#but the place we drove today was a little further along

[even-disco-baby]

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “You’re pretty good with that boy, Cuno.” She says it thoughtfully, as though she’s turning this fact over in her mind as she works at the tangled net in her lap. The sea is a soft roar over the horizon, and the world is tinged a dusky blue.

“Really? It doesn’t feel like I am. He still calls me anything but my name. Usually a slur.”

“It’s tough love, Lilienne, that’s all. A kid like that needs discipline.”

“He’s not that hard to deal with. He just wants somebody to play along with him. That’s all any kid wants.”

“He was good to me first.”

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — She arches an eyebrow. “Really now…”

DRAMA — She isn’t doubtful, sire. Just surprised.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “Well, I hope you’ll keep on being good to each other, then. The kid certainly needs it.”

EMPATHY — And so do you, she thinks.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “You seem good with the young people around here in general,” she muses. “Cuno, those kids at the church, Lily and the boys… You said you used to be a teacher, didn’t you? Maybe that’s why.”

PAIN THRESHOLD — A familiar ache squeezes your lungs. The same ache that drove you to become a teacher in the first place. An incalculable and long forgotten loss.

INLAND EMPIRE — Don’t follow this thread any further. Let it unravel.

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

“No, there’s something else… Lost children, a lost Indotribe…” [Follow the thread.]

“I think I wanted to be a father, once.” [Change the subject.]

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — She pauses her work, strands of the net wrapped loosely around her fingers, but does not look up. “…Oh?”

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Hey, it’s never too late! Now’s your chance to give fatherhood a shot!

“Any chance *we* could make it happen?” [Give her the finger guns.]

“I wonder why I did…”

“It was a stupid thing to want.”

“I still do.”

“I guess it never worked out.”

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “Hm…” She goes back to her work, slowly and carefully. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. Can’t remember.”

“In *this* economy?”

“Things never lined up right, I guess.”

“I bet it was *her* fault. She ruined my chances forever.”

“Too poor and drunk and sad.”

“I’d never want to inflict myself on a child.”

“Just look at me.”

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — She does look at you. There is no pity or disgust or whatever other terrible thing you expected in her gaze. Just a quiet acknowledgment.

EMPATHY — To her, you look just like a father she once knew. This only makes her more inclined to agree with you.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “…When I first got pregnant with the boys,” she says quietly, returning to her work, “I was uneasy. Wondered if it was… right to bring them into this world. Into *our* arms…”

PAIN THRESHOLD — A rare pang wracks her. She does not like to think about these things.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “I never did decide one way or another. I just knew what I wanted, and so I went ahead with it. *We* went ahead with it. And then again with Lily, even though…”

EMPATHY — Even though at heart she knew, by then, how it would all end.

SHIVERS — Five years ago, a man stands on the boardwalk where the corpse of a different drunken husband will one day be discovered. Bottle still clutched tightly in his hand, he fights the urge to throw himself into the dark water. He wins the battle today, but he will ultimately lose the war.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “However things turned out for you, I’m sure you had your reasons.” She sighs, and cuts a strand of the net with the tip of her knife, then ties it back together. “Though that probably sounds shallow, coming from me.”

“A little, yeah.”

“Not at all.”

“Can I ask you something?”

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “Go ahead.”

“Do you regret having kids?”

“Uh… never mind.”

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — She smiles, and there’s an uncharacteristic sadness in the lines around her eyes.

“No,” she says softly. “Never once.”

EMPATHY — She wonders if this is proof of her own selfishness.

It isn’t the children she regrets. It’s the world that she brought them into.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “Now that they’re here, all we can do is love them. And you’ve got plenty of love in you for the children, it seems. That’s more than a lot of fathers could say…” She sighs, her eyes shadowed and sunken. “Oh, I don’t know what I’m trying to say anymore.”

DRAMA — But you know what *you* would like to say, sire. Go ahead. Now’s your moment!

REACTION SPEED — No, it really isn’t. Please don’t push your luck.

“Lilienne…”

Don’t push your luck.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — She turns to you, expression inscrutable with the light of the setting sun behind her. “Yes?”

“Do you think *we* could ever… try again?”

“Do you think you could ever see *me* as… a father?”

“Do you think there’s any hope in this world for any of us?”

“Do you think the children will ever forgive us?”

“Do you think I’m… a good man?”

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — She looks at you, her chin no longer held high, a tired slump in her shoulders and something searching in her eye. Her hands are all tangled in webs of fragile knots.

“I think…” she says slowly, evenly, “you’re looking for something that I can’t give you.”

-1 MORALE

“Okay. Well. Khm. Right.”

“What the hell does *that* mean?”

“That’s not really what I asked…”

Say nothing.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — “I know what you’re asking,” Lilienne says frankly. “I’m just not so sure that *you* do…”

EMPATHY — For love.

RHETORIC — For vindication.

INLAND EMPIRE — For a lifeline.

VOLITION — For a future.

LILIENNE, THE NET-PICKER — Lilienne sighs, watching the twins in the distance, starting the long march home from the beach before dark. “At some point, Harry, you’re going to have to be okay with your life.”

SHIVERS — You have twenty two years left to reach that point.

#disco elysium #harry du bois #lilienne carter #UGH if you saw this after i hit the post button accidentally before finishing the formatting. no u didn’t. #anyway. lilienne i have feelings for you #and also lots of feelings about the impending apocalypse and whether or not the children will have a future… #FUCK OFF I MISSED A FORMATTING ERROR AGAIN. FUCK THIS GAY EARTH

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #68

Today was a very mixed bag.

This morning, I drove to the good place with all the nice people. The leader spoke on a great many very relevant things, such as challenging the status quo, distinguishing between that which is law and that which is just, and sitting with and trying to help all of the people whom society has tried to convinced us doesn't deserve it. The grammar and structure of the words has since crumbled and faded away from my mind, because I don't think in language at all, but the meaning remains in my mind, as well as the memory of the tears that were shed; I'm aware that at least some of what I've been trying to do is seen and understood by this very amazing person.

I tried to conduct myself in the space a little differently than I usually do. Typically, my presence in any space is a meek one that tries to stay out of the way. But this time, I walked as though I belong there, and mingled with others as though I am also deserving of taking up space. Just to try to push myself even further out of my comfort zone, today I sat at the "old men's" table (there aren't really assigned tables, it's just that there are folks that tend to gather together because they can easily relate to one another) as though I also belonged there, with the intention of listening to them speak to one another and seeing what I could learn. Imagine my shock when they talked to me as though my voice is one worth hearing!! I wasn't really sure what to do or how to behave in response to such a thing, but I did the best I could to try to contribute, even if I felt clumsy and foolish in the process.

At one point, towards the end, one of them said, as a joke, "Drive carefully home; I know how you women like to be speed demons, haha!" I tried to think of something witty and lighthearted to come back with, but the best I could do was smile bashfully. If only I remembered at the time the line that goes, "Ha! I am a woman in the same way that a tomato is a fruit!"

…I happen to live in a female body. But I don't really think about my gender most of the time. It fluctuates wildly between "none" and "yes". I'll take any pronoun, but the one I typically use for myself in my own mind is "it". But this alarms people, and I'm comfortable with letting people use whatever they see when they look at me, so… it's all good, I guess.

I stopped at Eggcellent on the way home. Some time ago, I had asked them if they might keep a QR code of the petition I made for you where folks can see it. Apparently, though, the people did not thoroughly read the blurb that came along with the QR code, and so they scanned it, thinking that it would lead them to a petition for a real-life human being. Their response, when they saw you, according to the kindly shopkeep, was, "Are you kidding me?" Essentially, disbelief and disgust. So naturally, the kindly shopkeeps had to stop displaying the QR code. I'm glad they stopped if this was how people were responding; I don't want to be bad for business.

But all the same… I have no idea how it is the case that so few people understand that the way your story ends is going to affect everyone here whose circumstances are similar to yours. It will affect how many of us will be able to believe that recovery is possible. It will affect how many of us will be able to believe that we are worth the effort involved with recovery. It will affect whether or not other people will be able to imagine that people like me and like others who I love are worthy of kindness, mercy, and help.

The way stories are told in my world shapes what people believe is and is not possible, on a MASS SCALE. Part of the reason why people still believe places like India are undeveloped, backwater places even though they're not is because that's how they're portrayed in stories in my world. Part of the reason why people still treat certain kinds of people as they do is because of how they're portrayed in books, movies, TV, comics, and song. Stereotypes persist in part because they are parroted over and over again by the song, art, and story that exists in our world. And stereotypes put a lot of nasty and totally arbitrary limitations on what people think that certain kinds of people deserve and are capable of.

So… my efforts to save you aren't just about you. My efforts are for every human in my world who is considered "different" or "fallen" in any way. Because we are not going to see peace in my world until every single one of us stops believing that there is a such thing as "kinds of people who are not worth compassion, kindness, decency, or help".

I want to live in a world where people can begin to imagine that even the most deeply fallen can get the help they need to rise up into wholeness again. Because if not even someone as amazing as you can be saved, what chance in hell do the rest of us have?

I ended up spiraling, though. Not because the kindly shopkeep took down the QR code, but because of what he said to me after the fact:

Some time ago, when I was working on one of the music boxes I made for you…

…there was a lady who came into the shop for the first time, asking what is good. The shopkeep told her a few things, and then went off to do something. I was excited to talk to someone who seems nice about a thing I loved, so I piped in with a couple of the things I like, and with a couple of things that weren't listed on the menu. She then asked about what I was doing, which was punching holes out on the music box. I asked her if she wanted to listen, and she said yes. So I ran the music box, and she told me that it was cool.

…Fast forward to today. The shopkeep told me that the lady knew it was my petition. Apparently, on the day we met, the lady found me weird, rude, and repulsive. She apparently thought that it was disrespectful of me that I spoke to her at all (apparently because "she wasn't talking to me"), and because she didn't actually want anything to do with my music box, but asked about it and said yes to listening to it anyway because she "didn't want to be mean". So I guess I left such a negative and intensely strange impression on her back then that when she felt disgust at the petition, she immediately knew it was mine.

And gosh, what a thing to have to sit with. Can you imagine it? The notion that I can frighten, anger, and disgust people just by existing in a space, talking joyfully about bubble tea, and showing a music box I made to someone who asked about it? I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to take from this. On the one hand, I have the shopkeep telling me that the woman thought I am a bad, wrong, and disgusting thing, but in the same breath, he is telling me that "she should have said no if she didn't want to hear it", and "you are kind and you don't bother anybody and you should just be yourself". I understand, of course, that he must ride a careful balance between customers so that he doesn't lose anyone. But ya know… the notion that perhaps I might cause them to struggle by scaring customers off just by being myself is just… wow.

Of course, I am not at all angry with him for this. Rather, I'm glad he told me. I'm glad to be made aware that my presence makes others feel very uncomfortable. I'm glad to be told that I should continue to be myself… even if it comes with the unspoken implication that I had better go do it somewhere else where no one else has to deal with it, I guess.

The fact remains, of course, that just by existing, I scare people. Even if what I'm trying to do is exude love and joy, I still scare people. And I'm not really sure how it is that I manage to be so bad at trying to do good things that I am misunderstood to this extent, but… well. And also this is coming right after I resolve to act as though I belong in this world even though all signs point to the notion that I… don't. And maybe never will.

…If unaliving is a trigger for you, you might wanna skip this paragraph. But… ya know. I spent a good chunk of time today considering the merits of lying down in a cold puddle, forcibly inducing sleep, and letting the hypothermia take care of the job while I'm out. We have nature trails just a five minute walk from my house. It's winter, and there are lots of big puddles back there; I know where they are, and there's also no shortage of ravens, crows, coyotes, and foxes to feed. It's probably good that I don't have ready access to the kinds of medicines that would induce sleep.

…But. This sort of thinking is just the old wiring and the old conditioning rearing its ugly head in response to my past trauma. Old messages that go something like, "Nobody fucking asked you to speak, MAGGOT," and "Why can't you have normal interests and hobbies, you embarrassing sicko freak?" At this point, because stuff similar to this has been said to me so many times, it doesn't take much for my brain to interpret this stuff, even if it's not said directly. That's just how PTSD is. That's how it works.

But I don't have to surrender to it. I got knocked on my ass today from it, but I don't have to stay on the ground. I can get back up and see what's next. I can use REBT. I can ask the people around me for help. I can listen as the people who love me gently point out destructive, spiraling patterns in my thinking, so that I can stop myself for long enough to come up for air. I can hydrate and eat wholesomely so that my brain can have what it needs to manage the destructive thoughts and the painful emotions triggered from them. I don't have to remain on my knees and believe every nasty thing said about me by someone who is too miserable to see the beauty, joy, and love being offered to them for what it is. I can refuse to allow the voices of the people who don't understand me to be louder in my mind than the voices of those who love me.

I am different from other people, and sometimes this is a lonely thing that hurts very much. But it's easy for me to have love for others who are different. Love for you. Love for Frankenstein's Monster. Love for Mewtwo. Love for Magus. Love for all of my friends and chosen family, who themselves are misfits that society at large does not seem to want. I still love them all, even though society tells me I shouldn't. I can love me, too, even though society tells me that I shouldn't.

…"Conventional wisdom" is such a thing. There are some very good things about it, like, "Sticking a fork in your mouth and then sticking the prongs of that fork into an electrical socket just to see what happens is a very bad idea." And, things like, "Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, attempt to eat Rice Krispie Treats immediately after taking them out of the oven if you value the flesh on the inside of your mouth." Or, "Do not squirt hot glue into the palm of your left hand for the sake of impressing a girl." Or, related, "You cannot try to scrape hot glue off of the palm of your hand with your other hand and expect it to turn out well." And finally, "Try to avoid prioritizing yelling at your glue-covered hands over making use of the cold water in the sink that is immediately to your left."

(do not worry - these are not things that I have done; I've met some very interesting people in the course of my living who help me to avoid finding these things out the hard way, hahaha!)

But it can also tell us a lot of very false things. Things like, "You must remain connected with your family regardless of how they abuse you." Things like, "You should expect certain kinds of people to always act in this certain kind of way." Things like, "These particular kinds of people are all bad and you should stay away from them." Things like, "If everyone is 'mistreating' you, well the common denominator is you, so the problem must be you and not how others are treating you." And things like, "Certain kinds of people do not deserve kindness, help, or even basic decency."

So… I can only conclude that "conventional wisdom" needs to be taken VERY critically, and with ALL the grains of salt. But I think a good rule of thumb for evaluation is this notion: "Anything that is said with cruel, dehumanizing, and unloving intentions is false."

I'm not at risk of prematurely exiting my meat-mech, don't worry. I just tripped up a little today, that's all. And you know what? Ultimately, that's a good thing, because today, I watched myself get back up on my feet from it faster than what I was able to do previously. Sometimes we can't see all the progress we've made until weird things happen and we find ourselves recovering from them faster than we have in the past. So in this sense, even falling down is worth something!

I'm gonna get a snack and play some DDR to try to speed up my recovery even more. So I'll end this here-ish.

Hey, Sephiroth!! No matter how many times you fall down, and no matter how far you fall down, you can get back up! You just gotta let the voices attached to the hands reaching out to help be louder than the voices trying to tell you that you're a monster who doesn't belong! No matter how many voices scream unloving things at you, you gotta understand that such things can only be screamed at us from a place of pain, and nobody is acting in accordance with what's true or in accordance with their innermost nature when they are acting from a place of pain! So let the loving things be louder to your mind and to your ears. Let the loving things be louder, and let them spur you on to move forward, confident in the knowledge that you belong here, no matter what anyone else says.

You are loved. Please stay safe. I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

#sephiroth #ThankYouFFVIIDevs #ThankYouFF7Devs #ThankYouSephiroth #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii crisis core #final fantasy 7 crisis core #final fantasy crisis core #ffvii crisis core #ff7 crisis core #crisis core #ff7r #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy 7 remake #ffvii remake #ff7 remake #final fantasy vii rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ffvii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #ff7 ever crisis #ffvii first soldier #flashbacks #getting back up after a falling down #wholesome

[negandarylsatisfaction]

[SUMMARY: PRE Apocalypse: Negan takes his shy girlfriend on a road trip.]

Smut smut smut

Negan and Marciel

Negan was picking you up from work today, the both of you had the weekend off and decided to go for a road trip. It was exciting yet you were nervous as you had just started dating Negan not too long ago. The road-trip was a bit of a spontaneous decision he convinced you to go along with, he was the more spontaneous of you two after all. Walking out of work you instantly spotted Negan against his black truck with his arms crossed and smiled.

"Hi gorgeous," he pulled you in for a kiss before walking around the car to open the door for you. Biting your bottom lip you watched as he got back in the car and drove off.

"So are you excited, I know I am."

"Yes, I've never really been on a road trip before,"

"You don't say," he responded in a somewhat sneaky like tone and smile.

"How long is the drive?" You asked looking over at him.

"About five hours but I know about something that could make it go by a little faster," he laughed.

"What?" You asked innocently not catching on.

"Oh, it involves those pretty lips of yours baby." he adjusted his belt as he cleared his throat.

"Negan-"

"I'm just joking, doll." He knew he wasn't and so did you yet you were too embarrassed to admit that you actually liked the idea.

As the drive went on he blasted music going down the highway, your nerves starting to settle until he stopped at the first gas station. Negan left you in the passenger seat and got out to the get the gas. He could see you through the side window, he could tell you seemed nervous, it was something he always found cute about you. Closing the tank he chuckled to himself as he thought of a little prank he'd pull on you.

Sitting quietly you looked straight ahead waiting for Negan to return. You were nervous, Negan could be intimidating with just his way of expressing himself...yet you liked it. Wondering if this trip would be where you would finally go further with him you took a deep breath when you were suddenly startled by someone in your passenger window.

"Now excuse me, sweetheart. You don't happen to be alone do you?" Negan crouched down to your window with a cocky smirk.

"Negan, you scared me," you laughed with your hand on your chest.

"I would hope whoever you're with wouldn't leave you alone like that, I might wanna snatch you-" he teased leaning his face inside to kiss your cheek. Walking away laughing to himself he got back in the car and turned to you. His hand gently caressing the side of your face.

"Why are you so shy with me, baby? You don't have to hold yourself back with me, you do know that don't you?" He raised his brows, you silently nodded with a smile before looking away. Negan looked down at what you were wearing, a short skirt that complimented your thighs, he loved how soft they looked, he couldn't wait to get between them.

"Let's get this shit started," he turned away cracking his neck before speeding off.

An hour into the drive, traffic began to get worse. Hours away from your destination Negan grew frustrated honking the horn as each car moved slowly.

"Shit I was hoping to avoid this fucking shit." Negan sat back with a sigh.

"I know, just try to relax, we should get moving soon," you looked behind you at all the cars lined up behind you not noticing the way Negan was looking at your thighs with the corner of his eye.

"I'm relaxed," he assured you looking back at the road as he casually placed his hand on your knee. Quickly you turned back at the unexpected touch but you didn't say a word. Little by little the traffic moved as you felt him slowly move his hand up to your thigh, his fingers in between.

"Are you relaxed?" He asked without looking your way. Truthfully your heart was racing, the feel of his hand gently squeezing your inner thigh aroused you.

"Yes," you whispered as you felt his hand slowly move closer towards you, the side of his hand lightly brushing against the thin fabric of your underwear. Just a little more and he would be directly on your clit.

"Negan.."

"Mhm?" He slowly started to drive, there was no denying it, he was getting turned on just touching your thighs. Giving them another light squeeze you noticed him adjusting himself in his seat when he suddenly grabbed your hand and placed it right on his crotch area. You gasped feeling how hard he was.

"Don't be shy, baby, grab it," he spoke in a husky tone. Unbuttoning his pants as he stopped at another line of traffic he pulled out his cock leaving you speechless. You wanted to feel it, licking your lips you closed your hand around it and began to move it up and down. He took a deep breath and looked over at you with a smirk.

"Why don't you give it a little kiss for me," your lips parted as you looked at him rather shocked.

"Here?" You looked around and saw the amount of cars parked near you.

"There's so many people around us-" Negan grabbed your face and turned you back towards him.

"Why are you looking anywhere else, look at me." His possessive tone made you feel a way you didn't expect. He noticed you squirm in your seat as he let go of your face and watched you look back down at his cock.

"You be a good girl now and I promise you, you will be rewarded, baby" he grinned. Looking up at him once more you took a deep breath and leaned over slowly placing your lips over his cock. Negan groaned at the first feel of your warm lips wrapping around him, the sound he made motivating you to take him in deeper.

"Fucking shit," he leaned back in his seat closing his eyes as you bobbed your head up and down.

"Just like that, baby, just like that-" he grunted. Suddenly you felt the car begin to move and tried to lift your head up. Negan held your head down on him as he gripped the steering wheel with his free hand.

"Don't you fucking stop, Marciel." He spoke in a dominant tone. The way he spoke turning you on more, you did just as he asked. Negan let it be known that you made him feel good, his reaction giving you more confidence to use your tongue. The car speeding up as he moaned, you could tell he loved when you gagged on him and so you continued. Tears coming out your eyes you felt Negans cock twitch in your mouth before he finally came. The car coming to a rough stop, you squealed as he held your head down on him making you taste every drop of him.

"God dammit.." he let go and threw his head back closing his eyes. Slowly you lifted your head up and wiped your lips carefully looking around noticing you were in a parking lot.

"Where are we?" You asked as he looked over at you.

"Where your reward awaits," he spoke with excitement as he shut off his car and fixed his pants.

Getting out of the car you noticed you were at a motel and looked up at him.

"Now did you think you were gonna make me cum like that and daddy wasn't gonna take care of you too?" He caressed the side of your face as he chuckled lightly.

"Let's get a fucking room." Negan took your hand leading you inside eagerly.

Closing the door behind him he bit his bottom lip looking down at you as he pulled his jacket off and threw it aside. Quickly you began to unbutton your blouse until he stopped you.

"Ah ah Ah, leave that to me." His deep voice making your shiver with excitement. He walked up towards you and unexpectedly broke apart your button shirt, sending all the buttons flying.

"Negan!"

"I'll buy you a new one," he picked you up in his arms and kissed you passionately, your legs wrapping around him as he sat you down on the desk. Caressing your breasts he continued to kiss you before pushing your skirt up and crouching down with his face between your legs. He was eager to taste you and he showed it, pulling your underwear aside he slid his tongue down your slit making your body squirm. Holding you by your thighs he pulled you closer against his face and flicked his tongue around your clit making you moan.

"Oh my god," you gasped, your hand running through his hair. He knew exactly how to use his tongue, he was going to make sure you had never felt anything like it. Looking up at you he watched as you threw your head back and moaned his name. Your hips rocking against him as you arched your back when a sensation building up in your stomach made you lose your breath. Negan moved his tongue faster watching as the orgasm took over your body. Moaning loudly you closed your eyes grabbing onto the desk as the feeling hit you all the way to your toes.

Negan stood up as you struggled to catch your breath and quickly unzipped his pants. As you sat there trying to gain control of your body Negan grabbed you by your throat and began to fuck you.

"That's what I wanted to see, this look right here," he spoke aggressively with his face close to yours. You screamed as the desk hit the wall with each thrust, your nails now digging into Negans back through his shirt, the pain only exciting him more.

"Fuck me harder!" You moaned almost surprising him, showing him a side of you he had never seen.

"There you are," he grinned and did just as you asked. Each thrust bringing you both closer to orgasm, the pleasure taking over you once more just as he pulled out and came down your inner thigh. His body leaned over you on the desk, his breathing harder than you had ever heard. Not moving for a moment you gently kissed him on the neck making him look up at you as he wiped his sweat.

"So, we've got three more states to drive through, how about we stop in each of em for a little break," he pulled you against him with a wink, his idea making you laugh.

"I think I'd love that," you grinned.

"Oh I know you would," Negan grabbed your face and kissed you once more, you had no idea how much more he wanted to show you.

#jeffrey dean morgan #negan #the walking dead #negan x reader #negan x ofc #negan fan fiction #negan fanfic #negan smut #negan smith

[lavenderdreams22]

Could you do a Dorian x reader fluffy fic?

Sure thing! I looove Dorian. It's kinda short, but I hope you like it! ❤️

Warnings: sexual themes, but that’s it I think.

Early Morning - Dorian x reader

Early mornings were easily your favorite time of day. Dorian always awoke early, all soft touches and small smiles. But today, it seemed, he was struggling to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.

You let him pull you to his chest in a protective, possessive grip with a smile on your face. He always wanted to be close to you, to be able to breathe in your scent and hold you. He told you that it drove the nightmares away. You told him just as often that having him close soothed your own particular set of anxieties. 

He kissed your spine before you wiggled in his grasp to face him fully. 

He pulled the sheet over the two of you, but not before you caught the way that the sun filtered through the curtains, illuminating him in brilliant gold. Even now, he looked as though he had bathed in sunlight.

You ran your fingers through his tousled hair, grinning as he pressed another kiss to your shoulder. 

“You’re late, your highness.” You whispered. 

He groaned, his grip tightening. “A king is never late.” 

You wrapped a leg around him, pulling him impossibly closer to your body. 

“You will be if you stay here any longer.” You pressed a kiss to his lips. 

When you pulled away, his lips chased yours before he had the sense to bring his hand that had been tracing idle shapes along your outer thigh to the side of your face to hold you in place. 

You giggled into his lips and he couldn’t help his own grin as he rolled on top of you. 

“You’re just as much to blame.” He countered, his dark hair tickling you as he moved to press kisses to your neck. 

“How do you figure?” You tried to sound outraged, but the feel of his lips on your body always had the opposite effect. 

“Because you’re here. Utterly indecent.” He tugged at the crimson nightgown you wore. It had ridden up to show off a pair of black lace panties, his favorite pair that you owned. He groaned again at the sight. “Distracting me, keeping from my duties.” 

“I’ll have you know that I did not do anything to distract you. You’ve done that all on your own.” 

“The only way you could look any more delicious is if you were naked.” He pulled away, propping himself up on his arms to really admire you. “A problem that is easily remedied.” 

“And just how,” you stated, slipping the straps down your shoulders. “Do you plan on remedying this truly tragic situation you’ve found yourself in?” 

He bit his lip, his blue eyes roving over you body, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake. 

When his eyes met yours again, he winked. Without moving, he let his power, the invisible hands, pull the nightgown down your shoulders even further, exposing your breasts to him. 

“Absolutely breathtaking.” 

“I wish that they were your hands.” You whispered, not trusting your voice. 

“They are.” He nipped at your bottom lip.  

You whimpered as the phantom touch continued to ghost over your exposed flesh. 

“Stop teasing.” You frowned. 

“But you look so cute when you’re frustrated.”

Just as he was leaning down to kiss you again, there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Dorian, we need to go." Chaol shouted from the other side of the door. "I'd like to get back before nightfall."

You giggled, pressing a kiss to his shoudler before pushing him off of you. "Told you."

"I'll be back for you later, my love." He grinned, springing up from the bed, the evidence of just how little he wanted to leave evident in his pants.

#dorian havilliard #throne of glass #throne of glass dorian #dorian havilliard x reader #dorian havilliard x you #answered

[zooophagous]

Strauss rested in the back seat of the SUV as best he could. It was his eternal dismay that being dead did not make him immune to motion sickness. Ursula seemed to be trying to make him vomit on purpose, with the way she drove. It was all to make sure they weren’t followed, sure. An hour of riding through it while hiding folded up inside one’s own shirt trying to avoid both sunlight and being seen however was beginning to put him over threshold.

Fortunately there were fewer sharp turns to take once they hit the interstate. She was speeding, yes, but at least the car was going straight and not slamming him into the door with every curve. 

Artemis looked sick too, but her for other reasons than Ursula’s panicky driving. She held a distant, silent stare on the horizon, her brow knit tightly in thought. Nobody spoke. There wasn’t much of a point to it. All of the questions everyone had, they all had the same answers to. Or lack of answers, rather.

Strauss finally broke the silence with one pertinent query. “Where are we going?”

“Home.” Artemis replied flatly.

“Home?”

“The Van Helsing family home.” Ursula clarified. “Technically, it’s Artie’s house. It’s been empty for quite some time however. Nobody is currently living in it, except for perhaps some mice.”

Strauss smirked slightly. “Mice I can fix. Is this a safe place?”

“It’s been vacant for years.” Artemis sighed. “Nobody at the Institute would know where it is, nobody goes there. I don’t even go there. Sylvain never even got to see where it was.” Artemis glanced over her shoulder at Strauss in the back seat.

“It’s going to be dusty. Probably has a few things wrong with it.”

“How far away is it?”

“About another half hour, as the crow flies.” Ursula replied. “I’ve seen to it that the house is kept. Artie may not call it home, but it is part of the institute and its history. I wouldn’t let it fall into disrepair.” She huffed, almost as if Artemis’ comments were some sort of insult. 

“Artie is right, however, it will need a good dusting. We’ll also need some basics. Food. Toiletries. Laundry detergent.” She gave Strauss a sideways glance. “You especially are in desperate need of a change of clothes. We will have to drop you off at the house. You cannot be seen like this.”

Strauss looked down at his shirt, smirched with soot and gore. Ursula was right. The smell of it was pungent, too. Some of the deep red- now drying to maroon and brown- blood stains on it were those of his enemies, but a not insignificant portion was his own. A gaping hole below his collarbone exposed the bloody pit of his emergency bullet removal self-surgery.

“I do not wish to be seen like this, Frau Harker. I do not wish to be seen. I wish to retreat to my grave beneath the earth and sleep for decades.”

“Mr. Strauss, do not be flattered if I tell you I wish I could join you. Today has been Hell.”

Strauss carefully ventured a look out the window of the car. It was shadier here, the further east they traveled. They were cutting deep into forested timberland, slowing along the narrow two lane highway. 

The highway gave way to a small town, most of it invisible behind tall thicks of pine, accented with fire-colored maple trees. Even in the gloom of late fall, it would have been a pretty town, if not for the foul mood of the travelers.

“This is the town of Crystal Springs.” Ursula droned on as she drove. Playing the part of an educator was natural to her, and a welcome distraction.

“It is a pitiful little do-nothing town that owes its existence to the now defunct fur trade and an equally defunct paper mill. Finding food for you here is going to be a task, I can tell you that much. Hopefully you will be as difficult to find as you are to feed.” 

They slowed to a safe crawl as they turned into the main drag of the little town. The wide street was lined with old shops and brick buildings. The elaborate cornices and moldings on the main street stores spoke of history and civic pride, though the more beautiful buildings among them were marred with plywood nailed over their windows like coins on a dead man’s eyes.

Strauss looked away. Something more dead than alive made him feel like he was looking into a mirror, and he hated mirrors. The main street was as short as it was deserted, and they turned onto a side road lined with old houses. These houses were beautiful too, once, though many of them now fallen into disrepair, the work of an unhappy master more interested in rent money than in preservation.

Save one.

At the end of the drive was a long driveway lined with trees. Above the leafless late fall canopy, the edifice rose to the sky. Strauss mistook it, briefly, for a small cathedral. The dark siding and severe roofline gave it an almost comically haunted appearance, but the amount of detail in her stained glass windows and the size and weight of the place showed that was real, and took itself quite seriously. 

Strauss knew what it was before anyone even said anything. “That can only be the Van Helsing family manor.”

“Quite astute, Mr. Strauss. This is Hell House. Affectionate nickname. It isn’t built to cope with all out war, but it will be as good a shelter as any, for now.”

The car slowed to a stop in front of the steps of the great porch. The crew slipped from the vehicle and shuffled in.

“You might be the only vampire to be invited into Van Helsing’s home.”

“After all we have endured, Artemis, inviting me into your home should not be troublesome.”

“True, I’ve always been warned never to do it though, once a vampire moves in with you they tend to be hard to remove.” She smirked.

“If you want him gone I assure you he will be simple to remove, Artie.” Ursula rolled her eyes and fumbled with her keys.

“Hurry up and open the door. The sun is still more than bright enough to hurt.”

“Well, if you’d like to try all 20 keys on the ring and see if you’re any faster at guessing the correct one you’re more than welcome to- ah. Here we are.”

Ursula pushed the door open. A square of gray light flooded the foyer, along with a swirl of fall leaves that blew in from outside on the lightest breeze. The house was dark, cold, old and austere. Everything its owner was not. Artemis stepped inside looking almost nervous, though it was “home” to her.

Or at least the closest thing to it. She looked over her shoulder at Strauss, who still stood back with trepidation, though the sun beat down on his back. She looked at him and gave him the direct invitation he wanted.

“Please, come in.”

He did so quickly, finding a comfortable thick shadow within to hide himself in. Ursula stepped in wearily.

“Will you two be ok here, if I go into town and grab a few things?”

“You want to go alone?”

“Someone has to keep an eye on that one. And I don’t want anyone to see you. I’d rather they come for me, not you. Besides, it might be a long trip. I will need to find a medical clinic and see if I can’t convince them to part with some blood draw supplies. Mr. Strauss will need fed sooner or later, and the cutlery in the kitchen isn’t exactly sterile.”

Artemis looked down. Auntie was, as usual, right. But then something caught her eye, and she got down close to look at it.

“What’s up with your leg?”

Ursula stepped back to hide it. “It’s nothing. Got a bit banged up in the fire is all.”

“That is not nothing!” Artemis demanded, and made to grab at her aunt’s ankle.

“Don’t TOUCH it! It’s tender!”

“Of course it’s tender, auntie, that's a huge burn. You have to go to the hospital!”

“I will GO where I damn well please!” She inhaled deeply and collected herself. “Sorry, sorry. I will… make it a point to mention it when I get to the clinic. But it is hardly my first priority. There is very little they can do for this sort of burn. But making a clean and comfortable and livable house? That is well within my abilities. Stay down and don’t open any doors to anyone.”

“Of course.” 

Ursula limped down the steps and back to the car. Artemis closed the heavy door behind her with a creak and a thunk, and forced the heavy deadbolt to turn. She turned with a stiff smile to Strauss, who had made himself quite at home in the shadowy manor.

“Well? Here she is. What do you think? Will it do for now?”

“It will have to, Frau Van Helsing. This place is old and cold and strange looking. Therefore, it is perfect. Are you quite sure no vampire has crossed the threshold before? It looks like a place a vampire would live.”

He wandered slowly through the foyer, slowly turning his head to take in the details of the dusty old home. It was quite a bit more beautiful than the institute, save for maybe the library. If it still existed.

“Perhaps ‘live’ is not the correct word. It seems a place a vampire would dwell. A place a vampire would haunt.”

“I don’t know about haunting, but you’ll be sleeping here for now. Hopefully we can get a couple of days out of this place before we have to move on.”

“Where else would we go?”

“Don’t know yet. We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

She made her way to the staircase and turned her head to look back at him. “Come on. I’ll give you the tour.”

The light from outdoors filtered in softly through stained glass windows. It was softened enough to be both safe and beautiful for the shadow lover. Strauss ran his hand along the heavy carved wooden bannister as he followed up the stairs. The dulled light and pleasantly heavy textures seemed to him to have almost been tailor made for a vampire. How odd then, that he was the first of his kind to see it. Perhaps Van Helsings and vampires were not such different animals.

“Here’s the master bedroom.” Artemis motioned to a large room off the narrow hallway at the top of the stairs. It was furnished with heavy wooden antique furnishings, but the mattress was bare without sheets. It smelled of dust.

“And you’ll be in here. This is my old bedroom.”

She opened the door to reveal a much more modest bedroom. It had a stark disconnect from the rest of the house in its contemporary style- at least relatively speaking. The pink plastic boom-box collecting dust on the dresser certainly didn’t match the rest of the home. It did look, however, like a live human at least used to live here once. 

“I like the horse posters.”

“Come on, lets find some sheets and start getting laundry ready. I want to have it done as soon as Ursula gets back with the soap.”

“Yes. I am quite anxious to get out of this shirt. The dry blood is quite itchy.”

“I’m sorry. I’m under so much stress I didn’t even check if you were ok. Did they hurt you?”

“They tried.” Strauss absentmindedly scratched at the wound beneath his clavicle. “I did a better job of hurting them than they did of hurting me.”

“How many?”

Strauss hesitated to answer for a moment, but just a moment. 

“Three.”

“I see. Auntie says she got one. I saw Troy take four.”

“Yes. Herr Cunningham has made mincemeat of the competition. If we get an opportunity for a rematch I will beat that record.”

“I think for now we should focus on survival and not murder.”

“Not murder, never murder. Self defense. Even as docile as I am, I have managed to have my fill and then some this evening. That at least saves you and Frau Harker the necessity of finding a way to feed me for a couple of days.”

“That’s good at least. I highly doubt auntie is on board with you biting either of us.”

“No, and I should rather go hungry than harm you. I had forgotten…”

“Forgotten what?”

“How good it felt.” Strauss licked his fangs. “How good it felt to take it straight from the life source. One could become addicted to this, without caution.”

“Just my luck you’d start talking like that as soon as I have no weapons and no way to hide from you except a wooden door.” Artemis snarked. “I kid, I kid. Come on, sheets are downstairs.”

Artemis made her way back down the stairs, the hunt for clean linens a welcome distraction. Strauss followed her slowly, busying himself in the details of the old house. It was Artemis’ house, but not only her house. The ancestral Van Helsings may be rolling in their graves to see him in their territory.

Well. Let them roll.

He made his way down the sweeping staircase. He startled a moment, as his own great shadow on the wall, looming over the foyer as he was bathed in red light from the stained glass and setting sun. Such nervousness was unbecoming of a creature of the night. He swore to put it from his mind. He reached the bottom of the staircase.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

He froze. There were shapes, human shapes in the colorful glass window that obscured the view into the house from the front door. He could see them bobbing around the glass, trying to steal a look inside.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Far too early to be Ursula, and she had the keys anyway. So much for the safe house. Options fired through Strauss’ brain rapidly. Surrender, hope they take him and spare Artemis. Fight back, likely die fighting. Flee into the forest, be hunted like an animal, likely to die anyway.

Surrender hadn’t worked well the first time he tried it, and now with several of their comrades dead, they would kill for revenge. Death, it seemed, was imminent. He resolved then to die fighting, and give Artemis a chance to perhaps flee for her own life.

He marched towards the door and grappled with the deadbolt. Finally he threw it open, causing the intruders to stagger back. He leapt out the threshold with claws up and fangs bared, lunging on one forward foot with a powerful, almost crocodilian hiss.

His threat display worked. It worked too well. Two women stepped back, nearly falling down the steps, their hands over their mouths, gasping and giggling with apparent glee. Strauss looked down to see, in front of them, a child. 

The boy was wearing a red and black costume cape, one he nearly tripped on- and though heavily cloaked in greasepaint, Strauss could see the genuine terror in his eyes. The boy clutched a plastic pumpkin for dear life.

“UH… Uh… uh…” The boy stammered. “Trick or treat?”

Strauss stopped short, caught entirely off guard. “What is this?” He drew himself up to his full, intimidating height, fangs still bared and balefully glaring at the newcomers.

“Who is foolish enough to accost a vampire in his lair, hm? And what is the meaning of this.” He motioned to the boy. “Have you come for me? Did you dress him in this to insult me?”

The pair of strangers giggled nervously. “Oh wow, you guys really go all out for this. I LOVE your costume! When did you move in? I’m Ashley by the way-”

“Oh, hi neighbors.” Artemis appeared in the door behind Strauss, and rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“We actually just got here from out of town a little bit ago. Sorry, we’re prepping for a Halloween party and we totally forgot to get any candy. Can I give you a quarter instead?”

She smiled brightly at the young boy who silently, fearfully nodded. 

“Oh that’s fine. We didn’t know anyone had moved back in. It’s been empty forever, but when we saw the truck earlier we figured we could go check. It’s always been so disappointing that the scariest house on the block never had any candy on Halloween.”

“We’ll have to fix that.” Artemis smiled, and handed a shiny quarter to Strauss. “Just drop that right in the bucket.”

Strauss was silent in his confusion, but did as bidden, and reached out a bony claw to deposit the token in the boy’s basket. 

“Well if your costumes are this good, I can’t wait to see the decor you come up with next year. VERY convincing. You could honestly do movies with stuff this good.”

“Danke, Frau Ashley.” Strauss bowed his head. The child reached up a hand as if to ask a question. Strauss turned his hawkish gaze to the boy.

“Yes?”

“Are… are you a REAL vampire?” The boy asked in a hushed not quite whisper. Strauss bent down to look him in the eye.

“Yes. But do not tell anyone. There are vampire slayers around.” He winked.

The boy gasped, and ran to hide behind his laughing mother. “We better get going, but I’ll stop by later to properly say hi if you’re up for it. Welcome to the neighborhood!”

“Thanks.” 

Artemis exchanged painful glances with Strauss. As they shut the door the eager cries of “That was a REAL vampire! A real one! I saw it!” erupted from the protesting child. His mother gave the house a final, fleeting, questioning glance, but quickly they were gone.

Strauss fell back against the door with a loud sigh of exasperation.

“What sort of backwards American custom is this?”

“I forgot.” Artemis laughed a tired laugh and shook her head. “I completely forgot. It’s Halloween today.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s actually really good timing, all things considered. We got lucky there. Why did you open the door?”

“I thought if it were our hunters, I could buy you some time by taking them on myself.”

“I don’t particularly want any more people to get hurt on my behalf.”

“That’s why you let a vampire do it.”

“Strauss.” She huffed, and approached him. She stood in front of him for a moment before falling into his chest and holding onto him.

She held him, he held her, and she cried and she cried. 

#writing #wayward souls #writeblr #original fiction

[alotofpockets]

Birthday surprise | Yelena Belova

Pairing: Yelena Belova x Reader

Prompt: “You’re really close right now.” – "Yeah, why don’t you just kiss me while we’re at it.”

A/n: Happy birthday @saras2002! I hope you have an amazing day, this one is for you! As a gift from me and @leonie1989 :)

masterlist | requests: closed | taglist | words: 1245

You woke up to gentle kisses being placed on the back of your shoulder and Yelena’s arms wrapped around your waist. Waking up with her by your side was one of your favorite experiences in the world. The calm and home-y feeling it gave you stirred up the butterflies in your stomach every time.

“Happy birthday, darling,” Yelena says when she realizes that you’re awake. “Hm thank you, good morning, baby.” Yelena smothers you with some more kisses, before leaning over and opening the drawer of her bedside table. When she turned back to you she had a present in her hand. “I know you told me for your birthday you just wanted to spend the day together, but I wanted to give you a little something too. And we will spend the day together as well, I’ve got it all planned out.” She says with a smile and hands you the gift. The present was a beautiful necklace. Yelena helped you put it on, it was perfect.

After some cuddles in bed, you both got dressed and ready for the day. Downstairs Yelena started on breakfast while you cuddled up on the couch with Fanny. After an amazing breakfast Yelena said it was time to head to your first activity of the day. She was set on not telling you where you were going for any of the activities she had planned, but you trusted her and would follow her everywhere.

In the car, Yelena turned on the music and the car filled with lyrics to Starlight by Taylor Swift. Yelena started driving as you started singing along to the music, a big smile present on her face. She loves it when you sing along with music, but especially with Taylor Swift. She knew how much you loved her music and had picked intentionally played all her music on shuffle.

You were so caught up in singing along to your favorite songs that you had forgotten to check your surroundings and hadn’t realized you had arrived in town. Yelena parked the car and kissed your cheek before getting out of the car. She took you hand and walked you over to your favorite bookshop. Your eyes widened when she stopped in front of the store, you loved to read and walk around bookstores to find new books to read.

You picked out three new books, which Yelena generously paid for, after some resistance from you she said, “It’s your birthday, you’re not paying for a single thing today.” You gave in when you realized she wasn’t going to change her mind. Next you went to a little bakery and sat down to eat some cake. You were really enjoying this time with her, content with your decision of only wanting to spend the day with her. Celebrating your birthday for friends and family would come later.

After the bakery Yelena walked you back to the car, and Taylor Swift started playing again. You arrived back home, but Yelena told you to stay in the car. She came back with Fanny, who jumped into the backseat, then you were on the road again.

For your next birthday activity Yelena drove you to the forest, another one of your favorite things to do was take Fanny on walks around the beautiful nature this forest had to offer. Hand in hand you walked around with Fanny running from tree to tree, finding sticks to carry around. When you reached a part of the forest where dogs had to be on a leash you called over Fanny and put on the leash for a bit.

Fanny was a good dog and listened very well, but today she seemed to have other plans. While on the leash she ran a circle around you and Yelena, pushing you closer together. Then she ran a bit further to push the two of you even closer.

You were now eye to eye with your girlfriend, you smile and say, “You’re really close right now.” And as if Yelena can read your mind she responds with, "Yeah, why don’t you just kiss me while we’re at it.”

Your hands move to her cheeks as you lean in and kiss her. You loved her so much, all that you needed was her by your side. You broke the kiss when Fanny started barking. She now realized that what she did meant the leash wasn’t able to get longer anymore, so she was stuck. You both laugh at her antics and untangle yourselves with Fanny’s leash.

Continuing your walk, you start asking Yelena about any further plans. She won’t let you know much, expect for that after the walk you were heading to the compound to drop off Fanny with Natasha and that there would be something food related on the schedule.

So, when you got back in the car, you started driving towards the compound. When you arrived, you opened the car door to let Fanny out. “Come here, girl. Are you excited to stay with auntie Nat?” Fanny loved Natasha, so you knew she was very excited. What you didn’t see was that when you were getting Fanny, Yelena grabbed her phone and texted Natasha a quick text. “We’re here.”

You all walked into the compound together and took the elevator to the common room. The elevator ding, let you know that you had arrived at the right floor and the doors opened. You couldn’t believe your eyes as you stepped out. The room was filled with the Avengers, your family and some friends from outside of the Avengers. “Surprise!” They all said in unison. Party poppers and confetti canons going off around you.

With tears in your eyes, you turn around to Yelena, “You tricked me.” With a smirk on her face she says, “I sure did, now let’s enjoy the rest of your birthday celebrations, darling. I love you.” You manage to tell her you love her too, before everyone comes up to you to congratulate you. You still couldn’t believe that everyone was there and all for you. You mouth a thank you, to Yelena across the room where she’s talking with her sister.

Tony whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Hi everyone, thank you so much for joining us today to celebrate y/n’s birthday! The caterers have set up the food to the right of the room and there is an open bar with all kinds of drinks to the left, everyone help yourself. And y/n, once again, congratulations. You mean a lot to all of us, and we’re very happy to celebrate you today and every day. Cheers!” The whole room erupted with cheers’ from everyone.

You spend the rest of the afternoon, celebrating your birthday with your loved ones. When everyone starts leaving and it’s just Yelena, you and the remaining Avengers that live in the compound, Natasha speaks up. “So, Yelena told us that you said you didn’t want any presents today. But you should know by now, that that is not how we do birthdays at the compound.” You shake your head at all of them laughing.

While Nat was distracting you with the present talk, Tony and Pepper had moved to the room next door and wheeled in a table filled with presents from everyone that was there to celebrate your birthday today. It was an insane number of gifts. You knew you said no to presents, but you were also very excited now that you see all of them.

Main taglist: @yellowvxbes @xxromanoffxx @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @danveration @wandaswifeyforlifey @marvelwomen-simp @snooy245 @peggycarter-steverogers @wandas-slut-heart @natashas-sunshine @annephobic @laaurrel @catasha @t00manyfand0ms @multifandomlesbianic @bandit2029 @avengerswriter4eva @gigistylestomlinson @snowdrop1026 @sylvies4ever @youreatotalposer @mellowladyangel @milfloverslut @lyak12 @smalls-words @when-wolves-howl @svftpetker @la-reine-des-enfers @official-chaotic-wandamaximoff @imabee-oralizard @rafecameronswhore @be-missed @romaaa28 @youresuchamom @youralphawolf72 @maia-lightwoood @rootbeerfaygo @elliesayshello869 @vllowe @princessprudy @nightingalexx @hallecarey1 @wandsmxmff @lissaaaa145 @blackwidow-3 @natashasapphic @amessbian @oh-thats-cute @ratzyy @alienciatt @wizardofstories

Yelena taglist: @ailenepuff @kacka84

#pockets celebrations #yelena belova #yelena #yelena belova imagine #yelena belova x y/n #yelena mcu #marvel #marvel imagine #yelena belova x reader #yelena belova x female reader #yelena x y/n #yelena x reader #avengers imagine #the avengers #marvel mcu #marvel cinematic universe #mcu

[jake-kiszkas-smirk]

Manners

Josh Kiszka X Reader

18+ only, minors do not interact!

Warnings: unprotected sex, impact play, oral (m/rec), slight praise kink, bondage, little bit of dirty talk.

Word count: 2.4k

I didn't have anyone to proof read this so sorry in advance for errors

You sat in the lawn chair and listened to the conversations happening around you.  Your best friend’s band had just performed and you had all gone back to his place to have a bonfire afterwards.  Jake and you had been friends since you drunkenly bumped into each other years ago in a bar.  You instantly had bonded over a mutual love for music.  

“How was it?” He asked as he sat next to you,

“It was good! I liked that new song you played, I liked the solo” You replied and a proud smile spread on his face. 

“Thanks, I’m excited about that one,” he said as he sunk further into his chair.  “You staying here tonight?” He asked

“No, I think I’m going to head home soon actually, I worked today and I’m tired.” You said as you stood from your chair.  You made your rounds, telling everyone bye, noting a certain curly haired man was missing from the group.  You had a pretty good idea of where he was.  You made your way to your car and before you could even get there you could see the silhouette of him leaning against your driver door.  You walked slowly, taking a deep breath.  Josh and you had been having a sort of, friends with benefits secret thing going on.  He wanted more, you insisted that you didn’t, at least to him.   You’d never admit it but you wanted more with him too, desperately.  You were terrified to get close to him, in an emotional, love way.  You were already so head over heels for him, you knew if you had him as emotionally and intimately attached to you as he wanted, it would absolutely shatter you to pieces if it ever ended.  That along with the fact that you didn’t know how Jake would react, hence the secret part. 

“Joshua” you said flatly as you approached him.  

“Y/n” He replied a smirk on his face, “I just had to tell you how good you looked tonight before you left.”  You kept your smile at bay, feigning the indifference as you dug for your keys in your bag. 

“Mhm, definitely not out here to talk your way into my bed again, right?” You said as your eyes moved to his, a smirk now playing on your lips.   He grabbed your hips, pulling you against him,

“If you’d allow me the honor, I’d love to”  he whispered as he caressed your cheek and brushed a piece of hair behind your ear.  “Maybe we can go get something to eat at that little 24 hour diner on the way?”

“Sex only Josh, remember.”  You said as you backed away.  He sighed as he moved away from your door, opening it for you when he heard the locks move. 

“Right. Sex only” He repeated back to me, avoiding eye contact.  Your heart ached at the hurt you could hear in his voice. 

“What are you in the mood for tonight?” You asked as you started the car, pushing past your emotions. 

“Anything you want mama.”  He replied with a wink.  He was always a little shy when admitting what he wanted in the bedroom, but you caught his hint. ‘Mama’

“Alright, follow me in your car, I’m not driving you home.” You shut your door, and rolled down your window “And give me a few minutes to go in before you, I need to get ready.”  His brows rose at your statement and you drove off, not giving him a chance to respond.  You planned out your tactics for the night the rest of the way to your house.   You got there and hurried inside, knowing Josh wouldn’t wait long.  You changed into your favorite black strappy matching set, threw on some red lipstick, and threw your hair into a high ponytail.  You heard your phone buzz,

Josh-Can I come inside yet

-yes, lock the door behind you, and then come lay on the bed. 

You leaned against your dresser, putting yourself on display.   Josh hadn’t seen this particular set and you knew he was going to like it.   You heard the front door open and close, a shiver of excitement flowing over you.  His footsteps got closer and closer, he appeared in your room and stopped in his tracks when his eyes landed on you.  He turned to make a beeline for you, but you put your hand up,

“No touching, get on the bed” You commanded.  He groaned and rolled his eyes but obeyed. “Shirt off before you lay down.”  He lifted his shirt over his head and you admired his toned tan body.  He laid back on the bed, but stayed propped up on his elbows so he could watch your every move.  You got onto the bed and crawled up his body, licking a stripe from his navel to his collar bone.   He shuddered and laid back, his hands instantly on you.  You pulled away and smirked at him, tilting your head. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!” He said realizing he had touched you.  You wordlessly got up from the bed and walked over to your closet, picking up a box.  “Fuck” Josh breathed out, but he had lust in his eyes, he was excited.  You placed it next to him on the bed, opening it and taking out the handcuffs you loved so much.  All you had to do was give Josh a look and his hands were already above his head.  You straddled his chest as you secured his hands.  You and Josh had a conversation when you first decided to start fucking each other.  You discussed all your kinks and what you were comfortable with.  You had discovered you were both switches but Josh leaned more sub with a masochist side, a praise kink too. You leaned more dom with a sadist side. You had gone over everything and set boundaries including a safe word.  A glance down revealed his eyes traveling all over your body. 

“You like this set?” You asked as you scooted back, effectively situating yourself over his crotch.   You started grinding on him through his pants, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to answer

“Yes, you look so sexy mama” He said as he already started to tug at his restraints. 

“Hmm already dying to get out of those?  This is going to be a long night for you”  A wicked grin formed on your face as Josh rutted his hips up into you with a groan.   You leaned down, kissing his neck and working your way down his chest. You teased over his nipple before taking it between your teeth, causing him to hiss through his clenched jaw.  You kissed lower and your hands found the button on his jeans.   You kissed and nipped at his hip bones as you worked his pants and boxers off.  His breathing had gotten heavier and he was repeatedly making fists and opening up his hands. He was absolutely dying to touch you and you knew it.   He was already hard and you raked your acrylic nails up his thighs, your hands getting oh so close to where he wanted them.  “You look so pretty laid out for me Josh, already so hard for me, does your cock need some attention?” his lashes fluttered and a shade of pink took over his cheeks. 

“Yes please, want to feel your hand wrapped around me” He sighed, bucking his hips up. 

“Oh, that’s not what I asked you baby” You smirked as you reached for your box.  His eyes shot to your hand, watching as you drifted over different things, “Hmmm how will I show you the attention you want.”   

“Shit” He said with a small laugh, realizing his mistake.  You gauged his facial expression as you touched different things.  You read his body expertly, you felt him tense slightly as your hand skimmed over your favorite crop whip.  The end being a heart.  

“I think this will do” You said as you lifted it from the box.  His eyes dilated as they followed that little heart to his chest.  “If you’re a good boy and remember your manners maybe I’ll fuck you, and if you’re really good maybe I’ll let you cum”  He nodded eagerly,

“I’ll be so good for you mama, so good” He insisted, eyes still trained on that little red leather heart, waiting for your first strike.   You were next to him on the bed, sitting back on your heels, you ran the crop down his chest and then back up slowly, abruptly bringing it back and down on his nipple.

“Thank you” He breathed out, and you grinned.  He did remember his manners.  You ran it back down his stomach.  You looked at his cock, you couldn’t believe how hard he already was, precum leaking from the tip.  You popped his hip with the crop, and he again thanked you.  Having him under your mercy and so turned on had you quickly soaking through your panties.  You knew you weren’t going to be able to hold out as long as normal.  You moved the crop over his hip bones, running it softly up his shaft as you looked at his face.  He was staring at the crop moving up and down his dick, anticipating the impact he knew was coming.  His chest was heaving up and down and his whole body tensed as you brought back the crop, then back down on his dick mercifully softer than the impact to his hip and chest,

“Fuck!” He cried out, “Thank you, thank you mama” he groaned, you couldn’t tell if it was a tone of pain or if he was just that turned on.  You tossed the crop to the bed, and caressed his face, gently scratching his scalp for a moment, his lips were parted but his breathing was ragged.

“You did so good,” You kissed his cheek and pushed a curl out of his face, “Would you like me to kiss it better?”  

“Please, it’s aching for you” His words where almost a whimper at this point.  You moved yourself to between his legs.  You kissed the spot where you had delivered the blow with the crop. 

“Thank you” it was barely audible.  You licked up his shaft and he moaned, leaning his head back against the pillow.  When you finally took him into your mouth the room was filled with the little noises escaping his lips and the lewd noise of you sucking his dick.  He had his eyes clamped shut and you could tell he was trying not to buck his hips into your mouth.  “I-I’m going to cum, please fuck me, want to feel you mama, please” he pleaded.   You pulled your mouth off with a pop and looked at him for a moment. He put so much trust in you, and he was so vulnerable with you.  That’s when it occurred to you that he was risking his heart just as much as you would be if you agreed to be more with him.  Something came over you, and you realized you wanted him too, more than anything.  He must have seen the shift in your emotion but he didn’t dare voice it.  You silently reached up and undid his handcuffs.  You straddled him again and leaned down, kissing him passionately.  You pulled away and he gave you a look, asking for permission.  You wordlessly nodded, and his hands were on you instantly, pulling you closer.  The kisses were sloppy and intense as his hands traveled all over your body.  The mood in the room had completely changed in an instant.  You were melting into each other, and whether he knew it or not you were putty in his hands.  Before you knew what was happening he had flipped you onto your back and was sliding your panties down your legs.  He tossed them to the ground and ran his hands up your thighs as he positioned himself between them.  His lips where back on your neck as he lined himself up with your entrance.  He slowly slid into you and you both moaned, his forehead landed on your shoulder as he started thrusting his hips.  His face was buried in your neck, his breath hot and so shaky it was revealing how close he really was.   His body was so close to yours the friction against your clit was sending you quickly towards your orgasm.  You lifted your leg and hooked it over his hip, giving him a deeper angle that threw you over the edge and had you crying out his name and grasping at his back and ass, pulling him against you, coaxing him to fuck you harder.

“You make me feel so good fuck, so good at fucking me” You praised and he started thrusting harder but his rhythm was faltering,

“Keep talking” He breathed, “Tell me how good my cock feels filling you up”

“So damn good Josh, want you to fuck me all the time, no one fucks me like you”  you managed between moans, and it was enough for him.  He was grunting and digging his fingertips into your hip as he pressed deep into you and came.  He remained on top of you as you both caught your breath.  Once you could both breathe again he rolled off and laid next to you. 

“Are you ok?” He asked as he turned on his side to face you.  You turned to him,

“The real question is are you ok?” you said as you inspected his wrists, they were definitely red and a little raw from the cuffs.  

“Yes, I’m fine.  That’s not what I meant though, during it just seemed like someth-“

“Do you want to stay here tonight” You asked abruptly.  He stopped talking and looked at you curiously, thinking before he spoke but you could see the hope in his eyes. 

“Like…on the couch?” He questioned and you couldn’t contain your giggle,

“No, here, in my bed”  You looked at him with a shy look, very uncharacteristic for you.  A small smile spread on his beautiful mouth. 

“I’d like that” He said softly, scooting closer, “Maybe we can get breakfast tomorrow?” He looked at you expectantly, those doe eyes that were your weakness.   You nodded and brought his wrist to your mouth and kissed it.  He pulled you closer and ran his fingers through your hair, quickly putting you to sleep. 

#greta van fleet #gvf #greta van fleet fic #greta van smut #josh gvf #josh kiszka #Josh kiszka smut #fanfic #Josh kiszka fan fiction

[woolmasterleel]

Understanding the Unknown

Decided to write a little something about Pandora's first encounter with Galvarium!! Plus a bonus at the end (～￣▽￣)～ It's a little violent?? Nothing too graphic is described, but a warning just in case!

“King Romirr, this is unnecessary. I am surveying land for the new graves…”

“Nonsense, Pandora. If your work dirties your hair, I’ll just wash it again.”

Pandora sighed, pushing away the king’s advancing touch. “Thank you your majesty, my hair will surely be disturbed by the wind.”

Romirr pouted, “fine, fine. Promise me you will come right back here once you’re done.”

“No, King Romirr, I-“

Romirr gently held onto her shoulders, “never mind making a promise, that is an order.” He smiled, standing up. “Let me walk you out.”

Pandora ignored his outstretched hand, briskly walking toward the door, “with all due respect, King Romirr, I am not a queen, I am not royalty. I am simply an executioner. I dirty my hands every other day. I am not fit for your affection.”

“You are such a stubborn woman,” Romirr laughed, “of course you are.”

Pandora drove her teeth deep into her tongue, fighting the urge to argue further. Without a word, she began walking swiftly toward her place of work. She knew Romirr would never follow her to her room.

She gently closed the doors, hauling the giant iron latch down to lock it. Pandora moved to her study, piles of hastily gathered stacks of paper greeted her. She sat at her desk, flicking through her journal.

Symbols of various magics sprawled the pages. Notes on the light, the dark, angels, demons. Even the little information on eldritch species found a place among the pages.

Concepts of deities she would be willing to form a pact with flooded the book; sketches of the most grotesque entities to the most graceful of beings all had a home there. She turned the page. Her favourite page.

Several detailed sketches of a being taking a feminine form, more humanoid than the other deities featured. Pandora traced her fingers along the grand horns which crowned the being’s head, she stared intensely at the sharp eyes. The smile made her feel safe.

Pandora slowly flipped to the next page, “kill the king,” she recited. She turned the page.

“Kill the king.”

Again. “Kill the king.”

After countless pages repeating the phrase, Pandora opened to a blank page. She lifted her ink brush, bringing it down, repeating the pattern of words on pages before.

She stared at the words.

“He’s stopping me from pursuing so much,” she hissed, slamming her fist down on the desk, “I hate you.”

Not waiting for the ink to dry, she slammed the book shut, hiding it away once again. She stood, exhaling slowly, dusting herself off. She grabbed her coat, throwing it on as she left to round up her survey team.

~~~

“Men, our objective out here is to find proper disposal grounds for the executed,” Pandora announced to the group before her,” we cannot have it located too close to the ocean, so stay away from the shore. Rope off any location you deem fit, I trust your judgments. Is everything clear? There is no need to start digging today.”

The men replied in unison, “yes ma’am,” before each separating to perform their given task.

Pandora watched them disperse, eventually turning to begin searching herself.

She kicked around small rocks, her thoughts straying from the task at hand. She started off at the horizon. Why did something feel off?

She touched the back of her head. It felt as though her brain was struggling to make sense of what she was doing. She was surveying the land, she knew that, yet her mind struggled to make any sense of it.

Pandora gazed around her, all of the men had vanished from her sight. She shook her head, removing rope from her belt. She then stood still, her ears ringing.

“Uoy era ohw?”

Pandora abruptly jerked her head behind her. “Who’s there?” She demanded, withdrawing a small blade.

“Ereh suoregnad si ti.”

Pandora narrowed her eyes.

“Em raeh uoy nac?”

“I…” Pandora rubbed her eyes. “No, I must be going crazy.” She quickly scurried off toward her men, the sound vanishing from her ears. Surely it was last night’s lack of sleep causing this?

She glanced back at the area she moved from. There was nothing, no trees, no shrubs, just flat land with a sizable rock resting on the ground. She squinted.

The rock seemed to start moving, or rather, began flickering. The grey mass began to appear distorted, as did the small area surrounding it. Certainly, there was something there. Pandora did not want to stick around to find out what it was.

She tried distracting herself with surveying work. While she did manage to complete her task, she could not get those strange murmurings out of her head. Night began to encroach on the team as they rounded up to head back to the castle.

Her head was spinning. What had she seen? Or rather, heard? Pandora opened the main doors to the castle, dreading seeing the king again. Of course he was standing there, the man couldn’t even sit on his throne and wait for them.

“Welcome back!” He greeted each of the returning men, his voice so soft yet cheerful. It made her sick.

Pandora avoided eye contact, quickly moving beyond him. She ignored his calls to her.

Finally in the safety of her room, she let herself fall onto her bed. She stared silently at the ceiling.

“What was that…” she asked herself, rubbing her eyes aggressively. Pain began to set in.

She grabbed a pillow, screaming into it. It was like a massive claw was crushing her head, pain crawled all over.

She balled herself up. And the rock? Something was standing there, yet she couldn’t grasp what it was.

‘Uoy era ohw?’

The noise repeated itself in her mind. She began mouthing it.

“Uoy era ohw?”

“Uoy era ohw?”

“Who are you?”

Pandora slapped a hand over her mouth. Was that it? She threw herself out of bed and rushed over to her desk. Grabbing whatever empty paper she could find, she began writing.

“Uoy era ohw means ‘who are you’.” Her eyes lit up upon realizing, “it’s backward human speech…”

She recited the other words she heard, “Ereh suoregnad si ti… ‘it is dangerous here’.”

Then the last set, “Em raeh uoy nac?” She stared at the words, “can you hear me?”

Pandora leaned back in her chair. Whatever it was she encountered didn’t seem aggressive, rather it was curious or protective. She flicked back through her information of various deities. She didn’t have any records of beings who spoke human language backward, let alone ones who barely existed in a physical form.

No, this was something new.

Her fear was replaced with excitement. She hadn’t seen any inhuman beings since her childhood, not since King Romirr made it forbidden for anyone to pursue any kind of magic. Finally, she could have some sort of out of the suffocating pride of humanity Romirr constantly sang about.

Pandora closed her book, placing it in her inside pocket. She pulled her hood over her head, grabbed a lantern, then began her trek back out to the field. She was going to find out what was out there.

~~~

It was dark. Of course it was, it was the middle of the night. Pandora held the light up as she moved toward the rock, slowing as she reached her destination.

“Hello?” She softly called, “I apologize for running off without any words, it was very rude of me.”

“Ereh kcab emoc dlouw uoy?”

Pandora blinked. Now she felt a presence, though she couldn’t see anything. She recited the words in her brain, deciphering them.

“Yes, this land is to be used as a disposal ground, it is my job to ensure that it is fit.”

“You would come back here… in the middle of the night?”

Now the words began to make more sense. She could understand.

“Well…”

“I’ve watched countless children play around here. Yet they always run off when the sun begins to fall. I assume night is a time of danger, yet you’re here.”

“It can be, I suppose, but we don’t have any demons here… they’re not allowed to reside within the kingdom.” Pandora explained.

“And demons are the only source of danger?” The voice seemed to laugh, “angels are hardly any more comforting.”

“I suppose… who are you? Or… what are you…?”

The voice laughed again, “I asked you the same earlier, then you scurried off in such a hurry. Frightened, were you?” The voice hummed, “it is impressive that you can understand me, most find me difficult to comprehend.”

Pandora cleared her throat, “I am Pandora Gladiolus, King Romirr’s…”

The entity waited patiently, static fizzing around Pandora’s head as she struggled to speak.

“King Romirr’s…? Personal maid? Private chef? Queen, perhaps?”

“N-no, absolutely not, never.” Pandora shuddered, “n-no, I’m his executioner.”

“Oh! So you’re the one those little ones chat about.” The being laughed, “they act out such gruesome scenes… from what I gather it’s rather inappropriate for a child to know such violent happenings.”

Pandora winced slightly as static whizzed through her head.

“You know, I’ve learned a lot about humanity just from observing the ones who wander out here. They talk about all sorts of things… until they wander too close here, then their brains cease to work.”

“Excuse me?” Pandora stepped back, “you kill them?”

The entity chuckled, “no no, they simply run away, too much brain pain I suppose. I am still learning many things about your kind… given that you are here now, holding a conversation, why don’t you teach me some more? It is absolutely fascinating that you’re able to understand me.”

Pandora sighed, “I… I’m still trying to figure out what is happening… If it’s so hard for people to understand you then… what are you?”

The entity hummed, “I am neither angel nor demon, I am not a god, yet I stand above them all.” The static positioned itself on the rock.

Pandora narrowed her eyes. Were those legs? The entity seemed to slowly form its static appearance into that of herself, sitting properly upright, one leg folded over the other.

“Ever wonder why angels and demons haven’t annihilated each other yet? They very easily could, if it weren’t for my existence. How much do you know about their respective magics?”

Pandora blinked, quickly pulling out her journal, “it is forbidden to study any of it here, however… I’ve managed to learn quite a bit from the resources I was able to get my hands on. Most of it is written here.”

“Ah, that’s right… A few children have attempted to play pretend games involving languages of magic, yet their guardians scold them. I am rather curious as to why this king of yours is so stuck on forbidding anyone from learning the ways of magic… from what I have heard, and seen, angels and demons can become quite close with humans. That’ll be a story for another time, I will tell you mine first. Would you like to take notes?”

“O-oh, I would! If that is okay with you, of course.”

“Not a problem, only you will be able to read them, after all. Now then, listen closely. Not all angels or demons are happy with the existence of humanity… nor are they particularly fond of each other. Should dark magic outweigh the power of light, or the other way around, the world would be thrown into disarray. Depending on which side has the upper hand, the experience humanity feels would be wildly different. Any deity who is responsible for throwing off this balance is to have their own magic revoked, to restore the balance. That is my purpose. Any questions thus far?”

Pandora stated bewildered at the faint form before her, “so… they’re all at your mercy?”

The entity laughed, “yes.”

Pandora let out an airy laugh, “I… I had no idea… this is spectacular…”

“Would you like to know more?”

“Yes please,” Pandora lifted her charcoal.

“It may take you a moment to understand what comes next, give yourself time to understand, guide yourself to think in a new way. There exists a place which transforms deities to entities closer to humans. This place is called-“

Pandora squinted her eyes.

“Ah, I figured as much. The human brain acts to protect one’s self from unwanted info hazards. Let me say it again, tell yourself you are allowed to understand.”

Pandora nodded.

“This place is called Obmil.”

She scribbled what she heard down in her book, “say it again… I think I understand.”

“Limbo.”

“Limbo?”

The being clapped its now-formed hands, “yes! Oh how wonderful you understand!”

Pandora listened intensely as the entity described Limbo, making as many notes as she could. The pain and fuzzy feeling in her mind began to vanish the more she came to understand.

“So… you don’t have a physical form? Is that why you can’t be affected by Limbo’s environment?” Pandora inquired, scribbling down more information.

“I do not think that is the reason. On a few occasions I have assumed a solid form of existence, yet it remained unchanged. The changes the environments bring upon a deity are a result of time progressing. However you define the concept of time, I am not affected by it.”

“That is fascinating…” Pandora breathed, “you’re some sort of temporal independent entity…” she laughed, “that means his majesty cannot scold me for conversing with you.”

The entity hummed, “if it isn’t too private of a matter, I’m curious as to why he is so against you studying magic.”

“It isn’t just me,” Pandora began, “the whole kingdom. Personally, I think he is afraid of being overthrown… he has a way with words, but is severely lacking in physical strength.”

“So his rule is all through mental manipulation?”

“I… didn’t say that.”

“Oh but the way you speak of him, it’s obvious that he does not treat you with the respect you deserve.”

Pandora fell silent.

“Make me understand how he makes you feel.”

“I… I don’t know how to explain it.” Pandora lowered herself to the ground, “I hate him, he never leaves me alone, constantly whispering to me how… how much he loves me. But then he turns around and starts talking about how we don’t need to be at the mercy of angels or demons. Whenever I try to argue that knowing how to use their magic can protect us, he just…” she pinched the bridge of her nose, “he knows magic is something I want to pursue. He always tells me no. Then he thinks getting close and acting sweet will make me like him more…” Pandora sighed, “I’m sorry, I am not making any sense.”

“You are,” the being said quickly, “he is hindering you.”

“He… yes you’re right. He constantly showers me with gifts, most of which are weapons… I can only imagine it is to prevent me from going after dark or light arts.”

“I may not know everything about humanity, however…” the entity reached out a static hand, “I think you should leave him.”

“I want to,” Pandora rubbed her eyes, “I want to do bad.” She flicked through the pages of her journal. “I…”

“Kill the king.”

Pandora looked up at the entity, a familiar smile on the static-like figure.

“Let’s make a deal.”

~~~Bonus: 1 year later~~~

Pandora quietly closed the door as she snuck back into the castle. The guards outside couldn't care less about her outing, however she knew a certain someone would be waiting. She hoped he was asleep.

She turned the corner, peering out to the throne room. No sign of him. She turned around, silently stepping down the hall, towards her room.

“Late night stroll again, my dear? I can only excuse you from the curfew so many times before I have to do something about it.”

Pandora halted. She looked over her shoulder, catching Romirr’s amber eyes staring her down.

“You’re the king, you can excuse me as many times as you please.” Pandora said, resuming her stroll down the hall.

She heard his footsteps behind her, “I can, yes.” He grabbed the hood of her cloak, dragging her back into his chest. He gripped her arms, “But I am tired of you sneaking out every night. Don’t think I don’t notice.”

Pandora gripped her cloak, resisting the urge to kick him, “let me go.”

Romirr narrowed his eyes, “why should I?”

“Because I did not consent to being manhandled,” she spat. Romirr released his grip.

Pandora continued down the hall, ignoring Romirr’s presence. He continued to speak, his words simply flowing in and out of her ears. She made sense of nothing.

Finally, she reached her room. She reached for the handle, only to be met with resistance.

“Your lock was rusted, so I had it replaced.”

Pandora stared daggers at Romirr, who had positioned himself next to her.

‘If he moves any closer I’ll break his neck.’ Pandora hissed to herself.

‘I think you should do so regardless.’

Ah, there she was.

‘Thank you, Galvarium, but… no, there will be a more appropriate time later.’

Romirr unlocked the door, waiting for her to walk inside. Pandora gazed around the room suspiciously. Everything seemed normal.

“Your keys,” Romirr said, holding them out to her.

Pandora carefully took them, avoiding his eyes. Making eye contact with him made her want nothing more than to scoop them out of his head.

“Thank you,” she said flatly, turning away. She waited for the door to close.

It didn’t.

“You can leave,” Pandora raised her voice slightly.

The door finally closed, however Pandora could still feel Romirr’s eyes staring into her back.

Pandora jerked her head around, “you never come in here. Get out.”

“Pandora, are you forgetting who you’re speaking to?”

“No,” she crossed her arms, “now get out.”

Romirr’s eyes flicked around, eyeing the various axes and blades that adorned the wall. Pandora could tell he was nervous, despite his voice.

Romirr returned his gaze to her, “so you do keep the gifts I give you.”

“What else am I supposed to do with them?” Pandora carefully removed her cloak, ensuring her journal stayed hidden.

Romirr hummed, wandering around her desk, “you keep your work area quite clean. How admirable.”

“Romirr…” Pandora hissed, “leave.”

The air stung with silence. Pandora felt Romirr next to her once again, his hands holding her shoulders, “no.”

‘You have every right to kick him now,’ Galvarium hummed, ‘darling, don’t you dare let him touch you.’

‘But what if I’m exiled…’

‘So what if you are? Pandora, you don’t need this position. You can leave. We have more important matters to attend to anyway.’

By now Romirr’s grip had loosened to an unwelcome embrace.

“King Romirr,” Pandora cleared her throat, “release me. We are not lovers, never will be.”

Romirr simply sighed into her hair, “we’ve found a way to execute angels and demons, Pandora.”

Pandora felt her heart skip a beat.

“After years of simply chasing them out, performing rituals to release humans from their pacts… we can eliminate them.”

“Romirr-“

“No, Pandora, this is amazing. Finally we’re closer to being free of these deities.” He tightened his embrace, “I want you to be the one to carry out these executions, please…”

“Absolutely not.”

Romirr drew his head back, “excuse me?”

Pandora pushed her elbow into Romirr’s rib cage, causing him to stumble back. He glared at her sharply.

“Romirr I am sick and tired of… all of this! The affection I never asked for, the obsession you have with keeping everyone away from magic, this… idea you have that humans are the perfect entity…” Pandora grabbed a knife from the wall. “I’m only here because I don’t know where else I would go if I left… but I realize now I’d rather be wandering out there than being stuck dealing with you.”

Romirr stared at her, his eyes watering slightly, “I don’t understand,” he whimpered, “Pandora, we can finally live without fear.”

Pandora stared at him, “are you serious?” She laughed airily, “you, great King Romirr of Coldera, you live in fear of these deities? Do you realize how easily we as a kingdom can learn how to harness their magic to protect ourselves? Not every angel and demon wants to kill humans.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You haven’t The slightest clue Pandora. You laugh, but I’ve been protecting you from these vile creatures.”

“Protecting me? Or hindering me… all of us?” Pandora drove the knife into a nearby table, “Romirr, you've done nothing to ‘protect’ the people of this kingdom… you’re just afraid people will overpower you.”

Romirr furrowed his eyebrows, “how dare you?” He stepped closer, “after everything I’ve done for you?” He quickly seized her collar, pulling her closer to his face, “I love you, Pandora,” he whispered, “why must you reject me?”

“I do not care about your feelings,” Pandora hissed. Seemingly without control, she pushed him away.

“Pandora… let me, just this once?”

“Absolutely not,” Pandora spat, “I am done. Done with you. I am leaving.”

“But you don’t have anywhere to go,” Romirr smiled, “you know that you’re safe here-“

“Would you shut your mouth? I am sick of you.” Pandora slammed her fist on the table, “Leave me alone. Don’t ever contact me again.”

Romirr cleared his throat, “fine. If you’re going to be like that,” he stood up straight, “I order you to stay put. Tomorrow you will be escorted to the holding cells. You will be tried for committing treason.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t take orders from you anymore.”

“Pandora if you do not listen to me-“

Pandora slammed her fist into the large mirror next to her, shattering their reflections. The shards pierced her skin, blood dripped from her fingers. Romirr shrank back.

“Get out.”

Romirr swiftly collected himself. Within seconds, he was gone.

#OC #original character #Writing #Leel's stories #??? What do I even tag this #Pandora Gladiolus #Galvarium Alkaheidra #Romirr Kagami

[angsty-violet]

Today

The reconditioning had been going well. Ghost had managed to reinforce the still existing submissive tendencies with a few choice punishments and rewards and Clone had settled back into what they had been before Ghost had gone to space.

It was an enjoyable experience, bending Clone to his will again. So much of what he had done in space had been out of his control. It felt refreshing to be able to exert control on something again. Especially when that something was Clone.

The scientists came on a day very similar to the day Ghost had arrived back home. The sun was shining and the air was that perfect temperature. The plants seemed to shimmer in the sunlight and every time Ghost checked on Clone, the light would reflect off of his collar and bracelets.

Clone was planting in the garden again. He seemed to spend most of his time while at the farmhouse out in the garden. It fascinated Ghost. Clone couldn’t get his own meals. He couldn’t even boil an egg or make toast. Yet, he could remember the complex formulas for making sure his soil was optimized to grow food.

Ghost saw them first. A group of them pulled up in an armored vehicle, got out and started toward Clone.

Ghost winced. It was too soon. The conditioning hadn’t completely taken yet. If they tried to force him now, he might get violent or bolt again.

However, when Clone saw the four men headed toward him his reaction was not to try and kill them or head toward the woods, it was to go to Ghost.

Ghost caught him, wincing as Clone hit him going too fast. Clone wrapped his arms around Ghost’s waist and pressed closer to him. However, as the men continued to move toward them, Clone shifted to standing behind Ghost.

“Shh, it’s okay. Daddy will handle it.”

Clone peeked over his shoulder but stayed firmly behind Ghost. Well, that certainly was new. Maybe the conditioning was further along then Ghost realized.

“What do you want?” he asked the men.

“Doctor, we need to do more tests.”

Clone whined and tucked himself further behind Ghost.

Ghost raised an eyebrow. “What kind of tests? I thought we agreed there’s nothing else to learn.”

The scientist shifted. “There were distinct differences between you and him when we checked your musculature and skeletal scans. The effects of deep space travel must be more pronounced than we realized. We need to test both of you again.”

Ghost rolled his eyes. “No. You’ve got plenty of information from the original set.”

“There’s more we can learn from your unique circumstances.”

Ghost contemplated it. If he let the testing go ahead he’d disrupt the progress he had made with Clone. If he didn’t, they might miss their window.

“What will the tests be?”

Clone whimpered audibly. He placed his hand on Ghost’s arm and when Ghost turned to him, Clone shot him a pleading look.

“We just need to know if they’re going to hurt again,” Ghost said, mostly ignoring Clone.

“They won’t. We swear. The original scans were the only part of the process that is painful.”

Ghost weighed it. If the reconditioning didn’t take Clone could be impossibly dangerous. He had Ghosts body and mind. The brawn and the brilliance. If it had taken…they could be gaining invaluable data from the project.

Ghost turned to clone and gripped his face with one hand. The wet eyes were back and Clone looked so pathetic and sad.

“Tomorrow, come back tomorrow.”

The scientist looked like he was going to argue but he just nodded instead. The men left and Ghost watched as they drove away. He turned to Clone again and raised an eyebrow.

“I bought you a little time because you’re so scared. You should be grateful for my kindness and compassion. It’ll give you time to prepare yourself for tomorrow. And remember how to behave during testing.”

The tears didn’t fall, but it was a close thing.

“Come now, it’s going to be alright.

#jeff satur #ghost #jeff satur's ghost #ghost mv #fanfic #ghost/clone #jeffcest

[elizaellwrites]

Legacy of the Fallen- Chapter 1

Link to Prologue

Table of Contents

Accepted

Dear Mother,

We’re moving again, such a surprise, I know. It’s so tiring, every single time, and now is no different. The past four years have been just above the line of disaster, every day either packing or unpacking, some of the boxes don’t even get touched before we leave again. I just want to go back to London, I miss Lydia so much, I haven't been able to make any friends since we don't stay long enough for that to happen. I know that Father says he needs to move for his job, but I don't know how he can even begin to take it.

I'm worried about him though, he's always so jumpy. He puts on this brave face and makes a joke and later I find him leaning against a wall, staring into space with this horribly sad look in his eyes. I know that he misses you and my sister, but this sadness runs deeper than that. I think he feels like he's failed. I don't exactly know why I think that, but I can't shake that feeling. We've moved to Rochester, Minnesota in the U.S. now, I honestly think this is a good step since Father told me of how his brother lives here. They lost their daughter not too long ago too, she was only few years older than me, so I think it's a good idea to have us here.

I'm still looking for the answer of why you left and where you went, it's really begun to frustrate me. When I was little, I could just accept that you were gone, but now it's like a pebble in my shoe that I can't get out. Life overall is just a mess and continues to be, I can only hope that one day things will be normal. Whatever the heck that is.

I'll write again soon, love your daughter,

Annamarie Rose Olson

____________________________

Annamarie Olson leaned her head carelessly against the school bus window, ignoring the slight pain that jolted through her head at every crack and dent on the road. She stared at her reflection in the slightly fogged window, leaning her head back as the bus brakes engaged to pick up another kid. She still found riding a school bus to be strange, they hadn’t existed where she’d grown up.

Her long golden blonde curls closely framed her face, ever threatening to fall over her eyes at the next large bump. Her lips were pulled tight, betraying the anxiety that was stirring in her gut. Her button nose was just ever so resting against the cool glass, just enough to make the skin tingle. She met her own gaze, pursing her lips as she did so. She knew that someone was going to mention them today, they always did, every time she switched schools. Her hooded eyes weren’t the problem, neither was the dramatic upturn that caught some attention. It was the fact that no one could figure out what colour her eyes were actually supposed to be. They were ever-changing, every single colour and shade making its appearance at some point, depending on the light or her mood or whatever it was. She didn’t hate it, but really, she wished people would just stop bringing it up.

She let out a soft sigh, letting her breath fog the window further. She refocused her eyes on the pavement, creating an imaginary trail with her gaze while they drove along. Anything she could do to distract her from the inevitable pattern of going to a new school would make her day better.

Truly, it was getting old. They didn’t have much to move with just the two of them, but place after place, lifting boxes and dragging around what little furniture they hadn’t sold. She was only fifteen, and she really didn’t think she was supposed to feel old already. The one hope she held about this place, above all the rest they had been, was her uncle.

Throughout the years, her father had hardly spoken of their family at all. When he did, he always spoke of them in the past tense, leading her to believe for many years that they had no other family. So when he had told her about Joseph, his brother who was only a year older than himself, she had been confused, to say the least. She had heard him talking on the phone with him many times over the last couple of months, their conversations only ever serious or sombre. What they were talking about, however, she didn’t pry.

They had been living in Minnesota for a week at that point, and her opinion of the place was no different from many other places. Whether they stayed here or left, she just wanted to settle back down, just as they had when she was younger. She knew that her father had been a restless spirit since her mother was gone, having trusted friends watch her while he was gone for weeks at a time, sometimes coming home more disheartened than when he left. She missed him during the times he was gone, but he had always overcompensated when he came home, the affection and care he had shown her as a single father leaving her unable to hold resentment of any sort. She supposed he had waited until he deemed her old enough to travel with him, as the borderline nomadic lifestyle was not one for a kid. She had been able to see some amazing sights, however, travelling much further distances than most her age.

She shifted her posture as they pulled to another stop, knowing that they had to be nearing the end of the pickup route. The bus had already been moderately full when she had boarded, though she still had the pleasure of not having to share her seat; something she hoped would not change.

She shuffled her feet in discomfort, her fingers gripping each other in her lap. Contrary to what people in towns or smaller cities she’d lived in, growing up in a big city did not make her comfortable in crowds. They were suffocating, the clamour of voices, especially children’s, made her ears ring, and their unspoken voices in the back of her head became so loud she couldn’t pretend they weren’t there anymore. Her father had taught her that talking about the things others said without speaking aloud was considered incredibly rude by most people, and indeed whenever she accidentally brought up something that an unspoken voice had said, others acted shocked and completely disturbed, as though she’d broken the biggest rule in human society. So, she tried to ignore the continuous noise and forced it down, like everyone else was presumably doing.

It did confuse her though when some other people said that hearing unspoken voices was a bad sign of schizophrenia. How could anyone possibly know the difference between that and regular chatter? She sank in her seat, her arm brushing along the textured material of her backpack. Outside, houses continued to fly by, their designs and colours all seemingly the same. She shivered as the girl seated a few seats in front of her reached up and pulled the small window open. The blend of sweet grass and the musty rain from earlier that morning sent a fuzzy feeling through her body: the smell of spring.

The bus took a right turn, revealing the view of the school from her seat on the left side of the vehicle. She sat up in her seat, her hand unconsciously sweeping her hair back from her face, wincing slightly as her index finger caught and released a small tangle.

They passed a small, unfenced baseball field, a large grassy field rising on the edges up to the road they were now driving on. Further to the back of the field, a fenced-in sports field of some sort, with audience stands surrounding it blocked out the view of the neighbourhood behind. She turned her attention to the school itself, the cold, concrete structure nothing more than a three-story cube. It was almost comedic, how much it looked like a prison, the only pieces missing being the guards and barbed wire fences. Well, the fence around the sports field looks similar enough, she decided. As they grew closer, she could see brown brick accents in small alcoves that lined the walk along the ground floor, the only colour being a rusted blue accent under each window, all of which added insult to injury and made the building look completely bizarre.

The bus made a final left turn into the oval-shaped unloading zone, stopping just short of being in front of the only indent in the structure. As soon as they halted, every student stood and began shoving their way into the narrow aisle. Anna shouldered her backpack, the bag feeling unnaturally empty against her. She stood slowly, eyes darting to each person who passed. She knew that she was average in height at five-foot-four inches, but so many of the other students walking through easily dwarfed her.

Finally, the flow had begun to slow, only a few other others scattered throughout the vehicle being patient enough to wait. She shifted out of her seat carefully, her feet hesitating more than her head as they momentarily paused on the last step down to the pavement. A scoff and a light push on her backpack from the boy behind her caused her to take the last step, having to try and prevent herself from stumbling further as he pushed past her, jogging over to join a group of other boys who looked her age.

She continued at a slow pace away from the bus, looking around at the groups gathered around the entrance, only a few students making the journey directly into the building. She lowered her gaze, somewhat self-conscious as her mind bustled with the whispers in her head, her face suddenly scrunching up at the state of the pavement. The path made of pebbles sealed in concrete was covered in inch-wide black circles, some were brown or grey as well, but the majority were black. Newer circles of green or pink gave her the answer that she didn’t want to know, every single spot was where a student squished a piece of gum into the ground.

She raised her gaze again, trying to shove that knowledge from her active steps toward the main entrance. The doors themselves were nothing special, just a row of glass with plain concrete steps leading up to them. Above the doors, several large windows overlooked the entrance; the silhouettes of students inside could just be seen behind the glare of the sun.

A shiver ran down her spine, her muscles tightening automatically, the feeling of being watched overwhelming her senses. She glanced around, her body growing warmer under the mysterious scrutiny. A voice suddenly rose, above the rest inside her head. A clear voice amid the fray, directly into her head. Who are you?

Her breath stuttered, her pace freezing in place as her search for the gaze intensified. It had been the voice of a boy, his voice already dropped to a baritone, with an accent she couldn’t quite identify, yet seemed so familiar at the same time. She swept her gaze along the faces in the crowd, her skin itching as it finally landed on a dark-haired boy wearing all black leaning against the wall, strangely vivid golden eyes narrowed carefully at her. He almost looked like he was supposed to be in high school, his muscular build telling her immediately he was some kind of athlete. His skin was a warm amber tan, and his wavy, dark brown hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed before being hit by a windstorm. His features were sharp, narrow almond-shaped eyes observant. He was quite a bit taller than she was, probably closer to five-foot, eight. His posture was casual and curious, yet there was something about him that resembled a predator on the hunt.

Even as a redheaded girl with thick glasses and a tall skinny boy joined him there, he didn’t break his gaze, watching her even while responding to something the redhead said. She couldn’t say how, or why, but she knew the question was his.

She stared back, eyes wide, unsure of what was happening or what she was supposed to do next. She watched as he laughed, his eyes going to the redhead for only a split second before returning to her. His head tilted slightly at her, an amused tick pulling at the corner of his mouth.

She forced her gaze away, suddenly aware of how bizarre she looked, one foot frozen forward in a step she hadn’t fully taken. She mentally shook herself, continuing faster than before, pulling the door open with more force than she intended.

She paused once she made it through the second set of doors, the hallways now much busier than when she had taken her blur of a tour the week prior. Tall, thin, blue lockers lined the walls of the hallways, and to her right, the three gyms the school sported lined the entire side of the building. She glanced to where she knew the office to be, off to her left, before pulling her written-out schedule from her coat pocket. To say what had occurred outside was strange would be an understatement. Despite the many places she had gone, nothing like that had happened before. Then again, she was growing up, and her father had warned her that boys might start noticing her in different ways and that those thoughts tended to be stronger. She wasn’t sure though, something felt off. It was very direct. For the moment at least, she wanted to forget it happened, to just go on with her planned, predictable first day of meeting her new teachers and classmates that she would only know for a short while before moving on again.

She turned around the short wall that hid the stairway that rested beside the entrance, heading straight down the long staircase, her footsteps echoing in the empty, tower-like space. Her locker was in the basement, not far from the stairs. She rolled her eyes as she passed the boys’ locker room, hearing the younger kids inside yelling nonsensical insults at each other before the first class of the day began.

She glanced at the paper in her hand, following the numbers down until she reached her own. She put in the combination that her father had ever so helpfully made a song for her to remember by; forty-two, thirty, forty-six. The tune was so annoyingly catchy, she wasn’t worried about suddenly forgetting it.

The locker opened with a slight creak, the inside a muddled mess of peeling tan paint, rust, and black spray paint attempting to block out the curse words someone had carved into the back. She slid her backpack down her arm, catching the strap before it hit the floor, and hanging it on the inside hook. She then slipped her anorak off, revealing the light green jumper she wore underneath, having to push the anorak carefully around her backpack. As usual, with thinner lockers, she wondered how difficult fitting everything would be after having more than just her binder and a book inside. It didn’t matter though; she never stayed long enough for things to build up anyway.

She jumped as a blaring beep rang out through the hallway, other students hardly moving at the noise. She quickly unzipped her backpack, her schedule wrinkling slightly as it was pressed into her lower palm by her last two fingers. She pulled her binder free of the bag, the question of why she hadn’t pulled it out before putting her backpack in the locker coming to mind.

With a quick slam of the locker, she spun on her heel, lifting the paper once again. Her first class was on the top floor; in fact, most of her classes were. She went to the stairs she had gone down earlier, stopping short as she just about slammed face-first into someone dressed in black. “Sorry,” she murmured, glancing up, ready to continue on her way before stopping short.

Sharp golden eyes looked down at her, an odd look on the boy’s face. “Hi,” a small smile played on his lips.

“Hi?” She tried for a smile back, it probably came off more like a grimace. She swerved away from him, reminding herself once again to return to her plan. Ignore the weird boy.

She practically ran up the two flights of stairs, stopping as she reached the top. The large windows she had seen earlier opened up beside her. She walked along the hall until she got to the room her geography class would be in on the left side of the hall.

She sucked in a breath before crossing the threshold, posters covered the walls; historical figures, geographical sights, and nearly decade-old memes alike were stationed around the room. Rows of desks were laid out in front of her, and only a few of the seats were filled. In the back corner of the room, beside the row of windows looking out the front of the school, was a large metal desk. An older man engrossed in a book sat, calmly sipping what she guessed was coffee from a travel mug.

She approached him carefully, extremely aware of how her fingers tightened around her binder. “Sir?” She forced her voice out, holding back a wince at her awkwardness. She’d been through this enough, why hadn’t that changed yet?

The man, Mr. Wilson, immediately set his coffee down, looking up at her with raised eyebrows, extenuating the wrinkles on his forehead. “Can I help you?” He reached for a bookmark that was resting on the desktop, quickly stuffing it into the page before closing the book with an audible snap.

“I’m Annamarie,” she began. “I’m new.” She stopped, waiting for him to take off from there.

“Oh yes,” he reached for a pile of paperwork, flipping through them quickly before finding what he was looking for. “We’re in the middle of learning about South Asia currently,” he glanced at her, holding out the small pile of papers in his hand. “Keep up the best you can, we’ll see about whether you’re able to take the test we have at the end of the week.”

She nodded, only half paying attention as a random pop song began playing over the loudspeaker. She blinked in confusion before turning her attention back to her teacher.

“Your seat will be third from the back over there,” he gestured to the last row beside a short row of cabinets that sat along the wall that connected to the hall. She gave a nod and a small ‘thank you’ before starting to turn. “Thank you, Ms. Olson,” he stood from his chair, grunting a little at the motion. She paused at the use of her last name, unusual in her experiences in schools as of late.

She went to her seat, sinking down into her chair and placing her binder centred before her. She folded her hands in her lap just as a flood of students began to come in, chair after chair being filled across the classroom. She fiddled with her fingers, wondering if this was the type of teacher to introduce her as a new student or not. Most were, but there was the occasional blessing of them letting her fade into the background without such a spectacle.

Her hope for any possibility of an easy class period was crushed as right when the loud beep that signified class had started, the boy with the golden eyes rushed through the door. “Mr. Samuels,” Mr. Wilson walked between the far two rows of seats, not even looking at the boy. “Pushing your luck again, I see.”

“It hasn’t failed me yet,” the boy let out a laugh, taking a step towards the row of seats she was seated in before stopping. Surprise filled his gaze when he looked at her, one eyebrow quirking up before the amused smile she had seen him with earlier returned. Anna couldn’t help the narrowing of her eyes, the boy’s accent catching her memory. It sounded so familiar, yet she couldn’t identify it.

Mr. Wilson turned, frowning at the boy who was just standing in place. “Did you forget where your seat is, Mr. Samuels?”

“Nope,” the boy had the decency to flush slightly as a couple of giggles came from somewhere in the room. He continued the path until he stopped at the seat directly in front of her own. Great.

Just my luck… she thought as he looked over his shoulder to give her another glance.

“I’m Jacob,” he whispered, giving her a small grin.

“Anna,” she mumbled.

“I have a feeling we’ll keep running into each other,” his grin grew slightly before he turned back to the front.

She stared at the back of his head for a second longer, wondering what she did to deserve this. This is going to be a long couple months.

____________________________

Anna’s day seemed to drag by, with each of her teachers doing exactly as she predicted them to do. What she hadn’t expected was for Jacob to be in three of the four hours before lunch. He had seemed to appoint himself to be her personal tour guide for the day, easily keeping pace with her.

She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be creeped out, flattered or annoyed; maybe a bit of each. He kept asking questions that didn’t seem to make any sense, about where she had lived, her family, et. cetera. After him doing this for a while, she just stopped paying attention. She couldn’t figure out why he was so intrigued, she couldn’t be that interesting.

She now found herself with a tray of food, momentarily paused as she looked across the crowded cafeteria. Each table seemed to have its established group, some reflecting the classic clique tropes that were so often seen in so many shows and films, while others were harder to identify. As many times as she had done this, it never got any easier.

The cafeteria itself was decently sized, based in the basement of the school. Large windows looked out to a small blacktop, the large green field behind the school beyond it. Behind her, students were still filing into four separate lines for food, flowing in from the open connection to the hallway, some cutting between tables while others passed through evenly spaced openings. The walls were plain white, excluding a strange mural that covered the far wall: different foods spilling out of a lunchbox, faces painted onto each.

Friend groups were so often made within the first couple weeks of the school year, leaving her to fend for herself in situations like this. Most of the time she didn’t mind, being alone wasn’t as bad as the rest of the world thought it to be. Even so, it didn’t stop her from wishing she had friends to talk to. The closest thing she had to a friend anymore was her cat, as she had left the one friend she had back in London four years prior.

She spotted an emptier table in the far back corner of the space, the students seated there eating in silence. She quickly made her way to the table, picking the seat furthest from any of the others seated there.

Within seconds, just as she was picking up her apple to take a bite, a kid, probably twelve years old, plopped himself down in the seat directly to her left. His most notable trait was the wild mop of curly, light brown hair atop his head. He grinned at her, his rounded baby face making him look even younger than he probably was. His piercing light blue eyes slid over her, the action catching her off-guard.

“Hello, Angel,” He leaned towards her, his prepubescent voice dropping low, and the attempt at trying to sound older than he was almost funny. Almost. She glanced at the other students sitting at the table, none of them paying attention or caring enough to look to see what was happening. That, or this was a normal occurrence here. “What’s your name?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, his lips curling into what could barely be called a smirk.

She tried to subtly turn away from him, hoping he’d take the hint and leave her alone.

“Oh,” his voice drawled out, “mysterious. I like that. Tell me though, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

She cringed at the classically overused line coming from a young kid, hiding the look on her face by taking a bite out of her apple. She was disappointed to find that it lacked the characteristic crisp crunch as she began to chew, at least momentarily relieved that she had an excuse not to respond.

“I hope you know CPR because you take my breath away,” his voice continued next to her. “Can you hold my hand, I want to be able to tell my friends about how I’ve been touched by an angel.”

She took another bite, confused about how anyone could be so socially inept to continue this cursed conversation if it could even be called that.

“I guess you can kiss heaven goodbye, it's a sin to look that good. You are so hot, it’s girls like you that are causing global warming.” She just about choked on her bite, her face scrunching in disgust. “Tell me your name, I’m sure it’s as beautiful as you. If not, you can just take mine.” She could see him wink at her in her peripheral vision.

“Evan,” the sharp voice of a girl made them both turn. A short girl her age stood a metre away with her hands on her hips, her annoyance clear. Her bright ginger hair was cut just below her shoulders, framing her face. She had an almost pixie-like look to her features, full cheeks, and wide, incredibly dark brown eyes, hints of red flashing in the light. She was very pretty, but that fact was overshadowed by her roughly ripped jeans and a baggy grey sweatshirt. Thick, black glasses rested on her freckled nose, only intensifying her glare. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Rachel,” Evan’s face broke into a grin. “You must be tired, after all, you ran through my thoughts all night long.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to leave people alone?” Rachel huffed, completely unfazed. “Haven’t you tormented us enough?”

“No need to be jealous, Spitfire,” Evan completely turned his attention to the other girl, much to Anna’s relief. “You know you’ll always be my number one.”

“Don’t call me that,” Rachel spat, crossing her arms and popping a hip as she shook her hair away from her face. “Just leave the poor girl alone.”

“Sorry, I got lost in your eyes there, do you happen to have a map to your heart?” Anna was becoming more convinced by the second that this boy learnt how to speak by reading awful pickup lines from the internet.

“Just shut up,” Rachel’s jaw set, chin tilted up in defiance. She turned her attention to Anna, expression softening slightly. “You can move if you’re uncomfortable, we have room at our table.”

Anna nodded, a warm feeling beginning to release her tense muscles. “Thank you,” she offered a smile.

“You’re British?!” Evan whirled back to her, suddenly slack-jawed, like the fact that she had an accent made all the difference.

She felt the urge to shake her head in exasperation, internally rolling her eyes. The way Americans responded to hearing the way she spoke was growing old. You could very well tell them magic existed and they would react the same way.

He made a loud humming noise, tilting his head as he looked her over once again.

She stood before he had a chance to begin speaking again, picking up her tray as she did so. She moved hesitantly to Rachel’s side, watching the other girl’s face carefully, looking for any sign that she hadn’t meant her offer.

They began to walk, Rachel glancing at her a couple of times before gesturing to a table close to the dish return station. Anna stopped, confused at the sight of Rachel sliding into the seat opposite of Jacob, rolling her eyes at something he said. The redhead looked at her quickly, probably just realizing she hadn’t followed to sit.

Anna took a breath, making a split-second decision to continue on, finding herself in the empty spot next to Jacob. As weird as the dark-haired boy was, there were worse things. She already knew, even with the prolonged stares and questions, he was a better deal than Evan.

She hoped anyway.

Just as the thoughts ran through her head, he turned his attention to her, an amused grin dancing on his lips. “Evan, huh? Ow!” He jerked back, sending an indignant look at Rachel, who, Anna just realised, had kicked him under the table.

“You deserved that,” the girl snorted, plucking a grape from the small vine she had on her tray.

“I’m just saying,” he protested. “On her first day, what are the chances?”

“Quite high, actually,” Rachel grumbled.

Anna looked to the silent, third member of their party. A tall, lanky boy was hunched over his food. He was pretty thin, his cheekbones more defined than what she supposed they were supposed to look like. His skin was pale, like he spent all day inside, hidden from the sun. His eyes were a surprisingly rich blue; dark, but not quite navy, with prominent dark circles underneath them. He wore a rumpled blue flannel over a plain white tee shirt, and his short, mousy brown hair was decently neat, though rumpled in a couple of places near the back. Most worryingly though, she couldn’t help but notice the distant stare he wore, staring unseeingly at his food. She wasn’t sure if he had even noticed her presence yet.

Rachel cleared her throat, the boy turning slightly to look at her, blinking his eyes curiously. “This is Ben,” she introduced with a smile.

“Hi,” she greeted, her voice stunted. “I’m Anna.”

He gave a small, awkward wave with a fork held between his fingers. “Nice to meet you.” His voice was so quiet against the noise of the cafeteria she had to strain to hear him.

“Thank you,” Anna addressed Rachel, the other girl regarding her with unreadable eyes. “Really.”

The redhead shrugged, eyes glancing at Jacob for a moment. “Evan’s been at it for months, it started a little odd, but now it’s getting excessive.”

“Either way,” Anna shook her head lightly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I did.” Rachel huffed.

Jacob let out a soft snort from beside Anna, she frowned at him, unsure of what he was laughing at. “You just want an excuse to yell at him again at this point,” he told her. “You complain about him all the time, but you love shutting him down more than you hate him.”

“Go eat a sock,” Rachel glared at him, the strange phrase passing through her lips easily; like it was normal.

“Tried that once,” Jacob’s voice was dead serious, his face deadpan. “Not all you chalk it up to be.”

Rachel let out a loud groan, laying her forehead down on the table to the side of her tray. Her hair draped out over the clear tabletop, pooling out in a fan-like shape around her head.

Jacob let out a snicker, turning her attention back to him. He silently moved his hand to his plastic utensils, he noticed Anna watching him, giving her a playful wink as he lifted the fork into his hand. Slowly, he reached out, angling the plasticware down towards Rachel’s hair, dragging it lightly through the bright locks.

Instantly, Rachel’s head shot up, Jacob pulling his hand back to avoid stabbing her head. Her eyes were wide, mouth parted. “You-” her indignant stutter caused a burst of laughter from him. “You TURKEY!”

He only laughed harder, his face turning red from the effort. Anna bit her lip to prevent her own giggles, Ben looking over at his friend with amused concern. Jacob’s laughter began to die down, his eyes sparkling when he opened them. “I’ve always wondered what it was like to be a turkey,” he managed. “Though, it might ruffle some feathers.”

“Stooop,” Rachel’s face twisted into a grimace.

“Aw, don’t get a fowl mood,” Jacob leaned an arm on the table, a smug grin growing across his lips.

Rachel pulled another grape from the vine, lightly tossing it at the dark-haired boy. It bounced off his chest, his hands instinctively flying up to catch it as it fell.

He raised it like one would toast a glass of champagne before popping it into his mouth. “Thanks,” he quipped.

Rachel rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything more. It was clear she wasn’t truly annoyed with a hint of a smile pulling at the edge of her mouth.

A pang of jealousy coursed through Anna as she watched them banter, and the fact that she didn’t have anyone to joke with as they did became more and more noticeable. At the same time, the clear care they felt for each other warmed her heart, and though Ben hadn’t said much at all, the looks he shot at the others were filled with the same sentiment. Yes, Jacob was weird, but for the first time in years, she felt accepted by anyone her age.

Hope began to rise in her chest, an undeniable desire to get to know these people making itself known. A part of her, a large part, wanted to see herself be friends with them. Now, the question was: how long until she was packing her bags once again?

Next Chapter

Taglist: @hxad-ovxr-hxart, @the-printed-words, @frostedlemonwriter, @on-noon, @my-cursed-prince, and @thesorcererspen. If you'd like to be added, please let me know!

#legacy of the fallen #legacy of the fallen text #my writing #writing wip #writer #fantasy writer #writeblr #aspiring writer #aspiring author #annamarie ophelie

[norwayblogging]

Week 04/09 - 10/09 04th September:

Mushroom Monday!! Today we did a mushroom hike. We started from the school and went into the nearby woods. After some walking we arrived at one of the good spots. The whole group split up and searched for different kinds of edible mushrooms. Spoiler: We got SO MANY! After around an hour of searching, we went a little further to another spot. We searched some more and went further again. We had some lunch halfway the hike and talked with each other. In the afternoon we walked back towards the school and saw some funny sheep along the way. One of them was practically screaming at us, he sounded really angry! In the afternoon I went to the store and got me some pastries. But I like the ones that we have at home back in Belgium more though. In the late evening I started packing my backpack… We’re going on the canoe trip tomorrow!! I’m really excited for this trip but also a little nervous though.

05th September:

Let’s go on a canoe trip!! I put on waterproof clothes so I wouldn’t get too wet in the rain and I would be protected if our canoe tipped over. 😮 First we took the car and drove around an hour and a half to Vigdarvatnet, the lake where our trip took place. We got our canoes off of the trailer and into the water. Then we had to put our luggage in our own canoe in the middle, so the canoe remains stable while paddling. After everything was prepared, we got seated in the canoe and paddled away from the shore. It was quite difficult since I didn’t really know how to steer and paddle in a canoe. We also didn’t get the necessary information to paddle efficiently. We drifted to the campsite where we would set up our hammocks and tarps (shelters) and unloaded our backpacks there. First we had to set up some fishing nets hoping to catch some fish to eat as an extra this evening. Then we came back to the campsite. After setting up our sleeping places, we went back in the canoes and finally learned the basics of canoeing. How to go forward, backwards, sideways, in a straight line and how to turn left and right. Having learned the basics, we played some games. One were we had to throw a ball in another canoe, some sort of tag. And another one where we hung on to each other like a snake. The back of the snake then had to paddle as fast as possible to the front. We went back to the campsite to prepare ourselves some food and sat by the water a bit. Some people were playing football higher up the hill and I watched them for a while. Since it became dark rather quick, we made a campfire and the entire group sat around it. We played the game ‘wherewolves’ a few times. Me and a few others stayed a while longer by the fire while the rest went to sleep.

06th September:

Gooooood morning! I slept like an angel in my hammock! It was a nice first experience and I would like to do it again sometime. We packed up, made some breakfast and readied ourselves. First we were going to drop off our luggage at the same place where we started our trip yesterday. Then we went paddling for a few hours to a calm place where we ate our lunch. After lunch we paddled back to our starting point, carried the canoes back to the trailer and bounded them to the trailer again. There was still some time left so some of us went swimming in the nearby waters. It was SO COLD, but it was very nice. Once dry, we got back in the car and drove to the student housing again. I was pretty tired from the trip but it was a lot of fun.

07th September:

My morning class started in the woods. We went to visit some sort of play/learning ground in the forest where some play devices where installed by parents and teachers from the area. There was also a small cabin, build by parents where the kindergarten kids could hide if it was raining or if the teacher needed to explain/teach something. What did we do here? Get some inspiration! Somewhere in October, we need to build some play devices ourselves for the children of the primary school nearby as an assignment. We are divided into groups and need to think about different kinds of devices that would suit well in the chosen area. Back at the dorms, I ate some lunch, chilled a bit and made myself ready for the evening. The student association organized a quiz again. I was really excited since I really like quizzes.

08th September:

To start this morning, we had some orienteering in the neighbourhood. I teamed up with a dormmate and we used the compass to search for the coordinates written on our paper. It was very sunny and warm today so it was nice to walk outside. We found some blackberries on our way so we picked a few and enjoyed them! Back at the dorms, I dressed myself into something airy and went to the beach volleyball field where some others of our group played some beach volley. I joined in after a while and it was super fun! After playing a bit, some of us went to the nearby fjord to go swimming. I put on my swimsuit and joined the others. Once back, I went to the gym and chilled in my room for the rest of the evening.

09th September:

I went to the store today by bike to get some groceries. On the way back I spotted a small bay full of DUCKS. I had to stop and take some pictures ofcourse, I mean THEY WERE SUNBATHING IT WAS TOO CUTE. I went back to my student housing and called with a friend who’s gonna travel to Norway to go on a personal trip with me, somewhere in October. Flash forward to the night. It’s Party time!!! We predrinked in our kitchen and one of the Norwegians even brought shotglasses and booze. After some cardgames we left to go to the partyhouse behind our dorms. We partied there until around 1h30 at night. Back in our kitchen we talked with some other people and went to bed after a short while.

10th September:

Hungover but actually not. I was for sure fine, some other students experienced headaches. Suddenly around noon, someone asked to go and get Macdonalds. Even though I like Burger King a lot more, I told them I kind of wanted something too. They told me to tag along, so we went to Macdonalds by car and ate there. The two cheeseburgers and milkshake that I got were pretty okay. I enjoyed it a lot! After some time, we went back home and I went to the gym (burning these two burgers down) Later that night, a few students from the dorm made mushroom risotto and I could have a plate too! I chilled in my room afterwards until I heard a knock on my door. Who could this be? I opened and one of the Norwegian girls from the other block told me to tag along with her. I went to their kitchen and saw a tray full of cupcakes. Along with another student, we were the first to choose a cupcake since they liked us the most. I was so honoured!! The cupcakes were delicious too omg.

Week 04/09 - 10/09 04 september:

Paddenstoelenmaandag!!! Vandaag hebben we een paddenstoelenwandeling gemaakt. We begonnen bij de school en gingen het nabijgelegen bos in. Na wat wandelen kwamen we aan bij een van de goede plekken. De hele groep splitste zich op en ging op zoek naar verschillende soorten eetbare paddenstoelen. Spoiler: We hadden er ZO VEEL! Na ongeveer een uur zoeken, gingen we een stukje verder naar een andere plek. We zochten nog wat verder en gingen daarna weer verder. We lunchten halverwege de wandeling en praatten met elkaar. In de middag liepen we terug richting de school en zagen onderweg een paar grappige schapen. Eentje schreeuwde naar ons, hij klonk echt boos! s'Middags ging ik naar de winkel en haalde ik wat koffiekoeken. Maar ik hou meer van de koffiekoeken die we thuis in België hebben. In de late avond begon ik mijn rugzak in te pakken… Morgen gaan we op kanotocht!!! Ik heb er echt zin in, maar ben ook een beetje zenuwachtig.

05 september:

We gaan een kanotocht maken!!! Ik heb waterdichte kleren aangetrokken zodat ik niet te nat zou worden in de regen en ik beschermd zou zijn als onze kano zou omslaan. 😮 Eerst namen we de auto en reden we ongeveer anderhalf uur naar Vigdarvatnet, het meer waar onze tocht plaatsvond. We haalden onze kano's van de aanhangwagen en in het water. Daarna moesten we onze bagage in onze eigen kano in het midden leggen, zodat de kano stabiel bleef tijdens het peddelen. Nadat alles was voorbereid, namen we plaats in de kano en peddelden we weg van de oever. Het was best moeilijk omdat ik niet echt wist hoe ik moest sturen en peddelen in een kano. We kregen ook niet de nodige informatie om efficiënt te peddelen. We dreven naar de kampeerplek waar we onze hangmatten en tarps (een zeil waar je onder kan schuilen) zouden opzetten en laadden daar onze rugzakken uit. Eerst moesten we wat visnetten uitzetten in de hoop wat vis te vangen om vanavond als extraatje op te eten. Daarna kwamen we terug op de kampeerplek. Na het opzetten van onze slaapplaatsen, gingen we terug in de kano's en leerden we eindelijk de basis van het kanoën. Hoe je vooruit, achteruit, zijwaarts, in een rechte lijn peddeld en hoe links en rechts te draaien. Nadat we de basis hadden geleerd, speelden we een aantal spelletjes. Eén waarbij we een bal in een andere kano moesten gooien, een soort tikkertje. En een andere waarbij we als een slang aan elkaar hingen. De achterkant van de slang moest dan zo snel mogelijk naar voren peddelen. We gingen terug naar de kampeerplek om eten klaar te maken en gingen even bij het water zitten. Wat hogerop waren wat mensen aan het voetballen en ik heb ze een tijdje geobserveerd. Omdat het vrij snel donker werd, maakten we een kampvuur en de hele groep zat eromheen. We speelden een paar keer het spel 'weerwolven'. Ik en een paar anderen bleven nog een tijdje bij het vuur zitten terwijl de rest ging slapen.

06 september:

Goeiemorgen! Ik heb geslapen als een engel in mijn hangmat! Het was een leuke eerste ervaring en ik zou het graag nog eens overdoen. We hebben ingepakt, ontbijt gemaakt en ons klaargemaakt. Eerst gingen we onze bagage afgeven op dezelfde plek waar we gisteren onze reis begonnen. Daarna gingen we een paar uur peddelen naar een rustige plek waar we onze lunch aten. Na de lunch peddelden we terug naar ons beginpunt, droegen de kano's terug naar de aanhangwagen en bonden ze er weer aan vast. Er was nog wat tijd over dus sommigen van ons gingen zwemmen in het nabijgelegen water. Het was ZO KOUD, maar het was erg fijn. Eenmaal droog stapten we weer in de auto en reden we naar de studentenhuisvesting. Ik was behoorlijk moe van de reis, maar het was erg leuk.

07 september:

Mijn ochtendles begon in het bos. We gingen naar een soort speel-/leerplaats in het bos waar een aantal speeltoestellen waren geïnstalleerd door ouders en leerkrachten uit de buurt. Er was ook een kleine hut, gebouwd door ouders, waar de kleuters konden schuilen als het regende of als de leerkracht iets moest uitleggen/onderwijzen. Wat hebben we hier gedaan? Inspiratie opdoen! Ergens in oktober moeten we als opdracht zelf speeltoestellen bouwen voor de kinderen van de basisschool in de buurt. We worden in groepjes verdeeld en moeten nadenken over verschillende soorten toestellen die goed zouden passen in de gekozen omgeving. Terug in de slaapzalen at ik wat lunch, chillde wat en maakte me klaar voor de avond. De studentenvereniging organiseerde weer een quiz. Ik was erg enthousiast omdat ik quizzen erg leuk vind.

08 september:

Om te beginnen hebben we vanochtend een oriëntatieloop gedaan in de buurt. Ik werkte samen met een klasgenoot en we gebruikten het kompas om de coördinaten te zoeken die op ons papier stonden. Het was erg zonnig en warm vandaag dus het was fijn om buiten te lopen. We vonden onderweg wat bramen, dus we plukten er een paar en genoten ervan! Terug op kot kleedde ik me aan in iets luchtigs en ging ik naar het beachvolleybalveld waar een paar anderen van onze groep beachvolleybal speelden. Na een tijdje deed ik mee en het was superleuk! Na een tijdje spelen gingen sommigen van ons zwemmen in het nabijgelegen fjord. Ik trok mijn bikini aan en ging met de anderen mee. Eenmaal terug ging ik naar de gym en chillde ik de rest van de avond op mijn kamer.

09 september:

Ik ben vandaag op de fiets naar de winkel gegaan om wat boodschappen te halen. Op de terugweg zag ik een kleine baai vol met EENDJES. Ik moest natuurlijk stoppen om foto's te maken, ik bedoel ze waren aan het zonnebaden, het was te schattig. Ik ging terug naar mijn studentenhuis en belde met een vriend die naar Noorwegen zou gaan voor een persoonlijke reis met mij, ergens in oktober. Flash forward naar de avond. Het is feest!!! We hebben vooraf gedronken in onze keuken en een van de Noren had zelfs borrelglaasjes en drank meegenomen. Na wat kaartspelletjes vertrokken we naar het feesthuis achter ons kot. Daar hebben we gefeest tot ongeveer 1u30 's nachts. Terug in onze keuken praatten we met wat andere mensen en gingen na een korte tijd naar bed.

10 september:

Kater maar eigenlijk ook weer niet. Ik was zeker in orde, sommige andere studenten hadden hoofdpijn. Plotseling vroeg iemand rond de middag om Macdonalds te gaan halen. Hoewel ik Burger King veel lekkerder vind, zei ik dat ik er ook wel zin in had. Ze zeiden dat ik mee moest gaan, dus gingen we met de auto naar Macdonalds en aten daar. De twee cheeseburgers en de milkshake die ik kreeg waren best oké. Ik vond het erg lekker! Na een tijdje gingen we terug naar huis en ging ik naar de gym (om deze twee hamburgers op te branden). Later op de avond maakten een paar studenten van het studentenhuis paddenstoelenrisotto en ik mocht ook een bord! Daarna chillde ik in mijn kamer tot ik geklop op mijn deur hoorde. Wie zou dat zijn? Ik deed open en een van de Noorse meisjes uit het andere blok zei dat ik met haar mee moest gaan. Ik ging naar hun keuken en zag een dienblad vol cupcakes. Samen met een andere student mochten we als eerste een cupcake kiezen omdat ze ons het leukst vonden. Ik voelde me zo vereerd! De cupcakes waren ook heerlijk omg.

#adventure #erasmus #fjord #norway #travel #norwegian #teacher #wildlife

[seamusquigley]

Cars, corruption, and inept cops: A tale of the Newfoundland T'Railway.

Let's talk about the Newfoundland T'Railway.

For most of you that don't know, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador is the bit inside the red dotted line.

The southern island is the island of Newfoundland.

Newfoundland used to have a railway. Used to. It doesn't any more (TL;DL, corruption and capitalism).

Having closed down the railway, confining Newfoundland to a typical North American car centrism, it was converted into a trail. Hence, T'Railway. I'd rather have a railway, but a good trail is a nice thing to have. Big cloud; small silver lining.

Now, this is Newfoundland. Which means for much of its length it is used as an ATV highway. In the Metro St. John's area ATVs are banned from the T'Railway, leaving it free to be enjoyed by pedestrians and cyclists alike.

And enjoy it they do. I very much enjoy walking the Bowring Park to Downtown section of it on nice days. A friend of mine uses it to commute by bike all summer. It's a pleasant and easy walk, mostly flat, and somewhat protected at most road crossings by signs like this one.

That is, until you reach the crossing with Southside Road.

Here there is no sign. Worse, an access road has been built and paved.

Walk a little further down the trailway and it becomes clear why. Some asshole has built their garage into the back of their house, 'requiring' car access along the T'Railway.

A little further and we have a house which has also built parking 'requiring' car access along the T'Railway.

Just past the above house we finally have our "No Cars" sign.

How did the owners of that blue house get this sign placed just far enough along a pedestrian trail to allow them to use it as a driveway? What nepotistic connection did they have on the council at the time?

Still, the sign is there. Cars are once again banned and pedestrians and cyclists are both free to use the path safely...

Hmmm. How did that seadoo get there? It sure didn't travel up the (very shallow) Waterford River. Based on the garage just past it, it's very clear that the owner of this house drove past the "No Cars" sign to desposit it.

If you keep walking, you see this.

Some asshat has driven their giant SUV along the expressly pedestrian/cycle path to the garage they've built. The garage that can only be accessed by driving illegally along a pedestrian/cycle path.

The very next house has also built themselves some parking that can only be accessed by driving illegally along a pedestrian/cycle path.

A little further along we have a trailer. A trailer in a location that can only be accessed by driving illegally along a pedestrian/cycle path.

Finally, approximately 200m after crossing Southside Road, we stop seeing blatant evidence of illegal driving. And, presumably, we as pedestrians and/or cyclists can once again use the trail safely. Maybe. If car drivers decide that laws apply to them today.

The houses that got the "No Cars" sign placed partway along the trail don't surprise me; nepotism is rife in this province. Everyone knows it, everyone complains about it, and nothing is ever done about it.

What I want to know is how the houses past that sign can get away with illegally driving along a pedestrian/cycle path. There's no attempt to hide what they're doing. There's no sense that they aren't perfectly within their right to ignore the rules because they are car owners. There's not even an inkling that someone might think of enforcing the rules they're flagrantly breaking.

Fuck everything that's not a car, apparently.

#fuck cars #urbanism #Newfoundland #St. John's #YYT #pedestrian safety #cycling #inept cops #nepotism #T'Railway

[hibiscus-tome]

FFXIV Write 2022, day 22: veracity

The ribbon is a vibrant red, and soft to the touch; it’s also nearly a hundred thousand gil.

“What’s it made of, do you think?” asks Tataru, squinting at it. “Unicorn hair, perhaps?”

Rhea giggles, and files the question away to pester Kan-E with it later — she’s always been particularly opinionated about unicorns. “Kugane does seem like a place that attracts a lot of tourists, doesn’t it?” she asks. “Imagine: a fine, artfully crafted hair ribbon, made from natural fibers local to Kugane and colored only with the finest dyes…”

“And it’s actually a bargain, for what it’s really worth,” says Tataru.

“Oh, but of course!” says Rhea. “What better way to memorialize your time in the Far East than by purchasing a ludicrously expensive hair ribbon?”

For good measure, she takes the ribbon and holds it by her head — not to wear it, especially when the shopkeeper looks like the type who would charge them for it if it’s returned with even the slightest imperfection — but she can’t deny that it would look rather nice with her white mage’s robes.

It’s utterly frivolous to entertain such thoughts, though — particularly when she needs to be on her guard, when it’s Lord Lolorito’s associate that’s hosting them for the duration of their stay. Hancock seems nice enough, but nice means very little when it’s Lolorito’s coin he answers to.

(—and just like that, before she can stop it, the simmering anger is back. He’d been all too pleased, the day everything had started to slide back into place — never mind that he was one of the people that had knocked it all out of joint in the first place. It had been far too easy for him to wash his hands of the whole affair, when the Sultana had awakened — never mind the months Raubahn had been imprisoned in Halatali; never mind the injury he’d sustained the day of the banquet, that he would never truly recover from.

Never mind that the whole ordeal had robbed Y’shtola of her sight, and Thancred of his ability to channel aether; never mind that it had robbed them all of Minfilia.)

Tataru tilts her head to the side, her brow knotting together in concern. “Are you all right?” she asks.

Rhea manages a smile for her, but it’s not a genuine one. “Yes, I’m fine,” she answers, smoothly.

Somehow, that just makes Tataru’s brow furrow further. “Oh no you don’t! I’m not falling for that one again!”

… damn Tataru and her eye for these kinds of moods. Rhea sighs, and sets the ribbon back down. “It’s not like you can do anything about it, short of finding us new quarters that don’t leave us indebted to Lolorito.”

At that, Tataru’s expression softens. “We’re not indebted, though,” she says, gently. “Remember what Hancock said?”

And if there came a time when Lolorito would cross them once again, whose word would be believed? No matter how hard they worked to prove the veracity of their claims, would it make any difference at all?

“Although…” Tataru reaches over, runs her fingers along the ribbon’s length. “This would look quite nice on you. And we were told, explicitly, that whatever we purchase today on the Scions’ behalf will be happily funded by Lord Lolorito himself, when it’s him that’s indebted to us.”

She grins, before hailing the shopkeeper. Within moments, gil is exchanged, and Tataru preens as she presses the ribbon into Rhea’s hands. “Don’t you worry,” she says. “Whatever problem he has with this transaction, he can take it up with me. I’m sure he’d love to explain just what he’d intended with his scheming, when everyone who matters knows that it was that that drove four Scions into hiding, maimed two, and robbed us of one altogether.”

It’s a hollow victory — and a paltry one, when it will barely make a dent in his vast reserves of wealth and influence — but it’s satisfying all the same.

Rhea ties the ribbon in her hair.

#ffxiv #ffxivwrite2022 #ffxivwrite #warrior of light #tataru taru #stormblood #fic

[ofholyfire]

🎁 - Cherry

🎁  ─  exchange & open christmas presents

 “I apologize for being late. As per the agreement, I drove here,” Michael says bitterly as he steps into Cherry’s abode. He was never late to anything, but with the angelic fast travel through space and time now restricted to him– barring certain circumstances– he is forced to deal with the discomfort of not being punctual. Per the cherub’s very logical suggestion, Michael’s first step in understanding humans better is that he has to live like one. Perhaps he doesn't have to do everything they do, but this is a small and practical adjustment. 

It is driving Michael a little mad, but not as much as The Shopping.  

Someone (not him) proposed that they exchange gifts for Christmas. He found this odd, for Christmas is the day of gifting the Holy Son in honor of his birth. Angels do not receive presents; instead they return to Him the gifts God bestowed upon them at their creation. Usually this comes in the form of praise and reverence, but some angels possess anointed talents such as singing and crafting. Standing so close to the throne of God, Michael is skilled in a little of everything but excels in service and war. For Christmas Eve, the entirety of the day, and well into the evening, he was in Heaven preparing for the celebration and delegating tasks to his subordinates. The Heavenly host was vast but highly structured, thus allowing him not only to attend the celebration of Jesus, but also to take part in the final hours of festivities with Cherry afterward.

In comparison to all his responsibilities in Heaven, he still thinks The Shopping is worse. After Cherry convinced him to participate in this custom, he spent a week aimlessly walking in and out of stores to find something acceptable. He does not know Cherry’s likes and dislikes and he has no one to ask about this very human endeavor. At least not without raising further questions about what he is doing and why. His pride insists that he do this on his own. And so after entering one particularly interesting shop, and standing before a selection of items for an hour debating with himself about which was the best option between them, a thread of his sanity frayed. Despite it, he comes to Cherry’s place as promised with a gift in hand.

“It’s OK! I can only imagine how busy you are, considering whose birthday it is,” Cherry welcomes with a smile. He is particularly cheery today, even more so now that his company arrives. In lieu of the season, his place is decorated with festive colors. White Christmas lights are strung along the walls of his living area, Christmas music plays softly from his television, and his apartment smells of vanilla and spices. A modestly-sized artificial tree twinkles in a corner of the room, its branches decorated– perhaps overly so– with ornaments, balls, garland, and a star at its top. The cherub, too, appears even more cherub-like with his loose golden curls, rosy cheeks, and cream-colored oversized sweater with sleeves so long that they fall over his hands. He pushes them back as he steps aside to let Michael in and closes the door behind him. Bright eyes sparkle with curiosity at the size of the box in the archangel’s arms as it is much larger than the one he has for Michael. “Yo! What’s this? We agreed on one simple present.”

“It is ‘one simple present,’” Michael says as he toes off his shoes and steps further in to take a look around. This space is cozy and the smell of cinnamon and fruit draws his gaze to the kitchen. “What is this sweet scent?”

“Oh!” Cherry perks as if there is more room for him to be perky. “That’s probably my new candle and something you’ll like. You mentioned drinking red wine once, so I made mulled wine!” he says proudly. The recipe is simple enough, but it takes a discriminating eye and tongue to select the ripest fruit, proper spices, and quality wine. He, in his own opinion, has extremely good taste. Impressing such a lofty angel isn’t an easy task, so he uses all of his talent to make this drink. 

“Mulled wine?” Michael asks as his feet start towards the origins of the smell. Cherry stops him by skittering ahead and standing in his way. 

“Hey, hey, hey! Wait! You take off your coat and just have a seat on the couch. I’ll pour us a glass and we can open presents. That’s the good part!” He gives Michael a gentle shooing push into the living room and heads to the kitchen.

Thusly shooed, Michael does so. Box placed onto a small coffee table, he first strips off his black pea coat, neatly folds it, and drapes it across the back of the couch before he sits. All long limbs and height, he looks like a looming shadow among the bright holiday colors. Not that he isn't feeling festive; he just likes black and sees nothing wrong with his ensemble of crisply pressed slacks, a cashmere sweater, and accent of black and silver rings on his fingers.

It isn't long before Cherry rejoins him with his fanciest glass mugs in hand and places them onto a set of coasters on the coffee table. 

“Tadaa! Not bad if I do say so myself. I hope it tastes alright though,” he says with a scurry to retrieve Michael's present from under the tree. 

It is a standard flat box wrapped in green paper and topped with a stick-on bow–  two bows, actually, to hide the corner of wrapping paper that he accidentally tore. Michael would be none the wiser and he certainly isn't telling! Gently carrying it in his arms, he plops down onto the vacant end of the couch, legs folded beneath himself for a bit of a height boost, and holds it out in offering. “Merry Christmas!”

“I’m certain the taste is fine,” he reassures, intrigued by the contrast of dark red wine and the bright skin of orange slices in it. The mulled wine smells divine and he wishes to sample it, but he prioritizes the gift exchange first. Cherry is bubbling with joy and is all too excited to give it to him.

 The Archangel  receives it with both hands and a grateful bow of his head, “Thank you” softly  uttered as he does so. Placing it in his lap, he reaches over to Cherry’s gift and presents it to him in return. “Merry Christmas. I…hope it is to your liking.” A lilt of uncertainty permeates his tone, as if he's choosing his words carefully. Could it be a lack of confidence from the great Michael, or a display of his humility?

“If you picked it, it must be great,” Cherry offers happily, eager to open it.

The box is rather heavy when he accepts it into his lap and he admires the glittering silver and white paper bound with a length of gold ribbon. Slightly embarrassed by his very plastic stick-on bow, He wonders if Michael wrapped the box himself. Whatever the case, it could wait! He wants to see what's inside! “Ooh! It’s so pretty that I almost don’t wanna open it… Butlet’sopenonthree! Ready?!”

His excitement raises Michael's brow before he gives a single nod. The young angel starts the countdown, and on ‘three,’ they begin. Michael is quiet as he opens his gift, reflective and attentive to the process, and neatly removing the paper with the slide of a long finger between taped edges. In contrast, Cherry is unabashedly vocal as he pulls at the ends of the bow, lifts the lid with a pleased hum, and gives a start at what he sees inside.

“Eeeeeeeeh?! We agreed on one present!” he exclaims, not really upset at the three flat black boxes that he removes one at a time and puts onto his lap instead.

“As it came in a single box, it is one gift,” Michael says matter-of–factly. Technically he is right. Bending the rules is not breaking them, at least in this instance.

“Grr! You–!! That’s kinda cheating!” Cherry laughs, putting the larger box onto the floor. Beside himself, he removes the top from the first box and peels back the paper lining with a little gasp. This sweater is a bit on the sexy side; he guffaws because he did not expect the holier-than-thou Michael to pick out something like this. “Oh my goodness, this is positively sinf– I mean, flirty and I love it!” He catches himself before his comment could be misunderstood and drapes the sweater over his chest for a preview of the fit. Michael stops to watch him for a moment, finding this childlike excitement as a sign that maybe his gifts are suitable. Previously pillowed by the sweater is a silver necklace that the Archangel found as a fitting accent to the exposed neckline. Cherry fingers it with an “Oooh, this is prettyyyy,” and places both items on the back of the couch to see them as a set.

“Continue,” Michael urges, nodding at the other two boxes. He slows in opening his gift in favor of observing the reactions to his choices. What an interesting social experiment this is.

“Oh, I’m gunna!” Second box in hand, Cherry removes the lid and finds yet another sweater, this one able to be worn with or without an under layer and a set of earrings to match the shape of the sweater’s fasteners. “This is stylish! The clasps are a nice detail. I can’t believe you even managed to match them. How did you even do that?”

“I have an eye for detail,” he says absently as he lifts the top from his box. “And arrowheads.” A jab from the first time they met. He hasn’t forgotten.

“Awh, come on,” Cherry laughs. “That was soooo long ago.”

It wasn’t long ago at all, actually. Michael’s raised brow says as much. 

“You can’t still be mad about that, right? It’s Christmas and– look how cute I’m gunna look in my new stuff!” When in doubt, distract, distract, distract! He holds the sweater to his chest and poses with his sweetest expression; it is a powerful magic this one yields. 

“Mh-hm.” The Archangel doesn’t fall for it but he huffs a soft laugh through his nose and turns back to his own present. Cherry’s satisfaction with two out of the three gifts is enough for him. 

With the elder angel now off his case, the cherub focuses on his final box. Top off, he coos at the sheer softness and gradient color of the fabric as he runs his hand over it. Yet again, it is not something that he expected Michael to pick, but it is lovely. Lovelier still is the set of stack rings wedged firmly inside a small jewelry box to complement the main gift. Cherry is impressed by the differing aesthetics and the number of presents he receives. He utters a soft “wow” under his breath and immediately starts to fit the rings onto his fingers to try them out and see them under brighter light.

“Ooooiiii, Michael, I said one present. Why did you get me so much,” he mock whines. “But… thank you. Everything is amazing.” 

When he looks to the other, he falls speechless, arrested by Michaels beauty.

“I could not decide on one, so I chose them all,” he replies simply. Not choosing is always an option, and he will never mention how much he frustrated himself into that realization before a display of clothing. 

Cherry hears him speak but the words don’t register. Instead he is taken with the sapphire blue scarf now looped about Michael's neck and draping over one of his broad shoulders. It contrasts deeply with the angel’s black attire and rivals only the vividness of his eyes. He'd made an excellent choice, as this blue is the color most strongly associated with Michael's being. 

Then he recants and thinks that maybe his gifts were too good, for now he fixates on how the Archangel intensely focuses on fitting into the accompanying gift.

Solemn and elegant as he moves, Michael slips his long fingers into a cropped glove and gently tugs it into place. The soft sheepskin embraces each of his digits and just barely covers the heel of his hand– it fits him, of course, like a glove. He overturns his palm and the black leather cuts an arch across the back of his hand, flesh exposed to where the cuff of his sweater stops at his wrist. He holds both hands out this way and admires the comfortable fit. At first he thinks these gloves impractical, but they instantly grow on him. He clenches his hands into fists, each finger falling gracefully one after the other from pinky to thumb. Those powerful hands raised to smooth the neck of his scarf before he turns to Cherry with a pleased smirk that borders on sultry. 

“I like these… Thank you, Cherry.”

So this is the angel of fire, great general of God’s army who blazes brightly even in his subdued glory. 

Cherry stares. 

This is supposed to be a silent and holy night, yet his thoughts are anything but. 

He really needs a drink and reaches for his mug.

#Meme | Asks #Merry Chrihmuh #it's fashion sweaty #one day these will be short #but today is not that day #Michael || Cherry

[lunashiba]

December 8th, 2022 (Part 1)

I took a lot of photos over Thanksgiving break and drew in my sketchbook in the mountains. I also got a new camera, which I've been loving. I've been really busy with school, but the last day of lectures happened yesterday, so I'm taking a small break today to write this post before I study for my exams. I've also decided to post in three parts- one exclusively for my Thanksgiving trip and the photos I took during then, and another post for the drawings I've done and photos I've taken after returning (which is also split into its own two-part post, resulting in three total).

I guess to start off, I recently started listening to this song- I fell in love with the instruments in it and the backing in it. During the drive, I had this song on often, which made me appreciate the beauty in everything we saw as we drove. I tried to capture the beauty in everything I saw with my phone camera below.

I took these photos while traveling through Blue Ridge Parkway, around 500 miles of road through the Blue Ridge Mountains, from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We didn't travel the whole way through, since there was ice on the road. The mountains were beautiful, and I'd highly recommend anybody who's into just driving along beautiful roads a look at it.

The mountains stretched farther than you could see, growing blue and dark, fading into one another. It was a frozen ocean, rolling waves frozen in time and swathed in trees. There were hundreds and thousands of mountains visible at any one lookout, but it was humbling to think that to travel across just one could take over an hour by foot, if you could even climb its steep angles.

Often alongside the road, there were little places to drive off to the side and park, with an outlook you can rest at. They usually had the most gorgeous views, and I made sure to take pictures whenever I could whenever the landscape changed enough.

The roads themselves were beautiful, absorbing the sky into themselves. They wound all around the mountains, spiraling around some, and gliding along others. The speed limit is understandably low, but it felt less like driving and more like sailing oceans of green, blue, and brown. While we drove during Winter, when all the trees had given their leaves unto the Earth, it's hard to understate the beauty of how the sky contrasts with the trees as it beams through all of the empty branches - sunlight peering through the countless hands and fingers.

When it was cloudy, the trees and the sky began to blend further- or at least, the areas where the deciduous began to be replaced by forests of evergreens. The shade of blue from the sky merged and fused with the Earth's luscious leaves, and it was hard to tell them apart, if not for the low-hanging clouds casting shadows on the contours of the mountains. At these times, I adored the wind. I felt the caress of the very same breeze on my cheek push the sky along- the shadows of which danced so beautifully and quickly along the ups and downs of the green oceans of Earth. It was serene.

However, that wasn't to say that blue and green were the only stars of the show. At times of high sunlight, there's a different type of love to be discovered in the warm embrace of a red and brown landscape. There's a subtle contrast in their colors- The sky and mountains far near the horizon stayed their beautiful shade of faded blue, but the golden trees and hills shone with their own reddish-brown radiance. You can see near the horizon line, that as the blue fades into the mountains, the reds of the Earth bleed themselves into the sky. The white-hot bed of life slowly turns blue, seeping into the atmosphere. It's a bit of a reminder that the stars above and the Earth below aren't too separated at all, and through their blended union, we live where the ocean of the sky touches the shores of the grounds we walk on.

We saw ice throughout the day, at different stages of melting on each cliff at every hour. For this road, I couldn't help but take a picture to try to savor the feeling of driving along such a beautiful pathway. I wish I could accurately represent the feeling of going along these glassy ice cliff-sides in one direction and having an open atmosphere for miles in the other.

For one of the paths, we actually climbed up on one of the mountains. It was a really, really tiring path, but I managed to make my way up. At the very top, there was this one rock that lead to a drop to the very bottom of the mountain- it was over nearly 6000 feet in altitude if I remember correctly. I couldn't get a representative photo though, of how exactly cliff-like it was, but I did try to take more photos.

It was on this rock that I drew in my sketchbook, though I waited until I got down to actually document it.

Before I left the mountain though, I held my photo up into the air as far as I could to snag this shot below. You can kinda see where the parking was for this place.

I have a few more pictures from Gatlinburg, Tennessee as well.

Hello from the lift.

I thought this place was alright. I wasn't too big of a fan, since it was pretty pricy. The sky bridge up there was alright too. It's the longest suspension bridge in the world, maybe.

Here's a cropped photo of the bridge from under. It's actually a family photo, but I've cropped it for privacy reasons- I apologize for the resulting photo composition. There were glass panels at the center of the bridge, but it was just alright. I felt it was too blurry to be scared or anything. I've placed a photo of it below.

I also went to a barbeque place. I enjoyed the food a lot. I never tried baked cinnamon apples, but they were really, really good. I might try to make some at home for Christmas for my family. This dinner was the most I'd eaten in a sitting in a long time- We actually split it around all four of us in the family, so it was a bit easier to eat.

The trip continued on for a bit longer, and we drove back through Atlanta, Georgia. We ended up deciding to just go to the Georgia Aquarium.

This was a photo from the top of the parking lot's roof. I'd never seen such beautifully maroon trees before, but I'd love to see more again someday.

This was the only good photo of the fish I could take- it was really difficult to take photos since there were so many people. It was, ridiculously crowded.

I couldn't really take many photos from this area, but I decided to snoop around to find a place that would have fewer people.

I'm not sure why nobody came here, but it was nice and empty. I was thinking about hopping in for a swim, but the sharks were really scary and I decided not to. Maybe another day.

And finally, I'll end off with a video of some fish.

That just about wraps up my trip. I'll be posting all of my doodles, sketches, and photos I've been taking around my university in a follow-up post as soon as I can.

Thank you for reading.

Luna

[musesatyourservice]

ooc: Very sorry I have not been on, in the read more will be why.

TW: Natural Disaster, Hurricane Ian

First off, I am safe, well, and with a home.

I live in North Port, FL (I heard we were actually on the news for more than just a murder case this time, anyone remember Brian Laundry or however the name is spelled?). We were in the direct path of hurricane Ian. Although we did not get the damage that Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and all of the small towns that were the first places to be hit, we did have a sustained hurricane.

At 3:30 we received the news to go into an interior room and wait. And wait we did, 3 people and 4 animals in a small bathroom. We waited as the winds (and rains) from hurricane Ian wrecked their devastation, the small emergency weather radio our guide to what was happening. The noise of winds moving through the vents in the attic, worrying us each time, the door of the bathroom shaking. After five hours we left the bathroom (sooner than we should have), so we could see what had happened to our house.

We are some of the lucky ones (though luck is always relative isn’t it? This time has taught me that lesson, no one who went this were truly lucky). We had a couple of spots leaking, a tear in our screened in lanai, and something that broke off our shed.

And so we called the insurance company (with the one cell phone that would call out) and we eventually went to bed. The next morning led us to see the true devastation but only from our yard. A tree was up against our house, the neighbor’s fence was now our fence and one of the panels had knocked into a palm tree sending that into our lanai. An oak tree in front looked a little concerning, and a palm tree seemed to be leaning precariously over our house.

Shingles, palm fronds, branches, fence pieces all in our yard. However we could not leave our home, our street had flooded, lovingly referred to as lake Chamberlain in our house. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, and thank goodness since we did not have our window AC. However in Florida flooding is dangerous, not just because it can enter your house and cars, but because it brings along gators. Some people did get through the street, trucks with big tires, and my favorite, kayaks. Still no help was anywhere in sight, and we still listened to the radio to try and fight out what was happening.

We got water back the second day after the hurricane, though under a boil order, as well as our window AC. Concerning however was the gas for the generator to keep our fridges cold, our phones charged, and a light to see by. The third day our road was leavable. However the gas situation was bleak the main interstate had flooded and part of 41 was down because they were worried about a crane falling.

The fourth evening we got power back.

The fifth was the day I left the house. I cried as I drove to work in Venice. As I saw the destruction, even as I knew the destruction there was not as much as further south. There is no denying which way the winds blew... There are very few trees that do not bear the evidence. Signs were gone, power out at every other stoplight.

It was only today that we were told that we no longer needed to boil water.

We still have a tarp on our roof as we need a whole new roof. We still see something new each day that shows us how terrible this storm was. 

I am still afraid to look at the places further south... I saw one picture and the memory alone makes me cry.

So if anyone does read this. Know that when you ask us, we will tell you that we are okay, that maybe our home survived or it sustained a little damage, we may say that we are lucky. We weren’t. None of us were. Even if one just had to sit in a bathroom as we waited it out. Or the people who evacuated.

It was a trauma. A trauma none of us will forget. A trauma that will never be forgotten by the cities themselves. We are coping. We are trying to get to the point where we are capable of getting back to our lives. We may feel glad that our internet is back and sad for the people who are without homes or without power. But none of us got through this unscathed. No one was lucky.

#Huricane ian #Hurricane Ian #tw: natural disaster #tw: hurricane