"Oh, Trust Me, It Wouldn't Be Good For You." Mona Practically Purred. A Part Of Her Wanted To See Him

"You'll be the first person I tell." She promised. And the only. It wasn't as if she really had anyone else to ask for help. Bradley didn't dislike her life. It had intrigue; it had purpose. There was always something new to learn. She liked that, but it was still a rather solitary life. Everything went into looking after the objects in her care. Most of them didn't require that much tending to. Some of them required too much to be left alone for long. Time to make connections didn't come easily or often. Centuries ago, there had been three more of her kind. Sisters that she'd never known. They were long gone, faded into nothing before she'd ever gotten a chance to know them. Her parents had made one last of them to fill in the gap and left her to figure it out. She'd done a pretty good job thus far. It certainly could've been worse.

She laughed once, glad for his humor now more than ever. It cut through the weight of what had just happened. "Maybe a little bit of both," she grinned back at him. Whether he was the scariest thing in here or not, he was definitely one of the more likeable things. It wasn't just poltergeists that she kept in check. There were evils older than time locked away beneath the foundation of her shop, monsters that her parents knew needed to be kept away from the world. She climbed upstairs to her little apartment on the second floor and slept above them every night after checking that all of her safeguards were still in place. Then she checked them again in the morning before doing anything else.

This time, she did blush just a little as Dante went on. It was silly, really, how simply hearing that he enjoyed her company was enough to dust her cheeks in pink. She busied herself then, making her way to the front of the shop to turn the sign on the door to closed and then beginning to pick up some of the more manageable pieces of debris. The questions that followed made her pause. Her hand hovered over the remains of an old medical textbook. She stood from where she'd been crouching to reach it and set the pieces on a precarious bookshelf. When she looked back to Dante, her eyes caught the motion of him rolling up his sleeves. They lingered there long enough to take in his corded forearms before she forced them up. "Nothing like this, no," she replied quietly. "I have other beings in here, but they always come to me contained. It's just on me to make sure they stay that way..." Bradley trailed off. Her brows pulled together. "Why? What are you thinking?"

Dante let out a sigh as she mentioned being even with him and it hardly felt like that, honestly, just by looking at the ruined stuff around the shop. His blue eyes looked at her closely and carefully as she glanced at one specific reliquary, often he wondered what was going on through her head, even more so now. "Still --- if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know, Bradley, alright?"he insisted.

At her bringing up how he isn't the scariest thing in here his brows rose up and he chuckled. "Should I be offended or flattered?"he asked with a little smug grin on his features, showing her he was just joking. Even though the demon was beat, his senses were on alert - the attack couldn't have happened out of no where, that demon was after something. And the more he backtracked, the more it seemed like the demon wasn't after him at all, the element of surprise with Dante being present making him kill it faster.

Once Bradley spoke again he snapped out of his thoughts and offered her another grin. "I do. I mean, it made sense who you are, with the whole business you have in your little shop. Kinda put the two and two together."he admitted with a shrug. "You've got a lot of things of interest kept here. Things that some might use for something bad. So I was kinda swinging by, got some reliquaries from you that helped me in my own agenda. And I grew to enjoy your company, you're one very interesting young lady."he chuckled and procedeed with putting his sword to the side so he could take off his coat, it was already damaged from the demon fight and the bullet hole wasn't as pretty. "Bradley, did you experience demon coming after you before? Have you ever had any sort of encounter similar to this?"he asked and began rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, while his trusted guns ebony and ivory rested on each side of his ribs.

the empress of ayodhaya

python mv behind

GEMMA CHAN British Vogue, october 2024

𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃  &  𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄    (a  series  of  nonverbal  prompts .   mature  themes  present ,   ‘ my ’  muse  belongs  to  the  one who  posted  the  meme  -  send   “ + REVERSE ”   to  reverse  the  prompts .)

→     𝐈 .    GENERAL

❛   hush .   raise  a  finger  in  a  gesture  to  silence  my  muse . ❛   sit .   gesture  for  my  muse  to  sit  down . ❛   door .   hold  a  door  open  for  my  muse . ❛   tap .   tap  my  muse  on  the  shoulder  to  garner  their  attention . ❛   hunger .   give  my  muse  something  to  eat  /  drink . ❛   cook .   present  my  muse  with  home - cooked  food . ❛   brush .   work  a  brush  /  comb  through  my  muse’s  hair . ❛   read .   silently  read  a  book  alongside  my  muse . ❛   hand .   hold  out  a  hand  for  my  muse  to  take . ❛   dressed .   help  my  muse  put  on  an  article  of  clothing . ❛   note .   give  my  muse  a  note  saying :   [ content ] . ❛   amplify .   turn  up  the  music  in  the  car .

→     𝐈𝐈 .    ANGST

❛   patch .   help  my  muse  patch  up  a  wound . ❛   night terrors .   hold  my  muse  after  they  wake  up  from  a  nightmare . ❛   company .   silently  sit  with  my  muse  to  comfort  them. ❛   hospital .   my  muse  is  told  that  yours  is  in  the  hospital . ❛   revelation .   show  my  muse  evidence  of  a  lie  they  told . ❛   indulge .   find  my  muse  drinking  to  cope . ❛   downfall .   find  my  muse  collapsed  on  the  ground . ❛   console .   comfort  my  muse  as  they  cry . ❛   nurse .   give  my  muse  company  in  the  hospital .

→     𝐈𝐈𝐈 .    AFFECTIONATE

❛   wink .   wink  at  my  muse .  ❛   wrap .   wrap  an  arm  around  my  muse’s  [ shoulders  /  waist ] . ❛   caress .   gently  caress  my  muse’s  face . ❛   tousle .   mess  playfully  with  my  muse’s  hair . ❛   chest .   place  your  head  on  my  muse’s  chest .    ❛   comb .   comb  fingers  through  my  muse’s  hair . ❛   grasp .   run  to  my  muse  &  jump  into  their  arms . ❛   lean .   lean  on  my  muse’s  shoulder . ❛   tender .   kiss  my  muse  on  the  [ forehead  /  cheek  /  nose ] . ❛   abrupt .   kiss  my  muse  out  of  the  blue . ❛   chaste .   chastely  kiss  my  muse . ❛   good morning .   kiss  my  muse  the  morning  after . ❛   volumes .   gaze  at  my  muse  in  a  way  that  silently  says  ‘i love you’ .

→     𝐈𝐕  .    VIOLENT

❛   strike .   [ slap / punch ]  my muse in the face . ❛   gun .   wield  a  gun  at  my  muse . ❛   twist .   twist  my  muse’s  arm  behind  their  back . ❛   throttle .   aggressively  wrap  your  hands  around  my  muse’s  throat . ❛   parch .   burn  my  muse  with  a  hot  object . ❛   take down .   forcefully  bring  my  muse  to  the  ground . ❛   gouge .   wield  a  sharp  object  at  my  muse . ❛  shunt .   shove  my  muse  backwards . ❛  stickup .   yell  at  my  muse  to  put  their  hands  in  the  air. ❛  shoot .   [ fatally  /  non-fatally ]   shoot  my  muse . ❛  stab .   stab  my  muse with a  [ knife / other object ].

→     𝐕 .    NSFW

❛   surprise .   send  an  unexpected  nsfw  image  to  my  muse . ❛   pin .   push  my  muse  against  a  [ wall,  table,  other ] . ❛   go down .   go  down  on  my  muse . ❛   choke .   intimately  wrap  your  hands  around  my  muse’s  throat . ❛   belt loops .   pull  my  muse  closer  by  their  belt loops . ❛   skinny dipping .   go  skinny  dipping  with  my  muse . ❛   rip .   tear  a  piece  of  clothing  from  my  muse’s  body . ❛   mark .   leave  a  mark  on  my  muse’s  body  [ specify where ] .

closed for: @ciitrustears

Golden hour had never been his favorite time to paint. The world was always so warm. He much preferred working by the cold glare of the moonlight. It suited his style better. He liked the sometimes unsettling melancholy of cooler tones. Yet he'd set up that day to paint Bailey during the fleeting moments when the cozy glow of dusk streamed in through the floor to ceiling windows and bathed her in gold. Asher wanted to capture all versions of her. He needed to have every single image of her imaginable, every single piece of her. He needed to own everything that she was.

And they only had so much time, so he really couldn't have her ruining to pose he'd put her into again. He wanted her relaxed and fluid the way she was when she was in the water. It was such an enchanting sight. He was going to pull that ease out of her whether she wanted him to or not. Asher wasn't about to let her spoil the vision of perfection he had in recreating her image. So he set his brush down, pulled his gloves back on, and crossed to the platform he'd set his muse up on. Draped across a pile of plush cushions like some kind of empress of antiquity and wrapped in crimson silk that looked like a shock of blood against her snowy skin, he'd gotten her so close to flawless. It was up to him to complete the final push on his canvas. He crouched down and reached a gloved hand out to catch her chin, angling her face up towards him so it caught the light better.

"You're tense today." He observed as he pressed his thumb into her lower lip. "Whatever's on your mind, get rid of it."

🐝  *  ―  𝑭𝑬𝑨𝑹 / 𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑹 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺.

❛  nothing's going to happen to us, right?  ❜ ❛  i'm ... scared.  ❜ ❛  i don't like where this is going.  ❜ ❛  did i ever tell you i'm actually terrified of [the dark / heights / spiders / etc.]?  ❜ ❛  you hear me? we're not going to die today!  ❜ ❛  did you hear that? it sounded like screams.  ❜ ❛  i really, really don't like this.  ❜ ❛  we're completely alone here, nothing's going to happen to us.  ❜ ❛  this place has been abandoned for centuries.  ❜ ❛  whatever happens, keep the lights on.  ❜ ❛  you're not scared, are you?  ❜ ❛  this is like straight out of my worst nightmare.  ❜ ❛  do you believe in ghosts?  ❜ ❛  what are you afraid?  ❜ ❛  what was that?!  ❜ ❛  see, i told you there's nothing to be afraid of.  ❜ ❛  go on, no one will hear your screams.  ❜ ❛  it was a foolish idea to come here alone.  ❜ ❛  no one is going to save you now.  ❜ ❛  don't be afraid, i'm not going to hurt you.  ❜ ❛  you really think you can run from me?  ❜ ❛  it's a shame i'll have to kill you when we're done with this.  ❜ ❛  want to make a deal with the devil?  ❜ ❛  i'm not afraid of you. not anymore.  ❜ ❛  there are figures hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike.  ❜ ❛  this wasn't so bad now, was it?  ❜ ❛  what could possibly go wrong - it's just an old abandoned meaning, it doesn't mean it's haunted, right?  ❜ ❛  face it, we won't make it out of here alive.  ❜ ❛  i'll even give you a choice - it's either you or them. who's going to die tonight?  ❜ ❛  i will haunt you for the rest of your days.  ❜ ❛  don't scream, it will only make this worse.  ❜ ❛  you look so pretty when you're scared of me.  ❜ ❛  i won't kill you ... yet.  ❜ ❛  ghosts and monsters aren't real.  ❜ ❛  i'm not afraid of anything!  ❜ ❛  you! you're sick! you sent me here to die, didn't you?  ❜ ❛  close your eyes. it'll make it easier if you don't see it coming.  ❜ ❛  no matter where you hide, i'll always find you. so you better give up now.  ❜ ❛  i promise i'm gonna be your worst nightmare.  ❜ ❛  it's only over when i say it is.  ❜

source.

𝐋𝐄𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐑 as 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍

Vikings: Valhalla. Season 3, Episode 8.

@thelcwless said: ❛ i never realized how much i needed you until you weren't there. ❜

from: pining/yearning starters (accepting)

Raven's words warmed that lonely little corner of his heart that so desperately longed to be needed. He filled it as often as he could by being everything for everyone. It helped to feel relied upon. There was something about hearing the words spoken so plainly though, that fulfilled him in a way that all of his good deeds never could. Especially after she'd run. She'd come back, and she needed him, and Malcolm swore that everything was right with the world in that moment.

He sighed at the sight of her, the sound heavy with relief. Once he welcomed someone in, they became a part of the pack. When Raven left after he'd done that, he'd cycled through the sting of loss, of rejection, of worry. Stopping himself from going after her, going after one of his own, had been a struggle, but chasing someone oftentimes only made them run faster and further. She was used to running, he knew. Setting her off would've been too easy. The choice to return was made sweeter by the fact that it had been hers.

The wolf smiled. He approached her without fear that he'd spook her now. "It's admirable that you've survived alone all this time." Malcolm commended her, reaching out to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "But I'm glad you've realized that you don't have to anymore. Welcome home, Raven."