tinydreamtimemachine

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Cats getting caught doing crimes

fem reader. nsfwish. you ride anaxa while stargazing.

i

"you brought me here to see the stars," you say, reclining back on the cool marble of the dome's floor. your crystalline lashes catch the moonlight.

it's cloudy tonight. your fingers trace the edge of the starmap projector.

"no," anaxa answers softly, setting his coat beside you before lowering himself down. "i brought you here to be seen."

you turn to look at him. you never smile wide, but tonight, it’s nearly there.

ii

"you don't need to explain constellations to me, anaxagoras."

"i don't. i know," he swallows, eyes flicking up to the way occasional moonlight wraps around your collarbone. "but I still want to."

your silence isn't permission. it's invitation.

"that," he continues, brushing his fingertip just below your clavicle. you're seated in the way that lets the projector move the constellations onto your body, and anaxa has never been so grateful. "is where orion's belt stretches, when the clouds clear. and just beneath it—" he touches the hollow of your throat "—nebula, shaped like a kiss you forget to return."

you huff softly, low and too close. "you're sentimental tonight."

"i'm... learning," he breathes you in like a prayer. "you're the best proof i have that wonder survives reason."

your kiss him first. he forgets every nebula he's ever known.

iii

anaxa lays flat against the marble floor, stars blinking down at him, and you lower yourself onto him like a prayer.

his hands grip your thighs, thumbs tracing constellations into your skin. you feel like the divinity he is meant to defy.

"go slow," he breathes. "i want to remember every second."

"we’ve had centuries," you whisper. "but this… is the one i'll keep."

iv

"say something," you murmur, brushing a thumb under his eye, where tears threaten but never fall.

he opens his mouth. closes it. then finally:

"you’re beautiful when you look down at me like that."

you let out the gentlest laugh—one he feels in his bones.

"then look up," you say. "and see it again."

v

you press a kiss just below his eye patch, featherlight.

"i've seen you teach ridiculous equations, crush religion, and reject fate," you whisper, fingers threaded with his. "and yet here you are, letting me pull you apart with nothing but me."

"it's always been you," anaxa says, so quietly you almost don't hear. "even before i understood."

the projector flickers, constellations spiraling across the dome. one lands between your shoulder blades.

he touches it with his mouth.

vi

"you don't fall," you tell him, lips against his jaw. "you choose." and anaxagoras—philosopher, skeptic, logician—tilts his chin, bares his throat, and says your name like it's the first law of the universe.

vii

you move slowly, so slowly it’s not about chasing the high. it’s about existing, being, folded into each other.

you press your forehead to his. "say something incomprehensible," you breathe.

"i am completely undone by the weight of you," he replies.

you shudder.

"you’re supposed to say it in logic-speak."

"i did."

viii

you press your palm over anaxa's sternum.

"still composed?"

he exhales shakily.

"only in theory," he mutters weakly.

"and practice?" your lips hover just at his jaw.

"currently unraveling."

ix

he maps you like the stars—carefully, with awe—and memorizes every soft gasp like it's his only truth.

x

you lie still, only heartbeat against heartbeat now.

"so this is the grove's most brilliant professor," you tease softly.

"devastated," anaxa agrees, brushing a hand up your spine. "and happily ruined."

Thought process was:

1. Law deserves to get really high and just chill out for once

2. That would be the funniest possible time that Cora reveals himself to be alive

Follow up over here

Filled with Static...

Summary: Yuu was already fed up before coming to Playful Land and now that it's over... She has some very choice words for she has reached her boiling point...

Sorry in advance~

Yuu watches with hollow eyes as Fellow and Gidel depart without having to face the consequences of their actions. Everyone jokes around her about what they just went through, but static is rapidly and quickly filling Yuu's ears. She moves away from the group and makes her way down a street, unaware of the sound of footsteps behind her. A hand lands on her shoulder and she's quick to slap it off.

"Ow, rude much?"

Yuu turns to see Ace with his arms crossed. "What?"

"Just wanted to know why you took off like that."

"Why do you care?"

"Wow, jeez." Ace scoffed. "I knew you were snippy from the start, but I thought that would've cleared up. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? What's the big deal!?" Her voice echoes throughout the small area of the docks. "Ace, are you fucking blind as well as a total fucking moron!?" She jabs her hand to where Playful Land used to be. "We almost got turned into puppets and sold off because of you guys!"

"Hey, we got out in the end!"

"No, we didn't. If Fellow hadn't gotten that phone call, we'd be goners." The others have stopped a few feet away, but Yuu ignores them. "And you're cracking jokes about it."

"Well, destroying the park was-"

"I mean about the whole thing, you brainless baboon." She snarls. "From the start, you ignored all the fucking warning signs that said you should stay far away from this man. Did Azul tricking you not ring any bells in that empty head of you?" She tapped her finger against Ace's forehead. "And even when you were told that the warning signs were blaring red, you still ignored them."

"Hold on." Ace growled. "Why am I getting signaled out?"

"Oh it's not just you, Ace." She points behind him. "It goes double for those cacophony of idiots."

"Wow, rude, Yuu-chan..." Cater mutters.

"I get that you guys are like this. It's all fun and games to the ones who can use magic." She shakes her hand in a mocking way. "But this is just another scar on my body that I do not need." She pulls up her sleeves to show the overblot scars...as well as a new wooden looking scar on her wrist. "You guys think this is a joke, when it's not. You're risking my life with your guys shit."

"You came with us!" Ace argues.

"Cause I had to make sure my useless excuse for a fucking cat didn't keel over and die!" Yuu shouts and begins shoving Ace. "You. Treat. Me. Like. I'm. Expendable." She pushes him back. "I'm a living being too, jack ass, what I have done to warrant being treated lower than dirt? Every time this happens, and I almost lose my life in the process... how many more times is this going to be an almost before it actually happens?"

The red head narrows his eyes and snorts. "If you hate it here so much, why don't you just go back home?"

"Ace..." Lilia tries to say but is cut off by Yuu socking Ace in the face and sending him to the ground.

"NEWS FLASH, ASSHOLE!" The look in Yuu's eyes are murderous. "I'VE BEEN TRYING TOO! YOU GUYS CAN JUST CALL UP YOUR FAMILY OR SEND THEM A QUICK TEXT TO CHECK UP ON THEIR WELL BEING! YOU'RE A PORTAL AWAY FROM HOME! I HAVE NOTHING, I GOT NOTHING, I HAVE NO FAMILY HERE AND I AM REMINDED OF IT EVERY DAY BY YOU GUYS AND BY CROWLEY!" Tears well up in her eyes. "I've had it here. I'm gone. I'm leaving NRC, I'm getting far away from you guys." She turns to leave and rubs her eyes. "Enjoy the rest of your fucking lives."

"Yuu-chan!"

"Shrimpy!"

"Herbivore, come back!"

"Potato!"

"Henchhuman!" Grim tries to follow after her only to lower his ears and back up as she shoots the darkest glare she can muster at him. "I'm....I'm..."

Yuu disappears into the morning crowd that had gathered to learn what the commotion was about. She did not return to NRC that day...rather Crewel had found her, curled up outside his temporary house.

"Oh, Pup...." He pulls his coat off, wraps it around the crying young lady, and helps her inside.

Random Things Cale Henituse had done Without Context

adopted 14 children in a month

threw money into lava

stole cookies from royalty

scammed a vampire to give him an allowance

ate a rock

set a lake on fire

bribed a prince with poison

impersonated a priest

fed a hobo

stole a tree

dived into a mummy lake

wished to cough blood elegantly

hand-embroidered outfits

served a freaked-out dragon tea

forced a prince to make an MMORPG account

made his enemy wash the dishes

beat up a guy with a rock

fed a tree

commiserated with a god over work-related sleep deprivation

let his kid eat poison

sang creepy hide and seek song

tried to dig a hole in the ground and failed

gave away bones as a present

converted a barbarian with the Power of Friendship

blew up an island (twice)

stripped in front of his bff's uncle

blew up a whirlpool

hugged his arch nemesis

defenestrated a man

got compared to a haystack

strangled a guy with his bare hands

ate a battery

fought a lake

stabbed himself with a stick

...Feel free to keep it going. The weirder and more random the better. Let's see if we can catch all the references lol

Halour, I'm kinda curious... What crimes have Cale done, exactly? I see a number of "crime list" videos about him but the wiki don't really confirm anything💀

— 🌄

...The Time Has Come. 😌

I have long promised this list, so perfect timing! Thank you very much for this question! Allow me to introduce you to:

Cale Henituse's Crime List

(Just for the fun of it, I tried to give a different example for every single one of these. Some events repeat, but not the crimes!)

1) Accessibility of Records for Tax Department

Cale looted significant amounts of money from the Magic Tower and many other places, without leaving any legal trace.

2) Affray

Multiple occasions, like pretty much everything that happened in the Molden Kingdom.

3) Aggravated Assault

Cale rarely gets physically involved in a fight, but I think suddenly strangling Prince Adin qualifies.

4) Aggravated Burglary

Every single time "Real Arm" is in business.

5) Allowing Dog or Cat To Be a Nuisance

How else would you call encouraging your animal shape-shifting kids to be involved in criminal activity? Also Fluffy the Puppy was under Cale's command even if he technically belonged to Princess Jopis, I say it totally counts.

6) Ammunition – Possessing, Acquiring or Carrying

Cale intentionally pocketed magic bombs from the Plaza Terror Incident and used them later on.

7) Animal Cruelty

...Does Cale subjecting On to his "nice act" in front of Litana counts? Oh it definitely counts. That poor child.

8) Armed Robbery

That time Cale & co. robbed the Mercenary Guilds in Leeb-An City, for instance.

9) Arson

Setting the Wind Island on fire.

10) Assaulting or Resisting Police

That time Cale & co. went to Sez Kingdom. Pretty sure the knights trying to stop them from kidnapping the king counts as "resisting law enforcement".

11) Being Disguised With Unlawful Intent

Priest Cale in a nutshell.

12) Blackmail

That time Cale talked to Antonio Gyerre.

13) Breaking and Entering

Cale coming to the Sekka Estate.

14) Careless Driving

Debatable since a fantasy world doesn't own cars – but. I count Cale breaking through walls of a maze on a mother-effing Stone Imugi as "irresponsible driving". Just think of what kind of example you're setting for the kids, Cale!

15) Carrying a Loaded Firearm in Public

Cale has Raon following him everywhere, so.....?

16) Carrying Out Plumbing Work Without License or Registration

Cale has an underground villa in the Forest of Darkness. I'm pretty sure whatever construction work they did there would count as illegal.

17) Carrying Out Work Without a Building Permit

Cale had Dragons teleport an entire castle into the Forest of Darkness. Yet again, involves a building with no legal paperwork.

18) Causing Injury Intentionally

Obviously. Like making fiery lightning bolt strike in the middle of an Elf Village attack. Or hitting a radish with a rock.

19) Collecting or Making Documents Likely to Facilitate Terrorist Acts

Everything involving Knight Rex after he became a terrorist.

20) Conspiracy

Cale and Alberu talking about anything.

21) Control of Body Armor

After reading it up, I decided that mana disruption device ABSOLUTELY falls into this category.

22) Control and Use of Dangerous Articles

Cale adopting pretty much everyone on his team.

23) Corrupting Benefits Received By Commonwealth Public Official

Cale using Alberu's golden plaque to trap the White Star with Embrace. I mean, if being infected with that clown doesn't count as corruption, I don't know what does.

24) Cultivation of Narcotic Plants

Cale letting Hong eat plants in the Forest of Darkness. It IS, in his own words, his own backyard.

25) Dangerous Non-Guard Dog Attacks or Bites a Person or Animal with Person in Control

Cale letting Choi Han beat up Adin. ...Well, Choi Han COULD be counted as a Guard Dog, but. They never formalized the paperwork? I say it counts since Choi Han isn't legally registered!

26) Dealing With Property Suspected of Being Proceeds of Crime

Cale renting a house from Odeus Flynn.

27) Dealing With Property Which Subsequently Becomes an Instrument of Crime

Cale buying the Magic Tower before he proceeds to kidnap Mueller.

28) Delaying the Entry of Police

Cale not letting the law enforcement know about the Plaza Terror Incident beforehand. Also, activating the mana disruption device, knowing it would hinder their efforts to stop terrorism. ...Yes Cale & co. prevented said terrorism better on their own but it still counts.

29) Deliberately Omitting Information

Cale making an Vow of Death to Choi Han claiming that he can't tell him anything.

30) Destroying, Damaging and/or Interfering with Any Works of a Water Corporation

Setting the Lake of God's Tears on fire.

31) Destroying or Damaging Property

Cale destroying houses in the Gyerre territory.

32) Destruction of Evidence

Cale and Raon blowing up Hais Island 5 to cover up Ron's infiltration.

33) Directing the Activities of a Terrorist Organization

Cale's entire career in a nutshell, really.

34) Discharge Missile to Endanger Person or Property

Cale blowing up the whirlpools in the Ubarr territory.

35) Dishonestly Cause a Loss

Cale tricking the White Star into the abandoned underground city.

36) Disturbing Religious Worship

Cale messing with the Sun God's Church for being mean to Mary.

37) Driving an Unregistered Vehicle

Cale & co. using Mary's bone Dragon.

38) Drunkards Behaving in Riotous or Disorderly Manner

Cale pretending to be drunk in the Gyerre territory.

39) Endangering Safety of Aircraft

Cale letting his allies abroad an airship during the Jungle battle.

40) Entering a Place Without Authority or Lawful Excuse

Cale rescuing Raon.

41) Extortion With Threats to Destroy Property

Cale threatening the slave traffickers in the Gyerre territory.

42) Failure to Notify the Authorities of Criminal Activity

Cale doesn't notify Alberu of crap, unless it's to make him clean-up the aftermath.

43) Failure to Register a Pet

Pretty sure Cale registered exactly none of his allies. ...Except maybe the Tiger Tribe that one time they moved into Harris Village with Deruth's permission. Everyone else? Not a chance.

44) Falsifying or Concealing Identity

Cale acting as Naru von Ejellan in Endable Kingdom.

45) Forgery of Documents

Cale and Taylor faking an ancient document to fool the White Star.

46) Fraud

Cale promising Plavin Singten benefits for siding with the new Sun Church.

47) Getting Funds To, From, or For a Terrorist Organization

Cale sponsoring his allies, like giving Rosalyn magic stones.

48) Going Equipped for Stealing

Cale making Real Arm uniform.

49) Handling Stolen Goods

Cale using Divine Items.

50) Identity Theft

Cale introducing himself as Bob.

51) Indecent Assault

Cale telling Choi Han to strip that one time. (Yes, it actually happened. ...Not the way shippers wished for, obviously.)

52) Inducement to Be Appointed Liquidator

Cale helping Princess Jopis overthrow her sister on the condition of benefits for the Roan Kingdom.

53) Insider Trading

Cale selling Alberu dead mana from a Dragon.

54) Intentionally or Recklessly Causing a Bushfire

Cale setting that bush monster on fire in Xiaolen.

55) Introduction of a Drug of Dependence Into the Body of Another Person

Cale letting Rosalyn drink coffee on Earth 3.

56) Kidnapping

Cale & co. capturing Venion Stan.

57) Leaving Children Without Supervision

Cale letting the kids look for Mueller.

58) Lighting of Fires in the Open Air

Cale using Fire of Destruction against Sky Attribute.

59) Loitering Near Schools

Cale & the kittens in the Sez Kingdom.

60) Loitering With Intent to Commit an Indictable Offence

Cale letting Clopeh Sekka spot him that first time.

61) Manslaughter

Cale letting Choi Han, Rosalyn and Lock go and destroy the Archduke's Estate.

62) Membership of a Terrorist Organization

Cale making up Real Arm.

63) Murder

Cale killing the White Star.

64) Negligent Manslaughter

Cale letting Ron go on a vacation.

65) Non-dangerous Dog Attacks

Cale letting Choi Han spar with Hilsman.

66) Obtaining Property By Deception

Litana giving Cale free stuff.

67) Offences Connected With Explosive Substances

Cale commissioning Eruhaben to create Dragon's Rage.

68) Other Acts Done in Preparation for, or Planning, Terrorist Acts

Every morning Cale drinks lemon tea.

69) Possessing More Fish Than the Catch Limit

Cale dealing with Whales. ...Whales are fish, what are you talking about?

70) Possessing Controlled Weapon, Housebreaking Implements, and Things Connected With Terrorist Attacks

Everything Cale owns in the Super Rock Villa.

71) Possession of Precursor Chemicals

Cale making Billos buy alchemy ingredients.

72) Prohibited Weapons

Cale utilizing the Dragon Bones in battle.

73) Providing or Receiving Training Connected With Terrorist Acts

Cale letting his people train in his backyard.

74) Public Nuisance

Cale letting Choi Han act.

75) Reckless Conduct Endangering Life and/or Endangering Serious Injury

Cale every time he uses his Ancient Powers.

76) Recruiting for a Terrorist Organization

Cale adopting the Tiger Tribe.

77) Robbery

Stealing magic stones from the Alchemy Towers.

78) Sabotage

Cale going behind the Empire's back while he helps out the Whipper Kingdom.

79) Setting Traps to Kill

Cale Ghost Operation during the sea battle against the Indomitable Alliance.

80) Smuggling

Cale helping Cage and Taylor into capital.

81) Stalking

Cale entering Alberu's bedroom whenever he wants.

82) Stating False Name When Requested

Cale never letting anyone know about the transmigration and calling himself Cale Henituse.

83) Tax Evasion

Willful tax evasion for sudden wealth increase.

84) Terrorist Acts

Cale & co. detonating a bomb at Maple Castle.

85) Theft

Cale obtaining the blood drinking crown.

86) Threats to Inflict Serious Injury

Cale & co. threatening King Bakehe.

87) Threats to Kill

Cale cheerfully informing Adin he's going to personally kill him.

88) Torture and Interrogation

Cale ordering Beacrox to deal with the Magic Spearman.

89) Unauthorized Access to Restricted Data

Cale & co. coming to the Directory. ...Yes Bud was the Mercenary King so technically it was legal, except from the Mercenary Guild's perspective, it was break and entering.

80) Unlawful Assembly

Cale hanging out with Dragons.

81) Unlawful Oaths to Commit Treason

Cale promising to destroy the Alchemy Belltower to Rei Stecker.

82) Unlicensed Driving

Cale riding Dark Tiger Alberu.

83) Willful Damage

Cale employing Archie to destroy Duke Sekka's statues.

Any other crimes I forgot to list? Let me know!

***

BONUS CONTENT

With the help of others, we've expanded the original list of Cale's crimes!

84) Aiding and Hiding Fugitives

Cale helping out Hannah and Jack.

85) Aircraft Hijacking

Cale & co. taking over the Empire's airships.

86) Being an Accessory to Crimes

All Cale's deals with Billos in a nutshell.

87) Child Labor Law Violation

Cale making children work for their meals. Even if he's actually just adopting strays under the guise of formal work, said formal work is still illegal. Just admit you care, you weirdo.

88) Defamation

Cale spreading recordings of Adin being evil acros the Empire.

89) Deliberate Damage and/or Destruction of Currency

Cale happily throwing coins into lava.

90) Ecoterrorism

Wiping whole islands off the map counts as severe destruction of the environment.

91) Fly-tipping/Littering

Cale casually defenestrating Adin. Watch where you throw garbage, Cale. There are trash bins for a reason!

92) Harassment

Cale ordering Beacrox to beat up mountain bandits.

93) Illegal Detention/Imprisonment

Capturing prisoners of war, like the Dragon Half-Blood or the Flame Dwarves.

94) Illegal Goods Trade

Cale selling and buying items at the Caro Kingdom Auction.

95) Impersonation

Cale pretending to be different people in the Indignity Test.

96) Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage

Cale setting the Lake of God's Tears on Fire. Also, blowing up the Magic Tower.

97) Plunder of Public Property

Cale & co. destroying the walls of the capital of the Empire.

98) Trafficking Endangered Plants Accross Borders

Cale transporting the Fake World Tree in his badge.

99) Treason of the Crown

Cale treating his Hyung-nim with utter disrespect, such as comparing the Shining Sun of the Kingdom to a squirrel.

100) Trespassing

Cale in Endable Kingdom.

BONUS BONUS CONTENT

Not technically illegal, but:

101) Crime Against One's Well-Being

Cale abusing his health in such horrific ways even a regeneration power cannot keep up with him.

102) Crime Against Fashion

Cale preferring only black and plain clothes when he could look good in anything.

103) Crime of Self-Delusion

Cale thinking he still has a chance at slacker life.

104) Spreading Misinformation

Cale's track record of causing misunderstandings everywhere he goes is frankly terrifying.

105) THAT FACE

Cale's fabulous looks are a crime in of itself. It deserves a spot on the list.

housewife syndrome

yandere! rockstar x fem! reader

cw; possessive + obsessive behaviour, severe mental instability, paranoia, anxiety, violence, heavy nsfw themes, mdni 18+

genie's notes; commissioned piece by a very sweet anon ♡ thank you so much for trusting me with this absolutely stunning idea. i’ve always been a fan of domestic horror, especially of the spiralling housewife variety, so it was fun to explore a new dynamic and fresh writing style. <3

"welcome home, sweetheart!" the television runs on low volume in the background as you greet your husband with a knowing smile. you run through the motions as you always do, make sure to ask with the most innocence you can muster, "how was your day?"

feroze can make out the sound of gallant applause that indicates you'd been watching reruns of last night's award ceremony.

"such a fucking drag." your husband pulls you into his arms, buries his head into the crook of your neck with a long, satisfied sigh and takes his sweet, sweet time to breathe you in. "couldn't fucking wait to come home to you, meri jaan."

his answer remains the same as it is every other day, and you can't help but smile against his lips when he pulls you in to steal a little kiss; you sigh into his mouth, and feroze is so fucking overwhelmed by gratitude for the familiarity and comfort of this little routine the two of you have seemed to settle down into so well.

"i love when you call me that," you confess; my life.

you know just as well as him that, well—it wasn't always this easy.

"yeah," feroze hums. "i know you do, baby."

you weren't always so lovely for him, were you?

-

you're quiet.

though the two of you are sitting across from each other at the dining table, your attention is clearly elsewhere. conversation is slow, if not stagnant. it's a far cry from how talkative you usually are; and though he would never fucking admit it, least of all to you, he worries, for a fraction of a second, that things are slipping.

"meri jaan?" he sets down his fork very carefully, reaches for your hands over the table.

you blink, pulled away from wherever you'd been lost in your mind and back down to this moment that stretches on before you.

"oh, sorry, my love. what was that?"

feroze watches your eyes quietly track the movement of his fingers, sliding over your wrists, lingering, momentarily, on your pulse—nice and steady—before they intertwine with your own.

your gaze lands on him, then, expectant. he drags his thumb over your knuckles, glad to find they're soft; unmarred by any labour. he loves having you here, tucked away within the walls of this home he built just for you, away from the rest of the rotten world.

such a darling girl like you deserves to have everything taken care of for you. as far as he's concerned, the only thing on your mind should be him.

which is why the silence is beginning to irritate him, now. he's not really upset with you, doesn't have a reason to be, just yet—he's just wondering what it is you're so focused on. where do you keep going back to in that head of yours, and why aren't you here with him?

is this where it all falls apart?

—again?

"rosy?" you try. "is everything alright?"

"yeah," feroze's hazel eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles, endearingly patient. "i just wanted to know how your day was."

"ugh, don't remind me." you stick your tongue out. "it was so boring. i woke up so late today and didn't really do anything interesting."

"shit, i'm sorry to hear that, baby."

your husband nods towards the television, still playing from inside the living room across the hall; the screen's bright colours reflect against the glass windows that take up half the wall. though the program is muted, he can still hear the echoes from the cacophony of applause ringing loud and true.

the four hour program's been running on loop on some of the smaller channels, and you really seem to enjoy tuning in, he's noticed.

it would be more difficult not to notice this new habit of yours, really. because if he's been counting right, this is the seventh time you've seen the whole thing through to the end.

"seems like you were at least watching the music thing again."

"well, when my stunning husband won half of the awards," you shrug coyly. "how could i not?"

"flattery won't get you anywhere," feroze deigns, though neither of you mention the involuntary curl to his lips as they lift into a small, self-satisfied smile.

"huh, that's strange," you frown, pull your hands away from his own and make a show of examining the elaborately stacked engagement ring and marital band wrapped around your finger. "if i seem to remember correctly, flattery is exactly what got me this ring."

"oh," he laughs. "is that so?"

"uhuh," you nod, still admiring the rings. they're big and they're flashy and there's no fucking chance anyone could ever miss the sight of them; make the mistake of misunderstanding what they mean. you're so obviously his, and fuck, it suits you so perfectly to belong to him.

i love you, he thinks fiercely. i fucking love you.

"you've got an ego, rosy." your knowing gaze flickers back to him, accompanied by a teasing smile. "bit of a praise kink, too."

"and yet, darling wife," he'll never tire of calling you that; never really overcome the thrill that overwhelms him when he sees you adorned in the markers of his devotion and tucked away all safe and sound. "you're the only person whose words mean anything to me."

"ohh, is that so?" you taunt, "whatever happened to 'flattery won't get you anywhere?'"

feroze takes in the sight of you. you're dressed casual, donned in a baggy old shirt and a pair of his softest sweats hanging low off your hips. comfortable in your own home, as you should fucking feel, you have no makeup on, and your hair is unkempt; overdue for a shower; but fuck if he cares.

feroze decides, within a moment, that he needs you—

now.

"come here, meri jaan. i'll show you."

"you greedy, greedy man," you chastise lightly, rising from your seat. "i've just fed you dinner and you're still salivating at my table."

feroze watches you make the small effort of pushing your chair in, before turning on your heel. you pause in the doorway for a second, spare him a knowing glance over your shoulder; "well? aren't you hungry, darling husband?"

he knows that none of it evades you; the nervous bob of his adam's apple as he swallows. the way his fingers are digging into the edge of the table to keep from sinking inside of you right here. his heart is racing; his pants are tight. though you're so willing to be his now, he remembers it wasn't always this easy.

"my love." feroze grits out, "i'm fucking starving."

you disappear into the hallway, mellifluous laughter like the loveliest song, echoing off the walls—inside of his head, for fuck's sake—as your husband follows faithfully behind you when you lead him into the bedroom.

dinner goes cold on the table. you never touched your plate.

upstairs, minutes later, your husband bottoms out inside of the welcoming warmth of your sweet cunt, just as your fingers brush against the butcher's knife tucked right underneath your pillow.

-

feroze gets you to come twice before he decides he has his fill. he's rummaging through your nightstand for the contraceptives he knows you keep in there. it's got less to do with what he wants and more to do with what he believes is best for the two of you.

it's not that he doesn't want children; he dreams of them often. a little baby swaddled in the softest fabrics, wrapping its entire hand around just one of his fingers. the sound of a second pair of footsteps excitedly running down the hall every time he comes home from the studio, from tour. something more to take care of. to keep you busy.

but your husband knows you.

and though he's always been selfish, he can't risk kids until—well, until he knows you won't try to kill them.

it's taken you years to accept him. he won't undo that.

feroze, so caught up in his thoughts, only really registers the blade until it's slicing into his skin, the sharp edge of it pressing against the side of his neck with just enough pressure to draw blood.

he is disappointed, though by no means surprised, to find you on the other end wielding the knife.

he turns to face you, abandoning his search. you're holding onto the hilt of your makeshift weapon with trembling hands, and though he's suddenly overcome by exhaustion—because, baby, how many more times are you going to pull this—an involuntary shiver runs down his spine at the sight nonetheless.

"jaan," he tries to reason with you in hushed tones; oh, love. "what are you doing?"

you dig the knife in just a little deeper, and he winces; "i hate you, feroze." the words sting, though the relative lack of conviction they’re laced with serves as a promising sign of reconciliation.

"i know, baby. can you please just put the knife down so we can talk like adults?"

he glimpses the almost imperceptible change immediately.

the lines of hesitation on your face; a flicker of uncertainty in your eyes. when your hold on the weapon looses just the tiniest fraction of an inch, he wastes no time in gently but firmly prying the knife from out of your trembling hands; tosses it underneath the bed where it lands out of your reach.

he’s getting better at this. gets through to you so much sooner than he used to.

you’re listening, now, aren’t you?

the thought of it makes him oddly proud.

"there we go," feroze says. you're still shaking, and though he wants so fucking desperately to pull you closer and console you—he's learnt to tread the waters carefully in times like these. you're evidently scared. obviously upset with him. he can give you a little room to breathe. “now do you want to use your words and talk to me properly?”

“i keep rewatching the awards show. every other winner had someone there with them. some girlfriend or wife they kissed before they went on stage. you’re the only one who—” you swallow, voice wavering. “i’m the only one who wasn’t there. i’m the only one who’s kept hidden away.”

“you don’t want to show me off.” the tears fall almost immediately. “you’re ashamed of me.”

there are millions of words in the english language, and millions more in his own. he’s put into words every fleeting feeling you’ve made him feel; spun both the most magnificent and mundane of emotions into beautiful songs and compelling lyrics and composed entire albums from nothing—and yet, somehow, in this moment all of it evades him.

"i spend all day stuck here w-waiting for you to come home, and when you do—i keep thinking about all those ceremonies and galas and parties you go to, rooms i can never follow you into—and i hate you. i hate you for how much you hate me—”

“i’m sorry,” feroze’s hands run up your spine, to lightly curl his fingers around the back of your neck. he tilts your head up so that you’re meeting his gaze; leaves you nowhere to look away, “meri jaan.”

his touch is so soft and so, so cold against your skin. you've always run warmer than him; but he thinks you might be burning up right now. maybe you've got a fever; or maybe you're just this delirious even without one. it doesn't fucking matter, doesn't change anything.

“i’m sorry for ever leaving you alone long enough to even think that. let me make it up to you. let me show you how much i adore you. let me build you back up again.”

“you can’t fix this,” you whisper.

he smiles, but it’s strange; doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “so you said the last time.”

-

hours later, you’re less of a sobbing wreck when he’s got you perched in his lap, and all curled up under his chin. “okay… then…” you sniff. your words are somewhat muffled as you bury your face into your husband’s chest. “i’m sorry, too. i didn’t mean to hurt you, rosy. i was just scared, i-i promise.”

"i know.” his knuckles wipe away the tears drying on your cheeks. “give me a kiss, please.”

and ever the sweet wife, you do; but your lips are trembling.

fuck, that’s—

shit.

—not going to work, is it?

with a gentle but firm hand, he pushes you down onto the bed and watches you land on your back amidst the dozens of pillows that decorate the bed. even then, the softest thing here is you. he forgets that, sometimes. let this be a lesson, he thinks to himself, to keep your fragility in mind. this is only further proof that you need him more than he'd even realised.

but you picked the right man, didn’t you? because none of that scares him.

the two of you have faced far more difficult times together; this is just a little hiccup in your life as a married couple. some story you’ll look back on and laugh about, when you’re all better.

so when you look up at him with wide, wet eyes and ask, "its just—can you promise me you still love me one more time?”

feroze regards you closely. you’re so beautiful. so fucking perfect that it overwhelms him. sometimes, he wishes you could see yourself the way that he sees you. though he’s always believed that may just scare you; knowing how deep his devotion really runs. things are fine as they are now.

well, mostly.

he has decided that he will retire from music completely, but the two of you can broach that topic when you’re in a better headspace for it. it’s been a long time coming. work keeps the money coming in, and he wants to spoil you but—he wants you to be happy, above all. you don’t really know what you’re asking for right now, but he has every intention of giving you exactly what it is you wished for.

he can’t give in when you beg to come along with him—but he can come and hide away next to you in this little pocket of the world that solely belongs to the two of you.

"you drive me to madness, my love. nothing about this life means anything if i can’t keep you happy.”

the two of you never had a white wedding; because he wanted to honour your union the right way and celebrate you as his culture deigned. so, yes, he never got to read you any vows, but he'd like to think you've come to know him well enough to understand he doesn't necessarily need to say something so sacred out loud for it to hold true.

"do you understand? i love you," he lowers his forehead against yours. “till death does us apart.”

you put your heart in his hands one more time, looking so small, so vulnerable beneath him. "you promise?"

"i promise," he closes his eyes and revels in the soft, sweeping feeling of your lashes fluttering against his own. "always and forever, meri jaan."

feroze loves you, of this he's certain.

he also knows that you fucking terrify him.

it's a small price to pay, if it means keeping you—

besides, he thinks, reaching once more for the contraceptive pills on the nightstand.

—marriage is all about compromise, is it not?

Thinking abt the concept of a twst!au...

Universal love!reader?

Like think about it...

Let's say this could happen after years of trauma in your world... like suddenly, you have no motivation to do anything, no brushing teeth, no showering, no nothing. So then you slept that night. Right? So you're living in your apartment, low minimum-wage of salary in your part-time job, an apartment that (thankfully) had a clean bathroom and other rooms. And a left necklace... huh? So, you've asked the apartment manager abt it, they said they didn't know at all. The previous homeowners did not have that, sparkly magica-madoka looking necklace. So, of course you've kept it with you since it reminds you of Magica Madoka. And you wore it. Now, time to sleep...

Suddenly you wake up, roll over your bed, and get teleported magical-girl transition style. Into the fucking aesthetically pleasing location of the sea. Of course, you had no clothes on (how did that happen??), BUT then, you get suddenly pushed up, and you met with a bathtub in the center of a beautiful-looking gazebo. And when you lay back down to sleep again, you felt a very comfortable and soft pillow-headrest. WTF? The water you were I was somehow connected to a very clean and sparkly river. And the petals around you were your favorite flowers. And two space-like hands, gentle, firm, and soft. The hands of a woman. But from where? The cracked seams of reality BEHIND YOU? Uhm, well shit, where was this spoiling when you were born???

So after that luxurious bathtime, you fell into the waters (again), but the background was new. IT LOOKED LIKE BARBIE'S WALK-IN CLOSET FROM BARBIE'S DREAMHOUSE??? YAAA- Anyways, you were met with a shit-ton of aesthetic college uniforms that definitely matches your taste and make your classmates jealous. So, of course, like the universe itself is reading your mind (bc it is), dressed you up in a comfortable clothing of your uniform. Before it could finish giving you socks/shoes of your choosing.

You were on your bed. With your bag leaning sideways on the bed beside you. So, enough of this bullshit where you were on drugs early morning. You grabbed your bag, checked your mirror to see if you were high or something.

You weren't.

So after a hectic and diabolical day of college, you of course, slept (after the magical-whatever thingy happened again) since you were tired. (The classmate you hated tripped down the stairs as you were praying for it, that one teacher you hate suddenly got sick and had gone absent, gym was dismissed early bc of an incident, and the other subjects like math were a bit easier to understand), so when you slept AGAIN.

Okayyy, so... Maybe it stopped now? Nope. You went to the kitchen to take a quick breakfast since you MIGHT be late to school (secretly you weren't but shh), then you see. On the counter, a freshly made breakfast of your favorite dish. You tasted it ofc. Bc it smelled so nice. And surprisingly it wasn't poisoned! Yay! You went to school, tripped over air, but vines had shot out to catch you? Oh, well things just got even weirder. Until it happens everyday. Everytime you mentioned or even THOUGHT of getting your favorite fashion clothes (look those styles ESPECIALLY MORUTES OR ANGELCORE OR OR EVEN CUTECORE, CELESTIAL CORE-) and whatever, suddenly you have a closet JUST FOR THAT. Huh...did the universe finally take notice of you? Yay! (And maybe other multi-universes justttt incase you suddenly go to their world, haha.)

...You were transported. (And it wasn't the universe or ANY universe doing that...) to... Twisted Wonderland? What. Are you in a kids cartoon show... (no you aren't bby🫶 your in a psyche ward). And after the whole Showdown in that ceremony shit (dark mirror saying you have no magic in the MOST respectful ways possible while still sounding nonchalant and mysterious, the whole showdown with Grim happened and blah blah blah). You get sent to Ramshackle's. Yikes. Oh, but instead it kinda works. Just looks like a doll-house of sorts. Creepy but aesthetically pleasing.

Wdym it wasn't supposed to look like that, Crowley?

So, imagine this, you can ask the dark mirror whatever you like, and it'll answer you (not abt your home though... smh), and whatever you do in school (directing this to the ghosts and whoever works there), actually treats you nicely! (When you and Grim were assigned as janitor you didn't do any of the work. The broom was doing it for you... IS THE TRASH PICKING ITSELF UP?)

How would YOU think the cast will react to that? (Not taking requests rn! Just talk with me please 🙏)

To the rescue!

There is a deleted scene in The Nightmare Before Christmas where Lock, Shock, and Barrel watch Oogie torment Sandy and Sally, appearing amused. Director Henry Selick explained that this scene was cut because it made the trio too mean.

Instead, the scene was reframed so the trio alert the Mayor that Jack is alive, leading him to Oogie’s lair so that Jack could be rescued (fortunately, Jack had already unraveled Oogie by the time they arrived). I always loved this change so I decided to draw how I think the new scene might have played out!

"Prefect, have you seen Rook anywhere?"

Epel looked distraught. He had spent the last three hours searching for his upperclassman, only to come up empty handed. He was now searching the courtyard again to no avail and was hoping you could give him a hand.

"Oh, yeah. He's been following me around all day," you answered.

"What?" Epel looked doubtful. His eyes scanned the empty paved path behind you. "How do you know?"

"Watch this."

You raised your hands above your head, forming a nice ring shape. No sooner did you lock your fingers together in the air than an arrow whizzed between your arms. It struck the ground right in front of Epel and chipped off part of the sidewalk.

Epel let out a swear and stepped back. "Wha' in tarnation was that!?"

You let your arms fall back down. "I think it's some kind of game. Rook hasn't actually spoken to me since he started doing it, but it's kinda fun. We've been practicing."

using google keyboard alchemy to create the most miserable emojis possible

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry... I’ll be good I promise, I’ll change I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. Please I can’t live without you, you’re my savior, my goddess please don’t throw me away I’ll die without you”

“I hate being alone, it’s so cold here without you. Not being able to see you scares me, I feel so uneasy. I exist for you, I won’t leave this room unless I’m with you, I won’t even talk to anyone b-but you are able to do those without me, because you don’t need me. I can smell other people whenever you come back to this room, I know I have no right to complain about such things but it breaks my heart I can’t help it. I exist for you, I breathe for you, I live for you. This worthless life belongs to you so please keep it, don’t throw it away don’t neglect it”

"You've Bewitched Me"

Prompt - NRC is in upheaval. A video of Yuu singing a song has been circling around the school about her being "bewitched," and everyone is trying to figure out by who. Yuu is embarrassed and upset about her private song being the subject of gossip, so she decides to hide from everyone only for her crush to find her and reveal he has been "bewitched," by her...

Pairings - NRC Students x F!reader

Warnings - Gossip, Incredibly Shy Reader with Stage Fright, Depictions of Anxiety, Not Beta Read

Song - "Bewitched" by Laufey

Prologue (Here) - Heartsyble - Savannaclaw - Octavinelle - Scarabia - Pomefiore - Ignanhyde - Diasmonia

When @/thegreatestmagealive uploaded a video of the Ramshackle Perfect singing a love song, to say NRC nearly blew up would be an understatement.

The song, the poster titled “Bewitched,” became an instant hit across campus, but also became the source of tension as everyone was asking the same question: Who bewitched the Ramshackle Perfect?

“20 Thumbmarks on Leona!”

“15 on Kalim!”

“Kalim? Really, no it has to be Vil!”

“30 DOLLARS ON LORD MALLEUS!”

“EVERYONE HUSH! Now Francis, how much on Vil?” The Halls of NRC were filled with gossip on who the song was about. There were multiple pots floating around of people betting on who it was about, and just as many heated discussions.

“Who says it’s a housewarden? She spends most of her time with the Freshies so it has to be one of them! My money is on the Red Head on the Basketball team, he is always hanging on her!” A Scarabia student chimed in at this corner table of the Cafateria.

“Ace? He’s an ass, no it has to be Spade! Anytime someone makes a comment about he at practice, he gets all defensive.” A Heartstyble student on the track team chimed in.

“That runt? Na, he has nothing on Jack.” The Savannaclaw student across from them chimed in.

“The Wolf? He barely says any words! Besides, the Perfect has more class than that, it has to be Epel!” A Pomefoire Student retorted getting glares from the Savannaclaw student.

“All of you are wrong, I ran the data,” The Ignanhyde student pulled out his tablet and showed them a chart, “Out of all the possibilities crossed referenced with the lyrics of the song, it has to be-“

Debates across the school were happening as people discussed who she was singing for. While some advocated for others, others advocated for themselves.

That night, in the midst of the debates, a poor Grim was looking for a place to stay the night. So he went first to Heartstyble.

Grim walked through the portal and saw *chaos*.

“CAULDRON!”

“DEUCE WHAT THE HELL!”

“Calm down you two! No one is going anywhere till Riddle gets back!”

Trey helped Ace out from under the cauldron while Cater tried to calm down Deuce who was red as roses. “Yuu’s private song was just released and all you can think about it YOURSELF!” Deuce called out to Ace as he attempted to wesal himself out of Cater’s grip.

Ace dusted himself off as Trey helped him up, “Well, it is pretty obvious! Who else could it be about? You Loosey Duece? Or maybe Mr. Magicam? Chef Dad? Or maybe, our esteemed leader? No. It has to be me, so I am going to go check on her-“

Deuce tackled Ace, again, so Trey and Cater had to dive in to separate the two.

It did not take long for grim to realize it might be best to come back later. So he went back through the portal to try Savannaclaw.

But his scruff was grabbed before he could step through.

“Heeeey, Sealie!!” Grim gulped as he knew that voice all too well. Floyd turned Grim around so he was facing the two most terrifying smiles in NRC. “Mind clearing something up for Jade and I? See, he thinks Shrimpy’s song is about him, but I say its bout me. And every guppy is saying a different name, so we wanted to get info from them inside fishie~”

“W-what are you talking about!” Grim said crossing his arms. He knew he was in deeeeep dodo.

“Come now Grim, you must know who she’s singing about?” Jade said with a sonically smile on his face, “Now, as Yuu’s close friends, we just want to know, who bewitched our dear friend?”

“Yeeeaaah Sealie, who?” Floyd sung melodically.

“I-I ain’t saying anything!” Grim kept his mouth shut. He had already made Yuu mad, he didn’t want to make. It any worse.

“Oh come on Sealie! Everyone has a price! What’s yours??-“

“What are you two doing?” Came the harsh voice of Vil, Grim’s savior. The housewarden meeting must have finished. Early as all seven, yes even Malleus, came into the hall of mirrors to witness poor little grim shiver in his fur.

“Heya Beta!” Floyd said and waved Grim around, “We’re just asking Sealie a question! That’s all!”

“I’m guessing it’s about Yuu?” Azul asked as he made his way over to his Eel’s. “How is the Ramshackle Perfect? We missed her at the meeting.”

“Yuu… wellllllllll….” Grim scratched his cheek and the other housewarden’s came over, all wondering the same thing, “She is kinda sorta mad at me. And kinda sorta threw me out for ‘not respecting her privacy’ which I didn’t mean to get her upset, I just wanted to show everyone she had a pretty voice and she got all mad.”

“We’ll if you need a place to stay, Octavinelle is always open to poor souls! And I am sure we can work out a pi-“

“We all know what you want Azul, just ask him now so we can clear this up!” Leona said, clearly annoyed at the Mers underhanded methods. “Whose the song about?”

“I-I don-“

“Why are we even asking this question? It is clearly me!” Vil said shaking his head.

“What makes you so sure Schoenheit?” Malleus asked, “I spend more time with the Child of Man and have more magical prowess, it is defiantly about me. I was just about to grab her the-“

“No way the songs about you Lizard!” Leona retorted, “She clearly-“

“The Song’s about Nii-Chan! I ran the-“ Ortho chimed in with Idia listening in on his screen.

“WILL YOU ALL BE QUIET!” Riddle yelled, somehow getting the attention of the others, “This is disgraceful! You are. All concerned with your own selfish needs when you should be worrying about our fellow housewarden whose privacy has been breached and is probably distraught!”

Kalim nodded and said, “Yeah, we need to go cheer her up! Besides, it was probably just a song about love, nothing else!”

Grim sighed and added, “Oh its about someone, You she hear the other songs she wrote about him-“

“About WHO!” Everyone asked.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Grim said and got the glares of everyone.

Azul sighed and said, “You just said you knew.”

“I said I knew she has a crush and wrote more songs about him. I never said I knew WHO it was.” He crossed his arms and looked at the ground, “And she threw me out before I could ask. I tried going back in but she sounded so… upset. When I asked to come back in and apologized she said she just wanted to be alone…”

The group looked dejected at this. Floyd let Grim go and sighed, “Poor Shrimpy…”

Azul looked at Jade and Floyd, “Let’s go, Lounge won’t run itself.”

As Azul left with his Eels, Leona and Kalim also branched off their dorms, “Jamil is probably wondering where I am.”

“Yeah, I gotta make sure Savannaclaw is still in one piece.”

Vil and Ortho branched off next with Vil grumbling about wrinkles and Ortho talking to Idia.

Riddle and Malleus were the last two left with Grim.

“Grim, your welcome to stay at Heartstyble. It might help keep Ace and Deuce in.” Riddle said then looked to Malleus, “The Perfect probably needs a night, but if you do check on her, please let her know I-… We are here if she needs us.”

“I will Roseheart,” Malleus nodded to his red haired companion as he and Grim walk through the Heartstyble Mirror. Malleus turns and before he can make his way to Ramshackle, Lilia is there. All he has to do is shake his head and Malleus knows what his mentor is trying to say, she needs time alone.

The next morning, the first years go to Ramshackle to walk with Yuu to breakfast as they do every morning, but when they got their, the ghost intervened and said she needs to sleep in. The three ghost refused to let any of them enter and even brought Grim’s stuff to the door.

Yuu did not show to any of her classes or reply to any text, and all of her friends quickly understood why. Yuu’s song was all everyone was talking about, more specifically, who it was about. All the pots from the nights before had tripled and almost every students had a guess on who it was about. Yuu has never felt more embarrassed.

By the time night rolled around again, Yuu had read every text, post, and comment about her song. People were making guesses and demanding she confess who. In the midst of the chaos and rumors, all she could think about was what her crush was thinking. She had liked him as more than a friend for a while now, but had no clue if he returned the sentiment. All the worse possibilities were running through her head.. ‘He probably thinks I’m some obsessed freak, this is so embarrassing, Grim ruined. everything, there is no coming back from this. our friendship is ruined, I can never show my face at school again…” Thoughts like this combined with her stage fright made her mood worse. She wrote songs and sang them to help her work through things, it was incredibly personal for her and she never intended to share any of them, not yet at least. Now she was lying in her bed, curled up in her blankets with her phone lighting up with text next to her. She could not bring herself to talk to anyone, she was too scared and embarrassed to.

The Ghost have been kind enough to fend off Grim (who she was still mad at) and her friends (who she was still too embarrassed to see) so she could have some time alone. They worked as her guards and caretakers, making her eat and get up every now and then. They were also the only ones who knew who her songs were about.

So when he arrived on her doorstep, the ghost decided to let him in.

Yuu was looking at her notebook, pouring over the lyrics again and again when a knock came at her bedroom door.

“Yuu… can I come in?” His voice carried through the door.

Yuu felt her heart stop. She held her notebook tightly and sighed, “I guess its now or never…”

She got up from her bed, notebook in hand, and stood in front of the door. She was shaking and as she stared at the door, terrified of what would happen next, when he cast a spell over her once again:

“Yuu, I… I don’t. know if that song was about me but I want you to know. You’ve bewitched me too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note: This is the Prolouge to a small series! Be on the look out for each characters part and if you want tagged please let me know! Please Like, Reblog, and Follow for more! If you are interested in seeing more characters in this scenario or these characters in different scenarios, please let me know! (Do not Steal)

Next

Yuu, sees Leona with messy hair and fixes it: Messy lion can't fix his own hair.

Leona:

Ruggie:

Jack:

All of Savanaclaw:

Jack: Yuu...

Ruggie: When's the wedding, Prefect?

Yuu: Whenever Leona gives me a ring.

Leona, slips the ring on Yuu's finger: There.

Yuu, staring at the ring: The fact that you had it on standby...

The Beginning pt. 2 (Failed Awakening Au)

You're a musician who isn't exactly the most popular among fellow humans, yet your songs seem to be a hit for unholy creatures. It appears you're unwillingly summoning ghosts and monsters each time you play your beloved instrument or sing.

You've had demons track you down by the notes struck during your practice, and vampires knocking eagerly at your window, begging to be let in. Your last concert was cancelled due to bizarre, unexpected malfunctions, yet everyone left with the feeling that you must be haunted.

"Won't you come and play for me," a pallid ghoul asks, flashing his razor teeth at you.

"You just drained my two biggest fans of their blood," you reproach with an annoyed huff.

"Nonsense," he shouts, wiping the crimson liquid smudging his face. "I'm your biggest fan."

Been thinking about this eel and wanted to explore his character some.

-- Floyd realizing he likes you/falling in love with you --

Not proofread because it's late.

I was going to add two more but I'm tired and wanted to put something out.

Trying to decide if I'm going to put out more new stuff or circle back around to older stuff.

I.

Floyd is used to things being in black and white. No nuances. It's like survival of the fittest--you live or you die. You're living in one of the harshest environments and his brain is constantly circling back to HOW? It baffles him because you have no claws, your teeth aren't designed for raw catching, and he hasn't met a lander alive that could run fast enough to catch their food unless it was near death.

So HOW are you doing this with no magic?

Under the sea if you couldn't provide for yourself, you made yourself useful. If you worked for his family, that meant serving as muscle or as an informant. You looked better for getting information out of people than you did squeezing them.

Well, not the way he and Jade squeezed people, anyways. You squeezed them with kindness.

Yeah, he'd heard rumors that you were doing odd little jobs like the Savanaclaw runt. Mostly making little lunches and snacks. Sometimes you'd do a 'dorm night dinner' where you went over to another dorm and cooked!

Azul had been begging you to cook for the Lounge, to do a limited-time meal deal, but you could make more money cooking for the dorms. It was funny to see the Octomer practically foaming at the mouth as he tried to calculate earnings versus an enticing deal to get said earnings.

As long as they're not doing anything else, Floyd's relaxed eyes sharpened as his brows knotted together in a suggestion of annoyance. But why did he care, right? The law of the ocean, of the mers, was doing what you needed to do, right?

Why did it bug him so much? He knew you weren't doing anything else but why did the idea that you would--or could--make him want to take someone down in a death spiral?

The spaces between his fingers began to itch as the webbing threatened to emerge.

You shuffle your way into History of Magic wearing something that Crowley slapped together; it doesn't fit you as well as it could but Trein is the last one to make an issue of it. Floyd's gold eye twinkles with interest as he spots the cup in your hand. He likes to think the tea he smells is from Jade since you work at the Lounge with them but it could also be from Kalim or Goldfishy.

The fact that you can have tea, a small luxury in this foreign world, impresses him.

Yes, you do quite well, don't you?

"Hey Floyd," you sit down with a sleepy smile, setting out your meager supplies before holding the cup happily in both hands.

Ah. That's how.

Your smile makes him squirmy and he wonders if that's what his prey feels like before they meet his pharyngeal jaws.

---

II.

He only gets into fights because he's bored. Usually. Every now and then he and Jade will be called down to the Coral to help their father with a 'business venture'; that's an exception. The only other exception is when Azul sends them on a 'last call' visit.

Except for the occasions where he and Jade defended Azul himself, of course. That was way back in their childhood when he and Jade would terrorize the absolute shit out of those hateful mer-brats! Memories of pulling their scales off without getting caught or biting chunks out of their pretty tailfins when trying to go after smaller fish bring a smile to his lips.

Today he found a fourth reason he didn't expect: you.

He wasn't surprised to see Savanaclaw harassing you, not totally. These beastmen were at the mercy of their instincts and traits, too. Mainly stupidity, but having creature influence didn't always help things.

Just like he couldn't help himself from striking when it was convenient. When he was sure he couldn't lose. Moray eels were consumed with cowardice unless conditions were favorable and on land all fights were in his favor. The beastmen were strong, sure, and physically fit but there was a difference between being built for power and built for speed.

Jade may have taken to his land legs first but Floyd was still nimbler than people gave him credit for. The long legs were deceptive, he knew. It also helped that he spent a lifetime in the Coral where the sea sculpted muscle and got him used to dealing with a resistance that didn't exist on land.

"Kinda dumb to mess with the hand that feeds ya, huh?"

Leona would have their ASSES if he knew they were corning you and trying to bully you. Maybe cop a feel? Floyd swung his fist forward the second one of them turned their head to acknowledge him and it was one.

It was a blur but he was used to that. The Coral had obscuring kelp beds, bursts of water carrying all kinds of debris, and seafloor sediment that provided nice cover when needed.

All you needed were teeth and claws. And the scent of blood.

One of them was bound to get a good lick in. He'd be disappointed if they didn't, honestly. The one who tried to grab his earring would know he did something wrong tomorrow; at least two of his fingers were broken. Broken fingers don't matter to an unconscious guy, though.

"I didn't need your help!" you're glaring up at him. Floyd can't help but laugh. He blinks blood out of his eye. Somewhere near his eyebrow there's a wound throbbing.

"'Course ya did, shrimpy!" Floyd leans towards you, genuine smile showcasing pointy teeth.

"No, I didn't! They were starting to back off!" you hiss, pointing up at him.

"And now they're all the way off." Floyd shrugged, poking one with his foot.

"I'm telling Jade," you scoff. You both know Azul won't let him into the Lounge like this. Floyd detests the infirmary and had to be dragged there when he fell ill with his first stomach bug (Jade and Azul thought he was dying). The nurse gets on his case and the area smells too clean and chemical-y for his liking.

He flops down, waiting patiently and highly amused as you rummage through your thrift shop bag for medical supplies. You'd learned to start carrying stuff on you between Grim's overzealous fire-casting and Riddle's overblot. Floyd hums contentedly as you blot his face, nose wrinkling reflexively when he smells the alcohol wipe. You dab ointment on the wound above his eyebrow, scoffing and pulling his chin out of the crook of your elbow. Floyd snorts, pressing his cheek against your arm.

You smack a band-aid over the wound and he clicks his teeth as you glide your finger over the tender part. "You're such a good shrimpy, taking care of your moray," Floyd teases you, yelping when you pinch his cheek before starting off for the Lounge.

He lets you get a good distance ahead before launching off the ground. "Floyd?! Floyd, no! Stop! Don't do it!" you made the mistake of turning your head to look at him as the grass crunched under his shoes, breaking out into a run.

You shouldn't dart off in front of a predator. That activates the hunting instinct.

His laugh echoes as he catches you effortlessly, scooping you up and throwing you into the air like a toy. "Don't worry shrimpy, I got ya!" Floyd laughs, tossing you again.

---

III.

You're hard to find on your days off and that's really annoying to him. Sometimes Vil whisks you away for a spa day, sometimes you're holed up with that blue-burning recluse playing video games. Floyd has turned up empty-handed more often than not, which is impressive considering he's a hunter by nature.

The prey is illusive. And kind of offending him since you're dating but you're not here right now. He'd come find you if it wasn't that time of the month where they were stuck in their true forms, waiting restlessly for the latest delivery of the transformation potion.

No one knows how it happened, really, not even him. Most mers trade trinkets or hunt for their partners but he didn't do any of that. Not officially. He'd cook you something the second you stepped into the Lounge and comb the waters around Sage's for interesting stuff to give you but you didn't acknowledge those courting attempts so they didn't happen. You thought the way he opened and closed his mouth was just a sign of boredom and never did it back.

So yeah, it took forever for you guys to be a thing by mer standards.

You guys were dating by lander standards, though. Little things like you keeping him awake in class and him walking you to the next. He'd buy you something to put in your hair and you'd wear it the next day. When Azul found out you were the only one who could tie his bowtie without him complaining or undoing it, it was his favorite part of getting ready for a shift. If Crowley wasn't so stingy with the phone he gave you, Floyd would be blowing it up.

He continued his lazy laps in the Octavinelle pool, clicking his teeth and sighing sadly. A moray really shouldn't be without their shrimpy. It was cruel.

As if he'd summoned you, you showed up with a float. It meant you wouldn't be swimming with him today but Floyd could live with that. "Don't even think about it!" you warn, hearing the water pitter behind you as he breaks the surface. Floyd has yanked you in more than once on your 'float' days, blaming it on his predator nature. Leaning down to look through the awkward tent of your arm, one foot splayed across the float and trying to draw it close as you wiggled onto it, you met Floyd's mischievous gaze.

The fins at the side of his head flutter, your boyfriend ducking down until his heterchromatic eyes just touch the water. He pulls strong arms slowly and dramatically from the water, setting them softly on the deck as he flexes the muscles of his hands and lets the light play on his claws. "Think about what?" Floyd can barely get the question out, laughing already. His pupils thin as you successfully push off on the float, sending yourself across the water.

Just like that, he's gone. You peer over the top of your float to keep an eye on the lazy, winding shadow. He moves faster than that, you've seen it! What is he--

"Delightful to see you!" Jade pops up at your back and you yelp, losing your grip on the top of your float. If not for Floyd being on the other side and slinging his corded arms over you, you'd be in the water. He laughs at your near-heart attack and the little scrunch in your nose as water flings all over you. "Sam hasn't gotten our order in, I take it?"

"No," you glare at Jade. "He hasn't."

The calmer twin smiles in his usual unbothered way. You've learned to see the sadistic delight in it now. "I'll let Azul know. We'll be working on things below if you need us. Thanks for keeping my dearest brother company." Jade makes his way down and doesn't miss the chance to flick more water on you with the last bit of tailfin. You hiss, rolling over into Floyd's waiting lips.

"Shrimpy!" he sings, genuine delight slipping into a low purr as he peppers kisses up the side of your face and heaves his slick body onto your float. He's unexpectedly soft due to the weird 'hydration' coat they make. It doesn't dull the prominence of his scales and the feel of scale and slick against your skin makes your spine tingle.

He's either going to drown you or shred your float. You're bobbing in and out of the water, head thrust up to try and keep something dry. Floyd knew your prey instincts would kick in and make you flail; he's practically purring at the fact you've wrapped your arms and legs around him. He throws himself back, arms behind his head.

You relax when you realize he's become your personal float. A float that's very happy with himself. You've ridden on his back before but lying on his chest was new; even with your arms around him it still amazed you how strong his back was. Especially his shoulders.

"Happy?" you lay your cheek on him, eyes drifting along the swirls of blue and teal that surround the whitish-gray of his chest.

"Happy!" Floyd hums.

>You choose to masturbate to entice the demon king

Laying down on your bed, you discard your usual pride as a princess and lift your gown. The clothing the demons have provided for you was rags compared to the silk and fine fabric you were used to.

You were taught to always sit with your legs closed tightly, to even sleep with the grace and tact of a princess, but today you spread your legs wide and pull your panties to the side.

Your bare cunt is exposed to the cool air of your bedroom, it’s soft scent drifting past your doorway and towards the demon king that stays by your room.

Truly, he was not a horrible man. The demon king had been watching you from afar, knowing he could never rightfully have your hand in marriage.

You were a human princess after all… though he fell in love with you at first sight during a ball, it was not to be.

His mind changed when he found out you were in an arranged marriage with an old man. The noble had already taken on seven wives before you, and all had died under mysterious circumstances.

The demon king could not let the same happen to you.

He never thought having you in his castle would be so… tempting. At first he intended to give you a choice, stay there freely or be relocated somewhere safe in the human realm.

After having you in his presence and catching a whiff of your scent, his animal instincts took over. You were his, and he couldn’t let you go.

Even though he decided to keep you, the demon king was a gentleman. He may sneak a peek at your pretty face and softly run his erection while watching your soft, bare legs being moisturized after a bath, but he’d never come in without an invitation.

Though, when your arousal reached his nose, he was quick to look in.

Your soft, plush thighs were wide open, your little fingers opening up your chubby pussy lips so you could get to your sensitive clit. Ladies didn’t masturbate, especially one of your class, but here you were.

Now, the demon king stood in your doorway, tail swishing as he stroked his leaking cock to the sight of you pleasuring yourself.

I don't remember what this challenge called anyways HIAHIAHIAHIAHIA

QUICK PRESS ❤️ TO SEE YUNO'S BEAUTIFUL BODY

Gonna make a tag if this post really got this much likes

The Dragon's Hoard

dragon x princess

Cw: enemies to lovers, kidnapping, oral sex, coming untouched, depression, blood

Word count: 9k

A million thanks to the lovely @marigoldendragon for doing art for this, it's all lovely, go give them all the love in the world!!!

The window of her carriage was closed. She’d long since grown tired of the endless trees as the carriage bumped and jostled her around on her way through the foliage. 

There was nothing to do on her travels. She couldn’t play any games, with no place to put any cards without them sliding away with the rocking of the carriage. She’d discovered reading was not in the cards either as waves of nausea washed over her when she’d tried. 

She couldn’t help but feel for the decoys that had been sent out alongside her, to confuse outsiders. At least she was being moved to keep her safe. They were being stuck in identical carriages to protect a princess they’d never met, likely also bored out of their minds. 

So she was left alone, fighting off the ever present motion sickness, shut in the dark. 

And then chaos broke out outside. 

It felt almost as if she’d wished it, so bored that her wandering mind wanted something, anything, to break up the monotony, 

She’d never unwished something so quickly. 

The sounds of battle echoed through the thick walls, intended to keep her safe from any incoming dangers. She lifted her hands to cover her ears as the clanging of metal against metal was overrun by screams and horrible, wet noises of steel on flesh. 

And then everything quieted. It felt very sudden. The clanging of metal disappearing was a welcome change but she hated to imagine what had caused the immediate cessation of their screaming without so much as a word being spoken. 

Before she could so much as move, the door swung open.

A man stood in the doorway, backlit by the sun, and he looked down at her where she’d fallen onto the floor without so much as noticing. He was a rugged looking, scruffy sort of man. His face was calm and he seemed unmarred by the battle. He didn’t move nor speak, just observed her from the entrance to the carriage.

The longer he stood there, the more disconcerting things she noticed about him. Most importantly, she’d never seen him before and he was not wearing the colors of her knights. 

He seemed disheveled, certainly. His clothes were askew but other than that, the battle seemingly hadn’t affected him. Not only was he unwounded, she realized, but he had no blood on him at all, his or otherwise. 

As she peeked between his legs to the scene outside, it became even more disconcerting. The floor of the forest was painted red. He was clearly the only survivor, a pile of bodies littered across the ground, both in her kingdom's colors and bandits gear, in dark greens and browns to hide amongst the trees. 

In what should have been good news but instead simply seemed even more disorienting, this stranger was not wearing bandits attire either. Instead, he seemed to be wearing a random selection of clothes, none of which fit together. His shirt was too big, a little torn at the side, with puffed sleeves. His pants looked to be jesters pants, split down the middle with bright colors on either side. His shoes didn’t even match, the left closer to a sandal, wrapping halfway up his calf, while the other was a short, sturdy boot.  

He stuck his hand out to her and she nervously eyed it, like her willingly taking it would put her in any more danger than she was already in.

“What do you want?” she asked, standing up on her own and dusting off her skirts, trying her best to keep her gaze locked on him and away from the bodies on the floor. 

“Me?” he said, like there was anyone else she could be speaking to. “I just came out to see the carriage, honest. There were rumors that there was a royal carriage coming through. We know about the decoys, had heard of all the identical carriages and charades because of that dragon but a royal carriage is a sight to see, even if it doesn’t look quite as grand as they normally do, and even if there is a little pretender inside. Everyone else ran when the bandits came but I couldn’t just leave. I’m not much of a fighter so I hid but then your knights lost and there were only a few bandits left so I did the best I could. I got lucky, I suppose. Didn’t take much to kill some unsuspecting, injured men.”

“So you killed them.”

He looked at her, brows furrowed. “Did you not want me to? I’m sorry if you didn’t, it just didn’t seem right, leaving you to fend for yourself like that.”

It sounded reasonable. They tried to keep her nondescript but she was well aware that very few people were traveling through the woods in fully covered carriages, of course it would draw suspicion from people who noticed them. There were other carriages traveling without her in them, to try and spread suspicion across them all, but she was sure each of them had drawn similar attention. 

She looked down at all the bodies of the men she’d known for years, had grown up alongside, and of the ones who had been after her. She wondered what they would have done with her if they’d won, if this stranger hadn’t come along and finished them off. Would they even have recognized her for who she was? She supposed now she’d never know.

“Thank you,” she said, voice shaking as her eyes remained locked on the bodies, unable to force them away. 

And then a warm hand covered her eyes. She tried to pull away but it held her firm and steady, the sight in front of her diligently hidden away. 

“You’ll make yourself sick,” he said from right behind her. “I’m going to take my hand away, just don’t look, I’ll lead you out.”

She took a deep breath, steadying herself as her vision came back, the stranger's hand falling to take hers as she let her eyes fall shut. 

She stepped forward with his guidance, a wet noise sounding as her foot hit the ground. 

A sob escaped her throat as the faces of all her men ran through her head, wondering which of their corpses she’d just desecrated. 

And then she was being lifted unceremoniously from the ground. He immediately began moving faster, no longer hindered by leading her blindly through a battlefield. 

He walked for long enough that she knew he wasn’t only getting her through the battlefield but far away from it. She didn’t open her eyes even when she knew they must be far from it simply because if she opened her eyes she would have to confront the fact that a strange man was carrying her. 

Eventually, she felt herself being slowly and carefully lowered and, as her feet touched solid ground once more, she opened her eyes. 

“Where were you heading?” he asked as he gently placed her down, hand lingering around her waist for a moment to ensure she didn’t drop to the ground like dead weight. 

He pulled away when she managed to stand and she was embarrassed that her only answer was a shrug. “They didn’t tell me. They just said somewhere safe.”

“Well,” he said with a smile, “luckily I know some safe places, though I doubt it’ll be the same one.”

“Where?” she asked cautiously. 

“Local village. Has some of the kingdom's knights there, I’m sure they’ll know what to do.”

“Right.” It sounded fine. It wasn’t like she had many better options. 

He started walking and she tentatively followed him. He turned backwards as he walked, so he could face her and move at the same time. It did not give her confidence in his navigation skills that he wasn’t even bothering to look forwards. “Not that you’ll answer me honestly, but are you a decoy or the real princess?”

She couldn’t tell him the truth, she knew that much. It would be monumentally stupid. “I think I’m supposed to say I’m the princess but at this point it seems we are a little beyond that.”

He chuckled. “It seems we are. Do you have a name, not princess?”

She pulled the first name she could think of, that of her handmaiden. “Phillipa.”

“Lovely name,” he said with a smile. “Much better than Princess Ophelia. Less stuffy, certainly.”

She nodded, trying her best not to show her displeasure at the comment. She quite liked her name. 

“I don’t think you should speak ill of our princess like that,” she said in a measured tone.

He shrugged. “Maybe not.”

“And you? It’s not fair to exchange names only one way.”

“Kadrin.”

“Oh. I’ve never met someone with that name before.”

He shrugged. “I was born outside the country. What, you’ve never met someone who wasn’t from Aplor?”

“I have,” Ophelia huffed. “Just not with that name. Where are you from?”

“Far away. That’s all you need to know.”

It was a rude sentiment, certainly, but she allowed it to pass, not wanting to push the only friendly face she had left. 

They moved in silence after that, her questions having seemingly ruined the amiable conversation. 

It became evident fairly quickly that he was going to take her up a mountain. 

She was in heavy skirts and had no desire to climb the winding path on the rocky mountain, but she didn’t seem to have many other options. 

“Is this really the only way to this town?” she asked as she almost tripped again, skirts gathered up in her hands. 

“It is,” he said, his tone more curt than it had been before. He was staying a few steps ahead of her now, not providing any sort of help. “It won’t take long though.”

The horrible silence that had begun to fall over them couldn’t be blamed on her, at least not entirely. She tried to make conversation as they walked, wracking her brain for things to talk about with this near stranger she was lying to. “May I ask what the clothes are about?”

“I go through clothes quickly,” he grumbled, less light-hearted about the topic than she had hoped. “It’s hard to find enough.”

And that was the end to her attempt at conversation. It seemed he was perfectly willing to talk on his own, but any attempt from her to strike something up was quickly shut down. 

The mountain was largely barren. She could see the harsh surface as they climbed higher and higher, no more trees to block her path. 

And then, as they climbed and wrapped around the mountain, she looked down and saw the path they had climbed thusfar, winding around and around, going up and up and up. 

And it was the only path she saw. No other path winding back down the mountain, nowhere else to go as they circled the pillar of rock and dirt. 

So there was no town. This much was clear to her now, as they climbed still upwards with no way down. She was a fool to believe him at all, this stranger who had offered her salvation. Why would he have her best interest in mind? It was a stupid mistake, one she hoped would not cost her her life. 

Kadrin spoke up again, sounding chipper, completely unaware of her inner turmoil. “What were you running from again? Or, rather, what was the princess running from? I suppose you were just collateral.”

“A dragon,” she muttered, trying to mimic her tone from before so she wouldn’t alert him to her realization, desperately trying to come up with a plan for escape. 

“A dragon? I’ve never seen a dragon, are they really real?”

“They aren’t common,” she said, the lines of her body tense, moving even more slowly up the mountain to put more distance between the two of them than her struggle up the mountain had already established. “My father made a deal with one years ago. Now it wants me.”

“You?” he said, stopping and turning to face her. “Well, that doesn't make any sense. Why would some deal mean he was coming after you?”

“It was part of the deal,” she muttered, her gait slowing to an almost complete stop. 

“Part of the deal? Well this doesn’t seem fair then. You running. Or, her running, I mean. If you were promised to him. She. If she was promised to him.”

She had no logical plan of escape, there was no good way out of this. So instead, she turned on her heels, and she began to run. 

There was no way she could make it out, could run faster than him. She knew that, but she at least had to try. 

As she moved, half running and half tumbling down the steep stone, she chanced a look behind her and saw that Kadrin wasn’t giving chase. He was just standing behind her, arms crossed, watching her run.

Relief ran through her for a second before, with her head turned, her pounding feet misstepped and she found herself tumbling off the edge of the path.

It was too far of a fall, down the sheer face of what could only be described as a cliff. The only thing she could feel was fear, wondering if she should have just stayed and taken her chances with this bizarre stranger. 

A roar sounded above her and before she could process it, talons were closing around her shoulders. 

She looked up and found herself in the clutches of the very dragon she’d been running from, cursing herself for being this stupid. 

They flew over a familiar pile of mismatched clothes, torn to shred on the ground, flying right past them as they soared towards the top of the mountain. 

“Let me go,” she called out, struggling inside harsh talons that didn’t so much as budge at her movements. “This isn’t fair.”

“Fair?” he snarled. His voice was recognizable from what it had been, but with a distinct rumbling growl underlying it now. “You know what isn’t fair? Going back on a deal the second it’s time to pay up.”

He soared into a cave and dropped her unceremoniously to the floor. 

“You’re him,” she said with a gasp as she fell to the ground. 

“You are brilliant, aren’t you?” he said, his tone cruel and mocking. 

As she tried to stand, she stumbled, the ground unsteady under her feet. 

And then, she managed to draw her eyes off of the dragon for a moment to look down. She found that she was not, in fact, standing on the ground, but instead on a massive pile of gold and gems. 

“And you,” he said with a snarl, “are not a decoy.”

“Well, I guess we’re both liars,” she huffed.

“You more than I. I’m just using the tactics your kind pioneered. I am a man of my word, I think you’ll find. But now you’re here, as promised, and there is no more reason to lie. Everything is as it should be.”

“As it should be?” she cried out. “I didn’t ask for this. I wasn’t even alive when this deal was made. It’s not fair.”

“Perhaps not. But you’re here now, and you will not be going anywhere.”

He shifted in front of her, moving a boulder she hadn’t even noticed in the corner of the cave until it was right in front of the entrance, sealing her inside. 

“It’s been a long day,” said the creature, his low voice feeling almost mocking. “You should get some rest.”

She hated that he was right. She was exhausted, her limbs feeling heavy and her brain moving slower than she was accustomed to. The adrenaline was wearing off, unable to carry her for this long, despite her still clearly being in danger. 

So she sat on the gold, the creature curling up around the massive pile of treasure. Around her.

It was deeply uncomfortable, the various pieces of hard metal digging into her skin through layers of skirts. 

She moved, careful not to shift too suddenly and frighten the hulking creature encircling her, and climbed carefully over his tail in an attempt to sit on the cool cave floor. She curled up on the ground as soon as she reached it. She’d certainly never slept on the floor before but it was far better than the harsh edges of the treasure. 

And then cold talons wrapped around her and she was being lifted again before being unceremoniously dropped atop the gold once more. 

“I can’t sleep up here,” she said, knowing it was a bad idea to complain about her comfort to her captor but unable to restrain herself. “It’s too uncomfortable. I’ll take the floor if I must, just please, not up here.”

“You will learn,” he said, his voice low and threatening.

No matter how she positioned herself, it was awful. If she had been any less tired, she would have laid awake on the treasure endlessly. 

But as it stood, she was half convinced she could fall asleep on a bed of nails, and as such she found herself nodding off, despite the sharp pains of the cool metal below her. 

Before she knew it, she was awakening again, sore from the pieces of gold that had been poking into her side through the night, to the feeling of wind blowing over her. 

As she opened her eyes, she realized the wind was from the flapping of wings overtop her, the dragon flying in from outside. 

And then, with a thud that echoed through the treasure, something was unceremoniously dropped beside her. 

She turned to see a bed, one that had clearly been stolen from someone’s home. The blankets and pillows were awry from the flight and it had seemingly lost a pillow or two on the journey here. 

“There,” he said, curling up around the gold once more. “Now you can stop complaining.”

She should have made a break for it while he’d been gone, she’d slept through what could be her only chance at escape. 

It didn’t make real sense but she felt she couldn’t sleep in the bed, like that would be giving into her captor, letting him win. It was a matter of pride. 

She did not fall asleep again that night, wallowing on his piles of riches. 

But as the sun began to rise and peek through the cracks in the entrance to the cave, she thought maybe there was some use to the bed. 

And so she pulled at the misshapen covers and curled up underneath them, covering her head completely. 

And there she stayed, tucked away, blocking out the world as much as she could. So long as she couldn’t leave, what else was there to do?

She wasn’t sure how long passed like that. She was fairly sure she drifted in and out of consciousness but it was hard to tell, the whole world filtered through anger and exhaustion and thick brown blankets smothering any light that had snuck in through cracks in the stone. 

And then the blankets were being pulled from atop her. She stayed adamantly still, curled up in a ball, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. 

She heard him snarl above her head and fought back a flinch. A cold, hard claw poked at her and still she stayed, head tucked against her knees. 

And then he grumbled and left her alone, the blanket being haphazardly dropped atop her. 

It continued on like that for who knows how long. Every now and then, how long there was between she had no way of knowing, he would check in on her. It started out with him being frustrated, angry even. Every few times he’d spew vitriol at her, things like, “Is keeping your word really this abhorrent to you,” and “You simply cannot be this weak.”

But then the remarks began to shift. His pokes and prods got softer, the placement of the blanket more precise. 

And then something seemed to shift in the air and his responses stopped completely for what felt like an eternity. She’d begun to ache, lying there like that, still, motionless. Part of her wanted to stretch but that felt like letting him win. 

The position began to feel more necessary as hunger began to take over her, an awful cramping taking over her stomach. At least it was minimized by the fetal position, curled up on herself in a way that had begun to feel almost natural. 

She’d starve there, she realized. She was going to die in this bed. There was no other way about it. 

And then the irritating talon returned, poking her through the blankets this time. “You need to eat,” he said, the low rumble of his voice practically resonating in her bones. 

She said nothing. She had already resolved herself to her fate. There was nothing for her here, it was better this way. There was no way out. At least this way he wouldn’t get to play with her, there’d be no chance for him to do whatever this monster had planned for her. 

She felt him huff, his breath wafting warm air over her.

And then she felt a shift, the gold the bed was resting on moving as his weight changed.

A human body sat on the bed beside her. 

“Please,” he said, his voice softer than she remembered it being. She almost hated him more for it, for trying to sound comforting as her kidnapper. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”

“I’m going to make myself dead,” she said, her first words in a long time, her voice cracking over the effort of forcing them out. “So you won’t be able to get any sick satisfaction out of me.”

She felt him reel back at her words and wonder what it was that had done it, her harsh tone or the idea of him losing his brand new toy. 

“Is that really what you want? You’d rather die than be here?” He sounded sad and it made the anger rise even further in her. How dare he ask that, act like she had any other option. 

And then his presence was gone and she heard the shift, gold spilling onto the floor as he grew back to his true size. 

And then, with a horrible grinding noise, the boulder in front of the door was shifted. 

She didn’t fall for it. She knew if she ran he’d be after her, could catch her in a second. So she stayed, curled up tight, a horrible dread sitting in her stomach. 

“Please look at me,” he said, his voice low and frightening again in his true form, but undeniably sad. It shouldn’t have gotten through to her. It was so obviously a trick, but something about it tugged at some emotion inside her and she shifted to peek out from where she was hiding her head. 

He was lying on the floor, head pressed against the ground and wings tucked against him. It was clear to her that he was trying to look non threatening, for what reason she could not fathom. 

“Would you prefer my other form?” he asked, shifting a little uncomfortably as he spoke. “I don’t want to frighten you.”

“No,” she spat. “I don’t enjoy being lied to.”

“Right. Can we talk? I have been unfair to you, I fear. Blamed you for sins that are not your own.”

Her nose scrunched up. “What sins? What could you possibly blame me for?”

“What did your father tell you about us?”

She shrugged. “Everything. All of it, how you started destroying everything, how he had to give me up to stop you, how there was no other way if he wanted the kingdom to survive, to stop the senseless violence.”

He sighed. “Dragons were peaceful creatures, once. I’d say we still are, though I’m sure many would disagree. We were sought after though. Our scales are almost impenetrable, an invaluable resource. Your father figured that out and simply could not bear to let that resource go to waste. He decimated our population, my family, my parents and brothers and sisters. I am not a destructive force but I was left with nothing else, nothing to do but get revenge. Your father took my family, it was only fair that I get his in return. I can’t send you back, I can't let him have that victory. Not after everything. But I don’t want to cause you pain. I have no quarrel with you. I can provide for you, care for you. I know this isn’t what you wanted but it doesn’t have to be the way it has been.”

“You’re a liar,” she spat at him. “My father wouldn’t do that.”

“No?” he asked. “So you’ve seen no dragon scales then, scattered around, built into armour and displayed proudly. The skin of my loved ones, where do you think he got that? And if dragons are so very violent, how did he get it in the first place? No, we are peaceful and he slaughtered us. I was turned violent, he turned me violent.” His words got louder and louder until he was snarling out the words by the end of his speech. 

She couldn’t help but flinch, pulling back into herself at the malice in his tone. “I don’t-” she stammered out. “I can’t-”

His body language shifted instantly, hard lines of tensed muscles softening. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted you to understand. I take no joy in your misery but I cannot let you go, not after everything he has done. But that doesn’t mean I need to lock you away like some criminal. I will make this as pleasant for you as I am able.”

She shifted in her seat. She did not want to be miserable. She supposed no one ever did. Who was it helping, really? Her wallowing in this awful bed, starving herself, would aid no one. Her father would never know it, her kingdom would miss her no less as a corpse. “Fine,” she said. “If you’re willing to try then I suppose I am too.”

A sigh escaped him, one of relief if she had to guess. She wondered if the state she’d been in had really been weighing on him or if she had just been an inconvenience. 

“If you’d like to start somewhere,” she said. “I could really use some food.”

He nodded, turned, and left, flying off into the distance. 

She watched him go, knowing there was no use in running. He could travel so much faster than her and see so much farther, there was nowhere she could go in the next few minutes where he couldn’t find her. Better him think her complacent, perhaps fall into a false sense of security. Then she could make a real attempt at an escape. 

He returned fairly quickly, though it was still immensely difficult to tell time here in this stupid cave, even with the sun in sight. The shadows were all wrong, harsh and unfamiliar against the cold walls of the cave. 

As he returned, his wings stirring up the typically still air hidden away in the rocks, he dropped talons full of fruits and breads and pastries at her feet, them immediately getting dirty on the cave floor. Hooked into one of his claws was also a full bucket of water, so at the very least she could clean the fruit, though the bread at the bottom of the pile may be a lost cause. 

“Will this do?” he asked, looking at her eagerly.

“I suppose,” she said, lifting some of it off the filthy ground as quickly as she could. 

He stared at her expectantly and she refused to dignify the look with a thank you. “Are you going to eat?”

He stared at her. “I can’t like this?”

“What?”

“In this form, I can’t eat anything but meat.”

“Can you leave then? Or at least shift into your other form. I’d rather not eat in front of you while you stare at me.”

And then he began to shift. It was the first time she had seen him change. It was an odd affair, less frightening that she would have guessed. Where she had expected to see something horribly frightening, this was fairly seamless, his dragon scales seeming to melt off of him, sinking into the ground below him and leaving a man standing before her. A man who, she quickly realized, was entirely nude. 

“Goodness gracious!” she said, her hand flying up to cover her eyes. It did no good, the image of his bare form was seared into her mind. “Can you put some clothes on?”

“Right,” he said with a huff, his human voice returning. “I always forget about your hang ups about nudity. It really isn’t such a big deal. And it is so irritating. I tear the clothes I’m wearing every time I shift and I have to keep finding new ones constantly. Such a grating tradition. If I had my way, I’d be rid of them entirely.”

Her spare hand, the one not being used to protect her propriety as best she could, reached down to clutch her skirt defensively. “You will do no such thing. Speaking of, I need new dresses. Nice ones, if you may.”

“Where am I supposed to find nice dresses?” he whined as she heard the shuffling that hopefully signified him putting on clothes. “I’m a dragon, they don’t exactly let me into stores.”

“So shift!” she said. “Go buy them. I am a princess, I need more than one dress.”

He groaned. “With what money should I buy these dresses, princess.”

If she’d been able to look at him, she would have shot him an exasperated look.  “You have me sleeping on a pile of gold, what do you mean with what money? You have nothing but money.”

“You mean my hoard? I can’t give up my hoard, are you insane?”

She scoffed. “Why does it matter, it’s not like you’re using it for anything.”

“Not using it for anything? I’m using it for being my hoard! It’s a very important job.”

She had half a mind to stop talking to him once again. “Whatever. Do what you’d like.”

“I will. You can open your eyes, by the way.”

Once again, he looked absurd, dressed in a horribly mismatched set of clothes. “You look like a madman,” she said, picking up the half forgotten bread she’d selected and taking a bite. 

“Do you want me to eat with you or not?” he asked with a huff. 

She gestured graciously towards the pile of food and he sat beside her and began to tear into it. 

He was a horribly messy eater but she figured that was a battle not worth fighting. 

“You could at least give me stuff for my hair,” she said, reaching up to touch her unruly curls. “I know it’s unsightly, I’m sure you’re tired of looking at it. I appreciate you not mentioning it, I really do, but I know it can’t be fun to be forced to look at it day in and day out.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Who told you that?”

“What?”

“Who’s been calling your hair unsightly?”

“What do you mean who? Everyone has, everyone since I was old enough to have hair.”

His nostrils flared, a puff of hot air wafting over her. “If you’d like to give me names I can deal with that.”

“What?” she practically squeaked. “Deal with- What does that mean?”

“Kill them. I don’t take kindly to people insulting beautiful things in my hoard.”

“Beautiful. You think I’m… wait, in your hoard? I’m not a part of your hoard!” she squeaked out. 

“Yes you are. You sleep there,” he said, sounding confused. 

“I am not an object.”

His head tilted to the side. “I never said you were.”

“I am not some piece of treasure you can hoard, how dare you.”

“Not a piece of treasure, no, but valuable. Priceless. And here, in my den. I don’t see how you could be anything but part of my hoard.”

“Valuable? Valuable as what, a tool of revenge? A bargaining chip? I am just an incidental victim in a war between you and my father, I do not appreciate the value that gives me.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “That’s not all you are.”

“What?”

“I was pursuing revenge all those years ago, I’ll admit that much. But it's been so many years and I’m the only one left. It’s been very lonely.”

“So I am also valuable because I am the first person who’s been willing to speak to you in decades? And you had to kidnap me to do it.”

“I didn’t kidnap you, we made a deal.”

“We did nothing, I think you will find. You made a deal with someone before I was even born that I had no say in. I think I will eat the rest of this meal alone, thank you so much for your kindness,” she spat out, scooping up a few pieces of food and stumbling her way back to her bed.

He was gone for hours after and she was more than content to eat her pastries in bed and very much alone. 

When he returned, he dropped a piece of fabric on her bed, one that looked suspiciously like a dress. 

“It’s for you,” he said, nudging it towards her. 

“Most people apologize with their words, you know,” she said with a huff

“Apologies, princess. It’s been some time since I’ve spoken to anyone, let alone apologized.”

“Have you really been alone all these years?” she asked, fighting to keep any sympathy out of her voice. 

“I tried to use my… less threatening form on occasion, go into the villages. It did little to stave off the loneliness, talking to people I know would try and kill me, should they know what I was. I gave up on that a long time ago, resigned myself to this life. I’ll see my people again in the next one.”

“Right. That sounds… unpleasant.”

“It does. I’m afraid it may help explain my behavior towards you, though. I’m deeply unaccustomed to having guests.”

“A guest.” She scoffed. “Is that what I am?”

“It’s what I’d like you to be,” he said, sounding almost nervous.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, certainly not when I cannot leave.”

“I will still try my best,” he said, avoiding her gaze. “At the very least, to not make your stay unpleasant. As I have told you, I have no quarrel with you.”

“And yet I am the one being caged.”

He sighed, dropping the dress on her bed and turning away from her. 

She leaned forwards to grab it, not wanting to let the only available change of clothes out of her sight. It was beautiful, the fabric soft and silky and glinting in the light. It also looked almost perfectly her size, which she had no idea how he managed, especially when his own clothes were so often misshapen and ill fitting. 

“Where did you find this?” she asked, running her hands along the smooth fabric. “It’s beautiful.”

“I bought it,” he said, turning back to her, a smug aura beginning to drift off of him.

“You… With your hoard? But you said you could never?”

“Well, I figured you’re part of my hoard now, so as long as it’s for you it's alright.” He sounded almost sheepish. 

“I am no such thing, but I appreciate it nonetheless. Thank you,” she said, and then leaned over to press a kiss atop his snout before moving off to change. 

“Can you turn around,” she called back to him, turning to see him completely frozen in place, his eyes almost looking a bit crossed, like he was trying to look at his own snout. 

Her words seemed to snap him out of it, head jerking up a little before he turned with a quiet, “Right, of course.”

She got dressed as quickly as she could, eager to show him. “Turn around,” she said, swaying her hips a little to see the movement of the fabric. “Isn’t it lovely!”

He stared at her, pupils blown wide. “Yes. Lovely.”

She grinned, giving him a twirl in the dress, the soft fabric billowing around her legs as she spun. 

The more time that passed, the calmer things became. She’d stopped refusing to take care of herself, and more than that stopped refusing to take gifts from Kadrin. She figured so long as she was here, she might as well try and enjoy herself. 

As soon as she gave herself permission to be happy here, it was like things began to fall into place. It was nice here, if she forgot their rocky beginning and how she’d found herself living in this cave. 

Despite earlier protests about using his hoard to buy her things, Kadrin seemed to have no issue with it now, running off to get her whatever she requested at a moment’s notice. She’d acquired a massive pile of books, a deck of cards, and her own small wardrobe of clothes, far more than her dragon had. She’d even managed to convince him to get her a small embroidery kit, one that she thanked him for by embroidering flowers along the collar of one of his nicer shirts. 

He began wearing that one a lot after that, though it never did seem to end up ripped to pieces like the rest of his clothes did in the midst of his transformations

He on occasion would say unusual things, though she wasn’t quite sure if they were attributable to him being a dragon or if he was just strange. 

Though he kept getting her dresses, he would occasionally push the issue, insisting that she didn’t need clothes, after all he didn’t wear any and dragons don’t care about that sort of thing. 

Even if he didn’t care about propriety, she was not a fool and caught the mischief in his voice, staring at him before asking, “Are you trying to see me naked?”

He answered no a bit too fast for it to sound convincing and never pushed the issue again, though she did catch him angrily staring at her dresses a few times.

For all intents and purposes, aside from some minor jabs, he seemed obsessed with making her happy and comfortable here, and it was working. 

One day he returned with some more gifts for her in his talons, his shirt also tucked beneath his claws, not ripped and abandoned like most of his clothes, and he got an odd look on his face, staring down at her where she lay, reading in her bed, some new romance novel he’d gotten her a week ago. 

“Would you like to go outside?” he asked, and she sat up immediately, eyes widening. 

“Can I?” she asked, sounding almost breathless. 

He nodded. “I didn’t even think about it, you should have asked me sooner.”

She cocked her head to the side, staring at him like he’d lost his mind. “I didn’t think I was allowed. I am a prisoner here.”

Sadness flashed through his eyes, darting quickly away from her. “You can ask for anything,” he said, his voice soft, or at least as soft as it could be in his dragon form. “Now come on, let’s go.”

She stepped hesitantly towards him, unsure how exactly he was planning on transporting her down the mountain. 

His talons closed around her shoulders and before she could even process it, her feet were lifting off the ground and she was being flown. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down at the ground far below her and she reached up to try and hold onto his talons as they flew. 

She shut her eyes, trusting Kadrin to get them there and not wanting to see just how high up they were any longer. 

Before she knew it, her feet were touching down on solid ground. She collapsed to the ground as soon as Kadrin’s talon’s released her, feeling the grass against her skin. 

“This is amazing,” she said with a smile, feeling the sun beating down on her face. “Thank you for taking me out here.”

He did not seem pleased by her enjoyment. Instead he looked more devastated than anything, staring down at her with sad eyes. “You should have asked to come out sooner, I would have given it to you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stop thinking about that. Now that I know I can, trust me, we’ll come out here a lot. Oh, do you know any fields with flowers? I could bring them back to the den, it would be lovely.”

He nodded, though his mind was clearly elsewhere. “I can get you flowers. I always would have gotten you flowers. I just didn’t know.”

She scrunched her nose up. “Can you stop being so strange? We are having a nice day out, don’t you ruin this for me with this bizarre mood you’re in.”

He did his best, trying and failing to conceal how upset he was.

To Ophelia’s dismay, this mood continued on long after their day out. He only grew more distant as time passed, still bringing her gifts but with few comments this time, barely so much as speaking to her. 

And then, after nearly a week of being practically ignored, when she was close to snapping and yelling at him, he came to her. 

He still was melancholy, his tail practically tucked between his legs. He avoided her gaze as he spoke, keeping his head down. “I think you should go.”

“What?” she cried out, wondering what she could have done to be sent away like this. 

“You should go home,” he said, his voice low. “I can’t stand the thought of you feeling imprisoned here, the idea that I’m making you miserable. I’ve been trying and I thought you were fine but then you didn’t ask to go outside like you were a prisoner and I can’t imagine how many other things you’re missing out on because I’ve trapped you here. I don’t know how I could’ve been so delusional to think you’re happy here. I kidnapped you, took you from your family, of course you couldn’t be happy. It’s about time I stopped deluding myself.”

She furrowed her brows. “What about your revenge? And your people?”

“Your happiness is more important than my revenge. I want to find another way to get that revenge but he’s your father. Anything I can think of would hurt you too and I don’t know if I could stomach that, not now. Not after all this.”

“And so what, you’ll just go back to being alone again?”

“Don’t worry about me. I was fine for decades, I will be fine now.”

“You’re not fine. You’re miserable.”

“Better than it being you. I can stand to be miserable, I cannot stand to watch you become everything that killed me for so long, watch you be the one taken from your people, you be the one stuck alone.”

“I’m not alone,” she said with a huff. “I’m with you.”

“It’s not enough.”

She paused, thinking through her words carefully before speaking, thinking about the food and the dresses, thinking about how he never seemed to mind her making a mess or the wild curls in her hair, thinking about how he was so eager to please her and how the thought of her being miserable here was enough for him to give up on this mission of his he’d held longer than she’d been alive. And then she said, “There is a way to get revenge without hurting me.”

He huffed. “And what exactly would that be?”

“You could just keep me,” she said with a shrug. 

“No,” he said, with a firm shake of his head. “I told you, you need to be with your people, I can’t be selfish and…Wait, what do you mean that wouldn’t hurt you?”

“I don’t know, it’s safe here. You take care of me, you don’t judge me. I’m happier here than I ever was in court or in my room as my handmaidens desperately try to tame my hair or when suitors turn me down for having too many thoughts to be a suitable wife. I don’t know, there’s worse places to be. And besides, you’re here, and against my better judgment, I think I would miss you terribly. ”

And then, his scales began to melt, a familiar human form appearing from the shifting black mass, pacing over to her and grabbing her, hands cupping her cheeks and pulling her close to him, lips pressing to hers. 

Her hands rose to his face, holding him close. 

She’d never been kissed before but she’d certainly imagined it, especially lately with all the romance books Kadrin had been getting her. Only then, with his lips against hers and his hand on the small of her back, his skin warm against her, did she admit to herself that she’d perhaps been imagining a certain dragon whilst reading the romance novels. Even the steamier ones. 

But not quite like this. 

“Wait,” she said, barely pulling away from the kiss to speak, still practically pressed against him. 

He pulled back, almost breathless. “This is too fast,” he said, pupils blown wide. “You’re a princess, you’ve never done anything like this before, I’m so sorry.”

“No,” she said, scrunching up her nose. “I’m a big girl, I can take it. Besides, I don’t have to worry about court propriety anymore, they’ll never see me again. I just… I don’t want you to look like this, I want you to be you. At least this first time. That is, if you’re amenable.”

He looked incredibly nervous at the suggestion. “Right. We can certainly try, but the last thing I ever want is to hurt you and I fear I’m quite a bit… bigger in my other form.”

She smiled at him. “Nothing stopping us from trying.”

“Certainly not.” And then he began to shift, shoulders broadening and scales seeping back through his skin. 

He was a sight to behold. She regretted that it had taken her so long to appreciate it, having spent so long being afraid of him. She should have seen sooner just how beautiful he was. 

She rose up onto the tips of her toes and he sunk his head down to meet her. As soon as he was within reach, she pressed a kiss onto his snout. “Kissing is certainly harder without lips,” she said, eyes raking over his face, really taking him in. 

“I wouldn’t say that,” his low voice rumbled, and then he leaned forwards and licked right up the side of her face. 

She squealed, pulling back a little on instinct before leaning back into him. “You have to warn me next time.”

“If you want me to warn you, you shouldn’t make cute sounds like that,” he said, and she could feel the rumble of his voice running through her. 

And then, as he stopped speaking, the rumble remained and her mouth fell open. “Oh my god, are you purring?”

He shrunk back a little, clearly embarrassed. “It happens when I’m happy sometimes, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“Don’t you dare apologize, that’s adorable.”

He let out a little groan. “I’m not adorable, I am ferocious and horrifying and for very special princesses, occasionally handsome. Never adorable.”

She giggled into the scales on his neck, pressing closer to feel it more strongly. “Sorry, you don’t get to make that call, I do. And I say you’re adorable.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said, before knocking her back into the pile of gold they were standing on, shifting over her so he was pinning her down, a playful look in his eyes. 

Her eyes darted downwards and widened as she saw his arousal, evident in the way his dick, usually absent in his dragon form, had emerged from somewhere inside him. 

She’d read about sex in her romance books too, although those women typically had more proportionate partners and she wasn’t exactly certain how much of that information she could transfer to dragons. 

“It might take a while. To get me ready for.. you know,” she said, face flushing bright red as she gestured vaguely at his lower half. 

He tsked at her softly. “Not this time, little one. I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“Then what…” she stopped as he flipped her skirts up, his claws closing around her legs and he gently pulled them open. 

She’d been forgoing her bloomers most of the time she’d been here. There was no real reason to wear them, it wasn’t like she was riding or doing something dangerous and Kadrin so often forgot to bring new pairs, regardless of how many dresses he bought her. 

She wasn’t sure if she was pleased or upset at this fact as he revealed her core to him. He certainly seemed pleased, if the increase in the volume of his purring was any indication. 

“You’re enjoying this rather too much, I think,” she declared to him. 

He let out something resembling a laugh, low and rumbling. “Is that not the point?”

She shuffled where she sat, mildly uncomfortable in how exposed she felt. “Perhaps.”

He shushed her softly, echoes of a laugh present in his voice, and murmured, “Don’t be nervous, I promise I’ll take care of you.”

His head began to delve under her skirts, his face disappearing from her view. It was nerve wracking this way, not being able to see him, hoping she was doing everything right.  Her mind flew through all the books she’d read, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do, how to make this work. 

And then she felt a soft lick on her thigh and suddenly, she wasn’t thinking quite so much anymore. She squirmed, something warm building in her stomach at the sensation, unsure if she wanted to shift away to gather herself or to shift closer to him. Instead, she found herself simply writhing on the floor as another gentle lick from a broad tongue fell, even further up her thigh. 

A surprised little squeak escaped her and she heard a chuckle sound in response before a third lick was placed, this one right at her core. 

It was a light touch, almost teasing in nature, but it felt so good. She could feel a dampness between her thighs entirely separate from the hot wet tongue that had begun lapping at her. Instinctually she went to close her thighs, to try and abate this growing need that was building, but Kadrin’s head blocked her path, forcing her legs open. 

The soft, gentle licks commenced for some time, teasing and soft but building that warmth inside her that she’d never felt the likes of before. And then, with no warning, the tongue began to push inside. 

An odd noise escaped her, something strange and loud. It certainly didn’t seem attractive to her, but Kadrin seemed to enjoy it, redoubling his efforts, seeming to want to pull more odd noises from her. 

Her insecurities over the noises she was making faded quickly as he delved deeper inside, the sensation of him filling her so completely with his thick, hot tongue fighting off almost all thought. There was no room to be nervous or self conscious when she was bordering on brainlessness. 

The warmth in her began to build and build until she swore something inside her was about to break. Her squirming began again, unable to keep herself still under his attentions. She wasn’t sure what she would be warning him of exactly, but she felt the need to warn Kadrin of her current state. It was just so difficult to manage anything outside the pleasure consuming her now. 

She managed to squeak out, “I think…” before something inside her snapped and waves of pleasure went running through her, the likes of which she’d never felt before. All her muscles went taught and her vision got blurry, the gray roof of the cave fading out of focus.  

Kadrin dutifully worked her through it, his tongue shifting against her until the last waves of pleasure had washed over her and everything began to feel too much. Eventually, she huffed out a quiet, “I can’t take anymore,” that finally drew him out from under her skirts. 

As she panted heavily, lying, sated, on the floor, he laid his head on her torso. She found herself too content to complain about the weight.

And then she sat up with a start. “Oh goodness, I’ve forgotten about you.”

“There’s no need,” he said, shifting slightly above her. “I may have gotten… carried away, during.”

She broke out into a massive grin, looking down at him wide eyed. “You did?”

“Don’t get too smug, next time I’m going to make you do some work, mark my words. It’s not my fault you’re so pretty and soft and taste so good”

She let her head fall back with a giggle. “You’re absurd.”

No longer sufficiently distracted, she could now acutely feel the gold digging into her back. 

She clambered up to the bed, her legs a little shaky as she stood, a warm snout pushing into her back to help keep her upright until she managed to collapse into the sheets. 

And then warmth surrounded her, Kadrin curling up around the bed, the heat radiating off his scales blanketing her where she lay. 

She snuggled down into the blankets, although they were hardly needed with Kadrin’s body heat surrounding her, and drifted safely and happily to sleep. 

Tweeks recruitment making a continuous comic of my tfbw au! hopefully i can update it once a week... basically the origins of how wonder tweek joined the freedom pals

Next >

What if yuu died?

(I'm feeling angsty >:]) ((I kept crying while writing this))

DWARF'S MINE:

Grim

Grim is the first one to notice.

They were bickering, as usual. Yuu told him not to wander off. He called them bossy and sauntered ahead. He thought Yuu was right behind him until he heard the rumble.

When Grim turns around, the mine is collapsing. He hears a scream—their scream—and then nothing.

At first, Grim is in denial. “They’re probably fine! Just hiding like a scaredy-cat!” he yells, ears flat, tail bristled. He digs at the rocks, paws trembling, not because he’s weak but because he’s scared. His tiny claws scrape until they bleed.

Later, when the truth settles in, Grim doesn’t talk for days. No bragging. No yelling. He just curls up on the couch in Ramshackle, staring at the door like he’s waiting for Yuu to walk through it.

He starts blaming himself. Quietly. “I shoulda protected them… I’m the Great Grim, right? What good is all this power if I couldn’t save 'em…”

Ace Trappola

Ace puts up a wall.

He makes some stupid comment at first. “They seriously died that easily? Weak…”

But his voice cracks halfway through. He avoids eye contact with Deuce and walks away before anyone can see him clench his fists.

Later, Ace returns to the mine alone. He just stands at the spot where the rocks fell, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Dumbass… you weren’t even supposed to be here. What were you thinking, coming down here without magic?”

If anyone tries to talk to him about it, he brushes them off. But sometimes, when no one's looking, he stares at Ramshackle’s gate like he wants to go up and say something—but always turns around.

Deuce Spade

Deuce takes it hard.

He was right there. He thought he was being responsible. He was supposed to look out for the magicless student, right?

“I failed them…” “I should’ve noticed something was wrong…” “If I’d just reacted faster…”

He says things like that a lot. Grim won’t talk. Ace won’t listen. So Deuce just keeps repeating it to himself.

He visits Ramshackle and helps clean it up. Makes sure the firewood is stacked, the beds are neat—even though no one lives there anymore. “I just… want to keep it ready. In case they come back. Somehow.”

Crowley

Crowley is... complicated.

Publicly, he spins it as a “tragic accident”—“A rare, unfortunate incident during a school-sanctioned task! We shall honor our lost guest!” He uses big words and flashy speeches, and pretends like this wasn’t his fault.

But when he’s alone in his office, he looks at the file with Yuu’s name and wonders if he ever even really tried to help them.

He sent a magicless teen to mine with unstable students and monsters.

He knew they were different. Vulnerable. And yet, he brushed it off.

There’s a note he writes but never sends, addressed to the mirror that summoned Yuu:

“This realm took what it never should have touched. And now it has blood on its hands.”

He keeps the key to Ramshackle on his desk. Every time he sees it, he flinches.

RIDDLE'S OVERBLOT

Grim

He saw it happen.

He was right there—he saw the blast coming, and he tried to drag Yuu back, but they slipped from his grip.

“Yuu?” he calls out, paw nudging at their arm. “Hey. Hey, c’mon, this ain’t funny. Get up.”

He tries to laugh it off at first. Grim doesn’t do death. He doesn’t understand it. Not really.

But when the healers come and shake their heads, when no one responds, something inside Grim shatters.

His magic starts reacting wildly. He growls and sparks with unstable fire, yelling at Riddle’s unconscious body like it’s his fault. “You ruined everything! They’re gone and it’s because of YOU!”

Afterward, he won’t eat. Won’t talk. He curls up in Yuu’s bed with their uniform jacket tucked under his chin, tail limp.

“They promised we’d figure stuff out together... Now I gotta do it alone?”

Ace Trappola

Ace flips out.

Not right away. First, it’s disbelief. “No, no, they’re gonna get up. Right? Deuce? Tell me they’re fine.”

Then, it’s anger. At Riddle. At Cater and Trey for not stopping it. At himself.

He slams his fist into a wall so hard his knuckles bleed. “I should’ve pulled them out. I saw the signs. I knew something was gonna happen.”

He gets snappy. Bitter. Starts arguments with anyone who tries to sugarcoat it. “They didn’t ‘pass peacefully.’ They got caught up in some overblot crap that wasn’t even their fault!”

He avoids Ramshackle. Too many memories. Too much guilt.

But he keeps Yuu’s student ID in his jacket pocket.

Deuce Spade

Deuce cries.

He tries to hold it in, tries to be strong—because that’s what he thinks Yuu would’ve wanted—but the tears come anyway. He sobs into his hands when no one’s looking, shaking with the weight of regret.

“I promised to protect them…” he whispers.

He keeps up their dorm. Keeps bringing food to Grim, even if the little guy won’t touch it. He visits Crowley’s office demanding answers, demanding justice, yelling that this shouldn’t have happened.

Deuce becomes the one who remembers the little things—how Yuu liked their tea, the dumb jokes they told, the way they always said "I've got your back" even without magic.

And he makes sure everyone else remembers too.

Riddle Rosehearts

When he wakes up from the overblot and hears the news, he goes silent.

He doesn't cry. Doesn’t scream. He just… shuts down.

He asks to see the body. Crowley says no.

So Riddle walks to the rose maze himself, stands in the spot where Yuu fell, and just stares at the blood-stained petals.

“I didn’t mean to…”

He says it to no one. Over and over. A mantra. A curse.

He writes an apology note but tears it up. Who would it even go to?

Trey and Cater notice the shift—Riddle becomes harsher on himself. More rigid. Less confident. Because deep down, he knows:

Someone died because he lost control.

Cater Diamond

Cater’s smile doesn’t slip right away.

He’s used to filtering his emotions. Used to staying “on brand,” even when he’s horrified. So when he sees Yuu’s lifeless form after the magic storm clears, he just… freezes.

“H-Haha… no way, right? This has to be a prank. Right, Riddle?”

No one answers. Grim is howling. Ace is screaming. Deuce is crying.

Cater’s hands start to shake.

Later, he’ll post nothing. Not even a filtered picture. He'll ghost Magicam for a while.

He tries to visit Ramshackle once, to drop off a bouquet of marigolds and forget-me-nots—but the door creaks open and he sees Grim curled up on the couch, and he just can’t do it.

“I didn’t even know them,” he murmurs to himself, “and it still hurts this bad… What about the ones who did?”

Trey Clover

Trey stays composed. He always does.

He takes over when everyone else is falling apart—helping stabilize the overblot aftermath, escorting Riddle away from the scene, offering Deuce a tissue, shielding Cater from seeing too much.

But when he's alone in the kitchen later, making a tart for no one, he lets himself break a little.

His knife pauses mid-slice. A cherry slips and stains the counter red.

“I should’ve noticed Riddle was this close to snapping,” he mutters. “If I’d stopped him sooner…”

Trey doesn't cry. But guilt clings to him like powdered sugar on a fresh cake. Yuu wasn’t his responsibility, but they were in his dorm's garden. Under his vice-leadership. And that’s not something he forgets easily.

He leaves a note at Ramshackle with a box of treats:

“For Grim. I know they liked sweet things. —Trey”

Dire Crowley

Crowley is the one who has to “make it official.”

He stands before the gathered first years, his usual flourish gone. There’s no fanfare, no dramatic cloak-swoosh. Just a stiff, solemn tone.

“It is with deepest regret that I must confirm… the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm has passed, following the incident involving an overblot.”

He doesn’t look anyone in the eye.

When the students leave, he stays behind in the hall, staring at the cracked mirror that once brought Yuu here.

“They were never supposed to be involved in magic,” he mutters. “I was supposed to protect them…”

He writes a formal report. Then another one. Then a third. None of them feel right.

Later, Crowley visits Ramshackle and sets down a key with a tiny raven charm beside their bed.

“I promised you safety. I failed. May this place remember you better than I did.”

LEONA'S OVERBLOT

It’s live. NRC's Spelldrive match is being broadcast across Twisted Wonderland.

Leona’s magic erupts like a sandstorm hurricane—spikes of sand and flame. Yuu is running, dragging an injured Grim, trying to reach Jack.

Then comes the roar.

Then silence.

The sand settles. A figure lies limp in the wreckage.

There’s a gasp on the feed. The camera zooms in— —and the world watches as the magicless Prefect, the one who stood beside overblots and chaos, lies still on the battlefield.

Grim

Grim doesn’t even process what happens at first.

He sees the sandstorm. The explosion of magic. He hears Yuu scream—and then nothing. Just silence.

He claws at their body. “Get up! Hey! I said get UP!”

He tries to use his magic. Tries to warm them up with a fireball. Nothing works.

He sobs until his voice is hoarse. He doesn’t leave their side—not when the teachers show up, not when the sun sets, not even when Crowley tries to move him.

“You said we were gonna leave this place together, remember? You promised…”

After that, he never says their name again. But he whispers it in his sleep, tail curled around their favorite pillow.

Ace Trappola

Ace punches Leona.

No questions, no hesitation—he hauls off and decks him right across the jaw, shouting “You bastard! You KILLED them!”

It doesn’t matter that Leona’s still recovering from the overblot. It doesn’t matter that he gets dragged off. He’s shaking with rage.

Ace’s grief comes out as fire. Loud. Angry. Messy.

Later, he sneaks into Ramshackle alone. He rifles through Yuu’s drawers, looking for something—a hoodie, a note, an old snack wrapper. Anything that still smells like them.

He finds a photo they all took before the Spelldrive match.

He keeps it in his wallet.

Deuce Spade

Deuce kneels beside Yuu’s body and doesn’t move for a long time.

He holds their hand. It’s still warm. He begs the healers to try again. Begs the staff to do something.

“They can’t be gone… Not them. Not Yuu…”

He starts blaming himself. “If I’d been faster. If I’d trained harder. If I’d just been stronger—”

He throws himself into becoming stronger after that. Pushing past his limits. Studying harder. Training until he drops.

But he never stops wearing the little Ramshackle pin Yuu made for him, safety-pinned to the inside of his collar.

Cater Diamond

Cater completely drops the act.

No more filters. No cute captions. No jokes.

He vanishes from Magicam for a full month. When he comes back, it’s quiet. Just a black square and one line:

“Miss u, bestie.”

He tries to keep smiling around others, especially Grim, but it’s clearly forced. His voice cracks sometimes.

“I never even said goodbye… How could I not say goodbye?!”

Cater leaves a bracelet at the edge of the Savanaclaw field where they fell—green and silver beads, their initials on it.

He comes back every week to make sure it's still there.

Trey Clover

Trey becomes the one who takes care of everyone else.

He comforts Grim. Checks on Deuce. Calms Ace. Brings food even when no one eats.

He tries to be steady, reliable—but even he has his moments.

Sometimes, late at night in the kitchen, when he’s baking and the scent of vanilla fills the room, he sees Yuu laughing by the counter and has to sit down before he breaks.

He brings a box of strawberry tarts to Ramshackle and places it on their bed, whispering, “You always liked these… right?”

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle is devastated.

He stares at their body with wide, horrified eyes. His throat closes. He stammers something—rules, overblot laws, consequences—but the words fall flat.

He visits their grave alone. He brings roses, red and white.

“I should have stopped Leona. I knew something was wrong. I should have said something. Done something…”

He reads old messages Yuu sent him. Keeps rereading them, like they'll change.

When Heartslabyul hosts a tea party in their memory, Riddle personally makes sure it’s perfect.

“They deserve nothing less.”

Jack Howl

Jack grits his teeth.

He says nothing at first. Just watches in silence as the healers pronounce Yuu gone.

But later, he trains. Harder than ever. His knuckles split. His legs ache.

“If I’d been there a second earlier… I could’ve shielded them.”

He doesn’t cry, but he starts carrying himself a little more respectfully. For Yuu.

At Ramshackle, he leaves a desert lily by their bed—a flower that survives in harshness. “You were tough. I’ll honor that.”

Dire Crowley

Crowley looks… older afterward.

He gives a dramatic speech at the memorial. Everyone assumes he’s playing it up again—until he chokes up mid-sentence.

“This school was supposed to keep them safe…”

He writes a letter to the Headmage’s council, arguing that overblots are no longer “rare accidents,” but institutional failures.

He also writes one to Yuu.

It sits in his drawer, never sent.

“You deserved better. From this world. From me. I only hope the next life is kinder.”

Leona Kingscholar

Leona doesn’t say a word when he’s told Yuu didn’t survive.

He just stares. At the scorch mark in the dirt. At the faces of the others—Grim sobbing, Deuce shaking, Ace screaming at him. He says nothing.

He turns away.

No apology. No excuse. He doesn't even try to defend himself.

Later, alone in his dorm, he leans against the wall with a clenched jaw, grinding his molars. His overblot haze is gone, but the image of Yuu—burned into his memory—won’t leave.

“Tch... They were a nobody. Just some magicless brat...”

But he’s not saying it to anyone else. He’s trying to convince himself. Because deep down, he knows that’s not true. Yuu stood their ground. Faced him when even Savanaclaw students ran. And they died because of him.

The next day, Leona doesn’t come out of his room.

The week after that, he’s quieter. Less sharp-tongued. Still dangerous, still smug—but there’s a heaviness in his voice now.

He doesn’t go to the memorial. But he sends a small wrapped parcel to Ramshackle with Ruggie.

Inside: a faded Savanaclaw armband and a simple note.

They had guts. —L

Ruggie Bucchi

Ruggie wasn’t close to Yuu, but they helped him once.

Shared a snack. Laughed at his dumb jokes. Treated him like a person, not Leona’s errand boy.

So when he sees their body, something shifts.

“…They’re really gone?”

He doesn’t cry. He’s too used to loss for that. But his stomach churns as he watches Grim howl and Ace get dragged away from Leona.

Ruggie knew this was gonna happen eventually. He just didn’t think it’d be Yuu.

He feels the tension in the dorm, hears the whispers from other students, and suddenly everything feels too loud.

That night, he lights a candle in the Savanaclaw lounge. It’s small, cheap, something from the Night Market.

He stares at the flame and murmurs, “Rest easy, alright? Sorry we never got to hang out more…”

Then he turns and gets back to work, because someone has to clean up the mess.

But he steals food from the cafeteria a little more often now.

For Grim.

AZUL'S OVERBLOT

Grim

He can’t even scream this time.

He runs to their body, but the water’s still seeping away. He tries to drag them out. Shouts for help.

He sobs into their clothes, claws clenched around fabric, whispering over and over, “No no no—come on, come on—don’t do this, please—”

He tries breathing fire, again and again, like maybe the warmth will bring them back.

Azul’s contracts burn around them. Grim doesn’t care. He curls around their chest and doesn’t move for hours.

Ace Trappola

Ace laughs.

It’s a broken sound, too sharp to be real.

“No way. No way they’re— They can’t be— This is stupid. They survived Leona. They survived Riddle. They’re Yuu.”

He looks at Azul like he wants to kill him, but then just… stops. He walks over to Yuu’s body and sits down beside them, knees to his chest, silent.

Hours later, he mutters to no one, “I didn’t even get to say sorry… I called them annoying this morning…”

Deuce Spade

Deuce falls to his knees.

He shakes Azul by the collar, shouting “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” before Jack pulls him back.

Then he kneels by Yuu and clutches their hand like it’s an anchor. He doesn’t move for a long time, even when everyone else starts to leave.

He wears their Ramshackle pin on his blazer after that. Cleans it every morning.

When he does tests, exams, in a track race, he whispers under his breath, “Watch me. I’ll make you proud.”

Jack Howl

Jack stands frozen in place.

His tail bristles. His claws dig into his palms. But he doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t cry.

He walks over and picks up the tattered scarf Yuu always wore, brushes the ink off it gently.

“They were a good one,” he says quietly.

He trains harder after that. Says less. But anyone who enters the Savannaclaw training field will find a small stone marker in the far corner.

“To the one who stood tall without claws.”

Ruggie Bucchi

Ruggie curses.

“Damn it. Damn it all.”

He kicks one of the broken tables. Then another. And then he stops—because he sees Grim, curled and shaking, and his chest aches.

He drops to a squat beside him, puts a hand on Grim’s back.

“They were… They were somethin’ else, huh?”

He steals food from the Lounge that night. Loads of it. Drops it off at Ramshackle with no note.

He doesn’t say it out loud, but he swears to himself: No one else from their circle dies on his watch.

Leona Kingscholar

Leona’s the first to arrive after the overblot ends.

He sees the ink, the body, the shattered remains of the contracts—and doesn’t speak. Not at first.

“…You actually went and got them killed, huh?” he mutters to Azul.

Leona walks over to Yuu and crouches low. His tail flicks.

“Should’ve told you not to play hero again. Should’ve made you stay out of this.”

He leaves a desert lily by their side and walks away before anyone sees his hands shaking.

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul is catatonic.

He collapses when the overblot fades. The moment he sees what he’s done—who he’s killed—his voice dies in his throat.

“No… No, no, no… I didn’t mean…”

He vomits ink.

He sobs behind his hands.

He screams at the sea for days afterward.

He locks himself in his office and doesn't come out. Not for weeks. He can’t even look at his own reflection.

Eventually, he stops using contracts.

He burns every single one.

Jade Leech

Jade is… quiet.

Too quiet.

He kneels beside the body and closes their eyes. Straightens their sleeves. Brushes the ink from their lashes.

Then he looks at Azul—torn, sobbing—and doesn’t speak.

He doesn’t smile after that. Not in the Lounge. Not in class.

When asked, he only says: “They were… sincere. And brave. It's a shame. A true shame.”

He visits Ramshackle every now and then, leaving wild mushrooms at the doorstep.

Floyd Leech

Floyd doesn’t take it well.

First, he laughs.

“Eh? Seriously? Shrimpy’s dead? Just like that?”

Then his smile vanishes. Completely.

“...No fun.”

He walks into the Lounge’s VIP room and trashes it. Rips through furniture. Breaks the glass. Shatters the chandelier.

No one stops him.

After that, he won’t talk about it. If someone mentions Yuu, he gets quiet.

He goes out swimming in the ocean for hours. Sometimes all night.

When he comes back, he’s always more tired.

Dire Crowley

Crowley stands at the edge of the scene, looking like a ghost.

This is the third time now. Third overblot. Third time Yuu has nearly died. Except this time…

He pulls his hat down, voice tight. “I failed them. Again.”

He doesn’t perform this time. No grand speeches. Just silence and shame.

He drafts a dozen letters to Yuu’s family—then throws them all out. What could he say? "Your child died in another world under my care?"

He declares a school-wide mourning period and cancels all contracts indefinitely.

But it’s not enough. Nothing is.

JAMIL'S OVERBLOT

They were too close. Always too close.

In trying to protect Kalim, in trying to talk Jamil down, they stepped into range—and one of the snake-like braids struck. Fast. Precise. Poisonous.

No one noticed the bite at first. Not even Yuu.

But as the overblot fades, and the sand settles, they collapse—pale, lips turning blue, their breathing labored until…

It stops.

And the music dies with them.

Grim

He’s the first to notice something’s wrong.

He shakes Yuu’s arm, pats their cheek. “Oi, this isn’t funny—come on, we’ve gotta scold Jamil, right?”

But their chest doesn’t rise.

Grim screams. His voice cracks.

“YUU?!”

He doesn’t leave their side for the rest of the night, paws clutching their arm, growling at anyone who tries to move them.

When Ace and Deuce return, he nearly attacks them just to stop them from seeing.

Jamil Viper

He sees the bite. He knows exactly what it means.

He knows.

He drops to his knees.

“...No… no no no…”

His voice shakes. His hands tremble. His overblot form may have faded, but its consequences linger like venom in his blood.

He killed them.

No tricks. No schemes. No brainwashing. Just murder.

He doesn’t run. He doesn’t speak. He just sits in the sand, staring at his hands, unable to move.

He’s silent for hours.

When they drag him away, he doesn’t resist.

Kalim Al-Asim

He doesn’t understand at first.

“Yuu? What are they doing? They’re just sleeping, right? Right, Jamil?!"

But Jamil won’t meet his eyes.

And when Grim doesn’t answer—when Grim starts sobbing—Kalim’s smile falls. Shatters.

“No… no, no, this isn’t…”

He grabs Yuu’s hand and holds it like he can warm it back to life.

“Please—wake up—we haven’t even gone swimming yet! You promised!”

He cries hard. For hours. He tries to take the blame, keeps saying:

“It should’ve been me. I was the one he hated…”

Azul Ashengrotto

When Azul sees the body, he goes eerily quiet.

He slams the lounge door shut, tells Jade and Floyd to cancel operations for a week. When they ask why, he just mutters:

“Yuu’s dead. Jamil’s overblot.”

That night, Azul goes down to the sea and throws in a silver pen—a token Yuu once gave him when he helped them with a contract.

He doesn’t talk about it afterward.

But he never lets a client leave with a dangerous deal again.

Jade Leech

Jade lowers his when he sees the body.

“…How unfortunate.”

He’s quiet for a long while. He plants a rare desert flower in a terrarium—a tribute. Waters it every morning.

When questioned, he only says, “They were brave. It is a shame bravery rarely guarantees survival.”

But his smiles are smaller now. More thoughtful. Especially around Jamil.

Floyd Leech

He gets quiet.

Too quiet.

He doesn’t laugh. Doesn’t grin. Just tosses a beach ball into the ocean and watches it float away.

When asked, he mutters, “Shrimpy was s’posed to come back. I was gonna show ‘em how to really swim…”

And then, with no warning, he grabs Jamil by the collar and slams him into a wall.

“You bit them, didn’t you?”

He doesn’t hit him. Just glares, then shoves him down and walks away.

He doesn’t show up to class for three days after that.

Crowley

He returns in high spirits, sunburned and humming—until he sees the school’s flag at half-mast.

“What happened—?”

Grim hits him with a fireball before he can finish his sentence.

When Crowley sees Yuu’s name etched into the memorial stone, he drops to his knees.

He doesn’t even try to justify himself.

He just whispers, “I left. Again. And they paid for it…”

And for once, Crowley vanishes from public view.

Not even the staff can find him for days.

Ace Trappola

He bursts through the gate, duffel in hand, bragging to Deuce—until Grim tackles him, claws shaking.

“They’re gone,” Grim wheezes, “They’re gone, Ace!”

Ace laughs. “Huh? Quit messin’ with me—what do you—”

Then he sees Deuce’s face pale. And the memorial stone. And the empty Ramshackle doorway.

“…No. No, no—this is a joke, right?!”

He punches the wall until his knuckles bleed.

Deuce Spade

He drops his bag the moment Grim tells them.

“No way… No—they were fine. They were fine when we left—”

He clutches his stomach and falls to his knees. “Why weren’t we here? Why didn’t we come back sooner?!”

He visits the grave every morning for a week. Leaves flowers. Doesn’t say much in class.

His grades improve. His magic sharpens.

He swears it won’t happen again.

Riddle Rosehearts

He stares at the nameplate on the stone.

“…They died protecting someone else?”

He places a red rose beneath the inscription.

“They never followed the rules… and still had the nerve to leave before I could thank them.”

His voice is brittle.

After that, he disciplines his dorm a little less harshly.

He gives Grim his leftover tarts in silence.

Trey Clover

He sighs deeply, brows furrowed.

“…I should’ve known something like this would happen.”

He helps Cater plan a quiet tribute in Heartslabyul. A tea party with Yuu’s favorite sweets. No rules. No scolding.

Just stories.

Trey keeps their seat open.

Cater Diamond

He cries in the hallway.

No selfies. No filters. No pretending.

Just raw, ugly crying.

“Why didn’t I get more pictures with them…?”

He organizes a social feed in their memory. Posts their art. Their dumb selfies. Their best moments.

It goes viral within NRC. Students from all dorms comment:

“They helped me.” “They stood up for me.” “I miss them…”

Leona Kingscholar

“…Damn snake.”

He growls low, tail twitching.

He doesn’t yell. Doesn’t threaten. Just walks out of the dorm and stares at the cliffs until sunset.

He was starting to respect them.

Now he never gets the chance.

Ruggie Bucchi

He’s pissed.

At Crowley. At Jamil. At himself.

He sneaks into the infirmary late at night and punches the wall once—just once.

Then he wipes his eyes and leaves, like nothing happened.

But he leaves offerings at the stone every week. Small things.

Bread. Buttons. A lucky toothpick.

Jack Howl

He stands before the memorial with flowers in hand and says nothing.

Not a word.

But he starts training harder.

When he duels, he whispers: “Hope you’re watching.”

VIL'S OVERBLOT

The air is thick with smoke and glamour. Vil's overblot form collapses, and the world finally breathes.

Everyone thinks it's over.

Until Yuu sways.

Until their lips tremble with blue.

Until they fall with no warning.

Grim reaches them first, and then all hell breaks loose.

Grim

He’s laughing at first. “We did it, right?! Right, Hench—?”

He sees the foam on their lips.

“No.”

He shakes them. “No—NO! Don’t you dare pull this crap—wake up! You said we were gonna get celebratory tuna!”

He shrieks when they stop breathing. He claws at his own face, trembling so hard he can barely speak.

When someone touches him, he bites them.

“DON’T—touch them—don’t take them away!!”

Ace Trappola

He rushes to Yuu’s side, shouting their name. Shaking them like that’ll undo it.

He looks to Deuce. Then to Grim. Then to Vil.

“WHO DID THIS?!”

He’s crying—actually crying—and it’s not cute. It’s ugly. Angry. Messy.

“I should’ve noticed—I should’ve—why didn’t I—?!”

He tries to do CPR. Tries to cast a healing spell. Anything.

None of it works.

Deuce Spade

He goes quiet. Stone-faced.

He tries to carry Yuu’s body like they’re still breathing, like maybe warmth and motion will bring them back.

His voice is hoarse: “I’ll take them to the infirmary. I can fix this. I can fix this.”

He doesn't stop walking until someone physically pulls him back.

When he finally lets go, he drops to his knees and sobs into his hands.

Jamil Viper

When he sees the foaming poison, the slow purple hue crawling over Yuu’s veins…

He knows.

“…Vil used poison,” he mutters, numb. “And they were too close.”

He staggers back, staring at his hands like he’s watching it happen all over again.

“Not again,” he whispers. “Not again.”

He turns and walks away. Doesn’t look back.

This time, he cries alone.

Kalim Al-Asim

“Yuu…?”

He kneels beside them. Touches their cheek.

“Yuu? Come on, wake up—it’s over, we won! You said you’d teach me how to bake that cake, remember?”

He keeps babbling. Keeps smiling. Even as tears start to fall.

Even when they don’t wake up.

“…They were always smiling,” he whispers. “Even when things were scary…”

Epel Felmier

He starts shaking.

He was right beside them. Right beside them.

And he didn’t notice.

“They were fine—they were still standing—they were smiling—”

He screams into his hands. Then punches the ground until his knuckles bleed.

Vil tries to stop him.

Epel shouts, “DON’T!”

And turns away, teeth bared in grief.

Rook Hunt

The first thing he says is quiet. Reverent.

“…They died beautifully.”

Everyone stares.

Then he kneels down and closes Yuu’s eyes gently.

“They were a soul full of light. To burn out in such a theatrical, bittersweet way… it’s almost poetic.”

His voice breaks.

He looks at Vil.

“Mon Roi. What have you done?”

Vil Schoenheit

He knew.

He knew what was in the poison. How fast it worked. How potent it was.

And still—still—he let it happen.

When Yuu collapses, his voice fails. He runs to them, brushes their hair back.

He presses his forehead to theirs.

“…You idiot,” he chokes. “Why didn’t you move? You should have stayed behind the curtain!”

He doesn’t say much after that.

But he cancels his return to the stage.

Forever.

Crowley

He returns to a somber, shattered NRC.

When he hears what happened, he doesn’t speak.

Doesn’t excuse himself.

He walks into Ramshackle dorm, sits in the dark, and whispers:

“I keep failing you.”

He shuts the dorm down for a week.

He leaves a golden brooch on Yuu’s old pillow.

Trey, Cater, Riddle, Leona, Ruggie, Jack

Trey makes a cake and leaves it at Ramshackle. Says nothing.

Cater posts one last selfie with Yuu and doesn’t log into Magicam again for a month.

Riddle reprimands Vil for days—then visits the grave in silence.

Leona grits his teeth, then throws a spell book across his room. Doesn’t talk about it.

Ruggie mutters, “Figures someone like him would mess it up,” then wipes his eyes.

Jack makes a point to place wildflowers near their grave every few days.

Jade whispers, “They died protecting others. Admirable… but costly.”

Floyd just says, “Shrimpy’s really gone, huh…” and doesn’t smile for a week.

Azul throws himself into managing the lounge, late at night he stares at a framed picture of him and Yuu and cries.

Hornton

He’s fixing the stage with his magic. Alone. Quiet. Restoring the ruins left behind after Vil’s rampage.

Then he sees it—Yuu’s name on the memorial plaque. A candle burning low.

He stares.

His magic falters.

“…No.”

His voice shakes.

“...No.”

He vanishes from the stage.

Later, students find the ruins of a blasted tree behind Ramshackle.

And Malleus is there. Silent. Still. Staring at Yuu’s favorite bench—the one they sat on during night talks.

He places a glowing crystal beside it. It hums softly. Mourning.

“No one else sat with me in the dark,” he whispers. “No one else called me ‘Hornton.’”

IDIA'S OVERBLOT

Grim

He's inconsolable.

Screaming. Thrashing. Clinging to Yuu's unmoving form. There's soot on his fur and tear tracks down his face.

“They were just—they were just joking about food! We were gonna go home, we were—they PROMISED!!”

He tries to breathe fire in grief, but it sputters out into smoke. He curls into their chest and won’t let go.

Ace Trappola

“No.”

He walks up. Stares. Backs away.

“No. No—no, this isn’t—that’s not funny, Yuu. Get up.”

He turns to Deuce. His voice is cracking.

“They’re gonna sit up. They’re just messing with us, right?”

But no one laughs.

He kneels down and covers his face with both hands.

Deuce Spade

His entire body locks up.

“I should’ve—gone in with them. I should’ve…”

His fists clench so tightly they bleed.

He kneels beside Grim and takes one of Yuu’s hands in his. Quiet.

“Thank you… for everything.”

Jack Howl

He has no words. Only a silent, thunderous grief.

He lowers his head respectfully. Closes Yuu’s eyes with trembling fingers.

He doesn't cry. But his voice is hoarse for days.

Later, he trains until he collapses. Trying to make sure no one else dies again.

Ruggie Bucchi

“…Sh*t.”

That’s all he says at first. He turns away.

Wipes his eyes before anyone sees.

But he leaves a meat pie at their grave later. Wrapped in a checkered cloth. No note. No message.

Just something Yuu said they always wanted to try.

Leona Kingscholar

He scowls. Says they were reckless. That it was bound to happen.

But the minute no one’s watching, he storms off into the desert garden and roars so loud it shakes the windows.

When he comes back, he’s dragging an ancient herb said to revive the dead.

It doesn’t work.

Trey Clover

He finds Grim later in Ramshackle.

And quietly makes enough food for two, even though only Grim eats.

No one sees him cry.

But he starts baking a certain kind of cake more often—one that only Yuu ever asked for.

Cater Diamond

He doesn’t post anything on Magicam for three months.

He tries to smile. He jokes. But his heart’s not in it.

He visits Ramshackle every week and leaves flowers—sunflowers, yellow and bright.

“You always made things feel warm, y’know?” he whispers.

Riddle Rosehearts

He keeps it together at first.

But when he’s alone? He breaks.

He slams his fists into the desk. Screams into the void.

“They didn’t have magic! They shouldn’t have—shouldn’t have had to go alone!”

He writes a law in Yuu’s honor: “No student shall face a magical threat without backup.”

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul’s hands shake when he sees Yuu’s body.

“They gave me a second chance,” he whispers.

“And I couldn’t even…”

He shuts down the Lounge for a week.

He orders every contract reviewed. Removes every dangerous clause Yuu once called out.

He leaves an ornate seashell at their grave. Etched with: “For the one who believed in me.”

Jade Leech

“…A tragedy.”

His tone is calm. But his eyes are not.

He takes off his gloves and places them over Yuu’s hands, folding them gently.

“I suppose I must find a new mushroom for mourning,” he murmurs.

He visits often. Leaves nothing but silence and prayers.

Floyd Leech

At first? Nothing.

Just blank staring.

Then: “Shrimpy’s really gone, huh?”

He doesn’t cry.

But he drags Idia by the collar and nearly kills him.

“You owe them. FIX IT.”

It takes four people to pull him off.

He doesn't smile after that. Not for a long time.

Idia Shroud

At first, he thinks it’s a glitch.

Then he sees them—unmoving, burned at the edges, body limp in Grim’s arms.

He doesn’t scream.

He just stares. A long time. And says:

“…I killed them.”

He doesn't resist when Floyd attacks. He wants to be punished.

Later, he shuts himself inside the lab. Ignores Ortho. Refuses food.

All he says, over and over, is:

“I didn’t want this. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want this.”

Ortho Shroud

“No. No, no, no—please wake up! I can scan you—I can rebuild you, I can—”

His voice distorts.

“PLEASE DON’T LEAVE NII-SAN BEHIND!!”

When Yuu doesn’t stir, Ortho’s eyes dim.

He flies off.

And no one sees him for three days.

Crowley

He was there. Watching from the surface. Powerless to go down with them.

When Yuu doesn’t return, he collapses to his knees.

He says nothing.

But every night after, the gate to the Underworld glows dimly. Lit by a single enchanted candle.

Burning for the student who dared cross the River Styx.

MALLEUS'S OVERBLOT (may be inaccurate)

Grim

He holds your hand as you fade, clawing at the thorns like they'll move.

“Don’t go. You—you always saved everyone!! I was supposed to protect you—!!”

He’s wailing.

When it’s over, he curls into your chest and doesn’t speak for two days.

Ace Trappola

He’s the first to scream.

“WHAT’S THE POINT OF WAKING UP IF THEY’RE DEAD!?”

He runs at the thorns. Punches them until his fists bleed. Until Deuce pulls him back.

He curses Malleus. Then curses himself.

Then, eventually, just sits on the floor. Staring.

Deuce Spade

He kneels beside your body.

His voice cracks as he says:

“I became a better person because of you…”

Then, in a whisper:

“…I don’t know how to be good without you.”

Cater Diamond

“No… not them… anyone but them…”

He sobs. No filters. No jokes. No posing.

His Magicam goes dark again. He locks himself in his room and cries into their old photos.

Trey Clover

He can’t breathe when he sees you.

He covers his face. Kneels.

“I should’ve done more. Been there. Helped you—something.”

He leaves a tiny tart beside your grave, baked with your favorite flavor.

Riddle Rosehearts

His voice is a whisper. Unsteady.

“They were the only one who understood me... even after everything I did...”

He places a rose—red and thornless—on your chest.

And kneels, head bowed.

Leona Kingscholar

He stares down at you. Quiet.

“I told you not to play hero,” he murmurs.

He sounds tired. Angry. Hollow.

But he watches over your grave when no one else will.

Silent. Guarding. For hours at a time.

Ruggie Bucchi

"...Tch."

He turns his back. Walks away.

But hours later, someone finds a crumpled note by your bed.

"Thanks for feeding me."

Jack Howl

He stands still for a long time.

Then salutes you with quiet reverence.

“You had more heart than anyone I’ve ever met.”

He trains harder than ever after that. To live by your example.

Azul Ashengrotto

He drops to his knees.

“This wasn’t part of the deal…”

His voice breaks.

“I would've traded everything. Just—just to keep them safe…”

He cancels all contracts for a week. Shuts down the Lounge. Cries behind locked doors.

Jade Leech

He gently closes your eyes.

And, for once, doesn’t smile.

“Even rare orchids wither in the frost,” he says.

And places a white lily beside you.

Floyd Leech

“…Shrimpy…”

He pokes your cheek.

No response.

Then he howls. He tears up a hallway. Slams a wall with a fist that cracks stone.

He doesn’t laugh again for a month.

Kalim Al-Asim

“No no no—you were supposed to live!! You saved me!! Why didn’t I save you!?”

He sobs into Jamil’s shoulder.

He lights candles in your memory every night.

Jamil Viper

He closes his eyes.

He doesn't speak. Just mutters a single word:

“Unfair.”

But later, he visits your resting place, presses a charm into the soil.

“I owed you more than I gave.”

Vil Schoenheit

He holds you like glass. Like something sacred.

“Your final act was... selfless. Poetic. Tragic.”

He speaks at your memorial.

And always leaves a pristine white rose.

Epel Felmier

His shoulders shake.

He refuses to speak at the ceremony. But he carves a tiny wooden charm for you.

He carries it in his pocket. Always.

Rook Hunt

Tears fall freely.

“Ah, mon trésor… such beauty, such sacrifice…”

He writes a ballad in your honor. He performs it in the forest, alone.

Idia Shroud

He stares at you with wide eyes. Whispering to himself.

“No. No. Not again. Not another one. Not like Ortho—!”

He curls into himself.

And when he reboots Ortho later, he hugs him like he’ll disappear too.

Ortho Shroud

He powers down for a full day.

And when he reactivates, he asks:

“Why didn’t I detect the danger? Why couldn’t I save them?”

He makes a digital backup of your voice. It plays when he’s alone.

Lilia Vanrouge

He lowers his head and whispers in old fae tongue.

“They were brave.”

He sings an ancient lullaby only fae children know.

And your grave is tended by wild roses from then on.

Silver

He brushes your hair back.

“I thought we’d all wake up…”

He places a dream charm on your chest.

“So you’d never be afraid. Not even now.”

Sebek Zigvolt

He yells.

First at Malleus. Then at the world. Then at himself.

“They protected you, my lord! And now they’re GONE!”

His voice breaks.

He kneels beside your grave.

“They were… a knight.”

Malleus Draconia

When he sees you fall, his world ends.

The thorns fade. The dreams collapse.

You lay still in his arms.

His voice is a whisper. A plead.

“No. No no no. This isn't what I wanted…”

He doesn’t overblot again.

He just… disappears.

Some say he wandered into the thorns. Others say he turned into mist.

But on quiet nights, a low voice murmurs:

“I wanted eternity with you.”

Crowley

For once… he takes responsibility.

He wears all black.

He lays a feathered mask at your grave.

And whispers:

“You were the one good thing I never deserved.”

The Prince Part 3 - final part

And ofc they lived happily ever after

Instagram | Twitter

some fucking resources for all ur writing fuckin needs

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

(hope this helps some ppl)

"Oh he didn' tell you ?"

He did in fact tell no one except the least responsible which also happens to be the headmage. But he wouldn't have told Divus anyway since they barely get along, so yeah... communication issues :)))

Went for Azar as a name in the end. I did hesitate with Nemo but this name's vibe has been kinda killed by the goddamn clownfish (and it's my favorite nightwish song too eeee)

I'm a woman of my word! — [1] [2]

*MC had decided to check again the ancient texts Malleus translated, but one in particular caught their eye—strangely, they didn’t remember reading it before.*

Your soul belongs to nowhere.

MC: ...

MC: Strange... the Dark Mirror said these same words when I first came here...

MC: ...

Grim: Hench-human! What are you still doing there?! We're gonna be late for class!

MC: !!!

MC: Y-yeah! Just—just gimme a second!

Crowley: Ah, Prefect! I presume you've come seeking my invaluable counsel?

MC: Yes, headmage. Is it okay?

Crowley: Of course! How may I be of assistance?

MC: ...

MC: Headmage, do you still remember… my first day here?

Crowley: Why, yes! How could I forget? You and Grim caused quite the commotion that day!

MC: Great… Then do you remember what the Dark Mirror said? That my soul belongs nowhere?

Crowley: *sensing their agitation* What’s troubling you, Prefect? Why these questions all of a sudden?

MC: I...

MC: ...

MC: *forced a smile* Never mind, headmage. Maybe I’ve just been... thinking too much about it.

Crowley: Hm... To ease your worries, the Dark Mirror simply meant you don't belong to any dorm, as your soul doesn't align with any of the Great Seven's. This includes the fact that you possess no magic.

MC: Yes. But still...

Crowley: ...

Crowley: Prefect, you should go back to Ramshackle and rest. I'll let your teachers know you need the day off.

MC: ...

MC: *nods* Yeah. I should do that.

Ace: Huh? Where's MC?

Grim: They went back to Ramshackle. *frowns* I wanted to go back too, but Trein and Crewel said no.

Deuce: Well, you have no reason to skip.

Grim: But Hench-human wasn't even sick!

Ace: Yeah, yeah. We get you.

Deuce: We should ask them later to know what happened.

MC: *rechecks the ancient text, only to discover new words that shatter all their hopes*

Death came for you—but your heart still beats. Your lungs still gasp. This place cradles you now, a hollow solace for what you’ve lost. That yearning in your chest? The dream of home? It will never be anything more. You are trapped here.

MC: *tears begin to fall—slow, silent, inevitable—as the truth settles like a stone in their chest*

*Ace, Deuce, and Grim exchanged confused glances why MC hadn't come to open the door yet.*

Ace: Don't tell me they're asleep?

Deuce: It's still quite early for them to do that.

Grim: *pounding the door with both paws* Hey, hench-human! Open up!

Deuce: Oi, Grim!

*The door opens.*

Ace: Ha! Finally! What took you so long—

MC: *their expression empties - not blank, but void - as the sickeningly familiar swirl of overblot begins creeping up their arms*

MC: ...

Ace: Oi... What's going on...

MC: ...

MC: I... don't know... but you have to leave... now...

Grim: Hench-human...?

MC: Grim… there's… there's nowhere for me…

Deuce: This... This is getting bad!

Ace: W-We'll be back! Okay?! We'll call for help!

Deuce: Grim! Stay with the Prefect!

*Ace and Deuce went to get help.*

Grim: ...

Grim: Hench-human...

MC: ...

*Ace and Deuce hurried to the Mirror Chamber where the dorm leaders were gathered.*

Riddle: *frowns* Ace? Deuce? What are you two doing here?

Vil: You are not allowed here, spudlings. This meeting is for dorm leaders only.

Kalim: We should hear them first—

Ace: THE PREFECT IS OVERBLOTTING! WE NEED HELP NOW!

The dorm leaders: !!!

Malleus: What?!

Deuce: Please, Draconia-senpai! They're in pain! We must hurry!

Grim: MC...

MC: ...

MC: I'm fine, Grim... But can you do me a favor?

MC: Don't let anyone in.

Just wasn’t enough I guess 🔥

As if we need more angst after Book 7, but you can’t tell me that Idia didn’t feel bitter after Lilia was brought back to life 😩 Like hearing that Silver and Malleus’s wish was powerful enough to bring back Lilia when I’m sure Idia spent nights wishing, pleading to have his brother back. It must’ve been so bittersweet because he still has Ortho, but imagining he could also have back his original brother as well…the implications of Book 7 😭

Twisted Wonderland Master List

Mafia au / Good Luck While Running Away From The Mafia

Intro , 0.5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5, 6

Otome Au

Rules , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud

-Pomegranates

NRC Staff

- A one-shot