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klausysworld · 5 months

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Hello gorgeous!

Sooo I had this idea of Klaus and reader being married (she wants a divorce) but currently separated. She starts seeing Damon. Klaus lets her have her way for a bit as nothing has crossed the line, but then he finds out reader slept with Damon and Klaus goes absolutely feral over it and tells his wife that’s enough of this and drags back reader home and slides her wedding ring back on her finger.

Not His, Not Yours.

Klaus and I had slowly but surely grown apart.

We had married for decades for now, just over a century actually and to begin with it was all but a dream.

He had hundreds of thousands of gifts and words to express his love. Paintings and poems to show how pure his feelings were.

He was gentle when I needed and only ever rough when I wanted when him to be.

There wasn’t a question of doubt between us both. I loved him with all of my heart and he loved me with all of his soul. So much so that he actually proposed to me. Elijah and Rebekah couldn’t believe it but were unbelievably supportive. I even turned into a vampire so that I could be with him forever.

And for a nearly eighty years, everything was okay.

Of course the gifts were less frequent but I didn’t care about that so much. Not if I still had him. Even if he forgot to tell me he loved me, I didn’t need him to, deep down I knew that he did.

One thing I didn’t like, was when he would get flirty with other women. Especially because of how he behaved when I, heaven forbid, smiled at a man.

But still, with reassurance from his siblings and Elijah’s promise to talk to Klaus about it, I dropped it and didn’t speak of it. So he flirted, it didn’t mean anything. What’s a kiss when I have his heart?

Surprisingly Klaus never slept with anyone else. I suppose it’s unfair to say surprisingly but to be honest I had feared and expected him to have from time to time.

Especially when he became more distant. When he would disappear or return in the early hours of the morning. I would beg to know where he was and after a series of repeated yelling, he would grab me and show me his memories of the night before. Often he just got drunk and would pass out somewhere random or wonder around for inspiration, sometimes he’d attack a village and slaughter hundreds in mere hours. When finished showing me, he would give me that same look and tell me that I shouldn’t look so surprised. He may love me, but he wouldn’t ever be better for me.

And I would just nod and told him I already knew that.

And I’d wait for the next time that would happen.

We went days between sex, then weeks, gradually months and eventually we just didn’t. We slept beside each other mostly out of habit but we wouldn’t touch.

I never stopped loving him, I don’t think I ever could but I wasn’t sure if I loved him the same way anymore. And I certainly didn’t think he loved me that way. But we weren’t exactly friends either. It were as though we were just strangers at this point, strangers who held each others hearts.

And I had accepted that perhaps that’s all we would be. We lived that way for a couple of years, I’d stay with him like a shadow but that’s all I would be.

Until Mystic Falls.

So much happened in not enough time. Klaus became his true self and for some reason part of me thought perhaps that would rekindle something but he showed no more nor less interest so I just went on.

Until one day, his eyes held a spark. But it wasn’t for me. It was for Caroline Forbes.

She was blonde, young and new to vampirism but still bold and confident in herself. I was like that once, before I grew quiet and obedient to Klaus’s will.

So I took another step back and let him chase her a little. I sort of wanted him to sleep with her so that maybe he would just divorce me and I would know that what we had was really over.

But he didn’t. He gave her a present, drawings and spoke poetry to her without her realising but he didn’t kiss her or even lean in.

He still would come back to bed and lay beside me like usual.

I didn’t want him to think I would hate him if he fell for someone else. I’d rather he be happy with another than miserable with me. I knew he craved more, so did I.

And so with a lot of courage, I asked for a divorce but he refused me. That I didn’t understand.

“Why?” I asked, my brows pulling together as he scowled

“Because you’re my wife” he answered as though that meant anything anymore “I have loved you for a century. I will not just be done with you”

“Loved, Klaus. Loved. It’s in the past.” I argued

“I love you now as much as I did then” he told me, his voice raising

“No Klaus…you don’t” I whispered, my eyes glancing to the floor as I let out a small sigh. This was probably one of the reasons he liked Caroline more. I showed weakness and submission too easily to him. The difference was that I knew he wouldn’t kill me if I fought back but I feared it would be worse.

“We’re not getting a divorce. Ever.” He stated calmly, though I could feel his anger.

“I can’t do this Klaus” I mumbled. “I can’t just be known and your wife and hide in the house all the time”

“Then go out” he grumbled

“You don’t let me” I answered, remembering the last time I went out without telling him and he yelled at me for being inconsiderate and stupid. Apparently it wasn’t safe for me without his protection due to being so intimately associated with him.

“Well…now you can” he replied matter of factly.

“You should ask Caroline out” I whispered “She likes you too, Rebekah heard her talking to Bonnie about you”

“I wouldn’t-“

“But maybe you should” I sighed, hesitantly looking him in the eye once again. “You should at least try…you might like to be with someone…” I paused and swallowed dryly “someone else”

“Are you seeing…someone else?” He asked quietly, his eyes flicking between mine.

“No…not yet” I whispered and he nodded

“But?”

“But I think I should” I murmured before falling back into silence.

We stood there for a while, uncomfortable and guilt ridden before his phone went and he reluctantly left.

He didn’t come to bed that night.

To me that seemed like his way of confirming that we wouldn’t be together anymore, or for a while at least.

When I saw he had made up a bed in one of the guest rooms, it was clear that was the case.

So I started to go out a little.

When I saw Klaus with Caroline at the grill, I realised I needed to leave. Leave town, his life so that I didn’t ruin his chances.

But as fate would have it, when I rushed out of the building, I walked straight into Damon Salvatore. He recognised me in an instant and was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

“What’s Klaus’s wife doing out and about?” He snickered and I sighed

“I’m not” I mumbled and he raised a brow

“Not what? Not his wife or not out?”

“I’m going home” I whispered, walking outside but he followed.

“Oh come on, I didn’t mean to scare you off so quick” he chuckled and I rolled my eyes

“Please. You couldn’t scare me” I muttered “have you seen who I’m supposed to be married to?”

“Supposed to be eh? Things not turning out?” He pressed, walking backwards beside me as I made my way back to the mansion.

“My marriage falling apart won’t benefit your precious Elena. It’s been broken for years.” I grumbled, and he rolled his eyes

“Forgive me for being curious” he muttered, his annoyance shining making my heart sink. I didn’t like it when people were rude and now I was the one doing it.

“Sorry” I whispered “I didn’t mean to sound so snappy”

I could feel his eyes on me as we neared the manner and before I could get it the door, his hand reached for mine which however pathetic it may seem, made my smile. Nobody had touched my skin for months.

“You should come out more, I’d like to talk with you some more” he told me and I faltered

“I wouldn’t tell you anything- not about him”

“I didn’t think you would” he answered, before leaving.

After that I went out a little more.

Damon would tease me and make me laugh. He would draw out the little confidence I had left and have me use it. I’d taunt back at him and go so far as to flirt once I’d had a few drinks.

After a while he asked to take me out. I thought he was joking.

“Oh will Elena be joining us? Perhaps Stefan to?” I laughed but he didn’t even smile

“I’m serious” he stated, his hand squeezing mine “just us…anywhere you want”

I stared at him “I um…I don’t know” I whispered, nervous and confused.

“I can wait” he answered as he caressed my arm softly.

When I got home Klaus was already there, his eyes on me in an instant. Without a word he placed his wedding band on the table before him and walked out the room. I felt a lump form in my throat as I shakily slid both my wedding and engagement rings off and put them beside his.

I went upstairs and cried. And I felt stupid for it because I was the one who asked for this.

So after a moment I pulled myself together and grabbed my phone. I took a breath before sending Damon a message

I like the Italian the next town over?

He replied quickly

Friday, 7?

I’ll meet you there

I’ll see you soon

I swallowed thickly and closed my messages before searching for apartments near me to rent.

If Klaus and I were actually ending this then I wanted to do it right. That meant I needed to live without him fully, so I sent in some applications to a couple of places.

Before any of them could come back, my date with Damon came around.

It went surprisingly well. We ate, spoke, joked and laughed. He paid, insistent that I shouldn’t. He then drove me back to the mansion and kissed me goodbye.

I refused to look anywhere near Klaus when I went up the stairs. He never said anything either, we spoke only if we absolutely had to and on the occasion that Damon and I would see Klaus out, we would instead go to his house for a while.

I spent a lot of time with Damon, he made me feel more alive. He brought back the spark in me that I thought I had lost and built my confidence back up. He made me feel more things in a couple months than Klaus had in the past fifteen years.

I knew it was wrong to compare them, but when all I had ever known was Klaus…he was all I had to know how a relationship worked to be able to tell if what I had with Damon was really something.

It progressed quickly, it scared me somewhat. I worried that it was a trap to make me help him with everyone else. However when I heard him defending me to both Elena and Stefan, I double guessed myself.

Slowly I felt myself begin to trust Damon, I felt as though I was learning to love and desire once more.

It was because of that feeling that I didn’t stop him when he began to take my clothes off. Or when he trailed his lips down my skin and pressed his mouth between my legs. I cried out for him when his fingers curled inside me and I clung to him when he finally took me as his own.

I stayed beside him for the rest of the night, pressed to his chest with his arms around me. It was a warmth that I wasn’t used to anymore but that I needed and yearned for. I stayed at his house for days after, wearing his clothes and living in his arms. But unfortunately I knew that I couldn’t just move in there so soon, so I had to go back to the mansion.

————————————————————————

(3rd person)

Klaus found out that Y/n had slept with Damon the day after it happened. Stefan had told him so when in the heat of an argument.

To begin with he thought the Salvatore was just trying to piss him off but when Stefan’s face dropped and his heart sped up, Klaus realised it was true.

Immediately he went home and smashed every item in her room. Shredded her clothes and tore up every flower Damon had gifted her and the little photos she had printed of them. It was after he broke apart her bed and found the box of forgotten memories did he calm down. He found all the poems and pieces of artwork he had ever given her, love letters and other tokens of their love kept safe and close to her. It broke him.

Klaus never meant for their marriage to deteriorate so badly. He loved Y/n, truly. But throughout the years he got distracted. Whenever his family got to town, his focus was off her and whenever a threat showed up he made a point of being distanced from her to ensure they wouldn’t attack her. After the first few times he’d done that, she got upset and wouldn’t want to kiss him, not when he would go weeks of ignoring her and then expecting her affection.

So he began to drink some more, to forget her touch and her voice for just a moment. But it made everything worse. She began to worry he was cheating on her and to be honest he couldn’t blame her for thinking that but in the moment when she would accuse him, he would be outraged.

He couldn’t stop himself from yelling, being offended and snapping. But after, when he would hear her cries and see her curled up in their bed, he would push himself further away in hopes that he wouldn’t be able to hurt her as much from a distance.

It only got worse.

And now he was on the floor of a room that was once his aswell, crying for his marriage that would no longer last.

Eventually he dragged himself up from the floor and went back to his own room, or rather the spare room that he had been sleeping in. He dug through his drawers to find their rings that he took after they both removed them and put his wedding band back on, smiling sadly at the fond memories of the first time she had put it on him.

He held her rings in his hand tightly as he heard the front door open and closed quietly before soft footsteps sounded up the stairs.

————————————————————————

(1st person)

I moved as quickly but as quietly as I could up to my room. I was in jeans and one of Damons shirts so I really couldn’t let Klaus see me.

Hurriedly I opened my bedroom door only to come to a standstill. Quite literally everything was on the floor. If I didn’t know what Klaus was like, I’d have thought a hurricane had passed through the room. I stared blankly for a moment before I both heard and sensed his presence from beside me.

“What did you do?” I whisper, staring at all the little things that meant so much to me scattered and broken into pieces.

“I don’t want you seeing him” he told me, his voice firm. My head snapped to his and I felt both anger and sadness swirl inside me.

“You ruined everything I have” I uttered, my voice still barely above a whisper

“You slept with him” he stated his tone cold but his eyes showed hurt and I part of em felt guilt but the other side just wanted to smack him.

“And?” I asked, my volume increasing slightly

“And? And you’re mine. You do not get to sleep around-“

“For crying out loud Klaus! I am not yours!” I yell, pointing my finger at him “And I do not sleep around! I slept with one person”

“I should have stopped you seeing him ages ago, this shouldn’t have happened” he muttered

“You can’t control every aspect of my life Klaus. We are not together anymore. We agreed on this” i whispered, my tone tired.

“We have not agreed on anything! I never wanted this-“

“Klaus we haven’t agreed on something for a good twenty years! It’s why we’re here” I exasperated

“That does not give you the excuse to fuck someone else” he growled and I glared

“Why? Did you plan on fucking me? Because I highly doubt it Klaus. And even if you wanted to, I wouldn’t have your hands anywhere near me now” I retorted.

I knew immediately that he would speed at me and so moved out of the way, he continued to chase me round the house until eventually he had me against the wall. Both of us were panting heavily, my hands pushing at his chest but he kept me caged.

“Get off me!” I cried, kicking my feet at his legs but he only grunted and held me as still as he could. I shoved at his chest with as much strength as I could but it was obvious that I couldn’t overpower a hybrid. He faltered only slightly at the impact before his hands were grabbing my waist to lift me. Without thinking I brought my hand to his face, smacking him as hard as I could manage.

His head cracked to the side and my eyes went wide. Slowly, he turned back to me. His expression was one of surprise as he stared at me. I felt myself grow meek under his gaze and my bottom lip wobbled.

“I’m sorry” I whispered “I didn’t mean to do that- I didn’t…” I felt his hold on me weaken but I didn’t move this time. My hand tingled from where I’d hit him and so did the guilt that pooled in the pit of my stomach.

His arms slipped around me, hugging me to him and I just didn’t know how to react.

I love Klaus. I do, I always will. But I couldn’t just pretend that every bad thing hadn’t happened and fall back into his arms. I wondered if in Klaus’s mind, if he thought that just sleeping with me and telling me that he found me pretty would be enough to fix this marriage. I knew it wasn’t but I worried for what he thought.

Still, I hugged him back gently. By touch reluctant but there. His warmth enveloped me and I felt my eyes water at the once familiar sensation.

“I missed you so dearly” he mumbled, his face lowering to nuzzle the crook of my neck. He pulled away slowly and grabbed my left hand, I looked to him blankly as he slid both rings back onto my finger. “I’m gonna fix everything” he whispered

“Klaus-“ I sighed

“Just let me try” he murmured

“I-“

“Please” he whispered and I sighed softly. Only the lords know whether I was going to make the right decision or not.

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xqueen-of-disasterx · 1 year

Text

Art deco

Artist!Natasha x Fem!reader

TW: smut, legal age gap, fluff, praise kink, degradation (slight), Top!Nat, Bottom!reader, Nat speaking russian, petnames

!Disclaimer English is not my first language so please excuse any grammar or spelling errors!

Word count: 1.6k

Masterlist

I was now living with Natasha Romanoff for nearly a year, and she was still a mystery to me. She was what you would call a real artist. She lived for her art, sometimes I felt like there was nothing more important to her than her art. Luckilyfor me she called me her art. I was her girl, the women she gifted her heart to, her masterpiece, her muse.

The first time we met was because she was searching for a female act model. Her payment was beyond decent, and I was a poor college student who had just hit her twenties. So, I signed up. To be honest I did not expect the artist for who I would be modelling to be so beautiful. Even beautiful wasn't a match for Natasha’s beauty. The first thing I noticed after she had first opened me the door to her big apartment was, how her green eyes were the perfect contrast to her fiery red hair.

She would draw me, touching my skin whenever she was rearranging my pose, I tried to hide my blush whenever she was touching me. But she noticed it, of course she did, she kissed me, and I didn't push her away like I thought would. No, I pulled her closer. I let her devourer me, touch me and fuck me. I should've felt bad, I shouldn't have told her to do the things to me, that she did.

The morning after I still didn't regret it. How could I regret her, when I loved the things, she would whisper to me in that night. When Natasha asked me to take me out a dinner, I said yes. 4 months later she asked me to be her girlfriend and 6 months later I moved in with her and for 5 months she was working on her so-called masterpiece. Something so great that it would overshadow even her most famous works and I wasn't allowed to see it.

I knock at her door "Natasha, you've been in there for twenty hours now. You need to eat something" I pause and sign "I miss you". After a few minutes she opens the door looking at me confused " TWENTY HOURS... lord I totally forgot the time" She strokes her short red hair. She hugs me pulling me closer to her kissing my forehead. "I'm nearly finished, моя любовь. I just need to add my finishing touch." Natasha grabs my cheeks gently stroking it, while making eye contact with me. "I need my muse in it."

I giggle at her words "First of all you need to eat something" I kiss her cheek softly "I made you Pelmeni and Morozhenoe for dessert" I can see her smiling at me while I grab her hand and take her to the kitchen "You're the best girlfriend I could ever imagine, but I would like something else for dessert you know" She smirks at me. "I love you too."

The dinner was more or less quiet from Natasha’s side she let me go on and on listening to me rant about my professors, exams I had do, or how exhausting it was to work at the local dinner. She would listen to me giving me advise sometimes she would even joke.

"Y/N" Natasha let out a sign "You don't need to work that much, I'm rich I can pay off your student loans. I would love to" She was right, somehow Natasha was always right. Maybe it was her age that made her so wise, or she just was an old soul. "I know, Natty, but I just want to have a small bit of independence."

"I just" she takes my hand in hers gently kissing it "I don't like to see you so sad моя любовь, but enough of that" She stands up taking my hand "I want to show you what I'm currently working on" smile at her walking after her following her into her gallery.

She opened the door me making me step into the large room. It had big windows with a high ceiling making the room appear warmer. Finished and half-finished paintings fill not only the Walls but also the ground. Natasha didn't seem like a messy person, but the room contradicted that statement.

"So, where is this, masterpiece" I ask she comes up right behind me kissing my neck "Right to your feet зайчик" I look down seeing the large canvases laying on the ground without the frame "Natasha, why is frame missing?" She laughs pulling the hem of my blouse out my pants before unbuttoning it "I bet you can figure that out with your pretty head дорогой." She groans against my neck before turning me around for her lips to meet mine.

She kisses me passionately and I kiss back with the same passion if not more. Our lips mat like puzzle pieces into each other, like they are meant to be together. Natasha keeps kissing me, pulling me impossibly closer to her. Licking over my lips, asking for permission to enter my mouth, which I didn’t let her have. She groans against my lips.

Her hand travels down my body unzipping my pants before tugging on it pulling off. Before she harshly grabs my ass, squeezing the soft flesh making me moan against her lips. Natasha using this opportunity to slip her tongue into my mouth. We don’t fight for long dominance, I let her have it because I know it would be a losing game.

She trails her kisses down my neck, sucking and biting on it forcing strangled moans from my mouth. “Natasha, please~ touch me” I can practically feel how she smirks against my skin “I am touching you зайчик“. If she keeps calling me nicknames in Russian and I’m going to melt on the spot. I whimper desperately making her smirk only grow wider. Her hands reach to my unhooking my bra pulling it off.

“Lay down for me, моя любовь“ She whispers in my ear biting down on my earlobe making me moan “On~ on the canvas?” I’m breathing heavily at the feeling of her hands kneeling my soft skin “Where else? Like I said, зайчик, I need the finishing touch of my muse”. After her words she keeps kissing my lips helping me lay down on the canvas. The paint under me is cold and in some places still wet.

Her kisses trail my body down, stopping at my breaths. Taking one of my nipples in her mouth, sucking on it. “Fuck Natty” I moan out throwing. My other boob isn’t neglected, Natashas hand kneels it roughly. She kept sucking on my nipple before biting down making me release a pornographic moan. She keeps kissing and sucking on my skin leaving dark marks behind as if she would want to claim me. Show everyone that I was hers.

Slowly she lowers her kisses to my hips, kissing and nibbling on my skin. It feels like I can’t take her teasing anymore I want more and I want it now. “Natty, come on don’t tease me any longer” I whined out hoping I would make have mercy with me. But she just smiles against my skin “You truly are a slut, so desperate for more, while not thanking me for what I give you. I thought you were my good girl.”

I can feel how my face reddens at her comment. “I am so sorry, Natty. Please, please fuck me. I’m going to be good so good for you!” She smirks against my skin, lifting my hips slightly to pull down my panties kissing and sucking dark marks onto my thighs. I try to keep my whimpers quiet but fail miserably. Natasha kisses my clit, flicking her tongue over the nob.

I let out desperate moans, grabbing her red hair pulling her closer to my heat. She groans at the slight pain she was feeling on her scalp. “Shit, Tasha, you’re so good” I moan out as she gives me the best pleasure I could imagine. As she moans at my words I feel it vibrating through my body. She pumps one finger inside of me curling and penetrating my hole. “More” I whimper not being able to form sentences in my state of pure pleasure.

She adds a second finger curling it against my g- spot, I scream out in pleasure repeating her name like a prayer. “Fuck Natasha I’m so close, so close” She smiles and fucks me harder. “Cum for me, зайчик“ I cum right after her words with a loud moan of her name. She climbs up my body again whispering sweat nothings in my high built down. My breathing gets calmer as Natasha pulls her fingers out.

“You are so good, so good for me Y/N” She taps her fingers against my legs signalling me to close my legs around her waist. She stands back up holding me in her arms. Natasha looks back down at the painting, that was now smudged in the bottom half from my body. She smiles at me and kisses my head.

“It’s perfect, зайчик“ She smiles at me “Now lets get you cleaned up”

"I love you"

"I love you too"

#natasha romanoff smut #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x you #black widow x female reader #black widow x y/n #Natasha Romanoff x y/n #black widow imagine

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magicalqueennightmare · 1 year

Text

Challenge Accepted

A night out and a game of truth or dare ends well

Drinking games gone right

Warnings: cursing, mention of sexual themes

No no no. You were not getting roped into this. You moved to stand but Karen stopped you with a look. Why the hell had you come out tonight? Why the hell had Billy found it a good idea to bring a date to Josie's and why the hell had Jessica found it a good idea to suggest your booth play truth or dare in a public bar with a complete stranger sitting between Curtis and Billy, the place usually reserved for you.

At least there were a few additions to your group besides Billy's date Lyla. Jessica, Trish and her cousin Ben joined you all so it was about twelve of you crowded I into the two booths. You cut your eyes at Karen who smiled "It'll be fun and nothing too wild" you scoffed "Jessica suggested it. How is it not gonna be wild?" Trish laughed "I'll keep her on the timid side. I promise"

Billy met your eyes despite the brunette who seemed to be surgically attached to his side "Scared Y/N?" You felt a flicker of anger at the challenge in his words "Of course not. I'm in" you hated how those dark brown eyes made your stomach flip or how you knew what it felt like when he hugged you. You hated how much you missed the smell of his cologne when normally you'd leave Josies smelling like it because he'd dance with you or just follow you to the bar standing close while you ordered. You hated being so damn close to him but having to keep him at arms reach at the same time to protect your heart.

"Ok, should we draw straws or rock, paper, scissors?" Trish asked so Frank shrugged "Let Matt pick. He already said he don't want to play" Matt shrugged and picked one of you at random. Lyla sighed loudly before pulling out her phone to start texting. So much for wanting to be involved with Billy's friends as she said was her intentions for the night.

You laughed as Ben and Foggy finished their dance and retook their seats. So far everyone had drank enough to be willing to do the tasks at hand. You were waiting for it to land on you, muttering under your breath each time "Please not me yet" and knew Matt heard.

It was down to you or Billy because Lyla had announced loudly "She wasn't playing any childish games" so Matt picked you. Trish leaned her head in with Karen and Jessica before saying "Truth or dare Y/N" you took a sip of your drink then shrugged "Dare?"

Jessica grinned "I dare ya to kiss the person here that you've known the longest" you stood then walked around to where Frank sat and placed a kiss to his cheek. Jessica groaned "I forgot he was who you've known longest!" Everyone cracked up laughing when you shrugged "That was probably the lamest challenge yet" she nodded "I got your ass the next round"

---------

Her eyes sat on Billy but before she could ask Lyla tugged his arm "I wanna leave. This is boring" you couldn't bit your tongue any longer. You didn't give a damn if she was with Billy, hell you'd seen him parade plenty of women around enough it didn't bother you any more.

The point was she had complained four times about Josies not being "high end" enough and now she was calling your friends boring? "You're a bitch and the only thing stopping me from slapping some manners into you is the fact that Curtis and Matt would probably stop me"

You looked at Billy "Get your date before I do" "Excuse me!" She gasped and you made a move towards her but Jessica grabbed your arm "Not worth it!" Billy stood to let her out the booth and said something to Frank before following her outside.

You looked back at Jessica who had effectively pulled you into her lap "Who's next?"

Billy watched Lylas taillights disappear. She'd actually had the audacity to tell him to pick between you and her. He'd nearly laughed in her face. No one would get picked before you. You were his best friend next to Frank. You and him spent most of your free time.

He couldn't imagine his life without you in it and the only reason he dated women like Lyla was because he didn't want to fuck up your friendship by pursing you romantically.

He had feelings for you and fuck knowing what it felt to wake up with you in his arms messed with his head at times but he wouldn't risk one of the most important relationships he had. No, he'd just keep going the way he had and hope he could bury the feelings deep enough.

----------

Billy walked back into the bar and by the time he got almost back to the booth your laughter hit his ears. The sight he was met with didn't quite set well with him. From the looks of it Ben was giving you a lap dance?

You were laughing and so was Ben so it wasn't like it was serious, more light hearted like everything other task but seeing Ben that close to you? Seeing you touch Ben? He could feel his jaw tense even as he reclaimed his seat and yours and Ben's little show was over.

---------

You took your seat back but Billy met your eyes and glanced next to him "Your usual seat is open" you shrugged "This one works" he nodded seeing the anger in your eyes. He'd hit a nerve bringing Lyla, didn't he?

Was that why you were showing Ben interest? If you were jealous did that mean you wanted him too? He held your eyes for a moment before saying "Jess I missed my turn"

----------

Jessica laughed "Ok Russo. Truth or dare" "Dare" he answered with a smirk. Jessica motioned to Trish and Karen. You watched the three curiously before Trish said "Dare you to kiss someone in this bar within the next five minutes" he nodded "My choice?" Karen shrugged "As long as they're willing"

----------

Great, you thought to yourself. Now you had to watch Billy kiss some random person. He stood up and smoothed his jacket before saying "Set the timer"

He stopped next to Ben "Can you move for one second man?:" Ben looked a bit confused but slid out the booth nonetheless. Billy reached for your leg and you felt your heart flip. Despite the urge to snatch away you let him pull you to the edge of the booth.

You looked up at him, feeling everyone watching but it may as well only been you and him. "Y/N, can I kiss you?" You shrugged "If you want to" you didn't want to seem too eager but you were barely hiding your nerves. He gripped the side of your face and before you knew it his lips were on yours. You felt his tongue flicking against your lips so you gave him access, almost moaning at the feeling of him deepening the kiss. His tongue exploring your mouth and swallowing the sigh that escaped you.

When he pulled away you both stared at each other for a heartbeat before you said "Um we need to talk" no one out of your group said a word but you could hear them whispering the moment they thought you and him were out of earshot.

You walked into the cool night air and spun around to face Billy "What the hell was that?" He shrugged "Not like you didn't kiss me back darling" you felt your cheeks warm "Not the point!"

He walked closer to you and it took everything you had to not take a step back "Wanna know what I think?" You waved a hand "Might as well"

He reached for your hip and you let him pull you closer, putting a hand up against his chest to keep some distance despite being in his arms. You looked up at him and he smiled, slipping his other hand at the base of your neck effectively holding you in place.

You swallowed hard past the fire that shot straight to your core at the action "I think you have hated everyone one I've been with, same as I have hated every man you've been. I think no one on this earth knows us the way we know each other. I think that we've both been holding back on how we feel and I think if I got just one chance to have you in my bed I'd never let you leave. Am I right or just reading everything wrong here?"

You shook your head "I want you Billy" he tilted his head slightly "For a night or for good? I mean I'm not going to tell you no either way" "I want you for good" you whispered, closing your eyes. "Thank god" he muttered and your eyes flew open to see that damn smile on his lips "What?"

He grinned "I was hoping you'd say that. Now can we go to my place?" You shrugged "Depends?" "On what?" He asked "Are you sure you want me?" He chuckled darkly, letting his eyes roam across your body "Give me tonight and if you're not sure how much I want you come morning I will give you my damn wraith" "Challenge accepted Russo" you breathed before pulling him down into another kiss.

#au billy russo #billy russo fanfic #billy russo x reader #billy russo x you #billy russo x y/n

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xerith-42 · 5 months

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Minecraft Diaries Musicians

I have so many things to say about this!! In the show there's like a lot of characters who are musically inclined, but the series never does anything with it! We know bards exist in Ru'aun, but we literally never see one what the fuck!!

I want Vylad only ever lowering their scarf to play the ocarina when there's a quiet moment. Give me Brendan trying to romance women with his basic guitar skills and it finally works on Issa because she finds him adorkably charming. When Aaron is looking after the kids, he can get them to settle down by playing guitar.

Those are the canon characters who can play instruments, but I want MORE

-Zoey playing the harp and knowing strange and mystical tunes on it that she uses to draw people to her business (remember when Zoey was a merchant?)

-Travis knows how to play the lute and has his own style of music he learned in Gal'ruk, and he loves exploring the differences between the regions music and wonders if places like Tu'la also have a distinctive sound to them.

-Fiddle player Nana when? Playing songs for her dolls to dance along to to entertain guests? Dancing around with her husband while she plays them a little ditty??

-Aaron comes to understand others not by talking to them, but because he's sitting around the campfire and suddenly Travis starts asking him if they know any songs in common, and Vylad joins the two of them when he hears them playing together.

-I want Laurance playing the lyre during downtime and trying to romance Aph and Garroth with it even if he's just a little terrible at it sometimes!! He's trying his best!

-Cadenza really loves dancing, she likes making skirts that flow around while she's dancing, and she loves dancing to Laurance's playing when he's learning.

-Aph doesn't really have the spare time to learn an instrument, but when Garroth hears her singing to herself, he tells her that she should sing more. She's really hesitant at first, but others often sing along with her and she comes to love the sound of singing with others. I also like to think she sings lullabies to Levin and any of her other kids.

-Malachi teaching himself how to read and write music so he can transcribe Levin's music box into a melody others can play, and maybe even write lyrics to go along with it. Because he wants to hear his mother sing along to it.

-Literally forgot about it until now, Logan can play guitar! What if he was a grouchy old man but when his kids need to be put to bed he played them a very gentle lullaby. And you saw the wrinkles on his cheeks turn into smile lines when he can see them all start to doze off. And he was just happy. What if.

-And let characters play songs together!! Vylad's trying to calm Laurance down after he nearly loses control, so they whip out the ocarina and the lyre and the two of them just play together on the beach for a while.

-Aaron struggles to connect to people, but when Travis very earnestly asks Aaron if they can teach each other songs from their separate regions and he doesn't know how to say no to that. The two of them end up bonding over a shared love for this form of self expression. Aaron rather suddenly admits to Travis one day when he's playing a melody that he used to play songs for his wife and his son, that his wife played the violin with him sometimes, that his son was learning to play guitar. Aaron actually of his own volition tells someone about the past he has been running from for about twenty years.

-If I keep going with this I will just start ranting about how I would rewrite Aaron which is not the point of this post

-What I'm trying to say is that music is one of the oldest and most universal forms of expression. We MCD fans already have breakdowns over Flowers on the Battlefield, but imagine if that was a song someone played in universe!!! Imagine if it was a song composed by someone in universe, or a melody that just came to be associated with this group! What if it was literally their in universe theme, that would be amazing!!!

-There is literally no bad ideas that can come from exploring this possibility, like I keep trying to end this post but then I come up with a new idea--

-Like the idea of Zoey and Aph singing to their kids together!! When Levin has bad dreams one of the best things that can comfort him is his music box, but he honestly feels safer hearing the sound of his mothers voice and a gentle harp, even if he doesn't fully remember why.

-Okay this post needs to be over I am actually going insane

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heyiwrotesomethings · 1 year

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She’s The Housekeeper Prt8: Penguin Park

Yor Briar/ Forger x She/ Her Reader

A/N: Prt7 Prt9 Here is the big chapter! I’m planning to do at least one more chapter to bring in Bond but after that I think I’ll be done with this story. I hope you all like this chapter! Thank you for reading! Word Count: 4,515

Another night filled with assignments.

Loid could hardly make it into the apartment building, he was that tired. For as much as HQ wanted him to continue this perfect family charade, they were not making it very easy for him to do so.

As he shuffled into the apartment complex, his ears perked up when he heard voices further down the hall. It was the neighbors again, and what they were saying stopped him cold in his tracks.

“That man from across the hall is working late again I see.” One snidely remarked, earning a round of acknowledging huffs from the other women.

“That poor little girl must feel so neglected. I rarely see the three of them together.”

“Yes, and don’t even get me started on the live-in housekeeper!”

All the women voiced exasperated sounds of agreement before diving in on the topic anyway. Loid stuck close to the wall and continued to listen in.

“So he’s definitely having an affair with her, right?”

Loid nearly choked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. He seems the type. With how often he’s out god-knows-where, he’s probably got a handful of mistresses to hop between.

Hardly. Loid’s eye twitched and he rubbed at his face while still listening to the assassination of his character, and then (Y/n)’s as well.

“She is so antisocial!” One piped up, “She seems like a nice young woman on the surface, but whenever I offer to introduce her to the strapping young men in my family, she turns up her nose. Seems she only has an eye for married men who can fill her bank account.”

Loid covered his mouth in surprise. These women were ruthless in their gossip. If (Y/n) had heard any of this, he could only imagine how furious she would be, not to mention how Yor would feel as well. Even he was beyond offended on her behalf, but he couldn’t exactly cut in and tell them off, that would probably do more harm than good.

“Maybe he lost his job and he’s too embarrassed to go home?” Another speculated, “Can’t bear to face his heartbroken wife and money grubbing mistress without a paycheck.”

Loid’s hands fell to his sides in fists. He had been careless it seemed. He had been so busy with his other missions, that he had neglected his role here, and now rumors were flying like crazy. He’d have to do something about that, and soon. If it blew into some bigger conspiracy that got to the school, he hated to think how that would affect Anya.

Of course Anya knew that their family was… unconventional, she seemed to know that she probably shouldn’t call (Y/n) mama in public, even if she forgot at times. Loid could only imagine how the high society parents would object and cause a scene and how cruel their children could be as well once they heard... Loid couldn’t let Anya be exposed to such bigoted attitudes.

He slunk back from the hall and ran swiftly up the stairs to their apartment door, startling the trio coloring in the living room with his hasty entrance.

“We’re going out next weekend!” He declared, then directed his attention to Anya, “Where do you want to go?”

“Uh, Loid? You should sit down. You look ill.” (Y/n) suggested.

“Yes, you should get some rest.” Yor agreed.

“Ah, is that a penguin?” Loid asked, ignoring the two women to observe Anya’s drawing, “Let’s go to the aquarium then!”

(Y/n) and Yor shared a puzzled look, before Yor addressed Loid again.

“Not that I wouldn’t enjoy an outing, but what is this about?”

“We need to do everything we can to keep looking like a normal, happy family to keep up the appearances of our pretend marriage. An outing is just what we need.”

“Anya’s excited!”

“Then it’s settled.” Loid nodded with a smile.

The evening was mostly normal from there, until Anya was put to bed. Loid was honestly a bit fearful about explaining to Yor and (Y/n) what he had heard (minimal details of course), but even more so he was afraid of what he needed to ask of (Y/n) during that outing.

“Are you serious?” (Y/n) spoke tightly, her tone unusually high, “They really think you and I—?!”

“That is what I heard.” Loid affirmed, interlacing his fingers and rubbing his thumbs together.

“An affair! I can’t believe it!” She quietly screamed while Yor blinked owlishly at her side, still processing the accusation.

“They couldn’t be more wrong! …Well, actually, they are kind of right… but they’ve put together the wrong people!” (Y/n) ranted as she paced the room. She crossed her arms and turned on her heel to stalk towards Loid.

“So this is what the outing is for, right? For you three to go out and look like the perfect family to make them think we aren’t being… intimate?” (Y/n) shuddered at the word in that context.

“Yes, but… (Y/n), I was hoping you would come too.”

“That would look bad one hundred percent, Loid.” (Y/n) shook her head. “Or if you think you’ll ease suspicion by having me dressed up in that stupid uniform while I haul your souvenirs behind you all day, you can go—“

“No, no, of course that’s not what I’m suggesting, but what I am asking you to do won’t be easy nevertheless.”

“What is it?” Yor tentatively asked.

Loid sighed, and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Remember my friend, Franky?”

“Yeah, what about him?” (Y/n) asked warily.

“Could you please pretend to be on a date with him when we go to the aquarium?”

Yor’s mouth fell open in surprise, nearly breaking her neck with how fast she turned to look at (Y/n) and Loid braced himself for yelling, but (Y/n) was deathly quiet, expressionless. Somehow that was worse.

(Y/n) took in a few deep breaths through her nose, releasing one long, final breath before looking back to Loid with irritated and tired eyes.

“He knows it’s just pretend, right?”

“Of course.”

“And how long do we have to keep it up?”

“It will be most important to time an introduction with some of the neighbors in the hallway before we leave, after that, you two can treat it like any casual outing once we are there. We may have to plan similar outings in the future though…”

Yor’s head whipped back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. (Y/n) wasn’t really agreeing to having a fake boyfriend, was she? Rationally, Yor knew that if Loid was suggesting it, it was probably necessary, and it wasn’t like the relationship would be any more real than her fake marriage, but the idea of her partner going on a date with someone else made her feel the need to snap some bones to fight off the uncomfortable burning in her chest.

“I swear this just keeps getting more and more convoluted.” (Y/n) groaned, sitting down hard on the couch beside Yor who watched her intently, “I trust that you wouldn’t be bringing this up if you had any other options, so I’ll do it, but I swear Loid, if this lie keeps evolving like this I can’t imagine we will be able to keep up with it for very long.”

“I know.” Loid nodded solemnly.

“Um,” Yor cleared her throat, grasping at (Y/n)’s sleeve, “are you sure you want to do this, darling? I’m sure we could find another way.”

“As long as those old biddies see me as some untethered, marriage killing floozy, there really isn’t anything else we can do. As long as they think there is an affair going on, our family image will continue to appear tarnished.”

Yor frowned, sucking in her lower lip. (Y/n) stroked her hand comfortingly.

“It’ll be no different from the pretend marriage you and Loid have. You don’t have to look so concerned.” She promised, trying to ease Yor’s mind with a smile.

But it would be different. Yor didn’t think she could handle being in the position that (Y/n) had been in ever since this pretend marriage began. Watching on as her lover walked beside someone else, holding their hand... the burning in Yor’s chest grew hotter. (Y/n) was far stronger than her when it came to these things it would seem.

“If you’re certain.” Yor murmured.

(Y/n) squeezed Yor’s hand and brought her attention back to Loid.

“We’re going to need a story.”

“Right.”

***

“Loid, are you sick?”

“Maybe we should postpone?” Yor asked, ashamedly hopeful.

Loid shook his head as he fumbled with his sunglasses. He wasn’t sick, just severely sleep deprived from speeding through all of his missions that week to make this work. He couldn’t back out now. Especially not when Anya was so excited.

“I’m perfectly fine,” he said, staring down hard at his watch. He wiped his sleeve over the face to clean what he thought must have been a smudge, but it was still blurry. Nevermind, Franky would probably be up to meet them soon and he could already hear the neighbors gossiping in the hall so it was go time.

“Fall out, Forgers’,” he ordered, grasping the doorknob successfully on the second try and opening the door to let Anya run excitedly into the hall with Yor and (Y/n) following after her.

“Oh, Forgers’!” One of the neighbors blinked in surprise at seeing the family together, then her eyes found (Y/n) in her casual wear. She gave (Y/n) a tight smile, “And Ms. (L/n), of course.”

“Good morning,” (Y/n) waved, smile just as insincere.

“It’s rare to see you all together. What is the occasion?” One of the other neighbors asked.

“We’re going to the aquarium.” Loid shared.

“Oh, all of you?” The woman asked, side-eying (Y/n).

“Miss Anya insisted,” (Y/n) chuckled politely, “I couldn’t refuse, especially once my boyfriend caught wind of the idea. Ah, here he comes now.”

“Hello, my darling! Ah, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

Everyone followed (Y/n)’s gaze to Franky as he strode up the hallway towards them with a big smile on his face.

“Oh stop it, you just saw me yesterday.” (Y/n) said with faux embarrassment.

It was true, they had seen each other yesterday, and just about every day that week to get their story straight for today. (Y/n) had dreaded it initially, but Franky was easy to get along with, a bit of a scamp, but a good guy.

“You know me,” Franky grinned cheekily, kissing the back of (Y/n)’s hand, “even a minute without you is a minute too long.” He winked.

(Y/n) smiled wryly in response before sharing her well-crafted and practiced introductions. Easily meeting every prying question with tactful responses, sometimes letting Franky take the reins as well to really send the message home that they were definitely a couple.

They had decided they had been together for a year and a half, a long distance relationship because of Franky’s job. Hence why he wasn’t around. Not to mention how unprofessional it would be for (Y/n) to have her boyfriend over while she worked. The neighbors ate up the simple reserved, responsible young woman act she peddled with a spoon. She could see their view of her slowly change before her eyes.

“Oh dear, why didn’t you say you were being courted by this sweet man before?”

Ah yes, (Y/n) didn’t forget about Mrs. Matchmaker, who apparently decided awhile ago that, ‘No thank you, I’m not looking for a relationship,’ translated to, ‘I’m having too much fun chasing after a married man to meet your stupid nephew.’.

“My (Y/n) can be so shy, it’s incredible,” Franky chuckled while (Y/n) hid half of her face behind her hand and adverted her eyes, “she gets so nervous around people sometimes that she probably didn’t even think to mention me. Don’t worry, dear. I’m not hurt.”

“Franky!” (Y/n) quietly admonished, turning away.

She heard the neighbor women chuckle knowingly and rolled her eyes hard at the wall. If being a corpse cleaner stopped paying, perhaps she could try her hand at acting.

“As entertaining as this is, we had better be on our way,” Loid said, sensing it was a good time to wrap up, “good seeing you.”

“Oh yes, have a good day then.”

“Say hello to the penguins for me, little Miss Anya.”

“Good talking with you all.”

“Oh we nailed that.” (Y/n) smiled smugly as soon as they all piled into the car. Loid and Franky in the front while she, Yor and Anya sat in the back.

“You almost even had me convinced.” Franky turned to face her with a grin. “You sure you don’t want to have a nice, romantic dinner with me?”

“Pfft, yeah I’m busy that day.”

“I didn’t even say when!”

“Mhm, as I said. Busy.” (Y/n) laughed, Franky pouted but joined in soon after.

Yor’s smile was stiff as she tried to busy herself by looking out the window. Try as she might to remind herself that their relationship was an act, it still worried her that (Y/n) and Franky seemed to get along despite the circumstances. The sooner they could go back to their normal routine, the better, but she would still try to enjoy the day and not think about feeding Franky to the crabs and other bottom feeders piece by piece for placing his lips even just against the skin of (Y/n)’s hand. She didn’t know how (Y/n) made it until Yuri crossed the line before breaking down.

Loid parked near the subway station and everyone piled out of the car. While they waited for the train to pull into the station, Loid took drink requests and Franky went with him to be an extra pair of hands.

Yor watched fondly as (Y/n) and Anya guessed what kind of animals they would see. Her momentary mental tranquility was quickly brought down as the men made their return.

“M’lady,” Franky bowed, presenting (Y/n) with her drink.

“Thank you, my good sir.” (Y/n) gave a mock curtesy in return.

When it came time to board the train, Yor couldn’t help but maneuver in such a way that guaranteed the spot in the booth beside (Y/n), leaving as little space between them as possible.

“How are you holding up?” (Y/n) whispered.

“Hm?” Yor feigned ignorance, but she wasn’t fooling her partner in the slightest.

“Hey,” (Y/n) whispered under her breath, though Loid, Franky and Anya were well engrossed in their penguin talk and no one else in the subway car seemed to be paying them any mind, “I love you, you know.”

“I know…” Yor worried the hem of her sleeve between her fingers.

“Try to enjoy the aquarium. Then we can cuddle up with some hot cocoa when we get home.”

Yor managed a small smile and nodded. She did like the sound of that. Loid did say the hard part was behind them since they put on their show for the neighbors. Now they could just relax and enjoy the day.

Unfortunately, none of them had foreseen running into more of their nosey neighbors at the aquarium.

“Oh Forgers and…?”

(Y/n) sighed inwardly and stepped up beside Franky to make introductions again. Once everyone was aquatinted, Loid clapped his hands together, ready to move on from the other group and get to his mission, but Yor spoke up instead.

“Why don’t you join us? The more the merrier, right?”

(Y/n) and Loid only just barely managed to hide their shock and disbelief while the neighbors eagerly agreed to the plan. This was the last thing Yor wanted to do, believe her, but if they needed more opportunities to present themselves like a real family to get these people off of their backs, then so be it. If they needed to appear normal, they needed to be more chummy with their neighbors in situations like this, even if that meant…

“Let’s go look at the penguins, my dear. I know how much you love them!” Franky beamed, interlocking his elbow with (Y/n)’s.

Yor’s smile twitched. Franky was much too eager to continue the charade for her liking.

“Yes, starting with the penguins sounds perfect. Is that alright with everyone?” Loid asked, receiving murmured approvals in reply.

Yor could at least take solace in how much Anya was enjoying herself. However, it didn’t take very long before Loid said he needed to get more drinks and left. Then Franky slapped his hands against the enclosure guardrail.

“I got it! (Y/n), come with me!”

“Huh? But—“

Franky pulled (Y/n) away and the neighbors chuckled at their antics while Yor bared down harder on the guard rail to try to keep her sudden bloodlust at bay. Where was Franky taking her (Y/n)? Why was Loid so thirsty today? And where was Anya going—

And where was Anya going?

“Miss Anya, wait!”

But she had already disappeared into the crowd. Yor turned her head every which way, looking for any of the other adults

who were supposed to be responsible for this child along with her, but saw none of them. It looked like she was on her own.

“Excuse me,” she chuckled awkwardly, leaving the neighbors behind. Hopefully this wouldn’t reflect too badly on them.

Meanwhile, (Y/n) watched on as Franky tried name after name to win a giant penguin plush. After the next failed attempt left the man with his head in his hands (Y/n) chimed in,

“Why are you doing this anyway?”

“Why am I doing this? (Y/n), don’t you know how dates are supposed to go? If I win this thing and give it to you, that’s like, a bazillion happily dating couple points!”

“I don’t think we need to worry about it that much. We’ve already done a pretty convincing job. Just breaking off from the group like this is probably filling their heads with all kinds of ideas.” (Y/n) tried not to think too hard on that.

Also, (Y/n) actually wanted to enjoy all of what the aquarium had to offer. Anya looked so cute running around to visit all of the exhibits. She wanted to be a part of that, not be stuck at this booth all day.

Another wrong guess, she sighed inwardly and gave Franky a sympathetic shrug which was met with gearing up for another guessing attempt. She hoped Yor was enjoying herself at least. Hopefully Loid didn’t take to long getting back so he could distract her from her absence.

Yor was not enjoying herself, but she wasn’t worried about (Y/n) at that moment either.

“Miss Anya? Where did you go, Miss Anya?” Yor called out in between asking passers by if they had seen a little pink-haired girl.

Oh dear, where did she go? When was Loid going to come back? Why did Franky have to steal (Y/n) away? She needed help!

“Mama!”

Yor perked up and turned around. Immediate relief washed over her as Anya come into view in another hallway. That relief was quickly replaced with concern once she saw she was on the coattails of a stranger. Anya hastily yelled,

“Mama, I’m being kidnapped!”

Yor’s expression became steely as she began her pursuit. She caught up quickly and spun Anya into her protective embrace with dizzying speed. Glaring hard at the man, her foot found home under his jaw.

“What are you are doing to my daughter?!” She yelled, the force she exerted rocketed him through a ceiling tile, lodging his head within, his legs still dangling in plain view.

“Wow.” Anya blinked, watching the man’s legs sway.

‘Oh no, I definitely over did it! I hope he’s not dead!’ Yor whined to herself.

She would need to find (Y/n) to help her take care of the corpse if that was the case. At least then they could be alone together.

“Are you alright, Miss Anya?”

“Mhm, thank you mama.” This would definitely help Anya’s papa with his mission.

“Ahhh, you had me so worried,” Yor sighed, resting her head atop Anya’s while she held her in her arms, “Let’s get back to the group now.”

“Okay mama.”

Yor was disappointed to see that (Y/n) had yet to return and surprisingly, neither had Loid. She put on the most convincing smile she could and apologized to the neighbors for the Forgers’ sudden scattering.

“Oh don’t worry about it dear.” One of the older women assured.

“It can’t be easy raising a little one. Especially when your husband hasn’t come back at all yet… he must be cheating on you. Who takes this long to get a drink?”

“How awful.” The other agreed.

“Um,” Yor felt strangely guilty that Loid was the one under all of this scrutiny when she was the one technically having an affair, “That’s not…“

“Yor, sorry I took so long.”

Everyone turned to see Loid walking up with a giant stuffed penguin in his arms, and a bitter looking Franky and a bored (Y/n) flanking him as they walked up.

“Taadaaa.” Loid smiled, presenting the plush to Anya.

“Penguin!” Anya joyously cheered, hugging the penguin that was twice her size.

“Wow, so cute! Where did you get that?” Yor asked.

“It was a prize from a penguin guessing game. Once I saw it, I knew I had to win it for Anya. I played over and over until I got it right. I lost track of the time though, sorry I was gone so long,” he added sheepishly.

Everyone else ate that up, except for Anya of course and then Franky further distracted from the group’s previous topic by adding his grievances.

“I can’t believe while I was working so hard to win that penguin for my lady, you were standing somewhere amongst the crowd, waiting to take away all my glory!”

“Miss Anya will take better care of that penguin than I ever could.” (Y/n) assured. She only wished Loid could have guessed correctly faster to save her from standing in place. She watched the nearby tropical fish exhibit for so long, she could probably draw out a prefect replica.

“Wow, you’re a better father than I thought.” One of the women blinked, mildly impressed.

“Oh, thank you.” Loid smiled.

‘I wouldn’t thank someone for a “complement” like that.’ (Y/n) thought to herself as she bit her tongue in an effort to keep any snark she held to herself. She turned to watch Yor and Anya play with the stuffed penguin and felt more at peace.

“I’m just a simple father trying to keep my footing as I protect my happy little family.” Loid spoke tenderly, working his magic on the middle-aged women.

Looks like today had worked out after all.

“Let’s go see the dolphin show!” Anya was already lugging the penguin towards the exhibit.

“Good idea!” (Y/n) agreed, happy to finally see more of what the aquarium had to offer.

“Come on, Forger! Speed it up!” Franky teased, fully aware of the antics Loid had been up to all day.

“Can we slow down a bit maybe?” Loid asked. The poor man was crashing faster than an airplane out of fuel.

Still, he wouldn’t trade this moment of peace for anything in the world. He’d enjoy every second of it.

***

Anya was enjoying her morning after her busy day at the aquarium yesterday, by showing her penguin around their ‘hideout’.

“This is agent papa, he can do anything.” She explained to the penguin as she moved around the living room.

“And this is agent mama, she’s super strong, but bad at everything else.”

“Am I that much of a failure?” Yor bemoaned.

“Of course not darling, you are good at plenty of things.” (Y/n) assured as she prepared breakfast in the kitchen.

“And that is agent mama, not to be confused with other agent mama, she keeps the hideout squeaky clean and makes the yummiest food. The three of them together are Anya’s most trusted lackeys.” Anya nodded to herself, a pleased smile upon her lips. Then she continued on her path, dragging the penguin behind her.

She was running out of places to visit. She knew she shouldn’t be in their rooms without permission… but it was much too tempting for the little girl.

“The most top-secret rooms of the hideout. Papa and the mamas’ rooms.”

What wonders could she stumble upon in her spy father’s room or her assassin mother’s room? Special knives? Bombs? Acid? Her fingers barely touched the door knob before she was quickly pulled away, feet dangling off of the ground.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Loid yelled, more so out of worry for Anya’s well-being than anger. He had a lot of dangerous things in his room after all.

“How many times do I have to tell you to not go in my room without permission?”

The combination of the surprise of being grabbed and the tone of Loid’s voice caused Anya to burst into tears.

“I— Anya, don’t cry. There’s dangerous things like scissors and heaters in there and I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Loid spoke more softly.

“Yes, you shouldn’t go into mine and (Y/n)’s room either.” Yor added gently. Too many needles and poisons, acids and cleaners. They could probably blow up the whole apartment building if they weren’t stored properly.

“Papa and mama, I hate you both!” Anya wailed, running to the kitchen and hoping for a bit of sympathy from (Y/n). Unfortunately, (Y/n) was in the middle of carrying a scalding hot pan to the plates as Anya ran into her thighs at full speed.

Thankfully, (Y/n)’s grip and balance stayed firm, but the scare of almost dumping hot food and oil over the little girl lead (Y/n) to shout,

“Miss Anya! No running in the kitchen, I could have seriously hurt you!” She scolded.

“Anya hates mama too!” Anya bawled, “Anya’s going to run away from home!”

The three adults jolted as if they had been struck by lightning, each feeling more awful the longer Anya cried. (Y/n) tried to console, but Anya kept crying until Loid picked up the Penguin and hid his flushed face in its soft back.

“A-agent Anya, there’s no time for crying. World peace is on the line!” Loid said, speaking in a higher tone that would have had (Y/n) struggling not to laugh if Anya hadn’t just said she hated her twenty seconds ago.

(Y/n) saw Yor grab a robot and followed suit by grabbing Anya’s pink chimera plush.

“L-let’s wrap up the hideout tour and go on our next mission.”

“Yes, let’s go beat the bad guys!” Robot Yor agreed.

“We’ll teach them not to mess with us!” Chimera (Y/n) chimed in.

Anya sniffled, but that seemed to have appeased her. She wiped her nose and commanded the three of them to follow her lead to the candy store.

It was a rather embarrassing outing for Loid, Yor and (Y/n), but to see Anya smile and laugh so happily, it made having to go out in public with toys over their faces and silly voices leading to giggling strangers worth it.

#spy family x reader #spy x family x reader #yor briar x reader #yor forger x reader #yor x reader #yor briar #yor forger

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blurscolours · 1 year

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The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea | Part Eleven

Masterlist

Summary: An attack on Arthur’s imprisoned brother Orm leaves him with no choice but to rely upon you, a friend made due to unfortunate circumstances nearly a decade ago, to provide safe haven while he restores peace to Atlantis. Suddenly tasked with sheltering a sullen former king results in a very different summer vacation than you had originally envisioned, but changes both of your lives forever.

Warnings: Menstruation, Discussion of Societal Expectations of Women, Orm is Surprisingly a Feminist, Mature/Explicit Themes [manual stimulation - f receiving, unprotected sex, vaginal penetration, multiple orgasms, hormone related sensitivity] - 18+ only.

Word Count: 2282

It happened every month, consistent and predictable, and yet the onset somehow managed to bewilder you time after time. As your eyes opened that morning you immediately understood why your lower back hurt. You swore softly under you breath as you could feel the blood between your legs and tried to slide out of the unprotected sheets.

He lifted his head at your expletive, eyes immediately focused and prepared for the worst. He blinked as he caught a glimpse of the blood on your sleep shorts as you managed to get to your feet.

“You’re hurt.” He sat up quickly.

You blinked and then shook your head. “Oh, no that’s normal…I just totally forgot it was time for it to happen. I’ll be right back.” You felt him relax under your lips as you pressed a kiss to his forehead and went to the bathroom to grab some sanitary products. You changed your shorts and got the dirty ones soaking in cold water to draw out the blood. You came back to bed and pulled the covers back fully, inspecting the top and bottom sheets and exhaling in relief as you had thankfully managed to not mark them.

“Sorry I woke you up like that.” You apologized and slid back into bed with him quickly; the cottage had cooled off substantial overnight.

His arms wrapped around you, and he shook his head seemingly lost in thought.

“For all our biological differences, the similarities are truly telling.” He spoke into the comfortable silence.

“Well, as your mother was able to conceive Arthur…humans and Atlanteans must be quite closely related.”

“Mmmm…Well we were technically human, I suppose, before the Great Fall…that changed everything.”

You nodded against his shoulder feeling the usual fatigue now that you had been up and about. You could feel his eyes on you as he was watching you closely. You offered a reassuring smile.

“Are you ready for breakfast?” You asked, sitting up.

He nodded slowly. “I believe so, yes. I will join you in having some eggs.”

You smiled more and slid out of the bed again, heading to your room to get dressed in something with more fabric to compensate for the cooler temperatures. You squinted an eye shut while brushing your teeth – oh yes – there were the cramps. You fished some pain killers out of the cupboard and took them before heading to the kitchen to cook with him.

As you were eating you found yourself starting off into space a lot, the sudden drop in hormones was such a drain on your energy. He was watchful but remained silent as you cleaned up together.

“We should finish chopping that wood today. I’ll show you how to make sticks of kindling so we can start fires more easily.”

He nodded and the two of you headed outside into the clear, comfortable day. You grabbed the large axe for him, and the gloves and a hatchet for you. He took the axe and continued to quarter the logs as you carried them into the well stocked woodshed. You were actually grateful he had not found more trees, there would have been nowhere to store the wood.

You grabbed a few example pieces of kindling and handed them to him once the wood was all neatly stacked.

“This is what we’re going to make next. It’s much easier to light something small like this on fire, before adding the bigger logs once the flames are hot enough.”

He examined them critically before watching you demonstrate how to split the small pieces off a larger piece of wood. Your hand was a lot closer to the head of the hatchet to better control your swings, and you were not using as much force. He took the hatchet from you and after a few tries was easily replicating the tidy pieces of kindling. You scooped the pile that had accumulated as he switched to a new piece of wood, tucking them away in an orderly fashion.

You returned to watch a new pile growing at his feet, risking a stretch of your aching back, your lower abdomen making you wince and press a hand to try and soothe the ache of your cramps.

“You’re in pain.” He commented and you lifted your head to see that he had been watching closely. “Why are you working if you’re in pain?”

You swallowed and shrugged a little. “If women stopped working whenever they were in pain…” You trailed off as he looked non-plussed. “Society expects it of us…expects our contributions despite the monthly discomfort.” You did not have to energy to sugar coat it.

He set down the hatchet and shook his head.

“Well, I do not…what helps?” He said firmly.

Sighing in defeat you grudgingly admitted “Rest and painkillers…heat…time… I’ll be fine we’re almost done.”

Wordlessly, he took your hand in his and pulled you towards the cabin.

“Where would you like to rest?” The rest was not a question, simply the location.

“Uh…I guess the living room? I’ll watch something on TV.” Reading didn’t hold the same attraction for you today.

He led you inside and you settled on the couch there.

“I will finish making kindling of the wood you set out for me. Is there anything else you need until then?”

You shook your head, more than a little stunned at how…forcefully caring… he was acting. The words would not normally belong with one another, but they were a perfect description of his behaviour. You heard the door close as he headed back outside and pulled out your phone to stream something mindless on the television.

As the episode was coming to an end, you heard him return to the house and he sat at your feet, eyeing the content on the screen.

“Why don’t I put on something you would enjoy as well…” You scrolled through some of the offerings, thinking about the topics he’d seemed most interested in over the last few weeks. He had been particularly fascinated by the war in Vietnam – a war of futility that had not ended well for a world super-power. One that was a source of shame and not discussed again until decades later. That settled it. You pulled up the Ken Burn’s series on Vietnam and set the first episode to play.

He was quickly absorbed in the immersive documentary and settled onto the couch with you. Rather than pulling him into your arms, you shifted to lean against him, and he wrapped his arms around you warmly. Despite your own interest in the topic, the combination of his warmth and your fatigue made your eyelids heavy. After a number of slow, fighting blinks, you let your eyes slide shut and stay that way, dozing for an episode as he continued to watch with deep interest.

The first three days of your period passed this way – quietly, in the comfort of his embrace, exploring the offerings on your various streaming apps. Your energy returned, your pain lessened, and on the fourth day he chose a ridiculous series about the hunt for Atlantis. He was settled between your legs once again, leaning back against your chest. You groaned as the title popped up on the screen.

“I apologize on behalf of all humans and insist this is not representative of us as a whole.”

He chuckled richly, his hands cradling yours, fingers tracing along the backs of yours, thumb caressing the inner wrist of your right hand, making you shudder. The show was preposterous. His touch was distracting. You leaned against his ear and murmured your invitation.

“Come shower with me…” You hoped you sounded seductive, rather than like a needy lover.

The look in his eyes as he turned to scan over your face gave you hope that you had succeeded. Your teeth sank into your lower lip slightly in anticipation and he smoothly stood, holding out a hand to help pull you up. Sliding to your feet, you led him into the washroom, and turned to slide his shirt up and off. Once his face was free of the fabric, you leaned in to kiss him as your fingers worked the fly of his pants open.

His mouth was hungry and insistent on yours and you realized that he had been patient with you, but his desire was just as intense as before. He worked on your pants as well before pulling back to work your shirt up and off, hands eagerly cupping your breasts. You yelped slightly as they were more sensitive and he responded by loosening his grip, switching to airy kisses along your tender flesh above the cup of your bra. You shuddered and pulled his pants down eagerly before kissing his temple and turning to get the shower running at a warm, but not too hot, temperature.

He took advantage of your position, unclipping your bra and sliding the straps down your arms with grazing fingertips as his lips marked a trail down your spine. You arched your back to meet the softness of his lips, letting your bra fall to the ground. You slid out of your underwear and tucked the sanitary product out of sight before stepping into the warm spray of the water and looking back at him. He licked his lips and divested himself of his underwear before promptly joining you, closing the door to the large shower stall as he sealed your lips in a hungry kiss.

His hands cupped the sides of your breasts, thumbs circling your nipples with featherlight touches. His touch was calibrated to your heightened level of sensitivity and had you arching against him with needy moans. His hips pressed against yours, pressing you into the shower wall in turn. You could feel his desire stiffening against the crease of your hip and you rolled your hips forward encouragingly. A rumble emanated from his chest and reverberated through yours as one hand left its delicious torment on your breast and slid between your legs.

His touch here, too, was featherlight and you felt him shudder as he found you already warm and slick. His fingers fluttered along your slit and near your pleasure point, but rarely made direct contact to avoid overly sensitive flesh. Your breath was coming in short pants under his skilled fingers and you slid one leg around his waist, pulling him closer. His forearm easily protected the space he needed to continue teasing you against your demanding grip. Fingers circled your entrance before tentatively dipping into you. You keened wantonly against his lips, and he latched his mouth onto your throat before plunging one and then two fingers into your damp heat.

“Orm!” You gasped his name enthusiastically, head rolling back to rest against the wall, eyes clenched tight in pleasure. He lifted his head to drink in the expressions of your face as his fingers thrust into you, thumb circling the silken skin around your clit. Your body quivered as it was just right…just what you needed…just a little more.

“Look at me…”His voice was hoarse with lust and, as you opened your eyes, you could see his pupils were blown, just at the sight of you. You moaned hungrily and bucked your hips to his hand.

“Close…” You panted.

“Come.” Was his reply as he curled his fingers into the deep seat of your pleasure and you rose up onto the toes of your one foot still on the ground, wailing as you convulsed in pleasure. You were vaguely aware of his tortured moan as he watched you fall apart in his arms.

His fingers left your body and he carefully unwound you from him before turning your back to press against his chest. You could feel the hard ridge of his cock pressing against your buttocks and you reached forward to brace your hands against the wall as he spread your legs with his before bending his knees slightly. He surged up, thrusting his cock into your body still contracting with waves of pleasure. An agonized moan fell from your lips at how incredible it felt to be stretched by him. You felt his tongue tracing along your spine, up along the back of your neck as his hips picked up the rhythm his fingers had begun.

You were grateful for the way his hands gripped your hips possessively, unable to fully trust your quivering legs as you were quickly pulled back up into the dizzying climb towards release. The snap of his hips against your butt, the pattern of the warm droplets of water falling from the shower head onto your skin, the feel of his greedy tongue on your neck and shoulders…they all combined with his pulsing cock deep inside you to push you into the abyss of ecstasy with a new rapidity.

His teeth grazed your shoulder as he growled and thrust through the waves of your second climax, seeking now only his release, desperate, hungry. The pure animal need of it had you losing your grip on the wall and his hands quickly shifted to hold tightly your breasts, keeping you upright as his thrusts became more erratic.

You swore thickly as a third orgasm was ripped from your sensitive body and he rammed into you thrice more before you felt his powerful release deep within you with a desperate cry that almost sounded anguished. You slumped against the wall, allowing him to fully support you as he cleaned up you, drying you gently and redressing you with your guidance to ensure your clothes were protected from your blood.

He carried you to bed and slid between the blankets, holding you as you fell asleep.

Read Part Twelve

Masterlist

#orm x reader #orm marius x reader #orm imagine #orm fic #orm marius imagine #orm marius fic #ocean master x reader

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xxrainshadowsxx · 4 months

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New Elite, Chapter 2

Was this supposed to be out last week? Yes. So... sorry. Mental health decided to be a bitch. So, I won't waste any more of your time and let you get on with the chapter.

The following week passed by in a blur, and before you knew it, Nellie was waking you up on the morning of your debutante. You take in a deep, shuddering breath and she draws the curtains back, letting in streams of sunlight. You didn’t feel ready, but that did not matter. Ready or not, you had to do this.

“What perfume would you like for today, miss?” Nellie asks as she bustles about. “I know it’s not something we usually use, but seeing as it’s such a special occasion, I don’t think your mother would object.”

“Rose,” you decide after little consideration. It was a comforting scent to you, and in no way scandalous, so your mother had no reason to disapprove. “But Nellie, isn’t it a little early to apply a scent? It’s only morning.”

“I’m going to iron your dress with it, miss,” she explains. “It’s mostly already finished, it won’t take long now, but we really want that scent to stick with you all night. You best be getting along to breakfast now, you know your mother doesn’t like it when you dawdle.” She tweaks your nose affectionately before dressing you for the morning. You don’t pay much attention to the attire she selects. You’ll be changed out soon enough anyway.

All throughout your meal, your mother prattles on and on about what you’re to do and how you’re to behave yet again, nearly causing you a headache.

“Remember, the first thing you’re to do is speak with Mr. and Mrs. Dix, and congratulate him on his election as governor,” she’s saying for the umpteenth time that week. As if you could forget. This whole part happened to the celebration for Mr. Dix being elected as governor, and it also happened to be the first major event for New York society after you turned eighteen. In old times, your family would have had to have hosted your debutante themselves, but such customs weren’t standard anymore. And according to your mother, you couldn’t have asked for a better event to come out at. All of New York society was sure to be there.

As far as you were concerned, however, you would have taken any other event. Even though this was a political outing, it would largely be attended bipartisan; it would be considered an insult to not come. Even Mr. Stimson, Mr. Dix’s opponent, was invited as a sign of good faith.

So in addition to everyone being there, half of the attendees would be unhappy. Unbeknownst to your mother, you had followed the election closely, being a secret champion of women’s suffrage. The election had been a tight one, from what you could gather from under your mother’s ever-watchful nose.

“After breakfast, I want you to practice the newest dance,” your mother says with a meaningful stare when you’re very nearly done.

“Oh, Mother… I’ve rehearsed it until my feet have bled,” you protest. You’re not exaggerating either; Nellie has had to take special care with the blisters that have formed on your feet from the endless dance lessons. “Can’t I have the morning to myself?”

She raises an eyebrow, and you know before she starts speaking that this simple gesture means all hope is lost for you. “Certainly not,” she sniffs. “Have I not impressed that this is the most important night of your life? You can never be too prepared. How would it look if nerves betrayed you and you forgot the steps? You must have them mastered beyond any chance of fault.”

You sigh, but say nothing further. It seemed that you were to be doomed to both a morning and an evening of pained feet. At this rate, you’d have arthritis before you reached thirty.

Thankfully, you manage to get through the morning without reopening any of your blisters, though the arches of your feet are throbbing. You rub them the entire time Nellie is putting the finishing touches on your dress, before your mother can come in.

But far too quickly, the sun starts to set, and that can only mean one thing. It’s time to start getting ready. You’d take a thousand days of sore feet to put this off, but that’s not an option. All you can do is take one last breath for strength before Nellie puts on the accursed corset.

Since making the finishing touches on your dress the previous week, getting dressed goes quickly enough, and then mercifully, you can sit while Nellie pins up your hair. This process does take some time, since you simply have so much hair to pin.

At least you didn’t have to wear one of the increasingly large hats your mother favored. Being unmarried, you could still show some of your hair. Nellie decorates it with a few pretty, and most importantly, not ostentatious, feathers.

You hardly recognize yourself when you’re finished being made up. You don’t appear quite so young as the first time you put on the dress, but instead you’re caught somewhere between youth and being grown. You don’t love it, but your mother is fawning over it, and of course it’s far too late to change.

“Milady, the buggy has arrived!” Nellie calls, spurring you into action. You pull your gloves and shawl on, then follow your mother to the foyer. “Tell me how it goes,” Nellie whispers just before you cross the threshold, and she closes the door, and your old life, behind you.

You take the footman’s offered hand as he helps you into the buggy, then he sits at the reins and you’re off. You’d told your mother that most people would be arriving in automobiles, but, ever the traditionalist, she’d insisted on doing it this way. Probably because it was cheaper.

However, it’s not a far distance. You only have to brave the New York winter for a matter of minutes. And when you do arrive, you’re far from the first ones, and true to your prediction, most of the transportation you see are indeed automobiles. Focusing on details like these helps keep your mind off of what’s about to take place.

But of course, the buggy stops, and the footman comes back around to help first you and then your mother down the steps. Ready or not, it’s time.

“Chin up,” your mother hisses as a final form of instructions before you follow her inside.

It’s not so much a different world; you’ve grown up with the elite of New York since birth, but always on the fringes due to your age. The room is a glittering white, only a few shades darker than your own gown. An orchestra is playing soft music in one corner, though it’s obvious that the dancing has not quite begun just yet. Supper was to happen first, and there are tables lined with gleaming plates, silverware, and stemware.

For the moment, however, the attendees are milling around, greeting each other. Mr. and Mrs. Dix are easy to spot in the center of the crowd as everyone is expected to make their way to them as soon as possible, and sure enough, it’s towards the two of them your mother steers you towards.

She finagles your way through the crowd expertly, managing to seem casual while constantly moving the both of you closer to her target. As soon as an opening presents itself, she plants you right in front of the Dixes, and she and Mrs. Dix greet each other like old friends, although to your knowledge they were merely acquaintances at best.

And then came the dreaded words out of her mouth. “I don’t believe you’ve met my daughter before?” she says as she gestures you forward.

You dip into a quick curtsey. “It’s lovely to meet the both of you. Congratulations on the results of your election, Mr. Dix,” you say with the quiet confidence that’s been drilled into you. Both of the Dixes regard you politely.

“Is this your first event of the season, dear?” Mrs. Dix asks you. You hope it’s only because she noticed the color of your dress and not because of any social ineptitude.

“Yes. I only turned eighteen a couple of weeks ago,” you explain, willing your cheeks not to become pink.

“Well, we’re honored to host your debutante,” Mrs. Dix says, and you hope she isn’t faking the warm smile on her face. It can be so difficult to tell in high society what is fake and what isn’t.

“Well, we won’t take up any more of your time at present; I’m sure you’re quite in demand this evening,” your mother laughs. “But I do hope we’ll have further opportunity to speak later.” You smile your own farewell-for-now to the Dixes before following your mother into the rest of the throng.

“Well done,” she whispers, and you feel an enormous sense of relief wash over you. “Now come. There’s several families I wish to speak to before supper is served–”

“Dot!” a voice calls out, making your mother stop in her tracks and also causing her to wince; you know she hates the nickname because of how informal it is. Nevertheless, she turns, only to find Mrs. Ryan, a woman who Mother thought scandalous for a number of reasons. She had originally been from a middle-class family when she married an Irish immigrant, and though they weren’t divorced, they were amicably separated and living different lives. You were quite sure her husband was not at the event tonight. He might not even be in the same country.

But the worst thing about Mrs. Ryan, at least according to your mother, is though she’d grown up middle-class, she was unbelievably rich now because her husband had discovered a wealth of oil a few years back. And that made the Ryans ‘New Money,’ a blight your mother could never forgive.

But, loathe as your mother was to admit it, Mrs. Ryan was part of society now, which meant your mother had to put on her best manners. She smiles at Mrs. Ryan, though you can tell the smile is far from genuine. “Matilda. How are you this evening?” she asks, her voice strained.

“Oh, just the same as always,” Mrs. Ryan laughs before she notices you. “This your daughter, Dot? My, you’ve grown up from the last time I saw you. You look a vision, dear. In fact, I’ve got someone who you should meet.”

She shouts again across the room, though you don’t quite catch the name. Your mother seems to, however, and judging by her reaction, she’s not at all pleased. Her face goes stark white, and she can’t keep up the fake smile any longer; it slides from her face like quicksilver.

But before you can do more than shoot her a covert questioning look, an extremely tall man makes his way over to the three of you. “This is Mr. Onceler,” Mrs. Ryan introduces, and suddenly your mother’s reaction makes sense. You knew who Mr. Onceler was. All of New York knew who he was. He had come from nothing until inventing and selling a fashion item, the thneed, which half the attendees, Mrs. Ryan included, were wearing.

But coming from nothing meant one thing, and it was the only thing that mattered to your mother. He was New Money, and your mother was terrified of New Money monopolizing your time and scaring other, ‘better’ prospects away.

Mr. Onceler, however, doesn’t look like he’s interested in taking up all of your time. Studying his face, he looks quite disinterested in being here at all. When Mrs. Ryan finishes her introductions and you give your hand to him as courtesy demanded, he only just barely brushes the back of your gloved hand with his lips, not looking at you once.

“Mr. Onceler’s just gotten back from upstate, where he’s built a new factory,” Mrs. Ryan says proudly, as if she’s listing off the achievements of a son instead of a mere acquaintance.

“I can’t take all of the credit for that, Matilda. Your husband was one of the people who convinced me to do it,” Mr. Onceler says, and you can tell, despite his slightly dismissive tone, that he and Mrs. Ryan have genuine affection for each other. It could very well have been the case that she introduced him into the world of society. “And as much as I would love to stay and chat–”

“Yes, yes, go and talk about important things with important men, don’t stay here and gossip with us ladies,” Mrs. Ryan says with a wave of her hand. Needing no further invitation, Mr. Onceler leaves, barely inclining his head towards you and your mother as a farewell.

Mrs. Ryan turns to you. “What do you think, eh? Handsome, isn’t he? And he’s young too, only twenty. He’s the most eligible bachelor in the state right now.”

“But his manners!” your mother blurts out, though she can’t bring herself to raise her voice any higher than a whisper. It seems she couldn’t hold back any longer, even in the company of one she considered inferior like Mrs. Ryan. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a man so rude!”

Mrs. Ryan waves her hand impatiently again. “Come off it, Dot. He’s had all the cards stacked against him. He hasn’t had his money for a year yet, and he’s not even used to northern society as an outsider; he’s from Atlanta. It’s a wonder he’s doing this well at all. And manners matter less and less these days. Cash is the only thing that speaks, and trust me, he’s got plenty of that.” She gives the both of you a meaningful look. “I’d keep that in mind before immediately writing him off.” She gives you an extra look, one that you can’t quite read before saying, “Well, I expect I’ll see both of you later.” She grabs your hand. “You look effervescent, dear. You’re only young once. Enjoy your night.” With that, she takes her leave.

As soon as she’s out of earshot, your mother starts hissing in your ear. “The nerve of that awful woman!” she bemoans. “How dare she imply that my daughter can’t do any better than him? His manners were worse than hers! He barely acknowledged you at all–”

“I think that means he’s not interested in me, Mother,” you remind her as gently as you can. “We have nothing to worry about if he doesn’t like me. As you said, there are much better options.”

Miraculously, your mother actually manages to calm down. “Of course,” she murmurs, collecting herself again. “Of course. There’s no use worrying about his opinion of you. He’s new money. He’s not worth expending energy over.” You can’t help but wince as she says that. You very much hope no one else heard her. You’d never admit it to her, but there was nothing wrong in your eyes with New Money. Mrs. Ryan, for example, you actually liked very much for her bluntness. Your mother was just so old-fashioned, and had an inability to understand differing viewpoints. You’d learned this long ago, and didn’t bother arguing with her much over it. It was easier to pretend you agreed with her most of the time.

“Well, let’s get moving. There’s still people we need to speak with before supper,” Mother decides before whisking you back into the room. The next half-hour or so is filled with conversation much more suited to your mother’s preference–polite and removed. To you, it’s empty. Just vain people speaking of the same things over and over again.

You also can’t help but notice that everyone your mother speaks with is an old New York family, and that they either are or have a son that is an heir to a large family fortune. She pushes you in front of these single men, and to your slight dismay, you can tell that some are indeed interested in you, specifically in your last name. Several of these people felt the same way as your mother–that a family name was far more important than being a decent person.

Finally, after you don’t think you could stand another stiff introduction, you’re called to dinner. You know it will be more awful, forced conversation, but at least you won’t be shown around like a prized animal at a fair. You find your seats, and discover Mrs. Ryan is also at your table, which clearly displeases your mother.

You didn’t think she had too much reason to complain though. Also seated with you is the Hunte family, one of the most respected in New York. Their son and heir to the fortune, Thomas, was seated right across from you. He was quite a bit older than you, being nearly thirty, but at least he wasn’t a widower in his fifties. Your mother seemed almost hungry when she looked at him, and you would practically feel her willing the two of you together.

And for the moment, you think you’ve managed to make a good first impression. Though conversation flowed quite easily (to your slight shock) between all at the table, Thomas Hunte did make a point of speaking directly to you on a few occasions. And you were on your best behavior, not bringing up topics your mother forbade and directing the conversation back towards him, so that he could feel important. Men did like to feel important.

Just as the dessert course is beginning to come to an end, the orchestra starts playing tunes you’re familiar with; the dancing has clearly begun. You look up at Thomas, sure that he’ll invite you to dance, but his immediate attention has been captured by Mrs. Ryan, who has asked him a question. Before he’s free to speak with you, you feel a hand on your shoulder.

You turn, and, with no small amount of surprise, you find Mr. Onceler there. You're sure the shock must register on your face, and you can't even find any words to say, but he doesn't comment on that. “I was wondering if you would join me for the next dance?” he asks instead, without any sort of preamble.

To say you're flummoxed is an understatement, but the drilling of your manners mean they're able to return to you, even through your confusion. “Oh… yes, of course,” you murmur. Mother won't be happy, and sure enough, she's stone-faced when you glance at her. But what else can you do? It would be beyond rude, practically unthinkable, to refuse. One dance meant nothing. Everything would be fine.

So, you stand, take Mr. Onceler's proffered hand, and allow him to lead you to the other side of the ballroom.

A note on some of the characters:

The Hunte's are purely my invention. Mrs. Ryan, while fictional, is based on Molly Brown, who wasn't born into society but her husband became rich, and was always considered uncouth. John Dix, however, was real and was elected governor of New York in 1910.

Also, apparently Americans used the word buggy instead of carriage. I hate that very much.

#fanfiction #onceler fanfiction #onceler x reader #the lorax #the onceler #also on ao3 #onceler #period fanfic

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bythenineshards · 1 year

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Omg what was up with that Feysand stan on ur post????? ITS JUST A THEORY. (Not to mention a MUCH better pairing) and lol if Feysand was always endgame why in the fck does Rhysie SA Feyre??? Did Sjm do that to build sexual tension (cause Feyre says in Acomaf she had "wanted him even then") AND THAT'S INFINITELY WORSE!!

Lmao they tried to fire up on one of my posts too and I immediately blocked them. Seen them one too many times fighting about posts that's none of their business. Like life is so empty u need to fight with strangers on the internet to feel something. I am literally so mad not them saying Tamlin Apologists deserve to be bullied?!?!? For liking a fictional character????!!

I took personal offence to that

Ha! See! I told you I would respond today. I totally didn't get sucked into Skyrim and my writing and nearly forgot.

Idk what their problem was. They blocked me like the first week I was on here so I didn't think much of them. I knew about them because there would be discourse on posts and an invisible opponent. So I guess they unblocked me to stir shit and idk, get more traffic to their blog? They rebranded with a name that is clearly meant to draw in Antis of Feysand. I think they're like 15 and so I guess they're in their "I'm edgy look at me phase" where they want to pick fights because they think they're always right and special. I'm so glad I didn't grow up with my cringe behavior on the internet.This is why we don't sell erotica or "dark romance" to children. They can't handle speculation or discussions. I bet they cry over Marvel's What If... series because it's not Canon. Like... the post that had them all fired up was speculation about something we have receipts for. And a lot of people liked the idea. All they do is make the books look worse.

And the way they talk about Feyre vs. Nesta is like they think they're written by two different people. This isn't Harry Potter (fuck you Rowling) vs. Twilight (fuck you Meyers). I don't think Feyre gets a free pass to transform into a person of another race just cuz Nesta and Gwyn modelled their stuff after the Valkyries. I think both are bad and icky because the same author wrote both and clearly doesn't see how offensive that could be. I do, however, think that there's a difference between what Feyre did and the Blood Rite. Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie were kidnapped and forced into the Blood Rite. They didn't actually choose to.

Side note though: Valkyries are from Norse mythology. It does chap me that she couldn't use a mythology or create something new for her Illyrians to flesh out their culture. She just used a primarily white culture for her non-white character's culture.

Sorry to rant about that. It just irked me.

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would ship Feysand the way it's written in Canon. I can with 100% confidence say I've never written a romance that involved anyone SAing anyone. Hell, I don't feature SA at all really. I don't want it in my fantasy. I want people to find peace and love in my books. Men have written enough SA in fantasy, it doesn't need any from me.

But like... if you look at their posts, the reason I don't like Feyre is because I wanted "my fav" to end up with Rhys. They can't fathom that I don't like Rhys at all. I don't like any of her men. They don't appeal to me at all. The only one I might’ve had any inkling of interest in is Kallias but I'm sure if we spent more than a handful of pages with him, I'd hate him too. I think she'd eventually change all of them regardless of appearance to something shallow and toxic.The Bat Boys specifically are boring to me. Their designs suck, their personalities suck and the way they treat their women sucks. Nothing I see in her books is what I would classify as love. Her books aren't about love. They're about sex with hot dudes. But you know what? Other books do romance, love and even just sex better.

I'm glad you blocked them. Just know, they still spy on us.

Thank you for your ask. I hope you're doing well.

#anti sjm #anti acotar #anti rhysand #anti sjmaas #anti feysand #anti feyre #sjm critical #ask holly #stans being stans #anti acosf #ask me stuff #ask me questions #ask me anything #thanks for the ask!#ask #ask me things #answered asks #answered ask #answered

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clay-cuttlefish · 8 months

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Out of No Man's Land, into Cry for Blood, plus a couple more comics for Renee before Officer Down next batch.

Endgame

I'm free from having to decide on context, woo!

Renee gets a promotion for how well she handled Two-Face.

The Honored Dead (Tec #742)

Renee gets partnered with Crispus Allen, who I hate infinitely less than Bullock. As far as cops go he's a pretty likeable character.

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1

YEAAAAAAH

Them! I love Helena so much, I love her and Batman's hostility, I love that Vic decides the best way to get in touch with her is to nearly get hit by her car. Iconic.

The art style's very different from the Question run, but it feels like it resonates with it somehow, and it might because they have the same colourist? I can't usually pin it down but there's a certain something about the smoke and mist. Maybe I'm drawing arbitrary connections to explain the vibes but it's the best I've got.

She's SO pretty in this. Women!

I like it when Bruce is a huge bitch.

Drowning motif spotted.

Truly catastrophic "I can fix her" levels here.

Extremely cute that Richard calls Vic "butterfly."

Honestly Helena is handling this extremely well, all things considered. Sure she's pissed but she's been kidnapped, that's entirely reasonable.

Wait hold on, Jackie's death gets retconned here! Somehow I missed that before, I don't know if that's on purpose or if Rucka just forgot/didn't know she died. Either way I'll take it.

This is such a good telling of her backstory, it hits.

Road trip as bonding moment my beloved.

Bruce hates Vic's ass so much for no reason other than because he's annoying. Fair enough.

Sorry girl you might not be part of the family but that will not stop Tim from having little brother energy.

Father-in-law behavior on Bruce's part tbh.

Renee pulls this exact same move in Lois Lane which is cute.

Helena...

Can't get over Vic being described as a GQ candidate.

"When is it enough?" takes me out.

Vic taking off his mask to look her in the eye???

This is a Character Thesis Moment for both of them imo. Vic has fundamentally overlooked Helena's motives in his attempt to find solidarity - Helena knows exactly what the Huntress is here to achieve, despite her reservations and her willingness to seek balance. They're cute in JLU, but this was never going to work for them here.

Happy Birthday Two You (Tec #747)

This issue is a lot of what keeps me sold on Renee genuinely caring about Harvey's well-being, despite everything he's done and will continue to do. The tulips are pushing up against her boundaries, but Harvey didn't try to contact her directly or make it known they were from him. It's an attempt at doing an actual nice thing at a time when she's starting to slip, and clearly that matters to her enough that she's willing to take it in good faith and make an effort in kind, despite her annoyance at Bruce over it.

I just really love this issue. It's so pretty, and so grounded, and it works so well as a snapshot of Renee's life before everything gets worse for her.

Scavenger Hunt (Catwoman #83)

Mostly a Gordon-focused issue, but Renee follows him and Batman on their scavenger hunt. Not that important for her characterization but hey she's involved.

She gets more outwardly upset over Gordon being taunted by a reminder of Two-Face's trial than by being reminded of her own involvement. It's because of Gordon-centric writing, and partly that she's trying not to reveal how she's affected, but it's also reinforcing my interpretation that No Man's Land was so fucked up and traumatizing in general that she's not as angry about being kidnapped as she "should" be.

That isn't to undermine how bad being held prisoner was, it's just that everything was bad. She went directly back to work after NML despite killing people/indirectly getting people killed/seeing her friends and coworkers die/seeing so many people die/watching other cops give up even remotely pretending policing isn't about power/the general absurd trauma conga line of it all, there is some POWERFUL repression going on.

The Dark Knight Project (Batman #584)

Not a lot of Renee I just have a pet peeve: I absolutely do not buy that Batman is an urban legend by this point in his career.

I'm willing to suspend my disbelief on a lot of things but this is so silly to me because it's unnecessary - Bruce can want to avoid the spotlight as much as possible so that he's still shrouded in myth without having to pretend that people don't know he exists! Like, it can still be a matter of debate if he's one person or many, human or monstrous, what his superpowers are...

Even if I accept that Bruce is just that good at hiding, Jean-Paul got into a lot of very public shit both as Azbat and on his own and Helena is overt enough that she can get a ridiculous-but-roughly-accurate caricature in the paper. Everyone knows Gotham has vigilantes.

I do kind of vibe with the idea that Harvey's been pinned with the creation of the Bat-myth.

Superman and Batman: World's Funnest

Irrelevant, but it manages to get a tiny Vic in both a Crisis group shot and an Earth-4 panel, which is twice as much as most of the cameos I haven't been mentioning.

Measure for Measure (Batman #585)

A minor Renee appearance, but she's comfortable enough with Batman by now to call him out on his shit.

#clayposts #clayreads #the question #vic sage #renee montoya #helena bertinelli

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foreversecrets · 1 year

Text

What Burrows in the Boroughs: 3

What Burrows in the Boroughs Masterlist

Rating: Mature

Summary: Riley was just a 25 year old working full time as a nanny to pay her expense of being a medical student when she meets Sarah Rogers and her very attractive father, her life takes some interesting turns after that.

Pairing: Mob Steve Rogers x OC

Status: Ongoing

Riley packed up her messenger bag quickly, practically bolting from the lecture hall. She wasn’t the kind to linger after class but she wasn’t the eager kid who was out the door as the bell rang. Which is why the redhead nearly missed her escape, she was used to waiting a couple minutes for her friend to emerge through the crowd. The redhead happened to look up from her phone in time to catch the chestnut haired women rushing towards the quad that led to the parking lot.

“Riley!” she called, drawing her attention to her.

Riley offered her an apologetic smile, slowly her gait but not stopping, “Audrey, hey! Sorry I forgot to mention I have lunch plans today.”

Audrey had been the first friend Riley made when she moved to New York-they’d had no classes together but Riley seemed to run into Audrey frequently at ‘school’ events, mostly parties her classmates invited her to to get her out of the house. Once Audrey and he finally exchanged numbers, their friendship seemed to solidify overnight. Audrey was the wild party girl, always dragging Riley out to clubs and bars-making her postpone her responsibilities in lue of being young and having fun. Not necessarily in a negative way, Audrey always backed off when Riley’s deadlines for things were approaching or when she had to work, but in a way that let her enjoy her life.

“Plans? You never leave campus until all your classes are complete for the day and I know you have another lecture in a couple hours.”

“I’m sorry,” Riley kept walking, sending looks over her shoulder to Audrey as she spoke. “I’m running late, I’ll text you!”

Audrey’s interest was thoroughly peaked, Riley never made plans that didn’t include herself or Rebecca. She watched her friend, staying close enough she could see Riley but far enough away she couldn’t be spotted. Riley approached a sleek black car and got in, all smiles. Audrey pulled out her phone, her mind running a mile a minute as she snapped pictures of the license plate as the car navigated through the parking lot. Riley didn’t really date, the few dates Audrey knew of hadn’t impressed Riley and she had her stupid mantra ‘I have too much going on to invest my time in something I don’t see working’. She sent the photo off to Brock, cashing in that favor he owed her, she didn’t expect anything right away so it was shocking when her phone rang a couple minutes later.

“That bad?” she joked as a way of saying hello.

“Where did you see the car? Who got in? How long ago did it leave? Was there another car following?”

“Whoa! Calm down Brock. Whose car was that?”

“It’s registered to Steve Rogers.” Audrey collapsed on the bench beside her, mumbling a curse as she processed the information. “Also known as the Captain. You know the Howling Commandos? The people you need to be monitoring while you're working that side mission.”

“I fucking know that!” she snapped.

“Audrey, who got in that car?”

“I got to go.”

“Audrey!”

She hung up biting her nail as things ran through her mind. She should be focusing on things from the perspective of the Captain but she couldn’t. Her entire focus was on the woman she couldn’t get out of her mind, the woman she kept forcing herself to encounter until she managed to convince Riley her phone number. She’d been working herself into Riley’s life for the past several years, waiting for her moment, not for her duties to Hydra but for personal reasons.

Riley was HER’S and she had blown her off to get in the car of a mob boss. If her focus was where it should be, she would be seeing this a golden opportunity. She could use Riley’s relationship to Steve to develop her own friendship with him which would give her easier access to his office and dealings. But all Audrey could think of was separating Riley from the Captain. A plan developed, the best part was she’d have all the power and resources of Hydra at her disposal. A plan that would force Riley to spurn Steve and come crawling to her for support. She’d put far too much time and effort into obtaining Riley to let her slip away. Riley was Audrey’s and not even a rival mob boss was going to keep them apart.

“Steve,” she whined as he pulled her hand back to his chest to prevent more than her right leg exiting his vehicle. “I’m going to be late for my next class and Professor Briggs is an asshole.”

“One more kiss?” he wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

Their lunch had gone very well, it was their second date but in an effort to show Riley that he was dedicated to a committed, serious relationship they had spent that time discussing their wants and desires from the relationship. Talked about deal breakers, things they wanted that they wouldn’t compromise on. Everything she wanted was reminiscent of things Steve has wanted, the things he tried to achieve with his marriage to Peggy, things she made him believe he could never have. She wanted kids, grandkids, a built-in support system, and best friend within a lover, true love, everything he was realizing he still longed for and was willing to give in return. But he made himself a silent promise, this was the last time he was going to have hope, the last time he was going to try because if it failed this time? He wasn’t sure he’d recover.

“You said that five kisses ago,” her tone was whiny but she was smiling. He pushed out his bottom lip, pouting at her exaggeration. She laughed and leaned over the center console and kissed him one last time. Just a quick peck then she launched out of the car, her head popping back into the car smirking at him. “I’ll text you after class.”

“And when you get home?”

“Steve,” she giggled. “I promise, not I really have to go.”

He watched her sling her bag over her shoulder and disappear into the crowd, an extra pep in her step. Both of them were buzzing with the excitement of a new relationship, the playfulness from the car remaining with them for a while after they said goodbye.

Steve parked in front of the modern style building with far too many windows, coming here always made him uneasy. Too many vulnerabilities in the layout of the building, and this time he was alone, usually Buck or Sam would accompany him for business. He entered, ignoring the receptionist as he walked through the halls going straight to Detective Fury’s office.

“Figured I’d be seeing you soon,” Fury sighed, rubbing his temples as sat across the desk from him. “I can’t help you, shield is just barely starting to rebuild.”

“Within the police force?” Steve was impressed, he’d heard rumors they were trying to pick up the pieces but he hadn’t had any solid evidence. He should have known better, Shield was Nick Fury’s entire life, he couldn’t just walk away. But what bravery to undermine justice by falsifying motives?

It had been Hydra that destroyed Shield years ago, Nick may believe he couldn’t help their plight but Nick’s desire for vengeance would be too great. He wasn’t going to push too hard on Nick now, save his hand for later when he’d really need Nick’s help.

“Best way to get intel first hand.”

“Interesting method,” Steve praised. “Anyway I’m not here to ask for assistance. I’m here to warn you and cash in that favor you owe us. We are going to let Hydra step into Queens, once there we are pulling into new players to wipe them from the map. All we need from you is to look the other way.”

“You really think it will be that simple? It was 4 to 1 against them last time, we beat them back into a corner but they took a whole family down while they retreated.”

“It's a different time, we’ve got a genius arms dealer, a war veteran, a tech genius, men who are built like god, and a new wild card to introduce. You’re right, it might not work but we have to do something.”

“You know my opinions of Hydra, you take them down and I’ll add another favor to what I already owe you.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Steve stood ready to leave but Fury’s next comment halted him, “Rumor has it you’ve been hanging out around the university.”

“Where does this rumor originate?” Steve’s tone was emotionless now, far different than the tone of voice he was previously using. It was too soon to bring Riley into his world but if someone was tailing her that might be out of his hands. How had he missed it? He’d been so careful about watching the crowd when they were out together, he hadn’t seen anything concerning.

“Don’t know, got an anonymous tip the commandos were recruiting on campus, using unorthodox methods.” Fury held out a photograph to Steve. It had been taken only an hour ago of Riley and himself when she’d given him that last goodbye kiss.

“Who all knows-”

“That the Captain has a new mistress?”

“Don’t call her that!” Steve’s tone was raised, anger on his face. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“You’re still married-that makes Riley Riggins your mistress.” The slight smug smile on Fury’s lip told Steve he was trying to provoke him. Hoping to obtain more information about Steve’s dealings than he was getting, Steve didn’t take the bait.

“Thank you for this, I will handle it.” Steve growled taking the photograph as he left Nick’s office, trying to decide how to handle the situation.

📳

She woke up groggy to the harsh buzzing of her cell phone against the wood of her nightstand. She’d stayed up late last night flirting/talking to Steve, even after she’d told him she was going to bed they kept talking. For such an intimidating guy he was a cheesy romantic, it was easy to fall for him. Her phone buzzed again, making her groan as she reached over to grab her phone. Eager to see what sweet good morning message Steve had sent her, it was 5:00 am far too early in the morning. He did get up early to workout every morning but he usually waited until around 6:00 am to wake her up.

But the message wasn’t from Steve, it was a text from an unknown number.

There was a photo and a short message. The photo was of her changing in her bedroom here at the Reynolds home, changing out of her sports bra and into her regular bra she wore on a day to day basis. Her breast on full display, her legs still covered in her workout pants, her socks had little strips of dark cloth where she’d been sweating.

Our months and our souls miz as we become one,

Love second to none …

Our lives and world … done

(Last Kiss - Gregory Richard Barden)

She dropped her phone in a panic, someone had taken the photo from the street, she hadn’t realized her window had been open. Her privacy had been invaded by a stranger, they had revealing photos of her and who knew what they were doing with them. She’d never taken a nude photo before in her life, always too worried it would get out. Tears had fallen but she was acting on pure emotion as she grabbed her phone and called Audrey, explaining the message, crying out her feelings.

“It’s just one text? There isn’t anything else?”

“The text isn’t what’s upsetting me.”

“Did you try to respond?”

“No, I didn’t want-I don’t know.”

“Well whoever this is sounds like a stalker. Maybe your new boyfriend will scare him off.” There was a bitterness that Riley knew was going to be Audrey’s focus until she fixed this. But she had her own problems to handle right now, she didn’t have the capacity to deal with her friend's ego right now.

“How did you-nevermind, that’s not important. I was going to tell you but it's still new and I wanted to get past the honeymoon phase before telling anyone.”

“I’m not anyone-I’m your BEST FRIEND!”

“Audrey, can you be mad at me later? I’m kinda having a crisis here-the whole nude photos out there, invasion of privacy, creepy note thing.”

“I was being serious, you should tell your guy or take it to the police, they might have ways of tracking the prev down.”

“The Reynolds have the car today, can you take me to the station?”

“With what? My skateboard?”

“Right,” Riley sighed, forgetting Audrey didn’t even have a driver's license. “I’m going to call Steve.”

“So his name is Steve?”

“Goodbye Audrey.”

She hung up with Audrey and went to call Steve, her finger hovering over the call button on his contact screen. She was suddenly nervous, she wasn’t sure how he was going to react, she was still learning him just as he was learning her. Those things you had to see first hand, witness with your own eyes-the things you couldn’t tell someone. The fact that some unknown person had nudes of Steve’s girlfriend could put a strain on their relationship, she wasn’t sure she was ready to test that yet. Steve was the first person she’d ever gone on a date with that she could actually picture a future with, she was scared to risk it. She decided to text him to see if she was busy today.

Steve: I will be once you tell me what we’re doing?

She was momentarily distracted from the other message by his eagerness to see her. She didn’t tell him what was going on, only that she needed a ride and he was happy to provide. Steve knew something was wrong as soon as she got in the car, and it had nothing to do with Sarah sitting in the back seat. Riley had made it clear that she understood going into this relationship that Steve and Sarah were a package deal. She had been the one to say she wanted to go on dates with just the two of them but she wanted them to also make time for them to have outings with the three of them. Her insistence had further endeared him to her.

Whatever was upsetting her she clearly didn’t want Sarah to know about it. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I need to go to the police station.”

“What happened?” his tone was worried as his eyes scanned her looking for any sign she was hurt. But there was an undertone of self-directed anger, had something happened due to his negligence? Had his arrogance in his thoughts he was capable of protecting Riley on his own led to threats against her? She held her phone out to him, showing the unsettling text and photo. He took the phone looking over it closer, his anger no longer directed at himself as he looked up at her.

“Steve I-” She started, tears in her eyes, like she owed him an apology.

“Riley, we are going to take care of this,” He leaned over, his hand gently on the back of her neck pulling their foreheads together. “I’m going to protect you, I promise.” He kissed her temple, handing the phone back over.

He pulled out of the Reynolds driveway, tapping at the display to call Natasha as he headed towards his home instead of the police station. From the corner of his eye he could see Riley was uncomfortable, he understood why he just felt powerless to ease her. Riley looked over her shoulder at Sarah, sending her a smile before making a funny face to provide an air of normalcy. A small smile came to his face as he witnessed his daughter and girlfriend interacting then the call connected.

“Steve, what do you want?”

“Can you meet me at my place in twenty?”

“What’s it for?”

“A personal matter.”

“On my way.”

The call ended and Sarah cheered from the back seat at the news Natasha was coming over. Steve chanced a look at Riley as they turned down his road. This would be her first time seeing him home, he wished it was under better circumstances but he couldn’t deny he was a little giddy to see her in his home.

“Natasha is a good friend, she'd be good with this sort of thing. She’ll find out who sent the message so we can handle it.”

“We aren’t going to the police?”

“Apart from the photo, whoever this is gonna get a slap on the rest max. The cops can only do so much but I’m not going to let anyone get away with upsetting my girl,” he promised, placing his right hand on Riley’s knee trying to relax her.

“Your girl?” she teased, her smile coming back, her shoulders relaxing.

“You agreed to it,” he reminded, his own tone teasing now.

“I know but you haven’t called me your girl before.”

“Well get used to it,” he squeezed her knee. “I enjoy using pet names.”

“Noted.”

“Daddy I’m hungry,” Sarah’s voice from the backseat popped their little flirting bubble.

“We’ll make something once we are done with Aunty Nat.”

“Can I help?” Sarah perked up.

“Maybe we can all make lunch together?” Riley offered looking over her shoulder to Sarah.

“Can we make homemade pizza?”

“You and Becca made a mess of the bread flour last time,” Riley laughed before lowering her tone and turning her gaze on Steve. “But I guess we will leave that decision up to your daddy. ”

Steve’s brain short circuited as he tried to focus on the road in front of them, Riley hadn’t meant it in a sexual way. But the way the word had fallen from her lips woke parts of him he wasn’t prepared to deal with right now. He squeezed her knee again, stealing a look at her again to see a little smirk on her lips, maybe she had intended it to be suggestive. What a little minx!

“How about we make mac’n’cheese?” he suggested, his voice a little rough.

“With hot dog slices?” Sarah seemed completely unaware of what was happening in the front seats of the car.

“Of course.”

Sarah cheered, the conversation in the car coming to a halt. The adults shooting each other suggestive looks while Sarah watched out the window as they began pulling into the driveway.

Riley hadn’t asked Steve what he did career wise, the brief time careers had come up he’d seemed uneasy so she was content with his answer of being ex-military. She knew whatever career he currently was involved in put him on the weather side of things, but being around the Reynolds as long as she had been, she was starting to think everyone who lived in New York that wasn’t a broke college kid, was ridiculously wealthy. From the clothing both the Rogers wore, to Sarah’s private school, Steve’s cars all were testament to his finances and nowhere was it more evident than his home. It was a massive, old building on the outskirts of the city, the front gate several yards from the front entrance. The driveway to the house was covered in gravel up to the perfectly manicured lawn.

“Your house is massive,” she whispered in awe. She couldn’t imagine what one would do with so much space.

“Do you like it?” Sarah asked from the backseat.

Riley got a hold of herself and smiled at Sarah, “I’ll have to decided after I get a tour.”

“Which we will do after Riley and I are done with Aunt Nat. While we are working, you will be cleaning that bedroom you destroyed this morning.” Sarah pouted at him through the mirror.”No lip.” Steve in dad mode was incredibly sexy in Riley’s opinion but she didn’t have time to focus on it because she was whisked into the house and introduced to Natasha. It was shitty circumstances that her first introduction as Steve’s girlfriend was to handle a delicate situation.

Steve let the two women into his office so Nat could do her thing, then he headed upstairs with Sarah to supervise (help her) clean her bedroom. He was a little moody about Nat being the first to meet her and not Bucky but Buck was still away and Nat was really the better choice for assisting here.

“What a fucking perv, now I see why Steve dragged me into this.” She connected Riley’s phone to her laptop and got started. She tried to explain things as she went but after several minutes they both realized Riley had no idea what she was talking about so she changed the topic. “How are you feeling about all this?”

“Honestly? Not so great. I didn’t even really want to tell Steve about it. Our relationship is still new, I wasn’t sure how he’d react.”

“He’d rather know,” Nat gave a supportive smile. “He’s the kind of guy that likes showing he cares with action, especially if that means he gets to be all mucho protector. My idiot husband is the same way.”

The idea of Steve being a protector was something that made her smile, she was beginning to see that side of him. He had an old school gentleman vibe about him that she was growing fond of, a little worried care might turn into possession but that wasn’t a red flag she’d seen from him yet. Nat studied Riley, she was younger than Peggy. Maybe Riley was Steve’s mid-life crisis? But the way he looked at her spoke of something deeper than that, Nat made a note to monitor the development closely.

“I’m glad he met you. His wife is awful-make him into a person no one, not even himself likes.”

“I’m sorry,” Riley’s eyes closed for a second before studying Natasha intensely. “His wife?”

“Peggy? She’s a piece of work.” Nat groaned.

“Steve said they’re divorced.” her voice was weak, images of broken families she’d known in her life flashing through her head.

You’re a homewrecker! Her mind was running a thousand miles a minute.

“He’s-” Nat started only to be cut off.

“I need the restroom, excuse me.”

It was rude but Riley couldn’t breathe, she needed air, needed to escape. She left the office, she heard Steve’s laugh at the top of the stairs, his footsteps heading for the staircase. She bolted, unable to face him, afraid he’d lie to her again and she’d believe him.

📳

“Nat, where’s Riley?” Steve asked, coming into the office. Nat looked up, a guilty look on her face.

“I messed up, I may have told Riley you’re not divorced yet and before I could explain she ran.”

“Damn it! Watch Sarah.” he instructed sprinting.

He heard the front door just before he came downstairs, he knew he could catch up to her before she left the property. He probably could have got in the car but his sole concern was getting to her. She was just approaching the front gate when he caught her, gently grabbing her wrist, halting her escape. He spun her around to see she was sobbing, her eyes broken as she glared at him,

“You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie,” he promised, trying to cup her face in his hands but she pulled away, taking several steps away from him. Fear formed from desperation with him-he couldn’t lose her, not like this, not for a misunderstanding. “The last two years of my marriage have been nothing but hate and resentment. I filed for divorce six months before I even met you, I can show you all the documents that have followed with dates from our lawyers.”

“Then why aren’t you divorced?” she was crying.

“Peggy’s dragging this out to exhaust me into giving her everything she wants in the settlement.”

Or she still loves you and I’m destroying a marriage.”

“No baby,” he finally wrapped his arms around her despite her pathetic attempts to struggle away. “Peggy destroyed our marriage, I’m not convinced she ever truly loved me.”

“Sarah,” Riley whispered looking up to him with panicked eyes. “She’s trying to take Sarah from you, which is why you’re not divorced yet.”

“Peggy can’t take Sarah from me and she has no desire to even try. Peggy did not like Sarah, hate is a strong word but it might be accurate in this case.”

“How could a mother hate her child?” Steve kept one arm around her waist, his opposite hand coming up to cradle her cheek as their eyes met. “How could anyone hate Sarah?”

“Because Peggy’s not Sarah’s mother, she never wanted children but I did. Once our marriage began to show the cracks, Peggy thought to manipulate me back under her control by allowing me to take a lover and have a child.”

“She allowed an affair?” The disgust in Riley’s voice reassured Steve she’d never ask him for such arrangements, she was a one man kinda gal and she expected the same from her partner.

“Peggy opened our marriage, convinced her niece to bear me a child and then surrender her rights. I am Sarah’s only legal guardian.”

“That’s horrible!”

“It is,” he agreed, his own tears falling then at the life he’d created for himself and his daughter. “But I so badly wanted to be a father and Peggy didn’t want to lose the income our marriage provided.”

Riley listened, seeing the heartache on Steve’s face there was no doubt in her mind, Steve loved Peggy once upon a time but no longer did. To deny him a child and then use it against him? What kind of twisted person used anothers dreams against them? How could someone claiming to love him hurt him so deeply and intentionally? Riley was angry on his behalf, if she ever met Peggy she would have some harsh words she wouldn’t voice aloud. She was an amazing father, especially considering poor Sarah never once seemed unhappy or to even acknowledge their family was missing a piece.

“I do NOT love her, I have NOT seen her since the day she was served and I will NOT again.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me all that?”

“A little heavy for a first date, don’t you think?” he joked, both of them laughing through their tears. Steve wiped hers away before she buried her face in his chest. “I know it's soon but I think I’m falling in love with you Riley, and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then no more secrets, I don’t want to be blindsided. I want you to be the one to tell me things. Even the hard stuff, I don’t want to find out from your friends.”

“There’s something I’m not ready to talk about.”

“Then we don’t have to,” this time she was the one cupping his face. “But I don’t want to hear things second hand.”

“I can agree to that,” he promised.

“Then you aren’t going to lose me.” She sealed her statement with a kiss.

#mob boss steve rogers #emotional manipulation #stalking #childbirth #unplanned pregnancy #cheating #implied cheating #divorce #marriage #motherhood #pregnancy #alternate universe #steve rogers #steve rogers x oc

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travelinglamb · 1 year

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I had a thought about asexuality today. Specifically mine, but yknow, maybe someone else will resonate with this. I was thinking about how when I came out to my oldest sister—the only person in my family I worked up the courage to do so—I had to defend my statement that I was ace. She immediately asked me if I had even had sex, how could I even know. The works.

This was ten years ago.

I often revisited the conversation, mentally. Sometimes I’d be snarky and ask how many women she had slept with before deciding she was straight. Sometimes I’d be firm and say that I knew myself and my sexuality. (And I did know. The relief of knowing who I was when I figured things out, is a moment I remember to this day.)

Today, I thought: being capable of something does not decide who you are. Being physically able to have sex with someone doesn’t change the fact that there’s no sexual attraction there. (I think sex workers are incredible proof of that.)

It reminded me that nearly every family breakfast gathering, my family makes blueberry pancakes. I hate blueberries. I always have, since I was a child. And yet, I have often been pushed to try eating some blueberries, or foods with blueberries in them, over the years and been prompted with a “see? Aren’t they good? How could you not like blueberries?” Nope, still hate blueberries. And every time, at every breakfast starring blueberries, it will be halfway through the meal before my mom will slap her head and go “oh no, I forgot! You hate blueberries!” And inevitably a sibling will go “since when?” And I’ll have to explain all over again that I don’t like blueberries and never have. And inevitably one clever sibling will go “but you’re eating blueberry pancakes right now!” like they’ve caught me in a lie.

And, yknow what? Yeah, I’m eating the damn blueberry pancakes. Do I like them? No. If there had been other food available would I still be eating the pancakes? NO. Just because I am capable of eating blueberries doesn’t mean I want to be. I am eating these blueberries out of love but I would never have even considered eating blueberries otherwise.

Some people might get grossed out by all things blueberry. Some people might not mind looking at them but hate the taste. Some people don’t like blueberries but are indifferent to eating them, especially if someone they love were giving blueberries to them. Some people might think blueberries are cool in theory but feel no particular draw to them themselves.

I don’t know. It was just a thought. Maybe next time a friend tells you that blueberries aren’t for them, don’t invalidate them. Don’t force them to eat blueberries.

#my post #asexuality

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tehuti88-art · 2 years

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9/30/22: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Hauptsturmführer (Captain) Erich Arzt, without cap (top drawing) and with cap (bottom drawing); he's also a physician, so he can also be called Dr. Arzt. Fun fact, "Arzt" means "doctor," so that would literally make him Doctor Doctor. He looks friendly but is definitely not a decent person. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

Regarding his design, he's a Siberian husky. Um...I guess that's it.

I'll be going off theme for the next month to do Drawlloween, which I've been doing since SketchDaily introduced me to it in 2018.

TUMBLR EDIT: I think I went over quite a few details about Captain...Doctor?...Arzt in previous entries, maybe Trudi Detzer and Eva Heidenreich? Let me check...

All righty let's just do this entry by entry:

Vincenz Immerwahr: Arzt is all, "Why sure I'll join your weird threeway relationship, I got nothing better to do...except PLAN A MURDER HAHAHAHAHAHAURKH AKKH URKKHHKKH." *dies*

Trudi Detzer: Alllllll kinds of skeeze going on here. But the fullest picture of this character to date and URKH AKKH URKKHHKKH. *dies*

Stephen Gerhardt: Brief cameo appearance!

Eva Heidenreich: He's here! Now he's gone. Now he's back! And now URKH AKKH URKKHHKKH. *dies*

Hedy Rader: Wow, I forgot he shows up here. Just for one line. But a funny one. Incidentally, it's kind of weird Col. Heidenreich is contemplating writing SS smut, considering how much of a prude he is regarding DEGENERATE!! stuff, but well, he's a big ol' hypocrite anyway...

I think maybe that's it. I recommend checking Trudi's and Eva's entries for a decent picture which I could very well end up contradicting a bit at points here, though hopefully not too much.

I don't know much about Arzt's early life. I'm assuming he had a nice, normal childhood and adolescence, probably from a well-off family, probably did well in all his subjects and sports and such. Nothing you would call an obvious red flag. I don't know if he has siblings or not, usually I'd lean toward no but perhaps he does. He's one of my younger characters so he doesn't serve in the Great War, but becomes a physician for the Waffen-SS. (I'm assuming he sees a bit of combat before switching to just being a doctor.) He's highly intelligent, charming, good looking (not the typical Aryan looks since he has black hair, but he does have icy blue eyes), and very popular with both women and men. And yeah, I mean that socially, and otherwise. Unlike with Gen. Immerwahr, who's just so important and influential that he can get away with whatever he wants and nobody will bother him for it, Arzt isn't nearly as important, so he has to be more discreet. He definitely doesn't flaunt the fact that he goes both ways. But it's rather an open secret anyway; nobody has any actual PROOF of it (as Klemper's case shows, the SS doesn't even require proof, a rumor is enough), but there are stories. Arzt's discretion goes a long way toward protecting him, and his charming manner likely helps too. I mean who can't help but fall for the guy.

(This is probably the thing that rankles the SS more than his preferences, the fact that he remains a bachelor, and fathers no (known) children. Yeah, that kind of rankles them. But what can you do.)

Artz is actually a pretty good doctor, BTW. He isn't interested in any of the bizarre human experimentation his fellow SS officers engage in; he's interested in established medicine. This leads to a weird running-joke rivalry between him and Dr. Mengele in the story. They have a LOT in common (I feel like I have to point out Mengele is a side character to make it clear Arzt himself isn't directly based on him), but Arzt constantly disparages Mengele as a "quack" for the experiments he engages in as a camp doctor. (Mengele disparages him right back, though for different reasons.) Due to their professions they're often in close contact with each other and so have to tolerate each other's presence, and this leads to lots of catty comments. Unfortunately for Mengele, Arzt is a bit more quick witted with such things and so usually gets in the last insult, though Mengele is more well known, plus he survives the war, so, I guess there's that?

As mentioned in the other entries, Arzt is the one who leads to Lt. Gunter Hesse transferring to the Allgemeine-SS after he's injured serving in the Waffen-SS. He meets Gen. Immerwahr, Hesse's superior officer, while asking for a letter of recommendation for Hesse; Hesse is reluctant to do so himself, as he'd reported Immerwahr to...the Allgemeine-SS!--for inappropriate conduct! (Immerwahr made a move on Hesse and even though he backed off, Hesse didn't like that.) And now the Allgemeine-SS, which refused to follow through on the complaint, needs a letter of recommendation from the guy who had a complaint lodged against him, for the guy who did the complaining! Good times all around. Anyway, Arzt was the one to suggest the Allgemeine-SS as a new job, so he asks Immerwahr for the recommendation, and Immerwahr finds this all so hilarious he goes ahead and writes one. And hits on Arzt, because wow, this hot doctor who's like half his age just showed up at his place out of nowhere. Arzt isn't a homophobic prude like Hesse. He's like, sure why not, whenever you're free. And leaves with the letter. Hesse gets into the Allgemeine-SS though he's awfully confused about this all.

Arzt IS interested in ONE particular type of experimentation. He's quite curious about all types of sexuality, especially those regarded as degenerate by the Nazis (for this reason, Heidenreich dislikes him, probably even more than he dislikes him when later on Arzt and his wife become a thing), so he's willing to try out pretty much anything at least once. I think probably the best term to describe him is versatile, though even that is rather lacking. But anyway, he never turns down an unusual opportunity when it presents itself. This tendency earns him a reputation among women as kind of a playboy, and that's the idea of him that seems to spread the most, even though he's just the same with men. He doesn't deny this half-deserved reputation since it probably helps him keep out of trouble, too. Plus, given how popular and openminded he is, he's more than likely got the "patronage" of at least a few very influential people (Immerwahr, and later on Eva Heidenreich, among them), so that can't hurt. (Hesse, even though he works in intelligence, likely doesn't know the extent of Arzt's carryings-on, though he surely has an idea; but his experience with Immerwahr taught him to pick his battles.)

Arzt's intense curiosity, and willingness to try things out (including some risky things), are likely due to him being a high-functioning sociopath. He has very little fear of danger, and very easily gets bored, and doesn't even have to try to get people to hit on him, so his mindset is "May as well go along with it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ " Men, women, dom, sub, sadist, masochist, anything in between, at least it gives him something to do.

Arzt accepts Immerwahr's invitation to his place and joins him for dinner. Immerwahr owns the biggest estate right in the middle of the city, and it's crammed to the gills with art and antiques, much of it DEGENERATE!! in nature, plus he illegally employs various "undesirables" such as Jews and lesbians (i. e., people unlikely to talk) for his household staff, so of course Arzt finds this quite intriguing. (The naughtier, the better.) Immerwahr is rather versatile too, though he's much more interested in men; his favorite ploy is to invite them back to his private quarters to admire "the view." The room really does have a nice view of the city square, though most time there is spent looking at other things. Of course Arzt goes along. Immerwahr likes him well enough, and Arzt finds Immerwahr interesting enough, that they make it into a semi-regular thing. When Arzt shows up one day and finds Immerwahr has invited along a third party, Waffen-SS captain Oskar Ettlinger, Arzt is all on board, though Ettlinger is a bit more skittish (he's married and in the closet) and needs some convincing. Well, Arzt is pretty convincing. The three of them become a casual item, and when not otherwise engaged, they like to pass the time relaxing on Immerwahr's balcony, smoking and sipping drinks and chatting. This is how visitors usually come across them, and it looks pretty normal and reasonable to those few not in the know.

Arzt likes social gatherings, as they give him the opportunity to meet interesting people, have interesting talks, make interesting connections. He knows all the best people, even if they don't know him very well. One kind of ironic incident, in light of later events, is a small gathering he attends at the country estate of Col. Rupprecht Heidenreich, the chief of SS intelligence. Some members of the Dobermann household, as well as Hesse (who often stays on their estate), are visiting too, and someone comes up with the idea of a friendly competition, a horse race--Heidenreich comes from a long tradition of horse breeding and wants to show off both his riding skills and his prize stallion, Blitzschlag. Also joining the competition are Hesse (with his mare, Gewitter), Insp. Dobermann (he's not terribly thrilled to be involved but whatever), Sgt. Stephen Gerhardt, and Arzt. (2nd Lt. Senta Werner would've liked to join in but she's just a woman so she merely observes, along with Adelina Dobermann, Eva, and Private Konrad Helmstadt, because Helmstadt doesn't really care to be involved and he's just there to keep an eye on the wimminz, too.) The race is a VERY close one, with Heidenreich, Dobermann, and Hesse almost neck-and-neck while Gerhardt and Arzt are very close behind, when Heidenreich pulls a nasty move that causes Gerhardt's horse to topple, taking him with it--Arzt immediately drops out to tend to him (his ankle is twisted), and Dobermann--the intended target of the dirty move--pulls back as well, while only Heidenreich and Hesse finish, Heidenreich winning by a hair. (Addy is disappointed that both her father and her close friend Hesse lost, and Senta is disgusted by the cheating, while Eva is quite smug, and she and her husband pretty much eat each other's face in front of everyone after he dismounts. DEGENERATE!!)

It's on Immerwahr's balcony, though, that Arzt retires to one evening to drink and get away from the buzz of his latest party; parties are nice, but he has a limit, and there isn't anything especially interesting going on. He's sitting at a small table just outside the doors, sipping on his wine, when the doors abruptly burst open and someone storms out. Arzt watches the tall blond woman in the flattering red dress stalk to the balcony edge and grip it until her knuckles turn white, then slump against it as if defeated. He pauses, then picks up the wine bottle and fills a second glass; the woman hears the wine pouring and stiffens before turning to see who else is out there. Upon noticing Arzt, she approaches, and he holds up the glass of wine, saying, "You look like you need it."

Of course he knows who Eva Heidenreich is. She doesn't know him quite as well, though she vaguely remembers him from that impromptu horse race on her husband's property quite a while back, and yes, she knows her husband cheated. She accepts the drink and joins Arzt, who is a very good listener. It turns out Heidenreich cheats at more than horse racing, and he cheats quite frequently--from the very start of their marriage, in fact. Eva has "overlooked" this as much as she can, but now there's a rumor that one of the numerous women he's had affairs with is a lowly entertainer in a nightclub--a half-Jewish woman. Eva can overlook plenty of things, but coming from her "morally upright" husband, the same guy in charge of ensuring the racial hygiene laws are followed, this is just a bridge too far. She refuses to let this one slide. Unfortunately, although she's quite influential, she's still an SS wife and that makes her secondary; Heidenreich is a lot more powerful than she is, and like Immerwahr, can do pretty much whatever he wants. Not only that, but he's more powerful physically as well, and the previous night when she refused him, he got what he wanted anyway. Tonight's party has proven to be almost overwhelming, with her wearing her slinkiest dress and walking around arm-in-arm with her husband, the two of them playing the adoring couple while she secretly wishes she could murder him. She stops just short of saying this last bit out loud, but Arzt gets the gist of it. Eva's hatred of her husband practically oozes from her. He knows something that might help take away some of the sting, though. Apparently offhand, he mentions a room full of decadent art Immerwahr keeps locked in one of the halls--the exact same kind of art Heidenreich always decries as DEGENERATE!!, and the key is kept in a vase outside the door. Maybe Eva would like to go look at that art. Maybe Arzt could join her after a tactful period of time. Eva doesn't need any further hinting. She finishes her drink and leaves. Arzt waits a brief while before finishing his own drink, heading back inside (he spots Heidenreich at the other side of the room, chatting away amiably with a group of people), then exiting out into the hallway. He finds Eva wandering around in the private art room, admiring the displays, and kisses her. She's pretty willing, this time around.

(A note. Heidenreich actually knows exactly what's going on. Eva had gone to him to excuse herself to go look at Immerwahr's collection, and since she's already been cheating on him in an attempt to get back at him (she hasn't had as much luck as he has, since most SS officers are too afraid of angering their boss Heidenreich to sleep with her more than once--Hesse, who actually believes in upholding SS ideals, outright refuses), he figures there's more behind her exit than a sudden interest in degenerate art. When he sees Arzt leave shortly after, he easily figures it out. None of these people are as stupid OR as subtle as they pretend to be.)

Arzt is clear with Eva from the start: He's willing to help her try to get her husband jealous, and/or provide a distraction from her troubles, but that's all it is, a distraction. There won't be any serious relationship and neither of them will be tied down. Eva agrees. It's a bit hard to keep this in mind, however, when Arzt invites her back to his place, a cozy cottage in the suburb, and Eva is surprised to find another woman already there, significantly younger, slim, pretty, and apparently quite at home in Arzt's house. This is Gertraud "Trudi" Detzer. Eva is a bit steamed; Arzt had said nothing about somebody else LIVING with him. Turns out he has a standing arrangement with Trudi; while tending to an injury she'd incurred (he just happened to be the closest doctor around), he was surprised to discover that the young woman was actually male, or more specifcally, intersex--Trudi was born biologically male but with both male and female sex characteristics, and decided to present herself as female. In addition to all this, she's lesbian. In short, she's all kinds of things the Nazis and SS despise, and if they were to find out about her, she'd likely be sent to a camp to be experimented on by somebody like Dr. Mengele. Arzt, however, has different plans. He might not like medical experiments, but he likes other kinds of experiments, and he finds Trudi incredibly interesting. He offers her a deal: He won't report her to the SS, if she agrees to live with him and lets him do basically whatever he wants to her. It sounds like a nasty arrangement that nobody in their right mind would agree to, but Trudi knows the alternative is far worse; she's much tougher and more practical than she looks, and figures, she can handle one man, compared to however many people she might have to handle if she's sent to a camp. She agrees, though with the added stipulation that Arzt's protection extend to her mother, as well. She moves into his house under the pretext of him treating her for a "medical condition," and that's the situation when Eva arrives to pass the time.

Trudi has no romantic or warm feelings for Arzt whatsoever--theirs is a purely transactional relationship, plus, although she's agreed to this arrangement, a few times he's stepped over her personal boundaries into outright force. So she and Eva have a few things in common, although Eva would never deign to admit it. She isn't jealous of Eva's presence, just curious--she can tell the two don't love each other, and wonders what sort of deal they might have going. Eva, well, she's jealous. Arzt's stipulation that this is not a relationship notwithstanding. When she and he retire to his private quarters she makes a point to be as raucous as possible in the hopes that Trudi can hear it. Arzt calls her out on this afterwards, asking if she's jealous of Trudi, and why; Eva is too embarrassed by her own insecurity to answer. She does decide to keep carrying on with him, however, because so far she hasn't been able to find any other guys with the chutzpah Arzt has. (Part of this is because Heidenreich isn't Arzt's boss--he's in charge of the Allgemeine-SS, not the Waffen-SS--though most of it is just Arzt's lack of fear. He finds risky situations like this stimulating.)

Trudi is polite to Eva but for the most part appears to ignore whatever this is she and Arzt have going on. Eva figures the young woman is harmless and spends occasional afternoons at Arzt's place while her husband is busy at work. It's enjoyable, at least. One day while they're lying together, she finally finishes the thought she'd left unsaid at their first meeting: "I wish my husband were dead." Arzt isn't frightened, but he's rational: He treads very carefully.

Arzt: "You surely don't mean that."

Eva (giving him a look): "And why wouldn't I? You think I'm a liar?"

Arzt: "I think people say things they don't mean when they're angry."

Eva: "You think I'm merely hysterical?"

Arzt: "I think you're angry. And for good reason. But it's not the best frame of mind in which to make big decisions."

Eva: "Big decisions?"

Arzt: "There's a reason you're confiding this to me, ja...?"

Yes actually, there is. Eva asks Arzt if he knows anything about poisons. The moment she found out he was a doctor, the gears in her head started spinning--it isn't just hopes of making her husband jealous that inspired her to carry on with Arzt. She's using Arzt, too. He knows that, and doesn't care. Yes, he knows about poisons, he says; "But it isn't poison you should be interested in." When Eva asks why not, he replies, "Because that'll be the very first thing they look for. And everyone knows, the one who wants to use poison the most is the angry wife." Eva's disappointment is obvious, but Arzt isn't finished: "You need to think like a man," he says. This is advice much similar to what Eva's mother gave her when she was younger; "And what would a man think right now?" she asks. "Right now?--something completely inappropriate," Arzt says; "But a man would also think about how to pin this on someone else." "And how would he do that?" Eva asks, to which he replies, "He would think of a bomb."

A resistance group known as the Diamond Network, led by a Jewish camp escapee named Josef Diamant, is active in the city; Heidenreich's SS are constantly investigating them, but they're very skilled at flying below the radar, and they have secret operatives everywhere--for example, the civilian chauffeur who drives members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (commandant, adjutant, guards) to and from the labor camp is a member who provides a steady stream of intel, directly from the mouths of the SS officers themselves, to Diamant. The Dobermann household, where Hesse often stays, is a literal way station of the Network, with most of the help staff being involved and even Dobermann himself being fully aware of this. (Poor Hesse has no idea.) Although killing is very low on their list of objectives, and they go out of their way to minimize harm to civilian parties, the Network is well known for its use of explosives targeting SS and Nazi officials. The Diamond Network, therefore, is the perfect scapegoat for the murder of Col. Heidenreich. Arzt's specialty may be poisons, but he also knows a little about bombs, and about the way the Network does things. If Eva is serious, if she's 100% SURE that this is what she wants, then he can help her. But she has to be sure. Eva says, "I go to sleep beside him at night, I wake up beside him in the morning, and all I can think is how much I want him gone. None of this is worth it anymore."

So, okay. She's sure.

Arzt instructs Eva to take some time to cool off first; he'll get working on the bomb, but she needs to approach this slowly and with a level head. In the meantime, they'll continue their current arrangement so they can keep each other updated. He suggests she try to put her husband at ease by asking him to take her on an outing, make it seem like old times. Eva and Heidenreich go on a weekend getaway by themselves, and though Heidenreich isn't easily fooled, the distraction proves helpful in getting him to let his guard down a little; he figures Eva's cooled off a bit since their last altercation. She's a very skilled actress--she despises every moment she's with him, but effectively hides it. Arzt, meanwhile, works on assembling a bomb that at least superficially resembles those used by the Diamond Network: Diamant used to be a jeweler and watch repairer, so most of his bombs feature elaborate clockwork components. Arzt mimics this the best he can, which isn't very good considering he's not a jeweler or watchmaker, but it'll suffice to mislead the Allgemeine-SS. He uses gears from his own pocket watch in making the device, and when it's finished he lets Eva know. He'll use an untraceable private courier to deliver the device to the Heidenreich estate, where it's fully expected that the guards will open and inspect it. Arzt has hidden the bomb in plain sight by not concealing its clockwork components; many of Diamant's bombs resemble toys, a sort of taunt to their victims, so Arzt made his bomb look like a toy horse with a glass belly, the gears visible within. (Recall that in addition to running the SS intelligence office, Heidenreich is a horse breeder.) The idea is that everyone will assume it's from the Diamond Network and try to figure out how to disarm it. Here's Arzt's twist: It'll already be disarmed, and harmless. The only way it can be made dangerous again is if someone re-arms it with a separate explosive component. That someone is Eva.

So, one day the package shows up at the Heidenreich estate, and the guards at the front gate intercept it. Open it up carefully and look over its contents. One especially lucky guard gets to gingerly pry it open and poke around inside--but literally all he can find is gears. It does look like a Diamant bomb, but either he forgot to arm it, or it's intended purely as a taunt. They figure it's the latter, but decide to give it to Heidenreich anyway, since he'll surely enjoy the irony of owning a Network bomb that looks like one of his beloved horses. As the guard is taking the package to Heidenreich's personal office, Eva intervenes; after expressing concern about the safety of the item and being informed it's harmless, she offers to take it to him herself, and the guard hands it off. Eva pauses outside her husband's office to open the device up and place within it the component that actually will make it explode (Arzt gave her very clear instructions how to do so). Closes it up again, takes it inside. She tells Heidenreich the guards deemed it safe, and hands it over, then excuses herself to go see to something else. Heidenreich opens the package and draws out the horse figurine, looking it over curiously; he smiles as he admires its clockwork innards, then pops open the little glass compartment. Something immediately starts ticking. Heidenreich's smile vanishes and he has a fraction of a second to realize what's about to happen before it does.

Eva is a good distance down the hallway and still walking when the explosion rattles the windows and startles her to a halt--she knew what was about to happen, too, but is stunned nonetheless. She turns and runs back. Several of the guards are arriving too; one holds her back while the others go through the ruined office door, get a look at the scene, then immediately back out and decide to call Allgemeine-SS headquarters. Headquarters calls Lt. Hesse, who's asleep at his apartment in the city because it's late at night; when he hears that there's some sort of emergency situation at Heidenreich's house, he promptly gets dressed, grabs one of the SS cars, and heads out. (Hesse doesn't just enforce racial hygiene laws, he also investigates alleged crimes involving other SS members; so that's why he's involved.) He arrives to find guards trying to console and restrain Eva, who's screaming and sobbing (like I said--good actress); the others lead him to Heidenreich's office and he sees not only the destruction of the big wooden desk and everything around it, but what's all over the walls and ceiling as well. Shaken, he orders the room roped off and kept off limits until a team of investigators can arrive. He questions the guards and Eva as soon as she calms down, getting the basics of what happened; Eva seems infuriated that a bomb got through even after the guards inspected it and declared it safe. She begs Hesse to find out who's responsible and he promises to do his best. The guards confirm that the bomb was unarmed when they inspected it; they can't figure it out. Hesse calls a few trusted colleagues to fill them in, arranges for them to come out and collect evidence in the morning, and heads back home to catch a bit more sleep since he knows this is going to be a long one.

Col. Heidenreich gets a HUGE funeral--closed casket, of course--and the head of the SS, delivering the eulogy, vows that the parties responsible will face swift and brutal punishment. They accordingly begin cracking down even harder on suspected Diamond Network operatives, because who else could it be. Hesse is a bit more circumspect--he believes the same thing everyone else does, but he needs to collect some proof, pin down a specific subject, before he can act.

Despite his assurances, the investigation doesn't get far, until he's approached by Sgt. Stephen Gerhardt, a Wehrmacht officer who also resides at the Dobermann estate. Hesse had given Gerhardt a few details of the case when he asked, and thought little more of it, assuming he was just curious. Gerhardt now posits a theory: Somebody within Heidenreich's household armed the bomb, AFTER it was examined at the gate. Hesse brushes him off--"You're not an investigator, Herr Gerhardt, perhaps you should stick with what you know"--but the suggestion niggles at him the more he thinks about it. After all, there's literally no other possibility. He returns to the Heidenreich estate to question the guards again, trying to pinpoint which one might have something against the colonel; he at last focuses his attention on the last one who had possession of the device and presumably brought it to Heidenreich's office. The young officer is still shaken by the event, and seems genuinely upset and willing to help; when Hesse asks him for details about what happened when he brought the package to Heidenreich, he starts to answer, then blinks and suddenly remembers that he didn't actually deliver the package himself--Eva Heidenreich intercepted it. She was the last one in possession of the bomb, before Heidenreich received it.

Hesse remembers Eva attempting to seduce him some time earlier, and his heart sinks. He requests that she be brought to headquarters for questioning. At first she's defiant, seeming offended that her husband's men would dare suspect her of such things, but when Hesse brings up not just her possession of the bomb but her and Heidenreich's numerous affairs--"You're not stupid, Frau Heidenreich, I know you know everyone was aware of what was going on, because that was the point"--she visibly relaxes and then, to his surprise, gets a rueful smile. Hesse had promised to solve her husband's murder, and he kept that promise. He knows Eva couldn't have pulled it off on her own, however, and asks who else was involved; "Only me," she insists, "you think I'm not smart enough?" "I think you know little about how to make a bomb," Hesse says, to which she simply replies, "And you think I can't learn?" This is before the Internet, of course--it's not like she could've just looked up "How to arm a bomb" on the Dark Web. Hesse tries to coax her into naming her accomplice(s), suggesting that her punishment won't be as bad, but she calls him out on that promptly--"You just said I'm not stupid, Herr Hesse, so don't lie to me now, we both know there's no way out of this for me," and he's forced to stop trying. He does ask why she didn't just divorce him, a question that rankles her: "And give up everything? Everything I worked for! Everything I sacrificed for, while he had everything handed to him, just because he's a man. Maybe you don't know but this is just how it is for us, Herr Hesse, we do all this work to get so far and it can disappear in an instant because some man simply decided so. He doesn't need a reason. Why do I need a reason? He was an a**hole, and I hated him. There's your reason." Hesse finally realizes the depth of the Heidenreichs' hatred for each other, and ends the interrogation; he knows he won't get the identity of the accomplice from Eva. He does suspect it's one of the men she's had an affair with...but that doesn't exactly narrow things down.

(Something of which Hesse isn't aware. Sgt. Gerhardt didn't just pull his theory out of nowhere. He got the idea from Josef Diamant himself. Gerhardt is a Jewish American spy in contact with the Diamond Network, and Diamant is offended that anyone would blame Heidenreich's murder on his people--the bomb is a good fake, but not good enough: "Only an SS idiot like Herr Hesse would even think I'd make such garbage!" As well, the Diamond Network doesn't target private residences for bombing like this person did. When Gerhardt gives Diamant the details Hesse gave him about the crime, Diamant pauses before suggesting Heidenreich's death is an inside job: "I don't like the thought of it, but nothing else makes sense. Somebody in there is trying to pin this on us. Do you think we'd be foolish enough to go after Herr Heidenreich?--it's suicide.")

Eva waives her right to a trial--knowing there's no way it could be fair, and there's no verdict possible other than guilty--and is brought to a public area set up outside the labor camp, where a scaffold has been erected. Diamant was right in saying that assassinating someone of Heidenreich's importance is an extremely reckless move with extreme consequences, and Eva's execution--for that's what the punishment is to be--is open for the public to see, as a warning. She refuses the hood--"I want everyone to see"--and when given the chance to explain herself to the crowd, she announces, "My husband was an a**hole, and anyone here would have done the exact same." The noose is placed around her neck, the trapdoor released; Eva plummets, kicks, falls still. She never gives up the names of any accomplices.

One of the many people watching is Capt. Arzt. He feels no sadness, no real regret; it was too bad Eva got caught, but she knew the risk. If she had named him, he wouldn't have bothered trying to hide or flee because those are things a coward does--but she didn't. He's a bit impressed by her defiance. Her loyalty, he doesn't care one way or the other since she was just an interesting diversion to him, but it's to his advantage that she didn't give him up; reasoning that if she'd wanted him to be punished along with her, she wouldn't have stayed silent, he stays silent too, and resumes going about his normal life without any further concern. She made her choice.

Not long after, though, while he's relaxing at Immerwahr's place with the general and Capt. Ettlinger, Lt. Hesse and one of his men come calling. Immerwahr invites the two to join them but Hesse declines. In Heidenreich's absence, he's assumed temporary command of SS intelligence (in another ironic career twist, Eva recommended he take her husband's position, as he was the only "truly honorable" SS member she knew of), and quietly continued the investigation into Heidenreich's murder. There's been a development: A tiny bent gear found in the rubble of Heidenreich's office has been traced back to a particular watchmaker, and the watchmaker's records state it was a custom pocket watch made for a member of the Waffen-SS. The name in the records is Erich Arzt. An insignificant little piece of metal did what Eva Heidenreich refused to do.

Arzt feigns surprise and ignorance at first, but as soon as Hesse mentions the watch gear, he knows it's over. He stands up, removes and sets his pistol, dagger, and sword on the table, and offers his wrists for Hesse's companion to shackle. He also offers a belated defense for Eva, explaining that her husband mistreated her, and this is why she turned to him for help; he assumes all responsibility for the bomb itself, and says no one else was involved. Aside from this, though, he expresses no remorse. He pauses to take a last sip of wine from his glass and leaves with the officer as Hesse confirms that neither Immerwahr nor Ettlinger were in on the plot; the other two Waffen-SS officers are as bewildered as anyone.

As they head out to the car, Arzt explains that a young patient of his named Trudi is staying at his house, and asks that she not be "molested" as she has no knowledge of the murder plot; he also gives the combination to his personal safe. Hesse looks rather perplexed and uneasy--wondering why Arzt is offering up this information--but says nothing, and they get Arzt settled in the back seat and depart. It's a warm lovely day, the sun shining and the birds singing, and Arzt looks up and briefly enjoys the breeze passing over the open-top car. Then bites down on the little cyanide capsule he took from his pocket and slipped into his mouth while removing his gun and taking a drink of his wine. He's still conscious enough to hear Hesse yell at his companion to stop the car when he starts seizing and bleeding/frothing from the mouth; but by the time they pull him out and lay him on the ground, he's too far gone to notice anything anymore. He dies within minutes. Hesse is so frustrated and infuriated that he screams and kicks him in the side. It doesn't matter, Arzt can't feel it.

Yep, Eva was right. Arzt knows poisons.

The only thing left to do is resume their trip to Arzt's place to search for further evidence in the murder plot. Trudi greets them, and is stunned to hear of Arzt's death. (They wrapped him in a tarp and placed him back in the car for the time being.) She lets them in his private study, which was off limits while he was alive, and stands aside while they search. They locate the safe and open it up to find some random things including Arzt's will; Hesse skims it, furrows his brow, then tells Trudi that Arzt left his house and most of his belongings to her. He assumes the two are lovers, but Trudi seems just as bewildered as Immerwahr and Ettlinger were--"We weren't lovers. We weren't even friends. Why would he leave it to me?" Hesse doesn't know, and by now he doesn't really care. They return their attention to the search while Trudi turns and quietly leaves. They find some sort of records related to a medical experiment and an esoteric organization known as the Thule Society, then they find Trudi's medical file. Hesse glances at it in mild curiosity, and is promptly confused--the name on the file is GERTRAUD DETZER, yet the name inside the file is GERWIN DETZER. He figures it's some sort of mixup and Trudi has a twin brother whom Arzt was also treating until he reads on a bit more, and gets even more and more confused. His companion sees the look on his face and asks what's wrong; Hesse stammers, "Fräulein Trudi--she--he's a boy?" That of course makes zero sense to his friend, they were just talking to Fräulein Trudi and obviously she's a girl. Hesse asks where she is and they finally notice she's no longer standing there; they quickly go through the rest of the house, and in Trudi's room they find that several dresser drawers have been pulled open and emptied, and the door leading to the side yard is unlocked. Trudi knew they would locate her medical file; she made a phone call, packed a few things, then hurried out to the car that arrived shortly after and got the hell out of there. Needless to say, Hesse is beyond pissed off, by now.

There are a few key details here that both Arzt and Hesse overlooked; if they hadn't been so singlemindedly focused on Heidenreich's death, they might have noticed what was amiss. The SS has been leaking intel like a sieve and Hesse can't pinpoint where it's coming from. It turns out Arzt was the main leak--though unwittingly. That's because Trudi is a member of the Diamond Network: She'd caught another of them in the act of breaking into Arzt's house, but allowed her to escape. Surmising that the young woman living with the SS captain could be a potential ally, Diamant recruited her; Arzt discovered this and threatened her, but clever Trudi simply turned herself into a double agent. She remained living under Arzt's protection, feeding him carefully selected bits of information given to her by the Diamond Network, while simultaneously reporting all of Arzt's activities--as well as anything he'd told her while they were alone together--to Diamant. She was always there, sitting in the other room, while Arzt and Eva Heidenreich met; meaning the Diamond Network had suspicions that Arzt and Eva were up to something before Gerhardt, Hesse, or anyone else did. And the car that she called to shuttle her away from Arzt's house and into Diamond Network custody?--is the same limo used to transport members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, chauffeured by the Diamond Network operative Andreas Cranz (the other big leak in the SS).

So in the end, only one person with knowledge of the Heidenreich plot--Eva Heidenreich herself--ever faces punishment for it, and Hesse is forced to end the investigation, highly disillusioned.

Arzt's role in the plot doesn't end with his death, however. Toward the end of the story, I haven't worked out all the details yet, but some of the characters have a run-in with a Waffen-SS panzer division whose members are strangely fanatical and seem to possess almost unlimited stamina. Of course it's assumed they're high on meth, but it soon becomes clear this is something even more than that. The good guys barely escape with their lives; the only thing that stops the panzer commander (an as-yet unnamed master sergeant I've mentioned before, he has some goofy earlier interactions with Master Sergeant Schulte wherein they yell vulgar slurs at each other and then trade chocolate and cigarettes) is a gunshot to the head. Literally nothing else works. The good guys can only surmise they're on some kind of SUPER meth and leave it at that. After their escape, however, a few details come to light: These Waffen-SS members apparently participated in Project Doomsday, the Nazi medical experiment that plays such a prominent role in the story. This doesn't seem to make sense, as the Doomsday serum--which confers immense strength, intelligence, stamina, and ability to withstand pain on successful test subjects--works only on people with a VERY rare blood type mutation, and successful subjects can be counted on the fingers of one hand with room to spare--all of them were in the rodent side of the experiment. (Remember there are two parallel storylines in the Trench Rats universe, a rodent one and a canine one.) This here was an ENTIRE PANZER DIVISION of seemingly successful test subjects. How is that possible? They couldn't all have the same very rare blood type AND blood mutation.

This plot point is left hanging at the end of the story but gets picked up in the epilogue story, Ultima Thule, which takes place a little while after the war has ended and everyone has started settling down. Rumor reaches the two sets of main characters that Project Doomsday, which was believed ended when its headquarters was raided and the doctor in charge was killed, is in fact still going strong. It's merely been renamed--Project Ultima Thule--and repurposed--rather than increasing strength and intelligence yadda yadda, now it's focusing on conferring immortality itself. Some Nazi doctors who managed to escape capture fled to the mountains and have been keeping the project going. It quickly becomes clear that the members of the Waffen-SS panzer division were involved in the early stages of this updated project (before the doctors fled)--updated, as in the serum now works on ALL blood types. (Fun fact, if the characters had had the chance to check out the arms of the SS members in the previous story, they might have confirmed something was amiss--many Waffen-SS members had their blood group tattooed on their arm.) The serum has been majorly tweaked, and not only has its main limitation been removed, but it's gained a new and much more sinister purpose.

How was this possible when the doctor in charge of the project, Dietmar Kammler, was killed before he could resolve this issue? It's yet another instance of the characters overlooking something right in front of them. I already mentioned the project was successful only in the rodent side of the story--nowhere in the plot, so far as I know, are there any successful canine test subjects. Most of the characters probably assumed the same thing I did, that Project Doomsday was limited to just the one side, and the canine Nazis never bothered with it. Welp! That's not correct. Communication between the two groups is quite limited, but at some point Kammler must have gotten in touch with the canine Nazi doctors and given them all the important information to tweak the serum, probably because he was having such s**tty luck himself. (Sabotage, in his case. But anyway.) Two of the doctors who just happened to gain access to this information were Mengele, and Arzt. Mengele, since he's the one most interested in weird experiments, did the bulk of the work fixing the serum, but Arzt played a pretty big role in spreading the word about it and securing further funding: He was either connected to or actually a member of the Thule Society, whose logo--a broken sun cross swastika (remember that?)--Trudi once spotted in his office without knowing what it was. As you can tell by the name, the Thule Society had a hand in Project Ultima Thule, and Arzt came up with the idea of testing out an early version of the updated serum on the panzer division, misleading them into thinking it was just some variant of the meth they were always being given. This was why they were so difficult to defeat earlier.

After Arzt's death, Mengele is the one left to take up the mantle of the project. He irons out the bugs and passes it on to the remaining doctors before going into hiding and eventually fleeing the country. (So he never plays a direct role in Ultima Thule, no; he's not among the doctors who presumably end up dead at the series conclusion. A-hole lives on into the 1970s in South America!) Among the rodent faction, the party left in charge of the project is SS Major Ludolf Jäger (who sports a nice big BROKEN SUN CROSS SWASTIKA tattoo on his shoulder--yep--he's a member of the Society); among the canine faction, I currently know of nobody in particular who is left in charge, though there's the group of Nazi doctors, and then among both factions, there are the experimental test subjects doing their bidding. On the rodent side, known test subjects include Lance Corporal Indigo Rat (killed by shrapnel in the previous story) and Jäger himself (a volunteer); on the canine side, they include PFC Konrad Helmstadt, and Lt. Hesse.

Notice that three of the four test subjects named here were killed in the previous story: Indigo by shrapnel, Helmstadt and Hesse by gunshot to the chest. Yet here they all are, alive again, though not quite themselves--in contrast to their standard uniforms, they're all (even Indigo) dressed in a weird white variant of the SS uniform, their eyes have an odd milky blue haze to them, and they all act like automatons, largely unaware/unaffected by what's going on around them. (Jäger is the lone exception to this last one--because he's the only one who took the serum voluntarily, while still alive.) They're also apparently unfazed by any attempts to injure or kill them, similar to the panzer division. Eventually, the Trench Rat surgeon, Burgundy Rat, discovers that the Nazi doctors also engineered a chemical that partly counteracts the serum by overriding its hypnotic effects (I don't know for sure yet, but perhaps Arzt came up with this as a failsafe--sounds more like something he'd do, rather than the gung-ho Mengele). Indigo is the first to get this tried out on him--he's jabbed with a needle of the counter-serum or whatever it is (they've located some within the Alpine Fortress where all this is taking place) while attacking his former comrades, and for the first time shows a reaction, yelling and dropping to the ground writhing in pain. After several moments, though, some of the milky haze clears from his eyes, he blinks, and starts recognizing everyone around him. He's literally been brought back from the dead. He has no memory of anything after getting hit by the shrapnel, except a vague impression of being somewhere else and meeting someone. (There are hints of an afterlife given in the story but it doesn't dwell on this, since I try to avoid overt religious themes.)

The Trench Rats share this discovery with the canine faction, and they get their hands on the chemical and manage to use it first on Hesse, then on Helmstadt. Hesse, who'd been killed by Diamant while attempting to take the Dobermanns into custody, is extremely confused to suddenly find himself in an icy area, dressed in white and surrounded by different people; as he learns more about what's going on, he decides to switch sides, since the Third Reich, the SS, even his loyal master sergeant Schulte and his lover Sophie are all gone and he has literally nothing left but to help his old friends the Dobermanns. Helmstadt's reaction is decidedly different--although initially confused (his last memory is about the same as Hesse's), he's as devoted to the fallen Nazi cause as ever, and continues actively attacking and working against the Allies. They make another interesting discovery: There's another means of counteracting Ultima Thule's subjects, and that involves putting a bullet in or otherwise destroying the brain--exactly what happened with the panzer commander. (This is also why characters like Schulte, who was shot in the head, aren't resurrected for use in Ultima Thule--only those who were killed by other means.) So this is the big weakness in the project, and the Allies determine they have to make use of it to end the combined efforts of Kammler, Mengele, Arzt, and the rest once and for all.

Of course there's more, but that's the extent of Arzt's part in it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Erich Arzt 2022 [‎Friday, ‎September ‎30, ‎2022, ‏‎3:00:06 AM]]

[Erich Arzt 2022 2 [‎Friday, ‎September ‎30, ‎2022, ‏‎3:00:22 AM]]

#artists on tumblr #ibisPaint x #SketchDaily #original characters

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the-acid-pear · 2 years

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The Evil Dead rewatch "liveblog" (couldn't shut the fuck up but instead of making a long rb chain i shoved it all here together <3)

Sumthin i only noticed now is that during the intro there was a car crashed in the lake, pretty subtle n cool detail!

Gotta say i still am in love with Ash stupid ass hair. Literally peak.

Love to see Ashley was a himbo even this far back btw

Watching this movie is harder now i don't have glasses anymore

Rewatching this in the middle of watching Ash vs Evil Dead is making me super nostalgic ngl

That drawing sucks so much only now i realize it was meant to be the book

Bruh i forgot the book was this ugly originally 💀

The fact that it was Ash to first start up the tape... 🤦

FACT THAT CHERYL NEARLY SAVES THEM ALL... 🤦💔

I don't think it was ever outright stated so I'm gonna hc Ash as the big brother :)

Cheryl is so stupid but i cannot expect anything less from a Williams

Funny how Ash went from not believing Cheryl to not being believed by anyone

Really into Ash being a consistent coward even if having to fight it due to the circumstances, he let Linda approach Cheryl before him

The women in this movie really just KILL it man they are so incredible

Funny how Scotty is way more of a protagonist than Ash in this one

Man Scotty's transition from "hit her" to "hit it" is so good

Rewatching this movie makes me extremely sad bc of how Ash is now like man. There really was a time where he was normal 😢

Y'know, some scenes hit different now that I'm rewatching it w a different mood, being able to appreciate how the characters feel and shit, but even now i still find the way Ash treated Scotty comedically mean 💀

I FORGOT ASH HITS LINDA WKSGDJGEJE

You can really pinpoint the precise moment in which he loses his sanity it's great

Love that he excludes Cheryl of the list of them who will leave, he just says "me, you, Linda, Shelly" and then trails off

Possessed Linda is still the hottest bitch ever she can kill me any day of the week 🥵

Obsessed w the noises Ash makes while beating up Linda with a stick i don't know how he can pick up

THE LITTLE JUMOS HE'S MAKING TO HIT HER HARDER 💀

Rlly into how Ash is barely relevant throught this whole thing until the last 17 minutes or so where this becomes Let's See How Much Abuse A Man Can Take :)

Which only continued in 2, of course 😋

Gotta say, the ending does have some of the best shots and transitions in the whole movie

I always adored how the pendant was a magnifying glass for no reason at all, the simplicity enhances the cuteness of it <3

#luly talks #evil dead liveblog #fun fact btw i didnt actually finish watching it LMAO #i closed it w 9 minutes to go bc i went ''i remember this all 😑'' so i didnt wanna waste time #i enjoyed this more than i did the first time but the last minutes are. not the best tbh?#is funny to see how much changed in the sequels tho ngl

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mrskurono · 3 years

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title: Bet Me || domming the Seijoh Grads

a/n: anon who gave me this idea, I thought FOREVER about how to execute this and I just like- this happened while taking a shower ok. Iwa had it coming to him being the alpha dog

word count: 2.7k

tags: dom!reader, group sex (mmmmf), established relationship (on Oikawa’s end), bondage, handjob, slight degradation, edging, cockwarming, ruined orgasm, masturbation (male), oral( male and female), rimjob, cucking, male on male (penetration +oral), anal creampie, cocky Oikawa, brat taming Iwa, slightly dacraphilia, safe word mention (unused) petnames, uh probably something else but c’mon its fucking smut, unedited

character(s): Oikawa Tooru (hq), Hajime Iwaizumi (hq) Takahiro Hanamaki (hq) Issei Matsukawa (hq)

heavy nsfw undercut ⇾ ⇾ ⇾

Tooru ran his mouth like a bullet train.

No one took him seriously when he toted about how amazing you were. Claiming you to be the best. Which, to Iwa’s, Makki’s and Mattsun’s surprise, that was notably a lot coming from the ladies man himself. Tooru’s taste in women came like his coffee order did, sweet and sweeter. So when the man came sporting some glamorous little bruises on his torso. Well, that lead to a bit of a bet.

“This won’t work.” Iwa scoffed at the idea, nearly rolling his eyes out of his head when the last bit of rope was secure, “She can’t do it since Shittykawa is just a wimp of course he cums easily!”

“You gonna bet me for that huh baby?” Standing above the man who was now tied at your feet seemed to leave you in a pretty domineering position now over him. Iwa wouldn’t give it up though. He was certain you couldn’t edge him until he cried.

If Iwa cried, then the bet was in your favor. Makki and Mattsun would without a doubt bow to your ability. Seeing though as no one had bested their friend since high school, neither of them saw much potential besides maybe a fun circle jerk out of this. Tooru on the other hand was nearly vibrating out of his own skin with excitement for the occasion.

“You’re gonna eat those words you know Iwa!” Tooru grinning. His best friend really had no idea what he was in store for. And he wasn’t going to tell him either.

Rolling your eyes you wave your boyfriend away and kneel down in front of the bulky athletic trainer. Searching his face. Paying almost no attention to his half a hard on even now, and you simply smile at him, “No kissing. And the safe word is teal, yeah?”

Iwa rolled his eye once more, “Yeah ok.”

Mattsun and Makki elbowed each other with a bit of a giggle between the two of them. They didn’t think you could do it but were certainly glad to not be in Iwa’s shoes. Only arms tired behind his back, Iwa was left in a precarious position when your hand ghosted over his cock.

Feathery touch of your fingertips down his thick shaft and Iwa scoffed. An offhanded comment about if that was the best you got then you should just jerk him off. Instead you let his words fall on deaf ears. Smiling as you took your hand away. Earning all eyes on you as you reached for what was simply a regular bottle of lube.

Drizzling it over Iwa’s cock until it ran down his shaft and between his balls to drip on the ground at his feet. You really had everyone’s attention now that his cock was slimy with lube and untouched. The peanut gallery snickered. Tooru said something in a husky mumble. But it was clear all three men were beginning to palm themselves through their pants. Iwa on the other hand, held firm that this would just be another handjob.

Which in reality you suppose it was. Your work slow and methodical. Wasn’t long before you realized Iwa was enjoying himself. Fingers dancing up and down his cock. The squelch of the lube when you squeezed his tip. Watching him roll his head back and savor the simple movement. Really besides his arms being tied behind his back this was all about to end like a normal handjob.

That was, until the first stringy bits of precum dripped from Iwa’s cock.

“Fuck- Right there-” His low guttural moan.

Indulgent and self centered. Iwa was about to cum and not a tear in sight. Even Makki and Mattsun who now shamelessly were jerking themselves off weren’t surprised by the outcome. But like he knew something they didn’t, Tooru had his hands off himself. Completely. Only those brown eyes set forward and fixated on your hands like he was waiting for you to do something.

“You gonna cum baby?” Your fingers working magic up and down his cock.

Iwa nodded. He wasn’t even paying attention. The handjob was hot but all eyes on him while he was going to win seemed to fuel him even more. You could feel his cock twitch in your hand. Carefully you watched until his balls tightened and then you did it. Exactly what Tooru knew you’d do.

Hand smashed to the top of Iwa’s cock before he could say anything. Your strokes stopped completely. Replaced by a firm grip and your opposing hand feverishly rubbing your palm in circles over his slit. Iwa had no time to react. The overstim right into too much making his entire body twitch and convulse. He doubled over but could not escape. The bindings he strained against didn’t give way. And your hand didn’t stop with it’s cruel motions. Nothing he did could make him escape the pins and needles of pleasure cascading through his body on overdrive.

“Give up? Too much baby? Huh you not gonna cum? Baby wanted to cum though. Where’s all that big boy talk now, Hajime?” Your words sweet in tone and evil in context. Iwa was coming undone in front of everyone he knew. Makki and Mattsun had stopped stroking themselves entirely. Wide eyed at the sight as Tooru was giggling and palming himself finally to his slight relief. His queen was going to win the bet. He just knew you would.

“-‘s much-” Iwa croaked, body trembling under your touch.

“What? I can’t hear you?” Your hand only slick with precum and the lube off his cock, “Come now, I wanna see all your sweet milk spill out~ Won’t you do that for me Hajime?”

Iwa grunted, bucked his hips and gritted his teeth. His orgasm was being forcibly taken from him but still not a tear to spare. As he twitched and shifted his hips up he was certain this would come crashing into an orgasm. Building quicker and quicker by the passing second. He forgot to care if everyone around him was even jerking off to the sight of him anymore. Iwa gasped just when his orgasm was tipping to no return.

“That’s enough.”

Iwa gasped. Mattsun and Makki gasped. Tooru giggled.

Your hand completely removed from Iwa’s cock. All men witnessed the cruelest thing to date. Iwa’s cock bouncing, in desperation, with one exact bead of white cum oozing from his slit. You just ruined Iwaizumi’s orgasm and they all watched you do it.

“No! Don’t stop! Idiot! K-Keep doing it! Keep moving I- I just- I wanna cum!!” Iwa’s pleas fell from his mouth. Ending with his voice cracking as his orgasm tightened around him but just wouldn’t be released. You sat smug in front of him and when his voice cracked he knew it was all over.

You won.

“Shit....” Mattsun mumbled, fixated on Iwa’s poor cock standing so abused and hard.

“Man....that’s....wow.” Makki, still grabbing at his cock, couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Told you guys so~” Tooru sung your praise more than happy to see both his friends adamant that what they saw wasn’t something they wished on anyone. Especially themselves.

“So.” You stood up, hand covered in slickness mixed with Iwa’s precum and looked at Mattsun and Makki, “Anyone else think I’m a liar?”

Quickly they shook their heads.

“Good.” You smiled sweetly. Fixing to pull your panties off right away and throw them between Iwa’s legs still bound in front of you. On full display the natural juices clinging to your thighs with how wet you’d gotten on this little bet. So now you figured no one was going to argue with you, it was your turn for some relief, “Makki, come here.”

Eyes wide he looked at Tooru. Who grinned and nodded for him to do as you said.

Sheepish of the same treatment. He knew a bet was a bet. Undoubtedly you were proclaimed alpha and did as you asked.

“Sit for me yeah?” You point across from Iwa.

Makki swallowed hard but listened. He didn’t want the same outcome as Iwa. When he’d sat down you grab a fistful of his hair and pull him into your ass, “Lick me up a little. I don’t wanna sit on your cock this wet.”

Obediently Makki liked this outcome much more. His tongue swiping over your thighs and lapping at your juices with no questions asked. If he heard you right, sitting on his cock was next in line.

“Tooru baby,” You cooed at your boyfriend, “Mattsun looks awfully hard. Maybe you should take care of him?”

While you pulled Makki’s face into you more, letting him lick you clean in front of Iwa. You take pride in seeing how well your boyfriend drops to his knees to take his friends cock. Mattsun certainly as big as some of the toys you make sweet Tooru gag on. It’s within no time that he has him down his throat. Brown eyes looking up at Mattsun as his cheeks hollow out and he goes to town sucking him like a good boy. Allowing you to enjoy yourself a bit more.

“Alright thank you, Makki,” You pull his face away, coated in your juices and a bit of a dazed look. Adding to the bliss on the man’s face when you finally seat yourself on his cock. Makki’s hands going right to your hips, “Ah ah ah, don’t move. Unless you wanna end up like Iwa huh?”

“Y-Yes ma’am-” Makki stutters with the right amount of fear not to try you on it. Iwa is still left bound in front of you with his cock head purple and aching as it twitches against the air for some kind of relief.

When you wiggle yourself comfortably on Makki’s cock. Moaning softly and spreading your legs so Iwa can see his friend’s cock buried inside you. You click your tongue at Iwa to make him look at you.

Drawing a finger up your slit and teasing your own clit, you smile at Iwa, “Bet you wish you hadn’t lost huh? Wishing you were stuffing my cunny with that cock right about now? Instead, only seeing sweet Makki stretch me out and how hard my clit is. Bet I could cum like this. On his cock that is.”

Iwa licked his lips. How desperate he was to cum. You were absolutely right, Iwa desperately wanted to be Makki, “.....please.”

“Please what?” You asked, reaching your wet fingers back to stuff in Makki’s mouth, “Suck baby.”

Makki listened well. Tongue washing over your fingers to eat your juices up as he relished the feeling of his cock inside you after all this. He wasn’t about to screw this up.

Hanging his head low Iwa internalized his growl and finally spoke up, “....please...let me taste you.”

“That’s a good boy,” You use your foot to tilt his head up towards you. Making him face you but when that smile widened Iwa’s stomach tightened, “But first, Tooru~”

Popping his lips off Mattsun’s cock, your boyfriend turned towards you. Seeing you motion him over. Tooru hated to leave what he was doing but was more curious about what you could want.

“Love, do you think you could take Mattsun?” You ask sweetly.

Tooru blushed at the idea, “I mean...yeah...with a little prep I could-”

“Say no more,” You wave his words away and look to Iwa, “Prep him for me will you baby?”

Giddy at the idea. Tooru didn’t waste anytime getting on his knees. Hips pushed back towards Iwa and Tooru bringing his face inches from your core. Not allowed to taste you but where he could vividly see Makki’s cock stuffed in you.

Perhaps it was the grogginess of a ruined orgasm. Or the fact he was desperate to cum at this point. But there was no hesitation when Iwa pressed his tongue against Tooru. Earning a lewd moan from his best friend that fueled him. Finding himself so hard at the idea of Tooru pressing back on his face as Iwa tongued him.

“Mmm there, does Iwa’s tongue feel good love?” You caress his face as your free hand plays with your clit. Makki not moving as you ordered but his hands certainly didn’t seem to count as he groped and fondled your breast.

“S-So good-” Tooru moaned. His labored breathing and cock hanging between his legs as Iwa ate him out was a beautiful sight. One that wouldn’t last long though.

“Can you take Mattsun now?” You asked sweetly of him. Tooru nodded. He didn’t want to lose Iwa’s tongue but he knew the next thing would be better. So you looked to Mattsun with an inquisitive look.

“Don’t gotta tell me twice.” Mattsun ready to stuff his cock in anything a this point.

You watched in pure bliss as you saw Tooru straddle his friend like he did you so often. Instead of sliding down on a toy though. You watched Mattsun’s enormous cock disappear in his ass. Tooru’s stomach tensing until he relaxed and the brown haired man sighed in relief.

“Feel good?” You asked the both of them.

Hardly a response though as Mattsun and Tooru ended up in their own little world. Fucking only mere feet from you. Makki’s cock buried in you as you lazily played with your clit. Leaving Iwa out of it.

“Please...” He stooped as low as to beg, “...Please let me taste at least.”

Feeling generous and like it would be a nice change. You indulge him. Allowing Iwa to finally get a little something even though he was the loser.

“Make me cum before Mattsun fills Tooru and I’ll let you cockwarm next time~”

Iwa didn’t need to be told twice. Diving between your legs to find your clit instantly. His tongue working overtime as you leaned back into Makki. Making the man hold you and catching his lips. He was a good boy who wasn’t moving so kissing him was the least you could do.

As instructed Iwa was an expert with his tongue. Giving your clit all of his attention. Sadly thought he wasn’t privy to winning this either. Glancing over at the other two soon assure you of that. The way Mattsun gripped Tooru’s hips. Cum drooling out of Tooru’s cock for lord only knows how long now. And the way Mattsun’s brows pinched in the middle and hips stalled meant Iwa lost once more.

Unsurprisingly the two men had to catch their breath. Mattsun pulling out and a flood of cum following. Tooru being a good boy when you told him not to waste any and he scooped up Mattsun’s cum and pushed it back inside himself. Fingering himself as Iwa’s tongue began doing the trick when your hand found his hair and your grip tightened.

First a wonderful little tickle until finally you were leaning back into Makki groaning with a shudder. No real movement save for the ripple of your cushiony cunt walls around his cock. After all this Makki wasn’t going to complain. Even as Iwa’s tongue glided over his shaft a few times in desperation to keep you cumming on his tongue.

Neither men cared when your orgasm was in full swing. Your cunt tightening around Makki until he had no choice but to double over into you. Holding you tight as his cock throbbed inside you and his balls emptied every last drop of cum into your well deserving pussy. Even Iwa not caring as he did his job to ride out your orgasm and some of Makki’s excess cum drooling out around him and Iwa licking it up like a good boy. Focused on your hand in his hair until he knew he’d done his job when your grip slowly loosened and finally released him completely.

Satisfied but not letting Makki go anywhere just yet. Which he didn’t mind. Tooru crawled over to you. Kissing you with the faint taste of Mattsun’s cock on his lips and certainly his cum still dripping down his inner thighs. Tooru smiled against you before nuzzling his face against yours.

“Aye wait-” Iwa, still the only one who hadn’t came yet, huffed and looked around.

No one said a thing. Makki spared you a look by hiding his face in your neck like Tooru. Mattsun looked your way and didn’t say anything to his friend. And Tooru simply kept kissing your neck without a care. None of them were going to go against your wishes making you smile at Iwa, “Well, maybe next time you’ll know better than to bet against me now won’t you?”

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