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animekpopsimp · 1 year

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A Familiar Song (Bakugou x villain reader)

"Bakugo!" (Y/N) shouted as she ran up to her best friend. The little girl had a large smile on her face as she looked up at him, eyes sparkling with excitement. The little boy looked back down at the shorter girl, a tiny smile on his face.

"Bakugo, when I get my quirk. I wanna be a really strong hero!" The little girl cheered. Bakugo smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You can be my sidekick since I'm gonna be number one someday" He proudly stated, smirking,

"If you're gonna be number one, then I'm gonna be number two since we're best friends!" The little girl stated, the smile never leaving her face.

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The blond boy found himself lost in thought, his crimson eyes staring off into the distance, his lips drawn into a thin line. Bakugo tried not to think about the memories that often haunted him, but every now and again he would remember (Y/N), the girl he once considered his best friend. The image of her smiling face as she would proudly declare that she was going to fight alongside him never left his head. Bakugo never liked to express his feelings, but deep down he felt like a monster. He had driven away one of the few people who could stand being around him.

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"Katsuki! Katsuki!" (Y/N)'s excited voice filled the air as she ran up to her best friend. She stopped in front of him, noticing the scowl on his face.

"What's wrong?" The little girl asked, head tilted to the side. Katsuki turned to face her, anger shining in his crimson eyes.

"Leave me alone" He sneered, looking down at (Y/N), his arms crossed. The little girl frowned, she never liked seeing her friend upset.

"But Kat-" The little girl was suddenly cut off by the sound of an explosion. The force knocked her off balance, causing her to fall to the ground, wincing as she landed. (Y/N)'s eyes went wide as she looked up at Katsuki, tears starting to fill her eyes slowly.

"I said leave me alone!!" Katsuki shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the air. His words stung as they reached (Y/N)'s ears, and tears began to run down her face as she scrambled to her feet. The little girl opened her mouth, trying to speak, but the blond boy had already beat her to it.

"Just go away, you're quirk is stupid anyway, you'll never be a hero! So just go away!" He screamed, hearing this (Y/N)'s heart broke. Katsuki had been supportive of her dream to become a hero up until this point, what had changed? Was her quirk really that stupid, should she really just give up?

"Fine!" She yelled back after a tense pause.

"I never wanted to be your sidekick anyway!" With that, the little girl turned and ran off, tears spilling from her eyes. Katsuki watched her go, a small part of him regretting his actions, but he would never admit it.

(A week later)

"Look at her, she can't even defend herself" One of Katsuki's friends sneered, looking down at (Y/N) with a hateful smirk on his face. The other two boys laughed loudly to themselves, kicking the girl while she curled her body inwards in an attempt to protect herself. She winced as each blow landed on her body, no doubt leaving bruises in various places on her body. After a moment, she could faintly hear footsteps approaching. (Y/N) glanced up for a short moment, only to see Katsuki, any hope that someone would help her died at that moment.

"What are you doing? She's not worth it" The blond told the other boys, looking down at the girl as if she were nothing more than a piece of discarded trash on the sidewalk. One last kick landed near (Y/N)'s ribs before the group left, and all the little girl could do was lay there for a moment, hissing as the pain spread throughout her body. After a moment, she finally mustered up enough strength to get to her feet. With one look down at her battered body, she could tell she would have bruising for a while. She could feel her eyes start to well up with tears as she slowly limped home, cursing Katsuki for what he had done to her.

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Katsuki, better known as the pro hero Dynamite had been called to the scene of a villain attack. He was no stranger to situations like this, having graduated from UA and becoming a well-known hero in a short time. As well as becoming a strong, loved hero, his temperament calmed down. Sure, he still had his moments, but he had grown as a person. He had even apologized to Izuku for the years of bullying he put the boy through. Though deep down, he couldn't apologize to someone else, someone who rightfully deserved it. The blond was suddenly snapped from his thoughts when a faint sound reached his ears. As he reached the center of the chaos, he looked around, and after a moment he realized it was the sound of singing. As soon as the sound reached his ears his entire body seemed to freeze as if weights had been tied to his limps. Katsuki tried to move forward, but his body felt heavy. Then, within an instant, his surrounding had changed. The city he used to be in was now replaced with what looked like a field of flowers. The male's eyes went wide as he looked around, trying to understand what was going on.

That's when the sound of a branch snapping reached Katsuki's ears. He spun around, eyes spotting a figure standing in the distance. He could barely make out their features.

"Who the hell are you?!" He shouted, his voice demanding. The figure said nothing as they simply approached him, a calm smirk on their face.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Katsuki?" The figure asked, their voice feminine. Katsuki felt his heart start to race as he took in the woman's appearance. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, what was in front of him couldn't be real.

"(Y/N)?" He asked, too shocked to say anything else. She had obviously grown older, but there were unmistakable features he remembered from back then. Her eyes were the same beautiful shade of (E/C), but there was something different about them.

"I'm surprised you still remember me" the woman commented, a hint of malice in her tone. The way she looked at him made Katsuki shiver. He could see the hate hidden behind the smile on her face. The blond tried to move his body once more, but his muscles still refused to cooperate with him. It was as if something or someone was keeping him in place. For once, Katsuki felt completely helpless.

"I've been waiting to see you again. I still remember the way you treated me." (Y/N) sneered, the smile falling from her face. She stood right in front of Katsuki, staring at him as if she was looking directly into his soul.

"I'm-" the blond tried to speak, but he was suddenly cut off by the woman in front of him.

"Don't try and apologize, it's too late for that." She told him, her eyes never leaving his still form. Everything inside of Katsuki screamed at him to move, to fight back. But he couldn't. bring himself to do so. He didn't want to believe that someone he considered a close friend had become a villain. But, no matter how much he tried to deny it, the fact was staring him in the face.

"I'm sorry" he finally spoke, tears welling up in his eyes. Deep down he blamed himself for this outcome, if he had been a better person at the time then maybe he wouldn't be in this position now.

"I know you're sorry, I just don't care" (Y/N) told him, keeping a straight face. It was clear she had grown to hate him.

"You know, you were right though. I would have never made it as a hero. I'm much better as a villain, don't you think?" (Y/N) asked, lips pulling up into a smirk.

"Please, you don't have to do this" Katsuki tried to reason with her. But deep down he knew there was no reasoning with the woman standing before him. Suddenly, the scenery changed a second time, and (Y/N) was gone. Once again the sound of singing filled the air. In an instant, Katsuki found himself surrounded by shadowy figures, though they were faceless he could feel them staring at him. He could feel the anger that was directed toward him.

"You don't deserve to be a hero" a voice filled the male's ears, it was quickly followed by many others that began to mock him and throw insults at him.

"You're a bully"

"you're not a hero." Their words filled the air like poison gas, seeping into Katsuki's body. He could feel his body begin to shake as he finally found himself able to move, he scanned the crowd of shadows as they continued to spit vile words at him, reminding him of all the regrets that weighed heavily on his mind. He tried not to let them affect him, knowing this was all an illusion, but the more he tried, the louder the voices seemed to get. Katsuki covered his ears, trying to block out the sound, but it didn't work no matter how hard he tried.

"You're not a hero" (Y/N)'s voice suddenly rang out, replacing the many he had been hearing before. Katsuki looked around confused, but he couldn't see the woman anywhere.

"Shut up!" The blond suddenly yelled, he charged forward, following the sound of the woman's voice. Finally, he found her and tackled her to the ground. Her singing abruptly came to a stop and the city reappeared. Katsuki let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. His crimson eyes looked down at the woman below him, she was struggling to get out of his grip but he kept her from moving. There was a hateful look in her eyes as she stared up at him, silently cursing him. A soft, saddened look appeared on Katsuki's face. When he looked down at her, all he could see was the little girl from before. The same one he had bullied and driven away from him. The guilt still ate away at him every day.

"I'm sorry," he said, before using a pressure point to knock the woman unconscious.

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shooting-star-hearts · 5 months

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♡•Glitter For Skin•♡

✰ • 𝓟𝓐𝓘𝓡𝓘𝓝𝓖 ⇢ Cloud Strife/OC(Astrid Lovelyn) ✰ • 𝓣𝓗𝓔𝓜𝓔𝓢 ⇢ Fluff/comfort, Angst ✰• 𝓝𝓞𝓣𝓔𝓢 ⇢ Considering that this is oc x canon there will be...some things I changed that differ from canon ff7, such as Highwind scene...yeah I was a bit scared to add that one in sooooo no hate please? Thank you. Also I have horrible writing so I apologize for having to go through this if you choose do so 🥲 Anyhow...I wrote up this fic because it's been three years I've had this lil ship so...Happy Anniversary Cloustrid 💖(I'll also tag as x reader for anyone that wants to use as inspiration I'll allow it) ✰ • 𝓦𝓐𝓡𝓝𝓘𝓝𝓖𝓢 ⇢ Heartaches, Mention of a cut/blood, Suggestive at some point(implied nsfw), no proofread(?), Cloud is a bit...ooc I think, he talks a little more than usual

Now playing - golden hour by JVKE

“Ouch!”

As a reflex, the paper flew from her grasp and was gently curled over the thin cut. Her thumb soothed over the little red slit with her brows furrowing slightly; the cut was small but admittingly it did cause a bit of an annoyance to her finger.

“Astrid~”

Tifa’s voice was followed by the jingling of the bells over the door, signaling someone’s entrance in the bakery. Astrid’s eyes left from her cut momentarily to flash a smile at her.

“Hey Ti! Closed up early?”

“Mhm…You alright?” The dark-haired woman made her way around the counter, her eyes followed down at Astrid’s finger.

“A-ah- yeah! Just a paper cut! Hang on..” Astrid didn’t want to further concern Tifa. She opened up one of the cabinet doors under the counter, shuffling around items in search of band-aids.

Tifa was already ahead of knowing what she needed. “Need band-aids? I believe there’s some upstairs” “Actually that won’t be necessary, I’ll deal with it late-”

Before Astrid could reply, she heard the bells ring again and the door closing. Chuckling, she smiled at how sweet Tifa was being despite the case not being serious.

. . . . .

“How was business today? I’m guessing busy telling from how they were visiting my bakery immediately afterwards~”

“You bet!” Tifa wrapped a small, thin band-aid around Astrid’s ring finger.

Evening on a weekend, perfect for when these two want to hang out after their shorter shifts. It had been two years and a half since Astrid’s official opening to her bakery, Promised Land, and since then she had been extremely happy over the fact that both her and Tifa’s business had brought them closer.

“You weren’t too overwhelmed I hope?”

“Tifa…you’re asking as if this is the first time I’ve dealt with a large crowd!” She laughed.

“I know you’re capable but…being how you’re the only one working for yourself…you know you could always ask Fiona to help out, right?”

“I know! But you two seem s~o happy together even when you’re working! I can’t take that away~” The brunette shot a friendly tease at her.

Tifa simply averted her eyes and chuckled, a faint blush painted on her upper cheeks. “I don’t think one day of not being around me would kill her.”

“Oh c’mon, have you seen how clingy she is with you? I’m not lying when I say there isn’t one conversation I have had with her where she doesn’t mention your name~” Astrid’s teasing was full on Aerith-like at this point.

The more the brunette teased about Tifa��s love life, the more red on Tifa’s cheeks became visible from her smiling.

“Alright, tough cookie…but seriously, I just wanna be sure you have the help you need, at least let me help out with tidying up some things around here?”

“Well, there isn’t much more to be done but…I know you won't say no either.” The girl titled her head.

Tifa pointed a finger gun at Astrid and clicked her tongue. “You know me~!” She went on to pick a broom and started sweeping away.

A new source of warmth entered the room as the sun set, pointing right at Astrid across the room as she stared at her band aid once more. Upon noticing the change in atmosphere, her green eyes softened at the new color that painted the walls of the bakery interior, her favorite color at that.

Gold.

The color of the sunset.

The color of their deal.

…And of course, the color of his hair.

Sunsets never failed to make her think of that one person during these times of the day. Ever since the first day of their budding friendship, a friendship that was sealed by their own hearts and a deal. Some may say childish for such a silly thing, but it wasn’t like anyone would understand how much that alone affected each other throughout their life. Even when starting out as outcasts, it didn’t take much for them to mean the world for one another.

“Hey…did Cloud happen to text you?”

Tifa stopped in her tracks, a smile tugged her lips without facing the shorter lady.

“He…did say he’d come back early but…”

“Don’t worry.”

She turned around, flashing a reassuring grin, remembering the short conversation she had with Cloud earlier.

“...He’ll be here soon.”

. . . . .

Orange sunset: “Warmth and comfort”

“...You’re really good at that.”

Any kid—or adult for that matter—in this village would recognize that voice as the weird kid, or one of them at least. It was a strange interaction for the two children to face each other after all those times of visiting and having their moms bond since they were just babies, but now? It felt as though they had just met for the first time. Except by this point, they were longing for a friend to talk to, so one would say….it was only natural that they’d end up like this, somehow, someway.

The young brunette’s lips parted from the flute, cutting off the soft melodies that escaped from it. From the corner of her eyes, she saw him. His blue eyes—non-mako at the time—glistened widely in fascination with the girl’s talent. Then again, in all his years of knowing who Astrid Lovelyn was, he didn’t really know her.

“...Cloud?”

The same could be said for the brunette herself, or as 10 year old Cloud would know as the girl that feared him. He expected nothing more than seeing her run off to her room whenever she was aware of the boy’s presence.

…Or so he thought.

“...Thank you…!”

…So when he heard those two words ring in his ears, this took him by surprise. He’d ask her to repeat again but seeing he had gotten this far, he was pulled to talk further with her.

Except he couldn’t gather the words to create another sentence, he just…stood there, findling with his fingers.

♪Pink and orange skies, feelin' super childish♪

Cloud had only one plan: Ask her why she was being attacked by Tifa’s friends and go back to his lonesome self for the rest of his day, instead it felt like he was confronting a kitten that needed to be handled with extra care; one wrong move could cause some serious consequences.

Wait…why was this kid worried? I mean, he’s seen what this girl is capable of doing, she did scold the kids that lied about him convincing Tifa to endanger herself on Mt. Nibel. Albeit she isn’t violent as Cloud is but seeing her stand up for him deepened his curiosity of what else she was on about.

“Hey…are you okay?”

The tables had turned with who was the shy one in this case.

Cloud’s upper body moved back slowly at Astrid leaning forward to take a look at his expressions better. When the hell did she stand up? He hadn’t even been able to process the fact that he was standing the closest he’s ever been to her. The blonde was desperate to form words to tell, but nothing could rip from his throat to respond besides the common “uh..”

Oh shoot, is she smiling? Was it because he had just embarrassed himself in front of her by being such a dork? Or maybe the blonde just hadn’t considered how lovely he looked with tangerine hues glistening up his miniature spikes and blue eyes yet.

His eyes drifted from the young girl’s emerald orbs, finding himself staring at books leaning against each other.

“What are…” His finger finished the rest of his question while pointing, intentionally diverting Astrid away from him before she could notice his blushing.

The brunette’s pigtails swayed in rhythm whilst turning her head, following the direction he was hinting at. “Oh..those? They're just…boring stuff.”

She walked back over and picked up one of her books, showing off the cover to Cloud, “Growth in Gardening” it read.

“Stuff on gardening…stupid, I know.”

It was fast how Astrid instantly dissed her own interest. “...But you like it, right?” Was simply how he could respond. He wasn’t about to lie and pretend he knew anything about gardening, I mean, boy thinks flowers all look the same.

But, judging by how lush and flourishing the plantation had grew near Astrid’s house, this was definitely her biggest passion, or at least, one of possibly many others

“I do, but others think it’s weird for a girl to be working outside just to get all muddy and sweaty…” She sat down, flipping over a few pages to the section of yellow lilies. “So…I don’t really have anyone else to talk to about them besides my mom and…”

“…who?” Cloud tilted his head.

“...The plants that I grew.” She chuckled to herself. She must’ve felt like a freak in front of him. Guess all that outcasting really affected how she saw herself too.

“...Oh.”

That was the only thing Cloud could murmur before letting the crickets fill in the rest of the silence. Astrid noticed his eyes averting from the corner of her eyes. By this point, the young blonde had completely forgotten the entire reason why he had come to visit her in the first place. He had considered leaving before things got more awkward–

“So…why did you come see me?”

Oh, that’s why he was there.

“Not that I don’t want you to be here but…you haven’t come to visit in so long…”

“...Why were those kids bugging you?”

“Oh…that…” She sighed, recalling how foolish she had put herself into trouble, only for Cloud to get pulled in just to defend her. “I overheard how they lied about you getting Tifa into danger, they were being jerks to you. It’s not fair how they’re doing this to you…I couldn’t just…stand there…”

“But you would’ve gotten yourself hurt.”

Astrid blinked at how Cloud saw it. ”I don’t….think they would’ve went that far-”

“Doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t have talked to you like that. They talk about you all the time and I just wanted them to shut up.” He blurted without thinking.

Okay now she was confused. “...Huh?”

“Yeah. They said some nasty stuff about you so many times. About how you’re weird and ugly and…all that.”

Her eyes widened, the realization stunned her. Yeah she knew he was reckless and getting himself into trouble but…for her though…?

He fought them…because they were saying stuff about me…?

“Cloud…you shouldn’t have…why..?”

“Cuz….even if you hate me…they were still being mean about you.”

“Huh?!” Well that didn’t sound right. “Hate you?! What made you think I hate you Cloud??”

Cloud was just as surprised to figure out that he may have judged her wrongly. “...You always ran to your room each time I came to visit…”

…Oooh…

“C-Cloud I…I didn’t hide because I hated you, I did that with everyone! I was just…scared of people, but that didn’t mean I hated them!”

“I-”

Cloud choked up, both of them did. For a while Cloud had assumed that he was cursed with others taking a dislike to him but ... this was just a misunderstanding between these two kids all along?

One was overthinking on what to say and the other was underthinking, not the most ideal conversation if you can even call it that now. All in all, it was embarrassing, and it would’ve been rude if Cloud had just walked away without saying anything.

I guess the only thing left to do is…to apologize? For misunderstanding? For judging her past fears? Maybe?

“...Sor-”

“Ugh! I can’t take this!”

Astrid stood up, stomping the ground in frustration. “This is dumb, we’re both being dumb!” Walking over back to the confused blonde, she had an idea in mind. “We can’t just keep beating around the bush like this! So if we don’t want that happening anymore, we’re gonna make a deal!”

“A-A deal…?”

“Yeah! A friendship deal!”

The little brunette extended her arm out, fingers widely open. “I can’t keep running away in fear and you can’t keep your own feelings hidden! So I’ll stick by you whenever you’re in a rough patch no matter how bad things get, but you have to be honest with me.”

“But…I-I don’t want you getting hurt because of me…”

“Well someone’s gotta be by your side! You can’t do everything on your own all your life, y’know?”

Yup, that sentence alone settled his decision.

His eyes widened, he never really thought of himself as the type to be looked after. Again, lone wolf, lone life, it was what he was used to up until now. Spending way too much time trying to fit into a friends group didn’t even give him a chance to realize that there would be someone to genuinely be accepted by all along.

“...Deal.”

His hand glued onto hers, Astrid gave it a shake to seal the deal. He never saw her smile so brightly before either, it was a lovely complement to the orange glow on her face. Cloud’s lips tugged upwards into a half smile. The truth is, he would’ve been honest with her with or without this deal the moment he realized that he meant something to her.

This is childish….but she’s happy.

This wasn’t just a friend. This was the soul he vowed to stay close with and protect for the rest of his life.

Cloudy sunset: “Splitting relationship”

“Cloudy!!”

The brunette’s head turned over. Standing before her, his eyes stumbled upon the girl smiling up at him. For a moment, he had almost mistaken her for an angel, she never failed to look like one in these golden hours while the sun was setting. The sky was painted full of clouds, all surrendering the warmth of the sunlight that shone onto the kids’ faces.

The gentle zephyr breezed through the strands of her curly, long hair as he made his way to sit next to her on the dock. Both of their gazes fall upon the miniature wave of the water drifting into the light red thread in the sky.

♪Missed call from my mother, Like "Where you at tonight?" Got no alibi♪

“Are you okay? You seem like…”

The boy turned his head to face Astrid next to him. “Like what?”

Astrid tilted her head. “I dunno…you look like there’s a lot you wanna say…”

Her legs kicked back and forth, slightly hesitating to ask.

“What’s on your mind, Cloudy?”

There wasn’t an answer for several seconds, Cloud was equally hesitant, but after all, this was Astrid, a dear friend who’s been visibly obvious in her support for him. He sighed.

“...I wanna be a SOLDIER.”

“SOLDIER? Wouldn’t that mean you’d…have to leave off for Midgar…?”

The girl’s eyes softened, a hint of sadness hidden within her green eyes. She knew what that meant.

“..We won’t be seeing each other for a while.” Cloud’s head remained low, avoiding eye contact.

“..Yeah…” Astrid sighed. “Well…is it what you want to do? To become a hero?”

“…It’s not just that.” The blonde picked up a knee and leaned against it. “I wanna impress someone.”

The girl’s head tilted to the side. “Hmm? I-Impress someone?”

“Yeah…I want to impress her. So I thought that becoming a hero as good as Sephiroth would finally make her notice me in…a new way.”

“R…really??” The smile widened on Astrid’s face. “May I ask…why?”

“..Because...” Cloud hesitated with a sigh, pink painted faintly on his cheeks. He was quite open with Astrid, so why not be honest with her? “..I like her.”

This was it.

Those three simple words made Astrid’s heart rush faster.

He didn’t even have to say that he felt the same for her. She just…knew it.

Was he finally going to confess? Was he finally going to tell his love for her? He’s always been so unusually affectionate to her even if it was just as a “friend”…she knew this was going to be it.

…This was it, wasn’t it?

She made up her mind: She’ll go in for the first move.

“You know, Cloudy…” Her legs swung in a light rhythm, the excitement within her heart felt like bursting out of its cage like a wild animal. Cloud turned his head to her as she spoke.

“...You’re great with the way you are…you don’t need to prove or impress anything to anyone. I think you’re amazing and already a hero to me just by being an amazing friend but…I like you, for you and you only Cloudy~.”

The smile remained brightly on her face, a warm glow of red flushed to Astrid’s cheeks. She could’ve sworn the blonde shot a momentarily smirk for a second.

But then…he turned back to face the sunset and…and then came back in silence.

…What went wrong? Did the words come out too weird and awkward? Was he trying to find his own words to express his feelings?

“Thanks Astrid, but…I don’t know if she’ll think the same as you.”

Wait…what?

“Wh…wh-what do you mean…?” Astrid’s smile slowly faded.

“I like Tifa but…I don’t think she’ll feel the same. That’s why I wanna impress her.”

[...]

Oh.

“I know it’s…surprising. Especially since Tifa and I aren’t the closest.”

Astrid didn’t even realize how widened her eyes were. Surely it wasn’t only surprising, but shocking. Her little heart remained at that same speeding pace, but this time, it was all for the wrong reasons. Had she misread his signals? Shouldn’t she be happy either way? Shouldn’t she have known this all along? Where was the part she had missed about Cloud’s feelings for Tifa?

…Does…Tifa like him as well…?

There were too many questions buzzing in the girl’s head. She couldn’t think straight.

“...That’s okay.”

Stupidly, those were the only words she could put together. Nothing more, nothing less.

The boy looked at her, he noticed how awfully quiet she’s been since he told her his crush.

“...The heart wants what it wants Cloudy…There’s…” She forced a soft smile. “...nothing…wrong with that.”

They both were one with the silence. The sun was slowly fading into the clouds, and so was Astrid’s fake smile; she badly wanted to cry her heart out but…this is her friend, her happiness, and if this was how he felt…then she knew well that she should be happy for him too.

“...When will you tell her?” The brunette spoke up, her green eyes glued on the sun’s disappearance.

“Hm?” Cloud’s turned to her.

“Your feelings for her…” Likewise, Astrid’s eyes met his blue ones. “When will you tell her?”

He looked away momentarily, this had him thinking of what time would be the perfect time to confess to Tifa. “I’ll be telling her about it tonight but...do you think it’d be best to confess when I come back?” He looked back at her. “Do you think…she’ll like me too…if I became a SOLDIER..?”

“I…I-I don’t know….” The tone was hinting at her breaking apart. Even she realized she couldn’t keep it together for long..

Cloud stuttered a bit on her response, he didn’t expect her to know but…it did in a way made him insecure about his idea.

It took all her strength and force to spark a small smile back onto the corner of Astrid’s lips.

“B-But….no matter what….”

Astrid faced Cloud with that radiant happiness she always carried around him, hoping that it wasn’t forced this time though.

“...I-I’ll be there for whatever happens between you too…just like what we shook on.”

“Thanks Astrid…and if I haven’t said it…” Cloud itched the back of his head shyly. “...You’re a great friend too.”

It never existed.

His feelings for her.

His protection for her.

His love for her.

…Only to realize they were merely just feelings for a very, dear friend.

And that those feelings…had been built off of imagination.

It got darker soon, as the sun sunsetted early behind more dense clouds that surrendered the remaining light left. The young blonde knew it was time to head back home.

“Before I leave…I want to give you this back.”

As they stood facing each other, Cloud took off the gold necklace that hung from his neck from under his shirt, handing it in Astrid’s palms.

“You…don’t want it anymore?” She looked up at him with hurt hidden in her eyes.

Cloud shook his head. “I just…don’t want to lose it somewhere in Midgar. I think it’s safer with you.”

She looked down at the necklace. “D-Does it…still mean something to you…?”

“Of course it does.” Cloud responded softly. “That’s…why I’m scared to lose it.”

“...Yeah.” Her fingers curled on top of the jewel before looking back up to him. “...I’ll keep it safe…for us.”

Astrid could feel her eyes water up, and as a desperation attempt to hide her emotions, she hugged him suddenly.

It took Cloud by surprise, not being used to affection that comes out of nowhere. “A-Astrid…?”

He could sense something was wrong, her grip refused to let him go. Eventually the young blonde relaxed. This was Astrid after all…a girl of nothing but love to give for others. His arms gently wrapped around her slowly.

“Calm down...you’ll see me again.” Cloud awkwardly muttered.

Astrid was having a hard time focusing on what he said, being that she was in between keeping her breathing from becoming shaky and not letting him see the few tears that failed to stay behind eyelids.

She was able to eventually clear her mind temporarily from his comforting touch, although she knew she had to let him go at some point, so she did.

“S-Sorry…I-I….I don’t know why I did that…” She looked down, a bit ashamed of herself.

“Hey….don’t worry ‘bout it, K?” Cloud reassured her before having to make his farewell to her. “Well…I gotta go now…”

Cloud began walking away from her.

“Cloudy..”

Until she called for him for one last time.

He turned over to look at her, standing under the spotted, clouded sky, her hands held closely to her heart. Her smile was as sweet as it could look.

“I….wish you nothing but the best for you.”

. . . . .

Her hand hurt so much when clutching hard on the jewel of the necklace.

Well….Astrid definitely knew what a heartbreak was now if she wasn’t gonna feel it later.

Describing her as a sobbing mess would be an understatement, it was hard to make less noise but she just had faith that no one would check on her.

She felt ridiculous, crying over a boy after teaching herself not to care about what others think of her, and yet the thought of her own crush not feeling the same way she does for him bothered her?

Astrid, grow up…you’re better than this.

The young brunette sat up, caressing her cheek dry from the rest of her tears. Looking out from her window, the stars faced down on her brightly. She remembered how Cloud was supposed to meet up with Tifa tonight, just thinking about it made her hear their voices, but it was just difficult to imagine how they’d be together. Would they be happy? Would it work out? Would she….finally notice him like he had hoped for?

It was what he wanted, after all. And she knew.

That night before sleeping, Astrid had vowed never to fall for her friend like that again.

Pink sunset: "Budding romance"

“Cloud…I think you should talk to Astrid. I mean…really talk to her.”

“...You’re right, Tifa.”

. . . . .

The moment she felt fingers curl around her hand, all the thoughts and worries blurred the instant her gaze met with stunning, angelic blue eyes. She was so caught up in her own thoughts, Astrid hadn’t even noticed Cloud’s presence crawl up from behind whatsoever.

“Astrid…”

The blonde softly muttered from his lips, almost sounding like a whisper. Astrid struggled to talk, he could see how hard she was trying to either talk or not break down in front of him. She truly looked as if she knew that the world was gonna end that night.

Well.

That’s because the world is ending.

She was clearly scared as a result. A part of her was trying its best to be strong, something that her own cousin, Aerith, would do, but she felt as if she wasn’t brave enough, then she’d have to carry the burden of disappointment. Well, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways if the planet’s life was coming to an end, would it now?

Cloud softly sighed, he acknowledged her suffering and saved her from the trouble of responding to him. He got closer to her, his eyes looking down at her in empathy. He softly spoke in his lowest tone.

“..Let’s get off the Highwind for the night. Just…the two of us.”

He didn’t need to hear her say ‘yes.’

Her eyes said it all.

♪Can you even imagine fallin' like I did for the love of my life?♪

Their hands remained stuck together. Each moment that passed they held on slightly tighter, giving a few squeezes every now and as they walked onto the rocky mountain, decorated in patches of green here and there. They stopped at the top, their skin basking under the warm, pink-casted light of the sunset that they were both facing. They stood there, soft wisps of wind fluttering the tips of their hair gently. Their eyes locked gaze with the beautifully painted sky, the rosie scenery that resided in their nostalgic memories and hearts.

It was exactly why the image of it being ripped and wrecked by the giant meteor beast scared them. They both flinched. It was clear that they were thinking of the exact same thought.

“I-It always felt like…the sunset either brings us closer or…drags us apart…each time we bask in its light…”

Cloud turned to her, watching her slowly walk away from him and creating more distance. It felt like a wave of relief washing over him upon hearing the brunette’s soft voice, but he can feel her worries and sadness louder than her own words.

“...But r-right now…I can’t tell what it feels like…” Her green eyes shift down to the ground. “...A part of me feels like….all of this…is my fault…”

Cloud mouth slightly parted, blinking in disbelief.

“The reason for how we got here and…why we’re here…you know well that I don’t deserve a moment like this Cloud…”

She sighed gently, then turned back to face Cloud with slightly watery eyes.

“...You didn’t just take us down here for the scenery…didn’t you?”

“...No.”

Cloud paused before continuing.

“...But you know well why I brought you here, and all I want…is to hear you say that reason.”

But here she was.

Eyes slightly widened at him, the state of shock was clear as crystal on her face. Her breath hitched as she immediately looked away, the red hotness creeping up her cheeks. She knew it’d only have been a matter of time until Cloud finally found what was in the depths of her heart, the feelings that she’d been trying her best to kill. The guilt was catching up, and the woman was at her limit of excuses to make.

She couldn’t tell if it would’ve been better for her to finally fess up to it, or if the world should’ve just ended right then and there.

She had been so lost in her doubtful thoughts she hadn’t realized Cloud standing right in front of her, her hands resting on his palms. She looked up through her lashes, and the blonde knew how fearful she was to tell him.

“Don’t be scared..” He gently gave her hands a few faint squeezes. “I’m not letting you do this alone. So…let’s both promise to be honest this time…deal?” Cloud tilted his head.

A deal huh.

If anything, maybe things would’ve been different had Astrid not come up with that similar scenario when they were younger. But even god knew they both needed it at some point in their lives.

Astrid seemed to calm down, nodding softly. Yet, the pit of anxiety in her stomach still rested comfortably, and it would only grow bigger the moment she opened her mouth. She’d have to, eventually.

“They all told me.” The blonde started.

“The lifestream….Tifa…Aerith…”

“They all wanted me to know about your feelings, Astrid.”

“In the lifestream…Tifa took me to you…during the time after I left…”

Astrid looked as if she had a million words to say, but she just couldn’t bring herself to even say a single word. She just looked away, the memories forcing her to relive the young pain she once swore to get over.

The blonde’s crystal eyes softened. “...I hurt you badly…didn’t I…”

Astrid’s hand wrapped around her arm, her chest elevated and softly fell back down as she sighed through her nose.

“...I never blamed you, Cloudy.” She let out a sigh-chuckle while humming to herself. “If it was never meant to be then….”

Once again, she couldn’t find the words. Cloud blinked, finally hearing Astrid’s inner feelings, as if she had another hidden heart that she had just revealed to him. A heart that’s been hurting…and he blames himself for it all.

Astrid looked over to his guilty expression, one that can be rarely seen. And this…just devastated her more.

“C-Cloud…i-it’s not your fault..” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “...I promise…i-it really isn’t..”

“If there’s one thing that can put me at ease right now…it’s to hear you talk to me, Astrid.” Every one of his words filled to the brim with sincerity. “You’ve always had an ear to everyone else…but there wasn’t once anyone’s returned the favor for you…I wanna change that, right here, right now.”

…He had a point.

“Please Astrid…you don’t have to hide your feelings anymore…especially not with…me.” His hand reached up to her cheek and lifted her head up to look at him. “...Please.” Cloud whispered gently.

…And he was right.

It had to be said at one point. All those feelings. Those memories. Those heartaches…

She took a deep breath, sighing away the small emotional rock that was stuck in her throat.

“...I-If anything…it’s my fault.” She looked off to the side, ashamed. “I should’ve never fallen for you in the first place…”

She shook her head.

“...but even so…it was like I was never allowed to get over it completely…even when I saw you again I…I wasn’t even sure how to be myself around you like I used to…” The brunette bit her lip.

The blonde started to realize. “...When I changed, so did you…”

She looked back at him to face him.

“But….no matter what…there were always those feelings we had for each other that stuck with us, huh…”

. . .

F…

Feelings…?

Our…feelings…?

Does he….also…?

“C-Cloud…”

Her body had a mind of its own.

Not realizing the closed-in space between herself and Cloud, her hands rested upon his chest, fingers curling into a hard grip at his shirt. Her form was kept still by the strength of Cloud's arms wrapped around her, hands resting up on her lower back. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blonde’s crystal blue orbs.

So full of emotion…

So full of feelings…feelings that can’t be put into simple, plain words…

It was a naturally magnetic feeling. Each second pulled each other closer, both having the strongest urge imaginable to get even more closer. It was like..they were both revealing their true selves to each other…

Oh…

How much she missed him…

How she missed his true self…

The Cloud she once knew and fell in love with all those years ago…

…

“I promise….never to fall for you again.”

The remembrance of that oath gave Astrid’s heart a sudden jolt. She snapped herself awake from the sweet dream that clouded her thoughts, finally gaining back control of her senses and only to realize that the real she knew Cloud didn’t feel like this for her.

He never did, never would either.

Those thoughts alone made her pull herself away from his arms. Tears overwhelmed her eyes, making them glossy and brighter to the reflection of the light. It was clear she wanted to cry, but something held her back, not allowing her to let the droplets escape from her eyes.

“I…I-I shouldn’t…I can’t…!”

Her hands formed into fists, a sign that she was still clenching hard on her remaining hidden feelings.

“...I can’t fall in love with the boy whose heart was never meant for me…a-again…”

She was scared, afraid to fall in love with him, only to have her heart crushed to pieces all over again with the unfortunate truth.

It was deja vu to the both of them.

But this time.

Cloud could see…her.

His heart was at its fullest with his honest feelings for her.

And he wanted her to know.

Every.

Single.

Bit of it.

“Astrid…”

Cloud’s eyes gave the softest look, he badly wanted to make amends with the fear he caused in Astrid’s heart. He wanted to prove his feelings innocent, that they were honest, from the bottom of his heart, and from his own real self, the same one who had been too blind to see how all of her past efforts were all out of nothing but the love she had for him. It was the same love for him that’s trapped in her but..

Only he had the key to unlock the trust of her love for him again.

“Whether this may be the last night we’re together like this…or we’ll have more nights to talk…just to get closer each time...it wouldn’t matter. I feel the closest to you at this moment, but if I’m never able to fix the trust of your feelings for me…then I’ll always be afraid…”

He drew closer.

“...Because I now know…I hurt the one girl that’s always understood me…”

His hand cupped her cheek once more. A single tear rolled softly down her cheek.

“...And it was the biggest mistake I could’ve ever made..”

“....C….Cloud…”

“...Is there any way I can fix this…?”

More tears started to spill, slowly. Cloud’s voice becomes a soft whisper. Astrid’s lips quivered, the more she looked into his eyes, the more she saw how serious he was about her.

“B-By knowing how I feel, Cloud…. th-that’s all I want…all I need..” Her voice was shaken up. “I-I never wanted to say a thing to you, I vowed not to…I-I knew I could never be the one for you…I kn-knew that there was always g-going to be someone else for you…. a-anyone but me…”

It was clear he was fighting for her trust again, and it was equally clear that it’s working. It was stinging Astrid’s heart in so many ways at the thought of this finally being her moment to finally accept her own feelings for him.

Their moment.

“No…you convinced yourself that Astrid.” Cloud brought himself closer to her slowly, trying to break her walls break by break at an unrushed pace. “...You were always there in my mind even when I didn’t realize it..”

“You understood my feelings for the longest time…but I hadn’t known about your broken heart that you were trying to fix by yourself..”

He slowly leaned near her ear, blonde strands brushed against Astrid’s cheeks softly..

“You can’t do everything on your own all your life….y’know?”

He….remembered….

Finally, Astrid was speechless through tears, her arms thrown around Cloud’s form as she stuttered through her sobs. It was all going so fast yet time seemed to slow down to a halt.

Being in Cloud’s arms felt like a lifetime, despite all the times they lost together had she fessed up earlier…it didn’t matter now though. She felt like a huge weight was washed down even through the crying.

Soft lips were planted on her head…but Cloud knew they were far from being done.

. . . . .

♪She's got glow on her face, a glorious look in her eyes♪

By now the sky’s hues were radiating with magenta-purples, a sign of nighttime approaching.

He held her close, laying on a soft patch of grass with his hands entangled in her reddish-brown waves of hair. To the sound of his gentle heartbeats, Astrid’s breathing did its best to regulate itself after crying.

Once she was ready…she spoke up.

“Cloud..I…I’m ready…”

The man’s arms loosened around her waist, facing the emerald eyes that reflected the remaining light of the sunset. Some hair rested upon her nose, to which he brushed off slowly and tucked it behind her ear.

“I never really cared about what others thought of me but…after that growing connection we had…it really stung upon realizing how I had conjured those memories as romantic when…it wasn’t true. After that I promised never to fall for you again but…” She chuckled. “...I guess fate didn’t like the idea of me truly giving those feelings up, when your true self was starting to melt from the ice…so did my feelings…and it hurt even more knowing how I knew I fell over again for someone who was….already in love…”

“Maybe I was, but…”Cloud’s hand rested still on her cheek. “...in the end, it all led me back to you.”

Seeing him move closer, she was at her last chance at resisting.

Instead however, as her mind reeled every memory.

Every memory of her heartaches…

Every memory of him…

Every memory of the times he’s spent with her…

Oh, Astrid…

You’re not just childly in love; you want to spend the rest of your days and nights with him, don’t you?

She wanted to spend her evenings with him outdoors and watching every glorious sunset with a feeling of reassurance, knowing that tomorrow she’ll wake up to see the same loving, blue eyes that glowed in her own times of darkness. To hold him gently through his pains, watch him smile when he knows that everything will be okay…

Yes…this was what she wanted to fight for….

The only sounds that they could hear were each other’s heartbeats as their lips interlocked.

♪My angel of light…♪

Red sunset: "Passionate love"

Soft glows of red streaks filled the bedroom across through the blinds. She closed the door, soaking up the serenity atmosphere as she faced her lover that she hadn’t seen for a week, an apologetic look at his face spoke for itself.

“Astrid…I-I’m sorry..”

“I know you are, Cloud..”

The brunette walked over to the bed, sitting next to him as he avoided eye contact. He felt ashamed abandoning her ever since geostigma had caught up to Denzel.

“I also didn’t know how to fight that battle…all those years of…mourning over her put me off from learning anything more of my heritage.” Astrid sighed, she too was in deep regret of how she had handled things. “...I’m glad to know that we’re getting stronger now…and to know that we have others that I can call…family…”

Family…

Oh how lovely that word sounded…something they both hadn’t heard since they were little, something they had longed for once more.

“....That includes you, Cloudy…” Astrid reached for his cheek, turning his head gently to face the loving look in her eyes. “...so we’re not letting you go off to face the impossible alone no matter what…got that?”

“Yeah…”

A faint tint of red appeared on his cheeks. He felt warm from her words and lingering touches, her thumb brushing some of his blonde spikes behind his ear. Cloud took his gloves off before removing her hand from his face, taking a good look at her palms whilst caressing its softness…

So soft…

“They wouldn’t have cured if it wasn’t for you…~”

The blonde smiled, his heartbeat steadied at a relaxed pace. She didn’t wince or feel any pain when he applied some pressure onto it with his thumbs, unlike when it was infected. The look of joy on his face was unforgettable upon washing away the geostigma from her hands, knowing that he’d be able to hold her hand again.

“This is a future that we fought for…” His hands held Astrid’s, looking into her eyes. “...so I won’t let it go to waste again. I promise.”

“Cloudy…you don’t have to promise…because you already know it’s what we want…”

♪I was all alone with the love of my life♪

Astrid closed the leftover gap between them with a tender kiss. Saying that they missed the feeling of locking their soft lips with one another was an understatement, they practically yearned their touch after what they had been through. They couldn’t keep their hands to themselves no matter how hard they tried to resist. They separated in between kisses for air but they had no plans on stopping any time soon.

Slowly, they ended up laying together. Cloud crawled on top of his petite girlfriend while cradling her legs up his thighs, his hand caressed up her waist tenderly under her shirt.

At some point their loving stares locked with each other, Cloud’s thumb rubbed her bottom lip with a strip of red light streaking over it as well. It was obvious how much he wanted to take things a step further, telling by the look in his eyes that she knows all too well how to read.

“I missed this…I missed you…” He absolutely longed to reveal his unconditional love to her.

Sparks burned brighter with each kiss that led to a more passionate connection. Fire prickled at Cloud’s fingertips all the more as he stroked further up her form, craving to hold her smaller body into his loving embrace, it felt like his whole world was in his very arms…

It was a fresh breath of air to know he was in the same room as her, the same bed as her again…just like how it should be…

“...C-Cloudy…~” The pace of the girl’s heartbeat quickened from the euphoric state, she wanted him as much as he wanted her that moment.

. . . . .

The warm lovers were tied up together in cuddles and kisses. Cloud’s mouth buried on Astrid’s head whilst tangling his fingers through her wavy hair.

“Astrid..?”

♪She's got glitter for skin, my radiant beam in the night♪

He didn’t get a response from her, she must’ve been tired out. He smirked while giving a tender peck on her head. Just from that, she snuggled up closer to his chest which earned a chuckle from him. She was the absolute cutest in every way possible in his eyes, he could feel the fireworks in his chest go off with happiness to have her warm and safe in his arms again…

“I love you…~”

He slowly dozed off to the sound of a muttered "I love you too."

Golden sunset: “Long-living love”

Ding ding!

The bells rang in rhythm with sounds of footsteps that followed.

“Ah! Sorry but we’re closed..” Astrid’s eyes didn’t leave her focus on organizing the money in the cash register.

Tifa giggled in the back when she realized that her own friend hadn’t even noticed who just walked in. “Astrid…look up silly!”

“Huh?” She hadn’t even taken notice of the shadow approaching her until a familiar gloved hand was placed on the counter in front of her. “Cloudy~!!” The young brunette raced around the counter and threw her arms around her boyfriend gleefully, having him return the affection with his left arm while his right one was holding a small decorated box.

“For a moment I was worried that I wasn’t welcomed back~”

“Don’t worry I was just distracted…Tifa and I were just tidying up some things. I just need to bring the rest of the tools upsta-”

“Allow me!” Tifa hurried over to grab the rest of the stuff before Astrid could get to it. She giggled and winked at the two. “Gotta let the couple of the night have their deserved rest~” Tifa winked and walked out of the room before either two could reply.

“She seems…oddly chipper all of a sudden…” Astrid remarked, it confused her to how Tifa had just rushed out so fast. She looked back up to Cloud after hearing a soft chuckle escape from his throat, he had a smile that screamed he was hiding something as he averted his eyes. Astrid noticed and got even more confused. “Hey, why the mischievousness? Do you two…know something that I don’t?”

Astrid placed one hand on her hip and the other on the counter beside her, leaning towards Cloud with an eyebrow lifted to interrogate him. He didn’t reply, instead he simply placed the small box that was in his and pushed it towards her. The girl’s green eyes widened at the beautifully detailed box with a gold ribbon and a red rose attached to it.

“...I think this package will answer your question~”

She let out a soft giggle and shook her head at his attempt at distracting her.

But as she carefully peeled at the wrapping, her heart slowly increased its pace.

“C-Cloud…”

“Open it Astrid…”

♪I don't need no light to see you shine♪

This girl could’ve been shaking from the excitement upon lifting the box open, facing a glittering golden ring, a mold of the yellow lily’s petals was circulated around a shining blue gem, reflecting the golden light off of its flat sides.

“Oh my…C-Cloud…I-I..!” Her mind was still reeling at the fact that Cloud had just proposed to her and she didn’t even acknowledge how much she was crying her eyes out, not until her now-fiancé reached to caress the tears off of her cheek with his thumbs gently.

“Astrid..?”

Through tears, Astrid lunged herself in a hug with him. “Yes Cloudy! I will marry you!! You mean the world to me!! I love you so so s~o much…!” Her arms tightened around him, it caused his heart to flutter with a loving smile that followed up.

Hearing a tap on the door window that Tifa had left from, Cloud could still see her presence whilst she raised two thumbs up and a wide grin plastered on the woman’s face for encouragement. The man smiled, he was the happiest in that moment. He wanted to see her excitement last for the rest of their days, to hold her like this forevermore…

That wasn’t the only thing that Cloud is giving however.

“Ah right, I almost forgot…” He gently held Astrid’s arms for her to loosen her grip, allowing him to pull something else from his bag.

A pen and a marriage certificate.

“Just sign here…Astrid Strife~”

♪It’s your golden hour~♪

#🌠⇢oc x canon #[🌿]astrid lovelyn #[🌅]cloustrid #Cloud Strife x oc #Cloud x oc #Cloud Strife x reader #Cloud x reader #final fantasy vii #ff7 #oneshot

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slashersthings · 11 months

Text

First Meetings// Billy Loomis x Fem! Reader

The first time you met Billy Loomis was at a party that Stu Macher was throwing.

It was a Saturday night like any other. Your friend Emily had begged and pleaded with you to come along with her and another longtime friend of yours - Josh, to this wild party that Stu was hosting. Josh and Stu were buddies, and since Emily and Josh were dating - you felt obligated to tag along.

Plus, you didn’t have any other plans for the night anyway.

So after a long day of work, you went home, showered and changed into a cute black party dress. It was cut a little shorter than your usualstyle, but you liked that. So, after a quickglance over at yourself in the mirror, you head for the door and open it, making sure to be quiet as you crept down the stairs.

You weren’t sure why you still felt as if you hadto sneak out of your parents house. You were a twenty-one year old - old enough to know wrong and right, certainly old enough to drink in a bar without a fake id and obviously old enough to be able to leave and go hang out with some friends without telling your parents first.

But yet… you still found yourself sneaking out to your car with a sigh. It took less than twenty minutes to arrive at Stu’s house, and once you did, you found that quite a few other people had already arrived.

Emily, having arrived before you, made a dash over to your car once she spotted you. She had a red solo cup in her one hand, the other she threw around your shoulder, “You made it!”

“Yeah, seems I’m a little late.”

“Nah, the party just started.”

She leads you inside the house, practically dragging you to the liquor table. You grab your own solo cup and pour some punch into it.

“So where’s Josh?”

“Over there somewhere.” Emily gestures off in the direction of the patio, “Talking to Stu and some other guys.”

You take a sip of the punch. “I should go say hi.”

“Be my guest. I’ll be there in a second.”

You nod and make your way over to the open patio, finding Josh outside like Emily said he’d be, along with Stu and a few other people you didn’t know. “Oh, look who it is.” Josh greets you with a grin and side hug when you walk over to him.

“Staying out of trouble?”

“Always.”

You laugh, shrugging out of his embrace. Stu Was watching you both with a grin of his own.

“Hey, Y/N. Long time no see.”

“Right back at ya, Stu.”

One of the other guys that was hanging outside had stood, garnering your attention when you looked over at him. The first thing you noticed about him was his muscles, the next was his glorious messy hair that you wanted to run your fingers through.

His dark eyes land on you as he makes his wayover, muttering something to Stu as he heads back inside the house.

Something inside you felt a deep urge to follow him into the house, but when Josh grabs your arm and leads you further away, you push those thoughts down and focus on the party.

—

It wasn’t until an hour later did you run into that guy again. This time he was by himself in the kitchen, sipping out of a solo cup as he leaned against the sink. Once he spotted you, his lips curled into a smirk. “We meet again.”

You awkwardly enter the kitchen, trying like hell to play it cool. “Yeah.”

“You can come in further, I don’t bite.” He was referring to the fact that you were hanging out in the doorway, and you mentally curse yourself for how stupid that looked.

“Good to know.”

“I mean, unless you want me to.”

You blush at the mere thought. “Right.”

“So, whatcha drinking?”

“That god awful punch.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, that’s why I stick to a go to. It’s always better than some random punch.”

He plucks a bottle of vodka off the counter that had been hiding behind his back, wiggling it in the air invitingly. “Want some?”

You eagerly hold out your solo cup, watching as he pours you a decent amount. “Thanks.”

“Cheers.” He clinks his cup against yours. It didn’t take long for you both to knock back your drinks and shortly after, this guy was pouring you another one.

“Trying to get me drunk?”

“Not at all. Just figured you wanted another.”

Well, he was right. “Thanks.”

“So what’s your name?”

You pause to sip your drink, then say, “Y/N.”

“Nice name.”

You notice he doesn’t offer up his own name.

But not wanting to be rude, you don’t ask him for it. Clearly he didn’t want you to know it.

Probably had a girlfriend.

Shit, why did that thought bother you?

“You blanking out on me here?”

His voice breaks your reverie, and you chuckle, “Sorry. Just thinking about things.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Whatcha thinking about? Me?”

His brazen statement has your eyes rolling. Even though he was sort of right. “No.” Lie.

“Your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

You take note of how he sort of seemed relieved to hear that. “A pretty thing like you should.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

His smirk returns. “Among other things.”

You wanted to ask what the other things were, but as soon as you start to, a few other people enter the kitchen, and you watch as he slowly makes his way over to you.

Your eyes widen when he bends his head, lips brushing against your ear. Your heart was racing so fast, you were sure he noticed.

“My name’s Billy, by the way.”

He leans back, and your eyes locked on his lips.

You wanted him to kiss you so badly.

“See you around, Y/N.”

And just like that, he was gone.

But little did you know, you’d see him again.

Like literally the next day at work.

#pt 2 to my other billy x reader fic #this is a prequel to that though #this is now a long fanfic #billy loomis x reader #billy loomis #stu macher #scream

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da-mous · 6 months

Text

Every day, from the day he arrived to the day I escaped, I hid in my room from the monster who lived in my house. The monster my mom seemed to love more than her daughter

If I stayed out of sight, maybe he would forget about me, and he wouldn't come charging up the stairs to pull open my skull and scream into it again

Sometimes I was right for a month. Sometimes it was only an hour. But he would always come again. Charging up the stairs without warning, tearing open my skull, screaming into me. Jets of blood from his throat leaking into my brain, pooling inside my skull while I apologized profusely for deserving it yet again. Sometimes he screamed about one mistake I'd made. Sometimes it was every mistake I'd made since he came here. Sometimes he screamed about how his father would come home every day when he was a pup and tear into him with his gigantic teeth. But it was always my fault.

I should have just been grateful it wasn't as bad as being cut open by an even bigger monster so teeth every day

As my body grew away from me, as my friendships started lasting shorter and shorter, as I started to lose hope I could ever stop deserving this, I found more and more patches of his white fur growing on my body. Whatever I couldn't hide under my clothes I'd tear out of my skin. It hurt like hell, but monsters deserve to hurt

Even after I became an adult and escaped, I could still feel his blood coursing through my body, through my head, through my heart. I felt strong every time I tore out his fur. As the years passed it would take root more firmly in my skin, and so when I tore it out it would take patches of my skin with it, and his blood would pour out of my body in red streams. It was soothing to watch and it hurt like fucking hell and it was what a monster deserved

I spent years in isolation, keeping my distance from good people. I regularly tore out his fur, watching his irredeemable blood leave my body, until I was sure I was a good person too. Then I went out to find new people to bring into my life, to cherish and to thrive with. They wouldn't leave like all my friends did growing up. The monster had finally left my body

I made a home with some amazing, gentle, forgiving people. It went well, and it was everything I ever wanted. Until his fur started growing in faster and stronger. Every time I was told I had made a mistake, I would tear out some of his fur and show them his blood leaving my body, showing them I wasn't like him. Please. I'm not like him. I'm not him. This is all I've ever wanted. Please!!

His claws started to replace my fingernails, and I used them to hold my loved ones as close as I could

I learned to hide myself away in my room, to protect them from the monster, but when I did see them again I would dig his claws in deeper, holding them there with me. They didn't tell me I was turning into a monster. I already knew

I cursed him out. I tore and tore at his fur, finding more and more catharsis in showing myself, showing everyone, that I wasn't an unforgivable monster like he was

Until they finally left for good.

I sat, curled into a monstrous ball among the shattered glass of my mirror, the apologies I never got to make echoing through my empty home. They finally left because I'm a monster, because I'm just like him. Just as terrifying, just as evil, just as unforgivable. The absence of their forgiveness echoed louder off the barren walls than my apologies to them

Just barely visible in a small shard of the mirror was a little monster, curled into a ball, sobbing to herself. Terrified, because she'll never see her loved ones again. Or because she's just a kid, who will never be ready for the next time he comes charging up those stairs. Or... because his father hated him. Because he had no power to avoid being crushed between his own father's massive teeth. Because surely all he needed to feel secure, safe from those teeth, was control. However he had to get it. By screaming a child into submission or by digging his claws into his terrified partner's flesh

He... I mean I... I mean we, looked so small, so alone in this little shard. I tried to reach out to us, but my claws just dripped my loved ones' blood onto their image. There, in the shard, was my monstrous face, among droplets of the blood of the ones I held closest. My face, surrounded by my white fur. Vulnerable, afraid, alone all over again

I wrapped my patchy, bleeding, furry arms around myself in a hug, and so did the crying little monster in the shard. And as I did, my claws retracted. I hadn't known they could do that...

I held myself close, and thus I held him close too

"I forgive you"

#mouswords

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separatist-apologist · 10 months

Text

The Fire Won't Burn Me

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

for @elucienweekofficial

Summary: Princess Elain Archeron wants nothing more than to be reunited with her missing youngest sister and to see her father finally emerge from the fog of grief he's been living under since her mother died. When her step mother arranges for her older sister to fetch her youngest to celebrate Elain's impending engagement to a neighboring prince, it seems like she'll get her wish. That is, until her father's fearsome huntsman steps in and wrecks it all. Now she's on the run, hiding in the forest to keep herself- and her heart- intact.

In her quest to understand why someone would want her heart carved from her chest, Elain will have to reconcile what it means to truly be the fairest of them all

With Lucien gone, it didn’t take Elain long to slip back into her usual routine. She cleaned up the uneaten food from the night before, privately lamenting the waste. If she’d had known…if she had known, she’d have made nothing at all. She ate some of it after Lucien vanished in the woods without a second look back. Elain didn’t know why the sight of his retreating back made her so uneasy.

She’d heard stories of men who, when they’d gotten what they wanted, left and never returned. That wasn’t Lucien—she knew it wasn’t. And still, Elain’s discomfort remained no matter how many times she ran her thumb over the delicate pearl banded against her finger.

With the cottage clean, Elain took herself outside to put feed out for the birds and then she’d start dinner. By the time she finished, Lucien would be on his way back and stomping snow all over her freshly washed floors. Elain smiled at the thought, rubbing at her chest in an attempt to ease the ache.

“Hello!”

A cheerful voice cut through the snowy cold. Elain turned, surprised to see a rather sweet older woman, hunched beneath a cloak…and a basket of apples in hand. Elain had always assumed those apples were coming from Jurian. Her heart swelled when she realized someone from the village had been trekking out all this way just to give her something.

“Oh, hi! Please, let me take that from you.”

“You’re too sweet.” Upon closer inspection, the woman, who was several inches shorter than the already small Elain, had the strangest colored eyes. While the rest of her was lined with age, her eyes were coal black and bright as jewels. Gray hair tumbled around her shoulders, neatly curled and brushed. Her cloak slithered along the ground, fraying at the edges but clearly fine material.

Elain’s unease heightened. A silly thing, given the woman smiling before her with those yellowing teeth didn’t seem capable of harming a fly, let alone Elain.

“Please, come in from the cold,” Elain offered, even though she knew she shouldn’t. It was just…what kind of monster sent a sweet old lady back into the snow after she’d come all this way with a gift? The least Elain could do was let her rest her feet by the fire and make her something to eat.

“I would like that.”

Elain held the door open while the woman hobbled in, favoring one leg over the other. She was harmless, and Elain was just jumpy. Lucien was going to return, they would be married, and everything would be okay. He’d take her away, would help her figure out how to save Nesta from the enchanted sleep she was under. Everything was going to be okay.

He loved her. He loved her and she knew that, so what was she so worried about? Elain hurried forward, gripping the woman by her elbow until she collapsed to the couch.

“Thank you. I’m not as spry as I once was,” she groaned, rubbing slow circles against knees hidden under a jewel green dress. “You’ll understand that someday.”

Elain busied herself in the kitchen, smiling at the thought. “If I’m lucky.”

There was a pause between Elain filling the sink to wash her apples. She’d never seen such perfect fruit. Not one blemish, not a bruise or even a bug. They bobbed in the water, clear when there should have been dirt.

“You think it's lucky to age?” Elain’s visitor asked, curiosity lacing her voice. “I think it's a curse.”

Considering Elain had narrowly escaped having her heart carved from her body, she nodded. “Yes, I think it would be very lucky to live a long life.”

“We’ll see how you feel when you’re my age.”

“Surely it can’t be that bad,” Elain said with a smile, plucking an apple from the water to wipe on the front of her apron. “You’ve had a long, lovely life, right?”

“A very long life,” she replied, cocking her head to watch Elain. Unconcerned, Elain bit into the fruit, delighted by the candy-like sweetness that flooded her mouth. For a moment, it was utter bliss. It might have been the best thing she’d ever tasted. Elain turned to the sink, thinking that she’d made tarts for Lucien, who would likely die over the loveliness of the apples.

Elain swallowed thickly, surprised by how coated her throat felt. How sticky her senses had become. Gripping the edge of the sink, Elain forced a breath through her nose.

“Trouble, darling?”

Elain’s blood ran cold. She knew that voice. Turning, she found the old woman gone—replaced by her stepmother sitting on her little, ragged couch like her surroundings were beneath her. Elain swallowed.

“What—” Talking had become difficult. “What did you do?”

“I should have known not to trust a man. They’re so terribly shallow. Stupid creatures, I find. They only think with…well…I’m sure you know by now, judging by that pretty little ring on your finger. How funny,” she mused, rising from her place beside the fire to watch Elain with bright, clinical interest. Elain was struggling not just to breathe, but to keep her thoughts logical—it felt as if everything was slowing.

Poison.

“You ran from one prince straight into the arms of another. How relieved you must have been, knowing you weren’t falling in love with some poor…oh.”

Amarantha’s delight seemed so out of place with the choking sound coming from Elain’s throat. Prince? Lucien wasn’t a prince. Sure, he had good manners but she’d just assumed that came from his close proximity to the palace.

“He didn’t tell you. Delicious. Oh, darling, don’t look so miserable. Men are notorious liars. Even a Prince of Avalon…or especially a Prince of Avalon. That would be his fathers doing. I just assumed he must have told you, given he was trying to raise an army on your behalf. Poor, pathetic Elain. No one cares about you enough to tell you the truth.”

Elain’s knees buckled. Lucien. Lucien, who’d proposed, who’d promised to help her find Elain, had been trying to gather an army for her? She blinked away a tear Amarantha misread as hurt. It was such a Lucien thing to do, working quietly behind the scenes…likely agonizing over a secret she never would have cared about.

After all, her plan had always been to marry a Prince from Avalon, should everything fail.

Amarantha crouched before Elain on the floor, gripping her chin so tight her nails pricked beneath Elain’s skin. “Are you hoping for death? You should have taken it when I offered. Now I have to punish you and I so hate to see you suffer. Instead of a quick, merciful death, you will suffer just as your sister is.”

Elain slumped further, her body becoming rigid. Her breathing was slowing, vision spotty. Still, she could hear Amarantha’s whispered words, could feel her fingers drawing blood from Elain’s cheeks.

“I hope you enjoy this enchanted sleep. And I hope you enjoy it more knowing that there is someone who could save you—your true love is a prince, after all, and curses are so terribly specific. And while you wait for him, I want you to remember that I’ve sent him back to his father who will almost certainly kill him before little Lucien can ever reach you. For the rest of your long, immortal life, men will try and break your pretty little spell, and all of them will fail. Your true love will be rotting with the worms. Sleep well, sweet princess.”

Elain shuddered, eyes closing. It was hell to hear Amarantha’s horrible, ugly laugh. Her words bounced around Elain’s skull, doing the opposite of what they’d intended. If Amarantha hadn’t killed Lucien outright—and if she didn’t go back and do it now—Elain knew with absolute certainty that Lucien would find his way back to her.

Maybe Amarantha had won this round, but she wouldn’t win the war. Nesta was alive, too—and her curse could be broken. They’d find Feyre, they’d return, and together they’d kill her. Elain felt herself smile. It was her last little rebellion before the world around her shuttered into total darkness, leaving her immobilized with nothing but her dreams to keep her company.

Dreams of Lucien.

And of love.

LUCIEN:

“If you’ve come to kill me, you can get in fucking line,” Lucien snarled at his brother, pulling his knife from his boot. Eris laughed, head thrown back with amusement.

“Kill you? Lucien, we’re brothers. I’ve come to rescue you—”

“By taking me back to father?” Lucien demanded. Behind him, Vassa shifted with curiosity, not nearly as afraid as she ought to be. Eris dropped his hand to hold it in front of him as a sign of surrender.

“If your queen asks…yes. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“To what end?”

“You’re my brother and I never hated you,” Eris said in a clipped, almost cold tone. “And Beron is dead, which your ruler doesn’t seem to be aware of. So I’m taking you into my own custody, where you will be safe—”

“I need to get my wife,” Lucien interrupted, ignoring the huff of indignant air from behind him. “And I want you to promise Vassa sanctuary, too.”

“If we leave right now, that’s a possibility. Otherwise I’m taking you with me and she can rot. No offense.”

“None taken,” Vassa said sweetly, offering Eris her middle finger all the same. “After you, King Vanserra.”

Eris muttered something that was distinctly unkind, though Lucien didn’t care. Not when the door was wide open and he was leaving, not staying. It seemed too much to hope for that they wouldn’t have to fight their way out, but in the end, Lucien was given a hand sword and Vassa his hunting knife, and the three butchered their way through the halls until the sleek, onyx floors were slippery with blood. No Amarantha, and no sign of the king, either, which was just as well. Lucien was getting Elain and taking her straight to Avalon.

“With me,” Eris panted, his regal face dotted red from the carnage. “I have horses.”

“I don’t need a horse,” Lucien retorted, taking off for the woods. Snow was falling around him, dotting the landscape with pristine white powder. Behind him, Lucien heard Vassa yell his name with exasperation, but he simply didn’t care. He knew the way and could get there faster on foot.

It was stupid, given night was falling faster than his legs could carry him, and the woods were dangerous in the dark. No one knew that better than Lucien, who’d laid awake on more than one occasion listening to the animals bray and the poachers scream for mercy or help. None of which was available.

If he’d been smart, he would have gone back, bunked down for the night, and gone back in the morning. He couldn’t let Amarantha finish whatever she’d started. If he gave her any opportunity, he knew he’d lose Elain forever. So Lucien ran, praying to any god that might be listening for swift feet and a clear path through the ankle deep snow.

The moon was glittering high above the sky, bright despite the moody clouds filtering past, by the time Lucien reached Elain’s front door. He pushed it open, heart thudding loudly in his chest.

“Elain?”

“She’s not here.” Jurian’s gruff voice betrayed his grief, and Elain’s shattered furniture betrayed his rage.

“Where is she?”

“Hidden,” Jurian replied, wiping his eyes covertly. “That bitch came back looking for her and I…she’s not dead. Just asleep.”

“I need to see her,” Lucien breathed, coming closer to his friend. “Please.”

“And if you can’t break whatever curse she’s under? What then?” Jurian demanded.

“At least I tried. And if I fail, I’ll keep trying. I—”

But Jurian clapped his hand on Lucien’s shoulder, keeping him steady. “If you wake her, you take her far away from this place, prince.”

Jurian had kept that secret when he could have made a fortune betraying Lucien. It had always been unspoken between them, just as Elain’s identity had remained another of Jurian’s secrets. Lucien took a breath, waiting for Jurian to agree to what he’d say next.

“Come with me. With us. She’ll need people she can trust.”

Jurian scoffed. “To Avalon? And do what? Wipe my ass with your gold leaf paper?”

Lucien fought down a smile. “If that's what you want. I don’t care what you do, so long as you keep my wife safe.”

Jurian nodded his head. “Alright. The kings wages are paltry, anyway. I assume your father pays better?”

Lucien did smile a little, then. “Dead. But I’m sure my brother could be persuaded.” “He could not,” panted Eris, his face red from exertion. Beside him, Vassa shoved in, still filthy from the cell. Jurian hesitated for maybe the first time in his life, brown eyes wide with a mix of anger and concern.

“What…what happened to you?”

“Nothing I didn’t sort out,” she replied glibly, blue eyes shining with something Lucien thought he didn’t want to see any more of. Not right now, in this cottage that had once felt like home to him. Amarantha’s singular talent was ruining everything she touched, the utter opposite of Elains.

“Well,” Jurian said, his gruffness returning to his voice even has color rose in his cheeks, “let's see if true love prevails this time.”

Lucien didn’t dare look at his brother, nor did he pay Vassa any mind when she fell into step beside Jurian, who was likely to tell Lucien to go fuck himself if the princess offered him a place in her court.

Assuming she even had a court. For all they knew, Amarantha had swept in and destroyed everything, leaving Vassa a princess without a kingdom. Maybe Eris would give her a place to stay, too. Avalon was mighty—it could not be broken by the small territory of Ellesmere, even if their queen was a witch.

And there was the matter of Velaris, and their missing prince. If Lucien could find him, they could combine their forces and destroy Amarantha on an even playing field. He could give Elain her crown even if he couldn’t give her anything else.

There was also the possibility that she didn’t even want him. When she learned he’d been lying to her this whole time, Lucien worried she’d give him back his ring and choose a new path—without him. That was a different, more personal sort of hell and one he would accept if he had to.

Jurian took them back toward the palace and the workshop he also lived in. There, just outside glowing in the bright moonlight, lay a coffin made of glass—and Elain lying utterly still just inside.

“Where did you find such a thing?” Eris demanded, not willing to get any closer than he had to. Eris was absurd, in his fine, navy jacket embroidered in real, gold thread and his immaculate white pants. Truly, if any prince here ought to be Elain’s true love, it was his brother.

But Eris was a king, and Lucien supposed that disqualified him. And Elain loved him—or she had, once. Maybe she didn’t anymore, too betrayed by his deceit and disappointed by his inability to protect her when she’d needed it most.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, Lord Vanserra.”

Vassa’s giggles punctuated Jurian’s snide response. Lucien tuned them out, walking through the freezing snow toward Elain. She was so impossibly beautiful like this—her porcelain skin unblemished, cheeks rosy from the cold. Ruby red lips were slightly parted, tilted at the corners as though she’d thought of some secret that was amusing only to her. Even her golden brown hair was curled sweetly over her shoulders. She might have been asleep were it not for the lack of breath fogging the glass.

A memory floated through Lucien’s mind, unbidden. Amarantha’s words into her mirror so long ago.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?

So much suffering, all in the name of jealousy. Elain couldn’t help what she was—she couldn’t help the radiating beauty that robbed Lucien of breath and reason. But she could help how kind she was. Her generous spirit, her willingness to care about people and creatures no one else did. Jurian and Vassa were a testament to that, surely.

And himself. She should have stabbed him in the gut for what he’d tried to do and instead…instead his ring was still on her finger, resting softly against her stomach. With reverence, Lucien pushed the glass lid off the coffin and knelt beside it so he was eye level with her.

Please let this work, he prayed silently.

“I love you,” he breathed, heart fluttering wildly. Lucien pressed his lips to hers, shocked by the firm cold that greeted him. He had no idea how long he was supposed to hold himself here, though kissing a corpse felt so distinctly wrong that his instinct was to jerk back and figure something else out.

Lucien did pull away when he felt her warm breath fan across his face. Elain’s dark lashes fluttered against her cheek, blinking up at him with those sweet, trusting doe eyes. She leaned up, sitting in the cold to glance around her in the dark.

Lucien couldn’t help his choked laugh, hating the tears that were gathering at the corner of his eyes. Elain cupped his face in her hand, searching his expression.

“Took you long enough,” she breathed. “Prince Lucien.”

Air huffed out of him in a rush, silenced when she kissed him again—with passion and feel and life. From behind him, Jurian mumbled, “Okay, alright, that's enough of that.”

“It’s not enough,” he murmured, thumb stroking soft, cold skin. “It will never be enough.”

“Get me out of here, Lucien.”

Lucien’s grin threatened to split his face. “Whatever you say, princess.”

Six months later:

The heat of Summer, once miserable in Ellesmere, was perfectly pleasant in Avalon. Elain had become accustomed to the coolness emanating from the mountains at the border between Eris’s realm and Velaris which was, to Elain’s understanding, still missing their king. Her own realm was wholly governed by her stepmother, the youthful and beautiful Amarantha that couldn’t claim there wasn’t a contender for the throne she sat on.

Because it belonged Elain, and her husband, Prince Lucien of Avalon. Amarantha had welcomed Elain back, having conquered Scythia and making Vassa an exile of her own home, which only convinced Elain it was better to stay put where she was safe and merely condemn the pretender to her family’s home.

Not, at least, until she was certain her sisters were safe. Nesta was still missing, though Eris had sent out several soldiers to brave the Illyrian wilds looking for wherever Amarantha had hidden her.

Not one had returned.

This day, however, Elain had been told to dress well by Eris himself who was frustrating at times, but tolerable. Better than tolerable—he was becoming family. He didn’t have to hide her. Not when Amarantha had used whatever magic on her father to send him to their doorstep, furious and purple with rage over her marriage to Lucien. And Graysen’s kingdom was up in arms over the princess he’d been promised running off with the disgraced, bastard son of another territory.

None of it mattered. Elain put on a buttery yellow dress and swept her hair off her face while servants fussed and primped, turning her back into the only princess Avalon had seen in nearly five centuries. Elain had become much too wild, taking to the woods with Jurian every opportunity she got. He was teaching her to track, and she was teaching him to grow. Already, Elain’s garden was expansive, spreading across the once immaculate lawn while Lucien beat off frustrated groundskeepers desperate to restore the order.

They’d pry Elain’s colony of bees from her cold, dead hands.

And Lucien’s soft, warm lips, if it ever came back to that. For now, Lucien kept his sword on his belt, one hand resting against the hilt anytime someone so much as raised their voice in her direction. As if she couldn’t handle herself, given his brothers had begun covertly showing her to use a dagger.

Just in case, they said.

“What is all the fuss today? Did Eris get a new tunic he wants to show us?”

Lucien, waiting in the expansive, well-lit hall, smiled brightly. “No, nothing like that.”

“A new crown, then. Like last month when that diplomat brought him the ruby one? He preened like a peacock for days.”

“I think that was for the benefit of the man's scullery maid, between you and I—”

“She was not a scullery maid and I wish you would stop calling her that. She is his daughter who is clearly being treated poorly because his wife is jealous.”

“He introduced her to us as their traveling maid—”

“She had his eyes—”

“I don’t want to argue with you. Eris wanted her attention and I don’t think he got it. This has nothing to do with my brother for once and everything to do with my wife.”

Pleasure curled through her at the possessive lilt in his voice. Elain would never be tired of hearing him refer to her as his wife. Especially not when he looked at her with those smoldering eyes that promised he’d pay her much closer attention just the second they were alone.

“What have I done this time? Is it the sunflowers? Because I refuse to cull them—”

The doors the throne room were pulled open by two guards dressed in the red and white uniform of Avalon, revealing a sight Elain had never expected to see. There, in the middle of the room, stood Feyre Archeron. Her hair was shorter than Elain remembered, cut just to her shoulders. Her eyes, though, were just as blue and starry as Elain recalled, and when she halted, drinking in the sight of this adult woman, Feyre’s face cracked into a relieved smile.

“So it's true, then,” Feyre breathed.

“You’re alive.”

Elain hadn’t truly believed Feyre was. Surely Amarantha couldn’t be so sloppy as to leave two of them standing among the living. Nesta, too, was alive somewhere. Elain took a step, and then another, laughing at first before she dissolved into tears. Feyre, too, met her in the middle of the open room, flinging her arms around Elain.

“Where were you?” Elain asked, burying her face in the pretty, purple dress her sister wore. Behind her, a tall, muscular man with inky black hair watched the pair with open curiosity. His black and silver tunic was cut closely to his body, and a matching crown of stars sat casually against his brow. Violet-blue eyes tracked her sister and though he wore no weapon Elain could see, she guessed it was hidden somewhere on his person.

“It’s a long story,” Feyre said with a sweet laugh. “I’ll tell you everything just as soon as I can. I’ve come to beg your king for a favor.”

Eris, sitting on his throne, arched his brow. “I’ve already told you—I’m no longer a prince.”

“But your brothers are. You have three, which is more than any other province has,” Feyre turned, wiping her eyes quickly on his sleeve.

Eris opened his mouth to deny her, causing Elain to step beside her sister. Arms crossed over her chest, she asked, “You’d tell her no?”

Eris blanched. “I…merely question the wisdom of traipsing through the Illryian wilderness with three of my brothers all to try and wake a princess who is rumored to be guarded by a fucking dragon.”

“Don’t take that language,” Elain snapped, though she turned again to Feyre. “You’ve found Nesta?”

“Yes. Well…Rhys has. His brother was with her right before she was cursed and has been trying to get through her. She’s guarded by more than a dragon. A great forest of brambles blocks the way to her. He cuts it down every day, and every evening it grows back twice as thick.”

“But he’s still there?” Elain questioned. Why doesn’t he wake her, then?

“If he’s anything, hes a bastard prince,” Rhys chimed in, looking toward Lucien. “But without the crown.

“So just a bastard, then?” Eris asked in that silky voice of his. It was tempting to throw the woman from before in his face—the girl with the blonde hair and the soft, sad green eyes. Would Eris be so disparaging if it were her trapped behind brambles? Would it matter, then?

Though, perhaps it would—Eris was still here on his throne, the picture of a bored prince and that girl had likely gone home to scrubbing floors and dodging boots. “I am being asked an awful lot of my neighbors who have done very little for me.”

“My circumstances were complicated,” Rhys gritted out.

“Oh, so I’ve heard. Living as a thief, all these years, were you? Did true love turn you around—”

“Eris!” Elain snapped. Lucien’s fingers ghosted over her elbow, steadying her when all she wanted was to march up the marble steps of that dais and strangle Eris until he agreed. “We’re family. That includes Nesta. And a witch marching into neighboring kingdoms is bad for you, too. One day she’ll have an army to outmatch yours.”

“And I’ll stand by you with my own,” Rhys added, straightening his spine the way another king might, “if you agree to do this for my wife. And if you don't...well...I have her frying pan at the ready. She can be quite persuasive with it, isn't that right, darling? ”

Wife.

Elain had missed the silver and blue ring sitting on her sisters finger. A prince turned thief seemed exactly the sort of man Elain could imagine for Feyre, who, admittedly, she barely knew anymore. There was no mistaking the shining love between them, though. And if this is what it took to get Nesta back, Elain didn’t care how it came about. After all, she’d fallen in love with a prince turned huntsman, hadn’t she?

“Fine,” Eris gritted out, looking only at Elain. “But you will remain exactly where you are. I won’t risk you.”

She expected that, though it was obnoxious all the same. All eyes fell on her again, and the softly rounded stomach just barely peeking beneath the fabric of her dress. Lucien, too, seemed to relax when he realized Elain would remain in Avalon, guarded and protected.

“Fine. So long as you give the man trying to rescue my sister whatever she needs with minimal insults.”

Eris considered this before nodding. “I’ll see it done, princess.”

There were a million things Elain needed to say—questions she had, words left unspoken for far too long. All of it would wait until Nesta was returned to them, and Amarantha was dead once and for all. Feyre was already moving out of the room, Rhys at her side. A promise was made to talk before they left, of which Elain intended to uphold.

But for the moment, she was alone again with Lucien, standing on the balcony overlooking her garden. “The nightmare is almost over.”

Elain nodded, elbows braced on the marble banister. Far beneath her, summer blooms swayed against a jasmine scented breeze. “It hasn’t been a nightmare for a long time. I feel selfish admitting that, but…”

But Lucien chasing her into the woods was still the best thing that had ever happened to her. Lucien pressed a kiss to her temple. “Eris will send soldiers and my brothers. Nesta will be safe. Feyre has promised her sanctuary in Velaris, too.”

“Is it enough? Avalon and Velaris—”

“And Illyria, if what Rhys says is true. Bastard prince or not, it seems whoever this man is, he’s able to unite the warring tribes. And if Vassa and Jurian could get a foothold back in Scythia and unite her fractured court…yes, I think it would be more than enough.”

“Then do whatever it takes,” Elain told him, turning to face her husband fully. “I don’t want our baby growing up in a world where Amarantha draws breath.”

Lucien smiled, threading his fingers through her hair so he might bring her closer. “Shall I bring you her heart in a box?”

It was disgusting. Horrifically cruel, the sort of thing only a monster would demand. And yet Elain knew Lucien would do it if she wanted—with pleasure, given the emboldened look on his face.

“Yes. I think I would like that a lot.”

“Consider it done, princess.”

Leaning up on her tiptoes, Elain pressed a kiss to his mouth. “You’ll stay with me, too?”

“You couldn’t pay me any sum of money to venture into Illyria. I’ll leave that to my brothers and whoever this foolish man is.”

Elain took a breath. “So long as my family is nearly free.”

“We are so close, Elain.”

Elain inclined her head, brushing her fingers over the trio of scars running down his face. “You and I have been free since we found each other. I trust that above all else.”

Lucien smiled in return. “Oh, I am well aware.”

It would have been a lie to say they lived happily ever after from that first moment. Elain knew there would be more to come—danger and magic, all threatening to burst the shimmering bubble they’d created for themselves.

But for a moment, right then, it certainly felt happy.

It was the start of forever.

#elucien #i am LIMPING over the finish line #but its done and the feysand part is already (semi) written for august!

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daisy7beauty · 1 year

Text

The bridge — Yunjin x reader (Part 2)

summary: Yunjin promises y/n she will never let him hurt her again.

pairings: Huh Yunjin x fem!reader

tags: hospital, running away, starts to get better :), non!idol au

word count: 2,4k

warnings: mention of abuse (both physical and sexual), panic attack, not as much as part 1

——————————

The steady beeping of a machine was the first thing y/n heard when she woke up, followed by a quiet voice mumbling along with the lyrics of some generic pop song she remembered hearing on the radio a few days ago. The ceiling was hurting her eyes, colored with an uncomfortably bright white, just like everything else in the room. The only significant pop of color was the young girl sitting across from her.

Yunjin still had her school uniform on just like she did, but instead of the white undershirt that everyone was required to have, Yunjin sported a Louis Vuitton shirt. It was her signature look, as she was known to wear expensive brands anytime she could. Y/n remembers seeing her get sent to the principal's office for breaching the uniform dress code almost every day, but nothing ever came of it.

It was strange, seeing the other girl outside of school, that is. She looked different. Y/n didn't know what it was, but something about Yunjin seemed off. She had the same clothes on. The same make-up. The same headphones that their teachers would constantly confiscate from her. Only for her to steal them right back when they weren't paying attention.

Y/n decided that it was her demeanor that was so different. She seemed small, curled up in the uncomfortable hospital chair as if y/n could tower over her, despite being several centimeters shorter. Her legs pressed against her body, knees up towards the chin, head resting on them and occasionally bopping to what y/n presumed was the beat of some song she was listening to.

When Yunjin finally noticed y/n staring at her, their eyes connected, and for a split second, y/n could see something other than the usual arrogant smirk that seemed to be permanently stuck on the older girl's face.

“Oh! You're awake…”

Yunjin's words trailed off, both girls unsure what to do, sitting silently for a few very long moments. The tension in the room was so thick it could be cut with a butter knife.

“Yeah, I just woke up.”

Y/n answered as if it wasn't obvious, mentally berating herself for being so goddamn awkward. Yunjin just nodded, staring out of the window. It stayed this way for some time before Yunjin seemed to remember something as she snapped her head back to y/n.

“Oh, right! You were asleep for only around 30 minutes, so you should be fine. The nurse told me to give them a buzz once you woke up. Something about checking that you don't have a concussion so that you can go home safely. From what she said, it shouldn't take too long, plus they already called your dad, so you don't have to worry about spending the night here.”

Yunjin smiled at her, placing her headphones into her bag and standing up to alert the nurses about y/n waking up. Before she could even take one step, though…

“No!”

Y/n yelled at her, almost jumping off the bed. Her heart was racing so fast she thought she was having a stroke. As soon as Yunjin let the last sentence out of her mouth, y/n felt her breath stop.

They called her father, oh god, they called her father. Her vision was beginning to blur. What the fuck was she going to do? Once her father shows up, it's game over for her. They will see what she did to him, and she will be sent straight to jail. No. Knowing that bastard, he would make up some excuse or just hide it so he could take her home, and.…she didn't want to even think about it. Her chest felt like it was being constricted with a corset, tightening every second she thought about him.

“Hey…hey, y/n, what's going on? You good?”

She could hear Yunjin asking her concern on her face. It was as if she was underwater, her voice muffled and quiet, not reaching her ears properly.

“No, not dad…he- he will-”

Y/n managed to squeeze out, hyperventilating so quickly that she felt like she was about to pass out. Her father was about to be here at any moment, and she was having a fucking panic attack…great.

She could feel Yunjin rubbing her back, trying to calm her down, which surprisingly worked as she felt the world get clearer. The girl's warm hands let go of her. Usually, y/n would be glad as she hated physical contact, but for some odd reason, she missed the feeling.

“Y/n, I need you to be honest with me, okay? Does your dad…hurt you? Is he the reason why you ended up like- like this?”

Yunjin's voice quivered at the end, looking at the other girl softly. It felt strange, having someone look at her that way. Her whole life, y/n had tried to be as invisible as she could, not liking the feeling of someone staring at her. Maybe it was because of him. He always looked at her after he finished, admiring the damage he had done, just standing in front of her bed, watching.

Not finding the strength to speak, y/n just nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes with a sleeve of her school uniform. She could hear Yunjin curse under her breath. It was in English, a testament to her parent's job and overall status.

Y/n remembered hearing the word on some rap song one of her classmates was obsessed with, playing it over and over during breaks. He always tried to sing along, but his pronunciation sucked, making y/n cringe every time. She wondered what Yujin would sound like. Her limited English skills told her that Yujin seemed quite good, if not fluent. It would definitely be better than Hyunsik, which she knew for sure.

“Okay, I don't really know what I should do in this situation, but I won't let him hurt you again. I have never done something like this. I think we just have to run away before he comes. Do you have any friends or close relatives that could take care of you?”

Yunjin asked her, pacing around the small hospital room, one hand buried in her hair. Y/n was silent. To the older girl's credit, she could understand what that silence meant, trying to change the topic.

“I guess you can stay with me. Is there anything that you want to take with you?”

Y/n suddenly remembered about her bag. It was probably still next to the door, knowing her father's aversion to cleaning anything.

“Yeah, I have a bag with some clothes and money. It's still at my house. I was supposed to run away to Busan today, with it being my 18th birthday and all, so I had everything prepared already. You can see it didn't really work out…”

Y/n tried to joke, forcing a small smile on her face. It was a pathetic attempt at humor, but she felt the situation needed a little light, uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere.

“Okay…We could sneak out to the parking lot, hide and wait until your dad shows up, and then make a break to your home. We can quickly take everything you need and book it to mine!”

Yunjin smiled at y/n, who could only nod as she grabbed her right hand and walked out of the cramped room.

The girls tried to walk as fast as possible without looking suspicious to the staff roaming the hallways. It was exciting. It felt like they were spies on a secret mission in an American movie about saving the capital or something.

Just as they made it to the parking lot, y/n recognized a white sedan pulling up. She quickly tugged Yunjin towards a blue van and signaled for her to be quiet, carefully peeking out from behind it.

She could see her father struggling to get out of his car, a dark blue sweatshirt on. She had been right. He wanted to act as if nothing had happened so he could take her home and deal with her in his own way. For a moment, y/n wished she had killed him in that kitchen, but she quickly snapped out of it.

“Why is he walking so weird?”

Yunjin asked from beside her. Y/n almost got a heart attack, forgetting that the other girl was with her. She squatted next to her, squinting at the awkwardly hunched-over man shuffling toward the revolving doors.

“I…I kind of…stabbed him.”

…

“What?!”

Yunjin yelled out, making y/n slap her hand on her mouth, pulling her back behind the van with panicked eyes.

“Shhhhh!”

The younger whisper yelled, making Yunjin realize just how loud she was. Both of them stayed crouched there for a few moments, afraid to look from behind it in case her father could see them.

After a minute or two, they decided it was safe again and peeked out. To the girl's relief, y/n's father had already gone inside as they couldn't see him anywhere.

“The coast is clear! Follow me, okay?”

The younger girl said and quickly ran towards the gate of the hospital. Luckily for them, y/n had been to the hospital before, when one of her dad's outbursts got a bit out of hand, and he broke her arm. She had to go to the hospital alone since he refused to drive her. At that time, it was hell, as it coincidentally started raining just as she got out of the door, but now it helped them, as she could remember the way home.

Y/n kept looking back at Yunjin, who was a few meters behind her, with a pained expression. She could hear her panting from the front, loudly cursing at herself and everything else. Y/n remembered how she used to skip gym class, yelling at their teacher, declaring it 'bullshit that wasn't useful for anyone'. Well, Yunjin skips pretty much every class unless the threat of immediate expulsion isn't hanging over her head, so it wasn't all that unusual. The shared gym class was the only place y/n could see her up close, as they were in different grades.

It seemed that Yunjin's skipping had finally caught up to her, though, and y/n couldn't help but laugh as she heard her complaining, begging her to slow down a bit. Both of them knew that they couldn't. It was only a matter of time before the nurses realized she was gone. Y/n counted on her father's selfishness, hoping that he wouldn't call the police on them out of fear that they would take her away from him.

“How long until we get to your house? I feel like I'm going to die, y/n!”

Yunjin yelled from behind just as they made it onto her street. It was tiny, so they had to slow down, dodging the trashcans and an occasional bike. Y/n lived right on the edge of the street in a corner building that didn't get all that much sunlight, even when it was noon, so unlocking the door was a lot harder, especially since the lamp in front of the building broke two weeks ago and nobody had bothered to fix it.

“Come on, come on.”

Y/n mumbled to herself as she finally managed to open the heavy door, sprinting up the flight of stairs to get to her apartment.

Just as she predicted, her bag was still at the entrance, some loose money laying around it. She quickly tried to shove everything back inside, zipping it up.

Since she was already home, y/n decided to grab some other stuff she didn't have the chance before as it would be too noticeable and could get her father to suspect her. Well, he wasn't here now, and hopefully won't see her ever again.

Taking her jacket from the hook next to the door, she ran to her room, grabbing her only stuffed toy, a small teddy bear she nicknamed Pup. It was the only thing left of her mom, as her father had thrown everything reminding him of her out a long time ago.

Y/n turned around, facing Yunjin, still standing in the doorway, trying to catch her breath.

“Let's take my bike. That way, we'll be a lot faster. I have it locked to a post outside.”

Yunjin nodded, and both ran back downstairs, skipping the last few steps and choosing to jump instead. Y/n almost fell on her face but quickly regained balance. She yelled the password to the bike chain to Yunjin, who was ahead of her.

Just as Yunjin got the bike, the shine of headlights entered their vision. Y/n could recognize that car anywhere. Her father was back home.

“Fuck! Yunjin, hurry!”

She yelled out desperately, still running toward the other girl, whose hands she could see trembling, fumbling around with the lock. It was a miracle she managed to get it open just as y/n stood next to her.

Y/n ushered Yunjin to sit on it as she hopped onto the back, making a seat out of the flimsy bag holder. Her hands clamped around the older girl's waist.

As they rode away, y/n turned around to see her father getting out of his car, yelling something before Yunjin turned a corner, making him disappear out of her field of vision. She couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Curled up on a bag holder, desperately holding on to Yunjin as she frantically paddled away.

Y/n let out a breath, letting her head fall onto Yunjin's back, and watched as the world passed by.

The sun had set, the only source of light being the harsh lamps along the road, making her squint her eyes.

Contrary to everything that has happened today, it was a beautiful day, well, night, the kind you see in dramas and films. The ones that talk about the meaning of life and make everyone feel a bit strange after watching them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Yunjin announcing that they were almost there, tapping the clasped hands on her stomach and pointing across the river.

Y/n felt strange. It was as if they'd known each other their whole lives, even though they had only interacted a few times before today.

“Well, this is it.”

The bike stopped, making her let go of Yunjin.

She missed the subtle warmth under her fingertips and almost reached to touch her again, stopping herself before she could. Instead, she follows Yunjin inside.

-to be continued-

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tags: @milfmomorene , @hueneve

#yunjin #huh yunjin #le sserafim #le sserafim x reader #yunjin x reader #huh yunjin x reader #angst #it’s getting better #non idol au #fem reader #gxg #x reader

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strwbrrykss · 2 years

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𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖇𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 | 𝖏. 𝖒𝖆𝖞𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖐

{𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕} 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓: Masturbation 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓: JJ Maybank 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: THIS IS AN 18+/MDNI EVENT, language, caught masturbating, JJ is a horndog, brief/vague mentions of smoking weed throughout, if I missed anything lmk!

[A/N: Day four!! I can’t believe I’m keeping up so far and actually having a good time! This one is on the shorter side but I still had fun writing it nonetheless! As always, let me know what you think by dropping a comment, message or ask! :) - L]

-/-/-

Now that Summer was in full effect, there was no better way to spend your days off from school, than one of three ways; smoking, surfing and partying. Today was no different as you took another wave, the sun beating down on your back as you steadied your board against the swell.

“Go Y/N!” Kie cheered as she watched from a little further away. John B whooped and cheered along too as you kept your balance all the way along.

“That’s the surf princess right there!” JJ exclaimed and whistled as you finally reached the end of the curl and jumped off your board to celebrate.

Three days ago you’d treated yourself to a new two-piece, since your old one was looking a little past its best. In those three days since, JJ had not left you alone. Not that you were complaining, because who in their right mind would? But all the sudden attention from your new swimwear had definitely boosted your confidence and every interaction with JJ as a result, left you with butterflies.

Hours melted away on the water and as the sun got lower, the good waves became far and few between, with more wipeouts happening as it got darker.

“I’m beat - let’s call it a night,” you suggested as the day caught up with you and hunger started to make itself known instead.

When all of you had swam ashore and towel-dried off, everyone else was in agreement that pizza and weed back at the Chateau sounded like the perfect way to end the day.

The whole way back to the Chateau, JJ seemed glued to your hip. Sat in the back of the Twinkie, he had an arm around you the whole time. He squeezed you that little bit tighter every time you hit a pothole or speedbump. You liked it though. The hot skin-on-skin contact with the playful air between the two of you made it a pleasant drive back through the Cut.

Those ringed fingers you always loved to watch and observe, plucked at your bikini straps teasingly and you shot him a warning look.

“Behave yourself, Maybank.”

“Or what, hm? You’ll punish me?” he remarked in a low whisper against the shell of your ear to avoid being heard by the others. Although the volume of the radio and general chatter offered a bit of a buffer.

“If that’s what you want.” At your reply, he backed up slightly, a rosy tint to his cheeks and his eyes averted from your face. JJ remained quiet for the rest of the ride back to the Chateau.

Clean and comfy once you’d showered and changed, you went in search of JJ, wanting another joint to share with him. Hoodie pulled around you close as you padded through the Chateau, you stopped at the door to his room. Kie, John B and Pope were out on the porch already, making up songs with Kiara’s ukulele.

Behind the door to JJ’s room, muffled noises drew you in. As carefully as possible, you pressed your ear against the faded paintwork to listen in. Heavy breathing and strained moans made your stomach flip and heat crawled over your skin from top to bottom.

“- Fuck...” Your name followed the string of curses and your eyes widened in shock. Your hand reached out for the door handle, just hovering over it. You closed your eyes for a moment and indulged. It was wrong. It could ruin the friendship the two of you had built. But Goddamn if it wasn’t the hottest thing in the world to hear your best friend moan your name.

You hadn’t even realised that you’d opened the door and taken half a step inside until your eyes settled on the sight before you. JJ, half-propped up against the headboard with his legs stretched out, dick in his hand, the hem of his t-shirt between his teeth.

“Holy shit!” You froze and JJ stopped, an equally surprised look on his flushed face.

“JJ -”

“Oh, my God -”

“I’m sorry!”

“Shut the fucking door!” he pleaded through a mouthful of t-shirt and you were quick to oblige. And the silence that followed was deafening.

“So...”

“I was kinda - well, I was in the middle of something, Y/N,” JJ stated, though he made no attempt to cover his modesty, which only made it more difficult for you to listen to what he was saying.

“Yeah, I know... But - But I heard my name and thought -”

“Oh, right. And what? You wanted to see what all the fuss was about?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I heard you moan my name, Maybank. I’m not letting you forgot that,” you remarked back and that’s when he beckoned you over. You made sure to stop just shy of the bed, to keep some kind of distance between you. JJ caught you by the wrist and pulled you onto the bed, clearly thinking differently.

“I, uh... I want you to - watch me.”

#JJ Maybank #jj maybank smut #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x f!reader #outer banks #outer banks imagine #outer banks smut #obx #obx imagine #obx smut #strwbrry writes #kintkober 2022 #day 4

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i-fondued · 1 year

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Ghost | Sinners in Secret | Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen - The Cleansing Ritual Incident Pairing: Cardinal Copia x Reader/Sister of Sin x Papa “Terzo” Emeritus III Rating: Explicit Warnings: Plot, smut, etc. See AO3 for full list of tags!

A/N: This is another plot heavy chapter but Terzo gets some action this time!! This was already more than 7k for this week and lawd I can't believe I thought I'd be able to jam more than one ritual out at a time y'all.

Full Chapter List - HERE

AO3 Link - HERE

I woke up the next morning cuddled in Swiss’ arms.

I had to stifle a giggle as I wiggled out of his arms, my bladder demanding attention, he had been completely curled around me protectively. His mask had been put to the side, a rare moment of seeing his bare face made me pause. His skin looked impossibly smooth, even with the slight stubble of facial hair, and was relaxed in sleep. His hair had been cut short a few days ago in preparation of the next several nights, his wiry curls framing his face in a way that reminded me of old cherub paintings. His horns were angled back from his face, slightly shorter than I expected. I almost went to touch them but paused, not wanting to wake him, as I slid from the bed and padded over to the bathroom.

When I came back there was a knock at my door and Swiss sat up right away, a low growl reverberating in his chest. I rolled my eyes at the overprotective nature of the ghoul and walked over to my door, opening it slightly to look out at who came to wake me.

“Good morning, Sister. I’m glad to see your ghoul stayed with you as he was told.” Sister Imperator smiled at me, hands on her hip as she gestured to the door. “May we come in? It’s time to get ready.”

“O-oh! Yes please, come in.” I laughed, cheeks flushed as I stepped to the side and let the woman and four other sisters come in. Including Sister Caterina. “Don’t mind Swiss, he’s just grumpy when he first wakes up.”

“Am not…” he grumbled before pulling on his mask before stretching out lazily on the bed, yawning like an overgrown cat. “I resent that.”

“You are a total baby, Swiss.” I teased as I watched the other sisters start to get the room set up for getting me ready for my first ritual.

“Keep it up Sunshine, don’t forget I’m still a ghoul under all this.” He said as he moved to slip out the doors of the room. “I’ll go grab us some breakfast, okay?”

“Thank you, Swiss.” I smiled brightly. “Can you get me some strong tea, with milk?”

“I’d refrain from any dairy, Sister. We wouldn’t want to bloat before the big ritual.” Sister Caterina’s voice was sickly sweet as she smiled at me while she set up the various tools she planned to use to wrestle my hair into a graceful style.

“If you tell me I can, I’m sure I can get away with eating her.” Swiss whispered to me and I had to hide the little smile on my lips.

“Be nice…only a few more days of this and we’ll be able to finally go home.” I snickered, playfully shoving his shoulder. “But I’ll see what I can arrange…”

Swiss laughed, tail swishing playfully as he left me alone with the sisters to find us some breakfast. Imperator came over then, her face was warm as she took my arm and started in the direction of the bath.

“Come, Sister. Let’s get you prepared properly, hm?” She said cheerily as I stepped into the bathroom. One of the nameless sisters had bowed to me as I stepped in and I felt my cheeks flush as she stepped back away from the bath she’d drawn for me. “First a fresh bath, yes? Soaking herbs courtesy of Papa Primo of course.”

I stepped behind the privacy screen that had been set up so I wasn’t just bathing nude with Imperator and the other sisters, though it wouldn’t matter in a few hours when I was expected to be nude in front of the entire congregation even if it was only for a moment. I slipped under the warm, fragrant water before leaning against the back of the tub.

“Mi scusi, Sorella.” One of the Sisters was kneeling at the edge of the tub, eyes downcast as she moved to lather my arm for me.

“O-oh no, I-I can do it myself. Va bene…” I stammered, cheeks flushing bright red as another sister came to my other side to start washing my other side. “Uh, Sister Imperator?!”

“It’s tradition for the most senior members of a Prime Mover’s family to honor her by helping her bathe and dress for her rituals.” Sister Caterina’s voice was like a cheese grater on my brain as she stepped to stand behind my head, I looked back at her with a wary expression. “Since you are not part of a family born into the Church, us Siblings will step into their places. It is considered good luck to tend to a Prime Mover for her ascension. You would dishonor them by dismissing them?”

“I didn’t realize that it was that important, I apologize.” I simmered, angry just under the surface of the polite smile on my face as I offered up my arms to the two women who seemed relieved I’d stopped fighting them.

“No, I don’t imagine you would have had the education in the subject…” Catarina murmured as she began to wash my hair. I bit my lip, not wanting to cause a scene as they prepared my body.

I felt like I had stepped back in time to step into the shoes of a long forgotten queen on her coronation day. The four women including Caterina, washed, primped, polished, and shined my skin and hair. I felt like I was some sort of Disney princess with all the fuss they were having over me. After I’d been scrubbed down, they helped me from the tub into a white robe and helped towel dry my body while Caterina worked on drying my hair with a towel first. While the other women rubbed my body down with fragrant and sacred oils, I sat in the chair at the vanity and watched as they worked on me. I almost fell asleep till Swiss turned back up, leaning on the doorframe with a mug of tea in one hand and a slice of bread with jam in the other.

“Alright ladies, give her a minute to eat something will yah?” he chuckled, watching and clearly entertained by the way the Sisters squirmed under his sharp eye as they scrambled from the room. “Go on, scram.”

“My savior.” I sighed with a weary smile, taking the mug and breathing in the calming scent of earl gray tea before taking a cautious sip. “Thank you, do you know where Copia and Terzo are? I’m surprised they haven’t dropped by yet this morning.”

“Ah, Sister Imperator is keeping with more of the old traditions. She’ll be keeping them away for the next few days. You’ll be secluded away from everyone but your court and me.” Swiss shrugged as I tried not to growl at him.

“I’d love it if more of this was conveyed to me, you know the one becoming Prime Mover.”

“I think she knew you’d throw a fit if you’d known prior to now.”

“So when will I see them again?” My heart ached, longing to have them back in my bed and in my arms. I’d already barely seen them outside of meals since the planning had really begun, now I’d only see them in passing and at our rituals. I felt the tears well in my eyes, already overwhelmed today and I hadn’t even started getting dressed for the ritual yet.

“Sunshine…don’t cry.” Swiss tried soothing me, rubbing my arms and letting his tail curl around my waist. “You’ll see them in a little while, even if it's just for the ritual. Then you’ll see them in two nights for the feast after the Tapestry ceremony; after that it's the Prime Mover ritual and then your honeymoon. Two weeks of uninterrupted bliss…well at least for you three.”

“I just miss them, they’ve been such a constant in my life now for so long…especially after everything in October.” I sighed, eyes downcast as I nibbled on my toast.

“I know, but just a few more days and then there will be nobody to keep you apart. Terzo was ready to kick the door down himself till Secondo dragged him back to his suite to keep the two of them occupied.”

“...and Copia?”

“He seems even more nervous than normal honestly.”

Strangely that brought me comfort and I couldn’t help the small smile that slipped on my face. After I finished my toast Sister Imperator came back, kicking Swiss out to stand guard as they finished preparing me. I tried my best to allow myself to relax as the sisters worked diligently to prepare me, but I had been low maintenance before becoming a sibling and now? I barely worried about my hair or makeup when I knew I’d end up wearing a habit to cover my hair while hiding out in the dusty library. I felt them dusting my eyelashes with the tiniest bit of mascara, a tiny bit of blush to bring color to my cheeks, and a blotting of the softest pink to my lips.

In the mirror I was pleasantly surprised to see myself, I looked almost angelic with the natural makeup tone they had gone with. I could see Caterina murmuring to herself, clearly frustrated as she tried to wrestle my hair into an elegant updo.

“Is there a problem, Sister?” I asked, an innocent look on my face as Imperator came over to see what was going on.

“Your hair is…misbehaving.” She bit out, eyes drifting to Imperator who had a brow arched at her. “My apologies, Sister. I’m not quite sure how to get it into the habit.”

“You’re dismissed Sister Caterina, why don’t you go and get ready yourself? We’ll need you all back here within the hour for the processional.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She sighed, eyes narrowing at me as she bowed her head to Imperator and left the room.

“Let me see what I can do, hm Sister?” Imperator turned to me, brushing my hair back and away from my face as she twisted it up into a simple french twist, sliding a pin to hold it in place. “This will do, it will be hidden anyways by your dutch cap and hat.”

“Thank you, Sister Imperator.” I smiled, placing my hand on top of hers that was resting on my shoulder.

“Of course, Sweetheart.” Imperator returned my smile and came to sit against the countertop of the vanity. “You know…I remember the day you came to us, how scared you’d been. Now look at you, joining the family…”

“It feels like I just joined the other day,” I laughed. “I can’t believe this is what I’d almost missed out on.”

“How are you feeling? Stressed, worried, excited?”

“I-I think all three, if I’m being honest. It feels like my wedding day.”

“In some ways it is, Sister.” She smiled, taking my hand and squeezing it gently.

“I won’t lie…I had always pictured my family being there when I got married.” I felt tears prickle in my eyes, suddenly overwhelmed again with emotion. “I’d always pictured my mother to help me with my veil and silly things like that…”

“I’m sorry.” Imperator sighed sadly as she wrapped her arms around me to give me a tight hug. “For what it's worth, you’ve become like a daughter to me over the last few months. It brings me great joy to be here to support you in this adventure.”

“T-thank you, Ma’am.”

“We Emertius mates need to stick together.” She laughed as I blushed and sputtered at her. “What did you think I put up with Papa Nihil out of a professional respect for the man?”

…

“Sunshine, are you ready yet?”

“A-almost!” I called back to Swiss as I took in my reflection in the mirror in the master bedroom. “You can come in!”

Swiss stepped in and I was pleasantly surprised to see him dressed in the formal robes of the Papal Guard, complete with small shoulder cape tied on with a golden rope. He let out a low whistle as he took in my outfit, eyes scanning me up and down.

“Wow, you look…you look…” He stumbled around for the words he was looking for, vaguely gesturing to me. “You look like a proper Prime Mover.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” I blanched, feeling the color drain from my face. “I-I can’t change, it's too late…”

I looked at myself in the mirror again, trying to make heads or tales of what Swiss meant. I was dressed in a long, red silk taffeta chemise like gown with a deep scoop neckline. It had large billowing bishop sleeves that settled in the bend of my arms, billowing out from my shoulders and covering my feet even as I walked. The scoop neckline showed off the curve of my breasts as I wore nothing underneath and was borderline exposing myself if I moved too fast. On my head my hair had been tucked into a simple red cap that covered my hair and ears, over that was a massive brimmed black hat with two long loose ribbons that one could use to tie the hat on in theory. Over the hat was a gossamer black silk veil, slightly obscuring my vision as I moved. As for accessories I wore simple red silk slippers and a grucifix rosary wrapped around my wrist.

I felt more like a specter of death than Prime Mover, but the veil had been in the rituals for millenia and I knew better than to refuse it when Imperator showed me the antique fabric.

“Sunshine…you look ethereal.” Swiss soothed me, coming to take my hand as I tried to remove the hat and veil. I slipped my hand back under the veil and rung my hands together anxiously. “You’ve got this. Remember who’s waiting for you at the end of this, right?”

“I know…” I sighed, looking at my ghoul with a small wry smile. “Let’s do this.”

Swiss took my hand again, tucking it into the crux of his arm, as we made our way slowly to the living room of the papal suites. Sister Imperator and the four Sisters of Sin, including Caterina, were waiting for me. Sister Imperator was dressed in an austere black gown, form fitting with a high collar. Instead of normal sleeves it had cape-like sleeves made of lace that fluttered as she moved, she also wore a short black veil that barely dusted her shoulders. It was the first time I’d seen her in anything other than her normal two piece suits. The other Sisters were all dressed in the formal sibling robes, complete with full habit and white collars. They were standing in two lines of two, Sister Imperator directing them about the processional to the chapel.

“Ah, Sister good! I was just about to come and collect you. Everything is set, are you ready?” Imperator smiled warmly as she fussed over my veil one more time, pausing to push a pin into the brimmed hat to hold the silk in place.

“I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be…” I said, voice slightly shy as I tried to allow her to fuss over me.

“Let’s get this show started shall we?” She winked, squeezing my hand before heading over and knocking on the french doors. “We’re ready.”

The doors were opened by a set of Monastery ghouls, dressing in their own formal robes like Swiss. I straightened my spine, swallowing down my anxiety as everyone started to move. I knew this was part of the showmanship of the next five days of the spectacle but I did not expect all the siblings to be gathered at my door. I tried to school my face as Swiss helped me make my way down the crowded hall, but I knew that I was blushing from all the attention and awe on the siblings faces.

On either side of the halls were Siblings and lower ranking ghouls watching as we slowly made our way, the sounds of quiet chanting following us. There was awe written on some of their faces, others looked like they saw a ghost. I could hear whispering and I fought the urge to tug Swiss even closer to me, keeping my eyes downcast to show the image of pious reflection. Realistically I was shitting my pants, or lack thereof, as we glided on the marble floors. The groups of siblings grew bigger and bigger till they were practically shoving each other to get a glance at me as we got closer and closer to the chapel.

“Get a load of that asshole…” Swiss whispered to me, tilting his chin to the side. My eyes followed his line of sight and I saw Veritas and almost stopped dead in my tracks.

It was the first time I saw him dressed in anything but his red cassock. He was wearing a suit similar to what Copia had worn the first night, red and sinfully tight to his body. His long blond hair had been pulled back and french braided, no biretta on his head today. His jaw was practically on the floor, eyes wide in unbridled awe at the sight of me. His eyes were filled with a wild fury as he caught me looking at him, and he stepped back and headed in the direction of the chapel, swallowed up by the crowd as he stepped back.

“I’d hoped he’d stay away but I suppose that's just wishful thinking…” I sighed, squeezing Swiss’ arm tighter to me.

“He’ll stay away if he knows what's good for him.” Swiss growled, I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at him.

I could tell we were almost to the chapel because the crowds that had grown thick started to change from siblings and ghouls to more lower ranking clergy members, all looking on with more reverence than I expected. Many crossing themselves or bowing their heads in prayer like I was a goddess making my way past the hordes of mortals. I watched as Sister Imperator pushed open the doors of the chapel, everyone in the room standing and turning to watch my approach. The entire space was full, not an open seat in the room besides where my court would sit in the very front. Swiss helped me to the very first steps of the altar where there was a small kneeling bench. Holding onto his arm I settled on the bench, head bowed and the view obscured by my hat. I pressed my hands together in prayer, my thoughts drifting as I waited for my queue to move to the altar.

I heard the doors open, the sound of chanting and the organ kicking on behind me, and I felt my pulse skyrocket. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Secondo and Nihil go to sit in their spots and I saw Primo pass by me up the steps. He was dressed in his papal robes and paints, looking every part the Papa he was and I couldn't help the smile that bloomed on my face. The rustling of fabric was clear as day behind me as Copia and Terzo came to kneel on either side of me. Their hands were clasped, heads bowed as they also offered silent prayers to Lucifer. My eyes shifted as I glanced at Copia and Terzo; both of them had their own version of what I was wearing. They were slightly less billowy, more close fitting to the body and the sleeves were long to the wrist and fitted. The most shocking part was neither of them were wearing any paints, their faces bare for the first time in front of the congregation.

The sound of the organ came to a close and the sound of rustling fabric was thunderous around me as the clergy members and lucky few siblings that had been allowed to attend sat down. I peeked through my lashes up at Primo whose arms were open and held wide as he addressed the congregation.

"Today we've gathered for a most auspicious occasion. Today marks the beginning of five days of rituals and reveals to celebrate the most sacred of ascensions, that of a Prime Mover." Primo's voice, normally soft with age, was sharp and commanding as his serious gaze scanned the room. "Once a generation, there is a Sibling of Sin among us who is anointed, who is chosen, whose divine purpose is to serve our flock in the name of Lucifer himself."

My heart was racing, sweat dripping down my spine as Primo spoke. My anxiety was coming on quickly, my hands shaking so much that the grucifix wobbled between my clutched palms.

"Stelina…" Copia whispered, his head looking forward but eyes angled towards me. "Sei bellissima."

"Grazie Cardinale." I whispered back, a small blush and a smile on my face.

"Si Tesoro," Terzo purred quietly as he shifted just barely towards me. "What I would not give to tear that gown from your body…"

"Terzo…" I hissed at him, face now on fire, as I tried not to squirm. "Not right now."

"Sister rise and offer yourself; body, mind, and soul for purification." Primo's voice pulled me back to the present and I looked up as Swiss stepped next to me and offered his arm.

Gratefully, I used him to stand back up under the weight of the enormous silk gown. Swiss helped guide my steps up the marble stairs of the altar, the main dias had been moved and underneath was a large sunken baptism tub. I kept my head bowed, eyes glancing over to see the water waiting for me. There were petals and herbs floating on the surface of the slightly murky waters, the fragrance strong and earthy. I knew Primo had been the one to handpick the herbs and flowers himself, they were from the garden back home at the abbey and a part of me was comforted by the thought of home.

I came to stand next to Primo and, with Swiss' help, knelt on the marble floor as I followed what Secondo and I had worked on leading up to this week. While my knees protested the hard floor I kept my hands pressed together in prayer, grucifix still clenched tightly between my palms. Swiss removed my massive brimmed hat and veil, handing the antique veil to the assisting sibling of sin standing to the side. Once removed I bent over and pressed a soft kiss to the hem of Primo's chasuble. He put his hand on top of my head and mumbled quietly so only Swiss and I could hear him.

"Just like you practiced, Piccola." He winked at me before putting his serious face back on. "Do you offer yourself willingly in service to our dark lord?"

"I do, Papa."

"Do you submit yourself willingly to the call of the flock?"

"I do, Papa."

"Are you ready to wash away the sins and doubts of the past? Are you ready to repent for the transgressions of old and dedicate yourself wholly to Lucifer anew?"

"I am, Papa."

"Then rise, child, and recommit yourself once more."

Primo offered me his hand, helping me to stand and turn to face the large gathering of the congregation. I tried to keep my face passive and relaxed as Swiss pushed the silk off my shoulders. The fabric pooled at my feet as I stood nude before my flock. I slipped my feet from my slippers and stepped out of the gown before the Sister snagged them as well. There was a chill in the air and I had to fight the urge to shiver as I held onto Swiss' outstretched arm and gracefully descended into the sunken tub. I slipped the tight cap from my head, hair spilling forth, and my eyes locked with Terzo and Copia. Both men looked hungry for me and I fought the urge to smile shyly.

Hands together, grucifix rosary clenched in my palms, I sank to my knees as I looked up towards the rafters. The fragrant water sloshed around my collarbones, the temperature thankfully had been warmed and I fought the urge to sink completely in the warmth. Mumbling our most basic prayers as Primo anointed me with oils and chanted in latin, the fellow clergy members echoing him as well. The droning sound made me feel like I had slipped under the water, closing my eyes and feeling my breath coming in short pants.

“Submerge yourself and become one with the fall, Sister.”

That was my queue, I let out all of the breath and slipped under the water for a moment before coming back up for a quick breath. I stood up in the center of the tub, eyes scanning over the crowd as some looked like they saw a ghost and others looked on in awe. I caught the eye of Cardinal Veritas behind the shoulder of Papa Nihil and I had to fight the urge to shudder. His face was open with his lust for my body, eyes heated as he ran them up and down my nude form. Besides him was Sister Caterina who looked like she was sucking on four lemons, face pinched with a sour look. I recentered my mind and looked back to Copia and Terzo kneeling just steps below me.

“Rise anew, Sister, for you have devoted yourself once again.” Primo’s voice was soft as he bowed his head slightly at me, a small proud smile on his face.

I turned away from the crowd, taking Swiss’ outstretched arm as he made sure I wouldn’t slip as I came to stand at the lip of the tub. Swiftly the attending Sister of Sin came over, wrapping me up in a white silk robe, before draping the ancient black veil over my head without the hat. It covered my entire form and I felt like a ghost as Swiss led me back to my kneeling bench between Copia and Terzo, my bare feet freezing on the cold marble. I could see Copia and Terzo better now but I knew better than to speak or move towards them, now was the time to look pious and demure.

"Cardinal rise and offer yourself; body, mind, and soul for purification." Primo’s voice boomed out as he held his hand out for Copia.

Just like he had watched me, I couldn’t help but lock my eyes on him as he moved in the ritual with practiced ease and comfort I don’t think I’d ever be able to reach. Copia gilded with more grace than I thought he’d have with his head tilted downward and a grucifix clutched in his hands much like mine. He too kneeled before Primo, kissing his hem, and agreed to the terms put forward by Primo like I had.

"Do you offer yourself willingly in service to our dark lord?"

"I do, Papa."

"Do you submit yourself willingly to the expectations set upon you for the sake of your familial line? That you will continue your legacy and teach them our ways?"

"I do, Papa."

"Are you ready to wash away the sins and doubts of the past? Are you ready to repent for the transgressions of old and dedicate yourself wholly to Lucifer anew?"

"I am, Papa."

"Then rise, child, and recommit yourself once more."

Just like I had Copia stood and turned towards the congregation with a righteous look on his face, borderline smug as he slipped the neckline off his shoulders and let it pool at his feet. He stood nude and I couldn’t help but squirm slightly and blush as I took in his naked form. His smattering of light brown chest hair that trailed down his soft belly to the thatch of curls neatly trimmed at the base of his cock. I felt my mouth water as I fought the urge to whimper; it had been two weeks since I was curled up in his arms and felt his warmth. I was desperate for him suddenly, I could see Swiss out of the corner of my eye shifting uncomfortably, and I tried to roll it in for his sake.

Copia gracefully slipped into the tub, kneeling and looking up to the rafters as I had while he was anointed with oils. I knew I was supposed to be following along with what Primo was saying, calling out in response to his words, but I was taking in the sight of Copia in his element. He looked at ease, like this was all he wanted to ever do in life and I had to bite the inside of my lip to prevent the smile that threatened to break out. I watched as he sank under the water just as I had, coming back up and locking eyes with me. He gave me a small smile as he stood again, scanning the flock like I had.

“Rise anew, Cardinal, for you have devoted yourself once again.”

Much like I had been ushered along, Copia came out of the tub and was immediately wrapped up in a silk white robe and with clasped hands came back over to kneel next to me. I watched from the corner of my eye as Terzo stood with no prompting from Primo, this was where things would get interesting. Never before had a ruling Papa had his ceremonies presided over by his brothers till Terzo; things had to be adapted slightly. Terzo walked with purpose, his head held high, as he came up the steps with his hands holding onto his grucifix rosary. Like Copia and I before him he knelt and kissed the hem of Primo’s chasuble, but he stood without the same exchange that we had. Instead there had been a new exchange written for him.

“Papa Emeritus the Third, do you offer yourself..body, mind, and soul for purification in the name of your mates?" Primo asked, Terzo bowed his head so Primo could place his hand on top of his head while he was standing.

“I do, Papa Emeritus the First.”

"Do you offer your protection in the name of Lucifer, as his earthly vessel, to your lovers?"

"I do, Papa Emeritus the First."

"Do you submit yourself willingly to the expectations set upon you for the sake of your familial line? That you will continue your legacy and teach them our ways?"

"I do, Papa Emeritus the First."

"Are you ready to wash away the sins and doubts of the past? Are you ready to repent for the transgressions of old and dedicate yourself wholly to Lucifer anew?"

"I am, Papa Emeritus the First."

"Go forth, Papa Emeritus the Third, and sink into the fall."

Terzo, with much more flare than Copia or I, slipped the robe from his shoulders and much as before with Copia I couldn’t help my body reacting to his nude form. Though shorter than his brothers and Copia, Terzo carried himself with the confidence of the tallest man in the room. His chest hair was darker than Copia but followed the same path as the other man, my mouth almost watering at the sight of his cock half hard. I knew Terzo wouldn’t have an issue being nude in front of his congregation and I couldn’t help the blush that bloomed on my cheeks as I watched him submerged to his knees much as I had before him. He winked at me before he looked up to the rafters, again the congregation spoke in muttered prayer as I watched the man in front of me with an almost ethereal glow. His eyes slid close as his face turned up towards the sky filled with bliss as the anointing oils were poured over his skin before he too sunk under the surface. When he came back up I could have sworn his white iris was glowing for a moment before he stood, nude and filled with a righteous look of power.

“Rise anew, Papa emeritus the Third, for you have devoted yourself once again.”

Terzo came out of the tub, water dripping down his back twinkling in the candlelight of the church, and was wrapped in a white silk robe. However unlike Copia and I, Terzo knelt before Primo as he took Terzo’s Papal mitre and placed it upon his dripping hair. Primo’s hands rested on Terzo's shoulder as he rested his own forehead against his youngest brother’s as words were exchanged between the pair in hushed tones. Papal secrets that the rest of us were not privy to. After a moment, they exchanged kisses on either cheek and Terzo stood, turning back to the waiting crowd. Bowing to everyone, like the showman he always was, he came down to kneel with us again before Primo followed.

“May Lucifer himself smile upon you three on this most auspicious of weeks.” Primo nodded before coming down from the altar to dip his fingers into a small clay pot of thick red liquid. I had a feeling I knew what it was but I didn’t question it as he came to me first, Swiss lifting my heavy and long veil so Primo could trace a crude grucifix on my forehead. “Go in peace Sister. Sequester yourself with your court for the day, si?”

“Yes, Papa. As above, so below.” I bowed to him, eyes locked on the floor as I waited for my turn to stand and follow the processional from the space.

“Go in peace, Cardinal.” Primo repeated the process of the grucifix on Copia’s forehead.

“Come sopra, così sotto.” Copia responded much like I had, head bowed forward as he pressed a kiss to his grucifix.

“Lead the flock in peace, Papa Emeritus the Third.” Primo’s voice was thick with some unspoken emotion as he traced the grucifix again on Terzo’s forehead.

“Come sopra, così sotto; Papa Primo.” Terzo winked at his eldest brother, clearly at his threshold for serious time, and I had to fight the urge to giggle.

As Primo moved to the side, it was my queue to start the long slow walk back to my rooms. Swiss once again helped me to my feet, which were still bare, and we lined up behind my court. This time there was a Brother of Blasphemy in the lead and then Sister Imperator, the Brother was waving a thurible back and forth while chanting in latin. I let my eyes look back at Copia and Terzo who both had longing looks and I had to fight the urge to reach back at them, Swiss tugging me along as he leaned in close to whisper in my veil covered ear.

“If you swear to be a good girl, I’ll sneak one of them in tonight.”

“W-what?” I looked at him like he had four heads before remembering where I was and looking back to the floor that I hoped looked pious enough. “Are you serious, swiss?”

“Of course.”

“I love you.”

“I know you do, Sunshine. You also love them and I can feel how much you miss them. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you so much, I could cry.” I mumbled, tears already prickling the corners of my eyes.

“Don’t cry or thank me yet, who knows if I’ll have to break you horndogs apart.”

…

The day seemed to drag by after the ritual.

I got back to my room and was literally locked in by Sister Imperator. Literally. I could hear the chain they put around the handels.

“Oh it's an old tradition to prevent the ascending Prime Mover from being snatched or running away, not that we think that will be you Dear! I feel this is more to keep Papa and Cardinal Copia away.” She laughed on the other side of the door. I rolled my eyes and walked away, Swiss hot on my heels.

My court had also had the opportunity to be locked in but I had insisted that they go about their day, knowing what it was like to be a sibling with loads of work to catch up on. Caterina disappeared without a second glance, the other had thanked me profusely in broken English and I tried to speak back in my imperfect Italian. Now it was just Swiss and I for the rest of the day.

“Okay so what are we going to do, Sunshine?” He teased as I picked out a pair of Copia’s tracksuit pants from his wardrobe and a plain white undershirt of Terzo’s; both of the articles of clothing smelled like them and my heart clenched as I thought of them.

“I’m going to take a shower to wash the oils from my hair, wear my comfy clothes, and curl up with a good book.”

“But thats boring…” Swiss whined, pouting as his tail swished back and forth with irritation. “We have all day, there has to be something more exciting to do.”

“Swiss…we don’t even have a TV in the room. What else are we supposed to do?” I laughed, stepping into the bathroom and he followed me. Nimbly the ghoul sat on the counter, perched like a gargoyle.

“I dunno, go and bug someone?”

“Swiss, I’m literally chained up in here. It’s fine, you don’t have to stay with me, I’m happy to read and take a nap.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Positive, you’ll end up driving me nuts at this rate.”

“Alright Sunshine, I’ll grab you some food and be back later.” Swiss smiled cheerily, coking to press a kiss to my forehead before disappearing into an inky black pool.

True to my word, I showered and dressed in the boys clothes. Enveloped in their scent, I curled up in the bed, the window curtains open to look out at the sunny winter landscape of the Monastery grounds. I read my book, the crackling of the fireplace my only company. My stomach growled and I knew it was time to poke around in the kitchen. I hummed a tune to myself as I made my way down the long hallway to the ensuite kitchen when a pair of strong hands wrapped around my waist and yanked me into a little alcove, shoving me against the wall. I started to panic and thrash against my would be attacker at first before they spoke.

“Cara mia,” Terzo’s voice was tight as he pressed his hips against mine, cock obviously hard as he ground against me. “Oh how I have missed you Bella.”

I gasped and he captured my lips with his own, tongue snaking into my mouth as I whimpered into his. His hands moved from my waist to hold my head as he rocked against me, pressing me into the wall so I couldn’t escape even if I wanted too. Lucifer only knew running away from this man was the last thing on my mind.

“Terzo.” I whined as his lips left a wet trail of kisses from my jaw down my neck. “I-I’ve missed you too. You and Copia.”

“Mh, Si Tesoro. I know.” He murmured, pulling back to rest his forehead on mine. “I see you have stolen something from me…”

“Borrowed. I borrowed it till you’re here with me.” I blushed as he teased my sensitive skin under the hem of his undershirt.

“I am here now, Sorella.”

“You are.”

“You were wonderful today.” He purred, pressing more hot kisses to my jaw and neck, my arms clung to him like a life raft as we ground against each other, heat pooling in my belly. “You looked magnifica, a proper Prime Mover.”

“You looked every part of Papa yourself, you know.” I teased, fingers trailing to tangle into the long pieces at the base of his hairline.

“Enough talking, we only have a few stolen moments before your ghoul comes back for me.” Terzo mumbled between kisses to my lips.

Terzo’s hands slipped down to curl around my ass and, in one smooth move, he lifted me up and wrapped my legs around his waist. I gasped, surprised at his movements, into our kiss as he rocked against me; his cock now grinding against my core through Copia’s tracksuit pants. He growled at me, pushing me back against the wall firmly, and I moaned as my arms wrapped around his neck tightly. We writhed against each other and I felt one of Terzo’s hands tease the waistband of my trousers and suddenly I was panting into his mouth at the feeling of his bare fingertips along my lower stomach.

“Terzo..we can’t.” I whimpered as he rolled his hips into my core again.

“Fuck Imperator and her rules.” He growled. “You are mine, Tesoro. I do not like being denied what is mine…”

“Terzo…” I gasped, his hand on my ass holding me up slipped forward slightly and he was able to press against my core with his fingers.

“Do you not long for me to touch you, Sorella?” He crooned in my ear, our chests pressed tightly together as I shuttered against him. “Do you not long for me to bring you to the precipice, hm?”

“I-I…” I stuttered, revealing the feeling of his bare hands being possessive on my skin in ways that I was sure would bruise if we weren’t careful.

“Well Sister?” Terzo's voice sharp and impatient.

Before I could even respond there was a low growl as Swiss stepped next to us. I groaned, forehead thumping on Terzo’s shoulder. My cunt clenched tightly at the idea of going another night without being fucked within an inch of my life.

“Move along, Papa. You know the deal…” Swiss growled and Terzo’s white eye sparkled menacingly as he turned to the ghoul.

“I want you to know, when I am on my honeymoon I am going to make sure Sorella can’t form coherent thoughts beyond how much she needs my touch.” He snapped at the ghoul, eyes blazing, even with his cock straining against his trousers and my core as he helped to settle me on my feet. “I am going to make sure wherever you are, you will be in the worst heat of your young earthside life, Multi Ghoul. So much so you will be begging me to take you like I take her, hm?”

“T-Terzo!?” I sputtered, face inflamed, as I tried to separate the two. “C-can you not talk about our sex life?”

The both ignored me in favor of posturing in the direction of the other, snide smirks and hooded glares.

“I’m betting on it, Papa.” Swis teased, his tail flicking out to just barely graze against Terzo’s obvious bulge. My face was on fire but I’d be lying if lust and heat wasn’t pooling my my belly as I watched them interact.

“I’m going to go take a shower, Terzo, please send my affections to Copia. Swiss, you should take Terzo back before someone finds him here right?” I chuckled awkwardly as I looked back and forth between them. “Boys?”

That seemed to break the spell, both taking a slight step back from the other and deflating slightly. Swiss looked almost taken aback from his reaction to Terzo and for his part Terzo looked at least a little ashamed to have let himself get carried away.

“No need, Swiss. Omega will take me back.” Terzo flustered, cheeks slightly red as Omega stepped from the shadows like Swiss had. Terzo winked at me, leaning to press a soft kiss to my cheek before vanishing with his ghoul.

“Didn’t you already take a shower, Sunshine?” Swiss asked, suddenly confused as if there was a spell that was suddenly broken.

“I-I need another one!” I squealed, face red as I darted back to my room, shutting the bathroom door in the ghouls face.

“Sunshine?”

“I just need ten minutes!” I shrieked back, flustered as I headed into to draw a bath and prayed I’d be able to relax for a while alone.

“What is your prob-oh. Oh.” Swiss seemed to finally understand before bursting out laughing. “Alright, Sunshine I got you. I’ll come see you later.”

“Please just go away.” I whined as he laughed, the sound leading away from my door as I slipped the clothes over my head and sunk right into the water. Eyes closed and fingers ready to relieve the tight coil in my belly after watching Terzo and Swiss fight over me.

#ghost #the band ghost #cardinal copia x reader #papa emeritus x reader #papa emeritus iii x reader #terzo x reader #cardinal copia #terzo emeritus #papa terzo #sinners in secret chapters #my writing

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stars-and-darkness · 9 months

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i'm procrastinating answering all the comments in my inbox, so instead i'll waste my time making a post about 3x3, you're welcome :):):)

right, so the historical costumes on tvd aren't always very ... historical, but the twenties are one era they tend to get mostly right. i say mostly because it's not perfect, and you can see the cracks if you know what you're looking for (we owe a huge part of our perception of the twenties not to the twenties themselves but to the resurgence of that aesthetic during the 50s and 60s, which wasn't necessarily accurate. most media today, tvd included, take inspiration from that era.)

HOWEVER, there's a thing about costuming in 3x3, aka THE twenties episode of this show that i absolutely adore, i think it was a brilliant move character-wise and ALSO showcasing an aspect of the twenties that isn't often talked about or shown on modern media ... and it's also probably on accident. i mean. let's be fair here.

anyway, i'm talking about rebekah's HAIR in this episode.

for context, this here's the style:

it's curled and pinned up into a bob. keyword, pinned up. in case you can't see it, here's her after she's been awoken in 2010, and the style's falling apart:

and her a few episodes later in modern clothes, literally days after, with shoulder-length hair:

conclusion, rebekah's hair has been long all along. now, i don't know exactly where on the timeline the twenties flashbacks are (and as usual with me, unless it's stated explicitly in s1-3, i don't really care what canon has to say), but i like to put them somewhere around 1927, definitely later in the decade, based on how short the women's hems are. the transition between long edwardian skirts and the twenties' knee length dresses was a very long process.

point is, despite fashions of the era, she's had long hair for years. this ... was a real thing that women did. specifically, the style is called the faux bob, and it was a way of pretending you'd bobbed your hair as fashionable women did, while still keeping your long luscious locks that had been in fashion your entire life, your mother's entire life, your grandmother's, and so on and on and on, dating back for as long as memory serves.

(actually, in 3x20, you can see our girls doing the same thing for the decade dance, since they, i presume, didn't want to cut their hair just for one single evening. ALSO, the hems seen that evening are usually too short, owing again, to the glamourisation of this era in the later decades, which is also a nice touch.)

and this??? it's not only historically accurate, but i also love that for rebekah, who had already been alive (undead?) for nine hundred years in those flashbacks, has worn her hair long for this entire time, and would have an even more difficult time parting with it than young women of the time.

it cannot be overemphasised how radical a change in women's fashions the twenties brought about. the shorter hemlines are only a part of that--it was also for the first time fashionable to wear bold makeup and short hair (which this entire post is about). the advancements in technology allowed for the production of faux jewellery (those long strings of pearls you think about when you think twenties would've been far too expensive for many women if they were real) which meant that wearing statement pieces was no longer restricted to just the upper crust, and mass-production of clothes, which had previously been exclusively hand-made, and that contributed to the huge increase in speed at which fashion started evolving.

anyway, i love the idea of rebekah, who has been around for so long and seen so much, valuing her hair the same as she's valued it in her human days. i am completely aware that the reason they did this was so the actress wouldn't have to cut her hair, but i think that anyone who's ever seen and enjoyed tvd is aware that all the best parts of it are accidental anyway.

#tvd #rebekah mikaelson #ella originals

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rainpudding · 2 years

Text

YAN! SCARA X READER

THE SWEETEST ICING

chapter eight

chapter index

- the last chapter before the epilogue, this chapter is shorter than the one before, please if you have any questions regarding the book, or anything related please post them in the comments or send me a dm I'm so happy to be here with u guys. Also since this book was written before any scaras lore he can be a bit ooc, i tried fixing him in this chapter making him seem like he was a good person in the past but i lowkey feel like I failed to show that. I hope you still enjoy the chapter nonetheless.

Breath hitches in your throat as worries flood your heart and dumb little mind. You breathe deeply trying to shake away the fear that is buried in your chest. The sun shines brightly making sweat form all over your body as you grip the inazuman flower boutique.

There is a classical music band that was hired by Scaramouche in the background, they're playing soft and quiet music building a lovely atmosphere. violin mixes with quiet whispers and gossip you step back, your brows furrow in pain when you feel an edge of a knife on your back, threatening to cut through your clothes and skin, ready to draw out blood. You look behind your shoulder to see the Russian ginger smiling sincerely, his eyes dark with a hint of madness, the knife is hidden under his sleeve, away from the wandering eyes of the guests but still here for you to feel, a hint that there is no escape.

You step back forward your eyes becoming teary, your eyes meet Dottore who is standing behind the altar, his smile widening as he sees your fear. You gulp your pride your hands lightly shaking, your press harder onto the boutique. Finally, you step forward, your shoes clicking against the decorated stairs. The music explodes now being loud, people start clapping and cheering, and harbingers sip their wine gossiping. The icing mage in the crowd waves at you sparkles in her eyes as she jumps trying to make you see her, when you look at her she shows thumbs up.

When you're finally at the top of the stairs, on the podium where the altar is, you finally breathe out. Scaramouche is by your side, he hums in approval as he can sense your presence. "Finally, always have to make a scene don't you, a grand entrance they call it," Scaramouche sighs, surprisingly not angry. He seems weirdly relaxed, your muscles tense. Normally he would start making a scene, educating you and stuff, but now that you stand next to him he seems happy not minding the fact you came late and tried to back away a few times.

"Feeling shy? Tire of your fake pride already," he is pressing your buttons, and he knew it. His smile says it all. "Fake pride? Like you know any better," you bite onto your lip, your hands curl into the fabric of your clothes. "What is all this, you don't see me for three years, we become complete strangers and suddenly you want to marry me? Don't you realize how big of a commitment this is? Has your brain decomposed since we last saw each other? Or is this some trend that harbingers now do," you spat, your heart hurt threatening to break apart, your chest felt heavy and you felt awfully hot, cold sweat rolled down your forehead as you tried to stay as quiet as possible but still express your anger. Scaramouche seemed unaffected by your brattiness, in fact, he seemed lifeless like he couldn't get why you were so angry.

Before he could calm you down or answer Dottore coughed loudly, discarding the tense atmosphere," the guests are growing impatient should we start?"

Scaramouche nodds a glaze lily decorating his hair. Just now you noticed that you carried a boutique of flowers from his homeland, and he had his hair decorated with a flower from yours.

You still didn't understand, why would he marry you? Yes, you were his secretary for a year, before you started working under him you spared a few glances at each other in the fatui hall. Besides a few words of comfort and encouragement you offered him, there was nothing more that happened between you two. Yes, maybe you understood why back then he would fall in love with you. When younger and naive you always tried to bring a positive and happy atmosphere everywhere you went. You always helped, you never forgot anyone's birthday, you always carried patches with you and gave first aid help. But now you're a different person, you grew up. You became smarter and a hard worker. You haven't seen Scaramouche in years, and neither did he. So the attraction surely had to disappear, right?

"You promised you wouldn't leave," Scaramouche whispered, and suddenly your mouth ran dry.

Dottore fixed his clothes and microphone and opened his book, bending over he tapped the microphone a few times before finally speaking,"Welcome, loved ones. We are gathered here today to join Scaramouche and Y/n in holy matrimony." You remembered, how could you forget such a significant moment in your life. Your face became red your heart sinking, drowning in a cold sweat of guilt. Back then, when you started working as a harbinger, Scaramouche became a harbinger too. You remember everyone said that his heart was from stone, or from ice. Lost in past and his own anger. You remembered wanting him to smile too as other harbingers did. You wanted to be friends with everyone so much, wanting everyone to warm up to you. You cleaned Dottores lab after experiments, trained with Childe, created handmade gifts to Sandrone, singing with Columbina. You tried to warm up to Scaramouche too, but he was always so dismissable and alone.

Yes, you remember, you were a people pleaser back then, helping everyone, making everyone feel welcome. Even when Scaramouche pissed you off you still bit your lip and were nice.

You remember one day, the night was cold and dark and you climbed onto the roof of fatui headquarters, stargazing. When Scaramouche found you he scolded you, telling you how he will tell Tsatsira, but knowing that Tsasira probably liked you more than him he gave up letting himself enjoy the peaceful moment. He climbed up, sitting next to you. You remember how he became sleepy and for the first time he let himself be vulnerable, he laid his head on your lap as you brushed through his hair, ranting and talking about meaningless things. And then listening carefully when he whispered his worries or ranted about his hopes for the future. You remembered the shock you felt when you found out he was a doll, suddenly scared to touch him, scared that your touch would break his beautiful face.

You remembered how you did a pinkie promise, promising you would be always here for him, always by his side.

But being with him was from time to time exhausting, even more, when you became his secretary, he can't blame you for leaving. For choosing a better future for yourself.

Perhaps you should have done better then. Be more honest, and more open. You didn't knew what consequences would your actions make. You should have said goodbye, or left a note. Not cutting all the connected strings, not cutting his heartstrings, leaving him alone, like everyone always did.

"No need to worry about the past! We have united again, thanks to your friends," he looked at you, his smile widening, his eyes dull and insipid, no longer violet, now they were purple-greyish with a hint of insanity. Shivers run down your spine, this Scaramouche was so much different than the one from your past. Like you were getting married to a brand new person.

Back then Scaramouche was cruel, he degraded people, he was possessive and dint understands human emotions, and he was angry and hot-headed, in contrast however he also allowed you to see his weak side, his kind and sympathetic side, his boring and calm side. You were the first person in years that showed him kindness and warmed up his ice heart. He was humanoid, he had both bad and good traits, and he showed true emotions even if he couldn't understand them.

Looking at him now. He no longer felt like a human. He was weirdly calm and relaxed, his face a sinister grin. The Scramouch next to you was a doll, a lifeless doll with no other emotion besides his sick love for you, no other thought than you. Unable to love, he was dead inside but alive outside.

It was like someone craved a heart out of his chest and stepped on it, and the one who did it was you. Just like when you became important to him and made him trust you, just to disappear without a trace.

Dottore kept talking, and reciting the text from the book, his clones sat in the front, eating as much food as they could, looking like hamsters. They were clapping their hands and loudly cheering, low-key making Dottore embarrassed.

"Just kiss already goddamn," the younger clone yelled, his mouth filled with cupcakes, the icing smeared all over his mouth. "No shut up Dottore you don't understand it, it feels more romantic this way," the older clone lightly slapped the back of the younger Dottores head.

"No may the pair exchange their vows," Dottore spoke, he shot a glaring look at his clones.

He looked back at you two, his mood brightening when he noticed your uneasy expression, sadist. ""Do you Scaramouche, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?," he spoke his gaze turning to Scaramouche who was still smiling.

He took your hand pressing it his heart nearly jumped from his chest at his excitement," I do."

"Do you Y/n-" Dottores voice was a blur, for a moment you couldn't hear anything, you felt your cheeks flush, your heart heaving, your blood pressure going up. You felt like you were about to vomit. Your hands shook as you thought about the past, how you left everyone, about the present, how you were about to get married, and the future, your life with Scaramouche.

Suddenly Scaramouche pinched your cheek getting you out of your thoughts, "I know you do, say it, don't be shy, everyone knows you already belong to me," Scaramouche whispered.

"Shut up," you whispered. You looked at your shoes in shame, "I do," your lip shook, you felt so humiliated.

"Amazing now might you kiss the bride," Dottore closed the book with a loud bang smiling. You backed away while Scaramouche took a step toward you. "I will be gentle I promise."

His hands cupped your cheeks, you nodded, "let it be over then."

Your lips connected, and he brushed his fingertips over your hair and pulled away. You blink a few times, while Scaramouche kissed your forehead, "I will make sure that you will never leave me again, you're all I need, you're my oxygen," he brushed a few hair strands from your face, his forehead on yours his pupils dilated and small, his crazed smile on his features. He was obsessed, you could feel it by how tightly he held you in his arms, scared you would disappear otherwise.

Dottore proudly walked towards his clones who were fangirling and jumping around him like hyped-up children.

The rest of the day felt like a blur, you cut the wedding cake together. A few of Scara's friends had a speech then Nigguang had a speech, her voice was slightly shaking, she tied to look at the crowd in front of her but upon meeting your angered gaze she always looked away, looking at the paper she held in her hands instead. She babbled about how a monster was supposed to attack Liyue a sea monster until you saved them by your sacrifice, how you married the love of your life and in exchange, Scaramouche sent his fatui agents to kill the monster before it could attack.

Then you stood by Scaras side, his hand resting around your waist, his suffocating presence making you nervous. Is this how your life truly looks like now? There is truly no escape is it..

(the final chapter/epilogue will be posted this month,please look forward it)

TAGS: @aluraveil @alisstaa @cherlynono - sorry for such a boring chapter guys, next one will be beter, and final.

#genshin x reader #yandere x reader #scaramouche x reader #genshin x you #yandere scaramouche #yandere genshin #yan genshin x reader #yandere genshin x reader #yandere scaramouche x reader #yan scaramouche x reader

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