#and the second time being someone else killing nina. trying to release her. thinking this will also kill the monster. but Kasane digging in | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

klbwriting · 3 years

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Unexpected Allies - Chapter 19

Fandom: Six of Crows

Pairing: Kaz/female!Reader

Summary: Just...sorry

Notes: This was just the worst

Taglist: @mcntsee @amwitherspoon @cxlpxrnia @fcvcritecrime @aysegust @sagewrites111 @spawn0fsatan @itsemy01 @thedelusionreaderbitch

It took nearly another week for the Shu army to arrive, a day after that the Frejdans arrived and Kaz felt his plan falling into place. He had told Jesper that the next morning he had to make sure that Y/N was away from the Darkling, get her out of the Little Palace. He promised chaos so that the sharpshooter would have an easier time getting her out. Kaz didn't what would happen next but he knew there was no other way to get her to save Ravka like she wanted. The Darkling would never stop, only Y/N could stop him. Inej noticed his mood getting darker as the day before the start of the war ended. She sat next to him by one of the fires and waited for him to acknowledge her. "Its going to hurt her," he said softly. Inej nodded. "You are doing something noble Kaz, it has to be the end of the world," she said. Kaz sighed and shook his head. "What have I become?" he said, leaning his head to his cane. Inej reached out and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He noticed once again that touch wasn't bothering him much anymore. He could thank Y/N for that, but of course he couldn't. He knew she liked what he sent her, Jesper reported that she wore the necklace everyday, but that still didn't make him feel better for what happened. After tomorrow who knew if he'd ever get to apologize to her. He didn't have a contingency plan, if this didn't work it was all over. He stood finally. "Kaz, you're a good man," Inej said. He glared at her. "That look doesn't quite scare me as much as it used to." He scowled and walked away but secretly he was pleased. He could be both a ruthless killer and a good man. He hoped this would be enough.

Y/N wasn't sure when the fighting started. She was woken up by the Darkling himself coming into her room and dragging her from bed, pulling her into the hall where she heard shouting and saw Grisha running everywhere. Jesper came running and handed the Darkling a saber made of steel. "Thank you Fahey, take Y/N to the roof, I am going to take care of Mal before dealing with the rest of the resistance," he said, face full of rage. Y/N felt genuine fear as her chain was given to Jesper. Jesper was about to take off when another Fabrikator joined them. "Make sure they get there Rege." He nodded and followed them. They turned towards the roof but stopped just short of the stairs. Rege ran up a few steps before realizing they stopped. He turned, about to yell when a loud bang rang out and he collapsed, a small hole bleeding from his front. "The kefta, they're bullet proof..." Y/N said, turning to Jesper. He winked at her. "I may have been working on something fun just for the Grisha," he said. She smiled at him. He took the chain and shackles off her but wasn't able to remove the collar. "Come on, let's go, Kaz told me to get you out of here." "Jes, what if he gets killed...I can't lose Kaz..." she said as they headed through another of her tunnels towards the east side of the palace. They could flank on that side, take some of the Grisha by surprise. ��Jesper stopped just before the went out the door. " Y/N, I promise you that you will see Kaz again. You'll be with him by the end of the day, I swear it on my guns," he said. She nodded and hugged him again. "Now let's kill the Darkling, you know to use a machete?" He held out the weapon that was leaning on the wall, ready for her. She took it and nodded. "He remembered it was my specialty," she said and Jesper nodded as they exited and ran out. Most of the Grisha on this side of the palace were distracted by the Frejdans that were attacking so Jesper and Y/N slid into the action easily. Y/N was quite capable of handling herself without her powers but she couldn't deny that the weakness she felt from not using them was taking a toll on her fighting. She kept having to remind herself of what she was fighting for to keep going. She kept an eye on Jesper, and he on her, working together to make their way to the center of the fight where the Darkling was commanding a small group of shadow creatures, clearly trying to get to Mal. Mal was commanding the resistance fighters well, shooting his rifle and taking out anyone in his way, Matthias was using his druskelle training to keep the Grisha at bay, looking like a true warrior. Jesper caught sight of Wylan throwing bombs from behind a garden wall and he started to make his way over there. Inej had somehow climbed to the roof and was taking out Grisha along the torrents, the Inferni firing from above dropping to the ground, throats slit before they fell. The only person Y/N couldn't see was Kaz. She was trying to keep an eye out, hoping he stayed back, had planned the attack and let the others take their time to battle. She didn't want to be powerless to protect him. The Darkling was approaching Mal so Y/N fought harder than she had before, getting to her brother in arms and facing off against the creatures the Darkling made, striking them down with the Grisha made steel they held. It seemed to reflect the actual sunlight in such a way that it destroyed the shadows, making the Darkling create more instead of just making them reform. "Glad you could join us," Mal said as he shot a creature behind her. Y/N turned and sliced a Grisha before they use the wind against her friend. "Is that collar still a problem?" "Yes, I can't use my powers at all with it," she said. "And the Fabrikator disappeared before I could get him to take it off." "O we've been handling it, Kaz and Nina have figured something out with him," he said. She almost stopped but then a Grisha hit her with a water sprout and she swiped out, taking off the Grisha's arm. "Kaz is here?" she asked. Mal shook his head. "No, they're hoping you can do this yourself," he said. Suddenly the Darkling was there, swatting Mal aside, sending him off with his creatures. "Mal!" Y/N screamed before the Darkling was on her, hand around her neck. "I see that you tried to trick me puppy...but now I think you've shown how useless you really are," he said, throwing her to the ground and moving to cut her. "STOP!" she heard his voice and turned. So did the Darkling. He finished the cut and Kaz fell. Suddenly everything stopped for Y/N. "KAZ!" she screamed. She looked at the Darkling and screamed out her agony and the collar broke. She felt everything rising in her, all her pain and anger came out, darkness engulfing everyone. Only she and the Darkling were here now, facing each other. "Impossible...how did you..." She started firing fire at him, no gloves needed, the fire just appearing. She shot wind at him, knocking him back. Tears were stinging her cheeks, creatures trying to tear her apart but she felt none of it. She was shattered, her soul destroyed, what did she have holding her back now? The Darkling looked at her in awe as she squeezed her fist. He was able to send a creature to knock her off balance. He dove at her and she pushed a tide against him, throwing him to the side. "This is the power you have...you are so strong. Your love is dead, give in, this darkness is who you are. Imagine if I could teach you how to truly use this power," he said. Y/N stopped for a moment and the Darkling rose, watching her. "I am darkness, but I'm not just darkness," she said. "But you should be, Y/N, imagine what we can do together, we can take the world and make it how we want it," he said, approaching her, taking her face in his hands. Y/N slid the hidden knife from her sleeve, another gift from Kaz. She stabbed up, aiming between the ribs where he had shown her, making sure to pierce the heart. "I want Kaz in my world," she said, pushing the dagger further up, the tip poking out the other side. She yanked it out and the Darkling fell dead to the ground. She fell to her knees, the darkness still all around, it was spreading. This Fold she was creating was going to keep going unless she pulled it back. But how could she? What reason was there for light anymore? Kaz was dead, why should everyone else get to live. " Y/N, this isn't you," she heard his voice in her head. "This, this is my darkness. Well, at least, the darkness I thought was in me. You brought out the light in me." "I can't Kaz...what is the point of light if you won't be there when I bring it back?" she whispered. "The point love, is that someone has to lead the Dregs, are you going to let Jesper do that? Or Inej? God Jesper would never have money for them to eat and Inej is going to disperse them to be a diplomat now," he said. She laughed and felt some light struggling to come out. "I love you Y/N, just remember that, I love you for being the light in my life, don't let me down. Don't give up on me." "I love you too Kaz," she said to the darkness. She fell to her knees as she pulled back the dark and released the light. The fighting had stopped, no one sure what had happened. Once the light was back it took only seconds for the Second Army to see that their commander was not only dead but now they were outnumbered. They fled. The resistance stopped, looking at Y/N on the ground. She let out a strangled sob as she crawled to Kaz's body. " Y/N..." Mal said, moving to pull her away. She shoved him back. "Please...Kaz please!" she begged even though she knew there was nothing to be done. The cut had hit home. She leaned over his face, forehead to his as she sobbed on him. " Y/N...I'm so sorry," she heard Jesper say. "You promised!" she yelled at him. "I know...I...I'm just sorry." Inej came over then, putting her arms around Y/N who finally fell to sit back. Jesper joined Inej in hugging her. "I'm so sorry for this Y/N," Inej whispered, "so sorry."

#six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #kaz x reader #kazbrekker #kaz brekker #kaz #unexpected allies series

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trulivin · 4 years

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Hands Off, Please

A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first fic that I wanted to share with you just so you could get a sense of my writing style and whatnot. Please let me know what you think and requests are open

Kaz Brekker X Reader, Six Of Crows

Warnings: Mentions of Abuse in the past but nothing too graphic!

*I also made this aesthetic so if you would like to use it please just tag me or give me credit for it! And yes I know my gif is janky, but it’s fine!*

Y/N sat at a table on the main floor of the Slat with Rotty and Specht, waiting for Kaz to get out of his meeting with whoever he had a deal with this time. As a long-time member of the Dregs and someone who was practically brought up by the notorious Dirtyhands, Y/N was held in high respect, partially out of fear, among her fellow Crows. Most of the time at least. Of course everyone teased her and called her ‘the bastard’s queen’ or ‘Brekker’s shadow’ because he had always left her in charge whenever he was busy, or she somehow was allowed to beat up anyone who was out of hand. People just listened to her since Kaz gave her so much power. Her reputation as the assassin of the Barrel helped as well.

It was surprising to people like Inej, Jesper, Wylan, and Nina to see Kaz get extremely close to someone, but he had let his guard down with Y/N. He could let his guard down with her. Though he would never admit it, Inej could easily notice the slight change in his demeanor when Y/N was around. Even Y/N showed a subtle difference in her eye when she was around Kaz. It was like they were the same person, always watching their own backs behind a mask, but when they were together all the disguises were disregarded. Jesper was also quite convinced the two were in a secret relationship because of how Kaz somehow always picked Y/N out in a room. On a job, Jesper noticed how he would somehow keep an eye on the dark-haired girl and make sure she was out of harm's way, especially during the raid of the Ice Court and the events following that nearly killed them all. But, sadly the two never showed any signs of physical or emotional connection. They were always together but out of each other’s reach in the slightest. However, there had always been an unsaid establishment that Y/N was Kaz’s and no one could have her.

Of course, that wasn’t known to all of the members of the Dregs. Mainly the younger boys and the newest members.

Rotty and Specht saw a couple of the new boys head over to their table and moved over a bit letting the newbies come and join them. Y/N smiled kindly and also scooted over allowing more room at the little table. “Well we did it!” a boy named Flynn said on Y/N’s right. “Oh did you now,” Specht smirked at Rotty and Y/N. Flynn and Riker were sent to shake up some filthy wannabe boss for the money he owed Kaz for getting him out of trouble.

“So you got the money then?” Y/N asked, bored already with this lot. The newbies smirked and plopped a leather bag on the table in front of her. She leaned back, slightly impressed these idiots actually did it. Of course she trailed after them, making sure they could actually get the job done. The guy may not have had a lot of people backing him, but he had two other guys that could easily take out two, arrogant teenagers.

“We sure did, sweetheart,” Riker smirked at her. Y/N raised an eyebrow at the boy. Rotty and Specht dropped their grins and their eyes went cold. “Watch your mouth,” Rotty snarled. Y/N was actually somewhat excited to see how this would unfold. No, she did not appreciate the little rat calling her that, but if a fight was about to break out she wouldn’t be opposed to that. “I didn’t do anything,” Riker said putting his hands up as if he were surrendering but Y/N could see a glint in his eye. She rolled her eyes. Boys she thought.

Y/N was undeniably a sight for sore eyes in the Barrel so she was bound to draw attention from people, but no one in the Dregs dared to make a move out of fear of what Kaz Brekker would do to them.

“So we got the money. What do we get in return?” Flynn asked. Y/N, Specht, and Rotty sent him a nasty look. “A place to crash and more jobs,” Specht snapped. “Surely we get something better,” Flynn pressed, winking at Y/N. Who the hell was this kid? It was cute at first, but the jokes were already getting old. Riker seemed content with sitting in silence and not pressing on with the jokes and almost looked as shocked as Specht, Rotty, and Y/N at his friend’s response. She glanced up at Per Haskell’s old office hoping Kaz would be finished soon, but the door remained closed. “Why don’t you keep your dicks in your pants boys,” Y/N snapped. If Rotty and Specht were dogs, the hairs on the back of their necks would be bristling. The two had been good friends of Y/N since they met, and if it weren’t for Kaz, they’d probably be the most protective of her.

“Oh come on, you’re the hottest one here,” Flynn said, “Surely you’ve shacked up with the other boys before, yeah?”. Y/N pursed her lips, “I think you hurt Anika’s feelings.” She ignored his other comment. Then Flynn did something no one was expecting: he rested a hand dangerously high on Y/N’s leg. Her cold eyes snapped to his smirking face. That did it. Rotty shoved Flynn off of her and swung. There was a definite crunch.

Riker being an idiot lunged at Rotty landing a solid hit before Specht launched himself into the fight. Everyone’s attention turned on the fight and a few of the younger members joined in trying to back up Riker and Flynn. Y/N somehow got shoved over as more people started taking sides. What the hell was happening in here? She huffed to herself before trying to tear Flynn off of Rotty. He turned and swung not realizing who was. Y/N took a hit to her eye and felt a little blood run down the side of her face.

His face drained and said, “Oh. Darling I am so sorry.” Darling? All the voices of the horrible men rang out in her head for a moment. Y/N glared at him before pulling her arm back and breaking his nose. She then kneed him in the crotch and managed to wrestle him to the ground. Everyone was practically fighting on top of each other. Y/N’s anger flared as she shoved him harder into the wooden floor and scraped his face to make sure some splinters would come up. “You ever lay your hands on me again and I will break both of your arms,” Y/N hissed in his ear digging her need further into his neck. “You crazy bitch!” He screamed in pain.

“You have no idea--” Y/N started, but a loud shot went off and everyone fell silent. “What the hell is going on here?” Kaz growled on the balcony holding a pistol in one hand and his cane in the other. I close my door for one second and this whole damn place falls apart. His eyes were darker than night, and when his eyes landed on Y/N’s partially swollen face his eyes somehow went darker. He was beyond furious. “Well?” He snapped as everyone stayed frozen where they were still holding on to their opponents. Unfortunately, Flynn had been the one to decide to open his mouth, “This psycho,” he gestured under Y/N to Rotty, “Attacked me!” “Yeah well why don’t you keep your hands to yourself then you filthy little perv,” Rotty bit back.

“All I did was flirt a bit with her! Like everyone else does!” Y/N dug Flynn’s face harder into the floor and jabbed him with her knee again. “There’s a difference between having a conversation with someone, flirting, and then trying to feel them up,” She hissed at the boy. She could feel Kaz’s hard stare on her as she seemed to be in the center of a circle now.

Y/N twisted his arm tighter and dug her nails into his skin. Flynn cried out in pain and his eyes went to Kaz. He stood there with narrowed eyes. After a bad childhood, Y/N had always been wary of a man’s touch. Much like Inej, she was picked up and taken to the Menagerie for a majority of her childhood on top of being raised by an abusive father with brothers who seemed to follow in their father’s footsteps. Kaz of course was the only one who knew about this, but Specht and Rotty had a faint idea of what happened after they found her in a closet puking her guts out, pale as a ghost after a job went awry with a nasty man who had a taste for young pretty girls.

“Well? Aren’t you going to help me?” Flynn begged Kaz. Kaz looked at the picture in front of him. Y/N was dangerous right now. He knew the boy laid a hand on her as soon as he came out of the office to see her practically smothering him. She always had that look in her eye that told Kaz when someone stepped out of line. He was screaming inside to just go and strangle the kid for laying a single finger on his girl, but he didn’t need to lose anymore newbies. They were useful for mediocre jobs that Kaz didn’t need to do himself.

Kaz pushed off of the railing and began making his way down to the main floor. “Y/N,” he said calmly, “Up you go.” She glared at Kaz but said nothing, releasing her grip on Flynn. The boy stood up and rolled his shoulders as everyone began picking things back up. Kaz didn’t even have to say anything and they all started cleaning up the mess they made. Rotty and Specht flanked Y/N’s sides as soon as she stood up. Flynn and Riker were still in between them and an approaching Kaz.

“Thank you,” Flynn scowled at Y/N. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He went on, “You’re crazy, bitch. Now I get why you didn’t acknowledge my other comment earlier,” Flynn spat, “No one would ever want to sleep with you, I mean they’d have to--” Kaz’s cane collided with the back of Flynn’s leg causing him to collapse. “Finish that sentence and I’ll let Y/N break more than just your arms,” Kaz growled quietly. He never shouted which made him more dangerous.

But Flynn ignored the pain and smirked again at Y/N. That did it. Y/N grabbed the two daggers in her belt and flipped them up before lunging at the boy. She didn’t care if she was going to kill him. Kaz wouldn’t kick her out of the gang and if he did then screw him too. Y/N knew boys like this. They’d only grow up to be monsters.

Rotty and Specht tried getting in her way because even if they didn’t like this kid, they weren’t going to let Y/N kill anyone in the gang. She easily slipped out of their arms hitting them hard in the face causing them to double over in pain. Just as she was about to slit the kid’s throat, strong arms grabbed her. She felt cool leather hands on her bare arms and a body blocking hers from the cowering boy on the floor. Just how it should be, she thought maliciously. “Let me go!” Y/N snapped, struggling to get to Flynn.

“No,” Kaz said calmly. “Get him out of here,” Kaz ordered Specht and Rotty. Y/N struggled harder against Kaz.

“You can’t just let him go! I will hunt you down and kill you!”

“No you won’t,” Kaz said coolly in her ear, but she ignored his comment.

“I will kill you if I ever see your face here again!” Y/N screamed after the boy that was being dragged out. “C’mon,” he muttered half dragging Y/N up to his room. He was considerably out of breath by the time they reached the top.

Kaz threw her in the room and stood in between her and the door. He knew she was heavily triggered by her past so he let her scream, shout, chew him out. Whatever she needed. “You’re letting him walk? You? Of all people?” She yelled, “You shouldn’t have done that! I know boys like that! They all turn out the same. Disgusting rats who find it fun to take advantage of young, helpless girls!” She hissed. Kaz watched silently observing all of her features. Even as angry as she was with him and beaten up, Kaz seemed to find Y/N even more beautiful. Practically glowing he thought to himself.

“Are you done?” he asked. Y/N stopped pacing and glared daggers at him. Yet, she let out a breath and nodded. The tunnel of red she saw was slowly fading and she came to her senses. It was simply just her and Kaz in the peace and quiet of his room. He looked at her before his gaze softened a bit. He wanted so badly to brush his bare hands across her face, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to. She was intoxicating to him, and he had been slowly working on skin to skin contact with her whenever it was just them. She knew about his brother and she knew how it felt to drown.

It was so easy for her to slip back into her rage and terror over a simple gesture of affection, and Kaz didn’t want to be the one that caused her to act like this. “What happened?” He asked calmly, peeling his gloves off. Y/N caught the movement and stared at his slender hands refusing to let her fascination with them get in the way of her still bubbling rage.

“That little boy thought it would be fun to get a reward for shaking up that guy who owed you money,” Y/N scowled. “And that reward being you?” Kaz quirked a brow. “Yeah,” she spit. “How are you so calm over this?” she growled a moment later. Usually he was more worked up about this and deep down it stung that he didn’t seem to care about her well-being right now. Of course she had no right to care about what he thinks of her. He’s not your boyfriend she scolded herself waiting for his response.

Kaz eyed her for a moment and sighed, “You can take care of yourself.” That wasn’t the answer she was really expecting, but what was it she wanted him to say? He approached her slowly, never taking his eyes off of hers. Y/N stood still, her heart skipping a beat as he stopped in front of her. She saw him take a breath before allowing his hand to brush up against hers. The pain in his eyes over the smallest touch made Y/N pull away. She didn’t want to put him through this. He didn’t owe her anything. “Wait,” He said when she moved her hand.

Kaz’s warm fingers grazed hers before he ran them up her wrist. Any left over anger had subsided as a chill ran down her spine. His dark eyes studied her face and he noticed how her eye now had a purplish tint starting to form, and then he saw where her perfect skin had split and a little blood ran down the side of her face. Kaz gritted his teeth, allowing his temper to begin to rise. In all honesty, he didn’t really know what to think when he saw Y/N on top of the boy digging his skull into the floor. And even worse, for a fleeting moment Kaz had wished it was he who was under her under different circumstances. But he quickly pushed aside any thoughts that weren’t relevant to the event of her killing one of the Dregs in front of everyone.

After a moment, Kaz slowly moved his hand to her face running his fingers lightly across the cut. He allowed his hand to trail down her face as she watched him trace her features. Eventually, his hand fell back next to hers as he allowed himself to intertwine it with her own small hand. Y/N watched as he took a moment to collect himself. She waited for his outburst, but it never came. It was always like this with them. The seclusion of his room, unspoken words that needed to be said, and the smallest touches that left both of them with a burning sensation.

Kaz was getting better at this. After the whole heist and everything, he was getting better with physical contact, but it was still a struggle for him. Even if it was Y/N. He longed to be able to run his hands through her hair, kiss her skin, and just be able to touch her. But somehow, Jordie seemed to slip in his mind as soon as he’d lay a finger on her.

“No one is allowed to lay a hand on you” Kaz murmured partially to himself. She was his and he preferably didn’t want to share. Those nasty little rats, he scowled.

“What is this?” Y/N blurted out softly. Kaz gave her a confused look as the sound of her voice caught him off guard. She even surprised herself. “I mean,” she started with a shaky breath, “What are we?” she finally asked. Kaz looked at her and saw the frightened girl he picked up off the streets as she had escaped the Menagerie. He thought for a moment. What were they? Kaz wondered the same thing. “I-I don’t know,” he said watching her face slightly fall. “But,” he started again, “It doesn’t mean we can’t be something,” he concluded. It was true, he had always wanted to be with her, but he knew she’d have to be patient with him, and he’d have to be patient with her. Kaz couldn’t tell her he would spoil her and shower her with hugs and kisses and gifts because he physically couldn’t. He didn’t want to do that to her and even if he could get over his fear, he didn’t want to push her either.

“It’s hard for me too you know,” she spoke again pulling him from his thoughts. He knew, but he let her talk anyways. “They beat me,” her voice wavered, “and left me in the freezing rain. They laughed at me--” “Don’t, Y/N just don’t,” Kaz stopped her. She didn’t need to explain herself and why she wanted to kill that boy. “You’re safe with me,” Kaz said more firmly now. And hesitantly he did something he didn’t expect himself to do. He pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her. Y/N froze not knowing if she should hug him back. Timidly, she wrapped her arms around him and the two stood there in silence. Everything inside Kaz screamed at him and the bile rose in his throat, but he forced it away the best he could. She needed him right now even if he felt like he was drowning.

“Kaz,” Y/N mumbled, pulling him up from the cool water that he was slipping under. She could sense his uncomfort and knew it was time to let go. She unwrapped her arms from around him and slowly untangled herself from his body. Surprisingly, he missed the warmth her body brought, but he was also grateful she stepped back and gave him some space. A small smile played at her lips as he stepped back and put his gloves back on. “C’mon,” he spoke softly offering his now covered hand to her. Y/N took it with ease. It doesn’t mean we can’t be something played over in her mind. She was as happy as she could possibly be even if it would take time. She would wait and she knew it would take time not only for him but for her as well. Y/N was just happy Kaz was officially hers in some way, and she got the feeling he was content with that too. Although, she didn’t know she had always been his in his own mind.

They made their way back down to the landing above the Crows. For the most part, the room had been picked up but everyone was still cleaning the mess up. Specht and Rotty had returned with a very bruised Flynn helping pick up broken tables and chairs. As soon as Kaz and Y/N made it on the landing, everyone could sense their presence. All heads turned to them.

“The tables and chairs all better be replaced by tomorrow morning,” Kaz’s hard stare was back. “I didn’t fix this place up with my own money for a bunch of idiots to go and destroy it all.” Y/N stood closely next to Kaz, her eyes narrowed as she was watching the crowd. “And no one lays a hand on Y/N anymore,” he hissed. “If I ever catch any of you with your filthy hands on her, insulting her, or even looking at her without a single ounce of respect, I will break more than just your face.” That was a bit much, Kaz she thought to herself but smirked a little at how much he was actually riled about this.

“Got it?” he snapped. The crowd nodded and gave a terrified “yes” as he glared down on them with his usual Kaz face. Y/N scanned the gang below and found most of the young ones refusing to look at her and Kaz. Flynn was looking anywhere but her. “Did you get that?” she snarled at the newbies. “Flynn?” she spat. All eyes snapped to hers as her anger seemed to be returning. “Yes,” he mumbled along with the others before diverting his eyes. “Back to work,” Kaz snapped, and just like he pushed an unfreeze button, everyone jumped back to picking up damaged pieces.

Flynn, Riker, and a few others decided to head out and find more chairs and tables. When their backs were turned and they were walking out, a very sharp dagger whizzed by Flynn’s ear and hit the wall an inch away from where he put his hand. Everyone jumped at the thump and he turned, wide-eyed back to the landing. Y/N stood there with Kaz behind her. “Next time he won’t stop me from killing you,” she threatened. Flynn and the others recoiled in fear and simply nodded. “Off you go then,” she dismissed them.

Specht and Rotty watched as Kaz stepped aside and let Y/N go up the steps first and saw his hand hover the small of her back as they disappeared back upstairs. “All hail the king and queen,” they joked and went on with their cleaning.

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I hope you enjoyed this and again please send feed back! Request away my darlings! xoxo

#imagines #fandom imagines #six of crows #kaz brekker #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker imagine #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #six of crows imagines #kaz brekker fic #trulivin #multifandom imagines #grishaverse #grisha #crooked kingdom

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beautifulletdownfics · 4 years

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Twenty Good Reasons :: Part Four

Hello! Welcome to the ‘Someday, Someday’ sequel! I hope you’ll enjoy your time here! Before you start, make sure you check out the Harry & Nina Chronology page to catch up on a few of the drabbles and novellas that slot in the gap between ‘Someday, Someday’ and ‘Twenty Good Reasons’. As always, please don’t be strangers, posting into the void is a terrifying thing! Love K x

Harry

We had a bad week after New York.

I posted a photo of Nina on Instagram when we went out for dinner the night after her interview. She thought it went well and came out with a big smile on her face, so I suggested treating ourselves while we were in the city. We went to the prestigious restaurant, The View, on the forty-seventh floor of The Empire State building and there was something about the soft lighting and the glow off the window that made Nina look absolutely gorgeous. So, I took a photo of her and explained it to the world with only a red, heart emoji.

I didn’t even think about the fact her engagement ring was in plain sight.

The fancy decor around us and the decadent looking dessert in front of Nina had everyone thinking I’d proposed that evening. In actual fact we had been engaged for almost a month and the real proposal involved muddy wellies, and dark chocolate digestives and tea as the celebratory meal. But by the time we were back in the apartment we were staying, the internet was alight with the ‘announcement’ of our engagement.

And it was fine, in a sense, because we hadn’t been hiding the fact we were engaged. Our families and our friends knew, and it was news that we weren’t going to be able to keep to ourselves forever. We had hoped for it to trickle out calmly. Perhaps it was both Nina and myself proving we were in denial a bit, that we didn’t want a big, public fuss to be made. Really though, the reality was that no matter how it was revealed, news that we were getting married was going to be made a fuss of.

So we got back to the apartment, took a few deep breaths and then started getting used to the idea of people knowing. Nina turned off her phone, and I talked to a publicist about them releasing the statement we wrote the week after we were first engaged, the one we wrote in preparation for the news coming out

Then, we made a pot of tea and watched an episode of America’s Next Top Model before bed.

The following evening though, things got a little bit hairy when it came to getting into JFK for a flight back home.

It seemed that because everybody knew we were in New York, even more paps were camped outside the airport knowing at some stage one or both of us would be heading back to the UK. And it was just their luck that we were going home together. Upon later reflection, I was glad it wasn’t just Nina on her own.

I knew as soon as we were out of the car to get into the terminal building that Nina wasn't okay. Her grip on my hand was a little too tight to just be so we didn't get separated in the crowd. I could feel the tips of her nails pressing into the skin above my knuckles and her palm was completely rigid in mine.

She didn't cry until we were in the first class lounge, and even then it wasn't until I had settled her on one of the couches and gone off to get us refreshments at the bar. We spent the next twenty minutes in the closest cuddle position appropriate in a private place and Nina sobbed into my chest while we waited for our flight to board. I knew they weren't tears of regret, but ones of fear and apprehension because she was about to get a whole lot of attention for the next little while. Attention she had managed in small doses over the years, but there would be nothing like what was to come.

The next thing happened when we walked in the door at home.

Nina turned on her phone after the flight and there was a missed call and voicemail message from the job interview. She called them back straight away with shaking hands after we had a quick discussion about what the time over there would be.

She sat down on the sofa as soon as someone answered on the other end, I sat on top of the coffee table in front of her, our knees bumping together. I reached out for her free hand when she said she was fine with being put on hold as her call was directed to the correct person.

I became clear pretty quickly than Nina didn’t get the job. From the way her eyebrows drew together and her voice became her small, quiet one I knew what was being said to her was hurting. I felt an awful form of guilt, or something equally as horrific, watching the person I cherished most in the world getting kicked when she was already down. I wanted to take the phone off her instead of having to keep listening to Nina with her chin bravely up, thanking them for seeing her and considering her at all. In that moment, I didn’t dare let myself entertain the fact I might actually be to blame by being openly against the whole thing.

We didn't really talk about it until the next morning. I was keeping an eye on her but not pushing Nina to talk. I could tell the difference now—after more than four years together—between when Nina was processing, and when she was shutting down. And this time she needed to process.

When we did talk though, I could see the forced optimism behind her words—that she knew this wasn't the end of the world—but I could also see that in that moment she was still disappointed and upset. And because I didn't know what the best thing to do would be, I let her stay in that place.

It was at breakfast on our first Saturday morning home together that Nina declared bravely, “I’m okay, you know, Harry? I can tell you’ve been worried about me, but I’m okay, really.”

I carefully turned around to her, holding out the frying pan and scooping a spoonful of eggs onto her plate. She had been sitting, hand juicing oranges into little glasses for our breakfast, while I was in charge of the cooking of the hot foods. A few pieces of egg fell off the side of the plate and it was second nature for Nina to quickly scoop it up with her fingers and drop it onto the toast.

“I know you’re okay,” I said, almost sounding absentminded, but really I was distracting myself with our breakfast while my mind whirled through ways to keep everything okay, “I’m just …”

“You’re waiting for a breakdown,” She accused calmly, when I looked up at her she had a loving, gentle smile on her face.

It killed me, “Neens.”

“Really, I should be offended you have so little faith in my emotional state,” She joked, but it was an evil, self-loathing humour.

“Don’t,” I said darkly, “That’s not funny.”

She moved around the counter to put the juicer into the sink, her palm brushing around my side as she went, “Humour is a coping mechanism.”

“I know,” I replied quickly, turning around so I could keep watching her move, “Just tell me what’s going on in your head.”

Nina lent back against the sink, her legs looking longer than ever when she wore the little running shorts that had become Saturday’s uniform, “I didn’t get the job,” She shrugged, “There’s a bit of mess in my head, but I know there’ll be something else for me, some other job.”

My thoughts tripped on the mess in her head, “What’s the mess?”

Or you could write the damn symphony, I thought to myself.

“Just … You know, that I’m not good enough,” Nina gave nothing away on her face, which made it worse, “Or I’m not as good as I think I am. I’m self centred, stupid, facetious, undeserving.”

My gut instinct was to tell her to stop talking about herself like that, to stop thinking about herself like that, but I knew I needed to validate her feelings. I just hated that I knew exactly where that voice echoed from.

“That’s a load of fucking bullshit, Nina.” I began carefully, “You know you’ve worked hard, you know you have a boat load of talent.”

“I do,” She nodded, “Just hurts is all.”

It was her small sniff that got me, “C’mere.”

Nina stepped forward heavily, shoulders slumping the closer to me she got, “We’ll laugh about this later on.”

When she was pressed against my chest I pulled her against me as tightly as I could, “I could never laugh about a time when you think you’re any of those things you just told me.”

I felt Nina’s sigh all down my body, “Can we do something together today?”

With one more tight squeeze I let her go slowly, “Anything you like.”

*********

We didn’t do this nearly enough.

We packed a picnic rug into the back of the Rover and stopped off at our closest high street in Highgate. Nina picked all the food from the deli while I went into a cafe across the street to get take away coffees for us both. We met back at the car and it was then only a few minutes to get up to the furthest east side of Hampstead Heath, which somewhere along the line had become our favourite spot.

The walk wasn’t far to the big, old tree that we liked best. Nina lay out the blanket, half in the shade and half in the sun. I smiled to myself when she claimed the shaded spot and blurted out a pun to her that earned me a kick in the bum as I lowered myself down in the sunshine.

We chatted while we ate until we ended up lying side by side with empty containers littering the space around us. Nina’s head rested on my shoulder and my arm wound around her easily, her fingers looping through mine over her chest.

“What would happen if we slept out here?”

I hummed in thought at Nina’s question, grin cracking my eyes open despite the glare, “Probably not a lot. It’d get really cold and we would regret it, I imagine.”

Her voice sounded sleepy and drawn out, but happy, “I loved camping as a kid. We should try it at home, then if it sucks we can just go inside.”

“Solid plan,” I agreed.

Nina let out a long sigh then, her shoulders tensed with it and when she took the breath back it caught at the back of her throat, “I was going to say we should try it next weekend but with all the snow it’s likely we wouldn’t make it through the night.”

I ran my hand up and down her arm, “I’m not sure why you’re so nervous about going.”

“It’ll be fine,” She decided bravely, “I know that. And once we’re there it will be great to have everyone together for a bit.”

“Ah,” I caught onto the detail of what she’d said, even if Nina herself hadn’t meant to, “You’re nervous about the getting there bit.”

Nina sighed and rolled over onto her tummy beside me, “I didn’t enjoy coming back from New York last week.”

“Neither did I, Neens.”

“It’s alright,” She diverged bravely, “Plenty of time for sleeping in the garden after.”

After tour is what she meant, but we both knew it didn’t work to make plans for a time so far away. It was better to concentrate your time and energy on making things good at that time, instead of how we could fix things months later.

“We could try this week,” I humoured her, pressing my smiling lips to her temple, “But I’m not sure you’d look particularly cute frostbitten.”

“Don’t you have a hero complex?” She asked through a smile, “If I had frostbite you could save me.”

I shook my head, “Nope, I don’t find the thought of you injured at all appealing. No.”

She whacked my chest and I cracked into a grin at her laugh, “You’re the one who gets injured anyway, aren’t you?” Nina teased, “At least this time you have to be on your best behaviour before New York.”

“What?” I scoffed cheekily, “I could do an eight month tour with a broken leg. What are you implying?”

“Your leg definitely wouldn’t be in a cast for eight months, idiot.”

The time suddenly struck me; eight months.

Nina watched my face carefully as I’m sure my happy demeanour crumbled right before her eyes. I’d been home in London off the Asian leg for seven weeks and by next weekend, there would be another five months of shows ahead of me before a break and then three more.

“H,” She whispered quietly, swallowing thickly herself.

“Eight months is a long time,” I brought my lips together and pulled myself to be sitting up. Nina scrambled to do the same.

“We’re starting off happy, right?” She quoted myself back to me. “I know I stomped about a bit about Canada but it really is a lovely idea, Harry. Everyone’s so excited.”

Hiring a chateau at a Canadian sky village and having both our families away for a week’s holiday had been my idea. An attempt to somehow disguise the start of another leg of the world tour behind the thrill of all being together in a new, beautiful place. Nina and I loved the snow, and we loved Canada. I thought if maybe we were all looking forward to the holiday, we might not dread the beginning of another long period of separation.

“I feel like I’ve been on tour the whole time we’ve been together,” I admitted.

“You mean my fiancé has had a steady, reliable job that he’s passionate about? Yeah, sounds right,” Nina smiled; always the optimistic peacemaker, always diplomatic in her responses. Too much like me.

“You can be mad, you know?” I told her, not completely buying her playful bit.

She smiled again, it was soft and warmed her whole appearance from the inside out, “I don’t want to be mad, Harry. I’d much rather miss you while I have to and look forward to a time, years down the track, when you’re trying desperately to convince our kids you used to be cool.”

I felt a zap of something magnificent down my spine, something happy and safe and wonderful.

“And naturally, you’d be arguing on affirmative for that.”

“One hundred percent,” She responded. “Little Pippa and Scott, we’ll have them convinced.”

I let my body fall back against the picnic rug, covering my face with my forearm and letting out a resounding groan, “Those are not the names of our kids!”

Nina giggled and let out a squawk when I blindly reached for her waist and pulled her back down beside me again, “Those are perfectly reasonable names!”

“Pippa,” I said the name with as much distaste as I could muster, “Is a great name for a cat, not a child. Not to mention the fact that’s almost exactly how people in New Zealand say ‘pepper’.”

“What about Scott?” Nina asked through a laugh, already knowing full well my dislike for the name.

“You’re mean,” I told her, “Not at all sympathetic to my childhood trauma.”

“You were an adorable child, Harry,” Nina pulled herself up to press her lips against mine in a steadying kiss, “Kind—inside and out—right to the core.”

Scott was the name of the grade one bully at my school. At some point over the years, my mother had divulged onto Nina stories about a much younger version of myself trying desperately to ‘save’ the schoolyard bully. It was my mum’s fault too, all those life lessons about the people who needed friendship the most were probably those being mean to you. I tried to make Scott O’Conner like me, I tried to make everyone else like him as well.

It had been a summer weekend, I remember that much. Nina and I were staying with Mum for a few days and it was gloriously warm the entire time. The very first night Nina and I had a conversation in bed, one that I’d been desperate to have but unsure how to broach; to know what Nina thought about having children. We were just coming up to our first anniversary.

I hadn’t wanted to be presumptuous and just assume that, like most other people, she would want to have kids one day. I really hoped that was the case though, I’ve always wanted children. Nina was so loving and caring, I couldn’t imagine her not being a mother one day.

The conversation beneath the duvet had taken us well into the small hours of the morning though, because with my question came a heartbreaking response. It had been a sobering moment in our relationship, and one that, looking back, I could see I’d really stepped up. It was a moment you recognise the adult version of the you that you walk around as everyday; not really thinking too much about things until all of a sudden you have to deal with the responsibility side of things.

“Harry,” The Nina lying on her back in the middle of Hampstead Heath beside me interrupted my thoughts, “What were you thinking about?”

I turned on my side to talk to her, “That first time we spoke about having kids, when we were in Cheshire at Mum’s.”

She bit her lip and I knew she understood exactly the time I was referring to, “Seems like worlds away, yeah?”

I frowned, “Do you feel differently?”

“No,” Nina shook her head, “I just meant that lots has happened since then, that’s all. That was a non-hypothetical hypothetical time, you know? Like, now we’re engaged and that would’ve been what …” She paused to think, “Three and a half years ago … I mean, now … Now it’s—

—It’s going to be me,” I finished, knowing it likely wasn’t what she was going to say, but that didn’t make it any less relevant, or true, “I’m the one you’ll have kids with.”

I trained my eyes onto Nina to watch her next move. She let out a long breath and reached her hand out for one of mine, “When we get there.” She said as some kind of mantra, “Worrying about it now won’t help.”

I leant in and kissed her lips slowly, “You’re … We’re doing everything right for now. Stay healthy. Stay on top of everything now.”

She nodded feebly.

The ‘everything’ was Nina’s depression.

Nina’s depression that I had found out that night in Cheshire haunted her in more ways than I was initially aware.

I knew everyday was a battle for her, and I had been around long enough to know it was unreasonable to expect it was one that we could win everyday. But I hadn’t realised that Nina’s depression had her looking forward to possible events in her future with unease.

Post natal depression, she had told me, was considerably more likely for her.

In a moment of true, absolute honesty she told me she was afraid of having children. She was scared that she wouldn’t be able to be the mother they would deserve, and just as importantly, the mother she wanted to be.

Right from the very beginning of knowing her, I’ve never been good at handling Nina when she was crying. I never knew what to do, never knew if it was one of those times it was appropriate to let her cry or if I needed to find away to make her stop. Her sadness made me nervous because in the back of my mind was the fear I might lose her to it.

But in Cheshire that night I could do nothing but cry with her. Because it was devastating, one of those things you don’t think about until you come face to face with someone who lives it as a reality every day.

And even though, at that stage, we hadn’t been together all that long it was utterly shattering, to hear Nina confess she wanted to be a mother but was terrified to do so. And it was shattering in a beautiful way as well, because there was already such a respect for parenthood, and a consideration for life that didn’t exist yet.

“Harry,” Nina called me back again, “You’ve got pre-tour distracted mind.”

“Sorry,” I shook my head at myself. “We should get on home, shouldn’t we? If we’re going to pack tonight.”

“Yeah,” Nina agreed easily, but I knew from the look in her eye she was worried about whatever had taken my mind away from her in that moment.

I took the back of her neck in the palm of my hand and pulled her forehead up against mine, “I love you.”

She scrunched her nose up at me, “I love you too, let’s get married.”

I shrugged, feigning mild disinterest, “Sure, why not?”

*******

The following evening Nina, my mum, Gemma, Laykn and I were on a flight from Heathrow to Vancouver. Nina’s parents were flying from Manchester and would arrive in a few hours before the rest of us. From there it was an hour drive to the Whistler ski resort. If everything went to plan we would all be together in just over twelve hours.

It was chilly in London, although I knew the weather we were going into would be even colder. I loved the feeling that dressing for winter gave, a warmth and snuggly one that had me wriggling my toes in my boots and happy to be sitting with Gemma as we waited in the British Airways First Class lounge.

“You’re going to break a bone this trip, aren’t you?” She sighed dramatically next to me, settling down again after I had dropped a scalding cup of coffee down my leg during a competition with Laykn to see who could balance a cup on their knee for the longest. My poor mother had leapt up to apologise to the staff profusely for the mess and Nina gave me a threatening glare from her spot sitting talking to her brother.

“I’d say at least a minor sprain.”

We were quiet again for a few moments when I felt her take in a charged, suggestive breath of air, “Is everything alright?” She asked quickly, “I mean … Are you and Nina good? You seem … You seem fake,” Gemma finally admitted, a hint of sadness in her tone, “But you’re both trying really hard not to be.”

I hadn’t expected anyone else to notice, but that was a silly thing for me to have thought, especially when we were about to spend the next week with our families.

I considered my words and then calmly turned around to face her, “We’re good. And Nina’s good as well … I’m just not very good at leaving. It’s the same old guilt that I don’t think either of us knows how to deal with, and … A fear that we’ll be next, you know?”

“Next?” Gemma asked curiously, our words whispered comfortably between us. My big sister had always been a safe place.

“I guess the longer you’re together the more of your friends you see breakup,” I explained, “And, I mean, Tim—from my band—and his girlfriend Alexis got together long before Nina and I did. They broke up just before I came over for Nina’s performance and … It’s rattled us.”

“Yeah but even people who are married forty years have to start somewhere, H,” She responded prudently, “You can’t measure you and Nina against other people.”

“I know,” I replied gently, “But … I guess them breaking up has shaken me. I really looked up to Tim in that sense, how he’d kept his relationship going after so many years doing what we do. I always figured if Tim could do it, so could I.”

“You still can, Harry.”

“No!” I backtracked quickly, “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I know that, and I will. I’m keeping Nina and I together, and I don’t care what I have to give up for it. But … I guess Tim and Alexis breaking up has been,” I tried to think of the right sounding word and failed, “Like, sort of humbling? In the sense that you get hit in the face with the fact the people around you aren’t invisible, and neither are you.”

“Is that why you …” Gemma shook her head and then fell silent, “Don’t worry.”

“Is that why I what?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her slightly and trying to read where she might be headed.

She cast her eyes down and pulled at the rings on her finger, “Did you see the article on the Juice website about how your proposal was—

—That article was a load of horse-shit that got taken down,” I returned angrily, “Don’t think so lowly of me.”

“I don’t!” She defended, “And I love Nina, you know I do, H. But what I’m saying is that it looks—

—It doesn’t matter what it looks like, Gem,” I hissed, looking around to make sure no one else had cottoned on to our heated exchange. Only our Mum was watching us uneasily, “It only matters how it is, and as someone who knows how it is I can’t believe you’d even try to have this conversation. Or that you’d consider something written on a fucking gossip rag before what you know of your own brother.”

I stood up and went to leave her.

“Harry!”

I turned back around briefly to tell her just one more thing, “Next time keep what you read in your free time to yourself, Gemma. I proposed to Nina because I want to marry her. And you already knew that, so stop reading shit that’ll rot your brain.”

I let out a long breath of frustration, trying to shake the bubbling feeling that came from arguing with my sister. Nina didn’t see me coming, and kept talking to Laykn next to her even when I picked up her hand and started pulling her to her feet.

“Hey!” She yelped, breaking eye contact with her brother and pushing her other hand against my chest, “I was talking, Harry, don’t be rude.”

“You can keep talking,” I mumbled, switching our spots and taking the seat that she had been in, “C’mon,” I coaxed, now gently leading her to sit on my lap, “You won’t even notice I’m here.”

They settled back into their conversation and Nina relaxed in my arms as I wound them around her middle, settling my cheek against her back and looking at my Mum.

“Gemma’s got a guilty look on her face, H,” She whispered my way, concern on her features as she reached out to push my hair out of my face.

I briefly looked across to see my sister looking at her lap, not engaged in conversation with anyone.

“Yeah,” I said carefully, “Well, she deserves it right now, Mum.”

“Harry,” She scolded me lightly.

“She does, Mum,” I insisted, leaning closer to urge out the next words, “She knows better than to pay attention to anything the paper’s are saying about me. And I’d give her a lot more than a guilty look if Nina ever caught wind of it from her, I tell you what.”

Mum was frowning at me harshly, her eyes wide in disbelief, “What did she say?”

I shook my head, “I’m awarding her the courtesy of not taking it any further and moving on from what she implied, if it comes up again though …” I let out another sigh, “It won’t come up again.”

******

Over the years, I found myself developing unique and invaluable relationships with each member of Nina’s family. And my relationship with her mother was similar to that which I shared with my own, there was the playful exterior with a startling ability to get soul-crushingly honest, very quickly.

Today though, in this moment, it was merely fun that glimmered in her eyes beside me, “You should’ve assigned the rooms.”

I scratched at the back of my aching neck, Nina sleeping on my shoulder had me sitting in a funny position the whole flight over, “Yeah, someone’s going to end up concussed from the sound of it.”

Nina, Gemma and Laykn were thundering around our chalet for the week, yelling out and bickering over who would sleep where and what the best features of the place were. It was an impressive house; five bedrooms, four bathrooms, three living areas, a huge kitchen, an indoor pool and fully stocked library. Online Nina and I had gushed over the wooden finishes and beautiful furnishings and in real life I found myself even more impressed.

“This is quite the house,” Mae breathed out and when I looked down at her there was a weariness mixed with her appreciation. I didn’t know what to make of it.

For a second I wondered if this was all a bit much, but I was steadfast in the belief that this was a good idea. A family holiday was exactly what I wanted before I left again, this was the foundation I wanted for tour and these were the people I wanted to make the most of for these last few days.

Just as I was about to try and express something of that sentiment to Nina’s mother, Nina herself appeared at the top of the stairs. Her hair was handing down around her face as she leant over the banister around the platform above the main, downstairs living area.

“Harry! I got us the room with the big windows! The one we liked on the website? Laykn was up there but I won the rock off.”

Her happiness made me laugh, and I felt Mae’s hand on my back in gentle encouragement to go with her daughter, “Go team! What’s the balcony view like?”

Nina held out her hand down the stairs toward me, “Come see.”

We passed Nina’s dad in the master bedroom, and Gemma and Laykn in another arguing their way around who would have it but Nina’s hand in mine was steady and firm, pulling me where she was going without a falter in her step.

I’ll happily follow this woman the rest of my life.

“Oh,” I nodded as soon as we climbed the stairs into our room, “Yeah, this is ace, isn’t it?”

“Feel how comfy the bed is,” Nina encouraged, letting go of my hand and instead wrapping her fingers around my hips to lead me in the right direction.

I flopped down, face first, on the mattress and let out a groan when the tight muscles in my back all started to loosen up painfully, “Fuck, this is good.”

I felt the bed dip down as Nina climbed up on it as well, her knees pressed into my side and I felt her fingers at the base of my neck, massaging slowly, “Sorry I slept on you the whole flight. Will I leave you to nap until dinner?”

“No,” I moved and rolled onto my side, “If I sleep now the jet lag will be even more funky. I think just a shower and fresh clothes will be good. Then we should go into town and find somewhere to eat.”

“I thought we were going to get a big grocery delivery and have those ‘family cooking sessions’ you love so much,” Nina laughed musically above me

I scoffed playfully and waved her idea away with a lazy hand through the air between us, “Nobody cooks on the first night, silly. I want to eat a moose tonight.”

Nina held my gaze skeptically, working hard to keep her lips tight while I wriggled my eyebrows at her, “You’re not funny,” She deadpanned eventually.

“Because everything in Canada has a picture of a moose on it?” I continued with the same lame joke.

“Yes, I know,” Nina wasn’t doing well at pretending she didn’t find me endearing.

“Just getting into that Canadian spirit!” I said overly cheerfully.

“I’m sure it’s all the locals do, Harry, all day.”

Eventually Nina and I untangled ourselves from each other after I tackled her into the bed just to get her laughing. I showered and found her curled into a corner spot on the downstairs sofa, surrounded by everyone else. Laykn let out a loud cry of support when I suggested we all venture out for a meal together.

And it was that first night spent eating, drinking wine and laughing together that formed the precedent for our week together.

A week of lazy, slow mornings followed by snow walks, afternoon naps and evenings cooking meals together. Nina and I had our moments alone out in the spa or going for strolls after dinner when everyone else was comatose from eating. Our parents went on antiquing day trips to near by towns, stopping more than necessary for coffee and cake breaks. Laykn spent his days going to the nearest slopes, usually taking one of us with him; a few days he managed to get Nina, Gemma and myself to go along although we were more of a hinderance for not being particularly winter sports savvy. Other times Nina and Gemma would disappear with our mother’s to explore the local shops and I’d find myself drinking beers with Laykn and Nina’s dad at the house.

Always though, there was everyone around the dinner table together at night, talking back and forth between everyone’s lives. There was the renovations my mum was doing on her house house, or Nina’s parent’s trip they were planning to Asia, Laykn’s study, Gemma’s boyfriend, Nina’s work, and my music.

It was a safe place to talk about it all, even the emerging record burning a hole in my mind. Because all the times it came up, or one of them would ask to hear a little bit of it, I knew the reaction was always loving, always supportive (for the right reasons) and always proud. Even if I didn’t know when or how it could work, to have the unwavering support of these people.

*******

“Harry?”

I let my eyes flick from my phone screen to Nina beside me in bed, the brightness of the screen and darkness of the room having me squinting to make out her features, “What’s up?”

“Your work phone is buzzing.”

It was then that the vibrating against the wooden bedside table registered to me, “Oh.”

I pulled myself up into a sitting position, dragging some of the duvet off Nina’s chest which had her sluggishly sitting up as well. She leaned over and turned on the lamp but I’d managed to fumble the ringing phone into my hand. I was quick to swipe to answer and extract myself out of bed to take the call, a heavy panic rising to my throat as soon as I saw what number was calling.

“Sorry,” I mouthed back at a confused looking Nina as I yanked open the balcony door and slipped out into the cold. “Hello?” I said down the phone.

“Harry, mate, I know you’re on holiday with your family right now. And I hate doing this to you—

“—What’s happened?” I demanded quickly, bracing a hand again the frozen railing and trying not to think of the last time I got a call like this.

“We think it’s happened again, mate.”

#1dff #one direction #one direction fanfic #one direction fanfiction #one direction fan fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #harry styles #harry styles stories #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #hina #fic:twenty good reasons

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jlf23tumble · 4 years

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My 1D-related fic faves of 2019

I've read a TON of great fic this year in all kinds of fandoms, Jeeeeeeeeeesus, there are so many talented writers out there, but I won't list it all here (or even list everything I bookmarked this year). Instead, I'm gonna stick with 1D-related works released in 2019 that pulled me in hard and made me stare at the wall and/or read again and/or scream about with other people, and I'll try to do it in cutesie number order because WHY NOT make it that extra level of arbitrary, lmao. I love fanfic because no matter what fandom I'm dipping in, something new is gonna jump up and kill me (this year in particular, I've subscribed to a lot of "new to me" writers that I LOVE, and I hope you know who you are [do you know who you are, etc.]). Thank you for the free gifts, for your time, for your blood, sweat, and tears! I owe you hugs, coffee, and my undying love, gratitude, and support! I'll put my list under the cut to avoid some v. v. real screen scroll rage--happy new year, y'all!

2 lactation kink fics

(aka the Jaerie category, nobody else is out there writing this even as Harry's tits get bigger and milkier and why am I the only one fully appreciating all of it?????)

I Think You're Already Home, by jaerie, Seeing Louis Tomlinson today, it would be hard to guess that he was ever once a member of the world's most famous boyband. These days he doesn't even the leave his own house. The truth is he can't leave his own house. (a December gift to remember for all of us! a/b/o dynamics, famous Louis, omega Harry--which is practically canon at this point--crippling agoraphobia, lactation-related sexiness, I would read at least ten (10) more chapters of this)

freaks from the internet, by jaerie. Harry sells his breast milk to freaks on the internet. Louis turns out to be one of those freaks. He also happens to be Harry's ex. (I legit can't believe this came out this year, I rec it all the time! it was anon for forever, and I was low-key obsessed because I just wanted mawrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr of it, and I got it, thank CHRIST)

3 fics for meeeeeeee

(These works were gifts to me, and I am so truly hashtag blessed to receive!!!)

I Just Wanna Taste It, by @homosociallyyours. In his mind it's watermelon and sticky strawberry sweet, and he craves the feeling of his own round, firm belly warm under his hands on a summer evening. (Megan loves to kill me with Harry mpreg imaginings, and this one feels like canon to me!)

Powerless (and I Don't Care It's Obvious), by objectlesson/ @alienfuckeronmain. He should not be getting turned on by Harry’s full-bladder discomfort, his little twitches, his hips-stuttering. And yet. (AND YET!!! I don't even know where to start with how much I love Phoenix, what a treasure her work is in ANY fandom, how shitty this particular fandom has been to her, how much I'm gonna miss harry/louis fic gifts from her in the future, how HOT this pee kink fic is in general, dot dot dot)

Tuxedo Classic Dance Party, by Blake/ @newleafover. Instead of flying out to meet his touring boyfriend in Madrid, Louis sticks around to be responsible and do things like dance at Lady Gaga night at the gay cowboy club in West Hollywood. (Blake has written at least five fics in various fandoms that I would say are my favorite fics of all time, but they really topped themselves with this one!)

4 fic series

(I feel like there are probably loads more that qualify, but these ones grabbed me in their own particular way)

Not That Gone, by abrighteryellow/ @a-brighter-yellow. Louis’s 20-year high school reunion takes a turn when a celebrity classmate – who also happens to be Louis’s long unrequited crush – unexpectedly shows up. (this was inspired by Chris Evans, and both parts stand on their own, tbh)

Maybe I Miss You, by 13ways. Louis is on his way back to London after the Hits Live Birmingham concert. Harry is flying to New York for the Met Gala. They connect. (from the very first story in this series, I was HOOKED, canon angst that builds up to something truly wonderful)

There's something I want to try..., by TheMagicWord. Harry wants to try something. Louis's not convinced. Until he is. (the installments are super short, super hot)

One More Time Again, by orphan_account. On the morning of his second sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden, Harry wakes up to find that he's sixteen years old, on The X Factor, and that he has a chance to make things right. (I'm sad that this author orphaned, but I seem to recall her getting a TON of shit, which is unfortunate because this is a great read, and part two is an imagining where Louis goes back instead)

5 fics featuring holidays

(These ones are basically from Christmas and Halloween of this year, so quite recent!!)

once bitten and twice shy, by @pinkcords. In a rush of bravery only senior year can bring, Harry confesses his feelings in a letter to his neighbor and best friend, Louis, only for the entire school to hear it and laugh him out of their small town in Wisconsin. (the notes on this one blew me away: first-time author, pinch-hitting for a fest, and damn, a knock out)

you've set my soul to dreaming, by we_are_the_same. Thirty-year-old Harry Styles goes to bed single on Christmas Eve, only to wake up on Christmas morning with a husband in his bed and a son down the hall. (I'm not always into this trope, but when it's done well? NICE, and this one did it well)

when half spent was the night, by @juliusschmidt. I’ve skimmed your website and am interested in hiring you to be my doula. I’m 7 ½ months pregnant and not keen to do this whole labor and birth thing alone. After looking around, I thought you might be a good fit. (girl direction advent fic with pregnant Louis that’s incredibly well done, especially given how short it is, I was so sad to see it end, but the author says something about act II coming??? YES!!!)

Fictober 2019 Collection, by flowercrownfemme/ @lesbianiconharrystyles. Features lots of monsters and creatures and Harry Styles being a general nightmare as well as a few Girl Direction drabbles and a timestamp for Fool For You and one for Treat Mothman With Kindness. (Chloe's Halloween drabbles, each of which could outrival other stories 4x the length...she's a GIFT)

Cat & Mouse, by jaerie. It's the one day out of the year that Harry doesn't have to hide and can be himself — at least he thought so. Louis is just a little more observant than he anticipated. (I'm not a big hybrid fic fan, BUT GOD THIS STORY IS SO GOOD, it's so short I wanna cry, but so good!!!)

6 a/b/o fics

(I can handle "traditional" a/b/o if it gives me my dose of omega Harry, but I absolutely adore "untraditional" a/b/o, you know, where it actually is NOT about straight dynamics being put on a m/m or f/f couple (excuse me, a/a or o/o)...these ones NAIL IT, as did the entire gaybo ficfest)

violence of my own touch, by 14hrflight/ @silverfoxlouis. Louis hasn’t said anything, but Harry knows something is wrong. Harry’s rut had ended a few days ago, and Louis had kept him under as best as he could. (whenever I read Chi's alpha/alpha fics, I find myself internally screaming "CHI!!!" god, do they Get It, and I really hope they continue this one!)

Amor Victorious, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals. Louis finds himself following Harry on a journey through Italy, complete with long train rides, greasy food, naked Christs, and too many lingering touches. They're definitely not like other tourists and he definitely doesn't have a crush on his best friend who happens to be an alpha, too. (this one came out during Thanksgiving week, so I held it to savor, and BOY, DID I SAVOR, it's so incredible, the gorgeous writing, the visceral, indescribable feeling of reading it, sighhhhhhh)

do you know me by heart, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals. Harry comes back wearing alphas' scents, a pleased smile and a lace dress. Somehow, Louis still ends up making him come until he cries. (for me personally, 2019 was the year of Nina: getting to know them, catching up on all their writing, falling in love with the way they can kill us all with beautiful angst and the hint and hope of redemption...here's a tissue, you'll need it!!)

the way that you're thrilling me, by @hereforlou. Alphas were smelly and cocky and mostly arseholes, in Harry’s experience. Or at least they were at school. He didn’t understand how his friends—lovely, soft-skinned, sweet-smelling omegas—could actually want to touch them, or be touched by them. (this is just one of the many, MANY faves I had from the gaybo ficfest, A+ all around)

Constant Debauchery, by Blake/ @newleafover. Harry is an alpha who loves getting his mouth knotted by other alphas. Louis is happy to serve. Fun smut! But also angst and sexual awakenings. (Blake knows how to sum up their writing, lol, but YEAH, me as at least one of the comments both public and private saying they'd want to read 100k more of this)

how many nights did I crash against the waves, by Blake/ @newleafover Louis is going into heat and Harry thinks it's hot. (the SKILL of writing something that's 1.7k, yet builds a complete--and v. v. hot--world)

7 fics with Harry and someone else

(I still have a few I need to read in this category--I'm getting there! But these are some from my fave authors that really had me pondering some walls [heh])

I Want Your Belly, by @glasscushion. Harry wants Adam to knock him up. Inspired by on-stage thirst, the Instagram Stories Shirt, Watermelon Sugar, and Harry’s persistent baby fever. (Adam/Harry, mpreg kink of the finest order!!)

Rachel, Nevada, by @vondrostes. Harry has a close sexual encounter of the fourth kind. (Jeff/Harry, Rachel/Harry, and I honestly can't even BEGIN to describe this, holy WOW)

Sea Salt, by @glasscushion. Nick's drunk, and he can't avoid his feelings forever. Set in 2013 and 2019. (Nick/Harry, rip gryles...the grylers I know had an absolute field day in terms of angst, damn!)

all my lies are safe beside you now, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals. They both know what it was like to love Louis Tomlinson fiercely, irrevocably, ghosts of it on their skin, even if the traces were etched in vastly different ways. (Zayn/Harry, and FOR REAL, this is a huge ouch)

call me anything you like, but my name is, by @wishforwishes. Some conversations are better left forgotten, some conversations are worth remembering, and some conversations you never get the chance to have. Featuring three mentors, two tea parties, one and a half recording studios, and a reference to Archie comics. (Harry/CHASM, essentially; LISTEN, I am obsessed with this fic, you don't need to read part one to really Get It, but the bits with Zayn, and James/Ben, and all the parts with Harry working through gender? SO GODDAMNED REAL)

Come Out and Play, by @dinosaursmate. Harry and Louis discover a new kink in their relationship, and it brings all the boys closer than they could have ever imagined. (ot5 orgy, so not really Harry with anyone so much as everyone with everyone, and let's call this one canon)

Like a Rolling Stone, by @vondrostes. By the end of it, Nick realised his tea had gone cold in his hand. He’d barely taken a single sip in the hour-plus he’d been sat there, unmoving, transfixed by Harry’s songs—haunted by the knowledge of what had inspired them. (Nick/Harry, rip gryles)

8 canon fics

(This was a VERY hard category to narrow down, but yeah, a big push this year from "newer" writers = lots of nuanced fic)

Per Aspera, by @sedfierisentio. Louis’s throat feels tight, his heart like a hammer in his chest. You know my rot, he thinks, and I know yours. I love you still. (these achingly beautiful time stamps are centered around taste, and if this fic has taught me anything, it's that buying an author a coffee has a ripple effect)

A Nullo Amato, by @sedfierisentio. Inspired by Harry carrying books around outside LAX, a canon-compliant, Canon AU fic set between 2014 and 2015; mostly, timestamps roped together by a common theme—literature. (this was removed four years ago and reposted, so maybe it's a cheat??? i don't care, it was brand-new to me and a lot of other people, I'm so glad the author shared it again!)

no love like your love, by @dykes4louis. A collection of tumblr drabbles. (Hima is REALLY burying the lede on this one because each of these is short and SCORCHING, her skill, check out her other works, too!)

Dancing in My Dreams, by @kingsofeverything. Louis doesn't mean to imply that Harry's too old to dance for him, but Harry takes it that way, and sets out to prove him wrong. (this is one that *could* go in the series pile, but I love it as a standalone...feels like canon to me, regardless!)

Sonic Sounds, by @glasscushion. "Harry takes a deep breath, suitably embarrassed, “I’m just really...” and he can’t say the obvious. He can’t just say "really wet." Or Harry loves feeling embarrassed. Louis is happy to help. (I'll never look at those One Direction electric toothbrushes quite the same way again)

Bruised Fruit, by @glasscushion. Louis is obsessed with the way Harry smells in the heat of LA. (hey, you know what, me, too, bitch, you ain't special...the way this fic SMELLS, my god, I"m obsessed)

be my once in a lifetime, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals. Just like there are only four other people who will ever understand what it’s like growing up in One Direction, there’s only one other person who knows what it’s like to find your soulmate just before you’re thrown into the spotlight and forced to acknowledge that the both of you have too many flaws and vices to make it through fame together. Or: It's all about having sex and being sad. And drunk. (can u believe Nina wrote this before Fine Line???)

in this dress, by cabinbythesea. Louis is so lost in his eyes and his words he feels if a step above heaven exists, it has to be Harry. Loosely inspired by Harry’s dress from the director’s cut of Lights Up. (I sure hope we see even more fic inspired by every bit of this album/every video it produces)

9 fics by Phoenix/ @alienfuckeronmain

(This fandom doesn't deserve her, and I hope everyone's reading her other works because they're all so amazing, she's such an incredibly gifted writer, my fave of faves, my life is so much brighter with her in it...I could rec her all goddamned day, and I do slash will!!! Here are nine she cranked out this year, each one a gem in its own way)

Silver White Winters. In which Louis catches a cloud and pins it down, aka, a Sound of Music AU (the shittiness in the comments underlines why we can't have nice things, but jesus CHRIST, this is so pure and good, and she cranked it out in, like, two hours)

I don't do that dance. Harry is easily the worst ballet dancer in her whole Intro to Ballet class. Except maybe Taylor Swift. (I adore how Phoenix writes girl Harry, but the way she writes Taylor? Unparalleled...nails her perfectly!)

magic, madness, heaven, sin, by @kerasines. It’s the flashing lights painting colors on her eyelids, it’s the drumming bass competing with her heartbeat. It’s the manic energy rippling through the crowd in waves, the deafening, frenzied passion filling the stadium that remind Eleanor that she actually used to like going to concerts. (technically, this one is FOR Phoenix, from Kim, but it takes a pairing that Phoenix is making her very own, so I'm counting it, lol)

Snakes and Stones. If you call a girl a snake enough, sometimes she becomes one. Her legs lengthen and fuse, her pupils shrink to slits. She gets colder and colder, until she has to spread herself on the warm cement beside the pool, soaking in heat, sipping gin and tonics to warm her blood so she does not turn to ice and shatter to bits. (god, I'm blanking on this ship name, but El/Taylor is such an inspired pairing, and I hope that P's drabbles make it over to ao3 in full)

Something good (will come from here). Taylor does not answer, because she is too busy licking her lips and pitching forward, as if Eleanor is the sky, or the sea. (you can practically SMELL this fic, El/Taylor drabble)

I Must Confess (I Still Believe). Harry is the new girl at an all girl Catholic Girl's School, and Louis is the unattainable, dashing senior who changes her forever. (this fic breaks my heart, the entire experience of its production and aftermath will forever be bittersweet, a gorgeous swansong)

Only One at the Finish Line. “I want to be another alpha’s omega,” is what he says, and it comes out like something reckless, something wild. Like he doesn't care anymore if Louis hates him or not, if Louis understands, he just needs to speak his truth aloud to darkness, to the slender pines that surround them like a jury panel. (Phoenix was the gaybo mod, and this was her contribution, and it is PERFECTION PERSONIFIED, fest goals)

The Pink Ghost of Princess Park. The thought of the vibrator does not go away. It’s sitting there collecting dust all through January, and every time Harry and Louis have to leave town for a press event or a show or to record or what have you, they come back home, and it’s still there, the Pink Ghost of Princess Park, the fucking glittery haunting that Harry cannot stop thinking of Louis stuffing up his arse. (a very good year in general for Princess Park clapbacks)

Life Saver. Louis is a sweetheart punk with a theater background and a heart of gold, Harry is an inexperienced nerd who plays by the rules. Classmates, lab partners, and eventually friends, what happens when Louis knows he’s in love, but doesn’t know how tell Harry? (this one came out a year ago tomorrow, and it had a tough birthing process, but it's so good, so hot, my love for virgin Harry gettin’ it on knows no bounds)

10 AU fics

(yes, yes, this could be LOADS longer, but I’m sticking to my theme!)

breathless for an eternity, by cabinbythesea. Harry conquers double duty on SNL and Louis wishes he was Nick Jonas. (dangggg, this came out too late for me to rec it along with my other snl-related fic, but it joins that lofty canon!)

Pretty Baby, by @littlelouishiccups. Louis helps Harry unwind after a busy week. (I was NOT expecting a new chapter in the iconic sugar baby Harry series, but HERE WE ARE)

into another (another) serotonin overflow, by @mercutionotromeo. Sweet first time sex wherein Harry's adorably awkward, Louis is achingly cool, and Harry rides Louis wearing his jersey. (this is one of my all-time fave fics, and I'm not sure what changed in it to get it reposted, but yeah, HERE FOR IT, THANK YOU!!!)

'Sup, by @mediawhorefics. All Louis wants is to finish the play he’s been commissioned to write, but one of the regulars at his local coffee shop keeps distracting him. ft. older larry, pushy gemma, harry being a disaster gay and silver fox louis. (this is so short but so tantalizing, GOD, DO I WANT MORE OF THIS UNIVERSE)

Tan Lines and Some Memories, by twoshipstiedup. Harry Styles is the indie movie darling he’d been avoiding ever since Louis saw his movie at Cannes and harbored an unreasonable grudge against him. A unicorn t-shirt finally brings them together in person. (I honestly thought we'd get more unicorn shirt fic, but this is a wonderful standard-bearer, banter city)

Bitter Tangerine, by purpledaisy/ @daisyharry. Nine months after they break up, a twist of fate brings Harry and Louis back together at Christmas. (so much ouch in this, but wow, do you feel like you're reading fully realized, realistic, growing characters)

We're Driving in Your Fast Car, by @sadaveniren. Harry felt himself light up - both with excitement and the thrill of getting what he wanted. “Really?” “Of course, anything for you." aka Louis and Harry are car thieves about to pull off a million dollar job. (another one I'd love to read more of...how did they get here, where are they going, etc.)

remember you well, by @fondleeds. Harry’s a criminal, Louis’ a cop, and they’re stranded overnight at the Motel 6. (what's with me and my love of heist/caper fics this year?)

Tied Down, by HamPalpert/ @ham-palpert. The most interesting case in Liam and Niall's careers falls directly into their laps, courtesy of an epic fuck-up of one Harry Styles, partner to the almost-infamous drug dealer Louis Tomlinson. The investigation yields an unexpected yet satisfactory outcome for Liam and Niall. For Harry and Louis, however, things are far more complicated. (SEE ABOVE, JESUS, I THINK ABOUT THIS FIC...ALL...THE.......TIME)

Harry Styles Cooks..., by sunsetmog. Louis owns all of Harry Styles’ cookbooks, and he never intends to cook a single thing out of any of them. (yeah, it's a wip, yeah, I flatline every time it updates, what of it, I'm living my best life vicariously through it!!)

#fic rec #faves of 2019 #i have so many more i love that i read #but this is a theme lmaooooo #hope that one anon loves it!

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artificialqueens · 5 years

Text

Cruising for a bruising, Part 5 (Branjie) - Q-Tip & TheDane

Authors note: Thank you everyone for your patience, and for keeping up with this crazy story that Q-tip and I are having so much fun writing!

“We co-dependent, a restricted area, an invitation only kinda party and my dick is first, last and fucking second on that guest list”

Brooke was a master at damage control, and Vanjie thanked the gods for it. It had saved their asses countless times, mostly because both of them had a problem keeping their hands to themselves in public places.

Vanjie had barely even recovered from her orgasm, still clinging to her boyfriend, before Brooke had pulled up her sweats and detangled them. She calmed Detox down, the other queen relaxing the moment Brooke had explained that they hadn’t touched anyone’s stuff, Brooke effortlessly standing like a shield between Vanjie and everyone else, the tension in the room officially lifting when Silky made a joke about how someone’s stuff had been touched, everyone erupting into laughter.

Vanjie managed to escape somewhat unnoticed, throwing on her caftans and getting back to her makeup table, everyone else still chatting with Brooke on the other end of the room. Everyone except A’keria who was watching her with a smirk, Vanjie seeing the reason the moment she spotted herself in the mirror. Her mouth was a war zone of red and purple, Brooke really going in on the kiss without a care in the world, but most of it was salvageable, her eyes and brows still in place, though her contour had been halfway destroyed by Brooke’s hands on her face.

“Hey.”

Vanjie was blending her foundation as she peeked over her shoulder, spotting Brooke who was standing with a sheepish grin on her face, a disaster of lipstick matching her own, Brooke’s cheeks still dusted with pink. She had changed too, the lilac color of her caftan just as gorgeous as the first time Vanjie had seen it.

“Do you have room for one more?”

Everyone else was hustling out the doors, all ready and finished. Brooke held up her makeup bag and her mirror, and Vanjie realised that Brooke was asking if they could redo their faces together.

“You sure you’re gonna keep your mess to yourself miss thing?” Vanjie smiled.

“I’ll do my best?”

Vanjie pretended to consider it, gently tapping her brush against her chin. It was a true rarity that she had the upper hand in moments like this. Usually the roles were reversed, Vanjie running around like the confused but enthusiastic puppy needing Brooke’s attention more than she needed air, but if there was one person she could never say no to, it was Brooke.

“Good, cause I don’t want you messing up my shit.”

Brooke laughed, and Vanjie moved aside, Brooke sitting down next to her, instantly moving right up against her, their thighs touching. Brooke caught Vanjie’s foot under the table, hooking their feet together, her hand resting on Vanjie’s hip. They never got ready together, their original unspoken pact of keeping a professional distance in the werk room carrying into their lives off the show so naturally they had never discussed it. In their L.A apartment they each had a drag room, the fact that they needed that space as high on their list as room for Brooke’s cats. Vanjie hoped they could possible get a dog too, though they hadn’t found the perfect one just yet, both of them still traveling so much Brooke was sometimes scared Henry and Apollo would forget who she was all together.

Vanjie drew an invisible line down the center of their table, Brooke’s eyes following her finger.

“That’s your side Mami.”

Brooke snorted. “Sure.”

“Here.” Vanjie handed Brooke a makeup wipe, her boyfriend taking it and wiping her chin, Brooke’s palm covered in red from holding her face in place, Vanjie’s cock twitching.

She talked about it loud and proud, Vanjie happily proclaiming to the world how strong Brooke was, sometimes even semi stalking Brooke at the gym to take video of her to brag online, but few knew how fucking hot she found it that Brooke was stronger than her. Vanjie almost lost her breath sometimes at how easily Brooke could pick her up and throw her around, hold her above her head or press her against a wall.

Vanjie grabbed an extra wipe, taking Brooke’s hand and rubbing the lipstick off. She rarely got to be so close at this stage in the process, Brooke peeking into Vanjie’s mirror to make sure the last of her ruined makeup was gone before she plugged her own in, the light turning on. Vanjie picked up her beautyblender, quickly going in with her heaviest duty dermablend, the high temperatures on the cruise making it even more of a struggle to make sure a mug stayed on. Brooke was painting too, her boyfriend touching up with Krylon instead.

“This is nice.”

“Real nice.”

Vanjie pushed one of Brooke’s lipsticks back, her things already migrating past the invisible line.

Brooke had been nominated as the messiest queen with a unanimous vote from the season 11 sisters, and Vanjie would have to agree, though Brooke would defend herself all the way to her grave. Brock was normally fine, her boyfriend never bringing enough stuff to truly get messy, but Brooke had a way of exploding everywhere.

They had brickered about what makeup belonged to who more times than Vanjie could count whenever they were forced to share space to get into drag. It was the reality of a drag queen’s life that you sometimes get ready in sketchy bathrooms or half broken toilets, which was also why they always tried to avoid working with each other on individual bookings. Vanjie more often than not feeling like she was playing some sick form of memory cards when she was once again sat with two almost identical bottles of pros-aide, trying to decipher from the washed out labels if it belonged to Brooke or to her.

“Just don’t make a habit of coming here.” Vanjie looked at Brooke, a smile playing on her face as she pushed Brooke’s makeup with her hand, Brooke’s stuff already inching her side of the table. “I ain’t got time for your messy ass on the regular.”

Brooke laughed, pressing a quick kiss against Vanjie’s temple. “I love you too.”

Detox was sure she was going to crack a rib, everyone singing along to “Drag is magic”, Nina somehow managing to make a show with kids music not only entertaining but straight up hilarious as she pranced around on the stage, wearing a giant dinosaur costume and shaking her tail to the chorus.

Brooke was dancing too, her movements most of all looking like a noodle that was waved around in the air. Detox hadn’t expected to have anywhere near this much fun on the cruise, yesterday’s water fight and today’s wardrobe spectacle something she had tucked away in the most secret parts of her heart for a rainy day and when drag wasn’t fun at all.

Detox had known Brooke for years, and considered her a friend, a fierce and formidable but also incredibly uptight friend. Detox used to see it as her duty to loosen Brooke up, to introduce her to the fun sides of life, to make sure Brooke also remembered that life was more than competitions and being the best.

Normally Detox would be doing her all to get Brooke drunk and find her some trade, to make sure she was having fun, but as she watched Brooke hoist Vanjie up, settling the smaller queen on her shoulders so Vanjie could see everything, Detox realised Brooke didn’t need her for that anymore. She had Vanjie now, and probably a dinosaur costume in her near future, if the screams of delight coming from Vanjie were anything to believe.

“You ready for the stage?”

Brooke looked at Vanjie one last time, his boyfriend a vision in gold. They were sitting backstage, Vanjie going over her cue cards one last time. They had eaten a late lunch, Brooke hitting the gym with Kameron while Vanjie had just taken a short nap in full face. Brooke coming back to their room, gently waking Vanjie with a can of red bull, his boyfriend already bouncing off the walls once again.

“I was born ready.”

Brooke had to agree. He had never met anyone so effortlessly fun, and though Brooke would rather dance an entire performance en pointe without toe nails, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Vanjie would kill the afternoons entertainment. There were only minutes until the clock struck 10, and one of the most anticipated events of the cruise was about to take off. The Vanessa Vanjie Mateo quiz sold out in minutes the moment the tickets went online. Originally, Brooke had not believed his ears when Vanjie had pitched him the idea, her Silky and A’keria jotting down the outline of it in a single afternoon filled with wine and Chinese food while Brooke had been in Toronto.

“You look it.” Brooke smirked, grabbing Vanjie’s hips and pulling her in. “You always look like perfection.”

“Awh.” Vanjie smiled, running her cards down Brooke’s face. “I think you’re full of it Mama.”

“But is it working?”

“A little too well bitch.” Vanjie leaned down, kissing Brooke, her hand twisted into Brooke’s leather jacket. “You better be keeping those ears open cause I expect you to be the winner of tonight, you hear?”

“We’ll see.”

“Vanjie!” They both looked up, Brooke blushing as one of the stage techs showed their face. There had to be something in the water, or maybe it was just the climate, but Brooke felt unable to keep his hands to himself. “You’re needed!”

“Yes ma’am!” Vanjie threw a thumbs up in the direction of the sound guy, a last smile playing on her lips as she looked at Brooke.

“Gimme kiss?”

Brooke tugged on the gold tassels of Vanjie’s dress, the two of them kissing one last time. “Can’t wait to watch you.”

“You better.” Vanjie laughed, and Brooke released her, the crowds cheer filling his ears before he even truly realised that she was gone.

“Holla’ in the house!” Vanjie slapped her microphone, laughing loudly when the audience jumped. “It’s Miss Vanjie Vanjie Vanjie bitch and tonight, TONIGHT, we’re playing a little game. Y’all always creeping and peeping up in my DM’s and my Twitter, but not today Mary, oh no today I!-” Vanjie pointed at herself. “Vanessa Vanjie Mateo gets something!” Vanjie smiled brightly. “In my hand I have a stack of super secret crazy kooky ninja level questions about me and Brooke Lynn’s personal business.”

The crowd cheered, and Vanjie would have stopped, but she was already on a role.

“The rules are real fucking simple. You guys get it right, I take a shot! B-U-T, if you hos get it wrong, y’all have to drink and pay me a dollar. Why you ask? Cause it takes a lot of money to look this expensive, and I wanna take my boo on a proper resort vacation experience, okay? We talking little umbrellas in the drinks and a private beach so I can oogle his junk like I damn well please. We all comprende?! Good! Cause here comes the first question!”

Watching Vanjie on stage was an experience like no other, and Brooke always enjoyed it more than he could put into words. He had tried to explain to once, to explain how brilliant Vanjie was, but even then it had come off jumbled and crooked, not at all justifying the intense pride, warmth and love Brooke felt in his chest whenever he saw Vanjie in her element.

Tonight however, he saw a Vanjie who was rapidly getting more and more drunk as she tossed back shot after shot, her estimation of the stalking capacities of the gays aboard the ship clearly not calculated correctly. Brooke had originally sat on the edge of the front row, laughing along and waving when it was required, making sure that Vanjie could easily spot him if needed, but right now it seemed like Vanjie needed a water, more than she needed anything else.

The crowd laughed, Vanjie taking another shot and Brooke stood up, making a quick line for the bar, brushing past Nina, Raja and Cracker who had all volunteered to distribute shots to the guests.

“Can I have a water?” Brooke grabbed his phone, quickly filming Vanjie who was loudly quizzing a fan on the lyrics to her track “I’m Vanjie.”

“Sure thing stranger.“ Brooke looked up, the voice weirdly familiar, and that’s when he realised that he knew the bartender, the blonde hair and striped t-shirt giving it away at once.

“Justin? Hi!”

“Woop!” Vanjie drank her shot. “I didn’t expect y’all hos to be so goddamned clever. This whole thing is blowing up in my face in record speed!” Vanjie laughed.

Vanjie had no idea why she had never done this before, the firing back and forth with the audience making her feel like a regular Alex fucking Trebek. She was losing miserably, but this was still easily the most fun she had had at a gig in a long time when she wasn’t dancing.

Vanjie switched to her next card, a giant smile breaking out on her face. “Alright homos, here comes a hard one.” The room spinning slightly but this was one of her favorite questions of the night, a bonus round she had spent extra time on to make sure she would earn at least a few coins. “What’s the original name, and yes you heard me correctly, of the ballet where my boo thang himself, Brooke Lynn Hytes, was cast as the part of death at the Cape Town City Ballet?”

Vanjie’s eyes swept the room. She couldn’t see Brooke, but she knew she had to be out there somewhere.

“I’m real proud cause I went to the trouble of googling this shit myself. Full Nancy Drew mama, I even got myself a reddit profile and shit so y’all can hit me up on there too, and I did it all on pacific ocean wifi, so you KNOW it’s true love.”

There wasn’t not exactly silence at the question, but there certainly wasn’t any correct answers either. Vanjie heard Coppélia and even Dance Macabre, that fairly enough did show up if you googled ballets with death.

“Still no correct guesses?” Vanjie smiled. “I thought you freaks were all up in his life story, creeping and shit.”

“Is it La Bayadére?”

“Wrong! Also that ain’t dutch my dude, that’s a french name if I ever heard one, but dotcha’ all worry, I’mma be a good judy and let you name the english version!”

Someone shouted Swan Lake from the bar and Vanjie was getting ready to enjoy her victory rain of dollars, when she noticed who else was sitting at the bar, Brooke not even looking at her, his back turned to the stage as he talked to the bartender. The same bartender that he spoke to the day before, fucking Justin smiling at Brooke like he was the most amazing thing that had ever ordered a drink.

“Anyone here knows the english version?!” Vanjie yelled, raising her voice but Brooke didn’t even flinch, didn’t even move . He just stood there, the back of his head looking like he was having the time of his life.

“It’s fucking Vier Litl…” Vanjie looked at her card. “Vier Letzte Lieder! Everybody! Fill your glass and take a shot.

Everyone was raising their glasses, but all Vanjie could see was Brooke not paying attention to her.

“Yo! Brooke Lynn Hytes!” Vanjie was nearly screaming, but Brooke finally finally turned around, his eyes wide, her microphone nearly redundant at this point. “You know I’m the greatest good you ever gonna get, so you best pay attention boy!”

Brooke lifted his beer, a smile on his face like Vanjie wasn’t funny, like it was all a joke, and Vanjie was burning, anger swirling with the tequila in her stomach. Brooke’s face was not at all like she had imagined when she had written the question, the affection and admiration she had so hoped for now amusement like she was some animal in the zoo Brooke found fun to have around.

Usually when Brooke attended her shows, he was all but rolling on the floor in genuine laughter, and here he was, smiling like she was merely amusing. Despite the churning in her gut and her fingers tightening around the poor, abused microphone, Vanjie kept a brave face on, quickly moving along because if there was one thing she was, it was professional above all else.

“Alright bitch, I’m ready to leave!” Getting off stage was always the greatest relief, the last of the guests herded out the door by the staff that was now walking around, mopping up the floor and putting chairs back in place. Vanjie had taken a lot longer to get off stage than she normally would, her world spinning, taking her lashes off taking three entire tries, and she had every intention of forcing Brooke to shower with her the moment they got back to their room, her chest already rumbling a little at the pure delight of the idea of Brooke soaping up her body and easing away the pains of corset and heels and way way too many shots.

“Brock! Where you at?” Vanjie stepped out of her shoes, picking them up and putting them in the gym bag she had stolen from Brooke earlier in the day.

“One second!” Vanjie looked for the voice, her stomach dropping completely when she realised Brooke was still sitting at the bar, her boyfriend’s jacket laid over a chair, the beer bottles multiplied from the day before. “I can’t find any paper.”

“Paper? Why the fuck you looking for paper?” Vanjie walked over, her feet hurting with each step she took.

“I just need a moment baby.”

“I have an idea.” Justin smiled, completely ignoring Vanjie as he wrapped his fingers around Brooke’s arm, quickly pushing Brooke’s jacket up, like it was something he was allowed to do, Justin putting the pen in his hand to Brooke’s skin and very clearly writing down a phone number. “There, now you can call me. I’d love to see-”

“Oh, FUCK, no!”

It all happened so fast. Vanjie grabbing Brooke’s half empty drink and throwing it in Justin’s face, the liquid splashing everywhere, some of it hitting Brooke as well.

“You think you can look at my man like that?! I’m not some dumb ass ho that can’t see shit!”

Vanjie voice was so loud Brooke swore the entire ship was looking at them, every staff member still presents stopping dead in their tracks.

“You wanna play games?!” Vanjie threw the glass down, the entire thing shattering against the bar top. “Well let’s fucking play!”

“What the-” Justin wiped his face, the man looking completely shocked, his shirt soaked.

Brooke had seen Vanjie fight before, his boyfriend a ball of emotions, a firecracker that was always ready to go off, but it had never exploded because of him before, and Brooke had a sinking feeling this was all somehow his fault.

“Oh bitch, don’t you try! You’ve been flirting since the moment you saw him! You think we some package deal where you can fuck one of us and we cool? Well guess again! We’re exclusive, bitch! We co-dependent, a restricted area, an invitation only kinda party and my dick is first, last and fucking second on that guest list cause guess what? I can go twice!”

“You’re insane.”

“I’m insane?!” Vanjie grabbed Brooke’s arm, throwing it down on the bar. “Then what the fuck is this?! A number? You don’t do shit like that to another man’s man!! And you!” Vanjie turned to Brooke. “I never should have trusted you.” Vanjie released Brooke, turning on her heels, rushing out of the room before Brooke even had the chance to collect his composure.

“Jose!” Brooke stood up, ready to run after Vanjie. “I- oh fuck!”

Justin looked down, a thick piece of glass peeking out the top of Brooke’s palm, from where he had planted it flat on the counter.

“Shit!” Brooke grabbed his hand, blood already pouring everywhere.

#rpdr fanfiction #branjie #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #angst #cruising for a bruising #q tip #thedane #tw blood #s11 #canon compliant

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shemakesmusic-uk · 5 years

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Getting to Know...

Rosa Bordallo.

Rosa Bordallo fka Manett is a singer-songwriter and musician based in Brooklyn. She is a CHamoru from the island of Guam in the Marianas, an archipelago in Micronesia. She came to New York at the age of 19. She was a member of the band cholo.

Last month Bordallo released Reef Walker, a deeply personal indie rock record with poignant lyrics that investigate identity, loss, belonging, society, historical trauma, and hope.

We had a chat with Rosa all about Reef Walker, her background and influences, creative process and more. Read the Q&A below.

Hi Rosa. Please tell us a bit about yourself. What led you to make music and who/what are your biggest influences?

"Hi! Thank you for this opportunity to share my work! I’m a singer/songwriter based in New York City. I am also a Pacific Islander, specifically an indigenous person from Guam who identifies as CHamoru. I was born and raised there, and I started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager. I came to NYC in the early 2000’s for film school, and I have been living and working here since then. The first year I was here, I joined a post-punk band called cholo that was formed by Felipe Flores. We played in small clubs and venues around town for almost ten years. We also released three full-length albums and one EP. Around 2010 I started making music by myself under the alias Manett, and I also released a few solo EPs under that alias.

"Making music was a natural progression for me since listening to music has always been an important coping mechanism. They say imitation is the best form of flattery, so I try to emulate my heroes and hopefully something new and interesting comes out of it. I’ve always been someone who needs to express myself, whether writing in a journal, writing poetry, doodling or dancing. I think making a record, as a creative endeavor, suits me in a lot of ways because I can draw on those other forms of expression. Also I get easily distracted and I’m not terribly disciplined so it’s nice to have a record - an artifact, a piece of evidence - to show that I didn’t just waste all my time surfing the internet!

"In terms of influence, there are too many to list, but I draw a lot from rock & roll and all its derivatives and revivals particularly psych rock, garage, punk, post-punk, new wave, and grunge. I’ve always been drawn to women with loud guitars and loud personalities -- PJ Harvey, Björk / The Sugarcubes, Dog Faced Hermans, Bikini Kill, Slant 6, Cyndi Lauper, The Breeders, Babes in Toyland. I love unapologetically weird women like Lene Lovich, Lydia Lunch, Nina Hagen, and Siouxsie Sioux. I can go on! Other major influences from my youth are the Pixies, David Bowie, Nirvana, and the Velvet Underground. I think what they all have in common is an irreverence, a willingness to break norms and do something unconventional while keeping a certain integrity. None of them were trying terribly hard to be different - they were just drawing inspiration from their personal frustration and observations of the world and creating something special from that.

You recently released your album Reef Walker. What is the record about, what does it mean to you and what do you hope listeners will take away from it?

"Reef Walker is my first full-length album as a solo artist. I picked that title because I see myself as being able to navigate a gulf that is psychological, cultural, and emotional in nature. As an indigenous person who has lived the first half of my life in my native community and in a remote part of the world, and then spent the second half in this metropolis on the other side of the world, I grapple with the guilt that my loyalties are divided and that I am not spending enough time with my family and native community. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be who I am today if I didn’t leave my place of origin and to live in this new and wildly different place. I think there are many people past and present who have my experience of alienation but it’s not represented in our culture - or if it is, it’s an inadequate representation. I often think about the Japanese castaway Otokichi, later known as John Mathew Ottoson, as well as the Inuk man Minik Wallace, when I need to remind myself why I’m doing what I’m doing.

"I also like the imagery that is evoked from that title. I spent a lot of time at the beach and on my dad’s boat as a kid. It’s actually treacherous to walk along the reef during low tide, because the high tide can come in unexpectedly and drown you, or a rip current can pull you out to sea. It’s also not good to touch or step on coral. Not only is it a living organism that should be protected, but some coral can sting you. But snorkeling and swimming along the reef is a transcendent experience. My ancestors were expert fishermen and seafarers. The album title is as much an homage to them and to all the CHamoru people and other Pacific Islanders who have ties to Oceania.

"All I ask of anyone who hears my album is to have an open mind. I think one reason music is powerful and interesting is because it can be appreciated across cultural divides. I try not to concern myself with how my music is received. I just try to make music that I personally enjoy so if someone else enjoys it, it’s a nice surprise. As for your readers, if you anything about my story sparks your curiosity, I would ask you to explore the histories of indigenous people because much of it has been suppressed and erased.

"There is much needed attention being given to climate change but we should remember that indigenous communities have always been putting their bodies on the line to protect the land, water, and other natural resources. In my own homeland of the Marianas, the U.S. military is about to expand their presence to build two live-fire training ranges that would drastically impact our main aquifer and our wildlife as well as desecrate important ancestral lands. In North America, there’s the oil and gas cartel, and there’s the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis (aka MMIW) which disproportionately affects trans and queer native folx. In South America, the Amazon is being burned down to benefit illegal loggers and farmers. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but if you consider yourself a moral person, it’s your responsibility to educate yourself about these things. If you’re in North America, there’s a great online resource (native-land.ca) where you can learn about the tribes and nations that first settled the land where you currently live. The International Indigenous Youth Council (indigenousyouth.org) is another good online resource because it shares news from indigenous communities around the world."

What was your favourite part recording Reef Walker?

"It was really fun to record in three different spaces that were also living spaces. We started tracking in Duane Lauginiger’s old basement studio, which was right below his garden apartment in Brooklyn. He called that place Time Castle, hence the name of the cassette label that released the album. Then we went to a private house in Piermont, NY, for the second tracking session. And then finally did a day and night of recording in a converted church in Craryville, NY. Each space had its own quirks and novelties but Duane (the producer-engineer) was really nimble about setting up and adapting. I really like working in a place full of paintings and objets d’art and tchotchkes as opposed to a sterile recording studio that looks more like the set of a bad sci-fi movie."

Please talk us through your songwriting/creative process.

"I have a full-time day job so I just try to make regular time for myself to clear my head, and any ideas I get, I will record it on my phone or my computer. Then I spend a lot of time listening and thinking about these initial ideas. I try to give them enough space to breathe and present themselves to me. I don’t like to exhaust myself working on song ideas that are not particularly compelling to me. If I like hearing it over and over in my head, then chances are it will be interesting enough to sustain my attention long enough to develop it into a complete song and recording.

"I almost always come up with the music first before I think of any lyrics. Sometimes I will have an idea for a melody and lyric together, but I don’t get too attached to the first lyrics I come up with. I also take random notes all the time, about anything and everything, so sometimes I have a poem or a musing that I’ve written down which will get repurposed for song lyrics.

"It’s useful for me to have a theme or concept in mind, something that will spark my curiosity and help me be emotionally invested. With Reef Walker I initially had Woman in Suitcase as the working title. That was the force that brought it into being. I meditated on that a lot while writing the songs. I currently have a working title for my second album, so I’ve been meditating on that. I also did this for my first EP, The Sea Urchin, which was my first stab at making songs that were very personal, as opposed to hiding behind a group project which I did with cholo, my previous band. The sea urchin was a powerful image for me at that time, because I felt very vulnerable putting myself out there. Imagining a shy sea creature with crazy-looking spikes, just chilling in the water and paying attention to its surroundings - that kept me motivated to finish the recordings and put it out into the world.

"In general I just try to stay inspired and curious about things. The urge to create comes out of frustration but also out of appreciation for and communion with other people’s creations. And there are so many wonderful creations out there. I see this as a creative practice, rather than a creative process, because for me it’s more about being grounded and responsive to what’s put before me, rather than about checking off items on a to-do list or making sure that a particular set of actions is followed."

Finally, what are your plans for 2020?

"I plan on touring and writing my second album. Stay tuned!"

Reef Walker is out now.

#getting to know #rosa bordallo #reef walker

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messrprongs · 6 years

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Dr. Jones and the Witch (AU: Lily/James)

A/N: Based on an old prompt I saw that said something like: “Character A is too drunk to remember Character B’s name so they save them as ‘Ravish Me’ in their phone contacts.”

AO3 | FF.net

“It’s not like you slept together,” Marlene is saying decisively as though that is all there needs to be said to make her point. She stops, the curling iron currently tangled in her hair smoking ominously. “Did you?”

“No,” Lily replies at once, feeling her cheeks flush. She shifts on the bed where she sits, uneasy about her friends openly discussing her fling with a nameless stranger. “We definitely did not.”

Dorcas stops midway applying the shockingly red lipstick she chose out of Marlene's makeup kit. “Wait,” she chimes in, eyes meeting Lily's through the mirror. “I thought you said you couldn’t remember that night?”

“I don't,” she admits for what must be the hundredth time in those two weeks. “I just remember he was—”

“Insanely hot?” Marlene offers helpfully.

Lily doesn't even try to fight her on that because she is undeniably right. Her muddled memories of Fabian and Gideon’s party involve loud, blaring music, a non-ending supply of alcohol, and a pair of eyes that catalyzed a warmth in her stomach that had nothing to do with the drinks. She can at least remember that much about him.

“Please don't let me get that drunk tonight,” Lily begs.

Marlene raises her brows, non-committal. Before the blonde can tease her, however, Lily's phone buzzes on her lap. The eagerness with which she opens his message should be embarrassing but Lily finds she doesn't care much.

Unbearably handsome. You?, is his reply to her previous text asking him what he is going to be for Halloween.

She grins at her screen, belatedly trying to suppress it by biting her lower lip.

Don't know yet, she replies.

“Just sleep with him already,” Marlene comments casually, running her fingers through her long hair.

“She will,” Dorcas replies in a singsong voice before Lily can reply. “You don't save someone as ‘Shag Me’ in your contacts unless you fully plan on sleeping with them.”

Lily glares at the pair, trying her best to look dignified. The coy smile that overpowers her, however, ruins that attempt. “I was incoherently drunk when I saved his number,” she reasons. “And I didn't quite remember his name. I had to save his number some way I would remember.” Her companions laugh, showing no sympathy for Lily's drunk predicament. Lily wrinkles her nose at the contact name. “Probably should've chosen something less… crude. But I can't say I can rationalize my drunk thought process.” With a small shake of her head she adds, “Anyway, who says we're ever going to run into each other again?”

“You've got his number, don't you?” Marlene shoots back at once, inspecting her costume from various angles in the mirror. “He's been texting you for days now. I mean, the man is non-stop. Ask him out.”

The mere thought makes her stomach plunge.

“I don’t know,” she admits out loud.

She doesn't think she can bear his rejection if all she is to him is a drunk girl he met at a party whom he texts out of pure boredom. Lily doesn't even have the guts to ask for his name in fear it will somehow break the illusion of the person she has dreamed up.

At her hesitation, Dorcas gives her a knowing smile. “Frank and the Prewett twins are best mates,” she informs her. “Maybe Frank knows this mystery bloke too and he invited him to his party.”

Despite herself, this strikes up a small beam of hope in her, even if she has no idea how she will recognize him if she runs into him again.

This small bubble of hope, however, is short lived as nine o’clock finds all three in the middle of Frank Longbottom’s lavish townhouse. Lily had decided to scavenge her closet last minute for anything that could pass as a costume. In the end, she decided that a black lace boho dress she had purchased years ago along with an old costume hat Dorcas’s little sister let her borrow made her a witch. Marlene had condemned her costume choice as “basic” while Dorcas, quite enviously, reassured her that she “looks unfairly good in anything, really.”

By the leering looks she is getting from several of Frank's guests, Drocas’s assessment carries more truth. Or perhaps Marlene’s does too and the combination is what attracts the appraising looks from a group of frat boys in costumes that all somehow require them to be shirtless.

Lily is too distracted to contemplate it, her attention instead on her phone.

Nerves humming wildly, she sends him the text she had drafted ten minutes into the party, when she realized she would rather be anywhere else.

Do you want to meet somewhere for a drink?

She stores her phone away, suddenly afraid of the response. “I want to leave,” Lily all but shouts to Marlene over the thrumming music.

The blonde does not hear her. Her attention, instead, is on the door of the townhouse as a group of four boys make their grand entrance. The garishly handsome one with long hair dressed as a pirate cheers back, relishing in the attention their arrival causes. Somehow, he already holds a drink in his hand, despite only being at the party for ten seconds.

“Wow,” Marlene comments, raising her voice slightly over the sound of the music. “There is nothing sexier than an Indiana Jones costume.”

Lily follows her appreciative gaze to the grinning boy immediately behind Handsome Pirate. Her stomach clenches as she fully takes in the sight James Potter is in his rather flattering brown jacket and hat. He is considerably handsome on an average day, but the Dr. Jones costume is simply—

“Damn,” Marlene says, succinctly summarizing Lily’s thoughts.

Marlene is still admiring his appearance, but Lily is only half listening because, at that moment, James’s eyes find hers. He offers her a lopsided smile in greeting and she feels her face warm up as she smiles back.

“It’s like the perfect mix of ravishing college professor and tomb raiding archaeologist, isn’t it?”

Recovering, Lily laughs. “Don’t let Nina hear you say that.”

“She can be Indiana Jones anytime she likes,” Marlene responds defensively. Her attention is then diverted to a group arriving after Potter and his friends, her eyes fixing on a tall, dark-skinned girl with glossy black hair. “Never mind,” she says with a grin. “There is something sexier than Dr. Jones and that’s Nina in a Catwoman costume.”

And with that, she disappears from Lily’s side to join her girlfriend.

Not long after, her phone buzzes with his reply.

So you want to get me drunk to snog me again?

Lily frowns, unable to help the slightest stab of hurt that his answer to her invitation is not a resolute yes.

We didn't snog, she replies back, in spite of herself. Did we?

He is taking unusually long to reply, particularly when their conversation has taken its usual flirtatious turn. Lily inhales sharply, trying her best to keep it together when her whole body is nothing but a ball of nervous energy. She even considers leaving, as was her original plan ten minutes ago, before James arrived to cheers and applause.

The memory of James and that crooked smile he gave her has her scanning the crowd for him before she is fully aware of what she is doing. It only takes her seconds and she tells herself it’s because he’s so bloody tall and not because she had been acutely aware of his presence by the kitchen ever since he arrived.

As if on cue, his eyes meet hers and her pulse idiotically stutters. Determined to kill her, he winks at her before opening a beer bottle with his commendable bicep, a trick that is rightfully greeted with cheers and applause.

Nah, we didn’t, he replies minutes later. I’d remember that. He follows this by what has become his signature emoji of a winking face. He sends another message, But a bloke can dream.

She laughs quietly to herself, despite being too aware that he is still avoiding her invitation.

I’m in your dreams, then. You don't even remember what I look like, she texts back.

Again, it takes quite a while for him to reply. In the meantime, several blokes attempt to chat her up, many making feeble attempts at humor by making puns about her costume. Her laughter does not sound genuine even to her own ears, but it seems to appease them.

Right, well, I just remember you were quite pretty, his response reads.

She can feel the most idiotic grin break across her face.

Lily rereads the message repeatedly, each time feeling a thrill run through her.

As a reflex, she taps her boot impatiently against the floor, her body humming with restlessness and indecision. She could just leave Frank’s party and meet him anywhere he wanted. His last reply is enough to dispel all her fears about meeting him again, all of them appearing stupid in retrospect. All she really had to do was redirect their conversation back to meeting for drinks.

Want to meet somewhere? she asks again, not caring how desperate she seems.

Unable to stand the impatience coursing through her veins like adrenaline, she moves to find Marlene or Dorcas, already thinking of an excuse to give them. She only makes it a few steps, however, because in her haste, she crashes into someone quite abruptly. Almost immediately she feels a pair of strong hands steadying her by the waist.

“Sorry,” she says simultaneously with him.

When Lily looks up, she finds herself looking into the prettiest hazel eyes she has ever seen. And even though Lily sees him three times a week for their Arthurian Literature lecture, she is always struck by them. Senses finally catching up with her, she forces herself to release her iron grip on the material of his brown leather jacket. “Sorry,” she murmurs again, this time making a feeble attempt to smooth over the material, even if it didn’t need it.

That familiar crooked smile crosses his face.

“It was my fault,” James assures her. “I was too busy looking for something to eat.” He gestures at the table beside them laden with every hard liquor imaginable. “Looks like Longbottom expected everyone to get too drunk to care about food.”

“There’s a vegetable tray in the kitchen,” she suggests helpfully.

He grimaces as if she had just suggested he ate out of the toilet. “I’d rather starve.”

She laughs quite heartily at that, which elicits a wide grin from him.

“Nice costume,” he comments, though, unlike the many other party-goers, his eyes do not linger on her body. On the contrary, there is an amused glint in his eyes. “A witch is very fitting for you somehow.”

Lily rolls her eyes though she smiles, catching on to his usual teasing. They get along well enough, even if they only share one class together. She would even go as far as considering him a mate— a mate that spends eighty percent of the time engaged in a teasing banter with her and who often makes her stomach swoop with that slanted smirk of his.

“Because of how horrible I look at our morning lectures?” she quips. “Or because of my cackling at your awful jokes?”

He laughs. “I don’t begrudge you the cackling,” he says. “I’m hilarious.”

Lily shakes her head. “What is hilarious, Potter, is you owning a fedora.”

“I knew you were going to give me shit for that,” he laughs. “Despite how idiotic fedoras and the prats who wear them are, it looks good, no?”

He arranges his features in an exaggerated smoldering look, very fitting to his character. The effect on his already handsome appearance is almost unbearable to look at.

She is silent for too long because he drops the facade, eyebrows beginning to mount. Clearing her throat, she quickly replies, “In this context, it does.” She feels her cheeks flush. Hoping that if she keeps talking he will fail to notice, she adds, “Besides, punching Nazis more than compensates for Indy’s questionable headwear.”

“Ah, yes,” James agrees quite seriously. “A hatred for Nazis is what Dr. Jones and I share in common. Aside from rugged good looks and always getting the girl, of course.”

She laughs at that and he joins in her mirth with a grin of his own.

“Are you hungry?” he asks.

As if in response, her stomach grumbles, the sound lost to the noise of the party. “I'm starving,” she replies.

“I was thinking of stepping outside to the porch to order pizza if you want to join.”

She quirks an eyebrow at him.

Sensing her question before she voices it, he explains, “I’m not bringing my food into a room full of drunk uni students.”

“Fair enough,” she says with a laugh.

“Besides, I have to call from outside since my phone’s got no service in here.” He produces it out of his pocket as if to check for good merit. He reads something on the screen and frowns slightly. Quicker than anyone she's ever seen before, he types something into his phone, frown depending. “Nothing.”

He shows her his screen and she can see the signal alternating between one bar and none.

“You can use mine, if you want,” Lily offers, unlocking her screen and handing him the phone. “It's got full bars.”

He takes it gladly, offering her a salute and a smirk that makes her stomach flutter. On their way to the door, Lily catches Marlene's eye and mutely points to James along with a signal that she would be right back. The blonde gives her a congratulatory thumbs up from where she is dancing with Nina.

Lily makes a show to roll her eyes at her friend, which is what distracts her from the quick chain of events that happens next.

She hears the buzz of a phone, then James's voice say:

“You've got a text from—”

All this is followed by a dull pain on her nose and forehead as Lily's face smacks into James's strong back. He had stopped abruptly and Lily, unaware, had walked right into him as she turned to face forward. The brim of her witch's hat hits his stiff back and flies back off her head.

“What?” she asks rubbing her nose. “What's happened? Don't tell me they're closed.”

James, however, remains quite still, saying nothing for a long time. Lily can practically feel the tension in his muscles and she becomes increasingly concerned.

Then—

“Shag me?”

She is almost certain she mishears him.

“Pardon?”

Slowly, he turns to face her, his face completely expressionless. He raises his hand for her to see where he is still holding her phone.

“Your contact,” he says slowly, not for her benefit but for his own, it appears.

The blood drains from her body with a horrible drop of her heart. Face flaring with heat, she opens her mouth like a gaping fish out of water, words failing her. How could she even begin to explain what a ridiculous, lustful drunk girl she is?

He waits, expression as impassive as ever.

“You went through my messages?” is what she manages to indignantly huff out instead.

“It just came in,” he explains. “I was about to dial the pizza place when it popped up.”

As if to prove his point, her traitorous phone, still in his hand, lights up with another incoming text. The sender’s name is bold and shockingly contrasting against the white screen.

Shag me.

They both stare at it for a long time.

“Signal’s probably back,” he mutters at last.

Lily hardly hears, however, too preoccupied with mortification so acute, she is certain dying on the spot would be preferable. When she looks up at him, he is doing a poor job of fighting back a grin.

“It's this bloke,” she blurts out, unsure why she feels the need to explain. Perhaps her desperation stems from her wish to appear somewhat sane in front of the handsome, smirking boy before her. “I've been texting him for a while now—”

“Evans,” he interjects, voice steady.

“Except, when I met him I was drunk and I couldn't remember his name and—”

“Evans.”

“And now, I'm certain he thinks I'm desperate—”

“He doesn't—”

“—when he is obviously not interested—”

“He is—”

Distantly, she becomes aware that he is saying words, but she is too focused on her own rant to decode them. Her brain stutters to a halt as she realizes she's telling the story all wrong.

“I met him at—”

Her phone made it back to her hand at some point because it vibrates with yet another message from him. She glances down at the message, short enough to fit in the preview notification in its entirety.

Look up.

Confused, she does.

James is smiling fondly at her, his face far more handsome than ever before.

“—Fabian and Gideon’s party, yeah,” he finishes quietly.

Lily looks into his eyes, looking particularly alight behind his spectacles. She is unsure if it’s the golden light of Frank’s porch lamp or something else, but they appear more alluring than ever. A wave of warmth unfurls within her despite the brisk October chill. Bright rays of realization begin to dawn in her mind as it all begins to make sense.

James seems to read the comprehension in her features because his grin widens.

Before Lily can say anything, he fills the distance between them and captures her lips in his. The second his lips move tantalizingly against hers is the moment she knows with unwavering certainty that she had wanted nothing more but to kiss him. Not the mystery guy who made her smile every night with his messages but James, the very real boy who playfully teased her and made her laugh out loud in class.

James’s hand travels up her side, finally resting at her jaw, his thumb trailing soft lines against her skin as he deepens the kiss. Lily shivers, the feeling of his caress, mixed in with the intoxicating warmth of his body are maddening. When he pulls away slightly, she is left with the erratic desire to pull him even closer, even though their bodies are already flush against each other.

“It's you,” she murmurs against his lips.

“Yeah,” he says with a small chuckle.

Lily opens her eyes, pulling her head back slightly to look at him. “Did you know all along?”

“I should have,” he says, amused. “But no. I saw the message I sent my mystery girl in your phone just now—��

Lily blinks. “What message?”

For the first time in that whole mess, James looks slightly uncomfortable. “I, er...” he trails off before trying again, “I sent it in there,” he nods towards the townhouse emitting the muffled sounds of the party. “But I had no signal, remember? I reckon my phone finally got some reception when we came out here because all my messages came through at once.”

“What did the messages say?”

“I was telling her that I couldn’t meet her anywhere.”

Lily stares, eyebrows raised.

“You were going to reject me, then?”

The tinge of color on his cheeks is so endearing that she has to bite back a smile. “Only because I wanted to spend time with someone else,” he explains. “You,” he adds when she begins to feign offense. “Except you were you and—”

The sheer absurdity of everything hits both of them like a punch and they begin to laugh uncontrollably. They stay like that for a moment, laughing at their own stupidity until James sobers slightly, his amused grin turning wicked.

“So,” he begins casually, “my contact name.”

Lily blushes despite being pressed against him, his hands all but burning through the lace of her dress. “It’s what I thought of you when drunk,” she explains quite seriously. “I guess that means you’ll have to convince me of the same now that I’m sober.”

He is already moving to kiss her jaw and Lily can feel his smile against her neck when he says, “My pleasure.”

A/N: Just a silly something for Halloween. Thank you for reading!

#Lily and James #Lily Evans #James Potter #Jily #Happy Halloween everyone!#Now I go back to studying for this life altering exam #My writing

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newl0ndonfire · 6 years

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@wolfinogotbored (idk why I can’t tag you but I tag you in spirit) @lxnxlyghxst @murderhous @macaroni-necklace and whomever else saw and was interested

do any of y’all remember that story I mentioned writing a while back? I was going to post it for pride month but that didn’t happen since I was really tired thanks to work, so I’m sorry about that.

I wrote this story because this girl in my math class had to write a five(ish) page original story for her social justice class about a utopian or dystopian society that talks about something they talked about in class. her original idea was a utopian earth but all men were killed a century or more ago and if a baby is born male, the baby has a sex change so they become female. needless to say, this made me uncomfortable (why would you want to commit large-scale genocide against something people don’t choose? how is that a utopia? you do realize your teacher is a guy, right?), so I proposed a different story. she ended up liking my idea more but didn’t want to write it, so I told her I would because it was something I’d love to write myself.

anyways, I wrote this in like four hours and I doubt she proofread it, but it’s under the read more. comments and likes are appreciated!

Teachers and professors must either love listening to themselves speak or feel very passionately about what they teach, Nina muses.

As she walks home with her Catherine, her best friend for as long as either can remember, she ponders this and their teacher’s lesson, which they been released from only five minutes ago.

Nina can usually pretend to listen to her fellow blonde and best friend babble, unfortunately Nina simply can’t process what she’s saying today. They had their only class together this year today, but Catherine was whispering to Nina for the entire class.

Suddenly, Catherine turns to Nina and Nina can tell that she’s been caught.

“You know, we don’t have to walk and talk if neither of us are listening.”

“I’m sorry Catherine. Professor Roger’s lecture today wasn’t what I was expecting. I can’t stop thinking about all the years of meetings and debates that went into making the world like it is today.”

“It’s fine girl,” Catherine laughs, “I feel the same way. Can you imagine, a society that’s not separated by gender? It’d be so different.”

Nina smiles weakly at that, still lost in her thoughts. She distractedly says goodbye to Catherine, but knows that as best friends, she will be forgiven.

The walk to her apartment is still a few minutes longer, and Nina takes the time to reflect on how the world she knows came to be.

Differences between boys and girls had always been known, ever since humans first walked the earth. Oh sure, the differences were usually not too big of a deal, but 138 years ago, numerous world leaders gave up on appeasing both men and women with their proposed taxes, healthcare plans, insurance rates, and more by creating a city for men, a city for women, and a train connecting the two together that runs once in the morning and once at night every day. By keeping the two genders separate, it was believed that the governments of each city could better focus on the needs of its people as they relate to their gender. Besides, the cities themselves are often based off of stereotypes about the genders, but the people in the cities tend to be accepting of ideas and people who do not follow their city’s stereotypes.

As she turns around a corner, Nina can tell she is heavily distracted by her musing. Most people choose to either eat dinner or stay at home rather than venture outside at this time of night, as the sun has not been down long enough for it to be much cooler than the day was, so she is quite startled by plowing through and knocking over another person.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaahhhh! Please don’t kill me!” The person begs as they scramble backwards until their back hits the building’s wall.

Taking time to bring down her pulse, Nina peers at the shivering person in front of her. They are trembling in fear, covered in dirt, and wear little more than rags. Bruises and small cuts mottle their face, their skin is pale, oil and grime are clear to see in their brown hair, and their body looks slightly too skinny to be healthy. They clearly live on the streets, but Nina knows that there is both enough housing and food for everyone in Girl World. On first glance, the clothes appear to be dark grey or black, but Nina looks closer at the person’s clothes. The shadowy alley makes everything appear darker, but their clothes are too dark to belong to someone from Girl World.

“Are you, you know, a boy?”

The person whimpers and shies away, alarming Nina to the fact that she probably should have asked the question in a nicer way.

“Wait, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have that in that way,” Nina says as she crouches down to be at eye-level with the person. “Are you okay? What’s your name?”

“My name’s Jason, but I go by Jace”. The person curls inwards, as if they expect Nina to hit them.

“Alright Jace. Did you miss your train for Man Land?”

Jace’s eyes widen in fear. “No I-I don’t belong there. I know I was born and grew up with people thinking that I’m a guy, but I know I’m not.”

Nina has heard rumors of people feeling a similar way before. Alexa, a girl from her elementary school, told Nina about how she didn’t really feel like a girl most days and how she wished she was a boy instead. Nina didn’t understand at the time, but someone must have overheard them talk because the next day, Alexa was forced to sit on her own while the teachers looked at her with disgust. Alexa didn’t return to school after that, and all Nina can think about is how this is her chance to make something right in the world.

“It’s okay Jace,” Nina says soothingly. “I can’t say I understand how you feel, but I don’t think how you feel is wrong. You’re your own person and no one can tell you how to be yourself.”

Jace looks equal parts relieved and confused by that, as if she had never heard such a thing before. While Nina knows that her mom raised her to be far more open-minded than others, it seems impossible for someone to grow up without hearing similar reassurance from their parent or teachers.

“So, you don’t think I’m an abomination?”

Nina is thoroughly confused by Jace’s question. “How can you be evil for something you didn’t choose to be?”

Jace ducks her head down in shame, as if shedding tears at such a heavy subject was something to be ashamed of. “It’s what I was raised to believe.”

A lump forms in Nina’s throat, and she swallows before she can continue speaking to Jace. “You’re being yourself, and there’s no way someone can be wrong for being themself.”

Jace looks up, misty eyed and choking back tears. “Thank you.”

Nina offers a comforting smile to Jace. “You’re welcome.” Thinking once again of Alexa, Nina reflects on what she would be willing to give to Jace so that she can feel more comfortable with her gender given how she can’t feel more comfortable about her surroundings. “Are you here most nights? I can give you some of my unused or older clothes and stuff if you want.”

Jace’s smile at that shines despite the dim world around her.

***

When she gets home, Nina goes through her nightly routine mechanically. She does her nightly aerobics and yoga, showers, eats dinner, and brushes her teeth in a daze. The same few questions swirl around her head.

Will Jace be safe tonight? How long has she been living on the streets? How many people feel the same as her? Is this normal for people like her?

She doesn’t rest easy that night.

***

“Nina? Hello? Earth to Nina!”

Nina shakes her head, needing the physical reminder that staying in her own head doesn’t help anything. As much as she would love to help Jace more than she has been able to in the last week, outright telling someone about her would most likely not help her situation.

“Sorry Catherine. I’ve just been really distracted lately.”

Catherine quirks up an eyebrow at that. “I’ve noticed. You know, you can always talk to me about whatever you’re worrying about.”

Nina thinks about how to respond for a second and manages to only open her mouth before their teacher, Professor Judith Rogers, sweeps past and interrupts.

“I’m sure Nina appreciates the sentiment, but sometimes friends are simply not enough to help alleviate a problem”.

Both girls flash their Professors a smile, and they continue working, though Nina is still distracted.

***

“I’ve noticed recently that you’ve been distracted in class, Nina.” Professor Rogers clearly doesn’t pull any punches when she demands a private meeting. Her fingers are steepled yet her grandmotherly face provides Nina with the strength to finally tell someone about meeting Jace and how she’s been trying to help yet doesn’t understand how she can truly help her.

When Nina finishes, Professor Rogers simply lifts an eyebrow, as if asking if there was anything else Nina would like to share. “I had expected the world to change and start treating transgender people better a long time ago.”

Nina gasps while her mind begins racing with even more questions. What’s a transgender? Does it mean someone like Jace? Who does she know who has a similar secret to Jace’s? Is there a safe place for Jace to go where people will understand her? Is Professor Rogers like Jace?

Professor Rogers raises an elegant hand to stop Nina’s internal questions. “Before you ask, no I am not transgender myself. My wife - yes, teachers and professors can have private lives, thank you very much - was before she was murdered in the so-called accident eighteen years ago at one of the clothing factories in town. The supervisor at the factory where the incident occured believed that people were born either one gender or another. Frankly, I did as well, until I met my beloved Fran who showed me how that idea hurts people and kids like her.”

Nina is still shocked into silence by her beloved professor’s secret. She never would have guessed that about her professor!

“Thank you for bringing your friend - Jace, you said? - to my attention. I have known for a long time that change has been needed, but I did not realize how dire the situation was until you brought it up. I will talk to my supervisors immediately about this. Something has ought to be done, and fast. People deserve better.”

Nina is dismissed and walks out of the room shocked, yet hopeful for the future.

***

“…This change has been a long time coming, and I sincerely hope that it can help ease the strain of conforming to a set gender roles in the future. Thank you.”

Nina snaps back into focus when she hears people begin to clap after Girl World’s mayor finishes her speech. It’s only six months after she first met Jace, and already people have been incredibly willing to change and accept people who are questioning their gender or don’t see themselves as a boy or a girl. Plans for a slightly smaller city for the people “existing outside of the gender binary”, changes to the train tracks between Man Land and Girl World to include the new city, and an increase in the number of trains running between the cities each day would have seemed impossible only a few short months ago.

“Hey Nina, wait up!”

Nina turns, shocked at hearing Jace call out to her so openly, and even more so when she sees Catherine jogging alongside Jace.

“Hey. What’s up?”

Catherine and Jace both flash smiles at Nina. “Good news! I’m gonna be in your class with that professor you were telling me about! You know, the one who let the changes of today even happen.”

Nina’s mouth drops open in shock. “I’m so glad to hear that! When do you start?”

Jace flashes an even wider grin. “Today!”

Catherine claps Jace on the back. “I can’t wait for you to be in our class! You’re going to love Professor Rogers, I just know it.”

#ask to tag #writing #creative writing #writers #mine #help idk what else to tag this as

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forgedinthreeparts · 7 years

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This is not the start of the story, but a continuation. There was once an organization that took advantage of people’s gifts. Not the average ones, the ones that made people just a little luckier or a little faster or let them read a book just by touching it. But the ones no one spoke of, where you could poison someone with a kiss or steal information out of someone’s head or give someone new memories entirely. These are the type of people collected by the Library.

However, after the civil war where obligations created by these “gifts” were nulled, the new government had felt continuing a program that had helped to contribute to some of the problems of the old regime was… detrimental to future progress. The Library had been used to monitor and covertly enforce the population in their roles. Those that had survived to live in the new government where quickly imprisoned.

Unfortunately, the burgeoning government was facing new problems; a possible rebellion from sympathizers of the old government and enemies at their boarders. And the Empresses and theirs where desperate to keep their positions, to ensure everyone got the opportunity to explore their options. Thus, why Empress Ashlea Devin and her aid, Mordecai Abreu, were walking through the top security prison.

Azar Červenka, Diane Hallman, Nisha Hisakawa, and Mona Larsson; there were others but those were the names the surviving council had agreed to deal with. Azar Červenka had been in command of the field operatives, her gift was to cause things to combust. According to the files she had originally been shafted for demolition, but when the raw strength of her combustion ability had appeared the Library had claimed her. She had earned the respect of the majority of those taken in by the Library and was therefore essential to the plan.

Even though Azar was a confrontational woman, Ashlea had decided it was worth the risk. They had just started rebuilding, they couldn’t risk destabilizing the country now. Azar was contained in a cell barricaded by a void, a double airlock was required to enter the room. No one was willing to risk her escape, this ensured that should she try, the void separating her cell from the rest of the prison would crush her. Of course, she was not the only one contained in such a manner but the underground prison had been designed with her in mind.

Ashlea, who even now dressed as a soldier, strode her way into the lion’s den. “I want to make a deal.”

“And what makes you think I’m interested?” Azar was lounging carelessly on her cot.

“You’ll be interested because it means you can get out of this box.” Ashlea gazed coolly at her once enemy. “And because you care about this country, or else you would have just raised it to the ground.”

Azar laughed a little at her response, “Well then if the Queen of Diamonds says so then I might as well just agree, huh? Whatever you have planned, I’m in. If only to get a front row seat when this eventually crashes and burns.”

Ashlea is unmoved by the usage of the old nickname. “Should we be satisfied with your work we may be open later to discussing your… release into the community. If you’ll join me we can join the others.”

“Oh? Am I getting some of my old crew back?” Azar finally moves to stand, lazily making her way to the Empress.

“Diane Hallman, Nisha Hisakawa, and Mona Larsson,” is Ashlea’s curt reply as she moves to leave the cell.

“Yeah? Good luck with that,” Azar drawls.

Ashlea glances sharply at the older woman, light glinting menacingly through her hair. “Is there something I should know?”

“Just that Nisha is unlikely to agree to anything without Sokol or Bachchan being involved.” Ashlea says.

Ashlea hesitates briefly as the first airlock closes around them, “Nina Bachchan is dead.”

In that brief second, the Empress is reminded of all the stories that made it off the battlefield. The ones that tell of a sudden stillness before an explosion. And then screams, light, and death. “How did it die?”

“Unknown. Your second was found cradling her corpse in the old court room. Surrounded by other unidentifiable corpses, I might add.”

Azar was silent again until they where moving in the main hall. “Well then you might have to wake ol’ Sokol up.”

Alya Sokol, Azar’s second. There had been a unanimous decision to leave her in the cold room, locked down in a stasis chamber. She was one of those people whose gift obviously catered to a specific profession – the Library’s favorite type – and the job was to kill. Every time Alya killed she gained all of that person’s knowledge and if that person’s own gift was heavily tied to their own mind, she could inherit that gift or at least a copy, as well.

So much knowledge should have driven her mad a long time ago, but the Library had intervened and rebuilt her over and over again, until they’d been satisfied with their killing machine. It was questionable if anything about her was still human, she certainly didn’t look it anymore. Apart from her function and abilities – although it was unknown just how many psychic abilities she had “acquired” – not much else was known about Alya.

The assassin was the topic of many ongoing debates, and it looks like the one concerning her release might need to be settled by the Empresses. That is if Azar’s word could be trusted.

Unfortunately, it looked like she might be. Empress Isabel Lacey’s voice lit up the communication suite, “Hisakawa isn’t cooperating unless we wake up that thrice damned Lieutenant.”

“My lieges, there’s nothing saying we can’t at least try.” Mordecai offers.

Silence reigns over the comm’s before a quiet, “I will meet you in the cold room.”

And thus, the four Empresses of the newly reestablished Belmount found themselves and their “guests” in front of a glass coffin half embedded in the wall. The figure within was made of smooth dark metal, and was still covered in the old bloody Library uniform she had been contained in. Empress Eleonore Tapia carefully fiddled with the control panel to begin the process of bringing her out of stasis. Imposing and inhuman bright white optics flicker online in an unmoving face, four hands move to push the lid off. Mechanically enhanced strength helps the infamous assassin in her quest for freedom.

The lid clatters to the ground. The cyborg carefully making her way out of the box, hands drifting around to disconnect her from the machine. And, apparently taking the opportunity to rid Alya of the blood-soaked clothes. She does appear to be entirely made of metal, it makes Ashlea sick to know that it is not the result of a gift and that the consent for the modifications is debatable.

“Well this is a surprise,” Alya’s voice echoes slightly, like there are several voices trying to speak at the same time, “I hadn’t expected to see you all so soon.” Her face does not move even though the elaborate head piece the has replaced her head seems perfectly capable of it.

Mordecai shifts uncomfortably when confronted with that seemingly emotionless gaze. What use is the ability to cancel out another’s gift, when the enemies gift only kicks in after death? She is danger and violence incarnate and he wonders what she’d be like if the Library hadn’t sunk their claws in her so early. And then he wonders how they found out, how does one discover that you have the innate ability to absorb someone’s entire life as soon as you end it.

“We want to make a deal,” soft spoken Eleonora offers.

“And I want my face back but we don’t always get what we want,” is the blithe reply. Azar snorts at that, while Diane and Mona share a look.

“Don’t be crass,” Nisha mutters, resigned in the way that lets you know this is a thing that happens a lot.

“Or what? You’ll–” Nisha lunges across to uselessly cover Alya’s mouth. “–punish me?” The assassin simply tilts her head down to look at her shorter friend. “When has that ever worked?”

The Empresses glanced at each other, silently reevaluating their plans for dealing with the assassin. The existing plans had been created under the assumption that Alya’s cognitive abilities had been stripped along with her flesh. Apparently not

#here have a thing #i wrote this while procrastinating awhile ago #i might continue this but its #a thing #in which everyone is very gay #you can clearly see that this isn't finished

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klbwriting · 3 years

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Pirate’s Heart - Chapter 3

I’m An Albatroaz

Fandom: Six of Crows

Pairing: Kaz/female!Reader

Summary: Kaz plans a heist that goes disastraously wrong

Taglist: @sixofshadowandbone @thedelusionreaderbitch @itsemy01 @angelicdanvers @marinettepotterandplagg @screen-to-stage @aysegust @sagewrites111 @lilyoflower @hey-peeps @starjane312 @spawn0fsatan @myalupinblack @ameliathackray @moondustmarauder

Let me tell you all a story about a mouse named Lorry Yeah, Lorry was a mouse in a big brown house She called herself the hoe, with the money money flow But fuck that little mouse 'cause I'm an albatraoz

It was early in the morning, the sun was just starting to rise and Kaz hadn't slept all night. It was hard to sleep when a person named Lady Heartless was sharing a room with you and she hadn't been sleeping either. They had seemed to be staring at each other the whole night, studying the other. It was when the light of the sun was just peaking into the window that one of them finally spoke.

"I know a secret about you Kaz Brekker," she said softly. He tried to keep his face blank but she saw some curiosity in his eyes. "I know something happened to you, something bad."

"I'm a pirate, we don't exactly because pirates because good things happen," he said, mocking that she thought she knew him so well. He was trying to keep himself calm, the look on her face was pity and he had a feeling that she did know what had happened to him.

"I know what happened to you on this ship...what the others did before you killed the captain and took over," she said. Kaz could feel his face get paler but he tried to ignore it, swallowing hard and scowling.

"How the fuck do you know any of that?" he asked, gripping the dagger that was hidden under his mattress. He didn't want to kill her but if she planned on trying to use this secret against his crew he would gut her without a thought.

"I don't have a heart, so I learned how to read other people's hearts. In their words, their mannerisms, their eyes. A few years ago when we were stuck in that hallway together, hiding because my job had gone back and you made it worse, I touched your arm, just for a moment but the look on your face I have only ever seen in the faces of the girls I release from the pleasure vessels. That kind of horror is unique," she explained. Kaz felt his breath hitch in his throat. He could see now in her eyes the pity but something else, admiration.

"Why tell me this now?" he asked.

"Because this is a job we're working together on, and its only fair, you have a secret hanging over my head and I have one over yours, we're even," she said. She sat up, the night shirt she wore slipping down her shoulder. Kaz had never seen a woman in his shirt before and he couldn't lie, he didn't hate it. He noticed that her skin looked soft and smooth until it got to the target like scar on her chest.

"Is that where it happened?" he asked even though he knew the answer. She looked down and pushed the shirt up to cover the scars, nodding. "What did it feel like?" She barked out a dark laugh.

"It felt like someone was ripping a vital organ from my body and before I could recover someone put a knife through it," she said. "Your uncle is a fucking prick." Kaz laughed himself at this, showing a rare smile. Y/N caught it and smiled a little herself. His smile was nice, bigger than she thought it would be. "I can't argue with that," Kaz said, getting up himself. He stood, stretching his limbs, shirtless and Y/N watched, the light hitting him just so that she thought for a moment that he was shining. It was possibly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She quickly moved to stand, grabbing her pants to hide her blush before he could see it. Lord, she had laid with men before, and women, why was this one boy making her feel like a virginal maid. She slid the pants on and stripped off his shirt, pulling on her own. Kaz had slid his on also and watched her finish dressing, sliding on her boots and putting her long hair up in a bun on her head. He liked it better down but he wasn't going to tell her that. "So we should probably wake the others and tell them the plan," Y/N said, moving towards the door. Kaz nodded and followed her out. He requested that only his first mates and her mates join them in the lounge.

"Now Rollins' home is a fortress, heavily guarded at every entrance except for the waterway. It has wide bars that they assume no one could fit through," Kaz explained, showing them a drawn up blueprint of the fortress. Y/N glanced to Inej.

"Think you could fit?" she asked. Kaz looked at her surprised. He would have just commanded Inej to go through the bars or miss out on the money but she asked. He was going to ask her about that later. Inej nodded. "Alright, after Inej gets in what's next?"

"There is a pulley system inside to raise the bars for releasing the bodies of the executed that can pile up there, she will need to use a device that Wylan is creating to blow the levy and raise it for us," he explained. "Once we're in we split into two groups, one group goes to the treasury on the second flor and creates a diversion, that group will be Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias. You and I will go directly to the sea witch being kept in main cell here in the basement. The diversion should have them low staffed and we should be able to handle anyone who's still there. Exactly half an hour after we enter we should be meeting Wylan at the entrance of the waterway to head back to the Crow." Y/N looked at the plans again and squinted some.

"How will the group at the treasury escape if they are creating the diversion?" she asked. Kaz smirked.

"Another feat for your Inej, she will have to be a phantom in the room. When the others are caught the guards will be heading back to their stations and should only leave one or two guards to handle transporting the rest of the group. She will sneak behind them, give Matthias the lockpicks I will provide and take out the guard in the rear. Matthias will free himself and handle the other guard. Y/N nodded and had to admit it was a smart plan.

"You know a lot about this place," she said. "How it functions."

"I grew up there, I should know it," he said. Only those in that room knew of his origins and he looked at the women. "That information doesn't leave this room." They looked to Y/N and she nodded.

"We can keep secrets just like you," she said, eyeing him close. He stared back at her. "But Brekker, remember, you better not just be ruining my life again."

"O I only want to fuck up your night," he said. Jesper rolled his eyes.

"Lord you two have a catch phrase," he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Y/N asked, glaring at the man. His dark eyes danced with laughter.

"Please, every time we meet you two say that. 'Kaz you better not ruin my life' 'O Y/N I just want to fuck up your night' you guys just scream power couple..."

"Enough of that talk," Kaz snapped, cane coming down on Jesper's hand and making him yelp. "Rest up we leave at 9 tonight."

Inej studied the bars in the waterway, swimming in front of them pushing to find any weak spots, testing the width with her head. Just when Kaz thought the girl was going to shrug and give up she slipped through the bars and climbed on the narrow walkway just beyond. She held her hand out and Wylan handed her the small bomb from the rowboat they were in. She light the device and put it on the levy mechanism before hopping into the water. The bomb blew but the bang wasn't startling, it sounded like someone had shot a gun for target practice. They hoped no one would really notice as the bars rose and they rowed in. Wylan stayed with the boat as the others made their way through the waterway and up the stairs. This led to a morgue and the smell hit them all hard. Jesper and Nina gagged, nearly losing their dinners. Kaz took a deep breath through his mouth before pressing on and out the door.

"Jesper, up the stairs down there, will take you to the treasury. Half an hour don't be late or we're leaving without you," he said. Jesper gave him a look that said he didn't believe him before disappearing with the others. Kaz looked at Y/N who was waiting by the door towards the cells.

"How did you find out about this?" she asked as they snuck down the halls, looking for the sea witch. Kaz rolled his eyes. He didn't like talking during a job, but he remembered that Y/N was a chatterbox during a heist.

"I was in Port Hilib and it was a rumor, I bribed a guard here and they confirmed it," he said. Well that was clearly not what she wanted to hear.

"This seems foolish, are you sure that he wasn't lying?" she asked. Kaz growled. He had thought of that just now. He knew he had a need for revenge against his uncle but he didn't realize it had given him tunnel vision. She was right, this could be a trap and he had just brought not only his crew but her. O fuck, his uncle thought she was dead. He would know immediately who she was now and she would be in more danger. Kaz didn't often care about his competition but he liked Y/N and didn't want her dead.

"Guess we'll find out," he said with as much bravado as he could muster. He could see that she didn't believe him but she was still following.

"Guess we will," Y/N said, knowing that they were probably running into a trap. She could only hope that the others got out and that her and Kaz's brains combined could get them out of this one. They turned the corner of the final row of cells to find all of them empty. Now Y/N knew they were in trouble. The only people in the cells were Pekka Rollins and his second in command Barcham.

"Hello nephew...O I see you've brought a guest..." Rollins froze then as Y/N came further into the light and he realized who she was. " Y/N, how...you're supposed to be dead!" Y/N actually just laughed. Pekka looked so old.

"Ok, how long have I been dead? You look terrible Pekka!" she said, still cackling. Kaz looked at her worried. He had been on the receiving end of a beating from Pekka and though it had been years he still felt a twinge of fear in his chest at the look in his uncle's eyes.

"How long have you been around?" he asked, snarling.

"About 5 years now, the Menagerie? Lady Heartless? Ring any bells ya prick?" she said. Now Kaz was panicking a bit internally. He wanted to survive this encounter and she wasn't making that an easy task.

"So you were dead 15 years and suddenly you came back? How?" he demanded. She rolled her eyes while Kaz tried to back out of the hallway. Barcham slid in behind him and held up his pistol. Kaz froze and glared. "Pekka, I traded my heart for legs...then you stabbed me in an empty chest cavity. I literally have no heart, that was not a figure of speech the sea witch was using," she explained as if she were talking to one of her younger girls. Pekka looked positively livid, she could have sworn steam was coming out of his ears but this was just too much fun.

"Um, Y/N, I would really like you to shut the fuck up now," she heard Kaz say from behind her. She turned to see him with a pistol aimed at his head. She nodded and held up her hands, dropping her own pistol. Pekka moved over and grabbed her arm roughly. She felt herself getting sick but held it down. Kaz looked just as sickened when Barcham took his arm and started leading them out of the cells.

"So the sea witch story?" Kaz asked.

"Just a trap to get you here. Your little friends will all be on a prison ship to the Outer Isle in the morning, and you Kaz will hopefully learn your place in this life. Y/N, I might just make sure you're dead this time," Pekka said. Y/N looked at Kaz and he stared at her as they were led away into captivity.

#six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #kaz x reader #kazbrekker #kaz brekker #kaz #pirates heart series #pirate kaz brekker

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worlds--avenged · 7 years

Text

Professor Tom: Chapter 7

Summary: This wasn’t the first time a student had fallen for him. Hell, it wasn’t the first time this year. But something etched deep in his bones told him that she was different. Surely there could be no harm in talking to her after class… Right?

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A/N: Sorry I had to repost. I left out a part and when I went to edit it, I accidentally clicked “delete”. aaaaanyways, here’s chapter 7! Tell me what you think!

For some reason, Sebastian’s words bother him. His mind thrums at the thought of him holding true to his promise and not exposing his indiscretions and not ruining his career for the sake of… Whatever it was that had happened.

The other part of him sinks. He sits in front of his second year English Literature class as they take their quarterly test and stares as Rebecca’s empty desk, wondering what her intentions were when she initially came on to him. Panic sets in.

What if Seb was right? What if she just needed the grade boost and she thought that fucking him would be the easiest way to do it? And now that she did, did that mean he had an obligation to pass her?

The morals in him say ‘no’, but his history with that word left more than just a bitter taste in his mouth. The question remains, would it happen again?

It begins to eat away at him as the class drags on and eventually Tom stands from his desk and excuses himself, reminding the class to keep the noise level down while he’s gone. He doesn’t even bother to ring a proctor. This wouldn’t take long. He closes the door behind him and walks to Sebastian’s office.

It’s tucked away near the exit of the school, a funny little half-room that seemed almost like an architectural afterthought. At least there was a window, otherwise the space would be unbearably tiny and dim. Like a prison cell.

Dated posters of long-passed soccer tournaments hang on the wall adjacent to the door. From the outside, it looks cluttered, but inside, it’s a well-organized den of his intimidating winning streak as head coach.

He doesn’t think about knocking for a second when he enters the room. He wish he had.

“Seb, I need to talk to you,” His voice grinds to a halt the second he walks into his office. Seb has Nina Griffin pinned against his desk, her skirt hiked up to her hips, and her underwear dangling off one shoeless foot. Her cheeks are flushed and her mouth is agape in pleasure. Her expression quickly turns to horror when she realizes that the two of them aren’t alone. Sebastian tries to remove himself from the situation slowly, as if Tom was going to go for the jugular if he alerted him too quickly of his all too glaring presence between Nina’s legs. Nina smoothes her skirt over her thighs and clears her throat gently. Sebastian lets her pass with a bored look towards Tom.

“Stay there,” He orders while her pants grow softer and quieter while she becomes aware of her English professor’s anger and confusion towards the whole situation. “I’ll write you a note.”

Sebastian actually helps her off the desk so he can find some scrap paper, scribbling a bullshit note and tearing it from the stack, handing it to her. He picks up her bag off the floor, blocking Tom’s view of his students for a moment until she steps behind Coach Stan with her underwear balled up in her hand. She slowly marches towards the exit that Tom’s blocking, trying to hide the shame that frames her features.

“Thanks, Coach Stan.” The door closes behind her and Tom hears her break out into a run. He stares dumbfounded as Sebastian simply takes a seat behind his desk and clicks his pen.

“You had a question?”

He’s quaking from the shock, but he’s even more infuriated that Seb had lied to him. That he had led him to believe that he’d lost respect for Tom because he fucked a student. That he had given him so much shit while he himself was sleeping with one of his students. Just before he starts to verbally accost him mercilessly, a thought pops up in his head. Something from one of Nina’s creative writing pieces a few months ago. Something about a hotel room. It’s quickly gone.

“Uh, yeah, what the fuck?” Tom tries his best not to scream. Sebastian just tilts his head and smirks.

“Please, you’re not the only one giving out extra credit.” Sebastian crosses his legs and keeps his composure, almost as if he’s mocking Tom’s inability to maintain his. Tom slams his closed fist on the desk and Sebastian almost jumps at the noise it makes.

“She’s not even in any of your lectures!”

“Neither was I, but we’ve played that game before.” Sebastian retaliates. Tom is on the precipice of screaming at that comment. There’s a reason he and Seb never worked out in the first place. The lack of concern on his face knocks Tom for a loop and worsens his own anxiety.

“Did you honestly come into my office during one of your lectures to yell at me about Nina or did you want something else?” Tom paused for a lack of a more civil discussion.

“I was hoping I could talk to you without making this any more complicated than it already is.” Sebastian blinked.

“How is it any different now?” The rage returned.

“You just fucked a student in school!” Tom felt the blood rush to his face, incapable of separating the student who sat in his class from the quivering body sat on Sebastian’s desk not moments ago. His mind flashed to Rebecca. Damn it.

“Almost fucked, you sort of interrupted that.” Sebastian actually looks disappointed for a moment, and Tom increasingly felt like a hypocrite with each comment that he made. A thought crossed his mind.

“Wait. WHAT? Is that who you’ve been fucking this entire time?” Tom’s mind spun. Late nights smelling like someone’s perfume. The coat by the door this morning.

“Yes,” Sebastian glares with enough intent to kill. “Do you want me to set up the PA so you can announce it to the whole university?”

“Jeez, no, Seb, I’m sorry,” Tom ran a hand through his hair. Rebecca Campbell. Nina Griffin. What the fuck? “I’m- it’s… This is a huge fucking problem, dude.”

“Not necessarily,” Sebastian pontified. “They’re both legal and more than willing.” The rational side of Tom saw the explanation for what it was-- a sorry excuse to rail whoever he wanted. But the friend in him sympathized with the situation. He just wished he could understand the lackadaisical approach the Sebastian had to this whole ordeal.

“Besides,” He reclined in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. “It’s not like they’re teenagers. They’re adults, same as us.” But his words fell on deaf ears as Tom ran a hand through his hair and tried to erase the all-too fresh memory of his favorite student stripped down on his best friend’s desk. Sebastian must have sensed Tom’s unease.

“You have a lot to learn about this, don’t you?” Sebastian mused. Tom hung his head numbly.

“I wish I didn’t.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair.

“Then stop.” He replies as if it was that easy. As if he could forget the sight of Rebecca, shirt open and hair mussed, begging for release. As if he could forget the sweet taste of her as she came. He would have to remove the part of his brain that she occupied. He came to the same conclusion.

A knock at the door startled them both. Sebastian slicked back his hair.

“We’ll talk later.” Tom nods dumbly. The solution was stupidly simple. He just had to stop.

____________________________

“Liz has work study again.” With a swish of her hair, Nina takes a seat across from Rebecca. Rebecca does a double take when she seen Nina holding her underwear in her hand.

“I thought you were going to see Coach Stan…” Her smile fades when the realization hits her. “Jesus Nina, is Coach Stan the mystery guy?”

“Don’t give me any grief, Miss ‘I did Professor Holland in a chair’.” Nina scolds, waving her underwear in one hand. Rebecca pales when Nina drops in on that narrative. Not her proudest moment, but certainly the sweetest. There really weren’t secrets between them anymore. Nina wiggles in her seat and Rebecca knows that she’s shimmying her underwear up her legs. She feels dirty by proxy.

“You couldn’t have gotten dressed before you left?” Nina pulls a water bottle out of her bag and downs a swig.

“Couldn’t. We were interrupted.” Rebecca narrows her eyes.

“Then why are you not being marched outside with an angry mob forming behind Coach Stan?” Nina scratched her neck.

“Because then Professor Holland would have to explain exactly what he saw without spilling the beans about you two.”

“Tom walked in on you?” Rebecca stares back with wide eyes. “Did he say anything?” Nina shrugged.

“Not really. I booked it outta there as soon as he walked in. I did hear him yelling after I left,” She frowned. “Kinda hypocritical of him, though. Y’know, all things considered.” Rebecca panics.

“Do you think they’re gonna-” Nina shrugs.

“Whatever they want to, really.” Rebecca paused to look at Nina’s emotionless face.

“And you’re not jealous?” Nina laughs.

“It’s not like we’re dating,” The bell rings and Nina’s amusement is hidden momentarily. “You have a lot to learn about this, don’t you?”

The other students make a beeline for the parking lot, but the locker room calls to them for another two hours of fitness testing. Another two hours of Coach Stan knowing what he did the other night.

#tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #sebastian stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction

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wickedninaryback · 7 years

Text

The Rescue Mission || The Avengers: Witch Edition

Tagging: Alex, Riley, Nina, Dylan, Oliver, & Vivian

Location: Raleigh, NC

Time: Saturday night

Notes: The rescue mission is in full swing as a battle between the hunters and the ladies continues. All the while the captured trio are rescued.

Riley turned back towards the barn when she heard Alex scream and rushed inside. Thankfully Nina had already reacted and took down the hunter that nearly got Alex. She walked over to Nina and looked at the hunter being suffocated to death. She didn’t feel an ounce of pity for him. “Not so fun now, huh?” she asked the hunter before walking toward the other hunter Nina had knocked out to make sure he didn’t try to get up and pull the same stunt.

Alex watched out of the corner of her eye as Nina killed the hunter that was going to attack her as she made her way over to the three. Going to Vivian first since she was the closest to her and she pulled the knife out of her pocket before starting to work at the ropes. “Are you guys okay?” Alex asked as she moved behind Vivian’s chair and started working at the ropes on that were binding her hands. Applying more weight as she moved the knife back and forth to try and make this go quicker, the ropes started to give. When they finally snapped and realized Vivian’s hands Alex moved onto the next.

The flashbang did it’s job on the hunters, while also somewhat disoriented Vivian in the process. But the moment Alex walked through the door, she sighed in relief. “Yeah we’re fine. We’ll be fine.” Vivian’s response was somewhat muffled by the swollen lip she was now sporting, but it really didn’t matter. As soon as her hands were free, she reached down to untie her legs. Once they had been released, she stood up and took a tentative step, but pain instantly shot through her leg and forced her back down on the chair. “Son of a bitch!”

Nina kicked his lifeless corpse for good measure, making sure he was, in fact, dead. Once she was sure he wouldn’t be coming back to attack anyone else, she hated towards the others. She watched as Vivian stood, but sat back down. She rushed over to see if she was okay. “Is there anything I can do? Just tell me how I can help you, Vivian,” she said, now that the fight was quiet inside.

Riley walked over to join everyone. “Everyone in one piece?” she asked as she approached. She focused on Vivian. “How bad is it? I can’t exactly heal you but I can help you walk.”

Moving to Dylan next Alex noticed her shoulder. “I’m sorry but this is going to hurt like a bitch.” Putting the knife to the rope as she started to work on it more, she quickly moved it trying her best to not further injure Dylan. Finally getting the ropes undone and she pulled them off Dylan’s wrists before moving to Oliver so she could get his ropes off.

Dylan: Dylan was laser focused on the one remaining hunter that was unconscious but still breathing - albeit with trouble as it was the one Oliver had headbutted. “It’s fine Alex. I’m glad to see you,” she told her sister as she felt the bonds fall from her wrists. She rubbed at them then untied her legs and stood, wobbled her first couple of steps and steadied as she went toward the man on the floor. She waited for magic that didn’t come, but she didn’t care. She was determined to break his neck if that’s what needed to be done. “Too bad he’s not going to be awake to see it coming,” she muttered, lips pulled back into a sneer and eyes blazing with unrivaled hatred as she neared him.

“Yeah I’m alright. I…help walking will be nice. We can worry about actual healing later. I just want to get out of here.” She started to stand again when she noticed Dylan stalking toward the last hunter. Vivian knew exactly what Dylan had in mind and she took a wobbly step forward. They needed this one alive. He might be able to help them find Morgan if Tess couldn’t do it. If anything he’d be able to give them more information about the hunters in general. “Dylan, wait! We can’t kill him! We have to take him back so we can get information from him.”

Nina planned to help Riley with Vivian before she saw the two interact. With the commotion going on about saving one of the hunters, she noticed from the corner of her eye another holding his head, but making his way into the barn. She pushed him up against the nearest wall. The air holding him there. “Who wants him? I think one of you deserves to take a crack at him.” And she hoped it’d be Dylan because that’d be fucking hot to see, but if no one took him out, she’d happily do the honors.

Riley: Riley held onto Vivian when she stood up and took a step towards Dylan, making sure the other woman wouldn’t fall over. “Vivian has a point, Dyl. I kinda wanna know what’s up with the whole snatching bullshit.” She looked at Nina and the hunter. “Kill that one instead Dyl, he’s obviously a little too dense to interrogate if he seriously thought it was a good idea to waltz in here.”

Alex noticed Oliver’s shoulder and she frowned for a second before she started to work at his ropes, she tried to be as gentle as possible. Using the knife to cut enough of the rope away, she started to use her hands at that point to get him untied. Not caring a bit if it knocked out her magic, she just wanted to get him untied. “Here.” Handing the knife to Dylan as she finished getting Oliver’s hands untied, she stood up. She walked around so she was facing Oliver, she looked down at his feet. “Do you need me to help or do you have it?”

At the sound of the door Oliver looked up from the guy he had just headbutted to see Alex, he felt both relieved to confirm that she was well and worried that she hadn’t called, Paladins or Wards hell even guards and was instead doing the rescue herself, putting herself in harms ways. He struggled against his restraints as he watched the wards move towards her, when Alex dropped the flashbombs, he closed his eyes and tried to use his ears to keep up with what was happening as his sight adjusted. He was trying to keep himself straight but the pain on his shoulder after being strained like that for so long hept him leaning on his side, he tried not to grunt or complain too much as Alex cut the ropes, wincing and groaning as his arm returned to its natural position. “Alex.” He breathed out nodding for her to help him as he untied his foot with his good arm, once he was free he stood up and wrapped his arm around her while leaning into her for support as he regained his balance, his eyes moving around the room making sure besides them no one else was injured. “Thanks for coming.” He said smiling down at Alex.

Dylan turned her rage on Vivian for stopping her, barely hearing the rationale. Before she could make her displeasure be known, the other hunter stumbled in and Nina had him pinned like a particularly ugly specimen in a bug collection. “Fine. I’m killing that one.” She took the knife from Alex as she passed and stood in front of the hunter, now more aware of his situation and looking around frantically. “Should I gut you?” she asked, poking the tip of the knife into his belly. “No, that’s too good. Lift him up a bit, sweetheart, and hold his head for me,” she said, turning to Nina. The air witch obliged and Dylan waved a hand to stop her when the hunter’s feet were a few inches off the ground. His eyes widened in terror as he rose from the ground. “I don’t even need my magic for this. Believe me, it’s going to hurt you much, much more than it will me.” She drew the knife across his throat, ignoring the pulsing spurts of blood that rushed out. She did it again, and a third time, severing trachea, tendons and spine, until the body fell to the floor. The head stayed in place, the face twisted in shock. Kneeling she pulled off the protective vest and cut open the shirt with the knife, exposing his chest. She drew a line with forked lines at the bottom. Turned the other way, with the forks at the top, it was a rune of protection, one of the few she knew well. This way it was a warning. She cleaned the blade on the dead man’s shirt and stood. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Vivian saw the rage in Dylan’s eyes and was about to argue when Dylan stopped and said she would kill the other one. “That works just fine for me. But this one stays alive.” She pointed to the other one before watching as Dylan killed the hunter that had just stumbled in. She folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow when Dylan started to carve a rune into the now dead hunter’s chest. “The far left line isn’t long enough.” Dylan turned back to face her with a look that very clearly said 'Really?’ before rolling her eyes and adding a small portion to the line. “What? It has to be right otherwise it won’t mean the same thing.” With only one hunter left alive and their warning message taken care of, Vivian nodded tried to walk on her own before holding out her arm for help. “Yeah let’s go. I’m tired of this fucking place. I need some help walking and then someone will need to carry him out.”

Nina had obliged Dylan’s wishes, watching in awe as the woman expertly killed the hunter, leaving her with the floating head. Her stance on Dylan being the hot one was completely amplified even more, because that was the hottest thing she’d ever seen. She let the head fall then, hearing Vivian mention carrying the sole hunter. She watched as Dylan helped the woman walk. “I’ve got him. Resident air witch at your service.” Nina said, lifting the man with the air to carry him out of the barn as they left.

Riley: Riley squinted as she watched Dylan have at it with the other hunter. A bit more gruesome than she was expecting but she couldn’t say she blamed Dylan. Once they were set to go she headed out of the barn with everyone else.

Alex: Alex helped Oliver quickly get his feet untied and she sighed when he hugged her. Putting her mouth to his car for a moment as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “If you ever do this to me again I’ll murder you myself Norwood.” Looking at him with eyes warning him to test her before her face softened, she placed a peak against his lip. “You’re welcome though.” Keeping her arms around him as she turned to look at Dylan, she cringed at the blood rushing out. Looking down for a moment as she walked, she helped Oliver along the way. Looking back at Nina, she couldn’t help but wonder if she saw the events from earlier with whatever the hell was going on with her. Turning her head back as they walked out of the barn, she held tightly onto Oliver. “I think we could all use a drink after tonight.”

Oliver: Oliver watched as Dylan killed the hunter and carved a rune on his chest, he was so glad this was all over, there was nothing more he wanted but get healed, get his magic back, take a shower and be with Alex just being glad they had survived, for a moment he had thought he wouldn’t be able to see her again, the relief he felt had him reaching for Alex’s hands with his uninjured arm as they walked out. As Everyone walked out he rushed to his truck opening the latch so Nina could lay the hunter on the bed of his truck. He saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and looked up just in time to watch a car passby, the guy at the wheel was dressed like the hunters but it was the woman that caught his attention, it couldn’t be… Could it? No, he could hardly remember what she looked like… not by memory at least but the moment his eyes laid on the woman in the car it was… “Mom?” He said to himself even though for years whenever he had been forcing of talking about her he had only referred to her as mother or she/her, he was still to shocked to even realize what he was doing but his feet we already moving, taking one step, then another and another after the car, picking up in speed.

Dylan: Dylan had an arm around Vivian’s waist helping support her as they walked to the truck. As she helped Vivian into the back seat, she heard Oliver say something and start toward the road as if in a trance. “Oliver?” she called after him. When he didn’t respond she went after him pulling on his arm. “Come on, we have to go before more come. Let’s go.” She kept pulling but it was no use. She still didn’t have her magic, so she turned to Nina. “Nina, I need a hand here.”

Nina eased the hunter into the bed of Oliver’s truck. She wanted to flat out drop him hard, but she didn’t want to risk him waking. She was tired and she didn’t know if she had that much air magic left in her after she’d given it all she had multiple times to defeat these hunters. Just as she’d let the hunter down, yet again fuckery was afoot. She heard Oliver call out to his mother. She saw him moving toward the car and picking up speed. All it took was Dylan telling her to give her a hand and she was on it. She concentrated, quickly dropping the atmospheric pressure around him so that he couldn’t breathe. She knew that he would pass out quickly. When she watched him fall, she floated him back to the truck so that he could join the hunter taking his little nap as well. She was ready to get the hell out of there.

#paras #para:the rescue mission #para:alex #para:riley #para:vivian #para:oliver #para:dylan #brotp:i don't wanna kill you anymore

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artificialqueens · 7 years

Text

But I'm A Cheerleader! - Chapter 12 (Aja x Farrah) - Millie

Farrah

I always feel safer with her, and I don’t know why.

Aja received the mysterious text that evening while eating dinner with her mom. She felt a nervous lump come up in her throat, and her mom seemed to notice her change in demeanour, as well.

“What is it?” she asked, putting down her knife and fork.

Aja looked up from her phone, the text still staring her in the face. “Just a text,” she told her.

“Is it Farrah?” her mom questioned. “Is she alright?”

“Yeah, it is,” Aja said. She slowly put a chunk of her steak in her mouth and texted her back. Her mom still didn’t pick up her cutlery.

Aja Who??

Farrah texted back almost instantly.

Farrah Oh sorry, wrong number! Don’t worry about it.

If it was any of her other friends, Aja would’ve immediately asked who the hell she was talking about. But considering she’d only been friends with Farrah for a short amount of time, she didn’t know if they were at that stage in their friendship yet.

“Yeah, she’s alright,” Aja assured her mom, and they both resumed eating normally.

“She’s a nice girl,” her mother commented a few minutes later. “Very sweet. I don’t know why you didn’t invite her round sooner.”

“Uh, we only recently became friends,” she said. She took a nervous gulp of water.

“But I thought you said she does cheerleading?” She cocked her head to the side.

“She’s, err… She’s on the opposite team.”

Her mother raised one eyebrow, and Aja prepared for the worst. But it wasn’t like her mom took cheerleading as seriously as her friends.

“Oh?” she said. “And what does Sasha think about it?”

“Sasha doesn’t know.” Guilt swirled in the pit of her stomach, and Aja suddenly felt full.

“Dishonesty is never good, Aja,” her mother warned, her serious tone coming back into play. She got up from the table, taking her plate and putting it in the dishwasher.

“I know,” Aja groaned. “I’ll tell her at some point.” Both of them knew that was a big, fat lie. She shoved the last of her steak into her mouth and took her plate out, too.

Her phone buzzed with a text again, and she secretly hoped it was Farrah.

Sasha Charlie’s having a party tomorrow night. You coming?

It didn’t help the guilt that Aja felt by not walking home with Sasha anymore after practice, so she didn’t feel like she was in the place to turn down an invite. After all, what harm could a party do?

Aja Sure! What time?

Sasha 9pm at Charlie’s. She tells me to tell you to bring booze.

Aja No problem. See you tomorrow, normal time?

Sasha Yup.

The party the next night reminded Aja of the one that took place after their final rehearsal, and it was the perfect way to end a Friday. Just as always, Charlie’s garden reeked of cheap alcohol, but it wasn’t one of her parties without the stench. Peering in the window while she waited for someone to come to the door, she could see that there were no footballers in sight.

The door clicked open and Shea greeted her, a tipsy Sasha under her right arm. The music coming from inside was suddenly released in full force.

“Ajy-poo!” Sasha exclaimed, extending her arms and inviting Aja in for a hug.

Aja pulled both girls into an embrace. “Hey, guys,” she said, smiling, and pulled back. “Drinking already?”

“We got here early,” Shea said. “We figured Charlie might want help setting up, considering she normally does it herself. Sasha wasn’t much help.”

“Hey!” Sasha said, playfully slapping Shea’s shoulder. They looked at each other for a second with adoring eyes.

Aja shut the door behind her. “Is anyone else here yet?” she asked.

“Nina’s in the living room,” Sasha said. “And Alexis is on her way.”

“What about Jaymes?” Aja questioned.

“I haven’t heard back from her yet.”

Aja nodded in acknowledgement. She entered the living room to find Nina lying on the couch with a drink in her hand. Below the window at the front of the room was a small, round table topped with and surrounded by six-packs of beer, cider, gin, you name it; Aja dumped the pack she’d brought on top of the ever growing pile - she was extremely lucky that her mom hadn’t caught her with it. There was certainly a lot more than usual, but maybe Charlie was just planning for them to all slip into some sort of coma after they’d finished.

“Hey, Nina,” Aja greeted, grabbing one of the bottles of beer from the already opened pack.

“Hi,” Nina replied and took a sip of her drink. The music thumped through Aja’s beer as she drank, too.

Shea and Sasha returned to the living room, Sasha reaching for more booze. She curled up next to Shea on the couch, who picked up a can resting on its arm. Their comfortability with each other was a lot clearer now they’d told the others they were together, and the sight of Sasha’s beaming smile brought Aja a warm feeling of happiness.

The party was a lot less exciting with only a few people. At least with the footballers here, there were people to dance with and the atmosphere was less dead, even if it did cause drama with the Bombers. Aja had a feeling that it wouldn’t get much more exciting than this. It was unnatural for Charlie to have a party this quiet.

Alexis busted through the door, a couple of packs of beer in her hands.

“No footballers this time?” she said, clocking the table at the front and placing the packs there.

“Apparently not,” Aja said. She could cut through the awkwardness with a knife.

Charlie emerged from the kitchen, wobbling slightly as she walked, her bottle of cider to blame.

“So, guys,” she said, sitting down with her drink. “I was actually thinking of doing something different tonight.”

“Hmm?” Alexis said, leaning against the table.

“What is it?” Aja asked.

“Well…” Charlie said, twiddling her thumbs. “I invited the Bombers. All the footballers are invited, too, and I wanted to avoid what happened last time. And we’ve all got so close, y'know?”

Aja’s eyes widened profusely, and she felt as if she’d just been frozen to her spot on the couch. She wasn’t prepared for the awkwardness that would most definitely occur between her and Farrah tonight, and she was even less ready for her friends’ observations of everyone, including them. It was going to happen sooner or later, but Aja would’ve preferred for it to be never.

“I’m down,” Shea said. “The Bombers are actually… nice.”

“Yeah,” Sasha agreed.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

“Come in!” Charlie called towards the sound, and a whole gaggle of Bombers entered the living room. They all looked a little starstruck, to say the least.

“So, this is what it looks like,” Farrah muttered under her breath, looking around the room. It was strange to be in a place that made her feel so unwanted last time she was there.

Once all the cheerleaders had entered, several footballers followed in afterwards, heading straight for the drinks table. In a matter of minutes, cardboard was strewn across the floor and each person had a bottle or a can in their hand, and Charlie was up quickly to turn up the music. The dead atmosphere was immediately resurrected, and everyone got up from their seats to dance. Maybe enjoying this night wouldn’t be that hard.

As the evening passed, everyone got increasingly drunker. The footballers and a few of the cheerleaders had been continuously flirting, the amount of alcohol became meagre, and the music developed into a blur of sounds. Aja could feel a warm haze engulf her, her whole body buzzing lightly with the rush of alcohol in her veins. She was standing next to Charlie’s kitchen table, propping herself up with the top of one of the chairs and sipping a can of beer. The kitchen was the noticeably quieter part of the house, with not many people staying in there for long. The harsh lights that lit up the room cast a spell of sobriety over the people that entered, so the dark surroundings of the living room were much preferred.

“Hello, stranger,” Farrah slurred, leaning up against the doorframe.

Aja turned around to face her, and she couldn’t help a smile breaking out across her face.

“Hey,” she said.

“Enjoying the party?” Farrah asked, stepping into the room and leaning against the other chair beside the table. Her eyes were glossy and seemed to gaze over Aja, and she wore an affectionate smile.

“Yeah, I’m happy we got to do this,” Aja said, returning the grin. “It looks like our teams actually like each other. Or at least tolerate one another.”

Farrah giggled. “Charlie’s a great host. There’s enough alcohol here to kill us.” She walked over to the sink, grabbing a glass from the side and filling it with water.

“Trying to sober up?”

She nodded and took a quick sip. “Not that this’ll do much.”

“Promise me you’ll walk home with someone?” Aja piped up, almost saying it as a request.

“What? Why?” Farrah asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Because you’re drunk. And I…” It’d absolutely destroy Aja if something bad happened to Farrah. She wasn’t her responsibility, she knew that, but their routine of walking home in the evening made her feel overly protective. Farrah was always anxious walking alone at night, and while being drunk was relaxing, it presented dangers that Aja didn’t even want to think about. God, she felt like a cautious parent.

“And?” Farrah raised her eyebrows.

“And I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Ohh,” she almost whimpered; the sound made her seem in pain, yet endeared. “Aja, I’ll be alright. I’ll walk home with Kimora if it makes you feel any better.”

“That would, thanks.” Aja looked down at her feet.

Farrah stepped forward and pulled her into an embrace. “Don’t be embarrassed,” she said, her voice muffled by Aja’s hair.

“I-I’m not embarrassed,” she stuttered.

“Sure, sure,” she pulled away. “Come on, dance with me. Distract yourself.” She extended her hand and Aja took it. A weight sat on her shoulders as she wondered how their friends would react, but the alcohol in her system numbed her fear. She was going to enjoy this night with Farrah, and there was nothing they could do or say to prevent that.

#aja #farrah moan #farraja #millie #au #rpdr fanfiction #but i'm a cheerleader #lesbian au #cheerleader au #s9

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