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nothomegal · 8 months

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“The beast and it’s treasure”

Pyramid Head x GNReader

Summary: you’ve been playing chase with this monster for god knows how long. Well aware of his inhuman strength and monstrous brutality you of course avoided it any tried your best to keep distance. Unfortunately, it becomes too much one day and you question yourself if it's even worth to keep going... So, what will you do ones you're at the mercy of this creature, (Y/N)?

Warnings: typical mentions of violence and murder, (Y/N) accepting death, Pyra being obsessive towards (Y/N).

World Count: 1.8k

(Y/N)’s shoes made a loud noise against the ground as they ran through the building. They don't even know what building they entered, they didn’t bother to learn, it’s irrelevant because if it is after them, nothing can stop the chase.

A door? A wall? Doesn’t matter which one is, it just tanks through with it's massive body and helmet as if the obstacle is made of paper. Another monster? It's sword will take care. (Y/N) is too fast? It’s okay, it can walk nonstop for days. (Y/N) hides? That’s trickier, yet it has all the time available to seek. No matter what they do, they always remain in disadvantage.

This isn’t even funny anymore, at first it kinda was since many monsters living in this nonsense of a town learned to avoid (Y/N), aware of who is stalking them. Now it’s just annoying, and scary, very scary. Witnessing a crowd of terrifying and deformed creatures flee from them like they're fire in sheer panic only reminds them of how fucked they truly are.

They stop in their tracks to regain their breath, and also to listen for any heavy footsteps or metal scraping the floor. There was nothing, no other sound but their own panting.

They lost it, for now.

After finding a place to sit down, (Y/N) let out a sigh as they plop on the ground carelessly. They remain in this ragdoll-like posture for a long while as they stare at the wall in front of them, their mind blank. They could think about something, but they're too mentaly exhausted for that, apart from the fact that whenever they do think about something interesting, the beast always announces it presence with bulky footsteps, capable to shake the ground with each it takes, or the annoying and overly loud noise of it's giant sword scraping the floor as it walks.

(Y/N)'s thoughts involuntarely focused on that creature. They're not sure if it has some official name but the few people they met in Silent Hill call it 'Pyramid Head', a pretty suiting name for obvious reasons.

Even though this beast had been pursuing them for a while, they never really managed to get a close look at it, and it's not like they want to, not after seeing all the things it does... From attempting some questionable activities with the mannequin-looking creatures and nurse monsters, to practically skin a person alive with a single pull, or cut them in half with one swing of that sword... Yeah, everything about this creature is horrible! A very few (and the craziest ones) call him 'The judge', though the creature's actions are the ones worth to judge...

(Y/N) doesn't even notice how they begin to doze off, their body too tired to stay awake. Though Silent Hill goes by it's rules and hunger or thirst no longer affect any unfortunate soul that's trapped in here, the impact this place has on people's mind is the real problem. The more they stay awake, the more their sanity deteriorate, their mind cannot keep up with everything that's going on, and simply accepting this nonsense and moving on doesn't work anymore. They want to sleep, they want to sleep and rest so badly, yet they know they can't, at least not without it being on their tail again and ready for another round of this cat and mouse game.

And just moments after this particular thought, they hear a loud noise somewhere in the building, like a wall being demolished, and soon it was followed by the annoying scraping sound.

They should be scared, they should get up and run, attempt to find an exit and another place to hide, they should... But they won't, not anymore. What's even the point? If they get up and run it will simply reset this cycle of running, chasing, hiding, finding and pursuing...

Running, chasing, hiding, finding, pursuing, running, chasing, hiding, finding, pursuing...

It's the same, it's always the same... (Y/N) already attempted things to break this vicious cycle, hell, they even tried to trick other monsters to attack this pyramid headed beast, it was the most reckless and desperate they've ever been because their genius plan consisted in straight up run into the crownd of monsters while the beast pursued them, they didn't care if they die in the process or not, they just wanted to get rid of it one way or another. But it proved to be way more powerful that any other being living in this hellhole, the beast dismembered every single creature that stayed on it's way to (Y/N), it didn't slow down even a bit as he slaughtered his path. The only moment it did stop, was to execute a creature who had the guts go after (Y/N), the beast personally chased the creature down and proceded to give it a painfull end with it's bare hands as it made loud metallic growls inside of it's helmet. After that event, every single monster avoided (Y/N) like plague, even the ones who at first did have hostile intentions would flee in fear ones realized who they are.

After this quick recap inside of (Y/N)'s mind, they made their decision...

They let out a sigh as they remain in their sitting position, even as they feel the floor underneath them start to slightly vibrate from the giant sword and the heavy footsteps, they still don't move or look up, their gaze glued at the floor.

They can feel the beast get closer, it's probably at the end of the dark hallway they're in, but... Instead of feeling fear, they feel relief. Relief to finally get over this torture, sure, they won't come out alive to live a long happy life filled with hopes and dreams like they always imagined, but at least they'll die knowing that they attempted, that they did their best.

As they hear the creature get closer, they close their eyes, a tired yet peaceful expression forming on their face. It's okay, soon everything will be okay and over and they'll finally get the so desired sleep where they no longer have to experience the anxiety of waking up and have to run for their life.

The beast finally reaches them and stops right in front, (Y/N) remained with their eyes closed and head down, waiting for their so long avoided punishment. Who knows, maybe they do deserve to be here, maybe they never were as good of a person as they thought, maybe this is their personal hell and if they die the chase cycle will repeat itself for an eternity... They don't know at this point, or care, they just want this over, and whatever verdict this monster will give them, they'll accept it.

Nothing happens for a long while, but they know the beast is there, they can hear it's heavy breathing through the metal helmet. They start to question why is it doing nothing? It's been chasing them so viciously for so long, so why did it stop? Is it because there is no longer a thrill from the persecution? No real sense of revard for catching them?... What is even happening?

Why is it not killing them yet?

(Y/N)'s breath shakes when they suddenly feel something big and warm, like a palm. wrap it's fingers around their throat and slowly tilt their head so they're looking up. The hand holding them is firm but at the same time oddly gentle, as if not wanting to cause them any pain, yet. Despite all of this, their eyes remained closed and their expression calm, they were no longer afraid of the beast, just tired...

—"{I deserve this... I deserve everything.}"— you whisper under your breath.

Their voice was nothing but a faint noise that barely echoed through the hallway and soon was overshadowed by the overwhelming silence and the monster's breathing. But soon a new sound appeared, a low metallic grumbling that resembled a purr. The sound was so deep that it made (Y/N)'s chest vibrate. If that wasn't weird enough, the feeling of something wet and slippery touching their face definetely was, enough for them to finally open their eyes.

A breath got caught in their throat at the sight of the beast kneeling in front of them, even in this possition it's frame remained huge and towering over them. A small metallic part of his helmet was peeled up, and from the formed hole was peeking out a long tentacle... Tongue? That was wiggling in front of them and dripping bits of (what they hope is) saliva on their clothes.

The monster let out another metallic purr at the sight of their now opened eyes, and without a warning it runs it's long tongue across their face, causing (Y/N)'s expression to morph into a disgusted and embarassed one as a spine chill runs through them. The beast let's out an amused rumble as it watches them, so confused and innocent.

It's tongue eventually retrieves back into the helmet, while (Y/N) is a bit too busy wiping the drool from their face and keeping themselves from gagging. Soon their little activity got interrupted when the monster lifts them up with one arm, like they weight no more than a kid's toy, and slungs them over it's broad shoulder. It takes (Y/N) a moment to process what's going on and why (or how) they're still alive.

Ones having a secure grip on them, the monster takes the sword with it's other hand and starts to walk into an unknown direction, but this time he wasn't doing it alone. (Y/N), surprisingly, doesn't try to fight against his grasp, they simply relax and let their body hang on it's shoulder. They just now realize how warm the beast's body is, were they've been this cold for so long? When was the last time they felt warmth radiate from another living being?... This feels so comforting...

Allowing their exhaustion to take over, (Y/N) goes completely rag-doll as they close their eyes. The warmth, the steps that the monster takes, his metallic yet rithmic breathing... All these factors lulled (Y/N) into a restless sleep, they don't care where this beast is taking them, they don't care what it's plans are, they don't care if they die tonight, all they want is rest.

When they were about to slumber away, the monster momentarily stops and sticks it's sword into the ground. It slides (Y/N) off of it's shoulder and instead cradles them closer to it's chest, effortlessly supporting their weight with one single strong arm. Ones they were close and comfortable, the creature resumes it's pace, though this time, it would occasionally nuzzle part of it's helmet into them in a very gentle manner so they don't get hurt with the sharp metallic edges.

Who would've think that such brutal and merciless beast could be so caring and gentle with another living being, and indeed it's impressive, impressive that (Y/N) had the luck to get the executioner's attention and liking. Though... Some would call it luck, others a misfortune, because now they're stuck in his grasp for an eternity because the monster will never let go...

Not when they became his most precious and cherished little treasure.

#nothomegal fic #nothomegal oneshot #pyramid head #pyramid head x reader #gn reader #slasher x reader

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the-scarecrow-of-aus · 24 days

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Soooo...

Um, for mermay...

I was thinking of what might be fun to write for dcxdp, I thought I might be able to hash something out as I drove home from work earlier...

Listening to a random Spotify playlist that contained 'two' songs right after each other.. (this will come up later)

People know about pirate!batman right?

'Leatherwing'

My mind went about updating leatherwing to include all the bats and birds. Then it went to how I'd introduce danny.

Danny, who learnt he was a mermaid when he was 14, after being knocked overboard unconcious, into the port he fell, getting brained by a stray lumber spar, caught in fouled rigging and then dragged over the side by dead weight all on accident by his port-friend sam.

He didn't drown, but it took a while to wake up then realising you were staring at the underside of the ships keel.

not a good thing to discover when your parents hunt mermaids and other mythical creatures. "Dangerous creatures danno my boy, once you anger a mermaid best ready yourself because they don't forgive easily!"

Even worse when they're constantly travelling by ship with their benefactors: the GIW (the gentlemen in white).

A privately sponsored armada of hunters: whether their prey is pirates, mermaids or any creature they consider a threat, you don't want to be hunted by them!

So danny, doing his best to not be caught but still learn what he's capable of, learning how to use his voice to stun and enchant... finally he gets discovered freeing their captives.

He has to flee and flee he does, escaping them and striking out on his own.

(I assume jazz stays in Port and isn't aware of what's currently happened-away at 'college')

Sometime in the future though, constantly dodging his parents attempts to track him whenever he comes to a port, Danny happened upon captain leatherwings pirateship.

He follows them as a mermaid, watching them work. Sometimes they attacked a ship and other times they fled, being chased by pirate hunters but never caught! It was fascinating to watch despite the danger of being seen (he's seen).

At night he'd wrap himself around the rudder and hum or quietly sing listening to the ocean, hoping another mermaid would answer his call (he's never met another)

One day as leatherwing's ship, the flying fox. Starts to sail into port, danny hears them say they will put up a request for new crew (some leaving, some died).

Danny slips away ahead of them to shore, stealing some dry clothes (without holes to look presentable) and camps out at the inn by the docks looking for hire.

It takes some work but Danny gets hired on, excited to be among people again. He's introduced to the crew and does his best to fit in, it becomes apparent some of the long term crew are more then just crew, they act just like family...

Danny gets close to them, curious about their relationships with each other. One night (I'm picking cass for this but it could be anyone) he finds 'orphan-blackblade' sitting on the stern of the ship.

her feet through the railing on the back trying to hum a strange tune that sounds familiar, another of the crew sees Danny watching and laughs, 'orphan doesn't talk, but she sits on the back of the boat every night listening to the 'music of the sea' (you do the math)

That would continue building a relationship at a pace but now, we come to the part where danny is revealed.

leatherwing and the flying fox is attacked by the GIW who stumbled on them looking for danny with whatever dark magic's they use to track him. This coincides with a storm approaching and as the battle rages Danny gets pinned under water by debris and is forced to start transforming.

He breaks free and seeing the fight going poorly tries to help using his cry to shock the GIW, it works. This is where things get a little angst as the flying fox crew don't recognise danny as a mermaid...

Danny seeing the mainmast of the GIW ship coming down tackles orphan out of the way but in saving her gets attacked by her and everyone else forcing him to take her hostage to save himself and flee, whisking her away into the dark of the stormy sea.

This is where the songs literally came in:

Fish in a birdcage: 'rule #34'

(Awkward timing, forcing me to decide which was the priority: getting my ace asses mind out of the gutter or keeping my car wheels out of the gutter as I did some specific driving on the freeway to avoid some surprise gridlock traffic ahead!)

So play that song and imagine pirate!cass waking up in a cave of an unknown island being stared down at by an angry, shirtless, very familiar looking mermaid who you'd just stabbed...

My brain while trying to drive:

The second song was: fin- ship in a bottle

What comes to mind (as I was now stuck in gridlock) is an angry danny fighting back as leatherwing tries to find his daughter orphan after she was taken by a mermaid that suddenly attacked them during the fight.

He'd interrogated the GIW who invaded his ship, those who hadn't been able to flee in time as he chased after his daughter, they were hunting the mermaid and assumed he was on-board (a thought backed up by nobody knowing where danny had gone-they found his torn off shirt though...).

He tore the knowledge from them on how they tracked the mermaid, learnt the consequences of using the magic, forced them off the ship because they were now 'deadweight', cast the magic and set sail.

And now that he'd found him he was going to get his daughter back... But as said before, dannys angry and they fight...

- that's all I got at the moment.

The only other things I have is cass going non verbal in the cave and humming her song which could calm danny down as he recognises it as the song he sung when wrapped around the rudder at nights.

Cass stopping the fight between Danny and Bruce (and her siblings) threatening to beat both their asses

Ellie showing up as a mermaid, trying to find danny, she bumped into jazz and they've been trying to find danny for a while (Danny forgets to check in every now and then)

#dick in the comic was robin-redblade. what would the others names be?#dcxdp #dpxdc #mermay #mermaid!danny #pirate!cass #pirate batman #leatherwing #my writing #danny x cass #dead silence ship #elseworlds comics #danny phantom #sorry if this makes no sense. im tired from work #cassandra cain

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imagine-knowing-a-name · 3 months

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memories feel like weapons

Summary: after your brief reunion with Wanda at the gym, you both overthink what it means

Word Count: 984 Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader Warnings: not really any? Wanda and R being bad at conversations. Part 2 of 'half of my hometown' series masterlist <- previous part | next part ->

»»————-　★　————-««

Wanda curses herself as she shuts her bedroom door, immediately leaning back to rest her head against it. She questions all her actions that night: why had she said that? Why had she run away? Her plan had always been to leave the gym if someone entered, that was the case day or night, hence why she goes at 2 am, because who else would be in the gym at 2 am? You; that’s apparently the answer.

Either way, she’d already been fleeing from the moment the door creaked open. Seeing your face again after so many years stalled the exit, but, in her disoriented state, her legs carried her back to her room before she could even think of changing her plan.

“Shit,” she mutters softly, debating whether she can go back and fix her mistake, though she assumes by now you'll be gone. Streams of different conversations flow through her mind: she should have asked you how you were, how your life had been, whether you wanted to catch up… hell, she doesn't even know if you recognised her. It has taken her long enough to realise it was you, and she knows the past 13 years have changed her even more.

02:30 flashes from the corner of the room, catching Wanda's eye. She sighs, knowing that she should sleep before her 9 am training the next day. The Sokovian prepares for bed and eventually drifts off, but, until she does, all her thoughts are on you, and whether she'll have the opportunity to see you again.

»»————-　★　————-««

Unbeknownst to the Avenger, you take action into your own hands, not wanting to go another 13 years before you stumble into her again. You promised yourself that you'd give her space, but that vow doesn't stop you from routinely circling back to the gym whenever you work the night shift, hoping that the one thing you know about this present-day Wanda is part of a routine, and not just a fluke nighttime visit.

It works, and, only a few nights later, Wanda is the one to stumble into you.

You pass by the gym, disappointed by the darkness and silence you find within and ready to turn away into the next corridor, when Wanda quite literally stumbles into you. The two of you turn the corner at the same time and collide with a force strong enough to send Wanda teetering back; your instincts kick in and you rush forward to catch her before she could tumble to the floor.

“I'm so sorry,” you both say, before breaking into nervous smiles at the action. You help her stabilise herself back on her feet again then draw back, attempting to speak once again.

“Hi,” is all you manage.

She smiles widely, “Hi.”

“So… you come here at 2 am often then?” the line comes out before you can even think about it, and you do your best to hide how you cringe at your own words.

You know you've hidden it poorly though because Wanda laughs, such a free-flowing sound which, even when you last saw each other, had been sorely missing from your life. She nods though, and ducks her head down to watch her fingers twirl the rings on her hands; you follow her gaze and furrow your eyebrows as you recognise one of them.

“I live here now, so, yeah,” she replies, snapping your attention back to the conversation you'd been having.

“The new superhero of the Avengers, so I heard. You're the talk of the Compound. Though it wasn't until I saw you the other night that I realised ‘Wanda the Avenger’ and ‘Wanda, the girl next door from Sokovia’ were one and the same.”

“The first one is still in progress. The second one is still who I am,” she mutters; the previous amusement is gone from her voice and you realise you've crossed into a topic she'd rather avoid. Unlike the others you've met, Wanda shows no indication of pride in her Avengers status, so you hurry to change the topic.

“Since you live here, I guess it's more ‘Wanda, the girl across the building from me’ now,” you chuckle, a smile spreading when you see the creases reforming around Wanda's eyes.

“You live here too?” she questions, and this time it's your turn to nod.

“Live here, work here, hardly leave here. I'm over on the East side of the building with the other agents.”

“Agent Y/L/N…”

“That's me, reporting for duty,” you joke with a fake salute until you remember that you are meant to be on duty. “I should probably get back to my patrol,” you tell Wanda, not missing the way her smile falters temporarily.

“Yes, I'm sorry, don't let me keep you.”

“It was nice seeing you, Wanda,” you begin, “and catching up a bit after so long. Uh, maybe I'll see you around here at another 2 am.”

Wanda smiles back at you; if you waited just a little longer, you would have seen her mouth hang open ready to stop you, a question dying on her tongue. Maybe then you would encourage her to speak it and hear what she wants to ask.

But, instead, you turn away as soon as you finish speaking, cheeks burning after the implication that you'd meet her again, that she'd stay up and walk around the Compound at 2 am just to meet you. If you were bolder, you would have asked the question you wanted to ask; you wouldn't have turned away so fast. Living on the outskirts of friendship groups in your adult years has instilled fear into you though, so you leave quickly and bluntly, choosing to dwell on memories of the strongest friendship you had rather than face rejection from the girl you used to know. The girl who you feel sure has better friends than you by now.

next part ->

»»————-　★　————-««

General Taglist: @canvascoloredin @fxckmiup @wizardofstories

Series Taglist: @family-house-of-m @emiliaisdead

First part didn't do so well so idk if I'll get any suggestions, but what do you think should happen next 👀

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #marvel #mcu #ikan writes #ikan homh

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emylilas · 1 year

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I know Love Actually is a Christmas romcom but my fics are never ready on time (the Easter chocolate hunt fic is staring at me in my WIP files).

Now, the real question is, should I write this 👇? I did spend way too long writing that plot that was supposed to be short.

Vincent is a stage actor. The company he’s in will be playing God of Carnage, from the French playwright Yasmina Reza. This play presents two couples seemingly politely discussing the fact that one of the sons hit the other. Vincent is one of the fathers and Adriel plays the other one. Unlike Vincent, Adriel has made his career in Hollywood, he is well-known and well-loved by the public. Adriel’s ego makes him insufferable for everyone in the company but that’s not why Vincent is having such a hard time working with him. No. They have history together, and Vincent hasn’t forgotten that.

Beatrice, the play director ー said to be one of the most promising directors of her generation ー is trying her best to ease the tensions between her two male leads because the words have gotten out that movie-star Adriel and his co-star could not stand each other. She doesn’t want that kind of press for her play. Ava, working at the opening, lets her know whenever journalists are trying to get information.

Ava dreams of being a movie star. Waiting for an opportunity to present itself, she shares an apartment with her older sister, Shannon, and Shannon’s friend, Lilith.

Shannon has graduated with a journalism degree and is now struggling with her debuts. As for Lilith, she works in a small flower shop.

SEPTEMBER, 29th. That’s where she meets Camila, a student in computer science who likes to do random good things for people and who has decided, that day, to pick flowers for people in the nearest hospital. Shannon, passing by the shop to drop Lilith’s keys she forgot in the morning, sees Camila struggling with the many bouquets she has ー she offers to help her.

Mary works in this hospital as a nurse in oncology. Her patients find Camila’s initiative lovely. As a public hospital underfunded, nurses and doctors are overworked, there aren’t enough beds, patients must sometimes be left waiting in the hallways and wait for hours before someone can come check on them. It’s a shock for Shannon, because she can tell it’s not a lack of care from the staff, it’s a fault in the system.

Shannon wants to do something. She asks Mary what she thinks of the possibility of Shannon writing an article about the current situation in collaboration with nurses and clinicians. She doesn’t want sensationalism, she wants to raise awareness and point fingers where the fault lies. Mary is reluctant at first but eventually notices Shannon only means well. She suggests she talks to upper directions.

Mary’s best friend is Suzanne, a teacher, who’s Vincent’s little sister. Between her clumsy enthusiastic assistant, Yasmine, who means well but requires a lot of her time, her kind yet exhausting pupils and her brother’s awful mood because of Adriel, Suzanne has been begging Mary for a weekend away, just the two of them, to flee the stress of her everyday life. This little getaway would also be a great opportunity for Suzanne to set Mary on a date with a perfect stranger, since Mary has rejected anyone Suzanne knows.

OCTOBER, 15th. Tonight is the opening night and it couldn’t possibly be worse. Vincent and Adriel aren’t talking to each other, they refuse to get out of their respective lodge for the finale rehearsal and Beatrice has no other choice than to call their respective agents. She regrets her decision the moment she realises Francesco Duretti, Vincent’s agent from O.C.S, and Jillian Salvius, Adriel’s agent from F.B.C, are sworn enemies in their own business, constantly trying to steal each other’s actors. Despite their mutual contempt, they need to get the two actors back on stage before tonight, which won’t be easy considering Adriel won’t talk to Jillian and Vincent is ignoring Francesco’s calls.

Ava is the one who suggests to Jillian that she tries talking to Vincent’s sister because she’s the only one who scares him enough to get him to do anything. Ava has overheard Suzanne mention her students once, but she’s not sure which school it is, just that it’s nearby. Jillian visits three schools before finding the right one. Suzanne finds it weird, yet not completely not funny, to know that this stranger has been looking for the most part of her afternoon so she agrees to talk to her brother. Vincent eventually agrees to come out of his lodge and if Adriel doesn’t want any bad press, he has to play along.

The opening night goes smoothly, as opposed to the entire day. Everyone is in the room. Yasmine came with her roommate Camila who came with Lilith who herself came with Ava and Shannon. Mary came with Suzanne. Jillian and Francesco are there to make sure their actors won’t try running away during intermission. Everyone gets to stay for the After Party, Beatrice lets Ava know her friends are more than welcome.

Suzanne gets to meet Shannon and she quickly notices her interest in Mary that has grown while the two of them were working together for the article. And Suzanne has heard a lot about Shannon from her friend. She just needs to get Mary to be brave enough to ask Shannon on a date.

Yasmine, Camila and Lilith hang out together, they like staying near the buffet and try to guess people’s most embarrassing secrets.

Ava gets the courage to tell Beatrice that she inspires her. Beatrice could faint but eventually confesses to her that she kept her distance because she was scared Ava’s attempt at getting closer only was to get a first role somewhere. It hurts Ava that Beatrice would think something like that but she understands it must have happened before for it to be such a strong fear. She promises she has no secret interests behind her willingness to get to know Beatrice better.

Jillian manages to steal Suzanne from her brother, Francesco and their friends for a few minutes. She thanks her again for allowing the situation to go back to normal. Suzanne is reluctant to talk to the agent, Francesco has warned her about Jillian Salvius’ questionable methods. Jillian ensures her that her brother is not the one she’s interested in. She tells Suzanne that if she ever gets bored of the five men she seems to be destined to spend her evening with, she can come find her later. Later that night, Suzanne gets a text from an unknown number:

“You didn’t come.” “How did you get my number?” “Questionable methods ;)” “You had already left.”

Jillian actually asked Ava if she could ask Suzanne’s number to Vincent. Ava instead asked her sister to ask Mary. Jillian had left the party in a hurry after a call from her babysitter informing her that her son, Michael, was running a fever. Her 8 years old only recently recovered from leukaemia. His first nurse when he was 4 was Mary.

NOVEMBER, 2nd. Taking a walk in the city with Suzanne, Mary recognises Jillian and Michael in a park. She tells Suzanne she needs to say hi. That’s how Suzanne meets Michael for the first time and how Mary understands Jillian is the woman Suzanne has been talking to since the opening night without ever agreeing to meet her on a proper date. Michael tells Mary that, for Halloween, he was dressed as Dr Noru, the scary chief of oncology. Mary laughs, because Dr Noru was indeed terrifying. Later that day, Mary offers Suzanne a deal: if she goes on a date with Jillian, she’ll ask Shannon out. It’s a deal.

NOVEMBER, 10th. Ava knows it’s Beatrice’s birthday. She asks Lilith and Shannon to disappear for the night so she can have their place. She cooks, bakes, and decorates the room for Beatrice. She buys her flowers, the English tea that Ava has noticed Beatrice had run out of, and she has collected all positive reviews about the play and specifically Beatrice as a director in a journal that she’ll give to her. She knows Beatrice doesn’t have plans so she calls her and asks her to come over because she has some very important news to share with her. Beatrice is grumpy when she shows up, thinking Ava is going to tell her she was offered her first role and would soon have to leave. She bursts into tears when she realises what Ava has done for her. It turns out Ava is a great baker but a terrible cook. They end up ordering food and spend the entire evening talking. Ava asks if Beatrice wants to stay over. They fall asleep in Ava’s room, watching a movie together.

In the meantime, Lilith is enjoying board game night at Yasmine and Camila’s. They have invited their friends Hans, Todd and Chanel to join them and Lilith really enjoys Chanel’s company.

Shannon has asked Mary if she was free tonight because her sister was kicking her out of home. Mary’s shift supposedly ended at 8pm. It’s 10 when she finally gets out. She’s too tired to go anywhere and Shannon offers to just make them both dinner and then let Mary sleep. Mary tells her she can stay. Shannon is shy and doesn’t want to cross any boundaries so when Mary is asleep, she leaves a note on the kitchen counter and goes back home where she finds burnt cannelloni in the shrink.

DECEMBER, 14th. Suzanne’s class goes to visit the Science Museum with another class that turns out to be Michael’s class. He’s happy to see her, she’s been at his home a few times lately but has never stayed long. He spends the whole visit holding her hand. When it’s time for parents to come pick their children, Michael’s teacher complains that Jillian is late again. Suzanne tells her to go, she’ll bring Michael home, she knows his mother. When Jillian opens the door, she’s paler than usual and she’s slightly shaking. Food poisoning, she explains to Suzanne. There’s no risk for Michael to catch it so they should be fine. She thanks Suzanne for bringing him home. Suzanne doesn’t leave her a choice and walks in. She helps Michael with her homework, makes Jillian rest on the couch with a bucket on the ground for emergencies and busies herself with making something for dinner that Jillian’s stomach might not immediately reject.

DECEMBER, 20th. Love actually is a Christmas movie so it’s Christmas!

It’s the last day the theatre is open for the season and the last representation of Gods of carnage tonight. They’re having a little Christmas party after. It’s just them, it’s nothing much but Ava insisted they did a Secret Santa this year with the possibility of only giving something homemade. After the party, Ava asks Beatrice what she’s going to do for Christmas. Beatrice won’t fly home. There’s nothing stopping her from accepting Ava’s invitation to come celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas and Post Christmas with her, her sister and their friends. Neither Ava or Beatrice are very certain of what they are to each other. Both hope.

Lilith invited Camila and Yasmine and told them to bring Hans, Todd and Chanel if they had nothing better to do. Todd will spend the holidays with his family but Hans won’t go back to Switzerland and Chanel has lost contact with her family, they’re delighted to have this Christmas time with their friends. Shannon and Ava can’t stop teasing Lilith at how delighted she is to learn that Chanel will be here.

Shannon knows Mary will be working on Christmas and asks if it’s okay if she comes to the hospital to spend time with her during her breaks. She could bake Christmas cookies for the patients and the staff. Mary tells her that will make a lot of Christmas cookies. Shannon spends the whole day baking to make sure there are enough for everyone.

It’s the last day of school and when Suzanne hands the last kid to his parents and tells them to enjoy the holidays, she notices Yasmine coming back with Michael’s hand glued to hers. “He was looking for you.” Michael wants Suzanne to spend Christmas with them. Disclosed reason: she needs to save them from Jillian’s cooking. Secret reason: he saw mistletoe at the flower shop near their house and is planning to buy some for his mum and her friend who should really be her girlfriend instead. Suzanne calls Jillian to make sure she doesn’t go into cardiac arrest when Michael’s teacher tells her he’s already left. Suzanne drops him home and before she leaves, Jillian shyly asks what her plans for the holidays are.

CHRISTMAS filled with Christmas activities (hot chocolate, gingerbread houses, decorating a tree, Christmas cooking, Christmas movies, board games, ice skiing, snowball fight, building a snowman, cuddling by the fireplace, kissing under the mistletoe, last minute Christmas shopping…)

SO, should I write this?

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memoriapraeteritorumbonorum · 1 year

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Hello darling, I love what you've got here and was hoping I could have some headcanons (any character/group of them you're up to writing for)

They've noticed you've picked up one or more of their mannerisms (the way they talk or a certain way they move)

Have fun with it,

The Phantom

Noticing you’ve picked up their mannerisms - Caranthir and Curufin

Author’s note: Aaah, my first ask! Hi Phantom!! Thanks for your request, I had so much fun writing this. I chose Cara (can u tell he’s my favorite) and Curufin for this one :)

This is the tune I was listening to while writing — let’s vibe into the new year. Enjoy!

Caranthir

Whenever Carnistir comes home from running errands, he flees into his study, plops down onto the couch, puts his feet up on the table and just rests his head against the backrest. You have watched him close his eyes and murmur a few exhausted complaints countless times — it has become a normal part of your day at this point.

He just sits like this for a good 15 minutes. It's his way of coming back to his senses and managing his stress and anger so he doesn't lash out on you.

Today, you've had an excruciatingly busy day, constantly having been on your feet, rushing from one end of Thargelion to the other, never catching a break. Delivering envelopes, helping friends out, organizing things for the Festival of Starlight that was to take place in less than a week. Somehow, the entire kingdom seemed to have chosen you to consult about this year’s decorative choices, leaving you to juggle a thousand samples of fabrics and candles in your arms when you make it through the door of Carnistir's study.

The second you enter, he gets up from his desk and takes the load off your hands, proceeding to ask how your day was since he's had no chance of catching you inbetween errands.

You just hold up your finger, silencing him, furrowing your brows and shaking your head at him.

He stands there, stunned, when you walk right past him, let yourself fall onto the velvet couch and prop your feet up on the table.

Carnistir would be confused at first, but soon after feel flattered and amused that you're acting like him and doing it so comfortably, as if it came naturally to you

Sometimes he feels insecure about his need to take care of his anger and temper this way, but seeing you copy him reassures him and makes him feel seen

His lil heart goes b-bum

He just cocks his head to the side and watches you with a bewildered expression as you begin to do the same thing he does almost every day — quietly whispering about the things that drained you the most during the day.

When you open your eyes again, you’re met with a smirk.

"Don’t even!" you warn him, pointing your finger at him again.

He just laughs, warm eyes scanning your face, watching you blush for once. "Care to suffer together?"

He sits down next to you and copies your move, chuckling all the while.

"I didn’t know I had such an impact on you."

"Oh, shut up."

His finger comes up to poke your rosy cheek teasingly, your roles having reversed in this very moment

Your heads rest next to each other on the sofa's backrest, he looks at you fondly before taking your hand and closing his eyes, ready to enjoy the much awaited silence at the end of this stressful day.

Curufin

It's no secret he acts like a know it all sometimes, especially when his father is around

Arguing with him on a factual basis is almost impossible.

Whenever someone tries to prove him wrong, he just clicks his tongue, says "Please," and eyes them condescendingly.

Everyone knows he’s about to go on the longest rant, spitting nothing but facts and making his point. Virgo energy

They just shut up and let him finish because they know arguing with Curufinwë — the insufferable spring of wisdom, as his brothers call him —wouldn’t work out for them

Seriously, how does he know all that stuff? Nobody ever questions it.

You're sat at the dinner table with him and his family, recounting an amusing story of an evening spent making bets with Curufin and Celegorm when the latter chimes in about how you only beat him because you were lucky to have Curufin with you.

Next to you, Curufin straightens his posture, ready to expose his brother and point out his inability to admit defeat but this time, you are quicker than him

You just click your tongue, go "Oh, please", and begin to list all the reasons for his failure, going into each and every detail, successfully reducing the silver haired prince to a quiet, frowning little person across from you.

Curufin raises his eyebrows, slowly turning his head towards you, listening intently to the way you're articulating yourself — you sound just like him???

When you finish, you look into your partner’s sparkling eyes, elegantly raise and clink your glass with his. He just shrugs in response, grinning cockily.

To say he's proud would be an understatement, he just had the biggest ego boost imaginable because someone as captivating as you would pick up something he would always do

"I couldn’t have said it better myself, really."

The others are frozen in place for a few seconds, in complete awe and disbelief about the scene that had just unfolded in front of them.

Celegorm, having ceased to protest alltogether, just receives several pats on his shoulders from left and right, followed by wheezing, especially from his younger brothers.

It's safe to say, from this day forward, he would think twice before questioning you again unless he'd want to be humiliated by not only his brother but yourself as well.

#caranthir #caranthir imagine #caranthir x reader #caranthir headcanon #curufin #curufin imagine #curufin x reader #curufin headcanon #request

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workingforitallthetime · 2 years

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About the umich shit, I think it’s very telling that the players are so close to eachother. Despite having a poor culture, it seems that they players them selves don’t have issues with one another and the culture problems lie between the players (united) cvs the coaching staff. Also this makes so much more sense about why so many players leave Michigan early to go to the nhl when, from a developmental standpoint, they could surely use another year. The Michigan program has always been a revolving door that doesn’t actually graduate a lot of players and that makes sense now!

i don’t necessarily think that teammates being close to each other is indicative of anything in a broader cultural sense. the entire hockey prospect system is structured in a way that cultivates that closeness by distancing kids from their families and friends outside the hockey world, making them extremely reliant on their teammates for social-emotional support. the fact that that closeness exists could be positive, or not. a group of players who are close to each other can be a supportive quasi-family, or they can commit a gang rape. (or both.)

i also disagree with the premise that players leave umich early for the nhl because of the kind of problems documented in this investigation. kids generally leave college for the nhl whenever the nhl will take them. (see, e.g., turcs leaving wisconsin when he should have stayed another year, and cole staying another year because the habs told him to even though he wanted to leave.) michigan actually has a number of high-profile cases where players stayed another year to develop further even though nhl teams were ready to sign them — quinn, luke, blanks, owen, matty, erik portillo. they are not a program that kids are fleeing.

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salted-fish-girl · 2 years

Text

They are a few hours away from the wedding. Eren’s grandparents are refusing to attend the wedding unless she signs those prenuptials. He wasn’t very close with his grandparents because of his father but they consider Eren their heir. He was rightfully furious when he found out and it somewhat improved Akemi’s opinion of him. Mikasa was unperturbed and signed the papers without hesitation. “It’s okay, they were just trying to protect you.” Eren wants to say something but she kisses him on the cheek to cut him off. “We won’t get divorced anyway…” Eren’s heart soared and melted by the intensity that he felt for his beautiful bride.

“My daughter needs to get ready soon.” Akemi remains stoned-face and motioned for him to get out. She ignored the love sick look the couple have and lighted the dragon phoenix candles for the hair combing ceremony. It’s a wedding rite in Hizuru.

“May you be together all your lives from beginning till the end.” Akemi can’t remember the last time she combed her daughter’s hair.

“May you have a harmonious intimate marriage till old age.” The inner maiden in her blushed thinking about their shenanigans when she sneaked into Eren’s bachelor party the day prior.. They almost got caught by Eren’s brother!

“May you enjoy abundant wealth and an everlasting marriage.” Mikasa’s face is radiant just thinking about spending her entire life with Eren.

“...may you fill your home with your chil-” Akemi's face only darkened seeing her daughter so happy. Mikasa looked at her mother, wondering why she stopped. It's the last of the four blessings.

Akemi dragged the comb out of her daughter’s hair so roughly that some of it’s thin bristles snapped. Mikasa winced in pain, shocked by her mother’s behavior. She watched her mother wordlessly pack the stuff that she brought for the wedding.

When Akemi met her daughter’s eyes in the gilded mirror, she realized that she’s already remarried and has long moved on. She’s happily living with her new family now. Her firstborn, Mikasa is a grown up and not her responsibility anymore.

“Remember this… if nothing else. Do not love your husband too much, Mikasa. When he lets you down, and believe me - he will, for he is a man - it will tear you apart even more.”

Locking eyes with her mother, "My love is not fragile..."

Akemi opened her mouth to say something but closed it. It was the first time Mikasa ever talked back to her mother. And the last as it would be the last time they'll talk to each other.

Akemi Ackerman, now Akemi Tokugawa, left.

Mikasa felt nothing. Carla hugged her as soon as she entered and she knew everything would be okay.

“Can you comb my hair for me?” She holds out a comb. “I want you to bless my marriage with Eren.” they smiled through the tears. “My sweet girl...” Carla kissed Mikasa’s head.

“When Eren came home that time he ran away on Halloween, I knew I wanted you to be my daughter in law.” Her grey almond eyes widened in surprise.

Carla was planning to save that for a wedding toast later but decided to tease her now. “Yes, I knew you were lying and hiding him in your room!” Mikasa wanted to flee from embarrassment and Carla only laughed remembering a delicately thin girl protecting her bedroom door like her life depended on it.

“Eren has a good heart but that boy is too stubborn to admit it when he’s wrong. Though he shows it by his actions, he never says sorry.” Carla’s spot on. Eren doesn’t even allow himself to feel bad whenever he does something wrong.

“Never.” the older woman emphasized.

“But then the first thing he said to me when he came home was ‘Sorry’... You two always bring out the best in each other.” Mikasa blinked out a tear. “No crying now. You’ll ruin your makeup.” Carla gently dabbed a tissue on her future daughter in law.

“By the time that boy first dated. I swear! I legitimately thought he’s trying to put me in an early grave.” The two most important women in Eren’s life laughed, remembering Eren’s tumultuous love life.

“He once dated a girl named… Cinnamon.”

“With an S!” the two of them chorused and broke into laughter once again.

Carla’s speech accompanied by a powerpoint presentation slide at the wedding reception is a hit! Eren has fully buried his head in Mikasa’s neck because of embarrassment. Turns out she took pictures of every girl Eren brought home and girls she caught him with, hoping she could use it to embarrass Eren someday - hopefully, in his wedding with Mikasa - And boy did she hoped and prayed it’s Mikasa that her son marries!

“You don’t understand, Eren. Some of my hair turned white because of the constant fear that you’ll catch something! or that you’ll marry one of those… lovely girls.” cue more laughter. Everyone’s side is splitting by the time Carla’s done with her speech/powerpoint presentation.

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genshinlover101 · 2 years

Note

Idk if this is gonna annoy you, but I'd like a continuation of Hu Tao, Lisa, And Yae getting mad at you, like an aftermath. So, basically, reader saw something pretty unnerving at night after getting out of their house(Like one of those Trevor Henderson monsters lol) How would Hu Tao, Lisa, and Yae react to that (Idk, I listened to Disc 13 while reading)

Her Reaction to You getting Scared

Characters: Hu Tao, Lisa, Yae Miko

Warnings: none

A/n: I had to search up Trevor Henderson monsters and I was like scared to go to sleep after I had seen them ngl

• Hu Tao had some nerve shooing you away like that, at this point you just wanted to be alone. Whenever you two were mad at each other it was like two strangers living in a single house. Pure silence, on opposite ends of the living space.

• You looked out of your window from a rocking chair and a cozy book in your hand when you saw a skinny-looking figure from your peripheral. Drawing your attention immediately they looked malnourished. Even though the figure looked human, you could distinguish that it was indeed not a human.

• You couldn’t tell whether you were hallucinating or not in the right mind... you screamed for Hu Tao and she peeped her little head from the kitchen. She looked upset initially, but when she saw your panic she was quick to react.

“Ah- are you okay?” she asked almost equally as panicked as you. You shook your head no, the fear in your throat preventing your vocal cords from talking. All you could do was freeze in fear, you felt if you moved, stimulated any of your five senses that you would see that ‘Thing’ again.

Luckily this Funeral Parlor wasn’t scared of anything. Hu Tao didn’t know fear, not even primal fears could overcome her. You didn’t need to say anything, she already knew from your body language you saw something that was unworldly.

“outside? You saw something outside?” You don’t know what possessed this little lady to be so brave. She opened the front door wide, checking with her polearm, ready to annihilate anything in her path. When she saw nothing she sighed, but not willing to be insensitive and discredit your fears.

It was almost as if Hu Tao was never mad at you in the first place, she comforted you and almost insisted you’d stick close to her. She didn’t want whatever you saw to torment you once more. Although she didn’t have any fears currently, she remembered what it was like when she was a child, that unbearable feeling of the unknown.

• Whenever Lisa was upset with you all hell would break loose. If you didn’t immediately flee the vicinity you would surely get struck by lightning. So even if you wanted to makeup, it was best to give Lisa her alone time when you struck a nerve.

• You were in bed, reflecting on what you had done wrong. That was until you saw a blurred face, the neck looked thinned, almost too thin. Additionally, the head was floating, no way someone could be tall enough to reach the second story.

• You called for Lisa and at first, she hesitated to rush to your side. She thought it might be a waste of her time, but she would never abandon you when she considered the panicked tone in your voice.

“What could be your problem now?” Lisa sounded agitated at first until she saw your state. She could hear your uneasy breathing pattern and see your cold sweat from across the room. “A-are you okay?” she almost felt guilty for initially doubting you.

You had your hand over your mouth in fear that if you made a single sound it would know you’re alive. All you could do was point in the direction of the window, not even looking directly at it in fear that the monster would be there again.

Lisa got the hint even without your use of words. She immediately rushed over to check, opening the window to see thoroughly what the problem was. She had her vision ready to attack whatever might lunge at her. But only to find nothing, she knew whatever had scared you wasn’t fabricated because of your genuine reaction.

Lisa was still upset because she tended to hold grudges, but not to the point where she would neglect your fears. She held you close like a mother when their child had a nightmare, rocking your body side-to-side as you held tightly onto her midriff.

• Yae Miko was by far the scariest in Inazuma because of her manipulative nature. When she was angry with you it was amplified, you almost would rather choose to avoid her because of her passive-aggressive undertones.

• You fled to your sofa to give both of your space until you saw a skeleton figure standing outside your window. Something about this whole scene rubbed you in a creepy way. And why were they staring at you?

• Miko didn’t believe you for one bit at first. A staring figure? In Inazuma? For all the years she’s lived she’s never heard of such a myth. She only believed you after your mini panic attack.

“You’re quite the trouble maker now aren’t you?” She asked at the door frame. She was extremely apprehensive to believe you, that was until your story was interrupted by the panic attack brought from the recollection of the figure. Miko wasn’t dumb, she knew you weren’t faking for attention. “Please love relax. I cannot understand.”

You were speaking unusually fast, sweat dripping down and your words in an incohesive blur. You felt a tight grip on your chest, your heart aching at the overwhelming wave of fear. Whatever it was, Miko could tell wasn’t anything ordinary.

Whatever it was though, wasn’t any match for Miko. Using her intuition she walked over to the window, her vision ready to blast any slight movement she saw in the dark. When she saw nothing but the night sky, she sighed, she would never admit that she was a little scared too.

She walked over to you, cuddling you on the sofa. Letting you hold onto her like a stuffed animal. “See, it was nothing. Please don’t fret like this anymore. It pains me to see you like this,” She twirled her fingers in your hair, doing anything to calm you.

#hu tao x reader #lisa x reader #yae miko x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #hu tao #lisa minci #yae miko

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rocorambles · 3 years

Text

Surprise Interview

Pairing: Kenma x Reader

Genre/Warnings: NSFW, Yandere, Pseudo-Cest, Dub-Con/Non-Con, Verbal Humiliation, Manipulation

Summary: Kenma sees if you have what it takes to be Bouncing Ball’s newest employee.

A/N: This is for @sugawara-sweetheart ‘s Decadence Collab. So excited to be a part of this collab and to be able to indulge in such a delicious prompt and theme. Be sure to check out everyone else’s works! As always, thanks for beta-ing @sawamooora ~

There’s a familiar peace and a new nervousness about coming back home for the holidays. Mostly because home isn’t quite the same home it used to be. You can feel warmth blooming in your chest at the thought of seeing your mom, telling her about everything and everyone (as if your daily phone calls aren’t enough), and just lounging around while she fills you up with her cooking. But you can also feel a certain shyness as you approach the house, a building that still feels brand new and strange to you.

Your mother had gotten remarried during your earlier college years after your father’s passing and you were elated for her. If anyone deserves all the happiness in the world, it’s her. You had met Mr. Kozume quite a few times and you have no qualms with the man. He treats your mother like a queen and even though you playfully gag as they sweet talk and kiss in front of you, you wholeheartedly approve of their relationship.

However, what you aren’t quite as prepared for is having a new step-sibling.

You don’t know much about Kenma Kozume. Well, not much more than the rest of the world does.

Professional gamer. Successful stock trader. Popular YouTuber. Founder of his own corporation.

You know exactly who your new brother is, but other than seeing him a few times in person at family gatherings and exchanging polite greetings, there’s no real connection. Which is why your heart races as you nervously ring his doorbell, anxiety already making your leg twitch as you wait for the door to open.

Your mother and step-father are on a couple’s vacation and won’t be returning for a few days.

(“We just want some romantic time together before we have a full house again for the holidays. Plus this is a great chance to get to know your older brother better!” You hadn’t even been able to get a word of protest in before she had laughed and hung up on you, leaving you speechless and on your own as you hesitantly texted Kenma, letting him know what day to expect you.)

Kenma is quiet as ever as he nods in greeting, silently leading you to your guest room before quietly telling you to make yourself at home and leaving to do his own thing. You let out a huge sigh of relief as the door closes behind him.

There’s nothing wrong with Kenma. He’s smart and successful. Maybe a bit on the quiet side, but that only adds to his down to earth charm. You know your mother and step-father adore him and you can’t blame them. Yet, you can’t help but feel scrutinized, seen so clearly in a way that terrifies you when his feline eyes gaze at you. It takes everything in you not to immediately scurry away whenever you’re in viewing distance of him, desperate to hide all the flaws you imagine he’s noticing and calculating. Your step-father had mentioned how Kenma used to be the strategist of his high school volleyball team, and has always been able to evaluate and accurately break down situations and people. And you believe it.

You’re just grateful the house is large enough to avoid each other and that Kenma tends to reside mostly in his home office and bedroom.

But even the founder of a company needs a break from time to time. Kenma shuffles towards the gaming room, only to blink in surprise when he sees you already inside of it, happily smiling as Animal Crossing visuals and sounds fill the space.

He had known you owned a Nintendo Switch, a piece of information your mom had shared to break the ice a bit. And it’s really no surprise that this is your go-to game. But knowing and seeing are two different things and he can’t help but let his own lips twitch upwards at how calm and relaxed you are tending to your garden, decorating your home, choosing your outfit.

Kenma’s never been good with people, has never been the one to initiate a friendship. He knows he should have made more of an effort to be friendly and welcoming to you as your new older brother. There’s a slight pang of regret in his chest when he sees how at ease you are while you’re unaware of his presence. His eyes are as sharp as ever and he locks in on the way your body slightly stiffens, fingers nervously fidgeting when you finally notice his figure in the doorway, words already stuttering an apology for using his game room without explicitly asking.

You look like a scared mouse about to flee from the claws of a cat. And it pisses him off.

He hasn’t made the best efforts to bridge the gap between you, but for you to fear him? That seems a tad unnecessary, and more than a tad insulting. It’s more than enough to make the sadistic streak in him want to give you something to be scared about.

But he’s never been impulsive and he just quietly sits beside you on the floor, reassuring you it’s fine to play, smirking when you sneak little side glances his way as you continue collecting fruits.

“Kozume, do you want to play-”

“Just call me Kenma.”

Entranced eyes watch as you grow flustered at his words, mouth silently testing the weight of his given name in your mouth. For once, Kenma could care less about playing video games when a shaky timid “Kenma” slips past your soft lips.

“Kenma, do you want to play something together?”

You have no idea how badly he really does want to play together, but it’s a game you’re not ready for. So he calls upon any restraint he has to pluck your device from your hands and change the game to Mario Kart.

It’s amusing how easily you soften besides him, brow furrowing in concentration, eyes intently and eagerly following the screen, any anxiousness quickly forgotten as you get into the game. He greedily watches as you pout when you make a mistake, as your eyes light up every time you pass someone.

If he had known how easy it would be to make you warm up to him, he’d have done this sooner and he genuinely laughs when you whine and fake glare at him as he wins yet another round.

He asks about school. You ask about work. He tells you about his childhood. You share your own stories.

It’s a comfortable rhythmic back and forth and he’s afraid of ruining it, but a certain question nags at his mind, a question he knows may ruin the entire flow of the conversation.

“You’ll be graduating soon. Have you decided what you want to do after college?”

“Kenma not you too!!!”

His shoulders relax at how well you react to the question, smiling at the way you flop onto your back and groan about how mom and dad are already on your case about future plans.

“I’ve been applying to places, but who knows. Maybe I’ll just work for you at Bouncing Ball.”

There’s a playful lilt in your voice when you say it, a giggle and teasing smile accompanying the words. But there’s nothing funny about it to Kenma and your smile falters a bit when you see how tightly Kenma’s gripping his controller, the way his eyes pin you down.

“Kenma? It’s just a joke. I would never take advantage of-”

You try to get up from your reclined position, only to whimper in confusion when Kenma’s hand on your shoulder forces you back down. And suddenly you’re pinned down by more than just his stare as he moves to straddle you, knees on either side of your body, hands next to your head, his whole body caging yours.

It’s a lighthearted joke in the family that if all else fails, you could always work at Bouncing Ball. A joke your step-father and mother always dish out when the arguments get too tense as the three of you talk about your future. But it’s become less in jest for Kenma, especially after Kuroo sent him a scandalous picture of his newest secretary kneeling between his long legs, lips wrapped around his cock.

It wasn’t the first picture, nor was it the last incriminating photo the older businessman had sent him. Kenma merely rolled his eyes before deleting the image from his phone, wondering when Kuroo would grow bored and find a new toy to play with. But he freezes when he sees the following text message from his long-time friend.

“You’re the CEO of a company, Kenma. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone convenient around? A pretty warm body? I bet that cute new step sister of yours would look really good under your desk. Doesn’t she graduate from college soon? If you don’t make a move, maybe I’ll snatch her up right from under your nose. I’m due for a change of secretary soon.”

There’s absolutely no reason for the hot anger that lances through him at Kuroo’s taunting words and he grimaces at playing right into his ex-captain’s hands, already hearing Kuroo’s braying laughter in his head if the older man saw just how much his words affected him.

But initial irritation aside, he lets himself really think, really imagine what a life with you at his beck and call would be like. And he likes what he sees. He doesn’t delete Kuroo’s photos as quickly as he used to, replacing the female faces with yours in his imagination as his hands slip under the hem of his boxers.

He knows it’s a longshot, knows there’s a high chance you’ll continue your lives as is, never destined to exchange more than a few polite greetings at family outings. But now...now hearing you voice the idea out loud yourself, hearing the way his first name sounds from your lips…

Maybe it’s not the silly pipe dream he had believed it to be.

“I’m in need of an assistant if you really do want to work at Bouncing Ball, but you’d need to prove why it would be worth hiring you.”

He almost laughs at how you perk up despite the precarious position you’re in, almost ready to launch into an elevator pitch of your qualifications flat on your back underneath him. You’re quite the multitasker already and he groans at the thought of having you cockwarm him while he tests out a new video game, making you answer all his calls stuffed full of him and desperately trying to hide the lustful tremble in your voice.

But he’s not here to listen to your carefully crafted speech. (Guess you really were practicing for job interviews like you said you were. What a good girl.) And he firmly presses his lips against yours to silence you, taking his time to immerse himself in the way your mouths mold against each other.

Your taste, your smell, your warmth. It’s all intoxicating and he slips his tongue inside your parted lips, subtly rutting his groin against your body. He can feel your body jostle as you lift your arms and he waits for the weight of your arms to lovingly wrap around his neck, only to be shocked when you weakly press against his shoulders until he finally relents and pulls back just enough to look down at you in irritated confusion.

“We- we shouldn’t be doing this.”

It’s not the words that have him clenching his fists, not even the way your palms still timidly press against him in a laughably weak show of defense.

It’s the fear in your eyes, the way you look at him like he’s some monster. It's the way he can almost palpably feel and hear your desire to be anywhere other than here, with anyone other than him, wishing to put as much space between the two of you as possible.

It’s your rejection.

It hurts to know that he isn’t enough just as he is, that he needs to resort to less...savory and straightforward ways to entrap you. But he’s not Hinata or Kuroo. He doesn’t have an electrifying personality or roguishly handsome features and charm to woo you. He only has his cunning and sharp tongue.

And he fully intends on maximizing his gifts.

“Of course, you don’t have to. You can just keep on applying and getting rejected by every company you speak to, if they even bother meeting with you after seeing your pathetic resume. Average college. Average grades. Average major. Tell me, how many interviews have you actually been reached out to for?”

He’s going out on a bit of a limb, but his suspicions are right and he cruelly smirks at the way tears bubble in your eyes at his words, no comeback or denial rolling off the tip of your tongue. He had a feeling you were struggling from the bits and pieces he’s picked up as your parents quietly talk and fret over you actually being able to find a job after graduation.

“Our parents are too nice to say anything about it, but you know they’re disappointed in you, right? Have you noticed how they always avoid talking about how school is going or asking you about how job hunting is going? How they only ask me how work is going? It’s because they know you’re just a loser whose life is going to amount to nothing.”

“That’s not true! They love me-”

“I’m not saying they don’t love you, but doesn’t that make it even worse? Making your loving and caring parents worry and stress over you when they should be preparing for retirement, an easy life? Instead of letting them finally enjoy a carefree life, you’ll be their freeloader daughter who uses up all their remaining funds. Is that what you want?”

You really are too easy and his lips curl in satisfaction at the way you frantically shake your head side to side, fat wet drops streaming down your face, adorable sniffles filling the air.

“If you become my assistant, I’ll compensate you well. You can live here with me, have your own room, a roof over your head, all the food and clothing you need and want. Think about how relieved and happy our parents will be seeing you provided for, seeing us getting along. Isn’t that what you want? For them to be happy?”

He knows how close you are to your mom, how important this idea of a perfect family is to you. He knows how insecurity and doubt about your own capabilities torment you. And he knows you’re hooked on his claws when your hands that are still pressed against his shoulders drop limply besides you, not even a hint of resistance left in you when he leans down once more to rest his forehead on yours, one hand cupping the side of your face.

“This is all you’re good for anyway. Working underneath me.”

If you notice his pun, you don’t acknowledge it, too busy wincing and squirming as he harshly nips and bites a trail from your lips to your neck as he pushes up the hem of your shirt until your chest is on full display for him. There’s something experimental, cold, meticulous about the way he gropes and fondles your breasts.Your face heats in humiliation at how he treats you like one of the many game consoles he’s reviewed for his audience.

But you don’t do anything about it, telling yourself that this is just his version of an interview as he pinches and prods at you, meanly twisting your nipples and chuckling at your yelp of pain. You obediently let him spread your legs apart, only letting out an agonized cry as he tests your flexibility, staring at him with a trembling lower lip as he sharply tells you to shut up while scrutinizing your panty-covered sex.

“You really are made for this, aren’t you?”

You whimper as he nudges the small wet spot on the thin fabric, clenching your eyes shut in denial at how hot and wound up your body feels from his touch, unable to hide your gasp as he pulls the layer aside and rubs your aroused clit.

There’s something so different about the way his fingers slowly sink into your wet pussy, almost lazily curling against your soft walls, his thumb never stopping its careful massage on the bundle of nerves at the apex of your thighs. So different from your own fingers desperately thrusting in and out of you. So different from the drunk partners you’ve hooked up with at college and their sloppy, rapid, frantic movements.

You can feel something large, something intimidating slowly rising from deep inside of you, a volcano about to erupt compared to the bright and fast to fade shooting stars you’re used to. You’re scared. Scared of the intoxicating feeling, of how easy it is to grow accustomed to Kenma’s presence, of how his cat-like eyes are all you can see and think of.

How can something feel so wrong and so right at the same time?

That’s the last coherent thought you have before your world goes blank, pleasure rocking through you as you soak the carpet and your step-brother’s hand with your juices. You’re moaning as Kenma continues to rock his fingers in and out of you, fingertips insistently massaging your clit and g-spot as you ride out your orgasm, body trembling and convulsing.

But even when the tremors slow, when pleasure becomes something sharper, more overwhelming, he doesn’t stop. You wail, begging him to stop, to let you rest, slumping in relief when he finally drags his hands away from you, carelessly wiping the mess you’ve made of his hand on your skin, covering you in your own essence.

Your heavy eyelids threaten to flutter shut as you let exhaustion wash over you, already dreading having to get up and wash yourself. But you’re shocked back to reality as something hard begins to nudge at your still fluttering entrance.

“Kenma! No! Too much-”

You break off into a sob as surprisingly strong hands dig into your hips, holding you still as he pushes and pushes until he’s fully settled inside of you, balls resting against your ass.

You’re still so tight, your quivering walls clamping around the intrusion, and he groans at the thought of being able to sink into this hole every day, multiple times, whenever he wants. His cock is already aching from holding off for so long, from watching your body and face contorted in pleasure. Kenma can feel his end quickly approaching as you scream and wail underneath him, eyes rolling back in your head, drool trickling from the corner of your mouth. You look absolutely obscene and he doesn’t think he’ll ever get enough of this side of you.

But despite the way his balls are tightening, despite the stutter in his hips, he’s determined to watch you fall apart once more, to see you shatter to pieces yet again. He grits his teeth, fingers reaching down to furiously rub at your already oversensitized clit, reveling in how your back arches, thighs shaking in overstimulation, and then you snap.

He wonders what his parents would think of their dear dumb daughter now, looking nothing like their silly angel, looking like a wanton used whore, incoherent garbled noises slipping past your lips as you twitch uncontrollably, your pussy milking him dry as he cums inside of you.

There’s only silence mixed with your pitiful whimpers as he slides out of you, grimacing at the sticky mess you’ve made of yourself and him. But that’s what your other hole is for and he orders you to suck him clean, admiring what a quick learner you are, eager to please as you noisily slurp and lick him clean, moaning at the taste of your combined fluids...

Maybe too eager and he shoves you off of him when you become too enthusiastic, his cock beginning to twitch in interest once more.

You look so lost, still sprawled out on the ground, staring up at him with wide imploring eyes as he pulls up his pants. So vulnerable and in need of guidance.

Good thing you have such a great boss to manage you.

“Not bad. Consider these next few days your internship and if all goes well, I’ll be more than happy to hire you as Bouncing Ball’s newest employee this summer. Now clean up this room and show me that my future assistant can do more than just be a slut.”

#yandere haikyuu #yandere kenma #yandere kenma x reader #haikyuu smut #kenma x reader #kenma smut #haikyuu x reader #sweetheart decadence #tw: yandere #tw: dubcon #tw: noncon

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toasterwords · 3 years

Text

Irena was chosen by lot to be the lindwurm's wife, after it devoured the third and last of the princesses. Prince Viktoras came himself to inform her.

Convenient, she thought, that the lottery had drawn Irena, from the lower city, poor and almost kinless. An only child, her mother dead, her father old and feeble.

And the bride-price that the crown prince brought with him was enough to support her father in comfort for the rest of his days. Irena could take it and be free of this house, of the burden of his care, of watching him slip away as he forgot her face more and more often. Or she could be carried away by the guards the prince had brought, and leave nothing behind to help him.

She had no power here, and she was wise enough to know it.

Her father, sitting at the kitchen table, stared mutely as the prince set the money on the table in front of him. Irena had to pick the box of coin up herself.

"I need time to make arrangements for my father," she said to the prince.

"Of course," he said. "You have half an hour to prepare yourself before we depart for the palace. Be sure you do not go more than a house or two away."

"I won't make trouble for you," Irena said. "It would only upset him more."

She looked Prince Viktoras in the eye until he looked away, and it satisfied her, just a little, to know that he was ashamed. Then she took the fine enameled box that held her bride-price, her blood-price, and walked next door with it. Widow Simoniene made the evil eye in the guards' direction, but took the money and the key to the little house and agreed to look after Irena's father.

Irena went back home with a heavy step to say goodbye.

"She thinks she'll move in, and rent out the big house," Irena told her father. "She doesn't need all that space, now that her sons have moved away. You won't be alone without me."

Her father wasn't speaking today, and Irena wasn't sure how much he understood. But he held Irena's hand tightly, looking over Irena's shoulder at the guards in the doorway. Irena clutched it back for a moment, then pried her father's fingers off and turned away.

She didn't look back as she left him. Her father had taught her pride, and she hoped that he still recognized it.

***

The walls of the castle loomed around her like the bars of a cage. She was received in state, like she was yet another princess. The king and queen and courtiers seemed embarrassed by her dress, work-worn, and her braid, falling down her back for lack of pins. But if they had wanted her to be more presentable, she thought, they should have given her more than half an hour to put her affairs in order.

After a hasty formal greeting, she was ushered away from the royal family and put into the hands of a half-dozen maidservants. They spread out the three dresses and two petticoats that she'd brought from home, and began discussing how to refine them by the morrow. Irena was deposited into a steaming bath, with one junior maidservant to help her.

A knock came on the door while Irena was still bathing. The maidservant rose to answer it, and returned with a bundle of fabric in her arms.

"The Lady Astrauskaite has sent you some of her dresses," she said. "And says that you may have them altered if they suit you, or do what you like with them if they don't."

Irena knew the name. Duke Astrauskis' daughter. Betrothed to the prince who had come to collect Irena. The betrothal that had sparked all of the princess-eating in the first place.

Was it sympathy, that had prompted the gift, or pity, or condescension? No doubt she had been at the blighted reception. But without knowing who in the crowd the lady had been, Irena did not know if the fuss had led her to flinch or to sneer.

She did not know, either, if Lady Astrauskaite had wanted to be betrothed to Prince Viktoras. If it pained her to see other women eaten because the king wanted his heir wedded to her, and the lindwurm demanded to be given its bride first.

"Is there a way for me to speak to the lady?" she asked the maidservant. "To thank her?"

The maidservant hesitated. "A note would be most appropriate."

"I cannot write," Irena said. "Is there no way to speak to her in person?"

She wanted to know if this was meant as a kindness. It might be easier to have someone write a note for her, and go to her death pretending that it was. But she would wonder, and it would niggle at her, and she did not want to go to her wedding and her funeral wearing a dress given to her out of condescension. She might be poor, and she might be trapped, but she had too much pride for that.

"Not that is proper, just to give thanks. But-" The maidservant's eyes were sad. "You are not scheduled to dine with the royal family tonight, and Lady Astrauskaite is not either. There would be nothing wrong with one woman extending an invitation to another, especially if they were soon to be sisters-in-law."

"Then I would like to do so," Irena said.

***

Lady Astrauskaite was taller than Irena, and much plumper, which meant that the borrowed dress Irena chose to dine in had to be discreetly brought in with pins. The lady's hair was bleached yellow, and her complexion hidden with white powder. She looked as uncomfortable as Irena felt.

"Thank you for joining me, my lady," Irena said, with a very cautious curtsey. The pins in the dress pricked her if she did not move rigidly and with care.

"Please, don't," Lady Astrauskaite said, which made the face of the steward following behind her pinch unpleasantly. "We are future sisters. After tomorrow. And after my wedding, of course. So you can call me Rugile, as a sister would."

"Yes, my lady," Irena said, unable not to look at the steward's sour face. "Thank you. You may call me Irena."

The table was small, for intimate conversation, which only made the dinner more awkward. The food was splendid, soft white bread and creamy cheese and rich meat-packed soup. It sank to the bottom of Irena's stomach like stones.

Within two courses, Irena felt sure the dresses had been a kindness, because everything that Lady Astrauskaite said was kind, and without sneer. She asked after Irena's health, and after that of her family, and she seemed genuinely distressed to hear about Irena's father. She diverted them after that to light anecdotes, tales of tutors and horses and amusing court mishaps, and winced anew with guilt whenever Irena lacked the grounding to laugh at a tale.

After two whole courses, Irena cleared her throat. "My lady, what can you tell me of the lindwurm?"

Lady Astrauskaite went still, then set her spoon down, looking Irena in the eye. "What do you already know?"

"That the queen was barren for ten years, and she went to a witch to open her womb. And that because the conceiving was unnatural, so was the birth, and while one child came out healthy and whole, the other came out as a lindwurm. And that it is confined to the palace, and horrible to look upon. That's all that we in the lower city know."

"It's not so terrible, once you get to know it."

"Except for the eating its brides."

"Yes." Lady Astrauskaite picked up her napkin, and began to twist it in her fingers. "It wasn't the witch's fault, you know. She told the queen to eat one of two flowers, and only one. Red for a boy, or white for a girl. And she ate the white first, but then she thought of her husband, and how he needed a son, and ate the red as well."

"And the queen told you this, my lady?"

"Yes. In confidence. The king would be furious if he knew."

There was a silent question in her gaze, asking if Irena would keep that confidence, and Irena nodded back. She knew of angry husbands and angry fathers, though her father had blessedly never been one. You never told them what you knew.

"She went back to the witch, she told me. After the lindwurm was born, and again, in desperation, after the second princess was wed and eaten."

"And what did the witch tell her?"

"The first time, that the lindwurm could only be made human if someone was found to trade their one skin for the ten it wore. And that of course was impossible, because who wished to be a lindwurm? The second time, she gave up another way, but it would require great courage from the bride."

She looked Irena in the eye. Another silent question, and again, Irena nodded.

"Tell it to me."

"As the queen told me that the witch told her, when you retire for the wedding night, you must have ready a tub of lye, and a tub of milk, and a stack of ten birch rods. And you must be dressed in ten layers of dresses. Then, when the time comes to undress, you must take off one layer at a time, and tell the lindwurm to shed a skin in exchange for each one. By the time you are both finished, the innermost part of the lindwurm will be exposed. Then dip the birch rods in lye, to beat it into the right shape, and bath it in milk, to give it a new skin. And last and most importantly, you must lie and embrace it the whole night through, as a woman embraces a lover."

"But there was the third princess before me," Irena said. "Did she not try this?"

"No," Lady Astrauskaite said, her gaze downcast. "I told her what the queen told me, and I had the tubs and the birch rods ready. But she had told me twice that she was not sure that she could embrace the lindwurm, that the last piece seemed the hardest. And at the wedding she tried to flee. The lindwurm gave chase, and she- she was caught and devoured."

Where had she thought to run, in this crumbling old castle? Maybe it had seemed less of a cage to a princess. But she'd been caught in it nonetheless.

"I will not run," Irena said. Clearly she could not. "And if the other choice is to be eaten, of course I will try the witch's spell."

Lady Astrauskaite smiled, worn and relieved. "The dresses I sent to your rooms should be enough to bring you to ten layers. I will bid the servants have the tubs ready in the marriage chamber, and the birch rods with them. They gave me no argument before, and will not now, though they might have looked askance at you."

Of course they would obey her. They hovered nearby even now; surely they'd heard everything. And surely they would snatch just as eagerly at a chance to be rid of the lindwurm.

***

Despite the hope that Lady Astrauskaite had offered, Irena could not sleep the whole night through. It was difficult to think about herself being eaten. But it was easy to think about her father waking without her, confused and distressed by her absence. Any explanation the Widow Simoniene made would confuse him more, or upset him if he could understand it.

Irena dressed herself in her ten layers, her own well-fitting dresses on the bottom, Lady Astraukaite's larger, more splendid dresses on the top. By the time she had put the tenth and last one on, the ones below padded it thoroughly, so that she seemed to fill it out the same way that a rich woman would.

The wedding was a thoroughly dismal affair. First there was a feast, tediously long, interrupted by faltering speeches between every course. Every speaker proposed a toast to the happy couple, and Irena, who had never had more than a single glass of watered wine in a night, had to struggle to keep her head from spinning.

She wasn't even seated close to her intended spouse, for the lindwurm had a table of its own, away from the grand one where Irena sat amid the royal cousins. Food enough for ten men went down the great creature's gullet. It was scaled like a snake in mold-colored grey, with stiff ridges along its spine. There were legs near the front end, powerful and clawed, and above that the head of a dragon.

Though the servants kept its table laden with steaming roasts and sweetmeats, it kept its eye on her, staring with unabashed hunger. Only when Irena met its gaze directly did it look away. No one else at the table seemed to acknowledge its presence. Nor hers, for that matter. Only Lady Astrauskaite tried to speak to her, and quickly was diverted.

If the feast was dismal, the wedding ceremony was more so. Prince Viktoras escorted Irena to the dais from one side of the hall, and the queen, pale-faced and stiff-backed, walked with the lindwurm from the other. The priest's hands trembled as he turned the pages of the holy book.

"Irena Kazlauskaite, do you take this-" He had to pause there, take a deep breath, and then continue. "-This lindwurm, to be your wedded spouse, your protector, to love and to obey?"

"I do," she said, and was proud that her voice sounded clearer and stronger than his.

"Lindwurm, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, your helpmeet, to love and to protect?"

"I do," said the lindwurm. Its voice grated like stones rubbing across each other, and it still stared at Irena with nakedly hungry eyes.

She stared back, watching the restless twitching of its mighty coils, which could each trap a man within them, and the flex of its forelimbs, which had dragged its length effortlessly down the narrow aisle. It could tear the castle walls to pieces if it wanted to.

And why hadn't it? Trapped within these hallways, confined in rooms that must be entirely too small for it? For a creature so strong, the castle was no cage at all. Irena would have torn her way free and fled to the countryside long ago. She looked at the hunger in its eyes and felt an echo of it in her own heart, imagining how easily it, unlike her, could break loose from its prison.

Yet it stayed, pretending to princedom, dragging her into its farce of a royal wedding. She wished she could know why.

The priest finished giving his blessing. The young prince and the queen retreated, along with the trembling priest, from the dais. A forced, ragged cheer rang out from the assembled witnesses. She tore her eyes away from the lindworm's body, and saw it tear its eyes away from hers.

There was no glad chivaree for the newly-wedded couple, only a solemn procession to the top of an elegantly-appointed tower. It was well-furnished, Irena saw as they wound their way upwards, but the furnishings were all damaged, fabrics torn by claw and tooth, wood cracked and splintered by the lindwurm's terrible tail. The enormous bed was new-made, with fresh sheets, but she could see where it, too, had scuffs and scars on the bedposts.

By the fire, two tubs sat waiting. One was filled with yellowish lye, the other with fresh white milk. Ten birch rods lay in a neat stack between them. Irena glanced back at her grim escort, and caught sight of Lady Astrauskaite, who nodded to her from the rear.

Then they all left, and the door slammed shut, and Irena was alone with her new spouse.

"My wife," the lindwurm said, in its stone-on-stone voice, coiling up very near to her.

"My name is Irena," she said, looking up to meet the lindwurm's eyes. "As we are married, you may call me by it. And what am I to call you by?"

The lindwurm reeled back from her. "I have been given no name. I should have the mirror to my twin's, but they will not grant it to me, for the priests say a monster cannot be baptized."

Irena was trying too hard not to show her trembling to spare time for pity. But at that phrasing, she looked at the lindwurm anew.

"The white flower was to be for a girl," she said, remembering the tale Lady Astrauskaite had shared with her. "And the queen ate that one before the other. Your name should be Viktorija."

"Yes," the lindwurm said, drawing closer. "You know the tale. The misborn child of greed and folly, trapped in a shape that no soul desires."

Irena looked up to meet those hungry eyes, now closer to starving. "If you feel so trapped inside that skin, why do you not exercise what freedom you do have? If you do not want to seem so monstrous, you should not eat the women you marry."

The lindwurm turned her head away. "It is this form. In it, there are urges that I cannot resist. When I desire something badly enough, I am driven to devour it. I desired flowers, as a child, and I devoured the garden my mother planted for me. I desired books, when I learned they held knowledge, and I devoured the library when Viktoras took me to it. And I desire humanity, and the love that humans feel for each other, and so-"

"And so," Irena echoed. "I will tell you now, I may know a way to free you from that skin. But you must do as I ask, and it may hurt, very badly."

The way Lady Astrauskaite had spoken of it, Irena had thought that the key would be trickery. But she had not thought then of speaking civilly with the lindwurm. It was one thing to lie to a monstrous creature, one who would be a man and a prince at the end of it. It was a very different thing to deceive another woman.

"You do?" The lindwurm turned towards her with amazing speed, eyes wide, claws gripping the floor so hard they left grooves in the wood. "No matter how it may hurt, I will do everything that you ask."

"Then first, you must shed a skin."

The lindwurm sagged a gainst the floor, the joy going out of her. "It is not time for me to shed, and I cannot force it to begin. Even my own claws cannot tear this terrible hide."

Irena thought back to Lady Astrauskaite's phrasing. She would have to act as closely to the witch's words as possible, if she was not going to fall into the same trap as the queen.

"I will show you," she said, turning her back to the lindwurm and reaching for the buttons of the topmost dress. "I will remove this dress, and you will remove a skin in exchange for it."

The air prickled around her like there were invisible eyes in every corner. As she stepped out of the dress and turned back around, she saw the lindwurm shaking herself out of her skin. Only the uppermost of its layers, for it must have grown many to be so impenetrable; but the skin beneath it was less scuffed, and the ridges softer-looking.

"This changes nothing," the lindwurm said, and then she fixed her hungry eyes on Irena again. "But you wear another dress beneath it."

"And I will take that one off, too."

She watched, this time, as the lindwurm reached behind her head and fumbled with the ridge down the back of her neck, the same way Irena's fingers fumbled on her buttons. The skin fell away in one layer, head and forelegs and tail peeling off together. Irena could feel the magic, watching and listening all around.

And so it went, dress and skin, over and over another eight times, until at last Irena was standing naked in the center of the room. The lindwurm's skins, softer and more tender with each layer, were piled behind her. And she stood in front of that pile, a raw, skinless thing, pitiful and helpless. She was only vaguely human in shape, yet, with her face as long as a horse's and her lower limbs bound together by ropes of muscle and sinew.

She trembled and whimpered with pain at the wood of the floor and the heat of the fire, agony against bare and oozing flesh. But her eyes were still hungry, fixed fast to Irena. Hungry and full of hope.

Irena swallowed her disgust and picked up the birch rods, to dip in the lye. It seemed cruel, when just the air and the floor pained the lindwurm so terribly, but there was no other choice, unless-

Unless one was found to trade their one skin for the ten it carried.

She had not dwelled upon the witch's first answer, any more than the Lady Astrauskaite had, or the queen. For those who had power in their own right, only one of the ways the witch had offered seemed worth the dwelling. The way that let the lindwurm's shape, even now, be chosen and defined by another.

She could feel the magic even more strongly now. It prickled against her skin, nearly burning between her shoulderblades. If was as if there were buttons there, too, waiting to be opened.

Irena's own obligations were discharged. Her father was in safe hands, his dotage well-funded. All that held her in place now was the threat of force, the cage of the castle looming over her.

Behind the lindwurm, her skins lay on the floor in a thick and fetid pile. If Irena could step out of her own skin, and don those, no bond or obligation would ever tie her down again. For what walls, what force of arms, could hold the lindwurm?

Her heart full of hunger, Irena dropped the rods pressed her fingers against the back of her neck, to the place where the magic burned. But no seam or button came clear. The magic seemed to lean in closer, listening intently. It had waited, she remembered, for them to voice the exchange, each of the ten times before.

"Viktorija," she said, "will you make a trade with me? My one skin, for the ten of yours?"

"Yes," Viktorija answered, and her voice was small, and cracking, but full of joy. "I will make that trade with you."

Irena reached to the back of her neck again. Her skin came apart cleanly at her touch, without pain. She stepped out of it, as she had stepped out of the dresses, and cried out immediately at the feel of splintered wood on her skinless feet, and the draft from the fire against her skinless flesh. Viktorija was much stronger than she was, to endure them with only whimpers.

Walking towards her, Irena held her skin out, open all down the back. Viktorija reached out and took it, and it wrapped itself around her, splitting her lower limbs into two legs, remolding her face and her arms, imposing a woman's shape upon her formless flesh.

She stood, still trembling, and lifted up the first of her own scaled skins for Irena to step into. Irena felt her legs fuse together as they entered the tail, her flesh painlessly elongating to fill the space as the much-larger skin closed over her. Then the next skin, and the next, each layer of scales less tender, until the last one went on, and she was so encased in the lindwurm's armor that nothing in the king's whole armory could have broken through.

The skin closed, but the magic was still there, hanging in the air like a persistent damp. Irena felt her forelegs shaking, and her head was heavy; she looked at Viktorija, who was shaking too.

Stretching out her heavy coils, she fought exhaustion to wrap them around Viktorija. Then she crawled up onto the bed, pulling Viktorija up with her. Curled around her, on the soft, claw-shredded mattress, Irena fell swiftly and soundly asleep, embracing Viktorija like a lover.

***

They were roused in the morning by the creak of the door. The king and queen entered, fearful, and Prince Viktoras and Lady Astrauskaite walked in after, both downcast with concern. But they all looked in amazement at the bed, and who was in it.

Irena looked down at herself and Viktorija. Her own scales gleamed black, sleek and shining, instead of the mold-colored mottling that Viktorija had sported. And while Irena's own hair had been straight and dusty-colored, her skin weathered and her face thin, Viktorija was plump and noble-pale between Irena's coils, with a snub nose and a round face and chestnut hair falling in long curls.

"But," Lady Astrauskaite said, her eyes filling with tears. "The birch rods, and the lye, and the milk-"

"The witch's words were true. Here is your sister, my lady, Your Highness, and here is your daughter, your majesties. Last night she traded me her ten skins for my one, and we are both more comfortable in our new attire."

The king's hands worked at his sides, tightening into fists, then loosening when he looked again at Irena's coiling black bulk. "I would rather a daughter and her wife than a daughter and another lindwurm. I had been told you meant to save my child, but you have only traded for her troubles."

Viktorija was stirring now in Irena's coils, her eyes blinking open. She smiled at her family, and three of the four smiled back. Even the king's hard face softened.

"My father-to-be, be glad," Lady Astrauskaite said, sweet and coaxing. "You have a daughter, to please your wife with, and your son has a sister for the two of you to spoil. Irena has done this for us, as a loyal servant of the crown."

"Yes," the king said, drawing back his ire. He raised his gaze to meet Irena's eyes. "What do you want from me for this service?"

Irena unwound herself, gently, from Viktorija, then slithered off the bed. She dug her claws into the much-abused wood of the floor and gloried at her strength when it splintered and broke.

Her bride-price would keep her father fed for life, and she trusted the Widow Simoniene. There was not a feather's worth of weight upon her. "I want nothing but my freedom, Sire. And for you to treat your daughter well."

"I will make sure she is cared for," said Lady Astrauskaite, looking at Irena fondly, without fear. "For she will be my sister, just as I will still consider you."

Irena looked at her closely, trying to tell if there was any longing in her eyes. But there was only only relief and gladness in her, no appetite for claws and scales. And her hand was so firmly wrapped around the prince's that he was very clearly where her paltry human hunger lay.

"Yes," Irena said, to her and her alone. "Care well for her. She would have endured terrible pain to take this shape, and it would be wrong to let her suffer more now that she has it. As for myself, I will go into the countryside, and I will be free."

The king and queen stepped one way, the prince and his lady another, and Irena surged past them and through the open door. Winding her way down the staircase, she felt her tail bash against the walls, and delighted in the way they cracked with each blow. Half-walking, half-crawling, she emerged into the ruined garden at the foot of the tower and made for a gate in the wall.

It wasn't big enough for her full bulk, but that didn't matter. She pushed her head through, and thrust with her shoulders, and the masonry broke around her without even a strain of effort. Heart pounding more and more joyously, Irena slithered out through the hole she'd made.

The sky was blue above her, bright with morning sunlight, filled with the scents of earth and beasts and flowers. Irena paused for a moment to take it in, raising her head and twisting up and up on her own coils until she could see the rippling fields stretching away from the walls. As she lowered herself again, she saw a flock of birds in flight, winging their way over those fields towards a forest beyond.

Irena started after them. She would see what freedom tasted like, and savor it.

#writing #original #fairytales #lindworm #lindwurm #fantasy

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sydnikov · 3 years

Text

eight hours (pt. 2)

« 8 hours. 480 minutes. 28,800 seconds. One eight-hour long plane trip to a tropical island is all it takes for Blake McGinn's not-so-friendly relationship with Andrei Svechnikov to completely and utterly change in a way neither would have ever expected. It's a shame that Hawaii is only a two-week trip. »

Pairing: Andrei Svechnikov/fem!OC

Word Count: 9,095

Warnings: Cursing, alcohol consumption, heavy kissing, strong implication of (consensual) sex, bad Russian translating

A/N: Consider this a gift for getting me to 230+ followers, I love you all so much and couldn't thank you enough for supporting me. So now, more than four months later, this monster of a part is finally finished... Definitely stepped out of my ‘writing’ comfort zone for this one so I hope you guys like it, because it's so spicy y’all. Get ready. You’re in for a wild ride.

Translations:

¹фейерверк - firecracker

²черт возьми - fucking hell

³Красиво ... Я не могу поверить, что наконец-то ты подо мной - Beautiful… I can't believe I finally have you under me

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but Blake disagreed. She thought the face as a whole revealed more about one's emotions than anything, because after all, don't you need the entire face to see someone smile? In this particular instance, as she stared at herself in the mirror with panic and nervousness written all across her face, she couldn't help but agree.

For a moment, she contemplated just sleeping in the bathtub.

I mean… It's sanitary… Right? Blake cast a wary glance to the bathtub in question, but before she could think of a plan to smuggle blankets and pillows a voice was calling her name from outside.

"Are you done yet? You take too long." And ah, there it was, the familiar feeling of anger that came whenever Andrei opened his mouth.

Feeling stupid for worrying so much over sharing a bed with him when clearly they hated each other, Blake straightened her shoulders, looking at her herself in the mirror determinedly. This was fine, right?

Narrowing her eyes as the bastard knocked once more, Blake quickly threw open the door and glared at a surprised Andrei, not expecting her sudden entrance.

Blake raised her arms exasperatedly. "I'm done now," She deadpanned, momentarily confused at the way his eyes widened and his mouth abruptly shut. But then she realized she really didn't care to find out what was running through his mind.

Andrei followed the redhead with his eyes as she swept by him to crawl into the bed, but the only thing he was focusing on was the way her pajamas left little to the imagination, and was wondering if she did that on purpose to spite him.

He really didn't feel like getting socked in the face that night though and didn't want to risk making them more uncomfortable than they already were, so Andrei settled on merely giving her a terse nod before quickly fleeing into the bathroom, maybe closing the door a little more forcefully than he would have liked.

Damn woman.

Blake muttered to herself as she heard the shower turn on, and then once she was sure he hadn't forgotten anything quickly threw the covers and began scrounging around the room for as many pillows as possible to put in-between them.

What? She wanted as little contact between them as possible.

Lining the pillows down the middle of the bed, Blake attempted to ignore how ridiculous both her and the pillow wall looked as she crawled into her side of the bed, whipping out her phone to distract her right as the bathroom door opened, letting out clouds of steam and a shirtless Andrei soon after.

Blake’s mouth went dry the moment she saw the muscled chest of Andrei step through, and luckily she had half a mind to keep her mouth shut as she gawked, though the staring couldn’t be helped. But it’s not like she hadn’t caught Andrei doing the exact same thing to her before.

Andrei looked to be stuck in a similar predicament, except his was more of amusement rather than just plain embarrassment. As his eyes roamed the parts of her body exposed and then to the ridiculous pillow wall, she couldn’t really tell if the blush on his face was from her or just getting out of the shower. “What?” Blake snapped, dragging her blanket up to her chin as if to protect herself from his stare.

“Nothing,” he responded, biting back his amused smile as he reluctantly crawled into bed. As Andrei adjusted himself to get comfortable just as Blake had done prior, the two of them both somehow ended up flat on their backs as they stared at the dark ceiling.

It was absolutely suffocating. Both could feel the tension like a cord ready to snap, like something was about to be released. The anticipation was bubbling up so quickly that Blake couldn’t help but make the first move, throwing herself over onto her side and cutting off whatever the hell had just about happened.

Soon her eyes were falling shut, her breath evening out into a gentle rise and fall of her chest, and the last thought on her mind was that maybe the pillow wall would work in keeping them separated since everything else in the universe seemed to do that job just fine.

Unfortunately, because nothing could ever work out the way she wanted it to, as Blake woke up that following morning, she was now thoroughly convinced that she was living in a rom-com.

The faint sound of waves crashing onto the beach shore and the bright Hawaiian sun shining through the windows wasn’t what first registered in her mind, but instead it was the soft puffs of air against her neck that were sending shivers down her spine, along with the feeling of being pressed into what must have a been a very warm pillow.

Her eyes opened very slowly. Pillows didn’t breathe.

With her eyes still riddled with sleep, Blake turned around to find herself as the little spoon to Andrei himself, and what was worse was that she didn’t even hate it. With a muscular arm wrapped loosely around her waist and with his head buried in her neck, she found it almost too comfortable.

She probably would have let the comforting warmth lull her back to sleep if it wasn't for the sudden shift in movement from Andrei behind her, his arm tightening around her waist subconsciously, and that’s when she realized that she and Andrei were cuddling and that she was just letting it happen.

Of all the cliche things to happen… This was NOT a romance movie.

Blake carefully slid his arm off of her waist and slowly wiggled her way out of his hold, biting her lip as she did so because she did not want to accidentally wake him up and deal with the awkward interaction of explaining why she was so close to him.

Fortunately, she freed herself without any issues, unless she counted her red face and flustered expression as a bad thing. Which she did. A lot.

Quietly tip-toeing to the bathroom, Blake quickly locked the door and pressed herself against it with a shaky sigh, attempting to run a hand through her tangled hair. It was safe to say that this was not how she expected the first night of her supposedly ‘relaxing’ vacation to start.

After taking a hasty shower, Blake threw on a pair of simple jeans shorts and a loose top with minimal make-up. Maybe she spent just a little more time on her hair than usual, making sure it was smooth and fell down in shiny waves on a good day. She convinced herself that it was just because she wanted to look good in front of everyone else on their first day out.

By the time she was finished and had exited the bathroom, Andrei was just putting on his shirt, giving her a tiny glimpse of his chiseled abdomen.

Fuck.

“You ready to head down?” Andrei asked nonchalantly, referring to eating breakfast with the rest of their crew. Observing her awkwardly standing by the bed, he couldn’t help but wonder why she was hunching in on herself. Though her resolutely avoiding eye contact wasn’t new, her red cheeks and the way she was nervously shuffling in place was.

Blake only responded with a nod which Andrei only found slightly odd, but everyone knew she wasn’t a morning person.

As they made their way down to the lobby from the elevator, the Russian hockey player found himself casting curious glances towards the red-head beside him, wondering why she looked so stiff and quiet. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that the pillow wall she had made was all but destroyed once he woke up, but he wasn’t sure why that would be bothering her so much.

Unless she—

Oh.

Andrei smirked.

“So did you sleep well?” He started slowly, biting back a grin when Blake whipped her head around to stare at him owlishly.

Meeting his eyes for the first time that morning, Blake really couldn’t help the way her eyes trailed down his cheeks and jawline, down to his chest and finally to his abdomen. Why did he look so good today? Actually, why did he always look so good?

Sure, Blake knew he was fit, all hockey players were, but it was an entirely different experience actually seeing it rather than just knowing. And seeing did she do, because no matter how much she thought of her hatred for him she just could not stop thinking of how it felt to be wrapped up in his arms.

Eventually, she was broken out of her thoughts when the very subject of her thoughts coughed to get her attention.

Blake quickly took her eyes away, and Andrei raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘yeah, I caught you, what are you going to do about it?’

She gritted her teeth. “Yeah. I slept great. You?” Blake avoided eye contact and stared straight ahead, determined to avoid speaking to him for the rest of the duration of the trip. Even if they shared the same room.

Andrei relished in the power he now held over Blake, though not for the reasons one might think. Blake was clearly feeling flustered and awkward around him, and had a feeling he knew exactly why.

He still hadn’t quite let himself hope for the possibility of her returning his attraction quite yet, though.

As the elevator doors opened with a quiet ding, Andrei lost his chance to respond as Blake practically flew out of the elevator, leaving the left winger behind in the dust.

Lucky for Blake, it was very easy to leave behind her thoughts and feelings as she entered the crowded hotel lobby and found her way to the breakfast lounge, locating her brother’s messy red hair with little struggle.

Smiling at the hostess, Blake made her way to the large buffet table they found themselves at with flaming red cheeks and roaming eyes. Returning the smiles and greetings a few of the guys and girls directed at her, she slid into an empty seat next to Brock with Jamie on his other side.

Now, Brock himself had quite the night too (no, not that), for he was stuck staring at his room ceiling wondering if his baby sister and a guy he knew liked her were doing okay. The guilt had grown so bad to the point that he contemplated just banging on their door and demanding Blake just room with him and Jamie. But now, as he took in her red cheeks and how Blake’s eyes roamed around the room until eventually settling on Andrei who had just walked in, he knew that something had definitely happened and that his decision might not have been as heartless as he thought it was.

Brock grinned, and ignoring the sharp look Jamie immediately sent him, he turned to his little sister and nudged her arm. “Sleep well?” He asked cheekily, his grin only widening as Blake slowly turned to face him and hissed, “Shut. Up.”

Brock laughed until Jamie came to Blake’s defense and told him to, also, shut up.

Luckily, things went smooth-sailing after that, and Blake got to peacefully enjoy the morning with the team, her family, while admiring the Hawaiian scenery from outside the windows. So caught up in admiring the sparkling blue waves as they crashed along the beach shore, Blake failed to notice the sudden additions to their group at breakfast until she felt a body sliding into the empty seat next to her.

Blake stiffened immediately, recognizing the faint smell of sandalwood and mint from their rather… close morning together. Andrei really lived to torture her.

The red-head turned her head slowly, her hand clenched tightly around her glass as she observed the way the left-winger smiled cheekily at something Sepe said before casting her a quick glance.

"Something wrong?" He asked, a lone eyebrow raised temptingly. The little shit knew exactly what he was doing.

Blake smiled stiffly, narrowing her eyes as the Russian held back a laugh. The stares everyone else were giving them didn't seem to be bothering Andrei as much as they were bothering her.

Ignoring the way her brother was eyeing her from the side, Blake calmly placed her hands in her lap before sneering back at Andrei's awaiting expression. "Nope, everything’s fine."

Thankfully, Andrei finally decided to take pity on her and eventually turned around back to the others with that same infuriating smirk of his. Blake was okay with this until she slowly became aware of the way her heart was beating, the water she was now gulping down doing nothing to calm the heat inside of her. She couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or not, but after casting a quick glance towards the frequent source of her rising emotions, Blake found that Andrei had shuffled closer to her sometime during her inner dilemma and his knee was now no more than an inch away from her own.

And either Andrei had been really good at acting in school or was genuinely unaware of the way he was making her heart race, because he refused to meet her eyes no matter how much she shuffled around in her seat. It was only when there was a lull in their conversation that she felt his gaze, and when Blake finally turned to meet his eyes she found an expression on his face that made her tongue run dry.

A good dry. And that scared her. A lot.

Remembering the way she had enjoyed being tangled up in him that morning, Blake very quickly broke their heated eye contact and abruptly stood up, her chair sliding back with a loud squeak that had unintentionally gathered everyone's attention.

"I'm, uh…" Blake swallowed, unnerved by the amount of eyes on her. "I'm going to go do some sight-seeing." Smiling awkwardly, she was just about to make her escape until the clearing of a throat caught her attention.

"I'm just about done too, so I don't mind coming along," Marty, as loving and as friendly he was, was very oblivious sometimes, and while normally the warm, fatherly smile he sent her would make everything seem good and right in the world, him inviting himself along, which therefore left an open invitation for everyone to also invite themselves along, was the last thing she wanted.

"Great." Blake whispered to herself as the group stood up from their seats, all miraculously done with their breakfast as they began to navigate their way outside of the hotel. At least Blake now had the chance to escape a certain Russian's stare, even if that escape was with a group of girls who damn-well knew mutual attraction when they saw it.

Which was why Blake suddenly found herself being interrogated and thrown winks left and right from the girls around her as they shopped, mostly from Rosa, Sebastian's girlfriend, who had been rooting for Blake and Andrei since the very beginning.

According to her, anyways.

"Andrei was staring at you a bunch this morning," A teasing voice said from her right as Blake gritted her teeth and attempted to not flee into the nearest dressing room. "And— he sat next to you. On purpose."

"He was not staring at me, Rosa, and if he was it was probably just because he was mad about the argument we got into this morning." They had barely spoken to each other that morning, but Rosa didn’t need to know that.

"Huh, that's a first," came a teasing voice from her left, and as she turned around to meet a familiar blonde, Nykki, who had come along with Martin, Blake couldn’t help but cross her arms defensively. “We always argue, I have no clue why all of you are acting like this is a surprise,” The redhead grumbled, oblivious to the way both Rosa and Nykki simultaneously shared a knowing glance.

“Um, actually, it is a surprise,” said Rosa as they ventured off to another section of the store, and at Blake’s inquiring hum she continued. “You guys never argue in front of us anymore. Or at least when we aren’t paying attention. You almost just…” As Rosa fought to think of the action that described Blake’s retreating, Nykki popped in while holding a shirt up to her chest.

“You pretty much just run away, it’s really just Andrei who starts stuff now,” The blonde spoke as she compared tops, only briefly raising a brow at Blake’s disbelieving scoff before she and Rosa began searching through the clothing rack once more.

Blake did not run away. She just… Didn’t have the energy to continue the conversation. Or argument, or… Whatever. So she simply broke the fight before the temptation of getting up in his face became too strong to overcome.

Fuck.

As she continued to berate herself for her thoughts, Blake distractedly eyed an emerald green dress that looked to be made of satin, the material looking tight around the bust and hips that eventually fell to reveal a slit in the thigh.

“I bet Andrei would like that,” Rosa whispered in her ear with a barely-contained cackle, fighting the urge to laugh out loud at Blake’s red cheeks and the way her mouth opened to protest.

“He would not—”

“Alright, guys,” Jamie interrupted the teasing-fest, coming to Blake’s rescue with a small smile directed her way. “Knock it off, I’m sure she already has plenty to think on.”

“Yes, thank you, Jamie, my ever-loyal step-sister,” Blake quickly shot a glare with little mirth towards her two friends, moving to stand beside her brother’s fiancé with a thankful sigh.

Jamie rolled her eyes. She knew that Blake just wanted an escape from the words she knew deep down to be true.

"Anyways," Jamie shot her fiancé's sister a look, turning towards the girls the group was composed of. "I talked to the cashier who's a local here, and she recommended a few places for tourists to visit," She paused, taking in the blank looks everyone was giving her before she sighed and continued. "I mean clubs and bars, guys."

Now that got everyone's attention, except for Blake who, unfortunately, was not 21.

Blake grumbled as everyone else began to chatter excitedly, but luckily she had Rosa beside her who, along with Sebastian, weren't big fans of nightclubs.

"Can I safely assume you won't be leaving me tonight?"

"Yes, yes you can." Rosa linked their arms together, the pair trailing behind the group of bustling girls to wait for them to finish their shopping.

The red-head hummed skeptically, briefly running her hand over a rack of clothes. "And can I also assume that you'll be inviting Andrei to stay back too?"

A brief pause, and then Rosa laughed gleefully.

"Oh, absolutely."

Rosa's words kept running frustratingly through her head after they returned from their shopping spree, and the rest of that day for that matter. The fact that she'd be seeing Andrei in just a few hours excited her in a way that made her both curious and wary.

Blake sighed, applying the finishing touches of makeup to her face, her cheekbones lightly contoured and her eyes framed by a subtle touch of eyeliner.

Despite the fact that she was staying back, she figured that she could at least try to look nice while they hung out at the hotel bar.

The sound of low clap soon broke her out of her thoughts, and Blake set down the brush in her hand to face Rosa who had appeared next to her. "You look good, Little B," She whistled, ignoring the disgruntled look the redhead shot her at the nickname.

Blake turned her attention back to the mirror in front of her. “Perhaps," She grinned wryly. “Though you're definitely more overdressed than I am.”

Rosa leaned her hip against the counter, watching Blake brush her hair out of her face. "The situation calls for it. You didn't get the hint though, clearly…" The blonde teasingly bumped her shoulder, wondering what the red-head was thinking of.

"I don't have anyone to impress, unlike you." And really, Blake should have predicted a jab the moment those words left her mouth.

"I can think of someone who might appreciate you dressing for them."

"I do not-"

"Hey, are you guys ready?" A distant voice called out from behind the room, momentarily interrupting the two girls' conversation.

"Yeah, we're coming!" Blake soon responded, shooting a glare her giggling friend's way before she went to open the door, revealing Brock, Sebastian, and several of the other guys standing on the other side.

The red-head approached her brother first, sending him a cheeky grin as he eyed her choice of clothing with a raise of his eyebrows. "You look nice," He commented lightly, trying to hold himself back from hiding his little sister from prying eyes.

Blake rolled her eyes. He should just be glad she wasn't fully decked out in a dress that showed nothing but skin.

Which she did pack. Just in case.

"I know," She quipped back, grinning at his immediate frown before she changed the topic. "Jamie and everyone else should be here in a few minutes."

"Are they avoiding the crowds?" A voice asked close to her right, causing her face to flush red before she whipped around to flash the culprit a withering glare.

Andrei. Of course.

"Yeah," She quickly cleared her throat, avoiding his eyes as she turned back to Brock who was glancing between his little sister and his teammate with suspicion before he slowly nodded his head.

Before he could question her further, Brock's attention was soon stolen by a loud group of girls entering the room fashionably late, just as Blake predicted.

Only, she may have been safe from her brother, but not from the man standing right next to her. She could feel him, feel the unmistakable heat between them and she even felt his eyes as they trailed up and down her body.

Strangely, she didn't feel embarrassed or annoyed like she normally would.

Attempting to distract herself from this not-so-stunning revelation, Blake turned her attention to her two infatuated friends' conversation.

"You look nice," Sebastian murmured to Rosa with a bashful smile, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her next to his body.

"I know," Rosa grinned cheekily in response, pressing a playful kiss to his cheek when he pouted and really, Blake couldn't have helped the small smile spreading across her face at the happy couple if she tried.

"Ready for tonight?" Blake nudged Andrei beside her when she caught him staring at her again, her tone wry and expression cutting as if to intimidate him.

Andrei grinned deviously. "With my little ¹фейерверк? Of course." The bright red flush that spread across her cheeks before she sent him a scathing glare and hurriedly left his side was worth it.

Shaking his head in amusement, he followed her with his eyes with practiced ease, admiring the way her clothing fit around her body like a glove, though he was soon distracted from his sightseeing by the goodbyes of all his teammates as they left for the bars, and once only the four of them remained, that's when they knew their night could begin.

"Poor little B who can't drink alcohol," Rosa cooed into Blake's ear as she leaned on her shoulder, and in retaliation the red-head shoved her back into Sebastian.

Rosa laughed, and once the group had all of their belongings they began to make their way down to the hotel lobby and into the bar, fully intending to take advantage of the smaller crowds now that everyone was out enjoying the clear skies and busy nightclubs.

"Not that busy here," Andrei murmured to the group as they settled at a table near the back of the room, and Blake couldn't help but notice how the lighting seemed to make him even more dark and alluring than he normally was.

Rosa's shoulders seemed to drop with a sigh of relief, and Sebastian exhaled a slow breath before seeming to relax in his seat. Both hated large crowds, especially drunk crowds, and Blake thought it was really unfair at how perfect they were for each other.

As the only underage person in the group, Blake opted to stay back as the couple went to the bar to gather drinks, but Andrei, unfortunately, decided to stay back.

The redhead scowled at the constant glances he was sending her. "I don't need a babysitter."

Andrei shrugged, leaning in ever so slightly. "Brock would disagree."

"He told you to watch me?"

"More like make sure you do not accidentally set the bar on fire."

"That was one time—"

"His point exactly."

Blake's eye twitched, and Andrei didn’t bother holding back his grin.

"You can come watch me get a drink then." Blake grumbled under her breath, shooting the hockey player a glare when he laughed at her words.

Since Andrei was, unfortunately, very good at keeping an eye on her, Blake wasn't able to charm the bartender into giving her an alcoholic drink, but that didn't stop her from making friends who could have alcohol.

Taking one last gulp of the sugary drink she had ordered, Blake sent Andrei a cheeky smile before walking over to a group of girls giggling a few seats over. If she couldn't have a good time without Andrei by her side, she was just going to have to improvise.

One of the girls soon noticed Blake walking over with an easy smile, and she immediately gasped which got the rest of her friends' attention. "I love your dress, oh my gosh."

Blake grinned. "This ol' thing? Please, I like your dress much better, anyways." And honestly, she did. The girl whose name she later found out to be Alani was wearing a tight, black dress covered in sequins that went off the shoulder and had sheer sleeves. It hugged her slim figure perfectly, with her long, dark hair complimenting her sharp features and her makeup bringing out her hypnotizing eyes.

It was no wonder that she was getting a majority of the looks there tonight, and hell, Blake wouldn't have even been surprised if Andrei himself was one of them.

Even if that thought made her slightly jealous.

As she easily integrated herself into the small group, the night continued to creep on, the bar slowly becoming more and more crowded until they were forced to claim a table for themselves. Andrei, though, remained at the bar, in the same place he was when he first followed her over. He looked to be sipping on some sort of alcoholic drink she didn't recognize, and Sebastian and Rosa were still nowhere to be seen.

So much for not leaving her tonight…

"Blake," One of Alani's friends poked her shoulder, and the red-head turned around with her lips pressed to the rim of her drink, curious at the undertones of urgency and excitement in her voice. "You have yourself an admirer..." She grinned mischievously, and Blake almost wanted to ignore what she said because she wasn't exactly interested in a one-night-stand.

But because she could feel a pair of eyes burning into her back she turned around ever so slowly, narrowing her eyes to look for the culprit. It didn’t take long to find them, and, lo and behold, it was the very Russian himself who was blatantly staring her way.

She wasn’t even surprised at this point.

Blake shivered as their eyes met. Somehow, they seemed darker and more determined than ever before, and she couldn't tell if it was the lighting or the drinks he might have had.

"Do you know him?" One of the girls asked curiously, all noticing the way they had held eye contact for a moment too long.

Blake shook her head almost immediately. "Nope. Never seen the guy before in my life." She avoided all of their prying eyes, grabbing another drink and taking a large sip to calm her nerves.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

"But he's cute, right?" Alani pried, wondering why this new friend of hers seemingly wanted nothing to do with the gorgeous man staring at her.

Blake almost cringed at the question, but the teen managed to keep her facial expressions in check. "He's, um… Not really my type."

All at once, they all snorted or expressed various phrases of shock or denial. "Yeah, no. You're going over to him and saying hi."

Blake squeaked as suddenly her drink was ripped from her hand with several pairs of arms now trying to push her forward. "Wait! Wait, I have a better idea," At their skeptical glances, she continued. "What if I just go dance? He'll join if he's really interested, right?"

She didn't wait for a response, instead she merely laughed at their stunned expressions before taking a large gulp of whatever amount left she had of her drink, and then was sending a short wave to Alani and her friends before she daringly met Andrei's eyes and marched onto the dance floor.

It wasn't all that hard to find her place despite the large number of bodies packed tight against one another, and Blake felt right at home as she melted into the rhythm of the music that seemed so much stronger now that she was in the heart of it.

It didn't take her long to find Andrei again once Blake found her place, for his presence practically commanded attention at the bar. She wasn't blind, after all, and noticed the amount of looks he was getting from the other women around, and she didn't particularly want to think on why she felt so angry at the thought of him reciprocating their interest.

Feeling braver now that she had a bit of liquid courage inside her, Blake made sure the Russian was watching before she grinded back against a rather tall stranger, his hands soon migrating down to her hips as his head lowered to nuzzle against her neck.

She ignored the stranger's ministrations easily, and as a result raised a challenging eyebrow at Andrei and watched the way his eyes flashed at the sight of another man touching her. She found that she liked the look of jealousy and possessiveness on his face, and she found that she wanted to see more.

Blake turned around as the mysterious stranger rotated her in time with the music, their eye contact breaking as now she was looking into the heavy eyes of the drunk, handsome man from before. He tried leaning down to whisper in her ear, but Blake wasn't interested in whatever offers he had to give her.

For that night at least, her mind was on one man and one man only.

As Blake slipped from the man's grasp and disappeared back into the crowd, her eyes searched the bar for Andrei's familiar figure, but this time she came up empty.

The red-head narrowed her eyes. Where could he have gone in such a short amount of time?

Right as she spun around to head back deeper into the crowd of dancing bodies, Blake suddenly locked eyes with the man himself, finding him to be completely surrounded as he moved his body in time with the music.

She didn't know he could dance...

She was just about to go approach him, but that's when she noticed his arm around a pretty, dark-skinned woman's waist, her arms wrapped loosely around his neck with her hips swaying in time with his own.

Blake felt herself grimace. Fine, so he wanted to play it that way…

Tilting her chin up sharply, Blake whipped around to find the closest man next to her and sneakily slid a hand around his waist, and she had to bite back a grin when he immediately returned her interest. As his arms wrapped around her waist to pull her into his body, Blake snuck another glance at Andrei and found him completely ignoring the woman in his arms, instead finding him clenching his jaw as he stared daggers at both her and the hands on her hips.

Just as he looked like he was about to march over, Andrei was soon blocked from her sight as the crowd shifted, and eventually thoughts of pissing off Andrei drifted away from her mind as the music carried her off, her mind blissfully empty of any bothersome thoughts as she slowly lost track of time. Maybe it was because she was drunk, and maybe it was because she was tired of playing games with him, but… Now, she just wanted to pretend that nothing had happened and he was just Andrei, the boy she hated because he broke her heart before anything between them could have ever begun.

She felt tears trickling down her cheeks at the thought, and damn it not again- but then a drunk, stumbling body suddenly crashed into her side, breaking her out of the intoxicated haze of emotion she found herself trapped in.

And then things were suddenly too loud, too intense, too much. The music, the voices, the sound of thundering footsteps hitting the floor… Blake abandoned her dance partner, feeling slightly sick as she pushed and shoved her way through the crowd of people. Thoughts of Andrei were barely on her mind as she retreated from the bar, not realizing the consequences that would occur with her leaving completely unaccounted for.

Whatever… It's not like he'd care. Right?

Blake aggressively fixed the straps of her dress, grumbling incoherently to herself as she found her way to the beachfront shielded by the hotel bar.

Stumbling to the ground, the red-head gladly sunk her body into the sand, laying down on her back and trying to calm her swimming vision as she stared at the stars. She hadn't realized how intoxicated she was until she had trouble walking, but at least she was thinking clearly…

Somewhat.

And what was she doing, really?

Why was she suddenly now interested in the guy who made her so upset all that time ago? What had happened to make the energy between them so different?

What had changed? Maybe it was their age... Blake was legally an adult, had been for two years now, and Andrei, well… He could drink alcohol now. Their age difference had always been minimal, but now it was even more unimportant compared to when they were 16 and 18.

Was it the way he looked? If anyone had a glow-up these last few years, it was definitely Andrei.

Was it the fact they were sharing a room, the closest proximity they'd been in with each other since probably… Ever?

Wiggling her toes in the sand, Blake sighed frustratedly. Whatever she felt was confusing her like nothing had ever before, and all she really wanted to do was pretend that tonight didn't happen and that she and Andrei were still hating each other like they used to.

Though the way her heart sped up at the memory of his eyes burning holes into her body at the sight of another man touching her had her thinking that maybe there was more to her relationship with Andrei now than she thought.

As she sat there staring at the night sky lost in her thoughts, nowhere did it occur to her how much time had passed without a single person who had a clue of where she went. It wasn't until she heard a distant voice calling her name that she was reminded of the fact that she left without a single word to anybody.

"Blake!? Blake, ²черт возьми-" The voice was vaguely familiar...

Mind still foggy, Blake didn't recognize the figure marching towards her until he was grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her up from the ground.

"Andrei?" She asked confusedly, but her words just went in through one ear and right out the other.

"What were you thinking running away like that?" Andrei practically shouted, his face worried and relieved and angry as he held onto her like he was never letting her go again.

Blake, still in shock at his sudden appearance, responded quite dumbly. "What?"

"You ran off, Blake. Was your phone even turned on?" At her guilty stare, Andrei swore something in Russian and ran an exasperated hand down his face. "You can not do that again, you had everyone worried sick." He stated imploringly, wishing he could make her understand how scary it was to see her normally-calm brother lose his cool, how scary it was for him to not realize where she was.

Andrei's voice was forceful and loud as his eyes stared desperately into her own, and then suddenly Blake was getting irritated because what was he to think he had the right to be protective over her? With her thoughts swimming with the influence of alcohol in her veins, Blake scowled and narrowed her eyes, forcefully tugging her arms free from his hold.

"I can take care of myself, thank you."

Andrei scoffed.

"Yes. Clearly."

Blake's response was immediate. "Says the one who runs off the moment some bimbo latches herself to your arm." She blames the alcohol for that random outburst, and really, what she said didn't make any sense whatsoever. The both of them realize it's just jealousy talking practically at the same time.

Andrei narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And what were you doing all night, ³фейерверк? Rubbing your body against any hands that touched you is what it looked like to me." He realized he shouldn't have sunk so low the moment the words fell from his mouth, but it wasn't like Blake hadn't just done the exact same thing too.

Blake's vision is suddenly lined with red, and really she's so relieved at the anger as opposed to the attraction she'd been feeling lately that she couldn't help but take two steps closer and shove a finger into his chest to chew him out.

Except, when she lifted her chin to meet his eyes, she didn't realize how close she had put them until they were practically nose-to-nose, their chests breathing so heavily that they pressed against one another and left them burning.

Despite the weather that night being rather cool, Blake was burning up. The temperature inside her was rising, her stomach bubbling with anticipation… Andrei's eyes were dark as he trapped her in his gaze, unable to look away. The tension between them was reminiscent of the night before, but this time it was more.

The heat was rising, their heads moving closer and warning bells ignored as all they could think about was each other.

Blake licked her lips, and Andrei's eyes closely followed the movement. Her breathing stopped, and like a string being pulled taut…

It snapped.

Blake wasn't sure who moved first, but the next thing she knew there were hands suddenly latching onto her hips and pulling her into a warm, muscular chest, her arms now moving to wrap around his shoulders and bring his head down into a blistering kiss.

They were nothing but feral, kissing with tongue and teeth and their hands roaming excitedly with little restraint, and yet the entire kiss was desperate, like their lives depended on it. Anger, relief, desperation, attraction... They kissed like they would never get the chance to again.

Blake tugged on the roots of Andrei’s hair, and she grinned into their kiss when he let out a slight hiss at the pull. In retaliation, the Russian harshly tugged her closer, and there wasn't a single doubt in her mind that there wasn’t an inch of space left between them.

Andrei bit into the skin of her bottom lip and Blake's heart was racing, pounding in her chest and her blood was rushing hot through her veins as his daring lips nibbled their way down her jaw. She almost couldn't believe it was Andrei she was kissing, the boy she had convinced herself she hated since the very moment they met. In the midst of her blissed-out mind, she wondered how she could have ever hated such a good kisser. It wasn't until she felt his body start to loom over her that she was getting mad all over again, because fuck this was really Andrei she was making out with and god she was outraged at the image of him dancing with another woman and enjoying it replaying in her head over and over again.

She hated him. She loved him. She despised him-

She snarled at herself before bringing both of her hands up to grab at his face, forcefully tugging his head back up from where he was littering kisses on her neck to meet her lips once more.

And Andrei was in fucking heaven. He never wanted this moment to end considering he had a pretty good idea what Blake would do once she realized that they'd made out. He wanted to erase the imprints of anyone else who had ever put their hands on her and replace them with his own, and he wanted to devour the girl in his arms and show her how much he loved-

The left-winger was suddenly rearing back with a choked groan, having to stop himself from pulling her back into him when she let out a whine at the loss of contact.

Did he… Did he love her?

Blake looked up at him then, lips red and swollen and her expression dazed. She looked so beautifully blissed, and he had to wonder how he'd resisted her for so long.

Yeah. Yeah, he was pretty sure he did.

While Blake's eyes were slightly foggy, they still held a certain clarity in them that let him know she was still aware of her actions, only partially influenced by the alcohol.

But fuck, she'd been drinking. Andrei brought a hand up to run down his face, blowing out a tense breath. Like Blake, he was sure he didn't look much different, with her blissed-out expression and all…

While he was having a slight mental breakdown, Blake became irritated with their sudden pause in activity. She found she quite liked kissing him, and didn't particularly want to think of the consequences this night would bring later on.

She stepped closer, attempting to drag his shoulders back down to her level, but Andrei quickly stopped her.

"Wait— no, Blake, wait— do you… Are you sure? With me?" He asked, his pupils blown wide and his words slightly jumbled at the thought of her actually saying yes.

Blake grabbed the lapels of his shirt, which he really had no business looking so good in. "Call a cab. Right now."

...and, well, Andrei does just that.

Though honestly, they probably would have just walked back if it weren't for Blake whining about her heels killing her feet. For being slightly drunk, she sure did walk far from the hotel considering how much she claimed her feet were hurting her.

"Why did you wear them then?"

"Because beauty is pain, Andrei."

But neither was prepared for the amount of tension between them once they crawled into the car. It was thick and simmering between them, and Blake was pretty sure the uber driver put up the window separating them because of it.

It was silent for several long, agonizing moments until the sound of Andrei's ringtone broke through the silence.

"Did you get my text?" He asked the person on the other end of the line. "Mhmm, yeah, I found her. Yeah, she can speak. She isn't that drunk." Blake recognized her brother's voice almost immediately, and from what she could hear she could already tell that he was absolutely pissed.

Right at that second he handed her the phone, purposefully letting their fingers brush against each other. She ignored the small smirk on his face when the contact made her shiver.

After shooting the Russian a glare, she put the phone up to her ear. "Um… Hey, Brock," She winced at how weak her voice sounded.

His response was immediate. "What the fuck did you think you were doing? Do you have any idea how worried we were for you, how worried I was? And the first night we're here too, really?" Came Brock's livid voice from the phone. She could have sworn she got whiplash from how strikingly similar his words were, for it was almost exactly what Andrei had said to her when he found her on the beach.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Brock, I didn't mean to-" Her voice suddenly cracked mid-speech, because Andrei, the little shit, had just placed his hand on her thigh, and when she turned to give him a withering glare of irritation, because no matter what he did the man was still unfairly hot, Andrei just raised a perfect eyebrow of his as if to say, 'what? don't let me stop you.'

However, her brother didn't let her stay lost in her thoughts for long. "You didn't mean to what?" Brock's sharp voice broke her out of her head, and that snapped Blake out of her glaring contest with Andrei, but she was still very aware of the warm hand on her thigh stroking slow, teasing circles just to hear the hitch in her voice. God, she was going to kill him.

"I… I'm sorry I didn't call you,” Blake managed to choke out over the harsh beating of her heart, for Andrei's hand was still continuing its languid motions.

"Can you imagine if mom or dad found out you just left? What if…" Blake didn't mean to tune out her brother's ranting, but the heat coming from Andrei's hand was especially distracting as it continued to move up her thigh.

"Andrei!" She hissed quietly, and thankfully Brock was too distracted to notice. Andrei merely shrugged, watching her from the corner of his eye. "We're almost at the hotel." He stated as if it was a reasonable explanation, and by the side eye he was giving her she could tell that he probably didn't want her to be on the phone much longer.

"...just, you really worried me tonight, Blake, okay? You can't do that again. Ever." Brock's voice slowly came back into focus, and Blake roughly cleared her throat to respond.

"You're right, Brock… I'm sorry. I swear it won't happen again." And truly, she was sorry. She'd been so distracted by her own needs and wants that she failed to take into account how her actions could affect others.

"It better not." After that it was a slight awkward silence, especially when Blake cast a sneaky glance towards Andrei to already find him looking at her.

Brock's voice spoke over the phone again. "I love you, little B, you know that, right?" At that, Blake couldn't stop the smile that spread across her lips at his words. She hadn't realized how badly she had scared everyone, scared him.

"I love you too. I'll see you in the morning?" Blake responded, now suddenly anxious to end the conversation as she became much more aware of Andrei's dark eyes burning into the side of her face.

She could hear her brother's sigh over the phone, but thankfully he relented, knowing his sister's tendency to shut down when emotions got too overwhelming. "I'll see you in the morning. I love you. Sleep well."

"Night," she murmured, smiling to herself as, per their sibling tradition, he waited for her to hang up first.

The mood inside the car was forgotten for only a moment, because a certain hockey player next to her suddenly cleared his throat and that's when she was reminded of her earlier feelings of irritation yet also attraction because damn it he just couldn't help teasing her, even when she was on the phone with her brother.

"You are such an ass," Blake hissed as they arrived at the hotel, swatting away the hand he tried to place on her lower back to guide her. "Brock would kill you if he were here, but he's not so-" She rambled as she followed him on the way to the elevator, her words slightly jumbled due to the fuzziness in her head.

"Are you done?" Andrei suddenly cut her off, and only then did she realize that the elevator doors were closing, leaving them alone once more. "You're acting like my mom when she found out I got my first black eye from Ovechkin."

Blake's eye twitched, and her brain was short-circuiting on trying to form a response because when did Andrei suddenly get so close?

"That's… That's unrelated," she managed to spit out, trying to back away from his looming figure until she was pressed against the elevator wall.

Andrei's arms moved to trap her against the wall, one on either side of her head as he leaned in close to murmur into her ear. "That was a terrible comeback," His voice was so russian-heavy and thick that Blake struggled to form coherent thoughts.

Just as his hand brushed against the skin of her thigh, the elevator door opened with a quiet ding and Blake immediately shoved Andrei back to escape the tension-filled elevator, her face on fire and heart beating fast as she sped-walked to their room. Blake knew she was just walking from the inevitable, though, and they both knew it.

Blake gulped as she found their hotel door, swallowing roughly against the lump in her throat. Her cheeks were flushed red and her hair had become rather untamed, but Andrei still could have sworn she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Watching him walk down the hallway so casually to their room just reminded her of how much she hated him for being the only one able to rile her up so much, how he ignored her when she first met him and how he returned her insults that deep down hurt her too.

But this was their one chance to remedy whatever the fuck was going on between them. Cool down the simmering heat and hopefully get whatever budding feelings between them to just… Stop. Because Blake didn't do feelings, they tired her and freaked her out, whereas with Andrei it was the exact opposite. He thrived on his emotions, and at the thought of being able to finally be honest about how he's been feeling in the most vulnerable of ways with the girl of his dreams?

His excitement was childlike.

Andrei unlocked their door, and the moment she stepped through it was slammed shut. The room enclosed them in darkness and suddenly it was like a flip had been switched— it only took seconds before they turned animalistic, feral in their lust, and Andrei, unsurprisingly, gained the upper hand first as he slammed her up against the wall and eagerly devoured her mouth with his own.

Blake dug her hands into his hair, shoulders, his upper back, anywhere she could reach, returning the hatred-filled kiss with just as much passion as he was giving. But damn her if the man didn’t know what he was doing, and damn was he good at it too. It would have made her feel embarrassed at having so little experience if she wasn't already so mad at him and taking out her feelings on him all at once.

It wasn't just Blake giving him a run for his money, though, because Andrei had just as much conflict running through his mind. He was angry at the thought of other men touching her and angry at her idiotic decision to run off without telling anyone, and he was angry at how he didn't have a good relationship with her and he was angry at the way she avoided his feelings which he thought were very, very obvious.

Clearly.

It was practically carnivorous the way they were tearing each other apart. It was furious and desperate and excited as they moved from one room to the other until they finally ended up in the bedroom with Blake tripping over a pillow and falling backwards onto the bed. It didn't take long for Andrei to follow, for soon the heat of his body was reunited with her own as he slowly crawled on top of her, connecting their lips in a surprisingly gentle kiss.

Blake wasn't sure what brought on the sudden change, but she found that she didn't like it very much since they weren't, well… Lovers. Attempting to ignore the unfamiliar feeling in her gut, she sunk her nails into his shoulders and Andrei let out a noise that Blake could have sworn was a growl. In retaliation, he bit down on the sensitive skin of her neck already stimulated from his kisses, and while the bite was almost guaranteed to leave a mark in the morning, Blake really couldn't find it in herself to care.

"³Красиво ... Я не могу поверить, что наконец-то ты подо мной," He mumbled into her ear before burying his head in her neck, his hands simultaneously fisting at her dress and slowly sliding it up her thighs.

Blake let out a groan, both irritated at his speaking in Russian and also so fucking aroused that it was making her mad at herself. "Shut the fuck up," She hissed, tugging at the roots of his hair before grabbing at his shirt to tug it off of his chest.

Who did he think he was? To make her feel all of these conflicting emotions at once?

Andrei gave her a mouth-watering smirk, his hair messy and eyes dark as he sunk his teeth into his bottom lip and admired her. "Gladly." he eventually responded, tugging the remains of her dress off, and Blake was helpless to stop the way she finally surrendered herself to him once and for all, helpless to stop the way that every second spent with him was one she was falling for him more and more.

She was helpless to stop herself from hiding from what she already knew to be true, that she was in love with the man she was about to sleep with and that she was probably going to regret baring herself to him in the morning.

Blake hoped to whatever gods that were listening that this one night of pleasure would be worth it, for the both of them.

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enamouredfae · 3 years

Text

♡ Pick a Card ♡

What you need to know in order to be ready for the love you so longingly seek!

This reading is looking at anything you might need to heal or grow into in order to enter future relationships as your higher self. I am not looking at your future, but simply trying to guide you towards your highest good in the field of love. Many of us have internalized certain perceptions of love that we must unlearn, or have lived through difficult moments which have closed us off or made experiencing love more difficult. If you are in a toxic relationship/situation, please do not take any messages that might seem to tell you to stay in it. With this reading, I will hopefully open you up to some introspection and hopefully growth. You may very well be attracted to multiple piles and that is ok! Read all that attract you and take what resonates. Each pile has three pieces of advice, so mixing and matching is invited!

This reading is for entertainment purposes only.

This is a timeless reading for the collective, therefore it is likely that some messages will not resonate with you. Please only take the messages that do! The messages that do not, are meant for somebody else. Remember that the future is never set in stone and that you possess free will! Love you! ♡

Pile 1

Charm: Knot

1. Yang

Yang tells me that you need to learn to become more proactive in love. You cannot wait around. You must act! You need to manifest your desires into the material world by doing. It's perfectly fine to do the first move, no matter what society deems "acceptable", it is even invited with this card.

23. Peace

Radical acceptance is necessary for inner peace and in this case for a higher love. You must first love yourself fully, light and shadow self, before loving someone else in the way that you both deserve! And you deserve radical acceptance, we are all flawed and intricate people! As long as we are willing to change and grow and put in the work, past mistakes can be atoned for.

38. To be fair

This card tells me that you need to learn to be more balanced in relationships. Are you giving more than the other parties? Are you giving less? We must be fair to both others and ourselves. When someone in the relationship gives more, they may feel underappreciated which can become unmotivating, but they can also overwhelm the other person. You must learn balance.

Pile 2

Charm: Cactus

7. To the sea (reversed)

"When fishermen cannot go to sea, they stay at home and repair their nets." This is a quote from the guidebook that I had to rewrite here because it encapsulates the advice perfectly. You probably long for love like fishermen long for the sea. This card is telling me that the problem isn't coming from you, but the external world. An idea that just popped up in my head is a queer teen living in a homophobic area or with homophobic parents, so it is likely that this could be your situation. If it is, I love you, please take care of yourself, love and better days will come, don't worry! But you must wait a while longer until the external world matches your vibration, perhaps you'll have to move, wait until you're safe to go out to the sea. Until then, go with the flow.

50. No place like home (reversed)

This card seems to work perfectly with the previous one, it reminds us that what is familiar isn't always the best, because it keeps us from growing. If you want change, you can't keep going to the same things/people that haven't worked before, it's counterintuitive. It is natural to go back to what's familiar, but try something new. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Choose unfamiliar.

34. A leg up (reversed)

You are carrying the burden of your world all alone. You probably don't feel safe sharing what you feel, or are very uncomfortable with vulnerability. To be honest with you, right before writing this part of the reading, I started tearing up, you are holding in so much hurt... You need to voice your struggles, being vulnerable is proof of immense strength, believe me! I know it's hard! Start little by little with someone you really trust!

Pile 3

Charm: Star

35. Loyal Heart

Ok if one pile is ready for the beginning of a relationship it's this one. It is the perfect time for you to create loyal commitments. It is possible that you are already in a committed relationship, but at the very least you are surrounded by loyal, devoted people. Don't forget to be devoted and loyal in return!

4. Higher Power (reversed)

This card is inviting you to trust in whatever divine power you believe in, trust that the universe is divinely guiding you and protecting you. I feel like if a certain religion or spiritual path attracts or fascinates you, you should start looking into it, careful with being disrespectful or appropriating it, especially with closed practices, please do your research! But connecting to Source would be beneficial to you in the long run!

25. Round and Round

You are stuck in a cycle that you must break. Do not worry, you shouldn't feel bad, it's all part of the learning process. Remember: you've been through this before, think back on how that made you feel the previous times, are you sure you want to go through that again? Breaking this cycle is a form of self-care, and you need to care for yourself! You are subconsciously punishing yourself by staying in this cycle, try thinking about the root of why you're doing so! It could help you in breaking it!

Pile 4

Charm: "Love"

8. The tribe

You may want to find your tribe, or you have recently found it. You might feel like you finally belong, or are longing for that feeling. Whenever I get this card, I think of the astrology/witchcraft/tarot community here! It may be the same for you! You are welcome here, and hopefully, you feel like you belong! Contributing to any community that you are passionate about, whether online or in real life, will bring you great joy and satisfaction. Your tribe awaits and needs you! It's possible that that's where you'll find love as well!

6. Not for you (reversed)

Let them go. Whoever you first thought of, it's time to stop obsessing over them. "Don't chase after what flees you." I'm sure you realize this is not serving you, but how do you stop? This card is suggesting radical acceptance and surrender, that this is a sign that someone or something much better is waiting for you. I suggest reminding yourself that they aren't perfect and that you have just come to idealize them.

52. Mending (reversed)

You are very likely going through a grieving period right now. There is so much hurt and disappointment. "Heartbreak is a strange healer of souls." It may feel awful now, but trust that when you look back one day, you will see that the hurt you're feeling now, transformed you in a powerful way. This card is inviting you to accept the heartbreak and push through it, situations like this open us up to seeing the world in a new way, to growing. Better days are coming!

Pile 5

Charm: Angel

28. Building blocks (reversed)

Are you acting according to your belief system? Are you following the advice you give others? You must look carefully at your core foundation. It seems to me that you have done a lot of inner growth, but are still stuck in your old ways. Your outer self isn't matching your inner self. Start doing what you preach!

47. Go the distance

I feel like you're someone that wants love right now! For it to come fast and smoothly, like a sprint. You must learn to see love more realistically, as a long-distance race of endurance. You may be the type to immediately run at the sight of a problem. You must learn to be dedicated and work in love, it won't always be the idealized version you keep reading about or watching. Love demands work!

32. Here and Now (reversed)

You live in the past, don't you? So much regret and nostalgia... Or perhaps you live in the future? Daydreams and ambition. There is a need to learn to live in the here and now, you cannot change the past, and the future is infinite. They're both elusive, and unreliable; now is tangible, real, and full of immediate possibilities.

Pile 6

Charm: Mars Symbol

22. Blessed

This beautiful card talks about an unexpected and "unearned" wonderful event, that seems like divine intervention, a gift from the universe. The advice I take from this card is to practice gratitude because you seem to be blessed in the love department. Perhaps you already know who "the one" is for you. If you don't, trust that the universe has someone wonderful for you!

31. Why?

Ask yourself why you feel as you do about/in love? It is time for some introspection. You need to think and identify unhealthy patterns in your love life. Why do you act as you do in a relationship? Identify what in your past has caused this behavior. It won't solve the problem right away, but it's a good first step. Understanding the problem will be validating.

27. Exchanging gifts (reversed)

"Be careful what you pray for because you might just get it." You need to be ready for the energy exchange that will happen if this happens. This card talks about an imbalance between giving and receiving. You must learn that if you receive a lot, you must return a lot, love needs to be balanced. If you give more, you aren't actually in control, the other party could be consciously or unconsciously taking advantage of your generosity!

Pile 7

Charm: Eternally Open Heart Locket

17. The Fates

You must learn to accept that there are things and people you simply cannot control and change. You cannot blame yourself for things beyond your control, nor can you blame others for things they cannot control. Just be wise enough to tell the difference between things one can control and things one cannot!! If you have a tendency to mold people into your ideal, making them lose their essence, you must learn to accept people for who they are. It is not your job to change them: the desire to change must come from them, for them.

15. Message in a bottle

Try asking for specific signs from the universe, or start becoming more aware of them. Synchronicities are all around you, they're the way that the universe confirms that you're on the right path! Listen carefully to those you communicate with, they could be delivering a cledon to you. This card itself is a good sign, a favorable answer to the question occupying your mind.

9. Treasure Island

You might've already, but if you haven't, MANIFEST YOUR LOVE!! You will be greatly rewarded when you embrace the law of attraction and your intuition. Depending on your belief in how manifestation works, try being mindful of free will! If you believe that love spells on specific people are influencing their free will, then it is immoral to manifest a specific person. If you don't believe that that is how manifestation works, do as you will, just be in line with your beliefs! This card is also a great sign, you're on the right path, and have good fortune on your side. Very lucky pile!!

Pile 8

Charm: Boot

2. Yin (reversed)

You must learn to receive, only being the giver isn't good for you. You deserve to receive! Be open to embodying yin and yang equally. "You stop the flow of abundance when you constantly insist upon being the giver." Be the listener, the one that learns, the one that is being led.

33. Chaos and Conflict

You may be afraid of chaos and conflict, but you must remember that they can rid you of what's no longer serving you. Conflict also implies two sides, remember that yours isn't the only one, and conflict can lead to mutual understanding. Learn to put up boundaries, but also to respect those of others. When you finally see the potential of healing that conflict can cause, you'll be ready for mature communication in relationships.

20. Imagine

Remember that you can create what you imagine! Your imagination is powerful in manifesting your desires, but it can't do everything for you! Manifestation is work, when an opportunity arises, act! This card can also be a sign that the person you're manifesting will be entering your life soon. When they appear, don't just wait, and daydream! The imagination part of manifesting is done, now it's time to act.

Pile 9

Charm: Knife

21. Clean it up

It's time to let go and declutter your mind. Think about what is no longer serving you, about the things that only overwhelm you, and make you overthink, they aren't good for you. It might also help you to declutter in general, your house, your closet, your phone, your feed, etc. Make room for the new and the better.

48. Poised (reversed)

Think carefully, are you really ready for love right now? Because this card is telling me that you aren't. It's ok to be a "late bloomer", and it's important to be ready for love, as to not hurt the one you love, and yourself. Being single isn't a sign of "failure", it gives you the time and space to focus on yourself, on your growth, on your healing, on exploring and understanding yourself. Being single can seem like a curse, but it's a blessing, it's what you need right now.

16. All that glitters

Are you being yourself in love? Are they? Don't succumb to the power of superficiality. Either let go of the mask or look beyond theirs! "Imagine that all the glitter is gone. Would you still desire the object or person?" If one falls for the glitter, what will happen on the day they forgets to glue it on?

Thank you for reading! Love you all.♡

You can buy me a coffee if you feel called to do so! This is never necessary, but always appreciated! ♡

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infernalrevenge · 3 years

Text

Kiss The Girl

Fandom: Resident Evil 8: Village

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Rating: G/T

Summary: Reader doesn't know how to handle how beautiful their girlfriend is. One thought in particular has preoccupied their mind as the two of them spend time together.

Notes: The real summary of this is actually "Reader wants to kiss Donna so bad" because hey don't we all HAHAHA. In this house, we love two pining idiots, even in an established relationship setting. Enjoy!

----------

“Y/N, please tell Donna she looks fine!” Angie whined, only to be cradled even closer to the lady’s chest.

“You look fantastic, darling. As always,” they assured her, smiling widely as they laid both hands on her shoulders.

Y/N managed to convince Donna to wear an eyepatch to cover her Cadou scar around them instead of her usual veil. They knew how insecure she felt about having it exposed, so the both of them figured this might be a good compromise. They always assured her that she was beautiful no matter what, but until she was ready to reveal that part of herself to everyone else, then this should do.

The only thing was, after some time, they didn't realize how overwhelming it would be to get to see Donna's face so often.

They had become very familiar and in-tune with her non-verbal mannerisms -- how she twiddled her thumbs when she started to get bored during family meetings, how her hands clenched to fists then loosened when she got frustrated but didn't want to make a scene of it, the soft hum she would let out when she was satisfied with how a project was going. Getting to see all of that as expressions on her face and more have somehow made her even more endearing.

Did she always scrunch her nose like that when she was threading a needle? And how did it never occur to them that there would be a sparkle in her eye whenever she read something she found fascinating on plants? Oh god, she's so cute when she blushes too, this just isn't fair! Their heart can only take so much.

Then there's Donna's lips -- full in shape, with just a tint of pink to contrast her pale skin. She purses them together when she's deep in thought, she bites down on her lower lip when she's nervous or embarrassed -- and her smile? The soft curve of her lips whenever Angie cracks a joke or Y/N compliments her?

It always knocked the wind out of them.

Even just sitting with her right now, they could barely focus on the novel they were supposed to be reading together and just looked at Donna's serene expression. She was snuggled into their side, her feet up on the couch as the book rested on her lap so both of them can see, and Angie mirrored her position against her side. It was clear that they have established a comfortable space between them -- Donna had never felt so at ease to the point that her posture was this relaxed. She felt safe.

They knew what she had been through and what it took for her to get to where she was. Their chest swelled with affection for her, so happy to know that she trusted them enough to be this at ease in their presence, that she was willing to share her interests and insecurities and everything that made her who she was. At that moment, only one thought rang through their mind as their gaze landed on her lips.

God, I wanna kiss her.

"Y/N?" she called out, snapping them out of their trance. "Are you finished with this page, love?"

Oops.

"I bet they're not even reading," Angie snickered. They could feel the tips of their ears start to heat up in embarrassment.

"I, uh... I was just sort of, um, distracted, I guess."

Despite being together for a while now, Y/N had never actually gotten to kiss Donna. Perhaps it was because the veil used to be an obstacle and they weren't sure if they could cross that threshold just yet while she still wore it frequently. But it was never a problem before when they would plant soft kisses on her forehead and temples through it, and they have gotten away with sneaking a kiss onto her cheek before.

"What's on your mind?” She closed the book though left her index finger between the last page they were on and faced them, looking concerned.

They suddenly grew shy, rubbing on the back of their neck as they averted their gaze down. What a strange role reversal. They didn’t mean to interrupt their reading time by letting their mind wander. Still, they knew they could be honest with her, so they decided to just say it.

“You, actually... You’ve been on my mind.”

It was her turn to be shy now, eyes casting down. Ah, now this scenario felt more familiar.

“Um... what about me?” She was nervous, judging by how she started chewing on her bottom lip. Y/N caught sight of it, and they felt their heart start to beat faster.

They wished they could be the one to bite it.

“I’ve just been thinking about, like, you and how pretty you are and wonderful and sweet and you just trust me so much and I love that and I wanna show that so--”

“You wanna kiss her, don’t ya?” Angie chimed in, jumping and getting all up on Y/N’s face, which was quickly heating up at how plainly the doll saw right through them. She couldn’t make too many expressions but if she could, no doubt she would be smirking.

“I-I, well, I mean, not that I-- it’s not, I mean I do--”

“You’ve been staring at her mouth for almost the entire hour we’ve been here.”

Donna lunged for the doll, letting go of the book in her haste and pulled her away from Y/N.

They blinked, looking up at the lady, “Wait, did you notice too?”

She looked off to the side, shrinking back. “Duh,” Angie supplied. Well if she noticed then surely the lady did as well, seeing as Angie was an extension of her.

“So are you gonna kiss her or what?”

Donna quickly pulled Angie back onto her lap, as if to say that that was enough. She ducked her head behind her, trying to hide her face from their view.

Unbeknownst to Y/N, Donna has had similar thoughts, and likewise had no idea what to do about them. She had thought about maybe hinting to it every now and then and just hoped that they pick up on it -- a subtle look here, a touch there. They very much did not.

(Angie already explained that it was a dumb strategy but what else was she supposed to do? Ask outright? What if they said no? What if they become disgusted by the thought of it? What if they're just not into kissing? What if--)

She scooted farther onto the other end of the couch, hoping to get away before she could embarrass heraelf any further, only for Y/N to reach for her -- not quite touching since they didn't want to startle her, but just enough to catch her attention. "Wait."

She stayed still, one hand on the armrest and a foot planted on the floor. She still seemed ready to flee, so Y/N tried to mitigate the awkwardness. What better way to start than with honesty?

"I do, by the way. I mean, I want to. To kiss you." A pregnant pause passed. "If you want to! O-only if you want to, I don't want to impose anything, I just wanted to--"

"Yes."

Another pause.

That actually came from Donna. It wasn't Angie speaking on her behalf to get it over with, it was her voice. It came from her.

"Yes?" They wanted to be sure.

"Yes. I... do too."

"Oh." They felt their mouth quirk up, relief starting to wash over. "Oh. Then..."

They moved closer to where Donna was now, approaching slowly as she started to relax again. She sat back down on the couch, clutching her doll close but keeping her still in her arms. Y/N settled right next to her and never took their eyes off her face. Their proximity to each other was nothing new at this point, they had cuddled more times than they can count, but suddenly their closeness made them feel those same butterflies in their stomach from the first time. It drew the line of want and anticipation.

Oh my god, this was happening.

They reached up to cup her cheek, thumb brushing against her skin. Their eyes locked with her dark gray ones, moving just a little closer, wanting to give her the opportunity to back away, but she stood (or rather, sat) steady.

"May I?" they whispered.

Donna didn't say anything, only letting her eyes slip closed as soon as she felt their breath ghosting over her lips, granting silent permission. They followed her lead and leaned in, finally closing the distance between them with a soft kiss.

Donna couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine as soon as they made contact, overwhelmed with emotion yet anchored by the feeling of their lips on hers. Everything she had read in those stories and seen on those shows about when two people who love each other finally, finally kiss? The culmination of their feelings and simultaneously the beginning of something new altogether? It was nothing like she imagined -- this felt so much more... magical.

As for Y/N, they never imagined it could be like this. Sure, they had thought about what it might actually feel like, how things might lead up, but those fantasies are now in shambles compared to the real deal. They felt like their senses were alight; the feeling of her warm lips, the scent of flowers on her person, the warmth of her body against theirs -- they were aware of all of it, and wanted nothing more than to commit this moment to memory. When they felt her lips move against theirs, it was a miracle that they hadn't melted into a puddle on the floor.

They felt her smile against their mouth, and at that point they had to pull away because they couldn't stop the laugh bubbling up inside them from escaping. The lady looked up at Y/N, smile widening. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"I'm just... so happy," they replied between giggles, wrapping their arms around her waist to pull her close. "I love you so much, Donna."

It was her turn again to be the bashful one. They only got a glimpse of how quickly her face turned pink before she proceeded to hide it against their shoulder, her hands clinging onto their shirt. “I... love you too, Y/N.”

If they were to name just one great thing that came out of all this, it was that they can’t wait to make her dizzy with kisses whenever they desired and watch her get flustered in real time.

It seemed Donna had the same idea though -- as soon as she lifted her head up again, she immediately lunged forward for a second kiss. She wrapped her arms around their neck and caught their lips in hers. Y/N returned the favor in kind, but the moment didn't last long -- interrupted by a high-pitched yelp. "Ow!"

"Sorry, Angie!" The lady broke off and tried to pick up the doll, only for her to bound back up and move away.

"Ah-ah, no! Keep going! I'll stay out of your hair," she insisted, floating out of the library to who knows where.

Donna looked back up at Y/N, embarrassed, though they didn't let her wallow for long and continued where they left off. They pulled her in for another passionate kiss, guaranteed to leave the both of them breathless and wanting more.

#resident evil village #resident evil 8 #re8 #donna beneviento #donna beneviento x reader #lady beneviento #lady beneviento x reader #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #as someone who's never been in a relationship #i dont know if it's realistic of a couple who's been together for a long time to have never kissed before #but you know what this is donna we're talking about anyway #yes i've never been in a relationship or been kissed yes i'm above legal age #we exist

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gleamglows · 3 years

Note

Ask for a sirius request and you shall receive. I've been thinking about this idea for a while (and your writing is perfect for it ily) but how about a ravenclaw reader who is friends with james or remus and they introduce them? The one in my head was remus going to her dorm for a sleepover and bringing sirius and just being like "isn't she neat :)" and sirius immediately falling in love 🥺 no pressure if you dont vibe with it 🥰 ily bunches

i went to ravenclaw tower and all i got was this lousy stained shirt

pairing: sirius/reader

word count: 3.9k

summary: james and remus play matchmaker for you and sirius

content: ravenclaw!reader, fluff, it gets awkward (some of this was hard to write... 😭😭), dialogue heavy, you and sirius are very back-and-forth-y and witty (you’ll see what i mean), i know the title is long but i thought it was funny and i can do what i want

this was such a fun request!! i hope you don’t mind i took some liberties because i just immediately imagined remus and james secretly trying to match the two of you up for a while!! also i turned the sleepover into a party at ravenclaw tower!! (also also i came up with some cute ravenclaw girl ocs just for this, they were supposed to be minor but ended up having their own sideplots because i get carried away with everything. but they were fun to write! i gave them backstories and everything so if anyone wants to know more about them just ask :)

warning: mentions of alcohol!!

“You should meet Sirius.”

“Black?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you know another Sirius?”

You stick your tongue out at him and Remus smiles.

“What is it with Sirius, huh?” you tell him, adding a few drops of rain water into the potion before handing Remus the spoon to stir. He takes it and immediately gets to work.

“You and James,” you continue, idly counting Remus’s counterclockwise stirs in your head. “Not a day goes by where you don’t tell me I have to meet Sirius.”

In truth, you’d seen Sirius a few times. And he’d seen you, but neither one of you had actually spoken more than a few words to the other. Especially not since sixth year. Sirius had dropped Potions and Astronomy as quick as he could - the only two classes you’d had left with him. And seeing as you were in different Houses, bumping into each other in the common room was off the table as well.

But you had Potions with Remus and Astronomy with James, and whenever they could, they would always mention how you just had to meet Sirius. You sometimes wondered if Sirius was always being told he had to meet you.

“I just think you’d get along,” Remus shrugs, halting his stirring before you can even tell him to do so.

You both work in tandem for a bit after that, dropping ingredients into your potion and stirring when needed. You liked partnering up with Remus for this exact reason. You’d both fall into a comfortable silence and develop a good rhythm - you just flowed well together.

Once the potion is nearly finished, Remus speaks up.

“What about tonight? Isn’t there a party at Ravenclaw?”

“Robin says not to call it a party.”

“Well, that’s what it is.”

“Yeah, but we can’t call it that. At least not out loud,” you insist, not wanting your dorm mate’s wrath to come back later and haunt you. “It’s a quiet get-together,” you correct him.

Remus scoffs, knowing damn well that Ravenclaw parties are anything but. “That, then. You can meet him there.”

You raise an eyebrow in complete disbelief. “You’re gonna get Sirius Black to come to a Ravenclaw party?”

“What happened to quiet get-together?”

Damn it.

You quickly spare a glance at Robin, but she’s all the way across the room, scolding her partner for something he did to their potion.

“Good luck with that,” you continue, pretending to ignore his quip.

“We’ll convince him!” Remus assures you, as if it’s the least of his worries.

“Okayyy...” you sing, entirely unconvinced.

You’ve never seen Sirius Black at a non-Gryffindor party. He has way too much House pride to ever be caught partying in another common room. You’re almost positive you’ve seen him root for Gryffindor at Quidditch matches even when the team isn’t playing.

“Okay? So you’ll meet him?” Remus presses.

You laugh. “Okay! I guess!” you tell him, resigned. “But you and James have been hyping him up for a while, so don’t be surprised if he doesn’t live up to my expectations and I end up hating him.” You shrug a shoulder as you turn down the fire under the cauldron.

Remus just grins. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

Despite your nonchalant attitude with Remus earlier today, you actually find yourself feeling a bit nervous.

“Hey, do you guys know Sirius?” you ask over your shoulder as you straighten your outfit in the mirror. “Black?” you add quickly.

“Did you just ask us if we know Sirius Black?” A shrill voice cuts through the air and you know immediately that it’s Robin.

You groan, “I know, I know, everyone knows-”

“Everyone knows him,” Robin talks over you, and then sprays a copious amount of hairspray into her already voluminous blonde locks.

You move out of her way so she can use the mirror and she gratefully takes the opportunity, stepping in front of you to fluff up her roots.

“Yeah, how do you not know him?” Bea calls from the bathroom, where April is helping her into her dress.

“I mean, I know him,” you say, flopping down on your bed. “But I don’t actually know him. You know?”

“He was April’s first kiss!” Bea taunts. She makes several kissy noises and then you hear her say ‘ow!’

“You’ve got to stop bringing that up,” you hear April scold, “It was second year!”

Bea giggles and then skips out of the bathroom, April trailing closely behind.

Bea has on a stunning yellow sundress with long, belled sleeves - going all out, as usual. The color compliments her dark skin beautifully, but you know she’s really only wearing it to lure in that Hufflepuff boy she’s had her eye on.

April has still yet to get dressed, always waiting until the very last minute, but her straight black hair has been flawlessly curled - presumably Robin’s work.

“So what is it? Why do you wanna know about Black?” April asks politely, leaning against your bedpost as Bea sits on her trunk to slip on her shoes.

“James and Remus... They’re gonna get him to come here.”

Bea nearly drops her shoe, and Robin spins around to face you.

“Here?” The two say at the same time.

“Is he really?” April asks mildly, voice much gentler than the other two.

You shrug and nod your head at the same time, giving them an uncertain look. “I think so? Maybe? If they can convince him.”

There’s a beat of silence and then the hissing sound of Robin’s can of hairspray fills the air once more as she frantically tries to get her hair to cooperate. At the very same time, Bea starts to rummage around her wardrobe, muttering to herself about how ‘I think I have a red dress in here somewhere...’

It’s clear they’re both doubling their efforts, hoping to catch Sirius’s eye.

You laugh a bit and then turn to look at April, whose eyes are stuck on Robin’s reflection. She has a solemn expression on her face, but quickly snaps out of her trance when she notices you watching her.

“So,” she starts, putting on a small smile, “You’ve really never met Sirius Black?” she asks, sitting down beside you and crossing her legs beneath her.

“No, but I hear you have,” you tease, and she rolls her eyes.

“Yes, the first and only boy I’ve ever kissed.” She rolls her eyes.

You hear Robin fumble with her can of hairspray but think nothing of it.

April continues, “Anyway, that was second year,” she waves it off. “I do have muggle studies with him.”

“What’s he like?” you find yourself asking.

April shrugs a shoulder. “He’s nice, I suppose. Funny. Asks the professor a lot of questions about motorbikes.”

You tilt your head. “Motorbikes? Why?”

“Who knows. I think you two would get along, though.”

“Why’s that?”

April observes you for a few beats and then laughs a bit. You expect her to say something more but she just gives you a slight nudge with her elbow and then walks off, most likely to go get dressed.

Well that was pointless. You didn’t really learn anything useful. But then again, you’re not sure what you expected out of a conversation with April, who tends to keep her talking to a minimum (She claims it makes her more mysterious) (And she’s right, too).

Oh well. Perhaps you could find a way to strike up a casual conversation about motorbikes with Sirius.

Yeah, right.

It’s a few hours into the party when the door opens up, letting in James and Remus. Trailing behind them, looking unnecessarily wary, is Sirius Black. He traipses around as if at any moment something in the common room is going to jump out and bite him, and you struggle to stifle a laugh.

You quickly wander off before any of them can spot you, fleeing towards where the drinks are. You figure that when they find you, you may as well be doing something instead of just lamely standing around. So you pick up the ladle and start to refill your cup.

April had transfigured her cauldron into one made of glass, and Robin had used it to concoct her famous sickly sweet, lavender colored drink that she’d aptly named ‘Robin’s Brew’. It was made up of a mixture of muggle and wizard liquors, as well as a myriad of different fruit juices. The taste itself was actually semi disgusting, but you get used to it after the initial few sips.

You ladle some more of the drink into your cup and then spin on your heel, ready to resume the search for your friends.

That is, until you crash face first against a broad chest, effectively spilling ‘Robin’s Brew’ all over whoever you just bumped into.

“Oh my gosh!” you blurt out, setting the now empty cup down. “I am so sorry, I-” Your words catch in your throat when you finally look up to see the person’s face.

So much for a good first impression.

Sirius waves you off, looking down at his now purple stained white shirt. “Don’t worry ab-” he stops in the middle of the word as he raises his gaze to look at you.

His lips are still slightly parted as if his voice had simply escaped him mid-sentence, and his expression is stunned and mesmerized all at once.

“I, um...” he tries again, but it’s as if he’s been put in some kind of trance just by looking at you.

“Oh, great! You’ve met!” A cheery voice cuts through the tension, and you both turn your head to find James beaming at the two of you.

Trailing behind James is Remus, who takes in the state of the two of you and grimaces.

“Met?” Sirius voices as he looks at James, sounding a bit dazed.

“Yeah, remember? Y/N!” James reminds him. “She’s great, right?” he grins, and you cringe.

“Oh, this is...?” Sirius slowly turns his head to look at you again. “Hey...” he says faux-smoothly, as if attempting to salvage your very first meeting.

“Hey...” you say back a bit awkwardly. “Um... Look, there’s towels in my dorm, we can all go?” you suggest, looking to the others for approval.

“Why don’t you two go?” Remus proposes instead, and you shoot him an alarmed look.

“Yeah!” James nearly shouts, looking at Remus as if he’s a genius. “Yeah, you’ll find us later!” he’s quick to agree, and they both start to walk away.

You let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, I don’t know if-” you start, not sure if comfortable enough to be alone with a man you just met after spilling your drink on him.

But Remus and James don’t wanna hear it.

“Alright! See you later!” James throws a finger gun at you as he walks backwards and then spins on his heel.

“But I-”

“Bye!” Remus calls, and then they both disappear into a small crowd of people.

You turn to face Sirius, whose shirt is still dripping and who’s watching you with rapt intrigue. He turns away the moment your eyes meet, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Soon enough you’re leading Sirius down the corridor that leads to your dormitory, trying desperately to remember whether or not you’d tidied up your area of the room.

The door swings open just as you arrive at it, and from out of it come April and Robin who seem to be having a serious looking discussion. They quickly stop talking as soon as they spot the two of you, and April is quick to storm off, leaving Robin behind.

“Oh, you’ll want to get rid of that,” Robin says with a wince, gesturing at Sirius’s shirt. “The stain actually gets darker the more you try to get it off... So...”

You give a heavy sigh. “Yeah, thanks Robin.”

She shrugs apologetically with both hands in the air and then starts to walk off. “Robin’s Brew! Patent pending!” she calls over her shoulder as she scurries off to catch up with April.

“What’s up with them?” Sirius mutters under his breath as you lead him inside.

“Well, aren’t you nosy?” you’re quick to reply.

You say it as a joke, but immediately wish you could take it back. What were you thinking?! You didn’t know Sirius enough to joke around with him like that! You didn’t know him at all! Hell, you’d just spilled your drink all over him, for all you know the guy hates you!

You spin around, ready to apologize, but then Sirius is laughing, and you nearly let out a massive sigh of relief.

“Uh-” your apology catches in your throat for a moment but you quickly recover. “Sorry, I-”

“No, it’s okay.” He shakes his head. “You’re right, nosy is my middle name,” he tells you with a shrug and a lopsided grin.

You find yourself smiling back. “Sirius Nosy Black, huh?”

He hums. “Rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, definitely.”

It’s silent for a moment as you both look at each other. Your thoughts leave you a bit as you get distracted by that strange way that he’s looking at you, but then you remember with a jolt that Sirius Black is in your dorm, shirt stained lavender and dripping ‘Robin’s Brew’ onto the floor.

“Um!” You scramble towards the bathroom and yank a random towel off the rack. “Here,” You toss it and Sirius catches it with one hand.

“You can, um...” You trail off but then realize you’re still standing in the doorway, effectively blocking his entrance. “Oh!” You quickly move out of the way, leaving a clear path for Sirius.

“Thanks,” he says with a slight laugh before disappearing into the bathroom.

Once the door closes you’re left alone, idly shuffling around, not really knowing what to do now.

This was horrible. All of this was horrible. You’re alone in your dorm with a man you’ve just met - sure he’s friends with Remus and James, but that doesn’t mean it’s not awkward!

You have to focus. You have to avoid any more tense silences. What would you say when he got out of the bathroom?

You suppose he did laugh at your quip earlier - he’d even added a little joke of his own. You’d gone back and forth a bit. It was easy to converse once you’d gotten started. But getting started was exactly the issue... You needed a good topic. Why can’t you think of a good topic?!

The door to the bathroom opens up and out walks Sirius, leather jacket now slung over his forearm and white shirt drier, but still equally stained.

You panic.

“Hey, do you like motorbikes?” You blurt out, and then have to resist the urge to hurl yourself out the window.

Sirius’s eyes widen and he opens and closes his mouth a few times, looking like a stunned fish, before saying “Motorbikes?”

You purse your lips. “Yeah, I was...” You shrug, trying to play off your very strange, very targeted question as just casual conversation. “I was just wondering... I dunno...” you say, leaning against one of your bedposts.

Sirius breaks out into a smile. “I have a motorbike.”

“Really! No way!” you exclaim, pretending to be shocked. Although you didn’t really know Sirius owned a motorbike, it wasn’t all that surprising considering what April had told you just a few hours ago.

Sirius’s eyes narrow slightly, looking at you as if he’s trying very hard to figure you out. “Yeah... I’m fixing it up right now...” he tells you, still grinning.

“Oh? Is it broken?”

He tilts his head back and forth a few times and then says “Not exactly.”

You cross your arms. “Then why are you fixing it up?” you challenge.

Sirius just rolls his eyes. “Well I’d argue that anything that can’t fly can definitely be improved.”

That startles a laugh out of you. “You’re gonna get your motorbike to fly?”

“Laugh it up now!” Sirius nods as you bring a hand to your lips, stifling your giggles. “No one’ll be laughing once I finish my flying motorbike!”

“Oh, I’d love to see it in action.”

“Sure, I’ll take you on a ride once it’s done,” he tells you, voice genuine.

That shuts you up. All of a sudden you find that you have no witty response. Apparently out of all the things that could have rendered you silent, the prospect of going on a ride on Sirius Black’s flying motorbike seems to have done the trick.

Sirius notices.

“I mean- If you want.” he quickly says, raising a hand. “I mean- Sorry. I know we just met, and I made you spill your drink, and I think I stained your towel with whatever that drink was - sorry about that too - but I-”

“Hey,” you cut him off, giving him a pointed but lighthearted look.

He gazes back expectantly.

“I’d love to,” you assure him, and he grins.

You don’t even remember what you were so nervous about. This was easy. Talking to Sirius was so easy once you got into a rhythm.

So you did.

You talked for a while, and when you got tired of standing you laid down on your bed, face down, head resting in your hands and legs kicking behind you as Sirius sat cross legged on your trunk in front of you. You talked about possible spells and modifications for Sirius’s motorbike, you bonded about all the times James and Remus had tried to get the two of you together, you even just talked about whatever nonsense came to your heads.

You were still talking (now both sitting on your bed) when the door creaked open, letting in April and Robin. April was asleep and Robin was carrying her bridal style. You notice they’re both barefoot, but Robin only has April’s shoes in hand - hers were probably somewhere in the common room.

“Oh, hey,” you say in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake April.

“Hey,” Robin responds, though she’s not quite as cautious with her volume as you.

Earlier today you’d have thought Robin would’ve freaked out the moment she saw Sirius, but if she cares about him being in the dorm, she doesn’t show it.

“She fell asleep on the couch. Thought I should leave her here,” the blonde explains as she pads over to April’s bed. She drops the shoes on the ground and then pauses to look at you. “Do you mind?” she questions, nodding her head towards the bed.

You quickly get up, striding over to April’s bed and pulling back the blankets.

“Thanks,” Robin murmurs as she gently sets the raven haired girl down.

You pull the covers up again and April stirs a bit but doesn’t wake up.

Robin finally acknowledges Sirius. “Hi,” she waves with a smile. Sirius smiles back. “Sorry, I didn’t-”

“No, it’s fine. We were just talking,” you assure her, and she nods a bit before turning her attention back to April, gazing down at her with a slight furrow to her brow.

“Where’s Bea?” you voice, curious.

“Went off with her Hufflepuff, I expect.”

“Mm. Is the party over?”

“Quiet get-together.” Robin corrects you without a second thought and you laugh lightly, sitting back down on your bed beside Sirius. “And yeah. I’m gonna go try to clean up a bit,” she says, sounding like the prefect she is.

You watch as Robin hesitates over April for a bit, smoothing the blankets over, brushing stray hairs from the sleeping girl’s face. It’s as if she wants to take care of her but isn’t sure how. In the end, she gives you a smile, bids a polite ‘goodbye’ to Sirius, and then exits quietly.

“We never went and found James and Remus,” you turn to look at Sirius once the door closes and he grins.

“I don’t think they ever expected us to.”

“You’re probably right.”

April stirs again and you get up to close the curtains of her four-poster.

“I should go help Robin,” you tell Sirius, and he takes the cue quickly standing up.

“Right. Sorry I kept you up.“

“No, it was fun. Sorry I spilled my drink on you.”

“No, it was fun,” Sirius echoes, and you give him a slight shove.

The two of you walk across the room and out of the door in comfortable silence, and once you’re in the corridor you speak up.

“So, hypothetically,” you start.

“Uh-huh,” Sirius assents immediately.

“If you wanted to... I don’t know... Have breakfast with me tomorrow...”

“Oh?”

“How would you go about that?”

“Hypothetically?” Sirius raises an eyebrow, as if double checking.

“Of course,” you nod.

“Well in this completely made up scenario,” he starts, “I’d probably meet you here at seven and walk you down to the Great Hall.”

You fight a smile. “Well, great.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. Hypothetically I’d definitely be ready by then.”

“Perfect.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

You’ve reached the door that leads out of the common room by now, and you open it up, leaning against the frame. The rest of the castle is dark as it’s well past midnight, and you can hear the quiet sounds of nearby portraits snoring. You’d be worried about him getting caught, but with all the pranks the Marauders have pulled throughout the years, you know for a fact that Sirius Black had plenty of experience sneaking about the castle after curfew.

You watch as he lights his wand with a quick ‘Lumos’ and starts to walk off, but then he hesitates.

“What?” you voice as he turns around, walking back towards you.

He stops right in front of you, looking at you very intensely, scrutinizing every inch of your face. For a brief moment you expect him to lean in and kiss you, but then he speaks.

“I know you brought up motorbikes on purpose. That girl April takes muggle studies with me, and she-”

You quickly shut the door in his face and press your back against it, eyes wide and smiling despite yourself.

You scurry off to help Robin and a few others clean up, spirits high with the promise of having breakfast with Sirius tomorrow morning.

And who knows, maybe by tomorrow he’ll forget all about the motorbike thing. At least, you hope he does.

(He doesn’t.)

Bonus, the next morning:

“There they are!” James exclaims as you and Sirius approach the table.

“Did he live up to your expectations?” Remus asks you pointedly as you sit down, and you poke your tongue out at him in response.

And then you shrug. “I’ve gotta say, right off the bat I wasn’t impressed.”

“You’re the one who spilled your drink all over me. My poor new shirt! Ruined!”

“Oh, boo hoo. Where will you ever find another plain, white T-shirt?”

“It had sentimental value!”

“And now it has a cute new design! So you’re welcome.”

“You want me to thank you for a stain?”

“It’s a fun souvenir from your first time in a non Gryffindor common room.”

“I should write on it. Big letters: ‘I went to Ravenclaw Tower and all I got was this lousy stained shirt.’”

“At least the stain is purple, it looked nice. Suits you.”

“Are you saying I look good in purple?”

“Sure.”

“So you’re saying I look good?”

“I- I didn’t-” you stammer, and then groan.

“Ah-ha!” Sirius points a finger at you. “Outwitted by a Gryffindor! If only Rowena Ravenclaw could see you now.”

Across the table, Remus and James watch on in dismay.

“Are you already regretting getting them together or is it just me?” James voices.

In response Remus sighs, “Oh, it’s not just you.”

(hey ps for the sake of my sanity let’s just pretend there was no easy simple drying spell they could’ve used)

also: about robin & april

taglist <3 // @isxfisticated @l-adysansa @tomshollandz

#requests #sirius black fluff #sirius black x reader #sirius black #sirius black x ravenclaw!reader

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