me when I have two contrasting interests.

also i think piggy might be my favorite character. i love that guy.

CRIMSON RED

Jason Todd x Pain Inflictor Reader

TW: nothing crazy, just swearing and mentions of violence

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All they called you was Crimson.

Maybe because of your signature lipstick and that lace that was always in your hair.

Or maybe because of the blood you drew out of your targets without so much as raising a finger.

A telekinetic pain inflictor. The worst kind of metahuman.

But Red Hood had no reason to worry about you just yet. You tended to keep a low profile and there were bigger fish to fry. And if he was being honest, the sound of you and your abilities were kind of terrifying.

Jason's little mission all went wrong though, given his intel was missing key information. Now he was bound to a chair in a warehouse with a dripping roof. And that dripping eerily echoed as he sat and waited. Desperately keeping his fears and demons at bay.

Being tied to a chair. The looming threat of torture. It all hit a little too close to home.

Two-Face eventually sauntered into view, the rest of the warehouse behind and beside him concealed in shadows. Jason had to grimace every time he saw his face.

"You ugly bastard." Jason retorted, masking his fear with snarky insults and sarcasm. "Gotten work done recently?" He nodded towards Harvey's face with his head.

"Son of a bitch." Two-Face's face contorted with rage. "I would watch my mouth if I were you. You're finally gonna die tonight, and this time you won't be coming back."

Jason swallowed hard, pissed off that he didn't have his helmet to hide the fear-inducing anticipation on his pale face.

"But we'll let the coin decide how this is gonna play out."

So Harvey went on with his odd ritual and flipped his coin. It landed on the tarnish side, and Jason had no idea what that meant. Suddenly, Two-Face was calling out to someone behind him. Someone hidden deep within the darkness of the abandoned warehouse. Jason waited and waited, sweat dripping down the side of his face.

He expected a gruesome looking thug or some other high profile villain. Maybe Penguin, or even Harley.

The sound of heeled boots slowly echoed through out his bleak surroundings, accompanied by a laugh like velvet. You soon came into view.

Crimson mask concealing the top half of your face, the colour matching that string of lace that sat comfortably in your hair. Your usual deep red outfit hugged your body, similar to Catwoman's except for the fact that it wasn't a whole bodysuit. And of course, your stark, scarlet lips were contorted into a sinister smile.

He'd seen you around. But seeing you this close in person was a different story. Jason's breath hitched once you were right in front of him. Truthfully, he never intended to meet you. And now it was so much worse given you would be the one torturing him tonight.

Fuck this mission really went south.

"Here, the coin says you get to toy with him tonight." Two-Face said with a dismissive wave of his hand and scoff as he turned his back. "I have a deal I need to be making soon."

Jason watched as he left, muscles stiff with frustration and venom in his eyes. This was the deal Jason was supposed to be preventing.

As Jason's eyes lingered on Two-Face, your eyes were focused on him. His ivory skin and deep, jet black hair. The aggravated expression painted across his face. That muscular figure.

And that odd looking J scar on the side of his face.

"Red Hood..." Your voice lingered and shivers suddenly went down Jason's arms. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Can't say I feel the same way." He responded harshly, avoiding eye contact and instead trying to devise an escape plan. Which would, most likely, be futile and stupid.

"Mmm, mean. It's not like you're a saint Red." You calmly pointed out, voice smooth like wine.

And then he looked up at you. "Oh, really? You're one to talk? Ms snaps someones bones and crushes their lungs with a blink of an eye."

Finally making contact, you saw the confliction swirling in those eyes, and for some odd reason something tightened your throat.

Jason didn't miss the subtle furrow of your brows as you neared him. Slowly circling him like a predator.

"Deciding what bone you're going to break first?"

You scoffed, but it was more like a laugh. As you walked behind Jason he began to feel his skin crawl, his heart beat faster. He wished you were standing in front of him again. Staring down at him the way you were.

As you went around him, you noticed the back of his shirt was slightly tugged down, revealing slithers of iridescent scars. Many, many scars.

"What are you doing?" He snapped, but you remained silent until you faced him again. And this time all you did was stare back at him, mind deep in thought. Something stirred deep in your chest. Regret? Sympathy?

"You're just a kid." The words left your mouth in a gentle whisper as you realised he was probably no older than you.

So no, he wasn't a kid. But he wasn't old enough to have his body broken by you. Sure, you butchered people with your mind all the time. But they were criminals. Enemies. Scum. They always had it coming. But him? Red Hood?

You just couldn't do it. It was ridiculous, you knew that. But you couldn't. You wondered where Two-Face was and how he'd react to your odd decision. But hell, you didn't care about ignoring Two-Face's order. Rules and regulations never stopped you before, and what was he going to do?

Jason initially wanted to get even more mad about that statement. Insulted that you just called him a boy when he was in his 20's. But he kept to himself, continuing to watch you closely.

"So what are you gonna do now huh? Cause this game is getting a little boring Crimson."

His attitude made you smirk a little. You suddenly slipped a red-blade dagger from your belt. Jason frowned, wondering why you wouldn't just use you powers, when you cut the zip ties and rope keeping him bound.

Now he was glancing up at you, eyes wide with confusion and suspicion.

"You gonna go or did you actually want me to hurt you?" You asked, brows raised. But already knowing the answer, you were turning to leave.

"Why are you doing this?" He sounded like he was accusing you of something. You turned to look back over your shoulder.

The sympathy was back, but also a few other feelings. Butterflies in your stomach and what not. Shit he was handsome.

"I don't know," you shrugged. "You're kinda cute."

He scoffed before grabbing his helmet from the floor. "Spare me."

Suddenly a sharp pain began in his knees before they turned into brittle leaves. He dropped down onto them and stayed there as the pain began to subside. Then he shot a glare up at you. You were already standing before Jason and looking down at him, that smug smile on your pretty face.

"Mm," You hummed, eyes dancing across his features as you took him in. "Very cute."

Then you turned to leave, and Jason was left blushing and speechless.

Part 2

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Stagnate.

Staring at paperwork wasn’t doing anything to help. Sure enough, i had plenty of it, as always.

But there’s some reluctance to do anything to prepare for a contract, when the woman who would field it simply isn’t here.

Gods, what a mess...

Mistienne Aurloix sits quietly, almost soundless on the bench. Rare it was that she'd ever afforded a moment to herself in this room, and rarer still, now. At the sound of the door, it almost seems to pull her out of whatever reverie she'd landed in, calling quietly over her shoulder. "...Hello?"

Olivier Theroux opened the door with the usual sort of reverence he afforded these places. His shoes clacked softly across the stone flooring, and there was the subtle 'clack' of his weapon being set against one of the benches. "I was looking for you. Am I interrupting?"

Mistienne Aurloix seems to visibly settle at the sound of Olivier's voice, but even then it takes her a few long moments to respond. "No. No, you're not. Come sit." An uneasy pause, then, as she slowly pushes her thoughts to the back of her head. "...You have need of me? Or... You just wanted to talk?”

Olivier Theroux: "Both," he admitted quietly. Dark circles cradled his eyes, and the gaunt look to his cheeks declared he'd perhaps skipped a full meal. Or three. He'd not bothered to comb his hair. Regardless, he sat carefully. His slacks are smoothed and he leans back, murmuring a prayer to the otherwise empty room. "I read the noticeboard."

Mistienne Aurloix slowly pulls her lips into a line, exhaling a long breath through her nose. She slowly sits more upright, regarding Olivier more fully. "...I see." She begins. Her voice is quiet, lacking the authoratitive tone that often permiated her words. Even then, she struggled to continue, merely gazing to him with some pensive, forlorn expression.

...It makes sense. That people would seek me out to talk.

...But what am i supposed to tell them, when we’re unable to do anything?

Olivier Theroux: "...you never were one to sit still, Mist. I remember the sorts of words you exchanged with Salomont. How do these sorts of things work?" His fingers twitch, ready for a hilt, a trigger. Ready for movement and direction. He sighs. Stills his hands. His wedding band catches the light. "Is this what working here is like? Ms. Hocoleux was muttering something about a boat."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...The peace is always treasured because it never lasts as long as we want it to. We're mercenaries. We're bound to get wrapped up in things now and then, to earn the disapproval of the wrong sort of people. But this is..." The same strained expression is given, as she glances away. "...I feel so helpless. Like i can do -nothing-, besides sit here and stew." Another long breath drawn, once again. "...How much do you know?"

Olivier Theroux: "Absolutely nothing. I read what was on the noticeboard, but otherwise...no one is able to offer much information." He gently shakes his head. "I know Eir can defend himself, but didn't manage to get free. I know that Sayuri is still not back or everyone would be rejoicing. I sent Maggie to Ishgard." His brows furrow. "Should I send her parents with her? Are the rest of us targets?"

Mistienne Aurloix: "No... No. It's a personal thing. We'll be safe. Just so long as we don't paint a target on the back of the company. We'll be just fine." The bitterness catches her words, but it's clear it has no true place to go. "...Eir can defend himself, but he's no combatant, from what i know. They took him. To get to her." A long, uneasy pause settles between them. "She has a history with slavers. She escaped once, and... They did not take much kindly to it. And now... They have her again. Were it any other circumstance, Bexy would have already gathered people and led the charge to retrieve her. But this... It.... Is not so simple. And i wish it were, Olivier, i do..."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...For once, i wish it was as simple as storming a place and taking out everyone inside."

But it isn’t. It isn’t and it infuriates me. I can do nothing, more so because of the position i hold! This...

...This isn’t what i wanted. But it’s out of my hands now, unless something changes.

And i hate every moment of it.

...We’re supposed to protect them.

Olivier Theroux chuckles without humor. "We've tried that time and time again, look where it got us..." The scars at his mouth tug his lip closer to a scowl. "I understand how you feel, Mist. I know what it's like to sit quietly. To wait." His fingers tap against one knee. "How often do you have to cope with these sorts of things? Even just this much is exhausting."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Not often. Even when something happens. When people are taken, or... We encounter a foe far from our contracts, there's always some resolution. Sometimes it takes some finding, but there is one. Always. But this..." Mist shakes her head, never quite making eye contact. "...There's over a hundred of them. Their location is not fully known, but even if we were to find it... Then what? Wage war?" Frustration seems to grow, but again, it fades out, having nowhere productive to venture.

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Bexy had the right of it earlier. Even if we decided to approach them as a company. They outnumber us so greviously, and have been in these lands even longer than the company itself. Even were we to emerge victorious... At what cost?"

Olivier Theroux: "Mist..." He shifts closer. "We have been outnumbered in far more situations than just this, you and I. You've got a mind for thinking circles around most people, without it coming down to more bloodshed. It sounds like you...never really left the battlefield."

Mistienne Aurloix: "Yes. But it was different, then. We were..." The word is sharp from her tongue, and it's clear she hates to say it. "Disposable. To Ishgard, anyway. To the grand scheme of things. They didn't care how many people died, so long as we emerged victorious in the end." His latter words finally bring her eyes to his, in a slow, almost offended glance, were it not so true. "...Because it's what i'm -good- at. You understand that, of all people, i should hope. But even that means nothing, in the face of -this-."

Olivier Theroux: "I understand," he assures her. "We were disposable to all but one another, and in the end it was...even fewer than that. I see what you've created here, and it's commendable." He turns his eyes to the book before them. "Do you really think we would be so overwhelmed? If we were to descend upon them?"

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Bexy seems to think so. And from the things i have known..." Mist sighs, dreading the tale, but speaking it anyway. "...It's not the first time they've tried to come for Sayuri. They tried to take her directly, once. But Bexy stopped them, quickly followed by others in the company. Now, they've taken an indirect method, and taken Eir instead."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Sayuri went to him, at their behest, and against Bexy's word. And now... Bexy will go after her, in turn. Away from the company, save for whatever people she'll let help her."

...And then what? They take Bexy?

...It feels like history repeating. I don’t want her to be taken again.

How many people then, if they take her?

...Gods, no. I don’t want to think about it.

Olivier Theroux: "This sounds like a death sentence, Mist. Were this a heretic sect, and they'd offered an exchange..." He blanches. "Fury. Is there any way to have authorities involved? Someone other than just...a scattering of steel?"

Mistienne Aurloix: "...They'd need a veritable army to take them down, and the Blades are in enough back pockets as it is. They operate in Thanalan. If the authorities cared enough, they'd have already dealt with them - They've been operating for twenty cycles at least, if not more. Reportedly over a hundred strong, but i wager more. I don't know what sort or resources or people they have... But i can bet that it's more than we do."

Olivier Theroux sinks back into his seat. Thoughtful. "I'm sorry that this is your life right now, Mist." His voice is soft, hushed by the weight of what she's said and muffled by the thick stone of the room. "There's no one better to lead it sensibly, though. Were it just them, left to panic, you know what would happen. Perhaps there -is- something we can do, though. You were always good at learning about the enemy."

Mistienne Aurloix sighs, a pained thing as she dropped her head back. "...I appreciate the sympathy, but i picked this. In some manner." Slowly closing her eyes, she sighs again. "...We keep our heads. Keep calm. Don't do anything rash. If an opportunity presents itself, we strike then - And only then." Her lips push to a small frown, then. "...In her absence, i would keep them safe. That's what i said to her, before she left. I... Don't even want to think about what she's going to do, if Sayuri doesn't return of her own volition." She cracks an eye open, to flick to Olivier. "...Which she won't. I'm not stupid enough for false hope."

Olivier Theroux nods. "We grow wiser with age..." He reaches up to rub a hand over his mouth. "Do you think she would go far enough to be worrying? When we spoke about my joining, you -did- caution me about Bexy."

The second eye opens to regard him with a flatter expression that held the fear in her eyes she dare not speak of until she'd found better words for it. They come after a delay, bringing her head forward an ilm. "...We're lucky enough to get old. Which is more than i can say for anyone unlucky enough to get in the way of Bexy." Talking about her, Mist's hand slowly curls into a ball. "...You'll never meet anyone more devoted to the people she loves, Olivier. She would do anything, to keep them safe. To keep them happy. And Sayuri more than most, i should think." Another pause, then. "...How much do you know about her? I... Don't know if you've had much chance to speak with her, during your time here..."

Olivier Theroux: "Some. Mostly in passing. Honestly, I've been mostly doing observations, trying to gauge what sort of person to be around them. It's been more difficult than I care to admit." He leans forward, twisting his wedding band around and around his finger. "What's important for me to know, Mist? Don't sugar coat. Don't be kind. Just...tell me."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...She's..." Mist slowly shakes her head. "...For all her kindness and devotion, she is capable of unspeakable things if she is so pushed. She has killed hundreds now, Olivier. And she keeps count. She won't think twice about killing more to get them home, and i don't think she'll care so long as it meets her ends. Take a girl who never had a family who loved her, and give her people to love. People she loves with her whole heart... And take them away again."

Mistienne Aurloix: "....Killing is one thing. We have, most of us, in the company. But outright murder is another, and it won't take much for Bexy to turn to it as quickly as breathing, if it gets her what she wants."

...She’s going to kill so many people. I... I don’t want to think how many. How many are going to die.

...They’re slavers. And it takes a special kind of asshole to become one. But there’s always exceptions. Always... Always people who can be saved.

Gods damn it, i don’t need to think about this... I... Can’t do anything.

...Just stay here and hope that she doesn’t go too far.

Olivier Theroux: "...it's not murder if they'd just as soon run a blade through you, Mist. Whatever she's planning to get Sayuri back, if she doesn't return of her own volition?" He breathes deeply through his nose. "We've fought with people who have no regard for life. We ate with them. Slept under their -watch-. I can see where she's coming from, even if I don't agree with it." He falls silent for a time, and his gaze lingers on the display of flora at the front of the room. "Do you think she needs help? From as many as can coast out of their sight?"

Mistienne Aurloix: "...No. No it's not. But at the very least i'd give them a clean death. Bexy would make them scream every secret they held until they ran out of things to tell, or breath to tell them with. Promise them every freedom, and then kill them anyway. She's not above torture, Olivier. I..." Her trail comes with a swallow, a sentence she doesn't want to finish as she nods to his question. "...I think she does. She told me that... If it comes to it, she would leave instruction on where to find her. As to what she would ask... I don't know." Her gaze pulls up them, to regard him more fully. "I don't mean to sound insensitive. But why do you want to help, Olivier?"

Olivier Theroux swallows. "I know what it's like to be left for dead, Mist. I know what it feels like to...to expect no help is coming. No one deserves that." He rakes a hand through his hair, tugging lightly at the roots. "I -waited- for twenty cycles. I can't just keep sitting on the sidelines because I'm a lord. It's not right."

Mistienne Aurloix slowly nods to that. There's understanding, even if she's hesitant about it. "...A... Fair answer. And you would offer your help anyway, even if it meant adhering to Bexy's whims? Knowing what she can be like?"

Olivier Theroux: "I don't think she'd be any worse than Salomont, at least. She smells nicer." He teases. The younger man who smiled down at her with nothing but naive hope is still in his eyes. "At least with this battle there is an end to it. I've a life to come home to. A wife. You'll look after her?"

Mistienne Aurloix: "...After your wife?" Mist slowly lofts a brow. "...I'll... Most assuredly try. Physically. You know i'm not exactly a great comfort to much of anyone, emotionally." A small huff passes her lips. "...And... What you said before. About... Expecting no help. I don't think for a moment Sayuri could think that. If not for the company... Bexy would never give up on her. But it would hearten her all the same, to know others thought the same way."

Olivier Theroux: "Mm, she's never known soldiers, I don't think. It does seem that she's lost someone dear to her, perhaps in this sort of work, but..." His sigh is a heavy one. "She doesn't know what it is to be the wife of someone ready to go to war."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...She married you... Knowing this, yes? Though knowing and experiencing are two very different things. I imagine she's not taking it well, by your words..."

Olivier Theroux shakes his head. "She expected that, because I'm a lord and we have no heir, ours would be a life without conflict or bloodshed. She was less than enthused by my possible participation."

Mistienne Aurloix: "....I can imagine, especially given her expectations. And now, she is married to a man who will very much risk his safety for the sake of others. It's... Quite the transition of expectation to make."

You gaze upon Olivier Theroux in deep reflection.

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Though it need not be bloodshed, if you want to help. How well connected in Thanalan are you?"

...It’s a risk, but he knows that. He’s not stupid. Having too many might raise suspicion but... I suppose that’s for Bexy to decide now, not me.

...Maybe he can find information. And i’d much rather Olivier find it in a calmer manner, than whatever bloodbath she’s swimming in.

Olivier Theroux: "Not very, not yet, but Maggie's family has lived there for generations. They're merchants, so they potentially have some reach..." He sits up, rests back against the bench. Maybe he doesn't notice his foot bouncing. "I just don't think I can sit still if there's a way to help. I could just fling money at a vacation, get everyone away for a moon or two..."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Afterwards, perhaps. But i don't think it should come from your pocket, nor would it do too much to help, now." She slowly considers, knitting her brow. "...Information will be valuable to Bexy, and not everyone has the temperament to gain it. I won't ask you to risk yourself more than you are willing, but... It might be a better alternative? You are kept from the worst of harm, which i am sure your wife will appreciate, and you are still able to help."

Olivier Theroux nods. "Whichever help would be more useful. It's a strange circumstance to be in. It's a strange star to be part of, now. It's not as...clear cut as it used to be."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...It's not as simple as following orders all the time. I... I know. But for the complexities, i... Think i prefer it that way."

Mistienne Aurloix: "...I know i do."

Olivier Theroux: "I'll have to let you know. I've not been in the thick of things so long as you have." Olivier blows his hair away from his eyes. "Do you often find yourself in rooms that look surprisingly like confessional chambers, or is this just for the special occassion of sitting still and waiting?"

Half a mirthful laugh is drawn from Mist, but it's quick to fade. "Hah, no. Only for sulking. I came for quiet. And... I don't know. There's only so much paperwork i can fill my head with, before i realise that it won't work. And alcohol is a poor substitute for clarity, these suns."

Olivier Theroux: "Actually, if you make sure the paperwork has the word 'moist' in several places where it can be taken into a rather strange context, it gives professional letters a bit of a fun twist," he chuckles. "I've come here to pray more than a handful of times since being here. So far your company seems...exactly as I expected of it. The people, too. For the most part."

Mistienne Aurloix gives an amused huff, slowly lofting her brows. "...I needed that, this sun. Perhaps i will. The company... I hope that they are as you expect for all the right reasons, at least...?"

Olivier Theroux nods to you.

Olivier Theroux: "I'm surprised you haven't had more broken glasses, though. It seems like most people here would sooner start a bar fight than talk about what's going on."

Olivier Theroux moves to stand. "Thank you for explaining things a bit. I know it's not easy, being in your position, but you've done a lot of good for the people who are here. I have your back, whatever that looks like at the moment. Will you let Bexy know, if she decides it's time to move forward?"

Mistienne Aurloix: "...Sometimes it's difficult to talk about. Reminders of their own experiences." She watches, as Olivier rises, and dips her head into a slow nod. "...I will, to the best of my ability. And Olivier.... Thank you."

Olivier Theroux smiles at you.

Olivier Theroux: "You're welcome to seek me out if you ever need to in the future. For what it's worth, it's nice to have someone who understands. Get some rest, Mist." He bows, deeply, and straightens with a subtle flick of his hair. "And maybe have some supper. If I haven't eaten well, I imagine you haven't either."

...I find myself able to speak more freely with him. Whether it’s because we served together, or we’re just a similar sort of person... I... Don’t know.

But it’s a comfort none the less.

_______________ 

MISS JAMA

A SOUTH SUDANESE FEMALE ARTIST BOTH FILM PHOTOGRAPHER AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER (BASED IN ADELAIDE).

SHE USES HER PHOTOGRAPHY AS THE BASE OF HER GRAPHIC DESIGN RESULTING IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STREETWEAR BRAND JAMA CREW.

(https://www.instagram.com/missjama_)

HIUA ALOJI

HIUA ALOII IS A CREATIVE PRODUCER.

PHOTOGRAPHER AND CO-FOUNDER OF BERLIN FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY “BANK ® PRODUZIERT”.

WHATEVER HE WANTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIS PHOTOS, HE KEEPS FOR HIMSELF AND THEREFORE LEAVES IT UP TO THE VIEWER TO DECIDE.

(https://instagram.com/hiuaal)

IARNA

IARNA IS THE CURRENT MAIN ALIAS OF A SECLUDED BACKROOM ENTITY FROM THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS EXPRESSING THEMSELF IN POSITIVELY DREARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE CREATION OF DEEP SOUNDSCAPES.

(https://www.instagram.com/iarna____virtuala)

ANDRÉ JACQUES

ANDRÉ JACQUES IS A BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHER BASED IN LONDON.

JACQUES' WORK SPARKS FROM HIS OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND HIS CURIOSITY OF THE WORLD AND WHERE WE BELONG IN IT.

OFTEN NAVIGATING THE SPACE BETWEEN BLACKNESS AND BEAUTY.

(https://instagram.com/andreiacques)

JULIÁN RAES

JULIÁN WAS BORN IN LIMA, PERU AND LIVES IN BERLIN.

IN HIS PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS HE EMBODIES INTIMACY, OUTER PERCEPTIONS AND EMOTIONAL PROCESSES THROUGH ABSTRACT FORMS AND EXPRESSIVE EXPRESSIONS.

(https://instagram.com/julianraes)

THANHXBUI

I AM THANHXBUI. A VIETNAMESE ARTIST BORN AND RAISED IN GERMANY. 21 YEARS OLD. BERLIN-BASED.

ALL MY LIFE, I ENJOYED PLAYING WITH ALL KINDS OF ART. WHETHER IT’S MAKING MUSIC, CREATIVE WRITING OR EDITING VIDEOS. CREATING SOMETHING ALWAYS FULFILLS ME WITH A SENSE OF PURPOSE.

BUT NOTHING HAS QUITE GIVEN ME THE COMFORT THAT PAINTING CAN. THE PROCESS IS ALWAYS SO CALMING AND SOMEWHAT HUMBLING. TO SIT IN FRONT OF A BLANK CANVAS AND TO CREATE SOMETHING FROM SCRATCH, TO BRING A VISION INSIDE OF ME ALIVE - TO BE FULLY MYSELF.

IN MY PAINTINGS I DON’T INTEND TO PORTRAY SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE CAN SEE. RATHER, I WANT TO SHOW SOMETHING THAT IS NOT EARTHLY BOUND. I’M IMAGINING WORLDS, FANTASIES AND SPIRITUAL PLACES. A PLACE TO ESCAPE REALITY FOR A BIT. A FEELING.

I WANT TO INVITE THE VIEWER TO DWELL IN MY VISIONS AND FIND COMFORT. MAYBE PROVOKE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, THEY DIDN’T HAVE BEFORE. ESSENTIALLY, MY PAINTINGS ARE AN EXPRESSION OF MYSELF AND I AM APPRECIATIVE OF ANYONE WHO IS WILLING TO TAKE A SECOND LOOK. NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY GOAL IS NOT TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT IS LIKED BY EVERYONE OR FITS THE LATEST TREND. AS LONG AS I AM CONTENT WITH THE OUTCOME AND HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT MYSELF ON THE WAY, IT’S A SUCCESS.

(https://instagram.com/thanhxboy)

SUNNY SHOTTAA

HABIB SANNI IS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND VISUAL ARTIST FROM ESSEN WHO GOES BY THE NAME SUNNY SHOTTAA.

HIS SURROUNDING IS THE INSPIRATION OF HIS ART. HIS VIEW OF PEOPLE, PLACES, MOMENTS, OR SIMPLE AESTHETICS.

WITH HIS ARTWORK HE GIVES US A GLIMPSE OF HIS REALITY AND EMOTIONS.

(https://instagram.com/sunny.shottaa)

248 MS

HOLA! MY NAME IS MELISSA IGDI AKA 248MS. I AM A 22 YEARS OLD FROM NUREMBERG, BAVARIA WITH TURKISH ROOTS.

CURRENTLY I’M STUDYING JOURNALISM. BESIDES THAT I LOVE TO LIVE CREATIVELY, BE IT WITH COOKING, DESIGNING ROOMS OR PHOTOGRAPHING. I DON’T DO IT PROFESSIONALLY BUT OUT OF SELF-INTEREST.

IT’S FUN TO CAPTURE PEOPLE, STREET ART, EXHIBITS IN MUSEUMS OR PUBLIC BUILDINGS FROM MY POINT OF VIEW. IT’S ALSO NICE THAT I CAN SHARE MY PICTURES WITH MY ENVIRONMENT. 

EVERY PICTURE I SHOOT AND PUBLISH HAS SOMETHING TO SAY - I ALSO WANT TO INDICATE TO EVERYDAY PROBLEMS.

I HOPE IT APPEARS TO YOU AS MUCH AS ME.

(https://instagram.com/248ms)

MAKAYABUNDO

MAKAYABUNDO IS AN CREATIVE ARTIST FROM WUPPERTAL-VOHWINKEL AND IS KNOWN FOR HIS WORK IN VARIOUS GENRES.

IN HIS YOUTH HE WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY ART, URBAN LIFESTYLE AND HIS ENVIRONMENT. THIS LED HIM TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO VISUAL ARTS AND MUSIC IN THE MID-2010S.

DUE TO HIS PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND AND INTEREST IN PEOPLE, HIS ART IS SHOWCASING DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND CULTURES.

(https://instagram.com/makayabundo)

EVILNIC

YO YO, MY NAME IS NIC RAPPO! I AM 28 YEARS OLD AND WAS BORN AND RAISED IN QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY. I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN BERLIN FOR JUST OVER 4 YEARS.

I AM A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST FOCUSING ON ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY AND TEXTILE PRODUCTION / DESIGN. MY PHOTO WORK IS (ALMOST) EXCLUSIVELY BLACK/WHITE AND FOCUSES ON THEMES OF ESTRANGEMENT, DUPLICITY AND RECURRENCE.

WHEN I AM NOT OUT AND ABOUT TAKING PHOTOS YOU CAN FIND ME IN MY SCREEN PRINTING ATELIER.

PEACE!

(https://instagram.com/evilnic)

VIVIANA ISABELLA

VIVIANA IS A BERLIN BASED CREATIVE WITH ITALIAN ROOTS WHO GREW UP BETWEEN NUREMBERG AND SPAIN - THIS INFLUENCES ALSO HER CREATIVE WORK.

ART ALWAYS PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN HER LIFE, AS SHE STARTED DRAWING SKETCHES IN HER EARLY TEENS, AND SOON SHE ALSO DEVELOPED A PASSION FOR OIL PAINTING. HER COMPOSITIONS CAN BE EASILY RECOGNIZED BY HER SURREALISTIC WAY OF DEPICTING NATURE AND THE HUMAN BODY. HER ART CENTERS AROUND THE IDEA THAT EYES MAKE US BELIEVE THAT WE SEE/OBSERVE OUR SURROUNDINGS IN AN OBJECTIVE WAY, EVEN THOUGH, THEY ONLY SHOW US WHAT WE WANT TO SEE AND WHAT MATTERS TO US. THIS MAY RAISE THE QUESTION THAT THIS PHENOMENON IS THE UNIQUE FEATURE THAT MAKES US HUMANS.

BESIDES EXPRESSING HERSELF WITH PAINTING, VIVI AS SHE IS CALLED BY HER FRIENDS, ALSO GIVES AN INSIGHT OF HER WAY OF SEEING THINGS WITH ANALOGUE PHOTOGRAPHY.

USING HER KNOWLEDGE IN ART AS WELL AS DESIGN, VIVIANA WORKS AS A MOTION DESIGNER AND COLORIST.

(https://www.instagram.com/vivianaisabella)

CRYSTALLLISTARR

HI DEAR PEOPLE,

MY NAME IS JOHANNA (CHRYSTALLLISTARR), I AM 21 YEARS OLD AND CURRENTLY WORKING ON ARTISTIC PROJECTS, SUCH AS JEWELRY, METALWORK AND PHOTOGRAPHY. I AM INTERESTED IN A WIDE RANGE OF THINGS...

I RECENTLY MOVED FROM COLOGNE TO BERLIN AND NOW WORK FOR THE SET DESIGN DEPARTMENT AT „DEUTSCHES THEATER“.

MY ART IS THE RESULT OF EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT CRAFTS AND MATERIALS. IT IS ABOUT EXPLORING, DESIGN AND CREATING.

BUT I AM STILL VERY MUCH AT THE BEGINNING OF MY JOURNEY. AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO GET TO KNOW MORE CRAFTING METHODS AND WORKING ON FURTHER PROJECTS. SO STAY TUNED!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A PIECE OR HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TALK TO ME.

ALL THE JEWELRY IS 1:1, I MOSTLY DO CUSTOMIZED PIECES, AS AN ORDER IS PLACED.

(https://www.instagram.com/crystalllistarr/)

DJ VEE

VEE IS A BERLIN BORN AND BASED CREATIVE THAT WORKS AS A STYLIST AND DJ.

YOU'LL FIND HER ON DANCEFLOORS ALL OVER THE WORLD. HER STYLE IS A MIXTURE OF GENRES (INFLUENCED BY HIP HOP, ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND AFRO) THAT MAKE YOU MOVE.

(https://instagram.com/verosabe)

KIMSA

WITH PUBERTY HITTING DURING THE GREAT ERA OF SOUNDCLOUD, KIMSA HAS BEEN SHAPED INTO THE CUTTING EDGE SELECTOR THEY ARE TODAY,SHOWCASING HER GENRE FUSING EXTRAVAGANZA IN HER DISETS.

(https://instagram.com/jinshayuen)

OFORI

OFORI IS A DJ FROM KREFELD (WITH ROOTS FROM GHANA).

WITH HIS OLD SCHOOL-INFLUENCED SOUND  HE WANTS TO DIG UP HIDDEN TREASURES.  SO HE TRIES TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND AND VALUES OF HIP HOP’S GOLDEN ERA TO HIS ENVIRONMENT.

(https://instagram.com/ofori.09)

HELINA

HELINA IS AN ETHIOPIAN AND ERITREAN ARTIST FROM BERLIN.

AS A DJ, DANCER, AND HOBBY PHOTOGRAPHER HELINA EXPLORES ALL FORMS OF EXPRESSION. HELINA GREW UP MOSTLY WITH 2000 RNB AND TRADITIONAL ETHIOPIAN AND ERITREAN MUSIC, AND AIMS TO BRING MORE GENRE DIVERSITY TO THE SCENE.

(https://instagram.com/helinaisayas)

heaven

pairing(s): dark!peggy carter x nb!reader

summary:

you and peggy carter have a professional relationship. 

she’s your boss, for christ’s sake. 

sure, she’s gorgeous. and funny. and intelligent. 

are you attracted to her? undeniably. 

but regardless, you’d never pursue her. you know better than most that getting into it with your boss never ends well. 

too bad peggy doesn’t seem to harbor the same reservations. 

contains: non-con / dub-con smut

[ inspired by “positively owned” by @imanuglywombat​ ]

word count: ~1,000

rating: explicit (18+)

warnings: non-con, dub-con, rope bondage, dark!peggy, pet names, dirty talk

notes: reader is non-binary (they/them pronouns), though their gender identity is a fairly minor part of this drabble-ish thing. and, as always, reader is written to be poc / racially ambiguous, though that’s very minimally alluded to here.

[commissioned by someone who requested to remain anonymous]

— —

“Jesus, f—Please, I can’t—Shit !” 

With one last choked scream, you collapse back down to the mattress, aftershocks of euphoria ravaging your trembling body in powerful waves. Your wrists ache where they rest behind you near the base of your spine, bound tightly with coils of sturdy crimson rope. 

The lacquered surface of the wooden headboard behind you is cool and hard against the flushed, sweaty skin of your back—a welcome respite. 

Your thoughts spin; your naked chest heaves; and that sensitive place between your thighs… twitching and unbearably sore, puffy folds glistening with copious amounts of your own slick.  

You’d close your legs if you could—but of course, Peggy’s already several steps ahead. Both legs are restrained, bent double and widely spread—ankles to the tops of your thighs, knees askew—limbs tightly bound in crimson rope which matches the neat coils around your wrists. 

“P-P-Please, Ms. Carter,” you manage to gasp out, lungs burning. “I-It’s too much, p-please—” 

A dainty, perfectly-manicured finger dipping into your swollen folds stops you mid-thought, ripping the very breath from your lungs as the tip drags languidly from entrance to clit. 

In this moment, it seems to matter very little that you never wanted this—that Peggy Carter was a friend to you and nothing more, that you were more than content with allowing the dynamic between the pair of you to stay exactly that: platonic. Professional, even.

She’s your boss, for Christ’s sake, and heaven knows you’ve never been one for mixing business and pleasure. 

It never ends well. You know that better than most. 

Not only that, she’s… well, she’s Peggy Carter. Sole founder and current CEO of CARTER & CO., the world’s largest weapon manufacturing conglomerate to date. She’s among the most successful women in the world—in history, even. Hell, she’s been on the cover of Forbes three times spanning the last five years; she’s basically a celebrity. 

What could she possibly want with the likes of you? What could you possibly gain from making yet another big-time mistake with the woman who holds your very future in her dainty, impossibly well-manicured hands?

“Holy—Shit—Fuck !” 

Maddening shocks of pleasure jolt you back to the present, the pad of a probing finger as it lazily circles your clit. Just like that, any semblance of dubiety and skepticism flee your thoughts, leaving you a writhing sweat-slick mess in its wake, noxious euphoria twisting your very insides up in dolorous knots. 

“Aww,” Peggy coos, her breath hot against your lips as she looms above you, cocoa-bean-brown eyes watching your every twitch and shudder with rapt attention. “Does that hurt?”

Even as she asks, the very tip of her middle finger delves surehandedly back into your slick to dip just so inside your spasming hole; needless to say, the sensation alone (no matter how slight) has you fucking keening off the bed.

“Oh—OhmyGod—” You cut yourself off with a short inhale as Peggy sinks her finger ever further inside your clenching depths without a semblance of warning—slowly, gradually until she’s knuckle deep inside you.

Holy fuck.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts—but there’s pleasure, too. Body-racking, chest-compressing, insurmountable pleasure which threatens to tear you apart from within.   

“Puppy’s a bit sensitive now, aren’t they?” Peggy questions, her honeyed tone dripping with faux sympathy. She’s all power and hungered poise as she bores down upon you: red-painted lips pushed out to form a perfect pout, lust-blown pupils intent upon your own… It feels impossible to look away. “Well, that’s to be expected, I suppose. I’ve put this pretty little pussy of yours through quite the ordeal this afternoon, haven’t I?”

“I—P-Please, I don’t wanna—Oh, my, FUCK !” Pleasure arrests your body from every side as she works another finger into you without preamble, effectively halting any futile attempts at escape in favor of arching your body obscenely up into hers—a wordless plea for more, more, more.

You don’t want it; it hurts and you don’t want it, but somehow you do, and that juxtaposition alone threatens to shatter you from the inside out—never mind the rest of it.  

Peggy chuckles, leaning down to nuzzle the tip of your nose with her own—teasing you even still, like you aren’t hanging on the precipice of utter mental and physical collapse. “Aw, my precious baby… You can give me another, can’t you?” She plants a kiss at the very corner of your lips, letting out a quiet chuckle against your skin at the tortured groan that objectively rather simple act elicits. “You can cum for me once more, make me so very, very proud?”

Something about Peggy Carter—she has a certain knack for making every question come across as an incontestable demand. This instance is no exception. 

And, in typical Peggy Carter fashion, she doesn’t wait for a verbal response.

Rather, she does precisely the opposite—works in another finger and doubles her pace despite the way it makes you shriek and wail, thrusting violently into you until lewd squelching noises fill your ears. Your cheeks burn with the shame of it; your sorely overstimulated cunt throbs and spasms wildly around Peggy’s thrusts; the sheer sensation of it all is unlike any else you’ve ever known, eclipsing your fickle consciousness in shades of blinding white.

“That’s it, bunny, let it happen,” Peggy soothes, her voice low and silken—offering comfort… and even still, her pace doesn’t falter—if anything, it quickens; long, dexterous fingers coaxing your swollen cunt steadfastly towards another earth-shattering orgasm that you’re sure will break you when it hits. “You’re doing so well for me, now—such a desperate little thing… You’re going to cum, aren’t you? All over my hand like a good little puppy, that’s it...”

… Fuck. Yeah, that fucking breaks you. 

You bite your tongue to stifle a keening whimper and don’t flinch when you taste blood, even as you can’t stop yourself from bobbing your head up and down in a shallow nod—admitting defeat. Hell, you’re almost cross-eyed as you gape wordlessly back up at Peggy, helpless and utterly overwhelmed by pleasure, bits of drool dribbling down your chin. 

It’s… heaven. Fucking heaven.  

— —

tagging:

[marvel]: @teenwonder

— —

end notes: dark!peggy rail me challenge

LINK TO MASTERLIST

 harmless pranks ≫ DAY ONE, WOOYOUNG?!

this mischevious dolphin hybrid escaped an illegal experiment lab and has wandered the ocean for almost a year. all he longed for was love and attention—maybe even a family. who knew his “little” prank on jiyu would be the beginning to all of his wishes being granted.

PART OF THE HEAVEN SERIES.

✧ taglist: @defsoul15, @jaeminpeachy, @joongiebug, @sunsethw4, @t-tbinnie, @chanyeolol, @danibookmarks, @hello-its-ya-boi, @murralyn, @panini, @moon8894, @koasworld, @taetae123094, @luv3rxcha, @treasure-hwa, @etherealbyeol, @hwaseongzzz, @lovely-sanie, @orbitiiny, @pirate-of-the-dark-seas, @babydolljo, @ms-starlight, @everrrlasting, @bls-luv-me, @atzgiggle, @arohabyeol, @rainbowmagicpixecorn, @soverystupid, @ayetothezee, @kingalls00, @sanstreasure0305, @sparklingmallow, @kpopnightingale, @rosesarethebest, @stillcantfindaproperusername, @bonbonhwa, @its-sarah-stark, @sanismybb, @frankenstein852, @peachseok, @woopetals, @exhofayemars, @pvrkacciosan, 

✧ can’t be tagged: @alienmashup, @c-sanshine, @int0chae

✧ notes: surprise! i know i scheduled the release for may 7th, but thought i’d release it a little early :)

next。

“i can’t believe you’re up and leaving us for a month,” yeonjun sarcastically commented while helping her lug her last luggage into the mercedes van that sunwoo had been so generous enough to send to pick them up. “and from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like soobin, beomgyu, and taehyun are going to let go of the others.”

and true to his word, she looked over to see them gathered in a group hug. beomgyu clung onto yunho with teary eyes, he’s never been separated from him for a month before. yunho gently pat the younger puppy’s head with a small smile. 

she chuckled at the heartwarming scene. “guys, you’ll still be able to call and facetime. and you’re acting like we’re never coming back! we’re only going to jeju island.”

“but what if you run away with this person because they’re rich?” beomgyu asked, ignorant to her background. at his question, the other boys gasped and whipped their heads over to her. 

her smile slightly faltered, forgetting that they don’t know of her origins. she knew she’d have to come clean someday—maybe this trip was the right time to tell. 

“don’t be ridiculous, of course we are,” she gently reprimanded before coming over to ruffle beomgyu’s hair. “beomgyu’s imagination is just running a tad bit wild.”

pouting, beomgyu shifted from yunho to engulf her in a bear hug. 

“soobin and i’ll make sure beomgyu doesn’t grow any grey hairs while worrying about you guys,” taehyun jokingly reassured. he knew beomgyu well enough, even though he was an addition to the family a month ago.  

“miss, it’s about time to depart to the airport,” the driver informed with a bow. 

with a nod, she rubbed beomgyu’s head. “okay, we need to go now, bub. we’ll message you when we get there, okay?”

reluctantly nodding, beomgyu let her go. he joined soobin, taehyun, and yeonjun to see them off, waving until they not longer saw the black vehicle. 

in the car, yunho, mingi, san, and yeosang were fascinated with how fancy the interior was. there were two rows of two seats, and row with three seats in the back. the seats were so comfortable, and it was so roomy; an environment unfamiliar to the hybrids. while seonghwa and yunho knew somewhat of her background, the others wondered how she managed to afford something like this. 

“is your friend rich?” san asked, looking back to face jiyu. seating arrangements were decided by an intense game of rock-paper-scissors. in the end, yeosang and hongjoong sat in front, mingi and san were in the middle row, and jiyu was squished in between yunho and seonghwa in the back. 

“that’s one way of putting it, yes.” in truth, she was worried about how they would react to her and sunwoo’s background. most of them had come from influential families or illegal organizations to begin with. having terrible memories with them, would they change once they knew who she really was?

“but don’t worry, he’s really nice! he has a hybrid friend of his own, too. i think he said a german shepard hybrid.” yunho seemed to perk up at the thought of meeting another dog hybrid. 

“hm...if you say so. if you trust him, then we do, too,” hongjoong said before getting comfortable in the seat. 

upon arriving at the airport, the van immediately took them to the runway where a private plane was parked and waiting. she assumed it was sunwoo’s. the boys plastered their faces against the van windows at the sight of the plane. they’ve never been on one before, hence their childlike fascination. 

“are we really going on that?” san asked with excitement. “i love your friend already,” he teasingly commented. 

jiyu softly chuckled as the van came to a stop. hopping out, she saw sunwoo standing at the entrance to the plane with a hybrid she assumed was eric. catching sight of jiyu, he started climbing down the stairs. she smiled and waved to him, an action he returned with a small chuckle. 

“were you waiting long?”

he shook his head. “don’t worry, we came ten minutes ago. eric’s been eager to meet you and your—” seeing the six hybrids behind her filing out of the van, his eyes widened. he knew she had hybrids, but he didn’t really know what to expect. “you have six?”

she sheepishly chuckled. “yeah...i hope you don’t mind. they won’t bite if that’s what you’re worried about.”

on the contrary, sunwoo didn’t mind at all; it actually made her a hundred times cooler in his eyes if anything. he’s never met a girl who managed to befriend six different hybrid breeds. but then again, with her job, he should’ve seen it coming. despite that, she just kept surprising him with who she is. 

“guys, this is sunwoo,” she called out to the boys. “he’s the friend i was talking about!” 

while the boys acquainted themselves with sunwoo, the german shepard hybrid approached jiyu with a friendly smile. “hi, i’m eric! although i think sunwoo told you plenty about me already.”

jiyu giggled at the boy’s abundance of energy. “he has mentioned you a few times. i’m jiyu.”

eric enthusiastically nodded. “i’ve heard about you a lot, too! sunwoo didn’t stop talking about you for a whole week after your first meeting.”

jiyu felt her face flush at the new piece of information. “a week—”

“ji! sunwoo said there’s also video games on the plane!”

before eric could continue exposing sunwoo, yunho came bounding up to her with the others in tow. with their calm and excited demeanor, she assumed that they managed to feel relaxed and at home with sunwoo, which made her happy and relieved. 

“is that so?” she mused, rubbing the spot behind his ears. yunho nodded and giggled, pushing his head into jiyu’s hands. eric glanced at sunwoo and couldn’t help the smirk on his face at the sight of the soft look on his friend’s face. 

snapping out of his reverie, sunwoo cleared his throat. “we should get going.”

the plane ride nothing out of the ordinary—the boys were getting to know eric, while jiyu and sunwoo caught up over a glass of champagne. 

“so it seems like your friends don’t know about you yet?” sunwoo inquired. “i told eric to keep his mouth shut about it just in case.”

softly shaking her head, she quietly glanced at the hybrid group that had passed out not too long ago after expending all of their energy. “only seonghwa and yunho know about it. i never found the right time to tell the others but this trip might be it.”

mingi had sleepily wandered over towards them and plopped down next to her before laying his head on her lap. within a few minutes, his breath evened out again. 

an endearing chuckle left her lips as she threaded her fingers through his faded red hair. “ah, you big baby,” she cooed. 

sunwoo watches her with a soft smile on his face. he watches the way she gently lulls the giant bunny to sleep, the mother-like smile on her face, the gentle aura she exudes—he could go on and on. she was completely different from what he had been expecting. while they had a few brief meetings during company gatherings, she always had a blank expression, never smiling nor frowning. it was almost like she was more robot than human.

when his parents had informed him of his future marriage with her, he didn’t know how to react. a part of him would’ve been lying if he had denied feeling the tiniest bit of disdain at his fate.

but lo and behold, she managed to leave him soft and charmed with every meeting, even if this was only their second one. 

“sir, ma’am, we’ll be landing in about ten minutes. please fasten your seatbelts.” 

his pilot’s voice managed to break him out of his thoughts, leaving him to scramble to sit up straighter and cool his flushed face. 

“i should wake them up,” jiyu said, completely unaware of sunwoo’s dilemma. softly shaking mingi’s shoulder, she gently prodded him awake before relaying the pilot’s message to him. padding over to the others, she did the same.

sunwoo sighed before buckling in his own seatbelt. he needed to keep himself in check around her before he accidentally does something that would embarrass himself. this is going to be a long month.

upon arriving at the private vacation home, jiyu was already bombarded with the youngers’ pleas to go to the beach. luckily for them, the vacation home was just down the street from the beach, giving them easy access to visit whenever they wanted. 

“i’m really sorry, i hope you don’t mind,” she apologized to sunwoo for the fact that they were going to the beach the moment they put their bags down. “if you’re tired, you can stay. i can take—”

sunwoo’s soft chuckle made her pause mid-sentence. she didn’t know he was capable of making such a melodious sound. while she was still living in the main house, her friends had painted him to be an aloof person. and even from what she saw at company dinners. the daughters of other elites were always throwing themselves at him, offering him drinks and their company. 

yet every singe time without fail, he would coldly reject them.

so when yuta had told her that he was the one her father set her up with, she was doubtful if they could even be civil with each other. 

“it’s fine, i’ll go with you and the others. eric’s been pestering me to go, too so it works out.”

the soft and friendly expression was just proof to her that maybe, just maybe, she had been judging the facade he puts up.

“oh, okay then!” she smiled before scurrying to her room to change. “let’s meet back here when we’re ready!”

watching her excited like a child to go to the ocean, he couldn’t contain the smile that he had been biting back. he was glad that they could at least be friends despite the circumstances.

“stop staring at her door and go change, loverboy.”

he was bought back to reality by his best friend’s quip. throwing him a half-hearted glare, he trudged to his room. “i wasn’t staring.” even his protest was weak. 

eric couldn’t help the smirk that crosses his face. he’s known his best friend long enough to know that he never gets like this around girls. “this should be an interesting trip.”

by the time they all met back up to leave, it was two p.m.—a prime time for the sun to be out and bestowing them with it’s heat on their short walk to the beach.

“it’s the ocean!” yunho shouted with utter glee and happiness as he and eric raced each other across the sand and to the water. the others ran after them, even san who ended up straying on shore and dipping his feet in the water. hongjoong joined him as he watched over the others in the water. 

jiyu and sunwoo had found a group of beach chairs under a big umbrella and tossed their bags down. stretching her limbs, jiyu sprawled out on a chair and closed her eyes for a brief moment. hearing the ocean waves along with the cheerful shouts of the boys in the water made her smile with content. 

cracking an eye open, she caught sunwoo throwing off the white t-shirt he had on and shaking his head afterward to fix his hair. her eyes raked over his body against her own will. his lean figure, the define abs lined on his stomach, and the hints of muscles on his arm only served to have a volcano of butterflies erupt in her stomach. 

“everything okay?” he asked, leaning down towards her face.

looking away from his piercing gaze, she jumped up and quickly discarded her own outerwear before speed-walking towards the water. “yep! just great!” she definitely didn’t miss the smirk that was threatening to take over his face. 

sunwoo smirked before running to catch up with her. he couldn’t help but take note of the red two-piece she was sporting. a part of him wanted to throw his earlier discarded t-shirt over her to give her coverage from other people’s gazes that were lingering just a bit too long, but he bit back his own desire.

after all, they were just budding friends who were about to be stuck in an arranged, and potentially loveless, marriage.

but that didn’t stop him from lifting her up and tossing her into the water.

emerging back up, she had to rub her eyes to get rid of the salt water before throwing a glare towards the laughing culprit.

“kim sunwoo!” she stood up and crossed her arms across her chest like an angry child. 

“i had to—hey!”

too busy caught up in his own laughter, he failed to notice the wolf hybrid sneaking up behind him to exact revenge for jiyu. emerging up next to jiyu, shook his head to remove excess water out of his hair before looking for his culprit. seeing the proudly-smiling seonghwa on shore with his hands on his hips, he let out snort. 

“alright, you got me.”

she burst into giggles before floating on her back. looking up at the sky, there were no hints of clouds—just the endless blue that seemed to stretch out for miles on end. feeling someone tug her feet, she perked her head up to see yeosang pulling her. 

“you were floating too far out,” he informed before lightly flicking her forehead. “watch out before you float away and we’re stranded here without you,” he added with a chuckle, just barely missing the splash of water that jiyu retaliated with, before swimming off back to yunho and mingi. 

“he seems fun to be around,” sunwoo said as swam up to join her. “he reminds me of eric, only more sass.”

“yeah, i never know where his sass comes from—”

she was cut off by a huge splash of water from behind that had not only hit her, but also sunwoo. turning around, she expected it to be yeosang, san, or eric.

but no one was behind them. 

sunwoo furrowed his eyebrows. the hybrid group was at least twenty feet away from them—there was no way any of them could’ve done it since he and jiyu would’ve heard them swimming off or laughing. 

“that’s odd, who—ah!”

before jiyu could finish her sentence, a pair of arms grabbed her waist and yanked her underwater. having no time to react, she felt herself being tugged away as they started swimming with her in tow.

sunwoo swore his heart almost stopped; whether it be from the fact that it all happened so quickly or the fact that jiyu could potentially be drowning, he didn’t know. he didn’t have time to know.

“oi, what the—!”  

his scream caught the others attention. looking over, they sunwoo looking frantic pulling something up from under the water. 

but there was no jiyu. 

they all swam over with urgency, fearing something went wrong.

“where is she?” hongjoong asked, brows furrowing with panic. the others looked ready to fight what or whoever took jiyu, even yunho and mingi even though they both looked on the verge of crying. 

“something pulled her down and just...swam away!”

meanwhile, underwater, jiyu was having a ball trying to fight off what or whoever pulled her down. it was definitely a person—she felt the arms around her waist and the hard chest that was tightly pressed against her back. looking behind her she managed to make out a male with majestic, black with gold highlights. 

the lack of air snapped her back to reality from her gawking and she stared to try and pry the man’s hands off of her. as if catching onto her message, he quickly brought her back up to the surface. 

inhaling like her life depended on it and coughing out some water, she turned around and glared at whoever decided to try and almost drown her.

but before she could her a word out, she was blown away by how...pretty the man staring back at her was. with his hair tucked behind his ears, it framed his face perfectly, showing off his distinct and defined facial features.

but something else caught her eye. 

the lower half of his body was a tail. eyes flicking back and forth from the man’s face to the tail, her mouth opened and closed like fish out of water.

“a fish h-hybrid..?”

“oi, jiyu!” 

at the sound of her name, she looked behind the man to see everyone swimming up to her. it turned out that they weren’t that far away from shore—the man, or hybrid, just took her along the shoreline rather than farther out like she had originally thought. 

the unknown hybrid just watched as the seven other hybrids and sunwoo crowded her to make sure she was okay. yeosang profusely apologized, saying “i know i joked about you floating away and stranding us, but i didn’t mean to make that a reality”.

sunwoo ruffled her wet hair, breathing out a sigh of relief. “you scared me there. i thought i was going to lose you on the first day here.”

“huh? yeosang?”

at the sound of his name, yeosang turned around and practically fainted. he literally swam past him, how did he manage to miss the extremely familiar face.  he stared at the underwater hybrid, wide-eyed, like he had witnessed another miracle from the universe. the unknown man mirrored yeosang’s look.

“wooyoung?!”

China Love 🎎Andy Barber

Part 1

Part 2

Warnings: smut, language, daddy kink, straight up nastiness, dom!Andy, angst, protected, this is a 2 parter

Ima try my best to do a 3rd person POV

Tags: @rebellious-desires @mrsbanreswillseeyou @eclecticblkgirl @designerwriterchic @bvssmob

Relationship: Andy Barber x black plus sized reader

~Andy’s POV~

2:46am and all I can think about is her moans and how good I made her feel. Her smile when I walk into the room, how strong she is, especially strong-minded. Laurie stirs in her sleep resting her arm on my chest and that’s when I look at her. I don’t find the same love I had for her before Y/N. It’s not to say I don’t love her as a person. I do dearly and I love her as the mother of my child but I don’t love her as my wife anymore.

I sigh closing my eyes finally drifting to sleep not wanting to think anymore.

...

Y/N has been avoiding me for about 3 weeks and I can’t help but feel bad. The truth is I don’t know how to tell her I want her. That night is all I can think about. I’ve been so stressed out these last few weeks because my son might be a suspect in a murder case. That’s really been weighing on my shoulders especially since I’ve been kicked off the case. Laurie has been growing cold against me and I think she believes our son did it. There’s no way he did it. And I’m scared to ask just in case she thinks I’m trying to accuse her. I just need to know we’re on the same page as a family.

I’m sitting at my desk when I’ve finally had enough. I press the button for my assistant and she walks in with a smile “hey Lynn can you bring Y/N in here to me please?”

“Yes sir” she leaves and I take a deep breath standing up. I watch out of the glass as Y/N pushes her chair out and walks with Lynn. She opens the door and sees me folding her arms. Flashbacks hit me hard and next thing I know I’m having to shield my boner. She looks so gotdamn good with her beautiful mahogany hair placed into a neat puff on top of her head, her shapely body concealed into a short tight floral skirt and an olive green top with nude sandals with gems on them. Maybe it’s because I was drunk but I’m just noticing the tattoo on the inside of her wrist that says ‘breathe’ in intricate letters

“You wanted to see me” she doesn’t even make direct eye contact with me. I nod towards the seat and she shuts the door and sits down. I lean on the front of my table watching her cross her legs and move back.

“Can I ask why you’ve been avoiding me? And don’t lie”

“Because I feel absolutely terrible about what your wife will say when she finds out you fucked your intern and further more I don’t wanna be fired for fraternizing with my bosses boss” she cuts right the the chase

“Understandable but you won’t get fired” I reassure her

“Andy I already have people that don’t like me in this office and I don’t need our business getting out and I’m scared”

“Don’t be Y/N but if you wanna stop I completely understand” I nod “I just want the old us back” I’m referring to how much we used to be. Like 2 peas in a pod. Bound at the hip. Going from best friends to not even speaking is different for us.

She stares at me with her big daunting brown eyes “I bought you a coffee it might be a lil cold but you’ll be ok” I chuckle dropping my head while she stands up to get it. Honestly I don’t wanna stop what we’re doing because I can’t get enough of her but if that’s what she wants then I won’t argue it.

Y/N comes back with the coffee in her hand and hands it to me. “Have you talked to

Laurie about it yet?” She cross her arms looking at me and it’s just something about her stance that makes me wanna place her over my knee and smack her ass red. Laurie never really enjoyed when I spanked her or pulled her hair or even choked her.

“Absolutely not” I take a sip of the lukewarm coffee. She nods in approval.

“Well back to my never ending paperwork to file”

“Just do these for me and fill this out and have it back to me by the end of the day” I watch as YN scans the paper I gave her skipping the other papers. “This is an official hiring worksheet” she states as a matter of factly.

“I’m aware”

“You wanna hire me?”

“Yea and plus you’ll make more money that what you’re making now as an intern so fill it out and you’ve got it” I smile. She bites her lip and I know she said we should stop but I could fill that pretty pussy one more time.

“Thanks” she smiles. I watch her walk away before taking a deep breath. I sit back behind my desk and continue working.

....

Another late night at the office. I sigh rubbing my hands over my face. I look out and see Y/N coming in here. I believe it’s only me and her in here. I watch as a tall man stand up and walk to her. It’s Neal. He slams papers on her desk startling her yelling throughout the office.

“You dumbass bitch. You filed the wrong fucking stack” she stands up in protest. Anger fills me half way and I’m about to slap the dog shit out of him for talking to her like that.

“Don’t you ever in your gotdamn life say some bullshit like that Neal. I’ve dealt with your shit long enough. That stack was getting filed regardless right? Ard then chill out with the fuck shit” there’s her Baltimore accent. He rises above her with intimidating power and I stand up jogging to the door. Anger washes over me as I swing the door open and stomp towards the pair. I didn’t even notice the shocked scared expression painted on Y/N’s face. I grab Neal by the collar seething like a rabid animal. Without saying a word to him I give him a death glare as a warning.

“Andy” Y/N peeps out. Neal cracks a smile and I press him against the wall watching the humor drain from his face replaced with sheer terror.

“You think this is a joke? Do you?” I scream

“Andy” Y/N screams louder and I come to my senses. I let him go watching him scramble to gather his things leaning collectively. I let out a deep sigh and she’s comes to my aid rubbing my shoulder “calm down I’m ok he didn’t hurt me”

“He wouldn’t have gotten the chance” I take a deep breath

...

It’s been a few weeks since the ordeal and unfortunately after that I was let off my sons case. To make matters worse me and Laurie got into an argument that I’m sure puts us close to the brink of separation. I believe that she thinks Jacob murdered Ben and she won’t admit to it and keeps trying to switch the narrative.

I’m sitting on the couch drinking a beer at 10:30 at night when I get a call. It’s Y/N.

“Hey Y/N” I swig the last of my beer

“Hey Andy are you busy?” She asks. She sounds nervous

“No why?” I ask smiling at the sweet sound of her voice

“Can you come by the office I have something for you”

“Y/N you know they’re gonna lose their shit if they see me in there especially after hours”

“Please it’ll be worth it” she pleads. I can already envision her bottom lip puckered out and her arms crossed. I sigh standing up stretching my back

“I’ll be there soon”

“Yay” she perks up and I laugh hanging up. I grab my coat and hear the footsteps of my basically estranged wife approaching.

“Where are you going? It’s 11:30”

“To handle some business at work” I lie. I’m not even sure what Y/N is up to. If it’s what I think it is then of course Laurie can’t know.

“I thought you were kicked off the case”

“Just some important files I forgot to log into the system. No big deal” I pull on my coat placing my hood on my head and exit swiftly. The heavy rain patters hard on the concrete splashing upward with each step I take toward the car.

I get in and press the start button watching Laurie observe me through the curtain. I reverse out of the driveway pulling off into the night.

....

I open the doors and see YN standing there with a trench coat and some heels on and a bottle of champagne. She doesn’t notice my movements as she smoothes out the wrinkles in her coat trying to perfect herself. She doesn’t realize she’s already perfect.

“To what do I owe this dubious pleasure Ms. YLN?” I inquire placing my hands on my pocket and leaning on the door frame. Her smile is bright when our eyes lock.

“Well I have made a change of my mind on something” I walk towards her where she sits me down in the chair standing before me. My heart is racing and my dick is starting to get hard.

“I bought the champagne just in case you need some extra convincing” she laughs. YN opens her coat dropping it on the floor revealing a beautiful 2 piece LINGERIE set. Her body compliments the piece beautifully and that’s when I really take her in. Not just for her sex appeal but for her in general. She kisses me leaning down and straddling my waist where I hold her hips and grab a handful of what’s really mine.

<3rd Person POV>

Andy can’t help but moan as YN grinds down on his thick throbbing boner just waiting to be released from its shackles. Her dominant side takes over and she grabs his face planting an open mouth kiss on his neck. She works on his pants getting on her knees. Mouth salivating as his dick finally springs free. She wraps her acrylic nails around the base swirling her top around collecting the precum.

Andy sinks in the chair ravishing in her skills. He presses her hair out of the way watching the way her pretty brown eyes stare back at him while she sucks and slurps her way to his soul. His head falls back guiding his hips into the back of her throat never breaking rhythm. She pulls his penis out of her mouth rubbing her thumb and palm over the tip while she takes one of his balls in his mouth. A loud moan escapes his lips. Andy has never experienced this before. Not this detailed to say the least.

All the while he’s receiving glorious pleasure, Laurie is home rocking and sobbing on the shower floor. She’s come to the conclusion that her husband doesn’t love her anymore and than her son is a murderer. While one of those is true she can’t help but feel rage and insanity boil within her.

Laurie collects herself and dries off grabbing a pair of jeans and a a shirt. She places her wet hair up letting it air dry. Her long legs stride to her sons room where he’d playing his game but pauses it and looks at her “are you ok mom?” Jacob asks

“Come with me honey we’re gonna go for a ride” before he can respond Laurie leaves the room going downstairs grabbing her shoes. She’s out of her mind. It’s like she’s watching herself complete this indescribable action and she can’t stop it. But she knows deep down in her heart Jacob murdered this boy and she can’t live her life knowing her son is a murderer.

Andy pulls YN up by the neck dragging his tongue along the bottom of her mouth holding her captive in his spell once again. He pulls her panties off collecting her wetness through his fingers. She’s more than ready. Andy pulls YN down on top of his dick watching her gasp as he fills her up.

“Feel that?” He rasps “that’s all yours”

“It’s mine. You’re mine” she utters rocking and swirling her hips electrifying her heated body. Her hands grip the arm rests of the chair as Andy starts pumping up into her.

Her sweet moans. Andy could listen to her moans all day. Laurie was never loud or pornographic like this. Not by a long shot. He watches her ass bounce on his lap as she licks and nips as his ear. The clapping and slushing sounds of their juices makes music to YN’s ears.

“My dirty little slut so fucking wet for me”

Meanwhile Laurie has just downed her second glass of bourbon while waiting for Jacob to approach. She places her glass in the sink when she hears his footsteps.

“Mom where are we going?” The young boy asks watching his mother look so far gone it looks like it’ll take her aged to return.

“Just for a drive” is all she says before she grabs the car keys walking past him and to the car. Jacob shuts and locks the door placing his hand on the car door and instantly gets this gut wrenching feeling that he needs to stay home.

“Maybe I should stay?” He asks

“Nonsense just get in” she starts the engine and Jacob takes a deep breath getting in the passenger seat. He grabs and locks his seatbelt as Laurie pulls out of the driveway pulling off. She takes an unfamiliar road of what looks like dark road. The sound of the rain was always Jacobs favorite. Only this time it dreaded him even more. The rain was heavy, loud, and unforgiving to any car that would step forth on the slippery slope with a daring intention to overcome it.

“Jacob I’m going to ask you one question and I need you to answer honestly” oh no. Jacob knew this question all too well “did you kill Ben?”

“Mom I already told you no” that wasn’t the answer Laurie had damn near given up her marriage for and she knew it wasn’t the truth. She just couldn’t shake this feeling that he was lying. Before she knows it she starts speeding up to 30 miles an hour when the speed limit is 35 but of course driving slow in this nasty weather is imperative but she didn’t care. It was imperative for Jacob to tell her the truth and she was convinced he wasn’t doing that.

“Jacob I’m being very serious tell me the truth”

“I am mom slow down” he pleads with her trying to understand why he isn’t believing her. Her foot presses on the gas even more going 45 miles an hour He goes on his Apple Watch sending a quick text to his father praying to God he answers immediately.

Andy’s wrist buzzes but he doesn’t even bother looking at it as YN whimpers his name. Her hands shake as they try to find something to grab onto. Andy grabs her arms wrapping them behind her back as he holds her waist down thrusting upward hitting her sensitive g-spot making she cries out and squeeze his thick hands. The black hole soon to swallow the two up at the same time.

By this time Laurie is screaming at Jacob and has reached 70 miles an hour down the long road. Jacob pull on his seatbelt which locked for his protection. “Jacob I know you did. Your father may believe your lies but I don’t. You’re just like him. He lies to me and says he’s doing work and I just know he’s screwing someone else” Laurie is fed up. Tears pool both of their faces. Hers in despair and Jacobs in fear. She reaches 90. Jacob has been trying to call Andy and to no avail, no answer. He’s weighed all the possible outcomes of throwing himself out the car but with his locked seatbelt it won’t work.

“Jacob tell me the truth” before he can answer she presses on the gas going to 100. His chest is tight and Jacob has a feeling he’s going to die.

YN’s legs shake as Andy keeps drilling into her relentlessly wanting to make the biggest mess of her. “Neal can’t have you. No one can have you your mine. Fuck this tight pussy is gonna make me fill you up”

“Andy I’m gonna cum”

“Cum for me darling” As the pair reach their climax grasping onto each other for dear life Laurie reaches hers screaming at Jacob continuing to incline the accelerator as he continues calling his father on his apple watch. The teary eyed boy sees that the speedometer has reached 104 Mph and all attempts to try to stop his manic mother have faded. He silently prays as she yells one final statement “I know you did it”

Andy clutches YN’s quaking body as she whines taking the thrusts of his dick with no other option. The duo moans out loudly just as Laurie and Jacob scream before black consumes the both of them. She crashed the car head first into the side of a brick tunnel.

YN looks at Andy who has a small smile on his face. His hands unwrap from her lower back where he held her in place and she looks at his Apple Watch seeing the 7 missed calls from Jacob and one text reading: “mom losing shit”. YN glances at the time displaying 1:22am. Why is Jacob awake and why did he call 7 times.

“Andy you need to go. Jacob called you 7 times” his eyes go wide as the brown skinned mistress pulls herself off of his deflating member as he tries calling Jacob back. It goes straight to voicemail. Andy can’t think of anything but the worst.

i fought the demons that lie in between us [c.g. ; w.v.]

part 1

cordelia goode x fem!reader x wilhemina venable

summary: it seemed ages ago since you had been with cordelia, now the world around you was fallen apart and someone else was catching your eye

disclaimer: strong language, sexual nature, brief playful/sexual degradation

gif belongs to @witch , gif belongs to @hail-langdon

By the time you heard the cane beginning to echo behind you, it was already too late for you to pretend to do the tasks before you. Wilhemina was approaching quickly behind you and surely seeing your lack of productivity for the day.

With the books of the library scattered around the floor surrounding you, it looked as if you were a child in the ball pit. Some were opened to pages that had caught your attention and others were closed and covered in the dust they had collected.

You practically winced as you made a poor attempt to arrange the books you had been shuffling through for the last two hours or so. You muffled a knowing sigh and stood up, turning around with your coworkers to slowly face the woman. She stood there, dressed as she usually was and towering over you intimidatingly.

The eyes of the people around you weighed heavy between the two of you, watching closely for the punishment that was bound to ensue after she was finished examining the books on the floor.

“Are you not supposed to be working?” She asked expectantly, raising a single eyebrow at you. You mentally cursed as the light from the candles around you illuminated her face seductively; even angry it was hard for you to deny your attraction to her.

You winced softly, offering a weak smile before straightening yourself. “Yes Ms. Venable, just slightly distracted today.” You excused, curling into yourself a little as she looked down at you the way she was.

“Well how about when you focus enough to finish, you meet me in my office.” She suggested harshly, eyebrow still cocked. You nodded weakly as she tapped her cane against the ground to order the other workers to continue their working.

You had spent months in this place as a purple, wasting your days away in the music room staring at the ceiling in hopes that something about your current situation had changed.

Eventually, you had grown so tired of it that you had bagged Wilhemina to assign you tasks like the Grays. It took days of begging and getting scolded until she finally gave in and gave you the simple tasks she knew wouldn’t cause much trouble.

You both knew it was her soft-spot for you that ultimately resulted in your ability to persuade her.

The look she sent you before turning around sent butterflies to the pit of your stomach. She turned on her heel, leveraging herself with her cane to push forward and through the doorway before she disappeared from view.

You quickly and efficient gathered the books and put them away, neglecting the dust covering them. When you finally gathered the courage, you scampered off in the direction of her office as your coworkers began to whisper about the punishment you would receive.

When you approached her office you took a deep breath and raised your hand to knock, before your fist could collide with the door it was swinging open and you were faced with the red-haired woman.

You smiled sheepishly and dropped your hand as she led you into the office and closed the door behind you.

You could feel her watching your backside as you moved into the office. You glanced around before turning to meet her eyes.

“You know Y/N, when you asked to be assigned tasks as a Purple I thought it meant you were taking an initiative. But it seems you’ve been awfully distracted lately.” She stated, her fingers circling around the cane as she moved closer to you. “What’s got you so off-task?” She questioned, leveling her face with yours. You held your breath at her close proximity, swallowing harshly.

You bit down on your bottom lip, a blush warming your cheeks. You pondered for a moment before a quiet ‘you’ tumbled from your lips. You whispered it so softly and practically swallowed it back down as her expression did not change.

She waited a moment, then her lips curled into a loving smile. “You know what I like to hear.” She leaned forward, gently pressing her lips to yours. You basked in the feeling of her so close to you, pressing your hand against her arm gently.

When she pulled away you could feel your heart leap at her soft smile; one anyone rarely, if ever, coaxed from her. Yet again, that soft spot for you shone through.

She moved to sit, leaning her cane against the wall beside her. “Darling, sit.” She motioned towards the chair beside her. You moved to sit next to her and reach for her hand.

It was silent for a moment, both of you basking in the feeling of the comfortable air between you. “You know, if you keep getting distracted so at work I’ll have to start punishing you. But we all know a slut like you would get off on that, wouldn’t you?” It rolled off her tongue so nonchalantly, her eyes traveled to you and it was now that you noticed the darkness in them.

Your stomach began to tingle; it was not uncommon for her to shoot remarks at you like this. You loved it just as much as she did. It always sent shocks to your stomach and made for good leverage for her when she finally did get you alone.

You suppressed the whimper that threatened to escape your throat.

She spoke again, “You know, I have half the mind to promote you to my personal assistant since you want to follow me around like a pet all day.” Her smile twitched, you knew she was only half joking. She’d do anything to see you more throughout the day.

Before you had the chance to speak, a knock on her door was pulling the both of you away from each other.

“Come in.” She announced, straightening her clothes and placing her hands in her lap.

A Gray emerged from the hallway, a worried look plastered over his face. “Miss Venable, there’s been a perimeter breach.”

Wilhemina stood, taking her cane within her fist and dismissing herself from you before disappearing on down the hall.

You briefly wondered if you should stay or take a second attempt at doing your tasks for the day. You finally settled on staying in, figuring she wouldn’t scold you for wanting to see her as long as the two of you were alone.

It had been some time since you had heard from anyone, you were beginning to stir and the fireplace in her office was only serving as so much entertainment.

When the doors finally did open and Wilhemina reappeared, her face was painted with a mixture of anger and worry. She glanced over you briefly, a ragged sigh leaving her lips.

“There’s a group here...” she announced, leaning against her cane tiredly, “... and they’re asking for you.” Your eyes widened slightly.

She didn’t say anything else, simply just motioned for you to follow her and began to lead you through the building. When you turned to descend the stairs, you could see a head of blonde-hair waiting for you at the bottom; you know that head all too well.

And then, there she was; standing there in front of you for the first time in a very long time. “Delia.” Her name fell past your lips in a whisper.

You could see Wilhemina watching you closely from the side of the stairs and glanced at her momentarily, only for her eyes to travel to the group in front of you curiously.

“Y/N. I knew I’d find you.” Cordelia spoke, glancing between you and the woman beside you. “That...woman insisted you weren’t here but I knew. I felt it.” She added.

You glanced over at Wilhemina, who’s cheeks began to glow red before she regained her composure. “It wasn’t any of their business whether you were here.” She intervened, her eyes shooting daggers at the group of women.

Cordelia stepped towards you, causing Wilhemina to stand in front of you protectively. You could see the hurt on Cordelia’s face at the action.

“Darling, go back upstairs.” Wilhemina practically growled, taking you aback at the pet-name being so openly stated. She had never done so before, you imagined it was the confusion of the whole situation or the protectiveness she was displaying.

Cordelia’s face suddenly hardened, “Don’t tell her what to do.” She took a short breath, “She belongs with me and my group.” She argued.

You could see Wilhemina’s hand tightening around her cane. “Your group of what? Witches.” A chuckled rumbled in the back of her throat bitterly, “No, she doesn’t belong with you vile lot.”

“Mina.” You mumbled with warning, just loud enough for her to hear. She glanced back at you, loosening her grip enough for her kncukles to regain color.

“No, she’s not a witch. But she is a siren.” Cordelia revealed, causing your chest to tighten suddenly. “Did she tell you that?”

“Cordelia,” you warned, stepping around the woman in front of you.

She continued, “She needs to be around people like her. Who understand the power she holds.”

Wilhemina glanced at you, her face nearly unreadable.

“I think it’s best if you go.” You mumbled to Cordelia, fiddling restlessly with your clothes.

Cordelia narrowed her eyes, “What happened to you? I thought you loved me.” Hurt flashed over her features before she shook it away. “Nevertheless, we’re not leaving without our sisters. And you.”

“Over my dead body.”

The Westmoore Tragedies | Chapter 3

[ TW: Mentions of Gore ]

The weight of his sword was immensely comforting to Rodarin—not only in case of another bizarre happening, but in fondness of his days of adventure. His trusted short sword hung within its sheath by his side, still humming with old enchantments he had woven himself in the past. “Everyone’s on edge—people are fuckin’ terrified” said Ahldmhas, the Captain who awoke Rodarin with grave news. “They wanna know what th’fuck’s happenin’.” “We all do..” Rodarin murmured in return, his brow knitting in frustration as worry, fatigue, and dread all gnawed at his core once the schoolhouse came into view against the grey overcast. A crowd had already gathered, theories and panic murmured amongst one another as a line of privateers blocked their entry, only shifting to the side to allow the pair through. Their footsteps echoed along the main hall as they made for the staircase dead ahead. The school had been emptied once the Maelstrom arrived—it felt so lonely inside these halls without the staff, without the children. For a brief moment his vision flickered, the sickening crimson taint flashing before Rodarin’s eyes to paint the surreal emptiness with a nightmarish foreboding, causing a spike of panic to chill his veins, and his stride to falter.

Within the next blink of an eye, it was gone—an armored hand placed on Rodarin’s shoulder as Ahldmhas turned to him with concern. “Aye, you alright? Yer shakin’..” Rodarin steeled his nerves, offering a rapid nod to shake his panic and steady his pulse. “Yeah, sorry.. Just remembered something..” I’m not there anymore. I’m here—he told himself. They proceeded up the staircase, the sense of dread clawing deeper into his spine, a slight nausea settling in his stomach—not over the growing smell of blood and viscera, but in anticipation for what he would see. Reaching the top of his stairs, he was confronted with what he had hoped had been a lie—the blood trail, dragged from the first open room to the last at the end of the hall. The tiny shoe prints dotting within, only a handful of larger prints off to the side, likely of the first privateers to arrive at the scene.

As they stepped into the first classroom, his vision flashed once more—the tainted crimson washing over the scene of mangled chairs and corpses. Just like yesterday. Rodarin flinched and shuddered, his right hand darting to clasp over his eyes while his left pressed to the wall to keep himself balanced. A ragged exhale barely escaped clenched teeth. I’m not there anymore. I’m here—he repeated, slowly dragging his hand down to look again. The crimson taint was gone, but the scene was the same. Exactly the same. Ahldmhas gave Rodarin a light pat on the back. “It’s fuckin’ disgustin’, I know.. But that’s not all. C’mon.” The Captain made off for the next room, following alongside the drag marks in the hall. Yes, there was more, and Rodarin was sure he knew what was left. This couldn’t be possible.

Standing within the doorway of the last classroom, a sense of despair grasped at his heart, steadily dragging it to the pits of his stomach. As he suspected—the same bodies were scattered around the room in pools of their blood, tiny shoes and hands printed throughout the room. Their corpses were just as mutilated as the last, and some of the skin-bound crafts still littered the room. A couple of removed eyes were left lying in a pile, and various crafts of bloodied, pulled teeth glued to dark papers were hung among the display board–a twisted comparison to the macaroni pieces nearby. He remembered the victims squirming and twitching in the crimson shadows—it must have been agonizing. Even Ahldmhas’ expression was soured—the usually stoic man averting his gaze from the carnage. “It’s like a buncha’ fuckin’ kids did this, Rodarin. What th’fuck is goin’ on?.. Y’think they made ‘em watch while they did all this? Forced ‘em to play with this shit? What kind’a sick fucks..”

Kids did do this–Rodarin mentally replied, his heart sinking further at the mere prospect. His gaze slowly fell to the mangled corpse near his right—Melrin, that poor bastard.. He always wanted children of his own, but he was pronounced infertile. He had planned to adopt before the Orphanage Massacre. And to have been slaughtered by children so soon after?.. Yes—despair. It was hopeless. They were all going to die. His hand lifted to brush through his hair once more, tugging sharply at his dark locks to sting some sense back into himself. No, focus. Rodarin released a shaky exhale before he began to speak to the other investigators. The older children—the teens, were confirmed to have been told to stay home by an anonymous source. That, apparently, there was no school today. There weren’t enough bodies to account for every staff member—some were missing along with the children. This was by far the largest murder-kidnapping connected to these events to date. Thirteen dead and mutilated. Over sixty children, missing. There had to be a clue—a sane clue.

Rodarin began to pace between the classrooms, studying meticulously. It was his own comfort, in a way—to distract himself with work from this damned madness. Between his own investigation and the staff records, Rodarin was finally able to piece something together, despite the occasional inconsistency. Of the staff, only the young were missing. The inconsistencies were a few young male teachers—such as Merlin, and a single twenty-three year old female teacher—Ms. Belise. Aside from that, every single young, female teacher was missing, along with a small handful of young male teachers. They were all in their twenties. Why was this the connection? Why were some of the young killed anyway? And why all this to take children? Rodarin’s jaw popped from the pressure of his clenched teeth that deep thought had strained upon them—he needed some air.

The cool touch of stone kissed against the exposed skin of Rodarin’s arms, a long and deep inhale slowly filling his lungs to the brim with clear air. It was a night and day difference here behind the schoolyard, although the now-abandoned playground equipment gave it a slightly solemn appearance. Compared to the thick, choking carnage upstairs—this was much needed tranquility. His fingers brushed and massaged at his forehead as it throbbed painfully—he still couldn’t make any sense of it. Something sinister was happening, that much was obvious. But if he had really seen the act as it unfolded, and a day earlier on top of that—if the children were really behind the atrocious killings and mutilations.. What the hells did that mean?

A sudden blur in the corner of his vision averted his attention to the treeline of the nearby forest. It was fairly shaded within, thanks for the overbearing clouds that thickened the sky in a depressing grey—so it was hard to tell. But as Rodarin focused more intensely, he could see it—the shadow-coated child standing at the edge, staring upon him with its wide eyes of pure glowing white, and a similarly wide smile to match. With a slow wave, the child beckoned him to follow before disappearing into the forest. It was one of them. Those dreadful shadowed children that watched from the corner—that clawed at his leg. Rodarin broke from the wall he leaned upon, frantically sprinting for the treeline to follow the path the child had taken. If there were any answers to find, those shades would have them.

Gentle wind rushed against his ear to join the beating of his heart as he raced through the slowly but steadily thickening trees. Huffs of breath escaped his lips, his boots kicking up dirt and grass behind the urgency of his pace. Where did it go? A soft voice caused him to grind to a halt, sending him toppling onto his knees as he searched each direction for the source. There, to the west—one of the missing teachers, holding the hand of two school children as they seemed to lead her forward! They were ushering her forward, though their exact words were too soft to hear from this distance. “Hey! Stop!” He cried, though it seemed to fall upon deaf ears. Grunting in frustration, Rodarin scrambled to his feet and broke into another sprint as their figures disappeared behind trunks and foliage of the forest. Reaching the area they disappeared behind, he found them further up ahead. They turned, facing the right, and simply stared—seemingly beyond a nearby tree. Rodarin turned to look in the same direction, desperate to follow their gaze to something, anything—but all he saw was more forest. He turned back to the trio, watching as they began to walk forward. A tree blocked them as they moved behind it.....and then, nothing. They never reappeared. Were they hiding behind it?

A brisk jog brought Rodarin closer—and the closer he came, the darker the forest seemed to become. No, not again.. His pace slowed, an all-too-familiar sense of dread filling the air between each soft crunch of grass beneath his feet. This is just like the school from before–just like the staircase. His gaze continued to shoot off towards the right, but nothing ever seemed to appear. What had they been staring at? The answer came soon, as Rodarin turned to gaze behind the same tree they vanished behind. It was a pathway, trees tightly lining the sides, like some naturally formed tunnel. The darkness grew thicker as the path progressed, and towards the very end he could see that damned crimson taint slowly bleeding into the darkness. He stepped back, looking around the other side of the tree—there was nothing but dark, open forest. Stepping back again, the path of trees returned. What sort of illusion was this? What kind of twisted game was being played here? His right hand came to rest upon the hilt of his sword, squeezing tightly as the leather bindings stretched in his palm. He wasn’t sure what awaited beyond the darkness—but this time, he was prepared. With a metallic ring, Rodarin drew his sword from its sheath—flames bursting to life and licking across the steel against the old runes he left years ago. Blade steady, he moved forward into the bleeding dark.

͔͙͡ ̹̰̣ ̮̰ ̡ ̤t̥̭͝o҉̳͉̹ ̝̣͞ḅe̗͟ ̬͈͙̞̯̦͝ͅc͈̠͍̣̣̤̕ͅo̧n͍̜̳̪̙ţ͎̳̼i̙͉̻̗̬n̰u̸e͟d̝̱̻̭̜͙ ̭̫͈͈ͅ               .

Business Trip: Pt 36 - Coach

Spoiler warning: As always, if you’re not caught up on Business Trip you can catch up at AFF.

---

Jeongyeon lets a soft gasp of surprise escape her lips at her new position, her arms tied up above her head. For a few long, beautiful seconds, the three of you take in the sight of her tight, slim body, exposed and vulnerable, ready and willing for whatever was to be done to it.

“Miss Kim,” Mina says, interrupting the silence that had overtaken the room, “do you have your phone?”

“Y-Yes, V-Vice Principal,” is Dahyun’s answer. The pale girl seemed stupefied by the sight of Jeongyeon’s tied up, mostly naked body, and she gives her head a shake as if to bring herself back down to Earth.

“You like to watch, don’t you? Perhaps you can… record this test, for future reference.”

Mina’s suggestion perks the interest of everyone in the room, including Dahyun, who slowly retrieves her phone from the inside pocket of her grey blazer.

“Of-of course, Vice Principal,” the young woman says, as she unlocks her phone and captures Jeongyeon’s bound, near naked body in the centre of the frame. You take Dahyun’s small nod towards Mina to mean that she was now recording.

The Japanese girl takes soft steps towards Jeongyeon, the end of her bonds in one hand, her other reaching out to graze the soft, creamy skin beneath Jeongyeon’s left breast, tracing a path beneath it with her fingertips. When she is behind the helpless Korean girl, she reaches around her torso with both hands, cupping both of the girl’s breasts. From over her captive’s shoulder, Mina addresses you directly, every syllable of her words dripping with lust.

“I think we’re ready now, Mr. Principal - for you to test the limits of this young woman’s body.”

---

“The cereal is part of the meal too, Jeongyeon.”

The girl looks up at you with daggers in her eyes, offended by the idea that someone could disapprove of her eating habits. As though challenging you directly, she continues to pick out the marshmallow pieces from her bowl of breakfast cereal with her spoon, glaring at you with each piece of crystallized sugar she pops into her mouth. The normal cereal pieces float around in a pool of milk - untouched, unwanted, and uneaten.

“I’ll eat my cereal the way I damn well please,” she states, the playfulness of her tone belying the fierceness of her words. 

“You shouldn’t waste your food, Ms. Yoo.”

“You can’t give me orders outside of the office, boss.”

“You’re right - I guess I prefer it when you give me orders instead,” you answer, looking over towards the hotel room’s couch, where the remnants of a policewoman’s uniform were strewn haphazardly about, evidence of the previous night’s escapades. Jeongyeon follows your gaze, and a sly smile appears on her lips, even as a blush of pink appears on her cheeks.

The image of her riding you the night before flashes through your mind, that tall, slim body of hers naked aside from her open uniform blouse and the policewoman’s hat atop her mess of silver grey hair. And that was only the first time of three - the young woman had an insatiable appetite, especially when roleplay was involved. She was quite innovative in her use of handcuffs and a police baton…

“Maybe if you obeyed the law, you wouldn’t have had to be punished.”

“Maybe I like breaking the law. Maybe I like being punished.”

“Maybe you should keep breaking it, and see what happens to you then.”

“Maybe I will,” you answer, liking what you saw in the young woman’s eyes. 

“Maybe you should,” she replies, shaking you from your memories of the night before, “although I do think that uniform’s seen better days. It might need a wash,” she finishes with a faux sigh.

You smirk, knowing that the uniform was probably filthy from what the two of you had done whilst she was wearing it. “Too bad, I was hoping to pay that policewoman another visit today, perhaps at the office.”

Jeongyeon perks up at the thought of a midday session, a naughty smile appearing on those mischievous lips of hers. 

“I think I can find something to wear today that you might like.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she says, her tone all seduction now, all sly and devious. Eyes locked on yours, she picks out the final marshmallow from her bowl of cereal and pops it into her mouth before rising from the table. Her long, perfect legs left bare by the thin tank top that is her only article of clothing, she starts to walk towards the open luggage carrier on the other side of the room, not caring a bit that she was half naked, knowing your eyes were glued to her every step, her every movement. When she drops to her knees to rummage through her luggage, she gives you a perfect view of her round butt, those full thighs, and the wonderful, soft pink lips between her thighs.

“Found it,” she says, pulling a few articles of clothing from the depths of her large carrier. Her back was to you and didn’t have a good view of what it was.

“What is it?” you ask from the table, struggling to keep yourself from pouncing on the young woman.

“It’s a secret,” she answers, rising from her knees and covering the clothing in her arms with her torso as she heads towards the washroom, “Hey, is there a changing room or locker room somewhere in the office we can use during our… meeting?”

“Yeah, there’s one on the roof by the hot tub,” you answer, knowing it well from your session with Seolhyun.

“Good. Better get ready for work, we don’t want to be late.”

Yoo Jeongyeon shuts the washroom door behind her and you soon hear her starting a shower. You are half tempted to join her and enact some measure of revenge for the liberties she took with you the night before, but you resign yourself to waiting for whatever plan it was she had in store for you in the office. You smile to yourself, then you reach over and pour yourself a bowl of cereal.

In the washroom, Jeongyeon sighs as she lets the water flow down her body. She had hoped that your breakup with Momo and her subsequent departure from the team had taken her out of the picture as a rival for your attention. Momo’s reappearance, however, worried her. As pleasurable as the last night was for the both of you, she couldn’t shake the thought that she was just a temporary distraction, a side piece before you got back together with Momo, or chose Sana, or reignited things with Nayeon...

The young woman sighs as she leans against the shower wall, trying her best to control her emotions. Her gaze drifts to the sink, where, next to the costume she was going to pack for later that day, there is a small black box - a gift that she wasn’t sure she could ever gather up the courage to give you.

---

The ceiling of the locker room atop the JYP Seoul office was of a modern, sleek design, with cleanly cut wooden beams crisscrossing in a neat, aesthetically pleasing pattern. There were three large beams across, with additional diagonal beams sprouting from each one like branches on a tree. The upper foot or so of the four walls was filled in with frosted glass, painting the natural wood finish of the beams in the gold and yellow of Seoul’s midday sun.

Normally you wouldn’t have given the ceiling much more than a casual glance and acknowledgement of the modern, sleek architectural style that pervaded much of Seoul’s newer buildings. 

But at the moment you were looking for something, anything, to distract yourself from the pleasure Yoo Jeongyeon was giving you, doing your best to last as long as you possibly could - although she was doing her best to defeat your efforts. Not that you minded in the slightest, not when her efforts meant a steadily rising tide of pleasure that had you gasping for breath.

Your grip on her hips tighten slightly as you seek another outlet, another distraction to keep from cumming too soon. Your palms and fingers dig into the soft skin of her wide hips, guiding her up and down as she rode you while you sat on one of the locker room benches. She had started riding you face to face, which was wonderful enough - but when she turned around, supporting herself with her hands on your knees while she was squatting between your legs, using her entire body to pump your cock in and out of her tight, slick heat - that was when you came close to truly losing it.

“Is this… is this good for you, coach?”

“Fuck… fuck yes, Miss Yoo. Your pussy feels amazing.”

“Will it...fuck… will it help me get on the team?”

“Mmm… It’s definitely helping your chances.”

“Mmmm… fuck, you feel so big inside me, coach… oh…. Oh god, I’m so close, coach. I’m… I’m gonna cum… I’m gonna cum!”

You look down and watch as Jeongyeon’s round, firm butt crashes against your crotch with each dip of her body, the tight, pink lips of her pussy wrapped tightly around your glistening shaft. Your right hand drifts down between her round cheeks, finding the pursed ring of her ass - and teasing it lightly with the tip of your thumb. 

It was as though you had flipped a switch - with one last crash of her hips against your crotch Jeongyeon cums, her quivering arms struggling to hold up her body between your legs as she is reduced to a wet, hot mess atop your crotch. You wrap your arms around her slim torso in an effort to keep her steady, slipping beneath her pink and white rugby shirt to enjoy the feel of her warm, sweaty skin beneath your palms as she quivers and trembles atop you, even as her pussy pulsates and squeezes you tightly inside her.

She is still shaking, still taking heavy breaths a minute later, trying in vain to catch her breath and recover from the pleasurable peak she’d just reached. You are content to let her do so, happy to sit there with this gorgeous young woman in your lap, impaled to the hilt with your cock.

You reach up and fondle her round breast with one hand beneath her jersey, enjoying the soft purr that leaves her throat as your fingers play with her sensitive mound, your index finger and thumb teasing her stiff nipple. You place soft kisses on the back of her neck, savoring the sweetness of her skin made salty with her sweat. Jeongyeon tilts her head to give you better access to the soft skin at her nape, letting a soft moan of light pleasure escape her lips with each tender kiss and lick.

Soon she is grinding against your crotch again, moving her hips in circular motions, swirling your cock inside her body as though she were using it to stir around the hot flesh inside her. The rugby cleats she has on click and clack against the smooth floor with each movement of her legs - she’d kept her knee high socks and cleats on while she fucked herself on your cock, and it was a hell of a turn on.

“Fuck, you’re so big, coach. So fucking big and thick inside me.”

“Mmm… and you’re so fucking tight, Jeongyeon. And so fucking wet. Does fucking your coach make you this wet?”

“Mmm, hell yes, coach. Mmm. Tell me what you want me to do. Tell me how you want to fuck me. Tell me where you want to cum. I’m yours. I’ll do anything to get onto the team…”

The possibilities were endless, and your mind had no shortage of ideas for things you wanted to do to Jeongyeon and her tight, slim body. You squeeze a little tighter on her breast, eliciting a sharp gasp from the young woman - and her pussy tenses around you, as though mirroring her external response with an internal one. You bring your lips to her ear and whisper.

“I want you to-”

At that moment you hear the sound of metal sliding on metal, and it takes you second to fully comprehend what that sound meant, so engrossed were you in the heat and lust of the moment. But your brain finally registers the sound as the opening of the locker room door - and the steps of two pairs of heels on the polished smooth floor.

“...and this is the locker room, with showers for your use should you need,” comes the voice of Kim Dahyun.

“Thank you,” is the response, from a female voice you hadn’t heard in awhile.

The two women turn the corner from the locker room’s foyer, and suddenly you are face to face with Kim Dahyun and Miyoui Mina - whilst buried to the hilt inside Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon shrieks - an understandable reaction, given the circumstances, and she quickly slides off your shaft, revealing for a moment your glistening cock as she grabs her discarded white shorts from the floor and covers herself as best she could, quickly sitting next to you on the bench as though hoping you could prevent the two newcomers from seeing her. You grab your discarded pants off the floor as well, and cover your still erect cock as best you could.

Dahyun gasps, the pale girl turning a shade of pink you’d only seen once - when she watched as you fucked Tzuyu, and cleaned up afterward.

“Oh my g-g-god!,” she gasps, bringing a hand to cover her open mouth, “I… I-I’m sorry, sir. I was just showing Miss Miyoui around and e-ensuring her k-keycard worked for access t-t-to the locker rooms… I-I’m sorry, we’ll go-”

“Miss Kim,” Mina suddenly says, her tone short and sharp, “Who said you could leave?”

Your assistant looks flustered, and she looks first to you for some sort of guidance. You give her a short nod, and with your implied permission she faces Mina once again and gives her an apologetic bow.

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Miyoui.”

“Now then,” Mina says as she turns to you and crosses her arms, “what exactly is going on here, Mr. Principal?”

Mina referring to you as the Principal instantly calls back the last intimate experience you’d had with her - and Jeongyeon, and Choa - during your vacation in Hawaii. You had to admit that of all the times you’d expected to be put back in that position, this one - with you being caught mid session with Jeongyeon in the company locker room - was probably the last set of circumstances you could have pictured.

“Umm… well you see, Miss Vice Principal…” you stammer, unable to come up with words.

Mina takes the opportunity to walk slowly over to Jeongyeon, who is still unsettled and surprised by the unexpected nature of the entire situation; but when the Japanese girl bends over and raises her chin with long, dainty fingers, you notice a look of acceptance - or even eagerness - appear on her face. When Mina bends and lowers her face closer to Jeongyeon’s, the Korean girl licks her lips - unconsciously, you presume.

“Miss Yoo here wants to make it on the rugby team,” you announce, “and she was just providing me with reasons why she should be on it.”

“Is that so,” Mina says as she straightens and crosses her arms once again, staring down at Jeongyeon with a look of faux contempt, “Well, I must say - I think if she were to join the team she should be… tested.”

“Care to elaborate, Miss Vice Principal?”

“Rugby is a very physical sport. I would hope that Miss Yoo here would have the physical ability to withstand the roughness she would encounter out on the pitch. This body of hers… needs to be put to the test.”

“And what did you have in mind for such a test, Miss Vice Principal?” you ask, your attention peaked.

With one last look at Jeongyeon, Mina strolls over to the rack of gym equipment nearby. For the first time you are able to get a good look at her; you knew she was returning from Europe, but didn’t know she was scheduled to start today. She looked more beautiful than ever, still possessive of that ethereal beauty and grace she always had. Her newly blonde hair flowed around her shoulders and down her back in a waterfall of woven gold, softly waving with each of her steps.

Mina returns to the three of you with a jump rope, playing lazily with the long length of braided cord with her long, slim fingers. It looked like a longer length of rope than that used by a single jumper; it looked to be the kind used for multiple people. She ties a small loop towards one end of the rope.

“Stand, Miss Yoo. And remove your jersey - we don’t need it getting in the way of this… evaluation.”

Jeongyeon rises from the bench and slips off her jersey; the fact that she was now naked aside from her cleats and knee high socks was evidently of little consequence to her, now that she had been given a new role to play. The promise of pleasure had overcome the fear of embarrassment.

“Yes, Vice Principal,” she says, her tone that of a girl who was having her fantasies fulfilled. She was already atisfied when it was just you and her; the introduction of more people into her fantasy only increased her need.

Without a word Mina tosses one end of the jump rope, the end with the loop, over the crossbeam directly above Jeongyeon. The thrown end lands squarely in her open palm; every movement the young lawyer made was so graceful, so poised and purposeful. Taking Jeongyeon’s hands, she slips the loop over both of her wrists and pulls the other end of the rope, pulling the Korean girl’s arms over her head.

Jeongyeon lets a soft gasp of surprise escape her lips at her new position, her arms tied up above her head. For a few long, beautiful seconds, the three of you take in the sight of her tight, slim body, exposed and vulnerable, ready and willing for whatever was to be done to it.

“Miss Kim,” Mina says, interrupting the silence that had overtaken the room, “do you have your phone?”

“Y-Yes, V-Vice Principal,” is Dahyun’s answer. The pale girl seemed stupefied by the sight of Jeongyeon’s tied up, mostly naked body, and she gives her head a shake as if to bring herself back down to Earth.

“You like to watch, don’t you? Perhaps you can… record this test, for future reference.”

Mina’s suggestion perks the interest of everyone in the room, including Dahyun, who slowly retrieves her phone from the inside pocket of her grey blazer.

“Of-of course, Vice Principal,” the young woman says, as she unlocks her phone and captures Jeongyeon’s bound, near naked body in the centre of the frame. You take Dahyun’s small nod towards Mina to mean that she was now recording.

The Japanese girl takes soft steps towards Jeongyeon, the end of her bonds in one hand, her other reaching out to graze the soft, creamy skin beneath Jeongyeon’s left breast, tracing a path beneath it with her fingertips. When she is behind the helpless Korean girl, she reaches around her torso with both hands, cupping both of the girl’s breasts. From over her captive’s shoulder, Mina addresses you directly, every syllable of her words dripping with lust.

“I think we’re ready now, Mr. Principal - for you to test the limits of this body.”

Taking a moment to take in the sheer eroticism of the scene in front of you, and drawing in a deep breath to prepare yourself as best you could physically, you rise from the bench, tossing aside the pants you were using to conceal your still-stiff cock. You catch Jeongyeon’s eyes, half-lidded with pleasure as Mina continues to toy with her breasts - and the look you see on her face makes you crazy with the need to take her, fuck her, truly test her the way Mina, and Jeongyeon herself, wanted you to.

When you reach the tied up Korean girl Mina grasps her by the shoulders, spinning her around so her back is facing you. She gives her bonds a little more slack, allowing Jeongyeon to bend over whilst still standing; only the jump rope, tied tightly around her wrists, is keeping her bent over body from falling over, her long, perfect legs spread slightly to reveal the delicious, slick pink flesh between her thighs.

Taking up position behind her, you take a moment to savor the sight of it - of Jeongyeon’s bent body and every single delicious curve of it. You are driven by hunger and lust and need; and it is a drive you can’t fight off for long. You take your cock, still glistening with her juices, and press it between her splayed, hungry pussy lips. Then, with a quick thrust of your hips, you bury yourself inside her once more.

Jeongyeon lets out a long, sensual moan escape her lips as she is filled once again; the thrust of your cock into her wanton pussy drives her body forward, right into Mina’s waiting embrace. The Japanese girl has a look of utter satisfaction on her face - the look of someone whose plans were unfolding perfectly before her eyes.

“Now now, Miss Yoo. Did you think just letting the coach have his way with your pussy would be enough to get you on the team?”

Jeongyeon is rendered speechless, almost stupefied by what was happening to her. It is all she can do to shake her head.

“I didn’t think so. We did say we’d test your entire body, after all.”

With her free hand Mina begins to undo the buttons of the striped sweater she is wearing, revealing the creamy, perfect skin of her chest and cleavage. She proceeds to undo the buttons of her black skirt, and with a little shimmy of her hips the garment falls from her hips - to reveal her complete lack of underwear.

“You have to make me cum, Miss Yoo. If I don’t cum, then you don’t either. And if you don’t cum, well, then the coach can’t cum either, can he? And that would be most unfortunate, because you do want his cum, don’t you, Miss Yoo?”

“Y-yes, Miss Vice Principal,” is Jeongyeon’s weak reply, barely able to form words given the simultaneous assaults of pleasure on her body. 

“Are you ready, Miss Kim?” Mina asks, turning to Dahyun. Your executive assistant is still holding up her phone with one hand, although you note with interest that her left hand has drifted towards the hem of her own skirt. Her thighs are squirming, rubbing against each other, perhaps in some not-so-subtle attempt to find her own pleasure at the scene playing out in front of her. Less than a half hour ago she was giving a colleague a tour of the office; now she was filming a threesome with her boss and two of his team members. It is all she could do to give Mina a short nod that appeared more enthusiastic than she thought it was.

“Good. Then you may begin, coach.”

You are surprised at how eager you were to have Mina give you permission to start - being buried to the hilt inside Jeongyeon’s warm, wet pussy, understandably, made you impatient to begin fucking her again. But when Mina finally gives you the green light and you draw your aching cock from the bound, helpless Korean girl’s pussy, you are happy to finally begin to satiate those needs.

When you thrust inside Jeongyeon once again the deep moan that leaves her throat is muffled at her mouth - because it is filled with Mina’s left breast. Mina has slipped her sweater over her shoulders, revealing the Japanese girl’s perfectly shaped breasts, and Jeongyeon wastes no time in capturing one of her tight, taut nipples in her mouth and sucking deeply.

The sight playing out in front of you - Jeongyeon sucking and licking Mina’s tits, her hands bound over her head as you fuck her from behind - was probably one of the most erotic sights you’d ever seen in your life. Adding to it is the devilish look on Mina’s face as she watches you fuck the bound Korean girl that is sandwiched between you. Mina gave off the aura of an ice princess sometimes, and whilst you knew she had a heart of gold beneath it all, you also knew she possessed a devilish streak; one that only really saw itself emerge during group sex.

With long, powerful strokes you begin to fuck Jeongyeon, quickly settling into a steady rhythm, each thrust of your stiff cock into her pussy driving her entire body towards Mina. Jeongyeon’s moans and sighs of pleasure were beautiful enough, but the fact that they were muffled by the mouthful of Mina’s breasts filling the Korean girl’s mouth made it so much more erotic. 

It was all so much to take in - the sight of Jeongyeon’s perfect body, bent over and bound with her arms over her head, sweat beading on her slim back and flowing down her torso and those round, full cheeks of her ass, rippling and bouncing with each thrust into the tight wet heat between her legs; the sight of Mina’s face, so perfectly sculpted and princess-like, gradually being broken down as the Korean girl between the two of you plays havoc on her sensitive breasts; and finally Dahyun, standing a few feet away, struggling to keep her phone level to record it all, her left hand having long since drifted beneath her skirt to pleasure herself - it was all almost too much to handle.

For long, beautiful minutes you and Mina take your liberties with Jeongyeon’s bound body, her tight, slim form suspended by the ropes at her wrists as she is rocked back and forth by your thrusting cock, her face buried in Mina’s perfect chest. Her pussy is slick and tight and hot around you, the chorus of erotic gasps and moans leaving the throats of the three women in the room more than enough to drive you insane with pleasure. It only encourages you, only drives you to fuck the mewling young woman a little harder, thrusting again and again into her wet, slick hole, your hands gripping her wide hips tightly in an effort to drive yourself even deeper into her helpless, but wanton, body. 

“Oh, fuck! Fuck… fuck… fuck me, coach!” Jeongyeon moans, finally releasing Mina’s nipple from between her lips, eliciting a sigh of displeasure from the Japanese girl. For a few thrusts she is content to watch as you up your pace slightly, hammering in and out of the bound girl’s pussy as she struggles to remain upright on wobbly legs, the jump rope tied around her wrists and the support of Mina’s torso the only things keeping her standing.

“I think this position is keeping Miss Yoo’s skills from truly being tested,” Mina observes, her tone matter-of-fact and straightforward, as though she weren’t currently involved in a threesome.

“How… do you… think… we should… test her, Vice Principal?” you answer, each word being punctuated with a thrust into Jeongyeon’s needy, slick pussy.

“Like this,” Mina says, and she lets go of the rope, letting it fall from the crossbeam. She catches the rope as it falls - it was almost as if she’d done this before - and she promptly leads Jeongyeon, still bound by the rope around her wrists, to the nearby bench, dragging her along like her own personal prisoner. Once seated Mina spreads her legs, and pulls on the rope, dragging Jeongyeon off your cock and down to her knees between her open thighs. You watch as Mina takes a moment to appreciate the sight of the helpless girl between her legs, before looking back up at you.

“You may continue, coach.”

You take a moment of your own to relish the sight of Jeongyeon’s head between Mina’s legs before you fall to your own knees behind Jeongyeon, burying yourself inside her once more. Soon you are fucking her behind as she begins to eat Mina’s pussy - and the sight of it drives you insane.

“Mmmm,” Mina mewls, her eyes closing involuntarily as she lets her pleasure show outwardly for the first time, “it seems Miss Yoo’s body is quite… adequate… at handling this test. Do you agree, coach?”

“Yes… I do… Miss… Vice Principal,” you say between thrusts into Jeongyeon. Each entry into her body pushes her mouth deeper into Mina’s pussy; and the sight of Mina’s usually cold and proper exterior slowly gradually breaking down brought a smirk of satisfaction to your face.

“Mmmmffmm,” Jeongyeon moans - you weren’t sure how much experience, if any, she had in orally pleasuring another woman, but the gradually rising pitch of the moans leaving Mina’s throat meant she must have been good at it.

“I… oh! I think… Miss Yoo… oh, yes, right there!” Mina gasps, her left hand grasping the back of Jeongyeon’s scalp, her fingers digging into silver grey hair, pressing the Korean girl’s face into her own pussy.

You do your best to try to hang on, but each thrust into Jeongyeon’s pussy drove you closer and closer to your limits; the Korean girl’s pulsating walls, gradually tightening around you, must have meant she was close to her own limits as well.

“I… I think Miss Yoo is… close… to passing… this test, Vice Principal.”

“I… I… oh god, yes…. I think… Mmmm, yes! I think… oh, I’m cumming!”

Mina orgasms, her left hand dropping the jump rope and joining her right as she grasps Jeongyeon’s skull in an attempt to press her tongue deeper into the wet, hot flesh between her spread legs. She quickly becomes a shaking, quivering mess as Jeongyeon’s mouth drives her to orgasm, the pleasure overtaking her senses as her eyes shut and her mouth becomes a frozen “o,” gasping for breath.

After a few beautiful seconds she finally releases Jeongyeon from the death grip she had on her skull.

“Ohhh… oh god, I’m going to cum too!” the Korean girl gasps; for all the effort she had put into eating Mina, she too was being fucked all the while, and she was quickly being overwhelmed by it all - by the helplessness of her bound wrists, the deliciousness of Mina’s slick, hot pussy on her mouth, and by the thick, hard meat continually pumping in and out of her body the whole time.

“Mmm, cum for us, Miss Yoo!” Mina gasps.

Jeongyeon lets out a long, sultry, lustful moan as she orgasms for the second time, the note long and drawn out as she finally achieves release for the pleasure that has taken over every inch of her body. Her pussy pulsates and quivers around you, and you soon find yourself on the edge; but you needed to hear it, needed to hear her beg for it - and you knew Jeongyeon would be happy to oblige. She always was.

“I… I’m going to cum soon, Miss Yoo.”

“Mmm, do it… cum inside me, coach. Please… fill me… fill me up with cum!”

“Do it, coach. Fill her up!” Mina hisses, having evidently recovered enough from her own orgasm to encourage you, stroking the back of Jeongyeon’s head with gentle touches as her body winds down.

“C… c-cum inside that pussy!” Dahyun exclaims, and you glance over to see that she is still standing there on shaky legs, still barely holding up her phone to record it all - and still knuckles deep inside herself.

“Please..” Jeongyeon says softly, turning her tired head just enough to look back at you, “Please, cum inside me.” 

For a moment the roleplay disappeared, along with Mina and Dahyun and the entirety of the ridiculously erotic scene that you had just found yourselves a part of. For a moment there is only Jeongyeon, and the pleading and sincere affection you find in her eyes is what finally throws you over the edge.

With one last strong thrust you bury yourself inside her warm, slick pussy before you cum, filling her with spurt after spurt of hot, thick seed. The sheer quantity of it surprises the both of you, and it is soon overflowing out of her cock and cum stuffed pussy, leaking onto her flushed, full thighs and beginning to leak down her legs.

You almost pass out from the pleasure; your senses almost shut down from the overload of sensations. You are only barely aware of your gradually softening cock slipping out of Jeongyeon’s sore pussy, letting a veritable stream of slick, hot juices - both yours and hers, to drip freely from her splayed, drenched lips, and onto the locker room floor.

The next few minutes are a blur. When you finally regain some semblance of coherency you are vaguely aware of Jeongyeon sitting on the bench next to Mina; both young women are watching intently as Dahyun, sitting between Jeongyeon’s spread thighs, licks the slick juices from her pussy. You struggle to find a seat on the bench opposite the scene, and you find a sly smile appearing on your lips as you watch your executive assistant feasting on her colleague’s pussy. 

After a few moments Dahyun raises her face, stained with cum, from between Jeongyeon’s legs. When Mina spreads her legs next, the younger Korean girl wastes no time, diving between the Japanese girl’s thighs. The look of pleasurable satisfaction that appears on Mina’s face quickly tells you all you need to know about the effectiveness of Dahyun’s tongue. Dahyun is not satisfied with simply cleaning out her friends’ pussies with her mouth; her right hand works busily between her own legs, and soon she is quivering and trembling as she continues to lick the slick juices from Mina’s juicy, slippery pussy.

Jeongyeon, leaning back against the locker room wall and still struggling to catch her breath, finally catches your eyes. There is a look of “oh my god what the hell just happened” on her face, but that soon leaves, to be replaced with a look of sincere affection. The smile on her face is not a “that was a good fuck” smile; it is a fond smile of adoration, and it warms your heart to see it. 

---

The rest of the day at the office passed by relatively quickly; truth be told you’d spent most of it recovering, reminiscing, or both, about the events in the locker room earlier that day. Your meeting with Momo to discuss her plan to capture Irene was still a bit less than a week away, and so you were able to concentrate on non-Irene related matters for the time being.

The last meeting of the day finally ends, and the members of your team are happy to have another day in the books, each of them packing up their things and getting ready to head home, back to the hotel, or out for happy hour drinks. 

Jeongyeon lingers in the meeting room after everyone else had left.

“I want to go home to the hotel, but my knees are like jelly right now,” she states matter-of-factly, leaning onto the conference room table for support.

“I hear you,” you agree. You’d had plenty of exhausting sessions with the girls over the last few months, but none as exhausting as that one, and you could only imagine how it felt for Jeongyeon, being quite literally at the center of it all.

“Listen, boss…” Jeongyeon begins. She toys with her fingers, her feet shuffling nervously.

“What’s up?”

“Okay, this is stupid. Whatever, okay? I got you a present. It’s nothing big. You’ll probably think it’s stupid. I dunno. Here.”

The suddenly shy Korean girl retrieves a small black box from her backpack and tosses it at you. Caught off guard, you just barely manage to catch it, before you realize it is a rectangular jewelry case. Opening it slowly reveals a silver chain long enough for a bracelet. In the centre of the chain is what appeared to be a rectangle of wood, framed and set with silver.

“Do you remember when those SM guys almost caught us, in that alley?” Jeongyeon explains, as though reading your mind. Her eyes are still staring at her feet, as though she were afraid of what she might see if she looked in your eyes. 

“Yes,” you answer, “and I remember you picking up some random piece of wood to use as a weapon.”

“I picked it up because I wanted to fight with you. Even if we were going to go down, I wanted to be there with you. Go down swinging, y’know? An epic last stand, like in the video games. Anyway I wanted to give you something to remind you of that… and how I’ll always be there for you. As your teammate, as your friend… or maybe something more. To fight with you. Or for you. Whatever it takes.”

You are awestruck by the present, and by the young woman’s sincerity.

“I know, it’s stupid, okay? I dunno. Whatever, you don’t have to wear it. Ugh! This was so stupid. What was I thinking? I should go. My… favorite streamer is live, and I don’t want to miss it... yeah, that’s it. Can’t be late. Good night, boss.”

Jeongyeon snatches up her bag and almost runs out of the room - you want to stop her, but you are still unable to move, still rendered speechless by the depth and sincerity of the young woman.

You take a few moments to admire the bracelet and all it stood for. Smiling, you slip it onto your wrist.

---

Author’s Note: Jeongyeon still best girl. :P

Whelp, that happened. Apologies for the delay for this chapter - I’ve been distracted both by real life and by other writing projects - I’ve been really into short little drabbles lately and I wrote three of them when I really should have been working on this chapter, lol. Be sure to check those out and let me know what you think, and if you’d like to see more.

As always, thanks for your support, guys. It’s the comments on AFF and the asks/msgs on tumblr (lockefanfic.tumblr.com) that really motivate me to keep writing. Thanks all, and stay safe out there :)

I've been quite bewildered as to how Johnny Depp lost his appeal against the clearly-biased judgement of Judge Nicol so I went through the official Court of Appeal Judgement. And what did I find there? More examples of this bias against Johnny.

I now have an answer to my question of how did Johnny lose the appeal, with all of the knowledge that we gained during this trial taken into consideration - how could it be upheld that the Sun calling him a 'wife beater' was factually correct?

Because Nicol went the way that the money and all of his not-so-covert connections told him to.

It was Rigga Morris, girl. Completely rigged. You don't just take on Rupert Murdoch's empire and win, even if you have the truth and a wide selection of the public on your side.

Basically it's 14 pages of 'Nicol said this and it's true so nyeh' and the court of appeal just dodging the many holes in his logic/judgement. Nicol is right, Johnny is wrong and everything Scum ever did wrong has a reasonable explanation and she's definitely not a gold digger and that's all that matters. No matter what Scamber says at any point in time, she is correct. Did she just contradict herself? No, she didn't, this is actually what she meant...

Page 3, section 1: Mr Depp did extensive damage to a house which he had rented and wrote offensive graffiti about Ms Heard (shown in photographs), some in paint and some in his own blood. While it does not necessarily follow that angry and jealous behaviour of this kind would involve physical violence against Ms Heard, the Judge evidently regarded it as making her allegations more likely to be true. section 2: He does not explicitly admit acts of assault against Ms Heard, but again the Judge regarded the admissions as making it more plausible that he did in fact commit such acts

A heavy feature of this judgment is the shit-ton of assumptions that are made and then stubbornly stuck to without a clear line from the evidence to the conclusion that was reached.

Page 4, section 10: Mr Caldecott’s (Johnny's barrister) first complaint concerned the treatment of what he said were clear admissions by Ms Heard, recorded in taped conversations, that she had more than once herself been the aggressor in incidents of physical violence between her and Mr Depp. [...] he said that the admissions were important because it was Ms Heard’s evidence throughout that she never initiated any physical violence against Mr Depp (as opposed to responding to violence from him): if that was untrue it was bound to put in question the credibility of her evidence about what happened.

Page 5, section 13: The admissions apparently made in these tapes were relied on in the closing submissions on behalf of Mr Depp at the trial as one of the general matters adversely affecting Ms Heard’s credibility, and the Judge addressed the point [...]

Shit Judge Nicol says:::::

"In her evidence, Ms Heard said that she did sometimes throw pots and pans at Mr Depp but only to try and escape him and as a means of self-defence. She also said at times in Argument 2 she was being sarcastic."

"In my view no great weight is to be put on these alleged admissions by Ms Heard to aggressive violent behaviour. [...] nonetheless true, that these conversations [the taped confrontations] are quite different to evidence in court. A witness giving evidence in court does so under an oath or affirmation to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Questioning can be controlled by the judge. Questions which are unclear can be re-phrased. If a question is not answered, it can be pressed (subject to the court's control) and if still unanswered may be the proper object of comment. None of those features applied to these conversations which, in any event, according to Ms Heard had a purpose or purposes different from simply conveying truthful information. (para 175)"

You can't put weight on to the taped conversations/confessions from Scamber because they did not take place in court... Okay, sure, why not, let's pretend that's how you operate. If that was the case, how come the circumstances behind the creation of the evidence for her case isn't questioned/doesn't impact on how much weight he allocates to them? Why does he disallow the tapes to sway him? But then pays full attention to Scamber's evidence of texts to family/friends and writings in her diary? Selective hearing, but more like selective weighing.

Page 6, section 14: Mr Caldecott submitted that the reasoning in para. 175 showed a fundamentally flawed approach to fact-finding because it gave an unjustified special priority to the status of witness evidence. [...] He also said that the Judge’s approach in this regard was inconsistent, because in many other instances he placed great weight on contemporaneous materials when making a finding against Mr Depp.

It's true and I'm glad he said it, but in the next section, the court of appeal knocks this down. They are sticking to Nicol's bullshit story and they are sticking to it until the ship is completely sunk to the bottom of the ocean with Titanic.

Section 15: We do not believe that that is a correct understanding of what the Judge was saying [...] In our view it is clear that the Judge was making a more specific point about the weight to be attached to these particular statements because of the particular circumstances in which they were made.

Page 12, section 40: If the statement in Ms Heard’s witness statement that the $7m “was donated” to charity [...] is to be understood to mean literally that the full $7m had already been paid, that is clearly contradicted by the further evidence, and her statement was accordingly misleading.

But that doesn't call her credibility into question? Nicol believes Scamber when she says her taped confessions were sarcastic, but doesn't believe that Johnny was speaking in exaggerated falsities when texting a friend about his abuser - Nicol picks and chooses which tone to pay attention to in order to suit his own agenda.

-----

These are just some exerts that I thought were interesting and show the nature of the judgement. I'm not sure how much I will be posting about the UK case anymore (I do have some posts about specific issues sitting in my drafts (about the James Cordon appearance casting doubts over all of AH's admissions, about the audio tapes and why they are ridiculously important, about Johnny's MRSA), but nothing like the other deep dives I was doing), because as I've stated before, I have become convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt of Johnny's innocence and because now that this judgement has been handed down by the Court of Appeals, the whole UK case is all over red rover so it doesn't seem super relevant to keep going on about this trial that is now dead and buried. The evidence that I have gone through and posted here, I can make sense of that. But this judgement and any thing in a similar vein, there's no chance of me ever making sense of that, so shall I just quit while I'm ahead? Yes.

ETERNAL CIRCLE-GOLDEN FORTUNE TREE, Baljit Chadha

LEARNT BASICS OF ART IN JAPANFROM RENOUNED ARTIST MS OHTA MIYOKO.The Eternal Circle .Circle is an old symbol. The earliest humans looked up the sky and found the orb of fire giving them light and warmth. Sun for them was a mystical power, a god. They saw its movement from morning in the east and to the west in the evening. Next day again it came up in the sky. They regarded it as an omnipresent power that repeated its emergence with cyclical regularity. There was no beginning or end to the sun for them. It was the sun that allowed their imagination to look in the circular form endlessness, infinity. Thus quite early circle became a symbol of completeness, eternity and also rejuvenation. Circle also denoted the Nature. They found seasons changing and then again re-emerging with regularity. The seasons became the circle of Nature. In winter all greenery vanished and then when Spring came life stated flourishing once again. The great Mohenjo daro-Harrappan civilization had a script as yet un-deciphered. They often had a symbol of a circle with six spokes inset. What it represented is not known. From prehistory to history circle gained greater importance and came to symbolise the cycle of birth and death and also the soul�s eternity. In the rainbow spectrum of Indian philosophy, religion and culture, circle has been used as a varied symbol. The cycle of birth and rebirth is broken only through moksha. King Ashok propagated Buddha�s path to enlightenment through Dharm Chakra�a wheel with eight spokes of a chariot. I feel the wheel was invented with inspiration from sun or moon. Hindu philosophy talks about chakras. It is believed that there are seven chakras or source of light located within the subtle body. The Tantra cult uses the concept of chakras for awakening kundalini. The chakras were illustrated with images and this lead to the development of tantric art. Ajit Mukherjee in his seminal book The Art of Tantra helped to create in early sixties a movement of tantric art in India. But it did not last very long being bound by a strict and regulated expression as per dictates of Tantra iconography. Baljit Chadha is an artist with deep roots in Asian cultural traditions which includes India and especially Japan. Long years spent in Japan drew his creative interest to Japanese style painting. With great felicity he paints Nature and flowers. That is but only one aspect of his creative forays. Here I am concerned with his spiritual focus on the circle as a means of artistic expression. To paint with spiritual symbolism requires an inner search, equanimity, and a feel for the timeless. Paintings without this kind of attitude will not carry the dynamics of the spiritual; they will be like empty shells. Baljit paints with the inner dynamics. His present works are an effort to capture the metaphysical. His creativity unfolds through the circle in a kind of inner automatism. You have to understand his oeuvre in the context of his personal search for righteousness. I wish to bring to your notice the spiritual umbilical of his personal search. It is pertinent to know the Indian philosophy of life and Beyond. In Sikhism karma or kirat is seen as the vehicle to free us from the cycle of birth and death and to have mukti. One has to free oneself from pride, lust, anger, greed, self-centricity, maya and moh (attachment) and to devote life to sewa�service to mankind. Bhagavad Gita 2.27 also says, "One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament." Thus cycle of life, death and rebirth are essential parts of thought process in India. Baljit�s paintings have varied moments of inspiration. In some works the circle is a serene quiet peaceful disc emitting soft tones and leading you to a feeling of inner joy. This you find in his work 2380. This work has a churning of the inner space and a rotation suggesting the cycle of the world or universe. The core of the painting appears to be a mystical kernel beyond human mind and intellect. In yet another work there are concentric circles and the core is a black bindu. Here the circles appear to symbolise the simultaneous working of different cycles of worldly activities and attachments. You get out of one circle and you are caught in another and so on ad infintum. (2486). You must notice the use of free moody lines that cross the circles and daubs of congealed colour. Baljit use this inner automatism where he does not seem to guide his hand or brush consciously. A lurking desire to be free of the material, bodily, intellectual and to allow the magic of anhad to take over is what I see in his use of these Zen like child�s scribbles. Baljit has used these idiosyncratic free floating lines in most of his works. These lines seem at times to �obstruct� your view of the pure circle. The eternal spiritual that the circle represents is often made hazy by our infatuation with the maya. At other times he uses tumbling interacting images in embellished gold reminding of the drama of life that has its own breathtaking charm. In yet another painting there is a linear window-like overlay through which you see the circle of the infinite. Here you become aware of the beauty of the spiritual that shines in cosmic blue colour (2376). Spiral is another important symbol that is our journey to a higher reality of being. Sometimes the luminescent circle has a spiral running over it�the desire to reach the ananata through our soaring spirit (2471, 2476). The subconscious doodles that are used sometimes have a rhythm that seems to evoke the universe and the movement of stellar constellations. Many painting have a centre or a kernel of the circle that seems to enter infinity and mystical Beyond. Observe that the centre of the circles is always full of light to make you think of the spiritual aura and awe of unknown. Baljit has his spiritual awakening in the world and in the flowers that he so lovingly paints. On an art related visit to Singapore I found the overflowing joy that he felt while visiting the botanical garden with different exotic flowers in bloom. This you see in the beautiful painting of an ethereal blooming blue flower. He paints the golden yellow stigma of the plant reminding you of the mystical centre in the circle. The flower opens with immense energy straight in your face, it mesmerizes you, holds you in its clasp and if you focus long on its centre you are drawn in it. In a different way his painting reminds me of Van Gogh�s intense sunflowers that emit a spiritual intensity. You find in the world what you want to see in it and not what it has. Baljit finds what he is looking for in the circular forms�be it a round flower, sun, or the eternal soul or the cycle of life death and rebirth or the planets and stars in the universe. Baljit looks at the eternal drama of the universe through his symbolic circle. I may here quote from a poem from the great Indian saint and poet Kabir that is also apt for Baljit�s art� I have known in my body the sport of the universe: I have escaped from the error of this world. The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite and the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this All! This Light of Thine fulfils the universe: the lamp of love that burns on the salver of knowledge. Kab�r says: "There error cannot enter, and the conflict of life and death is felt no more." Viktor Vijay KumarI LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY. I TAKEPHOTOGRAPHS OF FLOWERS AND CONVERT THEM IN TO MY PAINTINGS I have created a new technique called (FLOAT ON COLORS) .Using mix media on paper. I evolved a style of art that has minimal gap in feeling and expression. Rapidity and quickness of expression in my art comes from the well of inner spirituality. My art is not planned, thought-out and cerebral it is based on spontaneity. Abstract Expressionism is a wider term and my art follows it in variegated dimensions. My journey in art continued and I experiment with different painting instruments and techniques. My dependence on brushwork is rather limited. I frequently and freely use spatulas, wooden sticks, masking, and sand-mix, push bottles and what comes handy in the moment. I use acrylic with mix media. I have developed acrylic based glazes that were possible earlier only with oil paints. The glazes impart a charm similar to enamel glazes. My art journey finds depth and width in continuous experimentation, forays into the unknown and choosing challenging metaphors of expression. Where my art journey will take me next I leave to higher forces . I did an installation (Wall of Divine flowers) with 12000 painting on 12-12-12-12hrs-12mnts-12sec at Zorba in New Delhi and CREATED A WORLD RECORD The exhibition with the most paintings of flowers in the world www.baljit-chadha.artistwebsites.com http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&video_id=fCTt1B51fJA http://www.1wra.org/index.php/Worldrecord/detail/id/1241 This certificate is given by WORLD RECORD ASSOCIATION donated entire collection to Smile Foundation New Delhi, for a girl child education. original colors may wary little from photographs

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-ETERNAL-CIRCLE-GOLDEN-FORTUNE-TREE/392880/2499147/view

PART 2 EPISODE 8 EPISODE ANALYSIS 3/?

God, I fucking hate this scene on so many levels, and you’re going to get my rant about why below. This is probably going to be more rant than analysis. Hardcore Sabrina and/or Nick stans probably should skip this one. 

Firstly, the way Sabrina storms in. Not only is this reckless because Sabrina has no idea whether, among other things, ‘Ms Wardwell’ has been hiding how powerful she is. She has no full grasp of any part of the situation, she can’t even be certain she’s right that her teacher was ‘whispering in her ear’ and it wasn’t just unfortunate coincidence, she also knows both from experience and from her family, that if the Dark Lord asks you to do something you don’t get to say no, and she doesn’t even wonder if maybe ‘Ms Wardwell’ had been asked to do this by the Dark Lord, and to give her the same benefit of the doubt she gave herself, Hilda and Ambrose. Nope, she just fucking storms in recklessly. The fact Lilith manages to keep it together and stay calm, and just give a sarcastic ‘come in’ is astounding. 

Now, let’s go into the list of things Sabrina blames Lilith for:

1. Jesse Putnam’s exorcism. Excuse you, Sabrina, but you needed no fucking whispering to get that one done. You were asking everyone about it, you were determined, you even declared if no one would help you from the Church of Night then you’d go to the Catholic Church, you denied Lilith’s help at every turn until she was forced to go directly to the Aunts. That is the one she least fucking whispered over. Sabrina has full culpability over that, because Sabrina was going to do it, no matter what. She stated that herself. So let’s not be shifting the blame now because it suits

2. Resurrecting Tommy Again, Sabrina needed no encouragement here. In fact, Lilith very clearly tells her NOT to do it-- yes, she knows perfectly well Sabrina will do it anyway, but the point is, she is told not to. ‘Ms Wardwell’ tells her it requires her to take a life, she begs her not to do it, Ambrose tells her not to do it, even the Weird Sisters have their qualms and so does Nick, but Sabrina is determined. She needs ‘right a wrong’ by killing Agatha to bring back Tommy, even though Zelda had told her that witches can’t meddle in mortal affairs. She actually ‘steals’ the book from her teacher’s office, she does this in defiance of everyone. So again, no shifting blame when you actively made that decision to do it, Sabrina. 

3. Going to Limbo Again, you made that decision on your own, Sabrina. In fact, she only goes to Lilith as a last resort when no one else would help her. But she’d already come to the conclusion herself. Zelda had told her not to, Hilda told her not to, Ambrose told her not to, they all told her how dangerous it was, how she couldn’t do it, how the right thing was to restore balance and return Tommy to the earth, but nope Sabrina decides she knows best and she’ll get someone to help her. Even if you argue that Lilith makes these situations happen, Sabrina is the one who decides to do it. She makes that choice. She could have chosen to listen to anyone else, but she always listened to Lilith because Lilith told her what she wanted to hear

4. Signing her name in the book of the beast This is the one thing she can accuse Lilith of because she worked her freaking butt off to make that happen. But at the same time,  everyone in your family has signed it, Sabrina, and this wasn’t actually part of the prophecy, that was just getting you on the right path. 

5. Conjuring hellfire Didn’t the Dark Lord tell her to do this one? With the visions he gave her? All Lilith does is tell her how. And again, Sabrina could have decided to find another way to defeat the Thirteen but she goes with the option that is offered because it’s what she wants to do. As Zelda said ‘you did it because you like power’

“I did all those things with you whispering in my ear”

Sabrina is just completely absolving herself of all culpability and responsibility just because it freaking suits her. As listing above, she has to take responsibility: Someone can tell you to shoot someone, but if you do it, that was your choice, just as it’s your choice not to. Sabrina did all these things, not because Lilith was whispering in her ear, but because she wanted to do them. We’ve established many times throughout the series that Sabrina doesn’t do anything if she doesn’t want to do it (The fact she agrees to take the the throne in Part 3 is not because Lucifer’s arguments make sense, because they just don’t, but because she wants the power and he gave the excuse to take it). 

I just hate this accusatory anger where she’s painting herself as the complete innocent with all blame on Lilith. Yes, Lilith is involved, yes Lilith has manipulated things and is working for the Dark Lord, but Sabrina did all those things of her own choice and will and she needs to fucking accept that. 

AND THEN, she doesn’t even let Lilith give her answers or explanations. Which is just stupid. Even if she lied, even if Sabrina concluded she was lying, you STILL HAVE TO HEAR HER OUT TO SEE IF THINGS MAKE SENSE. And Lilith does try to answer her, but Sabrina doesn’t give her a chance because she’s too empowered by her own sense of self-entitlement and self-righteousness. 

“Who’s bidding are you doing? My Father’s? The Dark Lord’s? Your own?” “Don’t be ridic-”

Lilith is cut off here, which is a stupid point to cut her off at. She looks so indignant at the thought of anyone thinking this ‘hail Sabrina’ shit was her idea. She stays silent until Sabrina suggests she’s doing it all at her own behest, so the fact that’s where she protests means she is following someone’s instructions, and if Sabrina had any sense in this moment, she would want to hear her out. 

But no, this is where Lilith gets bound. And considering Nick is also doing the Dark Lord’s bidding and he cuts Lilith off before she could answer is very interesting timing and does make you wonder. 

“is that?” “The rib you were using to control the scarecrow who tried to kill me? Why, yes, it is”

The one accusation that is solid in this whole conversation; yes, Lilith did send a monster to try and kill Sabrina. And that is why I would understand Sabrina and Nick using the rib to bind Lilith’s powers so she couldn’t use them against them, or binding her so she couldn’t harm them. However, I do not understand or accept binding a woman so she cannot move or do anything unless a man lets her. Nick takes away her entire autonomy, what he does to Lilith is no different to what Blackwood did to Zelda, it’s just of a different variety. And the fact Sabrina, Little-Miss-I-Know-What’s-Right, thinks this is okay is shocking and abhorrent. 

No woman, no matter who she is, should have her autonomy taken away by a man, her entire body controlled and under the control of a man, with no freedom to escape or defend herself. Like, no one should think that’s okay. And the fact the writers/director have Nick use the exact same body language with Lilith in the later scene as they have Lucifer use on Lilith in the finale shows that even they are showing the parallels and therefore that it’s not meant to be considered a good thing. We’re meant to feel uncomfortable...and yet I know there are people out there who support it. Which gives me the fucking wig to say the least.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”

Lilith looks so tired here, like I don’t care I don’t know, all I was planning was to get rid of you so I could punish the Dark Lord and I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this shit anymore. I think it’s entirely possible Lilith is fed up of the accusations being thrown at her, but considering how she is often viewed by a lot of the world and the stories written about her, she’s probably very used to being accused of shit and having blame thrown on her. Doesn’t mean she’s not fucking tired of it though. 

“So you could control it and kill me”

No, no Sabrina you’re only half-right. Lilith had no interest in controlling the mandrake, just in killing you. And if you’d stop jumping the gun and interrupting her and asking questions without letting her fucking answer, maybe you’d find that out. 

“I don’t know if it even exists. I haven’t seen it, I swear”

I love Lilith’s honesty here, because it’s such a frank and tired honesty. She has no fucking need to lie because she’s lost Sabrina’s trust and she really doesn’t care about the Dark Lord’s plan for her, but she looks so increasingly annoyed, because it doesn’t matter what Lilith fucking says, Sabrina has decided not to believe her, instead of calming down, looking at the evidence, and considering everything to come to the right conclusion. I mean if she hadn’t dimissed Lilith entirely here, maybe she wouldn’t have gone killing her mandrake self and brought about the bloody prophecy, just saying. 

“Keep her bound until I come back”

Oh lovely Sabrina. Just leave a woman at the entire mercy of a man. Nick could do whatever the fuck he liked while you were gone and Lilith wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, and anyone can see how much Nick is already really enjoying doing this binding spell. I’m sorry, it’s just...why would someone who believes in being ‘right’ and ‘not evil’ and is all about women’s rights and defending those who get hurt, be happy to have a woman in this situation. Especially when she hasn’t even let her explain the whole story. But then, we see how much Sabrina doesn’t note what Zelda goes through with Blackwood and in the tie-in novels she actually throws Zelda’s suffering in her face, so there we go. 

Lilith, up until this moment, has looked mostly tense, aggravated, annoyed, but the moment Sabrina says she’s leaving and Nick is to stay here and ‘keep her bound’, we see actual fear flash in Lilith eye’s and then she asks, worriedly, ‘where are you going?’

 I have gone in depth on this moment before with images and GIFs for references, so this will only be brief, but Lilith is genuinely afraid to be left alone with her autonomy entirely taken into the hands of a man. And that’s not surprising considering her experiences with the False God, with First Adam, with the Dark Lord...Lilith has been abused by men before, been powerless before, and the idea of being left bound, trapped and powerless at the hands of a man here, is making her afraid. And we could even consider that as Eve had the rib inside her from Adam so Adam probably had the same power over Eve that Nick now has over Lilith....that makes things even worse, because Lilith no doubt saw what Eve suffered. Like this is triggering so much fear and past experiences in Lilith and Sabrina, not only isn’t noticing this, she’s totally happy to leave her. 

“I’m going to find and kill my double. And then I’ll be back to kill you”

Oh ffs, fuck off. This moment drives me so mad. Because, for one, as far as she knows ‘Ms Wardwell’ is just a witch which means she’s a person/human of sorts, and therefore killing her is murder. Outright fucking murder. The thing her family are always telling her to be careful about, because once you do it you can’t take it back. And even if we reason murder has been normalised when it’s for the ‘right reasons’, Sabrina has always acted as if she’s better than that. Like no, that’s wrong. ‘All life is precious’ she told Prudence, adding that even the life of someone who tried to kill her is precious and worth saving and what not. Yet, here, oh no, totally okay to kill someone. The life of Sabrina’s teacher is apparently not precious at all now it suits her to think otherwise. Such hypocrisy and double-standards drives me mad, especially when it’s delivered with such fucking arrogance. Admittedly, Kiernan does it brilliantly. 

“Sabrina, wait-”

Lilith tries to get her not to leave, and by the way she says it, it looks like she was trying to tell her something, quite possibly that killing the mandrake will fulfils the prophecy (after all, Lilith no more wanted it to happen than Sabrina did. She just resigns herself to it after Sabrina leaves...until she finds out she won’t be Queen haha), but nope she’s cut off again by Nick. What is the point of confronting someone if you don’t hear what they have to say??

And then how much Nick looks like he’s fucking loving it, enjoying every moment, when he binds the rib even tighter and we see him cause Lilith physically pain. She is currently powerless to whatever whims or desires he have, and he just decides to torture essentially. And looks like he is really loving it. It’s such a fucking parallel to the Dark Lord, and is obviously a foreshadowing for the fact he become’s the Dark Lord’s acheron/vessel. 

Chapter Twenty-Three - A Stolen Sigil

Terry hurried back to the barn where he’d spent all morning shovelling and hauling animal droppings. Dark clouds had rolled in and cold raindrops splattered on his face. Pulling the scruff of his robe over his head, he dashed towards the row of troughs where he’d left his wheelbarrow. Stevenus peeked out from the side entrance and beckoned for him. Terry was tempted to ignore him. Stevenus was probably only wanting to remind Terry of his promise to retrieve a magic book. Not a chance. He was not going to do Stevenus’s bidding.

“Terry! Change of plans—come.”

Terry followed him inside, resenting how easily the Chosen One could summon him and he’d just go along without question. They climbed up a rickety wooden ladder into the hayloft. They were quiet for a few minutes while they caught their breath. Rain hammered down on the tin roof. Thunder rumbled overhead. Stevenus looked unusually subdued as he leaned with his elbows on knees, chewing on his lower lip. “How serious were you about trying to escape from here? I saw your failed attempt that day at the market. My grandfather had already warned me about that trail else I’d have joined you.”

Terry started. It hadn’t occurred to him that Stevenus had been watching him that day. He didn’t think anyone had seen him take off or notice he was gone. “Not very,” he admitted. “Until roughly ten minutes ago. I have most of the grounds mapped out in my head, but never got around to scouting the wall all the way around for a  good way out.”

“We’ll have to wing it, then.” He let out a deep sigh. “It’s tonight, or never.”

“What! Why?” Terry was finding it hard to keep his voice down over the storm raging outside, but for all he knew, some sharp-eared wizard was eavesdropping on them.

“Same as with Pudding Bowl, Katya’s going to be made an example of. You know that metal post in the middle of the courtyard by the well?”

Terry nodded. He’d never thought much of it, or what it was for. He had assumed, given the height and relative sturdiness of it, that it was a hitching post for horses. He was pretty sure he’d seen one of the donkeys tied to it that day when Ms. Huston had them all change into tunics and breeches to go into the village.

Stevenus leaned closer to Terry and lowered his voice. “First thing in the morning she’s going to be whipped in front of everyone. Worse, they plan to strip her to her waist for it. Can you imagine the poor girl having that done in front of nearly a hundred ogling rubberneckers all trying to see her chest?”

For a moment Terry had a horrid flash of excitement at the prospect of Katya topless but he absolutely hated the idea of seeing her humiliated. She was shy, and sweet, and in spite of the way she’d taken on Julianne, fragile. “Where is she?”

“They’ve taken her to the dungeon here, as far as I’ve managed to glean. It’s beneath the keep somewhere so we’ll have to get her out of there first, then find our way off the castle grounds and on to the nearest village. From there we can summon authorities—this place isn’t out of bounds when it comes to violating the laws of the land.”

“The dungeon! What about Pudding Bowl? Are we going to try getting him out too?”

“He’s being held elsewhere although exactly where, I’ve not been able to find out.”

His exposé. Terry’d forgotten about it the past few days. There’d been so many nefarious dealings he’d witnessed that even with his prodigious memory he was starting to lose track. Once they were free, all three of them would go to the media with their story. Stevenus was right though, staying here wasn’t an option. Shovelling pig slurry was one thing, but whipping … never, ever again was he going to see castles or anything else from the medieval time period in a remotely romantic way. “What now?”

Light shone on Stevenus’s face as he withdrew a folded piece of stiff paper from a pocket in his robe. Terry stretched forward. The page was white with a symbol painted on it in gleaming gold. The fiery way it shimmered was like watching liquid electricity. “What is that?”

“The invisibility sigil. This is the doctored version—Pudding Bowl was caught before I could switch it with the original—but it hopefully should last for long enough.”

“I thought they’d stripped you of your magic.”

Stevenus’s eyes glinted as he rapped his chest; he’d tucked a hardcover book underneath his robe. “The sigil works regardless—I found out by testing it to retrieve one of those red spell books on my way here. The only drawback is, it’s not terribly powerful or long-lasting. Also, here. I managed to sneak this while I was at it.”

Terry stared at his phone, barely recognising it. He took it from Stevenus and turned it over in his hands several times, awed by the shiny metal back and the sleek back front, before pocketing it. He had his phone again! His lifeline to the outer world! Once he found a place where he could get a signal, that is. He paced around the hayloft. He was bursting with excitement for the first time since he’d arrived at Archon Castle. Plotting escape, saving a girl from villainous deeds, and finally, real magic. “Just tell me what I need to do—I’m in!”

“Half an hour after lights out, meet me near the rear set of stairs by Arcanum Hall. The one across from the spider building. I still have to work out the rest of the details for my plan.”

Terry watched Stevenus clamber back down the ladder. He waited in the hayloft for several minutes, then climbed back down and peered out into the courtyard. Stevenus was wheeling a manure-laden wheelbarrow across as if he’d been doing nothing else all morning. Terry ducked out and hurried over to the pig pen. He got to work, ignoring the terrible stench and glad that Julianne kept quiet so he didn’t have to put any effort into ignoring her too. So long as this was the last day he ever spent on the grounds of Archon Castle, he didn’t care. Tonight, he’d be free of this place.

Healing - Levi x Reader

Fandom: Attack on Titan Word Count: 1813

My Masterlist

Warnings/disclaim: general Modern/Office-like AU. Mentions of depression, in case anyone is triggered/sensitive to this topic

Author’s Note: Originally posted on DeviantArt, under the same username, on 12/03/2016. Revamped/edited in 2020.

___ is a blank for your name/oc/whatever you prefer Written in 3rd person

Line/header is to separate paragraphs to indicate time skips, as Tumblr hates my formatting.

Story under cut

          Petra was picking papers off of ___’s desk, getting ready to fax them to her.

          “Morning, Levi.”

          “Morning Petra, where is  ___?”

          “She called off, but will work from home starting tomorrow.” Levi knitted his eyebrows together. “I know, she’s never called off. I don’t know what happened, though. She said she’d likely be gone all week and would like the form to start working from home. So if you have anything you need her to do, you can give me the paperwork so I can fax it to her.”

          “We were supposed to have accounts meeting tomorrow,” Levi grumbled.

          “I can give her a call, to see when she can reschedule.” Levi nodded before leaving Petra to her work.

          Levi sighed as he signed papers, that ___ should be looking over. Petra, his assistant, had let him know about how  ___ would like to work from home from now on. He could barely process the thoughts of it and why she didn’t want to come in anymore. It was an option that the company had, but she had never shown interest in it. What was with this sudden change, she didn’t even talk to him about it. Petra knocked at his door, he told her to enter.

          “Sir, ___ sent back all of her numbers and let you know everything about the accounts through email. She also wanted me to tell you. ‘The best accountant in your office isn’t going to leave, but I need to be alone for a bit. I apologize for any inconvenience.’  That’s all she had said, but it seems like she got her work done faster than usual. So I think this may be a good thing.” Petra smiled at Levi.

          “Get me her contact information.” She gave him a confused look. “I’m going to visit her on my way home. I need to know why she wants to change everything and I have some papers I need her to sign.”

          “Yes, sir.” Petra came back in a few moments with the information he requested. “I also wrote where her spare key is, in case she can’t hear you at the door.”

          “Why do you know where it is?”

          “I’ve had to go pick up some things from her when she had scheduled days off. She’s in her backyard a lot, so she doesn’t hear the door.” Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Is there anything else that you may need Mr. Ackerman?” His assistant smiled at him.

          “Do you have any idea why she’s doing this?”

          “No, sir. Last we talked about anything personal; her family was healthy and her fiance was looking into a house for them.”

          “I didn’t know she was engaged.”

          “Oh yeah. She’s been with him for about 5 years.”

          “Oh,” Levi said with a bit of pain in his voice.

          “Sir, don’t feel bad! I know you flirted with her a lot, but I thought you knew she was taken. And you were just teasing her. Like you did in high school with a couple of girls.”

          “It makes sense why she always declined me.” Levi sighed and looked down at the papers on his desk.

          “She always said that she loved your persistence and confidence. That if she wasn’t taken, she would take up your offers for dates. Sir, I still think you should go check on her.”

          “You do?” Petra smiled and nodded.

          Levi pulled up to ___’s house, with his briefcase in hand, he went to knock on her door. After a few moments of silence, he knocked again. He sighed and moved the potted plant on her porch, removing a brick from the house, which was hollowed out with the spare key inside. He quickly unlocked the door and put the key back. Walking inside, he was a bit impressed by how she had styled home and more importantly how clean everything was.

          “Ms. ___?” Levi called out, which was answered with a bark and a husky came bounding around the corner to growl at him. “Hey, you must be Tobi.” He kneeled slightly and held out his hand for the dog to sniff him. Tobi seemed to approve as he turned to walk away from Levi, Levi followed him. 

          Tobi led Levi to the backyard, once ___ was in sight, Tobi ran over to the edge of the pool and started whining at ___. She was floating on her back in her bikini, which made Levi blush a bit. He had never seen her outside of suits or jeans.

          “Tobi! Shush, baby.” The dog whined louder. “I’ll drag you into the pool, don’t make me do it.” She giggled, Tobi yelped at her. “That’s it!” She laughed while fixing her into a standing position but froze when she saw Levi. Her face went aflame as if some tossed red paint on her face.

          “Mr. Ackerman!” She swam up to the edge of the pool, quickly walked over to her patio, and wrapped her towel around herself. Levi eyed her body the whole time, enjoying the view as she did so.

          “Hello,  Ms. ___. I need you to sign some papers, mainly some new accounts, and the form for you to start doing work from home.” Levi made his normal blank stare.

          “Oh, of course! Let me guide you to my office and I’ll change.” Levi gave her a curt nod and she walked back into the house, Tobi walking beside her the whole time. Almost to her office, Levi noticed a room, empty and messy, catching his attention, because of the mess inside.

          “What happened there?” ___ paused for a moment before walking over and closing the door. 

          “Please ignore that room.” Levi decided to ask after he got the signatures. She opened her office door. “Please make yourself comfortable. I’ll be a few moments.” Tobi followed after her as she left. Levi placed his briefcase on her desk and looked over to an accent piece that had pictures on it, noticing one face down. Curious, he walked over picking up the picture, to see ___ in a cute sundress and a guy hugging her from behind. It was very endearing but it only hurt his heart. ___ took the photo out of his hand.

          “Please do not touch my photos.” She placed it back down, making sure it was face down.

          “Why is that one picture face down?” Levi raised an eyebrow at her as she walked over to her desk and sat down.

          “Sir, you wanted me to sign papers. I do not want to share my personal life with you.” ___ stated coldly, it wasn’t the first time she told him this. This time was different, though, her eyes were sad. “Please sit, so we may get the papers done.”

          Levi walked over and opened his briefcase, handing her a folder. “These are our new accounts, I need them put into the accounting system.” She nodded before placing the folder in a basket. “Then this is the paper form we need to fill out for your transfer technically.”

          She took the paper from him, started filling it out, signing it at the bottom. Levi was looking over her shoulder, correcting her on the date. 

          “Sir, we’ve talked about this about 23 times. Personal space and not looking over my shoulder. I don’t like it.”

          “Well, you put down the wrong date so it’s a good thing I am. Also, you didn’t fill out the reason for the transfer.” He noticed she tensed up before writing, ‘personal/family issues.’

          “You need to sign this too.” She handed him her pen, he touched her hand and leaned over her to sign it. “Is there anything else?”

          “How do you want to go about doing our meetings from now on?” He eyed her, she was clearly still wearing her bikini but had a t-shirt and jeans over it.

          “We can email for the weekly meetings and we can do Skype or something for the monthly meetings.” She shrugged. “Do you have a better solution?” She turned in her chair to face him.

          “Yeah, just show up to the fucking office for work.”

          “I could probably come in for meetings.”

          “What the fuck is going on with you?”

          “Sir, I don’t want to let you into my personal life. Work and personal need to be separate.”

          Levi placed his hands on her chair, trapping her there. “___.” He stared into her eyes as she blushed from him saying her first name. “You are an important asset to me. I want to know why my main accountant is staying at home.” 

          “Because I’m depressed, I have been all this time. Now, I can’t function and pretend anymore. I want to be in this, I want to learn how to climb out and I can’t make myself get out my bed let alone go into the office. But I can do my work from my bed.”

          “What made everything go south so badly?”

          ___ teared up. “My fiance found someone else and left me. I’m alone now. I’ve never been alone with my depression and now it’s swallowing me.” A few tears leaking down her face, her bottom lip trembled a bit as she tried to hold back.

          Levi sighed and gave her a small look, placing a hand on her cheek wiping away her tears.

          “It’s his loss, my gain.” Levi kissed her forehead. “Let me heal you.” Levi kissed her gently, she only looked at him, with dismal (e/c) eyes. He glanced at her lips, then to her eyes, he kissed her once more. “I’ve loved you for years. And he’s a fucking fool if he won’t appreciate you, I will.” More of her tears started to escape. “You’re beautiful, even when crying.”

          ___ gulped for a moment, before finally giving in, letting all of the tears go. She reached up, wrapping her arms around Levi’s neck, trying to muffle her cries into his neck. Levi bent down more to pick her up, carrying her to the couch in her office. As he sat down, he placed her on his lap, before wrapping his arms around her tightly.

          “I’ll heal you with the love that I have harbored for years.” ___ rests her head on his shoulder, clinging to him. He couldn’t help but smirk. “I never thought I would be able to hold you, it feels amazing to be here for you.” He kissed her forehead. “Take your time loving me. For now, I want to be your support. Even if you never say that you love me. I want you to be happy, your happiness means everything to me.”

          ___ closed her eyes. “I still want to stay home.”

          “I’ll bring your work every day that you stay at home.” She nodded. “At least you’re mine now.”

          “I never agreed to that.”

          “You will, one day.”

10. Your Move, Ivy

Ivy could hear something strange. It sounded mechanical and it was a whirring somewhere distant. It was a buzzing that was also very familiar. When she heard the distant sound of a man clearing his throat, her eyes opened and adjusted to the room. Charcoal wall paint with white baseboards. Two black leather chairs. One big white leather couch. The pictures on the wall were in black and white. Some were abstracts and some were figures. There was a faceless man drawn in a suit. A big window was to the left and outside it was dark. Ivy could tell immediately that she was in someone's little monochromatic home but whose? Looking down, her wrists were bound together by that same bright red rope. Her ankles were bound together tightly as well and then her thighs were bound to the chair. She was slung over a French leather chaise similar to something that would be found in Sigmund Freud's office. It was split down the middle, black leather on one side and white on the other. She rolled her eyes, thudding her head against the back of the chaise in defeat.

"Whyyy thee fuck is this happening to meee," she sighed to the ceiling before remembering something important. Her eyes flit about the room once more. She needed to speak to someone. She needed to lay eyes on her mom.

"Hello?" She called out waiting to see if Dr. Stevens would appear. She could still hear that damned buzzing noise.

"HELLOOO," she called louder. Still no movement or person rounding the corner.

"I know these muhfuckas can hear my loud ass mouth," she muttered kissing her teeth.

The buzzing stopped and a disembodied voice came from slightly behind to her left. She twisted her body around to see a small black speaker sitting on top of a black artful stand.

"Ms. Stevens," that dreadful voice spoke. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Where's my mother? You said she was alive and you weren't hurting anyone else. You got me here. so where is she?"

"Well, she's--she's resting," he chuckled bringing an unsteady feeling to Ivy's gut. She swallowed her lower lip and closed her eyes in an attempt to stay calm and reasonable but she wanted to snap. Shifting her wrists, she tried to pull hand out past the rope but it was no use. "Relax, Ms. Stevens. You'll get out of those ropes when I'm done."

Ivy's green eyes searched carefully for a camera, but there wasn't one visible.

"Yes, I can see you and hear, Ms. Stevens. Keep that in mind when you in there muttering and talking shit."

"Oh okay. Stupid ass, psycho ass, creepy ass dentist," Ivy shrugged hoping to offend him. She was tired of the entire scenario. Tired of Dr. Stevens and his twin trolls.

The damned sharp-toothed trolls! She gasped subtly as a  lightbulb went off in her mind.

"Did I miss," she asked, hopeful. She had shot at his little minion before she passed out. She hoped the girl was dead. "That gremlin looking bitch.. Look like something you don't supposed to feed after midnight... Did I hit her?"

---

Erik smoothed his latex covered thumb over the hardened plastic cover of a casted mold of a client's teeth, a young black guy by the name of Malcolm. He wanted golds and Erik was a master of grill making. It was his more widely known hobby.

"Her name, Ms. Stevens... is Draya... and yes... you hit her."

"She dead?"

What an interesting and bizarre question. Erik paused to look at the monitor at her expression, pulling his glasses to the bridge of his nose. She was waiting for his response, paused with her mouth hanging open, eyes looking off to the side, still searching for a camera. He sighed. She had indeed fucked Draya up pretty well, and Araya was calling for her head on a stick. Still, Erik couldn't help but notice how smooth and beautiful Ivy was without even trying. He'd taken a wipe to her face while she was knocked out to see if it was an illusion and he was not disappointed. Her skin would make the perfect canvas. She would make the perfect masterpiece.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that," he asked returning his attention to the casting in his hand, glasses pushed back up. Draya had been shot in the stomach and now she laid in a hospital bed with Araya at her bedside. Jealous ex boyfriend they said it was. That was the coverup.

"..You're not speaking," he said with a raise of his brows. He began to pour the gold through wax tubes, injecting it into the casted mold. The new creation had to be put in centrifuge to spin the gold inside and take out the air bubbles, but before he could do that he looked back to the monitor. She still hadn't replied.

"Neither you nor your mother have manners enough to answer basic questions, but I can see the same spirit in you both."

On a second monitor was Ivy's mother. She hadn't yet awaken but when she did, there was a television in front of her, a stack of books including a bible since she was religious, and a tray of fresh fruit. He'd arranged the fruit himself. Ivy's mother was not tied up to anything and when she awoke she'd be able to move freely, but she'd been stripped of anything she could possibly use to escape, her room door was locked from the outside with double locks, as was the window. The window was shatter-proof Hammerglass.

"What did you do to her," Ms. Stevens' divine temper began to flare. The fire was returning and sparking his excitement. He licked his lips and smirked at the monitor where she still searched for a camera lens.

"I said that she was fine and I meant it. She's fine, but if you continue to act rudely then that can easily change."

She wasn't backing down, but she said nothing else.. which was fine for the moment. He hadn't done nearly a thing to her that he'd wanted to. He sat the golds in his tabletop centrifuge and re-adjusted the machine settings before removing his latex gloves and strolling into the living room where the young fiery woman sat bound and watching him approach her calmly.

When he reached her, he used his knuckles to gently stroke the side of her face to her chin.

"Now I have one question for you.. and you'll want to answer this or I'll decide for you." He held her chin lightly as she looked from off to the side over to him slowly, hesitantly. He waited until he had her full attention with her green eyes focused on him. "There you go," he praised. She was at his mercy and by the look in her eye, she hated it.

"Not only are you.. breathtakingly beautiful, Ms. Stevens..." She shook her head from his light hold biting at his finger. "And feisty...," he chuckled after snatching his fingers out of the path of her teeth. "But you also have an affinity for the finer things.." His mind flashed to the way she threw his own knife at his head in his office. Had he not dodged, she'd have killed him. Then, though he wore a vest, she'd also successfully shot him in the chest twice. Though it didn't kill him, he still felt it. Even now, he could feel where he'd gotten hit. It made him feel alive.. excited. He suddenly had goosebumps and a sense of giddiness in his gut. On top of that, she put a bullet in Draya and fucked up her stomach with no hesitation or delay. He could recall the blood, deep red, spreading into a vibrant ruby shade. He'd planted his fingers on Draya's soaked shirt and then  looked at his palm, the red printed onto him like a stain.

Ivy scowled watching him and with those events swirling in his mind, he felt his blood flow to his dick.

"You have two options," he murmured. "I'm going to cut you either way, but you can either sit in this room while I do it... or...," he panted lightly, feeling himself twitch. "...You can finish the job you started on Draya first."

Her head lowered and her eyebrow raised.

He smirked at her response.

"Your move, Ivy."