#shore patrol

[johnschneiderblog]

Shore patrol

Aside from footprints - ours and those of the dog-walker down the beach - the mile or so of Lake Huron shoreline I walk nearly every day bears scant evidence of negative human influence.

That’s because human presence is negligible here. We’re among the small handful of people who regularly use this particular beach.

I suspect that most of the debris that turns up here - errant fishing tackle (occasionally usable), caps (I own several that I use regularly), plastic ice bags, etc. - wash up on shore after being dropped by boaters.

As for the few examples of pure junk we find (pieces of plastic mainly), it’s no great chore to scoop them up and dispose of them properly.

#John Schneider #human influence on beaches #debris #shore patrol

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Commander Samuel Shore - Stingray (1964)

#stingray #60s tv series #60s sci-fi #supermarionation #commander samuel shore #gerry anderson #sylvia anderson #puppets #world aquanaut security patrol #sixties #1964

[colegove]

4/15/24

#dawn #dawn patrol #ocean #shore #beach #first light #gulf of Maine #Atlantic #Atlantic ocean #waves

[house-of-daena]

my doctor is a succubus!? [succubus.afab.baizhu x m.reader]

contents: he/him pronouns, subtop reader/powerbottom baizhu, nsfw, s3x with a LOT of feelings, virgin reader, overstimulation, praise, degradation, vanilla-ish, creampie, blood, fem genitalia/anatomy terms w/ baizhu (pvssy, cvnt, womb), mention of top surgery scars, ooc baizhu(? he's just really inlove w/ you), hurt/comfort, tell me if i miss anything. [wc. 5.2k]

꒰ GRAHHHHH finally able to post this... after 2-3 weeks posting the masterlist im . i can't with myself 😭 so sorry it took so long and im extra sorry it came out with this monstrosity. i very much like this imo buuttt i can't say the same for you guys. anyways, i probably wont write smth like this ever again unless y'all end up liking it!! (also this was supposed to celebrate 600-700 followers but uh. oops! ty for 800!) ꒱

let's fuck monsters tonight!

it was always peaceful at night. crickets chirping into the cool hours of darkness, fireflies lighting up as they flew, like the stars above the clouds, and the silent crashing of waves against the shore.

no soul could be seen wandering in the streets of liyue, except for some mililith patrolling to keep the city safe. but something lurked in the shadows...

something sinister.

hungry.

lustful.

he crept from house to house, looking for the perfect prey to feed on. he searched desperately, the hunger that had been ignored for treacherous years, leaving his monstrous instincts salivating and wild. the pain of starvation he brings himself to, in fear of hurting others, has weakened him, but his hunt didn't cease for a moment. it made him crave it, the essence of someone who could fulfill his devilish needs, and the warmth his insides long yearned for.

the mark on his pelvis had gone dull, and it ached more with each passing day.

baizhu usually relied on medicine he had made for himself. to keep his salacious desires at bay, and though it wasn't much of the real deal, it managed to keep his body relatively healthy without the base nutrients it required for his succubus blood, and it truly helped him for the longest time.

but it has been years since he had feasted on someone's precious essence, and baizhu has diligently refused to feed again. while his nature is uncouth, his heart remains pure, and he worries that if he tries to feed again, he will hurt them, despite hurting himself.

but this time, his hunger was different.

it was an ardent need. essential. his body reacted so negatively, rendering him unable to properly work for days. it was clear that his body was demanding him to go and hunt for food, so it could sustain itself properly. perhaps after feeding once, he could go back to his regular intake of pills.

for now, he searched for a feast.

and, indeed, he found it, inside a familiar house.

your home,

and you were sleeping inside your bedroom,

a succubus' meal.

if he were to do it with anyone, it would be you, as much as he didn't want to.

you were a sweet man, always visiting him and qiqi in bubu pharmacy and offering a hand whenever you were free. you get along with just about everyone in the pharmacy; being old friends with gui, helping qiqi with deliveries—even changsheng has taken a liking to you, slithering onto your arm when you step behind the counter with baizhu, giving you a warm welcome.

he can't help but find himself falling for such a man like you.

and he absolutely hates the fact that the only person he'd feel safe within such a vulnerable state is you. he could kill you, and he would never forgive himself if he got carried away.

you were too precious to him. but he was starving.

it greatly intensified once he took a step inside your room, almost salivating the moment he inhaled your scent. archons, he smelt you everywhere, it was almost suffocating. and he had never smelt something so divine, so pungent, he was slightly aware of how his thoughts were slowly getting muddled—he admired you as you slept, chest steadily rose and fell, soft snores from your parted lips. you looked so peaceful, and yet here he was, hovering above your unsuspecting form, biting his bottom lip and his hands trembling as he held back from touching you so soon.

you began to stir on your bed when baizhu turned off your lamp, a faint hiss that was dangerously close to your ear made you blearily open your eyes in the dead of night, the weight of your bed shifting to one side more as you felt something move right beside you.

quickly, you jolt from your bed, startled at the man beside you. a scream almost leaves your lips when he leans towards you, face inches apart, his hot breath hitting your skin. "don't worry," he murmurs, voice silky smooth, so sultry it made your skin crawl, cheeks flushed as he moves even closer to you. "i won't hurt you, i just... need some help, is all."

the man before you reassures, his cool fingertips tracing your jawline, sharpened nails digging slightly into your skin. baizhu knows that if he suggests that he needs help, even though he was a stranger breaking into your home, you'd assist him. perhaps the charm he was using in his voice also helped, considering your eyes have easily succumbed to his mesmerizing haze of seduction.

all it took for him was to speak with his voice in a low, alluring tone, press his lithe, and smooth body against yours, allowing your hands to glide onto the skin of his exposed belly and touch you like he owns you—teasing you with assurances of bliss, only to pull away. like bait attached to a string, luring you into his possessive hands.

baizhu almost lost himself in his desire for you, his heart pounding and the mark on his womb ached more than ever before. he craved to have you inside him, nearly jumping on you and just taking you then and there.

but gods, baizhu's love for you was the only thing that was holding him back, so he settled on peppering wet kisses on your quivering adam's apple, his hand rubbing your thigh. "you'll help me, right?" he hums, golden irises glowing faintly in the dark. he sees you squint as if you're trying to discern who he is—he was probably oddly familiar to you, considering his voice and the shape of his body were similar to the kindhearted doctor from the local pharmacy not too far away from your home...

your thoughts were chased away when his forked tongue flickered against your lips, suddenly aware of his... unnatural features. slitted, but gorgeous golden eyes, scales on certain parts of his skin, small horns, akin to bumps, that protruded from his forehead, a tail with a heart-shaped tip, and fangs that made your heart lurch at both fear and excitement.

"i've been starving for an awfully long time..." he whispers into your ear, his hand slowly creeping inside your shirt and card his nails onto your stomach, soliciting a small whimper from your throat. baizhu almost moans in delight at the wonderful sound. "you'll feed me, right? let me regain my strength?"

slowly, you nod, hand resting on his shoulder. "y-yeah," you manage to say, still trying to make out any of his features in the dark. "i can cook you something real quick-"

"oh no, you're quite mistaken." he purrs, licking his lips as his hand begins to lower itself down to your crotch. "you see, darling, i'm a succubus." he hears your breath hitch at his confession, his lips brushing against yours as he pins you against the headboard, straddling your lap. strands of his hair fall to your face, your hands feel as if it belongs on his slender waist as you grab hold of it, his eyes gleam brightly with lust as he looks down at you and lifts your chin to stare back into his bewitching face. "i'll need a different kind of sustenance...~"

even in the dark, you can tell that he is absolutely gorgeous as if the gods themselves carved him into existence. your grip tightens, so much so that your nails leave crescent-shaped indents.

baizhu was experiencing absolute heaven, and the both of you were still fully clothed. his heart was beating so hard against his chest that he was afraid you could feel it if he pressed his body against yours. he was smiling ear to ear in excitement, and he fought hard to hold back. his body was in a love-struck frenzy, skin hot to the touch and his cheeks flaming red, his tail flicking back and forth.

oh, he never would've expected to have you like this so soon. underneath him, looking up at him with those lovely eyes, lost, but still so eager to help. if you only knew the things you do to him...

he could see your hesitance, probably thinking about the risks of indulging in a succubus' request. it was understandable, honestly, even though baizhu was in complete control of his body, he could still put your life at risk. after all, he hasn't eaten in years.

"you won't die," he murmurs almost too sweetly, his voice making your poor, charmed mind buzz pleasantly. "that's a promise~" thankfully, you could still make coherent thoughts, shooting him a serious look, hands curiously tracing the sensitive mark on his pelvis that glowed in the dark. he hums at the feeling of your fingers, gently pressing and kneading, yet it burned ferociously with ardent need. gods, his body needed you now.

"if you say so...." you whisper back, nervous, "i put my trust in you, if it meant helping you..."

so as soon as those words left your lips, baizhu grabbed you by the collar and smashed your lips together, kissing you so hard that it felt like he was devouring you. teeth clashed against each other, his fangs sank onto the fragile skin of your bottom lip, making it bleed, and he sucks on your tongue, kissing and practically taking all the air out of your lungs.

baizhu was ecstatic, swallowing the lavish taste of your blood, drinking in all the whimpers and moans you make just from the addicting kiss. your hands were now on his ass, guiding his body and grinding his crotch onto your hardening cock. when he pulls away, he pants, moving his hips languidly to meet your thrusts, absolutely enamored at the string of saliva that connected the two of you.

"you shouldn't trust so easily," baizhu warns, cradling your head into his arms, his kisses never ceasing, making sure to attach his lips to every inch of your skin. he wants to savor every single second he spends with you, loving your body, getting a taste of something so sacred, you, that he would surely grow to yearn once this is all over. "if it were another succubus, you might not be treated as nicely as i have~"

his voice put you in a hypnotic trance, eyes trailing down his body as your hands moved on their own, stripping him bare from his clothing. fingers, featherlight and delicate, trailed the scars that adorned his chest, the tantalizing feeling of your hot breath on his nipple while your hand pinched and flicked his other. "there's just... something so familiar about you." you murmur against his skin, pressing the pad of your wet and hot tongue against his perky bud, making baizhu let out a pleased sigh, hand grabbing the back of your head. your mind was clouded with his drowning lust to recognize him, but still awake enough to think. "you know me, and... i know you."

baizhu felt his heart drop, the urge to run away and find someone else to feed him gnawed at his stomach. he would rather starve than let himself be known to you; him, a succubus, seducing you to do his bidding. baizhu longed to have you in his bed, to make love to you and have you all for himself, to call you his, and call himself yours. just—not like this!

and as if you could sense his inner turmoil, you gently turned your bodies, laying him down on your bed. you kissed the tip of his nose, down to the apple of his cheeks, the corners of his bloodied lips, and onto his chin. you kissed him like he was a masterpiece to be worshipped, hands stroking his supple skin. he could see the admiration in your eyes, sparkling from the slightest of light the moon provided that seeped through your curtains.

and while baizhu couldn't tell if it was all because of his hypnotizing charm, his heart skipped a beat.

then, you grab his hand, lips brushing against his knuckles and kissing the callouses that graced his fingertips. "i feel safe, for some reason." you continued, leaning back to take off your clothes. "like we have met before, and you are company i enjoy myself a lot with... isn't that weird, stranger?"

baizhu could hear the slight recognition in your voice, but his initial fear was forgotten when he felt your cock pressed against his thigh. his body immediately reacted to your warmth, moving his hips to feel more of you, against his desperate, aching hole. stars above, it is so much bigger than he anticipated, your drooling tip smearing pre all over this thigh, and baizhu gulps at the groans that rumble from your chest.

it hurt to have you so close, yet so far, so empty despite the promise of being filled. still, baizhu managed to find his voice to reply. "o-oh, certainly. i am a succubus after all," he tried to regain the flair in his tone, to keep you enraptured to his hidden beauty, delude you into thinking that he wasn't the same man you thought he was, "a demon, monster."

though it was dark, baizhu saw your lips curve downward, frowning at his harsh words. your hands slid from his waist, down to the back of his thighs, squeezing the flesh, before parting his legs and letting him wrap them around your waist, keeping the two of you connected until the succubus that lays before your bed decided he had enough.

you were completely at his mercy, and it made you impossibly harder.

gently, as if he was your lover, you pushed back a strand of his hair behind his pointed ear, fingers lingering on the shape of his concealed, yet beautiful face. "don't speak to yourself like that," you kiss his collarbones, and feel him squeeze you between his legs a little tighter, pulling you closer to him, "it breaks my heart."

"does it now?" baizhu quips, sharp, quick, defensive, and disbelieving. "you don't even know me."

"you still have feelings, don't you?"

baizhu's heart can't take it. it feels so full, about to explode, despite the agonizing emptiness of his hole, thighs quivering and hands clinging onto you. he feels breathless, heartbeat in his throat—you're treating him how you'd treat baizhu, the caring doctor of bubu pharmacy, not the succubus trying to get you to fuck him. you don't know who he was, he was certain of it.

but perhaps he was just in denial, too afraid to let someone as good as you be so close to him. you are deserving of more, someone who can be devoted to you, as much as you are to him. he can't bear the thought of you leaving him once he has taken grasp of immortality, growing old without him as he lives on. nor the burden you'll surely carry with him.

that is why he has never made a single move to you, nor acknowledged yours. he adores you from afar, breaking his own heart by keeping himself close to you despite knowing he can never be with you—his mission won't allow it. he can't let it happen.

but oh, when you hold him so tenderly in your arms, caressing his cheeks with your thumb and kissing him so sweetly, it feels like the walls he has built specifically to keep you away from his heart, fall apart so easily.

"if you're a monster, then why do you talk so gently to me?" you whisper, and the hairs of his skin stand, sharp nails digging onto your skin. "so careful of my body, asking me for consent, even though you're salivating in hunger."

the smile you gave him made baizhu fall in love with you all over again, grabbing his hand and intertwining your fingers with his. "i think you are quite nice, person that i totally don't recognize." a soft chuckle escapes your lips, and it eases him how comfortable you were, worries melting into nothingness. "so please, tell me what i need to do to help you."

ah, he was so weak for you. baizhu wraps an arm around your neck, pulling you impossibly closer to him, capturing your lips once against with his. "then you better start fucking me," he demands, his other hand scoops the slick his body has been producing wildly, copious amounts in his hand and coating your dick with it himself.

you lean down to his ear, letting him hear all of the lewd sounds that escape your lips as he squeezes your length, stroking it with his experienced hands, and grazing his nails on a thick, bulging vein that makes you whimper onto his neck. you quickly caught on that he enjoyed your noises. his wetness felt cool on your throbbing cock, the squelch of each movement of his hand making you tremble above him, burying your nose onto his shoulder as he coos your name and played with your cock.

maybe you were just extra sensitive because you were... inexperienced... but there was something odd about his wetness. it made your dick tingle, ache, and burned fervidly. you felt lightheaded all of a sudden, your mind and body screaming at you to just have your cock inside of him.

it must be one of his succubus traits, you gulped nervously.

you were so cute, so pliant, despite having him underneath you. a surge of pride swells in his chest, digging his thumb onto your weeping slit, thoroughly satisfied at the moan that came from your trembling lips. he felt himself grow hungrier when you moved your head back, gazing at him with enchanted, half-lidded eyes, flushed cheeks, and parted lips. baizhu has never felt so grateful for his night vision.

when his skillful hands lined up your cock to his hole, parting his glistening folds with your pulsating tip, you stop him for a moment, brows furrowed worriedly. "w-wait," you breathe, voice wavering, "what about you?"

baizhu merely laughs at your concern, cooing at you and caressing your cheeks, to which you leaned against his touch. "oh baby, you think i'd come here unprepared?" he chuckles, tone teasing as he pushes your cockhead into his awaiting hole while he thumbs your skin to soothe you, softening the creases that formed on your face. "now go ahead, put it in me, darling."

baizhu had bite down his bottom lip until he bled to stop himself from screaming, his back arched at the burning stretch as you slowly plunged your fat cock into his hole. no matter how much he prepared himself to take you, he still found himself getting split open by your sheer girth. he didn't expect you to be so big, his gummy walls fluttering around your throbbing cock.

you moaned, louder than before, when you bottomed out, patiently waiting for him to adjust to your length, like the gentleman you were, but you were grinding your hips against his. you clung tightly onto baizhu, overwhelmed at the warmth that surrounded your virgin cock as his pussy clamps down on you, sucking you in deeper.

all the while baizhu felt like he was high above the clouds, being stuffed full just by your dick inside of him—his body was elated, forked tongue poking out between his lips as he stared up at your eyes, full of lust and desire.

cursing underneath your breath, you grew weak on the knees, the blistering heat slowly spreading all over your body; from your stomach, crawling upwards and onto your chest, to the very tips of your toes. it was almost paralyzing, his insides squeezing your poor, sensitive cock, wrapped in mind-breaking euphoria.

"that's it," he sighs, pressing kisses all over your face, reassuring, though amused. "such a good boy, already so fucked out by just penetrating me?" baizhu smirks, his fingers playing with the curves of your face. you whine at his words, very embarrassed as you bury your face in his neck.

"hah- this feels-" you swallow a mouthful of saliva, panting and groaning at the foreign sensations, twitching and pulsing deep inside of him, "all i can think about is fucking you—it's your doing, right?"

baizhu bats his eyelashes innocently at you, tilting his head as he hums. "oh darling, you can't blame me for every nasty thought that invades your mind," he purrs teasingly, grinning playfully when you give him a huff. "i am flattered, though."

it didn't take long before baizhu told you to start moving. it started off slow, gentle, and unsure, eyes searching for baizhu's guidance. it made his heart soar at how adorable you were, pouting as you sloppily thrust into him, exerting much effort to not lose yourself in the pleasure. you wanted to please him, so attentive and caring to his body.

don't worry, baizhu is more than happy to tell you what to do. he taught you many things you never knew before, to angle your dick just right, hitting a spot buried deep inside of him that made him curl his toes and cry out in delight—to ram your fat cock into his sopping wet cunt as he clenches on you, bucking your hips fast and hard.

baizhu throws his head back, smiling and clawing at your biceps, leaving red, angry scratches on them. he moans your name, nothing but praise coming out of his plump lips and drowning your thoughts with addictive lust. "you're fucking into me soooo nicely, darling~" he gasped when you kept precisely hitting his sensitive spot, his walls spasming and convulsing around your ravishing cock.

you grasped his thighs, gripping on them so tightly it's bound to leave bruises as you follow his every order, fucking him just how he liked, the loud slapping of skin on skin filling your once peaceful bedroom. it turns you on further on how vile the wet squelch it makes at each thrust you give. you held onto him for your dear life, fucking him with all your strength, body trembling from the unbearable pleasure.

moaning and whimpering, your head hung as drool dripped down onto his chest, body compelled to keep moving. it felt so good, each drag of your cock inside of his velvety walls felt like fire onto your skin, each squeeze and grind, it's making you mad, completely hooked on the feeling.

"such an obedient pup," baizhu coos and you let out a whine at his praise, eyes wide and glittering with unshed tears, and his heart skips a beat when he saw how easily fucked out you were. "does it feel good? hm? my pussy feels good around your cock?" you nod vigorously, leaning closer to him and angling yourself to reach even deeper. it made baizhu take a sharp intake of air, moaning obscenely into your ear.

"f-fuuckk! hgnn~ c-c'mon, use your words~" he smiles when you choke on a moan, never stopping your movements even for a second. "you're a good boy, aren't you? i know you can do it, talk to me~"

"s-stop-" you heaved, voice garbled as you tried to speak between your filthy sounds, nails digging into his skin. his voice was like honey to your ears, drowning in the thick viscousness of his sickeningly sweet words, making it difficult for you to properly think. it was all too much, and he wasn't making it easy for you.

"oh? you don't like praise?" his golden eyes shone brightly, and his nails grazed your skin painfully, but you reveled in the pain, panting, and shaking as baizhu cupped your face into his hands. "how about i call you a filthy whore instead? wanting to fuck a succubus that could drain your life away~" he whispers into your ear with such a haughty lilt in his voice, tongue licking your earlobe.

even though he was getting fucked by your fat cock, drilling into his insides until it all felt like numbing mush, moaning in delight as he wraps his legs impossibly tighter around you, keeping you close and never letting you go, he has you under his control. it was as if he owned your body, and you would only obey him.

it made your head fuzzy just thinking about it.

"you like being told what to do, hm? like some mutt?"

his words were like electric shocks down your spine, you couldn't help but pound harder into his warm, addicting cunt, a cry leaving your lips when he clamped down onto your cock once more. like a hand, gripping tightly onto something he owns, and in this case, your cock belongs to his pussy.

"oh my!" he grits his teeth as he lets out a long, drawn-out moan, pulling your head to his chest as he rolls his eyes back. "shit, hnff- t-that god you more excited, huh? so pussy drunk that you're only thinking with your dick~"

suddenly, you let out a shout, squeezing your eyes shut and burying as deep as you could inside of baizhu, a tear rolling down your cheek as you shot thick ropes of your cum straight into his starving womb. and oh, baizhu took it all, a small, joyous yes yes yes! leaving his lips as he moved his hips against yours, not giving you a moment's rest as he fucks himself onto you.

you didn't know what came over you after you orgasmed into his welcoming pussy, but when the mark on his womb glowed a vibrant green, your body kept moving on its own, despite the sting of overstimulation overcoming your senses. you fucked him, again and again, pressing the pad of your thumb against his clit and fiercely rubbing it as you burrow into him, mind blank.

your body shivered, sobbing and drooling as you absentmindedly followed baizhu's every command, twitching and burning from the numbing pleasure, yet your body refused to stop, even after you've come numerous amounts of times inside of him.

baizhu's hair became a mess as he greedily took every load you'd spilled, absolutely obsessed at the warmth of your seed filling up his insides and forming a creamy ring on your cock. you looked so handsome crying, begging him for a break, and that you can't take it anymore.

despite this, you let him milk your cock for all it's worth, pumping him full until it leaks out of his hole, his ankles were now resting on your shoulders. you were so lost in the pleasure, hiccuping as you cum again for the nth time.

just one more, he promised, though he pushed you back, turning your bodies around so baizhu was straddling your lap. he began to ride you, with expert movements that had you mewling, your arm covering your face, moaning into the night, holding no regards for your neighbors through your thin walls.

his nails marked your chest, making it bleed along his scratches, grinding his hips onto yours. gods, you felt so fucking good, it was difficult for him to pull away. your length and girth were just perfect, his blood boiling in thrill and excitement just by having you inside of him. he wanted more and more, drinking in as much as you could give him. your essence was just so delectable, irresistible. it was all he could ever want to eat.

you moan in sync, watching baizhu as he arches his back so prettily on top of you, creaming around your cock. you could tell he was just as sensitive as you were, but his hips ceased to stop. shakily, you reached for his tail, which possessively curled around your fingers.

gently, as you always are, you kiss the heart-shaped tip of his tail, watery eyes, so unfocused, but stared into baizhu's eyes, so full of tenderness that it snapped him out of his frenzied stupor.

baizhu gasps, cradling your face into his hands as he frets over you when your head falls, catching your breath as if you've run a marathon. "oh archons," he calls your name, shaking you lightly, "are you okay!? im so sorry, i didn't mean to- i got carried away!" hearing the distress in his voice, you only put your hand atop of his, kissing his palms and giving him an adoring smile.

"m'fine," you rasp, and before baizhu knows it, there was a faint click! right beside him, and light engulfs your room. your eyes light up when you finally see him, his eyes wide in shock. "hah, knew it was you."

"you-i-" instead of reacting how he always thought you would, as all others have, you grabbed his hands, and pressed long, loving kisses on each knuckle. baizhu's stomach was doing flips at each kind gesture, and he was now acutely aware of how he could feel your seed sloshing in his womb whenever he moved. his cheeks flush in embarrassment. "y-you weren't supposed to see me!" he glares at you, fangs bared threateningly.

though you can't bring yourself to fear him—not when he's panting, covered in sweat that gleamed at the orange light from your lamp, his face red, and eyes still full of carnal desire. but you know, behind his hunger, was nothing but love, adoring and fragile. "it's okay," you whisper as you sit yourself up, leaning back against the headboard, "it's okay to be seen."

your fingers twirled around a loose strand of his hair, planting a kiss on it while your eyes were on him, other hand caressing the ever-glowing mark on his swelling tummy. "please, let me see you." you kiss his jawline, and baizhu groans when you press onto his abdomen, so full—both of your lust and love. "let me love you."

his eyes burned as he let you wrap your arms around him, engulfing him in a hug he has long yearned from you. "go ahead, love," his skin crawls at the pet name, rolling so naturally from your tongue, so heavenly to his ears. "i know you still need more. i can take it."

baizhu has a lot of worries, especially concerning you. but at that moment, when you held him so tenderly, connected, with nothing but love in your gaze and a smile on your lips as you kissed him—it felt like everything was alright.

the world was nothing, and it was just the two of you, in each other's arms, lips locked; nothing could separate the two of you.

he may have fears, ones that will probably never go away for as long as he lives. but with you saying his name so softly, caressing his sensitive skin, and telling him it was okay for him to keep taking from you, despite your creeping exhaustion—he wants to have you by his side for a little longer, if not, forever.

because with you, baizhu thinks that everything will be fine.

"...just say you want more of me," he replies, hiding his face from you, to which you merely laughed at. "you freak... letting a succubus fuck you..."

"please, stop ignoring my heartfelt confessions and countering them with something mean," you pout, your thumb wiping away the stray tear that trailed down his cheek.

baizhu just pins you down, grinding his hips and making you roll your eyes, mouth open from a breathless moan. "keep quiet pet, i'm not done with you." he threatens, but you just smile,

"i love you."

gods, he hates how this all feels so normal with you, his poor heart that was boarded up in the beginning, all so vulnerable and raw before you.

but perhaps,

"...i love you too."

everything will be quite alright.

#» asmo's writings #» asmo's series: monsterfucking 2nite! #» baizhu #baizhu x reader #baizhu x male reader #baizhu smut #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin x male reader #genshin smut #genshin impact smut

[fluorynn]

🎆 — 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐫 | 𝐧. 𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 ( one-shot )

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : Aged up!tattooed!Neteyam ✗ fem!human!reader

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 / 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 : AGED UP!NETEYAM — don’t like it? Please don’t read! implied!smut, spanking, teasing, heavy touching, tattooed!Neteyam being obsessed with reader’s tits, implied sex on the beach—Neteyam just loving on reader’s body, guys shsjdkdkdk—

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 1.5k+

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 : @bambithewriter @rivatar @jioohyo @property-of-neteyam @pandoraslxna @xstarsdiary @xylianasblog

author’s note : neteyam with tattoos. The vision, THE VISION GUYS. Lemme know what you think😭😭

“You see now, narlor ( beautiful ), these right here—” The pair of tattooed hands which belonged to Neteyam had skidded from your bare waist to the scarcely clothed plumpness of your breasts, the perkiness of your nipples. Hands which held a great convenience in engulfing entirely, slender digits practically entwining around the expanse of your back from how much smaller you were than him, his palms delicately kneading the soft flesh. “These lovely girls brighten my day. If I am upset, they commit to making me content. If I am stressed, they relieve me. They relieve me far better than anything else on Pandora.”

While your current sitting position upon his tsurak made it much easier for you to meet him at an eye-level as he was within the water, the pressure of his touch accompanied by the hefty weight of his elongated frame leaning forward pushed you further against the squirming tsurak.

“Teyam, baby,” The pair of dainty hands which belonged to you splayed over his ink etched shoulders to keep him from leaning forward. Hands which held purposeless strength when it came to be compared to Neteyam — or any other Na’vi for that matter. A giggle bubbled from your throat from the way that your ridiculously tall lover’s accent emphasized his words spoken in English while his affections dawdled every inch of you. “You play too much, you know that? I mean, you can’t be serious.”

“Uh, yes I certainly am fucking serious.” The edges of his mouth twisted downwards, a form of a crease upon his striped forehead. “I adore every part of you, tìyawn. From those pretty eyes and pretty smile, that soft belly and thighs that are so plushy and drive me insane,” The extent of his tail wreathed around your thigh, its length nearly taking up the entire limb. “And do you want to know something else, hmm? Just by receiving a look from you after a long day of training, swimming and patrolling makes me so content…but when I get the opportunity to do more than just look at you, and I get to touch you,'' His head canted back, the subtle clink of his plaits accompanying the groan that breathed into the star-filled sky, and the desperate sound was nearly enough to make a whimper drawl out of you. “Great Mother, words can’t describe that amazing opportunity.”

Your bottom lip curled between your teeth, gnawing the supple flesh at the flawless sight you had of the pillar of his throat; the vivid twinkles of Neteyam’s freckles clashing beautifully with the velvet blues of his skin beneath the night’s glow. The honed structure of his jawline contrasted beneath the beads of necklaces and tattooed art you had taken a passionate liking to.

His kuru was still entangled in the bond with his tsurak, mind giving a command to gently swim you to the coastline of Awa’atlu. While Neteyam followed along, that does not mean he paused the leisurely journey his touch made around your body; brushing from the outer curves of your breasts, finger pads grazing below your ribcage to encircle around your waist before a brim of some sort of curiosity crossed his features. His hands then deftly slid beneath you, and forgotten was the tsurak the moment the shore came to view.

“And this? This perfect ass of yours is so damn good for me, my love.”

The sharpness of his large palm colliding with the meat of your ass reverberated through Pandora’s atmosphere followed by your yelp of a stunned ‘hey!’. Stunned from both the vulgarity of his tongue and the outburst of his actions.

“Forgive me, narlor.” He chuckled endearingly, not resisting the urge to smack your ass once, then twice, applying almost all of his strength to the pressure which sent a wave of scorching heat across your neutral toned skin. You reached for him, planting your hands over his damp chest, the density of your lashes fluttering down as gleaming incisors scraped over the flushed apple of your cheek, softly biting down in a teasing manner until wisps of giggles flew from you.

“Yeah, that is the best of the best right there, is it not?” He mused, ear flitting near your jaw emphasizing his content. One arm now fully enclosed around your midsection, your forearms resting upon his shoulders while he made his way out the water which was halfway up his torso. He didn’t need to see to know which way he was going though. While he was entranced in the pretty depths of your eyes and let his forehead hover over yours, he was certain where he went.

“Well then, I believe I’m glad I could be of use to the mighty warrior.” you replied, the breathless and amusement of your voice bestowing how much you reveled in his act as one of your hands delicately soothed over your sore cheek. The other admiringly traced over the tattoos encircling his bicep, twisting and turning up across his defined collarbone and skimming up his neck, cheek, and temple, telling a story no other human would understand but you. Fingertips fiddled over the adorable flickers of his high perched wars, and soon threaded into the cascade of his dark braids.

He perhaps was not the only one completely enamored with every detail of his lover. But could you really be blamed? Every part of Neteyam was beyond captivating.

“Irayo ( thank you ).” Sharp incisors collided with the brilliance of his smile, squeezing his hold around you. In one smooth motion within the water, thanks to his inhuman strength, he hoisted you a bit higher so your legs now wrapped beneath his arms, chest now flushed against the length of his broad one, feeling the muscle’s tight coils, the immense heat he radiated despite being in the cool water.

You chewed your lip at how his large hand pushed into the small arch of your back, the subtle swirls of his tail due to excitement because of such proximity stirring you within.

Neteyam acknowledged how much you enjoyed being manhandled by him and him only — whether it be gently or unruly — and he never wasted any chance given to take action on it and witness the vulnerability you gained when he did, making the most of it in his time spent with you.

Long fingers glide up your throat, long enough to engulf the entire base, the index one curling around your jaw. His thumb gently pushed your chin up and slanting your head slightly up until you were met with the warrior’s resplendent irises.

“Yet do you know what, who else is the cause of my content?” He inquired, raking his (appealing) tongue over his lower lip.

The simple act had your thighs clench hard around him, a throbbing pulse flaring to existence between.

“N-no..” Lies. It was more than obvious by the feign of innocence glazing those pretty doe-like eyes.

His own eyes, gleaming and fierce, called out to you. Silent to others, yet soaring for your soul. His senses more than feel the spasms of heat from your every fiber, every curve. He released his hold on your face, both hands now enveloping your ass.

“You are certain of this, yawntutsyìp?”

“U-uh huh, yeah…” anticipation swelled in your chest as you shakily exhaled, mentally cursing for not having anything to physically support yourself other than Neteyam’s grand body. By now, his feet were already amongst the sand and you’re still being held up by him.

Without taking his sharp gaze off you, he slowly, so very slowly started to descend down to his knees in the middle of the beach. Though with his descent brought the ascent of your body, the intoxicating scent of your essence being inhaled by his flaring nose while your legs dangling over his shoulders. You could have been afraid, yet the trust felt for him and arousal growing outweighed that fear, and instead you let him do whatever it was he pleased.

He knew this from the mischief that struck his features as your back subtly met the damp sand, as you shuffled until you were propped on your elbows to look down at him and his large body slithered down, gazing up at you with love and lust.

He traced the abstaining desire on your face, thrill surging through the warrior. His face nestled against your tummy while nimble digits undid the twines of your own tewng, his nose and puckered lips feathering over the bare skin of your thighs while his hands slid lower and lower…

Eyes fell to the between your slightly parted legs, taking in the glistening appeal, and a soft smirk twisted his lips up. “May I show you just how much she makes me content?”

“I-if that’s what you wanna do…” Even you could not fall for your poor attempt at the facade of nonchalance.

His smirk spiraled, two fingers brushing down said curve between your thigh and hip bone before dipping down to your pussy the very exact time a wave came crashing along the shoreline, and if it weren’t for the shielding of his body you may have been caught in it. But somehow, the harsh sensations given from the ocean deliciously twisted something in your stomach when it came upon Neteyam’s silhouette, in a trance at the predator-like swivels of his tail.

He grinned widely against you, “Narlor, what I am about to do to you and my girl is going to make us very, very content…”

#avatar pandora #avatar the way of water #avatar #avatar james cameron #atwow #¡¡ ŋყཞཞ !! 🪼🪼 #avatar 2009 #𝐍¥𝐑𝐑’𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐍 !*ೃ༄ #neteyam x reader smut #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #neteyam x human reader #aged up!neteyam #tattooed!Neteyam #neteyam smut #neteyam #neteyam x reader #avatar x reader #neteyam sully

[occamstfs]

Coast Guard Compensation

Here's another military TF, delinquent disrespects the Coast Guard and finds definitely sub-standard civilian processing -Occam

Marcus was being issued a simple ticket for drinking while driving a boat. That would’ve been the end of it if he had just shut his mouth. Unfortunately his brother was not quick enough to prevent him from tearing into the officer. Before he even begins to return to his boat Marcus is shouting at the officer swearing that he shouldn’t even have the authority to issue tickets. That he knows better than some doofus elinstee. He tosses the ticket into the sea as he continues to shout, “this is just bullshit dude! You’re just taking it out on us to feel like a man huh? Couldn’t even do well enough in boot camp to make the Army so you’ll make it all our problem!”

Ensign Harrison’s eyes followed the litter as it blew into the ocean before returning to the still shouting man. Harrison’ smirks as he approaches Marcus who despite being at least a foot shorter continues on his tirade. Jacob has seen his brother get this fired up before but nothing like this. He could only gawk as brother continued to shout vitriol as the officer approached to tower over him, Jacob could not even think to move or intervene. 

Harrison lifts Marcus by the collar and simply states, “on top of driving while intoxicated you have also littered into the fine blue sea, and verbally assaulted an officer. Under the authority invested in me by the US Coast Guard I am going to take you back to the station.” Marcus rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to retort but is tossed like a sandbag into the USCG boat. The Ensign briefly scowls at Jacob, who despite being sure this is not appropriate, can not bring himself to take any action against the man who is by all intents kidnapping his brother. 

Having established his dominance he returns to his boat to accost the problem at hand. He speeds away in his boat hearing nothing but the boat cutting through the wind and crashing through the waves. The toss seems to have knocked Marcus unconscious, to the sick pleasure of the man driving the boat. Though as they near shore, he comes to and begins anew the derision of his captor. He groans out a “you fuckin’ glorified beach cop…” To which Harrison just smirks in retort, grabbing the only barely conscious Marcus into his patrol car and starts driving back to the station.

He stares at Marcus in the rearview mirror and once he sees the glimmer of conscious return he finally offers a reply, “you don’t know what yer talkin’ about kid.” Marcus squints his eyes at the officer driving his car, knowing something weird was occurring. Something so far out of his hands was happening to him and he needed to use everything in his power to have some curve on the ball. The dick in front of him was arresting him against his will and he was not going to go down without a fight. He is going to use the only weapon afforded to him and use his mouth.

“Really, you must’ve done pretty bad to flunk out of the naval academy right? Their best guys are absolute dullards and you didn’t even make it to step one I bet.” Ensign Harrison’s scowl grows deeper as he pulls the car over. Marcus, refusing to let the chance slip by, turns it up even more. If he can get Harrison to open his door he just needs to bolt. “Oooh scary, bet you feel like a big guy huh! You got a five foot flat guy ten years younger than you in your backseat. I bet you’re just fantasizing about what you can do to me, you fashy pig! You fuckin-” Harrison clears his throat interrupting as Marcus sees veins start to bulge out of his neck and his eyes darken in the rear view mirror. He starts the car going once more and says, “think it’s best if you apologize kid. Ain’t nuthin’ good gonna come out of you talkin’ shit.”

Marcus scrambles to think what his next move should be. Obviously, fashy pig he may be, but Harrison was correct in that the only rational thing to do would be apologize. Harrison even wants to, but any time he even starts to open his mouth to do so his entire throat goes dry and his head burns hot. It distracts him. It angers him. He was going to? What was he? No, he certainly wasn’t going to apologize. To the asshole who ruined his fishing trip, absolutely not.

Harrison’s eyes continue to glower as he exits the car to retrieve Marcus, who in turn observes everything he can about the Coast Guard Station before he’s pulled out. Seeing cameras he starts to hatch a plan before he hears the door slam open and the thought of Harrison disrespecting their equipment is suddenly the only thing in his mind. Jesus that oaf, he’s making them look like even more of a joke than they are. Harrison’s face burns red as he reads nothing but a look of derision in response to this blatant attempt at intimidation.

Marcus quickly tries to escalate, taunting the trooper, “we’re on camera now fash! What’re you gonna do huh, hope you’re ready to-“ He was cut off as a hand is quickly thrust on his neck, a move he was all too familiar with, though he would vastly prefer to be on the other side. He struggles out a performative moan as the hand grows tighter moving up towards his jaw, before breaking out into coughing laughter.

True rage appears in Ensign Harrison’s eyes as he pushes Marcus’ head down into the seat, spitting on his face before letting him go. Still leaning over Marcus, he talks through his teeth, “That’s it you fucker. Hope your little jokes were worth it. You’ve had every chance and you’ve run your fuckin’ mouth. Clearly someone needs to set you straight.”

Finally getting out a sentence without being interrupted, he looks to see an expression of hunger on Marcus’ spit-covered face. Not what he expected and certainly not what he wanted, and as he glances further down he sees an even less pleasant sign growing in Marcus’ swim shorts as a boner swiftly becomes impossible to miss. As Marcus regains his breath he chokes out a “that’s all you got?” To which Harrison begins to feel a heat in his own crotch that is met with both self-derision and an eagerness for the kid to be gone.

Starting to feel out of his depth, despite ostensibly being in charge, Harrison leads Marcus in, taking great care to hide the growing cock in his uniform, which Marcus neglects to attempt, letting his own swing in his shorts. Upon getting inside he leads Marcus to an unoccupied office and locks the door behind him, demanding he stay there and keep his hands off everything while Harrison finishes processing him.

This was beyond irresponsible, but he cannot stand being near the delinquent one second longer, and something about Marcus now makes him think that it’s fine if he’s in this office. Marcus rolls his eyes and agrees though as soon as the lock turns his hands are in a desk drawer. Before he snoops though he wonders about how empty the station is, weird that he didn’t see a single other soldier right? Must be why the pig was trying to flex so hard on him and his brother, trying to hide what a pathetic joke this operation is.

He also briefly thinks about making a break for it, before remembering that Harrison has a gun on his belt. He hasn’t pulled it on him yet but surely as soon as he got the chance to shoot at a runner he’d probably blow his load. He rolls his eyes thinking how Harrison must be compensating. He’s sure all soldiers are, anyone so obsessed with guns and power clearly has something going on.

As he continues this line of thought though, he can’t help but feel that, well, but wouldn’t he want a gun too? Just to have that power? Or just in case? As he thinks about the weight of a gun in his hands he finally remembers that he is rooting around in a desk, as his hands find purchase on what can only be a weighty wallet. He smirks as he palms it thinking of the schmuck Navy flunkee whose credit card is gonna buy him and his brother lunch once he’s out of here. Marcus starts to go through it looking for anything particularly juicy to nab. He hunches over the wallet, conspicuously hiding something, though no one is there to see him.

He shoves the cash into his pocket and finds a license, his eyes glaze over as he tries to look at the name and photo of the man. Not that he cares really though, soldiers are all the same. He continues to hunch and as he does so his back begins growing wider, as if he’s willing it to hide his deeds better. His button up starts to get in the way of his movements so he starts to unbutton it as he feels an itch on the face. He realizes, god, he never wiped that pig’s spit off his face.

His shirt now hanging unbuttoned on his wider shoulders, he raises his arm to wipe whatever surely steroid-filled dried spit remains on his face and finds nothing but a face that is decidedly rougher than it should be. Day on the beach must have been pretty rough on his skin. Maybe he did overdo it today? I mean what was he doing drinking on the job anyway. He pauses before correcting himself, fishing, he was just fishing today. He groans and spins in the desk chair, fuck he needs to get back out there. This room is giving him a headache or something.

It’s kinda hot in here too? Bet that fucker turned up the heater to torture me. Marcus shoves the wallet in his back pocket and goes to stand and inspect other parts of the room before immediately falling over. As he lies on the floor his sweaty chest grows even larger, his traps expand to strain the now unbuttoned shirt as sweaty pecs force themselves into existence pressing into the cold tile floor. Then greater than anything else he feels the wallet pressing against his ass. He might not have noticed how much his upper body has grown, but his legs certainly have and if they want to support it, they need to grow.

He moans to himself. His thighs fill his swim trunks enough to make one wonder how he could even get them on. His ass grows enough to make it clear that the only way they’re coming off is to be ripped off. His bulge on the other side endeavors to make headway to this end as his cock forces its way down his pant leg and his balls swell over twice their size trying to keep up the testosterone production this body demands.

He struggles to his feet, making careful movements as to not burst open his pants then and there. Not to be deterred from his M.O. he hobbles over to a bookshelf and continues to investigate. Marcus sees a bunch of dusty tomes that feel vaguely familiar, though he of course would never want nor need to read whatever droll garbage lies inside of them. Finally he remembers just how bizarre his situation is. What the fuck is he doing? He’s literally being processed for an arrest, or whatever these knock-off cops are gonna do, and he’s just gonna steal some actually important guy’s wallet?

Neglecting to inspect how knows the importance of whoever’s office this is, he instead trains his eyes on the bookshelf. Marcus finds himself eye level with the highest shelf which he knows was not possible when he walked in. He would’ve had to jump to grab any of these books and now he can reach them flat footed. He starts to look down and see just what is happening but as he does there’s another hot flash and he leans against the shelf in pain. God! This fuckin’ place, needs to fix the fuckin’ AC or something. He pushes back against the wall not noticing he stands even taller now as a breeze wicks sweat off his ever more exposed midriff and torso and he sees a conspicuously not dusty manual.

Weird, he’s up to date on all his regulations yeah? He pulls it off, knocking dust loose from the surrounding tomes, causing him to sneeze, his neck bursting wide enough to tear shirt open were it not unbuttoned. His vocal chords thicken as he clears his throat and returns to sit down at the desk. He opens the book wondering what’s so special about this manual, causing a picture to fall to the floor.

He laughs as he grabs it and finds it is a compromising picture of Ensign Harrison. He smirks wondering just what he has stumbled into as he finds himself absorbed into the image. His eyes can’t help but trace the strong curves and powerful muscles of his, the Ensign’s body. His cock gets the messages and finally grows enough to tear a hole in the side of his swim trunks and hsi free hand immediately goes to paw it. God, he needs to see Harrison like this in real life. Drool begins to pool in his mouth as he continues to drink in the image. It spills down his chin as he sees the look of begging in Harrison's eyes, when there is suddenly a scuffle at the door.

Mark takes the second he has to hide the photograph and rip his hand off his painfully erect dick, as Harrison bursts into the room. Nonplussed as ever he looks with a sneer at Marcus with no reaction that he looks any different than when he was booked. Under his breath he complains that Mark’s clothes are far too tight for any respectable man before. He can’t hide the blush on his face though as he asks Mark to button up his shirt before getting to the real purpose he came in, “You didn’t give me your ID uh, kid?” His eyes glaze over at the incongruity of calling the man before him kid and he blushes as Mark sneers at him in return. Raising his sharpening jaw in disdain he produces the I.D. of the Coast Guard officer in his pocket without a second thought and offers it to Harrison.  

The Ensign goes to grab it, sniffing the air as he does so and making a clear face of discomfort. Marcus doesn’t notice how he smells, not his problem, if lesser men are bothered so be it. But Harrison makes haste to leave the room, on his way out saying “You better not get your stink on the furniture, ki-, uh, Sir.” Angry at himself for calling that delinquent sir he slams the door and locks it once more, leaving Mark alone in the room, his erection pulsing even larger at being called Sir.

That ball buster needs to learn his fuckin’ place, Mark thinks, I’m in charge here after all. Or? Hm. I mean I pay his wage right, tax-payers and all. Something like that. He rubs his scratchy, sharper jaw as he feels his clothes near their limit. He pauses to decide which drawer to raid next. He settles on the top left drawer and as soon as he does he slams it open only to jump back in shock, his body flexing and tensing as he hears something heavy loudly slam into the back of the open drawer. His biceps rip apart his sleeves as reaches into the drawer and feels ice cold carbon steel. His left arm burns as tattoos he doesn’t remember getting begin to stain his whole arm. He pulls out a gun, His Gun, and begins to inspect it.

He feels a regulation mustache push out of his upper lip, the one he’s always had right? He feels the burn of more ink appear on his torso as it begins to grow shredded. He feels the lengthy hair cut he has always been proud of pull into his head, leaving nothing but a high and tight that can only display the void of a personality that the military demands. He feels the weight of the gun in his hands not noticing as his clothes begin to reform around him. Good thing he got those stupid dress clothes off, he’s at work. He needs to be in uniform.

The scraps of his dress shirt cling back to him and turn into the same respectable military green of any branch. He feels a nylon shirt cling to his sweaty pecs as a thicker top slides over his biceps, struggling to keep them contained. His attention is drawn, as it often is, straight to his cock as he feels his torn swim trunks grow into silkies that are only just able to hide his impressive bulge. He is able to stuff it down the leg of his trousers as they form around his impossibly thick thighs, though even a passing observer would be able to see the beer can running down his leg. His pants are already custom made to fit his ass and thighs, it’s not like he can, or even wants to, hide his masculinity any more. He is thankful though that his, may as well be kevlar, boxers keep him from constantly staining his pants with pre.

Still rubbing his cock through his pants, he releases the unloaded magazine of the gun and moans as wrinkles begin to form under his steely eyes. He absolutely fills his pants with pre and nearly finishes the job before there is another knock at the door. He groans as his body grows once more in agitation, his veins bulging out in aggression as a definitely not regulation beard pushed out of his jaw. But he’s in charge here. He’ll get it back to reg as soon as those fuckers start giving him some respect.

Before waiting for an answer Harrison bursts in, preparing to continue his little power trip, though as he sees the man sitting at the desk, gun drawn and more importantly now in uniform, he can do nothing but salute and shout “Captain, uh! Sir!”

Absolutely not ready or willing to set him at ease Mark gets up and begins to walk over. Captain huh, he likes that. The Captain walks up to Harrison and starts to tease his Ensign. His already deeper voice grows gravelly and gruff as he rubs his thumb across the saluting soldier's jaw, “Now Harry, I don’t believe I gave you permission to enter, did I?” Harrison gulps as The Captain continues, “Now are you here now on business, or is there something else I can do for you?” Harrison glances down to the impossible bulge in his captain’s pants, causing Mark to smirk and all-too-familiarly launch his hand to his Ensign’s jaw. He forces Harrison to make eye contact with him. He gulps once more as he hears the fabric stretch in The Captains pants and his face grows red. He shuts his eyes, feeling his own cock instantly surge into an erection. “I- uh, there was a call, sir!”

The Captain’s look of hunger changes slightly and he grins, “a call hm? At ease, Soldier.” Harrison collapses against the door, his eyes still closed, lest he cum on the spot from seeing The Captain in front of him. Mark then leans over him to whisper to him, his breath tickling the neck of the Ensign, “Now, why don’t we go show these fuckin’ delinquents just what business the US Coast Guard means hm?” Harrison’s eyes open as his body convulses, cumming as he slides down the door, moaning in shame. In turn The Captain stands and prepares to go gather some more recruits, the station has been awfully quiet recently. Just him and pathetic little Harrison, they could use some fresh blood, which he will inevitably gather at whatever bonfire or fishing crew they are about to raid...

#male tf #mental change #masculinization #military tf #muscle tf

[felassan]

Dragon Age official site update for DA Day 2023 [source], with new DA:D art and new DA:D info blurbs. "We've partnered with three wonderful artists from our exceptionally talented community to celebrate Dragon Age Day 2023. See what they have created below!"

"RIVAIN Upon eastern shores and sunkissed sands, the Lords of Fortune no longer hold dominion over the coasts of Rivain – not when dragons are growing bolder and laying wastes to their ships."

"ANTIVA Ever the pinnacle of mystery and intrigue, the Crows watch from the deep shadows of beautiful Antiva. Something, however, is amiss, and they are set on uncovering the source."

"ANDERFELS To the far west, three Grey Wardens patrol the Anderfels. Tremors have been creating disturbances of late. Their cause is unknown. Upon the distant horizon, a storm of ominous intent brews and darkens the skies."

[source]

Artists: Gabriela Isache, Nipuni, Solelle

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games

[vyorei]

Copied from the OG Tweet as it's too long to screenshot. Source is @Jonathan_K_Cook on Twitter:

The missing context for what's happening in Gaza is that Israel has been working night and day to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their homeland since even before Israel become a state – when it was known as the Zionist movement.

Israel didn't just cleanse Palestinians in 1948, when it was founded as a Western colonial project, and again under cover of a regional war in 1967.

It also worked to ethnically cleanse Palestinians every day between those dates and afterwards. The aim was to move them off their historic lands, and either expel them beyond Israel’s new, expanded borders or concentrate them into small ghettoes inside those borders – as a holding measure until they could be expelled outside the borders.

The 'settler' project, as we call it, is a misnomer. It's really Israel's ethnic cleansing programme. Israel even has a special word for it in Hebrew: 'Judaisation', or making the land Jewish. It is official government policy.

Gaza was the largest of the Palestinian reservations created by Israel's ethnic cleansing programme, and the most overcrowded. To stop the inhabitants spilling out, Israel built a fence-barrier in the early 1990s to pen them in. Then when policing became too hard from within the prison, Israel pulled back in 2005 to the outer perimeter barrier.

New technology allowed Israel to besiege Gaza remotely by land, sea and air in 2007, limiting the entry of food and vital items like medicine and cement for construction. Automated gun towers shot anyone who came near the fence. The navy patrolled the sea, stopping boats straying more than a kilometre or two off shore. And drones watched 24 hours a day from the sky.

The people of Gaza were sealed in and largely forgotten, except when they lobbed a few rockets over the fence – to international indignation. If they fired too many rockets, Israel bombed them mercilessly and occasionally launched a ground invasion. The rocket threat was increasingly neutralised by a rocket interception system, paid for by the US, called Iron Dome.

Palestinians tried to be more inventive in finding ways to break out of their prison. They built tunnels. But Israel found ways to identify those that ran close to the fence and destroyed them.

Palestinians tried to get attention by protesting en masse at the fence. Israeli snipers were ordered to shoot them in the legs, leading to thousands of amputees. The 'deterrence' seemed to work.

Israel could once again sit back and let the Palestinians rot in Gaza. 'Quiet' had been restored.

Until, that is, last weekend when Hamas broke out briefly and ran amok, killing civilians and soldiers alike.

So Israel now needs a new policy.

It looks like the ethnic cleansing programme is being applied to Gaza anew. The half of the population in the enclave's north is being herded south, where there are not the resources to cope with them. And even if there were, Israel has cut off food, water and power to everyone in Gaza.

The enclave is quickly becoming a pressure cooker. The pressure is meant to build on Egypt to allow the Palestinians entry into Sinai on 'humanitarian' grounds.

Whatever the media are telling you, the 'conflict' – that is, Israel's cleansing programme – started long before Hamas appeared on the scene. In fact, Hamas emerged very late, as the predictable response to Israel's violent colonisation project.

Israel could once again sit back and let the Palestinians rot in Gaza. 'Quiet' had been restored.

Ignore the fake news. Israel isn't defending itself. It's enforcing its right to continue ethnically cleansing Palestinians.

#gaza #free gaza #gaza strip #palestine #free palestine #news on gaza #irish solidarity with palestine #al jazeera

[cranberryjuice-posts]

I loved your stories with Clarisse. I wanted to know if I could do one where Reader is a daughter of Nemesis. Normally very quiet and "calm", to the point that many don't understand how she and Clarisse work out. But one day, some campers set up an ambush for Clarisse in the capture the flag and she ends up getting hurt. Even though Clarisse doesn't care much, Reader comes up with a plan worthy of Annabeth's surprise, and takes revenge on the campers who hurt her girlfriend. Everyone knew it was her, but there was no concrete proof so she gets away with it.

RAHH‼️‼️

I’m not your friend

Pairings - Clarisse La Rue x Fem! Daughter of nemesis! Reader

An - im Actually loving all these request also i didnt add much of the song to the fic bc low-key i forgot that was the song I choose but it’s ok I’m just a girl

Palestine help links

The conch shell rang loudly. You looked up and sighed, finishing tying your shoes you grabbed your weapon of choice before heading towards your spot at flag patrol.

Clarisse ran past you but stopped. She gently grabbed your waist, kissing you she grinned. “Feel like a winning day?”

“Maybe” You mumbled with a smile. Clarisse kissed you one last time for ‘good luck’ before she ran off to do some hunting.

Many campers were confused about your relationshp. Clarisse who was an arrogant and abrasive girl who had to much pride for her own good, managed to end up dating you a calm collected and quiet daughter of nemesis. Some figured your gentle nature just happened to balance out clarisse chaotic one.

——

You aimlessly walked in circles around the flag with the other kid who was patrolling with you doing the same. You stepped on a twig which made a loud snap, you felt an over whelming sense of anxiety. Your kiss earlier for good luck had also connected you and clarisse both in battle a gift you had inherited from your mother.

You grabbed your weapon that was sitting on a near by rock quickly. “Where are you going!” The kid who was patrolling with you yelled as you ran off.

Soon you found clarisse sitting against a tree wincing in pain as her sibling was adjusting her arm into a sling.

“What happened” You anxiously dropped by clarisse moving some curls out of her face. “Fucking Athena kid made some dumbass trap” clarisse nodded her head as a signal for her siblings, they moved her arm fast making her yell a string of insults in Greek. After a few minutes she panted as the pain subsided “Sprained my arm but it’s fine, i can still fight”

“No Your not” You sternly spoke.

“It’s whatever just a sprained arm I’ll live, can’t say the same for that Athena bitch though” clarisse muttered under her breath.

You looked up at her siblings and gave them a look which they understood was ‘don’t let her leave from here’. The kids looked at eachother but kept quiet, you leaned over and kissed clarisse. “Stay here ok.. 20 minutes and if I win the game you will take a break for a few days ok”

Clarisse grinned at the bet “and if you don’t?”

“You’ll get my meats for the next month”

“Fine”

——

You spent the next ten minutes getting caught. You get caught then you had the advantage in setting your trap.

Luke tossed you down with a small pile of kids one of which was your brother Ethan. You pretended to be sad and dissaptioned using your clean record charm to your advantage.

“Sorry y/n It’s Nothing Personal Just fun and games” Luke gave you his same old sarcastic smile.

“No it’s ok I get it” you shrugged your shoulders. Waiting for him to walk away you turned to Ethan. “You set the ropes right?” You leaned over and whispered

“Yeah did everything like you asked” he muttered while glaring up at the blue team kid who’s as standing guard over the captured kids.

It took about 10 minutes until you heard a loud commotion, with that you had knocked out the solider standing guard stole the flag and ran off to the lakes shore.

——

The final conch rang signaling your teams victory. Clarisse rolled her eyes as she walked over towards you shaking her head at your dumb sarcastic grin. As your group celebrated, the blue team walked over with Chiron in tow.

“Her fucking y/n she’s the one who set up that damn trap” Liam a Hermes kid pointed at you accusingly you however remained innioncent.

“What trap?” You played it off.

“Oh you little—“ liam started to get into your face but clarisse immeaditly stepped in. Chiron however put his arm inbetween the two to keep things cordial.

“How about you tell me what the trap was” the centaur looked down at the angry kid. He had been scuffed up pretty bad with a few bleeding cuts of his own.

“It was a Large rope scheme, we stepped into our safe zone and boom a loud explosion of green fire went off before we could leave more went off getting practically all of our team surrounded in Greek fire, then once we got free half of us were swept up into the tree upside down by that point the flag had been taken and now we’re here and I know it was y/n because… well I can’t actually prove it but I know it was her!” 

You kept your innocent appearance with a small smile still denying the accusations.

“I’m sorry Liam but if there’s no solid proof I can’t do anything, as far as I see y/n is innocent” Chiron sighed while setting a comforting arm on his shoulder. The kid scoffed and stormed away, as everybody cleared off you smiled at clarisse giving her a kiss. “So about the bet” you grinned.

“Shut up” she laughed but kissed you back. In the corner of your eye you saw annabeth chase of all people walking over to you.

She stopped infront of you with a serious expression. You raised an eyebrow confused but waited for her to speak. “I know you set that trap, and I know you made sure not to leave an evidence you did it. Next time you wont be so lucky” she crossed her arms, you knew annabeth was a force to be reckoned with and crossing her was a bad idea. “But you have my respect that was a good trick you pulled today. Enjoy your celebratory dinner” she sighed before walking away.

You looked back at clarisse for a moment. You smiled wide at her laughing at her pretend agitated face at the fact you had won and clarisse ultimate lost.

“You know” clarisse started while walking back to the dining hall with you. “It’s kinda hot how you managed to fuck up a bunch of kids just because I got hurt, don’t tell me your over protective”

“Shut up clarisse”

Clarisse - this is bullshit

Y/n - you lost now you have to rest for a week

Clarisse - again this is bull shit

———

#lesbian #wlw #clarisse la rue #clarisse pjo #clarisse my beloved #clarisse x female reader #butch clarisse #clarisse la rue x reader #clarisse x you #clarisse larue #clarisse x reader #percy jackson show #pjo show #pjo fandom #percy jackson fanfiction

[wheresarizona]

Learning to Live Part 27

summary: Javier was warned by you that the place he chose to propose needed to be somewhere secluded because you’d be super horny afterward. What happens when you’re both super horny after he puts that ring on your finger? Let’s just say there’s no way in hell you’re making it back to your guest room at the Murphy’s, and you’re taking advantage of any time you have alone, even if it’s risky. 

rating: E (18+!! This is basically porn with plot. It is horny. No y/n, alternating POV, age gap (about ten years), public sex, vaginal fingering, getting caught, oral sex (m & f receiving), road head, deepthroating, unprotected p in v (wrap it up!), creampie(s), woman on top, anal play, dirty talk, (MASSIVE) breeding kink, spit mention, come eating, birth control discussion, wedding planning, feelings, Angry Javier Peña, Javier Peña in love, Javier saying romantic things, Chucho being the best supportive father, Chucho jonesing to have grandchildren)

pairing: Javier Peña/f!reader

word count: 17.7k+

a/n: I have had a rough last couple of weeks, and the only thing that kept me from having a complete and total breakdown was writing about these two horny dummies. This chapter is unbeta’d, and any mistakes are my own. Shout out to @juletheghoul for ensuring the Spanish made sense and @theorganasolo for giving it a read. 

Thank you for reading! Comments and reblogs feed me. I’d love to know what you thought!

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The waves were roaring as they rolled and crashed toward the shore; some bird he couldn’t identify was squawking in the distance, the warm, humid air smelling like salt and brine. All of that was surrounding him, and the only thing Javier cared about was the woman moaning beneath him. 

His fiancée.

She tasted like coffee and the sweetness of the berries and pineapple she had eaten earlier, tangling his tongue with hers. He held himself up with an arm beside her head on the blanket over the sand, giving himself enough space to work his other hand between their bodies and into her stretchy black leggings and panties. Two of his thick fingers were fucking in and out of her hot, wet cunt, his thumb on her swollen little clit, Javier swallowing her noises, knowing she was close with how tightly she was squeezing his digits. 

Happy was an understatement for how he felt; he was on cloud nine, over the goddamn moon, on top of the fucking world—Javier had to be the happiest man on the entire planet because she said yes. 

Yes!

She was wearing the ring, her fingers currently in his hair, and he was dying to be inside her. 

There wasn’t any reason for him to be surprised by her answer, yet up until she said that three-letter word, there’d been fear in the back of his mind she’d say no. Which was ridiculous for him to even think, and he deserved it when she laid into him that she did say yes, and she was going to marry him.

He’d brought her to a little stretch of beach away from the high-traffic, touristy areas Steve and Connie had shown him years ago, so they’d have some privacy hidden away in their alcove, and since the lifeguards didn’t start patrolling until eight, there wasn’t much risk of anyone coming across them. 

They didn’t get this far the first time they made out due to the interruption of her stomach growling and Javier stopping the heated kiss to insist that they eat breakfast, which they did as they watched the sun rise. Now, his cock was hard and straining in his jeans, arousal hot in his belly, working his fingers faster and making it a point to press into that spot that made her toes curl. Her muffled sounds got louder until her body was tensing, clamping down on his digits hard enough that he slowed his movements, working her through her climax with his thumb gently rolling over her sensitive bundle of nerves. 

He nipped at her chin while she panted. “Good girl,” he purred, kissing a wet streak under her jaw. “Quiero hacerte el amor bajo el sol (I want to make love to you under the sun).” His words were said into her skin. “Quiero dártelo despacito mientras escuchamos las olas (I want to give it to you slowly while we listen to the waves). ¿Quieres eso (You want that)?” He sucked on her pulse point, and she moaned out yes, which might be his new favorite word.

All he needed to do was pull down her pants and underwear with how she was soaked and ready for him, and he’d be able to slide his dick inside the wet, snug heat of her pussy; Javier removed his hand from down her leggings, groaning as he sat up on his knees, his fingers going into her elastic waistband, starting to tug—

“Good morning, folks,” an unfamiliar masculine voice greeted.

Javier’s stomach plummeted, his heart pounding in his chest, and he immediately went on the defensive. His hands left her as his upper body twisted, and his head turned to glare at the interloper. 

Fuck. 

A small white truck was a little way away from them with Ocean Rescue in big blue letters on the side of it, a rack on the back with a long white paddleboard atop it, and a red lifeguard rescue tube hanging from it. A guy in his late twenties was in the driver's seat, his arm hanging out of the window, dark sunglasses covering his eyes, with floppy black hair and a clean-shaven face. 

Javier cleared his throat, frowning. 

“Good morning, sir...” he said. 

Thank Christ, with how they were positioned, the younger man wouldn’t have seen anything; Steve would give him so much shit if he got arrested because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“It’s usually only surfers out this early.” The lifeguard smiled. “I just wanted to make sure everything is okay over here.”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” 

“Ma’am,” the man said a little louder, “is everything okay over here?” 

“Everything’s great!” Javier glanced over to see she was holding her thumb up. 

“Awesome.” The guy in the truck focused back on Javier. “I hate being a buzzkill, man, and getting in the way of your fun, but it’s my job to remind you this is a public beach.”

“Right, yeah.” Javier scratched at the back of his neck. “Sorry.” 

He waved away his apology. “Don’t sweat it. Just enjoy the rest of your day!”

“Yeah, you, too. Thank you.”

The other man nodded once, his attention going in front of him as he started driving, slowly making his way down the beach and away from them. 

“Oh my god, Javier,” Cielito groaned. “That was too close.” 

He faced her, seeing her hands covering her eyes.

“I’m sorry, mi amor (my love),” he said, checking his watch. “Fuck, I didn’t realize it was after eight.”

She looked at him with shock on her face. “How did we lose track of time? How long were we fooling around for?” 

“I don’t know.” He sighed, pressing clean fingers to his forehead. “I got so fucking caught up in everything I forgot to pay attention to the time.” 

There was rustling as she sat up, her hands rubbing along his biceps. “We both got caught up and forgot we had a time limit. On the bright side, he stopped us before you pulled your dick out or got my pants off, so he saved us from being arrested for indecent exposure.”

“Still coulda gotten us with a lesser charge for fucking around in public.” 

She pulled his hand away from his face to make him look at her and the soft smile on her kiss-swollen lips. 

“But he didn’t. So, why don’t we pack up and take this party back to the house where we can attempt a quickie without anyone knowing?” She wagged her eyebrows.

His cock twitched, gulping at the thought. “Or I could just fuck you in the back of the car?” That was a better option. 

“You know how much I love car sex, and the SUV does have a lot of space in the backseat and those dark, tinted windows, but I think our public sex luck has run out for today. I can picture perfectly how giddy Steve would be if he had to bail us out of jail because we were caught having sex in public.”

The image of his best friend’s grinning face came to mind, and just the thought made his jaw clench and mouth turn down in a frown. 

He sighed. “You’re right. Steve would never let me live it down. The house is a better idea.” 

“I’m always right,” she said with a smile, lightly patting his cheek.

Javier snorted, leaning forward to kiss her. “You are always right,” he murmured against her lips.

He felt her smile. “You’re gonna be the best husband.” The fingers of both her hands slid into the hair above his ears, and, along with her words, he had a shiver moving down his spine, feeling himself melt under her touch. 

“And you’re gonna be the best wife,” he said as they broke apart, and he took her left hand into his, seeing the ring on her finger, bringing it up to his lips to kiss it. 

“Ugh, we need to leave right this second because it is essential I make you come.” 

He smiled, meeting her eyes. 

“Essential? What if we can’t sneak away from the Murphys? I’m sorry, baby, but you might have to wait until tonight to get me off.” 

The wheels were turning in her head. She was thinking hard until she nodded to herself at figuring something out. “I’m gonna make you come.” It was stated as a fact. “Before tonight.”

His eyebrow rose. “Uh-huh, right, and how are you going to do that?” 

The toothy smile on her face was reminiscent of the Cheshire cat. “Oh, it’s a surprise.” 

“It’s a surprise?”

“Yep.”

“No hints?” 

“Nope.” She shook her head. 

The most logical way for her to achieve her goal was to corner him in the bathroom back at Steve and Connie’s, but he didn’t think she’d be this excited about that. She had something else in mind, and he was curious what it was, finding her eagerness to get him off a major turn-on, as evidenced by the hard-on in his pants. 

“I do like surprises,” he mused. 

“You especially love sexy surprises, and I think you’re really going to like this one.” 

“I know I will.” He caressed her cheek, memorizing how her face looked in the soft glow of the morning sun—breathtaking. “I love you.” 

She smiled. “I love you, too.” 

It didn’t take them long to pack up the stuff he’d brought into the tote bag that included empty berry containers, a mostly drunk thermos of coffee, and two dirtied coffee mugs, folding the big blanket, too, and putting it all in the trunk of the rental. 

Javier thought the smile on his face might be permanent, with how it wouldn’t go away. He opened the passenger door for her. “Your ride awaits, Mrs. Peña.” She took the hand he held out to help her up into the vehicle as she giggled. 

“Future, Mrs. Peña,” she corrected as she sat down in her seat. 

He took the step to have him next to her and bent to be at her eye level, gently turning her head with his fingers on her chin. “You said yes, and you’re wearing the ring—all that’s keeping you from legally being my wife is a ceremony and a piece of paper, but to me? I’ve already got it in my head that you’re Mrs. Peña, my wife, and people will know you’re taken just by looking at your hand.” He nodded toward her hands in her lap on top of his leather jacket. 

“You love that.” Her smile was beaming. 

“Love what?” 

She held up her left hand. “That you put a ring on my finger so it’s clear I’m off the market and unavailable—you like that you’ve staked your claim.” 

Now, that made him frown—he did love that the engagement ring broadcasted she was in a serious relationship, but he did not like the idea that it was him putting a claim on her like she was a piece of property. 

An exasperated breath left her. “Let me rephrase,” she said, “because I can see it on your face—” She gestured at it. “—that you’re hating me objectifying myself. You like that I’m wearing something that shows I’m yours and have chosen to spend my life with you, and when we’re together, others will see it and know, too.”  

He was smiling again, taking her left hand into his, the pad of his thumb feeling the smoothness of the gold band, then the ridges of one small diamond, two, the largest, and down to the smaller ones before it was smooth gold again, and rubbing back over it, over and over again, as he spoke. “Yes,” he said. “I love that you’re wearing this ring so I can see the proof every fucking day that you chose to marry me—” He pressed his free hand to his chest. “Me. You’re marrying me, and just like how I can see the proof, everyone else can, too—they’ll know you’re mine, and I’m yours, and you’ve chosen me, and I can’t wait to wear my own ring to broadcast to the entire fucking world that I’m a married man and your husband.” 

“God, you’re so fucking sweet—gold or silver?” 

His eyebrows scrunched together. “Huh?” 

“Your wedding ring. Gold or silver? Do you want diamonds on it? Or a different kind of gem? What are you imagining?”  

“A gold band—nothing on it,” he answered immediately. “Gold that matches yours.” 

Her eyes softened. “That makes perfect sense—something simple and classic.” 

“Yeah, that’s all I need.” 

“I’ll keep it in mind. Now, let’s go, babe.” Her right hand brushed his bangs off his forehead. “You know how horny it makes me when you’re stupidly romantic, and I hate that you were cockblocked.” 

He huffed out an amused breath. “I’m fine, mi amor (my love).” He gave her a quick peck on the lips. 

Her hand moved from his face to the front of his jeans, Javier’s mouth falling open as she rubbed over his half-hard dick. “Sure, you’re fine,” she said. “Sure, you don’t care about not coming.” 

There was a dull ache low in his gut from not getting off, and he swallowed hard at remembering her promise to make him come before that evening. 

“Fuck, let’s go.” He kissed her quickly, grabbing her seatbelt and getting it around her body to buckle it in, kissing her one more time before he moved to shut the door, the dark window obscuring the view of her. 

Cars were crowding the roads when they started heading back to the Murphys, the rush hour traffic making their commute much longer than the forty-five minutes it’d taken earlier that morning. 

Javier fucking hated traffic, and it was one of the things he didn’t miss about Miami. 

His jaw was clenched tight as they moved at a crawl down the highway with one hand on the steering wheel and his other in Cielito’s lap with their fingers intertwined, trying his best not to let his irritation of the other drivers sour their joyous day. 

A candy apple red Mazda Miata with its top down almost hit their front bumper as it cut into their lane, causing Javier to slam on the brakes and lay on the horn. “Fuck!” 

The guy in the car flipped him off, and his nostrils flared, his heart hammering, it taking everything in him to resist the urge to jump out of their Ford and kick the other man’s ass. 

“Give me your cell phone,” his wife-to-be said.

He was seething, glancing at her. “What?” The word slipped through his teeth. 

She let go of his hand to hold out her palm, looking at him expectantly. “Give me your cell phone, please.” 

There was a deep frown on his face, his eyebrows dipped low, not wasting another second as he adjusted in his seat to easily pull the cell phone off his belt, passing it to her. 

“Where’s your phone?” he asked, looking over at her.

“Home,” she answered, her attention on the phone’s numbers under the protective case’s front plastic. 

“Why didn’t you bring it?” 

“Why would I need it? We’re gonna be together the whole time we’re here, and I kinda didn’t want anyone to be able to reach me unless it was an emergency, which, if that were the case, they’d know to call you.” 

Her answer made him smile, liking that she didn’t want their time together to be interrupted. He watched as she pressed a number, then the call button to speed dial someone, the device going up to her ear. 

Seconds later, she was laughing. “Sí, Pop (Yes, Pop),” she said, “me propuso matrimonio y yo dije que sí (he proposed to me and I said yes).” She giggled, and he was looking at the road again as he listened, not caring about the traffic anymore. “Creo que soy yo la afortunada y seria estúpida si hubiera dicho que no (I think I’m the lucky one and I would have been stupid if I’d said no). Javi es increíble y me hace la mujer más feliz del mundo entero (Javi is amazing and he makes me the happiest woman in the world). No sabes lo feliz que estoy de que me haya pedido que fuera su esposa (You don’t know how happy I am that he asked me to be his wife)... Eso es cierto, estabas asi de feliz cuando Antonia dijo que sí (That’s true, you were this happy when Antonia said yes). ¿No es la mejor sensación (Isn’t it the best feeling)? Apuesto a que Javi también lo está sintiendo (I bet Javi’s feeling it, too).” 

“I am,” he said, his head turning toward her with a smile, warmth spreading through his veins. “Sí, lo soy (Yes, I am). Se siente increíble (It feels amazing).”

She grinned. “Sí, él también está muy feliz (Yes, he’s very happy, too),” she told his dad. Something she heard made her laugh, and Javier wished he knew what his father was saying.

“What did he say?” Javier whispered, focusing back on what was in front of him. 

It had her switching to English, sounding amused. “We haven’t even been engaged a day, and you’re already asking about grandchildren.” 

Of course, that was what his dad wanted to talk about. It made his heart speed up that this was the conversation that would determine if Cielito and he would start their family—she wanted to discuss living on the ranch with Chucho while their house was being built, something his father had already agreed to with him but hadn’t talked to her about yet.

A big smile was on her face as she spoke. “Yes, we will definitely be married before a baby is born… We haven’t had a chance to hash out the details of our wedding yet… Oh, of course, we have to do something at the ranch with Daphne and Velma—” Those were their two calves they lovingly called their bovine children. “—and we’d have to make sure Steve, Connie, and their family can be there…” Her tone shifted to something somber, and he quickly looked over to see she was frowning, and he matched her look. “It’s fine that you asked,” she said, “but, no, I wouldn’t want anyone from my family there; I don’t think they’d come if we invited them, and I’d worry they’d cause a scene if they did show up… You and the rest of the Peña’s are all the family I need…”

Javier’s heart squeezed, reaching over to rub her thigh. “I love you, too…” She grabbed his hand and held it, his dad making her laugh again. “Yes, yes, your nietos (grandchildren),” she replied in exasperation. “Javi said he talked to you… I know you’re excited, Pop…” She was smiling again. “You really won’t mind a crying baby?” Javier held his breath. “You’re sure?” Whatever his answer was, it had her giggling. “I’m going to remember you said that! Today, December 11th, at—” Her attention went to the clock radio. “—8:39 am Jesús Eduardo Peña Torres swore he wouldn’t mind his grandchild crying at all hours of the night and stated he would even assist in caring for the child to give his son and daughter-in-law breaks…” His father said something that cracked her up, saying through her laughter, “You’re going to put it in writing for us?!” Javier chuckled, thinking when they saw his dad next, he most likely would have something written up for them because he was that serious. 

As much as he was loving the banter between his fiancée and father, he was dying to know if this had quelled her worries. 

The bumper-to-bumper traffic was an afterthought as he glanced over at her. “How are you, uh, feeling?” he quietly asked. 

Her bright, shining eyes met his with a grin on her beautiful lips, moving the phone away from her mouth to cover the speaker. She whispered, “Oh, it’s go time, babe. Like, I am going to be keeping you busy."

The smile on his face made his cheeks hurt, her answer causing arousal to burn low in his gut and blood to rush to his groin.

She was going to keep him busy trying to get her pregnant, and he was more than up for the challenge—his dick hardening at the thought.

Cielito uncovered the cell phone, saying to his father, "Yes, I'm still here; sorry, Javi had a question... Oh, of course." She was smiling. "I love you, too. Here he is." With that, she held the phone out toward him, and he took it.

"¿Bueno (Hello)?" he answered with the device at his ear.

"¿Le propusiste matrimonio durante el amanecer como hablamos (Did you propose during the sunrise like we talked about)?"

While his wif-fiancée was out with her best friend the previous weekend, he’d gone to the ranch to discuss his proposal idea with his dad since the elder Peña was a romantic like him and understood what he wanted to do. 

"Sí (Yes)."

“¿Dijiste el gran discurso romántico que habías planeado pero que te negaste a practicar conmigo (Did you say that big romantic speech you had planned but refused to rehearse with me)?”

Javier sighed, remembering how his dad had needled him to say it—the only reason he didn’t was because of how intimate and personal it was, and he only wanted his intended to hear it. 

“Más o menos (More or less),” he answered. “Acabo de decir lo que se sentía bien y vino del corazón (I just said what felt right and came from the heart).” 

“¿Y a ella le gustó mucho (And did she like it a lot)?

“Ella dijo que sí, así que supongo que si (She said yes, so I guess she did).” 

“¡Esi es, mijo (That’s it, son)! Sabes, recibes tus genes románticos de mí (You know, you get your romantic genes from me).” Pride was in his tone. “No tengo duda de que lo que dijiste fue hermoso (I have no doubt that what you said was beautiful). ¿Le gustó el anillo (Did she like the ring)?”

His head turned and looked at it on her finger.

“Le encanta el anillo, especialmente porque era de mi mamá (She loves the ring, especially because it was my mom’s). Ella estaba conmovida que le dejaste tenerlo (She was touched you let her have it). Eh—” Their SUV was moving at a slow roll, and his head moved away from her, switching ears as he said, hopefully quietly enough that she wouldn't hear, "¿Es normal que haya mucho llanto (Is it normal for there to be a lot of crying)..?"

Chucho laughed. "Sí, Mijo (Yes, Mijo). Eso es bueno (That’s good). Tu madre también lloró cuando le propuse matrimonio (Your mom also cried when I proposed)—Incluso yo también lloré (I even cried).” 

“Yo también (I did, too)."

"No hay nada de malo en eso (There is nothing wrong with that). Estoy muy feliz por ti, Javi, y orgulloso de ti (I am so happy for you, Javi, and proud of you). Vas a ser un esposo increíble (You’re going to be an amazing husband)."

The praise had a lump forming in his throat.

"Gracias, Pop (Thank you, Pop)."

"No, gracias, Mijo (No, thank you, Mijo). Has traído a una mujer maravillosa a nuestra familia y me encanta tener una hija (You've brought a wonderful woman into our family and I love having a daughter). Sería aún mejor si también tuviera algunos nietos (It would be even better if I also had some grandchildren)."

Javier sighed. "Lo sé, lo sé (I know, I know). Quieres a tus nietos (You want your grandchildren). Bueno, tendrás que esperar porque no es algo que sucede asi tan rapido (Well, you're going to have to wait because it's not something that happens overnight)."

"Lo siento por ser tan agresivo (I’m sorry for being pushy). Es que estoy emocionado (I’m just excited). ¿Ayudó mi conversación con ella (Did my talk with her help)?"

"Sí (Yes). Gracias por quedarte en casa hoy (Thank you for staying home today)."

"No quería perderme tu llamada (I didn't want to miss your call)."

"Lo aprecio mucho, Pop (I appreciate it a lot, Pop)."

"De nada, Javi (You're welcome, Javi). Sabes que haré cualquier cosa por ustedes dos y sus futuros hijos (You know I'll do anything for the two of you and your future kids). Ustedes significan todo para mí (You all mean everything to me)."

Javier knew his dad was telling the truth, and it made his eyes burn with unshed tears.

"Te amamos (We love you)."

"Yo también te amo (I love you, too)."

He didn't want his emotions to get the better of him when they should be celebrating.

“We'll see you Sunday,” he said in English. 

"Yes, you will. I can't wait to get a picture of you and her with the engagement ring for my photo album. We're going to have a great dinner."

"Yeah, we will. I'm gonna get going. I'll let you know when we get home from our trip."

"Thank you. Congratulations, Mijo. I'm going to take some flowers to your mom and tell her the news. I love you—I love both of you, and your mother does, too."

The mention of his mom had foggy memories of his dream from the night before coming back to him, only recalling bits and pieces of it, but he knew his father was right—she did love them.

"Thanks, Pop. I love you, too. Bye."

"Bye, Mijo."

He pushed the end call button, moving it to his other hand. Beneath the car's stereo and temperature controls was a slot where he put the cell phone.

"Well," Javier started, reaching over to grab her hand, "I wouldn't be surprised if he had our wedding planned by dinner Sunday." He brought her hand up while he looked over at her and kissed the center diamond.

She giggled. "I'm pretty sure he started planning our wedding when we first got together, which, oh my god, how long has he known you were going to propose on this trip?"

"The first week of November. Why?"

His eyes were back on the road, keeping her hand in his palm, his thumb rubbing over the ring.

"Because over the last month, when it'd just be your dad and I talking, he was fishing for info on my dream wedding—I didn't think anything of it 'cause it's been set in stone for a long time that we're going to get married and I figured he was just being proactive."

Javier was frowning, feeling a twinge of annoyance that his dad could've ruined his plans.

"I'm glad it didn't tip you off..." he grumbled.

"Hey, don't be upset with him! He's our biggest supporter. He's invested in our relationship like we're Buffy and Angel or a couple in one of your tías telenovelas!"

His eyes narrowed. "He finds our relationship... entertaining?"

There was a lot of drama between couples in telenovelas, and he guessed they'd been through some shit in their relationship. She'd explained that vampire slayer show to him and made him watch some episodes, and knew Buffy and Angel didn't have an easy time being together.

"No, he doesn't find our relationship entertaining," she replied. "We're his favorite couple. He thinks we're meant to be together and wants our relationship to succeed more than anything."

"Oh."

"Yeah." There wasn't too much space between them, a small console keeping their seats separated, and she leaned over, her free hand reaching across her body to rub over his pec. "It's very sweet. There's something else I want to talk to you about."

"Yeah?" He turned on his blinker and looked over his shoulder to check his blind spot before merging into the next lane, where cars were moving a bit faster.

"Yes, babymaking."

Air hissed out of him at the sharp spike of arousal that cut through him.

He licked his lips. "What, uh, about it?"

"Our sex life is fucking amazing, and I don't want us to lose our spark and for it to become a chore; yes, we basically only have one shot a month, and we'll have to really go to town, but I want us to enjoy ourselves and fuck for pleasure, not for the sole purpose of reproducing."

Looking over at her with a smile, he said, "Yeah, that sounds good. I wouldn't want it becoming a chore, either."

She smiled. "I'm glad that's agreed upon. There's something else I need to tell you."

"Okay?"

"You know how we got up insanely early yesterday, too?"

That was when they traveled to Miami, and they'd woken up at 4 am to make their 6 am flight from Laredo to Dallas/Fort Worth.

"Yes?" He was paying attention to driving again.

"Well, apparently, in the hecticness that was making sure we had everything before we left the apartment, checking us in when we got to the airport, boarding the airplane, traveling, boarding another plane, and getting to Miami, it kinda, sorta, slipped my mind to take my birth control..."

His eyes went big, his head snapping toward her.

"What?"

"I know. I can't believe I forgot and just about had a heart attack this morning when I saw the pill in my pack—I had to make a choice."

"What choice?" he asked.

"It was either I take yesterday's and today's pills, or I take neither."

"What did you choose?" he breathed out the question. He thought his heart might thump right out of his chest, looking forward once more.

"Well, based on the fact that I showered after each time we fucked yesterday, and there's still come inside me, and we've agreed to a baby, I just said fuck it and threw away the entire pack."

His brain short-circuited, it taking him a little longer than usual to process what she said, and needing to make sure he understood her correctly.

"You're no longer on birth control..?"

"Nope," she said with a pop of the 'p.'

"I could get you pregnant?"

"Yep." The word popped from her mouth.

"Fuck." Blood was rushing to his dick, remembering how he had come inside her twice the day before. What if he’d already knocked her up?

She removed her hand from his, her upper body turned toward him and close while she rubbed along his inner thigh, making him gulp.

"Do you like that?" she purred.

Both of his hands were on the steering wheel now, squeezing so tight the leather creaked.

He cleared his throat. "You know I do."

She palmed his swelling cock, and his mouth fell open.

"Yes, you do. It's too bad we're gonna get back to the house and won't be able to lock ourselves away in the guest room and fuck for hours. Just imagine fucking me over and over again to keep me all nice and full."

Now, it was all he could think about. He was fully hard, and he hated that they wouldn't be able to do just that. How was he supposed to enjoy the rest of their trip when he was so fucking horny?

"How long until we get back to the Murphys?" she asked.

It took him a second to register her question; his brain was stuck on imagining fucking her in a myriad of positions and finishing inside her each time.

He glanced at the clock, then the cars in front of them, and the sign on the side of the highway for where they were. "Uh, maybe forty/forty-five minutes." And then they wouldn't be alone until later that night, which made his mouth turn down, annoyed. "Why would you put that shit in my head?" he groused. 

Sure, they could try to slip away to be alone; however, he had his doubts that they’d have enough time to fuck. They didn't have an excuse like they did yesterday of needing a nap and shower after traveling. The kids would want their attention—Steve and Connie sure as fuck would notice if they disappeared for an extended amount of time in their home, and his best friend would happily interrupt if he had a chance, like when he banged on the wall the night before when they were trying to have sex in that goddamn squeaky bed.

"Because," she answered, "I want you to be so horny you'll let me suck your dick right this second."

His cock jerked hard in his jeans as he groaned.

"I thought you said our public sex luck had run out?"

"Our stationary public sex luck has run out, but now we're moving in a dark windowed vehicle. So, if you want and think you can handle it, I'll suck you off to take an edge off of how unbelievably horny you are—which you're at the grumpy stage of being unbelievably horny, and I'd prefer getting you in a better mood, so you're not too mean to Steve."

She was right. He was unbelievably horny.

"Okay, yes, please."

The sight before him was miles upon miles of cars and a sea of glowing red rearview lights, the tall buildings in downtown Miami jutting high in the sky off in the distance to the left. They were moving slowly and steadily down the road. 

Her seatbelt clicked as she unbuckled herself, shuffling to get her knees on her seat, leaning over the small, low center console, his hand closest to her moving to rest on her shirt-covered back to give her room to work open his belt and jeans.

The metal of his belt buckle rattled, and she quickly popped open the button on his pants, lifting his hips instinctively for her fingers in the denim waistband to tug them down far enough to free his throbbing dick and heavy sack; his jeans pulled taut as they stretched across his spread thighs. 

He looked down to watch her spit in her palm, the ruddy tip of him shining with precum. She took him in hand, and he gasped, her head tilting up to meet his gaze. Reaching, he squeezed a handful of her ass. 

"I know you love watching, but I need you to be a good boy and keep your eyes on the road." He swallowed hard. "Just know I've wanted to do this since the beach, and I'm happy you're finally letting me—my panties are drenched." 

"Jesus Christ," he said on an exhale, looking forward at the sports car they were slowly following. "I love you so fucking much." Both of his hands went to the steering wheel, keeping them at ten and two.

"I love you, too, and if it becomes too much, you're allowed to tap out." 

"I know." 

She licked a broad stripe from base to tip, swirling her tongue around the head, making Javier groan as she pressed into those sensitive spots that made sparks dance along his spine. Pleasure had ignited in his belly, her lips wrapping around him and taking him into the hot, wet heat of her mouth, his jaw dropping and hands making the leather screech with how tightly he was squeezing the steering wheel. 

The vibrations of her moans had the fire rapidly building in his gut, loving how he could hear how much she was enjoying herself.

She spit on the head of his cock, following it with her mouth, bobbing up and down, taking more and more of him until he was hitting the back of her throat, and it had him panting when she swallowed around him to take him down into the tight space. 

"Oh, fuck, baby," he moaned, his toes curled in his boots. "That's so fucking good." 

It did feel good, but what would be even better was if he could fuck her—he was greedy. She was giving him a fantastic blow job, and all he could think about was how he wished he was inside her—that it was the wet heat of her pussy enveloping him right now. 

Yeah, she was on her way to getting him off—she was now wetly stroking him while her head dipped down so she could lick at the thin skin of his balls—but no matter how much pleasure she was bringing him, there was still an undercurrent of irritation from being interrupted that morning when he was trying to get into her pants. 

This might not have been the best idea when the car behind them honked because he was going too slow; Javier immediately sped up. 

She was right. 

She could take the edge off of how horny he was by making him come with her mouth; he just hated he couldn't fuck her until later that night. 

Add in the fact she accepted his proposal and told him she wasn't on birth control anymore, and it was killing him he had to wait to have sex with her. She put it in his head about fucking her for hours, and he was annoyed it wasn't something he actually had the means to do with them being on a trip. 

If it was his choice and he knew they could get away with it, he’d lock them away in the guest room when they returned to Steve and Connie’s and spend as much time as he could between his future wife’s legs.

She had him back down her throat, humming around him, and he felt his eyes beginning to roll back in his head—a horn blared behind them again, this time the car speeding to pass around them, the traffic finally letting up, and the vehicles moving at regular speeds. It pissed him off, turning on his blinker and looking over his shoulder as he moved over into the far right lane for slower traffic, hoping people would leave them the fuck alone. 

He was close, his heart beating rapidly, and dick swallowed down deep in her throat while her hand fondled his sack, it adding fuel to the burning fire in his gut, the muscles starting to tighten—at the thought of finishing in her mouth, he frowned. 

A sign on the side of the road caught his attention, showing some places off the next exit that gave him an idea. Glancing at the clock on the stereo, he made a decision.

Or, more accurately, his dick made a decision. 

"Don't make me come." 

His sentence came out strained, his big hand on the back of your head and his hard cock nestled in the tight confines of your throat. Tears were streaming from the corners of your eyes at suppressing your gag reflex, saliva dripping down your chin.

What he said made your eyebrows furrow, humming, 'What?' around him. 

You could hear the blinker clicking, his long arm reaching to grab some of your ass. 

"Don't make me come," he said again.

With how he was panting and his tense thighs, you knew it wasn't going to take much more to finish him, and you didn't understand why he wanted you to stop, coming off of him with a gasp, a string of spit keeping you connected. 

Your breaths were labored, sitting up to look at him. 

"Are you okay?" you asked. 

He looked at you with a smirk, his face flushed. 

"I'm fucking amazing," he answered.

His dick was slick as your hand languidly jerked him, easily moving up and down the velvety skin. 

"...and you don't want to come..?" It made no sense. You knew how horny he was. 

"I want to come." His eyes went to the road. "I just don't wanna come in your mouth." He seemed to be looking for something outside, his head moving forward with squinted eyes, and your face turned to see where you were, finding that he was taking you down a busy city street lined with stores, restaurants, and motels. 

"Um, what's your game plan here, babe?" You were beyond confused. "We're not back in Laredo, where you have your secret sex spots around town." There were different secluded places Javi had found in his younger years to park his truck and fool around with girls. "This seems too risky."

The buildings were getting nicer and newer the closer you got to the towering buildings of downtown. 

"We're not doing anything risky, mi amor (my love). Especially not after this morning. Trust me."

The blinker ticked as he pulled into the parking lot of a hotel that was by far the fanciest you've driven past so far, but definitely not a five-star establishment—maybe three if you had to guess while the others had been ones and twos. 

"You're joking," you said. "We're not getting a hotel room and abandoning your friends." 

He parked in a spot facing the road and turned off the engine, wiggling in his seat as he got his jeans up.

"We're not staying here for the night," he said, watching as he tucked his still-hard cock into the waistband of his pants he buttoned and buckled, covering it with the bottom of his white button-up shirt. 

"This isn't the kind of place that rents by the hour, Javi. We passed those, and I don't get why we didn't stop at one if we're planning to fuck for an hour or two." 

His eyes met yours as he frowned. "I'm not taking the woman I love, my fiancée, to a seedy motel. You deserve better, so I don't give a fuck if this place doesn't rent by the hour, I'm getting us a room no matter how much it costs, and I'm going to fuck you for a couple of hours because I swear I'm going to go fucking crazy if I don't come inside your pussy in the next twenty minutes."

What he said had you clenching hard around nothing, completely down for his plan. There wasn’t anything for you to wipe your face off with, so you settled on using your shirt to get the spit and tears off your skin, not caring about the dark splotches on the coral-colored fabric when you were done. 

"Let's go," you said, grabbing your purse from the floor and getting out of the SUV.

Javi met you at the back of the vehicle and grabbed your hand, pulling you behind him as he briskly walked toward the entrance. 

“I love that you’re comfortable enough in your masculinity to admit you’re not gonna last and didn’t lie to me about how you were gonna rock my world or some shit.”

He looked over his shoulder at you with an eyebrow raised. "Who said I'm not gonna rock your world? Yeah, the first round might be quick, but it's still gonna be good for you, baby." He ended the sentence with a wink, which had your skin heating. Javi focused on what was in front of him as you walked through the doors that automatically slid open upon your approach. 

He wasn't joking when he said he didn't care about the cost—it was a Friday during the busiest travel season of the year, and you hadn't booked ahead; you were lucky they even had a room available. There was no hesitation when they told him the obscene price for one night, and he handed over his American Express credit card. His black leather wallet was in one hand, the fingers of the other tapping impatiently on the marble countertop while he waited for the worker to finish the transaction. 

He didn't read over any of the paperwork he scribbled his signature on, and once they told him the room number and handed over the keycard, his hand was taking yours to quickly lead you to the elevator the hotel employee had pointed out.

The room was a queen suite with the typical bedroom furniture—a bed, nightstands, dresser, TV, as well as a sitting area that consisted of a couch and coffee table, a desk on the opposite wall, beside a mini fridge with a microwave atop it. 

There wasn't much time to take in the details because the moment Javi got the door open, he was dragging you in and kicking it closed as his mouth collided with yours in a hard and searing kiss, palming your ass with one hand, an arm around your back guiding you further into the room. 

The keycard got tossed onto the desk, along with your purse, his tongue eagerly pressing between your lips. Arousal was burning in your belly, your fingers working open the buttons of his shirt while he walked you toward the bed that was in the far corner and felt like it was miles away. 

The tension that had built up since your morning liaison had been interrupted was so thick it was palpable enough to be cut with a knife. There was desperation in your kisses, feeling his need with every hungry press of his lips to yours; relief as you removed each other's clothes, that you were finally somewhere you didn't need to worry about how loud you were or anyone bothering you; overwhelming happiness over the day's events and eagerness to make use of the perfect, not-absurdly squeaky, queen-size bed.

The two of you were naked in record time, and after Javier pulled off the ugly red and green floral printed bedspread to fall into a pile on the floor, he was facing you, his hard dick bobbing between his legs, with a look on his face that promised trouble.

"No," you said.

That just made him grin and move quicker as he replied, "Yes," his arms getting around you as you laughed. He used that impressive strength he developed from doing manual labor on his father's ranch to toss you onto the mattress, where you bounced a few times, the springs complaining under your weight—Javi quickly followed, finding yourself with a sizable man on top of you, his hips nestling in their home between your thighs while his lips found yours once more. 

His hair was soft between your fingers, feeling the hard line of his cock pressing into your belly. 

You spoke between kisses. "You just love… throwing me like… a sack of potatoes." 

You felt his mouth curve into a smile. "Yes."

"One of these days… you're gonna… throw out… your back." 

He nipped at your lip, pulling back to look at you with a grumpy expression. "I'm not gonna throw out my fucking back—I'm used to hauling around calves and bails of hay. Tossing you around is nothing." 

"Okay, Hercules. Now, how do you want me?” You held his cheeks. “Missionary? Doggy? Cowgirl? Reverse cowgirl? From the side? In your lap? What are you feeling? 'Cause you weren't the only one cockblocked this morning, and I would really like to get fucked." 

"Do you wanna come on my fingers again? Or my mouth?" 

"Nope.” You smiled. “Dick, please." 

He crookedly smiled. "I love you so fucking much." 

"A girl tells you she wants your dick, and you proclaim your love—how romantic." 

"My wif-fiancée," he quickly corrected, "tells me she wants my dick when I'm dying to be inside her—I'm gonna proclaim my love for her. Hell, I wanna propose to you again."

You giggled. "The power of my pussy,” you said, pulling him down for a brief kiss, your eyes on his when you separated. "And I love you, too. Position?"

He gave you a quick peck. “You’ll see,” he said and started getting up, a pained groan leaving him. 

Sitting up on your elbows, you watched as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed by you with his feet easily planted on the floor. With where he was on the mattress, you had a view of his profile, taking in the curve of his nose and his plush, pillowy lips, watching him spit on his fingers that he curled around his shaft, hearing the wet strokes as he slicked himself up.

His head turned to you. “Move your legs.” 

He wanted to lie back, and it made you smile as you moved them out of his way and got up on your knees. “I’m riding you,” you said. 

Javi was lying on his back with his long legs bent at the knees along the edge of the bed while his feet touched the ground, and his ass settled a little over halfway to the middle of the mattress. 

He was looking at you with a smile. “Yeah—get on, mi amor (my love).” 

“My ride awaits?” you asked, tossing him a few pillows, Javi putting one under his head as you shuffled toward him. 

“My dick awaits.” And it was, his cock resting against his stomach in the hair below his belly button, shining from his saliva in the dim light coming from over by the door. 

“Yes, it is.” When you went to straddle him, his hand on your thigh stopped you. 

“Other way,” he said. 

A toothy smile appeared on your face. “Reverse cowgirl.” You turned around with your back to him, getting your leg over his hips. “I’m surprised you’re putting me in charge,” you said, keeping a hand on his thigh for balance while the other went between your legs to grab his hard length. “I’d think with how horny you are, you’d wanna just fuck my brains out.” Slotting him at your entrance, you didn’t draw things out and sunk down, matching moans coming from you both as he stretched your tight walls, and you took him all the way down to the hilt. 

His hands were on your hips, holding you flush against him. 

"Don't move," he said through his teeth, his cock twitching inside you. 

You were leaning forward with your palms on his thighs for leverage. 

"I won’t—god, you feel so good inside me, Javi. I love you.” 

"You feel so good around me." He already sounded wrecked. 

It took a minute before his fingers loosened their grip. 

"Monta me (Ride me)." He smacked the side of your ass. "Monta me, mi Cielito (Ride me, my Cielito). Mi amor, mi vida, mi prometida (My love, my life, my fiancée). Haznos venir (Make us come)." 

At the order, you started moving, rising on your knees until only the tip of him remained inside and falling back down, over and over again, at a steady pace. 

"I fucking love you," he groaned. "Fuck, you look so good." His hands squeezed your asscheeks, spreading them and helping you bounce. "This ass—fucking love this ass bouncing on my dick." He gave it a spank; his voice was tight like it was taking everything in him to keep himself from coming. "Love this pussy; this perfect pussy—I was made for this pussy.” His breaths were loud, and you knew if you looked at his face, it’d be screwed up like he was in pain with his eyebrows pulled together and teeth bared.

“Javi,” you moaned when his thumb slid through your wetness up his cock to press to your asshole, circling the tight ring of muscle, something blissful curling inside you. 

“I'm gonna marry you,” he continued. “I wanna give you my last name. Shit," he hissed and audibly gulped. "You’re off your birth control. You're gonna make me come, and I could get you pregnant." 

Obviously, he was loving the visual of seeing your ass move up and down as you worked yourself on him—and you were loving the things he was saying, so much so it had a wave of arousal dripping down his cock and making it slicker where you were joined.  

Heat had started forming at the base of your spine, your slick walls hugging his dick, spearing into you and fitting so perfectly, each stroke felt like nirvana.

"I'm gonna keep you full of my come today," he gritted out. "Gonna fuck you as many times as you'll let me to keep you stuffed."

A shock of pleasure in your tummy made you clench hard around him and stuttered your rhythm.

"You think you'll knock me up?" you panted.

"I know I'll knock you up—if not today, maybe tomorrow or the next day. I'll fuck a baby into you, eventually."

It was a promise, and it thrilled you.

Your breaths started coming out heavier, feeling the threads of your orgasm beginning to wind. Your brows were furrowed as you concentrated on your movements, breathily moaning. 

As incredible as this felt, just the penetration wouldn't get you off; you needed more—it was loud between your legs, hearing his cock wetly working in and out of your pussy, the bed’s springs softly squeaking beneath you, rough sounds coming from Javi’s throat, and softer ones slipping past your lips, the air conditioner, below the window, loudly thrumming in the background. 

"Fuck, lay back," he said. "I'm too fucking close."

It took a little maneuvering to get your legs out in front of you while keeping his dick in place and lying back so your spine was to his chest. You ended up leaning a little to the left, so your head rested beside his on two stacked pillows. His fingers dug into your waist, and he started thrusting up from beneath you, the new angle making his cock press into spots that had stars bursting behind your closed eyelids and his name leaving your lips in a hedonistic chant that seemed to only get louder as the seconds passed. 

This was on par with how you expected he'd fuck you when you got into this room, his feet planted and giving him the traction he needed to push up his hips and fuck into you hard and fast, his dick never more than halfway out of you. 

He was grunting in your ear, the pleasure in you building, hearing the slick slide of him fucking in and out of you. Your hands had grabbed onto his forearms for something to hold onto, your fingernails, no doubt leaving behind crescent moon indents in his skin. 

And since Javi knew your body like the back of his hand and how to play you like a goddamn fiddle, he licked two of his fingers and pressed the pads to your perky little clit, circling it just the way you liked while his other hand massaged your breast before his digits were tweaking your stiff nipple. 

"Need you to come for me," he grunted. "I wanna feel my fiancée come around my dick. I need you to squeeze me, so I can fuck you full of me—need to fill you up." 

The muscles in your abdomen began to wind up tight; the onslaught of his cock pistoning into you, his fingers swirling around your sensitive bundle of nerves, and your nipple being pinched and rolled had you soaring toward your end. 

"Oh god," you whined through hard breaths, "I'm gonna come—you're gonna make me come." 

"Let go, mi amor (my love)," he said. "Come for me, baby." 

The tension built inside you until you were cresting, coming with a shout, your body tensing up and pussy clamping down on him so hard it sent him with you. Javi pushed up into you as deep as possible, a low, dirty moan leaving him as his dick jerked hard, and you felt the pulse of spurts and spurts of his come painting your walls. 

Pleasure had overtaken every molecule in your body, your breaths panting from your lungs, and your heart thudding a mile a minute, not bothering to fight it when you went completely lax and became a dead weight atop your future husband. You welcomed the sweaty arms that wrapped around your middle, and turned you onto your sides without dislodging himself inside you, your hand going back to push into his damp hair, his face nuzzling at the back of your neck. 

There was a stillness to the room as your hearts slowed together and breaths evened out, the hum of the air conditioner’s motor the loudest sound. Calm had washed over you both; peace, relief—for the first time since you were back home, you could actually relax. There was no fear that someone heard you or you were too loud. Instead, you were able to bask in the post-coital glow when the two of you never felt closer and more connected. 

Minutes pass, and in the distance, you hear the occasional door slamming and voices passing by your rented room, fading away as quickly as they came. 

"What's your dream wedding like?" Javi asked, ending the long, comfortable silence. 

“You know how women say they’ve been dreaming about their wedding since they were little girls?” 

"Yeah?" 

"I don't know what kind of childhoods they had, but weddings never crossed my mind as a kid aside from when we had to go to one, and they were really fucking boring to me.” Javi snorted. “There was maybe one time I thought about my own nuptials, and it was in my early teens at my cousin's wedding that was insane. There were over two hundred people in attendance at some swanky venue, with expensive food and booze—think steak and lobster, a raw oyster bar, and Dom Pérignon; they went all out, and my mother made this comment about how so many of the guests would come to my future wedding—and she didn’t mean our family members; she was talking about the wealthy friends of our family I barely knew and the rich acquaintances my parents just wanted to rub elbows with.” 

“You hated that,” he said, kissing your bare shoulder. 

“I fucking hated it and was not okay with the idea that one of what was supposed to be the happiest days of my life would be hijacked to keep up appearances.”

“Sounds fucking miserable.” 

“Right? I don’t want a big wedding. I don’t like being the center of attention, and I know I seem pretty confident, but I actually get awful stage fright. So, I don’t think I want a small wedding either. My dream wedding is you and me going to the courthouse with your dad and Robyn as witnesses and eloping, then afterward, we throw a big party to celebrate with our friends and family—that just sounds nice to me.” 

His lips pressed to your neck. 

"What about you?" you asked. "How do you imagine your dream wedding?" 

His arms around your belly squeezed a little tighter. 

"My dream wedding is whatever you want it to be." 

"As sweet as that is, it's your special day, too. And you're a big 'ol sap, so I know you've got something in mind.” Your fingers scratched lovingly at his scalp.

"I don't want a big wedding, either.”

“I am well aware.” 

Years and years ago, his wedding with Lorraine was going to be the biggest in Laredo that year since her dad was the mayor and her family was well-known and the wealthiest in town—which was a huge reason why it was well over seventeen years later, and people still talked about Javier leaving her at the altar.

“Yeah, I guess you are—I love you.” He held you closer. 

“I love you, too, baby,” you said. 

“You wanna know how I picture our wedding?” he asked. “You know the tree on the hill out on Pop's land, I take you to watch the sunset?" It was the place where you told him you knew he loved you before he ever said the words and somewhere you’d returned many times after. 

"I'm very aware of the spot. We ride out there all the time." Him on his horse, Sombra, and you on his cousin's, Dulce. Javi was more than happy having you on his horse with him, but you had asked him to teach you how to ride by yourself, and he did. You quite enjoyed being able to do it on your own.  

His finger started skating along the skin of your belly, drawing random shapes. 

“I like to imagine us at the tree as the sun sets with my dad officiating—he’s holding his bible, and I know we’re not into that shit, but it’s Pop, and he’d give it his all, including a scripture or two, and a photo of mi mamá (my mom) he’d hold under his fingers to the cover of the book so she’s there with us, too, and Seb and Robyn would come as our only two witnesses.” His cousin, and your best friend/co-worker, who were dating. 

You could picture it perfectly, standing there beneath the old oak tree’s tall, twisting limbs and canopy of green leaves with Javi’s big hands holding yours as you said your vows and intertwined your lives with an exchange of rings, the sky exploding in color from the setting sun. 

"Your dream wedding is just a stupidly romantic version of my dream wedding,” you said. “How dare you out-dream wedding me!" 

He chuckled, sitting up a little and using his hand to turn your head by the chin so he could lean over and kiss your cheek. "I told you my dream wedding is whatever you want it to be.” He nuzzled against your face. “I don’t think I’ve told you this,” he said. “Sunrise and sunset used to be nothing more than the beginning and end of my day when I worked on the ranch, and then I met you—the sun would rise, and it meant another day with you in my life, and the beauty of it took my breath away. And sunsets? They’ve never been prettier—they’re gorgeous, and I want to share every sunrise and sunset with you for the rest of my life.” 

You flipped over, and it had him slipping out from between your legs, a low hiss coming from his mouth. 

"Sorry," you said, pushing him to lie on his back as you straddled his hips, and laid chest to chest with him. Your face hovered over his with your arms holding yourself up beside his head, ignoring his come oozing out of you. His eyes were squeezed shut as you stared at him. "I’m gonna marry you so hard, you sweet, adorable, romantic man—you said your dream wedding is whatever I want it to be, and now it’s your stupidly romantic wedding at our tree during sunset." 

His eyelids blinked open, and he smiled crookedly. 

"Yeah?" 

"Yes." You nodded. "Is your dad even ordained?" 

He had a thoughtful expression. "I don't think so? But I read you can get ordained online, and it's not difficult to do. We can ask him if he'd want to." 

Your face softened. "You know he'd love to." 

He was smiling. "Yeah, he would." 

The look on your face shifted to something mischievous. "And if he says no, we can just ask Steve to do it." 

His features scrunched into something annoyed, and a hand slapped your ass hard, making you laugh. 

"Over my dead body," he said. "He's not doing our fucking wedding ‘cause he’d say embarrassing shit and ruin everything. If Pop won't do it, then we're going to the courthouse." 

"That's it? We're either having a sunset tree wedding or going to the courthouse? There's nothing else you'd want?"

He thought it over for a second.

"I like your idea about a party afterward with our friends and family," he answered. "I'm with you on not wanting to get married in front of everyone, but I do wanna celebrate with them."

You smiled. "So, private ceremony and a poppin' party afterward? Did we just plan our wedding?"

He matched your look, his hand coming up to hold your cheek. "Yeah, I think we did." He pulled you down, kissing you tenderly. When he looked at you after, his gaze was soft. "Any day, any time, you tell me when, and I'll be there no matter what," he said. "Nothing will keep me from marrying you.” He suddenly looked unsure. “You know that, right?" 

It made your heart ache. He was worried you thought he might not show up to your wedding as he'd done at his first. 

"Javi, baby." You put all your weight onto one arm to push his hair out of his face with your other hand and soothingly stroke your fingers through the soft strands. "Is the sky blue?"

His eyebrows creased. "Yes?" 

"Is grass green?" 

"Yes?" 

"Are you the sexiest man alive?" 

He frowned. "Fucking Harrison Ford is this year’s sexiest man alive, and you know that." He was pouting, and it made you snort. 

When he saw the People Magazine while the two of you were at the grocery store proclaiming Harrison Ford as this year's sexiest man alive the previous month, Javi had grumbled, 'You gotta be fucking kidding me,' because he knew you thought the actor was attractive and had seen the majority of his filmography. Javi had a love/hate relationship with the guy since he did quite enjoy his movies but couldn't stand the fact that the other man was your celebrity crush. 

"Well, whoever decides the sexiest man alive at People Magazine is wrong since the correct answer to that question was yes—you, Javier Peña, are the sexiest man alive."

"Fucking Harrison Ford," he muttered. 

You huffed in exasperation, rolling your eyes. 

"Let's get back on topic. Does two plus two equal four?" 

"Yes," he answered.  

"Is Empire Strikes Back the best Star Wars movie?" 

"Yes—why are you asking these questions?" 

"Because they’re all facts," you said. "Like how I know for a fact you'll be there on our wedding day to say 'I do' and put a ring on my finger so I'll officially become Mrs. Javier Peña."

His dimple was showing he was smiling so big. "Yes, I fucking will." 

His arms were around you, and a surprised sound left you as he rolled you onto your back, your thighs cradling his hips and feeling his cock beginning to harden between your bodies.  

He lightly bit at your chin, his lips making a wet trail of kisses under your jaw that had tingles skittering down your spine, moaning when he got to the sensitive skin of your throat, your fingers tangling into his hair. 

"I'm gonna marry you.” His voice was muffled while he kissed and bit along the column of taut skin. "And there's a chance you could be pregnant with our baby when I do." 

He was making it hard to think while he sucked at your pulse. 

"When?" you gasped. 

"Hmmm?" he hummed. 

You swallowed hard, feeling your heart beating in your cunt. 

"When do you want to get married?" 

His head came up to look you in the eyes, low light from the fixture above the room’s door across the bedroom glowing behind the mess of brown hair on his head, giving some strands sticking out at odd angles a honeyed hue. His lips were red, cheeks pinked up, his gaze dark and hungry. 

"Whenever you want," he answered. "Next weekend, next month—if you're planning on inviting people out of state, I'm fine with waiting a few months to give them time to figure out their travel shit. It's all up to you." He pecked your lips. "Most of my family are back home, and then I'd want Steve's family there—that's it for me." 

He kissed you then and really kissed you. The kind of kiss that told you the conversation was over, and he wanted to shift his focus to the fact you were both naked in a bed, in a place where you could fuck with abandon and no interruptions.

Javi moved you further up the mattress and sheathed his hard dick back inside your sopping pussy, the slickness of his come allowing him to slip right in—his mouth was fused to yours while he slowly rocked, letting you feel every ridge and vein along his shaft pressing against your inner walls. 

He had you feeling incredibly full with how he was keeping most of himself buried inside your cunt, pushing in so deep you thought he had to be up in your guts. Your legs wrapped around his waist and locked at the ankles, his large palm grabbing your left hand from his hair to lace your fingers together, his lips leaving yours to kiss the diamond before pressing your hands into the bed beside your head, his mouth back on yours. 

It started soft and slow, neither of you rushing to come and simply enjoying being with the other. At some point, there was a shift, and the kisses became more heated until he was breaking away to get up on his knees, untangling your legs from him and moving them to one side, causing your hips to twist onto your side with his cock still inside you. He had one hand gripping your thigh, the other on the side of your ass, and he started moving at a hard, fast pace that had skin slapping against skin as his hips connected with your backside and the backs of your thighs. 

He made you come by getting his fingers into the tight space between your closed legs to play with your clit while he pounded into you, and before you even recovered, he had you up on your spread knees, your chest to the mattress as you caught your breath. Your fingers were clawing at the snow-white sheets and moaning loudly when his tongue licked against your overly sensitive bundle of nerves. 

Javier said he was going to fuck you for a couple of hours in this hotel room, and he did.

In the first hour, he had you on top of him, on your knees, your back, your stomach, your side, bent over the bed and on the edge of it. You lost track of how many times you came, and it was a mess between your legs with the two times Javi had finished inside you. 

There was, of course, a break for Javi to recover after he'd come, and so you both could drink some water from the plastic cups on a tray with the empty ice bucket. 

His cell phone started ringing about an hour and a half after you arrived. 

There was a thin sheen of sweat coating both of your naked bodies, and you were lying back with your head on a pillow—Javi's lips were wrapped around the swollen berry of your clit while two of his thick fingers were deep in your come-filled cunt, pressing into that spot that had your vision blurring, so close to climaxing you were right on the precipice. 

Your hands were in his hair, moaning loudly, and the sudden ringing had you jumping in your skin. 

"Ignore it," he said into your pussy.

He was back to sucking on your bundle of nerves, and you focused on the pleasure building in your tummy, winding tighter and tighter. The call went to voicemail, and the ringing stopped. Finally, you fell over the edge, coming with a gasp, your muscles clenching up tight, euphoria erupting out from your center. 

"Good girl," his muffled voice said, working you through your high. 

You were feeling amazing, your body completely relaxing, limbs trembling, practically melting into the bed, and having to fight off the exhaustion from so many orgasms that was threatening to make you fall asleep. 

Ringing started again, and it startled you. 

Javi sighed against your cunt, his mouth and fingers leaving you and the mattress jostling as he got up. 

"Who the fuck is calling?" His voice was a little hoarse. 

"My money is on either your dad or Steve," you slurred, sounding drunk. 

Your eyes were closed, but you could hear the rustle of him grabbing his jeans off the ground to get the cell phone off of his belt. 

"Goddammit," he muttered, and you heard the beep of him pressing a button. "What?" he answered. "Yeah, we're fine... She said yes... Thanks..." He was talking to Steve. You were sure of it with his annoyed, clipped answers. "We had time, so I brought her downtown... Yeah, we'll be back before then..." He loudly sighed. "With all the great shit that happened this morning, I was too busy enjoying time with my new fiancée to even think about calling anyone. Sorry... Okay, I gotta go... Bye." Another beep of him pressing the end call button and the phone dropping down to his jeans on the floor.

"Was he worried we hadn't gotten back?" you asked. 

"Yeah." 

"That's sweet." 

"It's annoying." 

The bed’s springs softly squeaked as he got onto it. 

You smiled. "I think it's cute that Steve gets on your nerves as if he was your sibling—you love him, you'd take a bullet for him, but just the sound of him breathing aggravates you; Steve's your adopted brother." 

His hand grabbed your ankle, rubbing his thumb over your skin. 

"Maybe he is." 

"He is. His kids call you tío (uncle), and you love them like they are your flesh and blood."

"I do." 

"Yes, you do." Your eyes blinked open, moving to sit up on your elbows to see him sitting on the bed by your legs, his gaze meeting yours. "There are a lot of people who love you, Javi, and I'm happy our kids will have so much family." 

He frowned, and you knew he was about to ask about your own, who'll be up in arms when they discover you’re engaged to him. 

"I don't want to talk about it," you said before he could open his mouth. "This is a happy, horny time, and we're not gonna ruin the mood with my baggage—I gotta go to the bathroom." You started getting up, and he stopped you with his hand on your leg, your eyes meeting his. 

"Mi familia es tu familia y te aman sin condiciones (My family is your family and they love you no matter what)—te amamos sin condiciones (we love you no matter what). Tu familia biológica no saben lo que se están perdiendo (Your biological family have no idea what they’re missing). Eres inteligente, hermosa, compasiva, y cómica (You’re smart, beautiful, compassionate, and funny)—eres increíble y si ellos no pueden ver eso, no los necesitas (you are incredible and if they can’t see that, you don’t need them).”  

Emotion had your eyes burning. "Thank you," you said, leaning forward to touch his forearm. "I know you all love me, and I love you—it'll be nice when I can change my last name."

A little smile pulled up on his lips. "I can't wait to give you my last name—now, go pee.” He patted your leg. “We only have half an hour left, and I don't wanna waste a single minute." 

"You know, you get really bossy when you're horny." You got off the bed on shaky legs, something you were used to, padding across the floor. 

"Would you rather me be grumpy?" he called after you, making you laugh.

Stopping at the bathroom doorway near the room's door, your hand on the mahogany-colored wood, you looked over at him. "Grumpy-horny Javi is very hot, and I can expect to be railed senseless—like last night when you were mad about the squeaky bed and worked out your frustration by putting me face down, ass up, and fucking me hard. With bossy-horny Javi, I'm in for an insane amount of orgasms because you get all pleasure dommy and make it your life's purpose to make me come so many times, I look like a newborn giraffe when I try to walk afterward." 

A short huff of air left his nose, and he looked amused. 

"Is there a regular-horny Javi?" he asked.

"Yes.” You nodded. “Regular-horny Javi is usually stuck to me like glue and handsy before we get naked. The sex is very intimate and involves a lot of kissing, and we're so comfortable we sometimes chat and laugh in the middle of it." 

He was giving you a fond smile. "That one's your favorite," he said. 

You grinned. "Of course, and it's the horny Javi I get the majority of the time, so I am living the fucking dream." 

"It's my favorite, too."

"Like, don't get me wrong, the last hour or so has been spectacular and some of your best work, but all the position changes had me feeling like we were filming a porno." 

Something happened because he was suddenly giving you a blank stare, and it had your eyebrows cinching together. After a few seconds of silence, you spoke. "Javi?" 

Saying his name had him coming back to himself with a slight shake of his head. 

He said something so quietly you couldn't hear it from how far away you were. 

"What?" you asked. 

His eyes were on yours, and they'd gone darker. 

"I'm buying a camcorder." 

"Oh my god, Javier," you said in exasperation. "You're not buying a camcorder for the sole purpose of us making a dirty movie." 

He was frowning. "I'd use it for other stuff—like our wedding and the birth of our kid." 

"You're absolutely not recording me giving birth." 

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "No birthing video, got it. I still wanna record our wedding and some of the party. I'm sure there's a lot of other shit we'd wanna film." 

"Uh-huh." You crossed your arms. "We've been together awhile, and you're just now deciding you should get a camcorder?"

"Yeah, seems like a great investment." He shrugged. 

"Seems like a horny investment—you're ridiculous. Buy your camcorder, Mr. Amateur Porn Star." You walked into the bathroom and flicked on the light. 

"Our homemade porno would be better than anything professionally made!" he shouted from the other room.

Javier was getting old, and he fucking hated it. 

When the idea came to him to stop at the hotel, he thought two hours was more than enough time—he could fuck her over and over and over again to work it out of his system so he wouldn't be on edge the rest of the trip. 

What he didn't account for, in his grand horny scheme, was his goddamn refractory period. It pissed him off that he wasn't ready to go again after five, ten minutes like it'd been in his twenties. No, on a good day, he was looking at fifteen, and most of the time, it was at least twenty. So, forty minutes out of their two stolen hours they had alone together, his dick didn't work.

It made him so fucking mad.

The time wasn't wasted—the first twenty minutes, he got to enjoy some post-sex cuddling, and they planned their wedding. The second time, the moment he could function, he was using his mouth and fingers to make her feel really fucking good.  

This has never been an issue since they haven’t had a time constraint like this before. The few Saturdays where they spent the majority of the day tangled in their bed's sheets, it wasn't a big deal for them to take a fifteen to twenty-minute breather between rounds. 

But in these two uninterrupted hours after the love of his life agreed to marry him and told him she was ready for them to start their family, revealing she was already off of her birth control, every minute counted; there was something in the back of his mind, an urge, that he needed to bury himself inside her and fuck his come as deep as possible—it was insatiable. He'd already finished twice, and it wasn't enough, and because he had to wait twenty fucking minutes to get hard again, there was only enough time for him to come once more. 

Which was where they were now, with Javier kneeling on the bed while she straddled his hips, her arm around his neck, the other on the bed behind her for balance, his hands gripping her ass and helping her work herself up and down his cock. 

His forehead was wet with sweat, feeling a drop slide down the side of his face, the rest of his body glistening. Exertion had grunts pushing from his throat, his mouth on hers smothering her moans. 

He had already got one last orgasm out of her and was heading toward his own end. Her pussy was drooling all over his dick with the mixture of their come and her arousal, dripping down to coat his balls and fall onto the sheets—they were making a mess, and he planned to leave the housekeepers a big tip for all the trouble. 

The familiar pressure was coiling deep in his gut, electricity igniting in his core, a telltale sign he was close. He broke the kiss and got both of her arms around his neck, making her squeak in surprise when he practically tackled her back onto the mattress, their bodies bouncing a little for a few seconds. 

His hips were moving fast, hearing the wet smack of his body colliding with hers and his cock working in and out of her drenched cunt. 

His teeth found her chin with a small amount of pressure while his eyes were closed, holding himself up with his arms bracketing her ears. 

"Come for me, Javi," she breathlessly said, grabbing onto his ass, her fingers digging into the flexed muscles. "Come for me, baby." His face went into the crook of her neck, panting hot breaths against her skin. "You've fucked me so good today, Javi. I need you to come—fuck a baby into me." 

Pleasure sliced through him like a burning knife, and he whined, his strokes speeding up. 

"Anything," he panted. "I'll give you anything you want—you can have anything. I'm yours—" he was fuck drunk and rambling. "—I'm all yours, and I'll give you a baby—I'll get you pregnant. We'll have our baby. Fuck," he groaned. 

All his nerves lit up, energy thrumming under his skin and sparking through his body. The knot in his belly was tightening, his rhythm becoming uneven until he was at the point of no return—he was coming, and nothing could stop him. 

He pushed forward hard, sinking his dick inside her to the root as it jerked, and pleasure overtook him, raggedly moaning that dulled when he bit into her shoulder—his come gushed into her depths, his hips rolling to fuck it deeper before the oversensitivity made him hiss. 

Something in the recesses of his brain was purring happily—satiated. 

His body was blissfully relaxed, and he slumped onto the woman under him, feeling completely wrung out and thinking he might pass out. 

"'m sorry," he mumbled into her neck. "Is this okay?" 

Her fingers slid into his hair, and tingles shivered down his spine. 

"It's fine, baby," she whispered. "But don't pass out—we have to leave." 

The sound he made was a mix of a groan and whine. He was so comfortable he didn't want to move. 

How mad would Steve and Connie be if they didn't go on the beach trip and stayed here for a few more hours?

"No," she said. "We're not ditching your friends." Of course, she knew what he was thinking. 

"I don't wanna move." He actually whined this time. 

"You knew we had two hours here, and that's it. We need to take a quick shower so it's not obvious we've been fucking, and then we gotta get back to Steve and Connie's because the kids are excited to go to the beach with you." 

He nuzzled closer into her throat. 

"'m comfy." 

She pinched his asscheek hard, and he twitched. 

"We're not disappointing the children, Javier. Now, get up." She smacked his ass. 

"You're mean,” he grumbled. 

"I'm not mean. I'm polite to our hosts. You're being a big whiny baby." 

"Que mala que eres conmigo (You're so mean to me)." 

"Yo tampoco soy mala en español (I'm not mean in Spanish either)." 

He sighed. "Cinco minutos, por favor, mi amor (Five minutes, please, my love)." 

"Bueno, cinco minutos por que eres lindo (Okay, you can have five minutes because you're cute)." The fingers on one of her hands scratched at his scalp, and her other hand rubbed over his back, a content sigh leaving him as he smiled. 

She was so soft and warm beneath him, her scent filling his nose and soothing him. 

Up until he met her, home was the ranch he grew up on—no matter where in the world he lived, it was always that house where his parents were, and he was welcome and loved.

Home was no longer a place. 

Home was the woman he loved's arms wrapped around him; It was her grinning at him with that gorgeous smile; It was her perfect lips pressed to his; It was her delicate hand held in his larger palm; It was her beautiful eyes staring at him with all the love in the world. 

Home was his Cielito, his little heaven. 

And as long as he was with her, he was home. 

His mind had drifted, and quickly, his consciousness went with it, too. 

A loud snore erupted against your neck, the sudden noise causing you to jolt. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” you whispered. 

You explicitly told him not to pass out, you had even asked him after going to the bathroom if he should really go again because you had a feeling it’d put him to sleep, and he reassured you he’d be perfectly fine—the dirty fucking liar. 

“Javi?” you said softly, lightly patting his back. “Wake up, babe. We have to get going, honey.” 

His body tensed, and he sucked in a breath as he awoke immediately, his head raising to look at you with bleary eyes. 

“Fuck.” His voice was hoarse. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Sure did, Sleeping Beauty.” You rubbed along his spine. “We gotta get up and leave. You can take a nap at the beach.”

His pouty lips were dipped low in a frown. 

“With you…?”

You smiled, pushing some hair away from his face. "Is this one of those days where you can't go more than a few seconds without touching me?"

Those big brown eyes of his got bigger as he nodded. 

In general, Javi was constantly touching you, but there were some days when he was practically stuck to you like a handsy octopus and went with you everywhere—except the bathroom, the one place you firmly told him, no, he couldn't come with you and hang out while you did your business. 

"My cute, needy fiancé." You cupped his cheek. "I'll stay close if you need me to."

His head turned to kiss your palm. "I need you to." 

"Okay, now let's get up." 

A long, sad sigh exhaled from his lungs. "Fine," he said, leaning forward to peck you on the lips. 

He moved then, his eyes closing for a moment as he pulled his soft length out of you, his hands sinking into the mattress when he pushed himself back and up with a grunt to kneel between your legs. 

His gaze was stuck at the apex of your thighs, the lips of your sex puffy, and your hole starting to drip his come—two of his fingers scooped up what had dribbled out and pushed it back in, your mouth falling open.

His dark eyes locked on yours, his voice a deep, rough rasp when he spoke. "We don't want to waste any." He laid his other hand onto your lower abdomen, his digits spread wide to take up ample real estate over your womb. "We need to keep you full. Can you be my good girl and keep me inside?" 

Pleasure zipped along your spine, your bottom lip pulling between your teeth as you nodded. 

"Yes," you answered, putting a hand over his on your skin. 

He picked up your smaller palm, his gaze dropping to the ring that made him smile, the pad of his thumb mapping the mountain range of diamonds before he lifted it to his lips in a kiss. 

"Good," he said, setting your hand down and removing the fingers of his other from inside your pussy. You watched as he sucked the come-soaked digits into his mouth with a dirty groan at the taste. They came out licked clean from between his lips. "We taste so fucking good together," he told you, with his attention on you. "Let's shower, mi amor (my love). Then we can go and figure out what the fuck we're gonna tell Steve and Connie on the way." 

"Are you saying they wouldn't appreciate us spending a dumb amount of money to fuck for a couple of hours instead of secretly getting busy under their roof?" 

"They'll be happy we did it outside of their house, but it'd piss Steve off that we made them worry and didn't call to tell them we had other plans because we were too busy fucking." 

You blew air out of the side of your mouth. "We just can't win with that guy." 

"I told you he's fucking annoying." 

"Eh—" You shrugged. "—he's just your brother from another mother, and you both find dumb shit to get annoyed about with each other. I wish I only got annoyed about dumb shit with my little brother, but he's actually an entitled dick because my parents gave him anything and everything he's ever wanted and kiss the ground he walks upon."

He was frowning now. 

"Are you going to tell them?" he asked softly.

"About the engagement? Yeah, the next time my mom calls to make sure I'm not bringing any more shame on our family name—she's gonna be pissed, and I can feel it in my bones that it will cause me to go no contact with her and the rest of them." 

His hand rubbed over your thigh. "I'm sorry." The remorse was heavy in his tone. 

"Meh." You waved away his apology. "Nothing to be sorry about. I chose you, and I'd choose you again without hesitation. I couldn't care less if us getting married upsets them. We're happy, and that's all that matters." 

"We are happy. I just feel like shit, I'm the reason your relationship with your family is so fucking strained."

"Javi, babe, the relationship has been strained long before we got together. You just gave me a reason to stick up for myself and not put up with their shit. Don't feel bad. You told me today your family is my family, and all of you is all I need." 

"Promise?" he whispered. 

You held out your pinky. "I pinky promise." 

That made him smile, looping his around yours to make the sacred vow that he and his family were really all you needed—Javi leaning down, holding himself up with a hand on the bed beside you as he gave you a tender kiss.

Javier felt fucking amazing and exhausted. 

Did he overdo it? Probably. His back was already a little achier than usual, and he imagined it'd feel even worse the next day. The fantastic sex was worth the backache and pain in his knees, especially with how his future wife had the post-good sex glow about her that made his chest puff out a little. 

She had a point that a shower was needed before they left the hotel room so they didn't reek of sex, which they quickly took after getting up. 

One twenty-dollar bill was put on top of the hotel notepad sitting on the desk that Javier had scribbled, 'Thank you,' as they left. The bedding had been stripped from the bed and put in one pile, while their used towels were in another. 

The same person who checked them in, checked them out, and, from the look on her face, didn’t buy their lie that they were leaving so early due to a family emergency—it was probably Cielito trying to sell it by saying they had to rush to the hospital because his nephew had been viciously attacked by a… duck.

They were driving on the freeway, her hand in his, resting on her legging-covered thigh. 

"A duck?" he asked. They'd been silent up until now, but he needed to know where that came from. "We're in Florida where there are actual dangerous wild animals like fucking alligators and sharks—hell, a dog woulda made sense, and you said my fake nephew was attacked by a duck?" 

"Oh my god, Javier," she groaned, covering her eyes with her spare hand. "I know it was stupid, but I was super uncomfortable with the looks the employees were giving me." 

He frowned. "What looks?" He glanced over at her, and her hand lowered to meet his eyes. 

"The extremely judgey, disgusted looks because they thought I was a working girl—the mistaken identity was fine; that didn't bother me. It was how they looked at me like I was less of a person than them." She was frowning. "It just made me feel so bad for actual working girls who have to deal with that bullshit on the daily." 

"Fuck." He focused back on the road. "I'm sorry you went through that, and I shouldn't have put you in that spot." He sighed, untangling their hands to push his shower-damp hair back with his hand. "I've been so caught up in you wearing the ring and assuming other people would notice it, too, that it didn't even cross my mind how us only spending a couple of hours at a hotel would look."

She sounded amused when she spoke. "It's adorable that you assume everyone knows we're engaged and figured the hotel employees thought we were just an incredibly horny couple instead of a lady of the night with her John." 

If people weren't tipped off she was his fiancée with the ring on her finger, then he was going to start telling every person they came in contact with, so there wasn’t any more confusion in the future—giddiness bubbled up inside him over the thought of eventually getting to introduce her as his wife. 

If he’d been wearing a ring, she wouldn’t have been put in that situation; it would’ve been clear as day they were married…

“Marry me,” he said, quickly looking over at her. 

She giggled. “I’ve already agreed to marry you.”

“No—“ He shook his head. “—I know I said I was fine waiting a few months for our wedding, but I fucking can’t—I wanna marry you as soon as possible." His attention went forward once more, nerves fluttering in his gut. 

She reached to grab his hand and held it in both of hers. 

"You know there are a lot of men who dread their wedding day. They're the guys who call their wives 'balls and chains,' like being married is comparable to being in jail and an all-around nuisance even though they're the ones who proposed in the first place. The fact you're impatient to marry me makes me very happy—you're excited about our wedding day and don't see marriage as you losing your freedom; you see it as a guarantee you'll spend the rest of your life with the person you love." 

He smiled. "Yeah," he said. "That's right." 

"Regarding marrying me as soon as possible—my heart's set on the wedding at the tree we discussed. We can talk to your dad when we get home and see if he wants to get ordained. If he doesn't, then we'll go to the courthouse, make it official, and we can throw a party later. If your dad wants to officiate, I say we give it a month to get everything worked out with him and at the ranch." 

A month at most. He could wait a month, right?

"Okay," he said, glancing toward her. "I'm fine with that." 

She grinned. "Great. So, what's our story about where we've been since this morning?" 

He looked at the road. "It won't be that we were viciously attacked by a duck..."

“Oh my god!”

It took them a bit to come up with something pretty believable—after spending a considerable amount of time at the beach, Javier gave her a tour of the area and took her exploring by foot around downtown. It was plausible. 

They'd made sure they looked put together before leaving the hotel so it didn't raise any suspicions when they returned to their friends. 

Arriving at the Murphy's, happy squeals could be heard as Javier unlocked the front door, and for a split second, he imagined a future where it wasn't his niece and nephews who were excited he was home, but his own children; the thought of his kids being unable to control their volume because they were just so happy to see him had warmth spreading through his body to the tips of his fingers to his toes. 

The moment he stepped foot into the house, a three-year-old was screaming excitedly, "Tío!" and little arms hugged his legs as best they could. 

Javier smiled, bending with a groan, saying, "Mi principito (My little prince)." He picked up the child, holding him in his arm while he toed off his black leather Chelsea boots in front of a shoe rack filled to the brim with children’s and adult shoes, Cielito following him inside and shutting the door. 

"Are we going to the beach, tío?" Stevie asked, looking up at him. 

"Yeah, bud—” He tickled the child’s belly, making him laugh and squirm. “—in a little bit." 

He heard the pattering of feet before he saw the oldest of the kids running into the room they were in. 

"You're back!" Olivia said with a big smile. "We can finally go to the beach!" 

Steve had walked in. 

"Sorry, we got back so late, mi tesorito (my little treasure)." Javier apologized to the young girl. 

"And where were you?" Steve asked. 

His friend’s eyes were narrowed in suspicion when their gazes met. Javier moved Stevie into his other arm so he could pull Cielito into his side, keeping his hand on her hip.

"The beach, then I gave my fiancée a tour of the city, and we walked around everywhere."  

Steve's eyes narrowed further. "Bullsh—crap." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Where were you really?" 

Javier's jaw clenched. "I just told you, and I'm not gonna repeat myself, so drop it."

"Olivia, baby girl, take your brother to the family room. I need to have an adult ears-only conversation with your tío Javi." 

The nine-year-old looked confused but came forward and took the younger child from him. 

"Come on, Stevie," she said, heading out of the room. "We'll hang out with tío more later. Let's go watch cartoons." 

Their father looked over his shoulder, watching them depart, and once they were out of earshot, he was rounding on Javier.

"You asshole," he harshly whispered. "Walking around downtown, my ass." He stepped forward and tugged on Javier's shirt collar. "These hickies tell me you were doing a hell of a lot more than walking." Shit, Javier batted away his hand, glaring at the blonde man. "What if you'd gotten caught, where? In the back of that rental? You just expected I'd bail you out of jail? Were you even thinking with your brain? Or just with your dick?" 

Anger was sizzling in his gut, along with shame, because they had almost gotten caught, and there was a chance Steve would’ve had to bail them out. 

"I told you to drop it.” The sentence was gritted through his teeth as he seethed, his wif-fiancée putting a comforting hand on his back and rubbing circles.  

"I'm not gonna drop it, 'cause what would I have told the kids if you'd gotten caught?" he asked, crossing his arms back over his chest. 

That was a low blow, and it pissed him off even more. 

"Well, we didn't get fucking caught, and for your information—" He jabbed his finger into the center of Steve's chest. "—I was thinking with my brain—I've been holed up in a hotel for the last two hours with my fiancée, you fucking prick."

A humorless huff left his friend, his eyes wide in disbelief. "You horny fucker—you're joking." 

Javier's hand went to his waist, lifting his eyebrow. "You wanna see the receipt? You’d think we were at the fucking, uh, Ritz or whatever the fuck luxury hotel with how much they charged for one night when this place didn’t even have fucking room service." 

The other man chuckled, shaking his head. He met his gaze. "You know what? I forgive you for making us worry." He clapped a hand on Javier's shoulder, giving him a beaming smile. "Congratulations, Javi. I’m happy for you guys and get it. You were excited and wanted to be alone with the woman you’re marrying. I don't blame you for spending hours in a hotel room.” His smile shifted to something smarmy. “I sure as hell don't want you doing that shit here, and it's not like you can with how goddamn squeaky the guest bed is." 

Javier wanted to wipe the smug smile off his old partner’s face.  

"Hey, Steve?" Cielito cut in. 

His friend looked at her. "Yeah?" 

"Have you seen the first Jurassic Park movie?" 

The blonde man's eyebrows pulled together. "I have." He nodded. "A few times." 

She smiled. "Then you know, life finds a way." 

God, he loved her, and he loved that she enjoyed messing with his best friend as much as he did—Javier snorted and kissed the side of her head. 

Steve looked confused until it dawned on him what she meant. 

"No," he whispered in denial. 

"Yes," Javier replied, smirking, the other man facing him. 

"But the bed..." 

It was Javier’s turn to clap a hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Steve… But the fact you think a bed is the only place to fuck, tells me you’re a really boring and bad lay—need me to give you some pointers?”

“I quite enjoyed what we did on the chair,” Cielito said. “And my god, Javi is always amazing, but he brought his A-game on the floor. You put some blankets and pillows on the stone tiles, and they’re not too bad to be fucked on.”

Steve’s face had slowly gotten redder and redder as they spoke, and Javier was worried the man’s head would explode, especially with how he couldn’t say anything, his blue eyes big and mouth opening and closing like a fish in a bowl. 

“What we’re saying, man,” Javier said, patting the blonde man’s shoulder. “Is when you’re horny enough, you’ll find a way.” He looked over at his fiancée, and her expression showed she was just as delighted as he felt. “From the sound of it, the guest bathroom hasn’t seen any action.”

Her eyes were on his. “A travesty—it’s a law that every room in the house has to be christened. Don’t worry, Steve—“ Her attention moved to the man in front of them, reaching to pat his arm. “—we know a bathroom is too exotic of a locale for you, so we’ll take one for the team and break it in; there’s no need to thank us.”

His former partner finally found his voice. 

"Connie!" Steve yelled, his upper body turning, along with his head, to look behind him. 

"Yeah?!" she answered from the kitchen. 

"Everything in the guest room has to go! It all needs to be burned, and the guest bathroom is getting that remodel you wanted!”

She walked out of the kitchen with a small dish towel in her hands. 

“You said we couldn’t afford to remodel the guest bath...”

“Well, I’m gonna figure out where we can add it into our budget ‘cause it’s happening, along with all new furniture in that room and linen. We also gotta have the floors sanitized.”

She looked past her husband at the two of them. 

“He found out y’all messed around in there?”

“Yes,” they answered in unison. 

She nodded in understanding and straightened. 

“You’re so right, baby,” she said, agreeing too easily. “We have to remodel that entire back bedroom and bathroom now. It’s the only choice we have.”

“I’m happy you agree,” her husband said seriously. “We’ll toss all the bedding when they leave.”

“Except for the throw pillows. I really like those pillows and can have them professionally cleaned.”

“Of course, honey.”

Cielito leaned into him and whispered in his ear while his friends continued speaking, “Did we just inadvertently help Connie bamboozle Steve into doing a house project she’s been wanting done?”

“I think so,” he said just as quietly. “I’m happy to help after all she’s done for us.”

“Agreed. We’ll have to ask if she needs us to fuck anywhere else in or outside the house.”

“Or her van if she wanted a new one.”

“True. She just found a cheat code to get stuff she wants.”

“Will we be like this when we’re married?”

“Javi, babe, you give me anything I want if I ask—I don’t need a cheat code. It’s the same for you with me. If either of us wants anything, the other will do whatever they can to make it happen. Also, we’re equals in our relationship, whereas Steve thinks he’s the man of the house and in charge of everything, but it’s really Connie who runs the show and knows how to play him, like with this guest bedroom remodel. She’s crafty, and I highly respect her. So, no, we won’t be like this because I wouldn’t have or want to manipulate you to do my bidding.” 

“Marry me.”

She giggled. 

“I’m already marrying you, you goober.” She playfully slapped his arm, and he grabbed her hand, bringing it up to kiss her knuckles as he stared into her eyes. 

“Marry me again.”

“Then yes, I’ll double marry you.”

He smiled. “Good. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

And with how she was looking at him, he knew she meant every word, and it made him feel so happy there was a chance he’d float away. 

This was real love. 

This was the kind of love that wraps around you tight and never lets go. 

The kind of love that can handle anything life throws at it since they’re stronger together. 

The kind of love that lasts forever, even after their souls leave this earth. Their story will be remembered for eternity by the stars up above. 

This was real love. 

It was true love, and it was their love. 

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#pedro pascal #javier peña #Javier Peña/reader #javier peña x reader #javier peña x you #javier peña smut #wheresarizona writes #learning to live series #pedro pascal fanfiction

[mncxbe]

Omg, How do you think Dazai, Ranpo, and Jouno (if you want you can add some people) react if their S/o is still stuck in the "Crush phase", like subconsciously smiling at them, sometimes forgetting to breathe (is that just me ?), hiding their face, you get the gist :]

Omg this is so sweet I cannot- I made it kinda sappy hihi let's get right into it♡♡♡ also sorry it took so long to post. school is killing me💀

°☆●

Me, blushing? Nah...

𝑫𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒊, 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒑𝒐, 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒐 𝒙 𝒇𝒆𝒎!𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: fluff♡

𝑫𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒊

cocky bastard (affectionately)

teases you so much about it omg but does find it adorable

"Aww my bella's still flustered around me? Glad I didn't lose my charm"

no bcs if you catch him off guard; like if he sees you look at him with those big doe eyes he will defo get flashbacks of the times you first started going out on dates

he smiles so gently and he's so happy

like don't underestimate the love this man will have for you fr

You were currently sitting at a square table, tucked in the corner of your favourite coffee shop, with your loving boyfriend facing you. He's been listening to you talk about your insufferable colleagues at work for about half an hour.

You knew you were starting to get the facts mixed up in a jumble of incoherent sentences but you couldn't help it; not when Dazai was looking at you with those beautiful, chocolate brown eyes and that smile you loved so much.

And oh, how blissfully aware he was of the effect he had on you. It warmed his heart to see you act so nervous around him, because of him, after all this time...

He never thought the two of you would last. Maybe a couple of weeks or months, yea. But three whole years? And the relationship was still going well? He was the luckiest man of Earth.

"Aww is my pretty girl blushing again?" he cooed as he leaned over the table and pinched your cheek lightly.

"What? No, I'm not..." you whined in protest as you covered your face with one of your hands.

"It's ok bella. I know you'll never resist my charms. Now please go on talking. I love the gossip" he mocked again, but you caught the hint of softness in his voice.

Taking a deep breath in, you resumed your talk, hand subconsciously reaching out across the table for his.

Dazai intertwined his fingers with yours, meeting them mid-way. He listened carefully, sliding his thumb over yours like he did a countless times before- like he'll do until the end of time because he loves you- and he smiled, nodding at your words.

𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒑𝒐

cocky bastard part 2

much like Dazai he loves your reactions; it's a gentle reminder that you still love him the same way you did when you became a couple

also teases you a bit but let's be honest, he's probably stuck in the crush phase too

y'all are so giddy all the time really

Lost in deep thought, Ranpo swirled his tongue around a cherry flavoured lollipop; fingers mindlessly tapping against the cushioned couch in a slow rhythm.

"You see. Those people must've been hiding in the warehouses closest to the city. They needed a fast escape route so picking the ones on the shore would've made no sense."

For the past ten minutes Ranpo's been explaining to you how he captured a group of gun dealers, deducing the location of their hideout from a mere stain he found on one of the men's shoes.

As per usual, you listened patiently to all he had to say. Your boyfriend's stories never ceased to fascinate you; he was simply amazing. As you watched him nonchalantly explaining every step of his deduction, his signature grin stretched on his lips; a rosy tint rose to your cheeks.

"And anyway, that's how we narrowed down the possible options for the warehouses. Since the ones on the eastern side were patrolled more often, only the ones in the western side remained as- Hey, you still listening to me?"

His question snapped you out of your trance and you nodded eagerly.

"Yes babe. Sorry. I was just distracted for a moment"

Ranpo didn't fail to notice the way you averted his gaze from his and how your blush grew deeper when he leaned in, placing a finger under your chin to make you face him again.

"Then look at me when I'm talking, sugar. You know I can't stand it when I don't have all your attention."

"Sure Ranpo, sure. Now go on please" you urged him and he couldn't help but smile.

Your boyfriend indulged you, continuing his story from where he was left but his attention now shifted to you. He was speaking mechanically, focusing on your awed expression and trying his best to conceal his pride and joy. Even after all these years of being a couple, you were still so excited and giddy whenever he told you about a case at work.

He remembered your first date, when he accidently rambled on about some murder that happened in your neighbourhood and you stood these smiling, just like you did now, listening to him talk. That's the day he knew you were the one.

When he finally finished talking you clapped your hands, merrily swaying from side to side.

"That was great love. I'm sure I would've never figured it out. You're amazing"

Ranpo chuckled and placed a quick kiss on your lips, causing you to flush again.

"And you're adorable when you blush like that" he said gently, booping your nose.

𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒐

he's so painfully aware of all your reactions

when your breath hitches when you watch him cook dinner for you? he catches that; when your heart beats slightly faster when the two of you cuddle? he doesn't miss that either

doesn't always want to admit it but he loves it

also doesn't tease you too often about it; he simply doesn't point it out because he knows he still reacts the same to you

congrats, you made his heart melt

Your boyfriend was minding his own business, typing away some reports at the kitchen table when you placed a cup of steaming coffee next to him.

"Here you go sir. A double shot espresso with no milk and no soy sauce." you said playfully, causing Jouno's lips to curl into a smile.

"You're hilarious, you know that?" he mocked as he rose the cup to his lips and took a sip.

And then he heard it: the faint thumping of your heart and your sharp exhale.

"Something wrong, love?" he asked cautiously, placing the cup back on its ceramic plate.

"No just..." you began, blushing furiously "You're really handsome when you work. I mean, you look so focused and all."

Your words came out a mindless babble, causing your boyfriend to smirk.

"Who knew you'd still be so giddy after all this time. You watch me work almost every day"

"Well, you're still as handsome as always so..."

He reached out a hand, motioning you to come closer to him and you closed the distance between you. Jouno swiftly pulled you onto his lap, relishing the way your heart skipped a beat when his arm wrapped around your waist. You were brimming with joy, like a kid in a candy store.

And little did you know that so did Jouno. He didn't want to admit it but he still got flustered when he took notice of the effect he had on you. It was a sweet, gentle reminder that, although your love had matured and changed during the two years you've been together, deep down you still adored him the same way you did at first.

Resting his chin on your shoulder, Jouno went back to typing his report.

"Just stay with me for a while, will you? Tell me if I make any mistakes while writing" he asked in a hushed voice and you nodded in response, adjusting your position on his lap.

'Perfect...' he thought to himself as he placed a kiss on your shoulder. 'This was perfect'

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd x reader #bsd fluff #dazai osamu #bsd dazai #bsd headcanons #dazai bsd #ranpo x y/n #bsd ranpo #bsd rampo #ranpo x reader #dazai x reader #jono bsd #jouno fluff #jouno x reader #jouno saigiku #bsd jouno

[betty-gb]

Under the Stars | Luke Castellan

Warnings: none as far as I know, it’s unedited 🤭🤭, also the reader is not gender neutral (female)

AN: this is terribly short but I pulled it together at midnight so cut me some slack, it’s third person idk if that matters but ya, I am so desperate for show Luke stuff as I’ve been saying so here’s a little something

The night was quiet, not quite silent. Camp was never silent. If one listened closely they could make out the faint wails of the patrol harpies or the waves sloshing onto the north shore of Long Island.

A girl moved through this night, quiet footsteps blending into the environment. Trembling from the cold, she approached cabin 11. Cracking open the wooden door, cautious and slow, she crossed the room to the back right corner. It was a familiar path, one she had retraced many sleepless nights, but tonight something inside her hesitated. Despite her boyfriend’s constant reassurance and support, she couldn’t help but feel like a burden. Luke woke her too, night after night and she remained unbothered, but that logic didn’t shake the pit of guilt pooling inside her.

Sparing one last glance at her boyfriend’s sleeping face, she grabbed his sweater off of the trunk near his bed and re-entered the night. Often times when both demigods couldn’t sleep, they would climb to the roof of cabin 11, exchanging quiet whispers and knowledge of the night sky. Tonight the girl was alone as she scaled the ladder behind the cabin. With her legs curled beneath her and the familiar scent of Luke from his sweater engulfing her, she sat with her solitude, contemplating the dream that has disturbed her sleep. Typically demigod dreams were not peaceful, they were reoccurring, they fed on your fears. Tonight’s was no exception. She was so lost in thought she almost missed the creak of the ladder and second pair of footsteps that approached her.

“Hey baby,” her boyfriend greeted.

“Luke,” her smile was half-hearted, happiness to see him masked by guilt. His arm instinctively came to wrap around her shoulder and the girl leaned into him as he planted a kiss in her hair.

“Are you alright?” He inquired, eyebrows knit with concern.

“I’m okay, just a nightmare,” she reassured.

“You should’ve come to me.”

“I knew you would say that,” she sighed, “I don’t know, I felt bad. If I woke you every time I had a nightmare neither of us would ever sleep.”

“I don’t mind that. I’d chose you over sleep any day,” his eyes met hers and she could tell he was genuine, “but seriously don’t ever feel like a burden.”

“Ya, ya, okay,” her smile was more sincere this time.

“Do you need to talk about the dream?”

She shrugged her shoulders gently, “It wasn’t really anything new.”

He hummed in response as the two fell into a comfortable silence. Before long, he noticed the girl begin to drift off, tousled hair falling onto his shoulder. He knew he should wake her before she was truly asleep.

“Come on, you’re tired and we probably shouldn’t fall asleep on the roof,” his lips curved into a teasing grin, “you remember what happened last time.”

The girl let out a breathy laugh, recalling her punishment of cleaning the stables and Mr. D’s exclamations of “filthy teenagers!”

She accepted her boyfriend’s outstretched hand and together they made their way back into cabin 11 and out of the night.

#luke castellan x reader #luke castellan #pjo tv show #pjo series #percy jackson

[gallusrostromegalus]

How does trash pickup, Recycling centers, &/or Hazardous Material Disposal work for Soul Society in AEIWAM? Is there a Kido-based ritual to break things down into Reishi? Are there Tech Repair Shops?

Sewage in Soul Society works really well but very dangerously because those fucking idiots built the city directly on top of an active supervolcano.

Let me back up:

There isn't a good consensus on how big the Seireitei is (Yoruichi says it takes 10 days to walk 1/4th of the way around the circumference, but whether that's her speed, the average person's or how long a patrol group takes is unclear), Or any real maps of the place, but it's generally agreed that

the city is LARGE. Yoruichi says it would take her and the kids ten days to walk to the next gate 1/4th of the way around the city. Maybe that's 8 hours average human walking speed minus 'trying to herd a bunch of teenagers' but that's still a long trip!

Even before the Seki-Seki stone wall was put up, the city was pretty much circular.

Unlike pretty much every real city, there's no river running through it. Where are they getting their water?

There is a Small but substantial and TOTALLY ISOLATED mountain in the middle of the city made of apparently hard-to-mine rock. A Lonely Mountain, one might even say.

The only visible natural sources of water I've seen evidence of are hot springs in both the Yoruichi/Urahara Super Secret Training Ground/Love Nest and the first division grounds.

Soul Society is run by jackasses and if there's a stupid way to do things, that's the way they're doing them.

In fact, the Soul Society as a whole is almost suspiciously Amestris-shaped, but instead of nefarious alchemy, it's negligent civil engineering

...all this leads me to believe that Seireitei is built DIRECTLY ON TOP OF the caldera of an enormous supervolcano. The city gets it's water from the aquifer of rainwater that's collected in the underground cracks and fissures of the Caldera, and the seki-seki stone wall is set up around the really convenient geographic barrier made by the rim of the caldera.

"Hey!" I hear some of you nerds objecting "Aren't calderas usually concave? Seireitei is convex, if anything!"

You're right! Most Calderas are concave! But they will absolutely fill in with sand and dirt over the true floor of the caldera over time and develop Mounts like the thing at the central part of the city and start to rise WHEN THEY'RE ON THE VERGE OF A CATASTROPHIC ERUPTION.

So yeah! The Gotei-13 has an almost infinite supply of hot water, and probably less than a century to figure out what to do before The Big Kaboom.

Anyway, back at sewage:

There's been a city where the Seireitei is since time immemorial, and even though it's done the istanbul-not-constantinopple shuffle a few times, very little of the actual infrastructure has changed. Empires rise and fall but the desire paths stay the same.

This is especially true in Seireitei, because unlike very nearly every major IRL Municipality, it doesn't have a river running through it, something that usually necessitates Sewer updates By Force. But compared to a river which is constantly moving around in it's bed, a volcanic aquifer doesn't move much until it moves a whole fucking lot real fast, so the undercity of the Seireitei has really had time to... Develop isn't quite the right word.

"Ferment" is closer.

Above-ground waste management is the provenance of the actual local city government- yes, there is a Mayor of the Seireitei that the Gotei-13 has to pay property taxes to. Yamamoto maintains a lot of goodwill with the Mayor by dint of sentencing ill-behaved shinigami to shore up the municipal labor pool, and by knowing the mayor's family for the last millennium. So you'll see Shinigami doing things like trash collection and street-sweeping, but they're just there on probation.

-But nobody wanted to deal with the undercity. It's got a soul of it's own. Washington DC, which is less than 500 years old as a city and on top of a swamp, has an undercity that goes down over half a mile. Imagine how deep the sunken buildings, abandoned secret tunnels, and sewer system of a city that's millenia old, not sitting on actual mud and constantly subjected to high levels of magical background radiation might develop.

An Appetite, for one thing.

The 11th likes to talk a big game, but the reason the 4th is in charge of sewer maintenance is because the only people with the guts for it were people who got degrees rummaging in the guts of living people. Sewer maintenance really is a lot like abdominal surgery, if you were able to walk around inside the patient.

It was Retsu Unohana's idea, actually. Chigiri was a battle medic and aged rapidly for a shinigami. She was old when the court guard finally went from "Yamamoto and his gang of assholes" to "A for-real governing body". Her successor, Kirinji was more interested in traumatic injury recovery than preventative medicine, for obvious reasons- his triage was constantly full of combat casualties and early kido experiment victims Blood Loss was still his #1 Killer.

But Retsu had been reincarnated in and spent her youth in South 80, in the utterly undeveloped conditions there, and held deep, personal grudges with Dysentery and Cholera. For all his talk of healing waters, Kirinji had no sense of the importance of water sanitation, and it was a continuous point of contention between them for her apprenticeship.

"FINE!" He shouted one day after a particularly nasty row. "IF IT'S SO GODDAMN IMPORTANT TO YOU, YOU HANDLE IT! FORM NOW ON, YOU'RE IN CHARGE OF SEWAGE, SLUDGE QUEEN!"

She made her first descent the next morning.

She did not return for six weeks, and Kirinji almost thought he'd resloved that particular problem when she reappeared from the depths, a changed woman. That long in the darkness, alongside the buried secrets and skeletons of the city, with the horrors that did not dare brave the sunlight- it would change anyone, and most would come up looking at least mildly haunted.

Retsu Unohana is not most.

She looks radiant, almost like The Kenpachi again, covered in the horrors of the underground as she used to be covered in blood. She thrives on a challenge, and excels at the art of purification, and now, she has been given the single greatest challenge of purification in history. There is something beautiful and terrible in her eyes as she explains that it does down at least five miles, look at this, she thinks it's from the neolithic era, and there are incredible boneyards of thousands of skeletons, and fungi the likes of which she's never seen before- She is ecstatic- a creature kept in captivity, finally released into it's natural habitat.

It's hardly a surprise, if you consider Minazuki. Stingrays are benthic creatures, right at the bottom of the river, deep in the muck and decay.

It's been a little over eight hundred years into her tenure as a medic, and she has tamed much of the beast. The upper levels are well-mapped and have been made clean and well-lit, enough that even the civilian sanitation forces of the city can regularly enter and work in them without any particular unease. Infant and preventable disease mortality has dropped astronomically. Nobody's had cholera since the 1800's . While they have other jobs, all members of the 4th division are required to take at least one tour in the depths of the undercity.

Horrors still lurk in the depths.

They're pretty sure they lost Tokagero Kenpachi chasing one of those, shortly before Unohana became captain, and she's been reluctant to let other divisions assist since then. The Fourth Division's Fourth Seat, rumored to be the unluckiest post in the entire Gotei-13, is permanently stationed underground, and she loves it that way.

It's only recently that the 11th has been allowed to come along on descents, after Zaraki vanished for two days and then emerged victorious from a manhole in the 5th division with a tentacled horror she'd been tracking for decades that lived at least three miles down. He apologized- he had meant to come up in the 4th to present it's corpse to her directly, but well, you know what his sense of direction is like. Anyway, I saw it scuttling around in the rain aquifers and we don't need it tracking literal shit into the water supply so I went after is and d'ya think maybe I can take the lads down sometime? They' get lazy between deployments and you have a triage up here to manage.

Charmed, she agreed.

---

Hm. I just re-read that ask and it's actually about dry waste managment.

Sorry. I got very excited about the sewers.

I am now about to get worse about trash.

I don't think they have plastic in soul society- given how bug-themed the 12th division is, I'm pretty sure the casing on Rukia's soul pager is made of Chitin, and if you break it, it bleeds. Also it makes people with shellfish allergies break out in hives.

Since pretty much all the waste in Soul Society is either recyclable or organic matter, I think those trash pits Yumichika and Ganju were fooling around with are really more like Kido-enhanced composting centers. All waste goes into them and the bottom of the pit is pulled out in a tray, like with a vermiculture tower, if the worms were eighteen and a half feet long and hungry enough to swallow anything that falls in the pit, because Mayuri is incapable of making anything that is not at least slightly awful.

The compost is then shaken out for any spare glass or metal that made it into the compost and that's sent off to the 12th division forges to be recycled. it's baked to kill any dangerous pathogens and Giant Garbage Worm Eggs so they don't breach containment, and measured for nitrogen, phosphorus and other important plant nutrient content. Based on it's composition, it's then shipped out to farmers in the upper districts of the rukongai because "Free, A+ grade fertilizer if y'all don't start revolutions, pay your taxes and give us first dibs on crops" is an amazing incentive for rural farmers to not start backing the local warlords.

It was 12th division founder Uhin Zenjohji who came up wth the scheme- he remembered the lengths upper-district farmers were willing to go through to make sure their land remained fertile, what kind of demand Nitrogen was in, and the ravages of phosphorous runnoff, so he could kill two birds with one clod of shit by supplying farmers with 'free' fertilizer that kept them loyal to the court and was tailored to that area's nutritional needs and watershed capacity.

The fact that it kept a lot of swamp and waterway areas pristine so he could indulge his birdwatching hobby was a nice benefit too :).

NORMALLY, those pits are covered, clearly marked, and usually the site of a major traffic jam because that's the local collection point, but when Ichigo and friends arrived, Aizen had whipped everyone into believing they were being invaded by an elite force of super-assassins and not like. 4 high schoolers and a furry. All the street signs and markings came down, civilians shuttered themselves inside, and generally made the Seireitei as difficult to navigate as possible.

I wonder how much Zaraki's rotten sense of direction was exacerbated by that.

ANYWAY! That's my thoughts on trash! Deep undercity horrors and giant compost worms over an active volcano!

#AEIWAM #an elephant is warm and mushy #bleach #bleach fanfic #Retsu Unohana #zaraki kenpachi #tenjiro kirinji

[thetempleofthemasaigoddess]

Marriage of convenience and public sex with Roronoa Zoro

Reader can't join the crew unless she gets married; Zoro decides to help... but they have no idea what such a commitment actually entails.

Roronoa Zoro x reader. NSFW!!!

*****

💚 Having previously been invaded by various foreign armies, your island has voted itself to complete seclusion, in order to protect its people and avoid being attacked again. Even friendly relations with nearby lands have all but been abandoned, and while foreigners have been prohibited from entering, another law dictates that the natives are prohibited from leaving, even for commerce or asking for help in case of famine or natural disasters. In short, your island is a little self-contained world: no one comes in, no one goes out, and in time, knowledge of its very existence has almost been lost.  

💚 You are a young warrior, tasked with patrolling the village and keeping peace among the population; you are dedicated to your duties, having sworn to protect your people and your island with your life if need be, but in the privacy of your heart you can’t help wanting more… to explore the world beyond your shores, meet people and lands different from your own, leave the quiet and predictability of the village where you have been born and are probably destined to die, know adventure and even danger. You know your ancestors had the best intentions in choosing a policy of isolation, since foreign armies had brought death and destruction, but you can’t help wishing they had at least allowed the natives to travel freely; while you are generally satisfied with your life, and feel accomplished in your role as a warrior and with the friendships and interests that fill your existence, sometimes you feel suffocating, not unlike a prisoner kept in a tiny cell. By the time you were fifteen, you had already met every person on the island, and seen every little corner of it; you always found a way to keep yourself occupied, training and working and making yourself useful in some way, but at the same time you felt so bored.

💚 Luffy and his crew are the first foreigners who arrive on the island in three centuries, having reached the island in the course of their travels, completely unaware of the deadly fate reserved to trespassers. You meet them when your team is tasked with finding and apprehending them; a battle ensues, in the course of which you and Zoro fight each other, and in the end the Straw Hats are captured and brought to the village. They spend a few days as prisoners, and while most of your people keep away from them, mistrust and tradition making them fear those few, clearly well-intentioned young people could bring about the Gods only know what catastrophe or devastation, you find them fascinating, aware that they mean no harm and found the island completely by accident, after the tide had pushed them to your shores. 

💚 You offer yourself to keep an eye on them, patrolling the village’s tiny jail to make sure the prisoners don’t escape and bringing them food, which allows you to become familiar and even friendly with them; Luffy and the others in turn take a liking to you, and gladly tell you about their travels and adventures, which you listen to intently, both awed and envious, and wishing you could do the same, no matter how dangerous it could be - wishing you could be free, as you have always wanted. You find yourself confiding your desire, and your frustration, in Luffy, who is sympathetic, and urges you to follow your heart, instead of allowing a centuries-old law to dictate how to live your life. You explain that, as a warrior part of the village’s guard, you can’t very well defy the rules you have sworn to uphold, even in the remote case you did find a way to leave; but the straw hat-wearing captain simply smiles in return, undeterred by the fact he and the other might be sentenced to death in a matter of days. “If you want you can join my crew; you are a good fighter, and you’re doing your best to take care of us. Instead of just listening to our adventures, why don’t you come living one of your own?”

💚 That night, sleeping proves impossible; you toss and turn in your bed and stare at the ceiling, imagining a future in which you accept Luffy’s offer, and join his crew in taking to the sea, seeing a different dawn every day, meeting people you haven’t known since the day you were born, escaping that mortally boring routine that makes your life feel unworthy to be lived. You can’t, of course; the law is very clear, and no matter how much you wish you could run away, you won’t become a criminal in the eyes of your own people, defying the law you were tasked with enforcing.

💚 While you like listening to Luffy’s stories, and find his enthusiasm and determination in the pursuit of his dreams very endearing, Zoro is the one you feel at ease with the most; you are both trained warriors, and have developed a mutual respect for each other’s strength in the course of the battle. He looks nothing like the men of the island, but you do find him attractive, even though you had never cared much about that sort of thing. Once you are done with your duties, instead of going back home to rest, you sit out of his cell, hand him a drink you have purchased with your own coin (just like you have bought better food for them all, and clothes for Nami, since hers had been torn in the course of the battle and yours don’t fit her; you’d be in serious trouble, or at least accused of a suspicious confidentiality with the prisoners, if you were found out, but that doesn’t stop you) and spend long hours discussing your best fights, the training you received, and the differences in fighting with his swords and your own weapon. Perhaps, you think, you could convince the village’s council to let the others go, if Zoro remains and joins your team: he’d be a great addition to the troops, and you’d be happy to fight by his side. But you doubt he would ever leave his friends, especially Luffy, to whom he has sworn allegiance; that is a thing you can respect, even admire, and in your heart, you pray your Gods to spare them, so that they can return to their ship (the largest you have ever seen, a giant compared to the small dinghies used by the island’s fishermen; after all what use could large ships be, if you are forbidden from sailing more than a few yards from the shore?) and to their wandering, exciting life, while you remain at home. 

💚 In the end, the day before the village’s council is meant to gather to decide what to do with Zoro and the others, an enemy army invades the island, its general aiming to conquer the treasure they believe your village is guarding. The councilmen insist the treasure has been stolen already, by the last enemy that invaded you centuries ago, but the army wreaks havoc in the village, destroying your houses and taking the people prisoners. You and the other warriors oppose them valiantly, but everything would be lost if not for Luffy and the others, who you have taken the initiative of freeing, begging them to help you; thank all the Gods, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji weren’t lying when they told you about their fighting abilities, and Usopp and Nami find a way to destroy many of the enemy’s weapons. You and Zoro fight side by side as you had hoped you would, defending each other and joining forces to face a large number of enemies. In the end, the enemy army is forced to flee and the island is saved, largely thanks to the Straw Hat Pirates’ intervention.

💚 Grateful, the councilmen decide to allow Luffy and the others to go, but when the captain asks them to allow you to leave with them, they refuse; the recent invasion has demonstrated their ancestors were right in believing the outside world could bring nothing but trouble and danger, and they are reticent to let one of their own leave the safety of the island; what’s more, you are one of their best warriors, and they need you to stay and protect their people. Helpless angers fills your eyes with tears, frustration and disappointment heavy on your heart, when suddenly one of the council members (the only woman, a sort-of friend of yours) tells you in confidence that there is a way for you to be allowed to leave, using a different law to oppose the island’s isolationist policy. According to your rules, when a couple marries a woman has to move in with her husband, either in his family’s home or in a new one he has built for them; until a few centuries ago, when your homeland still enjoyed close relations with other islands, many women moved to it to live with their spouses. “Now, a ship is not properly a house, but your pirate friends do live in it, and among them there are four men; do you think one of them would be willing to marry you, (name)? In that case, you would be free, even required, to move in with your husband, and depart since the council has ruled to let them go!”

💚 It’s a good idea; a very ingenious one, and while you have always found it unfair that your law puts a woman under her husband’s (or her father’s, her brother’s, or even her son’s) authority, strongly limiting her autonomy and rights, it feels appropriate to use those very customs and traditions to realise your dreams of freedom. On the other hand, marriage is no small matter: even if the union were in name only, and your husband left you free to live your life as you liked, pledging yourself to a man you have only known for a few days feels… weird. Wrong, even; you are usually not the romantic type, and have never given much thought to the possibility of marrying and raising a family, but what if one day you do want to do it, after meeting the right person? And what if one day your husband falls in love with someone else, and is unable to marry them? He would probably come to resent you, and regret his decision to help you, and for that you could never forgive yourself. Also, even if you asked them, you’re not sure your new friends could help you; none of them has ever mentioned a spouse, and in that case why aren’t they living together?, but perhaps either Luffy or one of the others have their eyes set on someone… 

💚 You’re sitting on a large rock on the outskirts of the village, mulling over your problem and feeling too embarrassed to even just ask your new friends for help, when suddenly you’re no longer alone. “Scoot over.” Zoro tells you, his attitude not brusque but direct, just like you like it, as he approaches, and you obey, making space for him and his swords on the rock. “How is your arm?” you ask, referring to a superficial, but still dangerous for a swordsman, wound he had received during the battle; Zoro shrugs and explains that one of the village’s doctors has already seen him, and that the wound will heal perfectly in a matter of weeks. “The lady from the council came to talk to us.” he adds after a moment, which you should have expected; you and Zoro may have become friendly, but he doesn’t seem the sort of man who simply looks for another’s company without having something important to discuss “What are you planning to do?”

💚 You have no idea; but you know what you are doing right now, that is, blushing furiously. No matter how grateful you are for her help, you wish the councilwoman had let you deal with the matter, embarrassed and even humiliated of having to ask for the help of the pirates your people are already so much indebted to. “I am so sorry, this is… this is a nightmare.” you admit with a sigh “The truth is… getting married to one of you is my only chance of leaving this island, and living the life I have always wanted; but it would change the life of one of you as well as mine, and ever since you came here, we have been giving you nothing but troubles, I can’t…”

💚 “It’s all right, (name).” “No, it’s not. You don’t understand, I don’t even want to get married, I can’t ask a person I have only known for a few days to…” “It’s all right, I tell you; I… I can do it. I can marry you.”

💚 Zoro, sure of his decision and still slightly tense, looks at you, waiting for your reaction, but for a whole minute you simply stare at him, too flabbergasted to utter a single word. “... are you serious?” you whisper in the end, and Zoro shrugs. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t really care for marriage either, I don’t think I’ll ever want a wife or children, and this would be… only a formality, right? We wouldn’t have to… live like a couple, sleep together and all that. So in the end it doesn’t really matter, right?” he points out; you nod, because strictly speaking he is right, and whatever the two of you will do once the Straw Hat Pirates’s ship has left the island’s shores won’t matter, but at the same time, even though Zoro is old enough to decide for himself, you feel guilty for all the trouble you’re about to cause him. “And you would do this for me? A week ago you didn’t even know me…” “We fought together; where I’m from, that counts for something. I have left my village as well, in order to improve as a swordsman and become the best; I can’t imagine what I would have done, if I had been forced to remain. So in a sense… I’m doing it because I wish someone had done the same for me, were I in your place. I know that… sounds weird…”

💚 It does, perhaps, but not for you, it makes perfect sense and it’s a decision worthy of the man you had already perceived Zoro to be; neither of you is used, or inclined, to physical contact, but you can’t help it, and a moment later you have thrown yourself in his arms, holding him with a sudden, fierce affection you had never experienced before. Give me just a year in the world, you ask the Gods in your heart, just a month, even; and then I’ll give my life to save this man’s, if he needs it. “Thank you.” you whisper, aware of how small those words sound compared to what you feel, the gratitude so deep and encompassing it hurts “I… I can’t begin to tell you how much this matters to me; you are literally saving my life. Whatever happens, I will be in your debt forever; I’ll never forget this, Zoro. I promise.” Zoro is not used to being hugged, by a woman even less, but after a moment of embarrassment he rests his hand on your shoulder; it’s almost as if you were hugging each other. “It’s all right; after all, it’s just a ceremony. Can we get this over with quickly, so we can depart?”

💚 You’re so excited, and anxious to depart before some other obstacle prevents you from fulfilling your dream, that you wish the two of you could call Zoro’s friends to act as witnesses and get married right now; in the end, the wedding is scheduled for the next morning, and while aware he’s only doing you a favour and the marriage will be all but forgotten once you leave the island, Luffy and the others are enthusiastic about it, and insist on doing things as is appropriate in a situation like this; the boys bring Zoro to a tavern to get him drunk, while Nami accompanies you to the island’s hot springs, to pamper yourselves and make you look your best. That night you couldn’t sleep even if your life depended on it; you spend it preparing a bag with the few things you intend to take with you, and taking a night walk to say goodbye in your heart to the places that have seen you be born and grow, and that despite everything you will always carry with you.

💚 And then, almost sneaking up on you, the sun rises, and it’s your wedding day. You meet Zoro at the council house; knowing the potency of the island’s alcohol you were afraid he would feel sick after a drunken night, but he seems in excellent health, and extremely handsome in the black wedding attire prepared by the island’s men, his three swords by his side as usual. “You… look very good.” you murmur, suddenly shy like you have never felt in your life, and “You too. I mean, not to say that… you usually don’t, just… ah, you know what I mean.” he whispers back, which makes you smile; you’re wearing your mother old wedding dress, and while you’re not the famed beauty she was known to be, you do feel unusually pretty and you’re glad your groom approves. After all, even though you’ll have left the island behind you in a few hours, you don’t want to make Zoro look bad, having the men of the island say his bride is not attractive.

💚 Your fellow warriors and Zoro’s crew surround you as witnesses as the councilwoman leads the rite; you and Zoro use a ceremonial weapon to cut the palm of both your hands and then press them against each other, mixing your blood with his. Your heart is pounding, and even though you keep reminding yourself this is not a real wedding, not a real marriage, that Zoro is only doing you a favour and the moment you depart from the island you will be free to forget the whole ordeal and even begin a new relationship if you so desire, it doesn’t feel like it; after all, you’re calling your Gods as witnesses of your union, promising in front of them to love, protect and support Zoro for the rest of your days - which you do plan to do, you’ll be happy to, just in a completely platonic way. You know in your heart you will be forgiven for the sort-of deception you are carrying out, exploiting what should be a ceremony focused on love to fulfil your wish to get away from the island and explore the world, but then why do you feel like this? Why is your heart full of… trepidation, in a sense, excitement and a sliver of fear, as if you were committing yourself to something you don’t know the full consequences of, destined to change your life much more than you expect…?

💚 Looking at Zoro doesn’t reassure you, since he looks even more shaken than you feel; he is pale, almost struggling to breathe and apparently unable to meet your eyes while you formally pledge yourselves to each other, but his voice is confident as he speaks the words, and when he takes your hand to mix your blood his grasp is firm, not so much it hurts you but determined, and that is enough to make your hesitation disappear, and an happy smile blossom on your lips… until a moment later, when the councilwoman invites you to share a kiss to seal your union. You and your groom share a look, and for a moment you are sure he’s about to dash, leaving you and your broken dreams behind him… and then his eyes fill with determination. “May I?” he murmurs, and you nod silently, and then his cool, chapped lips press against yours, and that is not your first kiss (even though the list is embarrassingly short) but it’s your first with him, and it’s your wedding kiss, and that makes it special beyond any possibility of trivialisation. Your friends are clapping, the councilwoman is binding your hands together with a cord, but you have become blind, and deaf, to all of it; the only thing you perceive in this moment is Zoro, and your heart racing in your chest. 

💚 “The claiming ceremony will take place in the square in an hour.” the councilwoman announces, and the other warriors rejoice once more, while Zoro’s friends look perplexed - just like him. “What is the claiming ceremony?” he asks in a whisper as you depart from the council house, the short procession of your friends following you “Isn’t the wedding over?” “Of course; now it’s time for the second part, where we demonstrate our commitment to each other.” you explain to a more and more perplexed Zoro. “You mean it’s… some kind of test? Do I have to face your father in a fight to the death to prove I am worthy of being your husband or something like that?” “Of course not; we have to sleep together in front of the whole village.” you explain, equally surprised you need to; this is how weddings are conducted on the island since time immemorial, unless the spouses are advanced in age or in the case of a physical impediment, and the possibility that other places in a vast, diverse world might do things differently hadn’t even crossed your mind. (It does now, for what it’s worth.) “In this way our bodies will be one as well as our minds and hearts, our flesh married just like our spirits.” “And… we really can’t do without it, can we?” “Of course not; the vows and the blood mixing are little more than a formality, it is the claiming ceremony that makes a marriage valid; you… you didn’t know? Isn’t this how weddings are conducted where you lived?”

💚 You are now standing outside the council house, your friends having left you to enjoy a moment of privacy before the ceremony. Zoro looks appalled, shocked, and while he didn’t betray, and feel, an ounce of fear while, during your recent battle, he found himself surrounded by eight enemies thirsty for his blood, now… now he’s terrified. Making a huge effort to remain calm, he explains to you that no, this is nothing like the weddings he was used to in his village, and any marriage ceremony he has ever heard of; usually the physical part of the affair is conducted privately, and is technically not necessary for the validity of the union. He had no idea this would happen, you realise with horror; how could you not think about it? Your island, its traditions and way of life, are everything you have ever known, and Zoro hails from a very far away land. How could you not realise that what is ordinary and common for you might not be the norm in other places, and that your idea of marriage, and of wedding, could not perfectly match his? This poor man simply expected to have to utter a few words, a chaste kiss at most, and now finds out he has to… to perform in front of dozens of people, virtual strangers and his friends both! No wonder he looks horrified!

💚 “Listen, if you want to… reconsider, I’ll accept it.” you tell him; knowing that the prospect of having sex with you outweighs Zoro’s evident strength of character and determination would be more than a little embarrassing, but still, you will not force this man to have sex with you against his will. No dream is worth that; not even your freedom “It must be… traumatising for someone who wasn’t expecting it, not to mention you barely know me; if you feel uncomfortable with it, Zoro, I understand…” He looks at you. “Won’t it be uncomfortable for you? I mean, maybe for your people this is normal, or even pleasant…?” he asks, curious, and you admit that no matter how in love with their partner, and proud of their body and sexual prowess, they are, most married people do not think back fondly to the claiming ceremony, which is usually an uncomfortable, embarrassing obligation, to carry out simply because it can’t be helped, as quickly and simply as they can, reserving the rest for a more intimate setting. Most couples sleep together before the ceremony, because no one wants their first time with their spouse to be witnessed by the whole community, and while it is normal and even appreciated for friends and family to be present at the claiming ceremony of a loved one, most spectators feel no pleasure in it. “Listen, let’s… let’s forget the whole matter, alright? This is absurd, I don’t know why I accepted… you don’t deserve this, Zoro, this will be unpleasant in the best of cases and traumatic in the worst, I can’t ask you…” 

💚 “I’ll do it.” “... what?” “Yeah, it doesn’t matter; I mean, it’s weird and I’d rather not to, but I don’t want to let you down, and we’re already halfway there.” Zoro points out; he’s not looking at you, again “After all, like the whole wedding, it doesn’t really matter, does it? It’s not like doing it with… with your partner, or a person you care for.” You nod in response, overwhelmed, and then the two of you part, Zoro to talk to his friends (who have just been briefed by yours about what the claiming ceremony entails, and who wear matching expressions of shock and horror) and you to the closest solitary place you can find, to fight a sudden panic attack. 

💚 An hour later, you and Zoro are face to face once more, on a slightly raised altar that has been quickly prepared in the village’s main square; your friends, and relatives, and literally anyone who you have ever known since birth surround you, and while it is true that no one present will take advantage of the occasion to look at your intimate parts and you will all feel happier and relieved once the whole ordeal is over, you feel… how? Upset? Excited? Simply anxious to get over it? Perhaps all three things together, a peculiar, nameless sensation you had already felt, years ago, before your first battle, when the fear for your life mingled with the joy for the moment you had trained for since childhood. This is a battle as well; and you will bleed, but your comrade in arms will be by your side, and the two of you will protect each other like you have done already. Drawing strength from that thought, you walk to the centre of the altar, where Zoro meets you; complete silence has fallen on the square, your people respecting the moment’s importance and sacrality. You look at each other for a moment, and then Zoro takes off his robe, that falls on the floor around his feet, and you hurry to do the same, and then you are both naked like the day you were born, and all you can do is look at each other. Many of your fellow warriors are strong, athletic men, but you have never seen any of them like this, and you feel yourself blush as you admire Zoro’s strong, deliciously masculine body, a shiver running through you as you see it reacting to your nudity, his dark eyes set on the area between your thighs. 

💚 “I… I am not sure what we should do.” you confess in a whisper, and a smile brushes against Zoro’s lips. “Me neither.” he admits, and those words, the admission that this is the first time for both, fills your heart with an unexpected, fierce feeling of tenderness, a protective instinct you didn’t expect to experience towards a man who can clearly hold his own against the most dangerous opponents “Maybe… maybe we should simply go with the flow, you know? Let our instincts guide us.” You agree, and when in a whisper Zoro asks permission to kiss you again, you nod, eager and even relieved, and a moment later your bodies are pressed against each other, your mouths made one once again; you can feel Zoro’s erection pressed against your thigh, and this is already miles beyond what you had ever done before with a man, beyond what you had ever wanted to do, but knowing that that very part of his body will be inside you in a matter of minutes makes you feel… well, desirous, almost hungry, for things you don’t even have a name for. You moan out loud when you feel Zoro’s lips descend to your throat, sucking and gently biting, and instinctively wanting to return the courtesy you slip a hand between your bodies, quickly finding his erection; perhaps you should have asked permission, just like he did, but you don’t have the time to consider your own inappropriateness because Zoro is whimpering against you, rutting his hips against your hand in a wordless invite not to stop, please, keep going, this is so good…

💚 You feel the crowd murmuring around you, approvingly or with some other sentiment you don’t care; long forgotten are the embarrassment and self-consciousness you had feared you would feel now, you don’t care about them, you don’t even care if your friends and compatriots were to spend days discussing the attractiveness of your body and your skills as a lover. All you care for, all you can focus on, is Zoro, who you were already grateful for the way out he is offering you from the restrictive prison of the island, but who you never thought would also give you something so special and precious. You want it to be good for him as well, you decide as you palm his heavy, hard erection, suddenly feeling yourself burning for it, for him; you want to be good for him, you want to give him pleasure and joy and make the whole matter worth it. “Fuck, (name)...” Zoro whispers, and then he moans again when he sees you kneel, meet his eyes for a moment to make sure he is alright with it (it is) and then awkwardly but hungrily take him in your mouth. He tastes acrid, vaguely pungent, and delicious; you feel his hands in your hair, and while he utters no more words, his groaning and moaning reassure you you are doing a good job. 

💚 The altar has been furnished with a bedding made of soft blankets and pillows; it is on that that Zoro gently lays you down, his agile but strong body quickly covering yours, a hand on the back of your head to protect it. Your hands move on his body, Zoro’s skin hot and taut, as if he were straining to control his impulses and not simply devour you and fuck you to the ground, his chest and shoulders and hips, and he is so handsome and sensual and masculine, you can’t wait to be one with him; you want him, you realize, the feeling both terrifying and inebriating, you want Zoro to take you and share his pleasure with him. You want him to scream your name, to make him harder than he has ever been… and to make him come so hard he will never forget this moment. Yours is not a love match, not a proper wedding; but this is real, genuine and a source of joy, and you want it to matter.

💚 Emboldened, you open your legs, letting Zoro observe what exactly his generosity is earning him. “Take me.” you whisper; you can see his hard cock standing proudly against his belly, and you feel a sort of exciting, until-now-unknown sense of pride knowing that it is you, your body and the way you were able to stimulate him, that is responsible for that transformation “Zoro, please… I want you. I want you so much.”

💚 Zoro roars. 

💚 He’s kissing you again, hungry and lascivious, while he clumsily tries to find the right position to enter you. You instinctively find a way, lifting one of your legs around his hips, and Zoro is murmuring your name as he finally takes his hard cock in his hand; a moment later you can feel his head pressing against the opening between your legs. You would have imagined both of you were beyond words at this time, instinct and passion having overcome the capacity for intelligible speech, but he meets your eyes and “If I hurt you…” he whispers; he’s already struggling to control himself “Just tell me… I can stop…” He’s clearly sincere, even worried his impetuosity and ardour could end up harming you, and tenderness fills your heart. You kiss him once more and “I don’t want you to stop.” you whisper; you are soaking wet, much more than on the few occasions you have touched yourself in the privacy of your home, and you feel happy, even proud, that he can feel it - feel the effect he has on you, like you have seen and tasted the one you have on him “Zoro, please, I’m yours… make love to me, I want to feel you...”

💚 He does, and you do, so much and so hard in the end you are screaming, and Zoro screams with you, he screams your name, as he pounds into you, his messy and hungry kisses leaving a trail of fire on your mouth and skin as you cling to his biceps (he has well-muscled arms, as was to be expected from a swordsman) and circle his hips with your legs, your embrace so tight you can barely perceive where one ends and the other begins, and still you’re not satisfied, because you want more, you want to be one with him, not for a few, magical minutes, a joyful, pleasurable experience you already know won’t happen again, but forever, viscerally, so that neither of you will ever forget this, the intoxicating, intimate feeling of giving oneself completely and uncompromisingly, a complete exchange from which you are both made richer. Zoro is more than well-endowed, and this being your first time it does hurt, no matter how wet you were for him, but that pain is only a drop in the sea, even pleasurable in its own right, and you barely notice it, too engrossed as you are in the intense sensations Zoro is gifting you. Push after push he gets closer, to what you could not describe but you feel it, you feel you are approaching your climax, your body already singing, and you both can’t wait for it and wish this would last longer, just a minute more, because you’re not satisfied, not yet full, and you want him more, you want all of him and you want him to have all of you…

💚 All around, the whole village is witnessing your union, with Luffy and the others in the front row. The Straw Hat Pirates are among the very few aware of the true nature of your and Zoro’s pact, while most of the others are convinced you and the swordsman have fallen madly in love with each other after fighting side by side and he asked for your hand to have you follow him in his travels with the crew; but even they, aware (or perhaps just convinced?) that he’s just doing a person he has fought with a favour, can’t deny what they are witnessing is completely different… awkwardness and fervour mixed in one, two people grappling with feelings they did not expect to experiment but that they can’t help to follow, passion born of an instinctive empathy and the raw desire for a person offering themselves completely to them. Would you feel the same if, say, Luffy were in Zoro’s place, or he with another of the village’s women? You don’t know, you have no way of knowing; what you know is that he is with you, and you with him, and you have never felt so happy and blessed in all your years. 

💚 Zoro moves relentlessly inside you, claiming your body and at the same time offering himself to you; you are both sharing a piece of your very soul with each other, and this is precious and terrifying at the same time. He moans when he feels your hands move on his body (his muscled shoulders and arms, his soft hair, the firm roundness of his backside) and “Yes, touch me.” he whispers between a sloppy, ardent kiss and the other “Touch me, (name)... it’s… it’s so good… so warm… I’m getting close… I-I am gonna… (name)...” 

💚 Maybe it is the undaunted pushing of his hips inside you; maybe it is the simple sensation of his sweet mouth worshipping yours, kissing every inch of your body it can reach; maybe it’s the sound of your own name falling from his lips, because no one has ever pronounced it like this, with so much passion, with awe and jealousy, as if you were something precious he didn’t intend to share with anyone. Whatever the reason, the last ounces of self-control leave you, and your first true orgasm hits you, violent, irresistible, and utterly satisfying. You cry Zoro’s name, holding on to him in the instinctive fear the wave of pleasure might destroy you, and feeling your body tremble around him is enough to push your groom beyond the brink as well; a satisfied, relieved moan, a last look of his awed, sweet eyes, and you feel Zoro spill inside you, his whole body shaking. He falls on you, his cheek pressed on your breast, and remains like that, savouring that sweet sensation of intimacy, your fingers in his hair and the warmth of your body surrounding him, for what seems like hours to both. In the end, he lifts his head to smile at you; no one has seen him smile like that since he was perhaps seven, the childlike wonder that something so amazing could happen to him. “Hello, wife.” he murmurs, and your laugh is pure happiness.

💚 The whole village, not to mention the other Straw Hat Pirates, have witnessed the whole event; no one speaks, most of those present aware it would be inappropriate, almost blasphemous, to disturb what is clearly a magical, intimate moment. In the end, the councilmen approach to inspect the two of you, an essential part of the ceremony but that, on the two of you, has the same effect of a cold shower: you stiffen, suddenly aware of how exposed you are, while Zoro looks away, the intimacy of a moment ago already forgotten. Embarrassment falls on you both while he slowly, carefully pulls back, separating the two of you; someone hands you the robe you gratefully accept, because suddenly you are cold, too cold for a warm summer night, and you felt no pain, so why do you suddenly have to fight back tears?

💚 A minute later you are both standing, and clothed, once more, on either side of the councilwoman as she declares the ceremony complete and valid, to the exultation of the village and the cautious, awkward approval of Luffy and the others, who are wondering how they’ll be able to look Zoro in the face from now on. You are married, you think numbly; you can feel his semen drip down your thigh, still dazed with the intensity of your shared, already distant, passion. You are Zoro’s wife and he is your husband, and whatever happens from now on, whatever path the two of you may take, this is a truth that you will never be able to forget.

💚 The next morning, you and Zoro meet with the council, and you are formally permitted to leave the island together with your husband. Your life dream is finally becoming reality, you should feel happy, and you are, you are delighted and excited, but you cannot ignore the awkwardness between you and Zoro, a perhaps normal situation given the circumstances, but still unpleasant given the quiet harmony that had existed between the two of you until last night, a silence neither felt the need to fill with words or actions. Having left the council house, you take a little walk together, tacitly deciding you need a moment for the two of you. “So… is everything alright?” Zoro asks in the end, unsure, and you nod. “I have met with the islands’ doctors and made sure I did not get pregnant last night.” you explain, which Zoro admits is a good thing; absurd but true, the possibility of getting you pregnant had never even crossed his mind, but a child is obviously something you are both unprepared for. “Actually, I meant to say… I didn’t hurt you, did I? I’m sorry, I… perhaps it’s stupid, but I had never… done it before, so I don’t know…”

💚 You look at him, your heart once more full of tenderness and fierce affection for this brave young man, whose kindness and generosity are carefully kept hidden but you have already perceived. “I am fine, thank you.” you answer; you are about to say you feel more than fine, actually, since you can’t stop thinking about what the two of you shared last night and given the way your husband blushes every time your eyes meet you are pretty sure he won’t be able to forget your wedding ceremony anytime soon either, but a moment later you realise the less you talk about it, the better you will both feel. The fact that you enjoyed what happened on the altar is a good thing, not to mention probably natural given the fact sex is meant to be pleasurable, but your union was a necessary requirement, not something you had chosen willingly, and considering you and your husband (you and Zoro; you need to stop thinking about him like that!) will be travelling together from now on, you need to remember you are comrades in arms and friends, and nothing more, or life on the ship will be unbearable. “Zoro, I… I can’t thank you enough for this; you have made my greatest dream come true, and for that I know I’ll be in your debt forever.” “I haven’t done it because I expected something in return.” “I know; I’m sorry, what I’m trying to say is…” you begin, and then you hesitate, because you don’t fully know either “... that I think we can remain good friends forever; and that whatever happens, I’ll never forget what you have done for me.”

💚 For a moment you could swear you have seen disappointment filling Zoro’s brown eyes; but then he smiles, briefly but genuinely, and answers that being friends sounds good, and having another trained warrior in the crew is even better. 

💚 An hour later the ship is leaving the island’s shores. You wave your hand, saying good-bye to the people and the land that have been your world until now, the wind playing with your hair; Zoro is standing with you on the Merry’s deck, and finds himself unable to look away. “No regrets?” he inquires after a while; you shake your head, because it’s a little early for a change of mind, but even in a month, or a year, or a decade, you know you’ll never doubt you have done the right choice… nor the deep, sudden affection for the man by your side. “None.” you reassure him; you are smiling, and Zoro has never seen something so beautiful in his nineteen years “I can’t wait to see what the future may bring.”

💚 The next weeks are hectic, and often dangerous, as you finally begin your journey into the world. You quickly become fond (well, fonder) of the rest of the crew, who easily welcome you in their midst; the hypothesis of leaving to travel on your own, which is what you had planned on doing if you ever found a way to leave the island, is quickly, tacitly set aside, and soon you consider yourself a Straw Hat Pirate in all respects, utterly devoted to your captain and your new friends. You fight side by side with your crewmates, explore new places, meet new people; you feel happy, hopeful, satisfied, maybe for the first time in your life as an adult. Really, you couldn’t find a reason to be upset or saddened even if you tried, except for a tiny, mostly irrelevant but still hard to ignore detail… that is, your relationship with your - with Zoro. 

💚 Most of the time things are fine between the two of you. You have tacitly decided never to speak of your marriage, and your wedding ceremony specifically, again, and to simply consider each other a comrade and a friend, a sibling in arms you enjoy fighting side by side with; you sleep in different rooms (you with Nami, he with the other guys), help each other with your training and immediately look for each other in times of danger, making sure you are both ready to defend your comrades. At night, when the others are sleeping and darkness envelops the ship, you like to sit on the deck, a drink in your hands and your eyes lost in the immensity of the starry sky above you (different from the one you admired in your village, but equally breathtaking) as you reflect on the events of the day and enjoy the freedom of the sea, that after months you are still unable to take for granted. You like those moments, and you like them even more when Zoro joins you, sitting by your side, and as you pass the bottle sometimes you talk, discussing matters of the present and of the past, but mostly you keep silent, simply enjoying each other’s presence as your shoulder brushes against his.

💚 He tells you about Kuina, and about Mihawk, who he fought shortly before meeting you; in turn, you tell him about the loss of your parents, a painful subject you had been unable to share with anyone until now. Having spent your entire life within the familiar, limited borders of the island, you are sometimes too inexperienced or naive to understand the events or the people around you, and when it happens Zoro intervenes to help, but you never feel belittled or treated with condescension. You trust him, respect him, sincerely enjoy his company, and more importantly you know he feels the same for you; you’re not the sort of people who discuss feelings, but you soon come to consider Zoro your dearest friend. 

💚 Which at one point proves to be a problem, because as far as you know people don’t lust after their friends, do they?

💚 You simply can’t help it. After all you couldn’t forget your wedding ceremony, and the passionate, intense sex it entailed, even if you tried, and while the embarrassment between you is fortunately soon forgotten and your friends are kind enough not to joke about it, you sometimes struggle to ignore the memories that moment brings. A few weeks after you joined the crew, at the beginning of a particularly hot day, leaving the girls’ cabin you find Zoro training on the deck, his shirt discarded on the floor. His torso is already bathed in sweat, a view you never thought you would find enticing; and yet, you suddenly feel unable to look away, your eyes avidly drinking the sight in front of you: his muscles tense with the effort, his flat stomach, his strong arms and shoulders… you had seen that already, and much more, as you lay together on the altar, but nonetheless you find yourself swallowing, caught by a sudden desire to just reach for him and touch, to feel the firmness and warmth of Zoro’s skin under your hands, to caress it, maybe even to…

💚 … and then suddenly Zoro, until now focused on his pushups and who seemed not to have noticed your appearance, turns to look at you, an eyebrow raised as if he were wondering what you are doing, just standing there; a moment later his eyes, and his mouth, open wide, as if he had perceived the lurid, less-than-friendly thoughts you are entertaining. You feel blushing furiously, blabber some kind of excuse, and quickly retreat, opting to remain out of his way for the next two hours. When you meet later, you once again pretend nothing happened, and you desperately try to forget it; unfortunately you can’t, but in the end, should you really be surprised? Zoro is an objectively attractive man, and you have already been intimate; it is normal that you still feel attracted to him, and instinctively wish you could… repeat the experience, preferably in the more private setting of the spare cabin on the ship. Who knows, perhaps… perhaps he feels the same about you…

💚 Determined not to ruin your and Zoro’s friendship, you decide to ignore that uncomfortable-but-sort-of-pleasant urge, which at first simply means keeping away from him when he is even partially unclothed. You still occasionally feel your eyes linger on him, even when he’s fully dressed (on the tight fit of the shirt on his shoulders, on the expressive beauty of his eyes, and how come you never noticed what a lovely, firm little bottom he has…?), but otherwise you are fine, and as your bond deepens, as you get used to his quiet, comforting presence by your side, Zoro’s hand brushing against your arm when he wants to quietly attract your attention on something or that way he has to ask you if you’re alright with a single glance, without the need for words, you feel happy and grateful that he’s part of your life… and think that one day, when he’ll finally give his heart to someone, there won’t be a more blessed person in the world.

💚 Speaking of potential partners, Zoro never seemed interested in relationships, and doesn’t even notice the looks of admiration he regularly receives. “I don’t have time for a partner.” he curtly explains when you ask him “And since we never stop in a place for more than a few days I couldn’t maintain a relationship in any case, right?” His reasoning makes sense, even though, for some reason, you feel suddenly shy… as if you were the one who had been propositioned. A few nights later, Zoro meets another swordmaster at a bar, and the two of them spend hours talking about their weapons, past battles and the like - and flirting, at least on the other person’s part, since they keep touching Zoro’s naked arm and pressing their leg against his under the table. Your friend doesn’t notice, as usual, but you do, and that makes you feel… weird; lonely, abandoned, even, and while you tell yourself it is simply because you and Zoro usually hang out together when your crew goes out for drinks, your hearts tells you otherwise, and you can’t help wishing you were in the swordsman’s position, Zoro’s attention focused on you… and brave enough to be so brazen in expressing your interest. “What’s wrong? You seem upset.” Zoro points out later when you’re all going back to the ship; you simply shrug, both unable and unwilling to share the reason for your bad mood, for the instinctive but petty resentment you feel towards your friend, and that fills you with shame since Zoro has done nothing to earn it. 

💚 The next night, the town is celebrating a festival. To avoid being left alone again, you ask Nami’s help and buy a new dress to wear for the occasion; it is much more daring than what you are used to, and while the others compliment you, Zoro simply looks away, and you’re pretty sure you’ve seen him blushing. At the festival, your dress does have the desired effect, because a few people show interest towards you. A young man seems especially taken, since he asks you to dance, escorts you to a stand to grab something to eat and then invites you on a walk to a nearby pond. He’s good company and his clear interest flatters you, but in the end you gently reject him when he tries to kiss you, aware that your heart is not into it. Nevertheless, you feel happy when you go back to the others… and meet Zoro, who is fuming. “Where is your boyfriend?” he sneers “Gone to get you a drink?” You see regret in his eyes as soon as those hurtful words leave his lips, but the damage is done, and the two of you don’t speak or look at each other for the rest of the night. 

💚 You spend an almost sleepless night (again), grappling with feelings that have never been so clear, and terrifying, in your mind. You do care for Zoro, you feel happier and content when he’s by your side, you can’t help feeling attracted to him and fantasising about repeating the experience of your wedding day, and feel jealous when someone else expresses an interest in him; you like him - really like him, as much more than just a friend and a comrade in arms, and while you’d feel happy with a purely platonic relationship, you can’t help wishing for something else. Does Zoro feel the same? You can’t rule that out, especially given how annoyed he looked after you had spent the evening with another person, but what if you want different things? Maybe he only does consider you a friend, but still hasn’t forgotten what you shared that night on the altar; you couldn’t resent him for that, even though the possibility of being desired, as a sexual partner and nothing more, would paradoxically break your heart. 

💚 When you join the others the next morning, you are not particularly surprised to discover Zoro has left soon after dawn, announcing he’ll be back in a while and wants to be left alone. “What happened? Did you two have a fight?” Luffy asks, and you shrug helplessly in reply, not quite sure of it yourself. You spend the following hours hard at work, helping your crewmates repay the damages the Sunny had sustained during a recent battle, and then preparing a speech for when you’ll face Zoro - which will have to be soon, since you are set to sail in the morning and then avoiding each other will be impossible. Having grown up without a mother or another close female relative, you don’t really know how to approach the subject, but after reflecting on it for a while you admit to yourself that no matter how close the two of you are and how much you trust him, you are not ready to confess your feelings to Zoro, not until you have strong reason to believe they are reciprocated, both because that would ruin things between you, potentially forever… and because you simply lack the courage to, and would rather face a hundred enemies unharmed than risk being turned down. On the other hand, it will probably be impossible to pretend you don’t feel anything for him, both because you have always been a terrible liar and you can’t very well make a fool of yourself any time Zoro takes his shirt off. The only possibility, you decide in the end, is something warriors like you are often unable to do: to compromise… and hope things develop from there.

💚 It is mid-afternoon when Zoro finally returns, reaching the small harbour you are docked at; he ignores Nami, who is chewing his ears off for leaving the others at work while he went who knows where, and waves at you. “Can you come down for a minute?” he asks “I have something to tell you.” You obey, both relieved and nervous, and follow Zoro away from the most crowded area of the harbour; he doesn’t talk, but you notice he’s hiding something behind his back, making sure you cannot see what. In the end, and after you had to retrace your steps twice, you reach a small berth, almost hidden among overgrown bushes. Zoro turns to look at you, more serious than you have ever seen him, and suddenly you are sure this is the day you are going to lose him forever, that he’s going to tell you that while he cares about your friendship he feels too uncomfortable with being reminded of your wedding ceremony, and perhaps, since he was there first and he’s the Straw Hat Pirates’ first officer, you should leave the crew and go your own way, like you had planned to do initially… “Wait!” you stop him when Zoro is about to speak; you have never felt fear in battle, not even when the odds were overwhelmingly against you, but right now you’re shaking, utterly terrified you are going to lose the person you love (yes, love; you couldn’t say when you have fallen for him exactly, when he offered to help you realise your dream no matter the commitment and the embarrassment required of him or in some other moment, but it is true, you would wage your life on it, and while you haven’t given up hope that Zoro will one day return your feelings, you would be ready to do whatever it takes in order to keep him in your life) more than any other you have ever met “I… I have something to tell you as well; something important. Please, may I go first?” 

💚 A moment of uncertainty, and then Zoro nods, tense and… vaguely hopeful? “I… I know we had sort of decided to forget what happened that day on the altar, and that we are married, to simply be crewmates and comrades in arms; believe me, these last months have been the happiest in my life, in no small part because of you, Zoro. I…” I love you, fully and desperately. I want to be important for you, I want to be your partner, as well as your best friend and fellow warrior. Zoro, I want to be your wife.  “... I have never cared about anyone like I care about you, and… while I’d be happy with being your friend forever, I can’t deny I am attracted to you, I think you are very handsome and… I fantasise about us kissing and touching each other and making love. If I have to keep hiding my feelings, and the fact I feel my heart tremble every time you smile at me, I’ll go crazy. So I wanted to propose… well, I don’t know if you feel the same, but we could… be together, you know? Have sex, to relieve tension and simply have some fun; there would be nothing wrong, and since it was so amazing the first time, I trust it would be the same again… and our friendship wouldn’t necessarily be ruined, perhaps it would come out… strengthened, even…”

💚 You hold your breath, waiting for Zoro’s reaction; you force yourself to meet his eyes, because you have opened your heart to him and have no reason to feel ashamed for it, and the emotion you feel reflected on his handsome face is the last you could have imagined. Not excitement, not embarrassment, not relief… but disappointment. “Is this what you want?” he asks after a while, a touch of disbelief in his voice, as he searches your eyes “What would really make you happy? To sleep together… to have sex, and then pretend nothing happened and we are simply friends?” The contempt in his voice is both discouraging and surprising; you never guessed Zoro would be the judging type, but perhaps it is not a matter of morality… “... yes.” you lie in the end; while a sexual relationship with Zoro would probably make you happy, at least for a while, it is not what you want, not even remotely “I mean, I think it would be… convenient for both of us…”

💚 “Convenient…” Zoro repeats, shaking his head, as if he had never heard a more absurd proposition; he laughs softly, but there is no trace of amusement in his tone. You bite your lip, suddenly uncomfortable, and since he doesn’t seem inclined to give your proposal an answer, you dare to ask: “What did you want to talk about?” “It doesn’t matter anymore; you… you sort of answered me already. Listen, I’ll see you later, all right? And these… these are for you, for what it’s worth; you can throw them away.” These are a bunch of colourful, sort of messy but for this even more beautiful flowers, that Zoro must have picked himself in the fields behind the harbour, and even tied with a ribbon found who knows where. 

💚 He brought you flowers. Oh, for all the Gods, Zoro brought you flowers!

💚 Left utterly speechless as you admire the bouquet that has been shoved in your hands, you don’t realise Zoro has left, turning on his heels and walking away. “Zoro, wait!” you call him, starting after him, but it’s useless; your friend, who has never run from a fight and would gladly face ten enemies on his own, pretends he doesn’t hear you, picking up the pace until he’s almost running - running away, from you, because of the catastrophic misunderstanding you have inadvertently created. “I’m so sorry… please, let me explain, you got it wrong!” you beg him, but Zoro is deaf to your protests and, even worse, can run much faster than you, and he can’t obviously avoid you forever, since you are part of the same tiny crew, but you know you have to explain yourself here and now, and you will, if only he would listen… “Zoro, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” and then, finally fed up with running after him like a parent with an unruly child: “Husband! Stop right there and let me talk, dammit!”

💚 He does. 

💚 You both need a moment to catch your breath, and you use your free hand to grab his and stop him from running again. In the end you look at each other, alone in the middle of a tiny meadow, and you just know, without the need to touch his chest with your hand, that your hearts are beating as one. Zoro looks at you, almost scared. “You called me husband.” he points out softly “You… you had never done it before.” “I haven’t.” you agree “And you don’t know how much I regret it. Thanks for the flowers, they are beautiful, but… what have you given them to me?” “Well…” he begins, rubbing a hand on the back of his head “It is tradition in my village that a man offers flowers to the woman who he… he wants to court. I know it doesn’t really make sense between the two of us, but I thought it could be… well, a statement of intentions, if you want. If… if that’s what you want as well…”

💚 You quickly inform him you have no intention of beginning a courtship with him. “Because.” you add still holding him by the hand, as you use the other to leave your bouquet on a nearby rock; you are blushing furiously as you look at him, but at the same time your heart is soaring, higher than the cloudless sky above you “There is no reason; you don’t need to woo me with gifts or compliments, because… because you have already won me over. I love being your friend, but that is not what I really want, not even if we sleep together on the side. I… I just want to be with you, like couples do. I want you to be my husband, and I want to be your wife. In a sense, I have always been, ever since that…”

💚 The rest of the sentence is pushed back in your mouth by Zoro’s lips, his scorching hot kiss making you forget your words; his arm is holding you by the waist, his free hand already lost in your hair, and only a moment passes before you are kissing him back, your open mouth greedily welcoming his tongue, your hands running on any inch of Zoro’s skin they can find, covered by his clothes or, even better, naked. “You know.” you murmur after a while, as Zoro is busy sucking a bruise on the side of your neck, the sensation so sensual and delicious you have closed your eyes to better savour it “There is technically a way for our marriage to be declared void, and for us to divorce. So, if you wanted to… change your mind…”

💚 You can feel Zoro’s grin against your throat. “The only reason I would divorce you is to court you again from the start.” he murmurs “I… I have wanted to ask you to be together since we left your island; I told myself it was only that, only sex, but I knew it wasn’t true, and I never found the courage to tell you how I felt, and when the other day at the festival I saw that guy dancing with you and it made my blood boil…” He takes your head in his hands, smiling at you; a more than throughout repetition of your wedding ceremony awaits you that night, but in that moment the purest, most inebriating joy fills both of you. “I promise I will never dance with anyone but you.” you murmur, locking your arms behind Zoro’s head, and he smiles again.

💚 “You better not forget your promise.” he points out before kissing you again “Wife.”

#One Piece #One Piece Live Action #OPLA #Roronoa Zoro #Roronoa Zoro x reader #Zoro #Zoro x reader #Mackenyu #Mackenyu Arata #Bellona's stuff

[reriart]

While Your Lips Are Still Red

Summary: You suffer for what's happening in your life and you tried to put an end to it, but Astarion saved you.

Notes/TW: I wrote this fanfiction thinking about my Tav (female), but I wrote it gender-neutral so you can think about your OC (or you!) without any problems. The theme of suicide is the focus of this story, so if you are particularly sensitive to the theme and don't feel okay, please don't read it! I chose this topic because it is particularly dear and close to me. No one deserves to suffer and if you need it don't hesitate to contact a hotline. You are not alone!

There's also a bit of romance.

Please remember that English is not my native language.

Your sight grew darker and blurrier.

The bright stars in the sky, your only companions on nights when nightmares seemed to prevail, now seemed like many small, confused, and meaningless dots — the last, silent judges of your ruthless act.

You had decided to end everything: the story of the tadpoles, the absolute, the emperor... it was too much.

Your life had never been peaceful from the beginning, but the limit to how you could tolerate pain had become increasingly thin. You had tried every loophole possible, including considering joining Shadowheart in her crusade for Shar's honor; but just a few days before, you had convinced her to abandon the Lady of Loss and embrace her loving sister Selune. Because for her, your best friend, there was still hope, a glimmer of divine light ready to welcome her.

But not for you. Each fight had become more exhausting, each rescue mission more violent, soaked in innocent blood. The harpists, the tieflings. Children who would never play again, men and women who would never love again.

You should have rejoiced that you were still alive. To still be able to enjoy that great gift that life was. Yet now, cradled by the cold waters of the lake, not far from your sleeping companions, unaware of everything, your injured wrists let the red blood stain that crystalline liquid.

After making sure everyone was asleep (or in a trance, or on patrol, in Astarion's case), you had pulled your dagger from its sheath and used it on yourself right on the shore. You wanted to stab yourself and get it over with as quickly as possible, but you couldn't.

And now, at the mercy of the sweet waves, you waited for your moment. The moment when it would all end. You had managed to isolate the Emperor thanks to Gale, with the excuse of "I need a spell that silence everything for a few hours, or I won't even sleep tonight". A little suspicious, the wizard of Waterdeep finally granted your request. This way, none of your group would have the slightest signal from the tadpoles.

Your head felt lighter… it was like being drunk. A bitter smile spread across your face as your limbs grew numb, and your body grew colder and colder. The eyelids, however, became extremely heavy, as if there were a stone holding them down, and his heartbeat pounded in the eardrums like a war drum. The body became lighter and lighter but also heavier. The arms wanted only to go down, further down, towards the depths of the lake.

Your vision became almost completely blurred, your heartbeat infinitely slow: it was the end. One last breath and everything would have ended, if it hadn't been the rippling water and the cold hands (but warmer than your skin) that tore you away from the agonized embrace of death.

Thump-sounding words filled your head, but you didn't understand their meaning. A pale blob stood in front of you, squirming like a madman. A gasp came from your mouth as you recognized the figure. It was Astarion, visibly panicking. Perhaps thanks to the adrenaline of seeing him so agitated, you managed to understand his words.

"What the hell did you think?!" he almost screamed, lifting you out of the water to hold you. His gaze fell to your wrists which continued to bleed and you saw him swallow and clench his jaw. "I… one thing at a time. Now I have to think about getting you out of here, damn it." He rolled his eyes so as not to focus too much on your wounds, a temptation for him, especially after his failed hunt earlier. You didn't have the energy to reply, so you just let the elf pick you up, your eyelids too numb to allow you to look at him. You could only see his worried look, his milky white eyebrows furrowed.

Once you reached the shore, you felt Astarion spinning around. “If I take you to camp like this they'll think I bled you dry before you even let me explain,” he whispered. The companions were not within earshot, although relatively close, but it was normal for the vampire to operate in the shadows. You felt your body hit the ground and when you had enough strength to open your eyes, you noticed that he had found shelter in the forest. Your back was leaning against a large log, your legs stretched out on the damp ground.

“A…Astarion?” you whispered. "What…?"

“We'll leave the explanations for later, darling. Give me your wrists,” he ordered. Your tired eyes reflected fear. Did he want to bite you? Finish you there?

Noticing your hesitation, he took them both in his cold hands. "I do not want to hurt. Let me save you." His voice was calm, but his eyes hid a nervousness you had rarely seen. He swallowed, and bringing your wrists to his mouth, he licked them. His red eyes glowed like rubies and his breath trembled against your veins as a short, strangled moan escaped his throat. He seemed to struggle against himself, before placing your wrists on the ground, perhaps with a little too much force. You almost heard him growl as his jaw muscles clenched and his fingers trembled.

The wounds were gone. You blinked several times, lifting your arms with difficulty. It was as if they had never existed!

“I… thank you, Astarion. For saving me. Because of this. It must have been diff…”. Your head was spinning fast, so fast. You felt like the ground was disappearing from underneath your body and you almost fell to the side, if it weren't for the vampire, who grabbed you, preventing your head from hitting a stone.

“Do you want… me to hold you?” he asked with an apprehensive look, his voice a little more serious than usual. Maybe it was the lack of blood that made you see misleading things because he didn't look like Astarion at all. However, by now you didn't care about anything anymore, for all you knew he might as well be a shape-shifting monster ready to make a single morsel of you. You nodded your head and Astarion pulled you into his arms, resting your back against his chest.

"Better?" he asked. His breath tickled your neck.

“Mh hm” you replied. "Listen…"

You felt his arms become firmer around you.

"I am sorry." His voice was a whisper. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Maybe all this wouldn't have happened."

You frowned, tilting your head slightly, which made it spin even more than before, confusing you to the point of making you feel drunk. "What…? What didn't you tell me...?”

The pale elf peered at the now distant black lake through the trunks of the forest. He didn't have the courage to meet your gaze.

“That I love you, my dear. Or rather, I told you that time as a joke, at the camp. Those words that I said to all the victims before taking them to Cazador." His gaze finally found its way to yours, glossy for the tears you were trying to hold back. Your heart, slow at first, began to thunder in your skull like a hammer, your breath became shorter and you tried to move away from him.

It wasn’t possible. It couldn't be. Was he taking advantage of that situation? Was he joking? Was it a demon, perhaps Raphael, ready to extort some contract from you?

"I do not believe you". Your voice trembled with fear and weakness, but even if you wanted to, you couldn't escape. You couldn't feel your legs anymore and the breath burned in your lungs. Even if you wanted to scream no one would have heard you.

Your panic didn't come from the fear of being eaten, but from the fact that Astarion had been the last bastion of salvation for you before you thought about harming yourself. You had feelings for him for a long time now, and your eyes often drifted over his slender frame as you tried to fall asleep in your bedroll as he drifted further into the darkness. When you allowed him to drink your blood, his bites and lips continued to torment you in the night, but far from unpleasant reasons. However, convinced that you were not reciprocated and considering his ambition for power and the constant flirting during missions even with bears, those words looked fake to you. You bit your lip, curling up as much as you could.

“No, no, don't be like that... look at me,” he said while lifting your chin with one hand. You didn't want to, you didn't want to accept the reality and feel terribly stupid for almost throwing your life away when the one you loved maybe actually reciprocated your feelings. When your eyes finally met, you saw him for what he truly was.

A fragile creature. His look was desperate, the mouth curved in an expression of infinite sadness. His other hand caressed your hair... a pleasant contact, which made you relax a little. "Listen to me. I know I don't have the easiest of temperament” he confessed, a bitter laugh, with his typical accent, changed his expression for a moment. “And I want you to know that everything you see of me is not… true. It's that bastard Cazador who turned me into a monster. But you made me feel something that in two hundred years, under his control, I had never felt.”

You rested your face in his hand, now cupping your cheek. You decided to trust. If it was a dream or a near-death hallucination, you wanted to live every minute of it.

"What?"

"Free. I feel free” he murmured, and his lips rested on yours in a sweet, delicate kiss. They were surprisingly soft and tasted vaguely of iron and mulberry, but that contact was enough to feel a new, powerful rush of adrenaline bringing you back to the present.

It was really happening. You were in his arms and he had saved you from certain death. And now he was kissing you in the sweetest way possible, both of his hands cupping your face as if you were in danger of breaking at any moment.

It seemed like an eternal, perfect kiss that you wanted to leave suspended in time. When you opened your eyes again, you found his. So vulnerable, so desperate. He ran a finger over your lip, before being grabbed and hugged like his life depended on it.

"Stay with me. Forever."

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #baldur's gate iii #baldur's gate 3 oc #astarion x tav #astarion x reader #astarion x you

[bonefall]

Favorite rewritten scene from TPB? Any scenes you think would fuck if they were animated? Dont worry why im asking its not important <3

Hmmmm....

Well, BB!TPB is probably the least changed arc to begin with! Better Bones is a project that is basically trying to deliver on the themes I liked in the first 5 books; a flawed society is on the verge of birthing a great monster, a reckoning generations in the making, which can only be saved by the very outcasts their culture seeks to destroy.

So I'm not adding too much to it which isn't just building up the culture some more, adding personality to some background characters (especially mollies), or shoring up cats in ShadowClan.

I've got an old post floating around somewhere about my goals and a basic summary for each book, but here's a MASSIVE ramble about things I plan to add

The three MAJOR cool scenes in here though?

Rusty's Collar

Deerfoot's Sabotauge

Scourge's Collar

Into the Wild: Opening stuff, ThunderClan expansions, Rusty's Collar

For one, DAPPLETAIL has a much bigger role as Firepaw's first teacher. Rusty speaks Townmew; he needs to learn Clanmew.

So I might make the meeting with Graypaw earlier, or just have a bit more of a transitional period where he's "living with a paw in both worlds" before he gets named Firepaw

He also is able to see and take part in some of the Expanded Roles, while still learning Clanmew.

Frostfur is Head of Kitchen Patrol, pregnant, and overworked. Rusty likes her though, he can't always tell what she's saying but he learns she calls him the "Intense Gingerthing (affectionate)" and she's got cool scars

Tigerclaw might be Head of Hunting, or his cousin Willowpelt. Undecided yet; Willowpelt will be taking over after he becomes deputy though.

I forgor who is Construction Head at the moment, probably Mousefur. In any case it's a molly, One-eye has been retired for a long while.

Dappletail is the Educator, naturally, and she hangs out with Ravenpaw and her son Graypaw. Ravenpaw has a habit of telling tall tales.

The adult he's closest to though? Spottedleaf, the Cleric, like a big sister.

IMPORTANT: Rusty's time as a not-apprentice comes to a hard end with his battle against Longtail. Probably because he now understands enough Clanmew to know he's talking shit.

This time though, we're setting up some foreshadowing lads

Unlike other depictions of the collar removal where it's framed like the triumphant moment he enters the Clans, with a beam of sunlight revealing to Bluestar that he is the cat of great prophecy, his collar being snapped off comes with trembling fury and anxiety

He was terrified and angry in that moment! He's been bullied by Longtail, it just came to physical blows, and he was being choked by his collar digging into his throat so he couldn't breathe. When it suddenly SNAPS, he's hacking and coughing, but the whole Clan is cheering at the spectacle, it's like...

He's being told he's just proved himself. The joy of finally getting what he's really wanted, of landing a mark on his bully and being CELEBRATED for it, it starts to wash away the fear and fury.

It's sudden, like whiplash. He's trembling, he's growling, he's smiling. His stomach is rolling and he doesn't know which emotion is turning it.

Then, his collar is buried. He only sees it out of the corner of his eye, Dappletail (someone he likes) digging a little hole and dropping it in. Like getting rid of something dirty. He can't identify the emotion that prickles his heart in that moment, and to his dying day he never learns the word for it.

But it's going to be the same thing he feels, much much later, after the roar of the BloodClan battle has gone quiet and he's staring at the collar he ripped off Scourge. He spared the leader's life and caused the group to retreat... but, looking at that collar, so lovingly studded with trophies not unlike the ivory Clan cats take from boar hunts...

He realizes that it's meaningful. To Scourge. He can't go far enough to admit that his own collar meant something to him... but...

it would be wrong to just discard this. This emotion drives him to eventually approach Scourge and BloodClan again, in the Epilogue, returning the collar as a gift of goodwill and re-opening discussion about Tigerstar's Impossible Deal. These talks open up a new era of peace and trading between Chelford and the White Hart, until TNP brings it to a tragic end.

But anyway!

Ally Expansions + Deerfoot's Sabotage

In an effort to establish that the Clans have unique subcultures, and that the cats within them are unique individuals, BB!TPB needs more positive supporting cast in more than just WindClan.

GATHERINGS NOW HAVE AFTERGATHERINGS. This is like a discreet afterparty, which adult warriors can choose to attend by simply staying behind when their leadership returns home.

Fireheart regularly attends them until the moment he becomes leader.

A few of his friends in other Clans are Aftergathering regulars. Onewhisker, Mosspelt, Wetfoot.

Some others are just occasional visitors. Mistyfoot is brought along by her sis-in-law, Mosspelt, once or twice. Morningflower comes to do some trades.

(at his FIRST aftergathering he gets to meet Carpwhisker and Cinderfur. These two are noted to stop coming when the political tides harden.)

Because this is the Thistle Era, the Aftergathering is much smaller than it will be in a few generations.

They're also still careful to not leak too much information outside of their own Clans, and the ShadowClan cats are even particularly excited at Fireheart's first Aftergathering because it was difficult to regularly attend these while Brokenstar was leader.

DEERFOOT is a MUCH expanded character. Son of Lizardstripe, brother of Runningnose and Tangleburr, Deerfoot is involved in opposing both Brokenstar, and later NIGHTSTAR when he feels he's going against what Deerfoot fought so hard for.

And, most famously and most fatally, he's the head of the TigerClan Rebels.

Much as I like Ravenpaw... he's not getting his cameo at Stonefur's execution. No, I'm not going to be having the HalfClan cats rescued by Graystripe's bad feeling and also Ravenpaw is there. Freeing the prisoners was an action that came from WITHIN TigerClan.

Deerfoot is going to be beseeching Firestar for it. I haven't figured out EXACTLY how yet, but I'm thinking that it's after Darkstripe was exiled (suddenly, Tigerstar no longer has a mole in ThunderClan) and he's able to ask for Firestar's help openly and honestly, and tell him how many cats will need refuge if the plan is successful.

Being leader now, and not JUST a deputy, Firestar has to consider the way it might drag his Clan into conflict with a huge opponent... which Deerfoot assures won't happen, because his forces have a process. Using ochre and onion, they obscure themselves completely. Not a single one's been caught-- besides the ones who were picked up for the "crime" of being HalfClan.

Deerfoot is going to be killed for what he does here, saving so many lives. So he won't pay for the little trick he's going to pull.

While applying Firestar's ochre and onion, just before entering the camp to rescue the HalfClan cats (and finding they've started an execution early-- with Stonefur), Deerfoot draws back to look at his handiwork. Not a single fleck of his bright, unmistakable orange fur is peaking through his disguise.

So he clicks his tongue, "I've missed a spot." With a rub of his paw, the ochre around the ThunderClan leader's eyes is smudged. Just enough that anyone locking with those green eyes would see the fire poking out from beneath.

Later, when Firestar learns of this after Deerfoot's death... he chuckles with equal parts bitterness and admiration. Most of Deerfoot's Rebels had to go right back to living in TigerClan, and knowing Firestar was leading the battle patrol would take suspicion off them... but, knowing his old, lost ally... a bigger part of it was that Deerfoot was hoping that information would reach Tigerstar and BURN into him.

Compassionate and spiteful to the last, that Deerfoot.

Darkest Hour: BloodClan and Scourge's Collar

I think if I was going to rename the individual books, I'd call the last book of BB!TPB "The Moment of Truth."

BloodClan is keeping the way that it's not important until the last book. Aside from an offhanded mention here and there and a run-in with some peons that replace the rats that attack Bluestar, they're not relevant until the moment they're introduced.

I do want to keep how SURPRISING it was to see them suddenly roll up, keep that feeling that they're brutal, unsettling, foreign. When Tigerstar loses his shit on Scourge for not following his order and attempts to kill him, I want to keep how cold, sudden, and BRUTAL that ending was.

But... when Scourge FIRST appears on screen, he looks much different from the Iceheart he will eventually become. He begins to look less "monstrous" and more like a PERSON as Firestar realizes that they're not so different.

Scourge has no pupils at first. His eyes are solid, icy blue.

He also has no mouth when he isn't about to bite, no lip synch when he talks. Like he's just existing ominously onscreen, wind ruffling his spiky, ungroomed fur.

Before the killing of Tigerstar, it's noted that Scourge's speech is odd, and hard to understand. But, you can sort of make out his intent if you listen carefully.

Firestar recognizes that he is speaking Townmew, his own first language.

Tigerstar doesn't really respect him enough to listen, until he barks an order and Scourge tells him, "...My cats move when I command them, and not before."

Like canon, Firestar steps forward to speak with Scourge. Unlike canon, he very intentionally begins speaking Townmew.

ALSO like canon, when Firestar explains Tigerstar's crimes, that he will never honor any bargains he has made, and thus that they can't be trusted, he rolls that Nat20 and Scourge tells him that there will be no battle today as he thinks about this new information.

And, of course, Tigerstar lost his marbles about this. And also his organs

And Scourge is SEETHING. That's his LAST straw. He made a deal and he is NOT being given what he is owed, he tried to gracefully walk away only for Tigerstar to disrespect him for the last time, and he's SICK. AND. TIRED. Of backstabbing, DISHONORABLE CLAN CATS.

And YET. He remains cool. And he tells Firestar directly, "In light of this, I have changed my mind. We will be taking what we are owed. You have three days to leave, or it will come to combat."

Another big change from canon is that no Clan needs to be convinced to fight. It's a battle culture. They were ALWAYS going to win, or die in glorious combat. Running away is not an option in this era-- they believe their eternal reward is up in StarClan.

But Firestar CAN unite them, bring them together to discuss battle plans. And in this first day...

TigerClan is dismantled. Though Leopardstar tries to cling to her newfound leadership of TigerClan; both Shadow and River are clearly tense and demoralized. Anxious and snappish warriors are mulling about the camp.

and STILL, Firestar is dealing with a bunch of cats who are openly disrespecting him.

Even when he reminds them, "YOU brought him to the Forest! Tigerstar's deal was HALF our land and I could pull LionClan out at any time! I'm trying to HELP YOU"

Darkstripe in particular is still here with his little xenophobic jabs. And he is Xenophobic Jabbering.

In spite of the guilt Leopardstar feels, and the resentment that Blackfoot is starting to feel for Tigerstar and the position he's being thrust into, they're still DIFFICULT, not giving Firestar clear answers about if they're going to come talk battle strategies or not.

Firestar can't believe this.

They're really gonna do this. Say that TigerClan can take care of its own problems.

They're just gonna try and hold onto their scraps of pride and charge into battle, NO plan, because they think they're above him.

After ALL OF THIS, EVERYTHING thats happened, the times they've fought and he's won, becoming deputy, even earning the authority of a leader...

They're STILL not taking him seriously.

This prompts Firestar to end up losing it, the "I saw what you did to Stonefur" speech to Blackstar is moved here, addressed to BOTH of them.

But this time, there's even MORE victims. He lists ALL of them, plus the refugees still in his camp.

And they're gonna kill even MORE cats? What? To be the smuggest corpses in the GROUND?

OR MAYBE THE HAPPIEST LITTLE SKULLS ON THEIR STUPID HILL.

It SHUTS them up.

Leopardstar, in particular, clearly haunted by this... her own father, Mudfur, is one of those refugees. And she is staring intently at some of the bones on the hill.

Unfortunately, her remorse will not stick. Distance will make Blackstar more ashamed, but Leopardstar begins to look back with nostalgia.

But FOR NOW? It MATTERS.

Darkstripe comes in with another little comment, and she snaps at him.

Then she turns back on the Bonehill, and says the, "This belongs to a darker time" line.

Firestar also ends up visiting with Barley Sr, Jr, and Ravenpaw. Chatting about reasons why Ravenpaw still doesn't want to come back, even though Tigerstar is gone.

And about BloodClan, as Barley Senior comes from there. Bone is his mother (though due to some timeline things I'm considering her being his sister; and then Hoot and Jumper are littermates OR cousins of Junior.)

Ends up explaining a bit about the history, how it was formed because of Oakstar, the context of the descendant of Oakstar turning on Scourge like that

Plus why Barley Sr left. His time as a solver, the death of Violet Sr, the way BloodClan demands tribute to keep its cats fed.

And while BloodClan has issues... Firestar is realizing... so do the Clans.

Violence, blood feuds, war... xenophobia. He's still seething over that exchange from earlier.

Firestar's anxious over the big fight, and the people he knows he will lose. GOOD people. The battle won't discern the crackerjacks from the jackasses; people he loves will die. He HAS to win. And yet, his feelings towards Scourge feel frustratingly conflicted.

On the second day...

Finally he's getting somewhere with the other four Clans. Everyone's preparing properly, learning how to fight TOGETHER and not just as four separate entities.

But in ShadowClan, he catches POISONS. Runningnose and Blackfoot are planning to go into battle using the same tactics they used against WindClan-- things that won't kill right away, but will cause inevitable infection and kill slowly, and painfully.

And they're showing OTHERS about it, too.

And this UPSETS Firestar

But, AGAIN, he's able to talk to them. They have a point-- if BloodClan is going to use those claw-weapons, they ALSO have an unfair advantage.

Firestar, about to invent Rules of Engagement: "If they weren't going to use them though?"

That's how Firestar ended up in a british back alley. Meeting with BloodClan.

Scourge is cold and polite, as always, makes a comment about him being early.

Firestar tells him about the poisons, how he's seen them be used before, and how they will kill slowly,

Scourge is torn... at first, thinking it might be a lie, but then the shock of what might happen sets in. He asks, "and why would you warn us about this?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. We're fighting for our home and you're fighting for your promise; It should be a fair fight."

"which means you're reigning them in, then?"

Nods, "If you use the claw extenders, they're going to use an unfair advantage of their own"

As they dig deeper into the conversation, Scourge loses his patience.

"Enough. I've heard enough lies from Clan cats, forest fool. You untrustworthy lot NEVER uphold your end of the bargain, you come here to weaken us but we will not be tricked by a dishonorable foe ever again."

It's starting to hit Firestar now. Scourge... is kinda right.

He's RIGHT to be so distrustful of Clan cats. To think they're dishonorable. He's seen them all himself; liars, hypocrites, cowards, all of them allowing EVIL things to be done to innocent cats.

The pause seems to last days, but it's clear to Scourge he's thinking deeply about what he said.

When Firestar looks up he tells him, "I understand. But I am honorable."

Scourge laughs at that. The whole alley does.

But he stands firm. He will uphold HIS end. "And when you come tomorrow, you will see that I've held my people to it."

"Then you're a greater fool than I thought, weakening yourself."

"Tigerstar believed that honor made us weak," he says with defiance, "and you killed him. I buried him. Now he is dead; don't choose to keep his memory alive."

AND ON THE THIRD AND LAST DAY

When they all come to face off at Fourtrees, it is seen, most of BloodClan is not wearing their extenders.

And most of the Clan cats do not have deathberry-red claws.

There are just some. On both sides.

Scourge is not one of them. His claws are his own

Fire and Scourge step foward in the center, their armies behind them.

Scourge quietly points out the irony in a hushed tone, for what he is about to say could have offended either army;

"Two fools, alike in their dignity. Perhaps in another time we would have been Brothers-in-Honor, you and I."

Brother-in-Honor = Townmew term for someone who unites you through a shared, noble cause.

But Firestar is done. He had to say goodbye to many of his cats this morning, he doesn't know who will live and who will die. The Warriors stand behind him, proud and noble, but terrified to their core. He knows this.

This is their HOME. And he is the holy leader of ThunderClan, bearing the fragment of a star within him.

He's lost his patience, and his sympathy. When he responds, it's loud enough for both armies to hear. (Note: Ever so slightly performative)

"Last chance, Scourge! One step further, and you'll meet the full might of the Warrior Clans."

"Two fools," the little cat laments, "One far more foolish than the other!"

He screeches for BloodClan to attack, and like canon, Firestar loses track of Scourge in the torrent of angry cats

Battle otherwise goes very similar to canon. Out of left field, Darkstripe turns on Firestar with deathberry-red claws, furious and embarassed that he took Tigerstar away and prevented them all from fighting with "every advantage"

Graystripe. One-Man Firestar Defense Squad, body checks him and kills him, trembling in disbelief and immediate regret over his brother's body

Whitestorm loses his fight with Bone and falls, bleeding, to the ground

As he dies, he tells Firestar to let go of his grudges. He was wronged, he was hurt, but please don't let that stop him from making the right choice. Longtail should be deputy.

Firestar announces Longtail is his deputy right there.

The apprentices dogpile Bone in revenge, though I also wouldn't mind changing it. In any case, Bone's dead before Willowpelt can even realize her mate is gone

When he finally sees Scourge again, they grapple ferociously until the little cat breaks loose

Trying to avoid the grallocking move that ended Tigerstar in a blow and not knowing Scourge can't do that without his claw extenders, he pulls back and leaves himself wide open for a vicious transverse slash

He's split open from neck to arm, he can feel himself bleeding out

Scourge looks at him with pity but says nothing, flicking his claws like he's wicking the blood from a sword.

Game_Over.png

Firestar's vision fades into flashing stars and bursts into the silver-and-blue lights of StarClan

He sees the faces of everyone who he's lost, everyone he couldn't save. Spottedleaf who died in a raid. Stonefur whose execution came too soon. Pikepaw who refused to take refuge with his mother. That old bastard Deerfoot. Whitestorm whose blood is replaced with fresh stars.

Yellowfang comes forward, threading constellations like stitches through his gash, snipping at him to stop wriggling like a worm. Spottedleaf is also helping in a way he doesn't understand, licking his fur the wrong way and returning his lost blood like a Mi returns warmth to a cold kitten.

He smiles, filled with the wonderful sensation of a Sharing of Stars, until it hits him again that he needs to go back

Hmm.. maybe ill have it so Whitestorm had no last words and he gives them here. "Don't let the grudges of the past ruin the future. Make the choices you know are right."

Bring the theme together; he was talking about Longtail, but Firestar interprets it differently.

And when he wakes up in his body, gash aching but skillfully closed by the best healers he ever knew, he feels like they filled his veins with a lion's blood.

He grins, a mixture of humor and righteous fury. He didn't know Scourge's tricks, but he doesn't know HIS either.

Scourge has his back turned, focused on Onewhisker who's cowering in front of him. Firestar bowls into him, catching him off guard

"You! You died! I killed you!"

"I played dead."

With a second bolt of strength, Scourge tries to turn it around and they tumble, hissing and spitting, but the little cat doesn't get a second chance

He's pinned like prey, one paw holding his head and the other pulling down his shoulder, growling like an animal with its neck exposed for a brutal killing bite

Firestar lunges down and Scourge screeches, a horrible crack of teeth on bone quiets the battlefield

And then a SNAP

The sun glimmers on the bloodstained collar's fangs, one of the teeth cracked by Firestar's jaws, as he throws it behind him

Scourge's face is truly apparent to Firestar for the first time, his icy eyes wide with astonishment

Firestar recites the beautiful words that had once been made hollow by hypocrisy, "A true warrior does NOT need kill to win their battles," but he presses his paw into Scourge's pulse as a warning, "DO they?!"

He lifts his paw, and Scourge calls for BloodClan to retreat

Though the warriors are shocked at first, they saw his collar ripped off and his black fur soaked in his own blood, and understood they were losing

Just as united as any Forest Four following the command of a leader, each warrior disentangled as quickly as possible and streamed out behind their bolting leader

Some warriors ran after them to chase them out, and came back a few minutes later

And just like that, it was over. They were gone.

But, that collar is laying there, in the light of the setting sun. The inner fabric is purple, covered in a layer of red and brown from a mix of fresh and dry blood. Various teeth poke through, which he now realizes are from various predators.

Firestar gazes at it and feels Rusty's heart beating. He has that strange, indescribable feeling again.

It's... just like Clan cat hunting trophies, yes. It's a valuable, meaningful object to Scourge. It's a spoil of war made of spoils of war. That's why it's stirring his chest, surely. There's something... deeper to this item. It shouldn't be discarded; this item needs to be kept safe.

Or, perhaps, returned.

From there, the epilogue is gravy. When Firestar arrives in the alley again, this time flanked by several cats, Scourge is still recovering from his many injuries. He feels like he's been seeing Firestar's face too often-- and then the collar is gently placed on the ground.

Just like Firestar expected, there's an energy that washes over the gathered cats, and even the unreadable Scourge now seems awestruck by the gesture. The collar was something greater than just a collar; though Firestar couldn't remember if he had ever been told what a BloodClan collar represented.

Speaking, again, in Townmew, he explains that Tigerstar made Scourge an Impossible Deal, which the treacherous tyrant never meant to honor in the first place. But he is dead. BloodClan cannot have the territory and the Clan cats have won it fairly-- but what CAN we do for you? What were you seeking?

The answer was so simple that it was almost sickening. That they'd come to blows, and cats had died, over something that could have been worked out so easily. BloodClan had plenty of food from the humans' excess and hunting in the wilderness was not a skill they ever had anyway. What they wanted was materials.

Wood. Flowers and herbs. A chance to walk along the hiking trail and see the giant trees. Maybe the occasional piece of prey they didn't have access to in the town, like squirrels and frogs.

So, for a while. There was peace in the Forest, bringing the Tiger Era to a definitive close and beginning the fruitful, but short-lived Fire Era.

So! Them's the major changes. Take your pick of the scene you think is coolest, personally I've got a thing for Firestar ripping off Scourge's collar.

#BB!TPB #Better Bones AU #BB!Firestar #BB!Iceheart #BB!Scourge #Minor edit: Got possessed with more dialogue for the scourge confrontation scene