How the K/DA members react to their fans demanding a kiss on-stage:
Akali is hesitant, at first, but only for your sake. She turns to face you while the crowd endlessly chants your ‘ship’ name, making sure her fringe covers her searching gaze from the cameras. The same deep, ocean blues that shine like azurites underneath the glittery floodlights, that you absolutely cannot meet without your cheeks feeling like they’re bursting into flames.
Whatever she sees in you during those stolen seconds must be enough for her, because the next heartbeat she has taken a brave step forward, warm hands cradling your jaw and neck like something utterly fragile and completely precious. The last thing you see is her faint, private smile drawing closer before you instinctively close your eyelids...
Just like that she’s kissing you. Slim, balmy lips caress your own, soft as cotton and far gentler than you could have ever imagined –and you did dare imagine this, during moments of weakness in lonely nights. She starts out slow, gives you time to relax into it before her mouth parts slightly against yours, asking for more.
On one hand, you’ve already given much more than what your thirsty fans asked for. You should stop. You should, but… you feel her pull you closer, the tremble of her breath against your lips. And that does you in. The very tips of your tongues meet and move together for a heated, electric moment you both savor like fine wine, before you break apart, chuckling in embarrassment.
Gods above, your stomach is filled with butterflies.
Seeing the red color dusting her beautiful face, you think maybe you’re not the only one who has them.
Kai’sa hugs you easily –it’s almost a habit by now– at the end of the concert, yet turns beet-red the millisecond people start demanding you kiss. She steps back, refuses to meet your eye as the voices get louder, but you both know your fans will not stop until they are appeased. With a deep breath, you accept your fellow popstar is never going to make the first move, therefore the task falls onto you.
You touch her waist gently, assuringly. Gorgeous violets shyly rise to meet your gaze. Surely, your eyes convey, a kiss between the two of you is not the end of the world. You always cuddle when watching movies with the group, you have fallen asleep in the same bed, once or twice. Both of you think the other is good-looking and there’s solid trust between you. This doesn’t have to be awkward.
Kai’sa seems to agree as she places one hand on your shoulder and the other finds yours. Your free palm slides to her side, caressing the bare skin at the cuts of her tight-fitting outfit. You lean in…
Her lips smell like peach gloss, you note before you kiss them. And –oh, she’s so soft and pliable against you. Everything about her is buttery sweetness. No wonder you cannot get enough. What was meant as a chaste peck turns into a legitimate liplock; you’re sucking on her lower lip and the worst –best?– part is that she seems in no rush to pull away.
A soft sound in the back of her throat snaps you out of the daze before your tongue slips into her mouth and this really gets out of control.
Breaking apart under the sounds of endless cheers, red-faced, Kai’sa squeezes your hand tight. She does not let go.
Ahri doesn’t seem fazed by the demand, nor did you expect her to be. Her bow-shaped, pink lips merely curve into a slow smile capable of charming the coldest of hearts, crystalline tails ever moving behind her in gentle, hypnotic waves. When she angles her torso towards you, reaches up with graceful fingers to guide her microphone out of the way, her intention clear, you forget what it means to breathe. Ahri fixes you with her smokey, endlessly blue eyes and crooks a finger.
“Come to me, sweetheart.” she beckons. Still, you hesitate. Until she silently mouths “Don’t you trust me?”
It isn’t her you don’t trust, it’s your body’s reactions to her. You are placed in a spot where you don’t exactly have a multitude of options, though, so you summon what is left of your courage and walk up to her. As soon as you step close, her arms rise to guide you into her. Her touch trails up your shoulders like water; one hand wraps around your neck, the other weaving through your hair to cup your nape.
“Don’t be afraid.” comes her gentle whisper, practically against the corner of your mouth.
When she kisses you, it is like every dream blossoms to life. Her vanilla scent, her sweet taste, the softness of her tails brushing your legs and sides, all feel like you’re floating, suspended between the clouds and heaven. Ahri’s thumb rolls in little circles underneath your ear and the whine you give has her smiling against you.
Then her tongue licks over your bottom lip and you nearly die. The velvet trace of it over yours melts you in her arms. With a parting suck on your bottom lip she draws back, flashing the cameras a wink and a brilliant smile.
Meanwhile, her hand still caresses your neck, as if telling you to breathe.
Uh-oh. That look is burning-hot trouble. It is the definition of eye-sex.
Evelynn already has her arm around your shoulders when the audience starts chanting for you to kiss. No way that’s happening, you muse with a shake of your head. Sadly for them, she doesn’t much care what others think, fans or media, nor does she aim to please anybody other than herself.
You make to extract yourself from her side, except… you find that her hold tightens. The diva turns to you, pins you in place with a liquid smirk and lidded amber eyes peeking above the rim of her mauve sunglasses…
Your stomach plummets and shatters before she even traps your chin between a thumb and curled pointer, before the deadly sin that is her purple-glossed mouth descends on yours. Her full lips cover your own like smoke, taste like the sweetest poison you can’t help but drink in. Sounds are muted to your ears. Thoughts on your surroundings dissipate. You are in darkness; the only thing you are allowed to feel is her.
Evelynn does not ask for permission to deepen the kiss; she just takes it. Her thumb guides your mouth slightly more open and then her tongue slithers in, rolling around your own while the fiery seal of her lips never breaks. Your knees nearly give out from underneath you.
By the time she’s satisfied, pulling back, readjusting her mic with long, manicured fingers, you are left as shaken as a house after an earthquake. You do not hear whatever risque thing she says to the crowd, only feel her thumb wipe the lipstick mark off the corner of your mouth. You have half a mind not to turn into her touch.
Minutes later, you have almost managed to compose yourself. That is, until she leans in again, her breath hovering over your ear this time;
“Darling.” she drawls. “Shall we continue this at the hotel?”
Hi fellow gamer soul. 1, 38, 40 for the game ask :)
1. First game you played obsessively?
Red Alert, most likely. It’s hard to talk about a game I played obsessively bc when I was a kid, I often shared consoles with my cousins. So it could honestly have been Twisted Metal 2 too bc I recall playing it every time we went over to their house.
Could also be Pokemon Ruby which I uh....played obsessively. It took me 4 days to finish all gyms but my game glitched so I couldn’t go past a puzzle in victory road.
38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?
i don’t have a game im ashamed to admit that i liked. i don’t like talking about how much i liked me:a irl bc almost everyone around me has asked me about the controversy or like had a cashier told me “i didn’t like this game” as i was purchasing a tie in book to the series.
i mean lighten up. i had fun so what.
40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?i uhh have been to a VR Expo and I’m always down to try VR.
I think VR has potential but more often, game companies don’t use this potential. Most of the time, it’s just used as a quirky gimmick. it’s supposed to be the kind of technology that truly has you exploring the world.
I’d give it a few more years to finally get its groove because so far, not everyone can afford a VR. Like i’ve only really tried VR in public areas/game stations. Not really at home.
“You look your best when you’re at my mercy” League of Legends Version.
Katarina has her hands everywhere on you the second your door closes behind her. Lips hot on yours, she walks you back at a dizzying pace, silently demanding you trust her to lead you to bed, or whichever other surface she decides she wants you on tonight.
In itself, the intensity is nothing new; she’s a crimson hurricane on most of her nightly visits, one that leaves you breathless, wrecked in more ways than one. Of course, like the wind, she isn’t a solid to be held on to. One moment she’s on top of you, skilled and firm and perfect, the next... gone.
And yet, it’s hard for two people regularly doing all the things you do not to grow closer to each other in the process. You have come to know the infamous assassin of Noxus, what she likes, what triggers her. So tonight you are sure something has ticked her off, judging by how fast your shirt and bra are damn near ripped off your torso.
Teeth latch on the spot underneath your jaw that never fails to make you weak. She sucks –hard– and you gasp out her name in a sound torn between begging and warning. The low chuckle that comes right by your ear makes you dig your nails into her toned biceps, the contours of which you can feel through her black, form-fitting blouse. You wish the smug bastard didn't turn you on so powerfully, alas.
The haze of your mind hardly lets you notice when your knees hit the mattress. You only register that you are horizontal underneath her when she pulls back to look down at you, admiring her handiwork through darkened, smokey emeralds.
A smirk as sharp as her knives curls her lips. “It really suits you, you know. Being at my mercy.”
Except she's known to show none.
Syndra takes whatever she wants the moment she wants it. ‘No’ is a foreign word to her and certainly not one you think to say when she shows up out of nowhere, grabs you by the shoulder, then pushes you through a portal straight into her room. By the time the nausea dies down, your back is already against a wall, her succulent, dark-painted lips molded in-between yours.
She always tastes of raw arcane. Every hungry kiss, every electric touch, every inch of her lithe body. Everything about her is limitless magic and unrestrained power, as addictive as the most potent drug. Against all common sense, you’re already hooked on her, wholly and completely. No matter how many times you have her, you can never get enough.
If asked how this ordeal began, you have no answer to give. One moment you were stuck in a boring league event exchanging quips about Ionia with a white-haired, noble-looking woman –insufferably arrogant, but undeniably hot in her purple, slit dress. The next, she was sucking your tongue like a lollipop in an empty room. She took her pleasure on your fingers, then left you to gape after her as she opened a portal to a distinct fortress floating in the sky; the home of the Dark Sovereign.
“Nothing smart to say now?”
She repeats the words of your first time together against your mouth. Her hand slides up your chest to lock firmly around your neck, manicured nails biting ever-so-slightly in, guiding you down onto her queen-sized bed. She defies gravity with how gracefully she climbs on top. Two darkly-shining spheres trap your hands over your head while strong, warm, stocking-clad thighs squeeze your lower half into submission.
“I prefer you quiet, anyway.” she smirks. “And completely at my mercy.”
Elise likes to corner you. A lot. Whether it is in empty alcoves or the dark caverns where Black Rose meetings take place, she will block your path and slowly walk you back against the nearest wall. That is where you find yourself again, trapped between chitinous spider limbs and her forearms at either side of your head, her breath ghosting by the shell of your ear. Your heart thunders in your chest –the blood is rushing straight between your legs– and you're sure she can feel it.
She's smiling. Enjoying this. You know she is. Elise appreciates having total control outside and inside the bedroom. She is an apex predator and you her willing victim; the fly that felt the spider's teeth scrape its skin and somehow survived, only to become addicted to the sensation. Every moment spent lost in her is another date with danger, but that's what makes it so intoxicating.
The inches of height she has on you bring your mouth level with the inviting crook of her neck, just at the ends of her chic crimson hair. The marble skin there calls to you like a siren. Her expensive perfume cocoons you in raw desire for her. Before you realize what you're doing you are worshiping her pulse point and she chuckles into your ear.
"Eager, are we?" she coos, long fingers winding through your hair to tilt your head back, so her mouth hovers above yours like sweet poison that's just about to drip. "I do like that."
A kiss comes; deep and sinful. One that is deceptively honeyed, if not for the bite on your upper lip as you part. Her hands push down on your shoulders and your knees touch the cold ground, but you do not much care. Not when her fingers curl under your chin and guide it on her thigh, at the gaps of her outfit.
“Good.” she praises. “Don't you forget that is your place; on your knees between my legs, entirely at my mercy.”
Evelynn is unpredictable on her best days. The idol could come up to you simply to link your arms as you walk through a crowd because she's feeling possessive, then ignore you for the rest of the day. Likewise, she may lean into your ear in public, whisper the kinkiest, hottest thing imaginable, then maintain her aloof poker face while you ache for her for hours.
Tonight her hand –absent the ring-claws, thankfully– is firm on your stomach, walking you back until you are pressed against the hood of her Lamborghini. She teases her dark, glossy mouth just above yours the entire time, enticing you with what you can have as a reward if you play nice. Her creamy thigh slides between your legs like smoke, locks you against her heat and the cool metal of her car.
Whining her name and straining to kiss her only earn you a lethal smirk. Evelynn instead traps your chin between a thumb and pointer, turns it the other way so you bare your neck to her like an offering. Plush, full lips brand your already heated skin, before pearly teeth join in to set your stomach on fire. Her expensive scent, her ministrations, her perfect body, they're almost too much to handle at once.
Satisfied after you are sufficiently marked as hers, she guides you by the chin into the liplock you've been craving. The sensation of kissing her is otherworldly; like you're suspended on a dark cloud, in a world of promises dripping sin. The hand on your stomach pushes you more firmly, in a way that would make the edges of the car behind you hurt if pain didn't only enhance pleasure in this moment. Then her nails bite into your skin a little, drag down to the belt of your pants…
“You're such a pretty sight like this, darling.” she grins. “I do so love to have you at my mercy.”
LeBlanc is a secret shrouded in smoke and mirrors. You never know what to expect with her, if she will act indifferent towards you as if you have never tasted the dark velvet lipstick on her lips, or find her way into your room in the dead of night to keep you up for hours. It is her name that leaves your throat hoarse the following day, but you can never know if she was ever really with you, or if it was all another illusion.
Even now, with her cool, long fingers slithering down your bare stomach –gods, the tremors her touch leaves in its wake– another set of hands undressing you from behind, rubbing teasing circles on your shoulders while two mouths suck languorously on opposite sides of your neck, you aren’t sure which is the clone. Maybe they both are. The real her could be sitting at a darkened corner of her room, admiring the view with a glass of wine in hand. You want to banish the thought that she may not even be here.
Then again, perhaps there is no use seeking her out at all. As she has told you, there is little difference between herself and her clones. She is her duplicates and she is everywhere. Right this moment, she is everywhere around you. On you. In you. All you can smell is the subtle spice of her perfume as she tugs your hair to expose more of your neck to her. All you can see is her burning violet gaze and her sultry smirk that makes you ache for a kiss. If this is nothing but a dream, you still don’t ever want to wake up.
Instead, you open your mouth to ask for more, yet her finger has already silenced you. LeBlanc leans close, close enough that you can feel the vibration of her voice on your lips;
“My greedy girl.” she coos. “You love this, don’t you? Knowing every inch of you is at my mercy...”
Life in castle Dimitrescu, you come to realize, truly is a matter of perspective.
What is a prison to most is but a necessary evil for others and even a home, for a select few. A month ago the notion that a human could find comfort in this kingdom of monsters was incomprehensible to you. Rhiannon and Alexia, here of their own free will, stood completely outside your realm of understanding.
Now… you’re starting to reconsider your black and white point of view.
The daughters are highly dangerous mutants, yes, but they do possess appreciable qualities. Their word, for one, is law.
In the days following your agreement with Daniela, you indeed are given anything you could ever ask for. In return, she only requests for you to keep her company in the evening –mostly just hold her and play with her hair while she reads– for an hour or two before dinner.
It is a fair transaction. Yet, you cannot help but wonder… is that all this is?
Bubble baths and having whatever five-star meals you want prepared, at any time, are a major thing. Unrestricted access to the libraries and the back garden so you can exercise and get your much-needed dose of fresh air, also crucial. But beyond all that… what surprises you the most is that you slowly come to appreciate, just as much as the rest, the time you spend with her.
This strange closeness, it’s… new.
Your entire life, you’ve been on the move. One village after another, never stopping at one place for more than two months, you never had friends, let alone anything more. You didn’t miss it, only because you never knew what it was like to have such a thing in the first place. But now…
You want to deny that you like it when she casually weaves her arm around your elbow as you walk together, when she leans into you, when she lays her head on your lap while reading and demands to be petted like an oversized cat. You don’t want to smile at the way she often will just sit there, pouting and complaining about her sisters, or the weather, or whatever task her mother assigned to her that she finds dreadfully boring.
Tonight, she’s fully immersed in her book, only making the occasional comment about the plot. Well. Whatever ‘plot’ serves as an excuse for five chapters worth of porn later, you muse, glancing down at the sea of crimson sprawled across your thighs.
“Ah, finally he tells her he’s wanted her since the beginning!” she exclaims at one point.
You frown. “Didn’t he, like… sleep with two other girls on his journey to her?”
Daniela pauses for a moment. “Yeah, but that was…” she gestures ‘whatever’ with her hand. “He drank and was missing her and they just reminded him of her.”
“How romantic.” you drawl through no small amount of sarcasm.
“Shh, it’s getting to the best part.” Daniela says and you’re about ninety percent sure you do not want to know what said part entails.
Instead, you choose to focus on the texture of her hair, slipping like silk between your calloused fingers, as well as the general warm serenity of the library. It is easy to forget your troubles in this utter calm, surrounded by books and her vanilla scent. Easy to not think, because if you do you’ll see this as what it is; a pretty illusion that just won’t last.
“Ugh, I love graphic descriptions of abs.” Daniela gives a dreamy sigh after a while. “Those that make you feel like you can actually touch them…”
Your eyes stray to the paragraph in question. Immediately, you regret it. You could certainly live your life happily without ever having read about how the protagonist’s girl is worshiping every deep line and shadowed contour of his ‘stone-hard’ abdominals.
“Your bisexuality knows no bounds.” the comment –and the accompanying eye-roll– were supposed to sound solely in your head. Alas, you hold your breath the second you speak them out loud.
Daniela laughs. She laughs and you try to not think about how cute she looks throwing her head further back and exposing her neck like this.
“Hey, I simply appreciate a fit physique.” It’s the alternate way of saying ‘I drool over any and all muscle.’ “Both in books and here in the castle.”
“Do your sisters know how much you appreciate the physique of their girlfriends?” The words hold no bite to them, just harmless teasing.
Daniela closes the book and looks up at you with a faux scandalized expression. “Me?” she gasps. When it’s clear you’re not buying it, the angel-face grows a devilish smile and imaginary horns. “Let’s just say the girlfriends know I strongly approve of my sisters’ tastes.”
“Mhm.” you nod.
“Naw, don’t be like that, Knight.” she turns and nuzzles into your stomach, then lifts your shirt a bit and presses a lingering kiss to its center. “I like you more.” You feel her lips move against you, cool, soft and moist as she speaks and it makes you hot on the spot.
Then, she decides to shatter whatever is left of your innocence with a tiny, experimental drag of her tongue up your ab crack. Your breath catches in your throat.
Slowly, she smiles to herself as she settles back into her earlier position. “Huh. The book is right, after all. This is pretty fun.”
For the remaining half an hour until she has to get up for dinner, you suffer.
–
–
You expect Daniela to jump into you from around the corners of corridors in the evening, but you are not quite as prepared in the morning.
So, when it happens, you reflexively bend at the waist and almost flip her over your back. Until the familiar smell of her perfume registers in your brain and allows your shoulders to loosen under the circle of her black-clad arms. You inhale through your nose. Breathe out slowly.
“Seren, Seren, look!” She seems oblivious to the heart attack she damn near caused, pointing to the window like a kid on a sugar rush. “The sun is strong today and the temperature should rise above ten degrees. It’s the perfect time to take me out on a date like you’ve always wanted~”
Your lips flatten to a line that you bite your cheek not to break into a smile. “Like I’ve always wanted.” you repeat dully.
“Isn’t it great to finally get what you’ve been waiting for?” she zooms right in front of you, grinning. “Come on, go dress up.” Her hand motions for you to hurry almost too fast for the human eye to catch. “Go, go.”
This is the whole point of your arrangement, that you both get what you want the moment you want it, therefore it’s not like you can just tell her no. The problem is, seeing her literally buzzing with eagerness to step outside, you don’t think you would deny her anything regardless.
A warmer blouse replaces your white shirt, an ash-gray coat on top of it. You hastily pull a scarf around your neck as you descend the staircase to the main lobby, where Daniela waits by the fireplace, rolling her key around her gloved fingers. She’s dressed exactly as she was the moment you first met in the woods, which makes you pause for a moment, muse on how long ago that day seems now.
Yet it can’t have been that long… can it? For a tense moment, a sense of alarm overthrows your excitement to be outdoors.
Until she grabs your hand and pulls you towards the main gates. The carved iron is made to look much lighter than it is as she pushes it open with one finger. The chilly air that greets your cheeks with a biting kiss does wonders to cleanse your mind of worries.
The two of you walk into the forest. Daniela no doubt knows every nook and cranny like the back of her hand; the certainty of her steps inspires confidence you won’t get lost in all the thick trees and melting snow.
“It feels so good to finally get out of the castle.” she hums, stretching her arms over her head, bathed in the sun’s golden rays.
Judging by the skip in her step, she would be running or flying around, if not for you. Which makes you wonder why she wants you along in the first place. If anything, you only appear to be holding her back. A question you do not voice, when instead you speak up to ask:
“The sun doesn’t bother you?”
“I’m not literally a vampire, you know.” Daniela shrugs. No, she just feeds on blood, sleeps during the day and has superpowers. Your expression must betray your thoughts because she instantly adds “Well. It’s debatable. Although my sisters and I aren’t too fond of the light, the sun is also quite warm, so not all bad. Not like it hurts us in any way.”
“Not like the cold.” you state. It isn’t a question.
She stops in her tracks. Gives you an uncharacteristically firm look underneath the shadows of her hood, one that is both cautious and a warning. “No… not like the cold.”
You won’t lie; you’re surprised she doesn’t deny it. “Why aren’t you fond of the light, then?” you wonder aloud. “Instincts?”
“That, too. But mostly it makes us drowsy. And our eyesight is keener in the dark. Here, it’s like a filter has been pulled in front of me that doesn’t let me see as far.” Daniela explains.
For the next ten minutes, you continue your trudge in comfortable silence. Soon, your destination comes into view; a small waterfall surrounded by rocks and lush vegetation you never even knew existed. A grin spreads across your lips, admiring nature’s beauty at its finest. The village still hides many surprises.
“Knew you’d appreciate this little place.” she comments lightly. For someone you’re supposed to be taking out on a date, it sure feels like the other way around.
Almost without thinking, you kneel by the running water, letting your fingertips dip into its crystalline surface. The frost bites real hard, but it must be a dream to take a bath here during the summer.
I won’t be here come summer. Your chin lowers. If you are, then ‘here’ won’t be nearly as pretty and peaceful. You can’t stay long. Looking up at Daniela, her subtly heterochrome orbs fixed on an orange butterfly that has landed on her hand, you wonder if you can tell her why.
“Life sure is weird.” she whispers. “Can you imagine this beauty comes from something as ugly as a caterpillar?” The butterfly flies away, but Daniela’s irises remain fixed on the spot it used to occupy. “Both are insects. And yet… nobody wants the caterpillar.”
You don’t understand what she’s really referring to –as is often the case with her– although you get the sense her sentence is deeper than a mere observation. Is she saying that beauty defines everything?
Or… is she telling you more than that?
Daniela rubs her gloves together and walks over to you, takes a seat on a nearby rock and leaves enough room for you to join. It is only after you do that you realize she didn’t ask; you simply went to her on your own. What that says, you aren’t sure you want to know. Is it possible to be scared of something and willingly approach it at the same time?
“So… are these mini falls special to you? Do you come here to read under the sun when it’s hot enough?” you inquire.
“No. I don’t come often anymore.” Daniela replies. “I used to find sanctuary in this place a long time ago, though. The steady sound of the water helped me focus my thoughts. For a little while, anyway.”
“Sanctuary?” you frown. From what?
“The first years, the hunger was… maddening. Inescapable frenzy. I couldn’t even think.” Her fingers curl into claws at the recollection. “It was a nightmare. Crazy.” It may be your imagination that her voice wavers. Still, to think a monster would sound so desperate to escape herself… “I have no idea how Bela got it under control as fast as she did.”
You swallow, then ask: “And Cassandra?”
Daniela’s dark-glossed lips press together. “Cassandra’s therapy was clearing this side of the forest of most mammals.”
“From what I gather, this spot isn’t one of happy memories. How come you brought me?” you wonder.
Daniela gives you a borderline guilty look. “Actually… it was Rhiannon’s idea. Said if I came here with you I’d like it a lot better than being on my own. That I could gradually associate it with something nice.” A shrug. “Plus it beats my sisters’ advice for a first date.”
“And that is?” you’re feeling bold enough to ask.
“Between Bela’s extremely specific ‘just don’t be weird’ and Cassandra’s ‘shove her into the nearest empty room, go wild and call it success’... I figured this was better.” Daniela impersonates the other two perfectly and you can’t help but chuckle.
What an oddly normal, bizarre family. you muse, perhaps with not as much venom as you would have, weeks ago. And then, another thought strikes you. Before you have time to consider whether you should voice it or not, you find yourself looking into her strangely pretty eyes, speaking.
“You called the early days a nightmare. …what about before them?” Before the bloodthirst. Before whatever virus turned her into what she is. If she recalls that life as you believe she does, then she must surely miss parts of it.
Unless the butterfly does not remember ever being a caterpillar.
But her expression tells you otherwise.
“Just more… scorched earth.” her voice is distant as she says it. Far away, to whatever messed up reality she made up dreamworlds to escape from.
That settles it, then. Turns out she and you have the most important thing of all in common. She knows what it’s like to live in a bad dream that keeps getting darker. She knows that it’s like to be you.
Maybe you’re the one who doesn't understand what it is to be her.
You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing for this unreasonable guilt to swallow you up over. The last person in this whole damn world you owe anything to is her.
You saved her from the cold and she tried to kill you. Your risked your life for her and her thanks was locking you up in here. She literally terrorizes maids for fun. People mean about as much to her as toys.
On the other hand, part of you counters, you abandoned her after kissing her. Shouldn't even have let your lips lock in the first place, but you don't have the energy to beat yourself up over that lapse of judgement on top of everything else.
And that's not how you are. You're many things, but you're not an asshole.
Bottom line is, no girl in the world deserves to feel that way.
She's not human, though. The side of your brain trying to absolve you of guilt states. Does she even have the capacity to be truly hurt by my actions?
Arguments can certainly be made both ways.
Yet. You're already pacing in the hall leading to her bedroom door. Hesitating. Pivoting to leave and then looking over your shoulder. You know that your conscience won't shut up unless you go through with this.
Suicide mission or not... you take a deep breath, several determined steps forward and—
You knock.
Once. There's no surface for your knuckles to tap the second time, because the door has already opened and Daniela is gazing at you with a –foxy, attractive, seriously this is not fair— bemused expression.
“Well. I didn't actually think you'd knock, Knight.” The edge of her crimson mouth twists up.
“Me neither.” you sigh. “Can we talk?”
Daniela gives you another look, this one longer, unreadable. Her arm slowly drops from the handle, lithe body moving back to allow you entrance.
“Step into my parlor.” says the spider to the fly.
Her room is nice. The scent of vanilla permeates the air. You don't know if you expected people and hooks to be hanging from the ceiling, but instead it's just a carpeted, spacey bedchamber. There is a fireplace on one side, a big wardrobe on the other and a vanity filled with all sorts of boxes –within which must lay unimaginable riches— perfumes and lipstick tubes.
The queen-sized bed is the main attraction, though. It looks plush and soft as a cloud, with far too many pillows stacked against the headboard. There's a book laying atop the red covers and two monster teddy bears standing guard over it.
Daniela catches you staring at them. “Don't worry, they're friendly.” she reassures as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed, patting the space next to her. “I might not be if you touch them, though.”
Noted. You nod and lower yourself down, a polite distance left between you. You try not to think it's also one she can cross to rip at your throat before you've even finished blinking.
Daniela turns to face you fully, one leg bent in front of her on the mattress. “Well?”
You force your gaze not to waver from hers. “I'm sorry.” God, this is hard. “I kissed you and then I ran and I am very sorry.”
The first words are like pulling teeth, but they eventually break the dam that holds the rest of them in. Daniela looks like she's about to speak up, but you press on before you can cower out of it.
“And it wasn't because you accidentally pressed on my stitches. I...” your eyes stray sideways, here. “I have a very deeply rooted issue with mutants. I hate that I'm attracted to you.”
Daniela's pretty face doesn't change nearly as much as you expected it to. She's still calm, still looking at you in that strange way that makes it impossible to guess what she's thinking.
There's a small pause. Then...
“You're really brave, Knight.” Daniela smiles. She smiles.
“No, you don't understand! I'm not brave at all. Every time I see you or your sisters break into a swarm of flies my blood turns to ice. I appreciate your looks but I fear what you are. I can't handle feeling this unsafe. And it's wrong to let you think I'm in love with you.”
Well, there you go. Said way more than you intended so now you may as well die an honest woman.
Except, to your surprise...
Daniela laughs.
“Seren, I know.” she says. You don't know if the shock that runs through you is from this strange reaction or her calling you by your real name.
Your eyes widen.
“I'm just messing with you because it's fun.” she shrugs. “Same with all the maids here. Do you know how dangerous boredom can be for beings like us? It can drive you just as crazy as hunger.”
Shit. You think. It took you this long to realize that everything the castle’s human staff says about her is wrong. It's all wrong.
She doesn't have her screws loose –no more than the average person, anyway– nor is she lost in her own little world. She's delusional by choice. And that makes the terror of being in her presence ten times worse.
“I'm genuinely surprised by you, Knight.” Daniela states. “The thing is, the protagonists in my books are great and so easy to like, but sadly people in real life are downright disappointing. In almost a hundred years and nobody had the guts to say what you did.”
“What...?” She's... congratulating me?
“No, really, your nickname fits you perfectly. You're just like a fictional character. And such a sweetheart to come clean out of consideration for my feelings.” Daniela smiles at you, so very lovely.
You don't know what to say and you wouldn't even be able to speak if you did. You're left completely speechless, staring at Daniela like you're seeing her for the first time.
The redhead scoots closer. The knee she has on the edge of the bed touches your leg and it's almost as cold as the fingers that come up to take a gentle hold of your chin.
“To be honest to you back, I kissed you because I think you're hot. I've tried it, once or twice, in the past with others I considered attractive but it didn't feel like anything, let alone how stories describe it. But with you... well. I got curious again. Wondered if it would be different this time.”
“...was it?” you don't know what possesses you to ask. “Different?”
Her eyes glint. “Very.” she says.
A quiet beat passes between you.
“Listen, Seren.” Daniela uses your name again, as if she finally sees you as a person and not a plaything. “I won't force you into anything, but... I am still curious about certain things from my books. If you help me experience those things, you can have almost anything you want in the castle in return. I promise to be very careful not to hurt you or toy with you again either way.” Her finger taps rhythmically against her thigh. She looks to you with what can only be described as puppy eyes. “So... what do you say?”
Your mind shouts to get the hell away because she just got twice as dangerous in the span of ten minutes. Your body instead warms where it touches hers. It's impossible to explain why, yet it's undeniable part of you wants this. And the benefits to saying yes are not to be ignored, either. You can also experience things you've never had before. A good life —you'll even take the illusion of one— you never dared to dream about under a solid roof.
In a way... you understand her. Better than anyone, you understand what it is like to read about simple things like mutual desire and a deep, restful sleep and be unable to truly know them for yourself. To be so left out. So alienated from normalcy.
So... alone.
“No matter the circumstance, will you promise to stop if I push you or tell you to?” you ask.
“Immediately.” Daniela nods quickly, lifting her hands up as if to show she won't overpower you. Both of you know what you're asking is not something she can one hundred percent guarantee, but perhaps it is enough that she will try.
“...alright. For now… don't touch my shoulders until they heal.”
Daniela grins beautifully, in a way that lights up her entire face. “Deal.”
Slowly, she inches closer to you, making to seal the agreement with a kiss like a true romantic. Yet she stops and waits for you to diminish the rest of the distance.
You do. Her lips are as criminally soft as you remembered. Daniela proves to be a quick learner, tilting her head exactly how you like it –your heartbeat must give you away— and letting you set the pace.
You choose to lose yourself in the wonderful way she feels and smells, muting the voice in the back of your head that tells you it is your choice, this time, to dance with your peril.
-
-
Later in the castle…
Daniela swarms past corridors and stairways alike, until her target is in sight.
She crashes into Cassandra’s back from behind like a black-and-crimson hurricane. The gasp her sister gives makes her laugh as her flies gather together to solidify into her main form. One second later, her giggles are cut short when she’s shoved into the opposite wall.
“Ow!” Daniela complains.
“Next time you do that you’re flying out a window.” Cassandra warns.
“So moody~ but listen, I have great news.” the redhead straightens her robes before she announces: “You’ve lost the bet!” Daniela chuckles. “And don’t say you don’t remember it just because it was placed, like, thirty years ago.”
“I barely remember what we had for dinner yesterday.” Cassandra replies, expression and tone equally flat.
The little sister’s face falls. “Back in the old days, you said ‘as if any human would ever have the balls to call your shit out to your face’. And I said ‘wanna bet?’ and then you agreed to give me anything I want out of your weapons collection if it ever happened.”
The brunette seems sceptical. “Sounds like something I’d say, but…”
“Well, you lost the bet!” Daniela repeats.
“Get real.”
“I swear! Knight literally came into my room and was all like ‘it’s wrong to let you think I’m in love with you’.” Daniela impersonates. “So, other than that being super hot… you lost the bet.”
Cassandra’s mouth falls open. “She did what? That little shit!” A huff. “On the other hand... respect. That takes Alexia-levels of balls but… wait. You’re not actually expecting I will give you a weapon from my collection, are you?” The thought alone makes her shoulders shake with a quick chuckle.
Daniela growls. “You promised!”
A mocking chuckle. “Well, I lied.”
“MOOOM—” A gloved hand smacks itself over Daniela’s mouth.
I present to you, Alcina Dimitrescu and the lucky maiden she fancies, illuminated by the fireplace in her room. I don't know about you guys, but I know I would fall right there for the sexy 9foot tall vampire.
