#this was one of those I simply didn’t know how to crop

[ningvory]

♡ payback ┊ yu jimin & uchinaga aeri

parings — meangirls!kariselle x loser!femreader

synopsis — after telling them to shut up, you quickly became their next target on their list. except you don't back down to them and actually fight back. so what better option do they have besides making you their pretty fuck doll? they like to call this payback.

warnings — college au, dubcon, aphrodisiac, pussy eating, degrading, fingering, facesitting, tribbing, bullying..duh, blackmail, they’re lowk pervs, pet names like pretty girl, baby, kinda proofread i was dosing off😭

w/c — 1.8k (1,865)

yu jimin and uchinaga aeri, known as karina and giselle to those who aren’t close to them, are the campus’s mean girls. well known for their beauty and of course, for bullying anyone who even dares to look at them in a way they dislike, you didn’t know much about them and you honestly didn’t card. the staff didn’t give a shit, they knew that if they even bothered to try and stop the bullying they could easily buy their way out of trouble.

unfortunately you happen to be the next target on their list. when you told them to simply, “shut the fuck up.” when you all were taking a quiz. from that day forward, they were never gonna let forget who they were. they consider it karma.

they started to poke fun at you, doing what they always do to their targets. pushing you into lockers, holding your books in the air knowing that you can’t reach them, calling you names, taking embarrassing photos of you and threatening that they would post it everywhere but they don’t mean it really, they let you slide because they think you’re cute.

you never really let them bully you that easily either, always fighting back when they would tournament you. they began getting frustrated because everything they did, you would always fight back. so what option do they have besides to fuck you dumb and make you a pretty fuck doll?

they wanted to fuck that attitude outta you, make you their personal cum dump and they always mean what they say.

you were walking outta your last class of the day, mentally exhausted and really just wanting to crash out on your bed. not expecting to be pinned to a locker in the empty hallways of the campus, letting out a small yelp when your back came in contact with the hard surface of the lockers behind you.

“hey y/nnie~ we really need help with our work. come over to our dorm room, i’ll text you what time to come!” karina said, her signature smile plastered on her face. the same one that can get her anything she wanted. she had you pinned to the wall with a soft grip until she pulled you closer to her, tightening her grip on your shoulders.

“you better be there. i think you know the consequences of disobeying us.” her voice was low and right by your ear causing you to shiver before she pulled you back to get a look at your face.

“see you later y/n!” karina said with her smile. a complete 180 of how she was before, acting as if she didn’t just force you to go to their dorm room.

—

you had to run some errands and you finally made it back to you dorm, putting your bag down and just laying on your bed. until you heard a ding! and a vibration from your phone, making you groan and roll over, knowing exactly who was texting you.

‘hey pretty girl, it’s giselle texting from rina’s phone :] it’s already 6 so come to our dorm at 8, dorm room is 1576 and make yourself look a little presentable.’

you sighed, closing your eyes really wanting to just stay in bed and chill. but you really didn’t want any more trouble from them, so you rolled out of bed with a sigh. walking over to your closet to pick something out.

after about 15 minutes you finally got your outfit together, wearing a black crop top and a simple miniskirt with your panda dunks. it was 7:54 so you had enough time to eat a snack before you walked out the door.

—

you started your mini journey to their door, it wasn’t exactly far but not close to yours either which you were honestly happy with. you were glad that your airpods were in your purse because you did not want to walk all the way back to your dorm to get them, you really couldn’t survive a day without music.

you arrived at their door it was right at 8:30. you double checked and made sure that this was the right dorm before knocking.

you went on your phone again until the door suddenly flung open and your hand being yanked inside.

“ah! y/n~ nice you came, didn’t know if you were coming.” karina spoke, bringing you into her embrace, it almost felt like she was intentionally pushing her tits into your face. you gave her a semi hug, patting her back with an awkward smile until she finally let go.

karina walked you over to their black couch, telling you to sit down while giselle gets you a drink. telling you that ‘we always give our guess a drink! don’t mention it.’ you were still as a statue, awkwardly looking around trying to figure out what exactly they brought you over for, it was obvious that they didn’t bring you over to help them with an assignment.

“sorry we had to lie, we just wanted to hang out! sure you won’t mind, right?” giselle walked over to you, giving you a glass full of and orange substance.

“y/n, relax! you’re so tense we’re not gonna bite you or something.” karina spoke, sitting down next to you while giselle turned the tv on and sat on the other side of you.

you just nodded before going to take a sip of your drink. you let out a hum, it actually tasted good. the mixture of the different fruits tasted nice, you took a bigger gulp, going to ask them where’d they get it from until you felt a hot sensation all over your body.

the two looked over at you, not expecting the aphrodisiacs to take over your body so quickly. but at least they knew it worked, and they weren’t complaining. they enjoyed your expression change, watching how you fidgeted uncontrollably and rubbed your warm thighs together, desperately trying to relieve the neediness that you suddenly felt.

you were sat there for a minute, praying that whatever you were feeling would go away. you started to watch the movie on their widescreen TV, trying to ignore the hot feeling all over.

the two smirked at each other before karina spoke out, “something wrong, baby?” her voice was low and sultry, forcing to lay down on the couch.

you started at her with a face that was just so cute to her, doe eyes looking up at her with your eyebrows knitted and a pout resting on your face. you swallowed, not knowing what to do until you felt a pair of hands spread your legs open and flick your skirt up. making you yelp at the coldness of the room, looking down to see giselle smirking back up at you.

“aw~ you’re soaked pretty girl, you’re so nasty!” giselle teased before rubbing your clothed clit. she had to hold your legs in place because you were just so jittery!

you weren’t a virgin but you weren’t someone who fucks or pleasures yourself often, but you’ve never been so desperate to cum. it’s so embarrassing you just wanted to go home and do it yourself.

giselle slides your panties off, looking in awe at the way your juices created a thick string that connected your cunt to your panties.

she raises your legs up and didn’t waste a moment, sucking on your sensitive clit and fingering your cunt. you desperately push her head away from you, it was so wrong for your bully to be going down in you! high pitched moans and whines of ‘this is wrong! s-stop!’ fell outta your mouth but the aphrodisiac had your body reacting in the opposite of your words. cunt spilling with your juices and desperately grinding your cunt on her face.

“you keep telling me to stop but your body seems to want this, pretty girl.” giselle said, pulling her face away from your cunt to undress herself.

“such a dumb girl, look at the camera.” karina giggled before grabbing your chin forcing your dazed eyes to look at the camera.

“wonder what your friends would think if they found out their friend was getting fucked stupid by her bullies..you know, you’re actually lucky you get to see us nude. people would die to be in the position.” karina added on, panning the camera down to your fat cunt before she stopped recording, undressing herself too.

karina shuffled to where she was hovering over your face, cunt on display for you to see. “your moans are so cute but so loud! i don’t wanna to get a noise complaint again so put that mouth to use, yeah?” she couldn’t even care to wait for your answer because next thing you know she’s putting all her weight on your face, her milky thighs crushing your head had you moaning and arching into your back.

“already so obedient f’me, you pain slut.” karina mustered out, barely able to speak because you’re going ham on her cunt.

this was probaly the best head she’s received because she was riding your face desperately, not even caring that she was full on suffocating you, her clit continuously bumped into your nose. you heard shuffling below you but you didn’t know what was going on until you felt your cunt being rubbed onto giselle’s fat cunny. she was grinding onto your cunt like her life depended on it and it had you moaning into karina’s cunt, making her let out surprised moans before she cummed all on your face and in your mouth.

she got off your face and coo’d, she couldn’t help but take a picture of your fucked out tear-stained face covered in her cum. you were far gone by now, back arched and eyes so far back, hands trying to grind yourself into her cunt because the pleasure felt so good! your moans mixed in with giselle’s lower moans until you let out a long high pitched whine, squirting everywhere, all over yours and her thighs.

you were crying and whining because it was starting to become too much for you, trying to push giselle off your cunt. you were so brain dead you were mumbling incoherent things, only words sounding coherent were ‘it’s too much’ but you were silenced quickly by karina’s tits being pushed in your face.

“you can take it. take what i give you until i cum, whore.” giselle grunted.

she began rubbing your clit, trying to make you squirt again and overstimulate you until you squirted again with a muffled moan. giselle finally came, cumming all over your cunt before smearing it all over your cunt and inside your hole. karina got off of you, taking in how fucked out you were before telling giselle to take pic.

“such a pretty cum dump,bet you liked every last bit of it you slut.” giselle taunted, spreading your legs wide open to take a picture of your cum covered cunt.

“the fun has just got started baby, let’s see how well you take being stuffed full of our dicks.” karina smiled at the look of horror on your face. you were in for a long night.

#ningvory #♡.nabi’s asks #kpop smut #wlw smut #aespa smut #aespa x fem reader #karina smut #aespa karina smut #giselle smut #aespa giselle smut #giselle x fem reader #karina x fem reader

[lurkingshan]

Japanese BL Starter Pack

It’s been awhile since I dropped a rec list, so I am here today to share one that is very near and dear to my heart—a Japanese bl primer for those who are new to the jbl game. I created this for @neuroticbookworm to help her on her journey when she decided she wanted to start getting into Japanese works. The fandom (on Tumblr and generally) tends to focus primarily on Thai shows because they are the easiest to access for international fans, since Thailand is working its way toward world domination via ql media and wants us all to be able to watch. But there is a lot of great stuff to watch beyond the easy access Thai channels, and Japan is the country where this genre originated, so its shows are important for anyone who considers themselves a bl fan. Japan doesn’t cater nearly as much to the international audience so tracking down the shows sometimes takes some ingenuity and can-do spirit, but that’s part of the fun!

And so, the list! Bookworm is about halfway through it and having a ball, so I figured it was time to stop hoarding it and share it with anyone else who would like to dip their toes into jbl and isn’t quite sure where to start. A few notes: 

I am not here to teach you about the deep roots of the jbl genre or give you a primer on yaoi manga. I am by no means an expert and there are other places to find that information. Start here with this great post by @nieves-de-sugui and then maybe wander over to @absolutebl to read up more on the evolution of the genre.

This list is by no means an exhaustive accounting of every important Japanese bl ever made; it is simply a nice sampler platter of the cream of the crop among various styles you will find in jbl. Watching through this whole list will not only expose you to some fantastic shows, but also give you a sense of what makes jbl unique and how the country’s style differs from others, and point you toward the types of jbl you’ll like most (they tend to put shows in pretty specific style and tone lanes and once you find the ones you like there are lots more where that came from). 

If you’re coming to this post as a jbl lover and you don’t see your favorite here, I promise it’s not because I don’t love it very much; I simply had to make some choices to get this down to a reasonable shortlist. Feel free to leave extra recs for others to find! 

I’m putting these in a loose suggested watch order that will take you through the various jbl lanes in a kind of popcorn style, because I always think it’s good to change it up so you don’t get too stuck in one mode, and it works its way up to most of the extremely Japanese stuff (you will know what that means by the time you finish). But do what’s in your heart and change up the order if you want, friends, I am not the boss of you! 

Cherry Magic (Crunchyroll or grey)

gif by @liyazaki

I believe everyone on Tumblr is pretty familiar with this one, which is not a coincidence—this is one of the most accessible jbls. Not in terms of actual access to watch it, mind you (we’ve all jumped through shady internet hoops to watch it) but in terms of its content and style. Cherry Magic is a classic workplace romcom with a magical twist, and it is charming af. It’s a great exemplar of Japan’s light and zippy comedy lane for bl—a lane in which, importantly, the romances stay chaste even when the actual plot is about sex, or lack thereof. My friend @waitmyturtles would kill me if I didn’t make sure you know that Cherry Magic also has a lovely follow up film. And bonus: there is now a Thai remake airing so if you watch the original you can get in on the discussion about the different adaptations between countries. This is pretty easy to find these days in all the usual places, but I strongly recommend watching it here.

Old Fashion Cupcake (Viki)

gif by @liyazaki

Moving on to a slightly more mature workplace romcom. Old Fashion Cupcake, another Tumblr favorite, is an age gap boss-subordinate romance, and it’s both very adult and somehow wholesome af at the same time. Sure, there is a lot of carnal desire going on here, but there is also a lot of wooing via fluffy pancakes. It’s a tight five episodes and a fantastic example of what Japan, with its extreme technical precision in writing, directing, editing, pacing, and acting firing on all cylinders, can do in two hours. There’s not an ounce of flab on this thing and you’ll want to watch it over and over again.

Utsukushii Kare (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Time to get a little weird! Weird is a key feature of Japanese media, and lots of jbls explore unusual relationship dynamics rooted in complex psychology. This is the first show on the list that will likely feel very Japanese if you’re new around here—my advice is to lean into it and finish the show, even if you get uncomfortable along the way. In Japanese media, discomfort always serves a purpose. This is a high school story with a twisted relationship at its center, and I’m not saying any more than that. Don’t spoil yourself and go watch it! This one also comes with two sequels—one short second season and one movie—that continue from the original story. They are less essential but still excellent.

I Cannot Reach You (Netflix)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Next up, another high school tale, but with a totally different vibe. This show is kind of a revelation in its willingness to tell a story about overwhelming desire—including sexual desire—with young protagonists. It’s rooted in a classic but often misunderstood trope, friends to lovers, and takes the angst of it seriously, giving us a low stakes story that feels extremely high stakes to our leads. It’s also gorgeous and uses a classic Japanese visual style (bokeh) that you’ll be dying to learn more about. 

His (Viki)

gif by @gabrielokun

Time for a break from high school, and we’ll sprinkle in a movie for some added flavor. His is a jbl film featuring a second chance romance between a stoic, introverted man who moves to a remote town to start over, and his ex-boyfriend who follows him there unexpectedly, adorable child in tow. Importantly, this movie does not take place in what we often refer to as the “bl bubble” where homophobia doesn’t exist; the leads’ experiences of being gay men in a homophobic society are hugely important to the plot and themes of the story. It’s a beautiful film and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. @bengiyo would surely also like me to tell you that this film follows a brief prequel show called His: I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love about the characters originally meeting in high school; I do not think it’s really necessary to watch it but completists can start there.

The Pornographer series (Gaga)

By now you should be ready to get into some classic Japanese fucked up psychosexual material, right? Right! The Pornographer series is told in five installments in this order:

The Novelist, a six episode miniseries

Mood Indigo, a six episode prequel series

Spring Life, a 15 minute short

Pornographer: Playback, a two hour film

Spring Life Continued, a 15 minute short

Confused by that distribution model? So say we all; sometimes Japan likes to make us work for it to make sure we really appreciate its many gifts to us. The story across these installments is about a very difficult to love protagonist, what makes him the way he is, and the also-unhinged-but-in-a-different-way man who finally gets through to him. It’s an extremely satisfying love story and one of the best character arcs I have ever seen, full stop. For this one, you’ll want to just pull the word problematic out of your pocket and store it in a drawer; nearly everything that happens in this story is problematic and that’s the point. Lean in! All of these installments except for the film are on Gaga, if you get that far hmu and I will supply you with the final puzzle piece.

Our Dining Table (Gaga)

You could probably use a break after those last two, so it’s time to shift over to a heart-tugging twofer: family trauma mixed with the cutest shit you’ve ever seen. ODT is an example of another classic type of Japanese show: the food drama (you will see the GOAT in this category at the end of this list). In Japanese culture, food is love, and the act of preparing food for your loved ones is a common path to romance. You’ll love this story about an isolated office worker who meets a pair of brothers, learns to cook as a way of connecting with them, and begins to heal from his own trauma as a result. The image above is a scan from the manga, which @troubled-mind curates to make extremely cool comparison sets like this one. Many jbls are faithful adaptations of yaoi manga source material, so it’s good to have a bit of familiarity with them.

Minato’s Laundromat (Gaga)

gif by @liyazaki

Japanese media loves to explore taboo, and often manages to do it in a way that is surprisingly light and chaste. This is an age gap romance between a teenager and his adult neighbor that explores internalized homophobia, emotional repression, and falling in love across seemingly impossible social chasms. It’s also a great example of old school yaoi seme-uke dynamics that still show up across the bl genre. Also, take my advice: end your journey with this one with the first season and just pretend season 2 doesn’t exist.

Eternal Yesterday (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Remember what I said about weird? Time to do that again, but with a heaping dose of grief and pain on top. It’s not a spoiler to tell you this show involves a major character death; a major character death is, in fact, the root of the entire story. This is a magic realist tale of first love turned tragic, and it will hurt and heal you. It is one of my favorite dramas of all time.

Restart After Come Back Home (Gaga)

And now for a break for your poor exhausted brain. This film is basically the jbl version of a Hallmark original movie, about a city boy who goes back home to the country and falls in love with a total sweetheart while working together on a farm. Enjoy it, bestie, you’ve earned it! 

Tokyo in April Is… (Gaga)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

You’ve probably noticed by now that emotional repression and failed communication are big themes in Japanese works. This second chance romance has plenty of both, and it’s a great example of a kind of muted emotional style that Japan does so well, where the surface of the story seems almost placid and calm even as deep emotion roils underneath. This one (and Eternal Yesterday above) are part of a special line up of jbls on Japanese channel MBS called Tonku (Drama) Shower. The shows air one after another in the same time slot on Fridays (in Japan, perhaps Thursdays for you depending on where you live) and you truly never know what you’re gonna get, but they’re all interesting. Warnings on this one for sexual assault and trauma. 

The End of the World With You (Viki)

Time for sexy and weird again, but even more so! This has to be one of the most unique bls ever made; it goes to some truly divine and strange places, and it feels incredibly queer while doing it. Made by the same screenwriter/director of the Pornographer series with a lot of the same sensibilities, but in a more heightened apocalyptic setting. This one has existential angst, a road trip, a redemption tale, and a variety of interesting side characters in the mix.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Gaga)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of the list and your reward is watching one of the best bls of all time, and a perfect slice of life food drama to boot. WDYEY now has two seasons (along with a couple specials and a movie that fall in between) because the universe clearly loves us. You can now get it on Gaga for easy access but I’m partial to the versions over at @kinounaniresource for better subs. Wherever you watch, settle in to get cozy with Shiro and Kenji and make sure to always eat before you hit play.

#shan recommends #cherry magic #old fashion cupcake #utsukushii kare #eternal yesterday #our dining table #minato’s laundromat #what did you eat yesterday? #tokyo in april is... #his the movie #the pornographer #japanese bl #jbl starter pack

[jingsyuans]

hi! i loved your jing yuan post about him helping you out because you noticed someone following you! do you think you could please write a part 2 for it? i came across your blog and just fell super in love with your writing and how you wrote him 😊💜

a/n: ok. I did it. The reason I don’t write two parters is because most often times, people don’t enjoy the second part I’ve cooked up. It’s usually better played off in your imagination, but I’ve gotten enough requests for it, so I’m putting myself out of my comfort zone for y’all lol. I hope it’s worth it.

first part

wordcount: 3.7k

･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*. Jing Yuan ; from one tea lover to another

The tea pours gently without splatter, making something in you thrum happily as you fill the cup.

You’ve been making tea more often than usual ever since you got your new set. If you allow yourself to be honest, the Meissen that the general gifted to you was now one of your prized possessions. Just looking at it makes you feel a little happy- and you didn’t want the gift to go to waste. You’re making sure the pot and cups are well loved with use, always washing the surface of everything carefully once you’re done. A Meissen is simply too well crafted (and expensive) to excuse you merely using it as a showcase item.

It wasn’t as if you’d even be able to showcase it, you never had many visitors at home.

So you make your tea, usually once every morning before you set off for work and then another pot once you’re home to relax. You won’t lie to yourself- whenever you use the set, you think of Jing Yuan and what he did for you that day. The way he looked at you, the way his hand felt in yours.

Of course, the details like the weight and warmth of his hand have long been forgotten, it was impossible to really remember those kinds of things. But his eyes… yes, you remembered his eyes. His smile.

It’s been a month since then, time flowing smoothly on the Luofu as always and little events such as yours are simply eaten up in the grand scheme of things. You doubt the general thinks about it like you do- he’s a busy man, after all. But that’s okay.

When all is said and done, you’re glad that he gave you a good memory instead of a negative one, just as he planned.

So your life continues as normal, besides the addition of indulging in your tea hobby a bit more than you used to. The only reason you know about different unique sets and you’re able to discern them by eye is the fact you come from a family of tea-makers. No, your family didn’t make the sets- rather you grew the herbs and harvested them, making them into fine grade tea to sell to the markets. You grew up getting your hands dirty as you helped plant seeds and nurtured the crops. But you longed for a broader horizon, which landed you here on the Luofu, universes away from where your family continued their work without you.

It’s a little lonely. You think about them constantly, and as a meager way to try and support them when you left them behind, you always buy your family’s brand of tea. It’s expensive- your family wasn’t humble by any means, and through hard work, the family name had become one of the more royal brands that elites would seek out for personal use. But even if it’s expensive, it’s just not the same if you were to try and drink anything else.

That’s where your problem arises today. The store where you usually buy your family brand was simply… all sold out.

“But how is that possible?” You ask the merchant behind the counter, eyebrows furrowed. Your tone isn’t unkind, simply confused. “That’s never happened before. Did someone come in and buy it all?”

The merchant, who you were familiar with at this point from your frequent visits, looked at you with a guilty look in his eye. Which wasn’t necessary, it wasn’t his fault. “That’s exactly it,” he told you. “One of those fancy counselors came in and bought out everything we had. She didn’t exactly look happy about it herself, but she had her orders.”

Your confusion only deepens. “If someone wanted to order stock, they’d know to contact the sellers directly, not sell out shops on the Luofu,” you thought aloud. “So whoever bought it is either extremely arrogant or extremely impatient.”

“Well, you know the general. He’s a lazy one, isn’t he?”

“The general?” Your train of thought stops completely, eyes widening as you stare at the merchant. “The general stationed here? Jing Yuan?”

The man scratches the side of his face, looking at you with a lost expression. “Er… yeah, unless they got a new one down here recently. That’s the one.”

Not wanting to trouble the poor man any further, you just shake your head. You’ll think about it later. “I see,” you say. “Alright. Then… when is your next shipment?”

He sighs. That guilty look returns. “Well, see… we just got a new shipment, and he bought out the whole thing. I’m getting in contact with them now, but it’s possible we won’t have any of this brand for at least a month, maybe two.”

Your jaw nearly drops. But you can’t change the facts as they are, so you merely leave the store, befuddled and a little irritated, if you’re honest with yourself.

Jing Yuan is a smart man. What was he really trying to gain by taking all the stock from a poor old merchant? It’s extremely arrogant, and selfish! But those aren’t words you would use to describe the general on a normal day. He must be trying to get someone’s attention. But who on the Luofu would take notice of this specific brand of tea selling out for a little while…?

There’s no way that he’s trying to get your attention. That just doesn’t make any sense.

But you can’t think of anything else that would make more sense than that. Jing Yuan is trying to send you some sort of message, one that you don’t have the mind to decipher at the moment. All you can do is head home for now, empty handed. When you return home, you look in your cupboards for your own stock of tea. The reason you went shopping for some more wasn’t because you’ve run out, but you were going through your own stock quicker than normal now that you own the Meissen. When you look in the jars, there’s just a few servings of each different kind you own left.

So that settles it. Tomorrow, you’ll head to the Exalting Sanctum and see what Jing Yuan could possibly want. And maybe once all is said and done, he’ll give you some of the tea he suddenly decided to hoard for himself.

—

When you set off the next day, you were expecting it to be a little difficult to get to the Seat of Divine Foresight. You were even expecting to be disappointed and turned away, because who are you to request time with the General of the Luofu, the Divine Foresight himself? You're nobody on this ship.

And yet, when you ask the Cloud Knight for permission to head to the Divine Foresight, he asks no questions after you give him your name. You hardly have to wait at all before you’re on the jetty and then in front of the grand doors. When you enter, no one turns their heads to you or questions your presence. They go about work like normal.

You’re exceptionally small in this huge room that’s bristling with importance. With the way your heart is thudding in your chest, you feel like you’ve overestimated yourself and you should head home. But then you remember your nearly-empty jars of tea at home- and while tea isn’t everything to you, the connection you have to it is exceptionally personal. So you brave forward and take a few steps deeper in the large hall.

As quickly as your confidence comes, it wavers. There’s a lion. There’s a lion laying right in the middle of a rather large holographic game set, the animal seemingly waking up from its nap as it stretches its horribly large paws, showing you its sharp claws and dangerous teeth when it yawns. The sound sends subtle waves of terror through your whole body.

Nevermind, you think. You want nothing to do with Jing Yuan or that lion. For all you know, it might think you’re a trespasser or something and tear you to shreds before you can even attempt to explain yourself! You quickly turn on your heel and head back for the doors, skirting by everybody as fast as you can.

You’re too late. By the time you’ve made it to the door, you feel something tug on your bag from behind. When you turn around, the lion is right there, your bag between its teeth.

Oh, no. Oh no. Oh Aeons. No no no.

You manage to hold your scream in, but your whole body feels like it’s been shot as you suddenly lose feeling in your legs. You practically fall against the large door you were trying to exit, using it to keep yourself upright as you shake horribly. Do you look it in the eye? Do you keep your head down? You know nothing about this animal and you don’t know what it would register as a threat or not!!

The large lion stares at you while you practically fall apart into a million pieces in front of it, its eyes a stark blue. It’s actually kind of pretty when you put aside the fact it can split your head in two. Maybe even split you in half with the sheer strength of it.

“H- hey. Hey- help…” you finally muster the courage to use your voice, eyes darting from the lion to the Knights standing nearby and looking unbothered. “H- um…”

The lion drops your bag rather suddenly, making your attention snap right back to it. Then, as if your terror was it’s favorite toy, it opens its large jaw and roars.

This time you cannot hold back your scream. It tears out of you pathetically, a shriek more than anything else. You throw your whole body against the door, realizing that all your strength has disappeared from your terror as you desperately squirm and try to open it to run free. “Oh my Aeons oh my Aeons oh my Aeons-” you feel like crying, not even bothering to register all the people staring at you, “I'm going to die for real it doesn’t matter if I’m immortal if a lion tears me apart, I’ll die for real-”

“Mimi, bad kitty. You know better than to play with people.”

Mimi? Kitty?

You don’t have the courage to look behind you. The lion is still there and you just know that it wants to eat you, and who has the bravery to face that head on? Not you! It’s only when you feel a hand on your shoulder that you stop your scrambling against the door, which was apparently impossible to open, no matter how hard you pushed against it.

“You have to pull on it,” the voice says, filled with a gentle sort of amusement that could only belong to one person. Looking back, you see that of course it’s him. Of course it’s Jing Yuan, smiling at you with a cunning too similar to the lion, as if your terror was his toy, too. “Hello again. I apologize for my cat, I didn’t realize you’d be coming today.”

Like hell he didn’t. Like hell he didn’t. Like hell he didn’t!! His smile says otherwise!

“Lion,” you choke out, looking down at where it sat from behind Jing Yuan, looking rather bored. “Not a cat.”

Jing Yuan just chuckles, his hands moving to your arms to gently coax you away from the door. “You’re right. But you don’t need to worry, she won’t harm you. We’re a bit too bony for her tastes.”

You shoot him a horrified look and Jing Yuan smiles again, looking a little guilty.

“Sorry. What I mean to say is that she’s completely harmless. Will you give me your hand?”

Despite his teasing, Jing Yuan doesn’t force you. He waits patiently with his hand out, his body hovering close to you as if to offer you some sort of protection from the animal. You appreciate it a little. Eyes flickering from his hand and the lion, you visibly hesitate. But you’re here now, and Jing Yuan doesn’t look scared at all. You take his hand.

You’d forgotten how warm it was the last time you were with him. Strong, yet surprisingly uncalloused. He doesn’t battle nearly as much as he used to.

Your thoughts are caught up as Jing Yuan gently leads you forward, guiding your hand down to the lion - Mimi, he had said before. You’re still scared, your whole body growing stiff as Mimi sniffs at your hand. Jing Yuan remains warm and sturdy from behind you, keeping you from pulling away. Only a few seconds tick by before Mimi huffs hot air against your hand, pressing her head forward so your hand makes contact with her muzzle. The touch doesn’t last long before she pulls away, surprising you as her long tongue slobbers across your palm.

“Mimi,” Jing Yuan brings your hand away from her, his voice stern. “Why would you do that?”

The lion makes a certain sound akin to a guffaw before it’s turning away from the both of you, back to the large board set and letting her heavy body fall on the floor, lounging carelessly just like before. When you look up at Jing Yuan, he’s rolling his eyes. “What a sassy animal,” he mutters before he directs his attention to you and your dripping hand. “Let’s go up to my desk. I’ll wipe you off.”

You aren’t given much of a choice, Jing Yuan leading you deeper into the Divine Foresight and across the holographic board. You can tell that people are staring at you, making you nervously stare down at the ground to try and ignore it while you’re led by the arm. The general’s touch is gentle and yet insistent, just as you had remembered it.

He doesn’t make you wait. Once you’re standing by his desk, Jing Yuan gathers a towel that must be here for this exact purpose as he wipes the lion’s sticky saliva off your skin. Thankfully, she wasn’t too slobbery and didn’t get anything on your clothes. “There,” he says, his grip finally leaving your arm. You watch him owlishly as he makes himself comfortable on the grand seat behind his desk, his legs crossing with that familiar smile on his lips. “I really am sorry that she scared you so deeply. If I had known, I would have kept her home today.” His head tilts with a thoughtful look. “Of course, you could have let me know you were planning to come.”

You don’t have the courage to be completely impatient with him, but you dare to sigh. “You say that like I have your contact information and you’re not a renowned general and I’m just a visitor on the Luofu.”

“Just a visitor?” You’ve piqued his interest, Jing Yuan’s eyebrow raising up as he leans back in his seat, hands laced together in his lap. “That’s an interesting thing to call yourself considering how long you’ve been on board and living here. I think you’re more like a resident at this point.”

“And you know how long I’ve lived here?”

“Well, once I realized who you were after our encounter, I may have done some investigating. It’s dreadfully boring here sometimes, so the mind wanders.”

You try to wrap your head around it, as impossible as it sounds. You convinced yourself that Jing Yuan wouldn’t think twice about the day he helped you, but he’s denying that possibility outright. Indirectly telling you that he’s thought of you just as you’ve thought of him as the time has passed.

While it’s a little flattering, it is also undeniably an invasion of privacy, so it’s hard to convince yourself how you should be feeling right now.

“I’m not really anybody, general,” you say after some time spent letting it sink in. Your eyebrows furrow and your lips purse as you look at him. “All that sticks with me is the family name and not much else. So why would you buy out the only tea available on the Luofu that’s owned by my family just to get my attention?”

Jing Yuan hums, long and thoughtful as he leans forward toward his desk, elbow up as he props his chin to rest in his hand. “I wonder…” he says. His eyes boring into you. “Well, like I said, it does get dreadfully boring here sometimes. I worry I’m becoming a boring person myself because of it. Life is mundane when it’s strictly all paperwork and meetings.”

You don’t believe that he did all this just because he was bored. There had to be more to it than that, because there’s a thousand other ways to entertain yourself before coming to this.

“I looked into your history. I suppose we have something in common, so I was intrigued.” His eyes slowly drift away from you with a pondering look before he chuckles. His head turned in the direction of the empty space next to him. “Come here, sit down. There’s plenty of room.”

You give him a strange look, clearly questioning him, and Jing Yuan merely smiles. Waiting patiently. So with not much of a choice or reason not to, you round the desk and delicately sit on the edge of the long seat, trying to put as much space between the two of you as possible. You can hear the laugh that leaves his nose, but he doesn’t say anything to convince you closer before he continues to speak.

“Have you heard the gossip about my past? How my family is originally from the Realm-Keeing division?” He judges by the look on your face that you haven’t. “Well, it’s true. So, how on earth did I become general if that’s where I’m from?” Again, you have no answer. “I did much as you did. I left.”

“You left?” You repeat aimlessly, not realizing how you sink into your seat a little more comfortably. Jing Yuan nods.

“I know I may not look it now, but I was a very ambitious, and frankly, overconfident little thing. I was determined to be part of the Knights. The rest is unimportant.” His head tilts in his hand, eyes closing with his sigh. “I know what it’s like to leave family. To miss family.”

You watch him carefully. He isn’t exactly giving off a somber presence- you have a feeling that any guilt or doubt has rubbed off him a long while ago. His words are surprisingly sincere all the same. “I think we all know what it’s like, general,” you say softly. “A lot of us have been ripped from family due to the war.”

“But not you,” he says, turning his head to look directly at you- that same look from the last time the two of you met that sends a shiver up your spine from the terror and pleasure of his direct attention. “And not I. We both left of our own volition.”

There’s not much you have to say in response to that. He’s said a lot, but he still hasn’t told you why. Hasn’t given you any answers as to his motive.

As if he’s read your mind, Jing Yuan sits upright again and flawlessly changes the subject. “I figured since we have some similarities, maybe we can work together. See, I would like to learn something new, and I think you can help. You owe me a favor, after all.”

You practically choke, balking at him. A favor? Is that how he saw it?

Before your thoughts can spiral any further, Jing Yuan laughs, visibly amused by your reaction. “I’m only joking, of course! You don’t owe me anything. Really, I’m only reaching out for my own agenda, so there’s no need to help me.”

You sigh, realizing that Jing Yuan is practically impossible to pin down. You’d hate him and his smug look if it weren’t for how attractive he looked while he was messing with you, and the flutter in your stomach from the fact he was so comfortable around you. You have no idea why he is, but he is.

“What do you need my help with?”

“So you’re thinking about it?” The general smiles. “Good. What I want from you is… well, to put it simply… tea.”

You can’t help what you say next, despite who he is and the rank he holds as you deadpan.

“You already bought several dozens of it. Why do you need more.”

“I don’t!” He agrees and shakes his head. “And I don’t want to hoard your family's tea, mind you. I’ve tasted it, and the flavour is wonderful. And I’m aware of how your family grows all its own herbs and spices, which is why it’s so unique. So what I’d like from you is… to teach me how.”

Oh. Realization slowly dawns on you as you look at him curiously. “You want me to teach you how to garden? To grow herbs for tea?”

Jing Yuan nods.

“Well… there’s a lot more to it than that. I’d be teaching you a lot. You have to grow them under the right conditions for a better flavor profile, and then there’s the process of rolling the leaves, crushing them, drying them… making sure they get the right amount of oxygen.” These are just some of the steps it takes to make your own brew by hand. “You would want to learn all that?”

The general doesn’t look deterred at all. He’s still smiling at you, his expression relaxing as he stares at you all throughout your clarification. You won’t deny the way it makes your face feel warm, but you're adamant on ignoring it, pretending like it’s not there.

“Will you teach me?” He asks.

You take a breath, realizing something then and there. His question was never really a question at all, not really. How could it be when there was only one answer?

“Of course I will,” you say, watching as his grin grows impossibly wide. “But… are you still going to keep all that tea you bought?”

“Well, I’ll give you whatever you’d like, but I would like to keep the rest. I’ve already distributed it among the commissions and knights to use at work.”

So giving it back was never really in the cards.

#jing yuan #jingyuan #jing yuan x reader #jing yuan reader insert #hsr x reader #hsr reader insert #reader insert #x reader #hsr jing yuan #honkai star rail #honkai x reader

[unreliablesnake]

Ghost saw it all. As he worked on tiring the rookies, they somehow just got more energetic when you entered the gym in those tight yoga pants and the crop top. They suddenly desperately wanted to prove that they were all young, fit, and worthy of your attention. You glanced in their direction every now and then, usually when you were leaning down to stretch your limbs.

But he knew better than to believe you were there to rile them up and give him a headache for having to deal with them. You were there to rile him up.

He could still hear your begging for more; for one more finger inside you, for one more orgasm, for one more night together. It was always the same game of chase for the two of you, but he loved every second of it. Small, almost accidental touches in the hallways, lingering looks during briefings, shamelessly dirty texts when you couldn’t be together… It was heaven for him.

“Having fun over there, sergeant?” he asked, faking disapproval as he walked closer to you. The rookies were doing a few laps around them, he had time to play your little game for a few minutes.

“Just came to work out a little. Didn’t know you would be here. Am I bothering you?” you replied with an innocent smile.

You didn’t know. And you dared to ask if you were bothering them. What a sly little thing you were. With a smile under his mask, he took a short step closer to you. “You know perfectly well you’re bothering. It’s hard to focus when all I want is ripping these tight pants apart so I could bend you over a bench and fuck you senseless,” he informed you in a hushed voice.

Your breath caught in your throat and you gulped upon hearing him. “I’m sorry. I can leave.”

Without waiting for his answer, you turned around and threw your bottle into your small duffel bag. You wanted him to beg you to stay. You wanted to hear him admit that he wanted you there. And he knew you would get what you wanted, no matter how hard he tried to resist. He simply loved having you around a little too much.

“Don’t go,” he said eventually, causing you to turn back with a wicked smile on your lips.

“So you wanna torture these poor rookies while thinking about what you would like to do with me? They might notice you staring at me.” Ghost shrugged. “I’ll just go back to my room. Maybe someone will come around to… What did you say? To fuck me senseless?”

He licked his lip as he watched you. It took every bit of concentration to keep himself together and not do something that would give away you were more than just teammates. “Give me half an hour.”

You nodded, then picked up your bag and left the gym. Ghost heard one of the rookies complain that you left, so he turned to him and said, “I heard that. Because it’s rude to talk about women this way, the whole group will do one hundred push-ups.”

#simon ghost riley #simon riley #ghost #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost x reader #mw2 #modern warfare #call of duty #mw3

[hybbart]

Day 672: After pushing themselves a bit too far, both ranchers get simultaneously hit with a bad day...

Short story below

The ceiling fan spun at a meandering pace above, barely loud enough to hear and barely strong enough for the breeze to reach down. Jimmy watched it dully, the uneven sway of the lamp cord making it hard to focus on the blades’ rhythm. Or maybe it was how deep his breaths had become. He could feel it, how little his gasps pulled in, almost entirely supported by the tube forcefully pumping air through his nose. It felt as though his lungs had forgotten how to breathe despite how hard they tried.

It was a really bad day. They didn’t happen often – Jimmy could hardly remember one that had ever been quite this bad – but they didn’t have to. If he took his tubes out right now he would simply suffocate to death no matter how hard he tried. Part of his mind resigned to it, as if he would wake up every day after this way, completely irreversible. It was more like gas prices, he knew. It would get worse than it had ever been before going back down, but not quite as far down as it was before, just that little bit worse, creeping up like he wouldn’t notice. Not just the struggle to breathe, but the awareness.

Besides him Tango whimpered. For a brief moment instinct chased away his thoughts, replacing them with concern for his rancher who was rolling onto his side to curl up. He grasped at his shoulder in agony, and Jimmy’s heart was overwhelmed with the weight of guilt. It’d been him who had hacked off Tango’s limb with a fire axe, after all. Maybe if he’d held out just a little longer someone with more medical knowledge could have done it far cleaner or saved his arm. As it was now, Tango’s shocked nerves flared at a wound that had long since healed. It always ached, just a little bit. Today it was visibly swollen, and Tango himself agreed to take some of their precious little medication to ease it. A bad day.

His heart constricted painfully.

“Tango?” Jimmy whispered, as if the sound might hurt his companion. Tango struggled to roll over and look at him, eyes distant and teeth gritted. If he weren’t a blazeborn he’d be sweating, Jimmy was sure.

Careful not to disturb the pained limb or pull on his mask, Jimmy scooted closer. Revy whimpered where he lay between their legs, ears pinned. He could smell both their bad days, but there was nothing else that could be done about them. 

Tango strained to put on a smile for Jimmy, but it was more of a grimace. “What’s up, buttercup?” He teased, voice nearly too raspy to understand.

Jimmy stared at him and let his face fall.  “I don’t know.” He admitted. His own breath came in heavy puffs, unable to reconcile his muscles with the air being forced into his lungs. They couldn’t even hold each other for comfort. 

“Pearl’s taking care of the animals and crops.” Assured Tango.

“And when she’s gone?”

“She won’t leave us before we’re back on our feet.”

“But what about next time?” He pressed, feeling his heartbeat pick up.

Tango’s face softened and turned full towards Jimmy despite his pain. “Jim, it’s okay. We just pushed ourselves a little too hard this month and it caught up with us. We’ll be more careful.”

“What’ll we do when just finishing the chores is too much?”

“That’s not something we have to worry about yet.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.” Jimmy warbled, taking in a deeper breath. “It feels like we’re losing.”

“We aren’t losing.” Claws reached out to brush back Jimmy’s bangs which were damped with cold sweat. It continued past his ear, and repeated. Jimmy leaned into Tango’s hand, searching for any comfort he could attain. “We have each other, we’ll take care of each other.”

Jimmy frowned. “Except today.”

Those words finally seemed to give Tango pause. Jimmy took the opportunity to continue. “You’ve thought about it too. I can’t take care of myself if something happens to you. If any of my machines break down or the power goes out, or when it gets worse. I know I stopped breathing last night.” He paused to even his breathing. “And what’ll you do, if you can’t get out of bed and you’re all alone? If the pain gets worse and we’re out of medication?”

“Don’t talk like that.” Tango tried to sound firm, but Jimmy just shook his head.

“We’re out here pretending nothing is wrong, playing ranchers. There’s no ambulance if something happens, and they have as few supplies as the rest of us. We’re always fighting just to keep the power on to keep me alive. What’ll we do if a storm comes in the winter? We’d just waste away in our bed.”

There was a shuffling beside him – when had the world become so blurry? – and an arm wrapped its way across Jimmy’s shoulders. Instinctively his hand went up to cling to it. Tango’s forehead pressed into Jimmy’s shoulder. His breaths came out as shaky as Jimmy’s own, and immediately the avian wanted to apologize. Everything he said they already knew, there was no reason to let it all spill out. What was wrong with him?

But Tango pressed himself as close as he could through his pain. “Let’s think about it when we’re feeling better, okay?”

Jimmy knew what he was doing. They’d done it before. It won’t make a difference this time. His brain assured him. It’s just facts it doesn’t matter what mood we’re in if it’s facts. If we do it’s just because we forgot how bad it was. That’s why he can’t come up with a counter. Even while another part of his mind knew Tango was right. His miserable thoughts were sure they were true.

Silence fell across the room, filled only by the whirring of Jimmy’s machines and the distant clucking of chickens mixed with wild bird song. Light streamed through the windows, accompanied by a soft breeze. It was a shame it was such a nice day.

He could feel Tango relax against him, nudging his whole body just a bit closer until he was half-slumped onto the avian as he let his arm slip down to Jimmy’s ribs into a more comfortable hold. Jimmy let his head fall to the side, resting it atop Tango’s. Uneven heat radiated from the blazeborn still. He kicked himself for putting those thoughts in Tango’s mind too when, for once, it seemed like they hadn’t been.

“I’m sorry.” Whispered the avian. “I’m just scared.”

“I know.” Tango cooed. “I know, So’m I.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” 

But Tango shook his head. “We’ll think about it when we’re feeling better. We’ll talk to the others.” 

“Okay.”

#tango tek #solidaritygaming #team rancher #rancher's revenge #rancher apocalypse au #fanart #biopunk #cottagecore #character #background #scene #writing #art #sketch #colour #Hybbart

[cleoluvrr]

Call Me (Rafe Cameron x Reader) I

SYNOPSIS: call someone else if you want that.

WARNINGS: mature content; secret relationship, verbal abuse, jealousy, general violence, manipulative behavior, explicit language, substance abuse & addiction, obsession, depiction of explicit sexual acts

masterlist

rafe always had a meanness to him, one that you’d never been oblivious to, though never really on the receiving end of it at first. the two of you would have petty banter, little arguments that would eventually reveal the underlying tension between you, but it was nothing more than that.

with others, however, you’d seen him be cruel–beyond cruel. your middle sister, just a couple years your junior, was friends with kiara carrera and those other boys she hangs out with by association. you’d heard the stories of his behavior, and while it may make you a terrible person, you really didn’t care. his business with them wasn’t yours, and you weren’t close enough to rafe to confront him about it. she’s never said he’s done anything to her directly, so what could you really do about it? it’s not like she knew you two even talked in the first place, so it was out of your hands.

maybe it was because of his strained relationship with his father, or the lack of relationship with his mother. it could be just how he is naturally; you wouldn’t be surprised.

however, you began to become a victim of his malice yourself at some point last year. you two weren’t particularly nice to each other, but there was something different this time. it used to be playful, but this time it was purposeful; at least it was on his end.

sure, rafe isn’t the most rational person in the world, but the amount of anger and frustration he was taking out on the girl he was secretly fucking was completely out of proportion. 

you asked him more times than i can remember; begging him to tell you what was wrong. even when you should have been mad at him for treating you like some bitch off the street, you simply couldn’t ignore the feeling of something being wrong with him. maybe you caught feelings for him and that’s why you cared so much, even when you shouldn’t have.

it was around the time you sister started staying out later, riding around town with her friends and stirring up trouble like she had no home-training. you were positive rafe had something to do with it, but never said anything about it. it wasn’t like he was answering your calls at the time anyway.

eventually, you just stopped talking. maybe it was inevitable, a natural occurrence from lack of mutual communication.

so when you saw him just a few dozen yards away for the first time in months, you weren’t sure how to feel.

you watch as he takes each drink to the head, shot after shot from across the room. his blonde hair that would have once been blocking his vision was now cropped short and barely visible from where you stood. the people around him encouraged the behavior, cheering him on every time he slammed the bottom of a shot glass back on the table.

he looked deceptively sober, but his body language was all the evidence you needed to know he had more than a bump of the cocaine some girl brought to the party. his alcohol tolerance was way stronger than everyone around him, the sloppiness of his friends completely opposite of his nonchalant demeanor.

that was one of many differences between the two of you. he liked to drink, get high, and do things that were far past the limits of legality that only someone with money and influence like him could get away with. you hated the feeling of losing control, of not being completely aware of what was happening around you, and would even never think of doing a fraction of the things he does.

yet, for some reason that you could never figure out, he piqued your interest. 

maybe it was because he was “bad,” and you were “good.” maybe it was his roughness that attracted you, or the way he did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. rafe’s instability contrasted everything about you; it gave you a rush that you’ve never felt with anyone else.

“what are you looking at?”

you’re pulled out of the one-sided staring contest, the sound of your friend’s voice capturing your attention over the loud music. 

“what?” you said. you leaned down towards the shorter blond, ear in better reach of her voice.

“what are you looking at?” she repeats louder this time. her breath smells of alcohol, the pink whitney sitting in the bottom of her cup the clear cause of her slight swaying.

your eyes flicker back to the boy across the room for a moment, the sight of him leaning down to snort a white substance from the table beneath him making you cringe to yourself. your friend’s eyes follow yours, the green irises further revealed by the widening of her eyes.

“rafe cameron?” she says quite loudly, her voice carrying around the area as other people nearby turn to look at her in annoyance. “why the hell are you staring at rafe cameron?”

“say it louder, why don’t you? i don’t think russia could hear you.” your eyes tear away from him and return them to your scantily clad friend. “jesus christ, misty. you are so drunk.”

“you should try it some time.” she giggles, arm raising her cup in a cheer. you rolled your eyes at her and raised your own drink to your lips, the taste of cool water refreshing on your tongue. 

your experience with alcohol is slim by choice. the idea of not being in total control of yourself makes you more than uncomfortable, and the taste of the beverage did not appeal to you. you knew how to have a good time without the aid of alcohol or drugs.

“i’ll pass…” you say with a breathy chuckle. you pulled out your phone to check the time, the dark of the night beginning to drag on into the earliest hours of the morning. you were sure if you stayed out any longer your parents would send a search group.

the party hadn’t been much fun to me anyways, the celebration of your friend’s recent graduation not doing much to keep me entertained.

your gaze returns to the spot where rafe stood only to be met with nothing, the boy nowhere to be found in your brief sweep of the area. you look around the party from where you stood, head swiveling to find the blonde amongst the gaggle of kooks in the room. he has seemingly vanished into thin air despite being the most noticeable person in the place.

“hey, um…” you trailed off, head turning back to face a drunk misty. “i need to get home. are you ready to go?”

the girl shakes her head, finger pointing behind her to the familiar figure of her boyfriend. he was watching her closely, clearly on edge as his inebriated girlfriend consumed enough liquor to take down a grown man.

“jordan is taking me home with him.” she giggles again, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. you were sure he’d have her tucked into bed within the next two hours, whatever she thought was gonna happen would not be happening if he had anything to say about it.

“okay, girl. i’ll see you soon.” you pulled her into an embrace, the top of her head reaching the bottom of your chin as you lean down to hug her. you weren't sure how she wasn’t falling over yet–there wasn't much body for the alcohol she had befriended for the night to go through. “and lay off the liquor.” your voice was stern as you pulled away.

she throws the rest of the liquid down her throat in response, the bottom of the red solo cup left empty as crushed it beneath her fingers. you couldn’t help but to smile at her before turning away, her boyfriend now fast approaching before she got a chance to find the liquor table again.

stepping out of the party, you pull your phone from the pocket of your skirt to order a car home. it had completely slipped your mind that you rode here with misty and her boyfriend, instantly reminded of the fact that you didn’t own a car nor a license as you approached the front yard. the prices for cars at this time a night were more than you got paid per hour.

your head fell back in frustration, the warm summer breeze blowing against your bare legs as you ground out into the night sky. 

“y/n?”

the sound of your name sends a shiver down your back. you stopped dead in your tracks, as if the cool metal of a gun was being held to the back of your skull. 

your head turns in the direction of the familiar voice, eyes tearing away from the distant constellations in the night sky. lafe’s leaning against the side of his truck, a mixture of keys dangling around his finger.

“rafe.” you respond to him with his own name. “long time, no see.”

your feet carried you towards the blonde resting against the dark colored vehicle behind, eyes locked on the blue of his own. 

you could feel the sharpness of your teeth tearing into your bottom lip, the warm, bubbly feeling you got whenever the two of you were in the same room making a return. rafe’s eyes fell to the way you were ravaging the plump flesh, almost entranced by the sight. 

“how’ve you been?” the taller man pulls his gaze away and returns it to your eyes as he inquires. “heard you graduated, congrats by the way.”

“yeah, thanks.” you reply chipperly. “um…i’ve been alright. not a lot going on, to be honest. you?”

“same, same… he trails off awkwardly, the sounds of the late night filling the air between us. “hey, um, do you–do you need a ride, or anything?”

you shook your head immediately and raised your hand to show him the rideshare app on the screen.

“no, i’m good. i don’t wanna take you out of your way.” you smile politely at him as you speak. “thanks, though.”

rafe shakes his head and opens the passenger’s side door he was previously leaning on just seconds before. 

“it’s no big deal, seriously. you don’t live that far from me, i’m heading in that direction anyway.”

you stare at him wordlessly for a moment, eyes tearing away from him and flickering around the street around you. no one had exited the party after you did, at least not that you had seen. the ground was shaking beneath the two of you as the bass of the music continued strongly through the night.

you hesitantly take a step towards the car door being held open by the tall blonde, not quite sure if it’s smart for you to be around him right now. you lift yourself into the tall truck and plop down into the seat before your eyes set on rafe once again. 

the fist-stized muscle protected by your ribs feels as if it’s trying to tear your chest in half to escape just from the sight of rafe, unsure of how to behave around him anymore. 

shutting the door after seeing you settled inside, he makes his way over to the driver’s side. watching as he buckles himself in and starts the car, the roaring of the engine sent a vibration through the entirety of your being. 

“do you think you should be driving right now?” you spoke up after a minute of silence. his head turns fully to meet your eyes, his pupils large and eyes dark under the minimal lighting of the moon above.

his eyebrows raise at the inquiry before just barely furrowing them in confusion.

“you think i can’t handle my liquor?” he blinks at you in the darkness of the car, eyelids hiding and revealing the blown out pupils that had taken over the ocean blue of his irises. “you never had a problem with it before.”

your mouth opened briefly before snapping back shut, the words that left his own rendering you responseless. 

you and rafe had a long history together, though, if you were to ask anyone else that, they’d be taken by surprise. there had been plenty of times where you’ve let him drive around while he was far from sober, but it had been months since then. it had been months since you two had spoken, and it wasn’t really something you felt comfortable with anymore.

“okay, well it’s been a while and you’ve had a lot to drink tonight.” you eventually found your voice again, pointing out how long it’s been since you’d been in a situation like this one. 

rafe didn’t argue, instead choosing to shrug his shoulders wordlessly. he put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway smoothly, the truck pulling off into the dimly lit street.

you sat in silence for the entire ride, the awkwardness in the air more on your end than his. the trees blew by on the side of the road, the leaves appearing to be nothing but dark blurs as you observed them from the window. rafe was not sparse with the gas, each sharp, fast turn leaving you more anxious than the last.

you could feel rafe glance towards me every so often, steely eyes burning into the side of your face and leaving behind a warmth in your cheeks that couldn’t be shaken.

it was when he pulled in front of your dark house that he finally broke the silence, leaving a question that you weren’t quite sure how to answer hovering in the cool air of the truck.

“hey, y/n?” 

“yeah?” you didn’t turn to face him, choosing instead to watch the windows of your house for any signs of life.

he sat wordlessly for a few seconds and you could feel his eyes on you once again, much more intensely than the first few times on the road. you were afraid to look back at him, fully aware that you would become lost in them like you did when you first met him.

“why’d you stop calling?” he asked. 

you blinked at the reflection in the window, his question echoing in your head. turning to face him, his eyes locked onto yours. they refused to let go, gaze leaving you trapped under the spell that it casts upon you. 

gulping soundlessly, you wet your mouth with the saliva collecting underneath your tongue as you prepared an answer. it felt as if the words had been stolen from your throat the moment you exchanged looks. 

“why’d you stop answering?” you said after finding your voice.

the feelings repressed began to bubble to the surface the longer you two sat in the enclosed space. you felt breathless, confused, and angry. not only at him, but at yourself as well. 

you let yourself become attached when you shouldn’t have, and because of that you had to suffer repercussions of unrequited feelings. you were angry because he left you hanging for weeks, but you let him. he treated you like shit, but you let him. you were never supposed to catch feelings, but you let yourself. 

that’s why you’re angry.

even with all of that, your heart never failed to beat out of your chest when he was near you. rafe didn’t even need to put his hands on you to leave you breathless. you should hate him, especially with how he treated you, treated your sister and her friends–but you don’t. you can’t.

that’s why you’re confused.

“i was dealing with a lot. i’m sorry.”

“that’s not really an excuse, rafe.” your lips pursed at him before rubbing together, the clear lip gloss coating them acting as a lubricant to prevent friction between them. “you didn’t want to tell me what was wrong when i asked, so you don’t get to use that card.”

rafe puts the car into park before fully turning to you, the furrow of his brow intensifying as he squints. shaking his head slightly, he opens his mouth to speak.

“it didn’t have anything to do with you, though.” he said. “i didn’t wanna drag you into my shit because it was…it was a lot. it was a lot and you didn’t need to be involved.”

“okay, and that’s fine.” your eyes flickered over at the dashboard’s clock to check the time, the number rising with each minute into the night. you turned back to him. “what’s not fine is blowing me off for months and then asking me why i stopped calling. you didn’t care to answer the phone when i did.”

rafes hand rakes over his buzzed head, fingers running through the stubble that replaces the golden locks that once held its place. he pulls his lip in between his pearly white teeth as he nods at you, tongue peeking through as they part to make space for the pink muscle. 

“you’re right.” he doesn’t argue like he usually would, the sudden accountability taking you by surprise. “that was kinda fucked up, wasn’t it? you didn’t deserve that.”

“no, rafe. i didn’t.”

he nods his head again and leans back against the cool, tinted window. his lids are low as he looks across at you, the intensity of his gaze causing your heart to leave bruises on your ribs from how strongly it pounded. you could barely hear anything, blood rushing past your ears and every breath shakier than the last.

stepping out of the car, rafe makes his way over to the passenger side door. you watch curiously as he crosses the front of the car, the street lights shining down on his broad frame. you don’t move when he opens the door, nor when he looks between you and your seatbelt expectantly.

your brows raise at the man briefly before the ‘click’ of the seatbelt fills both your ears, hands removing the snug strap from across your chest. you take the hand that he offers to exit the car, glancing up at your house again before taking it. nobody seemed to be awake but you still didn’t want to risk anyone seeing us this close together.

“nobody’s gonna see, y/n . calm down.” rafe’s voice so close to your ear pulls your attention away from the property and back towards him standing before you. 

you stepped down from the truck with his aide, but he didn’t move even once your feet touch the ground. instead, his hands moved to grasp your waist and pull you closer. the move felt so familiar yet so strange, but you accepted it rather than pushing him away. 

the warmth of his palms against your bare skin was intensified by the jolts of electricity felt whenever we touched. you could tell he felt the way you shivered in response to his fingers just barely gripping the soft flesh beneath them, thumbs smoothing over in a back and forth motion.

“i’m sorry i ghosted you. i was an asshole for that, and you know what? i deserve whatever you feel towards me.” you say nothing, but don’t push him away either. he takes that as a sign to continue. “but i hope you find it in you to forgive me, because i–i miss you.”

you nearly snorted as he uttered the sentence.

“you miss me?” you repeated the words back to him. “you sure know how to show it.”

“yes, i miss you.” rafe’s hold intensifies for a moment before going back to its previous state. “when i saw you at the party tonight, i–i didn’t know how much i missed your face. i missed your smile, your smell. i missed having you close to me and being able to hold you like this…”

the sound of him inhaling strongly shook you, his eyes screwing shut as he took in the combination of your natural scent and the gourmand perfume you wore. his fingers twitched against your skin as he resisted the urge to dig them deep into the flesh like he always used to. his chest rose and fell intensely, all but able to see his blood pumping through his jugular. 

“god, i fucking miss you.”

“rafe…” you called his name softly but sternly to pull him out of his hypnotized state. his eyes open but they’re barely focused. you weren’t sure if his pupils were blown because of the high, or because of you. “i miss you, too.”

the stillness between us remains until you broke it, the voice in the back of your head reminding you of the months spent trying to get over him.

“i miss you, but i can’t do this again.” you sighed heavily. “you fucked me up for months, rafe, and i can’t let that happen again.”

“it won’t happen again. i promise.”

sou shook your head at his words, tongue poking out just enough to taste the vanilla flavor of the gloss coating your lips. 

“no–no, rafe. no promises.” you let your hands fall to rest on top of his, watching as the sudden contact makes him shiver just as much as it used to when he did it to you. “no feelings–i can’t do that again.”

you pushed him away gently and stepped to the side, unsure of if you’d regret the words about to leave your lips next.

“if you wanna fuck, then we can do that.” your bluntness catches him off guard, head jerking back at the directness of the words. you’d never spoken like that before, and it shocked you as well. “but the lovey-dovey shit that we used to do? no more of that.”

“what?” rafe looks at you in disbelief, the vulgar language leaving him stunned. it was a rarity that you cursed–at least around him–, let alone said something so…intense. “what is that supposed to mean? ‘no more lovey-dovey shit?’”

you shrugged and pushed past him fully, feet carrying your body a few yards away before turning back to speak. he looked thoroughly confused and a bit hurt, but not as hurt as he left you when he ghosted you with a million unanswered questions and just as many ignored phone calls.

“it means if you call me in the night-time, i might pick up.” your eyes scanned for his reaction to the words left echoing in your own head for a moment, the heat of his gaze reminding you of the reason you needed to escape into the house behind you to begin with. “just depends on what you’re on.”

rafe was left standing in the dark of the early morning, bewildered and alone. 

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x pogue!reader #drew starkey #outer banks #rafe cameron x kook!reader #rafe cameron x oc #obx fanfiction #obx2 #obx1 #obx3 #obx fic #rafe x reader #rafe obx #rafe imagine

[aemondsbabe]

The Queen

summary: dairy/letters & lingerie kink || alicent stumbles across a secret of yours and is more than happy to make it come true

pairing: modern!alicent x f!reader

warnings: mature/explicit, 18+ (minors dni!), no use of y/n, afab reader, wlw, pre-established relationship, dom!Alicent, sub!reader, queen honorifics used in the bedroom, lingerie kink, use of a leather crop, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, thigh riding, let me know if i missed anything!

word count: 3.3k

a/n: happy day seven of 12 days of smuff!! i went into a fugue state and wrote 10 pages in 2 hours. the hold that olivia cooke has on me should be studied by science. anyway.

12 days of smuff masterlist!

gif creds to @olliviacooke

likes, comments, & reblogs are very appreciated but never required!

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Alicent’s POV

She was humming, swaying her hips to a new album she’d downloaded earlier that week as she smoothly moved the duster along the wooden surface of your nightstand, careful as she guided it between the lamp and the small potted plant you loved so much. Getting a bit too into the music she was listening to as she tidied up your shared bedroom, though, she accidentally bumped against the growing stack of books on your nightstand. 

“Shit!” Alicent hissed as a few went tumbling to the ground. Sighing, she bent down to grab them, half-heartedly cursing you for insisting on buying new books before you’d finished the ones you had. 

“Huh?” She wonders outloud, pausing the music on her phone when she sees her name scrawled in your familiar handwriting. Her fingers brush over the soft, leather bound book as she picks it up, her lips pursing as she reads the words “Personal Journal” embossed on the front in fancy gold lettering. Her brown eyes widen and quickly glance around the room, despite the fact that she knows she’s the only one home. Biting her lip, she runs a finger over the spine of your diary, weighing her options. On the one hand, she knew it would be a horrible invasion of your privacy to look but… well, what if it was something important? 

She shook her head at the thought. She wasn’t going to be one of those snooping partners! You already told her everything anyway, it’s not like there would be anything in your diary she didn’t already know! You were basically an open book, in fact, it was one of the things she loved most about you – your willingness to be so honest and transparent. 

No, she thought, carefully setting the diary back on your bedside table, I’m not going to! I’m simply – 

Okay, sue her. She’s only human and her name was right there! She’d make it up to you. 

Glancing around one more time, she flipped open the leather-bound book, flipping through it to the page she’d spotted a moment ago. She found it pretty quickly and nervously bit on a nail as her eyes scanned over the page, noticing the date first. It was from only about a week ago. She read on.

I’m not even sure how to bring up the topic, it doesn’t really seem like something you’d just bring up at the dinner table? Like, “Oh, honey, yeah work was great today! Kevin from accounting is finally getting married, I know! Can you believe it? Oh. yeah, one more thing! Can you boss me around in the bedroom like a drill sergeant?” I mean, come on. 

What if she isn’t even into it? What if she wants to be the submissive one? I don’t think Alicent’s totally vanilla, I mean, there have been so many sparks of… something. Sometimes she tells me to do something, usually innocuous like making sure the door’s locked before we leave or to get the laundry hamper from the closet but… God, the way she says it makes me shiver. And when she’s talking on the phone to someone at work? That authoritative voice makes me melt. 

Sigh. I just need to find the courage to ask. 

Alicent finally finished the entry and looked up from your journal, blinking as thoughts raced through her head. After a minute, she closed the notebook and placed it carefully back on your bedside table, just like it was before it fell off the table. 

She could barely keep the smirk off her face as she grabbed her purse and keys and shut the front door behind her, a devious, delicious plan quickly forming in her head. 

She knew exactly how to make up for her actions. 

Reader’s POV

You sigh as you unlock the front door, quickly tossing your keys into the small bowl on the entryway table before kicking off your shoes.

“Babe?” You called, furrowing your brows at how unusually quiet the house was. Alicent’s car was in the driveway and normally she’d be playing music by the time you got home but today… nothing. You’re about to call out again when the sound of heels clicking down the hallway makes you stop in your tracks, your bag falls from your hand as your girlfriend finally appears from around the corner.

“Good day at work?” Alicent asks coolly, tilting her head as she leans against the doorway. Meanwhile, you feel dumbstruck as your eyes scan over her appreciatively, taking in every dip and curve as if you’d never seen any of them before. Your eyes skim over her outfit, a black, lacy bustier perfectly framing her chest, with a matching black thong clinging to her soft hips, fishnet stockings held up by an enticing garter belt, all the way down to black, pointed toe heels. She’d even taken the time to straighten her usually curly hair, smoothing it down into a clean, nearly intimidating style. 

She smirked, brown eyes sparkling at your awe-struck expression, smiling when your eyes finally landed on her face; you couldn’t help but swallow when you saw that she was wearing that expensive red lipstick she only brought out for special occasions, the one you love so much. 

Her heels click on the wood floors as she strides over to you and it’s only then you realize that she has something in her hand – a black leather crop. The sight of it makes your knees weak. 

“I asked you a question, baby,” she says gently, locking eyes with you as she gently cups your cheek with in her hand, “It would be rude not to answer.” There’s a hard edge to her voice that makes you lose what little train of thought you had.

“I… uh,” you stutter, blush rising to your cheeks as you stare helplessly at her, fighting to keep your gaze locked on hers, “W-Work was good, yeah. Same as… as usual.” You finally finish, your chest already heaving as you rub your thighs together, desperate before you even know what’s going on. 

“How wonderful,” she smirks and leans in, giving you a sweet kiss like she normally would, but today it has your head spinning, “What do you think of my little surprise?” She asks, though there isn’t really a question in her tone – she already knows your answer.

“I love it,” you breathe, hardly giving her time to finish speaking as you let your gaze wander over her yet again. “What, uhm,” you cough nervously, “What gave you the idea?”

She smiles again, shrugging; you nearly jump out of your skin when she softly runs the leather crop up the inside of your thigh, starting at your knee and stopping tantalizingly close to your core. “Just got the sense that maybe you’d be into it…” She says casually, like you’re talking about the weather, “Was I right?”

All you can do is nod your head, but that’s not good enough, apparently. Her eyes narrow and she wraps a hand around your neck, not too harshly, mostly just sitting it there but it’s enough to make you whimper in the back of your throat, breath catching as her perfectly manicured red nails just barely dig into your delicate skin. “I don’t think that’s the proper way to address me, is it?” She coos, a faux pout to her lips. 

“N-No,” you say shakily, your eyes searching hers, “No… ma’am?” You try, inwardly cringing at how your voice squeaks. 

She clicks her tongue like a disappointed mother, the sound going straight between your legs, as she fixes you with an intense stare. “Baby, you know how I sometimes call you princess?” She asks, smiling proudly when you eagerly nod, “Well, tell me. Who’s more in charge than a princess?”

Your throat goes dry and you swallow thickly, darting your tongue out to wet your lips before speaking. “T-The queen?” You ask softly, pride feathering out in your chest like the train of a peacock when she smiles and nods again.

“That’s right!” She praises, almost as if she was speaking to a child; perhaps you should be offended at her condescending tone, but, if anything, it just makes your heart beat faster. “The queen. Do you want me to be your queen today, sweet one?” Again, you nod, so she continues. “So, address me properly.”

“Yes, my queen.” You breathe the words, core clenching softly around nothing. 

“Very good,” she praises, leaning in and lightly brushing her lips over the pulsepoint on your neck, “Do you want to keep being a good girl for your queen?”

“Yes, your grace, please.” You say with an eager nod, feeling like you’ll explode if she doesn’t touch you, or so something soon.

“Then be good for me and go to the bedroom,” she nods as she speaks, her big brown eyes looking directly into yours, “And strip.” She finishes coolly, leaving you no room to argue. 

You nod quickly and practically leap down the hallway, blushing when you hear her giggling behind you. As soon as your feet hit the soft rug in the bedroom, you tug at your clothes, quickly shedding your sweater and work trousers before unclipping your bra and sliding your underwear down your legs, haphazardly shoving everything into the hamper because you just know she’ll say something about the mess if you don’t. Finally, not knowing what else to do, you stand by the bed, arms clasped in front of you.

She doesn’t make you wait long and you bite your lip in anticipation as her heels click slowly down the hallway, smiling shyly when you finally meet her gaze again as she enters the room. Just like you knew she would, her eyes immediately dart to the hamper and her smile widens when she sees your clothes from today resting on top. 

“What a good girl I have,” she praises as she saunters over to you, her hips swinging enticingly as she moves. Without another word, she sits on the edge of the bed and gently places the crop down next to her on the bedspread, before she beckons you over with a crook of her finger, “You like your queen’s special surprise for you, huh?” She questions, tilting her head as she peers up at you, her hands resting gently on the curve of your hip. 

“Yes,” you nod, your eyes trailing down to her cleavage before you can help yourself and it’s only then that you notice that she’s breathing nearly as hard as you are, a blush extending down her pale neck and chest, “I love it, my queen, so much.” You nearly whisper, dizzy at the thought that she might be enjoying this just as much as you are. 

“Don’t you think you should thank me for your surprise, princess?” She asks coolly, smirk widening as she sees a look of realization in your eyes. 

“Yeah, yes, please,” you nearly beg, already tempted to sink to your knees.

She smirks at your eagerness, all but laughing when you whine as she pushes herself back further, out of your grasp and into the center of the bed, making enough room for you in front of her. Again, she crooks her finger and you hastily follow after her, kneeling between her fishnet-covered legs. With another smirk, she silently spreads her legs, bending them at the knee enough that the heels of her shoes dig into the bedspread. 

Something between a gasp and a whimper escapes your lips as you let your gaze travel down, between her legs, where you’re met with the shocking realization that the black thong she has on is indeed crotchless. Your eyes stay glued to her center, now beautifully framed by two strips of lace fabric; the sight makes you lick your lips without thinking, taking in the way her folds shimmer, even in the low light of the bedroom. Finally, you manage to rip your gaze away and lock eyes with her again, your blush deepening at the hazy look in her eyes as she leans back on her elbows. 

“Go on, princess,” she breathes, that familiar, aroused rasp finally present, “Thank your queen.”

You spring into action, wrapping your hands around her soft thighs as you lean in, kneeling between her legs. Your eyes flutter as you look up the length of her body while you press soft, sweet kisses to the inside of her thighs, your eyes widening when you see her lean over and quickly grab the crop. 

You jolt as she brings it down, smacking one ass cheek with it, not enough to hurt but enough to leave behind a pleasant little zing. “I don’t believe I asked you to tease me,” she admonishes, a playfulness to her tone still as her other hand brushes into your hair, red nails scratching soothing against your scalp, “Thank me properly.” She commands, guiding your head to exactly where she wants it.

You’re more than happy to obey and you press a kiss to the center of her folds, right on her clit, moaning against her as you feel it twitch against your lips. She lets out a breathy moan as your tongue licks a long, straight line up her center, right down the middle, before your lips gently seal around her bud. 

Your eyes flutter closed again as you softly suck at her clit, moaning lowly in your throat at her familiar sweet taste. You move in just the way she likes, kissing and licking over her heat with a practiced ease, pride blooming in your chest with every moan, whine, and sigh of your name. You shake your head against her, attempting to bury your tongue in her twitching core as the tip of your nose teases her clit, your chin dripping with her when you finally pull back. 

“Princess, fuck,” she breathes above you, head tilted down so she can watch as you feast on her, “Fuck me, come on.” She orders, giving another sharp little spank to your bum with the crop. 

You do as she says, smiling as you flick your tongue over her bud while you glide two fingers through her folds, making sure to get them nice and wet before you slide them carefully into her, relishing the long moan she lets out as you do. You can’t help but whimper as her walls clamp down tightly, pulsing around your fingers as you crook them up in the way you know she loves, your lips sealing softly around her clit again, eyes fluttering as you watch her chest heave. 

“Good fucking girl,” she whimpers, accentuating each word of praise with another slap of her crop against you, the pleasant sting you clench around nothing, “Make your queen come, princess, good girl.” She moans, tilting her head back as you redouble your efforts. 

Your arm aches as you fuck your fingers into her, keeping them quirked up against that small rough patch within her, but you pay it no mind, focusing only on the hand in your hair and the taste of her in your mouth, your hips canting desperately in the air. 

You flick your tongue against her bud once more, in just the right way, and it sends her over the edge with a gasp. You moan into her as the hand in your hair tightens and her walls rhythmically squeeze against your fingers, nearly tight enough to push them out. You move steadily, bringing her through her high as you have so many times before, only stopping when she finally goes lax against you. 

You press kisses against her thighs and hips as she comes down, breathing heavily above you. Eventually, the hand in your hair tightens once more, and you sigh happily as she pulls you up. 

“You did so good,” she praises softly, her voice breathy as she presses her lips against yours; she moans softly as your tongue licks into her mouth before she pulls away to trail kisses down your neck, “So good for your queen, my sweet princess.” You sigh happily, eyes fluttering shut as you straddle her, one of her legs between yours.

Your eyes shoot open as she bends her leg, pressing her fishnet covered thigh firmly against your center with a knowing smirk. “Goodness,” she gasps, her beautiful brown eyes widening once she feels how wet you are against her, “I think you deserve a reward too, for treating your queen so well.”

“Please, holy shit,” you gasp, your hips already moving on her leg, the pattern of her stockings adding a delicious friction, “P-Please, your grace.” You quickly correct yourself when she brings her crop down once more, making your back arch. 

“Good girl,” she whispers, mouthing at your neck. She lets the crop fall to the bed again as she cups your ass with both hands, guiding your hips as you move against her, “Take what you need, princess, you earned it.” She breathes, smirking as you shudder above her. 

You nod mindlessly, swallowing thickly as you already feel the knot in your stomach tightening dangerously, each drag of your clit over her stockinged thigh sends shockwaves up your spine. Your breathing gets heavier and heavier as you get closer and she smiles happily, bouncing her thigh against your wet core in the way she knows drives you insane. 

“My beautiful little princess,” she whispers, red lips ghosting over your chest, “Behaving so well for her queen.” 

You fall apart once her lips seal around one of your nipples, sparks of pleasure bursting behind your eyelids as she carefully sucks the sensitive bud into her mouth, gently teasing at it with her teeth. Your body tenses up as your walls clench again and again, your fingers grabbing at the sheets as you gasp her name. 

Finally, your eyes flutter open as your high subsides. Thankfully, you have just enough presence of mind to roll to the side, cuddling against her as your chest heaves. 

“Holy shit,” you breathe through a small laugh, your face flushed as your eyes meet hers. 

“So, you liked it?” She asks, a shy lilt to her voice now that both of you have had the chance to come down. 

“Liked it?” You question, staring at her wide-eyed, “I… I loved it. That was incredible.” You breathe, pressing a soft kiss to her shoulder, “Where on earth did all that come from?”

She giggles softly, a guilty look appearing on her face. “Promise you won’t be too upset with me?” She asks softly. 

“Of course,” your reply is instant as you card your fingers through her soft hair, “Just tell me.”

“I was cleaning a few days ago, when I had that day off,” she explains, swallowing as you nod along, “And I… may have accidentally knocked your diary off the table and then got curious when I saw my name and… yeah.” She finishes, teeth biting at her lower lip. 

Your face reddens a bit, instantly knowing which entry she must’ve seen, but you merely shake your head, about to tell her not to worry about it when she starts speaking again.

“I do feel really bad about it,” she sighs, continuing quickly, “I know it’s a breach of trust but I saw my name and then… I’ll make it up to you, I pr – !” 

She gasps as you cut her off with a sweet kiss, shaking your head dismissively, “Consider it made up.” 

“You aren’t mad?” She asks hesitantly.

“Mad?” You echo, laughing softly, “My sexy girlfriend bought ridiculously hot lingerie, and a riding crop, just to surprise me and fucked me to within an inch of my life and I’m supposed to be mad at her over a little diary?” Both of you dissolve into a fit of giggles as you finally finish, nuzzling happily against each other, “I think not.” You quip, smirking as your eyes search hers. 

“Okay, yeah,” she says with a small eye roll, “I am pretty great, huh?”

“And oh so humble,” you laugh, pressing kisses over the curve of her shoulder before leaning back to smirk at her, “Your majesty.”

tagged lovelies: @helloworldiamnotarobot @drakonflames @marysucks-blog @watercolorskyy @valeskafics @iamaegontargaryenwife0 @aemshaircare @1997babyyyy @lovellies @little-moonbeam-666 @blackswxnn @alerisc @fan-goddess @wickedfrsgrl @moonriseoverkyoto @echos-muses @schniiipsel

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#alicent hightower #alicent hightower x reader #alicent hightower x you #alicent hightower fanfiction #alicent hightower fanfic #alicent hightower smut #alicent #alicent x reader #alicent x you #alicent fanfiction #alicent fanfic #alicent smut #house of the dragon #house of the dragon fanfiction #house of the dragon fanfic #house of the dragon smut #hotd #hotd fanfiction #hotd fanfic #hotd smut #fanfiction #fanfic #smut #my writing #12 days of smuff

[xzaddyzanakinx]

I Crybaby I part two

Mean Punk/Grunge Anakin × Naive Femme Reader

18+ MDNI

Warnings: demeaning comments, crude behavior, aggression toward reader, hurt/comfort, reader is taken advantage of, Anakin is briefly a creep

Info: Anakin is an ass, like no joke he's really mean. Pierced and tatted Ani, he plays the drums, annoying rude neighbor, modern AU (90's), he might be mean now but I promise he will get better (probably)

NOT PROOFREAD

As the day went on you got yourself ready. A friend from one of your college classes was due to pick you up anytime now. The guy was nice enough to invite you out to go bowling with a group of his friends, knowing you were new and that you didn’t have a solid friend group yet. You were appreciative of the gesture, despite your bubbly personality you found it difficult to keep a steady friendship, it seemed that people took advantage of your naivety, your kindness.

Jacob had promised that his friends were just as great as he was, it was the week after classes had ended for the summer and they had collectively decided it was an atrocity that a girl like you had went the school year without a proper night out with friends.

Wearing a tight red crop top and a cherry patterned short skirt and a pair of white sandals you stepped out side, checking on your hair and makeup one more time in the porch window before sitting on the swing to wait for him to pull up.

Anakin had been watching you from behind his bedroom curtains as you primped and prepared to go out. A mix of annoyance and fascination flickered within him as he observed your movements. He couldn't help but notice the tight red crop top that accentuated your figure and the short cherry-patterned skirt that revealed your toned legs.

Feeling a sudden pang of jealousy, Anakin scoffed to himself as he grabbed his pack of Marlboros and his lighter from the nightstand. He stepped out onto his porch, determined to distract you from whatever event you planned on attending.

Anakin couldn't help but admire how good you looked, despite his attempts to downplay it.

"You're really going all out, aren't you?" he called out, purposely using a sarcastic tone as he walked over, the sound of his combat boots hitting the concrete echoing through the air.

He lit up a cigarette, taking a deliberate drag and letting the smoke linger in the air between you. Smirking at the disgust on your face when the smoke curled around your head, he snickered as he watched you fan it away with your delicate little hands.

Despite his snarky facade, he couldn't help but feel a streak of possessiveness at the thought of you going out with someone other than him.

"What do you mean?" You asked, standing as you saw Jacob's station wagon rounding the corner.

Anakin smirked, taking another drag from his cigarette as he leaned against the porch railing, the smoke escaping his lips in a lazy wisp. The sight of Jacob's car approaching only fueled his determination to stir up some trouble.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, princess," he replied, his voice laced with a blend of amusement and annoyance. "Just think you're putting in a lot of effort for some random."

As Jacob's car pulled up, Anakin pushed himself off the railing, making his way over to your driveway with an intentional swagger. He looked Jacob up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, silently sizing him up as if daring him to make a move.

"So, this is the lucky guy, huh?" he drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Better keep a close eye on him, he looks like one of those sleazy types."

Anakin's words were meant to ruffle Jacob's feathers, and to his disappointment, the other boy seemed to be unaffected. He simply stepped aside and leaned against his car, a grin spreading as he watched you leap down the steps.

"Jay-Jay!" You shouted excitedly as he opened the passenger door for you.

Anakin laughed loudly, doubling over before leaning back on his heels, the toes of his shoes leaving the ground. “Jay-Jay?” He mocked.

"Who's this?" Jacob gestured to Anakin, very obviously judging his appearance and behavior.

"He's my neighbor, lives right there." You pointed.

Anakin raised a pierced eyebrow at Jacob's judgmental gaze, his playful smirk never leaving his face. He leaned against the car, deliberately invading Jacob's personal space as he spoke with a self-assured tone.

“Just thought I’d make sure she’s in good hands you know? Gotta watch out for my baby girl.” Anakin replied, leaning into the still open car door to give you a condescending pat on the cheek.

His use of the pet name was deliberate, a subtle reminder that he had taken a liking to you, even if he wasn't ready to admit it. Anakin shot you a mischievous grin as you settled into the car, his gaze lingering on you for a moment before he turned back to Jacob.

You watched the exchange between the two boys. Jacob instantly bristled at the use of Anakin's pet name. He stood up a bit straighter to attempt to tower over Anakin with no luck, since Anakin was obviously much taller, even without the clunky boots he wore. You could tell Anakin liked getting a rise out Jacob, seeing as how his cheeks got red and his fists clenched.

"Take care of her, champ," he said, his tone containing a mix of jealousy and true concern for your safety.

“Can’t believe he said that while I’m standing right there!” Jacob fumed under his breath as he walked around the car to the drivers door. “Little shithead.”

Anakin couldn't help but overhear Jacob's remark as he made his exit. He chuckled to himself, basking in the knowledge that he had effectively managed to get under his skin.

He muttered, his tone tinged with amusement. "Guess I struck a nerve."

With one final wink in your direction, Anakin pushed away from the car and retreated back to his own porch. Leaning back on the porch swing, Anakin took another drag of his cigarette, the smoke curling around him like a protective shield. But deep down, he couldn't ignore the flicker of concern that wormed its way into his thoughts.

He watched as Jacob's car disappeared from view, the distant engine noise fading into the quiet evening. The reality of his own possessiveness began to sink in, causing a mix of conflicting emotions to surge within him. Anakin found himself questioning his motives, the strange connection he felt with you.

With a sigh, he stubbed out his cigarette and stood up from the porch swing.

You were worried that Anakin's behavior would dampen the mood, but it didn't, Jacob quickly recovered to his usual chipper self.

Walking alongside you happily as you entered the bowling alley to meet his friends. Thankfully there were other girls there that immediately took a liking to you, they made you feel like part of the group right away.

As the night went on you formed the opinion that yes, Jacob had some cool friends, and you wouldn’t mind getting to spend more time with them. The girls and you had ordered a few drinks at the bar next door between games and by the time Jacob was ushering you into the car to take you home with a gentle hand on your back, you were more than a bit tipsy.

Soon enough he pulled into the driveway, jogging around the front end of the vehicle to help you out. He chuckled when he saw you had taken off your shoes and were holding them awkwardly in your hands. Your bare feet smacked the pavement and you couldn’t help but giggle.

"Thanks, Jay," you slurred, flashing him a crooked grin. His hand on your waist steadied your loose movements.

"C'mon let's get you inside." He laughed.

As you fumbled with your keys at the front door, Jacob leaned in close, his voice laced with mild concern.

"Careful now, don't want you busting up that pretty face," he teased, gently guiding the key into the lock for you.

The door of Anakin’s home swung open, time for his late night smoke and not at all meant to be a front for spying on you and the stupid guy with an arm around your waist.

"Buh-bye Jay," you slurred, hugging Jacob sleepily.

The boy towered over you, dwarfing you with his larger size. You seemed to small and fragile next to him and it worried Anakin. He leaned in with the intent to kiss you, and of course you remained blissfully unaware of the escalating tension hanging in the air.

Anakin couldn't stand by and watch as another man tried to claim what he saw as his. With a flick of his cigarette, he crushed the butt beneath his boot and rose to his feet. A mix of anger and protectiveness coursed through him as he approached the porch, his eyes never leaving the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Alright, that's enough," Anakin growled, stepping between the two of you. His voice dripped with a toxic combination of aggression and protection.

Jacob stepped back, his expression caught between surprise and annoyance.

“What's your problem, man?" he snapped, clearly taken aback by Anakin's sudden appearance.

Anakin leaned in closer, his voice dripping with contempt. "You think you can just swoop in and take advantage of a clearly intoxicated girl, huh? You're delusional if you think I’m letting you walk in there with her."

His words hung heavy in the air, a tense silence engulfing the three of you. Anakin's gaze remained fixed on Jacob, his icy stare daring him to make a move.

Jacob, realizing the situation was escalating, backed off slowly, his hands raised in a gesture of surrender.

"Look, man, I didn't mean any harm. I just…. I thought she was into it. My bad." He stuttered.

Anakin's lips twisted into a smile, though it was laced with bitterness.

"Your bad, huh?" he sneered. "Stay the hell away from her. She's off-limits."

Without another word, Jacob turned on his heel, swiftly retreating to his car. The confrontation left a sour taste in the air that dissipated swiftly after Jacob’s car squealed out of your driveway.

Anakin's gaze softened, though his anger still smoldered beneath the surface. He turned his attention to you, remaining silent for a beat before stepping closer, his touch gentle on your exposed shoulder.

"You alright, princess?" he asked softly, his voice a stark contrast to the venom he had displayed moments ago. His hand reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair away from your face.

The warmth of his touch sent shivers down your spine, and you found yourself searching his face to confirm he was being genuine.

At the realization that he was indeed being serious tears filled your eyes and You pushed the heels of your palms into them to attempt to fight them off, but it was no use. Your mascara was running, no doubt your lipgloss was smeared across your cheek, you were in a disheveled state and couldn’t help but steel yourself for the possibility he would make some terrible jab at you and your situation. You let yourself crumple into yourself as you sunk to the ground, taking a seat on the threshold of your still open front door.

"'S-sorry. I don't mean to be a crybaby." You shot a rude glare at him. Still upset that he had called you that so long ago.

“I feel so stupid!” You cried, your fists against your forehead. “I thought he wanted to be my friend.” Your voice trailed off, broken and quiet.

For a moment, Anakin was at a loss for words, his mind swirling as he scraped the nearly empty barrel of empathy stored in the back room of his brain.

"Hey, hey, it’s okay." he murmured, his voices held a rare tenderness as he knelt down in front of you.

“Want me to beat his ass? I’ll do it.” He tried joking with you, sighing in defeat when it just made you cry harder.

He reached out, his thumb gently tracing along your cheekbone, wiping away each tear that escaped your eyes. Anakin's touch was surprisingly tender, a stark contrast to his usual behavior.

"You're just here to make fun of me."

"Hey, don't talk like that," he said softly, "I'm not here to make fun of you babe." he said, his voice carrying an undertone of genuine affection.

"I can be an asshole sometimes, but that doesn't mean I don't care.” He smirked, “I do have a shriveled up heart in here somewhere.”

Anakin's confession hung in the air, his words carrying a weight that revealed a deeper layer to his guarded personality.

You were so shell-shocked by his words that your sniffling halted completely, the guy had never said a more than a few grumpy words to you before. Now he was here in front of you, offering Comfort? What bizarre alternate reality had you stumbled into?

“You gonna say something or just stare at me?” He laughed.

“I- sorry.” You cleared your throat and scrubbed at your eyes, managing a half hearted smile, “thank you.”

"Yeah, yeah." He said sarcastically. Offering you his hand, "c'mon. Don't want the whole neighborhood seeing you like this."

You took his hand and let him pull you inside, he closed the front door and looked around, trying to decide what door led to your bedroom. Eventually he chose the correct one and guided you to your pink blanketed bed.

"Where's your stuff at? Like your pjs and shit?" he fumbled through the dresser, shoving the underwear drawer closed immediately, so embarrassed that he saw it he smushed his finger in the process.

"God damnit." he mumbled, shaking his hand. You giggled and pointed to the next drawer down.

He pulled out a set of cotton shorts and a matching shirt, adorned with a cute little Hello Kitty and strawberry print. Anakin held up the clothing, a mix of amusement and surprise playing on his face.

"Really?" he remarked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

He handed you the pajamas, his fingersbrushing gently against yours.

"Take your time changing," he said, his voice softening with a newfound tenderness. "I'Il wait here."

Anakin settled himself on your bed, leaning against the headboard, his piercing blue eyes never leaving your figure as you walked into your bathroom. He wanted to give you the space and time you needed to collect yourself, to let the tears subside, but it was awfully hard when you left the door cracked open. Flashes of your legs could be seen as you kicked off your clothes and Anakin was valiantly fighting the urge to drool.

As you changed into your pajamas, his gaze trailed over your legs, appreciating the way the fabric was dragged up and over your curves. Anakin's thoughts wandered to something significantly less than holy, if he was a religious man he would’ve smote down by lightning just for forming those thoughts.

But he shook himself out of the trance, reminding himself to respect your privacy. Once you stumbled out from the bathroom, dressed in your ridiculous, albeit cute, pajamas, Anakin's eyes met yours, a faint smile gracing his lips.

"You did good, princess," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

He patted the space next to him, silently inviting you to join him on the bed. It was a small gesture, but a meaningful one, he wanted to create a safe space for you. Anakin genuinely cared about your well-being, at least right now in your drunken state.

He lifted up the blanket for you to crawl under, and patted your head awkwardly as he stood up. Stepping into the bathroom and searching through the cabinet, finding a wash cloth he wet it and then glanced around for soap. Shrugging his shoulders and deciding the hand soap was good enough. Trotting back over to you, dripping soapy water on the hardwood floor of your bedroom.

"Close your eyes." he commanded softly.

Gently wiping off the black streaks on your face. The gesture made me sleepy, and soon enough you were half asleep. You heard him chuckled to himself and the wet smack of the washcloth landing in the sink.

"Night." he whispered thinking you were asleep, trailing a finger over your cheek. Soon after you heard the front door open andclose, knowing he'd went back to his house.

You thought maybe after that night Anakin would be a bit more friendly with you, but he'd ignored you even more than before. You were quickly getting exhausted of it. Everyday you’d see him leave his house, you’d wave and he'd ignore it.

Everyday you would see him come back home, You would wave and ask him how his day was and he wouldn't answer. He'd just go straight into his garage to take off his mechanic's jumpsuit. He even came to the diner were you worked at and you had to watch him request a different waitress just so he wouldn't have to speak to you in front of his band mates.

The next few days were more of the same, and you expected it to be no different when clocked in at the diner that afternoon. After sliding your punch card back into its slot you sauntered through the kitchen and greeted your coworkers on your way to the front.

After arriving at the counter you noticed a new flyer pinned to the cork board behind the register. In big bold sharpied letters the word 'Vermin' was followed by a date and time. The description was 'headbang at the hideaway with us.' The location was a well known party spot, an abandoned warehouse.

"Hey, what's this?" You pointed to it, one of the waiters coming over to explain that it was a local band.

"You know the drummer don't you? Blue hair? Tall?” He laughed at your shocked expression, and you explained that you never realized his band was popular enough to get a gig this large.

"Are you going?" You asked excitedly.

"No but I think Kristen and her boyfriend are." He pointed to the other waitress on shift.

You made a mental note to ask her more about it. You decided you were going, and you were going to look good doing it.

After work you went straight to the mall. There was only a day before the event and you knew you didn't have the right clothes.

"Sorry to bother you," Feeling extra brave you walked up to a girl standing outside smoking, she had on a t- shirt similar to one you had seen Anakin wear before. "do you mind if I ask where you got your shirt?"

You smiled, trying to be as polite as possible and not make a fool of yourself. A soft chuckle escaped her, but there wasn't a hint of malice behind it. For some reason you felt that she could be trusted, she had a calming vibe about her.

"Uh yeah, the only alternative store we in town is in there." She laughed, looking you up and down.

"I-| know I don't look the type." You put your head down in embarrassment. "there's this thing I want to go too and I don't want to look out of place."

“Oh don’t tell me it’s for some boy.” She gagged, smiling nonetheless.

“Yeah actually it is.” You blushed, picking at your nails, “Um thanks, I’ll just-“ she interrupted you.

"I'Il help you pick something out m'kay?" She pushed off the wall with her shoulder, her clunky boots smacking the pavement as she threaded her arm through yours and led you into the mall.

It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to you, knowing that you wouldn't be left alone and confused in a dimly lit store you’d never stepped foot in. The air was thick with the sound of music and the scent of incense, the cashier cover in various body piercings and tattoos.

The girl took the lead, guiding you towards racks of clothes that resembled something similar to things you’d seen Anakin where before. Together, you flipped through hangers, choosing pieces that were definitely out of your comfort zone, but that you felt like you could easily pull them off.

Feeling like you were in a cheesy movie’s dressing room montage you experimented with band shirts, ripped jeans, and accessories that looked like they could be considered as weapons. Her presence provided a sense of comfort, assuring you that you were on the right track, it helped that she was perfectly comfortable being there herself.

The nerves that had once plagued you were replaced by a growing sense of confidence. The mirror reflected a version of you that felt stronger, more self assured. You were starting to understand the appeal of this type of dress and the scene it went with. The music flowing through the speakers started sounding less like pots, pans and rabid raccoons and more like drums, guitars and harsh vocals.

Finally, you settled on an outfit that made you feel empowered. You looked to your new friend, who had previously insisted despite her birth name being Deborah she was not a total loser and would rather you call her by her middle name, Marie.

"God. You look hot." She nodding her head in approval. “I’d fuck you.”

"Just chop this part off when you get home and you'll be irresistible." She made a scissor motion at the hem and sleeves of the shirt

"Chop it off?" You gasped. "why?"

She laughed, "Just gives it character, it'll make it look like you've worn it before and not like you just got it."

"Here." She dropped a chunky silver chain in your hands with a clip on each end. "that will go on your jeans okay? Then we'll rip some holes in here at your knees. And the shoes you have already are fine, converse go with everything. Let's go."

She pushed you toward the register, then out the doors and guided you towards the back entrance to the mall, stopping just outside the doors. She grinned, yanking the jeans from your bag.

“Don’t flip out.” She warned, grabbing the jeans by the waist and the end of the pant leg.

She pushed the toe of her boot to the fabric where the back of your knee would be and pressed it to the brick wall. She began rapidly sawing the jeans back and forth creating a distressed look. She tipped her head to you and offer the pants to you so you could do the other leg.

The act felt liberating, you’d never purposely destroyed brand new clothes before. Your movements were tentative at first, quickly escalating to something just shy of the force Marie had used. You let out a puff of air that blew your hair out of your face as you turned around to show her the pants.

She gave you an approving smile and tossed your bag over her shoulder, “Follow me, I’ve got some magazines and shit in my car you can have.”

“Magazines?” You questioned, bunching up the jeans in the crook of your arm to jog after her.

“Yeah, like for hair and makeup?” She laughed, headed toward a busted up black hatchback.

“Oh cool okay! Yeah I’d love that!” You giggled and clapped excitedly as she threw open the back seat’s door and ruffled through the mountain of discarded pop bottles, receipts and fast food bags.

“Ignore that.” she huffed when a grocery bag tied up with trash stuffed inside rolled out and onto the pavement.

She shoved the crinkled magazines into your shopping bag of clothes and picked up the trash bag and threw it behind her in her backseat, bumping the door shut with her hip.

“Thank you!” You threw your arms around her shoulders in a crushing hug that she wasn’t expecting, but quickly reciprocated.

“You got a pen in that purse?” She asked when you broke the embrace.

“Uh huh!” You nodded, easily finding it among the highly organized pockets and handed it to her.

She grabbed your wrist and wrote down her phone number, and pointing out the magazine was a subscription and had her address on it.

“I know you’ve got a little planner or address book or some shit like that.” She laughed.

“Yeah I do.” You blushed, smiling because she’d guessed correctly.

“Don’t forget to pencil me in okay babes?” She leaned in and gave you a cheek to cheek kiss like you’d seen people do in foreign films.

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#anakin smut #star wars anakin #anakin skywalker #anakin x reader #sw anakin #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin x you #star wars #darth vader #darth vader smut #darth vader x you #darth vader x reader #anakin fanfiction #anakin skywalker x you #anakin skywalker x reader smut #anakin skywalker fanfiction #the skywalker saga #star wars fanfiction #starwars fandom #skywalker family #fanfic

[it-happened-one-fic]

His Fake Date - Ruggie

Author Notes: I honestly hold the idea of Ruggie tricking himself into feelings via the whole fake dating scenario dear to me. It's probably why the only two fics I've written for Ruggie (this one and the Strictly NRC Dancing one) make use of this trope. And, now that I'm thinking about it, I should write more for Ruggie. With that said, this fic doesn't have a song inspiration and, as per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ fluff/ romantic/ slight pining

Word count: 1080

Ruggie had an understanding with you. You and him were the two poorest students at NRC and that was why the two of you had formed a sort of odd duo.

And it had all started with a simplistic bargain that Ruggie himself had come up with. 

Every time Sam’s offered a couple’s deal, the two of you would go and hit up his store as a fake couple.

True, it was a lie, but that hardly bothered Ruggie. After all, if Sam was going to have that sort of unfair sale at school filled to the brim with terminal bachelors and minimal couples, then Ruggie didn’t see how a little deceit could truly be viewed as wrong.

And then, lo and behold, Azul got the same sales idea. A couple deal. So Ruggie could see only one reasonable course of action. Collect his fake significant other and have a nice meal for their fake date. 

After all, it was your five-month anniversary.

The trickiest part of this whole scheme was actually selling the couple's gimmick. Your first run-through had been a disaster from start to finish, and you’d barely made it out of Sam’s with the goods. 

So your scheme has grown. Convince everyone, yes, everyone, that the two of you were a real couple. 

 Which was why Ruggie had started swinging by your class bearing random homemade gifts. Then he started studying with you. And then the two of you started having lunch together. And now, at long last, he’d spent almost all of the free time in his day just lounging around Ramshackle dorm, doing nothing more than chatting with you.

The two of you had gone from unlikely partners to fast friends. Now it wasn’t odd for you two to share a single lunch or a book, should you be studying. 

You’d come over to Savannaclaw simply to help him out, and he’d sometimes help you out with your dorm’s upkeep.

By now, there was only one person who knew the two of you weren’t the real deal. Leona. 

Ruggie didn’t know how he knew, but the eternally smug and sleepy lion beastman had figured out your gig in record time. And yes, he’d mocked it.

He even followed the two of you to Sam’s store when a sale would crop up to watch the two of you try once more to fool the shopkeeper. And though Sam didn’t believe the relationship was genuine, no matter how many sappy nicknames Ruggie sprinkled in, he also couldn’t refute it. 

Ruggie assumed that was why Leona followed along. Simply to watch in amusement as Ruggie steamrolled his way into a pretty hefty sale before sauntering out of the store with you on his arm.

But Leona was also the reason Ruggie knew things were getting out of hand.

It had been a seemingly normal day, with you chipping in and helping out with the laundry. You’d both been laughing and folding Leona’s clothes before you had bid both the housewarden and your fake boyfriend a warm farewell.

Ruggie had waved you out with a smile, unaware of any risk, until he turned and spotted Leona grinning all too smugly at him. That was how he knew something was amiss.

And Leona hadn’t made him wait for it. Instead, the smug lion simply reclined back on his bed. Presumably getting ready to take yet another nap, but managing to squeeze in one final amused comment, “You know, if I didn’t know better, I might actually buy you and the herbivore were the real deal now.”

Those words had given Ruggie pause. 

No, they’d given him more than a pause. They’d given him a full-on stop that had him having to seek the refuge of his room to think this all out.

You and him…. The real deal?

The young man couldn’t deny that it was a rather nice thought that definitely gave him the warm fuzzies.

But when had it reached this point? When had he gone from totally faking the relationship to possibly having an inkling of a feeling for you? Ruggie could feel the frown decorating his face as he called himself out on his own crap while simultaneously walking back to his room.

Inkling of a feeling? More like an all-out crush on his fake date.

He’d gone from scamming the businessmen around NRC to quite literally scamming himself into feelings. And now he was in deep.

And what was worse was that it had taken Leona pointing it out for him to notice! How long had he been flirting around with you and actually meaning it?

The very thought of calling you ‘Pumpkin’ now was all but mortifying.

A soft knock on his door had him perking up, his ears lifting slightly as he called out, “Yeah?”

His door opened, revealing you standing there with a slightly sheepish smile, “Hey, sorry about this. I totally forgot I was wearing your bandana thingie.”

You held out the yellow fabric with an embarrassed smile that had him grinning slightly because he recalled exactly what had happened. He’d looped it around you while laughing about how he couldn’t let his ‘Pumpkin’ catch cold from the chilly breeze that had been coming in through Leona’s massive window.

A cheesy moment that Ruggie now regretted every second of. And even so, he found himself taking your hands and curling your fingers back over his bandana as you looked up at him wide-eyed. 

“Keep it. You’ll get cold on the way home if you don’t, and I’ve got more,” He managed a bright grin despite how horribly mushy he felt as you blinked up at him in silent surprise.

“Are you sure?” A tiny part of him died at your question. 

Yes, he was sure. Please don’t question why he was letting you take something of his, which he would normally never do, and please don’t read into it.

But despite panicking internally, Ruggie managed to play it cool. He was a first-rate scammer after all, and that took acting talent.

“Yeah, I’ll just filch another one from Leona’s closet. And what kind of boyfriend would I be if I let my love get chilled,” He let out a snicker and you smiled. Relaxing immediately as you bought his excuse.

After just another brief moment, you left once more with his scarf in tow, and he let out a sigh.

Falling for his fake date….. Well, it could certainly be worse.

#briarvalleyarchives #Twisted wonderland imagines #Ruggie x reader #ruggie bucchi #Twisted wonderland x reader #gender-neutral reader #fluff #romantic #fanfiction #mywritings #it-happened-one-fic #Disney TW #twst #Ruggie x you #Ruggie x y/n #Twisted wonderland x you #Twisted wonderland x y/n #twst x reader #twst x you #twst x y/m #Disney #fake relationship #fake to real #savannaclaw #fanfic

[alexsoenomel]

Dreamy Skirts (Sam Winchester x Reader Smut)

Summary: Sam likes you in your skirt so a night out turns into something cheeky.

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Warnings: oral sex

Word count: 1504

Note: This was a dream I had when I was 18. Enjoy! Like/reblog or both if you like it! :)

“I think I’m going to like it here.” Sam said excited while putting his bag and backpack on the bedroom floor.

It was summer and after he and his brother almost got killed on a hunt you decided enough was enough. You needed a break from everything. Nothing bad was happening in your area so you decided to take a trip to Miami. You planed the whole thing just the three of you. Hotel by the beach with great food and even found Dean a separate room which made him very happy. You and Sam tend to be….loud, sometimes.

“I think so too.” You smiled.

“Perfect time to catch up on my reading.”

“Just how many books have you brought with you Sam?” You asked knowing his book worm tendencies.

“Maybe, possibly 3?” He said looking down shyly.

You smiled remembering how you liked watching him read, the way he would get lost in the book made you happy more than the words can explain. You got closer to him wrapping your hands around his body pulling him into a tight hug. His hands rested on your back drawing small cycles on it.

“I love you. Thank you for convicting me to go on this vacation with you. I need it.”

“I love you too. And I know you do. I was worried about you. Sometimes I really hate being a hunter. ”

He smiled. “I know.”

Day one you slept in. Neither swimming nor going out, you were dead tired from the drive, so you spent in bed talking about life and eating junk food. Dean on the other hand had other things to do….like get laid.

Day two on the other hand was different. Unforgettable. After spending the whole day on the beach you wanted to go out and have a drink. Sam on the other hand wanted to go to bed at 9pm.

“But I’m tired.” He said. “And don’t really want to drink.”

“Pretty please?” You made a sad puppy dog face hoping he would surrender.

“We spend all day swimming  where do you find the energy?” He asked and got under the covers on his side of the bed. He was wearing his black boxers and a white shirt aka his pajamas.  

“I always have the energy for alcohol.” You simply said. “Come on it will be fun…plus…” You got closer to him and kissed his cheek. “I will wear something nice for you.” You whispered into his ear sending shivers down his spine.

“You are making this very hard for me (Y/N).” 

“That’s the point genius.” You lowered your lips onto his neck feeling him breathe nervously. “Oh come on.”

“If I go now, tomorrow I want to just sit by the pool and read.” He finally said.

“Deal tomorrow will be our book club day.”

“Fine.” He got up, took his clothes from his bag and went towards the bathroom to get ready.

“Love you.” You said.

“I know you do.” You heard him say.

While he was in the bathroom you took the time to get ready. You decided a black high waisted skirt and a white crop top was the way to go. You didn’t wear skirts but when you did (some cases demanded a more classy wardrobe choices) you would always catch Sam staring and undressing you with his eyes while licking those god damn perfect lips of his. Teasing him to get what you want was your favorite pastime. The fact was you have always been a shy girl with so little confidence, but being with Sam gave you something you never knew you had, freedom. It was freeing to know you could do anything you wanted and make the first steps without getting judged or criticized. As you were about to do your makeup in front of the mirror that was near the bed you shared, Sam finished with the bathroom. He decided to wear pants and a flannel shirt. Classic Winchester.  When he entered the room he saw you getting lost in your makeup bag looking for god knows what. He stood there leaning on door frame looking at you and thinking how beautiful you looked and how no other human being had made him feel the way you did. He was lost in your beauty and fragileness in that very moment, but he also thought how sexy you looked in that skirt and how he suddenly had an urge to be underneath it making you moan his name over and over again.

Suddenly he wrapped his strong arms around your small frame and started kissing your neck which he knew it was your weakest link. You put your eyeliner on the table as soon as you felt his lips on your skin. You smirked looking at the mirror.

“So you are not tired after all?” You teased.

“I don’t think I am anymore.” He said between kisses.

“I need to put on some make up I want to look good for you.”

His hand traveled up in your skirt feeling your delicate skin of your inner thigh on his fingertips. A sigh escaped from your lips. Oh how you liked when he did that.

“You don’t need makeup.” His hand moved between your legs causing you to moan a little. “You are perfect without it.”  Sam’s confidence had always been a huge turn on for you. Suddenly you weren’t in the mood for drinks anymore.

“What has gotten into you Sammy?” You asked seductively biting your lip. “Is it the skirt?”

“Maybe…”He smirked. His hand was still underneath your skirt, slowly rubbing you through your panties. You got on your tiptoes and moaned even louder this time. “I really like it.”

“I’m glad you do.” You managed to say as you turned to face him. You place the tip of your index finger on his lips feeling its wetness and warmth. “So no drinks tonight then?”

“Seems like it.”

“Perfect.” You said and kissed him. He kissed back with no hesitation, with even more passion and fire making your body ache for him. You became needy and vulnerable under his touch. Breaking the kiss you took his hand and sat on the edge of the bed pulling him closer to him for another kiss. He bit your lower lip instantly knowing you would whimper as he pushed you down on the bed. He was right, you did whimper a little. You always do. You moved upwards onto the bed while Sam was on top of you balancing himself with his elbows. You took the shirt off with ease showing off your white bra as Sam watched you closely like you were an art form. When you tried to take of your skirt he stopped you.

“Don’t.”

“Sammy do you actually have a thing for my skirts? Because I have seen you stare multiple times.”

“I’m guilty. I can’t help it.”

“God I love you.” You said feeling like the luckiest person alive. And you indeed were.

“Likewise (Y/N)” Sam smiled and started to kiss your neck again. You tugged on his gorgeous locks of hair while his hand went underneath your skirt again. His kisses moved on your collar bones then between your breasts making you weak and needy while his hand worked the same magic again making you wet by the minute. When his mouth was close to the hem of your skirt he stopped to look at you. You were panting from just his kisses looking at the blank ceiling. He smirked and moved his head between your legs and you lost him. Suddenly he took off your panties. Dear Lord….

A few seconds passed and you could feel your body coming alive from all that pleasure he was giving you with his tongue.

“Sammy…” You moaned. “Fuck.”

The pleasure kept building up until you found yourself moaning uncontrollably. “I THINK I’M GONNA-“

And you did. Stood up on his knees between your legs with his chin shining. He took off your skirt and whipped himself clean before he kissed you again.

His clothes soon after went on the floor and your hands were all over his skin. You flipped him at one point so you were now on top of him kissing and biting him more than you should. You were such a tease sometimes. He was in his boxers so you took the chance to feel his hardness…

“What’s that?” You suddenly asked.

“What?”

“That song? Are you serious?” You laughed.

Someone played Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. You thought for a second it came from the outside but the truth was it was your alarm. Your little paradise disappeared and you woke up all hot and bothered. It was Monday and time for work. You were still single and Sam still wasn’t real.

“Are you fucking serious?!” You whispered angrily and turned the alarm off forcing yourself back to sleep. Fuck work. Fuck everything...for like 5 more minutes.

Mondays were truly great.

#sam winchester #sammy winchester #sam and dean #sam x y/n #sam x you #sam winchester x you #sam winchester x y/n #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x reader fluff #sam winchester x smut #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fic #supernatural fluff #supernatural smut #spn #spn fluff #spn drabble #spn fic #spn fanfic #spn smut #supernatural drabble

[quinloki]

Kinktober 2023 - Day 7

Nothing says love like being... Caught.

Character: Penguin Reader: cisfem Warnings: manual masturbation, caught in the act, pet names, praise, 18+

Summary: You've kept your desire for Penguin a secret since joining the Heart Pirates. There's just more important things to worry about, but your body keeps driving you to distraction, so you find hidden places on the submarine to handle business privately.

So you intended, at least. -:- 1160 words

Click

You couldn’t get your crew-mate out of your head. Nothing was doing the trick, and you didn’t even know how to bring up your dilemma to anyone.

You couldn’t ask the Captain for help, he’d been friends with Penguin for years. Before the Heart Pirates were even officially the Heart Pirates. It would simply be too weird. You considered going to Ikkaku, but if she knew you had the hots for a fellow crew-mate she wouldn’t let it go.

You were certain that it was okay for you to have your crush, and that if it became more then that would be okay as well. What held you back mostly was that it felt like something small and silly compared to everything else.

The captain had big plans, and everyone’s primary concern was making sure those plans came to fruition.

A little thing like a crush was just… not important.

Important or not though, it was distracting, and you needed to do what you could to mitigate that distraction. So here you were, tucked away in a corner behind one of the bigger, but cooler, broilers in the engine room, taking advantage of the only moment you had alone on the ship.

Hands pulled inside your uniform, you were leaning against the wall, fingers teasing your clit. Back here no one would question you coming back out covered in sweat, so it was good cover.

Your mind wandered a little. You imagined that Penguin was behind you and not the wall. He was built solid, just like the rest of the crew, uniform pulled down in the heat of the room, reaching between your legs, and praising you softly. You were his best girl in your fantasy, moaning quietly, and whimpering his name as he teased you, bringing his “good girl” to a satisfying climax for all her hard work.

Pleasure was building up in you, your eyes rolling back a little as you relished the idea of having him bring you over the edge one day. You wanted to cry for him, whine for him – tell him how wet he made you. Anything, everything. He was so sweet, but you hoped he could be every bit as stern and forceful as the captain.

“P-penguin, puh-please…” You gasp the words softly, chasing your pleasure carefully. It wouldn’t do to scream in euphoria and alert the whole bloody ship.

You brace your legs, his name tumbling from your lips again. You’re so close. You want more, you want him to just hold you down and rail you until you can’t think anymore.

“Oh.”

Your eyes snap open and you see Penguin standing at the edge of the boiler, eyes wide, face quickly turning red. Your boiler suit is still zipped up, but there’s no mistaking what you were doing. You were caught, and by the absolute last person you wanted to be caught by.

You look away, embarrassment making your entire body ache.

“… I… heard my name.” He says, looking back over his shoulder before turning back toward you. He steps over the lip, coming into your little space.

“Sorry.” Your voice is small, and you take a step back. “I… um. I’m sorry.”

“What for?” He questions and you turn to look at him finally. He’s pulled his hat off, kind eyes smiling at you. His face is pink to his ears, dark cropped hair framing his face. “I’m not upset.”

“It… seemed rude. I did-didn’t want you to know.” You explain, starting to shift away from him again.

He moves quickly, hand on the wall by your head, stopping you from moving away. His hat drops to the floor as he covers his face for a moment, letting out a soft sigh.

“I won’t force you,” he says, looking away for a moment. “But, I’d… like to help.” He looks at you. “If that’s okay.”

“H-help?” You’re almost certain you know what he’s referring to, but it almost seems impossible.

His gaze shifts down to your thighs and then back up to your eyes. You can feel the blood rush through your body. He was nice, always nice, but he was also a pirate. A hunter. A predator. A fighter. Right now you were a little less a crewmate and perhaps a little more of a target, in all honesty.

“You were so close you didn’t even hear me.” He says it evenly, leaning a little closer, eyes shifting from yours to your neck. “I like you too much to leave you hanging like that.”

Language failed you. You made a few confused sounds and could feel Penguin trying not to laugh. He gave you a moment before nuzzling against your cheek a little.

“Let me kiss you,” he says softly, brushing his hand through your hair. “Please.”

You nod, but before you can move your arms Penguin holds them in place. “It’s okay.” He assures you, pressing in closer. “Keep doing what you were doing before.”

“I-I-um, that’s -.” You stammer almost uncontrollably. This was a little like launching yourself into the deep end of the pool, and you weren’t against it, but maybe not quite ready for it.

“Your uniform’s closed, it’s okay.” His lips are a breath away from yours. “I can’t see anything, don’t be embarrassed.”

“That’s not how that works,” you nearly whimper the words, fingers already moving against your clit again. You know he knows what you're doing, since your arms are flexing under his hold on them.

“Good girl,” he purrs and you nearly cum on the spot. The desperate cry that escapes you is devoured by Penguin’s lips quickly. The heavy kiss pushes into you as he presses himself against you a little. You’re trapped between him and the wall, with enough room to continue pleasuring yourself, and little else.

His breath is hot and heavy against your skin as he pulls the top of your boiler suit open just enough to kiss along your neck and shoulders after your initial moans settle down. A gloved hand goes over your mouth as he leaves bruising kisses against your skin. Pleasure echoes against your ribs as your body starts to tremble.

Penguin braces himself against you, holding you up against the wall as your orgasm crashes into your body. His name slips from your mouth, breaking against his glove and replaced by a loud moan as he leaves a harsh hickey on your neck.

He licks your skin as you come down from your high, almost breathing as heavy as you are.

“I could listen to those sounds for hours.” He says, voice quiet and breathy. He tugs on the zipper of your boiler suit, clicking it down slowly, almost tooth by tooth.

“Everyone’s gone ashore.” Click, click, click.

“I was coming down to tell you,” click. “That I drew the short straw,” click, click. “And you could leave, but…” Click.

Click. “No one else is here to hear you.”

Click.

#Release the Quin #Kinktober 2023 #x reader #reader insert #penguin one piece

[kkpwnall]

wine & dine

or: the quickest way to a man’s heart (and parts beyond)

((edit: now on ao3))

[ @corrodedcoughin laid down a reverse uno card, and i am extremely susceptible to gentle persuasion. i know you asked for headcanons, but apparently i have lots of thoughts about eddie taking a cooking class to wine and dine steve so this one got a bit away from me. anyway, hope you like it, and hope your day got better. ]

“Shit!”

Steve’s steps up the trailer stairs falter when he hears Eddie’s shout. He balances a tray of cupcakes and a bouquet of red daisies in one hand and knocks on the door.

“Fuck!” Eddie shouts again, followed by a loud banging and clanging.

“Eddie?” Steve knocks again. He’s been here often enough since they started dating that he knows he doesn’t have to knock, that he’s welcome to just walk right in. But it’s their date night, and he wants to do this right.

More banging, more clanging, more cursing. Then the alarm starts. That’s enough for Steve.

“Eddie!” He bursts through the door and skids to a stop halfway to the kitchenette. The trailer is full of smoke and Eddie is right in the middle of it, waving a dish towel in front of the screaming smoke detector. Steve drops the cupcakes and the flowers on the small kitchen table and grabs a flaming pan of… something off the burner, moving it to one of the empty burners further back on the range and cutting the gas.

Eddie gives up trying to fan the smoke away, and climbs up on the counter to rip the alarm out of the ceiling instead. Steve grabs his abandoned towel and flings open the kitchen window, fanning the smoke out as Eddie manages to get the thing off the ceiling without bringing the tiles crashing down on their heads.

He rips the batteries out of the back of it and turns to look at Steve, panting like he’s run a marathon. Eddie’s thighs are eye level with Steve, who has to drag his eyes up and away from his favorite gray sweatpants, the ones that always make him a little crazy, past the old sleeveless band shirt cropped above Eddie’s waist, to finally look up at him. Eddie’s curls are spilling loose from the bun he’d tied them up in, framing his flushed face and wild eyes.

“You’re early,” is all he says, looking Steve up and down. He suddenly feels over-dressed, standing there in the middle of the tiny kitchen with his maroon button down securely tucked into his best pressed khakis. He even wore the leather shoes with the little tassels on them.

Steve tugs self-consciously at his shirt and looks around the kitchen. “It’s date night,” he says simply. “Thought I'd see if you needed any help with dinner.”

It looks like Eddie’s used every dish in the house. Twice. He’s crouched on the kitchen counter now, looking like a wild animal that might bolt at any sudden movements. Steve slowly reaches out a hand and tucks some of those stray curls behind Eddie’s ear. “Seems like you’ve got it handled though.”

Eddie sighs and flops down so he’s sitting on the counter. He puts his head in his hands and mumbles, “this isn’t how this was supposed to go.”

“What are you talking about? I’m here, you’re here, you made us…” he looks over at the softly smoldering pan, trying to figure out what exactly Eddie’s been making, “dinner? Sounds like the perfect date night to me.”

Eddie just groans and shakes his head, hiding behind his hands and his hair.

“C’mon, it’s not that bad, it’s only a little burnt. We can still salvage it.” He throws the towel on his shoulder, and unbuttons his cuffs, starts to roll up his sleeves. “What are we having?”

“Beef stroganoff,” Eddie mumbles through his hands.

“If you’re going for medium well, I think it’s done.”

Eddie just groans. “Steve…”

“Hey, hey,” Steve puts his hands on Eddie’s wrists, gently pulling them away from his face.

Eddie looks close to tears. Steve brushes Eddie’s bangs out of his eyes with one hand and cups his cheek with the other. “I’m sorry. You just surprised me, I didn’t know you could cook like this. I thought we were gonna have Macaroni a la Eddie tonight.”

Eddie makes a face, and looks away, mumbling something so quietly, Steve wouldn’t have known he’d said anything if he didn’t see his lips move. Steve dodges down and around, trying to catch Eddie’s gaze again as he plays keep-away with his eyes.

“Didn’t catch that, Eds.”

Eddie sighs dramatically and half shouts, “I’ve been taking a cooking class down at the learning annex!”

“Oh…” that pulls Steve up short. That’s time, that’s effort, that’s… serious.

“The head chef at Enzo’s has a class every Thursday night, and it went fine when I made it there! I don’t know what happened tonight!”

“Well there’s your problem, you’ve got an Italian chef teaching you a German recipe.”

“Pretty sure it’s Russian, dude,” Eddie says with a roll of his eyes. “And it’s not just Italian, she teaches a different recipe every week.”

“Ok so, let’s figure this out. Where’s the recipe?”

Eddie looks around and fishes out a slightly singed, very crumpled piece of paper from under the corner of the cutting board with a half-chopped onion on it. It’s less a recipe and more doodles and half-written thoughts in Eddie’s chicken-scratch. Some of the ingredients don’t even have a measurement next to them, just ‘brandy,’ ‘Worcestershire,’ ‘beef’. Nothing like how Steve bakes, with everything carefully measured out and plotted before he even starts mixing.

It also becomes rapidly apparent that Eddie doesn’t have half the ingredients the recipe calls for, as Eddie directs Steve from his perch on the counter, translating his hieroglyphic scrawl and making substitutions on the fly. But together they manage to cobble together something that might resemble a technical definition of beef stroganoff. It’s got beef at least, all the burnt parts scraped off, and noodles. Steve figures it’s close enough.

Eddie rinses out an old coffee grounds can to put the flowers in while Steve plates their dinner. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve catches Eddie holding the bouquet to his nose, a soft smile on his face.

When they sit down at the scratched and dented and much-loved table, Eddie quickly scarfs down several bites. He chews thoughtfully and makes a face. Steve’s barely got the fork halfway to his mouth when Eddie whisks his plate away and throws the whole thing in the garbage can.

“Hey, I was eating that!”

“No, you’re not,” Eddie says fiercely. “You’re not getting poisoned tonight.”

Steve takes the bite on his fork defiantly and stares Eddie down as he chews. It’s somehow both over-cooked and underdone. He chews and chews and eventually swallows, and does not make a face.

Eddie stares back, hands on his hips, working his jaw back and forth. Steve twirls his fork in the air. “I came hungry tonight. I’ll eat it out of the trash can, don’t tempt me.”

He holds Eddie’s gaze for a beat longer, then he’s up and out of his chair, pivoting around Eddie like he’s on the basketball court. He just manages to stick his fork in the trash can before Eddie jumps on his back.

“At least let me get the plates out of there!”

“No!”

They wrestle for a few minutes, knocking things off the counter, and making a bigger mess than the one Steve walked in on tonight. Eddie grapples for his hands, but Steve’s arms are longer so he gives up and puts his hands over Steve’s eyes, making him stumble backwards into the refrigerator. The cereal boxes on top fall off as Eddie gives a small “ooft” and slides off his back.

Steve whirls around and pins Eddie to the fridge with his hands on his hips. His lips find Eddie’s and he kisses him fiercely, already breathless. Eddie holds out for a moment, just for a beat, then he winds his arms around Steve’s shoulders and sinks his hands into Steve’s hair with a deep sigh. His mouth parts and Steve deepens the kiss, titling his head just so, tongues brushing, hot, desperate, feverish. He drags his hands slowly up Eddie’s waist, toying with the raw edge of his cropped shirt, thumbing over his ribs. Just as slowly, he drags his hands back down, plucking at the waistband of those stupid sweatpants. He breaks the kiss to trail his lips along Eddie’s jaw, down his neck. He drags his tongue over Eddie’s collarbone and scrapes his teeth over the spot where his neck meets his shoulder.

“Why have you been taking cooking classes?” Steve breathes into his neck, trailing his nose back up under his ear.

“Don’t make me say it…” Eddie says with a groan.

“Eddie…” He sinks his teeth into Eddie’s pulse point, and soothes the bite with his tongue.

Eddie growls, he actually growls. Steve feels it rumble from Eddie’s throat under his lips as Eddie gently tugs on his hair in frustration. It sends a thrill of electricity straight down Steve’s spine, making him press closer. “Because I wanted to learn how to make fancy recipes for you! You deserve better than box mac and cheese!”

Steve pulls back, just slightly, just enough to see Eddie’s eyes, just enough so Eddie knows he’s serious.

“I love box mac and cheese. Especially when you cut up the little hotdogs to put in it? With the hot sauce? That’s what makes it Macaroni a la Eddie.”

“You’re Steve Harrington,” Eddie says desperately, “you deserve to be wined and dined. And I—”

“Hey,” Steve says, squeezing Eddie’s hips in his hands, shaking them gently. “You’re Eddie Munson, if anyone deserves to be wined and dined it’s you. I’ll get dressed up and take you out every night. Candlelight, roses, you name it.” He can’t resist, doesn’t even try to resist, diving back in for another kiss, gently dancing his fingers from Eddie’s hips to his waist, then smoothing them back down. “I’ll hold your hand and shout about it from the rooftops. ‘I’m dating Eddie Munson and we’re more in love than you’ll ever be!’”

“Always a competition with you jocks,” Eddie rolls his eyes and grouches, but his tone is fond.

“It is, and I’m winning.” Steve pecks a kiss on Eddie’s nose.

Eddie catches his lips, draws him back down for another kiss. It’s less frantic but just as heated. Until Steve’s stomach growls and Eddie breaks away laughing.

“I wasn’t lying when I said I came hungry,” Steve laughs, pressing his forehand against Eddie’s.

“Yeah, well… sorry I messed up dinner. I think my cheffing days are over. Glad you like box macaroni, ‘cause that’s all we’re having from here on out.”

“No way,” Steve says, shaking his head. “I just got used to fancy home cooking, I need to taste your other recipes. And you need a sous chef.”

Eddie looks at him skeptically. “Steve, I almost burnt down the trailer tonight, you really want to try that again?”

“Absolutely,” Steve says immediately, kissing him lightly again.

Eddie still doesn’t look convinced though, so Steve says, “let’s make a deal, ok? You can experiment as much as you want in the kitchen, try anything at any time, as long as you let me help. And, if it’s truly inedible, which I do not for a single second believe is possible, I’ll buy us a pizza. Deal?”

Eddie’s eyes flick between both of Steve’s as he thinks it over. He bites his lip and nods. “Deal.”

“Good,” Steve kisses him again, sealing the deal. He pulls Eddie away from the fridge and nudges him towards his bedroom with a wink. “Go get changed, we’ve got a date tonight.”

Eddie laughs, “what, you don’t like the sweatpants?”

“I love the sweatpants,” Steve says with feeling. “Which is why you need to get changed right now. Otherwise I won’t be able to keep my hands off you for the rest of our date.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sweetheart,” Eddie says with a cheeky wink of his own.

Steve playfully slaps at his ass and starts looking for the phone book. “The Works?”

“No olives,” Eddie reminds him.

“Extra olives, got it,” Steve says, picking up the phone.

Eddie sticks his tongue out at him, backing away towards his room.

Steve quickly dials the number and fumbles through the order. They’ve got at least thirty minutes before the delivery shows up. If he hurries, maybe he can take those sweatpants off with his teeth.

#steddie #steddie fanfic #steveddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things fanfic #stranger things #red daisies for devotion #idefk what happened here #obviously not beta read #barely even spell checked #i just disassociated into my notes app and… #it’s been a terrible day and i just needed some fluff #it's angst hours in my wip so nobody's having a good time rn #so here's 2k words i *didn't* write on my wip today #kk writes #cringe and free #writing #do i dare post this on ao3? #idk i’ve never posted there before #i usually just share the doc with friends #anyway it’s one in the morning and i have to work a double tomorrow so i’m just going to yeet this out on the dash and go to bed

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day Twenty-Three - Prompt: Cropped @rosekiller-microfic

March Daily Series - 972 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

Barty allowed himself a full thirty-six hours of recovery before returning to The Ink Spot. He was sore, but mobile. That was enough.

When he stepped in the door, Emmeline loudly snorted and promptly covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. She knew what he was doing, as did anyone else that cared to pay attention. Every time someone else worked on him, Evan became a little more unhinged. He was possessive as fuck over his clients and Barty was counting on that playing in his favour.

“What now?” Evan grumbled. His stall was the first one past the waiting room, so he had a front row seat to Barty’s nonsense.

“Morning, Em,” Barty said cheerfully. He flashed a bright smile at her and she winked conspiratorially. It was unlikely that she knew the details of any of this, she simply enjoyed the game at Evan’s expense. “Anyone available?”

“Fuck.”

Emmeline hummed an amused little tune as she scanned her list. “If you’re willing to wait about an hour? I can squeeze you in.”

“For fuck’s sake, Emmeline. Just tell him ‘no’ for once,” Evan hissed.

She ignored him and gestured at the chairs. “Settle in.”

Barty moved carefully through the maze of outstretched legs and eased into a chair near the front window. He would be on his best behaviour today. That was sure to drive Evan mad. If he couldn’t hear him, he’d be more likely to check on him, which meant that he would spend the entire hour thinking about him. It was a sound plan.

Unless he decides to strangle me. Very possible alternative.

This would probably have been counterproductive with anyone else, but with Evan, stubborn determination tended to pay off. Not always, but often enough.

He focused on the second half of his plan. This part required more finesse, which was not his forte. Barty typed his message, deleted the first half, typed it again, then deleted it entirely. He leaned forward and rubbed his forehead.

How can I make things right with Pandora without addressing Regulus first? And how do I do that?

This was the part of his plan that he was least confident in. Evan probably wouldn’t really take him back unless he made amends, but Barty had burned those bridges with a fucking flamethrower.

There has to be a way. I have to find a way before Evan moves on.

Barty wracked his brain for ideas. Nothing seemed to go far enough to make up for cheating on Reg. At least not when he was trying to avoid the appearance of pursuing him. That would be a dangerous proposition. He wasn’t a moron. Evan would murder him if Pandora and Dorcas didn’t get the job done first.

While scrolling Instagram for inspiration, he landed on Sirius’s profile. Among the lot of them, Sirius was the only one who hadn’t blocked him yet. Although, that was likely because he’d never interacted with Sirius online before. If he tried it, chances were good he’d be blocked by him too.

Idly, he flipped through Sirius’s photos. There were several of a tall bloke, a redhead, and a brawny man with glasses, but few of the people Barty recognised. Pandora was in one and Regulus was in two. Then, he landed on one with the brawny man and Regulus together.

Hold on, I know him. He’s friends with Peter.

Barty searched Sirius’s profile for the short, heavyset bloke with close-cropped hair that he’d run into at the club in Scotland. He hadn’t connected Peter to Sirius at the time, but it couldn’t be a coincidence that this Latino fellow was friends with both and for one not to know the other. Peter was friendly enough and asked if he had any weed to sell, so he’d sold it to him. The shorter bloke had chattered like a magpie the entire time, but the brawny man just loomed behind him like a security guard.

“There you are,” he muttered to himself. “Peter. Peter, hmm. How are you connected, mate?”

After a few minutes of deliberation, Barty opened Peter’s profile. He was some sort of business lackey. No wonder he needed the weed. His profile wasn’t extensive, but his DMs were open. Barty decided to give it a go. The worst that could happen is that Peter told him to piss off.

Met you at the club in Edinburgh a few weeks back and realised we know the same people. I fucked things up with a friend or two and want to apologise. Mind offering some advice? I’d make it worth your while.

-Barty (grass distributor extraordinaire)

Within minutes, he had a response:

Vaguely remember you, but your weed was top quality. Who are we talking about?

Barty hurriedly responded:

Regulus and Pandora. We used to be close, but I fucked it up and I’m trying to make amends.

There was a longer pause this time, but eventually Peter replied:

Are you the one who showed up in Wales?

Fuck. If Peter knew about his dust-up with Pandora in Wales, it was unlikely that he’d help now. Barty considered lying, but figured the truth was easier to defend.

Yeah, I was off it. Part of what I want to apologise for, actually.

Peter responded with a curt dismissal that Barty absolutely deserved:

Sounds like a you problem.

Well, fuck.”

Barty knew it was a long shot, but he had to try. The reality was harder to swallow, but easier to accept. He’d promised not to approach Pandora or Regulus directly, and he didn’t even know how to contact Dorcas, so that left Evan. Somehow, he had to win Evan back without fixing things. That should blow up in his face in approximately three days.

Next Part>>>

#barty crouch jr x evan rosier #evan x barty #barty x evan #evan rosier #barty crouch junior #barty jr #barty crouch jr #slytherin skittles #marauders era #rosekiller microfic #rosekiller

[asherisawkward]

I've heard some say that Belos is a boring villain because he only relies on religion, his god complex, angst, and trauma to keep the audience invested and lacks development. Do you believe that to be true?

There are factors of this that I both agree with and disagree with.

Prepare for another essay, because you triggered:

I am so sorry for rambling like this.

Philip is a fairly static character throughout the series, as most of his development occurred off screen in the past. So, I can understand why some people think he’s boring, but I find it really interesting in the way his behaviors and even lies reveal information about him.

Let’s start with the religion. Philip is an extremely devout person. He spent almost four hundred in what he believed to be Hell to save humanity from evil. But the way he uses the Titan as a manner to control people is indicative of what his life was like back on Gravesfield.

Puritan beliefs could be more described as the following: humans are born sinful and impure, you must devote your life to a strict set of standards and rules to try to make God happy, everyone is born predetermined to go to Heaven or Hell but will not know until after death, and death is the ultimate punishment for Adam’ and Eve’s sin. They also took great care in analyzing everything around them for signs of God’s pleasure or displeasure.

How much are those beliefs echoed in the cult he created on the Isles?

Philip absolutely has a God Complex, made clear by his repeated creation and termination of the Grimwalkers in an attempt to create the “perfect” Caleb. By doing that, he is claiming that God himself made his brother wrong and that he can do better. If that isn’t ego, I don’t know what is.

However, I’ve noticed a certain amount of behavior that could come across as self loathing or even an inferiority complex. Often, these behaviors are seen together with god/superiority complexes masking the insecurities that lie beneath.

The first evidence of this occurs when we see his face for the first time. Not the scar, but his ears. Many noted (correctly) that they were too small to be witch ears and looked more like cropped human ears. As we later find out, Philip cut parts of his ears off to blend in more thoroughly with BI society. He likely didn’t even need to do this due to the t of illusion stones (like the Blight twins use) that can modify his appearance. Alternatively, he could have simply covered his ears with his hair. Some braids or a specific hairstyle could have done the trick, but he chose to permanently scar himself.

Later, when we confirm the connection of Belos being Philip, we also find out that he carved glyphs on his arms to utilize magic. Once again, he could have stuck with his staff, as it doesn’t require such measures to utilize (see: Hunter and the other Grimwalkers), but he still chose to do something permanent and harmful to himself.

We can see this come to a head in a particularly dangerous move: consuming Palismen. This was likely never done before due to the taboo on harming a witch’s bond with them. And Philip decided he would crack one open and absorb its magic. It could have killed him! It was part of the reason why he was cursed. Those are serious consequences, and yet he continued for centuries, making his curse worse and worse like an addiction to drugs.

Also, remember what he said at the end of Elsewhere and Elsewhen? “It doesn’t matter. I just need to live long enough to see this through.” Those are not the words of someone who values his life. In fact, that statement has led me to believe that he didn’t intend on living in the Human Realm after the Day of Unity. I think he intended to die there so he wouldn’t be trapped in the place he hated forever.

Now for the fun parts: angst and trauma.

I sometimes feel that he’s made more overtly cruel than he probably would be at times in order to drive home the point that he’s evil, and I can understand that. However, Philip’s behavior towards the Grimwalkers was likely based on a mixture of him being a shit person, displacement theory, and the standards of punishment/child rearing he was used to.

From a storytelling standpoint, he’s incredibly useful as a driving force for multiple characters, and that makes him intriguing.

But here’s another detail I noticed: Philip considered the making of his Grimwalkers one of his worst memories. In Kings Tide, we see the paintings of him meeting his brother with Evelyn, Caleb’s body after the fight, and the first Grimwalker being made. And it’s that last one where Philip finally loses it.

The process of making Grimwalkers was incredibly traumatic for him, and the fact that he engaged in this behavior continuously over more than three hundred years indicates some form of emotional self harm. He forces himself to go through the stress and effort of painstakingly making and raising these beings to be the way he wants them to be. And they fail every single time. He even begins branding them to show that he intends for them to die, no matter what.

So what is the point of that? Why would he do that?

He’s cultivating the emotions he experienced when he lost his brother—the event that drove him to hold the goal of genocide instead of simply getting Caleb home. He has to keep doing this or he’ll lose the ability to stay motivated and continue his goal.

It’s incredibly tragic, and it implies he’s tired, that he wants it to be over.

Then again, considering that most of this is my over-analysis and not actually stated in canon, I may just be falling into the exact trap you suggested.

To conclude, Philip Wittebane is a character whose motivations for his actions and beliefs are largely implied as opposed to outright stated, and it can make him difficult to enjoy as a character. The majority of those who like him tend to either like his surface attributes/aesthetic or the depth that could have been revealed through scrutinization.

#Philip Wittebane #Emperor Belos #mentioned Grimwalkers #The Owl House #TOH #analysis #There is so much wrong with him #Opinion #Trigger warning: self harm #Trigger warning: lack of care for life or suicide ideation #Trigger warning: murder #Trigger warning: abuse

[tiziesdrafts]

[valley girl delusion]

Pairing: Percy x Annabeth, established.

Summary: Annabeth is new to Goode High & valley girls cause trouble.

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: None, no beta, just your typical ‘mean girl wants Percy & treats Annabeth like shit’

Notes: This is my first fanfic so don’t expect a masterpiece lmao, I tried to make Annabeth’s appearance as ominous as possible so that you can imagine any Annabeth.

Weaponry? check. Armory? check. Ambrosia? already in the bag. Annabeth was ready to go to the fiery depths of Tartarus and beat any monster who would come across her, or so it seemed. In reality, she was just getting ready to attend her first day of school at Goode High. Maybe it seemed as if she was doing too much, but a girl had to be ready for anything. Plus, she’d already heard Percy’s thoughts on high school before and how chaotic it got at times, and she just wanted to be prepared.

The curly haired girl put on a simple outfit, comfortable jeans and a pink hoodie that she stole from Percy. She did her skincare routine, ate breakfast and then hurried out of her house as she was running late for school. Had I not been searching for my dagger, I wouldn’t be sprinting my way to school - She thought as she ran, the wind hitting her face with force, mentally kicking herself for taking so long in such an unimportant task. But there was no time for dwelling on what ifs, before she knew it, Annabeth was standing right outside the doors of Goode High. She took a deep breath and then walked in, ready to search for her boyfriend.

Why on Earth are these halls so confusing? - Was Annabeth’s only thought as she paced through the hallways of the school. Seriously, Annabeth had been to a few labyrinths in her life, yet the simple buildings of a high school looked more difficult to walk through than those other places. Annabeth didn’t even have her phone with her, as she’d rather not attract any monsters on her first day of school. Therefore, she could not even call Percy to go find him.

Eventually, Annabeth ended up bumping into a brunette girl with blue eyes who looked as if she were attending a fashion show. She was wearing a red crop top and white shorts, with some poorly placed fake eyelashes and strong foundation. The girl gave her an annoyed look, and side eyed her blonde friend.

“Oh, I’m sorry for that. My bad” Annabeth apologized, she knew what those glares meant, and she frankly would’ve rolled her eyes, but she was in a calm mood today.

“Yeah, watch where you’re going,” The blonde rudely replied. She was wearing a tight blue crop top and black shorts. What was her problem? - Annabeth thought.

“Are you new here? I haven’t seen your face before. Or are you just an NPC that no one knows about? That’d make sense” The brunette rapidly said, she looked like the kind of person who simply had no filter and would not care if she hurt someone’s feelings. But Annabeth wasn’t hurt, the girl was right, she was indeed new and nobody in this high school knew her. But the nerve? Unbelievable attitude.

“Well, yeah. I’m new here”

The girl’s eyes scanned Annabeth, the brunette turned towards her friends and they exchanged a few looks, until they both nodded at the same time and turned towards Annabeth. That was… uncanny, for the lack of a better word.

“You have nice hair, good bone structure, with some lip gloss you’d be more than fine. Anyway, I’m Heather, and you’re sitting with us for lunch” The brunette confidently stated. Annabeth was astounded, why were these girls suddenly just giving their unsolicited opinion? Once again, the nerve. Annabeth opted for just giving her a tight-lipped smile, just friendly enough yet still uninterested.

“By the way, I’m Charlotte” - said the blonde - “If you just used some blush then you’d be just beautiful” She turned to face Heather, “Heather, I need your blush” she demanded. Though it was quite obvious to Annabeth how the power dynamic between those girls worked, Heather was the ‘queen bee’ and Charlotte was simply her companion.

Honestly, Annabeth just wanted to find her boyfriend, but those girls were so straightforward and talked so fast that she barely had time to register whatever was going on. She followed the girls to the Literature classroom and sat down. The bell rang just in time for class to start, and for the two girls to stop talking about whatever happened on Love Island. Yay!

After a few hours of classes, it was finally lunchtime. Annabeth sadly shared no Monday classes with Percy, meaning that they’d only be able to see each other on breaks those days.

Heather saw Annabeth through the hallway and made a ‘come here’ motion towards her. Once Annabeth caught up with the duo, Charlotte excitedly expressed, “Alright, typically we’ll sit on our assigned table in the cafeteria, but today there’s swimming practice with the boys and they are all so hot that we MUST see them”

“For real though. Plus, I get to see my crush! Last time, we locked eyes!” Heather gushed, over-enthusiastic about her second-long interaction with a boy.

“He’s totally in love with you, Heather” Charlotte grinned, “We should get going then!”

“Sounds good to me” The curly haired girl responded, it was really likely that Percy would be there, so Annabeth was excited at the thought of finally seeing her boyfriend. Before heading to the pool though, Annabeth had to ask her question.

“Oh, also, do any of you know if Percy Jackson is part of the swimming team?” Annabeth wondered, she just wanted to know for sure whether she’d be wasting her time or not. Who cares about swimmers when Percy Jackson is your boyfriend?

“Percy Jackson?” The popular girls asked at the same time.

“Yeah, black hair, green eyes, tall guy. You know him?”

“Duh, of course we know him” Charlotte rolled her eyes, “He’s like the hottest guy at school, but Heather already called dibs on him so don’t even try. Not like you do him could either” She continued, looking at Annabeth up and down.

“Exactly, and Nico Di Angelo is also Charlotte’s crush so you can’t go for him either. You’re gonna have to settle for one of the Robotics nerds I guess” Heather commented before bursting into laughter, Charlotte joined her, practically crying from how funny she found the situation to be. Apparently being with a robotics guy would be the funniest thing in the world? Annabeth didn’t understand their humor.

She was skeptical to say the least, too much information all at once. First, Heather thought that Percy was single and wanted to hit on him. When he was literally her boyfriend. Second, Charlotte was so unbelievably stupid that she had a crush on Nico, oblivious to the fact that he wore a freaking LGBT pin on his jacket at ALL times? Third, how did these girls find the most dumb stuff to be funny? Annabeth seriously pondered if they were both sharing a single brain cell, or if they had been dropped as babies.

“Uhh” Was all Annabeth could mutter as they walked into the pool room. She was, for what was probably the first time in her life, speechless. She couldn’t wait to share all this gossip with her boyfriend. Thankfully, she was saved by a loud shriek coming from Heather’s mouth.

“Oh. My. God. That’s Percy! Look at his abs, that’s not even a sleeper build, that’s literally like a- like a full day build!” Full day build? Do these girls ever think about the logic of their words? Annabeth was so close to laughing, but she was also entranced by her boyfriend’s godly body - No pun intended. Who could blame her? All those hours of training in Camp Half-Blood clearly did their work.

Annabeth locked eyes with Percy and she gave him a small wave. Percy grinned as if he had just won the lottery, and started walking towards the girls, ignoring the calls of his coach. He didn’t need the lessons, anyway. Heather, noticing that Percy was coming to their bench, started brushing through her head and hurriedly fixing her makeup.

“Charlotte!” She loudly hissed, “Give me your mascara, NOW” The blonde complied, handing her mascara and a small mirror so that Heather could fix her fake eyelashes.

Annabeth kept her eyes locked on Percy as he got closer and closer, but she did notice from the corner of her eye how Heather stood up on the bench, on her heels, and walked towards the black haired boy. Heather clearly faked a fall and Percy, being as oblivious as he was, caught her from hitting the floor. I wouldn’t have been mad if she actually fell and hit the ground though. Annabeth already hated those girls.

“Oh my gods- god. Are you okay?” Percy worriedly asked the girl in his arms. Heather dramatically gasped and threw her arms around Percy. She started fake-sobbing and blabbering about how if he hadn’t been there, then she would’ve probably died. Yeah, for sure. Let’s see if you’d fall had there been a robotics nerd instead of my boyfriend, snake. Gods, what I’d give to grab my knife and slice her open so bad until she bleeds to- stop, stop it Annabeth. Be the bigger person. At this point, Annabeth was seeing red. All trace of friendliness with those girls was absolutely gone and she was one crocodile tear away from snapping Heather’s neck.

On the other side, Percy was frozen. A random girl he saw once every few days was hugging him as if he had just saved the whole city from freaking Voldemort or something. He didn’t hug her back though, he just set her legs down on the floor so he could stop carrying her. He looked up from where a wet puddle of tears was forming on his shoulder, and he locked eyes with his girlfriend.

The glare that he received from Annabeth was unlike any other. He could literally feel the rage going through her eyes, and for the nation’s own good, he quickly made sure to push Heather away.

“Wise girl, let’s take a few deep breaths before you shout at me, alright?” Percy attempted a joke, trying to wipe Annabeth’s anger from her eyes.

Annabeth wasn’t angry at Percy though, her patience had just completely run out after seeing both Heather’s and Charlotte’s clownery. She just wanted to give those girls a taste of what true jealousy was like. So she stood up and walked until she was standing in front of Percy. The other two girls were looking at Annabeth weirdly, wondering what was about to happen.

Annabeth put her arms around Percy’s neck, moved her fingers through his curls and leaned in, locking her lips with Percy’s and passionately kissing him. The green eyed teen was surprised to say the least, but he did not complain. Percy grabbed his girlfriend by the waist, pulled her in and they both kissed each other as if they were the only people in the room.

After some seconds, they both pulled back and Percy whispered, “Missed you, Wise Girl. Where were you today?”

“I was looking for you all morning-“ Annabeth replied, then started whispering “- but those two clowns wouldn’t stop bothering me the whole day” referring to Heather and Charlotte, who were staring at the couple in shock, whilst mumbling to each other and sharing looks. Annabeth overheard their conversation, she heard how Charlotte called her a “double-faced ho-bag” and how Heather was on the brink of tears, angrily wiping them away and sniffing. Trying to make a show, don’t even dare you bitch. So much for friendliness, Annabeth thought.

“You know what? Let’s get out of here, we can go grab lunch with Nico in the nearest Mcdonald’s” Percy proposed as he turned to look at the girls for a second. Then he started leading Annabeth towards the cafeteria, leaving the two girls behind, who were ranting to each other about the couple.

“Sounds like fun to me! Let’s get Nico and then I can tell you both about the outrageous things those girls have said to me in the timespan of less than 6 hours” The curly headed replied, shaking the murderous thoughts about the girls away from her head, she would have time to think about committing felonies later, not now.

“Can I get a teaser of what they said?”

“No, you gotta wait, Seaweed Brain!” The gray eyed girl said as she jokingly rolled her eyes.

“You’re rhyming,” He pointed out with a smirk.

Annabeth laughed, “Shut up!” She then linked her arm with Percy’s.

“C’mon, just a small teaser, please?” Percy practically begged, dragging the ‘e’ sound in ‘please’. And just for good measure, he gave Annabeth the sad puppy eyes look. He really was a total sucker for some hot goss.

“Alright! Alright, Let’s just say that Charlotte wanted to ask Nico for Homecoming… romantically”

“SHUT THE FU-”

#percabeth #percy x annabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth headcanon #tiziesdrafts #accidentally made a reference to heathers #percabeth fanfic #percy x annabeth fanfic #percabeth blurb #percy x annabeth blurb #percy and annabeth #percy pjo #tizie’s posts #tizie’s writing

[neonblessing]

4.

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT! ⚠️ Click here to read Neon Blessing from the beginning!

A rickety access stair off the side of the road led below street level, a rusted railing the only thing between her and a ten thousand foot drop into the churning sea of waste at the bottom of the Diluvian. Everywhere, banners hung from the grates and pipes, extolling the virtues of the god at the bottom of the stairs.

Shiv couldn’t read the Eldest Tongue, but Raz used to tell her what all the banners said: Prince of Birds, Father of Thieves, Bright-Eyed, Swift-Tongued, Dark-Winged, Clever-Handed, Purse-Cutting, Theft-Fed, Ever-Hungry, Ever-Proud, Ornarch. The same symbols on every banner, repeated a thousand times, more and more frequently, as candles began to crop up along the railings and the heady scent of incense suffused the misty air.

A magpie sat on a pipe that snaked out of the wall, looking down at Shiv. “Hail, brother. I bring an offering for our lord,” she said, waving the uneaten half of the tart. The magpie chattered at her mockingly, then flew off. Fifteen years she’d known Ornarch, and she still didn’t know if the birds could understand her.

A few hundred feet down the path, under one waterfall and over another, lay the entrance to Ornarch’s home. It was once a drainage pipe, but it had long since fallen into disrepair, now the domain of rats, birds, and the god of the gutter. She hesitated a moment outside the pipe.

“Come in, Shiv.” His voice sounded frail, but was clearly audible over the roar of the water. She stepped inside, and laid eyes on her god.

Ornarch looked like shit. He’d aged twenty years in the month since Shiv had last seen him. His once-ageless face was carved through with lines, his raven-black hair faded to a dull grey. His threadbare black suit couldn’t have gotten any more dilapidated, but the wings that swept from his back looked tattered and mangy. Even his gilded earrings had tarnished. Only his eyes were completely unchanged: hollow voids that expanded as Shiv met his gaze, wider and wider, deeper and deeper, until points of light shone through an infinite expanse of nothing, and nothing else was real. Shiv had never seen the night sky anywhere but those eyes.

In contrast to his wretched appearance, his home was more or less unchanged since last she’d seen it. The pipe in which Ornarch held court was easily thirty feet in diameter, its curved floor dotted with the melted-down corpses of innumerable tallow candles. Censers dangled from the ceiling at regular intervals, smoke transmuting the industrial lighting into something soft and warm. A thousand black birds stared down at her with beady eyes.

God clung to a wheeled IV drip like a drowning man to a board. How he’d gotten it down here, she had no idea, and as far as she knew mortal medical technology did nothing for gods. The bag glistened red in the dim light of the drainage pipe, a line of crimson curving down and disappearing under a shirtsleeve.

“I brought breakfast.” She once again pulled the pastry from her pocket.

“Put it on the altar with the rest.” Ornarch’s altar was a flat stone carved with circling birds, piled high with worthless trinkets and stolen treasures in equal measure. Every god was fed by sacrifice, and Ornarch demanded a cut of his congregation's pilfered goods. She gingerly placed the tart atop a wallet and a jeweled locket.

“It’s been a while.” His lips didn’t really move as he talked. Shiv had seen him open his mouth all the way, had seen that cruel beak that jutted from the back of his throat.

“Yeah.” Unspoken, the fact that she’d lost her arm on a job he’d sent her on. The job she’d failed. A month of recovery, the burning pain of the blade parting her flesh, all for nothing.

“You haven’t been answering your phone.”

“I lost it.” Some time in the panicked escape from the botched job, it had slipped from her pocket.

Ornarch’s thin lips curved into a frown. “Well that simply won’t do.” He patted his pockets before procuring a thin box from nowhere. “The newest Obol model. Top of the line. Trackers removed.” He offered it to Shiv.

She hesitated.

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#neon blessing #4 #shiv #ornarch