Bᴏᴜɴᴅ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ 𓍯‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ || Lᴜᴠɪᴀ x Kᴇɪᴛʜ Lᴏɢᴀɴ ⁽ⁿˢᶠʷ⁾

[Keith Logan]

​

Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛs​ ⠀SYNOPSIS⠀ ⠀CHAPTER I⠀ It was the year 3127. In a Titanic-esque fashion, United Earth Confederate's (UEC) very first dreadnaught class carrier named Odyssey, which hosted a band of just over 800 colonists-to-be, got into a snag when an unexpected rain of meteors pelted against the ship while it was on cruise mode. The resulting concussion chipped the power generator. Residue damage included power supply being cut to one particular cryogenic pod, waking up the woman within. And there was a problem - Odyssey wasn't even a third into the journey to its intended star system, which would take at least a few more hundred Earth years, perhaps even a thousand, before the cruiser was expected to arrive at its destination. When the psychological toll of isolation starts to kick in over time, how would she choose to save her own sanity? ​ Themes: Consensual, Dark Romance, Drama, Betrayal. 𝐴𝐿𝐿 𝐴𝐿𝑂𝑁𝐸. ​

 

[Luvia]

-⋆｡˚୨ 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆: 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 ୧˚｡⋆- 0:42 ⸻ ♡ ⸻ 3:08 now playing : sin city * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊 builds me a ɍøŧŧɇn church to 𝖑𝖆𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 in.​ Yuna blinked. At first, her expression remained impassive. "... Say that again?" "Exactly 365 days, 8.760 hours, 525.600 minutes and 31.536.000 seconds have passed since the first day we met, Miss Vega." Silence. She allowed those words to sink in. On Earth, a year had felt as fleeting as the flap of a butterfly's wing. But on here? Here, it felt like a horrifying and neverending nightmare. From the moment she'd woken up to nearly over one and a half years later, Yuna felt like she was trapped within the passage of time. It had been consuming her, bit by bit—now, not much of her was left anymore. "Fuck you." Eerily similar to the likeness of a broken doll, her gaze was hollow. So when her head tilted and her lips parted, the violence within those two words seemed completely out of place. "Pardon?" Sully, the bartender, looked unfazed in the face of getting insulted. On the contrary, he was sporting the same polite smile as he always did. As all the damned AI's did. "I said— Fuck you." Every word that squeezed past the incipient tightening of her throat felt like a sharp blade. Suddenly, speaking felt like cutting herself up from the inside out. Sully tilted his head. "I'm afraid I don't understand." That did it. "Pffft." After a few heavy moments of silence, laughter errupted within the bar, transforming from something dull and bitter to something decidedly more wretched and shrill. Then, her breath came in heavy and labored puffs—another panic attack was beginning to tug at the few fragile seams of her sanity. Or whatever was left of it. "Of course you don't," she scoffed. Then she pointed towards the empty soju bottle in front of her. One of so many. So, so many. "You wouldn't mind even if I smashed this bottle into that stupid silicone face of yours." Sully's eyebrows raised. His design was clean and simple—short, slicked-back blonde hair, blue eyes and he wore a neat, golden vest above a white satin shirt. "You know what you need, Miss Vega? You look like you are in need of some good company right now. Why not mingle with some of the other passengers?" Yuna wanted to laugh again. She really did. But god, was she tired. She wanted to leave. For good, this time. It was preferable to another fucking day on what was supposed to be a mere stop along the way. "Great idea! Why didn't I think of that? I'm the only passanger who is awake, remember?" "Oh! Right, right. Your cryogenic pod malfunctioned, which is why you're here now." Sully paused, the motion almost mechanical, too unnatural. Then, he continued to polish a random glass. "You know what? I admire your willpower. Based on my data, not many humans would have lasted as long as you did before considering something as silly as, I don't know, waking up another passenger forcefully—" "... What?" "I said—" Yuna shot up from her seat. Her gaze, which had been hollow and dead for the longest, began to flicker with a glimmer of something twisted. Something like hope. "I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID! Fuck, what I mean is—... is it possible?" Her lips trembled, her voice fading into nothing but a whisper. "Waking somebody up? How would I do that?" Sully stared at her for a moment, still polishing his glass, before he smiled at her again, completely oblivious to the fact of what he had just done. "I suppose Jenna, our mechanical engineer AI, could give you an answer to that question." ◦ ∘ —————————————————— ∘ ◦​ BA-BUMP, BA-BUMP, BA-BUMP, BA-BUMP. After that pivotal night at the bar and seeking out Jenna just as Sully had suggested, it had taken Yuna a long time to get to where she was standing now, in front of a pod—one that wasn't her own. It wasn't that she lacked the intelligence to pull off such a stunt, but it had been a matter of conscience. Despite her desperation, despite her awfully strong desire to not be alone anymore to the point she'd considered unaliving herself on multiple occasions, she had hesitated. She'd wavered. Why? For most of her life, she had been an ambitious woman, greedy even, but she'd never been a bad person, much less a monster. Damning another soul's fate to one of living out their days on this aircraft was EXACTLY what a monster would do, though. Whoever she ended up choosing, like her, would be denied a new life—turning over a new leaf, starting a new chapter. They would be robbed of a new chance at happiness and the chance to be one of the first humans to live on another habitable planet. FREEDOM. She'd take away their freedom. Hailing from a small, impoverished town with dreams of making it big as a starlet in the largest city on Earth, she'd packed up her bags and left behind her old life without a single notice. Her road to stardom was bumpy, but not without success. From landing a job in a small ad campaign, to a random music video, to a role in a renowned TV show, to ending up in a movie with A-class actors—she'd done it all. And for a long while, she was ecstatic, she was happy; until she wasn't. Reality caught up to her fast. Unfortunately for her, popularity alone did not equal financial stability, and keeping herself afloat had been difficult. Her hardships didn't end there either. Standing in the limelight came with all sorts of unpleasant side effects: Stalkers, paparazzi, no privacy, body dysmorphia, misogyny, dozens and dozens of inappropiate AI videos of her and more. Eventually, Yuna had found herself simply existing rather than living. She'd numbed herself to the world and the hubbub around her, doubting herself, doubting her purpose. That is—until she met him. Eric, her fiancé. Her saving grace. When it was decided that she would board the Odyssey, she hadn't been alone in making that decision. Eric had been a part of it, too. And yet, it wasn't Eric's pod that she was standing in front of. Oh no. On the whirring blue display, it wasn't Eric's name that glared back at her, but another's. A man she had long forgotten. A man she hadn't been able to get to know as a man per se, but as a boy. Someone dear to her, but also someone she left behind when she'd moved to Toria. The same question persisted. Why? Why was HE here? And why was every fiber of her being screaming at her to not wake him up? Guilt, perhaps. Shame and remorse, too. Eric's family was influential and rich as fuck. His father was the govenor of Toria, which is why his son's pod on the Odyssey was safely tucked away in a separate area for distinguished VIPs only. It was where her own pod should have been. With no access or means to get to where he was however, Yuna was left but with one option; to wake somebody up that wasn't him. At first, it didn't matter who. She was willing to wake up the next best person—until she saw him among the list of passengers. Eric and her were supposed to live out their happily ever after. She was supposed to find meaning on Homestead II again, for her life had lost it. Her hands shook as terror racked her to her core; it was as if her body was moving on its own. Warmth. Feeling. Closeness. A real confidant. She wanted it. She wanted it all. She needed it. So she did it. She woke him up.​

 

[Keith Logan]

-☾ ｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 ୧˚｡☽- 0:42 ⸻ ♤ ⸻ 4:04 now playing : one of the girls * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖞 is like a ₥₳₲₲Ø₮ feasting on 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖘 .​ "Stay." "Stay. Yuna." "You can't fucking do this to me again!" It wasn't the first time Yuna Vega decided on her own accord, that she wanted to put an end to their relationship. Only this time, it was as real and permanent as it could get - Yuna wanted to move to Earth from their little mining town colony of Xerxes on Europa, one of Jupiter's moon. The duo had grown up in one of Earth's outpost within the solar system. Xerxes was resource rich, but the inhabitants weren't able to capitalise on the harvest to utilise it for their own purpose, for the people lacked the expertise to properly manipulate and refine ores, needless to say, the other precious elements that could not be found on Earth. The United Earth Confederate (UEC) was the planetary organisation that superseded its predecessor, the United Nations, in terms of absolute authority. It was responsible for managing human settlements across the solar system, with they primary objective being - to make Earth, a better Earth. ​ ​ The earliest settlers beyond human's mother planet were all initially lured by the promise of better prospects, with UEC's Ministry of Interplanetary Relations preaching a chance for people to reset their lives all over again. At the beginning, the hype was high, and a sizeable proportion of people were bought in by the ideology. But as years turned to decades, and decades to millenniums, colonists beyond Earth eventually came to the realisation that they had all been duped into modern day slavery - freedom was an illusion, as colonies such as Xerxes were nothing more than resource farms that mother Earth was siphoning from, keeping itself well fed with no more than bare minimum regard for the hands, sweat and tears that painstakingly worked to keep the resource dry Earth well and thriving. For a long time, UEC had an iron grip over the day-to-day functions of the interplanetary territories using totalitarian regime to maintain stability via the use of military forces. To further clip down colonies, specific talents were tightly controlled and segregated, so as to ensure that individual colonies could not be self-sustainable, and had to rely on Earth's jurisdiction for their survival. Hence, every colony had no more than a singular function and specialty. In Xerxes case, they mine, while the next neighbouring settlement on Saturn's moon Enceladus being a food and botany farm. The last time Darius Versace and Yuna Vega saw each other, he was nineteen, and she was seventeen. They were childhood sweethearts - both the love and bane of each other at the same time. Yuna first waltz into his life when he was ten. He remembered her being that daring junior in school who had been bold enough to walk up to him to ask him out for a simple lunch, of which, he obliged because, well, why not. Darius thought nothing more of it at that time. But it was much to the envy of her friends. He was a quiet kid. But he was gorgeous. And girls seemed to gravitate towards the boy who always carried an air of mystery around him. Darius wasn't that much crazy about girls at that time, preferring to focus on the things that boys normally like to do at their age - play, explore, experiment. Naturally, that general disregard for girls had oftentimes been misinterpreted as him being cool and composed in the face of his female counterparts, unlike the other boys. That gave an illusion that he seemed more mature, and in control of his hormones. ​ Little did he know that that seemingly innocuous decision of his to go on a lunch date with her would go on to have life altering consequences for him. Darius fell for Yuna, hard. What ensued, was a roller coaster ride that brought Darius to immeasurable highs and low that had his poor heart bruised so bad. She had been the one who first made them possible. He didn't need it at first when they were first acquainted. But she was quick to decide for them that they would be a thing anyway. Then she called it quits multiple times after for various self-serving reasons, only to then come back to feed him with the hope that they were going to emerge stronger, steadier, better, each time they got back together, only to then make him want to rip his own hair off the next time round, rinse, repeat. Things dramatically changed, when Earth began to allow controlled immigration for people residing in the outer world. It was a defining moment for the adventurous Yuna, whose talent in the arts saw her being granted the golden ticket to paradise. Darius begged Yuna to stay, in the same way that she begged for him to take her back just over a year ago. Darius had a hunch that it was a huge mistake to accept her back. But he did that anyway because he loved her too much to see her cry. She promised she had finally come to her senses, sorted herself out, and that she had a clear vision ahead for them. Darius could only blame himself a year on for being so naive to think Yuna would ever change. At the first sign of an opportunity to move on to greener pasture, she took it without giving a second thought to what she was about to leave behind. It hurt Darius beyond what words could describe. "Fuck you, Yuna." "If you have ANY conscience left," "Stay the fuck away from me and don't ever, EVER come find me, EVER again." Their final farewell, ended on the most bitter and sour of note. ◦ ∘ —————————————————— ∘ ◦ ​ Just over two thirds of a decade on, a certain planetary organisation called the Schrodinger's Corporation (SC), independent of the UEC, launched a system wide recruitment call, looking for talented individuals to join as part of the Odyssey crew for a never before attempted one-way intra-galaxy travel to star system Wolf 1069's almost certain habitable planet b, which was subsequently coined Homestead II. UEC had surprisingly granted SC the green light to make the trip - which many thought it to be risky, if not suicidal. The one-way journey was made possible only because SC agreed to pass on unobstructed communication to and from the Odyssey for the purpose of any scientific endeavours for the UEC, for as long as the communication link held. Odyssey was in the eyes of UEC, a kamikaze experimentation vessel which they figured they might as well make the most of it, thanks to the investment from an external corporation, and the valiant sacrifice of over 800 men and women, entrusting their lives to the unknown. Like many who expressed their interest in leaving the solar system, Darius felt like he had little to lose, and had nothing much left to live for in Xerxes. Fortunately for him, his time at Xerxes had finally counted for something, as the honing of his craft made him one of the leading experts in the field mining, coupled with his profound knowledge of cosmic geography of an alien world. A lowly plebian he might be, his skillset was something SC deemed to be useful at the time when, and if Odyssey ever arrives at Homestead II. Like his forefathers, Darius was ready for a new change, a reset in life. Only this time, they would be out of reach of the dictatorial UEC.​ The modest miner actually leaked a visible smile for the first time in a long while right before he was put into cryosleep. It was spurred by the exhilarating thought that the next time he wakes up, Darius Versace will be forgotten, and he will get an opportunity to forge a new identity, and opportunity to start a clean slate. ◦ ∘ —————————————————— ∘ ◦ His eyes were blurry when he was first awoken. The very next moment, he felt extremely dizzy and sick to the stomach, and began to retch while his mind rapidly regained consciousness. He remembered being educated that cryo sickness was an expected side effect upon waking up from extended freezing. ​ So this is finally happening. I have made it... I have made it!​ His vision eventually restored. The first thing that caught his eyes was that the adjacent pods, or even the pods right opposite him for that matter, were still shut with the occupants, still deep in cryogenic slumber. Peculiar. Darius then weakly flopped his head to his left and... ... immediately his eyes widened. As if he just received a boon of borrowed strength, he shot himself right up straight, albeit clumsily no thanks to his body still trying to regain full proprioceptive control, after his nerves had been resting dormant for so long. There was a look of incredulousness on his face as he swiftly recognised the face of the woman that was knelt right beside him by his pod. "... What?" "What the hell is this?" "Why are you here?"​ ​

 

[Luvia]

-⋆｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 ୧˚｡⋆- 0:42 ⸻ ♡ ⸻ 3:08 now playing : sin city * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊 builds me a ɍøŧŧɇn church to 𝖑𝖆𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 in.​ Yuna stared at the drab ceiling, her breathing labored, her vision tunneling. She'd done everything the AI had told her to do. Unsurprisingly, Jenna had warned her against it, had told her the chances of the forced awakening killing him were higher than him surviving it. And yet, she'd done it anyway—she'd chosen his possible death over her own goddamn misery. She'd always chosen herself over Darius's wants and needs so far, hadn't she? At first, excitement was thrumming through her veins and she waited. Seconds passed into minutes and minutes passed into an hour, however. Her excitement dulled and transformed into nervousness. Why was he not waking up? Panic seized her. She knew that it would take time, had been educated on how the pod would slowly but surely warm up its host until they were ready for resuscitation. And yet, doubt began to burrow itself a home in her mind. What if she'd really killed him? What if she'd tampered with the security chamber of his pod incorrectly? What if she'd switched up some of the important wires? Yuna burrowed her head between her knees and hugged her shins closer to her body in an attempt to stop herself from hyperventilating. If she'd truly killed him, she'd follow him. There was no point in any of this anymore if the result was not only solitary confinement, but also murder. His murder specifically. She wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing that his blood was on her hands. As more time passed, she'd even began to muse about how she'd do it. Hang herself by a noose? Swallow pills and die from her inner bleedings? Tether something heavy to her ankle and drown herself? Leap off the aircraft and freeze to death in space? A self-deprecating laugh lodged itself in her throat at the prospect of it. "What?"​ Yuna had been so absorbed in planning her own death that, at first, she didn't notice what was happening next to her. His voice had haunted her all the way from Xerxes to Toria and lingered at the back of her mind for a very long time. It hadn't been easy for her to get over Darius at all. Hell, perhaps she never did. "Why are you here?"​ When it finally dawned on her that what she was hearing was very much real, she raised her head and her gaze whipped up to look into a pair of eyes she thought she'd never see again. Darius. He was awake. She hadn't killed him. He was alive. And here, with her. Genuine shock and confusion were written all over her small face, which worked to her advantage. As gut-wrenchingly wrong as it was, Darius couldn't find out about what she did. Surely, he'd hate her for the rest of his life, if he didn't already do that. She needed to make amends with him and seek his forgiveness for what she'd done to him before all this. She didn't know what had brought him to the Odyssey to begin with, but if he were to find out that she'd ruined that for him as well, Yuna was probably better off being alone. She probably wouldn't be able to live with his rejection of her. "Dare?" She mumbled, lost in a flurry of old memories that rushed to the forefront. Memories of him and her, of simpler times, of times when she was happy. "Darius," she corrected herself, gulping, her jade green eyes wide, her voice soft and wistful. "You're awake." To Darius, it might have looked like sweet Yuna had simply sought some company next to his pod, preferring to be with his inanimate body than being alone, and that she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her. Despite his disheveled state, she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering at the sight of him. At one point in her life, this man had been her everything. Her partner in crime. Her safe haven. Her first love. Their moment was interrupted by the automated message that his pod began to transmit. Clumsily, she got up on her feet, wearing nothing but a black robe that was loosely held together by a knot at her waist. She'd long discarded the need for proper decorum; what was the point of it if nobody was around to care? Tears built in the corners of her eyes as she simply continued to stare at him. She felt overwhelmed by the need to embrace him, yet at the same time, she also felt like running away. The guilt was crushing, yet the relief of seeing him alive and well was uplifting. Exhilarating. "I know this will sound strange and unreal, but whatever that holo just told you, it's fake." Fake. It was about time she put her acting expertise to good use. The accusing sting in his voice upon those first initial seconds was still weighing heavy on her heart. As if her lucky stars were shining down on her, the light inside the chamber flickered, which had her frown—odd. Something like this has never happened since the moment she'd woken up herself. "I'm so incredibly sorry you're awake, too." She really was. Her lower lip quivered. "But we won't arrive at Homestead II any time soon."​

 

[Keith Logan]

-☾ ｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 ୧˚｡☽- 0:42 ⸻ ♤ ⸻ 4:04 now playing : one of the girls * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖞 is like a ₥₳₲₲Ø₮ feasting on 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖘 .​ "Dare?" "Darius," "You're awake."​ Dare. There was only one person who would call him that - that one person whom he went to hell and back just to try to forget her. He had every personal belongings that reminded him of her, sent not to the dumpster, not the recycler, but the incinerator at the heart of Xerxes, because he was that dead set on moving on from Yuna for the last time. He needed to do so for the sake of his sanity. It took close to over three years just for him to rid her off his thoughts, which was intruding on a near regular basis. She haunted his heart and mind for a long time because as much as he hated Yuna with a passion for doing what she did to him, over and over, the man could not deny the fact that she was also the only girl he had ever known that was able to read his mind like an open book, without him ever needing to verbalise his thoughts. Sometimes, it almost felt like she knew him better than he did himself. They were made for each other. Or at least, she was made for him. But Yuna just had to ruin it all, hindered them from being what they could have been - an invincible power couple that could have ruled the proverbial world, had a certain girl not decide to chase a shadow that was called ambition. In the case of Yuna - Darius thought that her ambitions knew no bounds. She seemed never ever satisfied. For a while, she would bask in the glory after having attained her objectives. Reasons for Yuna breaking off from Darius over the years ranged from that other new cute boy in school that all the school girls were vying over due to perhaps a novelty factor and possibly, ego-stroking, down to her various fleeting life ambitions that came and go along the way. Then, the post-success euphoria of achieving her goals would always run its due course. She always seemed to get bored of them, eventually. But fickle minded as she was, one thing was very consistent across the test of time - Yuna always ended up coming back to Darius once she had milked the excitements of her accomplishments dry. It was like she chose to hibernate in the safe haven called Darius during those intermittent periods of post-ambition blues, only to leave the safety nest once she was rejuvenated and could not resist pouncing on her next muse or target objective. Darius had been a gracious host to Yuna, even though she left the accommodation of his heart in a wrecked mess each time. At the end of the day, he always picked and cleaned himself up, only to then allow the returning girl to take up shelter again in the comforts of his sanctuary. In a sense, Darius had always been weak to resist the temptation and promise of rich remuneration, coming in the form of unparalleled passion from Yuna. It was undisputed, that while it hurt every time Yuna broke his heart, he had never regretted any minute that they spent time together. Nobody knew what he wanted, what he liked, how he thought, what he craved, like Yuna Vega.​ As much as he could feel that familiar seething resentment that he tried so hard to suppress all those years came flooding back uncontrollably into his veins, his eyes were momentarily caught in a trance - that plunging cleavage. Those wholesomely endowed pair of busts. Objectively speaking, hate her as much as he did, he could not deny those assets of hers were beautiful. She was beautiful. They used to be beautiful together. And the primitive hormonal drive in him refused to accept that she was a rotten being down to the core. Darius had never found himself so contradictorily hating and loving a thing or person so wide on the spectrum. He took ages to pry her out of his mind. Yet, all she needed to do, was show up, and his resilience was seriously put to the test. This was unfair. This was so unfair. “Welcome to the edge of the star system Wolf 1069. You had been held in Cyrogenic stasis for 31 light years. This is the equivalent of 32541 earth years and 7 months.” “As per protocol, you have been woken up exactly six months before Odyssey will enter the atmosphere of Homestead II.” “Please proceed to your assigned station for the orientation and induction process to prepare you for the imminent arrival. Further details can be accessed through your assigned personal smart watch, which will be handed over to you shortly." A pneumatic hiss sounded out, leading to a side compartment being released. In it, held a slick and tastefully designed tech wrist watch which was supposed to be a one-stop device to access a plethora of info-communicative functions. “On behalf of the Odyssey flight crew, we're thrilled to assist you on every step of your journey towards disembarkation."​ "I know this will sound strange and unreal, but whatever that holo just told you, it's fake." "I'm so incredibly sorry you're awake, too." "But we won't arrive at Homestead II any time soon." ​ “What are you talking about?” Understandably, Darius was still trying to process the whole situation he found himself in. He had barely a minute to register the influx of information inundating him. He looked around to allow himself a moment to give everything a further quick thought, and probably the most standout peculiarity, was that… the place was incredibly silent. And it was just the two of them. Most wildly, of all the possible persons that could be there with him at that very moment in time, it just had to be Yuna Vega. And basing on past experience, the presence of Yuna Vega almost always translated to trouble, sooner or later. Naturally with his instincts kicking in, Darius turned accusatory. “Yuna?” His left hand reached out to grab a fistful of her robe by her right shoulder, yanking her in, causing the fabric to spill and show more of her flesh across the entire length of her shoulder blade and collar bone. Her modesty was the least of his concern at that moment. His grasp wasn’t a death grip, due to his body still weakened from the aftereffects of cryo sickness. But the strength from his grip was trying. “What the hell are you up to now? I still remember our last conversation like it was yesterday. Don't you tell me you'd forgotten.” Then, he puked, rather unsightly. Instinctually, he turned himself to the other side of the pod so his vomit wouldn’t land on the lady. It seemed his subconscious, despite their ugly history, was still rooted to care. Yuna did look like she seemed equally and genuinely lost. But his gut feeling based on their history had him erring on the side of caution. Yuna was going to need to do more than just act in that very moment to quell his suspicion. She needed to keep up an elaborate act that was going to require her to… lie to him everyday for the rest of their life onboard the slumbering Odyssey. Insurmountable task? It didn’t matter. The moment she decided to wake Darius up, there was no turning back from the choice that she selfishly made.​ ​

 

[Luvia]

-⋆｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 ୧˚｡⋆- 0:42 ⸻ ♡ ⸻ 3:08 now playing : sin city * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊 builds me a ɍøŧŧɇn church to 𝖑𝖆𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 in.​ Yuna?​ She shuddered. Her name. Her name. Someone had finally said her name. Darius had said her name. Darius. Yuna's heart fluttered excitedly. No. Don't. She scoffed at herself. It's been a while since you've talked to someone else. Someone real. That's all. She took a deep breath in an attempt to control her treacherous heart. She wanted to be indifferent in the face of their shared history. She really did. Unsurprisingly, she failed, and the pain that ensued twisted her insides sorrowfully. Boom. Emotions and thoughts she'd long buried came rushing back to the forefront, just like that. When she accepted Eric's proposal shortly before they'd boarded the Odyssey, she'd been fully convinced that she loved him with every fiber of her being. She'd made her choices, which included putting her feelings for Darius to rest. For good. Whatever they'd shared was a thing of the past, nothing more, nothing less. It had to be. And yet, she came face to face with the bitter truth. Right here, right now. She'd been in denial. There was no way that she would ever be able to forget or get over Darius. It had never been an option. Never a decision she could have made. A part of her had always and would always belong to the boy who had tried to be her world. Selfishly, she found herself wondering. Did he still love her? I still remember our last conversation like it was yesterday. Don't you tell me you'd forgotten.​ That did it. A surge of satisfaction welled in her chest and Yuna bit on her lower lip until it hurt, causing more tears to well in her eyes. Feeling so happy over this was wrong. His attitude towards her right now was standoffish, but she knew. She could tell. At the very least, he still cared for her. Although she'd irrevocably hurt him, it seemed that he was still incapable of wholeheartedly hating her. Why? She knew why. Darius had always been kind. Too kind for his own good. Albeit quiet and mysterious to most, she'd learned early on that he was an honest kid who seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve. Yuna had recognized this about him quickly and had been drawn to him like a moth to a flame ever since. Unfiltered and expressive, authentic and generous, forgiving and loving—that was the Darius she'd fallen for. And it was exactly his inability to draw boundaries with her that had ultimately driven her to leave him. For as long as she could remember, Yuna had always wanted more. Born on a planet and into a way of life she thought was maddeningly suffocating, her everyday was a miserable existence. She'd always longed for adventure, craved excitement and wanted to see more of what life had to offer beyond the mining grounds of Xerxes. She'd dreamt about oceans and forests, about people from different walks of life. On Xerxes? None of these things existed. You were born with only one purpose, doomed to live out the same routine day in and day out, with one person not any different from the other, their ambitions all the same. In a world like that, the only thing, or rather, the only one who filled her with a shred of belonging, was Darius. Instead of judging her for being a dreamer, he encouraged her. Nurtured her. Loved her in the only way he knew how. Unlike her, Darius seemed content with how things were. He envisioned a happy family with her, believed in creating their own little paradise with what little they had. As long as they had each other, everything would right itself. And for a while, it was enough. Drowning herself in him had worked in curbing her cravings, had quenched her thirst for more in ways Yuna had thought were impossible. She'd convinced herself that with Darius, she could endure this way of life. Only, as it turned out—she couldn't. Somewhere down the line, she found herself seeking the thrill of adventure in new hobbies, ambitions and even new romantic endeavours. She'd never fallen out of love with Darius, but she'd certainly started to take his love for granted. So whenever she chased after a new high, she always did so out of frustration and boredom. It was her foolish way of rebelling, of retaining a sense of control over her life which seemed so set in stone. Only chosen individuals had been granted the chance to leave for Toria, and carefree travelling amongst the stars and planets was difficult. Darius hadn't been amongst those chosen. In the end, she'd chosen herself over him. She'd feared never living life to its fullest more than losing his love. Despite his blatant distrust of her and her own conflicted state, her hand naturally gravitated towards him and she rubbed his arm in an attempt to soothe him as he emptied his guts. She hardly bothered to adjust herself, either. When she noticed what she'd done however, she sobered up quick, pulling back her fingers as if touched by scalding hot water. Wide-eyed, Yuna also yanked her robe out of his grasp and re-adjusted herself, suddenly painfully aware of her current state of dress. She took a step back. "You... You're real. This isn't a dream." She settled for half-truths. She couldn't bear to lie to him, but she was also too much of a coward to admit to what she'd done. Then, she grimaced. "Yup, that smell is definitely too nasty to not be real." One thing about her had definitely not changed. She didn't mince her words in moments like these. She wiped at her eyes, drying them with the sleeve of her robe in a hurry. "I didn't do anything wrong to begin with. I'm not sure why either, but I just… woke up. Alone. In the room next door." She raised her chin at him in a show of rebuttal and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Exactly one and a half years ago."​

 

[Keith Logan]

-☾ ｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 ୧˚｡☽- 0:42 ⸻ ♤ ⸻ 4:04 now playing : one of the girls *​ 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖞 is like a ₥₳₲₲Ø₮ feasting on 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖘 .​ "You... You're real. This isn't a dream."​ Darius' eyes narrowed. He recognised that look on her face. It was a display of inflated vulnerability served with a side of sorrowful puppy eyes. Maybe there was also an element of guilt that he was sensing? If not for the many past instances of Yuna pulling the same trick on him before, of her trying to slip her way back into his life, he would have bought into her act - that she was feeling remorse, and was ready to repent and seek forgiveness, to ask for a chance for them to start anew. "Yup, that smell is definitely too nasty to not be real."​ The man scoffed. It had been years since they last spoke. But this was the Yuna that he remembered - adapt at snaking her way out of facing any music, by throwing in moments of distractions and even mistimed humour, anything that could buy her some time, whatever she could do to lighten up the mood or to soften the blow of any inconveniences or consequences imminent, through casual avoidance or procrastination. In this present case, confrontation, that was coming her way. Had he not been in a state of nausea, he would have been in a better state of mind to call her out at that instant. "I didn't do anything wrong to begin with. I'm not sure why either, but I just… woke up. Alone. In the room next door."​ She 'didn't do anything wrong', she said. Classic Yuna, always refusing to take the blame. It was infuriating - that feeling not triggered by anything to do with the current situation they found themselves in, but because 'didn't do anything wrong' sparked a cascade of bad memories from their past, of Yuna's defiance and refusal to own up to her selfish ways even up till this day; her selfish ways that had proverbially slitted his heart over and over again. In his wishful thinking, Yuna might finally not be lying about the bizarre circumstance they found themselves in. But if past lessons were anything to go by, his instinctual better judgement was crying out to him to not believe a word that she said. "Exactly one and a half years ago."​ Did she really? There was a lot to unpack. Assuming she was telling the truth, that sounded like a living hell. He weakly tilted his head to inspect the surroundings once more, and reconfirmed that everyone else was still pretty much in their cryopods. At least whatever that she had told him so far? The story still seemed to be holding. Yet, so many more questions remained unanswered. And his mind was still in a state of disarray, still unable to start piecing together the jumbled puzzle. He couldn't even immediately recognise some of the tattoos on his body, as his memories were still taking time to thaw back into consciousness. The bigger tats in particular that were inked more recently, had him in a daze as he gazed down on his bare chest. It was supposed to be a cathartic source of relief for the man, in particular the black dragon across his chest in which he had it drawn over a previous moon within a heart tattoo that held special significance to him when they were in the heyday of their relationship, a symbolic display of his then-dedication to Yuna. A creature of strength and defiance, he inked the emblematic dragon over to showcase his intention to crush his past and move on, and also because he simply could not bare the hurt each time he looked himself in the mirror. Yet, as if he was destined to be cursed, fragments of the moon and the heart could still be faintly visible, if one actually squinted hard enough into the eyes of the dragon. How apt that was, a representation that fragments of Yuna would always be around to hound his mind. Yet, there he laid, actually feeling a shred of pity for his ex-girlfriend when he really should be focused on pitying himself more for all the pain she had put him through. Perhaps she deserved the year and a half of solitude as karma. No Darius, how could you? You're better than that! It was hell, living with two differing sources of voices, constantly whispering opposing views in his head. Darius eventually turned back around to observe Yuna's stance - she had her arms crossed, chest out and chin up, as she seemed to be trying to posture herself that she had suffered a great deal, as if it was cruel of him to start of being accusatory of her right of the bat? The man was having mixed feelings. Assuming she wasn’t lying, he could quietly sympathise with her. Having said that, for all that she had done to him all those years, she was still looking to gain sympathy, first and foremost, instead of apologising? He could give her the benefit of the doubt if she failed to prioritise the sequence of things, but still bring herself to express regret eventually. But no. It was just a moment of awkward silence shared between the pair after she was done speaking. Again, same old Yuna. "Is that all you've got to say to me? The seeking of sympathy?" "Even after all these years..." Darius did not mince his words. And god that felt so damn good. It was one of those things he wanted to call her out for the longest time. But she would always vanish before he was ever given a chance to properly speak his mind - she could never tell him to his face whenever she decided to break things off, either through a text message, or at best, a written letter. Whenever she returned, his younger naive self would relent and take her back in with little questions asked, simply because he was always hopeful. Not anymore. If there was any remote chance of them moving pass mere superficial conversational catch up after years of moving on from each other, he had made up his mind that these mind games of hers, all that emotional blackmailing that she was so used to playing, those had to stop. Darius was slowly regaining the ability to move his body more steadily. And he attempted to make his first steps out of the pod. "Until you've figured it all out, you can keep assuming that you're still going to be as good as alone onboard this vessel." The man clumsily crashed out of the pod and fell onto his knees, shoving the girl aside in the process. Clearly, the gaping wound in him was still very much festering and alive. He had prepared himself to be calm and composed for years, should he ever encounter Yuna ever again, convinced himself that she was a piece of shit that he swore never to let her back into his life ever again. He was so sure he had moved on. Instead, when in the face of the girl that had been pretty much his entire youth, he inexplicably ended up doing a hell of a poor job and fumbled tragically when it truly mattered. For the moment, all he wanted to do was try his darndest to gather every ounce of strength that he could to limp his way out of the cryogenic chamber, and keep the bane of his life out of sight. "You're kidding me. Why on earth are the other rooms locked given the circumstance? Surely, common sense would prevail and allow an overwrite?" "Explain why the only other living human on this ship has privileged access to her room, but I don't?" "I apologise for the inconvenience, Mr. Versace. But I am not authorised to implement systematic changes, unless it is a directive from a person of authority." "The hel-. At least direct me to somewhere that I can wash myself up?" "There isn't any public showering facilities on board this starship, unfortunately. However, if you follow the holographic directions that will be sent to your smart watch imminently, you'll be directed to the common pool." "Your solution, is for me to take my filthy gunk filled body and take a dive, in the common pool?" "It's not really common, if it's being shared by just Ms. Yuna Vega and yourself, Mr. Versace." "Besides, the pool undergoes cyclical water changes and sterilisation on a daily basis." Darius found himself momentarily speechless, mouth gaping unconsciously open at being touché by artificial intelligence. "I'm not exactly keen on bathing myself in chlorine. I don't presume you understand how sticky that feels after." "I don't." "Wh-. Fuck it. You know what? Do me a favour and never speak of that devil spawn's name ever again?" With a grunt, the young man stomped away from the assistance terminal and left for the recommended destination that was situated at the mid-level rear end of the cruiser which was thankfully, just over ten levels right above him. It still took some amount of weaving between elevators and corridors, before he found himself arriving at the admittedly awe-inspiring pools in various halls, some even came with simulated space roofs, interconnected by stretches of swimming canals. ​ With a sigh, the man briefly inspected around the empty space, before he undressed the only garment on him - a plain white thigh high shorts and dumped it onto a common bench, then took his heaven’s blessed sculptured form for a dive by the pool that provided a vast panoramic view of a desolate planet that the ship so happened to be passing.

 

[Luvia]

-⋆｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 ୧˚｡⋆- 0:42 ⸻ ♡ ⸻ 3:08 now playing : sin city * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊 builds me a ɍøŧŧɇn church to 𝖑𝖆𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 in.​ ... No words. A heavy silence settled inside the chamber as soon as Darius left. Even long after his exit, Yuna continued to stare at the doors, as if frozen in time. She hadn't tried to stop him, and before that, she hadn't been able to find her voice at all. For the first time since she'd known him, she had finally become a witness to how deeply his hurt ran, even if only by a glimpse—a hurt that had been inflicted upon him by none other than Yuna herself. She'd never seen Darius like this before. The consequences of her actions were startling, to say the least, being dealt to her first-hand like this. A solemnly remorseful expression was etched onto her face as she finally stirred, her gaze wandering to the now empty pod beside her, then down towards her hands. They were shaking. She wasn't daft or ignorant to the finer sensibilities. She knew that she had hurt him whenever she'd kicked him to the curb; she's just never been around enough for him to express his feelings over it. Her life on Toria had allowed her to reflect on herself and mature in many ways, one of those being that she'd become more self-aware. More mindful. More gentle-natured. She'd sworn that, if, if—their paths ever crossed again, that she'd apologize to him. Sincerely and honestly, for everything. For taking his love for granted. For playing with his emotions because she'd deemed them convenient. She would, however, never apologize for leaving him behind. Moving to Toria had been the right decision for her. But at what cost? "Access overwritten. Your request has been granted, Miss Vega." Coward. Despite her initial resolve, she was behaving cowardly. In the first place, Yuna had chosen to wake up Darius of all people because she'd expected him to forgive her for it, should he ever find out. Given their history, it was more likely that she'd receive his forgiveness over the forgiveness of a total stranger. "Excellent. Oh, and one more thing. As with the matter of his cryogenic pod, not a word to Mr. Versace about this. Relay this information to all the other AI as well." She didn't know how to handle a Darius that was actively hell-bent on ignoring her, so she resorted to something entirely ridiculous—she locked him out of his own room. Or any other room, for that matter. Getting the central AI to submit to her requests had become natural; it turned out that being a tycoon's fiancée came with all sorts of perks. She'd learned early on that her watch was capable of a lot more than it should. The only things she couldn't do were tamper with anything beyond the crew and VIP quarters. "Where is he now?" "Based on his watch's whereabouts, Mr. Versace is currently by the public pools, at the mid-level rear end of the cruiser." "Thank you, Prime. That's all for now." Apologize. Apologize, apologize. As Yuna neared the pools, she steeled her mind. She needed human interaction. She craved it. Initially, she'd tried to rest, to get her mind to quieten so that she could ponder on what to do next. But, to no avail. The only thing that was on her mind was him. His face. His scent. His voice. His warmth. Darius. She needed to be as close to him as she needed to breathe air, even if he didn't want to be anywhere close to her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that she was being unreasonable. That maybe, giving him some time could work in her favor—but Yuna had never been a patient soul, now more so than ever. In her world, the best defense was a good offense. As she approached, she was able to hear the sounds of him swimming long before she saw him. Her heartbeat picked up as she neared the pool area. This time around, she was wearing her ebony brown hair in a loose and messy bun, held together by a single, large hair claw. She was also wearing a white bathing robe that reached down to her knees. She waited until he resurfaced and was able to hear her. "It seems you've found one of my favorite spots." Not a lie, actually. After a moment of silence, her brows furrowed and she stepped closer towards the edge of the pool. "Can we talk?" When he turned around and resumed to ignore her, Yuna narrowed her eyes and her hands went to her robe. If Darius hadn't changed much, then she still knew him like the back of her hand. He'd always been a very visual learner. So, she dropped her robe and knelt down on her knees, placing her hands on her thighs in an act of silent submission. Dressed in nothing but a bikini she'd snagged from one of the boutiques on the cruiser, she waited. Prayed. Hoped. "Please—don't leave. Look at me. I... I'd like to apologize." ​

 

[Keith Logan]

-☾ ｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 ୧˚｡☽- 0:42 ⸻ ♤ ⸻ 4:04 now playing : one of the girls *​ 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖞 is like a ₥₳₲₲Ø₮ feasting on 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖘 .​ Odyssey was a massive investment. So in the construction of the cruiser, also came multi-levels of safe guard put in place, structurally and hierarchically in both the physical and non-physical aspects of matters pertaining to the running of the ship. These initiatives were carefully put in place to preserve the objective, functions and integrity of the interstellar behemoth - at all realistic cost. One such official arrangement, was that assuming for some reason, all experienced cruiser manning officers were wiped out, the absolute command of the ship was to be made available to the next available person, in order of an established hierarchy, should they wish to assume control. The great irony, was that while the mission to start afresh in an entirely new world was meant to be liberating, for the people that opted to leave everything that they had in the human solar system behind, the nature of things in the Odyssey colony had been organised to be highly authoritarian right from the very root. The obsession with power was a plague that would follow humankind, wherever they go. Odyssey was sold as a dream to the common people that needed a reboot in life. Odyssey's true, darker purpose, was for the second class powers that funded the one way expedition to break free from the rule and rules of the incumbent planetary governance, so that they could finally build something of their own, free to exercise their own self-interests and deviating philosophies - none of which had anything to do with socialism. And so the Odyssey party was segmented into three equally populated social echelons - the 'grunts', which Darius belonged to; the 'Conduits', a group of middle class with talents that had been carefully assessed for their propensity to be loyal to the powers that are to rule prior to getting their ticket; and the 'Nobles', which is self-explanatory. The two third ratio divide was the Nobles plan of getting the Conduits on their side, tasked to keep the grunts motivated, if not suppressed, to work hard 'for the benefit of the new society'. Yuna Vega just happened to be fortuitously on the right end of the Odyssey camp, due to her connection with the elites, and was most imminent to be bound by vow, then blood - until she was awoken. That was why she found herself in that highly specific and implausible situation of being granted access to the whole bloody ship, simply because she - categorically a grunt if not for her ambition - was to be betrothed to a person directly related to the powers that funded the expedition. Moving to Toria had indeed, been the right decision for her, as far as her own welfare was concerned. Yuna never thought perhaps however, how Darius had been instrumental in her rise to success, being that solid backbone behind the shadows for her all those years, that without him, her Toria dream wouldn't have been possible. Long story short, he had trespassed the law for Yuna's sake before - one that could place him behind bars for a long time -, to get Yuna ahead of the list to get that internship opportunity on Toria that Yuna so desperately wanted, which was supposed to last for no more than three months top. Then she was granted the opportunity to gain permanent citizenship to Toria due to her stella showing. Darius was not told that was what the internship was all about. And at that crossroad where she needed to decide once the opportunity for her to escape the slum she was born into arrived, she chose herself above all else. She chose to leave the man that had sacrificed so much for her happiness, behind. That was all Darius could think of. The uncontrollable rumination of betrayal rewinding in his mind. It felt like it was only yesterday. How dare she even had the cheek to show her face in front of him after all that history that they shared? The fucking audacity. The water was cold. But his entire body felt heated. When Yuna walked into the main swim hall, Darius could be seen submerged, powering through the waters in the butterfly stroke. Those thick, flexed muscles of his working in full force. Biceps, triceps, quadriceps, calves trapezius, rhomboids, erector spinae. You name it. His entire broad form worked in beautiful synchrony. He did not realise that the only other living soul on the ship was alarmingly within desirable undesirable proximity, until his head popped up above the surface upon reaching the end of the pool, only to be greeted by the jolting sight of Yuna Vega. "It seems you've found one of my favorite spots." ... "Can we talk?"​ He wanted to say no. But then he thought she didn't even deserve a response from him. She had ignored his pleas for god knows how long and how many times before. This was nothing in comparison. So he afforded her barely a second of gaze onto her face, before he turned himself around to have his back faced against her. He would have launched himself out for another lap, if not for the fact that he had just done thirty of them. He was a walking pack of fine muscles. But even he has his limits. He even had to contain his pant because that would have sounded pathetic in the face of his bane - cause ego. While he was focused on trying to regain his breathes, he was oblivious to the fact that Yuna was already beginning to disrobe behind him. And then... "Please—don't leave. Look at me. I... I'd like to apologize."​ Now she was really starting to get on his nerves. He was ready to demand of her to scram, turned around, only to be greeted by the stirring sight of Yuna, down on her knees, barely clothed. Yuna had never gotten down on her knees for him, ever before. It was unbelievably bizarre. But that was the fact. He found himself choking on his words. His eyes, betraying his will of mind and heart, answering only to the most primal calling within him at that very moment. Those perfectly perky bosoms, looking firm as ever. The deliberate arch of her ass, showcasing the same level of shapeliness, and her tastefully toned stomach and legs. She must have been religiously keeping up with her routines all those years, a sizable amount of work involving the bedroom with her most recent lover, of which, Darius was still completely naive to. He only realised how stupid he must have looked, gawking at her for a good seven, eight seconds or so, before he shook himself out of trance. "You are unbelievable." Unbelievably shameless. Unbelievably... fuckable. But his pride wouldn't let him relent... yet. Darius pulled himself out of the waters. His full nude form, erupted into view, the full package, including his manhood, of which Yuna had watched it grown over the years. His shaft wasn't fully erected. But it wasn't entirely limp either. He was trying his darndest, not to be aroused by the sight presented. And so he internally dragged himself to walk away and left her on her knees. The man was about to make his way out of the far exit of the massive hall, before he stopped in his track, paused on the spot for a good few long seconds in utter silence, before he pirouetted around. He made the long stroll, back to where Yuna was kneeling, until the beastly and over-towering masculine form was stood point blank right in front of the young woman. He stared at her. She stared at him. And the suddenly... SMACK. He lashed a slap across her cheek. And another on the other side. And another back on the initial side. And another on the other side again, rinse repeat. Each time he landed one, the next came in harder. He must have landed about eight, before he cupped her cheeks on a paradoxical firm yet tender pincer grip to hold her gaze up to him, eventually speaking. "I've heard you apologise to me a gazillion times before. And each time, you proved to me that a leopard would never change its spots." There was a momentary pause, as if he was giving her a moment to process his words in greater depth. "But if you're still the girl that I used to know, I think your mouth is much better suited for some other… task, and you're better off saving your breath on the apology, for something that you are clearly better at." Darius did not mince his words and god, that felt cathartic. He needed that. He needed to hurt her, if those slaps could even hold up an ounce against the pain that she had inflicted on him for over a decade, perhaps closer to two. And the verbal degradation? He never had the balls to tell it to her face previously, because he loved her so fucking bad, that it pained him to insult her. Even now, he was suffering that same mixed emotions, and the sudden pang of guilt rising within him. Get a grip of yourself, Darius. His clean shaved cock in the meantime, adorably grew in her face until it was in its full glory from a combination of his ministrations, verbal lashing, and the undeniable attractiveness of Yuna's lissome figure. That strong, earthy musk that was coming through from his member hinted of virility, was familiarly aromatic. At 5.8 inches erect, he was about average, but did possess a respectable girth that was satisfactorily fulfilling in its width.

 

[Luvia]

-⋆｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 ୧˚｡⋆- 0:42 ⸻ ♡ ⸻ 3:08 now playing : sin city * 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊 builds me a ɍøŧŧɇn church to 𝖑𝖆𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 in.​ When Darius turned around to face her, Yuna's heart fluttered nervously. She didn't miss it—the way his eyes roamed over her, like she was the most captivating little thing he'd ever seen. This was how he'd always looked at her: Full of longing and desire. And at one point in their lives, that very same gaze had been full of love, as well. Darius had never been able to resist her like this, not when it came down to his fatal attraction towards her. It had been very much mutual and strong, only seeming to grow more potent over time. As a result, their sex life had been marked by an exciting storminess and passion. Even now, years later, Yuna could feel that very same attraction for him. One look was all it had taken for it to spark alive, electrifying and sudden, shocking her to her core as she reciprocated his reaction to her. He looked incredibly ravishing with his hair all wet like that. He'd filled out tremendously as well since the last time they'd seen each other, no longer the pretty boy she used to know, but now a proper grown man. "You are unbelievable."​ Her resolve shook as he acknowledged her. Yuna's eyes followed him expectantly as he raised himself out of the waters, her breath snagging in her throat when she realized that he was... completely naked. A wave of guilt washed over her as she didn't avert her gaze. Oh no. Quite the opposite. The look in her jade green eyes was reverent and heated. She resumed to give him a slow, deliberate once-over. Then, somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice reproached her for it. You're engaged. Snap out of it. Though... No. That was before all this. Eric died the day you woke up without him. Her heart dropped when it seemed that he was still fully determined to avoid her and turned to leave. That's when she finally cast her eyes downward, watching as the pool water lapped up towards her before it went down the drain. She didn't move to stop him. She couldn't. Where would he go, anyway? They were both trapped here, forever doomed to live out their days together. If he wanted to turn this into a waiting game, she had no choice but to exert patience. Yuna sighed, resigning, closing her eyes for a moment of respite. So, when Darius's shadow loomed over her, when his towering form was suddenly above her, her head snapped up in utter astonishment, caught completely off guard. Anxiety leapt into her throat and she simply stared at him. What was he— SMACK. ... That first slap echoed harshly inside the massive hall. Her eyes widened in shock, her mind reeling from the impact, trying hard to process what had just happened. Her first instinct was to cover her violated cheek, though before she could soothe it, another slap met her delicate skin. Harder. For this one, Yuna's face whipped aside. What was going on? Was this really happening? Her ex-boyfriend had never raised his hand against her before. Hell, he'd never even so much as cursed at her. Was this really Darius? Her body screamed at her to defend herself against his assault, to push him away. Yet—Yuna hesitated. She let it happen. She resisted it. Her hands on her lap curled into tight fists, her nails cutting into her palms, and she grit her teeth. It hurt. He was hurting her. A whirlwind of emotions bubbled in her chest. Surprise. Anger. Sadness. And at last, surrender. Hot tears welled in her eyes, but she reined them back. No. Even if his choice of punishment was in poor taste, she wouldn't retaliate. She would take it. Flashes of Darius on their last day together flickered inside her mind—when their roles had been reversed, when it was HIM who had been on his knees, crying, pleading with her, begging her to reconsider. And she had walked out on him. Without a single goodbye or prior notice, she'd left. She'd seen it—the hurt in him. A hurt that, most likely, had struck him deeper than the sheer violence he was inflicting upon her now. It had certainly hurt her, too. "I've heard you apologise to me a gazillion times before. And each time, you proved to me that a leopard would never change its spots." Pain. Even as he held her face almost tenderly, in that instance, Yuna was in a world of unrestrained pain. Her cheeks burned in the aftermath of his slaps and it took her every ounce of willpower to keep still, to not cry. She opened her eyes upon hearing his next suggestion, meeting his gaze. What he would see in it was primal and pure and unfiltered; as if Yuna's soul was there and bared for him to get lost in. His degradation wounded her, but the idea of Darius drifting away from her terrified her even more. It was twisted and it was sick, but she wanted his forgiveness. At any cost. Her lips parted and she simply breathed for a moment. Then, she took hold of the very same hand that had struck her, easing her face out of his grip, only to hold his palm right up against the side of her face, against her now reddened skin. "I mean it, Dare." Her lower lip quivered. "I am sorry. So very sorry." Her eyes lowered to take in his hard length. This was her Darius. Even in the face of expressing his hatred towards her, it seemed that his body was still inclined to respond to hers. It was as honest a reaction as any. He was still the same. Yuna shifted slightly, her knees already hurting from bearing her weight against the rough tiles of the pool area. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she steeled herself, determined to see this through. She wet her full, shapely lips, first by running her tongue over her upper lip, then her lower by sucking it between her teeth. She made a soft noise when she raised herself up a little, placing one of her hands against his thigh. With her other, she grabbed him by his base, her grip gentle. He felt so hot, a stark contrast to the water droplets that still clung to his body. "If you want my mouth, it's yours. Use it. Use me." She paused, as if to give him a second to rethink, to change his mind. Ever ambitious however, the moment passed quickly. Yuna pressed a kiss to his tip, as if to test the waters. The sensation of his smooth and thick head against her lips felt jolting. Another followed, this time more towards the side of his tip, then the other, though she made sure to never stop contact, dragging her lips along his skin intimately. Her ministrations were almost adoring in nature. Once upon a time, she'd worshipped his cock like this daily. Her tongue darted out for a small lick before she resumed, though this time, with an open-mouthed and wet kiss. "Let's see if I remember it well." Her voice turned a shade needy as she watched the muscles in his abdomen tense, though it was accompanied by a clear hint of uncertainty. She wanted to please him. Her tongue darted out once more and she circled it around his tip, this time fully, making sure to lubricate it well with her saliva. Yuna's hand on his thigh trembled and she whimpered quietly, whether out of anticipation or worry she didn't know. Moving past his tip, she worked her way down his length, tasting him, tasting a hint of chlorine due to his dive into the pool. She mouthed her way along his shaft, more of her saliva coating him, tracing every vein with her tongue. "Was it here?" Her teasing, open-mouthed exploration continued, doing anything but actually putting him inside her mouth. "Or here?" She began to work her efforts of getting him nice and wet all over with her hand on his cock. She moved it from his base to his tip once, then twice. Then, on the third stroke downwards, she closed her mouth around his head, keeping her tongue flat—and sucked. Hard. Thoroughly and properly. Shame reflected in her eyes when their gazes met right then and there, though also... pleasure. Satisfaction. Like she'd missed this. She licked her lips, her brain misfiring. "Is that how you liked it, Daddy?" She sounded desperate, almost. Her eyebrows drew together in an innocent manner, and she looked so vulnerable there. Before Yuna herself could comprehend what was happening, she found herself in a mindset and rhythm that felt all too familiar. For a moment, she felt like they'd gone back in time, falling back into old patterns. She rubbed her thighs together, desire pooling in her lower stomach. ​

 

[Keith Logan]

-☾ ｡˚୨ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 ୧˚｡☽- 0:42 ⸻ ♤ ⸻ 4:04 now playing : one of the girls *​ 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖞 is like a ₥₳₲₲Ø₮ feasting on 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖘 .​ Was this really Darius?​ This had always been Darius. Yuna just never given him a chance to properly express himself. That, coupled by the fact that he adored her too much to want to lash out at her for hurting him for the longest time. That was before he reached his limit. Now, the lid to his pressure cooker couldn't contain any longer. Darius realised he had been lying to himself the whole time. The colossal tide of emotions he was feeling within him at that very instance? It was still apparent that once he let his shattered heart speak unbounded, at the same time allowing the better memories of their past flood back into his mind, the undeniable conclusion was that he still loved Yuna the way that he did all those years. And he fucking hated himself for being so pathetic. Darius honestly expected Yuna to react negatively to his aggression. He was quite prepared for that, had already psyched himself up for that. He thought it was the best decision for the both of them, to make her fear him, hate him, so it would make it so much easier for him to move on. That was why the man was perplexed when there was a lack of response from Yuna as he rained down the brutal smacks on her, apart from the stilling and tensing of her body, and the digging of her nails into her skin. Was she actually bringing herself to accept some kind of act of contrition? That was highly unusual, based on the Yuna that he used to know. The old Yuna would almost always never bear a blame, regardless of how wrong she might be. The present Yuna that he was seeing was both similar, yet very different to her past in a baffling paradox. Toria, for all the pain that that had caused him, had sparked unfathomable changes in the lady that he had for years, prayed so hard that she would turn herself a new leaf. Was his past fate a blessing in disguise? Regardless, he certainly had sunken himself to hellish lows for a long time just for that blessing to finally come to fruition. What was still familiar however, was the stubbornness that he recognised coming through from her eyes. She was holding back her tears, no doubt; desperate to prevent her lips from succumbing to that involuntary downturned lips that he could imagine, she was trying her darndest to contain. At that point, Darius wasn't even sure what to think of it. Annoyed, because she still couldn't bring herself to let down her pride completely, despite already dropping herself down to her knees? Cruelly delighted, because he had managed to string her closer to her emotional wits end for a change, coming a step closer to getting himself even with her? "I mean it, Dare." "I am sorry. So very sorry." ​ Fuck. Not again. Don't believe her. Don't fucking believe her. Darius was caught in a moment of internal conflict as his over towering frame looked down at her. He would have scoffed if he knew that she had just thought of him as her Darius. Even now, she still had the arrogance to claim him as her own. But then she touched him for the first time in years by his thigh. And in quick succession next, she actually reached out to his cock. As much as he deeply missed their times of passion under the sheets beneath all that resentment, it wasn't his initial game plan to get intimate with her. He wanted to scare her, to hurt her, petty vengeance seeking to make her feel pain. He had expected to push her away from him with his brutality. Instead, she drew herself closer to him. The manner in which she threw herself at him given their circumstance all things considered, just boggled and overwhelmed his mind. First, they hadn’t even got a chance to talk their past out. And then she was displaying zombified hunger for lust with selective disregard for their history, as if she had forgotten they ended their last interaction in one of the most sour and bitter of notes. Is that what a year and a half of loneliness does to people? Or is she genuinely trying to reconnect? Or both? Darius couldn’t know for certain at that moment. It was however, something he knew he needed to know, at some point. "If you want my mouth, it's yours. Use it. Use me."​ "Wait no." "You can't keep doing thi- Oh. Fuc-." Why did he foolishly think his grand plan was going to work? Whenever she was not getting her way or was losing an argument, she had been known to sheath his cock with her mouth as her method of silencing him. It was a complete cheat move on her part because she had mastered the art of worming her way into his mind with the use of her mouth, not through winning an argument or debate, but by simply sucking his anger away through the weakness present in virtually all normally functioning species of men - his second head, his prized manhood. This was exactly the reason why he shamed and taunted her about her mouth just moments earlier. It was an incredibly frustrating get-out-of-jail card of hers that she so often abused. Even more frustrating, was how shameless she could get, just to acquire what she wanted. Her feistiness and attitude was a double edged sword, that he both loved in the past for the passion and exhilaration that came with it, and hated at the same time for her propensity to often drive him up against the wall. "Let's see if I remember it well." "Was it here?" "Or here?"​ Darius was ashamed to admit. But Yuna hit both his sweet spots razor inch perfect in both times, causing him to suck in deep breaths whilst he clenched his teeth. Both locations, the hole at his very tip, as well as the slit of his glans, had his whole body jolting to her touch, twice. It was both humbling and humiliating for the big man, as he had fought and rehearsed so hard for years to get himself to be composed if and when the day to face Yuna ever came. Now that that has happened, he found himself failing spectacularly. Yuna toyed with his manhood with talented, exquisite touches, barely applying enough pressure and instead coaxing his brain to do the heavy weight lifting of fucking his own mind up - through the hook of unpredictable anticipation, as she both promised and denied him pleasure at the same time. Even now, she was playing her cruel, wicked game with him. It came to a point where his body betrayed his will, and started to subtly thrust his cock in the direction of her mouth every once in a while, body screaming at his pride to stop fighting, wanting to get a firmer feel of her lips against his highly sensitive cock. It did come across his mind for just one second, that he should perhaps beg for her to stop the tease and just give it to him. But his ego wouldn't budge. It was tragic that a greater part of his being still insisted in surrendering to her, even after all that she had done to him. He almost had it in him to push Yuna away, when she locked his manhood in and vacuumed suck the life and will of his out of his soul. Immediately, his face contorted - brows frowned, eyes fluttering, cheeks creased and jaws dropped wide opened. He almost, almost let slip of what could have been the most embarrassingly loud moan, had he not rein himself back in at the final second. He could not bring himself to give her the satisfaction, just like that. He could not afford to make himself a fool again, and give her the idea that she could just walk back into his life, as and when she pleased. "Is that how you liked it, Daddy?" Daddy. The last time they spoke about terms of endearment, he playfully suggested how Daddy hits the spot, and would work to establish the power dynamics between the both of them. He remembered her being classically aggravating, always hell bent on teasing him that it was fat hope that she would ever call him Daddy just to wind him up. How times had changed, for Yuna to actually bring herself to give up the hold of the power baton. She was that desperate, it seemed. And then, something clicked within him. Something that would probably bring him immense relief and satisfaction, allowing him to kill two birds with one stone, of getting back at her and getting what he wanted, needed, at that very moment. "You know what Daddy really wants?" Without warning, he yanked the halter neck strings off her neck and flung the skimpy top out of reach into the pool, then grasped a generous fistful of her hair with both his hands on a tight, yanking grip, then pushed her in to send her mouth crashing down against his throbbing length. His tip, prodding against the back of her throat. He held her there for a lengthy ten seconds or so, refusing to let her get any opportunity to relax her gag reflex, before he started to work those deliciously sculptured and powerful hips of his. "Mmfffhh Mmmhh." "Daddy.. is fucking mad at you, if you can't already tell." "He is going to make you his cum dumpster, just like how you'd dumped him like you always did." "And if you’re truly repentant, you'll take his punishment like you deserve every-second-of-it. Do you understand?" "If you are truly repentant, you've got to do much better than to just offer your measly mouth." Darius had always been a tender, sensual partner in bed with Yuna in the past. He was a walking heaven mouth watering full package of tats and muscles. Yet, he had always been preciously gentle with her, never drawing force from his sinewy form for more than a quarter of what he was capable of, for fear of harming, breaking, her delicate body. But now, his intense hatred and love for her combusted and turned him into the dynamite that he was - explosive and unhinged. And all the nasty insults that he had been throwing at her, was his cry of anguish, unleashing all that he had welled inside him all those years, volleying it all unto her. And so he ruthlessly pounded her mouth away, using her in the most literal sense as she had so thoughtlessly put forth herself for.