#ao3link

‘Hey, Ronin?’

‘What's it, baby?’

‘I- um -’ You're unsure of how to even start . How do you bring something like this up? You bite your lip in worry, tuck your head against Ronin's chest and rub your face over his shirt in hopes it will calm you down like it normally does. Your heart is racing ; this should be easy , should be simple , to talk to your boyfriend about this. Yet for some reason it makes your mouth dry and your palms sweat to even think about it. 

You've been dating Ronin for a while now, your friendship having bubbled into something more over a steady simmer during all those months of flirting in the Slaughterhouse. Well, less flirting and more Ronin teasing you while you got steadily redder on camera until you panicked and ended the call. Does that count as flirting? You think it should , it worked , right?

You think that Ronin finds you endearing . Cute. Adorable. Which had worked in your favour before, when you were too shy to kiss him that day in Purgatory. 

When he had asked that fatal question: ‘or are you kissing me?’ He'd watched the way your eyes had gone wide, a heavy flush settling over your face as your gaze darted helplessly between his eyes and his mouth. A sly smirk had settled onto Ronin’s face, and the hand not holding the knife had brushed across your cheek. He'd stepped in close, close enough your breathing had stopped for a second, and he'd said, ‘what’s wrong, baby? Do you want to but you can't?? Is my dear darlin’ writer too shy?’

You'd shaken your head frantically, too caught up in your embarrassment over a kiss to realise what he was getting at. Ronin had drawled, ‘ no? ’, leaned in close enough for his lips to brush your ear as he murmured, ‘Does that mean you're killing me then?’ He’d sounded ecstatic, almost sensual , like that reality was equally as tantalising as you kissing him.

You'd squeaked , hands coming up to grip the front of Ronin’s leather jacket while your head swam at how close he was to you; you could smell him, a mixture of motor oil, something metallic, and …maybe citrus? 

You were hyper aware of exactly how much of Ronin was in your space; his tall form bracketing yours, shoulders boxing you in against the wall, his hair tickling your cheek, his breath puffing over your face, the sharp edges of his grin brushing your ear at the feeling of you swaying into him. 

‘Well, which is it, baby? Are you kissing me or killing me? Come on, we don’t have all day. You gotta pick one.’ His voice was amused, breathless with an edge of venom in the tone. It was clear by his words he was teasing you; like he didn't care which one you picked as long as you kept entertaining him, but the undercurrent to his tone sounded like his patience was running thin, like if you didn’t pick one soon, he would choose for you. 

‘I-Ronin.’ You'd choked out, face burning at how intense you were finding this, at how intense you were making this. It was just a simple kiss and yet you couldn't bring yourself to tilt your head up and connect his lips to your own. You'd walked all the way out here, to a known serial killer's favourite killing spot, and yet you were too shy to kiss him. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so real.

‘I’m The Butcher out here, darlin’, don't'cha know?’ You'd shivered, the feeling tingling down your spine as you whined slightly, swaying into him, your eyes dipping shut against your will. Ronin had let out a happy hum, dragged his nose across your cheek and murmured, ‘Should I have mercy on my poor little bunny? Put them out of their misery?’ You'd gasped, eyes snapping open, frozen in place, as the point of the knife Ronin was holding had pressed ever so gently into your other cheek. You hadn’t even heard him move. 

You could do nothing but stare at it in fear, eyes wide, until Ronin had drawled out, ‘Nah. Wouldn't do that to you, baby. You're too sweet to let bleed out in Purgatory. We’re saving the blood letting for later.’ He’d laughed, short, sharp, and deranged in your ear before pressing a wet, snacking kiss to the side of your face. ‘Need to taste you myself before I let that happen.’ 

Ronin was still snickering quietly to himself as he pulled back to look at you. Your hands were shaking where they were gripped tight, pressing sweaty against his jacket, the cold metal zipper biting heat down into your palm. He'd put the knife away, tucked it somewhere safe and far from you as your heart beat out your chest. Ronin had then gripped you meanly by your soft cheeks, forcing your lips to pucker almost comically as he brushed his own over yours in a twisted mimicry of a kiss. Teasing you with how almost it was, and how sincerely it wasn't . 

Yet the wet slide of his mouth against yours still traced an electric line across your lips, the feeling shooting through you, tingling with desire and stirring a twitching interest in your pants. You'd made a sound like a wounded animal, desperate , attempted to pull Ronin closer by your grip on his jacket but he instead leaned back, used his height against you, and let go of your face entirely. 

He’d murmured, ‘Good bunnys ask for what they want, darlin’.’ Curled a lock of your hair around his finger and tugged gently. He'd then leaned back down into your space, almost kissing you but not quite, pulling back every time you leaned up into him, keeping a hair's breadth between your mouths until you'd had enough and whined out, ‘Roninnnnnnn,’ breathless and embarrassed. You’d quickly followed it up with, ‘Ronin, kiss me, please,’ heart thundering in your chest. 

Ronin had chuckled . Gripped you by the jaw softly, said, ‘All you had to do was ask , sweetheart’, before kissing you softly, sweetly , chastely. You’d had to chase him when he pulled back, desperate and wanting enough to drag his lips back to your own until Ronin gave in and kissed you properly, all sharp edges and hunger.  

And therein was where the problem started. At first, you'd been worried that maybe Ronin would want to move too fast ; you didn’t have any experience with physical intimacy, and he’d kissed you with such fervour in purgatory that in the days afterwards you’d panicked . Got in your own head about it and started to worry you wouldn't be able to keep up, that soon he'd want more from you than you could give, that maybe he’d grow bored of you if you didn’t keep his attention with sex. 

You’d had relationships start and end in the blink of an eye because of that very issue before, and you couldn’t help but worry that this would be the same , even if every sign pointed to it not being like that. There were all these thoughts in your head, getting tangled and tripping each other up; ideas that he’d get frustrated , that he’d be upset or turned off when he learned of your… naivete, that he’d leave you or worse push you, and then you’d have to leave him . But that wasn't the case, Ronin was, and is , ever the gentleman, and the more time you spend with him the safer you feel , murderous proclivities or not. 

When you'd pulled back from Ronin early on in the relationship, put his wandering hands back into more safe places while you were making out, he'd kept them there. He'd still kissed you in the same brutal, breathless way he did before, making you feel like he was pulling the breath from your very lungs into his own, but he never crossed the non-verbal line you'd set.

You hadn't talked to him about it yet, you weren’t sure you could, because even though he was your boyfriend the thought made you shudder with a strange mixture of anticipation and anxiety . There were too many ‘what if’s, it felt too big a topic to broach on your own and you were scared . You knew you should talk about it, knew you had to talk about it at some point, that Ronin would be nothing but understanding. But every time the thought to bring it up had crossed your mind you couldn’t get the words to cross your lips, couldn’t get over how shy the topic made you feel.

You'd expected-no, you’d hoped that Ronin would try again as the relationship progressed, considering you were too shy to even bring the topic of sex up, but you both never went past making out. Not even after you’d finally gotten frustrated enough that you'd tried putting his hands on you, tried to slide them from your lower back to your butt subtly but Ronin had just leaned back from marking up your neck and said, ‘What is it, baby? What do you want? You got an itch that you need help scratching?’ In that teasing drawl of his, and scraped his fingernails slowly but firmly over the back of your thigh, bypassing your ass completely.  

You didn't know how to handle that ; you’d prepared for him grabbing your ass or something similar and this was the complete opposite. It wasn’t what you had expected him to do, leaving you feeling wildly unprepared so your brain went haywire trying to decide how to react and then it just kind of… shut off. 

Your brain had frozen and you hadn’t known what to do, what to say, how to say it. So you’d just squeaked and wrapped your arms around Ronin’s head, squished his face harshly against your collarbone so he couldn't look up and see how red you'd turned as you'd spluttered out something to the affirmative, scratched your own ass, and then scrambled off him and ran away to hide in the toilet out of embarrassment. You could hear Ronin positively screeching with laughter as you scurried out of the room and away from him. 

When you came back in five minutes later Ronin was sat sprawled out on the couch, a movie you liked already queued up and ready to go on the television as he patted his thigh, inviting you to come back and melt into him with a smug smile tugging at the edges of his lips like he knew. 

Which, retroactively, it’s clear he did know what you wanted, he was just playing with you; Ronin wanted you to admit it. Admit how crazy he drove you, how much you wanted him. He was teasing you, that much was obvious, especially considering the movie he'd had queued up wasn't one that suited his usual gore-happy festivities, more in line with ‘that childish shit’ that he always groaned and complained about when you ‘forced’ him to sit through it. 

You've tried again a few times since then; tried putting Ronin’s hands on your ass when making out and holding them there for a second, but they always wandered back to safer locations after a second, sliding on up to your back, your shoulders, your tummy, and your neck after giving your ass what felt like a precursory squeeze, like nothing more than an acknowledgement that it was there; then you tried putting your leg up over Ronin’s hip after his kisses had made your skin thrum with electricity and turned your clit hard and aching, throbbing in time with your pussy but Ronin’s hips never seemed to connect with yours- no matter how much you squirmed and tried to grind against him without overtly just humping him; you’d tried whining, ‘Roninnnn. Ronin, please…’ against his lips, eyes tearing up with how much you wanted him and voice a breathless whine but Ronin had just groaned. Turned his head away from yours with his eyes screwed shut like the movement was hurting him, lips disconnected from yours with a shiny string of spit strung between them, his fingers tracing up and down your sides as he'd said, fervently, mockingly, ‘What, baby? What do you want? Come on and tell me. Tell the devil what you want, darlin’.’ His voice had turned serious, slipping into an airy murmur of ‘won’t hold it against you, bunny, promise,’ pressed softly to your temple.

You'd have been offended if you hadn't seen how much you were affecting him too. If you hadn't felt Ronin’s hips grind into yours before he halted the movement, if he hadn't tucked his head down against your neck to suck a bruise as you’d gasped and stuttered, if he hadn’t licked a stripe up your throat, dipping up to nip at your lips gently before saying, ‘Tell me, darlin’, c’mon, you can do it. I believe in you.~’ 

You'd stared into Ronin’s eyes, dark with want and need , his forehead pressed to yours as you’d licked your lips, mouth opening and closing as you made several aborted attempts to try and tell him while you quivered under the weight of his gaze and your voice had died in your throat. Eventually, Ronin’s gaze had softened, and he'd pressed a gentle kiss to your lips, and then your forehead, before he'd tucked you safely into his chest and murmured, ‘next time then, yeah?’ 

You'd barely had time to process your disappointment before he'd wrapped his arms around you and rolled you both over so that you were facing the television, and then you'd had to sit through the second half of a slasher movie so turned on you couldn’t think , trying not to squirm and cry in his arms at being denied again. 

You'd known what he wanted then, you just couldn’t do it. The same way you know what he wants now, the same thing as then: for you to ask him. And Ronin's a patient man, one who takes some kind of sadistic glee in watching you squirm ; he's not going to give it to you unless you ask him to. You know this . So you're going to. Ask him, that is. Today. Right now. Any second now . 

You’ve already interrupted his ongoing rambling monologue about some ‘scum sucking bottom feeder’ he’s been stalking, now you just need to tell him. Any second now. While Ronin's still semi-distracted by his love of the hunt you're going to say what you want loud and clear, before he gets the chance to upset your determination with his touch, before you have a chance to get shy you're gonna tell him. 

You open your mouth; no words come out. You try again and fail to produce any sound a second time. Third time’s the charm. Come on. You can do this. ‘Ro-ronin.’ You stutter out.

Ronin hums, his hand tracing little circles on your upper back as he says, ‘Yeah, baby? What’s up?’ His voice is light, airy . You’re thinking that you’ve gotten off easy with him being so distracted when Ronin continues, ‘What’s so important that you just had to interrupt me, even though I know you’ve not been listening for the past half hour. What’s eating at that pretty little head of yours?’

You wriggle slightly where you’re laid on top of him, squirming from your discomfort. It’s now or never. Your face is aflame, you’re steadfastly looking anywhere that isn’t Ronin. You take a deep breath before, ‘Ronin-I’m-a-virgin-but-I-think-it-would-be-really-cool-if-you-could-sex-me-up-sometime-soon-maybe-now-please-and-thank-you,’, comes out in one big rush. You immediately bury your face in the soft cotton of his shirt after and pray he won’t make you say it again. There's silence for a beat, and you cringe . Your shoulders are retreating up towards your ears when you feel Ronin’s chest stutter then start to heave before he releases a manic cackle from above you. 

‘What was that, darlin’? You want me to ‘sex you up?’ Ronin doesn't bother to stifle the snicker that breaks free as he says the words. Oh God, you did say that, didn’t you? This has not gone well; you practiced in your head so much and yet you still asked him to ‘sex you up’. Jesus. …You kind of want the ground to split open and swallow you whole.

Ronin’s still giggling when he tries to pull your face away from his chest to look at you, but you shake your head frantically and tuck it incrementally lower, covering your face with your hands. You’re embarrassed , and maybe a little ashamed . ‘ Don’t be getting shy on me now, darlin’ . You finally told me what you want . Don’t you want me to give it to you? ’ One of his hands slides under your jaw and tips your head up to look at him, the other gently pulls your hands away from your face.

There’s an undisguised glee on Ronin’s face when you make eye contact with him but his expression falters at the look on your face. ‘ Baby? ’ Ronin slides his hand up to cup the side of your face and brushes a thumb along the tears gathering in your lower lashes. ‘Oh.’ His eyebrows knit together. ‘We need to talk , huh?’ You sniffle, try to blink back your tears as you nod at him shortly, refusing to make eye contact with him. You wipe your eyes and laugh wetly at how silly you feel, crying over something like this. 

Ronin shifts on the couch, shuffles himself up into a sitting position and uses the arm locked around your waist to bring you with him. Sitting up like this you can see the concern laced into his eyebrows. You raise your hand to try and smooth them out but Ronin catches it and presses a kiss to your knuckles instead. 

‘Why didn’t you just talk to me?’ It’s short and succinct. Ronin does not like talking about his problems, preferring to talk around them or to hide his truths in poetry but when it comes to you , he’s always to the point. He’s always willing to try . You love him for that- you love him for a myriad of reasons but you especially love that he’s willing to try for you. To sit with emotions that he hasn’t so much as looked at in years, even if it makes him uncomfortable.

It’s with that thought in mind that you rearrange so that you’re sat on Ronin, facing him as you twiddle your thumbs together and say, ‘I wanted to . I kept trying , but the words wouldn’t come out and I didn’t know what to say, or how to say it so I tried to show you but that didn’t work and… I got in my head about it. I was worried you wouldn’t want me-

‘ That’s stupid.’ Ronin cuts in.

‘Ronin .’ You say, upset.

‘I’m always going to want you. I- love you. Innocent little lamb or not.’

‘Oh.’ You say, the feeling catching in your throat and sitting there. You feel like you’re going to cry for real this time. Ronin leans in and presses a kiss against your cheekbone, just under your eye. You chase after him and catch his lips in a soft kiss, leave your forehead pressed to his when you pull back, eyes closed. ‘I- I just, I’m shy and it- I have trouble- I can’t talk about these things like you can, it’s not easy for me and then you kept rejecting me-’

‘Who said I was rejecting you?’ Now Ronin sounds hurt. You open your eyes and there’s this look of disbelief on his face, a subtle upset sitting in the crease of his brows, his wide eyes, and his open mouth. He looks… heartbroken by the idea , like hurting you was the last thing he wanted and he didn’t even know he was doing it; because you didn’t tell him. A tear escapes confinement and slides down your cheek.

‘Ronin, baby, I-’ You cup his face, look into his eyes and try to gather your courage before burying yourself in his neck to hide as you say, ‘I wanted you to touch me and I kept trying but you just ignored it and I thought it was fine but it’s not ; I want you to want me.’ Your voice breaks as you choke out the last couple words.

You feel Ronin’s shoulders judder as he takes in a shuddering breath. He presses a hand against the back of your head and holds you close to him, ‘I do want you. Want you so much I can barely breathe for it, darlin’. …I just wanted to hear you say it, didn’t mean to push you so far you broke .’ You hear him inhale again, the breath irregular and prolonged compared to the normal slow rise and fall of his chest; you realise with a start that Ronin’s mimicking the breathing techniques you always do when the world gets too much and you can’t feel anything except for it closing in on you. You wonder if this feels like that for him… 

‘Listen, darlin’, where I came from, that godforsaken shithole of a town- where I- escaped, there were-’ Ronin stops for a second, and you think he’s choking up before he voice returns with a vengeance and a venom you’ve never heard before, ‘these men, shit stained, self-proclaimed saints, prostrating God with one hand, doing reprehensible shit with the other behind closed doors. Scumbags who took too much, who got anything they wanted, everyone else’s wishes be damned. I can’t-’ Ronin cuts himself off, looks away with tension in his jaw and a furrow in his brow. ‘I won’t be like them, ever. No matter what.’ He spits with venom. ‘That’s how I became The Butcher in th’ first place.’ Ronin starts tracing slow circles on one of your thighs, when he speaks again his voice is clearer, lighter. ‘Someone needed t’ put them in their place. Make ‘em understand that heaven isn’t open to them, bring a little slice of hell into their lives- their deaths more like.’ He barks out a laugh, the sound thick with emotion and edged with delight. ‘…Show ‘em what it’s like to be on the other end of the stick.

‘So I- I get that you’re shy, darlin’. ‘M not saying you hav’ta spell everythin’ out f’me, I jus’ need you to give me somethin’.’ Ronin looks down at you, tilts your head up to look at him and you wonder if there’s as much emotion on your face as there is on his; you feel peeled open, raw. ‘Some kinda confirmation, a yes, some kind of proof that you want this as much as I do.’ 

‘Yeah, okay… That makes sense. I’m sorry. I- didn’t mean to bring up bad memories for you. I should have tried talking to you about it, not just… y’know . It’s just- this is hard for me.’

‘Nah, darlin’. I could’ve brought this up at anytime, I w’s just having too much fun playing with you to realise we needed to talk about it. ‘S much as my fault as it‘s yours.’ Ronin says.

You nod softly, ‘We’ve kind of been putting each other through it, huh? It’s almost funny .’ You cut yourself off with a wet giggle, sniffle and wipe your nose on the back of your hand. ‘I didn’t- didn’t realise it was affecting me this much, but I- um, I can try be more um, forward about what I’m wanting. For you.’ You fiddle with the fabric of his shirt, twist it in your hands. 

‘That’s all I’m askin’ for, darlin’, a little communication.’ One of Ronin’s hands snakes over yours and grips your fingers, gentle, ‘You’re gonna ruin my shirt, baby.’ Your hands pause in their fidgeting until Ronin pulls one of them into his own, presses the pads of his fingers against yours and slides them to and fro, pushing and pulling your fingers together and apart with his own. 

You’re silent for a moment, content to watch Ronin play with your hand and sit here and feel close to him before you open your mouth to speak, ‘So you’re okay that I'm a- that I haven’t -? Me tell-telling you hasn’t um- turned you off, has it? ’ The last part comes out in a squeak , embarrassed even now to hear yourself say it , even with Ronin already knowing , waiting so patiently while you gathered your nerves, thumb rubbing soothing little motions at the base of your neck . 

‘Darlin’, we’ve been dating for four months now. I figured it out week two when I tried to kiss you with a little tongue and you choked. ’ You feel Ronin’s chest shake where your head is pressed against it as he stifles a laugh at the memory. You flush beet-red as you recall the memory, it having been one you stuffed far down in the deepest, darkest crevasses of your mind and tried with all your might to pretend didn’t exist.

It was the first time you’d felt comfortable getting hot and heavy with Ronin since your meet up in Purgatory. He hadn’t even put his tongue in your mouth really, just licked over your lower lip and brushed his tongue against your own, testing. And when you felt the sweet, warm press of it you had panicked , choked on your own spit, hacked a cough against his face and then had to go get a glass of water to be able to breathe again. 

Ronin had nearly died laughing at the time,. He’d then pulled you close and called you his, ‘poor, sweet, innocent baby.’ Said, ‘was that too much for you, sweetheart?’ …Oh. At the time you’d brushed it off as lighthearted teasing but he really did know. And he’d treated you exactly the same afterwards, to the point you hadn’t noticed anything had changed. 

You cringe outwardly at the memory, face scrunching up as you whine, ‘Ronniiiinnnnnn.’ 

‘What?’ Ronin says, ‘It was cute. My sweet little saint getting all worked up over a little kiss. Can’t wait to see how you react when I kiss you in other, more fun places.’ Ronin’s grin is sharp as he nips at The edge of your jaw playfully. 

You squirm in his lap, whine, ‘Roninnn,’ again and pretend to try push him away, but you don’t actually let him go anywhere with one arm hooked around the back of his neck. Ronin laughs at your antics, arms wrapped around your torso supporting you, he blows a raspberry just under your jaw, causing you to shriek and actively try to actually push him away from you by his shoulders but now he’s the one locked onto you and he won’t budge, he’s just too strong. ‘’Roninnnnn ewwwwwwwww, grosss!’ You screech and he chuckles .

Ronin kisses his way up to your ear and murmurs, ‘I’ll stop if you ask nicely , darlin’.’ He immediately goes back to blowing kisses wetly against your neck.

You squeal, wriggle desperately in his grasp and gasp out, ‘Ronin, please ! Stoppppp, come onnnnnn!’

Ronin cackles next to your ear, ‘Since you asked me so nicely, baby, I’ll stop.’ He leans back against the arm of the couch, grinning, ‘can’t believe you didn’t like my love kisses! and I made them just for you ‘n’ all, darlin’.’ 

‘Those were not ‘love kisses’ and you know it . There was no love in them! Those were evil kisses.’

‘Oh yeah? Good thing I’m th’ devil then.’ Ronin looks so cocky when he says it, you’d think he set it up if you didn’t already know how quick witted your boyfriend is. ‘But… what makes you so sure, baby? Why don’t you come over here and show me what a real ‘love kiss’ is like, huh? Since you’re such an expert ‘n’ all.‘ Ronin leans all the way back against the arm of the couch, arms stretched out behind his head, looking for everything like he’s king of the world. He’s king of your world at least. It’d piss you off if it didn’t turn you on so much. He’s playing with you again, and you walked right into his well laid trap. Your clit twitches in your pants at the mere idea of what Ronin’s implying, but you find yourself frozen under the weight of your own want. 

There’s about a yard of empty space hanging in between your torsos from where you’re sat on his lap, and even though you want this you hesitate to cross the empty space between you both. Ronin’s smug grin fades slightly, gets replaced with the ghost of a concerned frown as he sits up a little. ‘You uh- you okay if I tease you about it, darlin’? The whole,’ he waves his hand around in the air, drawing imaginary circles, ‘virginity thing, right? ‘S like, you’re shy , it’s not like- not a wound or anything, darlin’? Not gonna hurt you if I poke , right?’

You shake your head no, Ronin taps you on your chin and says, ‘words , baby. Can’t read your mind no matter how much I want to.’

You press your lips together before saying, quietly, ‘You- you can tease me. I- I like it.’ The last part is whispered like the admission it is and Ronin’s usual shit eating grin starts to stretch back over his face. He leans up into your space, puts one hand under your ass and the other against your back to pull you fully on top of him while he lays back on the couch. 

Ronin cackles a laugh in your ear as he chatters away saying, ‘I knew you liked it, haha! Knew you liked me, baby. Just had to get you to admit it. Always thought there was a dirty little sinner under all that innocent, saintly outlook. Hells, bet you’re fucking filthy, aren’t ya’, darlin’? Wonder what else I can get you to admit to. Next you’re gonna start saying that my crowbar turns you on and I’ll find you following me out to Purgatory to get a little sneak-peak at the devil in action.’ He keeps snickering between his words; Ronin’s practically purring with excitement at having you in his lap, secure in the knowledge that he can tease you as much as he wants and that you’ll like it, that like him.

It feels like half the blood in your body rushes to your face as you flush beet red, the abruptness of it combined with Ronin saying these things about you makes you dizzy and causes you to sway towards Ronin slightly, the other half rushes straight to your clit like you’ve been electrified and it almost hurts the arousal that shoots through you. Your first instinct is to hide from Ronin when your clit twitches to life between your legs but sat on his lap like this there’s nowhere to hide. You’re exposed , and the thought raises goosebumps along your arms and legs that Ronin’s watching you , seeing and feeling every aroused twitch and wiggle of your hips no matter how you try to control them.

Ronin watches you go red, sees you curl around your arousal like you’re trying to protect it and then straighten up like you’re pretending it isn’t happening, and he barks out a laugh, ‘Awh, my sweet little saint, precious little lamb; I’m gonna corrupt your sweet little aorta until it’s all bloody and bleeding and perfect, just for me, sweetheart.‘ Ronin’s nibbling at you as he says all this, nipping at your ear gently, scraping his teeth over your pulse point, stopping to kiss your lips, licking into your mouth and then biting when you try kiss him back, it’s overwhelming. 

You may be sat on Ronin but you can feel him everywhere around you and you don’t know how to handle it. You whine high in the back of your throat, break the noise off into a whimper when you feel Ronin press his sharp grin against the crook of your neck, scrape his teeth there and say, ‘You like that, baby?’ You nod rapidly and Ronin laughs breathily against your neck in response. You can’t stifle the turned on wiggle that happens where you’re seated over his hips but you think he doesn’t notice. 

You’ve got your hands braced on his shoulders when Ronin finally lets up and lets you catch your breath. You staring down at him, chest rising and falling sporadically when Ronin says, ‘You’re this worked up over a little kissing? Awh, baby. You’re out of your fucking depth; I’m going to devour you.‘

You whimper , the words shooting right to your clit as Ronin’s grin gets impossibly sharper. Ronin’s a man of his word , and you shudder as all the possibilities of what he could mean run through your mind. How do you even reply to that? You can’t , all you can do is look at him, mouth opening and closing as you desperately try to think of what to say and come up with nothing.  

You bite your lip, try stifle the rocking motion that’s rolling through your hips with a vengeance, not wanting to show how worked up you’ve gotten over ‘a little kissing’. Ronin glances down between your bodies pointedly, raises an eyebrow and says, ‘I can feel that, baby. Dont’cha know?’, while grinning. The expression softens as he says, ‘You don’t need to hide from me, darlin’. I want to see you, all of you.’ Ronin puts his hands on your hips and encourages them to roll down against his own. He then leans up and kisses you, softly, sweetly, pulls back like it’s the last thing he wants to do and goes, ‘Hey. Hey. Maul me.’ before snapping his teeth at the air between you. You jump, startled before giggling at him.

‘You’re ridiculous.’ You say, before leaning down and brushing your nose against his.

‘Yeah, but you love me, so who’s really the ridiculous one here?’ Ronin kisses you on the cheek, and you can feel the sharp edges of his grin brush against your skin as he whispers, ‘well? Sweetheart, what are you going to do?’ 

Ronin leans back, looks at you with a challenge in his eyes that he already knows you’re going to fail. You lean down and kiss him, press your lips to his and lick into his mouth with a vengeance, feel his tongue brush your own and shudder. Your hands slide down from his shoulders to his chest. Ronin lets you take the lead in kissing him, leaves his hands pressed gently on your hips as you roll them down against his own. 

The shiny vinyl of his jeans is bunched up around the zipper and the pressure feels good where your cunt lips part around it. The fabric of your underwear is wedged up around your clit causing a delicious friction, it rubs and pulls at it as you rock over him. The sensation burns in a way you're both familiar with and totally foreign to; the pleasure tinglingly reminiscent of the times you’ve spent rubbing your clit while thinking of your boyfriend in private, but turned up in a manner that's overwhelming by the simple weight of Ronin’s hands on your hips, the dark heady gaze of his eyes on you as you rock against him. 

It’s an unbearable tease, there’s this heat that’s sparking along your clit every time your hips roll down against him, and it feels good , too good, and so you can’t quite control the movement. Everytime your hips roll down they twitch and stutter when they connect with his and you just can’t quite get the rhythm right, it’s frustrating but at least you feel in control of the movement, not panicked or unsure for once .

You’re just about feeling capable when Ronin’s hands slide up to cover your own and readjust them where they’re braced on his chest so that you’re cupping his pecs, and then he squeezes . You feel the soft-firm flesh of his chest shift under the pressure of your hands, feel the pebble of his nipples through the thin cotton of his shirt and you whimper . Try pull your hands away in a panic, then abort that movement and try press them closer because you want this, want him; you don’t want to keep running away . 

Ronin’s hands stay pressed firmly over your own the entire time, so he feels the back and forth twitching pull of your arms, feels when your mouth slips away from his, your focus elsewhere and he laughs , breath puffing over your face before he’s seeking out your lips to kiss you hard and suddenly the tables are turned. You may be on top of Ronin but his mouth is a hot and heavy seeking pressure against yours. He brushes his tongue over your lower lip, coaxing your tongue out to play with his. His hands are shifting over yours, directing them, encouraging you to squeeze, to brush your palms and then fingers over his nipples with purpose and suddenly you are out of your depth.  

You whine, break away from his lips, needing a moment to catch your breath. Ronin’s laid back, panting and grinning below you. His hands slip up your arms, leaving a fiery trail of goosebumps as they skate over your shoulders and then down your front to sit on your waist. ‘You want this , baby? You want me?’ Ronin brushes his hands down to your hips, uses his grip there to grind you over his crotch again, then he rolls his own hips up into the motion and you choke. Breath catching in your throat as your mind floods with images of him fucking up into you as you ride his cock. The thought, combined with the motion of his hips under yours is so erotic and so  that you're suddenly caught in the reality that this is happening. You're going to have sex . With Ronin. Sex . With Ronin. Right now.

A wave of heat washes over you, settles hotly over your face, sits heavy on your neck, curls down your spine into a line of tension behind your clit and your hips roll harder into their desperate rocking motion over him. With Ronin steadying the rock of your hips against him the constant friction against your clit blooms into a hot pulse that concentrates in your clit but sweeps across your whole cunt.

‘I need an answer, sweetheart, a simple ‘yes’ will do... Although I'm not gonna stop you if you wanna say ‘please, Ronin, master and maestro of my heart, body, and soul, make me yours, put your thick cock in my greedy little cunt and make me see God’.’ Ronin's grinning, spewing absolute filth from his mouth now that he knows you want to hear it, viscerally enjoying watching you squirm above him as heat creeps along your spine and your clit twitches in interest at his words. The only evidence that he’s not just making fun of you is in the breathless tone to his words, the red flush settled high over his cheekbones, and the way his gaze keeps dipping between you both to where he’s got you rutting your clit against his crotch.

Your mouth opens and shuts repeatedly, words lost somewhere under the want that's crawling along underneath your skin and settling heavy in your stomach, pulsing behind your clit and making your cunt clench around nothing as you imagine clenching around Ronin . Imagine rubbing your pussy over his stomach and his hips and his cock. Imagine slotting your cunt against his cock in a wet sticky kiss and rutting against him, feeling every wet twitch and kiss of his cunt against yours until one of you cums and the other gets to feel the hot slick pulse of it against them. Even just thinking about it feels unnervingly good like this. You want to cum like this, with him, on him, any way that he’ll have you even.

Ronin looks at you, calculating, and then leans up to kiss you sweetly. Presses his lips to yours all gentle like and then kisses his way softly across your jaw and down your neck to lave his tongue there. You shudder at the sensation, whine and tilt your head back to give him space to work. You feel his grin against your neck as you shudder with want, feel him kiss you there again and then suck a wet kiss over the spot before he starts whispering, lips ghosting over your neck, ‘Come on, baby. Don’t you want me to spread some of my rot to you? Gonna look at the devil and ask for his sacrament? Want me to defile you, baby? Ruin you in the eyes of God? C’mon, baby, darlin’, sweetheart. All you've got to do is ask. I wanna hear you say it.’

Ronin leans back and looks at you, eyebrows raised, waiting. You swallow the nerves collecting in your throat. You want this so badly it’s overriding the red flush on your face, sidestepping the anxiety in your brain, and overpowering everything in your body that says that you can’t do this, because you can. You're going to. You desperately want to look away from Ronin’s gleeful gaze but you’re stuck, trapped, caught in Ronin’s orbit, and you can’t get out. You know he’ll just pull you right back in if you do anyway. 

You lick your lips before you manage to stutter out, ‘Ronin, can-’ You stop.

‘Go on.’ 

 ‘Will you-’ You cut yourself off, face flushing red hot.

‘Keep going .’

‘I want-’ You breathe out, your hips rolling down against him of their own accord .

‘Nearly there .’

Somehow , you manage to whimper out, ‘ defile me, please, Ronin.’   

‘ There we go. Feel better now?’

You nod shyly , look at Ronin then abruptly look away, you can’t hold his gaze . He’s grinning proudly, a heavy, lovesick look to him as he sits you both up slowly, then taps his hand against your knee and says, ‘up,’ to get you to climb off him before standing up himself. Ronin holds a hand out to you, you look between him and his hand in confusion before taking it. He levers you off of the couch and into his arms, wraps them around you before kissing you sweetly, ‘Can’t have me taking y’r innocence on the couch now , darlin’. ‘S hardly a place to be defiled .’ Ronin snickers to himself before dramatically sweeping an arm underneath your knees and tipping you back into a bridal carry.  

You shout in a mixture of surprise and indignation, ‘Ronin!’, smack his arm in protest but he just laughs loudly as he carries you through to the bedroom.

‘What baby? If I’m gonna be taking your virtue I may as well do it properly ‘n’ all. I’m just paying my respects , playing the role of dutiful, doting husband ‘n’ carrying you ‘cross the threshold.’ Ronin’s laughing the entire time he says it, but you can’t help but wonder if there’s a thread of truth to what he’s saying. That is until he rouses you from your suspicions by kicking the bedroom door open with a ‘bang’, and grinning at your proudly before walking through.

‘Who knew that Ronin Beaufort, the devil’s butcher, was such a romantic, huh?’ You kiss the side of his face, nuzzle into his neck and feel his throat vibrate as he laughs.

‘Heh, only the best for my baby .’ It’s sarcastic, but you know he means it as he lays you gently down on the bed and crawls over you with a lovesick grin. You put your arms around his neck and pull him down to kiss him. Ronin’s smiling the whole time and he has to press his grin to the side of your face a couple times to get it under control before he can kiss you properly. When he pulls back, he pulls back slowly , runs a hand down the side of your tummy, traces his fingers over your lower stomach in teasing little circles. 

‘R’ninnnnnn, don’t tease me.’ You say.

Ronin’s grin gets impossibly sharper, looking for everything like he wants to devour you, before his eyes soften and he rubs his thumb gently over your cheek. ‘I’m going to love you, darlin’.’ He says it with intent, voice getting airy over the words ‘love you’ and you’re reminded once again that no matter how he denies it, your boyfriend is a desperate, hopeless romantic, and you wouldn’t have him any other way. You never had a single thing to be worried about. This is Ronin, and he loves you. 

Ronin leans in and kisses you gently, he scrapes his teeth over your bottom lip as he pulls back. ‘Do you know what you want , baby? Or do you want me to try and find out ?’ His voice dips deeper as he says the second sentence, as slides his fingers beneath the waistband of your underwear and pings it against your tummy. 

You wriggle slightly underneath him, bite your lips and say, ‘I want you , ‘Nin.’ 

Ronin chuckles, ‘Yeah, I know that , baby, but where do you want me? Here?’ He presses his lips to your neck, ‘or, here?’, then to your collarbone, ‘maybe, here?’, Ronin rucks your shirt up around your tummy and leaves it sitting just under your chest, brushes his lips over the bottom of your ribcage, staring at you all the while, ‘down here?’ He brushes his lips above the line of your underwear, ‘lower?’ Ronin asks cheekily, rubs his nose just under your belly button while waiting for a response.

‘’Nin…’ You say, bottom lip worried between your teeth, ‘Please ?’ You ask succinctly, and lift your hips towards him to make your point. Ronin grins at you, wolfish, before tucking his fingers in the edge of your underwear and sliding them down your hips. Your face burns a cherry red as you lift your hips to help him and your cunt is exposed to his gaze for the first time ever. 

You fidget, try to close your legs as subtly as you can but Ronin grabs you by the ankles and gently pulls your legs apart, slides himself between your knees until he’s propped up on his elbows in front of your pussy. You’re waiting for him to touch you, clit twitching and pussy drooling under the weight of his gaze, but when Ronin does nothing but look you start to squirm in place. 

‘Ronin? Baby?’ You ask, voice meek and nervous. Ronin’s head snaps up to look at you and this is maybe the first time you’ve really seen him since this whole thing started. His pupils are blown , with this dazed glaze like sure he’s looking at you but his focus is elsewhere, preoccupied. Namely on your cunt, given the way his gaze keeps flitting between looking at you and looking at it, like he can’t keep away. His mouth is a bitten red, shiny with spit from where he’s been kissing you and his gaze is half lidded, boring into you and heavy with want when it manages to stay on your face for more than a second. 

The whole thing is maybe one of the most erotic things you’ve even seen in your life and you can’t stop yourself from squirming where you’re laid, undulating out from the spine and rocking your hips towards Ronin’s face as you whine, desperate and high pitched in the back of your throat before you manage to pant out, ‘’Niiiinnn, touch me? Please? Pretty please?’ 

Ronin doesn’t answer you, just groans, head dipping down, seemingly in pain , before he looks up to catch your eye and leans down so that his lips are just barely brushing over your clit, teasing you, again. You’ve had enough of his teasing, can’t withstand the ghosting sparks of pleasure where his lips brush, you can’t stop yourself; you keen , one of your hands lands on the back of Ronin’s head as you rock your hips up to connect with his waiting mouth. 

You feel Ronin’s moan vibrate through you where his spit shiny lips part against your cunt and his tongue presses hot and insistent over your clit. You can’t stop the rock of your hips against his face, grinding your clit into his tongue. If this felt any less good maybe you’d have some semblance of self-control but his mouth is hot, wet, and slippery, burning fire against your clit and it’s all you can do to ride the feeling out against the heat of it. Gasp and cry as he licks around and then over your clit, presses wet sucking kisses against it as you gasp and cry out at the feeling. You can’t think for how good this feels, you’re near consumed with your want for more. More of Ronin, more of his mouth, more of his love. You’re damn near insatiable.

Ronin pulls back for a second, opens his mouth to ask you something but you think you might cry at the loss of sensation as the cold air comes into contact with your wet clit and electricity zaps through it, stinging . You gasp, ‘ no! -’ before you can think to stop it, make a sound like you’re bereaved , scratch your fingernails over the back of Ronin’s head and lift your head up to make watery eye contact with him. 

Ronin’s grinning ferally , the skin around his mouth is rubbed red and there’s a shiny wetness from your cunt covering his chin. ‘Awh, darlin’ , somebody’s desperate.’ Ronin cackles, high pitched in the back of his throat but he must be feeling kinder than usual, or you must look as desperate as he says because he leans back down and places a loud smacking kiss on your clit before cackling a laugh again, and then he presses his wet lips over your clit and sucks it into his mouth while looking you in the eyes.

Your head hits the pillow with a thump, holding his gaze proving too much as you start to whimper and break into high pitched moans. You rut your cunt against his face as his tongue laves wet and rough over your pussy, between your folds, and wraps wetly over your clit. You can’t help the moans that escape you as Ronin kisses wetly at your cunt, seals his mouth over your clit and rubs his tongue against the bottom of it as he pulls back with a wet suckling motion. You can feel his head bobbing back and forth minutely between your legs, ‘Ronin, ah- fuck, Ronin I can’t- ’ You break off into a long moan, press your clit harder against his mouth, feel it twitch aggressively against his tongue before you start to come on his face.

Your orgasm hits you like a thundering truck; your vision blurs around the edges, your eyes squeeze shut and a hoarse moan is ripped from your throat as the pleasure crests and washes over you. It twitches through your thighs and convulses in your shoulders, rocks through your hips in a fizzing rush that funnels to your clit as it pulses against Ronin’s tongue. Your head slams back against the pillow, and your feet dig into the bed beneath you as your hips surge up off the bed. You can hear Ronin growling low in his throat, and the noise sends another shuddering wave of pleasure through you as one of his arms unwraps from around your thigh and slams over your hips, holding you down against the bedspread as you start to twitch from over sensitivity. 

Ronin sucks at your clit one last time as you tremble against him before you go limp in his hold and he dips his head down to lick over your entrance. Your cunt pulses with aftershocks, gushes slick out against Ronin’s face, clenching around nothing as he licks down the crease of your pussy to catch some of it, tongue rubbing over your entrance before licking back up to your oversensitive clit. He licks back over it and you whimper in his hold, slot a clumsy, sweaty palm against his face to try make him back off, ‘’Nin! ‘Nin, stoppp, ‘s too much ,’ you slur out.

‘’s too much, Ronin, stop.~ Don’t eat my pussy, don’t suck my dick, don’t make me cum so hard I cry. ‘S so much. I can’t take it, it’s too good-.’ Ronin’s teasing croon  breaks off into a loud cackle. 

He crawls up over you so you’re face to face as you grumble out that you, ‘didn’t cry ’. 

At the sight of Ronin’s grinning face you can’t help but smile dazedly back at him from where you’re laid back against the pillows, even as close your eyes, trying to feign annoyance at his teasing you can’t help but beam and giggle your way through it. ‘Awh, baby, look ,’ Ronin lifts a hand and wipes his thumb against your face, ‘you dribbled. ’ He snickers and leans forward to ask you, ‘That good, huh?’ 

You crack open an eye and try frown at him, grumble out, ‘’Nin , you’re ruining my afterglow,’ but the effect is ruined by the giggles that keep escaping you. Ronin cackles at this. Flops himself down beside you and snuggles in at your neck, wrapping an arm over you. You can’t help but burrow closer in his hold, snuggle into him and tuck yourself up under his chin as you laugh; you’re maybe a little giddy off the endorphin rush.

‘So sorry, darlin’. How rude of me. Not like I was th’ one who put you in it in the first place or nothin.’ You can feel Ronin’s voice rumbling through his chest as he talks. ‘Nah, I’m simply a bystander in the best sex of your life, you don’t even need me,’ He flops himself backwards dramatically, throws an arm over his eyes and sighs huffily before continuing, ‘you did this all by yourself, I wasn’t even necessary, nay, it would have been better if I wasn’t here at all-’

‘Oh my Gods , Ronin, shut the hell up!’ You’re laughing as you say it, which takes the bite out of the words but the message still stands, considering that Ronin can and will go on for hours when he gets like this. You slap him on the chest jokingly to emphasise your point.

‘You wound me!’ Ronin clasps his hands over his heart, lifting and then dropping himself onto the bed with a bounce, pretending to actually be hurt. 

You giggle, roll onto your tummy and shake him, laughing as you wail, ‘Oh Gods , what have I done? Ronin? Ronin , baby, speak to me.’ 

Ronin’s laying flat on his back, eyes shut, tongue stuck out his mouth comically, seemingly unaffected by your vigorous shaking. …Which is why you’re not expecting it when he abruptly sits up and tackles you backwards onto the bed, pressing you down with his body and drawing his fingers down your sides to tickle you. You shriek and try wriggle away from him, laughing breathlessly as you try escape. 

You shout, ‘Ronin! Stoppppp, ‘s not fair!’, legs post-sex limp and failing to kick out as you try make space between your body and his.

Ronin pulls you back down the bed towards him when you manage after he lets you get away. ‘What ? So you can kill me and I can’t even tickle you? ‘S not exactly fair , darlin’.

‘I didn’t actually kill you! Mercy! Mercy please ! You know, Ronin! You know!’ You break off into slightly hysterical giggles, broken up only by how hard you’re breathing. 

Ronin cackles loudly above you before carefully dropping his full weight on top of you, then going limp . ‘Dunno. I feel pretty dead to me.’ 

All your breath rushes out of you with a wheezing huff as Ronin lands on top of you, your arms are pinned, folded between you and you can’t get the traction to push him off of you, ‘ Ninnnn.’ Ronin’s heavy , made of nothing but blood, guts, and sinew but he weighs like stone , effectively trapping you beneath him.

‘What?’ He laughs breathily. ‘I’m dead. Dead people don’t move, baby, don’t’cha know?’ He cackles loudly at his own joke before propping himself up on his elbows, ‘Or’ve you started having regrets about killing me yet, sweetheart? Regret hewing my blood to stone and my bone to rot-’ He breaks off into a mad cackle that you feel vibrate through your chest.

‘Oh please, you were rotten right through before I ever even met you, baby.’

‘Oh , talk dirty to me, darlin’, you’re gonna get me excited here.’ Ronin tucks his face against your collarbone and scrapes his teeth there. The feeling makes you shiver, whine and tilt your head back, bare your neck to his teeth so you can feel it as he moves up to press his grin against you. You brush your hand up the side of Ronin’s neck, press your palm to his jaw and leave it there. He tilts his head and presses a kiss into your palm, murmurs, ‘So, do you want to check my pulse, darlin’? Since ‘m dead an’ all.’ 

You hum, and start to slide your fingers down to his neck to where his pulse point should be but Ronin catches your hand, brings your fingers to his lips and nips them before he smiles at you cheekily, ‘I’ve got a better place for you to feel it, sweetheart.’ He kisses at your fingertips, ‘but first ‘ve got to get naked .’ He wiggles his eyebrows at you dramatically and you huff a laugh at him. Ronin climbs off of you so that he can shuck his trousers down his legs, kicking them off his feet and they go flying off the edge of the bed. You stifle a laugh at his antics; you love your boyfriend, he’s so fucking goofy . 

Ronin’s boxers are red and black in a checkered pattern. You can see where they’re wet and sticking to him from where his cunt has been drooling this whole time . Your clit aches in sympathy and you jump slightly from the sharp sting of it. You’ve seen Ronin in just his shirt and underwear before, but it was always with much more chaste connotations, like going to bed, or after a shower, or just lounging around the house together. Looking at him now , armed with the knowledge you’re going to get to touch him sends tremors up and down your spine and makes you clench your thighs in anticipation. 

Ronin catches you staring at him and you wonder if how much you want him is be showing on your face because he grins before crawling over to catch you in a searing kiss. Your pussy may be slowly fluttering back to life but you’re still feeling lax and floaty from your orgasm so it’s all you can manage to try and keep up as Ronin kisses you bruisingly . You’re left gasping for breath when he pulls back, ‘Baby. Baby, baby, baby .’ He murmurs against your lips, ‘want you to suck my cock, want to cum in your mouth, want to fuck you with my fingers, wanna see if I can make your pretty little pussy squirt ‘n’ make your legs shake again.’ 

You nod rapidly, your breath spilling over his lips in hot bursts, nose bumping his. Ronin’s close enough you can feel his smile as he says, ‘Yeah baby? You want that? Which part? C’mon and tell me why don’t you?’ Ronin’s grinning when he pulls back, testing, seeing if you’re any less shy now that you’ve cum on his face.

Your face floods with colour, and you open your mouth, stutter around a lungful of air, then close it again when absolutely nothing comes out. Your head dips down, breaking eye contact with him before you try again, determined, and you just about manage to squeak out, ‘b-both?’, before your voice dies in your throat. Ronin grins at you, catches your face with both his hands and gives you the most over exaggerated, loud, smacking kiss he can.

‘Where did my sweet, shy baby go, huh? My innocent little lamb? You’re all corrupted now, rotten right through. You want both? To fuck and to get fucked, Jesus would weep, baby. Somebody’s getting greedy.~‘ Ronin sounds ecstatic. ‘What dirty sinner corrupted your sweet little aorta, baby? One little taste of heaven ‘n’ you’re back knocking on the devil’s door to take you there again, huh? Well, I’m sorry to say, darlin’, this road only leads to hell. You can’t go back now. S’ too late. You’re mine.’ Ronin’s teasing you when he says all this, a giddy undercurrent carrying his voice, talking for the sake of hearing himself talk, but there's an element of truth as he says it; like he genuinely believes you’re his and his alone; destined to be bound to him in this life and any others. Or, maybe you just want it to be true. Oh Gods, you’re so in love with him it hurts. 

You bite your lip, lean up into Ronin’s space to kiss him sweetly and tangle your hands in his hair, ‘Wouldn’t the devil take me to hell?’ 

‘Not if he wanted to show every dumbfuck up ‘n heaven what they’re missin’. All the great sex they missed out on while protecting their virtue.’

‘Careful , ‘Nin, someone might hear you and start thinking you like me.’

‘Can’t have that, can we?’ Ronin murmurs, before kissing you softly, his lips stick to yours slightly when he pulls back. You reach over, rub your hands up over his hips and start to lift his shirt. Ronin takes the hint and pulls his shirt over his head so that he’s just wearing his boxers. You sit back and pat your thighs with a shy smile to encourage him to straddle you so he’s sat over your legs. 

Ronin leans in and kisses you as you brush your hands over his abdomen, trace over one of his top surgery scars before teasingly pinching his nipple. It’s meant to be a joke but Ronin gasps into your mouth and his hips twitch, one of his hands comes up to grab your wrist in his strong grasp. A smile curves its way across your face, gleeful at the thought of having something to tease him about for once, ‘Is someone sensitive?’ 

But you‘ve failed to take into account that Ronin has no shame, or if he does it is located somewhere very far from what you’re doing right now because he simply slides a hand to hold you by the back of your neck and says, somewhat gruffly, ‘work’s better if you use your mouth , darlin’.’ 

With Ronin’s hand braced on the back of your neck, guiding you to his chest so you can lick over his nipple, blow cold air against it to watch it pebble and hear him gasp, you’re reminded of who’s really in control here. It makes your clit twitch between your legs as you lick Ronin’s nipple into your mouth, suck gently as an experiment and then harder when you hear him let out a breathy moan above you. You use your other hand to brush over and then tug at his other nipple, want burning through you as you feel Ronin’s hips start to rock down against you at the sensation. 

You detach your lips from his nipple for a second, scrape your teeth against his chest, over where his heart is and start pressing a series of sucking, bruising kisses up towards to his jaw. In between them you ask, ‘Can I…?’ as you ghost your hands over the waistband of his boxers. 

Ronin sounds strained , and a little breathless when he says, ‘Course y’ can darlin’.’  You hold your breath as you slide his boxers over the curve of his ass and down to his knees. His pubic hair bristles as the waistband of his boxers slides over it. Your breath catches in your throat, then releases in a heavy rush as the wet seat of his boxers peels away from his cunt and then you can see it, see him .

Ronin’s pubic hair is dark black, kept neat but still pretty long; it partially obscures the view of his hard cock sticking out from between his folds, dark red at the head and a dusky colour leading up his foreskin. The edges of his cunt are shiny with slick and swollen where they part around it and you wonder for the first time how Ronin’s been waiting this long without going crazy . You feel a little crazy just looking at him; he’s so hard, and you can see his cock twitching under your heated stare. You wonder what it’d be like to suck it, how he’d feel in your mouth, against your tongue, how he’d sound . You think you might be drooling.

‘ Like what you see , baby?’

You only realise you’ve been staring when Ronin’s hand catches you by the chin and tilts your head up to look at him. He looks positively giddy with the attention you’re giving him and you find your mouth is suddenly startlingly dry. Ronin snickers at your expression and says, ‘I’ll take that as a yes .’ Your hands settle against the back of his thighs and he leans his weight back into the touch. ‘Hate t’ break it t’ ya’, sweetheart, but you’re gonna haf’ta let go of me so I get these off, y’know. I know, what a tragedy.’ He reaches down and pings the waistband of his boxers that's currently stretched between his knees. His wrist bumps his cock on the way down and you hear him hiss, watch his hips rock blindly forwards to chase the sensation. 

You rub your hands over his thighs, gaze locked on his, hands brushing over his scars as you mumble something about, ‘don’t want to ‘Nin, just want to touch you. Please let me, please, please baby, I’ll be good -’

If Ronin’s grin could get any wider it would be splitting his face in two; you want to sit in this feeling forever. ‘Are you begging to suck my dick right now? Awh, darlin’, baby ,’ Ronin brushes his thumb over your lower lip, settles his hand to cup your face as he presses his thumb in against your tongue. It’s salty, a little musky in reminder of what you’ve been doing, what you’re currently doing and the thought sends a shiver down your spine. You nod around his thumb, careful to keep your teeth away from it as you lick and try pull it further into your mouth.

Ronin’s expression is edged with something sharp at his mouth settles into a wide, cocky smirk. He looks at you with lidded eyes and says, ‘Is that so? Well, I want to hear you say it. C’mon baby, say ‘Ronin, can I suck your cock, pretty please?’ and I might just let you.’ He takes his thumb out your mouth to give you the chance to speak. 

You’re silent for a second, mouth opening and closing around nothing, thinking no sound is going to make it out until, unexpectedly , ‘Ronin, can I suck your cock, pretty please ,’ escapes from your mouth, whisper quiet yet unbearably loud in the silence of the room. You whimper at the sound of your own voice saying something so dirty , and Ronin‘s smirk cracks into a wide grin. You can feel your heartbeat in your cunt, throbbing in a steady one-two alongside the twitching of your clit. You think all the blood in your body must be down there because your head is swimming with the want that’s coursing through you. 

Ronin presses his thumb back into your mouth, pushes down on your tongue with it, curls his pointer finger under your chin and then nods your head for you . Your bottom teeth scrape against his thumb as he does it so you bite down gently, trapping his thumb for a second before releasing it. Ronin snorts , ‘ Touché,’ before he lets go and shuffles away from you so he can take his boxers off. 

You giggle at the sight because try as he might there is no way humanly possible to make a backwards shuffle with your boxers around your knees look cool . Ronin raises his middle finger at you and makes a rude gesture, sticking his tongue out at you, before he flops onto his side on the bed to detangle his boxer short where he’s somehow got them twisted around his knees.

As you watch him struggle, you realise with a start that you might be kind of totally screwed , because Ronin’s rolled onto his back, his feet tucked up in the air above him, wrestling with his boxer shorts where they’re now caught around his ankles and all you can think about is how much you love him. And love him you must, because the other thing you’re thinking about is that with his legs up in the air like this you can see his ruby red cunt sitting shiny and wet between his legs, and even with him doing his best impression of a dying bug, the sight of him wet and aroused for you, leaking slick down over his asshole and between his cheeks because of you, leaves you breathless and breathing heavy with want.

You sit up and crawl over to him, slide your hands up the back of his thighs and bend his knees towards his head- they don’t go very far, Ronin is anything but flexible, but the movement is satisfying anyways. Makes your clit throb at the sight of his cunt lips slowly parting to the open air as his hole is exposed. You desperately want to taste him, want to feel what it’s like when he cums in your mouth, want him to fuck your face. 

You’re so busy staring at Ronin’s cunt, breathing heavy and rubbing your thighs together to feel them squeeze around your clit that you don’t notice that Ronin’s stopped in his wriggling. ‘...Having fun?’ Ronin sounds amused, like he’s holding back a laugh at how eager you are, the way you can’t keep your hands off of him. You glance away from his cunt for a second to look up at him; Ronin’s flopped his torso to the side to look at you around his legs. From the look on his face Ronin’s barely holding back his laughter, grin stretched over his face, biting his bottom lip, unrestrained glee in his eyes at the way you’ve been feverishly staring at his cunt. 

You’re silent for a second before you start to giggle, leaning heavily against his legs as laughter starts to bubble its way out of you. Ronin bursts into laughter as soon as you do and you’re both incapacitated by it- his legs come down and you end up leaning over on your elbows by the time your giggles abate. ‘Hey, hey, c’mere .’ Ronin calls you up to him. You crawl up and lean over him, he smiles up at you sweetly . ‘Nice t’know you like me ‘n’ all my grotesqueness s’much.’ You splay a hand over his ribcage, sweep it across and tap a steady rhythm over his heartbeat. 

‘I more than like you Ronin, thought I’d been making that pretty clear.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know. You love me, you wanna fuck me, you can’t live without me, I’m your fix, sweetheart. You just can’t get enough of me.’

You raise your eyebrows at him while waiting for him to finish. ‘Really , ‘Nin?’

‘What? I’m just tellin’ truths, darlin’. Don’t’cha wanna hear it?’ 

You stare at him, unimpressed.

A slow grin stretches across Ronin’s face, ‘I’m only kidding, darlin’! Course I love you. What else d’ya think we’re doing here?’

You try not to smile but your poker face is far worse than Ronin’s so glee creeps onto it nonetheless, ‘I know.~’ You say. ‘Just wanted to hear you say it.’ 

Ronin snorts, ‘ my wicked little trickster ; what devil taught you that one? If you’re not careful you might just stop being a saint .’ He grins at you wickedly, the glint in his eyes letting you know that there’s nothing he would enjoy more. ‘Now , do you love me enough to put my cock in your saintly sweet mouth?’ Ronin starts to part his thighs slowly, clearly going to make a show of it but you have something specific in mind. Something you want so much it makes your heart race and palms sweat to think about it, so you stop him with a hand on his thigh. ‘Baby?’ Ronin looks at you questioningly.

You bite your lip, ‘Actually… I was thinking, maybe… like this?’ You take his hand and pull Ronin upright, lead him to crawl up over you as you lie back against the bedspread. A grin starts to form on Ronin’s face as he realises what you’re getting at.

‘Yeah, baby? You want me to fuck your mouth ?’ You nod minutely, feeling shy at seeing your boyfriend loom over you. He’s beautiful in the way things are when they’re home-made; you think you could worship at his altar forever if he’d agree to be your God. 

Ronin finishes crawling up your body, stops when his knees are by your head and you swallow heavily, nerves collecting in your throat at the sight of his cock, hard and twitching so close to your face, to your mouth . You feel Ronin’s hand card through your hair, ‘You uh- you still okay?’ He asks. Your eyes flicker between his cock and his face, you want this so badly you think you might start drooling, but the weight of Ronin’s gaze fixed on you makes it impossible to speak so instead you nod shyly and run your hands over the hair on Ronin’s thighs. Ronin smiles down at you sweetly before it tips into something edged with danger and your clit pulses with a painful twinge. 

Ronin rubs his thumb over your lower lip, ‘open up then, sweetheart.’ You bite your lip while looking at him, before you slowly let your mouth fall open. ‘ Good bunny.' He edges forwards slightly, adjusts his knees and then his cock is brushing your lips as his hips come down. It's hot to touch, instinctively you lick your lips and your tongue peeks out, brushing against the head of Ronin’s cock. You feel it twitch in interest even at the brief touch and your world narrows when you hear Ronin groan in response. Suddenly, nothing other than Ronin matters- his needs, his pleasure; all you can feel are your hands on his thighs, his hand carding through your hair, his cock bumping your mouth as you lurch forwards the scant few inches between you and try seal your mouth over his cock.

Ronin’s hip rock forwards as you clumsily mouth at his cock, brushing and bumping your lips over it in attempts to get it in your mouth. You hear Ronin chuckle breathlessly above you, and you look up to see him smiling sharply down at you, eyes dark and focused on your face. Ronin bites his lip as he presses his cock into your open mouth, lets it slide in against your waiting tongue as he settles his weight over you, bracing his arms on the wall behind your head. 

The taste of his cock on your tongue is stronger than you expected, musky, and umami flavoured with a bittersweet tang; it’s kind of addicting; you can’t get enough of this, of Ronin. His pubic hair tickling your nose and cheeks, his thighs blockading either side of your head, keeping your focus solely on him, the weight of him, the taste, the feel of his cock twitching against your tongue. 

You whine, a desperate, high pitched noise escaping you as you press your head back into the pillows, put your hands on his ass and push him forwards, encouraging him to use you. Ronin grunts , rolls his hips forwards against your face and his cock drags over your tongue. You relax your jaw, try stretching your mouth open further, push your tongue out against his cock. You hear Ronin moan from above you, his hips pushing down into the feeling.

With your tongue out you can feel the shiny flat line between his cock and his entrance, can taste the slick leaking from his cunt directly . A guttural moan escapes you as it’s leaks into your mouth. Your legs start fidgeting back and forth on the bedspread, and your hips rub back and forth in tiny little circles. You try to suck at Ronin’s cock but you can’t really get the traction with the way your mouth is pinned open. Your tongue just sort of curls around it, so instead you try focus on rubbing your tongue back and forth in rhythm with Ronin’s rutting against your mouth. 

This is exactly what you wanted , Ronin on top of you seeking out his pleasure, feeling like he’s all around you, the slightly helpless feeling that comes with being pinned down by his weight like this; your clit pulses in time with Ronins movements, stings in a way that feels good when you hear the sounds he’s making. You can hear him panting roughly above you, the end of his breaths tinged with rough moans.You open your eyes, you’re not sure when you closed them, but when you open them you are greeted with the glorious sight of Ronin revelling in feeling good . The long line of his tan body is undulating above you, rocking in time with his hips, his mouth is dropped open as he pants and moans, his brows knitted together in pleasure, hazy gaze fixated on your face to where he’s feeding you his cock. 

Your pussy is burning between your legs, desperate for attention, so you subtly remove one of your hands from Ronin’s ass and reach down to press two fingers over the hood of your clit, one on either side as you start to rub back and forth. Ronin’s hips rock back and forth against your mouth, you can feel his cock twitching on the down stroke as he presses it down against your tongue, feel his cunt drooling slick over your chin and a moan slips out as you start to touch yourself.

‘Feelin’ a little impatient , darlin’?’ Ronin’s pants out above you. You try scrunch your eyebrows in confusion and Ronin understands enough to gesture with his head behind him, grins at you sharply and say, ‘I turn you on so much you just couldn’t help yourself , huh, baby?’ You freeze, the movements of your hand stuttering as your face floods with heat and embarrassment for a split second, before Ronin’s cutting across the fog with, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t feel bad , sweetheart. ‘S not how I- ah - meant it.’ 

He grunts and grinds his cock harder against your tongue, gasps out, ‘’s hot. I like it. Like that you’re so into me you can’t stop yourself, like seeing you desperate and whining for me, like hearing you beg for my cock, love watching you suck it, loved eating your pussy, love you-’ Ronin’s words come out breathy and strained, he’s groaning between them, pushing his hips against your face almost frantically. ‘Love you, baby. Love you so much I feel crazy for it, love-’ Ronin breaks off into a desperate moan, gasps and shudders, his arm dropping to its elbow where it’s braced against the wall, hands clenched tight into fists, curving over you as his body starts to twitch and writhe. 

Ronin’s eyes squeeze shut as he cums, his mouth hanging open in a long, drawn out hoarse moan, voice breaking slightly. His entire body is curling with tension above you as he shudders. You scrub your hand against your clit harder, rock your hips into the motion. The sight of Ronin cumming is hot , and you can feel a moan building in the back of your throat and escaping out your open mouth. You feel his cock pulsing against your tongue, feel it rut back and forth against your mouth in tiny, frantic increments compared to the rolling wave of before, taste the wave of slick that escapes from his hole as it pulses and clenches around nothing.

Ronin’s arm slides down the wall slightly as he stops shaking, his cock slips out your mouth and across your cheek as he lists to the side, panting heavily, before he sort of fumbles his way off of you. One of his legs is still laid heavy across your chest as he collapses beside you. You let go of your clit in favour of rolling over and slipping up between his legs, kissing Ronin being the most important thing to you right now.

Ronin’s wearing a dopey sort of grin, high on endorphins and you think this may be the most beautiful you’ve ever seen him, relaxed and sated and happy . Ronin laughs as you nuzzle his face and you end up pressing your lips to the stretched edges of his mouth. 

You press yourself against Ronin, leaning between his legs as you kiss him lazily, your mouths tracing slow shapes against each other. His movements are slow, tracing his fingers up and down your sides. You know he’s just doing it out of instinct, enjoying the feeling of being close to you like this, but your clit is hard and heavy feeling between your legs, demanding attention by twitching as the his fingers spark fire against your skin.

You wrap your arms around his shoulders and shift to straddle Ronin’s thigh. Ronin’s hands find your waist as you settle there. You shiver as your pussy comes into contact with his bare thigh, hips jerking as your clit presses against his bare skin, and a moan slips past your lips. You meant to give him a second to recover, meant to ignore the burning need between you thighs but Ronin just huffs a laugh against your lips and says ‘somebody’s insatiable. ‘ S my dear darling bunny gonna be living up to their pet name? We gonna be fucking like rabbits now that you’d had a taste ? Got you addicted, huh baby? He cackles loudly at his own joke, head tipping back before he says, ‘C’mon then bunny , hump my leg. You gotta work for your carrot.’ A manic giggle slips past his lips and you think he’s maybe a little delirious. 

You snort a laugh, more at how ridiculous Ronin’s being than the content of what he’s saying but it’s funny all the same. ‘Thought you already gave me your, um… carrot just a second ago.’ You pause, thinking, ‘this bunny’s already eaten.’ You can’t help but giggle loudly through that ridiculous sentence, but even as you talk you can’t help but roll your hips forwards against his thigh anyway, your clittwitching insistently against his thigh as the mere feeling of being pressed against your boyfriend like this.

Ronin snickers, opens his mouth to retort but you beat him to it, grab one of his hands off your waist and say, ‘actually, um- I want-’ You lift yourself off his thigh, your cunt pulling away from his skin sticky and wet, and bring his hand down between your legs. 

Ronin’s gaze flits down to where his hand is being held just underneath your cunt but actually touching it. ‘Suppose I did promise you something along those lines.’ He leans up and kisses you softly, you gasp against his mouth as his hand makes contact with your steadily twitching clit, and your hips stutter forwards into the press of his fingers. 

Ronin slides finger between your folds, rubbing over the flat of your cunt and then against your entrance to gather the slick that's there and bring it up to massage it over your clit. He brushes the slick up over the hood and then rubs  his thumb over your clit a couple times before tracing it around the edge of the hood, right where it folds around your clit. Your hips buck into, and then away from his grip. Where he’s playing with you is sensitive, and the pleasure almost burns as he traces his finger around it. Ronin chuckles breathlessly, ‘Does that feel good , baby?’ You nod frantically, eyes starting to dip shut. Just when you think it’s too much, and the pleasure just starts to lace itself with pain, Ronin lets go and rubs his fingers in tight circles over your clit.

Ronin rubs his other hand across the skin on your hip before dipping it down between your legs too. He grins at you lazily from where he’s leaned back against the wall as he slips his fingers between your folds again and rubs over your entrance. You jerk, surprised at how good it feels to have your pussy touched at the same time as your clit. You push your hips down into the sensation, wanting more but Ronin moves his hand with you, keeps the same teasing pressure until you look at him and see the question on his face. You feel exposed, caught in his downright predatory gaze as you nod, desperately, frantic to let him know that you want this too. 

Ronin presses in with one of his fingers, slowly , and you let out a high pitched moan, feeling every second of it as it burns its way into your pussy. It's so warm , and long, and solid, and everytime you clench around it little electric tingles zap up and down your spine and into your clit. You can’t help but rock your hips into his hand, gaze laser focused on his arms, unable to think about anything other than the fact a part is Ronin is inside you, burning a trail of fire where no one has ever touched before, where you yourself can’t reach.  Ronin, who’s grinning at you like he knows he’s just blown the roof off your mind and that you’re going to need this everyday, forever, until you die .  

You whimper, moans leaking out past your lips around your desperate panting as your hips rock back and forth and Ronin draws his finger out of your slowly. You feel it exactly the same amount as it went in, except the burning line of pleasure it draws in your mounts somehow, and you can’t stop it as your hips start to chase the motion of Ronin’s hand, and you start riding his finger in jerky motions as you struggle to keep your eyes open. 

‘ You're doing so good for me, sweetheart ,’ Ronin praises you and your eyes snap open at the compliment, your hips jerk forwards and you manage to see his gleeful expression clearly for a split second before your vision blurs at the edges, pussy convulsing, spasming around his finger and then you’re cumming; clit contracting in Ronin’s grasp and pussy squeezing around his finger. It rocks through you but all you can focus on is the sensation of him in you, how much of your cunt you can feel convulsing around him. You can hear yourself whining near continuously, gasping out desperate breaths around your moans, hips rolling and twitching, body spasming and pussy gripping Ronin’s finger tightly. You gasp and your hips stutter against as the feeling of his hand on your clit turns sharp and you spasm, falling forwards slightly and catching yourself on Ronin’s shoulders. 

Ronin kisses the side of your head and it would be sweet if he wasn’t drawing a line finger in circles on the head of your clit just to feel you twitch spasm from the over sensitivity. You whine, slur out his name and try bat Ronin’s hand away from your clit with a clumsy hand, leaning heavily against him all the while. You feel his finger slowly pull out of you, his hand rubbing up over your hip, pressing gently on your lower back until you collapse onto him with a squeak. Ronin wraps his arms around you, readjusts your sticky limbs until you’re pressed against each other comfortably as you catch your breath.

‘Thought you were gonna make me squirt, no?’ You mumble out against his neck.

Ronin laughs, sharp and loud, surprised by your line of questioning. ‘Baby , you came so fast I didn’t have a chance to get a second finger in there . You want me to make you squirt, you’re gonna have to last a little longer, darlin’.’ Ronin chuckles and you squirm, turn your flushed face further into his neck and scrape your teeth there in protest. Ronin just hums , pets his hand down the back of your head to leave it resting on your neck, content in just holding you to him. 

‘ So , was it everything you ever dreamed , darlin’?’ The question sounds insincere, sarcastic even , but you know he wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it, wouldn’t ask if he didn’t want to know the answer. 

You nod your head from where you’re pressed against Ronin’s neck, start absentmindedly tracing abstract shapes over his chest and say, ‘mhm,’ in a sleepy tone.

‘You passing out on me , darlin’? Wow, guess I fucked you good , huh?’ Ronin’s snickering as he says it, clearly joking but you’re too fucked out to argue, so instead you just nod again and snuggle further into his embrace. Ronin snorts, readjusts his arms to be more comfortable and leans his head against yours. ‘Guess we can take a little nap.’

‘Big nap.’ You mumble. 

You feel his laugh more than you hear it, ‘Not a big nap, darlin’ , what if we never wake up?’ Ronin’s being stupid , but it makes you giggle all the same.

‘Good.’

‘Good ?‘

‘Mhm, same grave.’ 

Ronin’s silent for a second before you hear, ‘Shit, darlin’. Didn’t know you liked me so much.’ It comes out quiet; there’s no sarcasm or sardonic overlay that alters his words into a bastardisation of their meaning, just the truth. 

You rub your face against his collarbone and say, ‘mhm, course I do; you’re Ronin. I love you.’  

It’s been months since Elphaba woke up in Hell. Or maybe it’s been a whole year, she isn’t quite sure. Time flows differently in the afterlife. Her fate did not surprise her. All her life she’s known her very existence is a sin. Wicked, through and through. No matter how loudly she proclaimed otherwise in the skies of Oz, deep down, she knew it was true. Though finding out she woke up in the Pride ring did come as a surprise. After orienting herself on Hell and its rings, she would have expected to end up in Wrath.

But she did belong in Pride. Her refusal to accept authority, to wait for permission, to accept the rules she deemed unfair… it was all pride. And now she spends her days wandering Hell, trying to do what little good she can.

One day, she comes across the Hotel. She’s known what it was since almost her first day in Hell; not even an Ozian witch is immune to the Vees’ propaganda. While she doesn’t necessarily believe some of the harsher coverage, she is skeptical of the Princess’s intentions. In Elphaba’s experience, leaders who offer help don’t do it out of altruism. Still, something seems to call her inside.

She walks through the tall double doors that open for her automatically. A rush of cool, sweetly scented air meets her as she enters the lobby. It’s pleasantly decorated, she notes, even if it could use a little more green.

Elphaba walks up to the front desk to the… attendant? Manager? An intimidating young woman who stands a full head shorter than Elphaba, but her scarred, toned muscles and missing right eye speak to a lifetime of struggle. Her face holds beauty and discipline in a way that almost defies nature, grey skin making her look like a garden statue rather than a living being.

The angel, she realizes with surprise. The news has talked about her too. She looks significantly less threatening and bloodthirsty than they’ve made her out to be, though she does look like she could kill someone with the flick of her wrist. Elphaba feels a sort of admiration.

“Hi there! Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel. My name’s Vaggie, uh, for now, but anyway! Welcome! Checking in?” The power this being commands is entirely mismatched by her nervous demeanor.

“I, um, I’m not sure,” Elphaba starts slowly. “I guess I’m here to see if the news is right about you all.”

Vaggie visibly has to stop herself from rolling her eyes. This must not be the first time she’s heard something like this. “Of course,” she replies, her voice now slightly strained. “Do you have any specific questions? Or would you like to hear the official pitch?”

“Pitch?” Elphaba echoes.

Suddenly, the door behind the counter flies open. A tall skinny woman with golden hair flies into the room, sending papers scattering off the front desk and onto the floor.

“Someone asked for the pitch?!” she exclaims, grabbing Vaggie by the shoulders and beaming with pride. The Princess, Elphaba connects. The Princess releases Vaggie and swiftly turns to Elphaba, extending her hand. “I’m Charlie! It’s so nice to meet you! Do you have any things? How did you hear about the hotel? Can I get you a drink? Husk!” She starts to shout something at the stout, furry bartender on the other side of the lobby, but Vaggie gently puts her hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

“Babe,” she urges softly. “She hasn’t even checked in yet.” The Princess–-Charlie, Elphaba corrects herself-–turns back to the angel, cheeks flushed.

“Oh. Right. My bad,” she replies sheepishly. She turns her attention back to Elphaba. “Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel, where we believe anyone can be redeemed! I’m Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, and owner of the hotel.” She extends her hand again, and Elphaba shakes it.

“Elphaba,” she says plainly. “And, while I do mean this with all due respect, your highness–”

“Just Charlie, please!” Charlie interjects.

“Right, uh, Charlie,” Elphaba corrects. “With all due respect, I don’t need to hear your pitch. I won’t be checking in.” She doesn’t explain that she would never qualify anyway.

Charlie’s face falls. Vaggie doesn’t react. Again, Elphaba gets the sense this scenario is familiar. She nods and mutters a polite “thank you,” then turns to leave when a slender, overtly tall young man with an extra set of arms walks over, extending one of four hands and giving her a sultry look that feels oddly friendly. A glance back at Charlie proves she was signaling him over.

“How ya doin’, toots?” he asks with a sideways smile. He glances over Elphaba’s shoulder, clearly receiving a negative gesture from Charlie or Vaggie. “I mean, welcome to the Hotel, toots. Name’s Angel Dust, resident porn star.”

Elphaba smiles awkwardly, shaking the young man’s hand and introducing herself a third time. “And you live here, at the hotel?”

“That’s right, babe. Me and Fat Nuggets got a suite upstairs. Why, you lookin’ to come visit?” he asks with a wink. She feels her cheeks flush a darker shade of green.

“Quite the opposite, thank you,” she retorts. Curiosity gets the better of her. “Who is Fat Nuggets? This seems like a strange name, even for a demon.”

Angel chuckles. “Nah, Fat Nuggets ain’t a demon. He’s my pet pig.”

Elphaba lights up. “A pig! Is he here? Can he speak?”

He raises an eyebrow. “No, uh, Fat Nuggets can’t talk. But he should be around here somewhere.” He lifts his head to the side. “Hey Nuggets! Fat Nuggets!” After a moment, she hears a soft persistent snorting coming from their feet. Elated, Angel bends down. When he straightens, two of his arms hold a round, pink piglet with a darker pink circle around its left eye. Elphaba feels her heart melt, and she leans to make herself eye level with the pig.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meat you, mister Nuggets,” she beams. She straightens, and meets Angel Dust’s gaze. “He’s obviously very well taken care of. You love him.” Angel looks down, a small smile playing at his lips.

“He’s my little buddy, y’know? And look, I was kiddin’ earlier about you comin’ up to my room. But if you ever do wanna give him a visit, you really can drop by. Actually–” he reddens. “--Maybe call first? I don’t want you to walk in on…anything.” He gestures vaguely.

Elphaba smirks. “I appreciate the offer, Angel Dust. But I’m afraid I won’t be staying. I’m not exactly qualified.”

Angel’s face twists in confusion. “Qualified? Honey, if you knew how many times Charlie’s pulled me out of the gutter–”

She holds up a hand. “Thank you. But I’m not interested.” She glances down. “Have a thrillifying day, Fat Nuggets.” Taking a step to the side and around Angel, she makes her way toward the exit. A third of the way to the door, the Princess steps into her path with an apologetic smile.

“Elphaba, wait,” she pleads. “I’m sorry about Angel. But, maybe you would be willing to take a walk with me around the hotel? It’s supposed to scream-rain soon, and you probably want to be inside for that anyway, right?”

Elphaba thinks it over for a moment. Scream-rain was one thing she had not yet gotten used to in Hell, and there was nothing she could lose by entertaining Charlie. The Princess grins and gestures to a hallway back toward the front desk. The two of them make their way to a dimly lit hall with ornamented sconces lining the walls.

“So…” Charlie starts awkwardly. “Can you tell me what you meant back there, about not being qualified?”

Elphaba raises an eyebrow. “I assumed this was going to be a tour.”

Charlie chuckles. “I could give the standard tour. But something tells me you’re not that interested in the stories behind the wallpaper choices."

"I could be perfectly interested."

"Are you?"

Elphaba laughs. "Okay, okay. But I am interested in how your hotel works. Why you think everyone can be redeemed. You don't think some people are past saving?"

"No, I don't. When I say anyone can be redeemed, I mean it. What sin makes you think you're irredeemable?" They reach the end of the hall, and turn to the next corridor.

Elphaba pauses, still unsure of Charlie and her intentions. "Why do you care? Are you going to make me prove myself to stay here or something?" What could the Princess gain out of her being vulnerable right now?

Charlie scratches the back of her neck. "Sorry," she says. "Vaggie says I have this tendency to kind of steam roll things, when people aren't always ready to talk about their feelings right away..." She gestures frantically. "I'm asking because my mission is for every sinner who wants it to be redeemed.”

Elphaba looks down at the dark carpet beneath their feet, and remembers Angel Dust. “And that… spidery looking man, he wants to be redeemed?”

Charlie smiles. “He’s a sweetheart, once you get to know him.”

They walk in silence for a moment. The hotel hums around them. Distant chatter, footsteps and background noise from inside the rooms. Something heavy thumps somewhere above them, followed by an indignant shout that echoes.

Eventually, Charlie speaks again. “Angel doesn’t come to the hotel because he thinks he deserves anything. If anything, it’s the opposite. He comes because he’s tired. He’s tired of getting hurt, so he comes here.”

Elphaba considers that. “And you think that’s enough?”

Charlie shrugs. “I think it’s a start. Usually.”

They turn another corner. The carpet is thinner here, the floral pattern thinned to obscurity in the middle. Elphaba slows without realizing. “I don’t think I’m irredeemable because I enjoy hurting people,” she says at last. “I don’t. I know I’m irredeemable because I made choices. Choices I knew would escalate things. I let my pride get in the way of making smart choices, and prioritized being right over everything else. People got caught in the middle, and they got hurt. And I knew they would.”

Charlie doesn’t interrupt.

“And I don’t regret them,” Elphaba continues. “If I had to make those choices again, I would. That’s the thing I don’t see you accounting for.”

Charlie frowns. Not in disapproval, but in concentration. “So, for you, redemption would mean… admitting you were wrong?”

Elphaba nods once, her face hardening. “And I wasn’t.”

They stop walking. Charlie turns to face her fully now, hands clasped in front of her, expression thoughtful.

“What do you do,” she asks slowly, “when you’re out, walking around Hell?”

Elphaba blinks. “I beg your pardon?”

“What do you do,” Charlie repeats, “with your time?”

Elphaba hesitates, then shrugs. “I try to fix things,” she says, “where I can. Places that are falling apart, creatures everyone else avoids, sometimes plants.”

Charlie smiles. “You sound busy.”

“I suppose,” Elphaba replies. “It passes the time.”

Charlie studies her for a moment, then nods, as if something has quietly clicked into place. “You know,” she says, “most people who stay here don’t start because they want Heaven. They just want… less Hell.”

Elphaba lets out a short laugh. “That’s quite the pitch.”

“I mean it,” Charlie insists. “You don’t have to want forgiveness, or absolution, or any of the big stuff.” She gestures vaguely upward.

“Then why stay?” Elphaba asks.

Charlie answers without hesitation. “Because this place tries to see the good, without making it transactional.”

Elphaba goes very quiet.

“It’s just a bed,” Charlie adds quickly, “in a nice enough room. And people who mostly mean well, even if they mess up. You can leave first thing in the morning if you want to, I won’t ask you to stay more than one night. Just give it a try.”

Elphaba looks toward the ceiling, then back at Charlie. “One night,” she says finally. “To observe.”

Charlie beams, then reins herself in with visible effort. “One night,” she agrees. “No expectations.”

Elphaba nods, a sideways smile forming. “Very well.”

Charlie turns down the hall, already calling for Vaggie. Elphaba follows, surprised to find that for the first time since arriving in Hell, she is not bracing herself for disappointment.

--