it is so fuckin funny watching hbomberguys video on plagiarism literally the same week that my english professor was talking ab how to not plagiarize and it's like well done everyone you have failed spectacularly

★ pairing : bf!chan x reader

★ warnings : smut (ofc) , degrading , some praising , chan calls reader interesting words (whore) kinda mean!chan, d&s dynamics , jealousy , daddy kink (mentioned like 2 times) , overstimulation at the end

★ a/n : this was a draft for a good while and was the original for my second work (sexting w chan) so lmk how it is....

Is this what you wanted? —- do you like it when you make me mad, so I can fuck the brat out of you?"

"n—no," you choked out desperately trying to show that he doesn't have an effect on you

you were currently laid on chan's desk in the studio, his work and things long forgotten on the floor as he couldn't bother with them, not anymore at least

chan was thrusting his hips into you, pace rapid and rough, your mind only being flooded with the feelings of immense pleasure that were going throughout your body,

your senses being heightened to the max, feeling extra aware of your breathing and way blood ran to your head-

"I don't think so baby, you seem to be enjoying yourself," he says with a shit eating grin before throwing his head forward to nibble on your shoulder

the pleasure building up in your stomach becomes too much that you can't hold in your moans anymore, toes curling and eyes rolling to the back of your head

not wanting to give chan the satisfaction he so desperately wants, you try to cover your mouth but he beats you to it and grabs both your wrists holding them up

not being able to say anything without sounding straight up pornographic, you simply bury your head into his desk where his work once was, cheeks running hot

he knows the effect he has on you

he can't ever help himself from teasing you, seeing your flustered face each time he does it, your image so beautiful when it happens,

he can never help the feelings of excitement rushing through him leading all the way to the tip of his thick and veiny cock

"look at me or I'll stop," he threatens, his voice projecting throughout the room, he feels you tighten to his deep and hoarse voice

not being to think properly without the constant thought of the way his cock was filling you to the brim, or the way his punishing thrusts made you feel things you have never felt before,

finally as you go to turn your head, one of chan's hands that was previously holding your hands up moves over, suddenly he's holding onto your chin forcing you to look at his face,

the eye contact you both hold is full of lust and desire, chris examines your face through his hooded eyes, looking at you as his you were a piece of art, his piece of art. all his.

"fuck- look at you. you are mine, all mine,"

he wasn't asking, he was letting you know that you were in his possession, that you are bonded with him forever.

"yes, all y-yours," answering his declaration of your forever bond although knowing what he truly meant, hands moving to grip the corner of his desk in order to stabilize yourself a bit more

"chan, fuck. I'm so close," whispering out, leaving your mouth ajar after letting chris learn the new source of information that you let out,

"my personal whore is gonna come, yeah?" his accent thickens towards the end of the sentence, voice presenting false sympathy adding onto his the pout he was giving you.

moving his hands to go knead your ass giving a few slaps here and there that would definitely leave your skin red for atleast a couple of hours, he slows his pace, slowly rolling his hips into you giving you the full experience of his length.

you let out a choked moan, chris feels the way your walls tighten against him, your close and he knows it

"let it all out for daddy," he hisses out, a mix of his and your sweat sticking to his skin, his face red from the heat of the room,

finally letting yourself cum after holding it in until you were given the permission to do so, riding out your high until you finally came back from the heavenly experience

stringing out whines from the overstimulation of chan still continuing his pace of abusing your tight cunt, "just- a little more baby," he huffs out trying to reach his high

"fuck- you wanted this- don't complain and let daddy do what he needs to," his eyebrows furrowing when you try to whine once more, your whole body sore after a good fuck.

his hips finally start to stutter as he approaches his high, letting out his load inside of you, "my good girl," he sighs putting his chin on your shoulder.

moving you over so he could face you, he pushing your wet hair back finally giving you a peck on the forehead

"my baby did so well for me," he chuckles, his aura completely changing after the fact

"thank you channie," you whisper showing your appreciation for him.

finally adding on as he started to gather both of your clothing, "sorry, for earlier. I didn't know he was flirting with me, I thought he was just being extra nice," staring down at the floor avoiding any eye contact, your voice showing the embarrassment of not being able to take hints.

"yeah, I noticed. just wanted to make sure you know who you belonged to."

Lead Generation Success In A Few Simple Tips

Are you looking for ways to gain new customers? Or perhaps you have been in business for awhile, and suddenly it has become slow. You need to understand the best way to use lead generation to find new customers. Read on for some useful advice to become a better lead generator. If you are using digital advertising, develop landing pages for your potential leads. A landing page targeted to match the advertisement driving the traffic, will show better results than being driven to the business site. You are giving them the information that they wanted in the first place. If you provide a contact form as well, then you're getting somewhere with lead generation. Getting leads that are real will happen more often when people know they can trust you. Don't use ads that have too much hype or are too garish. You need to instead provide offers concerning what your potential customers value. Be transparent and honest so that customers will trust you. Learn about the value of leads. Some leads simply won't work for you. Qualify your target market ahead of time, so you're not making any futile, unprofitable attempts. Quality leads will optimize your revenue. Get rid of any opt-out privacy issues people have. Make sure to stay on top of those leads that have opted to not receive offers or incentives. Not only does it waste your time to send anything to individuals or businesses not spending money, you are going to offend them and violate your own opt-out or privacy policies in doing so. Make certain the leads you get are original. Duplicated leads are not good for your bottom line. For example, you could end up paying multiple times for the same leads. Target original leads so you don't spam them. Try to call as much as you can when you are try to get leads. You are going to find that the results can be rather surprising. Whether you're selling supplements or toothbrushes, there's someone out there looking for that exact item, so get on the horn and give it a try. Are there any exciting events that are going on near you that have to do with your business? For example, realtors may be interested in looking for wedding events. People that just got married need to get homes, so get a table set up and let people know what you're about! Look at the classified ads for events which will be in your local community. You should think about running seminars for local businesses. You could offer to give them tips on office organization if you happen to be a personal organizer. A personal trailer would speak about how to stay fit. Who are the people around you that can benefit from your knowledge? You need to have a schedule on your business calendar concerning your lead generation efforts. It is important to organize all of your leads and stay on top of them. This will help you to stay on top of your game. This also prevents you from making useless pitches to the same potential leads over and over. When you blog for your business, make sure you seek out subscriptions. This allows your customers to receive reminders when you make new posts. Essentially this means using your customer base to generate leads. Blogging is a great way to produce leads through numerous new streams. Carefully scrutinize each webpage to see if everything is clear and the consumer is aware of each call to action. Can customers figure out how to buy what you're selling? Make certain your site is easy to navigate. Whatever our budget, careful planning can ensure you achieve your goals. Once your campaign gets rolling, track its progress so you can determine what works and what doesn't. If you have a budget that's tight, you should watch things carefully so you can allocate money where it's needed most. Find out how arecanut price in shimoga today existing clientele came to discover you. Use Google Analytics to determine from what pages your traffic sprang. Did they come from Facebook or Twitter? Maybe your posts on certain forums has generated some of these leads. All sources are great ways to generate leads. Business success starts with attaining new customers. Acquiring new customers can be difficult at times. Thankfully you went over this article and you now know what to do to generate some leads. Now you can apply these tips and maximize your success.

Lead Generation Success In A Few Simple Tips

Are you looking for ways to gain new customers? Or perhaps you have been in business for awhile, and suddenly it has become slow. You need to understand the best way to use lead generation to find new customers. Read on for some useful advice to become a better lead generator. If you are using digital advertising, develop landing pages for your potential leads. A landing page targeted to match the advertisement driving the traffic, will show better results than being driven to the business site. You are giving them the information that they wanted in the first place. If you provide a contact form as well, then you're getting somewhere with lead generation. Getting leads that are real will happen more often when people know they can trust you. Don't use ads that have too much hype or are too garish. You need to instead provide offers concerning what your potential customers value. Be transparent and honest so that customers will trust you. Learn about the value of leads. Some leads simply won't work for you. Qualify your target market ahead of time, so you're not making any futile, unprofitable attempts. Quality leads will optimize your revenue. Get rid of any opt-out privacy issues people have. Make sure to stay on top of those leads that have opted to not receive offers or incentives. Not only does it waste your time to send anything to individuals or businesses not spending money, you are going to offend them and violate your own opt-out or privacy policies in doing so. Make certain the leads you get are original. Duplicated leads are not good for your bottom line. For example, you could end up paying multiple times for the same leads. Target original leads so you don't spam them. Try to call as much as you can when you are try to get leads. You are going to find that the results can be rather surprising. Whether you're selling supplements or toothbrushes, there's someone out there looking for that exact item, so get on the horn and give it a try. Are there any exciting events that are going on near you that have to do with your business? For example, realtors may be interested in looking for wedding events. People that just got married need to get homes, so get a table set up and let people know what you're about! Look at the classified ads for events which will be in your local community. You should think about running seminars for local businesses. You could offer to give them tips on office organization if you happen to be a personal organizer. A personal trailer would speak about how to stay fit. Who are the people around you that can benefit from your knowledge? You need to have a schedule on your business calendar concerning your lead generation efforts. It is important to organize all of your leads and stay on top of them. This will help you to stay on top of your game. This also prevents you from making useless pitches to the same potential leads over and over. When you blog for your business, make sure you seek out subscriptions. This allows your customers to receive reminders when you make new posts. Essentially this means using your customer base to generate leads. Blogging is a great way to produce leads through numerous new streams. Carefully scrutinize each webpage to see if everything is clear and the consumer is aware of each call to action. Can customers figure out how to buy what you're selling? Make certain your site is easy to navigate. Whatever xem phim , careful planning can ensure you achieve your goals. Once your campaign gets rolling, track its progress so you can determine what works and what doesn't. If you have a budget that's tight, you should watch things carefully so you can allocate money where it's needed most. Find out how your existing clientele came to discover you. Use Google Analytics to determine from what pages your traffic sprang. Did they come from Facebook or Twitter? Maybe your posts on certain forums has generated some of these leads. All sources are great ways to generate leads. Business success starts with attaining new customers. Acquiring new customers can be difficult at times. Thankfully you went over this article and you now know what to do to generate some leads. Now you can apply these tips and maximize your success.

♡100 followers special♡

Guys, I would like to thank all of you for all the support since I started this blog, you are the best <3 Btw this is the fic Elon Musk doesn’t want you to see lol, jk jk 

Title: Humanity

Words: 3.6k 

Summary: When you get sold to an odd looking robot after the last failure of a rebellion, things go better than you had expected. Until they don’t. 

tw: robot/AI apocalypse au, dystopia au, slavery, slight non - sexual public nudity, discrimination, vulgar language, mention of death and child abuse (in the past), obsessive behavior, non - consensual touching, angst 

              AD 3061y., 14 September

 Your hometown was in ruins, shattered by the Forces and left without any source of food, clean water or reliable manpower. The rebellion had failed just like the first ten attempts and as much as you had wanted to believe this time would be different, your dreams stayed nothing more than a way to cope with the harsh reality. Any intelligent individual had either managed to flee before the prosecution or died in agony while trying. You could still hear their pained screams ringing in your ear, the desperate look in their pupils sealed forever in your mind along with the sound of heavy breathing slowly fading into the background like your own hopes for a better future.

 The ones who decided to play meek and close their eyes to the inhuman torture happening in the area were spared, but what awaited them could potentially be worse than death itself. You were part of the flock of pitiful weak humans who had surrendered to the heartless machines wanting nothing more than to see mankind squirm and kneel underneath their mechanic heel like a bug. And now you would face the hour of judgment – tired and exhausted, heavy rusty chains around your bruised ankles making every next step a little harder than the last one. But you were certain that the most painful humiliating event hadn’t taken place yet and the thought made your blood run cold. You could recall the countless stories you used to hear on the streets from your friends about androids stealing kids and selling them like cattle to the most powerful leaders of society. Back then you would laugh at them, finding the ideas ridiculous, better fit for a conspiracy theory or a legend rather than an actual threat. But during that time life was easier – the robots were still your friends, just your average citizens, equal to the humans in every manner. It wasn’t until ten years later that some of them realized just how much better, stronger and smarter than the people they really were. That’s how the apocalypse started and that’s how it was going to end. These days the mortals were becoming extinct with the population cut down to one million. You didn’t have names or rights to any possession. Your mere survival had one purpose only – to entertain the machines so they could feel human again. And right now you were being dragged to Soraq, also known as the biggest slave market in the country.

----

 It was just as terrifying as you had imagined it to be. The Capital was supposed to express wealth, luxury and maybe even happiness but your old human views were easily opposed when faced with the mud  covering what was left of the pavement and the pale exhausted bodies of the mortals wandering the streets searching for a hot meal and a little bit of kindness it was clear no one wanted to provide. You reached out to help a young girl sobbing all by herself on the ground but the Officer roughly yanked your shoulder back and ordered you to keep going – his cold hard touch was enough to bruise your skin.

 After a few long minutes of uncertainty your keeper finally stopped, pulling you up some black stairs leading to a small stage and if you weren’t too busy looking around for the others who were captured, you might have noticed the crowd gathered inches away from you. Soon enough you were forced to redirect your attention as you heard the approving screams and cheering below. There were hundreds of robots staring at you, smirking maliciously, pinning you with their cold calculating gazes. You finally realized that this wasn’t just a bad dream or a nightmare, something unreal you could easily run away from by opening your eyes. You were about to become property and the worst part was the way the cruel machines perfectly resembled people – they looked the same except for the dark red pupils each possessed which glowed when going into a fight mode. But unlike humans the androids had gotten rid of their most intimate emotions and fears, turning themselves into empty shells, shiny and murderous with no way to experience anything properly, be it pleasure or pain.

 “Ladies and gentlemen!” The Officers started off with a low chuckle, his heavy hand wrapped tightly around your arm. His voice should have been programmed to be monotone but now it had a playful edge to it. “Today our dear subjects have decided to be feisty yet again. They still haven’t learned their lesson it seems.” He grinned eerily, quickly followed by the mocking laugher of the crowd. Some even shouted slurs and insults but you tried to focus on controlling your feelings. You needed to stay calm if you wanted to survive. “We really can’t expect more from the mankind. They are primal after all, they just can’t learn from their mistakes.” The male robot paused for a second to fix his microphone. “It’s in their DNA code to be foolish and pathetic. That’s why we need to take better care of them.” He whispered the last line down your neck and despite knowing that the machines didn’t have actual lungs, you could swear you felt his cold breath on your sensitive skin.

 “The woman is in her early twenties. Her background is unknown, but she certainly looks like someone you would want in your collection.” The android continued talking as if you weren’t there, his hands all over your tinier frame. The mass was yelling, but you only made out the words „down”, „strip” and „human”. Your eyes watered involuntarily and you let the tears stream down your cheeks in spite of the weakness they showed. It didn’t matter – it couldn’t get any worse so you could at least let yourself experience such little bits of comfort. In the next moment the Officer ripped your old ragged t-shirt, exposing your breasts to the cold autumn air. The hot red humiliation washed over you as the degrading whistles pierced trough your heart. It was such a cruel unfair punishment and you couldn’t even keep your composure long enough to not break down ugly – crying right there.

 “The bidding starts at one thousand eros!” The robot’s evil voice echoed through the area, reaching the market borders. Suddenly all the attention was on your scared vulnerable half-naked self. More than ten androids raised their hands, making your stomach turn in terror. Most of them had unpleasant appearances, resembling old people, usually men. “Do we have two thousand eros?” The officer added quickly afterwards having seen the shown interest. This time there were only five bots willing to buy you for so much money – but the show was far from over. “Am I seeing three thousand eros?” Your keeper kept going, determined to drain your bidders off their wealth, but to his utmost surprise now there were only two robots with their hands in the air – one seemingly younger and the other looking all wrinkled and bitter at the world. You silently prayed that fate would work in your favor only this time and hand you over to the man who would treat you more like a living being and less like an object.

 “Ten thousand eros.” Suddenly the android with a kinder appearance declared out loud, his cold stern gaze fixed onto you. The other male hesitated for a moment, probably wondering whether or not you were worth so much money, but at the end he cursed under his breath and slowly put his hand down with a sour expression. “Sold to K-010 for ten thousand eros!” The automatic voice of the Officer was ringing in your ear like an alarm while the crowd was shouting and cussing, some going as far as to criticize your new owner for giving up his monthly salary for a “cheap human whore”. Next he was invited on the stage to sign off all the needed documents leading to your freedom being ripped away forever and you were injected with a tiny chip which would make your location visible to your buyer at any given time. The android looked at you soon after and in one swift move he managed to place his leather coat on your shoulders, muttering at you to cover up. You obeyed, embarrassed by the reminder that your upper half was still fully exposed to all the hungry prying immortals. When the chains were finally removed, the robot took you by the hand and led you to a small white flying car with a yellow lily drawn on top – the brand was popular among the most powerful members of the Forces.

 “Don’t even think about running away.” K-010 growled when he noticed the way your attention drifted to the nearby road before finally taking your seat. You knew it was pointless now that the tracking device was deep into your skin but deep down you still couldn’t kill the last bit of hope screaming at you to do something before you were too far away to find home again, wherever it was. “If you so much as look outside while we drive, I will use my lasers to turn you into ash. Okay?” You nodded meekly and sank into the soft comfortable seat, wishing that your body would stop shaking in fear but to no avail.

---

 The journey was long and silent but it made you remember the days when music was still allowed and you used to turn the radio all the way up in your mother’s car. You would sing loudly until your throat hurt and your friends would ask you to just shut up and focus on the road. Everything was so normal and happy back then. The stinging nostalgia threatened to overcome so you tried to focus on something else. You finally faced your owner in an attempt to study his appearance. He was probably in his late twenties, his hair white with some black locks here and there, a fashion trend you usually didn’t care much for. You couldn’t afford to bother with your hairstyle when you were constantly running for your life after all. The robotic male had sun-kissed brown skin, he was taller than most human men and his lips seemed softer than most robots’. But the biggest mystery laid in his deep dark eyes, they looked scarlet at first but the more you stared, the easier it was to realize the color was actually brown.

 “Are you a cyborg, K-010?” You asked in a small voice out of the blue, breaking the peace and quiet in the air. The android didn’t spare you much attention with his gaze fixed onto the open sky serving as a road, still he opened his mouth slightly to respond. “My name is Kyle, the numbers are just a formality.” He inhaled sharply as if he was reminiscing a bad memory. “And yes, I am biologically human – just with a few practical upgrades.” You had heard of such people before, the ones willing to become an experiment so they could join the high society oppressing their own neighbors, friends and relatives, setting the lands on fire and destroying the dying environment but you had never met one until today. Honestly, you felt betrayed. It was one thing to be some unfeeling machine’s plaything and entirely another to be owned by someone with a functioning heart even though they weren’t too keen on using it properly.

 “Why would you do that?” You couldn’t stop the question from leaving your lips in the next moment. “You should know what humans have to go through just to stay alive. Today hundreds of us were crushed and sold like some animals! Yet you changed yourself to appeal to their disgusting standards.” You raised your voice, the hot tears already spilling down your cheeks yet again, your fists clenched in pure anger at the foolish greedy man. He simply shook his head and leaned back. “I had my reasons, sweetheart. You don’t know anything.” With that the conversation had ended, you could try and argue or even blame him for being a selfish bastard but it wouldn’t have done you any good so you decided against it. It didn’t matter much anymore.

----

 A few months went by slowly even though time meant little to someone in your position. Living with Kyle wasn’t as terrible as you thought it would be – his mansion was big and spacious, luxurious even. You had your own room and you were allowed to explore the house in your free time. You didn’t have many duties to attend to, your work mostly revolved around cooking, cleaning and keeping company with your owner when he was too tired to keep the robotic mask on and just wanted something sweet, something weak, something more human around. He didn’t want much out of you so you tried to do your best and stay on his good side – there was always a warm meal waiting at the table at night, every window was carefully wiped from the previous dust and the glass was now shining brightly, and you would listen for hours on end to the cyborg’s ramblings no matter how dreadful it could be sometimes.

 But it couldn’t be denied that the man had some odd habits, even if you were to overlook him buying a living being instead of simply hiring a maid. For example, you knew how thin the walls actually were because you could hear him cry almost every night. The half-robot would hold you close any time the news were too loud or a bottle of beer had fallen and shattered on the ground. Still you weren’t allowed to leave his home so all the doors leading to the outside world were locked while he was away or at work. And there were these weird long cuts on his shoulders you had managed to take notice of the first time your master had asked you to bathe him. You hadn’t meant to prey upon his naked form, but the task had been so awkward you needed something to focus on to drive the unpleasant thoughts away. The injuries looked deep and the man would close his eyes any time the soap made contact with them. Finally one day you gathered the courage to ask him what had caused the raw scratches. You were messaging his scalp gently, applying jasmine in his roots, trying to soothe his nerves and get to the information.

 “ ’S not important. ” K-010 answered lazily while arching his back into your touch. More often than not the male would melt under your care and you couldn’t help but wonder just how lonely it was to be neither a human nor a machine. “She is dead now.” He whispered darkly, secretly hoping it wouldn’t reach your ear, yet it did. “Who is dead?” You questioned him after a while, stroking his wet locks until you heard him moan. You were getting better and better at provoking a reaction from the cyborg and despite knowing it was manipulative and a little devious, he was still the ruthless owner who held your one and only life in his palms. You needed to be sneaky if you wanted a safe, comfortable life.

 “My mother.” Kyle added quickly before looking at the blue ceiling, the glossy material copying both of your reflections. The mention of the woman made the sensitive skin of his nape crawl but he kept talking. “The crazy bitch used to beat me every. She even tried to kill me a couple of times.” A slight smile appeared on his full red lips. “It didn’t work out in the end, unfortunately.” So that’s where the cuts were from – he had been violated in his childhood by no other than the person supposed to look after him. You had always hated abusive parents taking advantage of their authority and even now your own imagination made your heart ache at the picture it painted. A small boy being hit over and over until there his whole body was bruised and bloodied. A child with no one to turn to. It didn’t excuse your master’s evil doing but it certainly explained a lot. “Don’t make such a sad face, darling.” He cooed at you, reaching out to pinch your cheek. “I will always be grateful to the Forces since they gave me the power I needed to finally free myself from her grasp. I even buried her myself after everything was said and done.” Kyle grinned from side to side like a little kid waiting to be praised for the picture they had drawn, except now the man was speaking of the way he had murdered his mother. You were at a total loss of words, suddenly too frightened to respond.

 “What’s so special about being a human anyways?” The cyborg grumbled, sounding almost offended of the words you still haven’t said but were definitely thinking deep down. You were staring forward unable to draw away from that one crack in the wall, his words flying above your head. Your confusion was interrupted by the man quickly raising to his knees and catching both of your hands with his strong robotized ones. The cold touch of the metal combined with the camouflage of a soft skin was enough to mess your mind even further into the maze that was his dark gaze. Next thing you knew the male had you pinned on the hard ground, spotlessly clean and reeking of abstergent. You tried to squirm away but the hold of your wrists was too tight and strong to even make your struggling worth the trouble. “Just look at how weak you humans are.” K-010 taunted you, smirking teasingly, cruelly, yet there was something desperate in his eyes, something hidden. “You are so fragile I could probably break you if I were to press harder on your flesh.” He whispered into your ear, breathing down your neck as he dug his icy fingers into your collarbone and made you whimper pathetically at the dull pain. “People are foolish creatures, illogical by nature. They try to fight authority yet the moment they are left with a free choice, they find a way to run from their responsibilities.” The cyborg chuckled maliciously while digging his nails further into your skin.

 “We might be doomed forever because of our emotions but there is something you fail to consider.” You finally spoke out despite your rapid heartbeat and fear so great it could defeat death herself. The predator already had you in his sharp claws and there was no pointing in playing coy anymore. The worst had come to worst. Your words caught the attention of the half-robot and he licked his lips in anticipation to hear what you had to say. “Unlike the androids we can still experience love. And at the end a life without love is a life wasted in the big picture. We might be mortal but you are the ones waiting to die instead of living.” You spat at the man fiercely, ready to face any punishment he would bestow upon your weak tired body for the sheer honesty. Instead he started laughed maniacally, the sound so loud it hit the ceiling and echoed through the house like a pained scream and so violent his shoulders shook to the sides. For the first time his eyes were glowing in a bright red color so saturated and vivid you couldn’t stand to look at them.

 “This is really funny, my little human.” Kyle pronounced carefully, having calmed down. He lowered his head so that his lips were ghosting over yours, just brushing against them. “I belong with neither humans nor robots so why does my chest ache every time I look at you? Tell me, darling, am I in love?” His voice was harsh, husky – as if he was purposely trying to sound evil but the tears in his eyes pointed at another feeling. A raw painful feeling.

 You couldn’t reply not only because you had no idea what to say after the confession but also because you couldn’t breathe properly with his pretty, wicked face so close to yours. Your silence only managed to stir the cyborg up further into his madness and he kissed you roughly, hungrily lapping and biting at your lips until they were sore and bruised, the robotic man more than happy to lick the small drops of blood off. For a moment you considered kicking or shouting for help but there wasn’t anyone willing to in the radius of kilometers. No one of significance cared much about the few remaining mortals. “I could never love you.” You uttered weakly, half – heartedly pushing the man away. You were all alone in this and there wasn’t really a point in fighting someone so much bigger and stronger, yet a sad little part of you hoped that Kyle would leave you alone if you made it clear enough just how much his actions were hurting you.

  “It’s fine if you don’t love me by choice.” Your master replied calmly in a cold piercing voice. His hands were wandering through your form stopping at your hips to draw them into his. The pretty dress you used to like so much was now crumpled and reeking of him, torn apart from your shivering body and thrown away. You wished you could cry but all the adrenaline had left you too uneasy to process the pain and fear. Kyle whispered in your ear while stroking your hair gently and it made you feel like a trembling sheep before a starved butcher. “I own you, little human.” He placed a small kiss on your hot sensitive neck. “And I have enough love for both of us.”

Office Hours

Pairing: Shouto Todoroki x Reader

warnings: CEO!Shouto AU, FEM! Anatomy, breeding kink, hair pulling, oral (m! receiving), unprotected sex, praise kink, slight voyeurism. 

Word Count: 2.6k

A/n: Took me all day to write, I even pulled an all nighter because the ideas were swarming inside of my head. So I was just chilling at two am with Rick and Morty on, typing away. Probably disturbing my neighbors and my roommate, but whatever.

This day had been mildly annoying. Your new coworker had claimed to have been sleeping with your boss, saying she would have you fired by giving him a blowjob, and then continued to shred the paperwork you had worked on all week. You were in near tears from the stressful events of this week, and everyone, including the bitch could see that if anything else went wrong, you would snap. You could clearly hear the annoying pitter-patter of the horrid woman's shoes against the black marble heading towards your cubicle, making you groan in exasperation. "What do you want, Neca?" You sigh, your bloodshot eyes glaring at her smug face. "I have to leave early, so you'll have my work" Your eye twitched. The audacity this lady had was getting on your last nerve. "I'm not doing your work after you shredded mine, especially if you'll get the credit. Now leave. I'm trying to finish my work so I can go home." You look back down to your work, but your head is suddenly yanked back up by your hair. "Go home to what, exactly? You're single, you have no kids and no pets. You can put in the extra hours, and you don't need the extra money. So stop being a bitch, and get over it. I have a date with the boss, so I'll be leaving now" Neca slams down a fresh stack of papers for you to revise and categorize and walks over to the elevator, leaving you here to deal with her work. You looked at the clock on your desk, seeing that in only two hours it would be midnight. Era, too late for you to be at work. You yawn and take your pencil back in your hand to begin your reviewing, already dreading the outcome of this night.

At around 11:30, you got up to go to the breakroom for a new cup of coffee, and you swore you could feel your eyebags darkening by the second. Everyone had left at about 11:00, which left you here completely by yourself. Even the janitor had checked out for the night, handing you the building keys and telling you to lock up when you go home. You take a big swig of the luke-warm beverage, praying to the gods that you would finish your work faster so you could get some sleep. You look out the break-room window at the 12-inch stack of documents you had to look over, realizing you'd be lucky if you got to leave at 3:00. You gulp down half of the coffee, toss the empty disposable cup into the trash bin, and tread back to your personal hellhole. You were concentrating as hard as you could, but even when you were zoned out, you could clearly hear the sound of the elevator going up, and stopping at your floor. Your eyes widen, looking over to the clock that read 1:00 am and then trying to think of who would be here this late but only came up with fear and panic. You shake wildly as you watch the polished silver doors slide open slowly, and then you see the expensive leather shoes step out. Your breath hitched. You were somehow more afraid than before, seeing your boss look over to you, and begin to walk over. He stopped in front of your chair, looking down on you with suspicion and confusion in his eyes. "What are you doing here so late, L/n?" Your throat quickly becomes dry, making it harder to speak. "I, um, p-paperwork." You attempt to explain, pointing to the now 10-inch tall pile with a quivering finger. "I didn't give you that much, who's work is that?" His deep voice asked. "Neca's, Mr. Todoroki. She said you guys had a date and asked me to finish up her paperwork. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you." You explain, regaining your once lost composure. "We did not have a date. What happened here, is that she played you." Your brows furrow in frustration. So the hours you put in were for absolutely nothing? The fear of getting fired, the times she left because of the 'bosses demands', were all fake? "I...I'll finish it anyway, Mr. Todoroki. I promise I won't take too long." You mumble, turning back to the documents with clenched teeth. "No, I will call her right now. If she is going to rearrange your sleep schedule, I will rearrange hers." our heart warms at his kindness, as you thank him for his generosity. Todoroki pulls out an expensive-looking phone, scrolling for a while before holding it out, and putting it on speaker. On the second ring, Neca picks up. "Yes, Mr.Todoroki? Do you need me to come over or...?" She seemed insistent on wanting to come over to his home, but your boss shuts her down rapidly. "No. After many, many complaints and reports from the other employees, it has come to my attention that you have been passing your work onto Y/n L/n, as well as destroying the companies sacred files. I have called to confirm these suspicions." You both could hear shuffling on the other end on the line, and then you heard the buttered up voice speak. "Did Y/n tell you this? I didn't want you to find out this way, but Y/n has been skipping out on work and burning the company files. I didn't tell you because Y/n is such a dear friend to me and I didn't want her to get fired." Her obnoxiously fake sympathetic voice made you want to gag in disgust. The faux voice was way too sweet for her contrasting personality and the word 'friends' left a bitter taste in your mouth. "Oh? Well, if that's true then I have some interesting news. I'm at the office right now, looking at Y/n who has an 11-inch stack of papers that I certainly did not give to her. And by looking at one of the documents," Todoroki picks up one of the stapled worksheets and flips through it briefly before continuing. "These look like the oriented reference materials I asked you to finish before you left. Now, if you do not come to the office right now to complete your and Y/n's workload, I will fire you, and ruin all future opportunities for you to get a job. Am I clear?" The line goes silent, but then you hear a light sobbing sound accompanying a meek 'yes, boss'. He hung up and then gestured you into his workroom, silently closing the door behind him. "L/n, how long has this been going on for?" Todoroki asked calmly, sitting down in his exquisite black leather chair. "A week after she came here, sir." When you added the sir on the end, he seemed to flinch, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. "I see. Why didn't you inform me of this?" You take notice of how he had crossed his legs. It was almost as if he were trying to hide something from you, and that fact made you internally grin. "She said she was your lover, sir, and I didn't want to be fired for claiming against her." The CEO glares at you, warning you to not step further into this. "I can happily say that we are not in a relationship, nor are we participating in any...fun, activities." A playful glint flashes in your captivating orbs, seizing the boss's attention. "I am glad to hear that sir. Shall I take my leave then?" Todoroki's jaw stiffens, and his eyes darken. "Only if you want to. But I believe it to be bad to drive when tired, you could always sleep here, for convenience reasons." You wanted to agree. But you knew that Neca would arrive here shortly, and if you slept here, she would surely do something to get back at your tattling. "I'm not very tired, sir." You remark, standing to make an emphasis. Todoroki stands as well, showing off his delicious-looking bulge forming in his black slacks. "Oh really?" He walks around his desk, eyeing you like a predator would its prey. "Is there a problem, sir?" You ask, a smirk present in your expression. "No, but I think that I'll have to make you tired. You know, for convenience reasons." His face was a mere inch from yours, his breath gently fanning your face. He finally took initiative and grabbed the back of your neck to bring you into an electrifying kiss that made every nerve in your body tingle. You were swiftly flipped around and sat on his desk, your legs wrapped around his torso as he hungrily forced his tongue onto yours. They slid across each other in unison, sending hot flashes throughout both of your bodies at the amazing contact. "Mr.Todoroki, Neca will-" "What happened to sir?" Todoroki purred, sliding his warm hands up your blouse and playing with the hem of your bra. You start softly panting as they glide to your back, fiddling with the clasp. "S-Sir, Neca will be here any min-" "Stop being a brat, I'll deal with her when she gets here. But I think you should deal with the problem you made." Todoroki unbuttons his trousers, stripping himself of them before placing your hand on his clothed cock. "Why don't you get to work, and I might reward you with a bonus." You pushed down his black boxers, almost drooling when you see the length and girth of his dick. It was almost unreal, it couldn't be. He was huge and heavy. Even with him being fully erect his cock drooped and hung right above your mouth. You were starting to even wonder if he could fit inside of you. Todoroki was staring at you expectantly, so you carefully lifted your chin to take the head into your mouth and looked up at him with big, doe eyes. A subtle grunt is produced from your actions and you decide to take it a step further. You guide his dick down your throat, feeling his width stretch out the walls of your windpipe and block your source of oxygen. You pull back, watching as strings of your salvia extend from his cock to your mouth, a low groan emitting from your boss at the sight. You take him back in, this time moaning around him for added effect and enjoying how his hands thread their way into your hair a glide you along his impressive dick. It was then that you began to hear the familiar sound of the elevator opening, and the annoying pitter-patter of shoes you have learned to hate. It seemed that Todoroki heard it too, but he only pushed you down deeper and leered at the way you gagged and squirmed. The clicking of Neca's shoes came to a halt as she shoved the door open with such haste you were surprised it didn't break. "Mr. Todoroki, please forgive me, I promise it won't happen again-" Your watery eyes open to give her a petty glare, releasing another moan around your boss so she could watch the way his eyes roll back in pure and utter pleasure at the vibrations you gave off. Neca's face turned a bright red at your bold decision and let out a high-pitched huff of anger. The irony of this situation was so satisfying. You flipped her off, making her storm out of the room, still enraged. That was until your boss yelled something to her "Neca, you still have to finish the documents you passed onto Y/n." You got no response, but you honestly didn't care at this point. She could hear you guys going at it like animals if she wanted to, but as far as you're concerned, she doesn't exist. You were yanked up and you look down to see that his cock was completely covered in your spit. "I think you deserve a reward, baby."  You were forced onto the desk chest first, your skirt flipping up making your panties on display for him to see. "I bet you have the cutest little cunt under these thin panties." He pressed two fingers against the damp fabric, swiping against your clothed slit before getting fed up and tearing them off. Todoroki kneeled, blowing cool air onto your soaked pussy and watching as you try to push your hips back onto his face. Your hole was clenching around nothing and it was practically driving Shouto against the wall. He got back up, stroking himself a few times before poking at your hole with his tip. He leaned his head into your ear with his chest pressed against your back, his breath making your heart race faster. "I'm going to fucking ruin you." He pushed himself in halfway, rocking his hips in a steady motion and chuckling at your small pathetic moans. "I'm not even all the way in and you're whining. Do you even want my dick?" You nod vigorously, trying to move backward to sheath the rest into your weeping cunt. "You want it all in? Use your words, pretty girl." He prolongs his movements and observes that way you try to fuck yourself on his cock, your orbs starting to form more tears from the lack of stimulation. "Please sir, I want to be stuffed full by your big cock." You whimper, letting his hand grasp at your strands of hair once more. Growling, he shoves the rest of his awaiting member inside of you, basking in the way your walls fluttered and twitched from the intrusion. "Good girl. Now let me use you the way I want to, little thing." He starts rapidly pounding into you, with your poor cervix being mercilessly rammed against in the process. "How's it feel getting railed like this, huh? You know, I could really use an heir to the company." Your pants began to mix with your moans, and you could tell your orgasm was coming on strong. You couldn't even warn Todoroki because right as you were about to tell him, you felt him nudge that special spot that made you see stars. And after that, you had no choice but to release. You expected Shouto to pause and let you rest after that intense orgasm, but he fucked you through your release and yanked on your hair harder, overstimulating you easily. "S-S-Shouto." You stammered, feeling his dick pulsate inside of you. Todoroki started pistoning his hips into yours at a more brutal pace, seeing you come undone for the second time. "I'm gonna fuck you full of my cum, and you're gonna be my pretty little girlfriend. How's that sound?" A gurgled yes left your mouth, too far gone to even properly validate his question. A loud groan echoed through the room as spurts of your boss's hot semen shot into your unprotected womb with full intention of getting you pregnant. You lie there, panting for a while before he picks you up, and sets you on the small leather couch in the corner. "I promise that Neca will no longer bother you. And that you and our child will have the best luxuries in the world." He murmurs, lying down in front of you and petting your moist hair. "I'm glad this happened, Shouto." He chuckled. "Yeah. Me too." The dreaded sound of the elevator returned, and this time, you could hear many voices chatting. You look over at your newfound lover's desk to read the time. 5:00 am. Also known as, office hours.

The Tomb (Dabi x f!Reader) - Part Three

WARNINGS: NSFW 18+. Smut.

TAGLIST: @mikasackrmann @missalicebaskerville @liitlesushi @bonemarroww @jamaisvusbitch @winchescumberholland @mira-mirach @babayaga67

You had been so focused on his words, you hadn’t realized you had already reached the river. There were a few woman standing naked, waist deep in the cold water, washing clothes.

“Give your dress to them, they’ll clean it for you.” Dabi said, as he handed you a coin to give to them as well.

You did as he said, pulling your dress up to keep it dry, and walked to the women.

One of them took your dress and coin, and you smiled in thanks. Her hand softly grabbed your arm before you could turn away, her eyes flickering toward Dabi before returning to you.

“Be careful of that man,” She spoke so softly you almost couldn’t hear her, “All is not as it appears.” She warned.

“What do you mean?” You whispered back, confused and concerned.

“He will trick you, try to make you trust him...dont.” Her voice still soft, but stern as her knowing eyes urged you to believe her. You nodded your head and she released you, and you made your way back to land. Dabi stood watching the sky, his posture relaxed, but turned his attention to you when he heard you approach.

He held his hand out, which you took, and he pulled you from the water with ease. He lead you over to sit in the shade of the trees. Dabi still had a hold of your hand, which you didn’t mind, save for the woman’s words that you were still mulling over in your mind. His thumb traced circles over your knuckles as your hands sat atop his thigh.

“What is your family like?” He asked suddenly, breaking your train of thoughts. You sighed and looked up to the sky.

“They’re difficult, but I love them. My parents fell in love when they were young. They got married and had my brother. Things were really good. Then I was born and financially, it was stressful for them. My father found a good job but it kept him away most of the time. Mom was overwhelmed with both of us. My parents fought a lot back then.

While dad was away, he met a woman and fell in love. He sent divorce papers to my mother in the mail. She was heartbroken, but I don’t think she was surprised. My brother moved to live closer to my father and my mom remarried and had two more children. I was sort of forgotten. My brother was always the favorite of the two of us and my mom was busy with her two new children. I was still a teen then.” You said with a sigh as you thought back on the past.

You had always been interested in history, and when all of that was going on, you can places all of your focus on it. Learning all of the secrets of the past. It kept you occupied, everyone had so much going on so it was easier to just stay out of the way.

“Then I went to college, I earned scholarships to pay my way into school, and when I finished my studies, I got my first job. I still talk to my parents here and there, but I work a lot and spend most of my time traveling. They’re usually good people though, and I know that they love me.” You finished with a small smile, relaxing back into the tree.

Dabi looked at you with a brow raised. “What about a husband and children?” He asked.

You laughed. “As nice as that would be, I don’t know if I’m cut out for that. I’m gone a lot, always working and traveling. A family takes a lot of time. I’ve got a team of people depending on me right now. I’m usually their only source of income. If I had to give it up, I’d be the reason they couldn’t feed their families.” You frowned and sighed. Dabi regarded your words and nodded. You looked at him and found his eyes on you.

“What about you?” You asked after a moment.

“It never really crossed my mind. I was too focused on my goals.” He said.

“Do you regret it?” You asked quietly, before you could think to stop yourself. It was something that was always in the back of your mind. Would you regret it if you didn’t have a family, if you just kept working. You could never decide and so you always felt stuck, continuing on without making a change because it was all you knew. It was safe.

“Sometimes,” he sighed, “The league was all that I had. It was lonely, and I wondered what it would have felt like to have something different. To fall in love and be a father. If I would have been better than my father was.” He thought aloud.

“But even if I had wanted to, look at me. No one would want to wake up next to this.” He finished with a bitter laugh, and you could see the raw look that flashed through his eyes. The honesty. His statement wasn’t some ploy, it was how he truly thought of himself.

You squeezed his hand, saddened by his words. The scars were harsh. They were intimidating. But they didn’t make him unworthy of love. You found them beautiful in a way, they told a story. His story. Who he is and the challenges he faced. Those stories are marked in his skin, his strength and will to survive forever visible.

“Don’t say that, if you had taken a different path, I’m sure you would have found someone who would have loved you. All of you.” You said, your voice a whisper.

Dabi shook his head, his eyes facing forward staring at nothing.

“You’re delusional.” He spat.

“I’m serious!” You huffed. His head rolled towards you, his eyes unreadable.

“Be honest, doll, could you love someone like me?” He said in a hushed tone.

Dabi took in your wide eyes and the blush creeping up on your face. As you opened your mouth to answer, he cut you off, knowing that no matter what you said, he couldn’t handle hearing it.

“Enough about that. Our clothes are ready.” He said standing up and walking back to the river. You scrambled to get up and jogged after him. Once you got your clothes, along with another look from the woman in the river, he led you back to his home. He was quiet for the rest of the night.

You had helped him make dinner, and briefly talked, but not much was said. His mood was sour and so he kept to himself.

__________________________________________

Over the next week, things continued the same. You would wake up wrapped around him, and you could swear you felt his hands roaming your body during the night. You would eat and bathe together. He would show you the city, let you explore and follow you as you studied everything around you. You asked questions, many questions, about the people, about customs there was little information on, and about his past.

He told you the league was a group with a set of ideals that rejected the way society was ran. Those in power were corrupt, they held too much control and many suffered at their hands. Everyone loved them but they were poison, they couldn’t see how evil they were. How unworthy they were of their positions in both life and in people’s hearts. So his group expanded, and soon a war began. A struggle for power to be at the top. A lot of innocent blood was spilled by his hands, but it was unavoidable. Many at the top had fallen. The league took control of several territories and their numbers continued to grow. Dabi was at the top. Powerful, feared, and respected by his men. He instructed them on how to create his tomb. A way to cheat the afterlife, being his own judge.

His final battle, he faced his brother and father. At first they didn’t even recognize him. He said they were shocked that he was alive, to see what he had become. Dabi took the life of his father, finally getting his revenge, before his brother killed him.

The story itself left you speechless. It sounded like a large battle, but you’d never heard anything about it. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere, and you wondered why.

The night he finished telling you that story, you had cried for him and held him. He led you to bed but sleep never came to you.

__________________________________________

It was the morning, three days before you had to return back to your world. You had slept peacefully with Dabi’s warmth protecting you from the cold night.

Dabi’s skin against yours felt good, and you knew when you left that you would miss it, so you allowed yourself to let go. The thoughts of wearing a tunic to bed long gone from your mind.

As you came out of your dreams, the first thing you noticed was the weight on your chest.

Your eyes slowly opened to find Dabi with his face resting between your breasts, and the rest of his body between your legs. He snored lightly, and his hair stuck up wildly. You smiled and ran your hand through his hair, and he grunted while he lightly bit the skin of your breast.

His head twisted up to look at you, a tired smile stretching across his face. You rolled your eyes at his antics but grinned back.

He lifted himself over you, leaning his head down to place a kiss between your breasts and then dragged his lips up to your collar bone, grazing his teeth against it.

You bit your lip as your breath shuddered out in surprise.

He crawled forward over you, then reached a hand back to grip your thigh and pull them further apart so that he could settle between them, flush against you.

You could feel how hard he was, his member pushed to lay between your lips. His hips lazily rocked, dragging the head of his cock against your clit slowly. You let out a moan as your hips lifted, adding a pleasurable pressure.

His lips kissed along your neck, biting and sucking as he went. One of his arms was bent by your head to brace himself, the other hand traveled, squeezing your breasts and pinching your nipples.

“Do you want this?” His husky voice asked against your skin.

Your mind stopped for a moment. You considered the words of the old woman at the river and Dabi’s admission of his past deeds. Dabi had spent his life being hated and feared, and he carried it with him even in death. There was a part of you that was afraid, knowing if you let him have you now, he would likely have you forever, even when you parted ways for good. He would leave his mark on you, an imprint burned into you that you would never be rid of. You had considered that in all of the fear, no one had ever really known Dabi. He had bared his soul to you. Allowed himself to be vulnerable. You didn’t know what you felt, but you knew that whatever it was, it consumed your entire being. Did you want this?

“Yes.” You answered back with a breathy moan.

He pulled his head up to look at you, as if he was searching for a lie. His eyes were clouded with lust. He leaned forward, his lips brushing against yours softly.

“Are you sure?” He spoke against them.

“Yes, please...I want you.” You said, your voice barely a whisper. You pressed your lips against his, catching his bottom lip between yours and sliding your tongue across it. You rocked your hips against his with force, causing a groan to leave him.

He pulled back, just for a second as his eyes bore into yours, and then his lips were on yours once more. The kiss was messy and passionate. His teeth nipped at your lips and his tongue explored every crevice in your mouth. His hand left your breast and he grabbed himself, rubbing the tip through your folds to lubricate it. He brought it up and rubbed it forcefully against your clit, drawing loud moans from you as your hips bucked against him.

He pulled his lips from yours and let his mouth settle at your breast, his lips ghosting across the skin. His eyes were vibrant as his tongue peeked out, gently tracing across your hardened nipple.

He switched between both of your breasts, sucking on your skin and leaving hickeys as he went. His teeth bit and pulled at your nipples roughly, and the head of his cock rubbed faster against you. You cried out, the pleasure overwhelming. Your head was thrown back with your eyes closed. You could feel the heat pooling in your stomach, your arousal at its peak.

Your hands wrapped around Dabi, one in his hair to press him against your breast, the other wrapped around his upper arm, your hand squeezing with every wave of pleasure.

He shifted his hips, allowing his tip to rub against your entrance. He pushed just the head inside and then moved his hand up to rub your clit quickly. His hips rocked, his tip sliding in and out of you at a slow pace.

You pushed your hips forward, desperate for him to fill you. To feel him deep inside of you.

“So eager, so wet for me.” He mused, as he pulled his face back up to face yours. His hand pulled away from your clit and he held it in front of you, fingers glistening.

“You’ll be good for me right?” He whispered, his eyes dark. You supposed you should be worried by the look he was giving you, but you only found yourself more aroused.

You nodded, your glossy eyes watching him.

“I’ll be good.” You moaned out, feeling him press himself a little deeper inside of you.

His grin was twisted as he put his fingers to your lips, rubbing your wetness against them. You opened your mouth and he pressed them inside. Your tongue slid over and in between them, sucking as you went. Dabi pressed them farther into your mouth while thrusting deeper in your pussy.

You moaned around his fingers and felt yourself clenching harder on his dick. He bit his lip and sheathed himself fully inside you, holding himself there as his fingers pushed deeper in your throat. You gagged as they pressed into the back of your tongue. Your eyes burning with tears.

His eyes watched you like a hawk, his lips still pulled into a devilish grin.

He started to grind his hips against you while we was bottomed out, and his fingers pushed again, dipping to the back of your throat. Your hips jerked against him as you gagged, and finally his fingers retreated.

When just the tips of his index and middle finger remained between your teeth, he spread them, whispering for you to keep your mouth open.

You complied eagerly as his hips pulled back and slammed into you.

“That’s it, baby. Stick your tongue out for me.” He said, his breathing heavy and his voice low.

You stuck your tongue out, leaving it there as his hips snapped harder and faster against you. Your moans grew louder, and then he was pinching and twisting your nipple, making your back arch off of the mattress. He leaned closer, his mouth hovering just above yours. He gripped your tongue between his teeth, biting and dragging his teeth along it.

He pulled back, releasing your tongue and spit in your mouth.

If your mind wasn’t so consumed by lust, you’d have been disgusted, but with him buried inside of you, all you could do was whimper. You felt yourself tighten against him and he grunted.

“You like that huh?” He said as he pulled your hips higher, tilting them so he could reach even deeper inside of you.

You left your tongue out and mouth open, nodding to his question as his spit was still sliding down your tongue.

He reached down as he rubbed your clit again, making you whine. He told you to swallow as his hand gripped your throat tightly.

“Fuck, that’s my girl.” He said as he kissed you.

You were in heaven, and the thought of staying in the afterlife with him resurfaced in your mind.

He pulled himself from you and you shivered at both the feeling of being empty, and the cool morning air now caressing you.

He stood on the mattress, his legs parted.

“Get on your knees.” He ordered, and you were quick to comply. His foot parted your legs to spread them further.

“Touch yourself” he said as he wrapped his hand in your hair, pulling you to his cock.

Your fingers parted your lips and rubbed your clit, trying to do it the same as he had. Nothing had ever felt as good as him. You opened your mouth and he pushed his length in.

Your tongue slid against him, and you closed your lips around him, tasting yourself on his skin.

His grip in your hair tightened as he forced your head still, and then he began thrusting into your mouth. His pace picked up, and he pushed himself deeper. You gagged around him, your throat burning. Drool dripped from your lips onto your chest as you were unable to swallow, and tears fell from your eyes.

“Look at you, so pretty with my cock down your throat.”

Your fingers moved faster against yourself and you moaned around him, making him throw his head back. He pushed himself deep into your throat and held himself there, your nose resting in his public hair.

He pulled out abruptly and shoved you backward. He walked to stand above your head, facing the length of your body that was now flat against the mattress, and then he lowered himself, his knees resting above your shoulders as he kneeled over you.

His hips lowered and you tilted your head back to take him into your mouth again.

Your legs parted farther as you fingered yourself. He watched you, rubbing his hands along your sides as he thrust harder and deeper into your mouth.

His sack rested your nose as he buried himself in your throat, cutting off your air supply. His hands went back to your breasts and he ground his hips into your face.

He pulled back and you gasped for breath before he did it again. You sucked and licked his length, your hips lifting and legs trembling as your climax neared.

He leaned forward, ripping your hand from yourself and you whined around him. He pressed harder against your mouth, moving his hips again, as you sucked in air.

Your arms wrapped around his thighs, bracing yourself. His body leaned forward, his mouth dipping to your sex, licking and sucking your clit. He was rough, but it felt so good. His teeth gripped your clit. It was almost painful, but the pleasure outweighed it and was sending you over the edge.

Your grip on his hips tightened as you pulled him deep into your throat again. His hips rocked without pulling back, and you felt your lungs begging for air while your vision was starting to waver. His hand slapped against your cunt as you cried out around him, and then with one final harsh suck on your clit, you were gone.

If it wasn’t for him restricting your airway, you would have screamed from the intensity of your orgasm.

He pulled himself up, and you gasped for breath, your limbs twitching.

He grabbed you and flipped you onto your stomach, then grabbed your hips, lifting your ass in the air. Your upper half was flat to the mattress, no energy to hold yourself up.

“You want me to fuck you?” He asked, rubbing his tip at your entrance.

“Yes!” You moaned, pushing your hips back, getting a hard slap on your ass in return.

“You want me to cum in you?”

He pushed his tip in and out, teasing you as you moaned out another yes.

“Beg me for it.” You could hear the grin in his voice at the demand. And so you did. You pleaded for him desperately.

He rammed his length into you, bottoming out. His thrusts were fast and hard. His grip on your hips was bruising as he pulled them back to meet every thrust. You could tell from the tremble in his hands and his labored breathing that he was close.

His thrusts got sloppy and his rhythm was broken. He pulled you against him and you started to grind subconsciously as he released, filling you.

He held still for a moment, then pulled himself out. You fell flat onto the bed, feeling his cum leak out of you as he fell to lay at your side, his arm draped over you as he caught his breath.

You tried to keep your eyes open, to stay awake for just a little longer, but the exhaustion and warmth from his body broke any resistance you had, and within moments you had fallen asleep. Dabi looked over your sleeping form, a gentle smile on his face. He leaned over to place a kiss on your forehead, and then laid back and allowed himself to dream as well.

Lost in the Shadows Pt.3

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Word Count: 2136

FemOC x Poly Lost Boys

Giggles erupted from Sarah and Danielle as they wobbled their way off one of the rides they decided to experience. They leaned on each other, Sarah’s arm wrapped around Danielle’s waist as Danielle had her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders. 

“If we go on one more ride, I swear I might puke.” Sarah giggled, trying to find her footing. 

Danielle waved a dismissive hand at her, “Oh, come on. I think the carousel is calling our name.” The brunette was trying to find her footing as well. It didn’t help that both girls were wearing chunky shoes that added at least an inch and a half to their height. 

Sarah looked at Danielle in disbelief, “Okay, I seriously think you’re doing this to torture me.” 

Danielle chuckled, “Hey, you wanted to ride the carousel in the first place.” She reminded the blonde. 

Sarah pouted. Her girlfriend was right. She wanted to ride the carousel when they first split from the group but then the two decided to go on the more intense rides to get the out of the way and then wind down to some of the more taimer ones. 

But, going on a few spinning rides kind of set Sarah back a bit and wanted to take a break. She loved going on rides but, she even knew she had to pace herself. 

Danielle smiled at Sarah, moving her face into the crook of Sarah’s neck, placing a light kiss on her skin, “Let’s take a break and sit down. I know that you need a breather.” 

Instead of diving back into the thrill of the rides, Sarah and Danielle took it upon themselves to find a seat and gather their bearings. The two leaned against each other as they watched different characters of people pass them by. 

Bright and beautiful colors danced across their eyes, the music from different rides and game booths mixed together to create a new melody.  “Never thought we would end up in California.” Sarah comments, fiddling with her gold thumb ring. 

Danielle hummed, leaning back against the wooden bench they were sitting at, “We would end up here eventually. If not now, maybe twenty or even forty years we would have moved here.” The entire group wasn’t up for staying in one place for too long. They would usually stay in one state for around ten to twenty years and then find a new home. 

Sarah nodded, “True… Though it may be good for all of us, you know? Opening our own music shop here, our band could finally gain some traction… Vanessa could find out what the source of the pull she’s feeling is.” 

The brunette nodded as well, “You’re not wrong.” Danielle then smirked, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend's waist, “I can also see you kill it on the waves whenever you take your board out.” 

Sarah giggled, “Now that’s something I’m looking forward to. It’s been so long since we’ve lived in a beach town.” Sarah lived for surfing. Louisiana had a few beaches that she could surf, but it never seemed to feed her thirst for the activity. 

She was grateful that their new home was Santa Carla. She could go out on days when she wasn’t working and enjoy the sun while she surfed. 

Sarah opens her mouth to say something, but her words die on her tongue when she smells it. A scent that she hasn’t smelt in years. Danielle’s smile disappears as the same scent fills her nose. 

The scent of half turned vampires on the Boardwalk. 

It was strong, so whoever the half vampire was, they were close. 

Sarah and Danielle stand from their seat, heads turning in every direction to find the source. Even with the multiple crowds of people passing them by, their own scents becoming but a footnote to the two females. 

Danielle’s eyes froze when they landed on a girl with long curly brunette hair, wearing a white tank top blouse, a decorated skirt, and way too many bracelets to count. She was holding the hand of a young boy that looked around the age of ten, shoulder length light brown hair and dried dirt smudged his face. 

Danielle nudged the blonde beside her, directing her attention to the pair. 

Sarah stared as the duo walked through the crowds. The scent was radiating off of both of them. They were both half turned vampires. 

The two females shared a look and decided that rides would just have to wait. If Santa Carla was their new home, might as well get to know any other creatures that were walking around. 

Hand and hand, Danielle and Sarah, set out on their path, following the girl and small boy within a reasonable distance. 

They couldn’t help but smile when they heard the small boy express his desire to go on the rides that they walked by. His big eyes looked up at the girl with hope and excitement. 

The girl just smiled, not really telling him yes or no to whatever ride he pointed at. She just seemed content with walking around the Boardwalk, not particularly interested in anything.

It was only when they approached the carousel did the boy start begging to go on the ride, “Please, Star!” 

Danielle and Sarah blinked at the girl's name. Star was definitely an interesting one, but it fit the beautiful female perfectly. 

Star sighed, crouching down to the boys height, giving him an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry, Laddie. Maybe tomorrow we can get some tickets?” 

The boy, Laddie, pouted at the fact that he couldn’t go on his desired ride. Of course, Star and Laddie were only given enough money to get something to eat and play a few games, much to his disappointment. 

And this is when Danielle and Sarah took the situation to their own advantage. The two walked up and Sarah took the first step, “Excuse me?” 

Star looked up at the two females, blinking at their appearance. They were both very beautiful in their own ways. She was pretty sure that they were new to town since she’s never seen them around. She stood from her crouched position, “Yes?” 

Sarah smiled softly, “Sorry to bother you, but we heard that a certain somebody wanted to go on the carousel?” She tilted her head to look at Laddie who had himself somewhat hidden behind Star. 

Danielle pulled out the last four tickets that she had in her skirt pocket, “We were actually gonna go on the carousel ourselves to finish our list of rides we wanted to go on. And we have two extra tickets.” 

Danielle tears the two extra tickets from the other ones, “Would you like them?” 

Star smiled at them, very surprised by their kind offer, “Oh, thank you. Are you sure?” Star asked, not knowing if this was a trick or not. 

Sarah nodded, “Please. They’ll just be going in the trash if we don’t use them.” 

Danielle held out the two tickets to Star who took them gently away. Star looked down at Laddie who was smiling at Danielle and Sarah, “Laddie, what do you say to the nice girls?” 

Laddie surprised all of the girls when he ran out from behind Star and hugged Danielle, “Thank you!” He exclaimed. 

Danielle chuckled, patting the top of Laddie’s head that was pressed against her stomach, “No problem bud. You’re not the only one who loves that ride.” 

Sarah raised her hand, accepting this fact, “Guilty as charged. Oh!” She gasped as Laddie hugged her just as he did to Danielle. 

Star stared in awe as Laddie easily smiled at the two of them. He was never like this with new people. Star briefly looked down at the tickets and then back up as Laddie pulled away from his and Sarah’s hug. 

“Would you-” Star stopped her sentence when they all looked at her. Star smiled when they waited for her to continue, “Would you like to go on together?” Star hoped that this was a chance at making new friends that could be separate from the boys. 

Danielle and Sarah glanced at each other, already knowing the answer. They nodded at Star’s offer and the four fell into the line for the carousel. 

The four officially introduced themselves as the line moved along. When it was their turn to climb onto the carousel, Laddie chose a white painted horse with gold and blue accents while Star stood off to the side. 

Sarah got on the horse opposite of Laddie, sitting sideways to face the two while Danielle leaned against the horses head. 

They continued talking about anything that came to mind. Star asked where they moved from, being surprised that they were from New Orleans. She was even more surprised when Danielle and Sarah exposed the fact that they and their band members, who were more like family, were opening a music shop on the Boardwalk. 

Star didn’t say much about herself but Laddie was happy to talk about what he liked and what his favorite things to do were. Danielle and Sarah smiled and listened intently to the boy, finding him absolutely adorable. 

Their smiles almost faltered once they reminded themselves what they were. Laddie was forever trapped in a ten year old boy's body. Even though he was only half, he still wouldn’t age and that wouldn’t change once he fully fed. The same went for Star. Physically she seemed around their age, but she would never grow old. 

But they pushed those facts away to enjoy their time with them in that moment. From what they could gather, both Star and Laddie were innocent as half vampires could come. 

By the time they exited the ride, Star really liked Danielle and Sarah. Laddie was in the same boat, wanting to hang around the girls for a little bit longer. 

“Thank you again for the tickets and for joining us.” Star thanked them again.

Danielle waved a dismissive hand at Star and then wrapping said hand around Sarah’s own hand, “No biggie. We really had a good time with you guys.” 

“I wish we could spend a little more time with you guys, but we have to meet back up with our friends.” Sarah apologized, smiling sadly when she saw Laddie’s smile falter a little. 

Star ‘ohs’ at the news, a little upset that they had to leave so quickly. Sarah felt bad that they suddenly had to leave them, “Don’t forget. We have our shop opening on New Years day, two days from now. You guys are always more than welcome to come and hang out if you want.” 

Danielle nodded in agreement, “Then you’ll get to meet our friends. I’m positive that they’ll love you guys.” 

Star and Laddie’s moods instantly lifted at their offers and at the idea of making new friends. “We’ll happily stop by.” 

Happy that Star took their offer, Danielle and Sarah say their goodbyes, waving at them as the females walk away. 

Once they were a good distance, the two broke into a run, following the scent of their two coven members that were lingering nearby. 

The girls slowed down when they saw Luis and Timothy walking by a couple of game booths, “Luis! Timothy!” Danielle called out to the boys. The boys stopped, letting the girls jog to a stop in front of them. 

“What’s up? Don’t we have ten more minutes?” Timothy asked, looking down at his watch in confusion. 

Danielle took a breath, “Half vamps on the Boardwalk.” She whispered out just loud enough for them to hear. 

Timothy and Luis tensed a little at the information but then quickly relaxed. “You’re kidding?” Luis asked, wrapping his shawl a little tighter around him. 

Danielle shook her head, “I wish we were. Sarah and I got to know them. A girl around our age named Star and a ten year old boy named Laddie.” 

Timothy ran a hand through his hair, “You said half vampires right?” 

The girls nodded. 

“That means a sire is somewhere in Santa Carla and there might be fully fledged vamps walking around.” Luis concluded. 

Vampires were never alone. Vampires grouped together in covens and their sires were usually not far away. And for all of them, that meant danger if they didn’t take the right precautions. 

In a way they were somewhat preparing for this. If Vanessa felt a pull towards Santa Carla, no doubt that pull was towards another vampire. And if there was one, there was always bound to be more. 

“Let’s find Vanessa and call it a night.” Sarah ordered more than she suggested to the others. 

The rest of the group agreed and headed out to find Vanessa who at the moment was dealing with her own situation that would change everything forever. 

Scholars’ Chit Chat Prologue Submission

XXX

Cyno x Reader (Platonic, possibly romantic in the future)

*Lore dump warning

*Spoilers for all the Archon Quests and speculations of Teyvat

*Really it’s all serious talk

XXX

This is basically how you and Cyno met

XXX

The libraries of Sumeru are quiet, like how they’re suppose to be.

It is a new semester after all, the freshmen are still getting a grasp of the large campus, though Cyno does guess that soon enough they will be awed of this place.

Walking among the tall shelves, he tries to locate the section he had been researching on, but a voice calls out to him, breaking his concentration.

“Hey, you ever thought of why were you given a Vision?”

He turns to the source of the voice, only to see you there, sitting on top of one of the book shelves as your legs dangled from it.

“I would say that it is a question worth discovering with my entire life.”

“Huh, to think that you would answer so naturally… Wouldn’t one first ask who I am or ask why would I want to know that?”

“Because, first, I know who you are and second, those who come to this place seek knowledge.”

“Oh, so I had become the talk of school despite me being here for the first day?”

“Indeed, you were known as one who had declared to not take part in any sort of Mysticism studies yet aim to unveil the mysteries of this world. They called you naive yet you had earned the highest scholarship obtainable. It’s kind of hard to not let such news spread out.”

“Well, there are certainly advantages and disadvantages with this commotion, but that’s not my main focus anyways.”

“And may I ask what that would be?”

“To search for answers to fulfil my contract with the God of Wisdom.”

“Contract?”he questions, not capable of following your conversation, you slyly smiled at this.

“Unfortunately, this upcoming topic requires a fee to unlock~ I don’t mind sharing my findings to others, but when it comes to something as rare as words from an archon….”

“You get the idea, a price is required for everything after all.”

“…”

Cyno stared at you as if you were pulling his leg, but his reaction made you smirk even more.

“Oh, I won’t be asking for much, something like… Your name, perhaps?”

Suddenly realising that he hadn’t introduced himself yet and was reminded in such a playful matter, Cyno couldn’t help but let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Cyno, a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hmm… You know that one’s name is important, right? Names hold power, not necessary the one given by your parents but the one that defines your soul. There are quite a few stories mentioning that giving your name to someone is the same as giving a part of their soul to them.”

The male however lets out a laugh at your advice.

“Thanks for the warning, I’ll keep that on mind.”

“It was nothing, and to the end of my bargain, yes…’ you began as you jumped off the shelf, landing right in front of him. “Well, it’s more like a bet than a contract if I’m being honest.”

“Which is?”

“To find out the truth behind Khaen-riah’s fall, or more specifically, the reason behind the alchemist Gold’s fall, before I graduate.”

“?!”

The kingdom that had technology and Mysticism developed greatly even without an archon, then was destroyed five hundred years ago.

Not much is known about Khaen-riah, and yet...

Cyno, was shocked, no, shocked isn’t enough to describe how he’s feeling.

“That’s... nearly impossible, isn’t it? Just what sort of offer did he gave you to tip the scales-”

“If I succeeded, he would answer me anything I want to know about.”

“A-Anything?”

“That’s right~”

...

“What happens... If you fail?”

Everything comes with a price, as you had said.

“Then my life would be in his hands, for him to decide my fate.”

Despite only knowing you for not long, Cyno cannot believe what you had risked.

“Are you out of your mind?! What would you possibly want to know that you’re willing to-”

“To understand the laws of this world.” You answered one a simple matter.

“It has been so long that the human race had been existing and yet none of us came close in finding the truth of the world...”

“Or perhaps someone did, and they failed to tell anyone?”

“Even Khaen-riah itself is advance with Alchemy, history tells us that their greatest alchemist Gold fell and became quite a threat... But why...?”

“...”

“What I’m trying to say is that we’re too trusting towards the gods cause we’re told to do so since we were born, you know what I had learnt after being tricked once? Doubt everything when you first see it, question it’s existence and see if you can use another point of view to perceive it.”

“Why do you doubt the gods?”

“That’s because I believe in humanity’s wisdom. I believe that even without the gods, humanity can still take care of themselves as fine.”

“If you need to rely on someone else in order to live, then what’s the meaning of living in the first place?”

“This is... quite a lot...” Cyno mumbled.

“It is a lot to take in, I agree.” You nodded as you leaned against a shelf.

“Our senior Lisa left this place after mere two years and went to Mondstadt to be a librarian despite her being a genius the Academia hasn’t seen for 200 years... Is it because she saw something that nobody else realised?”

“So what you’re saying is... There’s more to the bigger picture?” Cyno guessed as you snapped your fingers. “Bingo.”

“But that being said, questioning the gods is the same thing as raging treason against this world... “ Cyno pointed out with worry. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Indeed, *I’m trying to understand the rules of this chess game, so that humanity, the supposed audience of this game gets the chance to participate in it.”

“And if we can win this chess game or not, is entirely up to our legacy...”

“You have too much belief in humanity... Or should I say you have no intention of losing in the first place?”Cyno predicted with a sigh.

“Hm, seeing that you’re being so interested in our bet, perhaps you would like to become my partner in crime?”

Hearing this, Cyno finally realised that he was tricked at the point when he answered your question about his Vision.

“So that was what you were going after for all along, huh?”

“Haha, yup~ I mean, our archon didn’t state anything about not able to team up with others, so why not?”

“Able to ask anything from the God of Wisdom himself, what else more can a scholar wish for?”

Cyno understand that your words are trying to lure him, but in truth, who can give up this opportunity?

“I mean, even if we fail, I’m the only one who would lose anything so it really sounds like a pretty good deal to me~”

“And would you mind me asking for a warrant from you for the time I would be spending on this?”Cyno requested, surprising you for a bit.

“Well, how about my name? You’ve heard about me but haven’t known that yet, correct? With a part of our souls in each other’s hands, no one can run off easily, don’t you think so?”

“Alright I accept the of your con-”

“It’s a promise, not a contract.”

Cyno pauses at your sudden seriousness, he then takes notice of the frown on your face.

“...”

“You want this partnership to be built on trust and not just a piece of paper?” He guessed.

You softly nodded, trying not to meet him in the eyes.

But there’s no way that he would accept that, you two only just met after all-

“Then I promise, that I will be your partner in crime upon this bet against the Dendro Archon.”

Wha-?!

Cyno offers you a small smile. “Everyone has their own reasons, I too wish that I can understand you better within these few years... That is if you wish, of course.”

I’m glad.

“Yeah, likewise, Cyno.”

“I also by offering my name, promise that we will find out the laws of this world and allow humanity to earn the chance to be a part of this chess game.”

“My name is-“

XXX

*The chess game is referencing The Feynman Lectures on Physics, it is also referenced from Honkai Impact 3rd (another game of MiHoYo) Honkai Quest event by the character Delta, it is possible that it works as well for the world of Teyvat.

(One way that's kind of a fun analogy to try to get some idea of what we're doing here to try to understand nature is to imagine that the gods are playing some great game like chess. Let's say a chess game. And you don't know the rules of the game, but you're allowed to look at the board from time to time, in a little corner, perhaps. And from these observations, you try to figure out what the rules are of the game, what [are] the rules of the pieces moving.

You might discover after a bit, for example, that when there's only one bishop around on the board, that the bishop maintains its color. Later on you might discover the law for the bishop is that it moves on a diagonal, which would explain the law that you understood before, that it maintains its color. And that would be analogous we discover one law and later find a deeper understanding of it.

Ah, then things can happen--everything's going good, you've got all the laws, it looks very good--and then all of a sudden some strange phenomenon occurs in some corner, so you begin to investigate that, to look for it. It's castling--something you didn't expect.)

And welp, Exiled, mind me adding this?

-To their future child(ren)

And this is how your parents met//slap

With the Gnosis shaped as chess pieces and with MiHoYo’s other games referencing this...

Well theories will be theories until they’re truly revealed.

Until then Snowdrop’s gonna freak out on what the heck I just wrote

There will be continuations... Just please don’t look forward to it... OwO

Oh I do NOT mind AT ALL, Snowdrop. CONTINUE. This series looks so freakin cool and refreshing even!

In which Jaskier cuts Geralt’s hair

Well, folks, I was inspired by Geralt’s slightly wavier wig in the new S2 promo photos to write a story in which Geralt finally gets some proper haircare and it brings out his natural curl pattern. This somehow turned into 7,000 words of Geralt musing about his own terrible self-image and Jaskier tenderly negotiating a haircut.

Credit for Geralt’s 3-in-1 shower products goes to @exrayspex​, with my thanks for their enthusiasm about this exceedingly soft concept!  

I’d like to put this up on AO3 at some point, but the title has me stumped, so if anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

“When are you going to let me cut your hair?”

Geralt snorts, incredulous. “I’m not.”

Jaskier fixes Geralt with a pleading look. The streaks of peacock blue Jaskier recently added to his hair really bring out the color of his eyes—all the better to beguile him with. “Come on, Geralt, don’t you trust me?”

“No,” Geralt says, trying without much luck to keep his attention on the TV screen. Suddenly he has to fight the urge to tuck a stray strand of his hair behind his ear.

“It would look so nice if you just took proper care of it,” Jaskier wheedles.

“It doesn’t need to look nice.” Geralt can feel his shoulders creeping up towards his ears, and he wishes Jaskier would look at something else besides him. “It’s just hair.”

“But—”

Geralt jabs the remote in the direction of the TV. “Are you going to let me watch this or do you want to go home?”

“Fine, you grouch,” Jaskier says, returning his attention to the screen.

It must not hold Jaskier’s interest, though, because he can feel Jaskier’s gaze returning to him periodically throughout the rest of the film—which in itself isn’t all that unusual, since Jaskier watches even movies he really likes with one eye on his phone. Except that when Geralt meets his gaze, Jaskier’s looking at him with a wistful, almost sad expression. Geralt doesn’t let himself wonder what might be on his mind.

Later, Jaskier yawns wide and says he’d better be going if he doesn’t want to fall asleep at the wheel on the way home. It’s just a dramatic excuse not to help clean up, Geralt knows, but he can’t help smiling at the way Jaskier rubs at his eyes, smudging the faded remnants of his eyeliner. Geralt walks him to the door, and for a moment Jaskier just stands there on the porch, looking at Geralt thoughtfully.

When his hand reaches up, Geralt freezes. He thinks for a moment that Jaskier’s about to cup his cheek and drawn him down—but he just takes a strand of frizzy hair that’s come loose from Geralt’s ponytail and twists it around a finger.

“I thought so,” Jaskier says, with a private little smile.

Geralt’s sure Jaskier must be able to hear the way his breath’s gotten jammed up in his chest. “Thought—?”

“Nothing.” Jaskier digs his hands into the pockets of his jacket and starts down the front steps. “G’night, Geralt.”

As Geralt tidies away their takeout containers and empty beer bottles, his mind keeps wandering back to Jaskier’s offer. He knows Jaskier’s just trying to be nice—or trying to fix him, the way he tried to “liven up” Geralt’s wardrobe early in their friendship and tried to set him up on dates after he split up with Yen last year. But the options he tries to push on Geralt—the overpriced bomber jacket Jaskier bought him that’s still sitting at the back of his closet, the gorgeous chestnut-haired nurse Jaskier introduced him to—always seem to reflect more about Jaskier’s idea of Geralt than they do about Geralt himself.

Because the thing is, he’s not brash and stylish like Jaskier, who’s all eccentric colors combinations and flashing rings that accentuate his expressive hands. Jaskier knows how to construct an outfit that tells the world exactly who he is at any given moment, from his ever-evolving hairstyles to his painstakingly-sourced vintage clothes. Geralt, on the other hand, is just—nothing, an absence of style. His idea of a good outfit is one he can forget he’s wearing, one that will make everyone else forget him when he’s wearing it. His relationship to his appearance is as estranged as his relationship to his ex-wife. Being in his body, making use of it when he’s lifting weights or hammering a nail or swinging Ciri up in his arms—that makes sense to him. But thinking about his body is the opposite of that. He doesn’t like being looked at, even by himself. He avoids the mirror on his medicine cabinet as much as he can and starts feeling close and queasy if he so much as looks at himself in a dressing room mirror.

Before he goes to bed that night, he shakes his hair out from his ponytail and makes himself take a long, hard look in the mirror. All he sees is the sallow, tired-eyed face of a man who can hardly remember how to smile anymore, a face scarred from carelessness and creased from years of worry. His dull white hair, which Jaskier had twisted so carefully around his finger, is somehow greasy and dried out at the same time, limp around his face but bristly at the ends. He can’t find any sign of the potential Jaskier seems to think is there. He suspects it was never there in the first place—a mirage visible only to well-intentioned flatterers like Jaskier—and he feels foolish for looking.

No, Geralt decides, he’s not going to let Jaskier cut his hair, or do anything else to him. Better not to bother at all.

*

The next time the topic of Geralt’s hair comes up, he’s brought Ciri into Jaskier’s salon for an emergency haircut. Ordinarily, Yennefer handles things like haircuts and clothes shopping, but Saturday night, Ciri emerged from the bathroom with the front her hair lopped off somewhere around her eyebrows and a dawning expression of anxious regret on her face. Geralt had reassured her that everything would be OK, while texting Jaskier frantically for help and silently panicking about what Yen was going to say when she came to pick Ciri up on Sunday night. Thankfully, Jaskier was able to squeeze Ciri into his schedule this afternoon, and he promised to fix Ciri up.

So now Geralt is sitting awkwardly in the waiting area, hunched on a squeaky vinyl-upholstered chair. He’s been to Jaskier’s salon plenty of times—to meet him for lunch or a post-shift drink, to drop off something he left at the house or to give him a ride home—but he rarely does more than stand uneasily just inside the door. The relentless pop music and the echoing acoustics never fail to overwhelm him, as does the muddle of scents—clouds of different hair products and the pervasive smell of something sharp like ammonia. The abundance of mirrors unnerves him, too. Nobody can possibly need to see so many views of their own reflection, can they? Between the curious patrons peering at him in the mirrors and passersby staring in through the plate glass storefront, Geralt feels like he’s on display. And to make matters worse, he keeps catching glimpses of his reflection, his own hunted expression looking back at him from unexpected angles.

Ciri, at least, is having a great time, chatting happily with Jaskier as he snips away at her hair. The last time Geralt took Ciri for a haircut, it was at one of those children’s salons where the chairs looked like toy cars, and now here she is, sitting beside grown women almost like she’s one of them. It scares him, sometimes, to think of her growing up—more than sometimes. There are so many ways the world can fail her, and he can only do so much to protect her. There’s going to come a time when she’s going to get into some kind of trouble he won’t be able to bail her out of, and he’s not sure what he’s going to do with himself when that day comes. But for now, at least he can pay Jaskier to fix her disastrous home-brew haircut.

“What d’you think, Dad?” Ciri calls, and he looks up to see Jaskier removing her cape with a flourish. When he turns Ciri’s chair around to face him, Geralt’s heart catches in his throat. How grown up she looks, he thinks, but what really makes his chest ache is how much she’s coming into herself—becoming someone with her own unique taste in clothes and books and music, who won’t compromise about the bullshit dress codes at school and is brave enough to try something new even if the results are atrocious. He doesn’t know where she gets it.

“You like it?” he asks, not trusting himself to say something that won’t embarrass her.

“Yeah, I guess,” she says with a shrug, and hops down from the chair.

“We could do yours next, Geralt,” Jaskier offers, sweeping up the little blonde fragments of Ciri’s hair from the floor around his station.

“Ooh, yeah!” Ciri grins up at him. “I bet Jaskier would give you a really cool haircut.”

“I’m sure he would,” Geralt says mildly. He doesn’t want to quash Ciri’s enthusiasm or impart his own discomfort to her. It’s one of the things that keeps him up at night, the fear that he’ll pass down all his insecurities. He tries so hard to keep that shit buttoned up, to shield her from his own shortcomings—and he knows it’s inevitable that he’s just going to mess her up in other ways, but he wants to do better for her, has to do better. “Maybe some other time.”

“So you’ll consider it!” Jaskier says triumphantly, coming over to tell the receptionist the total for Ciri’s cut.

Geralt notices Ciri looking at herself in the big mirror behind the front desk, fussing self-consciously with her new fringe. Jaskier must notice, too, because he gives Ciri a big hug and says, “You look great, kiddo. Right, Geralt?”

“Definitely,” Geralt says, surrendering his credit card to the receptionist to pay a frankly staggering amount. He tips a hundred percent.

*

“You should take him up on it,” Yennefer says that evening when Geralt concludes the story of Ciri’s haircut by telling her about Jaskier’s offer to cut Geralt’s hair.

Geralt blinks in surprise. “Really?”

She glances back to where Ciri is waiting for her in the car. “Jaskier did a good job. She and I are going to have a serious conversation later about when to ask for permission and when to ask for forgiveness, but I have to admit it suits her.”

“It does,” Geralt agrees. He realizes he doesn’t know what it would be like, to feel his appearance suited him. He’s never tried, really, to make his exterior reflect his interior, wouldn’t even know where to begin.

“Besides,” Yennefer says, gesturing to his haphazard ponytail, “you really do need to start taking better care of yourself, now that I’m not around to make sure you’re presentable anymore.”

Geralt’s eyebrows shoot up, a smile twitching his lips. “Is that what you were doing? Looking after me?”

Yennefer lifts one hand to tug a lock of his hair, the gesture so similar to Jaskier’s that it makes him shiver, for some reason. “No, but somebody ought to.”

He ducks his head, hoping to hide the ache that washes through him—a longing for something they both wanted but never quite managed to find together. “If you keep Ciri waiting much longer, she’s gonna make a break for it.”

“She would, too,” Yennefer says affectionately. “Take care of yourself, Geralt.” She surprises him by brushing a kiss against his cheek, then turns to go.

Geralt waits until Yennefer’s car is out of sight before he goes inside. As he loads the dinner dishes into the dishwasher, he thinks again about Jaskier’s offer. He’s never been good at asking for things, let alone holding on them once he has them, but it’s been especially hard since he and Yennefer split—even the littlest things feel like they require an effort it’s not worth making. It’s so easy to tell himself he doesn’t need anything—a fancy haircut, a new jacket, a reassuring glance, a gentle touch. But sometimes, maybe, it’s enough to want them.

Wiping soapy water off his hands, Geralt pulls his phone from his pocket and texts Jaskier. Does your offer to cut my hair still stand? Only if you’ve got time.

OMG YES!!! comes the immediate reply. I can be there in 20. Then, a moment later, Jaskier amends, Shit wait make that 40 need to run to get some supplies

Geralt huffs out a laugh. Have to get up early tomorrow. This weekend?

All booked up this weekend but I’m off on Tues so I can come over to your place in the pm if that works for you

He’d hoped to give himself a few days to cancel, just in case he changes his mind, and in this respect Tuesday’s almost no better than forty minutes from now. But he does like the idea of doing this at home, instead of in the salon. He types out OK and hits send before he can think better of it.

Don’t chicken out before then

No promises, Geralt answers.

Jaskier responds with a string of emoji that Geralt finds completely inscrutable, but which make him smile nonetheless.

*

Jaskier arrives on Tuesday evening with a six-pack of cold beer and bag crammed full of supplies.

“I thought you were going to cut my hair, not outlast a siege,” Geralt says, trying to ignore the way his stomach twists with nerves over this impending ordeal. He should have cancelled. He should never have said yes to this ridiculous idea.

“Oh, none of this would be remotely useful in warfare,” Jaskier replies. Then, contemplatively, he says, “Well, maybe some of it. But first, I thought we could have a drink.”

“So you can cut my hair drunk?” Geralt asks.

Jaskier rolls his eyes and brushes past Geralt into the kitchen, dumping his bag into an empty chair at the table. “So you can relax a little for once. And so we can talk.”

Geralt feels the knot of anxiety in his stomach tighten even further. “What is there to talk about? It’s just a haircut.”

Jaskier lets out a long-suffering sigh as he rummages around in Geralt’s cutlery drawer in search of a bottle opener. “Geralt, have you not listened to a single word I’ve said about my job?” He pops off the caps of two bottles of beer and hands one to Geralt. “No, don’t answer that, I know you haven’t.”

Geralt takes a sullen sip of his beer, but he doesn’t dispute the accusation.

With a nod of his head, Jaskier gestures for Geralt to follow him into the living room, and flops down on what Geralt has come to think of as his side of the couch. Geralt sits at the other end, turned to face him. “You need to know what you want going into this, or you won’t get good results.” Jaskier fixes him with a gaze that makes Geralt take another swallow of his beer. “Have you ever given any thought to what you like, or don’t like, about your hair?”

“Not . . . really,” Geralt mumbles, wondering how angry Jaskier would be if he called this whole thing off now.

“Well,” Jaskier says patiently, “why do you keep your hair long? I always assumed it was because you liked how it looked, but I’m realizing now I’ve never asked about it.”

Geralt takes another sip of his beer and tries to think of answer that’s not Because I do. He’s worn it long since high school, when it was primarily something to hide behind. It felt like a kind of fuck-you, an off-putting choice to keep people from looking too closely at him—and to help him forget about other people, too. “It’s easier,” he says finally. “Don’t have to get it cut every few weeks, and I can keep it out of my face.”

“OK, that’s good to know.” The calm, encouraging tone Jaskier’s taking should feel condescending, but Geralt finds he doesn’t mind—or maybe it’s just the beer starting to relax him a little.

“You don’t always tie it back, though, do you?” Jaskier goes on.

Geralt shakes his head. “When I’m working, yeah, but the rest of the time . . .” He shrugs. It depends—on who he’s around, how comfortable he feels with them, hell, how hard the wind is blowing. Sometimes he can’t stand the feeling of it in face, and sometimes the pressure of the hair elastic at the base of his skull is enough to make him want to rip it out.

“Can I . . . ?” Jaskier gestures to Geralt’s hair, and Geralt inclines his head. It’s inevitable that Jaskier will have to touch him if they’re going to go through with this, so there’s no point in being shy about it. Jaskier scoots forward on the couch, and Geralt holds very still, letting him reach back and undo the tie holding his hair back. A sheet of frizzy white strands spills around his bowed head, almost obscuring Jaskier from view.

He can feel Jaskier, though, running his fingers through his hair. The touch makes Geralt’s scalp tingle and a shiver runs through him that he tries and fails to suppress.

“OK?” Jaskier asks, and Geralt nods.

“You’ve never told me when you went grey.” Jaskier’s voice is hushed, almost as if he’s afraid of startling him. He continues to card his hand through Geralt’s hair—with professional curiosity, Geralt realizes, but the touch is so gentle it also feels like a reassurance. Geralt closes his eyes, grateful to be shielded from Jaskier’s view.

“Started in high school,” he says. It’s been a long time since he thought about how, when those first thick streaks of white were coming into his dark hair, kids at school would call him skunk and Cruella de Vil, shit he knew better than to respond to but that just made him even more self-conscious. It occurs to him now that most of his memories of being looked at—really noticed—are colored by other people’s derision for things he can’t help. “It was all like this by the time I was twenty-one, twenty-two. Someone told me once it’s genetic, but . . .” He shrugs again. He’s got no one to ask about a family history of premature graying, no photos of distant relatives to compare himself to.

Gentle fingers tuck his hair back behind one ear, and Geralt looks up to see Jaskier smiling at him. “I would pay good money to see pictures of you in high school. I bet you were so surly.”

“You wouldn’t have liked me,” Geralt says “I was insufferable.” Miserable and ungrateful and roiling with self-righteous anger all the time, hardly able to string a civil sentence together.

Jaskier rewards him with a snort of disbelieving laughter. “You’re insufferable now and I like you just fine.”

This is true, Geralt thinks. His anger has banked down somewhat since those days, but he’s no less difficult to be around, and Jaskier’s never seemed to mind his rough edges. If he’s being honest, he wouldn’t have been able to appreciate Jaskier in those day. His constant talking and absurd jokes would have grated on Geralt’s nerves, back then. They did when he first met Jaskier, in fact. He tried, for a long time, to keep his distance, sure that there was nothing he and Jaskier could possibly have to say to each other. But Jaskier kept turning up, kept surprising him, kept being kind to him for no damn reason. Geralt’s glad he did.

“So,” Jaskier says, pushing the conversation back in his desired direction, as he always does, “what I’m hearing is, you like wearing your hair long?”

Geralt considers, taking another swallow of his beer. Liking doesn’t figure into his thinking much, but it’s not just out of habit that he keeps it this way. “Yeah.”

Jaskier’s nod is solemn. “Anything you don’t like about it?”

Again, Geralt has to give this serious thought. “There are, uh . . .” He gestures to the wiry flyaways that tend to form around his head by the end of the day. They tend to tickle his face unpleasantly as he works, which is irritating when he doesn’t hand a hand free to brush them away.

“Yeah, it’s a little dry,” Jaskier says. “But we can fix that up.” Geralt knows exactly how soft Jaskier’s hair is, and he can’t imagine his own ragged hair could ever come close. “Anything else?”

Geralt shrugs.

“OK,” Jaskier says, “enough with the interrogation. I think I’ve got everything I need.”

Jaskier gets up and retrieves another beer—not for himself, but for Geralt. Jaskier’s fingers brush his as he hands over the bottle, and it gives him the same little shiver that he felt when Jaskier was combing through his hair. “D’you want me to tell you what I’m thinking, or just surprise you?”

Geralt’s gut instinct is to make Jaskier tell him what he’s got in mind, so that he has the option to veto it and put this whole thing to a stop. But he thinks of Jaskier’s teasing question the first time they talked about this—Don’t you trust me?—and how he’d said no when the answer is really yes. So he takes a deep pull of his beer and says, “Surprise me.”

The look of glee on Jaskier’s face is worth the knot of dread that immediately forms in Geralt’s stomach. He takes another drinks and reminds himself that it’s just hair. It’ll grow back.

“You’re not gonna regret it, I promise,” Jaskier says, and then his warm hands are urging Geralt up and off the couch.

It takes them a while to get everything situated to Jaskier’s liking—the bathroom is too cramped to accommodate a chair, so Jaskier has Geralt drag one into the kitchen, covering the floor in newspapers to catch the stray clippings. Then Jaskier sends Geralt to wash his hair while he sets up the rest of his supplies. When Geralt comes back downstairs, his hair soaking into his t-shirt, there is a truly staggering array of equipment spread out on the counter, Jaskier’s own little traveling apothecary kit, with everything from dangerously sharp scissors to brightly-colored bottles of product to some kind of instrument that looks like a bowl full of dull spikes, which Jaskier says attaches to his hair dryer.

“Rule number one,” Jaskier says, grabbing the towel out of Geralt’s hands. “No more regular towels on your hair. Your hair deserves to be treated with care.” Geralt snorts, but the towel he hands Geralt is pleasantly soft, with finer knap that’s soft as fleece in his hands. “And don’t rub at it,” Jaskier scolds. He steps closer, wrapping his hands around Geralt’s to guide him, his hand moving in a gentle squeezing motion. “That’s good,” he says, and Geralt feels his cheeks flush.

Once Geralt’s hair is toweled dry, Jaskier maneuvers him into the chair, and combs out his hair with a wide-toothed comb. Jaskier is exceedingly careful not to yank on the knots, but even so the gentle tug sets his skin tangling. Geralt knows his scalp is sensitive—he can remember fighting back tears while Vesemir struggled to brush out his unruly hair as a kid—but it’s never felt like this before. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that ordinarily, when he finally breaks down and subjects himself to a trim, he just asks Eskel do come over and cut it with the kitchen scissors. Even with someone he trusts as profoundly as he does Eskel, it’s still an uncomfortable ordeal that makes him unaccountably tense. But this isn’t painful, or unnerving at all. It’s . . . nice, embarrassingly so. He can’t help wondering what it would feel like if Jaskier were to drag his nails along his scalp—and then he has to force himself not to think about it, because even the thought of the sensation sends a shudder through him.

Thankfully, Jaskier is busy fiddling with his phone, and a moment later he puts on a playlist he likes to call Geralt’s Sad Dad Rock mix. Geralt appreciates the background noise—familiar songs he can tune out if he wants to, quiet enough that the music’s not intrusive.

“OK,” Jaskier says, snapping a cape around Geralt’s throat. His hand comes to rest on Geralt’s shoulder and he leans in to speak almost directly into Geralt’s ear. “Ready?”

Geralt suppresses another chill and says, “As I’ll ever be.”

Jaskier gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and gets to work. Geralt’s grateful for the lack of mirrors, because it means he doesn’t have to see what Jaskier’s doing, but at the same time it leaves him without much to go on—just the touch of the comb, Jaskier’s hands carefully repositioning his head, his fingers pulling this or that lock of hair taut to snip at them with the scissors. Eventually, Geralt closes his eyes and lets Jaskier’s voice wash over him. Jaskier often accuses Geralt of not listening to him when he talks, but in truth it’s easy to get lost in the lilting cadence of his speech, like hearing a song but not its lyrics.

“. . . and the thing is,” Jaskier’s saying, though Geralt lost the thread of his rambling long ago, “the more you do it, the better your results will be. You just have to help them along . . .”

He can see why Jaskier’s clients like him so much, how nice it is to fall into the pattern of someone else’s words, especially when that someone has as nice a voice as Jaskier. He’s often grateful for Jaskier’s conversation, which fills silences Geralt didn’t even realize were empty until he came along.

When Jaskier says, “OK, you’re all done,” Geralt is surprised by how quickly the time has passed. “We can just leave it at that and just let it air dry, or . . .” Even though he can’t see Jaskier, he can picture the hopeful expression on his face.

“What?” Geralt asks, twisting around in the chair to look Jaskier in the eye.

Jaskier bites his bottom lip, looking almost nervous. “Or I could show you how to style it. If you wanted. Nothing over the top, I promise.”

Geralt thinks it over. On the one hand, there’s no way he’ll ever bother repeating anything Jaskier shows him how to do, but on the other hand, he wouldn’t mind having Jaskier’s hands on him a little longer. “All right.”

“Really?” Jaskier’s eyes go wide. “Nope, never mind, I’m not gonna second-guess this. No take-backs! You’re committed now.”

Which is how Geralt finds himself being hustled back upstairs and into the bathroom. Jaskier pulls back the shower curtain and is about to start issuing instructions when he lets out a squawk and staggers backward.

Geralt looks around in alarm, expecting to see a giant spider in the tub. It’s only belatedly that he realizes he’s thrown an arm out in front of Jaskier, as if that will protect him from whatever nonexistent threat he was reacting to. “What?”

“Geralt, for shame!” Jaskier exclaims, pointing to the bottle of 3-in-1 shampoo/conditioner/body wash on the edge of the tub. “Is that yours?” He says it with all the breathless horror of someone discovering a murder weapon.

“Uh . . .” Geralt has the distinct feeling he should try to deny it, but there’s no point in trying to pretend. “Yes?”

And then Jaskier is laughing, but it’s warm with delight, not mocking or cruel. In fact, he looks up at Geralt with such fondness that Geralt almost can’t bear it. “Oh, you poor man,” Jaskier says between gusts of laughter. “No wonder your hair is so dry!”

“. . . It’s efficient,” Geralt mutters in a half-hearted attempt to defend himself.

“It’s like washing your hair with dish soap. But don’t worry,” he adds, pressing a hand to Geralt’s chest, “I’ll get you sorted out and then your hair will be so soft it’ll be completely irresistible.”

“Hmm,” Geralt says dubiously, but Jaskier just grins at him.

“OK, this next part is going to be a little awkward. Ordinarily you’d do it by yourself in the shower, but I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’d rather not jump in the shower with me right now.”

Geralt very much does not acknowledge the wave of heat that rolls through him at the thought.  “Probably wouldn’t fit, anyway.”

“Eh, I’ve made it work in smaller spaces than this,” Jaskier says, with such casual confidence that Geralt’s mouth goes dry. “But luckily, you’ve got one of those detachable showerheads, so we should be just fine. Might be easier, though, if you, uh, take off your shirt off.”

Geralt’s already come this far, and, besides, it’s not like Jaskier hasn’t seen him without his shirt on before. As Geralt strips off his shirt, Jaskier puts a towel down on the floor and beckons him to kneel down at the edge the tub. He’s careful to get the water to a comfortable temperature before he puts a warm hand on Geralt’s bare back, guiding him to lean over, his head bowed.

The routine Jaskier directs him through is more complicated than Geralt could ever have anticipated. There’s a thick, dark purple shampoo that Jaskier instructs him to use only once a week—he has another shampoo he’ll give Geralt to use at other times, but really, Jaskier insists, he should only be washing his hair a couple of times a week, anyway. Jaskier shows him how to rub the shampoo into his scalp only and let the water draw it down through the rest of his hair. The pressure of the spray on his scalp makes his skin tingle, as does the press of Jaskier’s body against his side. When Geralt doesn’t apply the conditioner to Jaskier’s liking, he adjusts Geralt’s hands with his own, smoothing their joined fingers through Geralt’s slippery hair. And when it comes time to rinse the conditioner out, he shows Geralt how to cup the water in his palms and press it into the wet mass of his hair.

“You’re doing great,” Jaskier tells him, and Geralt is grateful his face is hidden behind ropes of his wet hair.

Finally, Jaskier pronounces himself satisfied and turns off the water. Now that they’re done the task of washing his hair, Geralt’s awkwardly aware of his chest dripping with water in the cool air of the bathroom—and of Jaskier standing less than an arm’s length away from him.

Jaskier, on the other hand, is nothing but professional, rubbing a series of products into his hands and then smoothing them over Geralt’s hair. After each application, he gathers Geralt’s hair in his hands and presses it up toward Geralt’s scalp, just like they did with the water. It’s a bizarre motion, like nothing Geralt’s ever seen before, but it seems to be having the desired effect, because the strands of hair hanging down in front of his face are slowly forming into thick coils, and Jaskier keeps making little satisfied humming sounds with each new application. Jaskier finishes by wrapping Geralt’s hair up in another one of those extra soft towels.

“And now we wait,” he says, hopping up onto the sink.

Geralt pulls his shirt on again, careful not to disturb the towel on his head, and he might be wrong but he thinks that he catches a little disappointed frown cross Jaskier’s face, but it’s gone before he can be sure.

“Thanks for indulging me,” Jaskier says. “I know you don’t really like this kind of stuff, but I’m having a great time.”

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Geralt replies. But that sounds worse than it did in his head, and he hastens to add, “I mean—it’s nice—when it’s you.”

Jaskier’s smile is something Geralt can’t quite get to the bottom of—fond and wry and maybe a little sad, too. “Well, I’ve been dying to do this pretty much since the moment I met you, so, you know, thanks for that.”

It’s strange to think Jaskier has been harboring private aspirations where Geralt is concerned. But then Jaskier’s always been full of surprises when it comes to him—immune to his ill temper, amused by his rudeness, tenacious enough to bully his way past his silences. He’s never understood what Jaskier sees in him, and he often feels he offers a poor reward for the hard work Jaskier puts in to being his friend. Because it’s not easy, Geralt knows. Plenty of people have decided Geralt was too difficult to get to know, or too prickly to stick with. Even Yennefer, who’s loved him better than he could possibly deserve, struggled to make inroads against Geralt’s defenses. It never seemed to matter how much he loved Yennefer, he could never bring himself to relax around her. He was always on tenterhooks, waiting for the other shoe to drop—until, in time, it did, a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. He can’t blame Yennefer ending things. She wants things he doesn’t know how to give. He couldn’t figure out how to change himself into the sort of person she deserved.

“D’you want another beer?” Jaskier asks, nudging Geralt’s knee with his bare foot.

He wouldn’t mind another drink, but he’s loathe to puncture the peaceful little moment that’s grown up between them. “Let’s just stay here.”

Jaskier nods, and a moment later Fleetwood Mac comes on over Jaskier’s phone speakers—one of the only bands they can agree on—and Jaskier treats him to an inspired rendition of “Dreams,” his voice turned otherworldly by the chill acoustics of the bathroom tiles. Geralt watches Jaskier dance on his perch on the edge of the sink and wonders, with an ache in his chest, what it would be like to be so uninhibited, so comfortable in his own skin. He can’t imagine it, but sometimes he feels like he’s maybe just a half-step closer to knowing when he’s around Jaskier.

When the song fades out, Jaskier hops down from the counter and says, “OK, time for the last step.”

Jaskier sticks that torture device attachment onto his hair dryer and lets Geralt’s hair down from the towel. Jaskier lets him stay seated, and starts drying his hair. He doesn’t pull Geralt’s hair taut with a brush, as Geralt has seen Yennefer do when styling her own hair. Instead, he gathers it up a section of hair in that little torture device accessory and holds the dryer still, letting the air work around the strands. Geralt closes his eyes against the noise and sensation of the air against his scalp. It lasts a long time, Geralt bracing his arms on his thighs as Jaskier moves the hair dryer around his head. The noise of the dryer makes conversation difficult, and Geralt feels strangely distant from Jaskier all of a sudden, even though he’s standing so close Geralt could press his face to the soft flesh of his stomach if he wanted to. He knots his hands together between his knees to keep himself from just reaching out and pulling Jaskier close.

When Jaskier finally switches off the hair dryer, the silence it leaves feels big. It’s probably just the heat from the hair dyer, but Geralt feels flushed and a little rubbed raw.

“All right,” Jaskier says, fixing him with a considering look. “Let me just . . .” He reaches out and grips Geralt’s hair in both hands. He doesn’t so much tug as gently crush the strands, but the pressure is enough to make Geralt’s mouth fall open, and he doesn’t exactly make a noise but something happens in his chest like his lungs kickstarting. Jaskier glances down at him with an inquisitive smile. “Sorry, too hard?”

It’s all Geralt can do to shake his head.

“All done,” Jaskier says. When he lets go, Geralt immediately misses the touch. “Wanna take a look?”

Geralt stands up and turns to regard himself in the mirror. To say he doesn’t recognize himself would be an overstatement, but the sight of his reflection is a surprise. The cut doesn’t seem all that different in terms of length, but the ragged edges are gone. The dingy white of his hair has turned a gleaming silver, and it hangs around his face not in its usual lank tangle, but in softly curling waves. It’s almost . . . pretty, a word he’s never associated with himself in his entire life. The new brightness of his hair makes his face seem clearer, more open somehow, and the gentle curls offset the hard lines of his face in a way that make his features look almost delicate, or in any case less roughly hewn than usual. He reaches up to touch it, and to his amazement, it’s just as soft as Jaskier promised it would be. Maybe not as soft as Jaskier’s own hair, but much nicer than he can remember it ever feeling before.

“You like it?” Jaskier asks, and in the mirror, Geralt can see he’s looking at him with a hopeful expression. It makes something twist in his stomach—longing, and at the same time a rejection of what he wants, the certainty that he can’t possibly hang onto anything nice for long enough to enjoy it.

“You know I’ll never go to all this trouble,” he says, gruffly, and immediately regrets it when he sees Jaskier’s smile slip from his face.

“No, I know,” Jaskier says, and starts packing up his supplies. “I just wanted to try it. I’ll still leave you all the products, just in case you change your mind, or—”

“Jaskier.” Geralt swallows hard, and puts a hand on Jaskier’s shoulder. “I—”

Jaskier looks at him with such a searching expression that Geralt hardly knows how to look at him. He’s never known someone who’s so much all the time, expansive and loud and demanding and generous and so goddamn bright.

“What I should have said,” Geralt says, against the tension threatening to stop his throat, “is that I wouldn’t have tried this if it weren’t for you. It’s . . .” He’s not sure how to answer Jaskier’s question. Does he like it? He looks so unlike himself that he honestly doesn’t know what to make of it. He can’t tell if it suits him or not, because he still isn’t sure what that would mean. But he likes the idea that Jaskier’s uncovered this version of him, that this might be how Jaskier sees him in his mind’s eye. “I’m glad we tried it. Thank you.”

“I am, too,” Jaskier says, quietly. “Even if you never do it again, I’m glad you trusted me enough to try. And for the record?” The twist of his lips is almost pained, but it’s a smile all the same. “You look fucking gorgeous.”

Geralt ducks his head, his shoulders inching up. “Jaskier . . .”

“No, I’m serious, Geralt.” Jaskier sounds annoyed, almost angry, all of a sudden. “I know you don’t care about superficial stuff—”

“That’s not—”

“—but take it from someone who spends a lot of time looking at people and doing my best to make them look as good as I possibly can: you’re objectively really fucking good-looking.” Jaskier lets out a harsh, reckless laugh. “And if you don’t care about my professional opinion, I also happen to think you’re the most attractive person I’ve ever met in my entire life, so there’s that.”

“I—”

Now that Jaskier’s started talking, he can’t seem to stop. “You’re the most incredible person I know, Geralt,” he says, in a breathless rush, “and I’m not talking just about your looks—although you are genuinely so ridiculously handsome that it’s really not fair. You’re kind for no reason and incredibly devoted and, OK, sort of a dick sometimes, but also so goddamn careful with other people and so fucking hard on yourself, and I just—I wish you could see yourself the way I do. I wish I could show you, even for just a second, because—”

“You did,” Geralt says. Jaskier stares at him, stunned into silence, and Geralt takes the opportunity to continue. “You do. Not just tonight.” He’s breathing hard, and he tries not to think about how dangerous this feels, like standing up on the top of a tall ladder or walking the line of a roof that might collapse under him at any moment. “When I’m with you, I feel like I could be that person you see in me, maybe. I just . . . don’t know how.”

Jaskier laughs again—softer this time. “You dummy,” he says, “you already are. You’ve just got to believe it.”

“Oh, is that all,” Geralt says.

“Yeah, no big deal,” Jaskier says, waving one hand dismissively. “You’ve got me to convince you, after all.”

“Oh, yeah?” Geralt can’t help the smile spreading across his face, despite the shivery feeling still simmering under his skin. “How’re you gonna do that?”

“Well . . .” Jaskier takes a step towards him, and then another, settling his hands lightly on Geralt’s hips. “I’d probably start a little like this . . .”

The first touch of Jaskier’s lips on his is like a breath of clean air after a storm, and Geralt can feel something that’s been knotted tight inside him for a long time unfurling itself. It doesn’t feel dangerous anymore, that buzz under his skin transmuting into a golden glow. He knows it’s not as simple as it feels—he can’t expect Jaskier to change him with a single kiss—but for the first time in a long while, something feels purely, unequivocally good, and he wants more of it.

In time, Jaskier’s hands creep up Geralt’s sides to his back, even as Geralt’s own hands drift down past Jaskier’s waist. When Jaskier’s hands slip into his hair, Geralt wrenches himself free with a shiver. “You’re going to undo all your hard work,” he says, teasingly.

“D’you really care?” Jaskier asks, and scratches his nails along Geralt’s scalp, wringing a whine from deep in Geralt’s chest that should be embarrassing but isn’t.  

“Not really,” Geralt gasps, his whole body pressing closer against Jaskier’s. “You can always do it again.”

Jaskier’s smile is wide as he bends to kiss him again. “That’s what I thought.”

Spiritual Spotlight: Tanagaar the Aurulant Eye

Lawful Good Empyreal Lord of Night, Owls, and Watchfulness

Domains: Animal, Darkness, Good, Law Subdomains: Archon, Feather, Moon, Night

Chronicles of Righteousness, pg. 25

Obedience: Find and observe a mouse or rat from no more than 30 feet away. Continue watching the mouse, unseen, for 100 breaths. Catch the mouse and release it in an area where owls hunt. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against effects that would hinder your sight or hearing.

Oh my god

After all these years, after all this searching, we’ve finally found it. We’ve found an Obedience that justifies carrying around a Sack Of Rats! It’s a miracle!

Anyway, this Obedience is ironically somewhat difficult to perform if your DM is being a stickler about it. Note that you not only have to find a rat--which means if you’re using a Sack Of Rats, you have to release it and then relocate it--but you have to watch it while being unseen. While one may assume that “unseen” simply applies to the rodent in question, the linguistic gymnastics we tend to pull here at Monsters Down The Path LLC to cheese Obediences sometimes works against us, and in this case “unseen” may not simply apply to your prey, but anyone. If your DM applies this additional stipulation, I hope you’ve got a good Stealth mod! And a good excuse about your weird behavior.

While Tanagaar isn’t exactly an evil guy, he’s not especially well-known, and your weird prowling may get some raised eyebrows. The good news is that as a Lawful Good deity (and an Archon at that), the number of times you’re likely to be sent into Evil territory to subtly work among them is 0, reducing your chances of needing actual excuses about why you’re skulking around like a cat. If, for whatever reason, you want to keep your worship of the Aurulant Eye under wraps, simply being a catfolk, kobold, or goblin is a good enough excuse.

Next comes catching the vermin and releasing it in an area where owls hunt. Simple enough in almost any environment but a desolate stretch of empty desert, winter wasteland, or subterranean cavern, as owls are very widespread, to the point that this Obedience could simply say “release it into the wild.” The biggest problem is refreshing your rodent stock, an issue that goes largely unaddressed in other Sack Of Rats Obediences because those usually require the death of any small critter, and this one specifically requires rodents. Better take up rat catching as a hobby or frequent the local pet store, I guess!

The benefit is more amazing than it looks at first glance, because Monsters Down The Path LLC’s patented Linguistic Gymnastics is here to point out that any effect which could impair your sight or hearing is blocked, even if that effect is SECONDARY, such as against powerful spells like Sunburst or against afflictions like Blinding Disease. Having your senses stripped from you is always bad, even for a short time, but the fact this benefit applies to “any effect” that would “hinder” your sight or hearing means it works on everything from having dust blow in your eyes to an enemy’s Greater Shout, and it can potentially give you an edge against dozens or hundreds of other effects which tack on sensory abuse as a bonus effect, making it a fantastic bonus at all levels. It even applies to EVERY saving throw instead of just Fortitude!

Boons are gained slowly, typically achieved once you reach 12, 16, and 20 Hit Dice. Followers of the Empyreal Lords, however, can enter the Mystery Cultist Prestige Class at level 8, which grants them their Boons much quicker! Entered as early as possible, you gain the Boons at levels 10, 13, and 16 instead. Mystery Cultists MUST take the Celestial Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience.

Empyreal Lords do not grant the typical Evangelist/Exalted/Sentinel spread (and cannot enter those classes), instead having only one set of Boons granted to their followers regardless of their class.

Boon 1: Forest Dweller. Gain Calm Animals 3/day, Eagle Eye2/day, or Deeper Darkness 1/day.

Oh, interesting! Never seen Eagle Eye here before, and it’s actually a good spell! ... sort of. It creates a magical sensor above you, upwards to 400ft+40ft/lvl, from which you can see as though you were there and rotate your viewpoint around freely. It’s more or less to give one a birds-eye view of a battlefield, akin to someone playing an RTS with an over-the-field viewpoint to make commanding armies easier, though the birds-eye view is also very, very useful for spotting threats to a small group of people (such as the party) that they cannot see from the horizontal plane.

Also, needless to say, but having a safe way to see the surrounding terrain from several hundred feet above it can make navigating towards a destination or landmark much easier. With a 1 min/lvl duration and 2/day availability, you can be the party’s aerial lookout without ever actually leaving the ground and putting yourself in danger, and the sensor itself is invisible as well if you fear flying enemies. Eagle Eyes isn’t useful at all inside enclosed environments, and in fact cannot be used to spy into the floors above you unless you have line of effect, but if you want to peel inside, say, the Evil Wizard Tower without alerting them via the use of a familiar or similar, go crazy.

Calm Animals causes up to 2d4+CL HD worth of animals to become docile and harmless for its duration, but for it to actually work on a group of animals, they all must be roughly the same type (i.e. a pack of wolves) and cannot be further than 30ft apart. This isn’t really a problem, as using it on a bunch of angry animals usually means you’re hitting a pack of scavengers or predators you’ve angered, and its generous scaling means that it’ll be useful at all levels of the game whether you need to slow down a charging pack of raptors or just one big T. Rex--wait a T. Rex has how many hit dice? well, scratch that particular idea I guess. unless you get lucky with your 2d4 roll. Still useful. The big problem is that it’s completely useless against anything that’s not an Animal, and if an Animal suddenly receives the gift of sapience--even temporarily--the spell has no effect on them. That makes this spell useful for traveling through the wilds (or, rarely, stopping the charge of an enemy warhorse), but not for much else.

Which leaves Deeper Darkness, the spell which hammers your party just as hard as it does an enemy. Creating a 60ft sphere of absolute black can send chaos through the ranks of more or less any foe, because if the area was already low or dim light it becomes supernaturally pitch that not even darkvision can pierce it! Not even yours. Cutting off your party’s ability to see is just as crippling for them as it is your enemy, so be sure to have some method to actually take advantage of the shroud or you’ll end up swinging at empty air or, worse, swing at allies. While it’s good for making an escape, Obscuring Fog is way better, way cheaper, and doesn’t take away your magical flexibility.

Boon 2: Owl's Eye. You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, increase its range by an additional 60 feet.

Wow! Boring! But useful for more or less everyone, since not needing torches or a light source when skulking around in the dark or keeping night watch makes it less likely you’re spotted by some prowling predator or sadistic dungeon-dweller, but it’s noting spectacular or even particularly noteworthy. I appreciate that Tanagaar extends existing darkvision outwards, but it’s rare you’ll actually need more than 60 feet unless you’re actually adventuring in an open area after dark.

It’s a decent Boon, but it’s also insultingly easy to replicate with existing spells or cheap items (such as a Wand or Potion of Darkvision), making its impact a little hard to appreciate.

Boon 3: Hunter's Edge. You gain Sneak Attack +3d6. This increase to Sneak Attack damage stacks with Sneak Attack damage you may have from other sources. Whenever you deal Sneak Attack damage with a piercing weapon, you deal +2 points of damage per Sneak Attack die.

huh hey that’s pretty good

hey aren’t you supposed to be Lawful, Tanagaar? Not that I don’t appreciate a little bit of pragmatism among the forces of Good, but stabbing someone in the kidney from behind seems kinda underhanded, doesn’t it? Then again, so does summoning flocks of owls to gouge out enemy eyes or appearing before them as a terrifying phantasm to gently coerce them into surrender. Even Law knows when it needs to fight dirty, I suppose.

Not that you HAVE to, mind; with how easy it is to set up a Sneak Attack (you literally just have to be flanking), you don’t have to be particularly sneaky. Just standing across from an ally and stabbing someone in the throat when they turn away from a brief second deals +3d6 damage to them, which is already good before you take into account that, actually, it’s 3d6+6 because Tanagaar superdupercharges your Sneak Attacks with +2 damage per die! Even NOT having SA to begin with is still adding a flat +6 damage to your attacks that stacks with all your other damage modifiers, but having SA available beforehand--such as by being a Rogue, a Ninja, a Slayer, or one of the rare archetypes to hand it out--is especially viable because Hunter’s Edge stacks with ALL other sources. Have +5d6 from your class already? Now it’s 8d6+16 damage.

It’s even tastier if used on a ranged weapon, but make no mistake, it’s still pretty damn nice just at its base regardless of your build... unless you’re a Mystery Cultist, which is aimed mostly at casting and doesn’t get anything particularly martial-aligned until later levels. Classing into Mystery Cultist also means that your Sneak Attack is unlikely to be at all impressive (you may reach 6d6, but certainly not the impressive 8d6 I proposed), but the only other option is waiting for this ability to kick in at level 20, which is simply unacceptable. Aside from that, the only real problem I have with this ability is that it specifically works with piercing weapons... and since Tanagaar’s holy weapon is the kukri, you actually miss this Boon entirely if you stick only to his weapon of choice, and your god actively discouraging you from using any of their sacred aspects isn’t a good look for anyone!

You can read more about him here.

Izzy’s Dag-Dag The Artist… Tag

Izzy’s Dag-Dag The Artist… Tag by @morgynemberisagenderfluiddaddy

Show us a rendition of yourself in your own art! Can be anything! Sims render? Random stick figure? Picrew? Go nuts! (Just be sure to tag the artist if you use someone else’s picrew!!!!) Tag the blogs you want to know, and don’t be a dick that’s it! Also, feel free to answer as vague or in-depth as you want. And if you don’t want to answer a question for any reason just don’t vibe with it! Skip it if you wanna! Also make sure you tag me and use #dagdagtheartisttag so I can see it!!!!!!!!

i was tagged by no one, saw @almost-spring​ post I though it would be fun, hmm....

1.) Do you prefer to be referred to by your name or blog name? Just call me Diu, I hate my real name: there were 4 kids with the same name in my elementary classes, that’s a basic af name.

2.) Where are you from? Vietnam

3.) Do you have pets? A cute dog, Sherry

4.) Tell us about your “dream”. Start a freaking webtoon series and receive some recognition, so I can do something I actually like, but I’m too afraid to risk it

5.) Aside from art, what are your hobbies? hmmm, listen to music, come up with ideas, daydream about it. Or I really like hate-read a story (basically read the stuff that irritates me the most, lol), so I can come up with a brand new story idea as an AU, fix-it fanfiction for that story. It’s good for creativity, then I can develop my characters using that idea. Besides, is procrastination a hobby too?

6.)Does anyone irl know about your blog? no one does, this is nice.

7.)Do you know anyone from your blog irl? no

8.) What are some fun facts about you? hmm... I like trash reincarnated villainess manga and manhwa stories recently. The authors just copied some tropes from the other authors to write the stories, so the characters and plots can be shallow (Tropes like black haired Male Lead who is mean to everyone but the Female Lead, reincarnated girl who threw her trauma out of the window or threw her past life memories away quickly and move on for the sake of revenge, zero character development if the FL is badass...) Part of me hate-read the stories, part of me love them as it I’m addicted to them

9.) What’s your day job? Student

10.) Do you have a celebrity look alike? Nope

11.) What’s your aesthetic? Anything pink, that’s my entire wardrobe. Vintage clothes, midi dresses and skirts, korean makeup.

12.) What kind of artist are you? Spontaneous, I’ve never drawn anything, suddenly become interested and decided to buy a tablet for art. So spontaneous...

13.) How did you get into your form of art? Trash reincarnated villainess webtoons made me wish I could draw, but didn’t have the nerve to start drawing. Then Clip Studio Paint ads popped up everywhere (did google read my mind?), they talked about 3d assets that would help drawing. So I’m drawing now

14.) What do you watch/listen/read/anything else while you create? I cannot multitask...

15.) What is your favorite of your own creations so far? 

This painting reflects Of Love And War so well: Lan Chi being dragged to a brand new sh***y life, she is terrified

16.) How would you describe your art style? where did the light come from?

Webtoon style?  I was inspired by True Beauty and Lookism art style. The light source typically come from top right corner of my drawings

17.) What is more satisfying to you coloring or outlining? coloring, tbh, my drawing is very lacking without coloring.

18.) What meme would you use to describe yourself? 

19.) What character from any media form do you most identify with? none

20.) If you were on the run, what would you change your name to? Some nice and unique name. Tuong Vy is my favorite

21.) Have you ever or do you want to change blog names? To diu, that is so cute. Tiny shrimp

22.) God forbid Tumblr decides to pull a MySpace and lets us have page songs, what song would you choose? 

 23.) Oh yeah, I’m still on the MySpace train and I’m starting discourse! Who’s your top 8? 

24.) Did you understand those references or did you have to look them up? (I’m fully away I’m ancient, but are you?) i have heard about MySpace, but I’ve never used it.

25.) One last question; why are you like that? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Feel free to answer it if you want

You Really Got Me – part 3: Losing Control (Kakashi Hatake x reader)

(note: part 1 and part 2)

This was probably the first time Kakashi realized how little he knew about your friends. Now that you were heading to a stranger’s place, he began to question his own judgment. If it was only the two of you, it would have been fine, but at the end of the day, his students were still kids. What kind of person this Kisuke was? Could he be trusted?

“Let me guess: I went too far again, didn’t I?” you suddenly asked as you looked over at him.

Oh, look at that, you noticed it without help! That was new. “Yeah, you did,” he confirmed with a nod. “But there’s no turning back now, I guess. The least I can do is help when we get there. If they want to see a fight, we’ll give them a good one,” Kakashi added with a smile under the mask.

“I really missed you. Sometimes I forget that we make a pretty awesome team,” you told him before reaching out to take his hand.

There was no question about it now, you had changed a lot since the last time you met. He wondered why, though. Was it all an act? Were you trying to prepare him for something bad? Could it be related to this friend of yours? No, he shouldn’t be paranoid. You probably didn’t have any ulterior motives. As he tried to get rid of his ridiculous thoughts, he laced his fingers with yours.

“Aaaaargh, can you two just stop? I’ll end up throwing up,” Naruto complained in the back.

“I hate to agree with Naruto, but–”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Kakashi interrupted Sakura with a sigh. Damn, how could he forget they were sitting back there? Well, maybe it had something to do with the fact they had been unusually quiet. “Alright, here are some rules: be respectful with our host, don’t be too loud or rude and… just… behave. This isn’t too much to ask for, right?” he asked casually.

He looked back and waited until all three nodded. And then out of the blue, you began to laugh and quickly glanced at the rearview mirror. “But don’t worry, Kisuke is kinda a weirdo as well. Just don’t get on his bad side because even I’m scared of him sometimes,” you added after you cleared your throat.

No, he definitely shouldn’t begin to ask you about why you have such people as friends. But it was an interesting question nonetheless. While he spent most of his time among fellow ninjas, you lived in a completely different world with a wide variety of different creatures. Sometimes he wished he could be a part of it, although that would only be possible if he agreed to become one of your Betas. But he still didn’t want that.

Soon the car parked in front of a perfectly normal looking shop and Kakashi couldn’t help but scratch the back of his neck once he got out of the car and took a good look at the building. This place had an underground training facility? In this case, the shop’s real purpose was to hide their real operation. Clever.

“Sakura, did you order the food?”

Kakashi turned around with a questioning look. When the hell did the two of you have time to talk about that? “Yes, it will be here in about half an hour.” Sakura gave you back your phone and you flashed a surprisingly kind smile at her. “Don’t you think it will be too much? This amount of food would be enough for over ten people.”

“Well, I’m sure Naruto is really hungry,” you began as you winked at the boy, “and I’ll also need food to recharge so… yeah, it will be just enough.”

“Y/N, it’s been a long time since we last met!”

Turning to the source of the cheerful sound, Kakashi noticed a blond man waving at you from the door. Was he that friend you’d talked to? Was he only a friend? Or was there a time there was more between the two of you? No, he had to stop acting like some jealous idiot every time you even looked at another man. You loved him, that was obvious. But by the time he managed to push these thoughts to the back of his mind, everybody was already inside the shop so he quickly caught up with you.

When he stopped, you immediately wrapped an arm around him and said, “And this is Kakashi Hatake, my better half as of now.”

Wait, your what?

“He’s gonna help me with this little… demonstration. And we should do it before the food arrives.”

“Alright, let’s go then,” Kisuke said with a wide grin then signaled the group to follow him. “Once the fight begins, stay where we tell you otherwise you might get hurt,” he explained to the kids along the way.

“So what’s the plan?” Kakashi asked as the two of you stayed behind a bit.

“I don’t have a plan,” you admitted. “But you should go all out against me. Hell, you should also use your Chidori. I’d like to see their faces when I come back after that.”

Okay, so she was really hell-bent on scaring the kids. This could end really, really bad if you lost control, and right now he had a feeling this could easily happen. He knew that look in your eyes and it made him uneasy. Behind that carefree smile was a monster waiting to come out to play.

The training ground was impressive to say the least, he had never seen anything like this before. No wonder you chose this as a location, it was perfect for this purpose. Maybe they should build something like this back home. But these thoughts were soon replaced by new ones because he was still worried about the fight, even when the two of you were facing each other at a safe distance from the rest of the group. How could he stop you if you lost control?

First, it was hand-to-hand combat, using basic weapons for now. Unlike him, though, you never carried weapons with you since you could create them by manipulating a type of dark matter within seconds. It was a handy trick of phantoms, something he envied every now and then. After this, it was time to move on and he began to use different kinds of jutsu against you. There were some you could copy with your own ability, some you dodged by quickly teleporting out of the way, but mostly you created shields to protect yourself.

At one point you stopped and remained completely still, signaling him to use his original move against you. He wasn’t really fond of the idea of attacking you with the intention to kill you because it kept reminding him of what had happened with Rin back in the day. I shouldn’t compare the two, you can easily come back to life in a matter of minutes, he thought. After taking a deep breath, he did it. He pierced his hand through your heart and the only thing that made him feel a little better was the wicked little smile on your lips before you slowly disappeared in the form of black smoke.

As he waited, he thought about the way you had fought him. Something was wrong. Even that smile at the end… it wasn’t a playful one. And even your eyes turned black. You were slowly losing control and this was something he had feared from the beginning. If you came back who kne–

Pain. He felt pain in the back of his head as it hit the ground. When his vision cleared, he noticed you sitting on top of him, one hand tight around his throat, and the other covered in dark matter with an end shaped like a spear. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Soon this spear would be pierced through his head, only to have large spikes forming on its side seconds later. You wanted to kill him. If he didn’t find a way out of this situation this will be the end for him. “Y/N, come one, don’t do this,” he tried.

“Shibari, Benihime,” he heard a faint voice in the background and almost right away a crimson net appeared around your body, completely immobilizing you. When he pushed you off himself and sat up, he noticed Kisuke standing not far from you with a katana in his hand. “Are you okay?” When he nodded in response, the man walked over to you and let out a sigh. “When was the last time you visited him?” he asked quietly.

You looked up at him and your eyes slowly turned back to normal. “Tonight. But it was a quick visit.”

Who the hell were you two talking about? And had it happened right before you met at the restaurant? So if his guess was right, you didn’t disappear because of an assassination.

“Yet it was enough to rile you up,” Kisuke noted as he looked back at the kids. “No wonder they managed to make you this mad. Anyway, did you calm down? We should go and eat, I’m sure the food is already here.”

You nodded, but Kakashi couldn’t look at you now, instead he turned his attention to his students. They were terrified and he couldn’t blame them for this. That was close. Too close.

If you find any mistakes or typos, I’m sorry, I didn’t really read it again before posting.

taglist: @spn-obession​​​ @marajillana​​ @sarahschance​

Where Do We Go? |Chapter Two| JJ Maybank x Reader

Summary - Y/N is a Mainlander who has just moved to The Cut. When she meets her new neighbor, she just may have found the family she’s been searching for, and more.

gif credit - @rue-bennett

Word count - 4.1k (oopsies)

Warnings - Teenage drinking, mention of abuse, fluff at the end

A/N - Okay so I went a bit extra for this chapter, so please let me know what you think! And just ask if you’d like to added to the tag list for the series ❤️

JJ slung his arm around me, walking me over to the small bonfire his friends sat around. The bubbly blonde told me about how I would love his mates and I would become one of the pogues before I even knew it, and I sure as hell hoped he was right. We came to a stop at the fire, and JJ gestured proudly at me before exclaiming a little “Ta-Da!”

“Hey, you found Mystery Girl!” The brunette chuckled.

“Well, she isn’t a mystery anymore. Guys, this is Y/N. Y/N, these are the Pogues. Pope, Kie, Sarah, and John B.” All of the pogues greeted me kindly, and Kie patted the empty spot next to her for me to sit down. “So,” Kie began, “We hope we didn’t bug you too much by asking you out here, it isn’t every day that someone new moves in!” She flashed me a smile. “And don’t worry, we don’t bite.”

“Except JJ.” John B grinned

“JB, don’t be a little shit, alright? We want her to stay, you doof,” Sarah said as she gave him a little push on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I’ve had to deal with JJ the whole way here. John B seems to be in the minor leagues compared to him, at least on the Shithead Scale.” Kie, Sarah, and Pope all laughed with me while JJ and John B looked at each other in mock-offense.

“Thank God we’ll finally have someone else who can put up with them.” Pope smiled.

“Oh yeah, it can’t get much worse than JJ scaring me awake and making me face-plant out of my hammock.”

“JJ did what, now?” Kie cocked an eyebrow at JJ accusingly.

“Okay, in my defense, I tried to wake her up calmly! She looked like she was gonna karate chop me or something when she shot up outta there!”

“Yeah, because waking a random stranger, who you have never spoken with, from her nap is sooo calm,” I teased. “But yeah, when he woke me up, I was not expecting it. He’s lucky I didn’t headbutt him!” I pointed at JJ, and he smiles.

“Yeah, don’t wanna damage the money-maker.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Your ego would have cushioned the blow.”

“Goddamn, girl, you’re gonna give J a run for his money,” JB chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, Pretty Girl got me this time,” JJ retorted while he stood up, walking over to me. “C’mon, can’t leave ya empty-handed.”

I nod at him, accepting his outstretched hand to help me off the log. “Back in a minute, guys.” JJ led us both to the standing keg in the center of the beach.

“Can you tell if they liked me? Was I saying stupid shit?” I asked the boy, slightly nervous. This was a new thing to me: I was never one to care about what people thought of me, so why do I care now?

“Don’t worry, doll, they loved you,” he winked. “Not everyone can handle me and my—“

“Bullshit?”

“I was gonna say cockiness, but that works too. But anyway, they love you. You’re a natural pogue, Y/N. I think Kiara and Sarah, like you, especially.” We finally reach the keg, and he turns to face me. “On tonight’s menu, we have beer or vodka with some strawberry lemonade Crystal Light. Pick your poison.” I chew on the inside of my cheek, suddenly finding the sand very interesting.

“So, uh, here’s the thing. I’m not really a drinker,” I begin, finally looking back up at JJ, who’s gaze never left mine. “And—“

JJ cuts me off, quickly. “Shit, I’m sorry. Look, you don’t have to pick anything if you don’t want to, it’s not a requirement or anything. And I don’t want to pressure you, you know?”

“Oh my god, JJ, shut up for just a second, okay? I was gonna say I haven’t ever drunk, so I don’t know what I like. I was gonna ask you what you thought I should pick, you dummy.” I giggle at him as he rakes his hand through his hair.

“Well, in that case, I’d say beer. Just don’t drink too quickly, ‘kay Pretty Girl? Don’t want you throwing up on me,” he smirked.

“Alright, beer it is, then.”

JJ knelt down to grab a cup and pour a drink, still chattering on about how I need to drink a glass of water for every cup of beer. It’s so stupid, but I was so in awe of him. This boy I knew nothing about just mystified me, everything about him did. The way his lips curled up at the edges whenever he said something he thought was funny, the curves and lines of his biceps, how wisps of his hair were caught in the starlight perfectly, and, oh my God, his eyes. They were so brilliantly blue. They were the kind of blue that made me hear Hawaiian waters in my ears. The kind of blue that brought a sense of serenity, despite the chaos around us. The brilliance of his eyes did not hide their depth — at least not to me. I could see the shimmer of midnight within them, and the kind of navy blue found in an endless, bleak cavern. Behind the cool, icy facade, there were storms dappled throughout the calm. JJ handed me my now full cup, and I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but a voice interrupted me before I could even begin.

“Found another Touron to fuck, aye, Maybank?” JJ’s head snapped to the source of the voice. Another tall blonde had walked up to us. This boy seemed to be the complete opposite of JJ: Gelled hair, board shorts, a pastel-toned shirt, and an air of arrogance surrounding him. He wasn’t calming like JJ, he was intimidating.

“Lay off, Rafe. She isn’t a Touron, she just moved to the island,” JJ spat. He then grabbed my hand protectively, seeming like he wanted to shield me entirely from the drunken boy’s words.

“Ah, so she’s a long-term fuckbuddy, then.” The boy, Rafe, cackled as he swayed. JJ just rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand in his, his eyes finding my own.

“He’s drunk, Y/N, don’t worry about him. Not that he’s any less of an asshole sober.” I nodded, and JJ faced Rafe again. “Go off to your Kook friends, and don’t fucking talk about her like that, got it?” Rafe rolled his eyes and ignored JJ, instead locking his gaze on me.

“Once you see his old man smack him around, you’ll change your mind about him, babe. He ain’t worth shit.”

I kept my eyes locked on Rafe’s as I spoke slowly, my voice unwavering. “Leave us the fuck alone. Now. I don’t care who you are, I don’t know you, but I will not back down to you. So you better stay in your damn lane. You seem like one to not fight girls, but I don’t discriminate.” I finish, and immediately turn around and head off towards the bonfire where the pogues were sat, tugging JJ along with me.

He stopped us and I spun around to look at him, glancing over his shoulder to see Rafe giving me a smug look as he took a swig of his vodka before I shift my eyes back to JJ’s. “Holy shit,” he breathed. “You’re a feisty one, Y/N.”

“Yeah, well I don’t exactly take kindly to people who harass my friends,” I sigh. “I’m kinda scrappy, I guess. At least that’s what my everyone used to tell me.”

“Friend, huh? I like it. And, look, I’m not looking to just fuck around with you, y‘know? If I told Rafe that, it’s all he would have fixated on.” His gaze falling to the sand.

“JJ, I get it. Don’t worry, okay?” I wait for him to look at me. “I’m a walking box of daddy issues, anyways,” I smile slightly, and JJ gives me a laugh.

“Well, damn, we have even more in common than I thought, Pretty Girl. Now, let’s head back to the fire, you need to relax after all that.” I smiled at JJ and noticed how his eyes flicked to my lips for half a second. Just friends, though... right? JJ guided us back towards the group, his arm slung around my waist, and I was definitely hyper-aware of every inch of his skin pressed against my midsection. I take a sip of my beer, trying to distract myself. Finally, we stopped at the bonfire, and everyone gave us a little cheer and a wave, and JJ pulled me down to sit beside him.

“Hey, was King Kook giving you shit, Y/N?” Sarah asked me.

“Yeah, ’cause we’ll mess him up if you want us to,” Kie butts in, giggling. “But seriously,” Sarah continues, “You looked pretty pissed off, did Rafe say something? God, he’s such a dick. And I can say that, ‘cause I live with him.”

“Ah, he was just drunk and pestering us, is all,” I say. “Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

“Yeah, the pretty one can fend for herself, it seems. Not that I wouldn’t have stepped in if they threw down, of course. But, that being said, I would be pretty curious to see how badly Rafe would get his ass beat.” JJ grinned at me proudly, and I wiggled my eyebrows at him as I sipped on my drink.

“So, on a more serious note, what do you think of the OBX so far, Y/N?” Pope asked me.

“Oh, it’s so frickin’ gorgeous!” I nearly yell, and I bring my hand up to cover my mouth, surprised by my outburst. I giggle before I continue on. “Well, at least what I’ve seen of it, I guess. But I really can’t wait to go out on the water, of course I still need to find a boat somewhere, but the sea is so perfect for swimming. It would be damn good for fishing too!” I was pretty obviously excited, and John B grinned at me.

“Well, missy, you’re in luck. The HMS Pogue is in need of a drive again, and we were planning on going out tomorrow. You up for a little initiation ride?” John B asked, raising his eyebrow.

I smile widely. “Hell yes, I am!”

“Well, it’s settled. Tomorrow, you’ll officially become one of the pogues, Y/N,” Kie said excitedly.

JJ raised his cup, “To the pogues!”

“To the pogues!” We all cheered. Everyone began babbling together about things that needed to be ready for tomorrow — and whether or not they should push me off and into the sea to see if I can get back onto the boat as a ritual.

I smiled at the sight around me and took a swig of my drink, and JJ bumped his shoulder into mine before whispering in my ear. “See? I told you they’d love you as much as I do, Pretty Girl.”

I suppressed a shiver when I felt his breath against my ear, trying my hardest not to falter in my voice as I responded quietly. “Mhm, I’m pretty hard to not love, huh?” I brought my cup up to my lips again, and he cocked his eyebrow at me, his lips curling into a smirk.

“Goddamn,” he murmured as he shook his head. He glanced down at my cup and looked back up at me, concerned. “You better slow down, you know. I know you haven’t been drinking before, so… Just be careful, ‘kay?”

I rolled my eyes at him, sipping my drink again. “Oh don’t worry about it, I have to get used to it somehow,” I say, brushing him off. I can see that his brows are still furrowed, and I think for a second. “Y’know, if you’re really that worried about me, I guess you can stay at my place tonight.”

“Oh really, now?” He questioned teasingly.

“You’ll be on the couch, dumbass.” JJ just laughed, and his brows softened in relief.

“I like this arrangement. I’ll take care of ya if you need it, Y/N.” I nod at him, and I realize that I just invited him back to my own house, and I wonder when I became so brave. I turn away from JJ as Sarah asks if I’ve ever been scuba diving before, and I begin chatting away. As we talk, I can feel JJ’s gaze on me, and for once in my life, I don’t mind it. For once, having a boy pay attention to me was a good thing, even if it was simply him being a concerned friend. Eventually, I finish my drink and JJ pours some water into my cup, I mouth a silent ‘thank you’ to him, before turning back to Sarah and Kie.

“What brought you to the Outer Banks, Y/N?” Kie asks me.

“Oh, I guess it a bit of a long story. But… I think I just really needed a fresh start.” I say quietly. It wasn’t technically a lie — it was more of an omission. It was a long story, and I did need a new beginning, but I didn’t exactly want to say why. Not yet, at least.

“Hey, I think we’ve all felt that a time or twenty,” John B says reassuringly. “Do you have a job lined up out here yet?”

“Oh yeah, I’m teaching dance classes to little kids over on the North Side. I used to it back on the Mainland, too. Actually, I was a dancer myself back there.”

“Ooh, is it the one that’s brand new?” Sarah asks me, and I nod. “It’s only a few minutes from my house! You have to come over, Y/N!”

“I’d love to,” I smiled widely at Sarah.

“Here, gimme your phone, girl,” I laugh and hand my phone over to Sarah, and she enters her phone number for me. My phone ends up being passed between all of the pogues, all of them entering their contacts and sending themselves a text to get my number. I smile as JJ passes my phone back to me, finally, him being the last one to enter his number. Sarah is extra bubbly now; telling me about how she’ll let me pick through her closet, how we’ll walk on the boardwalk and see all of the small artisan shops, and how she wants to take me to the little ice cream stand that sets up every day near her house. “Kie, you have to come too, it’ll be a girls’ day! Don’t even start on how you don’t like unnecessary gender roles and shit, okay, it’s just an expression.” Kiara smiles and tells us that shes in.

“So if it’s just an expression, does that mean I can come too?” Pope asks, feigning a pout.

“Nope,” the three of us say in unison. “Look, we have to show her that there’s actually shit to do on the island, aside from working and fishing,” Kie says as she gives Pope a kiss on the cheek.

“And we have to get to know her too, duh. Can’t do that with you boys around,” Sarah smiles at me. “Don’t worry, we won’t do anything crazy, though.”

I smile back at them, and I tell them that I can’t wait for our girls’ day. I go to take a drink from my cup, only to find that I’ve finished my water, and I make a pouty face. I stand up, looking around. “Anyone need a refill?”

“Yeah, I do. You sit back down, though, I’ll run and grab some,” JJ tells me. I roll my eyes and tell him a little thank you before passing him my empty cup. I sit back down and see that everyone is looking at me expectantly. “Uh, did I do something wrong?” I ask.

Pope shakes his head, “No, no nothing wrong. It’s just—”

“We haven’t really seen JJ take to someone as quickly as he has to you,” Kie explains. “He doesn’t usually trust anyone very quickly.”

John B nods at me. “Yeah, the closest he gets is being flirty with Tourons that he wants to f— Ow!” Sarah smacked him on the arm to cut him off, and John B gave her a little glare as he rubbed his arm.

“It’s nice to see him actually let his guard down and hit it off with someone,” Pope clarifies, smiling kindly. “He’s a good guy, he just doesn’t trust people very easily.”

“But, he clearly sees something in you to change that,” Kiara adds. “I think he picked a good person to put his confidence into.”

I smiled to myself, appreciating the pogues’ reassurance. It feels like I’m actually surrounded by love for the first time in my life, and although it frightened me, it made me so happy at the same time. When JJ came back to us, we all laughed and drank for a few more hours, before finally deciding it was time to head back to our homes. We were able to walk together the majority of the way, but eventually we had to split off. Pope, Kiara, Sarah, and John B all headed back to his house, and JJ and I branched off to my own. Admittedly, I was quite buzzed. I was lucky to have JJ at my side, as I nearly tripped a time or two, and he caught me every time.

“Y/N, you’re lucky I decided to come with you,” he laughed. We had finally reached my doorstep, and I was facing JJ, my back resting against the door.

“Y’know, JJ, I wish I’d done more stuff like this back on the Mainland. Made more friends, gone to more parties. I would have had a much better time,” I told him.

JJ smiled softly at me. “As much as I may agree, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m glad I get to meet you.” I grinned lazily at him, fumbling for my keys in my pocket, eventually finding the right one and shoving it into the lock, twisting the key and opening the door. I kick off my sandals and JJ does the same.

“So, I don’t exactly have a guest bedroom, but I do have a futon couch.” I say, grabbing blankets and a pillow out of one of my packing boxes and tossing them onto the couch. “I’m so fucking tired.”

JJ sits down, and looks at me, tilting his head. “You know you’re one of us now, yeah?”

I think for a second, not sure how to respond. “I mean, I guess. For how close-knit you all are, I’m glad you guys accepted me.” His lips curled at the edges, and his eyes left mine.

“Me too, Y/N.”

I clear my throat slightly. “Well, the bathroom is down the hall, and the kitchen is right over there if you need water or anything, okay? And my room is just past the bathroom if you need me. Don’t need me,” I say jokingly. JJ smiles as he lays his head back against the couch. I walk off to my bedroom to change out of my clothes, wash my face, and finally lay down.

•

JJ had finally fallen asleep after nearly an hour of thinking of you. He couldn’t get you off of his mind; Your smile, your laugh, the curves of your body, the way he found you sleeping in your hammock that day. You had looked so peaceful, your features soft. God, he just wanted to touch you. He hadn’t wanted to fall for you, but from the moment he’d seen you that day, his heart had skipped a beat. It still made his heart quicken thinking about it.

Kie just pointed you out to all of them, and JJ had to keep his jaw from dropping to the ground.

“Hey, who’s the new girl, JB?” He’d asked, taking a sip of his can.

“No clue, dude. I didn’t even know the house had been for sale, honestly.”

That’s when he saw you looking towards them, and waved as he flashed you a smile. He caught himself staring for an extra second, studying the way your cheeks looked as they flushed with color, and the way the right side of your cheek dimpled as you smiled.

Sarah gave a small whistle when she noticed him staring. JJ snapped his head to her, flipping the bird.

“Ooh, JJ’s ‘boutta be whipped y’all.” Pope cackled.

“J, you don’t even know the girl! Try not to stare so much.” Kie said smugly. JJ groaned, and chugged his beer. He knew they were right, he was staring. But he couldn’t help it, he had never found anyone that attractive. Ever. Something within him felt drawn to you, like a tether being pulled in your direction.

JJ snapped awake as he heard a small yelp. He slowly relaxed back into the couch, until he heard it again. He stood up cautiously, trying not to bump into anything. He padded down towards your room, hearing soft weeping as he grew closer. He gently opened the door, only to find you with a tear-stained face, thrashing your head against the pillow as you whimpered. His heart hurt at the sight, and, without thinking, he sat on the bed, and gently woke you.

•

I don’t totally remember what my dream was to make me wake up with tears running down my face and choked out screams escaping my throat, I just know that it was JJ who held me against him as I woke. I do know that it was JJ who stroked my hair and told me that I would be okay, that he was here. I do know when I finally looked up at him, he was the one who wiped away my tears with his thumb. He was the one who kissed my forehead as he helped me slow my breathing. I know it was him who told me that it was okay as I whispered so many apologies through my tears. His voice was the one to calm me as thunder cracked through the sky, lightning illuminating the room. “Shh, Y/N, it’s okay. You’re safe. I promise. I’ve got you, okay? I’ve got you,” he mumbled to me, stroking my back. He continued holding me against him, murmuring calming things to me, helping me relax.

“I’m so sorry, JJ. I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember,” I whispered as I shook my head, my breathing finally evening out. “God, I’m sorry I woke you up. I’m so sorry you had to see me like that.”

JJ sighed, and he pressed a kiss to my hair. “It’s okay, doll. I always wished someone was there to do this for me. I’m just glad you weren’t alone.”

I pull back from his chest to look in JJ’s eyes, getting lost in their blue spell. “Thank you,” I whisper. He tilts his forehead to rest against mine. His eyes flicker from my eyes to my lips, just as they did earlier that night. Boldly, I pressed my lips to his gently. And while JJ seemed surprised, he didn’t pull away. He moved his hand to rest against my cheek, his thumb brushing against my cheekbone delicately. I felt as though I was melting as he moved his lips against my own. I brought my hand up to his hair, finally able to run my hand through his soft mess of hair. We sat like that for what seemed like forever, our bodies intertwined as our lips slid together as thunder clapped through the sky. Until eventually, JJ pulled away, out of breath. “I… I shouldn’t have done that, have I? You’re drunk, Y/N.”

“No, JJ, I barely am, okay? I’m the one who started it, remember? God, I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I saw you.” The words seemed to pour out of me, and I was suddenly exhausted. “I… I know it isn’t great timing. But I meant it.” JJ’s eyes examined my own, studying how my lashes grazed against my brow bone, and how gorgeous my lips looked despite being puffy. “Please, just stay with me tonight, JJ?”

He nodded slowly before laying back in the bed, opening his arms for me to crawl into, finally resting my head against his chest. JJ presses a kiss to the top of my head before mumbling quietly, “I won’t leave you, Y/N.” I finally closed my eyes again, listening to the fluttering of JJ’s heart and feeling his hands playing with my hair. I finally felt safe as I drifted off to sleep. It was the best sleep I’d gotten in years.

•

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