#the sea horses were......... uh interesting

[ciderjacks]

I watch some of Watcher's stuff, tell me whatever you want about Shane Madej!

HOUGHHHH. OHHRHFHTHABK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOY

i think a lot of people who are aware of Shane sort of just think of him as the skeptic guy on bfu/ghost files (not saying that’s u obv just a lot of ppl bc I guess I need this to be a pitch meeting) and I think that is a shame because HOLY SHIT HES SO TALENTED AND COOL AND WEIRD AND THE SHIT HE MAKES IS SO FUCKIKNG INSANELY GOOD

Ok so going back in time for a second to b*zzfeed. Who btw did not deserve this guy. Afaik he had two major like, creative projects on there. Ruining History and The Hot Daga. Both were very good. ruining history was a fun history show he did with Sara and Ryan and there are rotating guests every episode. Shane is very interested in history, very good at teaching history, and i think in an alternate universe hes a beloved high school history teacher. Ruining History is the father of puppet history. B*zzfeed canned it and i miss it every day. and then there’s the other father of Puppet History, Hot Daga. Hot Daga is insane. I love Hot Daga, its not for everyone, but I think its so good. The lore goes crazy, he produced and made original songs for it, he animated the whole final half season by himself which is fuckinf insane. He made a ballad for it and actually i need everyone reading this to Listen to “believe me maizey” and then directly after listen to the Meteor Ballad from Puppet History. OH LOOK A SEGWAY

Puppet history is so fuckinf good. Its So Good. And especially in later seasons since hes doing so much you really start to see his improvement as an artist and its just. Its incredible. Some of the somgs are genuinely fucking masterpieces, like some of my favs are The Flower Boat Song, Asmodeus, The Horse and God song, the Emu song, Big Pile Of Diamonds, Infinitiger, The Window Song, Gay Oars Duet, Hologram Professor Song, and the Meteor’s Ballad. And more. Uhh OH the Olympic Torch is really good too. His lyrics are so smart and fun and his vocals are so impressive and he has such good range, he duetted Himself for the Oar song and managed to make the two voices identifiable as separate characters without being over the top. The lyrics range from poetic anf beautiful to weird and funny often within the Same song! Its just so good and he starts so good and gradually over the years he’s done the show you can see him getting more comfortable and better at music which is crazy causw again HE STARTED OFF GOOD! HE WAS INSANE IN HOT DAGA AND HE IS SOMEHOW EVEN BETTER IN PUPPET HISTORY LIKE! and and and ok here’s where I get crazy and a little parasocial (lol not really i am misusing that word for the bit LOL)

Something about all his work is that you can kind of see how his art depicts the world. In Hot Daga you get the line “what else can you do in the face of such monumental loss, but breath a weary sigh as the world is a little quieter now.” And in Puppet history you get uh actually you get like 20 things from the meteor song but one of my favorite parts is (read blue as the professor, orange as the meteor, pink as both) “some shit’s just etched into the stars, calamities you cant outrun/and when sweet earth we finally meet/the sky will burn and boil the sea/as mountains rend/its you and me.” i think both these lyrics and these somgs demonstrate a maturity about the world that you dont really see in a lot of people, his general kindness towards anything and everything and his ability to change perspectives on things without being forceful. (On a personal note I listened to The Meteor song after someone I knew passed, and as dumb as it maybe sounds the idea that like,, death is not cruel, you can’t always run and sometimes the best thing you can do is be there with the people you love as the world ends.) and also I think that you really can tell that he views the people he’s telling you about as People and not just like, figures. Ykwim. He shows such genuine respect and care for everyone in these stories and I’ve already like briefly in these stories but like, you KNOW if a guy can make me cry for the Meteor that killed the dinosaurs then he’s something special. i also think the way he portrays death in his work is very comforting as a whole. and another thing speakinf of rhat is that he has so much respect for other cultures in a level I think that goes beyond just bare minimum not being a piece of shit. Like especially when he’s teaching history, an example that always sticks out to me is how much effort he put into making sure people remembered and thought about Hatshepsut by having a whole episode on her history then also making an EXTREMELY (probably intentionally so though i cant be sure bc I can’t reas minds) catchy song that Told you to think of Hatshepsut and explained Why uou should think of Hatshepsut and it’s been stuck in my head ever since I first heard it years ago. Also I’m consistently impressed by his good pronunciation of things, I remember in the Tunguska event episode of mystery files there were so many ppl from tbe area he was talking about shocked by how good his pronunciation was. And ive seen that so many times w him like, idk i just think thats very cool. He’s a genuinely really mature and respectful guy I think. Wise too. So much of his work has educated me, changed my worldview for the better, inspired me. Like He’s so talented ik i keep saying that but HE IS!

Like ok so. He can write both songs and stories beautifully. he’s wise as fuck and could probably be a philosopher. He can make puppets (and just tbc later season puppet history the puppets are not him, but in the early seasons afaik they were all him, so he is definitely skilled at that.), he can sing, he can voice act, his graphics and editing are off the charts, he’s educated and smart, hes funny. He’s so fuckinf cool.

also again getting parasocial here but I just really like how much of a zest for life the guy seems to have. And Honestly im impressed that he worked in retail, had actual trash thrown in his face by an angry customer (true story) and still came out it like “man the world sure is wonderful!”. What a guy. And He’s so fucking weird and interesting and I could seriously just listen to him rant about Literally anything Forever. Anything. It doesnt matter I think he could talk about anything in a way that would make me invested in it and i’d come out of it more educated than before with a fresh new perspective on life.

This is getting Essay-like so here are some other Random Shane Things I know to close me out I guess

-he loves community was in the community fandom and has a crush on troy barnes

-he wants to be a mouse

-he’s lived 7000 years

-

-was DB cooper

-makes a fine ass Krampus

-actually the coolest guy alive

sorry this is almost 100% incomprehensible thank you for letting my autism loose tho

#ask tag #shane madej #Um. Yeah. Hhahaha so when insaid I had autism about rhis guy uh Inwasnt kidding #we are watcher #puppet history #hot daga

[sewersewersewercouch]

things from the psychonauts art book that I found interesting

putting this under a cut so people who are getting it but don't have it yet don't get spoiled! also some of these might have been said outside of the art book and I just forgot

Tim wanted to go inside Lili's head but they decided not to for time

There was a concept involving rescuing a dying brain

One of the unused concepts was aura reading, where "Truman's" aura would be around his suitcase rather than his body, and Milla's would change when she was around Sasha...hm

There were also plans for Claymation style animations

Gristol was, ironically, based on Grigori Rasputin

Maligula wasn't always going to be Raz's "grandma"

The Psychic 7 were originally going to be all from different time periods

An early concept of Compton was blind

Nikki Rapp drew from her own experiences of losing her dad when voicing Lili

Adam almost had facial hair, but it made him look too much older than the other interns

Character artist Zahra Amirabadi, who's from Iran, came up with Gisu's name and the cultural aspects her design

This isn't a fact really, but it's important to me that Dona is described as "a loving mother and talented performer" and "deeply attuned to her family's feelings" thanks for that Ashley Esqueda

Quote from Tim: "Dion and Mirtala might still be hiding something" hello???

Frazie originally had a bigger role and I know they had to cut it for time but I'm still sad!!!

Tim won't confirm or deny whether Queepie is psychic

Unused enemy concepts include "death wish" "root of the problem" "high horse" and "defensive turtle"

The restaurant is called the Noodle Bowl because noodle is slang for "brain" which...I honestly did not realize until now and I've been into psychonauts for about 2 years, oops

A concept for Millas room had candles everywhere, which, uh, I can see why that one didn't make the cut

Coach originally had his own garage where he made his mech

The through line they had for Hollis' brain was being a woman in a male dominated profession

The initial concept of Compton's mind was a trivia battle between the Booles and the Aquatos where we'd learn more about their families--man I'd kill for that!

They originally took Raz's powers away in Ford's mind, but decided that made for boring gameplay

There were plans for an abandoned summer camp in the Old Colony

Part of the reason you're locked in the Old Colony after Tomb of the Sharkophagus is because if there was an option to talk to the Aquatos then Raz would have to lie to his family's faces about Lucy and that just seemed too cruel

Cassie's mind was modeled off of 1920s Shanghai

They recorded voice lines for the moth dragging Bob into the sea during the Truheltia Memonstria battle, and Amber Hood cried while recording them, which, fair honestly

#psychonauts #psychonauts artbook

[cadcreates]

Btw I made a PiratesSona! (That was like the first thing I did to get into the vibe but shhhh)

Her skin is darker cause she's out on sea all day and her hair is darker because the original color didn't fit with the skin.

I also made a backstory, if you're interested. I tried to keep it as short as possible, but uh, it's still kinda long. And if you have questions about my character, please ask! There's still a lot I have to say about her

Anyway, here's the story:

When she was only ten, Cad's parents gave her to a noble family as a servant.

She didn't get paid, but she got three meals a day, a roof over her head and a relatively comfy bed to sleep in. It was enough to keep her alive and healthy, more than what she had before. So she doesn't blame her parents. Not at all....

Nonetheless, she longed for freedom. Whenever she had a moment to rest – so really, only right before going to sleep – she dreamed of leaving the glittering lights of the mansion behind and chase the glittering lights of the stars instead, feel the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin. But she knew little of the world, much less how to survive on her own, so she stayed and kept dreaming.

Her chance came when she was sixteen. It came on a huge ship, with sails dark as night and a hull of weathered spruce, sailing right to the shore the mansion was standing at.

Rogue pirates.

They pillaged the place while the nobles were away and took everything that wasn't attached to the wall and floor. Anything that was too big or invaluable got destroyed. They took jewelry and clothes, but they also took silverware, paintings, candles, cooking utensils, bedsheets, horses and even... the staff?

They threatened everyone to get them to comply – and set the mansion on fire, so there wasn't a place stay at anyway – but all they did was bring them to the nearest town, where they sold some loot, including the horses, and set the staff free. Except for Cad.

The rogue pirates kept her on the ship, taught her how to survive, navigate and sail. They even taught her how to fight. The captain themselves gifted her a pair of daggers.

Once she reached adulthood, they brought her to a harbor, where she was to find herself a job. What she didn't realize, however, was that they meant a proper, legal job, not a quest or a bounty as the crew took on sometimes. She was left to fend for herself, with nothing but her daggers and a bag of gold. They never intended for her to become a pirate.

But she wanted to become a pirate. She loved being out at sea, chasing the stars, loved the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin, seeing places she could only dream of before. So after she recovered from basically being kicked out, she set out to get a ship and become her own pirate. And since her crew had left her, she needed to find a new one.

After all, an adventure is best enjoyed with friends.

#pirates smp #pirates smp fanart #scurvyblr #piratessmp #pirates smp sona #original story kinda #backstory #long post #though I've could've made it longer

[notasapleasure]

a meme!

Thanks for tagging me, @grimm-lynn :)

1. Are you named after anyone?

I think the intention was to name me after my dad's mum (who died when he was very little), but to spell it in a more modern way. Inadvertantly, it's also a portmanteau of my parents' first names.

2. When was the last time you cried?

I was very sick and very tired and very frustrated when the removal guys broke it to me midway through emptying the house that they absolutely couldn't take any of my garden plants over the Irish Sea because of fucking BREXIT. I was also very angry with my husband, who was meant to have checked this. In the end, we managed to palm the plants off on friends and family and we'll try to bring them over later, once we've looked at the paperwork involved.

3. Do you have kids?

No!! I have known for a very long time that I never wanted them and do not have even an iota of maternal interest let along instinct.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

It has its uses.

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

My weekend hobbies as a kid were horse-riding and karate, and I played field hockey at school, did long jump and 200m sprint. But then, y’know. Everyone else got taller and I didn’t really. I dabbled in rowing at uni, because it was kind of expected that you'd try it, but my late-night carousing rather interfered with the early mornings. Also, as mentioned, I am short. Since then I haven't really done anything regularly except about a year where I got into weights. I'd like to get back into picking up heavy things and putting them down again, but I resent the cost of gyms and I need to have a structured class where someone tells me what to do, I don't have the willpower or imagination for solo training.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about other people?

Hm, it's tough to describe (my mum would say 'their energy') but like...whether they're engaging with me, like really with me and curious about what we're talking about, or if there's that feeling that you're on the clock to prove you're interesting or whatever before they get bored.

7. What’s your eye colour?

Blue

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Weird things to compare?? But uh. Happy endings probably? Not in my scary movies though. I like scary movies with bittersweet endings. Though the more I think about this choice the more confused I get.

9. Any special talents?

I'm so bad at answering these things, my mind just goes blank and I'm like 'oh pffff I don't do anything special, there's always going to be someone who's better than I am'. Assigned Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. There are lots of things I like to do and I try to do them well. I guess I will say that you probably want me around in a stressful situation - I'm calm and I love coming up with solutions to things.

10. Where were you born?

In a county hospital in a large and rural county of England.

11. What are your hobbies?

Ok, well. Writing, obvs. Fic and poetry now and again. There's an original idea that's been rattling round my head for a few years that I keep saying *this* NaNoWriMo I'll do it! And then don't. Art used to be much higher up the list but I'm so rusty. I haven't painted in years (...has it been over a decade?). Gardening (I miss my garden so much SO MUCH rn). Baking and cooking. I go through phases of manic knitting interspersed with a little crochet, but I want to improve my sewing - I have my granny-in-law's sewing machine I need to learn how to use. If we get this amazing house we’re looking at I’m going to have to get good at DIY, too.

12. Do you have any pets?

Two greyhounds and six (yes. six.) ferrets.

13. How tall are you?

5'1"

14. Favorite subject in school?

Art and English lit.

15. Dream job?

Not to be all 'I don't dream of labour' but I for sure don't dream of working for other people/companies. As you can see from the hobbies section, I like to DO stuff and be busy, but I like to work on my own terms and I like project work. So my freelance editing and proofing stuff suits me fairly well right now, though I dream more of a UBI that would let me do more with my time that wasn't just about earning, but could encompass more volunteering and community stuff. Being on furlough during lockdown suited me so well - I did so much and recovered so much energy that I was much more willing to engage with strangers as well as friends through video chat etc.

Tag fifteen mutuals - FIFTEEN?! huh ok, I’m tagging y’all but no obligation, right? And Idk who’s already been tagged, sorry if you’ve done this already and I didn’t see! @stripedroseandsketchpads @notfromcold @erinaceina @bellaroles @batri-jopa @donnaimmaculata @notabuddhist @kheldara @blxcksqvadron @boogerwookiesugarcookie @elwenyere @thatonelemontreeiforgorabout @jimtheviking @weirdsociology @rapidashmascot

#meme #about me

[flock-from-the-void]

Get to know my OC II

I was tagged by @gummybugg here! I encourage everyone to check out what Blair and Elijah said about themselves!

Tagging! @heavensfallenfaction, @chuuyas-beloved, @aether-wasteland-s, @silverslipstream and @fire-but-ashes-too too! i thought it was funny ok

Check out past contestants! Guan Zhuyu from MoS

For this one, I choose the main from And May the Moon Shine Over Your Ways, my little guy, Tiv!

Behind the sea of golden crops, I saw an auburn bush. I chose a shortcut and after a moment, the rest of the elf was revealed. They were lying on the dry grass, reading a book. Even though they were pretty tall, they looked delicate. Without me asking, they softly said “how can I help you?”

“Ah. It’s pretty easy. You don’t have to go anywhere,” I added, as they were getting from lying to sitting. “I’d like to ask you a few questions, that’s all.”

“Oh? That sounds… fun?”

“It will be fun, I promise. Let us get started.”

1. Are you named after anyone?

That’s… not really a thing we do. Usually, we get names after some special events of talents. I have two! My first name ever was Tiveor’fiehuhue, it’s after an unusually warm winter day, when I was born. The second is Ipsenel, I got it as a child after helping a lot in something, I… I’m sorry, I don’t really remember what that was. My father should know, maybe try asking him?

2. When was the last time you cried?

*laughs* That was a bit cringey… My little sibling broke their tiny toy horse, the poor animal lost its head. When I saw it, them crying and the horse decapitated, my eyes got wet. It was such a cute toy, you know? 

3. Do you have kids?

awkward silence …No.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

While talking with my older sister, yes. She deserves some stings. quiet giggle

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

I’m a bit interested in cloth-making, so clothes.

6. What's your eye color?

Brown. Sei, I mean my sister, could probably tell you more. She paints a lot and is so good with colors! You wouldn’t believe how many different colors she can make.

7. Any special talents?

I’m decent at lacing. See? Not that bad. shows the lace at the end of his sleeve

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both. I… love all the stories, somehow.

9. Where were you born?

points at a close mansion Here!

10. What are your hobbies?

So nice of you to ask! Beside the laces, I make embroidery and knit! I practice Rhetoric, some tiny fun stuff. Usually things for my little sibling and their friends, spending time with tiny stars is inspiring beyond comparison. Of course, I read a lot of books too, of any genre like I said.  

11. Do you have any pets?

When I was younger, we had a cat. She was brown and fluffy, and I used to hug her all the time. I’m not sure if she liked it though… Now we don’t have any. I think we should, it’s good for the children.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Sei knows a lot of sports and she tried… actually still tries to find something perfect for me. I can ride a horse, but that’s hardly a sport, just a basic transportation method… Oh, I know, ice skating! I enjoy that a bit! I guess the summer made me forget that.

13. How tall are you?

Uh… pretty tall? About as tall as my mother, we’re both just a dot taller than most.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Rhetoric. Talking to flowers and rocks was always fun for me!

15. Dream job?

Helping Sei. That’s probably what I will be doing, lucky me! Some villagers suggest that I should go to the capital and pursue Rhetorics but I… I’m happy with what I have. I want to leave that possibility for my younger sibling as well, we don’t have enough to send off two children. Ah, and above all, Sei won’t manage to be an acceptable ruler without me. laugh

“And that would be all!” I say, clothing my notebook. “By the way, what are you reading?”

“It’s a very convoluted romance. It made me cry so many times… The main character…” [the remaining 50 pages of Tiv’s blabbering was cut out by the redactor]

Ps, have I ever mentioned how much I love this tag?

ammsoyw taglist: @gummybugg, taglist is always open!

#writeblr #writer #my oc #fantasy #elf #writer on tumblr #quill for writing #ammsoyw

[eevee1230]

summery: A forbidden child born of the sea A legacy born of falling stars and daughter of dreams Two friends who have different fates ahead of themselves but with help from their friends they will certainly get by Follow this ensemble cast of friends as they make it through their first adventure together and become close together Tw: language, slightly rushed subplots

{follows the first PJO book: The Lighting Thief}

Jackson Hall- The main male character who start a bit naive to the whole new world of his. Navigating it as he watches out for friends and enemies at every twist and turn

Tsukihana ‘Hana’ Morioka- The main female character who is an idealistic young woman at heart but in that sense she can miss the things in front of her

Despite her in her own head personality she is very observant even if she doesn’t catch on right away

Xander Morioka- A super smart guy who can be a bit stubborn but at the end of the day is a very good friend when you need him

He is also very observant and hardheaded at times and can also be a bit cunning and calculating when the situation demands it

Jade Vannavel- The resident voice of reason and emotional intelligence to her friends out.

She can be sensitive and empathetic to everyone’s problems and doesn’t mind listening and giving some advice back on the matter

Mia Vanderlin- A curious and adventurous girl who portrays herself tough on the outside but for those who succeed they with find a very protective, kind, motherly and caring side to her

here is a preview at my fic

 Chapter 1: There is a camp       It was a summer afternoon and three people that looked to be in their later teen years were sitting outside a Starbucks and chatting it up with one another. 

"So, Jackson, what are you going to do for the summer?" The raven-haired girl asks her friend

"Heading out towards the bay. Been stuck on the land way too long." Her friend, Jackson answers, smoothing back his jet-black hair with his hand as he replied, "You guys?" He then asked

"Kasan is taking us to our grandmother's. She owns an Observatory up in the mountains.” She let out a small, repressed squeal “I just Adore the stars and all their patterns. So many fun stories you can have." The female let out a small, dreamy sigh, closing her cloudy lavender eyes fondly

"You were always into the sky, Hana." Jackson replied with a bit of chuckle in his tone then turned to a blond guy who had starkly grey eyes and asked "X, what about you?"

"Same." The blonde male answers "Its sorta a family trip. We sorta own it even tho it’s overlooked by a-“ he was cut off by a pointed stare from Hana

“By a what X?”

“Uh, never mind, basically long story short our family owns the observatory property outside of town” he swiftly replies “Plus, it gives me a chance to see my favorite Cuz before I head to college" He grinned and swung an arm around Hana

"Egghead" Hana muttered wearing a grin of her own 

"You know it's true" he counters

"I'm your only cuz Xan." she retorts "Hey, get that arm out of my face or I'll bite it" Hana swatted his hand away playfully while giggling and rolling her eyes. "So what coast are you going to then?" Hana directed her attention back at her friend and asked Jackson "East or West? Is there even a difference in which you go? They are both bodies of water, right?"

"Heading out East,” Jackson answers “and yes the marine life is way better in the East. Much more prehistoric the farther you get."

"Interesting" Xander mused, he had an analytical look on his face "...Well I hope you have fun my friend" he grinned nonchalantly 

"I mean to be honest; I'm just surprised that I made it through the whole school year." Jackson confessed "Hate being confined down"

Hana let out a small laugh "Yeah, you're free as a horse sometimes, no one can tell you what to do.”

"Well, it would be fitting" Xander comments "A horse in spirit animal sense does mean freedom all above else and I'd say Jackson here is a rebel at heart, to be free from the reigns of society"

"I totally agree" Hana nods "Also sailing, sounds interesting but a bit tedious"

"Whatever, it's where I feel the calmest" Jackson retorts

"Whatever makes you happy right," the ravenette girl shrugs "I'm not judging"

"Heading out in a couple of days, when are you heading out?" he asks the pair of cousins 

"July 1st" Xander answers "it's for the 4th of July trip, Grandmother has something special planned for that, so we can't wait to see," he said with a hint of eagerness in his tone

"We're staying there until the end of the lunar festival" Hana adds "We are working on a project as well. I would tell you but now's not the right time" she winks

"Alright, well I've got to head out, checking out. Wait hold on. What the hell is that?" Jackson's eyes widen as he points to something or someone behind the two

"What?" the two cousins said at the same time, turning their heads 

"Uh, do you remember Kasan saying something about a bipedal goat guy before?" Hana questioned

"Satyr; And no." Xander shook his head "At least in this context. I thought they were supposed to be...wild" he replied equally as confused

'Shit, shit, I've seen these things before. But why now? Means that they're close' Jackson forebodingly thought to himself "Well it's been fun, but I need to leave. LIKE NOW!" Jackson says trying to make a hasty escape 

"Where are you going you cowardly baka!" Hana calls out a bit annoyed and disappointed at her friend's meek and cowering actions 

"Just away from here." Jackson answers back in a ‘don’t you know’ tone

"No, don't run! I'm not going to hurt you guys" the satyr said, trying his best to placate the matter

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jackson questions, still in a state of shock. His eyes look like they are about to pop 

"Come any closer and I'll pepper spray you, creeper.” Hana threatens, wiping out a small pepper spray bottle "Were you stalking us? Weido." she shakes her head

"I was sent to find you Jack. Hell, been trying for months, but every time I get close you three just leave." The satyr explains

Xander had an expression that he was ready to fight, but also in a deep pensive analysis of the situation

"My name's Connor." The satyr introduces "I'm a satyr sent to find demigods and bring them to camp."

'demigods?'

'camp?'

'what's going on?'

"You are not safe here." the satyr, Connor warns urgently 

"The hell do you mean we are not safe? What's going on?!" Jackson exclaims 

"Xan, what do you think? Do you think this guy is telling the truth?" Hana asks looking at her pensive cousin "If not then I'm ready to pepper spray him and dislocate his arm if not then" Conner winced at her threat a bit “but hey, if not, satyrs aren’t the worst way to uhm…”

"That is, speaking if he is or was mortal" Hana's blond-headed cousin replied, "Tho a satyr wouldn't be that hard to disarm I'd as well imagine." 

"Jackson, look at yourself. You were ready to run the second you saw me, worried that I might bring them back." Conner argued 

Xander and Hana gave each other knowing glances, questioning what the goat boy was referring to

"How… how the hell did you know?" Jackson retorts back at the satyr. The atmosphere grew a bit thicker from the tension going around

"Jackson, look at me!" conner exclaims, grabbing the dark-haired man's attention "I'm half-goat man, I come from a place where we deal with this voodoo stuff a lot." he tries to calm the frantic male down before he has an existential crisis. Tho, maybe he was a bit too late on the whole crisis thing "I know why you're worried, that's why I was sent to get you. You’re in serious danger."

"What camp? And why do you need me?" Jackson asks "And what about the other two?" They glance over at the other teens who were conversing in Japanese to hopefully keep their conversation a bit more private from the strange satyr

"So, we're just going to trust him or what?"

"I say yes but with caution."

"Damn you Xan" Hana hissed

"We'll ask our parents when we'll get the chance, how bout?" The blonde suggests

"Whatever,” she crossed her arms “I trust your call, just hopefully don't be wrong."

"Listen, how much do you three know about the Greek Mythos?" Connor asks

"Our parents told us to tell a few to us as bedtime stories" Xander answers

"Then when we made 15 years old our parents told us a bit more, like how the magical world existed" Hana adds 

'And something about being demigods and legacies. But demigods of whom? they still won't say.'

"But we never heard of this camp" Xander replied, shaking his head

"But there were no monsters or goat people in the fine print" Hana retorts with her hands on her hips

"Satyr, not goat men" Connor corrected 

"Same thing, you're still half goat either way." She retorts in a sassy tone

"And where it gets hard to believe is that it's not a myth, it's real, and I was sent here since you three are the children of Greek gods" he continued

Hana had an exasperated and deadpanned expression “so you come and show up out of nowhere, claim it’s for our ‘safety’ or whatever. This magical camp. And now have us drop whatever we are doing to go follow some strange goat into the woods” she chided, with each word getting close to Connor’s face “hey let’s just throw a gingerbread house in and call it a day” she adds sarcastically

“Hana, I think he’s right." Jackson said grabbing the ravenette's attention by putting a hand on her shoulder, she pulls back from the slightly terrified satyr "There’s been something that I’ve been hiding. From the both of you.” Jackson spoke up with a small sigh

“And what’s that?” They both glance back, Xander with his analytical glance and Hana with her tired yet exasperated look in her eyes “What is it?” They ask again

“Something your hiding?” Hana, curiously tilts her head, raising her brows a bit 

“We’re your friends, we’ll understand” Xander smiles reassuringly 

“When he said I’ll bring them back. He’s not kidding. I didn’t want to say anything, but I believe we are not safe here. There are these creatures that have been stocking me for the better side of a year now. I just didn’t want to say anything but the satyrs right? We need to leave.” Jackson confessed 

the two exchanged glances as if they knew what the other thought, which was very similar 'He is one of us'

“And where is he leading us too, huh?” Hana chided sending a distrustful glare at Connor 

“Sorry she gets fussy when she doesn’t get to finish her cup of morning substitutes” Xander apologizes Even though he knew that was a bald-faced lie. He can't say he trusts this strange satyr 100% either, he just met him after all

“It’s called camp half-blood.” Connor answers the demigoddess “It’s not that far actually. But we need to head out fast. We got company.”

 To Jackson’s horror, it was the same creature that had been chasing him for a year now. Some kind of haft man haft bull thing. The only issue, it found him.

‘Pasiphae‘s son, the Minotaur? But how?’ Xander thought

‘This would be a really good topic to bring up at the next family gathering for sure’ Hana mused 'Oh hey we almost got killed by the fricking minotaur'

“…NANI!...But how did an ancient Minotaur find a high school student?” Xander exclaimed 

“More interesting question why is Pasiphae’s son even after Jackson?” Hana adds on

“Good questions, another question: WHY AREN’T WE RUNNING!? Goat man fucking get us out of here!” Jackson asks the loudest

“Alright, this way.” Connor motions for them to follow “I know this forest better than that thing does.” The group of four dashes into the forest with the best right on their tails 

        Soon the team ran into the forest only for the beast to continue the chase 

“Ahh, I’m running out of caffeine and fumes to run!” Complained Hana as she swung herself down from the trees to the level of the other, she was lagging behind a bit out of curiosity as she counted each boom of thunder and rumble of hooves “I dang it I shouldn’t have ditched out in gym”

“Anything else?” Xander says glancing up at her. Hana sharply sighed and sent a suggestive gesture with her fingers to the blond, and he just shook his head.

They felt a rumbling and a low growl of the best not far from them. ”The beast is persistent; I’ll give them that.” Hana replied with a small shrug

"We can't just keep running" he argued 

"It's already almost sunset"

"How can you tell? It has been cloudy all afternoon?"

” I… I don’t know, I just have this feeling. I mean look the sky is getting darker, so what else could It be.”

However, Hana was wrong. Yes, the sky was darkening, but not due to the falling sun. It was the sky getting ready to cry. Rainfall began to pour, drenching the forest and everything stuck in there.

This did not affect the creature, as its rage caused the drops to boil off his horns the second the water hit them. Connor, Hana, and Xan kept running with the satyr as they attempted to lose this monster.

The only person that felt any kind of change, was Jackson. Instead of dread and fear running through him. It was replaced with anger and power. The bravest, strong, and instinctive he has felt in months. Without saying a word to the group. He ran in a different direction, a patch that had an open in the tree. Where the sky was free.

The creature saw this and abandoned the other three since Jackson was the one he was looking for. Running through and tracking this kid down, he eventually stop and saw him, all alone with no one around.

“I’m done running. Come and get me.” Jackson said 

what comes next, is hard to explain.

 Connor, Hana, and Xan stopped running after they saw they were no longer being chased. Confused and scared, they huddle down for a second before hearing a sharp cry in the forest. The only thing, it wasn’t quite human. Scared that it got Jackson, they ran to where they heard the cry, only to see… the monster dead. 

Horn ripped out, cut badly, and stabbed through the center, with a pissed-off Jackson standing on top, not saying a word

“Jackson. Jack, How, how the hell did you–What happened? You… you still with us buddy, say something.”

Connor stuttered, lost for words, the others just stood there in place at the sight. The group saw Jackson standing over the dead creature's body slowly turning into golden powder and Jackson was about to pass out.

They had eyes the size of disc plates at the sight of their friend. Standing over the creature that had been chasing them through the woods.

Before they knew what happened though. Jackson passes out and fell in front of the group.

“JACKSON! Oh my…um, did he...is he dead?!” Hana asked 

“No, he’s not dead, he is breathing but he’s hurt bad. We need to hurry. Get him out of here fast” Connor said

”Xan, can you, can you please carry him, we need to hurry.” she said helping Jackson onto Xander’s back"

“Does your camp have first aid?” Xander muttered, securing Jackson’s weight on his back 

“No, we got something better, a god.”

“I swear that Baka will get himself killed one day” Hana sighed as she and Xander followed the satyr to camp

“I just wanna know how the hell he killed the Minotaur that fast. And no training or weapons nonetheless” Connor says, still a bit perplexed 

“Wild child” Xander shrugged 

“He’s a baka. That’s all I’ll say” Hana retorts with a huff

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo fandom #pjo fanfic #cross posted on quotev #original character #luke castellan #ethan nakamura #part of a series

[cryptidwritings]

15 Questions Tag Game

Using open tags from @i-can-even-burn-salad and @littleperilstories because these look super fun!!

I'll openly tag this one, too.

I'll be answering these for Isidro and Moss during this current arc.

...

1. Are you named after anyone?

Moss: "I wouldn't put it past my dad to name me after a stump in the woods before an actual person. So no."

Isidro: "...Just a no for me."

2. When was the last time you cried?

Moss: "When I was a kid. Crying is useless."

Isidro: "Aye, probably a few years at this point."

3. Do you have kids?

Moss: "No," he cringes at the thought, "I couldn't... do all that. Not interested."

Isidro: "Not that I know of," he smiles and gives a wink but clears his throat a second later, "n-no I don't. I'd like to but..." he rubs his chin, "next question."

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Moss: "No. I like being direct."

Isidro: "It depends who I'm talking to and since I'm uh..." he gestures towards Moss, "not lately, no."

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Moss: "Um... how can I...?" He is obviously a bit more uncomfortable with this question, "if they're... angry? I guess?"

Isidro: "I try to take in everything. The things that stand out most differ from person to person."

6. What's your eye color?

Moss: "Blue. Like the sea, apparently."

I shrug, "it's part of the story but I don't want to explain why yet." Moss doesn't like my reasoning.

Isidro: "Grey."

7. Scary movies/books, or happy endings?

Moss: "The first and last book I read myself was a history book. Not many happy endings in that..."

Isidro: "I've been too pre-occupied to read, but I would probably like the happy ending."

8. Any special talents?

Moss: "Out of the few, the ability to get the shit knocked out of me is the only one that's been semi-helpful."

Isidro: "Enough to get by. I just do what I'm told so I don't have to hone my friend's particular special skill," he smiles. Moss rolls his eyes.

9. Where were you born?

Moss: He is tired of answering this question, but indulges you. "Holm. Where the grass is greener at the bottom of a riptide."

Isidro: "Windover. I miss it."

10. What are your hobbies?

Moss: "I used to explore the cliffs. Now there isn't much else to do besides, I don't know... sleep?"

Isidro: "Aye. Sleep is a good one. That's my answer, too."

11. Have you any pets?

Moss: "No. They'd just end up dead in the winter."

Isidro: "My family owned a horse. He was old when I left so I'm not sure if he's still alive."

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Moss: "Is running a sport? Holm kids are best in that. That and fighting, I guess."

Isidro: "Helping with the farm took most of my time. Can't say I would have liked to play a sport anyway."

13. How tall are you?

Moss: "...five four and a quarter."

Isidro: "five foot nine."

14. Favorite subject in school?

Moss: "History. Though they wouldn't teach it right."

Isidro: "I could never pay attention long enough so I don't think I have one."

15. Dream job?

Moss: "A sailor. Any kind, I don't care."

Isidro: He smiles, though it doesn't reach his eyes, "beggars can't be dreamers, you know that," he looks down, "besides, They'll never just dismiss me from service... they never do."

#15 questions #tag game #oc tag game #writeblr #oc character #oc moss #oc isidro #i might do this with the whumpers too this was really fun #dark water by jovi

[gemwing2010]

Cuphead Show: Dreamstones Edition Sneak Preview 7

One early morning in the Underworld, the Devil is curled up in his overly large circular bed, sleeping as he was wearing a black sleep mask when there was a knock at his bedroom door.

The door opens to reveal it was Henchman as he was carting into with the Devil’s breakfast in a tray and a newspaper on a dining cart.

“Duh, Boss, wakey, wakey.” Henchman chirped.

The Devil, however, grunts in reply before he rolls onto his side beneath the duvet covers, trying to sleep some more.

Ever since Stickler informed him of Cuphead’s soul debt had expired since 31 days and his recent failure to make Katie his bride, the Devil had locked himself away in his bedchamber, sulking and sleeping his depression away.

“Aw, Boss, you’ve been in here in for days.” Henchman sighed before he pushed the dining cart into the room and stopped near the Devil’s bedroom window, which is covered up by the massive curtains. “Come on, get up. Look what a beautiful day it is.”

Henchman then grabs the tassel to open the curtains to reveal a hectic sight. Condemned souls were seen writhing and screaming in torment as they were in a sea of lava as a large sea serpent-like creature is seen swimming across the lava.

The Devil had sat up in bed to lift up his eye mask but he looked tiredly irritated before he slips the mask back over his eyes and lays back down, burying himself fully beneath the covers.

“Uh, I know what’ll cheer you up.” Henchman said as he picked up he newspaper. “Listen to these headlines.”

The Devil continued to sulk beneath the covers as Henchman opened the newspaper and starts to read it.

“‘Invasive beetles devastate crops’. ‘Meteor hurtles towards orphanage’.” Henchman read before he peeked his head out from one side of the paper. “Ooh, meteor!”

Despite the mention of a meteor, the Devil did not answer. So, Henchman kept reading.

“ ‘Four horses of the apocalypse on the loose’.” Henchman read. He then peeked his eyes over the newspaper as he happily asked, “What a time to be the Devil, huh?”

However, the Devil groaned weakly as he brushed it off while still hiding underneath the covers.

“Hey, there’s a review. Of you!” Henchman exclaimed happily as he spotted something interesting.

This fully caught the Devil’s attention as he sat back up and removed the covers, lifting up his eye mask.

“What’s that?” The Devil asked eagerly before he grabbed the newspaper from Henchman. “Ooh, gimme!”

Sitting back in bed, the Devil begins to read the newspaper with intrigue.

“‘Once in a rare while, a figure commands our respect, summons our fears, and effortlessly tempts us with unhinged depravity’.”

This greatly pleased the Devil as his tail actually wags in joy and excitement like a puppy eagerly about to play fetch.

“You hear that, Henchman? Unhinged depravity!” The Devil laughed as Henchman happil gives him a double thumbs-up in reply before the Devil continued reading. “‘For millennia, it was clear to debate who that figure was’.”

So far, the Devil was starting to feel better until he started to trail a bit when he read something that was slowly but suddenly dampening his mood.

“‘After a recent string of setbacks however, most especially concerning his constant tried and failed attempts to seduce and marry the mortal, Katie Gemwing, it has become blatantly apparent that the Devil is… losing his touch?!” The Devil read in shock and outrage. “‘A silly caricature of his once powerful self’?! ‘Time to pass the walking stick to the next contender’?!”

This greatly enrages the Devil as he was on the verge of tearing the newspaper apart as he grasped it with great fury.

“IT’S A PITCHFORK!!!” The Devil roared in his demonic voice.

With all his furious might, he threw the newspaper into the air and blasted it into ashes wit his pitchfork. As the remains fell to the ground, a worried Henchman looked over to his boss who had curled back onto his bed, sulking with his pitchfork lying beside him.

“Stupid critic. What do they know?” The Devil muttered bitterly.

“Hey, you know what I would do?” Henchman asked, trying to cheer his boss up.

The Devil simply scoffs in relpyl trying to ignore him.

“I’d take my pitchfork and go have some fun.” Henchman stated as he grabbed his tail and made it into the impression of a pitchfork. “Go to the surface, torment some souls, blow off some steam. I’m just saying. You are the Devil after all.”

The Devil took a moment to think this over before his eyes widened in realisation. He then sits up.

“You know, Henchman, you’re right. I AM the Devil!” He remarked.

The Devil then grabbed his pitchfork and stands up on the bed with newfound confidence , his shadow falling over Henchman.

Despite the few setbacks concerning a stubborn bride-to-be and one expired soul debt, he wasn’t going to let of those tarnish his reputation. No matter what those silly tabloids say otherwise, he’s still the most feared and powerful entity on all of the Inkwell Isles! And he’s going to prove all of those foolish mortals just that!

“I need to get out there and be the Devil I was born to be!” The Devil declared before jumping off the bed. “Thank you, Henchman. I’m about to make a lot of people VERY miserable. And who knows? I might even be able to finally have a beautiful bride swept off her feet once the day is done.”

With his magic, the Devil levitates off the floor and floats away out of the room.

After a moment’s pause, Henchman happily clasps his hands together as tears of joy started brimming in his eyes as he tearfully and happily said, “That’s my boss!”

#Cuphead Show #Cuphead the Devil #Cuphead Devil #Cuphead Henchman #Cuphead fanfiction #sneak preivew

[bliphany]

MID-YEAR BOOK FREAK OUT TAG 2022

Thought it might be interesting to do it this year.

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2022?

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers (First-time read)

“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman (re-read)

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022?

“The Other Wind” by Ursula K. Le Guin

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to?

“Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of 2022?

“A Prayer for the Crown-Shy” by Becky Chambers

“Husband Material” by Alexis Hall

5. Biggest disappointment?

“The Girls I've Been” by Tess Sharpe

“The Midnight Lie” by Marie Rutkoski

I wanted to love these two so much but I just couldn’t... :(

Both had such great settings/concepts. I love stories where characters confronted their identities. I love stories where the setting itself was political intriguing. Unfortunately, how these two stories were told were just not my cup of tea.

6. Biggest surprise?

“This Is How You Lose The Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Made me realized that I do love letters/correspondence as a storytelling format. I just have to find ones that speak to me. Also I got unexpected invested in everything about this story.

“Boyfriend Material” by Alexis Hall

Made me realized that I can love romance books other than fanfiction lol. Also maybe I can enjoy contemporary fiction. Again, I just have to get a hang of my own preferences and tastes so I know where to look.

7. New favorite author?

Becky Chambers (I’m planning to read most of her backlist.)

8. Newest fictional crush?

No.

But I got quite invested in Red’s and Blue’s relationship in “This Is How You Lose The Time War.” I had a crush on that ship.

9. Newest favorite character?

I quite like Sibling Dex and Mosscap in “A Psalm for the Wild-Built.” Would be nice to have tea with them some time. 

10. Book that made you cry?

“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman (Ugly crying)

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers (the ending was just!)

“Firelight” by Ursula K. Le Guin

“This Is How You Lose The Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (some passages just touched me in a tearing up level)

Personally, I read stories to make myself cry. Yeah that’s my only reading goal.

11. Book that made you happy?

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers

“Boyfriend Material” by Alexis Hall

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy

12. Most beautiful book you bought this year?

“The Kingdom of Copper” by S. A. Chakraborty

“The Mercies” by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

I also loved the cover of “The Midnight Lie” A LOT

13. What books do you really need to read by the end of this year?

Uh… so many? I’m in shame. I’ll just list 3 here.

“The Mercies” by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

“The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi

“The Darkness Outside Us” by Eliot Schrefer

#mid year book freak out tag #a psalm for the wild built #the ocean at the end of the lane #this is how you lose the time war #earthsea

[foxymoxynoona]

To Kill A King (Ch. Three)

Banner and linebreaks by the talented @awrkives

Summary: What’s more charming than Prince Seokjin? Nothing, obviously. Except maybe the rotating palace guests who each smile and bow and charm in an attempt to hide their true motives. Fortunately Seokjin has a close circle of friends (well, servants) who watch his back and endure his humor and help him navigate the tumultuous seas of heartbreak, love, and an arranged marriage, not necessarily in that order. If only they had helped him keep a closer eye on his bride-to-be’s handmaiden, who arrives with her own agenda… or maybe it would have been better if he had noticed her less? One thing is certain as this royal drama of the heart plays out: there are many people competing to kill a king.

Main Pairing: Prince Seokjin x Female OC

Genre: Historical Fantasy World, political conspiracy, romance

Rating: 18+

Content Warnings & story tags: includes explicit sex (mxf, fxf), possibly graphic violence/injury later, love and sex triangles or uh quadrangles?, sort of e 2 l, sort of bodyguard trope, sort of arranged marriage, a lot of plotting murder (it’s literally in the title), maybe character death, grief, pining, angst, love, oral (f receiving), I don’t know everything yet as the story is long and still being written

Ch. 3 Wordcount: 16k

PREVIOUS | MASTERLIST | NEXT

Seokjin yawned and stretched and blinked at the early morning light until a shrill pssssst reminded him where he was. He lowered his hands and pointed them at Hoseok like they were cocked pistols and winked, trying to look cool about the whole thing.

“Are you going to mount, Your Highness?” 

“What are you doing with your fingers?” Hoseok whispered harshly. 

“They’re like hunting rifles only smaller,” Seokjin explained before realizing they wouldn’t have seen the secret intelligence that a kingdom to the north had developed such a thing. Pistols. The drawing looked interesting but apparently the recoil was so bad that you could tell who used them by their missing teeth. So not something exactly taking off right now; King Dong-gun had laughed himself out of his chair about the reports. Seokjin thought maybe they ought to pay more attention to those kinds of innovations, even if quality results were way off, but this was one of many areas in which he and his father differed. King Dong-gun invested his money into things he could see with his own eyes or ideas that came from his own head. Seokjin was fascinated by the dreams that other people dreamed, since he lacked any real dreams of his own. His life was a scheduled, walled-in reality, not a dream.

Seokjin turned his finger pistols on Taehyung and smiled and nodded, like this was all a part of his plan. He didn’t have to see it to feel Jimin’s sigh, but the valet stood dutifully to the side, waiting to mount his own lesser steed until his liege had. 

There were few things in life Seokjin hated rising early for more than a hunt and yet, here he was, because there Nasimiyu was, and her parents, and their entourage, and a bigger gathering behind them of the lords and ladies King Dong-gun had said could come this time. It was hard to predict how many people he’d feel like dealing with at any given time. Right now, the answer appeared to be not many.

Despite his social limits, Seokjin’s father was clearly thrilled at the morning ahead. He strode around the stableyard on his massive black steed, chin high and hand raised as he greeted each person in turn, wishing them a good hunt. His announcement earlier that whomever killed the white bear would win a special prize had not earned him the cheer he wanted so now he was demanding cheer one by one.

“It’s too early for a hunt,” Seokjin muttered to himself, clearly not the only person who thought so. He watched as Nasimiyu, in a fitted dark green coat and riding pants, climbed a box to mount her horse. The women in Priva thought pants were unfashionable on a woman and wouldn’t be caught dead in them, but he rather liked it. Practical. Safer for riding. Gave a delicious view of strong thighs and a round backside. He didn’t care what a man’s backside and thighs looked like. Might as well put the men in the dresses! Fashion had developed as wrong as the idea of an early-morning hunt.

Hoseok’s painful-sounding throat clearing tipped Seokjin off that he was staring. He surged into action, slipping his booted foot into the stirrup and flinging his leg over as he recalled the reason he’d looked at Princess Nasimiyu: she looked very sleepy. Her eyes were soft and unfocused. She went where her maid or her mother nudged her. She had the most natural, neutral quality to her expression he’d ever seen on her and the whole package was doing dangerously soft things in his chest because this was a very important thing he now knew about his future queen: she was not a morning person. He suspected her maids had dressed her and pushed her out the door. Maybe the bright silky scarf holding her hair back was because she’d overslept and there hadn’t been time to style it; he knew a thing or two about that. And now he also knew that she greeted the day naturally beautiful and someday he’d wake up looking at her. Someday he’d see her in the mornings even before her maids did. His stomach twisted itself into knots.

It looked like she was only bringing one maid on the hunt, the one with the long braid. One of many things he found interesting about Nasimiyu, and different from the other noble women who flocked around the palace: she seemed to prefer a small entourage. Often there was one maid and one guard and that was all. He could respect that about her, that she didn’t seem to want to make such a big deal of herself. He really admired that, actually. He was like that too, after all. Yes, he wanted to look his best, and she obviously did too, but to not have all this fanfare every time he rose from a chair would be so freeing. 

Maybe, too, she knew how safe she was within the palace walls. The idea she already felt comfortable enough to only take one guard with her when she wandered the halls warmed his heart. She was very safe here! He hoped she trusted that, or would trust it in time. Security in this palace was the best to be found in the kingdom. His father ran a remarkably tight palace. No weak links here. No threats to the future Queen.

King Dong-gun raised his fisted hand and shouted, “Are – we – ready – hunters??” A jovial laugh erupted from the gaping black hole of his mouth. Seokjin couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of his own after this tongue failed to trap it. The response was forced and lackluster from all those around. A pitiful showing next to the king’s enthusiasm.

But his father misunderstood and crowed, “My son is ready! I believe today shall be another victory for the Kim family, eh Prince Hamisi? We Kims always catch what we hunt.”

“Is that so?” Prince Hamisi grinned, leaning forward in his saddle. “I’m only slightly sorry to be the cause of you or your son’s disappointment today. Hopefully my daughter can comfort your son’s wounded ego later.”

Seokjin didn’t quite follow why both men laughed so hard about this. Was it because Nasimiyu’s coldness towards him was so obvious? Was it because Seokjin successfully made it look like his ego was puncture-proof? Were they dreaming and joking about their children having sex? Or was it because they were each so certain of their own ability to catch the white bear that they could taunt the other now? It didn’t matter, Seokjin’s ears were on fire and he couldn't look at Nasimiyu’s face.

“What do we hunt with?” Nasimiyu asked. He sat up straighter in hsi saddle, because she didn’t seem to have directed the question at anyone in particular, which meant he could dive for it.

“A rifle,” Seokjin answered, startling his horse with the quick command to draw closer to her. King Dong-gun and Prince Hamisi had begun to lead the procession from the far side of the stableyard, but he and Princess Nasimiyu were closer to the middle so not moving yet. 

“Oh.” She looked down in her lap like she expected a rifle to be nestled there.

“They’ll hand them to us once we’re in the hunting grounds,” Seokjin explained. “We keep weapons like a rifle tightly controlled. They aren’t allowed in the city.”

“Isn’t it inevitable? I’m sure they’re already there.”

Seokjin shrugged, “Maybe they are or maybe they aren’t. I’ve never seen any. We have tight security and er, final consequences for being caught even with the powder. Anytime any sort of group tries to rise up with shady business, we shut them down.” And kill everyone involved , he chose not to add.

“So if you don’t see it, it must not be happening?”

“A lot happens that nobody sees,” Seokjin admitted. It was a joke about where they were headed, but since she didn’t know that yet, he realized it didn’t make sense. He nudged his horse a little to the left so he wouldn’t bump into her before offering, “When we get there, I can show you how to use a rifle–”

“I know how to use one,” she interrupted, then bobbed her head and added, “I think…” He wasn’t sure if that was meant as an apology or a confession, but either way was endearing. Short temper? Defensive? He was slow to anger so maybe that could be a good balance between them. Or something. 

“Ah… let’s make sure,” Seokjin said, chuckling. “It’s not the kind of thing you want to be unsure about.”

“I mean, I’ve used one before I just don’t know which kind you have… And where exactly are we going?”

It was like he could see her waking up as they followed the procession down through the back gates of the palace landing, to the back side of the mountain that wasn’t visible from anywhere inside the city. A narrow, winding, twisty path here could lead you all the way to the bottom and you’d be out of the capital city of Priva; it was the most direct way out. For even faster transportation, you could take the cable car that would let you cut the twists and turns and just slide right down, though it was dangerous and a little nauseating and really just for emergencies or for quickly transporting supplies that was safer not to send through the crowded Privan streets. Seokjin had only been on the cable car once and it was every shade of terrifying you could dream of and then some. He still had nightmares about someone just cutting the cable and dropping him to his death. It could happen! Jungkook had told him exactly how it could happen! Jungkook was always a little too excited to point out catastrophic dangers, eager to impress without thinking about the horror and fear his words could cause. Sure, they both had active imaginations together but at least Seokjin knew when to shut his mouth!

Jungkook was, of course, entirely too chipper about the hunting trip. He was all smiles, big eyes sparkling as he rode beside Nasimiyu’s guard behind them, a stern, much larger man who had never said a word as far as Seokjin knew. Behind them, Jimin and Nasimiyu’s maid rode beside each other. Seokjin saw Jimin say something that earned a glance but no response from the maid. Damnit, he really needed to memorize the names of Nasimiyu’s staff but sometimes names flowed in one ear and out the other like water through a hollow gourd –the words of Mr. Jung, not his own. Often words flowed out of his mouth the same way –the words of Hoseok, not his own, followed by a teasing but friendly smile and a pat on the shoulder, and then Jungkook pretending to take Hoseok down, and Seokjin playfully scolding them both, feelings not at all hurt by this accurate assessment. Why should he stop the words? His jokes were great.

Like now as he joked, “Like Kalamaouche , we descend into the subterranean…”

Nasimiyu blinked almost owlishly at him and asked, “What did you say?”

“Kalamouche?”

“And… subterranean? I don’t understand anything you’re saying right now…” she admitted. He could see her lean away. That made the misses more embarrassing, that she physically recoiled from him when it happened.

“You’ll see… One of the most closely guarded secrets in Priva…” He was trying to be mysterious and wiggled his eyebrows but she just looked confused. “Oh, but what if your secret cave is better?”

“I beg your pardon?”

He sighed and shook his head, “I got ahead of myself with the grand reveal but of course yours is probably better, You have a much more elaborate cave network.”

“ What?”

Directly in front of them rode Lord Balor Jehoram and his son Prassani, and it was the former who let out a hearty laugh and tossed back, “Speaking about a ladies caves is a little uncouth in such a crowd, is it not?”

“Father…” his son warned, looking scandalized. He sent Seokjin a nervous glance. But now Seokjin heard his own words, now that Lord Jehoram had pointed them out. Oops.

“Oh! Ah, no, uh… I meant… literal caves… Marvono is full of them! Right?” He looked to Nasimiyu for confirmation. He felt like he might throw up.

“Oh. You, uh…” It was like a blanket passed across her face and her expression shifted entirely, her sharpened glare relaxing into one of relief, “Yes, we have an elaborate cave network in Marvono.”

“There’s only one cave here, and it’s the best cave in all of Yeonhalbi,” Seokjin said. He didn’t know if that was true but suddenly hoped it was, because he had hoped this could impress Nasimiyu and now realized it probably wouldn’t. Because her home was full of caves. Natural ones. Not this man-made monstrosity, this place of nightmares, this genuinely insane thing his father and grandfather had done and that nobles creamed themselves over getting invited into.

He grimaced at his own mental language. Jungkook, Yoongi, and Taehyung were rubbing off on him. No, not that way! But maybe this vow of total sexual abstinence he’d taken was starting to backfire… Jimin had told him it was a bad idea but frankly he was worried about his nerves getting in the way when he and Nasimiyu became intimate and the physician had suggested he stop taking matters into his own hands for a while. A little built-up frustration can be good for you! Seokjin’s life was full of frustrations but he’d never let himself suffer long in that department until now. Fuck, what if he was going to start letting those kinds of jokes or comments slip?! He better not! The mortification… he’d quite literally just sink to the floor and die. Nasimiyu seemed like the kind of woman who arched her eyebrow in judgment and that would be the end of Prince Seokjin. No more Kim dynasty.

“I suppose we’ll see about that,” Nasimiyu said, briefly making him panic that she had read his mind. But she hadn’t, just lifted her gaze curiously as the parade took a right at the fork in the path, curving around to heavy stone doors that had been unlocked and dragged open that morning. This was the only fork in the path, the only space wide enough to turn around and go back up, and also the only entrance to where they were going now. Seokjin could hear the noise of those doors grinding open every time there was a hunt, and it always filled him with a sense of dread, but even more so this morning…

But what could he do about it? Nothing except make the best of it. He wondered how long it would take before someone brought up that one time…

He paused briefly before going through the gate, torn between a terror of looking out at the long drop on the other side of that low railing and terror at the cold dark lifeless air that hovered in the entrance. His horse shied away, and Nasimiyu’s horse stopped too, as if in solidarity.

“Are you all right?” she asked, brows knitting in a beautiful curiosity.

Seokjin gave her a broad smile, “Yes, why wouldn’t I be? Just taking a moment to enjoy the crisp cave air. Are you all right?”

“So far…” she answered, and Seokjin laughed as his heart soared. A joke! She was joking with him! He didn’t know if it meant he was growing on her, or if she actually was afraid right now and that vulnerability had slipped out in the guise of a joke. He was beside himself either way. It was time for him to be brave. After all, he knew what lay ahead, and it was just a yawning black hole to her.

“Just wait, you’ve never seen anything like this, I bet,” he assured her. “And if you have, I’ll eat my hat.”

“You’re not wearing a hat.”

“But I own many. I’ll even let you choose which one I consume.” He nudged his horse into a walk and hers followed at her nudge. To put her at ease, he continued to describe his various hats to her to amuse and distract her as their horses stepped from the bright sunlight of outside into the bright lights of the cave.

“What in the world…”

Seokjin actually did, for once, feel a little pride as Nasimiyu and those with her stared up and around in awe. 

This entrance cavern was huge, plenty of space for forty people and their horses to pause so that servants could collect rifles from the armory hollowed out in one side of the massive cavern. Despite the yawning darkness seen from outside, inside and past that initial spooky passage, the cave was well lit.

“What is that?” Nasimiyu gasped –not, not Nasimiyu, her maid, who’d ridden up close. A moment later she blinked away from the organic lights overhead, temporarily blinded by the brightness. Nasimiyu watched her with obvious concern and curiosity and turned to Seokjin for an answer.

“Lumilyte,” he said.

“What’s lumilyte?”

“Discovery out of Therepin,” he said, chest puffing up. “You’re looking at all that exists in the world except for a small sample they still have there to study. There’s a scientist trying to see if he can reproduce it.”

“It’s incredible…” her maid said mused, still glancing up even though she was rubbing her eyes.

Nasimiyu lifted a hand as if she could touch it, asking, “It’s a rock? It just glows that bright forever?”

“Yes. It’s been here since my grandfather’s time.”

“It could light households all over Yeonhalbi for– for nothing, no wax, no oil, no wicks, no– it could completely change the lives of…”

Seokjin nodded, “Right! That’s what they’re trying to figure out in Therepin. Plants will even grow under it, though not as quickly as under the sun–”

“But why in Therepin?” Nasimiyu demanded. “You have an entire cave of it right here!”

Ah. Seokjin’s mouth twitched nervously because… well, yes. There was an entire cave of it right here. This cave of it –not to mention where it appeared through the remaining caves– could at least light all the homes in Priva, maybe even one or two more principalities, but not all of them. He didn’t really have a head for those types of calculations but… but yes, he had thought of the same thing, a question that had died on his lips when he’d asked his father, who had scoffed at the idea with the simple rebuttal it’s the only thing that can light our cave; are you saying there should be no hunting for nobles in Priva? How will we keep the nobles in line if we have no entertainment to offer them? And the hunting grounds create jobs…

It hadn’t been worth fighting over. What was Seokjin going to do, climb to the ceiling of the cave and steal the rocks and distribute them himself?

But now he had the uncomfortable situation of not being able to answer all of this. Maybe once Nasimiyu was his wife, he’d be more comfortable explaining to her the ways of the world, or saying things that might, to some, sound like a criticism of his father. The situation was complex and Seojin knew his limits. Nasimiyu would understand it in time too. Ruling was complicated. Seokjin was terrified of the day it would be his turn. 

“Yes, unfortunately this stone must stay in here,” he said simply. “Some of the other areas are lit by windows in the ceiling or great fires –be careful around the fires, there have been injuries before…” Now he looked more closely at her head scarf and worried. The truth was the hunting grounds weren’t exactly a safe place. Accidents happened all the time. Burns, animal attacks, mistaken shots. Probably not everything was accidental, truth be told. One particular cave was jokingly called ‘The Widow Maker.’ He knew Prince Hamisi had been eager for the hunt but now Seokjin wondered why Nasimiyu had come along for it.

She was asking him something else but he suddenly offered, “We don’t have to hunt if you would prefer not to. We could ride through the city instead? You said you like to ride.”

“I want to see the caves,” she said simply, and called to her maid, “Will you fetch us rifles?” He felt like he’d missed part of their conversation; she’d moved so quickly from awe to… determined? Focus? Annoyed with him? He felt like she was annoyed with him.

The handmaid looked surprised but she didn’t need to go anywhere to get anything; there were palace staff bringing around the rifles and ammo as the Master of the Hunt went round by groups and gave the instructions. Seokjin accepted the rifle and slung the ammo bag over his shoulders, fingers itching to help Nasimiyu as she did the same.

At least, to his great joy, she asked, “Will you teach me how to shoot?” At first Seokjin didn’t think the question was leveled at him, but she continued to stare at him as the armorers walked off to deliver weapons to others. At the last second, she called back, “For my maid?”

“Servants don’t hunt, they fetch,” an armorer told her.

“I want mine armed,” Nasimiyu argued. The maid looked mortified but stayed silent.

Embarrassed himself by anyone arguing with her, Seokjin quickly intervened, “Why do you act like we are short on servants to fetch things? Let her maid carry a rifle. Are you afraid you’ll be shot? Worry more about those nervous lordlings over there and bring someone else to fetch for the Princess and… and a servant for her servant as well, if she wants!”

The handmaid actually leaned out of her saddle, touching Nasimiyu’s arm. The whole exchange was odd –who would arm a lady’s maid?!-- but actually Seokjin was relieved. Nasimiyu was a noble! She was supposed to be a little odd! If she was odd, she’d be more likely to accept his own oddities, and she’d probably get along better with his father. A noble without oddities was much, much scarier because probably they were just too good at deeply hiding whatever was wrong with them. Something really terrible. At least among men. Maybe that wasn’t necessarily true about the ladies; many of them were just without much substance, but Nasimiyu was full of substance from what he could see, so there must be some oddities and eccentricities in there as well. Right? Please?

Nasimiyu only visibly relaxed once her maid and bodyguard were holding rifles. It made Seokjin suspect she was just nervous overall. He could understand that. It was soft if she was nervous, especially as the first pops of practice shots began to echo around the stone cavern. Nasimiyu’s whole body flinched; her bodyguard and maid sat up higher in their saddles and looked for the source of the sound, but the echo obfuscated it, and anyway, more shots started.

“It’s all right,” Seokjin assured them. “It’s just practice shots over there. It’s fine.”

At Seokjin’s nod, Jungkook slid down and leaned close with Nasimiyu’s guard to talk about the rifle, which he did not seem familiar with. Seokjin brushed away several hunting staff offering to help the Princess in favor of walking her through it himself. Hay barrels sat against a wall at the far end of the cave for practice shots, and soon the deafening echo of rifle shots bounced around.

“Oh this is awful,” Nasimiyu murmured, reaching behind her. Seokjin offered his arm, which surprised her despite reaching for it. 

“We have wax for your ear, if you’d like,” he offered. “But then you won’t hear things once we’re further in.” He had to lean close to feel certain she could hear him.

“Is what he said true? There are really animals loose down here and we run through all these caves searching for them?”

“You may walk or ride, whichever you prefer.”

“Deer and rabbits and even birds, all raised down in the dark, just waiting for…” She trailed off and looked to him with something like awe, despite her shoulders twitching every time a new shot rang out.

“Let me show you, you'll pick it up fast. Father will start the hunt soon so people can move out,” Seokjin assured her, moving her more quickly towards the hay stacks. Belatedly he looked back and gestured to her maid, “You need to learn too, right?” She looked startled to be addressed, but Seokjin thought it was pretty important that a woman potentially firing a weapon anywhere near Nasimiyu needed to know what she was doing.

The noise and punctuation of practice shots meant teaching Nasimiyu and her maid was not quite as romantic as he would have liked. He showed them how to load, how to aim, how to fire, both well-cautioned about the recoil and how to brace against it so they wouldn’t hurt themselves. There were already two bloody noses down the line, lordlings who would not be joining the hunt now.

As he leaned in to make sure Nasimiyu was holding properly,he added quietly, “You don’t need to shoot anything if you don’t like and if at any point you just want out of there, let me know and I’ll whisk you away.”

“You don’t seem to enjoy the hunt much, Your Highness.”

“I think it’s an acquired taste,” he suggested. “One which not everyone acquires.”

“Well I assure you I am just as capable of acquiring a taste for the hunt as any man.” She sounded so bold as she said it, chin lifted, eyes flashing. But every time another shot went off, she twitched, and her hands shook as Seokjin led her and her maid back to their horses. Proud , he thought. Strong. Brave. But soft too.  

Maybe this whole hunting trip was worth it if he could learn so much so quickly about Nasimiyu, and it felt like she was finally paying some attention to him! 

In all the chaos, Seokjin hadn’t realized that he’d managed to lose both Jimin and Jungkook, until Jimin came running up and said, “King Dong-gun is looking for you to start the hunt. Will you be riding or walking?”

“Riding,” he answered, glancing at Nasimiyu to see if she’d disagreed. She did not. He figured on horses they could take some of the side paths and get away quickly from the bulk of people. It would be quieter and safer, which he suspected she would appreciate. “We’ll begin, Princess. Can I mount you?” He bowed and held his hand out, trying to be as romantic and debonair as possible.

She gave him a stunned expression; behind him, he heard Jimin start to choke. Seokjin didn’t understand; was his offer really so unkind?

The maid took Nasimiyu’s rifle but the bodyguard was the one to step forward and help lift her onto her horse. He tossed the maid onto her horse too. During the commotion, Jimin leaned forward and repeated his own words.

Well. Well shit. 

Seokjin wanted to melt into the floor and die. Things had been almost going well? Except for the constant headache-inducing, heart-stopping echo of rifle shots hopefully fired with purpose into the hay. 

“Let’s start the hunt,” Seokjin said, probably inaudible but too mortified to say anything else. He ought to apologize, right? Assure her he simply misspoke? He did not want to –he had done his absolute best not to think of Nasimiyu sexually yet but– well but she did look like that and he couldn’t help where his mind wandered at night and– all right, so he did , and now he couldn’t stop thinking about what his own words had revealed… 

Better just to forge ahead and not think twice about it. About what he’d said. And about mounting her! Definitely it would do him no good to be thinking about sex right now when they needed to survive this hunt without getting themselves shot or mauled, all because King Dong-gun’s idea of a good time was… this . And apparently Nasimiyu’s father’s too. Something they had in common! Seokjin would make sure everyone in their party came out unscathed. Somehow.

Except Jungkook. He might shoot Jungkook, whose whole face was red except for the spot on his lip, white where he’d been biting to keep from laughing. His eyes danced with amusement. He looked like he was about to be sick from the effort of holding his laughter in.

“I’ll kill you,” Seokjin whispered to him. 

Which unfortunately wound up not being a whisper due to some inexplicable hush that washed around the area.

“Not truly,” Seokjin quickly corrected at Nasimiyu’s shocked look.

The laughter bubbled out of Jungkook, unprofessional but clearly not threatened. 

“Seokjin!” he heard his father shouting. Not happily. “Where is my son so we can begin?!”

Seokjin gave Nasimiyu a watery smile and said, “Welcome to the hunt, Princess. Don’t take it too seriously.”

He saw the question on Jimin’s face and ignored it, tugging his horse to the right so he could lead the way to his father. What the fuck does that mean? Don’t take it too seriously? Fuck if he knew… Would he ever manage to look serious and competent in front of the princess? No, probably, sadly, not.

The Privan hunt was the most ostentatious, elaborate, magical, selfish, gluttonous, ridiculous thing Nasimiyu had ever laid eyes on. 

She knew more than she let on about this to Seokjin. She never had fired a weapon herself but she’d seen them before, though certainly not in a mob in a massive but echoing cavern. Her father had told her about an underground hunt with magical lights, but never more than that and it had failed to arouse the actual experience in even her wildest imagination. And to watch the way the other lords and ladies sped off on horses down the large paths or on foot down the smaller paths once the firing of a pistol straight at the ceiling marked the beginning of the hunt–

It was disgusting. Nasimiyu struggled to keep her lip from curling and her brow from lowering in what would have been too obvious a judgment.

“Do you hunt in Marvono?” Lord Téo Ascanio asked. Nasimiyu glanced at him and quickly softened her look when Dulce sneezed, an obvious nudge from her maid that her face was revealing her annoyance at being addressed. When she and Dulce had agreed to follow Seokjin, she had hoped it would mean they were away from everyone. She thought Seokjin hoped that too, judging by his disappointment when three lords and two ladies had clomped after them, giggling that the betrotheds shouldn’t be alone just yet and also that maybe Seokjin had a lead on where the elusive white bear was hiding. The one the king would pay you a handsome reward in gold for. For killing him, this poor bear who was just trying to eke out a living in this vast underground cave network he’d been trapped in by men. To exist only as something to be hunted.

A fucking travesty.

“There is a hunt, yes,” she said. “With bows, not rifles… it’s annual, meant to curb invasive species and provide meat for those without.” 

“And you do it? Hunt? How are you with a bow?” Lord Jothi Harker pressed.

Nasimiyu didn’t know why these men were so interested in her when there were two perfectly good women in their party, one of whom was single. Curiosity? Or nosiness? She decided she wanted to sound strong and capable and confirmed,

“I do very well on the hunt, yes.”

“Bet your hunt isn’t anything like ours though,” Lady Cassia Clet insisted. She was in high spirits, having brought down a large goose in the previous watery cavern so tall that the fowl had taken to the air and disappeared through an unreachable passageway at the first echoes of gunshot. They weren’t quick enough in their escape though. Lady Clet and her husband Sarvesh both had geese to show for it.

“That is very true.”

Nasimiyu didn’t consider herself overly fond of animals, but she thought it required a hard heart to not see this as tragic. She could not, for the life of her, figure out what Seokjin thought about it, which had her curious. He kept contradicting himself. In all things, sure, but in this especially, where in one breath he would brag about the life-changing stones they hoarded for their pleasure and then reassure her that they did not have to partake in this at all with a shockingly apologetic look on his face. She had to be misunderstanding him, right? She longed for a moment alone with Dulce to ask her thoughts, but with so many wild idiots loose with weapons, her bodyguard stuck obnoxiously close to her. 

And honestly, that was a little comforting. This whole thing was so stupid and she found herself thinking well here’s the solution, you could assainate anyone in this cave and no one would ever know. Had King Dong-gun really made this so easy? Surely not… Just like surely no one would be surprised for the King to disappear into these caves and later be found dead.

“Wow.”

Nasimiyu turned at the gasp of awe from Dulce as they entered another massive cavern. None of this felt real. The entire capital city of Priva was built on these breathtaking caverns, so large it was easy to forget you were even underground except for the spiderweb of passages connecting them. Dulce’s eyes reflected the thing that impressed her, the glittering star-like dots of light against a dark sky that cast a bluish glow on the forest they looked down on from their high path. Outside was a crisp morning sun but in here felt like twilight. A craggy cliff on the far side looks like any other mountain aboveground. A buck with a massive set of antlers lifted his head majestically and looked at the intruders in his space. It was breathtaking.

Nasimiyu’s gasp seemed to echo in the wake of the crack of a rifle. For a moment the deer shuddered and froze, then it turned and ran a few steps before lurching to the side, where it tumbled right down the cliff into the forest below.

“Ah, damn, it wasn’t a clean shot,” Lord Ascanio said to Lord Harker, who’d taken the shot.

“It was! He went right now!”

“No, he took a few steps and stumbled.”

“Yes from the bullet through his heart.”

“No, he’s probably still alive down there.”

“After that fall? I doubt it.”

“You’d better go look,” Lord Clet suggested.

“Damn,” Lord Harker grumbled, looking at the thick forests and the steep climb down. “Don’t know what else might be down there…” He did not look inclined to follow Lord Clet’s advice.

Lady Clet gave him a pointed look and pressed, “Didn’t you think about that before you shot? Even if you’d dropped him up there, you’d still have to find a way to retrieve him.”

“What ever do I need to get him for? That’s the fetchers job,” he motioned to the mounted servants behind him. “Besides, you all witnessed the kill.”

“So you’re planning just to leave a dead or dying deer out there,” Nasimiyu found herself snapping. That was certainly not how they hunted in Marvono, where anything killed was used down to the bone, every organ and sinew and scrap of meat.

Lord Ascanio turned to one of the servants assisting them on the hunt and ordered, “Go fetch it.” The servant’s eyes grew very large as he looked to the other servants. Three of them in all, plus hers and Seokjin’s bodyguards and personal servants. Such a large mounted party and yet the deer hadn’t fled immediately when they entered this place. They didn’t fear people in here despite their whole existence built by the hunt. It made everything even more disgusting to her. She hoped there was something down there in those ominous trees that could take out a few people now and then, just to balance the scales.

She missed whatever Seokjin said, though after five days she was beginning to recognize the low hum of his voice muttering –he seemed to talk to himself a great deal without expecting anyone was listening. Dulce had told her he was sometimes narrating whatever he did and other times making “what appear to be jokes because he seems to laugh at them even though they don’t make any sense to me…”

This time his bodyguard appeared to have heard him though and suddenly slid from his horse and tossed the reigns to the big-eyed servant, 

“All right, I’ll head down, but you wait here with my horse.”

“You’re going to get it?” Miss Sotiria Tulia asked, mouth dropping with interest. The bodyguard gave her a rather charming smile and Nasimiyu thought Dulce’s initial impression was probably right that he was a flirt. He sure looked like one.

“Oh well if it’s all right for him to go down, I’ll go too–”

“Please stay on your horse, Lord Harker,” Seokjin interrupted, raising a hand. “Jungkook is familiar with these caves.”

“But it’s my kill. Your man there will find my dead deer, stab the corpse, and claim it was his.”

“Care to go with me?” Jungkook the bodyguard asked, pushing up his sleeves and eying the drop as if he was going to run and jump. “I can probably carry you both back up. Might take two trips.”

“You didn’t even want the body,” Nasimiyu pointed out. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt compelled to agree with the Prince that Lord Harker shouldn’t go but she did. “Besides, can’t you tell what the cause of death was?” She glanced at Dulce.

“Maybe not if the injuries are that close together,” Dulce admitted, earning scandalized looks from the other women –either about her knowledge of death or because she’d dared to speak when her superiors were debating.

“It’s not about the body or claiming a kill,” Prince Seokjin insisted. “It’s about not leaving a deer to die a slow and painful death if the shot wasn’t good.”

“The shot was good.”

“My man will confirm and you will remain horsed,” Seokjin said, and there was an edge of authority to his voice Nasimiyu had not heard from him in the six days she had been in Priva so far. It bookered no argument. It was shocking.

The group fell silent, long enough that for the first time the noise of the forest actually reached them –chirping birds and rustling leaves even though there was no wind and occasionally the snap of a twig. Without the inane chatter, it seemed suddenly very dense and wild down there. Nasimiyu looked down at the tops of the trees and again considered how very easy it would be for an accident to happen. She didn’t need Dulce to point that out. She could have figured it out for herself, and in under a week!

“Trouble?”

They all spun at the voice, not of their party. A shriveled, gnarled old man approached, a moving pile of furs and leather clothing.

“No, Master. A deer was shot and fell, so my man is going to make sure it’s done with.” 

Who was this man Seokjin referred to as Master? Nasimiyu glanced at Dulce and the others but read no answer in their expressions.

The old man nodded, “All right, I’ll show the way, come with me, young buck.” Jungkook looked amused by this and followed the old man. Just like that, Seokjin let his bodyguard walk off. He must feel pretty confident he was in no danger, and Nasimiyu could practically hear what Dulce would say about it in her mind: don’t assume he’s stupid, he may have security you don’t know. Maybe the valet is secretly a second bodyguard. People don’t hold onto a crown by being stupid. Nasimiyu didn’t know if that was true, based on what she’d seen so far but… well, she wasn’t wed yet, so it wasn’t like she could just push him off his horse over the cliff and be done with it anyway.

Nasimiyu felt like she did not understand what was happening as Seokjin insisted the others ride ahead but motioned for her to stay put. The others didn’t want to go, the ladies laughed that shouldn’t they stay to chaperone? , but Seokjin was adamant and Nasimiyu was stunned by his sudden and unexpected authority. Maybe the others were too and that was what convinced them to go.

Once it was only Prince Seokjin, his valet, Nasimiyu, Dulce, and her bodyguard left, Seokjin let out a sigh, “I’m very sorry about all of… that.”

“All of what?” she asked, not sure what he meant.

“The… well, you were upset, weren’t you? You don’t need to be –Jungkook will make sure the beast doesn’t suffer and–”

“I am no wilting flower, Your Majesty–”

“Seokjin,” he suggested, and she felt both annoyed and flustered by the soft way he looked at her. “Or Jin.” Oh dear, was he trying to have an intimate moment with her? In an ostentatious, absurd cavern of wasted resources and the distant rhythm of rifles firing? She shuddered to think what would happen if those sorts of weapons permeated Yeonhalbi. No, when. If there were so many here in the cave, they were definitely elsewhere too. Maybe Dulce could help her manufacture some accident where every single one of them got destroyed…

“I don’t believe in the waste of animals,” she continued. “But I know where our food comes from and I’m not above dirtying my hands when it’s necessary.” She paused, feeling her cheeks heat up. She shouldn’t get worked up in front of Seokjin. She shouldn’t appear too smart or too threatening or too aware of the world. 

“Jothi and Teo were too riled up, and the forest down there is… unsettling. They would have shot each other thinking one of them was a wild hog, I just know it, and then we’d have to deal with that… and it wasn’t a clean shot, so someone needed to go down, but I don’t think Jothri could finish it up close,” he rambled, watching her closely, as if testing whether what she said was true or not, that she was unbothered. “I thought they or this whole thing were upsetting you…”

“I’m all right,” she insisted. “I certainly know shooting from a distance is different than finishing something up close.” 

“Yes, exactly.” The unspoken addition: but your bodyguard is comfortable with either. And Nasimiyu thought smugly to herself so is my maid.

They settled into silence. Seokjin gazed out at the forest as his horse shifted, bored and calm.

“It was a beautiful deer,” Seokjin admitted after only a few minutes, like he couldn’t bear the silence after all. “I wouldn’t have shot it. But don’t worry, nothing shot in these caves goes to waste, even if the nobles don’t understand. The game masters make sure of it. They keep a tight ecosystem running down here. Even if Lord Harker had left it, Master Boutros or one of the others would have found it; they do a look through all the caves afterwards, make sure nothing is permanently damaged, see what needs to be done to restore the peace.”

“The peace,” Nasimiyu repeated. She didn’t flinch this time but glanced towards the hall the others had disappeared down as the echo of gunshot reached them It was ‘unsettling,’ to re-use Seokjin’s word. “When we hunt in Marvono, it restores balance. We hunt things like boar which overpopulate and can push out other species. We hunt wolves, if there are too many coming into the towns. We only hunt a limited number of deer and birds to make sure numbers remain stable without crowding. We restore the peace. But this breaks the peace, you said. You think that?” 

She shouldn’t have said that. She watched him closely, reckless but curious how he would respond to a rather thinly veiled political statement, a rather scathing remark –if he understood it– about this frivolous hunt. Was all of his talk since they’d come down here actually hinting at a royal prince dissatisfied with the world order? It had never occurred to her that Prince Seokjin might be rebellious in that way, but surely she couldn’t be the only young noble in the world one who realized they needed to use their privilege and power to make things better for more than themselves… and how much good could a prince accomplice if so motivated! How much good should this prince have already done if so motivated… The idea of Prince Seokjin as some secret force of good died as soon as the thought entered her mind before he even opened his mouth.

“Well the real peace down here was… nothing,” he said. “Nothing lived down here when my grandfather found these caverns –well except for these trees and some fish in one of the others. They didn’t even have eyes.”

“The trees?”

“No, the fish.”

“No, I mean that the trees were here? With no light?”

“These lights were here,” Seokjin said, pointing up to the faux-starry sky. “It always looks like this in here.”

“That’s… You’re telling me the truth?”

“I always will, Princess!” 

“But doesn’t that seem strange to you?”

“Yes,” he laughed. “Yes, it does.” 

“How did a King even find this place?” Dulce asked. Nasimiyu turned, having momentarily forgotten her handmaid was even there. She’d gotten wrapped up in trying to feel out Seokjin, apparently, and did not come away quite satisfied. He seemed in awe of his father and grandfather again. How disappointing.

“Huh,” Seokjin mused, lips pursed. “I never asked that… Does seem strange a king would wander this far into a dark, lifeless cave… Maybe my father knows but I’m not sure you’d get an answer from him.”

Dulce looked quickly away, but Nasimiyu smiled fondly at her. Dulce was curious, though she tried to hide it. Tried to act like she didn’t care about anything ever. Don’t ever let anyone know what you want , she’d told Nasimiyu. Nasimiyu had taken that advice to heart. At least she’d tried.

Seokjin’s smile grew as he continued, “Ah, it’s a really good question though! Maybe he was looking for someplace to be alone. This is a beautiful place to be alone, isn’t it?”

“It’s terrifying,” Nasimiyu corrected. “We’re underneath a city. You don’t know what’s in the forest down there.”

“Oh, that’s just Jungkook.”

“No, what I mean is–”

But Jungkook actually was on his way up, grunting and huffing his way up a narrow ramp carved into the cliff below them –it was invisible from the top but she saw it now as Jungkook dragged himself onto the path, a massive dead deer over his shoulders like a knapsack. It was grotesquely ridiculous.  

“I will get the sled and take it out for you,” the Game Master said, scurrying off fast and sort of hunched over. Had he looked that old before he came down here or the caverns aged him like that? What sort of life must it be to work down here? Did he ever leave? Nasimiyu found it heartbreaking; how many lives were ruined for this “game”?!

The deer’s, certainly.

“You carried that by yourself?” Nasimiyu gasped, stunned into it as Jungkook squatted and eased the deer off his shoulders with the help of Nasimiyu’s bodyguard.

Jungkook smiled, “Yes, Princess–”

“It’s not that big,” Seokjin quickly interrupted. 

“Two hundred pounds. Maybe a little more,” Jungkook said, turning that cocky grin to Seokjin. Oh yes, Dulce must be right, Jungkook was probably trouble with the ladies and maybe more. How did she notice things like that so damn quick?! But that was the smile of a man who had no social power, only charm to get his way.

“I can carry that–”

“Bloody dead deer?” Jungkook asked. Interrupted his prince without a second thought! And just as surprising –or maybe not at all surprising for Prince Seokjin– he didn’t seem to care either. 

“I’ve hauled you dead drunk…” Seokjin defended only to trail off, looking at his valet as if he was the actual authority here. Nasimiyu glanced at Dulce, to see if she was seeing this too, but Dulce was looking at the dead dear, its head resting at an odd angle.  

There was a shift in Jungkook’s voice as he suddenly dismissed, “I’m more belligerent, that’s true. The deer isn’t that impressive. Your shoulders are broad enough, we know you can carry it. Want me to cart it out or… I’m–”

“Was it already dead?” Dulce asked. Jungkook seemed surprised by the question. That quickly shifted to exactly the sort of smile Nasimiyu would expect a man like Jungkook to level at a pretty woman like Dulce –particularly a woman he thought nothing more than a soft, shy, quiet handmaiden.

“It was not but I ended its suffering fast,” Jungkook assured her. “You don’t need to worry about it, miss.”

How did she do it, keep that straight face? Nasimiyu herself didn’t know how much suffering Dulce had put an end to –namely by murdering the people causing the suffering. But she endured this patronizing from Prince Seokjin’s bodyguard and just closed her eyes and lowered her face like she was gentle and emotional and grateful to hear this. She suspected Dulce was mentally plotting Jungkook’s demise and it amused her. 

To hide her inappropriate smile, Nasimiyu asked Seokjin, “Is there really a white bear down here?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve never seen it. The Game Masters say yes but… would they tell me the truth?” He arched his eyebrow at the one now returning with a rolling cart. “My father says there is and so we hunt.”

“Even if it’s not true? An empty promise?”

“Even if there is no white bear, isn’t the search part of the fun? The possibility? All these wonderful experiences we get to have along the way?” He gestured to Jungkook and Nasimiyu’s bodyguard helping Master Boutros load the deer onto the cart. The back of Jungkook’s tunic was a sheet of shiny, slippery red. Seokjin’s valet held his jacket, which a moment later hid the carnage from sight. 

She still couldn’t believe Jungkook had piggy-backed that thing up the side of the cliff. He must be stronger than he looked for someone so thin and even a smidge shorter than the Prince himself. Were they only joking Seokjin could have carried the deer? Jungkook must have just said it to tease or flatter the Prince. Which was interesting, if the bodyguard felt so comfortable teasing his Royal Highness, but it was also curious if Seokjin was stronger than he looked, too. 

Dulce’s snort surprised her. She must have missed something, but she saw the way Dulce looked quickly out at the forest and lowered her brow, disengaging, probably so as not to reveal something a handmaid shouldn’t understand.

This place was giving Nasimiyu the creeps now though. It felt like the forest had suddenly gone silent, so she insisted,

“Let’s continue. I’d like to hunt something but… not a deer.”

“Oh? You would? I can lead you to the right place then.”

“A white bear.”

“You… you want to shoot a bear,” Seokjin clarified, obviously stunned.

“No, I just want to hunt for it. I’m just a wilty little girl who can’t handle a hunt. I could never shoot a bear unless it directly threatened me or those I love. Maybe not even then.”

Seokjin bowed his head, “Very well, Princess. On we go. Let’s see if we can find a bear for you.” 

I know exactly where the bear is , Nasimiyu thought.

They did not find a bear. Nasimiyu never fired her rifle once, nor her bodyguard or maid, despite Nasimiyu’s insistence they be armed. They also never got a moment as alone as they had in the forest cavern; instead they fell in shortly with more hunters, eventually Prince Hamisi and Seokjin’s father as well even though Seokjin had tried to stay clear of them. From that point, Seokjin had to work harder at not letting his disdain for the hunt show by actually pretending to hunt. The last thing he needed was a scene with his father in front of the Princess. 

So he fired a few times at things that weren’t there, laughed good-naturedly when his father made a few jokes about his aim, cracked jokes to calm the mood when some others made jokes about his aim and King Dong-gun became very serious and very frightening, and then finally rescued a turtle that had managed to wander right into the path as the trumpets sounded through the caverns, letting the hunters know the day was done and it was time to return aboveground for lunch.

He thought no one was paying much attention to him as he’d slid from his horse, scooped the small tortoise up, and carried it to the side of the path. He paused to consider whether it was better to leave the tortoise here or take it with him. He preferred soft fuzzy pets, but if this tortoise had wandered onto the path once, he’d likely do it again. Trampled, not even a glorious end. But what if he had a little tortoise family down here? What if he liked it down here? Could anyone like it down here? Maybe you could, if it was all you’d ever known. Should he do the kind thing and show the tortoise there was more to the world?

“Your Highness,” Jimin called, and Seokjin heard the warning in his voice. Don’t smuggle a tortoise out.  

All right, that sealed it. He didn’t know anything about tortoises, but he’d find someone who did. He tucked the tortoise into the satchel at his waist and headed towards his horse. Once mounted, he realized Nasimiyu’s handmaiden was watching him. 

Damn, had she seen him take the tortoise? Did she have an opinion about that? Would Nasimiyu have an opinion about it? At some point he was going to have to introduce Nasimiyu to his animals and he had not gotten a sense from this trip whether that would go well or not. He couldn’t tell whether she had a soft spot for animals or just found blood-thirsty competition a bore. Would she think his fur babies were cute or disgusting? At least he didn’t think she’d be afraid of them, the way other ladies might be. One of many reasons he had never taken a woman to his bedroom before…

To cover his tracks, he called loudly, “You there, did you enjoy the hunt?”

“Um…” The poor handmaid looked panicked. She turned her face away and nudged her horse to hide herself behind Nasimiyu. If she’d noticed the tortoise, maybe she’d forgotten in her panic. Or maybe she thought it was a nice thing! She’d been worried about the deer too. Poor thing. This must be even more overwhelming to a handmaiden not used to this kind of wealth and splendor. Nasimiyu seemed less naive about how ridiculous wealth could look. 

Well now he realized he’d better hurry up though so he could deposit the tortoise in his room until he found someone to help him with it. He was all too happy to fall into line behind his father and lead the way out of the caves, both wonderful and unsettling. The sunlight felt warm and safe but also a tad foreign, like he had already started to forget what wide open sky looked like.

“Just hang in for a little bit,” he murmured, patting the satchel.

He could feel Jimin’s dissatisfied glare and it made him smile the entire ride back.

“He took what ?” Nasimiyu asked, paired with an incredulous look.

“A turtle. Thing. A turtle kind of thing.”

“He killed nothing but he kidnapped a turtle.”

“I think he likes animals more than people,” Dulce mused. Her eyebrows raised suddenly as she admitted, “Oh… I didn’t tell you… there’s a rumor he keeps all kinds of small animals in his bedroom.”

Nasimiyu blinked at her. Her mouth dropped. There was a long pause before,

“What kind of small animals. Cats?”

“No one means ‘cats’ when they say ‘small animals,’” Dulce pointed out. “Maybe like rats or something.”

“He keeps rats in his bedroom!?” At Dulce’s shrug, Nasimiyu covered her face and groaned, “I need you to get in there and tell me exactly what he’s keeping in his bedroom. We have been here six days and if at some point I make my way into that bedroom and am presented with small creatures that I don’t expect, I will not be able to maintain my composure. I will stab someone and I will not miss, thanks to you!”

“Well… you could go see for yourself. You’d have an easier time getting in there than I would and if you got caught you could just pretend that–” Dulce began, but Nasimiyu grabbed her wrist and glared, “Do not finish that thought.”

“All right, fine. Don’t go into his bedroom until I’ve scouted it out. See if you can resist him that long.” Her mouth twitched with almost a smile as she lifted her glass. It earned a somewhat mean smile from Nasimiyu.

“While you’re at it, I think you need to fuck Jungkook.”

It was a true testament to Dulce’s composure that she simple finished her sip of juice and set it on the side table calmly before looking right into Nasimiyu’s face and asking with a steady voice, “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“You heard me,” Nasimiyu snickered now. “And you know I’m right. Fuck his valet while you’re at it too.”

“Hm.”

“You’re pretty and you know it’s the easiest way to get information from men.”

“That’s not always true,” Dulce mused. She tapped her chin. “I’ll think about it…”

“You’ll do it.”

“You don’t have the authority to command me to fuck someone.”

“It’s kind of fun,” Nasimiyu teased. “I like it. Anyway, don’t go through with it if you don’t want to and can help it… Certainly don’t come right to my bed afterwards… but I think Jungkook thought you were sweet. Use that.”

Dulce picked up her juice glass again and only said, “You do your job, Princess, and I’ll do mine.  Like you said, the easiest way to win a man over…”

“Oh, you’re telling me to fuck the Prince? Oh that’s rich,” Nasimiyu scowled at her now. “I must at some point and I don’t need you rushing me to it.”

“Then trust me that I know what I’m doing with your timeline here. There’s a proper order here. No reason to rush. You know that. It’s very important.”

“Fine.”

“Once I fuck them, I won’t get a second chance.”

“Oh, you’re not that bad–” Nasimiyu burst into laughter at Dulce’s glare. “Fine! Take your sweet time. But find out about the rats for me. That seems… high priority.”

Dulce nodded. But Nasimiyu felt like they’d just had a fight after an already-upsetting morning underground , and she wasn’t happy about it. It was just sex. Honestly, Dulce should be happy she got to fuck Jungkook and Jimin. Seokjin probably made jokes in bed. He probably giggled while he orgasmed. Nasimiyu was going to need a lot of alcohol or maybe some good drugs when the day came…

She discarded from her mind that moment when he had commanded the nobles in the cave. It had been a fluke, that was all. It was so unusual, it slid quickly from the record of the day. The prince acting like a prince was impossible. Even more unusual than glowing rocks on a ceiling. Instead Nasimiyu watched Dulce lift a slice of apple to her mouth and tried not to think about her maid fucking those men and tried not to let on how relieved she was Dulce had said no. It was just sex but… Dulce was right, better not risk it yet.

Dulce felt like they’d had a fight too. 

She didn’t know why Nasimiyu had told her to fuck Jungkook and Jimin if she was going to immediately get pissy about it. But what should she have expected? Nasimiyu was a princess, after all. She was used to getting her way. She was used to getting what she wanted. She was not used to sharing.

Men, women, it was all the same to Dulce, sex wasn’t particularly enjoyable in most cases, and she wasn’t good at flirting. She wasn’t one of those women who could just seduce their way into whatever they wanted, and she was tired of Nasimiyu always making jokes like that, jokes when Dulce’s clothes came off that all she needed to do to get what she wanted was strip. It wasn’t true, it wasn’t how Dulce worked, and it just felt offensive. She got the information she needed by being clever, observant, and occasionally stabbing someone. Flirting was not her strength and she thought her poor flirting skills probably made her less suspicious and how would Nasimiyu like it if Dulce said she only got her way by being pretty and rich? Dulce knew for a fact she didn’t like it.

Besides, Dulce didn’t want to flirt with anyone yet. She understood how to use that –it wasn’t like she never did– but unless you were playing the long con, it wasn’t something you should do if you were going to be in close proximity to your target for months or even years. The falling out could cause problems you didn’t plan for. If she was going to attempt to seduce Jungkook or Jimin or anyone for that matter, it needed to be because she had a specific short-term goal in mind. And Nasimiyu needed to not know she was doing it, in case she failed, because the shame would be unbearable. And because, Dulce realized, the Princess might be a brat about it. That made Dulce smile. 

She’d been grateful to have the afternoon to herself and spent it mostly just tucked away in one of the gardens, enjoying the sunlight and sea breeze after the whole weird experience of the caves that morning. But her breaks were rare and short-lived, and by the evening she was requested back at Nasimiyu’s side just in time to witness the dinnertime debacle.

“What is this?” Dulce could read on Nasimiyu’s lips as one course after another were brought out. Dulce would eat other things afterwards and hadn’t paid much attention to what the dinner staff were bringing out except that things smelled strange . She figured it was some fusion menu, especially after King Dong-gun had announced that a Marvonesian cook had been hired to bring the Prince and Princess’ cuisine into the Privan palace.

It was obvious from the faces that something was very wrong. At first no one wanted to say anything. Dulce stood against the wall with a few other servants who weren’t on food service but were required. Mostly guards. She watched as faces slid from concern to confusion to displeasure, before ultimately nervously turning towards the king.

It wasn’t long before King Dong-gun turned to Prince Hamisi and said, “Never when I have visited your home has the food tasted like this.”

“No,” Prince Hamisi agreed. “This is not my food.”

King Dong-gun nodded, wadded up his napkin, then stood and bellowed, “BRING ME THE COOK.” 

Anyone still holding silverware dropped it as servants fled the dining room like rats from a burning ship. Dulce glanced at Nasimiyu, but it was Seokjin’s stricken face that held her attention. 

A man was dragged out, not someone Dulce had ever seen around the palace before. He looked annoyed until suddenly standing before an angry king. King Dong-gun had towered there in front of his knocked-over chair the entire wait. No one else had moved a muscle either. Dulce watched this all with rapt attention, taking in which faces seemed stunned and which seemed nervous and which seemed like this was business as usual. 

King Dong-gun looked at the man closely for a moment, then opened his mouth to begin, “You are no cook–”

“My apologies, father,” Prince Seokjin said, springing from his chair. Maybe it was his father but he’d still interrupted a king and even Dulce felt an internal wince at the obvious transgression. Prince Seokjin blundered on, announcing, “I poorly vetted the new cook. His skill was not as strong as I believed and we did not give him a proper mentor.”

King Dong-gun stared at his son. Everyone held their breath. Dulce began to wonder if the King was actually going to lob the man’s head off right here in the dining hall. That seemed to be what everyone else thought.

“Who else vetted the cook?” King Dong-gun demanded. 

“Only myself. The cooks argued against it but… I found the man and I thought I knew best.”

Dulce felt Seokjin’s words twist her gut in a strange way. He… said that. He actually just said that, right in front of everyone. It didn’t make any sense. Either he did believe he knew best and would never admit to being wrong or he knew he didn’t already know best and so then why would he make himself look like an incompetent ass in front of everyone whose dinner had been ruined? Part of Dulce wondered if the food could actually even be that bad. 

It was odd. It was as odd as Nasimiyu had declared his behavior in the caverns, when he had “briefly actually seemed like a man” after the deer had been shot. Dulce understood what Nasimiyu meant then and saw it now too, though not quite enough to fully understand it yet. The prince could be more competent than he let on. Or he could just be more entitled than he let on. He might not care how others perceived him at all, especially since he was so eccentric. It wasn’t like Nasimiyu could call the marriage off because he was weird. He took strange actions at strange times and, frankly, Dulce was starting to find him kind of baffling. Baffling in an extra way. Something about him just wasn’t making sense even after six days and that was kind of… annoying.

Something wordless passed between father and son. When Seokjin sank back into his chair, blinking rapidly and not looking at anyone, Dulce thought this was not going well for Seokjin.

“Take this imposter to the dungeon for now and bring us something else to eat. Do not leave my guests hungry and waiting. Bring wine to wash this taste from our mouths. Every staff in the kitchen has shamed my house by allowing this meal to shit on my table. After we have been served, the staff will bow and apologize to our guests, especially the Prince and Princess whose delicious cuisine has been spat upon in this way!”

Prince Hamisi and Princess Simisola said nothing. They did not look happy, so maybe they felt the apology was justified. Dulce wanted to roll her eyes. How bad could it be? Bad food was still food, these people were just entitled. 

Dessert –which was apparently passable– was brought out to fill the time while new food was prepared. The stress of the servants was palpable. The secondhand embarrassment when the entire kitchen staff shuffled into the room to bow to the floor in apology was nauseating. And for the first meal since they’d arrived in Priva, Prince Seokjin didn’t speak another word to Nasimiyu the entire time.

Perhaps that was why Nasimiyu was starved for conversation afterwards, and dragged Dulce along to an evening sitting in one of the parlors with other ladies and her mother, and then only let her go long enough to eat her own supper while the other maids helped Nasimiyu bathe for the second time that day and prepare for bed.

Nasimiyu lounged on her sofa in only her robe and had just motioned Dulce closer with body language that said fuck but a look that said I want to hear everything you thought about tonight . It had been such a long day that Dulce was honestly still reeling. These were marathon days. On her own, she’d dart into and out of situations, not spend all day everyday working like this. But just as she drew closer, the bedroom door flew open and in marched Nasimiyu’s parents. 

Dulce sprang away from the couch and bowed to the Prince and Princess, grateful they had not come in a moment later. It was one thing to know and blackmail her with it, another to actually walk in on it. Briefly she wondered how Nasimiyu would react to understanding for herself how many secrets her own parents kept from her. She thought so highly of her own perception, and she loved her parents a great deal, and also made no secret to Dulce she thought them to be incredibly stupid much of the time. They were not stupid. In fact, they were rather cruelly smart.

“Leave the room,” Prince Hamisi told her now.

Nasimiyu frowned, “Why are you dismissing her in my room? Am I in trouble? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“It’s not that,” Princess Simisola said. “Dulce, go get something for us to eat from the kitchens. The debacle of dinner– well, we won’t dwell, but get us something to eat while we speak.”

Dulce turned on her heel and fled the room, grateful for an excuse to go and a job to do. She had no desire to be any more in the middle of the family’s affairs than she already was. 

She made her way straight for the kitchens, expecting them to be somber and quiet after the king had so publicly wrapped them all up in the blame for the meal.

Somber, yes. But quiet, not exactly. She paused just outside the door, hearing the familiar tone of Prince Seokjin’s voice inside. Was King Dong-gun there too? The last thing she wanted to do was walk into staff still being punished. From one family’s bullshit to another. Out of the frying pan, into the fire, so to speak.

But the answering voices didn’t sound in danger, just tired, and she didn’t sense King Dong-gun. She peeked around the door frame and confirmed first that King Dong-gun wasn’t there, and then that only a small handful of people were in the whole kitchen from what she could see, clustered around a far counter. She recognized the valet Jimin and Seokjin’s favorite bodyguard Jungkook, and a cook, and that charming man always hovering by Seokjin around the palace though she didn’t know his name. And the stablehand! The one she’d see in the hall! And only one cook. 

Torn between curiosity and a desire to not step into any more shit tonight, it was Princess Simisola’s command that tipped her into entering the kitchen despite her reservations.

She’d been spotted anyway; she wasn’t sure who pointed her out, but Prince Seokjin called, “Oh! Princess Nasimiyu’s handmaid!”

“Dulce,” Jimin said. She didn’t know if that was for Prince Seokjin’s benefit or the others’. It still startled her to hear her name said by someone in his party. She was connected to the Princess; of course they might learn her name and probably they had tried to look into her background too. They wouldn’t be able to find anything. 

“Loves deer,” Jungkook added. He sat casually on the counter and looked so boyish that it was hard to believe he was the same man who’d hauled a dead deer up a mountain on his back that morning. 

She definitely had the feeling now that she’d wandered into something she shouldn’t have. This wasn’t a cluster of unrelated people going about their business. She felt like she’d interrupted a sort of… party. They all seemed casual together which was extra strange since one of the people present was the actual royal prince, though it only seemed to confirm to her that it wasn’t only his bodyguard and his valet who seemed comfortable and casual with him. For a second it made it feel like everything had been a joke, that the man in front of her wasn’t the royal prince at all, just an imposter they’d subbed in, like the fake Marvonesian cook.

“What can we do for you?” that very prince asked now, letting go of a wooden spoon he’d been stirring a pot with, as if he was the kitchen staff here.

“My apologies for interrupting… the Princess sent me to fetch something to eat for her and her parents.”

“Ah… supper was…” The Prince turned away, shaking his head.

“It was well-intentioned,” Jimin insisted. 

“It wasn’t that bad,” the stablehand insisted. At Dulce’s glance, he gave her that same boxy grin and introduced himself, “Taehyung. ‘Horse-shit’ is fine too, if you want.”

“What? Horse-shit.”

“It’s an inside joke,” Taehyung dismissed Jungkook’s question. “Only she can call me that. She’s prettier than you.” Jungkook glared.

“It was that bad,” the only one of them who actually worked in the kitchen said. He shook his head sadly and leaned forward to look into the pot.

Dulce hesitated before she couldn’t help herself and asked, “Didn’t you have him cook a test meal first?” Might as well see if Prince Seokjin’s obvious leniency with servants extended to herself as well.

“That’s the way it should go, right?” the cook agreed, motioning to her like she’d settled a debate. He also gestured to the nameless one for bowls which were passed to him. “That’s the way it usually goes. Why we skipped procedure suddenly this time…” he trailed off.

“Didn’t the Prince…” Dulce began, then stopped herself. Dangling a little bit to see what they’d say.

Prince Seokjin cleared his throat, “Oh right, yes, I–”

“The Prince did nothing except protect those who made the call,” the nameless well-dressed one insisted. “Do you think the Prince hires household staff here?”

“That’s usually the Queen’s job,” Dulce answered, like it was a question on a school test. “But there isn’t a queen. Only Lady…” She remembered the name perfectly but pretended not to. It was unsettling to just be here with the Prince and she didn’t want to accidentally give anything away while she was still trying to decide whether he was smart or stupid. Chances were at least someone in this room besides herself was smart. Honestly, her money was on the valet or the tutor.

“Your Princess will have her work cut out for her,” the cook mumbled. Dulce didn’t understand the sharp look the Prince gave him, but it seemed a little more like what she’d expect from a prince. 

“We have a household manager who assists my cousin. The hiring of this cook was rushed in an attempt to find a Marveonesian cook. It was a well-intentioned idea and perhaps the one doing the testing got carried away and skipped the process to try and beat someone else–”

Dulce assumed he was vaguely referring to the cook, and the cook must have thought so too because he quickly spoke up, “I’ve got leads on several and I’m putting them to the test before I ever let them into this kitchen. Lucero was an idiot to think this was the way to beat me to it and now…”

“Will he be killed?” Dulce asked.

Immediately Jungkook smiled kindly at her, “Don’t worry about it…” Ah. He liked stupid, demure ladies. That was the conclusion she drew about him now. Probably women who could be impressed by his muscles and not worry too much about what he had going on in his skull. She knew exactly what was in the skulls of men and it was not as impressive as people made it sound. Speech and thoughts and dreams all came from nothing more than a mushy lump of oatmeal. Some mushier than others.

“My father can be firm and… but we aren’t heartless here,” Prince Seokjin assured her, just as fooled by the soft woman act. “No one was harmed, only our egos as your host. How bad is the damage? Ah… it’s mortifying…”

Dulce felt a little bad for him with that dejected look as he stirred the pot again even though it wasn’t even bubbling yet. He was always making jokes and laughing but there was some extra shadow to him right now. He seemed actually sad in a way she hadn’t seen before. Tired. Was it the dinner? Or was Nasimiyu’s lack of fondness breaking his little royal heart?

“They’re just hungry,” Dulce assured him. “They eat multiple meals a day. One isn’t likely to ruin everything.”

He looked up, a smile catching quickly as he seized on this argument. He dropped the spoon and took a step forward, as if suddenly recognizing what a trove of assistance Dulce could provide, if she was convinced to.

“And this morning? Did the Princess enjoy the hunt or…? I haven’t figured out yet how to tell when she’s happy…”

“You haven’t seen her truly happy yet,” Dulce answered without thinking. Well, thinking of other things. “She found some of the caves impressive.”

“But not the hunting. Me neither, you can tell her I said that. She likes riding but it’s a multi-day trip to actually go to any good riding,” he sighed, looking at Taehyung the stable hand who just nodded. As he held a tortoise to his chest and tried to tempt it into eating a lettuce leaf.

Misunderstanding her stare, he held the tortoise out and introduced, “This is my tortoise.”

“What’s his name?”

“Why don’t you name him for me?”

Her eyes narrowed. She thought he might be flirting with her. He certainly was smiling right for it. Well, maybe that could be useful down the line.

“Tuga,” she suggested without explaining it was short for Tortuga . It was unlikely any of them spoke Loman anyway. Paloma was always an afterthought when listing the principalities of Yeonhalbi, as the smallest, poorest, and most distant.

“Tuga the Tortoise, I like it!” 

“Tuga the Torta,” Prince Seokjin repeated, then laughed when the others did because he’d said it wrong. He repeated it several times anyway.

“You found his weakness. The Prince loves a good word joke,” that nice-dressed companion of his said. Jung, she recalled now. Family name; she didn’t know his first name yet. 

While all this had been going on, the cook had been busy with bowls and cups and pulling things out of cabinets. Dulce had only partially paid attention to him. Occasionally he’d tell the Prince to stir the pot, or Jimin would. But now he nudged them out of the way and rolled a cart towards her with a mountain of food.

“With our apologies for supper,” the cook said. “It was a…”

“Travesty,” Prince Seokjin suggested with a deep sigh.

“A fucking embarrassment,” the cook muttered.

“Language, there’s a lady,” Jungkook said, giving the cook a baffled look and gesturing at her. On either side of him, Taehyung the stablehand and Jimin the valet laughed. 

Prince Seokjin was quick to assure her, “They’re not laughing about you. Of course you deserve respect, even if you weren’t my betrothed’s favorite handmaid.” He raised his eyebrows as if warning all of them.

“Then what’s the joke?” she asked, feigning innocence. 

“The joke is his language is bad,” the Jung man assured her. 

“But I’d never speak like that in front of a lady like yourself,” Jungkook assured her. She found herself wondering if he actually would be very easy to seduce information out of or if he was too worldly and clever for it. A ladies’ man could go either way. 

“I’ll roll the cart for you,” Jimin suggested, suddenly darting forward.

“It’s all right.”

“I insist–”

“This is for you,” the cook added, handing her a plate directly. A plate on which sat a beautiful piece of the white and strawberry cake the nobles had for supper. Definitely not something given to the servants.

“Oh wait, she needs more cream,” Jungkook said, reaching to the side for a bowl. Dulce just stood there as he leaned forward, never sliding from the counter, and spooned an obscene amount of cream over the moist cake. “There you go.”

“Thank you so much.”

She turned away from his grin but wished she hadn’t, so she could see what had been done by whom to make him mutter ‘ow.’ She’d had to, not to laugh in his face. Was he stupid? Desperate? What a strange band of misfits this was with the Prince in the kitchen so late at night. This was really the Prince’s royal retinue? 

Instead she said to the cook sincerely, “Thank you…”

“Min Yoongi,” the cook answered. “Just find me anytime you need something for the Princess and I’ll make sure she’s only getting the best things here.”

“Ambitious,” Dulce recognized and Yoongi smiled broadly. Maybe she shouldn’t have admitted she could see that. But it made her feel better about the cake. It was a bribe. A cook who had not fucked up yet was trying to get in good with the maid of the woman who would soon make household decisions about things like, say, who ran the kitchen. She could appreciate naked, honest ambition.

Jimin’s reason for insisting on helping her was less immediately clear as they began to walk, because he didn’t pester her with questions. Instead she was left to ask,

“Does the Prince often spend time in the kitchen like that?”

“Oh. Well… yes. See… he cares a great deal about the things that go on in this palace and… also he likes food a lot. He likes to cook.” The halting way he spoke made it obvious he was trying to spin a web without having ever learned to weave well. She wasn’t sure how much of what he said she could trust simply because it sounded so honest.

“A prince who can cook?”

“He’s very particular. Um, very detail-oriented.”

“Yes, the Princess is like that too.” The things they were saying didn’t mean anything. They could be about anyone. Dulce took it to mean Jimin didn’t not trust her, but he also didn’t trust her yet. Until the Prince and Princess were close –and maybe not even then, depending on the marriage they had– their servants would remain in this hovering space, not sure whether they were working together to serve a couple or independently to protect the best interests of their masters. Masters. What a disgusting word. Employers? She doubted Jimin and Seokjin had the arrangement she and Nasimiyu did but… who ever really knew? 

“The Prince keeps you close,” she mused. “Are you his only valet?”

“He has some lower ranking ones but I’m his favorite,” Jimim bragged. “You’re the Princess’ favorite maid.”

“I’m the most competent.”

“Yeah, same.”

“What’s the other man’s name who was there? Jung?”

“Hoseok. He and his father were the Prince’s tutors and now are sort of… etiquette guides. They help with appearances for the King and Prince..”

“Ah.” They were silent for a few minutes, reaching the correct wing after taking the shortest path possible. “Well, my advice: the prince would impress the Princess well by dancing nicely at that ball coming up. She loves to dance. She’s very particular about dance.”

Jimin’s face lit up, though Dulce felt like there was a strained note behind it.

“Ah! Thank you for the suggestion. We will take it seriously,” Jimin bowed his head. “Do you need help taking this in or–”

“I’ll take it from here.”

“Your cake?”

“I can sneak it. The Princess treats me well, she won’t mind.”

Jimin nodded, “That’s good. The Prince treats us well too. We could have it worse, right?”

“Right.”

With another pleasant grin she wasn’t sure she believed, Jimin took his leave. Dulce knocked on the doors, waiting for the answer before motioning to the guards to open them for her, her own cake balanced on the bottom, under the obscene amounts of cream Jungkook had so generously spooned on.

“But why are you leaving even sooner than you said, that’s what I don’t understand,” Nasimiyu complained to her parents. They sat next to each other on the sofa, still as proper and poised as they would be in public. Even she never saw her parents really any more relaxed than this. She had always thought it strange but Dulce was rigid even in repose too, and it left Nasimiyu wondering once again if there was something strange about herself, that posing felt like such a performance even when she was born into this role.

“We’ll be back,” Prince Hamisi insisted. “But you need to ingrain yourself better, faster, and it’s not happening while we’re here. You still have Seokjin at arm’s length.”

“It’s only been six days.”

“Which means the time for love at first sight has passed. You have to let yourself be charmed,” her mother insisted. “But it’s not only that. We have other people to see and meet before the wedding. You did say you wanted to bring it ahead of the six months originally planned.”

“If I can without raising suspicions, yes.”

“Right now it will raise suspicions,” her mother said. “But I have faith in you, Nasi. I know you can manage this and I think you will do better with us out of the way.”

Nasimiyu sighed, “I spent all morning hunting with him. But it’s not just me… I can’t figure out what he likes yet either, he seems so eager to please.”

“Well put Dulce on it. She’s good at figuring out what people like and using it against them,” Princess Simisola suggested. Nasimiyu rolled her eyes. Her parents thought they understood everything, even her’s and Dulce’s relationship. Why did they think Dulce was here? Because playing a maid was so more much fun than freedom? For her . Dulce didn’t have power over her, even if Nasimiyu was fond of her. She trusted Dulce. Sure, yes, Dulce’s skill with her tongue was unrivaled but not actually enough to bring down the Princess of Marvono into doing anything stupid. They were careful. No one else knew and even if they did, it wasn’t unheard of for royalty to be fucking their staff. As long as Dulce was only known as a maid, no one would even bat an eye if that got out, except that people might think Nasimiyu preferred women and was a bad match for Seokjin. Which would be really funny but ultimately undermine her goals. 

Prince Hamisi actually rolled his eyes, “You women are– who cares what he likes? He likes Nasimiyu! That’s been obvious from the beginning. The boy’s tripping on his tongue every time Nasimiyu walks in the room. It requires absolutely no effort for you to win him over. He sells the story for you. You are the one who seems hesitant.”

“So it can seem even more real when he wins me over,” Nasimiyu insisted. “The love of a century.”

“You’re lying to me. Do not ruin this for our people, Nasi. This is about more than you and your appetites.”

“My what ?”

“You heard me. Pick a personality and seduce him with it and marry him. We’ll be here one more week and then you’ll have some time without us to assimilate into this palace. Focus. Do not rush. And bed the prince!”

“If you get pregnant, everyone will understand why you rush the wedding,” her mother nodded eagerly. “Romantic!”

“That’s not romantic.”

“Guaranteed royal bloodlines are very romantic.”

“King Dong-gun is the hardest one to convince. I can tell from the things he said on the hunt this morning… he’s not sure about you,” Prince Hamisi said. “He’s a joyful, loud, sometimes undignified man, but he loves his son and wants happiness for him. You must convince him that’s you or he will shred your betrothal agreement himself.”

“All right. I’ll do better. Trust me.”

At the knock on the door and Dulce’s voice announcing she had food, Nasimiyu’s parents called her in. Dulce came with an entire cart of food. She wheeled it over and then slipped a plate from the bottom away, carrying it out to the balcony. Her parents eyed Dulce as she went but didn’t call her back or tell her to leave. Prince Hamisi frowned after her. Nasimiyu knew he didn’t like Dulce but he tolerated her for this. She was the best, after all. The only time she’d ever been caught was… well, Nasimiyu’s fault. She’d make it up to Dulce someday. She would.

“Oh thank goodness, this is so much better than what they had at supper,” Princess Simisola sighed into her plate. 

“I’m shocked the King didn’t cut down that false cook right there.”

“He’s that kind of man?” Nasimiyu asked, though she’d heard the stories from her father before, enough to have expected it too.

“He’s all about a good time. Don’t ruin his good time, you know? I don’t blame him for being suspicious. The kitchen invited in a stranger? He could have poisoned us all. I think more than the false cook will loose his life for this.”

“At least he could have given us food poisoning with that terrible food!” Princess Simisola agreed.

“Once they’re sure they know what they need from him, he’ll be dead and so will anyone who hired him for this, I’m sure. Such is the way a royal palace runs.”

“Is ours run that way?” Nasimiyu asked curiously. She’d never heard of her father having someone executed for such a thing.

Prince Hamisi grinned, “No, because we only hire intelligent people who would never do something this stpid. You have to choke the weeds at the root level. Once they’re in your garden….”

Nasimiyu thought about this, then asked, “Isn’t a weed just a plant growing somewhere you don’t want it to be? What’s the difference between a weed and a flower?”

“Flowers are lovely to look at,” Princess Simisola pointed out. 

“What is this nonsense you’re talking about?” Prince Hamisi scowled between them both. “Come, dearheart, let’s take our food to our room. This was a long day. The King seems intent to host us into an early grave. You can’t insert yourself into routine here until we leave so routine can establish itself again. Every day it’s hunting and walking and drinking and parlor games. I’m tired!”

“Oh, all right but…” Nasimiyu didn’t know how to put it into words. She’d never been away from both her parents before. And while they’d told her from the beginning they wouldn’t stay long before going south to speak with others who were aligned to their secret cause, it was different to have an exact date they’d be leaving now. It made all of this feel even more real. Prince Seokjin wasn’t just some strange noble with an annoying propensity for jokes that didn’t even make sense. He was going to be her husband , for at least some period of time. Her parents were leaving her here because this was her future and she had to stop putting it off and really deal with that now. How fucking scary. 

It left her somber once they departed and she took cake out to join Dulce on the balcony. Her nose scrunched at the sticky air that had not yet cooled off with the night. Dulce sat with crossed legs on one of the chaise lounges, licking cream from her fingers.

“Steal that?” Nasimiyu teased.

“Kitchen boy gave it to me.”

“Oh, you’re making friends, huh?”

“You told me to,” Dulce grinned at her. “Prince Seokjin was in the kitchen too. Apparently he likes to cook.”

“He was cooking in the kitchen!? The same kitchen that makes all our food? So he really was the one who hired the bad cook?”

Dulce shrugged, “I don’t think so. They told me he was covering for the staff who did it.”

“Covering for someone who might have poisoned and killed us all?”

“Wouldn’t it be funny if he’s actually trying to kill his father too?” Dulce mused, tapping the spoon against her lips in thought. Actually this was suspiciously relaxed for Dulce. She was in a good mood and they hadn’t even fucked. That made Nasimiyu curious. “It could mean he’s trying to frame you or your parents though.”

“ Is he?”

“I don’t know… but it’s something I was thinking about so I’ll keep an eye on it.”

“You seem…”

“I seem what?”

“Strange,” Nasimiyu admitted.

“I found out what happened to the tortoise. I think the Prince gave it to the stable boy to keep. They let me name it.” Dulce said this was a straight face, but it made Nasimiyu laugh.

“What did you name it?”

“Tuga.”

“Tuga the torta– Tuga the tortoise.”

“You know, Prince Seokjin made that exact same slip.” Nasimiyu glared. “Even exaggerated the ‘s’ the second time that same lispy way.”

“I don’t have a lisp.”

“The bodyguard does, just a faint one.”

“My, you learned an awful lot suddenly. Were you drinking with them? Why are you so strange?”

“Honestly? This cake is just… the best thing I may have ever eaten in my life,” Dulce admitted, one corner of her mouth lifting into one of those rare, precious smiles. 

“I didn’t think it was that great.”

“You don’t like sweet things. You’re too used to them. No noble can ever truly appreciate sugar and cream.”

“I like salty things better.”

Dulce slid onto Nasimiyu’s lounge chair and, before the Princess could say anything, promptly upended her plate right over Nasimiyu’s chest. An obscene amount of milky cream spilled right down into her cleaves, across the tops of her breasts, all over the front of her dark maroon robe. She yelped at the sticky, wet feeling and looked at Dulce in absolute shock.

“I like both,” Dulce mused, sliding the shoulder straps down Nasimiyu’s shoulders. Nasimiyu sat up and maneuvered her arms out of the ruined fabric, cringing at the cream flowing down her body. “You’re so upset!” Dulce noticed. And smiled

“This feels disgusting!”

“Don’t worry, Princess. There won’t be a drop left in you when I’m done.”

“Is this punishment because I didn’t let you shoot anything on the hunt?”

“It’s my reward for not shooting anyone,” Dulce agreed and slid down her body to lap the cream gathering in the creases beneath them.

“Not a drop left on me, Dulcie…” Her voice was softer this time, eyelids drooping as she watched Dulce’s tongue drag across her skin, up and around her nipples, leaving goosebumps in her wake.

“Not a drop left in you, I promise.”

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#seokjin fics #kim seokjin ff #seokjin x oc #seokjin fic #prince jin #bts ff #bts fanfiction #kim seokjin fanfiction #kim seokjin fic #kim seokjin smut #kim seokjin x oc #seokjin x reader #kim seokjin e2l #arranged marriage #kim seokjin #royalty au #jin smut #jin fic #bts smut #jin x oc #jin e2l #tkak #tokillaking

[justlookatthosesausages]

Inktober 2022 day 4 🐚 "Scallop"

On her first week in the Forest, Elsa quickly found ways to make herself useful around the Northuldra camp. Especially when the tribe decided to move to another area now that the Mist was lifted, reconnecting with their nomad traditions and changing the place where they would put their goahtis.

Once they were done unpacking and building them in the new land, Elsa rubbed the sweat off her forehead with satisfaction, smiling at the Northuldra who thanked her for her help and involvement. She then headed to the sea, the close point of interest that caused the Northuldra to pick this place, and kneeled to wash her face and hands.

There was a ripple on the surface, and two magical blue eyes appeared in its depths. Elsa chuckled.

"Hello there. If I didn't sense your presence through magic when I arrived, I would have been startled!"

Nokk neighed from below the surface, then popped at it, his horse face the only thing appearing at Elsa's level. She grinned at the odd apparition, and petted the horse now that her hands were clean.

She had a look at the sea. "It's way more calm now that we're all at peace, uh?"

Nokk nudged her face at her humor, splashing her cheek, and she let out a laugh.

"Having fun?" Said a familiar voice behind her.

Elsa quickly stood up and twirled around with composure, straightened even. Honeymaren blinked at her change of attitude. Why did she look that stiff?

There was an awkward silence, and Elsa realized that she still had habits from her years as Queen. She cleared her throat before looking at the Water Spirit, then her friend again. "Y-yeah, we, uh... We're having fun. It's a lovely weather today, isn't it?"

Elsa immediately wanted to smash her head first on the pebbles of the shore. Talking about weather, really? However, Honeymaren found the transition logical. She bowed to the water horse, who indeed was the reason of most of pressure changes, and showed Elsa her basket.

"Indeed. That's why we're going into the waters."

The Fifth Spirit looked behind the brunette and saw that several Northuldra were happily chatting as they walked to the sea with baskets.

"What for?" Smiled Elsa.

"We'll pick up empty scallops to break them."

The Snow Queen blinked, confused. "To break them? But seashells are beautiful."

From her youngest age, she had always admired the wonders of the fjord, especially its underwater plants and the shells that ended on the shore. She loved how iridescent some of them were, and it reminded her of ice in a way. She had read countless books about wildlife when she was a reclused kid, and wondered why someone would destroy them... For fun?

Honeymaren chuckled at her expression. "It's for medicinal use. We put them in a mortar and smash them to tiny pieces then powder."

"Ohhh. Right." Nodded Elsa. She was about to tell her new friend that she had read books on the topic as well, but didn't want to look too nerdy for her first week within the tribe.

"You want to come along?" Invited Honeymaren.

Elsa grinned, delighted. "Sure!"

The Northuldra took off their boots and rolled up their pants, and the Snow Queen vanished her ice ones to the knees, before the whole group walked into the water.

Nevertheless, half an hour later, Elsa hadn't found a single shell yet. She felt disastrous. The basket she shared with Honeymaren was nearly full, but only the brunette was filling it. Elsa clenched her fists in frustration; she was used to find and observe things underwater with the fjord, which was much more transparent. Here, she was a beginner again.

For the following ten minutes, she tried techniques to spot them, imitating Honeymaren or other Northuldra, but when they turned their heads to ask the Fifth Spirit if she needed anything starting at them like that, she blushed and looked elsewhere.

Elsa tried to walk further, searching in a new spot and hoping that there would be scallops there. But in vain. Desperate, Elsa slumped her shoulders. She was failing miserably, and didn't like it at all. She wanted to be helpful!

Nokk sensed her disarray, and approached at her feet, neighing at her. She gave him a sad smile. "It's okay, I'll just wait for them to end this activity then I'll make myself useful for something else."

She sighed, looking at the Northuldra being active in the distance while she did nothing. 'I'm making an awful first Fifth Spirit impression.' She thought bitterly.

"I wish I could pick up all the scallops in one go!" She mumbled in despair, gesturing to the whole spot they were searching through.

Nokk didn't need to be told twice. He suddenly disappeared in a splash, heading elsewhere at great speed, and Elsa wondered where he had gone.

Great, even him had given up on her. But right when she started to sigh again, she heard the Northuldra nearby letting out surprised gasps and giggles, like something was tickling their feet and legs.

Honeymaren laughed out loud when the Water Spirit shook the water above the sand under her toes and took out several seashells, then picked them up in his mouth.

The water horse then headed back to the Fifth Spirit, who had widened her eyes when she realized both what was happening and her mistake.

The Spirits obeyed her now. Which meant, if she wished for something, they gave her that thing.

And that thing was nearly thirty empty scallops floating in Nokk's body as he fully emerged from the water in a proud gesture, his hooves trotting on the surface. Elsa dropped her jaw at the sight, and could only reach out in astonishment when his body sparkled in the daylight with all the multicolored seashells he was transporting.

The Fifth Spirit blushed, thanking Nokk a bit clumsily, especially when she felt all the looks on her and heard Honeymaren's laughter. She just as clumsily crafter a basket made out of ice, and picked up the shells one by one.

Elsa undeniably was excited to know that the Water Spirit had gone from a powerful challenger to a very friendly helper. What else could they do together? But she also felt embarrassed, and the tip of her ears burned when Honeymaren approached.

"Well... If I didn't find that impressive and wasn't admirative to see the Spirits being our allies again, I would say that you're cheating, holy Fifth Spirit."

Elsa fidgeted with her basket, her blush renewed, but she couldn't help the smile that pulled her lips.

#dare to tell me that such a situation isn't canon #it's certain that she struggled and did her (awkward) best on her first weeks in the tribe #and discovered how her bond with the spirits actually works #and used it for good and sly situations #i am holding to this headcanon with my bare hands COZ IT'S REALISTIC AND HILARIOUS #imagine that nerdy dork #waking up one morning #and thinking #holy shxt i just realize that i can command rain now #and hurrying to the northuldra crops #frozen #frozen 2 #post frozen 2 #fifth spirit elsa #snow queen elsa #frozen fanfics #drabbles #inktober #inktober 2022

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

So I know you've mentioned Grima's brothers in your works, but what do you overall see his family/childhood looking like? The way I headcanon it, his birth mother was Rohirrim and his father Dunlending, they had a fling, she dropped him off and was never heard from again, and he had to deal with a cold stepmother and bullying half-siblings, so with that headcanon in mind, I'm really interested in knowing what you feel his upbringing/family/siblings are like!

And sister! We can't forge Brynja!

I got into this a little bit in the Swimming Through Fire series, mostly it comes up in Cycles of Song where we meet the brothers (I tried hard to get Brynja to show up, but she didn't want to appear on the page in present-tense just yet).

-

Essentially, I have it that Grima's mother is not Rohirrim. I made up a group of people, the Skoltse, who are out from near the Sea of Rhun. Mostly because all we get for people from anywhere east is that they are "easterlings" but like hell would a) they be calling themselves that, and b) are they a monolith. So I came up with at least one of the nations/ethnic groups from out that way.

His mother was fleeing the encroachment of Sauron and his forces into the east and ended up in Rohan where she met Grima's father and they shacked up.

I have it that Galmod breeds and trains horses and also has land/does some farming. Owensel, as the eldest son, inherited everything. 

From Grima's account to Legolas:

Gríma shrugs. ‘My mother isn’t from Éomarc. So far as I understand it, my mother saw my father at some faire or other, walked up to him and said: you and he said: me? and she said: that’s what I said. It went from there.’

-

Grima and his sister, they're twins, are the youngest in the family and were what one could call "happy accidents". They were born when their mother was nearing forty and it had been super unexpected. Galmod never knew what to do with Grima when he was a boy, because he was a bit of an odd ball - one of those quiet kids who stares a lot and never blinks. When he did talk it was to ask incessant questions. Lots of "but why?'

Grima never took to the more traditional pursuits of Rohirrim boys, aside from hunting and stalking which he liked (likes still, as an adult). Which made socialization difficult. He spent a lot of time hanging out in the weaving room with his mother and sister and that was absolutely Not the done thing for boys (and men) (loosely based on the early medieval Scandinavian general taboo of men entering weaving rooms as it could make you effeminate~~~).

Galmod, as he didn't know what to do with Grima, left Grima to be essentially raised by his older brothers Owensel and Baldir. Leaving siblings to raise each other is never a great time for anyone involved. Owensel very much believed in "toughening" Grima up and trying to make sure he was "ready for the world" which involved a lot of beating him up and chucking him into the Limlight river and other such, uh, "games".

From Cycles:

Gríma is always somewhat missing Brynja when she is away, but doubly so when other members of the family are around. Who will blunt the blow of Owensel’s presence if not Brynja? To her, he is a good older brother. To Gríma, not so much. Which Gríma knows to be mostly due to his own acerbic temperament coupled with his unfortunate composition and disinclination to partake of anything remotely aligned with what is expected of a good Éothéod man.

Or, as Brynja always says, You are water and he is oil and that is the fault of no one in particular.

But Brynja is kind, like that. With her additions of: I know it’s complicated. And, It’s neither one of you directly to blame for the disagreements and general ill feelings. And, Alstadt is a difficult place for everyone.

Gríma, of course, believes the bad blood to be entirely Owensel’s fault. Owensel, naturally, blames Gríma. What started it all? He can’t remember. Something and nothing, most likely. How most of these things go.

He was always a surly, queer, smart-mouthed child who Gálmód never knew what to do with him so left him to be raised by his older brothers who also didn’t know what to do with him. Owensel probably found all of this to be a burden in his continued quest to be accepted by the other boys in the village. Hard enough when your mother is not from the area, worse still if your younger brother is the way he is. Siblings tend to be marked with the same brush, regardless of the accuracy of such markings.

The bullying Grima dealt with from other village kids was also focused more on his behaviour than anything else - so basically they all decided he was the Middle Earth equivalent of a "dirty queer" and insulted him accordingly. The Third Age version of "you're so gay" commenced. Which, as Grima noted, is something that also impacted his brothers, because kids are nasty like that. Owensel was less than pleased about this.

There was also definitely some bullying for all the siblings because their mother was not Rohirrim, but that was more a product of Rohan's general xenophobia and racism issues than anything in particular. I.e., it's not like Rohirrim hate Skoltse people in particular (they're not Dunlanders), they just don't trust any "outsiders". Which is a bit rich, considering the history of Rohan and how they got their land.

-

When he was seventeen, Grima and his sister took off from home and travelled throughout Gondor before eventually returning to Rohan by their early to mid twenties. Brynja married around that time and Grima went to Edoras and fell into the employ of the king's household.

Of his family, Grima is closest to his sister. He actually likes Brynja, she's on the list of six (6) people Grima genuinely likes. It's a limited list and he's steadily trying to whittle it down because liking people is a hassle and, in his view, doesn't end well.

He has a complex relationship with his mother, I don't think either likes each other but they also don't dislike one another. Grima is the most like his mother, out of the siblings, and I think Cerridwen has some weird feelings about her tiny goth child who reminds her of herself and not in good ways. Grima doesn't ever really think about his father, hates Owensel, and is like like "whatever" about Baldir because Baldir died when Grima was ten.

So that's my short run of his childhood and family. He was definitely isolated and bullied - which became a bit of a self-defeating circle of like "the face you give the world tells the world how to treat you / the world treats you in a way that tells you what sort of face to give it."

He also never learned how to form relationships in a healthy, normal way which leads to him trampling over and ignoring boundaries and people saying 'fuck off' in a variety of ways. Like he knows they're saying that, he's just ignoring it.

A lot of this also made him very "if you're going to call me a snake, then I'm going to be the snakiest snake who ever fucking snaked. Just watch me."

He is, essentially, a Gillian Flynn novel in human skin. All that meanness and darkness and fucked-upness of her characters wrapped up in one.

-

Gillian Flynn quotes that are relevant to Grima:

"There's something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold"

"I was not a loveable child, and I'd grown into a deeply unlovable adult. Draw a picture of my soul and it'd be a scribble with fangs."

"I have a meanness inside me, real as any organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop it on the floor so you could stomp on it."

"I just think some women aren't made to be mothers. And some women aren't made to be daughters."

"I felt a quiet mixture of relief and horror: when you finally stop an itch and realize it's because you've ripped a hole in your skin."

"A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort."

-

In terms of the books we obviously don't know anything about Grima's family other than his father's name and that he is, presumably, a man of Rohan. If he was anything else, it would have been noted. Absolutely. Especially if he were of some Dunlander extraction, or had a parent from out east, or anything like that, we would for sure know. Tolkien would have mentioned it.

For the movies, I've mentioned in various and sundry asks before: Grima's appearance is because film is a visual medium and therefore we have him with black hair and everyone else blond(e). When, in fact, that doesn't make sense and there would be a wide variety of appearance in Rohan, including hair colour. Darker hair might be more rare, but it wouldn't be unheard of or anything.

However, it does give us something to play with and I know those of us, myself included, who have him having non-Rohirrim parentage of at least one parent, lean on the visuals of the movie.

(Book is way more vague and just says he is "a wizened figure of a man, with a pale wise face, and heavy lidded eyes." I believe they're also described as "dark eyes" at one point. He also is described as having a long, pale tongue. So who knows what else was going on.)

-

Now! All this said, here's my one call-out to canon where it could be interpreted as a hint of Grima having at least some family who isn't from Rohan.

Grima is one of the only characters from Rohan with a non-Anglo-Saxon name. Grima’s name is from old Icelandic Grimr, which is a name Odinn takes during the Grimnismal saga. (He is also given the feminine version of Grimr - as I've said before in other asks, it's like calling a male character Henrietta instead of Henry. Make of that what you will.)

Eomer, Theoden, Eowyn, Theodred, Eomund, Hama, Eothain, Erkenbrand, Elhelm, Elfwyn etc. are all, for the most part, anglo-saxon/Old English names. Grima's is from a different region entirely.

-

Thank you for the ask! :D :D I do enjoy nattering on about him! ❤️ ❤️ 

#grima thoughts #grima wormtongue #ask #reply #anon #fanfic #writing #cycles of song

[dybdahlsvisitportugalspainfrance]

Mont Saint Michel

September 30, 2023.

We awoke early and said good-bye to "nos cheri" Francoise. What a delight to meet her and I had a lump in the throat as we said good-bye even though it is for just 4 months.

Our final destination for the day in Paris - but we could not be this close to Mont St. Michel and not see it.

Annie & Carl had been there - but they insisted we go since Mark and I had not.

Let me just say WOWZA!!! You can see this from miles away - FYI.

If you want better pictures and a professional explanation here is a 5 minute snippet from Rick Steve's show on Normandy. Go to minute 21 if you just want to learn about Mont Saint Michel. It is great and will give you a good look at all the steps Annie and I climbed to get to that Abbey.

However, this film was done in 2004 so there have been some changes - not in the abbey - but in the approach to the Abbey. Gone is the causeway.

Beginning in 2009 the causeway and parking areas were removed. It was replaced by a bridge open to the residents on the town (less that 50 at latest count), delivery trucks and shuttles to bring the millions of visitors to the Abbey. Since April 2014, the new car park on the mainland has been located 1.5 miles from the island. Visitors can walk or use shuttles to cross the causeway. The light bridge allows the waters to flow freely around the island and improves the efficiency of the now operational dam. The island is once again an island.

I have a little more info about how this abbey became an abbey too. According to a legend, the archangel  Michael appeared in 708 to Aubert of Avranches, the bishop of Avranches, and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. But the bishop thought his dream was just that - a dream. Weeks passed and Michael came again. Still, the bishop thought - surely this didn't happen. The third time came and Michael was a little ticked off. He once again commanded him to build an Abbey and church to honor St. Michael and this time he put his finger on Aubert's head - a little too hard and caused a hole in his skull. When he awoke with the hole in his head - he thought - uh-oh, I better get busy! The first part of the abbey was dedicated on 16 October 709. The picture below is from that first building.

And to prove that that story is 100% true, Aubert's skull, complete with hole where the archangel's finger pierced it, can still be seen at the Saint-Gervais Basilica in Avranches, Normandy.

Now, today is place is still a pilgrimage site - but most of the people who visit have no religious interest in St. Aubert or St. Michel. They are just tourists and stores abound everywhere to fleece those tourists. BUT - and this is interesting - once the first part of the abbey was built the monks created flyers and distributed them all around Europe encouraging a pilgrimage to Mont. Saint Michel. Then they built inns and restaurants and stores to buy items made by the monks. - like pieces of word with a cross branded into the wood. The church recognized the this was a steady income source and as the abbey grew so did the town.

The cloisters were beautiful.

Rick Steves says that the tide comes in and goes out at the speed of a galloping horse - but that is not true. It is a legend that has lived more than 1000 year though. The highest tides in continental Europe are found at Mont Saint-Michel, reaching a difference of up to 15 metres (45 ft!) between low and high tide. During high tides, the sea withdraws 15 kilometres from the coast and rises very quickly.The tide is AMAZING but it travels about the average speed of a fit person jogging.

The Abbey was used as a prison during the Napoleon times and one of the most interesting things was that there was a lift or a crane there to bring up supplies. Under the reign of Louis-Philippe d’Orléans (1773-1850), there was a population of approximately 700 prisoners. A fire destroyed in 1834 the roof of the abbey. By 1852, due to problems with the tides, the supply of the prison became very difficult. The poor state of the prison was such that it became inoperable, which forced Napoleon III to close it in 1863. The prisoners were transferred to other prisons and the abbey was rented to the bishop of Coutances.

Convicts were used for the operation of the Treadwheel crane, walking inside the wheel. Possibly there were two for each wheel and the estimated load capacity was three tons. The diameter of the crane wheels is 4.3 meters. There are indications that there was another Treadwheel crane of somewhat smaller size on the north side, to supply the winery. More than lifting loads were used as drag. So you can say that more than a treadwheel crane was a treadmill crane

I have no idea how many steps we climbed but I think my watch said 21 flights. I believe THAT! We asked an employee where the restrooms were and she said - "just up 90 steps." You can imagine my surprise when the bathrooms were in the middle of a flight of stairs.

At the top of the steps we finally reached the cathedral

The place is simply breath-taking. We stayed about 4 hours total. Annie and I took a t2- hour tour and the guys found a place to sit and chat while they waited on us to meet them for lunch.

They found a very small garden with a table and a couple of chairs and they were very happy.

When we arrived it looked like this:

When we left it looked like this:

And there were people everywhere on the mudflats.

It is quite a place and we're glad we got the chance to see it. We didn't see it at night - but now it is much easier to imagine.

We continued on toward Paris and we arrived at our hotel around 8:00. Thank you so much Annie & Carl. Great friends and so easy to be with. Lucky us.

As you know - we took our flight home on October 1 without incident. My brother picked us up and our Mom celebrated her 97th birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom!

We have had a amazing month of travel. We are happy to be home, but feel energized by all we have seen and done. Travel is the best education!!! So, signing off.

Mark and Gayl

[notxjustxstories]

New Heights

kinktober day 8: double penetration in two holes 18+ only; minors dni

summary: Elena's made her way into Stark Tower and caught the eyes of its owners.

ship: Elena Reeves (f!oc) x Pepper Potts x Tony Stark

wordcount: 1540

tags/warnings: enthusiastic consent, mild praise kink, double penetration, threesome (F/F/M)

kinktober 2022 masterlist | elena reeves tag | elena/pepper masterlist | elena/tony masterlist | elena/pepper/tony masterlist

Elena knew from a young age how to get people to do what she wanted. Or more accurately, she knew how to get people to do what they wanted, then turn around and use that information to her advantage. There had been a few times when it got out of hand (she didn’t mean for her chem teacher to try to rob a bank the day of the final, honest), but it had never gone completely off the rails until recently.

It wasn’t like Elena to beg for an assignment, especially as a cub reporter. She knew damn well that there was no way she’d get Martin’s Stark Tower assignment, but a little voice in her head said to push anyway.

Her jaw had dropped when their editor agreed, handing the press pass to her and giving her an arrival time. The flecks of yellow in the eyes of people who fell for Elena’s requests had become all-encompassing of the editor’s irises, and Elena was too afraid to say anything. Still, she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and if that meant Martin had to pout and glare while Elena left the bullpen, so be it.

Elena watched the banter back and forth between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts throughout the evening, a small smile curving onto her face at their easy flow. Part of her wished she could join them, feel that intimacy between them. The last thing she expected was for her dream to become a reality.

“You… look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Pepper teased, tilting her champagne glass towards Elena. Her opposite hand stayed on Elena’s back, gently pushing her to straddle Tony’s lap while he sat on the couch.

Elena’s breath caught in her chest, the feeling of Tony’s hardness pressing into her thigh making it hard to think. “You uh-” a nervous laugh escaped her. “I thought your playboy days of seducing journalists were over, Mr. Stark.” Her eyes jumped back and forth between Tony and Pepper, who had moved behind the couch and rested her hands on her partner’s shoulders.

“It’s Tony, please, especially if we’re gonna sleep together,” Tony corrected, rubbing his hand along Elena’s thigh. “And Pep and I both enjoy the thought of a third.”

He stopped suddenly. “You are interested in this, right?” he asked. “I thought I was picking up a vibe, but if I was wrong-”

“No!” Elena quickly objected. “It’s not that, just-” She finally collected herself enough to look at Tony’s eyes. Dark brown like chocolate. Then Pepper’s. Blue like the sea. Back to Tony’s. “Your eyes aren’t yellow.”

Tony scoffed, laying a hand over his heart as if wounded. “C’mon, I haven’t even had anything to drink tonight and you think I’d have to drink myself to liver failure to want you?” he asked. “I’m sober as a judge and you and Pepper have had one drink each.” His eyes roved shamelessly over her body. “Do we need to tell you how gorgeous you are to boost that self confidence?”

Elena could only sit there for a moment, stunned into silence and mouth hanging open in shock. Throughout high school, Elena’s uncanny ability of getting people to let their inhibitions loose was well known, and when people wanted her, they used it as an excuse, even though she’d always been careful not to inflict it upon anyone when things got heated. With the mysterious spiral of her power over the past few days, she could hardly believe the invitation was genuine.

Tony must have taken her silence as a yes, because his lips went to where her jaw met her neck, delivering soft kisses as he whispered in her ear. “The moment I got the update that you’d be covering this, I knew I wanted you. Watching you and Pepper talk today has been such a turn on I could hardly keep it in my pants.” He slowly rolled his hips against Elena’s, and despite herself, a moan slipped past her lips.

At the unexpected expression of want, Elena’s gaze darted up to Pepper, somewhat stunned to see her eyes darkened with lust as she stared down at her and Tony. Pepper leaned down, lips brushing softly over Elena’s for a moment before she took the blonde’s chin in her hand and lifted her up onto her knees.

The change in position gave Tony the opportunity to unbutton her shirt and bury his face in her cleavage while Pepper went after her neck, and images of what they wanted flashed in Elena’s mind.

“Oh fuck yes,” Elena breathed, head falling back. “Take me. Both of you.”

Pepper grinned against Elena’s neck. “That is definitely something we can arrange.”

-

At some point, they stumbled into the bedroom, hardly able to keep their hands off of each other long enough to close the door.

The body behind Elena left her, and she found herself being pushed back onto the bed, something she welcomed with ease.

Tony knelt down before her, unbuttoning and unzipping her skirt before he slowly pulled it down, kissing every inch of new skin he revealed along the way.

Elena let out a whine, laying back on the bed, but what she saw when she looked to her right really got to her. Pepper stood to the side of the bed, naked but for a golden strap-on. A curse slipped past Elena’s lips, her head falling back.

Pepper suddenly joined her at her side, kissing her neck. “That’s the idea sweetheart,” she whispered before her kisses became rougher, undoubtedly leaving marks that would last through the next day. “On your side now.”

Elena did as told, baring her back to Pepper. She felt the clasp of her bra come undone, and she removed it while Pepper pulled her panties down her legs. Her new position gave her a perfect view of Tony as he stripped, and she was so distracted that the cold, lube-covered finger prodding at her ass caught her off guard.

A moan escaped her, and her own hand went to cover her mouth, a bright red blush hitting her cheeks. The finger at her ass remained patient, massaging the ring of muscle at her entrance, waiting for a sign.

Tony abandoned his quest to remove his own clothes (he was down to his briefs anyway) and knelt at the side of the bed, gently covering Elena’s hand in his own and pulling it from her mouth. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve got the whole floor to ourselves,” he told her.

Elena relaxed a little at that, enough for Pepper to finally slip her finger inside, earning another groan from the blonde. She whimpered a little, squirming from the intrusion.

“So good,” Pepper whispered in Elena’s ear as she worked her finger in deeper before pulling out again, setting a slow and steady pace. The praise got Elena to relax enough that a second finger joined the first, gradually working her open. “Such a beautiful, eager girl…”

Elena sighed, leaning her head back into Pepper at the encouragement.

“Do you wanna stay on your side or do you want to ride Tony?” Pepper asked as she slid a third finger into Elena’s hole. All she got was a whine at first, so she waited a moment before asking again.

“Wanna ride’em,” Elena panted.

Pepper nodded in acknowledgement, and she pulled Elena back closer to her so Tony could join them on the bed. The strap-on poked at Elena, making her gasp and shudder in Pepper’s arms.

Tony, now nude, slipped onto the bed alongside Pepper and Elena, resting on his back. He helped Pepper maneuver Elena atop him, his hands resting on her hips. "So beautiful," he mused, looking the woman over.

Elena leaned down, planting a soft kiss on his lips as she lowered herself onto his cock, bottoming out with a moan. She rocked against him slowly as Pepper positioned herself behind her, massaging her shoulders and breasts while she worked her way into Elena's ass.

A whine escaped the blonde, her head falling back against Pepper's shoulder. "So full," she whimpered to the open air.

"And so fucking gorgeous," Tony followed up.

Pepper gently turned Elena's head to kiss her lips. "You don't have to do anything until you're ready."

Apparently that was just the right thing to say, because Elena slowly lifted herself off of Tony's cock, then thrust her hips back down to his. They kept it at a snail's pace at first, letting Elena adjust, but gradually sped up as she became more energetic.

Tony moved his hand to Elena's core, and he let his thumb massage her clit, earning a series of erratic, high-pitched cries as she came. Tony looked up at Pepper and winked, then turned the three of them over, enjoying the moans that came from Elena and Pepper as gravity pulled Elena down so she fully sheathed Pepper's strap on, the base rubbing against the redhead's clit.

Tony thrust against his partners, gleefully watching them both fall apart before finding release himself.

The trio turned back onto their sides, panting from exertion. And they still needed to switch the Tower over to the arc reactor's power.

#kinktober #kinktober 2022 #elena reeves #tony stark #pepper potts #elena reeves writings #fic: the six #mine #the way i'm thinking about just making at least one post for each of the six now

[irrelevantwriter]

House Call

Pairing: Rio (Good Girls) x Female Reader/You

Rating: Explicit, NSFW

Warnings: Language, vaginal fingering, unprotected vaginal sex, mention of bodily fluids, reader being scared and horny, Rio’s BDE (y'all know what's up)

Word Count: 4.2K

Summary: Part 1. Rio shows up unannounced to talk business. Among other things. 

A/N: It’s here...it’s happening. It took me a whole 2.5 seconds to become obsessed with Rio once I started watching GG. Ya’ll know how I roll. Anyway, this is me just dipping my toe into the water. I didn't get too deep with a plot (spoiler alert: there isn't any). It’s essentially just reader-insert into the show’s current plot, but with some smut thrown in. For fun. I hope you guys like it. Feedback is that good shit. 💗

*Added a Part 2! Read it here.

*Give and Take series masterlist

*Masterlist in bio.

***********************

“You okay?”

The sound of your friend’s concerned voice filled the line, pulling you back to the moment and the conversation you’d been engaged in before you’d burnt yourself in the spray of hot water.

“Yeah, just washing dishes.” You explained, cradling your cell between your shoulder and cheek as you maneuvered dirty dishes under the spout of water.

“So the meeting with the principal? How’d it go?” Rachel asked, getting you back on track.

You sighed, beginning to scrub at a stubborn coffee stain left behind on one of your favorite mugs.

“Fine. The kids are still having a hard time with the divorce so it’s…” You paused, unsure of how to describe the child-like brooding your son and daughter had taken to participating in since you’d separated from their father.

“Tense? Difficult? Weird?” Rachel listed off helpfully.

“All of the above.” You deadpanned, still scrubbing.

“You take the rest of the day off?”

“Yeah, I’ve gotta figure out what I’m going to do with these kids. Paul said he’d come over later to talk it over.”

“How incredibly thoughtful of him.” Rachel replied, sarcasm and disdain dripping from her words.

“Well, it’s a start. And as much as I’d like to tell him to fuck off, I can’t. He’s still their dad.” You explained for the hundredth time, feeling the stress of your situation with your ex starting to creep into your body. Your shoulders felt stiff and your head began to throb with a dull ache. It was a familiar reaction these days. One you loathed.

You opened your mouth to steer the conversation elsewhere when the doorbell rang, chiming throughout the empty expanse of your home.

“Paul?” Rachel asked, obviously hearing the alert of someone’s company over the phone.

“I guess. Look, I’ll call you later.” You said with another sigh, this one more tired than annoyed. You gave up on the stained mug and moved onto drying it, shutting the water off as you did.

“Okay. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” You ended the call, aware that you were short with her, but unable to feel sorry for it. You had plenty of other things to worry about, none of which involved your shitty ex or his new girlfriend.

You placed your cell on the counter and turned to make your way to the entryway, mug still clutched in your hand. The ceramic cup dropped to the floor and shattered into pieces when you saw who was already in your kitchen. You gasped, clutching your chest and yelping at the familiar man in black, the dark ink splattered across his throat the first thing you noticed. Your heart leapt, your body going rigid at the unexpected visit. Pop-ups like this were never a good sign.

“I let myself in.” Rio supplied, voice low and thick with authority and charm. He wore a smirk, lips upturned at your surprised reaction. He always seemed amused by you. That fact only served to unsettle you further.

“What’re you doing here?” You managed to say between shaky breaths, fear making your own voice quiver.

“Just checking in, mama. Can’t I do that?” He challenged with his arms spread wide, daring you to say otherwise.

You didn’t.

You went to move around the large kitchen island but the shards of broken mug prevented you from getting far on bare feet. Rio took notice and strode towards you, all clean lines and hooded eyes. He had a swagger about him that radiated. It sent a clear message about the kind of man he was. Confident. Skilled. Smart. There was an ease in his movements, but a beast lay in wait inside, ready to strike when the need arose.

His piercing gaze took in your dress, uncaring of being discreet or polite. He appraised you from the tips of your painted toes to the top of your head. It was as unnerving as it was thrilling. He crowded your space. He always did. While the scent of him filled your nostrils. Something spicy, but pleasing. It sat in your nose, and you knew from previous experience that you’d smell it for hours after.

You swallowed, wanting to avoid his close proximity. You hastily bent down to gather what you could of the jagged pieces, moving around his sneaker-clad feet that stood before you. You tried to ignore his presence, tried to appear calm and composed. It was an uphill battle. The man always knew how to throw you off. He knew how to keep people on their toes. It was yet another facet of him that you both coveted and despised.

You hissed, feeling the edge of one of the shards dig into the tip of your finger. You stood and sucked the tip into your mouth, trying to clear the area of the blood that had started to surface. His eyes were on you, watching you with interest and a certain level of lust that you didn’t allow yourself to explore. You stiffened when he reached for your wrist and pulled your finger away from your lips. He inspected the cut, his flesh warm and soft against yours. It was a side of him that eclipsed the man you’d come to know over the last several months.

“It’s not bad. I’ll be fine.” You whispered, attempting to pull your hand free of his. It was futile.

“Band aid?”

“Uh...yeah. In that drawer. Next to the stove.” You pointed in the direction of the drawer, holding your breath as he retrieved the item. This time, you watched him. Watched as he unwrapped the bandage and tended to your finger with all the care of a parent with their child. He held the appendage steady as he got ready to wrap it, but he stopped himself. He locked eyes with you instead, making you shiver.

“I make you nervous.”

It was a statement. A very true statement. And yet you found yourself shaking your head; ironic because your voice felt too unsteady to use.

Your heart stopped when he placed a tender kiss to the cut. The air around you crackled with heat and tension. It was unlike any feeling you’d ever been subjected to before. It was danger mixed with primal fascination...attraction. And it called to you like a raft in a sea of treacherous waves.

He ignored your silent response and sealed the band aid over your finger, ensuring the ends were smooth against your skin. He didn’t let go of you.

“Don’t lie to me, okay? Trust is an important thing. And we’ve gotta have it if we wanna keep doing business together.”

His calm demeanor and gentle chastising made you a puddle of obedience. Your need to please wasn’t just born from fear. It was something you’d been unable to come to terms with until now. You saw it for what it truly was. You wanted to please him. In as many ways as he’d let you.

You nodded in response, agreeing to his statement.

“Let’s try it again then, yeah?” He started, eyes roaming your face. “I make you nervous, don’t I?”

“The constant threat of my life makes it difficult for me to be calm.” You said, choosing to still be untruthful. 

You forced yourself not to fidget as his stare scorched your skin. His black eyes roamed across the open expanse of your collarbone and to the modest neckline of your wrap dress. He licked his lips as he focused on the measured breaths of your chest, your breasts rising with each pass.

“That’s not the only reason.” He retorted with a shake of his head. He leaned in close, noses almost touching as he spoke. “Don’t move.”

You said nothing as he bent down, continuing your failed task of picking up the broken bits of ceramic. You observed him dutifully gathering each piece, piling them into one large hand. His face looked pensive, as if he was trying to solve an equation in his head. You leaned against the island for support and bit your lip, unwilling to give into the lecherous thoughts that haunted you at night and managed to infiltrate your dreams.

“Nice dress.”

His compliment made you pause, looking down to meet that familiar smirk. He’d set what was left of the mug onto the counter, the floor relatively clear of large fragments. His fingers now played with the hem of said dress, the flowy material dancing in the air and away from your body.

“Thanks.”

Your voice was small. The apprehension so clear that you could both taste it. He found it funny. You found it humiliating.

He slowly straightened, taking the fabric with him as he gathered it to just above your knees.

“Color looks good on you.”

Again, the juvenile warmth of his praise sent you reeling further into anxiety’s waiting arms. Inwardly, you were responding to every lick of his lips and quirk of his eyebrow. Your thighs shifted restlessly against each other, waiting for that satiation that you hadn’t felt in forever. Outwardly though, you remained as skittish as a wild horse. You were as much on the edge of pleasure as you were on retreating.

“Thanks.” You said with a pleasant smile, wanting to conceal the yearning that bubbled just under the surface. You smoothed out the hunter-green fabric that rested against your abdomen, hoping to urge his hands away from you and the dress.

No such luck.

Instead, he ran his fingers up your skirt and along the outside of your thighs and hips, almost meeting the edge of your lace panties. Your traitorous body showed its hand, your nipples hardening in eagerness. Rio’s gaze predictably caught the action. And his face showed his approval.

“How long you been divorced?”

You furrowed your brows in confusion at his sudden curiosity. But the switch in topic had you alert again and somewhat clear of the fog he was so insistent on throwing you into.

“Why? What does that have to do with anything?” You questioned, stepping back from his body.

His hands fell away from you finally, but they didn’t stay idle for long. They skimmed over your hips, pressing your backside into the edge of the kitchen island.

“Answer me, mama.” He demanded, head craning down to meet your eyes. The intensity of his stare made you shift on your feet. He had an amazing poker face. A skill that left you envious.

“Two years.” You dutifully supplied, leaning backwards every inch that he moved in.

“It’s been that long then.” He commented with a nod, a finger tracing along the neckline of your dress, hovering just above your cleavage.

“That long for what?” You asked, taking note of the subtle ways in which his face changed. There was no trace of the teasing, light-hearted flirting that you’d become accustomed to seeing from him. He was serious. Almost as serious as the times he’d threatened your life. His touch was more insistent, telling you what he wanted rather than hinting. His mouth lowered to your ear, his nose brushing against your neck in a far too erotic manner. Your fingers itched to anchor yourself to him. You denied the request.

“Since someone stretched you out.”

A gasp caught in your throat, though you didn’t know if it was more from his words or his touch. He’d managed to slip a hand under your dress, tracing the crotch of your panties with a dexterous finger as he spoke.

“Wh-what do you mean?” You stammered, knuckles tightening against the edge of the counter you were currently gripping.

“I mean…” Rio started, lips brushing against the shell of your ear with each syllable. His finger barely teased your slit, but his voice more than compensated for the lack of physicality. “You haven’t had someone here,” He emphasized the word with a firm press of his finger against the soaked material that hid your clit from view. “In two years. Maybe more.”

You whimpered, biting your lip as he continued to manipulate your body. Your head screamed at you to stop, to pull away. But the sensation of his body pressed so firmly to yours was far too comforting to deny.

“You don’t know that.” You attempted, though the effort was obviously pointless. It was true. Since your separation and subsequent divorce from Paul, you’d barely been on a date, much less had sex. Your body was fiending for it...for him. And he knew it.

He scoffed, finding amusement in your words. He pressed his finger along the same dampened area, seeing your eyes roll into the back of your head. He licked his lips when your hand shot out to grasp at his wrist.

“Yeah, I do.” He affirmed with a nod, finger still teasing over your lace-covered slit. “He stepped out on you, didn’t he?” He continued, his eyes taking stock of the way you responded to his touch.

You had trouble focusing on the conversation he insisted on having while his hand was up your dress and practically in your underwear. You didn’t feel the need to supply an answer anyway. He already had all the information he needed.

“He didn’t deserve you.”

You were jolted back to reality by his words, straightening your spine and pushing his hand from between your legs.

“And what? You do?” You threw back, agitation seeping into your tone. You felt like he was patronizing you. He was always one step ahead. Always aware of the skeletons in your closet before you were.

“Never said that.” He said with a shake of his head, not stepping out of your space. His hands were off your body now, but the stains they’d left on you would remain there. They wouldn’t easily be erased. And you weren’t entirely sure that you wanted them to be.

“Why are you here?” You asked, trying to sound more confident than you felt.

“Business.”

“A simple call or text works for that.”

“Wanted to come in person.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders. He wore an expression of smugness, as if he knew something you didn’t, which was often the case.

“What do you want then?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” He retorted swiftly, lips pulled into a thin line.

The seriousness was back, his eyes nearly swallowing you as all humor became sucked from the room. The nerves in your stomach came back full force, the fear aiding them in their efforts. He was challenging you, apparently done with your lying.

“I…”

You didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to even begin. He was too intimidating. Just too much.

“I-I can’t.” You finished lamely, shaking your head and looking down at your feet.

He tilted your chin up, his mouth only centimeters from yours as he dared you to move.

“Just say the word.” He rasped against your lips, his free hand cradling your cheek.

You let yourself stare back, taking in his dark lashes and the angles of his face. He confused you on many levels, angered you beyond belief. He made your life a living hell. And yet, you wanted him more than anything. More than the money and the thrill of crime. And somehow he was privy to it all. And he wanted to give it to you.

So you were going to let him.

“Kiss me.” You breathed out, your hands finally coming to rest on his chest.

He needed no further encouragement. His mouth settled over yours in a tangle of lips and tongues. He tasted like mint, his lips much softer than they looked. The scratch of his facial hair only added to the moment as you pressed further into him, asking him to take more.

He did.

His hands were rough, but not unpleasant as they trailed along your body. They had the marks of healed scars. Not to mention the blood of those who chose to cross him. They were everywhere and all at once. Your breasts, your neck, your waist, your ass. He kneaded where he knew you yearned for more and tenderly stroked the areas in between. You struggled to keep up as his hips pushed into yours, his own yearning making its presence known.

“We shouldn’t do this.” You managed to say between heavy breaths, Rio’s mouth attaching to your neck and sucking near your throbbing pulse.

“Why not?” He mumbled into your skin, hands unwilling to slow down.

“Things will get complicated.”

He pulled himself away from the crook of your neck, his thumb running over your kiss-swollen pout.

“Yeah, they will.” He said with a chuckle, that devilish smirk staring back at you.

It was all a blur after that.

Limbs intertwined together as you worked on the buckle of his pants while he pushed your dress up and over your hips this time. He harshly pulled the lace away, the elastic snapping against your thighs as it got caught before making its way to the floor. Your mouths didn’t separate, not even when he lifted you onto the counter. He pulled one side of your dress away, exposing the matching bra you wore underneath. Your pebbled nipples called to him and he responded, massaging the flesh with expert precision. You moaned and writhed like a woman possessed. Like a woman that hadn’t been laid in two years.

“Feels good?”

The roughened gravel of his voice made your walls spasm, the hint of self-assuredness causing a wave of arousal to seep from within you. You could only nod, wordlessly pleading with him to continue on. His touch ventured south to your spread thighs. You widened them, allowing him access to the place you needed him the most. He didn’t disappoint.

His fingers were long and probing as they penetrated your sex, slipping easily in. You gasped at the fullness, the stretch around him making your eyes squeeze shut. He let your body guide him as he rubbed at your clit, his fingers curling against your walls.

“I’m...god...I’m gonna cum.” You confessed, only somewhat embarrassed by the suddenness of your climax.

He worked hard and faster. Your nails dug into his back, your mouth landing on his shoulder as you struggled to not cry out. You bit down when the euphoria of orgasm washed over you, trapping his hand within you. He could feel every tremor he brought forth as you shook in his arms. It felt like it lasted for hours, your body unwilling to let the feeling be a fleeting moment in time.

“You still with me?” He asked, lips pressed to your temple.

You nodded, hissing when he removed his fingers from the confines of your body. You watched, feeling as if you were in a daze. He shifted his pants and boxers down, revealing his length to your ravenous eyes. The hand that had been so deeply embedded in you now wrapped around himself. He was long and hard, as rigid as his hands. You felt like a moth to a flame, hand reaching out to feel if he was real. He was.

You swiped your finger over the tip of him and were overcome with wanton pride at feeling the moisture that sat there. His jaw clenched in a way that you’d only ever seen him do in anger. He didn’t allow you to continue. In an instant he was wedged between your thighs, his body already pushing into your waiting sex. Even with the climax from his fingers, he was a tight fit. You both expelled breaths, his a mumbled curse and yours a throaty moan. You shut your eyes as a new burst of pleasure radiated from your core and traveled up your spine. There was only a brief moment of intimacy as he sat unmoving within you, letting your body adjust to him.

It was short-lived.

“Fuck...” He cursed as he began to fuck you into the counter, hands holding your hips in place.

You wrapped your arms around his neck as he lavished yours with kisses and bites, each thrust of his hips causing his teeth to graze your skin. The chill of the marble countertop beneath your bare ass cooled your overheated skin. You bit your lip so hard you could taste blood as he filled you over and over, each pass making your walls accept more of him. He was deep and hitting that gloriously elusive spot that sat within your womb. 

He cupped your breasts while you scraped your nails down his back, hearing him growl in response. The sound made you yearn to hear more. So, you did something you’d always wanted to do...you licked the ink on his throat. You decorated his skin with tantalizing kisses, your tongue aiding your actions. He shivered against your lips, the reaction making your walls clench around him. He was, at least for the moment, a slave to your ministrations. And it was a high unlike any drug you’d ever encountered.

It was animalistic fucking at its finest. He hit every nerve, soothed every ache. The union of your bodies was enough to send you sailing off the proverbial cliff, but his touch kept you tethered to solid ground, longing for more. He rocked his hips mercilessly into you, making your back arch at an almost painful angle.

“Right there, huh?” He teased, feeling you squeeze around him in raw desire. “Yeah, that’s the spot.”

You whimpered and tensed when he savagely rubbed your swollen clit, forcing your legs to tighten around him. He laughed, the sound ominous in your ringing ears. You could only hold on as he delivered the sweetest torture you’d ever felt. You spread your thighs wider, trying to get him closer than humanly possible. You opened your neck up to him, letting him have access to your bare flesh. You wanted him all over you and leaving a scorching trail of hunger in his wake.

It was manic. It was frenzied. It was passionate. And it all combined into a seductive elixir that made fireworks burst from within.

“Shit...I’m cumming.” You warned, feeling him double his efforts. Every muscle went taut with blinding pleasure as that coil finally snapped. You felt weightless, and yet the firm body still driving into your depths made you feel sublimely solid. And whole. More whole than you’d felt in the entirety of your marriage.

It was on the tail-end of your climax that Rio found his. His hips stuttered as he grunted and groaned, releasing himself into you and painting your walls. His fingers dug into the flesh of your inner thighs while his face burrowed into your chest and neck. It was as uninhibited as you’d seen him. And you were addicted to the sight. 

You both heaved with shallow breaths, the exertion of each of your climaxes literally taking the air from your lungs. The room smelled of sex and instant regret as you straightened in Rio’s arms. He separated from your body, eyeing you as he redressed. You shifted your dress back together to cover your bra, the mess between your thighs preventing you from closing them completely. 

Before you could say anything, Rio reached up and cradled your cheek. He played with your bottom lip, his thumb once again finding the appendage. His eyes took in every part of you, as if he hadn’t fucked you senseless seconds before. He licked his lips in that dangerous way that let you know his thoughts were on more than just money.

“Business is good?” He asked, warm palm still pressed to your cheek.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Cool, cool.” He nonchalantly replied, hand leaving your face as he stepped back from your debauched body. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah.” You said with a nod, pushing your dress further down over your thighs, a lame effort to protect any modesty you might’ve still possessed. He smirked at the action.

“Might wanna clean up the mess.” He said with a cheeky upturn of his lips, hands gesturing to the remaining fragments of ceramic that still littered the floor but eyes locked solely to the spot between your legs. The place he knew he’d left a part of himself.

You bit your lip and nervously played with the hem of your dress, feeling his eyes bore into you. Despite still being fully dressed, you felt naked to him. Bare. Exposed. Vulnerable. You hated it.

He retreated, facing you as he walked backwards towards the front door. You watched him from over your shoulder, still unsure of what to make of the whole situation. 

“And lock your door from now on. All kinds of madmen running around these streets.” He quipped, eyes lighting up at his own joke.

He was gone as fast as he’d arrived, causing havoc and then leaving without a second thought. The door closed with a crisp click at his exit, the house now feeling bare without his foreboding presence.

You didn’t move from your spot. You remained on the counter, Rio still leaking from your walls and your dress still disheveled despite your best efforts. Your mind raced with thoughts, each one riddled with panic. His unexpected visit left you with more questions than answers, all of which were tinged with fear. What did this development mean for you? Did it actually mean anything? Or was he simply taking what was so obviously laid out in front of him?

Did it matter?

No. It didn’t.

Because although he may have indulged your craving, your appetite was far from being fulfilled.

#rio good girls #rio #good girls rio #good girls nbc #nbc good girls #rio x reader #rio x you #rio imagine #rio fanfiction #rio fanfic

[love-and-other-potions]

Winking Flower

Fleur Delacour x female reader

You trudge across the Courtyard. The wind threatens to take your {House} colored scarf from around your neck, but you yank it back in irritation. Beside you, Hagrid's large silhouette guides you both as you head to the stables on campus.

It's the day before Halloween, and Hagrid chose you to help with his tasks of preparation that Dumbledore asked of him. You said yes begrudgingly, but you needed the extra credit in his class. You hope Hagrid will consider helping you grade wise as you help him.

You glance up at the cloudy sky and see a large shape taking form in the clouds.

"What-"

"Blimey! Hurry Y/N!"

Hagrid picks up his pace to the stables, and you try to follow in his giant feet's footsteps. When you finally make it, you have to put your hands on your knees to catch your breath. In your bent over state, you watch as a gigantic powder blue carriage crashes to the ground in front of the stables. The horses are energetic as they are grounded once again. The doors swing open, and an array of beautiful women step out, but one in particular catches your eye. You're glad that it's cold, so your cheeks are already red. You breath hitches in your throat as you stand up straight. You glance self consciously at your blouse, and you begin to try to fix it.

The blonde girl's eyes sweep over to you and Hagrid. She raises an eyebrow at Hagrid before her gaze settles on you. She watches you for a moment, and you curse in your mind as your cheeks turn scarlet. She winks at you. You startle for a second, looking around as if she can be winking at someone else. No one is there, so it has to be you. She laughs, and the sound is like music to your ears. You hide your face, and you get to work unhooking the horses from the carriage so they can be fed and watered.

For the next couple days, you can not get the gorgeous blonde girl out of your head. Every time you think of those deep blue eyes winking at you, you smile and blush. It's not until a couple more days have passed that you learn her name because she was the chosen champion for the Triwizard Tournament. Fleur Delcour. The most religious sounding words you have ever heard, and you would worship her if she asked you to.

As Fleur walks down the aisle to sit back with her friends, her eyes lock with yours once again as you sit at the {House} table. You swallow nervously as she keeps your eyes locked. She winks again before her head emerges into the sea of heads of her school. The kid next to you notices the exchange, and they look back and forth between you and Fleur. Now you know you're not imagining it.

Dumbledore lets the students leave the Great Hall. As you stand up and situate your robes, someone clears their throat. You raise your head, and you focus on the deep blue eyes of Fleur. Your throat makes a slight squeak, but you cover it with clearing your throat.

"Uh, hi?"

"Hi," she chuckles.

"Er, congrats on being entered in the Tournament."

"Thank you." She flashes you a brilliant smile.

"You're welcome," you basically creak. You mentally slap yourself.

"I'm Fleur, Fleur Delacour."

"I'm Y/N L/N."

"So Y/N, I am needing a study partner, and Madam Maxime suggested it be from someone from Hogwarts rather than our school. I was wondering if you're interested in studying with me?"

"Sure!" you beam.

She grins back. "Amazing! Meet me in the library after lunch tomorrow?"

"I'll be there!"

She walks away but not before she winks at you once again.

The next day, you walk nervously to the library. All morning, you have been thinking of this moment, and you were so nervous. You find the beautiful blonde in the corner of the library alone. You stride to the table with more confidence than you felt, and you sit down across from her. Her smile was like a sudden beam of sunlight illuminating the darkest corners of your heart. Merlin, you already had it bad.

Despite your nervousness, you two hit it off well. There is a lot of sly flirting on Fleur's side, and there is a lot of blushing on your part. The scarlet across your cheeks seems to encourage her more.

"Vous êtes magnifique."

You flush at the beautiful words that escape her lips. "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that."

She leans in and whispers, "You're blushing so hard, and all I said was, 'you're gorgeous' in French."

You tuck a piece of hair behind your ear as you let out a small laugh. "Hardly."

She gives you a long hard stare before speaking once again. "Do you know why I chose you to be my study partner?"

You shake your head.

"I could tell that you see me as a real person. It's obvious you are attracted to me, but I could tell you see more than just lust. That's all I see whenever anyone else is interested in me. I'm a quarter Veela. They all lust after me, but I don't see that with you. You see me. You admire me."

You smile. "Yes, I do admire you. I think you're wonderful.. And beautiful." You had whispered the last part, but from the pleased look on her face, she heard it.

The rest of the study session goes very smoothly. You gain some courage from her knowing she finds you gorgeous. You actually flirt back a few times, and she loves it.

You two end up hanging out every spare moment you are able to. Fleur becomes a little sparse once she has to figure out the dragon egg and riddle. You were so worried that she was going to be hurt. After the first task of the Tournament, you find her in the tents. She is flushed with adrenaline and sweaty in her powder blue pants and jacket, but she is safe. You throw your arms around her without a second thought.

She wraps her arms around you, and she chuckles into your hair as you are pulled close.

"I'm okay, love!"

"Good! Merlin, I was worried."

"You're worried about me? How sweet!"

You knock her shoulder lightly. "Shut up."

You walk back to your dorm with Fleur at your side. Someone taps your shoulder. McGonagall is walking with you.

"Hello, Ms L/N. The Headmaster would like a word with you."

Dumbledore wants to talk with you? What possibly for?

You nod your head and thank the Professor before saying goodbyes to Fleur. You silently go to the staircase that leads to Dumbledore's office. You climb the winding staircase. You knock softly.

"Come in please."

You open the door to find Dumbledore sitting behind his desk sipping a cup of tea.

"Y/N dear, please have a seat! I'll make you a cup of tea. Would you like it with sugar or black?"

"{Tea preference} please."

"Of course."

He goes about making your tea, and you look around his office. It has a grand staircase in the back of the room that follows the tops of the bookshelves. The bookshelves line the walls, and they are overflowing with textbooks, magic books, and history books. You notice a table where the Sorting Hat is setting.

Seeing the Sorting Hat once again transports you to years back when you were a confused little eleven year old girl about to be sorted. As you sat on that stool, all you could think about in that moment were all those eyes on you.

"Nervous are we? Hmmm I wonder.. Why are we so nervous? You're obviously a {HOUSE}!"

Your house erupted in cheers as you smiled and climbed off the stool.

"Y/N?" You're snapped back to the present as Dumbledore calls your name.

"Yes?"

"Your tea," he prompts at his outheld hand.

"Oh, thank you."

You take the cup and wrap your hands around the cup to warm your hands.

"How is it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh, uh-" you take a sip. There is a peculiar taste to it, but maybe it was a flavor of tea you weren't used to? "It's good. Thank you."

Your eyes land on the Phoenix behind his shoulder.

"Is that a Phoenix?" you ask incredulously.

He chuckles. "Why, yes, he is. That is Fawkes. He is one of my friends."

"Hmmm," you hum as you take a gulp of tea. You begin to feel weird. "Is this tea, uh, herbal?" you ask politely.

"Yes, it has some herbs. You could call it that."

"What?" you manage before you get really dizzy.

"I'm sorry, Y/N."

You stumble over to the chair before you collapse and black out.

**********************

When you wake up, you're in water. You feel nothing but coldness surrounding you, but there is also a pair of arms around your chest. You panic and push away.

"Y/N, no! Calm down. It's okay."

You recognize the voice, but you're in too much of a panic to put a name to it.

"Get off me!" you screech.

"Y/N, stop-"

They're interrupted by a booming voice.

"Fleur has emerged with Y/N! They are safe and sound and almost to the landing."

Fleur.

You stop struggling. "Fleur?" you ask uncertainly.

"Yes, Y/N. I'll explain in a minute. Please just let me get us to that landing."

"Okay," you manage as a shiver overtakes you. You don't know how long you were in that lake.

You finally get to the ladder of the landing, and you stiffly climb it. Your limbs don't want to cooperate, but you make them climb, one hand over the other. You finally get to the landing, and you collapse. Fleur follows behind you. Someone lays a blanket on you, and you are grateful. Fleur's body snuggles into yours.

"Y/N," she croaks. "This is the second task. They chose people close to the contestants, and they drugged them to put them in the bottom of Black Lake. All we were told is something was taken from us. Harry Potter rescued his best friend Ron Weasley, Viktor Krum rescued Hermione Granger, and Cedric Diggory rescued Cho Chang. I rescued you."

"Dumbledore drugged me, so you could rescue me?"

"Yes."

"Why was I chosen?" you ask breathlessly.

"You're important to me."

"How-"

"Y/N, will you be my girlfriend?"

"What?" you blink.

"I want you to be my girlfriend. I didn't realize what I lost until it was taken from me, as cheesy as it sounds."

"You want to date me?"

"Yes. What is your answer?"

"Yes, you breathe.

Her cold body leans towards yours until your faces are inches apart. She breaks the distance, and her lips touch yours. Something finally releases in you. This is your girlfriend. You lean in to deepen the kiss, and your body naturally curls around hers. You break apart after someone clears their throat near you. You blush while Fleur laughs. You look into her deep blue eyes, and she winks.

#fleur delacour #fleur x reader