#CS-BLANK-AU | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

absintheandtextbooks · 11 months

Text

Message in a Bottle Part 2

penpals Au

content warning: Alcohol, events of the show can't think of much else.

Author's note: sorry for the delay life has life-ed quite a lot but I've had a chance and drive to pick this up again and enjoyed it immensely. hopefully there will be less of a break after this one!

2021 - New Years

Mabel’s aunt wasn’t fully moved out by November, she didn’t fully clear the apartment until mid December. She had started to move in then and had barely finished putting all her boxes in by Christmas. By the time the 31st finally rolled around she had unpacked all of her boxes and was sitting in a bare but intact apartment. As midnight slowly ticked closer she poured herself glass after glass of cheap wine and listened to brighter and brighter music until the room seemed warm and shimmery and her head started to spin. She didn’t like being here tonight but it felt dishonest and almost disrespectful to leave. She cracked open her paints and began priming a wall. By 10:30 she had a new blank canvas. By 10:35 all of her paints were open and glistening in the dim lights she had on but looking at the blank wall she didn’t start painting. Instead, in the warm buzz of light she took out a small piece of pressboard and pulled up google images. She stumbled across several paintings she was entranced with: Orpheus by Franz von Stuck, The Death of Orpheus by Henri Leopold Levy, and Orpheus Lamenting Eurydice by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. In each there was a profound sense of loneliness and quiet. Even though in one Orpheus was playing he seemed deeply sad. She began to sketch on the pressboard. She poured her own loneliness into the sketch glancing over the poetry her Orpheus has sent. The painting began as bright, the background a scattering of colors with a figure silhouetted in blue, an indistinct figure - her Orpheus. At 11:42 she could tell the painting wasn’t done. It felt incomplete. Colors swirled around the figure but he still felt distant, separate. She stepped back and closed her paints, grabbing the rest of her bottle and throwing a thick coat on and headed to the roof. The door handle was icy as she reached towards it despite how thick the door was and it squeaked as it opened and clattered closed. She felt steady enough to sit on the barrier, remembering the feeling of her legs dangling over the street from her childhood but kept herself firmly planted on the ground. Instead she downed the rest of her wine. Snow was falling gently on her cheeks and pleasantly cooled the wine-blush there. She set the empty bottle beside her feet and pulled out her phone. She started a message to Orpheus and then paused. Then, deciding she started typing, quickly.

Orpheus,

I’ve been meaning to ask. Haven’t for a while, but meant to ask, why did you join this penpal thing, all those years ago. If you’re comfortable telling me. I want to know - I’d like to know. But no pressure. My friend died. I miss them so much but they were always so bright. Everyone loved them but they were like flashpaper. They burned so bright so fast - now it seems almost inevitable they’d burn out. They never did anything by halves and I loved them so much - like a sibling. So for some reason I couldn’t really get over it. It seems like it shot a hole in my life just dragging things into it. Thank you for talking with me. I just wanted to share. I’m not fully sure why.

~CS

With one more cursory glance out at the city, Mabel bundled the coat closer around her and grabbed the bottle, dragging herself back inside, the melting snowflakes making her hair damp and leaving tiny puddles as it dripped on the elevator floor.

~~~~~~

This New Years was treating Theo much like every other one. He was at some odd dinner party where his father was paying him just enough attention he couldn’t complain about it. He knew no one. After hunting, his father had found him an apartment just far enough away from the Arconia that he was pretty sure he could avoid contact as much as possible, which just made Theo want to visit the damned place less. However, his father was throwing a party there. It always made Theo nervous, having that many people in the same place his father hid the jewels. So, Theo stayed stationary at parties, his back to the miniscule gap in the bookcase just thinking. As he absently sipped whatever concoction his father was serving he read through his files on his phone, poetry just out of reach as a means to cope tonight. He wanted to go back to his apartment, to completely check out but he knew that would just earn him a deeply disappointed look and a very long lecture about the family business and his father sticking his neck out for him and how this was the least he could do. So he stayed, resting the champagne flute on the shelf so he could try to let words bubble up. Stubbornly the words didn’t seem to come. Everything he tried to write felt disjointed - hollow. None of the words doing justice to the swirl of colors and images in his head. Every time he blinked green and silver and gold seemed to glimmer across an inky black the gentle sparkle turning to a quick blur and disappearing. He could see Zoe’s face turn from anger and disgust to shock as she felt the emptiness beneath her and he could feel the numbness of not being in his own body, truly not knowing how he was standing or moving or breathing.

The words kept not coming as the hours ticked by. A few of his father’s guests would nod politely to him or converse briefly but none of them wanted to keep up the effort of the conversation. As midnight swiftly approached he closed out the files on his phone sharply, finished his glass and went to grab his coat from the room acting as a coat closet. As he finally dug his coat out of the pile his phone buzzed. He rolled his eyes as he pulled it out of his pocket to check the notification, expecting it to be his dad demanding he stay later. It wasn’t. He sat down sharply on the pile of coats, his slung loosley in his arm as he opened his phone to read. It was from Callie. The words seemed like those he’d been trying to reach for as he wrote earlier. They were achingly honest and vulnerable. It was unlike most of the things Callie had sent up till then. She always seemed to stick to short conversational and friendly but almost sterile responses - devoid of the gut wrenching depth he was reading. They were what he would consider friends, each sharing things about themselves but she was always a little distant. Theo hadn’t minded, so was he, but this was different. He wondered what her evening had looked like to lead to the message she sent, probably bleak (much like his own he secretly hoped).

He paused with his finger hovering over the response button. He genuinely didn’t know what to say. It didn’t feel like there was much he should say. The coats were warm but seemed to waft up a cacophony of smells. The light was bright in the room reflecting off of several mirrors. Maybe the champagne was getting to him. He deftly tapped the response button and began typing quickly, finally the words he was struggling over unblocking.

Callie,

I can’t fully explain now. I don’t know if I ever can but I don’t mind telling you a bit. I’d also like you to know. Something happened that I can’t tell my part in. I just know the end point of everything. I can remember a numbness - almost as if I was trapped inside my body but apart from it. I think I was in shock. I can see colors and images and flashes of the whole thing but can’t quite put it all in focus. Even now as I’m trying to remember its swimming in my head and it hurts. And even now i’m scared of it. I’m scared of me. I don’t know if I can talk about it anymore but I never want to feel like that again and I feel trapped. Here. now. Not urgently - you don’t need to call anyone or do anything I don’t either it’s just a feeling. The numbness keeps coming back.

Thank you for sharing.

Orpheus

His finger hovered over the send button. And then suddenly, almost as a surprise to himself his finger lunged forward and hit send. Theo stood and pocketed his phone, pulling his coat on and waving to his father as he gently closed the door. As he began to leave and heavily pressed the elevator button the light went on quickly as the elevator seemed to be passing through his floor. As the doors opened he could see a haggard young woman standing inside. She looked damp and like she was deeply tired but her eyes were bright. A wine bottle was held loosely in her fist and her other hand held her coat snugly around her. He looked at the buttons and saw that every number was pressed. She slowly drifted her eyes up to meet his and seemed to barely recognize him. He also thought she looked familiar but couldn’t quite put a finger on it. She tilted her head toward the buttons, not saying anything and leaned towards the wall, letting it hold her up. He pointed at the still lit first floor and went to the opposite side, standing upright in the other corner. He briefly glanced over at her again, trying to catch another glance and try to figure out who she was but her dark hair had fallen limply, its damp locks obscuring her face. She stayed completely still the whole ride down and as he exited the elevator he watched her start pushing all the buttons again as the doors began closing. He wondered how Callie was doing. He hoped she was ok and was around people who cared about her on what was clearly a rough day, and he hoped hearing from him helped her as much as hearing from her had helped him.

2021 January 31

Mabel was alight with the mystery; it was late in the evening and she was back in the Arconia after a day with Oscar and her mother. She was fresh off of wanting to leave the podcast and finding a new and incredibly exciting clue and was ravenous to find Tim’s killer. And, they had just figured out Teddy Dimas was Angel! It was fantastically exciting. She sat buried in blankets in bed just wired. She wasn’t sure if sleep was possible. On top of all of that, she and Oscar had kissed. It was a very overwhelming day. She glanced over at her stack of puzzles but remembered how late it was. Not wanting to be drawn into a puzzle and be up so late she would be of no help the next day she laid down and opened her phone. She scrolled online for 10 minutes before finally opening her email. She’d reread Orpheus’s message several times since New Years and read it again now. The words were just as stark this time as every other, clear and distinct but unlike his beautiful use of syntax in poetry. She turned the words over in her head before opening some of his other poems, letting the words resonate in her mind, calming her down. She opened a new email to Orpheus.

Orpheus,

I’ve had a very busy day! I reconnected with a childhood friend and it was romantic and wonderful and work is going incredibly well!! My day has been electric but I seem to be reaching for your words to calm down. You really should look at publishing these. They’re beautiful. You have this sense of rhythm I can’t seem to find in most other poetry. I just wanted to message you quickly to say I appreciate them and you should let the world see them! I hope you’re doing well.

~Callie

As she finished the message she smiled slightly and flipped the lights off, setting an alarm on her phone and snuggling under the blankets to drift off to sleep.

~~~~~~

Water was dripping into the sink, reflecting off of the scalpel and tools at the bottom of the sink and spraying all over Theo’s blue scrub-like coverall leaving little dark specks. Amidst it all he felt a buzz on his phone. He dropped the tools onto a towel and carefully pulled off his gloves, throwing them in the hazardous waste and sitting on the stool he frequented. He saw the message was from Callie. He’d gotten messages from her at all times but hadn’t opened them in the funeral home before. It felt wrong for some reason. But his life felt like it was falling to pieces and he’d found himself looking at her paintings more and more. Getting a message from her when it felt like her stuff had been keeping him ticking though the weird podcast he’d been glued to, terrified of people finding out, especially that Mabel Mora. She had been one of Zoe’s friends and was hyper-focused on Tim’s murder. He worried about her just a bit, alongside his whole thing. He figured it wasn’t long before he was found out and was just trying to come to terms with the whole thing. Upon reading Callie’s message he was happy for her but a little sad. But, flattered. He felt a warmth in his chest as he reread her compliments of his work. He wanted to write more but was unsure about showing people at large. He liked Callie as his audience. She seemed to understand. He resigned himself to finish cleaning up but couldn’t bring himself to respond to the message. Not today.

2021 February 4

Theo was terrified and felt incredibly dirty. Mabel and Oliver had seen him. He’d had people see the horrible bullshit he was doing. For so incredibly long. His father’s dirty secret was potentially about to get dragged into the stark light of day. He was secretly excited about that but that excitement was eclipsed by how awful he felt about kidnapping Mabel and Oliver. As much as it sounded horrible, that's what he did. He wasn’t sure what to do. He’d driven and driven and driven and driven just hoping a solution would present itself. It hadn’t. But his father had. They had finally stopped in a dump and his father had picked them all up and threatened Mabel and Oliver. He knew acutely what that felt like. His father was a terrifying and exacting man. Theo desperately hoped they wouldn’t be intimidated like he always had been - and continued to be. When the two were finally dropped off, Theo sat silently as his father turned to him. They stayed parked outside the Arconia, the rumble of the engine seemed grounding.

“How did you not see them coming?!” Teddy signed furiously.

Theo looked down and shrugged, “I’m not sure”.

“We’ve stayed out of the line of professionals for years. But these amateurs? This is who finds us out. This is absurd. And your fault. How are you so incredibly stupid. I should have cut you out of this years ago. You were never up for it. Never. You’re useless”

“I’m sorry”

“USELESS”

“I’m sorry”

His father turned back toward the road, scowling and Theo could see him start shouting more expletives. Theo turned toward the window. As his father began to drive him back to his apartment Theo hoped with every fiber of his being that everything would come to light, even if it meant taking him down with it. When his father finally dropped him at his house Theo stumbled upstairs and after throwing the deadbolt and setting the alarm slumped into his bed fully clothed. He opened his messages to Callie.

Hi,

This week has been interesting but enough to give me a weird amount of hope, even when things are going terribly bad. There’s a strong chance I won’t be able to email for a bit but maybe maybe after everything is over I will be able to. If you still want me to.

~Orpheus

#mabel mora #theo dimas #omitb season 2 #theo x mabel #omitb spoilers #mabel mora x theo dimas #mordimas #theobel #au fic #part two came later rather than sooner #i gave them some more friends backstory. and also trauma. unfortunately. whoops #theobel fics

16 notes · View notes

huseferorin · 2 years

Text

pôle emploi

cap emploi 28

emploi territorial

Cap emploi, 28000 Chartres (Eure-et-Loir). Catégorie : Réseau Cap emploi aux entreprises et, d'autre part, elle s'adresse aux personnes handicapées.

PROMOUVOIR ET FACILITER L'EMPLOI DES PERSONNES HANDICAPÉES Parc de la Radio - 28100 Dreux. PHARE 28 - CAP EMPLOI favorise le recrute-.Le Cap emploi 28 a pour mission d'accompagner vers et dans l'emploi les personnes handicapées et leurs employeurs. Découvrez nos actions.

Phare 28 vous souhaite la bienvenue ! ; Au siège de l'association. 12, Rue de Varize. 28000 Chartres ; Pour l'accompagnement vers l'emploi, accueil sur rendez

Pôle emploi - Dreux ; Type d'administration, Pôle Emploi ; Adresse géopostale, 1 rue Pierre-Semard CS 83003 28100 Dreux Cedex ; Horaires d'ouverture, Du lundi au

Cap Emploi 28 Dreux 28100, Emploi, consultez les avis, numéro de téléphone, adresse et infos pratiques. Donnez votre avis sur Cap Emploi 28 très facilement.

Découvrez les nouvelles offres d'emploi Cap Emploi - Dreux (28) avant tout le monde ! Adresse email. Activer. En créant une alerte emploi,

https://bijitokev.tumblr.com/post/692793400844599296/l-nofollow-target-blank-read-online, https://bijitokev.tumblr.com/post/692793400844599296/l-nofollow-target-blank-read-online, https://bijitokev.tumblr.com/post/692793569517486080/clim-reversible-mitsubishi-electric-mode, https://bijitokev.tumblr.com/post/692793400844599296/l-nofollow-target-blank-read-online, https://huseferorin.tumblr.com/post/692794383662284800/parents-mode-demploi-saison-7-parents-mode.

#http://vk.cc/c7jKeU #nofollow #_blank #  <center>CAP EMPLOI DREUX ADRESSE >> <a href= rel= target=>DOWNL # formation accompagnement vers lemploi pôle emploicap territorial 28 # cap emploi nogent le rotrou # cap emploi chartres

0 notes

lifeinahole27 · 4 years

Text

CS ff: “Walking the Tightrope” (Chapter 8/10) (au)

Summary: Killian’s daily routines are a matter of habit. When he wakes up late one morning, his routines all change for the better. Emma doesn’t care about routines, but she does care about Killian, no matter how reluctant she is to admit it to herself.

Rating: E (the content warnings matter this time!)

Content Warnings: Please be aware that this chapter discusses professor/student relations in the past, non-consensual pictures in the past, and some present, consensual, loving, and happy sexual relations. Gotta find a balance somehow. (This chapter also nicknamed "The One where Sarah calls out a shitty storyline from FRIENDS.)

A Special Thank You: My continued gratitude to my lovely friends, @captainstudmuffin and @phiralovesloki. And a heap of love to @captainswanbigbang for putting this together and helping me accomplish this.

Find it on Ao3 & FFN!

-x-

Chapter 8: Unearthed

It takes time, but they both manage to get out some of the difficult parts of their pasts. Emma tells Killian snippets of her former relationships, including why she ran from Henry the first time she saw him. Graham’s story is kept brief, Walsh is brushed off as a bad experience. Killian is patient about it, holding her hand and listening closely. She can see the questions forming behind his eyes, but he never pushes for more info than she’s willing to share.

He’s hiding bits of his own past, too. He’s very open about the accident that took his hand, how he grew up in Liam’s shadow but preferred it that way, and his strong passions for fiction and poetry. But when it comes to information about his time in university, she sees the way his shoulders tense. There’s a lack of enthusiasm when he speaks of his master’s studies. She’s seen the picture of him at graduation that sits in his office. She knows there’s more to the story.

They’re watching television one night, background noise as he works on some edits. With the money they got for upgrades, Emma purchased a shiny new laptop, one specifically loaded with the software to digitize the town’s records, and so they work on their own stuff together.

Something on the screen that neither of them are glued to must catch his attention, however. It’s a rerun, something that used to be popular but has now reached syndication and thus plays on every channel when there’s downtime. It’s something Emma’s seen enough times that she knows the general storyline without really even paying attention. It’s the one where a professor starts a relationship with a student.

While she’s mostly tuning it out, it seems Killian is finally tuning in, and she looks up as he lurches for her television remote and hits the power button. His breathing is visibly quicker than it should be. Even when the screen goes dark, there’s a tension around his eyes she has never seen before.

“You okay?” she asks, mostly because she’s not sure he remembers she’s there right now.

He shakes himself a little bit, brushing off the moment for all she can tell, before he turns to her. “Hate this show,” he responds.

“It’s been on for the last hour.”

As he focuses on her face, she can see the moment he sheds whatever was trying to creep up on him. “I was pretty deep in my work. I do apologize, love.” He’s lying, but she’s willing to let it go if it’s something from his past that he doesn’t want to talk about.

“Hey, no worries.” She reaches out, squeezing his bicep once for comfort. “You want coffee? Tea?”

“I’ll get it. What would you like?”

“Surprise me,” she says, knowing that he’ll bring back the hot chocolate he knows she loves.

By the time he returns, the tightness on his face has eased up a bit, but it’s replaced with something she would call contemplation. “Swan, I want to tell you a little piece of my past, but I hope you won’t judge me too hard or let it change the way you feel about me.”

“A little ominous, but okay. Go for it.”

“Back in university, I was involved with one of my professors.”

Emma takes a moment to let it absorb, trying not to flinch or let her facial expressions change at all. It’s his past, and she knows just as well that those moments shouldn’t define the current moment.

“Tell me about it?”

“As you know, Liam convinced me to enroll in university as a way to pull me out of my slump after I lost my hand. He helped find out if I could take my classes online since I wasn’t ready to go out into the world.”

Emma reaches over, closing her fingers over the hook attachment he has on today. It’s become second nature, but sometimes she wants to tell him without words that she accepts him for who he is and this is one of those moments.

“Eventually, I was comfortable going to classes on campus. I was engrossed in all things to do with writing and literature and editing, and knew that’s the direction I wanted to take. And then I met Milah, one of the professors for a professional writing class. And she was just that for a while, and then when I entered into my master’s studies, we sort of…crossed the boundaries when she was helping me with a project.”

“Milah was married, is married, though they are separated. Her husband, some wealthy bastard, agreed that if she was discreet that they could see other people. He wasn’t anticipating that she would take up with a student, former or otherwise.

“What did he do?”

“Threatened to expose the affair to the university. Milah would’ve been fired. I would’ve likely been expelled. He said he would divorce her and cut her off from his wealth. He only agreed to back off when Milah and I split and I filed to finish my master’s online, much as I began the whole journey.”

“Was the money that important to her?” It’s the question that hits; she can tell immediately.

He grimaces before answering. “She liked to pretend it wasn’t. Painted herself as a free spirit that didn’t need wealth. But it didn’t stop her from walking away from me like it meant nothing.”

Without even prodding, Emma can see that the story isn’t done. She adjusts her grip on him and waits for him to continue.

“I almost didn’t finish my degree after that. I started drinking heavily every chance I got. Took Liam a couple weeks to figure out what was going on, pried out what had happened, and then intervened. He’s the only reason I still completed my coursework.”

“He sounds like a good brother.”

“Right pain in the arse, but yes, he is.”

“You really loved her?”

“Aye. She’s the only person outside my own family that I ever professed my love for.” He’s quiet for a moment before meeting her eyes once more. “Have you ever been in love, Swan?”

“Maybe I thought I was, once,” she admits. Mostly, she realizes that the feelings she thought she had for Neal and the ones she told Walsh she had were nothing compared to the way Killian makes her feel. “Thanks for sharing all of this with me.”

“I figured you should know,” he tells her, simple as that.

When Friday rolls around, she’s all set to join her boyfriend and friends in public. Normally, Emma would be one of the first to ditch out on work and get to their usual spot in the bar, but tonight she’s working with Belle to relabel and organize their filing system. Previously, their idea of “orderly” bordered on chaos, and they had trouble keeping track of just about everything. Along with the digital system, they decided to reconfigure the physical records as well.

They’re in the process of fixing the system when Emma’s email account dings, and she glances at it briefly to make sure it’s nothing important before they get back to work.

What she finds, instead, is a message with a link to a website. Normally, she would write this off as a spam account, but there’s no fill-in-the-blank recipient. There’s no lead-up to the message at all. Just the words written below a link: You’ll have to trust me. Type in code 92574. Check Maine.

With a heavy amount of trepidation, Emma clicks the link and follows the instructions. Her brows furrow as she tries to process what she’s looking at, but it appears to be some kind of personal page, with links to the fifty states. Finding Maine in the list, she clicks it, and almost immediately drops her phone as if burned.

“Oh my fucking god,” she mutters, her vision blurring around the edges.

“Emma is - oh! Oh my goodness!” Belle immediately backs away from the glance she’s just stolen at Emma’s unlocked phone on her desk, looking back at Emma with horror and surprise in her eyes. “What…. What is all that?”

“Something I was told was destroyed a long time ago,” Emma says, her voice shaking and her body feeling heavy and weak all at once. “Can you drive stick?” Her phone finally goes dark and auto-locks, and she’s honestly not sure if she can feel her face right now.

“I’ll text Will and let him know we’re on our way.”

-x- December 13: Friday

The last few weeks since Thanksgiving have been some of the best in Killian’s life. While the project of Henry’s novella is speeding up in momentum and racing towards the end, he and Emma have been taking things at their own pace and enjoying every moment together that they can.

It’s getting easier for them to talk about their pasts. From their shared lack of parentage to finally breaking the barrier of previous relationships, he knows they’ve both made great strides. Being able to tell her about Milah and not have her go running for the hills was admittedly a huge relief, and he only hopes that she’ll trust him to open up about anything she’s still holding out.

Normally, when they go out on Fridays, Emma is right by his side when he enters the bar. While Emma is working with Belle, he and Will have gone to the bar early to have their own catch-up until everyone else arrives.

They each spend a fair amount of time grousing about work, about late nights and tired eyes and how much they love their jobs despite their words. And they also spend just as much time talking about the women in their lives. He’s happy to see Will as content as he is. He also knows that, despite the strange and often passive-aggressive friendship between the two of them, Will is happy to see Killian with Emma.

About an hour after they sit down, Will gets a text from Belle saying that the two women are on their way. They each share a look, automatically noticing that something feels off, but unable to tell what. That sensation is amplified by the look on Belle’s face when she arrives with Emma not far behind.

There’s a tightness around her eyes that Killian has never seen the soft-spoken woman have before. Emma is just behind her, with her arms crossed over her chest and a look that he would best describe as being a cross between solemn and murderous. Only his girlfriend could manage that combination of expressions.

“All right, Swan?”

“No. Not all right. Can uh, can we go back to my place?”

“Sure. Let me just -”

“I’ve got the tab. Go on,” Will says, his thick eyebrows drawn together.

The Bug is waiting for them when they get out, still running. Clearly, she hadn’t intended on spending long inside whether he was coming with her or not.

They’re silent on the drive back to her place, and even while they make the trek up to her loft. She’s quiet as she unwraps her scarf and kicks off her boots, all with deliberate and jerky movements.

“I have to kind of process through something,” she says, her voice thick with a myriad of emotions. “I don’t wanna talk. I don’t really want to do anything at all. But will you stay with me?”

“I’m here as long as you’ll have me. Whatever you need,” he tells her, making sure to catch her eyes so she knows he’s being honest.

Wordlessly, she locks the door before she leads him upstairs.

While Killian is normally the one with the carefully crafted routines - which, admittedly, have taken a backseat to finally relaxing and enjoying his time here in Storybrooke - there are certain things that Emma does every morning and every night as far as her own rituals command. He has never seen her go straight to her room without carefully scrubbing her face and teeth and removing her contacts.

Usually, she also takes that time to braid her hair to keep it from tangling too much while she sleeps, but tonight she leaves it hanging free, and he’s surprised when she only shucks off her clothes and pulls on a t-shirt before climbing into her bed.

Following suit, Killian removes his clothes and quickly folds them, leaving them on the cedar chest by the bottom of her bed as he usually does when he stays over before he climbs under the covers. Immediately, Emma is shifting until she’s pressed against him, her ear over his heart and her arm wrapped tightly around his midsection.

“You won’t leave?”

“Only if you tell me to,” he admits, hoping that it’s what she needs to hear. Her grip only tightens, and he decides to stay awake as long as he can to make sure she’s all right.

He must doze off because he wakes again to Emma’s lips pressed against his, her hand sliding into his boxers to stroke him awake. As soon as he’s aware of it, he’s kissing her back, helping her push down his boxers before she hastily rips off her own underwear and finds a condom. This is not how they usually have sex - he recognizes it immediately - but even as he hesitates, he hears her whispers.

“Please - I know, please, I just need…”

He responds by pulling her closer, kissing her as hard as she was kissing him to let her know he’s on board. She slides on top of him, gripping his hand like a lifeline and rocking against him as if it’s her one salvation. He can feel the panic and anger with each move of her hips above him and he just holds on, hopes she can feel the reassurance radiating from him, hopes she feels that he’s an anchor she can trust - that he’ll be with her no matter what this all means.

When they’re both sated, she collapses onto his chest, and to his surprise he feels the quiet sobs wracking through her body a few heartbeats later. She only really cries when she’s angry - she admitted as much to him some time ago when they were trying to decipher the use of pathos in commercials. He wraps his arms around her, running his hand soothingly over the small of her back and whispering anything he thinks may bring her back to him.

“I’m sorry,” she finally says, her voice hoarse. “I’m sorry that wasn’t… I basically just used you to fuck away my anger and that’s not…”

“Swan,” he says quietly, releasing his hold on her so he can coax her to look at him. “No apologies necessary, love.”

With hasty swipes, she dries her face. “I’m just so mad right now.”

“Will you tell me what about?”

“Just… give me a couple more minutes,” she says, sliding off of him and climbing off the bed. He hears her footsteps retreating down the stairs and the door to the lavatory close.

He takes a deep breath, pushing himself to sit up, turning on the light beside her bed and grabbing a couple tissues to clean himself up. He slips his boxers back up while he’s at it before sliding between the sheets again.

When she returns to her bedroom, her hair is tied up and her robe is wrapped around her like body armor. She must’ve used the time to scrub the last of her makeup off, as well, and his heart stutters a beat to see her looking so down but still so beautiful. She climbs up, sitting next to him at the head of the bed with her legs crossed at the ankles.

He’s watching her carefully, trying to not pressure her to talk but wishing she would say anything at this point, as the silence is slowly pressing in around them.

“My last ex was the absolute worst,” she finally starts, fingers fiddling with the ties on her robe. “Worse than Neal, obviously. And worse than I ever thought he was when I found him cheating on me the day that Ruth died.”

He’s quiet, understanding that now is not the time for empty condolences for either incident. Instead, he reaches out and places his hand on her knee.

“He was a shitty antiques dealer down in Boston, never wanted to come up here to visit, never wanted to be seen with me, it seemed like. And unfortunately, he kept a lot of mementos from our time together.”

“How so?”

“You know how I told you I burned my uniform a couple years ago?”

He nods in response, tilting his head and wondering just where this could be going. She’d told him the beige monster was uncomfortable and unflattering, saying that any photographic evidence of the uniform in question was destroyed along with it.

“Well, I left a tiny part out,” she admits, looking over at him briefly.

“Nothing you tell me is going to run me off, Swan. I promise.”

With a bracing breath, she nods, focusing back on her hands in her lap. “I used to wear a uniform. Took it down to Boston with me because I was supposed to go straight to work the day I left his place. And he wanted to see it on. We were joking around and having fun.” She stops, grimacing and visibly willing her face to relax a moment later. “I let him take pictures. He had this fancy photo printer so he had physical copies and deleted them after they were done. At least, that’s what he swore he did. Just like everything else, it turns out that was a lie.

“Emma?”

“He has a website. A fucking website with all of us.”

“All of who?”

“Every girl he fucked in the year that he and I were together, according to the site description. He proposed to me, you know, right before we ended things. I was going to say yes but told him to give me some time. Ruth passed away about a week after he asked me and I drove all the way to Boston because I wanted… needed the person that claimed to love me. And he was in the middle of fucking another woman when I walked in the door. I told him to give me the photos before I left while this redhead sat naked on his bed and watched me gather my stuff.”

“And you got the physical ones from him?”

“Yeah, no surprise he lied about those being the only copies. He kept them in the top drawer of his dresser, so now I have to wonder where the rest are kept. The day after Ruth’s funeral, I burned the uniform - with David’s permission and minimal questions asked - and the photos.”

She goes quiet after saying that, not really keen on making eye contact for the moment. Killian takes the opportunity to gather the words he wants to say, trying to find the best order of questions and statements.

“You know that none of this is your fault, right? Nor do I blame you or feel any differently towards you because of your past.”

Emma sniffs at that, a half-hearted attempt at acknowledgement, so Killian leans closer and turns her face to his so he can plant a kiss on her lips.

“I mean it, Emma. This is on that wanker, not you at all.”

Her lips thin out for a second, but ultimately she nods and leans forward to give him another kiss.

“Now, will you tell me about how you found this all out?”

“I got an email while Belle and I were working on our little project. I figured it was spam at first but it just had this link to a website called ‘Banging U.S.A.’ and some instructions for a passcode and a state. When I clicked, there was a whole lot more of me than I expected to see. He must’ve been taking pictures through the whole thing, since not all of them were ones he printed and showed me later.”

“So some taken without your knowledge or consent? How much worse can this guy get?”

“Oh, it still gets worse. I tried not to click on anything else, but I ended up on the newly launched world edition,” she says with quotes around the words. “Without really thinking, I clicked on this little British flag and there was the woman I found him with. She was clearly far more into the photography thing than I was.”

“Bad, but how is that worse?”

“In the first three pictures, you can see one of my t-shirts on the dresser. In the others, it’s gone. Which means he went right back to fucking her as soon as I left his place with my stuff.”

“Definitely worse,” Killain mutters, drawing his hand over his face in disbelief.

“And we all had subtitles. Hers was the Wicked Witch of the West… and my South Pole.”

“Ouch.”

“Mine was Officer Tie-Me-Down and Fuck-Me-Up.”

“Bloody hell, Swan, how much villainy can one man possess?”

“Apparently, his cup runneth over.”

“Clearly.” They fall silent for a moment, until Emma’s head tilts over to rest on his shoulder. “Any idea what you’ll do about it?” he asks after letting her mull for a moment.

“No fucking clue.”

He shifts in order to kiss the top of her head, pulling her closer when she pushes her way under his arm. It’s still hours more before either of them fall asleep again.

-x- December 14: Saturday

When Killian wakes up again, it’s to the sound of Emma’s voice floating up from down below.

“I know, and I’m sorry for bailing without letting you know,” she says. “I had something come up.”

With much effort, Killian hauls himself out of the bed, pulling on his undershirt before making his way downstairs.

“No, it’s kind of why I was calling, though. Do you still have that phone number for James?”

Whatever response David must have for that is lengthy and aggravating, judging by the look on Emma’s face when Killian makes it to the main floor. She looks up and gives him a wan smile, pulling the phone away from her ear long enough to lean up and give him a kiss on the cheek. Dave’s voice is, indeed, squawking out quite the storm from the earpiece, and Killian does nothing more than raise an eyebrow in question before giving her a kiss of his own and moving towards the coffee pot.

“Well, when you calm down about that, give me a call back. I need his number and you’ll agree with me when I tell you why.”

Her phone clatters to the table but she’s already moving towards where Killian is standing against the kitchen counter.

“Good morning,” she says, leaning up and pulling him down to give him a much warmer, much more thorough kiss.

“Same to you. Feeling a little better?”

“More like a fire’s been lit under my ass and I have a plan. I have to swing by my brother’s place to harass him about our other asshole brother. Want me to drop you at home?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I need to head to the office to finish up the last of the preparations and my notes for the party on Friday.”

“No trouble at all. Wanna get breakfast along the way?”

“Food and time with my girlfriend? Only a fool would refuse such blessings.”

When they part ways, he’s amazed at the clear change in mindset she’s gone through in less than twelve hours. Even as she kisses him goodbye, there’s determination burning in her eyes.

-x-

It takes roughly forty minutes of needling David before he finally caves and gives her the phone number James had called from once, on accident, a couple years ago. She’s plugging it into her phone and hitting ‘call’ before she’s even halfway out of David’s workshop, taking the steps two at a time to get to the first floor.

“Don’t hang up,” Emma says as soon as James answers.

“Emma?”

“You mean you actually have my number saved in your phone?”

“I’m sure that’s surprising but yeah, makes it easier to call you if I need to ask for money.”

“Ah, you haven’t changed a bit,” Emma responds, rolling her eyes at his words.

David reaches for the phone when he gets to the kitchen but Emma bats his hand away.

“I’m guessing you’re the one that needs something if you’re calling me.”

“You’re still in Boston, right?”

“And what if I am?”

“You still have that fancy talent at hacking computers and websites?”

“Listen, I haven’t done anything wrong. I stopped doing all that ages ago.”

“I don’t care if you’re a law-abiding citizen,” Emma snaps. “I need someone who doesn’t care about the law.”

“So the wonder twins need my help because I don’t follow the rules?”

“Pretty much. I have an ex that needs to be taught a lesson.”

“Fine. Come down here next Friday and I’ll see what I can do. If you’ll do something for me,” he adds at the very end.

“Like what?”

“We’ll discuss my terms on Friday.”

“I have a party…”

“Oh? You have a party?” His tone is mocking, and Emma swallows back the retort she wants to spit at him.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll be there. David is coming with me. You do the job, I’ll repay you however you want me to, and then I never have to see you again.”

“Sounds good to me,” James singsongs. “I’ll text you the address. See you Friday, little sis.”

“That guy’s the worst,” Emma snaps when the call ends. “How is he your fucking twin?”

David just shrugs. “And this is why I didn’t want you to call him. Are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

“You have to promise you aren’t going to have a coronary or something, okay?”

“Go for it. I will… do my best.”

She takes a deep breath before she urges him to sit down while she starts to tell him what she’s just found out.

To give him some credit, he doesn’t completely lose it. But he does turn an interesting shade of purple at the news that there’s a website that has pornographic photographs of his sister. Trying to get around those words is possibly the most mortifying thing she’s ever been through, until David opens his mouth when she’s done speaking.

“Has Killian seen this site?”

“God, David. No. And he won’t if I have anything to do with it. I’m not going to show my boyfriend pictures of me fucking another guy,” she screeches, standing and stomping over to their coffeemaker to indulge in more caffeine.

She doesn’t really want to tell James the same news. She doesn’t want to tell him more than she absolutely has to, but she also needs the skillset he picked up from being a generally bad person in order to get this chapter of her life wiped from existence.

Unfortunately, it’s going to mean missing the one thing she was looking forward to since Killian first told her about it.

She stops by his office to see him next, admiring the way he looks when he’s deeply concentrating. She can also see just how much he’s put into decorating his office in the time they’ve been together. She remembers stark walls and an empty desk. Now, his degrees are hanging, along with a few artistic prints of book covers. His desk is similarly fuller, with picture frames and small knick knacks beyond the single one that used to be there.

With one more bracing breath, she prepares to go in. He’s going to understand, because he already knows what’s going on, but she hates to disappoint him.

“Swan?”

She’s knocked from her idle watching by him softly saying her name.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah,” she says, walking in and shutting the door. She moves around to lean on the edge of his desk right in front of him. “But I have some bad news. I can’t come to the debut on Friday. That’s when my creep-o brother can help me out. I’ll have to be in Boston.”

His face falls, the disappointment clear, but his hand reaches out and brushes along hers. “As much as I’m sad you won’t be with me, I know it’s for a bigger purpose. Is this evil twin in law? Law enforcement?”

Emma’s face freezes, realizing that she never shared with him how she planned on having James help her.

“Okay, long story short? James is really good at being a bad guy.”

To his credit, Killian listens with full attention as she launches into her plan and doesn’t even call her crazy.

“Barring any legal repercussions from this Walsh, I find no fault in this plan.”

“I’m pretty sure with James’ help, I won’t have to worry about him trying to come back at us.” At her reassurances, Killian nods in what she hopes is approval. “Should I let you get back to work?”

Slowly, he eases her off the desk and into his lap. “Maybe in a moment or two?”

It’s a question, leaving the answer in her court.

“I’d be happy if it goes a little longer than a moment,” Emma responds, settling herself fully into his lap and chuckling at the look in his eyes. She pulls her shirt over her head, reaching behind her to unhook her bra.

“I like to think we’re making up for all those times we’ve been interrupted,” Killian says before sucking a nipple into his mouth.

Straight to the point. She’s glad she locked the door when she closed it.

-x-

Chapter 8

#cs ff #cs ff au #captain swan #captain swan ff #csrt #sarah writes ff

36 notes · View notes

its-pronounced-quoassoint · 4 years

Text

Power Rangers AU-Chapter 3

Pairings: romantic Logicality, Prinxiety, Demus, Remile

This Chapter Features: YouTuber!Patton, Patton centric story line

This Chapter Warnings: crying, angst, mentions of dead characters, reluctantcy, sympathetic Remus

Credit for this AU goes to @when-day-met-the-knight (specifically this post).

If you would like to be added to the taglist for this fic please let me know in reply!

First Previous Next

Chapter 3-Pink

Patton kept a diary. When he was younger he would stay up late at night, using pens to write in composition notebooks. Assigning different colors to different days of the week, doodling in the margins, dating every page in the top right corner, and taking time to think of a title for each day. At the bottom of every page Patton would rate how well the day was on a scale of one to five and doodle a little face that showed how he felt.

Keeping a diary was one of the few constants in Patton's life. After so much change and heartbreak, holding on to something, as silly as diary keeping, made Patton’s time a little more enjoyable.

When he received his first phone, Patton decided that a digital diary would be more convenient. He downloaded a simple note taking app, and began writing about his day there.

The advantage to a digital diary was he could write wherever he wanted. Patton sat on the bus to school, typing fervently. It was their first day back since the last attack and he had not gotten enough homework done as he would have liked. Patton was letting out some feelings onto his phone and listening to the chatter of the kids around him.

Patton is very aware of the fact that many of them were staring at him in awe. Especially the middle schoolers. Typically his audience on YouTube was middle schoolers. He knew having a few million subscribers got him attention and Patton had accepted that attention as part of his everyday life. It meant nothing to him now. A sort of bitter exchange. He didn’t feel the nervousness he used to when people approached him for pictures. The right feelings he got when young minds randomly appeared next to him and wanted to ask about being a YouTuber. However, that also meant he didn’t get the rush of happiness when some small kid praised or thanked him. He didn’t really feel that delighted feeling of pride anymore.

Patton typed on his phone until the bus pulled up to the high school. Patton stepped off the bus after almost tripping over several small kids in the bus isle. He began rolling up to the school, warm humid air hitting him. It had rained horribly the day before and him, along with several other fluffy haired people, were feeling the affects.

Patton opened the doors for a few high schoolers behind him and walked in. Heading for his locker immediately. After gathering his things Patton began taking his bag to his first hour.

“Hey Pat.” The familiar voice of Naomi, one of his close friends, greeted him.

“Hey Mi.” Patton smiled at her, moving a little in the hall so she could walk next to him.

“How was break?”

“Ugh, did not get any homework for Leed’s class done.” Patton rolled his eyes. “But, ya know, got some editing finished.”

“Well, I don’t think the teachers honesty expect us to have gotten anything done.” Naomi tried to soothe him.

“Yeah.” Patton sighed. They stepped into their shared first hour and continued to talk. A few more friends walked in and began talking with them, but Patton dropped away from them quickly.

He never felt particularly attached to the people in his school. It was hit or miss with people you talked to. Patton was very aware of his social standing as ‘the most popular person in high school’, but he attributed that to his YouTube channel’s success. It wasn’t like he didn’t have friends. He certainly had people wanting to be his friend. However, it was never the type of connection that Patton would see on tv. No best friend sleepovers, skipping class together, eating cookies late at night while watching Netflix. Patton wasn’t proud of the fact that he didn’t have a close friend like that, but he figured he should take what he gets.

Besides, he still had friends.

Lunch was an easy time for Patton. He typically sat with Naomi in the library. Sure that’s not what one would expect from a popular socialite like Patton, but the cafeteria was simply too loud. Hectic and scary were adjectives Patton often described lunch as. He didn’t eat much at lunch either. He never really ate much. There wasn’t a lot of time to eat.

Patton often spent his time listening to his friends’ problems, studying, doing something for the array of clubs he was in, or editing for YouTube. There wasn’t much time for anything else, but that was okay. Patton enjoyed doing all of those-besides studying-so it wasn’t like he missed anything. There was nothing to miss when he didn’t know of much else he could do.

Mondays were usually not the favorite day of the week for any student, never mind any person. However, they were Patton’s favorite. Why? Well, Mondays after school, Patton got to go down to the freshman biology teacher’s room and run the QSA at his school. He loved the QSA. He had been going since 8th grade, when he couldn’t technically go because he wasn’t in high school.

However, he dedicated a lot of time to the QSA and had become the president of the club in junior year. He was elated to be in it and was able to get together a team to spread the word about it and set up fun activities. It was one of the only things about school that Patton documented in his YouTube videos.

Patton didn’t like to talk about school too much for fear of it interfering with him graduating, but he was able to take videos of everything that happened with QSA. Much to the delight of his viewers.

Patton sat anxiously in 6th hour, awaiting the final bell that meant he could head down to the club room. Sadly though, sixth hour was just getting under way, so he would have to wait.

“Welcome back to sixth hour!” Patton’s calc teacher, Mrs. Ryans began. “I know school only had been a few weeks in when the attacks hit, and it essentially feels like the next semester, but we’ll be doing a small project!”

The class cheered a little. Projects for her class were typically easier than usual class work. She would often pair up students to work on it together, making it all the easier on Patton. Usually Mrs. Ryans paired Patton with Logan, who was more than happy to help Patton on the project. Patton loved partnering with Logan, he was understanding of Patton’s schedule and never got frustrated with Patton’s inability to meet in order to work on the project. Though Patton had heard he was quite the opposite with other partners in different classes.

“So, I didn’t really have the time nor the care to make a list of partners, so, your table partners will do for this.” Mrs. Ryans sighed.

Patton met Logan’s eye with a disappointed look and shrugged. Logan returned the sentiment before looking toward Remus next to him. Logan smacked the snickering idiot.

Patton turned to his table partner Dee and gave him a warm smile that was met with a side smile, reserved for Patton alone.

“Donnie can you pass out the papers?” Mrs. Ryans asked.

“Sure!” Donnie smiled and stood, grabbing the stack of papers that explained the assignment.

“Mrs. Ryans! Dee and I need to be partners.” Kayley Holt said a few rows behind Patton.

“Uh, no.” Mrs. Ryans trailed off giving Kayley a questioning look.

“But we have to be. We have co-dependency anxiety and we’re both super anxious without each other! We have to be partners.” Kayley demanded.

Patton looked over to Dee who held a blank expression rivaling Lady Gaga’s ‘poker face’. Patton could tell he was not happy with the arrangement Kayley was trying to pull.

“You know what Kayley, I know you’re lying to me about this so don’t even try and pull this stunt again, but fine, you and Dee can be partners. Just don’t whine when you two both get Cs on the assignment cause you didn’t work.” Mrs. Ryans pointed at Kayley. Then pointed at her table partner. “Roman, you’ll pair with Patton.”

Patton smiled over at Roman who dramatically smiled back.

“This will be due on Friday and I expect it typed, nothing handwritten! Heck knows you people write in hieroglyphics.” Mrs. Ryans dismissively waved her hand. “You will have Thursday in class to work on it if you need but if you don’t you can just have this as a free hour.”

Patton received the paper and began reading over the project. Dee and Roman switched places and the two dove into the work. Dividing it between themselves and scheduling times to meet to work on it.

“Are you free tonight after QSA?” Roman asked.

“Yeah, you?”

“Mhm. I don’t think Logan or Remus have anything going on either. We can all kinda work on it together at my place.” Roman turned to where Logan and Remus sat across the room. “Logan! Remus! Come here.”

Logan and Remus turned to Roman who was waving them over enthusiastically. The two look at each other before Logan shrugged and began walking their way. Logan and Remus sat down across from Patton and Roman, the four began talking about going to the twins’ home after QSA to work on the project.

“Well what am I supposed to do while you three are in your club?” Remus asked

“You can come if you want. We’re doing some stuff for the underclassmen for homecoming.” Patton told Remus.

“I though they called off Homecoming.” Roman looked at Pat.

“Well, they did,” Patton trailed off. “but the freshmen on the QSA group chat were so upset, I mean I couldn’t let them be so disappointed.”

“What did you do? Pay ‘em off?” Remus whispered.

“What?! No!” Patton whispered back. Not fully knowing why he was whispering, so he stopped. “I just argued to the superintendent that they deserved a Homecoming.”

“How? He never changes his mind.” Roman smiled.

“Well, I mean, I’m good at convincing people, I guess.” Patton shrugged. “But yeah, homecoming is back on.”

“None of us go to homecoming though.” Roman pointed out.

“Yeah, but the freshmen and sophomores like going and some juniors go and I know I don’t have time to go, but they deserve some fun. The town’s ten pm curfew doesn’t exactly give any kids the chance to hang out with their friends like normal teenagers.” Patton explained.

“Well, it’s nice for you to do something for them. Having experiences with their friends, like homecoming, will make it all the easier to deal the trauma of the attacks.” Logan finally said.

“Thank you Logan.” Patton nodded. “Now, is that all settled. We just head to your place after QSA?”

“Yep.” Roman nodded.

Patton smiled at him and began texting his foster mother the plan. Class ended a while after that and the four began their walk to the science wing of the school. Heading to Mr. Travis’s-the QSA faculty advisor-room. The room was already full of kids from every grade. Eager freshmen were talking nervously to their friends while the other two seniors looked around commenting on how they were used to it by now.

“Hey guys!” Patton said as he entered.

“Patton!” Jana, a sophomore, squeaked when he entered. “I passed the project!”

“I knew you would! You’ve gotta stop doubting yourself.” Patton congratulated her.

“I know, I know.” She giggled. “Camera?” Jana put out her hands expectantly.

“Here!” Patton walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out the camera he used for filiming. He handed it to Jana who giddily heded over to tripod and began setting up eqquipment. "Okay everyone, before I begin with what we're doing today can we set up the tables into one long table?"

The group got up from their chairs, still chatting, and began arranging the tables the way Patton had asked. Once done helping, Patton walked to the 'head' of their make-shift table and sat down. Jana started up the cameras and sound and Patton began.

"Homecoming is back on, which means another year of having to find a date, dress nice, and so on. So, what I’ve decided to do, is spend this week, next week, and however much longer making flower crowns.” Patton announced. “I know it’s a little childish, but pride flag flower crowns are so much fun to make and afterward you get really good at them”

“I love it.” Cami, one of the juniors said.

“Thanks Cami.” Patton smiled. “Make some for yourself, make some for our friends, make pride flag ones, make any color ones, doesn’t matter, just use all the flowers. I printed out a bunch of instructions on different types of crowns and other jewelry you can make with the flowers. Just have fun with it!”

Mr. Travis entered the room with loads of flowers in his hand and his daughter trailing behind, also carrying many flowers.

“Here we are.” He grunted, setting them down.

“Thanks Mr. Travis.” Patton smiled. “Let’s get started!”

The club dispersed into groups and began making crowns, chatting with their friends, and goofing around. Patton was pulled over to a group of sophomores and freshmen who wanted to talk.

He looked over to see Logan, Roman, and Remus talking quietly while making the crowns. Patton smiled, even Remus was making a pride flag flower crown.

After some time he walked over to Logan, Roman, and Remus. The three stopped talking quickly and focused a little too intensely on the flower crowns.

QSA ended far too quickly for Patton’s liking, but he and the three others left for Roman’s house soon. They talked the whole way, mainly Remus, and were very quickly entering the home.

Patton and Roman went to the living room and lazily began talking about the project. Logan and Remus went to the dining room and Logan attempted to make progress while Remus threw Cheetos in the air and tried to catch them in his mouth.

Patton looked around the house. It was huge. Large eggshell white walls and intimidating furnishings. It barely looked lived in.

“Hey Roman,” Patton started, “can you point me to the bathroom?”

“Yeah sure, the closest one is just down that hallway.” Roman pointed to a dark hallway. “I’m pretty sure it’s on the right. You’ll find it.”

“Thanks.” Patton smiled.

He got up and headed that way, not quite sure what he was doing. He didn’t need to go to the bathroom, but something about the house felt so familiar. He had to find out why. Why did being in the home feel off yet inviting. It didn’t make any sense. Patton has always been good at feelings. Knowing what they are in him and observing them in others. This though, this was different.

Patton walked down the hallway toward a door, feeling the pull even more intensely. Every step was pulling him forward. Why was it so familiar?

Patton opened the door and stepped into an extremely dark room. Patton’s eyes could barely adjust. Without realizing it he had entered the room and was running his hand along the objects in the room. The feeling grew to an overwhelming point and Patton tried to pull away and go back to the living room, but to no avail. Then something grabbed him. It wrapped around his wrist and tightened into a perfect fit. Patton was finally able to pull his hand back and looked at the thing on his wrist.

A bracelet. Glowing pink and swirling around his wrist.

Patton screamed.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Patton continued. He just stared at the bracelet in horror trying to get it off him as fast as possible.

Patton distantly heard Logan call his name. Pounding footsteps headed his way and the lights around him were flipped on.

Patton barely noticed, he just focused on tearing the bracelet off of him.

“Patton?!” Logan yelled for his attention.

“Get it off, get it off, oh please just get this thing off of me.” Patton cried out.

“What?” Roman started, but stopped when Patton turned and showed them the bracelet. “Oh.”

“Please just get it off, please, please,” Patton suddenly stopped, staring at Remus. “You-you’re-“

“Remus!“ Roman chided, noticing the mace he had in his hand.

“What? We didn’t know why Patton was screaming! It could have been a minion.”

“Jeez Remus.” Roman shook his head.

“You’re the Green Ranger?” Patton asked shakily. “Which one are you Logan?”

“I-uh blue.” Logan hurried out an answer.

“Logan! You can’t just tell every pretty boy you’re the Blue Ranger!” Roman smacked Logan on the shoulder.

“I’m not!” Logan’s face turned a bright red.

“Oh this is a disaster.” Roman sighed.

“I know.” Logan looked away.

“Look, I don’t care! I won’t tell anyone, I promise! You can trust me! Just please get this off of me! I don’t want to be a Ranger please!” Patton begged.

“Patton-“

“Can you take this off or not?” Patton asked, tears welling in his eyes.

“I-uh-no.” Logan stuttered. “We don’t know how.”

“Fine.” Patton stood and looked at Roman. His expression hard as tears began falling ever so slightly. “I need to borrow your car.”

“What?” Roman asked startled.

“I need to borrow your car, drive to Thomas, and get him to pull this horrible thing off my wrist.” Patton said, his voice steady.

“Patton we-“

“Please.” Patton broke down into a quiet sob. “Please just let me-“

“We’ll drive you. It’s unsafe to drive when you’re upset like this.” Logan said quickly. “Roman let’s go.”

“Ok-okay.” Roman turned and headed out of the room.

The four quickly ran out of the house and into a car. Roman started it up and began driving. Remus sat quietly in the passenger seat, looking at Patton nervously. Logan and Patton sat in the back, Patton silently crying into Logan’s chest. Logan wrapped an arm around Patton’s shoulders, holding him soothingly.

They pulled up to Thomas’s house and frantically ran to the front door.

“Thomas! Thomas! We need you open up!” Roman knocked on the door loudly.

The door swung open and a little kid stood there worried. “What’s going on?”

“Emile! Where’s your dad?” Roman asked frantically.

“Coming coming! What is it?! Is someone hurt! What happened?” Thomas asked. He looked at the four.

Remus and Roman stood awkwardly on the small porch. And a little ways behind them, Logan held a crying Patton.

“Wha-“ Thomas stopped himself. “Patton?”

“Thomas!!” Patton pulled away from Logan and raced to Thomas. He fell into Thomas’s arms and sobbed harder.

“Oh Pat. It’s okay I-I know.” Thomas tried soothing him. “Come on lets all go inside.”

Thomas led the four inside. Patton collapsed on the couch and looked around, drying his tears.

“Thomas, get it off of me.” Patton started shakily.

“Patton, you know that’s not how it works.”

“I don’t care. It needs to come off. I’m not breaking my last promise with Talyn. I won’t do it.” Patton shook his head. Once again grabbing at the bracelet and trying to pull it off.

Emile put a hand on Patton’s bracelet to stop him from tanking at it.

“Patton, you know Talyn would be proud of you no matter what. They knew that it wasn’t a choice you got to make. You were chosen. They would be so proud to know you’re the next Pink Ranger.” Thomas smiled.

“No!” Patton’s tears started up yet again. “I promised! I said I would never! I told them I would never become a Ranger. It’s dangerous and heartbreaking and it tore Talyn away from me! It took Joan and Talyn from me! It took them both and it almost took you!”

“Patton, I know.” Thomas sighed, stepping closer to Patton who only pulled away.

Roman, Remus, and Logan stood in the kitchen eyeing the scene and trying to understand whatever was going on.

“I can’t do this. I won’t do this.” Patton stated firmly.

“Patton, don’t you remember when you were younger and all you wanted to be was a Ranger? You were so excited to be everything Talyn was and more.”

“I was young. And stupid. And I still am. I’m not ready for this. Talyn didn’t want this.”

“Talyn knew that this would happen. They knew you would be Ranger. It was simply your destiny. You know that. We all knew that.” Thomas sighed. “Talyn just didn’t want you to feel pressured. Talyn knew the risks and didn’t want you to go through the pain.”

“If it weren’t for the morphers, Talyn, and Joan, and Valerie, and Terrence, and Dominic would all still be here! You wouldn’t have been the only Ranger for the past ten years! You wouldn’t be doing this on your own.” Patton cried.

“Pat-“

“Thomas, please just get it off of me.” Patton held out his wrist to Thomas. “Please. I can’t do this, please.”

"Patton. I-I-"

"Pat, please." Emile took Patton's jaw in his hand. "I know it hurts, but think about what you're doing. You know you can't take it off. Once it's on you, you can't just take the morpher off. It's there and there's nothing you can do. So, what you need to do, is live up to that amazing loving person the morpher chose. The morpher chose you because you bring heart and care and compassion to the team. You're made for this role and I know you can do it. Though you may not feel it now, it's still there."

"Emile-“

“When we were so much younger do you remember pretending to be Rangers together. You were always the brave Pink Ranger, swooping in your save me from the Dragon Witch. You just wanted to help me. You’ve always wanted to be a Ranger and you’ve always wanted to help people. Please don’t give up on that. You know for a fact Talyn only said that to try and keep you safe. No matter what you’ve promised them, or Joan, or Megan, you want to do this.” Emile stopped him. “You don’t have to be afraid. You’ve got a team by your side.”

They sat in silence. Patton’s tears had dried on his face and he desperately tried to talk but found no sound coming out. His chest heaved and ached. Patton could only squeeze Emile’s hand in his and sniffle.

“I’m sorry.” Patton squeaked. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry. Pat of course you’d feel this way. No one expects you to immediately want to be a Ranger. Especially after what happened with Talyn. No one blames you for feeling this way.” Thomas assured him.

“Thank you, I-I know. I know it’s okay. It just still doesn’t feel that way. It doesn’t feel-feel-feel-“

“I’m sure it doesn’t. But it’s okay.” Emile whispered.

Patton collapsed into Emile, just crying into the smaller boy. “It hurts so bad.”

Emile nodded and ran a soothing hand through Patton’s hair. As Patton continued trying to control his sobbing he felt more arms wrap around him. He shifted to see Roman, Remus, and Logan holding him gently, too gently. It was like they though one squeeze would break Patton in half.

“You’re going to be the best Pink Ranger to ever fight.” Roman told him.

“Thank you I-I’m okay.” Patton smiled sweetly at the boys hugging him.

They pulled away, but stayed close.

“I’m going to be okay.” Patton said a little shakily but calm.

I’m ready. Patton wrote late that night in his diary. I’m going to be okay.

Taglist:

@tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors@maddarc@pheonix-inside-reblogs@thisismysanderssidesblog@almost-all-my-ships-are-gay@mostpeopleannoyme@the-smol-est@i-sexually-identify-as-a-mistake@nadja-chamack16@too-bi-too-function

#patton sanders #YouTuber!Patton #power rangers au #thatsthat24 #logicality #prinxiety #demus #remile

126 notes · View notes

cs-blank-au-official · 2 months

Text

slight redesign

#holy shit i haven't posted cs-oc-au content in a while #10leon13 #carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego netflix #carmen sandeigo 2019 #blank #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego blank #art #self insert oc #self insert

37 notes · View notes

cs-oc-blank-random-posts · 3 months

Text

CARMEN WEEK DAY 5: AU

@jackie-shitposts

BLACK SHEEP LOOKS SO...AAAAAAA MORE INFO AB THIS LORE SWAP AU:

Black Sheep's Lore (in this AU, also not exactly the same as my OC's orig lore, just similar, just so it can fit Black Sheep's character) - has issues with family - her father, Dexter Wolfe, is a crimelord. and Isabella wanted to follow in her Father's footsteps, but Wolfe was ofcourse against this so Isa ended up running away from home to pursue her passion for crime - she was nurtured by a gang of Thieves, one of the thieves secretly being a Seasoned operative looking for recruits, said operative didn't expect to see such amazing Thieving skills from a person as young as 10 years old (yes Black sheep ran away at 10 years old, my oc did in my original AU so yh) - she worked hard just to even be considered by Vile, and was admitted to the school with strings attached (having to go through extra classes due to the fact that she started being a student at Vile academy at the age of 13) Carmen (Blank) Sandiego's Lore (In this AU) - similar to Black Sheep, Blank's Father was a Crime lord/Vile Faculty member - His Father, (Codename: San Felipe Delos Reyes, often called just Reyes) a Vile Faculty member had been planning to leave Vile. and just as stated in the show, No one ever leaves Vile. i think you know the rest - Blank was given his code name because he came to vile as a Blank Slate (the same as the my orig AU)

EXTRA Devineaux: LA FEMME ROUGE! CS!Blank: uh. correction, l'homme en rouge Devinaux: EH?!?!!? THEN WHY IS YOUR NAME CARMEN SANDIEGO CS!Blank: it just is okay?! stfu!

#OC LORE + CANON LORE SWAP #carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego netflix #carmenweek #carmen week #10leon13 #blank #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandeigo 2019 #self insert oc #self insert #art #carmen sandiego blank

78 notes · View notes

fandomn00blr · 4 years

Text

OC Bio: Neria Surana

@funkypoacher tagged me in an OC thing, and I usually don’t have OCs to describe (I play/write a pretty default Hawke, have a couple obligatory Wardens and Inquisitors, I guess, but most of my other favorite characters are companions and NPCs...oops), BUT HEY! I JUST MADE THIS NEW SURANA SPECIFICALLY FOR A PROMPT FUNKY SENT ME SO I’M GONNA USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT MY MOST O-EST OF Cs TO DATE!

Oh, I guess I should explain that this is set in an AU that uses Thedas names/places/ideas, but um, it’s a modernish/futurish setting, except the Internet is no longer a thing...for most people.

Full Name: Neria Surana (ok, so not a great start, since that’s the default name for an Elf Mage in Origins), but hey, she goes by “Neri” to her friends...so, there’s that...?

Birth Date: 14th of Harvestmere, 2104 (it’s 2123 now...she’s 19)

Birth Place: Outside Denerim in the back of her mother’s pickup truck

Nationality: The world she knows is broken up into “provinces” and she has never left the province of Ferelden...

Organization/Group/Profession: She’s just been recruited into the 8888 Civil Defense Corps, a group of specially-trained civilian soldiers who volunteer to be inoculated with a weak, slow-acting form of the zombie plague virus that shows up every few years so that they can fight zombies and stuff.

Former Affiliations: Up until recently, she had spent her entire life in a long-term residential facility for “Links,” people born with an innate ability to connect with a mysterious network of seemingly endless information and energy...(the Fade-Internet, if you will), called The Network.

Family and Friends: Her father and mother run a scrapping/salvage business together, but Neria was taken from them at age 5 after using her powers against some kids who tried to steal a bag of salt and vinegar chips from her; Karl and Anders were like big brothers to her in the Facility, even though a lot of the other kids didn’t like her. She thinks Alistair is alright so far, and she’s about to meet Morrigan, who she will become very good friends with...eventually! (and omg...I forgot Jowan...but there’s actually a good reason for that...he’s definitely there, too...to an extent!)

Spouse: n/a

Children: n/a

Description: Oh shit...IDK.

Height: 5’1″ (she’s very short)

Weight: 126 lbs

Hair Color: Brown to gray to white...it started going gray shortly after she entered the Facility, and the staff thought she was dying it or using her powers to change its color on purpose (she was five), but she swears it just happened.

Eye Color: Brown

Skin Color: Warm Beige-Brown

Any Scars? Mostly just the emotional kind from being locked away in a Facility her whole life

Any Tattoos? Not yet...

Any Piercings? A few (Anders helped her do her ears in the Facility, and Morrigan and her are definitely going to give each other friendship piercings when they discover an ancient piercing gun at the old Ostagar Mall...Alistair: “This seems really un-sterile...” Morrigan and Neri: “Hard core!”)

Other Notable Features: Her eyes are pretty!!! But also a bit unnerving when they’re focused right on you.

Random Fact: She is very good at mimicking other people’s facial expressions/mannerisms and reading them, but her default affect has often been called “blank” or “unreadable.”

#dragon age #neria surana #this is the most thought I've ever put into an OC #post-Internet zombie sprawlpocalypse #AU #I'll figure out the tags eventually I swear #OC #dark sprawl

10 notes · View notes

snowbellewells · 4 years

Text

Self-Promo Sunday: I’d Know You Anywhere

This one has been on my ff.net account for some time, so I apologize to anyone who’s gotten this far thinking it’s a brand new story. It's much longer than any fic I've posted on here before, other than my CSSNS werewolf fic, more involved, and has a completely AU non-magic setting, somewhere around the timeframe of the season two premiere. It's meant to be intense and suspenseful with some slow burn romance building as it goes along. There are elements of different movies I love, from 'The Bodyguard' to 'Sister Act' in here, and most of the police/FBI knowledge I'm using comes from television, but I hope it still melds into its own unique thing and that readers will enjoy it. Definitely still CS, and I'd definitely still love to hear what people think as it goes along.

** It seemed like the perfect time to bring it back though, since @sherlockianwhovian gifted me this stunning fic cover art as a Christmas present!! Thank you so much! I’m just thrilled and really can’t stop looking at it!! :)

Can also be found on A03 and ff.net

Prologue

'Keep going…faster…don't look back,' her mind repeats in terror as her feet hit the pavement over and over. Emma Swan clutches her son's small hand in hers even tighter. She is desperate, knowing he is stumbling, tired, and confused, but not daring to slow down or stop. "Just a little further, Henry," she breathes, trying to comfort him, though her mind is its own horrified blank, and she doesn't know what she's doing or where she's going.

'Think Emma,' she orders herself, forcing a deep breath and trying to focus.

People call out bets, various machines ring and whir, coins rattle and clink, men and women push in all around them until she and Henry are like salmon swimming upstream. All Emma Swan can do is keep looking over her shoulder, praying they haven't been followed, praying they won't be caught.

She had only wanted to ask a question. Things had been routine, normal. She had gone to Spencer's office, wanting to make sure she had the correct job assignments for the day. As head of security at The Kingdom, Vegas' ritziest hotel and casino, and proud of the position which was admittedly an unusual one for a woman, Emma liked to make sure the owner, George Spencer, was pleased, and that she and her team were aware of any new problems or red flags which might be on her boss' radar. She had given her customary curt knock, thought she had heard no answer, and stepped in – as she often did. What she had seen instead shattered her reality in one sweeping moment.

Where she had been expecting Spencer's aged but still imposing figure sitting behind his rich, mahogany desk, Emma had instead seen him holding a revolver against the temple of a very familiar figure, held in place by two of his henchmen, Greg and James.

Emma is no naïve innocent; she'd always known there were shady dealings at her place of employ – though she had never been involved in any of them. Walking in on cold-blooded murder, however, is still a nightmare she can hardly believe. She had frozen for a second, thankfully making no noise, and she honestly isn't sure if she was seen or not. She had quickly backed out, and let the door close silently, then she was running to she, Graham, and Henry's living quarters.

Tears keep streaming down her face, and Emma can only hope that Henry doesn't see; she doesn't want him to be any more traumatized than he must be already. Her hands shake beyond her control, no matter how valiantly she fights to stay calm for her little boy. She simply can't stop seeing the blood, hearing Graham's body thump against the floor, and the horror of that silent moment, viewing her boss' evil look of self-satisfaction and fearing she had been detected. It had taken her only seconds to reach the elevator up a floor, mere minutes to slip into the room she had left Henry contentedly playing in, and scoop all the clean clothes in her dresser drawer and then Henry's into a large duffle, tell her son (with what she'd attempted to make a look of bright-eyed excitement) that they were going on an adventure, take his hand, pull him to the door, scan the hall, and then slide them both into the elevator again unseen.

"What happened, Mama?" Henry looks up at her now, confusion plain in his open, trusting gaze. She doesn't want to frighten him, but she can't risk slowing down to explain, or for them to be heard, so she leans down to give him a quick, gentle squeeze and rub his arm.

"It's okay, Baby," she whispers, looking him right in the eyes, willing her little boy to believe her. "Mama won't let anything happen to you. It's gonna be fine. But we have to be very quiet right now. Can you do that for me?"

Henry nods seriously, as sweet and agreeable as always. For a second, Emma is unnerved once more by the feeling she sometimes has, that her child is a small adult trapped in a five-year-old body. At any rate, Henry says no more, simply holds onto her trembling hand, clutching his beloved Snow White and the Seven Dwarves picture book under his other arm.

The elevator pings as they reach the lower basement level of the casino and the employee car park. Emma debates frantically for a moment whether she should try to find Graham's battered Jeep or not. 'He certainly can't need it anymore,' her tangled thoughts weep bitterly. She decides against the search though, realizing that the parking garage is large and full, and she will waste valuable minutes hunting. Yes, they can make better time driving than on foot, but only if they get into the vehicle and away before someone finds them. Instead, she pulls Henry at her side up out of the lower level onto the packed city street.

Rushing, but not running conspicuously, down the Vegas strip, the night drapes around them in flickering shadows lit and spun by the dancing lights of casinos, quickie chapels, all-night diners, and hotels. Henry trips and nearly goes down, only the fact that she's clutching his hand so tightly prevents his fall. Crying out sharply, he forces Emma to stop for a second, seeing that he has dropped his favorite story. She stoops to grab it before some passerby can knock it away, then scoops both it and Henry up in her arms and keeps going.

She still glances behind her constantly, praying she won't see the known faces of any of Spencer's goons. There have been no running feet following them or angry voices shouting for her to stop, but Emma can't slow the racing of her heart or shake the sense of being chased, of not being far enough away to be safe.

Seconds, minutes, and then nearly an hour slide by. Emma is almost stumbling from exhaustion as well, exertion from hurry, fear, and carrying Henry nearly pushing her beyond the limits of her endurance. Her little boy hasn't made any more noise; she knows he is trying to do as she asked, but she can feel his slender little shoulders shaking beneath the hand she rests on his back, and feels his silent tears wetting the skin at her neck where he has buried his face. "It's okay, Baby," she soothes in a panted whisper. "We're about to stop and rest."

Emma feels his nod, agreeing with her as he always does. Her heart breaks a bit more for her little boy. How is she going to tell him that "Papa" is gone? That they no longer have a home to go to? That she is as lost and scared as he is?

They are nearing the edges of the gaudily-packed street now; there are still bars and restaurants and motels, but the whirl of beckoning bulbs and cacophony of sounds have faded a bit. She stumbles into the most nondescript – and admittedly seedy – motel in sight and makes her way straight to the check-in desk.

"Single room for one night," she states simply, keeping her head down and face partially hidden behind Henry's body. The clerk doesn't ask any questions, simply takes her cash, hands her a key, and slides a clipboard with the sign-in sheet across the desk to her. Thinking quickly, Emma writes 'Mary White' as her name, hoping it's much more common than 'Emma Swan', though she doesn't quite know how the alias comes to mind so quickly.

Nodding to the clerk, she turns away and heads down the hall, letting herself and Henry into the simple room at the far end. She bolts the door firmly behind them and tries to quell the fear inside her insisting they can't stop, they aren't far enough from danger yet. 'Henry's only five,' her mind berates. 'You have to let him rest. And you have to make a plan, calm down, regroup. They didn't see you leave, they can't trace cash, and you used a false name. You don't even know that they're after you.'

Sighing tiredly, Emma lays Henry down on the bed, takes off his sneakers, and then covers him up warmly. She slides out of her own boots and work blazer, leaving her tank and slacks on, in case they have to leave suddenly. It is nearing midnight, but she sets her alarm for four a.m. anyway, wanting to be moving on again before the rest of this nocturnal pit stirs. She isn't at all sure she will sleep anyway – not without sickening images replaying in her head – but she can push her body no further tonight. Where they go from here is a question she has no answer for yet.

Tagging: @kmomof4 @laschatzi @therooksshiningknight @searchingwardrobes @spartanguard @whimsicallyenchantedrose @hollyethecurious @killian-whump (it takes a bit to get there but there is some real whump eventually) @sherlockianwhovian @thisonesatellite @profdanglaisstuff @resident-of-storybrooke @jennjenn615 @optomisticgirl @effulgentcolors @let-it-raines @gingerchangeling @carpedzem @teamhook @revanmeetra87

#self promo sunday #cs ff #cs modern au #cs FBI au #witness protection au #cs mc au #i'd know you anywhere #prologue

43 notes · View notes

teamhook · 4 years

Text

A Chapter a Day... Savage Heart CS AU

Yes, a chapter a day. This story will be finished by the end of the month. :)

A love story between a pirate and his savior. An innocent, beautiful, selfless woman meets a man with no manners, no formal education and not even a last name. Will Emma fall in love with Killian once she discovers that beneath his tough exterior lies a heart-wild, but a heart of gold? This is a Captain Swan AU

Beta-ed by amazing @ilovemesomekillianjones

Cover by the lovely @xhookswenchx

|AO3| |FFN| previous chapter

|AO3| |FFN| current chapter

Chapter 4: Betrayal and Acceptance

Cora and August arrive at Misthaven days after Killian was supposed to have returned from his trip. This works to their advantage when Cora goes to see Snow to break the engagement with Emma and to ask for Milah's hand.

"Mistress, you have a visitor waiting for you in the study," the maid tells Snow who goes to the study to see who has come calling. "Cora I'm so glad you are finally back. Should I go get Emma so we can get started with the wedding preparations?"

"There's much we must discuss, you might want to sit down," Cora says, pausing until the other woman sits. "I'm afraid August wants to marry Milah." After bluntly dropping the news, Cora proceeds to tell Snow the story her son told her.

Snow sits quietly absorbing the information she is hearing. She simply asks, "How am I going to tell my daughter? She'll be heartbroken. For years she has waited patiently for her wedding day to come. Now I have to tell her not only does August not want to marry her, but he wishes to marry her cousin. The same cousin she loves like a sister."

"I'm truly sorry Snow; I tried to talk sense into him. He claims he is in love and will not listen to reason. I have always believed Emma to be the best match for him."

"I suppose the only bright side is that David can finally come home. He always thought Emma accepted her fate for the good of the family. He wanted Emma to marry for love," Snow says sadly.

"Mother, was that Mrs. Booth leaving? When will August come to visit?" Emma rushes down the stairs looking so hopeful as she asks her mother.

"Emma, please come sit down, we need to talk. I don't even know where to start. I'm afraid I have some bad news to share. August, he has fallen in love with someone else." Snow feels her own tears begin to well in her eyes as she watches the sadness cloud her daughter's expression. "Oh, my sweet darling girl, I'm afraid there is still more to tell, and I think it's better if you know the whole truth now... he has fallen in love with Milah."

Emma sniffles and says to her mother. "I don't understand. How? When? Did I do something wrong?"

Snow pulls Emma into a hug and responds in a firm voice. "I'm so sorry this has happened, but August's choice has nothing to do with you. You did nothing wrong. Sometimes one's happy ending isn't the one that was planned. You will survive this heartache; you are so strong and brave."

Emma backs away from her mother and asks point blank, "He wants to marry her, doesn't he?

"Yes, he does. I'm so sorry. He asked his mother to make the arrangements."

"I understand, I will not stand in the way." Emma gives her mother a small smile before adding, "One cannot lose what was never theirs, to begin with."

Killian should have returned by now, Milah worries as she heads to his cabin in search of answers. On her way through town, she overhears some fishermen talking about the capture of The Jolly Roger by the Arendelle Navy. Milah cannot believe the news, she knows the military will not be lenient with him, he will never return to her. She feels so empty, her heartbreaking as she walks back towards her home.

"Milah, sweetheart could you please come and take a seat. We need to talk," Snow says warmly.

Milah walks to her aunt, trying to gauge her mood. She knows she and Killian were very reckless, and she's nervous Snow might have heard of the dalliance with the notorious Pirate Captain. "Of course," she complies sweetly, taking the seat her aunt had pointed to when she called her over.

"Milah, it seems that you have made quite an impression on August Booth. I'm a little hurt you never mentioned the encounter to Emma or me."

Milah smiles and answers, "Aunt Snow, I honestly did not see the importance. Why do you say I made an impression?"

Snow takes a breath and continues, "August feels that you would be a better match for him, he is quite fond of you. In fact, he asked his mother to speak on his behalf in requesting your hand in marriage."

Milah gives her Aunt a smile and asks, "What was your answer? Are you giving me a choice?"

Milah knows this is the best option for her. If she cannot have her love, she will happily accept a life filled with riches and power. She also knows that August was betrothed to Emma, and so she does not wish to appear too eager to accept. "I will do whatever is best for the family. It's the least I can do in exchange for all the kindness you have shown to me." Her cousin's broken heart doesn't garner a moment's thought as she imagines her new life and lifestyle. This is my time, she thinks, finally, I will have everything instead of perfect little Emma.

Later after the heartbreaking conversation with her mother, Emma decides she needs to have a talk with Cora about the situation. Emma knows her mother will not approve so she sneaks out of her house to go see Cora. She soon arrives and sits patiently in the office of the Booth Estate waiting for Cora to make her way to see her.

Cora is completely stunned to see Emma. She really hopes that she is not there to reproach her about the engagement being called off. She really did think she had more class and dignity. "Emma, sweet girl, it is so good to see you. To what do I owe such a lovely surprise?"

"Mrs. Booth I'm sure my visit cannot truly be a surprise considering the reason for your last visit to my home. I only came to assure you that I have no problem with Milah and August's upcoming nuptials. If anything, I am quite relieved."

Cora looks unconvinced as she replies, "Your mother said that you would be heartbroken once you heard the news. I was under the impression that you were truly in love with my son and looking forward to getting married."

Emma smiles. "I do feel love for him, but in reality, I see him more as an elder brother. I was simply trying to make the best of the situation. I also trusted that my father would have believed I was truly happy with the arrangement. Unfortunately, he simply would not give up his silly quest to save me and come home. I expect now when Mr. Hopper gives him the news he will finally find his way back to the family. I can lastly do what truly makes me happy. I have always felt a spiritual calling. Now that I am free from the engagement I can take the vows to become a nun."

Cora looks at Emma intently.

Emma smiles and continues confidently, "If my marriage to August would truly have been destined to take place I would have accepted that fate and embraced it. However, that is clearly not the case."

Cora finally seems convinced and smiles.

Emma slowly gets up and says, "Thank you for your time but I really need to leave. I left the house so suddenly I was unable to inform my mother of my destination, and I have other errands to run before I return home."

Cora says, "It was so lovely to see you Emma and I am truly happy that you now will be able to follow your heart's desire."

"Mrs. Booth, thank you for your kind words and it was so nice seeing you again. Good day," Emma says and promptly takes her leave.

The reality of the situation is simple, Emma is hurt, heartbroken, humiliated and the last thing she wants is anyone's pity. So she leaves the Booth Estate with her pride intact, at least whatever is left of it. Emma makes her way to the convent after leaving the Booth Estate.

She speaks to Mother Superior about her desire to join the convent.

Mother Superior is hesitant since the betrothal was well known to the majority of the small town, but decides to accept Emma under one condition, a trial period of 90 days.

"Emma, if after the allotted time you still want to take the vow, I will gladly support your decision and welcome you with open arms into this convent.

When Emma returns home, she tells her mother of her decision to join the convent.

Snow cries and begs her to reconsider. "Emma, once the news reaches your father, he will return. At least promise me you will wait until he has returned home to truly commit to this decision. There are always other choices. We can find another match for you," Snow implores.

"Oh mother, this is not about August! This is truly what I want. You insist that all you want for me to be is happy but somehow you cannot accept that this will do just that. Emma insists that becoming a nun is her true calling and stays firm in her decision.

Within 48 hours she finds herself walking into the convent. Mother Superior gives her a tour of her new living quarters. "Emma, there are only two things required, your prayer and hard work. Remember this is only a trial, you still have time to change your mind," Mother Superior says.

"Thank you." Emma soon adapts to the overwhelming changes in her life. She does chores for Mother Superior on a daily basis.

The courtship between Milah and August starts almost immediately after Emma enters the convent. They don't wait for the murmurs and rumors to subside. No courtesy is awarded for her. Granted, to the outside world the betrothal had been mutually called off.

As days go by, Mother Superior encourages Emma to go visit her mother. She knows that Snow is having a hard time accepting Emma's decision. Truth be told, the wise nun senses that Emma just needs time to deliberate on the situation, and soon she will realize this is not the life for her.

On one of those visits, Milah and August are relishing their privacy as Emma bursts into the house looking for her mother.

August has the decency to look embarrassed while Milah just smiles as she touches his chest in a suggestive way.

"I'm sorry, I was looking for my mother," Emma says while trying to avoid looking at the scene in front of her.

Milah responds, "Oh, she stepped out. She went to go sign some documents Uncle David sent to Mr. Hopper for her to look over. She should be back soon, I could tell her you stopped by."

"Thank you. Do you know if Mr. Hopper has been able to contact father to let him know of the change in plans? Father would want to be here regardless of who the bride is, he loves you too Milah," Emma says.

"She hasn't mentioned anything of the sorts. I was telling August that Uncle David must be ecstatic that you will be taking your vows since that is what you have always truly desired. I hope that doesn't stop you from attending our wedding, it simply would not be the same without you. We have decided on the date by the way. It will be in a couple of weeks. Will you be able to be there?" Milah asks.

Emma had a feeling that the wedding would be soon but 14 days is truly an insult to her and their so-called engagement. To know that their wedding will take place before her 90 day trial period is over, kills her. August is so eager to marry Milah. In all honesty, she detests the idea of being there because it still hurts. Seeing the way August looks at Milah, with an adoration she knows he will never ever look at her with is truly a slap in the face.

They seem so happy, and it kills Emma knowing that if he hadn't met Milah, she'd be the one getting his undivided attention. He should be planning his wedding and future with her. Fate has truly been cruel to her.

"I'm sure I will be able to be there. I wouldn't want to miss such a joyous day." Emma answers after an inordinately long pause which goes unnoticed by the couple.

Tagging:

@hookedonapirate @kmomof4 @searchingwardrobes @seriouslyhooked @profdanglaisstuff @let-it-raines @revanmeetra87 @snowbellewells @hollyethecurious @kymbersmith-90 @branlovestowrite @thejollyroger-writer @shireness-says @ilovemesomekillianjones @thisonesatellite @thesschesthair @winterbythesea @stahlop @resident-of-storybrooke @superchocovian @lfh1226-linda @artistic-writer @thislassishooked @shardminds @winterbaby89 @xhookswenchx @ultraluckycatnd @gingerchangeling @laschatzi @wellhellotragic @xemmaloveskillianx @courtorderedcake @pirateherokillian @optomisticgirl @darkcolinodonorgasm @sherlockianwhovian @andiirivera @djlbg @nikkiemms @jennjenn615 @scientificapricot @officerrogers

#Captain Swan #cs ff #CS Crew #CS Mafia #teamhook SavageHeart

15 notes · View notes

seriouslyhooked · 5 years

Text

Lost Souls and Reveries (Part 20)

22 part AU written for @cssns. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13,Part 14, Part 15,Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19. Story available on AO3 Here and FF Here. Banner created by the amazingly talented @shipsxahoy!!

Killian Jones is a wolf shifter without roots, without plans, and without a pack. He’s a rogue, someone humans should avoid and shifters should be wary of given his lineage. But one night years back set him on a path he didn’t realize he was taking, a path leading to a future he is destined for. That future is tied up in one woman – a human named Emma Nolan. Together Emma and Killian will find not only answers, but a love that’s truly fated. But will love be enough to set them free, or will past demons win out in the end? (Answer: love always wins – I am writing this so despite some tiny pockets of angst it’s basically a fluff-filled insta-love fest). Rated M.

A/N: Hey everyone! So sorry for the delay on this chapter. It’s been a crazy and hectic summer, and the muse has been chatting at her own strange pace, but I finally got the chance to write this installment. Just to warn you all, we’re in the middle of piecing together a lot of these remaining issues and this will be ending on a cliff hanger. I know, I know, but the gang is all trying to figure out what Elsa’s dreams mean and what the red eyed shifters want. We’ll get a bit more information in this installment, but all will be revealed and sorted next chapter (which should be posted within the next week). This chapter is also a little less CS focused, because they’re dealing with a big issue, but I promise we’ll be back to our normally scheduled fluff soon. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you all enjoy!

It was amazing to Emma how a day that started off on such a turbulent track could seemingly turn around on a dime.

This morning had been a huge headache for her and Killian, and though she’d now set boundaries with her parents (most specifically her mother), Emma couldn’t help the lingering fatigue that clung to her. It was exhausting trying to plan a satisfactorily ‘fairy tale wedding’ when all she really wanted was a day of love and light and her mate, but at the end of the day it was Killian who largely saved her sanity. Yes, her grandmother had graciously stepped in, and her friends had shown up just in the nick of time to cut any remaining tension, but it was Emma’s true love who really saved the day.

Having Killian’s calm to cling to when things got stormy was such a blessing, as far as Emma was concerned. It was amazing to have someone so securely in her corner, someone who thought and acted always in the best interest of her heart. His instincts were to care for her and protect her, but to do that in a way that still empowered her to be strong all on her own. Killian may try and shield her, but he also bolstered her too. He made her brave and hopeful, and on top of all of that, he also made her blood thrum with a never-ending sense of want, and her soul flood with a near constant state of rightness…

“Killian, please, you’re teasing me, and you know how much I hate that.”

The feel of his hands on her body, running along her skin as his mouth moved across to mark all of her most sensitive places was driving Emma crazy. It was so good – so mind shatteringly perfect – but it just wasn’t quite enough. He was drawing this out and taking his time, and yeah, maybe they had all night, and maybe he’d already taken her in the kitchen mere minutes ago, but she couldn’t wait. It was killing her to feel so close but not quite there. She was restless and needy and flooded with desperate desire. And her mate was eating it all up, loving how riled she got while tormenting her with that sinful grin of his.

“Hate is a strong word, love,” Killian rumbled against her skin, his teeth nipping at her in the most provocative way and sparking even more arousal and want. “And I happen to know for a fact that hate isn’t the winner in the sea of your emotions right now. I might be driving you mad, but not so secretly you love this. You love me in every way I give myself to you.”

“Yes, God yes, but – uh -,”

Words and all rational thinking flew out the window as he found the place she wanted him most, tracing her delicate flesh with a lightness that verged on feathery. Her eyes closed and she moaned aloud, forgetting her whole argument for a moment, but then, when he’d moved lower, teasing her with his hand only to move down her body and hover over her sex with his mouth he stopped, making her crazy all over again.

“Tell me what you want, Emma. You know I’ll give you anything you ask. Anything at all.”

“Oh!” Again she lost all ability to even think as his tongue worked against her, moving exactly how she liked it. He was an expert at her every last desire, and he knew it, numbing her mind with bliss and letting her think she could have it before she gave him what he’d asked for.

“Emma,” he said, his voice playful but somehow still growly, showing her that he was still in control but that it was slipping. Much as he might play in these moments, Killian was just as caught up as her, and he could only last so long before giving in. Lucky for him though, she always seemed to cave first.

“Love me, Killian. Taste me. Take me. Anything, please!”

She heard a mumbled ‘as you wish’ pass his lips before he continued devouring her, making her come apart with the mastery of his mouth. He then gave her just enough time to return to herself, and when she’d finally felt like the world stopped spinning, he came back above her and filled him with himself in such a deep and consuming way she almost couldn’t breathe. It was so good and so real, and when it was over it felt in some ways like it had only just begun. The love was strong between them, anchoring her to a happiness no money could ever bye, and Emma sighed into it, reveling in the sensation that everything was as it should be.

Tucked into his chest and protected by his hold on her, Emma nuzzled into her fiancé, taking in the scent of the two of them together. It was intoxicating and comforting all at once, much like the familiar press of his hard body against hers. This was her most sacred space, the place her heart felt truly free, and she was so grateful to have found it that tears formed in her eyes.

“Was I too hard with you, my love?” Killian asked, though she knew he knew that wasn’t the answer.

“Never. You’re always just right.”

“Then what’s brought on those tears?”

“Can’t a girl just be so happy that she cries a little?” Emma asked, sniffling a bit before she broke into a smile. Killian chuckled at her joke and she responded in kind as her hand came to rest above his heart. “I know it sounds stupid -,”

“Not at all, Emma. It sounds like exactly what I’ll always want for us. This feeling – this love, this joy – it’s what we’ve been meant for. Before we were two lost souls, and now we’re one that’s found. That’s a beautiful thing.”

Emma nodded, humming out a contented noise almost like a purr at his words before watching Killian’s hand move over to where their baby was now growing. It was too soon for anything like a kick from their little one, but Emma swore she felt a little flutter, a reminder that their little boy or girl was with them always. “Well technically we’re one with one on the way.”

“As per usual you are right, love. And it’s only a matter of time before one becomes more…”

“So is this the kind of thing that’s going to fade after the wedding, or what?”

The question from Anna was teasing in nature, but it pulled Emma back so forcefully from her remembrance of last night with Killian that she actually jolted in place. God, she had totally left the building mentally. She was reliving a private moment with her man, but in actuality her friends were here, organizing the different dishes they’d made and snacks they brought to this impromptu cook out. Emma felt her cheeks warm, but though she might be flustered, she couldn’t say she was embarrassed. She loved Killian too much to have anything like shame as far as he was concerned, but in an ideal world she might not have let her mind wander quite so far when she was with friends who were needing her attention.

“No way. She’s going to look this smitten forever,” Ruby countered, her smirk signaling her amusement while also telling Emma she harbored no resentment to Emma’s blanking out. “But as bad as she is, my cousin’s even worse. Killian will be as old as the day is long and still staring at Emma like she hangs the moon.”

“Guys.” Emma wished she had a comeback or something, but there was none to be found. They weren’t wrong, after all. She was smitten, and though she might have been known for her poker face once upon a time, those days were largely gone. Anyone could read her feelings now, blush or not, and what they read was that she was in love.

“What? It’s not a bad thing, Emma,” Anna affirmed. “God knows you both deserve it. And it’s really… uh, sweet.”

“You don’t sound so convinced,” Emma replied and she was curious as to Anna’s new perspective on things. She thought her friend was happy for her, and she could tell she was, but there was something a little off with her today.

“Don’t mind, Anna, she’s just impatient,” Elsa said, trying to smooth everything over. “She wants her own shifter soul mate, and you know how she feels about waiting.”

“It’s not the waiting,” Anna said sternly before yielding the truth. “Okay, so it’s partially about the waiting. But really it’s just… I mean, I’m worried. What if he never comes? What if there’s only so much of this cute, cuddly, couply stuff to go around?”

“Not a chance,” Emma said, completely certain on this matter. “There’s no way your one isn’t out there Anna. Shifter or not, you’re going to find the man you belong with. He’s just a little delayed.”

“A little?” Anna asked, and the rest of them laughed. Anna made it seem like it had been an eternity, but Emma had only known Killian a few months and Elsa and Ruby had only known Liam and Graham a handful of weeks.

“Think of it this way,” Elsa offered. “It’s just one more thing you’ll have in common. I mean honestly, when was the last time you made it to anything on time?”

Anna grumbled that her sister made a good point and all of them laughed again at her feigned annoyance. It was so typically Anna, and now that she’d gotten what Emma knew to be very real worries out there, she would let it be for now. Anna was always good about that. She knew that giving oneself over to anxiety was a lost cause, and until there was really need to panic, it was best to look on the bright side, and right now, there were admittedly many pieces of all of their lives that were bright and beautiful.

That beauty was something that didn’t just belong to Emma. Ruby and Elsa had equally as much cause for joy and they both were eager to share their similar yet very different stories. At one end of the new-mates spectrum there were Elsa and Liam, who were bonded and blissful together, but still taking things step by step. They neither of them had any need to move quickly, instead getting to know each other better even though their hearts were already intertwined. On the other end of the mate measurement scale were Ruby and Graham, two shifters who had always known their animals and their destinies, and who, as a result, had no fear diving in.

“Graham told me this morning that he’s getting me pregnant next full moon.”

“He said what?!” Anna barked out, her hand flying over her heart in shock.

“How could he know?” Elsa asked, and though she was less visibly stunned at the words, Emma saw the trace of a blush on her cheeks. It made Emma smile, and she wondered how many times she and Liam might have spoken of something similar. Because no matter how slow they were taking things, Emma knew there was no way something like that had gone unsaid. Liam was all in, and he never made any attempt to hide that from her friend.

“He doesn’t,” Ruby said with a shrug. “But damn if it won’t be amazing letting him try.”

“As if you aren’t already trying,” Emma joked and Ruby chuckled.

“What can I say? When you’re right, you’re right. I love that man. He’s mine and I’m his and I’ll be damned if we don’t have our three babies that my visions and my dreams always promised.”

“I wish I had those kinds of dreams,” Anna said wistfully, and though Elsa nodded, Emma could see something in her best friend’s eyes that hinted at something larger.

“Me too.”

“You’ll get there, Elsa. These nightmares will pass.”

“You’re having nightmares again?” Emma asked, surprised since this was the first she’d heard of it. She assumed Elsa’s nightmares were a thing of the past. The reason for them had always presumably been Liam being out there searching for Killian, and when Liam found his way here, they had stopped.

“It’s probably nothing, just unsettled stress. A lot has happened, and my brain is just catching up.”

“And what exactly is your brain telling you while it catches up?” Emma pushed, waiting for Elsa to meet her eye and then confess to her.

“Well honestly it’s hard to explain. The dreams are choppy and kind of manic.”

“So kind of like the one’s about Liam?” Emma clarified.

“Sort of, but they’re worse. There’s more anger and there’s always this sense of hunting or being hunted. Sometimes I’m the prey and sometimes I’m the predator, but in the end it always ends the same, with my heart about to beat out of my chest, my body worked up in a cold sweat, and everything flashing to red.”

“That’s what I haven’t been able to make out,” Ruby said, and it was clear that she had previously interrogated Elsa thoroughly about these dreams. “I looked through my family’s spells and journals, and Elsa looked through hers, but red is actually a pretty rare color when it comes to magic, and the sentiments around it are varied. Red birds in the trees are a sign of good luck and red soil a sign of new harvest, but then there’s the obvious connotations too when it’s something bad like this.”

“Blood,” Emma whispered. Elsa nodded.

“But it’s brighter than blood. It’s bold but terrible, heightened and horrifying. It’s everywhere in the dreams. In the rivers, in the sunlight, in their eyes.”

“They have red eyes?” Emma responded, her stomach sinking to new lows as her sense of foreboding built astronomically.

“Yes. They’re like -,”

“Like Liam’s at his breaking point, but scarlet and full.”

“Yes,” Elsa hedged, though the raising of her brow told Emma that she was perplexed at how she could know that. “But I’ve looked through all I could find in my family’s archives and there’s no accounts of shifters with eyes like that. The closest is a copper color for lions, but that’ not what this is.”

“No they’re far less natural. Like you took red ink and exposed it to something chemical. I’ve never seen anything else like it.”

“But Emma how did you…?”

“When I was attacked in Boston by that shifter, it had red eyes just like that, remember? I told you about it.”

“You told me there were two wolves fighting over you,” Elsa clarified, her face betraying the current wracking of her memory for some sort of lost clue. “You said they were giant and that there was one that was good and one bad. You said it was terrifying, but I don’t remember anything about their eyes.”

Was it possible that Emma had never mentioned the color of their eyes to Elsa? Looking back, it would have felt like a small detail to her when compared to everything else. She’d almost been killed by one giant wolf and then promptly saved by another. At the time Emma also felt like she was going crazy. She’d literally written it off as a mental break for years, so it stood to reason that maybe she might have let this detail slip by. But this detail, however tiny it might have seemed back then, was too big a similarity to be purely coincidental.

“Wait,” Anna said, holding her hand up as she tried to catch up. “So what you’re saying is a wolf had red eyes like Elsa’s dream? But how could that be?”

“That’s an excellent question,” Emma admitted. “But I think the bigger question is how likely is it that these are only dreams and not actual visions?”

They all knew the answer to that, and with a quick agreement that this wasn’t something that could wait, they all headed outside. Emma was eager to get this out there and see if maybe they could all figure this out. She had spoken before with Killian about that night, but maybe he had more insight into what was wrong with that other shifter. Was there something more than the eyes and the aggression? They needed to know, and they needed to know now.

As soon as she was out of the house, Killian’s gaze found hers, and without a word she knew he was aware something was wrong. Her mind was open to his, and she read that he was concerned about Elsa’s dreams, so she pushed to him that they were more than just dreams, and that as such this was a way bigger issue than a little lack of sleep.

“They’re visions. Definitely visions,” she said as she took comfort in his arms. It helped a lot to be with him, but Emma would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared. Damn it! Were things always going to be like this? They get past one big battle just to trade it in for another?

“Aye, so it would seem,” Killian said and his affirmation made Emma close her eyes. She wished she could go back to a few hours ago. Okay maybe not the wedding planning part, but definitely last night or early this morning. Things were so good. Why, oh why, did they have to get so wonky?

“So much for normal, huh?”

This time Killian didn’t need to say any words aloud. He commiserated with her on a deeper level, keeping her wrapped up tight and pressing a kiss to her temple. It was soft and subtle, but it told Emma that he was here and here to stay, and whether life was normal or not, they would get through this just like they had everything before.

“Normal or not, what we need right now is the full story,” Liam said, taking charge in a way Emma recognized as being similar to his brother. “If there are red-eyed shifters in our path somehow, we need everyone on the same page.”

Emma agreed and the group of them all moved back to the patio where Emma’s parents, her grandmother and Granny had remained. For a moment Emma felt a bit of guilt. Right now her family was laughing and happy, all of them smiling and looking really relaxed. Maybe it was lingering planning for the wedding, or just a pure moment of contentment, but whatever the reason for their joy, Emma was about to change that. They were all going to take that from them, and Emma wished that didn’t have to be the case.

“They want to help, love, and I promise we’ll all be back to that state very soon. We’ve a wedding coming up after all, and nothing, not storm, nor man, nor beast is going to keep us from that, all right?”

Emma nodded before whispering that she loved him and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. She felt enough comfort from his promise to push forward, and though it broke her heart to see the moment when her parents and grandmother realized something was wrong, she persevered.

“Emma, honey, what’s wrong?” her mother asked.

“Are you hurt?” her father echoed, immediately standing up and coming towards her.

“No, Dad I’m fine. But Elsa’s been having some visions lately and we all need to be on our guard.”

From there the explanation rolled out as best it could. Emma and Killian spoke candidly about the original attacks, knowing that everyone had varying levels of information about what had happened. Even Emma learned more than she had about Killian’s perception on the other rogue and how the animal was possessed and totally transformed.

“There was no pushing through to his mind. No sense of self, no coherent thought,” Killian explained, his face stony though Emma could tell the memory still rattled him all these years later. “The wolf was manic and brutal and clearly unhinged. I thought of Brennan, because it was the only other time that everything felt wrong about a fellow shifter, but it was different enough that I let it slide. His smell was foul up close, his manners were jerky and heightened. I remember wondering if shifters could get rabies as well as ‘the bite’, because that’s the only think I could think to compare it to.”

“I can’t believe you both went through that,” Emma’s mother said, with tears in her eyes. She was no doubt still eaten up by the guilt of not being there for Emma all those years ago. They’d come to terms with this already, and spoken about it for the most part when Emma told them of Killian’s shifter status, but it probably never got easier as a parent to hear that your child had been in real danger.

“I’ve never heard of a shifter acting like that,” her father said, combing through his medical experience and the countless interactions he’s had with shifters over the years. “Shifters are immune to rabies; they regenerate and heal so quickly that an outside parasite or virus never survives long enough for it to get too bad. The only real sickness I’ve heard of is the one that you’ve both seen.”

Her father looked to Killian and Liam and it went without saying that the sickness in question was alpha sickness. For her part, Emma quietly considered the similarities. That rage and aggression, the want to attack when not actually provoked or threatened. It lined up in some ways, but she’d never seen someone with alpha sickness so out of control. Killian’s stories and memories of his father showed a twisted soul, but the man ultimately had control over himself when he wanted to display it. For Liam too he wasn’t so far gone as to have nothing left, but the wolf they had seen was anchorless, completely consumed with madness in a way that Emma had never experienced before.

“How similar was it to the bite, brother?” Liam asked, his voice clogged with his own twisting emotions.

“In your case? Not so similar. You always held onto who Liam was even with the beast inside. No, this wolf, was completely gone. Like the human and the shifter were erased. It was just animal – feral, primal, and unstoppable. The red of its eyes tells you that too – like the bloodlust of such a being physically cannot be concealed.”

“David, do any shifter species you know of have red eyes?”

“We’ve run through the lists, Mary Margaret,” Ruby said somberly. “Elsa and I each checked our family archives and there’s nothing like this mentioned.”

“Not to devalue the works of your family in any way, honey, but David has been doing this a long time and he has secrets and knowledge a coven of witches could go forever without ever amassing. Species of shifters long thought extinct, other paranormal who’ve kept their whole existence a secret, David has treated them and protected them all.”

“Is this true, Dad?” Emma asked and her father nodded.

“It’s true. I knew a lot as a hunter, but I know at least three times as much now. I probably have a grasp on any magic-adjacent species in the States. Now I’m sure you’ve ruled out mountain lions. You can rule out all the big cats, none of them are really all that red. Is there any chance they eyes are an auburn color? Dingo shifters have auburn eyes. It might explain why you thought it was a wolf.”

“Dingos, like Australia?” Anna asked, temporarily forgetting the crisis at hand and giving into the curiosity they were all sensing.

“Yes, Anna. Remember this is America. We’ve got people and shifters from all over the world. The melting pot exists for all species.”

Emma and Anna shared a look about how awesome that was, but unfortunately it wasn’t the time, and even worse her father’s insight hadn’t actually given them any answers.

“They weren’t auburn. They’re scarlet red, and this was definitely a wolf.”

“Well I’m sorry then, I don’t have any knowledge of a color like that,” David said sadly.

“But I might,” Emma’s grandmother replied, shocking everyone. “I’ve seen a shifter with eyes like that too.”

“Where?” they all asked at once.

“Gold’s compound.”

“I’m sorry… what?” Ruby’s shocked question pretty much summed up exactly how Emma felt at hearing this revelation.

“Gold had a shifter like that in his collection, with red eyes just like you’re describing. I’m sure of it.”

Ruth’s expression took on a pained quality as she recalled the animal in question, and Emma’s heart went out to her. It was hard to tell what exactly brought on the bad feelings. Was it related to this sickened shifter? Or was it all the unknown horror she’d experienced while in Gold’s clutches? Emma didn’t know for sure, but having had the pleasure of getting to know her grandmother recently, Emma knew of her profound empathy. While Ruth was likely suffering her own mental wounds at Gold’s hands, it wouldn’t be outlandish to think that she felt badly for not saving any other beings that might remain in the dark man’s clutches.

“Mom, you don’t have to talk about this,” Emma’s father said, knowing that it would be so difficult for his mother to go back to the headspace. She’d been trapped, and likely experimented on for years. It was invasive and wrong and terrible, but Ruth shook her head, looking determined to tell them all she knew.

“I appreciate you wanting to spare me, son, but if I can help protect this family, then that’s exactly what I aim to do. What do you all want to know?”

“Anything,” Killian said at the same time Elsa pleaded, “Everything.”

“Okay then. Well it was quick, so there isn’t too much to share, really. When I woke up, I struggled to put together what the hell was going on. I was in a room with a lot of trinkets and a lot of clutter, as I’ve told you all before, but amongst all the stuff, oh god, how do I put this delicately? There were, um… displays, I guess you could call them. Exhibits, maybe? All I know is Gold had taken the time to stage a lot of things, and it was clear I wasn’t the only living being that was being held against my will. I was the only human though, at least the only recognizable one, but I saw a lot of things I didn’t understand, and it scared me. I think it’s because as a descendent of hunters I thought I already knew everything the world had to offer. I was in on the big secret, you know? There shouldn’t have been more out there.”

Emma watched her Dad holding his Mom’s hand, offering her support. He swallowed harshly a number of times and it was clearly hard to hear this. It was hard for all of them, but as much as they never wanted to push before, her Grandmother’s memories could be critical for figuring out what the hell these red eyed beasts even were.

“Eventually though I realized that something had happened. I wasn’t supposed to be awake. I didn’t know how long I’d been there, and all I could think was I had to get out. I immediately tried to focus on finding a door or an exit, but I knew Gold must have some sort of mechanisms in place to keep track of his treasures. I kept an eye out for motion sensors or obvious magical fields that might give me away, but I didn’t see any. There were a couple of glowing items or ones that had strange energy if you got too close, so I just avoided them. I walked through this maze of stuff, and then when I got up and moved towards the door, I heard it. A low, menacing snarl that stopped me in my tracks.

“When I looked to the first real open space in the place I saw it – a huge bear, grizzly I think, but it could have just been brown. Either way, I panicked. I couldn’t see any sort of bars separating us and then it charged at me, and all I could see was its glowing red eyes. I’d never seen a bear shifter before, though, so I didn’t know if that was normal. I’d only seen wolves, coyotes, and the occasional mountain lion where I grew up. My brother, George, had mentioned bears before. He told me they were some of the strongest shifters in the world, and that a full-grown grizzly shifter could take down ten unsuspecting humans in under a minute.”

“So how did you get away?” Emma asked, thinking of how terrifying that must have been. The wolf she saw was huge, but bears would be even larger, and with red eyes like that? She honestly couldn’t understand how her grandmother could still be here.

“Right before it reached me, it hit a magical barrier, bouncing off of it hard. But what I noticed was the force field had the same red tint, but with almost a gold finish. It dissolved eventually, but I saw the depths of it and they were the same scarlet color as the eyes looking back at me.”

“Do you think that means something?” Emma asked Ruby and Ruby nodded.

“Magic manifests in different colors, but most witches have a certain signature finish. The gold probably means Gold himself cast the spell. It would better explain his name for sure.”

“But the magic itself was red. Is that common?” Emma asked and Ruby shook her head.

“No. I told you all before red is a rare color in the magical world. The only spells that are a deep and enduring red involve blood magic. Rituals, sacrifices, curses, that kind of thing. They manifest as a crimson color, but there are dark forces being used. The color comes from the blood needed for the magic itself, but from what I’ve read it’s exactly how you’ve all described the eyes so far. God, now it all makes sense! The shifters with the red eyes must be cursed with some sort of magic. I’ve just never heard of any magic used on shifters like that and lasting long term. Shifters tend to have a lot of immunity to spells. It’s like David talked about with illness. We don’t stay cursed for long because our bodies flush whatever is harmful from our systems. It would have to be an insanely strong charm. Gold alone couldn’t cast it.”

“So what are you saying?” Killian asked and Ruby shook her head, like she was trying to sift through her thoughts in a way that made sense even to her.

“I’m saying that this is way bigger than we thought. If it’s magic that’s causing this, it would have to involve the power of dozens of witches.”

“So there’s a whole fleet of bad guys to take down right now, at least if we want to stop these cursed shifters?” Emma clarified, her fear and dread amplifying to an even higher degree.

“Not necessarily. Technically Gold could have taken the magic from other witches in one of his transactions. If he made a deal with a witch, he could collect their powers to use at his own discretion.”

“Could he take magic from pixies or sprites, or is this just a witch to witch thing?” David asked and Ruby looked shocked before stuttering her reply.

“They still exist?” Emma watched her father nod. “Well then yes, technically any magic wielding being could be harvested. Dark magic like that is tricky though. It’s dangerous and untethering. If Gold has managed to do that, he’s so much more of a risk than any of us have ever known.”

“Is that what you see though, Ruby? Because hearing all of this hasn’t given me total clarity like it usually would,” Elsa confessed. “Certain parts make sense – there’s definitely magic tied into this somehow - but I feel like if Gold were so all-powerful I’d have sensed him. He’s never been in the dreams, it’s always just been the animals and me. I don’t know… it just doesn’t feel quite right.”

Everyone took Elsa’s words with all of the care and attention that they deserved. After all, Elsa was the vessel for any of their awareness of what might be coming their way. Her instincts were second to none, and Emma knew that even if it wasn’t all adding up, she would always side with Elsa’s gut over another theory. Still, it was best for all of them to be prepared for any scenario and to do everything they could to find out more.

The conversation continued with everyone trying to think of what they could do next. Who could they consult, and where could they look for answers? It was a tricky thing, but it seemed their only real lead for now was Gold. But before Emma could get pulled into the logistics of tracking him down, her phone rang, chiming out the sound of an incoming video call. Strange – nearly everyone she ever spoke with on the phone was here, but then Emma saw it was her little brother calling and she grew even more curious. He was coming home from camp in just a few more days and he didn’t usually call her, especially not when there were activities keeping him and the other campers busy all day. Immediately she could sense something was wrong.

“Hi Neal, you doing ok?” Emma asked as the call connected, but when her brother’s face appeared, she could tell he was troubled by something.

“I don’t know, Emma. Something really weird just happened. Some random guy came up to me just now outside.”

“Where are you, are you safe?” Emma asked before waving her parents over to her. When her Mother saw Emma’s little brother on the screen, she grew immediately more agitated.

“I’m back in the main building again, in a room next to our robotics lab. I told my counselor I had to talk to you and she said it was okay to come in here for a few minutes.”

“What happened?” Emma asked.

“Well, I was walking back from our room for our afternoon session with Jackson,” Emma looked to her father who mouthed ‘roommate’ to her. “But then Jackson forgot his ipad and had to run back for it. I kept walking so I wouldn’t be late, and a few moments later this older guy came up to me and just started talking. It was like he was waiting for me; he knew my name and everything.”

“What did he try to talk to you about?”

“About you and me.” She and Neal? What the hell?!

“What did he say exactly?” Her father asked and Neal recited the conversation back with authority.

“He said, ‘I’ve wondered a long while what you would be like.’ I told him I had to go because I got a bad feeling from him, but he stood in my path and wouldn’t move. I was going to call for help or something, but there was suddenly no one around, and then he just kept talking. He said I was meant to be ‘unyielding and unfailing,’ that I should have been a ‘true Nolan hunter if I wasn’t what I was’ whatever that means.”

“Did he say anything else?” Emma asked, not following what they’re being descended from hunters had to do with anything here. Gold knew of that obviously, because of the deal he made with her grandmother, but was that really relevant somehow?

“Yeah, he said that you and I were meant for so much more. Then he talked about my getting sick – I don’t know exactly what he was getting at, it didn’t all make sense. He was kind of talking in circles, and I didn’t follow him at all. But the last thing he said was that you, Emma, were the last hope but that you made the wrong choice.”

Emma was so frazzled as to all of this that she didn’t know how to process anything that was said. Who the heck was this person? And most importantly, was it safe for Neal to stay there anymore? She didn’t think so, and neither did her Dad who ducked into the house, coming out a moment later with his keys in hand after her Mom had taken over the call, trying to get details about what the man looked like.

“Neal, I want you to stay with your counselor no matter what. If that man comes back you call the police immediately. I’m coming to get you, I’ll be there soon.”

“Dad it’s okay, I’m fine,” her brother said, but Emma wasn’t so sure. He looked really relieved at the thought of their Dad coming to get him.

“No, Neal, we’re coming,” Emma’s mother confirmed. “I know it’s a few days early, but it’s for the best. Now please can you bring the phone to your counselor, I’d like to talk to her.”

While her mother continued to talk to whoever was in charge at Neal’s program, Emma and her father moved to the others. They were quickly filled in that there had been an incident, but Emma was surprised by her father’s response to it all. “Killian, Liam, and Graham, I’d feel better if you all came with us.”

“Are you sure, David? If it’s Gold one of the girls should go,” her grandmother offered. “Elsa or Ruby would be better able to track him.”

“No, Mom. This isn’t Gold. It’s George.”

“David, you can’t possibly know that-,”

“Why do you think it’s your Uncle?” Emma asked, ignoring her grandmother’s protest because she knew it stemmed more from fear than any actual proof. All it took was one look in grandma Ruth’s direction to know that the mention of her brother truly rattled her.

“It’s the way he talked about the hunters. He used a closely guarded family phrase, one even you don’t know, Mom. Gold wouldn’t ever have access to that because they weren’t even in your memories. It has to be George, and if he’s come for my son, I need the strongest people with us, just in case.”

“Okay, I told Neal’s counselor there’s been a family emergency and warned her that your Uncle might come back but that he’s not a stable man.”

“You knew it was him?” Emma asked and her mother nodded.

“He used the Nolan words.”

Emma should have known that her father would never have secrets from her mother. Of course she knew everything, and Mary Maragert’s memory was a great and powerful thing. But whatever her mother’s many strengths may be, she was ill fit for the quarrel and Emma’s father told her that, remaining adamant that she not come.

“You need to stay here, Mary Margaret.”

“David, I am not staying here! We are going to get our son and that’s that.”

“No it isn’t. I will get Neal, I promise you I will protect him from this, but I need to know you and Emma are safe. The house is prepared for a situation like this. I didn’t know if he’d ever find us, but I planned it out just in case. We’ll be back in just a few hours, but I can’t -,” her father’s voice broke in anguish. “I can’t risk you or Emma coming along for this. It’s too dangerous.”

Emma fully expected her mother to rebuke this request from her Dad, but there was no denying that David was doing everything in his power to protect them. Ultimately Emma trusted her Dad. If he said that her Uncle was threatening, she believed him, and though she hated to stay behind and wait, she also knew that being there would make her a liability. She was still a new shifter and she was too close to this emotionally. And her mother, bright and capable as she may be, was human, with no training and no powers to fall back on.

“You bring our boy back to me, David. You bring him back, and you bring yourself back. There’s no other option. This family will stay together, do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” he replied, pulling Mary Margaret in for a quick kiss and sharing a silent moment with her. At the same time Killian took Emma’s hand in his, drawing her attention back to him. Her heart leapt into her throat. She was worried about how dangerous this might be, but the look in his eyes was completely assured and steadfast.

“I’ll be back before you even have chance to miss me,” Killian whispered and Emma shook her head, fending off tears caused by her lingering anxiety.

“Not possible,” she replied pulling him in by the cloth of his shirt. “Be safe, okay?”

“Always, love.”

With a last gentle kiss, Emma watched her mate, her father, and the others leave, knowing that she wouldn’t feel even a shred of peace until they were back again. Looking to Elsa and Ruby, she knew they felt similarly, but her mother was the one hurting the most. The tears Emma had tried to fight spilled over on her mother’s cheeks, but Mary Margaret wiped them away quickly, unwilling to give into the riotous emotions. Emma did the only thing she could think to make it better, she hugged her Mom and made a promise of her own.

“It’s going to be okay, Mom. I love you”

“I love you too, Emma. Always, always, always.”

With that, there was nothing left to do but wait and trust that everything would be okay in the end, and in the meantime they all had many questions still to answer. With three new threats on the horizon and no way of knowing who or what might strike first, they were all at a standstill. That was debilitating, but it also motivated all of them to stand together and try to fight the only way they could – through scouring their memories and resources for clues.

………………….

Standing in the clearing he’d scoped out on the edge of this all-too-quaint town of Storybrooke, he couldn’t help but feel like victory was already in his grasp. The plan was perfect and the stage was set. It was nearly time for resolution after so many years of waiting, and he grinned at the thought that the light and the hopeful magic surrounding this place would soon be extinguished. Gone were the days of peace and calm in this little town in Maine. A reckoning was here, and he would be the one to bring it.

The buzzing of his phone alerted him to the call he was awaiting. He hated these blasted things, but now and then they served their purpose. He answered without preface, only seeking one answer of any merit. “Is it done?”

“Yes. It went exactly as you said it would.”

“Good.”

Hanging up, he broke the phone into pieces and tossed it in the shallow waters of the river bed beside him. He had no use for it anymore. All he had to do was wait. A little more time and they’d be in the clear, a little more time and the moment he’d yearned for would truly arrive.

Waiting in the silence would phase many others, but he didn’t think of them as he stood there in the quiet. They were nothing to him, lacking in vision and smarts and everything that made him worthy. It was him and him alone with the power and the brains to complete this. He may have made some deals along the way, but the glory of this would belong to him. The pride he felt at that was all he clung to, and he disregarded any past missteps that led him here. This was a war and not a battle, and thanks to the element of surprise, he was certain that this war was about to end decidedly in his favor.

“It’s time,” he said aloud finally, knowing no one could here him, save the monster in his keep. With assured movements he walked to the cage where the beast resided, looking the bear in the eyes with another wicked grin. “Find the girl and her companions. Spare none of them, and when that’s over take the rest of the town as well.”

With one last burst of locks and mechanisms, the bear was freed and looked liable to let out a loud roar and charge its master, but the collar that it wore restricted that urge. It compelled this animal to do what it was meant for, and with a last menacing look, the bear charged in the direction of the Nolans and their extended brood, destined to cause a destruction the likes that none of them had ever seen before.

Post- Note: I know that so many of you are going to be so mad at me for this cliff hanger and trust me, I am just as mad at myself! But there’s so much that has to happen it can’t all fit in one chapter. I PROMISE there will be resolution in the next installment, and I also promise that you’ll forgive me in the end for this. However, truthfully I’m not fully sure when the next chapter will be published. It’s so hectic right now with school and my traveling that I have still a little more writing and editing to do before I actually post. But please trust that I will do my best to get you the next chapter and put you all out of your misery ASAP. Thank you so much for reading and hope you’ll tune in next time!

Taglist: @jennjenn615 @kmomof4 @winterbaby89 @teamhook @ultraluckycatnd @resident-of-storybrooke @artistic-writer @snowbellewells @allofdafandoms-blog

32 notes · View notes

arundolyn · 4 years

Text

monster of the week blazblue au nobody asked for!

these lists are what i used for reference even tho the only one i really used out of tome of mysteries is the hex

i got burned out and am stumped on amane bullet and azrael so suggestions are welcome

Ragna:

the chosen

moves: either invincible, devastating, or resilience

gear: handle, artifact, blade, heavy, steel

Look: man, controlled face, urban wear

charm -1, cool +2, sharp +1, tough +2, weird -1

found out through nightmares and visions

heroic tags: sacrifice and you can save the world

doom tags: host of monsters and loss of loved ones

history: waaaay too many choices. ie him and jin being siblings, jubei being destined to be his mentor, jin could have been the chosen one instead but wasn’t there for saya, etc

the wronged

moves: berserk and what does not kill me…

gear: huge sword, big knife, brass knuckles

look: man, angry eyes, nondescript clothes (?)

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +2

lost siblings and parent

prey: ghost?

couldn’t save them because he was weak

history: jubei showed him the ropes

Jin:

the professional

moves: unfazeable, battlefield awareness, tactical genius

gear: flak vest, only weapon that really fits him is big knife?

look: man, young face?, tailored suit

charm -1, cool +2, sharp +1, tough =0, weird +1

agency: works for a clandestine police team that studies the supernatural

resources: well armed and recognized authority

red tape: dubious motives and bureaucratic

history: ragna’s on the agency’s watchlist and he’s keeping an eye on him

Noel/Mu (cs era mu is dark side):

the spooky

moves: the sight, the big whammy, jinx

gear: 9mm, hunting rifle

look: girl, blank eyes, neat clothes

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough -1, weird +2

the dark side: violence, self destruction, paranoia

history: blood kin with ragna and jin, old friends with makoto and tsubaki

Rachel:

the spell-slinger

combat magic: blast, lightning/entropy, force/wind

moves: advanced arcane training, arcane reputation, enchanted clothing

gear: ritual knife

look: girl, goth clothes, weary eyes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: valk acts are her conscience when her power goes to her head

Tao:

the mundane

moves: oops!, the power of heart, what could go wrong?

gear: hockey stick, pocket knife, skateboard cause why not

look: concealed, friendly face, sporty clothes(?)

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +1, weird +1

history: good friends with ragna

Tager:

the monstrous

monster breed: demon

curse: anything holy I guess

natural attacks: claws, +1 harm

moves: immortal, unholy strength

gear: brass knuckles

look: man, powerful aura, stylish clothes

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +3

history: kokonoe is tied to his origin

Litchi:

the mundane

moves: let’s get out of here!, the power of heart, trust me

gear: hockey stick, nunchucks, fairly new car

look: woman, alluring face, casual clothes

charm +2, cool +1, sharp +1, tough =0, weird -1

history: romantically involved with roy

Arakune/Roy:

Literally The Monster but if i had to

the monstrous

monster breed: slime monster

curse: feed

natural attacks: magical force, ignore armor

moves: unnatural appeal, shapeshifter

look: mysterious, bestial aura

charm =0, cool -1, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +3

history: litchi and kokonoe are tied to his origin

the mundane

moves: panic button, trust me, don’t worry, i’ll check it out

gear: baseball bat, small handgun, bicycle

look: man, average face, nerdy clothes

charm +2, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +1, weird -1

history: romantically involved with litchi

Bang:

the chosen

moves: the big entrance or dutiful

gear: staff, artifact, spikes, long, steel

look: man, hopeful face, urban wear

charm +2, cool -1, sharp +1, tough +2, weird -1

heroic tags: secret training, a normal life

doom tags: you can’t save everyone, a nemesis

history: tenjo was destined to be his mentor i know she isnt here but fuck it i got nothin

Carl:

the wronged

moves: fervor, safety first

gear: enchanted dagger, 9mm, big knife

look: boy, angry eyes, nondescript clothes

charm =0, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +2, weird =0

lost sibling and parent

prey: shapeshifter (shapeshifter turned into relius and killed ada) or just relius

couldn’t save them because he was scared and weak

history: basically everyone has stood in carl’s way at some point

Hakumen:

the gumshoe

code: justice must be done

moves: asphalt jungle

gear: irrelevant

look: ambiguous, blank face, nondescript clothes

charm +1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough +1, weird -1

history: caught ragna committing a crime (being alive)

Nu:

the monstrous

monster breed: black beast

curse: pure drive (hate)

natural attack: magical force, ignore armor

moves: immortal, unquenchable vitality

gear: huge sword

look: girl, sinister aura, stylish clothes

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +3

history: ragna is tied to her curse

Lambda:

the initiate

moves: ancient fighting arts, mystic, sacred oath (to protect ragna)

gear: sword, big sword, sniper rifle

look: girl, agile body, archaic clothes

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +1, tough =0, weird +2

good traditions: fighting arts, flexible tactics

bad traditions: dubious motives

history: she noel and nu are sisters

Tsubaki/Izayoi:

the searcher

first encounter: higher power

moves: guardian, just another day

gear: irrelevant except for small knife

look: woman, thoughtful face, casual wear

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +1, tough =0, weird +2

history: found accounts of someone matching ragna’s description from before he was born

Hazama:

the crooked

background: grifter

moves: artifact (amulet,) friends on the force, notorious

gear: .38 revolver, big knife, baseball bat

heat: hibiki is a rival, took advantage of noel

underworld: worked with a demon

look: man, calculating eyes, tailored suit

charm +2, cool =0, sharp +1, tough -1, weird +1

history: terumi saved his life and now he owes him

the flake

moves: connect the dots, see, it all fits together, sneaky

gear: big knife, throwing knives, butterfly knife

look: man, suspicious eyes, neat clothes

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +2, tough =0, weird +1

history: ragna is tied to everything

Makoto:

the mundane

moves: the power of heart, what could go wrong?, don’t worry, i’ll check it out

gear: baseball bat, nunchucks, skateboard

look: woman, friendly face, sporty clothes(?)

charm +2, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +1, weird -1

history: initially mai’s rival

Valk:

the monstrous

monster breed: werewolf

curse: vulnerability (silver)

natural attacks: teeth, claws

moves: unholy strength, shapeshifter

look: man, powerful aura, archaic clothes

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +3

history: clavis tried to kill him and spared him

Plat:

the spooky

moves: premonitions, the big whammy, jinx

gear: no weapons we die with muchorin like men

look: girl, piercing eyes, ratty clothes

charm =0, cool -1, sharp +1, tough +1, weird +2

dark side: mood swings, rage, poor impulse control

history: jubei taught her to control her powers

Relius:

the expert

moves: i’ve read about this sort of thing, dark past

haven: lore library, mystical library, workshop

gear: silver sword, blessed knife, magical dagger

look: man, thoughtful face, tailored clothes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: carl is his child

Kagura:

the professional

moves: battlefield awareness, tactical genius, mobility (stealthy, concealed weapons, obvious)

gear: flak vest, smg, hunting rifle, shotgun

look: man, chiseled face, tailored suit

charm +1, cool +2, sharp +1, tough -1, weird =0

agency: works for a clandestine police team that studies the supernatural

resources: well armed and recognized authority

red tape: dubious motives and bureaucratic

history: friends with other NOL soldiers in training im too lazy to list them all. except for makoto obviously

Kokonoe:

the hex

temptation: vengeance

moves: force of will, wise soul

look: woman, sharp eyes, trendy clothes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +1, weird +2

history: tager keeps her grounded

Terumi/Susan:

the divine

moves: boss from beyond, smite, cast out evil

gear: flaming sword

mission: exiled, but not the rest of that one just the exiled part, sowing evil instead of good

look: man for terumi/asexual for susan, blazing eyes, perfect suit

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +2, weird +1

history: haz is the person he goes to for advice on mortal stuff lmao

Celica:

the mundane

Moves: always the victim, oops!, don’t worry, i’ll check it out

gear: baseball bat, pocket knife, fairly new car

look: girl, friendly face, normal clothes

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +1, weird +1

history: related to nine, ragna is her hero

Hibiki:

the crooked

background: assassin

Moves: deal with the devil (skill, add to tough and sharp,) friends on the force, notorious

gear: .22 revolver, hunting rifle, big knife

heat: pissed off haz, who will do whatever it takes to kill him, and jin wants to put him in jail

underworld: target of a job was a vampire

look: man, watchful eyes, street wear

charm +1, cool +1, sharp +2, tough =0, weird -1

history: jin saw him kill someone

Nine:

the spell-slinger

combat magic: ball, fire, force/wind

moves: advanced arcane training, arcane reputation, forensic divination

gear: ritual knife

look: woman, stylish clothes, fierce eyes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: she thought celica was dead And Yet, plus they’re related

the hex

temptation: power

moves: burn everything, luck of the damned

look: woman, angry eyes, trendy clothes

charm =0, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

gear: athame

history: celica keeps her grounded

Naoto:

the chosen

moves: resilience

gear: handle, spikes, blade, throwable, blood

look: boy, young face, casual wear

charm +2, cool -1, sharp +1, tough +2, weird -1

found out via some weirdo (Raquel) telling him/by being attacked by monsters

heroic tags: magical powers, a normal life

doom tags: death, a nemesis

history: raquel is destined to be his mentor

Izanami:

the divine

moves: boss from beyond, what i need, when i need it, smite

gear: five demon bag

mission: the end of days approaches, your role is to guide these hunters and ensure it comes to pass

look: woman, placid eyes, casual clothes

charm -1, cool +1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +1

history: noel should not be involved in this situation, prophecies didn’t mention her blah blah

Es:

the initiate

moves: mystic, sacred oath (to protect the azure), helping hand

gear: sword, big sword, crossbow

look: woman, strong body, formal clothes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +2, weird +2

good traditions: knowledgeable, magical lore

bad traditions: strict laws

history: ragna is described in prophecies, but his role is unstated

Mai:

the mundane

moves: the power of heart, trust me, what could go wrong?

gear: baseball bat, hockey stick, bike

look: woman, friendly face, sporty clothes(?)

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +1, weird +1

history: she and makoto were rivals

Jubei:

the expert

moves: often right, it wasn’t as bad as it looked

haven: armory, infirmary, panic room

gear: silver sword, cold iron sword, blessed knife

look: indeterminate, experienced face, tailored clothes

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +2, tough +1, weird =0

history: ragna was his student/apprentice

bonus

Raquel:

the spell-slinger

combat magic: missile, lightning/entropy, force/wind

moves: advanced arcane training, forensic divination, third eye

gear: heirloom sword

look: girl, stylish clothes, fierce eyes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: rescued naoto

#blazblue #wow this got long #ghost.txt #aus #? i guess

4 notes · View notes