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midnight-rain-fics · 1 year

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Bad kind of butterflies

{Fandom: Grishaverse}

{Pairing: Kaz Brekker x fem! reader}

Summary: Y/N and Kaz get tangled in a web of unspoken truths and it falls upon them to tangle themselves before they fall and stumble.

A/N: I have nothing to say for myself. I wrote this whole fic just because of this freaking gif. This is purely self indulgent but enjoy I guess.

“I got bad, bad kind of butterflies in my chest

There's something I gotta confess

Yes, somebody's stuck in my head”

Y/N had been a new but welcome addition to the crows, or so Kaz had believed until she had unknowingly become a thorn in his side. His chest constricted every time he saw her, and it became difficult to breathe whenever she was around.

She was oblivious to the fact, of course. The only one who had any idea of these stirrings of his was Nina, who always side eyed him whenever Y/N entered any room he was in.

Despite his best efforts, his eyes always seemed to seek out hers and his heart jolted whenever he looked at her wide eyes.

He truly could not stop his eyes from travelling to that plush bottom lip that was more often than not trapped between pearly white teeth. Just like it was now.

Kaz pushed the thought, along with several others just like it, into that dark corner of his mind and barred the gate. He needed to focus.

"Kaz?" Y/N questioned, looking at him nervously, her wrists clutching each other behind her back, twisting together.

How had she pulled him so deep in? Even after being in Barrel for months now, she had no jagged edges. She was supposed to be everything he hated. Soft, fragile, vulnerable.

And oh so, beautiful.

Damnit.

Kaz looked up from the paperwork he was supposedly working on and looked up to meet her gaze, "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"The others wanted to know if you would be joining us for drinks"

"And you volunteered to come get me, Y/N?"

"Didn't really have a choice" Y/N mumbled, without looking at him.

"Oh, so you don't want me to join you?" Kaz raised an eyebrow, watching in silent amusement as she shuffled her feet, mouth already opening in protest. He nodded, "Duly noted."

"That's not what I meant!" Y/N protested, her eyes widening a little at her own volume. She cleared her throat, her voice soft as she looked down at her feet, "You know that's not what I mean"

"Do I?"

Y/N sighed, not meeting his eyes. Irritation pricked at her like it always did when Kaz tormented her. She was sure he got some amusement by testing her resolve.

She would never admit how much she liked it.

Kaz stood up, closing the distance between them until he stood in front of her, hands clutching his crow-headed cane.

He leaned down his head, causing Y/N's eyes to meet his, "Use your words, little bird"

"I-" Y/N opened her mouth and closed it again. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath before meeting Kaz’s eyes, "Are you coming, then?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes"

Kaz took a step back and gave her a long look, and Y/N’s skin thrummed with the feeling of being the centre of his attention. Unaware of her thoughts, Kaz nodded, "I'll get my coat then"

"What happened?" Kaz walked into the living room of the Slat, his eyes landing on Jesper who was supporting an exhausted Wylan. It wa supposed to be a simple job and yet somehow, something had gone wrong.

His eyes searched for Y/N but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Y/N got hurt,” Those three words were enough to make Kaz’s heart collapse in on itself. Jesper continued, not noticing Kaz’s dilemma, “Nina is tending to her"

Kaz nodded and with his heart pounding in his ears, made his way towards Y/N's room. He stood in the doorway, watching Nina heal Y/N.

Nina cast him a meaningful glance, that he promptly ignored, and continued tending to Y/N’s shoulder which had the faint markings of a stab wound.

Breath seemed to return to Kaz’s lungs as Nina finished healing the wound, the skin knitted together as if there had never been a wound there. Y/N had her lips pressed together, unshed tears lining her long lashes.

Nina pressed a kiss to Y/N’s temple and bid them farewell, but not before she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Kaz, nodding in Y/N’s direction.

With the patience that came with dealing with Jesper and Nina’s antics for far too long, Kaz ignored her as she left and looked towards Y/N who had finally let her tears fall.

"Does it still hurt?"

"No" Y/N mumbled, wiping at her cheeks with the back of her hand even as a new wave of tears streamed down her cheeks.

Kaz took a few steps forward and sat down at the side of her bed. His cane was firmly clutched in his left hand as he took out a handkerchief from his coat and handed it out to Y/N.

Y/N sniffled, wiping away the remaining tears, and then proceeding to hide her face with the handkerchief, "this is embarrassing"

"No need to worry, little bird, you embarrass yourself on the daily. I am used to it" Kaz's lips tugged into a faint smirk when Y/N whined in embarrassment.

"That's even worse"

Kaz stood up, and nudged Y/N's thigh with his cane, catching her eyes, "Get some rest"

Y/N nodded and watched him leave with a heavy heart. It was always so confusing, this game of tug of war between them. Y/N was afraid to tug too hard while Kaz kept tugging her close, making her lose her footing.

He knew she was bound to fall. She didn't dare to hope he would catch her.

"What the fuck was that?"

Y/N closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The sound of Kaz's harsh voice grated in her ears, making her heart pound in anxiety. Her instincts screamed at her to leave his office.

The heist had gone wrong. So very wrong. And Y/N had nearly gotten herself shot. Once the adrenaline had worn off, Y/N had grown numb with the realization of what had almost happened.

"I-" Y/N started, choking down her nerves, hands fiddling with the rings on her finger as she looked up at him.

Kaz's eyes blazed with hot fury as he took a step towards her, caging her between himself and his desk, "Do you have no regard for your own safety?"

"I am fine, Kaz"

"You could have died" Kaz gritted out, his grip near painful on his cane. He could have lost her. If he had been a moment too late, she would be gone.

The waters rose and Kaz gripped the beak of the crow-headed cane to ground himself. She was here. Y/N was here. And she was alive.

Never again would he let her put herself in danger.

"But I didn't! And I knew what I was doing" Y/N's excuses fell on deaf ears. Kaz clenched his jaw in anger and took another step forward.

"Did you? Or are you so self-absorbed that you think you know best? Do you even care what would have happened to the rest of the crows if you didn't make it?" Each word that left Kaz’s lips was dipped in poison, seeping into her skin with deadly accuracy.

"You're being cruel, Kaz" Y/N whispered, bottom lip caught in between her teeth as she bit into it. It was a bad habit. But the pain have her something to focus on. Something other than the intensity of Kaz’s furious gaze.

"And you're being a brat, Y/N" Kaz whispered, head tilting down to stare into her eyes. For once, he didn’t break eye contact. He couldn’t, not when the fear of losing her was so fresh in his mind.

Y/N looked down, Kaz’s disappointment weighing down on her. It made her nauseous, “I am sorry"

"No, I don't think you are" Kaz whispered, his voice cold and cutting as he rested tapped the side of her calf with his cane, his restraint slowly slipping, "I think you're just a brat who needs to be taught a lesson”

"Kaz" Y/N inhaled sharply, her heart beating so loudly that she wouldn’t be surprised if Kaz heard it.

"You should leave, Y/N" Kaz said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He gathered the last fraying threads of his self-restraint. It was up to her now. She could leave and they could go back to the line they hadn’t crossed yet.

Kaz knew greed. He knew it as he gazed at Y/N, so intensely, as if he might steal the very image of her beauty if he tried hard enough.

But Desire was a different game. Kaz toed the line of desire with Y/N on the daily, only in the confines of his own mind. But he never dared to cross it. He never dared to let that dream of desire fester into reality. Until now.

Y/N nodded but she made no move to leave, eyes roaming Kaz's face. She was committing him to her memory, all the sharp edges of his face and the soft cushions of his lips.

Though she might never get to touch this jagged edged masterpiece, at this moment it was hers to admire. For this moment, he was hers.

Kaz reached behind her and Y/N held her breath as he untied the white ribbon holding her hair together. Y/N watched in fascination as Kaz wrapped the ribbon around his two fingers, the white silk of her ribbon was a stark contrast against the black leather of his gloves.

With the thick ribbon wrapped around his pointer and middle finger, Kaz tapped Y/N’s bottom lip, making her gasp and stop her abuse on her lip and release it from between her teeth.

The touch was gone as soon as it came and all Y/N could do was stare at him, wide-eyed. Kaz made no move to step away, "You are not going to make reckless decisions again, understand?"

“Yes,” Y/N nodded dumbly, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks. She felt lightheaded and delusional. She reached back and placed a hand on Kaz’s desk so as to not stumble and fall into him.

That would be very, very bad. And it would break whatever fragile thing had blossomed between them. Though this time, she had a feeling he might just catch her, if only with his cane and silk ribbons on his fingers.

"You are not allowed to leave me, little bird" Kaz stroked the ends of her unbound hair that had fallen around her shoulders. His rough voice sent a shiver down her spine.

"I won't" Y/N mumbled, eyes shining bright with words she couldn’t say yet, "Promise"

Kaz’s lips turned up into a faint outline of a smirk, “Good girl”

#kaz brekker x reader #six of crows x reader #kaz brekker x y/n #kaz brekker x you #kaz brekker x fem!reader #kaz brekker imagine

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suchawrathfullamb · 2 months

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okay but remember when we were talking about consent and we said we wanted Hannigram to have a scene where Hannibal never touches Will until Will freaks out and is like WHY DON'T YOU TOUCH ME?

it's in my fic:

And like a seismic wave, Will leaned in, brushing his lips on Hannibal’s jaw, counterintuitively like feather, like silk, spider silk, and with the water swaying between and around their bodies, and the light of the Moon on Will’s shoulder, Hannibal was gone, gone. Drowned in the way Will moved up, and up, feathering his neck, breathing there, and Hannibal had to clench his fingers underwater to stop the inner trembling that was forming on the tips, threatening to take over.

“You’re not going to touch me?” Will asked, aware of the tension on Hannibal’s muscles and his shallow, loud, breathing."

(mind the tags)

#hannigram #nbc hannibal #hannibal #will graham #murder husbands #hannibal lecter

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stayevildarling · 21 days

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could you do a hurt-comfort fic w either:

lou x tammy x reader

orrrrr

wilhemina x regina mills x reader pleaseee

Wilhemina Venable x Regina Mills x Reader- Burying our memories (AU)

A/N: I think this is absolutely not what you expected with this request dear anon. However the first thing I thought of was an AU with dark Mina x the evil Queen so I hope nevertheless you enjoy this <3 For anyone who has watched ouat please ignore how I altered the curse and changed the story

tw: dark mina, evil queen, cursing, degrading, blood, pain, angst, hurt

word count: 7k

taglist:

@lunaticwhittaker, @billiebeanhoward, @lanawinters-ily, @kenzbro, @minaslittleone, @httpfiftyshadesofgay, @whitelotus00, @ninaahs, @vintagepaulson, @isle-of-earle, @paulsonsratched, @stepintomyworld, @grilledcheeseandguavajelly, @lucyintheskywithxanax, @fanfics4world, @mymiraclewitch, @hazard-to-myself, @awritersometime, @ohrwurm26, @wastdstime

The dense greenery of the enchanted forest sways gentle in the cool breeze, casting shifting patterns of shadow and light upon the forest floor. With swift motions, you run through the tangled undergrowths, your breathing coming in ragged gasps as you glance over your shoulders, trying to see if they had gone, if you were safe.

Moments before, your day looked like it usually did, as you found yourself in the heart of the village, your heart heavy with the weight of injustice. The villagers lacking the most basic things including food, water and supplies to survive, due to the Queen's oppressive rules. And somehow over the years, after slowly losing your family and purpose altogether, you turned out to be an aid for the poor lost souls in the forest and village, their silent pleas echoing in the depths of your soul.

Somehow you had turned into your own version of a Robin Hood, wanting to help out, regularly crossing boundaries and stealing from the Queen's garden and palace grounds in order to provide for them, rid them of the poverty and pain they had endured for years now. And somehow, today you had been careless, not caring about the sound of alarms piercing through the stillness of the night. The queen's guards descended upon the village with ruthless efficiency, riding their horses, their gleaming armour announcing their presences further.

And now as you attempt fleeing through the labyrinth of the forest, trying to reach your sanctuary hidden deeply inside the forest, the branches tear at your clothes, the thorns pricking your skin and causing for blood to run down your arms and legs, leaving a crimson reminder of your foolishness before. Fear and desperation mingles in your veins as you push and push forward, occasionally glancing behind your shoulder to reassure that you would manage to lose them again, just like you had done many times. And if you were in a clear state of mind, you would have noticed that you took a wrong turn, ignoring the wanted poster with both your face on it, among other faces, like Snow White, all enemies to the queen who had been on her wanted list for quite some time now.

With a loud thud, you feel yourself losing your balance as you must have bumped into something, feeling a warm sensation before hitting your head on a nearby branch. It takes a little while for your vision to clear, before you find yourself face-to-face with a woman cloaked in darkness, her sharp features illuminated by a flickering lantern. Through a teary vision, due to the pain piercing through your body, you notice dark red hair styled in a sharp quiff, a shade of very dark purple, almost black coating her body. There's a calculating gleam in her eyes, as she finds you pathetically whimpering on the floor, her lips curled into a smirk.

,,Well well'' she remarks, her voice hushed ,,You seem to have gotten yourself into quite a predicament, running from the queens guards I presume?'' she questions and if it wasn't for the pain, you would have noticed the odd sense of familiarity you seem to feel and how you almost would have recognised her. Your heart pounds in your chest, torn between fleeing, the sound of shouting guards and horses still lingering in the air. But there was something about the woman's demeanour that stops you, a sense of intrigue mixed with caution.

Before you can respond, the older woman bends a little to place the lantern on the floor, the bright sensation causing you to close your eyes only momentarily. As you open them again, you watch as she balances on a cane before extending a gloved hand, offering assistance. ,,Come with me'' she offers, her tone surprisingly gentle. ,,I can offer you refuge, but you must trust me''.

Despite the feeling of doom and danger, you see a glimmer of hope in her offer, and so with a silent nod, you accept her outstretched hand, allowing her to lead you deeper into the shadowy depths of the enchanted forest. And it takes several minutes, for the pain to stop throbbing, the blood from your earlier wounds to stop pouring, until you can collect your thoughts. And as you walk behind her, following the sound of her cane and the light source provided by the small lantern she carries, something about the way she walked alarms you. And then it finally dawns on you, finding the familiar trees with carvings on them, where she was leading you, your secret path to the palace that you would often use in order to sneak to the grounds to steal in order to provide for the poor souls of the village.

And then at last it dawns on you who was walking in front of you, who's assistance you agreed upon. You didn't know her name, you had heard it plenty of times but you couldn't recall it, only remembering how she was the assistant to the wicked queen, the people in the village often mentioning her, how she never spoke much but was always by her side. As the forest echos with whispers of secrets, yet to be revealed, panic shoots through your veins, glancing around you to think of a quick escape and as you stop walking, you are quick to turn around, trying pathetically to begin running, however your legs give in as you feel a sharp pain, before everything goes black, having calculated your steps wrong, having put your trust in the wrong hands as the woman never had the intention of helping you, knowing you had been searched and chased for the longest time.

While you battle through unconsciousness, the woman had already alerted the same guards that had chased you before, who carried you inside the palace, the place that you had feared for years. And as the woman returns to the queens chambers in the middle of the night, not disturbing much sleep as her majesty had been awake, pacing back and forth contemplating her next steps and the secret curse she had been planning on casting for years, almost on the verge of completing it, finally having all the necessary ingredients, her peace is interrupted. ,,Busy'' she snarls as she is lost in her pacing, unaware who is standing in front of her.

,,Something demands your attention in the dungeons, your majesty'' the redhead woman announces, causing for the brunette to turn around, as her eyes sparkle with curiosity. And as her curiosity gets ahold of her, she brushes past her most loyal assistant yet, the sound of the queens heels and the other woman's cane echoing through the castle as they pass countless guards. And at last they make it to the dungeons, watching your almost lifeless frame on the floor, in restraints. ,,Well well'' the queen chuckles lowly, glancing at the other woman with a hint of excitement in her brown eyes. ,,Was she caught stealing my apples again?'' she chuckles as she approaches you a little closer.

,,No your majesty, I found her in the woods'' the other woman announces, causing for the queens head to snap in her direction, as she bites her lip in anticipation, almost a hint of lust in her eyes. As you slowly wake up, despite your body screaming in pain, you open your eyes, catching a glimpse of the woman who you had feared for the longest time, accompanied by the woman you had wrongly put your trust into hours before. ,,You lied to me'' you scream, struggling through the restrains as anger flashes in your eyes. The Queen simply chuckles lowly, seeing your pathetic attempts to regain your freedom. ,,My dear, you have no idea who this is do you?'' the queen remarks, causing you to avert your gaze in frustration. ,,This my dear is Wilhemina Venable, my most loyal companion'' she begins, her hand wandering to the redheads cheek, squeezing it a little, her eyes sparkling with pride for how she had managed to capture you after her countless failed attempts in the past.

And despite the circumstances, your eyes betray you as you watch the scene unfold before you, for the first time really getting a glimpse of both women. And you couldn't deny how utterly beautiful they were, at least from the outside, both their hair styled sharply, exposing their faces plastered in dark makeup, the same brown eyes despite the different shades. The queen was wearing one of her usual dresses, black this time, plastered in diamonds and jewels, Wilhemina dressed entirely in a dark shade of purple. While the queen is busy with admiring the other woman, feeling drawn to her for capturing you, you watch as the redheads brown eyes travel towards you, almost a sign of pity in them before she speaks again.

,,What are you planning on doing with her your majesty?'' causing for the queen to chuckle, and you knew what this meant as you had always been running from death, knowing you had deserved it for stealing and running from her for years. Closing your eyes, you wait for what awaits, waiting for her to open the bars, approach and rip out your heart, as you had watched her do it to innocent people many times. However to your surprise she begins pacing a little, thinking about what to do with you. ,,I think we'll keep her'' she announces with a chuckle, and as you open your eyes you notice the confusion in the redheads features.

,,Where she comes from my dear, people bathe in the river and use pinecones for money'' she exclaims, her eyes piercing right through you. ,,I think she can be of great assistance, considering she knows the village and forest so well'' she carries on, Wilhemina simply nodding, trying to avert your eyes. ,,She would make an excellent pet'' is the last thing her majesty says before leaving, leaving behind a very puzzled and confused Wilhemina. She looks at you one more time before following, leaving behind an ever confused you. ,,Pet?'' you think to yourself, trying to pinch yourself to see if this was all just a dream or if maybe you had already died a while ago.

The remainder of the night is spent in the eery dungeons, the restraints keeping you from moving all that much and so the only thing you can do is try and relax as much as the situation allows you, leaning your head against the cold and damp wall behind you, trying to calm the raging storm of thoughts. Eventually sleep finds you, despite it being broken as the castle was considerably loud, even in the night and sometimes you thought you heard screams from the lost souls that had found their ending in the same dungeons you are sitting in. The next morning, you are awoken by one of the guards, as he undoes your restraints, pulling you up by your arms and forcing your shaky legs to follow him as he takes you towards her majesty.

With heavy eyes from the remaining pain lingering on your body and lack of comfortable sleep, you blink a few times as he lets go of you, dropping to your knees in the process. And as you glance around, you notice an unfamiliar room, filled with fancy mirrors, a balcony overlooking the palace grounds, a large dining table and fireplace to the side. And you also notice the same two familiar faces that you had last seen last night, Wilhemina sitting in one of the armchairs by the lit fireplace, her cane resting beside her, the same shade of dark purple but a different outfit. And in front of you, you find her majesty, wearing a red dress, her hair down and despite it all looking beautiful, yet intimidating.

For some reason, you feel the urge to stand up and so with all the strength left you balance and face her as she takes slow and calculated steps around you, walking in a little circle, occasionally glancing at the other woman in the room before speaking. ,,Now now, what are we going to do with you, pet?'' she questions with a little chuckle and it causes you to gulp, wondering just why she hadn't killed you yet, considering all the wanted posters and the hatred you knew she felt towards you for your actions.

The room fills with silence before a low chuckle ripples through it, this time not from the queen but her loyal companion. ,,We can have her for supper can't we dear?''. And again they have you gulping and you could easily try to make an escape, the guards having disappeared now, despite expecting them outside this room. But your curiosity keeps you on your shaky legs, glancing at the older woman who continues circling you like prey. ,,No, no'' she tuts, shaking her head a little ,,We can't waste such a beautiful little thing, now can we?'' her voice sounds almost mocking and you have no idea whether she was being genuine or not.

Silence stretches on, before an idea pops into your mind, knowing what her majesty desired and considering she hadn't killed you yet, maybe you could truly be of assistance to her and her companion, maybe just maybe you could even continue to do what you had been doing, helping out the villagers if you played your cards right. ,,Your majesty?'' you try and her head snaps towards you, eyebrows raised as she never expected one of her prisoners to speak to her like this, adress her in the correct way, other than if she was about to take their life. ,,Yes?'' she questions curiously, her eyebrow remaining raised. You clear your throat before speaking again ,,You are trying to look for Snow White correct?'' you speak carefully, knowing this subject was more than a little touchy to her.

,,Yes, do continue'' she ushers, as her eyes lock with yours. ,,I am not the biggest fan of her either your majesty, perhaps I could be of assistance to help you find her?'' While Wilhemina chuckles, the brunette walks away sighing before she turns to you again, her eyes overtaken by anger. ,,Did she also get the one you loved most in this world killed?'' her voice is filled with venom, though her eyes filled with pain. Wilhemina averts her gaze, knowing Regina for a very long time now and knowing how much that had changed her. ,,No, of course not, I'm sorry your majesty'' you begin speaking again before adding ,,But we have met briefly and I can help you find her'' you try again.

This time the redhead woman stands up, her cane echoing through the room before she halts right in front of you, her dark brown eyes piercing through you. ,,We have our own spies in the village, what makes you think you can find her?'' she spits, almost feeling pitty at your pathetic attempt. ,,Well Ms Venable, you also have tried to find me for years and I know what it's like... to run, you know?''. Her eyebrows raise in the same way the queens had moments before, admiring how polite you are, admiring your manners despite it all and being able to tell that you didn't do any of this to be spared as she is utterly aware you could have tried to make an escape by now or even simply accept your fate.

,,If you don't like that, perhaps I could be of assistance with your gardens your majesty'' you try next, trying to think of anything to make yourself useful to them, while still seeing some of your own gain and advantage. The queen smiles then before turning serious ,,You mean those same gardens you have stolen from many times?'' she scoffs, glancing at Wilhemina who remains in front of you, her presence intimidating. ,,It's just I couldn't help but notice how some of the fruit didn't exactly look too healthy your majesty and your stunning castle, deserves a worthy garden'' you finish your proposal, assuming that she would kill you next or send you back to the dungeons.

,,Guard'' she shouts and as he enters hastily, you close your eyes, awaiting your fate. ,,Get me the gardener now'' she shouts and as he practically runs away, Wilhemina's eyes widen as she turns her head to face the queen, surprised she would listen to you, especially the possibility of agreeing as she knows exactly what is about to happen. A little while later a middle aged man enters the room, almost tripping over his feet, clearly intimidated by the presence. ,,I hear you haven't been taking care of my gardens the way you are meant to'' she tuts, and with a swift motion, before he even gets the chance to explain himself, she has him on the floor, with a flick of her wrist his neck snapped, moments later the guards carrying his lifeless body from the floor a few steps away from you.

All you can do is freeze, feeling terrible that this was the result of your words, not thinking about the consequences your proposal held for the innocent man. And despite feeling like screaming, you stay still, not daring to look up at either of them right now, the realisation slowly sinking in that this wasn't good, that you are trapped by a deranged witch and her odd companion. ,,Fine'' she finally speaks again ,,You can look after the gardens and you may be free to go to the village whenever you please and provide me with information on Snow White'' the queen speaks, before she approaches you. As you look up, you watch as she brushes past Wilhemina before taking your cheeks into her hand and squeezing them ,,But if you think for one second you can escape and not return, you are mistaken'' she warns and as your eyes lock with hers, you can't help and fight the tears beginning to swell in them. ,,Yes your majesty'' you agree with shaky breaths, before she releases you from her tight grasp.

,,Guard'' she shouts again, the same guard entering hastily yet again. ,,Take Y/N to a room, she will be overlooking the gardens and feed us information on snow white'' she explains, before he nods ,,Yes your majesty'' he speaks before he ushers you to follow him. And you do, not once looking back, your feet still shaky from the interaction that had unfolded. The walk feels like it lasts a lifetime, until he finally leads you to a door, opening it and ushering you to go inside. It wasn't nice in the slightest, a lot of dirt, spider webs, barely even a window but there was a little table and chair, a bed even and it connected to what you assume to be a small bathroom. And despite it giving you dungeon vibes all over again, at least you wouldn't be restrained any longer, regaining a small sense of your freedom. He leaves moments later, and you can't help but collapse onto the bed, it really wasn't much of a bed, more of a mattress but nevertheless, you close your eyes as sleep finally washes over your tired body and aching bones.

The next time your eyes force open, it's a few hours later and as you glance around the small room, you find some things that had been left on the small table. As your curiosity gets ahold of you, you find a few sets of clothes, a washcloth and even some papers and pens and despite unsure who had left it there, you appreciate it. Moments later you finally rid your body from the dirt and blood that the last two days had left on you, putting on some of the clothes and leaving your room. It takes you several minutes to find a guard, asking if he could point you in the direction of the gardens and hesitantly he does, leading you to what you assume to be the old gardeners shed as you find all the necessary tools and so without thinking about it, you get to work, watering the bushes, trimming some of them to get them into perfect shape, nurturing some of the fruits and vegetables and correcting any mistakes that the previous gardener had made, for whatever reason taking this task quite seriously.

It's dark as you eventually return inside, quickly having the hang of it by now and finding your room, finding a meal on your table and despite again unsure who had left it, feeling grateful as you hadn't realised until now how much you had been starving. After finishing your meal, you change your clothes again, washing the now dirty ones from working in the gardens all day, before sitting on your bed crossed leg, trying to figure out what to do as beside the day light, you had lost all sense of time a little bit. And so the only thing you can do is reach for the pen and papers, writing down the events from the past few days, sketching a little as well as it always had been your passion, unsure why but it really being the only thing you could do and several hours later passing out on your bed as sleep washes over you.

The next day, you find yourself doing the same things, her gardens were huge and as her majesty overlooks them, finding you working as you kneel on the floor, planting some flowers, she can't help but watch carefully, something about you utterly intriguing. You lose yourself in your task, unaware of who was watching before a presence startles you, causing you to drop your tools clumsily. You watch as Ms Venable circles around you, carefully observing without speaking a single word and it for sure intimidates you, having her observing and careful eyes on you. ,,You seem good at this'' she states, noticing how all the bushes and hedges had the exact same length and a part of her confused as to how you had managed that. ,,Thank you Ms Venable'' you almost whisper, after the last encounter quite terrified of them both and she can tell. ,,Have you managed to gather any information yet?'' she questions curiously and you gulp then before looking up at her as you still kneel on the floor.

,,Not yet, I was wondering whether I may be allowed to leave this afternoon to try and I was wondering whether I would be allowed to collect some seeds?'' you ask, your voice shaky. ,,Seeds?'' she chuckles then, almost mocking your words. ,,Yes Ms to plant some more vegetables and fruit and flowers you see'' you try your best to convince her. ,,I'm sure her majesty doesn't mind, as long as you return in the evening and report back to us'' she almost scolds, her features turning more serious and stern. ,,Of course Ms Venable, thank you'' is all you reply with a small smile, unsure why you had smiled in the first place but it somehow came natural. And before you know it she leaves, her cane echoing with each step before it stops altogether as she reaches the palace again.

Several hours later, you finally make your way to the village, using your secret path through the forest, stopping briefly by your hide out and gathering some of your things, putting them all in a small bag and changing into one of your usual outfits, feeling much more comfortable that way. You opted for one of your beige ones, leather trousers, boots and a vest, a shoulder bag with your belongings. On the way to the village, you had also collected some seeds, hoping if you worked briefly and hard on the gardens, you could still provide the village with food, hoping that you could somehow stuff it in your bags so no one would notice. And as you finally make it to the village, you are met with the usual families, the children greeting you excitedly as they knew you always brought them things but today you unfortunately come empty handed. ,,We haven't seen you for a couple of days'' one of the villagers exclaims, scanning your features and noticing some cuts and bruises on your face. ,,Brief encounter with some guards'' you chuckle, not wanting to go into too much detail. ,,I don't have anything today unfortunately but I should soon'' you exclaim, however you are met with compassion and understanding.

,,Have either of you heard anything about Snow White lately?'' you ask the group of villagers, before most of them shake their head. ,,I believe she has last been seen up north, by the rivers'' one of them exclaims and you simply nod, appreciating their honesty, despite feeling terrible considering what game you are playing. Noticing the beginning dawn, the sun beginning to set, you opt to return to the palace, knowing you would never be able to make the journey up north within the next few hours. And it doesn't take long until you find yourself in front of the familiar back door, some guards already awaiting you. ,,Your majesty wants to see you'' he explains before you gulp and follow him.

He guides you back into the room you had been in before, the two of them sitting by the fireplace, before you stand awkwardly, feeling as if you are interrupting their peace. ,,Tell me, any information?'' the queen questions before she stands up and walks over to you. ,,Yes your majesty, apparently up north by the river'' you explain before she signals to the guard who remained standing there before he leaves at her instructions. ,,I would have checked the information for myself but I know I needed to return tonight'' you explain yourself and she simply furrows her eyebrows before scanning you, noticing the outfit change and the bag. ,,Well well, did our little pet make a stop somewhere?'' she asks, glancing at Wilhemina who simply watches with a chuckle. The brunette is quick to take the bag from you, her eyes glancing through the contents of it, noticing some seed pouches and chuckling as the redhead had filled her in on your earlier request. ,,What is this?'' she questions, holding up your notebook.

,,My notebook your majesty'' you exclaim, averting her gaze as your cheeks grow red a little. She skips through the pages, impressed with the several sketches, some from the villages, some from the forest and even one of her castle. She slides it back into your bag, before walking back over to her armchair, leaving you confused and stranded, unsure what to do next. ,,I feel like some tea, you dear?'' the queen announces and you aren't sure whether to leave them to it or whether they still needed you. ,,Of course'' the redhead begins, reaching for her cane but the queen stops her by waving her hand. ,,No no'' she tuts ,,We have a pet now remember dear'' she instructs and Wilhemina simply chuckles before they both look at you. You glance around the room, unsure where you are supposed to get tea from, however the redhead glances towards a backdoor behind the dining table and you nod gratefully before quickly walking through the door, finding a small tea kitchen there.

And so it doesn't take long before you enter the room again, carrying a little tray, before approaching them, with shaking hands placing it in front of them. ,,Anything else I can get you?'' you ask almost obediently and if you would have looked, you would have noticed the sparkle in Wilhemina's eyes. ,,No pet, but how about you join us considering you did so well today, I heard they have a trail on Snow White'' the queen chuckles and your eyes widen at her offer, but as Wilhemina pats the space next to her, you simply obey, quickly pouring the tea for them, before glancing at the fire, softly crackling, providing you with some warmth, as you feel a little awkward, under their careful gazes. ,,So tell me Y/N, what led you to steal from me in the first place?'' the queen begins, causing you to gulp as the last thing you expected was to find yourself having small talk over tea with them. ,,Yes Y/N'' Wilhemina mockingly carries on ,,We want to hear all about you'' she exclaims, again having you gulping and squirming in your seat.

The next few weeks, carry on the same way they had previously, most of your days are spent with taking care of the gardens, regularly going back to your village, providing them with some of the food that you had grown and nurtured, in secret of course. Your nights mostly looked the same as well, spending them in your room, doing some writing or sketching in your notebooks. However lately, they had often demanded your presence in the evening as well, as you often provided them with tea, the occasional wine, and any information you had on Snow White. And you couldn't help but notice how they seemed a little less strict, they stopped calling you pet and started with your actual name. You are sure by now they know that you have continued providing for your village and they hadn't killed you yet, not even mentioned it. And so, ever so slowly, your life at the palace felt almost normal as you had quite the freedom now, not having to let the guards know where you are going as they and her majesty knew you would always return in the evenings. And so it almost felt like home, appreciating the fact that you don't have to sleep on the wet and cold forest floor anymore but you knew there was something off, you should be terrified, trying to run from them after seeing all the horrible things they had done in the past but something about being around them so much, you started to understand more about the queens pain and the reason for her actions.

,,Where on earth is she?'' she paces around her large chambers, the anger flaring in her eyes as her magic sparks, her emotions bubbling out of the brunette.

Her loyal companion, sits by the fireplace, trying to keep her composure, before balancing on her cane, the sound echoing through the room. ,,I'm sure she just lost track of time'' the redhead tries calming her down, placing a hand on the queens shoulder but she is having none of that, quickly escaping her grasp. ,,She always returns, we were foolish to believe that she wouldn't betray us'' her raised voice rings through the air again, startling the redhead a little.

And Wilhemina wasn't sure whether the queen was actually concerned for your wellbeing, or simply considering whether to kill you, having noticed how Regina had almost gone soft since bringing you to the castle, still plotting her curse that she had worked on for a while but considerably softer with the people in the villages, especially your village. She knew all about you still providing them with food and yet Regina hadn't kill you and so Wilhemina had began wondering whether the brunette may feel the same way about you that Wilhemina had started, despite never talking about it.

The silence is interrupted when a guard enters ,,Your majesty'' he begins but she was having none of it. ,,Not now'' she shouts, waving her hand, getting ready to send him flying out the door. ,,Your majesty, we have finally found her'' he announces, the sound of more guards filling the air before her head snaps towards him. ,,Snow White?'' she questions, despite your best information and efforts lately, they still hadn't managed to capture her. ,,No your majesty'' he begins, before Wilhemina's heart stops in her chest.

They watch as another guard, drags your body inside, your face filled with blood as it pours from your mouth, your clothes stained and bruises beginning to plaster your face. Your eyes are closed as they throw you on the floor, in front of both women, smiling at themselves thinking they had captured you. ,,Are you both out of your minds?'' she shouts and the smiles quickly vanish from the guards faces. ,,Your majesty, Y/N has been searched for years'' he tries to justify his actions. ,,Didn't you two fools get the memo? she hasn't been searched for months, she belongs to this palace'' Wilhemina shouts, usually keeping her composure but unable to in this moment.

,,Pathetic idiots'' the evil queen shouts, in a swift motion making them turn into dust, wiping them from their existence quicker than either of them can take their next breath or justify their pathetic actions. Wilhemina is quick to rid you from the chains, her hand brushing past your cheek, the blood staining her leather gloves. Almost helplessly, Wilhemina turns to Regina, who simply stands frozen, before turning on her heels, abandoning you both as she leaves towards her balcony, trying hard to keep her emotions and rage at bay.

The battle of unconsciousness wins in the end, barely aware of the encounter that took place and so when you wake next, you find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings, a dark room, the only light sources some candles. As you try and force open your eyes, you notice the interior almost entirely a dark shade of lilac and your eyebrows furrow, trying to recollect the events from before. All you remember is trying to make your way back to the castle, stumbling upon some guards who clearly had no idea who you were and how they didn't listen to your pathetic attempts of explaining. How they beat you, hurt you and dragged you back to what you assume to be the castle. The last thing you see before sleep washes over your tired and beaten body is the lilac large sofa you are laying on before everything goes black and quiet.

Meanwhile Wilhemina had returned to the queens chambers, opting between getting you back to your room or a little closer to them and so she decides for one of her rooms in the end, needing the help of a guard to get you there, yet she trusted that same guard, having helped her with some of her secret missions in the past. She watched over you for a while, gently ridding you from the blood and changing your clothes for you, unsure why she was doing it but ignoring the thought for now, wanting to check on Regina. She finds the other woman still standing on her balcony, overlooking the gardens, despite the darkness of the night surrounding them. The cane echoing announces the redheads presence, as she stands beside her majesty, silence surrounding them.

,,How is she?'' the brunette asks, not averting her gaze from the dark night sky for a moment. ,,Fine'' Wilhemina mutters, still unsure how to read Regina's actions so far regarding you. And as the redhead catches a glimpse of the other woman's brown eyes, she can see something unfamiliar in them, something she couldn't read. ,,She's causing me to go soft'' she suddenly speaks, taking Wilhemina by surprise. ,,Is that such a bad thing?'' she questions in return, the queen averting her eyes again at the redheads statement. ,,Where is she?'' Regina asks after a moment of silence before Wilhemina speaks again. ,,She's safe'' and the statement causes for the queens eyebrows to furrow as her eyes draw towards the redheads again. ,,Where is she?'' she speaks again before Wilhemina swallows hard ,,In my room''.

,,Your room?'' her eyebrows raise now, surprised at the statement. ,,You are going soft too my dear'' she chuckles before giving her companion that nod, that nod that indicated she was tired and would retreat to her own chambers for the night. ,,Good night your majesty'' Wilhemina speaks before giving her the space she had silently asked for and retreating to her own room. In her room, she finds you still asleep and a wave of worry washes over her, having seen some of your wounds when changing and washing you before, concerned at the severity of them. ,,Y/N?'' she speaks almost softly, almost lovingly, so unlike the usual stern and intimidating woman. And her soft voice draws you from sleep instantly, as you open your eyes. And then it kinda dawns on you, who's room you are in and you instantly jolt, thinking you didn't belong there, unaware of who had put you there in the first place.

,,I'm so sorry Ms Venable'' you try, your voice still hoarse from sleep. ,,I don't know how I got here'' you apologise, trying to balance on your feet, however a sudden wave of pain washes over your body, causing you to tumble forward but a steady body forces you to remain still, stopping you from falling over. ,,It's okay dear'' she speaks so softly yet again and as you look up, you catch a glimpse of her brown eyes and how they sparkle, how suddenly she seems so much nicer, so much less intimidating and just a person, not the evil queens loyal companion. ,,Come on, let's sit you down'' she tries and you quickly obey, not wanting to cause any discomfort for her, unsure why she used a cane in the first place, but often sensing how uncomfortable she was whenever you caught a glimpse of her.

,,I put you here'' she confesses, causing your eyebrows to furrow in confusion but when the realisation sets in, your cheeks growing red a little, feeling silly for your earlier panic. ,,Is the pain quite bad?'' she asks, her features filled with concern but you quickly shake your bed. ,,No Ms Venable'' you assure, the pain much better now despite the remaining feeling of unbalance whenever standing up. The room fills with silence as you catch a glimpse of what you assume to be her chambers, the large wooden wardrobe in a corner, a large mirror, a desk with several books on them, two armchairs and a fireplace in the corner. As your eyes meet hers again you can't help but notice how she is staring at you, looking at you up and down as your eyebrows furrow in confusion, mirroring her actions to check if there was something wrong with your appearance.

,,You are quite pretty for a peasant'' she speaks quietly and now you are definitely contemplating whether you are awake, whether this was real. ,,Tha- Thank you Ms Venable'' you stumble over your words, unsure what to reply before she speaks again ,,You may call me Wilhemina'' she offers ,,But only when we are alone'' she instructs and you quickly nod your head, feeling a knot form in your stomach. The room fills with silence again, as you feel yourself relaxing in her presence a little, trying to think how you had gotten here in the first place, how being captured after all these years got you to a first name basis with her majesty's most trusted person. ,,What happened to you tonight?'' Wilhemina asks, drawing your thoughts and eyes back to her.

And then without hesitation and the usual composure you have around them, you fill her in on what had happened with the guards, and she listens intently, her jaw stiffening a couple of times when mentioning some of the more violent details. Before she can reply, the door bursts open, and your eyes widen when seeing the queen enter, in a dark nightgown, her hair down, the makeup gone and for the first time feeling like actually seeing Regina. ,,I can't sleep'' she sighs before noticing your presence and tensing her shoulders, not expecting you to still be there as it had been hours since Wilhemina mentioned having you in her room and assuming by now that you had left to your own room again.

,,And what are you still doing here?'' she questions, more to Wilhemina than yourself really. ,,We were just talking'' Wilhemina informs, her features remaining neutral. ,,I'll leave you to it your majesty'' you speak, quickly on your feet and ignoring the pain and dizziness as you brush past her and return to your own room. That night you have a hard time finding sleep, equally to the queen before, as you toss and turn at first, before eventually giving up on the idea of sleep and retreating to the comfort of your words and sketches as the pen flies over the pages of your notebook.

The next morning you return to your usually tasks, going on about your day, finding an odd sense of peace and quiet in the gardens. Unaware who was again looking over you, observing quietly from her balcony. And the next few weeks continue just like that, you going on about your usual tasks, having your evening encounters with both women who stopped tolerating your presence and started appreciating it, as you bring an odd sense of calm around them, some life into their monotone lives. And within those weeks you feel yourself increasingly drawn to both women, especially after they had taken you to your village a few days ago in the queens carriage, how you assumed Regina was going to bring her usual wrath of violence over people but instead her carriage brought food and supplies for your people and you couldn't believe your eyes, just as stunned as the poor people who feared as soon as they heard the queens guards and carriage arrive.

And you wondered whether maybe, just maybe the queen was going soft, unaware of the events that had taken turn behind closed doors, of how the queen had casted her spell and how it was slowly brewing, unaware of what it would bring, chaos, forgetting and what she had always desired most- her own version of a happy ending. And so tonight, you were unaware that the upcoming day would bring just that, unaware that tonight was your last with them. You had been confused about the queens unusual cheerful mood, how she had invited you to join them for supper, how Wilhemina could barely stand your gaze. How silently Wilhemina had pleaded for the queen to stop her curse but she couldn't stop it as it had been brewing silently for months and how nothing could stop it now, despite her beginning to silently regret it, despite her never admitting that to no one, not even herself really.

You find yourself sitting beside Wilhemina by the fireplace, how her eyes linger on the dancing flames, not having said much all night. ,,Wilhemina, is everything okay?'' you question silently and as her eyes meet yours, you see the pain, the doubts in them and so many unspoken words. However, your peace is interrupted when the queen enters, the door banging shut in the process and your heart stopping in your chest as you notice what she was carrying in her hands. Your notebook slaps against the table as she throws it on it, leaving behind a very confused and startled Wilhemina.

,,What is this?'' the redhead questions, her eyes meeting the angry queens eyes.

,,Ask her'' Regina spits, her angry eyes meeting yours. Wilhemina's eyebrows furrow in confusion as she looks at you. You can't do anything but stand, taking a step towards her majesty, knowing if she had read it, you would be beyond screwed.

,,I can explain your majesty'' you pathetically try but before you get the chance to, she takes a step closer, the echoing of her heels matching her inner turmoil as her eyes shoot daggers towards you, before you gasp as a hand extracts your heart, watching in shock as she holds it in her hands, the sound of it beating steadily filling the room.

,,Regina-'' Wilhemina shouts, quickly on her feet and her eyes travelling from you to the brunette.

,,I have had a feeling this carried your secrets'' she speaks, her eyes wandering towards your notebook. ,,And I wasn't surprised to read all your little confessions, find all your little sketches'' she speak almost mockingly, her eyes filled with both rage and pain.

,,Regina- what is it?'' Wilhemina tries again, her heart beating fast, her hands trembling with fear.

,,She loves us dear, both of us, the pages are filled with it'' she informs her companion, who simply stands there with a shocked expression as the room begins spinning a little.

,,Regina stop'' Wilhemina demands, her eyes pleading with the queen, her cane banging on the floor twice.

Regina's grip on your heart tightens, her gaze cold as she holds it in her hands, causing you to gasp for air. ,,Stop?'' she repeats, her tone dripping with disdain. ,,Why would I stop? when I have finally uncovered the truth about our little pet?''

Fear courses through your veins as you watch the scene unfold before you. Wilhemina's eyes widen in shock, her features mixed with disbelief and anguish. ,,Regina please'' she pleads again, her voice barely above a whisper ,,This isn't necessary''

,,You know that she loves us, you have known for a while now, we both have'' she pleads again as she steps forward, her voice filled with desperation.

Regina's eyes flicker with anger but Wilhemina continues, her words gaining strength. ,,Love should triumph over revenge'' she argues, her gaze never leaving Regina's.

The Queen's expression softens slightly at Wilhemina's words, a flicker of doubt crossing her features. For a moment it seems as though she might relent, before she senses that her curse almost reached you, knowing it was too late, that she couldn't fix this, before her eyes harden once more, her resolve returning.

"Love is a weakness, Wilhemina," she retorts, her voice cold and unforgiving. "It blinds us, makes us vulnerable. We cannot afford such weakness in our world."

Before Wilhemina can respond, having heard those same words fall many times from the queens lips, Regina reaches out and places your heart back in your chest. The pain is intense, causing you to drop to the floor, and as Regina leaves the room, Wilhemina rushes to your side, abandoning her cane, pulling you into her arms as she braces for whatever comes next.

As she glances towards the door where Regina stands, a thick cloud of purple and green already surrounding her, the dark curse finally having reached you, she is quick to press a tender kiss to your lips, causing your eyes to open. ,,I love you Y/N'' she murmurs against your mouth, her voice filled with emotion. ,,No matter what happens, remember that''

Then, as the room fills with smoke and darkness, Wilhemina shields you with her body, trying to protect you from the curse's effects. As the world fades around you, you cling to her, unaware of what is happening, unaware that in a matter of seconds you would forget everything, forget them, forget your life and the woman still trying desperately to hold you close, despite it being useless.

#regina mills #the evil queen #regina mills x reader #regina mills fanfiction #wilhemina venable #Wilhemina Venable x reader #american horror story imagine #ahs #ahs apocalypse #au #writing #once upon a time #sarah paulson x reader #sarah paulson #american horror story #ahs coven

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cheralith · 11 months

Text

a dedicated tenderness — 「 knives (nai) x reader 」

content warnings ; none

contains ; college!au, modern!au, secret relationship, just plain fluff with hundred spoons, polygun being sillies

notes ; could be read as a continuation of the previous nai fic, could not! still has the same aspects of it tho :3

You had met the Saverems when they moved across the street just barely diagonally from your house when you were just shy of six years old. Vash had caught you staring at their moving truck from behind the tall oak tree that provided a shaded sanctuary amidst the blazing summer heat. He remembers waving hello to the eyes that peeked out from the trunk of it before they flinched and ducked behind the sturdy wood again, slowly creeping back up to see if the pair of bright turquoise eyes were still staring at yours.

And when they were, Vash, being the more friendly and lively one of the two twins, decided to take it upon himself and drag his brother to go greet their new neighbor.

"Hi!" A sauntering young Vash had called cheerily to you, who was still hiding shyly behind the oak tree. "Are you our new neighbor? We just moved here!"

The young twins had managed to circle the trunk of the tree and before them stood a child around their age adorned in a colorful striped t-shirt and dirt-dusted overalls. Vash remembers you stepping back from the eager youngster, a less enthusiastic and distant version of him trailing not that far behind. You nodded, kicking at the dirt and not wanting to make eye contact with the sparkled-eye boy.

"My name is Valentinez, but you can call me Vash," he had said to you with a bright smile. He gestured to his lighter blonde and much more aloof counterpart. "This is Knives, you can call him Nai."

Your shy demeanor had suddenly faltered for a swift moment, your eyebrows getting all scrunched up in confusion at the odd names given to the two boys that little did you know, would set a place in your heart for the rest of your life. And it's returned back to the Saverem brothers. Your existence has stained each brother in such a unique way, and both Vash and Nai don't think they'll ever be able to forget you, not when your first words to them were,

"You guys kinda have weird names."

Such a sentence had lead a divide of two contrasting relationships involving the brothers—on one hand, Vash had taken it lightly to heart and merely laughed it off, easing himself into a breezy and steady friendship with you. On the other, Knives, or Nai as (only) you and Vash refer to him, had jutted out his lower lip in offense and insulted your dirty overalls, not taking into account that children still didn't have a filter before the age of ten. It forced you and him down a winding and tangling path, one that was devoid of flowery compliments and fresh smiles and laughs like the path of friendship you and Vash walked down together.

Oh no, the road you took with Nai was much more rocky, much more dwindling, and much more confusing. Insults jabbed at you and him like thorns as you'd trip over nonsensicality like sprouted tree roots waiting for you to stumble over them. The weather is never consisted as you travel down with him (never hand in hand, he'd so much as hiss out in faux pain whenever you'd brush against him). It could be stormy one day—the clouds heavy with misunderstandings, arguments and tears. It could be partly sunny—a ray of light peeking over the dismal clouds, similar to the nature of kindness that rarely shone through sometimes. Or it could just stay cloudy, as it has always been since the dawn of your "friend"ship with Nai.

Regardless of relationship status, there was certainly one thing that Vash had always knew of—that his brother had always had a quiet admiration for you. He just never seemed to act on it as much as other suitors of yours did. He isn't actually sure when Nai began to see you in a different light, but Vash can confirm that the longer he waits for something miraculous to happen, the more time will eat him alive.

He's seen it on his brother's face before. When you began your first relationship back in the more tender days of high school beginnings, Vash's eyes behind his glasses had flickered to a pair of similar ones across from him as you had introduced your then-boyfriend and he remembers the heaviness and ruddy ache that flittered across Nai's cavernous eyes. They contrasted your glowing ones, eyes filled with life and hope for the better future as you showed him off to everyone.

It was almost ritualistic, Vash thinks. Nai never seemed to care for romance unless it came to you. Vash thinks Nai would break all pairs of his glasses if he were to ever to say anything of a sort to his face, but he knew Nai was saving that blank space in his heart for you to fill, whether he realized it or not.

Nai Saverem is picky with people. He doesn't befriend those as easily as his younger brother, preferring to stay alone and distant with people that could easily take up his time so carelessly. It's why he shoos away any of his admirers with a cold glance that tells them they have zero chance with him and why there seems to be a certain thickness in the air whenever he's around that creates an invisible bubble around him. It's a thick barrier that refuses to let unknown others in and lets them know they won't be welcomed anytime soon. Introverted as he is, his energy is only so small, so there's a certain brand of people that wastes his time and therefore, he only uses his energy on people that he thinks are worth using it for.

And so Vash can't necessarily say he's too surprised like the others when Milly makes a separate groupchat that contains a series of images involving the two people excluded from it. The first is of Nai waiting outside the science building where your final class is held during Fridays. It was an odd place for him to be considering he only had one class on Fridays and would usually be home by mid-afternoon, so it was strange that Milly had caught him during the peeking hours of twilight still on campus.

The second is an image of you walking out the building and waving a hello to him, followed by the third of you and Nai's blurry figures connected via your hands in a sunset-inked sky making your way to Nai's car. The fourth of the photo sequence is a video. With a soft tenderness from Milly's hands, you get into the passenger seat with ease, the normal conversation of hostility and teasings between you and him seemingly devoid because there's no snooty faces or rolling of eyes. But it's when Nai properly starts the car that things take a turn. Its engines revving to life, he takes the time to pause and properly cradle the back of your head with his hand and properly give you a brief but soft kiss before pulling back with a dust of pink on his cheeks at the sight of your giddy, miniscule smile.

Behind the camera Milly gasps and drops her phone out of surprise on the concrete, and the video echoes the crack of the screen's phone before Milly's whine of "Oh no... it broke!" ends the video.

As buildings and nature of all arrays pass by, Vash replays the video over and over again in Wolfwood's car, examining it and the other images in full and wondering how Nai's daydreams finally came to life. Vash rubs his eyes behind his glasses, still attempting to process if what he’s seeing is real—that his icy older brother was truly thawing his resolve at the sight of you visibly and blooming a foreign affectionate that even Vash rarely sees nowadays.

Wolfwood groans when he hears the sound of the beginning of the video play again, grip tightening on the steering wheel as his knuckles whitening out of annoyance. "Would ya cut that out already! I get it, they're datin'!"

Vash flinches at his boyfriend's irritated tone. He tucks away his phone with a hasty laugh and apology. "Sorry, I'm just a little baffled that they're finally together after all these years."

The brunette makes a sort of scoffing noise. "I didn't lose all hope that your brother would never find love, but in all my years, I didn't expect it to be (Y/N) out of all people," he mutters, a cigarette dangling from his hand that sits on the edge of the window, its peppery scent lingering softly in the car. "How long do ya reckon they'll last?" he asks everyone in the car. "My bets on three months, their bickerin' is gonna put an end to it 'fore somethin' else does."

"That's mean, Wolfwood," Meryl scolds and flicks him on the back of his head, earning a yelp from him. "I'll admit myself I don't know how those two came to be, but I only wish them well and if they're happy with each other, that's all that matters."

Milly chimes in with a positive cheer. "Agreed! I'm just happy that Mr. Knives has finally found someone!" she chirps. "I really didn't want him to end up as a sad old grandpa alone."

"I wasn't insultin' them," Wolfwood huffs, "I was just merely statin' the reality. Y'all saw it earlier today too—both of 'em playin' musical chairs with the seat Knives stole in the lounge when (Y/N) got up to go get water."

Meryl shakes her head. "It's still really mean to assume their relationship won't last. I don't know about you guys, but I can see them—hey! You missed the turn!"

"Shit!"

Wolfwood swears aloud, hissing as he realizes he's passed the entrance to a vast park on the busy street. He makes a swift and hasty U-turn on the road that makes everyone grip onto the nearest object for dear life before zooming into an entrance that lead to a hidden field in the woods. The car slowly drives by it, where everyone can see a a lone picnic blanket atop a small hill with a laptop playing Miss Congeniality sits on a picnic basket. The back of two people face the parking lot, and it doesn't take long for everyone in the car to assume who they were.

On Fridays, it was a ritual to go to someone's house for a relaxing movie night and just wind down with everyone's presence for the evening. Today, however, you and Nai had excused yourselves from it with what seemed to be valid excuses until Milly's paparazzi work had jumbled in hours later.

“Can’t,” Nai droned, his eyes still glued on his laptop. “I’ve some papers to grade for one of my classes before the midterm ends.”

“And I’ve got a lab report to write up with my lab mates later,” you mentioned. “I can catch next week’s if that’s okay.”

It clicked to them that it was secretly code for you and Nai to actually attend a secret picnic movie date, which Wolfwood took mild offense to as Miss Congeniality was one of his favorite movies, disliking that it was being used for a date out of all things.

"They can't be serious," Wolfwood sneers as he pulls into a coveted shady area of the parking lot, safe from yours and Nai's view but still able to provide the gang with proper sights. "What screams romantic about Sandra Bullock having to attend a pageant? There's literally so much better romcoms out—"

"Shut up!" Everyone scolds.

"You'll give away our cover!" Meryl hisses. "The point is to be subtle and quiet, you idiot!"

Wolfwood snides and rolls his eyes, his hands throwing up in surrender.

On the other side of the hill, you gently press another strawberry to Nai's lips. His teeth gently bite into it, the juices of it slowly seeping out from the corner of his lips for your thumb to scrape away, a feather-like touch grazing his lips as it does so. You go to stare at the red-stained tint on them for a moment unconsciously, the natural gloss the fruit left off almost hypnotizing you.

It goes unnoticed by Nai, however.

"If you wanted a kiss, just say so," Nai says, plucking the greenery of the strawberry out your hand to put it into the trash pile.

You break out of your trance with a stunned shiver going up your spine at the sound of Nai's casualty. It was still somewhat unnerving for him to be saying such things, especially considering how he used to be before you two began dating. Words conveying such warmth were still unusual to hear, but it wasn't like you didn't like it.

A warmth creeps on your cheeks and you blink. "What? No, I was just simply... going to fix your collar, that's all!" you lie hastily. Your hand goes to fidget with an already-neat shirt collar before your wrist is grabbed by Nai's own. It pulls you into him and Nai's lisps peck your own quickly before his attention returns to the movie like nothing had ever happened.

You swear you can feel some steam coming out of your head. While you were usually the one that began the small touches of affections, it always felt different and much more intimate when Nai would return them or replicate them in his own fervor. Maybe it was due to the lack of intimacy he displayed to anyone else, or perhaps because they were from Nai himself that they felt more personal—the man who barely showed any emotion to anyone other than distaste and apathy—and so for such an individual to be sharing such liaison with you just felt more close to heart because he chose you to share it with.

"I thought you weren't one for PDA..." you mutter, fighting the urge the lick your lips as the acidity of the strawberry leftover lingers on them.

Nai shrugs. "We're the only ones around here, so the 'P' aspect of PDA doesn't necessarily apply right now."

"That's what you think," you interject. "There could be some weirdo prodding around the bushes as we speak, spying on us, y'know!"

He lets out a soft snort as the ending scene begins to play out, where Sandra Bullock begins to give her speech about friendship in the banquet hall starts to seal up the ending ropes of the movie. "And what weirdo would want to spend their time spying on two college students on a picnic?"

"A weirdo who tends to enjoy movies and real-life romance."

"Those people don't exist."

"To you they might not, but to me anything is possible."

"Shut up before I kiss you again."

You snort aloud, fighting the urge to react to his declaration like a schoolgirl. "You're acting as if I don't want th—"

Milly gasps loudly as she watches Nai dips his face to yours to once again, kiss you, but with more ardor than the last, this one lasting much more soundly than the previous one. She can sense there's true passion and dare she say, genuine love, in it and she melts at the sight of it fondly.

Vash himself watches the scene unfold with wide eyes, pausing his munching on his sandwich as he hogs the binoculars from a protesting Meryl. It takes all the fight in him to not proudly cheer aloud at his brother making a move and he gags on his sandwich when he witnesses Nai tuck a lock of hair behind your ear after the kiss. His lips still tell nothing of a sort, still a stiff downward line like they usually were, but the rest of his radiates a sort of fluster when you giggle softly at his antics. Confidence looks good on his brother, Vash thinks.

"Shit, they're on the move!" Wolfwood exclaims after a while of spying. Everyone hastily packs their things and duck as an ignorant you and Nai make your way down the hill and back into his creme white car, where Wolfwood's doesn't trail too far behind. The four of them spend the rest of the evening not watching a romantic movie as planned, but instead fending for the real life soap opera that enacts in front of them, tailing you and Nai as you travel around town and into various shops.

"Who do you think made the first move?" Meryl asks with her eyes peering behind the binoculars, peeking behind the window of the car that sits parallel on the same street a record shop was. "I'm placing bets that it was—oh no, everyone duck!" They shift under the seats when you two walk out with small bags in hand holding sorts of records and CDs, still talking aimlessly and the beat-up grey-black Camry still unnoticed in the background.

"Never really took Knives for a music-type of guy..." Wolfwood mutters. They slowly rise up from their spots and beginning to tail the car again.

Nai's eyes go to flicker to the rearview mirror. "Are they still following us?"

You give a chuckle and glance at the side mirror, where a familiar car of sorts drives only a car behind you. You had realized back at the ice cream parlor that four pairs of watchful eyes had their sights on you and Nai awhile back, but figured it'd be awkward to confront them and ruin the date. Instead, you let them have their fun being pretend James Bonds and went on with the date like usual, attempting to ignore them as much as possible (it was quite hard, however, when you could see Vash and Wolfwood almost start wrestling in the front seats for aux).

You knew that you and Nai had to come clean sooner or later, but he had admitted that he wasn't ready to state publicly that he was in a committed relationship. You still weren't sure whether it was because of his own pride of being frustratingly independent or it was nervousness of entering a new era that was holding him, but you respected his wishes and continued to play the part of a bickering old couple stuck in the bodies of college students like how you were beforehand. You think you were still just as nervous as you were in the first few weeks.

But when Nai's voice echoes the words he promised to you when he officially asked you out with sweaty palms and palpitating heartbeats, a warmth in your chest unfolds in comfort, reminding you to look on the brighter, warmer side of things, even if you weren't too confident.

"I... really want to make this work... so I promise to do all that I can if you'll do the same."

You give a soft smile at his promise he made awhile back to a particular no one. Nai raises a brow at your mysterious grinning.

"What are you smiling about?" he inquires as he leads you to the entrance of your apartment building.

"Oh, nothing..." you shrug off, leaving Nai in the dust of confusion.

Nai narrows his eyes for a bit in suspicion before sighing out aloud. His eyes go to hover on the sight of that dumb Camry again, its shaded windows concealing who its passengers was from view but Nai has seen it too many times to count to know whose car it was and only who could be inside of it. The smoke that wisps from behind the driver's window does nothing more that confirm his suspicions as he picks up the scent of familiar menthol cigarettes that doesn't take him long to guess who it belongs to.

"Do you think we should confront them?" you ask.

Nai shakes his head, "Just let them be for now. I'll deal with them later," he murmurs when he leads you safely into your apartment building. "Text me when you get up to your apartment," he directs before brushing his lips against your cheek as a goodbye.

You nod, affirmative. "I will, thank you for today, too," you praise fondly and give his hand one last squeeze before you let go. You watch as Nai makes his way back to the entrance before you call his name out again.

"Hey, Nai?"

His head turns back to you, raising a brow. You take this time to fully embody him before your own eyes, from the tufts of his hair to each freckle on his body.

Nai before your relationship and Nai in a relationship you think are two vastly different people, and you still can't place your finger on who the real one was. A part of you thinks he's putting up a front in the eye of the public for his own self-preservation, but another part tells you that he's merely just showing a newer, more refined side of him that you've never seen before—a more tender and protective version of Nai that you think only Vash has seen before a handful of times. Sometimes, you pride yourself in confirming that this side of Nai, whether it was real or not, was only shown to you as a sign of trust from his desolate self.

However, there were other times that made you think this honeymoon era might not last and you and him will go back to how things used to be, altering the fate of your relationship for the worst. A petal of guilt would bloom every time that thought crosses your mind due to the unsettling feeling that perhaps you didn't confide in Nai enough, that maybe you just didn't earn enough of him to lock your feelings into place.

But when he waits patiently for your response, blinking slowly, you realize that perhaps it was indeed the latter—a slow exposure to a new side of Nai Saverem—that was yours for the taking.

"I love you," you declare in the foyer, your voice echoing and forcing your message to repeat itself to him for a few seconds.

Your eyes scan for a reaction from him and you earn a flustered, non-verbal one as a response, one that makes his lips thin and makes him thickly swallow and cheeks flush. A grin teeters on the corners of your mouth as you watch him attempt to utter out a reply. It falls short on his tongue, however, and you're only given a nod and wave before Nai (almost hurriedly) exits the building, the tips of his ears pink.

A giggle slips its way out of you as you enter the elevator, fondly thinking on his lasting image. Baby steps, you think.

On the floors below, Nai groans and drags a hand down his face at the memory of your declaration to him. It's more difficult than he thought to ignore the loud thundering of his heartbeat, and he doesn't quite enjoy how it twists his chest so... tightly. He feels foolish for not even gathering up courage to just say a mere "Me too." back to you, but his embarrassment suddenly dissipates upon seeing the same car still in its place. Nai suddenly remembers the last errand he has to take care as his feet carry him to it, the scent of a cigarette growing stronger each step.

"Wolfwood, can you at least take that outside?" Meryl complains as the the black haired man lights up his fourth cigarette of the night. It's a miracle how his car seats don't reek from the stench.

He shakes his head, jutting it towards the building. "No can do, sweetheart. Our cover will be blown if Knives sees m—what the hell?!"

A loud bang rumbles through the car from the roof and the familiar figure of Nai Saverem looms over the car before he ducks his head down and gestures for a nervous Vash to roll down the window. Vash, fear-stricken, obeys his command almost automatically, leaving Nai to stare boredly back at everyone's pale faces. Wolfwood thinks Nai's fist had created an indent on the top of his car, but his words fail him when he goes to stare at Nai's icy face.

"So did you guys have fun spying on us?"

a/n ; this was just kind of a fluff blurb to help me write something that was the next chapter of if the shoe fits because i kind of needed something fresh and new to work on. writer's block? i'm not too sure! i hope you enjoyed either way!

thank you for reading once more and as always, comments and reblogs are always appreciated <;3!

#trigun #trigun stampede #trigun 1998 #trigun maximum #millions knives #millions knives x reader #knives x reader #nai x reader #knives fluff #trigun fluff #trigun fanfic #trigun x reader #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #meryl stryfe #milly thompson

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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dreaming-medium · 5 months

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Pssst, can I ask u🫵 something?

Do you have any rec for skzfic? Since you're a good writer so I think you a good taste in fics

Omg hey! You can absolutely ask me this, sorry it took so long for me to get around to! SO I read most (all) of my fics on Ao3! I'm still getting used to Tumblr lmao I can try to curate some Tumblr fics but that would take me a hot minute But here are some good ones I have bookmarked, I think most, if not all, are smutty 18+, but I'll tag them nontheless: Not gunna lie, 99% of the fics I read have smut just cause of what I like, so

Multi-chap fics:

Close Your Eyes (... And Count To Seven) by MysteryBird (18+) Ot8 x reader Word Count: 117,144 Mafia AU where the reader hooks up with each member of the gang. HIGHLY SMUTTY, has some extreme kinks in it. Definitely a Dead Dove Do Not Eat on the tags. But my god it is so well written and has plot, idk how it doesn't have more attention.

Stray Gods by DollyStuart (18+) Poly!Ot8 x reader Word Count: 171,475 (WIP, not finished) All of the members are gods of different powers and the reader is their guide throughout godhood. Has some good smut!

Tangled by ThisPeachIsDirty (18+) Poly!Ot8 x reader Word Count: 199,549 Reader is a tour photographer for the group and all of them use her to relieve... tension in various ways.

Instinct by fizzydrink698 (18+) Bang Chan x reader Word Count: 53,405 ABO where the reader is an alpha and Chan is the omega, it is definitely one of my fav SKZ ABO fics

Friends with Benefits by starrgaziingg (18+) Lee Know x reader Word Count: 67,847 "Lee Minho is a legacy at your university. He received an honorary award when he graduated, got a position as a dancer in a company a week after receiving his diploma...and was renowned as the schools famous ice-cold fuckboy." SO good

What You Deserve by 2chopsticks2eyes (18+) This is another author that I devour any of their work Lee Know x reader Word Count: 67,284 "You meet your best friend's group from college and find yourself spending more and more time with Minho. Sexual tension ensues." I think I re-read this fic 10 times already One Shots:

Strike the match, burn me down till I'm nothing by lemonhopia (18+) Kim Seungmin x reader Word Count: 5,290 enemies to lovers (sort of) Seungmin is reader's childhood best friend's brother who has been nothing but a thorn in her side since they were little. He's tasked with picking you up from the airport for your best friend's wedding.

conflict, conceal, confess by fizzydrink698 (18+) TBH anything by this author is AMAZING. I stalk their page so often. Lee Know x reader Word Count: 18,239 "minho and reader have been academic rivals for nearly a decade. now they have to put aside their differences, call a truce and finally admit they're ridiculously attracted to each other."

The Duke and I by lordseok (18+) Hwang Hyunjin x reader Word Count: 32,289 Bridgerton AU "Wishing to be a successful writer in the regency period seemed next to impossible for the sole daughter of a dead earl. With arising pressures from your mother to tie the knot, you turn to your dearest friend, Hwang Hyunjin, Duke of Hastings and the most eligible, scandalous bachelor of the season, for assistance. When he suggests the insane of idea of marrying each other to help each other, you agree to the proposal, unaware of how much the duke can teach you of the wonders of matrimony." I. Ate. This. UP. It is SO WELL WRITTEN.

#sunny recs

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thenightmarketofdathomir · 7 days

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Fic: Water of Life (Opress Bros x Reader)

Rating: Explicit Pairing: Opress Brothers x Reader Word Count: 6k Warnings: Dubious consent (if you're uncomfortable with situations involving penetrative sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, this is not for you), memory loss, substance use, ritual sex, anonymous sex, p in v, p in a, dps, poly, orgy, size difference, rough sex, primal play, ritual marking, stalking, power dynamics

Summary: A spiritual pilgrimage for Dathomir’s third moon festival requires little of its attendees: respect for the culture and respect for its rituals are paramount, and you must always do as the Nightbrothers say — but you know for certain, what is lost in the process never outweighs what’s gained…

Least of all when Lord Maul throws a party in honour of the old Gods.

Please Read/A Further Warning: If you're uncomfortable with situations involving penetrative sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, this is not for you. The Reader experiences memory loss of the event, and while there is no doubt she consented, the description may prove triggering for some readers. The author does not condone or encourage the use of mind altering substances while engaging in sexual activities, and the descriptions of the power dynamic here do not reflect a real world BDSM relationship. This is purely a work of fiction with darker elements.

Notes and an excerpt below the cut 👇 | Read the fic on Ao3 👉

Notes: This is very much a response tailored to the particular request -- largely because the askee and I are friends and we share two particular interests: Star Wars and Sleep Token. To that ends, this story has been shaped by a couple of notable influences from its playlist, so if you’re unfamiliar but would like to be better acquainted, I suggest giving Jaws, The Offering, and The Summoning a listen. Worship.

You wake the next afternoon with Dathomir's sun already at a half slant, making a red slash across your legs. The sheets are a tangle, but somehow you made it back to bed the night before. Everything's mussy, bleary around the edges from too much blackroot tonic, your muscles sore from dancing around the bonfires that lit the mountains in a long chain --

Every peak ablaze.

And every window to every hut in the Night City had been lit up, the caves and quarters of the Nightbrothers offering libations for new friends and visitors alike gold and green in the night. The revels had lasted until morning, pathways through the grave thorns lit with candles and brazier light leading to secluded alcoves where your memories get a little hazy -- all you know is that you've never seen anything like it, any place else in the galaxy.

Lord Maul really knows how to throw a party.

The thought brings a smile to your face, even though you haven't seen the man -- more a legend by the way the Nightbrothers speak of him: he's the one responsible for Dathomir's restoration, but he doesn't partake of the third moon festival. He's yet to make an appearance, as far as you know, but there are plenty of Nightbrothers, all of them keen on demonstrating their artistry in the games, many looking for partners to dance with, to play host to visitors wanting a taste of the authentic, revived Dathomiri magical traditions -- and your hosts have been more than accommodating.

Everyone is looking for something, that’s why you've come here. What you don’t yet know is the question, though you’re sure there’s an answer:

Something missing. You’re sure here you’ll find it. Whatever it is.

You shift, the sheets slipping, and realize you might've gone overboard on your very first day. Everything aches, your muscles sore from all night spent in the grave thorns and the caves, and you're tender in places you hadn't expected -- your breasts, your thighs too. Your shirt shifts and that's when you notice something's different -- there's paint striped everywhere across your body beneath your sleeping clothes.

Gold and smeary and shimmering, like you'd cuddled up to somebody painted with those pretty sigils the Nightbrothers use to invoke virility, prowess, and stamina in the hunt --

A memory flickers, there and gone like a moth against a candle and back to the darkness.

You swallow, the soreness registering as something not so awful because maybe there's a reason your clit feels so tender. Like someone lavished it with affection, leaving your cunt warm and wet, eased open for whatever came next.

Your body throbs with the disconnect, and like a ghost, you can map the places where someone touched and squeezed, offering pleasure in exchange for your memories of the event, because while you remember a body to whom you enthusiastically consented, his face is a blank in your memory.

A glance at the bedside mirror reveals finger streaks across your throat to your chest, and following the mark, you remember the weight of that hand undoing the straps of your dress. Fabric pooling around your feet in one of the caves where the brazier light made oil-slicked muscles shimmer. Gold and ochre. Gold eyes in a masked face.

Parting your legs, there's a little shimmer on your inner thighs too. A peek down your shirt reveals gold smudges on your breast and belly, and something flickers on the periphery of your awareness, rising like a vision from the depths:

Teeth against your neck. A heavy cock between your legs. And you, breathless and desperate, clawing marks up a Nightbrother's back as he braced you with gold-painted hips, the rough praises offered in whispers as he slipped you down each of his three ridges like something sacred --

No names. No faces.

Read the rest on Ao3 >

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i-am-vita · 2 months

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Fic Teaser: A Diversion Fight

So, Stupid Brain made me go into full new Ghost Rose and Phantom Pirates Lore just for writing some unconnected scenes. I promise I'm working on them but meanwhile suffer with me enjoy a little advance of next chapter:

If you haven't read Part 1 go before keep reading.

👉 My Masterlist & Oc Ghost Rose Masterlist.

Warnings: SFW but sexy, fighting with knives, smooching against a tree.

(...)

Upon seeing his arm rise towards Yoru's handle, you reacted immediately by throwing your knife towards him to halt his movement. You knew the moment he unsheathed his sword you'd be doomed.

With a swift movement, Mihawk detained the blade with two fingers. His eyes roamed the stylized form and elegant carvings in recognition.

"Bara no Toge... The Rose's Thorns..." He murmured, a hint of admiration in his voice. "It is said a swordmaster melt the O Wazamono twin swords Bara and Toge into a set of knives as a gift for his beloved, the ancient Queen of Daggers of the Shikkearu Kingdom." He toyed with the blade within his fingers, testing its perfect balance. "They disappeared from her tomb years ago." His sharp gaze focused back onto you. "This doesn't belong to you, little rose."

"Neither did to Do Flamingo, but they like me enough."

A sense of pride permeated your voice while the iron ring on your finger glowed and, with a flourish of your hand, the blade escaped Mihawk's fingers back to yours, the black metal pulsating in harmony with your Haki.

It had been one of your firsts and only infiltration to Dressrosa. The Phantom Captain was set to recover a treasure of his after "That Fucking Flamingo Bastard" stole one of his ships.

You have found the chest by mere chance, thrown away in Dressrosa's treasury like some minor antique instead of the lofty weapon from a queen that it was. They've been yours since then, honing your abilities and Hakis until mastering the knives to obey your will.

"You retrieved a Kuraigana treasure right under the nose of the King of Dressrosa and submitted them to you."

Mihawk stoic countenance softened with a flicker of surprise, eyes slightly widened and a knowing smile hinting in his lips.

(...)

His right hand pinned your left against the tree bark but your right managed to escape his hold, aiming your knife against him. His free hand halted your arm, stalling the sharp edge before it pierced the skin of his throat.

"A fitting master for a queen's weapon." He sighs appreciatively in your ear, his lips grazing your skin deliciously. "Although, the Queen of Daggers wore her rings on another finger." More nimbly than you could react, his fingers removed the ring from your middle and slipped it on your third finger. "My lady..."

Something in Mihawk's teasing tone nagged at your mind but his lips started wandering to your neck like before, when you dared to steal a kiss from him.

The blade on your right hand slipped away from your idle fingers and tangled in his dark locks to bring his lips towards yours once more.

To be continued...

Yes, that's my writing process. Throw around some scenes and find the way to make them coherent together. Sorry, not sorry 🤭

Originally, Mihawk was NOT suppose to catch Ghost Rose after the fight but, as we know, he does as he wants 😂

Yes, The Phantom Pirates have messed with Doflamingo (and viceversa) and came out whole and without witnesses. Doffy was not pleased but would die before acknowledge he was rob.

Tags I remember: @white0x0rabbit, @h0n3y-l3m0n05, @gingernut1314, @cinnbar-bun, @jintaka-hane, @fanaticsnail, @writingmysanity

#one piece #one piece live action #opla #opla x reader #opla mihawk #one piece mihawk #dracule mihawk #x reader #mihawk x reader #one piece x reader #one piece fic inspo #one piece oc #one piece original character #reader insert #fem reader

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serenescribe · 8 months

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I'm a *tad* obsessed with the idea of fae Lilia raising a completely different species son Silver, specifically jellyfish mer Silver. I am curious to see how you would interpret fae Lilia finding baby jelly Silver.

it's been a long while since the last long fic request :') slowly chipping away at them. uni is killing me. i hope you enjoy!

a side note: this was started beeeefore the latest update? actually started it before uni but then didn't get back to it till recently oTL

The thronging crowds of shoppers press in around him, making it harder for him to traverse through the crowd. Still, Lilia tries his best to shove his way past them, twisting his shoulders and ploughing through any gaps he can find. On instinct, one hand reaches up to pull down the hood of his cloak, masking his face further; it isn’t as though he’s in any danger here, or wanted in any capacity, but one should always exercise caution while exploring the boundaries of a black market.

For as long as Lilia can remember, he’s been searching for an old friend of his since the end of the war, travelling to different corners of the world in hopes of finding some inkling of his existence. Such a quest has brought him here, to a black market tucked away in the corner of a tiny island, but unfortunately for himself, Lilia has ended up empty-handed.

He’s trying to leave the area, pushing and shoving his way through the endless sea of patrons, when a sudden shrill cry stops him in his tracks. Lilia’s ears twitch. His head snaps to the side, following the source of the sound, only to come across a small group crowding around a rickety wooden stage. A tall man dressed in a patchwork suit jacket and a rumpled collared shirt talks to all of them, gesturing animatedly with his hands.

But it is what the man is gesturing at that snatches Lilia’s breath.

Because next to him, curled up in a too-small tank filled with muddied water, is a tiny little mer. Little tendrils of its tail tangle together as the creature presses thin fingers against the glass panes of the tank, auroral eyes flicking from side to side with a fervent desperation that Lilia feels in his soul. It is too young to be here, too small; Why in the name of the Thorn Fairy is this child here?

And for some reason, against the logic that tells him he should turn and leave, return to the Valley and carry on with his next mission, his next search, Lilia finds himself stepping towards the stage instead. He slips through the mob with silent steps, eyes fixated upon the petrified mer — a jellyfish, he recognises, his knowledge of aquatic animals rising to mind.

Within a matter of seconds, Lilia has gotten close enough that he catches wind of what the man is saying: “—a beauty, isn’t it?” he crows, tapping a dirty fingernail against the tank, causing the little mer child to shrink away. “We caught it out on the sea this mornin’, and we ain’t gonna let it go for anythin’ less than two thousand thaumarks!”

Disgust chokes his throat like a slimy wad of muck. How utterly deplorable, Lilia thinks, a rare flash of anger sparking through him. He still does not understand what has drawn him so much to this strange creature — the mer with dull silver hair who hugs itself, little bubbles floating through the water as its gills flutter, so impossibly tiny and small—

…Ah. He understands now.

In some way, looking upon this child, Lilia is reminded of Malleus. His mind whisks him back to a different time, when he had been tasked with raising the boy through his infant years, his childhood years, until he matured enough that Lilia no longer needed to keep an eye on him at all times. Is it no wonder, then, that his heart seizes at the sight of this blatant mistreatment? Regardless of whether the creature is fae or not — and it is not, evidently a child of the sea — it does not deserve to be sealed away like this.

Lilia could very well afford the mer. Two thousand thaumarks is quite the sum, but for someone who has been in the service of Briar Valley’s royalty for centuries like he has, he has more than enough money to afford it. But at the sight of the sleazy seller, who reeks of rotting fish and keeps toying with the child — banging his fists against the glass, sticking his grimy hand inside to grab its fragile wrist and yank it partially out of the dirty saltwater, yelling loud enough that its fins press against its head, clearly terrified—

The mer’s eyes flick towards him, locking with Lilia’s gaze. A fervent desperation flickers within them. It presses its hand against the glass again, scrabbling against the surface. A silent plea for help — and one that Lilia shall answer in the only way he knows how.

When night falls, Lilia strikes.

The auction for the jellyfish mer has been scheduled for tomorrow – a greedy move on the part of the fisherman selling it, to maximise profits as much as possible by drumming up heaps of attention. But it had worked; by the time evening fell and the terrified little child had been carted away to a dinky tent nearby, a sizable crowd of murmuring buyers had formed. Lilia had caught sight of some of them flipping through their stacks of thaumarks, counting their funds carefully.

He only has one shot at this. He has to make it count.

Closing his eyes, Lilia allows his magic to cloak him like a thin veil over his skin, shielding him from view. Stealth is his best option here; while he is more than capable of slaughtering everyone involved in kidnapping that young mer, Lilia does not wish to bloody his hands any more than he has to. His days of bloodshed and violence are long behind him, and as much as he wishes to teach the mer’s kidnappers a lesson, he figures that losing the child shall be punishment enough for them.

Besides, it wouldn’t do good if word got out that the general of Briar Valley was off slaughtering humans in another country.

With silent steps, Lilia steals past the guard — a man who keeps dozing off, jolting upwards every few seconds — and slides into the tent with scarcely a whisper. The interior is dank and dim; there is another guard there, this one alert and awake, arms crossed as he surveys the dirty tank left on the floor nearby.

A crushing feeling overtakes his heart at the sight of the mer. The young child curls into itself, tucking its chin into its chest, floating tufts of hair shielding its eyes from view. It looks lifeless, the only sign of its survival being the faint fluttering of gills. Something in his chest twists at the sight, a certainty settling within him. Lilia knows that what he is doing is right.

With the flick of a wrist, he conjures a small mist of magic, watching as it wafts over to the guard and swirls around him. Within a matter of seconds, though he fights to stay awake, the man has passed out, collapsing onto the ground — and it is only Lilia’s reflexes that allow him to cushion the fall, more from the need to avoid attracting attention than any care for the man. Slowly, he lowers him to the ground before releasing the invisibility spell, brushing off his hands on his cloak as he turns back towards the tank to see—

Wide eyes, hued with shades of baby blue and lavender and pink, gaze at him from behind muddied glass. Fingers press against the tank, and Lilia winces at the sound of a warbling trill.

In a flash, he darts forward, pressing a finger against his lips. “Shh!”

But he is too late.

Even as the child slaps its tiny webbed hands over its mouth, eyes widening as it realises what it has done, Lilia knows the guard outside must have heard it. There’s a creaking sound, heavy footsteps dragging across the ground, accompanied by a languid sigh, and it is only his quick reflexes, honed after years and years of war, that allow him to escape notice.

In a flash, Lilia has flung himself upwards, clinging to a corner of the tent, tucking himself in as closely as possible. If he’d had more time, he’d have thrown the same invisibility spell over himself but alas. All he can do is shrink back as much as possible, limbs wrapped around one of the poles holding the tent upright, and praying that the guard is stupid enough to not notice the shadow he’s casting across the floor.

He holds his breath, watching as the burly figure enters the tent.

“Oi,” the guard grunts sharply, narrowing his eyes at the mer in the tank — who thankfully avoids glancing over to Lilia, smart enough to avoid betraying his location. He ambles up to the tank before glancing off to the side. The man stiffens, having found the slumbering body of his fellow guard. “What the—”

Alright, that’s enough of that.

With the same spell he’d casted earlier, Lilia knocks out the second guard. The only caveat is that this time, the guard falls to the ground with nothing to cushion his landing, smashing into a nearby crate with a rather loud CRASH!

Lilia flinches, adrenaline igniting his veins. Dropping from the pole, he barely spares the scene a glance, racing back to the mer instead and lifting the heavy glass lid off its tank. “Can you breathe outside of the water?” he asks, constantly glancing over his shoulder for any signs of someone coming in, ears pricking as he strains to hear the barest bit of sound. As soon as the mer nods, Lilia’s reaching into the briney water as the mer raises its arms, thanking the fact that he’s wearing thick cloth and gloves, if only for the fact that the mer’s tendrils wrap around his limbs as he lifts it out and cradles it close to his chest. “Stay quiet,” he hisses, using his other hand to conjure the same spell from earlier, hoping it’ll hold through. “The last thing we want is to attract any unwanted attention.”

They slip out of the tent just before someone else arrives — another one of the fisherman’s nameless cronies, with the fisherman himself ambling after in ragged loungewear. Lilia holds his breath, skulking beneath the shadow of a tree, each step careful and calculated; he would teleport if he could, but he isn’t sure how that would affect the child, weakened and frail as it is.

So he sneaks away slowly and steadily, leaving the commotion behind, the pitching screams and demands for everyone to search for the missing mer, to get their product back — such an inhumane term that it makes Lilia want to puke. And the further he gets away, the faster he gets; before long, he’s sprinting, the spell melting off of him, out of distance from the captors for now.

The mer clings to him, snuggling close. Lilia holds it tight against him like a lifeline, a swell of such fervent protectiveness rising within him, washing over his mind and soul.

“Here we are,” Lilia breathes. His chest rises and falls as he catches his breath. Ah, he is certainly growing old, more winded from this than he would have been in his prime. His boots dig deep gouges into the sand as he walks towards the shoreline, the night’s sky twinkling overhead, reflecting in the waves to form a sea of stars.

Initially, he’d headed straight for the nearest beach he could think of, all before arriving and already spotting a small group of stragglers searching around. It had taken much longer to travel to a different corner of this island, but it had been a necessary precaution in the end; the last thing Lilia wanted was for the mer to get recaptured after being returned to the sea.

The waves lick at his boots as he walks into the ocean, far enough that the water reaches his knees. “There you go,” Lilia says kindly as he leans down, pulling the little mer away from his chest, returning it to the sea. A soft smile spreads across his lips as he watches the child reach for the water before plunging in with a splash, its form a tiny shadow amidst the lapping waves before its head breaks back above the water.

“Isn’t that better now?” Lilia croons, a warmth wrapping around his heart as the mer nods eagerly, beaming brightly at Lilia, the moonlight shining down on its silver hair. “Good, good,” Lilia says, slowly straightening up. He yawns, stretching his arms above his head, a cracking noise accompanying the motion. “Oh, I hadn’t expected to do this much today,” he murmurs to himself before shaking his head. Giving the mer one last smile, Lilia says, “You take care of yourself now, hm? Don’t go getting caught in any nets again, khee hee.”

And that would have been the end of everything. Ideally, Lilia would have stepped out of the water, using his magic to dry himself off before teleporting to the pier at the other side of the island and waiting for the first ferry to start him on his journey home. The mer would have been relegated to little more than a story to recite to Malleus upon his return, a thrilling rescue he’d mounted in the midst of what would have been another ordinary trip.

But what Lilia didn’t account for was that the child would get attached.

Before he can even make it a few steps away, there’s a rapid-fire outburst of frantic trills and clicking before something heavy barrels right into his legs. Lilia stumbles, losing his balance and crashing down with a screech and a mighty splash. Water soaks through his clothes, his cloak; Lilia spits some of it out of his mouth, blinking the salt out of his eyes, all while something curls around his leg tightly, refusing to let go.

“Little one…” Lilia stares at the mer child, its arms wrapped around his leg, squeezing with a vice grip that a lesser human would not have been able to withstand. Where was all this strength while you were trapped? Lilia ponders briefly, before dismissing the thought. He leans forward, gently prying webbed fingers away from his pants, pulling the child off of him. “Your home is here,” Lilia insists, gesturing at the sea around them. “I live elsewhere; I cannot possibly stay.”

Another round of distressed clicking and trilling. The mer stares at him with big, pleading eyes, swimming forward between his legs to cling to the front of Lilia’s shirt. “Little one—” Lilia tries again, because how can he stay? He has a place to return to, obligations to attend to, people waiting for him. But the mer child ignores him, pressing itself against Lilia with a stubborn determination that surprises him.

“Surely your family should be coming to find you soon,” Lilia tries, only to be met with the shaking of a head, silver hair slicked against its forehead. He raises an eyebrow. “An orphan?” Lilia mutters — words intended for his ears only, except he knows the mer has heard him from the way its grip on him tightens. “But— dear, I cannot possibly bring you home. I live very far away from here, and not anywhere particularly close to the sea!”

But no matter how hard Lilia tries to protest, to gently push the mer off of him, to leave it here — because this is its home, here in the sea; what will become of it, if Lilia were to smuggle it into the Valley, bring it on such a lengthy journey? — it refuses to go. And as time ticks by, the hours passing until the sunrise begins to bleed on the horizon, Lilia finally concedes.

“What a headstrong child you are,” Lilia muses, ignoring the sopping wet cloth clinging to him as he stumbles out of the sea, giggling mer child held in his arms. He gazes at it— no, him, at the child in his hold. “Do you have a name, little one?”

The mer blinks at him. “I’ll take that as a no,” Lilia sighs. Ah… what could a good name possibly be? It’s something he ponders over during the entire trip back, using his magic to mimic a glamour over the mer such that everyone shall see him as only a human child.

But it’s not until he’s sitting in his cabin late at night with the mer curled in his arms that it hits him. Moonbeams streak through the porthole, reflecting off the boy’s shimmering hair, washing it in a silvery light.

“Silver,” Lilia decides, testing the name out on his tongue to find that it feels right.

Silver, this mer he rescued by chance, the one who clung to him, who didn’t want to let go. Silver, who is his.

Leaning back in his chair, Lilia closes his eyes and smiles.

#my writing tag #tumblr drabbles tag #writing requests #twst #twisted wonderland #spoilers are VERY minimal. one line. but just to be safe #twst spoilers #twisted wonderland spoilers #twst ch7 #lilia vanrouge #twst silver #twst fanfiction #twst writing #one down seven to go #i usually have more witty tags here but i'm tired tonight ahfndhfgdg

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miliamin1 · 2 months

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Bug's Ao3 fics Masterpost

miliamin on Ao3

all for Wednesday(TV 2022) fandom so far ship: Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair (wenclair) if the fic is discussed in a post it will be tagged with corresponding tag, also assume from the getgo that all my writing has jokes in it

Completed:

The Only Time Drinking Is Good For You - multichapter, post first season, mostly humor, first part of The Love and Arcane, #love potion volume one

The Wrong Reflections - multichapter, post first season, angst and humor, #doppelganger drama

Roses Have Thorns - one shot, post first season, humor, #spite

An Unwinnable Bet - one shot, alternative universe, humor, #band au

The matter of exclusive privileges - two shot, post first season, humor, #love potion the third

Oh what tangled webs we weave - one shot, alternative universe, humor, first part of Spiderman Au, #spiderman au

Christmas Eve(L) - multichapter, alternative universe, fluff and angst, #fake dating xmas au

Works In Progress:

The One Time Poison Is Good For You - multichapter, post first season, fluff and angst, second part of The Love and Arcane, #poison

The Way To A Girl's Heart - multichapter, post first season, angst and fluff, #steak tartare

Like A Record - multichapter, post first season, angst, #time loop

Stubborn, singleminded and obsessive - multichapter, alternative universe, fluff and angst, #mundane au

when first we practice to deceive - multichapter, alternative universe, angst and fluff, second part of Spiderman Au, #spiderman au

GF Any% Speedrun - multichapter, post first season, humor and fluff, #therapy strat Wild fics:

PR Liability Personified - multichapter, alternative universe, humor and angst, #celebrity au Status: shelved, on the back burner, might or might not be picked up later, not worked on currently

A Marriage That's Unlike Her Parents' - themed one shot compilation, post first season, humor, #marriage shenanigans,

Status: half shelved, worked on whenever the mood strikes me, shrodinger's continuity as it is technically sequel to The Way To Girl's Heart but for it to be series I need to finish that one and write another fic in between them so, maybe don't read it if you don't want mild spoilers -----

List is chronologically by last upload, and not by progress of next chapter being written (all WIPs are to a degree) or most probable to be updated next since that's unpredictable even to me unless I mention a possible deadline in a post, but if you really want one to be posted the soonest the anon asks are on, if you're nice about it maybe you'll manage to pressure me successfully I honestly idk if it will help or not so good luck

#og post #my writing #wenclair fanfic #wenclair #to be edited #attempt at sorting #why yes im procrastinating on writing #tag sorts

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achaotichuman · 21 days

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How Easy It Is To Worship You

This oneshot and moodboard is for Day 6 of Tamlin Week. The prompt is- Dreams.

This was an abandoned half finished work I had for a chapter of another fic, I fixed it up and redid it. Now I am sharing it with all of you.

Tamlin had a nightmare whilst sleeping in Lucien's room. Lucien helps comfort him and deal with the aftermath of his spiraling thoughts.

Read on Ao3 or below the cut!

“Stop.” He said.

Covered in red, the world around him was so dark. The stone against his knees scraping. A crawling feeling all over his body, it burned and burned. His flesh feeling like it might bubble away.

“Stop!” He screamed, tearing his throat. Raw, vulnerable and exposed, “Please, stop!”

“You left me, Tamlin Fairburn, you left me alone.” She whispered in his ear.

The face of Amarantha gleaned down at him, her pale, perfect face set with a cruel smile. Her slender fingers tangled in his hair, she pushed him down to the ground.

“You left me, Tamlin, you left me alone.” She whispered again.

The eye of Jurian flicked back and forth. Tamlin tried to push back, but like his body was weighed down by chains invisible to him, he could not move. Vision whiting in and out, he distantly thought he might pass out.

“Please stop, I’m sorry. I won’t leave you again, I swear.” He pleaded, tears falling down his face, splattering on his bare thighs, mixing with the blood.

“It's too late for that, Tamlin Fairburn, you left me.” Her voice was a breathy whisper, leaning close to him. Her reddened lips brushing the tip of his ear.

“I’m sorry. It was a mistake! I didn’t mean to. I never will again.” He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see her red hair curtaining around him.

“If it was a mistake, why didn’t you let me out when I begged you!” Tamlin’s eyes snapped open when he heard Amarantha’s voice choice, from a low cruel murmur to a desperate shriek.

All of a sudden Amarantha’s face changed, she shifted into a different being. Instead of red hair, it was dark golden and instead of brown eyes they were blue.

And suddenly there was a knife in his chest, and Feyre was screaming at him, “You locked me in there! You locked me up! There was no mistake! You left me Tamlin! You left me!”

Tamlin shot straight up. He was covered in a cold sweat, the world was blurry, everything was tilting and he didn’t know where he was. The lines between his dreams and reality blurring.

There was a hand on his shoulder, Tamlin pulled away as quickly as he could, ending up falling on the floor.

“Stop!” he shouted, “please stop!”

“Tamlin-”

“Please stop, please stop, please stop!” Tamlin repeated over and over, pulling his knees into his chest and hiding his face. His whole body was shaking, barely able to breathe from the way his breaths shuddered.

“Tamlin! It's me.” A soft, kind voice murmured.

Everything stilled, and Tamlin looked up to see Lucien on his knees before him. Hands on his thighs, his thumb twitched as his hand nearly darted out. Like he wanted to touch the High lord before him.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Lucien assured.

“Lucien.” Tamlin breathed.

“Yes.”

Lucien looked lovely in the moonlight, Tamlin thought. The silver light carved out his sharp cheekbones, and darkened his already lovely browned skin. Though, the fire lord certainly looked better in warm sunlight, looked ethereal in the sunset.

Tamlin looked around the room, and recognised it as Lucien’s room in the manor. As much as Lucien had managed to clean it up, there was still decay around here. The wood beginning to rot, and the tangled thorns lining the windows.

“Tam? Are you okay?” Lucien asked, his hand slowly reaching out.

The Spring Lord wanted to snap. He didn’t want to be treated like a skittish animal, and he hated the soft tone in Lucien’s voice as if his friend felt as though he needed to treat him like a child.

He wanted a fight. He wanted an argument. He wanted Lucien to tell him how much the fire lord hated him. He wanted to feel adrenaline rushing through him to just remember that he was alive and here. Just to know he was here, and not down there, not back there. In another place entirely. He wanted to feel like he was actually on earth, not in the liminal space of his memory.

But all of it got caught in his throat, none of the hateful words he wanted to spit came out and none of the anger coiling deep inside him erupted. It seemed to curl around itself, stuck in the depths of his body, no way to escape.

He was trapped. That Beast came thundering forward like the cage was opened, but the door was quickly thrown closed.

Lucien finally seemed to give in and reached out. He caught Tamlin’s hands in his, “Tamlin, please talk to me?”

“I’m fine.” Tamlin finally said.

“No, no you’re not, don’t give me that bullshit, what's wrong?”

He was too tired to do this. He was exhausted, eyes begging to fall shut, even as fear for whatever else he might see fought to overpower every sleepy sensation.

Tamlin tried glancing around the room, trying to find some way to get out of this. Trying to avoid the topic that in hindsight, needed to be discussed.

“Tamlin?”

“Can we go back to bed?” Tamlin ended up asking.

The Fox blinked at him, then squeezed his hands lightly and nodded, “Yeah, sure, we’ll go back to bed.”

The two males pulled themselves off the floor and flopped back into the soft mattress.

Tamlin tried curling himself onto the far side, he didn’t want Lucien to get too close to him. Everything was still pounding in his head, he was still trying to pull himself out of the nightmare.

Lucien wasn’t having any of it.

He wrapped his arms around his middle, curling around the Spring Lord, holding him close. Lucien pressed his face into the crook of Tamlin’s neck. His warm lips against his too hot skin.

“Lucien.” Tamlin whispered.

“Yes my love?”

“Why do you do this?”

Lucien shifted, he leaned on his elbow, so he could see over at Tamlin’s face. He started running his fingers through Tamlin’s curls, “Do what?”

“Why…” Tamlin squeezed his eyes shut, “Why do you keep trying to take care of me? Why do you keep trying to love me?”

To Tamlin’s surprise Lucien chuckled, “there's no ‘trying’. I love you, and I want to take care of you. It's as simple as that.”

Tamlin manoeuvred himself so he was laying flat on his back and staring up at Lucien. He tried to search his face for insincerity but only found a look of pure unfiltered love.

“Why? Why do you love me? I’ve never given you a reason to.” Tamlin stared into those deep never-ending amber flames, as his words poured out of his throat. Some kind of dam breaking.

“Tamlin-”

“And don’t say something like its because ‘I took you in after you were banished from Autumn’ even a bastard with half a heart would have taken you in on that night. You had your life ripped away from you, you had been thrown out of your own Court. It was a simple act, other than that I have done nothing to deserve your loyalty or your-”

“Tamlin shut up!” Lucien suddenly snapped, that soft kind face twisting into frustration.

Tamlin blinked up at the male above him, shocked into silence.

Lucien took in a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut and running his hand through his hair. “You want to know why I love you?”

Tamlin didn’t know what to do, he simply laid there, staring at Lucien. The fox went on.

“It's not because you saved me, it's not because you took me in, it's not because you made me emissary. It’s because of you. I love you just for yourself. I love every inch of you, every detail, every part. I know you put up a brave face in front of everyone, I know you put on a mask when Feyre was with you. I know Amarantha lusted after the idea of you. You are too used to people picking and choosing which parts of you to love, that you have forgotten that it is possible for people to love you just for yourself!”

The High lord stared up at Lucien, the male looked… near furious to say the least. Lucien was so careful with his temper, he didn’t lose control, he never lost it. Yet right now, he looked like he might tear Tamlin’s throat out… over Tamlin not understanding why Lucien loved him so much.

There was this possessive look in Lucien’s eyes, it was a look of fury and passion and love. A deep blush rose up his neck to the tips of his ears, desire and lust that hadn’t felt for years curled in his core.

Lucien held his eyes, deep longing curled in Tamlin. Something that he had long ago fought to suppress now rose to the surface once more.

The High lord had thought he stopped loving Lucien when Feyre came. Now he began to think that whilst he had loved Feyre, he had never let go of Lucien. Never truly dealt with the tension that had been simmering between them for centuries. Now, it started to overflow.

Lucien took both of Tamlin’s hands, rubbing his thumbs over the back of his palms, “You have forgotten what love really feels like, but I haven’t. I have loved you for centuries and I will keep loving you. No matter how far away you are for me, I will wait for you. I will always be here when you come back. I love you, Golden ray. I love you so much it hurts me. There is nothing in the world that can drive me apart from you for long.”

“But I-” Tamlin tried to start, but Lucien quickly cupped his face and leaned down.

“Stop, there is nothing that will drive us apart for long.” Lucien repeated, “Nothing at all.”

Heat seemed to engulf the room, like flames had leapt up in the fireplace despite it being as dark and cold as it was two minutes ago. The silver light and dark shadows danced around them as Lucien shuffled ever so slight. His red hair, seeming near black in the night, curtained around Tamlin’s head. Keeping a space between them locked.

They were sharing some kind of deep, intimate moment. Tamlin could feel it deep in his blood. Running through every part of him as his heart thudded against his ribcage. Lucien’s eyes dragged from his eyes, down to his lips, and further, down his neck and watched how his chest rose and fell, before slowly bringing them back up to his eyes.

“I won’t…” Lucien squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly for once in his life at some kind of loss for words. Tamlin may have found it funny if it weren’t for the fact his heart was going so fast he was nearly confused that it hadn’t yet burst from his chest, “I won’t ever abandon you, Tam.”

But what if I abandon you.. Tamlin wished to say. The memories of his own wrongs, the mistakes he had made that cost him his court. They circled him like vultures wanting their pick of a carcass.

Like bones being picked from flesh, Tamlin felt him coming apart underneath Lucien. The heavy weight of his gaze, the fading, yet still present, running emotions of his nightmare, and the intensity of whatever intimacy this was were crushing him. He closed his eyes, trying to simply will his heart to still.

“I love you,” Tamlin whispered through this privately shared space. As small and quiet the words were, Tamlin felt as though he had shouted them from the top of a roof.

After a seemingly never-ending moment, Lucien whispered back, “I love you. All of you.”

Tamlin didn’t dare open his eyes to see Lucien’s expression, lest he completely fall apart and cry underneath him. He was embarrassed and full of withering shame as it was, he didn’t need to break in front of the male he wanted desperately to love him more than any other in the world.

“I hurt you though.” Tamlin whispered, turning his head. Forcing his eyes open, he blinked at the chest of drawers across from him. Trinkets of all kinds lay over it. Things Lucien had collected and held onto throughout the years. Things that held pieces of his heart. Tamlin knew. Lucien had told him all about them as he had collected them. Given extensive stories, sharing every single detail with sparks in his eyes, a grin on his mouth, and flourishes in his hand gestures.

All the while, Andras sat next to them. Alis propped up on the arm chair of the lounge with tea for everyone. Bron and Hart often sitting cross-legged together on the floor. Tamlin lying across both Andras and Lucien’s laps as the red head recounted his times in whatever Court he had been sent to.

A tear slid from Tamlin’s eye soaking the sheets below him. Aching sat with the shame in his chest. A heavy stone in between his lungs which threatened to choke out his air.

He just wanted to wake up and for all of this to have been some horrible, horrible dream.

A calloused hand with soft fingers cupped his cheek and turned his head, Tamlin screwed his eyes shut, but Lucien murmured softly, “Look at me, Tamlin.”

Tamlin was hesitant to listen, but Lucien stroked gentle circles into his cheek. At first Tamlin had thought what he wanted as a reminder that he was here and alive was violence and hurt. Something to make him suffer, to punish him for all he had done.

As he opened his eyes, to see Lucien’s gentle face, as tears finally spilled down his face. He felt the pang of want for something calmer than rage. Something softer than violence. He didn’t want that. He wasn’t a violent person.

He exploded, it didn’t mean he liked it. He had been taught, honed, to fight all his life. But Tamlin didn’t enjoy or revel in the death of enemies. However, great.

Even Amarantha’s death, however much he hated her with all his heart, had sickened him in so many ways.

“It’ll be okay.” Lucien whispered, “It’ll be okay in the end.”

It sounded like he was saying it to himself as much as he was saying it to Tamlin. The blond stared up at him with tear-lined green eyes. Tamlin slowly moved his hands up, fingers dragging across Lucien’s arms, before, one hand cupped over the dark skin cradling his face, and his other grasped Lucien’s, interlocking their fingers.

“Yeah.” Tamlin forced himself to say, so quietly, any louder and he might break again, “It’ll be okay.”

Lucien’s bottom lip wobbled. Releasing his hands, Tamlin wrapped his arms around the younger’s neck and waist, pulling him down on top of him. Lucien went easily, laying atop the older male. Pressing his nose into the crook of Tamlin’s neck, breathing in his floral scent. Tamlin’s hands moved up and down his back, over his sides. Fingers pressing into the tight muscles, kneading his flesh until the redhead became a puddle above him. Breaths slow and deep, with the odd hitch whenever Tamlin’s hands worked a particularly sensitive spot.

It felt so much better than violence This sweet tenderness, during it Tamlin’s mind simply floated somewhere else. Thinking of nothing else than how else he could bring Lucien as much slow, sweet pleasure as possible. He forgot about the dream, forgot about the violence. Lucien shifted above him, one hand, with his long slender fingers, reached down to grasp his thigh. Gripping the flesh and returning in slight the pleasure he was receiving by rubbing circles into the sensitive skin.

“Can I kiss you?” Lucien murmured sleepily.

Tamlin’s hands stilled, and Lucien’s eyes went suddenly wide. He quickly looked back up at Tamlin’s shocked expression, and the male’s chest started rising and falling faster as he began to panic.

“I didn’t mean to say that outloud.” Lucien whispered. Abruptly, he pulled up, sitting back on his heels, running his hands through his hair, as he tried to smooth himself over.

“Sorry, fuck, I’m sorry, that was stupid.” Lucien shook his head, beginning to slip away from the bed, “I’ll leave, I’m sorry that was so stupid I-”

Tamlin quickly shot up and grabbed his arm, pulling him back onto the bed. Lucien yelped, as he fell back. Tamlin wrapped his arms and legs around Lucien as he slammed their mouths together. Kissing him in desperation.

Lucien seemed utterly shocked for a second, the kiss barely lasted a moment. Tamlin wreathed back, both breathing hard and laying there, processing.

“Lucien-” Tamlin started.

Lucien silenced him with his mouth. A hand going to cup the back of his head, pulling him close. Tamlin gasped, and Lucien slipped his tongue into his mouth. His eyes fell closed as the kiss began to mellow into a slow, lazy dance of tongue and lips.

They laid there, soaking in the silver moonlight. A tangle of limbs as they kissed and rubbed at each other, grinding their bodies slowly, and pressing their hands into the other’s tense limbs. Until they barely knew where one started and the other ended.

It was dizzying, both of them ending up in another place entirely. Feeling like the world was now nothing more than a bubble of their love.

Somewhere in the small moments where Tamlin’s mind came back to him, he managed to promise himself one thing.

One day, one day whether soon or in the future, he would make Lucien Vanserra his husband. And nothing in the whole world was ever going to stop him.

@tamlinweek

#acotar #pro tamlin #tamlin #lucien vanserra #pro lucien vanserra #tamcien #acotar headcanons #acotar au #tamlinweek2024 #tamlinweek

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