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suguann · 3 months

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I HOPE YOU STAY—GOJO SATORU

✎. he’d asked why your coworkers weren’t waiting outside with you—it's not safe here—at the same time you asked for a kiss. it just sort of slipped out. | wc. 2.8k+

tags. fem!reader, grinding, unprotected sex, oral sex, some mutual pining (it's implied he doesn't know how to talk to reader), there is not a world where gojo isn't rich, fwb to lovers, jealousy, gagging on how very much in love gojo is with reader and she doesn't see it, praise kink, pet names [18+ only]

masterlist

You’re not sure how it all started.

(As how all arrangements like these seem to start.)

You remember calling Gojo on a night out with your coworkers—one too many cheap vodka cranberries in your system clouding your judgment—just as he left the office for the day, asking if he could pick you up from a shady nightclub downtown.

(You’d hardly been acquaintances, and there was a long period of time where you’re sure he only tolerated you for Shoko’s sake since she’s the one who dragged you into their group of friends. You’re always the last one he acknowledges in the room, and he seems to clam up when you’re alone together.

You refused to let it get to you. Especially when you only see him a handful of times every other month or so, although less now that you’re around, and you pretend it doesn’t eat at you.)

It’s still a mystery why you called him out of everyone you know—you had to scroll through an endless amount of contacts just to find a message you sent him months ago that he left on read with the express purpose of annoying you—and even more surprising that he answered.

You didn’t know him as well as Shoko, but maybe a secret hidden part of you knew he’d help if you were in a pinch.

“Hello?”

(He might be the most infuriating human you know, but he has a voice like rich bourbon.

He’s also stupidly attractive. Beautiful, even, with his straight nose, soft-looking mouth, and thick hair that adorably curls around his ears. However, you’d never say that to his face, for his head would get too big.)

“Do you think you could give me a ride?” It was almost a miracle that your words didn’t slur.

You half expected him to hang up, but then he asked for the address, and several minutes later, he pulled up to the curb in his shiny sports car that probably cost more than everything you own combined and watched you stumble into the soft-leather passenger seat.

It should be embarrassing how long it took you to buckle your seatbelt, but then you finally got a good look at him and took note of his expensive-looking suit: his tie slightly undone, shiny watch and cuff links glinting under the passing street lights, how his hair looked like he ran one of his bear paws for hands through it several times.

You think it was the first time you realized he was as tall as he was wide.

The quintessential businessman in a three-piece suit. You understand the appeal now.

(That je ne sais quoi that makes you want something out of reach. Why your friends from college ask if he’s single when all you see is a man who never takes anything seriously.)

He’d asked why your coworkers weren’t waiting outside with you—it's not safe here—at the same time you asked for a kiss. It just sort of slipped out.

Gojo gave you a look that would have made you giggle if you weren’t serious. “What?”

“I want a kiss,” you told him again.

It was the little once-over he gave you afterward, the way he missed the exit to your street and took the one that led to his, how he kissed you until your knees were wobbly and weak, and you could barely walk to his door in your heels as he pressed small ones around your mouth while his fingers sunk into your hair.

(That. That—)

You came against his thigh—staining his Burberry suit while he whispered dirty things into your ear—right there in the hallway where anybody could see if he didn’t have the whole floor to himself.

“Fuck, baby,” he groaned into your mouth once he had you in his room, his hands trailing up and down your sides until he found the zipper for your dress and tugged. "I can't believe this is really happening."

(Later, you spend a lot of time analyzing what he meant.)

You urged him toward the bed when he had the black slip of fabric pooling at your feet, dropping down to your knees in front of him, and together, you scrabbled at his pants, shoving them around his hips. You’ll never forget how hot and heavy he was in your hand that first time, how your fingers barely touched and looked so small in comparison.

There was a thick vein along the underside of his cock, and you trailed it with your tongue, going up and up until you took the slightly purpling head into your open mouth.

You kept taking more of him until you couldn’t go any further without gagging, which wasn’t far because he was big—possibly the biggest dick you’ve ever seen outside of porn—and it made you a little dizzy how quickly it robbed you of air.

“Holy shit.” He stroked your hair so softly, so sweetly, groaned things that made you preen and nuzzle into his touch. “You’re so good at this. You gonna let me cum down that throat?”

That made your belly flip—the fact that Gojo Satoru, of all people, called you good—a stone creating a current of new possibilities.

You hummed a muffled “Uh huh” and squeaked when he held your head down—the coarse hair at his pubic bone brushing against your nose—cumming down your throat in hot, heavy spurts, and you’re surprised you swallowed it all because it was a lot.

He fell back against the mattress, freeing you of his grip, arms spread wide and panting as he lay there with his eyes closed.

“Was it good?” you asked, licking away the small amount of cum that escaped the corner of your mouth.

That got him to pop his head up to look at you, a hint of something too soft on his face than you were used to from him. “Come here,” and he let you crawl into his lap.

A sigh escaped his lips as his hands hovered close to the side of your waist before letting them fall back against the mattress. “You’re trouble, you know that?” he mumbled after kissing your forehead.

(That’s how you think it started.)

~~~~~

Everything’s fine.

Perfectly fine before Gojo sits by you, casually planting himself between you and the newest member of your group of friends, Nanami. You roll your eyes at how childish he’s being, refusing to react to his blatant jealousy.

Then he inconspicuously rests his hand on your knee. You jump at first, and the few people sitting at the table with you glance at you curiously, including Gojo, who gives you a mischievous little smirk that can only mean trouble.

Again, you roll your eyes and choose to ignore whatever is going on in that lizard brain of his.

That doesn’t last long because he’s leaning across you to grab a handful of pretzels, only to lean in close, lips brushing the shell of your ear as he sinks back into his seat.

“You look so fucking good in this dress right now.” His voice already sounds hoarse, stretched thin—raw with want—and you inconspicuously rub your thighs together under the table. “Are you wearing what I bought you underneath? You’d show me, yeah?”

(Because he buys you things now—perfectly normal for someone you’re sleeping with who’s not your boyfriend, but maybe your friend—and sometimes you playfully call him Daddy when he has your wrists tied above your head with one of his silky ties.

And who cares if a few of your things and a toothbrush have found their way into his place? He lives closer to your job. Nobody can blame you for choosing convenience over a forty-minute ride through the subway.

Normal.)

Distantly, you’re aware that you aren’t alone, and there are several ears within earshot distance, but that doesn’t stop the little gasp that escapes past your lips.

“Satoru, knock it off.” You glance around the table to make sure no one is paying attention, your tensed shoulders relaxing a little when you find everyone too preoccupied with their own conversations.

Gojo already has acknowledged this, too.

“I bet you still taste just as sweet as you did this morning. You have no idea how much I want you. It’s making me hard just thinking about it.” At that, you peek down at his lap to find the prominent bulge pressing against his khaki pants.

“Oh?” voice soft when you finally tear your eyes away from his crotch to meet his heated gaze again.

“Mhm.”

Oh.

You can tell that he sees your walls cracking, that it would only take a few sweet words before you finally caved: “You’d let me have another taste, wouldn’t you?”

Your breath hitches because, yes, you would.

That’s how you find yourself with your thighs parted and one of your legs draped over his.

You bite your lip, trying to hold back the moan threatening to escape while the rough pad of his middle finger presses small circles over the top of your panties. His fingers tease, exploring the slick seam of you and retreating when you start arching your hips up into his touch.

It feels like you can’t breathe—or perhaps you’re too fearful to find out what other noises you’d make if you did—practically choking on the torturous (because that’s what this is) pleasure you’re receiving, and you’re ready to beg. You really are. However, you aren’t prepared to face the mortifying consequences if you happen to open your mouth.

Something that sounds a lot like, please, just waiting on the tip of your tongue.

It feels like every pair of eyes at that small table are on you, but they’re none the wiser to what is currently happening beneath the party-themed tablecloth, still laughing and mingling around the yard as they celebrate Geto’s birthday.

It’s not as if it’s all that obvious, either.

Gojo is turned away from you, currently in the middle of a discussion with the birthday boy himself. You have no clue what they were talking about because you’d stopped paying attention a while ago—not that you’d be able to listen if you wanted to with Gojo’s fingers turning every spun cotton candy thought back into melted sugar.

He traces lightly over the covered seam of your lips before finally slipping under the silky material—his skilled fingers working slippery circles at the apex of your thighs—and the subtle relief forces you to swallow another moan.

“Satoru,” you warn under your breath, grabbing his wrist to stop his movements. But the feel of him patting your sticky, sensitive clit with three fingers cuts off all of your protests, forcing you to sit there and let him play with you.

Heat crawls up your neck as he explores your slick folds, the loud music, and chatter, thankfully hiding the wet sounds produced between your legs.

He does offer some mercy when he notices the slight quiver in your thighs, how they jump and jump until he stops teasing to press to fingers inside you and grind the heel of his palm into your clit. Your hips start rocking forward against his hand slightly, and you pray nobody notices because the heat spreading through your belly is almost too consuming to stop now, making you dizzy with it.

Your abs hurt from how hard they clench, and your legs shake, culminating in a slow drop just before you resurface. Gojo can probably feel it—attuned to your body after all these months—and starts moving in a steady rhythm, and—

The breath you’re about to take gets caught in your throat, fingers gripping Gojo’s wrist and the ledge of the table as you tip over the edge. Your legs tremble while you convulse onto his hand, and you have to lean into him to keep from falling out of your chair.

His fingers bring you back down, slowly, rubbing soothingly against your inner thigh as the fog gradually dissipates from your brain. And what you’d give to hear him call you his good girl at that moment—

“Hey, are you okay?” Shoko asks you from across the table. “You don’t look so good.”

All eyes turn towards you, including the smug little gleam in Gojo’s.

“Yeah,” you squeak before standing up hastily. You pull Gojo up with you, not caring that it’s the same hand covered in your sticky-wet slick. “I just remembered that I need Sa—Gojo’s help with something.”

Only a few are dumb enough to believe that lie, and you avoid the smirk Shoko gives you as she watches you practically drag Gojo toward the house.

(Because, of course, she knows.

And perhaps she’s not the only one.)

~~~~~

The tipping point in your relationship—the one that turns it from a maybe into a definite something, and not just two people who have been having sex and somewhat living together for six months—happens on a night Gojo comes home late from work.

(Exactly five minutes to eleven.)

You’re not usually the jealous type, but you’ll admit that dating someone like Gojo—rich, attractive, owns more Tom Ford suits than you have jeans, and just important enough that he has an assistant who runs said suits to the dry cleaners—can stir up some insecurities.

A more reasonable person would lay out the facts like a deck of cards: you know he’s someone’s boss’s boss, so he likely had to stay behind to fix someone else’s mess, but the proverbial chip onto the poker table comes with his new assistant.

Hinata.

A girl who’s fresh out of college and around him more hours of the day than you see him during the week, and from the few times you stopped by his office, you can tell she has a thing for him—her lack of subtlety could compete with Gojo’s nonexistent observation skills.

Much later, after you’ve slept on the softest sheets you’ve ever laid on, you’ll admit you overreacted. How you shouldn’t have thrown blankets and pillows at him from his bed for him to sleep on the couch with as soon as he walked through the front door—not to mention how you never give him a chance to explain himself and keep huffing whenever he opened his mouth.

After the second pillow (almost comically, if you weren’t so upset) hits him square in the face, he drops the blankets to grab your wrists.

“Would you stop throwing blankets at me and tell me what’s wrong?”

"Like you don't know," you hiss unhelpfully just to be difficult.

"I wouldn't be asking if I did." This time, his voice is softer when he says, "Talk to me."

"It’s your assistant."

He frowns. “My assistant…?”

“Yes, your assistant,” you huff, making an unsuccessful attempt to yank your wrists free. “She obviously has a thing for you, but you’re too thick to notice. You forgot your phone, and she answered and said you were busy...”

He probably sees the vulnerability on your face. Hears what you’re not telling him because he presses a kiss to your forehead—I’m not seeing anyone other than you—another to your mouth before he’s showing you with your thighs pressed to your chest that every piece of him (even the parts he doesn’t show to anyone else) is yours.

“You want me to send this video to her to let her know you’re the only girl I want to fuck?” he grunts, making sure his phone captures the way his cock pushes in and out of you, hissing dirtier things that only you hear—the tightest pussy he’s ever had. “Would you like that?”

“Y-yes,” you whine, fingernails digging into his hand wrapped around your throat. “Please, Toru. I want it.”

“So fucking dirty,” he growls, even though he’d do it for you anyway.

He stuffs his cock into you over and over again until you’re a twitching mess underneath him, the walls of your cunt clenching down around him as you cum with a squeak.

“There you go,” he groans into your ear, tossing his phone to the side to pin you against the mattress so he can reach that tender spot deep inside you that made you cum so hard once your foot cramped, his teeth sinking into your shoulder. “Is that what you needed? To make you cum because you’re mine? Fuck, baby—I’ll never get tired of this perfect little cunt.”

“Better not,” you whimper, eyelashes wet, squirming beneath him as he fucks you hard into the soft sheets.

“Never, sweetheart, never.” Gojo’s thrusts turn rough and brutal, almost working you into overstimulation just to prove a point. "You're my girl. The only one for me."

It's not quite an 'I love you,' but it's close.

Afterward, he pulls you between the sheets, holds you close with a hand cupping the back of your head, and asks you to stay.

“For good this time. No more leaving in the morning,” he whispers, lips grazing your cheek. “You like the walk-in closet and the clawfoot tub. We have enough room to turn the spare bedroom into an office for you because you like how sunny it gets in there during the day.”

It’s not a question, but you still say ‘I do’ because you really like how the word we sounds coming from him.

“Then…stay.”

…You say yes because it’s not as if you want to be anywhere else.

#gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo smut #gojo satoru smut #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru x you #jjk x you #jjk x reader #jjk smut #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen smut #jujutsu kaisen x you #jjk fic

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mercurycft · 14 days

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𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 — 𝐊𝐌

## katie mccabe x reader !!

hi pookies!! once again i apologise for the lateness.. but i really hope you enjoy this.. my little tattoo-lover heart got a little carried away with this, but i love this concept so much and i hope you do too! its a little different than the original idea for the direction of this, but either way, i really enjoyed this!! happy reading! love always - RG! x

i would also like to say! this is inspired by a fic i saw on my feed about a tattoo artist x alexia (i think) and i loved it! if i find the account i will top the link to their fic here!

contains: tattoo artist reader! shameless flirting! angsty make up sex, cocky!katie, fight for dominance, oral - both receiving, rough grabbing, dirty talk, fingering, useless lesbians, top!katie and brat!reader, foul language.

r's masterlist - requests open!

4.6k words

CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE & CONTENT 18+

a knock at your door was a disruption to your night time routine - pyjamas already on, makeup off, hair tied back and your toothbrush hanging from your lips. you slipped on your slippers and headed down the stairs, still brushing your teeth when you pulled the door open to reveal a familiar face.

she was in a similar state. hair tied back messily, loungewear on and no makeup accept for her eyelash extensions. your eyes lifted from the floor to finally meet hers on the other side of the threshold

“katie..?”

“can i come in?”

3 months ago.

a notification past 7pm would usually be ignored.

and it was the first time, then the second, then the third. the fourth, however, was followed by a groan from your sprawled-out position on your sofa. although tempted to put your phone onto 'do not disturb' and continue the twilight marathon you started the previous night, you stretched across the empty space and patted around to locate your phone - simultaneously pausing the tv and shifting to sit with your back against the pillows for a change.

katie_mccabe11 liked your story.

katie_mccabe11 liked your post.

katie_mccabe11 started following you.

you have 1 new message.

"katie mccabe.." you whispered into the emptiness of your apartment, crossing your legs beneath you and clicking on the notification on your screen. "why do i know her.." you racked your brain, pursing your lips. you noted the football shirt in her profile picture alongside the blue verified tick beside her username and used your critical thinking skills to put two and two together, chuckling at the thought of your younger sister losing her mind at another footballer dming you.

you waited a few seconds before opening her message, reading it carefully and silently. "that's how i know her.." you replied to yourself, whilst alone.

last week you had beth mead in your seat at the shop, getting a small paw print behind her ear and chatting yours off in the process. you spoke about a lot of things, you're used to that though. sometimes people just need someone to talk to - and who better than their tattoo artist? you liked beth, she was lovely, easy to talk to. the kind of person you would be friends with. she wasn't with you for long, an hour tops and it flew by. at the end of the appointment you exchanged socials and she left with a 'i'll tell the girls about you!".

you didn't really watch football, but you knew enough - and you would be lying if the thought of your name being chucked around between a very attractive group of women didn't make your stomach twist.

you typed your reply to katie quickly. starting with your usual friendly opening, explaining your upcoming availability and then ending with a single kiss. you had no available appointment spaces for the next three weeks, but you hoped that beth really sold you and your passion enough that she would consider waiting. she read it almost immediately, making your eyes widen and quickly swipe away from the message in an effort to not seem like a total weirdo.

her reply flashed across the top of your screen a few seconds later.

'ill take it x'

—————————

appointment day.

it was appointment day and god were you a nervous wreck. you arrived at the shop an hour earlier than normal to open up and clean before she arrived - she was your first and only appointment of the day and you wanted to make a good first impression. you prepared what you would need, laying your tools out on the table beside you and making a coffee - which would no doubt be freezing cold by the time you actually got around to drinking it.

you connected your phone to the bluetooth speakers around the room and shuffled your playlist just as the doorbell rang from the front of the shop. 7:59. you didn't know much about katie, having restrained yourself from going full-on stalker mode over the last few weeks leading up to her appointment. but clearly she was punctual.

as you unlocked the door and smiled to her through the glass, you couldn't help but realise how strikingly attractive she was. her hair pulled into a tight and slick ponytail at the back of her head, a deep green tracksuit complimenting her tanned skin and bright eyes.

"good morning!" you greeted cheerfully, welcoming her in.

you watched as her eyes scanned around the room, studying the artwork on the walls before they landed back on you and a smile spread across her face to match yours.

"mornin' hope i've not been a fuss this early.." she joked as you embraced each other in one of those awkward-but-friendly-first-meeting hugs, causing you to laugh softly.

"oh it's no bother, serious." you waved her comment off, shutting the door behind you both and leading her over to your station at the back of the shop. you didn't expect her accent to be so thick, but the way her voice sat heavy in the space between you had you clenching your jaw.

the pair of you made small talk as she got situated and sat on the leather bed whilst you pulled up a stall and your phone to take another look at the pictures she had previously sent, grabbed a pen and then pulled a pad of paper onto your lap. laying the phone down so she could see as well.

you sat across from katie, discussing designs and what she would and wouldn't like. she was engrossed in the conversation, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm as you shared ideas and suggestions. you found yourself doodling on the paper, absentmindedly drawing whatever came to mind as she chatted about the specifics of what she wanted. every now and then, your eyes would meet hers, and a playful smile would tug at the corners of your lips.

there was silence between you for a few beats as your pen etched across the paper and completed the first sketch of the possible design. when you finished you looked up and turned the paper towards her before you could ask how she felt about it she spoke up.

"how do you do that?"

"do what?" you replied playfully with a smile.

"how can you just listen and draw? it's so cool.." she sounded genuinely bewildered for a moment and you couldn't help but laugh lowly.

"honestly, it just happens. when someone describes what they want i see it in my head and just let my pen translate it." you explained with a shrug, looking at her again.

"well its sick, i won't lie!"

"thank you.. i'm a woman of many, many talents.." it came out a lot more suggestive sounding than intended, mental cursing yourself and begging internally that she wouldn't see the pink tint you could feel spreading across your cheeks. you looked back down at the page before she could notice, avoiding her eyes.

"oh i bet." she added, smirking across from you.

you both sat like that for another ten minutes, brainstorming ideas and katie watching you bring them to life like a magician until you both finally settled on a design. you couldn’t believe how natural the interaction was coming and conversation flowing. you embraced the shared banter between you and leant into her jokes.

the design she had settled on was small and intricate but you knew you could free-hand it, so decided against using a stencil for the work. “right, i am gonna wash my hands and get everything sterilised, you get comfy and have a think about where you want it. okay?” you said as you stood up and ripped out the page you were using, placing it beside your other supplies so it was easy to use as a reference. katie replied with a small “sounds good to me,” and you heard her shuffle around the bed and as you made your way to the sink you could feel her eyes on you, following you away.

when you returned to her, she was sat more comfortably and had discarded her hoodie. the ribbed vest she was hiding left little to your imagination, revealing her arms and more of that heavenly tanned skin to your prying eyes. you tried not to look, but were made too aware of yourself failing miserably when she caught your gaze and you watched her suppress a chuckle.

once you were situated on the stool again, you took a deep breath and turned towards her. “so where are you thinking?” she sat silently in response, deep in thought.

“either here,” she pointed to the inside of her bicep to punctuate her point “or here..” she added quietly as her thumb hooked into the waistband of her joggers and shimmied them down a couple of inches until you could see the skin at the bottom of her stomach- in line with her hip. perhaps you looked for a second too long, or she heard you gulp, or maybe your fears were real and she could in fact hear your heart rattling against the boney cage of your ribs in your heaving chest - but the way you heard her exhale a humorous breath and tense her stomach muscles snapped you back into reality.

“which one would you prefer?” you questioned, professionally.

“probably my hip.” you nodded in agreement, smiling and internally celebrating at her decision. “and as a bonus i get to watch you gawk at me for however long it takes,” she teased, earning a small smack to the upper thigh and an eye roll.

“i was absolutely not gawking!” you defended with a smile.

“oh yeah, alright then..”

you rolled your eyes again and stood to grab a small bottle of sanitiser and a disposable razor, placing them on the table - once you made sure she was comfortable you sat down again.

“i’m going to pull your joggers down a couple inches, is that okay?” you waited for her reply before making any moves closer to her.

“of course,”

“perfect.”

you got straight to work, dragging them down until the area she had pointed out was revealed again - only this time you could see the band of her underwear peaking out from beneath the fabric and it had you drawing in a careful breath. you circled the skin with your pinky finger lightly and showed her the length and width the ink would cover, double checking that was exactly where she wanted.

the tattoo itself took no longer than forty minutes to complete. once you were finished you sanitised and made sure it was exactly how she wanted before moving to discard any disposables used. she took it like a champ the entire time, only slightly flinching when the needle grazed a particularly tender spot.

you spoke to her about the aftercare and how to take care of it whilst it healed, then covered it with second skin and soothed the area - moving to wash your hands and stand against the counter. “any questions?”

you sat speaking for another hour, and you were sure at times she was stalling so she wouldn’t need to leave.

“when do you finish?”

“whenever you want to go,”

“why didn’t you say! i don’t want to hold you up, love..” she tutted and began collecting her stuff. you laughed at her huffing like a child and led her towards the front desk.

the petname made your stomach jump, twisting and twitching in your abdomen as you studied her. the way she moved and smiled, how her eyes pierced through you like she was reading your mind - how you were so sure she actually could see and read the filth behind your own eyes.

at the front she paid and thanked you another couple hundred times as you let her out the door. she stepped over the threshold and gave you another small hug. “thank you again, i really love it.”

“stop thanking me! i’m just glad i could do your vision justice..” you smiled and shrugged, “you’re welcome anytime, just pop me a message!”

“that’s just because you want to look at my stomach again..” she called, walking to her car and waving.

“shut up.” you rolled your eyes, laughing. “don’t be a stranger!”

—————————

during the appointment you and katie exchanged numbers and for days, weeks, months you texted each other everyday. you met for coffee, went to watch her and the team (who you got along with swimmingly) practice, you even went to watch all of their matches.

you had been inseparable since that first meeting, you shared things about each other previously unknown by anyone, spent evenings and nights at each others homes and got aquatinted with family and friends.

after spending so long together, the pair of you had become incredibly close - often sharing a bed, and clothes. you couldn’t help but feel things for her, for katie. your stomach became a harvest ground for butterflies and your heart rattled with longing for her.

you came close to telling her, to explaining how you felt - until one day, it just stopped.

the meetings stopped,

then the match invites,

then the messages,

everything stopped.

—————————

present day - 2 months later.

over the last months without talking to katie, you threw yourself into work and university in an attempt to distract yourself. you felt like you were going through a break up - could you even call it that? could you categorise this into the break up section? a friend break up? whatever it was, it hurt, and you found yourself still thinking about her.

friday nights felt weird now. usually sat on the sofa with a takeaway, katie sat on the other side with her food in her lap - laughing at some stupid program she had put on. now it was empty in the apartment, and you sat on the sofa alone with a cup of tea watching telly until it was time to get ready for bed.

you showered, careful to avoid putting soap the area of your newest tattoo addition on your wrist - letting the warm water run over the skin. when you were done, you made sure to moisturise and then cover it up again before getting dressed into your pjs.

you brushed your hair, and then began brushing your teeth - staring at yourself in the mirror and studying the ink that now littered your arms and chest.

you were deep in though when a a knock at your door disrupted your night time routine - still brushing your teeth when you pulled the door open to reveal a familiar face. your eyes lifted from the floor to finally meet hers on the other side of the threshold.

“katie..?

“can i come in?”

“uh, yeah- yeah- sure,” you stammered and stepped back to open the door wider for her, stepping away into the kitchen area to spit the froth from your toothpaste into the sink and quickly rinse before running back to shut the door behind her.

it was awkward. she stood in front of you in silence for a few beats, looking down at the ground as if she was figuring out what to say. you stood a few steps away, leant on the wall beside you with your arms crossed across your chest.

"why are you-"

"look i dont know why-"

you both spoke over eachother, breaking the silence that sat heavy between the walls. you shared a smile, it was brief, but it was there as you met her blues and waved your hand - gesturing for her to continue.

"look, i don't know why i'm here. i just got in my car and then i was on the drive and i just needed to speak to you. i just wanted to see you-"

"oh god you never shut up mccabe.." you whispered with an eye roll as you advanced towards her.

one step. what if she doesn't want this?

two steps. what if i've read this all wrong?

three steps. jesus her perfume..

every step you took was narrated by that voice in your head, you know, that one that tells you to shut up in uncomfortable situations and the one that speaks to you when you watch something brilliantly but so stupidly funny. you couldn't stop to think out loud, you couldn't stop full stop. point blank. period.

your feet were moving faster than your thoughts, and your thoughts were moving faster than your logic until you were so close you could feel her soft breath caressing the skin of your face.

"tell me not to, and i won't." you said softly

"god, you've always been too sweet for me."

there was no time to register what she said, her lips were on yours. they were everything you had thought of, they were soft but she kissed you with urgency. breathing heavily as her hands raised to either side of your face, pulling you closer than physically possible. your lips moved together sweetly, full of love.

you stayed like that for a few minutes, soaking each other in until she pulled away. lips swollen, taking a deep breath. there were no words exchanged between you, only eye contact - the sound of breathing shared. then you crashed together again, lips connected for a second time in the space of five minutes.

this time however, was harsher, and fast-paced. she was in control, gagging for it. hands grabbing at whatever fabric they could find on the opposing body, a small moan falling from your lips when her hands squeezed the skin of your waist and her lips broke from yours momentarily to grunt out a "jump." to which you gladly obliged, legs wrapping around her waist and her hands finding the skin at the top of your thighs - she held you like nothing, with no struggle as she passed through the hall and up the four steps to your bedroom.

when she placed you back down onto your feet you were quick to tug your top up and over your head, discarding it on the floor. before you could continue she grabbed your hand, finger tracing gently over the still-fresh tattoo across your wrist.

"this is new," katie whispered.

"i had a lot of time on my hands." you replied at the same volume, shrugging. she chuckled lightly, reading the words now littering the skin. "and you were always saying i was sweet.."

"aye, and you're yet to prove me wrong."

"don't start something you can't finish, katie."

"oh i'm very, very good at finishing, actually."

"shut up."

this time you had her, hands on the back of her neck as you pulled her in. grabbing the fabric that sat at the nape of her neck and pulling it over her head, only breaking the kiss until your path was cleared again. you span around, walking backwards until the back of her knees hit the edge of the bed causing her to lay down. you wasted no time in straddling the top of her thighs, arms on either side of her head.

"behave." she muttered, hands gripping your thighs and switching your positions on the bed, now towering over you, arms replacing yours on the bed. mouth moving to your neck, nipping at the skin beneath your ear. "stop acting like you don't want me to have my way with you."

"stop acting like you've got it in you." you quipped back, smirking when her teeth grazed your earlobe roughly. her hand raising to grip your jaw and forcefully turn your head to face her.

"is that a challenge? hm?" it was rhetorical, her eyebrows raised and voice low.

"prove it."

she didn't need further pushing, lifting herself off the bed and taking a few steps back. you propped yourself up onto your elbows to watch, head tilted when she stared at you blankly. eyes flicking to your shorts before back up to your face.

"take em' off."

"you take them off."

"take. them. off. i won't be asking again."

you gave in with a huff, rolling your eyes and lifting your hips to peel your shorts off. biting down a smirk as you lifted your legs back onto the bed - revealing yourself to her.

"awfully cocky there, love."

"as if you don't love it."

"do you always have such a smart mouth?"

"i have a very lovely mouth."

"oh i bet."

she was on her knees then, face level with you. eyes locked on your gleaming pussy, fingers gliding through your folds and collecting your slick before bringing her digits to slip between her lips - tasting you. she laid her fingers back against you, prints flat against your clit, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make your head fall back on the bed behind you with a desperate moan.

she drew tight circles, watching you throb beneath her fingers. you moaned at the contact, your clit already sensitive. you didn't know how she managed it, but she had you falling apart from the pressure alone - and you could tell she loved every second of it with her lips drawn into a cocky smirk at the sight of your mouth falling agape when you began rutting up into hands as a plea for more.

“does that feel good darlin'?” she asked from between your thighs, her lips pressed against the soft skin of your leg, stopping their sloppy kisses for a second. you whimpered in response, nodding slowly. “use your words, love.”

“yes it feels good..” you whispered, licking your lips, your mouth increasingly dry.

“good girl..” she added, jaw clenched when she attached her lips to your thighs again. you savoured the feeling, the delicious feeling as she dragged her fingers roughly against you. the praise made your legs tense against her lips, sending a rush of pleasure down through the depths of your stomach.

“i want more. please.”

"hm? what was that?”

“i want your fingers..” you confessed, dragging your own teeth along the back of your hand which you were using to muffle the sultry sounds tumbling from your lips - biting down against the skin when you felt your face flush.

“please,” you begged, hips rising off the bed in a desperate act for more friction. she shut you down quickly, using her free hand to pin your hips back to the mattress.

“please what, darling..” she stalled, slowing down to an unbearable speed.

“i need you to fuck me,” your words made you squirm, eagerly waiting as you felt a single finger travel down and tease your hole before she pushed into you slowly. her own thighs clenching at the sound of you gasping as she added another finger, curling them methodically inside of you.

she stretched you out perfectly, her fingers moving at just the right speed to have you moaning with every thrust into you. her pace and pressure increased with the volume of your whimpers, back arched into her touch and face buried in your arms as her fingers pressed perfectly inside of you. she curled her fingers to press against your g-spot, mentally noting how perfect you sounded chanting her name. taking advantage of you being preoccupied by the pleasure, she moved to lay her tongue flat against your clit. fingers still moving inside you as she carefully flicked the bundle of nerves between her lips.

a moan rattled from the back of her throat as you coated her taste buds, the vibrations travelling straight to the fire now raging in the pit of your stomach and coursing through your legs - coaxing out a moan of your own.

she felt you tense and squeeze around her fingers, your clit throbbing against her mouth when she lifted her eyes to survey the scene above her. your eyes screwed shut and teeth gripping your bottom lip so tight it was sure to leave a mark. chest heaving and hands twisting in the sheets.

"you going to cum for me?"

“y-yes,” you stuttered, eyes rolling into the back of your head when her fingers curled a final time and she took your clit into her mouth with a pop.

“thats it. good girl.”

that was all it took for you, your orgasm crashing through your body and shaking through your limbs. legs shaking beside her head and cunt tensing around her fingers. back arched and screaming out her name.

katie let you ride it out, only stilling her fingers and withdrawing her tongue from you when your back finally laid against the bed again - catching your breath. she brought her fingers up to your mouth and slipped them past your lips for a second as she moved to straddle you, climbing up from the floor. her fingers dragged down the length of your chin and were replaced with her mouth, her tongue finding yours - allowing you to taste yourself from her mouth.

"wanna taste you," you managed to croak out through the kisses, gulping and lifting your hands to press against her chest. pushing her back and towards the pillows at the head of the bed until she was laid down. "my turn.." you whispered seductively in her ear, lips pursed and leaving small kisses in your path as you travelled down the length of her body.

her tracksuit bottoms were removed quickly and your fingers were hooked into the band of her underwear, pulling them down her tanned legs until they followed the rest of the clothes to reside on the floor. she was dripping, and the sight alone was enough to have you salivating below her.

the scrunchie in your hair had loosened after the previous events of the evening, and your hair was limp enough for her to slide her hand into the back of your locks. gripping tightly and pulling you closer to her pussy.

"go on, make me feel good."

you needed no further instruction, moving closer to her before she had even finished the sentence. you laid your tongue flat against her, lapping her up. she tasted almost as good as she looked. her eyes focused on you and her hand tight against your scalp, guiding you.

you couldn't look away, allowing her to take you as she wanted. moving your head against the rhythm of her hips - moaning your name when your eyes met hers innocently. her head fell against the headboard when you whimpered against her, her own noises mirroring yours as her legs started to close around your head.

"fuck, thats it. i'm gonna cum," she groaned, both hands on the back of your head as you drank her in. nodding eagerly between her thighs, silently begging for her to cum for you.

and she did. hard. crying your name out into the room around you, followed by a string of curses until she finally released your head from her hands and her legs laid limp beside her on the bed.

"jesus christ."

"nope, just me." you teased, now occupying the space beside her on the pillows. both of your bodies coated in a sheen layer of sweat and your eyes threatened to close with the sound of her steady breathing when her arms moved to embrace you.

"i didn't mean to just disappear how i did," she began, causing you to look at her again. "i just didn't want you to get caught up in the shit show that is my life,"

"katie, you could've just said you needed a bit of space,"

"but i don't think that's what i wanted, i just didn't to ruin what we were doing, and well, making.." she paused, taking one of your hands into her own and bringing her lips to press against the skin.

"you were just too sweet to me,"

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alittlebitofsainz · 1 month

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a place in this world (carlos’ version)

Chapter 2: Enchanted

an invite to dinner with team 55, a weekend where your driver doesn’t even start the race, a late night hotel room visit to lift both your spirits. life is a rollercoaster, as they say.

pairing: carlos sainz x f!reader, slow burn colleagues to friends to lovers, angst/comfort if you squint

warnings: the usual swearing

a/n: yes I know the sainz family would probably never rent a holiday villa on villaplus dot com, I just needed a quick link to fit the texts in the story

masterlist | chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

13th August, 2020

three days to the Spanish GP

two weeks. that’s how long it had been since carlos sainz had last texted your number. well, one week and six days. not that you were counting, or anything.

you’d seen him in between, of course, for the 70th anniversary grand prix at silverstone, and this weekend for the spanish gp, which had gone markedly better than the two in the uk. he’d scoffed when he’d seen his name in your phone: cs55? is that all I am to you, a pair of initials and a number? it had been playful, of course, but you wondered whether there was a part of him that had been genuinely hurt - you could swear you’d heard it in his voice. but then it was your turn: y/n engineer? what, in case you mix me up with other other y/ns you know? and that was how you’d ended up changing each others contact names (and, of course, carlos had insisted on taking a photo of you to add to your contact details, and you felt obliged to reciprocate, so now you were greeted with his goofy, lop sided smile every time you opened your messages app. a fact you weren’t exactly mad about).

you weren’t exactly mad about the message which confronted you right now, either - surprised, confused and once again intrigued were more appropriate words that sprung to mind. your mind was going into overdrive. dinner? with carlos? like, out in public? surely the rumour mill would go absolutely mental: carlos sainz spotted with mysterious brunette at restaurant in barcelona. but if he seemed to think it was a good idea…

one week and six days, that’s how long it had been since carlos sainz had felt that feeling of relief, of letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, when she texted him back.

as he’d reread his text over and over after sending it, he realised that it very much sounded like he was asking her on a date, god forbid. In reality, he was going out with a group of mates from his team at mclaren, and seeing as she’d mentioned that she’d never been to barcelona before, he’d only wondered if she’d wanted to join them so she could see some of the city. he was starting to wonder whether perhaps he should’ve lead with that fact.

but it hadn’t seemed to have phased her, thank god, although carlos would’ve given a pretty penny to know what was going through her head right now. in fact, he seemed to wish to know what was going on inside her head most days recently, her paradox being that she seemed so straightforward yet complex at the same time. how could a girl who was such an open book still be such a mystery to him?

a group meal. of course. of course! that made so much more sense, a thousand times more sense in fact. why had your mind immediately leapt to some weird, intimate, romantic dinner date with carlos when the obvious explanation was staring you right in the face? do you want to come for dinner with me and the team, seeing as you are in fact part of the team was so much more normal than hey, I’ve known you for five months and I’m a world famous, very wealthy formula one driver, would you, a regular degular race engineer from the south east of england, like to go on a date with me? yeah, no, you’d been a grade a idiot for that one. was there a small part of you that was disappointed? you decided that now was not the time to overanalyse your own feelings; now was the time to find an outfit.

carlos couldn’t hide the grin on his face, all the way to the restaurant. it only started to falter when they arrived bang on 8 o’clock, and then waited, 8:04, and waited, 8:07 and waited, 8:11. it reappeared again when she rounded the corner, slightly flustered and breathless.

“god, I’m so sorry, I got lost.” she apologised with a deep inhale, trying to get her breath back. carlos shook his head and chuckled, the sound low in his throat.

“don’t worry about it. we haven’t been waiting long.” he reassured her. it almost surprised him; usually he would take any opportunity to tease her, especially for being late like she so always was. But there was something about the way her cheeks were flushed that shade of red that gave away that she’d been rushing, and the way her eyes flicked nervously, apologetically, from person to person, that made him feel almost guilty. and when she offered him the warmest, sweetest, most grateful smile he thought he’d ever seen, carlos’ face lit up like a christmas tree.

he pulled her seat out for her when they reached their table, making sure to choose one next to him. an expression crossed her face as she whispered a ‘thank you’ that carlos had never seen before from her - was she nervous? shy? he couldnt put a finger on it. perhaps it was the fact that she didn’t know the rest of the people at the table that well - yes, that must be it. so why, when he knew everyone at this table, and very well he might add, was he feeling the exact same way?

“woah, this place is gorgeous.”

a marbled kitchen adorned your phone screen, and you swiped to the next photo to see a similarly tiled, much smaller room. wow, even the bathroom was fancy.

“and you go here every year?” you continued, swiping again and again to reveal several photos of the master bedroom, all from different angles. you and carlos had been discussing family holidays whilst you all waited for your plates to be cleared, and he’d decided to show you, rather than tell you, about the holiday villa that he and his family often frequented on the costa blanca.

“not every year. as often as we can get out there, though.”

his breath tickled your neck as he leaned over your shoulder to watch as you continued to flick through the photos, the glistening aquamarine pool so large it took up the whole screen, the pale blue glow reflecting on your face. you both leaned back for a moment to allow the waitress to clear the empty dinner plates, before returning your attention to your phone. there was a loud laugh from down the other end of the table, clearly a hilarious conversation was happening between the rest of the group - you both seemed oblivious to it.

“well, it’s no costa blanca, but we love it there.”

carlos’ eyes crinkled at the edges as he grinned, now swiping through pictures on his phone. he let out a chuckle at her comment, as he swiped to reveal the kitchen, a tiny little alcove with slightly dated wooden cupboards and curtains on the windows that were covered in pictures of farm animals.

“where did you say it was again?” carlos asked, fingers swiping again, this time showing a picture of the dining area. his eyes were focused on the french doors at the back of the room, leading out to a patio and a small garden, but beyond that was absolute nothingness - just trees and open sky as far as the eye could see.

“north yorkshire. it’s like, five hours north of london.” she explained, knowing that london was really the only point of reference carlos had when it came to england. she reached out a finger, swiping on his phone to reveal the next picture.

“and that-“ she pointed to a railway line, a large, old fashioned steam train in the process of chugging up the hill, frozen in time by the image. “- is why we go there.”

“and that’s right outside the cottage?”

“and that’s right outside the cottage.” she repeated back to him, an almost proud smile on her face. it was the little things that made her smile.

“that’s really cool.” carlos replied, almost surprising himself by how genuinely he meant that. since when had he been impressed by a tiny two bed cottage in the countryside, with nothing around but trees, hills and a steam train? but when her eyes lit up, her face cracking into a grin, he understood what had changed.

“really?” she asked, the same hint of surprise lacing her voice.

“really.” he replied, glancing up to meet her eyes. “I never got to explore much of the english countryside, and now I’m moving to italy I guess I probably won’t be able to.”

“I always saw you as more of a city guy.” she picked up her wine glass by the stem as she spoke, giving it a small swirl before tipping the wine glass back and taking a final sip, finishing the drink. carlos mirrored her, considering his reply.

“I don’t think I could live in the country.” he explained, “but it’s a nice escape from everything.”

“yeah,” she set her wine glass back down, a small, imperceptible sigh escaping her lips, “I know exactly what you mean.”

30th August 2020, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Belgian Grand Prix, DNS

you stared into the mirror on the wall of the bathroom you were getting changed in, and found your scowling face staring back at you. in the past four races, your driver had had rotten luck in three of them, and you could tell how frustrating it was getting for him, and you.

which was why you were surprised when you took out your phone from your pocket and read his message. you were sure he’d leave as soon as he could, which was half the reason you’d disappeared off to the bathrooms to get changed out of your overalls and into a pair of jeans, grand ideas of heading back to the hotel and catching the latest episode of love island going round in your head.

but carlos was staying? you loathed him for it - you now felt you ought to stay too, pulling your top on over your head and combing through your hair in the mirror before grabbing your things and heading out into the corridor. but as you stalked back towards the garage, a thundercloud still hanging fairly low over your head, you realised that you also admired him for it. not everyone would stick around after failing to even start the race. heck, the majority of drivers probably couldn’t be out the door fast enough. but there was something about carlos sainz.

she was there before he’d even had time to pull out his phone, all fake smiles and an ingenuine spring in her step. faint, fading creases around her eyebrows were the only indicators that she’d ever been frowning, ever let herself be unhappy about the situation, now being replaced with new lines from forcing her lips to curve upwards just like that. how come carlos had only known her, what, five months now, and yet he felt like he knew her so well?

“hey.” he greeted simply as she made her way over to the monitors where carlos was stood, a pair of orange headphones around her neck, the same as he had round his. as she came to stand next to him, he threw an arm round her shoulders, squeezing her into a side hug. was he imagining things, or did she lean oh-so-delicately into his touch? the next moment she was pulling away, looking him square in the eye.

“you okay?” she asked softly.

“not really, you?”

“no, not at all.”

and then they were both smiling, almost laughing, all curved lips and sparkling eyes, nothing fake or ingenuine about their expressions. how did she always manage to do that? turn such a shitty situation on its head, leave carlos smiling when all he wanted to do was crawl into a dark hole and avoid everyone for a very long time? as he looked at her, really looked at her, he was beginning to understand that maybe, just maybe, he had the same effect on her.

you’d used that phrase a few weeks ago, after the second race at silverstone, the second thirteenth place in a row, and now carlos couldn’t stop using it. you’d noticed him picking up a lot of your phrases and mannerisms recently, his friends teasing him whenever he pulled out a ‘swings and roundabouts’, or god forbid a slap on the thigh and a call of ‘right!’ to announce that it was time to leave. they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

it was several hours after the race had concluded; you were now bundled up in a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt, splayed out on your bed mindlessly scrolling through instagram when his message came through. you were becoming increasingly less surprised every time carlos texted you, a level of understanding developing between you that you enjoyed each other’s company, and you wagered that you could both do with some cheering up round about now.

it had been a bit of a long shot, carlos realised. the two of them had never hung out one on one outside of the events of the race weekend, but right now there was no one else he’d rather speak to, rather while away the hours of the evening watching all the trash tv they’d spoken about over dinner a few weeks ago. no matter how frequently he messaged her nowadays, he still always got butterflies when she texted back.

it wasn’t even five minutes before she was knocking at his door, the orange of her mclaren sweatshirt picking up the flecks of amber in her eyes, still somehow shining through even in the low light. since when had he started to take notice of things like that?

her presence lit up the room immediately, both metaphorically and physically.

“anyone would think you’re a vampire, considering how many times I’ve found you sitting alone in the dark.” she chastised as she flicked on the lamp in the corner, adding a soft warm glow to carlos’ hotel room. he chuckled.

“can you blame me?”

his tone was light, a soft smile across his lips, but there was a hint of sadness to his voice which gave him away. her own smile faltered, as she went over to join him sitting on the bed. she sat shoulder to shoulder with him, as she had done on the pitwall earlier, watching the remainder of the race in companiable silence; the warmth seemed to radiate through carlos’ body from the spot where her upper arm met his, as it had done then as well.

“no, I suppose not.”

she sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair off of her forehead. carlos turned to look at her; she appeared to be thinking before she finally spoke.

“you know, I admire what you did today.”

“what, not start the race?”

that earned him a playful bump to the shoulder and a small, musical laugh.

“no! no, I mean staying around to watch the race. not many drivers would do that in your position.” the corners of her mouth still twitched with the remnants of the way he’d made her laugh, but he could sense some sort of sincerity behind her words. he shrugged his shoulders, as if trying to shrug off the swelling sense of pride he was feeling as it sunk in: she admired him.

“I’m sure many drivers would have done the same thing. I’m not special.” he replied, feeling suddenly very humble under her gaze. she shook her head, the movement almost immediate.

“you are special.” her voice caught in her throat slightly at the first word, causing the other two to come out quietly, her voice almost a whisper. if the room hadn’t been completely silent, carlos might have been able to convince himself that he hadn’t heard them, that he’d imagined it.

they spent the rest of the evening as he’d imagined it - talking about anything and everything whilst netflix took them through episode after episode of selling sunset in the background. it was nearly midnight by the time she returned to her own room, latching her arms round his neck as she said goodnight to him with an embrace. her hair tickled his nose; he swore he could still feel it now, even when he was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, several hotel rooms separating them. her words were still going round in his head. he reckoned they probably would stay there for quite some time.

you are special. you are special. you are special.

taglist: @itsjustkhaos

message/comment if you want to be added!

#f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 x y/n #f1 x female reader #carlos sainz #carlos sainz x reader #carlos sainz x you #carlos sainz x y/n #f1 fic #f1 imagine

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tookthe-405 · 6 days

Text

VBS

Chapter 2 (part 2)

Love me Anyway ~Chappell roan

DAILY CLICK🇵🇸 DONATE ON

LINKS🍉🍉 GOFUND.ME!

rebel!ellie x fem!reader

a/n: i just really wanted to show what happens after the "prank"

summary: you grew up religious without questions adn in summer you would get send to vacation bible school. The camp felt like prison to you, until a very interesting girl appeared.

The night was very stressful, for you and for Ellie. While you couldn't sleep because guilt was eating you up from the inside, Ellie couldn't sleep because because the excitement of seeing the pastor's face kept her brain up. You'd be lying if you said you didn't regret anything, because you do. Just not enough to tell anyone.

If you could have ratted out Ellie, everyone would know that it was done out of manipulation, even if that's really not the case.

Ellie isn't manipulating you, you're just under her spell. And you're pretty sure she doesn't know anything about it, so how manipulative can it be?

This morning you got up earlier than everyone else. you hardly slept at all and only listened your heartbeat getting faster and faster. Around 4 a.m. you dozed off, but it was more of an uncomfortable half-sleep. You looked at yourself in the mirror and thought about the many years before, where you would´ve been scared of Ellie, afraid of being thrown out of camp and losing the respect of the church.

That fear still exists, but you no longer felt it in your blood, because no matter what happened you would find a place, maybe even the one where you belong. It would also be nice if Ellie would be part of this place.

After the sermon in the morning, buses arrived at the youth hostel to take you to the small town that was half an hour away. Hood River was a small town in Oregon and you visit it at least twice a year to talk to people about God. In fact, there are already many believers there, but Pastor Toby is never really satisfied with this small town, as if he has a private dispute with the pretty place.

You were still outside and waiting for the bus with Ellie and the others, when you saw the many group leader loading the candied apples into a separate car. The reality of the prank hit you again.

But Ellie calmed you down and told you and the girls about the many crazy pranks that the middle school students had pulled at her school.

She seemed to be fitting into the group more and more, changing parts and information about herself to fit into the picture and it made you a little sad to know it. Having to watch it.

Ellie is great exactly the way she is, she shouldn't have to change. In no world she should ever feel out of place.

After the trip, the organization started. The town is a bit big, but you already know where Christians live and you only go to the houses where non-religious people opened the door last year, or closed it again very quickly.

"We're taking over the lover lane and we´ll just move forward to the eugene street," announces Louisa, who has completely prepared for today.

She goes ahead with a city map and lots of candied apples in her cloth bag.

"Ellie, I have such a bad feeling about this"

"It's all good, we haven't been anywhere yet."

When you arrived on the quiet street, the mid-20-year-old explained that it would be smarter if everyone answered the doors one at a time, as it would be quicker that way.

"Does everyone know their sayings and verses?" Sometimes, Hazel seems more professional than Louisa herself.

"Yes Hazel, how dare we forget it" ellie sighs

the curly haired girl almost hisses at Ellie.

"We'll meet everyone here again when you're done with your houses."

You all split up into parts and the thought of being separated from Ellie makes you incredibly nervous.

The first house is house number 10.

The house itself looks peaceful. Blue painted, with the American flag proudly hoisted and a car parked in front yard.

You go through all the steps again.

ask if they believe in the lord

if not, try to demonstrate that god can help in every situation

help through bible verses

distribute the message of the church

deliver the (poisoned) apples

Great.

Your fist hits the brown wooden door, not too quietly and not too loud. You could see Ellie grinning in front of you and talking about God whether she really meant it or not.

“Hello?”

you quickly put on a smile.

“Hello, sorry to bother you, I’m part of the community a little further south of here and wanted to ask if you’ve already found your way to jesus?"

You notice that Christians always talk in "Not yet" Terms.

As if we expect every person to find god one day, and the ones that haven´t already are just behind in life.

How annoying it must be to have a stranger to dictate your future.

"ok sweetie i have, but i still worry daily"

That suprises you, normaly the answer is just yes or no. But this lady is ready for a whole conversation on her foot step.

"What kind of worries?"

"i always did what god told me to do and i think i did a good job, but my poor son just doesn´t follow him. I swear i thaught him better! Now he has children who don´t belive and follow jesus path and i dont want them to go to hell!"

The older woman sighs sadly, at the edge of tears.

You´re not really sure what to say to her.

"well i´m positive that god will show himself to every human at some point. Maybe that just hasn´t happened to you family yet?"

The woman turns back slightly and screams a boys name into the house.

"im sorry young lady, but my grandchild is over for the summer and i really want him to hear this"

She squeals in delight, but your blood freezes. It feels as if the child's entire future is in your hands and you briefly thought about handing out the apple now so that she would just throw you out.

"Oh God, this child! Please come in, miss."

That's not on your list of things to do, but something makes your legs wander in anyway.

You can hardly say no now.

"Just sit down, sweetie, I'll get him out of the garden for a moment."

You nod to her and turn your head around the room. Everything looks very… old and religious.

Out of respect, you take off your shoes in the hallway and see that the old woman has slippers just like your grandparents. Large, heavy leather slippers.

The house was definitely old and you wonder if maybe her husband built it. The wallpaper is new, or at least in very good condition, but the old wood on the door frame shows the true age of the house.

You hesitantly sit down on an old chair at the round dining table and peek into the old woman´s kitchen.

Overall, a beautiful house, made for a child's summer, but looks can be deceiving.

You're just staring at the little cross on the wall. For a moment you feel very watched, but you shake the anxious thoughts out of your mind and concentrate again on the here and now.

"Come on! It won't take long, darling."

A young boy sits down on the opposite end of the table, probably not older than 10.

He doesn't feel like being here. Ellie would like him.

You quickly unpack your little Bible and introduce yourself to the boy. He doesn't say anything and just stares at you silently.

His grandma snorts. "unbelieveble, his name is Marcus"

You nod slowly and realize how uncomfortable this situation is.

How are you supposed to convince Marcus, who would rather play outside, to believe in God? The fuck thinks his grandma who you are.

"Well Marcus, your grandma wanted me to tell you about how much God loves you and how much he wants you to be with him at the end of your life-"

"I don't care"

"what"

"I don't want to hear it, grandma!"

His grandmother looks at you forgivingly, but you can also see a desperate pleading.

"Young man-"

"What is that?"

You follow his, finger pointing to the floor where the basket full of garnished apples lies.

"Oh that-"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Now would actually be a good time to die, or at least to be dragged out of this house, by someone who finally realized how cursed this whole mission was from the start

"cool! can i have one"

Marcus suddenly seemed to have found his concentration and respect again. His grandmother also looks at you expectantly.

"Sure."

you slowly take out a wrapped apple, silently hoping that Ellie will breaks into the building and tells you that it's all over. You hand him the apple on a stick and just hope that he isn't hungry yet.

"What the dear lady wants to say is that you should give the lord a chance. He loves you very much and absolutely doesn't want you to end up in eternal fire for-."

You nod very slowly and stare at that damn apple. Poor Marcus. The old woman drives forward.

"What your father taught you is-"

The boy bites into the apple with a grin and it takes exactly 2 seconds until he spits it out again.

You grimace with a sigh.

"Fuck"

"excuse you!"

The Grandma stares at you in disbelief, you worry for a moment whether her old googly eyes might fall out and you imagine how she looks at her grandson like that, every day when he forgets to say amen at the end of a prayer.

Luckily for you, he also starts crying and you probably underestimated his age a bit, or he's just way too dramatic

"what's wrong honey?"

"um i need to go, have a good day"

like a reflex you get up, put your church's contact details on the table and run down the narrow, old but young hallway, put your shoes back on and run out of the house.

Summer air blows through your hair. You seem to have lost all control over your legs because you run and run and run, even when the American flag is nothing more than a small mixture of red, white and blue.

For some reason you suddenly think about a summer with oranges and ellie, another world who is so possible but yet so far away from reality, it almost makes you cry.

The many colors of the houses fly past you and you just grab your bag tighter, so that those shitty apples don't fall out and someone else has to eat them.

You don't even notice where you are until you find the roundabout who lead to the many streets.

"God.." You take a breath over and over again, resting your arms on your knees, but your lungs seem to be allergic to air because it feels like nothing is getting in.

"Hey…"

A hand on your shoulder and you jump back, a small scream leaving your lips, worried that the old lady might have followed you.

Red hair, green eyes and freckles.

Your hand is on your chest and you are breathing deeply and quickly.

Your eyes eat each other up and you are sure that you have never had such an intimate relationship with anyone else in the world.

Thank you so much for being here, for playing a role in my life and for not just being a nameless girl.

She looks at you, the sweat on your forehead and your loose shoes that you probably didn't even tie.

God, does she even know how precious she is to you?

"You scared me"

"I noticed, sorry…"

After a few moments you feel like there was enough eye contact, even though you're pushing for more, so you look away. Pay attention to anything else, the birds in the background, the lake that you can almost see from here or all those American flags.

"Sit down first, you're about to fall over"

Ellie gently grabs your hand. Your hands aren't really linked, she just grabs yours and leads you both to the side of the street, to a small bench.

"It worked, by the way. The apples taste really bad."

Ellie chuckles next to you and lets go of your hand, why does she have to do that?

"I know, a guy almost set his dog on me when he tried one. He was such a disgusting creep, who probably hasn’t showered in days and he was standing in front of me in my bathrobe."

That makes you laugh.

"Those are always the worst. They made little boy cry… he was really mean, but I still feel kinda bad. He didn’t want to listen to anything I said about god”

"Funny guy" Ellie replies and you smile shamelessly at her from the side.

Then she clears her throat and looks forward again.

"I'm sorry if I… dragged you into this. I didn't mean to force you to do anything."

You're now holding her hand, that's resting on her knee.

"You didn't force me to do anything Ellie, you gave me something I always wanted as a child"

"To make a boy cry?"

“Freedom,” you correct her, grinning.

She smiles shyly back and you watch intently as her cheeks become redder and redder. How beautiful this life is!

"Hey guys!"

as quickly as it happened, you take your hand away again and even Ellie slips a little further away from you, still red.

Kate walks down the street towards you with a weak body.

"There's something wrong with these apples"

Thanks for reading and for all the sweet comments and reposts!! Somehow I can’t comment anywhere, not even in my own posts and tumblr won’t help me fix this 😭

by the way, i realised that "tobi" (the pastors name) is fucking german and that in english its toby, so i changed that so sorry guys.

But it means "god is good" which i find pretty fitting

But a biggg thank you to anyone who reads and enjoys my story’s it means a lot to me🫶🫶

Don’t forget to interact with the links!!!!

Taglist: @elliewilliamgfooc @bready101 @a-little-bit-of-everybody @vqxen @hersuniverse @nelzooo @shiimer @bellaramseysgirlfriend @sonthingwithl @vi0lentb3rry @elliewilliamsblunt @be3flow3r @adelaide013 @abbysbraids @liasxeatt @jungkook-37

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myfictionaldreams · 2 years

Note

Eddiexreader request: Hellfire is short a member so Dustin and the boys beg their old babysitter who taught them DND to come play and because they know Eddie has a crush on her and wants to introduce them. Eddie is a nervous wreck.

DUNGEON MASTER MEETS HIS MISTRESS // Eddie Munson x fem!reader

A/N: thank you so much for sending this request! I hope you enjoy! Also side note, I don’t know how to play DnD so please excuse if I’ve got any of the information wrong

Tags: 18+ readers only, sfw, fluff, idiots in love, awkward flirting, friends to lovers (kinda), eddie being cute and nervous, pet names

Word: 3.6k

my masterlist 📚 AO3 Link

“What do you little squirts want?” you asked, casually leaning against the doorframe to your parent’s home. Before you, stood Dustin, Lucus and Mike, all of whom were staring unnervingly at you with wide hopeful eyes, shifting their weights awkwardly from one foot to another as none of them spoke whatever it was that they desperately wanted to say. Lifting your hand, you waved quickly to Mrs Wheeler who was patiently sitting in her car in the driveway, waiting for the three boys to do whatever they had come here to do.

Rolling your eyes playfully, you tried again, “you’re all a little old for me to babysit you guys so, what is it that you want? I like the matching shirts by the way”, you continued, admiring their shirts that read “Hellfire Club”, not that you had any idea as to what this was.

It was Dustin who finally plucked up the courage to take one small step forward, clearing his throat as he looked you in the eye, “honourary lady, we are here to offer you a prestigious invitation to the most established club in all of Hawkins”.

A laugh bubbled in your throat at how dramatic your invitation was, Dustin always did like to be theatrical. Looking between each of the boys, you thought back to when they were just kids, babysitting them every Friday and now here they were, nearly adults. Glancing down at their shirts again, you responded, “let me guess, is it this Hellfire Club?”, they too glanced down at their shirts, but now it was Lucus to step forward.

“We need you, we all need you, we’re desperate”, he pleaded and even though they had convinced you before they’d even asked anything, you still played along looking uncertain.

Next, Mike stepped forward, looking towards Lucus and Dustin, “guys you’re losing her, enough with the theatrics, here’s the thing,” he turned fully to you now. “Yes we are in a group called the Hellfire Club, we hang out every Thursday to play DnD but we’re short of one player for our campaign and we all thought, who better than the person who taught us the game in the first place!”

The corner of your lips twitched up at the fond memories of the five of you - Will would also be there - playing dungeons and dragons in Mike’s basement and how excited they all were when you all finished the first campaign. You’d spent hours upon hours with them explaining all of the rules, creating characters and stories that allowed the imagination to run free.

Looking between each of them, they tried to do their very best ‘puppy dog eyes’ that they could muster. It was Dustin who spoke one final time, asking, “So what do you say? Will you please join the Hellfire Club?”

A big grin spread across your face as you finally relented, “of course, I will dorks, it’s not like I’ve got much else going on at the moment”. Stepping out of the house, swinging the door closed behind yourself, you followed the three cheering boys down the path and into Mrs Wheeler's car.

Walking through the corridors of Hawkins high school was bizarre, to say the least, especially as you’d graduated two years before, you never thought that you would have returned here but the boys quickly explained this is where the club was being held due to the space that they needed and Mrs Wheeler didn’t want the kids screaming in the basement anymore.

“So, who’s in Hellfire club anyway?” you inquired, looking at the three boys who had been acting rather suspiciously since you’d said yes, sharing secret smiles to one another that they thought you wouldn’t have noticed.

Lucus was the one walking next to you and answered your question, counting on his fingers as he went, “well there’s me, Mike, Dustin and Erica who is already there, and also, Jeff, Gareth and..”. This was when they all looked at one another with the secret smile plastered on their faces again, they were definitely hiding something.

“And… who else is in the Hellfire club?”

“Uhh… Eddie Munson”.

Your feet stopped all movement, your heart pounding in your chest at that name. You hadn’t seen Eddie in nearly two years, having been in the same school year as him until he failed and had to resit the year whilst you graduated, if you knew Eddie was going to be here you might have dressed a little nicer, not that this would necessarily matter, it’s not like you ever spoke to him during your time at school anyway.

“Ok… Eddie, I know Eddie… why did you hesitate to say his name, Lucus?” you questioned, looking suspiciously at the boy who was still smirking at his friends.

For a brief second, you thought maybe they had discovered who your high school crush was but it was Mike who suddenly blurted out, “because he has a crush on you!” Lucus and Dustin both smacked Mike in the arm, shouting that he wasn’t supposed to say and that Eddie was going to kill him. “He’s going to freak out either way, what’s the harm” he reasoned, trying to bat away the hands that were still hitting him.

You were thankful that they were all so distracted with telling off Mike that they hadn’t noticed your widen gaze or the fact your knees wobbled slightly at this revelation. There was no way Eddie freaking Munson had a crush on you, absolutely no chance in hell, the boys had to be pranking you or something. “You boys are fucking with me aren’t you, ha ha very funny”.

“What no? Why would we lie about this, he talks about you all the time.” Now you definitely know they’re lying to you, it had been so long since you had even seen him, there was no way he remembered you, let alone enough to talk about you constantly. Rolling your eyes you walked past them, continuing down the corridor until you reached the drama room, pushing heavily against the double doors and walking in.

You’d become so distracted by the fact that the kids had been messing with you, that you hadn’t had time to fully process the fact that you’d be actually in a room with Eddie, as you stood unblinking, staring at him from where he sat in his throne at the head of the table in the centre of the room. He’d changed in the last few years and it looked for the better, not that this helped your bubbling stomach, his hair had grown out and from what you could see on his arm, he’d also got a few tattoos.

You had to remind yourself to take a few deep breaths as the three boys brushed past you to enter further into the room. Maybe it was the gleam of the lights but you swore Eddie’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second as you entered.

Dustin approached the table first, arms wide as he spoke, “you asked for a sub, here’s the best that Hawkins has to offer”, he then pointed to you, and all eyes shifted in your direction as you finally mustered up the courage to walk towards the table.

“Thanks for letting me join your little club” you politely said to the group, eyes nervously flicking from Eddie to the floor and back to Eddie. It wasn’t often that you found yourself nervous, it was embarrassing for the kids to see you like this, so you took another deep breath, rolled your shoulders back and held your head high, looking at the other members of the club before finally resting on Eddie, determined not to flinch away but instead take in every detail of the man, from his silver rings to the deep brown eyes that had you captive for so many years during high school.

Eddie currently was resting his finger against his lips, looking as if he was bored, not even a smile on his lips as he announced, “Welcome to Hellfire.”

As you moved to take your seat, the boys quickly rushed to the other remaining three, conveniently only leaving the seat available that was next to Eddie. Trying not to roll your eyes or collapse at being so close to Eddie you could smell his cheap aftershave and a hint of weed from him, you sat down in the chair.

It was Erica who spoke next however, “wait that's it? Welcome? You gave me loads of shit when I joined, why doesn’t she get the same?”

Eddie only lazily waved his hand at Erica as if dismissing her, “someone quieten the child”. The other boys laughed as Lucus tried to calm Erica down as she looked ready to rip off Eddie’s head.

Glancing back at the man, you tried to take in more details without looking like you were staring at him, did he always used to be so fidgety? His hands were now in his lap as he played with the rings on his fingers, something you were subconsciously doing in your own lap but that was because you were nervous to be in the same room as him.

“So you’re the dungeon master? Not sure how I feel about that, but I guess we’ll see” you observed, trying to ignore the slight wobble in your voice or the way your throat suddenly became tight at seeing the corner of Eddie’s lips turn up for only a second.

It was Dustin who spoke again as he informed the group, “she used to be our dungeon master, or mistress as she liked to be called, taught us everything we know about DnD”. Pride filled your chest at the smile spread across Dustin’s face at the fond memories.

Eddie shifted closer in his seat, his wavy hair covering part of his face as he questioned, “you taught them? You’re the dungeon mistress that they always talk about? Y’know, I never would have guessed that you would be into this kinda thing, Sparkles”.

That nickname… you hadn’t heard it in years, it was what everyone called you during your last few years at school because during a science experiment, instead of having your model of a volcano erupt like everyone else, you’d used a sparkler for the lava and henceforth, you were known as Sparkles. “I haven’t heard that nickname in years and, I guess it’s nice that they all think so highly of me”. Again, you noticed Eddie’s mouth twitch up into a smile before his face returned to neutral, leaning back in his chair nonchalant. “Well come on then, let’s see how good you are at being the dungeon master than Mr Munson.”

It took all of your guts to try and hold his stare, slightly raising your eyebrow in a slight challenge as your knee accidentally brushed against his under the table to show you were only joking. From the corner of your eye, you could see the other players glance at one another, smiling mischievously.

Unknown to you, they had actually all been planning this all week and it all started with the missing player, Daniel. He had been acting progressively ill throughout the week until Eddie had demanded that he go home so as to not spread the illness to anyone else, thus, giving the boys the perfect excuse to bring you in.

Even though Eddie was a private guy, the only thing that he would discuss outside of Hellfire club, was a certain maiden that had captured his heart. At first, no one thought anything of it, thinking it was a fictional character or someone in one of his bands but the more he spoke about her, the more details he let slip. For instance, she worked in a building surrounded by books, which coincidently, the library was where you worked five days a week and eventually everyone put two and two together and they HAD to set the two of you up.

Everyone around the table except you could tell that Eddie was nervous, he had never stumbled on his words and now here he was, fumbling to finish his sentence but as the campaign continued, he seemed to relax more, getting into his role well and before long, you were relaxing and getting into it too.

The hours passed by in a flash, you hadn’t had this much fun in months, you really missed being able to play these sorts of games. Through all the shouting, gasps and cheers, you kept catching Eddie’s eyes, noticing that he settled on you for more time than he did others but it was probably just your mind overthinking again.

Before long, Mrs Wheeler had arrived to pick up the kids, walking them to the double doors of the theatre, Mike turned and asked if you wanted a lift home too. Turning back towards the table that everyone had been sitting at, you watched Eddie packing up by himself, Jeff and Gareth having already left, “No it’s ok, I’m going to help Eddie tidy up, I’ll get myself home, thanks though and thanks for inviting me squirts, it’s been fun hanging with you all again”.

You waved them all off, and as they turned away, you couldn’t spot the shit-eating grin spread across their faces. Walking back into the room, you quietly started helping Eddie stack the chairs along the wall, neither of you saying anything except glancing at one another when the other wasn’t looking.

Once Eddie had finished stuffing his bag with all of the DnD memorabilia, you moved to pick up the table, planning to place it against the wall with the others but Eddie was soon rushing forward, “oh no no no, I’ve got that, put it down”. Huffing a laugh you did as instructed, “thanks” you mumbled as he effortlessly picked up the table, your eyes once again glancing over his form, specifically how you could see the muscles in his back moving beneath his shirt.

Shaking your head you looked away, “you were a really good dungeon master, by the way, the way you told the story had me captivated”.

Eddie placed the table down, turning towards you sharply, biting his lower lip before responding, “oh uh thanks, yeah it’s just nice to be able to play with people that are older than 12”, you laughed, eyes gleaming as you saw Eddie grin at the sound of your laugh. “So how long has it actually been since I last saw you then, what, two years?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest and it took all of your internal strength not to stare at his arms.

Unbeknown to you, Eddie was lying, it hadn’t actually been two years since he last saw you, in fact, it was only yesterday. Not that he would ever admit it but he passed the library every day on the way home from school and could spot you in the windows, stacking books away on the shelves. He wasn’t trying to be creepy, he just wanted to check in on his maiden you without having to talk.

“Yeah, two years. I would say you’ve changed but I think it’s only the length of your hair” you responded, smiling lightly at him as he picked up his bag, both of you walking to the doors which he promptly held open for you. Your cheeks started to warm as you two walked down the corridor together, his arm was so very close to brushing against yours but neither of you had the courage to move it half an inch towards the other.

“Y’know Sparkles, I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not”.

“It’s definitely a good thing, I always liked you, even if we didn’t speak”, your cheeks were on fire now, what is going on with you, the second you’re alone with him you become a blubbering idiot, get yourself together, you thought as he once again held the doors open for you at the end of the corridor, both of you leaving the building.

“Oh yeah? Why didn’t we ever talk anyway, if I knew you were playing DnD with the others, I would have been pestering you for years now” you once again laughed at his words, wishing that he had in fact been pestering you for years.

“It’s probably because you never turned up to school Eddie”, you were too busy looking at your own shoes to notice the way Eddie’s eyes glazed over when you said his name, shaking his head, his long hair lightly drifting in the wind, he tried to continue.

“You’ve got a good point there, Sweetheart, and yet here I am, still suffering in this hell hole” he pointed to the school behind him, now it was your turn to try and not collapse at the mere use of a name, you could get used to him calling you sweetheart.

You were glad the others had left, you didn’t think you could stomach the thought of them seeing you and Eddie Munson, smiling like idiots, cheeks warm to the touch, hearts pounding in your chests, enough to make you feel slightly sick.

The sound of a car door slamming seemed to snap you both out of whatever trance you seemed to be in, Eddie laughed under his breath as he pulled on his jacket.

“I should be getting back, it’s quite late, I’ll definitely see you around though Eddie” you begin to turn away, preparing to start walking home.

“Wait, you’re walking? Sweetheart, I’m not letting you walk home this late, come on I’ll give you a ride”.

“Oh no it’s ok, I don’t want to put you out of your way” you replied, feeling bad as you knew his trailer was in the opposite direction to your place.

Eddie gave you a deadpan look, “come on dungeon mistress, my mighty stead awaits”, he bowed dramatically, holding out his arm in the direction of his van. You thanked him after laughing lightly, walking past him towards his van, missing the way Eddie released a heavy nervous breath before jogging to catch up, once again holding open the door for you to climb in.

Once he was settled into the driver's seat, the two of you sat in comfortable silence, his metal music playing quietly in the background. It took all of your power to not roll your eyes at the overwhelming smell that was purely of him coming from the van, all you wanted to do was move closer to him.

“So do I”, “How do”, the two of you started speaking at the same time, causing you both to chuckle lightly. “You go first,” he politely said.

Turning to him slightly in your seat, you continued, “I was going to ask, do I get one of your amazing Hellfire shirts now I’ve joined for one session? Or are they exclusive shirts for full-time members?”

He smiled over at you, his brown eyes bright, “well usually they’re only for full-time members but seeing as you’re an honourary member today, I’m sure I can sort one out for you”.

“Thanks, Eddie,” it felt like there were butterflies flying in your stomach as you pulled your sleeves over your hands to hide them from shaking, no-one had ever made you feel like this, a nervous wreck whilst smiling like a love-sick puppy. “Oh, it’s just the one here with the red door” you pointed out, not even realising that he’d turned onto your street.

He pulled the van to a stop, turning to you in his seat, “let me get that” he mumbled and before you could react he was leaning across you, pulling on the door handle and giving it a shove to open. All the whilst your mind was completely blank as his hair brushed against your cheek, “there you go, Sweetheart”.

“Thanks, I’ve uh- I’ve really enjoyed tonight, if you’re ever missing a member again, you know where I am”. Climbing out of the car, you gave him one more smile before closing the door, turning to walk towards your front door. As you were unlocking your front door, you heard the door to Eddies van open and him running around the front of his van.

“Wait- hang on” you turned to him, wondering what was wrong but what you weren’t expecting was to see Eddie freaking Munson, running towards you, his bare chest on show, displaying the few tattoos that he’d accumulated, his leather jacket haphazardly thrown on and his shirt waving in his hand. “Here, have this, I’ve got a spare one at home”.

Your mouth hung open, staring from his shirt to his handsome face, he seemed to suddenly regret his actions as he awkwardly shuffled his weight on his feet, “if you give it a wash it’ll be like new, I just thought that-”.

You rushed forward before he could mumble anymore, taking the shirt from him and holding it to your chest, “thank you! Now I’m finally a part of the Hellfire Club!” you shouted sarcastically, laughing with Eddie as he released a long nervous breath, “I appreciate it”.

He nodded once, giving you one last smile before turning back to his van, walking down the path and what you weren’t aware of was that he could still see you in the reflection of his van, watching as you lifted the shirt to your nose, breathing in Eddie’s beautiful smell and smiling brightly. Eddie had to use all of his willpower not to turn around and go back to you but he kept walking, climbing into his van with ease, rolling down the window to shout, “I’ll see you around Sparkles”, grinning widely before speeding off, his tires screeching as he went.

You all but collapsed against your door, breaths coming in quick pants, smiling to yourself. Today had been a good day.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson one shot #request #mine*#stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things oneshot

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vesemirsexual · 9 months

Note

Just thinking about how much the “ witcher gamer” community would HATE Ciri if there was a game with a book accurate version of her, she’s queer, shes fierce, wild and arrogant but becomes ruthless and a murder gremlin due to all her trauma, shes not traditionally attractive, has a huge disfiguring scar on her face

And she is the main character, even if she’s not the player character the entire narrative revolves around her

Oh yeah, it’s a thing on Reddit/FB groups where people often ask if Ciri is “sociopathic”/“psychopathic” or surprised that they find her very unlikable after reading the books, which is always kind of funny to me.

Throughout the series there’s a definite theme of girls/young women who experience a severe trauma and then fall into a hateful cycle, and only sometimes having a redemptive moment of realisation that they’re perpetuating the same cycle that enacted violence of them. I also think that this sometimes makes people extremely uncomfortable, because they really do fall far while in this cycle - Falka!Ciri is vicious and filled with hate and enraged. She’s traumatised, lost her childhood and has become a product of the awful things happening to and around her.

Even past that point in her story, people tend to give feedback that she’s bratty or overconfident or annoying and honestly. The entire series is from the ages of about 8-17 (I may be off by a few years here btw!!) for Ciri. Her entire formative years are marked by horrible and traumatising events. I think a lot of people fall into the idea of “good victims” - people who go through trauma and come out kind and sweet and helpful and that their experiences made them ultimately a better person. Which realistically…is not the case for most people.

I’ve also seen Reddit argue a lot that Ciri isn’t actually a bisexual/queer woman, based on the fact that her relationship with Mistle is abusive and often reads like Stockholm Syndrome. I don’t think Sapkowski has ever officially labelled her sexuality and has left it open to interpretation. For me, this feeds back into the points earlier: Ciri is heavily traumatised and she’s also extremely young when all of this is happening, so I can somewhat agree that a definitive read on her sexuality could be hard. However, despite the fact their relationship is extremely fucked up, Ciri does clearly develop feelings for Mistle, and actively mourns her as a lover and partner. Regardless of the start of that relationship, I think it’s naive to say that Ciri didn’t have very real feelings for her?

Also yeah, I can’t ever see Ciri being what is considered “traditionally” attractive. The scar across her face repeatedly is linked to being a giant ugly symbol of the loss of her innocence and childhood, and considering the timeline of care it receives, I don’t ever see it being a small thing even as she gets older. She also spends again, a considerable amount of her youth on the run, under extreme stress and in undesirable conditions, which isn’t exactly conducive to what most people consider attractiveness. Additionally, considering how she’s reduced repeatedly to a sexual object and objectified, I really can’t see Ciri running around with her chest out as per games.

Ciri is honestly such a fascinating and complex character and I do think it’s sad that you can’t really get all of that from the games due to the perspective + difficulties in portraying that through the given platform. I do always hope that more people read the books for Ciri alone, because I’m always excited for content that fleshes her out with that level of development ❤️

#sorry I went on a ramble anon you had me thinking!!!#katie txt #ciri

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the-name-is-z · 3 months

Text

SKELETONS | ch. 2

daryl dixon x f!oc

masterlist

a03 link

Summary: After the apocalypse took everything Iris held dear, a new opportunity presents itself in the form of a bag of guns. Little does she know, that bag of guns starts something much bigger than she ever could have anticipated. Warnings/Information: AMC's The Walking Dead OC Insert | 18+ Advised | strangers to lovers; the slowest of slow burns; gore; angst; horror; humour; m/f; gun violence, gang violence, offensive terminology for gang members and daryl, salty language

Chapter 2 - The Deal

The kid led them to a warehouse further into the city, and Iris was fidgeting with her knives. They waited at a wall further outside the building, a broken window between them and their friend. The bandana was back over her face, the bag of guns slung over T-Dog's shoulder. Rick rattled a shotgun shell next to his ear before loading it into the gun.

The group of warehouses was old enough to be made of brick and mortar, broken windows and doorframes unaccompanied by a roof. All except for the main building at the back, where the rest of the gang was presumably waiting. The kid wasn't smart enough to set them up, hopefully.

"You sure you're up for this?" Rick asked T-Dog.

"Yeah." He assured. Daryl gripped his crossbow tightly, keeping an eye on the kid as Iris peered through the broken barred window to the gate on the other side. Wasn't anything to write home about, but looks could be deceiving.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know." Daryl grunted.

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." The kid retorted.

"G?" Rick asked.

"Guillermo. He's the man here."

"Okay then." Rick continued, cocking the gun. "Let's go see Guillermo." He gestured for Iris to go first and she scoffed, ducking through the bars and wire fence. T-Dog took up a sniper position on the wall to give them an edge. Rick pushed the kid forward and they followed him to the gate.

They slid open with a loud creak, a group of guards standing in the doorway. One man stepped forward, a cross chain hanging from his neck. He was shorter than the kid, and young. Didn't look like much of a threat, but there were more Iris couldn't see. She gripped the handle of her knife tighter.

"You okay, little man?" Guillermo asked, his hands in his pockets as he regarded them carefully.

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal." The kid replied, twitching. Clearly he'd never been a hostage before. That being said, most days consisted of things Iris had never done before.

"Cops do that?" Guillermo asked, his scrunched brow directed at Rick.

"Not him. This redneck puto, here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me." The kid whined. Iris glanced between Daryl and the kid.

"Shut up." Daryl snapped.

"Hey, that's that vato right there, homes." One of the men from before stepped, or limped, forward, one hand pointing at Daryl with a very small revolver, the other firmly pressing a rag to his ass. "He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?"

"Chill, ese, chill. Chill." Guillermo said, holding out his arms to keep him back. He levelled his gaze back at them. "This true? He wants Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick, man."

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." Rick countered, shotgun still pointing at Miguel.

"That hillbilly jumps on Felipe's cousin. Beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet. Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion?" Guillermo recounted, frowning. He licked his lips. "You fascinate me."

"Heat of the moment." Rick explained. "Mistakes were made. On both sides."

"Who's that dude to you anyway? You don't look related." He asked, nodding to Daryl.

"He's one of our group, more or less. I'm sure you have a few like him."

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asked abruptly.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys." Guillermo replied, equally as fast. "But I got Asian. You interested?"

"I have one of yours, you have one of mine." Rick said evenly. "Sounds like an even trade."

"Don't sound even to me." Guillermo grunted.

"G..." Miguel protested. "Come on, man."

"My people got attacked." Guillermo continued, unfazed. "Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"

"Guns?" Rick asked.

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

"You're mistaken." Rick replied.

"I don't think so."

"About it being yours." He continued. "It's my bag of guns." Guillermo shrugged, leaning back with a frown.

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word?" He asked. "What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" Felipe cocked his tiny gun once more, Jorge flanking Guillermo from the other side. Daryl raised his crossbow, clicking echoes coming from inside as more guns found their targets, men raised pipes and crowbars.

"You could do that." Rick shrugged, turning to where T-Dog had a rifle levelled at Guillermo's face. "Or not."

"Oye!" Guillermo called, looking up to the roof of the warehouse. Two guys walked to the edge, a third wrestling between them, a soiled bag tucked over his head. They ripped the bag off, Glenn whimpering with a piece of duct tape over his mouth. "I see two options." Guillermo continued. "You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood."

Guillermo shrugged again, raising an eyebrow at them before turning and retreating into the warehouse. Jorge and Felipe followed, the doors sliding shut. Rick put the shotgun down, sighing as Glenn and the two guards disappeared back onto the roof. Iris blew out a breath.

- "Them guns are worth more than gold." Daryl said pointedly. "Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table."

He was pacing back and forth in front of the desk Rick stood at, the bag of guns set atop it in consideration. Rick was checking them one by one under Iris' watchful eye. They'd come back to their cleared building, T-Dog watching over Miguel as they decided what to do. Guillermo was right, there were two ways this could go, and neither of them were ideal.

"You willing to give that up for that kid?" Daryl asked. Iris raised an eyebrow at him. The whole reason they were here was for their friend. Though, it seemed all he cared about was finding his hand-less brother. He still didn't trust her, that much was obvious, especially by the looks he gave her every few minutes.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" T-Dog asked.

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel asked.

"Are you a part of this?" Daryl snapped, slapping the kid across the face. "You want to hold onto your teeth?"

"You willing to risk it on Guillermo's word?" Iris asked, turning back to the sheriff. Rick sighed in exasperation.

"Could be risking more than them guns. Could be your life." Daryl added, making a face at Rick. "Glenn worth that to you?"

"What life I have I owe to him." Rick answered firmly. "I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over." Daryl concluded.

"I didn't say that." Rick reasoned. "Look, there's nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog asked, rubbing his temple.

"I'm not going anywhere without my guns." Iris replied, shaking her head. Rick looked to the three of them, nodding conclusively. T-Dog stepped forward, him and Daryl taking a shotgun each.

"Oh, come on. This is nuts!" Miguel protested, siting right back down as Daryl pointed a stern finger at him. "Just do like G says." They loaded them up, each taking an additional hand gun. Iris loaded up her 22, slinging a rifle over her back.

With a towel tied into his mouth and hands bound, Miguel was escorted by the four of them back to the warehouse and the makeshift courtyard. Iris was trying to ignore the anxiety pulsing in her stomach.

Daryl had his gun pressing into Miguel's spine as they walked, armed and dangerous, through the gate and into the warehouse. Iris carried the bag of guns over her shoulder as they passed through the hoard of guards. Guillermo met them halfway through the warehouse, guns pointed in all directions.

"I see my guns," He mused, "but they're not all in the bag."

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Rick replied simply.

"Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese." Filipe urged. Daryl pressed the muzzle of the gun into the back of Miguel's head. "Alright? Unload on their asses, ese."

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo said sharply.

"No, I'm pretty clear." Rick assured. He nodded to Iris, who cut the duct tape binding Miguel's wrists and shoved him forward. "You have your man. I want mine."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs." Guillermo murmured. "They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"

"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded." He stated, cocking the shotgun. It echoed as everyone around took aim, Guillermo staring down the barrel. "Okay then, we're here."

There was a pregnant pause of baited silence as they all waited for someone to make a move, to say something. They stared down one another, waiting for the triggers to be pulled. The silence was filled with a small shuffling, and a woman's voice carrying through the warehouse.

"Felipe! Felipe!" She called, tone wavering with age. Iris watched as an old woman walked through the warehouse of gangbangers with no fear.

"Abuela, go back with the others-- now." Felipe urged, keeping his gaze and gun pointed on them, though fear laced his words.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl chastised. Guillermo huffed, turning to her.

"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay?" He instructed softly. "This is not the place for you right now."

"Mr Gilbert is having trouble breathing." She pleaded, looking to her grandson and tugging on his shirt. "He needs his asthma stuff. Carlito didn't find it. He needs his medicine." Guillermo glanced nervously between them and the old woman.

"Felipe, go take care of it, okay?" He snapped. "And take your grandmother with you." Felipe took her gently, pleading with her to walk with him, but she brushed past him toward Guillermo, frowning at Rick.

"Who are those men?" She asked. "Don't you take him--"

"Ma'am--"

"Felipe is a good boy." She assured. "He has his trouble but he'll pull himself together. We need him here."

"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick replied calmly, putting the gun down.

"Then what do you want him for?" She asked.

"He's... helping us find a missing person. A fella named Glenn." Rick answered.

"The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come, come." She urged, waving him along. "I show you. He needs his medicine."

Iris hid her small smile behind her bandana as she followed Rick, Felipe and the old woman through the warehouse. Daryl and T-Dog stayed on their tail, watching the others carefully, even though Guillermo ordered to let them pass.

The old woman held Rick's hand as she led them out of the warehouse and through a neat garden, and through the doors to another building. It was a hospice center, or a retirement home of some sort. Felipe asked his grandmother to take him to Mr. Gilbert, while the others glanced around.

There were doctor's offices and hospital beds, everything occupied by elderly people. Iris was quick to sheath her knives, following Rick into an old auditorium, tables and chairs set up for a common area. A man in a wheelchair at the back was coughing and wheezing, deeply inhaling as Felipe helped him with his inhaler. Glenn stood beside the, watching to make sure he'd be okay.

"What the hell is this?" Rick said softly.

"An asthma attack." Glenn replied worriedly. "Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden."

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog hissed. A small bark sounded from the corner, a trio of chihuahuas sitting in a leopard print bed.

"Could I have a word with you?" Rick asked, taking Guillermo to the side. "You're the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met..." He hissed, Iris' attention taken away by Felipe's grandma approaching her.

"Young lady, why do you hide your face? Do you have a scar?" She asked, gesturing to her own face.

"No." Iris replied with a small smile, pulling the bandana down to show her face.

"Oh, que linda eres." She cooed, patting Iris' face. "I should introduce you to my grandson. There are no more pretty young girls around here." Iris laughed nervously as she toddled over to Felipe, prodding him in her direction. He flushed, swatting her hand away as he continued to help Mr. Gilbert.

"So you're the girl with the guns." Glenn said, folding his arms as he walked over. Iris turned to him, nodding.

"Iris." She said, holding out her hand.

"Glenn." He replied with a slight frown, shaking it politely. Rick and Guillermo finished their little chat, the former beckoning them into a small room where Guillermo could speak to them quietly.

"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked, gesturing to Iris. She handed him the bag of guns, eyeing the interaction closely.

"The vatos trickle in, to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay." Guillermo explained. "It's a good thing, too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart? The worst kind. Plunderers, the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are." Rick assured.

"How was I to know?" He defended. "My people got attacked, and you show up with Miguel hostage-- appearances."

"Guess the world changed." T-Dog mused.

"No." Guillermo disagreed. "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathrooms by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here? They all look to me now. I don't even know why."

"Because they can." Rick replied honestly. He handed the shotgun to Guillermo, and began to sort the guns from the bag.

Iris turned from the room, walking back out into the auditorium. The vatos kept an eye on her, but she walked over to the closest.

"Hey, Felipe?" She asked. He turned from the table of elderly people, frowning at her sudden appearance. Iris took a map from her coat pocket and a pencil from an abandoned crossword puzzle, circling a place on the map. "I don't know who's in charge of the runs, but just outside the city here, there's an auto shop. If you can make it, there's a van out back full of parts, more cars in the shop. Take whatever you need. No one's gonna come back for it."

"Why?" He asked, taking the map and frowning. Iris shrugged, trying to offer him a comforting smile.

"Gesture of good faith?"

#thenameisz #skeletons #Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon x reader #twd daryl #the walking dead #the walking dead daryl dixon #twd daryl dixon #Daryl Dixon x f!oc #Daryl Dixon x oc

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savebatsfromscratch · 2 months

Text

Oh be serious Gary - Palletshipping Week 3 (Jealousy)

Summary:

Gary runs into Ash after his Orange Islands journey. Unfortunately, Ash’s new walking partner is there too.

Notes:

Prompt: Jealousy This hurt me to write. I LOVE Tracey and Tracey x Ash, and I think Gary and Tracey would be besties, but if I see whump I write whump. >:) Cws: Canon divergence, jealousy, angst with no happy ending, suggestive joke Words: 2,024 (HA)

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54853867

As Gary watched the two traveling partners laugh, he felt something not so unexpected suddenly burn in his chest. Hot, hot jealousy. Furious enough to even rival the flaring fire that was shooting through the fangs of his rival’s Chrizard. Now tall and shining, the creature could have easily surpassed almost any of Gary’s own Pokemon, and he knew it.

Gary hadn’t seen Ash in quite a while now, and though it was clear that he must have spent some time training his annoyingly tough looking Charizard into one that actually obeyed, Gary wasn’t naive enough to think that that was the only thing he’d been spending his time doing. Gary’s hands balled up into fists as he watched Ash lean against that new traveling partner, practically begging to get punched as the two rubbed their shoulders together. (As usual, Ash had to stand on his tiptoes to even reach.)

Who did this new guy think he was, anyway?! Happily parading around the Kanto region with Gary’s rival as if they’d been the ones to promise forever rivalry to each other. As if they’d been the ones starting as “friends” from the start.

Gary ducked behind a tree to watch as the small group made their way away from the dock and headed towards the more traditional route to Pallet town. Misty was lagging behind slightly as she played with a very excitable looking Togepi. (Had Gary seen it before? Ash had been away for so long he could hardly remember. And, besides, even if he had, their meetings even before Ash’s rendezvous in the Orange Islands had been getting so few and far between that Gary had probably spent as much of the most recent one as he could just eying up his rival.)

Had he really known what it would mean when Ash went to the Orange League without him? Why hadn’t he gone along for the ride?

Gary narrowed his eyes as Ash hugged the new guy, burying his face in the green shirt of his walking partner like no one else at all was around. Maybe “ride” was a more appropriate descriptor than Gary had hoped.

He inched a little closer as the two stopped, waiting for a moment for Misty to catch up with them.

“Glad she didn’t see that,” Ash’s friend was whispering out of the corner of his mouth, “What was it that you said she did whenever Brock would flirt?”

Ash laughed, and though it was a clear and happy sound, Gary just felt sick to his stomach. Brock? Had he too been an option for Ash before Gary was? (And if so, why should he be so surprised about it? He just had to look at what he was seeing to understand a whole new side to Ash.)

“Tracey!” (so that was his name) Ash shook his head, “Brock was so much worse than you, and she never slapped him for flirting with me,” he paused, though the blood that pounded in Gary’s ears made his next words near unhearable, “At least as far as I saw…”

“Guys!” Misty called, running the last couple of steps to reach her friends, “Where are we going next?”

“Professor Oak’s Lab, right?” Ash said, somewhat unsure. He paused, and Gary suddenly realized that his cheating rival was thinking about him as he added, “There’s people I want to see there,”

“Professor Oak?” Tracey interrupted, his voice so full of wonder and excitement that Gary actually felt ill. This Tracey guy was even worse than Gary had first assumed. Gary rolled his eyes as Tracey continued to ramble about supposed “great feats” of research that the Professor had accomplished. If he was really any lover of Ash, he should have known that one of the only really commendable things Professor Oak did that hadn’t been done before or better by another researcher was his constant cheering on of Ash. (To tell the truth, Gary had recently been finding more and more respect in what his grandfather did for a living, but the childish excitement of this green haired nobody was quickly erasing those feelings. Such weak wonders paled under the crushing weight of Gary’s jealousy.)

“Should we fly there then, if you’re so excited to see him?” Ash laughed, gesturing to his Charizard, who looked like he was thoroughly enjoying being back in the forests of the mainland. Ash paused, and Gary would have been stupid to miss a hint of longing in his voice, as he said, “He’s the grandfather of my first rival, you know.”

First rival, was that all he was? (At the very least, Gary could be glad that Tracey stiffened with a hint of his own jealousy at that.)

“Oh yeah, Ash,” Misty interrupted, either not noticing Tracy’s discomfort or ignoring it, “Have you been keeping in touch with Gary?”

There was a quick, awkward pause, which Ash tried (and failed) to cover by picking up Pikachu. “Um,” he struggled, while Gary scoffed to himself. Of course he hadn’t. “Well-,”

“Ash!” Misty gasped, somewhat appalled, though to Gary’s displeasure Tracey looked downright relieved.

That couldn’t possibly do. In a split second, Gary knew what he had to do. Even if it protected his unreliable rival, so long as he made Tracey upset, he was happy.

“Of course he did!” Gary interrupted Misty right before she began one of her tirades, stepping out of the trees and smirking at Ash, who looked somewhere between nauseous and relieved to see him. “Didn’t you, Ashy boy?”

Honestly, even he couldn’t tell if his tone was threatening or flirty, but either way it seemed to work, at least, if Tracey’s unconscious hiss was any indication of how he was feeling.

“Were you listening in on us?!” Tracey asked, almost accusingly, “Is that why you come up so much? Because you might be behind us?”

Gary narrowed his eyes, but his smirk did not falter. He was liking this guy less and less by the second, clearly he had been right in popping up to annoy him. And as for Ash…

Gary turned to his rival, completely ignoring the question as he drank in the expression of utter embarrassment on Ash’s face. Oh yes, this was what he lived for.

“I’m glad to see you again!” He said cheerily, pulling Ash into a hug that copied the way Ash and Tracey had embraced before. (To his surprise, Ash actually hugged back, and though it was faint, Gary’s face twitched in surprise. Despite everything, it truly seemed that Ash really had wanted to see Gary again.)

Gary pulled back, suddenly unsure.

“Do you need a guide?” he asked, and then, once he realized how pathetically unsure he sounded, he added, “You were away for so long I thought you might have forgotten the way to my place,”

Ash made an awful whimpering sound, and Gary felt his smirk widen even further, even as Misty scoffed and interrupted him.

“Oh be serious Gary,” she said (Gary turned to see that her hand was resting comfortingly on Tracey’s shoulder), “Any Pallet Trainer worth their starter knows the way to the lab, and besides…” She narrowed her eyes, “You don’t even live there, you’re a trainer like the rest of us,”

Gary opened his mouth to speak, looking on as one of Tracey’s hands twitched slightly, but Ash grabbed Gary’s shoulder, catching him off guard as he dug his fingernails in. “Um,” he interrupted, “Excuse us,”

Before Gary could even protest, Ash was dragging him away and into the woods, leaving the sounds of Tracey mumbling in shock and Misty quietly comforting him behind them.

Once they were relatively out of earshot, Ash spun around and glared up at Gary. He felt his heart skip a beat, while Gary had grown in the time Ash had taken on the Orange League, Ash had not, but even so, the anger in his now black eyes made Gary take a shocked step back.

“What is wrong with you?!” He spat, though Gary just stared back at him, shocked, “Do you think everything is about you? Who do you think you are?! You don’t own me you know!”

Gary opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it again.

“Answer me, come on,” Ash commanded, still angry, “I know how smart you are, I know you have an answer, so give it to me!”

Gary tried again, but again nothing came out. Cold wind rustled through the trees.

“Gary…” Ash said, surprising Gary with a sudden shift into pleading, “Please…”

“I-,”

Ash looked up at him, his eyes faded back from coal black to soft brown. Gary swallowed hard. He had to say it. There was no way around it.

“I- I love you,”

His words hung in the air like an awful smell, Ash’s eyes widened as their color darked again.

Gary’s heart sped up. He wasn’t wanted here. He had to get out of here. He turned, hot tears suddenly threatening to spill down his face, but Ash’s voice stopped him. Quiet at first, and then growing louder and more confident as he went on.

“You know,” he murmured, “I never could forget you,”

“Oh come on Ash,” Gary could tell that he was pleading as he spoke, but he didn’t care, “Don’t lie to me, you don’t have to-,”

“No, I mean it,” Ash said, almost scared, but more confident now, “I was only out of the region for a year, but I never stopped thinking about you,” He began to pace, twigs crunching and cracking up his feet, “I know it’s not right, but I can’t help it,”

He stopped, and there was a pause as the distant roar of Ash’s Charizard echoed through the woods. Pikachu purred as Ash scratched behind his ears, clearly trying to calm himself down more than he was working to quiet the little yellow Pokemon.

“What about Tracey?” Gary whispered, dreading the answer.

Ash stopped petting Pikachu, and closed his eyes like looking at Gary hurt him. “I think I love him,” he said, voice shaky and weak again, “But you- I-,”

He stopped.

“I what?” Gary breathed, stepping forward and reaching up, stopping right before grabbing Ash’s hand, “What do you mean?”

Ash’s voice was still shaking when he finally responded.

“I think I love you too,” His eyes were pleading.

Gary’s hand dropped to his side. His mind racing and spinning through emotions and memories. Anger? Jealousy? Relief? Joy? What was he feeling?

What was he feeling?

“So. What now? What now that you’re back here?” Gary asked, his voice now so soft that it surprised even him, “Back in Kanto, what will you do?”

Ash took in a shaky breath, and brushed a hand through his hair. “I want to keep adventuring, I have more league to win,”

“With Tracey?” Gary breathed

“He said he wants to stay,”

“With where?”

“I don’t know,”

“Will you go with me?”

“You’re my rival, I can’t do that,”

Gary bit his lip. How had this become so complicated?

“So what are you going to do?” He asked, fearing an answer for the second time that conversation, “Traveling alone isn’t safe,”

“I don’t know,” Ash was almost whispering, looking at the forest floor with sad eyes. His gaze hardened, and the brown left his eyes once more. “But it can’t be without you, you know that,”

Gary froze, though he’d known it was coming. “Ash, please,” He reached out, but Ash brushed his hand away.

“Come on Pikachu,” Ash murmured, not meeting Gary’s eyes as he began to walk away, “Let’s get back to the others,”

Gary’s knees shook as he watched him go. What was going on? He couldn't just leave like that! It had been so long since they had seen each other, this couldn't be their reunion, there was no way! But Ash's words rang in Gary's head. “You don't own me,” he had said.

He knew that, didn't he?

Didn't he?

This time, Gary waited until Ash was out of earshot before he crumpled to his knees and began to cry.

Notes:

Palletshipping angst save me… Save me Palletshipping angst…

#angst #palletshipping #palletshipping week #palletshipping week 2024 #trainer ash #trainer gary #pokeani #my writing #actual post #trainer tracey #trainer misty #laprasshipping #why the fuck is tracey and ash's ship name also used to refer to ash and laprass #like no hate to those sorts of ships #i've had a few in my day in the dpa fandom #but I feel like that's a very important distinction haha

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the-orange-tabby-cat · 8 months

Text

Wings Of The Dawn | Chapter 2

AO3 link 🐾 | read chapter 1

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pairing: joel miller x fem!reader Rating: 18+ eventually | first chapters free of smut Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Age Difference, Small Town Dynamics, No use of y/n Word count of the chapter: 6k Next chapter will be posted: September 27th

Summary of the fic: You are Jackson's librarian, a doll with a good heart, that has your life changed when a handsome man decides to take his kid and start again in your small town after completing their cross country journey. Having a hard time ignoring Joel's dark brown eyes, you find yourself wishing to have him close as you both navigate through love triangles, teenage drama, city gossip, and ghosts from both of your pasts. This is a comfort fic filled with slow burn and small town dynamics. Chapter summary: Time for a lights out one on one session with your favorite Texan. And no, I'm not talking about smut... Yet.

｡˚🐾₊˚

CHAPTER 2

If you stare into the darkness for too long, you will notice that you can differentiate the shapes near you. For the first seconds, as your eyes get used to the lack of light, everything appears darker than it is, but as you keep them open, you see the details around you. After 21 years of living in the outbreak, being in the darkness from time to time isn't as challenging as it used to be, even for someone like you who wanted to run into the light as fast as you could.

"How many candles exactly do we need?" You asked Nath as she melted the beeswax little by little. There would be a programmed energy rationing for the following days as the dam got its amends done, making the demands for other sources of light higher.

It was a scorching day, much hotter than average for this time of the year. The heat in the candle-making process was hard to deal with, forcing both women to wear summer clothes and accept sweating as a regular reaction. You felt somewhat dizzy with the heat coming from the stove.

"We have 300 residents, I'm considering maybe 2 per person." She opened her mouth slightly, with her dark blue eyes looking above her, "600 up to 700 candles, maybe?"

"With just me and you making all of them? This is impossible." You looked at her, putting one of your hands behind your neck, scratching a little. From time to time, she would get a new plan that involved you both making something daring. Still, today, you were feeling tired from the start and decided to sabotage it before even beginning.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. We will have helpers, they’ll be here any minute, so you better behave and help me get the rest of the wax." Next to her, there were some trays with leftover candles. Everybody donated what they had on their shelf for the initiative.

Accepting defeat, you look at her, thinking about having more hands on. "Wait, what kind of help? You never involve anyone else in your plans," you inquired while separating the donated wax by color. Nath was very social and had most of the city in a chokehold, but she wasn't the type to keep too many people in her private life.

"First of all, ouch, I have more friends other than you," you glared at her, which she promptly ignored, "second, I convinced your favorite teenagers to join us. What could go wrong? Am I right?"

Without asking, you already knew the teens she was referring to.

In the weeks after the dinner at Alfie's house, Cat spent at least one hour per day at the library, close to you. She made herself useful with the book system you created, helping to put the books back on the shelves before you asked for it. Other times, she would read to the little kids in a group that came with the people from the small daycare near the corner by the afternoon.

Cat was reading Dr. Seuss, a very old copy of Oh, the Places You'll Go!, with a few yellow spots at page corners due to time, one of the residents found under a bed when they first moved into a house and decided to donate it. The infants reacted with smiles and giggles when you heard the characteristic bell sound of the front door.

Ellie stepped in with two books under her arm. You recognized her plaid shirt from the day at the meadow, trembling a bit with the memory. "I presume you devoured both of those?" You said, nodding at the books. She laughed.

"Yeah, came to deliver these and get new ones," she replied, putting them on the counter. As you went to put them on the right shelf, you noticed her brown eyes lingering on the kids listening to Cat's reading.

"Why don't you sit with them for a bit as I get you something new?" She looked at you and nodded slowly, finding her a cushion on the floor behind the kids. You smiled and thought she probably hadn't experienced the childhood pleasure of someone reading for her. A quick image of your brother reading out loud came into your mind, and you buried it as you searched for your recommendation books' shelves.

Cat didn't mind Ellie listening to her as she flipped the pages and showed the images to the kids. Ellie was blinking slowly, following Cat's hand in front of the pages, no longer a teen but instead a child. You started to get her two books since only taking one per visit was no longer enough.

She came every day to the library. At first, she came and left in a few minutes, just wanting a book to take home, but slowly she started to stay longer. Sometimes, she came just to check the available titles, walking between the shelves; others to get new books to take with her, and at times just to go somewhere. She was lingering for something you didn't recognize but tried to provide to her. Comfort seems to be a word that came close to what you felt she needed. You separated a table for her, near the window, a little far from the main door, when you saw she only read at her house. It has been two weeks since she started to read by her chair.

Finishing the story, the kids got up, and the teacher thanked you and Cat, who was already on her feet and coming closer to Ellie. You noticed a little red on her pale cheeks, perhaps from not being around other teens that much.

"So, what do you think?" Cat asked with a smile similar to the one that Alfie gave.

"Kinda cool, but not much for me," Ellie answered, a little snarky but playful. You wondered if Joel had a similar approach to humor.

"Okay, what do you like then?" Walking through the shelves, Cat put a copy of The Princess Diaries at the table nearby. As Ellie rolled her eyes, Cat got a clue and flickered around the shelf a little longer until she found something. “Maybe this? It looks like a you type of book.”

Ellie read the Murder on the Orient Express engraved on the cover and gave a quick look at Cat, "Now we’re talking, what is it about?" and with that they kept talking until after the sunset. Your recommendations for Ellie that day were discharged as she took Agatha Christie home, following Cat's tip.

They became a buy-one-get-two kind of deal. Cat helped you around as Ellie sat and read whatever the girl chose for her. If Cat wasn't there, no problem, she would wait for her with you, doing whatever her mind wanted. This was one of those days when Cat wasn't supposed to be at the library for a while, and without someone of her age, Ellie swallowed up her shyness and started to talk with you at the back house.

The back house was mainly bureau style, with just the machine that once belonged to a printing place, primarily focused on invitations and small printing, you believed. Now, they were filling a different purpose, restoring books and helping to preserve memory a title per time. You were taking leather and measuring for a book spine near the table, Ellie watching it closely.

“Where did you learn to do this?” She quietly asked, absorbed in the process, her eyes watching every small move you made.

"My dad was an archivist for a church. Do you know what are those?" Putting the book spine right in the middle, you started to glue the leather at the cover and back cover. Ellie shook her head, confused.

"Books are more than just stories, they also hold details about the world around us. Or used to, at least. My dad's life purpose was to ensure that every document, book, or piece of paper that held the church's history, part of us, was in good condition. He took care of it to be preserved for the next generations. I used to watch him do this at our house, in his studio. I like to think he would like me to continue doing this."

“What kind of books a church needs?” Ellie was seated next to you, her arms crossed a little on the table with her chin resting above them. You glanced at her and saw that she was honest with her question.

"Do you know what a Bible is?" You asked, stopping all your actions. She shook her head once more. "Well, you don't need to know about it, anyway. Churches' books are mostly their origin history or a collection of stories about what they believe." Forcing your hands to work with the leather again, you reflected on how different your life would have been without religious symbols shoved down your throat.

"Sounds kinda lame if you need a book to tell you what to believe," she replied, twisting her mouth slightly as if she thought it was absurd. You smiled at her, thinking about how much she looked like your brother at the moment.

Cat came not much after that, together with Nath, who was wearing a t-shirt written: "turtley awesome." She saw you by the counter and grinned immediately, making you sigh.

"You have a new plan," you said, annoyed.

"Yes, I have a new plan." She announced at the same time. "Our favorite Mexican will be starting to work on the dam soon, so I thought my favorite doll could do this city a favor and deliver candles with me."

"That's it? Deliver candles from house to house?" Squinting your eyes at her, you felt it was too good to be true. She squinted back at you for a few seconds, making Cat laugh.

"She forgot to say that we don't have any candles left in storage. You'll need to make new ones," Cat said, and you mouthed an "oh" to Nath. Of course, her plan had a catch.

"Just like I said, our favorite Mexican will be working on the dam soon, and they need a shit ton of candles in, like, two days," Nath said, pointing to Cat, eyebrows raised. As Ellie left your work table and came closer to the counter, Nath looked at her.

"Nice shirt," Ellie observed, followed by Nath humming something and entering a staring contest with the girl. You looked at both of them, confused about what was happening.

"How old are you? 12?" Nath questioned. Ellie shortly replied, saying 14. "Do you have a curfew?"

"Okay, no more interrogation. Let the poor girl be. When do you want to start this candle mission?" Before Ellie opened her mouth, you moved your hands in a motion to stop, gaining a short laugh from both girls.

"You see, Cat I get it, but how did you convince Ellie to make candles with us? This is new. I only see her at the library," the gears inside your head running with you, wondering when they met beside the library a few days back.

"A lady never tells, Doll," she said, melting more wax, "but apparently, having a collection of t-shirts with puns did the trick."

From the Tipsy Bison, Nath had a good view of the main street. She was quick to observe who and what, and even faster to understand their motivations. She noticed that Tommy's niece was going every day to the library, and on the days it was closed, she would stay put at home.

Joel appeared here and there, mainly with Tommy by his side, she crossed paths with them a few times and could check Joel's address. With the house street in her mind, she made a connection: Ellie was going to the library straight from her house, not from the school building, and as Maria reported earlier, she was supposed to already have started.

Nath and Seth cooked the patrol's food daily, with the patrollers coming to the counter to collect it before going to the city gate. In one of the deliveries, she heard Joel would come with the day's patrol to inspect the dam before working on it. It was Sunday, the library was closed, Nath made up her mind to let Seth take care of the Bison for the day and started walking to Ellie's house.

"Hum, yeah?" The girl opened the door, confused. Nath and she had seen each other just once, at the library, a couple days ago. Ellie's eyes lingered a bit too much on Nath's chest area, probably reading the t-shirt with a mouse drawing and the phrase "smartest rat at the sewer."

"What color is your room's ceiling?" Nath asked, snooping with her eyes inside the house. Old American regular, not yet different from the previous decoration there before being occupied by J0el and his kid. Impersonal, just a place to sleep, not a home.

She needed to find a way to get Ellie outside fast since Maria lived on the other side of the street and could easily question her motives for being there.

“Dirty white, why?” Ellie crossed her arms and raised one of her brows.

"Congratulations, you are a bored teen. Let me tell you what’ll happen now: you’ll come with me and have an amazing city tour, or you can stay here and your best choice is to sleep." Nath started walking down the pavement, shouting, "You have a minute to grab your keys and follow me."

Ellie rushed behind her, eager to have any excuse to leave her house. Nath had two main focuses during the tour: to present her with the basics of how the city worked and to gain a new alliance. She tried to make sure the kid understood the main buildings.

"Okay, let's get to the basics: buildings. The city has some structures inside our walls, but we also have some land a few miles from here to get some specifics. The food you eat is a mix of everything, Chad," she pointed at the man working on the garden as they passed by it, "is our gardner. Vegetables, fruis — you name it, are harvest inside the city and the animals come from the land outside. Try to get close to Chad, when you crave something sweet, compliment him, and he will give you a few berries. Works like a charm."

"The stable's horses are for the whole community, but if you start to patrol, you can choose one to be your main one." Nath continued as Ellie looked back at her in wonder.

“Which one is yours?” Nath laughed at the absurdity of the question.

“I don’t patrol, kid. Do you really think that I’d go around the runners and lunatics outside these walls risking my life? Hell no! My contribution is good alcohol and movie nights orchestrated by yours truly at the mess hall. Do you like horror movies?" Ellie didn't answer immediately, almost as if she had never seen one. "Well, you can try and see if it fits. The next one will be in a few weeks, you should come."

They walked through the main avenue and the main buildings. Nath showed her where they produced paper, how they got new fabric to make more clothes and not rely only on "treasure hunting." Little by little, Ellie understood the whole system of the city, including the government model. They were walking back on the main avenue as Nath continued the final part of the tour.

"If you ever get fucked up pretty bad and need a doctor, you go there and ask for Edwin. He looks a thousand years old, but pretty cool dude in case of an emergency," she spoke, nodding at the clinic on the other side of the street.

About four houses down the street, she started to speak again. "The little kids stay at the daycare until late during weekdays – make sure to do not cross their paths, or you will smell a diaper from a mile away," she twisted her nose and pointed at the said building. Ellie laughed, eyes bright as if she was taking notes of everything.

"And this is the best place in this city," Nath said as they entered the Tipsy Bison as the city tour ended, "it also opens every day of the week but for adults, not pests. You can't drink anything I have behind this counter, but you can eat a mean grilled cheese. Hungry?"

Turned out it was Ellie’s first time in a bar, exactly what you would hope for a 14year old, anyway. She was seated at a stool in front of the counter, watching from the kitchen’s door Nath make her a sandwich. Above the door, there was a black plaque with white letters:

NO SWEARING

NO FIGHTS

NO CORDYCEPS DISCUSSIONS

NO END OF THE WORLD TALK

"Why the hell do you have these rules for?" Ellie asked out loud, making Nath look at the plaque as she passed the door with the grilled cheese plate. "What happens if someone breaks it?"

“Pawpaw’s rules, not mine, but I still follow them. Don’t test them and you will be fine. Eat your damn sandwich,” she replied, Ellie was already taking a bite. “You like to read, huh? I watch you walk to the library every day. Dolly may be somewhat innocent, but I’m not. You are running from something.”

"What do you mean?" Ellie replied, getting tense at her shoulders, her small mouth a little more rigid. "I have no clue what you’re talking about."

"I get it, pal. A new kid that crossed the country with a grumpy man and ended up in a small town? Not the smoothest life," the girl looked down and took another bite. Nath continued, "My grandpa and I had our share of adventures before coming to this place, just me and him. If anyone understands you, this person is me. You skip school to go to the library. Dolly hasn't realized it yet, but I do."

"What the fuck do you want from me?" Ellie replied using her meanest tone. Nath pointed at the plaque with the rules. The girl looked up. "Not saying sorry for your stupid rules."

“Didn’t ask you to. Listen, I’ll keep your secret for now if you do me a favor.” Getting herself a little closer to the kid, Nath whispered, “I need to deliver some things around town and can’t be seen while at it, but you, nobody knows you yet. Simple and easy.”

"What kind of things?" She questioned in the same breathy tone, trying to keep her posture. "What can you give me in exchange? I won't do it for a secret. It’s too little."

“Basic shit, I can give you more details later,” Nath replied and waited for Ellie’s reaction, that just nodded her head once, “here’s the deal: you make me one deliver to check the quality of your work and come to my house next Sunday afternoon with Cat, I get you something from a smuggler outside Jackson. You name it.”

"Really, man? You want me to help with your stupid candles?" Ellie rolled her eyes, and Nath maintained her neutral expression, trying her best to get the kid afraid of her. It worked.

Ellie took her last bite and shook her head, "Fine, but no, something smuggled is too little. I want your shirt. The turtley awesome one." They sealed the deal with a handshake. One week later, Ellie and Cat were helping to make candles, to your utter confusion.

"Are you sure that this is your preferred weekend activity?" You asked as you finished making the second batch of candles. Looking at Cat, you continued, "Aren't we too old to be your pals for the day?"

"Old? Yeah, lame? No, also, I'm hoping to be paid with another apple pie," Cat said, and you smiled at her, putting the topic to rest.

Turned out that 600 candles were indeed impossible with the amount of time you had. You were tired of making them until way after the sunlight went away. Cat had gone home already, Ellie stayed to help clean everything and you realized it was probably too late for her to walk back alone, Joel was most likely worried.

Despite the kid saying to you that it was alright, you insisted on chaperoning her, carrying with you some candles, hoping that Joel would be less angry by it. As you walked the few blocks to their house, you came to the conclusion that you had no indication, clue, or even context for what Joel was like. Ellie spent most of the days at the library, but you never spoke about her relationship with him. He was a book waiting to be opened, one that you wanted to read every page and write small comments at the margins.

“I’m home!” Ellie shouted downstairs, as she entered the main door, Joel came from the kitchen. “Oh no”, you thought.

With a cloth rag on his shoulder, he stopped near Ellie, both hands on his hips and a knee popped. She opened her mouth, he quickly dismissed, "Don't. I told you, this is a safe place, safe as it gets, but you need to give a heads up before disappearing like that."

"I lost track of time, sorry. Nothing bad happened. Tell him, Dolly," she replied quickly, looking at you behind her shoulder. You were still at the front door, feeling awkward to enter the house. Joel furrowed his brows and looked at you up and down.

It had been a hot day, summer was not far away anymore. A tank top with shorts made sense for a day with your best friend, but in front of Joel, you felt naked. More naked than the day at the meadow. You jumped a bit, put on your best polite voice, and announced, "Sorry for showing up late, we did lose track of time. Ellie stayed with us all day. I can assure you she was fine under my eye."

Joel gave you a look, almost as if he didn't believe you. Remembering your first proper encounter at the Bison, he knew immediately you hated your nickname. Now he knows you were being just polite, not yourself, real. He looked through the doll in you, putting some weight on how his dark brown eyes gazed at yours.

"I mean it, she showed up by noon at Nath's door and stayed a little later to help us clean the mess. We made candles for the nights without energy. No more than that. I brought you some." You said in your own voice, no more the doll one.

"Right," he replied, looking down and then to Ellie, "Go to bed, you have school tomorrow. It's okay. I'm not mad at you." Ellie nodded, her face tensed still, and left without making any comments, leaving you alone with Joel.

For a few seconds, staring at each other, you both seemed to forget what you were doing. He spoke first, "So, the candles, thank you for them. They’ll be useful."

“Yeah, they will.” Putting the candles in his hands, you looked away when your fingers touched his. Not giving in to the feeling, you continued, “Have you seen the dam yet?”

"Hum, no, I’ll see the dam structure tomorrow." Joel quickly replied, short answer.

“Maria told the council that you used to work as a contractor, are you happy to do it again?” You tried once more, hoping to get more words out of him.

"I think so, it’s been so long that it feels like another lifetime," Joel replied, putting the candles away and taking the rag from his shoulder, not daring to look at you. Another lifetime, another Joel.

A younger Joel would have already asked for you to join him in the kitchen for a drink, maybe to walk you home, not this version with old bones and fear of everything. This one was too busy trying to keep what he already had near him, avoiding at all costs to be greedy.

To say that his first day back at a construction site was a dog day would be to lighten it up. He lied to you. Joel met Tommy a week ago to understand better the dam plan, the needs, and all by visiting it.

"Alfie is a good fella, not like some of the people we used to work with back at Austin," Tommy said as they walked down the main avenue toward the city gate. Joel allowed himself to see his baby brother as the 50 year old man he was, putting some trust in Tommy's words despite his history of having too much faith in everyone that sold him a good story.

Over the prior weeks, he tried to get some ground for him and Ellie. He would make her breakfast early in the morning, just like when they were traveling. Leave a lampshade lighted all night near her bedroom door to avoid bad dreams. Meet her at the mess hall every night to have dinner with Tommy and Maria. Walk her to school every morning. However, no matter what he tried, he could still notice the weight on her stare from when she asked if he was being honest with her.

Biting down the corner of his mouth, Tommy introduced him to Alfie at the city entrance. The man was accompanied by a young girl who looked similar to him. "Alfie, this is my brother, Joel. He will be joining us today at the dam."

"I heard good things about your abilities. Nice to meet you," Alfie started with a smile and shook his hand, "this is Catarina, my daughter. I will be home before the sunset, mija."

Joel controlled the impulse to sigh. Alfie was too smiley, too happy, too endearing, too young. Probably had an effect on women because of his thick accent, and being in his late thirties, early forties maximum helped as well. He had a happy look in his eye as if he hadn't lived on the same Earth as Joel for the last 21 years.

Cat gave her father a long hug and started to walk, leaving Alfie to talk with Joel and Tommy. The scene felt like a slap on his face, a reminder of what he one day had and now was shaking on his boots to keep. He assumed that Cat and Alfie had a similar age difference as Sarah and he had. Alfie was a natural, appeared to get along with his daughter, could smile easily, and had been a good friend to his brother over time. Envy wasn't a natural feeling for Joel, but he was sure he was jealous of the young man's destiny over his own.

He could sense there was conversation near him but only paid attention when Alfie said his name back at him. "Cat and Ellie are getting closer. Perhaps you both could join us for a backyard barbecue," he invited, smiling.

"Yeah, we’ll be there. Thank you," Joel agreed, looking in front of him, despite having not heard a single time Ellie mention Cat. He didn't know when, but he got so lost in his thoughts as they followed the trail that he lost his sense of reality a little. They were no longer at Jackson but on the back of horses following for the dam. He had no idea of how much time had passed.

“Hey man, I forgot to ask you. We saw you at Dolly’s door the other night, all good?” Tommy started as he got closer to Alfie, Joel behind them at the back of the trail. “All this cat and mouse must be tiring.”

“Oh, Dolly,” Alfie looked down a little, peaking Joel’s interest. “It is not, like, she is avoiding me, you know? But she hasn’t searched for me yet, I don’t know what to do.”

Alfie's smile was no longer decorating his face. Joel felt slightly guilty when he found out he felt better seeing the man's sadness. He had crossed paths with you a couple of times, but you looked at him straight in the eyes instead of running away. He saw how you dropped your shoulders as Alfie left your doorway, almost as if you were annoyed by the idea of being close to the man.

For a second, Joel allowed himself to believe you would have put your arms around his neck if he was the one kissing your cheek instead.

"She is a little difficult, but hey, progress is progress! Have you tried to ask Nath about it?" Tommy put a hand on his tight and looked at Alfie, a little lost in his thoughts.

"Not directly, she scares me a little," both men laugh as Joel didn't get the joke.

“Well, you should get a beer and try to get some alliances if you really want the doll,” Tommy advised and went straight to the front of the trail.

A well-known face waited for them at the dam. Joel glared at Tommy, who didn't look back at his brother's face. "Can't believe you didn't tell me this shit," Joel hissed low in his brother's direction.

Eugene and Tommy were fireflies together. Joel heard about the man over radio conversations over the years, listening to Tommy's enthusiasm as he spoke of his people skills and electricity expertise. Tommy searched for an older figure in Eugene because he no longer trusted Joel, simple as that. When Joel and Ellie showed up last winter, Tommy kept Eugene's presence a secret. Coming back during spring, he told Joel right away.

"Okay, you gotta check this out. I found the old floor plant of the dam in one of the office's rooms near the entrance. It will be a good rainy season, baby!" Eugene shouted hoarsely as the trio stopped their horses, Tommy and Alfie already walking behind him. Joel, however, stood back, taking a good look at the former firefly.

A slender man with long limbs, round glasses cracked in one of the lenses, and shaggy gray hair. His front teeth were slightly separated inside of a large mouth. It burned Joel's blood seeing Eugene so carefree, living a good life after years of Firefly actions and filling his brother's mind with ideas. Joel saw in him an old man who hadn't allowed himself to get old and hoped he didn't appear like this to the others, a joke of a man.

You were looking at Joel like he wasn't a joke to you, at least not a big one. His mind returning to the house with you, he waved the cloth a little on the air as if thinking and speaking at the same speed. "Why was Ellie with you?" He questioned a little for himself and a lot for you. He put some weight on the remembrance of that day at the dam, deciding to deal with it later.

"My friend, the bar owner - Nath, invited her to the activity." You replied with a lower voice as you shoved your hands in the back pockets of your shorts. "I can tell her to no longer invite Ellie if you feel uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine. Just took me by surprise, I guess," he quickly replied, pouting a little.

As you opened your mouth to say goodbye, a sizzling sound filled the room, and the lights flickered, followed by silence and total darkness. "Goddammit, fucking Eugene," Joel said out loud, leaving an intense sigh out of his body.

In the total darkness, you saw his silhouette against the moonlight that filtered from the kitchen's windows, a little far from where you stood in the living room. You could only hear you and Joel breathing.

"Guess we will have to use the candles before we imagined," he dared to speak, walking backwards into his kitchen. You were unsure of what to do, start to walk home? Wait until he came back with a candle lit up?

You waited, not by choice, but because you couldn't decide in time. You saw Joel protecting the candle's flame as he got close to you, his face lines soft from the orange light. His dark brown eyes were even stronger as the flame danced, reflecting on them.

"Come, I’ll get you something to eat," he spoke gently, and you followed his steps to the kitchen table despite the fact you were talking back.

“No, I will walk home, it’s already late,” you said without any intention to leave.

“Nonsense, it’s too dark for you without the lamppost. Stay a bit,” he replied gentler.

There was something sweet about how Joel moved around when his guard was low. It was the third time you met the man, but you noticed his shoulder line relaxed and his hands precise in their movements. In the dark of his kitchen, you wondered if he would appear the same with the lights on.

Joel heated for you some leftover tomato soup he made earlier when he waited for Ellie to show up. With a hint of embarrassment, you accepted the dish, lowering a spoon and tasting it.

"I'm not a huge fan of winter food during hot weather, but this is very good." He smiled, and a dimple appeared on his cheek. "Do you like to cook?"

"Not really, but I had to learn it due to necessity," he shrugged, frowning down a bit with his mouth. You laughed, and he smiled again.

"I learned due to necessity, and my soups don't taste like this," you teased, having another full spoon.

Time passed with the candle melting, and the only sound on the first floor was both your voices. Without noticing, you were almost whispering. You weren't sure if it was to avoid waking up Ellie or because it felt like a secret to be there alone with him.

“Can I get a little nosy?” You chewed your lower lip after speaking, Joel nodded. “Ellie comes to the library all the time. I think she is avoiding something.”

Joel's eyes got harder. "What do you mean?" He questioned, putting his back against the chair, getting some space from you.

“She reads a lot, which is amazing, but she reads to forget reality, not to her entertainment.” You lowered your eyes at your almost empty plate. Silence filled the room again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

"You are right," Joel affirmed, crossing his arms at his chest. His eyes were lost on the wooden table in front of him. "The way to Jackson wasn't easy, I can tell you this much. She came from a FEDRA school, it takes time to learn how to be a kid when you were raised to be a soldier."

Finishing your soup and resting the spoon on the plate, you looked at Joel. The lines between his brows were stronger now, his hands around his biceps holding tight his body closed. His plush lips were tensed as he stayed quiet, immersed in his thoughts.

"Time heals most things," you started, earning a quick glance from him, "she will open her shell. I will keep an eye on her, pinky promise."

His eyes went back and forth between yours. You felt a little awkward after saying such a childish phrase in front of a man older than you, forgetting for a second you weren't speaking with Nath or your brother but with someone you were spending more than 5 minutes together for the first time. Despite that, he put one arm on the table, close to your hand, and lifted his pinky finger.

Smiling with your mouth closed, you enlaced your finger with his. He slowly looked from your finger to your eyes and smiled back. In the low and trembling light from the only candle in the whole room, with his dark eyes boring into yours, you never felt more seen.

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paganwitchisis · 10 days

Text

The Price of Freedom Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Fight for Their Lives

Rated E for EXPLICIT!!

Word count: 2,383

Chapter one - previous chapter is here (4.2k words)

Chapter two - This is where you are

Chapter three - here

Warnings: DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT! Abuse, torture, smut, oral sex, rape, healing, beatings, dismemberment, breeding kink, act 3 spoilers, canon divergence, blood, violence, graphic depictions (It is Cazador after all) RATED 18 PLUS

AO3 link here

This is a graphic fight scene, be warned.

Note: chapter 3 will be uploaded sooner rather than later because of how short this chapter is.

Story: All the eyes from the group had shifted and turned to look for the source of the voice and landed on a lone figure, a body that was not there before on the throne. This figure was what appeared to be an older male elf with pale skin and a sinister smile on his face. His eyes were red and scars covered most of his uncovered body. He wasn’t small by any means, and was fairly muscular, a large great sword the size of a man leaning against the side of the throne.

Astarion bristled immediately and shifted in front of Tav, every nerve in his body screaming what a danger this being was and what he was facing. This was impossible. How was there another vampire so close to Cazador? There was no way Cazador would allow this vampire to live so close to his territory! Astarion’s main concern was to hide Tav, maybe the vampire didn’t see Astarion’s own semi-permanent bite mark on her neck. Maybe he could get her out of here in one piece?

“Another of our kind, I see? Szarr’s whelp, at that! Although…I don’t feel his compulsion.” The figure began to get on its feet and grabbed it’s massive great sword while the others looked on. Astarion was going to move, when the figure was on them in an instant, Astarion’s throat in his hand, as he squeezed painfully but not lethally. “Now why is that, hmm?”

“Let him go!” Tav yelled out and pulled her own great sword free, aiming it at the vampire. Karlach had her battle axe aimed. Shadowheart had radiant damage prepared and ready to lob towards the vampire.

“No! Run!!” Astarion demanded while being partly strangled. The vampire merely laughed.

“You would protect a spawn? I guess it would make sense that you would.” The vampire said towards Tav. “I never knew of the Szarr family allowing their spawn to drink off humanoids. Then again, I guess I can see why you chose this…morsel. I think I’ll have a taste myself.”

With that, Astarion kicked the vampire in the head with enough force to be released. Falling to the ground, Astarion got between the vampire and his lover easily enough, and, after coughing to clear his airway, although it was more a matter of habit, Astarion snarled and replied.

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, or how you’re in this territory, but you will leave her the Hells alone! She is mine!”

The vampire got up from the attack and chuckled before it replied.

“I see now. You’re not under the compulsion because you're infected by mind flayers, however, it isn’t the mind flayers that weakened you. It was Cazador. Figures, the little shit was so scared of his own spawn that he put a limiter into your creation!”

“Who the hells are you?” Karlach yelled out, finally trying to piece together what was going on.

“My name matters little. I don’t even remember it. Let’s just say, I’ve been doing my own thing hundreds of years before Cazador rose to power. Not that you would know, he only sired you twenty years after he became a vampire lord and murdered his own master. Now, what is his pathetic attempts at creating a vampire doing in my home?” the vampire asked as his eyes tracked Tav, something Astarion was very upset about and kept getting in between.

“And what if we plan to kill you?” Shadowheart asked, spitting venom towards the creature.

“Then I must remind you I will kill you where you stand. It is by my generosity that you all live now. Although…you,” the vampire pointed at Tav “Come here.”

“No!” Astarion called out, leveraging his daggers higher. When he pulled them out, he couldn’t remember, but it was obvious the vampire before them was a threat. Astarion backed up a little to press himself closer to Tav, his fangs bared.

“Don’t trust me with your mate, spawn?”

In response Astarion merely snarled before Tav, having heard enough and not wanting to be protected, lunged out from behind her lover and attempted to swing at the elder vampire. The hit did not connect. This signaled to the others to attack. Astarion did what he did best, and became one with the shadows. He knew that he was still at a disadvantage, however he also knew that for his strengths, he needed the element of surprise. Karlach took the main focus and the brunt of the reprisal when she stepped in front of Tav, rage filling her body as she took a swipe from the vampire. The vampire tried to use his claws on his non-dominant hand on the woman, but thankfully Karlach was a very proficient warrior from her time in Avernus and was used to quick opponents like imps. She dodged easily, which frustrated the vampire. This made him lift his mighty great sword, the weapon that seemed to command a presence all on it’s own. Shadowheart attempted to use radiant damage, however, as like her previous battles, her attacks would just miss the enemy. While distracted, Astarion came up behind the vampire and used Orin’s daggers, however the vampire jumped, missing the first strike, but the second strike found it’s mark in the blood sucker’s flesh. Due to the elder elf leaping into the air, the hit was superficial and in the thigh. It wasn’t fatal nor would it do much harm. The curious thing was that it didn’t appear that it was healing right away like it should have due to his status. Astarion was familiar with delayed regeneration, and when the answer hit him, he retreated to Tav like a moth to the flame.

“He needs blood! He is starving! Look! He isn't healing!”

Astarion remembered his time with Cazador and his delayed healing due to his poor diet. That was the only reason he was seeing the same symptoms in the vampire before them. He was targeting Tav because Karlach simply was too hot. Anyone with eyes could see that her blood would be volatile due to her condition, and with Shadowheart almost bathing herself in radiant magic, this left one option – her. Astarion knew something seemed off when he ran into the elder elf, the way he spoke of Cazador screamed bordering disdain, yet he couldn’t remember his own name? He is possible he was borderline feral already. This could give them an edge in the battlefield but this was tricky because this was also very dangerous. He was a caged beast at this point who would do anything for the feast that stumbled into his house. Astarion knew from experience what a feast her blood was and he would be damned if a single drop ended up with any other vampire than himself.

Angry, the vampire lashed out and tore his great sword down with strength that defied his position. A moment later and the pillar holding up a portion of the ceiling came down. The vampire’s target was obvious. He was too slow with the weapon and against the might of their numbers, so he planned to change tactics. The elder vampire was trying to take the room down.

Karlach dropped her defense temporarily to brace herself under the falling platform. This gave Shadowheart time to roll out from under the rubble before she was dealt major damage at the cost of Karlach’s defense. Astarion saw it happen too late as he was on the other side of the room, Tav having made off in a sprint shortly after Karlach ran to the pillar. Astarion ran to stop the vampire even if he knew it was in vain while Tav used her weapon to deflect a potentially fatal blow aimed at the tiefling. This left Tav open to a counter strike. The elder vampire bared his fangs and went to pierce her neck, when Astarion, incensed and fueled by a protective instinct he hadn't seen or used up to this point, leapt on the vampire and sunk his teeth into the rotting flesh of the corpse they were attacking. Astarion knew it would taste vile, but it was more than that, it was revolting. When the vampire finally bucked and tossed him off, Astarion couldn’t stop his stomach from retching the congealed blood and could not attack. The angered older vampire turned, ignoring Tav and set off with his great sword aimed high to cleave Astarion who could not get his faculties to work long enough to evade or listen to his commands. Astarion held his only dagger, his second long since abandoned in the middle of the room when he pierced the man’s thigh.

Shadowheart was trying to free Karlach who was trying to clear her area due to the falling ceiling while she took pot shots and continued to miss with her magic. Karlach had let go of the pillar and was trying to crawl out from under a large slab of cement, Astarion watching the entire battle play out slowly like earlier. Astarion watched as Tav ran towards Astarion, dropping her great sword in favor of speed to reach him and swiped his dagger off the ground as she ran. She used her momentum to propel herself into the air and jabbed the dagger into the other vampire’s throat. As she did this, the vampire picked up on her as a threat and turned, used his off hand claws and aimed true.

There was so much blood, and from the buffet that hit Astarion’s nose, a great deal was hers.

Astarion bolted to her side, two of the claws had caught her throat at an odd angle and she began to drown on her own blood.

“Shadowheart! Karlach! Help!” Astarion called out as he pressed his hands over her throat, fear gripping his throat and tears springing free. He couldn’t lose her! Not yet! They barely had time together!

Astarion was barely able to perceive that his lover’s action had struck true and that his dagger was embedded in the vampire’s throat. His main focus was on his lover, her gaze was soft and she reached out to touch his face. She was dying and she still sought to comfort him?

“Stay with me!” Astarion called out as he moved for Shadowheart to start healing. Astarion took the moment to start pouring healing potion after healing potion into her mouth and praying to every god he could think of to save her. They needed to save her. This prayer he deluded himself into thinking wasn’t for him, it was for her! This world needed her because no one had a heart like her! No one. Hells, she even had his. Astarion didn’t care that he was sobbing now while he shook, trying to keep his lover among the living.

“Hold on, soldier! This will hurt, but it’s the only way.” Karlach said as she finally joined them. Astarion knew a split second before Karlach did it, what the tiefling had in mind. The woman used her extreme heat to burn the wound and sear the flesh together. The smell was horrible. Of course, this wasn’t the first time Astarion smelled burnt flesh, but this was the first time her smelled her flesh go through this, or hear her agonizing scream like this. She began to shake, and Shadowheart cursed.

“She is going into shock. This is too much for her body!” Shadowheart called out. The throat wound was sealed and her life no longer in extreme danger but her life was still in danger nonetheless. They had to worry about getting out with her severely injured, having lost a lot of blood and whatever was making her sick wasn’t helping. Tav proceeded to throw up on the other side of Astarion.

“Is that because of me?” Karlach asked.

“No. She’s been sick.” Astarion volunteered the information. He finally got his breathing under control again, angry at himself for losing his cool and being so emotional in front of others like that a moment ago. She needed help, this was not the time to break down. Astarion kissed her forehead and tried to soothe his beloved.

“It’s okay, dear, we’re gonna get you out of here. I promise.” Astarion ran his thumb over her cheek bone while Shadowheart used the last of her spell slots to get her stable.

“It may be best if we keep her here tonight. She isn’t able to move. We still have to loot, anyways. Tav did this out of love. Remember that.” Shadowheart reminded Astarion while she went to her pack and laid out a bed roll. She pulled out a bowl and used a spell of Create Water and handed it to Astarion for him to use on Tav to clean her down, while Karlach went to work on looting and looking for the ring. Astarion pulled her pack and his to him and looked at her marred throat. She had a new scar because she saved his life. Astarion helped to wash Tav’s bruised and battered body while avoiding her throat for the most part. When he did get to the wound, he took the utmost care. He got her into her night clothes, tucked her into a bed roll, and wrapped her in a couple blankets to stave off the chill of the cement floor.

“You should join me.” Tav said with a raspy voice which Astarion hadn't noticed, but he was relieved to hear her speak. He was worried if she had damaged her vocal cords.

“I will, my dear. I’m just going to help Karlach. I’ll be right back.” Astarion kissed her briefly and walked off to where Karlach and Shadowheart were. He was suspicious of them for a little bit now as they had been muttering among themselves for a bit in low whispers. Astarion intended to find out why.

“She doesn’t know?” Shadowheart asked Karlach as Astarion approached

“No! I’m sure she would have said something if she knew she was pregnant. I’m telling you, she is clueless. They both are. You need to tell them!” Karlach said a little louder than Shadowheart had liked who shushed her immediately. Astarion stopped his approach.

Pregnant?

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dorthyanndrarry · 2 years

Text

Whatever You Want, Draco Malfoy -39-

Tags: alcohol use, marijuana use, cigarettes, smoking, reckless behaviour, lack of self preservation, anxiety issues, chronic illness, deportation, racism, the fucking Tories, ptsd, super unhealthy coping mechanisms, Down and out Draco who’s friends with muggles, various OC’s, enemies to lovers, angst, mentions of throwing up/vomit, mentions of suicide, mentions of panic attacks, swearing

suggested rating: Mature

Part 1 (contains links to all parts) <- Part 38 || Part 40 ->

Chapter Eighteen

Draco took a small broken tortilla chip and dragged it along the bottom of the bowl of salsa, collecting mainly watery tomato dregs and a single sad piece of onion. A few bites left of abandoned meat pasty were sitting in the centre of an empty plate. Draco contemplated for a few brief seconds if he was better than eating half-eaten leftovers, then decided it was worth it for those particular meat pasties and popped it into his mouth.

Potter was in the living area, putting away the game boxes stacked in random, haphazard piles on the floor.

Someone had brought a packet of biscuits that was now just an empty wrapper sitting on the counter. Draco licked his fingers and pressed them into crumbs, thinking they weren’t very good biscuits as he sucked them from his fingers.

“I thought you were cleaning,” Potter said.

Draco glanced over at Potter, who had paused his own task to throw an annoyed look at Draco.

“I am,” Draco said blandly, eating another tortilla chip.

Potter sighed and went back to his task.

Draco absently vanished the biscuit packet and dropped a few dishes into the sink. The group had ordered pizza at some point during the night and, obviously unable to come to a compromise on toppings, had just ordered cheese. He ate the last piece left in the box, cheese gone rubbery as it cooled. One of Potter’s heathen friends had decided not to eat the crust, a travesty if there ever was one. On the off chance that the person in question had been Weasley, Draco used a knife to carefully cut off the chewed edge before eating the rest and vanishing the box.

“Is that everything?” Potter asked, coming up behind Draco.

“What did Luna bring?” Draco asked, scanning the counter. He couldn’t imagine her bringing something as plebeian as biscuits, especially cheap biscuits; that had to have been Longbottom.

Potter stared at him for a moment too long, and Draco raised an eyebrow.

“I- Sorry. You calling her Luna-”

“It’s her name,” Draco said archly.

“Yeah, I was just starting to think you had to call people by their last names, like a compulsion or something,” Potter said.

Draco huffed a laugh. “It’s just a habit from school. I don’t tend to do it with anyone new.”

“Then I could call you Draco?” Potter asked.

Draco grimaced, “Fuck no.”

“What-”

“Can’t you hear the way it sounds? Awful. I won’t stand for it,” Draco stepped around Potter. He went over to the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the telly as he dropped onto the cushions.

Potter opened the fridge and grabbed something before sitting next to Draco on the couch.

“Luna brought cupcakes,” Potter said, holding out a small round cake, the pale yellow frosting covered in sprinkles and edible glitter. “I saved one for you.”

“You’re feeding me again, Potter,” Draco teased, taking the cupcake before he could change his mind. “Thank you.”

“I’d never have heard the end of it if there were cupcakes and you didn’t get one,” Potter said. “And they’re really good.”

Draco peeled off the paper liner and took a bite, sighing into the taste of perfectly too sweet lemon flavoured. He smiled as he realised Luna had worn lemon earrings and a yellow dress to match her lemon cupcakes.

“So...” Potter hesitated, “are we going to talk about it?”

“If you apologise, I will murder you,” Draco said.

Potter quickly shook his head, “No. No apologising.”

Draco let himself relax, slightly mollified by Potter’s answer.

“But this changes a lot, doesn’t it?” Potter said.

“Does it?” Draco said.

Potter opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He looked terribly confused.

Draco had to sigh. “Potter, we find one another attractive. And now you’re willing to do something about that. Anything beyond that is… a choice, you make.”

Potter frowned faintly.

“It doesn’t have to be anything more than physical,” Draco said, his voice sounding strangely distant from his own mouth. He took another bite of Luna’s cupcake, the sweet now tasting almost too sweet.

Potter was staring at him, searching his expression, and Draco tried to hide the feelings of dread and anxiety and miserable skulking hope swirling through him. Then he looked down at the cupcake in his hands because he had never been good at hiding his feelings. His father would always scold him for being an open book. Draco would practise in the mirror, trying to keep his face neutral, but usually he just fell back on turning every expression into a sneer or a smirk. He couldn’t seem to muster either expression now.

“I’m… not good at casual,” Potter said.

Draco snorted; of course, he wasn’t. Not the great Harry Potter.

“Is that what you want? Something casual?” Potter asked.

Draco hesitated, managed to force a scoff and say, “I’m not particularly good at serious,” all the while avoiding Potter’s gaze. He took another bite of cake even though he had lost the taste for it.

Potter was quiet, and Draco was just mustering up the nerve to glance over and see what sort of face Potter was making when Potter spoke.

“What if… we um...” Potter reached up and ruffled his hand through his hair, “I could try to be more casual, and you could try to be more serious?”

Draco made the mistake of meeting Potter’s eyes and couldn’t bring himself to look away. It was deeply unfair for someone to look so fucking earnest.

“Just one day at a time. Nothing written in stone, but you’re right; I don’t think I can leave this alone anymore. I just...” Potter reached out, his fingers shaking very faintly as they brushed Draco’s cheek and traced down and around the line of his jaw. “...I can’t.”

Potter’s thumb swiped across the corner of Draco’s mouth, coming away with a faint smear of icing. Draco’s lips parted, and he leaned forward, catching Potter’s thumb in his mouth. He licked the frosting from Potter’s skin and bit down gently, his teeth pressing into the pad before letting go and sitting back.

Potter breathed in, his eyes fixed on Draco’s mouth.

The corners of Draco’s mouth rose as he took one more bite of the cupcake, leaving a small piece of cake and frosting left between his fingers. He held it out as an offering, a spark of pleasure rushing down his spine as Potter opened his mouth and leaned forward to take the last bite from his fingers.

Draco waited, watching Potter’s throat move as he swallowed, his hand still hovering in mid-air, the tips of two fingers white with frosting. Potter’s eyes bore into him as he slowly licked his lips and then opened his mouth once more. He held perfectly still as Draco slipped his fingers inside, Potter’s tongue coming up to meet them, hot against his skin.

Draco shivered, his breath catching as he drew his fingers back across Potter’s lips.

“okay,” Draco said softly.

Okay, what?” Potter asked.

“We can try. I suppose,” Draco said.

Potter huffed a sigh, muttering, “You drive me barmy.”

“Good,” Draco said, smirking faintly.

“Shut up, you,” Potter said.

“Make me,” Draco said, leaning forward as Potter grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled Draco against him.

Potter slipped down the couch as they kissed until Draco was sprawled on top of him. Draco let himself follow Potter’s lead, but the kissing softened rather than intensified into something more familiar. And eventually, Potter relaxed back on the couch with a sleepy yawn. Draco rested his head on Potter’s chest, listening to the thrum of Potter’s heartbeat under his ear rather than whatever was playing on the television, and quickly, without realising it, he fell asleep.

💜 things are finally starting to heat up🔥 and I’m not talking about the weather😂 💜 thank you for reading! 💜

Tags below v (I don’t have a permanent tags list. All tags are of the wonderful people who left messages or reblogs on the previous 2 parts.)

💜 @justafangirlslikes 💜 thank you!! 💜

💜 @pain-changes-everything thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you like my Luna 💜 💜

💜 @havingaverydrarryday thank you!

💜 @snarkyship 💜 💜thank you!! 💜 💜

💜 @dewitty1 I hated how much I had to water lately🥵 it feels like such a waste but I’d be so sad if my garden died 💜 💜and yeah on the smoochin! thank you 💜 💜

💜 @undercoverwarlock 😁thank youuu!!!

💜 @kaosuiinku saaaaame 💜 💜thank you!

💜 @idareyoutotakealook 💜asfghjkhla😭💕I can’t wait to top it 💜thank you!!! 💜

💜 @shadowybook thank you sooooo so so much for the wonderful wonderful comment😭💕 Harry’s a sucker for people that like his friends, espeacillly luna, he just couldn’t resist 💜 💜

💜 @elmosworld 😁😁thank you!!!! 💜

💜 @languedor71 thank youuuuu! I have been doing my best to represent Draco’s mental health issues, I’m glad I’m doing alright so far 💜 💜 and this heat wave has sucked but my little window air conditioner has been doing it’s best💜

💜 @iamactuallya-cat 💜thank you! 💜

💜 @luna13e-blog thank you sooooooo much😭😭😭💕💕 I’m so so happy you like it so much so far! I’ll do my best to keep it up 💜 💜

💜 @addicted-to-w0rds thank you!!!!💜💜💜

💜 @beelzebub-banshee thankyou so muchhh! I really appreciate it 💜

💜 @chamomileteafuel 💜 @lilyinthebreeze 💜

💜 @devilrising 💜 @et-phone-himself 💜 @irishbeings 💜 @peaceinambiguity 💜

#dorthyannwrites #whatever you want draco malfoy #WYWDM #drarry #drarry fanfiction #fanfiction #harry potter #draco malfoy

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official-timari-server · 4 months

Note

Is there anything special about the discord server? Is it only open for people who like Timari or can newcomers also join?

Hello newcomer!

Thank you for your questions!

What’s special about our server?

This is a ship specific discord server within the Maribat community; there’s not many of them, just more general ones. Here you’ll find people who not only share the same fandom as you, but also are looking to create/read things that are more centered around a certain area of interest. This makes it easier to connect with individuals and receive aid and feedback as well as create a lively environment of common interests.

It’s also very organized and has a place for everything. The moderation is sound and members have a say in almost everything with a clear goal of a safe and healthy environment.

We strive to bring encouragement and support to members of the maribat community, Timari and otherwise, and within the server have an earnable role system to create a sense of friendly competition.

We have events open to members with a clearly defined set of criteria for what’s needed to host their own events within the server; they have the option to simply suggest them for staff to run or may host them personally and given full access to their own channel within the events category to do so with full freedom to do as they’d like as long as it stays within the rules.

Members who request so are given their own channels to do what they’d like in from plotting to writing haikus to artworks to linking their works. As long as it complies with the rules it’s allowed.

And lastly, our members. Seems cliche but a server really isn’t a server without its members. We’re currently only a small server, may always be that way, but we’re a small community of brilliant creators and readers who help to bring the server up and create things for all to enjoy for free. People who will bring you up and encourage you to keep writing, keep drawing, keep reading. We welcome everyone, and we work to keep it a positive and safe environment so it can stay that way.

Comments from members:

“The environment, it's welcoming and friendly and open. Most of the larger servers I'm in are either a closed off group or too big to find people in. It's truly a good place for people who create”

“Despite being a smaller, newer server, it is still active but not so overwhelmingly active like a bigger server. We are also quite passionate about the ship and encourage one another to create”

“The server is special because it not only gives us (writers and artists and Timari creators) another community platform but it allows us to work together and in a way, network”

Is it open to anyone or just Timari fans?

As it is a Timari server, the goal is to collect all the Timari fans. But this does not mean that other ship lovers are not welcome to join.

We welcome lovers of any of the maribat ships from damianette to konette to the lovely rare pairs. We encourage you to have some interest in Timari if you plan on joining or are looking to read/create/view more Timari content. But we do have areas where you can post about other ships within the fandom that is accessible to all members.

Still interested?

-> Join us today!

X Timari Staff

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bowtied-pasta · 1 year

Text

All the characters in my canon and what the fuck they’re doing here with some factoids sprinkled in for fun 🎉

This is a very long post… so….

Splendor (Oliver) - Owner of a small but growing candy store and bakery that creates sweets and treats that contain magic and are often incensed with emotions for enders to feed on. His hands were cursed to look the way they do now, hence why he wears the gloves. Has been best friends with Fen since childhood.

True - My self insert oc. She gets to marry Splendor because I simp. 👉👈

Kevin - Splendorman’s proxy. The very first of all of them, he is very much a basement lurker. He’s rarely seen, though he’s basically just a tech guy that gets to live in Splendor’s basement for free as Splendor’s way of apologizing for how Kevin became the way he is.

Nina - Splendorman’s proxy. The newest of all of them, she is also the youngest at 19. She was found roaming around the Veil in the woods by Splendor, who decided to take her in as a proxy when he discovered her prior operator had somehow gone and disappeared. She was one of several proxies that had scattered from the unknown ender’s residence. She now manages the social media page for Splendor’s candy business.

Finley, Gage and Damien - Splendorman’s proxies, but oc’s. I actually use them to display different personality traits of Splendor in more detail in the stages of True and Splendor’s relationship where they aren’t very close at all. 🤷 You may see more of that when I get more fics out.

Fen (Adonis) - Owner of a nightclub that has entrances in each of the realms, but in order to keep the humans out of the loop, only visitors capable of glamour are capable to move about as they please between the different sections connected to each realm. (This mostly only applies to associates of the club anyway, as they’re the only ones with reasons to switch it up.) A stalwart, which means half ender and half incubus. Polyamorous. Has been best friends with Splendor since childhood.

Kagekao - He has no paying job, but he has snatched so many wallets and is so good at stealing that it doesn’t matter. Dating Fen. Comes and goes as he pleases though, and is often very difficult to find unless Fen’s the one looking for him. Knows Fen is polyamorous and doesn’t really care.

Lorelei - Not really a dancer at Fen’s club, more of a soloist that works on her own and takes gigs where she likes. Animalistic (cat)/succubus. Not “dating” Fen, but a relationship in the sheets is definitely happening. Knows Fen is polyamorous, and is really only interested in more “open relationships” herself.

Trender (David) - True’s (whole lot of greats) great grandfather. He is… very old. Was exiled from the Veil a long time ago, having broken the law by unintentionally impregnating a proxy. He closely monitored the bloodline when the child was born, but lost track after several generation showing no signs of any abilities. He is currently a very successful designer.

Jocelyn - Shadow/Shifter demon that works for Trender, sometimes as a model and rarely as a secretary. Closely enough that she would ordinarily be labeled a proxy, but since Trender has been exiled, he rarely cares enough to follow traditional rules regarding work partners that are “below him.”

Zalgo - King of the Abyss (the underworld). Governs over all of the Abyss, though will often leave actual law making up to a very diligently and carefully chosen group of delegates, but every law written goes through him before it’s approved. Blah blah blah, he actually gets to fuck around a lot and is basically only there to sign papers and look official so the grumpy old delegates don’t have to.

Dark Link (Erembour) - Zalgo’s main guard and lover, not that it’s a publicly announced thing, but it’s also not like they’re doing much work to keep it a secret. A shadow demon. One of very few demons trained on the ability to destroy a soul.

E. Jack - Zalgo’s medic, otherwise known as the royal medic. Animalistic (wolf) demon. His “demon puberty” hit a few years into college, forcing him to disappear. After several years of causing chaos in the form of organ theft, Dark was sent after him and brought him to Zalgo.

Dina - Zalgo’s judge, also known as the royal judge. Abrahamic demon. Her father was an abrahamic demon, but seeing as these things are genetic, she became one too. Her abilities made her perfect for being a judge, as she can tell with 100% accuracy if someone is telling a lie. She was found by Dark after she had raised a lot of chaos and drawn a lot of attention.

Tenderman - Slenderman’s younger brother. Lives alone in a comfortably reserved home. Not many know, but he’s versed in dark magic, as well as some other more friendly things. Has not ever taken proxies and never will.

Slenderman - Tenderman’s older brother. Runs a small and secretive hit man for hire business, but otherwise runs an also very secretive dark magic side gig. A lot of what he does is illegal and the only reason he gets away with it is because the elders all love him for how traditional he acts.

Jeff, Jane, Ben and Toby - Slenderman’s proxies that run errands and complete tasks and missions for him.

Phosphorus - The older twin. Feeds on serotonin, the happy chemical in the brain. He manages the day shift at the fairgrounds for this reason, as it allows him to more effectively feed on the reactions of the patrons.

Hesperus - The younger twin. Feeds on cortisol, the fear and anxiety chemical in the brain. He manages the night shift at the fairgrounds for this reason, as it allows him to more effectively feed on the reactions of the patrons.

Laughing Jack, Helen and The Puppeteer - associates at the twins’ fairgrounds. LJ during the night shift, Helen during the day shift, and Pup switches it up from time to time.

Kat - Singer/Idol in the Abyss. As a shifter demon, she is able to perform sets of stars that most demons are not able to go and see for themselves, as they lack the ability to glamour themselves.

Tim and Brian - Cryptid/monster hunters. Theyre life was effected horribly by an ender and they set out to hunt him down, only to find the operator was not the only one of it’s kind.

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consul-valerius · 2 years

Text

Day One: Baths + Group sex +Orgasm Denial + Food Play (The Courtiers x Donna)

Day one for the @the-midsummer-masquerade; AO3 link here // Masterlist here

Donatello and Valerius are side-tracked by Vesuvia's finest courtiers who they have no concept of time nor consequences.

Content warnings (other than the day's themes): monster/human relationships, tentacles, group sex, bondage, spanking, choking, verbal humiliation/general foul language, dirty talk, vaginal fingering, oral play, food play, cucking

W/C: 5515 because I apparently have no fucking chill

A/N: We are starting this week off with a very loud bang aka a proper courtegy 😤😤😤 lots of banter, rough sex, and bullying of Valerius ahead

MINORS DNI OR I TAKE YA LUNCH MONEY🤺🤺🤺

Volta was the last person Valerius expected to see dragging his Donatello down a winding palace hallway, and yet there she was, politely but urgently tugging along a sheepish Donna. Blinking, Valerius tilted his head, some part of him wondering if he had eaten something bad today or if this was some trick or illusion. Donna should have been with him getting ready in the private rooms Nadia had procured for them . The masquerade was still some time away, but already the palace was bursting with frantic staff, each one hellbent on ensuring all of the evening’s plans was up to the Countess’s high standards. Donna should have been frantically making sure they were up to Nadia’s high standards. With him , not Volta of all people.

Frowning, Valerius quickly trailed after them, glancing nervously at his pocket watch. There was still time. But not enough for whatever those lot had planned.

***

The consul was shocked as Volta led the way to one of the palace’s baths; truly, she was full of surprises it seemed. He could hear Donna laughing with her, allowing her to drag them along. Part of it was endearing, hearing their laugh. Another part was aggravating—they had things to do! Since when were they so irresponsible? That was… Well, it wasn’t his job , but it wasn’t like Donna to promote such bad behavior either.

“Donatello!”

He couldn’t deny the small rush it gave him to see them jump at their name being called. He had seen them instantly wilt when Nadia would utter it; he could get used to them doing so with him.

“Valerius? What are you… Volta , did you lie to me?”

It was the procurator’s turn to turn into a sheepish mess, frantically fluttering her hands as Donna crossed their arms. Valerius quickly stepped to their side, wrapping his arm around their shoulder.

“Yes, Procurator, please explain what you are doing with my partner of all people.”

“Oh! Oh! Volta didn’t want to lie, Donna! But you see… You see, brutish Vulgora did not want Valerius to join our games!” Valerius felt his entire face ignite, anger and jealousy stinging his ears. Donna deflated at that, pouting down at the frazzled woman. “It was Vlastomil who insisted that Volta lie! Oh, but Volta is so so sorry! She does not like lying to her most beloved friend, Donatello!”

“For the last time,” Donna sighed, suddenly raising their voice so that they could be heard in the next room over. It was then that Valerius noted the faint sounds of a commotion in the baths; splashing and shouting, for the most part. “Valerius is my lover . You do not get to lie and exclude him just so you can all… Do whatever it is you want to do to me. Either he comes or I’m leaving. Got it, Vulgora ?”

“What? Valerius is here? What the fu—Volta!” Volta tugged at her hair as they could all hear Vulgora bellowing from the baths. Valerius was too hung up on the word “lover” to even properly react; his heart was racing as he fiddled with his braid. Donna nudged their hip into him, trying to remain in control of the situation.

“Volta tried! Valerius is too weaselly!”

“ Weaselly—?” Valerius's face could not become redder if he tried.

“You’re a big ol’ coward sending Volta to do your dirty work, Vulgora!” Donna shouted over him, a smug grin on their face as they heard the tell-tale sound of Vulgora slapping out of the bath. “You wana fuck me, then you gotta put some effort in. That goes for you too, old man!”

Valerius hugged Donna closer to himself; gods, they could be so vulgar with their language, and it always made him… feel things, things he didn’t want to think too hard about.

“Since when does fucking you involve effort , little bug?” Vulgora pounded around the corner, fully nude and dripping with water and suds. Volta and Donna both seemed unphased; Valerius kept his face turned, his eyes focusing on the wall and not on their bulging biceps or glistening gut or thick, thick thighs that could easily do irreparable damage to him if they— “Oh this is the worst, Valerius is already popping a boner. At least Donna puts up some sort of chase.”

“P-Popping a—I am not , how dare you—”

“Oh, hush. If dealing with your prissy attitude is what I need to get my dick wet, then I’m all for it.”

“Your dick’s already wet,” Donna teased, tilting their chin up at them. Vulgora stood roughly the same height as them, though they were much girthier than Donna was. Still, provoking a fight with them was always fun; perhaps Sam had rubbed off a bit too much on them? “I can dry it off for you though.”

“Oh, you wana go already—?”

“Is Donatello here? I’m getting bored , and Valdemar is the worst possible company!” Vlastomil’s nasally voice suddenly cut into the conversation; the small group thought they could hear a faint giggle too, undoubtedly Valdemar.

“You idiot, they’re here with Valerius ! We established this like… five minutes ago that our dear Volta fucked up!”

“Volta did no such thing! The consul is a weasel!”

“Stop saying that! All of you stop insulting me this instant! ”

“Or what , pretty boy? Gonna have Donna beat me up for you?”

“Oh my stars, can we just go into the bath already before the night is over ?”

Donna didn’t wait for anyone else’s approval; they were already stripping off their day clothes as they stomped to the bath, kicking off their shoes as they marched away. Valerius let his complaints die in his throat; they didn’t have time for this, and yet now that he knew he wasn’t invited to… well, whatever this was, he wasn’t going to leave now. He followed after them, sticking his nose up in the air as he politely stepped out of his heels and placed them aside. Vulgora growled, easily flinging Volta over their shoulder as she giggled, her frantic mood subsiding.

“Donna is always much better with the consul anyway, dear Vulgora!”

“Little Volta, I do not want to hear it from you.”

***

As expected, Vlastomil was already bathing while Valdemar sat on the edge of the bath, kicking the water at him as he whined. They were both wearing sheer, black robes; Valdemar’s usual headwraps were swapped for a more appropriate bonnet. Donna bit the insides of their cheeks, resisting the urge to make a comment about it.

Vlastomil instantly perked up at their arrival, very interested in their unabashed nudity.

“ This is the shindig you all were begging me to come to?” Donna laughed, slowly dipping their toe into the steaming water. It was hot , much hotter than how they normally would want it. But then again, they shouldn’t have been surprised by this group . “I can watch Valdemar upset people any time of the day.”

“The missing component was you, wormlet,” Vlastomil quickly swept over to them, cutting through the water with ease as Donna sank into the bath. They sat themself down on the wall’s built-in seat, smirking up at him. He was much taller than them, taller than all of them actually, and they enjoyed that about him immensely. Valerius huffed, still clothed, as he watched Donna eye the praetor up and down with little shame. “Though I would have loved it if we didn’t have a… sour grape in our mix.”

“Sour grape? Really? Your immaturity speaks volumes , praetor.”

“See, this is exactly why we don’t want you here, sour grape ,” Vulgora butted in, pushing past Valerius as they submerged themself back into the steaming water next to Donna. Valerius squawked, nearly toppling over with the force of their shove. As Volta straightened him out, Valdemar giggled, scooting closer to Donna and the others on the edge of the bath.

“Volta is sorry, Valerius.” Volta smoothed down Valerius’s arm as he seethed. “They will all be calmed soon enough with the help of your Donna.” His face heated up as she slowly began undressing, fully at ease with her motions as she stripped. Once nude, she had stepped aside to an alcove and retrieved two robes and a hefty basket full of different fruits at her hip. Only Valerius was clothed as he awkwardly stood outside of the circle, too many conflicting thoughts buzzing in his head.

“I am about… hmm… Two seconds away from leaving?” Donna piped up, reclining back on their elbows as they glared up at Vlastomil. He squirmed under their stare, his cheeks igniting. “Insulting my lover does nothing if you want to get me going.”

“Y-You misunderstand me, Donatello—”

“Oh right, it’s insulting you that gets you off, right?” Vulgora cut in, easily looping their large arm around Donna’s neck. Donna’s confidence was momentarily thrown as they sputtered, digging their nails into the meat of Vulgora’s arms as they flexed, choking them. “How could we forget?”

“I know you guys— ah !—aren’t the brightest bunch, I get it—” Before Donna could finish, Vulgora began strangling them properly, cutting off any more of their words. Valdemar leaned forward, their interest growing as Donna’s face turned redder, their hair suddenly igniting into a similar hue as Vlastomil stepped between their legs.

“How curious,” Valdemar finally spoke, reclining forward on their arm. “If you black out, does your hair also lose all color? I would love to see it.”

“ That won’t be happening,” Valerius interjected, leaning down over them. They turned their nose up at him, rolling their eyes.

“Oh, lighten up, sour grape,” Vulgora drawled, finally releasing Donna as Vlastomil pet through their hair. They were swooning, trying to heave in more air. The heat of the water made it harder to breathe, their heart hammering in their ears. Still, a wide smile was already on Donna’s face as they spread their legs wider under the water, subtly stroking themself on Vlastomil's thigh. “Everyone here is having fun but you. And you wonder why we don’t want you here?”

Valerius pouted, his cheeks stinging. Volta tugged at his shirt sleeve, sheepishly offering him a robe. Rolling his eyes, he turned before beginning to strip.

“Aw, no show for us, consul?” Vlastomil called out to him as he changed his and Donna’s positions; he sat and balanced them on his lap, facing Donna towards himself. Vulgora moved to stand behind them, keeping their hands close to their neck as they dragged their teeth over Donna's shoulders. It was clear that Donna was trying to hold back their moaning—and was failing. Valdemar had taken a strand of Donna’s hair, noting every subtle color shift as Vlastomil bounced them in his lap. “So sorry that annoying ex-count isn’t here. Perhaps then you would feel more motivated, hmm?”

“ You—! ” Valerius whipped around, pointing an accusatory finger at the man before he bit down on his tongue. Gods, Donna looked so good like that, clearly blissful as Vulgora nipped their neck, Vlastomil’s large, thin hands cupping under their breasts. Their head lolled to the side as Vulgora once again began to choke them, this time much slower, methodical even. Valdemar was looking back at him, a wicked gleam to their eyes as they grinned up at him. Huffing, Valerius shook his hair out from its braid, glaring at the group as Volta sat back down at the bath’s edge next to Valdemar. She watched the trio intently, an obvious blush on her face.

Seeing as all the attention was on Donna, Valerius quickly stripped off and folded the rest of his clothing. Only Valdemar was staring at him, and he chose to ignore their burning stare.

“You’re erect already.”

“I’m aware.”

“Tell me, does seeing your lover getting fondled by your coworkers turn you on?” Valdemar seemed to have choked on the word “lover,” which would have been funnier if Valerius wasn’t being engulfed by a wave of shame. “Would it be more alluring if it was a group of say strangers? Or does knowing the parties give it a certain… edge?”

“You… It isn’t—”

“You didn’t want Valerius here to kill the mood, yet you all have Doctor Sex Ed narrating for us in the dryest way possible?” Donna suddenly cut in, their voice hoarse and a bit shaky. Valdemar’s head snapped to them, their mouth a thin line. Valerius giggled, always elated at how quickly his Donna would come to his defense. He flipped his hair over his shoulder as he stepped to join Volta’s side, glaring over her shoulder at the quaestor.

“Oh? Is the little duckling upset the attention wasn’t on them for once?” Valdemar leaned closer to Donna, pulling their hair harder. They yelped, shifting on Vlastomil’s lap. They felt the ridges of his erection pushing up against them; they shivered, hissing as Valdemar yanked their hair again. “Okay, we can play this game; I love games. Tell me, then: does screwing older men do something special to you? Is there a certain thrill to being on the lap of someone not twice but possibly thrice your age?”

“Oh fuck off , Valdemar—”

“They do have a point, wormlet,” Vlastomil purred, licking up the water on Donna’s breasts, flicking his tongue over their nipple. They gasped, crying out as Vulgora squeezed the meat of their hips, digging their nails into their skin. “I’ve met that horrid man you called a lover before. He’s a bit old for you, no?”

“Like this little slut cares about any of that,” Vulgora huffed into Donna’s neck. “They don’t care about age or how someone looks—if they can get a quick fuck, they’ll take it .”

Donna all but screamed as Vulgora bit down on their throat; their hands shot to Vlastomil’s shoulders, their nails digging into him as he laughed into their tits. Their head was swimming; they thought they could feel their heartbeat down south, their entire body on fire and yearning . Gods, they hated when these assholes were right , and yet they couldn’t even form a retort to anything they had said.

Valerius was silent, his eyes wide as he watched them all. Volta was eyeing him up curiously as she bit into a pear. His erection looked painful , and yet he wasn’t touching himself at all, instead digging his own nails into his thighs to the point that she feared they would be bruised. Donna was shrieking and gasping as Vulgora and Vlastomil toyed with them, each biting and pinching every tender spot on them. Valdemar prodded them the entire time, their back to Volta and Valerius as they happily taunted the poor scribe.

“Volta cannot tell if you are enjoying yourself or are upset, consul,” Volta whispered, a strange air of glee tinging her words. This snapped Valerius back to reality. He had been so consumed with his own thoughts, he had forgotten he was even there to begin with. Bashful, he tried to hide his erection with the robe.

“I… I am fine, I just…”

“You seem faint. Here, have this,” Volta plucked out a cherry from the basket, offering it up for Valerius to take. However, she pulled it away from him when he tried to reach for it with his hand. Stunned, he blinked at the woman as she only smiled at him.

Oh ?

Lowering his glare, Valerius leaned forward, opening his mouth as he inched closer. Volta’s smile grew wider as she pulled the cherry away again, just as he was about to make contact with his lips. He huffed, his original annoyance now replaced with something else . Since when had Volta ever been… this coy ? Normally, she was just a feeble little thing, but this sudden switch was not unwelcomed at all. For a brief moment, Valerius wondered if it was all a ruse, if this was finally her moment to let her mask slip.

“What’s wrong, Consul? Volta is just trying to help.”

Volta all but squealed as Valerius lurched forward, practically fumbling into her lap as he caught the cherry into his mouth, making a point of sucking on her fingers as he pulled back with an audible pop. She giggled, nudging the basket closer as she settled neatly into his lap instead; she was shorter than Donna and much lither; it was like she was barely there. Still, he shuddered as she rubbed her ass against his skin. His hands landed on the small of her back, keeping her close as she fished out another fruit to taunt him with.

“You… You knew I was going to follow you. You knew from the beginning, didn’t you?”

“Volta doesn’t know what you are talking about, sour grape . Here!” Volta shushed him by pushing a rather fat grape between Valerius’s pursed lips. “Much better. Have another.” Valerius squirmed as he was practically force-fed different fruits. Juice and pulp tickled his chin and cheeks as Volta giggled. He all but melted when she licked the growing mess away, humming as she did. Any time he tried speaking up, she would silence him again, wiggling her hips as he struggled to swallow. “The consul should be happy he gets to sample this food—Volta does not like to share.”

As Valerius struggled to grasp exactly what was happening to him, Donna was struggling to swallow down Vlastomil’s absurdly long tongue. He licked their lips and mouth with little care, moaning as Donna whined and pretended to try to inch away from his mouth. Vulgora was steadily pumping their cock against Donna’s ass, keeping an arm around Donna’s neck to hold them in place. They would flex their muscles at random, cackling at the way Donna would choke and sputter.

“P-Ple ase , I cah… can’t breathe!”

“I do not understand why you feel the need to declare the obvious,” Valdemar mused, resting their chin in the palm of their hand as they studied the scene intently. “Besides, we all know erotic asphyxiation is one of your many fetishes.”

“Who’s the one… the one declaring the obvious?” Donna slurred, shoving Vlastomil’s face away just to glare at Valdemar. Valdemar glared back, pouting for a moment before their expression turned neutral.

Donna didn’t like that.

In an instant, Valdemar slipped into the water, going under the water as Donna struggled in Vlastomil’s and Vulgora’s embraces. However, there was nothing to be done; in an instant, Valdemar was on them, easily pulling them away and under with them. Valerius tried to turn his attention back to them, panic ringing alarm bells in his head. However, Volta, kept him seated, putting all her weight down on him as she pinched his face in her small hand, cooing down at him.

As quickly as they pulled Donna under, Valdemar released them, hooking their arms behind their back as Valdemar allowed them the liberty to catch their breath.

“You have tried my patience far too much, duckling. My original theory was that you were a “service sub,” but it’s clear you’re nothing more than a sniveling brat .”

“Wow… You went to school to learn that or something? Studying up to impress everyone at the masquerade? That's cute.”

“I see you will never learn how to pick your battles. But you will find I am a strict teacher.”

“I thought you were a physician— fuck !” Donna screeched as their hair was pulled again, their head snapping back. Vulgora and Vlastomil had sunk down into the water, grinning ear to ear as they watched as tendril after tendril writhed from Valdemar’s back. Valdemar kept Donna’s head pulled back, forcing them to look into their eyes.

“Any more foolish remarks?” It was barely a whisper, Valdemar’s icy tone cutting through the heat of the water. Donna blinked up at them, their thoughts whirling.

“… So you’re not a physician or a teacher—you’re a squid?”

Valerius erupted in laughter, nearly choking on a peach slice as Volta giggled. Valdemar hissed , yanking on Donna’s hair one last time before they seized the smaller scribe with a cluster of slick tentacles. Donna gasped, wriggling as they were easily hefted out of the water. Shit . Valdemar tightened each tentacle around their arms, legs, and waist until it was near bruising. They pondered, briefly, how Valerius would explain to Nadia that they had been hate-fucked by a steaming tentacle demon before the night even started? Perhaps they should script something now, just to make sure she wouldn’t think too lowly of them—

“Hold on there, Valdemar,” Vlastomil interjected, rising up from the water. Donna nearly wept, a smile tugging on their lips. “The horrid little Pontifex and I were not finished there.”

“Geez… my knight in shining armor.” Donna groaned, though their words held less weight to it. They whimpered as Valdemar struck their thigh with a thinner tendril with a wet thwack.

“Well your real hero is a coward,” Vulgora sneered, rolling their eyes before glaring sharply at Valerius. He was too preoccupied keeping Volta balanced in his lap as she kissed and nipped his lips and cheeks. Donna slumped forward, already too exhausted to put up any more of a fight.

“What are you both proposing, then?” Valdemar sighed as they kept Donna suspended in the air. Idly, as if bored, they forced Donna’s legs open, keeping their hands pulled behind their back. There was an added layer of humiliation knowing Valdemar felt almost nothing from this display; meanwhile, Donna could hardly breathe at being exposed like this, at feeling all those eyes glued to their sex.

“Lower them a bit,” Vlastomil continued, threading his long fingers together. Shrugging, Valdemar used more tendrils to bend and bind Donna’s legs, dipping them so only their knees were submerged in the water. Donna whined, gritting their teeth as the three courtiers enclosed them. Now their ass was on fully display, and the rising heat of the water was making it harder and harder to think clearly. They could only focus on those eyes, gods all those eyes, and those smiles all on them.

“I take it that, ah… sorry , is a bit too late, huh, V?”

“ Very late, duckling. But I suspect you’ll enjoy this anyway—actually, it will be quite intriguing to watch you reach orgasm over such torture.”

Volta perked up, turning her head back to look at the scene behind her, finally allowing Valerius to wheeze and catch his breath.

“ Gods, woman, you are insatiable —”

“Your beloved is about to be thoroughly debauched, consul,” Volta said so flatly that Valerius hardly registered it. But hearing his Donna screech as Vulgora laid a rather heavy slap to their ass brought him back to reality.

“Donatello—!”

“Is perfectly fine! But let us join them, quickly now, before all the fun is over!”

Volta easily shimmied off of Valerius’s lap and into the bath; she glanced back at him to grin before sweeping over to peer from behind Vulgora’s back. Valerius hissed as he submerged himself in the hot water, quickly sloshing to the scene at hand.

Donna was gritting their teeth as Vulgora delivered another harsh slap to their ass. They could hardly focus on the shooting sting as their breasts were again being fondled by Vlastomil, a lecherous smile on his face as their face twisted between pain and pleasure.

“Tell me, Donna, does it hurt more when Vulgora spanks you now that your skin is wet? I have heard it stings more this way.”

“F-Feels… like a little mosquito bit— Ow! ”

“Feels like a what?”

“ Fuck you !”

“Language, wormlet. You’ll make Valerius faint.” Vlastomil cooed, voice oozing with a tingling sweetness. Donna groaned, shutting their eyes as another strike was dealt, this time harder and at the very seat of their rear. They were too focused on bracing themself for the next slap that they didn't notice the way the skin around Vlastomil’s arms shifted, at the new, creeping appendages looming closer to their mouth. Valerius opened his mouth to speak (or more likely insult the demon), but one of Valdemar’s own tentacles slapped across his lips, silencing him.

“Tut tut, Consul,” Valdemar cooed, wagging a finger at Valerius. All too easily, several tentacles reached for him next, easily dragging him to their side. Valerius screeched into the inky mass over his lips, wriggling in their slick embrace. “Your role in this is to watch , nothing more and nothing less.”

Whimpering, Valerius tried one final time to break free before slumping his shoulders in defeat. Satisfied, Valdemar hefted him out of the water next, mindlessly running each of their tendrils over every inch of Valerius’s body, paying no mind to the way he whined and struggled.

Donna was not better off; they could hardly speak, hardly think , as Vulgora shifted their tactics to running their thick fingers between their lips, laughing as they rubbed angry circles at their clit as Volta too eagerly scratched her sharp nails over their flushed ass. Despite wanting to scream, they could only let out muffled groans as Vlastomil roughly fucked their mouth with both of his slimy tendrils, using his actual hands to grope and pinch their breasts. Donna refused to think of the word “wormy,” though that would be a better description; they kept their eyes shut tight as they were filled on both ends, stray tears coating their lashes as they moaned helplessly. This was quite the humiliating defeat, and the night hadn't even started.

“Look at you, wriggling like a little worm for me,” Vlastomil breathed out, punctuating his sentence by twisting both of their nipples. Donna screeched around his tendrils, trembling as Vulgora pressed their fingers deeper between their lips. “I don’t see why you put up such a struggle every time. Your bratty attitude is easily thwarted.”

“Emphasis on easy , bug,” Vulgora spat, giving Donna’s ass another hard slap before they bit down on one of their cheeks. Donna screamed again, thrashing as Valdemar tightened their tentacles around them; Donna could feel them pulsating over their skin, the sensation clouding their thoughts more and sending an even more aggressive tingle between their legs.

It didn’t take long before Vulgora was slipping two of their thick fingers inside of them; Donna arched back into them, wincing at the fullness. Volta moved to stand behind Vulgora, reaching for their erection and cooing private praises to them as they roughly fingered Donna. Donna moaned loudly around the tendrils in their mouth, their eyes shut tight as they subconsciously rocked with the rhythm Vulgora had set. They couldn’t see that Vlastomil was touching himself now too, keeping one hand to Donna’s throat as he fucked their mouth.

“Look at that, consul,” Valdemar drawled, pulling Valerius closer to their side. He twisted away from them, his face flushed. “See how your little lover so readily gives themself to us? I must know, in as much detail as you can muster, what about this turns you on? Do you wish to be Donna right now? Or do you wish you were in Vlastomil’s place, or even Vulgora’s? Or is it something else entirely?”

As they spoke, they removed the tentacle from Valerius’s mouth. He sputtered and spit out the residue it left on his lips, gritting his teeth as more tendrils slipped between his legs, tightening around the base of his erection. Gods, it hurt, but he knew already Valdemar would never let him finish. They had made that extremely clear.

“I don’t… have to… answer you .”

“You two are made for one another, truly.” Clicking their tongue, Valdemar bent Valerius forward. They closed their eyes as if they were contemplating something as they used their tentacles to spank his ass ruthlessly; perhaps they were savoring the screeches he had let out, the wonderful noises of pain they were so eager for. Or perhaps they were thinking of something else entirely—it was hard to say.

“ Stop it! No! ”

“You can make it stop very easily.”

“I don’t… I can’t— Ow! Ow!— answer you!” Valerius sounded near tears as he kicked his legs, the conflicting feelings of being spanked mixing with those slick tendrils wrapping around the head of his cock. Stars, what a tease.

“You don’t know what you want? How curious. And entirely unbelievable.”

“ You’re unbelievable— Ack! ”

Valdemar only giggled, bouncing Valerius a bit in the air as they struck out at him over and over. His shouting mixed with Donna’s muffled moans and cries; that they could savor, that’s what made any of this tolerable: sweet humiliation and even sweeter pain. They would prefer something a little less human , but they could always indulge in more fun distractions later.

“Your torture is completely self-imposed,” Valdemar yawned as they stretched out their neck. “Just answer my question, and it stops.”

“It’s both! It’s neither, I— gods , what more do you wa-ant from me?”

“So it is the fantasy, then? Your imagination runs wild seeing your lover all beaten and groped? You both envy them and wish to hurt them—is that it?”

Valerius let out a pathetic sob, kicking his legs once again as he could only shake his head. Gods, he just wanted to cum, he really just needed to cum.

“That slut is never going to answer you, Valdemar,” Vulgora finally piped up, their voice huskier as Volta stroked them under the water. “Just like this slut can’t say anything either, even if their mouth wasn’t being fucked.”

“Ooh, and what a lovely mouth it is, ” Vlastomil panted, twisting his tendrils between Donna’s waiting lips. Their tongue swirled between the two of them, drool dripping from their bottom lip as they groaned around them. Their eyes were glazed over, the roots of their hair beginning to swirl with a mix of colors; they were gone, everyone could tell, and they loved every moment of it.

It didn’t take much else for the trio to each reach their climaxes; Vulgora came first with a loud shout as they dug their teeth back into Donna’s ass; Volta squeezed them under the water, giggling as she watched their spent mix in with the water. Vlastomil was close behind them, hissing in Donna’s face as they moaned into his. He withdrew his tendrils from their mouth, slowly shifting into a form that was more human.

Valerius watched on, his eyes half-lidded, as he watched Donna writhed and whimpered, crying as Vulgora curled their fingers, finally, just where they needed them. Fuck, he wanted to be them so badly. Or maybe it was the opposite? Gods, he would never be able to answer.

“More, please, more !” They babbled, the colors in their hair growing more and more abstract and blurred. Valdemar slid their own tentacles all over their body, squeezing their breasts, their thighs, their neck. It was all too much; all those eyes on them, that ruthless pace Vulgora had set, the musky taste still in their mouth. They came with a loud, shrill scream, their toes curling and legs stiffening.

All at once, Valdemar withdrew their tentacles, a wide, satisfied smile on their face. Both Donna and Valerius were dropped unceremoniously into the water; Valerius, despite how fuzzy his own head was, quickly joined their side, taking them in his arms as he looked over their neck and face.

“Pretty boy to save the day,” Vulgora chuckled, sitting back near the wall of the bath with Volta in their lap. Vlastomil was close behind, nearly completely submerged into the water, too content to speak anymore.

Valerius only glared at them; he could barely think of a good enough insult to utter. Only Valdemar hung close to them both, peering over Valerius’s shoulder as Donna easily settled into his arms. They grabbed a piece of their hair in a swift motion before Valerius could stop them.

“How curious. Next time we play, I must have them unconscious. I wonder if the body will still respond this way if the mind is not aware?”

“You… You are impossible.”

Valdemar tilted their head, their smile still wide on their face as they blinked at Valerius. Donna only swatted their hand away, grunting something intelligible to them.

“I may be impossible,” Valdemar stared as they ran their fingers through Valerius’s hair next. He shuddered; their fingers, despite the heat of the water, were icy cold. “But you two are late.”

Valdemar laughed at Valerius’s grave expression; he looked even paler, his expression falling.

“I… What?”

“While Donna was screaming, I heard a clock chime. The masquerade will be happening very soon. It’s lovely to see you two have so much free time this year. You are always welcome to spend it with us , your fellow courtiers, Valerius.”

But Valerius was already dragging Donna away, cursing all of them as he practically was pushing them out of the water. Donna could only follow him blindly, their body heavy and eyelids heavier.

“This is not over!” He shouted back to them, trying to keep his voice sturdy and angry. His only response was a collection of laughter; it followed him as he bolted out the door, Donna’s wet feet slapping behind him.

#bottom writes #lemon #vesuviaafterdark #midsummer mask 2022 #the arcana courtiers #fan apprentice donna #donna x valerius #donna x the courtiers #i would apologize for the length but this is truly just. what my brain has been producing this year dsifhgfdgh

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