#a lot of them stay fairly wet even after a few months

[miss-floral-thief]

Should prolly use up some of the Korean sheet masks I have on my desk tray

#personalice #wouldn’t be surprised if they’re expired now lol #then again an ‘expiration’ would prolly just make it weaker/watered down #tho I just use it to be cooling n/relaxing versus any potential skin improvement lol #tho other than it just being opened and forgetting about it #a lot of them stay fairly wet even after a few months #idk about the peel off stuff tho #the dollar store also has some ‘jelly masks’ #but other than them not ripping and being squishy idk if there’s any pint to those #those seem more aimed at kids than even the ‘unicorn’ scented branded ones lo

[vintageshanny]

Taste of the Ocean

Content: A somewhat dejected Elvis invites his girlfriend on a vacation to cheer him up after filming Blue Hawaii. Smut ensues. (Please suspend disbelief that some of these actions might not be practical in the ocean, and you will enjoy this a lot more 😉). Written in response to the request below. 18+

Hi. May I request an early 60s Elvis in which he is with female reader at Hawaii for vacation and he is like very horny for her, even though she doesn't provoke him. Very detailed and passionate smut please and thank you.

April 1961

“This was a nice idea, honey,” Elvis said as he stared up at the crescent moon casting a glow over the water. “I’m glad ya talked me into a midnight swim.”

“Me too,” you smiled. “It’s nice that you decided to stay a few days after filming for a vacation. Thanks for inviting me.”

Elvis turned his gaze from the moon back to your face, looking slightly surprised. “Of course, baby. Y-y-y’know how much I missed ya.”

You actually were never really sure how much he missed you, if at all. He always seemed to enjoy your time together in Memphis, and he said all the right things, things that you were fairly certain he believed in the moment when he said them. The first time you’d heard rumors of him and a co-star, he’d insisted that the studio put these stories out to get people talking about the movie. You wanted to believe that was true, but you weren’t so naive as to think he would never be tempted to seek the comfort of another woman when he was gone on these movie shoots. Especially after everything he’d been through these last few years. You’d made a conscious decision to trust his words to you over any rumors and give him all the comfort and support you could in the moments when you were together. He always gave so much of himself, it only seemed right that he deserved this in return.

In his uncanny way of reading your thoughts, Elvis smiled sheepishly as he brushed a wet lock of hair off your shoulder. “Thanks for always bein’ here when I need ya, baby. It’s been a really stressful shoot,” he added with a sigh. “Each movie I make seems ta get worse.”

“You know what helps with stress? Floating on your back,” you said with a smile.

“Is that right?” Elvis smirked. “This isn’t jus’ you tryin’ ta get a better view of me in these tiny swim shorts I swiped from the set?” he teased.

“What? I would never!” you giggled, feigning innocence, glad that your blushing face was at least partially obscured by the cover of night. “I’ll even demonstrate for you.” You leaned back, letting your body float on the water, rocked by its gentle movements. “See? All the stress is just melting away,” you announced with a grin.

Elvis looked down at the peaceful expression on your face, your beauty seeming to glow in the moonlight. His eyes moved down to where your breasts swayed up and down in time with the water, barely covered by your white bikini top, then continued over the curve of your hips to that spot he knew was just for him. He could feel his swim shorts growing even tighter as he took note of the curly little hairs escaping from your swimsuit bottom.

“This is a nice bathing suit, honey,” he murmured as he fiddled with the strings that tied at your hips, a warmth continuing to consume him.

“Thanks,” you whispered, smiling a little bit. You didn’t normally wear such a risque suit, but you’d wanted to make sure you’d get his attention back from…wherever it might have wandered in the last couple months. “Why don’t you try floating?”

“Baby, I’m floatin’ on cloud nine jus’ lookin’ at how beautiful you are.” Elvis slowly started to pull on the strings that he’d been playing with. “There’s really only one thing that could make me feel even better.”

Your eyes popped open as you realized that Elvis had deftly untied and removed your bikini bottom. “What are you doing? Elvis, someone might see!”

“Shh, honey, it’s dark and ain’t nobody out here but us.” He tucked your suit bottom into the front of his shorts, his hardened dick having created a convenient little tent for it. “Lemme show ya how much I’ve missed ya.” You shivered a little as Elvis’ fingertips ghosted over your fuzzy mound and pushed your legs open, letting the moonlight bathe your throbbing pussy. “Damn honey, look atcha all wet for me already,” he groaned, spreading your lips and running a finger through your soft folds.

“It’s, it’s cuz we’re in the ocean,” you sputtered out, trying your best to stay still and keep floating.

Elvis leaned down and licked right down your center with his thick tongue before pulling back with that big goofy grin. “Nah, baby, that ain’t the ocean, that’s the sweetest pussy I’ve ever tasted. Ya been savin’ that sweet cream for me?”

You nodded, moaning with pleasure as Elvis dove back between your thighs. As you started writhing with pleasure, he used one strong hand to support your back so you wouldn’t sink under the water. The other one wrapped around one of your thighs and kept you firmly pressed against his face, his tongue dancing over your clit, alternately flicking and sucking it. Elvis continued lapping at you, the saltiness of the ocean mixing with the sweet and tangy flavor of your arousal. By the time his tongue pushed its way into your tight little opening, his nose rubbing against your sensitive clit, you were ready to explode with desire. All you could do was hope that your intense moans didn’t carry too far through the warm Hawaiian breeze.

After licking up every last drop of you, Elvis gently released his hold on you, your legs sinking down onto somewhat solid ground, your toes burrowing into the sandy ocean floor.

“Is that the kind of stress relief ya had in mind while floatin’ on your back?” Elvis’ breath tickled your ear as he pulled you close. You could feel under the water that he desperately needed some relief of his own.

“Better than anything I could imagine,” you whispered back. “Now it’s your turn.” You reached for his waistband, letting your fingers trail over his bulge, his body giving an involuntary little shudder.

“Oh, honey, ya ain’t gotta do that out here,” he protested weakly.

“I want to,” you insisted softly. “I missed you too, y’know.”

“Oh yeah?” he smiled. “What did ya miss the most about me?”

“Well, for one thing, I had no one to make me laugh like you do.” You tugged the tiny swim shorts down his legs and helped him step out of them, gripping them in your hand so they wouldn’t float away.

“And seeing me naked is gonna help with that?” Elvis’ mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh at his own joke. He leaned back and allowed his body to float to the surface, his pulsing dick on full display.

“No baby,” you teased back, wrapping your hand around him. Your insides tingled at the way the brown hairs at his base seemed to float around in the water. “This is no laughing matter. You could injure someone with this. It’s dangerous.” Elvis’ loud burst of laughter quickly turned to a moan as you took him in your mouth, your tongue caressing every inch of him. You could feel his sensitive tip graze the back of your throat as you took him in as deep as you could. As his body started thrashing about from the pleasure, you tried to support his back the way he had done with you, but before you could get a good grip on him, the force of his movements had pulled you both under the water.

“Wh-wh-what are ya tryin’ ta do, mama? Drown me?” He came up spitting out water and laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

You giggled too and spit out the salty water that had filled your mouth. “I’m sorry, you were moving around too much!”

“Well what do ya expect honey? Ya takin’ me all the way to the base makes me feel some kinda way. I-I can’t control it.”

“Hmm, maybe we’ll have to find a different way to relieve your stress,” you purred in his ear, wrapping your legs around his waist.

“I think I know jus’ the thing, baby,” he growled softly, giving your ear a nibble as he reach down and lined himself up with you under the water.

“Oh, God,” you moaned out as he pushed inside of you, stretching your opening around his thickness.

“It’s jus me, baby, but ya ain’t been the first ta get us confused,” he teased as he held your body down on his cock.

“Ha,” you tried to laugh at his joke, but the feeling of him deep inside of you had you in some kind of alternate reality where all you could experience was pleasure.

“Ohh, baby,” Elvis groaned as he gently lifted you and brought you back down on him. He could feel his dick twitching inside of you, releasing all the tension and stress that had built up inside of him. “Oh, shit, uhh, that feels so good honey.” With one last thrust upward, he stilled his movements and just hugged you tightly to him, burying his face in your neck, his soft lips pressed against your skin.

“How do you feel now?” you whispered, stroking his wet hair, feeling his chest heave up and down with the release of emotion.

“The best back float I’ve ever done,” he said, looking up at you with a smile. He tried to ignore the thought that popped into his brain next. You’ve had your moment of freedom in the ocean. Now on to the next crappy movie. Instead he squeezed your hand and asked, “Ya ready ta go inside?” You nodded and held his swimsuit out to him. “Gonna be fun tryin’ ta put these wet shorts back on in the water,” he chuckled.

“Wait, where’s the bottom to my suit?” you asked in a panic.

“Uh oh, it was wrapped up in my shorts, honey, and it ain’t there no more.” You could see Elvis trying to stifle a laugh.

“It’s not funny! How am I supposed to get out now?” you yelped.

“Hmm, I guess we’re jus’ stuck out here forever,” he smiled, pulling you in for a hug. “But at least we have these flotation devices.” He sneakily started to untie your top as well. “Might as well take this off too,” he murmured as he flung it to the side and wrapped his lips around one of your bare nipples, grazing it gently with his teeth.

“Mmm,” you moaned, holding tightly to him. “I think I’d love being stuck here with you.” You could feel his arousal growing again.

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @whositmcwhatsit @missmaywemeetagain @lookingforrainbows @thatbanditqueen @be-my-ally @ellie-24 @from-memphis-with-love @arrolyn1114

#elvis #elvis fan fiction #elvis fan fic #elvis smut #elvis x reader #i love this man

[bigwishes]

New Profession

This is my half of a trade with @idesofrevolution​

Make sure to keep an eye out for when he drops my transformation story. ------------------------------------------------

It had been probably the longest work week you’d had in months, the holiday season meant lots to get done and lots of over time without the bonus pay. You’d heard talk about a new bar that had opened up down town and thought you should go check it out. As much as you wanted to stay in and rest there was a nagging in your head, telling you that you had to go out and it had to be tonight.

You texted a few friends trying to organise a group thing but everyone was busy. You had no choice but to go alone.

-- It was about 10pm when you finally made it to the bar, you’d checked the set line up and seen mostly indie folk bands performing until about 10:30 so you thought it’d be a good idea to skip that snooze fest and show up a bit before the alternative rock bands came on.

Inside was your fairly standard bar, nothing too out of the ordinary although you weren’t sure what you were expecting, it felt like you were still waiting for something, something different about this place but you just couldn’t put your finger on it. You weren’t entirely sure were to put yourself the sea of indie folk fans were moving out and a horde of alternate rock fans were pouring in. It was like a mismatched zoo of hipsters and stoners colliding. You clung to the bar anchoring yourself in the room and ordered a drink.

The bartender attempted to do a cool glass slide over to you but put too much force behind the swing, you watched as the glass shot into you hand and whilst you caught it the momentum was too much for the liquor inside. The dark liquor ran up the side of the glass like a mini tsunami and flew right into your lap. You weren’t sure what you were mad at more, the fact that it looks like you’ve now pissed your jeans or the fact that you paid $22 for a drink you didn’t even get a sip of.

“aw fuck man” you yelled out looking at your wet crotch and the puddle on the barstool. “yo man, I, Im so sorry” the bar tender sheepishly responded  “What the fuck am I gonna do?” “Hey listen, go use the staff bathroom round the back, clean up. There should be a pair of pants in the lost and found” The bartender took you round the back of the shelves and up to a slim metal door. Inside was a nice looking bathroom, well kept wooden aesthetic. This place definitely looks after its staff you thought to yourself. In the corner of the room was a small plastic box with lost and found taped to the front. You began digging through the clothes for something in your size and found a pair of shiny purple pants with a studded belt attached. Sure those pants were definitely....a statement and they smelt like they hadn’t been washed in a few weeks but it was better than going back out there looking like you couldn’t find a bathroom.

You took your wet jeans off and slipped into the other pair of pants. They felt grimy, like someone had spent the day sweating in them and then simply dried them out instead of washing them. You clicked the belt up and felt a chill run up your spine. You watched the muscles and sinew pulse under your skin. You legs and ass filled out the pants whilst your arms tightened into lengths of lean muscle tissue. A slight burning sensation was felt on your chest. Opening your shirt you saw small tattoos begin to form.

In shock you undid the belt and watched as your body reverted to normal. standing there in your underwear for a moment a devilish thought crossed your mind. The perfect chance to cut loose was right here, you could pretend to be someone else, act however you wanted and then go back to normal when it was all over. You did the belt up once again and smiled as you watched the changes unfold.

Leaving the bathroom you heard the bands begin to play and you wanted to get out in the crowd to see what you’d get away with. Hitting on as many guys as possible, dancing on tables, hell even a bar fight were just a few things that crossed your mind. But walking down the hallway you realised how hot it was in this bar, it must be from the amount of people packed inside. Your shirt started to cling to you...surely no one would miss it if you looked this good...and do you need to find body spray?, Nah, no one will notice in the crowd and who would care with you looking like this. You watched maybe the first 2 line ups on stage before you blacked out.

-------

You woke up the morning after in your bed. You felt groggy and hungover. Rubbing your head against your pillow your nose happened to drift past you pits and the stink of stale sweat and weed was so strong it made you screw up your face. You laughed realising you were still wearing the pants. As you took them off you expected your body to revert back instantly but it stayed the same, maybe the longer you wear em the longer you stay like this you thought. How long had you worn them for anyway? you picked up your phone to see it was 3pm.

“ha ha, fuuuuuck, what a night” you slurred out in a ratchet sentence

Your voice was grating, liked youd spent the past 12 hours you’d been blacked out for screaming. Maybe you did? as you tried to remember the past night you think at some point you found your way on stage screaming into a mic but you couldn’t be sure, but what you were sure of is after all that partying and sweating those pants must need a wash. You picked them up and took a sniff but to your surprise they smelt perfectly clean, in fact they smelt brand ned. The oily feeling of sweat in the fabric had gone and the smell of sweat and weed had been exchanged for the smell of fresh detergent....which is more than what can be said about you. Your skin felt oily from sweat being reabsorbed and your hair and pits smelt like you'd been smoking weed for a week.

You phone suddenly vibrated in your hand as you got a text. Boss: 3 people have gone home with food poisoning, I need you here in 20 minutes to cover the after work rush.

An unknown anger built up inside of you, you gritted your teeth and started muttering to yourself about corporate greed and cogs in a machine. Then you remembered, this body meant no real consequences right?

You snapped a pic of yourself and sent a reply.

“fuck you bossman, I ain’t doing shit for you, pay me my fuckin over time or I’m gonna smash your car windows in you fucking cunt”

You threw your phone on your bed and lit a joint left on your bedside table. With it gritted between your teeth you started pacing back and forth in your room venting out what felt like amazing lyrics that came to your head. “aaaaWWW FUCK MAN THIS SHIT WOULD SOUND SO GOOD”

You through on an old pair of jeans and dirty tee shirt and left the house knowing exactly where you had to go to vent this rage.

--------

It had been about 2 months since you quit your job and every day since then had been the same, wake up about 3-4pm have a lazy breakfast and then head to your bar to hang with a couple guys in the green room writing music. It felt like you’d know those guys for years. You’d perform every night for peanuts. The band was...okay-ish but in your eyes you were the best fucking singer and guitar player in the world, people just didn’t get your group’s sound or message you told yourself. Anyone that did say you sounded shit to your face ended up with a ring punch in the jaw. It was the same, wake up, rehearse, perform, drink enough vodka and smoke enough weed to kill an elephant then black out and wake up in bed.

You stopped expecting to change back, hell you couldn’t even remember what you used to look like merely 2 months ago, but with all the ass that was sitting on your dick from groupie guys obsessed with your cocky douchebag personality you didn’t care anymore, you wouldn’t want to go back even if you could.

#transformation #muscle #male transformation #reality change #jock transformation

[yellowcry]

Being in service (I think my sacrifices are nothing if I don't feel like I'm helping)

Luisa loved working. Not only it gave them money and was a good way to return the favour after being given a place to stay. But also it made her feel important.

She's not even tired!

A new part of Twice to once!

The morning was passing rapidly. Not staying for a break at all. The hot equatorial sun was up high and steady. It crawled over the azure sky. The warm rays lay on Luisa's dark wavy hair. She stayed close to her dad, even if all the team of the Madrigals and Rojas wasn't big enough to lose each other. Even less when two of them towered over all the Madrigals. Luisa stepped over the breaks, catching Agustín from time to time when he stumbled over.

 

She let out something between a chuckle and groan whenever it happened. Nothing new, she would be far more surprised if Papá didn't fall at all.

 

Luisa tilted her head, eyeing the sight in front of her. The dusty debris, lifelessly colorful wooden shards. The powdery sweet sand was mixed with the rough stone chips. The scattered glass dishes and old broken frames peeked from under the rubble. The tiles were inside out, shaking without a movement. 

 

Yeah, this place didn't look good if Luisa wanted to put it short. Berenched in destructive death. There wasn't a centimeter free of the faded life. The incident must've happened not so far in the past if she judged by how dirty it looked. 

 

"Right now, we are busy with rebuilding Casita." Señora Madrigal nodded, standing in front of them. Luisa bit her lip, suppressing the wish to ask in which world it would be considered as a small house. It had looked bigger than any other inside the village that she spotted by now.

 

Luisa rolled up her sleeves. Tensed her muscles to prepare herself. "What do I do?"

 

Señora Julieta stared at her, shaking her hands. "No, no,. you don't have to."

 

"Don't worry, I want to help!" Luisa loved helping, being useful. It made her feel connected to people for the short time she stayed in one place

 

She loved feeling as if she was important. Somebody who would be remembered at least a little on the back of somebody's mind. That she wasn't forgotten the moment she left one of her places to live. Even if she doubted it was the case, it was nice to imagine. And this is if she had forgotten the payment that they received for work. Luisa knew how important the money were. 

 

Papí sighed, petting her back. "Don't overwork yourself, okay, Mija?"

 

She shrugged, it would be okay, no need to worry. "I'll be fine!" Luisa promised, lifting a broken doorframe. Just need to avoid getting a splinter. A bit of work had never killed anybody. 

 

 

There were several wagons. According to Señora Madrigal's words, they were supposed to take away the garbage of what was left. Simple and easy. Luisa placed a broken wood into one and got to pushing the rocks. A whole lot of work had to be done. It wasn't a one-day job, so Luisa was better to be prepared. At least, she had a stable way to help for a long time. She thought it would be enough for as long as she stayed in here. Sooner or later they would have to move again. Even if Luisa hoped that it would be later, she could know if it would happen in a day or a month.

 

 

"Okay, where do I put it?" Luisa yelled, picking another fairly big piece of ruined wall. Her muscles tensed from effort, knuckles were turning cloudy. 

 

She had wiped a sticky wet sweat from her dark brows. Deep breath, there was still so much to do. After a week, she got into a rhythm with this. Wake up, go to work, avoid Papá trying to drag you to rest. And then repeat all tomorrow. Luisa worked a lot. She liked being useful, needed. This way, they won't be kicked out for now.

 

 

Her muscles felt sore, swollen from the effort of cleaning the place. It was a few more of the pointer cycle before the long day would be over. And then repeated tomorrow. She was used to it. Even if Papí tried to stop her from work every so often, Luisa couldn't allow herself to lillegag. Nobody dies from a little exhaustion, she would be okay by tomorrow. Probably.

 

She rubbed her arms, whisking the chips that clinged onto her. Her finger slid over the cuff, where was a visible transition between her natural paler colour and a deep tan, earned from the constant work on the fervent star. 

 

Okay, no time, she had so much to do. They hadn't even cleaned the mess by now. And then it would be projection, getting supplies... And she doubted the house would be any smaller than the last one. They had a whole lot to do ahead. The house wouldn't finish itself.

 

Her alpragatas slurped against the water padles which often formed after the morning rain. Sometimes it even poured during the working time. But Luisa had to admit, she could deal with bad weather very well. She had lost count of how many times Zeus had spread with rain when she and Agustín were on the run. If there was anything good in this it was Luisa's strong immune system. She couldn't remember when she was sick even a little for the last time.

 

People were doing their parts. Luisa didn't really pay attention to them. Aside from asking about what she had to do she barely contacted with them. There was no time to lose on chatting without any goal. It would be far better to help, discussions would give them nothing.

 

Days were passing fast when Luisa was busy, even more with how busy she was right now. Most of the time she moved without paying attention to what was her body doing. Barely noticing the callouses on her hands growing thicker. It wasn't something that Luisa hadn't experienced before. Manual labor jobs were easier to get. And with how strong Luisa was, it was a natural choice for her.

 

She didn't even work that much this time around. Once Luisa worked on fiveteen hours job seven days a week. And then Papí learned of how much she was forced to work and punched her employer. They left two days after. So, working from ten to twelve hours wasn't too bad. Luisa wasn't even hurt, she handled it very good. Just a bit tired, sure. But it would pass after a decent night sleep. As she loved saying, Ponos would help her. She did wonder if the Greek God of toil would like her.

 

Okay, there's no time for distraction. She had to work. Oh, there was so much to do... Besides, there wasn't anything better for her to do anyway. Doing a craft required equipment that Luisa didn't have. As well as skills that also didn't exist. And she doubted they would stay for long enough to master something. So she just helped in all the ways. she could. She had to return the favor after being given a place to stay. 

#encanto #fanfic #ao3 author #luisa madrigal #twice to once au

[aggressivelyaverage21]

Chapter 1

Beatrice thought about that a lot because that held fairly true for them as well. Though she’d always heard her parents’ scolding tone when she found herself getting restless or dare she say bored. “Boredom is the product of a weak mind, Beatrice. What did I say on the way here? Children are to be seen. Not heard.” She thinks she was maybe six when she’d gotten dismissed with the wave of her father’s hand as she tugged at one of his belt loops at some sort of political function.

The only other thing she remembers is being in a dress that felt scratchy and shoes that she hated. She did remember answering, “Yes. Father,” and standing at his side for the remainder of the evening with her hands folded in front of her. It was the first memory of her feeling less than at her father’s hand.

All that to say, since Ava was chosen by the halo, the OCS has been anything but boring. The conflicts they’d found themselves in had been difficult on every level. Technical skill, planning, emotional toll in the aftermath. They hadn’t had a break really since Ava had joined them. She didn’t count Switzerland so much, they’d trained and trained and she knew the looming conflict weighed heavily on the younger woman. Beatrice felt a little bit bad for Ava. She’d had the halo thrust into her back, and with it, she’d been dragged into a war for a world that had been anything but kind to her. For all her, frankly understandable, hesitation and reluctance at the beginning, she’d tossed herself headlong into her role as the Halo Bearer.

Now, Ava had been back for almost a year after being gone for ninety-five days, and the holy war Lilith had warned about was upon them almost immediately upon her return. It was just another thing her beloved halo bearer struggled with, especially after a particularly gruesome mission outside of Lisbon to help recover what they could from the chapter that had once called the Shrine of Fatima home. “Beatrice, I dragged this war back with me. I should have stayed. Maybe then-”

“No. Ava,” she had softly comforted as she cradled the other woman in her arms as they sat in the sand of Para dos Galapos watching the sunset. “It would have come eventually, and now we have you here to fight with us. We need you with us. I need you.” It was the first kiss Beatrice had initiated between the two of them but as silent tears rolled down Ava’s cheeks, she couldn’t help herself. “I love you.” She’d brushed her knuckles across the swell of the halo bearer’s cheek, catching those tears as they slowed. “I would fight a million wars if it meant being by your side.”

Ava let out a wet laugh, tucking her head beneath Beatrice’s chin, letting the once older woman hold her close. “Hopefully, we can stop after just the one.”

That was months ago now and they were all exhausted, but still they pressed on. This mission was just like the last few had been.

Keep reading

#ava silva #Ava Silva and Sister Beatrice #ava x sister beatrice #avatrice #hurt!bea agenda #warrior nun #fanfic

[forbidden-creepypasta]

Past the Shadow's Edge

Every time I think of this story it still gives me the chills even after all these years. I remember that night very vividly...

This happened to me about sixteen years ago right after I had gotten my drivers license and got to use my dad's car by myself for the first time.

My girlfriend and I were excited to go to a dance at our high school that Saturday night - and I was more then a little nervous about driving the stick shift without Mom or Dad in the car with me as I had a habit of killing the engine when I tried to start it.

It was early October, but the air was still warm and the moon was yellow and in a sickle form. There were dark storm clouds looming over the Wasatch Mountains and moving closer into the Salt Lake valley.

My girlfriend and I went to the dance and had a great time - staying way into the night. When the dance was over and after everyone had been sent away by the dance/school staff we moved on. We drove around looking for some place to go - as the newness of being on our own with the car would not wear off for several more months.

I picked the old grade school that we had both gone to when we were children. We were fairly close to where we lived so we felt safe and there was nothing to worry about except the looming rain clouds. We parked in the parking lot behind the school and walked into the huge grass playing field and the play ground behind the school. The field was lit by one huge stadium type lamp that cast a circle of dim light on the playground and playing field surrounding it.

She and I sat on the swings talking WAY late into the night. It started raining a cool mist that was very pleasant. But after an hour or so it was enough rain to make the ground under us muddy - so we were careful not to stick our feet in the mud (this is important in a minute).

It became quite and we were both very tired by then. We suddenly looked up at the same moment... the hair stood up on the back of my neck... as we both felt the need to look back and over our left shoulders. Something had caught the corner of our eye. About two hundred feet or so away there was SOMETHING crawling on it's stomach out past the shadows edge of the light that the giant stadium bulb gave off.

We both stared in horror not saying anything. We watched as the thing MOVED towards us, just keeping on the boarder of the light shadow. It was humanoid looking - a dark color with no clothes on. It was laying flat on its belly... its arms down, held close to it's waist.

But what frightened me the most (besides the fact that it had been coming up behind us) was the way it moved and the structure of its legs... It was inching forward moving NOTHING but its feet to push it forward. And the legs... If you look at a normal human’s knees - the knees bend forward... This thing’s was reverse - the joint bent BACK and away. (Imagine laying flat on your stomach with your hands pulled in at your sides to your waist and your knees are UP OFF the ground instead of against it.)

We stared for several seconds... we both had stopped breathing and the only sound was the rain falling. The head of the thing looked up and I saw nothing but black pools where the eyes should be... My girlfriend and I JUMPED off the swings onto the wet grass and lunged into the car about 50 feet away. There was several seconds of panic when I couldn't get the car to start - and I was terrified to look up. I didn't want to see "IT" closing on us - I didn't want to see those knees bending in the wrong direction and the black, soulless eyes. I was afraid I would pop the clutch in the car and not be able to start it again. I kept my head down and looking at the steering wheel. The car engine turned and caught - we tore off into the night.

I called my folks from my girlfriend’s house and told them about what had happened. They allowed me to stay there with her and her Mom until the sun came up in a few hours. We waited and passed the time by telling her Mother our story - which scared her (as well as my parents) badly.

When the sun came up early that Sunday morning - we drove back to see if "it" was still there. This time bringing weapons. But there was nothing as we searched the field. As we poked around the swings we had been sitting on earlier... there were large bare foot prints that had tracked through the mud ALL AROUND the very swings we were on. We both had - had our shoes ON and as I said before, we were careful NOT to get mud on them. And we HAD NOT walked around and around like these tracks had. We found nothing but those bare tracks.

Every once in a while I get brave enough to go back to that field late at night (never alone though). I sit by the school field side in my truck with the high beams on searching the area, but I've never seen "IT" again...

Credit to: Blue Murder

#creepypasta #horror microfiction #creepy stories #horror fiction

[lara47mclamb]

Seem Here For Some sort of Great Guide About Caring For Cats

A cat can become a great animal. After all, indicate need to end up being walked, dislike bathrooms and manage to get care of on their own. However , there will be some things you should do for all of them, even though that they may well not think so. Below are a few kitty tips you can follow in order to give your cat a great living. Make a free toy for the cat by positioning a little dry out rice or the few dry espresso beans inside an empty pill bottle. Close the lid and spin the rattly plaything through the floor. Almost all cats can't avoid requirements and movement. chicken soup cat food You can also tie a period of twine around typically the neck of typically the bottle to generate a draw toy or perhaps a dangly toy. Play with the cat using proper cat toys. Pet cats love toys that will help them feel like the predators that they can think they usually are. Try sticking together with toys that assist them dance close to or jump. 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Cats can begin in order to breed around 4 months of age, and so get your fresh kitten spayed or neutered as shortly as possible. Choose an own enclosed cat litter box by a large tote box with a lid. Use a new coffee can sport bike helmet as a design to cut the door in one side of the carry. Place the espresso can lid fairly high up on the side of the tote. Trace all-around it with a permanent marker. Cut out the group with tin snips or a field cutter. Add litter box. Put on the particular lid. Get some sort of scratching post in order to keep your cat from tearing up your carpet. When you can, acquire a post of which does not possess the same sort of carpet that is definitely on the ground of your own home, so your current cat doesn't connect both. Instead, obtain a post that will is covered found in cardboard, sisal, or perhaps thick rope. Stay away from giving your cat any food that is certainly spoiled. This can easily lead to indigestion in addition to food poisoning, which often can set you back the trip to the veterinarian. Always get your food refreshing from the store and be confident to check the departure date prior to deciding to feed it to your cat. Should you leave the house with your cat, be sure that she is usually wearing a training collar with tags. That way, if anything happens and you only two become separated, anyone will find her in addition to discover how to reach an individual. Your cat may possibly not just like the scruff of the neck all the moment, but when she's out and about of the home it can save your ex. In case you have more than one cat, it is a good idea with regard to you to provide them with each their individual food bowls. Spot them far apart so that every cat has their own space. If you provide just one single dish for the pet cats to share, it may cause bigger cats to anstoß the smaller ones. Do not depart wet cat foods inside the bowl intended for longer than 20 or so minutes after your current cat is completed ingesting it. After you discover your kitten is performed for the time being, throw out all of those other food plus make sure in order to wash their dish thoroughly with light source soap and water. When the cat first gives birth with her cats, resist the urge in order to pick them upward. This is some sort of crucial time for cats to bond using their mother and find out some basics, and so leave them on your own. You ought to be able to be able to have more interaction with the cats after about a new week. Look for potential problems to acquire some sort of new cat. Their very own eyes should always be clear, nose obvious too, and typically the ears with no kind of discharge. Typically the cat should have got a shiny coating along with the mouth and even gums should be free of sores. Taking on an unhealthy cat can easily be expensive. Should you be expecting a little one, it is more than enough reason with regard to one to have the pet spayed or neutered. Some pet cats get very intense when they see little ones in the house. Following having this treatment done it is usually less likely for the cat to do anything to hurt the baby. Your own cat may certainly not think he requires you, but he or she does. If a person use the tips in this post, you can easily make yourself much more necessary. These guidelines can assist keep your current cat happy and healthy, and so give each of them a new try. You can even search out more tips, so your cat has the top life possible.

#chicken soup cat food #cat food

[closhelby]

On and off - Thomas Shelby smut

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x reader

Warnings: swearing & smut

Word count: 2.1K

AN: please give any feedback on smut and what you want to see next? Tried a different writing style...

-

he seemed to be the ex that you couldn’t get over. You couldn’t escape him as hard as you tried, so why were you surprised when he showed up on your doorstep, soaked from the lashing rain that was falling outside at two am.

“You said we were over,” you muttered as you rubbed your sleepy eyes. You were actually awake, feeling sorry for yourself because of how different you wanted your life to be. Somehow you still wanted your relationship to work, despite how much he continued to push you away. You were too good for him, too proper for him, and most of all, you were too nice for him.

These were just assumptions. No one had rarely seen you get wound up, never seen you break or pushed you to that point, because no one needed to. But it was certainly brewing.

“I just wanted to see you,” he slurred.

You sighed, “Ex’s shouldn’t want to see each other though Tommy.”

He pushed the door open slightly, suggesting he came in, and you let him. Gave in to him again. I mean, how couldn’t you?

“Y/n, I don’t want you to be upset.”

“Tommy, if you’ve came here to say the same thing I’ve already heard, then politely fuck off,” you were starting to get annoyed at the assumption you were too nice, because you weren’t. You just gave off that impression. You gave everyone their first chance, as you believed they should, but depending on that, you would give your side. You were caring, but wouldn’t dare to be crossed.

“I’ll always love you, bu-“

“But, I’m too nice. I couldn’t deal mentally with what you do. How you make your money. Well Tommy, you’ve got me very wrong. But that’s your choice, now please” You spoke quickly, “get out of my fucking house.”

You could see the defeat in his face. He meant well, but he was pushing it and you were coming close to breaking point at being nice anymore. He left quickly after that, muttered a bye then disappeared in the horrific night.

The next morning you were awoken with loud bangs coming from your front door. Sighing as you walked towards it, “Tommy, how many times have i to te- oh hi Ada.”

Ada pushed her and baby Karl straight past you, “get ready. It’s happening today, and I’ve got a point to make.”

“Bloody hell Ada. Some context.”

“Billy Kimber.”

“Funeral attire by the looks of it then.” You snorted, and Ada laughed, “yes, the point we are making.” following her into the bedroom.

“Understood,” you agreed, then making an effort to dress solely in black, just exactly how you would if it was their funeral. You and Ada had in fact been friends for a while, you were in Johns year at school and had gotten close to him therefor you were always at the Shelby household. No one expected that yourself and Mr Thomas Shelby would ever become anything, but circumstances change before the war. He promised the world to you in his letters. Always telling you that you both would be married and have children on his return, but deep down you knew that the war changed that outcome and his outlook on life in general.

You had barely gotten time to think before Ada had you storming up the road, in the distance up the empty street you could see a group of men. You and Ada split off as you reached them, both pushing through the men who you assumed were Billy Kimber’s.

“Ada,” Freddie seethed.

“Y/n, what the fuck are you woman doing,” Tommy shouted.

Ada continued to scream, rambling on about people having family’s at home. How they are all worried, and would be attending their funeral. But of course, Billy likes to mock, and made a fly away comment. You were stood at an angle to Billy’s men, so the gun that was in your hand was out of their sight, slightly tucked under your skirt.

Danny Wizz-bang had already lunged towards Billy on the back of his comment. Billy’s men shooting him dead, dropping to the ground instantly. Guns were now raised on both ends, Ada shouting for them to lower them, while Billy moved forward shooting into Tommy’s direction, managing to shoot him in the left shoulder.

Your eyes shot red, without the slightest hesitation, lifted the gun from your stockings, turning and shooting him straight in the head. You got there before anyone else did. The silence was loud as Tommy’s men couldn’t quite get their head around you, the nicest woman they had met, you had just shot someone dead without hesitation.

Billy’s men instantly raised their weapons in your direction, but didn’t shoot, “Tommy and Billy fought fairly. He didn’t win, end of story. Now fuck off” you ordered, turning and marching through the peaky lot before disappearing into the Shelby household.

Not even a few minutes later, the group followed and pulled in a wounded tommy. You didn’t even bat an eyelid, used to this shit, it was his shoulder. He would survive. But it still wasn’t nice seeing him in pain.

You sat in silence, while Jeremiah Jesus worked on trying to get the bullet out of Tommy’s pierced skin, downing whiskey after whiskey. No one seemed to talk to you, instead looked at you with worry. Their outlook on you had changed within the space of 20 minutes.

Tommy was now up, the bullet was now out of his skin and we were then all pushed into the room where Danny Wizz-bang’s body lay before us. You had rarely seen a dead body, infact everyone seemed to shield you from the violence but not today. You stood to the right of Tommy, it didn’t bother you in the slightest. He kept giving you an eye, full of concern, unsure how you were going to act.

You zoned out when Tommy spoke, you had never really spoke to Danny before. So this wasn’t much of a deal to you personally, you were awakened from your thoughts when Tommy was shoving a bottle infront if you, “Danny Wizz-bang,” you spoke, raising the bottle then downing a bit before passing it on to John for him to do the same. It went round the group that surrounded the table, before it got back to Tommy.

The place was lively, full of people drinking, and talking of heading to the Garrison. You couldn’t be arsed, sick of the sight of Tommy looking over at you constantly.

“Why do you keep looking at me?,” you spat. Having enough of him.

“You just killed an enemy of mine without even blinking an eyelid.”

“You all seem to think I’m so nice, eh. Not the right woman for Tommy, eh. Well I’m done being fucking nice.” The pause was loud, as you walked to the door, “and may I add, that did not bother me in the slightest. You all have just shielded me so much you didn’t know how much I could handle.” Slamming the door behind you, turning up to go back to your house.

“You’ve got to give her a chance Tommy. She’s tougher than you think.” Ada advised her older brother. Tommy nodding in response, knowing he was starting to realise what he really had.

You were in your house not only five minutes before he burst the door open, finding you sipping a whiskey on your couch, “I’m not going to keep doing this tommy. This is the second time in two months.”

He had done this before, and like you, couldn’t stay away. He couldn’t bare to walk past you in the street, perhaps you being with another man. It would tip him over the edge that he was already so very close to.

“We’re not going to keep doing it. I’ll give credit where it’s due.” He started to come closer to you, taking your hands in his, pulling you up to him, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

He took your hand placing it at the back of his neck, twisting his hair in between your fingers. You pulled him into you, pressing a kiss onto his lips. He pulled you in closer, hands holding your waist.

“I love you Tommy. When will you fucking realise that.” You whispered to him, your forehead touching his. He smiled, “I love you.”

He pulled your face into his, his fingers intertwined in your h/c hair. Their tongues intertwined with each other’s, as the kiss deepened. You started to unbuckle his trousers, dropping them revealing his already hard length. You pulled back from the kiss and dropped to your knees, not breaking eye contact as you took his erected length into your mouth, swirling your tongue around the tip. He let out a soft moan, carfullly moving your hair out of your face. You started to suck on it, bobbing your head up and down, satisfying him, as he threw his head back in pleasure.

He couldn’t wait any longer, he just longed to fuck you hard. He pulled you off your knees, taking your hand into his as he pulled you into the bedroom, pushing you back on the bed as he lifted up your dress over your head. He traced his fingers over your thigh, placing soft kisses as he went reaching your pussy he pulled down your black lace thongs off, you flicked them off your legs. He placed two fingers in between your slit, running up and down slowly, “wet eh?” Pushing his finger into you, slowly going in and out,

“Tommy.” You breathed. He smiled before pushing a second finger and going a more steady pace, pulling them out and sticking his thick shaft into you, thrusting in and out of you at a steady pace. You started to arch your back, gripping at his hands, and he started to increase his pace, beginning to thrust at a rapid pace.

You pulled back, and pushed him back onto the bed, sitting on top of his erect penis, slowly bouncing on the tip, every few bounces pushing it all the way in. He threw his head back, mouth just ever so slightly open, “y/n” he stuttered.

You instantly started to ride him, his body almost non existent, starting to twitch at how close he was becoming. “Make me cum,” he edged you on, “please.”

You give him a smirk, before increasing the pace, he gripped your thighs, rocking you as you took the lead. Bouncing on his cock, was making you very close, bouncing as you both came to the high, falling into his bare chest, both of you breathing heavily attempting to recover from the love that you both had made.

-

Following the weeks of the murder of Billy Kimber, you noticed a drastic change in how people treated you. People would always still mutter a hello, however would step out of your way, and you were close to being feared just about as much as Tommy himself.

You were walking Into the shop, placing your coat down as you went to make a cup of tea before starting the day. You noticed Polly staring at you, “what are you looking at pol?” You laughed slightly, turning to face her, cup of tea in hand.

“Come here,” she motioned towards you, cupping your left boob into her hand. You furrowed your brows, wondering what the fuck she was doing, “your pregnant. It’s a boy.”

You were in total disbelief, you stumbled back into a chair closest to you, “fuck sake.”

“Tommy’s?” She asked, and you gave her a look of disgust, “yes obviously it’s Tommy’s.”

“For fuck sake”, you moaned, just as Tommy himself walked into the shop. Placing a kiss on your cheek as he walked past into his office, you rolled your eyes at pol who raised her eyes brows in response. Sighing following him into the office, “morning.”

You sighed, “got something to tell ya.” He placed the bit of paper that was in his hands down, turning his full attention onto you. “eh, I’m pregnant”

His eyes went wide, “are ye really?” He smiled, quickly getting up and making his way over to you, taking your hands into his.

“Boy.” You could barely string a sentence together, you knew he would be happy but with how rocky everything was recently you were slightly unsure.

“Boy eh? Someone coming for my crown.” He repeated, “this is great news, now go home. No woman of mine will be working here while carrying my child”, he ordered.

He placed a kiss onto your lips, soft, sweet, “I love you so much, you have no idea,” he muttered to you.

“I love you too, and baby boy,”

“And baby boy,” he repeated, a wide smile spread across his face.

#tommy shelby #cillian murphy #peaky blinders #thomas shelby imagine #tommy shelby fluff #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby x you #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby smut

[tu-sugar-mami]

It has always been you #2

You can read the first part here

Your wake up with a gasp, and with a lot of effort try to prop up on your elbow only to fall back on your side, grunting. Trying to stir your memories you clench your eyes shut.

The blood, the petals and tears. The feeling of being burned from the inside and the pain you felt in your throat as the thorns made their way out. All of it comes crashing to you in a second, making you dizzy.

A familiar voice catches your attention.

“You’re awake. Good. How are you feeling?” You look up to find your friend leaning on the doorframe holding a glass of water with a soft smile.

Your friend’s tranquil expression doesn’t show it, but they’re relieved. They hadn’t expected you to slump out of a portal. It's not that you appeared out of nowhere, since you made a habit of doing it every once in a while, but the fact that you opened a breach instead of snapping into existence that concerned them. As soon as your unconscious body fell on the floor with a hard thud your friend (whose name you don't know despite knowing each other from years but call Chips in honor of their love for said snack) was by your side checking on you.

Chips was worried sick, but didn't hesitate as they took you to the lab. As if luck would have it, your friend is a very talented healer and after many tortuous hours of medical practice (and a little bit of their own powers) they managed to stabilize you.

“I feel awful…” You tug the blanket up to your neck. Chips giggles.

“Well yeah, you had it bad, man. You’ve been out cold for three days.” Chips looks at you for a second longer before offering you the glass of water while helping you sit up before sitting themselves beside you on the bed. Their expression changes to a serious one while deciding if it’d be prudent ask. “What happened…?”

Your gaze is locked on the glass of water in your hands. You think back to the events and come to one conclusion. With a defeated sigh you respond. “I don’t know. One second i was on my way to Lady Beneviento’s workshop to deliver her afternoon tea and the next one i was on the floor coughing—” you sigh and rub the bridge of your nose with your fingers. “Coughing blood…”

“And flowers.” Chips added.

“And flowers…” You confirmed. “How do you know? I arrived here unconscious.”

“I did my homework, gremlin.” Chips couldn’t hold your gaze and they looked away. “Your lungs are filled with those.”

“My lungs?! How is that even possible?”

Chips stands and retrieves a book from the drawer on the bedside table. “I did some research as to what could possibly be the cause for such, uh… unique… condition. I found something in one of the books at the old library but i think you might want to read this for yourself…”

You’ve had a lot of questions, but nothing could have prepared you for the answers.

You can’t sleep, not even when night arises again. The contents of the book swirling in your mind like a cruel reminder.

‘Hanahaki Disease’ it read, ‘the victim of this infection is known to have flowers growing in their lungs leading to them coughing up flower petals when they suffer from strong one-sided love. There isn’t a cure to this disease other than to have their love reciprocated or by having surgical intervention, though this last option will cause the victim to lose all capacity to love again. If not treated, this disease will end up with the life of the victim.’

Chips makes a point of telling you that your state is grave and you need to make a decision before it’s too late. You don’t have much time, after all.

‘Coughing flowers means that my love is not requited’ is the thought that loops in your mind over and over again while you lie restlessly on the bed. Donna doesn't love you but you can't stop yourself from loving her.

You remember Donna’s shy smile. You remember her sweet voice. You remember her hesitant but lingering touch whenever your hands bumped, by accident of course.

Angie's words hurt you, because you learned she's connected with the Lady's thoughts, she's a part of her. It hurt you because your love was clearly, shatteringly not reciprocated. It stung because you fell for someone with absolutely no interest in you, much less the same way you were interested in her.

You had tried to push Lady Beneviento away in hopes that you could forget about those strong feelings, and it didn’t matter how much it pained you, you kept going. You convinced yourself that it was for the better, as Donna wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with your affections and you wouldn’t find yourself imagining impossible things. You made sure to avoid her at all cost and only address her if absolutely necessary. Keeping your mind distracted was an everyday thing, but you failed to realize just how much your behavior affected the Lady.

It was a few days before ‘the flower incident’ that you had decided it was time for your vacations to be over, but alas, things never go according to plan and now you’re laying on your friend’s bed while recovering from your poor decisions.

It’s Friday when you finally call Chips and discuss the next step in your progressive disease.

Meanwhile, back at the Beneviento Estate the Lady of the house is having her own turmoil of emotions. After the events where you made a full display of your particular ability, she doesn’t know what to think. First of all, you had supernatural powers? And not only that, but to open time-space breaches! That meant you could have left at any time you pleased without her being able to prevent it and yet you decided to stay with her all that time. Her heart aches, she feels relieved that you thought she was worth staying,  but on the other hand she is hurt that you hadn’t trust her enough to reveal your secret… but then again,  she didn’t tell you hers until fairly recently. And then you left her behind without any explanation! Not that she needed one but it would have been nice to get a chance to properly talk with you like she intended.

Still, Donna is worried about you. She’s waited for a long time now and still no sign of your presence. She waited for hours after you disappeared but you didn’t return that day. Or the next. You didn’t show up even after a month and a half had already passed by and Donna begun to think that you would never return and that your time together was finally over.

Until one day where the Lady is reading your favorite book (or more like the highlights you marked on the paper, remembering the eagerness in your voice whenever you read out loud to her a new line that you liked) when the sound of someone knocking on the door pulls her out of her pensive state.

As the door opens she finds, with disbelief in her eyes, that you stand on the other side, unable to meet her gaze.

Donna’s sight becomes blurry with tears and she can’t help but to tackle you in a tight embrace, holding you impossibly close while burying her face in the crook of your neck and inhaling your familiar scent after it being denied to her for so long.

“You’re back…”She says breathlessly and you can feel her hot tears wetting your shirt, her hands clutching the fabric of your clothes for dear life. A lot of questions run through her mind but right now she just wants to savor the feeling of your body in her arms again. There will be time for answers later.

“Lady Beneviento, please forgive me for leaving like that…” You don’t hug the Lady back but do let her hang off you until she’s sure you won’t suddenly disappear again.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Donna says. “You don’t know how much i’ve missed you.”

“I’m back and ready to continue with my duties. If you’ll excuse me…” You step back from her hug before making a beeline for the kitchen without looking back, leaving a very confused Lady behind to look at your retreating back.

Donna’s eyes widen as she notices the almost imperceptible specks of blood marring the back of your shirt and she swears that under that oversized shirt you’re wearing are bandages covering you…

#donna beneviento #donna beneviento x female reader #donna x reader #donna beneviento x reader #re8 #my fic #hanahaki disease

[jekde04]

Of Sudden Rains and Lasting Promises

Pairing: Gruvia (Gray Fullbuster & Juvia Lockser) Fandom: Fairy Tail Genre: Romance Word Count: 2,254 words Summary: She had been fairly good at controlling the rain and not letting her emotions influence it too much. But there were a couple of instances in the past that it went out of hand–and it always involved one person. Just like how it did now. Prompt: Tears (Day 4 of Gruvia Week 2021, but I'm so late I don't want to tag it as such anymore lol) Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 You may also read it on FanFiction.net and AO3! Check out my master list for other Gruvia fics. Tag list (I'm so sorry I totally forgot to tag you in my last few fics!): @shampooneko @fbflame94 @juviaafullbuster @unvalley @gruviaftw11​ (Wanna be tagged, lemme know)

She didn't mean to make it rain. But thank heavens it was just a drizzle.

It had been a while since it last happened. She had been fairly good at controlling the rain and not letting her emotions influence it too much. But there were a couple of instances in the past that it went out of hand–and it always involved one person.

Just like how it did now.

Juvia wiped the thin streaks of rain pelting her face. She decided to sit on the park bench right under a big oak tree, but the rain must be getting stronger now because the thick canopy of leaves had become inadequate to protect her. She heard a man curse and remark how annoying the sudden rain was as he hastened to pack up the magazines and newspapers he was selling.

She was the gloomy rain woman once again.

"You shouldn't be out under the rain like that."

A hand holding a familiar pink umbrella appeared beside her, shielding her from the worsening downpour. She didn't need to look to know who it was.

"How did Gray-sama get Juvia's umbrella?"

"You left it in the guild, so I borrowed it for myself," Gray said as he moved to sit beside her, all the while not letting the shade of the umbrella leave her head. He moved his damp bangs away from his eyes and ruffled his hair to shake the droplets off.

"Gray-sama can use Juvia's umbrella. No need to ask Juvia," she muttered. She could feel Gray inching closer to her to make sure they're both under the umbrella, their arms and legs touching.

"I know. I just happened to see you here, and it's kinda unfair to keep the umbrella for myself while the owner is getting drenched."

Juvia looked at him, his chiseled profile matching the perpetual frown on his face. She already knew how handsome he was, yet her heart still beat fast every time she looked at him.

But she also couldn't help that sinking feeling in her chest when she remembered what she overheard earlier. She sighed.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Hmm-mmm," Juvia answered. She wondered if she should ask him or just let him broach the subject. Finally, she decided to just stay in comfortable silence as the rain poured in a steady rhythm.

"Juvia?"

"Yes?"

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

There it is, she thought, but she didn't dare hope. It could be something else.

"Juvia is listening."

A long pause, with nothing but the incessant downpour and the few people out and about being all that they could hear.

"I'm going on a quest with my team." When Juvia didn't say anything, he continued, "It's gonna take a while."

Really, it shouldn't hurt like this. Mages like them go on quests all the time.

But this one was different, she knew.

"Juvia knows. Everyone was talking about it at the guild." She looked at him while he continued to stare straight ahead as if counting each drop of rain. "You're doing Gildarts-san's failed quest, right? The one that hasn't been solved for 100 years."

"Yes."

What was a previously light shower started to transform into heavier rain, bigger drops falling from the sky and making plop-plop noises on the umbrella shielding them. She could feel drops hitting the right side of her body, and she knew that it would only be a matter of time before the wetness would start to seep through her thick clothes.

She felt Gray squeeze closer to her and reposition the umbrella to cover her entire body. Glancing at him, she noticed that half of his body was getting drenched by the sudden heavy downpour.

"Gray-sama, you're getting wet," she said as she moved even closer to him, grabbing the umbrella and trying to cover him better.

"Don't worry about me," he told her, moving his arm around her shoulders so that they could fit under the umbrella better. The sudden warm sensation as Gray practically embraced her lit Juvia's pale cheeks with a pink tinge, but she couldn't bring herself to say more to him.

After a few beats, he said, "I'm sorry you had to hear it from other people. I was planning to tell you, you know."

Despite the dark clouds in the sky and her heart, Juvia couldn't help but smile. At least Gray wasn't planning to just leave her in the dark this time, like what he did when he disappeared without a trace for six months. The thought of it made tears well in her eyes, and she hastily wiped them with the back of her hand, lest the rain worsened.

Gray looked at her, concern written all over his face. "Hey, you can say no if you don't want me to leave."

At this, Juvia looked at him, her eyes wide. "What?"

"If you're not fine with it, I won't go."

"Is Gray-sama asking Juvia's permission to go on a mission?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing.

Gray blushed and looked away from her. He shrugged. "Maybe."

"But why?"

"Well, you are..." Gray swallowed, as if a thick lump had formed in his throat. "You are... my… my friend. And what you think is important to me."

She should have been sad to be called just a "friend," but for some reason, Juvia felt warmth spread in her chest. Gray wasn't particularly good with his words, but he always made up for it in his actions.

And now, he was actually considering her feelings. Ready to throw away the chance to go on a once-in-a-lifetime quest if she said so.

"Does Gray-sama want to go?"

His brows creased in thought, and it took him a moment before he answered. "Yeah, I think so. There's a part of me that wants to stay, but a bigger part of me wants to get stronger."

Juvia furrowed her brows as she looked up at him. "But Gray-sama is already very strong. Juvia knows she says this a lot, but you really are one of the strongest mages she knows."

"I'm not planning to be the strongest out there," he said. "I just want to be strong enough to protect the people that matter to me."

Juvia rolled her eyes. "Everyone at Fairy Tail can protect themselves. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not talking about Fairy Tail," Gray answered, his gaze darting once again to the empty rain-drenched street. She may just have imagined it, but she thought she saw his cheeks darken as he tightened his grip on her shoulder.

"There is... someone... I cherish. Someone I almost lost before. I don't want that to happen again. I want to be strong, so I can keep her safe."

It was so unusual for Gray to talk about his feelings that it left Juvia dumbfounded. Of course, she didn't want to assume or make Gray uncomfortable, but…

What the hell. He was leaving soon, and she had to let him know how much he mattered to her. One more time.

"Juvia is sure that whoever that someone is, she already thinks Gray-sama is wonderful and more than enough," she said. And in a lower voice, she added, "And she believes that her love for him won't change whether he's the strongest mage on Earthland or just an ordinary man without powers. Because she loves him just the way he is right now."

She sneaked a peek at Gray, whose eyes she couldn't see behind his bangs, but his cheeks had definitely turned a dark shade of red. And maybe it was just her imagination again, but was that a shadow of a smile appearing on his face?

The rain was finally letting up, the dark clouds gradually going away. Yet the two of them remained huddled under Juvia's umbrella. Gray started to subconsciously play with the tips of her hair, curling and uncurling them on his fingers. Not that she minded, though.

"I know that. After all, she's the kindest person I know," Gray said. "That is why I want to be the best version of myself. For her. I don't want to be anything less because she deserves only the best."

Juvia could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, but she fought it and willed herself not to boil or turn into a puddle. The dark clouds were all gone now, replaced by the sun's rays taking a peek from the clouds and giving an ethereal sheen to their surroundings.

"Gray-sama is so sweet. Whoever she is, she's one lucky girl."

"Trust me, I'm luckier," Gray said, grinning at her. Then, realizing that the rain had stopped and the sun was out, he closed the umbrella and stood up, stretching his hand for Juvia to grab.

"I guess someone's feeling less sad now?" he asked, and Juvia blushed.

She took Gray's hand, and he intertwined their fingers as they started walking towards Fairy Hills. "How did Gray-sama know?"

"Let's just say I also have a Juvia-radar that tells me when you need a bit of cheering up," Gray told her, and Juvia couldn't help the swarm of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

Maybe it was due to their interlocked hands and the way his thumb mindlessly caressed her knuckles. Or perhaps the fact that he was walking her home, though he had been doing that for quite some time now. Or maybe it was because of how well he knew her–and actually cared about her.

It was all of the things he had said and done… and even all the unsaid ones that brought unparalleled joy in her heart. Because she felt… no, she knew that she was loved. Deeply and completely.

But she had to ask him one more thing.

"Gray-sama?'

"Hmm?"

"Can you promise... that certain someone... one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Promise her you'll come back."

Gray chuckled. "Of course. I promise I'll come back home to her, no matter what. I will come back as a man worthy of her love. "

She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, and they continued walking hand-in-hand, no words needed.

They were at the gate of Fairy Hills when Gray spoke again.

"Juvia?"

"Yes, Gray-sama?"

He had stopped walking and faced her. "Wait for me, will you?"

A bright blush bloomed on her cheeks. Gray had always been indirect with her, yet here he was, asking her (and not a certain someone) to wait for him.

As if there would be any other answer.

"Always, Gray-sama."

And, in a moment of boldness, she tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek, her lips lingering for a second before letting him go. She caught sight of his reddened cheeks before he turned his face away and awkwardly patted her head with his free hand.

"We won't be leaving until the end of the week, so, um... would you like to... spend some time with me?"

Juvia's eyes sparkled. "Is Gray-sama asking Juvia out on a–"

"Not a date!" Gray quickly interrupted. "Just, um, hanging out with each other since I'm going away and we're not going to see each other for a long time."

Juvia smiled knowingly. Nothing would change her mind that Gray was asking her out on a date, but of course, she would let him believe that they were just "hanging out" if that was what he wanted.

"Let Juvia think." She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped a finger on her chin. "Hmm, Juvia wants to eat caramade franks, go fishing–"

"You wanna go fishing? We can do that."

"Really? Juvia's so happy! She was told it's always raining around her, so she can't be taken fishing or camping or–"

"Who said that? That's a load of crap," Gray said, irritated. "Tell me and I'll punch his brains out."

Juvia placed a hand on his arm. "Not important, Gray-sama." She smiled and added, "Tomorrow, then?"

Gray nodded. And before she knew what was happening, she felt Gray pulling her body close to him, her hat yanked away from her head, and Gray's lips suddenly on her forehead. Her hands landed on his bare chest, and she could feel his heartbeat thumping loudly, probably as strong as the beating of her heart at the moment.

It ended as fast as it happened, and she found herself being pushed away by a flustered Gray, mumbling, "See you tomorrow!" As he hurriedly walked away from her, Juvia finally broke from her trance and had enough sense to shout, "Gray-sama, your clothes!"

"Crap!"

Juvia giggled as Gray picked up his discarded clothes and started wearing them, still a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. When he was done, he hastily waved goodbye to her and shouted, "Tomorrow!"

She watched his retreating form until he was no longer within her line of sight. Her heart ached a bit, knowing that he was going away soon, but it swelled with the promise that he would eventually come home to her–a better, stronger, and more confident man.

How that was even possible, she didn't know, as he was already perfect in her eyes. But she also hadn't imagined that she could even love him more, yet here she was, finding herself loving him a little bit more each day as he ever-so-slowly let her into his melting heart.

Clutching her hat to her heart, she entered Fairy Hills.

A/N: I'm still writing Gruvia Week fics? You bet I am! It would be a waste if I don't flesh out those drafts I did before, right? Thank you for still reading my fics. I appreciate them a lot and you inspire me to keep writing. Btw, the fishing thing is a reference to the FT 100 YQ chapter 11 cover. And also to what Bora said to Juvia once. :)

#gruvia #gruvia fanfic #gruvia fanfiction #gray x juvia #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #fairy tail

[regencyslxt]

Blessing

1465 words.

Imagine giving birth to Anthony's child.

this can be read as a part 2 of New Life or on its own.

It was three weeks until your due date. Everything was set and ready to go. The nursery was decorated, the new crib was in your and Anthony’s room for the time being.

Anthony.

He had hardly taken a moment to breathe. He was so busy sorting the finance side of this pregnancy and making sure you had everything you needed for the little one’s arrival. Either that or he was smothering you with his complete love and affection. It was a lot, but you couldn’t fault him for it after all he has had to listen to you complain about the back aches, the feet aches, the constant exhaustion and all the other lovely parts of pregnancy for the past 8 months.  

Speaking of aches, you had been woken up by a sharp pain in your stomach this morning. It had come and gone fairly sharpish so you weren’t worried. The doctor had already explained that ‘practice’ contractions might occur, so that’s all you thought it was. You had been having them once or twice every hour or so, there really wasn’t anything to worry about.

You were currently on your way to the kitchen, as fast as your body would let you go, which wasn’t fast at all. You had woken up with the biggest appetite but your breakfast hadn’t quite filled you up so you were going to make some toast and jam, the perfect mix of sweet and savoury. You were salivating at the thought of it. Unfortunately, your stealth was non-existent and when Anthony had heard the shuffling of your feet along the corridor, he was quick out of his office to meet you.

“Y/N what are you doing!? It won’t be long before the little rascal is here, you should be resting. I’ll get someone to bring whatever it is you want to the bedroom, come on.”

He began ushering you back towards the stairs you had successfully gotten down a little earlier.

“Anthony, sweetie, I hardly think the baby is going to pop out of me in the time it takes to get from our bedroom to the kitchen. Calm down, my love.” You held his hand and moved his arm so you could take it for a bit of support. You both continued towards the kitchen, the smell of tonight’s dinner filling the air as you got closer. Anthony was mumbling incoherently.

“Dear, whatever are you mumbling about?” you chuckled.

He looked at you the same way he looks at you when you stand up too quickly or when you exit the carriage on your own. Eyes filled with anxiety.

“You should be resting love, I don’t want you to tire yourself. It’s not good for you nor the little one,” he places a gentle hand on your belly. The baby was clearly glad to feel him as a kick was felt moments after. You let out a laugh,

“I think the baby is quite alright, don’t you?”

“It appears so… “

He had given up his mission to get you back to bed, but he wasn’t leaving your side until you were at least seated somewhere. You entered the kitchen and asked one of the cooks if you could have toast and raspberry jam. Whilst they were making it for you, you found a seat at the island where some of the veg for tonight was being washed and prepared. You ogled at all the colours. You could feel Anthony by your side, so you leant into him.

As you were waiting another ‘contraction’ disrupted the peace you felt. You rubbed the underneath of your stomach to try and ease the discomfort.  Although soon after another was felt, this one being more painful than the last. From here it was sudden. The wet feeling that made its way down your legs, the immense pain that it seemed to trigger, and the looks exchanged between everyone in the room. The dinner was long forgotten as all the focus was now on you. You were rushed into the nearest bedroom, your bedroom being too far away to even consider it an option. The maids worked quickly to remove your dress until you were left in your shift. You lay down on the bed, squeezing Anthony’s hand as another contraction occurred. Everything was a blur really. You can’t really remember when the doctor had come in. Maybe it was whilst you were screaming, or maybe it was when Anthony was crying. He did tell you to never mention that to anybody though. It was a long 6 hours, a fairly short labour in comparison to the other women in the ton but long enough for you. It was agony and by far the most tiring thing you have ever experienced. How can people say this is a blessing?

Everyone was urging you to push, so you did. You pushed. Again, and again, and again until the room fell quiet. The sound of a baby’s cries filled the silence and you met Anthony in the softest kiss you could muster. His eyes met yours and you could see just how happy he was. You spotted the doctor move from the corner of your eye and turned back to him. Your baby was now in the nurse’s arms, she made her way towards you both at the head of the bed and gave you her congratulations.

“Congratulations, my lord. It is a girl.”

Anthony beamed at her words and took his new-born daughter in his arms. You sat up as best you could without disrupting the care you were being given, trying to catch a glimpse of your little girl. He moved closer to you, positioning the bundle higher as to make sure you could see her. Her eyes were closed and her lips were pursed. You reached out to caress her cheeks.

“Hello my sweet girl,” you gushed.

Anthony peered down at you, admiring how even after hours of labour you still managed to appear ethereal to him. He placed a kiss on your head and turned his attention back to the baby in his arms.

“We should get her cleaned up, no?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, yes of course.”

Anthony handed her off to the nurse again and watched her leave.

“You can go with her my lord, I’m sure your wife would like to rest after all the excitement.”

“No, I can’t leave her, I shall stay here.”

“Anthony go look after her, I will be here when you come back. I am rather tired anyway,” you admit.

Anthony kisses you urgently and makes his way to the room his daughter was taken to previously. Your eyelids grew heavy and within a few minutes you were asleep.

…

Your eyes fluttered open a few hours later. A tiny giggle could be heard from across the room. You look over and witness what could quite literally be the best moment of your life…Your husband stands over your child’s dressing table trying his best to wrap her in a swaddle.

“We’re going to tuck this arm in here aren’t we my little angel…” he speaks as he wraps her arms amongst the soft material.

“Aren’t you just the prettiest little bundle of joy,” she lets out a squeal as Anthony pecks her rosy cheeks over and over again.

He notices you’re awake and makes his way over to you. He sits beside you, leaning his back against the headboard and hands your daughter to you for the first time.

You glance at her and take in her features. Her large eyes stare up at you and a gummy smile appears on her face.

“Well hello there...”

“You have done so well sweetheart,” Anthony tells you.

“I could never have done it without you.”

You look back at your daughter,

“She looks like you, you know. I’d recognise those big brown eyes anywhere.”

He smiles at your revelation.

“What shall we call her?” you ask quietly noticing her eyes closing.

“I’m not sure, what do you think?”

“How about Edele? We can call her Ed for short, after your father?”

At your suggestion, Anthony can’t seem to hold back his tears. He buries his head into the crook of your neck and pulls you both into a warm hug.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Only every day Anthony,” you laugh.

“Miss Edele Bridgerton…” he tests.

“The perfect name for the most perfect little girl.”

As you found yourself in his arms, looking down at the life you created together. You realised that people were right, all the pain, all the mood swings, all the hurt was worth it. She truly was a little blessing and you couldn’t have asked for a better husband to share her with.

#imagine #x reader #regencyslxt #bridgerton imagine #bridgerton #bridgerton x reader #anthony bridgerton x reader #anthony bridgerton imagine #anthony bridgerton imagines #anthony bridgerton

[mycrofts-gunbrella]

Caring is the Greatest Advantage- Mycroft Holmes x Reader (Part Six)

AN- Two chapters in one night... hope you like them! Soft Holmes Brothers scene at the end because, especially after the Eurus situation, the boys truly do love and care for each other! Not proof read either of these yet so apologies if there are mistakes!

Word Count- 4405

The younger brother's eyes had flicked over you both only momentarily, the tiniest flick up of his lips at the side of his mouth that disappeared so quickly it could have been misinterpreted for a twitch.

"Ever the delight, Sherlock." Mycroft spoke, standing straighter, his chin poking up a little higher. Sherlock glanced over his posture and rolled his eyes.

"Oh for God's sake don't start that Mycroft. Had I blamed you for everything I can assure you I wouldn't have bothered opening the door, don't make it so obvious that you care about my opinion of you- it's embarrassing for both of us." And with that he spun around and headed up the stairs to 221B, leaving the door to the flat wide open and disappearing into the bathroom.

"Well that was.."

"Easy? I told you that you shouldn't worry." You nudged Mycroft into the building before ascending the stairs.

"Sherlock Holmes, possibly the only man in the world to forgive somebody for nearly killing him in a heartbeat, but held a 6 month grudge when I took the last custard cream from the biscuit jar when I was 12.." Mycroft muttered, making his way into the flat and sitting beside you on the two seater sofa. John walked into the room from the kitchen shortly after, a tray of tea and biscuits in hand as he said his hellos.

"Figured I'd stick the kettle on when you said you were on your way.. Greg shouldn't be long now." He gave a smile, taking his place in his own armchair. "How have.." He glanced at Mycroft. "How have you been? He won't admit it, but Sherlock's been worried about you." Mycroft took a breath, sending a polite smile in the direction of the army doctor.

"Doctor Watson, I can assure you that I am fine and have been perfectly well looked after." His eyes flickered to you for a moment and then back to the doctor. "I presume the pair of you have held up well as I haven't heard any reports of gunfire towards the wall for a fair bit of time." John grinned, casting his eyes over to the smiley face on the wall that had thankfully been left alone.

"Good. Yeah, uh, things here have been.. good.. too." A blank stare matched with a more thoughtful raise of lips. ".. Very good, actually.."

"Catch." Sherlock came stalking into the room, a damp flannel thrown in Mycroft's general direction which he caught expertly, not allowing a single moist patch to appear on his clothing.

"And this is.."

"A flannel? Christ Mycroft has trauma affected your brain cells that much?" Sherlock quipped, flopping down into his armchair and lazily holding his hand out for his tea that was a mere few inches away from his fingers. John placed the mug in his hand without thought or argument, his fingers brushing over Sherlock's slightly before moving away. A biscuit soon followed, John holding out the digestive while Sherlock partly opened his lips, and shoving the food between them. It was your turn to raise your brow now, but you didn't say anything, instead just nudging Mycroft with your knee to make sure he had seen it too. Of course he had. "It's for your face, Y/N's lip balm is all round your mouth and it's making me feel a bit sick." John's eyes widened as he looked between the pair of you. You shrugged your shoulders and smiled, Mycroft simply sweeping away the slightly pink balm from underneath his lip and folding the wet cloth back up to place on the side. At least he hadn't picked up that you did it on purpose. Before anybody else could speak, the sound of someone bounding up the stairs filled the flat.

"Sorry I'm late, Ms Hudson let me in an- what did I miss?" Greg stood breathless at the door, satchel slung over his shoulder and a carrier bag in his other hand, staring at the apparent awkward glances shared between half the room. You stood from the sofa and headed over towards him, swiftly wrapping your arms around him and placing a small kiss on his cheek to say hello. He made his way into the room and perched on the arm of the sofa closest to Mycroft, casting another look at everybody when his question still hadn't been answered.

"Nothing of importance. Mycroft and Y/N have obviously decided to stop moping around each other like lovesick teenagers and finally admitted they've been infatuated with each other for years.. Now you're all caught up, can we get these papers sorted out so I can be more productive with my time?" Sherlock huffed.

"Nothing of importance? Don't be an arse Sherlock, that's excellent news." Greg clapped Mycroft on his shoulder and shot you a toothy grin. "Declaration in the park was it? Might be a good enough reason for me to not punch you for closing off St James'.." John's eyes widened more, if it were possible.

"You just.. closed off St James'? Can you even do-" The look Mycroft shot John made him cut his sentence short. "Right, yeah. British Government." He nodded, standing to go fetch Greg a coffee (yourself and Mycroft still held a shared judgement against Greg and his hatred for tea) and continuing to ask questions about your newly confirmed relationship. Mycroft sat awkwardly through the encounter- briefly talking about his emotions in front of you was one thing, a whole flat full of people was entirely different- so you gave his knee a quick squeeze and answered for him. "Who bit the bullet then?" John sat down. "Christ I know I mistook the pair of you being together when I met you, so surely these two have been waiting longer for you to get on with it." Greg grinned, nodding in agreement at John's assumption. Sherlock, on the other hand, stay lying on his chair completely unphased by the conversation going on around him.

"To cut a long story short, we were watching telly, I said Stephen Fry was a bit sexy, Mycroft informed me that he used to get told he had a slight resemblance to him, I realised I'd stuck my foot in it and had a ramble.. Went from there. Nothing too exciting, sorry." You left out the parts where the night before you had handled a broken Mycroft to the shower, how he had gripped onto you, how you held him as you slept. You also left out the way he had allowed himself to cry, how you held him while he wept- and, for that, Mycroft was incredibly thankful. Sherlock probably knew though, somehow, in his Sherlock way of knowing things- but he was either too kind to announce it to the room, or didn't care enough to waste his breath.. probably the latter.

"That's disappointing. You've mentioned about fancying Stephen Fry for years, this could have happened ages ago." John teased.

"Nothing compared to Hugh Laurie though. I'm pretty certain that I'm straight but I'd let him-"

"The papers!!" Sherlock's shout cut Greg's ramble off, making the silver haired man jump and grab his satchel, handing out the reports in a way that reminded you of a teacher with test papers.

"Right, yeah. Sorry. Basically the proper forms aren't ready for another week or so so these are just a few basic questions- nothing too in depth yet since I wanted to give you guys time to... yeah just basic for now." Mycroft chose to read through all the questions before answering them, whereas Sherlock  hastily scribbled his response to each question as he went along- the smaller details in the Holmes brothers' differences are always interesting to stumble upon. As he held the page in his hands, you carefully leant over to have a glance at the questions, your hand resting lightly on his shoulder and your cheek resting just against your fingers- blissfully unaware at the 2 sets of eyes openly staring at your movements, and the one set that watched from the side. Greg was right, in a way, the questions definitely weren't as overbearing as they could be- but that doesn't mean it was an easy task. The questions targeted Mycroft a lot more than it did John and Sherlock, asking things about scenarios and situations that had occured before they were taken, how long it had been since they had any contact with Eurus prior to that evening/ what they discussed, and a few basic questions about any incentives Eurus may have had, and anything that aided her into her plan. Of course the papers weren't labelled with the sister's name, they were generically printed and typically handed out to anybody involved in any kind of criminal behaviours, but that didn't make it seem any less like these were questions that targeted Mycroft in particular. Mycroft took a deep breath and laid the papers back onto the coffee table in front of him, pulling a pen out of his pocket and beginning to write. In this moment you had noticed the small bounce of his left leg, a movement only ever shown by him in times where he had a particularly stressful day at work, or a troubling encounter with his brother- it was a movement that let you know his brain was running a mile a minute and he felt a little more overwhelmed that usual. Without making a point of it, you move your right hand to rest on his mid thigh, allowing your thumb to rub small shapes into his leg to show your support.

Turning your gaze to the rest of the room, you noticed Greg's eyes on you, a grin on his face that practically stretched to his ears. You rolled your eyes at him, using your other hand to flip him off and smiled.

It had taken just under two hours in total for the boys to finish completely (well, an hour and twenty minutes for the Holmes siblings, an extra forty minutes for John whose brain simply didn't work as fast as theirs to convey the information on the paper). The time had passed fairly quickly, with yourself and Greg not wanting to disturb the silence and instead just drinking your hot drinks and stealing a couple of biscuits from the tray. You gave Mycroft's leg one last squeeze before sitting back against the sofa, stretching a little after finally getting out of that position.

"Thanks again for getting this done today." Greg spoke, taking the papers in and putting them in a plastic folder. "I'd better be off anyway, get these filed in." He stood, heading for the front door and tripping over the carrier bag he had brought in with him earlier. "Shit, yeah I almost forgot." He picked up the bag and handed it to you. "Got your coat, and I may have accidentally read your mind if you had been talking about Stephen and Hugh.." You dug through the bag and grinned as you pulled out the box at the bottom.

"You, Gregory Lestrade, are a bloody legend. God I could kiss you!" Your boxset of 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' rested in your hands and you showed it to Mycroft, beaming at him. His lips raised at your reaction, showing a small glint in his eye, as you explained how now the pair of you would have to binge watch it since Mycroft had never got round to watching them before. Greg barked out a laugh.

"I wouldn't. I don't fancy being hunted by Mycroft's secret services." Mycroft let out a small laugh himself. And with that, Greg was gone and left the flat to the four of you once more.

***

You hadn't stayed at the flat long before you all made your way to Angelo's restaurant, even managing to convince Mycroft to just take a cab rather than bothering his chauffeur for a 5 minute journey.

"Ahhh Mr Holmes, Doctor Watson!" Angelo greeted, pulling the aforementioned men into an awkward half embrace, half headlock. "Back again so soon? I shall get your usual table set up, grab some candles. Anything for you!" The pair of men awkwardly shifted out of the hold and Sherlock offered a smile.

"Not today Angelo, we need a table for four if that suits your capacities here?" Sherlock peered round at the tables inside.

"Of course, a double date, very lovely to see! Come, come!" He led the four of you inside, you grinning at Mycroft at Angelo's casual mentionings of Sherlock and John's usual 'romantic' set up. You were all ushered inside of a small booth and handed menus, the benches were small but tolerable, your thigh just brushing against Mycroft's, him offering a shy smile at the close contact. "You stay here, I'll get to work on those candles. Just for you, Mr Holmes." Angelo spoke again, clapping Sherlock on his shoulder and disappearing into the back of the restaurant.

"He's.. uh.. a bit enthusiastic sometimes." John spoke, his cheeks burning a little at the memories of previous encounters here.

"Quite. Seems a pleasurable fellow." Came Mycroft's response, glancing over the menu. It had taken no time at all for the restaurant owner to appear back with a handful of small tealight candles in glass jars, and a single flower resting in a vase to lay on the table, taking everybody's orders and leaving once again. Then as the food turned up, Sherlock began to prod at the chips on his plate with his knife.

"What are you doing? Eat your bloody food, Sherlock." John quipped, elbowing the man to his side.

"Don't want it.. whoever decided that dessert was only customary after a meal? I'd much rather wait." John gave Sherlock a look and he spoke again. "Don't give me that look, this was your idea. Who even suggests 'late lunch' as a valid meal time? It's impractical. I didn't eat breakfast because we didn't get out of bed until well past the respected breakfast hour.." 'We'.. you didn't press. "So I had a sandwich at lunch which has ruined my appetite for this. Then I'll be hungry again later, but later than dinner time because of how late this lunch is." Sherlock childishly squashed his chip with his thumb. "It's just ridiculous.. they keep adding new names for new meals at new hours, I feel like we're becoming Bobbits."

"Hobbits, brother mine." Mycroft corrected, the faintest smile playing at the side of his mouth as Sherlock's words sounded alarmingly like the ones he had told you only this morning- it was nice when they just got along.

"That's what I said."

"No, you said Bobbits."

"Boys!" John warned, and you broke out into a small fit of giggles.

"We really can't take you anywhere, can we?" You chimed in. Sherlock just huffed, stabbing a chip and eating it as John gave him a stern look. It was quite sweet, actually, watching them be all domestic. By the time you'd finished your meals, yours and John's plates were clear, Sherlock's leaving only a few chips and a mouthful of burger as he found, after starting to eat the food, that he really enjoyed it and wanted more. Mycroft, on the other hand, had managed to leave little over half of his spaghetti bolognese, making comments about the pasta being far too rubbery, or the sauce being too thin, crossing the cutlery over in the centre and making a dismissive comment about making something to eat when he got home- you all knew he wouldn't.

Sherlock had practically jumped for joy when Angelo came out with a tray of chocolate fudge cake, offering slices around the table which you all, bar Mycroft, accepted happily.

"I shan't spoil my appetite for when I get home." Was his small excuse, raising a hand to prevent Angelo from spouting his claims that he had the best cake in London and that he must have a piece, and instead asking for a coffee. Without words being spoken, John cast his eyes over to you and you offered a small sad smile. Nobody had told John of Mycroft's past, but he was a doctor and always knew when signs were displayed. You had taken an extra fork from Angelo just in case and took a small bite with your own fork, unable to let out the (embarrassingly erotic) moan that had escaped you.

"Christ he wasn't lying, this is incredible." You praised, taking another small piece on the second fork. "Mycroft please give it a try." You offered your hand out towards him, the sliver of cake resting on the tip of the fork's prongs. He looked over at it, his mind telling him to give it a go, at the very least because it had been offered by you, but the image of himself in the mirror this morning came back to mind. He declined the offer and you sighed. Mycroft truly did love cake, and any sweet things, so it was heartbreaking for you to see him turning it away because of the thoughts that ran through his brain. Sherlock had already cleared his plate by this point and stood up abruptly, hoisting his coat back over his shoulders.

"I'm going to go out for a cigarette, care to join me Mycroft?" He had asked, walking past the table. Mycroft creased his eyebrows into a frown.

"Sherlock, the pact? I haven't smoked for three years."

"Neither have I, let's go." Sherlock spoke back quickly, hoisting his brother from the booth and taking the pair of them outside. You raised a brow at John who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I stopped questioning the pair of them and their motives a long time ago." He reasoned, the pair of you turning your heads to see the two Holmes boys outside resting against the restaurant's window.

"I try my best to.. they just still fascinate me." You spoke back, your eyes lingering on Mycroft a little longer before turning back to the table.

"So.. you and Mycroft. Going well?" John asked, his mouth raising in that side smile he often displayed when he was teasing somebody. "I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen Mycroft Holmes smile in a non-threatening way, and over half of those were from since you walked into the flat earlier. I think I can only just about count on two hands times where he's pulled an expression that isn't stoic and emotionless."

"Yeah.. I didn't expect it to happen, if I'm completely honest with you. We've spent so many years just avoiding the subject, but after.. Eurus.. I don't know. It flicked something in Myc that made him regret not doing something about it sooner." John nodded, understanding where you were coming from. "You also don't give him enough credit. Everybody just assumes he's this 'iceman' persona, but it's all a front.. I've watched him laugh so hard that tears fall from his eyes, he's one of those people who throws their heads back and lets out an absolute belter of an infectious laugh. I've seen him get angry at the telly if I came over and some stupid reality show came on the telly.. He shouted at Kim Kardashian once on there for some reason or another. I've stayed up all night with him after he had gruelling days at work, him offering to do the same for me if I had a bad case and couldn't sleep. And then, very recently, I watched him cry." You continued on. "Mycroft Holmes is one of the most emotional, caring people I've ever known, he is just incredibly particular at who gets to see it. You're a doctor, John. You know how experiences in life can shape one's emotional stability, how it alters their mental health. Had you grown up without very many people being kind to you, you'd be scared to let somebody else in too." You finished.

"Sorry.. I didn't mean it to come out in a bad way.. I just meant.. It's nice. Seeing Mycroft acting like that, it's.. nice." He apologised. You waved it off. You knew John didn't mean any harm.

"Mycroft and I are old news anyway.. What about you and Sherlock? When did that surface?" You asked, beaming at the deep red John's face had become as he choked on a sip of his drink. "Oh come on, don't act like that. We've all been waiting for this one to happen since you moved in."

"I.. I don't know what you-" Glaring at him, he stopped himself. "Yeah fine, okay. When we got back to the flat that night we went into the front room and Sherlock lost it. I'd never seen him anything like it before, he just.. he just sobbed into a heap on the floor." He explained, the nervous tapping of his fingers against his glass trying to distract him from his eyes watering. "I didn't know what else to do, so I scooped him up and put him in his bed. He begged me to stay with him and I did. Then he apologised to me, for dragging me in all of that mess, for almost getting me killed and he just wouldn't stop apologising.. So I stole the stereotypical movie move and kissed him. Just kind of went from there. I think that night made us realise that beating around the bush all these years wasn't helping either of us, and the thought that we could have lost the other only a few hours beforehand woke us up." He coughed, his voice breaking slightly.

"God look at us.. All the people in the world and we've landed with the Holmes'" You grabbed John's hand from across the table and laughed. "Makes you feel quite special though, doesn't it? That, equally, there were all the people in the world and they chose us?" John grinned, giving your hand a squeeze.

"Could never tell them that though, their egos would go through the bloody roof."

***

"They're talking about us." Sherlock mused, breathing in the London air.

"It seems people do little else." Mycroft returned, casting his glance to you smiling with John at the table.

"She really does like you. I've spent years deducing everything about her to make sure she wasn't a secret Russian spy sent with the motive to kill you." The younger spoke playfully. "You could have eaten the cake."

"Hmm?"

"The cake. I know you wanted it, but you're going back to how you used to be. Now that you're together, you're nervous." Sherlock's voice was nonchalant, simple observations, which didn't ease his older brother at all. "It's pointless. She's entirely infatuated. I thought the childish doe eyes disappeared after being attracted to somebody for a few weeks, but she still looks at you like I look at a triple homicide."

"Resulting to similes now?"

"You need to stop that too. Dismissing it whenever somebody is trying to be... kind... to you. That's just annoying and not a good defence mechanism for insecurities, like a mask made of clingfilm, it's too obvious." Mycroft didn't speak in turn and Sherlock huffed. "She worries for you, she seeks for you to be comfortable in trialling situations, her eyes do that little light up thing every time you open your bloody mouth. Since standing here she's looked over 3 times and smiled to herself seeing you stand here with me without us arguing. I caught her 4 times on the way to the cab from the flat looking at your arse and your legs in that damned suit. You don't have to worry about anything with her- the way she looks at you is so lovesick it makes me queasy."

"And you know this how, Sherlock? Or is this another one of your cruel schemes to embarrass me?"

"Because, Mycroft, it's the same way you've looked at her for as long as I can remember you knowing her. Jesus, Mycroft, I haven't seen you smile this much since we were children.. before we did everything that led us to believe we were any better than anybody else, that we deserved more than sentiment. And it's the same way I.. the same way I look at him." Sherlock's eyes now locked onto John.

"Always did say there would be a happy announcement between the pair of you. Good to see I'm correct once again." Mycroft mused. He remained stoic, but his brother's words were whirring in his brain, leaving him in a state of shock at the curly haired man even displaying this form of kindness towards him.

"You told me once that caring isn't an advantage. But these last few days, no matter how short it has been, have already led me to believe that caring is perhaps the greatest advantage of them all. And I strongly believe you feel the same way, no matter what bull you make up to argue against it." The pair of them watched through the window once more, the image of you and John laughing at whatever joke had been shared between you. "We both have wasted many years fighting against this, and I don't want you to screw yours up. Y/N will remain by your side and feel the same way towards you, whether you wear a bin bag, lose your job, put on weight- she's in it for the long haul. She's spent so many years pining after you that she deserves the best from you and to be happy. And you, brother mine, have been through enough with not good people; you deserve the happiness too." Sherlock trailed the last sentence. It's incredibly rare for them to show it, but Sherlock and Mycroft would always have a particularly close bond, they've been through too much together not to- and so times like this were precious to them. Mycroft simply let out a small cough, reaching his arm over to rest on his younger brother's shoulder to give it a quick squeeze, before patting it twice and letting his arm rest back by his side.

"Sentiment appears to be dwelling well on you." Mycroft spoke, heading back to the door of the restaurant to head inside, holding it open for his brother.

"As it is on you, brother. As it is on you."

#mycroft holmes #mycroft #bbc mycroft #bbc mycroft holmes #mycroft x reader #mycroft holmes x reader #bbc mycroft x reader #bbc mycroft holmes x reader #bbc sherlock #mycroft holmes x you #mycroft x you #bbc mycroft x you #bbc mycroft holmes x you #x reader #reader insert #john watson #moriarty #jim moriarty #james moriarty #greg lestrade #gregory lestrade #lestrade #mycroft x reader smut #x reader smut #smut

[unknown-writing]

It’s hard doing this on my own...

Summary: You’ve gone into another Depressive state...This time. It’s far more violent than the last Depressive spell.

Warning(s): TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT EXTREME DEPRESSIVE EPISODES! DO NOT READ IF YOUR NOT COMFORTABLE! Ends with fluff. No gifs.

Word count: 2.9k+

A/N: I’m ok.

Luffy has always known you were...Different, than the others. Sure, everybody in the crew went through some tough times in their past but, they made up for that time to make them and their friends smile more. You however...Struggled with genuinely smiling these days again.

It concerned him how distant and emotionless you became. You kept yourself locked away inside that room, to protect the others from being hurt or feeling guilty...All he saw was that you were locked away in a Cage of Sadness that he couldn’t seem to pull you out of no matter how hard he tried too.

Tonight was no exception to his daily routine. He placed the food that Sanji had made on the floor so you could grab it whenever you were ready, then sat down beside your door on the floor of the ship. “Y/n-san...Dinner’s here....” He said loud enough for you to hear, but not enough to startle you.

Nothing....Just silence.

He waited for a few more minutes before getting worried that you weren’t opening the door for the food, but before his worry could worsen. Your door slightly opened wide enough to drag the tray back in...He wanted to see your face again...He missed it. he missed /you/.  Shockingly enough, you /didn’t/ close the door after grabbing the food. Which confused him to say the least because you never allowed him to see you So Sad.

“Y/n-san?” he called out, stepping up to walk into the room, only to pause when he sees you...So....Hurt. It hurt /him/ seeing you like this. His body moved on it’s own and he hugged you tightly, quite literally wrapping his arms around your body.

You didn’t do anything...No smiles, no tears....Nothing.

That worried him.

      “Y-Y/n-san?...” He calls out to you as he still held you. You looked up at him with dead, red eyes from crying so much before now. “Sorry...Luffy...” You weakly started then gave an expressionless chuckle that lacked any kind of excitement, worrying him further, “I can’t feel anything....”

That hit him like a two ton truck. “Can’t feel anything?” What did that mean? Was his hug not working?...He hugged tighter...No real response other than a grunt from being hugged tighter., It didn’t irritate you. It was just uncomfortable and hard to breath properly. Luffy got sad when you didn’t show any response towards his hugs like you used too. So he let go to let you breath better. “You can’t.....Feel anything y/n-san??” He asked again as he held your face, staring dead in your emotionless, empty eyes.

“No....Sorry....” You simply responded, only feeling his hands /slightly/ on your face. Luffy frowned, he was confused on why you were so numb and emotionless now. Was it the Depression you mentioned before? Or was somebody taking your feelings from you against your will? All he could do was sigh and then lift you up bridal style, it hurt not seeing you get flustered about it, but instead, look limp and dead-like in his arms. You seemed a lot more heavier than he expected as well.

He went to chopper, asking for help on what to do, the whole crew was there with you as you just...Quietly sat on the chair you were placed on, and stared at the floor while absorbing everything in. “She’s broken?...” Luffy asked, confused on how you could be broken “Well...Not exactly....But, it’ll take a VERY long time for them to gain their feelings back to normal....They’re hurting.” Choppers words affected the crew, as they were all friends with you. But more importantly, Luffy was affected the most since he was your boyfriend.

       Several months later, Luffy did his hardest to try and make your life just a little bit easier for you. Protecting you during battles. making sure the crew respected your wishes when it came to privacy. Making sure that you ate and slept a healthy amount of each thing so you wouldn’t hurt yourself anymore than you were.

The crew was celebrating another Team-Up mission with the Heart Pirates, they knew that Law was a Doctor so, they confirmed that you did in fact, have Severe Depression...And it started getting REALLY bad over time, but that a shift was going to change after a while. Which surprised Luffy to say the least but, he didn’t force you to change for anything.

You were off in your own corner with Zoro, as the two of you had gotten to be close friends before your Depressive state. Luffy was sitting with the two of you since he’s gotten fairly protective over you, over the last several months. You just drinking some Tea and had some of your favorites out of this feast that Sanji and the Heart’s crew had prepared for everybody, minding your own business as you absorbed everything.

You felt....Lighter...MUCH lighter than before...It’s not 100% happiness but, it’s /something/ to say the least. Zoro saw the slight shine that came back to your eyes for a split second, but didn’t comment on it and just left you be. Meanwhile, Luffy was reenacting his fight with a recent enemy that was super strong, you listened in every now and then, but heard that Luffy nearly got killed.

That worried you...Your face warped in concern but, went away fairly quick when he said that he managed to make it out somewhat alright thanks to the crew. You were thankful for them keeping him alive. He was your boyfriend after all.

Your boyfriend........

Your Boyfriend.....

The thought of the fact that you nearly lost your boyfriend to an enemy hit you like a two ton truck. You sat there deadpanned, but you felt something Wet falling down your cheeks. You didn’t move or say anything. Luffy paused when he heard a faint sniffle from your throat...You were crying.

He started to panic, wondering why you were crying all of a sudden. You rubbed your face and held up a hand to make him pause, “I...I’m ok....I’m ok...” You repeated, “How are you ok y/n-san!? Your crying!” he yelled, worried that his story may have triggered you into a relapse. Once you started calming down, you chuckled, albeit it was very soft and awkward, “Sorry...I’m Sorry...It’s just...The thought of losing my boyfriend got me more upset than my Depression that I started crying...” You admitted, now shocking Luffy and the crew that could hear you.

Luffy paused, somewhat stunned by you just admitting that outright...”Y/n-san?...” he asked while waiting for a response from you...You weren’t exactly back to normal, but the very, /very/ small smile you gave was Bright enough for him to notice that you were coming back from being so numb for so long. Luffy was ecstatic to say the least. Even if your smile was small and awkward. You still /smiled/ after so long of being unable too.

Luffy shouted your name out when he flung into your lap, startling you, which caught /everybody’s attention/ this time and turned to see what was happening. Much to their surprise. There you were. Giving a soft smile as your boyfriend hugged you tightly, keeping you close to him. The crew sighed in relief that you were starting to express emotions again.

                                           ----------------------------------

Sanji was always in-tune with your emotions. He could sense that something would be eating at you before you even mentioned it, he made himself become synced with your emotions so that way he could be there for you in any way possible, even if it’s for a short time.

However, when your too quiet and distant. He can’t really do much to help you out. He can’t guess what your feeling that day because you’re avoiding him and the others. He can’t be there for you for emotional support if you’re not willing to accept it from him.

Soon enough. After a couple of months of realizing this familiar pattern of yours, he knew what was up. He knew that you were having yet another Really Bad Depressive episode again...Only this time, it seemed to be FAR worse than what happened the last time. Lasting a longer time than usual...It affected him quite a lot. He felt guilty that he couldn’t hold you or kiss you goodnight/good morning. He couldn’t so much as see your face because you refused to let him see this Ugly Demon of yours.

      Today was different. It felt off to him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but, while he was out shopping for food supplies on this small Island with the others. Nami had left YOU to take care of the ship. Sanji had to force Usopp to stay behind and help in case the ship got attacked while they were gone.

“--anji-kun??” Nami called out, “SANJI-KUN!!” She yelled, snapping him out of his worried trance over you. “H-Huh?? Sorry..What were you saying??” he asked, snapping back to reality. Nami could only groan in irritation, sighing as she rubbed her face. “Look. If your that worried about y/n-san. Then go back to the ship. Give me your grocery list and I’ll do the shopping for you.” She says while shooing him.

You weren’t expecting to be outside of your room...But it’s not like it was your fault to begin with. You gave an irritated scowl as the guy held you in his bigger arms, practically choking you in the process. You were being used as a hostage to calm down Usopp, and hopefully lure out the other Straw Hats to collect their bounties and turn them in.

“Right...We’ll be taking this lovely lady as well with your treasure...” The guy starts off, but saw that Usopp was about to fight back, so he held out a gun to your head and chuckled. “Don’t even try anything...You move, this girl gets her head blown off.” He threatens before going into a chuckle fit. You looked up at him with your expressionless eyes, a smile was there but, it was creepy. “Sure...go ahead and kill me....But, I don’t think you got the stomach to handle that.” You teased, giving out a small Pfftt sound effect afterwards when he cringed and released you, just letting you fall on your knees.

“Y-Y/n-san! Don’t give him any ideas!!” Usopp shouted, scared for you. All you could do was sigh sadly, “As I thought...” You paused to look up, “You didn’t have the guts to shoot...” You teased again, making the Pirate Hunter flinch again and re-point the gun at you face in point-blank range. “Creepy girl.” He insulted.

        But before he could shoot, his head got kicked in and his aim barely missed your head. You sat there, wide-eyed when you saw your boyfriend Sanji, He looked angry as he was literally on fire. You then saw his face up close when he started to fight the other guys, kicking them off the ship or sending them flying into the deeper part of the ocean. By the time he was done, the main leader of the Pirate Hunters had been placed underneath his foot, Sanji was holding his face there, you could see the other guy’s face warping in fear for his own life

Sanji then lifted his leg up, and then a loud /thump/ rang in your ear. he crushed the guy’s skull in, killing him right in front of you. “DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT HURTING /MY/ Y/N-SAN!” He screamed, which made the last remaining few of the Pirate hunters run for it, jumping overboard as they panicked in fear from Black-Leg Sanji.

You stayed still. Shocked as to what exactly had happened. You were about to be killed while you were Depressed....You /wanted it/..You /craved it/....But even so, the feeling of being rescued by your boyfriend...Overwhelmed you. You stayed still and started to cry out loud, startling Sanji out of his anger-trance to go to you and hold you tightly. At first, you didn’t do anything. But after a while, the crying got worse, you clung to him for dear life.

You /wanted to die/...But even so...Being saved by him made you thankful for the save he just did. “T-Thank you Sanji!! I....I thought I w-was gonna...Gonna die!” You panicked, somewhat yelling within your hiccupped sobs. Sanji kept you close and did his best to calm you down from your meltdown, cooing you as he ignored Usopp and his surroundings. “I’m just glad that your feeling better y-y/n-san...” He says, knowing that you weren’t 100% there but, you were alive regardless.

                                           ---------------------------

Despite how Zoro is. He instantly knew that you weren’t.../There/ mentally for the last while the first minute he saw that you hadn’t woken up with him in his bed this time.

This time however....Had gotten pretty bad. A lot of your old habits started showing themselves but, they seemed to be doubled over time. At first he decided to just....Leave you be, in case if you just needed the time to yourself so that way you can focus on getting better. But...Over time when this started to become a constant with your routine. That’s when his panic really started to kick in.

Today marked the 34th day that you kept in your room. Sure, you’d peak out for food and something to drink or snack on, but that was way in the beginning. It’s been three weeks since you barely showed up. Zoro paced back and forth in front of your room, softly mumbling to himself on what he should do. Should he knock on the door? No, that’d startle you..Should he just barge in if it’s unlocked? No..You’d probably hate him if he did that..What if you were blacked out? Or sick? oR DEAD!? “Zoro....If you keep pacing back and forth like that...It won’t fix anything...” Nami said in a worried tone of voice, seeing her friend pace back and forth with worry. Zoro only scoffed and shooed her out. so he could focus on helping you somehow.

            Suddenly, a loud /thump/ echoed your room when he listened in, that was enough to get him to just slam the door open in a frenzy, worried out of his god damn mind on what was happening. “Y/n!?” He called out....Nothing. he looked around your small room and noticed that it was a complete disaster. it seemed like you had fought somebody in here. he clicked his tongue, disappointed in himself for being unable to be there during one of your meltdowns when you needed him most.

He paused when he saw your body on the ground, panicking, he started calling out your name loudly. You weren’t dead...Thank god. But you were very weak...Too weak. Zoro yelled to get the other crew member’s attention as he lifted up your weakened body. You were breathing but, it was heavy. “The hell happened??” He asked, feeling a sense of guilt start to wash over, before he moved further though, he felt something tap against his boot. “A bottle?” he turned it over so he could get the label and read it’s content.

He couldn’t fully read it properly but, he got enough of an idea that it completely shocked him. Before the others had arrived, he rushed with your limp body to Chopper’s “office” so he could check up on what was happening with you from a professional...He had an idea but, he didn’t want to assume either.

“Y/n was trying to overdose on something.” Chopper said bluntly while looking at the content from the blood he took from you. He sighed and noticed that it was a medicine that he used to numb his patience when they need severe stitches. “But...They’ll be ok....Luckily you caught them just in time Zoro. Anymore of this could’ve killed them.” Zoro didn’t say much. he just thanked Chopper for the hard work and patted his head gently.

     It took a while for you to get back to normal after that night. You felt extremely guilty and kept apologizing to both Zoro and the rest of the crew for what you tried to do. At first, they where angry but after a while, they understood what you were going through and left you alone. Zoro on the other hand, was NOT happy....Not one bit. He wasn’t /livid/ either but, he wasn’t too pleased with what he saw. The scene of him finding your nearly dead body kept playing in his mind. he was terrified of losing you, so terrified that it actually scared him.

Eventually though, you and Zoro were able to talk a little less awkwardly now. The two of you stayed in the workout room just talking about random stuff. A small silence filled the air after a while...You sighed, rubbing the back of your head awkwardly. “...Thank you...” You say quietly, but loud enough for Zoro to hear. “...For saving me that night...”  After hearing you thank him for saving you. At first, he wanted to be petty and make you sit in that guilt for a bit.

But after a short few moment, he caved in and wrapped his arms around you tightly. You didn’t say anything but, you could tell he was upset, as he shivered a bit within the hug. “Don’t ever do that again y/n...” He starts off then paused to inhale, “If you need to talk to somebody. I’m here. I’ll always be here.” he lets go so that way he can kiss your forehead and put you on his lap to cuddle you again. “I can’t stand the thought of you not being by my side.” he admits, which really warmed your heart. 

You sighed and patted his head gently, “...I promise to turn to you from now on.” You say as the two of you cuddled then fell asleep in each others arms.

#tw// depression #tw/ suicidal attempt #tw// heavy mental themes #Do not read if your uncomfortable #luffy x reader #zoro x reader #sanji x reader #one piece x reader

[witcher-and-his-bard-archive]

Take Anything From Me

Pairing: Geralt x Eskel Warning(s): knotting, oviposition, belly bulge, non-human anatomy Rating: explicit

Summary:  Geralt and Eskel have been friends for years now following a contract-gone-wrong where Eskel saved his life. When they meet up again and Eskel is suffering, Geralt is more than willing to help however he can.

I have been so excited for this one, you guys!! Nel did some amazing art for this that can be found in the fic on ao3 or on her twitter!! Please go and check it out, it’s AMAZING!

Geralt's heart thumps heavily in his chest and he refuses to admit that Eskel has anything to do with it. But he can't help but smile when he sees the little island appear through the mist. It's a fairly small island, not even large enough for a lighthouse and easily missed, just outside of the ships' path in and out of the harbour. But a few years back, Geralt almost perished on those same rocks he's so happy to see now. The villagers had lied about the sirens, had said it was one or two attacking ships when it was an entire colony. Eskel had stepped in (so to speak) and saved him, and Geralt had spent the following week repaying the favour when Eskel's face was slashed in the process.

Geralt has been back to visit him often since. It started out as a means to pay Eskel back for his sacrifice, but it was clear after the first couple of visits that there was more than just a sense of obligation there. Geralt likes Eskel and he enjoys their conversations, infrequent as they can be. He looks forward to seeing him again and it's been a few months this time, so his heart beats too quickly and he finds his fingers itching against the rudder, wanting to urge the boat forward faster.

When he does come closer, he sails around to the back of the island where it's sandier and he can pull up further onto the shore. He does so, tethering the boat to keep it from drifting with the tide, and sets off over the rocks to the entry of Eskel's cave.

On the southwestern side of the island, there's a gaping hole in the rock. The sea fills it halfway but during their first interaction, Eskel showed Geralt where to go to reach a hidden ledge inside, lit by an opening in the roof of the cave. It's sandy toward the back - likely from sand falling in through cracks in the roof - with a short ledge where it meets the sea. It's where they always meet because Geralt can't remain underwater for long - even with killer whale, he doesn't have the ability to talk or breathe underwater - but Eskel can stay above the surface for long stretches of time if he's careful about it. So it works and Geralt is relieved to have a place to come back and meet with him.

Most of his belongings have been left at the inn in town, but Geralt keeps a dagger on him at all times, just in case. He jumps into the water in his clothes, swimming in from the entrance and towards the back where he knows the shelf of rock sits hidden from sight. When he reaches it, he pulls himself up, immediately kicking off his boots and stripping out of his wet trousers and shirt. He lays them out in the thin stretch of light and stretches out next to them, hoping they'll dry quickly.

He's usually the first to arrive - Eskel often waits until he hears him, then comes to the surface - but this time, Geralt finds he's waiting for much longer than usual. He tries not to worry about it, but out here in the open, who knows what could happen to Eskel. He knows there's a mer settlement further out, that this cave is just a place Eskel likes to visit, but he's never been late like this before.

So he gets up to his feet, regretting not bringing any of his potions, and peers over the edge of the rock. But the thin light streaming in isn't bright enough to illuminate beneath the surface and Geralt frowns. Reluctantly, he sits down and slips into the water.

He takes a deep breath and dives down, opening his eyes as he pushes beneath the surface, but he can't see anything in the dark. Then, from behind him, sharp hands wrap around his chest, hauling him back up. He breaks the surface and squirms, kicking his feet to avoid hitting whoever has him but to try and get away. But they don't let go and Geralt is shortly lifted out of the water and placed gently back on the rocky ledge. He turns to complain and finds Eskel, submerged up to his chin and watching him.

"Sorry to startle you," Geralt grins, "you didn't show, I got worried." At first, he's distracted by the happiness of seeing his friend again, but as Eskel doesn't respond, Geralt starts to notice a tightness around his eyes. He sits down with his arm resting on one raised knee.

"Something wrong?'' he asks and as Eskel averts his eyes, Geralt notices the aura of… sadness around him. Although it's not just sadness, it's regret and worry and something that brushes against shame and Geralt doesn't know what it is. "You're in pain," he presses but Eskel just bobs a little higher and shrugs at him.

"'S nothing."

"Doesn't smell like nothing."

"Gotta stop doing that," Eskel mumbles, flicking his tail up so it just breaks the surface of the water.

"Who's gonna look out for you if not me?" Geralt teases, but Eskel just stares down at the water. Geralt frowns and readjusts so he's propped up on one elbow, right at the edge of the ledge. "Hey," he says, "what's up?

"Told you, it's nothing. I shouldn't stay today."

"Eskel," Geralt says firmly, "I will come in there after you." Eskel huffs a soft, humourless laugh and flips his tail again.

"It's just not a good time."

"If you want me to go, I'll go, but I won't leave you if you're suffering."

"Geralt."

"Eskel. You risked your own life to save me and you think I'm just going to let you stay here alone and suffering?"

"That was years ago." Geralt just shrugs and Eskel huffs.

"Can I help?"

"No." The answer is abrupt and sharp and Geralt is taken aback by it. Eskel must notice the look on his face because he swims a little closer and ducks his head. "Sorry," he whispers, "it's just… not something you can help with." Geralt nods silently and Eskel flicks his tail again before continuing, seemingly reluctantly. "It's… our season," he explains. Geralt just looks at him in quiet confusion until Eskel lets out a huff, looking away from him. "Mating season."

"Oh." Geralt mumbles, "there has to be something I can do."

"Geralt," Eskel bares his teeth and looks surprisingly vicious for someone so bashful, all sharp teeth and anger.

"Is there nothing? I think I know you well enough now, you can tell me."

"It's not something we talk about with other people, it's… private."

"Okay." Geralt backs off, watching Eskel sadly as he swishes the water around him. "Would you tell me if there was something I could do? To help?"

Eskel is suspiciously quiet. Geralt doesn't expect him to respond, but he doesn't expect the total silence and Eskel's refusal to even look at him. He thinks back to everything he knows about mating rituals - not much outside of the monsters he hunts - to try and come up with a way to help. He knows a lot of egg-laying creatures build nests but he doubts the lack of a nest is the problem here. His own problem is that he knows very little about mer and there are so many different subspecies that any knowledge he does have is probably unhelpful to Eskel.

But there are a few things that are inherent to breeding, the most important of which is the drive to do it, an ingrained need to do it, to fuck, to nest, to reproduce. And the way Eskel is squirming, he has a good feeling that might be part of it.

His stomach clenches at the thought of it and his prick stirs in his trousers. It's just a means to an end, to help a friend in need, but he could do that. If Eskel needs to fuck, it could get painful denying himself and Geralt is here and, well, the thought of fucking Eskel is not unwelcome. It's not even strictly the first time he's thought about it. Especially during those first few weeks, Geralt would catch himself staring, enamoured with the curve of Eskel's tail or the thickness of his chest.

He catches himself now, staring at the plush curve of Eskel's lips and he forcibly drags his eyes away. Eskel is suffering and just because he's fucking stunning doesn't mean he wants Geralt drooling over him.

"If you need to fuck," he says, dropping onto his chest and swirling his hand in the water, "I can help with that." Eskel's eyes immediately snap up to his and he squirms a little, stirring the water around him.

"It's… more than just that," he mumbles, dropping his eyes again. Geralt just rolls off the ledge, splashing into the water to swim over to him.

He floats in front of him, but Eskel immediately snatches him up, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him close. He's unreasonably afraid Geralt will sink or something and while it's incredibly sweet, it's also a little frustrating when he's trying to talk to him. But as he shifts to try to push away, he can feel the swell of Eskel's cock, fully unsheathed and pressing against his thigh.

Geralt lets out a little gasp of surprise and presses against it. Eskel leans into the touch, eyelids fluttering shut and when he doesn't pull away, Geralt reaches down, brushing his fingers along the seam of his slit.

"Geralt," Eskel chokes, "it's not just- fuck. It's not just about fucking." Geralt leans in closer, reaching up with his other arm to rest it on Eskel's shoulder.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it. I don't like seeing you suffer."

"I can't ask you to do this," Eskel says and he sounds genuinely distressed.

Geralt leans back, still trapped in the strength of Eskel's arms. He smiles at him and brushes his fingers through his hair, taking in the expression of pain and frustration on Eskel's face. He's reluctant to offer a solution that doesn't include his own involvement (he doesn't look too closely at that), but he finds himself offering anyway. Anything to make Eskel feel better.

"Isn't there someone else then? Another mer? You said the colony isn't far from here."

"I can't," he says too quickly, ducking his head and turning his head so the scar is mostly hidden from Geralt's view. "They wouldn't want me."

A rush of guilt and pain washes over him and Geralt shuts his eyes. He reaches out unthinking, cupping the scarred side of Eskel's face in his hand.

"That's their loss," he says softly, brushing his thumb over the uneven skin. "Eskel, just tell me what I have to do and I'll do it."

"Geralt, it's-"

"It's not too much, I want to help."

"I need someone to take my eggs," he mumbles and Geralt bites the inside of his lip to keep from seeming too eager, but at this point his own cock has picked up and Eskel is sure to notice soon enough.

"How do you mean?" he asks, "you need to deposit them?" Eskel nods and Geralt's mind helpfully supplies the image of being filled full of eggs. His cock twitches in his soaked shorts and Eskel gives a short huff of laughter.

"I don't think that's the reaction you're supposed to have to that," he mumbles. Geralt shrugs. "This should be weird for you, humans don't take eggs, Geralt."

"Humans do a lot of things their bodies aren't made for," he hums, reaching around to tangle his fingers in the loose hairs at the back of Eskel's neck. "And I'm hardly human anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"More than sure. Anything I can do to help," he says but at this point is becoming less about strictly helping out a friend and more about fucking Eskel. He leans in tentatively and Eskel doesn't pull away when he kisses him.

The arms around his waist cinch tighter and Eskel groans against his lips, kissing him back hard. Geralt's head swims with his eagerness, and he's barely able to drop his arm to circle Eskel's neck before they're moving and he's pressed up against the stone ledge. Eskel makes no attempt to put him back on land this time though, pressing right up against him and shifting his hips to rub his cock against Geralt's thigh.

He reaches down with one hand, slipping under the waistband of Geralt's shorts and pulling them off of him. Once they've been discarded back on the rock, he slides his hand under Geralt's thigh, lifting it up so Geralt can wrap his legs around him. The first brush of their cocks together has Geralt squirming, groaning against Eskel's lips even as sharp claws press into the underside of his thigh. He wants him so badly he can hardly breathe.

Eskel nips at his lip and Geralt hadn't realized how sharp he is until now. But the pain only serves to send him higher, travelling straight to his already needy cock. He manages to get a hand between them, taking both their cocks and stroking them together as Eskel's mouth drifts down his neck and along the expanse of his shoulder. He nips and sucks at the skin and Geralt is helpless in his grasp to do anything but moan and rut into his own fist, pressing hard against Eskel's cock.

"Fuck," Geralt mumbles, "that's good, don't- mm, don't stop."

Eskel presses a little firmer with the following bite and Geralt groans loudly. He'll break the skin if he's not careful, but a part of Geralt likes that, welcomes the idea of a scar from Eskel, a mark to remind him of this in case it never happens again. And he's certain it won't.

But Eskel writhes against him, rutting up into his hand and squirming with every press of Geralt's fingers. He wants it so badly Geralt isn't sure how he held out so long, especially having him pressed against him like that, and he's determined to make it good for him.

Tentatively, he slips his fingers to the tip of Eskel's cock, pressing against the slit. Eskel groans softly, burying his face in Geralt's neck. Geralt presses further, letting the tip of his finger slip inside and Eskel's hips jerk hard.

"You like that?" Geralt asks breathlessly and Eskel nods against him.

"Yeah," he groans, "please, yeah."

"Shh," I got you, "Geralt hums, "he slips a hand around the back of Eskel's neck, rubbing gently at the base of his skull as his finger pushes deeper into his cock. Eskel jerks again, pushing up, forcing himself onto the intrusion with a gasp.

Geralt lets him, rubbing along the inside of him and testing out various speeds and pressure. When he switches to his thumb, Eskel bucks against him, apparently eager for the thickness, and Geralt wraps his remaining fingers around his cock, stroking him at the same time as he fingers him. Eskel squirms and moans and Gerslt's own cock throbs with need against Eskel's hips, even the coolness of the water isn't enough to deter it. But he keeps his attention on Eskel, revelling in the pressure when Eskel jerks against him.

"Is that good? Geralt asks, "do you want more?" Eskel looks up at him with pleading eyes and Geralt tips forward to kiss him as he slips off his cock entirely.

Geralt rubs at the head of his cock with two fingers, until Eskel starts rutting up against him and he huffs softly as he pushes inside. Eskel moans, biting down on Geralt's bottom lip and a bolt of pleasure goes straight to Geralt's cock. He lets out his own responding moan and Eskel presses close, wrapping one arm around his neck and pushing webbed fingers up into his hair. They shift against each other, neither moving much but to rock forward into the other and Geralt moves only automatically, so overwhelmed by the press of Eskel's body all around him.

He aches for more, to have Eskel's hand around him, his mouth, to feel that cock pressing into him and splitting him open. Fuck, and Eskel is big. He's not highly educated on the size of mer cocks, but he's willing to bet Eskel is above average. And the thought of him stretching him and shoving into him is incredible.

He lets out a little whine and Eskel shoves him back hard. The rock bites into his back, but Geralt barely notices it as the hand that was firmly wrapped around his side pulls away to wrap around his cock. And Geralt could cry at the relief it brings, rutting up hard against his palm and moaning into his mouth. Eskel is normally so careful when they touch, always aware that his claws are much sharper than human fingernails and doing his best to keep them away from Geralt's skin as much as he can. But in his desperation, he's clumsy and his claws brush along the underside of Geralt's cock as he moves to wrap around the head.

Geralt can feel the way he moves to pull back, but he brings him closer again, groaning to assure him it's fine. More than fine, even, but Eskel pulls away, breathing heavily as he breaks the kiss.

"Geralt," he breathes, "fuck, please-" he lets out a shuddering moan as Geralt presses into him again, "I need to fuck you, I need you-" he devolves to rambling as he presses his face into Geralt's neck, stroking him and squeezing hard as he nips at his skin.

"Yeah," Geralt huffs, tipping his head to the side, "yeah, give me that cock, please-" Eskel snarls against him and in one swift motion he's got his hands on Geralt's hips, lifting him back up onto the rock.

Geralt sits with his feet in the water as Eskel abruptly changes his mind. His fingers dig into Geralt's hips and he holds him forward as he rises up and presses his face between his thighs. He nips at Geralt's skin, licking over the marks and making his way up, temptingly close to Geralt's aching cock.

Precome beads at the tip and Eskel flicks his tongue out, licking it away before pushing himself up further and sinking down on him fully. Geralt doubles over, fingers pushing through Eskel's hair to steady himself as he rocks up involuntarily, seeking the wet heat of Eskel's mouth. As Eskel pulls up, his teeth graze the length of Geralt's cock and he almost loses it completely, moaning and twitching under his grip.

He still wants more, wants to feel Eskel inside of him, feel anything inside of him, so he reaches down, spreading his thighs to press a hand down between them. He nudges against his hole, testing the openness and it's dry, but doesn't hurt when he presses against himself. He doesn't bother with soft touches as he might normally, too impatient to do anything but press into himself.

He gets a finger in up to the first knuckle before it's too dry to continue and thrusts shallowly like that, groaning at the twin pleasures. Eskel, Evidently, is also encouraged by the thought of it, sucking harder so Geralt's eyes roll back in his head. One of the hands on his hips disappears, shortly pressing against his hole, dripping with Eskel's own slick and Geralt groans at the idea of opening himself with it. He moves aside so Eskel can spread it over him, then rubs it into his hole, pushing deeper now than before.

He makes himself slick with it, pressing two fingers in as soon as he is able, but it'll take more than that before he can comfortably take Eskel's cock, even as slick as it is. But it feels good fingering himself as Eskel plays with his cock in his mouth, rising up so suckle at the head before taking him all the way down again so Geralt's weak thrusts push him into Eskel's throat.

Abruptly, Eskel pulls off completely and Geralt thinks he's done something wrong until he's pushed back against the stone and Eskel lifts one thigh, draping it over his shoulder. He pulls Geralt toward the edge of the ledge, sinking further into the water as he presses his face back between Geralt's thighs, flicking his tongue against his skin before licking over his hole.

Geralt goes limp, letting Eskel shove him any which way to better access his hole, licking over it and teasing the ring with the tip of his tongue. When he finally pushes in, Geralt cries out, fingers clenching in his own hair as he tries with no luck to push further onto him.

"Eskel," he groans, "please, I need you-"

Eskel just hums against him and plunges deeper, deeper than any human tongue could reach, and Geralt whimpers, arching off the stone. Eskel's palm presses against his stomach, holding him down and Geralt can only squirm against it as he's taken apart from the inside out.

"Please," he gasps, "fuck, please Eskel, I can take it." Eskel hums against him and Geralt's pleas turn to unintelligible rambling as Eskel's tongue thrusts into him again and again.

Then, carefully, Eskel withdraws, kissing the base of his cock and down his thighs. He lets Geralt's legs drop again, smoothing his hands up them. He hauls Geralt closer and pushes himself up out of the water, bracing himself on the rock on either side of Geralt's torso. He shifts to lean on one arm, brushing the knuckles of the other hand against Geralt's hole and testing the stretch.

Apparently pleased, he reaches down to grip his own cock, stroking himself slowly before pressing the thin head against Geralt's hole and pushing in. He takes very little time to adjust before shifting back onto both hands and rocking forward. Geralt groans as Eskel slides into him, stretching him further as he settles against him. The burn is faint, eased by the cool slick coating Eskel's cock and seeping from his slit and Geralt inhales deeply, shutting his eyes as Eskel shifts impatiently.

"You can move," Geralt rasps, "I can take it. Fuck, I want it." He knows how desperate the urge can be, has been under spells meant to mimic the same urge, and he wants Eskel to take what he needs, not to restrain himself for Geralt's sake.

Eskel pulls back and snaps his hips forward hard and when Geralt just moans and reaches up to grasp at his shoulders, it seems to be encouragement enough. Eskel keeps his pace even, steady but hard, and Geralt squeezes around him, pushing himself further onto his cock. Eskel fills him more than he could have thought and Geralt's foggy with lust, spurred on by the stretch of Eskel's cock inside him.

Eskel leans low over him, kissing him again, but the motion is jolted by his thrusts. Their lips brush and Eskel nips at him, sharp teeth just barely catching so he doesn't risk cutting him and it sends a shock straight through him. Geralt wants him to bite him, wants to feel those teeth sink into his shoulder, right where it connects with his neck. And he's not an idiot, he knows enough about mer culture to know what that means and to know Eskel wouldn't, least of all in the heart of the moment, but he wants it.

He groans softly, wrapping his arms around Eskel's neck and pulling him against him. His thrusts slow and Eskel hums when Geralt kisses him. He knows this is a one-time thing, but feeling Eskel's mouth against his own, slow enough now that he can kiss him properly, is something he won't ever forget. And maybe he's been trying too hard to not feel anything, but when Eskel looks at him, something rises to the surface that Geralt has been carefully avoiding for years now.

He loses himself in the kiss to keep from thinking too much about it, sliding one hand down over Eskel's hip to bring him closer, deeper. But the angle's a little off and he can't get as deep as he wants him. And he wants to feel Eskel's cock in him for the rest of the month.

"Fuck."

Eskel snaps his hips and Geralt whines against his mouth. He pushes his hips down, trying without any luck to push Eskel deeper and Eskel seems to realize what he's angling for. He pulls out and for a second, Geralt is devastated until Eskel leans over him, kissing his stomach.

"Roll over for me?" he asks and Geralt immediately squirms into place, turning onto his stomach. Eskel hums happily and sinks a little lower, pressing his tongue between Geralt's cheeks and licking over him briefly before hoisting himself back up.

He fits himself against Geralt's body, sliding his prick between his cheeks and Geralt shudders at the touch, pushing up to meet him and clenching his hands into fists.

"Please," he whines.

He offered to help because he knows Eskel needs it and because he likes sex - with anyone - but he wasn't expecting it to be like this. He feels empty without Eskel's cock in him, wants him to fill him and fuck him until he can't breathe anymore. When Eskel pushes in, Geralt stills, holding his breath at the first press of Eskel's cock against his hole. He only remembers to breathe when Eskel runs his knuckles down his back tenderly.

Eskel pushes in, sinking deeper than before and Geralt nearly cries when he feels the base of Eskel's cock slip in, spreading him even further. There's a ridge there that he couldn't feel before, but it's obvious now, swollen and right at the base of him. Eskel has a fucking knot. Geralt's own cock hangs heavy between his legs, twitching at the thought of Eskel buried inside him and swollen. He moans into his own arm and nearly chokes as Eskel rocks into him.

He's much deeper this time, deeper than Geralt's ever taken anything before and it makes his head spin. Eskel starts slower this time, letting Geralt adjust to the new position and even though he wants it quick and hard, he's happy for the brief change of pace. Because Eskel leans over him like this, draped over his back with his nose pressed into Geralt's skin. His breath comes in hot, wet puffs and it feels good.

He keeps one hand on Geralt's hip and the other remains planted on the ground, bracing him. The hand on Geralt's hip presses into his skin, holding tight but careful not to puncture, and it steadies him, keeps him calm as the power of Eskel's hips threatens to drive him insane.

Geralt's already dizzy with lust but when Eskel picks up the pace, he nearly collapses against the ground, unable to do anything but moan and shove his hips back against him. His thighs spread, knees scraping against the rock, but it's all a blur; he hardly even notices he's moving until his cock is brushing against the stone as well and he gives a weak little thrust, desperate for any friction. Eskel shifts above him and the hand on his hip slips around to his stomach.

"Can I touch you?" he asks and Geralt lets out a low moan, nodding.

"Yes, fuck, please-"

He doesn't realize how worked up he is until Eskel gets a hand around him and he barely touches him before Geralt's coming, rocking forward into Eskel's hand and spilling all over the ground beneath him.

"Shit," Eskel groans, "fuck, Geralt." He presses his face between Geralt's shoulder blades. His hips jerk and he plants both hands on the ground, claws cutting into the layer of dirt. "I'm gonna come, can you-" he jerks hard, whining against Geralt's skin, "can you take my knot?"

"Yeah," Geralt huffs and Eskel thrusts hard.

Geralt holds his breath as the knot catches on his rim and then with another forward thrust, it slips in. The stretch burns a little, but the thought of being filled so completely only makes him want it more. To know this is Eskel inside him, all around him.

Eskel shifts behind him and while the press of his cock feels amazing post-orgasm, Geralt's head is clearer and when his knees scrape against the stone, it's uncomfortable. Eskel isn't light where he's draped over him, and while Geralt wouldn't in a million years ask him to move, he would like to shift a little. Eskel seems to notice and wraps an arm around his chest, fingers slipping through Geralt's chest hair as he hums against his shoulder.

"Come on," he whispers, and Geralt doesn't know what's happening until Eskel lifts him and pushes off the rock, landing softly in the water. He keeps Geralt's head above water, submerged about halfway up his chest and Eskel nuzzles at his neck.

"Might be a bit," he hums, "tell me if you get cold." A shiver runs down Geralt's spine as Eskel's lips brush the shell of his ear, but he doesn't think he could ever feel cold wrapped up in him like this.

Eskel's arms come up under his thighs, keeping him buoyant so the position isn't uncomfortable and Geralt finds it's quite nice to just lean back against his chest and shut his eyes. Like this, his hearing is his main focus; the gentle crash of waves, sea birds in the distance, Eskel's heartbeat under his head. He breathes lightly, though every little shift has him gasping as Eskel's knot catches pulling against him.

And it's not long before he's antsy again, shifting intentionally to try and press his cock up against his prostate. And when it does hit, Geralt melts into him. He stretched so full of Eskel's cock he can barely think and his own cock bobs with the swirl of the water, hard and needy after only a very short time.

"Sorry," he mumbles but Eskel just hums.

His thumbs rub against Geralt's thighs, soft and gentle and Geralt tries to focus on that instead of the want that fills his veins again. Eskel is soft and gentle with him, despite what Geralt can only manage is an overwhelming orgasm.

"What does it feel like?" he asks and Eskel just makes a non-committal mumbling noise at him.

"Incredible," he breathes, "not like before. 'S like-" Eskel pauses, taking in a shuddering breath, "like reaching the peak and just… staying there. Goes down gradually but- fuck, Geralt it feels amazing. 'S been a long time."

"Glad I could help," Geralt teases. Eskel shifts, bringing Geralt's thighs together and scooping one arm under him so the other is free to wind around his middle, one webbed hand slipping up his chest. He runs his fingers through Geralt's hair, and Geralt hums softly with each pass of his hand, stretching up to nuzzle into Eskel's neck.

"Glad it was you," Eskel murmurs, dipping to kiss the top of his head. "Didn't know what you'd think of me if you knew."

"'S hot," Geralt huffs and Eskel scoffs at him but presses into the touch when Gerlt raises a hand to cup his cheek.

"Thank you."

"Wouldn't do it for just anyone," Geralt breathes and it feels like a confession. Even as the words leave his lips, his heart is hammering in his chest.

"Geralt-" Eskel starts but Geralt interrupts. He pulls Eskel's face down to him, twisting awkwardly to press a kiss to his lips.

"I'm glad it was me, too."

Eskel kisses him soft and slow despite the awkward angle, but there's a heat beneath it, a neediness that returns despite Eskel's softening cock.

It doesn't take much longer for the knot to go down, but Eskel keeps him firmly in his arms and when he shifts to lift Geralt's leg again, his cock thrust deep and Geralt realizes he's still hard. He sinks all the way into him, hooking his jaw over Geralt's shoulder.

"Are you ready?" he asks and Geralt is hot and hard and aching for anything Eskel can offer him, so he nods and throws his head back, turning to meet Eskel's mouth in a brief kiss. "It's a lot if you've never done it before, are you still okay with this?"

"Yeah," Geralt huffs, "yeah, I want this."

"Okay."

Eskel gets both arms under his thighs again, holding him up so he can't sink all the way into him when he thrusts and Geralt groans at the denial. He tries to push his hips down but Eskel just laughs softly and nips at his shoulder.

"Patience," he mumbles, "you'll get it soon enough." But Geralt wants it now and Eskel's promises hardly stop his cock from aching.

This time, when he squirms, Eskel gives him a warning bite and pleasure jolts straight through him, making his cock twitch and his back arch. For a second, Eskel is still against him before leaning down again pointedly and pressing his teeth to Geralt's skin. Not, he notes, close enough to his neck to be considered a mating mark, and something about that is disappointing. Eskel bites down and he forgets all about it, squirming on his cock and reaching down to grab his own.

"Wanna come," he mumbles, stroking himself, but Eskel stops him with a half-growled not yet. Heat rolls up his spine and Geralt lets go of his cock immediately, reaching back to wind his arms around Eskel's neck.

Eskel fucks into him at a maddeningly slow pace, and although Geralt savours the drag of his cock, he needs more. But Eskel seems to be building up, his hips pushing a little deeper, a little quicker. Then, just as Geralt thinks he'll lose his mind before Eskel fucks him properly, he stops altogether.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Now?"

"Mm. It's… fuck, Geralt it's never felt like this before, I don't know- I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," he promises, smiling back at him. Eskel squirms a little, his hips snapping forward seemingly unintentionally. "You need to release them," Geralt guesses and Eskel nods.

"Yeah, it's-" Eskel groans and jerks against him, "fuck, Geralt-"

"I'm ready," Geralt confirms, "do it."

Eskel pulls out and Geralt groans at the loss, but then he's being turned around and pulled back into Eskel's arms. They're chest to chest now and Geralt forgets to breathe when he looks up at Eskel like this. The pure need shows on his face and Geralt reaches up, wrapping his arms around the back of Eskel's neck while his legs wrap around his waist.

"Okay like this?" he asks and Eskel nods, breathing slowly.

"Yeah. 'S good. Like being able to see you," he smiles bashfully and Geralt presses up to kiss him even as he reaches behind him to wrap a hand around Eskel's cock.

Eskel groans low, thrusting awkwardly into Geralt's hand and he breaks the kiss to huff, now. It's urgent and desperate and Geralt's cock throbs between them at the sound of it. He doesn't know much about this process, but Eskel sounds pretty adamant. He guides the head of Eskel's cock to his hole again, pressing him in just a little and Eskel growls low in his throat.

He slides in deep, settling as far as he can reach, and Geralt feels like he's choking on it. For a moment, there's nothing, though he can practically feel Eskel vibrating around him. He feels the instant the egg passes, stretching him open and pushing all the way up into him. It's a heady feeling, like having another cock shoved in him while he's already being fucked, only it doesn't pull out. He tries to focus on the egg, to feel when it leaves Eskel's body and settles in his own, but he can't feel it and soon enough he's distracted by a second.

It stretches him in the same way as the first, and Geralt can feel himself expand just a little to make space. They come consistently after that and Geralt's cock has taken a very serious interest in the process. He aches for any touch, but all he can do is thrust weakly against Eskel's stomach. Strong arms hold him in place and Eskel has his head on Girl's shoulder, eyes clenched shut as he deposits the eggs inside him.

But, as Geralt takes them, Eskel's hips start to roll just a little, thrusting into him lightly and he can feel Eskel's breath become heavy again.

"Does it feel good?" he asks and Eskel groans against his shoulder.

"Not normally, doesn't normally feel like this. Guess normally I'm not with someone-," he mumbles, and Geralt is quick to pick up on the meaning.

"Feels good with me?" he asks and Eskel huffs a laugh and turns to kiss his neck.

"Feels incredible," he breathes. "Never understood why mer travel so far for breeding festivals, but- fuck yeah, it's really good." He punctuates the words with another sharp thrust just as another egg is released and Geralt isn't sure how many more will fit.

He's experimented with toys and fucked people with every sized dick imaginable, but he's never felt so full like this before and when he glances down, he can see the result of it. His stomach swells and he slips his hand over it, he can feel the individual eggs inside him. It should be weird, should make him squirm with discomfort, but the only thing he feels is a vague sort of satisfaction and pleasure.

He likes the look of his stomach, swollen with Eskel's eggs and he can't keep from touching it, feeling as the eggs shift inside him when another is added. And Eskel has noticed. He hums encouragingly as Geralt touches his skin, gently feeling the outline of the eggs though it doesn't show from the outside. He knows Eskel is watching, can feel him looking at him when he does it, but he seems pleased, kissing Geralt's shoulder and neck and nuzzling against him.

Geralt doesn't get much warning when it's over, and it's hard to tell because Eskel's thrusts are nearly constant now, the roll of his hips and Geralt can only imagine his cock inside him, slipping between the eggs that fill him. Something about that is stupidly arousing and he leans forward, pressing his lips to Eske's collar bone.

"Wanna come," he groans, "please, touch me."

"'S too late," Eskel hums apologetically, "you have to expel them first and it can take a lot of energy, I don't want to risk you like that." He brushes his knuckles against Geralt's cheek and Geralt whines softly, shutting his eyes.

"Are you gonna come?" he asks.

"If you want me to. If you think you can take it again."

"Gonna knot me again?" Geralt asks, pressing back onto him, "gonna fill me up and breed me?" He's rambling now, needy and being denied even as he rocks his hips against Eskel's stomach. Eskel groans and wraps a hand around the base of Geralt's cock, squeezing him and holding his cock away from his body.

"Fuck, you don't make it easy," he breathes.

"Then fuck me," Geralt hums, "fuck me, please."

Eskel squeezes his ass, claws digging into the flesh, and hauls Geralt against him, thrusting quick and hard. Geralt can tell he needs it too, can feel it in every shift of Eskel's hips and in the way he clings so tightly to him.

"You're gonna-" Eskel gasps and groans, dropping his forehead against Geralt's shoulder. "You're gonna have to expel them soon if you want my knot. Not gonna be able to hold out much longer."

"I wanna keep them," Geralt breathes, "for a little longer." Eskel moans and his hips stutter and Geralt wants him so fucking badly. Wants Eskel to knot him with the eggs still inside. "Please," he whines, clenching around his cock, "Eskel please."

Eskel growls low and with the next thrust, Geralt can feel the swell of his knot growing. It bumps against his rim and Geralt pushes his hips down to try and take it, but Eskel pulls back again. The next thrust pushes a little deeper, stretching Geralt around his knot but not pushing all the way in. He pushes a little deeper with each thrust until Geralt's thighs are tight around his waist and Eskel holds him so tight he can hardly move.

Geralt's cock throbs between them, so hot and needy that he can hardly stand it because Eskel refuses to touch him. And when Eskel finally pushes inside him, Geralt can feel the eggs jostle inside of him as Eskel's knot spreads him wide again.

Geralt is so unimaginably full he can barely think. His cock throbs and Eskel slides in and out and he's barely aware of anything else. He wants to come but Eskel holds him in such a way that he can't rub his cock on him anymore and it's maddening. Eskel's nose presses into his neck and he's breathing hard, grazing his teeth against Geralt's skin.

"Gods," he groans, "wanna mark you up, make everyone know your mine-" he growls and Geralt clenches around him, biting hard on his own lip to keep from coming. He shudders in Eskel's arms, whining and vaguely aware that he's asking Eskel to bite him.

"Please," he moans, "Eskel please, I want it. Make me yours- I'm yours, Eskel fuck-"

Eskel nuzzles against him, nipping at his shoulder but refusing to bite harder and Geralt groans with it. He needs it like he's never needed anything in his life and he might go mad without it. Eskel soothes him, biting down on his shoulder, dragging his teeth along the line of his neck.

"You feel fucking amazing," Eskel hums, "so fucking good around my cock, Geralt. Fuck. I'm not gonna last long if you keep it up." Geralt doesn't care. He wants Eskel in him, wants to feel that full-body shudder that runs through him as his knot swells and he spills inside him. He shoves his hips back again, clenching intentionally this time. He didn't realize how close he was until Eskel's prick rams up against his prostate again and he cries out, dropping his head back with a whine.

"I'm gonna come," he rasps, "Eskel please let me, please- I can push them out, I can, please, I want to come-" Eskel bites down on him, growling against his skin and Geralt's cock jerks hard.

"Hold on a little longer," Eskel breathes, "you feel so good like this. Just a little longer-"

Geralt hangs on as long as he can, squeezing hard around him and clenching his hands in Eskel's hair to try and hold himself together, but as Eskel's knot slips into him again, he shoots off, coming uncontrollably. Eskel shifts to let Geralt rut against him and he does, working himself through it and pressing down on Eskel's knot.

When he's finished, Eskel's chest is while with come and Geralt can't even hold his head up on his own. One of Eskel's hands slips up to the back of his head, holding him up with a soft little kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Gonna come," Eskel warns him. "Gotta get you somewhere-" he's cut off by his own moan and his hips snap forward hard.

Eskel tips onto his back, flicking his tail to propel them back toward the shore. There's a lower ledge in the rock, only covered by a couple of inches of water and he pulls them onto it, rolling them onto their sides and pulling Geralt up against him. Geralt shivers at the air against his skin but then Eskel's kissing him, soft and sweet but demanding and urgent at the same time. He bites his lips, wraps his arm around Geralt's waist and pins him against him.

"Fuck," he whispers, lips parted and breathing against Geralt's mouth, "gonna come."

"Come," Geralt whispers, "I want it." And he does.

Eskel jerks against him as he buries himself deep, spilling inside him. Geralt's eyes flutter as the knot swells inside him and he shifts to get comfortable, adjusting to the size of it. His body is heavy, but he wants this to be good for Eskel. He winds his fingers into his hair, kissing his neck and his mouth and sliding a hand between them to play with his nipples.

Eskel writhes against him, bucking hard and groaning and Geralt holds him closer. When Eskel finally stills, he kisses him. There's no heat this time, no need or want, just pure tenderness and the softness of exhaustion bleeding into his motions. Geralt melts into him, making no attempt to move other than to fit into the space Eskel makes when he moves.

He nearly falls asleep before Eskel nudges him, humming softly.

"Hey," he breathes, "don't pass out on me yet. We still gotta get those eggs outta you."

"Hmm," Geralt mumbles, "talk to me, tell me how it feels."

"Incredible," Eskel whispers, "Geralt you have no idea. 'S never been- never been like this, you feel so good. Wanna bury myself in you and stay there forever."

"Not gonna complain."

Eskel huffs a laugh and kisses him again, bringing a hand up to brush the hair out of Geralt's face. It's fallen out of its tie and is sticking to the sweat and water on his face, but Eskel pushes it away, smiling softly at him. He shifts closer, pressing his nose to Geralt's and shutting his eyes.

Geralt doesn't sleep, not really, but he drifts, only vaguely aware of Eskel still against him, talking him softly through it and then-

"Geralt," he breathes, "love?" Geralt stirs, opens his eyes to look at him and Eskel smiles. "Hey, told you you'd be tired. Are you ready to push them out?"

"Are you-?" he asks and Eskel nods.

He shifts, slipping from Geralt's body with a moan, and Geralt can feel his come dripping out of him. He squirms and his cock stirs where it's been lying soft against his thigh. Geralt pulls himself up to his knees, but Eskel reaches out to stop him.

"It'll be easier in the water," he says and Geralt doesn't get a chance to respond before he's scooped back onto Eskel's arms and they're splashing into the water again.

Eskel holds him close and Geralt stretches out, enjoying the feeling of the cool water on his skin. Eskel's hand comes down to rest on his stomach, rubbing soft circles into the skin. He turns Geralt around and Geralt rests a head on his shoulder, letting Eskel's hands roam over his body. Eskel presses down on his stomach just lightly and Geralt groans.

"Ready?" Eskel asks, "you just have to push."

The eggs feel strange coming out of him, similar to having a cock slip out of him, but again and again. He's stretched by each of them and it doesn't take much before his cock is twitching to life again, firming up without so much as a touch.

"Keep pushing," Eskel hums, "just a couple more and I'll touch you. Do you want to come again, Geralt?"

He nods, unable to find words as another egg slips from his body. They sink as he expels them, and Eskel continually rubs his stomach, kisses his neck. But Geralt is exhausted and his body begs for rest and Eskel has to readjust him. He presses one hand to Geralt's stomach, helping to push the eggs lower and make it easier.

When the final one slips free, Eskel wraps a hand around his cock, stroking him quick and hard until Geralt jerks and comes, arching off his chest with a cry. Eskel turns him and kisses him. He nips at Geralt's neck, right where he'd put a mating bite and Geralt waits for a pain that doesn't come. But he can't expect that from Eskel, not after keeping silent about his feelings for so long.

Eskel lifts him up, sitting him on the rock ledge and Geralt immediately lies back and rolls over. Eskel gives a soft huff of a laugh and pushes himself up after him. shuffling over to curve around him. He's warm and solid and When Eskel's tail winds between his legs, Geralt shuts his eyes and hum.

"'S good," he mumbles and Eskel laughs.

"You're incredible." Eskel nuzzles against the back of his neck, throwing an arm around Geralt's waist and it's the last thing Geralt knows before he falls asleep.

When he wakes, Geralt is stiff and aching, back on land again, but Eskel is pressed against his back and Eskel kisses the back of his neck. His nose traces a line down his neck and along the back of his shoulder.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"You asked me to mark you," Eskel says softly, "why?"

"I- I know how important it is to you - to mer - I didn't mean to make light of it, I just- You're important to me, Eskel. I haven't been as open as I should be, but you're… I wanted you to. Not just to bite me but to claim me- fuck, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Eskel hums. "Geralt, I couldn't- to tie you to me, to this place and nowhere else-"

"Eskel?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want… this?"

"Do I want to fuck you until you literally pass out? yeah. Yeah, that was incredible. You're incredible. Shoulda told you before, didn't think you'd be interested."

"You saved my life and that week I spent here," Geralt huffs a laugh, slipping his fingers between Eskel's. "I didn't want to leave."

"Don't have to," Eskel hums, "not now, not ever if you don't want to."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Geralt mumbles, settling again against Eskel's chest.

"'M not. I like having you here."

"Mmhm, must be really popular having a Witcher for a friend."

"They feel safer with you around. I feel safer with you around." Geralt snorts and Eskel muzzles up against him. "What do I have to do to prove it to you, hm?" He kisses the back of Geralt's neck and slides to the junction of his neck and shoulder, kissing the skin there.

"Stay for a while," Eskel hums, "maybe we can talk more about that bite."

Geralt's eyes flutter shut at the light touch and he sighs as Eskel pulls him close. He doesn't know how to make this work and maybe that's part of the reason he never said anything until now. But Eskel seems convinced and after tonight, Geralt is willing to trust him with pretty much anything.

#geralt x eskel #mer!eskel #fic with art #rex writes

[love-and-monsters]

In the Woods

M forest creature X F human, 5,671 words. 

The world has ended and strange creatures now roam the Earth. You survived the end, but can you manage to make your way in this strange new land?

The trees above my head groaned and snapped. I froze, pressing my stomach to the ground. Something skittered through the branches, tiny claws scratching against the bark. It was probably a squirrel. It was almost definitely a squirrel. Regardless, I pressed myself close to the ground until it was gone.

When the forest was still and silent again, I pushed myself to my feet. My muscles were stiff and achy. I’d broken my back building my garden yesterday, and, regardless, I had to tromp through the woods in search of something to eat.

Despite my aches and pains, the hunger gnawing at my stomach, I was still one of the lucky ones. I was alive.

The Surge had happened nearly three months ago. Within two weeks, every major city had been leveled. The ground itself seemed to reach up, like the Earth was trying to slough off its outer skin. Plants had grown lighting quick, vines and roots overwhelming steel and stone within moments. Aftershocks had wracked the globe for another month, but when it was over, there was precious little of humanity left.

And then they had come. Strange creatures. Some of them looked human. Some of them did not. I avoided them. They were unnatural beings, things that grew plants from their bodies and were impervious to attack. I’d been with another group, for a while. The creatures shrugged off bullets and plants jumped to their command. I had been the only survivor.

I had no interest in fighting them anymore. The Earth was gone. I hadn’t seen another human in weeks. For all I knew, I was the only one left. I hoped not, but even if I wasn’t, I didn’t have much hope of ever finding another one.

I’d been lucky to find even a small patch of land to carve out a home in. I’d managed to scrounge up a tent and some blankets, located a few wild plants to start a garden, and even found some prepared food, though not a lot.

Hunting was my main way of sourcing food. I set several snares every night. Guns were difficult to find, bullets were worse, and even if you managed to locate both of them, they almost certainly didn’t go together. Knives didn’t run out of bullets and, providing the snares weren’t badly damaged, I could reuse them.

A rabbit already dangled from my belt. I was getting better at butchering them, and I was glad for its thick fur. Winter was on its way, and I could use all the warming items I could get.

Most of the traps were empty. I reset them one by one and headed to the snare closest to my camp. It was rare that there was anything in that one- maybe the animals knew I was there and didn’t trust the area.

Something crunched as I approached. I froze. The crunching continued. It didn’t seem to be getting closer or further away. There was a wet tearing noise and a sickening snap and my stomach rolled over. That wasn’t something moving through the undergrowth. That was the sound of something eating.

I crept slowly forward, shuffling my feet so I wouldn’t step on any twigs. I slipped behind a tree, breathing deeply. When I was sure I had myself under control, I peeped in the direction of the sound.

There was something hunched over the snare. The wet, snapping noises came from the corpse of a groundhog, which had been pulled open, its red, dripping flesh spread across the ground. The hunched figure was humanoid, roughly. Its limbs were long and spindly, with its fingers coming to dark brown points. Twisting, gnarled branches sprouted from its head, though they were small, probably so they wouldn’t impede its movement. It had long, deep green hair that fell loose down its back. It seemed to be wearing a long coat that flowed around it when it moved. The creature ripped chunks off the dead animal and bit down on them, messily tearing into them.

I gagged. I couldn’t help it. The creature’s messy smacking was disgusting. One of its pointed ears twitched and it spun around.

It was nearly seven feet tall, standing on thin, bony legs. It balanced on its toes, feet elongated like a four-legged animal. Red was smeared all down its front. Its face was human-esque, but its mouth had only sharp teeth and its eyes were flat green, no pupil or sclera. Its chest was the oddest part- it shouldn’t have been able to live. I could see its ribcage, but it seemed to be made out of gnarled wood. There was no skin stretched over its chest. Instead, there seemed to be a small bush in its ribcage, with tiny flowers sprouting out between the bones. It still lifted and fell with breathing, even though it didn’t seem to have any lungs.

Cold terror made me freeze. My knees were trembling. I brandished my knife, but I had no illusions. If this thing wanted to kill me, I would be dead. It could breathe without lungs. How would I even start to kill it?

We stared at each other. The creature cocked its head to one side. A long, slender tongue flicked out of its mouth, trailed around its lips. It seemed to be assessing me as much as I was assessing it.

We stood there for several long moments. I was almost afraid to breathe. Curiosity seemed to be the only thing keeping me alive.

Something snapped a few feet to my left. The creature’s head swiveled, ears twitching. It snarled, baring its red-stained teeth, then plunged off into the undergrowth. There was a crashing, snapping noise that got fainter as it moved away.

I let out a slow breath. Relief made me dizzy. It was gone. I had lived.

Mechanically, I cleared the trap, dragging the dead body away from it. I wasn’t eating it. Scavengers could have it. After some consideration, I reset it. If the creature came back, then I would consider moving it, but I wasn’t shifting it on a one-off. Maybe the creature was just passing through.

I headed back to my tent and butchered the rabbit. It was tasty, juicy. I tended my garden, making sure that everything was properly arranged before I headed to bed.

I didn’t sleep well that night. There was something howling in the woods, a constant screaming that sounded like a cross between a wildcat and a human.

Over the next few days, I became more and more convinced that seeing the creature hadn’t been a one-off. I didn’t see it hunched over, crunching on any more raw animals, but I saw signs of it. Traps that had clearly been tampered with, that had scraps of fur and blood on them, but hadn’t been reset. Trails of disturbed dirt around my camp. Claw marks on the trees, roughly around the creature’s height.

I didn’t like the fact that one of those things had set up camp near me and was stealing my food, but I wasn’t sure there was anything I could do. I hadn’t seen it again, and I was fairly sure I couldn’t drive it off. The only thing I could do was hope I kept avoiding it.

The howling at night hadn’t stopped. It seemed to be getting closer. The sound seeped into my dreams.

It was a chilly morning when I stepped outside to find a dead deer sprawling in the middle of my camp.

I froze. The doe had been killed by something with claws and teeth, its throat torn open and stomach slashed in ragged edges. But it hadn’t been savaged or eaten like it should have been. And it hadn’t been killed here. My camp wasn’t disturbed and I hadn’t heard the sounds of a struggle in the night. Something had killed the deer, dragged it to my camp, and left it for me.

There was a tingling sensation on the back of my neck, like something was watching me. I looked around. Nothing.

Was the deer a threat? ‘If you stay here, this will happen to you.’ I couldn’t move. I’d set up a life here. Moving would mean abandoning most of my belongings and starting over. With winter bearing down on me, it would be a death sentence.

I dragged the deer a short distance away. If this thing wanted to drive me out, it was going to have to do it the hard way. I wouldn’t be taking its threats.

My traps were undisturbed for the first time in a while. There was a chubby groundhog in one of them, which was nice. I attached it to my waist and returned to camp.

It seemed undisturbed. That was reassuring. I tried to fortify the camp a little more, setting up a makeshift fence. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to stop anything, but it made me feel a little safer.

There was a pile of small animals in my camp when I woke up the next morning. They’d all had their necks neatly snapped and were arranged together neatly. Something intelligent had placed them there.

I buried them outside of camp. The tingling feeling of being watched was worse than ever.

The noises at night were getting closer. I could barely sleep. They were close by, just outside of camp. I kept thinking of that thing I’d seen in the woods, the human frame with those green eyes and strange, open chest.

Animals kept appearing in my camp. They varied in size and killing style- some of them had their necks snapped, some were messily eviscerated, some had simple, clean killing cuts. I dragged them out of camp each time. The amount of corpses was starting to disturb me. They were going to attract scavengers to my camp.

Several days after the corpses had started appearing, I emerged from my tent to see the creature hunched in the clearing. It was crouching over the dead body of a stag. There were no visible wounds on it. It could have been sleeping, except for the unnatural angle of its neck.

The creature froze, staring up at me. Its blank, green eyes betrayed no emotion. My heart thundered in my chest. I didn’t even have my knife on me- it was still in the tent. I’d gotten careless. If this thing killed me, it was totally my own fault.

The creature looked back down at the stag, then, slowly, deliberately, it pushed the carcass toward me. It looked up at me, back down at the stag, then up at me again. Its lips parted over its many sharp teeth.

“Good?” Its voice wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought, if such a thing could speak, it would have a rasping, unnatural quality to it. There was a strange tone to it, an echo that made it sound like two people were speaking at once. The dominant voice, though, was a baritone and surprisingly soothing.

“You can talk?” I said. The creature blinked at me. It took a moment to parse my words, then it rose to its full height. At nearly seven feet tall, it towered over me.

“Is this acceptable?” One of its hands spread, gesturing down to the carcass at its feet. I gaped at it, uncertain what it meant. It waited, still as a statue.

I licked my lips. There was an odd sense in the air, like I was partaking in some kind of ceremony I didn’t understand. But the creature was clearly offering the stag to me, and it felt improper to reject the gift. I took a deep, steadying breath.

“Yes. It’s… acceptable.” There was a faint quaver in my voice. “Thank you.”

The creature bent into a deep bow. Without another word, it turned and walked back into the forest.

I stared after it until it had completely vanished from view, then sank to the ground. My hands were shaking as I examined the carcass. I tried to review everything that I knew. The creature was the one that had been bringing me dead animals. Accepting the gift had some kind of significance, I was sure, but I didn’t know what it was. Stories of fairy deals and people being spirited away marched through my head. I shook them off. Whatever the creature wanted, it didn’t seem to want to drag me off anywhere.

I spent the rest of the day in my camp, carefully butchering the carcass. Maybe it was a bad idea to accept the gift, but I had to admit that it was a lot of meat. Properly dried, it could last a while, maybe over the whole winter.

It was silent that night. I finally managed to get a peaceful night’s sleep.

The creature was still gone when I emerged in the morning. And yet, the tingling feeling of being watched was worse than ever. Every nearby rustle or snap of a twig made me jump. Sometimes, I thought I saw something shifting between the trees, but it vanished whenever I tried to get a look at it. I couldn’t bring myself to leave camp again.

There was no avoiding going out the next day, though. The traps needed to be checked, and I needed to forage. It only took me a few minutes to realize I was being followed.

I couldn’t see what was following me, but I could hear it padding through the undergrowth behind me. I was pretty sure I knew what it was. The creature seemed to be content to follow me from a distance, so I tried to be content just ignoring it. I managed to catch one or two glimpses of it as it slunk through the foliage, but it was pretty good at staying out of sight.

It was as I was checking the trap furthest from my camp that I heard it. The heavy, crushing footfalls of a behemoth.

Behemoth was the general, catch-all term for the oversized monsters that roamed the lands now. They were enormous, unstoppable, and virtually unkillable. I’d seen one get hit with a missile and keep moving. When I’d been with other humans, a behemoth in the area prompted a mass exodus. You didn’t engage. You just ran.

I turned, slowly, and saw it moving through the trees. It looked like some horrifying combination between a bear and a moose. Larger than either, it had a great, sloping body patched in moss. Enormous antlers sprouted from its head, with points like spears, and its muzzle was large and full of jutting teeth.

Its head was low enough that I could see its enormous eyes rolling around to focus on me.

A growl vibrated from its chest, loud enough to set my bones trembling. I scrambled back, but fear was making my limbs numb and clumsy. There wasn’t a point in running, not really. It could catch me easily. And this one was enormous and heavy, ready to bulk up for winter. There was no way it was going to pass up such an easy meal.

I couldn’t turn to run. I couldn’t take my eyes off the enormous, saliva covered teeth as the behemoth opened its mouth. It could snap me in two with a single bite. A solid certainty formed itself in the pit of my stomach. I was going to die here.

There was an echoing, enraged shriek from behind me. I whirled around just in time to see a pale, slender form bolt out of the undergrowth and lungs at the behemoth.

The creature, the one that had been following me, had sprung to an impressive height and attached itself to the behemoth’s face. The behemoth staggered backward, swinging its great head back and forth. Its scream was great and keening, loud enough to make me clap my hands over my ears. The creature seemed undeterred. It raised a clawed hand and plunged it down, gouging a create cavern in the behemoth’s eyes.

Blood sprayed down from the behemoth’s face. I gaped. It was bleeding. I’d never seen one injured. I didn’t know they had blood. But the creature was tearing into it as easily as it would tear into any other animal.

With another grating scream, the behemoth turned away. Apparently, I was no longer worth the effort. The creature dropped from its face and screeched after it, claws digging furrows into the ground.

The thundering footsteps of the retreating behemoth sounded for several minutes in the otherwise silent forest. The creature stared after it, stiff and focused as a hunting cat. When the behemoth’s footsteps had finally faded into silence, it whipped its head back toward me.

Blood trailed down its front. It was dark, almost oily, and an odd sort of rust color. I froze. Had it chased off the behemoth because it wanted to eat me itself? But then why hadn’t it just killed me before?

The creature approached me so its face was only an inch from mine. Its solid green eyes bored into mine. Then it reached out and took my shoulders in its hands, fingertips trailing along my skin.

“Safe,” it said in a tone that could almost be described as soothing. “Unhurt?”

I gaped at it. The creature tilted its head further to one side. “Unhurt?” it repeated. It was asking me, I realized.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m… I’m okay.” I hesitated for a moment. “Thank you.”

Its strange chest rose as it took in another breath. Then it leaned forward, nestling its face into my neck. Its arms came around me in something like a hug. It made a long, quiet noise of satisfaction before pulling back.

It- he- had saved me. I swallowed and slowly climbed to my feet. He watched me, unmoving. After a moment of hesitation, I unhooked a rabbit from my belt and handed it to him. It seemed right.

He took it from me with surprising delicacy. His head lowered and his jaws snapped shut around a chunk of flesh, tearing it from the bone. I grimaced at the wet snapping and tearing.

He followed me as I continued on to the rest of my traps. This time, he didn’t even bother to hide himself. He walked just behind me or at my side, munching on chunks of rabbit. I kept glancing back at him. He blinked back at me.

I’d sort of expected him to break away when we made it back to camp, but he strolled into the clearing like he belonged there. I watched him as he padded around the edges of the camp, sniffing at things. I couldn’t very well drive him off- if he could injure a behemoth, there was no way I was going to beat him in a fight. And his presence was certainly less unsettling than it had been a few days ago. But I didn’t know what he was doing here. What did he want?

When I headed inside my tent for the night, he made to follow me. I froze in the entrance, staring back at him. Fighting him was still out of the question, but I did not want him in my tent with me. There was a long, tense pause, then the creature backed away and slunk to roughly the center of the camp. He curled up into a tight ball, apparently trying to sleep.

I retreated into the tent and wrapped blankets around me. There was something strangely forlorn about him curling up in the middle of camp, alone. He looked… small. Harmless. The unsettling feeling twisted in my stomach until I fell asleep.

He was still in camp when I woke up, ripping chunks off a fat squirrel. He made a soft humming noise as I walked toward him.

“You’re still here, huh,” I said. Talking to him felt weird. I knew he could talk back, but it still felt odd to try and have a conversation with him. He looked back at me steadily. He looked neither confused, nor comprehending. “I don’t know what you want.”

If he could understand me, he didn’t seem to want to answer. He just ripped another chunk off the squirrel and chewed it, still looking at me.

When he was done eating, he stalked around the camp, examining the border. Often, he would reach up and run his claws down the length of a tree, leaving long scores in the bark. I watched him as he completed a circuit, then started fussing at the small barrier I’d created. He seemed to be trying to build it up.

And so it went for several days. The creature stayed in the camp with me, building up a small barrier around the edge of the camp. Whenever I went out to check traps, he would follow me. Occasionally, he would hunt, dragging carcasses back to camp. He always allowed me to take some of whatever he brought. Eventually, I found myself offering a section of my hunts to him. It only seemed fair. A tense sort of partnership had formed between us. As odd as it was, I had gotten used to him. I was enjoying having some company. When I woke in the morning and he wasn’t present, I found a stab of loneliness sinking in between my ribs.

He meandered back into camp near midday, hands cupped around something. I glanced up at him. “Hey,” I said. “What have you got there?”

He opened his hands. There were clumps of bright red berries in his hands. He held them out to me, head tilted, waiting.

“Uh.” I didn’t recognize the berries and, with no leaves or branches to help identify them, I wasn’t going to eat them. “Sorry. I don’t think I can eat those. You can have them.” He blinked at me and extended his hands again. “Uh, no. I can’t have those.” I reached out and carefully curled his fingers over them. His hands were surprisingly warm. I was rather expecting them to be cold and corpse-like. Something twisted in my chest, a wave of loneliness that I couldn’t quite choke back. I was so unused to having someone with me. I’d managed to bury the feelings of loneliness, but they were starting to come bubbling back up.

He stared at me for a moment, then walked toward the edge of the camp, munching on the berries. I went back to the tending the fire. It was starting to frost overnight and the fire was becoming more and more necessary. If I wasn’t huddled close to it, I was walking around to keep my body temperature up. Despite not wearing much more than a cloak and pants, the creature seemed unbothered. He slouched next to the fire, staring into it. I could see the fire reflected in his eyes, a burning emerald flame.

As soon as the sun started to lower, the cold really set in. The sun and the fire were the only bits of warmth in the bitingly cold air and without one of them, the chill came on swiftly and remorselessly. There was no going back to the tent. I huddled next to the fire, shivering. The flame kept guttering in the wind. Leaving the fire to grab extra bits of wood was painful, my fingers stiffening in the cold and my skin almost burning in the wind. I huddled in on myself, wrapping fur over my body. It was still early winter and I was already half-mad from the cold. How was I going to survive the really bad months?

Something nudged my leg. I looked over. The creature was crouched next to me, half his face illuminated by the firelight. The sharp planes of his face made harsh shadows dance over his features.

“Need something?” I said. The creature pressed close to me. He was warm against me, driving the shivers out of me.

Slowly, like he was trying to give me a chance to stop him, he wrapped his cloak around my shoulders. He pressed me in close to his side. Warmth radiated over me, like there was a miniature sun beaming out from his chest.

I leaned into him. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend that there was a human there with me. His hand pressed gently to my back, and where his fingers lay, warmth radiated through my skin. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him closer. My shivering abated somewhat.

Once I was feeling better, I looked up at him. He was blinking down at me, his green eyes difficult to read, but still utterly focused on me.

“Why are you doing this?” Speaking was a little difficult. Breathing in seemed to freeze my lungs. But being close to his warmth helped, and the curiosity was eating at me. He looked down at me. I wasn’t really expecting an answer, but his mouth opened and his voice issued softly forth.

 “Protect you.” His voice was whispery, still with that strange double-tone.

“Protect me,” I repeated. He lowered his head until his chin was resting on top of my head. I could smell him, I realized. It was sort of pine-like, with a smell under that, like sawdust.

“Pack protects pack,” he said. His chest shifted as he drew in a deep breath. “We are pack now.”

“We’re… a pack?” I tried to make sense of his words.

He drew back a little bit so he could look down into my face. “You accepted my offering,” he said. “We have exchanged prey. We are bound now- a pack.”

Things fell together in my mind rather quickly. The marking of trees, the prey dragged into the camp, the way he had lunged to my rescue- he was trying to impress me. He was courting me. And in giving him the rabbit, I had accepted.

I leaned into his chest. It shifted, and his arms came tighter around me. For the first time in a long time, I had a companion. An image of him leaping out to protect me filtered into my mind. A small smile tugged at me mouth.

“Okay. We’re a pack,” I said. And just like that, it was no longer me against the world. It was the two of us.

Underneath me, somewhere in that strange, hollow chest, a rumbling purr started.

I spent most nights with him after that. He was incredibly warm and when I wrapped a blanket around the both of us, it was impossible to be cold.

The first snows came and I carefully kept the camp free of as much snow as I could manage. He focused more on creating a stronger barrier around the camp, fussing with brambles and branches. There was much less prey in the traps now, and I’d taken to ice fishing with little luck. He was much more skilled at catching animals than I was now, and every few days he would bring back some small morsel to the camp. I was always fed first, and he would only eat after I was done. I found myself wondering exactly why I’d been so afraid of him in the first place- after watching him catch snowflakes on his tongue and chatter insistently whenever I didn’t finish a meal, it was hard to see anything frightening in him.

Whenever I decided to check my traps, he came with me. It was reassuring, to have him there. If he could drive off a behemoth, I was fairly certain there wasn’t much that could bother him.

It was when we were checking the traps on the edge of our territory (I assumed it was the edge- he marked the trees there and didn’t like going beyond that boundary), that he stiffened. His pointed ears twitched. A low growl started in his chest and he bared his teeth.

I went still too, straining to listen. There was a faint rustling, like something was moving through the undergrowth. That wasn’t unusual, though, not enough to make him react like that. I drew closer to him and he shifted, like he was trying to cover me with his body.

“What is it?” I whispered. He pulled his lips back from his teeth, the growl coming deeper and stronger.

Something snapped nearby, the sound echoing through the stillness like a gunshot. Our heads whipped toward the noise in unison. He gave a resounding, challenging cry.

Slowly, something emerged from the bushes. It was like him, I realized. The same species, or whatever. They both had long hair, open, wooden chests that had flowers twining out of them. The newer creature didn’t have the small, branch-like antlers, though, and something about its posture or its shape made me think it was female. Regardless, she stood taller than him and her claws seemed longer.

He made a snarling noise that I interpreted as a warning. The other creature’s head turned as she looked between me and him. An expression like confusion crossed her face and she made a questioning noise.

He snarled out another warning, a thin strand of saliva dribbling from his bared teeth. The other creature considered him for a moment, then crouched down, teeth bared. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted. I recognized a hunting crouch when I saw one.

She lunged. He knocked me aside and took the brunt of her attack, rolling backward into the snow. I expected shrieking and snarling, but they were oddly silent as they rolled in the snow. All their energy was focused on defeating the other.

He was trapped beneath her, teeth snapping everywhere he could reach. She was struggling to keep a hold on him, but it was clear she was in a better position. Her claws dug into his side and her teeth snapped dangerously close to his throat.

I needed to do something. But what could I do? These things were practically indestructible, at least to humans. But I needed to help him. Her teeth snapped close to his throat again and he made a strangled whining sound.

Fuck it. I grabbed a stick from the ground and lunged. If she killed him, she was going to kill me anyway. Might as well die trying to protect him.            

I jammed the splintered end of the stick down into her face. It just barely missed her eyes, scoring a long, bleeding line down her cheekbone. She shrieked, startled, and turned to see her attacker.

It was the opening he needed. He drove into her, knocking her off him and into the ground beneath them. Before she could focus back on him, he swung down, claws plunging them deep into her shoulder. Blood sprayed into the white snow. With a final, agonized shriek, the other creature squirmed away and bolted back into the forest. He didn’t bother to pursue her. He just stood and watched as she vanished into the trees.

As soon as she was gone, he turned toward me. “Okay?” he asked, looking me up and down. “Safe?”

“Yeah, I’m all right. You?” He appeared uninjured, for the most part. There were a few small scratches and he was moving like he was in some pain, but he didn’t seem badly hurt.

“Bleeding,” he said, pointing a claw at me. I looked down. There was a long cut running down the length of my right forearm. It must have happened when she rounded on me. I hadn’t even been able to feel it. Now that I was aware of it, I could feel the stinging pain.

“Ow,” I said, probing at it lightly. It wasn’t particularly deep, but it wasn’t shallow, either. He moved closer to me and crouched, taking my arm delicately in his hands. His long, sinuous tongue slid out of his mouth and ran once along the cut. The pain grew dull, more of an unpleasant tingling than anything, and the blood dripped sluggishly.

“Home,” he said, tugging on my arm. He stayed close to me as we headed back to camp. We leaned on each other. I appreciated the comfort.

When we returned to camp, I dragged out my medical kit. He helped dress the wound, giving it a few more licks. I was a little leery about allowing him to clean it like that, but he seemed to know what he was doing. I figured it couldn’t hurt that much. Once it was fully wrapped, I lay down next to the fire. He lay down with me, arm draped over my body.

“Who was that, the one that attacked us?” I asked. Warm breath huffed against the back of my neck.

“Wanted a pack. Tracked my scent,” he said. “Was not happy that I already had a pack.”

“She recognized that we were… uh. A pack?” I said. There was an odd, fluttery sensation in my stomach.

“I claimed you,” he said. “My scent surrounds you. As your scent is around me.” He nuzzled closer to me. “We fought her off. She will not return. She knows she is beaten.”

“You did most of the work,” I said. He laughed.

“Would not have won without you.” He pressed his head into the back of my neck. “My mate.”

I looked up at him. “Mate?”

He nodded slowly. His eyelids were starting to droop. “The first two members of a pack are mates,” he said. “We will grow our pack over time. But not now.” He leaned into me, eyes closing. “Now we will wait.”

I reached up and stroked my fingers through his hair. He made a soft purring noise and leaned into me more. The world was different now, I thought. It was a place with new creatures, new ways to live, and you needed to be new in order to survive in it.

It was new, but perhaps it was good. With a yawn, I settled in against my mate for a nap.

#exophilia #forest monster #forest screature #forest deity #monster boyfriend #monster lover #monster mate #OCxOC #MxF

[katsukikitten]

It's hard to see through the sticky wet droplets that fall from above your brow, from your lips and cheeks. You huff, blood splatters the floor at the feet of a woman dressed in an old fashioned black kimono. Her fox mask askew on a rare occasion. 

"You broke her, you BROKE HER!" You screech, small frame shaking from fading adrenaline and flashing memories of cold steel and even colder eyes. This was too much, way too much for your seven year old body to handle. But you would do what you must to survive. 

The woman turns towards you, her blue eyes iridescent even in the low light.

"No child, you broke her. You were just going to let her kill you." She shrugs as if it weren't such a heavy statement.

"I'm- I'm her weakness, she's better than me, SHE HAD TO!" A stammer that grows into a deafening scream. 

"No my dear, she always has and always will be your burden." 

You wake in a cold sweat, alarm blaring and your heart stutters in your chest, knives instinctively woven into your fingers. 

"An old memory. A dream." Soothing words from a shaking voice, knives never faltering as you lower them, slipping them back onto your person. You rise, peering out the window to see the city blanketed in snow, heaps of it as more fall from the sky. The sidewalks cleared in such a half assed way you were sure they would just turn to ice instead, the piles in the storm drain already turning a mute grey. 

You hated the snow, it always brought up bad memories and the biting cold made every scar you owned throb. Ebbing in memories you wished you'd forgotten.  Instead you get ready for the day pulling on your hero suit although you didn't have to work the overtime today, you guess old habits die hard. Two weeks had passed since Bakugou offered you that side job. He paid you enough that you wouldn't have to worry about your sister's bills for the next month. 

Still Christmas dinner couldn't come soon enough. 

You lock the apartment and push through the biting air, face begging for a reprieve as you walk into the icy wind but it's not as if you could walk to the agency backwards. 

Bakugou and Kirishima wait outside of the agency building for you, Bakugou holds out a steaming coffee as Kirishima offers a warm smile. 

"You're late." "Just on time." They speak over each other before Bakugou gives Kirishima a glare. 

"We're patrolling the fucking shopping district today." Bakugou shoves the coffee into your hands as you grit your teeth, trailing behind the two as Bakugou sets out the pace. You let your eyes wander, snow clinging to their hair as Kirishima wears next to nothing, his dumb ass costume having sleeves for warmth. You roll your eyes before they fall on Bakugou. Normally you can smell the spicy burnt sugar wafting off of him in troves but the wind chill is dangerously low for someone who relies on sweat as their weapon. The snow comes down thicker, the flakes a puffy white that sends you miles away before a gut feeling brings you back into the present. You grab onto both of the men, straining your ears to hear over the bustle of the city. Something isn't settling right but they don't seem to be on high alert. Maybe your nerves are fried from the dream. 

Your concentrated look doesn't go unnoticed by either party looking over their shoulder.  Bakugou shoves the two of you into a side alley to stay out of the way of the hustling streets since you're just standing there. You seem to be off your game, you're more subtle at letting them know about danger without alerting civilians. 

"Oi. Spit it out." Bakugou crosses his arms as he stares you down. You blink away the rage, the wind whipping through the side alley making the three of you shiver. You grab onto Kirishima, placing your palm on his sculpted pectoral before explaining. 

"Just some buffs for the day. Your unbreakable will be 65% harder and you'll be lighter on your feet." Kirishima gives you a concerned look as you reach for Bakugou who tries to resist. 

"Don't need your fucking help." 

"Yea?" You hiss, "What good are you if you aren't sweating moron?" 

You yank his arm to you, pulling at his sleeve to get to bare skin, pressing your warm fingers against his cool forearm.  You send him a knowing glare. 

"Gonna feel like summer for you today sweaty palms." You shove him away and he thinks to swing at you. Kirishima diffuses the situation. 

"All day buffs? Isn't that a strain on your quirk?" Kirishima was always concerned about you.

"I'll be fine. You know I'm at a place where a lot of my own personal buffs and debuffs are idle." With a snap of your fingers a little display appears in the air thanks to your support bracelet. Reminding the two men of a video game, your stats out there for them to see. The screen rolls through them fairly quickly. Bakugou can only catch a few as the text moves at a rapid pace. Poison resistance 85%, Stab resistance 98%, weapon pulled from body closes wound 50% faster, returned weapon caught or pulled from body 100% hit rate, deadly intent. Your stats disappear as quickly as they came. Bakugou knows your quirk's ability comes from experience, he thinks of the ones you have maxed out and let's his eyes linger over your face. Over the muted slashes and his stomach churns from concern, suspicion. How would a "petty thief" come across a blade and return it enough times that they could never miss? It surely wasn't in the time of your forced hero work, he has yet to see you take anything more than a surprise punch. 

"Are we fucking done? We got extras to babysit." Bakugou growls stepping out onto the sidewalk and into a nest of paparazzi. 

"Dynamight, over here Dynamight. Is it true you're dating your partner?" 

"Is it Red Riot or Rouge?" Another reporter shouts. Screaming out question after question putting Bakugou under rapid fire. 

Cameras flash as you can practically hear Bakugou's blood pressure increase ten fold, he inhales sharply to scream but Pro Hero Red Riot saves the day. 

"Guys we're on the clock, please save this for our designated interview dates." He smiles listing the dates and times. You wonder how they collected here so quickly, scanning the crowd for a nosy bystander that may have tipped the tabloids off with your location. 

But your eyes lock onto something far worse. 

In the crowd is a woman with auburn hair and icy blue eyes, dressed in an all black kimono. She smirks and mouths "Finally" to you before she throws her deadly ice darts, dipped in shining poison yet to be added to the government registry. 

But how could they know when you helped her make it. Working on instinct you yank Kirishima forward by his steel face mask until he is doubled over before you pull Bakugou into the same position by his belt of winter grenades. One ice dart sinks into your shoulder while the other nicks your throat but it's not as if it matters. Mithridatsim was your best friend growing up. 

A small box flashes in the top left corner of your vision, a status only you can see

WARNING! MORE EXPERIENCE NEEDED: LAST ADMINISTERED DOSE OF POISON X HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS, PLEASE DO NOT CONSUME ANYMORE TO INCREASE LOST RESISTANCE AND GAIN EXPERIENCE.

Fuck! How could you forget that her special blend of poison required exposure every two months?! Hero work was making you too soft, making you wonder just how many other skills were deteriorating from lack of repetition and experience. 

But that was a problem for another day. For now you growl, yanking the men down further to keep their eyes off of you as you give chase. Following her deadly speed with ease, thankfully she is headed out of sight from civilians and paparazzi although it spells trouble for you. 

Or maybe it spells trap. 

She throws another set of ice darts, you dodge them all but one that sinks into your stomach. You grip onto the ice, pulling it from your skin when a warning pops up  

LIMIT EXPOSURE, REACHING LETHAL DOSE, PASSIVE BUFF ACTIVATED, HEALING RATE REDUCED FROM 50% TO 30% DUE TO POISON X, RETURNED WEAPON HIT RATE REDUCED TO 65% DUE TO WEAPON TYPE, COLD RESISTANCE INCREASED TO 55%

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A CHANCE?

The question flashes as you push forward, following her step for step. You loved and loathed that question, it could increase your chances of the poison clearing instantly, heal your wounds perfectly and return your hit rate back to its max level. 

Or you could utterly "fail" the chance roll earning you double the pain and debuff.

The closer you were to whatever magic number your quirk decided, the better your chances. 

Another set of darts that you barely dodge. You grind your teeth, hero work was definitely making you too soft. 

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A CHANCE?

"Yes!" You growl as your quirk activates. It announces to you the size of the "dice" and the numbers to avoid as you give chase. 

PASSIVE BUFF DEACTIVATED "LUCK OF THE DRAW" FOR CHANCE ROLL, DIE SIZE 70, NUMBERS TO AVOID CRITICAL FAILURE 1 THROUGH 50, NUMBERS TO HIT FOR CRITICAL HIT 72 THROUGH 75. ALL NUMBERS IN BETWEEN THE CRITICALS WILL INCREASE BUFFS AND DECREASE BODILY HARM BY 15%. 

ROLLING DIE NOW.

In your mind's eye a giant die flashes in your head as numbers blur together while it rolls. 

50! CRITICAL FAIL, DAMAGE INCREASED BY TWO, POISON RESISTANCE REDUCED BY 15%, TEN MINUTES UNTIL BLACK OUT  

THANK YOU FOR TAKING A CHANCE! 

DOUBLE OR NOTHING? 

You swat away the temptation as a copper taste begins to coat your tongue, spitting red into the snow. You return the damn dart anyway, lucky enough for you it sticks into the nape of her neck but the ice is not strong enough to sink deeper. Finally she takes a left into an alley and you follow before the mouth is closed off by ice.

Sealing the two of you into an icy tomb. Snarling you exchange fists, hoping to wear her out before you lose consciousness, as she was never good at hand to hand, unlike yourself. 

Who lived for the up close and personal. 

PASSIVE BUFF "UPPER HAND" ACTIVATED, MELEE AND CLOSE COMBAT SKILLS INCREASED

You rear back your fist, landing it straight into her jaw, causing her to fall back onto heaps of trash. You pin her, pressing one of her ice blades to her throat. 

"What are you doing here Fox?" You hiss, and she smiles in delight. 

"Could ask you the same little ‘hero’!" She laughs and it's haughty, bringing up now bitter memories, "How far you have fallen sister." 

"Tch, this was not my first choice." You fake smile, pressing until you draw blood just to make it even. 

"Did Madem send you?" Even saying her name makes your stomach churn while Fox rolls her eyes. 

"Who else would send me to fetch their golden child?" She shrugs, using her quirk to make another cold weapon as you're distracted. Although you have the upper hand she still has enough room to sink another ice dark into your side, causing you to grit your teeth. 

"You're the fucking favorite now. What more does she want?" 

"You're her favorite, you both are. She wants a complete set." She purrs and it feels as if her ice is freezing your blood. Vision blurring from your rapid heart rate, from your rage and the venom. 

"What the fuck do you mean? What about her?! She is fucking unwel!" It echoes around in the ice and she smiles, playing you for the fool you were. 

"Exactly as I said. I wouldn't count your twin out just yet. You know how Madem lives for backups." She winks, as you feel exasperated. The poison coursing through your veins, your vision tries to spot but you push through.

"I'll let you go just this one Fox but if I ever fucking see you again-" She interrupts. 

"Please, you know the rules. Don't come home empty handed. Plus what you do to me will be far more mild than what Madem can think of." She spits blood onto your face, you bare your teeth and sweet drips onto her kimono.  You were running out of time. 

"ROUGE!" Bakugou shouts in the distance, earning a smile from Fox below. 

"Wow bold of you to keep the name." She laughs, "Well your weakness works in my favor. What a dream it would be to be captured by your boyfriend. Then I could tell him everything about me. About you." 

"You'd snitch? Just like that?" 

"Wouldn't you do anything to keep a loved one safe?" Her words sink deeper than any dagger, any ice pick, she's ever thrown. 

She's right. 

"ROUGE!" 

You would do anything. 

Huffing you do what you hadn't in well over a year and although you'd done it thousands of times. It never got easier. You press the blade deeper, letting it slice into her throat as a red line follows in her wake. She looks up at you with a soft smile, relief flooding her features as sweat prickles your brow. 

WARNING BLACK OUT IN TEN SECONDS, POISON X WILL BECOME LETHAL IF ANTIDOTE IS NOT ADMINISTERED WITHIN THE HOUR. COUNT DOWNS STARTS NOW :10,  59:59

With shaking hands you set the already melting blade into her hand, jumping over the other ice wall deeper into the alley as you hear heavy foot falls come your way. 

You fall into a heap yourself, pressing your hands into your wounds, tempted to attempt to activate double or nothing. Although it could kill you instantly with the status you were in now. 

A part of you hopes it does. 

7

The ash blonde blasts through the icy walls, spotting you in an instant. When he sees the perpetrator dead, his stomach churns as he reaches you. Your clammy to the touch and your support bracelet is flashing with an alert for a trusted on looker. 

5

PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF 

It yells as Bakugou shouts his name. A little hologram of you shows up before your voice pours out. Silently you're thankful that you could tinker with the item enough that should you come across something from your past you could intercept some information. 

Or at least manipulate in your favor should you be rendered non verbal as you are now.  

3 

"It seems an especially strong poison has been introduced into my blood stream. The antidote will be elderberry tea, which can be found at these surrounding locations. Please do not take me to a hospital, by the time they identify the poison I will be long gone….I'm talking to you Bakugou. Get the tea. If I pass out, force activate one of my idle or passive buffs. Specifically Adrenaline high… Trust me, you're going to have to..." 

The world fades to black without any warning as you float in what feels like non existence. Probably the best sleep you'll ever get even when it's short lived. Like it is now. 

"Fuck." Bakugou hisses as the stupid translucent you blabbers on and on of ways to activate this dumb ass, complex, and mysterious as fuck quirk you had.  He thinks of how the mini you emphasized pain would be a trigger to activate the idle buff. He grips onto your forearm, thinking of doing a point blank blast. Best case scenario you'd have his palm burned into you for all eternity, worst case scenario you lost your whole fucking left half. 

"Fuck! FUCK!" He doesn't want to hurt you but he has to. He thinks of the limited time you have as an ominous timer floats in the air from your bracelet. He tries slapping you across the face first, nothing. Your cheek barely reddening as blood oozes from your wounds. Gritting his teeth and choking on his honor he hits you again, this time with the help of his quirk to add some force. 

When that doesn't work, his sadistic side comes out, fueled by his desperation and his gloved fingers subconsciously find the wound in your throat and shoulder.  Thinking to exploit it in order to rouse you. He lets out a low hiss as he plunges his fingers into the wounds, digging deep into the one in your shoulder. 

PASSIVE BUFF "ADRENALINE HIGH" ACTIVATED. 

Your eyes snap open, rage fueling them as you act on instinct, slamming your forehead into Bakugou's hard enough that it bruises both of you.

"OI FUCKING! I'M TRYING TO HELP!" He shouts, forearms popping as heat rushes up his spine from your landed hit. He pushes back his hair, rubbing his sweaty forehead before baring his teeth at you. 

"What the fuck?!" He snaps, "Who was that? Why is she dead?" 

"Another time yea?" You say weakly, lifting your wrist so he can read the time, "The tea still has to steep." 

You stand but wobble on your feet as warnings flash in your minds eye and thankfully not on your stupid support bracelet. Much to Bakugou's disdain, he needed to know what he was working with, not blindly trusting you. Especially not now with growing suspicions. 

ADRENALINE HIGH OVERRIDES DAMAGE AND POISON EFFECTS FOR THE NEXT 10 MINUTES COUNT DOWN STARTED 09:59

"Dismiss." You spit blood and the information fades away. You stumble like a drunk towards the mouth of the alley, avoiding your fallen sister as your mind races. 

"She wants a complete set." 

"Fuck." Is all you can manage thinking of your actual sister, hoping she was safe within the confines of her own prison. That needed to wait. Right now you needed that elder berry tea.  The closest shop carrying the product was several blocks away and at this rate you'd never fucking make it. 

Bakugou catches on, scooping you in his arms.

"Hold on tight Princess." He growls, propelling himself into the air to land a few store fronts away from your destination. 

"Can't believe you're dragging me down." He hisses, fully taking over holding you to him. He squeezes a bit tighter. Your stomach flips and you blame the poison. 

"If anything I'm bringing your image up. Imagine the paps seeing this bull shit. Headlines like 'Bakugou, the knight in shining armor saves the day.' Or some horse shit like that." You weakly tease, he glares down at you. 

"Tch. Fuck off. They'll find a way to twist it." 

"Well your mom will see it for what it is." You squeeze tighter around his throat, nosing the crook of his throat. You feel his laugh through his chest. 

"Yea and what's she gonna see?" 

"You saving me dumb ass." You pull at his hair and he glares down at you. 

"Great, now she'll force me to marry you. Is that what you want bitch face?" 

"I'd rather die first. Plus you wouldn't be able to afford my dowry, ass hat." You tease, all he can do is roll his eyes. 

"You're fucking right about that. Now where is the stupid elderberry bullshit?" He growls, waltzing through the front door as if holding you were nothing. 

IDLE BUFF ACTIVATED SLIGHT OF HAND INCREASED TO- 

"Dismiss." You whisper, vermillion burns into your skin, "Next aisle." 

WARNING: LACK OF EXPOSURE WILL CAUSE A LOSS IN EXPERIENCE. SLIGHT OF HAND WILL DECREASE 

Grinding your teeth you reach for an easy snack, shoving it into your shirt sleeve as Bakugou studies the tea. 

"Where?" He snaps, causing you to sigh heavily. You point with exaggeration to the small purple box. 

SLIGHT OF HAND MAINTAINED, EXPERIENCE PREREQUISITE MET, BUFF IDLED. 

You needed to think of a way to turn this annoying "emergency" mode off, but whenever you were in critical condition, the warnings would display non stop. Most of your quirk you had memorized but you had to admit, it had been a while since you last rolled for chance. 

For fun.  

"Grab something for Kirishima, you know how he gets when he worries. You need water too." 

"This ain't a fucking road trip!" He growls but oddly enough he moves to the back of the store towards the drinks. He grabs a code red for Kirishima and an energy drink for himself. You hold onto the cold drinks as he holds onto you and the tea awkwardly. Setting them on the counter fixing a nasty glare at the clerk. 

"R-Rouge and Dynamight wow!" They gush, about to ask for an autograph before ringing the two of you up. 

"Kinda on a time crunch kid." Your bracelet flashes 20:32 before the clerk understand the dire situation. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry. On the house." 

"Doesn't work like that." Bakugou snarls, eyeing you to get his wallet. Little does he know you already snatched it, pressing a twenty into his hands. He glares at you as best he can. 

"Keep the change." You're beginning to think that was his new catch phrase as he makes his way towards the hot water dispenser. Setting you on the counter while he let's the two bags steep per your holographic instructions. He taps his finger impatiently before cracking open his energy drink. 

It was going to be a long day. 

"I'm going to cancel with my mom." He says finally, reaching for his phone, "I'll still…" 

"No you fuck. Your mom expects both of us there. I'm not dying." 

"Yet, bitch face." He places the tea into your hands, "Think she'll be more pissed if you die in her living room than not show up."

He eyes your wounds, noticing the droplets of blood that followed in their wake, how your scent clung to his skin. He contacts Kirishima instead instructing him to get the first aid kit ready at his house. 

"When you're done with your tea. We're gonna get those wounds bandaged." 

"Nah I'll be fine, once the poison status is cleared. My other status will return to normal. I'm kinda like a pokemon." 

"Don't care, as your boss I'm telling you Imma wrap your wounds with Kirishima now drink your fucking tea." He hits your shoulder before a sadistic smile clouds his features, "Or am I going to have to activate your passive 'Adrenaline High'?" 

"Fuck off, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna pass out with half the cup down." You shove him away from you as his pocket pings. 

"Only pretty sure? You're fucking stupid. You can check that." 

"Tired of my quirk today." You grumble while Bakugou glares at his phone, he turns it towards you, it's from his mother an article titled "Bakugou, the knight in not so shining armor?" Her text is in all caps beneath ARE YOU SAVING HER I SWEAR TO GOD BOY YOU NEED TO WATCH HER BACK BETTER SHE BETTER BE OKAY YOU BETTER BE OKAY

"Guess you'll have to propose to me now." You laugh sliding from the counter, something from around your throat catches his eye now that things have calmed down. 

An odd feeling burns in his chest as goes all the way to his fingers and toes and realization washes over him in waves. He sees a gold chain that leads down to what looks like the droplet of blood. The garner necklace he gave you. 

"Come on Kiri is probably waiting." You nudge, grabbing for Eijirou's soda, your own tea almost finished.  His eyes follow after you for a moment as he tries to figure out why you hadn't taken it off yet, he's never seen you wear jewelry before. 

There is no reason for you to wear it, still the feeling in his chest burns hotter. It makes him feel suddenly proud and oddly possessive. He grinds his teeth, skin popping as he stomps after you, yelling. 

"Don't you take credit for the soda I bought!"

#bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo katsuki x reader #bnha x reader