#genuinely that's so imaginative and fresh ground to explore

[ezukll]

⠀⠀⠀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 ⠀⠀⠀𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Be confident and assertive yourself. Match their energy and passion, and be willing to stand your ground.

Don't be afraid to approach them directly and show your interest. Aries Mars likes a challenge and they can appreciate someone who can keep up with them.

Be clear and direct in your communication so they can get to know your personality better.

Don't be afraid to show them your vulnerable side as well. Aries Mars can sometimes like challenges but they also appreciate authenticity.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀𝗧𝗔𝗨𝗥𝗨𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Be calm and patient yourself. Match their energy and show that you can handle their pace and steadiness.

Show that you're a grounded and stable person. Taurus Mars tends to like people who can provide a sense of comfort and security.

Be open and honest in your communication. Taurus Mars loves to know that they can count on you and that you're genuine and sincere.

Don't be afraid to take the lead and show your ambitious side. Taurus Mars loves motivation and determination.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗚𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Show that you can match their wit and humor. Gemini Mars tends to love people who can keep the conversation interesting and make them laugh.

Don't be afraid to be unconventional and to explore different ideas with them. Gemini Mars loves a fresh perspective and they tend to be open-minded and curious.

Be willing to have deep conversations and explore different topics. Gemini Mars likes an intelligent and stimulating partner and they tend to be drawn to interesting and intellectually stimulating situations.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Show that you can match their sensitive and nurturing side. Cancer Mars tend to be drawn to compassionate and caring people, and they need a partner who can make them feel loved and understood.

Appreciate their need for a secure and stable relationship. Cancer Mars tend to value comfort and security, and they tend to attach themselves to people who can provide this for them.

Respect their emotional depth and sensitivity. Cancer Mars tend to have a deep emotional connection to their partners, and appreciate when their partners respect and appreciate their feelings.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗟𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Match their charisma and confidence. Leo Mars tend to be attracted to people who are confident and charming themselves. Show that you're not intimidated by their presence and that you can hold your own.

Be willing to give them attention and appreciate their enthusiasm and showmanship. Leo Mars tend to enjoy being in the center of things and they like attention, so make sure you can give them the spotlight they desire.

Appreciate their passion and intensity. Leo Mars can be passionate and intense about their hobbies and interests.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗚𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Appreciate their analytical and pragmatic side. Virgo Mars tend to be attracted to people who can understand and appreciate their logical and sensible side. Show them that you can respect their insight and intelligence.

Show that you can be organized and efficient. Virgo Mars tend to be attracted to people who are organized and capable, as these are values that represent their nature well.

Show interest in their career and ambitions. Virgo Mars tend to be ambitious and goal-oriented, and they might appreciate having a partner who supports and encourages them in their endeavors.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗥𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Match their charm and charisma. Libra Mars tend to be attracted to people who also possess a certain level of charm and social skills. Show them that you can carry a conversation with confidence and wit.

Show appreciation for their artistic and imaginative side. Libra Mars tend to be attracted to people who can keep them interested and engaged with creative perspectives and ideas.

Respect their need for balance and harmony. Libra Mars tend to want a partner who can provide a sense of peace and harmony in their life.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Match their intense and passionate energy. Scorpio Mars tend to be attracted to people who match their intensity and emotional depth. Show them you can handle deep conversations and intense emotions.

Appreciate their need for loyalty and commitment. Scorpio Mars can be very loyal and committed once they feel trust and security, but they need a partner who can provide those things. Show them you're in it for the long haul.

Respect their autonomy and need for space. Scorpio Mars tend to need time and space to themselves, and they like a certain degree of independence.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Match their adventurous and optimistic personality. Sagittarius Mars tend to be attracted to people who share their passion and enthusiasm for exploration and adventure. Show them you can keep up with their energetic and optimistic nature.

Respect their need for freedom. Sagittarius Mars tend to be independent and freedom-loving, and they prefer having their own space and privacy.

Match their sense of humor and playful nature. Sagittarius Mars are often drawn to people who can make them laugh and keep things fun. Show them your playful side.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Appreciate their hardworking and disciplined nature. Capricorn Mars tend to be attracted to people who show a similar level of hardworking and commitment to their life. Demonstrate your focus and determination in order to show that you can match them.

Respect their desire for stability and security. Capricorn Mars like partners who provide a sense of safety and certainty in life. Show them that you're a practical and pragmatic partner who can provide stability and reliability.

Respect their need for success and ambition. Capricorn Mars tend to be ambitious in their careers and goals.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗔𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Match their progressive and intellectual nature. Aquarius Mars tend to be attracted to people who can keep up with their unique and innovative perspectives and can hold deep conversations surrounding intellectual and progressive ideas.

Respect their desire for freedom and individuality. Aquarius Mars tend to need their own space and freedom to pursue their own interests. Show them that you give them the space they need to explore their individuality and independence.

Respect their quirky and unique personality. Aquarius Mars can often be quirky and whimsical, and they appreciate people that embrace this side of them.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗦

Match their intuitive and compassionate nature. Pisces Mars tend to be attracted to people who can keep up with their emotional sensitivity and empathy. Show them you understand and appreciate their more intuitive side.

Respect their need for sensitivity and empathy. Pisces Mars tend to be deeply passionate and sensitive, and they often need a partner who can be emotionally supportive and empathetic. Show them that you can understand and provide for their emotional needs.

Respect their need for creativity and imagination. Pisces Mars is a very imaginative placement and tends to appreciate partners who can spark creativity

⠀⠀⠀⠀

#astrology #zodiac #zodiac signs #astrology observations #mars sign #aries mars #taurus mars #gemini mars #cancer mars #leo mars #virgo mars #libra mars #scorpio mars #sagittarius mars #capricorn mars #aquarius mars #pisces mars

[helpitsaskingmequestions]

Continuing the process of niche petty nitpicks of Wheel of TIme  there were some narrative choices for the  7 Ajah that make them (imo) uncertain in a way that I think could have been smoothed out in a way to make more narrative sense in terms of motivation, size and narrative framing. 

Reds - 

The Reds at least have a clear purpose in and out of the narrative as Aes Sedai that hunt male channelers & an antagonistic force against Moraine (Blue) and Rand (Male channeler). They’re problems largely come in how the text largely frames them as Narrative Heels but for Pevara & to some extent Teslyn and Silviana, all of whom are introduced fairly late. Even then, the Reds are largely characterised as 90s misandrists,n keeping with Alanna’s framing of the Reds as ‘hating men’ because that's what should define a group of women, how they relate to men. Then comes the size of the Reds - it’s been noted that there are less people who can channel being discovered, in part due to the Vileness and the culling of men who can channel by the Reds (and also Cansaune) yet the Reds are the largest Ajah. That the Reds have the strongest numbers is imo a very blunt object solution to 1) making the Blue’s more like an underdog and 2) have a large ground for Black Ajah. 

Changes that I think would have made the Reds more palatable from a worldbuild perspective 

Expand the purpose - the show did this, effectively making the Reds magic cops, which provides a more concrete cause for Reds to devote themselves to - hunting wayward Aes Sedai, men who can channel and Dark Friends. It would also help explain why there are so many Black Ajah in the Red - what better way to hide from the cops than to Be the cops?

Let them have Warders - there was no reason for them not to have warders, female or male or otherwise. 

Shrink their size - have the Reds be in the middle of the pack in terms of numbers, or else have them have a high casualty/fail rate that can be explained by difficult weaves & Black Ajah sisters etc. There is no logical reason for them to be that big. 

I mean ⅕ of all Aes Sedai Robert?

Don’t define them by ‘hating men’. Robert I am in your walls

Non-antagonist Reds early on - whether Pevara or Teslyn, just some calmer Reds, who do genuinely want to Hunt Dark-friends. Use the Wonder Girls time in the White Tower not just as a box tick, explore the Ajahs more.  

Show - on page - what a male channel who succumbed to the Taint looks like. The books give (imo) hints describing the Breaking but its not seen on page & I feel that this concrete example of why male channellers are cut off from the Source, why the Reds hunt them, and why people fear Rand/male channelers would be important considering we get a lot of on page stuff (Logain, Thom re his nephew) about the pain of gentling male channelers

Browns 

Ah the Browns. Clean direct purpose. Narrative letting them fulfil that function. Ajah of Verin, the Best Character in Wheel of Time (no arguments to be taken on this point. I am simply Correct). I find very little to be changed with the Browns, though I do think that there should have been an exploratory division if this is the Ajah of knowledge. 

Also not entirely certain why the White/Grey/see Ajah colours post is separate from the Brown beyond the fact RJ was a physics major 

Best Ajah - should have had an Indiana Jones Brown/Orange sister finding Age of Legends stuff

That the Browns get warders makes the fact the Reds, a physical division actively fighting people, not having Warders more insane. Robert WHY

Should have schools/ travelling schools as well 

Why no Browns in Rand’s nerd school Robert?

Yellow

Much like the Brown, a wonderfully defined Ajah, with a clear purpose in and out of universe.

Let them be nicer to Nynaeve

Black Yellows should have been allowed to go full Dr Moreau

Imagine fresh monsters

Green

The Green Ajah - the Battle Ajah. imo Robert Jordan’s favourite Ajah considering 2 out of 3 of the Wondergirls chose the Green (even though Egg should have been Ajahless its fine I’m calm so Calm) and the Green get to ‘love men’ because as the narrative has made clear, how these groups of women from this administrative magical institution feel about Men is what is important. Also a fun experiment - check to see what colours get positive associations in the books - generally it’s blue, green and white (listed as Lan’s favourite colours for instance). The Greens are also an unfortunate victim of the Gender Stuff in WoT- the Battle Ajah don’t get weapons, but they can have lots of Men who can have weapons. Because they Love Men. 

Changes

Let them have weapons Robert ffs 

Active preparation for the Last Battle; should have the third most number of advisors/relationships in nations as Greys(Purples) and Blues. 

Why are they ignoring the Borderlands? This is their Job 

I think the show made a good case for the Greens and the Reds going to nab Logain

So why are the Greens more allied with the Blues than the Reds - other than Author Caveat

Elayne and Egwene shouldn’t have been Green. Neither should Cadsuane.

More Black sisters in the Green - if the Green are going to be fighting in the last battle it should be chock full of enemy agents  

Blue

What do the Blue do? They Hunt After Causes - but what does the Mean? No Really what does it mean, apart from being Vague and because RJ couldn’t say ‘they’re the Good ajah’ even though they only ‘like men’. Other than their complete lack of purpose, the Blues get a good history, a good selection of the Good/Great (Moraine) to the bad (Sheriam). The Show made a good change in making the Blue’s the spies of the White Tower, giving them a quasi opposing ideological approach to the head-first reds, and making the Alliance of Greens and Blues make more sense considering how much they would need to work together. 

If Egg must have an Ajah she should have been Blue 

The fact that blues removed the 2 Red Amyrlin’s, there should have been more arguments amongst the Ajah’s about how justified they were/the justice of that 

Lean into the Reds being Cops and Blues being spies/activist/journalists/internal affairs with a habit of exposing/attempting to expose other sister’s misbehaviour 

Have Blue sisters attempting to uncover the Vileness in a way that actually sets it up as a mystery to be solved, not another plot thread among thousands

I have a Bee in my Bonnet about the Vileness  if you couldn’t tell 

Make the Blues less of an protagonist situation - oh they have the second smallest numbers But the Most Amyrlins and a lot of influence because they’re the opposite of the Reds 

Grey/Purple Ajah 

They have purpose If only the narrative would let them fulfil that purpose. Instead Elaida is a Red so political advisors can be any colour so why?

Also why are they always bad at their jobs

Should have been the largest Ajah change my mind 

White/Grey Ajah 

SO

I understand they have a purpose 

I just don’t understand why/how it is different to the Brown’s search for knowledge 

They’re apparently philosophers as well so it's not a STE(M) v Arts situation

Why Robert 

You didn’t have the Seven Ajahs have the Seven colours why are they Here? 

Because Alviarin being White and the Head Black was a fun twist? 

You did that colour twist with Lanfear already 

What this Ajah needed was a major character who wasn’t Black

Like Give Rand an advisor who is this Ajah during his spiral 

Or Give Egg some prominent sisters of this Ajah? 

Have their theoretical magic that they do have an impact

Or give them the prophecies / religious theorisation - aka a reason for them to be in this story at all 

Black Ajah

There is no Black Ajah what are you talking about 

#wheel of time #wot #the white tower #the seven ajahs #more whinging I guess #for reference the Alana quote defining the Ajahs in how they relate to men is in book 2 or 3 #when the wonder girl are assigned kitchen punishment

[vigilskeep]

Did you like mota? How do you feel about Tallis? Do you have any thoughts on her?

I personally love this dlc. I really enjoy playing it, it's interesting and fun but has serious and even dramatic moments at the same time. And it's different from the main game (in a good way). Like, I love da2 but this dlc succeeded in making us feel like we really are out of Kirkwall and having an adventure that's a bit separate from the rest of the game. And I do like Tallis as a character. I appreciate her role in the story and I like that she provides us with another point of view on the qun. But I also feel very sorry for her. She just can't break free. For me, her character theme is doubt. Idk if you know her backstory but she's an elf from Tevinter who was sold into slavery by her own parents and then captured by the qunari who deemed her an unsuitable convert because she was too "headstrong". Apparently she didn't want to be qunari at first and they wanted to use qamek on her. But Salit took her under his wing to make her a tallis so she escaped that fate. And as we see, with time Tallis changed her mind on the qun. I think it happened because of the qunari propaganda and because she had nothing and no one but also because she genuinely started to see good things in the qun. After all, among the qunari Tallis felt like her life meant something to other people, probably for the first time in her life. And she wants to believe that there is a society and ideology where people are valued and everybody has their own place and purpose. (Her line "most qunari don't even understant humans, why you act like you do. But I grew up among you. I understand perfectly well" makes me loose my mind). But she still has too much free will for a qunari so she doesn't really fit in. So she doubts. Tallis does feel that something's wrong but she just can't let the qun go. She doubts herself and the qun for years but still can't find the answers. And that's just tragic. I can't imagine what it's like, to live in doubts for so long. I'd like her to finally realize that she in fact wants to be free of the qun but at this point I'd be happy if she just found peace as a qunari. That's better than being in the state of constant inner turmoil imo.

Also the whole dialogue between Tallis and Hawke and the way they can mirror each other is super interesting like. "Just tell me: can you honestly say there's nothing to improve, nothing to strive for?" My pro mage Anders romancing Hawke may think that qun is horrible but she can't disagree with that. My Hawke and Tallis share this dedication to their believes and inablility to ignore injustices and that's where they find common ground, that is why they respect each other. Tallis' motivation in this dlc is literally saving innocent people so yeah.

Um. Sorry for such a long ask. Hope reading this isn't too boring lmao.

it was a fun dlc!!! you’re right it rlly felt like a breath of fresh air. it was nice to see what hawke and the gang are like outside of kirkwall for once just having a good time out (aside from all the deadly danger etc)

tallis was super interesting, i do like her. it was interesting to spend a lot of time with someone who was clearly on the track of her own story rather than a companion whose fate it’s up to me to decide. and i liked exploring the idea of elves joining the qun with an actual character rather than just vaguely suggesting that it happens. i don’t have any super exciting thoughts yet mostly bc i find the qunari difficult to approach conceptually but also just because i only got to know her like yesterday, i didnt rlly know much abt her beforehand except that she was qunari

my experience with her so far is obviously filtered through keir, who... did not like her at all agshsjsksk. she was incompetent and a liar, and she was picking up a blade for a belief system it was obvious she couldn’t even commit to herself. the qunari talking points didn’t help either, keir isn’t overfond of religion no matter which one it is; all he sees is the damage it does. he did grudgingly fight beside her at the end, mostly because he believed her that innocents were in danger and thought she clearly wasn’t up to the job herself, but he was happy enough to be rid of her and part ways at the end. it might have been just as in character to leave her, though, and i plan to do a second run through with other companions at some point so i might see how that turns out

#tallis #keir hawke #long post

[harmonyverendez]

She do me better. ~ Oc x Oc ( Percy J / Harry P )

Safiya could hardly contain her excitement as she entered the bustling Camp Half-Blood, the training ground for demigods like Abigail Percy. Campers scattered around, honing their skills and engaging in various activities. As her eyes searched the crowd, she finally spotted Abigail, effortlessly wielding a celestial bronze sword during a sparring session.

Curiosity and admiration tugged at Safiya's heart as she watched Abigail in action. She couldn't help but be drawn to her strength and grace. Gathering her courage, Safiya approached Abigail once the training session had concluded.

Impressed, Safiya said, "You're incredible with a sword. Your skills are truly awe-inspiring."

Abigail turned toward Safiya, a hint of surprise on her face before a genuine smile graced her lips. "Thank you. It's always nice to be appreciated by someone who understands what it takes."

Safiya, feeling a connection to Abigail's world like never before, nodded. "I can imagine. The bravery and determination required to thrive in this camp are remarkable."

Abigail's eyes sparkled, and she gestured toward a nearby meadow. "Care for a walk and some fresh air? We could talk more about camp life, if you'd like."

Safiya's heart raced with anticipation. This was her chance to explore the mysteries of Camp Half-Blood with someone who belonged to that extraordinary world. She nodded, her voice filled with curiosity as she said, "That sounds fascinating. Lead the way."

As they strolled through the idyllic meadow, Abigail shared stories of her adventures, battles fought, and friendships forged within the camp. Safiya listened intently, captivated by Abigail's bravery and the tales of myth and magic that surrounded her.

Time flew by unnoticed, and before they knew it, the stars had adorned the sky above them. They found themselves standing by the edge of the sparkling Lake Half-Blood, moonlight casting ethereal reflections on the water's surface.

Abigail turned to Safiya, her gaze warm and inviting. "This place holds so many memories for me, but sharing it with you feels different, special."

Safiya's heart skipped a beat as she met Abigail's gaze, feeling a rush of emotions surge through her. She reached out, her hand gently intertwining with Abigail's, and whispered, "I feel it too. The connection, the magic... it's undeniable."

In the serene stillness of the night, they leaned closer, their lips meeting in a tender, passionate kiss. The universe seemed to hold its breath, as if acknowledging the bond forming between the two. As they pulled away, Safiya's cheeks flushed with a mix of excitement and wonder.

Abigail smiled, her voice filled with a playful charm. "We make quite the team, don't we?"

Safiya grinned, feeling a newfound sense of belonging and adventure. "Absolutely. I can't wait to see where our shared journey at Camp Half-Blood takes us."

And as their hands remained entwined, the camp echoed with whispers of a love story yet to unfold, leaving Safiya and Abigail ready to face the challenges ahead, side by side.

#female x female #Lesbian #Kissing #Percy jackson #Harry potter #Camp half blood #goblet of fire #The last labyrinth #J. K rowling #rick riordan

[luuurien]

Sheldon Agwu - Seeds of Sanctum, Vol. 2

(Nu-Jazz, Neo-Soul, Jazz Fusion)

A quick, loveable collection of breezy hip-hop grooves paired with jazzy guitar and saxophone performances that keep the vibes smooth and the production smoother. Similar to the lighthearted, colorful jam sessions he often participates in, Seeds of Sanctum Vol. 2 doesn't need to do anything crazy to pull your heart in.

☆☆☆½

You've more than likely heard Sheldon Agwu before, but he's only recently heightened the volume of his singular voice. A beloved player in the London nu-jazz and neo-soul circuit whose credits include work with the lovely neo-soul singer Ego Ella May and alt-R&B darling Jordan Rakei, Agwu's guitar playing is at the forefront of his music, liquid-smooth and never throwing in a ton of notes and instrumental embellishment for the sake of it - he knows that oftentimes using less notes makes things even more interesting. On the second installation of his Seeds of Sanctum EP series, he expands upon the jazzy blends of hip-hop and electronica from its predecessor, programming plush drum pads and layering some of the most engaging and enjoyable guitar work this year on top of it. Its seven short tracks and singular mood means Vol. 2 doesn't cover a whole lot of new ground for Agwu, but what's here is more than enough to make for another wonderful outing. Simple as these beats may be, Vol 2. is a joy to listen to simply because of how charismatic and lively a performer Agwu is. The EP's hazy midnight mood of slow grooves and sensual instrumentation doesn't ever waver, but the real power of Vol 2. comes from the way he slowly approaches the high note at the minute mark of Nightlife and then finds different paths back up and down the fretboard, or treats Dracula to a regal array of saxophone harmonies and light improvisation before bringing back his guitar and tracing the saxophone's path with it - the EP is less about trying to wow you with crazy technical complexity as it is showing off Agwu's ability to set a mood and deliver it perfectly. HAVE A GREAT MORNING even throws in a bit of a breakbeat kick with its choppy drum loop, complimenting the creamier sound of surrounding tracks Disconnect and Dracula with a short but fresh take on his hip-hop/jazz fusions. I can only imagine what it might be like to see Agwu working on a larger scale with bigger and bolder concepts, but the honesty and warm heart at the core of Vol 2. beautifully pays tribute to all his inspirations and gives a colorful bird's-eye-view of his different musical influences and experiences poured into every song. Through and through, Vol 2. is simple, wonderful music. And there always could be more: Agwu could incorporate a wider range of instruments or explore different kinds of beats and moods from his usual late night neo-soul, but Vol 2. is focused entirely on being the most pure and genuine showing of his music's core tenants and what makes listening to his songs such a joy: because you can hear how much he loves playing every time. When he's exploring the rich mid-range of his guitar on Oakley Gardens, every note is thoughtfully placed and given Agwu's full attention; when he's digging deep into the earthy low end and gleaming high end on Disconnect, the transitions between each are so natural and suave you'll barely even notice just how much the texture of his playing has changed in only a few seconds. You don't need to do anything to get the fullest from Seeds of Sanctum, Vol. 2 but let Awgu's music fill your mind for a while, and with songs as delightful as these, it's an offer you can't pass up.

#sheldon agwu #seeds of sanctum vol 2 #electronic #hip-hop #jazz #jazz fusion #neo-soul #nu-jazz #soul #2022 #7/10 #album review #album reviews #2022 albums

[nottiffanymejia777]

0182023

Initially, I planned on expunging my inner thoughts and feelings about Adrian. I felt the need to cry and panic, as my past traumas and experiences with him were acted out in my dream world, but right now, I feel calm and at peace. It made me smile to realize that I feel peaceful here. I smell cuisine from different cultures and thought of James, then Jeff. How many loves have I had, or could’ve had? How many opportunities did I pass up either due to my own insecurities or due to theirs? My life is a intricate, albeit iridescent web, made of Oaxacan pattern, complex and yet, I have never been more aware. That’s the only word I can think of that encapsulates my energy perfectly. I am awake. Some things that I am privy to I don’t like, they actually either break my damn heart or make me fucking angry. Others, I am excited for. I used to dread journaling, because I was afraid that I would look back and see entries of the past, when my mom was around and I didn’t want to accept that there might be a day in which she wouldn’t be here with me. Now, as an adult, I am interested more in my own self, insights, likes, dislikes, and want to document where I am right now, to be see my successes, trajectory, and my heartaches, all of which I am worthy of experiencing and feeling. I am validating my self and my needs and daily activities. I am worthy. A keyword. I might as well document my inner world as well. I am fat. It hurt to see it, it hurts to say it. The other day, I realized that I lack the ability to touch and see and behold my body due to, you guessed it, traumas. Some of which I am not quite ready to engage with, I should probably get a therapist to help me work through those particular issues. Wow, I’m so proud of myself. Let me take a damn moment to stand up and multiple hand round clap for myself because I have had every form of heartache last and this year and here I am, rising like the sun above the waves. Mom would be proud. I want to make her so proud. I could have given up, but I didn’t. God’s hand has been upon me. May he not remove it. Back to my body issues. Acknowledging that my rooted shame is the reason I do not care for my body is such a revelation. If I have a younger Tiffany somewhere inside of me, I would imagine she is jumping up and down as well. I’d like to meet me. I’d like to be myself, unabashed, kind, compassionate, fierce, courageous, brave, funny, sassy, smart, intelligent, brilliant, artistic, innocent, Tiffany. This is a new beginning. It worries me, at times, whether or not certain people will come back full circle into my life. I cannot, however, allow them to keep running me into the ground. That goes for Adrian, my father, old friends, and new folk alike. My new found desire and passion is to get to know myself. I want to and will hold myself accountable to inner peace, including but not limited to, yoga, beautiful people and spaces, journaling, exploring solo dolo, palo santo, and praying and presenting gifts to my mom. I miss her. It’s hard for me to say that. It’s hard for me to feel it. I hear chimes. I know she’s with me. I see a Dodgers logo and I want to - interrupted by a sign from mom: “You guys opened a door for us in New York, a place for the next generation to come to.” Wonder what that’ll mean. I need to go to sports games. I need new friends. Good, healthy, supportive, funny friends. I just remembered my new job! I’M SO EXCITED TO GET MY FOOT IN THE DOOR AS A COUNSELOR! While I could, in theory, complete the Addiction Studies Program at ELAC, I feel somewhat in need of starting and finishing somewhere fresh and new. Away from Dr. V and away from the string that Adrian and I formed there. I want to be and feel and look fresh and to just be at peace, genuinely enjoying my journey, rather than being bogged down by judgement and tears and longing for someone that I’m not sure will return. I love my culture. I don’t want to part or be away from it. Another generational trauma I want to heal. It’s not as if I don’t believe in the trinity, I just feel as if there’s more to this, the universe, everything as a whole. I have seen and heard and felt and thought and experienced too much to revert back to a negative format of thinking and being. I am falling in love with life and it’s such a nice feeling. I am, however, open to the trinity and seeing what they may show me or have me go through, hopefully nothing too much to handle. I need a fucking break. Additionally, I need to get my ass in gear. I need to start prioritizing my health, need to do some grocery shopping, healthy eats only, preferably and to join the gym. I’m always in Bell Gardens, Bell, and South Gate anyway, might as well join Planet Fitness. Surmising and looking over my entries, I think this is more of a goals list. My entries will probably vary from introspective thought processes on the internets, to composed answers to select, deep questions. But seriously, I want to go to a Dodger game and eat a hotdog and a have a beer and wear a dorky Dodger hat and a foam finger. I want to have fun. I want to discover myself. I keep repeating this statement, but it doesn’t make it less true. I also need to lay off the THC and sugar. Not sure if they’ll drug test me. I’m so unsure of how much to disclose to Merjika, do I tell her about my father, my brother, or even about Adrian? I know what path I want to take career wise. Even realizing that I’m on my way to having a career and not just a job is exciting. I see three men. The first I didn’t get a decent glimpse at, the second one reminded me of James, the third looked like Adrian. Another sign? I want to get mom money up. I need gold. Kevin came to mind. I don’t see him as a permanent fixture in my life, although I do know he would like to be. Why do I keep allowing toxic men into my ether? While I’ve realized that I have no boundaries and am used to making others more comfortable rather than prioritizing my own needs, this needs to stop. I felt, energetically, the darkness and maladaptive behaviors around and in Adrian from day one. Yes, in a good way, it triggered my strength and badass bitch within myself, but somewhere along the way I didn’t put my foot down. I still allowed him into my life. Either he’s only a lesson or there’s more for us in store down the road. I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes with Kevin or any other man. Yvonne, someone I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned yet, reminded me that once Kevin was intent on seeing me on New Years Eve, Adrian came running to me. He knows when others, men, enter my universe. I wonder if he felt Jorge, too. The possessiveness, while flattering, is simply a means to control, a method he’s used in the past to place me high up on the shelf. I see myself as a doll, kicking my feet, hopping off the shelf, one level at a time, flipping him off and shouting obscenities to him, the sound of a bleep, bleep, bleep going off. All my life, *be careful with this thought train*, I have been desired and controlled by men. To me, control and possessiveness and protectiveness equals love, because I never received those things from my father while growing up. It’s one of the main reasons I have returned to Adrian, James, Jason, and even Wilson. My value is based on my physical appearance. Men are visual creatures, true. But fuck men. I am so gorgeous and attractive and will continue to grow and grow and grow so much, for myself. Not them. I need to learn to belong to and cherish and advocate and articulate and value myself. Fuck ‘em if they can’t afford me. If someone is going to win or be chosen, it’s me. WOW! Powerful. Shit turns me on being that golden and bitchy and ferocious and the queen! Currently eating a huge waffle and coffee for breakfast. Editing crossed my mind, but I need to get used to writing and flowing. I think Strickland would advise me to do so. Ugh, there’s things I’m avoiding, like my health issues, need to go to the dentist, no way around that one, also dreading paying for the textbook for the class I’m currently enrolled in. Might as well. There’s no point in putting it off. Also, I need to control my impulse spending, returning shit and wasting gas and my time is annoying. I don’t like how mean I’ve become. Growing up, I was always loving and accepting and never judged anyone based on their looks. Now, it’s all I do. I think it’s because I’ve been called fat and ugly and it’s finally begun to hurt me, so I want to be mean, even to complete strangers. I don’t like that. Maybe if I heal the parts of me that have been damaged by words and looks, I’ll be more than able to be kind and welcoming again. “Now she’ll go her way.” End and beginning. This is hard and beautiful and I hope I can see ya again, babe. “Well, it's time for us to be leaving

It hurts so much, it hurts so much inside. Now she'll go her way and I'll go mine. Tomorrow we'll meet, the same place, the same time”. Also, a warning about not getting my hopes too high. What will my life look like if we don’t meet again? Will I be able to find the strength and hope and excitement to start over with someone new? This is so hard. It needs to be done. It occurred to me that this shit has been going on for quite a while. While it might be a new girl, the patterns, behaviorally and psychologically, hold strong in this one. Divine intervention, whether it be ancestral or through the one true God, is our only hope. I cannot continue waiting and hoping and critiquing myself, all the while they’re off living without consequence or fear of losing me. I also cannot return to old habits; blocking, fighting, taking him back, allowing his behaviors to continue, all the while I anxiously wait for his call, his visit. I’m going to need to go more in depth about this, but for now, I just need to realize I am addict to this individual, as they are addicted to me. Proof I’m not all that fucked up over him; just realized I really need Airpods. Gosh, I want a guy friend to hang with. Female friends are cool, too. I just miss the early days with Adrian. I miss so much. Wait, that guy is cute. I love that I am reminded that there are others. But he’s the only one. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over him. This makes me cry. Fuck, I’m crying in public. I see two women in front of me, both look identical, but at different ages. Again, this can either be a sign or a warning. A sign that I will always mourn and miss him. Or that he will return when I am older. Also heard her name. A man said “Might not be available at that time.” I really am special, I see it, seeing this guy interacting with a girl. I made an impact on Adrian. I was a blessing to him, I can see that now. I was an opportunity to start a new life, a sweet, loving, loyal partner by his side I was. He knew it then, he knows it now. A mother with her son encouraged him to jump. “It’s an easy jump.” The little boy continues to stomp around. That was us. He’s a youngin’, addicted to the G-Eazy lifestyle, as am I. Still, I was a mentor, a human being in which taught him and made him aware of his potential. No greater pain than realizing I might have done all I can. I want him to approach me when he’s ready for me. He may not be ready ever. This is the process in which I get stuck and scared, I no longer wish to be here. Can a relationship ever be recovered fully? Psychologically speaking, I think I recall memory bumps. Googling now. Dendritic Spines: Most memories do indeed last a lifetime because they are actually solid bits of protein imprinted on the brain as microscopic memory bumps called DENDRITIC SPINES. These tiny memory bumps grow from the dendrites of nerve cells when the nerves stimulated by a sensory input. Adrian has infinite imprints on me. My imprints on Adrian are thrice as many. My heart is beating so fast. Additionally, I’m tired of feeling guilty for leaving the house. My father always made my mom feel so guilty for leaving the house, even for church. I feel he used it as an excuse to cheat on her, saying that she would essentially abandon him, thus giving him clearance to seek attention and affection elsewhere. What a coward. Needless to say, my relationship with my father is a complicated one. One I cannot address. Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ comes to mind; I have priorities to handle, predominantly work and school. I cannot process anything related to family until I am financially and emotionally safe enough to do so. I just want to be around nice things, to dress well, to be in nice places. I also want to give back to the hood. To no longer be ashamed of where I came from. I am the rose that grew from concrete. Beautiful. I’m winding down, feel so peaceful, although this coffee is making me feel like I did a rail. Despite my pursuing health and peace, I still have the smallest desire to learn and to be thuggish. It makes me laugh and smile. I am infinitely curious about everyone and everything. Oh my gosh, I need Ray-Bans and gold hoops and something of ethnic cultural background, from Mexico, preferably Juarez. I need to travel. Maybe I’ll take three tips for my thirtieth birthday! Coachella, Juarez, Las Vegas. I’ll need a week off from work, but so be it.

[messiahvtsx604]

Are You Getting the Most Out of Your VR Montreal?

VR Montreal Stated in Fewer than one hundred forty People

Digital Fact Online games are the newest growth inside the video clip game market. VR video games are played on products which include Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, which allow gamers to practical experience a 360 degree natural environment. This new technologies has produced an entire new strategy to Perform movie games and gives gamers a more immersive working experience.

1. Digital Reality Games are the most up-to-date craze in video gaming.

2. They supply an immersive practical experience that places the player in the course of the action.

3. Many people are skeptical with regards to their impact, but a lot of imagine that they're the way forward for gaming.

4. VR video games could be played on devices like headsets and smartphones.

5. They are becoming much more well-known every day, and developers are coming up with new and ground breaking approaches to make use of them.

"Can Virtual Reality Game titles Assist you to Get rid of Pounds?"

There's a new development on the globe of video games – virtual reality (VR) video games. These online games transportation gamers into a digital earth wherever they're able to interact with other gamers or Personal computer-created figures. VR online games are more immersive than standard video video games, as they location the participant in the center of your motion.

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So far, There may be tiny proof that VR games may help individuals lose excess weight in the long run.

"Digital Truth Online games Are The way forward for Leisure"

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Digital Reality Online games: Enter The Matrix

As technologies improvements, so does the world of online video gaming. With the release of virtual fact games, gamers are now in a position to enter a fresh degree of gaming experience. 1 well-liked VR game known as "The Matrix."

During this activity, players are positioned in the course of a metropolis full of skyscrapers and neon lights. They must then use their weapons to combat off enemies that show up in the form of black agents. The target is to outlive for as long as achievable and rack up a significant score.

To Perform "The Matrix," you will require a VR headset including the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, and also two hand controllers. The game could be played on the two PC and Mac platforms.

New Digital Reality Online games Will Blow Your Brain

With the release of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, virtual truth gaming is becoming Increasingly more well-liked. These new products offer you an exceptionally immersive expertise which will blow your thoughts. There are by now numerous excellent VR video games accessible, and a lot of much more are on just how. A lot of the most anticipated VR games consist of Fallout four, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, and Robinson: The Journey. If You are looking to expertise the last word in gaming immersion, Then you definitely have to have to take a look at virtual reality gaming.

Digital Reality Game titles Tested to improve Hand-Eye Coordination

When it comes to video game titles, Digital actuality (VR) has taken the entire world by storm. Although there are many VR online games readily available, some avid gamers is likely to be questioning if all these video games are literally great for yourself. Amazingly, VR game titles have already been proven to supply a number of wellness Rewards, which includes enhanced hand-eye coordination.

A review a short while ago published inside the journal Frontiers in Psychology identified that VR gaming can boost hand-eye coordination. The review involved two teams of individuals: a person team who performed VR game titles and 1 team who played standard second movie game titles. The final results confirmed that the VR sport players experienced a far better capacity to keep track of objects with their eyes and hands. This enhanced hand-eye coordination could lead to better overall performance in functions for instance driving or athletics.

VR Video games Could Hold off the Onset of Dementia!

Could Digital reality online games hold off the onset of dementia? A recent analyze by College of California, San Francisco indicates that they may. The analyze located that men and women who performed VR game titles for at least an hour per week experienced a reduce danger of acquiring dementia than individuals that didn't Perform VR games.

The analyze's guide writer, Dr. Jason Allaire, thinks the cognitive great things about VR gaming are mainly because of the point that they're "multi-sensory and interactive." In other words, VR game titles stimulate unique parts of the brain more than traditional online video game titles do. This increased stimulation might help to stop or delay the onset of dementia.So far, the proof is barely anecdotal, nevertheless it's definitely truly worth even more exploration. All things considered, if virtual truth games might help preserve our brains balanced as we grow old, which is anything worth finding enthusiastic about!

Taking part in Virtual Fact Online games May make You Smarter!

A new review has uncovered that actively playing virtual truth game titles might make you smarter. The research, which was carried out via the College of California in Irvine, located that men and women who played VR video games had been superior ready to focus and procedure facts.

The study examined two teams of men and women- 1 group who played VR games and one group who did not. Scientists found that the team that performed VR video games was improved in a position to center on tasks and had greater reaction times. They also observed the team that played VR online games had enhanced brain action inside the parts linked to memory, awareness, and spatial navigation.

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CONCLUSION

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#vr montreal

[after-witch]

Adoration and Pain (Vampire!Yandere Overhaul x Reader)

Title: Adoration and Pain (Vampire!Yandere Overhaul x Reader)

Synopsis: You are his pure, sweet doe. His perfect angel. The most exquisite blood bank that a vampire, that Kai Chisaki, could ask for. 

Word Count: 2243

Notes: yandere, vampire, descriptions of violence and mild gore, mentions of past suicide attempt

You sit on your bed, legs crossed, and take a calming breath. You remind yourself of the things that you know, the things that you can count on. It keeps you from panicking, it keeps you sedated while you wait for him to arrive.

The things that you know: It is night time. You are in your room. You are wearing a pale blue night gown, the one with a small blood stain on the lace wrist cuff that won’t come out. Kai will be coming soon. 

You still know your name. You still remember, however dimly, what it was like to feel the sun on your skin, the glowing warmth of a summer day, the cool brightness of a cheery blue sky in the wintertime. Kai will be coming soon. You have no way of tracking time now, in the small suite he’s crafted for you, nor did he like you attempting to keep track of the days.

What is a day when you’ve lived hundreds of years, after all?

Kai will be coming soon.

Time is not a blip for you, though, poor mortal thing that you are; instead, the days--the nights, the nights--drag on endlessly, sometimes feeling like an exquisitely painful, delirious dream. Grounding yourself when you wake up is the only way to keep things from completely blurring together, keeping things separate enough to maintain sanity.

He visits you every night to feed. To tear open your skin and drink the oozing life blood inside. Pure blood, he’d said, when he first took you away from everything you’d ever known. Sweet blood, clean, refreshing--the finest blood he’d ever tasted, and now that he’d tasted it, Kai Chisaki could not fathom anything less.

You were his endless dinner, providing sustenance night after night. Never mind the bruising, never mind the pain, never mind the sounds, those sickening slurps of your blood being feasted upon. Never mind the fear that still gripped you every time he removed his mask, revealing sharp, predatory fangs that could only be hidden by keeping his mouth shut tight--or by wearing a mask.

 You know the rules, now. He’s never been so kind as to lay them out neatly, organized on parchment and ink, ready for you to read and repeat until they’re drummed into your pretty little brain. But he’s expected you to know them, nonetheless. They’ve been learned night by night, in a repetition of a different kind. You used to scream and fight and claw, beast-like. 

That was ages ago, when you still had the strength, physically and otherwise. Before you’d become a paler, fragile thing that gets dizzy, sometimes, when you stand up too quickly. Before you learned the rules, and before you’d learned that obeying him made your life a little easier. Not by much, no, not by much. But a little was an enormous thing in the existence you’d been trapped in.

He keeps you in nightgowns. White ones, pastel ones, with lace and frills, all in the softest of fabrics that feel like a dream against your skin. They must have cost a fortune. You’d said as much once, and he merely smiled at you patronizingly. “Such things aren’t appropriate for ladies to talk about,” he’d said, and you never brought it up again.

You sleep during the day. Or what you assume must be the day, for it is when he leaves you. You are not afforded the luxury of windows. He can’t take the risk, you see, of you accidentally forgetting to close the curtains. Not that you would ever, ever try to kill him, of course. You were pure and sweet and a doe, a lamb, the sweetest thing on hell or Earth.

Sometimes, when he murmurs these things against your wrist, your own blood and flesh brimming against his darkened lips, you wonder if he’s genuinely forgotten how you used to behave. You were not a pure and sweet doe when you’d broken the rail of your bed and tried to stake him with it. You were not a lamb when you broke your mirror and used the glass to stab him, or when you’d found a forgotten shard underneath your bed and sliced your wrists open in an unsuccessful bid to end it all. Both earned punishments, the second more so--you’d tried to deprive him of your sweetness, your purity, your beauty. A terrible thing to do, for someone like him, someone so everlasting and lonely. And hungry.

That was, however, in the past. Weeks ago or months or maybe years. You don’t know, and you know better than to ask--except sometimes when you’re delirious from blood loss and forget yourself.  He’s forgiving of those slip-ups, most of the time. You even have a new mirror, and every morning--night, you remind yourself--before he arrives, you get dressed in a fresh nightgown and brush your hair in front of it.

Which is what you must do now. You slowly put your legs over the side of the bed, rising carefully. You don’t want to pass out on the floor. Once your mind steadies, you make your way over to the large, immovable chest pressed against the wall of your room. You open it, relishing the cool smell of wood that accompanies the ancient creak of the hinges. Inside are your night-gowns and under-linens. You lift up a delicate nightgown made with white muslin; it’s trimmed in exquisite lace and has a ruffled trim that ends at your ankles. You grab an accompanying chemise to slip on underneath.

The curtain on the mirror is there to keep you sane, whenever he feeds. He has no reflection, a fact which used to make you cross yourself; once, it had slipped off while he greedily drank down your blood, and the sight of wounds pulsing out gore like magic had made you pass out. You cautiously slide it over, letting it fall to the ground with a theatrical flourish.

You stand in front of the mirror, slip off your worn gown and under-dress and set them aside. You don’t pay your naked body, thinner and paler like the rest of you, much mind; instead you swiftly change into your fresh clothes, wanting to be ready for his arrival. You smooth down the fabric with your hands, then lean over inside the chest to grab your brush.

Your hair is longer than you like it, which makes it tangle and twist terribly; but he likes it long, so you don’t dare ask to cut it. But you make do, patiently unweaving the tangles from all the tossing and turning you do at night. The strands feel a bit greasy, and a pang of anxiety plagues you--you should have bathed before going to sleep the night before. He likes you to be presentable. You wonder if you have time to wash your hair, at least, but the unmistakable steps coming up the stairs answer your query for you: there is no time.

Thump, thump, thump. You rush, awash in dizziness as you quickly toss your things inside the trunk and swiftly lean down to replace the fallen curtain. Thump, thump, thump. Your head is still reeling by the time you climb back onto your bed, pulling your legs up and curling them to the side. You take a few gulping breaths to calm yourself, just in time to hear the large, heavy door to your suite unlocking.

Before you were taken captive by a vampire, you imagined them to all wear fantastical cloaks, dull and dusty from mausoleums and nights spent roaming the earth. You imagined them to have bat-like ears and claws. You would never think him a vampire, to look at him. He has tousled black hair and striking eyes. He wears a refined, yet simple, suit. It’s only when he takes off the mask and speaks--when those fangs, hidden and terrible--reveal themselves, that his true nature becomes evident.

Tonight, like all nights, he locks the door behind him after he enters. You don’t have the strength to run, even if you could imagine escaping from this place. But it’s a habit, you think, long-ingrained in an immortal creature.

He approaches the bed with a calm, almost soothing demeanor. “Did you sleep well? Are you hungry?”

Pleasantries, pleasantries. Spoken so softly and sweetly. He sits down on the bed next to you, and you nod. You wonder if your eyes are as wide as they feel. Maybe that’s why he calls you a doe, a lamb. You tremble before him like an animal to the slaughter--only your slaughter never ends with death, only with pain and nightmares and fever dreams.

His hand reaches up to pet your cheek. It feels cold and stiff to the touch. “I’ll bring you dinner later, pet.” His hand strokes your cheek, and you imagine it would feel comforting, if it didn’t feel so clammy. You lean your cheek into his touch, as you’ve learned to do. “Such a good girl for me, aren’t you?”

You nod again. He likes it when you are quiet and compliant and meek. He’s said so, and you believe him, for it is your quiet and compliant behavior that earned you new things; books and a silver hair brush and even a necklace, gold and rimmed with blood-red rubies, though he’d yet to give you anything but nightgowns to wear it with.

His hand travels from your cheek, down your jawline. You shiver as he traces a healing, bruising wound on your neck. He continues his exploration of your body, roaming hands ghosting against your breasts and then down, down to your thighs. You tremble, and he smiles.

“Hand me your wrist.” Your arm raises without a thought. Memories of pain and terror and screams flood through you, heating up your skin and making your heartbeat thrum. He rolls the sleeves of your nightgown back, and a small part of you is thankful--it’s such a nice dress, and you’d have to have it spoiled with blood.

Kai lifts your wrist until it rests against his cold cheeks. He presses his nose against the thin, ever-bruising skin, against the blue veins that wait underneath. He groans, softly, inhaling your scent and feeling the warmth of the life flowing through you.

“So pure,” he murmurs. “So precious.” His lips part, revealing the eager fangs behind him.  

“All mine…”

Holding your wrist in one hand, he brings his mouth closer, opening wide and then biting into the soft flesh with a sickening sound.

You hold your breath. You don’t want to scream, you don’t want to--

But the pain floods you, as it does every night, and you cry out anyway. You moan in pain, and it merely makes him moan in return. His grip is unrelenting as he eagerly begins to drink, sucking blood and even bits of flesh into his mouth with practiced ease. The sensation of his tongue lapping inside the gory wound makes your stomach churn.

Your wrist feels like it is being stabbed in a thousand different ways; burned and dissected and pounded by a hammer. You forget yourself and look away from the sight of Kai feasting on you, the sight of your blood smearing down his chin.

“Mind your manners,” he says quietly against your open wound. You look back instantly, feeling weary and slightly dizzy and tired. You hope he will be done soon. You don’t want to pass out again. You want something to eat. You want to stay up late enough to read a few pages in a book, if your eyesight isn’t too blurry.

Your vision does blur, for a moment, and when it returns Kai is running a sharpened nail down your wrist. It burns, as it always does, but it heals the gaping wound with barely a trace of a scar. Nothing can be done about the bruising, the blue and grey and green mottled skin that takes ages to fade away. He usually bites the same spot again before those can properly heal.

You let out a shuddering cry of relief as he finishes, as he lifts his fingers--now warm, thrumming with your secondhand life running through them--and wipes away your tears. His fingers stroke your cheek again, leaving behind a smear of your own blood, and this time you lean into his hand without effort.

“Such a precious thing you are, such a delicate thing.”

You nod, barely listening, thinking instead to the promise of a dinner, the promise of a few pages in a book. You will never leave. He’s made sure of that, weakening you in mind and body. You will be here as long as he’s hungry. As long as he needs to feed. And he will always need to feed. You will never leave.

#yandere overhaul #vampire au #vampires #yandere #kai chisaki x reader #afterwitch writes

[pepperpills]

The Harvest - RE8 fanfic

The Harvest

A Resident Evil 8 fan fiction by Joana

Karl Heisenberg x Female Reader

Notes: hi guys, I'm changing a little my posting method. at first, I was afraid the chapters were too big and decided to divide them in parts and post a new part everyday (as long as there was a part to post), but it kind of affects the reading, so I will be uploading a new complete chapter every tuesday, hope it is better for you!

Warning: NSFW content

Part I - Destiny (1) Part I - Destiny (2)

Part II – The Lord

The day after The Harvest, when you were designated to work for Lord Heisenberg, was a long one. Not really exhausting as you spent most part of it turning from one leg to the other waiting for someone to activate the bridge to the factory.

You were deadened by a miscellaneous of emotions battling to gain domain over your brain. You couldn’t stop thinking about waving your mother goodbye as the sun conquered the sky, shortly before being surrendered by the stormy clouds.

After the speech at the Chapel, you wanted to wander around a little bit, maybe hunt, thinking that it probably was your last walk on those landscapes, yet, you didn’t want to get late on your first day, so your feet lead the way past Heisenberg’s gate, close to the church. It wasn’t even lunch time when you reached the end of the road, facing the factory chimneys and the hell lot of metal discarded in its front yard.

You had completely no idea how to call someone or if you should, as far as you knew, the lord lived there alone and you didn’t think it would be a great first impression if you simply started yelling his name, so he could do that bridge thing.

Thus, you waited. Placing your bag on the ground, you stood there for what seemed to be two entire hours. Then you got tired and sat, your corselet holding your oxygen levels. After a while even being sat was annoying, your legs tingled and your stomach hurt, once you completely forgot to bring any food with you.

That would be a great time for the Duke to make an entrance. As one of his most loyal clients – maybe you sneak once in a while, claiming possessions of one or two crystals –, sometimes you two shared a meal and Gods, he was a good cook. But it wasn’t his week at the Village and that wasn’t his store’s place anyway.

When the day light began to fade and the clouds grew heavier, you started worrying about getting wet. To divert your mind from that thought, you left all your belongings at the end of the road, not too close to the border, so hopefully they wouldn’t fall in the water below, and explored the ruins, studying the bricks that build those structures, absolutely bored, not even anxious anymore. At that point you could think about a thing or two to say to that idiot Heisenberg.

What would happen if he didn’t open the gate? Could you just walk away and live your life? Well, that didn’t sound like a bad plan, if just you could reach the forest first… The first water drop popped in your hair, the rain it announced didn’t take long to join it and a few moments later you were soaking wet, cold to the bone, contracting every muscle.

Suddenly, as you were about to curse Heisenberg’s name, a gear sound rose, it sounded old, but well-oiled and was really loud, louder than the rain and thunders and made you and the crows jump, they flew, you stayed as there was nowhere to go. Approaching your dank belongings, you saw a firm, modular, sand-coloured bridge forming in front of your eyes. Its movement was smooth comparing to something that big. You were genuinely impressed and would like to ask a few questions about how that works.

This surreal vision absorbed you for a few minutes after it was done, you didn’t feel the rain chastening your skin anymore. To be honest, at that point you realized where you were at and what you had to do, after an entire day in standby.

Your own brain didn’t really wake you up from that hypnosis. Oh, no. What made your heart rate rise again was a sudden, strong and frisky voice coming out of nowhere. You looked around, moving your head way too quick, making a spray of water with your hair and saw no one, but his words were most certainly there, echoing in your mind, making your entire body feel warm.

“C’mon, honey pie, we ain’t got all day.” He said, demanding, and then laughed.

Great, a madman, you thought. You weren’t sure, though, if you blushed intensely due to what he just called you or because every cell of your body felt enraged with that joke, it was you who had been waiting for him, you who would be forever wet, because he left you in the rain. You wanted to walk to that factory and tell it straight to that son of a…

Shortly, you understood. It was a test. You took a deep breath, grabbed your stuff, which made a humid sound, and walked resiliently to the factory’s gate. He wanted to see if you were a spitfire and you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“She walks.” He giggled, the voice of the wind, and then opened the gate.

Was he doing it with his mind? You knew that Lady Beneviento had some sort of effect on people’s brains, hallucinations they said, Lord Moreau could turn into a giant fish, Lady Dimitrescu had impressive long and strong nails that could tear anyone apart. What could Lord Heisenberg do, really? The villagers talked about he being one of the strongest lords, if not the strongest of them all. He had some power over metal, but you didn’t know exactly how it worked.

Anyway, you stepped in his front yard, facing the absurd, yet fascinating sea made of his discarded toys. For Gods’ sake, you even saw a war tank half buried in the dusty soil, you couldn’t even imagine how he had that and why he would so easily neglect it. There were ripped off motorcycles, destroyed cars, metal pieces with a huge variation of sizes and shapes and a ton of mechanical parts just lying there as a good old scrap heap.

Home, you thought sarcastically and smiled. So, when the last factory doors finally spread open to you, you faced the interior with a smile on your face even though you were miserable due to the storm. Carefully, you came inside just to be greeted by a puff of heat and sweet smoke, really welcoming at your state. The warmth certainly came from all the machinery working there somewhere, making a metal orchestra that never shut off. The smoke, well, it was coming from Heisenberg’s lite cigar.

He came from above, as a god like being, building stairs with metal parts right in the mid-air and climbed them down. You had never seem such thing and it was breath-taking; you were hypnotised for a moment there, silently dripping on the grimy ground, actually cleaning it a little.

He had some sort of waddle on his walk, nothing tawdry, though. Karl Heisenberg looked like an authoritative, impulsive and humorous man and he was, above all, having fun with you being there as if you were his new pup and you sure were.

“Oh, look who finally made it!” He greeted, on the ground, standing three steps away from you, the smoke so dense it made your eyes water, yet reassuringly hot with a tobacco scent.

Heisenberg took off his spectacles, just then you realized he was wearing them inside the factory. Besides that, he was dressed exactly the same as the day before, it didn’t seem he’d showered or so. Nonetheless, now you could see his eyes, his multi-coloured greyish blue abysms staring straight at you for sure this time.

All you felt able to do was stare back, almost not blinking, taken by those soft colours on a rough man like him. You thought you would be scared, although, you were honestly intrigued. You noticed another scar crossing his cheeks and nose and wondered how it ended up there, feeling all of a sudden tempted to reach it with your index finger, gently sensing the cicatrized skin.

“Good evening, sir.” You found yourself saying to be polite, breaking the motionless aura that sunk you in contemplation.

It was bizarre, but you weren’t cold anymore nor angry, you had the grip over your own posture again, your corselet helping you to keep your back straight. You were confident.

“Good evening, Y/N.” This you weren’t expecting, almost broke you. Why would he bother to memorise your name?

You remembered what Miranda said about being solicited by one of the lords, that made you shiver, exactly like the one you had before, only this time you could also smell the iron all over, not only taste it. The scent in the closed atmosphere of the factory had a light, almost undistinguished, aroma of the night, the fresh breeze and dry grass, maybe brought by you, however, most of it was rusted metal, motor oil and tobacco. It wasn’t unpleasant, just uncommon to what you were used to.

“Guess you found less transparent clothes.” He said next, circling you, studying you and your reactions.

You noticed he also smelled like the factory as if he was part of it, or it was, indeed, himself. You closed your eyes and the iron taste emphasized, it felt like you were licking a ring, you head spined.

“It is tradition to wear them at The Harvest.” You defended yourself – and your pure intentions.

You don’t know why, but you felt your cheeks burning, actually, parts of your body that would usually pass unnoticed had lite with the tension in the air and you just hoped you could be alone, devouring some food to calm your nerves.

“Horseshit!” Heisenberg raised his voice, coming through his pressed teeth. “They just make you wear those slutty clothes so my sisterAlcina can see all of her new pups’ assets.” Heisenberg mocked, laughing madly.

“Oh.” You couldn’t think of anything better to say, you never thought of that.

At that point, you were thinking about yourself, your dress and how you felt pretty wearing it. Did it count on the selection? You felt slightly ashamed, Heisenberg’s breathing was too close to your left ear, but you wouldn’t dare to move or your noses could collide.

“Surprised?” He questioned, maliciously. You didn’t answer immediately, you were too aware of how your boobs were trying to escape the corselet’s dictatorship. “I asked you…” He bellowed “are you surprised?” he finished in a lower tone.

“Y-yes.” You finally said. “Never thought of it.” You looked at the ground, discovering a puddle where you were standing.

“You sound like an outsider.” He ruminated, more to himself than to you.

“I kind of am.” You confessed, thinking about the cabins. “I am from the cabin people.”

“Hm… Interesting.” He glanced at you, head to toe, you couldn’t help feeling heated as you never felt before. “Sorry about the rain.” Heisenberg shrugged. “I am a busy man.” He justified, mischievously, remembering you of the anger you felt back at the bridge.

The lord left you alone for a second, walking past through a curtain. You followed him into a small improvised office area with photos all over a wall, it pictured the Village, the lords’ lots and Mother Miranda, a big poster of her right in the middle. It had a knife scratch on it. Maybe Heisenberg wasn’t a family’s man after all.

You were regaining your confidence as he was distracted with the pictures – or you thought he was, unable to really see what he was picturing –, you were seeking for a good ambiguous thing to say about waiting so long for that sort of reception, however, he was quicker and made you gasp, almost choke.

“Take ‘em off.” It was an order said firmly. The way he looked at you, as if he was some kind of authority, gave you the chills.

“Them?” You innocently asked, placing a hand on your belly, trying to breathe.

“Your wet clothes.” He explained, pointing to your entire body.

“All my clothes are wet.” You insisted, flushing heavily.

He took his very own overcoat off and handed it to you. You hesitantly accepted it, not knowing exactly what to do with his eyes on you.

“For fuck’s sake.” He turned away, chuckling.

You waited half a second to be sure he wasn’t secretly looking, you didn’t know if there were cameras in the room, so you started undressing. It wasn’t a very easy dress to take off, you couldn’t reach the laces on your back, because of that, you had to ask for his help.

“Can’t even take off your own clothes, kitten.” Heisenberg mocked, as his adept hands slowly, playfully, untied the laces.

His touch was warm, he slipped his hand and you felt his calloused fingers on your skin, your body hair immediately responded husking and an electrical current flowed through you, lightening your eyes, reverberating to your core. He also felt that and some other things that made him put away his hips, but once you were facing the entrance, you couldn’t see his reaction and only heard a small movement of boots.

Lastly your dress fell to your feet and you covered yourself with his bulky overcoat, feeling better as you inhaled his aroma so intensely you almost fainted with those mechanic flavours petting your skin and his body warmth heating you.

“Now, enough chit-chat. Your duties.” He broke the silence as you finished tying the fabric belt around your waist.

“Yes, sir.” This time it was him who took a deep breath, seeming a little bothered somehow like he could use some time alone.

He had been a lonely man. You didn’t hear other people, well, living people, in the factory the next days and realised it was only you and him. It must have felt weird having someone around after years of living like an eremite. Even with all the jokes and that cheap charms, the view of him tilted to the investigative board gave you the impression that it was a bit too much having you there all at once and decided to put your rain resentments aside ang give him a chance and some space.

“I need some cleaning. I am expanding some experiments and I need to use a new wing for it, but it’s really messy.” You couldn’t see his face, but you were sure he had a grin adorning his scarred lips.

“I will do it.” You said, a little disappointed that this was your choir and surprised you were expecting something more… Dangerous? Exciting maybe?

“Of course you will.” He was leaned on the office desk, not even looking at you anymore, suddenly sold out. “One more thing.”

“Yes? What is it, sir?” Heisenberg shook his head making his grizzly hair dance as if getting rid of a thought. It wasn’t clear if he was still having fun or being disturbed by something.

“There is only one bed in this factory.” You turned stone cold with that announcement, abruptly conscious of all the blood running through your veins.

A secluded part of your mind, a usually quiet one, whispered a thought: It would be good to see where his blood is running to.

“Unless you want to sleep in a stretcher.” He added, laughing vigorously, giving you the chills again.

“Oh no, I will take the bed.” The answer came easily as if it was always there.

You took your wet clothes and belongings after he told you how to access the bedroom and you left him alone to it, whatever it was.

#resident evil #re8 #karl heisenberg #re village #karl heisenberg x reader #resident evil 8 village #heisenberg #heisendaddy #heisenberg resident evil #resident evil viii #resident evil 8 fanfic #original post #resident evil village #re8 karl heisenberg #resident evil heisenberg #fanfic #re fanfic #the harvest

[sopxhiea]

Lush

Alfie Solomons X Reader

Summary: Alfie finds out that the wild little lady has more tricks up her sleeve than he’d initially thought but it all makes him want her even more and this time, she has no contradiction to the fact.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

“You’re so wild that I want to be the one to tame you.”

“I’d be whatever you want me to be.”

Dumfounded.

A deer in headlights, a young kid caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing or the face of someone after a bomb went off. It depended on the person or the situation.

But you concluded that Alfie looked like all of those things combined as he stared at you.

It had been an uneventful day for him, he had taken you out and learned a thing or two about the infamous wild girl the cockneys were banging on about. It wasn’t as easy as he’d thought, this little game he played with you. He doubted that you knew any better but it was a good filtration system to see who’d last and he’d play all the games you’d want if it meant that he’d have you to himself at the end.

A painted smile graces your lips, the lips Alfie had dreamed about for too many times. He looked at you from head to toe and felt his throat dry. He didn’t even blink twice when staring at the barrel of a gun yet here he was, feeling himself go weak at the sight of something half his size. 

You raised your eyebrows, your way of telling him to speak up but he needed a moment to regain his voice so he just stepped to the side instead, urging you to come in.

You looked like a sin walking around in your kitten heels, a sin he was dedicated to committing. 

He recognised the fur coat from earlier that day and wondered if you were wearing underneath the thick material and his questions were soon answered when you threw the expensive clothing on one of the sofas. The sheer dress earned a gulp from him, a deep one at that before he cleared his throat and spoke. It took him a solid minute and you’d been eyeing him the whole time.

You’d kiss him, you’d made a mental note of doing so.

“I’d have you picked up, yeah, if I knew ya were comin’.” he said, eyes roaming all around your body before they landed on your eyes and he found himself a bit too restless.

He wanted to mark you, claim your soft skin as his but the game was still on. He didn’t know when it’d be the end, where you’d open your arms and offer him all that you were but he’d been working the ground for that to happen and he prayed to his gods that it were soon or else, he’d need to deal with the tightness in his pants a bit sooner than he’d want to.

“I prefer walking.” you said while sitting on the sofa you’d sat on the first time you had come around and he felt his blood rise to his cheeks when you crossed your legs and offered him a look at your upper legs.

While he was busy ogling you, you looked around for a sign of anyone around. You knew he didn’t have many close friends, none that came over anyway as he’d told you the first time you’d met the broad man. Your eyes met his blue ones then, a bit hesitant since this part of the game was always a bit nerve wrecking.

The dancing and the enticing was all fine. You’d smile, use your wit and words to interest them further. Men were easy to deal with when they only used the tool between their legs and not their mind. You’d been dealing with Alfie the same way at the beginning.

But soon found out that it was a mistake.

He was easy to rile up and his anger swam at the surface but he was insanely calm. He was calculating, even when it came to a small lady like yourself. He knew you wouldn’t hurt him but that only a fact when it came to physical terms. He knew all along that you could easily wreck him, split his soul into two with a smile so he was careful.

He dealt with liars and manipulators on the daily and he also came to find out that you weren’t the usual deceiver. You had your ways, just as dangerous and thrilling that would get him into endless trouble if he let you do what you wanted. His guard was mostly down, letting you land any hits you’d have but he was strong, too. Body and mind.

“Couldn’t get enough of old me, eh?” he teased as he faced you, sitting on the couch right in front with feet apart. The adventure in the morning had been tasteful to say the least and he had passed the little test.

“Something along the lines of that.” you spoke, voice soft around the air as he watched. His eyelids moved slowly as he inspected you.

It was clear that you were there to get something.

He would give it to you. Hell, he’d give you anything if only you’d ask. But you never would and he figured that was the chase. He watched your lips move as you offered him a smile, genuine this time and he hated the way his chest vibrated with a single act that came from you.

Such danger in a little thing, he thought.

For a while, the both of you just stared at each other. Slowly blinking, you assessed the man before you. He was handsome, calculating and a handful to say the least but those were all things you’d dealt with before, just not all at once. 

You wanted to be wanted, and he was very beautiful under the fire lit room.

Your eyes wandered off to the fireplace but his remained on you. You spoke then, knowing he would stare at you until the moon was decorating the black sky and even when the sun would come up. “You weren’t expecting me.” you said, as a matter of fact.

“Nah. A pleasant fuckin’ surprise, it ‘s.” he said, not missing a beat after your words. Almost like he had been waiting to tell you that.

“Yeah?” you spoke, words enticing as your breathy voice filled the air. You got up in the process, walking towards his sitting form. 

He was almost as tall as you while sitting, his broad form was welcoming. His arms opened to the sides, waiting for you to sit on him. You got the hint and a shy smile formed on your lips. There was a flash of surprise in his eyes as he looked into yours, he had never seen you like this before. Like a cat under the sun, calm and content.

You obliged, for the first time in his time of knowing you.

Your legs lifted and you put them on top of his, slowly. He watched you as your hands reached for his open arms, gripping onto them gently to place yourself securely on his lap. A minute later, you were on top of the man, chest to chest as he looked at you. His hands were on your waist and lower back as his eyes rested on your features.

You were a sight for sore eyes.

He was surprised at your gentleness as he looked at you, speaking in a lower voice than usual. “You’re so wild that I want to be the one to tame you.”

It brought a smile to your lips.

You were known to be the one to run away. Commitment, gentleness or mercy were not things you were known for. You were good at dancing in a sinful way and whispering sweet nothings to strangers’ ears to get what you wanted. You were the one to run away, to sneak out and break all the rules imaginable. 

But there you were, sitting calmly on your handsome stranger’s lap with a smile on your lips. You were calm as a bird as you smiled at his words, eyes looking at your hands as your cheeks slowly flushed. This was a different side of you, just as deathly as the one Alfie knew but it was slightly softer.

“Let me know if that works out.” you whispered against his face, the more you spoke the more closer he got to your face.

He nodded, ready to come up with a snarky remark to match yours as he usually did. It was natural, this banter between the two of you and he doubted it would change. He didn’t want it to. But he watched your eyes change under the fireplace’s light, something shifted and you leaned forward, inch by inch.

You’d kiss him tonight, you’d promised yourself.

There was no hesitation when his lips met yours, the plump pillows you’d dreamed about melted against yours. It felt like the sound of a click, like the key had been put into its rightful position but you ignored the feeling when his large hand grasped the base of your skull in a gentle manner. You smiled against his lips as his tongue met yours. Small mews came out of your mouth as he kissed you.

He was a good kisser, you hadn’t doubted it but this just proved the point further. Your hands remained on his chest while his other hand explored your back. You were so breathy when you kissed that he was losing his mind. The air in your lungs slowly disappeared and you broke the kiss, lips swollen and red from his breathless kiss.

The sight felt like a bullet wound in his chest as he looked at you.

You licked your lips and he felt himself reaching for them but stopped. You had been the one initiating it but he still wanted you to be comfortable with his kisses. Once he knew you were, he’d never leave you alone. You sensed the hesitation and pulled his face against yours using the collar of his shirt.

You’d always had the upper hand until now, you still did but now you were the one seeking him out as opposed to the usual dynamic. He concluded that he liked it better this way, when you were the one to initiate things. You licked your lips and reached for him.

He didn’t need to be told twice.

His lips felt like velvet against yours, he was drinking every moan and mewl that came from you as you gave him the upper hand for the first time, letting him take over the kiss. It soon proved to be the best choice, you thought while he kissed you like you were a breath of fresh air while you ran out of the very same air, dizzy with swollen lips.

After you gently broke the kiss, you saw it in his eyes. The thing you’d been chasing, not in every man but in this particular one. It was usually lust you’d see after a kiss, a hungry pair of eyes that belonged to the gent kissing you but this time, it was mixed with something else. Something quite foreign.

Adoration.

Licking your lips once more, you got up from his lap and like nothing had happened, sat on the couch you were sitting on when you first arrived in the room. He looked a bit disheveled, chest rising rapidly as he looked at you with hands on his legs. You offered him a gentle smile and he thought for the countless time, he’d give you anything.

“Where’s Cyril?” you spoke, voice breathy and he thought it was a joke at first but soon realised that it was dead serious.

He saw the game you were playing.

All along, he had wanted a taste of you. You’d kept him on his toes, dancing and prancing around with fancy words and smart remarks until he could no longer stand the teasing. Now, you had given him what he wanted, a taste but he saw it all now. It was an extremely smart move from your part.

He wasn’t satisfied with just one kiss, you knew he wouldn’t be. He thought you tasted like a spring day when the flowers blossom and the grim weather is replaced with the smiling rays of the sun. He wanted more, much more, and he was weaker than before, now that he knew how sweet your kisses were.

You had him on the hook.

The big scary shark was in your hands now, tied to the strings you’d wrapped around his broad body without him realising. You wouldn’t hurt him, no. You’d play with him a little, push all the red buttons and see how far he goes when it comes to certain things. And you’d tease him to no end, now that he was completely addicted.

You gave him another smile as he spoke, his lips were swollen too. “Out.”

A chuckle escaped your lips at the short answer. Was he mad now? It didn’t matter, as long as you had him under the spell and from the way he was looking at you, he was in the right space. “Out where?”

“With a fuckin’ friend.” he spoke, eyes glaring at you as you licked your lips. Cyril was with Ollie for the time being, needed a change of setting and Alfie trusted Ollie enough, more than he trusted you.

“Hm.” you nodded while humming. 

He wasn’t livid but you knew by now that Alfie’s anger swam at the surface.

And he was angry.

Angry that he had fallen for the oldest trick in the book. The forbidden fruit. You had been that fruit for the longest time, only because you were playing a game and he was willing to play it with you but he didn’t know. He didn’t know how sweet your lips tasted or the way your small body seemed to fit his when you sat on his lap. 

But he knew he’d miss the warmth of your body and the soft skin of your face against his. He was screwed, he soon realised. Now that he had a taste, you were all he’d ever ask for. He saw the victory in your eyes, a pat in the back was well deserved for you in the little game you were playing with his old heart.

“Alfie..” you said, breathy voice gaining his attention in the matter of a second. He was still mad but his need and want to kiss you would overshadow that.

He looked at you, as if to say ‘speak up’. So you did.

“All you need to do...is ask.” you said, legs uncrossing and crossing again. 

He knew that.

He knew that if he’d ask for a kiss or a fuck or a dance, he’d lose. That was the game. He had been the one to seek you out all the other times but it was never a question, it was more of a ‘I’m here now and you’ll come with me’ sort of thing. It fit the game.

But if he were to ask, that would mean that he was the loser and you could do anything. He knew you’d wreck him, like you’d been doing for the past months of knowing him. He didn’t want to lose, he just wanted you to himself but he also wanted you to be impressed and liked this push and pull dilemma so he’d keep the game on, play as well as he could.

He wouldn’t ask. No matter how desperate he was to do so.

“Hm.” he grunted while tugging at his beard. His eyes roamed all over your body, a gulp present on his throat as you looked him in the eye.

Alfie was a joy to play with.

“If only you’d ask...” you spoke, getting up and swaying your hips while walking towards him. He was in a trance, too dazed to get out to a point where even a bullet wouldn’t help. “I’d be whatever you want me to be.”

That was the last straw.

You had skilfully knocked him out, no air in his lungs as he stared at your small form standing right on front of his seated one. He didn’t get it, just how dangerous a small thing like you could be.

He blamed himself.

He’d been told these things before but thought that the blokes were just drunk at the time, the liquor giving them illusions regarding what had happened. They’d told him about the danger in your eyes, the one residing in your smile that could surely bring down any man but he thought, foolishly, that he wasn’t just any man.

And he wasn’t, but that didn’t change any of the facts.

You saw him gulp first. He was staring at your eyes as you stood in front of him, helpless and tender. You knew he’d do anything you’d ask for but you needed him to be the one to ask. That way you had the upper hand. He looked at your body from head to toe and his eyes landed on yours again. 

He was fucked. Simply and utterly fucked.

“Cat got your tongue?” you spoke, a giggle at the end of the sentence and he swore he was ready to have right then and there.

Men were scared of him, many mighty gangsters of different lands have said less and had their brains scattered on the pavement. You were far past the line of pushing it and Alfie saw it in your eyes that, as a matter of fact, you didn’t give a single fuck.

“I’ve fuckin’ killed for less.” he spoke, more to himself than you but you heard the gruff in his voice. He was coming around.

“Well, If you killed for less maybe you’ll fuck for more?” you spoke in a heartbeat and it took him a solid minute. There you were in a sheer dress, asking him if he wanted to fuck you and he knew you wouldn’t let him at the end.

“Lass...”he said, a warning in his tone as he eyed you.

You got the clue.

“Alright, old man.” you said, walking away to sit on the sofa again. “You look all hot and bothered.” you said, sarcasm dripping from your words but it was true.

It wasn’t right to fuck you now, Alfie knew the rules. There was still much needed foreplay and all that, he knew that for a fact. He also knew that you weren’t done playing and it would still take some time for you to let him close to you, let alone have you. 

He’d wait, he’d made that decision the first night he’d met you.

“You’re playin’ with the wrong fuckin’ person, Y/N.” he spoke, saying your name in a way that made tingles appear on your back. You smiled at the words before crossing your legs again.

"It’s quite fun.” you spoke, leg bouncing up and down as he kept his eyes on you.

What a curious thing you were.

You were dangerous, far more than the gangsters he made business with everyday and he’d give you that. You had bigger balls than a dozen proper lads he knew but there was also something in your eyes he couldn’t quite place. It was not sadness or agony, you wouldn’t show him that.

 It was the need to be adored.

Your looks and moves contributed to the whole charade, he knew, but you liked to be adored, loved almost. He didn’t know if it was love yet, only that you had him wrapped around your dainty finger. He’d gladly do anything you’d ask and you knew that but that was no fun. Fun came to be when he was the one demanding things, it was more thrilling that way.

He wondered if you’d let him have you that night. You had come all the way to his house and were the one seeking him out, it was usually the other way around. He didn’t ponder on it for too long, he’d just get disappointed if he did. He looked at the smile on your lips and then sighed, he was in deep.

“Can I see your library?” you asked, almost like a little kid this time. 

There was a switch, he thought.

He’d seen you act like a bold lady with a million dollar smile, a kind lady in a boarding school who was well behaved and a little kid who just wanted some attention. He saw the look in your eyes change every now and then and wondered this time, whether there were more sides to you.

Women were complex creatures, you were the proof of that.

“What kind o’ fuckin’ prize do I get out of it?” he spoke, voice gruff as he looked at you. He picked up the game really quickly and you were slightly surprised at the question but carried on nevertheless. 

“I won’t tell Annabelle I stayed over.” you spoke in a low voice.

He unpacked the words, slowly.

Alfie was not a fearful man, everyone around knew the fact. He had killed men with bare hands before and had even crushed one of their windpipes with his left hand. But he was slightly annoyed by Annabelle, the head teacher in the boarding school was nothing but useless talk.

He didn’t even think you’d be staying over and it meant nothing but trouble, he’d welcome it with open arms. He looked at your eyes first and then your body. He’d promised himself to behave, that he’d be proper tonight and keep his hands to himself.

But only if you wanted him to.

“Right.” he spoke and got up, walking towards the library and you followed him like a small kid. He felt a smile tugging at his lips as he opened the large doors and concluded that he was getting too soft for his liking.

The doors were large and tall, almost extended all the way to the ceiling as your eyes scanned through them. Alfie pushed the door slightly after removing the lock underneath the floor. You didn’t realise he was waiting for you to get inside until he put his hand on the small of your back and realised you were too busy staring at the tall doors.

You shot him a smile, no threat underneath your lips and walked inside. The library space turned out to be his study, countless shelves decorating the space and his desk on the other end of the spacious room. The detailing was all in wood, something you thought suited him as you sat down on the large chair in front of the desk.

His chair, to be exact.

He smiled through the thick beard, finding a flood of emotions in his heart. It was all fun and that, he agreed but he was a man of taste and got what he wanted, always. He soon realised that maybe that thing wasn’t the deal he was making behind the Russians or doing shit behind the Shelby’s back but you, just a small girl who was too lethal for her own good.

“Show me your favourite book, Mr. Solomons..” you whispered as you stood close to him near one of the shelves. He was aware of your close proximity but tried to pay no attention to it. You looked at his face first and then his hands as they reached across the shelf and picked out an old, torn out cover.

He handed it to you but that was no good. You grabbed his hand, pulled him across the room to where the large sofa was and made him sit down. He didn’t protest, didn’t say anything but just looked at you. You got comfortable on the sofa, and handed the book back to him.

“Read it to me...” you said in a hushed voice, almost like this was not a part of the deal. You were being quiet as a lamb now, not like the dangerous woman he knew but he decided both sides were equally fascinating to him. You gulped and heard the voice of Annabelle on your head, shouting at you for not using proper greetings and spoke up again with the softest gaze. “..please.”

How could he say no?

So he started reading but you weren’t looking at the book. Shifting closer to his large body, you leaned against his arm after putting your head against it. He was a dream to snuggle with and you realised what kind of a man he was while he read to you in his glasses. 

He was a rare one.

Most men, who were proper enough to be able to see you after the first date, would try to fuck you or have a kiss at least. None of them would wait after hearing the word going around, about how had it was to tame you. Alfie had waited for over a month, didn’t even try anything funny until you were the one sitting on his lap, in his home with your lips against his.

You decided you’d keep playing the game, but for a bit longer than the usual.

You didn’t let him stop reading as you stared at his face, he was very aware of your ogling and the fact that it wasn’t sexual, not in any shape or form. You were measuring something, whether he’d be worth keeping.

All men did was disappoint and you’d given yourself countless pep talks about how worthless it was to think any of them would have the capacity to love you, after the years of wild dancing and making a name for yourself. A tinge in your heart told you that maybe this man would but it was hard to trust the tinge.

So you decided you’d test him, more than once.

You put all the ideas of love and the possibility of having something with this man into a box as you watched his lips move while he read to you. You’d pull all of those ideas out once you were sure he was worth keeping, that he wouldn’t hurt you and you put on your game face. You’d tease him instead of asking him to love you, this wasn’t the time to ask for tenderness but to see what he was playing at.

He was a gangster who had fucked people over before, after all.

“Alfie.” you spoke, only the second time you were referring to him by his name.

He looked up from the book almost immediately and grunted, as if to say ‘speak’. You noticed the things swimming in his blue orbs but ignored them.  “Ask me.”

He promised himself he wouldn’t.

If he asked, he lost. If he asked, he was in trouble, even more so than he was in now, with you in his house for the night.

“I won’t tell.” you whispered against his face, closer to his handsome features now.

He wasn’t going to ask, that wasn’t the plan he had made with himself.

He didn’t know what you’d do with him, if he were to ask you. You could ruin him with one word like you had almost done earlier and he wouldn’t regret it but the game was still on. The desperation in his tone would take over, he knew that much and if he were to ask you, he’d never have the upper hand again, not if  you were kissing him like you had been earlier.

But he forgot all of that as you stared at him with soft eyes, wanting only one word to come out of his mouth.

He was the one to come visit you, take you places unannounced and get you from dinner parties you should’ve been attending. He had asked you if you’d fuck him that day in his office and the one to put a gun in your hand. If someone asked, he was fucked. In the accordance of things, you seemed like a poor girl he kept dragging around.

It could turn around, very easily. And he didn’t want that.

But the way you looked at him made him forget almost everything and his lips were moving before he could register the thought. “Kiss me, lass.”

And you did.

His lips were soft, heavenly even as you leaned forward and kissed him once more. You wouldn’t tell anyone that he had lost this round, as well as all the last rounds you’d played with the gangster. His hand moved to your waist as your upper body was on top of his, head no longer resting against his arm but in level with his as you moved your lips against his plump ones.

You had kissed guys before, enough of them to know that Alfie was a damn good kisser. A small moan left your lips and he swallowed the sound, too eager to kiss you as much as he could so that he could convince himself that this wasn’t a dream after all.

Breaking the kiss almost hesitantly, you licked your lips to savour the taste of his kiss. He looked down at your flushed cheeks, your hands still resting on his chest while his remained on your waist. You didn’t look up to meet his eyes this time, too afraid that it would reveal something about you to him. Transparency was not something you wanted him to see, especially not the storms he was stirring inside you with his velvet kisses.

“You can..uh....” you spoke, caught off guard since the first time he’d met you.

And you were beautiful like this.

Cheeks flushed and lips swollen, struggling to get the words out even though you had many for him a minute ago. Your hair was messy than before, heart beating loudly against his chest while you avoided his blue orbs.

And he thought, for a split second, that he might have a chance with you after all.

“..continue reading the book.” you spoke while lifting yourself off of his chest. You were still trying to catch your breath, a look of slight panic on your face every now and then but it was too brief for Alfie to comment on it.

“That what you want, pet?” he spoke, in the softest voice he could muster and you felt your emotions stir.

He was the one playing the game now.

You had not used any of your cards til now, he’d been the one to do all the hard work during the push and pull but you had to use one of them now or you’d lose the upper hand, that meant check mate and you’d never lost a round. You had not even come close to it during all your time spent playing this game.

“I could ask you the same question.” you spoke, the devious smile back in a split second and he no longer saw the softer part as you covered it up with your bold moves and pretty smile.

“Right..” he spoke, putting the glasses back on his nose to their rightful place and he ignored his need to kiss you senseless as you sat on the same sofa, just not as close as before. “Back to the fuckin’ book it ‘s..”

He kept on reading, words becoming tangled in your mind as he groaned every now and then about the events taking place on the yellow pages in front of him but you were too busy thinking to listen.

If you weren’t careful enough, this man would win.

Not because you didn’t know the game or didn’t play it well, It was the opposite. You played it so well that he was learning from you. The little winks sent your way, the small touches and the open end questions, not to mention his kisses that made you feel all dizzy. 

You weren’t going into the panic mode but plan strategy instead. You looked at him, his golden beard and plump lips and the words that kept coming out of his mouth. He was smart but you knew the patterns too well, you had played this game longer than he had.

You’d keep him around but he needed to be put in his place, to be shown that you would always have the upper hand in any situation when it was the two of you alone. You wouldn’t lose any rounds, he’d lost almost all of them until now and there was still a smile on his lips due to the events that just took place.

But the night was long and he had many buttons you hadn’t pushed.

------

Tagging: @clairecrive  @parkbearum @sourirez  @vetseras​ @mollybegger-blog @babylooneytoonz @peakascum @fuseburner​ @r-rose08​ @innerpaperexpertcloud @caffinated-tree @cathartichaoss  a/n: I hope january is treating everyone well! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as it has a bit more spice :) Let me know what you thought and/or if you’d like to be tagged!! <3

The next chapter may be delayed since i’m having a busy month in school but it’s in the works :)

#alfie solomons #alfie #alfie solomons smut #alfie solomons scenario #alfie solomons imagine #alfie solomons fluff #alfie solomons fanfic #alfie solomons fic #alfie solomons fanfiction #alfie solomons series #alfie solomons x reader #peaky blinders imagine #alfie solomons x shelby!reader #alfie solomons peaky blinders #alfie solomons tom hardy #Peaky Blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders smut #peaky blinders fluff #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fiction #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x sister!reader #tom hardy #tom hardy imagine #tom hardy alfie

[abbysfrenchbraid]

Beach Day Imagine

alright I give up on trying to find a header for this one, there are no nice pictures of Abby with short hair.

anonymous said:  I have a request for a beach day imagine? It could be after the end of the game, just a nice day on the beach heh :)!

This is set after the end of tlou2, Abby and Lev have arrived at the Firefly base on Catalina Island and the reader has gotten to know them over the last weeks. Today they’re taking the two newly healed outsiders to the beach. 

This is the first thing I’ve written in a while so I apologize if I’m not fully back in my best form, feedback is very welcome!

Warnings: light swearing, pushing someone under water playfully, mention of injury by being crushed under something heavy (ask to tag!)

about 5.6k words of pure fluff :)

“Hey, look what I got!”

You looked up from the gas canister you were currently using to fill up a truck’s tank and felt a warm rush of happiness fill your chest. Lev had just entered the garage and was holding out a red backpack.

“The teacher gave it to me so I finally have my own. And it’s even my favorite color!”

You stopped pouring the gasoline and screwed the lid back on the canister. 

“Hey, you. So what are you bringing in your new backpack, then?”

The scrawny boy jumped on the back of the truck and crouched down, flipping the bag over and dumping its contents on the platform. With quick fingers, he arranged all the items to lie in a neat line, tapping them as he listed: “Water bottle, sandwich, apple, lighter, knife, towel, swimming trunks. Abby said not to take the bow because it’s a secure area.”

You nodded. “Good job, you’re fully equipped.” Catalina Island was a completely safe zone, the Fireflies had made sure of that. During the last few years, patrol teams had combed through the entire island killing infected and now anyone coming in from the mainland had to spend two days in quarantine to ensure their health. Carrying around a knife or gun at all times was just a habit none of the people who had ever fought infected or other groups would ever let go of. 

“Lev? You in here?” Lev had been concentrating on putting all his supplies back into the backpack and you both jerked up when you heard the familiar voice in the corridor. It had been weeks and she still had the same effect on you. The tall blonde stepped through the doorway and your breath caught in your throat. She was wearing green cargo pants and black combat boots as always, but you could see the blue fabric of a swimsuit peeking out at the neckline of her grey t-shirt.

“Oh hey, there you are. Are we ready to go?”

“Your hair!” you exclaimed, in awe at the beautiful freckled face that was looking at you with excitement. Abby smiled and instinctively rubbed the back of her head that was now cut short. When she and Lev had arrived three weeks ago, they had looked horrible, dehydrated and full of bruises and cuts, their faces marked by the sun and the pain they had had to endure. Abby hadn’t said a word about her obviously violently cut hair but Lev had told you that she had always worn it in a long braid before the rattlers captured them. You tried to imagine her with long hair but it just didn’t seem fitting for the woman standing before you. 

“I got it done today, Mario is a saint. Do you like it?”

Lev squinted at her for a moment, then he solemnly said: “It suits you very well.” 

She had apparently finally gotten around to visiting your colleague, another mechanic who also worked at a barber on the side. Most men and some women just pragmatically shaved their heads themselves, but there were always a few people who wanted something more complicated. When Mario had visited you at the medical station after your accident and gotten to know your two new roommates, he had immediately offered his services if they ever wanted a haircut. Lev had declined, explaining that he always shaved his head himself, but Abby had thanked him and promised to come around when she was allowed to leave medical. 

You smiled at her and before you could stop yourself you blurted out “You look hot.” 

The blonde laughed and even though you felt yourself blushing, you knew you had said the right thing. She really did look hot. Mario had shaved her sides short and fluffed up the top, letting a few strands fall into her face. You wanted to reach out and gently brush them back, but you stopped yourself and snapped out of your daydream. 

“Okay, my bag’s already in the front. You all set?”

Abby nodded and put her backpack on the back of the truck, positioning herself to jump on.

“Wait, can I sit in the back? I’ll be careful, I promise. I’d just really like to see what it feels like,” Lev pleaded. You looked at Abby who just rolled her eyes and grinned.

“Alright, kid. But no standing up, and if it gets bumpy you hold on tight!” 

She squeezed the boy’s shoulder and grabbed her bag, circling around the back of the car to get into the passenger seat. Lev gracefully jumped in the back and closed the hatch, looking at you with a glint in his eye you had never seen on him before. For the first time since the two had arrived here, he seemed genuinely happy and excited. 

You sat down in the driver’s seat and started the truck, maneuvering out of the parked cars around you and giving the porter a signal to open the garage door. Your hand still felt weak and fragile as you switched gears and drove through the two front gates or the base, absentmindedly clenching your fist and stretching out your fingers to get rid of the sensation.

In the corner of your eye, you could see Abby giving you a slightly worried look. 

“You okay there? I can drive, too, if you want me to.” 

You bit your lip in frustration and shook your head. 

“Thanks, Abby. I just need to get used to using this stupid hand again.”

The blonde rolled down her window and let in the salty breeze, leaning her head against the frame and closing her eyes as the sun kissed her face. 

“Alright. Just let me know.”

Turning onto the road down to the beach, you sighed and tried to let go of all of your anger and discontent with one long exhale. It would get you nowhere.

You had been lying underneath a car to fix some spots that had rusted through when your lifting jacks had made a weird noise. Even though you had been quick to try and slip out from under the car, you hadn’t been fast enough. The wheels had been taken off to change the tires and as the jacks collapsed, the side of the vehicle crushed your arm, your ribs and left you with internal bleeding. 

It had been no one's fault, just a terrible misfortune. After undergoing several surgeries and spending four weeks in a hospital bed, two battered strangers had been carried in and kept you company for the next few days. 

The WLF soldier also had a few broken ribs, several cuts and stab wounds. Other than a few bruises, dehydration and the extreme sunburn they had both suffered, the small Seraphite was surprisingly well off, and while you two older women had been laying around in your own misery, he had started trying to cheer you up, help your recovery and motivate you to look forward to the days to come.

Both of you had started carefully training your injured limbs again and encouraged each other on the tiresome, difficult journey back to health while Lev had explored the base, made some friends and working with a trainer to teach others how to shoot with a bow and arrow. Now that you were finally out of the medical wing and able to move without being in excruciating pain, you had decided to take the two out for a deserved day off. 

You rolled your window down and inhaled the fresh sea breeze, immediately smelling the salt and hot sand, the earthy aroma of the bushes lining the road and the sun warming up the air and promising you a wonderful day. Without thinking, you let out a scream of joy and laughed into the wind that pulled on your hair and invited you to play. You turned to beam at Abby, who looked amused and a little surprised. Before you could say anything, you heard an attempted wolf howl from the back of the truck and looked in the rearview mirror. Lev was kneeling in the middle of the platform, his head thrown back and his hands at his mouth to amplify his cries. He took a big breath and howled a second time, laughing afterward and stretching out his arms to the side.

A small noise drew your attention back to your passenger. Abby was looking out of the window and her torso was shaking slightly. For a split second, you thought she was crying, but then her little chuckle grew into loud laughter and she whooped, also stretching out her arm and making wave motions with her hand. 

“Jesus, Y/N, you’re amazing! This is amazing!”

She looked at you, eyes wide with excitement and a grin stretching across her entire face. You felt like your heart was going to explode. This really was amazing. You took another turn and there it was: the sea. Blue and wild, sparkling like millions of diamonds and dancing in the sun, calling out for you and inviting you to jump into the waves and join the celebration. 

You decided to just drive down all the way onto the sand; the truck was made for the terrain and there was no reason to walk if you could just drive up to the perfect spot. 

“Lev,” you yelled, “wanna choose a good spot?”

“Yes,” he screamed back, “over there by the palm tree?”

“Got it, boss!” You geared down and drove onto the sand, carefully testing the terrain. The car seemed to have no problem with the ground and you pressed down the gas, whirling up the sand behind you and making Lev scream with excitement. You came to a halt next to a sturdy palm tree and the boy had jumped off the back before you had stopped the engine. 

He had taken off his shoes and immediately started hopping to the patch of shade, cursing about the hot sand and letting himself fall onto the cool safe haven provided by the tree. Abby laughed and got out herself, opening her backpack and throwing him a big blanket. 

“Here, make yourself useful.”

Lev jumped up and started stretching out the fabric to make room for everyone, then he unpacked his towel and swimming trunks. You grabbed your bag and went over to the two of them, putting your towel down and stopping in your tracks when Abby suddenly pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a sporty blue bikini top. Her abs had practically exploded in only a week; the last time you had seen her stomach had been when she had gotten rid of the hospital gown and announced she was going back to training. Her skin was ivory, a ton of freckles spreading over her shoulders and arms. There were still a few bruises on her ribcage, already yellow and almost completely faded, and her upper arm was marked with a fresh, pink scar.

“What are you staring at? Don’t you wanna go swimming with us?” 

Abby laughed at you and hopped around as she tried to take off her tight pants without falling over. You shook your head to get your brain running again and side-eyed her, trying to hide a grin. 

“Sorry. You’ve already built so much muscle, it’s amazing.”

The blonde looked down and lightly slapped her stomach. 

“Thanks, must be the food here. I’m getting back on track.”

You had already slid out of your pants and quickly took off your shirt now, a little shy about your black bathing suit. But there was no need to worry, now it was Abby’s turn to stare. Her mouth was slightly ajar as she looked you up and down, her hand hovering about her abs as if she had frozen for a second. Finally, she snapped out of her admiration and raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t look too bad yourself, without the bandages and all.”

While you two had been busy drooling over each other, Lev had already changed into his swimming trunks and now seemed to be calculating how many steps it would take to get to the water and cool his burnt feet. 

Abby stepped closer to you. 

“You ready, Lev? Bet I can beat you both to the water.”

The boy didn’t hesitate one second. He started like lightning, his red pants blown up by the wind as he yelled “ouch, fuck, ow,” trying to lengthen his jumps. Abby winked at you, then she started sprinting after him. 

“Come on, Y/N!”

You quickly took off your socks and ran after them, loosening your ponytail and enjoying the feeling of the warm, soft hair dancing on your skin. Lev had beat Abby and was squealing as he jumped into the waves. The ex-WLF reached him a few seconds later, running into the sea and immediately diving under just to come up again with a scream of joy. She opened her arms as you came running towards her, cursing the hot sand and ready to tackle the blonde with full force. 

She turned to the side and dodged your blow at the last second, letting you crash into the waves and jumping on top of you, pushing you under the surface for a second before pulling you up and blowing a mouthful of water into your face. You gasped for air as the two laughed at you, already plotting your revenge. 

You slapped Abby’s shoulder but her rock-hard muscles easily took the hit. She raised her eyebrows at you and gave your shoulder a seemingly light push that made you topple back into the water. How was she so fucking strong?! You let yourself float on your back for a second, then you dove under and grabbed the surprised soldier by the ankles, digging your fingernails into her skin and pulling her feet out from under her. Pushing off the sand with your feet, you dragged her legs with you so she was pulled underwater. She managed to free herself and you both came up at the same time, laughing and coughing. 

“That’s what you get, shark,” you grinned at her. 

“Wait, are there sharks here?” A half-panicky, half-excited voice from further out told you that Lev had swum quite a bit and was now suddenly overcome by the realization that you three weren’t the only ones in the sea. 

“Yeah, big ones,” Abby yelled, “you better watch out.” 

She winked at you, then she took a deep breath and dove in Lev’s direction, who was facing the opposite direction and didn’t notice the big figure swimming towards him. As expected, he suddenly shrieked, started flailing his arms and fought with something that was pulling him under. When he realized what was going on, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he yelled Abby’s name over and over, trying to get her off. Her head broke the surface next to him and she shook her head, water spraying in all directions as her hair danced in the sun. 

She was roaring with laughter and held out an arm for Lev to hold on to while he caught his breath. 

“Believe me, kid, as much as you love them, you don’t wanna meet sharks face to face.”

He sighed and turned to look at the open water. 

“I know. Maybe we can drive out with a boat sometime and try to see them.”

Abby rubbed his shaved head. 

“You are unbelievably okay with danger, young man.” 

He smiled at her with so much love and admiration in his eyes it made your heart feel like it was going to explode. These two had found each other. You slowly swam towards them and turned on your back again to float, Lev immediately copying you and looking at Abby to do the same. 

“We shouldn’t be in the sun for too long, you two are still not fully healed.” 

Abby groaned and splashed some water in your direction. 

“Let me just have this for a moment, please.” 

You felt a twist in your stomach. She had just been having fun for the first time in forever and you had to ruin it by reminding her of what she had been through. Why couldn’t you just shut up and let her be? You turned to look at her and were surprised to see her smiling at you, nothing but warmth and appreciation in her face. 

“You’re right, Y/N, I know that. Thank you for taking us here and worrying about us.”

Lev had his eyes closed, but he nodded and mumbled something in approval. 

“Come on.” Abby lightly tapped your arm and nodded in the direction of the beach. 

“Let’s head back.” 

“Can I stay here a little longer?” Lev sounded far away, completely at peace as he soaked up the sun and the salty air. 

“Of course, but make sure you don’t swim further out, okay?”

The boy just hummed happily. Both of you didn’t say a word as you and Abby swam back, your mind spinning faster again as she took her last steps out of the water in front of you. Droplets were running down the back of her neck, the curves of her back muscles, butt, and thighs highlighted by the reflections of sunlight on the wet skin. 

She turned around and absentmindedly slicked her dripping hair back, showing off her biceps and abs as she stretched and waited for you to come out of the water. 

“You think the sand is gonna be less painful under wet feet?”

You stumbled out of the waves with little elegance but managed to stay standing up as a wave crashed around your calves. 

“I don’t know, I think we should make a run for it.” 

“Fair,” she nodded and held out her hand. “You ready?”

Ignoring the jump in your chest, you took her hand and she held yours tight, encasing it completely with her cool fingers. 

“Let’s go!” Both of you started running, squealing and laughing as the sand burned your soles once more. You almost fell several times but Abby’s steel grip caught and held you up every time. Slightly out of breath, both of you reached the shade of the palm tree and let yourselves fall on the towels. Abby still hadn’t let go of your hand and you tried to hold your fingers completely still so she wouldn’t notice and let go. 

You were both lying on your backs next to each other, panting and looking up at the green branches above you dancing gently in the sea breeze. Watching Abby out of the corner of your eye, you promised yourself you would always remember this moment. The heat of the sun peeking through the branches, the last drops of saltwater running down your torso, the stickiness of your skin as it dried and left behind tiny salt crystals, the rushing of the waves and the cries of the seagulls. The beautiful blonde next to you, her chest moving with every breath, the little specks of sunlight on her face and her mouth, slightly open as she looked at the sky, deep in thought. 

It felt like this was the first day of your life, like you had been somewhere else every day before, somewhere grey and bitter and hard with little joy and too many worries.  You never knew life could feel like this, like riding a wave, like soaring through the summer air, easy laughter, and warm touches. You were free. 

You suddenly noticed that Abby had turned her head to face you, her eyes burning into your skin like the salt that was prickling your cheek with tiny needles. Holding your breath, you slowly turned towards her and were immediately pulled in by her gaze. 

This woman had been by your side almost constantly for three weeks and you had known for a while. What you felt for her was deeper than any connection you had ever had with anyone. She understood you without words and she was never too much for you, as others often were. The blonde made your heart skip beats and your brain often stopped working when she was around, but you still wanted to be by her side every possible second. Through all the pain and trauma and all the terrible things that had happened, you two always found something to laugh about and a way to forget everything for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. 

As you finally released the air from your lungs, you could hear the shakiness in your breath and the rush of your own blood in your ears. It was so loud that you were sure Abby could hear it, too. Your fingers twitched slightly and she immediately tightened her fingers around yours. Slowly, her eyes wandered to your lips and now it was you that could hear her breath catch up in her throat. The distance between your faces was small, maybe a hand’s width, but it felt like miles. It was the feeling before doing a handstand or jumping off a high platform, a move you had seen others do countless times but felt impossible to you, like an invisible wall in your chest stopping your breath and movement at the same time. 

Abby softly ran her thumb over yours, her hazel-green eyes piercing yours. Your racing thoughts came to a halt. You could count every freckle on her face, every tiny salt crystal on her lashes, the faded scars from past battles. She was breathtakingly beautiful. 

Just as she lifted her head ever so slightly to move even closer, there were distant thumps on the sand and you could hear Lev crying out in a mix of joy and pain. You expected Abby to snap back and let go of your hand, but instead she just smiled, sat up and yelled: “Come here, quickly! You don’t want me to have roasted children’s feet for dinner, do you?”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Lev speeding up towards you.

“I’m not a child, Abby!”

He came to a halt in front of Abby, quickly glancing at your intertwined fingers before frowning at her. She patted the towel next to her. 

“Alright then, sir. Come sit with us, we’re currently being hypnotized by the palm branches.”

“What’s hypnotized?” he asked as he let himself flop on the towel. 

“Lay down and you’ll see,” Abby said as she lifted her free arm and rested her head on her hand, staring up at the sky again. 

“It’s the feeling of watching something - or someone - and completely getting lost in what you see. Your head gets all quiet and you’re willing to do anything the person hypnotizing you says.”

Her thumb was drawing circles on the back of your hand.

Lev let out a big breath as he solemnly folded his hands over his stomach and looked up at the leaves waving back and forth. 

You all lay there for a while, not speaking, just soaking in each other’s presence and the untainted beauty of the world in this very moment. Abby’s touch sent electrical waves through your arm right into your heart, filling your chest with liquid gold and having you fight down an ecstatic squeal of happiness. Did this mean she actually felt the same way? 

In the midst of all the joy you felt in that moment, there was a tiny voice in your head telling you that this was just an exceptional situation and things would go back to the way they were once you returned. Abby liked you, that much you were sure of, but was she really willing to go a step further and open up to you like that? Trust someone with that kind of vulnerability?

You swallowed hard, trying to fight down the tiny storm of panic brewing in your throat. There was absolutely no reason to ruin this moment for yourself. You let go of Abby’s hand to prop yourself up on your elbow, turning your body towards her. 

There was confusion in her eyes and a slightly worried look.

“Everything okay?” she whispered.

Looking up over her shoulder, you saw that Lev had fallen asleep. He looked like a little vampire, pale from the lack of sunlight on his newly recovered skin over the last weeks, lying stone still in a perfectly straight line with his hands still folded. 

You lay back down just a little bit closer to Abby than before, this time facing her completely. You could feel her breath on your lips and couldn’t stop yourself from raising a hand to push a strand of hair out of her face. She closed her eyes for a second at your touch, then she leaned into your hand. You cupped her cheek, drawing your thumb over her cheek and her bottom lip.

“More than okay,” you breathed as you ran your fingers through her hair and down the back of her neck, making her shiver despite the heat. 

Slowly this time, you sat up and whispered “Come with me.” 

Both of you stood up and now it was you that held out a hand. The Firefly took it and you both hurried towards the water again, trying not to be too loud and wake up the boy in your care. 

Finally on wet sand, you sat down and pulled Abby down with you as the water lapped at your ankles. 

You took a deep breath, glancing at the blonde’s questioning look and quickly looking down at your feet. 

“I’m so glad we finally got out of the base and came out here. You guys haven’t even seen all the beautiful places on Catalina. We could do this more often, I know my way around the Island.”

Abby drew circles in the sand, the tracks of her fingers immediately washed away by every new wave. Squinting against the sun, she softly said: “Yes, I’d like that. It really is beautiful here.”

Your heart was pounding again. What were you thinking, taking her away alone without even knowing what to say? She was obviously waiting for you to tell her something Lev shouldn’t hear. You wanted so badly just to tell her how you felt, but your head was just completely devoid of words. 

She had mercy with you. “Where else would you like to take me?” 

Her? Alone? You bit your lip, trying frantically to come up with something good. 

“There is a bay called Little Harbor, the water is bright turquoise and it’s on the west coast, so you get some amazing sunsets there. There’s a hunting cabin there, too, back from when we hadn’t fully secured the island yet. I could get a friend in admin to give us a check-up mission, let us check the electricity and stock up the hut. Only if you’d want to, of course.”

Abby nodded. “That sounds amazing. I’m cleared for missions starting next Monday, I need to start doing my part anyways. We could go whenever it fits your schedule.” 

You smiled at her. “Great. I’ll let my friend know.”

“Are we going to stay there overnight, then?” 

You could hear the amusement in her voice. She knew she was making you all flustered and nervous and was just teasing you now so you elbowed her, stifling a laugh.

“It could be arranged.”

She placed her hand on your knee, looking at you to catch your reaction. You couldn’t help but blush and pressed your lips together, trying to hold it together. 

“Y/N.” 

Her face was now directly next to yours, her breath warm on your cheek again. It took everything in your power to turn your head and look her directly in the eye. Well, you tried to, but her eyes were on your lips again, her tongue quickly running over her bottom lip only to disappear again. 

And finally, after weeks of uncertainty, of pining and yearning and trying to get her out of your head, she grabbed the back of your neck and gently pulled you in. Her lips were incredibly soft, cushioning your movement as you pressed your mouth on hers, desperately trying to stay in this moment forever. She tasted like the sea, but her warm skin still smelled like the forest. It always did. 

You leaned into her, deepening the kiss as she put her arm around your shoulders and ran her hand over your thigh. Nothing had ever felt better than this. 

The blonde pulled away slightly, peeking at you through long eyelashes and licking her lips again. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” she confessed, never releasing your gaze.

“Me too,” was all you got out under your shaky breath before she kissed you again, sweet and smiling, placing tiny kisses on your cheeks and jawline before moving up to graze her lips over your nose and forehead. 

“I’m so lucky,” she mumbled against your temple. “After everything Lev and I have been through and of all the places in the world…”

She wasn’t the type to speak much about her feelings and this was probably the most you would get from her for now, but it was more than enough for you to understand. You rested your head on her shoulder as you both stared out to the open water. 

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve never felt like this with anyone before.” It felt like a weight had been lifted off your chest. You knew this was a lot to reveal, but you trusted Abby to not get scared away easily. 

“You know, Lev is going to be so relieved.” Abby snorted and turned around to see if there was any movement in your little camp, but the little Seraphite seemed to still be enjoying his afternoon nap. 

Your brows almost hit your hairline. “You’re gonna tell him right away?” 

She laughed and slapped your thigh before tightening her grip around it.

“Sure, he’s been listening to me debating my next step for the last week. He was so excited for today because he thought you’d make a move.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. 

“He has zero faith in me, you know. He knows I easily face any kind of danger and I always win my fights, but he thought I didn’t have the guts to kiss you.”

You rolled your eyes. “Okay, Miss Warrior, you’re the toughest. I remember Lev telling me something about crane bridges?”

She acted shocked. “I trust him with all my secrets and he just goes and tells you about them? What a little brat.”

You both had to laugh; it was clear that no one loved Lev more than Abby and no one could ever really be angry with him. 

“No seriously, I tell him everything. He’s all I got left.” She looked down and smiled to herself, no bitterness or sadness in her voice but a deep appreciation and nothing but love for her partner through thick and thin. 

Her last sentence stung a little, but you knew it was going to be a while before Abby would know just how much she could count on you to be there for her. Trust had to be earned. 

-

You spent the rest of your day in the shade with Lev, eating the fruit you had brought, playing cards, reading, and stealing kisses while the boy went for another swim in the ocean. Lev was sad you couldn’t light a bonfire as it got dark, but you had to get back in time for dinner. 

Both you and Abby promised him another beach day with stick bread at the campfire as soon as you both found the time again. Meanwhile, he could try to find some friends to come along. 

As you packed up your things, the sun was setting behind the green hills of the island and painting the sky pink, orange and purple, delivering a spectacle almost as wonderful as the one going on inside you. 

Lev jumped on the back of the truck without asking this time and both of you got in the front. The drive was quiet, all of you deep in thought, reminiscing about the day you had had. 

“Thanks again for doing this,” Abby said, playing with a strand of your hair. The windows were rolled down and the cool evening air was dancing through the cabin, filling your lungs and clearing your mind. 

“You’re very welcome.”

“I can’t wait for our cabin trip. A sunset just for the two of us,” she remarked, looking at you from the side. 

Finally back on the main road, you placed your hand on her thigh. You had wanted this for so long and now you would do everything in your power to win Abby’s heart entirely. 

“When do I see you again?” you asked, scared to hear the answer. 

“Tomorrow morning? You could pick me up from the gym for breakfast if you want. I’d offer to train with you but I think your doctors would feed me to the sharks.”

You laughed at the thought; it had taken forever to convince the medical staff to let you go today. It was going to be a few more weeks of physiotherapy to get your body back on track. 

“Okay. I’m pretty sure they’re making pancakes tomorrow. A commander’s birthday, I think. Pick you up at 8?”

She placed her hand on top of yours and squeezed it. 

“I’ll be waiting.”

#abby anderson #abby anderson fic #abby tlou #abby tlou2 #abby fluff #abby anderson fanfiction #tlou2 fanfiction #tlou2 #lev tlou2 #catalina island #abby anderson x reader

[bonjour-rainycity]

Double Heart | Chapter Nine ~ Cosima

|previous part|

Pairing: Haldir x OFC

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 3476

Warnings: None

**Read on Ao3 under the user “bonjour_rainycity” if you prefer!**

A/n Sorry this was a little late! Happy reading :)

Translations: Mae govannen = well met! // Meleth nîn = my love

Two weeks after I woke in this strange world, we reach Imladris.

When Haldir tells me that the sparkling city in the valley is our destination, I can scarcely believe him. After endless days and nights riding through open country, to finally reach civilization, even if it’s not the civilization I’m used to, is so welcome I nearly cry with relief.

Four men on horseback race up the slope of the mountains to meet us. They wear heavy armor—more than what Haldir and the others wear—and carry tall spears. Their leader, fierce though he seems, takes my breath away. Even from here, I can see his face because it reflects an ethereal glow. His hair, which has to be spun gold, flows long down the back of his horse and glints in the sun. Whoever he is, he is no mere man.

“Elrond’s patrols,” I question, remembering someone mentioning them earlier.

“Yes,” Haldir responds, and I can hear a grin in his voice. “We have reached their outer borders. Congratulations, Cosima.” He twists to offer me a proud smile. “You have completed your first journey.”

I swallow, unable to keep myself from smiling back. Haldir can be so stoic at times that praise from him is completely unexpected. Warmth spreads through my chest.

The riders come to a halt in front of us and the one I assume to be their leader dismounts, striding confidently in our direction. Haldir slides off Faervel, approaching in a similar fashion. I take the horse’s reins in my hands, stroking his back affectionately. The horses’ height doesn’t bother me anymore and I’ve become much more confident in riding them in the past two weeks.

“Mae govannen, Haldir o Lórien!”

“Glorfindel.” Haldir clasps the man’s elbow jubilantly. They converse in that language I haven’t heard since I arrived — the others have been speaking solely in English for my and Alex’s benefit — and it’s jarring to hear the unfamiliar sounds. It serves as a reminder that, though I have allowed myself to become comfortable here, too comfortable, maybe, this is not my world. This is somewhere different.

Haldir turns over his shoulder and extends a hand in my direction. I catch my name and Alexander’s among the strange syllables and offer the man—Glorfindel, Haldir called him—a smile in greeting. He approaches, stunning golden hair shining in the light of the sunset, and bows elegantly. A laugh bubbles from my throat—startled by the action. Vaguely, I remember Rumil bowing to me when we first met. Whereas his motivation had been to make a joke, Glorfindel seems totally genuine, the gesture one of respect and welcome. He performs the same movement for Alex.

“Welcome, lost humans and my elven friends. Come, I shall keep you waiting no longer. Elrond is eager to see you and I am sure you are equally ready for proper food and a full night’s rest.” With that, he strides back to his horse and mounts.

I scoot higher on Faervel’s back to give Haldir room and hand him the reins. The horses must sense how close we are to extended rest, because they race faster than they did the entire journey. Despite my new skill, I have to grip Haldir extra tight to make up for the frantic pace and only being able to use one arm. Though the mountain slope is steep and the city surely has to be miles away, we arrive in less than an hour.

Streams of blue and white cascade above us, falling every way I turn and crashing down below. The air smells impossibly sweet and fresh — perhaps due to the flowers that bloom all around. The rays from the sinking sun, brilliant orange and gold, mingle with the water in the falls and, just as Haldir promised, send gently curving rainbows over our path. I let out a breath, completely stunned.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Haldir’s voice holds a reverence I’ve never heard before, but it is aptly placed. I could not fathom regarding this city with anything less than the utmost respect and admiration.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Even in my homeworld, I—” I blink, unable to comprehend the etherial nature of my surroundings. “I would have remembered it. This…”

“I know.” Theres a soft, almost vulnerable quality to his voice that caresses the phrase. I can imagine his eyes are alight like mine, taking in the splendor of the city even though he’s seen it many times before. I’d wager this is a sight one never gets used to.

Glorfindel pulls his horse to a stop before an arching, narrow bridge.

Oh no.

I suck in a sharp breath, gripping onto Haldir with both my injured and uninjured arm. My wound stings, but it is preferable to suffer this momentary pain than to loosen my grip and go plummeting off the edge.

Haldir chuckles, the vibrations rumbling deep in his chest. “The bridge is only the beginning. Look ahead—part of the main city is suspended on pillars.”

My stomach churns and I feel my heart race. By the way my arms constrict around him, Haldir seems to figure out that he has not employed the wisest strategy. His voice softens and he squeezes my hand like he did earlier, after the attack. “Faervel knows the way. Neither he nor I will let you fall.”

I take a deep breath. It’s either the bridge and the safety of Imladris or the orc-infested mountains. And, I suppose, Haldir has gotten us this far. Minor injuries aside, we survived a heavily out-numbered attack relatively unscathed. I trusted him then and I can trust him now. “Fine.”

He chuckles again but makes a big show of lining Faervel up with what will be the middle of the bridge. I resist the urge to elbow him in the ribs — armor covers them anyway. It would hurt me more than it would him.  

Glorfindel calls out in that language again, then directs his horse onto the bridge. The three other mounted guards follow. Then, so gently I barely register the change, Faervel steps from the lush grass to the stone of the bridge. Water roars and tosses below us, drowning out any words the others might say. And drowning you if Faervel doesn’t keep straight. That is, if the impact doesn’t kill you first. I fight the urge to whimper and keep my eyes locked straight ahead. Almost to the end.

The bridge is mercifully short and soon we are on much surer foundations, having crossed into the city. While the water still cascades around us, its noise has subsided, almost like it’s been muted. In its place, soft, lyrical music fills the air. Harps. Once we are far from the bridge, I look around. The buildings are made of stone yet seem a natural part of the valley. Chains of flowers spill from every archway, peek between small cracks in the stone, weave into the intricate designs in the masonry. Trees, the same ones that welcomed us at the border, make a home in the city, growing where they wish — even if that means rising alongside a fabricated pillar.

Haldir speaks softly, hesitantly, almost like he doesn’t want to interrupt my exploration of the city. “Is it worth the bridge?”

I realize we’ve come to a stop in front of a large dais backed by a constant stream of blue and frothy white. It’s like we’re in the waterfall. “Definitely,” I exhale. Though, I have no desire to cross that bridge again any time soon.

A tall man steps onto the dais. His face is kind and, though the edges of his mouth and forehead are lined with creases, he could be any age. He seems altogether outside of time. His eyes hold wisdom, more than I could ever hope to collect, and I know this must be the Elrond my friends talked about. He could be no other.

He spreads his hands and smiles warmly. “Welcome. Our friends from Lothlórien and the humans who accompany them, welcome to Imladris. We have dinner prepared for you. Leave your horses with the guards — they will be well cared for.”

I believe him. He could probably tell me the sky is green or Faervel is a mouse and I wouldn’t question it.

And if he told you that you’re in a different world?

I gulp and push the weighted thought away.

Haldir swings his left leg to meet his right and slides off Faervel’s back. As always, he keeps a gentle hold on me until my feet are securely on the ground, then clasps his hands behind his back in his most favored stance.

I peek behind me to locate Alexander. He shifts from foot to foot and darts his eyes suspiciously around the room. With his short hair, lanky stature, and clear discomfort, he looks so out of place here. With a start, I realize that I must, too. Though the physical differences are certainly apparent, there’s just something about these men…an otherworldliness I had somehow gotten used to during our journey. But here, in this unreal city surrounded by others who are so clearly not men…For the first time, I truly, honestly consider that they might not be human.

Rumil appears on my right side, practically beaming with excitement. “What do you think?”

I exhale on shaky breath, my recent realization having left me feeling a little lightheaded. “I think it’s a lot to take in. It’s gorgeous, though.”

At my left, Haldir eyes me curiously. He heard my reaction upon reaching Imladris and is probably wondering why I’m downplaying it to Rumil. Truth be told, I just don’t have the energy to take much more this evening. A good meal and sleep will hopefully help.

“Orophin!”

I tilt my head around Rumil to find the source of the delighted shriek and find myself staring at the most enchanting woman I’ve ever seen.

Her hair, coiled and dark, tumbles down her back in tight curls, brushing the back of her legs. Her espresso skin shines in the nearly-faded light, almost as if it has a luminescence of its own — perhaps a result of the joy that radiates from her. She wears a long, ruby-colored gown that sweeps gently over the stairs as she practically throws herself down them, sprinting in our direction.

“Meleth nîn!” Orophin calls back to her, breaking from our informal line and rushing to whom I assume to be his fiancée.

Indulgent chuckles run through our group as the two collide, gripping each other in a fierce hug. They pull back almost immediately, pressing their foreheads together and just staring into each other’s eyes. The action seems much more intimate than if they had fallen to the floor in a passionate embrace, and I avert my eyes, feeling the need to give them privacy.

“Come on,” Haldir whispers, ghosting his fingers over my elbow. “They will join us later.”

Elrond leads us through open-air hallways. Every way we turn seems to offer a view of the waterfalls and brings with it a light, fresh scent. He takes us right, bringing us through one final archway and into what looks to be a dining room. In the center is a long rectangular table surrounded by ten matching chairs. The table is already stacked with food — breads, salads, fruits, and various kinds of meat that smell absolutely mouthwatering.

Elrond smiles invitingly, entering the room and stopping behind the chair at one of the table’s heads. “I expected you would be weary this evening and would wish to dine in private. Please, sit and help yourselves.”

I follow Rumil and Haldir, hoping I’m not violating any social rules I am unaware of by choosing a random seat in the middle. Before I can pull the chair back, Haldir steps in to complete the task, gesturing for me to take a seat. I have to hold back my amusement at the antiquated gesture — perhaps it’s a custom here. He does seem more formal than Alex and I are.

Haldir and Rumil take the chairs on either side of me and, before long, Alex appears at my opposite. I smile at him. Given our recent arguments and the fact that I don’t really know if we’re friends in this life, I’m not quite sure where we stand. But he returns the gesture which allows me to breathe a sigh of relief. He’s familiar, at least. Baranor sits between Alex and Elrond and immediately the two healers engage in deep discussion.

I distract myself with the food and soon have more piled on my plate than I could possibly hope to eat, but I can certainly try. Before long, Orophin and the woman from earlier join us and are welcomed jovially.

Orophin beams, gesturing to the woman at his side. “Lavandil, these are the humans I was telling you about. Cosima and Alexander, this is my betrothed, Lavandil.”

Lavandil sets her excited gaze on both myself and Alex. “Hello, it’s so nice to meet you. Welcome to Imladris! We are pleased to have you here.” Her voice is warm, welcoming, and I find it impossible not to smile along with her, distressed though I am at Orophin’s clear distinction of me as ‘human’.

Orophin pulls out a chair for Lavandil and sits between her and Alex, who looks ridiculously uncomfortable in the presence of so many of these…humans. Though, I must admit, my resolve to call them that is steadily weakening.

Minutes later, Glorfindel enters the room accompanied by a demure man called Lindir. Haldir and Glorfindel fall into a spirited debate about patrol strategies and border security. Rumil piles something on my plate that he claims I have to try. He’s not wrong — it’s really good!

“So, Cosima, Alexander.” Lavandil props her elbow on the table and rests her chin on her hand, looking at us with interest. “Orophin says they happened upon you both near the river and that you haven’t any memories?”

All eyes converge on me and Alex. I don’t trust him to be polite, so I hurry to answer her question.

“Yes. We remember each other and tiny snippets of our home, but besides that, nothing.”

“How strange,” she muses, looking fascinated. “That must have been so shocking. How are you adjusting?”

I exhale slowly, playing for time. How am I adjusting? The weight of everyone’s eyes feels almost crushing. “It’s definitely a lot to get used to,” I say diplomatically. “But we’re really lucky to have run into good people who were willing to help.”

Despite his feelings towards our companions, Alex wisely remains silent. It would do us no good to offend our hosts.

Lavandil giggles, the sound bright and cheerful. “I’m glad they were helpful and not rude. I know Haldir has a tendency to interrogate first and help later. He’s slow to trust.” She shoots Haldir a teasing grin, to which he merely rolls his eyes, but his cheek twitches like he’s fighting a smile.

I try to suppress a grin. “Well, he wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy, but he calmed down quickly enough.” I purse my lips, contemplating. “But now that I think about it, no one really left me unattended or gave me a weapon even though the trip was dangerous. Hold on, do any of you actually trust me?” I lean back in my chair and cross my arms, though I raise an eyebrow at Haldir to let him know I’m only kidding.

He shakes his head, huffing in mock exasperation. “We trust you now but at the start, how was I to know you weren’t some sort of spy?”

“A spy!” I huff. “I’m hurt. But moving on. Later, once you decided I was not a spy, how come no one gave me a knife or anything?”

Rumil chortles. “Have you seen the lines of your mending? You’re more likely to impale yourself than an enemy.”

I grumble indignantly. He’s right, but that doesn’t mean I have to tell him so.

Haldir quirks an eyebrow. “Would you like to learn? I can teach you.”

I think on this. Hmmm…do I need to learn how to use a weapon? Probably. But do I want to? Surprisingly, I find that the answer is yes. This world is obviously dangerous—I got a very real reminder of that just a few days ago—and I want to be capable in it. Haldir or the others might not always be there to defend me—I should learn how to protect myself.

“Yeah, I would. Thank you!”

Haldir nods, the edges of his mouth pulling into an expression of grim determination. I quickly discover why.

He’s psyching himself up, I realize with a quiet laugh.

He inclines his head towards Alex. “And you, Alexander? I can teach you as well.” By the gravity in his tone, it is clear Haldir’s offer is real, but begrudging.

Alex takes a bite of fruit. “No thank you.”

That’s to be expected. Though Haldir was angry earlier and probably overreacted, he did make a good point when he said that Alex has yet to make an effort to adjust to life here. He’s stayed on the edge of things since the moment we encountered him, always keeping one foot out the door.

A voice warns me that, rather than criticizing Alex, I should have been doing the same.

Elrond motions for an attendant to refill my glass of water. “Baranor says you were attacked in the mountains? That must have been very frightening.”

Flashes of grotesque beasts and shining swords enters my mind and I shrink away from the images. I know we’re safe inside these halls but the fear is still there, lurking at the edges of my thoughts.

Haldir cuts in and I realize I have been silent for longer than is polite. “We were attacked, yes, by about eighteen orcs, wouldn’t you say?”

Rumil and Orophin both nod — I didn’t even know they had a count. I had been focused trying to dodge the blades and arrows. To me, it seemed there was an endless stream of the monsters. Haldir continues. “We killed them all and had no trouble for the rest of our journey. It does make me wander though,” his eyes dart to mine and then quickly away. “Such a large party so close to your borders? Is that common these days?”

“Yes.” Elrond nods gravely. “We have seen an increase in scouting parties and attacks. Just last month, a fully armed company of forty attempted to breach one of our southeastern border stations.”

“No,” Orophin breathes, gripping Lavandil’s hand tightly, a stricken look of horror stretching his face.

She brushes his concerns aside. “Oh, I’m fine. I was up north visiting my mother at the time. I didn’t even know the attack had occurred until I returned home.”

Orophin’s reaction worries me. I lay my fork on my plate, appetite fading as fear gnaws at the edges of my gut. “That’s unusual?”

Haldir shakes his head. “It is not unusual to encounter orcs at the borders, but an armed, prepared, planned attack of such a large number is…telling.” He avoids my gaze.

My body runs cold. “Telling of what?”

“Sauron,” Elrond says simply.

“That name means nothing to them,” Orophin reminds him, still looking at his love. He holds so much concern in his eyes—and a measure of fear—and I wonder just how big of a threat this is. Is Lavandil in danger? Is Elrond? Are we?

Elrond elaborates. “Sauron is a being of great power and even greater evil. He was defeated once before, but whispers of his presence have been heard throughout the realm. I believe he is growing in power again, gathering his armies. He is preparing.”

I drop my hands into my lap, gripping the edges of the chair in an attempt to find an anchor. Across from me, Alex has gone pale.

I don’t have to ask what this being is preparing for. It’s obvious. He’s preparing for war.

If the orcs weren’t bad enough, now we’ve got an evil power looming over us all? I wonder…is my homeworld safer than this?

Glorfindel raises his glass of deep red wine. He holds a steely, almost feral glare in his golden eyes and, suddenly, I am very, very afraid of him. “As quickly as he rises, so shall he fall.”

All aside from Alex and me raise their goblets, a forceful, “hear, hear” resounding through the room of stone. My eyes meet Alex’s. He raises an eyebrow as if to say, what do you want to do?

And I know my answer.

I want to go home.

A/n Thanks for reading! Likes, comments, and reblogs make my day! Let me know if you would like a tag :)

|next part|

|masterlist|

Tolkien tag list: @anangelwhodidntfall @eru-vande

Haldir tag list: @tolkien-apologist

Double Heart tag list: @lainphotography @themerriweathermage @thophil2941btw @kenobiguacamole @wishingtobeinadifferentuniverse @from-patroclus-with-love @boywivlove @ordinarymom1 @my-darling-haldir @sweet-bea-blossom @moony-artnstuff

#lotr #lord of the rings #tolkien #haldir #haldir of lorien #haldir x oc #haldir x ofc #haldir x own character #haldir x own female character #tolkien elves #lothlorien elves #haldir fic #haldir fanfic #haldir fanfiction #haldir multichapter work #lotr fic #orophin #rumil #ofc x haldir #haldir of lorien x ofc #haldir of lothlorien #lorien elves #rivendell #elrond #imladris

[ofcloudsandstars]

December Magical Dates and Astrological Transits

The final month of this leap year has arrived! It's finally December!! A lot of energetic shifts are coming at the end of the cycle marking a new beginning along with positive aspects from Uranus rx and harder aspects from Neptune forcing us to review our habits, old stagnating beliefs, spiritual deceptions hindering our path in order to evolve and create new philosophies, insights, expanded perspectives and a spiritual path that is aligned with our evolution, freedom and authenticity. Both Saturn and Jupiter are shifting into Aquarius focusing our energies and responsibility towards the collective and how we individually play a role in our communities. There is another eclipse this month during the New Moon in Sagittarius causing endings in regards to old dogmatic ideas and philosophies and helping us regain truths that will aid us and the collective towards a new future.

Tip: If you have a moon journal or a folder on your desktop, the best way I like to keep track of each day and transits is by copy pasting this info and writing over ideas for each day and what I should do. Examples would be: Moon In Cancer - Deep clean your room. | Sun Trine Mars - charge items and exercise. | Moon enters Capricorn - make candles. It doesn't have to be anything lengthy but just planning ideas both mundane and magical to do when the transits are best!

Week 30 - 6

1st - ☾♊ Mercury enters Sagittarius

December will start off feeling like a fresh chapter after the full moon eclipse in Gemini passing yesterday. Take note where changes could have caused shifts in your life and how they could align you towards your highest potential. The energy could have drawn our focus on the finer details of what we require to achieve our goals and give us the motivation to tackle our tasks. Now today Mercury enters Sagittarius giving us a mental shift for two and a half weeks as our mindsets become more expansive, curious and optimistic giving us grander ideas and the courage to tackle whatever we need as long as we feel great about it. Make sure to write down your introspections and keep focused on your goals as Mercury in Sagittarius can make us a bit disorganized as we can potentially take on too much thus biting off more than we can chew. Today will be a great day to work with the full moon energy (especially charging crystals and items since the eclipse has passed), and focus on expanding our minds and channeling this power.

2nd - ☾♋ Moon enters Cancer

When the moon is in Cancer it’s a good time for magic around the home (aka Cottage Magic) such as cleaning and cleansing, kitchen magic and bath magic. It’s a great time for self-care rituals and water-based magic. The theme of burrowing and hibernation will feel amplified today as the moon is in it’s home sign.

The moon will be here for the next three days as no major aspects occur so it's a great time for rest and reflection on the previous energy shifts. 

3rd - ☾♋ Moon in Cancer

4th - ☾♋ Moon in Cancer

5th - ☾♌ Venus in Scorpio trines Neptune in Pisces Disseminating Moon | Moon trine Sun

Today's energy will feel creative, dreamy and imaginative with Venus trining Neptune and the moon in creative Leo trining the Sun in positive Sagittarius. We will feel more in touch with art or beautiful experiences which inspires our sense of spirituality and creativity and will feel inclined to express this or create with the moon in Leo. It's a great time to do self love rituals, art based magic, create a beautiful ritual, celebrate life and channel in this lovely energy. Also the Disseminating moon is a time of gratitude and reaping rewards of hard work accumulated during this lunar cycle. Appreciate where you have found success and benefitted from the work you have put in and if you feel unsatisfied, this lunar energy in the cycle is the second chance to work again towards it. If you are happy, it's a lovely time to relax and celebrate life.

6th - ☾♌ Moon in Leo

When the moon is in Leo it’s a good time for creativity, fire and light based magic and acts of self love.

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Week 7 - 13

7th - ☾♍ Last Quarter Moon in Virgo

As the moon enters Virgo today this lunar phase revolves around reflection of our journey so far since the Scorpio new moon in November and what we have learned verses what isn't working for us. It's a great day for reflection, meditation, journaling, taking stock and shadow work. With the moon in Virgo it's a great day for finding solutions or healing. Focus on how this lunar cycle was about shedding things your soul no longer needs or what was hidden by your shadow self (reflect on themes that the Scorpio New Moon brought up) and use this final quarter as a time to heal those qualities or find solutions.

8th - ☾♍ Moon in Virgo

When the moon is in Virgo it’s great to ground your tasks mentally in a to-do list, problem solve or focus on healing magic for yourself on a physical or spiritual level.  

9th - ☾♎ Sun in Sagittarius Squares Neptune in Pisces Moon enters Libra

Be cautious today with your information and boundaries. When the sun squares Neptune we are subjected to deception, dishonesty intrusions and paranoia. Often I find with negative Neptunal aspects there is an increase of scammers or people that take advantage of this energy. Be careful! Put up wards today and be aware of your boundaries. Often this square can cause confusion as well and is not a great time to focus on hard work or do anything mentally taxing. This aspect can also make you more wary of health issues including mental health, however most of the issues you may uncover today revolving around health is just an illusion powered by paranoia and confusion so it's a good time to wait and see if your symptoms or worries persist until tomorrow. On a positive note this square is good for reflecting on your spirituality, seeing which truths hold up and how your path is serving you. If there is any corners where you have been dishonest with yourself or following/idolizing someone of your path who doesn't have your best interests at heart, it's time to take stock and make adjustments so that your path can be as genuine as possible.

10th - ☾♎ Venus in Scorpio sextiles Pluto in Capricorn Balsamic Moon | Moon sextile Sun Happy Hannukah!

The themes of shedding and cutting chords will be carried on today with the Balsamic moon which is a period of time that is ideal for cleansing the space, shedding what you no longer need, tying up loose ends and clearing this chapter before the next new moon. Whatever spiritual beliefs you've held that may not be truthful or aligned with your highest good, it's a good time to shed and shift your path today. In two days another transit will come which will make this theme more personal and focus our attention there.

Other energy we will feel today is the sextile between Venus and Pluto. This aspect will deepen our values, our bonds to our closest friends and our lovers helping us illuminate what is the most important things in our lives and helping us to shed whatever doesn't make the cut. With the moon in Libra our relationships with all kinds will be highlighted and if there are people in your life that don't respect you or have your best interests in mind, today may be the day where you need to let them go. Another influence this aspect can bring is obsessions on our crushes or things we value. In terms of crushes the energy today can help you uncover their secrets or how they feel about you. In terms of what you value, it's a great day to explore your creativity, artistic/aesthetic side or how you honor your values today.

Also Hannukah begins today! If you celebrate Hannukah then I hope you have a lovely 7 days!

11th - ☾♏ Sun in Sagittarius trines Mars in Aries Moon enters Scorpio

This is an excellent day to use for a boost of courage, taking risks and chances or applying a boost of energy towards whatever you desire. With the sun trining Mars (both fiery planets in fiery placements!) We will feel the power to charge onwards! However trines are very agreeable transits which can flutter by unnoticed so it's a good time to mark this date on a calendar as an opportunity to use the energy wisely. If you do not have an occasion to channel this energy, trines are excellent energy to charge your magical items with or channel within yourself. It's not necessarily the same as charging items under full moon light, however since the Sun is involved in the aspect you can leave some items out in the sun to soak in the energy. Additionally you can write the glyph of mars down or play it's frequency to bring in it's energy in your space and have your magical items be charged with it's fiery power!

12th - ☾♏ Moon in Scorpio

When the moon is in Scorpio it’s a good time for shadow work, trance magic, uncovering secrets, sex magic, blood magic and energy based magic.

13th - ☾♐ Mercury in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces Moon enters Sagittarius

Another day for being wary with your boundaries! Mercury and Neptune squares brings about another day of confusion and a chance for predators to take advantage of our clouded minds and lowered guards. Take this day to also put up wards, be alert and not take on too many tasks or too much work. Today we can be especially deceived with the planet ruling our logical minds and processing being harshly aspected by the dreamy planet of illusions. There is potential for a lack of clarity, miscommunication and bad luck involving transport, plans, anything mercury rules. You should be especially wary of believing extreme spiritual views or conspiracy theories as people with agendas are sure to come out of the woodwork on this day. Especially with the moon in Sagittarius it's a good day to examine your own faith and any extreme views you may hold or beliefs that are deceiving you. Focus on the truth and creating a spiritual path that is authentic to you.

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Week 14 - 20

14th - ☾♐ New Moon in Sagittarius, Solar eclipse Mercury in Sagittarius trines Mars in Aries Venus in Scorpio sextiles Jupiter in Capricorn

This new moon in Sagittarius will not only be a solar eclipse but... it's ANOTHER square with Neptune in Pisces. Our spirituality or faith is being highlighted in this chapter and we may find ourselves completely shifting our beliefs especially as the sun and mercury may have highlighted some deceptions we possibly haven't noticed that were apart of our belief systems before. Mercury trines Mars today giving our minds a fiery boost as we could be showered with endless new ideas and be ready to expand our horizons and develop a new path. Venus will sextile Jupiter helping us create a new reality aligning our values with our true authenticity which will help us shape our new path that aligns us to our higher good. You may witness others coming up with new approaches to their path or even hear of new religions (or conspiracy cults depending on how others have taken in all of the Neptune squares). It's a fantastic day for shedding and reflection of our path and how this new lunar cycle will be focused on our faith and what lies and deceptions need to be addressed. The energies are aligned to help you uncover this and find the truths within yourselves.

15th - ☾♑ Venus in Scorpio sextiles Saturn in Capricorn Venus enters Sagittarius Moon enters Capricorn

Today is a lovely day to work on existing relationships or start a commitment that you would want to last long term, whether it be a project, a job or relationship. With Venus sextiling Saturn everything that we value can be improved on by solving any recent difficulties or by dedicating our time towards it.

Venus will then enter Sagittarius bringing us in a four week long new transit cycle where our values can be expanded upon and explored, we could expand our friendship groups and find values and pleasure in traveling, exploration and philosophy. It's a great day for love magic and doing blessings for yourself or loved ones.

16th - ☾♑ Moon in Capricorn

When the moon is in Capricorn it's an excellent time to get work done, get organized, address our tasks and responsibilities, do ancestor magic as well as earth and mineral based magic.

17th - ☾♒ Saturn enters Aquarius Moon enters Aquarius

Today we face a massive energy shift as Saturn enters Aquarius (officially) for the next two and a half years. With Saturn in Aquarius we can focus on improving our community and our individual roles we play within it. It briefly entered Aquarius earlier in 2020 spring showing in positive areas how community can be cared for and the standards of living can increase where as in negative areas (most of the earth) how some government's lack of care for their community is the base reason why so many have suffered and died due to Covid or Covid related issues that damaged the economy, cut jobs and tore people's access to money, food and shelter. Saturn in Aquarius in previous years brought about revolution and evolution, sparking awareness and anger of the government's failed response to AIDS, the end of the apartheid in South Africa and Civil Rights with Rodney King. Early 2020 got a taste as many were enraged with government's failed response to Covid, Police Brutality and community care. The term Mutual Aid was used more often and that theme may carry out and be improved upon with Saturn's transit through Aquarius. For us 1992-1993 babies this is our first SATURN RETURN baby!! For the next two years we will be facing a coming-of-age transit as we enter celestial adult hood and review all of the work we have put into this life, the foundations we've built, and how we can improve or tear down what is no longer working for us. Most people our age have suffered a lot with failed systems that promised to help us and instead we lost like.. everything.. in this lifetime. So this return may be how we create new sound structures to help ourselves and each other and get rid of what no longer works. It can be a challenging transit, however it will bring about needed change for us to thrive in the future. (We also have our natal Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn on our sides to help us dream up new structures and revolutionize the ones that already exist.) Emotionally we will be aligned and invested with this shift as the moon enters Aquarius today so it will be conjunct with Saturn. It's a great day to meditate with Saturn's frequency, write down insights, and see how you can get to work on yourself. Especially if this is your Saturn's return, it's an excellent time to GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, cause honestly if you don't Saturn fucking will. So chat with Daddy Saturn, ask your guides for advice, channel the energy within and get organized!

18th - ☾♒ Waxing Crescent | Sun Sextile Moon

As the moon transits it's waxing crescent phase, it reaches it's sextile with the Sun today making it a great day to review the themes of the New Moon in Sagittarius and what we can do either as research, or experimentation to learn new materials and expand our horizons which can help us acheive our goals in the long run. This is a great time to try a new class, try something new or do some reading and research. Especially with the moon in Aquarius, the energy is all about new perspectives and new knowledge. In regards to the themes of Sagittarius new moon and our spiritual paths shifting, today is a great day to do some reading and research in regards to this or try new forms of magic, meditation, sound journeys or approaches to your spiritual path which can help broaden your horizon.  

19th - ☾♓ Jupiter enters Aquarius Sun conjunct Mercury in Sagittarius Moon enters Pisces

Another major energy shift occurs today with Jupiter entering Aquarius. This energy is major and can help us create visions of a new future that is community focused (as opposed to needs of the wealthy few that run the government), expand on our technology, create new discoveries and expand on our collective freedoms. As the moon enters Pisces we will be dreaming of a new reality in this shift and this will be amplified with the Sun and Mercury conjunct in Sagittarius aligning our will and the themes of the day with our mind, new ideas and mental expansion.

With Jupiter transiting Aquarius we will see an expansion of our perspectives along with new perspectives which can incite reform or even experimentation to bring something new and revolutionary out of the ordinary all in a quest for a new, better life. This (especially with Saturn in Aquarius) can bring a surge for change which means more protests and rebellions however it will all be in faith for the future and in hope for a miraculous change. This transit will be a bit chaotic as Uranus (ruler of Aquarius and all about evolution, revolution and new perspectives) is currently in Taurus which will bring shocks and insecurity in our everyday lives by breaking the usual mold apart. The two planets are in conflicting fixed signs that will cause a square for most of Jupiter's early transit in Aquarius and since Jupiter takes a year to go through a sign, this will be felt for a good quarter of 2021 bringing challenges in regards to our freedom that we will feel inclined to fight for. However with hard work, realism, planning and perseverance, which Saturn will gladly lend a hand in, enduring alternatives can eventually be established.

20th - ☾♓ Mercury enters Capricorn

This is an excellent two and a half weeks to focus on getting things done, getting organized, focusing on tasks and prioritizing. Though Mercury in Capricorn may not be the most emotional placement, (there will be a time and place to process emotions so no worries), it's a wonderful transit and great timing with the Saturn and Jupiter shifts into Aquarius for us to review what we need to get done and how we can improve our lives and even the lives of others. If you are celebrating Yule or the Winter Solstice, it's a great time to get ready, make magic tools, plan rituals and get yourself prepared for early winter (and Capricorn season!) to come. -----------------------

Week 21 - 27

21st - ☾♈ YULE - Winter Solstice Sun enters Capricorn First Quarter Moon in Aries Jupiter conjunct Saturn in Aquarius

We've entered Capricorn season!! This will feel like a new start with the moon in Aries and will add a fiery element of new beginnings to the sabbat of rebirth and renewal. Additionally there will be a lot of intense saturn energies added today, not only as it's the beginning of Capricorn season but Jupiter and Saturn will be conjunct today in Aquarius expanding our mindset towards our liberation, our support of our communities and our mobilization. Especially coinciding on the Winter Solstice, a time for renewal and new cycles, this theme will highlight our solar cycle to come and be the tone set for 2021. This conjunction is also powerful and refered to as The Great Conjunction. It's a time of opportunity, growth and good fortune. We will feel we have reached the end of a phase of life and we will be advancing to the next higher level. This transit brings feelings of completion or alternatively it will highlight barriers to our progress which we need to overcome. If you are deeply disatisfied with your life or feel stifled by these barriers, you may feel that the restrictions are too much to cope with that this transit will cause you endless frustration that change becomes inevitable. Regardless this transit helps us seek greater freedom and prosperity. We may find the answers we need to push forward or to seek out our liberation. This Great Conjunction also brings fated events, lucky breaks and profound growth.

Regardless if you celebrate this sabbat, you can observe Winter Solstice from a secular celebration and plan a ritual revolving around rebirth and renewal with this energy. Especially as the moon is in it's First Quarter phase it's all about planning and strategizing. (Also here is a link comparing the lunar phases to the solar celebrations as Winter Solstice corresponds to the New Moon in the way that it is about renewal and new cycles, yet on a grander scale.) You can take the day to do some divination on the months ahead, channel the Saturn/Jupiter/Aquarius energies and how you would like to incite positive change for yourself in 2021, and focus on how you can renew yourself and focus on your growth.

22nd - ☾♈ Moon in Aries

When the moon is in Aries it's an excellent time to take on challenges, channel courage, do fire based magic or start something new.

23rd - ☾♈ Mars in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn

With all of this revolution and evolution of course confrontation and power struggles will follow suit. This transit will unfortunately amplify that as we may feel the intense desire to fight for our rights and empower ourselves and may feel restrictions from the powers that be. It's a great time to reflect and strategize on how we can meet our goals instead of going face to face with where we feel restricted. People with more power will unfortunately have the upper hand during this transit so it's a good time to plan our success instead.

24th - ☾♉ Waxing Gibbous | Sun Trine Moon Moon enters Taurus

This lucky trine transit will be a great day to take action towards the goals we've set during the New Moon eclipse in Sagittarius. To recap the theme was about our spiritual path, our genuine beliefs, our truths or even deceptions we tell ourselves and how we can shed away past belief systems and dogma to reconstruct a better system of thinking, spirituality and philosophy that will align ourselves to our highest good. As the moon made it's waxing crescent in Aquarius (along when Saturn entered it), we experimented and expanded on different ways we could approach this. As the moon entered it's First Quarter phase in Aries (during the Grand Conjunction and Winter Solstice sparking renewal), we reviewed how this new energy can help us strategize on our freedom, expanded perspectives, new philosophies and paths and new visions for the future. Now as the Sun trines the moon it's a time for harmony and balance and a lucky day to focus and work towards our set intentions for the cycle. With Uranus rx in Taurus it's a great time to reflect on where we could feel restricted or stagnant and where we can change unhelpful beliefs or habits. With this aspect it's a good time to put work towards shifting our paths and our beliefs to ensure that our spiritual paths are aligned with our liberation and that we are not stagnating and able to evolve.

25th - ☾♉ Mercury in Capricorn trines Uranus rx in Taurus Merry Christmas!

The themes of yesterday continue on, now with Mercury in Capricorn trining Uranus rx in Taurus. With Mercury in Capricorn we can review our old habits and outdated beliefs with a more analytical and logical approach that won't be clouded by our emotional judgement. With this positive trine, we can find that we are able to shift our mindset, observe where we need to expand our perspectives and even bring new perspectives to other people. We will feel a shift and inner transformation happen on a mental level today.

If you celebrate Christmas then Merry Christmas! With the moon in Taurus it will feel like a relaxed and slow day with many sensual pleasures to enjoy such as scented candles, delicious food and presents. Take plenty of naps and eat plenty of cake.

26th - ☾♊ Moon enters Gemini

When the moon enters Gemini it's a great time for reading, learning, discussing topics which interest you, expanding your grimoire, meditating with sound baths or binural beats, doing air, writing or music based magic and socializing.

Happy Kwanzaa! Kwanzaa begins today. If you celebrate it I hope you have an incredible time!

27th - ☾♊ Sun in Capricorn trines Uranus rx in Taurus

Today's theme will be focused on self change and shifting our habits and perspectives as the Sun will trine Uranus rx. Already we have been dealing with this energy on different levels, on an emotional level with the moon and and Uranus rx conjunct on the 24th, a mental level with Mercury and Uranus rx trine on the 25th and now on a level that will impact our will and ego with the Sun making this trine. This is positive energy which can help us shift our reality to bring the changes that will help us feel more liberated, free to express ourselves and evolve. This energy will help us once again to break old habits and make shifts on an internal level that will benefit our external lives. It's a great time for transformation and renewal as the planets are helping us evolve from the inside out.

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Week 28 - End

28th - ☾♊ Moon in Gemini

Yesterday's energy will carry on to today. It's a good time to explore any insights you have gathered, do some learning, write down experiences, ideas or insights in your grimoire and do some meditation.

29th - ☾♋ Full Moon in Cancer

We are nearly towards the end of 2020 and it's ending on a full moon in it's native sign of Cancer. Our emotions will be so tactile they will take a life of their own. This full moon marks the feeling of Winter coming as we will feel the optimum need to be home, hibernate and be one with our emotions and feelings.

Reflecting back again to the New Moon eclipse themes in Sagittarius, this opposition gives us insight towards our emotions and how they can cloud our judgement and the truths in our spiritual/philosophical path (and highlight our defensiveness towards change) OR it can show how our emotions are a simpler messanger of truths we hold and potentially suppress in our shadows and how when we listen to ourselves and don't shut off our genuine feelings it can bring us in alignment with our needs. (It really depends on you individually where you sit in this equation). It's a great time for reflection, home-based magic (aka cottage witchcraft which includes kitchen magic, bedroom/dream magic, bath magic, green/garden magic, cleansing and cleaning etc.) shadow work, charging items and releasing spells (especially since our emotions will be so potent today).

30th - ☾♋ Venus in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces

In the final segment of Neptune giving us a terribly hard time, we are now faced with Venus in an unpleasant aspect with the planet that loves to emphasize deception and illusions. Especially since Venus rules our finances, once again put up your wards and defenses and make sure to be careful with your money and valuables. On a personal note with Venus and Neptune in a square, this energy makes us focus on the alignment of our values and spirituality and where we could be deceiving ourselves. Relationships definitely could be involved and we may be faced with our moral compass and how our compassion or moral structure with helping/dealing with others could allow some unsavory characters to walk all over us. With the themes of spirituality being so strong in this cycle this could definitely point to a spiritual leader that could be taking advantage or someone demanding too much access to your resources or energy. Energy vampires will be revealed today and we should be sure to look at others with descernment for being too optimistic or positive can attract predators our way. Today is a good time to review how our spiritual beliefs align with our values, if our relationships are harmonious with our healthy boundaries and if we find a "no" answer to any of these, how we can shift our patterns, habits and behaviors to no longer harbor these beliefs or host these people in our lives.

31st - ☾♋ New Years Eve

With the moon still in Cancer and people stifled from traveling, I could see this New Years being indoors with a glass of wine and being lowkey. Many will be happy this wild ass year is over, however it will be clear that negative events just don't pop up in one cursed year but are incidences of past issues the privileged have ignored until they snowball into tragic events that will roll on into something larger and more abominable until we address it head on. However energetically it's a good time to celebrate with good food and maybe at home over zoom.

#december #astrology #transits #grand conjunction #witchcraft #magic #sagittarius season #eclipse season #new moon #eclipse #sagittarius new moon #saturn in aquarius

[owlespresso]

Glad your requests are open again! Could I get some Astarion with an s/o that is into biting?

Ask and ye shall receive!  If you like this work and would like to support me and what I do, consider taking a peek at my ko-fi, which can be found here: https://ko-fi.com/owlespresso

The grass is dulled with the first touches of winter. It’s only a week into the lifeless season, yet the temperatures have taken a nose dive. Which is why you count your blessings now, staring up at the grey skies, back nestled against the dying foliage. 

It’s going to snow, soon. The eerie swarm of clouds that hangs above the forest tells you as much, but you remain where you are, taking comfort in knowing shelter is only a few steps away.

It would be a shame to move when Astarion is seated right next to you, having plopped himself down of his own accord. You like to think it’s significant progress, given the open disdain he didn’t hesitate to show you during the first days of your travels.

He’s been rattling on about the last battle you found yourselves in, complaining at the sudden change in weather, and theorizing the parasite that’s nestled snuggly within your brains. Just jumping from one topic to the next as though he’s been bottling all these thoughts up, waiting to dump them on the first person he can trust to listen.

You have to wonder if you’re the closest person to him among your little group. Does he seek you out more than he seeks the others, or are you just imagining it? Just hoping for it?

You wrinkle your nose and try not to think about it, feel a flush of relief when he at last quiets. 

Not that you ever want him to stop speaking, not with that velvety voice of his. But you try to keep your thoughts distinctly away from your looming, seemingly inevitable fate. You try to preserve and fan the flames of your hope.

“Do you… have you ever gotten tired of it, yet?” you ask him, staring up at the harsh, grey skies. Winter’s bitter tinge has long crept across your skin and hooked its claws into your bones, even through your thick sleeves. “All of the traveling? And relying on our companions?

Astarion gives a small huff. His gaze remains stuck on the forest that stands on the other side of the brook. Its branches have been picked clean by the changing seasons. He’s thinking, you realize, about his next meal. About the next forest creature he will descend upon with teeth and daggers, about the next unsuspecting morsel he’ll prey upon.

The thought makes you swallow. Not out out fear, but something distinctly different. A warm, gooey feeling you don’t want to think about.

“Please. This is the freest I’ve been in the last two hundred years. I will gladly take the wretched swamps and mile long treks over Cazador’s dingy dungeons. Any day. In a heartbeat—someone else’s, of course, given the state of mine.”

His gaze sweeps from the cluttered horizon to sweep up and down your lounged body, lingering on the swell of your hips, the round of your chest. He studies with an open fascination that makes you want to curl up and away from him. It’s a keen intrigue, something deep-seated and predatory. Even after traveling with him for two weeks, you’re still defenseless against his low, crooning voice and hooded, sultry gazes.

“Mm,” you hum in acknowledgement, because you’re not sure what else to say to that.

“As for our merry little band of miscreants… you depend on me as much as I depend on you. It’s an even trade, as far as I’m concerned,” he waves off your concerns with little to no concern, bringing a knee to his chest whilst the other leg remains stretched out in front of him. “And if you’re worried about my personal opinion on you all as individuals... well, let’s just say I have my favorites.”

“And where do I fall on your list?” you can’t help but ask, genuinely curious rather than teasing. You can see your breath in the air, your words coming out as a frosty plume. They come out without thinking, and for a brief moment you nearly panic. Heat rises to your cheeks as you struggle for the words to walk it back. 

“Oh, you? Well, you’re my favorite,” he replies with smooth ease, his voice dipping down to a sultry purr. The grass shifts and crunches underneath him as he shifts to lean over you, fixing you with a wry smile. All too soon, you’re reminded of a few nights ago, him hunched over your neck, eyes alight like a predator’s. The now nearly faded marks on your throb with the memory. His handsome profile, lit softly by firelight. 

“Really?” 

“Of course. No one else in our merry little band has offered themselves up on a silver platter. I’m quite sure they would balk at the idea of feeding a vampire. I can think of a few who would come at me with a stake as soon as I revealed my true nature,” he sighs languidly, a hand reaching down to cup your cheek. His palm is cold against your skin, but your breath hitches and you shut your eyes, allowing him to nudge your face to the side, revealing the stretch of your neck to him. “So pliant, too. Though I would prefer to think this aspect of your personality is reserved for me and me alone.”

“Well, I’m not going to roll over for just anyone,” you assure him with a roll of your eyes. There’s no bite in your voice, but you feel a roll of warm anticipation hit your gut when he fixes you with a keen gaze.

“Consider me flattered. And most grateful. Might I encroach upon your kindness just a tad more this afternoon?” His eyes are hooded, his smile widening because he knows you’ll agree. You exhale shakily.

“Go ahead,” you shut your eyes, brace yourself for the hook of his teeth into your waiting flesh.

“You are a delight,” he flatters shamelessly. His breath brushes against your skin, prompting goosebumps to raise along your arms. Your heart thump, thump, thumps against your ribs like a bird’s wings against the bars of its gilded cage. 

He can hear it, his eyelids lowering, smile widening as he ghosts lips across your neck. He explores slowly, drifting slow kisses from the crook of your shoulder to the curve of your jaw. Each osculation is more tender than the last, but you still sigh and shudder, shutting your eyes because you cannot bear to see his smug expression.

As cool as his skin is, it’s still warmer than the wintry air that surrounds you. One of your hands tentatively rests on his shoulder, the other rests at your side. He’s incorrigibly good with both hands and lips, fingers of his unoccupied hand giving your right breast a faint squeeze, earning a surprised splutter. 

You don’t realize your flustered expression has tinged with fear until he begins to croon at you.

“Shh, shh. It’s alright, darling,” he soothes, and voice curling with mock sympathy. “You’re doing so well, so good for me.”

Oh, fuck. That only makes it worse. Your cunt throbs, your clothes suddenly feeling too thick, too heavy. The mere anticipation of the bite is enough to make you wet, panties sticking to the plush give of your folds. The renewed shame of it mixes with heady arousal, creating a cocktail of sensations that leaves you squirming underneath him before he’s even taken a bite. 

“You know, I’m beginning to think these little whines and trembles of your are from more than just trepidation. Am I correct in that assumption?” Goddamn him and his blabbering mouth. Your eyes snap open to fix him with a glare, but he only smiles wider.

All you can do is concentrate on keeping breathing even as the very tips of his fangs drag over your skin. Each tender kiss and caress feels like it stretches beyond the span of mere moments, slipping into minutes and maybe hours. Your palms sweat, your eyes stare up at the dulled sky.

Slowly, he journeys from the line of your jaw to the middle of your neck. Once, twice, three times he grazes his sharp fangs over the same spot. Your fingers curl tight into the fabric of his jacket, thighs pressing together—

He bites. Your fingers twitch and your grip tightens, helplessly curled in the fabric of his stupid fancy shirt. The sheer cold of his fangs presses deep into the flesh of your throat, his efforts rewarded with a gush of fresh, sweet blood. This is the part you like the most, you think. The rush of the ambrosia connects the two of you in a way you’ve never experienced with another person before. He drinks deep, enjoys your very being, your very essence—

If you were less drunk off the pleasure of being torn into so intimately, perhaps you’d wonder if this is the only reason why he claims to enjoy your company so much. 

But a second squeeze to your breast robs you of that coherency. Black spots are already beginning to swim at the edges of your vision, consciousness growing hazy as he continues to indulge, gorging himself on you entirely.

“Astarion,” you find it in yourself to rasp, feebly tugging on his shirt as you feel yourself beginning to drift away, into an inky, vast blankness. You’re not sure if he’s going to stop, you realize, but what frightens you more is that you don’t entirely mind.

The thought is shoved to the very recesses of your mind as he blessedly pulls away with a gasp. His lips are stained red, and your gaze glues to his tongue as it peeks out and swipes over them. Slowly. As though he’s savoring your flavor as much as he can before he gulps the final droplets down. 

“Delectable,” he sighs, hair tousled, pupils dilated. “Are you alright, darling?”

“Feel a little funny. Nothing a snack and a nap can’t fix,” you mumble. Your arms feel like jelly as you press them to the frosted earth, feebly attempting to lift yourself off the ground.

“Ah, ah. There’s no need to push yourself,” he tuts, pushing himself to his feet with nimble ease. A stray beam of sun dips through the clouds. It casts his hair and pale skin in a light most vibrant. Looking up at him like this allows you to admire the strong cut of his jaw, the fine arch of his nose. You’re so dazed by both fatigue and his beauty that you almost forget to take the hand he offers you.

You take it. His fingers are cold, but warmer than the chilled air around you. A harsh contrast to the warm, near fervent gaze he fixes on you as you stand beside him. 

#astarion #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #writing #Anonymous

[eivorsjawline]

Trigger warning: smut and talk of blood/open wound.

You take a medieval bath in the opening of this chapter in the safe space of a close friends estate. When you return to the settlement you’re greeted by Eivor with a sweet bouquet. You both head back to your room and having a little one on one time before getting disrupted by someone at the door.

Chapter 5: Sweet Escape

Readers POV

Bjorn ended up bringing me to whom he calls Erke’s living quarters. One of the servants made a bath for me to clean myself off, it had been so long since I had a nice bath. The servant filled an ewer with fresh spring water, heated it up then poured it into a large wooden tub. Careful to not step in too early, I waited and let the steam hit my face.

I started to strip my clothes off and after a while of letting the water cool down, I poured a pitcher of the warm water over my hair. A bucket lay nearby for me to place any of the now dirty suds. I ran some of the soap through my hair and began to scrub afterwards rinsing it out. Wrapping my hair in a linen towel, I stepped into the tub and started scrubbing my body all over.

It's insane to think of how we take for granted the small things in the modern world. I soaked in the tub worrying about the settlement and how Eivor was handling everything. Though I'd never seen her in battle, I imagined she fights like a true warrior. Even in modern times Eivor would be considered strong and brute. However, my wandering mind still managed to come up with dreadful worries and scenarios.

Though I didn’t want to leave the bath, the water began to cool down a little too much for my liking so I stepped out onto a towel on the ground. I started to rub myself dry with the extra towel getting my legs, chest and arms. An assortment of oils and herbs in jars lay on the table near me. I washed my face with some more soap and water residing in a basin and then doused my face in rose oil, afterwards removing the towel from my head. Feeling clean and fresh, I pulled a long tunic over me along with a pair of undergarments and headed towards my room.

Erke’s furry friend Tibert, a chubby orange striped cat joined me alongside the bed and begged me for pets. Since I was here alone basically, I might as well have someone accompany me while I slept tonight. I blew out the candles next to my bed and rested my head on the fluffy feather pillows. There was no way I was getting any sleep tonight but I still tried, until the bone shattering emotion of loneliness covered me. Since I’d arrived I missed my home, I missed my friends too, the technology, and even the food. Nevertheless, I missed Eivor more than anything else.

My eyes began to water and then I heard creaking footsteps near the door. It was so late, who could possibly be here at this time? With a knock on the door I heard Bjorn’s voice asking me if he could come in. I jumped up from bed and opened the door from him, hoping for news on Eivor and the settlement.

“It’s not looking good. We have to relocate the camp completely.”

His words shattered my heart and made my already disheveled mind worry even more. I started to pace around the room and my anxiety set in. Myself and war had not been acquainted yet due to the sheltered life I’d lived compared to these people.

“What about Eivor? Please, tell me she’s okay.”

“Eivor is fine, for Randvi I cannot say the same. She was struck and the wound is very bad. I'll take you to the new location in the morning, you must rest here for tonight. Eivor instructed me that I stay and keep watch for you.”

Even from afar I felt protected by Eivor. Although relieved I didn't have to be alone tonight, I felt bad for Randvi. I hoped she would be okay even if she didn’t care much for me. She was very strong, stronger than I could ever be. Bjorn and I conversated a bit about where the location will be before saying goodnight and heading to bed. I closed the door and noticed Tibert still laying there. Swooping the covers over my legs, I snuggled up with my new furry friend and tried to rest but I knew damn well I wouldn't be getting any of that tonight.

Eivors POV

The next morning

I woke up in the morning and the first thing I felt was the soreness of the cut in my arm. Blood ran through the linen covering my wound overnight. Letting out a groan, I reached over the table next to my bed for the medicine that Valka gave me and applied it to the cut before cleaning myself and rebandaging.

The new settlement was surprisingly nice. A larger pond to the west of the new longhouse, good for fishing. The land was more vast and colorful flowers grew by the riverbank. When sunset came you could see the light hit just over the valleys and the bushes and trees grew with the greenest of leaves and ripest fruits. Almost everything was finished setting up with the exception of a few huts.

My head pounding from little to no sleep, I decided to go check on Randvi. I figured Valka was probably keeping a close eye on her so I headed there. Valka’s hut was just East of the longhouse and across, a closer span than Ravensthorpe. On my way there I couldn't help but to think of [y/n] and how I missed her. I wish I could have been with her last night but I had to get the people to safety first, all I could do was send Bjorn with her.

Walking into the seer's hut I could smell her cooking some sort of potion, the smell of lavender filled the air. Randvi lay next to her, the life in her eyes seemed to be returning. She lost so much blood, but she fought through it. Kneeling down to get to her level, I saw the corners of Randvi’s mouth form a smile as if she were happy to see me for once.

“You look better than ever.”

“Oh, stop it.”

Randvi let out a small laugh then thanked me for helping her last night. She explained that she tried to fight back but she was far too late for the Picts had already infiltrated the camp. Our conversation was brisk but for the first time I felt a genuine friendship forming between the two of us and a mutual respect. Valka joined in saying Randvi should be back on her feet in no time.

Perhaps even through all of this, we lost nothing and only gained. Today was a bright sunny day and those days were very rare in this green land. After one of the worst storms I’d ever seen, today was a new day. Since we moved further south west into the country, there was no need for a heavy cloak at least for today. I settled for an embroidered gray tunic rolling up the sleeves, a pair of brown linen trousers and secured them with a belt afterwards, lacing up my usual boots.

Looking out the window, I saw [y/n] leave Valka’s hut. I presumed Bjorn sent word of what happened. Quickly, I combed through my hair, fixed my braids and snuck out the back of the longhouse. Some red and blue flowers grew by the backyard and I began to pick some off the vines, creating a small bouquet.

This feels stupid, yet I cant help myself.

I gripped the bouquet in one hand and hid it behind my back, straightening my posture before approaching her.

A cheeky smile formed on her face when her eyes met mine and a grin escaped me.

“Eivor, how are you feeling?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

Grabbing her by the waist with my free hand, I pulled her in for a peck on her soft lips. Slowly, I revealed the flowers I picked for her and she looked down at the ground as if flustered by the small gesture.

“For me? That's so sweet…”

Exchanging the flowers from my hand she stood up tall to reach for a kiss and with a bend of my knees our lips met once again. Our hands clasped one another and I led her to show her around the new settlement then finally our new room in the longhouse. We exchanged some more passionate kisses in private before stopping and snuggling on the bed.

“There is something I wanna talk to you about.”

After hearing my words she repositioned herself, ready to listen to what I have to say.

“Of course, what is it?”

“Be honest with me, do you miss the future?”

“With every fiber of my being, there is so much that I miss. Everyday, I realize there is something that I miss about my time.”

I reached to stroke the hairs on the back of my neck and avoided making eye contact. The weight of her words hit me hard, to think she was in a foreign place with no one she knows. Noticing the change in my body language, she nudged my shoulder.

“There something else. Tell me the truth and look at me.”

“You want to go back, don't you?”

She placed her small hand over mine and pushed herself closer to me.

“Even though I miss it, I would give up all of that to stay here with you.”

I let out a sigh of relief and placed my hand on her thigh.

“Prove it, then. Show me how much you’ve missed me.”

Readers POV

Letting out a chuckle, I pushed Eivor on the bed and started to kiss her neck. Eivor let out a soft moan underneath me and started to caress my body over the tunic I was wearing. Already trying to reach for my shirt to pull it off, I pinned her hands back and gave her a passionate wet kiss. Eivor bit my bottom lip and started to squirm underneath me. She had all the strength to push my hands back but she let me hold her down instead. The heat radiating off our bodies grew as Eivor started to grind her pelvis underneath me, my legs wrapped around her.

I released her hands and started to explore her body, placing kisses on her collarbone. I lifted her shirt off and started to toy with her breasts, rubbing one of her pink nipples between my fingertips and my tongue making circles around the other whilst looking her in the eyes. Eivor moaned my name and arched her back as I continued to tease her. I ventured lower in between her rib cage and then back up, the tip of my nose rubbed against her ivory skin.

One of my hands ran up and down her torso as my fingers played with her belt buckle. From the downwards view I had of her I caught a glimpse of her biting her lip. After undoing her belt one notch at a time, I pulled her pants off along with her underwear as she lifted her body to aid me. Her subtle happy trail glimmered in the sunlight. Appreciating her body, I started to kiss her inner thighs and watched as Eivor melted into the bed. I pressed my fingers and massaged the folds of her labia, noticing she was even more wet for me than last time.

“Is this what you want, my wolf?”

Sticking my tongue out and swirling against her hole, I made sure to get a good taste of her. Eivor’s moans grew heavier and she pulled the hairs falling onto my face to the side to get a better view of me eating her out. My tongue started to focus on her swollen clit and began to flick with vigor. Eivor threw her head back trying to keep her eyes open as she spread her long legs wide for me to feast on her. My middle and ring finger slid into her wet pussy and started working her from the inside. Her walls clenched tight around me as I pounded and curled. Pulling my body up for Eivor to taste herself on my tongue, my fingers remained inside her but back to a steady pace. Eivor grabbed my face to kiss me harder and moaned in my mouth.

“You’re gonna make me cum all over you if you keep fucking me like that.” She whispered in my ear with her raspy deep voice.

While our tongues clashed, I stretched my fingers as far as I could and pounded her into oblivion with all the strength I had. I felt Eivor’s muscles twitch and saw her chest start to convulse as her cum coated my fingers. I pulled out of her and let her watch me lick my fingers clean. With no time to catch our breaths Eivor began to strip my clothes off one by one before pinning me down on my stomach onto the bed.

“How dare you fuck me with all your clothes still on!”

She pulled my arms back and latched onto my wrists kissing the back of my neck. Her firm authoritarian grip and the stretching of my back muscles and arms caused me a miniscule amount of pain that made me want her to really have her way with me.

“Mmm, what are you gonna do about it?” I let out a moan and gave her a cheeky grin.

Before I knew it Eivor’s hand met my bare ass with a slap, the sting making me moan out loud. My back arched and with small breaks she spanked me again and again. My eyes closed but quickly opened when I felt Eivor’s wet tongue start fucking me from inside, her rough hands grabbing onto my now red ass cheeks. Switching her focus she started to flick her tongue fast on my clit, almost making me climax. Eivor pulled herself up and started whispering in my ear.

“Oh, you better not cum yet… Such a dirty girl, letting me fuck you like this. You’re so damn loud, everyone will hear you.”

She cupped my mouth with the palm of her hand and muffled my moans, her other hand teasing the entrance of my soaking wet cunt. She slipped two long slender fingers inside of me, stretching me nicely, sliding from the tip of her fingers down to her knuckles with a steady pace. Her fingers twisted inside of me, making sure she filled me as deep as possible.

Eivor’s hot breaths onto the back of my neck sent chills down my spine. The sounds of her pounding me from behind and my suppressed moans were all that could be heard. Eivor didn’t care how loud she made me moan, only for the pleasure that she gave to my body and neither did I. The stress of the outside world quieted as we released onto one another.

A knock on the door interrupted us and suddenly we stopped, turning to one another with evil grins. Trying not to laugh, we rushed to put our clothes back on. Before now, I had never got dressed faster. Eivor fixed her shirt and fastened her belt buckle, fixing her hair. Feeling a little flustered, I ran to hide behind the door so whoever was behind it couldn’t see me in the room. Clearing her throat, Eivor straightened up and switched from her playful demeanor to her serious one before opening the door.

Eivor’s POV

“Well, don't stop now that I’m here. Continue just as you were, Wolf-Kissed...”

“Rollo, long time no see my good friend!”

Thankfully, Rollo was never one to judge people for what they do behind closed doors. After we gave one another a friendly embrace and exchanged a few jokes, our conversation turned to more important matters. So distracted from [y/n] returning, I completely forgot we had discussed plans for a raid this evening. Peeking past the door I noticed [y/n’s] face changed from an impudent smile to a sour expression. I told Rollo to give me a moment and wait outside before closing the door.

“You’re already hurt, why go on a raid?”

“I'm not sure how things are where you’re from, but this is normal. We lack resources, It’s what must be done. I'll be careful, just for you. Besides, plenty of others will be at my side.”

She crossed her arms and tilted her head while looking down.

“Also, what's this? I found it in your belongings when I was packing up my bedroom.”

I reached into a bag that held the clothes I found her in and a rectangular platform that lit up when held to the light. I shook it and gave it a bang on the table to see if It would do something else before she reached and grabbed it out of my hand.

“Dont! Holy shit, that's my phone!”

Your what?

After entering some sort of code, she swiped the strange gadget and It appeared as if she unlocked something on it.

Looks complex...

“There’s still some power in it, no service of course. Eivor, come here and look.”

Though confused, I took a look and she showed me an assembly of what she called, “pictures” of her previous life. She looked different and the world around her looked different. She showed me pictures of her with friends, and places she traveled to. My curiosity grew more from what she showed me. We don't have anything like this, so any doubts I had about what she told me completely disappeared. A loud bang on the door interrupted us, I assumed Rollo was getting impatient.

Damn, I have to leave.

I gave her a kiss and reassured her everything would be okay before leaving through the door.

#fem!eivor #fem eivor #eivor x reader #female eivor #ac valhalla #fan fiction #assasins creed #assasinscreed #writers on tumblr #series #reader insert

[eatprayworm]

fairytale au drabble

They walk in tandem through the woods, twigs crunching beneath their feet - well, Wang Zhi’s feet, anyway. Ding Rong seems to glide across the foliage, footsteps silent against the soft earth, like the ground is coming up to meet him each step of the way. Wang Zhi hazards a glance at his companion; his face illuminated by streaks of sunshine, he wears a content expression, something very old and very peaceful. All around them, the forest seems to take cues from their master; the breeze is gentle, the birds chirp softly.

“How much of the woods is controlled by you, and how much of you by the woods?”

Ding Rong hums as they duck beneath some undergrowth, careful not to step upon the young saplings growing just beyond them.

“It’s not about control,” Ding Rong says, his voice gentle, patient. “It just is. We just are.”

Cryptic, but Wang Zhi has come to expect no less from the wolf god. He pauses, takes the time to inhale a deep breath of pure, fresh air. He holds it in his lungs, imagines that it’s purifying him of the bustling, tense life of politics and blood waiting for him back in the Depot.

Ding Rong’s eyes are crinkled in a smile when Wang Zhi turns back to him.

“Do you ever wish you could go elsewhere? See other parts of the world?” Wang Zhi asks.

Ding Rong blinks, head tilts in a distinctly canine way as he stares at Wang Zhi, as if looking right through him, trying to suss him out. Immediately, Wang Zhi wishes he could grab the words back from where they hang in the air like pollen. He’s grown too comfortable in Ding Rong’s presence; he forgets himself sometimes, and he fears he’s disrespected the god in his own home.

“That was rude of me,” Wang Zhi says in apology.

This time, Ding Rong’s smile reaches his lips, tiny and fond.

“Not rude,” Ding Rong corrects, and there’s almost a note of wistfulness as he adds, “just very human.”

Wang Zhi watches as Ding Rong steps forward, kneels in front of a damp, moss-covered rock. His long fingers trace reverent shapes along the moss, and Wang Zhi swears he feels the woods tremble at the touch.

“To wander, explore the world as you know it - these are the desires of humans,” he murmurs. When he looks back at Wang Zhi, there’s amber swirls in his eyes, a peak into his trueform. “I have no such need. This is my world.”

Wang Zhi may not be able to fully understand the relationship Ding Rong has with the woods, but there is no room for doubt - not when the trees exhale, when the frogs and birds sing their truths, when the earth pulses with aura.. This is Ding Rong’s terrain, entirely and undeniably.

And so Wang Zhi concedes this face with a smile of his own, small and genuine (his only genuine smiles these days are reserved for Ding Rong). “It is.”

Ding Rong all but caresses the moss onetwo more times before he rises; his eyes have returned to human brown, though no less intense as he offers his hand to Wang Zhi in invitation.

Heart pounding an embarrassingly happy rhythm, Wang Zhi accepts the hand. Their fingers twirl together as they venture deeper into the woods.

#rongzhi #tsomd #fairytale au #ding rong is probably ooc in this au but like #he is an ancient wolf god who exclusively lives in the woods #his personality is gonna be a lil different