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spideymarvelws · 3 years

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Playing truth or dare with college!Peter and MJ dares you to give him a (private) lap dance

This turned out to be much longer than expected

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Warnings : SMUT! (Lap dance?ish?kind of? i went a bit of script im sorry, thigh riding, grinding, dirty talk, dom!peter, innocence kink, corruption kink?, masterbation, oral[male rec], mild degrading), alcohol consumption, everyone is 18+, kinda fluffy in the beginning but we do be getting smutty real quick tho, MJ being your personal wing woman

Also please dont take drinks from strangers this is fiction and not real life, always drink responsibly :)))

Word Count : 4.8k

Behind Doors

Fratboy!Peter Parker x Fem!Reader

You tried to keep your staring to a minimum, you really did. But how could you when he stood in the middle of the crowd, glowing like an angel amongst everyone. He was laughing with his friends, his head tilted back with his eyes squeezed shut and a smile that could make anyone's day so much brighter. You wanted nothing more but to run your hands through his floppy brown hair bouncing on his head as he told his mates a story, his facial and hand movements lively when he moved them around, accentuating the words falling from his mouth.

His fit didn’t help either. A tight white t-shirt paired with blue jeans and a gold chain that hung from his neck, begging to be played with in any way. It was simplistic but made you swoon all the same. His muscles printed through the fabric didn’t help much either, his biceps almost tearing through the sleeves a mouth watering contrast to his cheerful face.

It was like staring at a greek god that radiated puppy dog energy.

“You’re not being subtle you know,” MJ whispered into you ear nudging your side with her elbow, “Just go talk to him,”

You shook your head, heat rising to your face as you averted your eyes from the brown eyed boy, turning to face your best friend, “You know i can’t do that,”

“Not with that you aren’t,” she pointed at the red solo cup you held in your hand filled halfway with orange juice. She quickly snatched the cup away from you, dumping the contents in the grass of the backyard.

“Hey!” You gasped, but made no effort to stop her.

“You need to loosen up,” she stabbed her finger into the middle of your chest, shoving her drink into your hands, “All of it, now,”

You took the cup hesitantly swirling the contents inside around for a bit, watching as the liquid moved smoothly around the sides of the plastic. You looked back up at MJ, feeling small when she stared you down with a stern look. You knew you weren’t finding a way out of this one.

“Fine,” you grumbled before tilting your head back, chugging the alcohol down. You let out a few coughs afterwards, giggling as MJ started to cheer.

“That’s my girl!” She wrapped her arm around your shoulder, pulling you into her side, “Now for about five more,”

Two hours and four drinks later, or maybe it was six you weren't keeping count, the party finally started to die down. The liquor running through your system did its job well in letting you loosen up so you could enjoy the party without being distracted by a certain brown haired boy.

You had lost MJ halfway through the night, your mind finally processing that she wasn’t by your side when you reached for her to dance with you. As you busied yourself by looking around the room, you felt someone place their hand on your lower back, sending shivers up your spine with the touch. You whipped your head around, expecting your equity intoxicated friend but only to be met with the same brown eyes you’ve been fawning over at the beginning of the night.

“Hey,” he said into your ear so that you heard it over all the noise. He moved his hand off your back after he got your attention. You tried your best to keep the tiny whine from escaping your throat at the loss of his touch. The free feeling you felt with the alcohol completely vanished with the sound of his voice turning you into that shy nerd all over again.

“Looking for someone?” He said, pushing the tips of his fingers into the front pockets of his pants.

You stood speechless, you mouth agape that Peter Parker, the Peter Parker was talking to you. MJ was wrong, no amount of alcohol could’ve prepared you for the moment. At least you didn't scurry away like a mouse like you would’ve if you were fully sober.

“I- uh,” you coughed, trying to get some words out but failing miserably.

“Sorry, It’s just I saw you looking around,” he scratched the back of his neck, chuckling at your flustered state. His cheeks starting to turn a light pink which made you swoon even harder, “I assume you’re looking for MJ, since you were with her for most of the night,”

“Oh, right,” you mumbled, laughing awkwardly, looking down to the ground, “How did you know I was with her?”

“You guys are always together!” He smiled showing off his pearly whites, “Around campus you know? I’ve seen you guys together in my classes as well,”

“You noticed me?” You whispered, mainly to yourself but he managed to pick up your words, making you even more embarrassed than before.

“Of course!” He passed his hand through his hair, looking straight into your eyes, “How could I not Y/n?”

You stood speechless, your mouth opening and closing as if you wanted to say something but changed your mind last minute. Millions of thoughts ran through your brain per second, the most frequent being your name rolling off his tongue.

“Anyways, uh, the main reason i came was to bring you to MJ,” he chuckled nervously, seeming just as flustered as you, “She’s in one of the spare bedrooms with some of the boys, we’re playing a good ole’ game of truth and dare,” he voice raised adorably, making you giggle lightly, “You don’t need to join or anything, but i don’t think you would want to be alone out here,”

“Yeah!” you replied a bit to quickly, shaking your head at your enthusiasm, “I mean, yeah, I would like to join you,”

“Sick!” He smiled brightly, grabbing your hand. Your eyes widened at the action as he pulled you through the crowd, you looked down at the ground, allowing him to maneuver you around the mass of bodies.

“Just so you don’t get lost,” he said, looking back at you, pointing out your intertwined hands.

“Of course!” You said back, holding back your squeals of excitement.

You were honestly surprised with how sweet he was acting towards you. Despite his status as part of the biggest frat on campus, his reputation upholded him as the good boy of the group, the one who helped old lady’s across the street or bought lunch for you when you didn't have the money. Sure, you saw this on multiple occasions but to experience it for yourself was a nice change, and just solidified your crush on him even more.

When he reached the stairway vacant of anybody, he still didn't let go of your hand, only tightening his fingers around yours. He walked down the dark hallway and approached a door ,giving you a reassuring smile before turning the knob and pushing it open, revealing around eight or nine people. Some laid on the bed, beers in hand as they laughed while others sat on the couch. You spotted MJ on the floor, laughing with Harry Osborn.

“Who’s the chick Parker?” One of the boys said, silencing the room and putting everyone's attention on you.

“This is Y/n,” he gestured towards you, “Y/n, everyone,” Peter finally let go of your hand, popped himself on the edge of the bed, picking up a beer from the side table and nodding his head at the empty space besides him.

You looked towards MJ panicked, but all she did was mouth ‘go’ with a shit eating grin. You sneered back at her, rolling your eyes as you walked up to the bed, bending your right leg back to sit on your calf while the other dangled over the edge.

“You’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Peter leaned into your ear, whispering gently, “Again, you don’t have to do anything you don’t have to,”

You pouted at his actions, melting at the fact that he was so observant with you. You looked down at his beer, before looking back up at him. If you were going to get through the rest of the night, you needed to be absolutely wasted.

“Do you have another beer?” You asked him, pointed to his bottle.

“You could just have mine,” he offered his drink, passing it off to you.

You bit your lip, taking a long swig of the liquid, “Thank you,”

Before the both of you could converse any longer, a girl with short blond hair you knew from English, called out from the corner, “Okay, okay, who wants to go next?”

“I think Y/n should go,” flash said, holding up his bottle towards you, “She’s the new one isn’t she?”

Peter looked at you, silently asking if you needed him to say anything. But you decided to take things into your own hands for the first time that night.

“Yeah, I’ll go,” you said, taking another swig of beer.

“Alright Y/n,” Harry said smugly, leaning back on his forearm, “Truth or dare?”

You thought about it for a bit, missing the smug look on MJ’s face as you muttered, “Dare”

“I dare you to give Peter a lap dance,” she said immediately, leaning back as she held in her laugh at your washed out face, “I mean we could send you to the other room if you want more privacy,”

You sat speechless and once again wanted to melt into the sheets beneath you. You felt Peter’s hand wrap around yours, giving him your attention.

“Only if you want to,” he muttered, giving you a soft smile.

“I-,” you took a deep breath, trying to gather the little confidence you had left, “Which room?”

Hollers and shouts bounced off the walls, as everyone hyped both of you up. Peter stood, pulling you up with him, leading you out the room.

“Take as much time as you need!” You heard MJ shout after you before the door closed, leaving you and Peter alone once again.

Your heart pounded inside your chest as Peter guided you once again to another room. You gulped, wondering if you had made the right decision so give a lap dance to your crush. He didn’t say anything as he knocked on a door, opening it when he didn't hear any noise come from the room.

“After you,” he said politely.

“Thank you,” you said shyly, walking to the middle of the room.

Peter closed the door behind him, leaning against the wood, “Sooooo,” he dragged looking you up and down, “I- uh, didn't expect you to say yes,”

“Me neither,” you chuckled, looking down to the floor.

“I mean if you don’t want to, it’s just a silly bet,” Peter said, fiddling with his fingers.

“Do-,” you coughed, “Do you want me too?”

“It’s up to you really,”

“But would you mind if i-“

“I mean I wouldn’t be against it-,”

You both laughed nervously falling into silence after that. You looked around the room, finding interest with everything besides him. You were fidgety, playing with your fingers while tapping your foot on the floor rapidly to calm your nerves. It was stupid, you’ve been dreaming about him for so long, and now that you were finally in a room together you clamed up, not knowing what to do in his presence.

Peter on the other hand kept his gaze on you, his eyes racking your body up and down. He wasn't going to lie to himself and say that he’d never thought of this moment, the moment where you and him were finally together, in a room, all alone.

You were different from the girls he was used to in the frat. You were untouched, well to his knowledge, you were a clean slate and from the small confrontations he’s had with you, he could tell you were obedient too.

He wanted so bad to just have his way with you, to absolutely ravish you like he did in his dreams. But he wanted to savour it. After so long of watching you pin over him, purely to feed his ego, he was ready to take things to the next level and what better way than with a good lap dance. Sure he was the good guy, both as himself and as his alternate persona as a hero, but when it comes to you, all his morals were thrown out the window.

Besides, you were both intoxicated and he didn't want your first time together to be at a stupid party in a room he was barely familiar with.

After a few more seconds of silence, Peter decided to take things into his own hands, to make his fantasy a reality, or to just get it started at least. He was the first to make a move, walking right up to you, taking your chin between his fingers, tilting your head up to look at him while his other hand made its way to the side of your waist, pulling you closer.

“Y/n?” He asked, swiping his thumb across your lips. He may have an unhealthy obsession with them but it didnt matter because in the next few moments he would make them his, “I’m not stupid you know,”

You blinked rapidly, tilting your head to the side at his statement, confused and slightly hurt.

Peter only chuckled, slipping his thumb between your lips for a split second before pulling it back out and resting it back on your plump lip, testing the waters, “I said i noticed you, and when I mean I noticed you,” he leaned forward, placing his lips near your ear, “I meant everything, down to the constant heart eyes,”

You held your breath, not knowing how to feel, what to think. Peter Parker, the Peter Parker, was standing in front of you, playing with your lips with such close proximity, telling you that he was aware of your existence. That there was a chance that he might feel the same way about you.

You had to remind yourself that this was just a bet, that he didn’t mean anything he was saying. He was only doing it because he had to. Even if he was a sweet boy by heart, he still had a reputation for sleeping around, that to him you were just another girl to add to his collection.

But when he pushed his thumb into your mouth, you knew you'd fall victim as well.

“Mhh,” he hummed, “such a good girl, just like i knew you’d be,” suddenly, he pulled his thumb out of your mouth and sat back down on the bed, pulling you to straddle his lap, “Now, i believe you have a dare to fulfill,”

“I- uh,” you stuttered, hesitantly placing your hands on his shoulder as you settled into his hold.

“You’ve never done this before, have you princess?” Peter mumbled, hovering his lips over yours.

“i-,” you shook your head, lost for words when he called you princess.

He hummed, one of his hands gripping your waist while the other laided on your cheek, rubbing the soft skin with his thumb, “Let’s start off slow then,” his thumb moved to your mouth once more, playing with the bottom lip. You sat frozen, letting him take control. You didn't trust your body to move, you could barely even talk.

“I’ve always wondered what it was like to kiss these perfect lips,” he whispered, moving to kiss your neck, trailing his way up to the corner of your mouth, “I’d imagine you’ve though the same,”

You nodded, tightening your hold on his shoulders. Peter laughed, his breath hot on your face.

“You’re going to need to say something if you want me to continue princess,”

“Yes,” you squeaked, clearing your throat, embarrassed by your quick response, “Yes, I-uh, I’ve thought about this, yeah,”

“Hmm, good,” he mumbled before finally latching his lips on yours, keeping your face close with his hand.

His lips were rougher that you imagined, probably from constantly licking them for most of the night. But the more you kissed, your mouths opening and closing with each other like its own dance, the more wet and lustful it became. You could feel your body begin to relax into his, melting into the warmth. His confidence only grew with the soft moans escaping your mouth, quickly slipping his tongue inside when your lips parted, exploring your mouth with vigour and purpose.

Your breath hitched in response, using your own tongue to match his movements and tangling it with his, fighting for dominance you were sure he was going to win. Your fingers ran through his hair, tugging at the short curls at the base of his neck, smiling when he groaned into your mouth. You beamed at him when you finally pulled away, a string of spit connected your lips.

“This seems more than just a lap dance,” you let out a shaky sigh, resting your forehead against his.

He chuckled, using his hands to bring your hips closer to his crotch, your dress rolling further up around your waist.

“Then what are you waiting for,” he said cockily, leaning back on his forearms, looking back at you expectantly.

You let out a breath, readjusting yourself on his lap before moving your hips slowly. Your pussy barely made contact with his now hard cock poking through his jeans, teasing it ever once in a while when your panties brushed the tent. You smirked, despite not knowing what the hell you were doing, it seemed like you were doing a decent job.

“Don’t get to cocky princess,” he groaned, squeezing your waist tightly, “You forget that I’m the one in charge here,”

You bit your lip, muttering a soft sorry.

He hummed, nudging his nose with yours, “Let me help you then,”

He grasped your hips, pulling your it closer to his crotch, grinding it against your core. You let him guide you with his hands, following his lead supporting yourself with your own hands clutching on to his shoulder.

He let out a long sigh, his head falling back. You took that as the queue to grind faster, enjoying the effect you had on him with such a simple movement. Your confidence grew with the noises escaping his throat along with the occasional praise only fueling your need.

In a rush of the moment, you moved your hands to the back of his neck, pulling him into a needy kiss. It was much more sloppier and messier than the previous one, your focus more on moving your hips than keeping your lips in sync with his.

But you wanted more. As much as you enjoyed Peter’s eyes trailing your body, his hands exploring your waist and the angelic look on his face, you couldn't help but wonder if it stopped there. If you could make his moans louder, his hips jut against your with need, just as much as you needed him.

After a few more moments, an idea popped into your head with the faint sound of music coming from downstairs.

“Peter,” you decided to purr in your ear, biting your lip when his eyes fluttered open, dark and filled with lust.

“Yes princess,” He cooed, moving his hands back to your waist while keeping eye contact, brushing his lips over yours. But before he could fully kiss you, you pulled away, giggling at the little whine he let out.

“What is it?” he pouted, rolling his eyes when you didn’t respond, only biting your lip in thought. He grabbed your jaw, focussing your gaze back on him, “You were being such a good girl, what happened hmm?”

“I- I have an idea,” you gulped, the confidence you felt seconds ago melting away under his stare, “Do you have a speaker?”

He nodded his head, pointed to a desk in the corner with a small black speaker sitting on top. You smirked, hopping off his lap and running to the box. Peter leaned back on hands, watching with curious eyes as you pulled out your phone from your jacket pocket, tapping it open and typing in your password.

“What’s going through that head of your princess,” he mumbled, but loud enough for you to hear.

You only giggled in response, playing around with the speaker to turn in on. After a few more seconds of fiddling, you spun around with your phone in hand and a teasing smile on your face. Your finger pressed down on the screen, the room filling with the song Love Is A Bitch by Two Feet.

He scoffed, “And here I am thinking you were just an innocent little thing,”

You bit your lip, looking down shyly and placing your phone on the table, your back facing him, “I just wanted to set the mood,”

“Was grinding down on me not enough?” he teased, “Are you always this greedy?”

You let out a breath before turning around, your heart practically beating out of your chest, “Only with you,”

You glanced up at the brunette face, nervous that maybe you took it too far. It was just a simple lap dance, nothing more and nothing less and you should've kept it that way. But the kiss was addicting, keeping you in a daze where all you wanted was more. More of his touch, his mouth, his taste.

You’ve wanted him for so long and now that you dipped your toes in the waters, you wanted to dive in and never come out. What really kept you going was his reactions to your touch, the small grunts and moans escaping his mouth because of you. He wanted this as much as you did or else he would’ve shut you down by now, right?

You were just getting ahead of yourself.

“Come here Y/n,” he almost growled, his eyes never leaving you while you shuffled your way between his legs, yelping when he gripped your waist and pulled you back down. Instead of straddling his waist, he moved you so your legs were on either side of his left thigh.

You went to speak but the gripped your jaw with his forefinger and thumb, forcing your eyes on him.

“You never fail to surprise me princess,” he whispered, his free hand trailing up your waist, brushing past your breasts, “I thought I had to treat you like a good girl, take my time with you” he chuckled darkly, “Turns out you need this just as much as I do, my greedy, desperate little thing,”

You bit your lip, tucking your head in the crook of his neck to avoid his stare. The pet names he gave you was already enough to leave you a mess but adding ‘my’ in front of it made you melt. You wanted to be his, you wanted him to take control of your body and use you as he pleased. He adjusted his thigh, having it bump against your clothed pussy. Heat rose to your face when you let out a small whimper, settling back on his leg, craving the friction but you didn’t move, waiting for specific instructions.

“You weren’t so shy before, what happened?” he kissed the shell of your ear, “Go on princess, ride my thigh like the desperate whore I know you are,”

Without thinking you began to grind your pussy along his thigh, your face growing hotter when you felt the wetness seep on to his jeans. Peter kept his hands on your waist, keeping your movements at his own past, occasionally bouncing his leg, enjoying the little whines you let out. When you started moving faster, he knew you were nearing your high.

“Princess, look at me,” he grunted,“I want to see that pretty face when you cum,”

You let out a shaky sigh, pulling your head up to face him but you could barely keep your head up, too concentrated on moving your hips against the rough fabric of his jeans. He quickly recognised this and wrapped his hand around your throat, squeezing lightly to get some of your attention.

“Peter,” you whimpered, near to tears with how close you were to climaxing, “Peter please,”

“What is it princess? You want to cum? Is that it?”

You nodded quickly, “Please,”

“Go ahead princess,” he grinned, smashing his lips against your to swallow your moans as you came on his thigh, your hips moving in slow strokes to prolong the feeling. You pulled away after a few moments of feverish kissing, your arms falling limp around his shoulders.

“Fuck,” you sighed, your forehead falling against his with the breathless laugh, “That was-”

“Great? Amazing? The best experience of your life?” he laughed, falling back against the mattress, pulling you down with him. You giggled, shoving your face in his neck and inhaling his comforting scent.

“Yeah,” you turned your head to face him, pouting when a piece of his hair fell in front of his stunning eyes. You moved it out of his face, kissing his nose in the process, “I liked it a lot,”

“That’s good, that’s good,” he whispered, tightening his arms around you.

All of a sudden you felt something poke at the inside of your thigh. It took you a few moments to realise that he was hard and was probably aching to get off at this point in the night.

“Do- do you want me to help?” you said shyly, sitting up on your hands to fully face him.

“You don't have to princess,” his hands passed up and down your waist, “Seeing you fall apart from my thigh is all I needed tonight,”

The twitch of his eye and dryness of his lips told you otherwise.

“Are you sure?” you bit your lip, moving your hand slowly down to his hard on, “because I don’t mind helping Petey,”

You didn’t know where the nickname came from but it was too late to take it back. Judging by the dark look in his eyes and the almost cynical look on his face he didn’t mind.

“You want to help me princess? Are you sure you know what you’re in for?”

You shook your head eagerly, “Just tell me what you want,”

“And what if i want you to suck my cock?”

“I would do it,”

“Do what?”

“Su- suck your cock,” you replied bashfully looking down at your hands now intertwined on his stomach.

“Aww, is my princess getting shy?” he fake pouted, “After getting off on my thigh like a slut, you’re getting shy about taking me in your mouth?”

“I-”

“It’s alright princess i’ll guide you through it,” he reached down to unzip his jeans, shuffling awkwardly to push them down so he could get his member out. You watched as his hard dick slapped against his chest, big and throbbing.

He moved your hips back so that you straddled his legs this time, taking your hand and raising it to your mouth.

“Spit,” he instructed, looking up at you with hunger, “Now,”

You hesitantly spit into your hand, watching in awe as the wad fell into your hand.

“Good girl,” he sighed, moving your hand to wrap your small finger around the base of his cock, “Have you ever jerked someone off princess?”

“Just two,” you respond hesitantly.

Peter gritted his teeth, trying to get the idea of you touching anyone else out of his mind, “Well let's make this your third and final guy hmm?” his breath hitched when you started to move your hand up and down his cock, “You’re mine now princess,”

In the spur of the moment you leaned down, licking the red tip of his member, “Only yours,” you whispered before taking him halfway in your mouth, gagging and pulling yourself back up.

“Take your time princess,” he gulped, “fuck but you could do that again if you’d like though,”

You giggled, licking and kissing the sides of his cock and taking it once more, reaching further than this time than you did the last. You bobbed your head continuously only raising your head to take a breath and going in again.

“Fuck princess, I knew your mouth would be good,” he groaned, “You’re doing so well, taking my cock so good down your throat, fuck!”

You smiled around his length, the back of your throat contracting around the tip making him moan your name. Before he could praise you even more, someone's voice cut his words off.

“Everything alright in there?” MJ said through the door but you were too lost in your daze to answer or recognise her voice.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Peter smirked, pushing you to take the rest of his cock, “We’re just going to take longer than expected,”

...

Part two maybe??

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demonslayedher · 3 years

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Dream Analysis of Mugen Ressha

Spoilers for the movie, while it does not depart from the plot of the manga, they made adaptational choices which I may refer to within.

While Enmu has control over what kind of dream his victims see, ultimately, he would have no way of knowing all of the details of his victims' lives, so we can assume that he is prompting his victims to fill in a lot of the details themselves. These are the worlds they surround themselves with consciously, but their untouchable unconscious spaces say just as much.

I've said some of this before, but these dream sequences give us so much to say about Inosuke, Zenitsu, Kyojuro, and Tanjiro.

Into the dream: Did that "Rengoku-aniki" thing really happen???? It's animated like a fever dream (or drawn like a typical Gotouge-being-Gotouge panel), but both the movie and the manga leave this inconclusive. It can be interpreted two ways: 1. The two other demons were there all along as decoys, set to appear only when Enmu's blood technique slowly started to take effect so that they'd let their guard down. In this way, we'd know that the boys had a true way of witnessing Kyojuro's prowess and a true bonding moment, thereby making his death hit all the harder later. This would also mean that one of the cars was totally unusable for passengers, and many of the passengers were already thoroughly spooked before falling into sleep. It would also imply that they were all super excited, thoroughly relieved, returned to their seats, and then just passed out.

2. The moment the tickets were clipped, Enmu's very, very, very realistic dreams took immediate effect, but he still needed time before it took effect enough that their guards would go down. If this is the case, then it implies the following: 1. Enmu's illusions can be shared 2. Everyone syncs extremely well together to have all been sucked in by the same illusion (it's possible it was only Tanjiro's, but since we get in everyone's heads a little in this part, I believe they all experienced the same thing). Reacting in ways so true to how they would in waking like, they learned as much about each other as truthfully as they would have if they were fighting while awake. 3. The "Rengoku-aniki" thing is the moment they're falling into a deeper stage of sleep, when any bizarre thing will make sense. They've lost any sense of holding back and are embracing the emotions as they hit them. Even if that was all a dream, the bond formed was very real. But then, as they fall deep, they fall into their own headspaces. Inosuke: I love how bombastic this dream is. It moves at a very fast pace, and everything revolves around Inosuke. He is physically much larger than Ponjiro, Chuuitsu, and Pyonko, who clearly follow him as their leader, the most powerful person in this cave exploring world full of wonder and excitement. True to life, these underlings can at times be frustrating or stupid, but there is no one else Inosuke would rather have at his side to take on a hugely impressive foe. It's a relatively simplistic world, what Inosuke really cares about is his place in it, and who is there.

Taking it a step deeper, he should not be able to manifest in his self-conscious space, but Gotouge attributes his and Zenitsu's ability to do this and protect their cores from intruders to their strong senses of self. What's telling is that his subconscious space is practically identical to his conscious dream space; like there is no breakage between one stage of reality and the next. In its Zen-like simplicity Inosuke's mind is never at odds with itself, its interpretation of reality is fluid and seamless. However, being at this deeper state brings us to a deeper state of self actualization, with Inosuke manifesting closer to the ideal beast he views himself as.

Now, with Inosuke being so fully invested in what he sees as reality, he's still got a carry-over effect from dream after waking up, which one could interpret as not having fully shaken the effects of Enmu's blood technique. After all, Zenitsu simply never broke out of it, Tanjiro had to kill himself in his dreams each time to fully snap out of it, and Kyojuro was the only one powerful enough to have broken through its effects through his own willpower. When Tanjiro says the train is a demon, he buzzes with "I was right!" (a conviction that only got stronger in his dream), and Inosuke's declarations of being the boss and Tanjiro being his underling are indignantly plentiful and he fully believes what he is saying every time he brings it up, even if he's aware that he's no longer in the cave exploring dream. But, given that Inosuke is so at peace with his own version of reality, it's also just as likely that his conviction of being The Boss was also only compounded by the dream, and all that dream did was give him a more fun setting in which to play around in. But, what was so fun about the dream, what made him sleep-giggle with pleasure, was that everyone else was finally getting with the program and recognizing him as the boss, as they should. Finally. It's so frustrating in real life that he has to keep reminding them to get it right. Get it, Santaro?? GOOD. Zenitsu: What I love here is the contrast between subconscious and conscious space. Both of them have the same theme melody, but played in very, very different ways. They also both play with the same core desire in very different ways as well. Is it so much to ask that he can just spend some time alone with the girl he loves?? If we jump straight to the pitch black unconscious space, he specifies to the intruder that only Nezuko is allowed there. Not just girls in general, not a close friend like Tanjiro, only the one girl he loves, and even then, you'd have to love someone a lot to invite them into the deepest, darkest corners of your soul. And it is a very, very, very, very dark corner. Zenitsu's spent most of his life building that dark, pessimistic personality, compounded by the treatment he's always received throughout his life and what he believes about himself at his core. He's ugly and depraved there, and very defensive. Because he holds himself in such darkness, that makes him desire the bright, happy, completely idealistic world of his conscious dream world. It's rich with detail and warm and he knows it well, that places is the first place he ever felt someone have hope for him; it's Jiichan's home, that sunny place with delicious peaches and full of clovers and lush greenery and a charming stream. Of course he'd want to show it all to Nezuko, she deserves to see such a happy, pretty place! And, while the world is idealized and happy, Nezuko is e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y cute and actually wants to hang out with him too. She's willing no hold his hand, none of the girls who dated (read: used) Zenitsu in the past were ever willing to hold his hand. He even gets to show her that he can be cool, and she likes it!! She looks him in the eyes and is totally honest about enjoying his company!!

He just wants someone to want him back. He wants to belong in the sunshine too. So, even if he had it in him to wake up from Enmu's blood technique, who can blame him for staying there? (You know, besides Tanjiro, who has been desperately screaming for them all to wake up and help him protect the passengers. Zzzzz, five more minutes, Tanjiro, zzzzzzz----) Kyojuro: This... isn't really a happy dream. Kyojuro has accepted a lot of sad parts of his reality so wholeheartedly that he doesn't seek the comfort of a dream in which his mother is still alive, or a dream in which his father is proud of him. Instead, what Kyojuro was looking for was the chance to go back and say more to Senjuro. This implies that on the real day he knelt in that room, while his father faced away and read the book* while Kyojuro told him all about how he defeated Lower Moon Two and became a Pillar, and was met with his father's heartbreakingly unenthusiastic reply, he later went outside and...

...didn't say any words of comfort to Senjuro.

This regret, that he didn't do more for his brother whom he knew was hurting in his own silent ways this whole time, was what sat most bothersomely in Kyojuro's otherwise peacefully self-assured psyche (or fired-up psyche, if you go by his subconscious space) . It makes sense that in his dying wishes, the first thing he requests is that Tanjiro do this in his stead. *Speaking of that book, Kyojuro had forgotten about it until his memories pulled together to create the details of the dream, which was why he thought to mention it to Tanjiro later. This shows that Enmu is not an architect of people's dreams, he only sets them in motion. How believable they are depends on each victim. (Totally unrelated, I love the design of the Rengoku estate's garden??? It's primarily evergreen and unflowering trees, meaning it stays relatively steadfast throughout the year, a garden designed in samurai villa taste. Plus the details of the house also fit really well, I think??? Would need to review research of buke-yashiki architecture to say more.) Tanjiro: ...*deep breath* This boy really, really wants to go home. Like, the climax of the movie is amazing and all, but it's the scenes with Tanjiro's family that make me cry. Ugh, where do I start. Enmu probably just grabs on to whatever thread of a desire a person has, and then he just tugs on it and says "this way, let's go really far in this direction, show me where it goes, hmm, okay, nice, lovely. Have fun here, I've now seen enough to write my own angsty version for later." So... so I'm just going to work backwards a moment. Enmu screwed up here, thinking he could really read the depth of Tanjiro's family and his feelings for them. He thought he could make a convincing version of these "characters" cry and shove Tanjiro around and speak meanly to him and make him feel shame. And the cut to that dream, OH MY GOSH, truly horrific sound and color change. But Tanjiro's sees through it so fast that he wakes up immediately and uses that anger at how Enmu wrote them to cut off his "head." You screwed up, Enmu, you blew it, maybe other people would very so blown down by the shock that they wouldn't question how unreal that dream sequence is, but Tanjiro has honed his fighting spirit so much that it's been nagging him even throughout his happy dream. And he really, really, really wants to stay in that happy dream. Like, even though he's on guard at the beginning, so much so that he only focuses on the familiar feeling of a demon being around and does not notice the familiar landscape AT ALL. But the moment Hanako and Shigeru step in, convincingly made from Tanjiro's memories and unedited by Enmu, Tanjiro throws that all away in an instant. As he says when he's trying, after trying and trying and trying to rip himself away from the dream, he was never even supposed to had left this world. He was never supposed to had touched anything like a sword, they were all supposed to stay there together, living their simple life. If things hadn't gone wrong that one night. Tanjiro cares deeply about his mission, he's adopted his training deeply, he has serious desire to improve, which is why his subconsciously keeps trying to call himself back to reality, but it's so hard, because this is where he wants to be, and it's even harder because it feels so real. It's a little peeve of mine when families with lots of little siblings are written to be too angelic and idealistic, and there is some of that with the "let's make sembei, yaaaay" scene, but... but that's actually pretty true. I'm giving myself away with how close this hits to home, but it's a dynamic in a lot of large families, especially large families pretty happy to stay to themselves and people who live the same sort of conservative, traditional lifestyle, to foster in the older siblings some pride in taking care of the little ones and helping create that happy world for them, even if taking care of little kids can be rough. It's not to say that things are always happy and fluffy, they're not, and that's not to say even

happy kids don't resent being in a large family sometimes. But there's plenty of moments in daily life, especially in the presence of small children, that you get swept up into a sillier, happy, caretaker side of yourself, and since you all grow up with these silly moments together, you're going to naturally fall into into some silly, scripted-feeling moments of "then I'll be in charge of eating the sembei!" "no faaaaair!". So, I'll give the sembei scene a pass because that IS a moment that happens in years of moments with the same posse of kiddos around you all the time. But it's also so striking to me how each of Tanjiro's siblings, however idealized, has their own personality. The traits are so subtle but consistent and Tanjiro knows all of them. They pick up on things about each other, they grow realistically annoyed and surprised and concerned and scared like they would if they were real instead of only Tanjiro's memories of them. Those kids feel so real to me, even if they are annoyingly overidealized in some parts as Tanjiro is letting himself get swept away. And just when he's managing to part from it to go face reality, Enmu makes more attack: he brings in Nezuko, trying to make it feel like there's no point in Tanjiro running at all. She's fine. There's nothing left for him to fight for. Everything's fine. And all over again, Tanjiro just stops. He KNOWS it's not real, but he's hurting so much to hear her voice again that he just sto-o-o-o-ps. And his desire to stay with the others catches up to him all over again, and he's tempted all over again to stay, EVEN KNOWING IT'S NOT REAL and there are very, very, very pressing matters to attend to. Even if it was all a little happy and idealized, more than anything, it felt like life always did. It's telling that when Tanjiro finally, FINALLY pulls away from that that time, he doesn't look back, and the family stops chasing him. This is Tanjiro accepting reality, however much it hurts. He's already had a couple years to accept this, but it was all overwhelming to get such a vivid taste of it again.

Tanjiro wants to do well to his organization and honor Urokodaki's training and avenge the fallen and prevent anyone else from being hurt and see an end to Kibutsuji Muzan and make Nezuko human again, but more than anything, he wants that simple life. And it's so, so heartwarming that at the end of the manga, he gets it.

It's not the same. It'll never be the same.

He never wanted a life with a sword, but he's been working so hard at it anyway.

#my heart is broken and it's Kamado Tanjiro's fault #KnY Fandom Theories and Meta #Mugen Ressha Hen #Kamado Tanjiro #Kamado Tanjirou #Agatsuma Zenitsu #Hashibira Inosuke #Rengoku Kyoujurou #Rengoku Kyojuro

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mangozcat · 3 years

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𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆. lee taeyong x fem!reader 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄. some fluff, smut 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒. taeyong always adored the flavors of winter. he loved the smooth hot chocolate, the strong taste of whiskey that he often celebrated with, and munching a cookie between his teeth. when you join him for christmas, he finds yet another thing to add onto his list of favorite flavors.

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖, 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑, 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃." taeyong said, disappointment evident in his tone as his eyes skimmed over the christmas movies and dollar store bag in your hands, and your obviously very much not naked body.

you shook your head, lifting a hand to slap the side of his head gently. “not everything has to do with sex, buddy,” you declared, grinning to yourself as you pushed the bag of hot chocolate mix, whiskey, and cookies into his hands. “I came over because I wanted to spend my christmas with you, babe.”

he peeked inside the bag, smiling at the goods, before looking towards you. his hair was messy, hanging just above his eyes, and you wondered how it didn’t bother him yet. “yes, and I always wanna spend my days and holidays with you, but I had a particular idea in mind for this one in specific.”

“save it for valentine’s day.”

he shrugged, accepting defeat. it didn’t feel as bad as it would typically would, especially when he glanced back at the bag of his favorite sweets. cookies because he always enjoyed the simplistic treat on special occasions, and just in general. whiskey because while taeyong liked the sober life, he wasn’t too good at denying how incredible the free feeling made him feel. and finally, hot chocolate. not much explanation needed.

you always did know him best. and by how happy he looked, you knew it all too well. you took pride in understanding the layered man, and you were extremely pleased to be able to call him your boyfriend.

as taeyong wandered into the kitchen to make the hot chocolate, you took the cookies and whiskey out of the bag, placing them on the table. losing your heavy coat somewhere along the way, you managed to tie your hair up as you found several blankets and pillows scattered around taeyong’s apartment.

“hot chocolate’s so good,” you heard him call from the kitchen.

“don’t drink it right now, dumbass!” you yelled, sighing loudly. you had wanted the man to drink it with you while the two of you watched home alone. it wasn’t long before you heard taeyong’s voice call back to you, “sorry! couldn’t help myself.”

“you never can,” you mumbled under your breath, pulling away from the couch to admire your handiwork. it wasn’t fancy at all, but it looked extremely comfortable and you could imagine yourself falling asleep in taeyong’s arms, surrounded by fluffy blankets.

suddenly, you felt arms wrap around your torso and you grinned to yourself as a kiss was placed on your shoulder. two glasses of hot chocolate were in his hands and he lifted one up to you, allowing you to grab it and take a sip of the steamy drink. “perfect,” you said, turning your head to kiss his cheek.

taeyong smiled cheekily, “I know I am, babe, but I want a compliment on the hot chocolate I spent so long making.”

you only shook your head, a small smile dancing across your lips. he truly was a unique guy, and as obnoxious as he could be sometimes, you couldn’t deny that you wouldn’t trade it for anything. “well, my dear perfect boyfriend, how about you make some food while I shower?”

his face scrunched up, “I’ll pass, thank you very much.”

you only rolled your eyes, taking a sip of your drink. “figured as much,” you sighed out, walking towards the bathroom to take a nice warm shower before snuggling into the covers and getting lost in a movie. prancing around in all the snow beyond taeyong’s door had left you mildly freezing and you were ready to wash it all away with a layer of warmth.

and of course, the sweet smell of taeyong’s body wash.

the first thing you saw when you came out of the shower was light. green and red and blue and gold adorned the walls as you stared in awe at the string of fairy lights hung (although messily and rushed) dashingly across the wall. they were all so pretty, and made the room feel so cozy.

your eyes then found your boyfriend, shooting him a curious look as you pointed towards the lights. he only smiled shyly, biting on his lower lip as a small dash of red made it’s way upon his cheeks.

“I saw them at the store,” he said, eyes flitting between you and the lights. “when I was shopping for your present I saw them and figured they’d make the place more homely.”

you only smiled fondly.

he scratched at the back of his neck, saying, “I know they aren’t exactly christmas colored but they’ll have to do. do you like them?”

nodding your head, you walked towards your boyfriend, arms wide open to signal a bear hug before he met you half way. “they’re perfect,” you whispered into his shirt. he gave the top of your head a gentle kiss, rocking the two of you back and forth unknowingly.

leaning your head up, you connected your lips to his in a small, affectionate kiss, before pulling away and flopping down onto the couch. you grinned and patted the space next to you, making him crawl over top of you. resting his head on your chest, and setting his body between your legs, he turned his head to see the tv as you started the movie. your fingers started threading through his hair, making him hum in delight at the soft feeling.

he closed his eyes as the movie began playing, and you had almost believed he was asleep. that is, until his hand traces circles on the skin of your thighs, which were covered by a pair of his sweatpants. if you were any other girl, you’d think he was simply being overly affectionate and comforting. but you were taeyong’s girlfriend, you knew better.

taeyong was sweet, caring, everything. one thing he wasn’t, however, was more clingy than any other boyfriend. he’d touch your hips, your arms, your hands, but he never touched your nether region unless he wanted something. he never felt the need to.

so when his fingers poked at the hem of your pants, you sighed heavily, pretending you didn’t notice his movements while continuing to watch the movie. but taeyong had different plans. his arms wrapped around your stomach, forcing you to arch gently as he planted a small kiss on your shoulder. and then your collarbone, and then he was hiking up your shirt to place a kiss right above your breasts.

he wanted your attention.

and this time you were determined to not give in. he only narrowed his eyes when he glanced up at you, noticing how your gave wasn’t on him. he huffed out a growl before sucking harshly on the skin between your breasts. you didn’t have a bra on, he had noticed; probably because you were lounging in the comfort of your boyfriend’s apartment, he guessed.

you let out a little gasp at the feeling. it hurt, feeling his teeth scrape over the blossoming bruise, but at the same time, it felt so good. you finally closed your eyes at the sensation, deciding to give in, and buried your hands in his hair and giving the strands a soft tug.

“there’s my baby,” he said, a smirk gracing his features.

you simply let out a small whine as he continued to kiss down your stomach. the feeling was so soft, so gently, so sweet, so sickeningly good that it had your insides churning with desire. he was taking his time, making sure to praise your body along his journey down. the man was on a mission; leave no piece of skin untouched, unloved, and he was surely fulfilling it.

when you couldn’t handle the slowness anymore, you whined out his name. he simply looked up at you through his lashes, feigning innocence in his gaze. taking your sweatpants strings in his teeth, he tugged on the fabric slightly. “what do you want, angel?”

“y-your tongue, your fingers-” you stumbled out carelessly. he smiled to himself, happily listening to your moans of frustration as he tugged your pants, along with your underwear, down your legs. “f-fuck, just- ah! -just want you, baby!”

the cold breeze hit your skin, making you shiver slightly. taeyong didn’t seem bothered, simply pressing a kiss just on your clit, making you keen out at the feeling. he knew what you wanted, you knew what you wanted, but he was so intent on making you wait to receive it.

it only took a few helpless moans and begs out of pure lust to make him finally give you what you desired; his fingers. moving one in and out of you swiftly, he started a bruising pace that left you breathless with it’s intensity. you cried out his name several times, making taeyong smile as he watched his fingers get sucked into your eager heat.

“does my baby like this?” he asked, adding a second finger in and halting to hear your strained moans, “does she like it when I fuck her with my fingers? your cunt’s just swallowing my fingers up, baby.”

you whimpered a yes in response, making taeyong hum to himself in satisfaction. curling his fingers inside of you, you cried out when you felt his fingertips brush against that spot inside of you. your toes curled at the sensation and you tugged a little harder on his hair.

finally, as if taeyong couldn’t hold back any longer, he attached his lips to your clit, sucking on the sensitive bud. “fuck,” you muttered breathlessly, pulling him as close as possible as your hips started buckling up into his face. he groaned out, licking a stripe of your wetness from your slit.

his fingers were still in you, pushing you closer and closer to the edge.

“are you going to cum?” he asked against your bundle of nerves, making you whine at the vibrations. he glanced up at you, admiring the fucked out look on your face and loving how his name slipped from your lips on occasion. he knew you were close, just by how erratically you were clenching around his fingers.

“go ahead, baby,” he said, pulling back to give your clit yet another kiss as his fingers continuously curled inside of you to give you that one last burst of pleasure. you were seeing white, crying out when you finally were pushed over the edge.

“cum around my fingers, sweetheart.”

part of the christmas chronicles series! you can find it here.

#taeyong #taeyong smut #lee taeyong #nct 127 #lee taeyong smut #taeyong fluff #nct 127 smut #nct #too lazy to write more #haha

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20thcentury-kylo · 3 years

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Tides Of Memory Chapter 2

Surprise!! Wanted to have this up yesterday but things sorta got out of hand, and tbh after this I'll be kind of busy so I atleast wanted to finish this one- anywho Enjoy

A wild flower hill overlooks the calm sea at dusk. The sky’s color fades into a midnight blue as the moon and stars peak from the clouds. Ebisu sits among the wild life- Guitar in hand as he hums a simple tune.

“Just breathe… just breathe- it’ll all be fine~” Soft strums from the instrument follow in simplistic patterns. As he gazes up to the stars above he feels no words could better fit the moment. Amongst the chaos of interstellar wars and the literal end of the world- a scene like this- it’s peace.. He could believe that it would all be fine. Kiome had already gone back- most likely to keep Ebisu from seeing him break down completely, but Ebisu knew.. He could feel it in his soul- the scared tremors, the subtle shaking in his hands. The rose haired musician swore he’d be strong for the both of them, he wouldn't make Kiome face this alone, he didn't have to be alone, not anymore.

“Maybe it's the question.. Maybe it's the answer~”

The quaking roars were gone, but Kiome was nowhere to be found. He promised to stay away but as Ebisu runs through the ravaged battlefield the only thought coursing through his mind is finding the chubby swordsman.

“Kiome!!” He pleads out their name gaining no response. With every step he takes, dread seems to fill him more and more.

“Just breathe.. It'll all be fine~”

The blood won't stop pooling between his hands, the tears in his eyes won't either. In the midst of it all he somehow finds the strength to laugh.. How unfair it all was. His beloved laid there dying in his arms and yet here Kiome was… singing to him. How unfair the world could be. The last thing he sees before the light envelopes them is the pained smile on his face, as he whispers it one last time

“Darling… i love you~”

Ebisu is a 17 year old boy living in the Nakano ward in Tokyo with his adoptive guardian. He loves tales of the sea, of lost treasure and one day hopes to venture out there on his own, to maybe find his own lost fortune. Ebisu has the strangest dreams filled with even stranger people, and fleeting whispers of feelings that leave dull aches in his heart.. The words always echo in his mind and he can't seem to explain the tears in his eyes as he wakes. It was all so… confusing, and yet when their eyes met… when their eyes met suddenly the distant haze seemed to be clearing.

They're such a soft shade of amber- so warm so… familiar. The feeling that follows is so intense that he can't stop the stream of tears that follow soon after. The boy in front of him winces- bringing a hand to graze his forehead, yet never breaks eye contact.

“I-i’m sorry, are ya okay?” Ebisu tries his best to compose himself- stifling the tears long enough to pick himself up off the ground.

“Dont worry ive been through worse.” whatever was ailing him seems to have subsided and yet- they stay there, gazing at one another in a tense silence. The boy eventually begins to speak when he’s caught off by a shout from the distance.

“Hey! That creep snatched My wallet!” The cries of a knocked down pedestrian follow as the therian sprints away. Instinctively Ebisu checks his pockets to find his own wallet missing.

“That little sneak-” The fisherman prepares to apprehend the transient- brandishing his signature fishing rod and hook. Yet before he can even start the backswing- the stranger he’d just met is already dashing towards the thief.

“Oh no ya dont!!” Before Ebisu can blink the apparent swordsman is already flying at the transient- his still sheathed sword arced forwards. The encounter is over in seconds with the captured therian pleading apologies as he scurried off. He’d been so stunned at the boy's ability that he hadn’t noticed the small faded blue wallet being shoved in this direction.

“You dropped this..” Their hands brush slightly as he takes the wallet- and Ebisu’s mind fixates on the fleeting warmth. He wants to thank him sincerely, yet the blush flooding his cheeks keeps his eyes averted choosing instead to focus on his newly re-acquired wallet.

“I um- I never got your name~” Ebisu manages to stutter out- still refusing to meet eyes with the mysterious swordsman.

“HEY!!” The recognized shouts of none other than Nankano’s resident viral sensation, Benten. She practically flies at them, her phone camera trained on the chubby swordsman.

“Kiome! Didn’t expect to see you ‘round here, especially pulling off moves like that~” In the midst of her excited rambling he hears the name…

“Kiome…” It’s almost scary how naturally the name rolls off his tongue. Ebisu finds himself unable to control the smile that sneaks its way onto his face.

“Ebisu- you manage to find anyone for your little adventure, I’m still rarin to go of course~” The sudden reminder of his previous endeavor has him more embarrassed than he honestly should be.

“Ebisu huh.. Well If it's adventurers you need- you’ve just found the right guy.” Kiome expresses with a subtle wink. The nervous giggle that erupts from the rose haired boy resembles more of a shy highschool girl rather than a trained fisherman. Ebisu escorts the 3 of them back to the restaurant he helps run. For once he was thankful for Benten’s presence, having her between them with her excited chatter was perfect for keeping him distracted. Even so he couldn't help but sneak a passing glance at the chubby swordsman when he got the chance.

They sit down discussing the plans over some tea, and while Ebisu, and Benten fall into their usual banter- Kiome is reminded of the warnings his friends gave earlier

“Yeah, I've been hearing a lot of those recently as well, though in the end- it doesn’t change what we hafta do.” Benten’s proud declaration earning a chuckle.

“Actually, I looked into those before- judging from the location of where these pirate ships were being sunk, it’s most likely they were confronted with mermaids; the Daughters of The Waves-” Ebisu informs them. From what he’d gathered- the mermaids were likely guarding the treasure. As he keeps explaining- Kiome gets that same unsettling feeling from before- this wouldn’t be some light adventure… This was serious. By the time they’d finished the three of them settled on a plan; Benten was in charge of finding a crew- people strong enough to stand against the apparent threat that awaited them, a crew that now included Kiome, and Ebisu would handle getting the ship, supplies, and salvage equipment ready which from the sounds of it- he was already on top of. Benten had parted ways at the shop's entrance, eager to begin her search- leaving the two boys alone, Ebisu having offered to walk Kiome back to the station. So as they strolled side by side- Ebisu decides to break the silence.

“Y’know this may sound weird but- I have the strangest feeling… that we’ve met before, somewhere.” His words cause Kiome to turn with a pondering expression, he had no memories of a past life, but somehow he held the same feeling.

“It’s weird but… I know what you mean~” From there they fall into light conversation, a simple game of 20 questions passes between them yet both still held the strange possibility in the back of their minds. Before they knew it the train's electronic whistle was heard from afar.

“Guess the fun's over for now huh~” Kiome’s words followed by a breathless sigh.

“Yeah heheh , i guess so..” The pearl eyed boy parrots back. Kiome turns to him, suddenly unsure of what to do. A hug?, just a handshake? To keep himself from dallying he settled on the latter, extending a hand out to his escort.

“Nice meetin’ ya-' ' Ebisu stares a bit in awe at his hand for a moment before slowly reaching back with a hand of his own. Their hands meet in a subtle shake, it's the first real contact they've had, and Kiome can't help but notice how soft Ebisu's hand is. There’s a whisper of a feeling, warm, and nostalgic- the two seemingly lose themselves in it for the moment. It lingers even as they let go, and with sheepish smiles and stuttered goodbyes the two part ways.

In the clear star filled night- the haze further clears on their memories. Ebisu finds himself unable to find easy rest, finding comfort among the midnight sky. As he sits illuminated by the moon- lost in thought, something long forgotten seems to return to him. He has no idea what it means but the prospect has him anxious and excited to find out

‘I wonder what it looks like’ He muses in his thoughts. Gazing up at the moon's glow.

“San Diego~”

#Housamo #tokyo afterschool summoners #Tides Of Memory #mc5 x ebisu #kiome #fanfiction #my art #clip studio paint #i have an 8 work day stretch coming #so i wont rlly be active :p

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nimmy22 · 3 years

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A Mistake: Chapter 5

"Our encounters will only end once I say so. Now, answer this. Why were you limping?" Wesker watched through his shades as she flinched when his hand came to rest on her injured leg. He found this development displeasing. Someone trespassed on his right to be the only one to hurt her, to use her, to kill her. And correction was in order.

"What's it to you?" Cara hissed, slapping his hand away.

"Wrong answer dearheart, let's try again." His hand found her leg once more, and this time he gave a not-so-gentle squeeze. He flashed his pearly whites with a smirk, watching her grimace and suck a sharp breath. "Why were you limping?"

"I fell... down some s-stairs and hurt my...leg," she cried, looking away from him.

Wanting things over quickly, she hoped he would lose interest and leave her be. Why would he even care if someone laid a hand on her? Especially when he was still wavering between hot and cold on whether to kill her or not. If someone killed her, then Wesker should consider it a time well saved. She was beyond confused by this.

"Fell? Are you sure?" Wesker frowned, removing his shades. Cara had no idea why he even wore them while presenting...indoors. They seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face, but at least he took them off in the rain. She mentally kicked herself for spending a second analyzing the fashion sense of a corrupt officer. It will certainly not prolong her life.

Wesker suddenly drifted closer to her face with scrutinizing eyes. "I suppose you also hit your head in the fall?" He said before putting pressure over the bruise on her head. The more she struggled to turn her head, the harder he applied the pressure. She cursed her cheap foundation for having melted off within so little time, likely exposing her bruise. The humid weather wasn't helping her situation either, aiding the cream to melt off her skin.

"Stop it! It hurts. Please, I answered your question. what do you want now?"

Not many dared to bluntly lie to Wesker, and those who did were now entertaining earthly maggots as a free buffet. The little girl lied to him without shame, leaving him with the urge to loosen his collar as his blood began to simmer. He had to restrain himself, not wanting to smash.... his shades.

"Do you take me for a fool? You forget you're still dealing with a cop, and I can certainly tell the difference between physical violence and injuries from a fall. I've dealt with countless domestic violence and child abuse cases. Now, answer the question before I rip off those pants to confirm." Wesker growled, punching the garbage bin centimeters from her head. She squeaked like a mouse, shielding her head with her arms, folding into a fetal position. Peeking through her fingers, Cara spotted the dent he left in the metal and audibly swallowed. He could crush her skull if he wanted to and why he has yet to do so is beyond her.

"Ok fine! It was...my...dad, h-he...hit me. Happy now? But whose parents don't bring out the belt every now and then? It's not that big of a deal." Cara slanted her body away from him and fidgeted with her sleeve. Until this point, she had never admitted to anyone what went on at home behind closed doors. Not even her closest friend knew a thing. But she was forced to disclose one of her deepest secrets to this bastard just because he asked her nicely.

"I see." Wesker stood up, pondering something for a moment before walking back towards the school doors. Pausing by the door, he spoke without looking at her. "Clean yourself up and go back to the assembly. Then after that, I want you to walk across the street to the laundromat's parking lot. You will wait there for me."

"Why?" Cara swallowed, a cold feeling creeping over her like a heavy blanket. Wesker didn't answer, as he was already gone, and she was met with the sound of doors slamming shut. With a sigh, she wiped her tear-streaked cheeks with her clammy hands.

Raising to her wobbly feet, Cara straightened out her clothes, doing her best to clear the dust. There was no way to reduce the puffy eyes. She decided to play it off as being devastated for the poor boy who ended up an overcooked steak.

She was definitely in over her head, but without a choice, she was forced to do what he wanted. He already knew pretty much everything about her, her home, school, and family issues.

--------------

"You sure you don't want a ride home?" Claire said, hugging her friend tightly and being a major cause for much discomfort. She somehow managed to touch all Cara's painful bruises all at once, completely unaware. The two stood in the school parking lot, finished with school for the day.

"I'm fine, Claire, really. I just had a weak moment. Don't worry about me. I just need to have a little walk with some thinking time."

"I can come with,"

"No!" Cara jerked back before realizing what she did. Claire blinked, staring at her friend with her mouth open. "Oh shit, sorry. I mean...I want to...be alone for a while. You should go annoy your brother at work. He'll appreciate that."

"Are you ok? You're acting weird, not just today but this whole week. What's going on?" Cara felt more beads of sweat forming on her forehead with each question Claire asked. She needed to get away before she said something she shouldn't have.

"I'm fine, I swear. You're just reading too much into things." Cara said, backing away from her friend.

"Cara!" Claire called out, watching Cara hurry across the street. "What the heck is going on," she wondered aloud.

Claire was about to follow her when a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder. She spun around, ready to snap the fingers of the fool who dared grab her in such a manner.

"Miss Redfield, great seeing you." Wesker greeted her, his grip on her shoulder unmoving. Her eyes widened as she recognized the fool being her brother's boss.

"Oh...Captain Wesker. Um...Great presentation." Claire said, trying to shrug out of his hold. He let go, but very slowly. She didn't know why he was interacting with her this long. The most she ever got from Wesker was a nod or asking where Chris went after abandoning his desk for half an hour when he should've been doing paperwork. The answer was tacos she made herself and brought to the station for Chris.

"Thank you. I'm just hoping at least a few students will hold onto my words." Wesker responded, discreetly watching through his shades as Cara disappear from view. He simply couldn't have a foolish Redfield ruining his plans. "So where are you headed off to?"

"Uh... I was just about to head home," she said, pointing her thumb over to her motorcycle.

"Drive home safely. Wouldn't want your brother distracted on the job now, would we?" They both knew Chris would get distracted regardless, but she didn't like his tone when talking about her brother.

"No, of course not," Claire gave him a sweet smile, flapping him the bird behind her back. "Have a nice day, Captain Wesker."

"You as well, Miss Redfield." Wesker walked away, heading across the parking lot to his cruiser before driving off.

With a long sigh, Claire looked back to the direction her friend had run off to, but she was already long gone. Claire groaned, promising herself that she was not about to let this go. She owed Cara to be a good friend and help her sort out whatever she was going through. The next time she saw Cara, they were going to have a very good talk.

-----------------

Cara stood in the parking lot of the laundromat, fidgeting with the zipper of her jacket. The little piece of metal was already bent in two places from her abuse. She was alone, the place had closed down months ago, its owner was an elderly lady who passed away. She had no children to inherit it, and so the place had to shut its doors. It would make sense why Wesker would want to pick her up here. Students had no reason to crowd this property, having a plaza on the other side of the road abundant in fast-food joints and an arcade.

The temperature hadn't changed drastically since the morning. Yet, she found herself shivering in her jacket and hugging it closer to her body. Her eyes kept darting about, dreading the imminent interaction. She hated the waiting, but she didn't want to find out what he had in store for her.

Wesker drove into the parking lot, eyes zeroed in on the pitiful creature shivering alone and looking misplaced. Good thing he was here to 'help her out.' He thoroughly enjoyed how she nearly bolted upon spotting the car. He stopped next to her and waited.

Cara waited for him to emerge from the car or to roll down a window to tell her what he wanted. He did neither of those things, and so she shut her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and reaching for the door handle of the passenger seat. Still saying nothing, she slid into the seat before shutting the door as hard as she could. Between them, the air freshener swung back and forth with greater momentum charged by the thick atmosphere.

"So nice of you to find the time for me, dearheart. I am flattered."

"Of course, With whom else could I see myself spending time?" she didn't bother asking where they were headed, knowing how far questions seemed to set her back with him.

They pulled up to a simplistic two-story home, its lawn cleanly kempt but lacking any other colorful vegetation. She couldn't help but think it was the end of the road for her when the garage door sealed shut behind them.

Leaving the car, he walked into the house, depositing his keys on a bowl by the door. Cara followed close behind but far enough to dodge an attack, or so she hoped. Walking by the deposited keys, her fingers itched to grab them, make a run for it, but her brain didn't feel like making the deadly mistake so soon into the day or... week. Biting her bottom lip, she followed him into the living room.

Like the outside of the house, the inside lacked color, instead opting for white and shades grey. All in all, it looked like the kind of place that will get very messy if someone were to get murdered in it. But that didn't put her at ease. She still had no idea what he wanted.

Cara's fingers were inches from touching a plain white vase when Wesker finally spoke. "Welcome to my home."

She snatched her hand back so fast, her shoulder almost popped out of its socket. She opened her mouth several times, but nothing came out.

"You...live here?" Finally, she managed to form a few words.

"I do not like repeating myself, but yes, I live here. Stay here. I will be back." Wesker left Cara in the living room, making his way upstairs. Passing several doors, he came across one that streamed a golden light from beneath. Knocking three times, pausing, and then twice more, he waited for the response. He smiled, hearing the sound of four subsequent knocks and a scratching sound. This was their code, a living memory of his army days.

The door opened and smiling up at him was Sherry. He accepted her into his open arms before picking her up. "Your back, uncle Albert."

"Yes, and I brought you a really nice present."

"What is it! ...a puppy?"

"No, try again."

"Is it a dinosaur? A game? A dress? A book? Is it edible?" Sherry filled her bubble with guesses, eyes twinkling. She rubbed her hands together as if the friction could make the surprise appear faster. She had been alone all day and bored out of her mind.

Wesker shook his head at her simple thinking but enjoyed her expressions.

Walking into the living room, Wesker felt Sherry's gasp shake her whole body. "Cara!" the little girl squeaked before jumping out of the older man's grasp. She raced to her babysitter, unable to believe her eyes.

Cara's expression transformed from a scowl to a tender smile upon noticing Sherry, eyes brimming with tears.

The little girl snuggled against Cara, relishing the comforting scent of her friend. Truly, she thought she was in heaven. "Thank you, Uncle Albert! This the greatest surprise ever!" Sherry beamed at her uncle, half her face smushed against Cara's chest.

"And it gets even better. Cara agreed to come play with us every day right after school." Wesker burst Cara's bubble with a rusted pin, killing all hope of escape.

Cara's smile immediately fell. She shot daggers at the older man who merely took a seat on the couch, legs spread wide apart as he rested his arms over the back of the couch.

"Really? I can't believe it! I am so happy. We can do so many things, Cara, not just on Friday nights."

"Y-you can't-" Cara stuttered, struggling against herself to end the happiness of a little girl. To Cara, disappointing Sherry was a terrifying thing, especially if she the very cause of it.

"Why don't you take her to play in your room?" Sherry was already leading Cara before the dirty cop finished his sentence.

"Wait, Sherry. You go on up, and I will um...come to play in a few minutes. I just need to talk to...Uncle Albert for a sec." Cara spat his name.

"Ok!" Sherry said, bouncing on her feet, and ran upstairs. Once the little girl's giggles grew distant, she turned to Wesker who was already watching her with the eyes of a lazy predator. His shades sat in front of him on the coffee table, neatly folded.

Cara couldn't help the tingling shiver as he watched her. She gathered her courage and stood up straight, forcing her nerves down before speaking, "What if I don't want to continue the job?"

Wesker laughed at the ridiculous proposal.

"And break the poor girl's heart? She has consistently asked for you every day, more so than for her own parents. Where is Cara? Is she ok? Can I visit her?"

"Stop using her against me! I don't want to get involved more than I already have with you."

"Sherry experienced horrible things that night, all because of who her parents are. So, if she wants her delicious babysitter back, then she will have her back. Simple." Wesker knew which buttons to press to get her to do exactly what he wanted. The fear factor wasn't everything, and it wouldn't last long. He knew she loved his niece like a little sister, and he will use that to secure a tight collar over her neck.

'A delicious babysitter.' For some reason, these words stood out to Cara, and she found herself unable to formulate a coherent sentence, feeling the temperature of the room rise rapidly.

"But why does it have to be here? In your house?"

"As much as I support my dear friend William, he can be a little too preoccupied with his work and often becomes disengaged from the outside world. He forgot to call anyone to fix the damages, and so the house has yet to be repaired. Until it's ready, Sherry will stay here, that is unless she chooses to stay indefinitely, which I don't mind at all. It's always too quiet around here."

Seeing no way out of this, Cara begrudgingly walked upstairs, defeat weighing down her steps. Her mood brightened a little while playing with Sherry, but she couldn't put her whole heart into it. Her choice was taken away, and she couldn't live with that. But in the end, she had to be grateful as this was still better than being murdered and stuffed into a dumpster or buried alive.

For now, she will do her best to make Sherry happy. The little girl has been through a lot already.

----------------

Hours later, Cara stood in front of the sink, swirling the cool water in her glass before gulping it down. She was halfway through the water when she felt something warm, soft, and feather-like touch the back of her neck. She spun around to see Wesker walking away, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips. She barely registered the icy water spilling on her clothes as she realized what happened. Her stomach weaved knots, pulling them too tight to undo.

Wesker had kissed her neck. And then he just walked away as if nothing happened. This had to be the strangest trick her mind could play on her. Or was it? There was simply no way a man like him will ever be interested in her. Never.

It felt like a terrible joke, and yet, she found her hand touching her neck, a rosy blush making its way.

#resident evil #albert wesker #Albert Wesker X OC #albert wesker x oc

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mydarlingangel12 · 3 years

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A Court of Earth and Storms

I just finished reading ACOSF and could not stop thinking of Gwyn and her possible relationship with Azriel. So I decided to start a fan fiction centred around the two! This is my first time writing fan fiction so tell me what you guys think!

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS FOR ACOSF BELOW!!

These characters belong to Sarah J Mass

Gwyn smiled as Azriel shot up into the air leaving her alone in the training center at the House of Wind. His shadows had come to her leaving her feeling warm and safe. A feeling that she had not felt since the death of her sister and the loss of her innocence. Gwyn let the thought pass through her mind as she focused her attention on the sword that lay in her hand. She kept practicing getting more and more comfortable with the weapon. Never again would she be as helpless as she had been on that night. The night she lost everything she held close to her. The night she lost her twin the only real family she had left.

6 Months Later...

Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie were getting ready to go to Velaris. Feyre had invited her sister to the city and Nesta had insisted the girls come with her. Gwyn and Emerie were both a bit nervous but knew that they needed to be there to support their friend. They were all dressed in minimalistic gowns that although simplistic were quite beautiful. Gwyn couldn’t help admiring her friends, these two females who have become such an important part of her life. “Where are they,” exclaimed Nesta. A scowl on her face. “Cassian said he would be here at eight no later and it's already eight thirty.” As if on cue two sets of footsteps began marching towards the living area. “My apologies Nes, we got caught up.” There before the females stood Cassian and Azriel. A smirk on the former's lips. Nesta rolled her eyes and began walking towards her mate. “Took you long enough I was almost ready to declare a girls night in instead.” Emerie smiled towards Nesta ``still isn’t too late to do so.” “No way,” replied Cassian. “You guys are coming.” “Azriel is going to winnow you two to Rita’s. Nesta and I are going to take the long way.” “Are we now,” replied Nesta. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.” Before Nesta could make another comment Cassian grabbed her and flung himself out the window. Moments later Gwyn saw the two soaring through the air, Nesta in Cassian's arms. “Alright, I guess it is our turn,” Gwyn said. She walked towards Azriel, his hand outstretched. Emerie right on her heels. The two females grabbed onto Az and they winnowed right outside Rita’s into the heart of the city. Emerie squeaked in excitement as she rushed into the club. Gwyn, still next to Azriel, smiled pleased to see her friend so excited. “Let’s go,” she exclaimed. Grabbing Azriel’s arm and pulling him into Rita’s.

Gwyn had more than she probably should have had to drink. After the initial introductions to Rhys, Feyre and Mor. She grabbed onto Emerie’s arm and dragged the girl towards the bar. It had been a long time since Gwyn had allowed herself a night like this and she would be damned if she didn’t enjoy it. After not one, not two but four shots of potent alcohol she found herself in the middle of the dance floor without a care in the world as the music coursed through her veins and the alcohol warming her from the inside out. She danced until her feet hurt and her body was slick with sweat. She noticed a stranger coming around with drinks and she grabbed another one and shot her head back downing it in one sip. She giggled a sweet soft sound that she was sure nobody would hear over the music. “You really should pace yourself,” a voice behind her said. “At this rate I’m going to have to carry you out of here just to get you home.” Gwyn turned and saw Azriel standing behind her. His shadows had moved towards her enveloping her in warmth. It had been months since she had seen them. “What are you going to do, stop me,” she said through a smile. “No, I wouldn't want to ruin your fun. I just want you to be careful.” She took a step towards him tripping over her own feet. He moved swiftly, grabbing her waist and steadying her. “Careful,” he whispered into her ear. “Always,” she whispered back. Before either of them could get another word out Nesta appeared behind Gwyn. “You look like you're having fun,” Nesta stated. “There you are,” exclaimed Gwyn. “I hadn’t seen you come in.” “I was wondering what was taking you so long.” Gwyn said as if the answer was not obvious. One look at Nesta’s disheveled hair and swollen lips and you had your answer. “I got her now Az thanks for making sure she didn’t fall flat on her face.” Nesta grabbed her friend's hand and half carried half dragged her towards one of the tables. “Of course,” mumbled Azriel. As he slipped into the crowd.

Azriel found Rhys watching Feyre and Mor dancing together. Mor had a drink in her hand and Feyre, still breastfeeding Nyx had what Azriel assumed was some type of virgin cocktail. “Amren is with the baby,” grumbled Rhys. “Feyre insisted we come here and said that Amren would do a great job looking after him.” “You want me to go check in on him?” Azriel asked. “No, I’m sure Feyre would just get mad at me for being overprotective.” Azriel nodded as he scanned the crowd looking for her face. Gwyn’s face. He was worried, she had drunk more than she should have and he didn’t want anything to happen to the female. “Have you spoken recently to Elain?” Asked Rhys in a quiet voice. “We saw each other the other day out in the city but we didn’t talk to each other,” replied Azriel. He was still looking for Gwen, maybe she had gone to the bathroom with Nesta. “Good. You know the rules, stay away.” “We have been through this Rhys you don’t need to keep bringing it up.” “I was just making sure.” Rhys clapped Azriel on the back as he walked towards his mate and cousin leaving Azriel by himself.

Gwyn tumbled out the door of Rita’s. She loved it here but she needed a moment to herself outside in the fresh air. She sat down on the curb and gazed upwards at the night sky. Gwyn had always loved the night sky, the stars and the moon were amongst the most beautiful things she had ever seen. They ignited a fire in her and made her feel hopeful and as if she could conquer the world. She loved them so much that she had gotten two piercings in her ear, one of them a moon charm and the other a little diamond representing the stars. She got them to remind herself that the moon and the stars were always a constant. That no matter what they would always be there for her to gaze at, they would always come out no matter how dark and dreadful the day had been. However, today had not been dark or dreadful. Today had been wonderful and she was glad to finally have healed enough to be able to have these sorts of days again. “Are you feeling okay?” A voice behind Gwyn asked. She whipped her head around to find Azriel leaning against the wall of a building. “I’m tired, I think I should get back.” “Let me take you,” Azriel responded. Gwyn attempted to stand up but Azriel was in front of her before she could do so. He hoisted her off the ground and her body came into contact with his. She smiled, her head rolling onto his shoulder. Before Azriel could think the words came out of his mouth. “Do you want me to fly you back instead of winnow?” “I would love that, I’ve always wanted to go flying.” He gently scooped her up into his arms and shot up into the sky. The sound that came out of Gwyn's mouth was one of if not the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

#gwynriel #azriel #gwyn #acosf #acotar #acomaf #acowar #sarahjmass #feysand #cassian #nesta #archeron #amren #throneofglass

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male-reader-requests · 3 years

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A Fateful Meeting

[I'm so sorry I've been gone so long, schools kicking my ass right now! I am working on requests, I'll be able to get more out soon, I'm so sorry and thank you for your patients!]

Pairings: Romeo x Juliet

Word Count: 2,989

Warnings: Short Story, not a One Shot. Uhh I wrote this 3 years ago, it was technically for an assignment but I kinda went off. It kinda talks about Yandere themes and kinda Serial killer stuff so careful there. I've been working on a sort of part 2 so if you like this let me know.

Tragedy, a word to describe great loss, sadness, a mix of the two. The life of Juliet was considered a tragedy, and it held every right to be called that.

Juliet Capulet, the only child of Lord Capulet, a young woman held in high regard, died far too young for anyone to be comfortable with the number.

Young Juliet was a love-struck fool, falling hard and fast, within the time scale of around 5 days, but she had loved him, she had loved Romeo Montague.

Young Juliet's love was her downfall, her utter and complete trust in Romeo became her undoing.

Our story starts at a party, a place of mirth and mischief, the place of Juliet's believed salvation and Romeo's new fixation.

The party was in full swing, people mingling and dancing, servers bustling around, all talking louder than civilly welcome. All of it had been planned out perfectly, everything was wondrous, the weather was without fault, the music was superb, but there was one piece missing, one-piece meant for the world to watch in wonder. Juliet sat up in her room, watching herself in the mirror on her vanity. The music that filtered from rooms away was still quite loud, none of it what she enjoyed, she could see the appeal of it, but not tonight.

It didn't matter what her Father or Mother, or Paris for the matter said, tonight was dreadful, everything wrong in feeling and aesthetics. Her mother had chosen the dressing she would wear, the large garment sitting in the back of the equally large closet within her possession, but it wasn't something Juliet wanted to wear, let alone look at.

Large, poofy, covered in many layers, and an atrocious shade of pink Juliet had promptly thrown it into the back of her closet once her Mother was out of sight. Sadly it was still there. It was like an insistent ich, always in the back of your mind no matter how much you try to ignore it, but Juliet had a backup plan.

Granted, it wasn't a good back up plan, but she had one, so she was doing better than most people. With a sigh that was most definitely not ladylike, Juliet got up, grabbing the dress her Maid had set out earlier at the revelation of the hideous pink monstrosity taking up the majority of the closet.

This one was a pale blue with white flowers decorating it, it wasn't flashy, it wasn't eye-catching, but it was beautiful in a simplistic way, a way that appealed to Juliet more than the other one. Without anyone she truly felt she needed to impress Juliet left her face bare of makeup, leaving her hair to fall over her shoulders in unkempt waves.

She didn't look important, she didn't look like someone born under a Lord, but that was what she wanted, she didn't wish to be noticed tonight. Parties were something she dreaded, but her mother loved them, so there were always many gone and done and others planned for the future within a month's time.

The closer she got to the main ballroom the louder everything became, the more the sound grated on her nerves, the more she wished to disappear and never look back on the estate she called home. People welcomed her warmly as she walked through the crowds, hands patting her back, mouths kissing the backs of her hands, false pleasantries passing from person to person.

"Juliet!" A shrill voice called out, the sound of it make the young woman's figure go rigid. Her Mother was a menace, someone to avoid at all costs, but there was nothing that could be done. The taller woman promptly stomped up to her child, a pale hand finding its way to grip at the sleeve of the blue dress, hardly suppressed rage burning behind her eyes.

"What are you wearing," she whispered harshly, or as much as someone could whisper over the swell of music and others speech. This what was to be expected, Lady Capulet would take nothing except perfection, and Juliet had defied that.

"A dress," she replied simply, knowing that if she started to tell her Mother all of the things she didn't like about the pink dress the woman would start crying in front of everyone, and Juliet wouldn't wish that on anyone.

The older woman's eyebrows pinched in irritation, she could see the underlying rebellion Juliet was doing but said nothing, only shook her head in disappointment, removing her hand from Juliet's dress. Wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders she started to direct her around, forcing her to face the music and be polite to the people that hadn't recognized her earlier.

The people this time talked to her softer, treated her differently as if she needed more respect and less danger. She wasn't made of glass, but due to her lineage and Father she was treated as such; she was the special teacup only brought out for the best of guests. Juliet smiled at everyone her Mother made her meet, she kept herself pleasant and calm, keeping up in the conversations that were started. She could see her Mother's disapproving look from the corner of her eye, Lady Capulet heavily unhappy that she wasn't just nodding along.

Lady Capulet had tried her best at turning her daughter into the perfect woman, she had taught her to stand in the background, to be seen and not heard, but Juliet was talking, she was keeping up with the men and women she engaged conversation in. A light smile graced Juliet's face, and it was like a spotlight, she was glowing, looking radiant compared to how she had looked earlier, but this was not as she was raised.

Lady Capulet hid her anger well, making sure her face didn't pinch with distaste as she tried to steer her daughter away. Juliet acted as if she didn't feel the insistent tugging, planting her feet to keep herself within the circle of people she was conversing with. Her Mother's anger fell in waves, much like the ones that beat on the rocks at the ocean, but those waves could be seen and felt, these could only be felt.

Soon her Mothers tugging became too much, causing young Juliet to bid farewell, being drug away without another word. "What was that about?" her mother hissed, rage seeping into her words.

Juliet lightly shook her head, eyes glued to the floor to make sure she didn't trip and make a fool of herself. The silence only fueled her Mother's silent rage, making her walk faster to force Juliet to keep up. A light prickling sensation fell upon Juliet at this moment, making her snap her head up.

She glanced around quickly, trying to find the source of her discomfort, only for her eyes to lock with dark brown ones behind a silver mask. The male was of average height, brown hair to match his eyes, but Juliet had never seen him, even with the mask she could tell he was someone she had never met.

Her steps faltered, making her stumbled and almost fall, her Mothers arm around her shoulders the only thing keeping her up. The only thing she got was a disappointed tut before being hauled back onto her feet, her Mother keeping the same pace as before, Juliet stumbling a bit before getting her footing right again.

Looking behind herself Juliet looked for those brown eyes with the silver mask, only to find they were gone. An odd mixture of sadness and desperation flowed through the young woman, making her pinch her eyebrows slightly, but quickly changed her facial expression to a blank, passive look, not wanting to draw her Mothers attention.

Juliet was then paraded up a flight of steps by her Mother, people going out of their way to kiss her hands, to tell her how pretty she was, wanting to get all of the extra points with the lady of the party. Juliet held no enjoyment in making others feel less than and found it boring to peacock around in a dress that was uncomfortable, flashy, and in general an eyesore. Her Mother was the definition of that.

The older woman was dressed in a large, ridiculously large, red and gold dress. It drug along behind her for at least a meter, the mass of lace and fabric most likely ruined by people carelessly stepping on it and having been drug through spilled drinks and mud brought in from outside. The woman, despite the dress being so different from what everyone else was wearing, acted like it was best, strutting from wall to wall, up and down the stairs, making sure everyone saw the large mess of fabrics. She was peacocking, and with the way that her hair was put up in a large bun she looked the part.

The dress Lady Capulet had picked out for Juliet wasn't much better. It wasn't as large, but it was definitely as long. It was layered on the sides, covered in bits of lace and ruffles, and if it wasn't such an alarming shade of pink it probably would have looked nice.

Ripped from her thoughts Juliet struggled to grasp at what had forced her to focus, but that prickling feeling was back stronger this time. Another quick look around made her lock eyes with the brown ones again.

The male was closer this time, but he made no move to advance, Juliet confused until her Mother delivered a pinch to her shoulder. Standing in front of her was Count Paris, cousin of the prince, and a man after her heart.

Paris was a handsome man, and with his amount of wealth he had women throwing themselves and their children at him from all angles, Juliet's Mother was not an exception to this. The older woman kept her arms around Juliet's shoulders as if she was making sure she wouldn't bolt like a frightened animal.

Juliet welcomed the thought of sighing dramatically before walking away, but that would lead to her Mother being in a worse mood and possibly bringing her Fathers mood down as well. She was in no mood to face the wrath of both parents.

Finally giving into her Mothers prompting Juliet curtsied and inclined her head to the County, who smiled lightly, nodding back at her as she stood tall. Juliet wasn't much of someone to be a pushover, forcing herself to stand tall, even if she was shorter than everyone around her. Juliet's Mother started to speak, quite animatedly, to be honest, keeping the Counties attention away from her distracted daughter. Juliet was thankful for what she was doing, knowing that the majority of her attention had gone to trying to find the male in the silver mask again.

He was still there, mostly lurking in the shadows so not draw attention to himself, but Juliet could find him in a hoard of people she'd never seen. Those brown eyes narrowed a bit, and Juliet felt as if she was being judged, as if those very eyes were seeing everything she'd done in her life so far, weighing her very soul.

Quickly, Juliet turned back to Paris and her Mothers conversation, waiting a few seconds for the perfect timing. "I'm sorry," she started in this soft voice that would appease her Mother, "I need to excuse myself for a few minutes." Juliet could tell her Mother wasn't happy about being interrupted, but Paris nodded to her, letting her go from the conversation.

Moving quickly the young woman went down the stairs as fast as she could, rounding the corner only to step back when she ran into someone. Aborted apologies tried to soothe things over, all of them real but cut off only to introduce another.

Stuttering off into silence Juliet looked up, her eyes widening as she looked at those brown eyes, this time without the silver mask. His skin was fair, a bit on the pale side, but it went well with the dark hair and dark eyes. Reaching out tentatively Juliet half expected him to ignore it, starting when a warm hand slid into her own. Romeo, at which she didn't know was his name at the time, pulled her onto the dance floor, his movements fluid and graceful, while Juliet moved with an awkward gait, nervous beyond her mind.

The two of them moved around until she was comfortable, keeping clear of Lady Capulet and Count Paris, keeping each other closer than someone should comfortably keep a stranger. Juliet kept her head down, making sure to not step on anyone's feet, the fear of embarrassing herself or her partner griping her heart in cold hands. Romeo then switched his stance a bit, enough to draw Juliet's attention, only for it to get drawn away when a shrill voice called for her. The young woman gasped lightly, looking up at those brown eyes, which held a bright twinge of mischief. Juliet gasped again when Romeo started to drag her away, bringing the two of them up a flight of stairs, away from the maid who had called out for her.

Despite not being on the dance floor Romeo continued to spin Juliet around, the blue of her dress looking like the waves of the ocean, calm and pleasant one second, large and crashing the next. Juliet giggled as the two of them danced to a beat of their own music, the songs the band playing being far to slow for the way they were dancing.

Romeo then started to spin her again, bringing the two of them to the other side of the balcony so they could descend the other flight of stairs, giggling and panting as they ran away from Juliet's maid who had just managed to find them.

The two of them danced, swaying or spinning, Romeo dipping Juliet down with an added flare of drama, but Juliet could care less. Romeo pulled Juliet close, making it so that they could talk normally, not needing to yell over the loud music and other party patrons.

"What is your name?" he questioned, which he followed up with a chaste kiss to her steadily reddening cheeks.

Juliet stalled for a moment. Normally when she told someone her name they were confused, people constantly thinking she was younger or older, other mildly angry, some just plain happy. Though, it didn't matter how you felt, everyone she had met started to treat her like the finest of table wear, treating her like glass, like a teacup.

"Juliet," she said after a minute, keeping her last name to herself. Romeo nodded, pressing another kiss to her cheeks before looking down at her, a doped like grin resting on his face.

"Romeo," he said, mirth residing in his speech, "my name is Romeo." At the time Juliet had been too preoccupied to notice that both of them hadn't used their family names, neither knowing that they were on the wrong sides of the board.

The two giggled some more, Romeo pressing chaste kisses to reddened skin before placing a single, quick kiss to Juliet's lips. Juliet, who had never kissed anyone, hardly knew what to do, but it was over before her brain decided to help. The two of them blushed brightly, laughing like lunatics as they swayed out of beat with the music.

"Juliet!" an angry voice seethed, making the two of them freeze up, Romeo fixing himself sooner than Juliet.

Romeo grabbed Juliet's hands, dragging her with him, the two of them just hardly missing Lady Capulet and Paris. With barely stifled laughter Romeo pressed another kiss to Juliet before the two had to run off again, both of their faces wide with smiles that made their cheeks hurt.

Kissing and running and smiling and laughing, the two soon grew tired. Their kisses became more chaste, affectionate but quick, their running becoming sluggish, smiles falling due to the pain in their faces, and their laughs turning to wheezes. It was a miracle itself they weren't caught sooner, but Lady Capulet was like a well-timed thunderstorm.

Lady Capulet came stomping up to the two of them while Romeo towered over Juliet, helping her up from the ground which she had slipped on. The two were giggling a bit, but their happiness was shot down the second they noticed the older woman.

Reaching forward she gripped at Juliet's arms, pulling her daughter away. Juliet fought a bit, straining to look over her shoulder at Romeo, who looked at her like a lovesick puppy.

"Juliet," Lady Capulet hissed out, making her look away from Romeo, missing the flash of understanding go through his eyes. When she looked back she saw sadness, but also some hidden emotion she wished she'd realized was there sooner. The sudden mood change shocked her, forcing her to look up at her Mother.

"You mustn't talk to them," she hissed out again, confusing Juliet farther. "You can't talk to the Montagues, Juliet." It was like a puzzle, all of the pieces finally fitting together.

The mask was to hide his face, making it so he could enter the party, and his family name meant she had never seen him before. Rumors had it that all of the Montagues had dark eyes and equally as dark hair, and Romeo held up to that.

As Juliet was dragged away by her Mother she had a passing thought, a simple one, but it was there."What have I done?"

#romeo and juliet #short story

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girllovescomic · 4 years

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Winter Begonia Episode 6 recap

One of my favorite episode, it is in my eyes when Cheng Fengtai (Er Ye) truly falls for our little singer, Shang Xirui. He was already attracted to him, evidenced by the gaze, but this is what tips him over the line from infatuation to love. This is also an episode where you see how the opera lyrics are integral to the plot.

We hear Er Ye’s internal thoughts as he watches the opera, engrossed in Shang Lao Ban’s interpretation of Yang Guifei. He tells that when one leaves the Palace for Eternal Youth (the name of the Opera), they can see their lives in the story or some similarities between them and the character, but for him it goes deeper. He sees the helplessness and compromise he and his family had to make due to circumstances. For him, he had to give up his literary dreams and return home (from Europe, I presume) to take the family business which had been in ruin. He had no idea what he was doing because he was young, having to deal with creditors taking away everything, their employees leaving them and his sister Meixin forced to marry the Commander Cao and leave the man she loved, so they can settle some debts. Apparently, this was not enough, leading him to marry Fan Xian aka Er Nainai, who turns out had a lucrative career as a businesswoman that she was forced to becoming a housewife, confined inside the mansion walls to raise their children. By the way, can we command the way Huang Xiaoming speaks English? He even speaks better than the white girl talking to him. LOL.

The play, or specifically the way SXR sings it exposes all the emotions he had pushed aside as he realize that in life you cannot always do what you want, that sometimes the hand of fate forces you to make choices that goes against your dreams, making you suffer silently as you bite your lips and trudge through life. Ooof, I felt that one to my core. We go back to Shang Lao Ban singing what appears to be sad song. CFT is completely absorbed, to the point of tears as he resumes his narration.

To him, Xirui’s Yang Guifei is unwilling to submit to fate, to kill herself because the courtiers ask her to, but freely choosing to sacrifice herself

In one of the most beautiful sequence that made me weep, we see SXR as Yang Guifei standing afar from CFT talking to each other, the white cloth falling on the floor. She (talking about Yang Guifei) is reaching out to him, which makes him look around wondering if he is the one she wants. He tells her that it is her life, he can’t help her; she responds that she does not need his help, she just wants to look at her. He laments that she did not need to die as long as she was willing to accept her status, but she responds what was she supposed to let go of. He replies that should have taken conformed to the hand of fate, like he did, but to her that would have been meaningless. He tries to stop her from killing herself, but she replies that if she delays it more, she might start to regret it. We go back to the present time and CFT is weeping, clearly affected. Sigh, what a scene. I am crying while typing this.

SXR is doing his thing, marveling the audience, who are equally moved. With everyone gone, CFT is alone in his VIP box, thinking of his mother, who left to pursue her dreams as her singer instead of being confined in her role as mother and wife. CFT finally understands why his mother made that decision to go back to her love of the opera, as he walks dazed.

SXR watches as CFT walks dazed to his house. He is so struck, he doesn’t even see or hear anyone, not his wife nor his household manager. The man is completely gone, his mind still on his vision of Yang Guifei.

Again, we are privy to his thoughts and he tells us that SXR not only portrays Yang Guifei but embodies her, not simply acting her out, but being a living and breathing embodiment of the tragic concubine, like a reincarnation. OOOOF, this is poetry! As an aside, this scene was in the novel as well, although not as poetic. He stands in the courtyard as snowfall as if in a dream-like state, stumbling through his house, much to the other’ consternation.

Still in a daze, CFT is sitting and humming to himself. Through a conversation between his wife and the annoying maid, it has been a half day he’s been in this position and that he has not gone to any of his social functions, discuss business or play mahjong, for the past couple of days, completely uninterested in anything. The annoying maid of course has to run her mouth, claiming that at least Er Ye stays at home instead of being seduced by girls. I swear this girl has a one-track mind. He has been seduced, but not some women, but by an adorable opera singer who can lift his soul. Er Nainai responds that she doesn't care about this nonsense, she feels uneasy by this version of her husband. She clearly knows the annoying little maid can’t process such adult thinking and tells her so. I like this side of Er Nainai. Meanwhile, Er Ye’s mind is still on the songs and may I say, Huang Xiaoming looks absolutely gorgeous in it.

He tries to replicate the experience, but none of the records he pick come close to the original. Fan Lian is completely confused by his BIL’s reaction, wondering what he is looking for. Like a lovestruck teenager who has discover her first pop idol, CFT confesses that he wants to hear Shang Xirui. Fanboy Fan Lian tells him that he has some of SXR records, and will lend it to him, but that is not what CFT is really looking for.

Me, when I hear shitty house music

He tells his BIL that when SXR is on stage he is a completely different person, as if he just walked out of book or an opera script. Fan Lian tells him that he said something similar to SXR, “Body in the mortal realm, but spirit in the performance.” Ooof, I wished I could write something like that in my stories. He adds that of course, it’s a simplistic way to describe the singer’s performance, especially when taking into account his irascible personality and his nebulous past with his cousin. But he adores the man’s talent, so he is able to ignore all that. I completely understand bro. I have a lot of celebrities that I enjoy their work, but dislike their personalities. Sometimes you have to separate the art from the man/woman.

CFT tells him that is not what he cares about, since he has no understanding of the art form, but he actually cares about the man’s spirit, which he finds special. Well, someone is smitten. He finds it refined, rich and sensitive. He is not only a performer who is amazing at what he does, but compare to him, everyone else are mere mortals. This goes above Fan Lian’s head. The look on CFT’s face says it all; this is a man who has fallen in love, so yeah, Fan Lian, you can’t understand what he is talking about or feeling.

Dressed up in a fabulous attire and strutting his stuff, while his wife looks on, relieved that he is finally leaving the house, he goes out to find SXR. Er Nainai tells Meixin that she used to be uneasy whenever Er Ye left the house, but now she is relieved that he is going out, as long as his heart is with his family. You might end up regretting those words.

Meanwhile, SXR is facing another crisis as the opera singer who he was replacing while he was out sick as suddenly decided to come back, probably because he is jealous at the success our little divo is having. Xiao Lai can’t believe this bullshit, especially since they are running out of place to perform.

Waiting like a teenage boy for his crush, CFT is standing next to his car, when he spots Shang Lao Ban coming out of the theater with Xiao Lai. He presses on the horn to get his crush’s attention and I swear this is the cutest thing ever. SXR sends away Xiao Lai who does not seemed to happy that her boss is spending time with the businessman. Shang Lao Ban asks Er Ye how long he has been waiting in the cold instead of coming backstage. CFT looks at him like a man in love looks at his object of affection. I am so jealous of this fictional character! Seriously, he is practically gazing at the other man, who can only smile and asks where they are going. Oh my, is this their first date? I squeal! He is taking him for an afternoon tea and actually wants to know what he would like to eat. Our little glutton tells him that he wants something sweet and opens the door to let him in. I need to pause for a second, tis tew much.

SXR is scarfing down on a chocolate cake and asks where Er Ye went after the show. He wants to have his opinion about his performance, which CFT tells him it was really great. In other operas, Yang Guifei would be forced to die at Mawei Station, but SXR version sang about willingly giving her life for love, turning the damsel into a hero. He was especially struck by one of the lyrics, which is the same lyrics SXR loves about the opera, brought to tears.

CFT flashes a 1000 watt smile upon hearing that and tells him that his performance of Palace of Eternal Youth does not resemble other version of this opera and should be called something else, like the Legend of the Flourishing Tang Dynasty. A little history background here. Yang Guifei was Emperor Ming of Tang’s favored concubine, whom he stole from his own son. Apparently he lavished her with gifts, built an expensive pavilion for her, neglecting his duties as an Emperor, so much so there was a rebellion. Wanting to stop the rebellion, the courtiers forced the Emperor to demand Yang Guifei to be killed as they saw her and her family as the reason for the unrest. Unlike the opera, she does not kill herself, but is killed by Gao Lishin and her body brought to the head of the rebellion as proof of her death. However, the marks the slow decline of the dynasty..

SXR is confused by what CFT is saying, not grasping the meaning behind the title. CFT explains that Palace of Eternal Youth is a love story between to high status people confined by their roles, that of an Emperor and his consort. They have to abide to what his expected of them in their respective roles. The play not only depicts this confinement, but also the rise and fall of a nation. SXR version of the play since about a flourishing dynasty yet it is focus on a tragedy of sacrifice, which could be reflected in 1930s China before the horrors of the occupation and the valiant resistance from both communists and nationalists to oust the invaders. This goes above the uneducated SXR who explains to CFT that in the second act of the play, Yang Guifei had angered the Emperor in a fit of jealousy , but afterwards made up. The reason for the disagreement was due to the fact the Emperor was enamored with another woman called JIang Caiping, feeling Yang Guifei sacrificed herself for no reason. CFT sees a parallel between SXR situation with Mengping and his story. SXR tells him that indeed he sees himself in the stories he sings. CFT tells him that he understands as he used to see that opera performers were similar to their characters, but when he saw SXR performed Yang Guifei, he was more than a mere embodiment but was the actual person, which makes SXR sees that CFT understands his performance in depth, and adds that he was using his soul to perform. This gets CFT to smile, one that I bet even his wife never seen. It is a naked smile what they shows his true emotion. We are witnessing the connection of two souls here and it's a beautiful thing. Once again, how this past censorship is beyond me.

Look at this smile!

Meanwhile the troupe is waiting. I have a feeling Xiao Lai told the troupe their leader had left with Er Ye. As soon as the duo appears, everyone stands up in attention. SXR shouts to Xiao Lai to warm up some wine, while Shi Jiu is trying her best to put her flirt on. Oh sis, you are wasting your time. The man is not interested.

She comments that finally her boss is seeing the light, associating himself with Commander Cao’s BIL is the next best thing than getting the actual man to dispel the rumors and help them out of their desperate situation. The duo chat some more, over wine, talking about the difference between Western Opera and Eastern Opera performers, especially the castrato. They talk about skills needed to be a good singer. They get drunk, so much so that SXR and are hilarious.

SXR is in his first costume he ever used when performing and despite being average compared to now, he considers it his most prized one; it is his armor, his guts. I have to say it is a beautiful piece, showcasing the meticulous work put in Eastern embroidery and their use of pearls.

CFT reveals that he wrote a story when he was in school abroad. SXR says he is not surprised since he can see that Er Ye understands the art on a deeper level and why they are connecting. CFT tells him of his story, which is about a woman who eloped with a man she loved, but who abandoned. While she waited at home, she had many lovers, who came and gone, until the woman finally realize that she didn’t need these men in her life. They were just a passing folly, not dependable to ensure her happiness and that by controlling her fate, she can do so. She went on to open her own weaving shop, taking in widows and orphans and went on to have great success, so much so, she was asked by the Empress to make her clothes. Damn, that is a freaking good story! They laugh and SXR thinks the morale of the story is that for a woman to control her fate, she needs money. Hmm.. aren’t we all? Shang Lao Ban reminds might be too progressive for Beijing Opera; instead the protagonist would be killed. CFT tells him that stories transcends culture or gender which seems to make SXR teary. As a performer, he is seen as the dregs of Chinese society, lower than a prostitute, despite the fame. I bet he wished to live in a world that would dispense of this hierarchical structure and see his profession respected by those in higher status. He tells CFT that he would love to play this type of woman, and I am hoping this is a hint of collaboration between the two. I actually would love to see him play this kind of character.

The troupe is eavesdropping, hoping their leader would hit up CFT’s wallet to help them out when Lao Ge comes in looking for his boss. They push him out, claiming Cheng Er Ye is not inside. Shi Jiu says they should keep anyone from interrupting since it might be their only opportunity; Dashen replies that it depends on their leader’s abilities to charm beg Cheng Er Ye for help.

Meanwhile, the duo is still discussing opera. Er Ye does not understand that for the sake of expediency, why not only wear a mask like the Japanese kabuki performers do, which would save time on makeup. This appears to make SXR laugh hard. He tells Er Ye that it is not the same thing because you will not be able to see the facial expression, which are an integral part of the opera. Wearing a mask is like being a ghost on stage, a bit like dubbed voices take away the essence of the emotions conveyed by the actors (any C drama fans would understand).

They drink again and SXR reveals this has been the happiest day since he came to Beijing. He never expected to become kindred spirits with Commander Cao’s BIL. CFT ponders about the title, which constrains me like the rest of his life. But SXR sees through the facade of a man who seems powerful and wealthy, like the fictional character, General Gao Yaonei who took Lin Chong’s wife, but turns out to be a good person, while CFT also had the wrong picture of Shang Lao Ban as an arrogant prima donna on the cray cray side, but is actually a good person as well. Shang Lao Ban is asleep and he looks so cute. The troupe is still standing at the door when a drunk Cheng Er Ye stumbles out. The troupe does not want to let him go back home and convince him to stay by claiming their leader would beat him up if he leaves without saying goodbye. Lol these sneaky mofos. It actually succeed and Cheng Er Ye returns to sleep with our adorable Shang Lao Ban. They have no idea they are helping the ship sail.

Meanwhile, the weasel family(Jiang father and son) are discussing SXR financial problems and the fact he had to pawn his costume to pay the rent. They are jubilating at the difficulties Shuiyin troupe is facing, especially since they are a big one and there are bound to have problems as morale starts to get low and the funds disappears. With losing his spot at the theater and not being shrewd, he will have problems raising money, leading to his own people turning against him. Its the next day and the member wants to know how his chat with Cheng Er Ye went, in the hope they got themselves a rich sponsor. SXR is like “the hell are you talking about? What difficulties?” Then it dawns on him what they are asking and that angers him. He lets them know that his “friendship" with Er Ye is on a different level, one of being kindred spirits. He wouldn’t dare use him for money.

They grumble until CFT appears; he looks like he didn’t sleep on a cushy mattress like he has at home. CFT asks if SXR heard some rumbling noises last night and SXR asks if it hail last night. Judging from his face, he knows where this noise came from and Dashen confirms it was loud snoring. LOL. SXR is obfuscated, claiming he never snores. Xiao Lai brings out the rinse and CFT is also given one. As he is about to rinse his mouth, SXR breaks out in a voice exercise that makes CFT gulped the rinse. LOL There’s a competition between him and one of the merchant selling fried pancake. There’s a knock on the door and the merchant as left a piece of fried dough for Shang Lao Ban, claiming it as gift. He splits it and gives a piece to CFT, who can’t turn it down, but you can tell has no interest in putting this commoner’s food in his stomach. So boogie. While CFT struggles to eat the dough, SXR invites to take him somewhere fun, but the troupe goad Xiao Lai to remind SXR they have to clean out the backstage of the opera house, hoping CFT would hear about their troubles. SXR is having none of that, sending some of them to clean out their stuff. He clearly does not want to ask money from CFT and I can’t blame him. Money has a way to create unease and inequality, especially in a budding relationship/friendship. Once you owe someone money, it causes problem, especially when you have to pay it back. SXR leaves with CFT in tow, who still has not taken a bite of the fried dough, leaving it behind for the others. The way he drops the pancake and wipes his hand is so boogie, I cannot.

They walk through a street where many circus-like performers are showing their talent. They are walking so closely to each other already, le sigh. The area is called Tianqiao and someone in the Viki comments stated this is the closest to the amusement park date trope so prevalent in Asian dramas, and I couldn’t agree more. CFT compares it to the Shanghai’s Great World Amusement Park, confirming the statement above. It is apparently an entertainment and amusement arcade, which opened back in 1917. Shang Lao Ban reveals that he once sang there and despite the place having a roof which would carry his voice better, he prefers the open air of Tianqiao. Clearly not full from the friend pancake, he goes and buys persimmon cake. Geez where does the food go?! He offers one to Er Ye who, of course, turns it down.

Look how close they are walking!!!

Unbeknown to him, he is the victim of a pickpocket. Trying to get his money to buy cigarette (hmm... wait, this is far more unhealthy than the greasy food Shang Lao Ban is offering you bro!), he realizes what happened. Our kung fu penguin goes after the thief and kicks ass. Seriously, he is amazing. CFT looks like he is enjoying seeing his crush fighting skill, especially he is far more proficient with a gun than his fists. He gets the money back and tells the thief to leave. CFT asks why he didn’t take the thief to the cops, but SXR tells him the way of the street is that if a thief got his ass kicked, that is sufficient punishment. CFT asks about his kung fu skills, saying it is is good looking (Ohhh); SXR reveals it is a skill that has been passed down from his father, the Shang Family Rod, a type of martial arts that is different from the fake fighting on stage that can do real damage. CFT comments that SXR must have been beaten a lot when he was a child, which the singer admits. If you seen Farewell My Concubine, you know the abuse these kids go through to become performers. It is gross. SXR invites CFT to continue with their walk and this is where it ends.

Ooof, this episode was heavy in emotion and exposition. I truly think this is where the infatuation Cheng Fengtai had developed for our little divo turns into love and where Shang Xirui gets to see the shrewd businessman has someone who possesses a similar artistic passion who had to give it up for circumstances out of his control. He is like the real Yang Guifei who was forced to accept her fate and be killed by Gao Lishi, whereas Shang Xirui of the opera who chose to sacrifice herself for her love, giving himself fully to his passion. We are also seeing how much the troupe is suffering because of the rumored feud with Commander Cao, which sets up lots of conflicts that will set up the end of our act 1 and push our protagonists to make a decision that will forever change their lives.

#winter begonia #shang xirui #cheng fengtai #andrew yin #Yin Zheng #spoilers #episode recap #episode 6 #huang xiaoming #please watch it #beautiful drama

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cherryeol04 · 4 years

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Play Pretend

Part one / Part two / Part three / Part four / Part five / Part six / Part seven / Part eight / Part nine

Summary: Just a girl and her imaginary friends living life, finding love and playing pretend.

You jumped at the hands that grabbed your waist. You did your best to suppress your scream, but you were sure a muffled squeak made its way out and disturbed a few people that were on the tour. “Seungmin!” You hissed as you turned quickly and glared at the grinning male behind you. “Ass.”

“Y/n, language.” Your mother scolded, glancing back at you before looking forward at the tour guide. You rolled your eyes before you shot Seungmin another glare. He simply smiled at you, shrugging as he fiddled with his camera, looking around the semi-dark and dank basement you were all in.

The ghost tour had been your mom’s idea and you had readily jumped at it because of your love for the paranormal. You thought it would be cool to go and do some amateur ghost hunting but now that you were down in the creepy basement of the Winchester Mansion, you were second guessing this whole adventure. It was one thing to watch ghost hunters on tv and try to spot ghostly activity. It was a whole other thing to be in a supposedly haunted location, actively seeking out ghosts or paranormal entities. And didn’t help that one of your best friends were insisting on scaring you every chance he got. Not that you could just tell him to stop or scream or do anything of the physical sorts because - well he just wasn’t real.

It was a realization you had made long ago and yet hasn’t deterred you from seeing them, talking to them and enjoying their company. They were your friends after all. Nine wonderful boys that you had know since you were little. You honestly didn’t know if you could live your life without them and it certainly a thought you didn’t entertain for any lengths of time.

“Yeah Y/n, language.” The mocking tone only irritated you more as you clenched your fist in hopes of redirecting your anger. There were times where you honestly couldn’t stand Seungmin. Yet, there was something about the male that made it truly difficult to remain mad him for long. Maybe it was his joking personality or puppyish looks - you couldn’t be entirely sure, but more often than not you found yourself easily forgiving the other in everything he did to annoy you. This was no different, and in just about five minutes you found all the anger dissipating from your body as you listened to the tour guide drone on and one about the different paranormal activity that had occurred in the basement of the mansion. Arms wound around your waist and you leaned back into the embrace slightly, a soft smile spreading over your lips as Seungmin rested his head on your shoulder.

Your eyes scanned the crowd of tourists, taking in their side profiles and making sure none of them were aware of your behaviors and actions. You were sure you looked strange, leaning back slightly with your arms wrapped around yourself, but they couldn’t see what you saw. They couldn’t hear or feel what you heard and felt. They weren’t aware of Seungmin’s existence and that made this whole relationship harder but it was always worth it. Being with him and the other’s was always worth it.

Your thoughts were interrupted as people around you shuffled forward, the tour guide handing out some “authentic” ghost hunting paraphernalia with the announcement that they could explore the area for the next fifteen minutes and see if anyone could capture their own paranormal activity. Your mom grabbed two devices and made her way back to you, holding one out for you that you took with a smile. Turning it around in your hand, you examined what you believed was an EMF detector and found the on button. It lit up briefly as it booted, lights flashing before only the lowest green light stayed on.

“Alright, well I guess we should go find a ghost huh?” Your mom asked and you nodded your head, leaving the warm embrace Seungmin offered and looked around.

“Where should we start?” You asked.

“I wanna start under the stairs.” You glanced to the staircase that was already swamped with people and you could feel your social anxiety starting to spike.

“Okay, well I wanna go investigate the “ghost” room.” You said quickly and smiled. “Let me know how it goes.”

“Alright, but be careful.” Your mom warmed and you nodded, waving at her as you started heading for the pitch black room that supposedly was the most haunted room in the house. There were static night vision camera set up inside, the feed coming through monitors set up just outside to show the enormous amount of orbs flying inside. Supposedly ghosts in the most simplistic ways they can manifest. Or perhaps just bugs and dust - you couldn’t rule those out either.

“You’re really going to go in there?” Seungmin asked, cocking his head as he clutched his camera tightly.

“Yes, and you’re coming with me.” You said as you looked back at him and smiled. “Come on Minnie.” Moving to the entrance, you were almost immediately surrounded by darkness. The light from the other area was your only saving grace as you slipped further in, willing your eyes to rapidly adjust to the darkness. There was a static white noise that was so quiet yet deafening at the same time that you were actually ready to call it quits before you really got started.

“It’s so dark.”

You jumped and turned quickly, looking for Seungmin but you couldn’t see him. You weren’t sure if it was because it was so dark, or because you merely hearing his voice in your head. Either way, you didn’t like how alone you felt. “Don’t do that.” You whispered, biting on your bottom lip as you carefully maneuvered around the room - using your feet to feel in front of you for obstacles with your eyes trained on the EMF detector.

“Is there anyone here right now?” You called out softly. You felt extremely embarrassed for doing that, cheeks flushing as you wondered just how the fuck paranormal investigators did this with a straight face.

“Yes, me.”

“Seungmin I wasn’t talking to you!” You huffed.

“That wasn’t me, Y/n.”

You felt fear grip at your heart. Now that you think about it, the voice wasn’t even remotely close to Seungmin’s. So if it wasn’t Seungmin, then who was it.

“Is there anything you want to say to me?” Your voice quivered.

“Stay with me.”

It was a whisper, it was right next to your ear. And cold washed over your body. You took one step back, and then another until you pressed up against a solid body. You closed your eyes, clenching them tightly as you tried to keep your breathing even, though your heart was pounding in your chest. “Seungmin?” You were cautious about speaking again, afraid that what was going to answer wouldn’t be Seungmin. Arms wrapped around your waist and you were held tightly.

“I got you.” You felt relief wash over you at Seungmin’s voice in your ear. “Take slow steps with me. To the right.” He instructed and you nodded. You walked with him, moving right and then back. Slowly the darkness eased away as you exited the room and the cold, gripping fear released you.

“Thank you.” You whispered and turned to look at him and he smiled. “Why did we walk out the way we did though?”

“You didn’t notice?” Seungmin frowned and you shook your head. “That thing in your hand.” He said and pointed to the detector. “It steadily grew red the further in you went. Y/n, it was right in front of you.”

Your eyes widened and you gripped the device tighter so you didn’t accidentally drop it. Whatever had been in that room had been right in front of you and you didn’t notice. How did you not notice? The EMF reader had glowing lights. Why didn’t you remember seeing the lights?

“Some people say that there is a blackness that drowns out all the light and makes it difficult to escape the room. People who have seen it usually come out with physical harm like scratches.”

The voice of the tour guide echoed through your mind as you looked back into the dark room. You remembered people scoffing, believing it all a hoax. But was it? You couldn’t remember seeing any light the further you went in. Not from the door, and not from the detector. That blackness....that thing had its grip on you. You looked back at Seungmin, eyes following as he walked off to take pictures of other items in the basement. If it weren’t for Seungmin being in there with you, would you have been able to get out on your own? And unscathed? Or would you have been hurt like previous visitors? Or worse yet, would you have been stuck in that room with that thing, forever?

#seungmin #kim seungmin #skz #stray kids fanfic #stray kids #skz fanfic #fanfics #stray kids au #stray kids au fanfic #skz au fanfic #skz au #play pretend #lets play pretend!#au story #stray kids seungmin #skz seungmin

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chroniclackofselfpreservation · 3 years

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Creatures of the Night

Chapter 20 - as in the midst of battle

Back to the Beginning < Previous chapter / Next chapter >

AO3

Masterlist

(TW: toxic relationships, mild gore/fighting)

(The title of the chapter comes from “Sonnet XXV” by George Santayana)

Roman led his friends back into the forest, trying to ignore the sour feeling growing in his gut. It was high noon, and the sun filtered down through the trees in broken rays. The woods looked so different in the daytime. Almost beautiful. Despite how upset it would make them both, and the points to the contrary they’d posed, Roman still thought Patton and Logan would be safer away from the fight. Roman had learned to deal with dangerous situations with nothing but his own skills and quick thinking. Three more people, two of which that were far more vulnerable, increased the number of things he had to think about tenfold. Not to mention their plan was rather half-baked and incoherent at this point. Roman simply hoped that by the time they got to the meadow, the ideas would start coming. Ursula could show up at any moment. They had to be ready to act.

Instead of worrying endlessly, Roman simply kept running over the handful of witchtongue phrases and words Virgil had taught him just in case things got hairy. Be careful, he’d admonished. You don’t have control of your powers yet, so you can’t control how powerful each word’s going to be. It could be like setting off a bomb.

Behind him, Logan drilled Virgil about the magical properties of everyday substances, desperately trying to formulate some kind of attack strategy.

“So, rosemary enhances magic?”

“Sort of,” said Virgil, struggling to explain. “It’s more like it concentrates it in one area. Keeps it from going wrong.”

“Anything else? Something also available to us?”

Virgil stuffed his hands in his oversized pockets, thinking. Patton had his cardigan on, and even Logan wore a windbreaker. It was a little chilly, now that Roman thought about it, but he’d always run hot, even as a kid. He had his usual weapons strapped to his body, but aside from that, just a t-shirt and jeans.

“Coffee puts us to sleep,” Virgil offered.

“So that’s why you never drink it!” Patton exclaimed. “Maybe we could blow a bunch in her face?”

“It’s not a tranquilizer,” he amended. “More like melatonin. It just makes us drowsy and lethargic.”

“We’re almost there,” Roman announced, but the three others were too engrossed in their planning to take notice. He didn’t mind. Roman wasn’t much of a planner. He was a shoot-and-stab first, come-up-with-brilliant-strategies later kind of guy.

As they walked, Roman let his mind wander to Dorian. Was he sleeping? If so, where was he?

A familiar tugging sensation filled his mind, and somehow, he just knew which direction Dorian was. Southeast, about three miles. The location popped into his mind just as easily as any one of his normal thoughts. It felt similar to how he’d found the Silkweed, and that strange sensation he’d felt that night outside the forest with the—

Roman audibly gasped, stopping in his tracks. Logan bumped into him.

“Roman? What—”

“It was you!” he breathed, pointing at Virgil.

Virgil paled, immediately nervous. “What was me?”

“You were the cat that kept following me to the forest every night!”

Virgil relaxed a touch. “You’re just figuring this out now?”

“Well, I mean. Kinda. I guess I didn’t connect the two,” he said, flushing. “Whatever, let’s keep going. We’re almost there.” Roman turned around and continued plodding through the trees, trying to hide his embarrassment. He’d had full on mental breakdowns in front of that cat. He’d talked about Virgil to it. It was comforting, and really sweet, actually—but also incredibly embarrassing.

“Okay,” Logan began slowly, “back to the matter at hand, I guess. Are there any substances that have negative effects? Ones that we can use against Ursula?”

“I mean, iron’s a classic, but there isn’t much of that just lying around,” Virgil said.

“What are its properties?”

“It cancels out magic.”

Logan sighed. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that, Virgil. What are the constraints? The parameters?”

“Well,” Virgil said as they arrived at the meadow, “magic can’t pass through it. So, if someone was behind an iron door, or in an iron cage, no magic could get in or out. In the Witchlands, they use iron cuffs to bind prisoners.”

“And what of iron in a powder form? What if a person were to become covered in it?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen it before. I guess it could cancel out their powers, but it wouldn’t be as concentrated as solid metal. My guess is it’ll simply destroy any control over their spells, or decrease their power.”

They stopped in the middle of the clearing.

“Fantastic,” Logan muttered to himself, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

“Where are we supposed to get iron powder?” Patton asked.

Logan squatted down, pressing his fingers into the dirt. “Right here. Virgil, do you know of any spells that could draw iron from the ground?”

“I’m sure I can figure something out,” he said with that same smile that crossed his face anytime the mention of performing magic was made.

“Now, be careful,” Logan warned. “Iron is a necessary nutrient for plant life.”

“Don’t kill the forest. Got it.”

Roman watched as Virgil knelt down, pulling the talisman from his jacket pocket and placing a hand on the ground. He opened his mouth, then stopped, eyebrows knitting together.

“What rhymes with stone?”

Logan brightened. “Tone, sloan, own, bone, zone—tome and roam are slant rhymes, but I’m sure they’ll work.”

“Disown,” Roman said. Atone was also in there, but he refrained from offering that one.

“Shown? Or known?” Patton chimed in.

“That’ll work,” Virgil said, and returned his attention to the ground. “Seek and find the hidden stone, bring it hence and make it known.”

The ground shuddered and beneath Virgil’s palm sprouted a pile of iron flecks, and a few larger pebbles.

“Jahsti,” he said softly, that strange tone to his voice that made Roman’s heart race and fingers tingle. Logan flinched ever so slightly. The iron seemed to vibrate, and soon all the flecks and pebbles were reduced to a fine powder. There was only enough for a fistful, maybe less.

“Wonderful,” Logan said, gathering the substance up in his hand.

“So, what’s the plan?” Roman asked, unconsciously scanning the treeline. “We somehow get close enough to her to chuck the stuff in her face?”

“That’s a rather simplistic way of putting it, but yes,” Logan said. He had that look in his eye. The one that betrayed a million calculations and ideas finally coming together.

A rare grin stretched across his face. “Patton, how fast can you run?”

* * * * * * * * * *

Dorian lay on the top of a sheer cliff, bathing in the sunlight. Winter was approaching. He shuddered at the thought. Sure, he didn’t need to be warm to live—just like he didn’t need to sleep, or eat, or breathe—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to enjoy one and hate another. The cold reminded him of his time in the dungeons.

In his periphery, he could sense the little prince and his friends a few miles northwest of him. Perhaps they planned on confronting the Dragon Witch today? Dorian reveled in the fact that he couldn’t care less. Either they took care of his problem, or he got to kill Ursula and the little prince.

Who he hadn’t become fond of in the least.

Obviously.

Under normal circumstances, Dorian wouldn’t have been so out in the open, let alone sunbathing atop a clifftop, letting his scales shine like beacons. Again, it felt good to have no worries.

And yet, the little prince’s presence kept nagging at the back of his mind. What was their plan? How could they hope to defeat such a power with the prince so oblivious to his own? They had no chance, really. It was bound to end in disaster, and they’d no doubt come crawling to him for assistance.

Which he wouldn’t offer. Under any circumstance.

This is ridiculous, Dorian thought, and in a snap of brilliant golden light, returned to his human form. He needed to clear his head.`

* * * * * * * * * *

Dorian stood at the treeline. Now that the curse was broken, he, too, should be able to leave the premises of the forest. Something that surely wasn’t fear curdled in the pit of his stomach. He’d never approached a human settlement before. Even while hunting Ursula all those centuries, he’d avoided the places as well he could.

Steeling himself, Dorian stepped into the yellow-grass field separating the township from the forest. He would have expected some sort of reaction, even a tingle up his spine, but of course nothing did. He trudged through the field and slipped between two houses. The street was lined with residencies and nothing else. The town square must be around here somewhere, he reasoned, and stepped out into the middle of the road. It was hard, like stone, but blackened and smelly, as if a dragon had scorched it with its breath.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Dorian strode down the middle of the street. Small humans—even smaller than the little prince—rode past on strange two-wheeled contraptions, staring at him with open mouths. While Dorian knew that magicless mortals such as these could not see the scales marring the left side of his face, he wondered if they saw some other kind of deformation more familiar to them. A burn, perhaps?

They continued away from him, stopping behind one of the large metal machines that littered the sides of the street and peeking out at him. Dorian continued down the road, twitching his finger in the direction of the machine. A blaring alarm rang out and various white, yellow, and red lights began flashing. The children yelped in fright and scampered away. Dorian contained a smile.

One of the large machines was moving toward him rapidly. A similar alarm blared at him and the woman inside made a gesture with her middle finger as she gradually slowed down. Dorian cocked his head to the side, and the machine’s engine made an awful cranking sound, black smoke billowing up from the front end. Another jerk of his head, and the entire contraption slid to the side of the road, out of his way.

This might be fun.

* * * * * * * * * *

“VIRGIL!” a voice screeched in the distance, ringing like an ornery bird call through the trees. Roman froze, a chill shooting down his neck. He cast a glance Virgil’s direction. He looked paler than normal, and clutched his talisman so tightly, he would have killed it, had it been alive.

Roman knew where Logan and Patton were simply because they’d planned it, but he couldn’t resist using his newfound ability to be absolutely sure. Patton was thirty feet east of him and Virgil. Logan was even farther east. One hundred and twenty-seven feet, to be exact.

“Where are you, cat?!” Ursula screamed in frustration. Roman refrained from using his ability on the witch, just in case he ended up giving their location away. From where they crouched in the bushes, she sounded only a couple hundred feet up the slope of the mountain.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Virgil muttered.

“What?”

“She should know exactly where I am. I’m her familiar,” he said. “I don’t know why she can’t find me.”

“Well, whatever the reason, let’s count ourselves lucky,” Roman said. Though, for their plan to work, they needed Ursula to find them. Reaching into the bush, Roman grabbed one of the branches and snapped it. This needed to seem unintentional.

Sure enough, the witch began stomping down the hill toward them. Her hair was silvery as Roman remembered, though she wore pants, tennis shoes, and a streamlined running jacket. She almost looked like a normal human.

Her eyes scanned the trees. She still seemed unable to pinpoint their exact location.

“I can sense you, kitty,” she muttered.

Before Virgil could make his mind up to bolt in the other direction, Roman grabbed his arm and stood up out of the bush, pulling Virgil up with him.

“We’re right here, Ursula.”

Her eyes snapped to him, then to Virgil. Roman could feel him shaking beneath his jacket. The witch smiled and lifted her hands in a gesture of goodwill.

“I’m not here for you, princey. Virgil’s been misbehaving recently, and I think it’s time he got a reminder who’s in charge around here.”

“You’re not going anywhere near him,” Roman said, unsheathing his sword.

Ursula cocked an eyebrow. “You sure you don’t want to save that for the demon? Be a shame to tire yourself out before the curse even starts.”

“Leave us alone. You have no business here.”

The witch’s expression darkened. “Where are the rest of your friends, kitty? Didn’t want to join the party?”

On cue, Patton wandered out of his hiding place, calling, “Roman? Virgil? Come on guys, where are you? Logan’s worried sick!”

Roman let out a curse, and a smile stretched across Ursula’s face.

“Patton! Get out of here!” he shouted. Patton’s head snapped in their direction.

“No,” Ursula crooned. “Why don’t you come over here, dear?” She curled a finger towards herself and muttered, “Nohmai.”

Patton jerked forward, as if drawn by a string sprouting from the middle of his chest. Roman’s breath caught. Just like his curse. Patton’s feet skidded across the forest floor as he was drawn toward the witch, his face one of fear and confusion.

Virgil nudged him. Roman started, remembering the plan.

“Baesta!” he cried, concentrating as well he could on the invisible connection between the two of them. Power surged out of him with the strangest sensation Roman had ever felt. It was like blood flowing back into a limb that had fallen asleep.

A deep groove tore into the ground and branches were shorn from trees as some invisible force barreled out of him. The furrow separated Patton and Ursula, and he stumbled to a stop a few paces from her. The witch looked at Roman, astounded.

“You’ve discovered your powers.”

“Patton, run!” Roman barked.

Responding faster than he probably should have, Patton turned on his heel and sprinted in the direction he’d come.

Almost as if he’d expected it.

She’s going to try to use him as leverage, Logan had explained. She’ll see him as the weakest member and since she can’t kill or harm Roman and risk him dying, she’ll try to threaten Patton’s life in exchange for Virgil. As long as you and Virgil can keep her from using magic to capture Patton, the plan will work smoothly.

The chase began without preamble. Ursula dashed after Patton with far more speed than a woman of her age should have been able. Roman and Virgil sprinted after them.

Roman was pleased to find that Patton wasn’t just a good runner; he was shockingly fast. His feet beat the ground in a quick pace, his strides long and loping, yet he swerved around trees and over logs with ease. He was easily faster than Ursula and Roman, and could probably keep up with Virgil in cat form.

They were fast approaching Logan’s hiding place. Thankfully, due to his total lack of magical ability, Virgil had said it would be near impossible for her to sense Logan’s presence.

Don’t let any of it touch you or Virgil, Logan had warned. We want to disable her powers, not all of yours.

Ten more feet.

Ursula growled in frustration, snarling, “Eirholme,” and rising into the air.

Five feet.

She picked up speed, her outstretched hand just centimeters from the collar of Patton’s cardigan.

Roman and Virgil swerved out from behind her just in time to avoid the plume of iron powder Logan flung directly into Ursula’s face as she passed.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dorian stood outside the small, two-story house, nose crinkled in disgust. He’d abandoned his quest to find the center of the village when he’d caught the unmistakable stench of magic.

The house was ripe with it. It was bound to happen, given that the last heir to the Witch’s Inheritance, a sybil, and the world’s most powerful witch’s familiar were all living in the same vicinity. He figured they were simply lucky they hadn’t attracted more attention.

Most likely, it was his own scent that had kept any stray magical creatures wandering the outside world at bay. He smelled of death, and he knew it.

Not at all curious, but simply wanting to get out of the public eye for a while—at least until people stopped getting all agitated about thier machines acting up—Dorian stepped up the front porch steps. The door was locked. A simple touch, and the door opened for him.

The odor was even worse inside. Dorian couldn’t fathom how the familiar had stood it all these years. Then again, Dorian used to live in the Witchlands. That scent had once been the smell of home.

He hadn’t sensed such an aroma in hundreds of years.

The house itself was quaint, with a relatively open kitchen and living space. Dorian found a carpeted staircase tucked against a wall and wandered up it. The smell grew stronger.

Four rooms, a bathroom, and a linen closet. He could tell which was the little prince’s without having to open the door, despite it hanging open, revealing a mess of clutter and clothes. He’d grown used to the boy’s particular odor by now. The familiar’s simply smelled like the Witchlands. The third had no particular scent whatsoever. Peeking inside, Dorian found the room studiously neat and well kept. Boring.

What he was most interested in, actually, was the sybil’s room. The child had come out of nowhere, with significantly more power than any other sybil Dorian had come across while in the Queen’s court.

He ran a finger across the door handle and sniffed it. Nothing too suspicious. Easing the door open, he stepped inside. The room was… warm. Homey, if Dorian had to put a word to it. Not much in the way of possessions, unlike the little prince.

Dorian sniffed.

Something was off. The room smelled of the prediction magic typical of everyday sybils, but there was something else. An undertone he hadn’t sensed since his days in the Queen’s dungeons.

Something… prophetic. Divine, even.

A loud thud from downstairs pulled Dorian from his thoughts. Eyes narrowing, he exited the room and slipped silently down the stairs.

The thudding continued. Dorian ambled curiously down the hallway it originated from. Being as powerful as he was, he didn’t have much to worry about in the way of danger.

Turning the corner, he was surprised to find a door, sealed shut with a glowing, violet sigil. The thudding turned to scrabbling at the edges of the door, trying for purchase on any one of the hinges or edges.

The mark of Avalian, Dorian mused to himself, running a finger across the sigil. It sparked and smoked at his touch.

“What are you hiding?” he muttered, pressing his palm into the wood of the door. Dorian slowly wiped his hand across the mark, wincing ever so slightly as it scorched the skin of his hand in protest. Despite the spell’s noble efforts, however, it eventually gave up and dissipated.

The door swung open.

“…swear I’ll stuff a pixie up that cat’s nose and tie his tail to a—”

Dorian’s mouth ticked up into a smile. “Hello, there.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Ursula screamed and fell to the ground, rolling several times. Whatever magic that kept her flying stopped. Patton jogged to a stop a few feet away. Logan leaped out of the bush, breathless with excitement.

“It worked!”

Roman rushed forward, brandishing his blade. Ursula wiped her face furiously with her hands.

“What did you do?!” she wailed, tears from her bloodshot eyes streaking down her face. She coughed. “Iron?!”

“That’s right,” Roman said, pointing his sword at her chest. “Don’t move.”

“Or what?” she said, spitting iron-tainted saliva out onto the ground. “You’ll kill me? We both know you can’t—aaah!” Ursula cried as he drew his blade across her thigh.

“You don’t know what I will or won’t do, witch,” he growled. “I’ve promised a very powerful demon that I’d kill you in exchange for my freedom. Seems like a tempting offer.”

“You brat. No wonder Virgil’s been acting up.”

“He’s not your property,” Logan said, brushing the remaining iron dust off his hands. Patton came to stand next to him. Ursula eyed them both.

“You stupid mortals would never understand. The kind of bond between a witch and their familiar is for life. There’s no going back.”

“He’s done pretty well without you, so far,” Roman countered. “Besides, you’re powerless now. You’re not exactly threatening.”

“Well,” she said with a smile. “I think the little prince needs to be taught a lesson, don’t you, kitty?”

“Roman, do it,” Virgil said hastily.

“What?”

“Kill her! Now! Before—”

“Dokuah Kulong,” Ursula rasped, gesturing toward Logan and Patton.

Roman’s heart dropped to his feet. One second, his friends were standing there, looks of surprise and confusion on their faces, and the next, they were just gone. As if they’d never been there. The world seemed to tilt around Roman, and he couldn’t think straight. She hadn’t… they couldn’t be… could they?

A wounded cry tore from Virgil’s throat.

Ursula was on her feet in seconds, disarming Roman, shoving him to the ground, and throwing his sword into the trees.

“Pounu!” she cried. To their right, several gallons worth of water appeared out of nowhere, sloshing over the ground and soaking Roman’s clothes. She growled in frustration and started for the water, desperately scrubbing mud over her skin, trying to rid herself of the iron powder. She’d obviously meant for it to appear right over her, but the iron was apparently doing its job.

“Makoaste duu fahrnistahll,” Virgil rumbled, his arms raised chest-level, the tendons on the back of his hands pulling taut as his fingers contorted. Tears streaked his cheeks, and his eyes held a fury that made even Roman’s stomach clench.

The world around them seemed to glitch, nothing staying in one place. The ground undulated and grew soft, Roman having to grab hold of the nearest tree to keep from sinking into it. The dirt around Ursula’s feet sunk in on itself, like someone had pulled an enormous drain deep below the ground. An absolutely terrifying noise emanated from the sucking earth. A low, bone-rattling note, like the earth itself were groaning.

Roman, it seemed, was already weak from the one word he’d uttered, and found it difficult to keep a grip on the tree. He was buried up to his waist, the ground pulling at his ankles like quicksand. Hopefully, Virgil wasn’t so enthralled in his fight he ended up pulling Roman into it as well.

Ursula was covered nearly head-to-toe in mud. Preoccupied with trying not to be buried alive, she paid Roman little attention.

“Eirholme!” Ursula rose into the air, the angry black dirt following her, tugging at her feet. She raised a muddy hand and screamed, “Kazhta!”

Virgil gasped, collapsing to the ground. The dirt immediately fell slack, jittering and twitching as Virgil thrashed and screamed on the ground, grabbing at his back.

“Virgil!” Roman cried, trying desperately to free the lower half of his body from the dirt. It was no use. His sword was somewhere lost in the trees. He tried to locate it, but he was too frazzled. He couldn’t concentrate.

Virgil tore his jacket off, revealing countless shallow gashes torn up and down his arms. His back was criss-crossed by them as well, soaking his black shirt crimson. More appeared every second. If it went on much longer, he’d be cut to ribbons.

Ursula approached Virgil, her feet alighting on the ground like she was an apparition.

Roman fought back tears of fear and frustration as he tried to pull himself out of the earth with the hold he had on a low branch. The limb snapped.

“Remember this, kitty,” Ursula crooned, placing a hand on his trembling shoulder. She looked over at Roman, favoring the leg he’d injured.

“You both belong to me.”

And with that, she muttered a quick, “Dokuah Cairo,” and disappeared without a trace.

#tw toxic relationship #toxic relationship tw #toxic relationship #tw fighting #fighting tw #fighting #mild gore #mild violence #violence #blood

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chromeskiesstuff · 4 years

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The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone.

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane.

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up, her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins.

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him, and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief.

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go.

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi.

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away “ For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety.

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.

#the killing of three crows #三千鸦杀 #cdrama #recap #review #thoughts #the killing of three thousand crows

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ouronlyangelhes · 5 years

Text

Just a Little Bit Of Your Heart: Harry Styles One Shot

Okay this is major feels but I hope you all enjoy it 😍😩

You opened your mailbox to find the one piece of mail that you had been dreading to get. Harry’s wedding invitation. It wasn’t that you weren’t happy for him, you were so happy he had found someone that he wanted to share the rest of his life with. However, your heart broke that the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life wasn’t you. You and Harry had met in college and had become had best friends. The two of you were always together, the best of friends.

Harry had met his fiancé while visiting a friend at another college. He fell head over heels in love with her and told you that he had met his soulmate. You were happy for him that he was so in love, and you really liked her as much as you didn’t want to. You had hoped that she wasn’t going to be amazing as Harry had described, but she was perfect. She was kind, genuine, and beautiful both inside and out. No matter how much you wanted to find something wrong with her, you couldn’t. Harry was over the moon for this girl and you couldn’t tell him your feelings and ruin it for him. You had thought about it so many times over the years, there really isn’t a casual way to tell your best friend you’re in love with him so you avoided it. The two of you had gotten tipsy so many times over the years and no kisses were exchanged, no drunken hookups, nothing.

The invitation remained in your hand, the smiles on this invitation were contagious.

You and dinner plans with Harry tonight, the two of you always tried to find time to hang out as much as you could. Unlike other girls Harry had dated, his fiancé never felt threatened by Harry having a girl as a best friend. Some of his former girlfriends tried to hog all of his time and make it clear that you were his friend, not his girlfriend. Gabby was different, she embraced your friendship and always did her best to include you.

You grabbed your jacket and purse and made your way out to the car.

“Did you get your wedding invitation in the mail yet love?” Harry asked as he sat down at the table next to you.

“Yes I did, it’s lovely Harry.” You said.

“I’m glad yeh like it, I feel like it took us ages to decide on what we wanted because we just liked all of them.” He said with a smile.

“Well I like the one you went with.” You said.

“So what’s new with you? I feel like I have been drowning in all of this wedding stuff and it’s all I seem to talk about anymore.” He said to you.

“Oh you know, nothing too crazy. Just the usual. Work and all that.” You said as you took a sip of your wine.

“I have a favor to ask and you can totally say no if you don’t want to or if you’re too busy I understand. But Gabby is going out of town for her friends baby shower and we were suppose to pick out the flowers for the wedding tomorrow, and she doesn’t want to cancel the appointment. So she just asked if you’d fill in for her because she thinks you just have the best taste and I would totally agree. If you’re not into it just tell me.” He said.

How could you say no? Your best friend was practically begging you for your help. What kind of friend would you be if you turned him down because of your feelings? It was going to be his special day and you couldn’t dare ruin it with your own selfishness.

“No! I’ll totally go with you. Besides, you know I am a sucker for a good floral arrangement.” You said with a smile.

After dinner you headed back to your flat. Your mind was racing, it was like you couldn’t turn it off. Eventually you finally fell asleep.

You were awoken by your alarm a little after 9 am. You got up and began to get ready for the day. Harry had texted you saying to meet him at the flower place around 11:00. As you got ready, you looked yourself in the mirror. Where was the girl who was never afraid to speak her mind? Where was the girl who never left anything unsaid? Where was she? Because the girl you were looking at in the mirror had let her feelings take the backseat and prioritized friendship over what her heart desired. You didn’t want to live with regret, but you also couldn’t bring yourself to break Harry’s heart and burst his happy bubble. You think the worst part in all this is you know your feelings aren’t reciprocated. You and Harry had many of discussions over the years after countless people had mentioned what a great couple they thought they Two of you would be. Harry had said to you that he just didn’t see what they saw between the two of you and he hadn’t ever wondered about the possibility of there being anything more.

You finished up getting ready and headed out of your flat to go ahead and meet Harry.

The drive to the flower shop was quite short, only about 15 minutes from where you lived.

You walked in to find a very concentrated Harry browsing various floral arrangements.

“Oh thank god you’re here. There’s like a million kinds of flowers and plants and arrangements and I think they’re all lovely, so I’m gonna need some help here.” He said as he embraces you with a big hug.

“Well, we can’t have you overwhelmed by the flowers can we?” You said with a smile.

“Hi. I’m Trish, I am the main florist here. Any idea what the two of you are looking towards for the big day or are you just wanting to see various flowers and arrangements.” She said.

“Oh, this is Y/N she’s my best friend, my fiancé unfortunately had to leave town for a baby shower and she didn’t want to cancel so I sent her here to fill in. She has impeccable taste so I’m sure she’ll help me pick the right thing. “ He said to her with a smile.

“Well, it’s lovely to meet the both of you. Let’s step over here and the two of you can look at these arrangements that are already done up and see if you like any of those. We can always substitute any flower for another if you’d like as well. The vases and all that can be changed too. If you have a specific thing you’d like just let me know and I’d be happy to make it work for you.” She said.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Harry said as he began to browse the floral arrangements before him.

Flowers and flowered galore. Types of flowers you hadn’t even seen before. You had relatively simple taste and you weren’t into anything super glitzy, similar to Gabby. You had a rustic simplistic style and a lot of these arrangements were overwhelming.

“I really like these. I think they would looks good mixed with baby’s breath, you said Gabby liked those right?” You asked.

“Yes! She does. See this is why I brought you. Already doing a way better job than I would’ve alone.” He said with a smile.

You confined to browse around the shop looking at the various arrangements. But ultimately deciding on the simple one you chose.

“Thanks again for coming with me, I really do appreciate it.” Harry said as he finished sorting out all the details for the delivery.

“Of course, I didn’t mind at all. I actually had fun.” You said.

Harry finished sorting out all the delivery details as you walked around the store.

“You and him make such a cute couple! Not to sound creepy but I’ve just been watching the two of you and you guys are precious!” A woman no older than you said as she was sorting arrangements.

You didn’t bother to correct her. Maybe it was selfish but you wanted to enjoy the idea of that for a second or two.

“Aw, thank you.” You said as you walked away and met Harry at the counter.

You followed Harry out of the flower shop.

“Thank you. It means a lot to me and Gabby that you would do this. I knew I picked a good best friend.” He said as he kissed your cheek and pulled you in for a hug.

“No problem. Anything for my best friend and his fiancé.” You said as you said your goodbyes and parted ways.

Three months later.

The wedding was getting closer and closer. It was happening in a matter of days now. Gabby had asked if you would be one of her bridesmaids. You agreed, she was the kindest and sweetest and you couldn’t say no. Your dress had come in and you were very happy with it. You and Gabby had similar taste, a light pink dress was the choice for all of the bridesmaids. You were preparing yourself the best you could for the big day. The big day that was going to end with Harry marrying someone that wasn’t you

It was the night of the rehearsal dinner, you had kept the drinks flowing steadily to keep your mind from wandering to the reality of the event that was going to take place tomorrow.

You made your way back to the table as Harry was preparing to make a toast.

“Thank you to everyone for being here tonight. It means so much to Gabby and I that you are here to celebrate us. I am so lucky to be marrying the most loving, special, and wonderful person tomorrow. Not everyone gets to meet their soulmate and I am super lucky to have found mine and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Thank you to everyone who has helped plan this day and we cannot thank you enough. Mum, Gem, Dad, thank you for helping me be the person that I am today and I hope that I make you proud. Cheers.” Harry said as he raised his glass

You had tears in your eyes, but lucky you weren’t the only one. Gem and Anne seemed like they were tearing up as well, but for obviously a different reason.

The rehearsal dinner began to wind down for the night and people started heading out.

“How ya doin’ love?” Harry said as he came up to you at the bar.

“Good. How are you? Soon to be husband.” You said to him.

“I’m good. That’s crazy innit, im getting married tomorrow.” He said.

“I know. Time flies.” You said as you took another sip of your drink.

“I’ll see ya tomorrow love.” He said as he gave you a hug and went back to say his goodbyes and thank yous.

You went to bed that night with a nervous stomach and an aching heart. You just wanted to be able to get through tomorrow and just get it over with.

You woke up dreading the wedding. You began to get your things together as you were all heading to Gabby’s suite to get ready.

When you got there, she was already getting her hair and makeup done. She looked beautiful. You got your make up and hair done and now all you had to do was wait. You cleared out fo the suite as it was getting a little chaotic in the suite with everyone getting ready. Your hair and makeup was already done and you had gotten changed into your dress. You decided to walk around and get some fresh air. You decided to check on Harry and see how he was doing. You knocked on the door and Jeff opened it.

“Hiya, come on in.” Jeff said as he invited you in.

“Harry’s just in there.” Jeff said as he pointed at the door.

“Harry.” You called out.

“In here!” He said.

You took one look at him and he took your breath away. You had been dreaming of this moment since you had first met him. He looked fanatic in a suit but this was something special.

“You look great, Harry.” You said as you stroked the suit.

“As do you. I can’t believe this is happening.” He said.

“I know, me either.” You said trying to hold back the tears that were forming in your eyes.

“I have a present for you.” Harry said as he opened a drawer.

“Present. Why are you giving me a present? It’s your wedding day, you should be the one who’s getting all the gifts.” You said.

“I know but you’ve done so much for me over the years and have really been an amazing friend to me and this is just to thank you for that. And for saving my life with the whole flower ordeal because that would have been absolutely dreadful without you.” He said as he handed you a box with a box on it.

“Thank you. Do you want me to open it now?” You asked as you held the small box in your hands.

“Yes.” He said.

You opened the box to find the box beautiful necklace. It was a simple gold chain with one pearl on it in the center.

“Wow, Harry this is beautiful. You didn’t have to do this, thank you.” You said as you looked at it.

“Of course I did. Here, I’ll put it on ya, it’ll look great with your dress.” He said as he unclasped the necklace to put it on you.  Feeling his hands on you in the most innocent way, made your thoughts wander to the least innocent of places.

You said thank you what felt like a million more times before heading out of his room and making your way back to the suite with all the rest of the bridesmaids. As you were leaving Harry’s room you noticed Jeff standing in the hallway. He was on the phone dealing with the usual business stuff.

“Y/N, is Harry ready in there?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” You said.

“Are you ok?” He asked with a concerned look on his face.

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” You asked.

“I mean just considering, I figured this would be a pretty hard day for you. Is it not? I could be wrong but I guess I just always thought you had some kind of feelings for him. I mean, I could be wrong but I’m not the only one who sees it. Hell, even Harry does.” Jeff said leaving you stunned. Did Harry really know about your feelings all this time and just say nothing?

“What do you mean even Harry sees it?” You asked noticeable getting more upset.

“He said something a while back about how he was pretty sure you had it bad for him but that was a while ago. Y/N I didn’t mean to upset you, you know the I love you and think you’re an amazing person and friend.” Jeff said trying to calm you down and reassure you.

Everything wasn’t fine and you were far from okay. The boy who had been your best friend since college has been aware of your feelings towards him and put you in situations where you would be hurt. Like picking out those damn flowers. He knew how badly you wished that was you and still invited you anyways. You couldn’t believe it. You had to speak to Harry and you had to speak to him now. You couldn’t let the rest of the day go on, you knew that you would be extremely passive aggressive towards him and distance yourself l, you couldn’t do that to him today.

You turned around and walked back to Harry’s room where you began to knock quite aggressively on the door.

“I’m here love what’s up.” Harry said sounding slightly annoyed at all the knocked on his door.

“How could you? How could you pretend all this time like you didn’t know how I felt about you? How could you just drag me around when you knew the feelings that I had for you? You made me go fucking flower shopping for your wedding Harry! Do you not understand how much that hurt me but I did it anyway because you asked me to!” At this point you were screaming at him.

You don’t think you have ever been this hurt and upset with him ever in your friendship. You felt betrayed. It’s not like you had been forward with him and told him how you felt, but still the fact that he knew you had feelings for him and he dragged you along anyways just didn’t sit right with you.

“Y/N, love I was never dragging you around. And there was a time where I had an inclination that you might have feelings but that was right after we met! I had no idea that you had felt this way! Why didn’t you say something? I wouldn’t have made you go shopping for the flowers if I had known. Do you think I’m really that heartless?” Harry said noticeably offended.

“Oh. Well I just saw Jeff in the hallway and he told me that you knew and I don’t know why I stormed in her so angry and I’m just- I’m just gonna go.” You said to him reaching for the door.

“Wait, look my feelings may not match yours but I cannot lose you. You’re my best friend ok, I don’t know what I would do without you. Is there anything that I can do to make you stay?” Harry asked trying to plead with you.

“I don’t think there is Harry. I’m sorry to do this to you and I’m sorry that I did it today but I can’t stay and watch you marry her. Look I don’t want to not have you in my life but I just cannot go out there and stand up there. I just can’t do it. I promise that we’ll stay friends and you won’t lose me but you just have to let me go today. Please. I can’t stay.” You said as tears ran down your face.

“No, I get it. Do what you have to do. What should I tell Gabby? She’s going to wonder where you went and why you aren’t up there with her. Just tell her I got sick or something. I’m not going to be the reason that this day isn’t good for her. Again, I’m sorry Harry I don’t want to ruin your day.” You said.

“I should be the one that’s sorry. You’re here begging for me to love you and I just can’t. I’m sorry that I can’t be that one for you, I really am sorry. This hurts me too. I’m sorry. I wish I felt that way about you, I really do. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, I just don’t love me in the way you want me to.” He said as he wiped the tears from your cheek.

“I know. I’m gonna head out okay. I’ll see you soon.” You said as you walked out. You didn’t look back once. You got in your car and got the hell out of there. You wished you had kept your mouth shut and never said anything to Harry. But at the same time you would’ve probably lost it standing up there watching them say their vows, put the rings on each other’s fingers, and kiss.

It had been two months since the wedding and you had only seen Harry a handful of times. You were desperate to not lose the friendship that you and Harry had but things just weren’t the same after that day. You tried, both of you really did. But things just felt forced and uncomfortable. He was happy, you saw that in his eyes the last time you saw him. You knew that the only way your friendship would ever go back to what it was if you got over him.

You had to. You needed to meet someone and let all of those moments that you had dreamed about with Harry go. It wasn’t going to happen and you needed to be free from it. They say that you often times find the right person when you aren’t even looking. You had met someone and he swept you right off your feet. He was all the things you could have ever wanted in a boyfriend. Tyler was kind, patient, and loving. He made you feel love that you didn’t even know that you could feel. Love that you thought was only reserved for Harry. You and Tyler has been dating for a while when you had ran into Harry at a summer barbecue at a friends house. Harry was over the moon that you had found someone and it was in that moment that things started going back to normal between you two. Somehow through it all, both you and Harry did end up with love. Just not love that was shared between you. And for the first time in awhile, you were okay with that.

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfic #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles au #harry #harrystyles #harry styles series #one direction #one direction writing

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bloody-bows · 5 years

Text

Wonder Land Event Chapter 3

Souris smiled cutely, pulling you along. “C’mon (Name), let me introduce you,” the brown mouse had pulled you to a group of soaking wet people.

A dodo, a lamb and a goose were all seated down, mostly unhappy to have been so wet. “I say,” exclaimed Souris while approaching them, “how did you all get so wet.” The young goose like boy had spoken, “Idiot Dodo over there! She pushed us all into the lake!”

Souris glared at the girl, “Dodi! I told you, my beloved is hosting a tea party- Ah! The sweets! I forgot the sweets!”

The dodo like girl turned, “You sure they were not eaten?”

“Eaten or not I need sweets. Oh! But you all are wet! I can’t allow you in my house like this!”

You perked up, “Souris, why don’t we run? It’ll dry us off the fastest.” Souris nodded and pointed to a tall oak tree, “Christoph’s tree! We will run under that.”

So you all had ran and ran and ran until you were tired and dry. “So,” huffed Dodi, “who won?” You titled your head, “winning? I never said anything about winning.”

Dodi didn’t seem to enjoy that answer much, “but we had a race! So who won?” The lamb like girl, who you had over heard being called Lalla by Souris, had raised her hand and in an angelic voice had said, “Lets race again, but this time put some things up for the race. we’ll make a prize for first second and third”

Dodi had put up a hankerchief, stained red.

Lalla had put a flower, seemingly made of crystals and diamonds.

Renardo, the goose like boy, had put down a seemingly innocent looking rock

and Souris had put down her gold earing.

The most thing of value was your old engagement ring before…

you put it down with not much thought.

Lalla had decided to be the referree so she did not have to run and started the race. “On your mark! Get set! Go!”

And you were off, the wind on your feet and in your hair and you felt like you were floating. You, actually didn’t mind this new little world which you were in. Granted, that did not mean you did not ever want to be back once you were gone but..

Souris was a nice friend.

You came in second place, right behind Souris, snatching Renardo’s little rock, but sadly having to leave your little ring in the hands of Dodi, who came in third.

“That’s no ordinary rock,” said Renardo, “it shows you what the person most close to you desires the most, look.”

And so you did. And in the rock you saw your sister. Guess that proves no matter what happens, you still loved her, she was family after all and she did do much to help you. You saw her be successful

in her endeavors as a scientist, having graduated at the top of the class and getting a very shiny award for doing something. You smiled, you understood for your whole life she had wanted to succeed and you would be her biggest fan. It truly didn’t matter, you were family and you would route for her, no matter what. Suddenly, in this strange world filled with so many mysteries, you had no longer felt so alone.

“Well,” said Souris, “You are all dry and possibly a bit exaughted, correct?” you and everyone else had nodded, understanding that while you had fun you had raced to be dry. Souris nodded again, “Well, then,” You had simply gotten up and the mousy brown haired girl had taken your hand and led you into the forest, “C’mon (Y/n)! Lets go make cookies”

Lolly had made her way through the town for the thirtith time, calling a name which had soon started to be worn out. “Where in the world did she go!” And as Lolly had ran farther into the town, she did not realize she had put down her beloved book.

A book that was defenceless enough to be picked up by anyone, even someone who we do not have enough time to discuss at this moment.

Souris lived in a little cottage not to far into the woods but Renardo, {or at least you were hoping the goose like boy was named Renardo, seeing how Dodi seemed to call him “Geoff,” but seeing how he scowled you somewhat assumed that wasn’t his name}, still seemed to go on about, “treading too deep into the woods leads to the red territory. Sou, please tell me you really do live in the Hexagon.” You didn’t really understand, but deciding against asking for now, after all, it was probably a good idea to keep not being from here a secret for as long as possible.

Sadly, this isn’t about the economics of this world, that is for the next chapters to come. This is about the little house in which Souris lives in. Souris lived in a small cottage far into the woods, and it was instantly welcoming and homey the moment you all stepped in the door. Whom ever Souris’ ‘Beloved’ was they sure were lucky.

This reminded you of a home in which you and Lolly had thought up when you were small. It was when Lolly’s friend Elizabeth’s cousin, Amalynda, was first engaged and Elizabeth had talked hours about how Amalynda now had a house, which to a little kid was wild and amazing for she own ed a house! So Lolly had sat you two down, brought out colors and paper and pencils and had told you to draw your dream house you wanted when you were all grown up and married.

Souris lived in Lolly’s dream home. It’s homey feeling, it’s smell of freshly baked sweets, it’s simplistic complications. It was all so Lolly you nearly believed this was a dream and it was simply Lolly. But you knew it wasn’t. Lolly was not Souris and this was no dream, no matter how weird this was.

But you had simply not enough time to deal with these ‘Is a dream, Not a dream’ deals, after all, Souris had brought you here to make sweets. “To be exact, we are maiking special cookies.” Souris had smiled, “they are very sweet.”

So you 5 had made 14 hundred batches of cookies, all with varying flavours, textures and whatnots. Then you had all walked to the tea party. Everyone else seemed to know where it was so you simply followed them. Soon to arrive at a clearing with bluebells and a long table, which only seated two.

“My beloved!” Cried Souris, running over to someone on the left side of the table in a bone crushing hug.

At a long table in which Souris had approached, there was a cat, who’s smile seemed to plastered and fake and a march hare, who seemed to be having his life hugged out of him due to Souris’ hug. Dodi and Renardo had walked off, placing the cookies down at the table and sat down next to the Cat. Lalla had also walked off, sitting next to the March hare, much to Souris displeasure.

You noticed there was one seat no one was sitting in, not even Souris touched the chair though it was the only other seat avalible next to the boy in which she had been hugginh, the head of the table. However, there were multiple other empty seats, seemingly to be sat by whomever wished to also join them. So you had walked up to a chair, one that seemed to be next to everyone, and sat down.

The cheshire cat had looked at you, deep into your eyes, and his already too-fake plastered grin, had become even larger, but you both decided not to comment on each other.

The cat tunred towards the others, “Hatty really wishes he were here but the damned bastard said he had some buisness to take care of who was born under the name of Emile.” Your eyes trailed towards the head of the table, as if that was the exact seat out of all other chairs he was meant to be sitting in.

You wondered who this “Hatty” person was.

#yandere character #yandere things #yandere boy #yandere #yandere imagines #yandere x reader #yandere au #yandere blog #yandere core #yandere community #yandere cw #yandere diary #yandere fanfiction #yandere fic #yandere fantasy #yandere guy #yandere love #yandere oc

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dragonshost · 6 years

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Day 46: Fruvia

On FFN

ON AO3

This one kicked my ass six ways to Sunday. That being said, I’m rather pleased with it. I think I said what I needed to with it. Haven’t written one this long for the collection in a while, either, so it’s below the cut.

I hope you enjoy it!

Armada Day 46:

Pit Of Despair

Freed x Juvia

A simple job, she’d told herself. All she had to do was accept a straightforward, simplistic job, and get away for a while. Because that was what you did when you loved someone – you gave them their space, and if they came back to you then they were yours. Gray would change his mind about his so-called girlfriend and come running into her arms, in a grand romantic gesture.

But she’d been away for a while now, and Gray never had been one for grand romantic gestures no matter how much Juvia wished for it. It didn’t look like Gray was coming for her, after all. Even though she’d gone on the easiest fetch quest available and hadn’t returned for two weeks. For that matter, no one had come looking for her. Not even Gajeel. Well… okay, the fact that Gajeel hadn’t wasn’t entirely surprising to her – he probably thought that she could handle herself no matter the danger. And she could, usually. Just not this time around, it seemed.

The loneliness of her predicament, and the fact that no one seemed to be looking for her, was hitting her hard. She wasn’t really needed at Fairy Tail, was she? Most of her days were spent hanging around Gray, or making Gray-related items for her personal use. Day in, and day out. What did she bring to Fairy Tail, she wondered, that someone else couldn’t do better? Cana was a leader, the Raijinshuu were reliable in times of need, Laxus was beyond powerful, Team Natsu had saved the world multiple times on their own.

Her existence was superfluous. To Gray. To the guild.

Normally she would dismiss these darker thoughts with ease; banishing them to the corner of her mind that they’d crawled out from. It was simpler in the light of day, surrounded by her friends and their love, though. It was a much harder task when trapped in a crumbling temple, full of traps that not even Juvia’s water body could get her out of. Such as the anti-magic rune trap at the bottom of a pitfall that she hadn’t seen in time. Not only could she not use magic to escape, but the rope she’d brought with her was useless, too. Even if should could throw it to the top of the hole, there was nothing she could loop it around to pull herself out. Jumping also didn’t work – she couldn’t escape the influence of the anti-magic spell that easily, unfortunately.

It might have been a different situation if she’d gone on the job with someone. If she had just… grit her teeth, and worked up the courage to ask for help. But the rejection she’d faced had stung, hard, and she hadn’t been able to meet anyone’s gaze, let alone pose the question to – too afraid of being turned away, not wanted by the people she cared about the most. It was a hard truth that she hadn’t wanted to look at in the eye, and now she was paying the consequences.

No one was coming to rescue her. Not this time.

Juvia wasn’t sure how long she’d been trapped in the pit. The torches she’d lit on the way in had sputtered out a long time ago, and it was hard to gauge time indoors as it was, let alone in the pitch dark. Every once in a while, something would skitter past her, unseen, and that was the most Juvia had to go on in terms of the passage of time.

At the moment, there was one creature that was persistently making noise somewhere above her. She wished it would go away – the sounds were downright nerve-wracking. Hopefully it wasn’t a rat. Juvia took a sip from her water bottle, determined to ignore the creature. Surely if they were getting in, then there was a way out, right? Granted, it was probably rat-size, now that she thought about it.

A sharp pain bloomed on her skull, causing her to flinch and hiss. Touched her head, her fingers came away wet, smelling sharply of iron. A rock must have dropped onto her, she realized. “Just what Juvia needed,” she grumbled. Internally, she debated about whether she should turn on the flashlight in order to check the wound. There was only so much battery life left on the thing, and she didn’t want to waste it if she could help it.

Sighing, she decided to use the light after all. It would be bad if her head bled for a long time, so she needed to bandage it somehow. Blood loss, on top of being stuck in the pit, was not a good combination.

More skittering above her had her glaring up at the top of the pit. “Go away!” she shouted at whatever was up there. “Leave Juvia alone already!”

“…Juvia?” a voice responded, faint and incredulous. “Juvia is that you?”

Hope burst inside of her chest, bright as sunlight. “Hello?” she called out. Clambering to her feet, she stared upwards, eyes straining in the dim lighting. “Hello?” again she shouted, when there was no response.

A moment later, the light of a torch approached the top of the pit, and she burst into tears at the welcome sight of her guildmate coming to her rescue.

It wasn’t Gray, of course.

But she hadn’t expected Freed Justine, of all people, to be the one to come looking for her.

“Juvia,” the green haired man said, relief clear on his face in the flickering light of his torch. “Thank goodness. Are you alright? Any injuries?”

“Juvia has a few bruises, but Juvia is fine. There’s an anti-magic spell down here, so Juvia was stuck.”

Her rescuer nodded. “I have some rope I can lower down to you. Are you in any shape to climb?”

Grabbing the strap of her pack, Juvia rose to her feet in one fluid motion. “Yes, Juvia can climb.”

Freed disappeared from the edge of the pit for a moment, reappearing a minute later. Rope spooled by Juvia’s feet, tossed over the lip. “I’ve tied off the other end, and I’ll help keep it taut,” he informed her.

She picked it up, gripping it tightly. “Juvia is ready!”

Between them, the line pulled taut, and Juvia began to ascend. Her feet struggled to find purchase on the pit’s wall, and her hands hurt from the coarse rope. Muscles she wasn’t accustomed to using burned as she slowly made her way up to safety. When she finally heaved herself over the edge, she collapsed from sheer exhaustion, mixed with relief.

Sweat was beading on Freed’s brow, but he smiled at her and started gathering up his rope.

“Juvia…” she said, still breathing heavily, “Juvia is so glad Freed came. Thank you. Thank you for rescuing Juvia. Juvia will…” The water mage paused for a second to catch another breath. “Juvia will never go exploring alone again. And maybe Juvia will learn how to freeclimb, too.”

Freed laughed at her last sentence. A moment later, he sat down heavily next to her. “I’m just glad that you’re safe.”

She peered up at him through her eyelashes for a long minute as they both rested. Then she sat up, looking Freed straight in the eye. “How did you know?” she asked, her tone serious and her brow furrowed in confusion. “How did you know where to find Juvia?”

“The rain,” he answered easily. “I figured that if you were in trouble, there would be a great amount of unnatural rain in an area not expecting it. After that, it was a simple matter of determining the scope of the rainfall, and then calculating where you would be in the epicenter. This ruin seemed like the most likely location. It’s just fortunate that the anti-magic circle didn’t stop your rain from forming, or it would have taken me much longer to find you.”

It was the first time Juvia had ever felt grateful for her rain. But it what he said after that really caught her attention. “It would have taken longer…?”

Holding her gaze, Freed informed her, “I would have found you eventually. I wouldn’t have stopped looking until I did.”

“But why?” Her voice felt small. “Why were you looking for Juvia?” She was nothing to Freed, right? Gray was Juvia’s everything, Gajeel was her friend, and Lucy her rival. None of them had come for her, but this man had. Juvia couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“I noticed how hurt you were when Gray…” He coughed suddenly, and his gaze left hers. “Well, I noticed. So when it took a long time for you to come back… I got pretty worried and left without telling anyone myself.”

Juvia giggled at the thought of him making the same mistake that she did, and she stared in fascination as color entered his cheeks.

“Aside from which… I owe you.”

His confession caught her by surprise. “Juvia doesn’t understand,” she told him.

He shifted, clearly uncomfortable. “It was back when you first joined the guild,” Freed said, still not quite meeting her gaze. “When I faced you and Cana… I did you a great disservice. I doubted your love for Fairy Tail, and questioned your loyalty. And then… then you proved me absolutely wrong, made me question what I and the rest of my friends were trying to accomplish with what we were doing. It was largely thanks to your sacrifice that I came to see how wrong our actions were.” Green eyes flickered back to meet her startled ones. “I’m so sorry, Juvia. For what I did back then. I was wrong about you. You belong in Fairy Tail.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes, flowing down her cheeks before she could stop them. They were the words that Juvia needed to hear the most right then, chasing away every fear and insecurity that the dark pit had stirred up inside of her.

She reached out, and gently touched Freed’s hand. “Thank you,” she whispered, struggling to bring her voice to bear under the force of her sobs. “Thank you, Freed.”

Freed’s smile was tentative, but kind.

Yes, Juvia belonged in Fairy Tail.

Maybe not with Gray, she was starting to see.

But Fairy Tail was her home. And there would always be people there that needed her.

#ftfanfics #fruvia #freed justine #juvia lockser #fairy tail #fanfiction #dragon's armada #day 46 #i need to make another couple of compilations for this don't i

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bittersweetmigraine · 7 years

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I hate liars. (chapter 3)

Author’s note: I know it’s been a while but IT’S FINALLY HERE. I’m so sorry I’ve had to put my personal life first this past month and had to put IHL on the back burner but hopefully, I should be able to put out content on a more regular basis once I get used to my workload. Hope this won’t disappoint. Enjoy~<3

Genre: mafia!AU, very graphic imagery, mention of rape (if you’re not comfortable with any of those themes, please do not read) // female mc

Word count: 5984 - I got carried away...

Summary: You never really knew how your father got involved in a gang but you knew what he did for a living, for the most part. When a rival gang comes to get what they’re due and your father refuses, everything turns to horror.

chapter one • chapter two

The next morning, you woke up to an empty room. You turned around, looking over at Hyunggyu's side of the bed. The covers were bunched up next to you and you could clearly see the imprint of his body in the mattress. He slept right next to you. But he didn't try anything. At least not after what he had pulled last night. And for some reason, it made you relax a little. In your mind, it was clear he was some sort of sociopath but maybe he wasn't as much of an excuse for a human being as you thought. You sat up in bed, still staring at his imprint on the mattress. In your mind, you imagined him, facing away from you, respecting the little bit of boundary you deserved. And as your mind wavered, going to a place where you didn't absolutely hate him, going to a state of mind where he wasn't the devil incarnate, you had to slap yourself back to reason. This was the same man who shot your father, left him for dead and then tried to rape you, all in the span of a single day. He might have some good moments, he might not be satan 24/7 but he sure as hell wasn't worthy of your wavering heart. He was garbage. An absolute excuse for a human being. And although he'll probably try to change the way you think of him, you'll need to remember your mother's words. "Choose the right allies. Fool the right people." Although they weren't hers, to begin with, you chose to believe those words of wisdom came from your mom. And if in your situation, that's what it took to stay sane, you'll gladly fool yourself into believing your mother actually talked to you while you were asleep.

Your eyes wandered down the bed, following every line in the satin sheets to the bench at the foot of the bed. It was a small padded bench that went along with the simplistic theme of the room. Your eyes landed on the long rectangular black box, patiently waiting for you. You made your way over to it and took the extremity of the velvet ribbon into your hands. The velvet was soft and felt expensive under your fingertips. You played with the ribbon until it loosened and you put it aside. Tentatively, you opened the box to reveal a massive amount of white silk paper. You pushed it aside and there, in the box, laid a magnificent satin red dress. With a memo on top.

"We're both invited to the mayor's ball tonight. I get to show off my fiancée while you socialize with the top 1% of Seoul socialites. Be ready by 7 pm. I'll see you tonight."

You put the note aside, your attention going back to the silk red gown. Hyunggyu surely didn't spare any expense. You took the dress out of the box and studied it for a moment. It looked so expensive, you felt like you were in the wrong by simply touching it. Reading the note again, you sighed heavily. This was your life now. Spending your days locked in this gilded prison and your nights hanging by Hyunggyu's arms as he showed you off. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. In this game you're about to play, you either win, or you die. Hyunggyu might have brought you down, but there was no way in hell you were going to let him win that easily.

You put the red gown down and started undressing. As you stayed there, in only your panties, you swiftly turned around, now very conscious of the door that could be open by basically anyone at any point. You weren't sure of a lot of things about your situation but one thing was for sure: for the time being, you were considered a prisoner here. And prisoners aren't allowed any privacy. You turned back towards the dress and swiftly but cautiously put it on. The satin slid right down your hips, the fabric hugging your every curve. The gown fit you like a glove and for a second you wondered whether Hyunggyu secretly took your body measurements while you were sleeping. The fleeting thought left as you heard a knock on the door. You turned around, startled as you saw a tall figure slip in through the door, not waiting for you to invite them in. Then again who were you to believe you had the privilege of inviting anyone in here. You saw a mess of blond hair close the door as he turned around and you recognized Daniel. As soon as he laid his eyes on you, it was like he was starstruck. He couldn't help but stare, his eyes wandering your body, tracing your every curve, wondering how the satin of your dress would feel bunched up in his hands as he cornered you against a wall. But as his eyes made their way back up your body to land on your face, he was met with an expression he wasn't expecting. It was almost like you were mad. Were you? You were. When you realized the man standing in front of you was Daniel, mixed emotions flowed through your body. For some reason, you felt safe and at peace whenever he was around. But he was also the person who promised to keep you safe before leaving you with the big bad wolf himself. He promised he'd keep you safe and you'd almost gotten raped. Was that how he was planning to keep you safe? Was that how he was planning to get you out of here? As those questions ran wild in your mind, he made his way to you, stopping about a meter away from you. His eyes did not leave your face for an instant, studying your expression, every tiny muscle twitch. "You look absolutely stunning." You acted like you didn't care but your heart was saying otherwise. You could feel it beating faster and faster in your chest as Daniel grew closer and as sweet words escaped his plump lips. You tried to keep your composure to the best of your ability and answered coldly. "What are you doing here?" Daniel seemed slightly hurt you'd suddenly be so cold, not exactly knowing what was wrong but feeling something must have happened. You wanted him to understand. You wanted him to get how terrified you had been the night before when he left you to fend for yourself. In only a couple of hours, you had put so much trust in him, in a complete stranger, and you wanted him to know the time of trusting him blindly was over. If he was determined to actually help you, he'd have to prove it. For a second you feared you might be cutting off ties with the only person who might be willing to help you but as the feeling of Hyunggyu's hands ghosted over your body, you realized you'd rather be alone than fighting alongside somebody you couldn't fully put your trust in. As you thought back to the night before, your hands protectively went to your sides, trying to chase away the feeling left behind by Hyunggyu. And Daniel instantly caught the slight change in your attitude. He saw the way you slightly furrowed your brows as you clutched your dress but he didn't dare ask about it. He knew what kind of man Hyunggyu could be. He was the kind of man to take care of his own people. He might be a little hard to get at first, but as long as you don't cross him, he has your back. But with women, he tended to be a completely different man. From a loyalty-driven guy, he transformed into this dog who went after anything that moved. And even though Daniel could swear he saw a glimpse of a twinkle in Hyunggyu's eyes when he looked at you, he knew very well what Hyunggyu was capable of. And if that's what had happened, he'd rather let you come to terms with it and tell him when you were ready.

After a few moments of silence, Daniel shifted in place and cleared his throat. "I'm actually here to help you prepare for tonight." His voice brought you back to reality, escaping the haunting memory of the night before. Your icy stare finding Daniel's eyes as you did your best to look unbothered. "Prepare me for that ball we're supposed to go to? You're going to help me do my make-up or something?" Your icy tone sent a shiver through Daniel but your attempt at looking nonchalant brought a smirk to his lips. "No, no, I'll let you figure that out on your own." He ran a hand through his hair, his fingers landing on the back of his neck as he tentatively looked up at you. "Tonight's pretty important. Some people are doubting Hyunggyu hyungnim's ability to take over the business and he needs you on your best behavior." You scoffed, crossing your arms in front of your chest. This was completely absurd. This man who proclaimed himself your fiancé, dragged you out of your home one day, shooting your father on the way out and decided to take you to a very important ball the next. Daniel sighed seeing your reaction. "I know it must sound completely crazy to you but this is your ticket to get in Hyunggyu hyungnim's good graces. Remember what I'm going to teach you, help him gain some ground tonight with Seoul's finest and he might just give you some more freedom. This is all very sudden, I know, but I need you to keep it together if you want a shot at getting out of here." You couldn't believe the words that escaped Daniel's lips. But then again, this whole situation was so absurd, you felt like this was only fitting. Your mom's voice sneaked into your mind, reminding you to keep your composure, telling you to keep fighting, for them. Your father's face popped up in your mind and you felt tears pricking at your eyes as you thought of never being able to see him again, as you thought of his body rotting on the cold hard floor of the restaurant. Daniel saw the change in attitude, seeing your vulnerability crawl back up, no longer hiding behind the tough exterior you tried to put forth with him. His heart ached knowing you thought you needed to put up a front with him. But then again, how could you not? He was a stranger to you. He was someone who watched his boss shoot your father in the head without doing a single thing to stop him. How could you not be wary of him? And he felt such a strange attraction towards you. Although he felt like he had known you all his life, he hadn't and he knew he couldn't force that upon you. You needed to move at your own pace and he was ready to give you exactly that. After a few seconds of silence, Daniel started digging around in his pocket. Clutching the leather watch tightly in his hand, he tentatively took it out as he extended his hand towards you. For a moment you didn't really understand what he was doing until he opened his hand to reveal your dad's watch. Your eyes went wide as you instantly closed the distance between the two of you, taking the watch into your hands. You stared at the watch as tears started to silently roll down your face. "Where'd you get that?" Your tone was a mix of sadness and anger and in that moment, he froze in place, regretting everything he had done. Who did he think he was burying your father for you? His heart was beating against his chest as his mouth went dry, looking for the right words to appease your hurt. "I-I went back there." He looked over your every feature, the tear-stains left behind on your cheeks. "I buried your father in the backyard... next to the other grave." He gulped as he watched you caress the glass lovingly, your fingertips going over the crack running through it. Yesterday morning, this watch had been intact and that afternoon, as Hyunggyu decided to stomp all over your heart, he did the same to this very watch. Staring at the crack running through the thin glass, you promised to run your fingertips over this very crack every time you felt your heart waver. Every time you felt like giving up and letting Hyunggyu run the rest of your life, you'd look at this broken leather watch and think back to the day he single-handedly decided to change the course of your entire life for the worst. "I thought you'd want something to remember him by... I hope I didn't overstep." You wrapped the watch around your left wrist, admiring how it loosely fit your wrist. Without looking up at him, you snaked your arms around his waist, grazing his sides as you pushed his arms aside. You pressed your face against his chest, slightly sobbing as you closed your eyes, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. After the initial shock from your reaction, Daniel embraced you in his long arms, his hands trailing the small of your back as he realized the slick red gown was backless. His fingertips grazed your bare skin as he felt goosebumps on your back. "Thank you." you whispered as you hugged him even closer, breathing in his scent. "For the watch. And-" after taking a little pause, basking in his warmth, you slowly moved away, looking up at him as his hands stayed protectively on the small of your back. "And thank you for allowing my father some peace." You stood on your tiptoes as you planted your lips on his right cheek, your arms snaking around his neck as he squeezed you harder against his chest. You placed your head on his shoulder, still on your tiptoes as he let your fragrance embrace him. You let a sigh escape past your lips, feeling a strange sense of comfort and safety wash over you. You opened your eyes and slightly squeezed the back of his neck. "For some odd reason, I feel like I can count on you. Even when I should think you're the devil for associating with someone like him, for a reason unbeknownst to me... I don't." A slight smile played on his lips as the words you uttered comforted him in where he stood with you. You separated yourself from him, your gaze finding his sparkling eyes in a second. "Please don't make me regret that." His right hand went up to your face, tracing your hairline with his fingertips before landing on your collarbone. "I won't. I promise."

You both enjoyed each other's company for a little longer before Daniel had to excuse himself. He told you to meet him downstairs after you'd change and you looked a little confused as you watched him walk out the door. Change into what? Hyunggyu was ready to buy you a gown that was probably in the tens of thousands but he expected you to wear your dirty, blood-stained clothes as long as you stayed here? Cheap bastard. That's when you heard a knock on the door. The young boy you had seen yesterday poked his head into your room again as he had to do a double take on your appearance. You saw a slight blush crawl up his neck, settling on his cheeks as you chuckled and went over to him, the satin of your dress flowing over your curves. Might as well get as many people as possible on your side, right? He stood straight up, only opening the door wide enough to hand you some more comfortable clothing. You thanked him and after taking a last look at you, he closed the door and left you to change, a slightly embarrassed smile playing on his lips. Ok, so maybe not such a cheap bastard. You quickly changed out of your dress and laid it on the bed, hopping into the fitted black jeans and loose black t-shirt that had been picked out for you. Apparently, your future husband was going for the "no one dare look at my fiancée" kind of vibe. You tentatively went outside your room, making your way downstairs. You had a really good sense of direction and even though you had only walked these halls once, you found your way without a hitch. As you reached the bottom of the stairs, someone escorted you towards a brightly lit room where you found Daniel, serving some tea. You sat down opposite him on one of the two huge sofas that took most of the space in the room. Yesterday evening, this room was filled with guns and mountains of cocaine but today, under the sunlight seeping through the windows, it looked as innocent as a room could get. The two huge ivory sofas gave you a false sense of security as the smooth carpet fibers were tickling your ankles. The glass coffee table that separated Daniel and you added this quaint and cozy feeling to the room which didn't seem like the kind of vibe a Mafia overlord would generally go for. "You in the mafia sure love your soft sofas. Is this entire place just tiny rooms where you can chatter over a nice cup of tea?" He chuckled, pushing the cup of fuming liquid over to you as he brought his own cup to his lips. You watched him closely as he brought the dainty cup to his plump lips, sipping on the hot liquid and sighing in content as the warmth flowed down his throat. You observed him, your mouth salivating as you found yourself gulping at the sight. You slightly shook your head before he caught you spacing out and took the cup into your own hands. "It's actually just the one. And the little alcove in between the first and second floor. Hyunggyu hyugnim likes to treat his guest right." He said, looking up at you before putting his cup back down. "Before murdering them." You sipped on your tea as you saw Daniel's face harden from the corner of your eye. "Sometimes." The liquid caught in your throat as you gulped down hard. You felt like you knew what kind of man Hyunggyu was but having Daniel acknowledge it felt like bringing something abstract to life. You placed the cup on your left knee, your right hand reaching for the sofa, your fingertips brushing the soft surface. "Guess this poor bastard doesn't get to live long before being thrown out with blood all over it." "(y/n)." You instantly looked up, feeling the urgency in Daniel's voice. "This kind of remark is fine with me but be careful of who might overhear. Hyunggyu hyungnim likes a woman of character but be careful with your attitude. He needs you on your best behavior, especially tonight." You scoffed, your hand grabbing the edge of the sofa so hard your knuckles turned white. "He needs me on a leash." You felt your heart tighten as you thought back to last night and the threat he had made. Whether you liked it or not, he owned you. "But I get it. I either behave or he'll make me regret it." You sighed, looking at the ground. "Not like he hasn't already." You whispered as a sob crawled its way up your throat. You swallowed hard, trying to keep your composure. "What does that mean?" You took another sip of tea before placing the cup back on the table. "Nevermind." "No. What do you mean?" You felt your eyes start to water as you thought back to the night before. To his hands on you. To his lips, leaving scorching hot marks on your body. You ground your teeth and closed your eyes, not wanting to talk about it anymore. No matter how hard you tried to close yourself off and forget about all that had happened, you couldn't do that. You couldn't just move past it. But you had to. For your own survival. You had to be strong and face all of this head on. "I said, nevermind. Drop it." Your hot and cold attitude left him confused. He didn't know where he stood with you. One moment, you're hugging him with all your might, your arms wrapped around his waist like your life depended on it and the other you close yourself off, refusing any kind of help. It was frustrating and he promised himself he'd get you to open up. One day.

You spent the next two hours learning all the big dogs' names. Daniel made sure you knew how to walk in heels, which was a very entertaining lesson. He didn't put on his own pair to straight-up show you how to roll your hips from side to side but he made damn sure you knew how to. He also made sure you understood that tonight, all eyes had to be on you and Hyunggyu. You had to make every man present wanting to be with you and every woman present wanting to be you. Simple, right? He also made sure you understood that even though everyone had to be looking and drooling over you tonight, you were to look at Hyunggyu and Hyunggyu only. And most of all, you had to look like you were happy to be by his side. As Daniel went on with his "lesson", your heart was burning in your chest, thinking of having to spend an entire evening hanging by his side, getting introduced to everyone as his fiancée. You were going to have to smile and pretend like your relationship was completely genuine and you were head over heels for the man who put a bullet through your dad's skull. Just thinking about spending an entire evening by his side made you shake in fear and anger. But what could you do? Even if you decided to make a run for it, where would you go? You didn't have anyone. Not anymore. There was nowhere for you to run to. You were alone and this, this was your destiny. And following your mother's words, you decided to play this game right.

After Daniel went over everything one last time, he let you get back to your room, telling you to get ready. As soon as you got back, you headed straight for the bathroom, drawing yourself a nice hot bath. You slipped in, the warmth of the water making your skin tingle. This time, you stayed afloat. Your arms on each side of the bathtub, your head laying on the backend, you stared at the ceiling, imagining the bright blue sky hiding behind this boring white ceiling. You wondered whether birds were flying around above you, enjoying their freedom. You wondered whether they knew how lucky they were to travel the world, in search of a place to call home. You weren't ever going to be able to have that now. You didn't have any family left. Your father's men were probably too scared for their lives to try and save you. Or they simply didn't care to even try. One of his guys probably jumped on the opportunity and took over your father's run-down kingdom. You sighed heavily as you thought of your mom and dad. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, the water stilling around your body. You thought back to the words you could swear you heard your mom utter as you were deep in sleep and made a promise to yourself. No matter what happened. With Daniel. With Hyunggyu. No matter how great Hyunggyu treats you. No matter how badly he tries to spoil you with expensive gifts. No matter how fancy your life gets. You promised yourself you would never forget this was the man who destroyed the plans you had in life. This was the man that had decided to single-handedly uproot you from everything you knew and throw you in one of the most dangerous environments you could find yourself in. This was the man responsible for losing the last standing member of your family. No matter what feelings started to bloom, you could never forget that. And you promised yourself you wouldn't.

You spent the next hour and a half getting all dolled-up. While you were with Daniel, learning everything you needed to know for tonight, someone had bought and laid out on the dressing table all the makeup you could possibly ever need. From three different eye-shadow palettes to six different shades of red lipstick, this was all so over-the-top. You decided to curl your hair, letting them smoothly fall on your shoulders. You exited the bathroom and glanced at the red gown on the bed. You caressed the fabric, sure you had never felt anything so smooth in your entire life. You slipped it on, the fabric hugging your curves just as it had this morning. You looked at yourself in the big mirror through the bathroom door and you couldn't believe the person you were looking at was actually you. Money sure goes a long way to look good. As you admired yourself in the mirror for what felt like the first time in forever, you heard the door click as someone wearing a suit slipped in, a box in hand. The tall figure turned around to reveal Hyunggyu holding a shoebox. He was wearing an all-black suit. Black shirt, black tie, black vest and black pants. His hair was slicked back and in the bedroom light, the scar crossing his face had never looked so... sexy. Your breath caught in your throat as you forced yourself to try and think straight. A smirk was playing on his lips as he looked at you hungrily, licking his lips. Even from a couple of meters away, you could see the pure lust filling his eyes, looking at you like you were a delicious prey. "I knew red would be your color." His eyes scanned over your body once more before landing on your face, a wide smile spreading on his. Suddenly he looked almost... innocent. He looked like any other guy you'd meet at a coffee shop on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Minus the scar across the face. And yet you'd seen his dark side. Or at least a part of it. You knew how terrifying he could get and the fact that you felt your lower stomach tighten as he walked closer to you had your chest shaking in fear. He offered you a hand as he motioned you over to the small bench at the foot of the bed. "Sit." His voice was like pure honey. That's when you realized this man was dangerous. He was a sleeping volcano waiting to be awakened. One day, he was the kind of man to try and force himself on you and the other, he'd act all gentlemanly. He was terrifying. And for some odd reason, although your brain was screaming for your to run for the hills, your body followed every word that dripped from his lips. You did as he told and sat down as he put one knee on the ground and placed the shoe box on your right. He opened it up to reveal red high heels that looked extremely expensive. As he picked one up, you peeked at the bottom of the shoe and realized these were Louboutins. You were never one to really care for fashion items but then again, you never had the means to even try. He helped you put both shoes on before reaching into his pocket, taking out a square velvet box. You gulped as you observed his fingers dance over the red velvet. He opened the little box to reveal a massive diamond ring. You kept yourself from gasping at the sight as he reached over for your left hand, looking up at you before slipping the ring on. As his skin made contact with yours, a shiver ran down your spine and this time, you weren't quite sure what it meant. "Thought I'd make it official." he said, a smirk spreading on his face. You held your hand out, looking over at the massive diamond ring adorning your finger. You felt a heavy weight settle on your chest as you realized this entire situation was becoming reality. Before, you had somehow felt like him saying he'd make you his wife was just his way of keeping you in line. But no. He actually intended on forcefully making you stay by his side. Your chest tightened at the thought, the small waver you might have felt seeing him looking all dapper leaving your body as soon as it had crept up on you. He helped you up and looked over you once more as he offered his arm for you to take. Taking a deep breath, you put on a fake smile as you laced your arm with his. Every time your skin touched his, this shiver would run down your spine and at this point, you didn't know whether this was a good or a bad thing anymore. Your hand wrapped around his forearm as you sealed your fate. As you stared at the ring on your finger, his eyes studied your face. Behind his fierce gaze, his mind was racing. He didn't know what to make of your whole attitude. Half-anxious that you had a plan to completely ruin his reputation this evening, he opted to believe he had actually dompted you and you had become his well-mannered little puppy. If that's what he thought, he'd be in for quite the ride. From the corner of your eye, you saw him staring at you, his brow furrowing. You looked up at him, doe-eyed as you tried your best to plaster a genuine smile on your face. "Let's go." You whispered as you gave his forearm a slight squeeze. A smirk tugged at his lips as he led you out the door.

You looked around and couldn't believe your eyes. This was your very first time in a limousine. A goddamn limousine. The man sitting next to you might have been a monster and a complete excuse for a human being but he sure knew how to go all out. He sat down next to you, leaving a good enough space between the two of you that you didn't feel suffocated by his presence. But as soon as the car started, his hand crept up to your knee and it stayed there the entire way. You couldn't help but stare at his thumb, rubbing circles on your inner thigh as you tried to keep your composure. You knew better than to push him away but you weren't going to play into his game. At least not in private. You might get nominated for a Golden Globe for the performance you were planning on putting tonight, but he should know better than to expect for you to act like his future wife behind closed doors. After about half an hour in complete silence, your mind going in circle over Hyunggyu's touch, you finally arrived at the Mayor's mansion. The right door next to Hyunggyu opened and you spotted Daniel's blonde locks waving in the breeze. You hadn't realized Daniel had come along but then again you should have known. Daniel and Hyunggyu might be at two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to human decency but Daniel was still his second in command. Hyunggyu exited first, buttoning his vest and drinking in the view of the majestic mansion before turning around to offer you his hand. You looked up at him, hesitant to take his hand at first. You saw his insistent gaze and the crowd of people starting to gather behind him and tentatively put your hand in his. A smirk played on his lips as he brought your hand to his lips and helped you out of the limo. As soon as you stood by his side, his arm snaked around your back, his left hand landing on your bruised hip. You almost winced at the touch, trying as hard as you could to hold it in. You turned towards Hyunggyu, giving him a fake smile as you saw Daniel in the corner of your eye looking upon the scene while closing the car door. Hyunggyu moved closer to you, his lips brushing against your ear as he whispered. "Ready, darling?" You could see Daniel looking at you, waiting for a reaction, waiting for you to put on an act. You thought to what he'd told you this afternoon and took a deep breath. Your red lips parted into a smile as Hyunggyu looked into your eyes deeply. You held his gaze as your hand landed on his. A shiver coursed through your body as your skin made contact with his. A smile tugging at his lips from your reaction, his thumb started to draw circles into your hip just like he did in the car and you gritted your teeth, trying to hold the pain in. "Ready as I'll ever be." you managed to say through the pain. He planted a kiss on your cheek as flashes of light attacked the both of you and you finally noticed the armada of paparazzi on both sides of the red carpet leading up to the mansion. You acted coy upon receiving his kiss which seemed to please Hyunggyu and the paparazzi. His lips left your cheek, his eyes gleaming with pride and satisfaction as he seemed to think you had given up control completely. "That's what I like to hear, sweetheart." His hand left your side as he laced his fingers with yours and you felt like you could finally breathe. Daniel appeared from behind Hyunggyu, motioning you both to move towards the steps leading up to the mansion. "Hyungnim, we should be going." As the words left his lips, his gaze was fixated on you. You had never seen such intensity from Daniel. His eyes darted to your hand, your fingers intertwined with Hyunggyu's and you could swear you saw him clench his jaw. As his eyes made their way back to your face, you slightly nodded towards him, assuring him you were alright. You hoped he understood. Before you could make sure Daniel had gotten your message, Hyunggyu was leading you through the jungle of camera flashes as you tried your best to smile for the camera and look happy. You made sure to wave with your left hand, exposing the massive diamond ring that had only been on your hand for about an hour. As you climbed up the stairs to the Mayor's mansion, you looked up at the sky and thought of your mom. With her voice ringing true in your mind, you looked to your right at Hyunggyu and smirked. Game on.

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