off into the woods.

You lean back into Alucard as you watch the tree leaves speed by overhead, the feel of hooves stamping and thrumming through you both. The sound is rhythmic, soothing, and the smell of the green fills you. Alucard’s cologne mixes in with it, his hair beating against his back, with stray locks falling past your shoulders. It is still cool, yet the heat of the horse and his heavy riding gear warms you both.

You sigh, realizing.

‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,’ you think.

Eventually, you arrive in town and it is lively. You sell everything, making a good profit. You know it isn’t needed, but it is nice to have something to do. You talk to vendors and merchants, your tongue wagging in conversation and your mood feeling light.

‘No,’ you readjust. ‘It’s not in the woods I want to be. Perhaps here? This town? But there’s nothing special about it…’

Currently passing by a stand of jewelers while in thought, one of them reaches out to you, giving you pause. You look into a wrinkled face.

“Yes?”

“A necklace for you, girl? A ring, an anklet?”

You stare at the wares, considering. You’re not here for jewelry you remember, though they are pretty.

“I couldn’t, but thank you.” You say.

“Oh, but you could. What a lovely dress you have on. Never seen one like it.”

You look down to your dress, another that arose from the depths of Alucard’s inventory. It is simpler in comparison to what you know him to have from the clothes you’ve seen this far.

“Thank you,” you say.

“Did your husband gift that to you?” the jeweler inquires, gesturing over your shoulder. You follow their gaze and realize they are looking at Alucard across the stalls, across the road itself. He is kneeling near a tavern wall, gifting coins to some street children, an old woman or two huddled beside the shadows of the building.

He does not realize you are looking. He doesn’t know you are watching him give what you’ve both earned away to those that need it.

You find yourself surprised. You thought that Alucard ignored most of the world outside his castle and his surroundings. He could certainly afford to. Someone like him would never need to understand or empathize with the destitute and the ill. The human.

And yet there he was.

“He’s…not my husband.” you find your lips saying to the merchant as you continue to watch Alucard.

“But you came into town with him.” The voice is suddenly sharp. You turn to look and see the merchant appears oddly hostile.

“What concern is it of yours?” you say, retreating a step back.

“Nice dress,” the merchant spits. “He is finely dressed, like you. He gives money away like water. Your skin is clear and dewy. You want for nothing. It’s in the way you move. Slow, measured. You can afford the jewelry. You can.”

You find yourself turning to go, yet the offending seller follows you down the line of stalls.

“Are you a mistress? A hanger-on? Does his wife know? How shameless of you, to parade around like this. The things young ladies do for money, these days.”

Your temper gets the best of you. By the time you feel it, it is too late.

You turn around and crowd in on the seller. Their eyes widen, understanding very quickly that the dynamic has changed. They take a step back. You follow.

“Go on, do slander me. Great sales tactic, I’m sure your wares fly off the shelves, the customers love it so much! And not that it’s any of your fucking business, but do tell me; how you would know anything about what I do and why?”

“...Why else would an unwed woman be out and about with a man so blatantly—”

“ —I could be anything, you bint. I could be a mercenary with a partner, a scholar with a professor, a diplomat with a guide…is your mind so small that the only thing you could conjure is an escort? Even if I was, I still wouldn’t buy your jewelry…you insult me, and you insult him. I won’t have it.”

“Is there a problem?”

You and the seller turn to find Alucard towering over your shoulder.

“No,” you and the seller say in unison, one out of fear and one out of dismissiveness.

Alucard gestured to the gems in the jeweler’s hands, plucking a shining necklace from the bunch easily. The jeweler tremored a bit, looking between you both.

“Ah, sir...your wife was simply looking at my wares. Pretty things for a pretty thing.”

Alucard holds the necklace up beside your face then, not answering the seller. He doesn’t refute or explain, only watches you. You watch his eyes take you in alongside the gem before he seems to make a decision.

He clutches the necklace back into his grip and hands some coins over to the seller wordlessly. The seller mumbles their thanks before shuffling away, seemingly disbelieving that they made a sale after such a torrid argument.

Alucard dangles the necklace before you. “Do you like it?”

You frown. “You heard what they said to me.”

“I heard you defend our honor.”

“Is this a thanks for that?”

“This is because I want to.”

You pause then, a bit taken aback.

“I suppose...it’s pretty,” you try.

Alucard situates behind you, fastening the necklace to your neck before clasping it together.

“Then,” his breath warms the back of your neck, “I suppose it’s yours.”

Together, you continue through town, the necklace on your neck. The gem weighs against your sternum and you wonder if other people are noticing it, noticing the two of you.

You are too nervous to inquire further on it.

Soon enough, the day’s dealings are done. On the way back home, you find yourself liking the woods once more, and then the castle itself upon the return home.

Home.

Ah.

‘I want to be where he is,’ you realize.

Yes. That’s it.

Alucard stalks up the steps before turning to you, curious.

“Coming?”

You find yourself smiling, not quite sure why. He also seems taken aback by the sudden expression.

“Yes. Let’s go home.”

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Every other week, the two of you venture into different towns for supplies. Sometimes you go with hooded shrouds, other times you walk freely out in the open. Sometimes Alucard takes you into the nearby towns, and sometimes he steers Brutus further out. You have a feeling he has a system on how he navigates the outside world, a system that keeps eyes off of him and keeps nosy townsfolk from tracking his identity.

You love the trips. You love seeing other people and conversing with them, you love shopping through the inventory, you love getting the little bit of sun left in the chilly weather and you love going there and back with Alucard. He is like a patient specter…whether right next to your side or not, you have a feeling that he keeps his eyes and ears on you at all times.

It is during a return from another town, that something amiss happens.

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You’re riding in a wagon this time as Alucard directs Brutus, hitched and pulling the wagon along. It brings with it some new items, and a few things for you to use. You both could have went without any of it, you understand, but the socialization in bartering and trading was well worth it. It keeps the castle from feeling stifling, at times. You find yourself looking forward to return to it.

Brutus stops suddenly, rearing back a bit. Alucard’s eyes sharpen as he looks out into the forest, clearly hearing something. You watch him turn his head this way and that.

He calls your name. “__________, stay in the—”

You feel something drop into the wagon behind you, knocking things aside and pulling up close to your back.

It is not a warm presence. It is ice cold.

A hand grabs you roughly by the hair from behind, forcing you to bear your neck. You shriek in pain, unable to hide it. The shriek breaks into a gasp as you feel something sharp at the front of your throat, barely catching a gleam of the attacker’s blade.

Your head is wrenched so far back by the fist threatening to yank out your hair, that you can’t even lock eyes with Alucard. You can only focus on the trees lining above and try not to wrestle too much so that you don’t cut your own throat.

‘This is very different from the last time I looked up like this,’ you note uselessly. ‘Let me understand who we’re fighting before I try anything…’

You quickly try tapping into other senses. You can hear two others drop nearby, on either side of the wagon. You can smell the scent of old blood and grime.

Alucard doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t say a word. Brutus settles.

The one holding you at knifepoint laughs, their belly bouncing against your back. You feel sick.

“Little prince,” the one behind you calls. His voice is thick, like the seafaring folk of the north. “We heard the king is gone. Thought you were too. Guess it got mixed up in the letters.”

‘Vampires,’ you understand, putting it all together.

The breath rolling off your attacker smells rancid and you wince. Your captor notices, yanking you again and earning another whine out of you.

“Don’t like that, do you? Here, have some more—ah, ah, ah, little prince!” you feel the knife burrow a little closer in your skin, barely cutting it. “You’re fast, yes you are! But my knife will be faster. And your pretty little livestock will not recover from a blow like this. Hold your place.”

It is silent then, and another heavily accented voice from the side chips in.

“They say our leader never returned from your father’s castle,” it spits. “Where is Godbrand?”

“It seems,” Alucard clips in a low, threatening manner you’ve yet to hear yourself before, “you already know. What did you come for?”

“Godbrand,” they state again. “You will take us to him.”

Alucard laughs then, low and mirthless. “An army came and went. A rebellion began and ended. Where have you three been this whole time?”

You hear hissing and shuffling about.

“Give her to me,” Alucard says, “and I let you live.”

The one behind you laughs again, curdling your stomach with the smell, the cruelty.

“This isn’t a bargain or a trade, boy. Have you gone insane? Look at all this shit,” he kicks something in the wagon aside, “Cabbages! For a bloodsucker? Ha! You’re a trader now, Prince? You play merchant and house with this human whore? You, who can fly across nations, teleport through realities, and shapeshift into anything...taking this piece of shit wagon in the woods?”

The man spits and you pray it was to the side and not in your hair. Fucker.

“You sicken me! Weak. Your father would rattle to life if he knew what you were up to with those talents, wasting them for pussy. Like father, like son I guess.”

You can see the woods darken from where you are. You can spy the treetops begin to shroud in dark clouds. The air feels heavy.

Something is coming.

“You do not know my father,” Alucard says. “And as you said yourself…just like your pissant leader, your king is dead too.”

You shiver at the boldness in his statement, afraid of the knife slicing across your neck in retribution. Is he even thinking of you? But you hear it then…the vampire behind you…his breath hitches. You are saved from the foul smell.

The vampires are afraid, you understand. Alucard knows this.

You decide to use this moment. You feel behind you for the vampire holding you hostage and try to focus the energy from your core. Sparks fly between your fingers and it is enough to jolt the assailant. You use his surprise to lean back into him, away from the knife and staggering him to the side.

It is the wrong move. The vampire simply uses inhuman strength to get you right back where he wants you, hands gripped in his fist behind your back and your neck under the blade. You’re both gasping from the struggle, but now with the vampire’s grip twisting your wrists instead of your hair, you can see Alucard and the others.

Alucard is closer, now. Just before the wagon, almost. His eyes burn into you before focusing on the attacker. You have never seen them more animalistic than that first day you met.

“See? Fast,” the assailant behind you sing-songs again. “But not faster than the knife!”

The other two vampires draw in behind Alucard, who pays them no mind. The one behind you tightens his grip on you. You feel your eyes begin to traitorously well up, all the emotions running high from this dangerous situation and frustration from being unable to reach Alucard…safety…who is just out of arm’s reach.

“What’s so special about this one?” the vampire asks, nudging his face against yours tauntingly. His beard leaves a burn behind that you despise. “Can’t be what’s under the dress. Those are all the same. Maybe it’s the blood?”

You feel a tongue lathe at your cheek then, and groan in disgust as you try to inch away without running towards the knife. It’s impossible, and you’re trapped in the game of cat and mouse.

Alucard’s eyes darken even further.

“I think,” Alucard begins, his voice steady and his footsteps backing slowly away from the wagon, “you abandoned your posts. I think you felt that you could slither back from where you came without Godbrand…only to find others like him, who would rip you apart for your cowardice. You thought by coming here you would spare yourselves from that...”

The darkness grows so heavy that you can hardly see. Alucard’s voice is the only thing that can cut it.

“...You should’ve let them rip you apart.”

“Oh-ho…now I know she must taste divine, for you to act this way,” your trapper calls, before he foolishly moves the knife from your throat and uses it to cut at your dress in a quick move. Your dress’s front opens and your sleeve is harshly moved aside, sharp teeth sinking into your shoulder. Before the teeth even puncture, you hear something sharp ring through the air.

It all happens so fast, you can hardly catch it.

A long sword erupts at your side, running through your assailant’s head and missing yours by inches. The vampire pulls off of you to shout, dropping his knife, and you lunge forward and away. You hear his screams warble and croak off behind you.

Another vampire leaps to grabs you up by the shoulders, yanking you off the wagon entirely. You feel his hands get ripped away from you as you hit the forest floor harshly. You’re quick to stand, swaying in confusion and adrenaline before trying to flee. Alucard and another assailant visualize before you, weapons swinging midair before they vanish once more. It’s almost as if you imagined it…but you can still hear the battle echoing around you.

'Fast,' you understand, turning back and ducking under the wagon.

Too fast for a human to run away from, likely. You don’t want to get in Alucard’s way while he disposes of these ambushers.

You hear clangs and hisses, shouts and bodies hitting the forest floor. Soon enough, it is quiet. You see Alucard’s boots materialize in front of the wagon.

‘He’s here,’ you think.

You crawl from under the wagon and before you can even move to stand, Alucard’s hands pull you up and draw you in. You clutch the front of his blouse tightly, squeezing into him and the cradle of his arms.

That was scary. You don’t want to go through that again. Now that Alucard’s here, it’s alright.

You peek past his hold and spy a leg on the ground. Just one, nameless leg.

‘Right then. He took care of things.’

He pulls you back, his grip firm. His eyes rove over you as his hair flies astray, made a mess from the fight.

“Are you hurt?”

You look up to him to speak, and find yourself voiceless.

The ride back to the castle is a blur for you. The bodies of the vampires are left long behind and Alucard is sure to let the wagon roll over them on the disembarkment.

You sit in front of him instead of in the wagon, his arms tight around you.

Once at the castle, he makes quick work of unholstering the horse and stabling it away. He unloads the wagon. Then he finds you, still standing amongst everything, waiting for him and lost in your thoughts.

You’re guided through the castle in silence, the arrival to your personal bathroom harkened by the loud steps on the floor.

Alucard runs the tub’s faucet, steaming water jetting out. You sit aside, looking straight ahead and pawing at your neck, feeling the puncture marks and frowning.

Alucard looks at you then, stepping over to lift your hair aside, gazing at your bruised neck.

“Will I turn…?” you rasp.

“No,” he murmurs. “Their intent was to feed. Not to change.”

You feel the tears then, and sniffle a bit before looking down at the floor. Alucard lowers his hand before brushing a few of the tears away. His thumb, his touch, is not cold like theirs you realize.

It is anything but.

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The trips come to an end, abruptly.

After the attack, you find that Alucard is unwilling to return to town anytime soon.

You’re annoyed, but you understand why. He’s borne of an immortal creature, somewhat like a demigod on Earth. Trouble like what you faced on the road before is not hindrance to him.

It’s you.

You’ve picked up your skills, but you still feel shaken after those vampires got so close to you…literally close enough to taste. It scared you then and it rattles you now.

He buffs up the insulation for the stable and prepares bedding and blankets for the animals. He takes cuttings from the garden to inventory in dry storage, there for future use while the Earth’s soil freezes over for the season.

Not long after, the snow begins to fall and frost begins to set.

It is terribly beautiful from the castle. You can see the forest spread out far and wide, the treetops painted white and the snow falling easily. The stone of the castle keeps you warm from the elements, able to enjoy the beauty from a perch you weren’t always able to use.

You can almost remember the feel of trudging through thick snow like that, nothing but boots and cloth. Like a true adventurer.

You feel a bit nostalgic.

‘What am I missing…?’ you wonder.

One day, he catches you staring out the castle windows at the snowy grounds below.

“Don’t fret,” he assures, interpreting your expression to be woe. “Spring will return soon enough. It may be safer to travel, then.”

When you don’t respond right away, he comes nearer and looks out the window with you.

“You’ve made your way through the library, I would assume. Nothing left to peer over?”

You think for a moment, your thoughts taking a while to gather as you take in the snow.

“Are you reading something at the moment, Alucard?”

“I am.”

‘I am lonely,’ you realize.

Yet, your host is right here. Perhaps he could help solve this dilemma?

“Can I read with you?” you ask, your voice softer than intended.

Alucard pauses a moment, clearly surprised. “With me...?”

“Yes,” you say. “With you.”

“I…” he looks at you for a long moment before nodding slightly. “Where would you prefer—”

“The parlor,” you decide. “In front of the fireplace.”

You head to the parlor together, quiet through the halls. Soon enough, you enter one of the many throughout the castle. You often wonder why this one is favored for Alucard, though you’ve never drawn it upon yourself to ask why.

You find you quite like it yourself. The colors are warm, the books rise high against their glassed cases, the fireplace is grand and warm, and the rugs and throws are divine. The settee is of a more soft material than the other leathered furniture in the castle.

It is softer, here.

You sit easily in front of the fireplace, on the fur rug before it. It is clean and cozy for a floor, a far cry from the floors you’ve both sat and slept on in the past during your travels when an inn was out of the question. The fire crackles loudly as you settle, thinking back on the days before you were housed, your vagabond adventures.

You sigh contentedly and watch the fire, your dress swaddling around you as you settle. You don’t even notice your host until he is beside you, holding out your current book.

‘So he still tracks me,’ you think amusedly. “Surely my reading habits cannot interest you this much?” you jest.

Alucard ignores your teasing before taking his own and seating himself in the chair next to the rug. It faces the fire, the glow warming you both.

You watch as he takes off his jacket and vest, hanging them aside and relaxing in one of the simpler white blouses he sometimes dons. He palms open his book and begins taking in the story before him.

You note how rigid he is.

‘Is he nervous?’ you wonder suddenly. As far-reaching as it is for someone like him, you feel as though he is. Maybe all this time, he wasn’t disgusted, but instead unsure of what to do with himself.

‘Hopeless man.’

“Relax,” you insist, tugging at his nearest leg beside you. He pauses in the chair at your touch, but you do not relent. You smooth a comforting hand down his calf casually before pulling away easily. “There’s no reason to trouble yourself with whatever is rattling around in that head of yours. Let the fire warm you. Relax.”

You relax on the rug, one hand on the floor and the other flipping through your book as you read.

“Are you quite comfortable?” he asks suddenly.

You look up, watching Alucard watch you. You nod, smiling before looking back to your book.

It is a warmer feeling now than it was by the window, and though the fire helped, it was not the cause.

You find yourself toeing your shoes off and curling into the carpet, watching him watch you.

'Enough of this.'

You go over to him and his chair before seating yourself on his lap and curling up on him in the chair, book in hand. You feel his body turn like stone underneath you, but you choose to relax further, opening the book as you lay your head on his chest, curls tumbling down his front.

It is quiet for a long time, and you sigh comfortably before sinking back into your story and relaxing on your host. He unfolds inch by inch before finally unclenching himself all the way through, loose and easy.

He does not ask that you stop. He does not say a word. You hardly think he's breathing at this point.

You smile. 'Now was that so hard...?'

Alucard's hand suddenly reaches over to pluck the book out of your grasp before putting it aside; he then touches the underside of your jaw.

"What are you doing?" he murmurs at you. It's not a question, not really.

"Whatever I want," you reply easily, meeting his gaze. "I know that's probably fascinating for someone as straight-edge as y—"

His lips are against yours before you can even finish the sentence. His hands tangle in your hair, fingers unable to run through and clenching at your scalp instead, directing you. He leans you back as he leans forward, eager to seemingly sink into the very being of you.

He's never been this forceful with you before. It has never felt so good.

Your eyes draw closed against it, a whimper escaping you before you kiss back eagerly. You don't know who started with tongue but you're both pursuing it now, chasing one another down as the kiss continues into something more heating.

'He doesn't taste like blood,' you think. 'He tastes like wine.'

You hear the fireplace crackling at your side, the fever of the flames against your skin, the rustling noise of your dress against his clothes, and more than anything...you feel the hot, iron handprint of his touch at your waist, at your neck, at your shoulders, on and on the touching continues.

He pulls back, rasping words escaping him.

"You don't know what you're asking for," he begins, stroking at your waist as he eyes your mouth, fighting himself not to kiss you again. The words are bitten out, barely restrained.

"I'm not asking anything," you say, repositioning yourself in the chair to straddle him. "But if you show me...? Then maybe I'll ask nicely. Just for you."

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AN: Do not under any circumstances copy, repost, or edit any of my work. If you see someone do so, please let me know.

☾ previous. ☾ next.

☾ check my blog for more imagines

#imagine #alucard imagine #castlevania imagine #Self Insert #Castlevania #castlevania x reader #castlevania x black reader #castlevania x black!reader #black reader #black mc #Black main character #blackreader #black!reader #Warmcore #black y/n #castlevania x black y/n #alucard x black y/n

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ayeyolooo · 8 months

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My giant!

PLEASE READ THE WARNING BEFORE INTERACTING!

Warning: the ‘n’ word will be used. The reader is BLACK. she’s thick and TALL. It’s a short story🥲. OH! and please excuse my grammatical errors <3

Miles 1610!

Miles came from up under your shirt and rubbed his eyes. “Look miles.” You said turning your phone over at him. You showed him the video.

“Can we do thisss?” You asked looking down at him. He rubbed his eyes. He continued to rub his eyes as he didn’t respond to you. “M sorry whatchu said? Cause when I rub my eyes ion hear what nobody be saying.” He said with a chuckle.

You laughed. “I was wondering if we could do this TikTok.” You said with a smile. “Of course of course he said standing up and yawning.

He held his hands out for you and you took them. “Thank you lil nigga.” You snorted. He side eyed you. “Y/n don’t start..you’re like 5 inches taller than me..” miles said mugging you. “So but who’s taller?” He just sucked his teeth.

“Cmon bruh let’s do the TikTok.” He said sliding on a shirt. “Okay.” You laughed. You handed miles the phone as you two did the TikTok. It ended off with miles hugging you and tucking his head into your chest. You just smiled up at the camera and the video ended.

“Ouu I wanna seee.” Miles said bringing your hands down so that he too can see. “We ate ate ateee.” You said doing a little dance. “Mmhm.” He said watching the video over and over. He loved your height. He loved how you lowered down to him when you kissed. He loved the way you helped him grab things from the top of the refrigerator. He just loved everything about you.

He loved your little pudge, he loved your arched feet. He loved your curly hair, that shrunk every time you washed it. He loved your big brown eyes. He loved your childish like attitude,he just didn’t know what he’d do without you.

“You heard me miles?” He looked up from his daze and looked at you. “Hm?” He asked. “I said,do you want to lay back down.” He nodded. “Yeah” he smiled childishly. You just shook your head laughing as you walked to the bed and laid back down. Miles quickly did a dancey dance before climbing ontop of you and tucking his head back up under your shirt. He sighed in relaxation as you wrapped your arms around him.

“I love you so much y/n.” He said sticking his head out from the top part of your shirt and pecking your lips. “I love you more my baby.” You said cooing in your attractive voice.

‘HELPPP SHES SO FINE.’ Miles thought to himself as he smiled into the kiss. He tucked his head back into your shirt and played with your necklace that sat on your neck.

You played with Miles’s hair, playing with the little baby hairs on the back of his neck and just massaging his head. He sighed once more before dozing off to sleep. You fell asleep right after.

#miles morales #miles morales x black!reader #x black fem reader #black y/n #ayeyolooo #tall reader #black main character

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there-are-many-ways-to-smile · 2 years

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Can we just- Look at her hands!!

The realism I just love to see it

#I’m in love with this movie #the sea beast maisie #the sea beast 2022 #the sea beast #black main character #they just put so much effort in #and I truly appreciate it #i’m obsessed #it’s so nice to see #realistic #realism #sea beast #maisie brumble #art realism

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ahungeringknife · 3 months

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Posting original stuff for the first time always feels like the top of a roller coaster just before the drop for me :,D Info links are all at the bottom

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The Zealous Servant | 1 | No place like home

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If not for the feeling of his stomach in his throat Spayar wouldn't have even noticed when they came in for a landing. Two rows ahead someone threw up in a bucket and he was glad they'd waited until they landed. The small cabin started smelling like vomit almost immediately and several of Spayar's old platoon-mates started giving the person a hard time. They thought flying was bad they wouldn't have lasted one week in their platoon!

Before it could get too rowdy or a fight break out the doors were opened and the two flighters who'd brought them here started directing everyone out. Spayar got up and was out the cabin quickly to get out into the open sky. He'd seen it was gray skies from the window in the cabin and now landing the clouds seemed even lower than usual. He went over to the waiting area for his luggage with the rest of the passengers. It was already covered for the year for the rain. On the landing pad the two wyrms were stretching their legs from the flight and one was already starting to curl up like a sleeping cat, its bristles and razor scales and spines laying flat so it looked like a smooth dull gray stone. Porters were running around the back of the cabin, a aerodynamic cylinder with a couple of portholes and two doors, unloading the luggage.

A man he'd served time with knocked shoulders with him, "So you coming back for more fun, Hillsman?" he asked.

"As delightful as losing my gag reflex was-" he paused when the he laughed "- I have other civil work to do."

The man nodded slowly. "That was a dumb question, Fanger," another platoons-man said to the older man. She was Spayar's age. "Spayar's d'aelar to the Prince. You're lucky the Prince didn't pull rank to pull him out sooner." Spayar grimaced. She didn't have to say it so loudly as now some normal passengers were looking at him. It was too early in the morning for him to have to look dignified. He did square out his shoulders at least.

"Right. Forgot that. You talk way too normal to fit in with those stuffy nobles," the man clapped Spayar on the shoulder hard.

It's almost like I'm educated and know when it's better to dumb myself down, Spayar thought but didn't say. "Have to bring them down to my level sometimes," he said with his best charming grin.

"Hillsman?" one of the porters called as they'd brought the luggage from the back. He slipped out from the man's grip and collected his luggage, a back pack and a small carry trunk. He saw the faded buoyancy weave on both items put on there before the flight to keep the weight down and just reconnected the threads. The bag and trunk immediately weighed a third of their normal weight. He picked up the trunk one handed after slinging the pack over his shoulder and walked off the landing platform and down to the post office below.

It was busy already at the Central Office but mostly of postal people, the odd flighter boredly waiting around for their daily trips, or the bustling blue dressed messengers. A few people already were in line to send their mail. He paid none of them any mind. He just wanted to get home.

There were taxis waiting outside the post office after an air travel landing. He just took the first one, a petty cab pulled by what looked like an ostrich if not for a face like a rat and lacking any feathers and was instead brown furred and covered in a smattering of black and dark brown spots. The driver sat astride it while Spayar loaded in. "Where to, fella?" the driver asked.

"Synnerstock street, number sixteen, out in Bellringer," Spayar said and gratefully sat in the taxi.

"Roger," and the driver urged the Pol'cobb forward and they were off at a good speed joining the mostly foot traffic of the city in downtown Assarus.

The trip out to Bellringer was not short and Spayar just leaned back in the taxi and watched the city fly by. He hadn't been home in two years while serving time but everything seemed more or less the same. He'd have to feed the birds as soon as he got a chance. He'd kept in touch with his friends and accomplices via letter or Seeing spell when he could manage but there were some things you didn't want to talk about over something like letters or spell that could be tracked or spied upon.

"Can we go through South Garden?" he asked the driver as they were leaving the downtown area and it looked like the driver was about to take the longer, if more scenic, route along Riverside and Tradesmen.

"Roger," the driver said and took a different street. Spayar thought South Garden was a pretty neighborhood too. Lots of hanging flower baskets or grow boxes in their windows but the cramped quarters of the houses prevented those who lived here from having proper gardens. The awnings here over the street were more colorful than the ones downtown and caused the light on Spayar's dark skin to cast it into different glows.

Entering Belringer was obvious as South Garden's streets were winding but Belringer had been laid out by strict city planners. The roads were neat and straight and there was more room for gardens for the homes, more breathing room for the inhabitants.

"Thirteen was it, fella?" the driver asked over his shoulder.

"Sixteen," Spayar corrected.

"Roger." The taxi came to a stop a few moments later. "This place?" the driver clarified.

"Roger," Spayar said and climbed out of the taxi. He pulled out his wallet and paid the driver and once he'd removed his luggage the driver kicked the pol'cobb off again and they were trundling down the street once more.

Spayar looked at the building he'd been left in front of. The front was a workshop and store front of his father's and behind was a large two story house with a large connected garden hidden by a high wooden fence. The front door was through the garden unless he wanted to pass through the shop front and he really didn't.

Much to his annoyance the garden door wasn't locked. He remembered always scolding his siblings about making sure the door was locked when they left or came home. He bet it was Duren, or maybe Anora. She was the more forgetful of the Hillsman siblings. But it benefited him today as he didn't have to fish his key out and entered the garden. It was full of late summer growth and early autumn sprouts, some tended to in neat rows and others left to grow more wild.

He locked the door as he headed for the front door. It also wasn't locked. He walked right in and Spayar was greeted by the smell of his mother's cooking from the kitchen where he heard her moving around and probably making a mess of things. She was a good cook if not a very tidy one. Spayar closed the door softly and went around to the three quartered walled kitchen. She didn't notice him at first.

At least he thought she didn't. "Duren you just had breakfast, lunch isn't for a while yet, go back to helping your father," she said in her sweet accented Feylian, not looking at him. Spayar smiled to himself. She thought he was his little brother. Spayar hoped he hadn't gotten as tall as Spayar was already.

"I would but Duren's not here," Spayar said giving his mother such a fright she nearly threw the spoon she was using to tend to whatever was on the stove.

Relora spun and let out a cry. Spayar grinned when his mother rushed over and gave him a great hug. She felt slight in his arms when he hugged her back. She was saying something excitedly in Dirnine but Spayar hated to admit he had trouble following. "Let me see you my sweet," she proclaimed in Feylian and stepped back to take his face in both her hands.

"Amma," he said with a tired smile looking at her. She was a dark skinned Dirinnan with a few freckles on the sides of her face and around her temples framing sea glass green eyes. Her forehead was high and her long black hair was pulled back in a neat single pleat and then pinned into bun on the top of her head. Specific scars decorated the middle of forehead of a vertical straight line and two lines curved against the straight parts. Spayar didn't know the meaning of the scars but his mother usually touched them when she prayed. She said something in Dirnine. "Amma, I forget," he complained.

That made her laugh. "You've only been gone two years, Junior," she said, her teeth white in her smile.

"I'm a dumb foolish boy though, amma," he whined.

"Oh, my poor foolish mazuk," she said and fondly patted his cheek. She kissed him on the cheeks and between the eyes. "You just arrived?"

"Yes. Took a flight from Fort Fetari here in the predawn."

She frowned, "Isn't that dangerous."

"Mail wyrms fly in the dark, amma, it was fine," he said hoping to alleviate some fear. "I want to get some sleep before lunch? Before I have to get to work," he sighed.

She laughed softly. "And you work so hard, Junior," she said gently. "But try to take a few days off hmm?"

"I'll see how long I can avoid the Prince then," he told her like a secret and she didn't look impressed by that at all knowing such a thing was impossible. "I'll get that nap in at least."

"Alright. I'll have Duren wake you for lunch," and she hugged him one more time. "You can tell us all about your time served over lunch."

"Sure," he tried not to groan. He would much rather forget it if he was honest.

She let him go and Spayar scooped his trunk back up and went upstairs. Down the hall his door was opposite his sister Calli's and he could hear her in her own room. He went into his own room. It was as he left it. Bed made, things organized and put away, everything filed where it was supposed to go. His bookshelf was orderly and his mother had come in here a few times to refresh the room as there was no dust and it didn't smell like old cleaning. Two windows let in mid morning light despite the curtains and made the room very bright. An old mobile of the solar system hung from the ceiling in the corner. He set the lightened trunk and back pack down and went over to mobile. Lightly he reached up and touched the fifth planet on the mobile and connected an old weave on it. He half expected it to have faded but was pleasantly surprised it was still there. He didn't know why. Tassa had made this weave and she was the strongest weaver he'd ever met.

While nothing about the room changed it got considerably darker in the room as the magic sprang into life over the windows as an invisible spider web, not allowing as much light in as before. Perfect for when you wanted to take a nap during the day or if you were hung over from the night before and the suns were just too much.

Spayar didn't even bother taking off any of his clothes except his boots, coat, and belt before face planting onto his bed with a groan.

He was woken by a small, dense, body throwing itself onto him. He started awake as arms wrapped around him. "De-de, time to wake up!" Duren cried at the top of his voice making Spayar's ears ring.

"I'm awake," Spayar said with all the affection one would have for a problematic isopod. It wasn't that he didn't love his baby brother he just did not love being jumped on.

"Amma said it was time for lunch," Duren said brightly.

"So I surmised," Spayar said and tried to sit up, impossible with a small child clinging to his waist. "Duren-- we can't go to lunch if you don't let me go."

"But I like hugging you," Duren said looking at him with the same green eyes their mother had. "I missed you."

Spayar softened despite his desire to be annoyed. Duren had gotten bigger since the last he'd seen him, both taller and wider. He had to be what, seven? Eight? He thought it was eight. Still chubbier than a normal eight year old with baby weight. He was cute so Spayar didn't mind. "Yeah but I'm hungry. Aren't you? Working with dad doesn't work up an appetite? I should tell him he's slacking-

"No! We work a lot," Duren insisted and climbed off Spayar. Spayar got up and didn't mind when Duren grabbed his hand. "You didn't come through the shop," he said as Spayar left his room, Duren in tow. He didn't hear Calli in her room and figured Anora was at school.

"Doo'suvf talks," was all Spayar said, speaking of their father. "And I wanted to come home and sleep."

"Hmph," Duren wasn't impressed and Spayar let go of his hand so they could walk down the stairs. Duren trundled down the steps two at a time, hopping off the final three steps, "Amma! I got Junior," he proclaimed.

"Duren I've told you not to jump from the higher steps," Relora scolded Duren who pouted at her, puffing up his cheeks and lips. "It's dangerous, you could hurt yourself."

"But I didn't amma," Duren said.

Spayar left his mother to scold Duren and wandered towards the dining room and-

Sitting next to his sister was someone very out of place in a family home of dark skinned Dirinnans. Or it would have been if Von hadn't spent most of their childhood sneaking out of the Palace to come have meals and sleepovers at Spayar's. "You," he pointed at Von sitting next to Calli.

They both whipped around at his voice. Von pointed right back. "You. What are you doing here?"

"I live here!" Spayar cried and Calli giggled into her hand. "What's your excuse?"

"I was in the area," Von said with that annoyingly handsome smile of his that made him like a sunbeam.

"Lemp's ball sack you were," Spayar said and sat across from Von at the table. Vondugard Le'Acard was Spayar's best friend and the most beautiful man he'd ever laid eyes on. All fair golden skin and hair with the most intensely cerulean eyes he'd ever seen. When he smiled he had dimples and wore his hair at a fashionable length around the top of his ears with a long front fringe that today he had pinned back with a gaudy silver unicorn rampart clip. Spayar didn't usually go for white guys but Von was an exception. As he was with everything. He was also a Crown Prince of the Alliance.

"He always comes and has lunch with us on Siscest," Calli said thoughtfully, rightfully snitching on him immediately.

"Since when?"

Calli just shrugged. "A while? Probably since your presence was missed in the Palace."

"I get no peace with the two of you together," Von said, hand to his forehead. Calli giggled. Calli looked a lot like Spayar but took more after their mother than their father with a high forehead, graceful nose and delicate hands. She was also lighter skinned than Spayar like their father. Spayar got Relora's nearly eggplant dark skin while Calli was simply a rich deep brown. They both also had their father's black eyes. Duren was the only one who'd gotten Relora's green eyes. She and Von were the same age and he was suddenly reminded that meant they've both start their own time served this year.

Duren joined them then, sitting next to Spayar and flopped his head on the table, thoroughly chastised by their mother. "You never mentioned you visited so often," Spayar said to Von.

"Was it so important? You know writing long letters bores me," he said dismissively. Calli giggled again.

"Yeah well I--!!" Spayar ended in a yelp when he was nearly lifted, seat and all, up into the air from behind. "Doo--im, stop," he complained to his father who had enveloped him and was kissing him on the face. How utterly embarrassing.

His father released him with a deep laugh and patted Spayar's shoulder hard. "You snuck around the side then, Junior?" he asked.

"I'd rather die than let your apprentices see you do that," Spayar said, deadpan. Spayar Senior was a handsome man with a shaved head and was growing his beard out for winter. Spayar knew his father could look incredibly intimidating but when he smiled, like now, it was utterly charming and disarming. He wore a sleeveless shirt that showed off his wide shoulders and strong arms covered in scars too imprecise to be anything but weapon wounds. Spayar looked a lot like him except Senior's face had a more firm jaw and a wider mouth. He was missing a few teeth but had replaced them with gold making his smile flashier than even Spayar's.

"Ah but it is my job to embarrass you as your father," Senior said with a charming smile that Spayar could mirror, his accent less pronounced than Relora's.

"At least wait until after lunch," Relora appeared with a pot of rice and Spayar perked up. He hadn't had rice while serving time.

Senior said something in Dirnine Spayar parsed out as something like 'yes, my beloved' and was more horrified at how bad his home language was just after two years serving time than he was at his parents being lovey dovey. Senior sat at the head of the table as Relora went back into the kitchen and brought out a full baked goose stuffed with grains and vegetables from the smell.

"Now where is Anora, school should have-

"Amma, dooim, I'm home!" the front door crashed open when the last Hillsman child came home from school for lunch hour.

"You come here willingly every week?" Spayar asked Von over the commotion of Relora sweeping over to Anora who was excitedly talking about school. Spayar had to put up with this because he loved his family but Von was the crown prince.

Von just smiled his beautiful smile. "It's much more fun than having lunch with my sister." For a moment his face turned brittle but only because Spayar knew what he was looking for.

"Which one? The idiot or the bitch-

"Oooh, de-de that's a bad word," Duren said next to him.

"Junior," Senior said like a warning even as he was carving the goose.

"It's not bad. It's just a grown up word and I'm a grown up now," Spayar said and stuck his tongue out at Duren who did the same to him, making an extra gross face as he did to make Spayar snicker.

Anora and Relora arrived at the table with Anora being a whirlwind of excited voice and hands. She was talking to Relora non-stop even as Relora got her into a chair. She looked a spitting image of their mother with a lower forehead and Senior's dark eyes and skin. Her long wavy hair was done in braided pigtails today. She was completely oblivious to Spayar and Von at the table as she started talking to Calli next. Senior put some goose and stuffing on Spayar's plate.

"Are you just staying for lunch?" Spayar asked Von while three other conversations were happening. It was a pretty typical meal for the household and for Dirinnans and cross talk was to be expected.

"We could hang out," Von said as he was served.

"I need to feed the birds," Spayar scooped some rice onto his plate.

"Right. I forget you do that."

"You talk to our friends?"

"Everyone's still alive if that's what you're asking."

"Tassa around?"

Von grimaced. "I dunno. You know she isn't fond of me."

"I think you underestimate her," Spayar said casually. "Is she?"

"I haven't seen her. We don't run in the same friend group."

Right, you two don't talk unless I'm around, Spayar thought with an internal sigh.

"-- Junior? Have you been here the entire time?" Anora suddenly asked him.

He looked at his little sister. Middle child with way too much energy. "Yes," he said patiently.

"And you just sat there!"

"You were talking to Calli- oof," he grunted when Anora hugged him tightly. "Uh-huh," Spayar said when Anora started talking to him rapidly about school and math. Spayar was the only one she could talk about math too since he was the only one in the family any good at it other than her. Not for the first time he reminded himself to talk to Senior about getting her an apprenticeship with an alchemist. She was old enough. He was only half following though as he scooped lunch into his mouth, giving indications he was listening. Anora rarely wanted a full conversation, she just wanted to tell you about what she was excited about and she was excited about many things.

Anora had him captive the rest of lunch and he half listened to everyone else's conversations while keeping up with her telling him about algebra. Calli and Von were having a pleasant conversation about Calli's new job she was starting this week at a watch maker, the last one she'd had at a florist had fallen through. Senior was talking across the entire table to Relora in Dirnine that Spayar was vaguely aware was about work. Senior was also talking to Duren about what they'd be doing after lunch.

He was so glad to be home.

Von was sitting on Spayar's bed while Spayar was digging through his carry trunk. The sounds of the city outside were dampened and even the light seemed faded and diffused in the room as the purple sun of the mobile glowed softly with magic. The room was effectively sealed from outside viewing, hearing, or scrying by all but the most powerful magic users. Von was leaned back casually on one hand waiting for Spayar to find what he was looking for.

"You really going to feed the birds today?" Von asked as Spayar found what he was looking for.

"Mom wanted to go shopping. I volunteered," Spayar said peeling back a final layer of clothes. It was a simple locked box about the length of his forearm that he picked up and put on his desk. There was no key hole or any sort of actual mechanism to open it, where a key hole would be just a solid piece of metal. To open a safe box like this you needed to be a mettalurgist. It just happened metal ran in the family. Needing no spell or weave Spayar smeared the solid iron down from the lock opening and released the lid from the bottom. He opened the box and pulled out a letter in a sealed envelope from among the items inside. The envelope was sealed with magic that would also make them explode should someone not the intended person open them. The intended person being Spayar himself.

He opened the envelope. "From Councilman Milo Theron," he said as he handed the paper inside to Von. He closed the safe box after.

"Who?" Von asked as he took the papers.

"Sinso's friend in Galinsum," Spayar said as Von unfolded the letter. "Councilman, very high up. Sinso was working on something in secret along with trying to figure out the perfect formulae to make someone vomit on command," he ended with a sigh as Von started reading.

"Sinso was your contact in the Arm, right?" Von clarified.

"Yes. If you asked him I was his little stooge," Spayar said as he put the safe box up on a shelf where it had gone before he'd served his time.

"You're so good at it though I'm not surprised," Von teased him and Spayar rolled his eyes. Von read the letter and his brows slowly furrowed seriously. Spayar sat in his desk chair while Von read the multiple page letter. "Hmm," Von said after a few minutes. "That sounds quite like treason if I was the Governor of Galinsum," he said casually.

"So he fits right in with us," Spayar said seriously.

"Who's the Governor there again? Remind me," Von said even as he read the letter again.

"Jengin Albera," Spayar recited dutifully.

"Right, the 'immortal alchemist'," Von said distractedly. "He's not Feylon is he?"

"No."

"Have we met him?"

"I don't believe personally. He does attend some of your mother's balls and galas though," Spayar said. "We've been introduced at the very least."

"Hmm," Von was very seriously reading the letter again. "Never thought I'd see proper war alchemy."

"It's potentially quite devastating," Spayar said.

"Have you seen it?"

"It was something Sinso was working on yes. Him and other alchemists serving in the arm, away from Galinsum and their pacifism."

"Can you get a message to Theo reliably?"

"He accepts mail."

"Is it screened?"

"He's a Councilman, I imagine not," Spayar said thoughtfully. Von got up from the bed and came to the desk. Spayar turned around and shuffled some papers out. "Ink or pencil?"

"Ink well," Von said and Spayar knew what he was going to do. If Spayar knew Von any less he'd think it was a gross over display of power but Von's entire family was a gross over display of magical ability. The tips of Von's fingers glowed orange and became sharpened like needles and Spayar watched him stitch together a weave in moments and a few complicated hand motions. Then Von put a glowing finger to the page and ink jumped out of the well directly onto the paper. Von didn't have to speak or even write it, the words were transcribed directly to the paper at the same speed as his thoughts. He'd seen Von do this enough times to not be overly impressed but the speed he could construct a well spoken letter was more impressive than the magic.

Von paused, lifting his finger from the paper, just to check something in the letter Theo had sent before putting it back down and finishing the letter. Then he tugged on a piece of the weave and it snapped closed into the perfect size to fit into an envelope. "I'll send it off when I go shopping," Spayar said looking for an envelope.

"Pay for expedited. I want it in his hands tomorrow morning," stepping away from the desk.

"Of course," Spayar said as he hand wrote the staffs of the address with a pen.

"If Theo is courting me what's the odds other Councilmen are courting my siblings?" Von asked quietly.

"Sinso made it sound like most Councilmen aren't interested in treason for personal gain."

"Then why is Theo?" Von said and looked at the letter again. "And why me?" he was particularly surprised by that one.

"You have a d'aelar," Spayar said throwing his arm around the back of his chair to turn and look at Von.

Von whipped around, blue eyes wide for a moment, and then he smiled slightly. "I do," he said smugly. "Don't remind Teldin," he added. Spayar laughed. "Was that all the work for today?"

"Yes," Spayar said standing, grabbing the envelope.

"Good," and Von used a spell to light the letter on fire. It burned to a crisp into ashes but didn't even mark his perfect hand.

"You made a mess in my room," he said, looking down at the ashes.

"You'll forgive me," Von said with a cute smile like he never thought Spayar wouldn't. And damnit if he wasn't right. I'd forgive you anything, Spayar thought and it was both fond and frustrated with him. "So, feed the birds?"

"You're coming?"

"Probably not. It bores me. And I'm sure my minders are missing me-

Spayar put his hand to the bridge of his nose, "Of course," he said, squeezing. Von just snickered. He raised his hand and disconnected the weave around the purple sun of the mobile and light and sound returned fully to the room.

"Now that you're back home we can start work properly," Von said even as Spayar brushed the ashes up to throw them away.

"Again," Spayar sighed grabbing his rain coat and hat for the low hanging clouds outside.

"Yes. Again," Von said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I have ideas but I was waiting for you."

"Hopefully not on everything?" Spayar asked as they left his room.

"No. Just some big plays."

Calli's door opened as they were walking down the hall. "Junior," she called.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"You're going shopping for amma right?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm coming. Amma doesn't trust you not to take six years to do the shopping."

"I don't take six years," Spayar said with a slight roll of his eyes. But yes he did take longer to do the shopping only because he got the shopping done quickly and spent the rest of the day feeding the birds or people watching.

"Let me grab my coat," and she vanished back into her room.

"Still can't believe you came here every week to have lunch," Spayar mumbled to Von.

"Only for the cooking. I wouldn't bore your family with royal or court trivialities," Von said. "Even if Calli has raked me over the coals about it," he sighed.

"Why?"

"She has it in her mind-- ah Calli, is that the coat I got you?" Von asked, changing topics when Calli came out wearing a new rain coat of the sweetest pink color Spayar had ever seen, the outside shiny and waxed to keep the rain off.

Calli beamed even as she was pulling her long wavy hair up into a high tail. "Yes."

"You bought my sister a coat?"

"Seemed polite," Von shrugged.

"It was for National Day," Calli said quickly. National Day was a country wide holiday that marked the official first day the first Asuras, Sinou, had taken the throne almost two thousand years ago. It happened in high summer when the moon flowers bloomed along the Meltong. "He got Anora one too and Duren new rain boots."

"Didn't get me anything," Spayar complained.

"You were four provinces away," Von groaned. "What was I supposed to do?"

"I dunno, visit?" Spayar groused even as they headed down the stairs. Behind him Von was saying some groveling type of apology while Calli giggled. Spayar wasn't really upset but it was always a good time to tease Von. The prince needed it. "Mom, do you have your shopping list?" he called once down on the first floor, not quite sure where Relora was.

"It's on the table," her voice called from the sitting room.

Spayar scooped it up. "So you're coming," he pointed at Calli, "and what are you doing?" he pointed at Von.

"I'll find something to do. We're having a get together at Red Garter tonight, coming?"

"Maybe."

"Can I?" Calli asked.

"No," Spayar said immediately.

Calli rolled her eyes. "Why not?"

"Because it's a drug bar," Spayar said keeping his voice down so Relora didn't hear. He saw the tips of Calli's ears turn red. Unlike Spayar most of his siblings were quite sheltered and being raised by immigrants they didn't always have the same proclivities as typical Feylon. Especially at places like a bar. Also there would be boys there and Spayar couldn't get high or enjoy himself knowing some leech might touch his sister.

"I- fine," she huffed, cheeks puffing out slightly. She went and gathered up the shopping bags.

"Red Garter's not that bad," Von said quietly as they followed her.

"No," Spayar said again. "Unless you want to be the one keeping an eye on her?"

"What? No. She's your sister."

"Exactly. No."

"Will you two stop whispering and come on," Calli groaned. "The meteorologists said the rains were starting today."

"They say that every day starting the middle of J'dorr," Spayar said.

"And aren't they right?" Calli asked.

"Eh, sometimes," Spayar allowed and did follow Calli out. The clouds did seem much lower than earlier though so Spayar put the envelope into an inside pocket of his coat and put his hat on over his wavy hair.

"You didn't bring a rain coat Vondugard," Calli said as they stepped out from the porch and into the garden.

"Oh, I'll be fine," Von said cheerfully. "You know the rain doesn't bother me."

Calli just looked confused. "He's a warlock, Calli," Spayar said, unimpressed.

"So?" she blinked at them both even as a slight misting started to fall from the sky. She pulled up the hood of her rain coat. Von just once more coated his fingers in magic and made a complex weave. The rain began beading up on an invisible barrier he'd woven around himself. It was wide enough that any large enough drops didn't even touch him and just fell harmlessly off to the side.

Calli looked at Spayar, "You can't do that."

"I don't want to do that," Spayar huffed. "Show off," he told Von and headed for the street.

"Well what's the point of being Le'Acard if I can't show off sometimes?" Von said following after him. "And this is where I say farewell my Hillsman friends," he beamed all sunshine on a miserable day. Spayar hated his fool heart for fluttering. He'd known Von how many years and he still got all silly?

"Don't get into trouble," Spayar said.

"Me? I would never," and with a wave he walked off.

Spayar and Calli stood there for a moment watching him walk off, a spring in his step. "He's such a pain in the ass," Spayar declared and then turned and walked the other way. Calli laughed into her hand as she followed after Spayar.

====+====

Tag list: @full-on-sam @thegodsaredead

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#writeblr #writblr #WIP #zealous servant #original ccharacters #original fantasy #original writing #spayar hillsman #von le'acard #black main character

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tychodorian · 3 months

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I just got another fantastic review for one of my books! This one was for Braidy von Althuis and the Gullible Ghost Hunter. The book now has a whopping 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Thank you so much, Jessica, for the fantastic review.

I am so proud of this series, even though I wrote it when I was still learning (and even though my art isn't //that// great).

If you're interested in reading this book series, you can find it on Amazon under my pen name Cassidy Dwelis. You can also learn more about my books on my website. Link is in my pinned post!

#trans artist #trans artwork #art #digital art #oc #original character #publishing #self publishing #writing #authors of tumblr #trans #middle grade #book review #book recommendations #booklr #book tumblr #paranormal books #fantasy books #black main character

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gloomy-dayzzz · 13 days

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I'm slowly working on a black sapphic fic with Nana vibes 🥺 I have a title already. Just been running through first chapter ideas. 🤪

If you want to keep up with the journey of my novel, please give me a follow. 🥹

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luvingmyships · 1 year

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Kitana Kai has always been the kind of girl too really not care what people thought of her. She’s always been the best at what she did.Academic's, sports, and serving looks, and having a great alluring personality that brought people in, especially all the the boys to the yard but in many of causes it didn’t work out with them.Commitment was the farthest thing from her mind. She liked going out partying/clubbing (possibly illegally)and meeting new guys and always been upfront with her intentions ,and it didn’t change when her dad kinda uprooted her life, and moved her too her homeland of japan where she’ll be collecting another trail of tears.

Hello to all who open up my work. This is one of the first stories I’m attempt to write my best, and I’m very open to critics lets just not be mean about it. In this story the main character is multi-racial, Japanese and Afro-Latina, is identity is what makes her HER. she’s fun, flirty, and also young women that makes a lot mistakes and helps her growth. I haven’t really seen many Haikyuu stories with a black women, and I took my chance to make one, Thank you <3

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Kitana Kai

The thing about me is that I didn’t choose hoe life; it chose me. I wasn’t one to settle down in relationships. I’m young and hot, and I didn't want to limit my options, so in the meantime, I like messing with guys and their emotions. Sure, it might be a little immature, but I’m just giving them a taste of their medicine. Sometimes if they interest me enough, I might give them an inch. I like clubbing and going out and having a good time, and until now.

Some might say me being this way has something to do with both of my parents not being around. It’s not that they're dead; they are absent from my life more than I would like, and this is how I want to feel the void of it. My mom has been excluded from my life for the past fifteen years, and she cheated on my dad with a younger guy. The guy eventually left her, which led her into deep desperation is where my grandparents had to raise me. We had to come back to America from Japan because they thought I should see the other half of my family. My dad always tried to be there for me, but things were always getting in the way, working full-time and being a graduate student in engineering took a toll on him and his ability to care for me. It got better when he got his degree and had an excellent job waiting for him. While I was living with my grandparents for most of my adolescent life, my dad flew me out to see me about thousand times to spend the summer months with him and his new wife; and they also came to see me when they were able to, which made me feel seen as a child. My dad didn't have full guardianship because my grandparents wanted to. I reminded them of my mom, and my dad thought it was the most feasible thing for him to do.

My family is a little different than most because my mom is Afro-Dominican, and my dad is Japanese, not a combination you would see every day. However, they initially tried to raise me in the best of both worlds. Unlike most black biracial people, I had darker skin than most, which I had gotten from my mother. Born in Japan, having darker skin than the majority was the easiest; the only thing my father passed down to me was his eyes, where people could tell I was of Asian descent. I spent the first six years of my life in Japan, consumed by its culture; it became my first language. However, I'm still pretty proficient in Spanish and English, which made my dad think I was a prodigy to transition through them, which boosted my ego into the bad bitch I am today.

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The plane was closer to landing. Although Kitana was already ready to fly out of her seat to get them off, she had enough of the guy sitting next to her “accidentally” bumping and rubbing against her leg with his own. He thought he was so slick, looking at her sheepishly. She was ready to slap the shit out of him but risking the no-fly list was not something she wanted to do. God give her patience. She was on this plane now, landing in Japan because her grandparents thought it was time she got the chance to live with her father before she began college.

When the plane landed, Kitana stood up to get her to carry on, and the guy stood way too close, waiting to get his eyeing her up and down like he was sizing her up to see if she was a challenge.

“Do you need any help getting your luggage down, ma’am?” he asked her, already trying to reach for it, but Kitana had already snatched it down fast before he could intervene.

“No, I’m good,” she said, glaring at him rolling her eyes hard and making it down the pathway of the plane to get off. As if he had a sliver of a chance with her looking like he was fighting his receding hairline, a mortgage, and struggling to provide for his family of five.

When she made it to the airport, Kitana was already getting weird stares from the people in the airport, which she understood. She’s a black person in japan. In this country, most people wouldn't have seen black people in real life if it wasn't for television and the internet. Also, she looked confusing to most people in Japan. She had a prominent Asian feature with her eyes, but her brown skin, textured hair in a vast pineapple puff on top of her head, full lips, and slim, thick fat ass made people do a double-take, which the majority in japan does not have. Japanese beauty standards tend toward light, flawless skin, a slim, petite figure, slender legs, and a quiet personality, which Kitana did not possess when she had to speak her mind.

She tried to scavenge her dad in the sea of people that filled the airport; it didn't help that she was only five-four, so that didn't help the cause of trying to see over people's heads, so she just called her dad instead while grabbing her suitcase from baggage claim.

“Dad, where are you? I landed, and I don't see you?” Kitana said, pulling her heavy-ass luggage towards the escalator to a lower level, her piercing over the sea of people.

“ Baby, I’m on the lower level. I think I see you and your pineapple hair,” Kitana's father, Haru, said, laughing in her ear like he said the funniest thing ever. “Daddy, what did I tell you? It's called a puff; you've been with a black woman and got a black daughter and still don't know what a whole puff is with that big brain,” she said, finally getting off the escalator.

“Sweetie, you know I’m only playing with you,” Haru said, still chuckling while surprising her from behind and shocking her with a hug.

“Dad, I missed you so much; it's been too long, you know, not to sneak up on black people like that,” she said, laughing into the hug and squeezing him tight, not wanting to go because he was always there to confront the person. They started walking out of the entrance of the airport.

“I missed you too, Koibito. I’m glad we can finally be together as a whole family now; Aika and the kids are very excited to see you again, he said, to which Kitana wasn’t very surprised. Her step-mom Aika loved as if she was her daughter and would send goodies over the sea to America, and they talked on the phone almost twice a week more than she did with her father. Her little brothers also made sure their presence was known every week with FaceTime calls which she loved though it was a bit excessive. They were middle schoolers, so it's not like they had many people to call though it was appreciated.

“I’m excited to see them too, and I can’t wait to eat okaasan food. I know how she likes to make a feast every time I come around.”

“Yeah, I know she already started preparing in the morning, I just wanted to taste a little bit of it, and she hit me; also, we're not going straight home just yet. I know you're tired, but I have to pick up some important documents and items from my school, and you're going along,” Harui said while putting her luggage into his car.

“And here I thought I could just rest after my 13-hour flight,’’ Kitana groaned as she got in the car. “Don't worry, you’ll be able to rest later; it's not too far, and well, definitely make it in time for dinner.”

Kitana and her father made it out of the airport and on the ride to their first destination. They talked about her life back in America. She was at the top of her class in academics. She was a fantastic athlete in volleyball; she took her team to championships twice. She was a very accomplished person for where she was; her uprooting to live in Japan just changed the flow of everything. It's something she has to get used to. Her dad reassured her that she would do excellent even in the new environment; she would thrive.

They pulled up to Shiratorizawa Academy, a private high school in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture. Her father teaches a couple of classes throughout the day, besides being an engineering professor at one of the nearby schools' colleges. Since the entrance exam is challenging, most students get accepted by studying hard or through sports scholarships. However, Kitana cannot attend since her father teaches, and since she has yet to take their entrance exam before her first year, it was never going to happen. So instead, she would attend Karasuno High, located in Miyagi Prefecture; it’s a bit farther. But her dad promised her a car when she came here, so it will not be a problem.

Looking out the window, Kitana saw a massive group of boys running in the same uniform, purple practice shirts, white shorts, and a zip-up jacket about half a mile away from the school, piquing her interest. They were all tall, so she guessed either basketball or volleyball for their sport of choice. They all turned to face her as the car was driving by, and she examined them, and they all looked cute to her, but the one that caught Kitana's eyes was in the front leading the run. The number on his back was number one. He was fine and had permission to get in her drawers whenever he wanted. He would tower her by a lot, she was only 5’4, and he looked above 6 feet. He had a nice lean-bulky body that Kitana wouldn't mind climbing. Unlike the rest of his team, He turned to look at her with an automatically resting bitch face that and stoic statured. Kitana stared right back at him and winked directly as they passed him. She had a thing for men like that. It was kind of her toxic trait.

When the school came into her line of sight, she was impressed with how big it was and how the building was structured. It did look like they prioritized sports in their school. There was horseback riding, tennis, and a soccer field outside. They had two separate outside gyms for the girls and boys where basketball and volleyball were practiced and played. She wouldn't have minded attending this school and joining the volleyball team; she saw reports on how both genders of the school dominate the sport of volleyball. It ranked 8th in the whole country. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? But it's okay because no matter where she goes, she will dominate the team.

Kitana's father parked the car near the school and followed suit out of the car with him, and she was too nosey to explore the school. The sun and warmth felt great on her being outside the cold ass plane.

As Kitana and her father were making it towards the school entrance, the boys finally caught up and gathered at the front of the outside gym building, all trying to catch their breath. Their arrival brought out an older man in a tracksuit replica of their uniform, walking up to the somewhat middle-aged man supporting a buzz cut and glasses. Kitana was trying not to look, mind her business, or get in the building until her dad switched the route they were walking in and thought it was okay to get the older man's attention.

“Hello, coach Washijo is still working my students to the core, I see,” Haru says as he approaches closer to the coach and his team; they all seem too fixated on the person behind him.

“Well, how else do you think the team will get to the championships if they're not pushed to their limits? I'm not here to babysit. I'm here to train winners,” Coach Washijo said, already getting sidetracked on his plans for the team. While that conversation took place, it gave the team a chance to look at Kitana, and they were perplexed by how attractive she was. Her hair was pulled back in very neat flat braids that exposed her beautiful face with moles and freckles scattered, lips perfectly full with gloss coating them. Dressed in a light grey zip-up hoodie and grey-fit seamless athletic shorts that exposed her smooth brown legs glistening in the sun gathered the majority of the attention from the boys and the people passing by. The only gaze Kitana did not mind was the captain, who was much cuter closer up. He had dark olive-brown hair, matching hazel-green eyes, and a stoic expression, which was pretty intimidating. He has a large, muscular yet lean build and is relatively tall. His eyes moved up and down Kitana's body thinking he was slick with his glances until he met Kitana’s, who was already looking at him. She caught his eyes before making sure he knew she was slowly checking him out and gave out a dimpled smile when a blush formed on his face, which caused him to look away.

“Sensi Kai, are you gonna introduce us to the foreigner hottie that's behind you,” a voice said that pulled Kitana out of her trance, and her eye zeroed on the tall red-headed boy thats she could automatically tell had a goofy vibe about him, that just automatically made her laugh; her dad’s face turning completely red didn't help anything.

“ Satori, I would appreciate it if you reframed from using any of those unrefined comments on my daughter,'' Haru said, responding Grimley to Tendo, who also received a solicited glare from his couch.

“Well, daddy is not like he lied about me being hot cause I am most definitely not a foreigner but thank you, though,” Kitana responded in Japanese, which put the team in a state of shock that brought a deep belly laugh from the coach which was a lot more shocking than anything. This was the first time they heard it, and the man barely smiled.

“Kitana,” her dad said, not liking the sound of his daughter expressing how she looked hot, especially to these little foul-mind boys. Kitana looked away for a second to escape the glare her dad was making sure to give her, and the boy that misspoke received the same glare from his coach, to which he automatically apologized.

“And Tendo, one more word out of you, the whole team will be running another extra lap,” the coach said, which had the rest of the team looking at the redhead, daring him to say another word out of pocket.

“No need, it's fine, I'm not offended at all,” Kitana says, trying to get the heat off of him and the attention back to her, on which she succeeded because there the boys go again, checking her out. She didn't, especially from the green-eyed boy that was just carefully observing her with a slightly intimidating reactionless manner about her. Like he was disinterested in this whole ordeal and was wasting time.

“Anyways, this is my daughter Kitana. She just came from America today and will stay with me until she graduates. The funny thing is, my baby is also an amazing volleyball player, with a lot of champions under her belt,’’ Haru said, beaming with an endless amount of pride, causing Kitana to shield herself from the embarrassment of her dad always bringing this topic up in front of people.

“Really, in what position” the old man's coach said, not convinced that a person of Kitana's small-statured was a remotely great player. She didn’t like being doubted by anyone and was already catching an attitude.

“Yes, really, I was captain of my team before the move as a setter, but I was occasionally a spiker, and I can assure you that my dad isn’t wrong; I’m a winner and am the best at what I do,” Kitana said looking at the grumpy old ass old man with her arms crossed in a challenging way.

“Well, in that case, why don't you join us for practice today.”The other younger coach said, intervening before anything else could be said between them. Kitana wanted to decline because she didn’t prove herself to these men, but her dad beat her to a response.

“She’d love to. I have a few things to grab inside from my class anyways so you can join them, hon” Giving her a little forehead kiss and pushing her towards the group before leaving her with a wave.

“Well, I’m joining you guys for a minute. Let's see how great you are,'' Kitana says, turning her attention back to the team and giving them a dimpled smile that made most of them weak in the knees. They all filled into the colossal gym and started getting paired off for warm-ups and passing drills, and Kitana got paired off to number eight on the team. A first-year boy that was kind of adorable. He looked about 5’11 with a medium build, and his most notable attribute was the back bowl cut that he was wearing. He introduced himself with a fit of stutters as she took her jacket off, revealing the grey backless sports bra she was wearing underneath,also revealing the tattoo placed on her spine near her neck were two koi fish in Ying -Yang and going down the spine in Japanese Kanji had the saying “ a montage of love”. Kitana was big on tattoos, other than the one on her back she had a vine of flowers under her left under boob. Two butterfly tattoos on her head that she shared with a friend and the back of her right ear two small tattoos of the sun and the moon with tiny stars.

“I-um,’’ He squeaks when he tries to speak, so he clears his throat before restarting, “Goshiki!” he says so loud, sticking his hand out that all the other boys were snickering because of it, Specially that red-headed one from earlier.

Kitana rolled her eyes at them and shook his hand. “Well, hello, Goshiki, I don’t know if you heard earlier, but I’m Kitana. It’s nice to meet you. Looks like I’m your practice partner for today’’ She says, smiling up at him, causing him to blush. Seeing a pretty girl this up close that smelled amazing and had the potential to be a great volleyball player was the highlight of his week.

He stood there for a second just taking her in without blinking. “ Are you good in there my guy” she says, laughing a little, taking him out of his trance, getting a little closer with the ball in hand.

“Umm- yeah, yes I’m good, I just thought your tattoo is pretty cool. Did it hurt? Wait, did your dad allow you to get that? Are those the only ones you have? I’m sorry I’m asking too many questions.” Goshiki replied nervously, fingers running through his bangs,panicking inside a little, believing that the questions were a little intrusive to her. But he was just curious, no one he knew had a tattoo. Usually the people are very discreet, with keeping there’s hidden. but here’s this girl, not caring, having her back out in display with it, decorating her spine, which all just made her a whole lot more appealing than she already does.

It seems to be that the other players were in agreement with his internal thoughts, with her facing him. He’s able to catch them, with they’re envious sneaking peeks.Tendo, wasn’t even trying to hide it . All a bit shocked by her back exterior. Even the coaches.

“ No, you’re good, I don't mind the questions. Yes, my dad knows, about it he’s the one that paid for it as a birthday present and my overall accomplishments. But since I was 17 getting it, I needed my grandparents permission. I can’t lie,Yes, it hurts a bit. And also yes, I have three other more” she says, giving the ball a little dribble.

“Really?? where are they” He says catching the ball passed to his eyes spreading all over her body to see the different inks.

“Well they’re in secret places, can’t really show unless you want to get really close and personal” she says teasingly this boy was easy. His cheeks started to get red and flustered.

“ It's a joke, what position do you play?”

“I’m a winged spiker, but I will take Ushijima's spot and be the ace of this team,” Goshiki says excitedly, starting the passing drill with the ball where they pass to themselves at first and then backward pass to their partner.

“Winged spiker, okay, we love to see it. I was one alsoe; I still am, actually, but I’m a setter for most of my games. Since you're not the ace, who’s this Ushijma that is' ' Kitana says while hitting her pass backward.

“Shirt # 1, he's the captain of our team. He plays as a wing spiker and is the team's ace. He was the number one ace in Miyagi Prefecture and ranked among the country's top three aces.,” Goshiki says, catching the ball, head nodding towards the direction of the net where there was a three-person practice happening with striking, which involved the talkative red-head who was #5, #10 who seemed to be lecturing him about something, and then # 1 who turned out to be the fine ass stoic guy who she was checking out, now she was continuing to do.

“ We’ll dame he’s pretty hardcore, skill level is amazing too, and kinda cute is he in a relationship” Kitana said not one to beat around the bush when she wants something, and for right now, her eyes were set on the captain.

“Cute??” Goshiki says almost missing the ball, in which he had hit the receive harder than he should have,perplexed by the words that just came out of her mouth, and her boldness.Ironically the ball ending up near the foot of ushijima.

#haikyuu smut #haikyuu!!#black main character #ushijima #daichi miura #coach ukai #kuroo tetsurou #oikawa tōru #kotaro bokuto #love #miya osamu #miya atsumu #Karasuno #shiratorizawa

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biandlesbianliterature · 2 years

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When Bronx high schooler Raquel’s mother falls into a coma with a mysterious illness on the same day that her crush’s cousin disappears, Raquel has no choice but to team up with her crush, Charlize, to save them both. In doing so, they learn of the deadly Echo Game, an urban legend based in the horrifying history of the city, and must put their knowledge as well as their survival skills to the test in order to make it out alive.

This book held my attention from beginning to end—I never wanted to put it down... It's well worth a read on every level, from the frights of the Echo to the even more terrifying history that inspired it.

Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado was reviewed at the Lesbrary

#Vincent Tirado #queer books #sapphic books #queer ya #queer horror #sapphic horror #author of color #main character of color #Black author #Black main character #ya horror #ya #horror #reviews #the lesbrary #lesbrary

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glitterymemesatretro-blog · 5 months

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"Intertwined Souls"

Chapter 2

TW: panic attacks

~"Before she became fire, she was water. Quenching the thirst of every dying creature. She gave and she gave until she turned from sea to desert. But instead of dying in the heat, the sadness, the heartache, she took all of her pain and from her own ashes became fire."~

All she knew was darkness. It was slowly closing in on her on all sides, she didn't know where she was; all she knew was that she needed to run and get away as fast as she could. It was too much. The screams of despair, the wails of children being torn from their mothers' arms, the smell of burning flesh and the horrifying sounds of maniacal laughter.

The rusty stench of blood filled the air; it was all over her. Her hands were caked in blood, though most of it wasn't hers'. She lost her dagger somewhere along the way but couldn't bring herself to dwell on it given her current situation. The woman's normally curly hair was now laying limply down her back, matted with sweat making it stick to her forehead as the blood from the wound she sustained on her face was now running down into her eyes, blurring her vision and making it harder to see where she's going.

The woman was beginning to tire and needed to stop running for a moment to catch her breath. Choosing a nearby tree, she leaned back against it while she used her sleeve to wipe away the blood that got into her eye and wincing when she accidently applied pressure to the wound running from above her right eyebrow then ending at the top of her lip. She tried to collect her thoughts to come up with a safe destination in mind that she could travel to—some nearby kingdom that would grant her asylum, 'maybe' she thought, she could go live with that nice woman that her mother introduced her to all those years ago.

'Oh what was her name again?' she thought to herself. 'Hannah? No, that can't be right! Helena? No.No.No.No. NO!! Why can't she remember?! The lovely woman with kind eyes and that mischievous son of hers,' Melvin. No, Merlin, sweet, dear Merlin, yes that's his name. Suddenly it all clicked into place, the woman's name is Hun-'"I found you~" was mockingly sung into her ear and before she could react , a hand was wrapped around her throat, blocking her airway. The woman immediately began to struggle, fighting and clawing at the rough hand clasped around her neck but to no avail, her attacker didn't let up or falter.Instead, the stranger just let out a hollow chuckle sending shivers down her spine, tightening the hold he had on her neck. "W-who a-are you?" she strained to say, gasping in-between her words, all the while glaring at her attacker refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing a glimpse of fear in her eyes. "Ah, Ah, Ah" her attacker tutted as if they were reprimanding a small child. "Easy there princess, you and I both know that you're not exactly in the position to make demands, now are you?" He pointed out, seemingly entirely too amused by the situation. "W-what d-do y-ou w-want f-from me?!" she spat out, giving him the best death glare she could muster.The man gave her a sharp grin while baring far too many teeth to be human and leaned in so close that the woman could feel his hot breath fanning her face then put his face near her ear as if he was sharing a secret."What I want, little lamb"he began, meeting her eyes once more. "is for you to wake up."The woman furrowed her eyebrows. "I-i d-don't u-understan-"

"VICTORIA WAKE UP!!"

(Sorry for the cut off. The app won't let me go past a certain limit. Check for part 2 in the next chapter. Below is the outfit she was wearing in this chapter. )

#bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #magic #black main character #camelot #merlin x reader #Spotify

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brownandblackpearls · 2 years

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🦇𝒯he 𝒱isitor (Alucard Tepes x BlackReader) Pt.6

PART 6 SUMMARY:

Alucard has found you in the depths of his castle. You spend the night outside the castle together, and you bear witness to a few more of your host’s supernatural abilities. You learn more about him, about his life, and he learns of you. You’re both opening up...but what secrets remain? And are you ready to learn those too, under the light of the moon? Or will the shadows swallow you back up...?

─── Alucard x black female reader

─── imagery + fiction

─── explicit smut

─── Fantasy, vampires, hurt/comfort, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, magic user, cute bats, gardening, cooking, cottagecore MC, castlecore Alucard.

☾ previous. ☾ next.

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└───────────━┿──┿━──────────┘

You imagined Alucard’s return to his form to be something macabre and anatomical, full of moving muscle and crunching bones.

His change back is more like a whisper in the night. Something that is a part of him and not a gruesome, forced curse. Something inherent. Natural.

‘Supernatural.’

He looks to you then, his eyes just the same as they had been when he wore the skull of a wolf instead of that of a man’s.

“You shouldn’t wander,” he says simply, as if nothing has happened. Perhaps to him, nothing had. Another uneventful night in his mind, surely, you guess.

You nod, unsure whether to thank him for finding you deep in the castle’s nooks, or whether you should keep your silence and your grudge over his treatment of you the past few days.

You decide that the night’s events have made you rather tired and that you don’t possess much more energy for anger. Perhaps tomorrow.

“Thank you. For finding me,” you attempt to salvage.

“Always,” Alucard murmurs, before moving away and turning his head to see if you’ll follow.

You do. You feel yourself wonder at his choice of words just now, but smother the feeling.

‘No more investigating every little word or thought. I’m tired...’

You try to keep a respectable distance, yet you note that Alucard slows his pace until he is at your side. His eyes look ahead yet his expression is concerned, and he seems to be struggling with something.

“Earlier, I...” he sighs. “It seems that I keep finding myself in situations where I owe you an apology.”

“Yes. Well.” You don’t try to put on airs. As nice as it is to have someone apologize to you these days, it’d sooner be more pleasant to see action behind such words.

The road held its stories. Anyone could say anything. Never did that make it true.

You learned that the hard way.

“I am sorry,” Alucard states. “I often forget that how I partake in solitude and how I behave with others must differ. Another excuse, yes. Yet it truly is...too easy to forget.”

You shrug. You suppose that if you were a half-vampire holed away for God knows how long...you’d lack certain manners too.

“Does it make you...resentful…? That you must treat a human like me so carefully?”

Alucard shakes his head, looking straight down the dark corridor.

“No. It makes me…remember.”

‘Remember?’

“Remember what?” you ask.

Alucard’s face really shadows over then, and you find yourself realizing that as forlorn and cold as he’s looked since your stay, you have never seen him quite this sad.

“My friends,” he breathes, before turning on his heel and continuing down the corridor.

‘Friends,’ you think to yourself. ‘I never stopped to wonder about his friends. Family, yes. Enemies, certainly. Acquaintances, trysts, lovers perhaps…but never friends.’

“Even creatures of the night have friends,” he jests coolly, but there is truth in it.

You smile, drawing nearer as his steps slow from their hurried pace. He has seemed to remember himself. “You are no creature of the night, just lousy at waking early. And of course you’d have friends. Of course.”

“Of course?” His brow lifts.

“Well yes. Everyone has friends.”

“What about you then? Your friends.”

You pause, finding yourself taken aback.

What about you? What about your friends?

You’ve met them over the years on the road. Acquaintances, interests…and yes, even friends. But they never stayed. And neither did you. No addresses to pen to. No pigeons to send off. No magic mirrors of legend.

Just you.

“I suppose…I had them. Before.”

Alucard looks at you then, really looks at you. Then he gives you the saddest smile.

“How lonely.”

You do not know whether to be insulted or to cry. It was lonely. It is lonely.

Perhaps that’s why you fight so hard for attention now that you have something more permanent, more stable...? But you’re not sure how kindly you take that comment coming from someone who lived in a castle vast enough to house entire cities and yet held no one but himself. If anyone should be lonely, it would be Alucard, right...?

...Right?

You look at your skirts and the floor, thinking.

It was so easy for you to see his loneliness. His solitude wrapped around him like a cloak.

Yours? That was much harder. You hid it. And you smiled, and you said all the right things, but there it was. There it remained.

And perhaps there it would stay, no matter how many towns you went to or sights you saw. No matter how many things you pried out of your host who was clearly not used to company.

You were afraid you would...always be alone. In the middle of the woods, in a crowded room, none of it mattered it seemed.

And it felt like Alucard was looking straight into the heart of it, feeling awfully sorry for you. Maybe more sorry than you’d ever taken the time to feel for yourself.

You feel yourself leaning towards being upset when Alucard moves toward you, drawing your attention.

“It's dark outside and creatures roam, but...the moon is bright and I am here. We could see the garden. Unless you’re ready to retire for the night...?”

You find your eyes widening in pleasure, your heart vibrating with anticipation. A garden hardly holds up to all the wondrous things you’ve seen on your travels, but after a measurable time in the castle exploring its brickways and hidden delights (and horrors), you are ready for some fresh air that is not from a precipitous balcony.

“I want to see...but perhaps you’re right. I hardly think I could make it all the way out there and back as tired as I am.”

You feel yourself wilt at the thought that you will miss out on the outing you’d been hoping for. You had to be realistic with yourself, though. Traipsing these grounds was no cakewalk.

“There is a way.”

You perk up at that. “A secret passageway?”

“No. Well, probably, but no. There is a faster way.”

Alucard comes closer then, peering down at you. You can feel his presence rolling off of him, you can see the tight knitting in his thread-wear. You can even scent his cologne, something deep and dark and old.

“Are you afraid of bats?”

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Alucard possesses many supernatural gifts. This, you learn tonight.

The white wolf had been illuminating enough. But now, as you are shrouded in darkness, hearing nothing but the sound of flapping and the feeling of thin-skinned wings touching you lightly all over, you wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into.

When the bats clear and your vision goes from total blackness to the vast night sky, you realize that you stand on solid ground now instead of shapeless, shifting swathes of night flyers.

The cloud of bats is silent save for flapping, with not a shrill or scream to be heard. The mass unfolds from around you, disappearing to the edges of your vision and recollecting out of sight with only sound to signify.

It happens so quickly, that by the time you are turning to follow the mist of the bats, you hear something that sounds akin to a whirlpool closing in on itself rapidly; you watch with wide eyes as the bats gather together, glowing in a red unshapely blob, before snapping into the image of a man. The last things to fade from the red glow into visceral reality are his eyes.

His gaze appears tinted with humor at your clear astonishment from the whole endeavor.

“See? Faster.”

“I...yes.”

“Did it hurt?” he asked. He stepped away and waited, and soon enough you realized he was leading you once again.

“No. It was odd, if anything.” You think it is a funny question, as you are sure he took the consideration to ensure that the journey didn’t hurt or startle.

You stay close, eyes widening as you spy where he was leading you.

The garden.

The same garden you had spotted so long ago on your way into this place. It is not as blooming as before, the soil covered in pine needles, foliage, and some areas with tarp.

“Ah, you prepared it well,” you note. “You do this before every winter season?”

“Not as thoroughly,” Alucard says, observing the state of the garden. “Usually I let most of them die and sprout unaided in the spring. Only this season did I harvest and prepare.”

“Why?” you wonder.

Alucard looks at you then, and suddenly you realize.

‘Because of me.’

Because of you...you who is wholly flesh and bone, you, a human, you who needs sustenance and warmth and care during the winter months...You are not supernatural like him, and you cannot last like him. This much he understands. He seemed to have taken the prospect seriously by doing all of this work.

You find yourself speechless. A nervous hand of yours draws to the tight curls on the nape of your neck, detangling them anxiously.

“I...thank you for thinking of me. I had...no idea.”

Alucard nods almost imperceptibly before kneeling down towards the drying garden bed, sifting leather-clad fingers through the dirt.

You follow after, the night’s dew glistening back the moonlight and softly dampening the edges of your dress.

The air is cooling, you realize. You find yourself gasping outside of your control.

“Ah—”

A sudden shiver runs up your body. Winter is upon you and the air’s chill only hints at that fact further.

You feel movement by you and you wrap your hands tightly around your kneeled form, forcing a chuckle through the tremors.

“The chill out here is something else, isn’t it?”

You feel it then.

A large, heavy cowl is laid over your shoulders, covering your frame entirely. You freeze, feeling the warmth emanating off of it. It smells deeply of the smoky scent you associate with...Alucard.

You turn and catch his gaze, set aback. He eyes lower to the lapels, and he angles towards the front of you so that he may draw the clasps closed, covering you completely. He begins to slowly stand, and as if in a trance, you stand with him; perhaps an unsuspecting outsider would assume the two of you to be in a dark, pagan dance on this moonlit night in the woods. Finally fully upright, he fastens the final clasp closed, but his hands do not release you; instead, they trace back to the collar and draw it together firmly, making the coat feel that much closer to your skin.

He has never met your gaze this long. He has never stood this close.

His amber eyes momentarily lower to the buttons, then the ground, and finally they lift to take you in once more.

“I’ve been careless.” The admission is low, almost like a whisper, despite the night’s quiet and the chilled breeze overhead.

Careless? About what? The night air? The revealing of his numerous abilities? Something else entirely...?

You open your mouth to respond but cannot find the words. Alucard fills the silence for you both.

“You are human. And you need more than I cared to give.”

You feel your mouth part in surprise, unsure of what to say.

“I...I don’t understand.”

Alucard leans down then, equaling himself to your height.

“You will.”

You find your body drawing even closer to him, the gap between the two of you growing infinitesimally smaller. He is like stone, still but steady. Something low brims between the empty space, and you feel like something going to occur—

“!”

A long, shrill, almost-human scream cuts through the dark night.

You feel your heart drop to the sole of your shoes. It sounded bad. Very bad.

Alucard’s expression hardly shifts to the level of fear you currently feel, but you do spot a hardening in his look. Concern bleeds into his face as he turns over his shoulder, seemingly listening to something you can’t hear.

“We’d better be on our way then.”

You nod, eager to get out of there.

“Is that a…night creature?”

“Yes. You’ve met one already, I presume.”

You sigh, agreeing. “Ever since I stepped foot in Wallachia, unfortunately. This place seems to be crawling with them.”

Alucard nods, all-too knowing.

The scream comes again, and this time, it sounds far too close.

Alucard doesn’t look as bothered as you feel inside. You begin attempting to chat away the fear.

“They don’t go down easy. Well…” you eye him warily, his stature, his gaze. “...maybe not for me.”

Alucard smirks then, shrugging.

“It’s a bit late for a needless fight. Let’s go back.”

You nod, glad for the warmth from his coat. The scream arises again, and you jump this time. It sounds even closer. Maybe it sniffed you both out?

“Should we run?” You ask with a shake in your voice, hearing something hulking and hissing fighting through the trees on yonder.

You feel as though you’ll see some hellish beast any minute.

“Hold on.”

You feel a hand grab you round the waist, and before you know it, you’re in the air hovering like a bird in the sky. You don’t even have time to log the latest ability of your host that you’ve discovered because you’re too preoccupied with watching the ground fall away from you both.

You shriek, closing your eyes and tucking your face away from the dizzying heights into the nearest solid surface, Alucard’s lapels. You try to ignore that you’ve never been quite this close to Alucard, the tufts of his blouse rubbing against your eyelids and lips, the thick material of his jacket flapping near your ear in the wind. You can feel your own skirts tousle about in the air dangerously, but you don’t have the heart to reach down and keep them close to your thighs.

Luckily, Alucard is the sort of supernatural gentleman to consider such things; he wraps his other arm underneath your legs, tucking in your skirts tight in his grasp as you bend, now held like a bride or a child. It is not enough to make you pull away from the illusory safety of his bosom and see just how far the ground is now below you both.

You shake and wonder if he feels the tremors. Your question is answered once you feel his face lower to gaze at you assumedly, his chin grazing your scalp and settling there easily.

“Is this worse than the trip here?” He wondered aloud.

The noise you let out is far from proper and you feel yourself shaking harder from the thrill of being up so high. The bats had hidden the last trip from your sight. It hardly felt like you were moving! Now, however...? You could feel and see everything, with only Alucard as an anchor to hold. Clearly he was used to being a night bird, but you were not. Not yet.

“Don’t look, if it scares you,” Alucard advises before jetting you both off towards the castle.

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That night at the table is quiet.

You requested a drink before retiring as the journey out into the night air has left you parched.

Alucard not only obliged, but sought to escort you to the kitchens. Even he seemed to understand the difference of mood in the castle at night compared to the day. His company is a welcomed circumstance.

You sit before one another at the place you last were not so long ago, where your argument took place only hours before.

The tension from that last talk seems to still have a hold on the setting, you and Alucard both choosing silence for the moment. Tea steams between you both, a pot full. Your cup is draining as you quench yourself, but Alucard’s is empty.

‘Is he not thirsty?’ you wonder.

“Alucard, aren’t you parched?” You gesture towards the tea but Alucard will look at nothing else in the room but you.

“You were right. Before.” he admits. “I do not take human blood. I can. But I won’t.”

You nod, letting him unveil himself to you.

“Why lie?”

He sighs heavily, wrangling with something.

“It is difficult to...learn others. Sometimes it feels as though it is for nothing. They all pass by so quickly.”

‘Pass by? What does that mean?’

“Well, traveler I may be, I am here to stay for as long as you’ll have me. I like it here. I hoped I wasn’t burdening you.”

Alucard seems to soothe at that, his shoulders lowering a fraction and his brow easing.

“No. Nothing of the sort.”

You nod then, feeling like you’re both back where you started in a sense. He wants you there, you want to be there, but his actions say a different story at times and it confuses you. At least one thing is settled...

“Why won’t you drink blood if it is beneficial for you?”

He looks shocked then; not that you asked seemingly, but at the way you asked. You wonder if he expected a more angered response from your end towards his vampirism. If he expected disgust. But you know who you look at and where you are. You may not know exactly who Alucard is, but you know what he is. Half a man, half a vampire, and more things beyond either category entirely.

Those other things are more interesting to you anyway.

Learning what Alucard is was an old task. Learning who he is will be the challenge. As will it be for him to learn of you.

He considers your question for a moment and you almost believe he will not answer it, not until he begins to speak.

“My father...”

You know not if your eyes play tricks on you, but the room almost seems to darken. The candles lower and the fireplace hushes its crackling.

Even dead, the castle remembers its owner.

Alucard presses on.

“...he drank before. I was not alive to see it. But I know. He ceased the drinking once he met my mother. He was strong enough to go without it, as moral as one such as himself could manage. Stories may say otherwise, but I know this to be true. They were content for many years. After her loss, he drank once again. Insurmountably. None of it quenched him. None of it was enough.”

You feel your face fall. His eyes, as gold as they are...they look so empty right now.

“I will not drink. Not that.”

You sit back, thinking to yourself. Alucard has shared quite a large piece of himself that he keeps hidden away. Even speaking it seemed to cause him pain. And you wonder to yourself as a human woman, what kind of existence it is to be permanently at odds with yourself...your nature singing for one thing, your morality reaching for another. Always at odds, always in a tension.

You see it in Alucard, who you know now to be good. Maybe not open, maybe not the most considerate, but good. And in someone like Dracula, you wonder what kind of person Alucard’s mother was to make such a notoriously cruel creature...a powerful creature... put himself at odds with his own nature like that for her sake. And find happiness in it?

“I understand better now. Your mother must have been a unique person, Alucard.”

Alucard nods, eyes to the table, searching through memories only seen to him.

“She was.”

It is quiet for a moment, the silence comfortable. Then something seems to spark in Alucard’s eyes before he lifts his gaze to you, curious.

“What of your mother?”

You feel yourself freeze.

‘What?’

“I...” you begin, searching. “We were not close. My story is not so interesting. I will tell you about it on a different night.”

Alucard’s warm look melts away at your expression, and you quickly clear it up to avoid further investigation.

‘You madame, are a hypocrite...but for right now, I can live with that.’

Sensing your discomfort, Alucard nods to the window.

“The morning sun will rise anytime now. We’ve spent the night out and about, and you will tire soon. Even if it is a late morning for us both...”

You watch him, curious as to where he intends to go with this.

“...Yes?”

“...Would you accompany me to the garden once more after resting? There are some final portions of harvest that will not fit in storage. I sought to head into a different town to give them away or to trade.”

Alucard would not need the help of his visitor to sell a few vegetables on the road. He probably wouldn’t go through the trouble of selling any and just compost or dispose of it all, if not for you.

‘So he meant his apology. He is not annoyed by my presence. He desires it. And he seeks to prove it.’

You smile then, plucking up the teapot from between you two and pouring into his cup.

“I’d be happy to come along. And since we have a long day ahead of us, I insist you sustain yourself.”

You fill his cup and it steams. Pulling away, you gesture at the tea.

“Just because you do not drink blood does not mean that you do not drink at all,” you tease. “And perhaps in town we’ll find cider or ale at this time of year. Do you drink spirits, or is that off-limits also?”

Alucard shakes his head and smirks, his sharp fangs in clear view but his pleasure even more so. It sends a hair-raising thrill through you, and you bring your legs together under the wooden table. You hope he does not see, but you are not so sure; he lifts the cup of tea to his lips, gazing at you.

“I think I’ll manage.”

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