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softmangoes · 1 month

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13 moons | ivory wraith x pc

18+ only | for @velvetburnt

i. the first time that the wraith senses you is when you step into the lake, shivering at the cold nipping at your skin. even meters deep in the rubble and the ruin, he can feel the familiar shape of your soul separated from him by rock and water and far too much time. he places a palm against the weathered stone, longing.

ii. when the veil that separates your world from his thins, the night bathed in red, he roams the streets searching for you. in life, the both of you were inseparable. in this undeath, there is a faint line tethering your souls together woven by the hands of fate and weathered by time. just before the dawn sun rises, he finds you sleeping in your bed. his mouth curls into a gentle smile, relieved. he trails a pale finger along your face before he departs.

iii. each visit, he grows stronger, more corporeal. perhaps his longing for you has only emboldened the horrible gifts that have been bestowed upon him. perhaps he has endured far too long without you in his arms. or perhaps he is hungry and he must feed.

iv. when he successfully lures you into his lair, pulling on the tether connecting you to him like a fisher with their line, he cannot help but hold you in awe. "finally," he breathes, voice sonorous as it reverberates throughout the ruined temple. "we are together again."

v. there is fear in your eyes, but fear is a fleeting thing - a temporary inconvenience in the face of so much time. love is eternal, enduring. do you understand, droplet? he would never hurt you, but he is so very hungry. his tentacles kiss your skin, their bruising suckers coaxing moans from your sweet mouth. oh, how he's missed the taste of you. he slips inside you. oh, how he's missed your warmth.

vi. to his surprise, you come for him next. "i know you're here," you say, skin dripping from the dive. your voice echoes throughout the rubble and while he can see you, the veil is too thick for him to manifest. "i know that it wasn't a dream." there is hunger in your eyes, an ache as fathomless as his. ah. so you've been thinking about him, then. the blood moon is soon. he cannot answer you now, but he will then.

vii. you do not struggle. at least, not against him. when you enter his domain, your eyes clear for a moment. "i know you," you say, beholding him. for a moment, he feels self conscious. he has changed so much since your souls last embraced. do you find him monstrous in his undeath, he wonders, with his many limbs and endless tendrils? do you find him horrible, with his teeth and tongue aching for you? will you shy away?

viii. you do not. instead, you wrap your arms around his cold neck and tangle your fingers in his pale hair. his many hands caress you gently while his lips lock with yours. he can taste your desire, your ache, your fear, your confusion and he eats them whole. the waves chew and all will make sense in time.

ix. the tentacle inside you thickens, making the walls echo with your whine as your pleasure crests. in life, he had only ever dreamed of touching you like this. in this undeath, he can listen to the siren song of your need for him forever. the wraith lifts your body high in the air, tentacles wet and writhing around you, so that he can bring his mouth between your thighs. his tongue is long and cold and it does not take much effort to make you shiver.

x. "i will take care of you, droplet." his voice is sweet, echoing like a long-lost song within the confines of your mind. when you kiss him, you taste the coolness of the lake's water lapping at your skin. "we will never part." the specter holds your hips in his large hands and sinks inside you. you gasp at the pressure, the stretch, but his other hands rub tenderly at your nipples and his mouth is so gentle against yours. you let the tide take you.

xi. "i have dreamed of this," he says. so have you, ever since the first night he took you. at first, you were frightened, terrified of your limbs moving on their own accord, but somehow, it all made sense when they brought you to him. somehow, deep down, you knew that you were where you meant to be. you rock against him, his mouth swallowing your moans as he fills you with the need you've been longing for your entire life.

xii. "who are you?" a pair of glowing blue eyes flick to yours. "i am who i have always been," he says, trailing his fingers along your skin. his touch is cool, like the waters of the lake, but not cold. you are both lying together on a bed of dried reeds and his many tentacles. you roll over to straddle his massive form. his gaze roams the expanse of your body and his eyes darken with a hadopelagic hunger. you brace your hand against his torso as you rub against his length. his tentacles wrap around you and his lips part in ecstasy, giving you your answer. "i am yours."

xiii. the night has ended far too soon. in his undeath, time is all he has ever had, but the next moon cannot come quickly enough. he sets you back in your bed and already he misses you. can you feel it, he wonders. can you feel his tendrils wrapping around the edges of your soul to claim you as his in the lifetimes to come? they taste the need within you. they taste the hearts that have softened yours. but alas, dear droplet, he has nothing but time. others may hold your affection, but there is no love as unrelenting, as inevitable, as the tide for its shore.

#degrees of lewdity #degrees of lewdity fic #dol fic #ivory wraith #ivory wraith dol #ivory wraith dol fic #i've been meaning to write a wraith fic for a while and this could not stop haunting me #i would like to gift this to velvet burnt bevause your tags make me laugh :) hope you like this one #fun fact there are 13 moon phases in the culture i grew up in so i wanted to pay homage to that hehe #my writing

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hero-in-waiting · 9 months

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Oh, oh! 😧/📓/🃏 for Angsty John!

😧 What are you worried about with this fic?

So, I started writing this because I've never really written true angst, and I was in a negative headspace bc I was tired and so I wanted to try it. And so I just sat down, and started writing it and as a result, I feel like I'm being mean and I'm not used to it, and it did help, so then I drew it back a little bit. So mostly, at this point I'm worried that it's a bit of an 'easy' fix, I say as if I don't have like 20k moreish to write. Maybe more.

And, it deals with John post canon and what I consider to be him in a depression, but its not something I have experience with and so that's always complicated. Because I know its not a one and done fix, and so I want to make sure that comes across that john might be better, but it's something he's always going to have to watch out for.

📓 Share an out-of-context sentence or fragment from your fic notes

'It was hard to communicate with your wife when you wanted your best friend.'

🃏 Wildcard, dealer's choice: share a snippet, a thought, a concern, a feeling, anything you like!

So, one thing I also wanted to address in this fic was how poorly I think Jennifer was handled in season 5, especially when she turned into nothing more than a trophy, and I am kinda loving her in this, shes coming into her own and a lot sassier and settled. And I like it? Even if a lot of it happens in the background.

And while, overall this story is about John, it's also about everyone else because they all make the decision to save John and just go when he's in trouble. And this bit is from a moment between Rodney and Jennifer as they're getting ready to save John and I just really really like it.

Also, Jennifer and John end up as super bitchy friends to each other and its fine.

Jennifer sighed. “I,” she stopped and shook her head. “Listen. When we were doing all of those dinners and going out, you were so nice, and I was nice as well because we had to be to all of those people, but then as soon as we were beamed back you started yelling at people—”

“—I’m not going to yell at you,” Rodney interrupted.

Jennifer held up a hand, stopping him from talking. “I know, and I appreciate that. I do. But it’s not that you were yelling it’s that suddenly you seemed more like you than you had been.”

Rodney opened his mouth, wanting to argue against the point but Jennifer stopped him with a look he had never seen before outside of the moments when people had been injured and she had been in her element. Directing everything around her so people got the treatment as quickly as they could.

“And the thing is, I want that for me,” Jennifer said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and lifting her chin. “I…look. You’ve met my Dad. He’s got some old-fashioned ideas about everything.”

Rodney nodded slowly, remembering the interrogation her Dad had given him when he had met the man for the first time. If Rodney hadn’t spent the better part of his life working for General’s he would’ve caved under the man’s direct, no-nonsense questions. “What does that have to do…?”

Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t want to get married. I don’t want to give up my career to become a stay-at-home Mom.”

Rodney frowned. “I’d never ask you to do that.”

That got Jennifer to smile and step closer, resting a hand on Rodney’s arm. “I know, and it’s one of the things I love about you. But the problem is I want to focus on my job, especially if I get to keep it on Atlantis. And I want to focus on my research because I really think I have a shot at helping you guys defeat the wraith. I want to do the things that I love, and it’s not fair to either of us to wait around and see if you like the version of me that I also like.”

#ask meme

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annwayne · 25 days

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The WIP game looks fun, the Oc x Rikkick isekai fic looks fun, but I'm also really interested by Alice in Atlantis.

I'll take any opportunity to talk about my wips bc lord knows I'm far from posting them 🥲

The oc x riddick isekai is suchhh a fun fic and probably my saddest? bittersweet, I'll say. but I love it sooo much. Very general summary-Ares is a regular person living in a regular world, until one night they wake up from a very vivid dream with marks that match how they died in their dream. Also, that dream world is a movie they are obsessed with called Pitch Black.

Alice in Atlantis is my SGA long fic, and actually the second fic since I've started writing fic again (around 2022?). Alice is a human scientist who's been with the Atlantis expedition since the beginning. When an alliance between Atlantis and Todd the Wraith forms, she's the scientist tasked with working with Todd to find a gene therapy that'll allow Wraith to eat regular food. This is that story. (and its a ship fic between Todd and Alice, if that wasn't clear lol)

oc x Riddick isekai:

“I don’t blame you.” I broke the silence of us sitting on the ridge overlooking the desolate camp. “What’s that now?” Riddick scraped off that black goo he used to shave his head into a bucket. A beat passed between us as I stared out at the multiple suns in the sky. “I’ve spent a long time thinking about why you’ll do what you do.” He glanced my way. “It never made sense to me, especially with how much you stick up for Jack. I don’t think I could even imagine thinking how you do. I don’t think I’m supposed to.” He scraped another line of goo from his scalp. “It’ll happen again.” From my peripheral vision I saw Riddick lift his head to look at me. He didn't need to ask what I was talking about. I kept looking forward. “Considering what’s coming, I’m not sure if I’ll come back.” “What’s coming?” He asked, voice steady and serious. Everyone else thought me insane or cursed, but Riddick listened. Didn’t mean he always believed me, but he was smart enough to listen. “A blood bath.” I answered, finally meeting my own eyes via the reflection of Riddick’s goggles. “You’ll run.” His head tilted back. “I don’t run.” “You’ll want to.” A sigh slipped from me. “But that’s what I wanna talk about–I want you to know, no matter what happens to me, I don’t blame you because I know you’ll do the right thing when it matters.” He sat, taking everything in perhaps. “That’ll be the first time you’ve been wrong, little girl.”

Alice in Atlantis:

"Ugh, you should have seen me, Teyla. I was a disaster in the lab." "I'm sure it was not as bad as you think it, Alice." Ronon’s eyes flickered with curiosity. A sly grin grew as he asked, "What happened?" The doctor pulled back the lid on her fruit cup and in one swift movement knocked back the contents of the plastic cup as if it were a shot. A habit from childhood. After wiping off the stray juice on her lips, Dr. Tucker answered. "I was focused, in the zone. Completely forgot where I was and who I was with. After I ran the simulation the whole program flashed errors at me and I swore at the computer." "I've heard Rodney threaten to rip apart a computer's mother before." The muscular man bit into his apple. Teyla gestured towards the full bottle of water on Alice's plate. "That's not all." Dr. Tucker grabbed the bottle, following Teyla's urging. After taking a long gulp she continued. "I guess Todd was curious. Hell, I'd be too. It was the first words I'd spoken since we started." Ronon sat up and rested his elbows on the table. He crossed his arms and tilted his head while listening. Teyla finished off the last of her mashed potatoes as Alice continued. "He came over to check my work, only I didn't notice. So next thing I know, a Wraith is leaning over my shoulder and pointing out my mistake." Between words Dr. Tucker forgot about her lack of appetite and started shoveling down her meal. "I nearly fell off my stool and then couldn't say a word without shaking. It was pathetic." Ronon chuckled quietly and Teyla threw a glare at him. "Alice, you have never encountered the Wraith in person before. It is sensible to react fearfully." "Sensible, but not strong." "So get stronger." Ronon lifted a hand the doctor's way. After a blank expression from her, the Satedan continued. "I've been giving Dr. Keller lessons. You could join us."

#these two fics are like #really special to me #I care about all my fics obviously #but like these two are high up #idk how to explain it #they are my babies so I gave very long snips lol #in the sga one teyla is making sure alice eats lol #alice is bad at eating when she's stressed lol #also the riddick one is such a tender moment I wanna expand on #its not fully editied but I just love it so mucchhh #ask game #sga #riddick #wip game

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light-yaers · 2 years

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

oooo how fun! thank you for this mack! <3

going back, from 5 to 1...

5) brekker's ghost

Four years since their infamous Ice Court robbery; four years since Kaz had waved goodbye to Inej--

The Wraith is finally back in Ketterdam, but she didn't come just to feed the crows.

this fic means an awful lot to me! it was after i read the six of crows for the first time, and that duology is now my favourite of all time. i have a soc tattoo because of how much they effected me lmao. writing this fic was such a cathartic thing. it's my take on the kaz and inej of the future. i'm very proud of it.

4) her father's revolver series

You're thrown into the world of the Shelby's at the age of 20, with nothing but your paints and your will.

What ensues is the next few years of your life knowing that Tommy Shelby lives within you forevermore.

i still remember so vividly when i decided to say fuck it and start writing this. before this i'd never delved into x reader. i knew the stigma around it, but i also just didn't care. this was such an amazing thing for me to write. it still makes me incredibly happy and proud to this day, and is the longest fic/series i've ever written at just over 90k words (that is now going to be heavily beaten).

3) adjournment

Life wasn't easy growing up with a chess Grandmaster as a father; it's even more difficult when you find out you could be better than him at his own game.

Benny helps you realise that potential.

the fastest fic i've ever written. this was the first time i kept to any sort of schedule. i posted a chapter a day for two weeks, until the fic was finished. i wrote this 45k word long fic in 16 days. i cried while writing sad scenes. and to this day it's my most popular fic online! (almost at 200k reads on wattpad... wtf) this fic means a lot to me.

2) no saints

Working on Nevarro hadn't offered you much in the way of human contact.

That all changes when an unlikely deal is struck between you and the Mandalorian.

the fic that started me on this entire journey of expanding to other places on the internet. without it, i wouldn't be on this hellsite with all of you! i'm so grateful that it's brought me here. i know it's far from finished-- it's sort of only just begun really-- but i know i'll travel back to it soon. this fic was also the first time i ever wrote smut. and look where that's got me. amazing.

1) sweet escape

Being a Resistance newbie was always going to have its challenges, but you’d never expected them in the form of Poe Dameron; Black Leader, heart-throb of the fucking Resistance; being your bunkmate from day one.

You realise he isn’t someone you want to indulge in early on, but the more you treat him coldly, the more he latches onto you.

my longest singular fic to date. the fic that made me truly think i'm a decent writer. the fic that makes me the most proud of myself. sweet escape means more to me than i think anyone will understand. without it, heidi and lynx wouldn't exist as oc's in my mind. without it, i wouldn't have been able to grow this fanbase here. it's my baby. end of. and i know how it ends, which is even more crazy. there are only 4 chapters left. i just need to write them. wait for me.

special mentions go to right where you left me, the hating game and fools in the darkness! more of my babies that i'm proud of <3

#beff being dumb #ask box #fanfiction #lightyaers #kaz x inej #poe dameron x reader #tommy shelby x reader #din djarin x you #benny watts x reader

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marshmallowprotection · 10 months

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Heya, Kait! Been a while, huh? A lot has happened honestly. I started to post some of my art here, even though I'm not that motivated to do digital art much-

I don't want to make this too long but I've actually gotten way more comfortable with self-shipping with the second character I told you about! I'd like to tell you a bit about him, too. His name is Yatora Yaguchi, he is from Blue Period!

Recently I've actually gotten a bit more better at my art and even a bit more confident all thanks to this media and especially Yatora. His experiences with art made me feel seen because I relate so much to how he feels and the way he learns more about art had opened my eyes in so much stuff about art as well. I'd love to ramble about how much Yatora means to me but it's gonna be extremely long, honestly.

He is a very emotional and insecure guy deep inside and he tries his best with art and even to have good relationships with the people around him, even if he doesn't fully agree with them. He is friendly and I love his appearance a lot. The fact he cries easily and blushes very easily makes me appreciate him even more, he's so cool istg- I find how hard he works very admirable and so much stuff about him.

I still tend to focus on Saeyoung as well sometimes but my main focus is Yatora for now. Although, I do want to focus more on the redhead, Saeyoung has also helped me through a lot in my life and I feel grateful for both him and Yatora.

I tried redoing Saeyoung's route once more and I still feel myself loving this precious redhead. I just wish I could focus on the both of them equally. Even if I could do a crossover between the two, I'm not really sure about it so I just imagine two different versions of myself in their worlds.

But I am kinda sad there's not a lot of fics, fanart (ngl it's mostly ship art even though there's.. no romance in the actual series) and other stuff of Yatora. At least we have an anime of this series and a lot of manga panels of this boy, even official merch and more but I can always write self-inserts or even random prompts I find online. Even though the manga is still ongoing, I'm thinking of not doing many self-inserts with Yatora yet. I do wanna see the whole story fully before inserting myself into it. Though I know it's gonna take months, even years.

Other stuff.. I'm at my grandma's! I'm still kinda sad I can't use a bike because it has some problems, we still have cats, chickens, actual ground outside I can walk for a while and even going to the beach by my uncle's car. And I won't lie, it feels.. lonely a lot here? I don't do much during the day, sure I draw here and there but that's it mostly.

The people that used to come out to play with balls and even ride their bikes aren't really here anymore. They grew up and stopped coming. So I'm just trying to get through the days as much as I can.

And one thing that actually happened recently.. remember when I named you after a Snow Wraith, Kait? Sadly, the game shut down a while ago. And the thing is that it actually shut down the exact same day I came at my grandma's. I don't mind that I wasn't on at the last moments of this game but man, it's still something.

It's insane how all my dragons must be at the hidden world by now. I actually started that account when I was here at my grandma's. So the game ending the same day I finally came at my grandma's makes me feel some type of way.

I actually used to play that game for at least 7+ years and then settled on working on one account, no matter how long it took, which was this one. I actually had most dragons but them making everything free at the end which allowed me to get everything and get them to the max instantly felt kinda.. off.

So for 2-3 days. I flew around with every single one of my dragons, fed them fully and took off their saddles before saying goodbye. I took screenshots of every single one of them, too. It feels weird but this game was really fun sometimes.

I think I'll end my rambling here, I'd love to send asks about Yatora and Saeyoung and ramble about them. Yatora gets really flustered just like our redhead Saeyoung and it's making me smile a lot. Although at Yatora's side, he isn't exactly a dude who teases someone else or flirts. I love how even though Yatora and Saeyoung have some similarities, they are still different.

I hope you have been well, Kait. I miss sending asks, haha. Please let me know how you are, I'd love to know and catch up with you!

Hello, hello! I'm happy to hear that you're doing better. I'm sorry that your favorite dragon game shut down its servers. I've had two games do that this year and it really bites. It definitely makes me wish there was a way to get tangible offline versions of our favorite games so it would never be lost, but that's a tough bargain in our society. All that leaves us with is the memories, and that's not too bad, because we'll always have those.

I don't know anything about Blue Period but I've seen the art before and it looks pretty! I think it's great when you find a character who's capable of reaching you and showing you something that you didn't know about yourself until you dove into the story. Like, it's important to have those experiences with characters, regardless of if we love it or not.

Sometimes, you need a hard mirror to look at instead of a soft way. I feel that way about some characters. As much as I love growth from tenderness, damn, sometimes we need a smack in the face to see a new angle we never imagined before, you know what I mean? I get it from the strangest places! So, yeah. It's not weird.

When it comes to tying to your different loves together, there is no right or wrong way. I definitely enjoy crossovers where I can find the best way to see myself with all my favorite characters, or at least, two of them because I love world-building and seeing where that goes...

I am just that kind of person, though! I can't tell you how interesting it is to have my brain debate the best way to tie together Obey Me and Mystic Messenger or Mystic Messenger and Tears of Themis or what have you!

I'd love to hear you babble about your new love whenever you get the chance to! I've got a lot of free time and I love talking to my buddies online about everything, not just MM.

So, if you get the urge out of the blue, just send me an ask!

If you're doubtful of that working out, though, don't worry about trying to tie them all together, friend. You don't need to tie those universes together if it's hard or you're getting comfort in different ways from each character. Not everything has to unite, sometimes you just need to have things pushed apart!

I'm doing alright these days. Some days are tough, some days are easier, and some are in the middle. Pain flares have been more often these days, though. It makes it hard to write so I'm not putting out as much as I want, but hey, health comes first and that's just how it is. I can't nudge myself into exhaustion. Saeran wouldn't like that and it's that fact that keeps me taking care of myself. Cheesy, but it works, I think that's a good thing.

Right now, I'm working on some self-care. I want to put out another installment in my self-insert series with Ray... I've got the plot set up and I'm so close to getting things where I want them to be.

#stormflypirateskin #ask #mod kait

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sweetearthandnorthernsky · 2 years

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5, 16, 90 for the writer asks?

5) have you ever made a playlist about something you were writing as an elaborate means to procrastinate when you could have been actually writing and if yes drop a link, son

oh boy, which one? Officially, i have the wraith au one which i've already posted (x) but then there's this one that i was working on for regular-non-wraith Sae, which is here!

it's not the playlist i listen to while writing necessarily, but it does help me cover sae's character & voice if i'm stuck, which really helps!

16) where is your favorite place to write?

my favorite place to write is... hm. probably the big cushioned-swivel chair i have, ‘tis very comfy!

90) do you notice your own voice in your writing style?

hm. i mean. not while i’m writing? that doesn’t make very much sense but like, if i write a piece of a fic, then go and read [literally anything else] and come back to whatever it is i’m writing, it kind of jumps out. sometimes it’s fine and works for the scene, other times it definitely needs to be cut down on a little bit, lol.

#ask game reply tag #ty friend! <3

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frick6101719 · 3 years

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Your Father’s Day Kaz fic has me in my feelings IT WAS SO GOOD would love to see more even just headcanons of Kaz as a dad

Ooooh boy... Anon there is so much more where that came from! I have told myself not to write a Kanej-as-parents fic until after I've finished the one I'm working on now, but that hasn't seemed to stop me from dreaming up almost every detail of Kaz and Inej's lives as parents.

So. Heeeere we go

Kaz and Inej aren't exactly trying, per se, the first time Inej gets pregnant.

They're a little shy of thirty at this point, Jesper and Wylan have two kiddos already, and one night they're at the Van Ecks' for their weekly Monday night dinner (a tradition over a decade strong) and Kaz is playing chess with their oldest, or teaching card tricks to their youngest, and Inej is just overtaken by some maternal instinct watching them she wants one.

She brings it up to Kaz that night that maybe they stop with the preventative measures, and he is completely terrified. I mean, he's always known he likes kids--he thinks they're funny and kind of weird and despite himself he finds their guilelessness and wonder at the world absolutely endearing... but that's not the same thing. I mean a child? Him, a father?

He's not sure. He's not sure he'd be a good dad--he's not sure he's even allowed to want to be, after all the children he's left fatherless, all the fathers whose children he's taken away.

He's never allowed himself to think about it, actually, even after he married Inej. It felt like the whole topic of parenting and fatherhood was off-limits; any time he got close it was just too tender to touch.

But they talk about it a lot, and they eventually decide that they'll stop with the tonics. For a child of Inej's... he can do it.

Inej is away at sea, many months later, when she realises she's pregnant. She had a visit planned to her parents in Ravka which ends up taking up her whole trip because she has a lot to work through--a lot of questions, a lot of fear at the sudden reality of it--and her parents and extended family are a huge help

I have so many thoughts about Inej and motherhood and entire nights spent talking with Mama Ghafa during this trip about what to expect but I'm staying on-topic goddamn it

She's early in her second trimester when she lands back in Ketterdam, and all her plans of how to tell Kaz, and how long to keep it a secret from the Van Ecks go right out the window because she's already in the early days of her second trimester and our tiny little Wraith has nowhere to hide that bump

Kaz is with Jesper and Wylan at their place when Inej arrives, and they all go to meet her at the docks and as soon as he sees her crossing berth twenty-two he knows because he knows her posture, the way she moves, her shape, everything about her so well that he notices immediately the changes to her body and it nearly brings him to his knees.

So she doesn't get to tell Kaz, but she DOES get to tell Jesper and Wylan who--and really I cannot emphasize this enough--could not be more excited.

They make a big scene at the docks; Kaz is still just a little too stunned to tell them to calm down

Over the next few months Kaz definitely spends many sleepless nights just watching Inej sleep, her belly growing more and more noticeable beneath the blankets, wondering if he's going to mess this up somehow, and why he already feels like a part of him has been ripped out and laid bare before the world, vulnerable, delicate.

He would already do anything and everything to keep her safe, to make her happy, even though little Rosanna Marya Rietveld is still months away from joining him in the big wide world.

(They decide to go with Rietveld to keep her safe, because she's only a baby, and growing up with the name Brekker or Ghafa might make her a target, and they will do anything to avoid that. So while they have other roles and names in their other lives, as a family they're the Rietvelds 🖤)

He's a fucking mess all throughout the birth--Inej's parents come over weeks before her due date so Mama Grandma Ghafa can deliver the baby, and thank the saints Grandpa Ghafa is there because Kaz is a mess--he can't bear to hear Inej in pain--and he could use a distraction. Stories of his wife as a baby, told in the calm, soothing voice of her loving father = just the distraction he needs.

Kaz barely sleeps the week after Rosanna is born, which Inej doesn't mind because it means she gets rest, but when he finally confides in her that all he can think about is Pekka Rollins, on his knees, begging for the life of his little Kaelish prince and how easy it would have been to actually hurt the boy... well, they have to deal with that.

He lies with his head in her lap and she plays with his hair in the way she knows relaxes him, and tells him that Rosie is safe, that no one can protect her like the two of them, that there isn't a person in the world she would trust with their baby's life like she trusts him.

It works pretty well.

Of course, Kaz being the control freak that he is, and being more than a little anxious about Rosie, means that Inej also has to constantly tell him no, he can't pick her up any time she even thinks about crying, she needs some discipline and she needs a schedule Kaz stop it she needs to go for her nap not another walk around the garden!

Yeah from day one he is absolutely wrapped around her little finger.

About two years after Rosanna is born, they're lying in bed, tangled together in the sheets on a hot summer night, and Inej takes his hand and gently spreads his fingers across her stomach. Kaz is like "ahh nice" and then "wait a minute" and sits bolt upright and doesn't even have to ask, Inej is smiling and laughing and nodding and this time there are no mixed emotions he's only excited because they're having another baby

Another baby girl, it turns out--Jasmijn Anaya Rietveld. Inej is shocked by the almost red hue of her hair--a drastic contrast to Rosie's near-black--but Kaz just shrugs and says Jordie's hair was kind of red when he was a kid and Inej is delighted she had no idea!

Now that they're evenly matched, parents to children, life becomes more complicated, and even with all their money Kaz simply does not trust almost anyone to help take care of the girls (Marya Hendricks is one exception). He ends up stepping a bit back from Dreg business to help take care of the girls when they're very little. Thankfully by this point the Dregs business practically runs itself, and he can take meetings at the house with his most trusted lieutenants (like Anika and Pim) to stay on top of things.

He's super involved, but his actual parenting takes a long time to get right. It's many, many years before he loses the instinct to praise the girls when they find a creative way to skirt the rules

Just kidding that instinct never goes away; he always feels proud when they manage to disobey without breaking a rule. He just gets better at being stern while reprimanding them and waiting until he's turned away to beam with pride.

He also makes the rules increasingly elaborate and detailed--he'll get rid of vague wording and imprecision as best as he can, and then it's a win-win: either they learn to follow the rules or they get really good at finding loopholes.

"Contracts, Kaz. You've got our daughters signing contracts"

"Don't be ridiculous Inej; any thinking judge would spot lesion a mile away--there's no way these 'contracts' are valid."

Then there are their little rituals; both girls know if they wake up early they can have a hot chocolate with Da before he goes to work, and they know that if they ask very nicely, and it's not too close to bedtime, he'll play them their favourite songs on the piano, so they can dance around the parlour like little hooligans until they're so tired he and Inej have to carry them upstairs to bed.

They also know that when Kaz is working from home, if they're quiet, they can go sit with him in his office. Jasmijn always climbs on his lap--she knows she has to stay on his good leg--which is lovely (years of hard work with Inej mean he never recoils at his daughters' touch), but it's never long before Jas gets chatty. Kaz never tells her she has to go, but Rosie (who is usually sitting in a chair in the corner of the office, reading a book) will repeatedly tell her to shhh Jas, Da is working.

Kaz teaches them to be dangerous girls, just like their Mama. He'll make sure they never ever need to be, but he and Inej agree that they're going to be straightforward with the girls about their lives, and that means they learn how to pick locks and fight dirty at three and six years old.

They get their knife-throwing lessons from Mama too. Strangely, no one has to teach them how to climb the side of a building.

Anyway. Rosanna and Jasmijn grow up loved to death by their Mama and Da, and of course all their numerous "aunts" and "uncles" (aka any of the higher-ranking Dregs with enough guts to teach the girls to call them aunt or uncle).

And every time Inej wakes up to find the other side of the bed empty, she doesn't worry. She knows she'll find Kaz in the chair in the girls' room, awake and watching them silently. She'll fall back asleep thinking how her Papa was right--she did find a boy who gave her her favourite flowers.

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