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hoseokslefteyebrow · 3 years

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A Royal Love Story || K.NJ

Pairing : Kim Namjoon X Reader Genre : Fluff, a sprinkle of angst somewhere too Summary : Namjoon has often imagined being the prince in Cinderella, yet he never imagined that his version would have horses in it too. Wordcount: 9.3k [ A/N: Sorry for the shitty summary lol. Anyw, Enjoy!]

You're a royal staff member of your country and you're head of the royal horse care.

Namjoon is the second born prince of South Korea.

You two aren't really meant to meet, but accidentally do when Namjoon and his family come over for the coronation of the princess of your country, Jisoo.

Unlike the rest of the royal staff members who come to greet him and his family, you aren't there.

Not because you're sick or anything, but simply because you forgot and were busy with the horses.

Namjoon meets you when he walks off into the fields of the palace, where you let the horses graze.

The first thing that catches his eye is how good the horses look.

They look a lot more healthy than the horses in his palace, he realizes.

"Hello sir, are you lost?"

It’s the first thing you say to him.

It takes Namjoon a moment to realize that you're talking to him and a moment longer to realize that you don't know that he's a royal.

" Ah, no. I went to take a walk around the palace for a bit of fresh air." Is what he finally answers.

He sees you nod and turn back to your own business, which appears to be cleaning up horse tack in the small building near the grazing fields.

He looks at you for a moment before one of the horses in the back of the graze field spots you, and starts neighing.

At first he thinks that the horse is about to charge at him as the animal heads his way in a calm gallop.

But then he's left perplexed as he watches the horse stop near where you are standing, dragging one of his legs over the ground to get your attention.

You complain in your own native language to the horse after a moment as you come out from the tack building, tough Namjoon doesn't know what you say.

He watches in admiration as he sees how you pet the horse and how the horse reacts to you, unlike the horses in his palace, this horse looks a lot happier.

" That's a lively horse." Namjoon comments, trying to start a conversation.

" Yes, he certainly is. His name is Winter." You smile at him.

" I assume you work here?" He smiles.

You nod.

" Yes, I'm the head caretaker of the stables. I assume that you work for one of the royal families who have arrived?"

Namjoon's breath stutters for a moment, you really didn't know.

" Yes, I'm one of the prince's advisors." He ends up telling you.

" Cool. What country are you from? I don't think I've seen you before."

" I'm from Korea."

He watches as you nod along to his words before your expression looks like something akeen to having forgotten something.

" That's what I forgot this morning! The royals from Korea were arriving today! Wait, that means it's the 24th! Excuse me sir, I have to go. There's a new delivery of horse tack waiting and the delivery guy can't get in without a signed paper of mine. Bye!"

And then you're sprinting away.

Namjoon blinks as he looks after your form, that was quite a meeting.

You obviously didn't recognize him, and he's happy with how relaxed you are because you think that he's also part of the staff.

He ends up going to the stables a lot more often in his time off.

He ends up learning a lot about you, and unintentionally about your horse too.

For instance, your horse is a picky horse, and only lets you ride him with little to no trouble.

The black and gray arabian horse is happy to be pet by everyone, but doesn't allow everyone in his stable and certainly not everyone on his back.

He also almost loses his sanity when he gets chased by one of the chickens of the stables and you laugh as he comes running to you while being chased by a chicken, yelling that it wants to kill him.

You laugh and pick the chicken up as she tries to run past you.

" What did you do wrong to Nugget?"

" You named it?" Is Namjoon's only response as he turns to you when he realizes the chicken is now just complaining in your arms.

You smile and nod.

He smiles back evilly.

" The name suits her, she should become a few chicken nuggets."

Namjoon's social skills with women were never really good, but this was particularly terrible, he realizes as he doesn't see you laugh at his joke.

Instead you look at him with a deadpanned expression before putting the chicken down and letting it resume it's hunt.

He does miss the tiny smile that grows on your face as Namjoon is out of sight.

The time after that when Namjoon goes to visit you, he's surprised that Chaeyoung is there too, Jisoo's younger sister.

The both of you are just smiling and talking like normal teenage girls.

You both look like typical horse girls right now while you're both brushing your own horses.

Chaeyoung spots Namjoon before he can turn away.

" Prince Namjoon? Are you looking for something?"

And you look surprised, while Namjoon starts feeling nervous.

" Ah, no. Ehm, I'm just walking by and-"

" Prince?" You ask, obviously confused.

" Oh, right. Y/N, this is prince Kim Namjoon the second born prince from South Korea, Prince Namjoon, this is L/N Y/N. She's our head caretaker of the stables. He's one of the princes you've missed the arrival of." Chaeyoung whispers the last part to you.

" Wait- you're a prince? You told me you're the prince's advisor." You say, now very confused.

Chaeyoung gulps and starts to feel awkward, so she decides to let her horse out in the meadow to give you two space.

" Why did you lie?" You ask, you don't sound hurt, just confused.

Cause' why would he lie over something like that? It's something you're bound to find out.

" I was planning on telling you at some point, but I like the way you treat me. I don't want that to change. I feel like a normal 25 year old. I knew you didn't know who I was as soon as you spotted me that day, so I decided to just lie." Namjoon gulps, feeling like a little kid caught stealing candy.

You nod before turning your back to him, carrying on with brushing your horse.

" So, am I still allowed to call you Namjoon or do you rather have me call you your majesty?" You ask him, and he can feel the teasing edge in your voice.

He smiles and relaxes.

" So, are you going to the ball?" Namjoon asks you a few days later while the two of you are sitting in the stables at night.

You shake your head.

" No, I'm not invited."

" Oh, and if I'd manage to get you in, would you come?" He asks hopefully.

" Probably not, sorry. I have nothing to wear to an occasion like that and that's really outside of my comfort zone." You smile a little embarrassed.

Namjoon nods, unaffected.

" And if I get you a dress? A real pretty one. And I'll stay by your side the whole night, would you then come?" He tries.

You chuckle and shake your head.

" Nope. Why are you so set on getting me there anyway?"

He bites his lip, pondering if he should tell you the truth or tell you that it's a suprise and that you could only know if you show up.

He decides to go with the truth.

" All royals are attending the first dance during the ball for the coronation. I wanted you to be my dance partner."

He doesn't look at you while he's telling you, instead staring at the mare who's just eating hay.

You blush, touched by his answer.

" I'm sorry, and although that does sound nice. I'll just end up feeling uncomfortable at the ball anyway. But we can have your first dance of the night right here if you want?" You smile at him as you get up, holding out your hand.

Namjoon usually isn't a dancer, but he doesn't see why not, and so he takes it.

That night he really feels like a guy his age, as he dances the most random and awkward dance moves with you.

One thing was sure, you both suck at dancing.

And even tough th both of you did, the moment was still very precious for Namjoon, and though you're not aware of it, the moment is precious for you too.

The day of the ball is boring for Namjoon.

His dad, the king, tries convincing him into dancing with the Italian princess who will be present tonight, but Namjoon really doesn't want to.

He goes to visit you in the early afternoon, but you're very busy, because there will be even more people than there already were, so you were supposed to have all your chores done by the time the first guests arrive.

He decides that he'll look for you later.

The main part of the afternoon is spend with dance practice, and him trying not to step on his dance partner's toes.

Which he does several times, but he doesn't really find it in himself to care, she was getting paid to put up with him after all.

By the end of dance practice, his instructor Hoseok is thinking about just breaking one of his legs and using that as excuse to not dance at all.

When Namjoon looks in the mirror that evening, he realizes that he's not really happy.

He's not depressed either, just not happy.

He doesn't want to be put under all these social standards of looking good and acting good and just being perfect.

He takes a deep breath before entering the ballroom.

He ends up dancing with a random princess from China.

She is pretty, he admits. And nice too, but she's not...... You.

His breath stops for a moment when he realizes he's got a crush on you.

After the dance he excuses himself saying that he isn't feeling too well.

That's all a lie however, and he's really just going to you.

He hopes that you're still at the stables, but he's feeling disappointed when he sees all the lights turned off.

At first he thinks you're already off to bed, but then he hears hooves and he knows that you never leave the horses outside at night.

He goes to the meadow meant for riding and he's surprised to see you riding your horse without any tack.

He ends up watching you ride for a while.

Until the moment the moment is ruined and someone else approaches the meadow.

In the most chaotic way possible.

Yelling while sipping wine and barely walking on his two legs.

Namjoon feels his heart stop for a moment as Winter raises his front hooves in the air, leaning heavily on his behind legs, the horse spooked by this new stranger

He calms down when Winter's front hooves touch the ground again, and you're still seated.

" Prince James, why are you here instead of enjoying the party?" You ask, not dismounting your horse.

" Realized the pretty girl wasn't there. Decides to come look for her. Aren't I cute?~" James, one of the two princes of England, must know you to talk to you like that.

Namjoon doesn't like it.

You cannot disrespect a woman like that, that's just, wrong.

" No, you're disgusting, honestly. Please go back to the ball." You ask him, and Namjoon sees that look in your eyes and knows the meaning, you're afraid of the prince.

" I don't think I want to-"

He spots a rope halter lying on one of the fences and decides to try and help you out.

" Hello, fancy seeing you here. I assume that there are no troubles?" Namjoon rolls in smoothly, wordlessly handing you the halter.

You seem relieved at his arrival and slip off your horse, gently putting the halter on Winter.

James seems a little less pleased with Namjoon's arrival.

He mumbles out an excuse before leaving, almost falling in the bushes as he walks off.

" I thought you went to the ball?" You asked once James was out of sight.

Namjoon shrugged with a dimpled smile.

" I was, but it was boring there. Decided to come here instead."

You smiled at his answer.

The both of you went to lead Winter back in his box and walked a little bit around the stables, just talking.

" You know, it seemed as if you knew James. Have you met him before?" He asked at some point.

You shrugged and nodded.

" Sort of. My parents used to work for his stables until I was born, the court here was impressed by how good the horses look and promised my parents a finer stay on the royal grounds, they agreed to go here instead."

" So, you're born in England?" Namjoon asked.

" Yeah. And I used to be friends with James, but he became too spoilt." You answered.

Namjoon nodded in understanding, he knew more royals like that.

" So, are you coming to the coronation?" Namjoon asked.

You nodded with a smile.

" Of course I am, everyone is invited."

" That's great! Than I'll probably see you there tomorrow, right?" He asked with a shy smile.

You nodded.

" Definitely."

For the first time in what felt like forever, Namjoon cared about his outfit.

He wanted to look good in front of you.

He knew he had a bad taste when it came to clothing, but luckily his younger brother Taehyung didn't, and so he decided to bother him.

" Oh, what do I owe this pleasure too, your dear royal highness." Taehyung dramatically bowed as his older brother stood in front of his door opening.

" Stop being so dramatic, drama queen. And I need your help with something." The elder rubbed his neck and looked at the ground, feeling shy.

" Let me guess, you found out that stable girl of yours is coming to the coronation and you want to look good?" Taehyung teased with a smile.

Namjoon looked at him in suprise.

" How do you know that?"

" Know what? Your little crush on her or the reason why you're here?" Taehyung smirked.

" Both."

" Well, I'm pretty sure everyone knows about your little crush because you spent more time with her than you ever did with me or anyone else, and I knew she was coming to the coronation too and my genius brain managed to get that all together and came to a conclusion." Taehyung said proudly.

" Wow, I didn't think your two brain cells could manage." Namjoon teased him.

Taehyung let out an offended 'hey' before getting to work and going to Namjoon's closet.

Because they weren't at home, they had a limited amount to choose from, but Taehyung was determined to let his brother look handsome.

He was supposed to look good after all, especially since he wanted to impress a woman.

Meanwhile you were in your little house trying to decide on what to wear.

You too wanted to look good, your crush was also coming to the coronation and last time you checked, you were kind of unofficial dating.

You two haven't spoken in a while as other royal families had stayed over and you were busy, but you hoped he didn't forget about you just yet. ( He also works in the palace, but he's a butler.)

For some reason, you also found yourself hoping to look good in front of Namjoon.

Whenever you thought of him, you felt shy and warm.

The gentleman has certainly charmed you for sure, but you did not know him well enough to consider him as a romantic interest.

You shook your head and focused back at the task at hand.

You decided to go with a simple red dress, with thin straps and off shoulder ruffles.

It was innocent, but sexy.

The coronation was beautiful, and you couldn't believe how your best friend was now a real queen.

" Your majesty." You curtsy with a teasing smile as she approached you.

" Aish, stop it you." She smiled as you giggled in response and hugged.

" I can't believe you're a queen now." You told her proudly.

" I know, I can't either. I'm really afraid I'll mess something up." She said honestly.

" That's understandable. I don't know the feeling of standing in your shoes, but I'm sure you'll do great. Besides, even the greatest people make mistakes sometimes. They'll just have to learn to not stand still by it." You reassured her.

" Thank you for being my best friend." She smiled.

" Also, pretty butler at 5 o' clock." She winked before slipping away.

You bit your lip nervously and turned around, happy to see him after so long.

You smiled as you spotted him and approached him.

" Hey, long time no see, huh?" You greeted him.

" Yeah, hey. Certainly a long time yeah." He smiled awkwardly back.

Was something wrong?

" I assume it's been busy in the palace?" You try to start a conversation.

" Yeah, indeed. Not like you understand." He muttered the last part.

You raised your eyebrow at his attitude.

" Is something the matter?" You asked him.

" Yeah, no.- Look, I should apologize. I know we had something, but I have a girlfriend now. And I honestly don't want to deal with you." He huffed bluntly.

Ouch. Now that's a pang in your heart.

" Oh. I'll be go-"

" Hey baby, who's this?" A woman approached the two of you, most likely his girlfriend.

" Just a horse girl." He said it as if it's a bad thing.

You couldn't believe him right now, you felt the need to cry, but refused to cry in front of him.

" You're pathetic." You chuckled while shaking your head with glossy eyes before walking off.

" Spotted her yet?" Jin whispered in his younger brother's ear as he was still searching.

" Yah! Don't scare me like that." Namjoon huffed.

" Isn't that her?" Jin asked, ignoring his complaint, while pointing to a direction.

Namjoon followed his hyung's finger to see where he was pointing, and indeed there you were.

He watched as you chuckled while shaking your head before walking away from a couple.

You looked beautiful, he didn't know just how good you looked in a dress, and coincidentally, the dress was his style too.

" Y/N!" He called, hoping to catch up with you.

" Yah! No thank you for your hyung?" Jin complaint from behind him.

" Thanks hyung!" Namjoon yelled back over his shoulder.

Jin shook his head smiling, his brother was whipped.

" Y/N, wait up!" Namjoon yelled, hoping that you heard him, but you kept walking.

" Y/N?" He asked as he finally reached you, and put a hand on your shoulder.

You jumped at the contact and turned around, only now he noticed your glossy eyes.

" Oh, Namjoon. Hey. Sorry, my head was elsewhere." You showed his a forced smile.

" Hey, are you okay? Your eyes are glossy." Namjoon asked.

" Sorry, it's not everyday you find out that your crush turns out to be a dick." You smile bitterly.

Namjoon didn't know how to feel when hearing that.

He was obviously not the person you were talking about, because he didn't ( and would never) break your heart, but now you were sad and he didn't like that.

On the other side of it, he now knew that there would be a free spot in your heart, and he's willing to fight for it.

" Let's take a walk. I'm here for you." He said as he wiped a tear that fell from your eye, moved a lock of your hair behind your ear before eventually taking your hand and leading you through the market whitin the palace grounds.

You told him everything.

From the part where you started gaining feelings for him, to where you two kind of had something, to where he turned out to be a dick.

And Namjoon listened patiently to all of it.

" Honestly, I just wish that I could leave this place but I have no guarantee that I will ever get a job half this good ever again." You groaned at the end of it.

An idea clicked in his mind.

" But what if you can?" He whispered, stopping with walking.

" What?" You asked confused.

" Come with me. We have stables too, and the horses back at home don't look as happy as they are here. So I'm sure my parents will be fine with it." He suggests.

" I don't know." You think.

" Just think it through for a few days, the pay won't be as great as here and instead of a house on the castle grounds, we've got an apartment building for staff, but if you really want to leave, just come with me. I know my stables need improvement anyway." He smiles.

" I will." You smile back at him.

After another moment of walking peacefully in silence, the two of you resume walking in the market.

You spent the next few days without Namjoon, and end up thinking a lot about what he said.

By the end of the third day, you made up your mind.

You will go with him.

Not because you're not on good terms with your ex crush anymore, but because you want to.

You want to work somewhere different, somewhere with a challenge.

And you want to stay with Namjoon.

Going with him is easier than you had expected, sure you'll have to learn the language, but finding a replacement was pretty easy as you had all the routines written down for when you were on a day off. One of your most trusted employees will take over your work, while you'll take the same position in Korea.

Your goodbyes were a little teary, but you knew that this wasn't the last time when you'd see your friends.

Your ex-crush's face was incredibly amusing to see too.

According to Namjoon, you were just as important as he is, and so you ended up in a seat on his private jet to Korea.

Winter was on another plane, but will arrive as the same time as you. ( You had to admit that you were a little unhappy with having your horse on a plane, but the drive to Korea was much longer and would be likely less comfortable for the animal anyway.)

During the plane ride, you were sat beside Namjoon in a luxe plane chair, treated as if you were royalty yourself.

Namjoon was all too happy with how you easily got along with his parents and brothers.

Once you're there, you're instantly out exploring, for the first few hours with Namjoon, and a few hours without.

You note on how bad the horses look. They look a little underfed, and unhappy too.

You're happy to know that you'll be properly taking care of them now.

The next day is directly off to work.

Where you talk with the head caretaker who's apparently very inexperienced in taking care of horses.

You're surprised that he even managed to land a job here, this high up.

Namjoon doesn't manage to talk with you for the next two weeks, as you're both pretty busy.

He's busy with classes and formal stuff, while you're busy with creating a different diets for all horses in the stables.

Some horses had too little power food, and some too much.

You have to replace a lot of horse tack too, and some horses actually need some medical treatment.

For instance, the crown prince's horse, RJ, needed quite some medical assistance. ( Which is obviously scandalous, considering it's a royal horse.)

Some of the horses the King and Queen have for guests are already too old to be riding, yet they're very high spirited, and so you choose to send them off to a horse pension.

After the second week, Namjoon tries to visit you in some of his breaks and free time, but you're still very busy.

It's around another two weeks later when things have finally calmed down for you and you visit him in his office.

The stables aren't too far off, and so you manage to locate yourself in the castle.

Though you don't really know how to go from there.

After 20 minutes of walking around aimlessly, you turn around to find someone who's able to lead the way.

" Y/N dear? Is that you?" The voice of the queen sounds from behind you.

You turn around in surprise, quickly bowing in respect before properly greeting her.

" Your majesty, how good to see you." You smile at her, talking to her as if she's an aunt of you.

" My dear, it's good to see you too. I haven't seen you in a while. Is there too much work on your shoulders to be able to breath?" She asks as she starts to stride alongside of you.

" No your majesty, things were just a bit messy but now that everything's sorted out, I can breathe again." You tell her calmly.

" Ah, I see." She smiles gently.

" How are you your majesty? Had it busy yourself too?" You ask her.

She glances at you before answering.

" Ah, it's been a little stressful. But nothing I can't handle." She tells you honestly.

You nod along to her words.

" I can only imagine." You tell her.

" Are you busy right now?" She asks you as the two of you stop in front of a door.

" No your majesty, is there something I can do for you?" You ask her.

" Would you fancy talking to me over tea? You don't have to of course." She asks, obviously curious.

You smile and nod.

" Sure your majesty."

And so the two of you chat for another 30 minutes. Sure, you were originally going to Namjoon, but talking with his mother is certainly not bad either. Unlike the queen of your home country, Namjoon's mother is a high spirited and curious woman.

" Mother." Someone walks in and nods in greeting to the woman across from you.

"Y/N?" The same voice asks with a surprised, but gentle tone.

" Hey Joon, I was actually on my way to you before I bumped into your mother. " You smile at him.

Namjoon takes in the pleasant sight in front of him with a surprised smile. One that reaches all the way to his dimples.

It's the first time he has ever seen his mother so comfortable to be talking with another woman, not even a princess could bring her in this deep of a comfort zone.

" I assume you want to steal her away from me?" His mother smiles at him before he can actually think of a reply.

He nods.

" Yes, but I can wait if you're having fun together." He tells her.

She shakes her head with a happy smile and shoos the both of you out of the room.

" Nonsense. Have fun together."

You and Namjoon look at each other before the both of you start chuckling.

" I don't think I've ever seen my mother this comfortable around other people." He tells you with a smile.

" How so? She's a pretty fun woman." You tell him honestly.

Namjoon shrugs and holds his elbow out for you to take as he starts walking towards his office, not that you know what it means, as you are a non royal.

You walk alongside him, oblivious to the look he's giving you by not linking your arm in his.

" Not sure." He takes it upon himself to link your arm trough his.

You blush at the contact, and look puzzled at his action.

" It's a way royals usually walk together. You might've seen my parents do so before." He smiles nervously, hoping you get the hint.

He was already crushing on you, hard. But now that he sees how you get along with his family, he's sure of it. He doesn't need a princess to be happy, he needs you.

" Oh, so like this is how you'd walk with princesses and noble women?" You ask.

Namjoon wants to facepalm at your response.

" No, no- Royals walk like this with they're- You know what, nevermind, I just like to walk with you like this. Also, I don't walk like this with a lot of people." He ends up getting flustered at his own answer.

" So, how's the work at the stables going?" He asks, changing topic before you can say something about his behavior.

It works, and the two of you end up talking for the rest of the day in his office, snacking away at his secret snack stash and at some point actually having dinner there too.

" Damn, you're whipped." Are Hoseok's words the next evening.

Namjoon is currently sat with his friends ( his brothers Jin and Taehyung, the royal advisors Jimin, Yoongi and Jackson, dance teacher Hoseok and stable boy Jungkook who they grew up with)

" Yeah I know. But she only just got off an unofficial relationship, I think I need to wait before I can ask her out." Namjoon tells the rest.

" Woah, hold up, my last braincell can't understand this. Unofficial relationship?" Jungkook asks.

Namjoon nods.

" Yes, her crush turned put to be a dick-"

" Joon, I'm sorry to point it out but I get paid for it- don't cuss-" Jackson butts in.

" - they were her exact words tough." Namjoon mumbles.

" If those were her words than she'll move on pretty fast right? I mean girls cuss out their ex when they're officially done with them do they not?" Jimin wonders out loud.

" I think Joon's right, he should be patient-"

" Yoongi, do you actually know stuff about romance?-"

" Shut it brat." Yoongi cuts off Taehyung with a good natured glare.

" I can't wait to see if she stands out to the public." Jin says randomly.

All eyes turn to him, confused by his words.

" The parade is in a two weeks. Considering she's head of the stables, she'll probably be there too right. " Jin points out.

The parade which Jin was talking about is once a year every year, it's a parade in traditional style meant to not forget where the country's origin lies.

Usually Namjoon didn't really like the parade due to the old traditional music and having to sit still for hours, but if it meant that you were there too, it might be a little more bearable.

The rest of the week goes by in a wink. Everyone is mostly busy with preparations and stuff alike. You and Namjoon only have little moments in between to talk and meet up, despite living on a two minute distance.

It isn't until two days before the parade that he has a free spot in his schedule to meet up with you. You don't have a spot free, but he's bothered you enough to know that you're usually able to talk while working.

" Hey Kook' seen Y/N around?" Namjoon asks Jungkook who's cleaning up one of the horses' their stable.

" I think we just had some stuff for the decorations on the tack in, so I think she's working with it in the tack room." He tells the elder with a smug smile before turning back to work.

And so Namjoon walks towards the tack room. While he walks by the stables, he can see the change of the horses. They look healthier, and his very own horse Koya was actually happy to see him for once ( the mare was usually in a bad mood). Winter recognized him too, and happily greeted him and both horses happily accepted the treat he had brought for them.

" Hey. Things look better here." Namjoon greets you as he walks into the tack room.

You look up from the mess you've made on the table, where an array of white, yellow, black, blue and red decorations are spread out.

" Hey. Long time no see." You smile as you greet him with a hug.

He returns it all too easy, his nose greeted by your gentle body mist.

" So, what's this all about?" He asks, motioning to the huge amount of traditional styled tack decorations lying about.

" Decorations for the horse tack. I'm currently sorting everything out." You smile at him.

He blinks at the mess on the table.

" This is sorted out?" He asks.

" Some of it. There's the stuff for Koya by the way, the only thing missing is her norigae but I've heard that she's supposed to wear the same one as you. I was planning to go by your office to ask you for it later, but since you're here anyway...?" You tell him, pointing to the white and red tack.

" Yeah of course. Is this winter's tack?" He asks you, motioning to the yellow and black tack which is lying beside Koya's.

" Yes. I'm only missing a norigae, so I might go to the market later today." You tell him.

Namjoon's eyes shine with an idea as he hears that. Maybe he can sneakily get you to wear his custom norigae too? That way you'd both be matching in a way too.

" Hey, if you want, we can go and get the norigae right now?" He asks you, bringing his idea to life.

You look at your work in tough before nodded.

" Sure, that way Koya's tack is all complete." You smile at him as he holds out his arm to you.

This time you don't look confused, you take it.

You miss the way Jungkook's eyes widen when the two of you walk by him, you also miss the vibrant smile on Namjoon's face as he looks at Jungkook.

Instead of leading you to his office like usual, he leads you to a different part of the castle, where the royal' family's personal chambers are.

" Hey, um, are you sure that I'm allowed in here? I don't want to cause trouble." You tell him.

He nods, unlocking his door and stepping aside to let you in first.

" Yeah, it's me who you're with, so it's all cool. Also, you're allowed here always. I'll give the guards a heads up so they'll know it too. If I'm not at my office, you'll most probably find me here." He tells you as he lets go of you arm and instead laces his fingers with yours, leading the way with a gentle smile.

His quarters are bigger than your apartment in the staff building, there's a hallway, a door to the bedroom, a door to his walk in closet, a door to the bathroom and an opening to the livingroom.

" Quite a big apartment you have Joonie." You tell him as you look all over the place.

He doesn't even realize what you're saying, the only thing that reaches his ears is the nickname you've just called him by.

" Joonie?" He asks with pink ears.

You smile with a blush.

" Oh, I'm sorry, your royal highness." You tease him.

He laughs with you, and shakes his head.

" I think I like Joonie better." He winks at you before opening the door to the walk in closet, pulling you in with him.

In the room there are rows upon rows of clothing, each sectioned. There's casual, nightwear, outdoor activities, formal and traditional.

He opens one of the doors of ( what you geuss to be) a closet full with accessories.

You're not wrong, and he pulls out a wooden box with elegant carvings, putting it down on one of the dressers and opening it.

" Pick which one you think looks best by Koyas'." He tells you as he motions to the norigae in the box. Unlike the rest, there isn't a lot of it.

Koya's accessories are white and red themed, like all royal horses' are, and just to your luck, Namjoon owns one which would suit it, the design actually much the same as the Koya's actual tack.

" This one looks nice." You tell him as you point to the white and red one.

" You can take it with you, I know you're a neat person anyway." He smiles, nervous for his own question.

" Anything which you like?" He asks you, the tips of his ears turning pink once again.

You turn to look at him with wide eyes.

" What? I'm not allowed, you know?" You tell him, your eyes holding a sadness he can't explain and turning your head away from him.

" They don't need to know." He tells you softly, lifting your chin up gently.

You blush. Hard. At his actions.

You don't make a move to look at the norigae either, and so he takes it upon himself to do so.

He takes a yellow and black one and shows it to you, the decorative accessory more of an art work.

" What about this one?" He asks you.

You shake your head.

" It's too extravagant.... If you're really okay with it, can I borrow this one?" You ask him, motioning to a minimum decorated yellow one.

" Of course." He smiles as he takes that one off and the same one in black, handing both to you.

" One for your horse, and one for you." He smiles cheekily, not looking into you eyes, but instead putting both of them into your palm.

When he looks up at you again, there's a soft look in your eyes, filled with something he can't explain.

Suddenly the room's a little hot, and his hands start to feel clammy.

Were you two going to kiss?

However, he's left a little disappointed when you clear your throat, clearing the tension with it.

" I should get back to work." You say.

He snaps out of his trance and nods.

" Yeah. Same." He responds lamely.

You look at him again before making your next move.

" Thank you." You say softly as you kiss his cheek before walking away.

The small kiss on his cheek is all Namjoon can think about for the next few days, up until the day of the parade.

The day of the parade starts off hectic as per usual.

There's Jimin and Taehyung being serious for once ( which makes them very suspicious.) There's Yoongi looking for Seokjin every five minutes, the royal advisor tired of chasing after the future king every day. And then there's Jackson who let Namjoon sleep in for a bit.

Jackson ( Namjoon's advisor) has always been able to balance everything perfectly. Today is no different. Though Namjoon wakes up fairly early, and therefore decides to start the day by himself, he does inform Jackson of where he is and what he's doing.

He knows in the back of his mind that he doesn't really need to, about everyone knows that he's at the stables if he's not in his office or private chambers.

The stables are a mess and very busy. In fact, it's so chaotic that Jungkook doesn't even realize that Namjoon's standing there, who's standing outside and readying the carriages.

It takes around 10 minutes before Jungkook actually notices the prince, who's leaning against a stable wall.

" Oh. Morning hyung. How long have you been standing there?" Jungkook greets him, bowing his head.

" Not too long. An-"

" Y/N's at the main stables, she's was working on getting Mangs' mane braided last time I checked." Jungkook smiles at his hyung who's speechless.

" Thanks." He says puzzled.

A few minutes later he's at Mang's stable, and you appear to be working on Chimmy's braids now. There's a Bluetooth box in the corner of the stables, playing one of the many songs you've let him hear before.

In comparison to the rest of the stables, it's pretty chill here. It's just you, and a few of your coworkers, who're preparing the tack of the royal horses. Namjoon can spot the norigae you've picked out for Koya standing proud on his bearing strap.

" It seems you've got the situation under your control." Namjoon tells you, making you turn around.

At the sound of his voice, your coworkers immediately greet him with respect, and Namjoon nods his head back to each of them.

You smile and greet him with a hug.

" Yeah, we've been preparing for a week now so we didn't have to do everything last minute for a reason. How're things going in the castle?" You ask him as you move back to Chimmy, going back to braiding.

" Pretty good actually-" He's cut off by the vibrations of his own phone, and he barely excuses himself as he takes it.

" Namjoon, Where are you? I have called you six times already. Your stylist arrived ten minutes ago. Hurry up to your closet!" Jackson's voice screams trough the phone.

" Oh, um, it appears I have to go. I'll see you at the parade?" He asks.

You nod at him, and as he leaves, one of your coworkers turns to you with a silly smirk.

" So, you and prince Namjoon, huh?" He hears her teasing voice, which causes him to leave with pink ears.

The rest of the time passes by in a heartbeat, and before he knows it, he's standing in front of the castle, waving at the press and citizens.

Soon after he's with the rest of the royal family in the royal carriage, and he can see you on Winter on the side, ready to ride off with him.

He secretly wishes that you're seated right beside him, though he knows that that's for now a lot to ask.

Winter's norigae is also proudly displayed, as is yours. He's surprised at how neat Winter's posture is. The horse's head is usually held high with his ears forward, ready to explore the world. Right now his head is bent like the dressage horse he's supposed to be.

Then everyone is setting off as scheduled.

Taehyung's eyes catch someone looking rather suspicious to the side after about an hour or two.

The male was wearing all black, standing out from the colourful festive. He wasn't smiling or cheering, just stood completely still.

He looked at the figure more carefully, not wanting to create drama out of nothing.

He changed his mind as the suspicious male catches his eyes, and smirks at the prince.

He turns to Jin, who's sitting beside him, but before he's even fully turned, there's suddenly a loud bomb going off.

Everyone sets into panic, especially the horses.

Namjoon is worried about not only his people now, but especially his staff and more important to him, you.

He can only watch as the person who's driving the carriage sets the horses loose, and is left perplexed when you run after it with Winter.

And then he's demanding to get off the damn carriage because he wants to help you.

There's the distinct yelling of his title trough his mind, but he doesn't pay any mind to it. All he can focus on is helping you.

" Prince Kim Namjoon! Listen to your king and-" His father's sentence is cut off as he closes the carriage door behind him and walks off into the forest he's seen you disappear into.

He doesn't make it far into the forest before one of the guards is pulling him back to his family, who're now sitting in a bulletproof car.

"Namjoon, what are you thinking?! You've not only put yourself in danger by stepping out of the carriage but us too! Not to mention the citizens. What's wrong with you?!" His father screams at him in anger.

Seokjin and Taehyung are worried upon looking at the panicked look on their brother's face.

"She's out there."

His mother understands what's happening by hearing that sentence.

He's in love with you.

His father gets it too, and sighs before looking at his wife, both of them sharing worried glances.

His father panics, and decides that Namjoon is to stay in his chambers for the rest of the night.

Instead Namjoon sneaks out, making his way to the staff dorms. He halts at the door, not sure on which number to ring.

After all, he's never been at your place.

Luckily for him, one of the maids who just finished her shift spotted him, and asks him if she can help him.

" Any idea what Y/N L/N's house number is?" He asks her sheepishly.

She smiles and nods.

" Yes, but if you're looking for her, She's still at the stables, inspecting the horses." She tells him.

He blinks at her before thanking her and running off.

It's around 23' at night now, and the incident was around 17' in the afternoon.

Worry fills his eyes as he spots you in the stables.

You're now talking with the horses' vet, but your clothes have blood on them.

He's got no idea if it's yours or the horses, but he just hopes that it's neither.

He hears you and the vet greet each other a goodbye and rushes to your side.

" Hey, are you okay?" Is the first thing that he asks you.

You jump as you turn around, your tired eyes making contact with his.

" Woah, you scared me there. And yeah, I'm fine, just a few scratches." You wave him off, though the blood on your shirt tells him another story.

It's not seeping through dramatically, it's mostly dry, but Namjoon can't help but worry as your undershirt is matted with dirt and there's lines of blood on it too, as tough You've been cut.

" Are you sure that it doesn't hurt? We can take you to the doctor in the castle? I'm sure he won't mind-"

" I'm fine Joon, honestly. The cuts aren't something I can't treat myself." You smile at him tiredly yet in a reassuring way, something that touches his heart.

" Thank god. Also, why're you still here? Are the horses injured?" He asks you.

You sigh and nod, walking over to Rj's stable.

" Some yeah. Especially Rj, he's always been a bad jumper, especially today when he ended up stuck on a fallen tree trunk. And it was about 19' when I had managed to get all the horses with the rest of the staff. I dismissed them all after that and decided to help the vet myself." You tell Joon as you look at the white horse who's leaning heavily on three of his legs, the fourth being stitched and bandaged.

" You didn't even eat dinner yet?" He asks, eyes wide.

You shrug and nod.

" Yeah, but it's fine, don't worry about it. Now if you don't mind, I really want to go home. So I'll be locking up the stables, if you still want to talk, feel free to come with me to my humble home." You tell him as you collect your stuff and turn towards the entrance.

He's quick to catch up to you, wordlessly taking your stuff for you.

Moments later he's stood in the kitchen, exploring your cabinets on what to make you while you're in the shower.

You've told him to make himself comfortable while you'd freshen up, but he wants to make you something so you didn't have to make yourself dinner.

However, Joon can't cook, as he has never been taught. From the three princes, only the eldest knows how to.

And so he ends up following a recipe, which doesn't turn out great either.

And so when you step out of the shower, you hurry to the kitchen due to the smell of fire.

You're very surprised to see the prince just standing there, in front of the stove, looking more confused than panicked.

He's scratching the back of his head and you hear him mumbling "Is it supposed to smell like this?"

His question is quickly answered by you hastily turning off the stove and turning on the extractor.

" You don't cook very often do you?" You ask him dryly, folding your arms over one another.

He's lowkey disappointed by his failure of being husband material, and it shows on his face.

" Sorry. I wanted to make you dinner so you wouldn't have to after such a long day." He tells you guiltily with a small pout, which turns you soft.

You smile at him due to his antics.

" That's real sweet, but I was planning on simple ramen." You tell him.

And so the two of you end up making ramen together ( as he's very set on letting you do as little as possible.)

About thirty minutes later, the two of you are seated on the sofa, each a bowl of ramen in your grasp as he's looking for a good movie, and a blanket thrown over your laps.

The distance between you two is smaller than it's appropriate for a prince and his staff member, and you both love it.

Moments later, the two of you are done with dinner, and Namjoon watches worriedly as you sleepily blink at the screen and keep switching positions, unable to find a comfortable one.

" You know, if you're uncomfortable, you can lean on me, I don't mind."

The words leave his mouth before he can think about it twice.

No words leave your mouth before you're snuggling against him, legs thrown over the couch, folded sideways, blanket pulled up to your chin and your head resting on his shoulder.

He's only too happy with your reaction, and wraps an arm around you in response, pulling you even closer.

The two of you watch most of the unimportant movie in silence, until Namjoon hears your light snores.

The sight that greets him makes him just realize how deep in he is once again.

You're literally drooling on his shirt, yet he still finds your visuals pleasing to the eye.

He's whipped and he knows it.

He turns off the tv before moving you to the bedroom.

He really didn't plan to sleep over, but once he's dropped you off on your bed, ( literally, almost falling on top of you himself) you don't let go of him.

And so he just sleeps over, and he's happy he came in sweats and a sweater.

The next morning, you wake up without an alarm, you wake up in the prince's arms.

Which leaves you very flustered.

Because as far as you're concerned, you're supposed to take the morning shift at the stables today.

The first thing you do is check your phone, something you haven't done since you called the vet for the horses.

You're greeted by kind messages of the other staff from the stables, and they let you have a day off as you were working from 6 am to 11 pm yesterday.

And so you set on making breakfast.

Meanwhile Namjoon's slowly waking up in your room.

Luckily for him, he's off duty until around 15', and it's now about 10'.

Pleased with the time, he reaches out for you, only to realize that you're not there.

He's not really in the mood to stay lazy in bed, and so he comes to join you in the kitchen.

The sight that greets him there makes him feel fuzzy, again.

You're not even doing anything specific, just flipping pancakes while you're wearing this huge shirt and sweats, your hair pulled up in the most unorganized bun he's ever seen.

But he loves it. He really does.

" Morning." He murmurs lowly in your ear as he hugs you from behind in greeting.

You jump, but relax soon after.

" Morning sleepyhead. Slept well?" You ask him.

He smiles.

" I did but when I woke up you weren't there anymore." He pouts.

Meanwhile his parents were figuring out on what to do.

" Well, what do you suggest? Our boy is in love. And what's wrong with that? She's a nice woman." The queen tells her husband as they're talking in one of the yards, enjoying the weather.

"Of course there's nothing wrong with that, but she's a peasant. He'd be breaking tradition, and I don't want anyone using that against him, nor do I want someone to use the woman's former title against her." The king tells her.

His wife looks at him in surprise.

"You don't have anything against her?"

" Of course not honey, why would I?" The king asks her.

" You didn't really seem to like her in the carriage ride." She tells him pointedly.

" I admit, I had to think about it, but she's indeed nice. and Namjoon's obviously in love with her." The king said with a small smile.

" Then I suggest we let it be up to him."

When Joon came back home, a fortunate surprise was waiting for him, the 'okay' of his parents.

When he heard so, he was shook, but happy out of his mind.

Soon his group of friends knew it, and not too long after, his staff too (though they lowkey were already).

Next up he started planning everything out, and with everything, I mean like too much.

He's starting to think about on how to ask you, and on what to wear, whenether to take you on a date or straight up ask you out.

It's not until a few days later that he admits his feelings.

The two of you are simply cuddled up together, doing absolutely nothing, simply talking about life and complaining about Yoongi's horse riding skills.

It's already late at night, and it only settles the mood.

It doesn't go according to plan though, instead of being cute and asking you out with a fancy sign and everything, the two are laid on the couch, you in his arms as the two of you lay saggedly against one another. And he literally goes;

" Did you know that I have the biggest crush on you?"

It's not planned, he didn't even mean to say it.

It just happened.

All you did was laugh at a really bad joke he made, and it just came out.

He blushed hard, as you now get up to face him.

" Wait, are you serious?" You ask him, eyes wide.

He swallows, and stays silent, not entirely sure on what to say. It takes him a moment before he answers.

" I, uhm, yeah. I do."

He says it so cutely you have to keep yourself from chuckling at him.

He adjusts his position, now sitting up too, except he's leaning his back against the couch.

You don't take too long to respond, instead being pretty quick.

" You mean, I could've asked you out a whole while earlier, and you would've said yes?" You ask him.

He nods, at first normally, softly, then suddenly vigorously.

" Of course I would! Have you seen yourself? You're one heck of a woman!" He exclaims.

Now it's your turn to blush.

" Okay, uhm, wait- I know this pick up line and- I think you got your pronouns wrong, instead of he/him it should be you're/mine." You pop suddenly adding to the moment.

Joon laughs at that, throwing his head back.

He bites his lip once he's calmed down again.

" I mean, I guess you're right. In a way.- Mind if I kiss you?"

The two of you are suddenly moving fast, very fast, but neither of you are bothered.

The two of you have been good friends since a while back anyway, and this really didn't bother either of you.

You've simply waited way too long for each other either way, it appeared.

" Oh, yes. Please do-"

You can barely finish, before he's pressing his lips to yours.

#bts #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hobi #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #x reader #bts x reader #bts royal au #bts prince au #kim namjoon x reader #idkeitherman #bts ff #bts fluff #lil bit of angst

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freedom-of-writing · 3 years

Text

The Stable Girl

Chapter 2 – The night shift

That had felt like a never-ending day. After her encounter with Nicole, Waverly had joined her father to watch the first round of the tournament. Luckily, some of the oldest suitors were immediately eliminated, but it was not like the remaining contestants were much better. Everyone’s favorite, Lord Hardy, was a good-looking young man of about Waverly’s age, which made the princess root for him as well. But even though he was strong and really good at riding a horse, he was all but smart and educated. At least that was the impression he gave Waverly that evening as she listened to him having a conversation with the other men in the dining room. That almost made the princess wish sir Robinson would win the tournament and marry her. Said sir was a middle-aged man, but he had such polite manners and he was always so kind when he addressed her in conversation. Plus, she would never tire of listening to the stories of his many travels around the realm. He had seen pretty much everything there was to see, and could speak eight languages at best. He even owned a library that might have been bigger than the one they had there in Purgatory. He would have been the perfect match if only he were younger.

“What about the blonde one?” Waverly was brought back from her thoughts by Chrissy’s voice.

After a three-hour-long dinner, she and her handmaids had retired to her room. Obviously, Chrissy and Stephanie had wasted no time in getting into their usual blabbering. The two were now talking about their favorite contestants as Waverly was sitting by the window not really paying attention to the conversation.

“Wait, sir Thomas?”

“Ew, no! That man could be my grandpa. I was talking about Lord Reynard.”

“Oh, the one with hair for days and beautiful ocean eyes? I think I may have fallen in love with him…” Stephanie said in a dreaming tone.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ve only seen him one.”

“They call it love at first sight for a reason…”

“What are you, seven? Love at first sight only exists in fairytales, Steph.” Chrissy mocked her.

“That’s not true… it’s a real thing. Right, Waves?”

When in public, the two young women would use all the courtesies in need, but when it was just the three of them, they still addressed Waverly in informal terms like when they were kids.

“Oh c’mon, Waves, you gotta back me up on this one? You know I’m right.”

“Steph, I’m sorry, but… Chrissy’s right. Love at first sight only happens in the books.” Waverly agreed with Chrissy, although she was not so sure the girl was actually right.

The truth was, she had stopped believing in such things as love at first sight at a very young age. But after her encounter with a certain ginger girl… well, she might have been starting to reconsider her views on the matter. Maybe love at first sight did exist after all. Wait! Was she actually pondering the idea that she might have been… no, come on, that was ridiculous. She had only just met her.

Her trail of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a carrier pigeon who had landed right outside her window. Her friends watched her curiously as she opened the window and took the piece of paper from the bird’s claw. They got closer as she closed the window and proceeded to unroll the note, but Waverly made sure they couldn’t read the message on it. She had come to learn from experience that, sometimes, keeping secrets from them was for the best. Those girls were just too nosy.

I’m on night shift, wanna keep me company? I’ll be under the oak tree by the stables. Nicole.

Waverly couldn’t help but smile her brightest smile as she read the note. It was crazy. She had only known this woman for a few hours, and she already felt so drawn to her. She could almost feel butterflies in her stomach just at the idea of getting to spend more time with Nicole. But first, she needed an excuse to leave her room.

“What’s gotten you all smiling there?” Chrissy asked when she folded the note and put it down.

“OMG! Is it a special message from a special someone?” Stephanie exclaimed all excited.

“Did one of the lords send you a love note?”

“Was it lord Hardy?”

“He was totally eating you with his eyes this afternoon.”

“And he’s so dreamy.”

Oh boy… she needed to stop them before they took it too far.

“It’s actually just Wynonna. She wishes me a happy birthday and says she’ll try and be home soon.” Waverly lied.

“Oh.” Both Chrissy and Stephanie said in a rather disappointed tone.

Okay, so now that the explanation for the note was done, she still needed to find a way to get out of her room without getting caught by the guards, and especially without her nosy friends finding out about Nicole. Not much because she didn’t want anyone to know she was hanging out with the stable girl. Mostly, she needed space and time to understand how she really felt about this woman, which was all very new to her. And to be completely honest, a part of her was already extremely jealous of Nicole and did not like the idea of having to share her new friend with her old ones. She had to think fast. What could have been a good excuse to have the girls leave her room? Maybe that she felt sick and… no that wasn’t going to work. When a princess is sick her handmaids are expected to tend to her not leave her. Okay, c’mon Waves, think of something else! She looked down at the note in her hand, and suddenly she got an idea.

“You know what, I think I’m going to write Wynonna a letter. Tell her everything about the tournament and the handsome lords I got to meet these past few days...” Waverly told her friends. Chrissy and Stephanie knew that meant she wanted to be alone.

“Oh okay…” Stephanie said sounding disappointed once again.

“Yeah, it’s pretty late actually. We’d better go to bed.” Chrissy added. “See you tomorrow at seven?”

Waverly nodded in agreement and smiled sweetly at them.

“Goodnight, Waves.” They both said as they gave her a quick hug.

“Night, girls.”

Luckily, Stephanie and Chrissy had already helped her out of her silver dress and into a night gown, which she could easily take off on her own. She just needed to find a comfy dress to wear and then she was ready to go see Nicole.

--------------------------------------------------

Apparently finding the right dress to wear was easier said than done. Waverly had spent a good half an hour staring at the dresses in her closet without being able to choose which one was suited for the occasion. She didn’t want it to be too fancy, but she also wanted to look good, not casual. It’s crazy how you can have a closet full of clothes and still feel like you have got nothing to wear for a special occasion. At last, she settled for a lilac dress, consisting of a short-sleeved lace top and a long skirt, whose color perfectly matched the flowers still pinned to her hair. She didn’t put any make up on, and opted for a comfy pair of sandals which were better than heels for walking on the grass.

When she was ready, she slipped out of her room, and got out of the castle using secret passages only she and Wynonna, and the servants, knew. When she was positive no one had seen her, she started walking towards the stables as quietly as possible. As written in the note, Waverly found Nicole sitting on a bench under the large oak tree by the stables. A big lantern was hanging from a low branch right over her head to lighten the pages of the book she was reading. The title said something about a knight, but Waverly couldn’t make it all out. Whatever it was, it must have been really interesting because Nicole was completely immersed into it and didn’t even notice her arrival. Clearing her throat, Waverly was finally able to catch the woman’s attention. Closing her book, Nicole looked up at her and greeted her with a sweet smile. Waverly returned the smile nervously, but said nothing. She didn’t really know what to do. Would it be okay if she just sat on the bench next to her? Nicole must have noticed her hesitation, because she quickly scooted over to leave more room on the bench for Waverly to sit.

“Thanks.” Waverly said in a shy tone as she sat down. “I didn’t know stable girls had night shifts.” She added after a moment.

“We do when the stables are filled with royal horses.” Nicole tried to explain, even though it was clearly just a lie. Everyone knew there was a camp by the village where all the horses and the servants of the king guests were to stay. But luckily Waverly made no remark about it, to which Nicole was extremely grateful. To be honest, she had spent all afternoon thinking about the princess trying to come up with an excuse to meet her again. Truth be told, she had seen Waverly around the castle before, and she definitely found her really attractive, but her interest in the princess grew even bigger after she finally got that chance to talk to her. What Waverly had said about feeling trapped in a life that was not hers to choose, she could really relate to that.

“May I see?” Waverly asked pointing to the book in Nicole’s hands. She didn’t really know how to start a conversation, so maybe talking about the book could help.

“Oh. It’s…”

“The Knight of Hearts.” Waverly read out loud when Nicole showed her the cover. “Oh, I’ve never heard of it. Is it good?”

“It’s actually my favorite book. I’ve read it like a million times.” Nicole said sounding a bit embarrassed.

“Well then, I’m gonna have to borrow it sometimes.”

Waverly’s words made Nicole regain all her confidence. “Ask and it shall be yours.” She stated in very which made Waverly chuckle in amusement.

The two of them looked at each other in silence for a moment. Nicole couldn’t help but stare at Waverly, who looked even more beautiful when she smiled. Her adoring gaze surely did not go unnoticed because Waverly started blushing and quickly averted her eyes from her.

“So how did the tournament go?” Nicole asked trying to end the awkwardness of the moment.

“It was…” Waverly trailed off as she searched for the right words to describe how she felt about it. Truth was, the tournament itself wasn’t so bad, and everyone seemed to be having a really great time, it just was…

“Not your thing?” Nicole concluded for her.

Wait what?! How… that’s exactly what she was going to say, how did she do that?

“Is it that obvious?” Waverly asked trying to hide her surprise.

“Well, from the way you were talking about it earlier, it definitely didn’t sound like your kinda afternoon.”

“Yeah well… I’m not even sure I know what my kinda afternoon looks like anymore...”

“Mmm…” Nicole hummed in thought. “Well… my kind of afternoon includes a trip to the lake, with a nice book to read seated under a tree… and maybe some animals to play around with. And a bucket of snacks, obviously. I could never go anywhere without snacks. Eating is kind of my passion.” Nicole concluded with a shrug.

Waverly chuckled lightly at that. It actually sounded like a great way to spend the afternoon. A little bit lonely though… She thought when she realized Nicole didn’t mention the presence of someone else with her. “Sounds like someone doesn’t like sharing her snacks with anybody.” She joked.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind sharing them with a pretty lady for sure.” Nicole said with a smirk, causing Waverly to blush again.

But this time she did not look away. Instead, she chose to play along. “Maybe we could do it sometimes. I haven’t been to the lake in forever.”

That made Nicole smile brightly. Was the princess really offering to spend an afternoon together, just the two of them? She couldn’t believe this was really happening. But before she could get too excited about it, she remembered Waverly would be married to a charming prince or lord real soon, and there was no way she could compete with that. All she had to offer was a bucket of snacks, and a book to read.

“I’m sure your prince will bring you to the lake any time you want once you’re married.”

“I’d rather go alone…”

“I’m sorry…” Nicole immediately regretted having said that when she heard the sad tone in Waverly’s voice. “I shouldn’t have brought that up, we were having a nice conversation, and…”

“It’s okay. Don’t even worry about it. Sooner or later, I’ll have to make peace with it.” Waverly sighed heavily.

Nicole couldn’t stand seeing her like that. She needed to do something to cheer her up. “But in the meantime… How would you like a midnight snack?” Nicole offered. And when Waverly looked at her confused, she continued to explain. “I know the perfect spot for a picnic under the stars. C’mon.”

Without giving Waverly time to answer or realize what was happening, Nicole grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. Then she started walking past the stables towards sir Nedley’s house. It was actually just a cottage built nearby, where the guardian of the stables lived. The old man had worked for the royal family ever since he was a teenager. At the beginning he was just a stable boy like the others, but with time he had gained the respect and trust of the king, Waverly’s father, who put him in charge of the stables as head and guardian.

“Wait. Are you sure we can get inside?” Waverly asked in a worried tone when Nicole moved to push the front door open.

“Of course we can. It’s my house too. Just… keep it quiet, we don’t wanna wake Nedley.”

“Hold on a sec, you live with sir Nedley?”

“Where else would I live?” Nicole sounded confused. What was so weird about her living here? She honestly couldn’t understand why the information surprised Waverly that much.

“I just thought you lived in Purgatory like all the other boys…”

Oh right. Nicole finally understood. “My family’s not from here. I had nowhere else to go. Since Chrissy has officially moved into the castle, he gave me her room.”

“Nicole, is that you?” A voice came from inside the cottage.

Shit! Nedley! What the hell was he doing awake so late? Nicole quickly motioned for Waverly to go hide around the corner before responding.

“Yeah, it’s me!” She said as she opened the front door. “I’m just here to get some sna-”

“Nicole, it’s almost midnight what the hell were you doing still out there?” Sir Nedley interjected in a very fatherlike tone.

“I’m… I…” Come on, Nicole, think! Just find a quick excuse. “Shine wasn’t feeling well so I thought I’d spend the night by his stall. Just to make sure it’s nothing serious. But don’t worry, I got it covered. You go back to sleep, and I will take care of the horse.” She reassured quickly as a worried wrinkle formed on the man’s forehead.

Sir Nedley didn’t seem very convinced, but he chose to believe her anyways. Stepping to the side, he let Nicole get in and grab the snacks she came looking for. She was back only a couple minutes later with a huge wooden bucket.

From her hiding spot, Waverly could see sir Nedley handing her a blanket as well. “Here, take this. It’s getting cold out there. We already have a sick horse, I don’t want a sick help as well.” He tried to make it sound like a professional worry, but it was clear he really cared.

“Thanks.”

“Just… call me if you need any help, okay?”

Nicole nodded and smiled gratefully at him. “Goodnight.”

“Night…” And with that the old man stepped back inside and closed the door.

With a sigh of relief, Nicole motioned for Waverly to come out of her hiding spot.

“Well, that was close…” Waverly said as she reached the redhead. “We gotta be careful. If someone sees me and tells my father…”

“Because I’m the stable girl.”

“No!” Waverly almost shouted, but then remembered Nedley could hear her. “Look, everything good that I’ve had in my life, my father’s ruined it. I just don’t wanna lose you.” She explained and her words made Nicole smile her brightest smile.

“Well, the place I told you about, it’s a secret spot. No one will find us there.” Nicole reassured her. “C’mon.” She said handing Waverly the blanket and taking her hand.

They walked hand in hand for a good twenty minutes, and for the first time, the silence did not feel awkward at all. Waverly let Nicole lead her across the garden and it felt like she was a little girl all over again, discovering new places and admiring nature’s beauty. There was something about the tall trees of the woods surrounding the garden that always terrified her. Especially in the night, when the trees cast long shadows on the grass as the moon shone bright upon them. The silence was just as terrifying as the dark because it left room for her thoughts to resonate, and sometimes they just got too loud. But not that night. Nicole’s warm hand firmly leading her through the woods made her feel safe and the redhead was the only thing on her mind.

When a sudden noise came from above them, Waverly jumped a little, but Nicole immediately reassured her with a light squeeze of her hand. “It’s probably just a squirrel.”

Waverly smiled at her, but it was quick and she didn’t look very convinced.

“C’mon. We’re almost there.” Nicole tried again, tugging at her arm lightly.

This time Waverly nodded and followed her. All of a sudden, the two of them found themselves in a beautiful opening amongst the trees. It was like a secret garden right in the middle of the woods. Nicole was right, the trees surrounding them created a sort of wall that made it impossible for people to see them there. It was the perfect hidden spot. And it was breathtaking.

“Wow…” Waverly looked around in awe.

“And you haven’t seen the best part yet. Look up.”

Waverly did as she said and found herself facing the most beautiful starry sky she had ever seen. The Milky Way ran right above their heads in thousands shades of yellow and white.

“It’s pretty magical, isn’t it?”

“It’s… wow.” That was all she managed to say. She was completely speechless in front of such beauty.

“It will look even better if you lay down.” Nicole said putting down the basket and taking the blanket from Waverly to set it onto the grass.

“M’lady.” Nicole bowed jokingly at her as invitation to sit down.

Waverly chuckled at lightly at that. “Why, thank you.” She played along as she let Nicole help her down onto the blanket.

“You like apple pie, right?” Nicole asked as she opened the basket and took out a plate with a huge slice of pie.

“Love it.”

Nicole smiled and handed her that plate and a small fork.

“Wait, what about you?”

“Oh, there was only one slice left. It’s okay, you have it. I’ll have a glass of juice.”

“What? No, no way! We can share it.”

“You sure?” Nicole sounded a bit surprised. She genuinely did not think the princess would ever be up for sharing food with a stable girl.

“Of course! It’s your midnight snack after all, right?”

Nicole smiled at her and took out another fork from the basket as well as two glasses and a bottle of orange juice.

“Mmm. It’s delicious.” Waverly stated as she tasted the pie.

“Nedley made it this morning.” she said as she filled the glasses. “But don’t tell anyone he’s a good cook. It’s kind of his secret passion.”

------------------------------------------

When they were done with the pie and the juice, they lay down side by side to star gaze. The air was cool, but the woolen blanket underneath them was enough to stay warm. As they looked up at the sky, they started talking about anything and everything. And so, Waverly learned that Nicole was 26, only a year younger than Wynonna, and she came from a small village in the south. She had left home at 18 and hadn’t spoken to her parents since. Apparently, her family did not take her wish to become a knight of the king’s guard very well.

“The king’s army is no place for a peasant. And even less so for a girl.” Her father had told her the day she left.

It hadn’t taken long for Nicole to find out that her father was probably right, and becoming a knight was easier said than done. But she was too proud and stubborn to go back. So for the first 5 years, she had kept on the move, heading north to pursue her dream. Working as a waitress in several taverns, she had managed to gain enough money to buy herself a wooden sword first, and then a real one. She didn’t really know how to use it properly, but owning one seemed like a great first step in the right direction. In Kork, a small city halfway up on the road to Purgatory, she had made friends with a bunch of boys, rookies in their lord’s army. She and the boys had come to an agreement: in exchange of a free drink every night, they would let Nicole come and spar with them in her free time. And so, soon enough, she had become a better swordsman than most. She had been in Kork for almost 6 months when the War of the Free Cities broke out. Seven armies battled each other for over a year, destroying every city, town and village that was on their way. Nicole’s friends and the lord’s army tried their best to defend Kork and its people, but they fell under the attack of the Storm, an army of ruthless mercenaries under the command of lord Clootie. As their name gave out, everything was torn apart on their passage.

“They slaughtered everyone…” Nicole sat up as a lump formed in her throat. “Men, women… even the children.” She continued, fighting back the tears.

“My God…” Waverly looked at her in shock as she sat up as well.

“I somehow got myself onto a horse and fled. I roamed around the woods for days, heading north and hoping the trees would hide me from those monsters.”

“Oh Nicole…” Waverly grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“I don’t exactly know how I got to the next town. One night I was sleeping under a tree, and the next day I woke up into a warm stall next to my horse. Somebody must’ve saved me and brought me there, but the guardian of the stables swore he had seen nothing.”

For the past couple of years, she had worked as a stable girl for the Cullies, a rich family who ruled over the town of Tombstone. As creepy as its name was, the town was actually a very peaceful place to live. The whole town was surrounded by tall wall, and built on the top of a hill. Isolated as it was, it had never feared an attack from any near cities. And its lords had always been fair and peaceful rulers who had never engaged into a war. Nicole was happily welcomed into their home and was always treated with great respect by everybody. Peasant or noble, it didn’t matter at Tombstone, everyone was free. So servants weren’t really servants. Most of the time they were just orphans or poor people working for the Cullies in exchange of a place to stay. They were like a big family, and Nicole loved it there. Gregory, the guardian, was like a grandfather to all the stable boys and stable girls. Ha taught them how to take care of the horse and each other, and gave them life advice all the time. In his seventy-six years on this earth, he had seen all and done all, and everyone, from the lords to the servants, loved to hear his infinite stories. Unfortunately, last winter he got really sick. He still made it through, stubborn as always, but by the time the hot season came, his body was just too weak to recover. The old man passed on a warm summer night, but before he died, he gave each of his kids a letter and a gift. No one had secrets with him, which meant he knew exactly what each one of them really needed. And so, Nicole was given a young chestnut mare, strong and full of energy.

You got the sword, kiddo, but you can’t be a knight without a horse. Take good care of my Flicka, she’s yours now. And there’s one more thing: I got a nephew in Purgatory, his name is Randy. He’s waiting for you at the king’s castle. This is your chance to get where you wanted, kid, don’t let it go to waste. You’re an extraordinary woman, Nicole, and I know it in my heart that you’ll make a great knight. You just gotta believe it too. Remember: no dream is too big. May your name sound high in the infinity of the sky. Until we meet again.

That was the letter he had left her. Flicka was a young chestnut mare, beautiful and strong and full of energy. She was exactly the kind of horse a knight would want to ride onto. And so, about a month ago Nicole had arrived in Purgatory, where sir Nedley had welcomed her with open arms. Life at the king’s castle was very different from the one she had gotten used to in Tombstone. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the Earps were nothing like the Cullies, and that sir Nedley was going to be the only friend she had. At least until that day.

“I’m really glad I met you.” Nicole told Waverly when she was done with her story. She almost regretted saying that, but Waverly quickly gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand lightly.

“And I’m really glad you found me.”

They remained like that, smiling and staring at each other for a moment, but when Nicole tried to lean in, Waverly turned and looked away. She wanted to kiss her, really, but she wasn’t ready. Not yet. They had just met; this was crazy. How could she have been so drawn to her already?

“Sorry…” Nicole apologized and cursed herself for pushing it too far too quick.

“We should probably head back now. The tournament starts at 9 tomorrow, I’d better try and get some sleep.�� Waverly said trying to get out of this situation.

“Right, yeah, of course. I… I’d better get back to stables. Just in case Nedley comes to check on me.”

With that they both got up and started gathering everything up. Once they were packed and ready, Nicole walked Waverly back to the castle.

“So, hum…” Waverly stopped and turned to look at Nicole once they got in front of the side door she had used to sneak out.

“I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow?” Nicole asked hesitantly. She was really hoping she hadn’t fuck everything up.

“Yeah.” Waverly nodded with a small smile, which was immediately returned by Nicole.

Waverly couldn’t help but notice a little worry wrinkle on Nicole’s forehead. She had to let her know it was okay. That what happened tonight didn’t ruin anything. After a moment of hesitation, she leaned forward and gave Nicole a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Goodnight.” She said sweetly when she leaned back.

“Night.” Nicole said beaming and blushing a little.

And with Waverly walked into the castle while Nicole turned to head back to the stables.

---------------------------------------

Chapter 1 - Waverly’s birthday

#Wynonna Earp #Bring Wynonna Home #waverly earp #nicole haught #wayhaught #wayhaught au #fanfiction #fanfic

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mourntheantagonist · 3 years

Note

I'm so sorry to hear that you're sick 💛 I hope things are as good as they can be for you. Take care of yourself 💛

And OH, Harringrove and the Party headcanons?

I love the idea of the Party playing D&D at Steve's (because he provides the best snacks and has a big TV they can watch later and a proper rec room and El and Max come round and go in the pool when they get bored instead of trying to drag the boys away BUT mostly because they love Steve!)

And anyway. Steve joins in sometimes, but only for causal games because he never really had the attention span for it, so mostly he and Billy just do their own thing. Cuddles on the sofa or cooking together or something like that.

Except one time.

When they're watching a movie and Billy's getting distracted by the argument the kids are having over their plan for the super important quest. And Steve wonders if he's getting upset by the raised voices (because Dustin and Mike especially have pretty heated arguments at times) but then Billy growls in annoyance and strides into the rec room.

And Steve panics, thinking he's angry at the kids for making so much noise.

But instead he sits down, calls their plan stupid, points out all the things they SHOULD do (which are all these things Will had been quietly suggesting but he'd been ignored) and basically shows a LOT of very detailed D&D knowledge.

He ends up getting totally drawn in to the game, and by the next campaign, Will's made him a whole character sheet with a lil illustration!

🍒

oh I adore this !! also thanks for sending this when I was sick 💙 I’m feeling a lot better now

also, preface: my knowledge of d&d is 🤏🏼 minuscule

they’d totally make the switch from mikes basement to steve’s house. their ever expanding party can no longer fit it the cooped up space under the wheeler house and there’s also the added benefit of being able to be loud and obnoxious and not have to worry about ted wheeler shutting it down. and steve house is just so much better for a good time. it’s like it was built for parties. the big new tv, the pool, ping pong and pool tables in the garage. they spend as much time there as possible. and yes of course, the main reason is they love steve!! steve is the only adult they can all stand to be around, despite will’s defense of jonathan, mike doesn’t see the enjoyment in spending time with his older sister’s boyfriend. just don’t remind him that steve is her ex.

steve pretends to be annoyed by it. greeting the party with a scoff whenever they show up to his house unannounced, but he truly did enjoy having them around, bringing life in the once dead and empty house.

steve typically watched them do their thing from afar, sometimes hang out with el when she didn’t feel like playing. they’d watch a new movie together that steve brought home from family video and snack on the wide variety of chips and crackers and dips that somehow were always stocked on his shelves. sure his parents weren’t home much, but they were sure to keep him well fed.

but other times, he’ll just be so intrigued in what they’re doing that he’ll join in on the fun. It’s not really his thing, however. he likes games that have a solid end and don’t go on for hours. that’s why you’ll never convince him to play monopoly. it also just requires too much focus and engagement for his liking, he prefers more mindless games. It’s sometimes still lonely for him even with his house full of teenagers, because he’s often listening to them scream from the rec room from the comfort of the couch in his living room. popcorn bowl in hand, watching back to the future for what seems to be the hundredth time.

that’s until he starts dating billy and soon there’s another frequent visitor to his house.

they tried to keep things between them on the downlow for a while. billy only coming over at night after all the kids had left to ensure no unannounced guests arrived. but the one time they decided to veer from that system was also the same time the whole party barged in through his front door and heard some... unsavory sounds coming from the top of the stairs. and there was no denying it at that point. billy’s camaro was parked out front and they’ve already scarred them for life.

it wasn’t necessarily surprising that they were all cool with it, but it was surprising when they constantly told steve he should invite billy over when they were all hanging out. he felt weird about it for a while, and so did billy. they never considered the idea they’d get to actually be with each other publicly or in the presence of others so it was a foreign idea for them. but one day billy decides to drive max directly to steve’s house instead of dropping her off at the wheeler’s. and he decides to stay, as if it wasn’t the plan all along.

it takes a couple of occasions for the two to progress from just sitting on the couch beside each other, to holding hands, to cuddling, all the way to kissing in front of the group. every time they made a little step forward in that arena it felt really good when the kids didn’t even bat an eye. except for kissing, but they would have that reaction no matter who they were. and the gagging noises it elicited made them only want to do it more.

billy never seemed to show much interest in the games from steve’s point of view, always seeming so content with just the two of them lying on the living room couch watching whatever movie he snagged that day.

but this time he looks pissed off. he’s got that same expression on his face when someone cuts him off or is going too slow in the passing lane. the kids are being a little rowdy, he’ll admit that, but it’s not more than usual. but maybe this was billy’s last straw.

when billy gets up from the couch, steve would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried for what he might do. but he was also just as scared of standing in his way because that man walked like he was on a goddamn mission.

billy gently pushes dustin out of his chair and takes a seat, earning a confused ‘what the fuck dude?’ out of him.

and he basically calls them all a bunch of idiots and tells them what they should be doing. and they all want to argue with him (except for will obviously) because billy doesn’t know anything about d&d!! except what he says makes perfect sense and they can’t argue with him if they wanted to.

and then he doesn’t leave where he’s sitting at the table. excuses it as him needing to be there to keep them from arguing. except the reason he stays is because he likes it. brings him back to the days when he was around their age playing the same game in the basement of his own friends house.

and eventually he does start joining in on future campaigns. by now he’s got his own character and everyone is always talking about how it’s great having a barbarian in the group because “steve made a terrible barbarian”. that would always come with a loud “hey!” from the other room, because they always said it loud enough to hear.

at first steve thought he’d be upset that billy started playing with the kids and not spending the time with him, but he just loved watching billy get along with everyone. it made it worth it to see billy so loose and free like that, and it wasn’t like billy didn’t make time for him afterwards...

#I love you so much for this ❤️❤️#I love love love them all getting along as one big happy family 😭😭😭#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #mandi writes tresh #headcanons #🍒

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mneiai · 4 years

Note

Hello! I love your writing so much and I would really like to see how you’d do a soulmate au where all mandalorians can tell (somehow lol) who their mandalor’s soulmate is... jangobi obviously!

So, this reminded me a lot of Fate Comes Early, and originally I was thinking of maybe just linking that, but then I was dwelling on it and thought how I could make it a very different take lol

This one kinda got away from me! I’ll probably post it as a one-shot on AO3.

I’m still accepting prompts in my ask box!

XXXXXXXXXXX

The moment they set foot in Mandalorian space, their whole mission went from not too unusual to completely kriffed up.

Maybe, Obi-Wan considered, before that even. Because the closer they got to the sector, the more Mandalorians they passed at refueling stations and there was something like a low buzz of danger in the Force.

Or maybe it was anticipation.

Regardless, he really wished Qui-Gon had listened to Obi-Wan instead of doubling down on his Living Force prejudices and insisting they had to live in the present. It would have saved them a lot of problems.

Because as soon as they were off their ship, they were surrounded, separated. There was no way to combat it without violence, which was not an option while they were on a diplomatic mission and there were government representatives in the crowd.

Obi-Wan was taken into what he assumed was the palace. Mandalorians, most but not all in their signature armor surrounding him until they reached a small building within the building. It was set in the middle of a courtyard, surrounded by what he guessed were native plants from the sector.

It was huge, lavish, and extremely well-secured. He could see guards at every point he'd think of for escape, even spotting a few on the nearby rooftops with the telltale bulk of a jetpack on their figures. He wouldn't have minded so much, if any of them had been talkative.

The building was the nicest prison he'd ever seen and apparently was just for him.

***

He spent a whole day mostly in one of the sitting rooms, refusing to take the comforts offered by the large bedroom he'd been shown, picking at the (admittedly, very good) food the guards brought him. Every so often he walked through the rooms, trying to act as though he were simply taking them in instead of looking for a way to break out.

Eventually, someone came to meet with him. A humanoid woman in armor who the guards in armor were respectful of and the guards without seemed to dislike. She treated him with surprising deference from the start, as one might a head of state and not a Jedi Padawan.

It was all making him very nervous, remembering a mission where a sentient sacrifice had been made temporary king before being thrown into a lava pit.

"Olarom, Ka'rata. I am your tengaa'cabur, your guide.."

Obi-Wan hesitated, then replied, "Olarom," back, remembering it as one of the polite standard greetings from the mission information packet he'd read on the way.

The Mandalorian smiled at him and it looked sincere enough, though she was surprisingly hard to read in the Force. "Your presence at this time shows the crossroads our people have arrived at. There is much to prepare, Satine Kryze was nearby for the," her face twisted in distaste, "election," before she managed to smooth it out again, "but the others are farther away."

"...Others?"

"The other candidates for Mand'alor. Once they are assembled, we will being the Ka'ra'ur'cire."

"That's...like an election?" he asked, hopefully, even though the word didn't seem at all familiar.

She laughed, though he got the impression she might have been rolling her eyes if she had less control. "In Basic, perhaps that is a close enough translation."

He'd been here to oversee the election, so at least it seemed like some part of his role would be fulfilled. He could only hope his Master was with Kryze.

"And why am I...separated? Why isn't my Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, here?"

Something twisted on her face, the same way it had when she'd first spoken of the election and Satine. "You are Ka'rata, it would be...improper. If you desire, after the Ka'ra'ur'cire you may be allowed other guests."

"You said that the Ka'ra'ur'cire," he thought he did a fairly good job at pronouncing it, the language coming surprisingly easy to his tongue, "would start once all the candidates are here? How long will that be?"

"Tor Vizsla will be here within the next few days. Jango Fett we hope within a week of that. The announcement has been made. You will meet all on even ground."

Neither of those men had been candidates of the election Obi-Wan had come to Mandalore for. Fett hadn't even been seen, as far as he knew, since the tragedy of Galidraan and Vizsla was considered a terrorist by most.

"And what does the Ka'ra'ur'cire entail?"

The guide stared at him for a moment, as though weighing what she'd say (or, perhaps, what he'd understand). "The Ka'ra will guide you. The one who will be Mand'alor will be revealed."

He didn't get much more out of her, after that.

***

The days after that continued with vague information, very good (if spicy) meals, and the introduction of coursework on Mando'a.

None of the language materials he was given included any of the odd terms that were used. He knew he was being called "Ka'rata" and it was honestly very rude of them not to clarify that point.

From the other information he was given, and what he'd already known for the mission, he was able to piece together that Mandalorians didn't have elections like most Republic states, that there were three main political factions each represented by one of the potential Mand'alors, and that the people guarding him and speaking to him had taken vows of neutrality and therefore would not--could not--support anyone over another until after they were declared.

He, too, was expected to have some sort of neutrality, at least to start off. And then...apparently he'd be the one doing the choosing.

That was a daunting task, especially without his Master's help, moreso because Obi-Wan was having trouble accessing the Force. He didn't know if it was nerves, or perhaps some sort of barrier around the building he hadn't noticed, but even in deep meditation he was finding it difficult.

He could still feel Qui-Gon, at least, though their bond felt muffled and indistinctive. It was enough to know that he was alive and he didn't feel as though he was in pain, just horribly annoyed. Wherever he was, maybe he was getting the same runaround that Obi-Wan was getting.

***

His guide from the first day came back, eventually. "The candidates are assembled," was the first thing she said after her formal greeting and he breathed a sigh of relief. "The Ka'ra'ur'cire will begin tomorrow."

"Does that mean I finally get to find out what it is?" His tone was maybe more petulant than he wanted it to be, but between the isolation and his growing disconnect from the Force, controlling his emotions was becoming harder.

She studied him, then nodded. "Yes. Your to'hodar to the epara'kyorar has faded, the Ka'ra will protect you."

Obi-Wan frowned. Ka'ra had been mentioned before, he knew that meant stars, but as some sort of divinity. The other two seemed to be combinations of words, none of which had good connotations.

"Right, would you mind explaining that as well as the other parts?"

The guide regarded him for a moment, then nodded again. "Elek, Ka'rata, I will explain all that I can."

But, of course, she didn't start explaining. Instead she guided him through the building to a dining room that he had seen in passing. There were other Mandalorians there, mostly older ones, though a few didn't have their helmets off to judge.

"The Ka'rata's blessed presence is known again in Mandalore," his guide stated and Obi-Wan suppressed a shudder as the others either bowed or saluted him. "He is prepared in spirit, but must be prepared in mind. It is our duty to do so."

Obi-Wan was directed to sit in one of the two chairs at the head of the table, the other remaining empty. Just like with his guide before, no one bothered introducing themselves, but he'd worked out that the ones in armor were Death Watch and the True Mandalorians (and could tell from the crests basically which ones) and that the ones who were not were most likely New Mandalorians. There seemed to be an even mix, four of each, plus his guide.

Food was placed in front of everyone who didn't have a helmet on and Obi-Wan reluctantly started to eat when others did, despite his need for answers. There was some sort of ritual at play, he knew from experience and learning, and interrupting it would probably do him no favors.

When the meal was over, his guide finally turned to him. "We will tell you now of what you are, and what it means, and what will come."

He sat up a little straighter. "Thank you."

"The Ka'rata is the heart and soul of the Mando'ade, chosen by the Ka'ra. In terms the aruetiise might use, the soulmate of the Mand'alor."

Obi-Wan wished he hadn't eaten, because he was starting to feel sick. He'd heard of soulmates, everyone had--a leftover of the Taung found almost solely in Mandalorians, a bond of the spirit that connected two people. He had a very brief education on them, in a single lecture that had discussed their simularities to naturally occurring Force bonds, and nearly everything else he knew came from the awful holonovellas that Vos sometimes watched.

"You think I'm the Mand'alor's soulmate?"

"We know it," one of the Death Watch members stated with conviction that, if Obi-Wan could just feel the Force, he knew somehow would ring true.

"We could feel it, the moment you neared us," his guide continued. "Once you nau'ur to'manda, you shall feel it, too."

He worked through those words, fairly sure it meant to forge the soulbond the stories spoke of, and frowned. "But you said I'm the Mand'alor's soulmate? So...who is the Mand'alor?"

"There are three potential Mand'alor's," the others shifted, clearly disliking comparing their own leaders, "and each must be given a chance to of nau'ur." Someone cleared their throats and she rolled her eyes. "And, arguably, their heirs."

"So if a Mand'alor dies...."

"There is always a Mand'alor. The individual might die, but someone always fills the role."

"You're saying that I just...get passed along like some heirloom?"

"You are Ka'rata, this is no insult meant to you. Once you open yourself to the Ka'ra and your to'manda, you'll understand, you'll want this."

Somehow this was worse than being sacrificed to a lava pit.

"I can't, though. I'm a Jedi, this...sounds like a very big attachment, which is forbidden by our Code."

Not only did many of them look uncomfortable at the reminder of what he was, he was fairly sure a few made a finger sign to ward off evil. Which...seemed excessive, though after Galidraan he supposed he couldn't blame them.

"The Ka'ra has freed you from the epara'kyorar. It can no longer smother you."

His breath caught. "Epara'kyorar...that's...that's what you call the Force?" He sounded small, weak, even to his own ears.

"It will not devour you any longer, Ka'rata, you are nearly free."

Obi-Wan reached desperately for the Force, but it was true, he could barely feel it at all. His bond with Qui-Gon might as well not even exist, not just as though it had been broken, but as though it had never been there at all.

He stood, chair falling behind him from the force of the movement. "I...no. I'm a Jedi, I need the Force."

"The epara'kyorare was blocking your sense of self," his guide insisted. "Your ability to use it was a trick to help you perpetuate it. Torre Vizsla learnt of this, warned us of it, what had long been suspected."

"How are you blocking me from the Force? How do I reverse it?" he demanded.

Looking around, he realized how foolish it must seem to them, a teenage boy without weapons or armor in a room full of Mandalorians, making demands. But the looks on their faces were not mocking, but more pitying. That grated.

"You can't just kidnap someone, take away one of their senses, and expect them to cooperate with you!"

"There is no kidnapping the Ka'rata. You are in our sector, under our laws you are ours."

"Your property?" he sneered, though cold sweat broke out across his body at the remembered weight of a collar around his neck.

One of the New Mandalorians, perhaps the least threatening looking person in the room, stood and approached him. "You are sacred. Once the Mand'alor has been decided on, only they can restrict you."

He looked in the man's eyes and saw what wasn't being said--the New Mandalorians were the least traditional, Satine Kryze would be less inclined to follow whatever tenants insisted that Obi-Wan was kept locked up in a separate building, guarded, unable to see any non-Mandalorians. Maybe she'd even let him go back to the Jedi, once she was confirmed Mand'alor.

Obi-Wan looked around the room, noticed eyes narrowed at the man, but no one discounted what he said. "Fine," he muttered, crossing his arms. "Fine. How do I decide which one is Mand'alor, then?"

***

It couldn't ever just be a simple "point at someone and say they're Mand'alor," but "spend a week learning how they feel to you" was aggravating. If he'd had the Force, Obi-Wan might have been able to tell right away, with a few questions, who would be a better leader.

Or he would have just chosen Satine, as he desperately wanted to, especially as the time they spent together within the building he was housed in or out in the gardens around it made it clear she disdained this tradition as much as he did. She was going along with it to hopefully gain more support and wasn't actually going to do anything more than that. She respected the Republic, the Jedi, him.

He really, really liked Satine.

Vizsla was...well, he wasn't sure what to expect, the file on him and his activities painted him as a terrorist for good reasons. But he was a traditionalist to the core and he had utter respect for the tradition of the Ka'ra'ur'cire.

Though, he did seem to be holding back parts of himself to interact with Obi-Wan. Despite surely thinking being soulmates would be an automatic thing, he was almost wooing him.

The last of the three he met was Fett. Who...seemed almost as out of sorts as Obi-Wan. He was abrasive, condescending, didn't have much time for Obi-Wan's lack of knowledge around the Ka'ra'ur'cire or any Mandalorian culture, and at first Obi-Wan took offense to that.

Until he realized this might be the first time Fett had seen a Jedi since Galidraan.

And then he looked beyond the surface of their interactions--Fett was shaken, broken, he felt like a failure and knew he didn't deserve to be Mand'alor.

Obi-Wan took two days of the meetings to realize he was understanding Fett a little too well. Another day to accept that Fett himself seemed to have quickly moved on from his hatred of all things Jedi to watching Obi-Wan like he couldn't believe he existed.

The guide had said that their stars would tell Obi-Wan who his soulmate was and horribly, Obi-Wan was realizing that maybe that was right. He, intellectually, wanted it to be Satine.

But his heart, or maybe it was his soul (or maybe it was the Ka'ra), was crying out for Jango.

"Oh," he breathed out during one of their meetings, watching Jango studying a battleplan in front of them, after he'd taken a piece of Obi-Wan's advice (hard-earned on Melida/Daan) without any protest or condescension.

Jango looked up at him, his face blank except for that little area of tenseness between his eyebrows Obi-Wan had already memorized. "Something else I'm missing?"

Obi-Wan shook his head, eyes even wider, and left the room.

***

When he went to his guide, she was as gentle as a Mandalorian could be as she talked him through how to finish the Ka'ra'ur'cire.

The next day, after fruitless meetings with Satine and Tor, he was glad to see Jango. His soft smile must have said more than he thought, because Jango--who must have felt it this entire time but had patiently waited on him--didn't stalk into the room to his usual seat. He walked right up to Obi-Wan, cupping his cheek gently in a calloused hand.

Obi-Wan, at a loss for words, managed what he thought was a steady and suggestive, "Hello, there," before Jango's lips crashed into his own.

And a million stars lit up inside of him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Mando'a: Olarom - Welcome/greetings Ka'rata - from ka'ra (stars/fate) and kar'ta (heart), word for Mand'alor's soulmate Mand'alor - sole ruler, basically the dictator of Mandalore Ka'ra'ur'cire - from ka'ra (stars) and urcir (meet) aruetiise - foreigners/outsiders to'hodar - from to (join) and hodar (deceive), ie a false bond epara'kyorare - from eparavur (to feast, devour) and kyorar (rot) Elek - yes Mando'ade - Mandalorian People to'manda- from to (join) and Manda (soul), ie a soulbound nau'ur - light up, illuminate (is also used in context of forging weapons, nau'ur kad, forge or light up a sword)

#jangobi #obi wan kenobi #jango fett #mandalorians #star wars fic #soulmate au #my stuff #ask answers #Anonymous

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spootiliousrps · 3 years

Text

Remus Returns (Wolfstar)

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say STAND WITH HONG KONG AGAINST THE CCP!

You both like remus/sirius, sirius/remus, and wolfstar.

You: Remus shivered, pulling his cloak closer around him against the rain. It didn’t help much; he was already soaked through. That didn’t matter though, not right now. He glanced up realizing he had almost passed the place he was looking for. Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Guilt filled him and for a moment he hesitated. He could name exactly how long it had been since he had left without a word. Three years, seven months, and twenty-two days. It hadn’t really been a choice, not really. The full moons were getting progressively worse. He couldn’t stay… Couldn’t keep putting the people he cared for in danger. Now though… Now he had control. They had discovered the Wolfsbane potion and while expensive to make, it was effective. Could he really go back to the way it was after everything he had done? Could he face Sirius? He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. If he allowed himself to dwell on these things he’d never leave the sidewalk. With a sigh and a shake of his wet hair he strode up the steps and knocked.

Stranger: Sirius was doing somewhat okay, all things considered. But since Remus left, he had not really been genuinely happy. He missed his friend like crazy and even though he knew that the other had left because the moons were getting worse, he'd not agreed to the decision. Sirius had been willing to do anything he could to make Remus stay. However, in the end it hadn't been his choice. In the beginning he'd been mad, but that had ebbed out gradually and just left him with a huge sorrow, because he missed him. The house felt too creepy without Remus around, but he still stayed. Sirius was sitting in the living room, when there was a knock on the door. With a sigh, he stood up and walked out to see who it was. He wasn't expecting guests. When he opened the door, he was stunned speechless for a second, before he croaked "Remus?" It was unbelievable. After another moment, during which his brain tried to process this, he flung himself towards his friend and wrapped his arms around him.

You: The moment the door was pulled open, Remus' gaze locked on to the man as if magnetic. He took in every inch of the face he hadn't seen in three years, every new line, every grey hair. "Hello, Sirius," he greeted in a soft sad whisper, his stomach doing flips. Anxiety mixed with elation, fear, and hope. It was an almost sickening feeling. And before he could say more Sirius was wrapping him in a desperate hug. Remus didn't hesitate, his own arms curling around his friend's slighter form, squeezing him tight against his chest as the rain continued to pour, dampening the dark black curls Remus now buried his face in as he tried to breath in Sirius' very existence. How long had it been since he had actually embraced anyone? How long had he been this close to someone? And for that someone to be Sirius... It felt like his skin was being burned at every point of contact.

Stranger: The sadness in Remus' voice was evident and Sirius realized in that moment that his friend had found this just as heartbreaking and challenging as he had himself. A lot of the emotions that he'd been trying to lock away and forget about during the past three years suddenly came rushing over him like a tidal wave. Remus had always been special to him, Sirius had known for many years that he loved the man, but he'd wanted to forget that when he left. Now though as he was finally hugging him again, pressing his nose into the crook of his neck, he couldn't push them away anymore. He was quickly getting soaked from the downpour, but he honestly didn't care about that. Eventually, he had to pull away slightly, though his hand moved down to find Remus'. "Come on, you're gonna get sick if you don't get changed." He said and pulled him inside, locking the door behind them.

You: "Me?" Remus chuckled, a smile splitting his features for the first time since he could remember. "You're the one that decided to jump out into the rain in you pajamas," he accused, practically beaming as he allowed himself to be dragged inside. The loss of warmth as Sirius had pulled away almost shattered him all over again, but he didn't pull him back. After everything... He didn't want to make things worse. He still had to apologize, still had to make things right somehow. Remus paid no mind to the fact that he was dripping on the entry rug, locks still plastered on his forehead, muddy prints marring the floor as he peered about. "How are you? How is Harry? Is he alright? Is he here with you? Can I see him? Hows his grades? What about-" the words were still ridden with sorrow and remorse, spoken softly as he rushed on before he paused to shake his head, "I've got so many questions."

Stranger: "It was worth it. I'll change too, don't worry." Sirius waved him off, he didn't care that he was also soaked and that the wet pajamas was clinging to his skin and rapidly making him feel chilled to the bone. Though, hopefully Remus wouldn't mind curling up with him in front of the fireplace after they'd both changed into dry clothes. "I'm... Okay. All things considered. I'm not great, but I will be." Sirius said, because he really hadn't been great without Remus. "Harry is okay. He has missed you a lot. Asked about you and stuff. You can see him, he's sleeping though, so we have to be quiet." Sirius told him. "His grades are okay, but I am not the best at helping with homework." He replied and stopped to look at Remus for a moment. "I know. You can ask them all. Dry clothes first though." He decided and led the way upstairs to his room. He found two sets of pajamas and fluffy socks for both of them, handing one set to Remus. "It might be too short on you, but it'll have to do for now." He hummed, finding a towel too, which he handed over, so Remus could dry his hair.

You: Nodded at the new information. He hoped Harry hadn't taken it too hard when he had left, hoped he had understood but knew it couldn't have been easy. He climbed the stairs, unwilling to let Sirius out of his sight for an instant now that he was in them. The few minor changes in his appearance over the years were subtle but noticeable, though as Remus gave a small sniff against the cold, he breathed in the smell that was so uniquely him it almost made him stagger. He had dreamt about that scent, it haunted him to his very core. Standing in his room as they were now only made it worse, made him want to wrap him up in another hug and hide him away from the word, keep him all to his self. "Thanks, Pads," he mumbled accepting the clothes. Without so much as an ounce of hesitation he started shedding his coat, followed by his shoes and his shirt. Three years alone, hiding away, living in abandoned homes, under trees and the likes seemed to have caused him to forget about his usual bashfulness. Of course, that hadn't been the only thing that had changed over the long span of time. Remus' shoulders had broadened a bit, his small amount of 'baby fat' disappearing into muscles that were now covered in more scars than ever. He was far too thin around the waist though, making it apparent that he hadn't really been feeding himself enough. He didn't seem to pay any attention to it though as he tugged on the shirt Sirius had offered, the fabric a bit tight around the chest.

You: *He nodded

Stranger: "Of course, Moons." Sirius smiled as he began to strip out of his own pajamas to change into the dry one. He'd never been bashful, never felt like he had anything to hide when it came to his body. He was still petite and slender, but the bit of muscle he had before wasn't quite so defined and noticeable, since he wasn't spending as much time playing Quidditch as he had when he was younger. Now, most of his time went with taking care of Harry. Honestly, if it hadn't been for that kid, he didn't know how he would have survived when Remus had left. Needing to take care of Harry had really been a lifesaver. When Remus changed, he couldn't help but glance, a little surprised that the other wasn't shy when it came to changing around him, like he used to be. Of course the changes didn't go unnoticed, his broadened shoulders, the muscles and of course the scars. None of that made him any less attractive, though Sirius was worried about how thin he was. They would sort that out. Sirius walked over and took Remus' hand again. "Come on, we can peek inside Harry's room, before going downstairs." He said and led the way into the adjacent room, where Harry was sleeping soundly in his bed.

You: "Are you sure?" Remus whispered, dropping his voice lower as if the boy in question could hear him through the walls. "I don't want to risk waking him, I mean... If he's sleep-" He had allowed Sirius to pull him along because in truth he wanted nothing more than to see him, despite his fear of doing so. The words were only cut short as Sirius pulled open the door just enough for them to peer through; Remus' heart skipping a beat at the sight of the pale face just visible under the pile of blankets, in the overly messy room. It was a sudden and stark reminder of the fact that leaving Sirius was one of the most painful things Remus had ever had to endure, and the close second was leaving Harry who had obviously shot up in the few years he had been gone. "Blimey, Sirius... Is that really him?" he breathed in disbelief, though there was no real doubt about it.

Stranger: "Of course I am sure." Sirius nodded. Remus had been acting as his parental figure before he left, he could definitely understand, why the other wanted to see him. "He's a heavy sleeper, so don't worry about it." He'd assured him, before he'd opened the door into the room. Harry really had grown a lot in the time Remus had been gone. Just after he'd left, he'd been so upset and Sirius had done his best to comfort him, while simultaneously trying to get over his own sorrow of losing the best person in his life. "Yeah, it is really him. Wait until you see him with his glasses on, he looks so much like James." Sirius whispered and squeezed Remus' hand, before closing the door to let Harry sleep. "He'll be so excited to see you tomorrow." He smiled and began walking towards the kitchen to get some food for Remus.

You: Remus' own smile, that had been plastered onto his lips the moment his gaze landed on the boy, faded at the words. Sirius seemed so sure Harry would be happy to see him... but would he? Remus had just left with barely a word to the boy. He thought it better for him, thought it would make things easier. Harry no doubt felt abandoned. Remus would have if he were him. And what about Sirius? He was taking everything so well. Surely the elation would ebb away and then what? Would he hate Remus too? More so than Remus already hated himself? He followed after the man silently, hovering in the doorway of the Kitchen so that he could still keep Sirius in view even as he stared up the stairs towards Harry's room, lost in his own worry.

Stranger: When they reached the kitchen, Sirius bustled about, making a plate for Remus with some bread and fruit, because it was quick and easy and he didn't feel like spending too much time cooking right now. He'd much rather curl up against Remus by the fireplace. When he turned around, he recognized the look of worry on Remus' face, so he walked over and playfully ruffled his hair. "Cheer up, Moons. It's gonna be okay." He said, right now he was just happy to see him and while he hadn't agreed to him leaving, he understood why he did it. The anger was long gone. "Come on, come here." He said and carried the plate into the living room, placing it on the table next to the couch in front of the fireplace. Then he sat down and patted the spot next to him.Stranger: [Haha, fair enough!]You: Remus flinched at the sudden movement of Sirius ruffling his hair before he could help it. He played it off as best he could, giving a mischievous smile. He didn't believe a word Sirius said, but he could tell that Sirius did and that was all that mattered at the moment. Once again he was being pulled into another room, hovering a bit awkwardly as Sirius moved about before his gaze finally landed on the spot next to him. Remus moved to sit without a second thought, sinking down cross legged on the rug beside him. He hadn't really considered this far into returned to Grimmauld place, but it definitely was different than he would have guessed. Sirius was just so... so accepting. He didn't yell or cry or make snide comments. It was as if he had expected Remus all along and this was just another week night, the initial hug being the only thing out of the ordinary. Remus wasn't quite sure how he felt about any of it.Stranger: Sirius noticed the slight flinch and even though Remus played it off, he could tell that he'd been a little too sudden or something. He wondered what had happened in the three years that Remus had been gone, where he had been sleeping and how he had been living. When Remus sat down, Sirius looked at him for a moment. He felt drawn towards him, he was itching for physical contact. To feel that Remus was really there for good and that it wasn't just some weird figment of his imagination. Slowly, he inched a little closer, he didn't want to startle Remus again. Then he moved to rest his head on Remus' shoulder and his arm came across his middle. He couldn't resist.You: Remus tensed once again but he didn't pull away. He noticed Sirius inching closer and needed him there as badly as the other did he was sure. The contact was a bit more emboldened than the Sirius he remembered though; the Sirius that always tease flirted and cracked jokes but showed very little physical affection. The change was... nice. Still, something inside of Remus was screaming that it wasn't something he deserved. He had abandoned the man and therefore shouldn't be allowing this comfort. "How is... um..." Remus began, suddenly at a loss for things to say; all of the questions that had been swimming around in his head, suddenly gone. "Kreacher?" he mumbled lamely, not at all intending to land on the subject of the house elf.Stranger: It wasn't until Remus had been gone that Sirius had realized how much he was actually craving physical affection from him, even though he hadn't pursued it so much. Sure, he'd flirted, but always made it sound like he was teasing and joking, because he didn't think Remus would actually be interested. It made it easy to hide when he fake flirted with a lot of people. However, after having missed him for so long, Sirius needed the touch and affection. Without even realizing it, he curled up even tighter, practically clinging to Remus at this point. "Kreacher passed away last year. Old age." Sirius told him. "He was happy though, died next to my mother's portrait. I buried it with him, because he would have liked that and mother would have hated it. And I don't have to look at the picture anymore, it was only there for his sake, really."You: "I-I'm sorry to hear that," Remus offered, distracted by the way Sirius was pressing against him, draped over him. "I liked the poor sod. Bit off his rocker but he meant well enough. He cleared he flushed a bit, an arm wrapping around Sirius as his weight shifted causing Remus to worry that it might send them toppling. He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly before speaking again. "Uh... Sirius... While I am very happy to see you and am quite enjoying the embrace but... are you sure you're alright?" Stranger: "It is what it is. It was his time. I hated him as a child, but I grew a bit fond of him. And he lightened up a bit around Harry. I think he was happy to say goodbye though." Sirius shrugged. He knew that Kreacher had found it strange that Sirius didn't like treating house elves the way his parents had done. When Remus wrapped an arm around him, Sirius smiled and nuzzled into his chest. He couldn't resist. When Remus spoke again, Sirius looked up, but didn't move. "Yeah, I am okay. I've missed you a lot. Just.. Yeah, I am fine."You: It was obvious that the werewolf was completely confused by the other man's attention but he didn't try to dismiss it or pull away. Instead he let Sirius do as he wish, content to just be with him for a bit. After a while however, his other arm wrapped around him, holding him closer, face dipping to bury in his dark curls once more, breathing him in yet again, needing the reminder that this was real just as Sirius did..

#wolfstar #remus/sirius #sirius/remus #remus lupin/sirius black #sirius black/remus lupin #wolfstar rp #wolfstar roleplay #omegle rp #Remus returns

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stereksecretsanta · 3 years

Text

Merry Christmas, kevaaronday!

For @kevaaronday. I tried to use all the tropes you liked, though I played a bit with the coffee shop!AU request. It ended up being pretty long, but I hope it pleases. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Read On AO3

*****

Food, Drinks, and Pings

Stiles just wanted to clear things up—he did not work for Hale Corp, and he certainly did not work for said company’s inhouse café, The Family Bean. He was a writer, who just so happened to have been roped into the gig because he was best friends with the soulmate-fiancée of the best friend of one of the sons of the company’s owners.

See, one of Stiles’ best friends from high school was Erica Reyes, blonde, vivacious, and both crazy and powerful enough to castrate someone with her fingernails. She might look like she just stepped off the catwalk, with her hourglass figure, fluffy hair, and red lips, but she had a knack for business that led to a scholarship at a reputable business school. Stiles, on the other hand, took to writing like a duck to water, thanks to his overactive imagination and ability to turn a phrase. He could write anything and so he did—news pieces, articles, blogs, reviews, as well as a modestly famous soulmate series published under a pseudonym.

Erica’s soon-to-be husband and soulmate was Vernon Boyd III, a tall, dark, and delicious drink of chocolate, who was so fit he could bench press a baby elephant without breaking a sweat. He was the perfect picture of seriousness and silence, that Stiles used to wonder how he functioned as Hale Corp’s Director of Operations. After getting to know him better, he realized just how smart and charismatic Boyd really was.

Boyd’s best friend from childhood was Derek Hale, one of the sons from the famous and powerful Hale Family, owners and leaders of the mass media company, Hale Corp.

Stiles knew of the Hale Family, and who didn’t? You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t know the famous family of business tycoons and titans, a family so rich they could buy a person’s soul even. Nor would someone fail to hear about one of the most powerful love stories that rocked the world.

Talia Hale was the eldest child of the main branch of the Hale family and was poised to take over the world. Desmond Fitzgerald, in contrast, was the only child of elderly parents, and they lived at a shabby, squat house with no electricity, scraping by each and every day.

Talia’s father, the late and great Everett Hale, had visited the local community college as part of their charity program. Talia had tagged along, nineteen and already learning the ropes, and had tripped over the custodian who had been on his hands and knees straightening the welcome carpet.

Take a guess who the janitor was.

An accidental brush of skin, the burning of a Mark, and that was it.

Talia and Desmond turned out to be soulmates, and their Marks, her howling wolf and his crescent moon, had become one of the most romantic symbols of their time.

Now, where did Stiles and The Family Bean came in, you ask?

Aside from writing, Stiles knew his way around a kitchen. His mother had passed away when he was seven, and he had grown up with a Sheriff father who only knew the basics. Stiles had to learn how to cook a meal or risk them subsisting on fried everything and endless takeout orders.

So yes, Stiles knew how a kitchen worked. The thing was, Erica didn’t, and had spent high school eating Stiles’ meals and hanging around his kitchen. Nothing soothed her viciousness and temper like one of his desserts.

So whenever Erica was close to breaking someone’s jaw and risking a lawsuit, she’d invite Stiles over and he would come and work his magic at The Family Bean. It wasn’t like it was such a hardship. The place had a gorgeous kitchen, a full pantry, and a really comfy setup with cozy booths and colorful tables and chairs.

It wasn’t only Erica who benefited. Stiles often found inspiration at the tail end of a whisk or in between beating a dough into submission while listening to Erica’s gossip. He had come to depend on her brand of sass whenever he was suffering from writer’s block, or dealing with annoying clients, or avoiding his editor, Danny Mahealani.

It got to the point that Erica had HR make him a permanent guest entry pass—written down for Stiles S, Food Guy—and everyone knew him by name, the security, the delivery boys, the café’s actual employees, and some of Hale Corp’s employees.

That was what he meant by his original statement: He did not work for Hale Corp or The Family Bean. He was just Erica’s food guy and personal chef. Just another title to add to personal punching bag, platonic soulmate, best friend, and partner-in-crime, among others.

Boyd was surprisingly calm about the guy constantly hanging around his soulmate. Then again, no one would choose Stiles’ skinny ass for Boyd’s lusciousness, so Stiles could understand that he wasn’t much of a threat. Erica said that Boyd knew they were a package deal, and it helped that Boyd had been won over by Stiles’ banana bread. Either way, Boyd was cool and didn’t punch Stiles in the face for his and Erica’s weird platonic love affair.

So, in the end, that was Stiles’ life—work, his Dad, Erica, and his other friends.

Then the Hales happened.

It all started on a fine Monday morning with Kira Yukimura. She was pretty and petite, and the goddess who was actually the one in charge of The Family Bean’s kitchen. She wore floral dresses with studded combat boots, and held katana wielding lessons on Saturdays and a kids’ kitchen workshop on Sundays. Stiles adored her.

So when he walked in that day—after spending the entirety of the weekend not writing, because his protagonists, Peter and Wade, were being idiots—only to hear Kira’s cries for help, he was more than happy to tag in.

“I’m not crying.” She glared at him from where she was assembling sandwich orders, her gaze as sharp as her swords.

“But you still need help,” Stiles said. He put his laptop bag in one of the employee lockers, rolled up the sleeves of his red sweater, and put on an apron. “Erica wants to do lunch, but I decided to come in early.”

Kira nodded towards the window. “All right, because I got a purple ticket for you.”

Stiles jumped up. “Ooh, cool! I’ve never handled a purple ticket before!”

Kira gave him a relieved smile. “Well, today’s your lucky day. One of my employees called in sick, another is late, and I’ve got five packed tickets from different departments, three of them being rush orders, not to mention today’s purple ticket is a little too vague. I’m both swamped and stumped.”

“I’ve got your back, K.” Stiles gave her a salute and bounced over to the ticket tacked up on the holder.

Purple tickets were orders sent straight from the Wolf’s Den. It was the codename for the top floors occupied by the Hale Family and their closest associates. Boyd and Erica’s office were there, too. Stiles had only ever seen it through photos. There was a lot of security posted there, as if guarding the gates of heaven.

Anyway, purple tickets meant VVVVIP orders, note the number of ‘very’s. Kira usually handled those, but she obviously needed help now.

“Now, what do the Lords and Ladies want?” Stiles murmured to himself.

The Family Bean:

MH: hot chocolate

CC: pancakes

SHB: waffles

VHB: dirty chai

LH: anything

“You know who’s who?” Kira called out.

“Yep, I got it,” Stiles replied. He learned about this from Erica.

MH was Matthew Hale, the firstborn son and heir to the kingdom. CC was his seven-year-old daughter, who everyone called by her nickname. SHB was five-year-old Spencer, and VHB was his mother Valerie Hale-Barone, the firstborn daughter, second eldest, and the lawyer of the family. LH was Laura Hale, the third eldest and the maverick of the family. She was the only one not directly working for Hale Corp, and was more involved their side projects.

“Purple tickets are usually like that,” Kira said, looking at him with amusement. Stiles realized he had been frowning in confusion. “Despite being insanely rich people, they’re surprisingly not very picky about what they eat. Laura, in particular, will eat anything. It’s just difficult to give them variety or find a balance between upscale and too simple.”

“And now you want me to take a crack at it?” Stiles asked.

“Sure. It’ll be in my name anyway, and I don’t mind if you go wild,” Kira said encouragingly. It made Stiles grin. Most would be horrified at handing over their precious menu to someone who wasn’t a baker, much less someone who wasn’t a legitimate employee. But Kira had always been a rebel.

Under Kira’s guidance, Stiles filled up a purple delivery bag for the Hales. The dirty chai latte was pretty straightforward, though he didn’t know how Kira usually made it, so he went with his own style. He also made a raspberry hot chocolate, strawberry cheesecake pancakes, mixed berry waffles, and, for the anything portion of the ticket, a berry breakfast parfait made of yoghurt and fruits and graham crackers.

“Tastes awesome and looks pretty as a picture too,” Kira said, nibbling on her own waffle as she sat atop the counter, swinging her legs to and fro. Stiles could see a hint of her soulmate Mark under her dress just on the outside of her thigh. “I still believe you should have been a baker rather than a writer.”

Stiles grinned as he hung up his apron. “I’m both, but one pays the bills and the other’s a hobby. It’s surprising how most people would think one’s the other.”

“Kira?” a voice called out.

Kira perked up and immediately slid off the counter. She straightened her skirt and stepped out the door of the kitchen.

“Good morning, Derek,” she greeted.

Stiles peeked out unashamedly through the service window.

Tall, dark, and incredibly handsome, DH or Derek Hale was the middle child of the family. He was the Chief Financial Officer, and was said to be shyer and quieter compared to his more unruly and flashy siblings. It made sense why he was childhood friends with Boyd. The two seemed to share a calm, quiet demeanor.

Stiles had always thought that Derek was quite handsome in an already attractive family, and every once in a while, he would get front row seats—or the view through the service window—to the man in the three-piece suit with the godly shoulder to waist to ass ratio. It was quite inspiring.

“I heard Val and the others had a purple ticket sent down,” Derek was saying to Kira. “I’m on my way up and I thought I’d bring it along and save you a trip.”

“Oh, thanks, Derek. I’ll get it from the back,” Kira replied. “How about you? Do you want anything?”

Derek thought about it. “Just a drink. Anything you want to make me.”

“So long as it’s sweet?” Kira teased, which made the man chuckle.

It was like a bulb lit up in Stiles’ head.

He met Kira at the door when she walked back in, and it said so much about how awesome she was because she immediately said, “Yes, Stiles, you can make whatever you want. I mean, you’ve already tried your hard at the purple ticket. Might as well go all the way.”

“Thanks, K. You’re a goddess.” Stiles bounced off to the machines. He had always liked a challenge.

In the end, Stiles added his specially made ‘very merry berry frappe’ into the bag. He made sure to put it in a cup cozy to hide the purple color. He wasn’t sure if Derek would mind, but it just wouldn’t do for one of the bosses to be seen with a colorful drink. He let Kira whisk the bag away and they watched Derek exit The Family Bean.

“I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave,” Stiles murmured, eyeing the man’s backside.

“I’ll drink to that.” Kira giggled, clinking her extra glass of frappe against his. “And you’re teaching me the recipe by the way.”

“Not on your life.”

It took eight days before Stiles could once again visit The Family Bean. He had had a burst of inspiration following his last visit and had locked himself up in his apartment. His Dad John and his editor Danny were used to these binges, so they had taken turns visiting him to make sure he was alive and eating actual food rather than inhaling takeout, junk food, and soda.

He had sent off the first few chapters to Danny yesterday and had then slept for about eighteen hours, before Erica had barged in to make sure he hadn’t died. She had been pissed at him last week, annoyed that she hadn’t sampled Stiles’ berry-filled menu, but she’d gotten over it and had even brought groceries before dragging Stiles to The Family Bean for some fresh air and free lunch.

And if that wasn’t enough to perk Stiles up, she and Kira proceeded to tell him how well-received his menu was.

“The kids absolutely loved it, and Laura practically licked her parfait cup clean,” Kira said as they sat around the table for lunch. She had prepared honey sesame chicken, egg rolls, and sweet potato salad. She definitely had Stiles beat when it came to savory meals.

“Valerie was surprised that her dirty chai tasted great. She wasn’t biting people’s heads off more than usual,” Erica shared. She was running her fingers idly over her soulmate Mark, the three claw marks that spanned across her forearm.

Stiles felt pleased at the compliment, but he couldn’t help sending Kira an apologetic look. He didn’t want to usurp her clients and her kitchen.

Kira just laughed. “It’s fine. I know it’s due to your magic fingers and secret recipes. Just teach me how you do Valerie’s dirty chai and we’re good.”

“Sure thing, but it’s nothing special” Stiles said. “I did bring dessert, as thanks for letting me play around last time.”

Kira bounced on her seat. “Tomato pie?”

“With extra bacon and jalapeños, just how you like it.” Stiles grinned and showed her the pie, making Kira squeal.

“You gals eat up. I’ll mix us up some lattes, if you want anything,” he offered.

Stiles went to the kitchen to fix up Erica’s usual iced cinnamon honey latte and Kira’s vanilla almond. He was in the middle of finishing them up when he heard voices out at the main area. He recognized Boyd’s low voice and decided to make him a cup of blond roast with soy milk. He paused when he heard unfamiliar voices and took a peek out the service window. He instantly recognized the small group that had joined Kira and Erica.

There was Boyd, who immediately sat down beside Erica and kissed her cheek. His soulmate Mark was obvious, a rose on the back of his left hand. Stiles liked their marks, very beauty and the beast.

Having come in with Boyd was Derek, who looked just as handsome as he always did in a fetching dark blue suit. With him were his younger siblings, twins Cora and Cameron Hale, the artists of the family, who made music and art, played a bevy of instruments, and also drew and painted. Stiles was only two years older than the twins, but they had more talent in their pinkies than Stiles had in his whole body.

The twins’ Marks were one of the most popular, not just because the two were celebrities, but also because they were incredibly visible. Even from a distance, Stiles could see the compass between Cora’s collarbones and the lighthouse that popped up over Cameron’s collar at the left side of his neck.

Suddenly feeling shy, Stiles stayed in the kitchen and watched and listened.

“Nice spread, Kira. Is that for us?” Cameron asked.

“No, you Hales have your own food upstairs,” Kira said. “I heard Wild Flour Italian sent lunch over.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Jennifer Blake owns that joint. She’s been trying to get us to come over. No doubt she’ll just use it as some sort of advertisement. I’d rather take a bite of this.” She pointed at their table.

“That pie looks good,” Cameron said. “Can I have a bite?”

Stiles saw the gleam in Erica’s eye.

“Go on,” she said. “They’re good.”

Stiles watched as Erica and Kira offered the Hales a slice each. For some reason, he felt anxious to hear about how his food will be received. It had been nice to hear the rave reviews from Kira and Erica, but it was different seeing their reactions in person.

Cora let out yum-yum noises, which buoyed Stiles’ spirit.

“Okay, that’s pretty tasty. I love the caramelized bacon.”

“Wait, is this tomato in pie? Like a tomato pie?” Cameron asked, inspecting his plate. He took a large bite.

Kira bounced on her seat in excitement. “Yes, isn’t it good?”

“Who made this?” Derek asked. He didn’t look displeased, but he didn’t look happy either. He had a really good poker face. It might be good for business, but it was hard for Stiles to interpret. Stiles noted that he kept on eating the pie though.

“My Food Guy,” Erica said with a smug grin.

“Her Food Guy’s the one who made the berry-eautiful purple ticket that received quite the sensational reviews,” Kira added. She glanced at the service window and Stiles knew she saw him hiding there.

“The one who made my drink, too?” Derek asked.

Kira nodded. “The same one.”

“Spence went gaga for those waffles,” Cameron said. “And Mattie couldn’t believe someone got CC to eat fruit.”

A loud ring cut through their conversation and everyone started pulling out phones to check. It was Derek’s.

“Mom’s calling. Time to go,” he said, standing up.

In reply, Cameron started shoving the rest of the pie in his mouth and also popped in a couple of egg rolls.

“Where’s the Food Guy, though?” Cora asked, head turning to the kitchen. Stiles ducked down behind the counter. “If he makes stuff like this, I wanna meet him.”

“You can order a purple ticket if you want, but he’s not here all the time,” Erica said, and Stiles glared at her in his mind.

“He works part-time?” Derek asked.

“Not quite,” Kira said. “He’s—”

They were interrupted once more by a ringing phone, and this time Boyd spoke.

“Talia wants you all upstairs. Now.”

Stiles peeked out again. Cameron attempted to bring the entire pie tin, but settled for polishing his slice off. He then joined Cora in writing up a purple ticket order. After a moment, Derek put an order in too. The Hales left in a hurry and Stiles leaned right out of the service window just as Kira came bouncing towards it.

“There’s the man of the hour,” Boyd said, with a smirk.

Kira giggled. “Order up, Food Guy. You got a purple ticket.”

“I’m so proud.” Erica mockingly wiped a tear away. “Stiles, my Food Guy, charming the Hales off through the power of food.”

“Oh, fuck you all.” Stiles glared, ducking back into the kitchen.

At the last minute, he reached out and grabbed the purple ticket from Kira, ignoring the others’ laughter.

Over the next three weeks, Stiles prepared four more purple tickets. According to Kira, his drinks and desserts had become quite attractive to the Hales, both because of the taste and the mystery.

“At this point, they don’t even want me handling the tickets. They always ask if The Food Guy is around before they send their orders down,” Kira said. This time, she was the one helping Stiles prepare and pack.

The Wolf’s Den was going to be holding meetings nonstop, so Stiles had to prepare a variety of drinks and snacks. It would have been easy if they had simple requests, but the Hales were a mix of eclectic and frustrating.

“I’m glad you’re cool about this, but the Hales are bound to find out that the one making all their desserts isn’t even an employee,” Stiles said, as he added an extra shot of syrup in Laura’s honey and milk iced coffee. Just like her usual orders, she had asked for ‘any drink that’s sweet’ which was such a large ballpark that Stiles wanted to clock someone over the head, maybe her.

“I’m more surprised that you keep making these for free,” Kira said.

Stiles shrugged. “It’s a challenge, and I like challenges.”

“Really, just for the challenge?” Kira asked. “Stiles, Valerie fell in love with your version of her dirty chai. I did it the exact same way you did, but she insists that it tastes different. Same with Cameron’s favorite spiced coconut coffee. Same with all the desserts you made for the kids…”

Her face turned serious. “Don’t you think there’s more to this? Don’t you think it’s a ping—”

“It’s just for fun, Kira. It’s nothing,” Stiles said, heart rabbiting in his chest. He pushed it down firmly. “Plus, it’s surprisingly inspiring for my stories. Right now, I’m writing a new story for my spy series and I’m trying to solve this thing going on between James and Quentin.”

Kira’s face fell but she smiled, if a bit awkwardly. “Ah, well. Whatever you say, Food Guy. I’m just happy I get free labor out of it.”

“So you’re the Food Guy?”

The two of them jumped up in surprise and they turned around to see that someone had come in through the kitchen doors.

“Nathan, hello!” Kira greeted. “We didn’t hear you come in.”

Nathaniel Hale was the youngest of the brood at nineteen, and with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, he was quite the heartthrob in an already beautiful family. If that wasn’t enough, he was an athlete and a rising star in soccer.

Stiles didn’t really care at the moment, too busy wondering if the kid had heard what Kira had been saying.

Nathan leaned against the counter. “Everyone was arguing over who was going to pick up the ticket this time. I walked out while Laura was arm wrestling with Cam.”

Kira laughed while Stiles looked away, suddenly awkward.

“Uh, that’s cool and all, but I’m not remotely interesting enough to warrant an arm wrestle.”

Nathan shrugged. “Your stuff tastes amazing.” He smiled at Kira. “No offense, Kira. You’re still queen. But you… you’re interesting.” He gave Stiles a look. “You know, I’ve been ordering the same caramel vanilla iced coffee from The Family Bean for years now. You made it once and now everything else tastes different.”

Stiles couldn’t help flinching. Oh yeah. Nathan had definitely heard Kira.

But Nathan turned to Kira, breaking the stare. “Anyway, is the ticket ready? Can I take it up?”

Kira smiled and handed over the bag. “You just want to lord your victory over the others.”

“Of course. That’s what having siblings is all about.” Nathan scoffed, but grinned. “Anyway, thanks.”

Kira smiled. “Enjoy your meal.”

Stiles watched Nathan leave and rubbed his left shoulder. He had a weird feeling about all this.

A single touch was all it took to find someone’s soulmate. However, people couldn’t just go around touching one another. Some did, but there were laws against touching people without their consent. So Nature, in all its wisdom, gave people the capability to locate their soulmates by following a trail.

The best trail was through family members. Take for example one other famous Hale love story, that of Valerie. Her husband, the Italian magnate Piero Barone, was from a family of vintners. During Talia and Desmond’s trip to Italy, they met Piero at a wine tasting event and immediately felt what Mark experts called a ‘ping,’ a connection between them that hinted at the identity of Piero’s soulmate. Piero followed the Hales to America, met the family—all of which gave off similar pings—was finally allowed a Touch Test with Valerie, and the rest was history.

There were other kinds of trails, like what happened between Boyd and Erica. They both attended the same university, though Boyd had graduated several years earlier. However, even without knowing Boyd, Erica inadvertently joined the same groups and organizations that he had, and even lived at the same apartment that he had rented when he had been a student. Then after Erica graduated, she decided to take a year off to travel. Months later, when Boyd went on sabbatical, he ended up following almost the exact same itinerary. They finally met by chance during an alumni event and got to talking, which revealed all of the things they had in common. Before the event was even halfway through, they had done a Touch Test and found their match.

Stiles’ favorite trail story was of his parents’. John and Claudia met when they were children. Having no siblings, they didn’t have the benefit of a family trail, and being young meant there weren’t a lot of experiences that could link them. However, they had always known there was something special about one another. They grew up together, grew apart, and met later on in life. They still didn’t have the same life experiences—she was a librarian, he was a deputy—but the moment they saw one another again, they just knew.

Sometimes people just knew.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t know we were serving twink in the menu.”

Ordinarily, that comment would have had Stiles lashing out with his sharp tongue, but upon looking up, he hesitated. First of all, the other person was clearly drunk and it was only, Stiles checked his watch, three-forty-seven in the afternoon. Second, the other person was none other than the infamous Peter Hale, Talia’s younger brother.

The eternal bachelor, he was called, well known for his many dalliances and relationships. He was also the Hale with the most well-known Mark, not because it was at a visible spot, but mostly because he tended to flaunt the large image of a bird in flight that was across his chest via his tendency of wearing unbuttoned shirts.

In Stiles’ opinion, Peter reminded him of one of his book characters—the rich and powerful Anthony, who, underneath all the bravado, was desperately looking for his soulmate, only to find it in the fair-haired, gentle-hearted Steven, who wouldn’t take his crap. He wondered who Peter’s soulmate was.

“Oh, for god’s sake. Uncle, come back here!”

Stiles looked up to see Derek jogging over to them, looking both pissed and worried at the man leaning against The Family Bean’s pristine counter.

Peter ignored him. “Oh, lay off, Derek. I want a drink, and this twink is going to make me one.”

Derek turned to Stiles. “Peter, do not call—” He paused, dark eyes widening.

Stiles felt his heart jerk in his chest and his left shoulder burn. He felt like he had been hit in the head, so did Derek going by his gaping.

Peter suddenly tilted sideways, interrupting their stare down. Neither Stiles nor Derek were able to catch the man before he ended up sprawled across the counter. The sight of him had Stiles dredging up some semblance of control. He sighed.

“You are very rude, and also very drunk, but because I feel sorry for you, Mr. Hale, I’ll make you a free drink.”

Derek let out a gurgle and then a cough, obviously holding back laughter. Peter propped himself up on wobbly elbows.

“You feel sorry for me? Don’t you know who I am, kid?”

Stiles was both annoyed by Peter and buoyed by Derek’s reaction. It was probably what sharpened his tongue.

“You’re Talia Hale’s younger brother, but between the supposed—ahh, what was it—Big Bad Wolf of Media and this so-called twink, I’m not the one nursing a hangover at this time of the afternoon.”

Stiles shook his head and walked off, ignoring Peter’s angry, garbled words and the sudden chuckle from Derek. The latter made Stiles’ shoulder ache.

Stiles ignored that and prepared a quick takeout bag. He could hear Peter and Derek arguing out on the main area. It was the work of minutes to prepare a quick smoothie and throw in some crackers and fruits. He walked back out and handed the bag to Derek, but then quickly tucked his hands to himself. The other man’s piercing stare was making him sweat.

Peter grabbed his drink and took a gulp of the smoothie, before asking, “What’s your name, kid?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Not even a thank you. How rude.

“Not a kid, and there’s no need to know my name since you’re just going to forget it.”

Peter smirked lasciviously. “Oh, that mouth on you.”

“I’m also not into geriatrics,” Stiles was quick to bite back.

Peter’s jaw dropped. “Geria—”

Derek suddenly burst into laughter and the sound of it seemed to fill Stiles’ heart and mind, making his face flush and his body warm. Derek smiled at him and Stiles felt warmth bloom in his chest.

Stiles cleared his throat, trying to will the blush away. He rubbed his shoulder. “Well, anyway, I’m happy to help. I’ll tell Kira you guys dropped by. See you around.” He glanced at Peter. “Not you. Drop dead.” He stepped back.

“Wait!” Derek lurched forward, startling Stiles and also Peter, who, true to Stiles’ words, slid off the counter to the floor. They ignored him.

Derek leaned forward over the counter. “I’m sorry if I’m forward, but are you—”

Stiles shook his head vigorously. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

He ducked back into the kitchen, ignoring Derek’s calls and Peter’s drunken warbling. He leaned against the door and slid down until he could curl up into a ball. He placed a hand over his burning shoulder.

Sometimes people just knew.

Stiles was tempted to stay away from The Family Bean after that. He really wanted to. But it was hard to stay away.

Even harder to stay away from a ping.

Stiles wasn’t stupid enough to let that slip away.

Still, it was hard to face up to it and admit that he had a soulmate.

So for the next two weeks, Stiles stayed away from the front of house, always hiding in the safety of the kitchen. He kept on making purple tickets whenever they came, but he avoided coming out for any reason, especially after Derek started coming by nearly every day. Sometimes he even brought his work over just so that he could stay as long as possible.

It confused Kira and Erica, but they assumed Derek just liked the food. The other Hales also started coming by and many times, Stiles could hear them asking Derek why he was hanging around The Family Bean instead of working in his office. Always, Derek kept mum.

Because as it turned out, Derek hadn’t told anyone about the ping.

In fact, Stiles had a feeling that the only person in the Hale family who knew was Nathan. Maybe because he had already been suspicious of it. Out of all the Hales, he was the only one who didn’t ask Derek about why he kept hanging around the café.

The other one who knew was Boyd.

Derek had been called to a meeting one day, so Stiles had felt it safe to come out and work at one of the booths. He had already fallen so far behind on his writing commitments. After a few minutes, Boyd had dropped by and had joined him. Stiles knew he was typing gibberish on his laptop, but he kept on as an excuse not to look at Boyd, who was looking at him intently.

Finally, he spoke, “Looking back, I guess it wasn’t just your banana bread that won me over.”

Stiles jerked, sending a series of characters across the screen.

Boyd kept on. “I always had a good feeling about you from Erica’s stories, but when we met, that was definitely a ping.”

Stiles bit his lip. “Does Erica know?”

Boyd shook his head. “I love her, but Erica would have thrown a party if she knew.”

Stiles sighed, both in relief and in trepidation for the moment Erica find out.

Boyd studied him. “Derek’s a good guy, you know.”

“I know I got that impression from all the stories you and Erica had of him,” Stiles said. “I always thought it was surprising considering he could afford not to be a nice guy.”

Boyd studied him, making Stiles shift in his seat. “Is that the reason you won’t meet with him? Or do a Touch Test? Because he’s a Hale?”

Stiles almost protested, but he deflated. “…I don’t know.”

Boyd hummed under his breath. “Well, you’ve always played your cards close to the chest when it comes to soulmates, but I know you’ll figure it out.” He stood up. “But you better make it soon. Erica and the rest of the Hales are bound to figure it out.”

Stiles groaned and sank down on his seat.

“Noted.”

The day after that, a still-conflicted Stiles was once again at The Family Bean. Kira had gone up to the Wolf’s Den to deliver the latest purple ticket, so he had to stay and man the counter.

The door let out a little tinkle, and Stiles froze the moment he saw the woman entering the café.

He’d know Talia Hale anywhere.

Stiles almost panicked, but then he remembered that she didn’t know who he was. He took a deep breath.

“Um, good afternoon, Mrs. Hale. What can I get you?”

The woman smiled, quite warm and friendly despite her fierce reputation. “Just some tea, please. And are there any new desserts?”

It had been a moment of weakness, but Stiles had actually brought over some peanut butter stuffed cookies and added it to the purple ticket in the hopes that a certain Hale would like them. He still had a few cookies left, but he wasn’t sure if he should offer them to her.

“I smell cookies,” Talia said pointedly. “I’ll have some of those.”

Stiles gulped. “Ah, we have some peanut butter stuffed cookies. Let me get those for you.”

He swallowed his nerves and served the woman, who took a sip of tea and a bite of the cookie right there on the counter.

She smiled, studying the cookies. “Very tasty.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Stiles smiled politely. He turned away to leave and maybe gather his strength in the privacy of the kitchen.

“When we started hearing about The Food Guy, I admit I was quite intrigued. It’s very rare for someone to grab the attention of my entire family.”

Stiles paused and turned to her.

He should have known.

Stiles nodded stiffly. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Talia smiled, sharp and knowing. “And you, Food Guy.”

“Any reason for the visit?” Stiles asked, shifting on his feet.

“I wanted to meet you,” Talia said, taking another bite of her cookie.

Stiles frowned. “That’s all?”

“Were you expecting anything else?”

“Uh, well, I…”

Talia shrugged and sipped his tea. “I don’t blame you for any misgivings you might have should you prove to be soulmates with my son. I’m well aware of the reputation of my family. My late father, Everett, embodied the might of the Hale name better than anyone. You should have seen him back in the days.”

Stiles held up his hands. He couldn’t help the feeling that he had to explain.

“It’s not that there’s a problem with Derek or your family. Being a Hale isn’t the problem… not entirely…” he hesitated, but then plunged on, urged by the ping he could feel inside him and the desire to make someone understand. “My mom passed away when I was seven. She was soulmates with my father. He was—I was—we were never the same after.”

A heavy silence fell, and Stiles was both nervous and intrigued. Talia’s face changed. Something in her eyes darkened and she pursed her lips.

“Forgive my sudden melancholy, but I was just reminded of something.” She sipped her tea. “I was reminded of my youth. My father, Peter, and I had never been the same after mother walked away.”

“Walked away?” Stiles was taken aback. It was rare to hear any mention of Talia’s mother, but everyone had chalked it up to grief at her passing. “But you all said she died—”

Talia interrupted him delicately. “People think of Marks as the be all and end all where the only answer is yes. But even soulmates are a choice…”

“Desmond grew up without a penny to his name, so he rejected me as he could only see himself as an embarrassment to the Hale family. My opinionated father had, unfortunately, been a contributing factor to that line of thinking. I grew up with a rather jaded view of Marks and pings, and I had seen his rejection as a challenge and not a privilege. Desmond and I, our story had been tempestuous, quite unlike the romanticizing people had done.”

She finished the last of her tea. “If I may be allowed to request one thing, all I ask is that you make a choice so that Derek can do the same. No one in this family will certainly blame you for it.”

Talia pushed her empty cup and plate towards Stiles, and smiled. “Have a good day, Food Guy.”

Stiles watched Talia walk away.

He had some thinking to do.

Stiles took a deep breath and tried not to crush the boxes in his hands. He was nervous and his left shoulder was throbbing.

“Ready?” Kira asked him. She was carrying the other delivery boxes.

“As I’ll ever be,” Stiles replied.

Kira smiled, both encouraging and proud, and nodded to the guard on duty. The man held open the double doors for them, and Stiles was instantly met with a wall of sound.

“Purple ticket delivery,” Kira called out, leading Stiles inside.

The office was spacious, as it should be if it was going to accommodate all of the Hales, and all of them were there. There was a long table at one end where Talia, Matthew, and Boyd were talking and laughing. Desmond was on one couch, talking to Piero and Erica. Laura and Cora were seated on armchairs and were arguing loudly about something. Peter was egging them on. CC and Spencer, were seated in front of a television at a kids’ play area set up in the corner. Cameron was with them, all of them singing along to whatever cartoon was playing. Derek, Valerie, and Nathan were huddled around a table, looking at blueprints.

“Oh, yes! The food’s here!” Cameron cheered, which sent the children shouting as well.

Kira navigated the area like a champ, while Stiles slowly shuffled after. “You guys ordered a lot. I had to ask for help. This is Stiles.”

Stiles didn’t miss the way Derek’s head suddenly jolted in his direction, nor Talia’s proud smile, nor Erica’s sudden screech of “Stiles!” which had everyone else turning their way. Stiles winced. He was going to get his ass kicked later for not telling Erica about this.

“Well, well…” Peter grinned. “Hello there, twink.”

Stiles shuddered. “Still not into creepy old geezers.”

“Oh, wait, wait! Is he the guy who called you a geriatric?” Laura asked, before shrieking in laughter.

“And the one who said Peter should drop dead,” Cora added, cackling.

Laughter rang around over Peter’s protests, and it made Stiles’ heart stutter. He felt warm all over, like the pings going off in his head were doubly delighted at the Hales. He glanced at Derek, who was smiling warmly.

Stiles winced when he caught Erica’s gaze though. She looked between him and Derek and her eyes widened. But Boyd was suddenly there, hand over her mouth and whispering to her.

Stiles helped Kira take out all of the food and the ravenous Hales were quickly upon them.

“Food Guy’s stuff tastes awesome,” Nathan said, licking his cupcake’s icing. He waggled knowing eyebrows at Stiles, who bit back a grin. Cheeky kid.

“Please pass our compliments to the chef, Kira,” Desmond said, reaching for his drink.

Kira giggled. “You can thank him yourself.” She waved at Stiles with a flourish.

Stiles felt a little like a deer in headlights when all their gazes alighted on him.

“You’re Food Guy?” and other iterations of the exclamation rang around the room.

Stiles flushed. “I’m glad to hear you all like what I’ve been making.”

“Oh, wow! How wonderful!” Piero piped up. “I haven’t felt a ping in such a long time. How nostalgic, don’t you think, dear?” He turned to Valerie.

“That’s a ping?” Matthew asked, confused, before his face cleared and he rubbed his chest. “Oh, hell, this is a ping.”

“Is that the tingly feeling here, Uncle Mattie?” Spencer asked, pointing at his tummy.

Erica finally managed to get out from under Boyd. “Stiles, did you ping with Derek? Is that why you’ve both been hanging around The Family Bean? You’ve both been pining over each other!”

Stiles groaned, while gasps and shouts suddenly rang around the room.

Kira sighed. “Way to ruin it, Erica.”

“You mean I was pinged through a tomato pie?” Cameron was asking, wide-eyed.

Cora started laughing. “Oh my god! Uncle Peter flirted with Derek’s soulmate!”

“That’s Uncle Derek’s soulmate?” CC asked.

“Yes, he is.” Nathan looked like he was immensely enjoying all this, and Stiles was starting to realize that he was a little shit.

Derek stepped towards Stiles. His face was a little red, but he was smiling and Stiles thought he was the handsomest man he had ever seen.

“My family’s a mess. Please ignore them,” Derek said, ignoring the protests from his siblings.

Stiles chuckled. “At least they keep things interesting. It’s just me, my Dad, and her.” He jerked a thumb at Erica.

“Oh, fu—dge you!” Erica said, glancing at the kids. She turned to Boyd. “And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

Boyd rolled his eyes. “I was giving him space to process things.”

Stiles ignored them and turned to Derek. He only had one chance to do this.

“Ah, sorry, it took a while. I was figuring stuff out, but I thought we should get to know one another first.”

“Of course,” Derek said immediately. He reached out a hand. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Stiles.”

Stiles glanced at Talia, who was whispering to her husband. She winked at Stiles.

“Soulmates are a choice.”

Stiles smiled at Derek. He could feel his Mark tingling in anticipation.

“Me too, Derek.”

He reached out and took his hand.

#kevaaronday #stereksanta20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

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lotusss-flowerbomb · 4 years

Text

Special Guest

Florian Munteanu x reader

Warning: Smut, 18+, Florian in that grey jogging suit

A/N: There is unprotected sex in this story. Remember this is fiction, so in real life, make them wrap that before you let them tap that, okurrrrrt?!

Word Count: 3,814 [whoops!]

********

You shuffled into the lobby of the hotel and set down your bags down.

"Sorry, I'm late. There must be something big going on downtown, because traffic was ridiculous," you said as you pinned your name tag to your blazer. You quickly keyed in your code to clock in and turned to your coworker, Chanel. "Did I miss anything?"

"Did you miss anything? You're three minutes late, you've literally missed nothing." She playfully rolled her eyes. "You know, we get real sick of you being Miss Goody Two Shoes around here."

"Oh, I'm sorry my work ethic offends you ma'am," you laughed. The large figure sitting on the couch caught your eye, a guest sitting halfway off the sofa with his feet on the table. You inched around the large counter to make your way over to him.

"What are you doing?" Chanel grabbed you to stop you from approaching him. She knew the moment you noticed him you'd say something having no idea who he was.

"I'm gonna go ask him to get his feet off of the furniture if that's okay with you?" You pulled away and continued in his direction. Your shoes clacking loudly across the floor as you make your way over to him.

"Hi, sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to remove your feet from the table. I can grab you a foot stool if your legs need to be elevated," you smiled sweetly.

He never looked up from his phone. You cleared your throat, but again he didn't budge. You turned to look back at Chanel who was watching you in horror.

You tapped his shoulder. This time he looked up at you and pulled his hood down, removing an airpod from his ear.

"Sorry to disturb you, sir, but may you please remove your feet from the table?" You clasped your hands together in front of you.

"Yep, sorry," he sat up and looked behind you, "the person I was waiting for is coming anyway," he stood.

You took a step back, "Oh shit, you're a giant," you clapped your hand over mouth. "Sorry, I did not mean to say that."

He looked at you and smiled.

"Oh wow," you said. You clamped your eyes shut. What the hell is wrong with you? You cleared your throat, "Um, yeah, so next time there's um, a foot stool you can use if you need to—"

A large shadow caught your attention. You turned to see the person he must have been waiting for coming closer.

"Oh my God, there are two of you," you inhaled sharply. Seriously, why couldn't you stop your thoughts from just tumbling from your mouth? You cleared your throat again deciding it was best to just walk away before you said something else silly. "You gentlemen enjoy your night."

Chanel watched you walk back over to the desk. You did your best to remain calm and hide the embarrassment that coursed through your veins. You pretended to type something on the screen as Florian and Masias walked towards the entrance.

"Enjoy your evening, Mr. Munteanu," Chanel called out to him.

Florian paused his stride and looked back, "Thank you and make sure you don't work too hard tonight, beautiful."

You stopped typing and looked up. He was looking at you and winked before he turned back around. Your breath caught in your throat and tongue snaked out to wet your lips.

Once they were completely outside you scurried around the desk.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Bathroom," you stomped down the hall. You opened the ladies room door and leaned against it. The coolness of it relieved your rising temperature. You pulled a few paper towels out, wet them and pressed them against your throat and neck.

You've worked at this hotel for three years and have seen your fair share of attractive men, but you've never had such a reaction to a single one the way you were having now. This Munteanu guy had you absolutely flustered...and horny. You shifted from one foot to the other as the cool air hit your damp panties.

"Shit," you sighed and went inside the stall to remove them. Thank goodness you decided to wear thigh highs instead of tights under your skirt today. You tucked the thin material in the pocket of your blazer and headed back up front.

********

"You know what the problem is? It's been too long since you've been laid." Chanel said as she dropped a handful of M&M's into her mouth. Ever since you came back from the bathroom, she wouldn't lay off about how you'd made an absolute ass of yourself.

"Why can't you let it go?" You huffed.

"Because, you need to hear it. I say you fuck him," she shrugged.

"Chanel! I don't know that man and he is a customer." You couldn't believe her. She knew you well enough to know that there was absolutely no way you'd have sex with a total stranger.

"Even better; no strings attached, just sex. Consider him a special guest.” There was that Cheshire cat grin again, “Also, judging by the print he had in those gray sweats, if he knows how to use that thing, it'll be good sex. Plus, he has big hands." She wiggled her fingers.

"For the love of god, would you please knock it off?" You grabbed the duster and walked away. You couldn't take any more of her. Mostly because everything she was saying you'd already thought of and you needed those thoughts to stop.

Having meaningless sex was not something you'd ever done and having sex with guests of the hotel was simply out of the question.

You saw Chanel making her way towards you. You rolled your eyes. She was seriously crossing the line. It's not as if she cared. She prided herself on being your "tell it like it is" friend and getting you to step outside of your safe zone. She could be messy and annoying at times, but you loved her all the same.

"Don't come over here with your mess, Nell," you continue to wipe.

"Girl please," she waved you off, "all I'm saying is, you need to live a little. You clearly got his attention."

"Yeah, I'm sure a lot of women has his attention. He's very attractive and probably flirts with anything that has a pulse," you looked at her.

"So?"

"So, I'm not trying to be another notch on this man's belt."

"A notch on his—what are you 50?" She doubled over in laughter. You couldn't help but laugh with her. The phrase was a little dated, but she knew what you meant.

A few late check-ins filed into the lobby, so you both went back into professional mode. You kept your focus on the guests in front of you as you helped them as best you could, but your mind would never stray far from Mr. Munteanu.

********

Florian and his friends had finally returned from their night out. You took a deep breath, smiled politely and greeted them as you would any other entering guests. Masias was obviously a little tipsy and was loud and giggly.

"Go talk to her," he whispered loudly.

"You need to go talk to some toothpaste, Masias." Florian put his hand up. They had another person with them this time who assured Florian that he had Masias. Florian doubled back to the desk and stopped in front of you. "Um, hi."

"Hello, Mr. Munteanu, how may I assist you?" You asked.

"Just wondering if you could possibly send someone up with extra trash bags and a can to 804? He's going to need it."

"Absolutely, sir, may I help you with anything else?" You looked down at your screen to type the memo out for housekeeping to drop those items off to his room.

"Florian."

"Excuse me?" You glanced up at him.

"My name is Florian. You don't have to keep calling me sir," he smiled.

"I am an employee and you are a guest. It would be very unprofessional of me to call you by your first name... Sir." You smiled innocently.

His smile wavered. He couldn't tell if you were flirting or giving him attitude, but he just made up his mind to find out.

You stared him in the eye. You weren't showing that you were flustered like you were earlier. You had prepared yourself just in case he came back.

He chuckled. "Okay, have it your way Miss," he peeked at your name tag, "Y/N. You have a nice night, dragă meă." He walked away.

"You too, sir," you spoke to his back.

********

"Hey, where have you been?" You asked Chanel when she returned to the station.

"Oh, I took that stuff up to 804," she smiled slyly.

"That's Tony's job."

"Yeah, and I did my coworker a favor while he was on break. I was standing there when the memo came through."

"Mmm hmm, so why are you just now returning? That was 30 minutes ago," you raised a brow.

Chanel's face lit up like a Christmas tree. You groaned.

"Nell, you didn't!"

"Would you calm down? He was too drunk to take it too far."

"Too drunk? I talked to Florian, he wasn't all that drunk." You said.

"Florian? Y'all on a first name basis now."

"No, I— he just told me what it was. That slipped." You explained.

"Mmm hmm, well it wasn't Florian. It was his cute friend, Masias. I would've sucked the skin off of his dick too if the other guy hadn't been there."

You just shook your head and laughed. This girl was a hot mess.

"I'm gonna go lock up the pool. Please stay put until I get back."

You made the short trip to the pool, but before putting the code in, you peeked through the glass to see if anything needed to be picked up. This was someone else's job, but of course they never did what they were supposed to do.

You saw a towel and a pair of slides, so you slipped in to tell whoever it was that it was time for you to lock up. When you got close enough, they popped up to the surface with a large splash getting you wet.

You yelped. He turned to look at you.

"Um, sir, it's time for the pool to close," you said swiping at the wet spots on your blouse and skirt.

"I'll be right out," he said.

Your head snapped up at the sound of Florian's voice. He lifted his large frame out of the water near you. Your eyes scanned him from head to toe. Damn, he was a lot of man.

You picked up the towel and handed it to him, unable to peel your gaze away from him as he dried himself off.

"Like what you see?" He asked.

"What?" You shook your head pulling yourself from the trance, "no, I, um... absolutely not."

"Are you always so uptight?"

"Are you always such a jerk?" You frowned. "I'll come back in five minutes. If you're still in here, I will lock you in." You turned to walk away.

"No, no, no, wait. I'm sorry, dragă meă, I shouldn't have said that." He grabbed your hand before you could get too far.

"What does that mean?" You questioned.

"What?"

"Draga may-ya?" You spoke slowly. He laughed at your pronunciation. You turned your head to the side and jutted out a hip, "really?" You smirked.

"You did your best and it was cute as hell. It means my darling."

"Mmm hmm, is that the universal nickname you give all women?"

"Nope, had that one saved up just for you," he pulled you close to him. You'd forgotten until that moment that he was still holding on to your hand.

Your other hand came up and rested on his chest. He flexed his pecs beneath you.

"Oh, sweet lord," you tried to move away, but he held on to you. "Um, this is very inappropriate, Mr. Munteanu. And you're getting me all wet."

"Oh, am I?" He raised a brow.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"I think it is," he ran his free hand over your ass and then down into your skirt. Your breath caught in your throat when he cupped your bare ass.

He slid his fingers between your cheeks, rubbed over your wet slit and pressed down on your clit.

"Did I tell you that you could touch me?" You pressed your forehead into his chest.

He stopped pressing on your clit, but never removed his hand from your skirt.

"I could stop or I could make you have the best orgasm of your life. Which would you like?" He asked.

You started laughing. Your body shook lightly as you pushed away from him. He looked confused. It was as if something within you had snapped.

"You men are all the same, always promising the best orgasms when you can't manage to even locate a g-spot."

"Are you challenging me?" His voice dropped an octave and his accent grew thicker.

You looked him in his eyes to let him know you were serious.

"Absolutely."

He wasted no time throwing you over his large shoulder and carrying you into the locker room. He sat you down on a bench and pushed your skirt up around your waist. He crouched down in front of you and put your legs over his shoulders.

"When this is over, the only thing you'll be able think about is Big Nasty." His eyes had gone from hazel green to nearly black. Completely darkened by lust.

"You talk too much," you said as you grabbed the back of his head and forced it between your thighs.

Florian sucked your clit into his mouth, using his tongue to brush over it lightly causing your legs to shake just a little. He stopped sucking with a loud pop from his mouth. You pushed him back down and thrust your hips forward. When he sucked it back into his mouth, you pulled away.

"Mmm, yesssss," you mewled as you repeated the movements. The loud sucking sounds bounced off the metal in the empty room.

He growled deep in his chest before he started rolling his tongue over your clit and sliding a thick finger inside of you. You inhaled sharply and caught your lip in between your teeth. He pumped his finger in and out a few times before adding another.

You scratched at his head as he went back to flicking his tongue over your clit.

"Oh god," you cried out as your orgasm built. Your legs shook and Florian picked up the pace.

"You gonna cum for me, dragă meă? Hmm?" He wasn't expecting you to answer him; he already knew what it was.

He felt you tighten around his fingers. It made his dick hard thinking about how you would feel wrapped around him.

"Yes, yes, yes!!" You dug your nails into his shoulder as you quivered into your release.

He watched you as you bathed in ecstasy. Your chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. He reached up and slowly unbuttoned your shirt. He opened it to reveal a simple black bra.

Florian leaned over you and softly kissed each of the smooth mounds before moving to your stomach and then back down to your clit. You flinched due to still being sensitive from your orgasm.

He did it again just to see the same reaction. He smiled.

"Don't be so cocky. You did okay at best," you rolled your eyes.

That triggered him. This time, you watched his pupils dilate and he grabbed your ankle to pull you closer.

"I think I've figured you out," he said as he pulled his hard dick from his shorts. "You've never been fucked the right way," he stroked himself.

Your eyes bulged at the sight of him and your mouth suddenly went dry. There was no way he could fuck you without hurting you. You tried to move, but he held on.

"Don't run now. You talk shit and now you need to back it up." He pushed your legs back and rubbed himself up and down your wet slit.

Your pussy contracted with anticipation. The fear of pain turning into excitement within seconds. He pressed his forehead to yours as he pushed inside of you slowly.

Placing your hands on each side of his face, you let out a loud hiss.

"I'm going to fill you up now, prințesă."

You shuttered as he slid into you further. Gradually stretching you to accommodate his entry. He finally bottomed out and you lost it.

"Ooooh, fuck!" You yelled as you came for the second time.

You dug your nails into his neck.

When you finally opened your eyes he was looking at you with a smirk on his face as he slowly pulled out until just the tip of him was in.

"Um, that's never happened be—"

He drove back into you at full speed cutting off your sentence. He fucked you hard and fast. He moved one hand above your head for support and moved the other to your throat squeezing lightly.

"Harder, harder, harder!" You chanted. He granted your wish and applied more pressure, but making sure not to hurt you.

"I knew you had it in you, Dragă meă. Walking around here with no panties, likes to be choked; it's always the quiet ones." He could feel you tightening around him. "Look at you, a mess, getting ready to cum again. But what if I don't want you to?" He pulled out completely and loosened his grip a little.

"No, no, no, please!" You were on the verge of tears. "Why did you do that?" You tried to sit up, but he pushed you back down tightening his grip on your throat again.

"I didn't tell you to move," he slipped his hand under your bra and pinched your nipple. You moaned as the mixture of pain and pleasure coursed through your body. Between his choking and pinching, you couldn't resist reaching down to rub your clit.

Florian watched as you played with yourself. His mouth watered a little at the sight. He wanted that pussy back into his mouth, but he controlled himself.

"Yeah, play with that tight pussy. That’s my pussy now. Make it wetter for me." His dick twitched as he watched you.

You could feel yourself getting ready to cum again, so you stopped and slapped your clit lightly. You wanted him inside of you again.

"Please, Florian, I want you. I need you," you tell him.

You used two fingers to spread your slick covered lips to invite him inside. He wasted no time penetrating your slick cunt. You mewled as he slowly slipped in. He latched his mouth onto yours swallowing your moans.

Florian broke the kiss and started swearing in Romanian. You didn't know what he was saying, but it was turning you on even more.

"Yessss, baby, give me all of that good dick."

He pulled out and flipped you over. He stood you up and bent you over, so your hands were planted on the bench. He slid back into you with one hand on your hip and the other clutching the band of your bra.

"Play with that pussy," he demanded.

You immediately rubbed your clit.

He put one foot up on the bench and invaded your core as much as he could.

"Good girl, prințesă. You take me so well."

The sound of your bodies joining, your loud moans and the squelch of your soaking cunt created a symphony of pleasure.

Your legs began shaking again. He put his arm around your waist to help hold you up.

"Yes, Flo!! Fuck me, baby!" You started cumming.

He started losing control as you squeezed around him. His hips stuttered and he growled deep in his chest. You heard him calling for god just before he pulled out quickly and finished all over your ass and pussy.

He slapped his still fully erect dick on your glistening cunt and then rubbed the tip from one hole to another.

You both breathed heavily. He turned you to face him before taking you into his arms and kissing you deeply.

"I really should get back out there," you said and moved from his lap. Your legs wobbled beneath you as you tried to stand. You quickly recovered using his towel to clean yourself off and button your shirt back up.

Florian took his time putting his shorts back on. He placed his feet in his shoes and followed you out. The elevator and lobby were in opposite directions, but before you parted ways, he grabbed your hand and pulled you to him.

"Hey, look at me," he said and lifted your chin. "You didn't have a good time?"

"I had a great time...like a really great time, but it's over now, so..."

"Who says it's over? I'll be here for the next few days. Can I take you out on another date?"

"Another date?? This doesn't count as a date, Florian," you scrunched your face.

"You're cute," he laughed. "It absolutely counts as a date. It's the best first date I've ever had."

"That's not funny," you pinched his arm.

"No, really, I would love to see you tomorrow. Please?" He looked so innocent.

"I'm off at 7am," you smiled at him.

"I'll see you then," he leaned down to kiss your lips. He watched as you walked away. "Are you sure you don't want to come up with me?"

"Good night, Mr. Munteanu," you said over your shoulder. You heard him chuckle as he stepped onto the elevator.

********

"Mmm hmm, and where have you been?" Chanel asked the moment you came around the corner.

"Locking up the pool," you said casually.

"Riiight, the pool passing out hickeys now?"

You ran over to the mirror, "What?! He didn't even —" you stopped talking when you saw nothing there. You squeezed your eyes shut. She played you.

"I knew it, I knew it!!!" She jumped up and down. "You have to tell me how it was. I know that dick was fire just by the way he carries himself. He drips big dick energy."

You looked around before speaking, "It was incredible and I never wanted to stop." You blurted out.

"So is this like a one night thing or are you gonna get more before he leaves?"

"He wants to go out tomorrow," you said.

She jumped for joy again. You couldn't figure why she was acting this way. It hadn't been that long since you dated... has it? You dismissed your friend. You weren't even going to attempt to do any work. It was useless. The only thing on your mind was Florian and your date tomorrow. You couldn’t keep yourself from smiling.

#florian munteanu #florian munteanu x reader #florian x reader #florian big nasty munteanu #Smut #Lotusss Writes

485 notes · View notes

shaalk · 4 years

Text

Back together

Type: Oneshot

Characters: Minseok X Reader

Genre: Slight angst, fluff, CEO AU

Warnings: None

Status: Completed

Summary: Being a wedding planner involves a lot of stress, but there’s also a truckload of joy that comes with it. It is always my goal to be involved in a wedding from start to end. This one though, was a bit much for me.

Words: 1750

I am exhausted and I just can’t wait to get home to lounge around. My heels are killing me and the day isn’t even half over.

Being a wedding planner is stressful and tiring most of the time, but I love my job. At the end of the whole process, seeing pure happiness on the bride’s and groom’s face is the best reward I can ever receive.

Standing at the entrance of the wedding hall, I am ensuring that all the decorations at the reception area are properly arranged before I can check on the bride and groom.

I have yet to meet them even though it is already their wedding day. Only their mothers were present at all the wedding planning meetings.

From what both mothers have told me, the bride and groom are CEOs of their own companies, which is why they couldn’t take time off to make any wedding related decisions.

Their jobs also explain why this is easily the most expensive wedding I have ever planned. Held in the most exclusive hotel in Seoul, the cost of the wedding is easily more than what I can possibly earn for the rest of my life. I might even need to work four jobs just to make that amount of money.

As I arrange the last few flowers on the reception table, the first guests arrive. I immediately inform the catering staff to hand them some refreshments through my headphones.

Soon after, the bride’s and groom’s parents come out to the wedding hall to greet the guests. I flutter around from guest to guest, ensuring that everyone is satisfied with the refreshments they are devouring and to also find out if they need anything else.

At about 2pm, most of the guests are present and it is almost time for the ceremony to start. As a protocol, I go to visit the bride first to see if she is ready to walk down the isle.

I enter the bride’s changing room to find the make-up artist adding the final touch on the bride’s lips. Once that is done, I am able to get a glimpse of the bride through the mirror.

My, she is a beauty.

From large brown eyes, to her perfectly contoured cheekbones and her long wavy hair. Beautiful might even be an understatement to describe her.

I quickly put a professional smile on my face and introduce myself to her for the first time. She lightly bows back at me and introduces herself as well.I explain to her that she has a few more minutes to get ready as I will be bringing the groom to walk down the isle first, then coming back to get her later.

She nods in acknowledgment and gives me a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, which is totally unusual for a bride. They are usually all smiles, excited to marry their fiancé.

Maybe she’s just very nervous.

I leave the bridal crew and head to the groom’s changing room. I knock lightly first, not wanting to walk in on something I don’t want to see.

The door swings opens to reveal four men in matching white tuxedos, obviously making them the groomsmen. I explain that I am the wedding planner and that they are required to get ready at the reception area while I brief the groom about the wedding march procedure.

Shouting a round of good lucks to the groom, the groomsmen head towards the wedding hall while I enter the changing room. I immediately spot the groom sitting by the coffee table with his back towards me.

I quickly introduce myself.

As soon as I say my name, the groom whips his head so fast, I hear his neck crack.

I come face to face with a very familiar pair of eyes.

“M-Minseok?”

My eyes widen and so do his. I can’t move. Not when I am staring my ex-boyfriend, the love my life, right in the eyes.

Four years later and he still looks the same as he did when we were in university. The same cat eyes and chubby cheeks. The only difference is that he has lost a whole lot of weight.

When we broke up, he was the chief editor for an entertainment company. Now, he is his own boss, something he always wanted to be.

My mind reels back to our time together.

Frequent walks at the park, weekend trips to other states and visits to the beach. If we were not doing any of those, we would probably be watching a movie in our shared apartment. This was when Minseok was a mere assistant editor.

Things changed between us however, when Minseok attained the position of chief editor at his workplace. All the free time he used to have was gone. Most nights, he would come back from work after I had gone to sleep and would leave home before I had woken up. He even had to work on weekends. Sometimes I would not see him for days even though we lived in the same house.

I grew frustrated. I left my parent’s home because I wanted to live with my boyfriend, but it felt like I was living in our apartment myself.

On one of the rare Saturdays that he was home, I voiced out my concerns to him. I told him that I felt like I was living alone and that if I wanted to live like how we were living right now, I would have moved into my own apartment instead.

To which he replied, “so do that.”

And so i left.

Even though I walked out on him, I never forgot him at all. I did see a few people after my breakup with Minseok but I just couldn’t date, not when I still think about him all the time.

Is it even possible to forget or move on from someone you had been with for six years?

A knock on the door breaks me out of my trance. It’s the indication that it is time for Minseok to walk down the isle.

I had pictured my wedding with Minseok so many times in the past, but never did I imagine that I wouldn’t be the bride walking towards him during the ceremony.

I break eye contact with Minseok and tell him the procedure of the wedding march. I watch him nod stiffly and take that as a cue for me to leave. The male trails along behind me as we walk towards the reception area.

I give the groomsmen some directions on where they should stand once they enter the hall, all the while feeling Minseok’s burning stare on me. I don’t give him the attention he wants. I can’t. If I do, I might just break down.

Once I fix the positions of the groomsmen, I nod my head as a signal for the wedding hall’s doors to open. One by one, they start entering the hall. That is when I rush off to fetch the bridal crew.

We are waiting outside the hall for the groom’s portion of the ceremony to be over. Meanwhile, I am just observing the bride. It is weird how she doesn’t look happy at all despite it being one of the most important days of her life.

On cue, the bridal march song comes on. The doors open and the bridal crew starts walking in. Once they all enter, I get into the wedding hall with my assistant, to take our places at the back.

I watch the bride walk down the isle with her father. Once at the alter, the father kisses her cheek and takes a seat. My stomach churns as I watch Minseok pull the bride’s veil over her head and hold her hands.

“Dearly beloved,” the priest starts and I immediately know I have to leave. I can’t watch the man I love marry someone else.

So I flee.

I pass my headphones to my assistant and run off, giving her an excuse that I am feeling a bit sick.

I march to my car and speed off to my apartment with tears rolling down my face the whole time.

Thanks to the heavy rain mirroring my tears and bad traffic, I only manage to reach my apartment an hour later.

I check my phone to see no texts from my assistant, which is unusual because if I am unable to see through the end of a wedding, she will drop me a message to update me that the ceremony is over.

I am about to call her when I hear my doorbell ring. Without even bothering to check who it is, I pull the door open.

“Minseok?” I shriek.

He is standing outside my apartment with a puddle of water around him, utterly soaked from the rain and gasping for air.

“Why are you here?”

“I can’t do it. I can’t marry her!”

“What are you talking about? You spent so much money on the wedding!”

“I’m pretty sure i’m going to get a ticket for speeding all the way here from the wedding venue, I ran under the rain from the front of your neighbourhood because the freaking traffic was so bad and all you care about is how much I spent on the wedding?” Minseok is shouting at this point.

His eyes soften when he takes in the shock written all over my features.

“I can’t marry her, not when i’m still in love with you,” he confesses.

I can’t stop the tears from falling again.

I am frozen on the spot and Minseok takes that opportunity to tug me towards him and envelope me into a hug. I melt in his hold, missing the way his arms feel around me. I immediately hug him back, not wanting the moment to end.

After a while, we move to sit on my couch just to bask in each other’s presence. We catch up for a bit and Minseok admits that the marriage was arranged by his and the bride’s parents, and that it was for their companies to merge.

No wonder the bride looked so unwilling to be at the wedding venue, she was forced into the marriage.

We are silent for a bit until Minseok calls out for me.

“I’m never letting you go again babe,” he whispers as he seals that promise with a peck on my lips. I grin into the kiss.

You better not Kim Minseok!

A/N: Let me know what you think! Please drop a comment :)

#exo #exosnet #exowritersnet #exo fanfiction #exo scenarios #exo fic #minseok #minseok fanfiction #minseok scenarios #minseok fic #xiumin #xiumin fanfiction #xiumin scenarios #xiumin fic

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elliemarchetti · 4 years

Text

Red Queen Pride and Prejudice AU (part 3)

Part 1

Part 2

Masterlist

@lilyharvord sorry for the long waiting but life got in the way, as always. I hope you like this chapter and stay tuned for the fourth (which, I swear, won’t take that long)

Words: 2335

Wren wasn’t feeling any better. On hearing this, Miss Samos and Lady Haven repeated three or four times how terrible it was to have a bad cold, and how much they themselves hated being sick, but after that, they thought of it no more, and their indifference toward their guest when they weren’t directly around her confirmed to Mare all her previous feelings toward the party, including the satisfaction with Mr. Samos’ ways, since his anxiety for Wren was evident. On her side, Mare received very little attention from everyone: the ladies were attracted to the General like flies with honey, and Lucas Samos, beside whom Mare sat for lunch, wasn’t much of a conversationalist, and when he discovered that Mare preferred simple dishes to elaborate ones, he had nothing more to add until the end of the meal, when Mare apologized and immediately returned to Wren. As soon as the door closed behind her back, Miss Samos began to speak ill of her manners, which were declared very bad, a mixture of pride and impertinence.

“She has neither style, nor taste or beauty,” added Lady Haven. “In short, she has nothing that does her honour but to be an excellent walker. I’ll never forget her appearance this morning. She really looked like a savage.”

“I just managed to contain myself!” exclaimed the other. “What nonsense to go all that way through the mud for a simple cold. Besides, I would never have shown myself around with such sloppy, dishevelled hair.”

“Miss Barrow may not be a great conversationalist, and I guess your description may be correct,” replied the cousin, “but not only did I miss the muddy slip and the simple hairstyle, I can also say that I justify her little desire to chat, when her friend, for whom she feels a palpable affection, is in those conditions.”

“I am afraid, General, “observed Miss Samos, almost whispering, "that this adventure has somewhat shaken your admiration for her beautiful eyes.”

“Not at all,” he replied, “they were enlightened by the exercise.”

A short pause followed, and it was Lady Haven who began again: “I have a lot of respect for Miss Wren, she really is one of the sweetest girls I had the pleasure to know, and with all my heart I would like for her to settle down well, but with such parents and modest kinship, I fear there’s no chance of that happening.”

"I seem to have heard you say her uncle is a scholar,” said Mr. Samos, who didn’t seem to have any objection to the words his sister and friend had addressed to Mare, but didn’t like those harsh comments towards of the other guest and wanted to end the topic quickly.

“Yes, and they have another one, who lives somewhere close to Cheapside,” replied his sister, unleashing her friend’s laughter.

“If she had enough uncles to fill all Cheapside”, exclaimed Ptolemus, who was starting to get really irritated, “that wouldn’t make her less nice.”

“But that actually diminishes her chance of marrying a man of some importance in society,” Cal replied quietly, hoping to be able to be a peacemaker now as he always did when they were children. Obviously Ptolemus didn’t like his words, and left the room in great strides, slamming the door behind him. Everything would be back to normal by tea time, he was sure, and in this way he had also managed to dispel, at least for a moment, from Evangeline’s mind the thought that he was in turn interested in one of their guests. After lingering for a while to amuse themselves at the expense of their dear friend’s vulgar kinship, with a surge of tenderness, they went to her room, and stayed with her until they were called for tea. Wren was still very unwell, and Mare absolutely didn’t want to leave her until late evening, when she had the comfort of seeing her asleep, and judged it correct, more than pleasant, to go downstairs. Entering the living room, she found them all playing cards and she was immediately invited to join, but suspecting they were playing hard she refused but decided to watch and listen to their conversation about Whitefire, General Calore’s estate, and his grandmother, a woman whose manners was widely praised by Miss Samos.

“It’s surprising to me,” said Mr. Samos, “ how many women have the patience to get to be so well educated as they all are; they can paint, play the piano, dance, sing and even embroider. I don’t know any who can’t do all this things, and I’m sure I’ve never heard of a woman before without being made aware of how well educated she was.”

"Your list of things commonly defined as education is all too true,” said the General. “The world is applied to many women who doesn’t deserve it and I can say it with certainty, after getting to know them better. I have to admit that, sadly, in my entire range of acquaintances, there are no more than half a dozen of really educated women.”

"Neither am I, I’m sure,” said Miss Samos. The more she knew her, the more it was evident that she was trying in every way to create bridges between her meagre personal ideas and those of the General, and Mare was ready to bet, even if she hated it, that she would be willing to trample any friendship or ideal in order to achieve her goal to marry him. If only their descriptions of what was a truly educated woman had been more alike, Mare would’ve said they were meant for each other, but their words were so diametrically opposed that she almost had to restrain herself from laughing, a task in which she was aided by the fact that General Calore described someone who was also very distant from both her, her family and her friends, a mixture of talent, good taste, elegance and commitment that didn’t even reflect the other two young ladies in the room, who began to protest so much that Lucas Samos had to impose some order on them so they could finish the game. Since the conversation had ended so bitterly, Mare left the room shortly after.

“Miss Barrow,” said Miss Samos, once the door closed, “is one of those young ladies who try to make a good impression with the opposite sex by underestimating their own, and I am convinced that with many men the thing is successful but, in my opinion, it’s a petty system, a squalid artifice.”

“No doubt,” replied Cal, who was the main recipient of this remark, “there is some meanness in all the tricks that ladies sometimes deign to use to seduce. Anything that has an affinity for cunning is despicable.”

Not completely satisfied with that answer, Evangeline dropped the subject. How dare he throw digs at her when he knew perfectly well what had pushed her this far? Not even Ptolemus intervened, and Elane gave her a sideways glance, to make sure she wasn’t making one of her scenes. It was probably the possibility that Miss Barrow or Miss Skonos might hear it that stopped her, but that didn’t prevented her, that very evening, from consoling herself in the privacy of her room with the one that everyone would forever call her dear friend. As always after Elane’s loving care, all tension was smoothed out, and the following morning, when Mare had the pleasure of being able to give a fairly positive response to the request for information she had received very early in the morning from Mr. Samos through a waitress, it was proposed that a note could be sent to Mrs Skonos to ask her to visit her daughter and see for herself the situation, inviting her to take Mrs Barrow and the younger Miss Barrow with her too. If she had found Wren visibly in danger, Mrs. Skonos would certainly have despaired, but felt satisfied to see that the disease didn’t cause any alarm, she didn’t wish she would recover immediately, given that a healing would probably have taken her out of the Hall of the Sun. Therefore, she didn’t want to listen to her daughter, whom proposed to be brought home, and also the pharmacist, who had almost reached the house at the same time, thought it was definitely inadvisable. After spending some time with Wren, the four women were invited by Miss Samos to join her and her brother in the breakfast room, where he welcomed them hoping that Mrs. Skonos hadn’t found her daughter worse than what she had expected, but his hopes were partly dashed, although the woman later took care to compliment them profusely both on their kindness and on the wonderful estate they had rented.

“I hope you’re not going to leave us too quickly, even if the lease is short,” said Mrs. Barrow, who hadn’t yet uttered a word except for the customary greetings.

“Whatever I do, I do it quickly,” he replied, “and so if I had to decide to leave the Hall, I would probably leave in five minutes. For the moment, however, I consider it a stable accommodation.”

"That’s exactly what I would’ve imagined from you,” Mare said.

“I didn’t know,” Miss Samos interjected, “you were a student of characters. ”

“It must be a fun study,” noted her cousin, who had recently joined them along with General Calore.

“Yes, but the intricate characters are the funniest. At least they have that advantage,” she replied, casting a quick glance at Tiberias, who, feeling drawn into question, reminded her that the countryside wasn’t exactly the best testing ground for studies like that.

“In a countryside area one moves within a restricted and uniform social environment.”

“But people change so much that there is always something new to observe,” replied Mare, always ready to change his mind about his prejudices on simple people. If she had addressed any other gentleman like that, her mother would’ve reminded her of her place in the world but since it was General Calore, she was happy to take her daughter’s side, although not in the best of ways, to the point that her interlocutor, after giving her a long puzzled look, walked away in silence and even Lucas Samos found himself embarrassed.

“You have completely misunderstood my friend: he only meant that in the countryside there certainly can’t be the same amount of people you can find in town.”

“Nobody says otherwise, but as for not frequenting so many people in these parts, I think there are few places richer in neighbours. All I know is that we know twenty-four families.”

Nothing but the regard towards Mare allowed Lucas to keep himself serious. The cousin was less delicate, and gave her brother a very expressive smile. Mare, in order to divert her mother’s thoughts, asked her if Diana Farley had been visiting them since she was at the Hall.

“Yes, she came yesterday with her father, but she didn’t stop for lunch because her mother was waiting for her at home to make apple pie for her little sister’s birthday. The Farleys are really good girls, I assure you, and they are also very nice, but if they are with Wren or my daughters… they inevitably end up taking a back seat. That’s what everyone says, I don’t just trust my partiality.”

“When Wren was only fifteen,” Lady Skonos added, “there was a gentleman at my sister’s so in love with her that my brother-in-law was sure he would’ve declared himself before we could leave. Instead nothing came of it. Maybe he thought that she was too young. However, he wrote some verses about her, and they were very pretty.”

“And so his love ended,” Mare said impatiently. “There were more than one, I guess, that ended up like this. I often ask myself who was the first to discover the effectiveness of poem in chasing love away!”

Obviously the General didn’t share her idea, and was more than happy to point this out, interrupting his conversation with Miss Samos. Mare too had the answer ready, and their quarrel was followed by a long silence, which forced Mrs Skonos to thank the homeowner again for the kindness showed to her daughter, and Mrs Barrow to apologize for the inconvenience caused by Mare, who still didn’t have the slightest intention of leaving. Mr. Samos gave a spontaneous and courteous reply, and also forced his sister to behave in the same way, although she didn’t play her part gracefully enough not to allow Mare to notice that hers was all fiction. The two older women, however, seemed to be content and when Mrs Skonos ordered the carriage, Gisa stepped forward as if on command and asked Mr. Samos when he intended to give the ball his cousin had promised he would tell him about when they arrived in the countryside. Gisa was a strong and well-developed girl of fifteen, with a beautiful complexion and a cheerful expression; it was her mother’s favourite, whose affection had led her to make her entry into society at a very early age. She had a bursting vitality, a kind of innate self-confidence, that the officers’ attentions had turned into cheekiness, making her the perfect candidate to address Mr. Samos about a ball which, if not given, would’ve been the worst of shame on his honour, at least in her words.

"I’m perfectly ready,” he reassured her, “and when your friend has recovered, you will set the date of the party, if you please.”

Gisa looked satisfied, and began to fantasize about what other events she would be able to organize and continued to do so even when they were gone and Mare returned to Wren, leaving her and her relatives behaviour at the mercy of the two ladies and the General, who nevertheless didn’t allow himself to be persuaded to join in the criticism despite all the jokes Evangeline made about beautiful eyes.

#pride and prejudice au #p&p #marecal #ptolewren #evane #mare barrow #cal calore #ptolemus samos #wren skonos #evangeline samos #elane haven #gisa barrow #ruth barrow #diana farley #madeline farley #lucas samos #anabel lerolan

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numba99 · 5 years

Text

The Intern - Part 3

Part 1 Part 2

summary: You are an intern at MSG, strictly forbidden to become involved with any of the Rangers. However, this becomes difficult when you catch the eye of a certain player. Word count: 2.3k

warning: nothing really just like alcohol mentions I guess and no proof reading teehee

“Good morning,” A voice chirped, pulling you from your sleep. You let out a loan groan as Jess jumped on to your bed.

“I’m trying to sleep,” you grumbled, trying to pulled the blankets over your head.

“You’ve slept long enough I need to know what happened last night,” Jess said, nudging your shoulder.

“I definitely have not slept long enough,” you replied.

“I got bagels,” Jess singsonged.

That got your attention. “Alright, I’m coming,” you sighed, kicking the covers off. Jess jumped up in excitement and you followed her out to the kitchen. Just as she promised, there was a bag of fresh bagels waiting for you.

“Bribery is a new low for you,” you said, digging through to find an everything one.

“But it worked,” Jess noted, “So some on, spill.”

“Well I am happy to report that Chris is in fact single,” You told her as you spread a layer of cream cheese over you bagel.

“As delighted as I am by this news you know that’s not what I wanna hear about,” Jess replied, pointing the butter knife at you.

“There really isn’t much to tell,” you shrugged.

Jess rolled her eyes, “Every time you say there isn’t much to tell, a shit ton of things happened.”

You sighed and gave her the run down, even though you thought it was uneventful. At least it would satisfy her. “And then we shared an Uber home. See not much to tell,” you finished.

“You’re so naive its precious,” Jess replied, “He obviously likes you.”

“It doesn’t matter how he feels, it just can’t happen,” you replied, “And I appreciate him respecting that.”

“Okay fine I will give him that, it’s cool of him to not push it,” Jess nodded, “All the more reason you should bang him though. Sounds like a greta guy.”

“You’re hopeless,” You laughed, shaking your head, “But he is a great guy, I really li-” You tried to stop yourself before you gave her ammo but it was too late.

“Oohhh you like him,” Jess grinned.

“Oh please,” you tossed a napkin at her, “You know what I meant.”

“Sure... sure,” Jess laughed.

____

The next few weeks you were riding a high. Being at MSG was significantly less stressful when you didn’t feel like you had to dodge one of the players. You were getting along great with guys and Lias never tried anything with you. You really appreciated him respecting your boundaries, and you were starting to develop a great friendship.

On top of that your workload was increasing, but in a good way. You got to be more hands on, and even write up a few posts on your own. It was really great to feel like Beth trusted you and thought you were doing well.

“Hey great game today Lias,” you said as he was packing up his things. The rangers had a come from behind win today, with Lias scoring the goal that put them over the edge.

“Thanks,” he smiled, “Definitely needed that. By the way, did Mika mention his Halloween party to you?”

“Um no I don’t think so.” You got told a lot of things from a lot of different people while you were here, but you were sure you would remember Mika mentioning his Halloween party.

“Guess I’m beating him to the punch, but he wanted to invite you. It’s this weekend at his place and you’re welcome to bring a friend. Costumes are a must though,” Lias told you.

“That sounds great I’d love to,” you replied, however it dawned on you this could be crossing a line and you wanted to check with Beth first. “I gotta make sure I have nothing else though, can I text you later to let you know for sure?” You didn’t wanna admit you had to ask your boss for permission.

“Yeah of course.” Lias took your phone and entered in his number. You chuckled to yourself as you were walking away realizing he made his contact name “Lias my favorite ranger Andersson.” It was sort of juvenile, but somehow from him it was charming.

“Hey Beth can I ask you something?” you asked as you stepped into her office.

“Sure, what is it?” she asked, looking up from the papers on her desk.

“So I was sorta invited to a Halloween party at Mika’s but I didn’t know if I was allowed to go?” you explained shyly. It felt so stupid coming out of your mouth.

Beth laughed, “I'm not your mother, y/n, you don't have to ask me permission to go out.”

“I know, but I just didn’t want to cross a line or anything. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to get around the rules,” you told her.

“The rules are against romantic relationships. Believe me, I wasn’t an intern that long ago, I know it’s fun to get asked to do stuff with players. You work hard and should be able to enjoy the perks. If it’s a big group thing, I don’t see the problem with it,” Beth replied.

“Thank you, that makes me feel a lot better,” you said.

“Of course,” Beth said, “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, I trust you and I know you wouldn’t do anything to break that. Besides, the more the players like you, the better answers I get when you’re around. It’s a win win for me.”

“Glad I can help,” you laughed. With that, Beth told you you were free to go for the night.

You practically ran home, eager to tell Jess about it. “You’re kidding?” she squealed.

“Nope! You’re finally gonna meet Chris,” you told her.

“Oh thank god past Jess had the foresight to take off Halloween. This was all meant to be,” Jess gushed.

You smiled, sharing in excitement as you pulled out your phone to let Lias know you would be able to go. Within minutes he replied:

Can’t wait to see you

___

The day of the party you had butterflies in your stomach and you didn’t really know why... Well you knew why but you were going to ignore that. Instead, you put your energy into getting ready. You and Jess chose to be a devil and angel, you being the devil and her the angel. The costumes were basic, red dress for you and white for her with horns and a halo. It was the best it was going to get with such last minute plans. You did feel really hot in it, though, and really that’s all that matters.

“Oh wow we are both getting some tonight,” Jess said as you checked yourselves over one last time before heading out.

“No you are, I will be cheering you on from the corner,” you reminded her.

She grinned, “We’ll see about that.” She should be the one dressed as a devil.

The Uber to Mika’s place wasn’t too long and boy were your floored by his apartment. Of course you knew it would be nice, but wow, you couldn’t even begin to imagine what the rent on the thing was. It didn’t feel too crowded despite the amount of people present; a miracle for a New York City apartment party.

“Hey! Y/n, glad you could make it,” Mika greeted you with a hug. He was dressed as a soccer player.

“Okay now I don’t feel so bad about how basic my costume is,” you teased.

“You invite someone into your own home and this is how they treat you...” he feigned insult.

You laughed, then introduced Jess, who you could tell was already scanning the room for “her man.” You all chatted together for a little, but Mika eventually had to move on to greet other guests. He pointed you guys towards the bar, where you spotted Lias hanging out.

“Holy shit hes even cuter then the pictures,” Jess whispered in your ear as you approached. You hushed her with an elbow nudge to the ribs.

“Hey y/n, you look amazing,” Lias smiled, pulling you in for a hug. God his body felt so muscular, you thought. Definitely could have done without that realization. “The irony of you dressed as devil around a bunch of rangers players isn’t lost on me.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” you laughed, “And what are you supposed to be?” He was dressed in an all black outfit that fit his body very well.

Lias leaned his head to the side, revealing “bite marks” drawn on. “A vampire.”

“Ah so that’s why you've got red on the side of your mouth, I thought your drink just dribbled out of the side of your mouth,” You teased, to which Lias playfully rolled his eyes.

“Ahem,” Jess interjected.

“Right,” you blushed, almost forgetting she had been there, “Lias this is my friend and roommate Jess. Jess, this is my work friend Lias.” You put a slight emphasis on the word friend, though you weren’t sure if that was more for her or you.

“Great to finally meet you, Lias. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Jess smiled.

“Really?” Lias smirked at you. You gave her a death stare; she was very pleased with herself.

“Yeah I guess I talk about work a little too much, she’s probably sick of it by now,” you tried to cover.

“What's going on here?” A voice asked. You turned around to find Chris entering the kitchen with a big smile on his face. You’ve never been happier to see him, knowing it would be the perfect Jess distraction. She played right into it, introducing herself as your friend.

“Great to meet you,” Chris smiled.

“I’ve heard this place has a nice view, care to show me?” Jess asked. You marveled at her boldness.

“I would love to,” Chris replied, and he sounded like he really meant it. Jess wrapped her around him and followed him out with a knowing smile in your direction.

“Wow,” Lias said, watching them leave.

“Yup,” you half laughed. That’s Jess for you.

“Well I hope everything you told her about is good, because if not I’m sure I’ll hear it,” Lias teased. Of course he hadn’t forgotten.

“Hmm I don’t know. May be safer to stay away from her or you’ll know how I really feel about you,” you shot back.

“And how’s that?” he asked, with a slight edge to his voice. It somehow didn’t seem like fun banter any more.

Before you could answer, someone bumped into you from behind, sending your drink sloshing out of the cup and on to Lias’ shirt. They muttered a drunk and giggly sorry before pushing past you.

“Shit I’m so sorry Lias,” You gasped. You tried to catch a glimpse of who ever did it, but you didn’t recognize them.

“It’s all good, it’s not your fault,” Lias replied very calmly for someone who had held a drink on their shirt.

“Let me help you get cleaned up at least,” you said. Lias nodded, and you followed him down a hallway to the back of the apartment. You slid into a bedroom, shutting the door behind you. It was quieter here, though you could still hear the soft thudding of the music through the walls.

“Mika doesn’t mind you borrowing his clothes?” You asked as you watched Lias fling open the closet.

“This is my room actually,” Lias replied, digging through his clothes, “I actually stay here with him.

“Oh,” you replied, suddenly feeling nervous. It shouldn’t make a difference, but knowing it was his bedroom and not Mika’s just felt different. It felt wrong. Lias didn’t seem to notice, he was pulling off his shirt without a care in the world. Sure, you’ve seen him shirtless countless times - the players got changed in front of the media all the time - but it just being you and him felt almost intimate.

When Lias caught your eye he froze, and the energy in the room shifted. You just knew that he was feeling what you were. “I can leave so you can change,” you said quickly.

“You don’t have to,” Lias replied, stepping towards you.

“I- uh- I don't know it probably should,” you stammered, reaching for the knob. Lias’ hand grabbed yours, your eyes locking.

“I don’t want you to,” his voice was just above a whisper. You barely heard if over your heart pounding in your ears. The next thing you knew his hands were cupping your face, pulling you in for a kiss. You melted into him, wrapping your arms around his neck to hold him close to you.

It was like everything else disappeared. All you could think about was how good Lias’ lips felt against yours, how strong the muscles of his back felt against your fingertips. His hand slid down your body, playing at the hem of your dress and suddenly a voice entered your head.

“I trust you and I know you wouldn’t do anything to break that.”

Suddenly you were snapped back to reality. You jumped away from Lias with a gasp. Shit, you thought, I’ve fucked up big time.

“Are you okay? Did I h-”

“I have to go,” you spat out, turning away and practically tripping over yourself to get out the door.

“Shit, wait y/n,” Lias called after you, but you ignored it. You weaved through the partygoers, scanning the room for Jess. You spotted her in the corner, making out with Chris. For a fleeting moment you forgot what just happened and was just happy for her. Unfortunately, it didn’t last and you needed to get out ASAP.

“I’m so sorry Jess, we gotta go,” you broke them up. She shot you an annoyed look, but Jess knew you Long enough to know when something was up. She nodded, realizing you needed her and told Chris she’d call him later.

And with that, you got yourself out, but not without creating a giant mess.

#l andersson #lias andersson imagine #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagines #rangers imagine #new york rangers imagine #the intern

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cobythinks · 5 years

Text

‘Might As Well’ AU

HEYY so I this is a bullet-fic kinda thing for an AU I’ve created, and unlike my other AUs I’m not going to make a story for it and if I write anything it’ll all be one-shots of certain bits. It's mainly Roloceit with like tiny bits of Moxiety as well.

Feel free to send in asks or request one-shots for this AU! I’m very happy abt it and I loved writing this so any questions for the characters or requests for scenes would be amazing!!!

Most of it under the cut because... I got carried away and it's very long

Roman Guerra is a YouTuber/actor

Horace (Dee) McMullin is a drama teacher

Logan Wright is a science teacher at the same school that Dee works at

Roman and Dee are roommates, and though their relationship has progressed FAR past what anyone would call a friendship, they really don’t care enough to label it or even talk about what they are to each other. They both know they care about the other, and that’s all that really matters.

Roman also tends to rant in Spanish when he gets passionate, and Dee responds by saying the names of ‘Mexican food’ as a reply.

Roman: *talks in spanish*

Dee: *nods* burrito. Quesadilla. Mama Mia.

Roman: that’s not even a food, shut up.

Logan meets Dee through work, obviously, and they quickly become friends

Something about the tall, dramatic, elegant man just drives Logan insane because he’s a little shit once you get to know him and it makes no SENSE

The adorable little science teacher shouldn’t scare Dee as much as he does, but he can’t help it. Something about the way Logan is always composed makes Dee feel like he’s a serial killer or something.

Despite this, they become friends when they discover they both have a passion for psychology and have long discussions about it during lunch and when they hang out on weekends

Dee - as much as he hates it - starts to fall hopelessly in love with the other teacher. He can’t help it, just like he couldn't help but to fall in love with Roman a year and a half earlier when they met.

Not that he’d told Roman that yet, god no. They’d both dated other people on and off while knowing each other, even if they did end up fucking after every breakup and swearing to each other they were done with the whole relationship thing.

Roman always found someone else to sweep off their feet, and Dee always found himself hopelessly pining for someone else to make the first move

So, that’s what was happening here, and it was torture.

Logan wasn’t much better, furious that this dramatic drama teacher of all people made him feel so flustered and confused.

Then the day came that Dee brought Logan over for dinner, and he met Roman

Roman greeted him dramatically, filling the entire apartment with his electric energy as he spoke.

Oh god, there’s two of them. Logan realized in terror as the two bickered playfully back and forth, eventually challenging each other to a duel despite the fact they had a guest over.

And like most of their duels, Roman ended up kissing Dee

“Oh,” Logan said, feeling like a complete idiot

“Fuck,” Dee said, realizing that Logan now had the wrong idea

“Maybe later,” Roman said with a wink because he’s a little shit.

Dee just freaking makes a mess of everything and accidentally confesses his feelings for both of them at once and then faceplants on the couch

Roman offers Logan some lasagna because it’s getting cold

Dee feels betrayed

but joins them for lasagna in a few minutes

Logan is utterly confused and doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything

Dee is mortified and wants to jump off the balcony

He and Roman proceed to do the titanic thing and Logan is still very confused but he agrees to take their picture

He’s Like: Sure??? I guess so??? Are we not going to address what just happened??? DOn’T FaLL yOU IDiOTs

Roman thinks it is all hilarious but he must agree that Logan is stunning

He helps to re-explain his and Dee’s relationship because Dee honestly did an awful job

And Logan is like okay

Because it makes sense now even though Roman used many slang words he did NOT understand

Oh my god these two are literally the most chaotic duo he’s ever met and usually Logan HATES chaos but he LOVES this

And so Roman - of course, it’s Roman - is the one to suggest they just go with the flow like he and Dee have been doing for the past year already, if Logan wants to

Logan has no idea what to expect but agrees that he wouldn’t mind

Horace.exe has crashed again

So they start doing whatever the hell it is that they’re doing

And if Roman is a chaos slut with Dee he is a chaos gentleman with Logan and it is BAFFLING he’s still dramatic but he’s overly chivalrous and polite and Dee is annoyed why can’t Roman hold the door open for him instead of holding it closed like a jerk after opening it for Logan

Dee and Logan just keep up their psychology discussions almost constantly and regularly have to ask Roman to finish a debate even though Roman knows NOTHING about psychology

Roman always finds an excuse not to support Dee (in a loving way)

“Roman! Tell Logan that Max Stirner-”

“I’M BUSY MAKING ALFREDO SORRY”

This doesn’t stop Dee from continuing to ask him to back him up

Roman always supports Logan in the debates despite being completely oblivious

“Roman, don’t you agree that-”

“Yes, my love. My darling. Genius whom I would die for. I agree.”

This always causes Logan distress in two ways

One: Roman didn’t listen to what he was agreeing with

Two: he is now super flustered because Roman is continuing to ramble on about how much he loves Logan

Logan turns out to know some Spanish

So now he and Roman have conversations in Spanish and Roman teaches him more and Dee just doesn’t really care

He keeps contributing using food or random words he’s picked up on and it drives Logan and Roman INSANE

And so they start dropping his proper name in conversation to either

One: make Dee think they’re mad because they used ‘Horace’

Two: make Dee think they’re gossiping about him

When really they’re talking about how much they love him OR just saying ‘Horace’ in the middle of a completely unrelated sentence

They stop doing this after they accidentally make Dee legitimately sad

It surprises both of them when they realize he’s crying after they don’t tell him what they were saying

So no more pretending to gossip about each other in Spanish

Roman offers to teach him Spanish

Dee responds to the offer by screaming ‘TORTILLA’ at the top of his lungs

Dee does not learn Spanish

Roman calls them his boyfriends first

In a youtube video title

Without warning them that they were being featured

Because he’s a little shit

Dee freaks out and tries to ask him about it but they just end up making out like they usually do when they try to have a serious conversation

Logan is okay with it and very amused at Dee’s reaction

Dee calls them his boyfriends next when he gets sick

When Dee gets sick he gets freaking delirious

Logan didn’t believe that it was the same person the first time he saw Dee when he was sick

Dee also only responds to Horace, his given name, when he’s sick and it's so hard to talk to him because they never seriously call him that

but Dee is so fucking sappy when he’s like that

And it's just pure and cute and he calls them his boyfriends

Logan calls them his boyfriends last

When introducing him to some other friends when they moved back into town

Patton Foster, a veterinarian

Virgil Storm, a weatherman (shut up he knows it's stupid his boyfriend (Patton) makes enough jokes about it as it is)

Both are baffled at how Logan managed to be dating two completely batshit crazy drama geeks

Once this happens they finally sit down and decide that yeah, they are dating

None of them say it’s exclusive, but none of them really want to date anyone else anymore anyway

Having Logan there to balance out the chaos is exactly what they needed

“I NEED A SNAKE FOR A VIDEO”

“Doesn’t Dee have a pet snake?”

“DEE YOU HAVE A PET SNAKE??”

“You’ve lived together for two years, how do you not know he has a snake in a terrarium in his room?”

“Logan I trusted you.”

“CAN I USE YOUR SNAKE”

“Only if I get to be in the video too, she gets nervous around cameras and she needs me.”

“Snakes don’t know what cameras-”

“DEAL!”

So it's just chaos and thriving in their little apartment

Roman has them in his videos sometimes, which is hugely popular among his viewers

“Hey, youtube! Today we’re throwing wet sponges at my tall boyfriend!”

“Roma- ROMAN GET AWAY FROM ME YOU SAID YOU WOULD WARN ME NEXT TIME”

“If you get water on the floor I’m not cleaning it up also watch out for the outlets you don’t want to get electrocuted.”

“That was my nerd boyfriend. I’d never throw a wet sponge at him, he doesn’t deserve it. Only my tall one deserves it.”

“I HATE YOU BOTH”

Logan and Dee both try to embarrass the other more whilst at work, which only caused a problem one or two times

“I need your help”

“With what”

“...a surprise”

“I told you I won’t help you teach them how to stage kiss anymore you always just kiss me for real and that’s not how it works.”

“But I love you.”

“fine.”

Roman and Dee regularly compete to see who can make Logan more embarrassed from compliments and it usually ends up in a cuddle pile or [REDACTED]

Dee is still positive that Logan is either a serial killer or a robot and that is one reason he enjoys making Logan embarrassed because it's hilarious to see the usually stoic teacher not know what to say

Roman, when he hears this theory, claims that Dee is the actual serial killer and he knows because he’s a ghost that’s just been haunting Dee since he killed him

Logan pretends to believe Roman’s claim and Dee wants to destroy them both.

He does… in a way *cough*

People who met Roman and Dee before Logan got there are baffled when they see either of them or both interacting with Logan

Because Roman and Dee are just CHAOS and DRAMATIC declarations of love (Roman) SCREAMING and sexual jokes (Dee)

Roman and Logan, though, that’s Roman at his most chivalrous. He opens doors, speaks eloquently, bows dramatically and is basically an over the top perfect gentleman

Deceit and Logan, well, no one understands that either because Deceit makes ZERO sexual jokes and he’s quiet and gentle and finally FINALLY he matches the elegant aesthetic he has going on

And as soon as all three of them are seen together? The dynamic makes sense again

Roman and Dee are gremlins. Logan is the god they worship.

Logan treats them both equally, as much as he can that is, and Roman and Dee would probably fight to the death for his hand and then end up making out like they always do when they fight to ‘the death’

Even Logan’s friends have only ever seen him express real emotion when he is with one or both of his boyfriends

The rest of the time he is in his robot/serial killer mode

Both Roman and Dee take great pride in this

Logan calls Dee Horace when he wants to make a point and it's usually why he ends up winning debates when Roman isn’t around because it makes Dee frustrated and annoyed so he stops talking

Apologies are made with kisses though

After the three get together, Roman learns a lot more about Dee as a person because believe it or not Dee is good at pretending and keeping secrets

Also they always just used to… sleep… in Roman’s room and not Dee’s but Roman didn’t even notice that and that’s how Dee got away with having a snake in secret for two years until Logan stayed the night in his room.

Roman falls more in love with Dee as a result and visa versa

Logan is awfully amused at this and they know it

Basically, the entire relationship is a HOT MESS

And that’s all I’ve got

#sanders sides #AU #Roloceit #Might As Well Au #my writing #bullet fic #roman #logan #Deceit #patton #virgil #ts sides #Human AU #yee

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worryinglyinnocent · 4 years

Text

Fic: The Real Housewives of Storybrooke (14/?)

A fic based on this premise here, following the lives of Storybrooke’s elite wives, with all the scandal, bitching and backstabbing that goes on behind the scenes of high society…

This verse is open for prompts!

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[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five] [Six] [Seven] [Eight] [Nine] [Ten] [Eleven] [Twelve] [Thirteen] [AO3]

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ARIEL

With the party preparations in full swing, Ariel thought that it was high time for her and Belle to sit down and work out a strategy for how they were going to survive the evening, or rather, how Belle was going to get through the evening without being the subject of a scene.

Belle didn’t really cause scenes; they tended to happen to her instead. Still, they’d managed to get through Regina’s garden party without any mishaps and whilst her own birthday celebration had been marred by Zelena’s intervention, Ariel would admit that they’d got off pretty lightly considering what had happened on previous occasions. They’d never yet had a party dissolve into a food fight, but when one considered what could happen when tempers frayed and people started acting like five-year-olds, Ariel didn’t think that such occurrences were completely out of the question.

She rang the Golds’ doorbell and rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited for someone to come and let her in. The Cadillac was gone from the drive so Cameron was obviously out, and who knew where Bae might have gone now that his summer vacation had started, and he was free for a few weeks? Tilly had gone back home the previous day, and according to Regina, Robyn was already missing her.

There was no reply to the doorbell and Ariel’s brow furrowed. Belle knew that she was coming over today, surely she wouldn’t have forgotten and gone out. She made her way round to the front room window and peered in through the glass, but there was nothing to see. Maybe the back door was unlocked.

Ariel picked her way cautiously round to the back of the house and the kitchen. She didn’t know why she was being so furtive; anyone would think that she was a burglar casing the place rather than an invited guest, but the fact that no one appeared to be around to greet her made her wary, and although she considered herself to be somewhat sensible in a crisis, she had fleeting visions of the entire family being struck down by a serial killer and buried under the patio.

Reaching the garden, she found that the patio was intact and there were no signs of freshly dug graves, so her mind was set at rest for all of a minute until a helpful voice told her that the serial killer might still be inside.

She tried the back door and found it unlocked, so she stepped inside warily. At least there were various kitchen implements to defend herself with if necessary.

“Belle?” she called out. “Bae? Mrs P? Anyone?”

There was no response, and Ariel began to worry. They wouldn’t have all gone out and left the doors unlocked; Storybrooke was a comparatively safe town but that was just ridiculous.

“Belle?” Hopefully, her friend wasn’t lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs having fallen off her stilettos. Ariel was no stranger to killer footwear herself, but Belle’s fascination with it seemed to border on dangerous.

It was as she reached the foot of the stairs - thankfully free of collapsed Belles - that Ariel heard it, and suddenly several things fell into place. From upstairs, she could hear the faint sound of someone retching.

“Belle? Are you ok?” It was a stupid thing to say because she obviously wasn’t, and Ariel wondered why it was everyone’s default question. She went up the stairs slowly and pushed open the master bedroom door, immediately seeing Belle through the crack between the bathroom door and its frame.

Belle looked up from the toilet bowl, her face grey and drawn, and she gave a weak smile as she saw Ariel.

“Morning sickness is a bitch,” she muttered.

Ariel had to smile as she tiptoed into the bathroom, perching on the bath. For all the times she’d been to events with Belle where copious amounts of alcohol had been imbibed, usually it was the other way round as to who was holding the other one’s hair back.

“I was wondering if it had finally happened,” Ariel said. “When I came back to Storybrooke I thought that there was something different about you. Something brighter and happier.”

Belle nodded. “Yep. That was before the morning sickness started. Don’t feel quite so bright now.” She gave a soft little laugh. “I know I’m grousing about it, but I’m honestly happy to be pregnant. I mean, I was prepared for this, it’s not like I didn’t know what I was getting into.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“There should be a packet of ginger tea on the side in the kitchen. Cameron bought it at the weekend and it’s the only thing that helps.”

Ariel went to make the tea and Belle joined her in the kitchen a few minutes later, wrapped up in her robe. She had a little more colour now, and Ariel hoped that the worst was over for the day.

“How far along are you?” she asked.

“Seven weeks.” Belle took a sip of her tea. “It’s not common knowledge yet, but all things considered I thought you’d probably guess anyway. Can we keep it between ourselves for now? Just until I’ve had the first scan and made sure everything’s all right. I needed someone who wasn’t Cameron or Bae or Mrs P to know. I mean, they’re all being great about it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not like sharing the news with a girlfriend.”

“Of course. I’ll be the very picture of discretion.”

“I think of all our circle of friends, you’re probably the one I trust most. Much as I love Carrie and Ursula, I don’t think that anything stays secret with them for very long, and since Carrie’s solution to everything is to add more gin, I’m not sure she’d be very good at helping with morning sickness.”

“That’s very true.” Ariel had not really met Carrie and Ursula outside of various parties and functions, but the tales that Belle and Cameron told certainly painted a vivid picture. She made herself a cup of tea and sat down at the kitchen table with Belle. “On the other hand, the morning sickness does give you a great excuse for not going to the party.”

“Yes, but I’m slightly concerned as to what the rumour mill might start doing if I don’t attend. People are already starting to wonder why I’ve not been at the library these past few mornings. It generally wears off by about lunch time so I should be ok for the evening.”

“Just maybe steer clear of the buffet table. And the bar.” Ariel thought about the planning sessions at Regina’s, with Robin being promised that he could monopolise the buffet table with Belle instead of having to socialise.

“Yeah, maybe it would be a good idea to sit this one out.” Belle sighed. “It’s a toss-up between everyone wondering why I’m not there, especially since Cameron’s so involved with the whole project and definitely will be there, and everyone wondering why I’m there but not eating or drinking. Which do you think would be worse?”

“Well, we can hope that everyone gets so drunk that they don’t notice. I think that’s usually the way to get around these things.”

She managed to get a laugh out of Belle this time, and Ariel took that as a good sign. Presently, her friend’s stomach grumbled, and Ariel raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I haven’t exactly had any breakfast,” Belle muttered, her still-pale cheeks beginning to colour.

“You’re pregnant. Your stomach’s going to be doing weird things for the next nine months.” Ariel reached across and patted Belle’s hand. “Don’t worry about it. Can I make you some toast or something?”

“That sounds like a good idea. You don’t have to get it. I’m the host here.” She looked down at her pyjamas and bathrobe. “I’m not doing a very good job of it, but I can try.”

“Belle, you’re in a rather tender state at the moment. Just let someone else take care of you for once. You know that if Cameron didn’t have to go and save the world as we know it, he’d be here waiting on you hand and foot.”

“Yeah, I practically had to push him out of the door this morning.” Belle glanced down at her belly. “If it wasn’t for the constant throwing up, I’d still be wondering if this was all a dream.”

Ariel set about making some toast. “It’s strange. I’ve never really thought about being pregnant,” she said. “If you go swimming whilst pregnant, does that make you a human submarine?”

“Ariel.” Belle gave her a pained look. “Sometimes I wonder where your mind goes.”

“Submarines, evidently. In all seriousness though, I’m really happy for you. This is all you’ve wanted for so long and I’m so glad that it’s finally come good in the end. Even if you are now as sick as a parrot.”

“It’ll pass.” Belle nibbled on her toast. “Have you ever wanted children, you and Eric?”

“No. We talked about it early on, back when we were first starting up the business, and it was just never a priority for us. We’ve always been happy just as a duo. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we had an accident, so to speak. Things might change then. But we’ve never planned on it. I’ve never really had maternal urges. I’m the cool fairy godmother instead. That was a hint, by the way.”

Belle shook her head with a laugh. “We’re nowhere near thinking that far ahead yet. We just want to get through these first few months with no mishaps, then we’ll start appointing go-to babysitters. You do know that the job doesn’t come with a wand and special powers, right?”

“I can always dream. Have you thought about names yet? Come on, you’ve been thinking about this entire adventure for months, you must have thought about names.”

“I’ve always been more concerned with actually getting the baby rather than naming it,” Belle said, but it was clear that she was already off in a little world of her own as she pondered names for her future child. “I like Gideon for a boy. I know it’s a bit unusual, but it’s not too out there. And I like flower names for girls. Rose, Lily, Iris.”

“Chrysanthemum.”

“You jest, but I may call your bluff in nine months’ time, and then where would you be.”

“I’d be congratulating you on your excellent taste in names.”

They both fell about in laughter after that, and Ariel smiled. It was good to know that even though Belle was not feeling at her best right now, her enthusiasm for motherhood had not been dampened, and her patience had finally paid off in the best possible way.

#Belle French #Ariel #OUAT Fanfiction #Fic: The Real Housewives of Storybrooke

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killerqueenmachine · 5 years

Text

Wonderwall - Gwilym Lee x Reader

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader Words: 3685

Prompt: Wonderwall by Oasis

Warnings: Swearing, alcohol, ANGST - turns to fluff. Note: This is my contribution to @rogerina-deacon writing challenge!

Lyrics to the song are written in cursive. Lines marked with * __ * is a text-message.

A big thank you to @imsusx and @brianandthemays for BETA reading this. I really truly had a hard time making this one work out and you really helped me out. Thank you so much! I couldn't have done this without you guys. ❤️

__________________

Today is gonna be the day That they're gonna throw it back to you By now you should've somehow Realized what you gotta do I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do, about you now

"It's been going on for way too long already. It's too late to do or say anything now, and you know it! Besides... I think he might be in love with someone else." The words barely left your lips before you started to feel the heat rise to your face as you argued with your best friend. She was the only person in the whole world who knew about your crush on Gwilym and, as things were going, she would be the only person in the world to ever know. You had met Gwilym through your old classmate about a year and a half or so ago. He had invited you and Gwilym to the same party a while back. You hit it off instantly and became really good friends. But never more than that. Just friends.

Gwilym had brought you along for a lot of things that had to do with his work, though. Premiers, shoots, red carpets even a few interviews where you weren't on camera at all you were just there as moral support and because you really wanted to be there with him. Today was no different. He had invited you to a big release party for his newest movie, at least a thousand guests would be there, he had said. You had agreed in a heartbeat, taking up any opportunity to be with him.

"But you know today is going to be the best chance you have to tell him!" your friend whined, clearly as frustrated as you were.

"I don't have to tell him anything. It's just a stupid crush and-"

"A STUPID CRUSH?!" she yelled, cutting you off.

"You've been completely smitten with him for at least a year! That's not a stupid crush!"

You sighed, feeling the tears well up in your eyes. The feeling of hopelessness flooded through your veins. You knew she was right. At the bottom of your heart, you just knew. Every night for the past year you had fallen asleep pretending to be laying next to Gwilym, his arms wrapped around you and having his soft snores lull you to sleep. You had even started kissing your pillow, pretending to be kissing him instead.

"Hello? Earth is calling! You can't just back out of this by not answering me!" Your friend continued after a few moments.

"I'm... I know. I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do." you whined, walking backward until your back hit the wall behind you, allowing you to slide down until you were situated on the floor. You pulled up your knees and wrapped your arms around your legs, trying to become as small as possible.

"Then listen to me" she sighed, clearly getting fed up with the constant struggle with you being too shy to admit your feelings and her having to deal with all your emotional breakdowns. "You go to that fucking party, you turn it the fuck out and you get your sorry little ass together and tell Gwilym that you're in love with him and then you deal with whatever outcome there is!" she listed, pointing at you after every step in her plan.

"Yeah yeah yeah" you replied, resting your forehead on your arms.

"No! Don't 'yeah-yeah-yeah' me! Listen to my advice and do as I tell you. I love you - but man am I getting sick and tired of listening to your complaints about being single and how much to fancy this guy! Go out and do something about it!" your friend was still fuming.

"I know, sorry," you said and lifted your head, obtaining eye contact with your friend.

"Thank you for being there for me, though. Even though you are being a bit harsh right now” you continued while not-so-elegantly getting up from the floor again. “Are you hungry?"

"Yeah... I'm a little hungry. Hangry even, maybe" she laughed and shook her head.

"Thought so - let's go out. I'll treat us to some nachos, yeah?"

She agreed and the two of you quickly popped out for lunch before returning to your flat. Your friend had offered to help you get ready before Gwilym would come and pick you up so you could go to the party together. Now that you knew that this was going to be the night that you finally told him about your feelings, you wanted to look your best. Mainly because looking your best coincidentally also made you feel your best.

The sound of your doorbell went off and you knew exactly what that meant. Gwilym was finally here and you couldn't wait to see him. Quickly you downed the last of your drink and made your way to the front door. You pushed up your boobs one final time and straightened the front of your dress before slowly opening the door.

"Well well well, hello there little missy - aren't you a treat for the eye!" Gwilym said as he saw you. His words made the blood rush to your cheeks and a goofy smile made its way over your lips.

"Oh Gwil, you're too sweet" you laughed as you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug.

He hummed in a non-verbal answer and placed a soft kiss to your cheek as he pulled away from the hug.

"Are you ready for a wild night?" he asked, offering his arm for you to hold on to, as he lead you away from your flat.

"Sure am, Sir. Sure am," you laughed and locked your door before following him to the car.

The car ride to the event went smoothly. Whenever you were alone with Gwilym it felt like it was the most natural thing in the world - like everything had fallen in to place. Yet, you still didn't dare to tell him how you actually felt. You just barely hinted at it during your conversation but he didn't seem to catch on - or if he did, he brushed it off.

You arrived at the party and Gwilym graciously lead you inside where you greeted all of his friends; friends that you had become very well acquainted with at this point, due to all the events you had been at, at this point. Within an hour or so Gwilym had left your side to go chat with someone else, while you stayed with Ben and Lucy.

"So how're things between you and Gwil?" Lucy asked, taking a slow sip of her drink.

"Things?" you asked, slightly confused, quickly scanning the room to see if Gwilym was anywhere close.

"Yeah? Aren't you guys like... A thing? I mean you've been to every single get together for the past 6 months?" she asked obviously more confused than you were.

"No, God no - we're absolutely just friends," you stammered, feeling a slight panic race through your body.

"Just friends, yeah?" Ben chimed in.

"Yeah, yeah. There's never been- uh... Never been anything," you said and your eyes darted to the floor, desperate to avoid any eye contact.

"Never? Really?" Lucy asked sounding almost flabbergasted.

"Yeah," you admitted with a defeated tone of voice.

"Do you want anything to be there?" Ben asked cautiously.

You kept your eyes glued to the floor, clearly spending way to much time thinking about your answer.

"I..." you said and sighed deeply. "I don't know. He's lovely, really - and I've thought-" you started. "No - no. Forget it. It doesn't matter" you sighed again deciding that it was better to keep your feelings a complete secret.

"It absolutely does matter! You have a crush on him, don't you?" Lucy said, sounding way more excited than you wanted her to.

"I.. Lucy I don't know how to-" You finally looked up from the ground and as your eyes searched to obtain eye contact with Lucy you accidentally looked over her shoulder.

Behind her across the room was Gwilym with some woman you had never seen before. Her hands on his bicep and cheek, his hands around her waist and their lips absolutely glued together. Your breath got caught in your throat and a million thoughts and feelings rushed through your mind before everything went black. Nothing mattered anymore.

"I'm sorry... I have to- uh- go," you whispered, feeling the tears starting to well up in your eyes.

"(Y/N) wait! What's-" Ben started before he saw Gwilym. "Oh," he gasped.

"Oh no," Lucy whispered and looked after you, only to see the very back of your head as you disappeared out of the front door.

The tears had started freely flowing down your cheeks ruining your make-up in no time. Frustration rushed through your veins and the uncontrollable urge to break things started filling your consciousness. At this point, you couldn't even be bothered to call a taxi. You need the fresh air, the break, the silence. In your fury, your hurt - and your stilettos - you just started walking, running almost, in the direction of your home. You managed to walk for an hour before the physical pain of wearing stilettos got too much and you had to call a taxi for the last few kilometers.

When you finally got home you slammed the door with a force you didn't even know you possessed. Kicked off your shoes and threw your purse on the floor. You stomped your way to your bedroom and violently got out of your clothes and right before you slammed on to the bed, a heartbreakingly primal scream left your lips, finally allowing you to collapse on to your bed. Your brain went crazy, running over every memory you have of you and Gwilym, causing you to violently sob and cry. The only thing that stopped your crying was when you finally fell asleep.

Backbeat, the word was on the street That the fire in your heart is out I'm sure you've heard it all before But you never really had a doubt I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do about you now

It had been 3 months since the last time you had spoken to Gwilym. In the days after the party, he had desperately trying to get a hold of you, calling you, texting you - he even showed up to your flat. Yet you gave him no answer. Ben had been your main source of finding out what was going on with Gwilym and he had truly been there for you, allowing you to empty your heart and mind right onto his shoulders. Through him, you had found out that the woman Gwilym had been kissing on the night of the party continued to pop up alongside Gwilym, and at one point, Ben finally confirmed that the two of them were a couple. The message had broken the final piece of your heart, leaving you a sobbing mess once again.

Today you were woken up by a new text from Ben simply saying 'It's over. They're over'. You read the text and felt your heart started to race. Within a few minutes, you had gained control over your breathing and partly some control over your thoughts and you decided to call Ben. Luckily he picked up his phone quickly.

"It's me," his dark voice beamed through your phone.

"It's the mess calling," you softly said with a voice dripping with self-pity.

"Hello, Miss Mess. How are you doing?" he asked sounding genuinely worried about you.

"I'm... Okay. I think. Uhm, I actually called because of your text. Are they really? I mean have they broken up?" you nervously asked, fearing what Ben might tell you.

"Absolutely. Gwilym just popped over earlier. Apparently, she cheated on him but he didn't sound as upset as you would think someone who had just been cheated on would sound. He said something about their ‘thing’ never really 'feeling right' - whatever that was supposed to mean. He didn’t even refer to her as a girlfriend or well, ex-girlfriend.."

"Uh-huh. Well, that’s great - or, you know. Not great but.. yeah," you softly laughed. Ben always had a way to make you feel better, even on your darkest days. Well, almost. "Thank you so much for telling me, Ben. I'll call you back some other time okay? Miss you - bye!" You said and hung up once he had said his goodbyes too.

A strange feeling started to soar through your body. On one hand, it felt really good to know that Gwilym was no longer with anyone and on the other hand you felt bad for enjoying someone's misery. Even though you had felt like your heart had been shattered all those months ago your crush on Gwilym never disappeared. He was still the only man on your mind. Just as your thoughts started to wander another text ticked in on your phone.

*Are you ready to talk yet? I miss you so much. Please*

The text was from Gwilym and just seeing his name on your phone again made your heart skip a beat.

*I’m so sorry. I miss you too, can I call you?*

It didn’t take long before your phone rang and after a few deep breaths you picked it up.

“Gwilym?” you asked.

“Yes, God I’ve missed you so much,” he whined.

The conversation between the two of you wasn’t very long. It just didn’t seem right to have such a serious conversation through the phone. Just hearing his voice again made your heartache. Instead, you decided it was better to meet up, face to face, which ended up with you inviting him to your flat as soon as he had time to sit down and really talk. Three days. In three days from now, he would be over.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding And all the lights that lead us there are blinding There are many things that I Would like to say to you but I don't know how

The three days seemed to be longer than any other days you had ever lived through. You spent a lot of time tidying and cleaning your flat to hide the fact that you had barely been able to leave your bed out of pure self-pity for the past few months.

The nervousness of finally meeting up with Gwilym again started to spread throughout your body. For 3 whole months, you hadn't seen or talked to the man you once considered to be your best friend. But before the nerve-numbing feeling of panic managed to spread too far, you heard a very familiar voice call your name and a few subtle knocks on your door.

"Gwilym… Hi," you whispered softly as you opened the door, finally seeing him again. The look on this face made your body instantly fill with guilt and shame. The guilt of just leaving him behind and flat out ignore him for all those months, without even telling him why.

"I've missed you," he whined. He had already had quite the day and seeing you were the cherry on top of a very miserable cake.

"I'm so sorry. I'm just the wor-"

Gwilym took a single long stride forwards and scooped you into his arms, pulling you in for a rib-crushingly tight hug.

You could feel yourself melt into his touch, desperately trying to forget that the past 3 months had happened. You just wanted everything to go back to normal. After a few moments of silence, and just the two of you glued together in your doorway, you pulled out of the hug, finally inviting him inside and closing the door slowly behind him.

"Gwilym, I'm so so sorry for being such a bad friend. There are so many things I'd like to say to you, I just don't know how," you started to apologize as you turned around to face him again.

"God, I've missed the sound of your voice," he said in a laughing sigh.

"Listen, we've got a lot to talk about. Do you mind if I make myself a cuppa?" he asked quickly afterward.

"No - no, let me do it. Earl grey, no sugar, a splash of milk, yeah?" you said, making your way to your kitchen, quickly getting a pot of water ready for boiling.

"Please. That would be perfect," he said and dumped down on one of your kitchen chairs.

A few moments of silence passed through your tiny kitchen while the pot started to boil and you made two cups of tea. You slowly walked over and handed the milky one to Gwilym and sat down opposite from him.

"I.." you started but ended up sighing, not knowing how to word all the feelings you wanted to tell Gwilym about.

"No, let me," he insisted.

"I went by Ben's place earlier today and he told me about... Some things." he started and placed the cup of tea on the table.

"That party. I.. I just feel so bad. I didn't even realize you had left until three hours after. God, I felt horrible when I found out. I tried to call you but... You didn’t pick up - for three months," he said. It stung - bad. He hadn't even noticed that you had left.

"Listen, Gwil. You don't have-"

"No, please don't interrupt. I have so many things I need to say." he laughed softly, holding up his forefinger as if to shush you.

"But why now?" you said. You knew why he came by now and not earlier, but you wanted to hear it from him.

"She... I mean you know, the woman from the party, we... uh," he seemed to fumble with his words. "Erica was her name. Well, it still is, she isn't dead. Uh. We sorta.. Oh, you know already don't you?" It was obvious that he felt uncomfortable with the conversation.

"I know.. Some things. Ben really loves his gossip doesn't he?" you laughed. "You guys were a couple and now you're... not?" you softly said, taking a sip of your tea.

"We were never an official couple... We dated, sure... But it never really... Felt right, you know? We just didn't click."

"And that took you three months to figure out?"

"Yeah- well... She cheated on me. So I guess it didn't feel right for her either" Gwilym sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear," you softly said, offering a bit of sympathy, even though you didn't really have any.

"It's okay, really. I wasn't ever meant to be, was it?" he laughed.

Before you got the chance to answer him, he cleared his throat and started talking again. You took in a deep breath of air and slumped back in your chair allowing Gwilym to say what he needed to say.

"Anyway - I didn't.." he paused for a while, clearly unsure of how to word his next sentence. "Listen. I didn't know that you felt like that... you know, the- uh... the crush and all. But if I had known, of course, I would've never gone after someone else. I thought that... what we had was simply platonic. That's how I thought you wanted it. I spent so much time trying to hint at us becoming something… more. But since you never picked up on any of the hints I just thought you weren't interested." He sighed defeated stopping for a moment to take a sip of his tea.

You didn't say anything. You focused on breathing steadily and not pouring your tea into your lap.

"I'm so sorry for... everything you've been through. I just wish I had known - I wish you would've told me instead of just... Freezing me out. I get it - I really do. Couldn't have been easy seeing what you saw." You could clearly see the pain in his eyes as he thought back on that night.

"Gwilym…" you chimed in, only to be cut off by him again.

"No - listen. I just want to let you know that… I'm not mad at you. I unknowingly broke your heart - yes, Ben talks too much and let me in on everything. He was my only source to check in on you," he admitted, lowering his head in some sort of shame.

"You checked in on me?" your voice was fragile and barely louder than a whisper.

"Of course I did. You're still my main squeeze." He softly said placing his hands down on the table, open and inviting you to place yours directly in his. And so you did.

"Gwilym I'm-"

"I'm not done"

"I don't care - it's my turn now," you laughed and squeezed his hands. "Listen," you started and sighed "What I did was wrong. It was bad. And I feel so ashamed of the way I've been acting. You didn't do anything wrong, really. I just overreacted and I realized that fairly quickly but... I was way too ashamed to tell you that."

A soft laugh emitted from Gwilym's mouth as you finished your sentence.

"God this is a strange conversation to have," you sighed through a soft laugh.

"Yeah, it really is. But I think I understand what the main point of all of it is," he said and stood from his chair.

You followed his lead and rose to your feet, not exactly knowing why you did it. It only took him two long strides to move around your table and stand right in front of you. He quickly grabbed a hold of your hands and held them tight to his chest.

"I might have misinterpreted something now, so tell me if I'm all off," he started and squeezed your hands a little tighter.

"But it's always been us, hasn't it. We've just never… dared to act upon it," he continued, scanning your face for some sort of confirmation.

The tension between the two of you grew rapidly. The air almost felt thick and the sudden silence seemed deafening. You wanted him more than ever. To just jump into his arms and forget anything bad had ever happened. But you hadn’t spoken in three months. A slight twinge of fear soared through your body. A fear that he was merely using you to get back up after been cheated on. Not that he ever struck you like the type of person who would just go about and mindlessly play with other people's feelings.

"Gwilym, I don't want to be your stupid rebound." At this point, you were almost crying.

"You're not! Absolutely not!" he protested and pulled you a little closer to his body. "I know my timing is awful, but you're the reason things between Erica and I never got really serious. You're the reason it never felt right. I thought about you every single day and these few months have been hell for me. Please just believe me. You're not a rebound. You're so much more than that. I'll show you every single day for the rest of my life - if you'll allow me into your heart again"

He looked at you with the most vulnerable and pleading eyes you had ever seen from him. His warm hands still covering yours had started to shake just a little and his energy had changed. You had never had him so raw and vulnerable before and it broke your heart, but in a good way. Slowly you took a step closer to him, to the point where your feet were between his and your hips almost touched - almost a hug without arms.

"I'm still in love with you," you whispered softer than ever, scared of what would happen next.

Gwilym sighed and you felt him melt into you. His sigh made him sound relieved and he seemed to be more relaxed than before. The two of your shared a moment of the most intense silence and the deepest eye contact you had ever had with anyone before. The moment didn’t last too long before Gwilym finally let go of your hands and instead cupped your face and rested his forehead against yours.

You stood completely still barely even breathing.

“Kiss me,” you whispered, lips hovering just above his.

“Oh, I’m planning on it,” he laughed softly before he finally closed his eyes and leaned forward to close the tiny space that had been between your mouths.

His soft lips slowly moved against yours, kissing you softer than you had been kissed before. It felt like it was your very first kiss. The butterflies in your stomach started to spread and you couldn’t think about anything other than Gwilym’s mouth against yours and the feeling of his stubble against your chin.

“You’re right,” you said, just as you broke the kiss.

“Right about what?”

“It has always been us. It really has.”

“Thought so,” he laughed and slid his hands down your body, bringing them to rest on your lower back, just above your butt.

“Now this might seem rushed, but I have one final question I need to ask you today,” he said and pulled your body closer to his.

“Yeah?”

“Would you do me the utmost honour of becoming my girlfriend?” His voice was calmer than you had thought it would be by now. But his calmness gave you a boost of confidence. He felt safe around you and really wanted you in his life - wanted you, as his girlfriend, and he wasn’t scared to ask you or to admit his feelings to you.

“Yes - Oh my, yes! Gwilym, yes!” you whined, almost crying again.

You placed your hands around his neck pulling his face close to yours again before desperately crashing your lips against his. It felt like he was the only thing on the planet that you needed to survive. Finally, everything felt as if it had fallen into place.

Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my Wonderwall.

#rogerina deacon’s 1k writing challenge #gwilym lee x reader #gwilym lee fan fic #fluff #angst #fan fic #gwilym lee fluff #gwilym lee angst #gwilym lee #my work #my writing #writing challenge #gwilym lee x reader fluff #gwilym lee x reader angst #borhap #borhap fic #borhap fluff #borhap angst

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alwaysahiccupandastrid · 5 years

Text

Modern AU where the Dragon Rider gang are at Disneyland Paris

(Yes I’m writing this because I’m at Disneyland Paris)

The first day in the park, just after they’ve gotten off the Eurostar, everyone immediately wants to do different things. In the end, Hiccup decides they’ll tackle the smaller park first since it’s already 3pm.

It’s ultimately decided that it’s NOT a good idea to split up - there are lots of people and Hiccup doesn’t want to lose anyone...especially not the twins, who already look like they want to start mischief.

Most of the gang want to go on the big rides, with Snotlout bragging that he’s not afraid of any of them. However, the minute he’s in place for the Rock’n’Rollercoaster, he starts to panic. Everyone else is whooping and cheering - Snotlout feels slightly sick.

Astrid is a definite thrill seeker and goes on every single ride. She smiles and laughs when Hiccup panics and asks her to hold his hand on some of them, but she does it anyway.

Hiccup and Astrid sit on most of the rides together, as do the twins. Fishlegs isn’t a fan of the big rides so he offers to stay with their stuff and wait - though Hiccup and Astrid make him try some of the less intense ones anyway. He has more fun than he thought he would.

They all invest in Disney hats/headwear, of course. Ruffnut and Tuffnut find the most bizarre, crazy Mickey ears they can find, plus the massive white Mickey and Minnie gloves. Snotlout opts for the Mickey Sorcerer Hat. Fishlegs gets a plain pair of Mickey ears, gushing with excitement. Astrid wears a pair of “unlock the fun” Minnie ears; Hiccup wears a Disneyland Paris baseball cap, not wanting to be extravagant. Astrid rolls her eyes and later convinces him to also buy a pair of Mickey ears so that they match in photos.

They explore the main park on the second day, and theyre all in awe of the castle (though Snotlout pretends he’s not)

They head to Frontierland first, going on the Thunder Mountain ride. They all enjoy it, and the twins spend ten minutes laughing at everyone’s photos afterwards.

Snotlout makes a fuss about being paired with Fishlegs on some of the rides where it’s two per row at first, but secretly he’s glad not to be on his own since he ends up getting dizzy or terrified on some of them.

Hiccup’s metal leg causes some issues with some of the rides because the staff are concerned it counts as a loose article and might fall off. He assures them that it’s securely attached to his leg, rather hurriedly when Astrid looks like she’s going to get mad at the staff.

Much to his chagrin, Hiccup also has to take his leg off every time they go through security to get into the parks; it sets off the metal detectors, so he has to take it off and hop through uneasily. The first time, Astrid tries to help him but the security told her off because only one person can go through it at a time.

They later find out that there’s an entrance for disabled guests, though Hiccup doesn’t like to think of himself as disabled. All of the others repeatedly tell him to just use it so he can avoid being caught out by the metal detector.

The twins are the ones who bring up meet and greets, which Fishlegs agrees with enthusiastically. Hiccup tells everyone that they all pick at least one character - that way, everyone gets to choose what they like/want. Everyone poses with each character.

Tuffnut wants to meet Peter Pan, and everyone is bemused when Tuff and Peter spend five minutes making “cock a doodle doo!” noises together. Ruffnut chooses Chip and Dale for obvious reasons; everyone laughs afterwards, voting which Thorston is Chip and which is Dale. Fishlegs votes to meet Mickey, saying that you can’t beat a classic. Snotlout complains at first that it’s for kids - but then he sees that Darth Vader does a meet and greet, and he gets excited. Astrid chooses to meet Woody and Jessie at their greet, and even though the characters can’t talk, she still beams happily when Jessie gestures to her braid in admiration. Hiccup struggles to choose at first, not sure if there’s actually a character he’d like to meet - he’s just happy that his friends and girlfriend are having the time of their lives. They’re walking to Discoveryland when they see Stitch do impromptu meets - and he goes for it. They all enjoy every meet and greet they go to, even Snotlout.

For some reason, Hiccup finds himself quite taken with Stitch - somehow, he reminds him of his dog Toothless (yes this is a reference to how HTTYD and Lilo + Stitch were created by the same people). Astrid fondly teases him for buying a small Stitch plush later during the holiday, but then kisses his cheek and buys the matching Angel one. (The others tease them both until Astrid glares at them threateningly)

They all end up with toys despite the fact they’re not little kids. Hiccup obviously has his little Stitch to keep him company; Astrid has the matching purple-pink Angel one as well as a tiny version of the Cheshire Cat. Fishlegs geeks out over the Star Wars merchandise, buying himself a plush Yoda. Snotlout buys himself a mini Sorcerer Mickey to match his hat. The twins buy Chip and Dale, of course, and then splash out on other toys; Tuff gets a Mickey, Donald, and an €80 Simba that he can hardly carry, whilst Ruff gets herself a Minnie, Daisy and Little Green Alien from Toy Story.

Astrid manages to talk the whole gang into going on the Hyperspace Mountain ride. By the end of it, nearly all of them are crying. Snotlout has nearly crapped himself, Fishlegs is shaking as he clambers off the ride, the twins are speechless. Hiccup stands, swerves, and has to have Astrid help him off because his legs feel too weak to function. He nearly gags, his stomach turning uncomfortably and his lunch rising back up. Astrid is the only one wanting to do it again.

“Come on, it’s fun, babe!” “Astrid...I love you but I am NOT doing that again! I like my breakfast being inside me, thank you very much!”

In the gift shop after the Star Tours attraction, Hiccup and Fishlegs both geek out over Star Wars merchandise whilst everyone else looks a bit baffled and amused.

The first day in the main park, they don’t realize that there’s a parade and miss it completely. The second day, they end up at the back very far away and unable to see much other than the top of the floats. Finally, Astrid orders everyone to sit their asses on the curb a whole hour before the parade and they wait in the heat for it to start. Most of them are glad just to sit down since there’s been a lot of walking, waiting and standing around. Hiccup accidentally freaks a few kids out when he takes off his leg to massage his sore stump.

They watch the Disney Illuminations on their last night - having learnt from the parade debacle, they have dinner and end up waiting in a good spot for three hours for the show to start. It pays off when they’re all left in awe. Everyone whoops and cheers at the Pirates, Lion King and Star Wars sequences especially, “ooh”ing and “aww” ing at the fireworks and lasers.

As the show draws to a close, Hiccup puts an arm around Astrid, and she lays a head on his shoulder. Neither of them say anything, they just enjoy the moment whilst it lasts.

Leaving the park immediately after the Illuminations, however, is not so fun. Thousands of people trying to rush for buses, pushing and shoving each other...it’s sheer luck that none of them lose each other in the crowds. Someone’s foot accidentally catches Hiccup’s prosthetic and he nearly falls flat on his face, much to his embarrassment.

Snotlout and twins end up with serious sunburn from not wearing sun cream. In the end, Astrid forces them to do it before they leave the hotel each morning.

They all go on the Twilight tower of terror - Astrid, Hiccup and Fishlegs are in the front three seats on the left, Snotlout and the twins on the right three front seats. All of them whoop and scream at the drop, nearly flying out of their seats. Hiccup enjoys it because for a second, as they’re falling, he feels alive and like he actually is flying.

They’re all really sad to leave, and agree that they have to come again at some point in the near future - together, of course, because half of the fun is down to the people you’re with.

Trying to get through customs/security on the way home with a Simba plush as tall as he is causes Tuff a slight problem - it’s too big to fit on the baggage conveyor belt, so they have to scan it with the wands and have him carry it through separately.

Astrid sets off the metal detector at security because she’s been pin collecting/trading, using a Peter Pan lanyard. She has about 20 different pins on her.

Hiccup is so exhausted that he falls asleep on the train, head against the window as he snores softly. Astrid, who is next to him, smiles and simply brushes the hair from his face fondly. He deserves a rest after making sure all of them had the best holiday, she decides - the reason it’s been so successful is mostly down to Hiccup keeping them all organized and planning the day ahead during breakfast. Their holiday could have sucked hard (definitely would have sucked for Astrid) if not for Hiccup keeping the group safe the whole time)

#httyd #how to train your dragon #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #hiccup haddock #astrid hofferson #hiccstrid #snotlout jorgenson #ruffnut thorston #tuffnut thorston #fishlegs ingerman #disneyland #modern au #how to train your dragon 3 #httyd 3 #httyd 2 #how to train your dragon 2

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conceptstage · 5 years

Text

A Marriage of Convenience {Chapter Sixteen}

“Jester…”

Jester looked up from the drawer she was stealing medical supplies from. She paused and didn't move for a moment but the infirmary was empty. “Mr. Clay?” she called, looking around. No answer, so she turned back to filling up her bag.

“Dear Jester, over here…”

Jester spun around this time, just at the right moment to catch a flash of green disappearing out the open outside door. Had that been open an moment ago? “Hello?” She called, starting towards the door. “I’m not scared of you, come out!”

She walked out the back door and found herself staring at the back of a person dressed in a green cloak, their curly red hair falling down around their shoulders. “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” they said, not turning to face her.

She frowned. “You didn’t frighten me. The wedding doesn’t start until this afternoon, guests should go in the main door.”

Vibrant green eyes turned to look at her and her heart started pounding when she recognized them. “Hello, Jester.”

“T-... Traveler?”

“I look like a dumbass.”

“Yes, dear, but what do you think of the dress?”

Beau fixed Mollymauk with a glare and he just grinned at her. “It’s fine.” She started doing knee highs and then did a few jumping jacks. “Easy to move in, no sleeves, lightweight… Perfect for a runaway bride.” The dress was her grandmother’s wedding dress. It was short enough that she wouldn’t trip over it when it was time to run but long enough to cover the fact that she was barefoot.

“Yeah? You wanna do some more exercises, to be sure?”

He was teasing her but she rolled backwards into a handstand. The dress fell down in front of her face to reveal the pants she was wearing underneath and her hand popped out of the tulle to flip him off. “Fuck you.” She lowered herself back down and started bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I just… I just have so much energy. I don’t know what to do with it. It’s really happening.”

“You know that you’re not actually getting married, right?”

“That’s not the part I’m excited about, you dick. That is literally going to be the worst part of this entire day. Let’s go over the checklist, make sure that everything is ready. You have your bag of holding.”

“Check.” He picked it up off the armchair by one of the handles and then let it fall down again.

“Do you know what signal you’re gonna do?”

“I have an idea.”

“Lay it on me.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “No, I think I’ll keep it a surprise.”

She frowned and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t like that. You have to tell me.”

“No, I don’t think I do. Just trust me-”

“I don’t trust you in the least.”

“-you’ll be able to see it and you’ll recognize it when it comes.”

She just sighed and turned back to the mirror, trying to find something to do with her hair that her mouth wouldn’t despise. “Fine. You know what, that’s the least of my worries. How’s Caleb doing?”

At that exact moment, the door to her bedroom opened with a bang and Nott strolled in, under a disguise spell. For a moment Beau had forgotten what she looked like today and had froze . “Caleb is freaking out.” Nott said as she walked in, shutting the door behind her and hoping up on the armchair next to the bag. “I had to come in here to get away from his nervous pacing.”

Molly started towards the door. “I’ll go talk him off the cliff.”

When they were alone, Beau continued the checklist. “Is Fjord ready? Have you spoken to Jester today?”

Nott nodded and kicked her feet idly. “She talked to him yesterday and he said that the Gentleman was providing a boat. When we get to the docks, look for a big green guy, I guess.”

She frowned. “I don’t like that he’s coming with us. I barely know the guy.”

Nott shrugged. “Jester trusts him.”

Beau sighed. “Yeah. I guess that’s good enough for me. Where’s Yasha?”

“Still hasn’t come back from her trip. Caduceus Sent her a message to let her know we were making a break for it but he didn’t hear back from her.”

Beau frowned. “Damn. Down one hand, that’s gonna make this harder. And you know your part?”

“Hide under the chair and steal the key from your father’s pocket when he takes his pants off.”

“No, you’re other part.”

“Uhhh…. Poison Franklin?”

Beau turned back to her with a glare. “Did you forget to do that?”

Nott hopped off the chair. “Nope. On an unrelated note, I’ll be right back.”

She was halfway out the door when Beau called her back. “Nott!” she called. “Don’t kill the guy, okay? Just enough to make him sick.”

“Well that takes all the fun out of it.”

And then she was alone. She turned back to the mirror and let out a nervous breath. “Okay…” she muttered to herself, pulling at the corset and scratching at her boob. “Okay, Beau, you can do this. This is what you’ve been working your whole life for. Freedom is just a few hours away. You’ve got this.” She wasn’t sure how long she was alone in her room with only her own thoughts until there was a knock on the door and she flinched. “Yeah?”

“Are you decent?”

She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Come on in, Father.”

The door opened and her father walked in, wearing his usual robes. “You look beautiful,” he said, walking up and gripping her elbow until she turned to face him. “Your grandmother would have loved to see you in her dress.”

“Why are you here?” she asked, staring into his cold, unfeeling eyes. “I know it’s not just to compliment me.”

He sighed. “Your mother seems to be under the impression that you’ve been… almost too willing to go through with this wedding.”

“I thought that this what what you both wanted? Make up your goddamn minds, do you want me to be obedient or rebellious?”

“That wasn’t a complaint. That was suspicion. I am here to warn you.”

“Threaten me you mean?”

He continued on like she hadn’t spoken. “If you do anything to jeopardize this marriage… if you so much as cough at the wrong time… I will make your remaining life here a living hell.”

“Will you? You won’t just kill me like you killed EJ?”

He squeezed her elbow painfully and then dropped it. Yeah, that was gonna bruise. “That was your fault. You shouldn’t have let him take the blame for your misdeed. Regardless, your punishment will not be as swift. You will live, Beauregard, but I will make you wish you were dead. Understood?”

She turned away and then met his eyes in the mirror. “Understood.”

“I’ll see you at the ceremony, Beauregard. Do not provoke me today.”

The door slammed shut behind him. She felt rage building in her chest and her breath started getting sharp and angry. When a cry full of years of hatred, she punched the mirror. It shattered, fracturing her reflection. She took a deep breath and looked down at her bleeding knuckles.

Meanwhile across the hall, Caleb looked up when Molly entered his room. He was wearing his usual clothes without his coat and his cat was rubbing around his ankles in circles. “Hey, how you feeling?” Molly asked, though he knew the answer by the look on his pale, freckled face. “You look like someone who could use a drink.”

“I can’t drink. I can’t drink anything, I can’t eat anything. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Molly picked up the wood board covered in cheese and grapes. “Okay, that’s your problem, there’s nothing on your stomach. Eat something, it’ll make you feel better. What’s got you so worked up?”

Caleb hesitated, but picked up a small block of muenster cheese, popping it into his mouth. “There are so many ways this could wrong. Everyone involved could be jailed or worse. And all for a book that may or may not even exist. Why is Beauregard doing this? She could leave at any time but she’s putting herself and everyone she cares about through this rigmarole, for- for what? Just to die before sunset?”

“She’s doing it for you, obviously.”

“Why though?”

“Because she cares about you. We all care about you, Caleb.”

“You shouldn’t.”

Molly shrugged. “Well, that’s not really your decision, is it? Now, stop this panicking, there will be time for that later. Let’s get you dressed. Hold on, have another piece of cheese.” He waited until Caleb had popped a second square of cheese in his mouth before he sat the wood board down. He walked over to the clothes laid out on Caleb’s bed, a loose white shirt with high waisted black pants and antique cufflinks. “You gonna want my help or will my being here just make it more difficult?”

Caleb scratched at his red cheek and stared at his cat. “I can dress myself. But I may need your help with my cufflinks in a few minutes.”

Molly nodded and started back towards the door. “I’ll be waiting outside. Call if you need me.”

Molly was only waiting a few moments before Caleb’s door opened once again and the wizard stepped out, holding out his loose cuffs towards his tiefling friend and handing him the cufflinks. “If you would?”

“Certainly.” Molly took this time to admire the way Caleb looked. His hair was pulled back out of his face in a ponytail. The hand held in his own was soft and smooth and the pants he was wearing… damn.

They were both startled out of their private thoughts when Beau’s bedroom door opened. They looked up as Sir Eston stepped out and Caleb’s back went painfully straight. “Sir,” he said, quietly.

He nodded in greeting. “Just checking in on my daughter.”

Whatever else he might have said as the door closed behind him was interrupted as a maid jogged up, bowing at the waist when Eston turned his eyes on her. “Beggin your pardon, Sir. Franklin seems to have come down with a sudden flu. He regrets to inform you that he will be incapacitated for the remainder of the day at the least.”

Sir Eston scowled. “Damnit. Very well, send a butler to assist me in my chambers.”

Molly snapped closed the second of Caleb’s cufflinks and then cleared his throat. “Could I be of help, Sir?”

Eston frowned at him and gave him a judgmental look up and down but nodded. “You’ll suffice. Follow me.” He started down towards the room he technically shared with Georgina. Molly and Caleb exchanged a quick glance.

“It’s go time,” he whispered, grinning as he turned and followed quickly.

Caleb waited until he was alone in the hall and then started to slowly walk towards Beau’s bedroom door. He startled when there was a crash from inside and pushed the door open. “Beau?” he asked, worriedly, to find her staring at her bloody knuckles. He walked over to her and gently took her hand.

She flinched and snatched it away. “Don’t-”

“It’s just me,” he said, holding his hand out towards her still.

She hesitated but let him start tending to her raw knuckles. “I wanted to punch him,” she whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“Just now? What did he say?”

“No. Not now. Before, when-” She cleared her throat. “When I imagined escaping. I always thought I’d go out with a bang, literally. But, if the plan goes the way it’s supposed to, I won’t get the chance.”

“Look on the bright side. Maybe the plan will go horribly wrong and punching him will be the last thing you ever do.”

She snorted. “That’s the spirit, Caleb. You’re such a ray of sunshine.”

The redheaded wizard sighed as he finished wrapping up her wound. “Molly just left with him. Everything is in motion now. There’s no going back.”

She nodded and flexed her bandaged hand. “Let’s tear this motherfucker to the ground.”

#sorry #it's a short one this time #critical role fic #critical role #beauregard #caleb widogast #mollymauk tealeaf #jester lavorre #nott the brave

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