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harbingersglory · 5 months

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{☆} characters arlecchino {☆} notes drabble, fem reader, sub reader, transfem arlecchino {☆} warnings 18+ content, breeding kink, degradation, stomach bulge, dacryphilia, restraints

"Arle, hah..please. I can't– I can't wait any longer."

The pleading, almost pouty, words had her letting out a deep, husky chuckle as she fiddled with the buckle of her belt, admiring your body as she stepped up to the bed. Her knee sank into the mattress as she knelt down, pressing a placating kiss to your brow and gesturing for you to turn over.

"Come on, dove. Be a good girl, or I'll treat you like the whore you are." Arlecchino clicked her tongue, firmly grabbing your hands and tightening her belt around your wrists, giving the leather a firm tug to test its strength– and to make sure it wasn't too tight. "I'm in a good mood. Don't spoil it by being a brat, little dove."

The pout it drew from you made her grin, canines flashing beneath her lips as she settled in behind you, cupping your ass in her calloused hands with an appreciative grumble. Your panties were already sticking to your cunt, the fabric soaked. She couldn't help but drag one of her digits across the fabric, teasing your folds beneath it.

"Lucky I adore that pretty mouth of yours or I'd have cut out your tongue," She gruffly spoke, her tone neither in jest or too serious– perhaps she would, maybe she wouldn't. She liked to keep you on your toes. "Hm. Maybe I'll use your throat after– shut you up properly. You look so pretty gagging on my cock, you know?"

Arlecchino slid her fingers beneath the waistband of your panties, tugging them down just enough to see your slick cunt, her fingers pulling the folds apart. Fuck, she could feel her cock throbbing against her boxers at the sight– she'd never get tired of it, just like she'd never get tired of using you like a toy.

"But in the meantime.." She finally pulled down her own boxers, her aching cock slipping free and slapping against your thigh– she slid right between your thighs, forcing you to squeeze them together around her. "Fuck, that's it." She growled, pumping her hips a few times before she was satisfied, lining up her cock with your entrance.

She had the decency, at least, to sink in slowly at first..let you adjust to her size for a brief moment before she snapped her hips forward and sank fully into your cunt with a sharp hiss.

Arlecchino typically enjoyed teasing you first, making you practically beg just for her to give you her cock at all, but she had other plans tonight– she wasn't going to waste time playing around this time. Her hand slipped down to your stomach pressed against the mattress, a low chuckle building in her chest at the distinct bulge her cock left. It was a wonder she fit at all– but she'd make it fit even if she hadn't.

"Be a good girl now and don't complain." She grumbled, leaning down to press you down into the mattress with her body, nipping at your ear before she pulled her hips back, hissing at the way you clenched around her in response. She took a moment to sit there, letting you ruminate and squirm at the lack of movement– only to grab a fistful of hair and start pounding you into the mattress before you can even think to whine about her lack of movement.

How quickly, how easily, you turn into a blubbering mess as she uses you like a toy for her own enjoyment. Not that you won't enjoy what she has in plan for you– just maybe not as much as she does. The mental image of filling you with her cum..it drives her thrusts harder, faster. She wants to fuck you stupid with her cock, fill you to the breaking point until her cum pools on the sheets, unable to be fully plugged up. Just the idea of watching her cum dripping down your thighs makes her control slip just the slightest bit.

She's already big enough to bulge your stomach with every thrust, but she wonders if she can push it further.

She certainly wants to, and she intends to.

The fat tears rolling down your cheeks only got her more excited, her hands gripping your hips so tight she can already imagine the bruises in the shape of her fingers against your skin.

"That's it, dove, give in," Arlecchino hissed, a low growl rumbling in her chest as she continued to pound into them relentlessly, her thighs already stinging from the sheer force of it. "Fucking take it, you whore."

Her muscles flexed in faint restraint, the shifting of your arms against her as you nearly screamed at the intense rush of pleasure making her sink her teeth into your shoulder in warning– a futile effort, really, as your body twitched when you came so hard she briefly considered if she had to stop..but you were still moaning even through the tears rolling down your cheeks, rocking back into her thrusts weakly, unable to keep up.

She wasn't too far behind, either. Her teeth dug deeper into your skin, muffling the growl as she plunged into your soaking wet cunt, bucking into you in much shorter thrusts until she finally felt her cum spilling into you. It was almost enough to send her over the edge again– fuck, you were practically sucking her in with how tight you were, squeezing around her cock.

Her head slumped against your shoulder as she pulled her teeth from your skin, taking a moment of respite to catch her breath and let the sting and ache settle in deep– she welcomed it, if anything. But she wasn't done.

She was going to fuck you till you were full– fill you up until she couldn't fit another drop.

For now..she pulled out, admiring the way her cum dribbled out of you. She didn't mind all that much..she was going to replace it tenfold, anyway.

She couldn't wait to plug you up and see you squirm during the meeting tomorrow, full of her cum and unable to find relief– maybe she'd make it a toy, see how long you last before someone realizes what's going on. She was going to enjoy it thoroughly.

#genshin impact smut #genshin impact x reader #genshin smut #genshin x reader #minors dni #writing tag #arlecchino smut #arlecchino x reader #so. um. yeah. we r not gonna talk abt this one I was feeling indulgant and shdhdgsjsjsjsj #arlecchino awakens smth in me idk dont ask me #i considered making this tmasc arle for a hot minute but ill save that for another day #anyway manspreading arle agenda thsnks 4 coming 2 my tedtalk #anyway² slamming hands on table arle breeding kink arle breeding kink arle breeding kink #technically no actual direct mention of breeding but shes still trying anyway #sorry im in an arle phade i need her to do unspeakable things to me yknow. you get me.#PHASE not phade its 3 am and i csbt sleep twirls hair #accidentally posted this draft premature im AHHHHHHHH #okay im fine now

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luck-of-the-drawings · 3 months

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"And soda; runs off into the street..." "...and soda... is totally okay!"

#jrwi fanart #jrwi show #jrwi suckening #cw blood #something something cracking open a boy w the cold ones #IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES I MISSED I SWWWEAR TO JEBEDIAH. IF I STARE AT THIS ANYMORE IM GONNA DIE IT NEEDS TO BE DONE #ALSO RRRAAAHAHHHGHGH CAN I JUST TAKEA SECOND TO SCREEAAMM ABT HOW MUCH I LOVE SODA AND EMIZEL.. LIKE THERYE SO CUTE....#THEY ARE HOMIES THAT KISS EACHOTHR GOODNIGHT. THEY CARE SO MUCH FOR EACHOTHER. SODA LOVES SODA AND SODA LOVES YOU #do u guys remember how willing he was to share blood w his vampire bestie. like cmon. remember when emizel memorized sodas Soda Schedule.#LIKE CMON.... they just have eachothers backs so much. ouhhh my god... ANYWAY SO THE ART HUH. I FEEL LIKE I SCRAMBLED W IT FOR A WHILE #DRAWIN IS HARD..... i think i did well in the end tho.. i like the lil heart beat effects. and i hope i made soda look Suffieciently Scared #i ALSO had fun w the teeth. i however did not have fun w the walls. if i had more drugs i mightve done every brick in more detail #but i didnt WANNA!!!! this will suffice.I HOPE IT FLOWS WELL&THAT ITS CLEAR... IVE STARED AT IT SO LONG IT IS NOW VISUAL SOUP. HELP!!!#i want my comics to have more Pauses and Space and Thought and Momence. i feel like normally they go so fast. but THIS time #i think i did good.... huuoouhhhh.... comics are HARD art is HARD but i am HARDER. or something. OH YEAH I HAVE MORE ART THINGS #soda was RLY HARD FOR ME TO DRAW FOR A MINUTE..but i like where his design is now. i wanted his hair to be curly swirly.like soda fizz #i THINK thats all my thoughts for now. if u have thoughts u should spill them in the tags i looooove reading tttaaggsss #have a goodnight i gotta go to work soon. maybe. unless the casinos power goes out AGAIN. OR SEOMTHING... UUGHHH MY SCHEDULE IS IN SHAMBLES #I THOUGHT I WAS WORKIN 3 DAYS INA ROW SO I RENTED A WHOLE DAMN HOTEL BC THE JOB PLACE IS FAR AWAY.. I HAD TO CANCEL THE WHOLE RESERVATOn #annd im MMMMAD ABOUT IT!!! like ill get over it ofc BUT IM PEEVED!!!! IM INCONVIENIENCED AND GENTLY AGGRIVATED. BUT OVERALL FINE.#hope yalls weekend goes well. sleep well. if u get the chance to.

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mattodore · 4 months

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i circle around you, a wild animal near a fire

#me roughly an hour after saying i’m not going back into photoshop today: opens photoshop #jerma going no chat come on i'm not gonna do that . and then doing that #river dipping #ts4 #ts4 edit #simblr #theodore doe #matthias evanoff #a burning house to live in #echthroi #THEY ARE SOOOOOOO BUNNY AND WOLF HERE LIKE THEY NEED LITTLE EARS 🗣️🗣️🗣️#IF I COULD DRAW WELL….. KNOW THAT I WOULD HAVE GIVEN THEM SOME!!!#also if you’re thinking uhhhh river are they… you know…? 😁 they are <3 this is easily my favorite ww animation bc of this exact part #moving past that i edited these with esther in mind bc theo with long hair is kind of tearing my life apart atm too...#and i think i actually really love drawing hair strands now. all it took was giving theo long hair and i'm just. obsessed.#yeah they take me like thirty fucking minutes and i’m screaming and biting my own hands the whole time but .#doesn’t theo look good :)#and... lmao. i could’ve edited the screenshot of matthias where he’s looking directly at theo #but i like the !! sudden jolt when you go to the next screenshot and it looks like he’s staring straight at you 🫵#it’s like he’s saying close your fucking eyes 🫵🫵🫵#......i finished this edit at 12pm but it's just been sitting in my drafts this whole time while i try to come up with a caption dfjknkhn #i'm giving in and just using a matthias core quote for it

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can-of-slorgs · 2 months

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I'm personally blaming @starbiology and everyone who has reblogged or commented the other piece for this.

Bonus comic featuring my grundo:

#every minute i keep working on this i take psychological damage #neotag #neopets #vin memes #you'reall to blame for this monstruosity #i literally just searched “babygirl” pose and went “I... i can do that”#i didn't stop to think if i should though #Star i was gonna respond 2 the reblog with the first image only but decided it needed its own post for quarantining this... thing #again if youre seeing this with no context #you dont need context #i... i don't think there's any for that matter #just picture me writing all this tags while losing health in posion damage every turn #i am working on neo oc images i just need to render them but i.... i needed the world to see this before #my blog's already tainted anyway LMFAOO #yeah uh im dead in neo canon i drew this and inmediately got taken back by yours trully and never came back #also i'll try making a ref as well for my sona so i can draw them more im just really indecisive in what color to make him #split it is for now #i don't want to look at this anymore end me #i am making more drawings to kinda cover this thing from the light but at this point it just keeps reappearing like a mold #thats it im done see u all in kreludorian therapy #kreludorian health insurance in a farse

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todayisafridaynight · 10 months

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old man yaoi sketch commission........

Commission Info

#rgg #ryu ga gotoku #ryu ga gotoku 7 #yakuza series #yakuza 7 #yakuza like a dragon #tf their ship name. idk if someone tells me ill update the tags #koichi adachi #makoto date #snap sketches #commission #OLD MAN YAOI COMMISSION 🗣️🗣️🗣️#my life's in shambles rn but that's ok i get to draw date and adachi #this one especially goes out to the people who kept sending me adach|wag| asks #cause i think its really funny i kept getting sent asks about that but actually got a com for date/adachi ☠️☠️#anyway yeah i AM posting this. esp since commissioner wanted to share it around #i need to let the people know i will draw your saucy old man yaoi And More...#ok bye im gonna post another comm in like. ten minutes LMAO

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dipperscavern · 7 days

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more thoughts about this.. a sinister grin has appeared on my face

you honestly don’t remember what it was about. something along the lines of the lannisters taking you by surprise during the night, or sending you sansa’s head in the morning. either way, whatever it was had you shooting up, a hand on your chest as you’re pulled from a dead sleep. fear engulfs you, tendrils crawling up your spine, suffocating as they enclose around your neck.

the room was dark, candles having been put out long ago when you both retired for the night, bodies desperate for sleep. it’s ironic now, you insisted on putting the candles out, saying something about how you’d both sleep better in the dark. and in this moment, you wish more than anything that they were here, illuminating the tent with a yellow-tinted glow. your mind is hazy with fear, as your instincts scream at you to get some light on — a primal urge to need to see your surroundings in case you weren’t really safe. the rational part of your mind that’s just waking up tells you there’s no need. you’re with robb, he’s right next to you. he’d kill for you- die for you. you’re safe.

it’s like he can hear your thoughts. a hand reaches out for you, bringing you out of your head as you look in its direction, forgetting you won’t be able to see its owner. his hand is blindly looking for you, a half-asleep robb doing his best to assess the disruption of your sleep. you swallow, moving to wrap your hand around his. his touch anchors you, your mind focusing on the warmth emanating from him, instead of the nightmare that had you awake in the first place.

“y’okay?”

his voice breaks through the thick atmosphere, slicing its way through the small bubble you’ve built around yourself. part of you wants to tell him the truth, that no, you’re not okay. there’s surprise armies & headless men haunting your dreams, and you need him to be a big bad wolf and chase them off for you. but the other part of you knows he’d stay up as long as it took to make you feel better, and he gets so little sleep as is. it takes a lot to drag him from his work, and actually have him sleep a whole night through- without waking up in the middle of it to fuss over his war maps. the rational side of you reminds you of his devotion, and how he’d never mind helping you — which is true, he wouldn’t, but rationalism doesn’t win this time.

“yes- yes, m’fine, go back to sleep.”

“you’re a bad liar.”

you dread him not believing you, but a small, guilty part of you is glad he doesn’t, that he knows you so well. that he knows your hurried tone, your irregular pattern of breathing means you are definitely not fine.

what would have made you roll your eyes any other time, has you huffing out a breath of laughter as he sits up. the hand of his you aren’t holding comes to soothingly rub up & down your back, mimicking when you & catelyn would do the same to comfort him.

“c’mon, talk to me pretty. what’s got you up, hm?”

his gentle coaxing does wonders to break your resolve, cutting through your “will of steel” like butter. you sigh.

“no- robb, it’s silly.”

“thats not what i asked,” his tone grows firm, authority dripping from his voice, “whats botherin’ you?”

“jus’ a nightmare.”

your voice is quiet, borderline guilty. you & robb are at war- you’ve killed people with zero hesitation, stood up to men twice your size, and a nightmare is your kryptonite? it makes you feel silly, and you don’t want to bother robb with it, he should be able to rely on his lady.

“they took us by surprise. while we slept.”

robb is quick to reassure you. “anyone that wants to get to you has to get past me.”

you hum in agreement, body relaxing at his words. you already knew this, but hearing him say it made you believe it. you take comfort in knowing greywind is laid asleep by the door- you sleep guarded by not one, but two wolves.

“how can i fix it?”

the silence is palpable as you search for an answer, mind mulling over all the solutions you could think of, trying to pick the one that would settle you most. you find one soon enough, hoping your request isn’t too much to ask.

“make me forget? please?”

robb murmurs agreement, and even with darkness coating the room- you can hear his smile. it’s no secret that robb desires you. every hour of every day he thinks about you, & his favorite thing to do is fix your problems. what better thing is there than doing both at the same time? and plus, you asked so nicely…

so he makes you forget. his lips trail all over your body, licking & sucking at any skin they can reach, making your brain mushy with his touch. he slides his fingers into the warm, wet place between your thighs, making you gush all over his hand to prep you to take his cock. all the while, he praises you, reassurance falling from his lips while he lines his cock with your entrance, making you squirm from the sensitivity.

“robb-“

“shh- i know, pretty. s’okay, i’ve got you. i’ve got you.”

& afterwards, when you’ve cum twice and lay spent in robb’s arms, sleep pulling you closer — you secretly thank the gods. you thank them for nightmares & wolves.

#game of thrones #robb stark #robb stark x reader #robb stark prompt #robb stark imagine #robb stark x you #sigh #i unfortunately need him carnally #i’m gonna be so embarrassed about this in like ten minutes #the ending is so rushed i’m so sorry this is ass #i’m lowkey a fluff writer at heart #dippers writing style crisis #but anyways yeah i need his children hope this helps

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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 7 months

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thank fuck im home by myself bc im having a Category Five Laughingstock Moment

#WAILIMG AND GASPING FOR BREATHHHHH #I CANT DO THIS THEYRE TOO MUCH #AOUUUUUGGHHAGSHSHSJSJSNSOOOOOOOO #AGHSJDNSKDSNDKWMOOOOO #LITERALLY SHORT OF BREATH WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEEEEEEE #OHHHHHHHH THEYRE SO THEYRE SOOOOOOO #AUGGHHHAHSHHSHDNSNSKSODOOEKS #AUOOOOOOOOOOOOOWOOOOOOO #WHY AM I TEARING UP WHAT IS THISSSSS #IM NOT EVEN HAVING ANY COHERENT THOUGHTS #IM JUSTTTT? FEELING #WORKING MYSELF UP TOO MUCH I NEED TO TAKE MY HOODIE OFF #yk what im gonna go sit outside with a beverage for a bit #and then bake a cake #yeah. yeag #i need to walk away for a minute and Take a Grade A Chill Pill #absolutely unprompted #listen listen im doodling for once and. amd. AUGH #theyre... snf sob wail... theyre damcign

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flowerslut · 1 year

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alright twilight fandom. stop scrolling. look me in my eyes right now. LOOK @ ME

why. just why. am I seeing "lol twilight SUCKS twilight is STUPID twilight is just so BAD AND AWFUL why didn't anyone stop smeyer from publishing these books UGH twilight is just so dumb and terrible :/" posts in the twilight tags. why am I seeing that in any of the character tags. and most importantly why am I seeing that by twilight blogs??????? hello?????

you know... you're allowed to say that you like twilight. you're allowed to enjoy twilight. you don't have to constantly undercut something you're interested in just because you think it makes you more palatable to random people online who do not know or care about you outside of one singular interest. you are allowed to be a fan of these books or movies independent from what the ~contrary and edgy~ mainstream fandom opinion is.

this has always been a trend in the twilight tumblr fandom; it was certainly more prevalent during the height of the renaissance (~2018-20) but I've been seeing it make a come back recently. this trend where if you express any sort of positive emotion towards the twilight canon you better make sure you, in the same breath, also remind whoever is reading your post that "of COURSE I don't think twilight is good or interesting or that stephenie meyer can write at ALL... I might be a twilight fan but I'm a GOOD one and I'm #different!"

listen. you don't need to impress people who are so unhappy with their own interests that they feel the need to declare that fandom-wide self deprecation is the only way toward acceptance in fandom spaces. you don't need to internalize that idea. you also don't need to feel guilty about enjoying parts of the twilight canon. without it you don't even have the basis for your fun little fanon adventures/headcanons y'all love to post and daydream about so like, c'mon man

again, I have to ask: why is this mindset making a comeback??? in 2023?!????

I mean this so, so genuinely, but you are allowed to like "bad" or "shitty" things. not every piece of media you consume is going to be "perfect" or "good". you're allowed to indulge in some junk food media. come ON y'all! GetItTogetherEdnaMode.jpg

#this is why I only go into the tags like once a month #because yall dont know how to ACT #the twilight saga #bella swan #edward cullen #yeah i'm tagging these bitches bc yall need to read this and take a step back for a minute or ten #alice cullen #rosalie hale #jacob black #emmett cullen #carlisle cullen #jasper hale #esme cullen #idk that seems like enough. but seriously. it's gonna be okay yall

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parachutingkitten · 2 months

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Oh, so this is gonna be a big video. Like a BIG video.

#yeah #I'm gonna need 6 seperate filming sessions #it's a big boi #who knew 15 pages of block text would take so long to read???#me thinking this would be a quick 30 minute ramble type thing

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magnificent-winged-beast · 1 year

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Me waking up and casually going to Twitter to find this.

Oh! is this weekend?

😁🐚🗑️❤️👍🏼

#Cockles #Jibcon 2023 #Jenmish Bonanza #The promise land of Cockles #I hope they really let them be for those 35 minutes alone #And the Gigantor just appears when it's his turn #I love the 3 togueter... Not gonna lie #But I hope the Jarod appears when it's his time #Please... Please... 🙏#I need my 30 minutes of unaltered Cockles panel #To surf trash pleasantly in the most wonderful time of the year #Yeah... For me Jibcon is Cockles Xmas 🎄#Even if the other J is there #Misha collins #jensen ackles #my happy trash can

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finexbright · 7 months

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#since i've decided to be online™ for a minute i'm gonna drop a controversial post and dip #i'm so so tired of people and their opinions on rainbows at shows #when people started bringing flags to 1d shows it was because they felt safe and the fandom felt like a community to them #they didn't do it for the boys and they didn't do it in the hopes of the boys interacting with the flags #the boys were lovely enough to make the fans feel safe and that's why the fans brought flags and stuff along with them #however as of late people have forgotten that and they bring it in the hopes of louis interacting with them #and then they're disappointed when he doesn't interact with them and unlarrie or unstan or whatever #like i'm so sorry but he never asked you explicitly to bring flags. and also he doesn't owe you an interaction #sure it's fun to do fan projects and to see everyone come together but do it for yourself #don't do it because you think he's a sorry closeted person who needs to see the support #he knows he's supported. he founded the rainbow bears so he definitely knows he's supported #by pressuring him to interact with the flags or whatever you're literally just shoving his closet in his face #just because harry interacts with rainbows does not mean louis should do. they're two completely different people #with completely different situations. so don't invalidate their identities #if you want to bring flags along do it for yourself do it because you want to do it because you feel the community #don't ever for whatever reason do it for louis because you think he needs it or whatever #like in general don't do it for other's sake. do it for you and only you.#i'm genuinely tired of the louis vs rainbow conversation coming up every few days so yeah

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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 10 days

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Don't Go Blindly Into the Dark

Summary:

To hide that he can't read, Jan Van Eck has been forcing his son to pretend he's blind since he was eight years old. Wylan is now attending Ketterdam University, and meeting Jesper Fahey may very well be about to change his life. But is he safe to tell Jesper the truth? And what will Jesper say if he does?

Jesper is struggling to weigh up his life in the Barrel and his life at the University of Ketterdam, and there's a good chance that his growing debt is about to make the decision for him. He hasn't attended class consecutively for months, but maybe that will change when his newest project includes partnering up with Wylan Van Eck. But can he really leave the Barrel behind him? And how long can he keep up the pretence of who he thinks Wylan wants him to be?

Tags: @justalunaticfangirl @lunarthecorvus

If anyone else would like to be tagged let me know :)

Content warnings for this chapter: blood, wounds, death, dead bodies, implied violence, trafficking references

AO3 link

Chapter 28 - Kaz

“Where is it?”

Inej didn’t seem to have heard and Kaz asked again, but she didn’t say anything. Just carried on staring at the edge of his desk between them, arms stiff where she was gripping the chair as though she intended to snap it into pieces beneath her.

Kaz had known Inej was behind him before he heard the window clinking in the mezzanine level of the Crow Club, but he was still taken by surprise when he turned to see her - first of all because he’d heard the window clatter. He already knew something was wrong; the Wraith did not make such loud mistakes. And then he turned and Inej was all but collapsed onto the floor; the rain-slick window ledge behind her - the storm had finally broken not long after Wylan and Jesper both left entirely unhelpfully - was marked by a footprint, distorted where she’d slipped, the window itself left wide open in her wake for the rain to continue falling onto her and onto his carpet, and Inej was clutching to the edge of it with one hand, all of weight in one bent leg, her face ashen and her breathing heavy. Her loose hair was wet from the rain and the front pieces were plastered against her forehead, and the ill-fitting nightclothes that clearly should have hung off her angular shoulders like she’d been draped in a blanket were wet and sticking to her skin. Kaz barely registered what she was wearing before he’d registered the blood soaked into her sleeve cuffs.

He stared at her for a moment, a thousand panics and alarm bells ringing in his head, but when he opened his mouth all that came out was:

“You’re dripping on my carpet,”

“Oh, well I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience,” Inej just about managed to hiss through gritted teeth.

Kaz might have even smiled if he wasn’t too busy fighting off the need to sigh in relief; she was okay, at least for now. He beckoned Pim to cover for him watching the club floor, and he’d stared at Inej like she’d grown a second head until Kaz tapped the side of his leg with the end of his crows head cane and he turned quickly away to look down over the mezzanine. Kaz set off down the stairs, trusting that Inej would follow and deliberately setting a slow pace, but when he reached the ground floor he glanced back and realised that Inej did not need to be slowed down. She was still halfway up, clinging to the bannister with both hands and leaning almost all of her weight against it. He waited for her to get down, then walked slowly to his office where she all but collapsed over one of his chairs.

“It’ll be fine,” she’d managed, roughly and with her face contorted in pain as she dragged her leg after her to sit down, “Give me a week, maximum, and it’ll be fine,”

Clearly.

Kaz waited but she didn’t say anything more and he thought she might be in some kind of shock; he left some clean clothes on the desk for her and stepped outside.

“Inej,”

She blinked, finally looking away from the desk and up at Kaz.

“The corpse,” he said, again, “Where is it?”

“The Slat. In my room,”

He studied her for a moment; she was shivering, just slightly, fidgeting with her shirt sleeve, looking up with eyes dark and deep enough to swallow him. Drown him. He’d had trousers in his cabinet that would fit her but had to give her one of his own white button downs for lack of other options, and the sleeve cuffs were sitting deep over her palms even after she’d folded them over. Her shoulders were narrower than his and even though she’d done the shirt up to the very top button it hung off her sharp angles ever so slightly off kilter, and exposed the very edge of her collar bone. Kaz squared his shoulders. He nodded.

“I’ll send someone to move it; we need to get ahead of this before the Black Tips get wise,”

They were already a pestering annoyance at Fifth Harbour, and the new shift pattern was thus far proving Kaz’s suspicions about one of his bouncers correct, he didn’t need a gang war over a dead spider on his hands. They could get Liesbeth’s body to neutral territory, or maybe even another gang’s territory if they were careful enough, and let her rediscovery be someone else’s problem. He watched Inej for a moment more; her gaze had slipped back to the edge of the desk and the nightclothes that she had folded into a slightly messy little pile at the foot of her chair.

“Do you want to wait here?” he asked, after a moment, “Or go back to the Slat? I can send for Nina to-”

“Can I just…” Inej’s voice faded, “I just want to sit a minute. I…”

There was a long pause.

“I’m tired,”

She looked it. Heavy shadows bracketed her eyes and she barely seemed to be in the room, but instead floating somewhere in between it and the places in her mind.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“At some point,” she whispered, almost dreamily, as if she couldn’t quite remember it herself, “Afterwards,”

Kaz frowned.

“After she died?”

Inej nodded.

“How long ago?”

Inej gazed into the distance for a moment, her expression briefly confused.

“What time is it?”

“Nearing nine bells,” said Kaz, glancing at his watch.

Inej nodded.

“Fifteen hours? Fourteen?”

So someone might already know that Liesbeth was missing, then. Dammit. Kaz would have to get ahead of this quickly, on the off chance of there being any intention for the Black Tips to move against the Dregs he needed to make sure they didn’t have any ammunition to point to. He stood up.

“I’ll have someone move it,” he said, again, “Stay here as long as you want,”

She nodded slightly as he walked past her.

The moment that Kaz stepped out onto the floor of the Crow Club just so happened to be almost exactly the same as the moment in which Nina Zenik burst through the doors at full speed. Her stress may as well have been a visible cloud with crackling sparks flying about for the obviousness of it, and she ran across the room towards him with breathless shouts.

“Inej-”

“Is in my office,” said Kaz coolly, “Not to tell you how to do your own job, Nina dearest, but did it not occur to you to check on her at any point in the last fifteen hours?”

“I didn’t-”

“Fifteen full hours she was sat in there with a corpse, Zenik, I don’t think the half hour you just spent with me justifies having missed that,”

Nina’s cheeks glowed, but he was pretty sure it was more with annoyance towards him than anything else. Kaz sent Juran, a boy who’d joined the Dregs early last year, back to the Slat to retrieve Liesbeth’s body and gave him instructions on where to leave it afterwards, though he would probably need another pair of hands for that, and then he and Nina turned back towards his office. Kaz was hoping that Nina would be able to convince Inej to go back to the Slat so she could lie down and hopefully get some sleep; at least get her to rest and take time to recover.

“Her leg-”

“The pain will take a few days to subside but the worst is the ligament damage,” said Nina, smoothly, like she was rattling off a shopping list, “It’s her knee; the quickest it could be back to normal alone would be three weeks or so, but-”

“The longest?”

“Eight, probably. But that would be without my input, it shouldn’t take that long now. Hopefully, anyway. If it’s bad she should go to a real Healer,”

Kaz nodded, his mind quickly skipping through any Healers that he knew before he opened the door to his office.

“Wraith-” he cut off, and held a hand up in front of Nina.

Inej was asleep. She slumped over against the desk, her mass of unkempt dark hair folding over her face, her shoulders moving slowly up and down with her breaths. For a second Kaz and Nina just stood there, and then Nina whispered:

“She should be keeping her leg elevated - and straight, if possible,”

Kaz nodded back to the door and they slipped outside, to fly through the conversation of should we wake her so she can go back to the Slat. They landed on the, possibly slightly strange, plan of moving Inej off her chair to lie on the floor of Kaz’s office. He’d been nervous that they’d wake her but she got no further than gently stirring in Nina’s arms and then flopping her head against the Heartrender’s shoulder. She seemed to murmur something, but Kaz was on the other side of the room and Nina said she’d only groaned. She gently coaxed Inej onto the floor and folded her own jacket up to slip beneath her head, then knelt down and very slowly moved Inej’s leg to straighten it as much as she could without worsening the pain and causing Inej to wake up. Of course Nina would be able to knock her out again if necessary, but she said it would be better for Inej’s natural rhythms if she remained undisturbed. Kaz found a couple more spare shirts from his cupboards to elevate Inej’s knee, and then they slipped out of the room in silence.

Kaz usually locked his office when he left, particularly if there was anything sensitive or valuable around, but with that obviously not being an option he shouted up to Pim on the mezzanine:

“Watch the door. Anyone goes in there they’re a dead man,”

He nodded, and Kaz turned back just in time to see Nina lowering her raised eyebrow.

“Stay here,” he told her, “Make sure no-one tries to kill her this time,”

“Where are you going?”

“Send to the Slat if you need me, if I’m not there they’ll be someone there who knows where I am,”

“What are y-?”

Kaz sighed.

“I have a job to do, and I need someone to find some space at the Slat. I’d hate to have to stick your little Elodie in a cupboard,”

Nina blinked.

“You hired her?”

“Feliks wanted rid of her,” said Kaz, calmly, “I needed servers for the Club,”

“Feliks wanted to sell her, Kaz,”

That was true. And he would’ve gotten a far better price from another house on West Stave than Kaz had agreed to for the kid’s contract. But Feliks happened to have a pretty decent chunk of debt to Haskell, and Kaz happened to know a few things about Feliks that he didn’t want to get out. The conversation had gone briefly and smoothly. Mostly. Until the skiv had suggested Kaz might want to take ‘his’ Suli girl instead, presumably so he could still sell little Elodie and make money from both of them.

Kaz leaned back in his chair.

“Excuse me?”

“I know it was you who had Haskell buy the Wraith from Heleen Van Houden,” Feliks shrugged, as if this were a normal fucking conversation topic, “I thought maybe you had a taste,”

The conversation went even briefer, and a lot less smoothly, after that. Elodie got a job offer and, as of Anika’s return about twenty minutes ago, she had accepted it.

Kaz looked at Nina and shrugged.

“Stay with Inej,”

And then he turned and left, his cane clacking heavily against the boards.

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