#but i made of of them a long forest green cloak which he loved
Text
early in the morning, especially when it rains, and a little before noon. (2)
erwin x fem!reader
chapters: (1) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | (8) | (9) | (10) | (11) | (12) | (13) | (14) | (15) | (16) | (17) | (18) | (19) | (20) | (21) | (22) | (23) | (24) | (25) | (26)
summary: I basically took Isayama’s work, forced it into a romance story, and made Erwin the love interest. Commander meets cadet and they fall in love (not instantly though)
notes: very berry canonverse (but some events were modified to fit my narrative), wasn’t intended to be this long, but it all is in the details right?
content warnings: smut where it fits (or where I make it fit. Also, reader is NOT underage, so likewise, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT, please.) slow burn (I really mean it. I’m not olympic diving into any form of smut for the first chapters.) no angst. I dislike angst. I would never. I could never. (Although angst can be somewhat subjective so take it with a grain of salt?)
wc: 1.2k
A mellow breeze blew against your face, making your horse’s mane dance freely. Above, the clouds drifted lazily across the blue sky. And beneath them, vast grasslands extended into infinity. Or until wherever the walls allowed them to, for that matter. But if the walls weren’t there and you didn’t know any better, you would be forgiven for thinking you were a character in one of those fairytale books you liked to read as a little girl. But sadly, you knew better, you knew this was no fairytale kingdom, and you also knew that no castle stood at the end of the road, and most definitely no prince on a white horse awaited for you.
The Garrison was the lukewarm option. You tried to rationalize your seemingly impulsive, and potentially deadly, decision. You didn’t like lukewarm. No, actually it wasn’t that you didn’t like lukewarm, it was more like you were physically unable to understand the concept itself. You operated under this strict all-in-or-nothing policy that you were sure would eventually lead to your own demise. But hey, if you were going to die eaten by a titan anyway, you might as well choose the cool way out and die with the wings of freedom attached to your back. They were rather cool. You inspected the hunter green cloak you now wore, and something about the way it blew in the wind pleased you.
But despite the fair weather, you knew it wouldn’t take long for your busy brain to find something that didn’t please you. And sure enough, this time it came in the form of that sinking feeling that seemed to originate in the pit of your stomach every time you tried to imagine what your new lifestyle would be like. You weren’t even there, yet you already felt so inadequate and scant. You dreaded feeling incompetent. You dreaded being perceived as pathetic and useless. And yet you had voluntarily placed yourself in the optimal situation for that to happen.
It also didn’t help that your now fellow soldiers were none other than the top students of the pack. You liked them. They were nice. But it was just too much. Reiner was an absolute unit. Mikasa, a force to be reckoned with. Armin, clever beyond logic. Jean, a natural leader. And Eren, well, the boy was a fucking titan.
You wanted to sigh so deep and so loud to see if it would relieve some of the tightness in your chest. So you did.
“We’re almost there, soldier.” Your superior said along with a reassuring smile, which you tried your best to reciprocate.
And he wasn’t lying. In the distance, nestled in a pine forest, an imposing stone structure started to grow in size as you approached, getting bigger and bigger until you finally reached its gates. And there it stood, rising proudly among the tall trees: The Survey Corps headquarters, and your new home.
-
It did kind of look like a fairytale castle after all, you thought. Very old, very tall and very…
“Don’t be too impressed” your superior warned “It’s nothing more than an old converted castle. Charming in its way, sure…”
Very charming.
“Okay, everyone, take your horses to the stables and feed them. Then come back and meet me here. We’ll start with the interviews right away.”
Interviews. Great. As if the pit in your stomach needed any more reason to grow larger.
Actually… maybe it was a good thing, you thought. You could be honest and upfront with them from the start and cut the bullshit right and there. No false expectations meant no disappointments awaited farther along the way. And if Erwin Smith’s speech was anything to go by, the scouts seemed to be very upfront about everything. You were a scout now, you might as well do it the scouts’ way.
“Sir, I’m not proficient at hand-to-hand combat and my physical skills are restricted” Very restricted. “I do handle the ODM gear well. And what I mean by ‘well’ is ‘with the steadiness and precision that is expected from a Training Corps graduate so that it can take them from point A to point B without major inconveniences’” this was true, otherwise Shadis would have never let you graduate, and given the fact that you just quoted the exact same words he repeated to you over and over again, you wondered if he would have been proud “my stamina and endurance, however, decline rather quickly.” Very quickly. “Therefore I don’t think I will be of significant assistance out there in the field. Please consider this if and when you are planning to send me out there, as I might get devoured by a titan a mere 5 minutes into the expedition.” You stated in a flat, matter-of-factly manner. “I have been told by my evaluators that my organizational skills are outstanding, and that my academic performance is satisfactory. Please note that this doesn’t necessarily equal intelligence, just responsibility.” That’s why I thought the MP would be the perfect place for me. But saying that would be inappropriate, wouldn’t it?
The two veterans interviewing you stared back at you with underlying suspicion. They must have thought that you were trying to downplay your abilities in order to avoid putting your life at risk. But if they did, then they must have been too polite to tell you because the next thing the man said was “Okay. We also deal with tons of paperwork here. And cleaning, repairing, cooking, tending the horses. You name it.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find something you can help with.” said the woman beside him.
Fair. You thought. This was a big castle. Surely there was something for you to do.
-
“It’s such an honor to work- no, I’m truly honored to work under you”
The sound of footsteps on solid timber floors echoed in the empty hall along with the lines you had put together the night before. Outside, songbirds had already began to sing their melodies to the beat of the delicate raindrops falling upon the roof.
You had always found peace in that kind of weather. ‘The rain melts all the troubles away’ was something you told an old diary once. But maybe it wasn’t the rain, maybe it was your honest confession from a couple of days ago the one to thank for lightening the burden. After you were done with your interview, it felt as if a building had been lifted off your shoulders. At least partially. But whatever the reason, you realized you hadn’t felt optimistic in days, so the sensation felt as foreign as it was welcome.
You also realized you had done pretty much nothing but complain to yourself since your goal of joining the Military Police proved to be unattainable. And by the second morning in your new home, your pessimistic approach had already started to get old. One of the only perks of getting tired easily, you thought as your featherlight optimism knocked on the solid wood.
“Come in” said a voice you had heard quite a few times in recent days, mostly inside your head.
The blond man sitting at his desk looked up as you announced yourself. And that was the first time icy blue eyes met yours.
-
next chapter
#arteastica writes#attack on titan#shingeki no kyojin#snk erwin#attack on titan erwin#erwin x you#erwin x y/n#erwin x reader#erwin smith x you#erwin smut#erwin smith x reader#erwin smith#erwin smith x y/n#erwin snk#shingeki no kyojin erwin#aot erwin#commander erwin#aot x y/n#aot x reader#aot x female reader#aot fanfiction#erwin fanfic#arteastica#aot smut
60 notes
·
View notes
Text
Room For One More
Pairing: Gawtin (Female Yautja) x Reader (GN)
Word Count: 1736
Summary: After a long day of exploring the forests of Yautja Prime - within safe distance of Gawtin's dwelling, you come back. The planet is rough, harsh, hot, and humid. Your clothes stick to you a like a second skin. All and all, its uncomfortable. So you return home and find Gawtin in the massive tubs they have. You decide to join her. There's nothing she hasn't seen of you and vice versa.
Author Note: I fucking love Gawtin. She's my girl. She's spicy but so nonchalant about being with a human.
Masterlist
Ao3
Part 2
Blood and sweat dribbled down your body. An arm swiped at your forehead before any could get in your eyes. To be blinded forty feet off the ground doesn’t sound like something you would enjoy. You took deep breathes from your nose then exhale through your mouth. It helped slow your breathing as you sat on a sturdy branch.
On your side was a pouch, it held all that you’ve collected over the course of the day. Yautja Prime maybe a harsh planet to live on but you couldn’t deny the things you could find. At the end of the day – which is closing in – you were going to be sore and pink. The planet’s sun was harsh on your feeble skin. Clothes help but the moisture makes it stick to you like a second skin. It was one of the most uncomfortable things ever. The heat and humidity wrecked you. Even if you lived in a humid place before, there was nothing that could prepare you for the summer like months here.
With a joyful pat at the bag, you began your descent down the tree. Your moves were precise, eyes watching for the predators that would happily eat you. As a human, you’ve adapted as much as possible to Yautja Prime.
It was your second night on the planet when you adventure out into the wilderness. Bad idea. That night, you learned the hard way what lurks in the shadows.
That’s why you better make it back home before night falls. Or else Gawtin might find you in pieces.
Careful steps carried you through the forest. Along the way, you stopped and crouched when leaves moved without a breeze. Your head tuned into that direction, eyes sharp and watching all that could be. That’s when you saw the shimmer of light reflecting off something. It was a Yautja, but you didn’t know who. At that thought, you stayed still. Your hand slowly shifting down to your belt and grasped a knife. The sweat that coated your body almost made the weapon slip out of your grasp.
Then, you felt it.
Eyes stared heat at you from behind.
Something sliced through the air. After training with Gawtin almost every day since you landed on this planet, you dove to the side and lashed out. Your small blade cut through skin and muscle on the cloaked Yautja behind you. This battle was going to end poorly but you would die with honor and pride. The way that Gawtin taught you.
A pained roar pierced the thick air. You were quick to also attack again and sliced up their leg. Neon green blood sputtered out. Once more, you went in for another strike. But a large hand wrapped around your wrist and hauled you off the ground, easily. That wasn’t going to be the end of you.
The knife was dropped and traded to your other hand as you, again, tried to stab them. Unfortunately, they also stopped this, cloak falling the in process.
Enraged chitters and snarls poured from his mandibles. It was one of the males that live within your town. His biomask easily covered his face but from his tone, he wasn’t happy at all.
The grasp on your wrist tightened, making you drop the weapon. “Why did you attack me?!” you growled and kicked at him. The two of you don’t truly know one another but have talked. You’ve learned a thing or two from his stories. Two of those you’ve just executed. Go for the lower legs and stay behind a Yautja.
He scoffed and released your dangling form. You landed a little unbalanced then glared up him. “Did not attack. Just… played with?” he attempted with English. Not many Yautjas speak the language and let their masks do the work for them.
A harsh glare was set on him. “Played with? Seriously? So stupid,” you snarled and picked up your knife. From behind you, leaves crunched. You swiftly whipped around and faced down another male you know from the town. You maybe human, doesn’t mean you’re a plaything. As much as they think so, it wasn’t the truth.
“Moved too slow. Would kill-“ he motioned at you. You rolled your eyes and began a path back to Gawtin’s house.
“Say that to your wounds,” you snarked at him. The two just stayed there and watched as you walked off. You kept your weapon in hand, just in case one of them decides to pull a stupid action like that again. You did feel pride though. There was no way you would win against the two of them by yourself. Two full grown adult Yautja’s against an untrained human.
In the end, the damage had been dealt. It wasn’t a dire situation as you first thought. Just two stupid Yautja thinking it was smart to sneak up on you. You continued through the jungle with a huff, eye and ears still peeled for any movement or sound.
Nothing else stepped in your way as you emerged from the foliage. Gawtin’s dwelling stood before you in all of its glory. You smiled at the sight before walking up to the back door. It slid open without hesitance and let you in.
From your position, Gawtin couldn’t be seen in the living room or kitchen area. All the doors were open in the place. Maybe she wasn’t home?
That was something you’ll figure out later. First, you needed a bath. You reeked horribly, not even a Yautja could probably stand you. That’s what happens when you go exploring for ten hours. You do have to say, it was fun to collect.
As you entered the shared room and set down your bag, you could feel another presence nearby. It couldn’t be those males again, they wouldn’t dare step foot into here without wanting a death wish. You scanned the room.
Off to the side was Gawtin, eyes half closed, and body almost fully submerged in the bath. A smirk graced your features as you strut up to her. “Is there some space left in the bathtub for little ol’ me?” you questioned with your head tilted, eye sweet.
The water vibrated as a purr rumbled in her chest. All she did was lift up a single hand and reach it out towards you. With a giddy laugh, you peeled off your nasty clothes and was quick to enter the bath. To be honest, it was like a deep pond. They had to be for the size of these guys. Not that you minded. Not at all.
Gawtin pulled you towards her and forced you onto her lap. The water stung at your skin, barely tolerable at this stage. This was mild compared to what she usually soaks in. You were thankful nonetheless. You cuddled up against her bulky frame. Both arms resting on her shoulders, finger intertwined behind her head. “What have you been up to while I was gone?” you questioned and softly stroked at one of her tresses. She’s taken all of the trinkets and jewelry out, meaning this was a long, deep soak for her. The special necklace you made for her was sat upon all that used to adorn her body, making you smile at the sight.
“Everyday actions needing to be done,” she responded and leaned down. You felt her tongue run across your collar bone. A shiver went down your spine. “What have you collected today? Your bag seems quite full." One her hands gentle grasped the back of your neck, keeping you close to her.
Your gaze fell over to the bag close to entrance of the room. It laid on its side, some of the contents have spilled out. “Lots of stuff. I’ll show you afterwards.”
Nothing in this world could drag you from her or this beginning-to-soothe bath. After all the climbing and hiking you’ve done today, your muscles were sore and aching. The warmth of the water helping you both relax.
She clicks her mandibles at you in laugh and held you chest to chest with her. You did your best to accommodate her wide hips. A purr started up from her as she cuddled you close. Then she seemed to tense and push you half an arm’s length away. A confused look washed over your features as you stared into her purple eyes.
Her pink tongue slithered out and tasted the air between the two of you. She growled. “Hey, what’s up? What’s wrong?” You tried to calm her down and reach out to her. She spread her upper two mandibles.
“You smell of male Yautja. Why?” she snarled but the look on her face didn’t make her seem mad at you. Uh oh. Those males are going to be in big trouble now.
“About that,” you nervously started, “when I was coming back because the sun was setting, two males decided to play a fun game with me. Without my knowledge. Some things happened and I managed to cut one of their legs before leaving.”
Fire seemed to flicker in her eyes at this. “But, they got what was coming for them. At least one of them.” You hoped this didn’t turn into a fight or what happened at that festival… People still talk about it and know it was you. You only got teased once. Never again. Gawtin isn’t one to mess around with.
Then, something caught your attention. “Where’s Qui’oky?” He’s usually here with his mom but that didn’t seem like the case today. Gawtin held you close to her again. An arm underneath your butt to keep you face to face with her. She buried her face into your neck and shoulder area.
“Bziut-ty’s.” Ah, that makes a whole of lot sense. When the two of you know you’re going to have spicy time, Bee is always up to watching over Qui.
That just solidified that Gawtin planned this ahead of time. Now you knew what was gonna go down.
Sharp teeth softly latched onto the meat between your shoulder and neck. All of your muscles tensed at the action, a prey like mindset waking up inside of you. You squeezed your thighs. She growled in return, fangs biting just a little harder.
For tomorrow, there was no chance on you walking. Not that Gawtin minded. She liked to take care of you.
#yautja#female yautja#yautja x reader#yautja x you#yautja x human#predator#alien vs predator#female predator
254 notes
·
View notes
Text
🌈Hello Tumblr peoples! I got my first request for Geralt! I really like the request and its a great idea. I just hope that it lives up to the expectations of the person who requested it! @chocotacobread This story is for you! Thank you so much for the request! Also just to let you all know I don' think I'll put summaries because I'm really bad at summarizing things. Please give me constructive criticism in the comments! Let me know what I can do better, what you liked about it because I want to be a good writer so then I can make things you all enjoy reading. So please rate it in the comments because its like my firts one ever! Thank you!
Request: Heyyyy!!! I hope your enjoying tumblr so far and I saw that you want requests so I decided to give you one 😁😁. So here is the request: Geralt x female reader but the female reader is the mage of nature and is also known as the goddess of nature due to her appearance which is flowing hair, bright green eyes. Geralt and Y/N knew each other when they were kids before they were separated and after the battle of sodden they reunite and you can choose the ending as I’m not very good at endings 🫶
Part 2 here
Reunited At Last - Geralt x f!reader
The forest surrounding you was dark and filled with ash. Bodies littered the ground where you walked. Moans and groans from the injured were carried off in the breeze flowing through sodden hill. You could remember the days when the breeze brought comfort. Now it only brought a suffocating chill that ran down you spine and seeped through your bones. The comfort it used to bring you when the wind would flow through your long hair.
Those days seemed so far away. The day that comfort vanished from your life was fresh in your mind. The day that Tassaia asked for your help in the impending battle. You were a mage of nature, incredibly powerful and strong. The name given to you at birth was Y/n. Though many knew you by a different name. The Goddess of Nature.
You acquired the name over the years as more and more people started to acknowledge your magic and worship your work. So many would love to be worshipped, but you just wanted peace. That is why you lived deep in the forest. In your favorite spot in the whole world. Not simply because of it's beauty and it being a part of nature, but because of the sentimental value. It was where you would play as a child with your best friend.
A boy the same age as yourself. Adventures were something you both loved. As many times as you went off and explored you never found a spot more beautiful. Everyday you two would meet at that spot and play games, travel. Except one day was different. When you went to meet him, he never showed. You later found he was taken somewhere you would never be able to go.
Hence, why you're standing here now missing your home and the good old days. You continued walking on the edge of the forest. The hood of your dark green cloak over your head.
Your mind wandered elsewhere as you thought of the boy from you past, until it was rudely interuppted. A deep and gravelly voice shouted out a name. "Yennefer?" It called. You knew who she was, a mage similar to yourself. The decision was made to go and tell the voice of Yennefer's whereabouts and the fact that she has not been seen since the end of the battle.
When you found the person, you were surprised to see a witcher walking on foot with a girl on a horse next to him. "She is not here!" You called out to them. His head whipped around and his eyes narrowed at the sight of you. He spoke in a demanding tone "Where is she then?" You stepped forward and lowered your hood.
"She is gone. Yennefer saved everyone at the expense of herself. She is yet to be found." As you stepped closer you could see the pain hidden on his face. When he looked into your eyes he stared for a moment, then sucked in a breath. He furrowed his brows and spoke quietly. "Y/n?" Your face filled with shock as he stepped forward. "No one has called me that in years. How do you know that name?" He stepped forward again, "I would remember those bright green eyes from anywhere. The same green as the trees in the forest."
Only one man had ever said that to you and your eyes widened in realisation. "Geralt?" Your voice came out in a whisper. It was carried with the breeze and you were surprised he even heard it. "Y/n." You stepped forward instantaneously and threw your arms around his neck and his wrapped around your waist
"I thought you were dead. I was told that you were taken somewhere far away, somewhere I could not go." Your eyes teard up as you press your face into his shoulder. "Well, they were right about that. I'm here now." Throughout this whole debacle you both had completely forgotten about the girl on the horse. "Ahem" she cleared her throat in hopes of getting Geralt's attention.
When you broke out of the hug you looked to the girl and backed away sheepishly. "Geralt who is this?" The girl asked him from atop the horse. Geralt sighed and looked back at her "She is an old friend of mine. We got seperated when we were young. Y/n this is Ciri. My child surprise."
You looked at him shocked for a second before turning back and shaking Ciri's hand. "Wonderful to meet you Ciri. Now Yennefer, the woman you're looking for. I can help you find her" Geralt looked you in the eyes. There was skepticism clear on his face " I thought you said she was dead?" You hummed, "Hmm, perhaps there is a chance she is. Either way if she is then I can help you confirm it." Geralt put his hand on your shoulder in a manner that made you momentarily forget where you were and nodded without a second thought.
"Even if we can't find her it would be nice to have you back." You smiled slightly at him, "Indeed it would be. We have a lot of catching up to do Geralt." Ciri was happy to have another female presence and looked to Geralt for confirmation "So she's coming with us?" Geralt sighed and responded "Yes, she is coming with us."
🌈There you go! I hope you enjoyed it! Like I said earlier please please PLEASE give me feedback on it because thats the only way I can get better! Thank you so much for the request you don't understand how much that means to me! I also apologise if there are things that aren't exactly factual or if I got some things wrong. Its been a little since I've watched the show I need to rewatch it. I love you all and have an amazing day everyone!
Witcher Masterlist here!
#geralt x reader#the witcher#yenneferthewitcher#cirilla of cintra#geralt x female reader#geralt x f!reader
76 notes
·
View notes
Text
for serafaeden week
Writing prompt: “we’re friends, good friends”
(Set a few days before the start of Serafina and the Twisted Staff)
Braeden sat in his bedroom, staring into the darkness of the night out his window. He could see the gentle, hazy pinpricks of stars, could trace their constellations— Orion the hunter, Ursa Major, Canis Major, he recited silently to himself the ones he could find easiest—but he couldn’t help wondering what more there was to see beyond that which his weak eyes could detect. The moonlight exposed only the barest glimpse along Biltmore’s grounds, into the gardens and only a little beyond, but his gaze was fixed on the dark blob of forestry at the horizon, the different shapes of which he could not distinguish.
He missed her, he realized with acute sharpness. He’d thought they were friends— good friends. Had been prepared to launch himself into the forest to save her from the Man in the Black Cloak. But perhaps he’d been fooling himself. After all, she had the excitement and wilderness of her shapeshifter life to explore now. What could he offer to that? Perhaps she’d realized how boring he was, how pale and weak he was compared to her.
He shook his head, irked by himself. No, they’d been friends— of course they’d been friends. They’d fought side by side, helped each other, shared with each other their inmost secrets and deepest truths. They were friends. Good friends.
Braeden resolved to seek her out. Perhaps she wasn’t in the forest at all tonight. Perhaps she was hunting. Pushing aside his prickle of doubt at the fact that he did not even know where she might be, he stood. Gidean’s ears perked and his friend sat up as Braeden grabbed a coat from where he’d left it draped across his chair. Then he left to find Serafina.
Braeden made his way out into the gardens, where he found a small girl in a simple green workdress standing in a patch of moonlight. And he knew she knew he was there. He knew that was why she was there— because she wanted him to see her. The question was… Did she want to see him? Shaking off the ridiculous question, he cleared his throat. “Hello, Serafina.”
She turned and smiled at him, her Amber eyes glowing in the darkness. Those eyes were his favorite sight in the world. “Hello, Braeden.”
Oh, Lord, he’d missed the sound of her voice, the low murmur of a breeze ruffling through him, the gentle purr from behind dagger-sharp teeth, the danger that stemmed from protection, from safety. He felt safe with her in a way he had never felt with anyone else. “How does this evening find you?” It was a paltry thing to ask given the intensity with which he longed to be near her at all times. The words were stiff and proper and wholly suited to a ballroom, but not the middle of the gardens on a moonlit night. Not her. Not because she was improper or uncouth, but because she was more vividly alive than anyone he’d ever known, and he did not know what to do with that knowledge.
“Quite well, thank you,” she returned cordially, and he felt her slipping away like a stone tumbling through a river, tugged downstream and leaving him to lurch in attempt to grab it without falling in.
“I- I was wondering if you might care to go on a walk with me.”
She smiled again, and he felt his fingers curl around that pebble, still wet and slippery, but he hoped if he just held on tight, he wouldn’t drop it again. “Okay.”
They walked through the gardens and he pointed up at the stars. “Are you familiar with constellations?”
“A couple. Not a lot.”
“I think I know a few whose stories you might like. But come on, let’s find someplace better to see them.”
She glanced at the estate, a mischievous smile growing across her face. “If you wanna see stars, I have an idea.”
Ten minutes later, they laid across Biltmore’s roof, gazing up at the sky. He pointed upwards, tracing a line of stars. “See that one?”
Her eyes amber went wide. “A lion?”
He loved the surprise and glee on her face, and he nodded, but as she gazed up at the stars, his hand fell back down to his side, and he had eyes only for her. He struggled to recall the story. How could it matter nearly as much as the one she had lived? How could anything matter when she was here with him and yet so far from him? “To the ancient Greeks, it represented the Nemean Lion, who was impenetrable to all attacks. He couldn’t be held down. He couldn’t be stopped.”
Serafina’s brows crossed. “But he was. Wasn’t he? I think I remember this story.”
“Well, yes, he was,” Braeden said, embarrassed as he too recalled the end of the Lion’s tale. “But you weren’t. We weren’t.”
She inhaled sharply, then turned to him, eyes wide as though she’d forgotten what they’d been through together. As though she’d been trying to forget.
Shame flooded through him. Perhaps she didn’t want to be his friend at all.
But then Serafina murmured, “No, we weren’t.”
He swallowed. “Serafina?”
“Yes, Braeden?”
Tell me you don’t regret meeting me, he thought. Tell me you don’t wish I were gone.
“What am I, to you?” He asked, petrified of what her answer might be. “Are we… Are we asteroids? Are we falling through each other’s atmospheres for a short time? Or are we constellations?”
Her gaze was still transfixed on the stars, her eyes tracing the outline of the Lion. “Neither,” she said sharply, and his stomach plummeted.
Braeden sat up, feeling ashamed and foolish.
Her hand reached out, latching around his wrist, less an action that an impulse. She didn’t even turn to him when she did it.
But then she did, and her gaze petrified him to the spot. “We’re friends,” she said with a smile. “Good friends.”
He broke into a grin, relishing in the press of her fingers against his bare skin. Good friends. He loved the sound of those words.
A/N: I recognize that this prompt was likely meant to be more pining than friendship-y, but I like the way this one turned out too.
To be honest, I think Serafaeden give off strong Queer Platonic Relationship Vibes (although to be clear, I also love other interpretations! This was just the one I chose right now!)
#serafina x braeden#serafaeden#serafina series#serafina and the black cloak#serafina and the splintered heart#serafina and the twisted staff#serafina and the seven stars
3 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi
So I came across your Shrine of Your Lies masterlist in the forest god!billy tag but every part I click on doesn't load. It just spins and spins. I read the drabble that started it and I was excited to find a masterlist of a whole series of it, but nothing loads. I'm new to Tumblr so maybe I'm doing something wrong? I don't know. Just thought I'd ask. Thanks in advance.
Hiiii!
Um, so unfortunately, I took down my SOYL series, I thought I took down the masterlist too but I guess not 😅
I felt like I was putting a lot of work into the writing and plot and description, trying to make it really good and I wasn’t getting the return I'd hoped for, paired with some job complications and I realized it wasn't sustainable as a work of fanfiction.
It's one of my favourite pieces though, I'm sorry you never got to see it ❤
Perhaps a snippet?
You're distracted by the shifting of light, a willow tree, hanging over the water, perched near the water's edge, throwing long lines of shadows over the boat and him. You look up, captivated by the sunlight for what always feels like the first time.
The feather-veined leaves touch your shoulder as the boat moves through the long hanging branches. A soft hush as the leaves scrape the side of the boat, and then you're inside its protective curtain.
It's darker here, and your eyes work on overtime trying to readjust to the drop in light intensity.
And then you see it.
A small square of red blanket in the distance, on the small jutting of land beside the roots of the willow tree. A wicker basket, a bouquet of flowers, an array of pillows. A picnic.
Designed by him, is your first thought, that brings heat to your face and delight to your heart.
You turn back to look at him, smiling, not willing to hide the absolute pleasure you feel because of him. You want him to know- that he's made you happier beyond reason.
The boat comes to a stop beside the land. The boat rocks as Will gets out, and extends a hand out to you. You stand shakily, one hand reaching for him, and the other on your bag. He pulls you up easily, and moves to the blanket. You toe your shoes off, watching as he settles himself on the blanket, his cloak parting down the middle to give you a glimpse of his bare abdomen, and the trail of hair that dips into his pants.
You kneel beside him, the blanket is so soft that you feel no hardness of the ground below.
You settle beside him, the basket between you, and watch as he removes his mask. You simmer with heat looking at him. The breathtaking planes of his face, the wild order of his hair, as if he used his fingers to push it back fairly recently.
"I brought wines, and different things to try with them."
He opens the wicker basket, and begins to methodically unpack things. All manner of fruits and cheeses, some cuts of meat that smell delicious and various dried fruits and nuts.
Left behind, are an array of small glass bottles you can only assume are the wines.
Will presents a wine glass to you, keeping the other in his hand, and you blink in shock.
The glass is hand painted with tiny roses and swirling green leaves.
"This is beautiful." You murmur, examining the glass carefully. "Did you make these?"
"No, I had them made a long time ago, but they have never been used until today."
What a shame, you think, saddened at the thought of two beautiful glasses, gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere.
He tugs a small bottle out of the basket, and pops it open, pouring a bit into your glass and then his.
"I wonder if you can tell which fruit I've used, just by the flavour?" He asks.
You shrug, giving the ruby coloured wine a sniff before taking a sip. It's sweet and tangy, and you love the flavour, but you can't give him an answer.
"I have no idea." You say with a smile, and he returns it, with subtle curve of his mouth. He raises his glass, taking a slow sip.
"Pomegranate." He finally says, and you look down at your glass.
"How very Hades and Persephone of you." You tease, "Un-less you're not familiar with that myth?"
"Myth?" William asks, leaning back onto one elbow, biting into a small block of cheese, before draining his glass, "I knew Persephone. Intimately. Before she met Hades."
Your mouth drops open.
"What?" You gasp in disbelief.
His eyes dart to yours.
It's the first time he manages to look shy about a topic.
"I mean, yes? We were.... occasional lovers."
"Is she beautiful?" You ask, curiously, trying not to be jealous of his time with a beautiful goddess lifetimes ago.
"Quite." He answers simply, "And Hades isn't too bad himself, they make each other better."
"That's amazing." You respond, lost in thought, looking at your little reflection in the wine.
"Here," he says leaning forward, lifting a strawberry to your mouth. You take a bite, sipping the rest of your wine, appreciating the flavours.
You hum in delight.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" You say, midway into your third glass of wine. Cherry wine this time, a beautiful pink colour, swirling in your glass. You turn and reach for your bag, tugging the pretty book of architecture out.
"I was- ah- wondering about what types of styles you liked. Just curious."
You move in close to him, until your shoulders touch, placing the book on your lap and opening it up. He peers interestingly into the glossy pages.
There's images from every era, and he runs his fingers adoringly over some of the pictures, telling you small tidbits of what he liked and didn't fancy too much.
"They're all lovely in their own way," he says, when you point out that he hasn't said he dislikes any. He even appreciates the modern architecture with its minimalistic designs.
"Considering that you like every season, I don't know what I was expecting." You tease, dropping your head onto his shoulder.
He lets out an amused laugh.
"Alright, Alright, I think one of my favourites has to be this." He says, pointing to Japanese styled architecture, images with curles roofs and sliding doors and beautiful gardens. You take in what he says and murmurs your appreciation for his choice.
"I like this," you say, showing him images, of rustic architecture, with a rough, aged, natural design, topped with cozy fireplaces.
"Of course you would, it's like you were born to live in a forest."
You blink up at him, in something of surprise and self-realization.
"Is it the forest?" You murmur out loud, saying it more to yourself than to him.
"Or is it just....away."
His eyes are warm and filled with understanding.
"Maybe both?" He whispers.
And then you can't take it anymore. Pushing your body higher, to press your mouth to his. You sigh in bliss as you meet his mouth, before drawing back to allow him a choice. A chance to say no to the desperate mortal aching for the taste of a god.
You make a sound of satisfaction when his lips chase yours, his body melding seamlessly against you. His arm wraps around your waist, and he curls into you, so that you're pressed securely to him, as if he can't bear the thought of being separated from you for another moment- or so you hope. His other hand cups your cheek, and you can't resist sinking your fingers into his hair. He moans into your mouth, and you swallow the sound gratefully, taking the opportunity to gently caress his tongue with yours.
It's the very first taste of him, and your reaction is pure instinct. You tug him closer, until he's leaning over you, captivated by the taste of his tongue. It's the sweetest ambrosia, filling your mind with the very essence of him. Each taste you get reminds you of something different, warm chocolate, delectable peaches, sweet wine, until you're pleasure drunk on the very taste of his tongue. You suck his plump bottom lip into your mouth, tugging at it gently with your teeth until he's hissing, his large hand palming at your thigh over your jeans, and you wish you'd had the forethought to wear a dress today. His hand drifts higher, to cup your rear, his tongue exploring your mouth just as eagerly, just as fervently as you explore his.
Kiss after kiss- you know what he can taste- the cherry wine, and of all the things he's offered you today, you think his mouth pairs the best with wine.
The kisses slow after you've had the feverish need sated for each other, and what's left behind is no less sizzling. The pace may have slowed down, but the passion only increases with time.
The wind blows in your ear, the water makes its gentle swishing sound, but it's William that steals your senses.
He pushes you back, and you go willingly, until you lie against the soft blankets with his body on top of yours. You tug at his cloak, unlacing it and half pushing it off his back so that you can catch the feeling of his smooth skin. You run your nails gently over his shoulders and into his hair, loving the way he groans in response to your wandering hands.
He lifts his head for a second, his warm eyes ignite a fierce fire within you, and you ache to have his mouth back on yours. When you tilt your chin up in quiet pleading, he smiles and dips his head, but does not oblige you. Instead, his mouth meets your cheek, and then your jaw. His beard tickles your skin when he moves a little lower, his mouth hot on your neck. You tilt your head, both presenting the space to him, and silently pleading for him not to stop. You feel like an offering, something to be devoured, a fruit upon his lips that he will enjoy- lick his lips when he's done with you so that he may savour the taste for a bit longer...
33 notes
·
View notes
Text
Song of Summer
Oop! I got another one! The Small Moments AU lives rent free in my brain, and I love sharing it with y’all! Also, if you have any questions, headcanons, or anything like that, send them my way!!!
Qrow was lounging on his wooden lawn chair, his straw hat resting over his eyes as he chewed idly on a stalk of hay. The day was hot, the air shimmering in the distance as cicada’s cried and the shade was barely a reprieve. Qrow didn’t mind much though, sure he had to forgo his usual charcoal work shirt and black canvas pants, and he definitely couldn’t wear his red cloak in this heat. No, now he had to wear a white billowy t-shirt with red embroidery along the collar, in the artistic shapes of crows and trees. Along with tan shorts, cuffed at the ends, and no shoes.
His black unicorn, Harbinger, wasn’t too far. He was napping in the shade of Qrow’s little shack at the edge of Oz’s property, laying down to preserve energy and because he felt safe to do so with Qrow around. He himself made damn sure there was a bucket of water for Harbinger, and a cool breeze blowing on them both whenever there could be. Wind magic was his second strongest type after all.
He was supposed to be working technically. As the officially unofficial grounds keeper of Ozpin's land, he took care of a lot. He’d generally let everything grow wild, but sometimes he’d snip loose branches before storms, top up artificial watering holes or feeders for animals as needed, get rid of invasive plants and bugs, and he’d patrol the grounds. Patrolling was his least favorite, but most important job.
He had to patrol, check for illegal traps, and free anything caught in them. He’d drive off trespassers, or occasionally save some poor lost soul in Oz’s forest. Or get rid of trespassers. Oz was fine with people wandering onto his property, so long as they didn’t touch anything. No taking souvenirs, no hunting or foraging without his express permission, and absolutely NO hunting of the rare or magical creatures in the woods. Those were protected species.
Right now though, Qrow was taking a break. He’d done his second patrol, topped up what needed to be topped up, and he’d gotten rid of a type of ivy that was extremely fast growing and could smother whole trees in a matter of days. He’d earned a little break for himself.
He lifted his hat as he heard approaching hooves. He smiled seeing the familiar black and white coat of Long Memory, Oz on her back. He was sporting a red bandana around his neck, white button up, with the sleeves rolled up to the forearm and blue jeans embroidered with vines and leaves in green thread along the sides, and his usual signature glasses; even if they resembled sunglasses more right now. “Good afternoon Qrow! I wanted to check on you, see if you needed anything.”
Qrow waved a hand dismissively, “Nah I’m fine. So’s Harbinger. I appreciate the check up though Oz.”
Oz dismounted Long Memory and walked over, offering him a sip from his canteen. Qrow sniffed and took a swing, it was some kind of potion that cooled his entire body when he drank it. “Thanks. One of Glyndas?”
“Her recipe, but I brewed it.” he explained, sitting on the grass next to Qrow, sighing contently. “I may not like the heat, but I do like the way the world sings in the heat of the summer. Don’t you?”
“It certainly adds the right touch, wouldn’t be the same without.” Qrow agreed, laying back on his chair and putting the hat back over his face. “Where’s Oscar today?”
“Visiting my brothers at home. They stopped by unexpectedly.” he hummed, playing with a wild thistle in his fingers. “I’d be over there, but it was getting a bit much. So I thought I’d check on you.”
“So to translate, you used me as “Get out of social engagement” free card?” he smirked, chuckling at how Oz blushed.
“I suppose it’s one way to look at it. But you know my brothers! Ozma and Diggs can get so… rowdy when we’re all together! I just needed a breather.” he almost seemed to pout, which Qrow thought was almost cute.
He shrugged, running a hand through his long messy black hair, speckled with strands of gray here and there, it was tied back in a messy ponytail at the moment. “Don’t gotta defend yourself to me Oz. I use you as an excuse just as much. I wanna leave, I just say “Oz needed me to get some work done on the property today! Gotta go!” and no one ever questions it!”
Oz laughed and shook his head fondly, “Well, you’re more than free to continue that practice. After all, what are friends for?”
“Cheers to that!” Qrow chuckled, sipping the cooling potion one more time before handing it to Oz, who also took a big swig.
They sat like that for a bit, listening to the song of summer around them. Their horses lay in the shade, snorting at each other, cicadas crying out looking for their potential mates, the occasional breeze from Qrow cooling them and rustling the drying grass. A true symphony.
Qrow eventually stood and stretched, “Alright, you should head back, I’ve got some work to do after… all. Huh.”
Looking at his companion, he found Oz had fallen asleep. Hands behind his head, relaxed expression, chest moving up and down in a slow steady rhythm. There were wild thistles, black eyed susans, and regular daisies framing his sleeping form. The picture made Qrow smile, Oz just looked so peaceful. But he was also pale as anything, and Qrow didn’t want him to burn.
He picked up a stick and poked at Oz with it, “Hey! Sleepin beauty! Wake up!”
Oz grumbled and swatted a bit at the stick, but his eyes squinted open. “Qrow? Oh goodness did I fall asleep?” He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching languidly. But suddenly froze.
“…Oh gods I’ve been gone too long! Long Memory! Here girl!” He sprang up, as did the horse, and Oz quickly hopped onto her bare back, and smiled sheepishly at Qrow. “Thank you for waking me, I deeply appreciate it! I’ll see you soon Qrow! Come by the house if you want! HIYAH!” With a light kick, Long Memory ran off, leaving Qrow and Harbinger alone once again.
“See ya’round Oz.” he chuckled, walking towards Harbinger. Time for another patrol. Maybe he’d catch sight of Ozpin's brothers on his way around. Who knows?
#Small Moments au#RWBY au#Ozpin#qrow branwen#Harbinger#Long Memory#Ozma (mentioned)#Ozma 2.0 aka Diggs (mentioned)
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to my Rp canon/headcanons maybe AU? mainly focused on Kamek and king boo aka the ancient beings of the Mario universe
First off big thing I gave a big 5000 year timeline for kamek because I essentially made him a immortal being because He studied vigorously in ancient times from age 15 to 34 on making a immortality potion at 34 he did drink that potion and forever looks the same as back then other than new scars or clothes choice.
Kamek is a much older type of koopa we’ll call it feral koopa or just Ancient koopas. he is unsure if there’s any other of his type though in a few very opinionated history books from the old blue toad emperor their name is shown as the feral,Savage,Barbaric Koopa. But later on the telling of the 2 Koopa wars he was in was more accurate. Kamek was hatched a few years after the 1st war of the 3 koopa/mushroom wars in history.
a few tell of sightings of this strange koopa in the Red heart Forest which is known for its pulsating trees that glow red.
Prince boo of the past one of the two princes of the long gone spirit kingdom him being the oldest and the younger being prince Roo. He use to act very Noble playing the acting role of the perfect prince he did protect his citizens the best he could but he still had many traits of the current king boo we see nows personality hidden underneath
Now Kamek similarity acted much more arrogantly in the past with a love for combat and a dislike of any kind of monarchy oh and if anyone were to truly see the list of his past actions they would never think of that Crazy but polite old koopa in a wizards cloak of the current days,but that was nowhere to be seen for another few thousand years.
In the very far past king boo who was back then alive called prince boo till he turned 20 and kamek had studied in the wizard tower together before they both graduated at 16. Oddly enough they were pretty close friends if not both a little messed up constantly playing pranks and scaring each other. One of the very few people kameks instincts let him care about.
The wizard tower in ancient times was a school to learn magic only royal family’s kids or students chosen to be let in by all of the instructors could get in. Prince boo being one of the spirit kingdoms royals the one in line for the throne and kamek being the young cryptid he is broke through the magic barriers at 5 years old and get accepted as worthy to keep around before that 5 years kamek was hatched in that red heart forest and had survived like any other would eating raw meat.
The wizard professors were quite corrupt if you hadn’t geuss already first off they always have the royal kids under watch as they teach magic/make them redo the dirty work. Secondly they withold information and resources which they completely keep for themselves. Also sending kids out to die because it’s a funny game to them oh how surprised they’d get to see a few students surviving but also delighted to see many not coming back.
They took all of the wizard professors trials though each one more suspicious than the last starting from gathering magical herbs the students could never get their hands on in any other place to Hunting down magical creatures for their materials the last trial being to get a part off a dragon. If you died or were in danger none of the instructor wizards would help a student after all that was “beneath them”
After the graduation Kamek killing a dragon (shhh don’t tell anyone it was a old passing away dragon) with his magic infused knuckle bracers which may or may not have been allowed the rules were unclear kamek actually felt guilty when he had some time to think to himself “… their sentient why did non of the books or wizards mention that” and Prince boo bringing back 2 green dragon wings proudly bringing them back home to hang on a wall.
Things started to take a turn someway somehow prince roo had created a rift between Boo and Kamek using boos care for his younger sibling against him convincing him kamek was a danger to him and the entire spirit kingdom.
which led to king boo threatening kamek “If I ever see you anywhere near my kingdom your head will be put on a Pike” normally this wouldn’t bother kamek so much from anyone else in the current times but this was the only person he had found to actually have any care for. Kamek was shocked wanted to say something but couldn’t he went away after seeing the look in prince boos eyes.
After all of the other now graduated students went home to there royal families. Kamek had a plan so he pretended to leave the magic tower then scoped everything out. After all he can’t just let unchecked power happen any longer especially since he learned what he needed already. “Oh who cares about reasons *cackles* there’s nothing like a good prank right.”
That’s right he demolished the wizard tower watchin the chaos as it crumbled. when it’s defenses just weren’t high enough because of graduation day.
Age 16 information complete feel free to ask questions im not a good writer for stories but I do enjoy making lore.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
OUAT Thoughts Pt.29--Episodes 16-17
I have watched through S3E17; spoilers DNI. Also, spoilers warning for anyone further behind than I am.
—Bae’s death was a knife wound. Bae’s funeral was twisting the knife, adding salt, and dunking me in a vat of lemon juice. Everyone who knew him put dirt on his grave—including his son and Hook. Hook is what really gets me.
—Oh, wait. Not everyone. Rumple didn’t even get to be there. That destroyed me. Rumple did everything to find Bae, and still Bae died and Rumple didn’t get to be at his funeral. That’s so fricking unfair.
—My feelings on Regina and the Wicked Witch are b*tch (affectionate) vs. b*tch (derogatory). Regina shows up for their magic duel wearing black, red gloves, and perfect lipstick, and I’m all, “Yes, Queen, look fabulous while you duel 🫶🙌💅.” Zelena spends time getting dressed up for the duel, and I’m like, “Girl, stop being so petty and dramatic, what’s your problem.”
—The last thing Regina needed was a bratty older sister. When it comes to parents, neither of them really got a great draw. Each of them got one decent parent and one really crappy parent. And it’s not like Regina asked for or wanted the life that Zelena is so jealous of—but Zelena is so self-centered, she would never even consider that. I get the feeling Zelena would be an enthusiastic participant in the Trauma Olympics.
—But she got hers. Turning green because she’s jelly of Regina is a hilarious twist.
—Oz is a gorgeous set piece. I don’t know, or care, if it’s actual decor or CGI, it’s absolutely stunning. Gold and vibrant green are just mean to be together.
—While Oz itself is beautiful, I’ve actually found the Oz characters to be disappointing. So far, all we’ve got is the Wicked Witch, the flying monkeys (who barely even count), and a rather fleeting, meaningless encounter with the Wizard. While I do usually love the intertwining of multiple stories with each other, it feels like Oz needs more structure and world-building on its own. Having more of the characters present as their own entities (the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, Glinda, and that’s just off the top of my head) would have been more rewarding after the long buildup for Oz.
—I’m quite pleased to see the silver slippers. Yeah, the red shoes are iconic, but using the OG silver is splendid.
—I love how Hook gives zero hecks and wears his pirate clothes in Storybrooke. Everyone else wears clothes appropriate to the environment, but Hook is still 99% pirate. (The other 1% is the fake hand he attaches instead of his hook.)
—That one time he wore a knight-like disguise in the Enchanted Forest was a very good moment for him. And for me. That outfit was gorgeous on him.
—Blackbeard was a rather generic pirate. Now, I don’t expect he’s ever going to come up again, at least in any significant capacity, so that’s fine, but he could’ve looked more intimidating. If even Hook is going to be somewhat afraid of him, he should look like the beefiest, wickedest, meanest pirate on the high seas.
—I adore Ariel for preferring swimming to walking. One of the things I hate most about OG!Ariel is that she acts like walking is for some reason superior, even though she’s never frickin tried walking in her life. OUAT Ariel has done both, and now she’s made an informed decision. Not to mention, mermaids having realm-crossing superpowers makes her preference logical (although preferences aren’t always, and don’t have to be).
—Eric’s cloak with the Ursula clasp is dope.
—Just when I thought Hook couldn’t get any angstier, now he has extra drama with Emma. And the word “yearning” has canonically been used to describe his feelings for her, so….
—Rumple being reduced to a slave to Zelena’s whims is killing me. Regardless of which side he fights for, he’s always been a beautiful, lively, crafty, witty man. He’s easy to root for because he’s almost larger than life, because he has complexity and intelligence and vitality. And now he’s been brought so low, and that eternally-entrancing spark in his eyes is gone. While his posture usually reflects his self-confidence, now his back is bent and his shoulders are hunched. Zelena has taken an uncannily bright man and destroyed him. I need somebody, anybody, to rescue him, because the worst part is, nobody can even be there for him because Zelena makes him dangerous. It’s all or nothing, and the nothing he has right now scares me.
—His powers of future sight are terribly inconsistent. Which is easily explained by the difficulty of interpreting the future, but still—how did he not see this coming?
—Regina’s method of training Emma is rather amusing. Also the fact that Emma just had to be extra in her use of magic.
—Poor Snow. She has not only a stubborn husband, but also a stubborn daughter, teaming up to try and build a crib. That baby will be safer sleeping on a table *jk* *don’t leave babies on tables*
—This entire town needs to schedule family therapy sessions with Archie. Sister-to-sister, couples, stepdaughter-to-stepmom, and Henry can have a great-uncle to great-nephew chat with himself. Really, though, these people might consider having conversations instead of internalizing everything and becoming evil. Just a thought.
#once upon a time#ouat#baelfire#Captain Hook#Emma swan#regina mills#Ariel#the wicked witch#zelena#rumplestiltskin#the charmings#oz#martianbugsbunny reviews
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Attention // Arondir x Bronwyn // Bronwyn POV
Rated T
Summary: Back in Ostirith, Bronwyn struggles to allow herself the comfort of Arondir's presence. Luckily, she has an excuse.
Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Self Denial, Self Doubt, Physical Touch as Communication
Read on AO3 or below!
I had a lot of fun exploring Bronwyn in this fic! I feel like she's still a bit of a mystery, which made it a challenge to examine her motivations without writing/assuming any backstory that might be later contradicted. I hope you enjoy!
She attended to every other possible task before attending to the one she wished to. It would not be said that she had been remiss or careless in her duty.
First, Theo’s bandage needed changing, a fresh green poultice of Heal-All and Knit-Wound applied to his leg. Then the new mother in the barracks should be tended to. Her milk was running thin, and Bronwyn knew this was due to lack of food more than any ailment that plagued her. Still, she made a draught of the leaves of the sweet-fruiting pricker bushes that climbed the slopes below the fort’s western wall. The wild game could flee, the orcs could spoil crop and livestock, but the healing herbs would always grow free on the hillsides, on the soft dun floor of the forests. At least they still had that.
She had not yet told the villagers of Arondir’s message — of the ultimatum that awaited them. It licked and seared at her insides like an over-boiling pot of water, but there was nothing she could do for it — not yet. First, the refugees needed food and tending, so they might meet the news with calmer heads than their current state would allow. Arondir had counseled this, and she had been all too eager to listen. It was a heavy relief, to have him — to have anyone with which to share such a secret, and such a decision.
After the sick had been aided by means of her meager tools, Waldreg needed seeing to. He was complaining about the rationing again, apparently unable to understand that his own safety depended on the safety of those around him and the same, in reverse. She dreaded this meeting most of all, and so saved it as her last necessary task. Ever since the elves had left their post, Waldreg had been a thorn in her boot, a stitch in her side. She never had any love for the man, but neither she had ever seen him act so small and mean, like an apple gone sour and shriveled. She left the meeting with his foul taste in her mouth.
Still, there was a fortifying power to his company.
After subjecting herself his insults and his whining, she could allow herself one small reward.
------
Arondir took his rest in the corner of a storeroom in the fort’s Southern barracks. Bronwyn knew this, because she had chosen the place particularly for him. A clean place, where he might have some privacy behind an salvaged curtain of Elvish weave. She expected to court protest from the other refugees at this small sign of favoritism, but it seemed they didn’t wish to have the elf among their camps either.
He was lying on an old cloak when she entered, but he sat up on her approach, and she startled. She had not announced herself, but nor had she aimed to sneak or to spy.
“I’ve woken you,” she said quickly.
“I was not at rest.”
“Were you not?”
There was a shadow of a smile on his face, but with some apparent effort, he controlled it. “Not entirely,” he said, and offered no further explanation.
A long moment of silence passed, while she fiddled with the edge of the curtain. She could see no fray to the fabric, which was as strong and fine as if it had been woven from the silk of spiders. She marveled at the craftsmanship of the cloth, and at the fact that such a treasure could be left in the bottom of a chest in an abandoned fort.
“Did you have some need of me?” Arondir asked finally.
“I’ve been seeing to the villagers — to their wounds and coughs and such. I realized…I didn’t ask if you were in need of any care? After your — battle.”
“I am not wounded.” His brow had become heavy. He pointed his face half a turn away from hers.
She took two steps further into the small space, with an awkward urgency she would rather have controlled. “You must’ve endured…some injury.”
He pulled one cuff of his breaches. There was faint line of color around his ankle. It wouldn’t have been perceptible if she hadn’t been focused, over-intent, on what he wished to show her. It had the quality of a childhood wound, healed and scarred and faded to memory years ago.
“That is your wound?”
He tilted his head, neither assenting or dissenting. “There are others, but they are the same.”
“How many?”
“I’ve not been keeping count.”
Bronwyn was kneeling now, stone grit digging into the skin of her legs. Arondir leaned forward, locking his forearms around his own shins.
“I wish you would let me tend them,” Bronwyn said.
“There is nothing to tend.”
She struggled to suppress her frustration. “The skin has healed, maybe, and maybe you have no risk of swelling or putrefaction. But I cannot believe that your — your flesh has no memory of the pain it was forced to bear only hours ago.”
“It is not the sort of pain that lingers.”
“Right.” Bronwyn stood, taking too long to brush the dust off her skirts. “Well. I suppose you’ve no need of me, then.” She nodded stiffly and turned. “I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
“Wait — Bronwyn.”
She kept her back to him. She didn’t want him to see how sorely she struggled to constrain her disappointment.
“I don’t want to draw you away from someone who might need you more than I.” He placed a heavy effort on the words. “But I wish you would not leave.”
Bronwyn flicked her gaze back to his face. She felt her shoulders soften. “I came here last, after all else was finished with.”
It was a strange admission to make in a moment of intimacy, but she knew he would understand the significance of this choice.
He nodded and extended his hand. He was still seated on the stone floor, and she returned to his side, closer than she’d sat before. He pointed to the inside of his wrist, where a faint line could be seen, curving away from the crest of his hand.
“That was an orc blade,” he explained, but at the sight of her face, he amended: “It was only a scratch.”
She let her fingers hover over the scar for a moment, then traced the pale line with her thumb. Arondir closed his eyes and let out a tight breath.
She pulled her hand away quickly. “You said there was no pain.”
“There isn’t.”
“Well, there must be some tenderness.”
He opened his eyes and gave her a low, urgent look. “Yes, there is.”
She let herself touch him again, this time inside the crease of his elbow, which bore a scar in the form of a misshapen coin.
“That is older,” he said, staring down at the place where her fingers met his skin. “It is stubborn. It must hold an echo of the hand that made it. Médhor.”
Bronwyn smiled. She had only ever known Arondir’s companion in a vague, distant sense, but Arondir spoke fondly of him, and she could find no fault in Arondir’s estimation of others. He was not exactly trusting by nature. But he was forgiving.
“He has fallen,” Arondir said. “Médhor — he was slain.”
Her hand moved on impulse, coming the circle the span of his arm just below the shoulder. “Oh, Arondir — that’s —!” she said. “I grieve for you.”
He gave a strained nod, and Bronwyn let herself fall silent. He was still watching her hand, and the knowledge of his attention started to burn beneath her fingertips. Her skin was sweaty and hot where they met. She pulled away, overcome by a shameful self-awareness.
“Please, don’t—” Arondir breathed. “Don’t stop.”
These words fell like the tug of a rope behind her ribs. She brought her hand to his neck, where the edge of a wound could be seen, still pink with the memory of blood.
“The tip of an arrow-head,” he said. “It barely missed.”
“You could’ve been killed.”
“Many times over. I’m not still not certain why I’ve been allowed to endure — whose will drives me forward. Adar…” He stopped, seemingly overcome with emotion, which made his body curl inwards. “I cannot fathom his heart.”
Brownwyn watched his torment for a moment, then leaned forward, bringing her mouth close to the wound. It was a foolish thing — a wound-rhyme, a spell she had learned from her mother, in her mother’s Eastern tongue. It was little more than a nursery song, not something she could use in her work with the sick or the dying. But Arondir was not sick or dying — at least not in that sense she was accustomed to.
She spoke the words just above his skin:
Come, little devil
Untangle the wicked knot you tie
Free yourself from this flesh
Set your evil by
Arondir became very still. She could hear his breath coming in a short, steady rhythm from his nose. She imagined putting her lips to his skin, breaching the final glass wall between them. It was part of the old spell anyway, wasn’t it? If she were doing it properly, she’d suck the evil from the wound and spit it into a handful of freshly dug earth, where it could seed no new woe. She was so close — only an inch away — they were alone — and what did it matter now, when all had gone to tatters — who would care, who would judge her, who could blame her for this simple desire? What greater harm could it possibly cause?
She drew away. Arondir’s words still burned in her ears: I do not know whose will drives me forward. But he had always seemed to her fully in command of his own will, and he too had placed this wall between them for some reason of his own — different perhaps than hers. She would not shatter it without his consent.
“Trust me,” she said, hoping to diffuse the moment, hoping he could hear the self-effacing jest in what she said. “It’s a strong magic. You’ll be healed of all your ills.”
“I always trust your magic,” he said. "It hasn’t failed me yet.”
There came into her belly a feeling of discomfort, which was not caused by his words or by the closeness of his body: these things were pleasant to an overbearing degree and were precisely what she had craved in coming to this chamber. Still, Bronwyn had always been fickle when faced with the outcome of her own wishes and so had to search for some unpleasant task she could attend to directly after leaving this place, an act of penance for her self-indulgence. She could think of nothing that might serve in awfulness to make up for this moment. The discomfort rose to panic. She passed a hand over her eyes.
“I should make certain Theo hasn’t gotten into some new trouble.”
She stood. Arondir followed, his hand firm on her wrist. His touch was not rough but it was heavy, like the earth was heavy, in its need to keep her close.
“Bronwyn,” he said. “Who has tended to you?”
“I am well enough.”
He released her, leaving a heavy warmth on her skin. “You would not allow me such an excuse.”
“Arondir — I —”
He stayed silent, letting her choose her words with care, but she still had to close her eyes to speak. “I cannot take any tenderness from you.”
A long pause. “Why?”
“I cannot — bear it,” she said.
She opened her eyes to see his face furrowed with a wide look of pain.
“Have I pressed something upon you?” He asked. “Something unwelcome?”
It was hard to believe they were speaking about it — the thing between them — speaking of it as they never had, as they only ever had without using any words. The strangeness of it took her aback, so she did not respond as swiftly as she should have.
Arondir was struggling with some deep emotion. It was slowly overtaking his face and body.
“No —” she rushed to speak. “No, if anyone’s pressed anything, it’s been me, hasn’t it?”
His eyes were narrowed. He shook his head. “What are you speaking of?”
“You can’t actually believe I’m worthy of…any of your attention.”
“Bronwyn.”
“And you can’t believe I’ll allow you to believe such a thing! Not when — ” She swallowed, and it was sharp and dry in her throat.
“Not when…what?”
“Don’t make me say it. Please.”
Arondir closed the distance between them, but he did not touch her. “I have failed you,” he said.
“Please don’t say that.”
“What do you wish us to say to one another?”
Bronwyn could no longer speak. In a quick bloom of motion, she took his hand and pressed it to her own chest, above the edge of her bodice, over her heart. His fingers tightened in surprise and then settled, soft against her skin, and for a long moment, she felt her own pulse beating back at her from his palm.
“Nothing,” she said. She rested her forehead against his own. “Let us say nothing.”
#yes yes im still on my bullshit#still chewing the drywall over these two#also bronwyn deserves some love#and by love i mean angsty pining fic written from her POV#anyway#the rings of power#rings of power#trop#rop#lotrrop#the rings of power fanfic#my fic#arondir x bronwyn#arondir#bronwyn#wren writes aronwyn
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
This was requested on AO3 by Blue0820.
I would like to start off by saying happy birthday to Bellaboo097023! You are a fantastic person and I love getting requests from you! I hope that your birthday is wonderful!
WARNING: MENTIONS OF TORTURE.
I hope you enjoy!
Rune Mage to the Rescue (Freed x Lucy)
The guildhall doors burst open, banging against the walls and drawing the attention of every present Fairy Tail mage. In stumbled Gray and Natsu, both badly beaten and barely able to stand much longer. The entire guild gasped and watched with worry as the two men collapsed to their knees, leaning against each other.
Wendy, Mira, Lisanna, and Juvia rushed to the pair and set about taking them to the infirmary. They were stopped when they only took a few steps by Freed, who was giving the dragon slayer and ice-make mage a glare so fierce and chilling that it would scare even the great Titania.
The rune mage asked, his voice low and scarily calm, "where is Lucy?"
Natsu and Gray stared at him in horror, neither wanted to answer. Erza had gone with Makarov to a Guild Master meeting, so she wasn't present to go on a job with her team. However, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy were still set on taking a job in which they would have to defeat a dark mage that was terrorizing a town. Now, two weeks later, Natsu and Gray have returned without Lucy.
Laxus, Evergreen, and Bixlow stepped forward to stand with their friend, all having their own threatening glares that said 'you better answer his question before we give you a second thrashing.'
Gray and Natsu both gulped, wishing that they would lose consciousness already. Lucy had become very close to Laxus and the Thunder Legion after they had decided to take an S-Class job that specifically requested a celestial wizard. After that job, the blonde spent more time with them, and it didn't take long for her and Freed to fall in love. Laxus, Evergreen, and Bixlow were incredibly protective of the blonde that they viewed as a little sister, but none of them were more protective of her than Freed. The green-haired man had gained a reputation for not taking other men flirting with or threatening his girlfriend lightly. It was an unspoken rule in Magnolia that nobody messed with Lucy, or else they would have to face Laxus, Evergreen, Bixlow, and worst of all, Freed.
Freed barked at the two battered men in front of him, "where is Lucy? What happened to my girlfriend? Did you two leave her behind? If you did, I will see to it that you both truly know pain!"
Natsu trembled in fear as Gray mumbled, "the d-dark mage we went to fight...he-he was stronger than we expected."
Freed pushed past the small group of mages that stood between him and the guild's doors. He pushed the large, wooden doors open and set off to the town that his girlfriend went to, intending to get her back and use Dark Ecriture on anybody that got in his way.
Freed walked angrily up to the stone, abandoned, and broken-down small castle that lay in the forest that surrounded the town that had posted the Natsu, Gray, and Lucy's job request. A dark and cold aura that reflected his protective anger came off of him in waves. The green-haired mage could feel the demon that fueled his Dark Ecriture roaring with fury, calling for the torturous death of the bastard that harmed Lucy.
He kicked open the large, wooden door and walked inside, already drawing his rapier. He looked around, waiting for the dark mage to show himself and try to beat him. The interior of the small castle was barren and dark. Only peeling, dark red wallpaper and two staircases that lead to the second floor, one on either side of the room. In between the staircases on the wall, was a sliding, steel door.
Freed walked toward the door as he kept his guard up, prepared for a surprise attack. He had made it halfway across the room when a figure cloaked in black hopped from the second floor to right in front of the steel door. The dark mage straightened as he stood and sneered, "came for the blonde bitch, hm?"
Freed gritted his teeth at the insult toward Lucy. How dare this scum call his girlfriend such a thing? He growled, "if you give her to me now, then I will consider letting you live."
The dark mage chuckled darkly before he responded cruelly, "why would I do that? She's so much fun! I love hearing her screams as I slice her with my blade."
Freed's grip on his rapier tightened and he struggled to keep his demon from surging forward. Images of Lucy being tortured flashed through his mind causing his rage to increase tenfold. He was about to demand to know where she was when the dark mage smiled wildly as he pushed the steel sliding door open.
Freed's breath caught in his throat upon seeing what was inside the room that the steel door hid. Lucy was hanging from the ceiling, chains on her wrists that held her hands above her head. She was limp and seemed to be no longer alive. She was completely naked and deep cuts cover her bare body, blood painting her once flawless skin. Her blonde hair was matted from dried blood.
Before the dark mage could speak again, Freed lost all control of himself and screamed, "you're gonna regret touching her!" He then raised his rapier and inscribed runes on himself, casting his "Dark Ecriture: Darkness" and turning into a demonic creature. Once he transformed, the feral mage charged forward, placing himself in between the open torture room and the dark mage before he raised his arms and created a sphere-like bomb of red dark energy, throwing it at the dark mage. This created a shockwave-like effect upon impact and sent the dark mage sailing through the opposite wall and sliding across the ground outside.
Freed stalked toward the dark mage that fearfully began scrambling to escape, however, his leg was grabbed by the demonic mage, now with wings, who was attacking him, and was dragged high into the air, hanging upside down and screaming with terror.
The pissed-off Fairy Tail mage spent several minutes beating up the dark mage that tortured his girlfriend, unleashing nearly every single one of his Darkness Magic spells on him and thoroughly enjoying the cries of pain and fear that emanated from his victim.
The dark mage soon lay unmoving on the ground, almost definitely dead. Freed ran to Lucy and ripped off the chains that suspended her in the air without further harming her. He tenderly held her in his arms, staring down at her in anxious and fear-filled silence, watching for any indication that the celestial wizard that he had promised to love and protect was still alive, that he hadn't failed at being a devoted boyfriend.
After what felt like several painful hours, Lucy's beautiful brown eyes fluttered open, just enough to see who was holding her, and brought a trembling hand up to rest against Freed's furry cheek as she smiled weakly. The demonic mage purred at her touch and the knowledge that she was still alive as he dipped his head to rest his forehead against hers, both demon and man that inhabited the same body silently offering a prayer of thanks to whatever higher power that was there for letting him save her. The mage then soared back to the guild for Lucy to be tended to.
#fairy tail#lucy heartfilia#freed justine#freed x lucy#frelu#frecy#runestar#other characters are mentioned#angst#torture#trigger warning
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Elleth Alfirin - Immortal Maiden
Originally published May 24, 2004
Seeing as ff.net is still spinning like a wobbly top, I managed to remember my old login and downloaded all of my LOTR stories. For nostalgia's sake, here's the best one.
It was a winter's day, windless and mild. A fresh layer of powdery snow lay on the footprintless road, as many hobbits stayed inside on a day like this, sitting by the fire with some warming vittles and a good ale. The more adventurous hobbits quickly made their way to the Green Dragon, the iciness penetrating even their thick soles, where some mulled mead and a good smoke were enjoyed by all.
However, Sam Gamgee was to be found in neither of these places. He was working, as per usual. Come rain, snow or shine, he would still trudge up to Bag End every day to work on the garden. Not much was needed to be done now, of course, except for a bit of pruning. He got his shears out and trimmed a little bit off the rose bushes, which was done in about five minutes. Sam saw by the closed curtains and lack of fire that Frodo was still not awake: he had come down with a massive cold and spent his time mostly in bed. He thought about going in and waking him, but he thought better of it: Frodo was sick and needed his bed rest. Besides, Sam knew that his mother would pop around later with her secret for fighting colds, her famous lemon and honey brew. Frodo would be well taken care of.
Sam carefully and quietly shut the gate and sighed. What was he to do with the rest of his day? He had no wish to go home just yet, nor down to the Dragon. He looked downhill towards the east, to the woods that lay beyond Hobbiton. Sam knew them very well, as he always liked to walk through them. He decided today was as good as any to walk through them again. He didn't feel the cold as easily as other hobbits, so he knew that he would have them to himself. He set off, blue breaks appearing in the grey clouds above him, a pinprick of sun streaming through. He felt immensely cheered and smiled, murmuring happy hobbit songs to himself. He loved to wander through the woodlands ever since he was a small child, pretending that he was off in a far land having adventures. He wisely never spoke of this to anyone else, of course – no proper hobbit had adventures, except Mr Bilbo, of course. Everyone had always called him mad but Sam privately thought he was wonderful, telling him stories about dragons and Elves and far-off places and also teaching him his letters. Sam loved to hear about Elves and always begged for more stories. He didn't know why he liked them so much, but they just sounded so beautiful. He would dearly love to see one, as he knew that Mr Bilbo and Mr Frodo sometimes visited the wood-elves near the Shire, on their way to the Grey Havens. Sam knew that they were leaving Middle-earth forever and it made him very sad.
He finally reached the edge of the wood, off the main path across the Shire. It was a long walk but he was so caught up in his thoughts that he really did not notice. He stepped over a log and entered, wandering around the naked trees and the evergreen pines with a light layer of needles beneath them. Sam walked very carefully, taking care not to wake the sleeping animals he knew were around him. Of course, he knew that nothing could wake them, but he was still quiet nonetheless. If he was lucky, he maybe would be able to see some creatures who didn't sleep as the others did.
Sam was a fair way into the forest now. It wasn't very thick, so the chance of getting lost was low. Besides, the leafy trees had lost all their leaves now, the remains of which were crushed under Sam's careful feet. He heard birdsong, and looked up to see a very small brown bird singing sweetly in the tree. Apart from that, the forest was silent, not a sound heard from the quiet town nearby. Sam pulled his cloak a little tighter around him, a slight breeze picking up. Then he heard a strange but beautiful sound, a quiet, high solitary voice singing through the trees.
A Bereth thar Ennui Aeair!
Calad ammen i reniar
Even though he could not understand the speech, Sam had heard enough words to know that it was an Elf. He knew that Elves sometimes passed this way but not so close to hobbits! He ran madly through the forest, trying to catch a glimpse of this Elf, but he had no idea where they were. He couldn't even tell which direction they were coming from.
Mi 'aladhremmin ennorath
Sam listened carefully. It sounded as if the elf was closer, to his right. He found a tree stump to hide behind and watched intently.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
The Elf's voice was full of mourning and sadness. They were leaving Middle- earth for the Undying Lands, their time over, their people fading. Soon all they had wrought would be unmade and their history forgotten. No longer would their wisdom and beauty grace this earth.
I chin a thûl lín míriel...
All of a sudden, the Elf appeared. Sam's heart was in his throat, daring not to take a breath lest this lovely creature would discover his presence. He squinted so he could see the Elf better. A tall Elf maiden walked lightly across the snow, so lightly it seemed that she left no mark. Her skin was pale, her long wavy braided hair was silver and her mantle was white and blue, making it very hard for her to be seen. Even though the clouds were dark and grey, she seemed to shine with an incandescent shimmer, the likes of which Sam had never seen. She sang ever, in her quiet, high, beautiful voice, heading towards the Sea, walking alone. She seemed to sense a presence behind her. She turned to see the small curly-haired hobbit watching her, her graceful movement too quick for Sam to hide. He gasped. She had seen him. She stopped her song for just a second and gave the hobbit a smile. Even from this far away, he could still see the sadness in her eyes as she started singing again, praising Elbereth, in the manner of the exiled High Elves.
Even after she had disappeared from sight Sam watched her still, in utter shock. The exchange only lasted a few seconds but to Sam it felt like an eternity. He only came back to his senses when his legs went numb from kneeling in the snow. He was utterly enchanted by the beautiful maiden, the smile she gave him warming his heart. Now he wanted to see more of the Elves, even talk with them, even though he was almost fearful of them, powerful, wise and beautiful as they were. He did not know how much time he had spent in the wood, but he knew he must be getting back.
The whole journey back to Bag End was filled with the memory of the Elf maiden. He had wondered who she was, where she had come from, how old she was, what her name was – all these things that he would never know. Before he knew it, he was trudging up The Hill again. Frodo was awake now – the curtains were drawn and there was the glow of a fire within. He politely knocked on the door and Frodo greeted him.
'Hallo, Sam! Come in.'
Sam entered and hung his cloak up. 'How are you feeling today, Mr Frodo?'
'Better.' Frodo looked at him, concerned. 'You look cold.'
Sam looked down at himself and shrugged. 'I feel fine, sir.'
Frodo smiled. 'Come, sit by the fire with me.' Frodo cut off Sam's protest before it even started. 'I insist.'
Sam pulled up a chair next to Frodo's by the fire in the living room while Frodo sipped his strong brew, courtesy of Mrs Gamgee. Frodo noticed that there was a distinct change in Sam, a thoughtfulness that he had never seen before.
'Sam? Are you all right?'
Sam opened his mouth to tell him about the Elf maiden but decided not to. 'Yes, Mr Frodo.' Frodo smiled. He knew that something happened, but knew also to let Sam tell him in his own time. As Sam listened to Frodo speak, he thought of that Elf maiden. He decided to keep her a secret, and he did, for the rest of his life on Middle-earth. He never dreamt that he would see her again, but he did.
#fanfic#fanfiction#lord of the rings#lotr#fanfiction.net#ffn#samwise gamgee#the shire#hobbits#elves#lotr elves#elvish#sindarin
1 note
·
View note
Text
𝒂𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔
summary ─ hades gasped at the feeling. he could feel tears prickling his shiny silver eyes.
pairing ─ hades!bucky barnes x persephone!reader
warnings ─ light angst, a little fluff (blink you miss it), depressed thoughts, loneliness, general the winter soldier thinking (does that even make any sense), tws!bucky, love at first sight, this part is just,,,,, a part :d nothing really important happens
a/n ─ i listened to a song and got inspired all of a sudden. moodboards spurred me on, too, so here i am! hope you like it! please leave a comment if you do! thank youuuu <333 [there will be a sequel :) ]
Underworld was a dark and lonely place. There was almost no light; the souls coming out from the Styx River were providing only a very small amount. The torches were the only other source of light. It wasn’t a problem to Hades, though. He could see very well in dark.
He looked around as he walked up to the river. He could hear some souls weeping, some crying and some talking to themselves in gibberish. With every small wave of the river, there was a new soul appearing above it, and Hades actually loved watching them wander around.
His castle was made on some type of a hill. Whenever he looked out of his window, he could see Underworld in its all dark glory. It was a beautiful place, actually. One should have had a love for darkness to get used to here, Hades thought idly as his eyes wander around, and taking in the sight before him.
Sometimes, though, sometimes Hades preferred the surface to Underworld. Sometimes, he yearned for its fresh air instead of Underworld’s cold and stale air. It wasn’t smelly, but after some amount of time, it became unbearable to him. So, he occasionally visited the surface.
Today was one of those days.
The weather was nice when Hades stepped into the forest. There was a light chill, the sun was shining bright and warming the places where its rays touched. Trees were vibrant green, flowers were smiling at the sun. Some of the animals were hoping from one place to another, birds chirping and some rustle caused by other animals could be heard.
Hades watched the happy scene before him with clouded, dark and sad eyes. His eyes were their real color, steel blue, instead of the threatening shiny silver. He had his classic all-black outfit on him, his big cloak covering his wings. His hair was down, crown left behind in his castle in the Underworld.
He took a shaky, silent breath as he let the fresh air of the forest fill in his lungs. He stood where he was for a couple more minutes. He was relishing the feeling of the sun’s shy kisses to his bare hands. He missed the sun, he missed its warmth, Hades realized. Underworld was always so cold, so dark and so empty. So lonely. Standing in this very forest, Hades did not feel lonely. There were a lot of alive creatures around him. He felt alive, he realized. It had been a while since I felt like that, Hades thought.
He exhaled softly, taking a tentative step forward. As soon as his foot met the green ground, the grass paled, its vibrant color turned into an ash gray: Its life died as soon as Hades’ presence touched it. Hades felt its life energy fading into the thin air. A sad feeling bloomed in his chest. He kept walking forward, dragging the end of his cloak behind him, making it kiss the dead grass his steps behind.
Ignoring the fact that he was taking the life energy of all the live things when he touched them, Hades enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his face. As he walked deeper into the forest, as he chased the warmth, the more he felt like a human. An amused, faint smile caused the corner of his lips curl up a bit at the thought.
Feeling like a human, he thought again. It was a far thing for him. He could only imagine what kind of beings they were since he was never been one. He watched their lives float in front him, all lost and lonely and sad. Just like him.
Hades felt his body shiver and tremble slightly albeit the sun shining right above him with its all might. He made peace with his loneliness centuries ago, but it never stopped hurting him, never stopped him from shivering and feeling sad whenever he realized how lonely he was. He was okay with it, but it hurt nevertheless.
Eyes closed, lost in his mind, drifting in the sea of his dark thoughts, Hades heard a soft voice. It sounded very much like a laugh. His eyes snapped open, glimmering with its dangerous shiny silver color. He didn’t dare to take another step instead he listened.
A soft breeze licked his face, kissed his cheeks and stroked his long hair, but Hades did not dare to move. He could hear birds chirping still, leaves on the trees were playing with the breeze, but there was no other voice. Did he mistaken, then? It couldn’t be, he thought. He was never mistaken. Just as he took a small step forward, he heard the same soft voice again.
“Ah, miss petunia,” his ears picked up the light talking immediately. “You look very beautiful today.” Then, a gentle laughter echoed in the forest.
Hades shrugged, causing his cloak to fall off his shoulders, and revealed his enormous wings. They were pitch black with silver strikes in them. They looked like a night sky without a moon but with a lot of stars. They opened on his sides with another light shrug, immediately shadowing over the small animals and flowers from the sunlight.
Hades quietly walked towards the sound. Whoever they were, they were talking to someone very gently and lovingly. He wanted to know how they looked like, wanted to know if they were a threat to him. Hades was curious.
“Oh, hello,” the voice called out gently as Hades hid behind a tree when he came as close as he could to the voice. “Hello, mister rabbit, where is the rush?” They giggled, their fragile sounding laughter echoed weakly. Hades emerged behind the tree and turned his shiny silver eyes to the talking person.
They were a woman with gorgeous hair that shone beautifully under the sunlight. She was wearing a cream colored dress that hung on her body comfortably. She had a flower crown adorning her hair, a small basket next to her which was filled with some fruits and flowers she had been picking up from here and there. Her face was shining even brighter than the sun itself; her large smile, sparkling, happy eyes were filling Hades with life.
She was breathing life into his very dead and cold soul without even realizing his presence. She was warming his whole body, from head to toe, each bone in his immortal body was singing with the warmth and life she was giving to him just by being in his sight.
Hades gasped at the feeling. He could feel tears prickling his shiny silver eyes. This feeling in his chest, in his heart, he had never felt anything like it before. He had lived many lives, had been alive for so long and would be alive for many, many more, but this feeling he would never forget.
His cold, dead and black heart was beating. With each beat, his body was getting warmer.
Suddenly, she became his sun, his oxygen and his purpose of living. She was his center of his world. She was this bright side of him that he never had before.
Suddenly, she was his everything, but she didn’t know that. Yet.
Hades sobbed softly for the first time in many centuries, and he fell to his knees, his wings dropping with him. The real color of his eyes, steel blue, peeked under the silver, the tears were making them shine bright. Hades felt the sunlight hit where he was on his knees, but he didn’t feel its warmth because he had hers. Her warmth. He didn’t need the sun anymore, not when he had her. Another sob made its way out of his mouth. His chest was heaving slightly with the silent tears and sobs and gasps.
For the first time in his whole immortal life, Hades felt the feeling what humans called love filling his whole being, his chest and heart. It made him feel lighter and happier. Everything was bright now, the darkness was scared and it ran away from him.
Hades felt happy because he wasn’t in the darkness anymore. She was his light.
Hades felt lighter because he wasn’t alone anymore. He had her.
She was his, and he was hers.
Hades smiled.
It was the most sincere smile his lips ever taken the form of. It felt real and sincere to him, too.
So, he just smiled wider.
#bucky barnes x reader#hades!bucky barnes x persephone!reader#bucky barnes smut#bucky barnes imagines#bucky barnes au#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes angst#bucky barnes fluff#bucky barnes x you#bucky x you#bucky barnes blurbs#hades!bucky barnes#tws!bucky barnes#tws!hades!bucky#abyss
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
The Lion's Paw
Phil is on a walk when he comes across DreamXD in a rather down mood. Luckily Phil knows the perfect game to help turn the God's frown upside down.
I'm here with the comfort tickles. Happy belated National Tickle Day!
This is technically a sequel to my fic "Get Out". You do not have to read it to understand what's going on and that fic is not a tickle fic and more an angst one so skip it if you're not feeling up to it.
Please Enjoy
---
On the days when Phil knew he had free time, he liked to take long walks early in the morning and make his way back home early in the afternoon. The woods near his home were perfect to wander in, and it made for a good spot to meet with his flock of crows.
The birds would gather to him and they’d excitedly talk with him over his walk; giving him news they had heard, sharing stories or sometimes just babbling nonsense just to talk with Phil.
Philza was happy to see his flock. He loved hearing their ‘hellos’ and sweet words.
But, very rarely, they came with a warning.
“Dangerous!” “Great power!” “Watching us!” “It’s coming here!”
Phil was halfway home when the flock started cawing their warnings. It was such a switch from the light chatter to the sudden excitement. His wings twitched in alarm. “A great power?” He repeated.
It couldn’t be Her. The crows all rejoiced and screamed with joy when She was arriving.
Then who?
Phil came out of the tree line to a path by a quiet river. Few of the crows had flown off, but the ones left gave a last caw and then took off, leaving Phil alone.
Or…maybe not so alone.
Phil could feel the presence before he saw them. The air felt thicker, like a pressure building up but before it could burst Philza found a break in the tree line he had never seen before, and curiously stepped in.
The forest began to shift, trees twisted and took a different shape, not too different but enough for Phil to notice. The leaves were greener, the grass thicker, and Phil stumbled upon a small clearing where a familiar figure stood.
Impossibly tall with long, fluffy dirty blonde hair and four sets of arms under a long flowing cloak of green. They were invested in watching a small pond in front of them, but then when they noticed they weren’t alone, they turned to show their masked face. The mask was like the night sky, a dark blue with endless stars that seemed to be shifting.
“Oh! DreamXD!” Phil greeted him with a smile, and a relieved sigh. He had to teach his crows that next time when they knew of a ‘great power’ then it was DreamXD and he shouldn’t be feared.
“Philza.” XD greeted with an unusually tame voice. “Hello…”
Phil noticed the tone immediately. It was unlike how the God usually carried themselves. Usually XD stood tall and confident. They’d speak with a smile in their voice. This XD was calmer but Phil had a sense it wasn’t for a good reason.
“It’s been a while since you’ve made a visit.” Phil smiled, trying to hide his worry. With his experience raising four sons, he’d had time to know people spoke their feelings more when they weren’t directly asked. “Though, I guess that means it’s good news for me. Means I’ve not broken any rules.” He ended with a chuckle, slightly forced but not too much.
“Mm-hm…” XD hummed, his attention seemed torn between the pond in front of him and Philza. Just as Phil was debating between staying to make sure the God was okay and leaving him alone, XD snapped himself out of his daze.
“Sorry…” XD said, shaking their shoulders and turning more to face Phil. Their voice picked up though didn’t keep their usual cheer. “Yes, it has been a while. Apologies, Phil. I knew you were walking by, I must have forgotten to close the gateway.”
Phil looked around to the small glade the two of them stood in. He knew there was something different but hadn’t realised it was a gateway. The trees stood tall, circled around the glade and letting the morning sun just shine through their leaves which had little flowers growing in them.
The pond interested Phil. It looked like the water was shimmering but there was something on the surface as well. Like showing a reflection that wasn’t there.
“I can leave if you want.” Phil offered.
“No. Please stay. It is nice to see you.”
His voice held a little bit of his old cheer. Phil nodded and smiled in return. “Is this glade yours?”
XD nodded, slowly tilting his head around. “Yes. I made it. Something I’m trying to work on.”
Phil looked around more curiously. Knowing he got here through a gateway already told him this place as far off. “Do you create places like this a lot?”
“Not really. Well…not a lot I guess. I dabble in making new plains from time to time. Only when I’ve got free time or I…need something else to focus on.”
Aha!
It was a slip but it was admitting something at least. Phil knew he had to approach this softly or XD would close up.
“That’s understandable.” Phil stepped forward slowly. He noticed that as soon as he did, the tall God twitched their head to the pond slightly and whatever reflection was on it had disappeared. “We all need something to work on to get through stuff.”
One of XD’s hands twitched and they drew it closer into their side. Phil was close to them now, but kept enough distance from the God.
“Is everything alright, XD?” Phil asked softly, his eyes filled with concern. “It might be none of my business, and you have every right to tell me off for it, but if you need to talk or get something off your chest I’m always open to talk.”
Even with the mask on XD was so expressive. Every twitch and movement conveyed their emotions so easily. Their jaw tightened, shoulders squared and their body fought between wanting to walk forward to Phil and holding their distant stance.
They seemed to compromise with something in the middle. They didn’t move any closer but their stance loosened, shoulders slumped. “I’m having a few…off days.” They admitted.
Phil nodded slowly, hopefully not too eagerly. It didn’t seem to be when XD continued.
“I made a…mistake. Recently. I’ve upset someone close to me and I’m not sure how to fix it. I’ve just been coming here. Working on…this.” He vaguely waved his hand around, gesturing to the area.
Phil frowned, nodding with some understanding. He had been alive for a long time, he knew the pain of fighting with friends. “Is there anyway to talk with this friend?”
XD’s hand clutched onto his wrist. “He… He doesn’t want to speak to me right now…”
Phil gave a sympathetic smile. He quickly looked around, noticing a couple of large rocks set together. He gestured over to them. “Can we sit down?”
XD nodded quickly, almost like a child and Phil had to hold back his chuckle. He made his way over, sitting on one of the rocks. He expected XD to join beside him, but the God instead lowered and and sat on the grass just in front of the rock. Phil didn’t question it, instead he just started talking.
“Fighting with friends is a hard thing to go through. I don’t know what you’ve done to upset him, so I can only give you bare minimum advice. But the only thing you can really do now is give him space to settle himself and work things out. He’ll talk to you when he feels it’s right.”
It wasn’t the answer DreamXD wanted, but the only clear indication of dislike they made was a small huff. “W-What if he never speaks to me again?”
Phil felt a pang of sympathy. “Then it’s his choice, and it might hurt, but you have to respect it.”
XD’s shoulder’s hunched and a small whimper escaped them. Phil wasn’t sure how comfortable XD was with affection, but the God slowly leaned over, their head coming to rest at Phil’s leg and Phil could feel them melt. Phil carefully raised his hand and ran his fingers through XD’s fluffy blonde hair.
“It’s hard.” Phil spoke softly. “Time heals all wounds. And if not, it lessens their sting.”
“Time is different for beings like us though…” XD mumbled.
Phil gave a soft smile, petting through XD’s hair. His hand wandered down, giving a soothing rub down XD’s neck and along the back of the God’s shoulders. A little squeak came from XD though and made him stop, pulling back his hand.
“XD?” Phil asked, noting it took a while for XD to answer again.
“Y-Yeah?”
Phil’s smile slowly turned to a grin, and he put his hand back down onto XD’s neck. He felt the God tense up again, their shoulder shaking as the squeak sound happened again. “Your neck wouldn’t happen to be ticklish, would it?”
XD slowly shook their head. “N-N-Nohoho…”
Phil turned his fingers till the end of his nails touched onto XD’s skin, slowly dragging up the God’s neck till it came under his ear. The squeak came again, but burst into little bubbles of giggles. XD hunched his shoulders up by his neck but he never moved out of Phil’s reach.
“We never got to tickle your neck when you visited us last.” Phil thought out loud.
“Nohohoho…!” XD giggled, curling more up into himself. Phil honestly couldn’t tell if it was in telling him to stop, or if it was confirming his statement. They never moved away and when Phil slowed down his tickling, they leaned more into the touch.
Phil’s wings fluffed up. “You know, XD. When my boys were feeling down, I’d cheer them up with a game.”
XD seemed to perk up at that. He turned his head slightly, peeking up to Phil. “A game?”
Phil smile turned soft. “Yes. A tickle game.”
The avian could see the shiver run up XD’s spine and spill out of his lips in a giggle. “A t-tihickle gahame?”
“Do you want to try it?” Phil asked hopefully.
“Wh-What’s the gahame?”
“I won’t tell you until you agree.” Phil smiled at the whine that came from the God. “Do you agree?”
XD only hesitated for a moment before he nodded. “Y-Yes…”
XD repositioned himself under Phil’s instructions to sit more in front of the blonde. He couldn’t help himself from curling up, giggling every few seconds. Phil wanted to coo how cute it was, but he didn’t want to fluster him too much.
“You’ll need to take off your robe, is that okay?” Phil asked softly and was surprised when the robe just faded into nothing. Of course XD was a God, they could just make that happen, but it still caught Phil off guard whenever he saw powers like that. He shook of the shock quick and continued on. “You’ll need to lean forward a bit.”
XD followed the instructions carefully, slightly leaning forward to where Phil had a good view of their back. The top XD wore had the back cut away, probably to make it easier movement for his four set of arms. Phil could see the ridges of XD’s spine against the bare skin and reached forward, just touching gently. The skin was so soft and warm, and XD jumped from the contact, making Phil chuckle.
“The game is,” Phil explained, “I’m going to write out a small phrase on your back. I’ll go slow, with one letter at a time. If you think you know the word I’m writing, you can guess it. But if you guess wrong, I have to start writing the word all over again.”
XD shivered throughout the explanation. Probably not helped that Phil was moving his hand ever so slightly to rub up and down the God’s back. He was gentle feeling out the shape of his spine, the muscles of his shoulder blades, but his touch was firm enough that it didn’t tickle. Just kept XD on edge.
“A-And then I h-hahave to guess the phrase?” XD asked.
Phil nodded. “Yes. When you think you know the phrase you can guess it. But if you get the phrase wrong, then the punishment will be a little more severe.”
Before XD could ask how severe, Phil fluffed up his black wings and brought them forward to curl around and press into XD’s side. The God giggled and laughed as the wings settled, rubbing and softly tickling along the God’s sides, back and armpits. Even as the wings stopped he was still giggling through his words.
“Ph-Phihihihil…! T-hahahat’s…”
“If you get the phrase wrong, all these feathers will start brushing up against you.” Phil’s smile turned to a grin. “You remember how tickly my wings were, don’t you?”
“Naha! N-Nohoho! Y-Yohohou cahahan’t!”
“I don’t want to. But if you guess wrong, well I can’t stop my wings from giving out punishments now can I?”
Phil just slightly moved the tip of his wing under XD’s armpit and was surprised by the squeal from the God before they settled back into giggling. It took Phil a moment before the memory kicked in. “Oh! Your armpits are your weak spot, aren’t they!”
“Phihihil!” XD squawked like the fact was some terrible embarrassment.
“Oh you really don’t want to get it wrong then.” Phil couldn’t hold back his own giggling. “That’s going to tickle sooooo much, isn’t it?”
XD made a spew of giggle laced excuses but when Phil had asked if they were ready, they quietened down and nodded.
Phil placed his hand over XD’s back. The God was tall, so their back was long, lots of space to write on. “I’ll go easy on you and write the letters slowly.”
Phil pressed his pointer finger to the top of XD’s back, just under the God’s neck. XD started giggling even though Phil hadn’t moved yet. When he did start, XD was giggling so much Phil was sure there was no way he was going to guess the letter, let alone the word. But, Phil carried on.
It was an easy letter for the first one. A straight line down and then a line across right at the very top. Phil paused a moment before moving onto the next letter, tracing a straight line slowly down XD’s spine, having to correct himself as XD’s giggling and wriggling tried to dislodge his finger.
“T..T-T… I….” XD giggled through his words, working out the letters.
Phil was impressed. “I thought you were laughing to much to pay attention. Let’s see if you can figure out the rest.”
Phil traced a long curve from XD’s shoulder blade to above his hips. The next letter was a straight line down. He made the dragging of it a little slower, using his nail and turning XD’s giggles up into a laugh, barked out of him in surprise.
“Ph-Phihihihilllllll…” The tall God tittered.
“You better pay attention, XD.”
Phil had finished tracing his letter and to give XD credit, he did pick it up between the laughter.
“K! T-Tickle! Th-The wohord ihihis tihihihckle!”
“Oh, that’s a shame.” Phil made an over exaggerated sigh. “You were so close. Now I’ll need to start over again.”
“N-NO! Nohoho! Th-ahahat’s nohohot fahaihir!”
Phil started over by writing the ‘T’ again. Of course it wouldn’t just be that simple. He went slower, and wriggled his finger against the smooth skin and kneading his finger in whenever XD’s laughter would kick up. By the third letter, Phil had a good map out of XD’s back and his most sensitive spots. He was giggly on his lower back, and up at his shoulder blades. But when Phil went close to to XD’s spine the God’s giggling would bubble up into laughter and he could barely holding himself still.
Phil had just finished the ‘L’, seeing XD try to hold themselves back from guessing again. When the blonde avian made a slow drag down the God’s back diagonally, he could feel them perk up.
“T-Tihickly!” XD blurted out, and the excitement couldn’t stop their words. “T-Tickly God!”
“Ohoho…” Phil couldn’t hold back his giggles to keep up his disappointed tone. “Oh no XD, thahat’s the wrong guess.”
Even with the mask on, Phil could see XD face dropped. “Naha! Nohohoho! Nohoho!”
“You know what that means~” Phil cooed. His feathers ruffling up in excitement. He could have easily said that he was enjoying this a lot more than XD.
XD squealed, giving a very visible jump. “N-Nahaha! D-Dohohon’t! Give-Gihihive mehe ahanother ch-chahahahance!”
Phil hummed in consideration, his feathers stilled but fingers drummed over the taller ones back. “I don’t know… That doesn’t seem so fair.”
“Ihit’s my fihirst time! P-Pleheahase….”
Phil couldn’t see XD’s face, but he knew the sound of puppy dog eyes pleading far too well. He felt a pang of sympathy which in hindsight was a funny thing considering XD could have snapped his fingers and smite Phil down.
“Alright. I’ll let you have two more guesses.” Phil agreed. “But if you get it wrong, then these will start moving.” His wings ruffled ever so slightly making XD squeal. “Two guesses. But you get no more letters.”
“Wh-AHAT?! Th-That’s-”
“No more whining.” Phil spoke ‘firmly’, but he was smiling widely. “Two chances and that’s it.”
XD started in a whine, ending it quickly when he realised. One set of his arms were loosely wrapped around his legs, his fingers nervously drumming along his calf. When Phil twitched his wings he jumped. “O-Okahahay! Okahahay! U-Uhummm…”
Phil traced the word ‘tickly’ over and over on XD’s back. While he excused it was to give the God motivation, it was also to watch XD wriggle and hear his giggling.
“H-How mahany wohordss…?” XD asked carefully.
“Hmm. I guess that’s fair. It’s two words, so you know the first.”
XD made a humming giggling noise, his back shivering when Phil’s fingers moved close to his spine. “T-Tihickly… Eh-Ehehex D?”
“Nope!” Phil answered with more glee than he probably should have. “Last chance~”
“Th-Thahahat’sss….” XD broke down into giggles. Phil stilled his hand to let XD think but it didn’t stop their giggling. “T-Tihihicklehey… T-Tihickly g-gahame?”
“Oh noooo…” Phil exaggerated his words, grinning wide when XD giggled and curled in on himself. “XDeeeee~ That’s the wrong one~”
“N-Nohoho…”
“You know what that meanssss~”
“Nonononono!”
XD fumbling words ended in breaking out into a barking laugh as Phil started ruffling and rubbing his wings against the God’s sides. He expected XD to struggle and try to run. He did not expect XD to curl up, and melt to the ground.
“Ph-Phihihihihil!” XD brought his arms in as close as he could, but it didn’t stop the feathers already in his armpits, sawing against his skin and the ones tickling up against his sides. “PHIHIHIHIHIHIHIL!”
“Maybe someone shouldn’t be so impatient.” Phil cooed. He came down to kneel on the ground, following XD with his wings and skittering his fingers along their back. “You should learn to wait.”
“Ihihihi’m sohohohohorry! Phihihihihihil! Pleheheheheahahahahase!”
Phil moved his wings to cluster around XD’s armpits. Of course the God had two sets of arms so Phil focused his wings onto the upper set as he slipped his hands into XD’s lower set. He wasn’t so mean however, only giving the God a light tickling, but they still kicked up and squealed when those blunt nails were running along their sensitive skin.
Eventually Phil took pity on them. He didn’t know how much stamina a God had, but he slowed down to a light tickling till XD was giggly. He pulled back his wings, folding them against his back as his hands stopped and moved to pat along their back. The giggles died down into a soft purr, and soon XD was curled up in the grass with his head leaning by Phil’s leg.
“Feeling better?” Phil asked. XD only gave a slow nod. “Good.” The avian was genuinely glad. A calm and relaxed XD was much better to have than a sad one.
“Thank you, Phil.” XD sighed when the giggles had left him. “I do feel…better for the moment.”
Phil’s smile turned sympathetic. “It will get better as time goes on. Whether it goes the way you want or not, it will get better.”
XD gave another slow nod into the grass before he pushed himself up. He stretched out his back, similar to how a cat stretched when it just woke up, and then fully picked himself up. Phil followed soon after.
“If you ever need cheering up again, you can always find me.” Phil half offered, chuckling as XD gave a huff.
“I can’t believe your boys are still ticklish after all you put them through.”
“Put them through?! They love my cheer up tickles!” Phil’s feathers fluffed up. “They ask for them all the time!”
The two left the enchanted forest. Phil could feel the return back to the woods by his home. The air felt chillier, and the trees not so green.
XD followed Phil a bit on his walk, but the talk was on more mundane things. When they got close to Phil’s home, XD made his excuse to leave, departing with a quick ‘pop’ and he was gone.
Phil hoped XD could sort it all out with his friend. Living as long as he did, Phil knew the pain of losing friends, and how it hurt more when the friendship ended from a fall out rather than a natural progression. However it turned out, Phil wished XD the best.
And he was always ready on call to give the God some cheer up tickles again.
111 notes
·
View notes
Text
Little Secret
Request: Wonderful! Could please write an escenario in which y/n (half elf and half human) was part of the company cause Gandalf hired her. She and Kili fell for each other and secretly started courting. Once Erebor was reclaimed everything was going back to normal. Thorin asked her to stay for as long as she liked. When Fili & Kili's mom got there, she had lots of meetings with Thorin so y/n was not able to properly meet her. The day that they are actually introduced, Thorin announces Kili's and Fili's arranged marriages which took everyone by surprise. Y/n and Kili try to figure and fix things out in order to convince Thorin to put off the arrange marriage but it does not work. Therefore, y/n decides to leave Erebor and ends up leaving to Dale; befriending/ helping Bard and his kids. During her time there she finds out that she was pregnant with Kili's child. However, she never notifies Kili nor goes to Erebor to announce it thinking that he had his duty as a prince and it would be harmful for him/ his arranged marriage. So, she makes the decision to raise the baby on her own. Time goes by and on a normal day (when she was 9 months pregnant) that she's walking around Dale while feeling contractions she bumps into Kili. Thank you so much!❤️ Sorry for the long message 😅 - @just-a-dreamer23
A/N: I know, I know, this is soo long. But, I enjoyed writing this story!! I've been trying to overcome my lack of motivation to write, so maybe it isn't as good in some parts, as my other stories, but I wanted to keep it that way, so I hope you enjoy anyways.
Tags: @guardianofrivendell @just-a-dreamer23 @anjhope1 @lathalea
The afternoon was hot. The best thing to do, was to take a nap. At least, in your opinion.
Nothing would attack in this heat, you thought, as you rested under a tree. A while after, you noticed pointy hat and grey cloak of the same colour. You lazily waved.
"Gandalf, long time no see!" Gandalf smiled at you.
"Good afternoon, Y/N." You stood up and looked at him, waiting. Gandalf never came just...for no reason.
"How are you doing?" Gandalf asked, and you shrugged.
"I'm just wandering around, as usual. You know me. I never stay in one place for too long." You said. Gandalf knew that, obviously. Being a child of an elf and a human, you felt like you never belong anywhere.
Elves felt really tense and quiet, and humans were quite loud for you, because of your hearing. And you aged lot slower than them, so making friends was also quite...not it.
"I've been looking for you, to join an adventure," You curiously gave him a look.
"An adventure? What kind of adventure?"
"Well," he looked at you.
"You know about Erebor and the line of Durin, right?" You frowned at him, and quickly shook your head.
"Gandalf, I can't-I can't join the dwarves! They will hate me! Everyone knows they hate the elves, and I'm half elf!" You said.
"Well, who said they will know? You owe me help," he reminded you. You thought back to when he healed you after orcs attacked you, and you sighed. He was right. This was the least you could do.
"And, who knows. Maybe they will like you," he gave you a look, and you folded your hands on your chest, and let out a sigh.
"Alright then. Where and when am I supposed to be?" He gave you all the information you needed. And you started your way to the Shire, looking at the first evening stars, as the starlight is what the Elves of Mirkwood love so much.
You got to the Shire around late afternoon after three days of traveling, and smiled. The hobbits and their houses were tiny, so you couldn't help, but smile. Maybe it won't be that bad, having perhaps a hobbit friend, after all...
-
You remembered the moment when you first met Kili. You thought Gandalf was there at Bilbo's house, but when you opened the door...
"Are you Master Boggins?" You frowned at the brunette dwarf.
"Do I look like a hobbit to you?" He looked at the other dwarf, then back at you, but there was Bilbo already.
Later on the journey, he found you without your cape on. It was your turn for bathing, but him and Fili forgot some their things at the river.
You just put off your cloak, and put your hair down from your headband. You heard steps, so you quickly turned around.
"You are..." Fili started.
"...an elf?" Kili finished. You huffed.
"Half elf. My mother was...human." you whispered. Painful memories of your early life came up, and you blinked to stop the tears.
"Don't tell anyone, please..." you looked at them. Both Fili and Kili must've seen something in your expression, that made them realize the importance. They nodded. Kili was, however, curious. Lot more than before, and asking you about elves. You talked about it when Thorin was far enought to not hear what was your conversations about, but it wouldn't matter much. Gandalf told them you spent part of your life living with the elves, which was true.
In fact, Kili became fascinated by you. He liked you before, and had a feeling, which he wasn't sure about. Interest, curiousity, the need to protect you, adoration...
In the moment he saw you, he realized you were his One, his love for life. And when you got closer, he asked you to court him. You said yes. From then on, you shared many quiet and stolen kisses and moments together, in the shadows of forests or your bedrooms in pubs.
The moment everyone else (except for Bilbo and the Durin brothers) found out, was when you came into Mirkwood. Thranduil ordered his guards to take your cloak and headband off, and now, everyone could see your pointy ears.
There was a moment of silence.
"What made an elf, to travel with group of dwarves?" You gulped and looked down.
"I'm a-a half elf," you whispered.
"My father was from here." You explained, and the king shot you a glare. He was not stupid. He knew you tried to pull his attention away.
"Take them to the dungeons, except for Oakenshield," he said.
When you made yourself as comfortable as you could on the cold floor, you overheard the dwarves trying to find out who you actually were and what you wanted.
To your surprise, they didn't talk about you in a bad way. Just curiousity. Thankfully.
-
"Do you think she will like me?" You said to Kili. He was writing a letter to his and Fili's mother, Dis, the happy news - Erebor was reclaimed, and they all survived. It's been a week since, and Thorin decided it was the right thing to let his sister know as soon as possible. She was surely worried.
Kili turned to you.
"Like you? Like you? She is going to love you," Kili grinned at you, and you had to smile a little too.
"Yeah, but...you know, I'm not a dwarf," you said your worry aloud. It was true. Being a half-elf, you and Kili started courting in secret. Thorin was not really kind to you, at least the first half of the journey. However, the rest of the Company liked you lot more. Especially Kili. After a while of knowing of what did you feel, you decided to tell him. To your surprise, but happiness, Kili shared those feelings. And since then, you had a tiny braid, hidden in your hair, and Kili as well.
And stole many, many secret kisses.
"I don't think mum is going to have issue with this," Kili stood up, and gently placed your hair behind your ear.
"You're my One, and you make me incredibly happy. I'm sure she won't have problem with you being half elf," You cupped his cheek, and softly smiled, as you looked deep in his kind brown eyes.
"I love you too, my short Prince," He stood on his toes and kissed you, getting a giggle from you. He pouted, when he heard you called him short, but you knew he didn't mind it.
You kissed him, and felt his smile on your lips. You were leaning down, when suddenly you lost balance, and both you and Kili ended up lying on the floor. Kili and you let out a yelp, but then broke into giggles.
"I love you," Kili said, when you finally stopped laughing. You cuddled into his chest and breathed in his scent. Kili smelled like smoke, food and fresh air.
"I love you too," Kili gently stroke your hair, and you got up.
"Where are you going?"
"You have to finish the letter, and I promised Tilda I will take a walk with her before the dinner." You helped Kili to get up.
"Alright my beloved, have a good time," he gently kissed you, and sat back to his desk. You smiled, and ruffled his hair.
"You too, my dearest." You smiled, and left the room.
-
It's been a few months, and you were finally, finally going to meet Kili and Fili's mother, Dis. She has been there for around two weeks by now, but, you haven't got the chance to meet her and be introduced to her yet.
You were officially going to meet her during upcoming celebration. Needless to say, you were freaking out.
Your stomach was tight from anxiety for a few days already, and that afternoon, it felt absolutely horrible. You haven't eaten whole day, just because all you thought about was the evening.
You spent around an hour of putting on and off different dresses from your wardrobe, trying to figure out which one to wear.
"Y/N?" Kili knocked on the door of your chambers.
"C'me in," you said. He came in, and his eyes widened, when he seen you sitting in front of the mirror, your eyes red and the mess everywhere.
"What am I supposed to wear? I have nothing to wear!" You started crying. All the stress and anxiety in past three months got the best of you. Random moments of crying, because of tiny things, were happening on daily basis.
"Dear, what is happening?" He pulled your hair back behind your ears.
"I-I just want-want your mum to like me," you muttered.
"And...it stresses me out." Kili nodded, and shortly hugged you.
"She is going to love you no matter which dress you wear, I promise." He whispered to your ear.
"Now, I think..." Kili looked around.
"I think the...the dark green dress will be perfect."
When you changed into the dress Kili picked you, Kili brushed and styled your hair. He pulled the top section into a clip, and you pulled a few strands, to frame your face. You smiled at yourself in the mirror.
"You ready?" Kili asked. You just silently nodded.
As you walked down the hall, Kili was trying to figure out where his uncle, brother and mother went to. He couldn't see them anywhere, and he was sure he was once in a while not late.
When you entered the huge throne room, you could see Fili, and let out a breath of relief.
"Fili, have you seen-"
"Kili, there you are," A woman came from behind Fili, and looked over her younger son.
"Have you brushed your hair?" Kili huffed.
"Of course I did." He said quietly, so nobody could hear him. He was visibly embarrassed, and you let out laugh. She suddenly turned to you. Her deep blue eyes reminded you Thorin, but they had the same twinkle as Kili and, occasionally, Fili.
"I don't remember I seen you here before," she said.
"Well, I usually spend my time outside of Erebor, so I think that might be it," You nervously smiled. She hummed.
"I-I'm not a part of the royal family," you said, and almost groaned. Now that was embarrassing for sure.
"Y/N, this is my and Kili's mum, Dis. Mum, this is Y/N," Fili said, and you felt your cheeks heat up.
"I-um-" You tried to say something, but she pulled you in short hug.
"Nice to meet you, Y/N," she gave you a smile, and then went back between the guests with Fili.
You let out a breath.
"That was embarrassing," you groaned. Kili chuckled.
"No, not at all. She likes you." It suddenly felt like it was much easier to breathe.
"She-she does?" Your eyes widened, and Kili nodded.
"Of course! And you can bet she will steal you to me during the evening,"
"How do you know that?" You turned to him with surprise written all over your face.
"She is my mother. I know her for a long time." He just said.
"She seems to be...different from Thorin," you said, hoping it wouldn't come out as offensive. Kili chuckled.
"Mum and Uncle really aren't that different. Uncle just focuses more on the kingdom and mum, on family," Kili said in low voice, so that only you could hear it.
When you sat down to the table, where the royal family and the Company was, you looked around. You and Kili did secretly hold hands under the table, and you talked to Dis, who was sitting across the table.
"Good evening, everyone," Thorin said, and the people got more quiet.
"It's my pleasure to meet all of you here today. I have some things to say, before the celebration starts." Thorin paused, and Kili leaned near you with a grin.
"It's just a few formalities, don't worry, love." You smiled at him back with tight smile. You felt something was not right. Thorin talked about the kingdom a little at first. The next news was, however, what you were afraid of.
"I'm very happy to say, my nephew Fili is going to marry-" you let out a breath. Kili turned to you with worry.
"Do you feel okay?" He asked, when suddenly...
"And my nephew Kili, who also has already arranged marriage, with-"
Kili stared at Thorin, and you as well.
"Kili-Kili, please-" you tried to stop Kili from going to Thorin. Kili was visibly angry, his jaw was tight, and body tense.
"Kili? What is happening?" Thorin came and let through his teeth. You suddenly felt everyone's eyes on you.
"I need some fresh air," you whispered and walked away, as quickly as you could. When you left, you came in your chambers, kneeled to your bed, and started crying.
You knew it. You should've known before.
Thorin would do this. Even when Fili and Kili were children, he would make sure they had wives already. They were princes. They needed to have a wife.
And Thorin...Thorin would never allow Kili to court you or marry you.
The next day, Kili came into your room. He had dark circles under his eyes, and gave you weak smile.
"I promise we will work this out," he muttered, and pulled you close to his chest.
Kili was asleep - and you let him - but, you thought about your situation, and tried to come up with possible solutions.
However, it was as if there weren't any.
It's been a few days, and you cuddled into your blanket. You fell asleep, and when you woke up, you looked around the room.
This place isn't for me anymore, you thought, and started packing your clothes into your bag. You changed into tunic and trousers, and wrote a letter to Kili, that you were sorry, but it was probably better to have a wife his Uncle would like, that you were leaving and never coming back, so he shouldn't be looking for you.
You quietly left the palace, and walked out in the morning. The air was fresh and nice, and for a moment, you forgot your sadness.
You walked to Dale, and decided to meet Bard. You had nowhere to go, and maybe staying there would be good, before you'd go...somewhere else.
The guards let you in, and as you thought of going to Rivendell, you noticed Bard.
"Bard?" He turned to you, and nodded at you.
"Hi Y/N. What brings you here?" You sighed.
"I'm leaving Erebor, Bard...but the problem is, I need to think about of where-" you suddenly felt dizzy, and Bard catched you. He called for a healer, that's what your hazy mind could catch.
You basically woke up, in a room. On a bed. Comfortable bed.
"Lie still, lady Y/N," the healer said. You frowned a little, when she placed her ear to your stomach.
"I can hear the heartbeat clearly. The baby is most likely around three months old," she said.
"What baby?" You asked, confused. You looked from the healer to Bard and Bard to healer. She took your hands in hers.
"You don't know, my lady? You are pregnant. I can clearly hear the heartbeat of your child," she softly smiled at you. You shook your head, and felt a few tears escaping your eyes.
"I'm...I'm with child," you whispered. You could not believe it. So perhaps, it wasn't just stress...
"Who is the father?" The healer asked, when she helped you to sit up. You nervously looked in your lap.
"Kili. Prince...Kili. Kili Durin." You said, and Bard and the healer shared a look.
"He...he doesn't know. Can we keep it a secret? Please?" You looked at them.
They said yes. Bard was like a father to you, and let you stay. He showed you chambers, that would be your home for next few months at least.
You never went back to Erebor. You thought Kili had to marry the princess, so you just tried to think of the baby you were carrying.
It wasn't that hard, honestly. The baby was often restless, though.
As if it missed Kili as much as you did...
Even if the baby would have to grow up without it's biological dad, you were sure you'd be able to take care of them well.
Some days, you were happy, and didn't think of Kili too much. It pained you, yes, and you knew you had to be strong for the baby, so you often asked someone to teach you something, such as how to prepare different meals, how to knit or how to play piano, to name a few.
Other days, you felt sad. It could be because of the weather, or hormones, some days you just woke up sad, and sometimes it was when something reminded you of Kili. Those days, the baby was the most restless, and the maids told you it was because the baby missed it's father.
You sat down to the armchair next to the window in your bedroom, and looked out on the street. Nobody could see you from here, so it made you feel safe. You looked up and seen Erebor.
"There's your daddy, over there," you whispered to the baby.
The answer you got, was soft kick.
-
"Does it hurt?" Sigrid asked you, looking at your belly. You smiled at her.
"No, it doesn't." You stroke your stomach. You've been pregnant for past almost nine months. Bard was so kind and let you stay, and even offered you bigger chambers, which you gladly agreeded to. The chambers were perfect size, and the baby could have their own small room, overtime.
You let out shaky breath. You wanted Kili to know about all of this. To be there with you, talk to you and to the baby.
But, it was not possible. It would hurt his reputation, and perhaps even his marriage.
You dried your tears, and carefully stood up. Even as pregnant, you were able to stand up yourself, luckily quite easily. You felt very thankful for some of your genes being from the elves, because, as Bard explained to you, humans had it harder.
When you slowly got yourself out of the castle, you breathed in. The air smelled nicely - you smelled fresh bread, old leaves, fresh air from the lake. Mix of summer and autumn. You felt it was one of the last few warm days, before the typical autumn comes.
You looked around, and your cravings were begging you for some freshly baked, soft warm bread with fresh butter, melting on top of it. You thought of the crispiness of the bread's crust, and your mouth started watering. You groaned, when you felt how your stomach let you know some snack would come handy.
You slid your hand to your pocket, and made sure you have enough money.
You started walking, to find some bakery, and as you looked around, you noticed one on the other end of the street.
You let out a breath, and started walking towards the small store.
You were almost there, when you overheard a gasps, escaping a few young girls. You slowed down and listened to their conversation.
"Did you see him?"
"Yes, I did. Do you think it really is the Prince?"
"Of course he is! I mean, look at him. I'd recognize the hair clip everywhere." You frowned a little, when you suddenly realized it. You stopped walking, and felt hot wave running down your back, and liquid running down your leg.
You carefully looked down. It was clear.
You turned around, and - damn it! - your eyes locked with Kili's in the exact moment.
He started walking towards you. You clearly recognized happiness in his eyes, and relief.
"Y/N, where have you been those past months? I was worried about you," He said, and when he was near you, you recognized even the wet shine in his chocolate eyes. You felt sudden rush of guilt.
He must have notice the guilt on your face. Kili frowned a little, when he took a notice of your belly, under the dress.
"I-you..." You noticed it. He was holding back tears. You shook your head, as you tried to hold your own.
"Kili, it isn't like this...please trust me!" You felt another wave of heat running down your back, and stepped forward, but sudden dizzines made you take wrong step. Kili quickly catched you.
"Kili, I-this is, uh..."
"You moved on," he said. You shook your head.
"No, it's...you are the father," you said, but didn't notice what was his reaction, because suddenly, you realized what was going on, as you were holding your belly.
"I need to get back, and find a healer and midwife," you let out through your gritted teeth.
"We will get there quickly," Kili let out, and you had a feeling.
"Don't you dare to faint!" You let out.
Kili helped you to get back. You noticed Sigrid, and told her to quickly find healer. She didn't ask anything, and quickly runned away. You let out a groan and gripped Kili's arm.
"Lady Y/N, we need to get you to the room prepared for labour," the healer said, and checked on your belly.
When you got there, and changed into simple gown, you laid down as the healer told you.
Kili stayed there, and you were gripping his arm and hand.
"I'm not fucking letting you to sleep with me ever again," you said through gritted teeth. Kili took a shaky breath, and you shot him a glare.
"Don't you dare to faint, Kili Durin! You did put this baby inside me nine months ago, so now-"
"This is just the pain speaking from Lady Y/N, Prince Kili. Don't take it personally," Kili gulped and nodded.
"You're doing great, love," he said carefully. You let out a huff.
"I didn't finish! Now you will deal with me breaking your arm, because it hurts!" You almost yelled at him.
"I can see the head, my Lady!" The healer smiled.
"With this next contraction, you will push as much as you can!" The healer said.
"Okay, one, two, three-push!"
"You're doing great, dear. The baby is almost there," Kili tried to cheer you up.
"You have no idea how painful it is!" You screamed.
"My lady, this is going to be your last push, are you ready?" The healer looked up at you, and you nodded.
"One, two, three, push!" The healer let out. You gripped Kili's hand, and suddenly...
You heard a baby scream.
"It's a girl!" The healer said happily. You smiled, and let out some happy tears.
"You-you did it!" Kili said, and you wiped off your eyes.
"No, we did it," you muttered, and he kissed your cheek.
"How do you feel, Y/N?"
"I'm okay," you smiled. The midwife checked on you, and handed you your baby.
"Everything seems to be in order," she said and smiled. You smiled at her back. She was there for you for all those months, and you got close.
"Thank you so much," She nodded.
"I'll leave you alone," she said, and left.
You stroke the baby's cheek.
"How are we going to name her?" Kili whispered, and stroke the baby's chubby cheek. You shrugged.
"Well...I'm not sure. I was thinking of Arina," you said.
"It's...it's beautiful name," Kili said, and you realized he was crying.
"Kili...I'm so sorry for...for hiding it from you," you whispered. Kili shook his head.
"Love...it isn't your fault. Can I...can I hug you?" You nodded, and he slid his arm around your shoulders.
"If anything, it's my fault." He muttered.
"I should've known where did you go, and-"
"Shh," you said.
"We can talk about that later. Arina's asleep now."
You were quietly watching the baby. The midwife came back soon, to check on you and the baby, and when she left, Kili spoken up.
"We talked Uncle the marriges out." You nodded.
"You left Erebor by then already. I was looking everywhere for you, only if I knew-" you subtly interrupted him.
"I didn't know either. I wanted to go to Rivendell, but...then, I found out. It would be risky, so Bard let me stay here," You shrugged.
"Do you still want to leave, though?" Kili looked at you with sad eyes, when he looked away from your daughter. You shook your head.
"No." Kili grinned, and gently brushed his hand over your cheek.
"Just for your information...mum was going nuts when she found out about the arranged marriges. She likes you a lot." You smiled, and took Kili's hand in yours.
"Well...let's hope she likes her too," You looked at Arina's sleeping face.
You came back the next day. Kili had to go to Erebor that evening, but in the morning, he came back.
When you entered, you overheard a strong female voice. You quickly realized who was the woman.
"I don't care my brother has a meeting. Go tell him he has to come here. It's a family emergency," she said, and turned to you and Kili.
"Y/N, where have you-oh, who is this?" Dis turned to you, and noticed the baby. You shared a look with Kili.
"This is your granddaughter," You said carefully. Dis looked between you and Kili, and it seemed like most things clicked to her. She smiled.
"Well..."
"Dis, what does that means?" Thorin's voice came from different hall, and you noticed Fili giving you a knowing smile.
"Thorin..." you said, and he turned to you. He seemed to be confused, but then he looked at Arina.
"What does this-"
"Uncle, let's get some privacy first," Fili said.
When you came to library, Thorin turned to you. Dis stood up, as if she would want to protect you.
"Uncle...Y/N and I started courting on the quest in secret. We planned to get married, but when you announced the arranged marriges for me and Fili, we-"
"I left Erebor, because I thought you would never accept me as partner for your nephew, Thorin. I found out I was pregnant, however, I didn't want to hurt Kili's reputation or his marrige, so I never came back to announce it. He met me in Dale yesterday, and I, um...I went to labour." Thorin has been looking at you and Kili. Your body was tense, and Fili, Kili and Dis were ready to protect you any moment.
Thorin slowly closed this eyes, and placed his face into his palms. When he looked up again, he let out a sigh.
"Fili, Kili, sister, leave us alone."
"But Uncle-" Fili said, but Thorin shook his head.
"I said, leave us alone. It won't be long." They three left, and you were a bit afraid.
"Kili is a prince, yes. But, he is also a dwarf, who needs to have someone who he is happy with." Thorin said, looking away from you.
"I noticed, of course. You make him happy, Y/N. I thought it was just childish love, that you would leave, and it would break Kili's heart. I owe you honest apology, Y/N. For thinking you wouldn't take his love seriously." He looked at you, and you let out a small smile. You nodded.
"Apology accepted, Thorin. Courting Kili makes me incredibly happy, and I am honored to say he is my lover," you said, and Thorin looked at you.
"Well, and when it comes to, um...you staying, you can stay here. If you would like to."
"I'd be very thankful."
A few years later
"Fi, look!" Kili said, as Arina walked towards Kili, again. She was giggling, as her father was dancing with her. You laughed.
"Kili, be careful!"
"Daddy, look!" The little girl pointed to a butterfly, who sat on her dress.
"Yeah, it's beautiful," Kili said, and she pouted.
"Don't move, or it will fly away!" Arina let out, and let the butterfly gently walk on her palm.
"Uncle, look, I got a butterfly!" Arina showed it to Fili, who nodded with nervous face.
"Oh, it's beautiful, Ari. Would you put it, um, a bit away from me, please?" She put the butterfly on a flower, and Fili let out a breath.
"I'm sleepy, mommy." She came to you, and lean her head on your shoulder.
"Ari?" A little boy came, and the girl jumped up with grin.
"Vili!" She squealed, and started tickling her cousin.
"Granny!" Arina gasped, when she noticed Dis.
"You are growing up so fast, Ari!" She said proudly, and you two shared a look.
"Aye, that's what she does," Kili let out a chuckle, and gently kissed your cheek.
#kili#kili x reader#fili#fili x reader#thorin#thorin x reader#the hobbit#gandalf#gandalf x reader#bilbo baggins#bilbo x reader#bilbo baggins x reader#the hobbit fanfiction#request#requested#kili x you#kili x y/n
321 notes
·
View notes
Text
Diplomacy
Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader
Genre: Enemies to Lovers Royal AU
Word count: 12K (I may have gotten carried away)
Warnings: Parental Death, an American writing about monarchies she doesn’t understand
A/N: Hi everyone! I have been working on this one for a while and it’s by far the longest thing I’ve ever written and I am so proud of it (please be nice)!! I also made a Pinterest board with all the outfits from this if you want to check it out here!! SO SO SO much love to @meetmymouth @bfharry and @hardcandy-harry for helping me out when I needed it and being the most wonderful people in general :) As always, thank you so so much for reading!! More of my writing can be found in my masterlist and feedback/reblogs mean the world!!!
****
Y/N knew from the day she could understand the concept of marriage that she would one day be married to the little prince with wild brown curls her mother always forced her to play with. She still vividly remembered the first time he told her that she was ugly and that he hated her. She was only five years old at the time.
Fortunately, she hated him just as much as he hated her. He was rude, somehow always sticky, and seemed to have no filter or manners, letting every nasty thing he could think of fall past his lips in daggers aimed at his future wife.
As they grew older, their animosity only grew, from petty to school yard quarrels to attacks on their personalities and who they were as people. Despite her pleas to her mother to be sent to a different boarding school than the one he was already attending, she was shipped off.
She studied judiciously, what was expected of every future queen, while she watched Harry meander through his schooling. He never seemed to listen in class, never studied, and seemed to only care about football and girls. She watched with jealousy and contempt as he flirted with every girl at their school, every girl except the one he knew he was to marry; while every boy in the school knew Y/N was off limits, direct orders from the crown.
It made her uncomfortable how much she disliked him. She was not a hateful person, having been trained well to treat everyone with dignity and respect, she was a princess after all. But something about Harry just got under her skin. She barely was able to control the instinctive eye roll whenever his name was mentioned and she often pretended to gag when discussing him with her friends, especially when one of them would inevitably call him ‘dreamy.’
The happiest day of her life was the day she watched him graduate, knowing she had been awarded years of peace without having to listen to his taunts or watch him flirt with everything that breathed. During those years, she flourished. She grew from a timid girl in line for power to a confident young woman preparing for the crown. She knew her country through and through, her constitution front to back, and had even begun studying Harry’s country as well. Whether she liked it or not, she knew she would have to pick up his slack in governing his kingdom eventually, she might as well be good at it.
Four more years of education at Cambridge, brought four more years of growth and being free from Harry, but the deal she had made with her mother was quickly coming to a close. As soon as she finished her education, their engagement would be made official and wedding planning would commence. While she was tempted to beg for some sort of delay or escape, she understood this was her duty. She owed this to her people, and soon to Harry’s as well; her mother was counting on her.
For the first time in too many years, she stood inside her former and future home. She remembered running through the halls of the massive palace under the ornate ceilings that now hung above her again; reality was sinking in. Through the massive wooden doors that sat in front of her, she knew her fate awaited; a fate named Harry. With a deep breath she steeled herself and smoothed the blush pink lace skirt of her dress, preparing to see the face that had haunted her for so long.
The first thing she noticed was the playful smirk that she associated so closely with his taunts from when they were children. It was the smirk that made her stomach drop; she could only imagine the nasty things that could come past those lips now. He had years to practice.
He stood confidently next to her mother, who had a bright and triumphant grin on her face. He was dressed in an impeccably tailored forest green suit, decorated with his coat of arms pin on the lapel. She wished for the vibrance of his green eyes to lessen but the tone of his suit only made them more intense than she had remembered.
“Harry,” she breathed, as diplomatically and with as much confidence as she could muster. “It’s good to see you,” she lied, reaching her hand out for him to kiss in the antiquated custom that always made her deeply uncomfortable. He delicately grasped her hand and slowly brought it to his blushed lips, the kiss lingering longer than what could have been considered friendly. His snake-like eyes locked with hers, still containing the mischievous glint she had nightmares about. She couldn’t help but notice the hysterically hopeful smile on her mother’s face as she watched them interact.
“It’s always a pleasure, your highness,” he hummed. He must have remembered how uncomfortable that title made her. She was honestly impressed at how he managed to lie and antagonize her in the first sentence he had said to her in over six years.
“Please call me Y/N,” she instructed as politely as possible.
“As you wish,” he said with a conniving smirk on his face. She had been with him no more than two minutes and she already wanted to run for her life. But this wasn’t about her, her country would need a leader soon, and unfortunately, that had to be her.
Her mother rushed over excitedly between the two, breaking the contemptuous silence that had built between them. “Oh children, it’s so nice to see you two back together again. I remember when you used to play when you were little. Always teasing, like you had the biggest crushes on each other.” ‘Teasing’ is a nice way to refer to torture, Y/N thought to herself, never daring to verbalize a thought like that.
“We did always have fun didn’t we, Y/N?” Harry asked her, a thin glaze of politeness coating his malice.
“Oh yes, we did. I still have a scar on my thigh from when you pushed me off the monkey bars.” Her tone was tight lipped and curt, her politeness beginning to give way to the verbal lashing she was dreaming of giving him.
“You’ll have to show me sometime.”
Y/N’s jaw nearly hit the ground. She knew he was a dirty good for nothing flirt, but in front of her mother? If her mother hadn't gently grasped both of their hands, she would have stomped out of the room. Her mother’s gentle touch brought her mind back to what this was all about once again.
“Harry is going to be staying with us from now on,” her mother interjected, clearly sensing the animosity between them. “Oh, and I nearly forgot! Harry, I believe you have something for Y/N, correct?”
“Of course.” He flashed his charming smiles at her poor mother, “How could I have forgotten about that?”
She watched him intently as he reached for the pocket inside his suit jacket, pulling out a small indigo colored velvet box. He opened the box with delicate hands to reveal one of the most gorgeous engagement rings Y/N had ever seen. A deep green emerald sat inside a ring of crystal clear diamond florets, all placed meticulously with care into a gold setting, the color of the velvet intensifying the emerald stone. “It was my grandmother’s,” he spoke softly, the first time she had ever heard him speak with any emotion or genuine feeling. “Before she died, she said she wanted you to have it. She was the mastermind of this arrangement afterall,” he said with a slight chuckle. “For formality’s sake,” he began with a sigh, “will you marry me?”
No, passed through Y/N’s head, but “Yes” fell from her lips. While her heart broke for herself and any chance she had of finding true love, the smile and happy tears in her mother’s eyes reminded her why she was doing all of this. She needs me to do this, Y/N thought to herself, my country is going to need a leader.
Their engagement was announced later that day by royal decree and their wedding was scheduled for the next month. There was no going back now.
The palace was in a flurry of planning and plotting for the big day. Y/N was rushed from meeting to meeting, instructed to make decisions about everything and anything she wanted for the wedding. She stared at floral arrangements until her eyes hurt and flipped through magazines looking at bridesmaid and flower girl dresses until her fingers felt like they were about to fall off. Unsurprisingly to Y/N, Harry was there for almost none of it. Although, she wasn’t exactly complaining about his absence.
He only surfaced when food or his suit was involved. In one vile incident, he arrived at the cake tasting with a wad of gum in his mouth, which was not only strictly prohibited for royals because it could be perceived as being too casual, but Y/N almost called off the entire wedding when she watched him stick chewed bubble gum to the bottom of a 200 year old handcrafted dining table.
“Were you raised by wolves?” she asked through gritted teeth while scolding him and desperately trying to remove the mess.
“Nannies, actually.” She knew by the smirk on his face that he wasn’t done with whatever antagonistic taunts that were planned to fall from his lips. “I’m pretty wild in the bedroom too, wifey.”
His crude comments were meant to hurt her and make her uncomfortable. He knew from their time in school together that she was constantly watched and kept far away from the gaze of any peaking boys, shining a spotlight on the massive double standard between the pair of future rulers. She wore a cloak of inexperience and innocence given to her against her will that embarrassed her to no end, and he knew that the easiest way to pinken her cheeks was to mention sex in any way. He aimed to fluster the poor girl and he got away with it anytime he flashed his dimples in a devilish smirk.
Y/N’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment and furry before she got up from the table and stormed out of the room, muttering “pick whatever fucking cake you want,” before flying down the hallway to her bedroom and slamming the door behind her.
She felt frustrated tears pricking at her eyes as she slid down the back of the heavy wooden door to the floor below her. She let the fabric of her once perfectly steamed dress crumple beneath her and before she let the floodgates of tears open, she looked down at the dainty silver watch that sat on her wrist. You have five minutes until your appointment with the dressmaker, she thought to herself. Three minutes to cry, two minutes to change into a new dress and fix your makeup.
For three minutes, she let all her anger, frustration, and heartbreak fall out of her in loud sobs that anyone on the other side of the door was sure to hear. For three minutes, she let herself feel every angry emotion she had ever felt towards Harry. For three minutes, she didn’t care about her country or her mother needing this wedding. For three minutes, she didn’t care about anything other than her hurt. But only for three minutes.
Then she wiped the tears away, picked herself up off the floor, dressed herself in her favorite navy blue dress, fixed her mascara, and pressed a cool cloth on her cheeks to quell their angry heat. And then she went to see the dressmaker.
The only joy Y/N got out of this whole ordeal was getting to see her dressmaker, Agnes. Agnes was a kind and quiet old woman who was one of the most talented people she had ever met. The pair would sit together for hours discussing styles, the only time her schedule allowed her to relax, and the woman was in the middle of crafting the gown of Y/N’s dreams. It was a lace long sleeved gown with a cathedral length train. The top portion of the lace was sheer, making a strapless neckline visible, before the delicately crafted lace moved crawled up Y/N’s neck into a high collar neckline. It was reserved, but elegant and unique; “just like you,” Agnes once said.
The first time Y/N was able to try the dress on was bittersweet. The dress was stunning and it made her feel like the princess she was, but she did shed a tear thinking about how this moment was tainted with Harry. She wouldn’t be wearing this dress while walking down the aisle to marry the love of her life, she was marrying someone she would consider an enemy.
She bowed down reverently when her mother placed a veil and tiara on her head. The tiara was encrusted with diamonds and speckled with emeralds that happened to match her engagement ring. The tiara was an heirloom and every woman in her family had worn it while getting married for the last two hundred years.
Her mother wept softly before her, a proud smile on her lips. “I’m so happy I get to see you in the wedding tiara before I go, sweetheart,” she said leaning in to press a gentle kiss to Y/N’s cheek. “I know you and Harry aren’t always a perfect pair and neither were your father and I, but we made you.” The queen’s eyes flashed over her face trying to take her in, “And you turned out to be my proudest achievement and the savior of a nation.”
“Thank you, Mama.” She hadn’t called her mother by that name since she was a young girl but it just felt right at that moment. She felt like a child, needing someone to take care of her while she waited for a country to fall on her shoulders.
“I will always guide you through whatever I can,” she said tenderly. “Even when I’m not here, I will always be with you.” Y/N watched as her mother’s eyes welled with more tears, excusing herself quickly before they grew more intense.
Not more than five minutes later, she heard the obnoxious whistling that she had begun to hear in her nightmares from down the hall. What she didn’t expect was for Harry to burst through the door, not only interrupting her fitting, but seeing the dress before the wedding day.
Like all members of traditional royal families, Y/N was extremely superstitious. Her heart immediately broke as she watched his eyes look her up and down, like there was a little piece of her that thought if they did everything right and didn’t break any traditional rules, maybe they would work out. What hurt her even more was that he didn’t even try to leave. He just sat down on a chair, smacking his gum, and stared at her like he was doing nothing wrong. Her eyes were still filled with tears from the emotional moment with her mother and they continued to flow, no longer out of love, but out of anger and frustration.
“Agnes,” Y/N finally spoke, voice cracking as she tried to hold back her tears, “will you excuse us for a moment?”
“Yes, your highness,” Agnes took delicate steps backwards like she was expecting a bomb to go off, before turning around and scurrying out of the room. Her instincts were correct, because at that moment, Y/N exploded.
“What did I ever do to you Harry?” she questioned angrily. “Why are you so determined to absolutely ruin my life? It’s bad enough that I am having an arranged marriage, not even one that I have the tiniest bit of say in.” She watched Harry’s eyes grow wide, like he had never expected her to stand up to him. “I have spent my entire life being watched and guarded, and avoided by every man I’ve ever gotten close to because I was already claimed by someone who wanted nothing to do with me.” She couldn’t remember the last time she had raised her voice like this at someone; she wasn’t sure if she ever had before. “You can’t even pretend that you like me or that we won't be miserable for our entire lives.”
“Y/N, I don’t want this either,” he spoke after a moment of silence, the quiet only broken by Y/N’s heaving breath. “Why can’t you just calm down?”
“Why can’t I calm down?” she repeated. “Maybe because my country is looking to me to become it’s queen. I can’t give myself to my people when I am worrying about you and your incompetence. You may not become king in your country for another 30 years; you have time to learn and grow into a ruler because you’re in my monarchy and you get to learn here first. You’re playing king with my people. Millions of people rely on us the second I am crowned and you act like your irresponsibility doesn’t have far reaching consequences.”
“I’ll be perfectly fine,” he spat back at her, rolling his eyes with his arms crossed in front of himself as he sat back in the chair. “I can’t believe I have to marry you and into this family.”
Y/N felt like she had been punched in the gut. She was stuck with this man for the rest of her life and here he was, disrespecting her, her people, and her family. “Get out,” she said under her breath. When he didn’t move from his seat, she began to yell once again, “Get out! I mean it!” She dropped her voice once again, and spoke more seriously than she ever had before. “I have never hated anymore more than I hate you, Harry. I am doing all of this because I love my country and my people, but I want you to know, I will never be happy because of you.”
For a moment, through her tears, it looked like he had been hurt because of her words, but he was gone from the room before she could confirm it.
She fell to her knees on the dress platform, surrounded by the piles of pure white fabric. She was a perfectly dressed ball of furry and sobs, angry at the world and her predicament. Leaning over and putting her head in her hands, she felt the tiara as it began to slip off her head, falling into her lap.
Y/N picked up the tiara, using gentle reverent hands, examining it closely. The tiara represented the monarchy and every female ruler in her family that had come before her. It shined and dazzled in the bright lights of the room, its crystal clear and emerald stones reflecting multi colored light onto the crisp white of the dress below her. “I’m doing this for you,” she whispered quietly to the tiara like it could answer, tears still silently rolling down her face.
***
They didn’t speak again for almost a week. They communicated solely through their royal secretaries, sending the poor men back and forth with angry messages, almost gossiping about what was happening with each member of the pair when they returned to the sender. Y/N hated Harry, Harry hated Y/N; the same sentiment sent back and forth over and over. The two were driving fast towards a brick wall, and the brick wall was their wedding.
When she woke up one morning about a week before their nuptials, there was a small envelope sitting on the ground like it had been slid underneath her bedroom door. We have to talk, was all it read. It was not lost on her that the stationary had a small olive branch illustrated onto the page.
Later that afternoon, they met in the garden. It felt like a neutral place to talk, the palace obviously being her territory. She had worn a casual flowing white dress, like she was raising a white flag; and she carefully walked with a mug of black coffee, a peace offering of sorts, careful not to get any of the dark liquid on the fabric of her dress.
She found him along a bed of purple Hyacinths, their sweet perfume enveloping them both, sitting on the soft ground dressed in the most casual clothes she had ever seen him in. He was wearing a simple lilac button up and a pair of jeans. He seemed more approachable this way, without the tailoring and the coat of arms that always sat on his lapel. The golden highlights in his curls came out in the sun and his tanned skin seemed to glow. He held a rose colored leather bound notebook in his hands.
“Hi,” she said softly, a sharp contrast to her screaming the last time they spoke. “I brought you a coffee. The nice ladies in the kitchen say you take it black.” The corners of his mouth turned up slightly and he gave her a friendly but unenthusiastic smile.
“Thank you,” he breathed, as she handed him the hot mug.
“Can I sit?”
“I’m not in charge of you,” he mumbled into the cup taking a sip. It wasn’t until she noticed how his eyebrow shot up and how his eyes had a playful gleam in them, that her offence washed away. “Of course, you can sit down.”
“What’s the book for?” she asked gently once she settled on the ground a safe distance away from him. She decided a few grass stains were worth being on speaking terms with the man she was supposed to marry.
“Um, it’s actually for you.” He reached over and placed the book in her hands. She ran her hands over her initials that had been embossed onto the leather cover. “I’ve been meaning to give it to you for a while,” he said quietly, “I remember you used to write a lot when we were in school together. I thought you would like it.” She felt a confusing mixture of thankfulness for the book, guilt for her outburst, and all the frustration that she still held towards him.
“Thank you, Harry. That was really thoughtful of you.”
A silence hung among them, neither of them sure of the next steps this conversation had to take.
“Can we talk?” Harry asked, finally breaking the tension between the pair.
“Yes, please,” she answered just as quickly as he had asked.
“I wanted to apologize for interrupting your fitting like that. I didn’t know all the traditions meant so much to you and I never meant to make you so upset.” She had never heard Harry apologize before, to anyone else, and definitely not to her.
Before that moment, she had always thought of him as an impenetrable force, wondering if there even was a soul or a conscience in his body. But here he was, vulnerability and all, offering an olive branch and an apology.
“Thank you,” she said cautiously, wading into the almost friendly waters she had never been in with him. “I’m sorry for screaming at you like that. I said some very hurtful things to you.”
“So have I.”
“I want you to know that I don’t hate you and I shouldn’t have said I did. But, I don’t necessarily like you either, Harry,” she said, deciding now was the time they needed to open the line of communication. One of them would eventually combust if they continued on with their hatred like this. “You have tortured me since we were little kids and it’s going to take me some time for me to get over that.” She watched as he nodded his head along with her words, seeming to listen intently.
“I feel like that is also something I should apologize for. No offence, but I didn’t want to get married to you either- still don’t, but I was much more of a dick about it then,” he let out a light laugh, flashing one of his famous dimples before releasing a sigh. “I took out not having control of my life out on you and I’m sorry.” She never thought she would receive validation for all the hurt he put her through for so long.
“Listen, we are getting married as part of a diplomatic partnership,” she began, “I feel like we should at least act diplomatic towards each other.”
“Does that mean that we have to be friends?”
“Definitely not. Just not enemies.”
“I think I can do that, wifey.”
***
The next week passed in a surprisingly civil blur for them both. Y/N was still in the throws of getting ready for a wedding and Harry was off doing whatever Harry usually did. She didn’t expect him to be doing much but she was just glad he was out of her hair. But when they did run into each other, usually at some sort of meeting surrounding the menu, they had a new found respect for the other.
The pair hadn’t been fighting which was nice for a change, even though it did raise some eyebrows in both of their staff. At her final dress fitting two days before the wedding Agnes had asked her if she was ready to be a married woman. “Absolutely not,” Y/N had laughed, “but it’s my responsibility to my people and my country. I have lived the most privileged life imaginable up until this point, it’s time for me to begin my duties.”
“You’re a good girl, your highness. You’re going to make a great queen when the time comes. Even with a husband you may have to wrangle sometimes.” She ended her compliments with a giggle as she zipped Y/N into the dress, and she felt her heart warm. Agnes placed the final touches of the veil and tiara on top of her head, giving her a nod of permission to finally look at herself in the mirror.
The dress fit her like a glove. The delicate lace ran the expanse of the dress, starting at the very back of her immensely long train and crawling its way all the way to Y/N’s throat, and the fitted top half gave way to a full ball gown skirt. Y/N’s eyes followed the intricate lace patterns down her arm, eyes eventually landing on her hand and the ring that sat upon it. For the first time since it had begun to sit on her ring finger, she didn’t want to throw it across the room in frustration. It really was gorgeous and the tiny inkling of respect she had for Harry now made it much less painful to look at.
Staring at the mirror, she noticed the blurring of her vision and the wetness on her cheeks.
“I really am getting married, aren’t I?” she asked with a disbelieving laugh.
“Yes you are, your highness.” Agnes looked up at her through her thick lensed glasses with a proud smile on her face. “Now, let’s get you out of this contraption so you can go rest up for the big day.” Anges’ skilled hands freed Y/N from the beautiful layers of fabric and tulle and sent her on her way back to her bedroom.
Y/N was finally almost asleep in the early hours of the morning when she heard a gentle and almost timid knock on her door. She could have ignored it, rolled back over and let her dreams take her, but for some reason it felt important for her to get out of bed and answer the door. Her bare feet hit the cold wood floors and she tip-toed her way to the door.
When she grabbed the knob to open it, she heard a familiar voice say “don’t open the door! I don’t think I’m supposed to see you,” in a hurried and hushed tone.
“Harry?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” His voice was gravelly with exhaustion and had an apprehensive, almost nervous quality she had never heard from him before.
“Why are you here?”
“I just wanted to talk to you.” He said it so softly she wouldn’t have been able to hear him if her ear wasn’t pressed up against the doorway. The sentiment brought a smile to her lips and she wasn’t completely sure why. She was quiet for a moment, deciding if she wanted to turn him away or not when she heard him sarcastically ask, “What? I’m not allowed to talk to my wife?”
“I’m not your wife yet,” she reminded him with a tired chuckle. “But we can talk,” she assured him. “I’m going to sit down, okay? My legs are tired from my heels all day.” She kneeled down and leaned herself up against the hard wooden door.
She had been in this same position only a few weeks before, angry at the world and wanting to kill the man on the other side of it; but here she was, speaking to him willingly, even joking with him. She listened close as his own body rested against the floor and leaned on the opposite side, mirroring her own position.
“Those heels really hurt, don’t they?” he asked, voice still hushed. If she wasn’t so tired, she might have even said she heard a smile in his voice.
“Yeah, they are like little death traps for your feet and legs.” He let out a small laugh on the other side and her lips pulled into a smile that she hadn’t given them permission for.
“How many pairs do you have? You always match your dress to your shoes so you must have a ton.”
She was gradually learning that he was much more observant than she had originally thought. He apparently wasn’t the dumb boy that she remembered from school anymore.
“Too many,” she said with a soft laugh and a shake of her head. “I’m wearing my favorites tomorrow.”
“And which ones are those?”
“They’re white, obviously; they have to match,” she smiled. “They have a green gem at the toes. They match the tiara I’ll be wearing.” She stopped for a moment before continuing on. “And your grandmother’s ring.” She played with the gold band that sat on her ring finger, still somehow dazzling in the very limited light of her dark room. “Thank you, by the way. It’s gorgeous.”
“You’re welcome. She wanted you to have it.”
“Did she really?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said confidently on the other side of the door. She imagined him nodding along with his words to emphasize his point, as he often did while speaking. “She kept tabs on you while we were growing up. She was always talking about how smart you seemed and that you would be a good queen one day. If I didn’t know better, I would say she liked you more than me growing up.” Y/N felt her cheeks heat up with the information. She was flattered by his grandmother’s opinion of her, but her heart also ached for Harry.
“I’m sure that's not true.”
“I think it was. I was always screwing up in one way or another; always creating messes that her and my parents had to clean up.” He paused for a moment and she heard him let out a long sigh. “Always running around with other girls and making the one I was supposed to marry feel like shit.”
She wished she could see his face. She wished that she could get a read on his emotions. But there was, literally and figuratively, a wall between them.
“Y/N,” she heard his voice squeak out through a voice crack, “I really am sorry for everything I’ve done to you.”
“I know. I forgive you, Harry.”
Saying those four words, lifted a weight she didn’t know she had been carrying off her shoulders. This moment felt like an absolution, a time to wipe their long and complicated slate clean. There was no better time for them to start anew than the night before they began the next chapter of their lives. But this chapter would be together, as a pair and a team.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry too, Harry. I know this all had to happen so fast so I could take the throne, but I know you thought you had more time. I thought I did too.”
“What do you mean? Why did it have to happen so fast?” he asked.
First, Y/N was confused. There was a very obvious answer. Then her heart began to break for him. He wasn’t ready at all for what was coming. No one must have told him.
“Harry,” she said softly, “Do you know about my mother?”
“What do you mean?” From the tone in his voice, she knew he genuinely didn’t know.
“My mom-” she began gently, swallowing the lump in her throat that always appeared when she began to talk about this, “My mom is dying, Harry.” She heard a soft gasp through the door before she went on. “She’s been sick for a while, but things are getting really bad. Her doctors think she only has a couple weeks left.”
She listened to his breathing stop, like his mouth was hung open searching for something to say. He was quiet for a few moments before he landed on what seemed like the only thing he had said over and over these last few weeks, “Y/N, I’m so sorry. I’m here for you if you need to talk about all of this.”
His offer was not lost on her. The idea of Harry being someone she could confide in was a new one, but one that she would consider.
“It’s okay.” She choked out, wiping a few stray tears that had found their way out, off her cheeks. “I have had enough time to come to terms with it. But in our archaic constitution,” she said with a biting distaste in her voice, “a woman cannot become the sovereign of the country if she isn't married. That’s why this all had to happen so fast.”
“I see.”
The pair were quiet, both curled up on opposite sides of the wall; simultaneously experiencing a unique type of loneliness that only the other could understand. In less than 12 hours, they would be married, linked by an oath that neither of them had signed up for, in circumstances with responsibilities that neither of them were ready to handle.
“Harry,” she peeped, breaking a silence that hung heavy over them both, “you should go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”
She listened through the door to the rustling of him getting up off the floor beside her. “You should get some sleep too.”
“I’ll try my best.”
“So will I. I’ll see you at the altar, wifey.”
She let out a strangled laugh at the nickname he had adopted for her, her throat still tight from crying. She listened to his foot falls until they disappeared down the hallway before she mustered the strength to drag herself back to bed. Her staff was on strict orders from the wedding planner to have her woken up at 8 to begin getting ready and she wanted to get some rest before the sun came up.
And like clockwork, her curtains were thrown wide open at 8 am, sunlight blinding her as she woke up. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to her rude awakening, but soon she could make out the bustling room around her. Hair stylists, makeup artists, bridesmaids, flower girls, her mother, and some lady with an ear piece and a clip board fluttered about her bedroom with an excited chatter. Taking in the chaotic scene, it really hit her. Holy shit, I’m getting married today, she thought.
Her stomach twisted and turned in knots as the gaggle of women fawned over her, instructing her to stay still and “stop shaking” as they applied layers of makeup and fussed with her hair. Her hair was pulled into a delicately crafted low bun and her eyes were painted with neutral tones and a little bit of shimmer. Diamond and emerald earrings were threaded through her ear lobes and her fingernails were inspected to see if they needed any touch ups. Her shaky body was zipped into her dress and her feet slipped into her heels while her cathedral length veil was pinned meticulously into her hair. She was only missing one last thing.
“Your tiara, your highness,” her mother joked through the happy and proud tears welling up in her eyes. The tiara was the one last thing she needed before she was sent on her way to the cathedral. She bent down slightly, her mother delicately crowing her; when she rose, she couldn't help but grab onto her mother and hold her tight. It was hard for her not to think about the next time she would be crowned, a time when her mother wouldn’t be there to offer the guidance or support Y/N needed.
“I love you, Mama,” was all she said. It was the only reason all of this was happening. She loved her mother too much to let her down.
“I love you more, my princess,” her mother said gently, before turning away and scurrying off to do something else. Y/N tried to ignore the wince on her face when she moved too fast and the slight wheeze she made when she was speaking.
Surveying the scene around her, Y/N felt like she was about to die. Her heart was pounding hard in her ears, her palms were slick with sweat, her breathing was labored, and her chest felt tight. She had never been so overwhelmed with anxiety before. She had known today was coming her entire life, but the fact that it really was here was too much for her brain to wrap itself around.
It was like she had blacked out from fear, an hour of her life completely unaccounted for. She didn’t remember the last minute checks and touches to her hair and makeup. She didn’t remember her mother delicately resting her veil over her face. She didn’t remember getting in the car bringing her to the cathedral. She didn’t remember someone shoving a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She didn’t remember the music starting up or walking down the aisle of the giant imposing and ornate cathedral.
She was only brought back to reality when she reached the imposing altar and Harry delicately took her hand into his. His green eyes were painted with concern when he saw the worried crease between her eyebrows and the way she was chewing on her bottom lip under her sheer veil, swiping his thumb up and down her skin in an attempt to soothe her. It was the first time he had ever touched her voluntarily; it was a gentle and tender touch, full of care. She gripped back tight onto his hand, holding on for dear life as she thought over everything that was about to happen.
They were instructed to stand forward, watching the officiant as he droned on about love and duty to one’s country and spouse, but their hands stayed clasped tight onto each other, like they were being thrown into a stormy and unpredictable sea and the other’s hand was their only life line. And in a way, they were.
When they were told to turn towards each other to begin their vows, their eyes locked and she began to really look at him for the first time. She watched his plush lips closely as he recited the words fed to him from the officiant, although she didn’t hear a single word of them. Her eyes traced his strong cheekbones and landed on his adorable button nose before returning back to his eyes. She noticed the slight blue bags that sat under them, signaling he had just as much trouble sleeping as she did.
His eyes brought her a calm that she hadn’t felt in years, silently telling her that she wasn’t alone in all of this, his warm hands still holding on to hers punctuating that sentiment. There wasn’t anyone else in the massive cathedral but the pair of them anymore, just two scared kids trying to make it through the demands weighing on their shoulders together.
Shaky hands exchanged rings, her heart stopping for a moment when the ring caught and didn’t slide onto his finger gracefully. But her heart regained it’s rhythm when she heard a light chuckle coming from the man across from her, a gentle smile that was just big enough to flash a dimple at her, signaling that it would be okay.
She recited her vows without much thought, letting ‘I do,’ slip past her lips while still entranced by Harry’s intense yet comforting gaze. She watched his strong hands disconnect from hers as he lifted the lace trimming on the veil covering her face, dark lashes flickering down to her glossed lips. She let her eyes fall closed as he leaned in towards her and rested a hand on her cheek, prompted by the officiant and clapping coming from the pews, bracing herself for a feeling of disgust she hoped wouldn’t come.
He carefully connected their lips softly with a sweetness that felt gentle, tender, and caring. But there was more to the kiss than a softness, there was a respect there as well. His hand felt secure and protective on her cheek, and he pulled away with a smile after a short time, sure not to overwhelm her. The feeling of disgust in her belly that she was waiting for never came; if she didn’t know better she would say she felt an excited flutter.
They stood on the altar for a moment and just stared at each other, excited and relief filled smiles creeping into their lips, his dimples prominent. “Shall we, wifey?” Harry beamed with a sigh, extending a hand to lead her back down the aisle, now as a married woman.
“We shall, husband,” she giggled back, cheeks still a fiery red from their contact. Calling him her husband felt foreign, but not unwelcome.
Harry held her hand tight, keeping her in the moment by the warm contact. He held her hand down the aisle and all the way back to the palace, all throughout the signing of their marriage license, and all throughout the many, many photos taken of the two and their wedding party. She found comfort in his warm touch, continuing to ground her through the chaos that unfolded around them. Even when they had briefly disconnected from each other, he was always close by, only a call of his name away.
She was shocked by how careful he was around her giant dress, taking calculated steps to avoid dirtying the crisp white fabric. He was playing the role of a dutiful husband, and was seeming to enjoy it.
They spent the next hours just following orders from wedding planners, shuffled around from place to place, constantly surrounded by people. All she wanted was a moment to speak to him alone, but it seemed far out of reach.
That moment finally came in the middle of a dance floor, with hundreds of eyes staring at them as they danced. They swayed together slowly, a gentle rock to the delicate sound of strings. “Thank you for staying by me all day, Harry,” she said quietly, hoping that no one could hear them over the music.
“No need to thank me, wifey,” he said with a chuckle, his lips grazing against her ear as he spoke. She chuckled like always at the name and shook her head.
“I mean it. I don’t think I would have been able to get through all of this,” she said looking out at the crowd watching them and the giant ornately decorated ballroom they were in the center of, “if you hadn’t been by my side.”
“I quite like it, actually. I could get used to standing with you.” He said nonchalantly, like it was no big deal, while her heart just about stopped.
She wasn’t able to answer before the music slowed to a stop and they were pulled apart by their mothers and dragged off to speak to “very important” people. He seemed just as disappointed as she was when they were separated.
When they finally found each other again, Y/N had changed. She had abandoned her massive conservative skirt of tulle and lace for a creamy silk gown that she could actually move in. It was a simple a-line v-neck dress with cap sleeves, but the back held a deep V that ended at the small of her back coupled with a loosely tied bow.
The cool breeze on her back made her feel sexy. She knew she was pushing the boundaries on what was appropriate for a princess and she loved it.
“My darling, you look gorgeous,” he said, taking her hand and spinning her so he could fully take in the new dress, mindful of her tiara and trying his best not to knock it off. Her cheeks burned at his flattery, something he could surely feel when he pulled her close and pressed a delicate kiss on her cheek.
“You’re just saying that,” she said bashfully staring down at the floor, deflecting the compliment easily.
“Wifey,” he singsonged the teasing nickname that had evolved into a term of endearment. He lifted her chin to look up at him and he looked down at her with the most honest expression she had ever seen him wear. “You look beautiful. You have all day.”
“Thank you, Harry.” She spoke quietly, barely audible, unsure what to make of her husband’s compliments. He leaned in to her, layed a tender kiss on her forehead, and dragged her across the room to the dance floor.
They stayed on the dancefloor most of the night, almost always touching in some sort of way, while dancing and celebrating with their friends and family.
And Y/N was happy; a genuine type of happiness that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Obviously, this wasn’t ideal. She was now married to a man she knew virtually nothing about, who had been a sworn enemy of hers only a few days ago, and had only begun enjoying his company last night. But happiness isn’t linear, she thought to herself.
Their night had passed in a joyous and opulent blur that went late into the night; full of food, dancing, and a swimming pool's worth of champagne.
Eventually both of them were led, by dutiful staff as they were both quite drunk and couldn’t exactly be trusted to make it on their own, to their new bedroom, or bedrooms depending on who you asked. They were led into the massive room consisting of two separate suites connected by a dressing room of sorts in a cloud of giggles, finding themselves in a fit of laughter after passing a portrait in the hall of some distant ancestor who had an amusing mustache.
“Thank you for leading us back,” she said, trying to gain a sober composure to the men who had flanked them on their way back, “you can go now.” The men shared a look between themselves that seemed to say ‘someone should be watching them,’ but followed the princess’ orders anyway.
“I just can’t understand how he got it to curl like that,” Harry cackled, beginning to wheeze from his hysterics and slightly stumbling as he was doubled over.
“Maybe it was natural like your curls,” she suggested, through her giggling hiccups that she let return when their staff left the room. “I quite like your curls, ya know? I like it when you let them grow a bit.”
They were still holding hands, despite being alone in their new found privacy, no longer needing the support from the other to shield them from the pressure of looking eyes.
“Then I’ll have to grow them out a bit,” he said, a smile still beaming at her with droopy drunk eyes. He tugged on her hand softly, bringing her body into his and setting his hand on the exposed skin of the small of her back. His hands were warm and soft and in the moment, she never wanted his hand to move from that spot again. “I can’t refuse the princess’ orders.” His voice had dropped low, not to a whisper but to a soft and lazy volume that made her feel safe.
Their faces were close and she could smell his strong vanilla and sandalwood cologne coming off him that she wanted to envelop herself in. He looked back down at her with a face that was loving, but she attributed it to the alcohol in his system. For a moment, she was overwhelmed with adoration for this man who she had spent so much of her life violently hating. Admiring and adoring him was much easier on her soul than harboring the hatred that had eaten at her for so long.
“I have another order,” she spoke quietly, letting the words tumble from her lips without her usually logical brain’s permission, “I want you to kiss me. For real this time.”
His lips were on hers as soon as the words left her own. It was sloppy and sweet, but with a passion behind it that Y/N felt in her bones. Their lips moved in a drunken rhythm, with Harry’s aimless wandering hands sliding up and down the silk of her dress before resting on her waist and pulling her impossibly closer to him. Her hands found and twirled the few of Harry’s curls that remained after they had cut his hair shorter than usual for the ceremony at the base of his neck and sunk her fingers into it, pulling him further into the kiss by his hair.
It was not long before their tongues found each other and the kiss deepened into a desperate dance of gasping for breath and soft moans into each other’s mouths. Harry’s mouth left hers and began to press sloppy open mouthed kisses down her neck while fiddling with the bow at the back of her gown that would release it from her frame.
Feeling him fuss with the bow made her pounding heart shift from one of excitement, to one of panic. This was too soon, she didn’t know him well enough. She didn’t know his favorite color or any of his hobbies. She didn’t know how he liked his tea, or if he drank it at all. She didn’t even know his middle name.
Her fuzzy mind couldn’t deny how much she didn’t know about him or the anxiety that made her want to pull away from the man and run.
“Harry,” she breathed, voicing the apprehension and anxiety that had begun to rise in her chest, “please stop.” She had squeaked out the words, a mix of embarrassment and panic taking over her slightly slurred words.
His hands froze, pulling himself back quickly from her, a mix of worry and guilt on his face. “Did I do something wrong? I just thought…” he let his words drop off, his own fuzzy mind not sure of what to say either.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry, I just can’t.” Her cheeks grew hot and her eyes became glassy.
She was embarrassed to admit it, but the kiss on the altar that morning was the first time she had ever had another pair of lips on her own. Her entire life she had been shielded from men with any interest in her, her affection already spoken for and claimed. No man had ever held her hand romantically, or danced with her, or kissed her with the passion Harry just had.
Harry had lived a life with freedom that she had never been granted. She remembered all the times she had watched him interact with various girlfriends at school, and remembered the shame she had felt when he had ended up on the cover of tabloids after he was photographed naked and kissing a random woman on a yacht. Every article had ended with the same line that she still knew by heart.
“The prince is arranged to marry Princess Y/N when she comes of age in an effort to unify their countries.”
They had lived very different lives, with very different freedoms up until this point. It was sexist and archaic and unfair, but she couldn’t deny the impacts it had on her while she was around Harry. Even though she couldn’t deny that she was beginning to feel something real for him and she believed that he felt the same; she didn’t fully trust him like that yet. She couldn’t.
“I’ve never done any of this before, Harry. This morning was my first kiss.” Her cheeks burned in a mixture of embarrassment and shame as she spoke the words. “I like you a lot, but today has been nerve wracking and scary enough. I just can’t add another new thing into the mix, especially that. It’s just all too much. I’m sorry.”
Her sheltered and delicate heart couldn’t even bring herself to say the word ‘sex’.
As he listened to her explanation, his features softened. They were no longer fearful that he made a mistake or crossed a boundary, but they moved into a soft and caring smile.
“Y/N, my darling,” he began in a soft and sweet voice, “come here.” He beckoned her with open arms to rest up against his chest again. She had curled her arms in front of herself, holding them close to her body, as she walked into his arms and let herself be enveloped by them while resting her head on his chest. “You are my wife now, but I think we both understand that we are not exactly in this position by choice. I would never ask you to do something you are uncomfortable with and I am sorry that I crossed a boundary.”
“Thank you,” she peeped before he continued on.
“Also, I heard that part when you said you liked me a lot,” she could hear the smirk in his voice, making her cheeks inexplicably hotter. “And I like you a lot too.”
The pair stood in that hold long enough for them to lose track of time, just resting against each other in silence, listening to the other’s breathing. The silence that enveloped them was comforting, but Harry eventually spoke again, inexplicably soft and gentle in tone.
“Y/N, I really want to try to make us work.”
“So do I, Harry.”
The pair stood together in their stillness and peaceful quiet, until she let out a small yawn.
Harry released her from his grasp and began walking around the room, opening wardrobes and dressers searching for something. He breathed a small triumphant noise when he opened a drawer, spinning around with a light pink and baby blue nightgown in his hands.
“Do you need any help getting out of your dress? Would I be allowed to help?” His face was so thoughtful, carefully navigating the boundaries she had made him aware of but not set in stone yet.
She took the nightgown from his hands and slipped it over her head, the silk dress beneath it. “I just need help untying the bow.” Her voice was still low, a quiet and delicate murmur.
His hands carefully untied the bow, turning around for modesty’s sake, only turning back around when he heard the silk hit the floor.
She had begun carefully removing the bobby pins that still held her bun together, causing them both to giggle when her hair was finally released into a giant poof of curls and hair spray.
She looked so sweet to him. This was the first time he had seen her relaxed like this, no longer in a fancy dress, heels, and her hair and makeup done to perfection. She looked like a real person to him, not a princess who would soon become queen.
He moved gingerly towards the door of her room, but not before pressing one more soft kiss to her lips.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, wifey.”
“Can’t wait, my husband,” she called from under the covers, watching him close the door behind him.
***
The two were sitting on a hot beach, baking in the sun when the call came.
It was day four of their honeymoon and a week after their wedding, spending their time alone together on a small island in the sun neither of them could remember the name to. It was a paradise straight out of a movie, and she swore nothing could ruin it.
They spent their days learning each other well, often joking that they should make up trivia quizzes for each other to see who knew the other best. She had learned that Harry’s eyes lit up like a child when he saw any type of animal, especially the small lizards that would run across the deck hanging off the back of their small beach house. It was also a surprise when she found out he loved to cook, whipping up a meal that could rival some of the chefs at the palace for dinner one night.
But her favorite thing she had learned about him by far, was how he sang in the shower. He had a low and melodic voice that he didn’t know traveled into the house from the outdoor shower. She would sit by the window closest to him, often pretending to write in the pink notebook he had given her in the garden, close her eyes and appreciate the man’s voice. She swore if he wasn’t a prince, he would be a singer.
In the time since their nuptials, the pair had become lovers. Always attached at the hip and sneaking kisses; they were blissfully and unstoppably becoming increasingly obsessed with the other. The word ‘love’ often played at Y/N’s lips, seeming to always be only a drink away from letting it slip out towards him.
Every day, they would walk down a short path from their house to a pristine white sand beach, picnic basket in hand, and sit. Sometimes they would sit in silence, just staring at the clear blue ocean, and other times they would talk about everything and anything that came to mind, or they would read silently next to each other. But they were always holding onto each other; sometimes it was a hand placed gently on the other’s thigh, or fingers intertwined between them.
The shrill ring of Y/N’s phone broke their fantasy while sitting on the beach on the fourth afternoon. Her heart dropped as soon as she heard it, knowing that the palace had agreed not to bother them unless the worst case scenario was happening.
She closed her eyes and braced herself, tears already threatening to breach her eyes, as she answered the phone with shaky hands. “Hello?” she choked out.
“Your highness, you need to come home.” She immediately recognized the panicked voice of her mother’s secretary on the other end. “It’s happening.”
“Okay,” she said, trying to remain as composed as possible. “We’re leaving now.”
Harry’s face held a furrowed brow and concerned eyes as she spoke. He immediately began rubbing his thumb back and forth over the back of her palm like he had done on their wedding day, but today, it did nothing to soothe her pain and anxiety.
She hung up the phone before letting out a heart wrenching cry. “We have to go home,” she sobbed. “She is dying.”
The entire journey home was silent after Y/N had composed herself on the beach.
She sat emotionless, staring straight ahead, flinching away every time Harry moved to touch her. She spoke only when absolutely necessary, but her voice brought no tone with it. She had become a shell of herself, losing the warmth behind her eyes that had begun to appear after the wedding.
She felt empty, like she had lost the ability to think, while simultaneously feeling so overwhelmed, by thoughts of her future as queen and the loss of her mother. She had become blank, inside and outside, the happiness she had begun to build for herself with Harry, melting away and leaving the hollowness of grief and dread.
It took them about twelve hours to reach the palace from the time she hung up the phone, but it wasn’t fast enough. The second she stepped out of the car, she saw the guards outside the palace dressed in their black uniforms that were reserved only for the passing of the sovereign. She closed her eyes silently, as if when she opened them up again their uniforms would turn back to their usual blue and maroon; but they didn’t, their clothing still black as night.
Her heels clicked the pavement, maintaining her immaculate posture and steely blank expression as she entered the palace, the loving man she had been excited to have a life with trailing mournfully behind her. She watched as if she was out of her body when she passed people, all now dressed in black, in the hall. They all acted the same.
First, they would give her the saddest look, silently extending their sympathies to the daughter who just lost her mother, and then bowing their heads in respect to the now reigning queen.
“I need to see my mother,” was all she said, before being led into her bedroom.
She hadn’t remembered when her father had died, too young to understand. All she could wrap her head around was that her Daddy had an accident and wasn’t coming home. But she remembered her mother’s cries, loud and earth shattering sobs that traveled up and down the hallways of the palace for all to hear.
She looked like she was just sleeping; arms peacefully crossed over her chest and eyes shut gently. But she was cold when Y/N reached for her hand. She tenderly brought her mothers hand to her lips, and pressed a final kiss to her hand, before walking blankly out of the room.
Her mother was gone. And the country fell onto her shoulders.
She heard Harry saying something as he followed close behind her. While she heard him, she didn’t process a thing he said. She stalked towards their bedroom which was unfortunately on the other side of the palace, locked in her daze. He trailed close behind her the entire way, trying to say anything that could break through to her, and stood dutifully outside the door of her side of the bedroom for an unknown amount of time after she had shut it in his face.
***
She didn’t speak, or show emotion, or allow anyone at all to touch her for three days. Only nodding or shaking her head in response to the rapid firing of questions she was asked about planning her mother’s funeral. Harry only saw glimpses of his wife, or the shell of Y/N that she had become, usually while she shut the door to her bedroom between them.
He left his door open all day everyday.
When he awoke the morning of the funeral and found her bedroom door open, his heart jumped. He slowly walked inside to find her in a room full of black dresses. Dresses had been laid carefully over every surface for her to choose from; the dress she would wear to her mother’s funeral and her first public appearance as queen.
“Good morning,” was all he said, quiet and careful.
The person that looked back at him was someone he didn’t recognize. The light was gone from her eyes, and she wasn’t the woman he was head over heels in love with anymore. She looked like her, but emanated sadness and anxiety like nothing he had ever seen before. Dark blue bags held under her eyes from not sleeping, her hair was tied behind her head in a messy unkempt ponytail, and she was dressed in a giant and ill fitting nightgown, shoulders bent down in a fashion that made her look small. The only feature of the put together, confident, and commanding woman he was married to that remained was the bright emerald ring that sat on her ring finger.
“I can’t decide what to wear,” she said without expression, but the tears started to fall down her face before she could finish the sentence. Harry moved quickly across the room to her when he saw her knees began to shake, catching her just in time as they gave out and she fell into his arms, settling them both onto the soft carpeted ground. That was when her heaving sobs began. It was a bone rattling cry that consumed her wholly and her exhausted and hurting brain could only put together two thoughts: she missed her mom, and she didn’t want to take on all this responsibility alone.
She sobbed into his shirt, holding onto the soft and worn fabric of his t-shirt for dear life, and he held her close to his body, slowly rubbing her back and letting all of the emotion fall out of her. She cried for a long time, giving herself a pounding headache, and when the tears finally began to slow she connected her tearful ones with Harry’s ever vibrant green eyes and mumbled, “I just thought I had more time with her. And I thought we had more time to just be us.”
“I know you did, darling.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and reveled in being able to touch her again, as his heart broke a little every time she would pull away from his touch.
“I’m not ready, Harry. I can’t do this all alone. It’s too much.” She spoke softly, shaking her head from side to side, still choking back sobs as she tried to regain her composure.
“You’re not doing anything on your own. The second we were married, your problems and responsibilities became mine too,” he assured her. He moved to grab her left hand in his own and showed her the rings that sat on their hands. “Remember these?” he breathed with a light chuckle. “You’re stuck with me for life, whether you like it or not.”
He watched as she processed the realization that he was there to lighten the load. It was like a lightbulb had gone off for her, slowly nodding along with what he said. She let her eyes fall to the dresses that surrounded her, but he gently took her chin and directed her eyes back to his. “Y/N, we are a team. I am always here for you and I always will be.”
He took a deep long breath before continuing on, “I love you.”
She didn’t think when she pressed her lips to him, she just did, desperate to be close to him again. A coldness had swallowed her for days, and his words brought back the smallest feeling of warmth, a glimpse of hope she had been desperate to find.
She had known the passing of her mother was coming for years, her illness getting progressively worse over time. She had always believed it would bring more pressure, weighing down on her heavier than ever before. But looking at their rings and the man before her, she was hit by the fact that she never had to carry the weight of the country all by herself. She had Harry the whole time. He was her partner; in life and in power.
“I love you, too,” she said after breaking the kiss, salty from all her tears. She was quiet and her voice was still shaking and unsteady from her sobs, but he was there, holding her and keeping her safe.
He held her hand, slotting their fingers together as he picked them both up off the ground and helped her pick a dress. It was a black blazer dress that fell below her knees with three crystal buttons going down the left side. Harry carefully helped her into the dress, his warm and respectful hands sliding up her bare skin as he pulled it up over her shoulders. He then sat her on her bed, and began to carefully brush out her hair, doing his best to work through knots without hurting the girl who was already hurting enough. And he held one of her hands gently while she sat at her vanity and did her makeup with her free one. He refused to leave her side.
Harry stayed firmly planted by her side throughout the entire day, not daring to leave her while she needed him. He knew that photos of him holding her hand tight during the funeral would make the press, and the photos of him wiping away her tears as they left would make the front page, but he didn’t care. She might be the queen, but she was also his Y/N.
***
Their fingers were always locked together, Harry’s thumb passing back and forth over the back of her hand in the steady rhythm he always used when she was stressed. He was there whenever she needed him, gently taking hold, to remind her that he was there and they were a team.
He cradled her hand as she crushed his, gritting through the most excruciating pain she had ever experienced. It felt like her entire body was being ripped apart from the inside out, but Harry’s hand was the light at the end of the tunnel. She was screaming and crying in the small crowded room, feeling like a science experiment as all the doctors looked on at her pain.
But it all stopped when she heard the smallest little cry.
Then shouts of “It’s a girl!”
Exhausted and elated tears flowed freely from her eyes that were locked on the slimy little baby a nurse was burredly placing on her chest. She was so small, delicate and breakable, with strong lungs that screamed out to announce her entrance into the world. And when her eyes opened for the first time, they revealed the same bright sea glass green tone that matched her father, the green she had been falling in love with and swimming around in for years.
This baby was so much more than just a little girl, not only to them, but to their countries. She would forge a kingdom united in the future, a product of peace and partnership. She was a symbol of unity and a future of kindness between their countries. She was the future.
But for right now, the tiny baby was just theirs.
She felt him press a proud kiss to her head before she connected their lips together in a tear filled kiss before they both looked back to their new pride and joy who was still screaming for all the attention.
“She’s beautiful, darling,” he whispered quietly though tears next to her, hand still grasped tightly onto hers. “You did such a good job.”
“Literally couldn’t have done it without you,” she chuckled, still staring down, entranced by the little girl who looked like her daddy.
The pair stayed with their baby, quiet and just being, long after the doctors and nurses left the room. They learned she liked to scream and sleep, about as much as you could learn about someone only hours old. But she didn’t have a name. They had been debating for the last nine months over what the little princess would be called.
“I think she should be named after your mother,” Harry would say.
“But I think she should be named after your grandmother,” She would reply.
Their roundabout banter never left the pair, only changed; from malicious and teasing, to one of loving partnership.
“So neither?” he quipped with a small smirk while holding the little girl tight to his chest.
“I guess we have to compromise; diplomatically,” she said with a giggle, alluding to how they got to this position in the first place.
“I feel like a loving marriage and a new baby is pretty good for diplomatic relations.”
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! Please send feedback and reblog if you enjoyed it!
#harry styles angst#harry styles fluff#harry styles imagine#harry styles one shot#harry styles x you#harry styles x reader#harry styles x y/n#harry styles#prince harry styles#Royal AU#Harry styles enemies to lovers#harry styles fanfic#harry styles fanfiction#one direction#one direction fanfiction
2K notes
·
View notes
Text
what great men say
james potter x reader
—author’s note: I was extremely soft about James and just how goofy he is around his friends and I just had to write it down. So what does being friends with James and eventually falling for him include? Enjoy!
—warning(s): mentions of food, she/her pronouns!reader
—wordcount: 3,196
You sighed looking at the time. He would be here any minute— he never came late. Tapping your foot, you turned your attention to the book open in front of you. Transfiguration. The subject that you struggled with the most. James excelled at it.
The turtle he transformed the teacup into that day was stunning. Popping its head inside the green-gold shell as everyone looked on. James smiled teasingly wide when McGonagall had commended him. No one noticed when he shifted aside to talk to the turtle in a baby voice. It made you smile. You blinked. Words swirled on the page you’d opened. Shaking your head, you turned to concentrate on them.
“There you are!” James shouted as the librarian shot him a glare. He was huffing— apparently from running to the library. He made an apologetic face and slowly came and plopped down beside you.
“Do you always have to be loud?” you said as he playfully rolled his eyes.
“Well, a great man once said loudness is the way of life,” he huffed, breathing deeply as you raised an eyebrow.
“And is this great man you?”
“Are you saying anything to the contrary?”
You let a small smile play on your lips which etched his grin further.
“I wouldn’t dare,” you said as he adjusted his collar, looking smug.
“I mean, even great men tell the turtle they made from a teacup that it is a good boy,” you said nonchalantly, opening a notebook. James flustered.
“I didn’t tell Jake he was a good boy,” he murmured.
“Jake, huh?”
“Shut it.”
The two of you spend the next hour working on the transfiguration assignment. James was patient as he helped you through spells and theory. You laughed, studied and talked. It was just like that between you two. You were good friends, you teased each other, pulled a few pranks and had fun. There was something about him that made you open up more than anyone else. And you loved him. It was stupid really.
James was utterly and completely in love with Lily Evans. Everyone knew that. You tried and you tried to push it back but you couldn’t help it. It crept up upon you- he had always been so kind to you, so adorably cute that you just fell for him. As torturous as it was, you didn’t dare to even hint him about it. Listening to him gush about the perfect head-girl, you never let your smile fade even if it never reached your eyes.
James poked your side as you packed your books.
“Hmm?”
“Lily and I talked a lot last night,” he said excitedly as your chest contracted. You zipped up your bag, hanging it by your side.
“Oh yeah?” you asked, plastering on a smile. The two of you started moving out of the library.
“It was amazing,” He said, punctuating each word, a dreamy look on his face. “She told me about her muggle life- records, music tapes- that sort of stuff. She was surprised when I talked to her about Queen and Beatles, impressed even.”
He scratched the back of his head, narrowly avoiding a first year who ran past the two of you.
“Couldn’t tell her you introduced it to us and it’s what Sirius blasts in the room all day long.”
You giggled.
“Did he listen to all of them already?” you asked, desperate to change topics. The two of you turned around the corner. James scoffed.
“Pretty sure he heard each of them at least a hundred times.”
“It’s good music James,” you sighed. “Ask him whether he’s free next Hogsmeade weekend, I’ll show him a place he’s going to adore.”
“Ah, I have some head-boy duties with Lily, Remus is helping Slughorn for extra credit and Peter is practicing astronomy,” James said as you furrowed your eyebrows.
“So Sirius is free?”
“Yes, but we aren’t,” James shrugged as you laughed.
“Okay,” you dragged on, not sure where the conversation was going. “Ask him if he’d like to go with me?”
James turned to you, confused.
“You’ll go with Sirius, alone?” he asked as you hummed in response, shrugging. He scowled.
You turned back at James standing at the door to the common room.
“Tomorrow, same time?” you asked with a smile. He nodded giving you a half-hearted grin and moving towards his room. Did you say something wrong? Shaking your head, you retreated to your dorm.
-♡♡♡-
A loud knock shook you. You looked towards the window and… James?
“James what the hell are you doing there?” you asked, jolting towards the sill and unlocking it. The idiot was standing a broom nearly forty feet above ground.
“I was wondering whether you’d join us all for a trip to the kitchens?” he breathed, a small smile playing on his lips. You heard snorts making you look down at the ground. Sirius, Remus and Peter were rolling out in laughter, but you couldn’t think much about that.
“Are you insane? Bloody sit down on your broom or come in,” you said eyes wide.
“Fine, I’m coming.” James grinned, jumping inside. He grabbed your arms almost falling over you. A strong perfume attacked your senses. His face was so close to yours, you could count the faint freckles on his face. Messy strands of hair fell over his forehead making you want to run your hands over them. You blinked, steading yourself before taking a step back. James coughed.
“Um, I was sneaking out for some hot chocolate,” he said placing his hands in his jeans’ pocket, thumbs out. “I remember you complaining we never took you.”
“Oh,” you said, feeling awkward all of a sudden. “Let me just get my jacket, it’s kinda cold.”
Grabbing the nearest jacket, you put it on as James stared around your room. You had decorated it beautifully. Post cards, quotes and some letters were put up on a wall on the far end. His eyes fell on you as you turned to him smiling, ready to leave. He gulped.
“How are we leaving?” you asked and James gestured to his broom floating outside your window.
After much bickering, you found yourself sitting behind James, holding onto him for your dear life. That wasn’t to say you didn’t enjoy it. It felt good being so close to him, having your hands around his waist. You almost felt sad when you reached down. Sirius smirked at you as you climbed off the broom. He knew more than he probably should.
“What took you so long?” Peter complained. You saw Sirius open his mouth to say something but closed it on seeing your glare. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder.
“Well now that she’s here, shall we?” he said leading you ahead of the group.
James frowned at the two of you. Sirius whispered something in your ear making you roll your eyes playfully.
“What’s made you so off now?” Peter asked. Remus patted his shoulder.
“Jealousy is always a bad colour on people my dear wormtail,” Remus said dramatically. James raised it eyebrows.
“I’m not jealous,” James said pointedly and then shrugged. “What would I be jealous of?”
Remus rolled his eyes.
“Sureeee.”
You took in the warm room while the boys asked for hot chocolates for all of you. Sweet smell of banana bread and muffins eloped the kitchen. Remus called for you, handing you a steaming mug of cocoa. You sat down beside James tuning in to their conversation. He gave you a small smile as Remus and Peter quarrelled about their divination predictions. You laughed and you talked, feeling the week’s tension slowly slip off your shoulders. When it was time to leave, you felt oddly content. Making them promise to make this a monthly thing, you finally turned to leave. James held you back.
“I was wondering, if you’d like to have a bit more fun?” James asked, biting his lip. “Just us two.”
You looked at him curiously and licked your lip.
“And what will this fun, entail?”
“There’s this small place near the edge of forbidden forest,” he said and you raised an eyebrow. “I swear it’s not that dangerous. It’s honestly beautiful.”
James didn’t know why he was so bent over to spend some more time with you. All he knew was that he didn’t want the evening to end. He didn’t want to leave you just yet. So when you nodded slowly, he couldn’t stop the grin that spread on his face.
The two of you tip-toed through the castle, James’s invisibility cloak with him just in case. Checking the map, he turned towards you. Taking your hand in his; he whispered, “Run.”
Your eyes widened. James sprinted forward, taking you with him. There was no time to think. Trying to keep up with him— you made your way through the grounds, the air icy against your face. You were huffing by the time you reached the lip of the forest.
“What exactly were we running from?” you asked, taking in gulps of air.
“No one— we were taking too much time,” he said shrugging. “And adrenaline always feels good.”
He didn’t notice you glaring at him. You slapped his arm playfully.
“Hey—” he groaned, rubbing at the spot.
“Now that you’ve wounded me, shall we?”
You nodded, biting the inside of your cheek. Placing his palms on your shoulder James turned you, leading you towards a small clearing. Your arms erupted in goosebumps, feeling him right behind you. His breath tickled your neck. Did he really not know the effect he had on you? Reaching there, James gestured around dramatically. Fireflies buzzed around the area and the ground bloomed with wild flowers.
“Wow,” you gasped. James watched you, his face lighting up. Running your hands through the shrubs you looked up. Night sky was always clear at Hogwarts. But somehow it seemed even more beautiful then. You glanced towards James catching him staring.
“See something you like?”
“You look beautiful,” James uttered before he could stop himself. Your cheeks heated up.
You did. You looked gorgeous every single day. James swallowed, a distinct blush covering his cheeks. He felt your gaze on him, waiting for him to say something. He heard you sigh after a little while.
“You know, when I was small, I used to collect fireflies in a jar,” you said, sitting down slowly. James joined you. “Pretty little things they were. I would stare at them for hours. Mum hated them. Dad didn’t seem to mind. They would zoom around in the jar and I would take it in hand running through the house saying they were my army. Danger shall befall those who cross me— I used to say”
James let out a laugh, sighing as you both watched the stars. Sneaking a glance at him, you caught him doing the same. Light from flies lighted up his face, his brown eyes sparkling. You didn’t know who leaned in. His lips were soft against yours as you let your hands tangle in his hair. His arms went to your waist, tugging you towards him. The kiss seemed to light you up. Pulling back breathless you stared at him, seeing something that made your stomach. Guilt. You dug your nails into your palm, waiting for the excuses to come. And it came. He called out your name.
“Don’t.” You snapped.
Scrambling to your feet, you started moving back towards the castle. James followed you.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I don’t know what happened and I—”
You twisted towards him.
“I’m not angry at you James,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper. James frowned. “I— I just like you, okay? I’ve liked you for quite some time.”
James’ eyes widened a little. You let out a laugh, looking away.
“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at myself. Do you realise how pathetic it is, to love someone knowing they’ll never love you back? Every day I’ll tell myself; it doesn’t matter. That it’s a crush and it’ll go away. And every day I fall a little more in love with you knowing you’ll never feel the same.”
Silence fell around you and you wrapped your arms around yourself. You felt cold. James watched you, desperate to reach out. He wanted to stop you but he didn’t know how. All he could do was listen.
“I think, I think it’ll be better for me to stay away from you for a while,” you breathed, trying your best not to let the tears in your eyes fall.
You walked back to the castle leaving James alone. A tear fell down his face and he furiously wiped it off.
-♡♡♡-
The next few days seemed never-ending. Classes, homework and head-boy duties kept James busy. He practiced harder and longer on the field. But his mind wasn’t in it. It was full with the thoughts of you. He tried. He really tried to reach out to you somehow. To catch your eye during classes, give you a small smile, but you hardly even glanced at him. It hurt. More than he could ever care to admit. He had quite forgotten what it was like not to spend time together every single day. To not listen to you complain about your day, hear your laugh. He felt alone.
Bacon and eggs were laid out in front of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat. He toyed it around with his fork.
“Ahhh James! Just the person I was looking for,” Lily said with a bright smile as James looked towards her. “I was thinking maybe you could join me after lunch? We can review the prefect rounds’ details.”
James furrowed his eyebrows.
“Didn’t we do that last week?”
Lily’s expression fell, but she covered it up quickly.
“Yes we did, but I thought maybe we could go over them again?” she said expectantly.
“Uh- sure.” He said, moving his attention back to his plate. He pushed it away.
Sirius, Peter and Remus raised their eyebrows at him. James looked at them questioningly.
“Are you dead?” Remus asked.
“No?”
“Yeah I think he’s dead.” Sirius pipped in. James opened his mouth to retort but Sirius bet him to it.
“Look, I know finding out your friend is in love with you while you think you’re in love with someone else isn’t easy—”
“Especially when you’re actually in love with the said friend," Peter said, taking a bite of his toast. James opened his mouth.
“Especially then —but you gotta make up your mind. Go date Lily and find out how worthless it is and then go back to friend or go now and talk to her and tell her what you really feel about her.”
James blinked.
“I’m not in love with her,” he said slowly as they collectively groaned. He ignored them. “And how did you know that she told me she likes me?”
“It was obvious?” Sirius said as Remus rolled his eyes.
“You know what? Let him continue his idiocy for more. I want to see how long this can actually go on,” Remus said as others hummed in response, shrugging.
“What? You’re not even going to listen to me now?” James stated as his friends paid no attention.
“Not when you’re being a dumbass, no.”
James banged his head on the table. Remus continued to read his book while Sirius and Peter concentrated on their breakfast.
“What if, what if I said,” James began slowly. “That maybe I do love her. I do love her and I was the biggest fool in the world and screwed this up beyond repair?”
Remus stared at James, a small smile overcoming his features.
“You tell her exactly that.”
-♡♡♡-
You sighed turning the page. The story was captivating at first, but now— not so much. There was a knock at the window and you turned to see… James? Your heart thumped against your chest. He stood there, probably on his broomstick waiting for you to let him in. Pushing the covers aside, you got up and opened the small lock as James hopped in. Your chest clenched seeing him for the first time in weeks. You had missed him. His hair was disheveled and he fidgeted awkwardly, staring at you.
“James why are you here?” you asked softly. You wanted nothing more than to hug him. But you held back. You couldn’t do that to yourself, not anymore.
“I— um— I wanted to tell you something,” he said as you gestured at him to go on. There was silence.
“Well?”
James flushed, looking down.
“I— I had this whole speech prepared and now I forgot what I was supposed to say,” he said and you looked at him curiously. “I know it starts with me saying I might be the biggest dumbass at Hogwarts.”
“That I can agree on,” you pointed out, a small grin evident on your face. James cracked a smile hearing you tease him after weeks. Somehow, he never minded it when it was you. There was silence again, but this time it felt calmer.
“You see? I had a fascination with this red-headed girl,” he whispered. Your throat bobbed. He was here to talk about Lily? “This fiery girl who rejected me every time I asked her out. And my fascination just grew. So much that I couldn’t even notice myself falling for someone else. Someone who’d been an amazing friend.”
Your eyes snapped towards him and he gave you a light smile.
“I don’t love Lily. I don’t. And I hate myself for not realizing it. But even more than that I hate myself for turning you away. I’m sorry,” he said as you sniffed, letting his words soak in. He loved you, not Lily. You knew you must be looking like an idiot then, giddiness blooming through your body.
“Are you sure this isn’t the speech you prepared?” you said as James chuckled. He shook his head.
“My prepared speech was written by a great man and it did not end with an apology.”
“Oh? What did that great man end the speech with?” you said, joy evident on James’ face. He was enjoying this.
“Asking you out,” he said cheekily and you let out a snort.
“Well, that’s a let down,” you said, putting on a disappointed expression, noticing James furrowing his brows. “I was hoping the speech would end in some kisses; after all, don—"
You couldn’t finish the sentence as James pulled you closer by your waist and pressed his lips against yours. You sighed, tugging him closer by his neck. Pulling back, you rested your forehead against his taking deep breaths.
“I fucking love you,” James said, cradling your face and starting to press kisses all over. You giggled.
“I love you too. Tell that great man I’d like to go out with him this Hogsmeade weekend, will you?” you said as James let out a laugh.
—as for the taglist: I don’t make taglists, I have a blog @from-my-quill which is updated whenever I post fanfiction. You could have the notifications on for it and it will work just like me tagging you.
⟨⟨REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK ARE APPRECIATED⟩⟩
#james#james potter#james potter x reader#james x reader#sirius black#remus lupin#marauders#marauders x reader#the marauders#hp#harry potter#james potter x you#james x you#james potter x y/n#james x y/n#from anu's quill
549 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
mrgyiyg
tee hee
ginsherrywasathing
GinSherry was a Thing, pass it on.
pinkuchibiru
ピンク唇
renovatio06
renovatio06