#but if anyone can tell me if they think darklina still has a chance for content in s2

[qqueenofhades]

an angsty 50 for darklina, pretty please?

50. Beyond the Veil

She hears him for the first time at dusk at the autumn equinox, the very moment when the days tip over into darkness, rushing toward the domain of the Starless Saint, Ravka's endless cold winter nights and heavy snowfalls. She's put the chickens out to their coop, and she's bending down to make sure the latch on the cage is secure -- there have been too many foxes recently -- when the voice comes. She thinks it's just the wind. And then she doesn't.

Alina.

She drops the bag of feed and straightens up, whirling around, her heart pounding in both terror and-- well, there's no other word for it, hope. "Aleksander?" she says, looking at the empty meadow, the line of twilit trees that border the farm. "Aleksander, is that -- is that you?"

He came to her before, after all, regardless of physical distance or emotional estrangement -- their secret meetings in the dark of his old chambers, now hers, in the heart of the Little Palace. Death is different, but perhaps for the most powerful Grisha who has ever lived, not eternal. Alina wipes her hands on her apron, waiting. Speak to me, she wants to say. Tell me that you're there. That you're safe.

Alina, the wind sighs again. It does sound like him, or maybe that is only her wishful thinking. You left me no choice, she wants to shout at him. I would have done anything -- anything -- to save you, but you forced my hand. She can't regret that the Fold is gone and Nikolai has become king, that Ravka has a chance to make amends for what it has gone through, but Alina remains profoundly unsettled about her own part in it. She knows that the man who kissed her so tenderly was also the tyrant who would have unloosed the volcra on every one of Ravka's enemies, real or imagined. You cannot reckon with the sum of Aleksander Morozova's life and leave out the poison and the destruction and the hatred, as well as the idealism and fervor and heroism. I had to kill you. I had to.

And so, here she is. On the farm with Mal, her Sun Summoner powers relinquished, the wider world believing her to be dead, the future that she always said she didn't want. How has this happened to me? Alina tries to be kind to her younger, traumatized self, the girl forced into a war she didn't want and didn't understand, the burden that was heaped on her shoulders far before her time, and which would have buckled anyone twice her age. All the hungry eyes, the desperate hands, the plaintive calls. Sankta Alina, Sankta Alina, help us, help us. It was never something that one barely-grown girl should be asked to bear. No wonder Alina cracked. No wonder she fled, back to the idea of the one place she had always felt -- however wrongly -- safe.

The farm is... fine. As farms go. Mal is still Mal, sometimes. But you can't go back. You cannot pick up the threads of an old life as if nothing has changed. Alina's hands curl and ache in longing for her vanished power, the ability to matter -- she threw it out with the rest, too frightened to understand what it meant. But Aleksander knew. Aleksander tried to tell her, to warn her, even in his clumsy and damaged way. There is no one else in the world like us, Alina.

Her head starts up; she isn't sure if that came from her memories, or if the ghost of him -- or whatever is here, haunting her -- said it instead. She peers at the shadows in the fields. Is that peculiarly man-shaped thing -- is that him? Or just another of the strange creatures that gather by twilight, and should not be looked at too closely?

"Aleksander?" she says aloud, into the stillness. "Aleksander, please, are you there?"

She would give anything to hear him answer. Anything at all.

There is only silence. The bloated red sun disappears behind the horizon. The wind blows cold, and Alina Starkov -- no more, no less -- feels more profoundly alone than she has been in her entire life. And with that comes the simplest and most difficult of realizations.

She has made the wrong choice. Her time is not done. She needs to go back. She needs to find what is hers. Her power and her dark prince alike, and make it better than it was before. Is that not the entire premise of history, the arc of the universe? They are not simply doomed to a repeat of the disaster that came before, mindlessly following the same dark path to the same shattering end. They can make it right, and raw, and real. Aleksander Morozova may yet achieve his dearest dream after all, theirs. Alina only needs to be brave enough to face it, and, she realizes, this time, she is ready.

You and I are not done, she tells the shade of the Darkling, wherever and whatever he might now be. I'm coming to find you.

[spooky season fic prompts]

#fic prompts #spooky prompts #darklina #darklina ff #i WILL fix canon with this and the helnik one #nobody can stop me #anonymous #ask

[malghra]

the stars, the moon, they have all been blown out

Written for Darklina Week, Day 2: Role Reversal, Light!Aleksander & Dark!Alina

Aleksander's body tries to object when he is pulled to his feet. His limbs feel heavy, and he's bruised and stiff all over. He tries to shake off the grip of the two oprichniki who are dragging him along,

When he sees the Grand Pavilion looming up before him, he knows that he's fucked up, and that there's a good chance this will be his last day among the living. In the next moment, he is swallowed up by a sea of charcoal grey as the ranks of the oprichnina close around him, and he is pushed inside.

He blinks as his eyes try to get used to the dusky inside of the tent, taking a stumbling step forward as the back of a rifle pokes his spine.

"Bring him closer," a clear, high voice calls out.

When two pairs of arms try to take hold of him again, he pulls back, an involuntary hiss escaping his lips, and he takes a reluctant step forward.

At the other end of the path that has been cleared before him, on a raised dais, a woman is sat on an elaborately carved throne of dark, glossy wood. She is clad in robes of black and gold, and she's craning her neck to get a better look at him.

Aleksander has never seen her before, but he doesn't need anyone to tell him who she is. Queen Alina is both loved and feared throughout Ravka.

"Closer," she says softly yet still commanding.

She sits her throne with a straight back, but her shoulders are relaxed with the certainty that she belongs there. Aleksander briefly wonders where that moment of insight came from. Her long white hair is braided and piled on top of her head like a crown, adorned with a simple circlet of gold and onyx.

He takes another single step forward, and the Queen tilts her head. Aleksander thinks he can see the hint of a smile playing around her lips.

"What is your name?" she asks him.

He takes his time to study her. Her face is pale, and a bit too sharp and long to be called beautiful, and yet, there is something so regal and coldly proud about her features that he finds almost irresistible. Her eyes are black pools against her pallid skin, but he thinks they might be brown.

"Aleksander Starkov, moya soverenya," he finally replies when she arches a thin eyebrow, "but my friends call me Sasha."

Her answering smirk tells him she can see right through him. He doesn't have any friends. Only his mother had ever called him Sasha. His mother had tried to protect him, had done everything in her power to stop this moment from ever happening.

"Is it true, what they have told me?" she asks, fluidly rising to her full length, and suddenly she's only four feet away from him. "Can you—there's a short pause while her dark eyes roam over his face—summon light?"

Playing dumb and denying it is his only chance. He shakes his head, eyes wide and mouth agape, hoping it will be enough.

"No," she concludes, and he can't tell if she's disappointed by his lie or because she believes it.

"Where did you grow up?"

He throws glances at all the other people in the tent, who are watching in silence. "A tiny village in Dva Stolba, you wouldn't have heard of it. Moya soverenya," he adds hastily.

The corner of her mouth curls up. "You might be surprised. And when were you tested?"

He never was. His mother made sure of that. He doesn't have to play dumb this time. He probably looks like a fish out of water trying to come up with a suitable lie. He should have thought of one much earlier.

"You don't remember," the Queen offers, saving him from stammering his way through a poorly fabricated story. "Well, then, Sasha," she says pleasantly, taking a slow but deliberate step, "we had better make certain."

She's right in front of him now and he can't help but notice he's about a full head taller than her, and from up close, he can tell that her eyes are definitely brown, a surprising speck of warmth against the coolness of her pale face and snowy hair.

He can feel a hunger rolling off her body, the air around them humming with anticipation, and something else he can't quite name. She tilts her head and offers him half a smile.

"Roll up your sleeve."

She's going to test him, the way Grisha do with the children of Ravka, to reveal any latent talent for the Small Science. He can deal with that. His mother taught him to resist his instincts, to ignore the shock and the pain. Still, he puts up a bit of a show of defiance as he reluctantly unbuttons and rolls up his sleeve. He's ready for her test.

She spreads her arms and inky, black shadows ooze out of her palms, pooling and coiling through the air as if they were underwater. “Now,” she says in that same soft, conversational voice, as if they were sitting together drinking tea, as if Aleksander wasn't clenching his teeth so hard they might crack, “let’s see what you can do.” She claps her hands together and thunder rolls through the tent, raising gasps and whispers, spreading darkness until the tent is pitch black and Aleksander is blind and frightened as a child.

Nothing could have prepared him for what happens next. Queen Alina does not produce any needles or other pricking instruments. When he turns his palm up, offering her the vulnerable inside of his arm, she simply clutches his wrist, wrapping her thin, cool fingers around it in an iron grasp.

Something swells inside his chest, a mix of joy and power, so sure and calm and yet so thrilling he already knows he will never get enough of it. He wants more. More.

She is calling to him, and every fibre of his being, every vein in his body wants to answer. He reaches out, into the darkness, beyond the confines of the tent, until the light is gathering like a warm, ringing coil inside his chest, and then he lets it out. Aleksander and the Queen are encapsulated by a shimmering golden dome. Involuntarily, he pushes it out, until it's sheltering every single person inside the tent.

The gasps and whispers that rise up this time have a different edge to them. They ring in harmony with the song humming inside the light that is emanating from his core. He is panting, but he doesn't want it to end. He's never felt so powerful before.

"Sankt Aleksander!" someone calls out, and the Queen releases his wrist.

The light disperses, retreating back into him and creeping into corners and out of the tent. For three hammering heartbeats, the tent remains covered in darkness, and then everything returns to normal.

But nothing will ever be normal again, Aleksander realizes as the Queen orders everyone to leave. She leads him to a small table behind the dais, where servants soon bring in trays of food, setting out a meal that could feed a small family.

She is looking at him with that same hunger in her eyes again, and he would swear that he can feel it, too. Part of him wants to reach out and touch her again, to feel that call of power, that low trilling hum that made him feel so strong and unafraid.

When she catches him staring, she smiles that half-smile again. "I've been waiting a long time for you, Sasha."

He doesn't know how to respond to that, so he just nods.

"Sit," she says, halfway between a command and invitation. "Eat."

Slowly, he sinks down into a cushioned chair, eyes roaming over the array of dishes that have been placed on the table. He doesn't know whether he's hungry or not, and he isn't quite sure his stomach could handle food. And even if it could, he wouldn't be sure where to begin.

He glances up. The Queen is sitting in the chair opposite him, legs crossed and eyes still focused on him. "Not hungry?" she asks him.

"I don't know."

That hint of a smile graces her lips again. "Perhaps just a bit of fruit then," she suggests, waving at five bowls filled with at least as many kinds of fruit. She slides a small one holding a halved pomegranate over the table.

"They're so messy," he objects, suddenly certain that he is not hungry.

She leans back and spreads her arms. "As is life," she sighs, and he believes her voice is laced with sadness when she says that, before she offers him a full and dazzling smile. "But it will only become better for you, Sasha."

He wants to trust her, wants to feel that certainty and strength again that coursed through him when she touched him. He knows he would believe it then.

"You and I are going to change the world together," she breathes, full of hope and wonder.

#darklina #alina x the darkling #alina starkov x aleksander morozova #darklinadaily #darklinaweek2021

[sirenprincess15]

Please Don't Leave Me Chapter 5

Title: Please Don’t Leave Me

Author: SirenPrincess

Description: What if Aleksander hadn’t answered the door when Ivan interrupted the war room kissing? What if Aleksander and Alina had a bit more time to get to know each other before Baghra told her his true identity? Alina is the only one who can comfort Aleksander through his nightmares. Will she leave once she knows who he is?

This story is based on the show version and features a soft on the inside, hard on the outside Aleksander with an emphasis on emotional hurt/comfort and angst. If you are looking for lots of hurt!Aleksander thoughts, then this story is for you. Mal exists but pretty much solely to cause Aleksander some angst. Don’t worry. It will be a Darklina ending.

Chapter 1 is a missing scene at the end of Ep 4, and Chapter 2 takes place alongside Ep 5 and then diverges from canon there.

Pairings: Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, bits of Ivan/Fedyor

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Grisha are oppressed in this universe, and I don’t shy away from showing the horrors of that. There may eventually be mentions of canon-typical torture (Fjerdan pyres), death of family members, and cruelty to Grisha children. It’s not the focus, but that backdrop is definitely there and comes up as characters discuss their past.

In this chapter: Aleksander struggles with his nightmares. He can no longer hide them from Alina.

Chapter 5

Aleksander found himself staring at the ceiling above the bed. Every evening went the same. He made love to Alina and she showed him heaven. And then they fell asleep and he managed that for a bit, but then he was in hell. Sometimes it was Luda he saw murdered, sometimes it was Marie, sometimes he saw Nina burning on a pyre in the ice court, but the worst ones were when it was Alina he saw them kill. He never made it more than a couple of hours before he was gasping for air and awake, left with nothing but time and his fears.

He never managed to fall back asleep, and it was taking a toll on him. Alina hadn’t said anything, but he knew it was starting to show. He tried to just be happy to feel her warmth as she slept and to relax knowing she was safe for now, but every moment of bliss they spent together made him more and more afraid of what he had to lose. He could not imagine going on if her warmth was extinguished.

He got up to pull a book on the Stag. He had sent a search party to follow the tracker’s directions, but he worried they would need more. He had been trying to calibrate Alina’s dreams and the tracker’s information with the text. Maybe if he just looked at that book in Fjerdan again; it had more details on topography near sightings of ‘the witch’s magical spy’. He hated reading that one, but maybe that was exactly why he might have missed something. He didn’t dare leave her to go to the war room to read as he normally might, but if he just grabbed the book and brought it back to bed … He stood. He could sense no one else around the room, and he could keep her in eyesight the entire time. He reached the desk in the war room and moved a few books to find the Fjerdan one.

“Aleksander?” Her voice was soft, sleepy, but it was enough to make him drop the book he had been holding, race back to the bed chamber, and scan the room for threats. Nothing.

“Sorry, I was just … looking for a book.” He wanted her to know he would never leave her alone and vulnerable like that.

“Come back to bed,” she commanded.

She was the only person who could tell him what to do. With a command like that, how could he possibly not adore that about her? He obeyed, sliding under the blankets and sheets with her for warmth. He tried to pull her into his arms to get her back to sleep, but she was sitting up and staring into his eyes.

“You’re hardly getting any sleep,” she pointed out with concern. All he could do was nod. It was true. “Is it me? Do you not really want me here? You put me in here for security, but if you don’t want to be sleeping next to me …”

“Alina, no!” How could she think that? He leaned his forehead against hers and held her. “I would very much like to kill every person who made you think that you are not worthy of being loved.” He probably shouldn’t have admitted that; she probably should not know his taste for vengeance, but perhaps she needed to know how strongly he felt about her worth. “That made you think that you are a bother, in the way, somewhere you don’t belong. It’s not like that with me. Alina, you are everything. Everything. There is nowhere I’d rather be than by your side.”

“Then, why? Do I move too much? Keep waking you up? Am I kicking you in my sleep?”

“As you might recall, you had concerns about my lack of sleep before you entered my bed.”

“Yes, but it’s gotten worse.” She couldn’t possibly know exactly how much, but she knew enough. She could likely feel the exhaustion in him. Her hand reached up and caressed his cheek.

“Yes.”

“So, what is it? Tell me.”

“Alina, it’s fine. I don’t really want to bother you with my … darkness.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t think that’s really how this is supposed to work.” Perhaps she had a point. “You so easily notice in me how my past has affected me, scarred me, so that I always think I don’t deserve to be cared for, but you don’t notice it in yourself. You think the burdens are all yours to bear, that no one would notice or care how those burdens are affecting you. Why is that?”

He took a deep breath. She had seen right through to the truth. She didn’t have to know all the details; she still saw it. He realized that he had to not only give himself permission to love after all of these years--that his heart had taken off with immediately despite his head advising caution--he also had to give himself permission to trust, to share. It was new. He had never really had anyone, not even as a child. They had moved too often to let him bond with anyone. Baghra had forbidden him to confide in any of the other Grisha children, and he knew he couldn’t trust them. Even when he tried to share his feelings with his mother, she had gotten angry and punished him or lectured him and called him a fool. Luda had come close, but he had never really let those walls down all the way, even with her. He knew she would die some day and then there would be the pain, but he had regretted not living in the moment with her when he had the chance, before … And Alina was different. She could be the true partner he’d waited all his life for. That meant he had to learn to act like the one she deserved. “Sharing is hard for me,” he admitted. “I’ve never really been able to.”

“Aleksander, you can trust me.”

He could try to share, as best he could, so she wouldn’t worry it was her. “It is my problem, not yours. It’s just, since the assassination attempt … knowing Zlatan means to kill you … I could not survive, Alina. Now that I’ve had you, I could not take …” She would not understand the depth of the pain, but it was the best explanation he could give. “When I fall asleep, I have nightmares of your death, so forgive me for preferring to stay awake.”

She took a shaky breath as she processed all that. “Okay … okay, then we deal with the nightmares together.”

“Alina …”

“Does having me here make it better at all? Or is it worse?”

“I am doing immensely better being able to see for myself that you are alright when I awake from those nightmares. Much better than pacing my chambers worrying until I can see you again.”

“Have you noticed anything else that makes it better?”

A smile played across his face as he thought of his answer. “You are going to think that I am only trying to get more sex.”

“Sex makes it better?” She laughed softly. “Were you actually about to say that to me? Sex makes it better. Maybe I do think you just want that more, but I’m not complaining.”

“It’s … feeling the connection to you, your warmth radiating through me. It keeps the darkness at bay for a short while.”

“Actually, that gives me an idea. Will you trust me to try it?”

He nodded.

“Lie down. Close your eyes.”

He wanted to argue, but she had asked him to trust her, so he complied and tried to will the grim images from appearing in his head. She placed her hand on his chest, and then he felt it, her light, her warmth, surrounding him, enveloping him. His eyes flew open to stare at her in appreciation. It did feel so different.

“Better?”

He nodded. It did help.

“Then we take shifts. You guard over me for a while. I know that makes you feel safer. And then when it is your turn to sleep, I will keep you warm and protected. I need to practice my power more anyway, and you need sleep if you are to properly protect me. It benefits us both.”

He smiled at her concern. It was that genuine care for him, so different from the eagerness of others to benefit from his power, that was making him truly fall in love with her. He leaned in and kissed her. “Okay, let’s try.”

#darklina #alina x darkling #aleksander x alina #kirigan x alina #alina x aleksander #alina x kirigan #aleksander morovoza #general kirigan

[sanktagenyas]

ok so i finally watched those last three episodes. i said buckle up it’s time to suffer and by the saints did i ever suffer. i just knew the darklina scenes were gonna be rough to watch. it was already rough reading the scenes as they were written in book one. i mean the darkling just shines with his intelligence in that chapter, doesn’t he? threaten the man she loves? well the other man she loves? check! tell her she betrayed you when the reality is you’ve been telling half truths all along and didn’t trust her to make her choices? check! 

buddy this isn’t how you apologize. in the show itself it’s pretty much the same back and forth that leads nowhere. you lied to me! you ran off because my mother told you i’m not who i say i am without giving me a chance to explain! you’ve been lying or bending the truth since we met! YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON YOUR COUNTRY!

by that point i was just like chill the fuck out man you’re about to decimate many many countrymen and you know it. i loved that the stop they made was all about him getting revenge on the man who attempted on alina’s life, that was very unhinged of him and i was HERE for that shit but everyone else in that port? every other woman and child and man on that port? not all of them played a hand and he just went ahead and had them slaughtered without batting an eye. and it’s not like he has some kind of safeguard for grishas does he? how does he know there’s no grisha wherever he’s expanding the fold? some could be in hiding because they fled, because they didn’t want to serve the king. oh well he doesn’t really care about those people does he? we all saw how he spoke about those deserters to arken.

also he could NOT handle alina’s harsh truths about how his own actions are harming grisha close to him even though he claims that every choice he’s made was to protect them and empower them. when she brought up genya i was like yes you better look down you motherfucker! you did this to her, you delivered to her abuser over and over. 

we saw his backstory, some of it and he acted out of grief and rage. he toyed with magic he did not understand and of course he didn’t intend this but his reaction to the fold once it was all said and done was definitely foreshadowing what he was to become. i created something he said defiantly. you created something you don’t have control over. and now he’s done it again somehow, he’s got brand new creatures following him at the end.

i actually felt for young aleksander for losing the woman he loved but the arrogance and the recklessness he showed there is still the same arrogance he has now. he thinks he has thought his plan through but that’s just working off the assumption that no one opposes him ever otherwise he went ahead and put a target on grisha’s backs. he definitely put a target on alina’s back although i know that was never the plan. the fact that when he has a perfectly good remedy to the fold, a chance to actually fix his mistakes once and for all he turns its back and decides to make it ten times worse, chooses ruling via fear over hope is jusr a sign of how far he’s gone. and he didn’t waver once not even when alina was pleading with him that he could have made her his equal, that they could have stayed together and made ravka safe together if only he gave her a choice, he was still manipulative and lied to her face.

at this point i just don’t think his love for her outweighs his belief that he knows what’s best for ravka, what’s the best way to protect grisha. because he doesn’t care about anyone who isn’t grisha at all. he was persecuted like so many others. he won a war for a king centuries and that king turned on him. i’m sure he’s looking at the current one knowing that once grisha have exhausted their uses that king will turn on him too. the fold is just a different kind of war and if he wins that one for the king the darkling already knows what the outcome will be. 

so to summarize this whole darkling commentary here i understand where he is coming from, i understand the fear and the rage and the desperation. it’s not working out for him though. he’s feared but he’s alone. for every ivan there’s a zoya. for every man who’s blindly loyal to him there’ll be someone rising up to oppose him eventually. and if it’s not his own people it’ll be non grisha folks. he has the second army working for him still, but he is alone. and that’s no one’s fault but his own because alina was willing to work with him. 

speaking of alina i loved every second of her rising up to oppose him telling him she never needed him. she may have fallen in love with him but she never actually needed him to be powerful, she only needed to free herself of the restraints she’d put on her powers out of fear. i also thought that the way she freed herself of his control made more sense than it did in the books. 

i have hope for darklina still despite all that’s happened despite how positively full of rage ans resentment she is because she still loves him, she still listened when he pleaded with her that they needed each other if they wanted to deal with the fold. of course there’s the slight issue of him lying directly and manipulating her to do his bidding and of course the fact that he took her power from her. the only thing that was her and he perverted it for his own gain. i think it just might take more than a year for her to forgive him i’m afraid. i don’t necessarily see a path to redemption right now but reconciliation? alina can be merciful, she can be forgiving. i think all it would really take is just one selfless act, one show of good faith. if he keeps pursuing her and mal and keep trying to rob her of her agency however i don’t see them ever having any kind of closure.

i don’t think i need to expand much more on my thoughts on malina. i’m not feeling what the show wants me to feel. i’m not seeing them as these soulmates that belong together. to me they’d be better of as best friends. the darkling didn’t make her strong he tried to steal her strength for his own use but mal doesn’t make her strong either, she relies too much on him. mal actually was pretty damn resourceful when left on his own. i unfortunately couldn’t say the same for alina. co-dependant love is not better than toxic love and darklina’s toxicity (most of it) comes from the lies and from the darkling repeatedly choosing for alina. he’s not brave enough to just tell her what he intends to do and let her decide whether to align herself with him so he lies and he deceives instead. not much he can do to undo it now but he could help actually destroy the fold if he wanted to. i don’t know if he’ll ever come around to it though.

the darkling visiting mal with the sole purpose to rub it in his face that alina and he are immortal and so eventually mal will die and then he could just swoop in was just peak comedy. the way he delivered that line too you’d think he was talking to an insect not another human being. it was brilliant. mal echoing that same line but ending it with “the past will do it for me” was pretty good, nice quip i’ll give mal that but also terribly ironic when you see the ending.

team crows remains the highlight for me. kaz and inej and their unspoken love for each other is just killing me. i can tell there are personal traumas there that i don’t know about (gotta read those damn books and quick) what with kaz not being able to help tend to her wounds and the fact that there were moments were i could see there was maybe a kiss about to happen or an embrace (at the end when kaz let alina go free and made a deal not to rat her out) and it just didn’t happen. there’s a story there about kaz and his distaste for being touched/touching others. jesper is just here to look pretty, shoot shit and be the most charming person in any crowd. i’m in love. also someone give him his goat back for the love of god.

nina and mathias were entertaining for sure. with all that banter and all these jabs i should have really seen them falling for one another coming. i felt like it was perhaps a bit rushed but i guess there’s nothing like almost freezing to death together to make you reconsider your views. you know the whole saving of lives thing can really bond you. the waffle date was adorable. was not expecting nina to just brand herself a traitor for him and she’s damn lucky fyedor came on that mission because i’m pretty sure ivan wouldn’t even have offered to keep her name out of the report. she and mathias ended their story both heartbroken and separated. i really hate that he thinks this was all intentional. really hope she’ll join the crows on their next con job. and i also cannot wait to see the look on heleen’s face when kaz buys inej’s freedom.

i was not at all expecting zoya to turn against the darkling. that’s what happens when you turned down one of your fuck buddies, aleksander they get bitter and then they leave you to be eaten alive by volcras. ok but in all seriousness she did the right thing and i hope she finds her family even if they’re not alive so she can say her goodbyes. 

oh and completely unrelated but since i talked about heights of comedy before i really need more sassy! darkling in my life. he is everything. that quip about his speech. the way he said adorable like he was gagging on the word. him just letting david be his dorkiest self and raise his hand before speaking, that little put upon sigh. i love sassy! darkling almost as much as jealous and petty darkling which is saying a lot. just more of that. it humanizes him, i’m tired of villains who are forever stoic and stone face. 

i think i about covered everyone and everything that happened in those remaining episodes. all in all shadow and bone is an amazing adaptation, really faithful to the first book. they made some changes to the characters which in turn changed some dynamics (alina actually admitted she wanted to be with the darkling. out loud. to his face. book!alina would never and book!darkling would never cry in front of her.) but it made for surprising viewing. it also made me become even more attached to some characters (the darkling let’s be real) which made me care more which is why i was livid when they started making a lot of terrible no good choices.

i was just really blown away by this show and the way the grishaverse was brought to life and above all major props to the actors who all just seemed to be born to play their respective roles. 

#shadow and bone spoilers #sab spoilers #darklina #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #inej ghafa #nina zenik #mathias helvar #jesper fahey #kaz brekker #zoya nazyalensky

[callunawrites]

By the grace of the fire and the flames You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins

Heather’s Top 25 38 Songs of 2017!

saturn — sleeping at last // run baby run — the rigs // the brothel (lidolido remix) — susanne sundfør // can’t pretend — tom odell // capsize — frenship // undiscovered first — feist // feeling good (bassnectar remix) — nina simone // kings — tribe society // river — bishop // human — rag’n’bone man // believer — imagine dragons // feel it still — portugal. the man // girl, you’ll be a woman soon — rafferty // wise enough — lamb // say you’ll be there — MØ // holiest — glass animals // the greatest — sia // bogeyman — johnny hollow // to be human — sia // strangers — halsey // cities in dust — everlove // history — monakr // messiah — prides // i shall rise — karen o // in the sea — ingrid michaelson // i put a spell on you — annie lennox //  personal yeezus — chambaland // gold — imagine dragons // which witch — florence & the machine // thunder — imagine dragons // take me to church — hozier // trouble — valerie broussard // pure feeling — florence & the machine // battle royale — apashe // i may fall — casey williams // not today — bts // is this love — the governors //  sweet dreams — mark hadley ft. dresage

short version | long version

So, the thing is, this mix was originally a whopping 262 songs. That’s 17 hours of delving into my headspace. I know this because the mix in full can be found on spotify, for those adventurous enough. By the end of the year, there may even be more!

The original 200+ can also be found in month format, for those that don’t feel like dealing with... all that. I’m actually a little sad that I don’t get to talk about every single one of them, though I’m sure it would have gotten tedious in the end.

i. saturn || sleeping at last I’d give anything to hear You say it one more time, That the universe was made Just to be seen by my eyes.

This was, according to my last.fm data, my second most played song of 2017. Well, third if we count the song that racked up 10,000 plays because I left it looping on my computer for a week. Whoops. These first four songs on this mix are my Mcshep songs. But also, Sleeping At Last is lovely. There’s several other songs by them on the full mix, but this one is by far my favorite. ii. run baby run || the rigs So wait, keep your heart inside  My hands won't keep it safe I'll just feed on dreams & smile as hope slowly dies. 

And here we have my most played song of 2017, which I’ve basically been listening to nonstop ever since I discovered @randommindtime‘s Mcshep fanvid. It is absolutely earthshaking, entirely haunting, and just all around a beautiful song that describes John Sheppard and all of his issues to a T. 

iii. the brothel (lidolido remix) || susanne sundfør We are ruins within ruins On every corner a gladiator is begging for another century

I’m not sure why this is such a Mcshep song in my mind since I first discovered it as part of a really ridiculously awesome X-Files vid, but my guess is it got thrown into a playlist between two Mcshep songs and was forever that in my head. Fun fact, I only recently, when making the spotify version of this playlist, listened to the original version of the song.  iv. can’t pretend || tom odell Oh, feel our bodies grow, And our souls they blend. This song is the only song that has made it onto all three of my year-in-review mixes. I originally found it in 2015 as part of a Bioshock vid and then last year I rediscovered it in the form of @randommindtime‘s other amazing Mcshep vid. And honestly? I haven’t stopped listening to it since. I have no doubt that it’ll be on 2018′s mix as well. v. capsize || frenship Capsize, I'm first in the water Too close to the bottom I'm right back where I started Said I'm fine I found this song through either a Stydia or a Sterek gifset. I’m like... 90% sure that it was Stydia, because it was around the time that season... 6? came out? Whichever one that Stiles is taken in, and thematically it works pretty well for it. But, I’m equally sure I’ve seen a Sterek gifset for the same song. Whatever. It’s pretty and I like it. vi. undiscovered first || feist The height and the breadth, is it wrong to want more?

Gosh. Okay. So, Legion. Mindfuckery of a show that can basically be summed up in words like “acid trip” and “dance numbers?” and “omg aubrey plaza.” It was brilliant and horrifying and really, really cool. But what’s more, it had the best fucking music. The 8tracks version of the mix only has two songs from the show, but the full mix on spotify has six or seven.  vii. feeling good (bassnectar remix) || nina simone It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me And I'm feelin' good

This was the second song that I found through Legion. I mean, I’d heard the song before, but holy fucking shit. Like, I knew that I was attracted to Aubrey Plaza, but there’s every other character she’s ever played, and then there’s this role.

viii. kings || tribe society Lost in the world full of nonbelievers Searching for smoke in a stillwater pond A nothing king, they called a dreamer This is my life and I call it a song This and the next song I actually found because I had queued up feeling good on youtube while driving home from my friend’s house after watching that particular episode of legion, and youtube did that thing where it automatically queued up music afterwards? Only I lucked out that night, because the next six or seven songs were absolutely amazing. This was my favorite of those songs and quickly became my Horizon Zero Dawn theme song. ix. river || bishop Can't change the way we are One kiss away from killing

Another of the songs that I found that night! This one also got a lot of play while playing Horizon Zero Dawn.  x. human || rag’n’bone man 'Cause I'm no prophet or messiah You should go looking somewhere higher This song I’d originally found through the Mass Effect Andromeda trailer but it quickly became a favorite of mine.  xi. believer || imagine dragons By the grace of the fire and the flames You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins Even though this song has been in basically every fanvid since it came out, this was also solidly a Mass Effect Andromeda song for me, since I listened to it a bunch when I was playing the game. It’s one of the songs that I actually don’t mind coming on at work. xii. feel it still || portugal. the man Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now I been feeling it since 1966, now

I actually found this song before it got popular! The first time that it played at work/on the radio I was blown away, but I think the first time I’d heard it was on American Gods? At least I found it when I was watching the show. xiii. girl, you’ll be a woman soon || rafferty Well, I finally found what I've been looking for But if they get a chance they'll end it for sure Okay, so for anyone who is paying attention to this who lives in Columbus, I get my hair done at Virtue Salon, which is basically the best salon in the entire world. Even if you don’t live in Columbus, click on that link. Look at those pictures and tell me that isn’t the most adorable salon in the entire world. They have the best playlists every time I go in, and though I am not super fond of some of the lyrics to this song, I really love the slow croonyness to it. That was a really great day. xiv. wise enough || lamb I had a dream that all of time was running dry And life was like a comet falling from the sky I woke so frightened in the dawning, oh, so clear How precious is the time we have here

I first heard this song on the second season of Sense8 and I was struck by just how damn beautiful it is. It almost didn’t make this final list, but in the end I couldn’t count it out. xv. say you’ll be there || mo Any fool can see they're falling, gotta make you understand I'll give you everything on this I swear Just promise you'll always be there

I don’t actually remember what fanmix I originally found this on, but I remember that I was at the intersection of Clime and Harrisburg-Pike just outside the fire station when I realized that it was a gentle, gorgeous cover of a Spice Girls song and basically fell immediately in love.  xvi. holiest || glass animals Yeah, you're the holiest, holiest thing I know This song I found as part of this mix, which is basically a young holy lovers mix and just. has so much quality music. But this song was the first that really made me start looking at Glass Animals. I’d heard some of their stuff before, but never when I was paying attention, not enough for me to decide if I liked them or not. Up until the last month or so, this was my top played track. xvii. the greatest || sia Don't give up, I won't give up Don't give up, no no no

Yeah, there’s no story here. I just really like Sia. xviii. bogeyman || johnny hollow And now I'm dancing for the doomed and the damned And I'm advancing unassumed with dirty hands

Someone I follow on tumblr had reblogged this song back in the spring-summer months when I was feeling very aggressively reylo, and I just. I really like that fairytale where the innocent girl grows up and eats the monster. It’s a favorite of mine and part of the reason that I like pairings like reylo and darklina. xix. to be human || sia And what's the point of knowin' it If you can't change it?

This song came on at the end of Wonder Woman and I made my friend Alex wait until I’d listened to it before I let him leave the theater. I fell pretty rapidly in love with it. xx. strangers || halsey We're not lovers, we're just strangers With the same damn hunger To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all I won’t say that this is my favorite song off of Halsey’s new album, because that goes to Mourning, but it is the song that I listened to most. I’ve been toying with the idea of an original novel since around the time the album came out, and this song came on while I was plotting some of it out in my head. I really hope I end up writing it. xxi. cities in dust || everlove Your former glories and all the stories Dragged and washed with eager hands But oh, your city lies in dust, my friend  I think the first time that I heard this cover it was when I discovered this mix back in 2015. It was a mix for Holland from the Darker Shade of Magic series, but I ended up going back and listening to the mix again while I was reading the third book in the series. While driving to work one day, I realized how utterly perfect it was for Dishonored, and basically compiled my mix, the salt water sting, over the course of that day.

xxii. history || monakr Oh… when they write of us in history  lauded only for our victory  They don't never tell, never fail to tell They don't ever tell Oh…. other side in history 

So, back in the summer I read Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run, and it was absolutely fantastic. But in my humble opinion, the soundtrack that I discovered was somehow even better. I had to limit myself to only two songs from it on here, but a good half of them are on the spotify version.

xxiii. messiah || prides You don't have to lock the door I don't live there anymore.

This is the second song that I chose from that playlist, mostly because it ended up being the lucky track that had an extra play. 

xxiv. i shall rise || karen o They'll know my name When they've forgotten all about you 

I found this song well before I actually started regularly listening to it, and it ended up getting played around the time that I was mining for Dishonored songs for that mix, and those lyrics just called to me. Also, y’know, it’s a really great song. xxv. in the sea || ingrid michaelson No no don't rescue me I like the salt water sting

Another Dishonored song, this was obviously the song - and line - that gave me the title for the mix itself. I think I’d originally heard it as part of a Jaspis mix. xxvi. i put a spell on you || annie lennox I put a spell on you Because you're mine Okay, but this song in Annie Lennox’s smokey gorgeous voice just made me think of gay woodland witches and it was one of the best discoveries of 2017. xxvii. personal yeezus || chambaland Baby we livin' in the moment I've been a menace for the longest But I ain't finished, I'm devoted And you know it, and you know it 

Okay, so let’s talk about Atomic Blonde. It wasn’t the best movie I’ve seen this year, but it appealed to a very visceral, gay part of me and ever since I saw this trailer I was basically in love. I’m sorry, but if you weren’t at least a little gay before watching Charlize Theron have a torrid love affair with Sofia Boutella while simultaneously kicking ass and taking names... you will be.

xxviii. gold | imagine dragons Statues and empires are all at your hands, Water to wine and the finest of sands. When all that you have's turning stale and it's cold, Oh, you'll no longer feel when your heart's turned to gold. I... don’t remember when I first listened to this. I think it was at work? But I saw some really good fanvids, and honestly? I should probably just admit at this point that I just love everything that Imagine Dragons comes out with.

xxix. which witch | florence & the machine Who's a heretic, child? Can you make it stick, now that I'm on trial

I am like 500% sure that I fell in love with this song because @kaikamahine said something about it, because I first started listening to it around the time that I realized Fantastic Beasts had a fandom.

xxx. thunder | imagine dragons Just a young gun with a quick fuse I was uptight, wanna let loose I was dreaming of bigger things And wanna leave my old life behind

Yeah, I just liked it. Also, there have been some really awesome Thor vids to this since Ragnarok came out.

xxxi. take me to church | hozier Offer me that deathless death Good God, let me give you my life

I wasn’t actually sure that I still listened to this often enough to add it, but last.fm tells me that it’s my fourth most played song. I mean, it’s a great song, and you can be damn sure that if in a twist of fate Hozier releases an album next year, every single one of those songs will be on the 2018 mix, but it has been a bit.

xxxii. trouble | valerie broussard Dangerously having the time of our lives These boys are just poisonous thorns in our sides Starting fires wherever we go Watching em gamble everything they own I’m just going to direct you to this animation and wail about Six of Crows a lot. Weirdly enough, I think I actually prefer the unfinished version of it. Some bits hadn’t been added yet, but I really love the grittiness of it.

xxxiii. pure feeling | florence & the machine Those strangers carry me I'm lost; they're finding me I... don’t actually remember where I found this one. It probably has to do with @kaikamahine. Either way, I have listened to it A LOT.

xxxiv. battle royale | apashe Work on 'em put a little work on 'em Trigger finger in the air I put a little dirt on 'em

This song is stupid awesome to blare while driving home from work a little fast at 2 in the morning. Also, y’know, it’s just great in general. See, Steve Rogers agrees. Also, oh my gosh, there’s a new Black Panther one.

xxxv. i may fall | casey williams There's a place where we'll stand outnumbered Where the wolves and the soulless will rise In the time of our final moments Every dream dies

So, sometime in the last few months I let my roommate talk me into watching RWBY. I’ve been less than interested in the past because I’m an animation snob and I just... couldn’t. But I marathoned the whole series in like a week. There were three songs that stood out to me, but this song is actually the one that made me finally break down and give it a chance.

xxxvi. not today | bts All the underdogs in the world A day may come when we lose But it is not today Today we fight!

SCREECHING NOISES. MORE SCREECHING NOISES. I’m sorry, but it has to have become apparent by now that my musical tastes are influenced almost entirely by fandom, but fanvids in particular. This song is the BEST pump up song that I’ve found in years.

xxxvii. is this love | the governors Did you think this was love Is love a future of your kind Don't you think I would mind If I would wasted all my time I can't love if you lie This song. Made my year. It’s dark and sexy and a little fucked up, and came around when I was in the middle of reading the Grisha Trilogy and struggling with just how hard Darklina was hitting on every single one of my kinks.

xxxviii. sweet dreams | mark hadley ft. dresage I travel the world And the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something. 

This cover came out as part of the Wrinkle In Time trailer and I fell really, stupidly in love. This was actually a last minute addition, because I couldn’t stand it not being on here.

#fuck yeah fanmixes #2017 #year in music

[malghra]

tenderest touch leaves the darkest of marks (3/3)

AO3 link

This is a bit of plot and then about 3k of smut (my first Darklina smut 😱). Rated E, but on the softer side.

A little explanation on Alina's underwear: she's wearing drawers, which are tied at the waist and have buttons running from the front to the back. My reasons for giving her this kind of underwear are 1) pseudo-historical accuracy, sort of, not really (though I did spend too much time doing research to find out what kind of underwear Alina would be wearing in fake 1800s Russia) 2) opportunities.

The Ravkan alphabet, for reference in the second half of the chapter. You'll get it when you reach that particular part.

Alina wakes up alone, and far from well-rested. She must have felt more tired than this in her life, what with her being sick all the time, but this is different. Trying to think about everything that has happened, it's hard to believe all of it occurred in one single night.

She realizes she's in his bed as soon as she opens her eyes, and with a quick glance around the room she learns that he isn't there. It gives her some sense of relief. She promised to show him, and knowing him, there is no chance that he'll forget. Her heart is in her throat as she imagines it. Whatever his reaction will be, there will be no turning back.

She is relieved that he wasn't waiting for her, she muses as she climbs out of the bed and sneaks out of his room to return to her own suite, where she asks for a bath to be drawn. She's relieved, but his absence has her aching. The feeling isn't new, it's something she's carried inside of her for her entire life, barely ever aware of it, never knowing it was him she'd been aching for.

Genya enters the bathroom with curiosity burning in her bright eyes and pursed lips. "You weren't here when I came in earlier," she says lightly. "And your bed hasn't been slept in," she adds more pointedly.

"That would be because I didn't sleep in it," she replies matter-of-factly, her fingers absentmindedly brushing her mark. Let Genya think what she will. She can't tell her the truth anyway. She glances up with a barely suppressed smirk, and then she sees Genya's ashen complexion, her red-rimmed eyes.

"What happened?" she whispers.

...

She dresses in the nightgown and robe she'd laid out before stepping into the tub, sliding a pair of soft slippers on her feet and marches back to his chambers. If this is something else he was intending to keep from her, she's going to find out.

She doesn't bother knocking, but pushes down the doorhandle and steps into the room, closing the door behind her and turning around again.

She freezes when she sees him, not because she's afraid, but because it takes every ounce of willpower not to throw herself into his arms. It's as if ever since she found out it was his name that is written on her breast, that pull she's been feeling has become irresistible. As if knowing has made it even stronger and nearly impossible to ignore.

"Alina." He says her name in a soft voice full of wonder, blinking as if he's seeing her for the first time, and it breaks her resolve.

She flings herself across the room, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest, clinging to him.

His body is stiff with surprise and his arms are awkward around her.

"Genya told me about Marie," she mutters into his kefta.

He relaxes around her, pulling her closer. "I wanted to spare you, last night," he murmurs. "We found the person who did this."

She inhales and exhales slowly, bracing herself against his solid chest. "What are you going to do to them?"

She can feel his hesitation before he answers, "We're still questioning him."

She tilts her head back to look up at his face. "But you'll punish him?"

"Obviously," he says calmly, his dark eyes hard.

She shakes her head. "Who did this? Why would they do this?"

His hand travels up her back and starts stroking her hair. "He was working for General Zlatan." There is a barely concealed tremor in his voice. Being so close to him, she easily recognizes it as rage. "Remember when I told you my enemies were more afraid of you than of me, and you didn't believe me? This is all the proof you need."

So this is all her fault. Poor Marie, did she realize the risk she was taking? Did anyone? Aleksander once told her the Little Palace was the most secure place in Ravka. They must have gone to great lengths to get in, just to find her and eliminate her.

"They all think I'm going to destroy the Fold," she realizes, aghast, "but apparently they don't want me to."

She pulls back so she can look at him. She half expects to find a grim but smug satisfaction on his face, but she can't read it.

She doesn't understand. She thought destroying the Fold would be the solution. She tried to see his point of view when he told her it wasn't last night, but she remained skeptical.

"You were right," she mutters. A quick flash in his eyes, a slight flare of his nostrils, that's all the reaction she's getting out of him, but she can practically feel the elation of triumph rolling off him.

"I did tell you I'm not in the habit of making a fool of myself," he reminds her.

Without thinking, she swats at his chest. He catches her fingers, sending a jolt of power and calm certainty through her body, but the corner of his mouth tugs up into a half-smile.

She can feel his sudden impatience. "You promised to tell me why you ran away."

"I promised to show you," she corrects him, stepping out of his embrace. She unfastens the sash of her robe and her hands curl into its lapels, but she can't force them to move. She purses her lips to hold back the smile that tugs at them when she sees the confusion in his features.

"I panicked," she reminds him. "I was so overwhelmed after..." she bites her lip, eyes travelling to the side of the map table he'd lifted her onto last night. "And after everything Baghra told me," she continues, "but most of all," she says, pushing the robe off her shoulders, letting it pool around her feet, both of her hands rising to cover her mark through the thin fabric of her nightgown, "I was overwhelmed because of this."

He shakes his head, eyebrows furrowing, even as his tongue darts out to wet his lips, eyes following her hands and the fall of her robe. "This? You're speaking in riddles now."

She takes a deep breath, her fingers clumsy as they fumble with the tiny satiny buttons of her nightgown. Her heart is beating in her throat when she folds back the fabric to reveal her mark to him.

He blinks once. After a short silence, he utters her name in a broken whisper. "Alina." His throat bobs, his eyes still glued to her mark. And then, "Alina," again, a low rasp.

He takes a step closer, and reaches out to touch the mark, glancing up to meet her eyes.

A gasp escapes from her throat as his fingertips brush over the red letters. Every single time he has touched her before felt so unreal, but this, this feels like the first warm and golden ray of sunlight in spring after a long winter.

"That felt nice," she mutters, inadequate as it sounds.

"Did it?" he asks, holding her gaze.

She nods. "Like a tingle, um..." She's suddenly so incredibly hot, and already too taut inside her own body. Her nipples have pebbled into hard peaks.

He repeats the motion, watching her face, and then brushes his knuckles over his name. She jerks away from him, her heart hammering in her chest.

He follows her, tracing the letters on her skin, as if he's trying to imprint them again. It's too much. He's quickly reducing her to a panting mess.

He arches an eyebrow, his eyes blazing with a fierce hunger. He licks his lips and his nostrils flare. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No," she confesses.

She believes he shivers when he groans, "My Alina."

"Saints," she whimpers as his calloused palm slides under her nightgown, making contact with her hardened nipple. "I want you, Aleksander."

He squeezes her breast, his other hand curls around the back of her neck and then he is kissing her.

It's everything it was the night before and more. Every pull of his lips, every nip of his teeth and every stroke of his tongue is feeding a fire inside of her. His hands are burning brands, seering her skin even through the thin fabric of her nightgown. Last night, she felt like she was drowning, now she's burning up, but she's desperate to be consumed by this fire.

She's not quite ready to trust him completely, but she can trust him with her body. She'll have to, this compulsion is too strong, too irresistible.

"My Alina," he groans again, hot breath fanning against her neck. He picks her up with  great ease, and she wraps herself around him as he carries her across the short distance to his war map to lift her onto it and insert himself between her legs. One of her slippers slides off her foot and falls to the floor with a thump.

"This feels familiar," he mutters, nudging her nose with his own, pulling her closer.

She hums in amused agreement as he nuzzles her cheek, the scratch of his beard grazing her skin as he pulls away and fixes her with burning black gaze. His kefta slides off his shoulders and hits the floor with a heavy thud as his hands come to rest on the neckline of her nightgown. "Off?" he growls.

She doesn't remember how to speak, so she just nods, an eager whimper escaping from her throat.

He lifts one hand, his middle finger trailing her bottom lip, his eyes following the movement. And then he lowers his hand again and rips her nightgown open all the way down the front, buttons flying everywhere.

"Hey!" she chides him. "I liked that!"

"I'll get you a new one," he mutters as his eyes drink her in. The hunger and adoration in his gaze bring a blush to her cheeks and make heat and wetness pool between her legs.

He splays his hand over her sternum, his palm warm against her skin and pushes her back, his other hand sweeping under her back before it hits the wood. He cups the back of her head as he lifts himself over her, covering her body with his own.

"You were made for me, Alina," he rumbles. "You cannot begin to comprehend how long I have been waiting for you."

His hot lips are on her neck, his hard erection is pressing into her blazing core through layers of fabric, and his beard and tunic are rough against her naked skin. There are too many sensations, and Alina feels as if she's had too much kvas. When her fingers find the hair at the nape of his neck, she twines them through the soft strands, pulling at them to ground herself, and he groans into the hollow of her throat.

As he starts sucking on her neck, a wave of panic crashes over Alina.

"Aleksander," she pants, and he grunts and sucks hard, pressing his tongue to her pulse point. There's a bit of pain, but the jolt shooting straight to her core is stronger.

"Say it again," he orders her.

"Aleksander," she whimpers, but then she finds her voice and addresses him more firmly. "Aleksander."

He appears to catch on to her mood and props himself up on his elbows, arching an eyebrow. "What's wrong, solnyshka?"

She licks her lips and stares up at him, opening her mouth, but no sound comes out. He leans down to nip at her chin.

"Tell me," he commands firmly.

"I don't have a lot of experience," she blurts out.

His brow furrows as he brushes his knuckles over her cheekbone. "Don't worry about that," he answers as he starts trailing kisses down her sternum. "I'll make this an experience for you."

He uses his fingers and lips and teeth and tongue to lavish attention on her breasts, taking his time. When his tongue traces the letters forming his name on her skin, Alina is sure she's about to burst out of her skin.

"I'm going to mark you all over," he announces, "to make sure no one will ever doubt that you belong to me."

His declaration gives her pause, the intensity of it almost frightening, but every fibre of her being is screaming yes, so she ignores that suspicious voice in the back of her mind.

His teeth graze her nipple and nibble. He sucks and nips, and she shudders at that novel, intoxicating mix of pain and pleasure. Her hands have found their place in his hair again, and she's starting to worry about possibly pulling it out when he suddenly veers up to stare down at her.

She moans at the loss of contact and props herself up to reach for him, her other slipper hitting the floor, but he grabs her hands and keeps them in a firm hold.

"Hush, solnyshka," he tells her, pulling her arms away from her body and placing her hands on the smooth wood of the table. "I'm admiring my work."

She twists her neck to find out that her right nipple has come to resemble a purplish sunburst. Her skin is reddish where his teeth and beard have grazed it.

"All mine," he rumbles as he trails one long finger down her stomach, over her navel, and still further down. He takes a moment to untie her drawers, and then his hand disappears under the waistband, into the coarse curls covering her sex. Her heart is beating violently, her breath coming in painful pants, and then the tip of his finger slips between her folds, brushing her clit, curling as it slides through her slick heat.

"Saints," she shudders, her fingernails digging into the wood.

"So wet for me," he croons, lifting his finger to his mouth, closing his lips over it, his eyes fluttering closed as he groans. "You taste like your light," he tells her.

Her cheeks burn, at his actions, or at his words, she isn't sure. She licks her lips and looks down, avoiding his face.

"Don't look away," he orders her.

When she glances up, he's kneeling between her legs, sliding his hands under her thighs to tug her closer to the edge of the table.

She wasn't lying when she told him she didn't have a lot of experience, so though she might have a fairly good idea of what he's about to do (she spent a decent amount of time in army camps after all), she doesn't exactly know what to expect, and it has her heart doing summersaults inside her chest, sparks of light flaring up under her skin as she watches him, her breath stuttering out of her.

A wicked grin spreads across his face as he looks up at her from between her splayed legs. He opens his mouth over the cloth that is still covering her cunt and breathes hot air into her core, making her whimper and shudder. Slowly and deftly, his eyes never leaving hers, he unbuttons her drawers, uncovering her.

His gaze leaves her face and his dark eyes blink slowly as they take in the sight he's revealed, before flicking back up as he tells her, "That pretty little cunt will be mine as well, soon."

He hooks her legs over his shoulders, holding her steady with one hand on her right hip. He starts lapping at her folds, lightly at first, parting her lower lips to tease his tongue around her clit, carefully avoiding direct contact. He licks and sucks and nibbles, dipping his tongue into her from time to time.

She sighs and moans, the sensation of his mouth on her already too much, but never enough.

"Please," she mutters.

"Say it!" he groans into her sensitive flesh, the vibrations rippling through her core.

"Please, Aleksander," she breathes, her eyes fluttering closed.

"Eyes on me, solnyshka," he reminds her.

The whimper that leaves her mouth is clearly one of frustration and he finally gives in. He closes his mouth over her clit and chuckles. Her hands fly up, twisting themselves into his soft, dark hair, sighing in relief as he finally brings the building tension inside of her to a crescendo, a steeply rising ascent instead of the rolling hills he kept her on earlier.

"Aleksander," she mewls. Every trace of shame has left her. She's grinding her cunt into his face, her toes curling into the fabric covering his back, her head lolling back against the table.

"Alina," he groans, "you're mine." His voice alone could be enough to unravel her, she thinks, more heated pleasure washing over her.

"Say it!" Ever the commander, it sounds like an order falling from his lips, but there's an edge of despair to it. "Tell me you're mine!"

"I'm yours!" It's not even half a lie or a reluctant confession. It's nothing but the simple truth she can no longer deny. "I'm yours."

He laps at her like he's been starving for years. "Mine." A single, simple word that coaxes more pleasure from her, but his voice almost breaks on it.

Her grip on his hair tightens, twisting them around her fingers and her hips buck forward involuntarily. He hums and sucks, and suddenly the tension snaps and the light bursts out of her as her orgasm crashes through her body in waves of ecstasy.

Before she's able to come down, his mouth is on her again.

"No," she objects, "no, I can't," trying to push him away, clenching her thighs to deny him access.

A jolt of power and desire surges through her as his hands enclose her wrists and pin her arms to the table. "You can," he growls. More gently, he pries her thighs apart, fingers brushing the insides, trailing closer to her cunt, raising goosebumps on her skin.

He flicks his tongue out and starts tracing intricate patterns with it on and around her clit. A single circle. Mirror curves. Another circle, but different, there's a loop at the end, she thinks.

A blunt fingertip nudges her entrance, and a long, thick finger slides into her. Saints, she's so wet for him. She mewls at the intrusion, but still finds herself vaguely wondering at what he's doing. She can't follow the next couple of shapes he traces, they're too complicated. There's another circle, but then more intricate ones again.

"Oh," she whimpers when his tongue traces a perfect Ravkan 'o' on her nub.

"You like that one?" he chuckles, crooking his finger inside of her, finding the exact right spot, and then adding a second one. Even as she quakes, the realization hits her. He vowed to mark her all over, and that's what he is doing. He's spelling out his name with his tongue.

Now that she's no longer questioning it, she can surrender to the feeling, and once she does, her second climax comes quickly, her cunt clenching around his fingers and her nub throbbing against his mouth as rainbows dance behind her closed eyelids, and a soft sobbing cry of his name escapes from her lips.

She slumps back and lets one hand slide out of his hair to cup his cheeks and he turns his head to press his lips to her palm, his beard wet and sticky against her skin.

He's pulling her up and into his arms then, brushing her sweaty hair back from her face with his dry hand, slanting his mouth over hers to kiss her. She can taste herself on his lips and tongue, and though part of her wants to shy away from the obscenity of it, she decides she doesn't care and kisses him back more hungrily. His grip on her tightens and he moans into her mouth.

"Bed," she manages to pant out between kisses.

"Bed," he agrees in a low growl, lifting her into his arms again, shadows dancing around them. Alina hardly has time to blink before she's lying on her back in Aleksander's bed. The black silk of his sheets is cool and soft against her skin, and it smells of him, she muses as she watches him remove his boots.

He climbs onto the bed, and offers her a slow and dangerous smile as he moves to brace himself over her. She can't help it, she feels her lips curve up into a smile of her own.

"This isn't fair," she complains when he lowers himself to cover her body with his own.

He arches a dark eyebrow. "What isn't?"

"You're still dressed," she points out.

"That can be remedied." He pushes himself up and off her, pulling his tunic over his head as he sits up. She only takes a moment to admire his shoulders and chest and the hard ridges of his stomach before she reaches for the buttons of his trousers, brushing her knuckles over the hard bulge straining against the black fabric.

"Alina," he groans as she unbuttons his trousers and slips her fingers into the garment to curl them around his thick, hot, velvety and considerable length. Together they get rid of his last piece of clothing, and Alina shoves her open drawers down her legs.

She reaches for him and clasps her hands over his elbows to drag him down on top of her. The sensation of so much of his exposed skin on hers is almost too much, but she needs him to get even closer.

"Eager, are we?" he teases her.

She doesn't care about coming up with a witty remark, she just nods and tilts her head up to capture his lips, but he hisses sharply as soon her tongue licks at the seam of his mouth.

"What's wrong?" she whispers.

He braces himself on his arms and twists his neck. "It felt like a knife slicing my skin."

"Where?" she whispers, eyebrows pulling together in worry.

"I can't see," he grunts. "It itches."

She wrenches out from under him and sits up, finding an angry red mark on his right arse cheek. As she leans in closer, she clasps a hand over her mouth but the giggle bursts through anyway. She extends a hand to brush her fingertips over the letters of her name, still looking as if they've been branded into his skin. The confused glare he gives her makes her laugh even harder.

"Looks like I've marked you as mine as much as you've marked me as yours." She puts a hand to his shoulder and pushes him back until he's lying on the bed, staring up at her. She braces her hands on his chest and swings a leg over his hips to straddle him, smiling down at him. "It's your mark," she tells him. "My name."

She reaches between their bodies to wrap her fingers around his cock and guide him to her entrance. Never averting her eyes from his face, she takes her time, slowly sinking down as she takes him in, and when he's finally fully sheathed inside of her, she moans at the feeling of being filled by him, nearly drowning out the sound of his gasp.

"You're mine, Aleksander Morozova," she sighs as she rolls her hips.

"Alina," he groans, his hands sliding up her thighs as reverent eyes roam over her body.

"You're mine, and I'm yours," she promises him, taking his hand and placing it over the mark on her breast, holding it there with her own. All Alina has ever wanted is someone to belong with, a person to call her own. She won't let anything take that away from her.

#darklina #alina x the darkling #alina starkov x aleksander morozova #darklina fic #mine #soulmates au