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sunlight-moonrise · 4 years

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The Price (Reid Imagine)

Summary: Reader is a technical analyst for the BAU. She did not expect to be smitten by the resident genius.

A/N: This is my first time writing a fic as well as my first time writing smut. I’d like to thank @spencer-reid-in-a-pool for beta reading my work (you’re a gem and I’ll fight for you). Also a quick thank you to @imagining-in-the-margins and those in the discord for being so welcoming and helping me with this. The fic is inspired by @erin-bo-berin Sweet Cheeks.

Category: Fluff and Smut

Content Warnings: Oral (female receiving), fingering, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, rough sex

Word Count: 6.0K

Masterlist

There are a lot of things I enjoy about this job. The salary is decent. My coworkers are pretty cool. I get to interact with a sexy genius from time to time- you know, the usual that comes with being employed by the government.

I started as a technical analyst for the BAU a few months prior, working alongside the one and only Penelope Garcia with assisting the rest of the team behind some computer screens. Coding and hacking is second nature to me so the job is not too difficult. It was either this or facing some years in jail because I couldn’t cover my tracks fast enough. Looking at mangled and mutilated bodies on a weekly basis is better than prison.

I get along rather well with the team. I pretty much call everyone by a term of endearment, much to Garcia’s delight. It was one of the things we had in common and helped us get along with one another much faster. I sometimes can get carried away with the innuendos, but Garcia welcomes everything I say with open arms.

I typically save my more sensual remarks for the doctor. I remember the good old days when he used to be so tongue-tied by my actions. Now my words barely surprises him.

A voice broke my concentration. “What got you thinking so hard, angel?” I turn towards the person, a smile already adorning my face. Lo and behold, Dr. Spencer Reid has graced me with his delectable presence.

“Would you believe me if I said that I was thinking of you Doc?” He had a small smile on his face. I could pretty much categorize all the smiles he uses because of how often I stare at him. I mean, it is a tragedy to not stare at such beauty. This particular smile means that he is content and comfortable.

“May I ask exactly what it was that you were thinking about?” he asked.

“I cannot share the sordid details of my mind with you just yet darling. You’ll just have to use that beautiful mind of yours and conjure up something imaginative.”

He let out a small laugh and helped me carry the files I was juggling. My eyes immediately went to his hands. The things I’ll let those hands do to me. I bet only one is needed to perfectly wrap around my -- No bitch, focus. We got a case to present in five minutes. Right, right. Work now, daydream later.

We entered the conference room, where the rest of the team was already sitting at the round table, waiting for us. I gave out the files with Spencer’s help while Penelope started up the monitor.

“You guys are staying local but time is of the essence” she informed us. The TV lit up with four pictures of young boys. “We have a kidnapping case at Stafford County.”

“Were they kidnapped at the same time or place?” asked JJ as she skimmed over the report I handed out earlier.

“No” I said as I pointed to the two younger boys on the screen. “Jacob Rivers and David Hall were taken from their respective homes 48 hours ago” I then pointed to the two slightly older boys “Benjamin Harris was taken 12 hours ago at a park and Scott Turner was taken from the mall less than 6 hours ago.”

“Do these boys have anything in common?” Morgan asked out loud.

“Other than physical appearance and age group, these boys don’t have any similarities. They didn’t even go to the same school. As a matter of fact, David Hall was home-schooled.” replied Garcia.

“Garcia and I couldn’t find any common ground in the families’ educational, economic, or social backgrounds either” I added. “Once you guys take off, we’ll do a further dive into their personal histories.”

“The UnSub is already escalating, kidnapping from a private home and kidnapping from a crowded area within hours of each event is fairly drastic” Rossi stated.

“Maybe the Unsub is on a time frame? They could be feeling pressured and desperate” Emily questioned, trying to come up with some kind of initial profile.

Hotch already started standing up. “We’ll know more after analyzing the crime scenes and talking to local PD. Let’s head out.” The rest of the team followed, gathering their files and making an exit towards the door while Garcia headed for our office. Spencer lagged behind a bit and I already knew why. We have a little tradition of bidding farewell to one another before he takes off for a case.

I stood next to him, bumping my shoulder against his upper arm. “Don’t miss me too much while you are out there.”

“The more you remind me I have to leave, the more I want to stay here.” he grinned.

I snorted at his words, knowing that he was full of shit. There is nothing more that Reid loves than being out in the field. “Go be a hero and come back to me in one piece pretty boy.”

“Yes Ma’am.” he replied as he went to follow the team towards the elevator.

I swear that boy is immune to my teasing now. I miss seeing his face become flush, but I also enjoy the playful repartee we have now. I remember the first interaction I had with Spencer quite vividly. It truly was a comical moment.

“Everyone this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N). She will be working alongside Garcia.” Hotch stated as he introduced me to the team. I have already met him and Penelope prior to being presented to everyone else.

“Derek Morgan, pleasure to meet you.” Whoa. If tall, dark, and handsome was a person, Morgan would be fit for the role. He offered his hand, which I immediately took.

“The pleasure is all mine” I replied with a wide smile.

I directed my attention to a much older gentleman. “David Rossi” said the Italian man who reminded me of a mob boss.

“Charmed to meet you.” I shook his hand, surprised by the strength behind it. Those older bones are still working for him.

Next came the petite blonde, whose figure I was both envious and enamored with. “Jennifer Jareau, but everyone here calls me JJ for short.”

“In that case, please call me (Y/N/N).” I shook her hand, and became even more envious with how soft her skin was. She has got to tell me her secrets.

I focused on the brunette with shoulder-length hair. “Emily Prentiss”. My God, I think being attractive is a requirement for this team. She offered her hand to shake and her grip was firm. Note to self, forget about Rossi; don’t get on Emily’s bad side.

“Nice to meet you.”

I turned to the final individual and was blown away by his beauty. Yup, my previous thought has been confirmed. Only good-looking people are allowed pass these doors. His bone structure looked like it was sculpted by Roman artists. His body was lean and slender, reminding me of a runner’s physique. My eyes stared up to the softest hazel eyes I have ever seen.

“Dr. Spencer Reid.” he introduced. I offered my hand immediately, wanting to feel his skin against mine.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N), but you already knew that,” I said softly, my hand still out. He just stared at it as if it was an anomaly.

“Uh-the amount of pathogens passed through a handshake is astounding. A high five transmit half the number. But even then, a kiss is much more safe.” he quickly stated as he nodded his head. I almost didn’t catch any of it. Partially because of the rapid speech, partially because I was staring at his lips.

“Hmm, that’s news to me. However, if a kiss is what you want…” I lowered my hand and took a step closer to him. My eyes slowly moved from his eyes to his mouth and then back up. He took a slight step back.

“N-N-No, that’s not—I-I mean that —uhh...” His face was flushed and his tongue shot out to run against his lips. His eyes quickly darted across the room, seeking some help. I felt a sense of pride knowing I made this man flustered.

“I’m just teasing Doc.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was frightened by me. Maybe he was, but the blush on his face and the way he kept staring gave me further information on him.

“Don’t mind Reid,” Morgan said, coming to the young man’s rescue. “He has a thing with germs.” He finished, a smirk plastered on his face. Well, I hope he soon develops a thing for something else. Or rather someone else.

I was just about to make another sly comment when Hotch interrupted. “Back to the case at hand.” He gave us all a pointed look. Right, I am at my first day at work. I’ll focus on hot doctors with hotter smiles and the hottest face at my own time.

“Yes sir,” Garcia stated, as she started pushing buttons on a remote. The TV turned on and pictures of three different women showed up on the screen. They all looked to be strangled to death. “You guys are needed in Toledo, Ohio.” Garcia goes on to describe the case while the team starts the early stages of conducting a profile.

“Wheels up in 30.” Hotch says and the everyone disperses. Garcia walked up to me and handed me some documents from the case file.

“C’mon cupcake, we gotta do some preliminary work to get the case going much faster.” I followed her to what she called the “bat cave”. I scanned the small room and immediately fell in love. Computers and monitors littered almost every inch of the place. I saw a lot of colorful knickknacks displayed on one side of the desk, knowing already who they belonged to. The area was endearing and had a cozy feel to it.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding. This place is a dream come true.” I am sure she can hear the awe in my voice.

“I know, right. Wait until you actually use it girlie, the framework on these things is out of this world.” I sat myself on a chair nearby and rolled in front of a screen.

“Alrighty. You can do some background checks on these girls while I gather more information from the police reports. Let me know if there are any commonalities among any of them. We’ll relay that info with the team.”

“Gotcha babe, I’ll have the information ready ASAP.” I responded, already typing away on the computer. I’m already starting to like it here.

*Later that day*

Garcia and I haven’t found much in common between the victims of the crimes, much to our dismay. I was left in the office to continue searching for important information on the girls while she went to fax some data to the precinct when the phone started to ring.

I quickly answered and put it on speaker. “(Y/L/N) at your humble service. How may I serve you?”

“Oh-uh is Garcia around” replied a high-pitched voice, which I immediately recognized as Reid. I don’t know whether or not I should be insulted that he wanted Penelope or pleased that I probably still have him flustered.

“She’s a bit pre-occupied at the moment. But rest assured I can find whatever you need Doc. Especially if you ask nicely.”

“Uh-I need you to pull up information on the mothers. We think they were all in the same sorority, however not necessarily at the same time. We need a list of all the members of the sorority from the time the mothers joined with a 3-year pre- and post-graduation.”

“No problemo sweetness. Anything else I can do for you? I have a lot of other services that can be helpful.” I stated, a teasing tone in my voice as I already set up my search.

“No-no, that’s all. Um thanks.” I can already picture the blush coating his cheeks as he stammered his response.

“Alright love, call me back if you need anything. Or if you change your mind.” I hung up the phone and started organizing the list in front of me.

And from then on, I have enjoyed pretty much all the moments I had with the BAU. It took some time, but Spencer now has accepted and even returned my little flirtations. We often get compared to Garcia and Morgan. But with a lot more sexual tension, at least on my end. I have to remind myself from time to time to calm down before I combust in the middle of a conference room or the bullpen. C'est la vie.

I made my way to the cavern of all things amazing and settled in front of my computers. Pen looked at me with a knowing expression on her face. “You’re gloomy.”

I pouted as I put my earpiece on. “I am not gloomy, I am horny,” I rebuked.

“How long has it been since you got some?”

“I’m not sure but it feels like I have not gotten any since the Stone Age,” I groaned out.

“I don’t know why you don’t just tell him how you feel,” she pointed her pink glittery pen in my direction, “I bet he would fuck you right here if you let him.”

And there goes my thought process, as always, overtaken by Spencer Reid. “Babe, please. This is not helping my situation.”

“Just telling you how it is.”

●●●

We have been sitting in front of these screens for hours. The team has made some progress but they’re missing an important piece to fit the puzzle. Garcia has been looking into the background of the neighbors when I heard a small stomach grumble coming from her direction. I let out a laugh as she huffed out “I am going to grab a snack from the breakroom, you want anything boo?”

“If it ain’t alcohol or chocolate, I don’t want it.”

“Noted,” she said as she left the room. I really hope she finds a couple of cupcakes or something.

I continued trying to get information on these missing kids when my headpiece played the Doctor Who theme song, informing me that Einstein was calling in. “Goddess of knowledge and wisdom at your disposal.”

“I didn’t know I had Athena at my fingertips.” How is it possible that nine words have short-circuited my brain just now? Is it the voice or the way he basically called me a Greek Deity? Probably both.

Of course I slyly responded, “Oh my Hephaestus, you have all of me at your fingertips.” I heard a chuckle and I immediately knew it belonged to Morgan. A slight blush crept onto my cheeks when I heard a random voice asking why Spencer called his girlfriend in the middle of a case.

“I should have mentioned that you were on speakerphone.”

“Naughty boy, you know I charge extra for groups.” Now this was followed by some choked out noises and a bunch of giggles. I could only assume the whole precinct was amused by my antics at this point.

“Can you ever forgive me?”

“I can, for a price.”

“A price?”

“Yes, a price that I would inform you of in private. Now the reason for your call…” I drew out. Thank goodness Garcia wasn’t here. I don’t need her looking at me as if I am a phone sex operator.

“I need you to check foster children between the ages of four and eight within a 25-mile radius. We are looking for a homosexual couple that were looking to adopt but were rejected. The names should be on multiple applications among different sites. Let me know what you find.”

“I’ll have that information at the palm of your hands soon” Meanwhile, I am over here wishing that I was at the palm of his hands.

“Thank you, my Goddess” I can’t help but smile when he says things like this. Since when were the roles reversed in our friendship?

“Anything for a gorgeous worshipper. TTYL.”

Garcia chose that moment to walk back in while I had this silly grin on my face. She stared at me and I already knew what she was going to say.

“If you don’t have a piece of chocolate or a cocktail on you, I am not talking.”

All she did was laugh at me.

●●●

The team was able to find all four boys safely. The UnSubs were a male couple who wanted to adopt but kept facing discrimination against the agencies. It is a shame that they felt they had to resort to kidnapping in order to have a family.

Now Garcia and I are scanning the notes the team faxed to us earlier today. They informed us that they would be back here in half an hour or so.

“Shoot, I didn’t think it would take this long to scan these damn files.” Garcia murmured. I looked over at her and saw a small stack of documents that still needed to be put into the system.

I walked over and grabbed the pile from her. “Go, I’ll take care of it from here doll.”

“Are you sure? I feel bad. You did your portion of the work already.”

“Don’t you have to be at the rehearsal in 20 minutes? How is the theater going to operate without their main lead?” I placed the documents on my side of the desk and moved to gather Garcia’s belongings. I picked up her purse and jacket before handing it to her, quickly pushing her towards the door. “I got this, think of it as an IOU.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I owe you big. Thank you sugar, see you tomorrow.” Garcia hurriedly exited the door and headed towards the elevator.

I looked towards the papers, a low groan leaving my mouth. The faster I go through this, the better.

●●●

I was just finished implementing all the documents into the computer when I heard a knock at the door. I turned around and saw Spencer’s head peeking through. “Evening handsome, to what do I owe this visit?”

“Garcia passed by me a while ago and informed me you were in here finishing some extra work. I wanted to check on you; see if you needed my help.”

“Thanks Doc, but you’re a few minutes too late. I already finished scanning the files. Besides, you’re not the best with technology, much less these computers.”

“Maybe not. But I am a fast learner and I pay close attention to detail.” Either my ears were playing a trick on me or Spencer’s voice lowered an octave or two.

I remembered what Penelope said earlier today and decided to just go for it. “I could collect on that price from earlier.” I leaned against the desk and stared into his eyes. C’mon Doc, pick up the hint. Rather, pick me up instead.

“Well I was thinking that I can get you dinner.” he said, a hint of excitement in his voice.

That’s great, but not what I had in mind. “I was hoping for something else” I looked into his eyes, then slowly trailed my eyes downwards. Kiss me. Kiss me. Touch me. Lick me. Fuck me. Kiss me.

Unfortunately, Spencer is not a mind reader. He lowered his head and looked slightly dejected. “Oh well umm—would you prefer to go to a theater?” Oh Doc, you sexy, naïve, intelligent, innocent man. I guess if you want something you have to do it yourself.

I sat on the edge of my desk. “Come here Spencer.”

His head perked up, slightly intrigued since I rarely call him by his name. He walked to where I was sitting but there was still space between us.

“Closer, I don’t bite.” Unless you want me to.

He moved closer to me and I was able to rest my hands on his shoulders. Thankfully the height of the table let us be more at level with one another.

I made sure to look into his eyes as I said “I am going to kiss you. If that isn’t something you want, tell me now.”

He was speechless. His mouth was moving but no sounds came out. If the circumstances were different I would have appreciated seeing his rattled expression once more. I waited a few seconds, but he still has yet to say anything.

“Spen-mmh” before I knew it, his mouth was upon mine. He gently cradled my face as his lips moved against my own. My eyes closed as I felt nothing but bliss. As cliché as it sounds, I was in paradise because of this kiss alone.

His tongue peeked and swiped against my lower lip, trying to have a taste of me. I was more than happy to grant him entrance, a moan leaving my body as his tongue touched mine.

All parts of me were trying to feel him. I had one hand in his hair while the other grabbed onto the back of his shirt. My chest was pressed against his while my legs lazily wrapped around his midsection. His scent was intoxicating to me. It was a coffee-like smell as if he just walked out of a café. He tasted so sweet, all I wanted to do was keep his mouth on mine. But my body needed air so I slowly pulled away.

He tried to catch his breath as his forehead rested against mine. “So you don’t want dinner?”

“Doc the only thing I am hungry for right now is you. We’ll get food afterward, alright?” Spencer nodded his head while licking his lips. My eyes hungrily followed the action and I just had to get another taste. I pulled him towards me, his hands once again holding onto my face. He was much more dominant with this kiss, and I was more than willing to give him the control. His hands then trailed down to my hips and pulled me closer to his pelvis. I jerked against him and was rewarded with a groan.

He squeezed me tighter as his lips broke away from mine once more. He placed a peck on my lips, then my cheek before trailing down my neck. I felt my body heat up as I released a small moan. Fucking hell, he is going to be the death of me and we barely did anything.

Spencer started to lightly nibble on my neck when I pulled him back by his hair. “It is summer and I am not wearing a turtleneck in 80° weather. If you’re gonna give me some hickeys, they better be on my chest.” He murmured something that I couldn’t quite comprehend before undoing the buttons of my blouse.

Hell, I am not the only one who is gonna be undressed so I started unbuttoning his dress shirt as well. It was a race to see who would get the other’s shirt off first. Of course I lost because my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. But when his warm lips kissed their way towards the middle of my cleavage, I felt like a fucking champion.

I tried my best to shimmy out of the sleeves of my blouse while Spencer attempted to take my bra off, his lips still leaving a love mark against my chest. Once we got rid of the shirt and the bra, his mouth immediately enveloped one of my nipples.

“Fuck” I yelped loudly, “a little warning next time Doc.”

“Sorry” he muttered as he continued to suck on my breast while palming the other between his dexterous fingers. That had to be the most insincere apology I have ever heard from him. An idea came across my head. I slowly removed his shirt, watching it pool on the floor. I then raked the nails of one hand across his chest while the other pulled against his hair. Hard. He retaliated by lightly biting my nipple. Fuck, the plan backfired. Abort mission, abort the damn mission.

Spencer let out a small chuckle as he pulled away from my breast, an audible pop leaving his mouth. My hands went to his face and I moved him up to look at me. His eyes were dilated and his mouth was swollen. His face was flush and he was taking deeper breaths than usual. He looked so beautiful like this.

He had a dorky smile on his face and I realized that I said the words out loud. I felt my face heat up fast and he swiftly commented “I’d never thought I’d see you be so thrown off because of me.”

He rested his hands against either side of the desk and just looked at me. “Shut up and kiss me.” I hissed, already missing the warmth of his skin against mine.

“Where do you want me to kiss you?” he asked. I was about to reply when he interrupted “Do you want me to kiss you on your lips? Or maybe you want me back on those beautiful breasts of yours?”

Have mercy on me, I never believed Spencer Reid could make me so wet just with his words. Sure, I thought of it, but I didn’t believe it would happen to me.

“Maybe you want me to go lower. Should I place my lips on that pussy of yours?” Oh my fuck, I never want this moment to end. I nodded my head so quickly, I could have sworn I given myself whiplash.

“I want to hear you say it,” he breathed out.

“Yes, yes, please. I want you to eat my pussy. Please.” I begged. Dignity be damned.

“That’s my good girl” How is it possible that he went from the dorky adorable doctor to this assertive, stimulating specimen in a matter of minutes? I didn’t think he had a sensual bone in his body. But I am glad to be proven wrong.

Spencer lowered himself to his knees while I clumsily attempted to rid myself of my skirt and panties. I lifted my lower body up as he pulled the clothing off of me. Penelope would have a field day if she knew that I was sitting butt naked on the desk with Spencer Reid between my legs. Hell, I am having a field day knowing this.

Spencer, being the teasing bastard that he has been for the past few minutes, started kissing my legs first. “That’s not where I said I wanted you to kiss me” I huffed out.

“Hush” was all he said as he continued the slow trail up, making sure to alternate between each leg. I was already breathing as if I have ran a marathon, my patience was waning at this point. Finally, he made his way to where I needed him most. He put his hands on my thighs and pushed them further apart.

My hands landed on top of his head, playing with the curls. “You’re comfortable down there Doc?” I snickered, loving the sight of his head between my legs. All he did was nip my inner thigh harshly. I shrieked at the action. I’m starting to think this man has a tiny biting fetish.

I wasn’t ready for when his tongue parted my folds. I squeaked as he teasingly lapped the arousal that had formed the second he walked into the room. I tried rolling my hips but his hands made me stay put on the desk. I never knew he could hold me down like this. I couldn’t even be mad because the pleasure he was giving me was incredible.

Spencer continued to tease me, his tongue never going where I needed it most. He made sure to explore as much as possible as leisurely as possible. “Spencer, please” I cried out. He let out a small hum, the vibration causing a shiver to rack my body.

His tongue finally entered me, much to my delight. No amount of imagination could have ever prepared me for the things this appendage can do to me. He continued this soft, flat movement that was driving me crazy. My hands tightened in his hair, hoping he would go a bit faster.

“You taste so good princess, I don’t want this to end.”

“That’s my Queen to you” I jested. He didn’t like that since he responded with a resounding smack against my outer thigh. Ouch, note to self, Spencer doesn’t like being teased during sexy times. Hmm. On second thought, continue to tease Spencer during sexy times.

I felt his finger probe my entrance, moving up and down before pushing inside of me. I let out a distressing whine as he started slowly moving his finger in and out of me, curling as he did so. His mouth was on my clit, sucking and kissing it as if he has done so all his life.

My body started heating up and trembling. I tried, and failed, to roll my hips against the movement. “Spe-Spencer” I wailed. He didn’t relent.

Spencer entered a second finger into me as his tongue gave small, flickering motions against my bundle of nerves. I had to move one hand to my mouth to prevent any loud noises from being heard outside the room. Shit, did we even lock the door?

That thought immediately left my mind as my core started to tighten. Spencer must have known that I was getting close to my orgasm because he moved his fingers more diligently within me. I felt his fingers curl as they pulled out, I felt his tongue lick thoroughly against my pearl, I felt my ecstasy rising within me. It took one more deep press of his fingers and a harsh suck for me to come all over his face. I bit down on my fingers as I moaned out loud.

“That was so much better then what I imagined” I panted out, the words barely coming out comprehensible. I had a giant smile decorating my face.

He pulled his face up, a smug grin gracing his face. “Is this what you were thinking about earlier this morning?” he taunted. I couldn’t even give him a smartass remark because I was too busy trying to come back to reality. He pulled his fingers out and held them in front of my face.

“Open” he ordered. I complied and he pushed his fingers inside of my mouth. “You look so pretty when you follow instructions well. See how good you taste.”

I pulled my head back, taking his fingers out of my mouth. “I bet I taste a lot better on that tongue of yours.”

He tangled his hand in my hair and pulled me to a kiss. I immediately opened and welcomed his tongue against mine. I was right, I do taste better on him. I let out a deep moan and pulled away far enough to gently bite down on his lower lip.

He looks at me, that devilish tongue of his running against his lower lip before entering my mouth once again. With his lips still on mine, he picked me up and move to sit on my desk chair. It was nothing short of a miracle that we managed not to fall on the floor.

I placed my hand on top of his erection through his slacks and he drew a quick intake of breath. I started palming him as I grinded myself against him. I pulled back as I whispered, “I need you, Spencer”.

“Y’know this is the most I have heard you call me by my name in any given moment we have been together.” He unzipped his slacks and pushed down his pants and boxers as much as he could with me on top of him.

I looked down, finally being able to see his cock. Is it possible to get aroused further through sight alone? Because I think I creamed myself again. God, I wish I could show him my oral skills, but we’ll save that for another time.

“Would you rather I call you by something else?” I asked, attempting to move my lower body so that it can align with his cock. I say attempt because Spencer currently had his hands on my thighs again.

“No, I like the way my name sounds as you moan it out. Don’t hide your pleasure from me this time.” He maneuvered my legs to rest upon the armrest on either side of the chair, leaving my pussy wide open for him.

I gave him an incredulous look. “Are you forgetting that we are at work?”

He started rubbing the tip of his cock against my lower lips. “I didn’t forget. I just don’t fucking care.” And with that, he slowly penetrated me.

We both groaned at the intrusion. He gradually started entering me as I adjusted to his size. Inch by inch, he gave me all of him until he was buried to the hilt. I took a moment to savor the feel of Spencer inside of me before I started grinding against him. He took that as a hint to begin thrusting.

He started slow, taking his time and having us enjoy the feeling of one another. “Your cunt is so fucking tight” he hissed into my ear and I gave out a loud whine.

“That’s because you have such a big cock, Doc” I managed to moan out. He smacked my ass before grabbing each cheek tightly in his hands. “I want you to call me by my name” he grits out.

“Spencer, baby please give it to me. I’ve been waiting for this Spencer, I’ve been waiting for you.” He started kissing my neck once more and my eyes started to closed. I wanted to focus on the pleasure he was giving me.

He tightly grabbed me, moving my hips along with his thrusts. I was close to being pushed over the edge once more. The only sounds occupying the room were our moans and skin smacking against skin as we chased our pleasure.

“Open your mouth” I heard him say. I opened my eyes to see his thumb positioned over my lips. I let out a small whimper as I sucked his digit earnestly. I made sure to coat his finger with a lot of saliva, knowing exactly what he was going to do with it when it was out of my mouth.

He pulled his thumb out and immediately placed it on my clit. I gave out an embarrassingly loud sob as he started moving his finger against me in soft circular motions. I placed my lips on his neck, trying to muffle the noise coming out of my throat.

Spencer quickly grabbed my hair and pulled my head away as he started to slow down. “How many times do I have to tell you that I want to hear your pleasure?” In that moment, Spencer controlled my mind, body, and soul.

“I’m sorry Spencer. I’ll be your good girl, please don’t stop.” He returned back to the previous pace and thrust into me even harder. We both started chasing our orgasms, not being able to hold back any longer. He was pounding into me relentlessly and I was loving it. I am sure that I am going to be sore after this.

“Come for me (Y/N), I want to feel this tight cunt squeeze around my cock.” Say less, I am already ahead of you. My eyes were rolling to the back of my head and I felt my pussy pulsate around him. With one last motion against his thumb, I cried out his name multiple times as I climaxed.

Spencer whispered my name as he continued pushing into me, chasing his own orgasm. He thrust a couple more times before quickly pulling out, spilling himself over my stomach. I panted as I laid my head against the crook of his neck. His fingers thrummed a slow rhythm upon my lower back.

“So about that dinner... do you want to get Indian food?”

“Yeah, I can go for some samosas right now.”

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid smut #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds smut #smut #dr spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #reid smut #mgg

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wildflower-daydreamer · 3 years

Text

Brighter Than Sunshine - a Jonsa drabble

I never understood before. I never knew what love was for. My heart was broke, my head was sore. What a feeling. Tied up in ancient history. I didn't believe in destiny. I look up, you're standing next to me. What a feeling.

What a feeling in my soul. Love burns brighter than sunshine. Brighter than sunshine. Let the rain fall, I don't care. I'm yours, and suddenly you're mine. Suddenly, you're mine. And it's brighter than sunshine.

(Brighter Than Sunshine by Aqualung)

**********

And a little drabble...

**********

They must have forgotten to close the blinds before falling asleep last night. The light streaming into the room made it difficult for Jon to stay asleep. He peeked an eye open to find Sansa still dozing away despite the sunshine falling clear across her beautiful face. Jon smiled to himself as he gazed at her. A deep love clutched at his heart. It was something he had never thought he would feel for another woman. Well, until he met Sansa.

Jon never really had a good relationship. Okay, so he only had two real relationships before Sansa. And sure, they started out well and good. But the good beginnings were short lived. Both relationships dragged on for too long, Jon thinking they could be fixed until finally admitting to himself that he was wrong. The last one, though, really took it out of him. It went on for far too long and it drained him. The end was so horrible that he swore he had given up on love. True love. Whatever that was. Sam told him he was being a bit dramatic. Jon thought he was was far from what someone would consider dramatic.

But then it happened. Sam had met his own true love, Gilly. After proposing, they dove headfirst into the wedding planning. Sam was the greatest friend anyone could ever hope for. So, as Best Man, Jon offered to help with anything the bride or groom needed. First up was checking out a wedding venue they were undecided on, to give his honest opinion. Jon and Sam pulled up to the place, set inside a clearing of the wooded foothills. Gilly was already there, talking with someone, their heads down and poring over a thick binder. Gilly looked up as they approached, her warm smile greeting them. She introduced Jon to their wedding planner. Sansa. The beautiful redhead looked up, giving him a dazzling smile. Beams of sunlight illuminated her and Jon immediately knew he didn't need to give up on love. He also had to admit that maybe Sam was right, he could be a little dramatic sometimes. What he didn't see was Sam and Gilly sharing a sly smile as he and Sansa shook hands.

The couple often made sure to invite Jon along on wedding appointments they had with Sansa, from picking out the groomsmen attire to the food tasting. During the cake tasting, while Sam and Gilly debated between their favorite flavors, Sansa handed Jon a sample of the bakery's lemon cake. The delighted look on her face as she explained how it was her favorite thing in the world was the most endearing thing Jon had ever seen. He tried it, accidentally smearing a bit of icing at the corner of his lips. Sansa reached up and gently wiped it away with her thumb. They held each other's gaze as she did so. As she let her hand drop, they shared similar shy smiles. The wedding day came and Jon found himself dreading not seeing her anymore. As the wedding came to a close, the bride and groom making their grand exit, Jon finally got up the nerve. Sansa was clearing tables of the centerpieces and he went to help her. When they came to the last table, he asked if he could take her to dinner sometime.

And now, here they were a few years later, tangled up with each other in bed.

To be specific, today was the third anniversary of the very day they had met.

Carefully extracting himself from underneath her draped arm that rested on his chest and her long leg hooked with his, he successfully got up without rousing her. He padded to the kitchen and pulled out the slice of her favorite lemon cake that he had hidden. He came back to their bedroom and slightly opened the middle drawer of his dresser, careful to not make a sound. He stuck his hand in and rooted around for what he was looking for. His fingers found the small box and pulled it out. Opening it, the sunlight caught the diamond's facets. He took the ring out and carefully sunk half of it into the icing, the gem sticking up and shining brightly. After years of helping couples plan decadent weddings, Sansa always preferred simplicity for herself. Jon would give her anything she wanted.

"Sansa," Jon whispered as he sat next to her on the bed, plate of cake and ring in hand. "Wake up, my love."

Sansa stirred, her eyes fluttering open, the sunlight making her pools of blue glisten. She smiled sleepily but lovingly at him. It was then that her eyes drifted to the cake he held. Her eyes grew big and her mouth fell open, her breath hitched. She looked back up at him, her lips growing into the biggest, most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

#jonsa #jon x sansa #jon snow #sansa stark #fanfic #drabble #fluff #game of thrones #brighter than sunshine

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meow-bebe · 3 years

Text

Pairing: Oh Seunghee x reader Genre: fantasy au, angst Word count: 1.1 k Warnings: necromancy, technically a dead body Tonight’s soundtrack: Absinthe - I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME A/n: may i present the results of another two am writing spree

Deep in the woods, a little cabin sits nestled in a small clearing. To an outsider, it looks quaint and welcoming, candles glow in the windows and there are herbs tied in bunches and hanging from the roof of the porch. But inside it is much darker….

Emotions boil in the air along with the large pot at one end of the single room that makes up the entire house. It simmers over a low fire, keeping the shimmering purple contents boiling slowly. The tang of the ingredients hangs in the air, burning your nostrils slightly with each breath.

You barely notice though, too focused on your work to pay attention to something as arbitrary as discomfort. The contents of the pot are the product of weeks of work, messing up and trying again, adding too much or too little, spilling it across the floors just as you’re about to reach a breakthrough. You’ve worked long hours before, and in fact you’ve dedicated so much time to this project that you’ve barely slept enough in the past week to tell one plant from another.

Slightly fogged pair of goggles protect your eyes as you carefully maneuver the spindley homemade clamps to slowly pour the acidic contents of the glass vial into the pot. Bright smoke pours into the air as the potion reacts, neutralizing the acid to the human touch and reacting with the steeping ingredients. The acrid scent lingers in the air with the previous odors, mixing into something almost intoxicating in its bittersweetness.You choke as you impatiently dump the rest of the vial into the pot and it sends a particularly volatile puff of smoke at you.

The vial is set gently on the overcrowded table next to your cauldron, and you carelessly toss the clamps underneath it to be angrily retrieved later. But you couldn’t care right now. You’re so close to finally figuring it out.

You drop the spell protecting your hands and the wavering encasing of magic fades away. Time ticks onward as the wax of your candles dribbles ever downward, the moon following in your path. The pot is no longer belching green smoke, and you carefully remove the journal stuffed full of notes and barely legible records of your past attempts from underneath a few other glass bottles stacked haphazardly on top of it, consulting the notes and recipes you’re following this time around.

Recognizing the compound you needed for your next step, you toss down the book and launch yourself off the stool, leaving a small piece of paper that had fallen out drifting to the ground. The shelves are crowded and messy but you’ve alway kept things well labeled. It came in handy as many of the odd nectars and ground roots and other miscellaneous ingredients for the tinctures you constantly produced looked quite similar in the dark.

You quickly find what you’re looking for after hopping up onto the clear spot workbench also full of all sorts of strange magical components to rummage around on the very top shelf. The small box presents itself right away, and you tuck it in one of the many large pockets of your apron, snatching a small bottle of a thick gold liquid before turning and swinging back down to the ground.

You pop the cork of the small bottle and tilt the contents into your mouth, feeling the rush of warmth and energy surge through your veins as you walk back to your fire, a fresh urgency in your steps. The bottle, now drained of all its contents, disappears into a different pocket and is soon forgotten as you throw yourself back into your work.

You retrieve the little box with one hand as you draw the other through the air above the pot, the bubbling mixture inside following the movement. Popping the latch open, you sprinkle a pinch into the palm of your hand before setting the ornately carved box to the side.

Taking a small dagger from the table, you place the knife between your teeth and press the index finger of the opposite hand to the tip of the blade, drawing blood. Squeezing your finger slightly, small drops of blood land atop the small pile of powder in your palm. The fire crackles warmly as you soak the powder, using another finger to mix them together.

Another drop or two of blood to smooth it out, and you plunge your hands into the pot to add the paste to the swirling contents. The purple potion is cool, and the material is perhaps the strangest thing you’ve ever felt. It’s certainly not a liquid, feeling more like a heavy gas if it could even be categorized, perhaps like what sticking one’s hands into a grey cloud full to the bursting would feel like.

Once the paste has been washed away you draw your hands out of the pot, finally setting the knife to the side. You turn and cast a loving look at the massive slab of crystal on the table to your left. Encased inside is Seunghee’s body, looking exactly the same as she had the day you found her in the woods, a fatal arrow wound in her chest. Perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea, but you were in too deep from the moment you panicked and rushed to carry her home, spotting the large piece of quartz you had bought off one of the more sketchy of the sellers you knew, and the ideas starting formulating immediately. Over the course of seven tireless hours you had grown the originally dinner plate sized gem to be large enough to crack down the middle and seal Seunghee’s body inside.

“Soon, my love,” you whisper, trailing a hand over the side of the crystal. A smeared handprint of translucent purple liquid is left in the wake of your touch, shimmering in an unsettling way on the stone. It begins to sizzle and eat away at the crystal, and you quickly wipe it away with your apron before the damage can reach anywhere near the depth of Seunghee’s skin. You wave your hand over the rough patch and mutter a spell, and it slowly begins to repair itself.

You wipe your hands on the apron as well, and a strange hazy smoke drifts from the fabric. But you pay it no mind, perching yourself back on the stool with another glance at Seunghee, emotion sizzling in your gaze. You still had work to do.

@kpopscape @kggnet

#kpopscape #kggnet #clc x reader #clc imagines #clc fanfic #clc fics #clc scenarios #seunghee x reader #seunghee imagines #seunghee fics #seunghee scenarios

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astertataricvs · 5 years

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Hello! I got this idea from ch 136 where Giyuu thinks if he brings Sanemi his favorite food they'll become friends and it's just so pure and cute, I want to cry ;~; So could you do a scenario/imagine where Giyuu has a crush on the reader and as we know, our precious bean isn't good at socializing and so he wants to do something nice for them and like, buys a cute hairpin he got on one of his missions for them, or something

Sorry for the wait anon! I hope you like this one! Enjoy! 💖

Word count: 3.4k+

Giyuu didn’t expect this, he didn’t expect that there will be a time that this is going to occur in his life, especially since he’s too devoted from being a demon hunter and obliterate all the demons that were breathing and existing in this wonderful world. Moreover, he’s still not hung up at Sabito’s death and the same as his sister. That is why he didn’t give it a thought before and to be more specific, he’s not the type of man who would want to get involved in such an inconsequential situation, he’s already a mess so why would he involve other people in his life? However, fate had lured him into the little pits of happiness.

And that was falling for you.

At first, Giyuu didn’t search deeper about the unknown emotions he was feeling whenever he sees your smiling face and would just gawk how you’d look at him with fondness apparent in your eyes. He doesn’t know why his heart would thump for an untold reason, but he would admit to himself, he liked the feeling; the warm and fuzzy feeling within his heart and the way how he could feel the tingling sensation fabricating in his stomach.

As the days go on, the feelings he had gradually heightened every time he would take a glimpse at your face giving such a lighthearted smile and looking at him with tenderness evident in that (colour) sumptuous orbs.

Giyuu’s heart would flutter every time your eyes would dart on his figure and then flash him the smile that you’d also show everyone. He doesn’t know why he’s so mesmerized from staring at your lovely face, but one thing for sure, he likes how his ocean blue orbs would land on your figure. He likes how he would witness you being compassionate towards everyone and it seemed like the world was being bright and colourful in his vision. The feeling is like every little corner of the area where you at, it felt like the whole place would gleam with your bright and cheerful character.

It was indeed shocking for him, he tried avoiding you but whenever you’re going to talk to him with that soft and melodious voice of yours, it was already game over for him. His feet would stick on the ground as his ears would attentively listen to any words that would come out from your mouth. He was captivated at your face giving him such a pure kind expression and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from you.

You look like an angel in the heavens that God had created, just by looking at you, it would immediately calm his nerves and forget the burdens that he has for a moment. Just a single graze of your fingers on his skin would eventually soothe him and he doesn’t want to admit it but… he really likes the feeling of your delicate touches as if he was the rarest gem that everyone hasn’t seen before.

He thought he was sick or something due to how he would feel the strange emotions he’d sense whenever he’s with you. But thanks to the couples he would across when he’s on his mission, he finally discerned that he indeed fell for such an angel like you that he doesn’t deserve.

You are a grotesque beauty that he doesn’t want to stain. That’s the reason why he’s eluding you with all his might, however, it’s hard; it’s difficult to evade you because in just by hearing your sweet voice and seeing your lovely visage would render him starstruck. It would automatically lure him out and he couldn’t restrain himself from eluding you and just run away.

Why are you doing this to him? What did you do to him? It felt like he’s one of your captives that you can control immediately.

Giyuu’s mission had finally ended and it’s his time to return to his home. He chose the route where a small town was teeming with lots of villagers walking through the streets. There are also stalls at the corner where everyone was trying to purchase for their necessities or wants.

While he was in his walk, a stall swiftly caught his attention; it was a stall where several hairpins and women’s accessories are being displayed. The accessories have intricate designs and he couldn’t help but suddenly envision you in his mind and he doesn’t know the reason as well. He thought that those accessories will definitely suit you the best if you would wear one of them.

Suddenly, an idea protruded in his mind as he thought of buying you something from that store. But his mind was in deep thoughts; thinking of any possible reasons that he will give when you ask him why he’s giving you such a present.

Fortunately, a good reason came across his mind. A present of appreciation, since you’re being kind to him all this time despite that he’s giving you a hint that he’s avoiding you. But is he really avoiding you? He couldn’t even command himself to elude you because you’re too irresistible for his own good.

But truthfully speaking, there’s also another meaning behind why he wants to give you a present. Because it will be his… symbol of love.

Giyuu absentmindedly scooted towards the said stall and deliberately searched for any accessory that would perfectly suit you.

“Young man, I can guess that you’re going to buy something for your girlfriend, is it?” The old lady interrupted him from his search, and this caught Giyuu’s attention, looking at her with a bit surprised countenance.

The Water pillar didn’t respond and just eyed the old lady, slyly smiling at him.

Girlfriend? You? His girlfriend? You are definitely not, and he will never be your significant other since you deserve much more - better than him who’s incompetent and a mess. He is not worthy to be with you, you’re too much for him. You are too beautiful to be tarnished with the likes of him.

“Young man, you don’t have to be shy! I know your girlfriend is the sweetest and beautiful! If you want to give her a present, I have lots of accessories here that will suit your girl. Just look at what you like!”

The old lady cheered and showed him all the accessories that her stall has. Giyuu didn’t reply and merely looked at the numerous and decorative accessories that the old lady is selling. As he was strolling his eyes on the displayed accessories, his eyes abruptly caught a hairpin with a crescent moon design. It’s simplistic yet elegant, the crescent moon is glittering because of the sun rays striking its little diamonds.

The old lady followed Giyuu’s vision and saw what he was looking at. She let out a light chuckle and takes the hairpin from its place.

“You had a good eye, young man. This is indeed beautiful and it will definitely suit her,” she says and places the hairpin in a small paper bag. “It’s 250 yen and for you, I’ll give it a discount, only 200.”

Giyuu blinks a few times before nodding. He handed the old lady the money and took the paper bag from her.

“Thank you…” he uttered which makes the old lady smile.

“Thank you as well.”

Giyuu was on his way home with the present in his pocket. He decided that he’s going to give you the hairpin tomorrow since the sun is finally falling and the night will arrive soon. As he was walking back to his abode, he suddenly spotted a figure trudging towards his direction. He adjusted his eyesight to take a good look at the woman, and subsequently, his body instantly went rigid once he clearly saw your face.

It was you, holding a bunch of red carnation flowers as you also match his shocked expression when your eyes met at each other.

Giyuu doesn’t know what he would say since he didn’t anticipate that he will see you this soon. Moreover, what made him speechless is the mere fact that the ocherous hues of the sunset were perfectly striking your attractive features, seemingly defining your entire existence as if you were glowing under the dazzling rays of the sunset. And it was inevitable for him not to stare at you, especially since you’re not wearing the standard uniform that he’d always see every time you two would meet. You were wearing a (colour) (pattern) kimono and your hair was tied into an updo.

The water pillar was mesmerized, he was utterly captivated by your appearance. He isn’t used to seeing you wearing a kimono and this is the very first time he saw you in that outfit.

And once again, you enthralled him.

“Tomioka-san?” Your sweet voice echoed in his ears which causes Giyuu to blink and stare into your eyes. “You just came back from your mission?”

The ravenette merely nodded in response. You give him a smile as the soft calming wind of the late afternoon passes across your bodies. The leaves of the trees swayed along with the wind, composing a rustling sound while birds are flapping its wings to go back to their homes.

The silent atmosphere didn’t proffer you gaucherie, but instead, it gave a soothing and peaceful tension between both of you.

While you both were gazing into each other’s eyes, Giyuu’s mind was debating whether he should give you the present he bought or just give it to you tomorrow. However, his timidness was hindering him to give it to you because he’s not good at socialising with others specifically that this will be the first time he will give a present to someone.

What if you don’t like the gift? What if you refuse taking it? Then he won’t know what he will do afterwards. It will be extremely cumbersome for both of you and his last vanity will dwindle. He might not even take a glimpse at you nor be close with you if you don’t like it.

“Are you okay, Tomioka-san? You’re sweating a lot,” you worriedly asked and looked at him with concern.

Said man snapped out from his thoughts and lifted his vision to gaze at you for a moment. Giyuu suddenly felt cold sweats running on his forehead and neck, he’s overthinking too much because he doesn’t want it to become awkward between you two when he gives you his present.

He can feel his heart hammering excessively in his chest and hands sweating due to his vehemence. Giyuu was about to excuse himself and run away but he was frozen in his spot when he felt someone damping a handkerchief on his forehead to wipe the sweat, he’s discharging.

Giyuu’s eyes widened upon seeing your face in front of him within proximity. The smile on your face didn’t fade as you kept on wiping off his sweat. You had no idea how Giyuu wants to melt at your abrupt action and his heart is gonna explode soon. His legs were becoming jelly and he can feel his blood rushing up to his face.

Why are doing this to him? Why are you making him feel this way? His heart is vigorously thumping. Why is he falling for you even harder?

“There! You’re perfectly fine now!” You enthused before stepping back to give Giyuu his space. “You should rest now, Tomioka-san, I know how tired you are from your mission so you can go now. Thank you for your hard work.”

The heart-melting smile you just gave him makes his stomach flutter and he is certain that he was again wrapped by your fingers. He couldn’t help himself but gawk at your beauty and he just wanted to engulf you with a hug if he only has the tenacity to do it.

You’re always giving him the feeling of summer, the heat of the season that would undeniably match how his face would instantly erupt in flames because of your sudden actions that will catch him off guard.

His feelings for you were growing every day that would pass, these sentiments he has for you, he couldn’t suppress it anymore because of how overwhelming it was. Now Giyuu had finally decided, it’s the perfect time where he must give you the hairpin and he doesn’t want to slip this chance away, especially since you were alone underneath the sunset of the day. He won’t back away now.

“(Last name).”

You turned your head to gaze at Giyuu who’s looking at you full of gravity. His eyes were ablaze like they were penetrating right into your soul, his ocean-like eyes were very deep that you couldn’t avert your gaze away because of how mesmerizing it was. To put it simply, Giyuu immediately caught your attention and he’s too gorgeous in your eyes to even not look at.

“Yes?” You bewilderedly asked while tilting your head.

The Water pillar moistened his lips before fondling in his pockets. You were confused about what he was doing but after Giyuu finally took the present he has for you, it didn’t take him seconds to hand the stuff that he brought for you.

You were astounded, stunned and all synonymous to shock can define the expression you’re making at this moment. You only scrutinize the small paper bag in his hand while Giyuu was looking at his side without glancing at you. Your mouth was agape as you only stared at him with disbelief.

Despite that Giyuu didn’t even say anything because you knew how quiet the Water pillar is, you can instantly distinguish what he was betokening with his mere gestures. His words will express through subtle actions and it was easy for you to discern it.

At this current moment, you already know that Giyuu wants to give you the small paper bag in his hand. Since you were curious, it took you a minute to get the small paper bag since you were reluctant as well. Your face was sprinkled with red hues due to how flustered you were. Furthermore, your heart was tremendously pounding to which you prayed to the Gods that Giyuu won’t hear the fast beating of your heart.

“W-What is this, Tomioka-san?” You questioned and Giyuu took a glimpse at you.

“A gift from me…”

His answer only fueled your blushing face and the beat of your heart. It seems like, you can’t breathe because of how your poor little organ vigorously pounding inside your chest.

You suck some air and bit your lower lip. “Can I open it?”

“Hmm…”

Gulping, you opened the small paper bag and once you peeked what was inside; your eyes suddenly went wide and hastily lifted your chin to gaze at Giyuu. Your lips were a bit separated as you took the cute little hairpin inside the bag.

It was indeed beautiful, the crescent moon that has little diamonds on it and it was glittering because of the rays of the sunset that was hitting the little hairpin. You didn’t know what to say, you were indeed stupefied at how beautiful it was, it’s simple yet stunning. You couldn’t express how pleased you were especially that Giyuu, your long-time crush had given you this. You were going to treasure this until you die.

“Thank you, Tomioka-san… it’s really beautiful,” you said in awe and thus, you flash him a toothy grin that causes Giyuu’s eyes to shot open and feel his heart beating once again for you.

Giyuu was feeling relieved and delighted as well, he was satisfied that you like the present he gave you and you gladly accepted it. His anxiousness was immediately washed away because of you. Even if you didn’t do anything to him, by just seeing your face, hearing your voice and witnessing your smile, his problems would melt away in an instant and he liked that feeling. He likes the feeling you’re giving him, even if you’re not aware of it.

“Here, I’ll give this to you.”

Giyuu was bewildered, you handed him the three red carnations that you’re holding. He didn’t know what to do and to say but he took the flowers you’re giving him. The sweet aroma of the red carnation hits his nose and that makes Giyuu addicted to the smell. It’s just like you, sweet and beautiful and he’s addicted for you.

“Can I wear this right now?” You excitingly asked. You didn’t wait for the Water pillar’s answer and just rapidly used the hairpin in your hair.

Giyuu won’t lie and he will willingly admit it, you look dashing and the hairpin really suits you. He’s internally happy that you’re wearing it right now and he can witness how you will look good at it. He’s glad that he bought it for you and he didn’t regret a single thing. His heart is leaping in joy.

“Thank you for this, Tomioka-san! But I wanna know why you want to give me a present all of a sudden?”

Giyuu’s body flinched upon hearing your question. But he remembered the reason why he wanted to give you a present.

“I just want to say my gratitude for all the great things you’ve done to me…”

Giyuu’s voice was barely audible, his cheeks were beginning to redden and he avoids eye contact with you. Despite the volume of his voice is low, you quite caught what he just stated. Your grin didn’t leave your face but instead, it only grew.

“Then please consider the three carnations as my gift to you as well.”

Giyuu’s lips slightly parted as he blinked a few times before landing his eyes on the flowers he’s holding. A few seconds later, he returned his gaze at you whose warmly smiling at him and gave him a nod.

He was indeed ecstatic, he suddenly felt the emotion that he was lacking for years. It’s been a long time since he’s been this happy, he was delighted that falling for you was the best choice that he had ever made. He thought that these feelings would be a hindrance to him but fortunately, it gives him hope. Falling in love with you is the best feeling and if he didn’t meet you, he guaranteed that he won’t feel this happiness he was feeling at this current moment.

You’re like the moon, a moon who would guide him from his most cryptic days and give him light where he couldn’t see anything anymore but pure darkness. You are the light that gives him hope in his worst days and when darkness was starting to haunt him. He was glad that he met you, he was happy that you exist in his life. You are his moon, his beautiful moon that is beyond reachable. Your pureness and sincerity can make him weak and he just wanted to stare at you forever.

“Thank you…” Giyuu mumbled and for the first time, a genuine smile spreads across his face as he stares at the carnations you gave.

You only smiled and feel the fuzzy feeling within your heart. Seeing him smiling for the first time, you feel like as if the world is shaking and you never have seen such beauty in your entire life. For you, Giyuu is indeed a gorgeous man and he is incredibly an enigma to you, he is indescribable that makes him more beguiling to your eyes.

The red carnation symbolizes love, pride and admiration. Just like Giyuu, he is beautiful, inside or outside, you admired him with all your heart although he’s isolating himself from the pillars and most of all to everyone. His aloofness isn’t a hindrance to your feelings, you still love him either way and you love him with all of his flaws ー even if he’s not good at communicating, you will still love him with passion. Giyuu is your pride, every time you see him, you’d feel confident all of a sudden, he is like a takane no hana that is unreachable for you.

But this time, it feels like you finally reached him. Your arms that were always reaching for him had finally touched his back.

You two don’t know that you have the same feelings you had for each other. A requited love but remain hidden, a love that couldn’t express into words but instead, showing it through discreet actions.

Unbeknownst to the both of you, the gift you gave each other has a meaning behind it.

It’s actually… your symbol of love.

#kimetsu no yaiba x reader #kimetsu no yaiba #giyuu tomioka x reader #tomioka giyuu x reader #kny #kny x reader #demon slayer #demon slayer x reader #giyuu x reader #kimetsu no yaiba imagines #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba fanfiction #kimetsu no yaiba scenarios #demon slayer scenarios

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queer-cosette · 4 years

Text

Miraculous OC: How Carlotta Sugrue-Dupain has developed since I last posted about her

I was inspired by @gale-of-the-nomads‘s post about his character Arséne Manachot! Only this ended up a lot longer than his post because I am Wordy.

Description:

As Carlotta: Carlotta got the Dupain height; she’s 5′11 with waist-length dark brown wavy hair with shorter curls around her face that is always very well-kept. She has very naturally tanned brown skin and is covered in freckles from head to toe. She’s curvy and has toned calves and biceps; she’s an excellent swimmer and got her scuba-diving certificate as soon as she could. Her eyes are dark brown with blue flecks, giving them a violet appearance in certain lighting. She’s covered in small scars from various old injuries and treats them like a badge of honour; her favourites are the one on her right cheek and the one on the left side of her chest from her collarbone to the bottom of her ribcage. She's very near sighted; she suffered CRAOs (Central Retinal Artery Occlusion) in both eyes as a small child and has spent some periods of her life (months at a time) mostly blind in both eyes. She only bothers wearing glasses in class though. She dresses almost exclusively in crop tops, knee-length cargo shorts, and converse. She always wears stripy knee socks. She has piercings in her right eyebrow, the left side of her nose, her tongue, and her belly button, and often wears sparkly earrings.

As Cachalotte: Her hair is up in a high ponytail with a white ribbon that sticks up like a whale spout. She has a single purple highlight, and her ponytail is tied near the bottom so the end splits like a whale tail. She wears a black leotard with attached gloves, silver fishnet tights, and black thigh-high boots with purple soles. On top she wears a grey sleeveless zippered vest with a long coattail that ends in a whale tail; it has purple lining and the bodice is decorated with two thin white stripes. She also has small purple shoulder pads styled to look like Sperm Whale fins and doubling as extra armour. Her Miraculous is a silver S-shaped hairslide made to look like a whale’s blowhole, and is decorated with five violet gems that turn black when not transformed. Her mask extends down over her cheeks to hide her scar; it’s grey with a black stripe across the top and black eyelids.

Personality:

Carlotta is deeply caring about those important to her; she would throw herself in harm’s way to protect her loved ones without a second thought. She doesn’t tend towards thinking things through; she is wild and impulsive and stubborn, and only thinks about the immediate future rather than any consequences. In spite of her caring nature she can be extremely selfish on occasion.

She gets along well with most people; she’s good at making stories funnier than they actually were (even if they’re disgusting) and has a very infectious laugh. Despite coming from a fairly wealthy family (they have a yacht) she’s grown to dislike ostentatious shows of wealth, and her only real personal splurges are a nice skateboard (she loves skating) and her beloved purple electric violin.

Speaking of, she loves music! She plays violin well and is a pretty good singer. She loves Spanish pop music especially. She’ll often sing with her little sister Génevieve, and harmonise with her. Génevieve’s the really good singer though; the whole family expects to see her in an opera some day.

Siblings! She has three younger ones: Génevieve and Juan-Miguel Jr (twins four years younger than her), and Victoire, who is thirteen years younger than Carlotta and nine years younger than the twins. Besides singing with Génevieve, Carlotta dotes on Victoire and shares a sense of humour with Juan-Miguel (the family joker), but like all sibling relationships her friendship with the twins is either ‘I’ll help you hide the body’ or ‘don’t even breathe at me’. Being older, with the twins being each others’ natural playmate, Carlotta’s closest family friendship is with her paternal cousin Marinette, who is only three months younger than her. Since Carlotta moved from Asturias, Spain to Paris, they hang out pretty often and Carlotta is quickly integrated into the class group.

Carlotta’s fatal flaw is her single-mindedness; when she’s set her mind to something she’ll go through hell to get it with no regard to her personal safety or often the feelings of others. Marinette, Tom, Sabine, and Carlotta’s own parents (Juan-Miguel Sugrue and Vivienne Dupain) are the exceptions to Carlotta’s disregard; she’ll stop if they tell her to. Recently, there are two more people Carlotta has started listening to - Luka Couffaine and the whale Kwami Klikk.

As Cachalotte, she started out as a bit of a Dark Knight: a protector in shadow, who tries to work behind the scenes to reach justice - unfortunately, she was oblivious to City Justice and Law Justice, and more concerned with settling personal scores. Then after a few incidents involving some classmates, Marinette clocked onto her identity and told her to cut out her bullshit or she would personally hand the Whale Miraculous back to the Guardians. Since then, Cachalotte has aided Ladybug and Chat Noir when she thinks they need it, and approaches battles with her normal singlemindedness that becomes utter focus on the situation at hand.

The Guardians have yet to try and retrieve the Whale Miraculous; they believe it to be lost forever at sea. The truth is, a thousand years ago the previous wielder drowned, and the Miraculous became lodged in a living Sperm Whale’s tooth. The Miraculous unintentionally caused the whale wild longevity until it became dislodged a few months ago, and the whale beached in England. Carlotta’s father, as one of the leading cetologists involved in the unbelievable discovery of the thousand-year-old whale, sent it to María as a gift, not realising what it was.

Powers and Abilities:

As Carlotta:

Carlotta is fairly powerfully built for a girl; while she’s no professional weightlifter she can hold her own in a fight against even a faster or more agile opponent. Being a sibling has taught her to wait for the moment to strike to deliver the most powerful blow. She’s also sharp-minded and good with noticing and remembering details in stories, personalities, and habits (actual visual details, not so much). She’s deeply informed on cetology, top of the class at general biology, and pretty good at motion physics. In fact, there are few school subjects besides chemistry that Carlotta doesn’t excel at. When it comes to sports, she’s an amazing swimmer, beyond average at strength sports, above average at gymnastics, and a fast runner. (But she falls apart at sports that require good aim or precision such as basketball or fencing.) She’s also a very good skateboarder, although not great at tricks beyond ollies and going down stairs. With decent lighting and reasonably large text, she’s a fast reader.

As Cachalotte:

Carlotta’s strength, flexibility, agility and speed are upgraded, like all Miraculous wielders. Her style of fighting is similar to her civilian style - fists, kicks, and waiting for the right moment to strike. She rarely uses her weapon to aid her in a fight except to get where she wants to go; originally the Whale Miraculous came with a harpoon gun, but since Cachalotte has no need for one (and also, given her love of whales, rather dislikes the thought of using it) it upgraded into a grappling gun á la Kim Possible. It matches her costume, with a fin-styled purple handle, a grey gun with zig-zagging white stripes, and a silver grappling hook that, like Ladybug’s yoyo and Queen Bee’s spinning top, has an infinitely long and unbreakable string. She prefers to dodge an attack rather than deflect it.

Special Ability: “CODA!”

Echolocation. To use, the user must think of what they wish to find in the fight - the weak point, the area their opponent will be next, their opponent’s power source - even the best path for the user to use themselves. In use, the user’s eyes glow purple and they see the thing they want to find highlighted in purple light, invisible to anyone else. The glow only appears for ten seconds maximum, and at its weakest (if the user is badly injured or as an adult after multiple uses) only three seconds.

Whale Add-Ons:

Qualities unique to the Whale Miraculous include mega-upgraded pain tolerance, resistance to air/water/magic pressure, and super-long-range hearing, only beaten out by the Rabbit Miraculous.

Klikk

Carlotta’s beloved Sperm Whale-themed Kwami companion. She is the Kwami of Lost Things. Klikk is rather mischievous, and can tend to encourage some of Carlotta’s more reckless behaviour (like, um, the time Cachalotte ran headfirst at a brick wall to see if she could leave a human-shaped hole like in a cartoon) (spoiler alert: she couldn’t and broke her nose) (which made Carlotta very glad she did it as Cachalotte and not as Carlotta like originally planned) but ultimately gives pretty good advice when María needs it. Transforms at the words “Klikk, Flukes Up!” and detransforms with “Klikk, Flukes Down!”. Klikk likes to hide in Carlotta’s hair, and despite loving physical contact, Carlotta refuses to let people touch her hair for Klikk’s safety. Klikk enjoys Blue Planet, cuddles, and deep-fried calamari.

#long post #coco writes #carlotta sugrue-dupain #original character #original miraculous #whale miraculous au #whale miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanworks

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bangtangcorner · 4 years

Text

Blueberry Muffins - Kim Namjoon

pairings: idol!kim namjoon x half Italian!half Spanish!reader (lol don’t ask why, I did it for fun)

word count: 2.08k

summary: It’s been a few months since you started dating Namjoon. When he texts you one day that he’s in a bad mood, you pay him a visit with the sacred thing that brought you two together : Blueberry Muffins.

warnings: a few cuss words, FLUFF, Yoongi with his gummy smile and Kookie with his bunny smile, Namjoon just being a WHOLE ASS BABY

a/n: I’ve just begun writing on tumblr so I’m a little nervous about putting my stuff out there. I’ll improve with time I promise and I hope you like this! Feedback and criticism of any kind is always appreciated <3

(Edited)

****

“4 blueberry muffins and 1 hot chocolate to go please.” I smiled at Sinthia. Her eyes crinkled as she grinned and started shuffling behind the counter.

“No chocolate chip cookies today?” She asked as she bent down behind the shelf.

“Nope, he’s not in a good mood today. Blueberry muffins are for turning the sour mood into sweet, they somehow always work.”

“I think we both know why they work sweetheart.” Sinthia said as she came up from behind the counter with a paper bag in her hand. I tilted my head to the side and looked at her with a puzzled face, silently asking her what she meant.

“Don’t you remember the first time you both met in this very cafe?”

I smiled as the fond memory replayed in my head.

“The usual Sinthia, thank you.” I smiled at the little woman behind the counter and moved to the side.

My phone vibrated in the back pocket of my jeans. Pulling it out I saw that it was my mom calling, my fingers immediately swiped across the screen.

“Mama!”

“Come stai mio caro? (How are you my darling?)

“Sto bene mama, come stai?" (I’m doing well mom, how are you?)

“Sono grande dolcezza, come vanno le lezioni? Com'è Y/f/n?” (I’m great my sweetness, how are classes? How’s y/f/n?)

“Le lezioni sono frenetiche mama.”(The classes are hectic mom) A sigh escaped past my lips, “Ma per fortuna ho Y/f/n per superare tutta la merda.” (But luckily I have Y/f/n to get through all the shit.)

“linguaggio!” (Language!) I chuckled as she laughed in return. I could imagine her shaking her head, eyes rolling at my behavior.

“I-”

“Excuse me sweetheart.” I whipped my head around to see Sinthia looking at me.

“Yes Sinthia?” I asked my mom to wait for a second and muted the call.

“That young man over there” She pointed to a man behind me. I turned around to see a man with blond hair sitting in the corner booth, his chin perched on his palm as he stared out at the street.

I turned back to look at Sinthia, “What about him?

“He has ordered a blueberry muffin too. But the problem is that I only have one of those sweet treats left and he looked really upset. Do you mind if I give it to him? I can pack your favorite chocolate scones instead.”

I smiled, “Of course, it’s no big deal.”

Sinthia grinned and patted my shoulder, “You really are a gem, tesoro.(Darling)”

“Y/n? la mia bambina? (My baby girl?)”

“Shit” I muttered as I realized my mom was still on hold.

“Mama, posso richiamarti prima o poi? (Mom, Can I call you back in sometime?)

“Certo baby” (Sure baby)

“Va bene, ciao mama, ti amo!” (Okay, bye mom, I love you!)

“Ti amo troppo cara!” (Love you too dear!)

Cutting the call, I saw Sinthia circling around the counter, probably going to give the stranger his order.

“Hey Sinthia, wait up!” She spun around to look at me.

“Do you mind if I give it to him?”

“Do you mind if I ask why?”

“Just wanted to see the man who was stealing my favorite food.” A sly smile took over my face and Sinthia giggled, handing the tray to me.

“He’s all yours.”

I looked down at the tray to see a cup of black coffee and the blueberry muffin I had been craving since yesterday. Shaking my head, I made my way to the corner booth.

“Hey, um, excuse me”

He turned around to look at me, “Yes?”

Suddenly, I couldn’t speak. He was gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking. His blond locks were messy on top of his head, mask pulled down to his chin, lips full and red. His eyes bore into mine as I stood there frozen, unable to do anything in front of the Greek-God like human.He also looked awfully familiar.

“Um?” His voice snapped me out my stance as I cleared my throat and let out a breath I’d been holding since the minute my eyes landed on his beautiful face.

“I, uh, I have your order.” I said, placing the tray on the table.

“Oh, thank you, I didn’t see any waitress when I had walked in?”

“Oh no, I’m not a waitress.”

Now I had begun to question my decision of serving him, why did I ask to do this again? This was probably the stupidest decision of my life.

“Oh okay?” He frowned as he looked up at me.

Without thinking, I quickly slid into the seat in front him and began talking.

“I’ve been coming to this cafe for almost 3 years now. I moved here when I got into Seoul National University. This has kind of been my safe place since then, not to mention Sinthia has been a mother like figure for me. She also helps me learn Korean and sometimes gives me yummy treats for free. Anyways, so today we were partnered up for a literature project and I was paired up with this cocky jock who’s so fucking full of myself. Then someone spilled their coffee on my favorite white top. It’s just been a shit day and I really wanted one of Sinthia’s blueberry muffins with the delicious dark roast she makes. But then it turns out you looked upset too so I let you have the last blueberry muffin.”

At the end of my mini rant, I squeezed my eyes shut, face turning red from embarrassment. I had literally just said random shit to a complete stranger who already looked like he wanted to be left alone.

“Here.” His voice made me snap open my eyes.

He was wiping his mouth with a tissue as he passed me the remaining half of the muffin.

“It looks like we both need something to lighten up.” He smiled and I swear I felt my heart skip a beat.

And then suddenly, it clicked.

“Holy shit” I mumbled.

“Is everything okay?”

I looked him dead in the eye, “You’re RM! Oh my god I just said complete nonsense to one of the biggest stars in the world.” I leaned back against the seat and mentally smacked myself for making a fool out of myself in front of one of the world’s biggest idols.

“Cosa c'è che non va nella tua ragazza!” (What is wrong with you girl!) I muttered to myself.

“Ahh you recognized me, but for now I’m Namjoon.” He took out his hand for me to shake, a small smile still tugged on his lips.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down and took his extended hand in mine.

“Hi Namjoon, I’m Y/n.”

“You’re Italian Y/n? I heard you speak on the phone earlier.”

“You heard me?” I squealed.

He laughed, “Yeah, it’s 1am in the morning and we’re the only ones here.”

“Wait, you know Italian?”

“A little bit, I could catch a few words you spoke.”

“Half Italian, half Spanish actually.”

“That’s interesting.”

“You bet.”

“Oh by the way, I have no clue why I just came and dumped all of my problems on you, I’m really sorry for that.” I sighed and inwardly cringed at my actions.

“Aigo, stop worrying. Tell me more about your literature project and this jock you’re paired up with.”

“Y/n! Earth to Y/n?” Sinthia waved her hands in front of my face. I jumped slightly and laughed, “Sorry, took a little trip down the memory lane.”

Her face beamed at my words as she passed me the bag of muffins and the cup of hot chocolate.I took out my wallet to pay but was stopped by little hands clutching my fingers.

“Don’t, it’s on me tonight.” Sinthia grinned.

“But I-”

“No buts Y/n, go make your superstar boyfriend’s day.”

“You spoil us too much I swear.”

****

“Noona!”

“Jungkookie!”

Our laughter died in the air as we embraced each other. I pulled back and ruffled his black hair as he gave me his famous bunny smile.

“How are you noona?”

“I’m great Kook, is he still in the studio?”

“Yeah, he’s working on some new tracks with Yoongi hyung.”

“And that of course means he must have not eaten for hours.” I sighed, his habits always worried me.

“You got that right.”

“Good thing I come bearing treats.” I said, raising the paper bag in my hand and shaking it with a cheeky smile on my face.

A big smile stretched across his face as he made grabby hands towards me.

“Gimme Gimme Gimme”

I giggled,”Take one Jungkookie, we have to save some for Yoongi and Namjoon hyung.” Jungkook happily retreated one muffin from the bag and released a content ‘hmm’ after taking the first bite.

“I’m gonna go and see him now Kookie.”

He nodded. “He’ll be happy to see you.”

“알아,준비 됐어 “ (I know, I’m prepared)

His eyes widened as his choked on the muffin. I laughed loudly and made my down the hall to the Rkive.

Knocking twice I heard Yoongi shout, “뭐?” (What?)

Without replying, I opened the door, revealing Namjoon and Yoongi hunched over the studio board. Namjoon’s eyes met mine and a big grin stretched across his face.

“Hi Y/n” Yoongi said smiling while getting up.

“Hey” I said and pulled him in for a side hug.

“What’s that?” He asked, looking at the paper bag in my hand. I opened it and tilted it towards him, “Have one”

He looked down and pushed his hand inside it, pulling out a muffin. A gummy smile appeared on his face as he turned around and pointed at Namjoon,”당신은 자신에게 맞는 여자를 얻었다” (You got yourself the right girl.)

Namjoon chuckled and flipped him off. Yoongi stuck his tongue out at him, gave me one last toothy grin and made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Hey” He said as I walked towards him, placing the muffins on the side table. Swinging my leg across his thighs, I straddled him, my arms locking behind his shoulders. His hands take a hold of my waist, face nuzzling in my neck. His deep breath hits my skin, making a shiver run down my spine. I took my right hand and massaged his scalp earning a little whine from him. I giggled, the soft boy in my arms making my heart turn to mush.

“You’re too cute.” My soft voice broke the comfortable silence.

He looked up at me and snorted, “I’m sorry, have you looked at yourself in the mirror jagi? You’re literally the definition of cute.”

Now it was my turn to snort, my hands cupped his rosy cheeks as he leaned in my palm, “Stop being cheesy Joonie.”

“Can’t help it when it comes to you.” He placed a very soft kiss on my lips, letting it linger for a few seconds. My heart combusted at the action, senses fogging as I lost myself in the feeling of his soft lips on mine.

“I got you something to eat.” I said pulling away and getting up. Picking up the bag of muffins, I threw them in his lap and sprawled across the small couch.

He opened the bag and whistled,”You know me too well.”

He immediately started munching on the muffins, now looking much more relaxed under the dim lights of his studio.

“You can’t keep doing this you know.”

“Doing what?” His voice came out muffled as he chewed on the delicious muffin.

“Neglecting your health, overworking, stressing too damn much.”

“I don’t do it purposefully.” He grumbled, brows furrowing.

“I know baby.” I turn to my side and fold my arm, plopping my head on my palm.”But you have to take care of yourself Joon, your heath should be the priority.”

He wiped his hands against the back of his sweats and came towards me. In the next second, I was squeezed below Namjoon’s body.

I squealed, “What the fuck are you doing?! Namjoon!”

“Hmm” He mumbled as his arms circled around my figure and pulled me closer to him, if that was even possible.

“Get up Joonie.” I whined from under him.

“No” He grumbled, placing his head on my chest, his long legs draped over mine.

“We’re too big for this couch Namjoon.”

“Doesn’t matter, just wanna be close to you.”

My breath hitched in my throat as I repeated his words in my head. He was too good to me, I didn’t deserve an angel like him. I shifted underneath him and he whined in return.

“닥쳐 (shut up), I’m trying to get comfortable.”

He hummed.

I smiled to myself.

****

Masterlist

#kim namjoon x reader #kim namjoon #bts x reader #bts fanfction #bts imagines #jeon jungkook #jung hoseok #kim taehyung #kim seokjin #rm x reader #rm bts #kim namjoon imagine #rm imagine

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 4 years

Text

Blue Eyes Part 10

Summary: After the Garrison is shot up, the youngest Shelby daughter finds a new home in London. She strips herself of her last name and tries to live a peaceful life far away from her brothers’ chaos in Birmingham. But fate leads her right back into it after she runs into Alfie Solomons.

Part 10: Tommy visits Alfie, Charlie is taken.

Alfie’s fingers drummed impatiently on his desk. He was itching to just get the meeting with Tommy over with. He’d suffered enough as far as he was concerned. Seeing Ella cry, being the reason for her tears. Unbearable. But his hands were tied, what else could he reasonably do?

Still, Tommy was prolonging the visit. Taking his time walking to Alfie’s office, sitting down, adjusting his tie pin (pretentious ass), and painstakingly lighting a cigarette.

Alfie stifled a groan in the back of his throat and rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s safe, what?” His patience was wearing unbelievably thin. Another five seconds and he was sure he would start doling out well-deserved threats.

“You made my sister cry,” Tommy informed him as if he didn’t already know.

The man narrowed his eyes. “I did? Me? I’m the one who made her cry? You sure ‘bout that, mate?” He hissed.

It was infuriating that nothing he could ever do would disturb the Brummie. He simply raised an eyebrow and watched the end of his cigarette slowly burn away. “What can I do to make you change your mind about my proposition?”

“Proposition.” Alfie laughed bitterly and toyed with a pen to keep his hands busy. “Tommy, you’ve been ‘round the block before. Surely you must know that a woman doesn’t want to be offered up as a token for loyalty. So what you can do, right, is take back your words and leave me be on the matter. Sound good?” When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he switched subjects. “You’re here to talk business, meeting the Russians tonight. I must urge you to inquire about Faberge eggs. You can toss ‘bout diamonds and sapphires or whatever, yeah, but that’s the real prize, innit? With a couple of fine pieces and an egg, you’ll easily get your fill of forty grand.” What came across as helpful was simply Alfie setting up the opening stages of his own plan.

Tommy nodded and looked interested in the possibility. “I can do that. They’re tricky but perhaps you’ll be able to persuade them a little further.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and grunted in agreement. “Whatever I can do, mate.”

But apparently, the Blinder wasn’t done with the previous issue. “So you have no intention of marrying my sister.”

Alfie nearly blew a gasket. “You fucking Birmingham folk don’t ever let go of things, do ya?” He snapped.

Calmly, Tommy tapped a bit of ash off his cigarette and cleared his throat. “It’s a simple question, Mr. Solomons.”

“Don’t think it’s any of your business, mate. Never has and frankly, it never will.” He growled. “That’s my decision, innit?”

“I’ll take that as a no then.”

“Fuck off.”

Tommy took one last drag before standing up. “Just trying to clarify, Alfie.” He buttoned his coat and flicked the cigarette into the ashtray on the desk that was really only used by him whenever he visited. “I’ve got other alliances I can make. You think our kin should stay with our kin. Since Ella isn’t Jewish and you’re so adamant about that, I s’pose it’s only fair to uphold our own roots. I’ve got inquiries from a family of Travelers.”

Alfie’s hand slowly went to his waistband where his pistol was tucked away. Anger in his blood started to rise to a boiling point. His fingers curled around the pistol, ready to pull it out on the Blinder for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was a miracle Tommy wasn’t already riddled with bullets so late in their business relationship.

“They’re worse than we are. You’d think we were the poshest folk you’ve ever seen if you met them.” Tommy continued to bait Alfie, taunt him and get him to the point of no return. Get him to realize that Ella wasn’t to be toyed with and her brother wouldn’t tolerate this game Alfie was playing with her. “Savages, really. But they’re effective, aye? An alliance with them would give me enough power to start taking more areas. Maybe areas a little closer to Camden.”

“Tommy, I swear to whatever fucking pagan being you believe in, I’m going to blow your brains all over this fucking office.” Alfie’s face was starting to go red with rage and he was ready to pull out his pistol. Of course, he knew the man was just trying to rile him up. Manipulate him into doing his bidding. Ride or die, that’s how they both operated. But Alfie also knew that Tommy was ruthless enough to go through with what he was threatening. He’d made an alliance with the Lees by marrying John off. He very well could do the same to Ella. And Alfie would lose her for good. It made his heart compress painfully at the thought.

Tommy put a hand in his pocket and retrieved something. He approached Alfie’s desk and dropped the small item. “That was the ring my father gave my mother.” He explained in a steady voice, fully aware that Alfie was armed and angry enough to do exactly what he threatened. “I’ll leave it with you for a week. After that week, if you haven’t made your decision, I’ll return and I’ll take it back. Rest assured, Mr. Solomons, after that, the ring will go to someone else who won’t wait.”

Alfie’s jaw clenched. “I can’t fucking wait to spit on your grave.” He snarled viciously.

“Neither can I, Alfie,” Tommy responded without skipping a beat and took his leave.

Alfie loosened his grip on his gun and heaved out an exasperated sigh. He eyed the ring sitting on the desk near the ashtray where Tommy’s still smoking cigarette sat. For a moment, he didn’t even want to touch the thing, convinced it had some gypsy curse on it. But curiosity got the better of him and he picked up the piece of jewelry. It was a simple gold ring that needed a good polishing. Mounted was a round cut topaz stone that was small enough for him to scoff at. No wife of his would wear something so modest.

But that wasn’t why Tommy gave it to him. It was the sentiment behind the gem that would mean more to Ella.

Alfie turned the ring around in his fingers for a little bit, his mind racing. What would he do if he learned Ella had been pawned off to some gypsy clan? God was truly testing him. The only woman he ever loved just happened to be the sister of the most infuriating man to ever grace the planet. Just his luck.

He grumbled a few obscenities under his breath and tucked the ring into his pocket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was always a strange phenomenon seeing the Shelby Company at work. Socialites mixing with folk who grew up in the slums. Some could say it was possible to move up in the world. To step into another social class and fit right in. Some disagreed. Just because you put on a nice outfit and some gold didn’t make you anything different. You were still the person you were born as just dressed to the nines.

But Ella thought her brother looked like he fit right in. As he stood in front of the group gathered for the opening of Grace’s foundation, he didn’t look out of place. Even with a Brummie accent, he spoke with the esteem of a businessman. Because that’s what he was. It didn’t matter what he did to make his company rise from the dirt, he conducted business. They all did, to a certain extent. And if Tommy’s predictions were sound, they’d be a legitimate company. Still, the suspicion and fear would linger, there was no denying that. Whispers would continue to float around about how the Shelbys grasped the reins of power.

After he spoke in front of the gathered crowd, Tommy slipped out of the room. Ella stood and excused herself to Ada who was sitting beside her. She followed her brother out into the hall.

He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and eyes fixed on the photograph of his wife. Grace’s serene expression surrounded by wreaths and garlands of flowers. Some of her favorites when she was still alive.

Ella went to stand beside her brother, touching his shoulder to alert him of her presence. “Doing alright?” She could imagine it was an emotional day for him. He would see the production of his wife’s dream without her there beside him. On top of the added stress of everything else going on.

He nodded solemnly, his eyes never moving from Grace.

“Mum’s ring is missing.” There wasn’t concern or anxiety. Ella had a sneaking suspicion of where it had gone. Only her siblings and Polly knew that she kept the family heirloom in her jewelry box. “I couldn’t find it when I was putting on my earrings this morning.”

“I know,” Tommy answered. “I took it.”

She glanced over at him, hoping for more of an explanation than he offered. But she wouldn’t get the chance to ask any follow-up questions.

“The absence of my invitation for this event was obviously an oversight on your part, Mr. Shelby.” The thick Irish accent was unfamiliar to Ella, but Tommy appeared to be well acquainted with it. His jaw immediately clenched as he turned around.

Ella did the same and saw the priest standing in the hallway. Something about the man gave her a sinking feeling in her gut. Based on Tommy’s reaction, she could assume this was the man that they planned to kill. A man of the cloth.

“Ah, Miss Shelby, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Father Hughes smiled with malice in his eyes.

Tommy subtly placed himself in front of his sister, taking a step forward to place her behind his shoulder.

“The woman who fell in love with the Jew.”

Ella was unsure how this man had managed to stay alive so long. He’d pissed off the wrong people too many times. People like him didn’t last long when it came to the Peaky Blinders. But she had a feeling there was a reason Tommy was waiting. All it took was the right moment. And certainly in the middle of a social event opening an orphanage in broad daylight was not the right moment.

But what really sent a chill down her spine was how he seemed to know everything. Things that the average passerby didn’t. He knew about Alfie.

“Go to the reception, El,” Tommy said quietly.

“Tom…” She was uneasy about leaving him alone with the priest.

“I’ll be right there, go.” Her brother replied firmly.

Reluctantly, Ella nodded and made her way down the hall to find her family. As she passed, Hughes gave her a sickeningly smug smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella couldn’t shake the bad feeling she got from Father Hughes. She stayed close to her family to feel safe, bouncing back and forth when the conversation bored her.

Ada sighed and tried to soothe Charlie who was fussing loudly. She rocked him back and forth. “He doesn’t want to play with Karl after he took his train.” She shook her head.

Ella smiled. “So much like Tommy. Never satisfied when things don’t go his way.” She agreed and tried to hush her nephew to no avail.

“I know, love, you want dad? Here we go, let’s find him.” Ada decided and headed over to her brother to pass Charlie off.

Ella lingered by the table with pastries and finger sandwiches but she didn’t have much of an appetite. Her mind was like a switch, flipping from one worry to another. Why did Tommy take their mother’s ring from her jewelry box? What had he talked to the priest about?

When Ada returned, the sister’s chatted about nonsense. Ella tried to get her mind off her anxiety and hoped she was simply overreacting. But the bad feeling turned into something all too real.

Tommy walked over to them. “Where’s Charles?” He asked with a confused look.

Ada frowned. “I gave him to you.”

“Where is he?” Tommy demanded again.

“He was just here.” Ella felt immediate panic spark in her chest, rising to her throat. “Where could he have gone?”

Tommy rushed over from family member to family member asking the same question. And within seconds, madness ensued. The Blinders were scattered about, searching the building and running outside to find the missing boy. Ella felt dizzy as she ran through the halls of the new building, trying every door, which was firmly locked.

“Charlie?!” She shouted, her voice following her through the vast hallways.

“El!” Ada’s heels clicked across the smooth floor. “They’ve taken him, they took him into a car.”

“No, they…he was right there!” Ella was shaking with fear. The threat was so close, maybe none of them even realized. The entire time, they had enemies breathing down the back of their neck. If they could simply snatch a toddler in a crowded room with his father right there, then there was no telling what else they could or would do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The rain sounded like pebbles against the window. It was mildly soothing but the night was heightened by anticipation and fear. Polly gently stroked Ella’s hair as they waited in the betting shop.

Tommy entered like a storm. Dripping from the rain and with a silent fury that filled the room. “Where’s Linda?” He demanded.

“With Esme.”

“Esme’s water broke.” John entered from the back door still wearing his coat and hat.

“I need to know who spoke.” Tommy’s eyes passed from each of his family members in the room. “Our enemies know everything. Everything. I need to know who spoke about business outside.” His voice became more insistent and his steely expression turned paranoid. “I need to know who spoke and who they spoke to, now.”

Arthur tried to step in but Tommy was already too far gone. The man looked from person to person, his face still stained by the rain.

“Your wife, Arthur? Or Esme getting cash for cocaine. And you two.” Tommy turned to his sisters. “Back in the family, aye? Out of the blue.”

Ella’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’d let something like this happen?” She challenged.

“If anyone has talked about the tunnel to anyone else, I need to know this second!” Tommy snapped.

She stood and gave him a disappointed glare. “I’m not going to sit around and let you speak to me like this. Not after everything you’ve done to this family.” She could sympathize with her brother. He lost his only son, the only thing of Grace he had left. But somewhere along the line, he’d found himself in that position because of his own choices. Ella left the betting shop and retreated upstairs to her room.

Tommy looked to the doorway where she disappeared. There was someone else. Someone else who knew. Not only that, it was someone who held that damn egg.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella spent the night in her room, curled up in bed under the quilts. The rain continued until the morning, leaving a fog over Birmingham. The first thought upon seeing the daylight filtering in through the lace windows was about her nephew’s safety. There wasn’t much more she could do other than pray he was okay.

It was hardly seven in the morning when there was a brief knock at the door and the knob turning.

“El, get up.” Tommy entered a second later.

“I’m still sleeping.” She said even though she was staring at the opposite wall while lying on her side.

“It wasn’t a request. I need you in the car, now.” He looked disheveled, most likely he didn’t sleep at all that night.

“I’m not doing any of your dirty work, Tom. Not after the way you spoke to everyone last night.” She made no effort to get up.

“Ella, fucking get up and be downstairs in two minutes.” He ordered in the voice she used to fear. The voice that used to let her know that she was in trouble. Maybe for telling fortunes at school, biting John’s arm, or hiding from him when they were called inside for dinner at dusk. He had been an authority figure in her life ever since she could remember. But she’d gotten sick of it. Fed up with his complex.

She sighed heavily and sat up. “I’m only doing this because of Charlie, not because of the way you’re acting now.” She made sure that was clear before he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tommy parked outside of a large warehouse that Ella was unfamiliar with. She was sat in the backseat while Michael sat in the passenger seat. Neither of them cared to explain what they were doing there.

“Wait here,” Tommy ordered firmly and stepped out of the car.

Ella let out a frustrated sigh. “So he’s just brought us along to make us wait outside?” She lamented to her cousin.

Michael shrugged and made himself busy by loading his pistol with bullets. “He has a plan.”

“Yeah, always seems to have some sort of plan.” Ella decided she wasn’t going to just sit in the car and went to step out.

Michael turned around in the front seat. “He doesn’t want us to…”

“I’ll be fine.” She cut him off and shut the door behind her. Tucking her pistol in her holster tucked under her fur-lined coat, she made her way into the warehouse.

Her entrance caused a pause in the conversation. But she was the most surprised when she saw Alfie standing a little bit away from her brother. His blue eyes watched her with a hint of apprehension, unsure what her reaction would be to him.

Tommy was the first to speak. “Ella, I told you to wait in the car-”

She didn’t listen and began walking straight for Alfie. The man beside the Jewish gangster tensed up a bit at her fast approach. But Alfie waved him off and let her step right into his space.

Without a word, she reached into his heavy, black overcoat. Searching his inside pockets until she found what she was looking for. Her mother’s ring.

Alfie almost looked guilty. Guilty for having it. Guilty for keeping it, instead of giving it back to Tommy. Guilty for holding onto the physical hope that he could still have Ella.

She held it up to his face. Her lower lip trembled but her eyes didn’t dare move from his. “Why’d he give this to you?” Her voice shook. Everything continued to pack on, putting more and more weight on her shoulders and making her more and more confused. The push and pull was agonizing and she was going to end it.

“Ella,” Tommy spoke firmly, trying to get her away from Alfie.

“Answer me.” She ignored her brother unaware that he had drawn his gun.

Alfie noticed the pistol. “Go back to the car.” He spoke gently but wanted to get her out of the way.

“Why did he give this to you?” Ella shouted. Her words echoed through the large warehouse and caused a few birds to spook off their perches.

The space went silent for a moment, and then Tommy cocked his gun. The metallic clicking sound was too familiar to Ella. Initially, it used to mark the thrill of the hunt. Getting ready to claim a prize after tracking it patiently through the woods. Now it meant death. Retaliation. Fear. Power.

Ella turned around but didn’t move out of the way. Standing in front of Alfie, she glared at her brother. “Tell me.”

“Ella, move.” Tommy’s hand didn’t lower but she noticed it was shaking ever so slightly.

“Why did you give this to him?” She repeated herself.

“It was a mistake. You can take it back.” Tommy looked past her, over her shoulder at the gangster. “It’s not his to give anymore.”

“Why?”

“He left the richest name off the list.” Her brother answered, his eyes were cold.

“What are you…”

Tommy’s anger was palpable as he continued to point the gun forward. “He made a deal with the Oddfellows. Told them about the tunnel, told them about the deal with the Soviets.”

Ella froze for what felt like hours. She didn’t want to turn around and face the man she loved. The man who had held her heart in his hands while he went behind her back. “No…” The word came out long and sounded foreign to even herself. Finally, she faced Alfie again. “You did this?”

The man was facing two worlds colliding together. Two different faces of his self. The brash, unapologetic, ruthless gangster and the man who found the one person on the planet who saw his vulnerable side. “Things you don’t understand…”

“Tell me what I don’t understand!” Ella snapped. She was beyond the point of acting patient and listening to the men in her life speak. It was her turn. She’d waited long enough. “Everyone ‘round here thinks I don’t fucking understand anything. So, please, fucking enlighten me. Tell me what I don’t understand!”

“I told you he couldn’t be trusted,” Tommy spoke up.

Ella just laughed sarcastically. “And yet you were willing to marry me off to him.” She snarled and pointed at Alfie. “You proud? Proud of what you’ve done? The damage you’ve caused. They’ve got my nephew and we don’t know if he’s even still alive!”

Alfie couldn’t keep a neutral face. He had no idea about Charlie, no idea what the Oddfellows were up to. But in his anger and humiliation for being lied to, he chose to make a deal.

Ella closed her fingers around her mother’s ring and walked towards her brother. “Nothing but a pawn to you lot. Isn’t that right, pral?” She gave Tommy a scathing look. “Are we all just pawns? Charlie too? Moving your little pieces ‘cross the board while you stay safe, protected by your soldiers?” She yelled. “Are you both proud? Proud of what you have? Guess what. In the end, when we’ve all died ‘cause of you, you can be comforted by your money. All ‘lone in an empty house, satisfied that you won. Never caring about the people who loved you!”

“I didn’t know about Charlie,” Alfie replied honestly. “But if your brother wants to fucking kill me now then let him do it. Step aside and let him. But don’t you fucking dare tell me that I never loved you. Were ready to give you that ring because Tommy were threatening to pass you off to someone else. And I’ll be damned if I let him use you.”

“If you loved me you never would’ve gone against my family!” Ella matched his volume and clenched her hands into fists. The topaz gem on the ring digging into her palm as her knuckles whitened. “You wouldn’t have put an innocent little boy in danger!”

“Then step aside, let him shoot me!” Alfie stepped towards her, his cane slamming down onto the concrete. “That’d solve your problems, love. Once ol’ Alfie Solomons is dead and gone, you won’t have any more fucking issues. You can go off with your family and forget ‘bout me. Let me pay for me fucking sins, step aside.”

Everything inside of Ella became so wound up the more he spoke. Her entire body trembled from all the immense pressure pressing down on her heart. “That’d solve your problems.”

“I never stopped loving you!” Alfie barked over her voice. “Not once, even when I made this deal. And I fucking hated myself ‘cause of it. The world ain’t built for us, love, no matter what.” He pointed his cane at Tommy. “He’s always going to want to do away with me, won’t he? Even if we were married, he’d want me gone. So better off he does it now.”

Tommy lowered his gun. “Stand down, Alfie.” He muttered and tucked his gun away. “Michael,”

Ella hadn’t noticed their cousin had run into the warehouse once he heard all the shouting.

“Go and tell Moss, it’s Palmer.” The Blinder instructed. “Ella, get back in the car.”

She took one more look at Alfie. Her body ached from the emotional toll he’d caused her. Despite it all, she still yearned for the past days when things had been so simple between them. When they were in love and it didn’t cause such a fuss. Now she felt like she’d been stretched so thin.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled quietly so Tommy wouldn’t hear. “I wish it could work. But I’m being realistic, love. You’re better off without me.”

He pushed her away with his words. Most likely it was his intention all along whether he realized it or not. With him, Ella would know nothing but friction. She wouldn’t know peace. And as much pain, as it caused him, he would rather see her walk away than suffer beside him. It didn’t matter how in love they were. What mattered was how the odds were stacked against them from the very beginning.

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434

Tag list: @deaflikehawkeye @octaviareina @mylovelykelsifer

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offbrandmercyplates · 4 years

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Ms. Emmibee makes some Greek God AU Emster comics, so I follow immediately with a fanfic WEEEEE

The title of this post kind of says it all, but hey! I’m Yours The Author, and if Ms. Emmibee will allow it, the following story will be posted on my fanfiction and AO3 accounts, sooner or later. Like the first fanfic I posted here, it combines a few of the comics and even some fan art, to an extent (shout out to amee-racle for the inspiration of one of the scenes here!) into a semi-coherrent story. I originally started with an introduction scene that showed the Kore (Emmi) and Hades (Gaster) seeing but not meeting each other for the first time, but I realized the main scene I wanted to get to could be more concise and still deliver most of the same information, so I did some reworking. I hope you like it! This involves the “pomegranate” comic, mentions some stuff related to the “jewels” comic, and has a reference to amee-racle’s fan art of Kore and Hades with flower crowns! See you at the bottom!

The Meeting and the Benefits of Breaking the Rules of the Underworld

“My name is Kore. I’m the goddess of spring,” the floating humanoid in the long dress stated.

The skeleton god stared at her. “I am Hades, the King of the Underworld.” He looked a little prideful when he said that, but his expression quickly reverted to one of bewilderment. “Now I’ll ask again: how did you get down here?”

“You left the cave open when you came down here,” Kore replied.

“…Oh.” It was silent for a few moments, aside from the distant drips of water from the cave’s ceiling and the breeze Kore naturally stirred. Hades slowly pointed behind her. “The exit is that way.”

“I know.”

“…Then why don’t you leave?”

“I don’t wanna.”

“…Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Ah, you’re here on business. Very well; what do you wish to discuss?”

Kore held out her cupped hands. In the light of the crystals hanging from the walls and ceiling, a small pile of jewels glittered in her palms. All sorts of stones, in all sorts of colors. “You’re the one who’s been leaving these for me to find, right?” She asked.

“A-ah…” Hades blushed and tightened his grip on his golden staff. “I just—you—you liked that star sapphire I dropped, so I thought I’d let you find more,” he admitted.

Kore shifted the stones around to examine the smooth blue gem with a white star pattern in the middle. “Well… thank you!” she grinned happily, and Hades quickly adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.

“Y-you’re welcome…”

“And I have something for you!”

“…You do?”

“Yep! I made this for you!” She put the stones away in the pouch tied to her waist, then lifted the flower crown off of her head and placed it over his own shiny crown of metal.

Hades blinked and lifted the flower crown a bit to inspect it. It was a crown of large roses, alternating between yellow blossoms with red tips and lavender blooms. The woven stems weren’t thorny at all, and they didn’t wilt, suggesting they were made with magic. “…Oh.” He slowly let the crown settle on his head. “…Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”

It was quiet again. The pink and yellow blossoms woven into Kore’s long and wild locks shed their petals into the breeze, only to regrow and repeat the process. It was a very picturesque scene.

If Hades had lips, he’d probably be biting them nervously. This little goddess was stirring… unnecessary feelings, as well as a breeze. “You should probably go—” he began.

“Got any snacks around here?”

“…Wouldn’t… you rather eat the food from above?”

“I want to try new things.”

“Well…” he thought for a moment, then raised his free hand towards the wall of the cave. It shifted open, revealing a path that led to a garden. Kore floated through the garden, technically impolite for not having waited for permission to enter, but forgiven nonetheless. Hades followed after her. “Many from above believe that no life can exist in the Underworld,” he explained. “This is both true and misleading. Plants that die above ground regrow down here; their life force entwining with the Underworld’s logic. The food in this garden can be eaten by gods and even mortals who live above, bUT–!” He gestured wildly for her to stop.

Kore had picked a shiny red pomegranate and ripped it in half with her bare hands, revealing the glistening seeds. She had been about to dig in, but paused and looked up at him, awaiting an explanation. Hades straightened his long black tunic and tried to look calm. “But you must not eat that pomegranate.”

“Huh?” Kore cocked her head to the side, hovering at eye level. “Why not?”

“The pomegranate is sacred here. It represents the very nature of the Underworld: life,” he gestured to the little spring goddess, “and death,” he put a hand to his sternum. “It is connected to the Underworld, just as I am. If you eat its seeds, you will be bound to the Underworld, and…” he blushed, “to me.”

“Ooooh,” Kore hummed.

“Indeed.”

“…”

Without breaking eye contact, Kore shoveled every seed in both halves of the pomegranate into her mouth. Hades’ jaw dropped open, sputtering sounds barely escaping his teeth as she licked the juice from her fingers, still looking him right in the eye sockets.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He finally managed.

“You just explained to me what it means.”

“YES, BUT—”

“So when should the wedding be?”

“THE WHAT?!”

Kore pulled some of the flowers out of her hair and began to weave them together as if she didn’t just seal her soul to a cave under the ground. “Oh, can we invite my mother, too? I feel like the Goddess of Nature wouldn’t take kindly to not being invited to her daughter’s wedding.”

“M-mother Nature?”

“Mm.”

“She is going to destroy me…” Hades covered his face with his hands.

Kore finished the new crown and set it on her head: an alternating mix of yellow primroses and pink cherry blossoms. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her. Besides, being a goddess bound to the Underworld doesn’t mean I have to be here all the time, right?”

“Well… technically, but—”

“So I can spend some time above ground and spend the rest of the time with you!”

“I—I! I…”

Kore’s smile grew smaller. “Do you not want to…?”

“No! I mean—I… won’t make a very good husband. I’ll disappoint you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” She hovered next to him and gently bumped his skull with her head. “C’mon, let’s go say hello to your new mother-in-law!”

“This will not end well…”

***

I don’t know much about the logic of eating food from the Underworld in this AU (Hades specifically mentions the significance of the pomegranate, and that had to have come from somewhere), so I went with the concept that plants that die before their time or under specific circumstances can grow and bear fruit in the Underworld, and anyone can eat any of that food /except/ the pomegranates. In reality, you likely can’t eat any food from the Underworld, but it was just a thought.

Hades can open a cave to go back to the Underworld, but sometimes he forgets to close it behind him, hence how Kore got in.

Flower and jewel symbolism:

Roses generally mean affection, but the color of the rose is often extremely important! Yellow roses with red at the tips of the petals represents falling in love, while lavender-colored roses represent love at first sight.

Star sapphires are often called “the stones of destiny”, and can extend mental focus and knowledge.

Sakura blossoms are practically the living symbol of spring and can represent renewal.

Primroses represent young love, and yellow primroses can represent spring and the sun.

Hades’ “I’ll disappoint you” line is based on something similar he says in a Zarla MercyPlates comic, where Papyrus tells him to be good, and Gaster says something like “I’ll try, but I’ll just disappoint you.” Ah… parallels.

Alright, I think that’s everything. Let me know if it’s okay to post these on my fanfiction and AO3 accounts. I’ll see you around! Keep being awesome! ~~~ No YOU keep being awesome!!! This is absolutely lovely hhhhhh

You’re more than welcome to post this on AO3 and FF. I’ll definitely post it here!

Now to respond to the notes!!

The pomegranate thing is great! The pomegranate symbolism from the comic is actually based on its IRL symbolism, which is similar across many cultures (representing life and death, and also love sometimes), and I think your explanation is really cool!

Hades forgetting to close the cave door is a big mood tbh.

I recognized the “I’ll disappoint you” quote and i CRY

Have I mentioned how much I love flower symbolism??? I LOVE how you used that in this!!

Thank you so much!!!!

#offbrand mercyplates #OBMPfanfic #Yours the Author #greek gods au #gaster #emmibee #aaaaa i love thisssss #submission

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seriouslyhooked · 4 years

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Feels Like This (Part 5)

Emma Swan is a once lost girl who is now making good. She has made a way in the world for her and her young son, Henry, and after years of hard work, Emma is in her last stretch of schooling for the career she’s always wanted. Unexpectedly, she finds herself in a tiny nation no one’s ever heard of for her last year of study. She knows nothing about the place except that it’s beautiful, has a world-renowned child life program, and is filled with possibility. Meanwhile, Prince Killian is hardly happy with the title he received at birth. As the second in line for the crown, Killian has long tried shaking his royal duties. He built a career in the royal navy, and has stayed out of the limelight, but his ship has been called to port indefinitely at the request of his brother, the King. Fate (in her many forms) brings Emma and Killian together and the resulting fic is a cute, fluffy, trope filled romp featuring heart felt moments, a healthy dose of insta-love and an assured happily ever after. Story rated M and will have 12 parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.

A/N: Hey everyone! So let me start by saying how happy I am that you’re all still with me in this story and enjoying the fluff and cuteness. I had such fun with the meet cute, and as you no doubt have gathered this is a story all about instant connection. Emma and Killian are dancing around the inevitable, and this chapter finds that dance still happening a few weeks later. However, we’re greeted with some big steps in the right direction this week, and I *hope* you’ll all enjoy exactly where it heads. So, without further delay, here is the next chapter of ‘Feels Like This.’

“Okay wait for it, wait for it…”

The cautionary words came from a young girl named Eloise, a fiery haired ten-year-old here at the center who was determined to finish her self-assigned mission of the morning. For over an hour Eloise and her band of merry workers had created flower crowns, bestowing them on every girl (and most of the boys) who were out here playing in the back garden. This included almost all of the staff, and finally, after working hard to wrangle her from where she was playing soccer with some of the older teens, Eloise had Emma in her grasp. This meant Emma was being fitted with a crown of her own, and not just any crown, a fairy princess crown that Eloise and the others were imagining specifically for her.

The crowns, to be honest, were beautifully made. Fastened from a mix of summer blooms, ranging in color and size and shape, they all held tremendous detail and design. Right now was the perfect time to make them too, since there was an endless supply of flowers all over the grounds of the institute. The garden was in full bloom, but was mostly off limits for tampering with. Luckily there were thousands of wildflowers in the meadows and all of them were free game for the kids to enjoy. Currently, most of the little girls were on a hunt for the best flowers to impress the older kids, and Emma was amazed at how diligent they all were in participating in this task. Emma assumed they’d all have grown tired with this little game of theirs, but they weren’t. If anything, they were gaining steam and growing bolder and more creative.

Emma looked over to Elsa and Anna who were sitting nearby, quietly allowing the other kids to place random flowers in their hair as well. The three of them shared a look of understanding – this was a super cute activity, but it really shouldn’t be this intense. Flower crowns were meant to feel rushed and free, but Eloise and her ‘assistants’ acted like world renowned stylists prepping for fashion week. Still it was sweet to see them all bonding over a shared goal, and on this easy going, picturesque summer day, none of them wanted to deny the kids anything. The mood all through the institute was positive and the stressors were low. It felt like a real gift, and Emma was happy for herself and for the kids that they could all be a part of it.

“What are we waiting for?” another girl asked, growing frustrated with Eloise’s fastidiousness. “It’s perfect. She looks like the queen of the pixies, just like we wanted.”

“I know that,” Eloise replied, annunciating in a way that was dripping in the authority only a child at play could muster. “It just needs one more flower right here in the center, but I don’t know what kind. It has to be just right.”

“Maybe a bluebell?”

“Too small.”

“How about a violet?”

“Not rare enough.”

“Maybe one of the roses?”

“Uh, uh, uh,” Anna cautioned, nodding towards the larger group across the ways. “If Marie sees any of you going for her roses, there’s no telling what kind of trouble we’ll get into.”

“Right, no roses,” Eloise agreed before groaning and throwing her hands up in frustration. “I just don’t know which to pick.”

“This one,” Cecelia offered, bravely approaching the older girls with a precious blossom hidden in her hand. When she revealed the flower, it was bold and beautiful, and she must have looked long and hard for such a gem out in the meadow. It was similar to a rose, but looked more wild, and the gradation of the petals from a deeper pink to a pretty pastel felt distinctly European. Emma had never seen a flower like that back home. But then again, she’d never in her life had the chance to make flower crowns in the first place.

“Oh my God it’s perfect!” Eloise said happily. She moved so quickly as to snatch it from Cecelia, but the little girl was quick, pulling back and guarding the flower close.

“It’s pink, like for a princess,” Cecelia declared, eying Eloise with some traces of doubt.

“It’s really beautiful,” Eloise agreed. “Can we use it for the crown?”

“For Emma’s crown,” Cecelia emphasized and Eloise nodded.

“Yes, Emma’s. Here you can help me put it on.” Together the two of them worked to attach the captivating flower, fastening it to Emma’s crown with careful attention. Then Eloise even went so far as to fix Emma’s wayward waves, which the girls begged her to set free from her hair tie when she sat down here.

“Thank you, Princess Cecelia,” Emma offered, reaching for the little crown on Cecelia’s head. It was made of yellow and white flowers, for that was all the little girl wanted, and it made Emma so glad to see Cecelia respond to the endearment with pride and joy.

“I like being a princess,” she chirped happily, and Emma’s heart lurched in her chest.

“Well you always are, honey. In here,” Emma said, placing her hand over her own heart. Cecelia followed the action and nodded.

“Right, in my heart.” Her little accent was so cute, and coupled with the stumbling she still made over certain words and sounds, Cecelia was a heartbreaker for sure.

The cuteness of her display made Emma’s eyes mist over. She rarely had this happen in the past, despite all her work with kids, but with Cecelia she was admittedly attached. This little girl was working so hard to come out of her shell, and over the past three weeks she’d bonded to Emma more and more. She was precious, but she needed the space and the confidence to see and to feel that. Every day she made progress in socializing, and the fear she once carried was beginning to slip away. Someday, Emma knew, Cecelia would be past that fear, and she’d be what she was supposed to be – a child – once more. Emma wanted to be the one to help her get there, to help her make friends and make peace with herself too. She felt tied up with this child especially, though she cared for every kid here at the institute. But Cecelia was special, a favorite for sure, and any time Emma saw her making progress she found herself getting weepy, as she only ever had with her own son.

“Hey, Emma?” Elsa asked, calling her attention. Immediately Emma knew that her knew friend was reading her emotions. Elsa was almost witchlike in that way. She picked up on energy and emotion faster than anyone Emma had ever met. It made her a wonderful counselor, and so far a good and honest friend. “I think Killian and Max might have forgotten about the picnic. They’re not here yet and were over at the barn. Would you mind grabbing them?”

Emma was so grateful for the out and she said she would, promising all the girls she’d be back soon, but appreciating the chance to get herself together. No matter where the tears came from, be they happiness or pride, these kids didn’t need to see them from adults, not when their lives were already fragile enough. She could give them all the wrong idea and ruin what was otherwise shaping up to be a lovely afternoon. Getting some distance from them all for a moment would help her collect herself, and if she was honest, it definitely didn’t hurt that the errand she was being sent on involved finding Killian, a man who also made her feel so much but in a completely different way.

As Emma made her way to the barn, she wiped away the tears that had started to form in her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling it harshly as her hand came over her throat. She wanted to knock away that warbly voice that always came when she was emotional before it had a chance to appear. If she’d learned anything over the last three weeks, it was that Killian was observant, and if she gave any indication she was feeling something the least bit negative, he would know. She didn’t hate the idea of him comforting her or sharing the cute new memory of Cecelia with him, but with Max there too, it just wouldn’t be the right time.

The further away from the garden she trekked, the quieter things became. The constant squeals of excitement and enthusiastic chatter from the kids ebbed away and in its place were the sounds of bees buzzing and birds singing their songs. The leaves moved gently on the wind, and the trickle of the brook came from the tree line. It was like a whole different world out here, so removed from the chaos of the kids, but as she rounded the back corner of the greenery building, Emma stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. If she had any less control, her jaw would have dropped straight down.

Good Lord in Heaven, that right there, was a sight for sore eyes.

Since getting here bright and early, Killian and Max had both been working hard out on the barn, but Emma didn’t realize that their work would be so physical. It was warm out in the summer sun, and they were lugging big beams from one end of the yard to the other. She managed to catch them through one full motion of it, and her eyes were locked on Killian, from the way his muscles bulged at the exertion, to the way he led the situation with such ease. When they tossed the beam down twenty feet across the field, Emma got a full look at his biceps, and then he pulled the bottom of his shirt up to wipe away his face and… God Damn, was that his body? Seriously?! How was that even real?

“Emma!” Max greeted her amiably when he realized she was here. Then his brow furrowed in concern. “You all right?”

Uh oh. Busted. Emma was caught and she knew she had to be bright red at this point as she stumbled over her words. “Uh yeah, I’m fine. Great actually. But um. You know. The uh. Picnic?”

“It’s started already?” Max asked, but Emma’s eyes stayed on Killian who was looking at her with a grin too wicked handsome to turn away from. He knew she’d been looking at him and now she couldn’t tear her gaze away. “Well I’m heading over there. Cook’s making pecan biscuits today, and they never last long.”

Without waiting for them, Max booked it out of there, leaving Emma and Killian alone. Her mind was on overdrive, racing a million miles a minute, and as he walked towards her, she felt lost and found all at once. It was disorienting and exhilarating, and she was caught, like a moth drawn to a flame.

“So, you missed me, Swan?” he asked, grabbing his canteen from the ground and taking a long drink after what must have been hours of hard work.

“I - what?” she asked, distracted by the way his Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. Damn, did it somehow get hotter out here? It took everything in her not to fan herself.

“You risked leaving the picnic and forsaking Cook’s sweet treats to see that we joined you. Call it wishful thinking, but it makes me hope that perhaps you missed me.”

“Elsa sent me,” Emma clarified, clearing her throat as she shifted her stance, shaking away the distractedness he’d inspired in her. “The food’s not even out yet.”

“That may be true, but it’s not a denial. Maybe you did miss me. God knows I missed you.” The words were bold – bolder than any he’d said to her so far and his eyes raked over her before coming back up to the flowers in her hair.

“The kids were making these in the meadow. I know it’s not my usual style, but… what do you think?” she asked, and she felt the charge of Killian’s blue eyes as they took her in.

There was so much swirling around in his expression. The hunger was still there, flaring and real, and so was the affection that had grown the past three weeks of their getting to know each other. But there was something more too, as if her simply teasing query prompted big feelings for him. Whatever it was made her breath catch. Maybe she came across as silly like this, playing with the kids and letting them put flowers in her hair. She looked away, back across the meadow to where the kids were by the center way out yonder. She tried to hide her insecurity and then felt his presence as he closed the space between them. One hand came to her hip while the other reached up to tilt her face back his way. She felt the brush of his fingers as he sought to bring her attention back to him. She followed his lead, and when she looked at him there was so much written on his face. If she didn’t know better, she would say that was love in his eyes. But that was crazy. They barely knew each other.

You know him. He’s the one you’ve been waiting for, her gut said and her heart clenched at that.

It was such a ridiculous notion, but it felt right to her. They may not know every detail of each other’s lives, but she’d seen the shape of who he was over these past few weeks. He was good and kind, strong and determined, and smart too. He tried not to over-insert himself in things, but when he spoke up his ideas were always great and his instincts with kids were spot on. He impressed her each and every day, but more than that he made her feel desirable. It was practically Victorian, the way they were stealing glances and quiet moments, with all of it coming to no real head. At least a dozen times over the last few week’s there’d be this window of possibility, a glimpse of ‘what-if’ where the rest of the world faded away. Every time she thought something might happen, but it never did. Instead it was like they were waiting, luxuriating in the anticipation of it all, and pushing off the pay off just a little bit more. It was the opposite of what she was used to in her romantic life (not that there had been much of one to speak of), but Emma loved it, and her gut told her that Killian was different for a reason, and that he was right for her. She felt like he’d always been a part of her life, and she wasn’t nearly as scared about that as she should have been.

“I think you’ve never looked more beautiful, Emma, and believe me, with you being who you are, that is saying something.”

Her heart hammered in her chest as her eyes flicked down to his lips. It was hardly the first time she’d wondered what he’d taste like. This energy that surrounded them told her that one touch of his lips would start an inferno, and she was terrified of unleashing that, but also desperate not to let it pass her by. She wanted him – no, she craved him - and every day it was getting worse. The more she saw him here with these kids and with her collogues, the more layers she peeled away of this thoughtful, handsome, curious man, the more she wanted to see and to share of herself. No one had ever prompted a reaction like this from her. It was reckless, and driven by emotion, but her intuition wasn’t telling her to run for the hills or protect herself. It was daring her to jump, and to see if what she thought might be here could really exist.

Fuck it, just go for it, Emma. You know you want to. And she did, God did she want to. So she moved forward, closing the distance while he did the same and –

“Miss Emma!” One of the kids hollered from the other side of the meadow, but Emma and Killian jumped apart at the interruption, realizing this definitely wasn’t the time or place to be doing this, heart wrenching as that was. “You promised us a rematch!”

“Be right there!” she yelled back, relieved when the boy grinned and sprinted back towards the group. She let out a sigh, and though part of it was based on gratefulness that they hadn’t really been caught, there was also disappointment that the moment had to end this way. “Sorry about that.”

“Not nearly as sorry as I am, love,” Killian said, and Emma’s brow furrowed. She was confused at his meaning until he explained. “I shouldn’t have hesitated. I should have kissed you when I had the chance. Won’t make that mistake again.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised but excited at the prospect. She liked that he made his intentions far clearer than men usually did. “Good.”

“Good?” he asked, his voice holding a bit of amusement, but there was a genuine curiosity there too, as if it wasn’t totally obvious that she was interested.

“Yeah, good,” she quipped, and with a final smirk over her shoulder she turned back. She headed through the meadow to the picnic once more, all the while feeling Killian’s eyes on her, hinting at the promise he’d just made that she was desperate for him to make good on.

…………….

Gods above he’d wanted that kiss. More than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Despite the general merriment of the picnic today, Killian couldn’t help wishing that he could go about an hour back in the past and live every beat of that interlude all over again. If he’d had any sense, he’d have kissed Emma Swan the moment they were alone together, even though that moment had been fleeting.

Perhaps some might think that he should ask her first. Etiquette and politeness would suggest that a prince should never kiss a lady on a whim, but fuck politeness. He and Emma had been caught in this net of mutual interest for three weeks, and every day his want to have her grew. He knew from all the moments that they’d spoken, and even more from the moments where they’d been with each other, working side by side to make the lives of the children here better, that Emma was interested in him too. He couldn’t fathom how that could be, how a woman as remarkable as her could be attracted to him in return, but he couldn’t deny it was the case. Especially during moments like earlier, where he caught her watching him. In those windows of time, she had none of her usual walls erected, and he could read her plain as day. She wanted him, more than a passing fancy, and he had every intention of giving himself to her for whatever role she saw fit.

She may not still want you when she learns the truth.

The thought charged into the forefront of his mind like a rhino on a rampage, and the impact of it pained him more than he cared to admit. The reason for the fear behind that thinking was obvious – three weeks in and Emma still hadn’t realized he was a prince. He had no clue how it had gone this long, but every day was another day where she didn’t realize who he was. A part of him was addicted to that feeling. Those looks she was sending him, the trust she was building with him, that was forged in an interest in him, Killian. Not Prince Killian, not the second in line to the throne, not even the veteran of war who had served with honor and distinction. No, when Emma was with him, she was with him, and she saw him and accepted him and wanted him too.

But while there was a real contentment in being accepted for who he was, there was also a tremendous amount of guilt. Emma deserved to know all the facts, especially since he wanted a future with her. He couldn’t run away from this forever, and it needed to come from him. He worried every day that someone else would let it slip, and so far he’d been lucky, but luck could only last so long. He’d even tried to tell her half a dozen times, but every time he went to say it, he pictured a terrifying moment, a moment where she’d hear this, see the truth, and reject him. What if who he was to the rest of the world was too much to Emma? What if it made her pull away? What if this perfect private passion that they shared was tainted? It killed him to imagine such a scenario, and so he’d chosen a coward’s way out, clinging to all of the good right now, and hoping that the intensifying attraction between them would grow enough to keep her with him, even when his secrets were all revealed.

“Whatever is on your mind seems serious.”

The words came from Marco, who had appeared at Killian’s side here at the picnic. The man was constantly moving, running things here with a precision and a pure good naturedness that astounded Killian all the time. And in the midst of all of his actual work and responsibility, the man made time to be a mind reader. This was not the first time Marco had confronted him with a knowing look and a claim too correct to counter, and Killian doubted it would be the last.

“Aye, it is.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m certain it’ll all work out. The things that trouble us always do. One way or another, everything comes out in the way that it should.”

Killian didn’t reply, but he hoped that the older man’s words would ring true. He could handle anything, go through any hardship, as long as it meant getting to the other side and having Emma still with him. What a crazy thought that was, to so firmly believe in something that had yet to even really begin, but he couldn’t help the way he felt, and he had no real interest in trying to do so.

“But in the meantime, I was hoping you could help me with something.”

“Anything.” Killian offered, knowing that whatever was about to be asked for had to do with benefiting these kids. In three weeks time he’d grown attached to them all, and he’d do whatever he could whenever he could to help them.

“The children are headed to the wildlife preserve next week, and we are working to arrange everything. They’ve got it all laid out, but the preserve needs someone to go make sure things are set up for how we’ll need them next week. We’re bringing some of our own supplies, and there won’t be room in the vans when we’re bringing the children.”

“I can go. But I’ll need to bring -,”

“Your detail, yes. The dowager queen made it very clear that any off-site work would require their attendance. However, she assured me that she’s spoken to the King about some more lax protocols.”

“When did she…?” Killian trailed off, not bothering to ask when his grandmother might have mentioned that. She was a meddler by trade, and it was often better not to ask those kinds of questions. “Never mind.”

“I spoke with Jefferson and he agreed that it’s possible for you and Emma to drive in the van with the detail in a sperate means of transport.”

“Right. Right. Wait – Emma?” Killian asked, he hadn’t realized Emma was coming. This all suddenly took a big step in the direction of enjoyable now that he knew she was coming.

“Yes, Emma. She’s been working with Anna and Elsa on plans for the trip. She’ll know where everything needs to go, and both Elsa and Anna are needed here this afternoon. Emma’s the best one for the job.”

“Of course she is,” Killian said, not with any sarcasm, but full honesty. In his estimation Emma was the best one for every job, but he hadn’t meant to give that away in front of Marco, no matter how observant the institute’s leader may be.

“Well I appreciate the help. It’s likely best for you to head out now. The head of the learning and enrichment center at the preserve leaves early on Fridays, and she’s got the key to the portion of the preserve we’ll be visiting.”

Killian heeded the instruction and watched as Marco went to tell Emma the same thing. He noticed the surprise on her face at the new errand they were going on, but then she looked at him from across the picnic and smiled. God she was beautiful. And he was the lucky bastard who got to spend all afternoon with her. The thought excited him to no end, and as they took their leave from the picnic and headed out back to the van, his whole being came alive in a way that seemed more befitting a teenager in love than a man about to set off for a wildlife preserve.

As they drove the thirty minutes or so to the park, Killian found himself slipping into a sense of normal so much sooner than he would have anticipated. Soon he forgot about the presence of his detail and how out of the ordinary this was for him. He didn’t get to drive much, definitely not since leaving the service, and he’d certainly never driven with a woman who interested him so much. Here they were, sharing the space and just discussing the upcoming week’s activities for the children and Killian hung on her every word. Emma explained in intricate detail all the parts of the process that they’d planned out. This was more than just an outing to give the kids occupation, it was going to have an outdoor classroom component and also some discrete, blended group therapy. That was where Emma and Elsa came in most. Emma was still in school studying how best to provide for children in tumult like this, but Killian discovered much of the itinerary for next week came from plans she alone had designed.

“If you don’t mind me asking, love, why is the preserve the best place for work like this?”

Killian had zero doubt that it was the best place, and he knew that Emma and the team would have thought about this long and hard, but he wanted to hear her explain it to him. Her passion and enthusiasm did something to him that he’d come to crave, and every time she shared her thinking he felt he understood more, not just about her but about this kind of work. For the sake of the children at the institute, he wanted to learn as much as he could, and to find a way to always be a resource to these people and not a detriment or a let down.

“Well the themes of the group work line up really easily with their lessons for the day. Also the animal component. Studies done at the University of California demonstrate that children and young adults take comfort in animals and also practice this kind of self-projection when in their presence. Animals are proven empathy boosters. They’re tied up in a lot of emotions for kids, and for some of the charges here they are also a real wonder. They’ve never had much exposure to the world outside of Montenarro, or even the world outside the institute. We’re hoping the trip will be a sphere of possibility for them all, and therapeutically speaking, you can accomplish so much more with positive ‘what-ifs’ than anything else.”

Killian did his best to keep his eyes on the road as Emma explained all of this, but he kept glancing back over to Emma, tracking the motion of her full lips and the way her hair came loose from its ties as the breeze came through the open windows. Her voice moved over him like warm honey, and he was calmed and intrigued. He heard everything she said, reasoned that it was all brilliant, as per usual, but he found he didn’t have much to offer back. This was so outside of his wheelhouse. Everything they did here was about healing and growing. His past had been filled with fighting and defending. Those skill sets took very different parts of a person to finesse, and while he believed the royal navy could learn more than a few things from Emma, the way things currently stood, her work and his past occupation seemed miles and miles apart.

“I’m sorry for rambling on and on like that. I’m still not used to being here. Everyone really cares in a way that’s so rare, and I tend to get a bit over excited.”

Without thinking, Killian took one of his hands off the steering wheel and grabbed Emma’s hand. She stayed frozen for a moment but then her hand molded to his, grasping his back in a way that filled him with peace and elation.

“Never be sorry for what your heart decides, love. It’s clear as day you love this work. You have a real purpose, and you’re making real change. That’s something to be cherished, no matter what.”

Emma whispered out a thank you, and her thumb ran against his hand absentmindedly. They kept their hands together, clasped liked that as they continued the drive, and unfortunately it was too short for Killian’s liking. Before they knew it, they were there, and the time for them to talk had come and gone. But Killian took joy in the fact that they had the whole drive home to share together too. He smiled at that as he parked the car past the front gates and just outside the preserve’s outdoor classroom pavilion. Soon though that happiness and easy going feeling fled as a thought dawned on him for the first time this outing – he was no longer on turf where people knew to treat him normally. What if he was recognized? What if someone gave the truth away? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

“Hey that’s the same insignia as the institute. I didn’t realize this was a JR Foundation grant too,” Emma said, and the unease coursing through him grew inordinately stronger.

“Um, err, yeah – I mean yes,” Killian said, scratching behind his ear and trying to fend off the embarrassment. “The preserve was donated by my family a long time ago though. Land prices were a different story then.”

Damn, why did he have to go and say something like that? Now he just sounded elitist, and that wasn’t him at all. Thankfully Emma laughed at him, taking his awkward bumbling as an intended jest instead of the show of panic that it really was.

“Right. Wouldn’t want to be too generous. I mean you all are already enriching the lives of all of those kids. Gotta spread out the random acts of kindness.”

With her lighthearted barb, Emma directed him towards the research center and told him that there was a woman here they’d been connected with. Emma warned him that the woman was a little… off, but in a well-meaning way. Killian just hoped beyond hope that she was old, frail, and barely able to see. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d have thick glasses and a bit of a spotty memory. He hated to pray for anyone to have such ailments, but in this moment he was tempted.

“Hello? Zelena? Are you here?”

“In the back, dear.”

Oh well that was a good sign, right? Who called people dear at this point? Only his grandmother and at times his mother as far as Killian knew. Maybe he would get lucky after all. But then movement came from the back room and they were greeted by a younger woman with no glasses in sight, and a discerning face that made his stomach drop. Shit, she recognized him. Bloody hell, what was he going to do.

“Marco sent us to drop some stuff off. Killian and I just wanted to make sure that the back lot is still good?” Emma’s use of his first name made the other woman’s brows rise, but she took it in stride, only casting another glance of questioning at him. Killian was attempting a poker face, but he wouldn’t be surprised if this woman could sense his internal turmoil. Either way, she surprised him with her casual reply.

“Yes, that’s perfect. I’ll take you both back there,” Zelena said breezily, grabbing a set of keys and leading them outside. Emma and her spoke about the upcoming outing, and Killian kept waiting for things to take a turn, but they didn’t. This was nothing but a positive exchange. Emma’s comment was proven true, as Zelena did seem to have a tendency to interrupt with wildly irrelevant facts about the natural world and quotes from long dead naturalists, but Killian would listen to her talk about just about anything as long as his secret was spared.

The second we get out of here, I’m telling Emma the truth. I should have told her already. Please God, don’t let me be too late.

Finally, Zelena opened up all of the necessary pens for Emma and Killian to drive the van up here and set up. They all of them unloaded the materials for the outing next week, and covered up things with tarps on the off chance that there was rain. It was much quicker work with three of them acting on this together. But when they were finally finishing up and Emma had bid Zelena goodbye and thanked her once more, Zelena turned to look at him and hit him with a swift punch right to the gut.

“If you don’t mind me saying, you really do look so much like your brother.”

And there he was, left exposed and found out. He did everything he could not to wince openly, and he tried to get his bearings enough to say something else, but Zelena continued.

“But that’s pirates’ blood for you. Dominant stuff. Strong hereditary nature.”

He almost sank to his knees in relief as Zelena turned back around and walked away, all while prattling on about pirates and their effect on Montennaran geneology. She’d mentioned his family, but not their being royals. Maybe he was all right? He looked to Emma to see, and her look of shock scared the shit out of him all over again.

“Wait, so that pirate thing was real?”

“Aye, it was real,” he hedged.

“And everyone just knows that little tid bit about your family?” He nodded. “They must be a pretty big deal to have such a well-known reputation.”

“To me they’re just the people who love me most in the world,” Killian answered honestly.

And that was the truth. He didn’t see his family as royalty, at least not primarily. They were just people, the people he belonged to. Sure they played a role in the public life and persona of this country, and they were not allowed to live the full scope of normal that other people could partake in, but the love that bound them was no less real, and neither was the loyalty and honor that he felt for them. Still, he wasn’t doing any of them a service right now. This was his chance to tell Emma the truth. Just rip off the bandage so to speak, but her response threw him off kilter.

“I understand that. I never had anything like that until Henry, but now… family is so precious. I’m sure that’s just as true, even if you all have a bit of money.

“There’s more than money in our picture, I fear,” Killian said, trying to find the words to express this to Emma delicately. He didn’t want to just come out and say it, so he maneuvered around it all as best he could. “Being in my family comes with a certain level of responsibility. We’re fixtures here, property of public perception as much as we are of ourselves.”

“That sounds terrible,” Emma said softly, reaching out to touch his arm. The action was one meant to comfort him and he wish she could understand how true that was. But she surprised him with even more astute observation. “And it also sounds like the opposite of what you’d want for yourself.”

“You can tell that?” Killian asked and Emma nodded.

“Yes. You like to be useful, and you take pride in doing what’s right. Maybe that’s from your time in the service, but I suspect that’s just who you are at your core. You’re a helper, to the kids you’re a hero, but the second you get the recognition for it you kindly direct praise elsewhere. The spotlight seems like the last place you’d ever want to be.”

“Exactly right,” Killian acknowledged, gearing up to make his confession. “Emma, the thing is-,”

“Sorry to interrupt, sir,” A voice said from behind them, and Killian knew it was Jefferson before so much as turning. Still the presence of another person startled Emma enough to make her jump. Instinctively Killian grabbed her hand as a means to calm her. “But we’ve got a situation at the –,” Jefferson caught himself before saying too much. “Ehrm, something’s come up with your family.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Your brother needs your help with the board sir. I’m afraid it can’t wait.”

The board was a running joke in the family, and it stood for parliament. Liam needed his help with parliament? Killian had no idea what he could possible need, but whatever it was it couldn’t be good. Liam had never interrupted him at work, respecting Killian’s balance of life and duty. For him to make this move meant something, unfortunately it came at just about the least opportune time possible.

“You should go. I can get the van back to the institute. I was paying attention to the route up here. It seemed straightforward -,”

“Jefferson, have John see Emma back,” Killian said, looking to Emma and shaking his head. “I know that you could manage, love, but I also know you’re not used to driving here. Please, let me help, even if it’s nowhere near enough.”

“Sure,” Emma agreed easily, and he saw the worry in her eyes, guiding the way she was handling this with him right now.

“Jefferson could you give us a minute?”

“Sir, we really need -,”

“Just a minute, J.”

“Yes, sir.”

When he was sure they were alone, Killian knew he didn’t have the time to tell Emma the truth, but he had decided he was going to do so as soon as possible. He just needed a prolonged bit of peace and quiet for the two of them, with no interruptions and no unexpected hiccups. As it was, however, he couldn’t risk them being interrupted again, and without so much as a word he closed the space between them, bringing her into his arms, where his intentions could not be misunderstood. Almost instantly Emma melted against him, her hands rest on his chest as she gazed up at him curiously. Her eyes flicked to his mouth and that was all he needed to seal their lips and kiss this wonderful, miraculous woman.

The kiss was world-altering, a cosmic shift in the fabric of his very being, and it packed so much promise that he hardly knew where he ended and Emma began. In this embrace he felt like he was finally coming home after years of searching for his answers, and when they broke apart, both trying to catch their breath, he saw in Emma’s eyes his future. Everything he wanted, everything he never dared to dream of, it could only happen with this woman. She was the key to everything, and he wanted her to see that and to feel that every day of her life.

“This isn’t how I imagined things going today, Emma,” he admitted, his voice gruff from the emotion of their kiss and his frustration at having to leave. “And God knows I’ve thought of this kind of moment more times than I can say, but I find I can’t wait any longer for the perfect situation. So I guess I’ll just ask – Emma Swan, would you go out with me sometime? On a proper date, just the two of us?”

“Yes,” she immediately responded. And the smile she graced him with gave him so much hope that had just seconds ago been scarce.

“Tomorrow?” He asked and her smile faltered. Absentmindedly he brushed his thumb across her cheek, and he watched as she leaned into the motion.

“I can’t tomorrow. Henry and I are spending the day at the beach. Then we’re going to the Institute for the party. Someone mentioned you might be coming too.”

“For the holiday, right,” Killian said, having forgotten about his own agreement to be there. His plans had initially been to lay low, and actively avoid the day. He’d been promised a pass from any royal duties from his brother, and he thought he’d just head out on a long hike, enjoying himself out in the natural world. But when the children asked him to come to their party a few days ago, he couldn’t’ say no. Honestly he was somewhat ashamed he’d failed to remember their request. But when it came to Emma, everything else had a tendency of fading from view. “I will be there. I just…”

“Forgot?” Emma teased and Killian nodded. “Trust me I’m tempted to forget too, but it means so much to Henry. He’s really wanted to meet everyone and he’s been planning our outing all week-,”

“I understand, love,” he said, meaning it whole heartedly. Killian knew how much Emma’s son meant to her. He’d never ever fault her for seeing he was tended to. It was just another part of Emma to love and admire.

“But I could do the next night?” she offered, giving away how invested she was in making a date, and Killian smiled. Damn it felt good to have her in this with him. He’d honestly never felt so happy at anything in his life.

“Brilliant.”

They exchanged numbers and he got Emma’s address, promising that he’d pick her up at 7 in two days’ time. She was certain Elsa could watch Henry, and Killian was determined to make the date one so alluring, Emma would have to see beyond his blasted title. And in the meantime he’d see her still tomorrow, meaning that he didn’t have to wait to taste that bit of sunshine she always aimed his way. Still, despite the time crunch he was under, Killian couldn’t bring himself to say goodbye. It felt too final and too painful for him, so instead he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again, taking comfort in how right this was between them, and how perfectly they seemed to fit together.

“I swear I’ll make this right,” he murmured when they broke apart. He knew there was no more time left. He had to go, but he hated to leave.

“This already is right,” she said, not realizing the full extent of his meaning, but giving him so much hope all the same. He stole one last fleeting kiss before stepping back. He turned and saw Jefferson was back, their moment was broken, but as Killian waved at Emma one last time and headed out to see his brother, he knew that this was not over. No matter what came, he’d make sure he and Emma were together. He would not mess this up. He would be the man she wanted and the man she deserved. He just needed a chance to do so, and he had every intention of taking said chance very very soon.

Post-Note: Okay so I know that this chapter features a lot of stuff – we’ve got some intrigue, a first kiss, and a lot of teasing moments. I just wanted this fic to have some of that, even though we’re getting close to the halfway point. As you might have guessed, the big reveal is coming sometime in the next few chapters, and there’s a few twists and turns coming in our story, but you can always trust that the heart of this story is true and it will land in a fluffy, love-filled place. Anyway, thanks so much to all of you for reading, and I’ll hopefully see you all next time!

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catsafarithewriter · 4 years

Note

"I want to say it was worth it. For a while, it was" Haru/Baron please?

A/N: Oooh, I loved using this prompt! This is a fairytale AU based on Rumpelstiltskin with some… unexpected character casting. The writing style is gently fairytale-esque, and I enjoyed this so much I finished this in a day! Enjoy!

Spinning straw into gold was impossible; everyone knew that.

Everyone, it seemed, but her father and the King. But that was enough.

Haru Yoshioka had never been one for tears, but she decided the universe wouldn’t judge her too harshly for shedding a few in the face of her impending death. After all, who was there to see? If a poor peasant woman cried in a locked tower and no one was around to hear her, did her sobs make a sound?

“Fair maiden, fair maiden,” called a voice from the rafters. “Why do you weep so?”

Haru’s tears came to an abrupt halt. The voice was well-spoken, like that of an old-fashioned noble or royalty; definitely not one of the guards. Also, guards didn’t tend to linger in the rafters. Neither did nobility or royalty, but she could only worry about one thing at a time. She gave one last snivel for good measure and glared up at the ceiling. “I’ll have you know that it’s ill-mannered to listen in on a lady’s distress.” She dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. “Let a lady die in peace.”

“Die?” A shadow leapt down from above, and Haru was greeted with the form of a small ginger cat. “I have heard of many ways to die, but over-exposure to hay is a new one to me.”

Haru chuckled, and a little of her usual good temper returned. “You have a sense of humour, cat. I would appreciate it if it could keep me company until the sun rises.”

“And after the dawn?”

“After the dawn you will need to find a new friend, for this one shall be gone.”

The cat placed both paws onto her knees, and emerald-green eyes stared into hers. “Oh now, fair maiden, that shall not be.”

“You have little choice.” Haru waved a hand across the crowded room. “I am but a miller’s daughter, but my father laid claim that I could spin straw into gold, and when the King heard he locked me up in here and told me I must turn all this to gold by sunrise or be put to death.”

“Your king would kill you for that?”

“Apparently. So you see, cat, I have not long for this world unless you can spin straw into gold.”

“But of course. Did I not make that clear? I am a magic cat.” He rose onto his back paws and stood in a manner most human. “And, as a magic cat, I cannot leave such a fetching young lady to such a dire fate.”

Haru’s heart leapt. A fae cat! But then she remembered the tales of being indebted to the fair folk, and quickly removed the ring from her hand. “Please, take this as payment for your help.”

“I take no payment.”

“Please. It isn’t much, but it was my mother’s wedding ring. Is it enough for your kindness?”

The cat took the ring, and in return Haru was rewarded with a strange look. “It is enough for my kindness,” he said, and moved to the spinning wheel, whereupon it whirred into life. The straw spun through the wheel, round and round, until the bobbin was full of gold and he had to replace with another, and another, and on it went till morning and all the straw was gone. And all the while, he kept her company.

When all was done, the cat bowed and vanished.

With the rising sun, the King arrived, and he was both delighted and amazed by the room of gold he now possessed.

His advisors were… less so. Haru saw the stilted looks they exchanged with one another, all too aware – even if their monarch was not – that such feats were beyond the scope of mortal folk.

Still, the King wanted more, and so the following night he locked the miller’s daughter in a second room filled with straw, larger than the first, and uttered the same ultimatum.

This time she didn’t weep, but called out for her previous companion.

“Fair maiden, fair maiden,” the cat greeted, bowing. “Why do you call me so?”

“The King has once again demanded that I spin gold for him and has threatened to kill me if I fail,” she said. She loosened the ribbon in her hair, the ribbon she had specifically brought tonight. “All I have is this ribbon. It isn’t much, but it is the last gift my mother gave me before she passed. Is it enough for your kindness?”

Again, that strange look.

“It is enough for my kindness,” he answered, and began to spin.

Again, the straw was gold by dawn, and again Haru swapped companions from cat to King with the rising sun. She didn’t miss the way his eyes lit up at the shimmering room, nor did she miss the whispered rumours from the advisors. Once, the transformation may have been a trick; twice, and it became witchcraft.

“Three times, and you shall prove your worth,” the King told her. “Why, with a wife such as you, our kingdom would be rich.”

“Wife?” echoed Haru.

“Wife?” echoed the advisors.

“Naturally,” the King said, and led her to a yet larger room filled with straw. “If you spin all this gold by the next sunrise, I shall make you my queen. But if you fail, you shall die.”

And thus, when the cat came that evening, he found the miller’s daughter in tears once more.

“Fair maiden, fair maiden,” he said. “Why do you weep so?”

“I weep because the King desires to make me his wife if I succeed tonight.”

“Why so sad? Surely it is the wish of anyone to rise to such rank.”

“Oh, cat, you do not know me at all if you think that,” Haru wept. “If he marries me, he shall expect this every night, and I shall spend the rest of my life under threat of death. He does not love me; he only loves the gold which you spin.”

Her face buried in her hands, she could not see but she was sure she felt gloved fingers gently brush the hair from her face. “Oh, fair maiden,” the cat’s voice murmured, “I know you too well to let you suffer such a fate. Just trust me a moment longer, and all shall be well.”

She raised her head, but the cat was definitely still just a cat. Even so, the phantom touch of tender fingers lingered on her skin. “Cat, you have been such a good friend to me these last two nights; I want to say it was worth it. For a while, it was. But do not spin the straw this final night. In all the chaos, I have forgotten to bring anything to thank you for your kindness.”

“I need not take anything now,” he said. “You may owe me, if it is enough for my kindness.”

Haru faltered. To be indebted to the fae folk… perhaps would be no worse than being married off to a gold-hungry king. Perhaps she could pay him back in precious gems or trinkets from the royal treasury, if he would accept such baubles when he could create gold at a touch.

“It is enough,” she whispered.

“Then the deal is made,” he said, and he set to spinning.

True to his word, the room was filled with gold by daybreak and, true to his word, the King made immediate preparations for the upcoming wedding upon seeing her success.

“Wife,” the King called her.

“Queen,” the peasants said.

“Witch,” the advisors muttered. “Alchemist. Fae.” She heard their murmured accusations, however quietly they said them, and knew the words would spread. A queen who makes deals with the devil, they asked, what kind of queen is that? And she couldn’t help but agree, although she could not have said which was the devil in her dealing.

Still, she found herself suitably adorned and embellished; a bride fit for a king. The gold the cat had spun was woven into her dress, and the ensuing result left her more gold than girl by the time the tailors were finished. The ladies-in-waiting perfected her face with powder and if they had to add a little more than usual to hide the red-rimmed tearful eyes, then no one commented.

Still, everyone could be heard to agree as she stood alongside the King, she was a suitable bride. Everyone agreed.

Almost.

“Fair maiden, fair maiden,” called a familiar voice. “Why do you marry so?”

And where the priest should have been stood the cat. But not the cat Haru recalled. This one was taller, human in height and dressed in a suit, fitted with a top hat and cane. But still. Haru recognised him, however altered he was, as the same cat who had helped her three times prior.

“A demon!” snarled the King, and stepped back.

“Yes,” the cat said, before Haru could correct him, “A demon.” He approached them, and swept his hat off in a low bow. “I would love to give my congratulations to the happy couple, but I’m afraid there’s been some confusion. You see, the miller’s daughter still owes me a debt, and I wish to collect.”

“Collect?” Haru echoed. “Collect what?”

The cat rose from his bow, and his smile was wane. “You, Miss Miller-maid. Three nights’ worth of gold is a fine price for a bride, I’d say.”

The King bustled, but did not step between Haru and the cat. “You cannot buy her,” he snapped.

“Why not?” the cat asked. “You did.” He returned his gaze to Haru and held out a hand. “Miss Miller-maid, I’m waiting.”

She felt herself shivering, and belatedly recognised it as rage. “Not like this,” she whispered. “I will not trade one cage for another. Cat, if you ever held any affection for me in your heart, do not do this.”

His eyes sparkled, and Haru had the strangest sensation she had given the correct answer. “Very well; we shall turn this into a game, then. I will give you three days with three guesses each, one for each night’s service rendered, for you to win back your debt. All you have to do is call me by my name.” He smiled. “Do that, and you will be forever free of me.”

The first day dawned with the release of messengers, sent across the land by the King. Their task was simple, but perhaps impossible: find the name of the cat demon.

Haru, the prize, was left guarded in her new room – “In case that demon comes to collect early,” the King had said, although she doubted a few soldiers would stop a fairy. She would be given the array of hopeful names, and select the three to offer that day.

“Fair maiden, fair maiden, how grand your cage is now. Why, ‘tis fit for a queen.”

Haru didn’t turn to the voice. “I ought to throw you out of this window for that foul trickery you did me, cat.”

“I did nothing you did not agree to.”

“You could have asked for anything,” she retorted. “So why choose that?” She felt her eyes water with angry tears, and she turned and slammed both fists into his chest. “How dare you ask that of me! I thought you were my friend!”

“And I am. I always will be.” He gently pried her hands off him. “Fair maiden, look at me.”

“I’d rather not,” she muttered into his waistcoat.

“As you wish. But whatever form I take, whether talking cat or demonic beast, I am clearly not of this world, and there are certain ways things must be done for my magic to help anyone. It must be balanced. Equal. If I spirit you away from this unwanted marriage, it will only place you further in debt. And you are running out of precious things worth a fairy’s debt.”

“There are jewels in the treasury–”

The cat laughed. “Jewels? Do you think you can pay off a fairy debt with shiny rocks? No. I accepted your offers because they were important to you – your mother’s ring, her final gift to you – not because they carried any monetary value.” He tentatively brushed her hair from her tear-stained eyes. “Eventually, the debt finds its own payment and I fear the price, if left unchecked, will be too rich for you.” His touch was gentle. “It may be the colour of your hair, or the sight from your left eye, all or all your memories from before you turned five.”

“But you think my freedom isn’t too rich?” she muttered.

“Who said anything about freedom?”

“But you said–”

“That I came to collect you, Miss Miller-maid, but the debt cares little for what I do after it is paid. If I decide to buy a caged bird only to set it free, that is none of the concern of the seller.”

“You’re… you’re telling the truth?”

“I cannot lie,” he said, and slipped a familiar ring onto her right hand. “However, if you choose to stay, then you will need this. This ring is now enchanted. Wear it, and you will be able to spin straw into gold as well as I can. Consider it part of the debt I’m collecting.”

Haru’s fingers flew to her mother’s wedding ring. “Why do this? Why help me?”

“That’s simple. It’s because you are my friend, fair maiden.”

“Haru,” she said, and abruptly felt foolish. Giving her name away to a fae? The only thing more foolish would be to put oneself into unspecified debt to a fae… oh, wait.

But the smile he gave was only kind, not conniving. “Then you may call me Baron. It is as much of a name as any.”

“Is it–”

“No, it is not my true name, although I did go by that title once.” He grinned. “Do you think I’d make it that easy?”

“Is your name Pendragon?”

“No.”

“Fujimoto?”

“No.”

“Suliman?”

“No.”

The second day came, and Haru found the cat – Baron – once again at her door.

“Fair maiden, fair maiden, how grand your cage is now. Why, ‘tis fit for a queen.”

She smiled, despite herself. “Then it is too grand for me.”

“We shall have to remedy that then,” he replied, and he swung the door open behind him to reveal an empty corridor.

“Baron, I can’t leave here – everyone will recognise me, and I can’t just run–”

“We’re not running. We’re going for a walk,” he said, and drew close. His gloved hands worked through her hair and tied a familiar-looking ribbon into her locks. “This ribbon is now enchanted. Wear it, and no one but you do not want to will recognise you. Consider it part of the debt I’m collecting.”

She tenderly touched the favoured ribbon. “What do you mean they won’t recognise me? Do I look different? Is it a disguise?”

“It’s only a disguise as far as their minds go,” he answered. “People will see you, but they will not realise they see their future-queen.” He smiled. “If you decide to leave the King, it will enable you to live an unencumbered life, free from the risk of royal recognition.”

She wished to thank him, but knew that thanking for fairy gifts was unwise. At the very least, the gift might lose its power; at worst, it might retaliate back at her. So she could only smile, but she felt Baron see the gratitude. Then she hesitated. “Baron, the… guards. You didn’t–”

“Fear not, there are no unfortunate soldiers masquerading as mice. I simply took good note of their shifts and schedule and planned accordingly. As long as we are out of this door in the next five minutes, no one will be any the wiser.” He winked. “Let’s stretch those wings, fair maiden.”

And so she let him lead her through the maze of palace corridors and stairways, and she found that neither of them warned more than a passing glance. She fiddled with her ribbon, awed by its newfound properties. “Tell me, Baron,” she said as they stepped out into the royal gardens, “so you have a similar spell affecting you? For no one seems to mark you.”

He tapped the polka-dotted tie around his neck. “Indeed. With this, everyone merely thinks how strange it is to see a cat demon, and moves on. It has become a valid tool in many a situation. But now it is my turn to inquire. Before all this started, you were a miller’s daughter. If you do leave, what would you wish to do with your life?”

Haru faltered. No one had ever asked her that before – not in any meaningful way, anyway. “I suppose,” she said, “if I could choose, I would wish to travel. Travel, and then settle down as a seamstress, like my mother.”

“Just that?” Baron asked, although he sounded… pleased, if anything. “No riches or power?”

“I’ve seen how people live with excess riches and power,” she answered. “I only want enough riches that I can eat and live, and enough power than I can be free. I have no need for anything more.” She looked to him. “And what of you?”

“What of me?”

“Did you always wish to be… this?”

He looked at her then, and she wondered if, similarly, no one had ever seen fit to ask him either. “I suppose,” he echoed, “if I could choose, I would wish to run a teashop.”

Haru had to resist a laugh. She did smile. “Just that?”

“Just that. I used to make tea for my sister, Louise, and she loved all the blends I would create.” He smiled at the fond memory. “If I were to run a teashop, it would be a local affair, located in a quiet little village with a quiet little village green and rolling hills over the horizon, and annual fairs. People would come from the neighbouring villages to meet up and talk, and when they wonder where they should sup, they would go, ‘but of course, to Baron’s teashop.’”

Haru leant over to him. “So why don’t you?”

He only smiled. “Such a simple life is unsuited to one of my kind.”

“Is your name Toto?”

“No.”

“Teto?”

“No.”

“Yakul?”

No.”

“Why create the game?” Haru asked on the morn of the final day. “Why ask me to guess your name and drag this three days longer if you could have just spirited me away now?”

“That’s simple,” Baron replied. “You deserved to have the right to choose.”

“It is barely a choice. That would imply that the decision is difficult in the making. Anyway,” she added, a smidgen indignant, “how is it a choice when we both know I don’t have a chance of guessing your name?”

“You have the ring and the ribbon,” he said. “Between them, they give you the ability to either live safely in the palace, weaving away, or escape to a quiet, modest life; neither require me anymore. As for the matter of my name,” he said, and gently placed a handkerchief in her hands, “you already have all you need to know that.”

She glanced to the silken material. “Is this another of those ‘consider this part of the debt I’m collecting’ things?” she asked.

“Something like that.”

“What does it do?”

He chuckled and tucked a stray hair back from her face. “It dries eyes, no more, no less. Consider it my promise to you to never make you cry again.”

Immediately, her eyes began to water. She hid them behind the handkerchief, laughing and crying simultaneously and failing to successfully conceal either.

“Haru, I just said–” Baron started, alarmed.

“No crying, I know,” she laughed. “Relax, these are happy tears. Still…” she said, “Why me? Why go to all this trouble for me?”

Baron softly drew her hands away from her face. “Do you think it was pure coincidence I met you that first night? I heard tales of a miller’s daughter whose father’s outrageous claims had lined her up for death. And so I came to help.” He smiled. “I had planned to move on after I had secured your freedom, but the thought of being without you leaves me quite lonely. It has occurred to me that I may be in want of a companion.” He drew away. “But, it’s your choice. It must always be your choice.”

It was a strange item, really, to receive.

Haru turned the handkerchief over in her hands and pondered. Baron had said it retained no power, no unseen enchantment nor spell, and yet it seemed at odds with the other gifts he had bestowed. It didn’t carry the same emotional weight that her ribbon or ring had borne, and yet he had chosen to bequeath such a thing on the day of her final guesses.

She would have been content to leave it at that, until it caught the light and through the silk she saw the remnants of a faded pattern.

A coat of arms.

And after that, it all slotted into place.

His title of baron narrowed it to the lower rankings of nobility.

The coat of arms to a single family.

The sister Louise to a handful of individuals.

And there was only one name that had vanished under mysterious circumstances.

Haru sat beside the King, the parchment of chosen names spread out before her, but none of the offerings matched the name she knew to be true. She chose one at random.

“Is your name Totoro?”

He smiled, and she wondered if he knew of her newfound knowledge.

“No.”

It was ridiculous. Crazy. Irrational. To trust someone steeped so deep in fairy magic was to be a fool, and a short-lived one at that.

Or so the stories went.

“Is your name Moro?”

“No.”

Ridiculous. Crazy. Irrational.

She tried to remind herself of that.

And yet, he had been her one friend through all this.

“Is your name…”

Humbert von Gikkingen?

She hesitated. She thought of rooms filled with spun gold, and reckless boasts, and greedy kings, and ribbons and rings and handkerchiefs with family coat of arms and it’s because you are my friend–

“Nago?” she finished. “Is your name Nago?”

The smile he gave was not triumphant.

But it was happy.

Baron stepped up to the dais and held out a hand to her. “No, fair maiden. It is not.”

She took it.

There were a great deal of things to learn while travelling with someone like Baron, but she had both time and a good friend on her side. Eventually though, when the steepest of the learning curve had been breached and their current adventure had drawn to a close, she asked the one thing that had stayed with her since that fateful day.

“What would have happened if I had said your name?”

“I imagine you would have found some way to escape to a better life,” he replied. “No matter which way you chose, you would have been happy, Haru. I made sure of that.”

“No, I mean… what would have happened to you?” she asked.

“Oh. I would have returned to my human shape.”

“Returned?”

“Indeed. I was once human, but a bad encounter with a fairy left me in the form you see today. While useful in its capacity for magic and immortal lifespan, it has stolen the human life I had desired from me. The fairy that cursed me stole my name, and said that only when I hear it spoken once more will it be broken.”

Haru considered this. “I know your name,” she said.

“Then the day you tire of travelling and magic, speak it,” he said, “and our human lives will begin.”

Years passed.

Years passed, and the King passed away, and in his stead a sensible young monarch rose up. The fairy gold tarnished and rusted long before its due, all except for a golden-laden wedding dress that had once been fitted for a future queen. It stayed, and the whispered witch tales transformed to fairy as memories faded and people fell in love with the story of a gold-weaving miller’s daughter who bewitched a king and spirited away before they could wed.

And, in a quiet little village, with a quiet little village green and set between rolling hills, a teashop owner and a seamstress lived happily ever after.

#Anon #replies #cat writes #the cat returns #i realise there's quite a bit of stardust references or inspirations here #the 'colour of your hair or all memories before the age of 5' is i suspect a terrible misquote #also several quotes or lines used from the blue fairy book telling of rumpelstiltskin #shelby shelby shelby you'll like this this has fae magic logic #also i realise this is somewhat similar to my mummy 3 au #in that a fae being grows attached to this singular mortal and plays the system to help them #also i'm lowkey really proud of how this turned out #4K of decent words blasted out in a single day #this'll probably get posted to ffnet and ao3 when i have no multichaptered fics being posted #this was really cute to write and i'm hoping it'll also be really cute to read #let's find out!

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gearhawk-studios · 3 years

Text

Genshin Impact: Bloodlines

Prologue Part 3: Heart of a Hero

A wide known fact is that distractions can be a detriment to an author, whose mind and will is dedicated to committing stories to pen and paper. So, it is a necessity to find a workspace with the least amount of distractions, but the greatest amount of inspiration. For the 16-year-old Xandrin Scribhneoir, he preferred sitting on his favored boulder at the Falcon Coast. The lapping waves, the salty breeze, the occasional animal companion scurrying across the sandy surfaces, the gentle setting sun setting the sky ablaze in orange and blues… it was a place Xandrin found himself alone most of the time and had not taken this fact for granted.

He returned his sight to the leather bound notebook in his lap, already halfway filled with the tales of an upcoming knight of the Gunhildr Clan. When Xandrin had seen her on the training grounds of the Knights of Favonius, it was clear she had the will of a lion with her devastating swordplay, but the heart of a dandelion, soft and sweet. A perfect example of what Mondstadt’s knights should aspire to be, Xandrin thought to himself as he continued to write.

“Master Xandrin!”

The young man sighed, realizing his time uninterrupted was coming to an end. Closing his book, the Scribhneoir heir turned to see an older gentleman, wearing the black suit of a butler, rushing through the fields. His grey hair was tied into a long, slim and well kept ponytail, the beard trimmed with great finesse. The gentleman stopped at the stone, panting and coughing, “M-master Xandrin… please, you must not keep doing this…”

“Hector,” Xandrin addressed the man, wearing an exasperated smile on his face, “I’ve told you a hundred times, I can handle myself out here. Fiora made sure I wasn’t defenseless like I used to be.”

Hector raised his head, taking out a handkerchief and dapping the deep wrinkles on his forehead, “Be that as it may… your parents have expressly stated that I am to keep you in my sight at all times. So, would you please stop slipping away from me?”

With a mix of a sigh and a chuckle, Xandrin slid down from his favored spot and nodded to the butler, “I will do my best, Hector. C’mon, we should probably get back home.”

Gathering up his satchel and his writing supplies, Xandrin slung the bag over his shoulder and led Hector back down the all familiar path to Mondstadt. The smell of the salt on the air was soon replaced with the scent of the multitude of flowers around the fields of Windrise, something that made Xandrin smile.

“How is your next work coming along, Master Xandrin?” Hector spoke, his tone more composed.

Xandrin turned to him and thought for a moment, “It’s coming along. Just a little unnerving having to get this done within a month.”

“Such is the bane of authors, sir. A life of deadlines and writer’s block.”

Chuckling, Xandrin nodded, “It certainly can be, Hector. It certainly can.”

The two continued along, passing a flock of small birds that took off into the air. Xandrin watched them fly, leaving behind a couple of feathers that danced in the breeze. As Xandrin observed them, Hector spoke up once more, “May I ask a question, Master Xandrin?”

Xandrin nodded, still watching the feathers float to the ground. Hector cleared his throat, “You’ve been writing about the heroes of Mondstadt for quite a while, I have been wondering… have you not considered making a story of yourself?”

There was a long pause, as Xandrin turned and looked at Hector. Then, he shook his head, “I’m not much of a hero, Hector. What would there be to write? I’m just a writer, nothing much else to it.”

Hector smiled tiredly, “Perhaps, Master Xandrin. But have you-“

Xandrin held up a hand, both him and Hector stopping in their tracks. There was a new smell in the air. There was the faint scent of smoke… of blood. Eyes widening, he turned to Hector. Seeing his young master’s look in his gaze, Hector nodded as they turned their attention to the massive tree in the distance. The symbol of Vennessa.

Together they ran over, moving carefully over the massive roots of this ancient tree. As they moved, Xandrin noticed jagged scorch marks across the various roots, not caused by normal fire. He also saw broken sticks and shards of metal. Before he could notice more, Hector held out an arm, motioning for Xandrin to stop and get low.

Dropping behind one of the roots, Xandrin and his trusty butler peeked over to see a most disturbing sight. At the base of the tree was a statue to Barbatos, the Anemo Archon and God of Freedom. It was a spot common for the Sisters of the Church of Mondstadt to come to offer respects with the Knights of Favonius watching over them. Two such sisters, though one looked to be about Xandrin’s age while the other could be no older than 11, were fearful as a man in dark and rusted armor approached them. A knight, his own armor scorched, lay motionless on the ground with his claymore stuck in the ground.

The man approached the two girls, his long black hair free and only lightly obscuring his scarred face. He held a black sword, which seemed to crackle with lightning. His voice was low, with a charming edge to it, “Now, while I’d love to stay here and chat about the information I require, we have very little time. Come quietly with me, now.”

“G-get back,” the older girl, with a long braided brown pony tail and long pointed ears stammered, reaching for a pendant around her neck. It began to flow and lime green, light escaping the cracks in her grasp as suddenly a vine sprouted out of the ground to try and strike at the man.

Sighing, the man seemed to swing his sword nonchalantly, only making a shallow cut in the attacking plant. Lightning poured into the cut, frying it almost in an instant. The younger girl, in a white dress and blonde hair, began to cry, “S-sister Annabelle… I’m scared…”

The older girl turned to the younger girl and tried to put on a brave face, “It’s okay, Sister Barbara. It’ll be okay.”

Xandrin’s grip tightened, watching the man laugh at the girl’s obvious fear. He turned to Hector and whispered, “We have to do something.”

“What do you suggest, sir?” Hector nodded, looking worried but ready to assist.

“Can you get the girls out of here while I distract this guy?”

Hector looked shocked, “S-sir, I can’t-“

“It's obvious the knights will be here soon, as this guy is in a rush. I only need to hold him off for a little bit… please, Hector. I might not have a Vision, or be a hero. But I gotta do something.”

The loyal butler looked into Xandrin’s eyes, seeing the unwavering determination. Sighing, Hector nodded. A smile appeared across Xandrin’s face as he began to sneak around. The girls, on the other hand, had finished backing up and now were against the statue of Barbatos. The man continued to advance, a slow and menacing chuckle escaping his lips, “Do we really need to do this the hard way? All I want to know is the secrets the Church has been hiding.”

Just as the man was about to reach out and grab Annabelle, the man cried out in pain as he was knocked to the side. Standing just behind the man was Xandrin, holding the Favonius Claymore. The girls stared in astonishment at this young man, having swung the blade with ease. Hector immediately came over, “Excuse me ladies, but I believe this is our cue to get out of here.”

The girls nodded, Barbara whispering a thank you as Hector began leading them away. As they went away, Xandrin rested the greatsword on his shoulder. Hector got one last look as Xandrin said, “Like I said, Hector. Fiora made sure I could hold my own.”

With them rushing down the path to Mondstadt, Xandrin took a deep breath and turned to face the man who was standing back up. The man glared at Xandrin, “Just… who the hell do you think you are?!”

Xandrin placed a hand on his chest, “Me? I’m just an author passing through, don’t worry about me. What’s your name, Mr. Creep?”

The man spat, wiping a small amount of dirt from the corner of his mouth. Xandrin then noticed on the man’s left shoulder there was a purple gem with the symbol of Electro fashioned into the armor piece. This man had a Vision?

“Realizing you’re in over your head, punk?” The man sneered, flourishing the black blade in his hand again as sparks danced along the menacing edge.

Despite his heart racing, Xandrin kept a calm expression as he said, “I’ve seen people without Visions do a lot more damage than you, Mr. Creep.”

Scowling, the man dashed forward, leaving a wave of purple sparks in his wake. Xandrin barely had enough time to take the large blade on his shoulder and block the attack, making him slide back a couple of inches. The man looked at Xandrin, a smug expression across his scarred features as he came for another attack. The young author was faster this time, meeting the dark sword with his own.

Frowning, the man concentrated. The Vision began to light up in a bright violet light, he brought his blade back and came down hard with electricity beginning to arc along the edge. Xandrin moved to defend, but once the blades connected, the high voltage traveled through his blade and up his arms. Crying out, Xandrin loosened the grip and the man easily disarmed the young writer.

The blade flew high up in the air, landing far away from Xandrin. Seeing his hands now empty, Xandrin looked at the man and sheepishly grinned, “W-well, guess that happened…”

Without another word, the armored man raised a fist and slammed the back of it against Xandrin’s cheek, sending him flying. Crashing on the stone steps leading up to the Shrine of Barbatos, Xandrin groaned. He coughed up a small amount of blood, holding his side, “D-dammit…”

Sighing in frustration, the man stalked up to Xandrin, “Well… if I can’t get what I was looking for… I might as well get some target practice in…”

Outstretching a gloved hand, the Vision once again lit up as bolts of indigo lightning descended on Xandrin. The young man cried out, his nerves on fire and his clothes smoking from the impact. Releasing the bolts, the man spoke with a smug grin, “What the matter, punk? No more quips?”

Coughing and sputtering, Xandrin looked up to the man with a weak grin, “C-c’mon… I’ve seen tiny Electro Slimes give more voltage than your weak little stings…”

Growling, the man shot out his hand again. The torrent of lightning fell on Xandrin once again, pushing him back up against the statue hard as he screamed in pain. Gritting his teeth, the tears that would’ve flowed from Xandrin’s eyes were being instantly evaporated by the extreme heat as he looked up at the statue of Barbatos.

Please… help...

“Once I’m done with you, I’m gonna find those girls and I will find what I am looking for, brat,” the man shouted, increasing the lightning. “And once I have what I want… I might just need to have some more target practice with those girls and that old man…”

Xandrin’s eyes widened, the thought of those terrified girls… Hector… the lightning that scorched him now falling on them. No. His fists tightened, his gaze turning down to meet the man. No. He placed his hands on the statue behind him, trying to push himself up. No. The statue began to glow, the orb held by the immaculately carved Barbatos beginning to shine a seafoam green as the man looked shocked at this sudden change. NO. The wind began to swirl around the man and Xandrin, rapidly picking up pace as the glow of the orb from the statue began to flow down the stone structure and into Xandrin’s hands.

“NO!”

A massive gust of air launched out from Xandrin’s outstretched palm, slamming into the man as he went flying backward. The wind whipping around the statue and Xandrin sped up faster and faster, the soft green glow flowing through Xandrin’s body as he glared at the evil man who stared in astonishment.

“I won’t let you touch them!” Xandrin shouted, reaching out his right hand. The gilded greatsword flew from its resting spot, guided by the wind as it landed in Xandrin’s grasp perfectly.

“Th-the hell?!” The man shot up on his feet.

Xandrin looked about himself, unsure of what was going on himself. This felt… familiar somehow. But, how could he use this?

“Relax, Xandrin.”

The writer paused, hearing the words almost as if they were in his mind. He was about to speak when the friendly voice spoke again, “Breathe, Xandrin. Listen to the winds, hear their stories… hear how they wish for you to use them.”

Nodding to himself, Xandrin closed his eyes. Images flowed by him. A radiant lady knight, striking foes with thrusts of concentrated air, a young man with a mask launching himself high in the air to come crashing down, a blonde haired individual reaching out their palm to create a ball-like tornado in their hand…

“This is my power, the power of Anemo. Let it guide you, Xandrin Scribhneoir. Let the winds in your heart, the kind breeze the exudes from your soul, be the sword that defends the freedom of others.”

Eyes snapping open, Xandrin grasped the hilt of the claymore in both hands and brought it to his side, the winds whipping up and around the blade. The man, seeing Xandrin preparing himself, growled and ran his hand down the side of the blade, it glowing bright purple with lightning. He then charged forward, letting loose a battle cry, “Time to die, brat!”

“And here… is the finale!” Xandrin shouted as he stomped his foot down, using his entire body weight to swing the blade horizontally. The weaponized air became razor sharp, creating a green swathe of Anemo energy that barreled towards the man. Seeing this attack coming at him, the man raised his sword to catch the attack, but found it overwhelming as it overtook him.

The strike of wind took up the man, shredding his armor like paper as it threw him backwards. He crashed into the ground, creating a small crater in the side of a hill as he lost grip of his blade and fell limp and unconscious. The wind began to die down, Xandrin’s arms dropping to his sides as he fell to his knees. In the distance, he could see several armored Knights of Favonius rushing towards them. A small chuckle escaped the wounded Xandrin’s lips as he dropped the sword and fell to the ground himself.

As the Favonius Knights made it to the base of the tree, one singular knight who towered above the others walked over to the young Scribhneoir, his gentle gaze noticing a soft green glow coming from his chest. The knight turned Xandrin over, and his eyes widened. On the young man’s chest, attached to the strap of his satchel, sat a green glass orb with the symbol of Anemo etched in it.

“For your bravery, and your desire of inspiring the freedom to become a hero… I grant you, Xandrin Scribhneoir, the Vision of Anemo… may it lead you to the answers you will seek…”

#genshin impact #genshin fanfic #genshin barbara #genshin barbatos #genshin original character #originl character

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thethoughtsfromthreeam · 4 years

Text

California

Pairing: Agent Whiskey/Jack Daniels x OC

Warnings: Smutty times, fluffy times

A/N: Y’all gonna hate me at the end of this chapter, but I’ll reward you on Thursday. Promise.

Reminder: I haven’t seen Kingsman: The Golden Circle, so I’m just using the Wikia, IMDB.com, some gifs, and my own weird ass brain to make up this whole ass story.

Tag List: @zeldasayer , @romanticgumchewer, @tarrevizslas , @coolmaybelateruniverse , @the-feckless-wonder, @lavenderl3mons , @pascalisthepunkest , @mandoandyodito , @randomness501 [please message me to be added or subtracted]

[PART 1] [PART 2] [PART 3] [PART 4] [PART 5] [PART 6] [PART 7] [PART 8] [PART 9] [PART 10] [PART 11] [PART 12]

Part 13

White Flowers all Over

Shirley raised her head and she could have sworn she radiated light from within. The brightness that had been dim for so long was back. Shirley Temple was Shirley Temple again. But more than that, she was the brightness of her namesake. The warmth of the marigold seemed to flow right through her. She glanced at the pile of clothes on the sink. She couldn’t hide any more. She patted the fabric, mentally thanking it for protecting her all those years.

She slipped her bra on and walked over to the door. She cracked it open and peeked out to see if Jack was awake. If he was, he didn’t seem like it. He was still laying on his back, but his arm was slung over his face. She smiled. He wasn’t a morning person by nature, but the last several days had been exhausting for everyone. She took a deep breath and walked out into the room, padding softly over to her wardrobe.

For five years, the beautiful piece of furniture remained closed, the dresses, skirts, shirts, and pants she always wore, hidden away because they felt too revealing to her. But now, they were exactly what she wanted. For a second, she wondered if they still fit after all these years. Well, she thought, I better find out.

She silently opened the door and hanging there right in front of her was a purple wrap dress with white flowers all over it. She slipped it off the hanger and shook it out a little before slipping it over her head. It was a little snug in some places but fit like a glove. She tied the belt into a jaunty bow and glanced at herself in the mirror hanging inside the door. She twirled and watched as the skirt flared. She felt like herself again. She pulled on her favorite flats and braided her hair.

While she faced away from him, Jack lowered his arm to watch her. He heard her walking out of the bathroom and it took all his will power not to sit up when he realized she was only in her bra and panties. His breath caught in his chest – they had been intimate since her return, but he never pushed her beyond what she could handle. But in truth, he missed her. He missed her smell, her touch, her sighs. Every time they did touch, he treasured it like the rare gem it was.

His eyes darkened when he saw the purple dress. The last thing he saw her in before she left for California. The memory replayed in his mind and five years later he still meant it. He wanted to fuck her while she wore that dress, its skirt bunched up over her hips and her breasts spilling out the top. He wanted to feel that soft fabric against his chest and on his arms. He swallowed, willing his erection down.

When she turned around, she saw him lying there watching her. Instead of hiding, though, she clasped her hands in front of her and smiled. He smiled back as he sat up. She couldn’t hold back anymore and walked over to him, bending over to kiss him on the lips. Her hand cradled his cheek and what started out soft became harder and more intense. Jack reached up and set his hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer to him.

They finally broke apart when they needed to breathe. They looked in each other’s eyes for a long moment before she kissed his lips again. She stood up and drug her fingers through his hair. She loved it when his hair was messy.

“I have to go, love. I promised Ginger and T that I’d walk them through some of my notes on the California case. And Champ wants to meet with me as well.” She ran her fingertips down the side of his face, and she watched his eyes flutter shut. “And you need to get moving, too. You also need to meet with Champ and then with Brandy about the transfers.”

“I know. Lunch?” He looked hopeful and she laughed. It sparkled between them and they both were in awe how they lived so heavily for so long.

“Yes. I’ll see you in your office around 1:00 p.m.?”

“It’s a date.” She kissed him one last time before walking out the door and into her new world.

---***---

Ginger, Tequila, Chai, and Merlin stopped dead in their tracks when Shirley entered the room. At first, they thought they were jointly hallucinating when they saw her, but suddenly Ginger squealed, clapped her hands, and ran over to her friend. Her sister. Shirley did the same thing and they met in the middle, jumping around and hugging.

“What in the hell?” A rough voice came from the door and the two women broke apart to see Champ standing in the doorway. He looked as shocked at the rest, but he smiled when he realized what had happened. Shirley walked over and threw her arms around him and gave him a full-bodied hug. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her right back with everything he had. He hadn’t realized that he had missed Shirley until this very moment.

She leaned back and looked at him in the eye. Like all her friends, things weighed heavily on him and to see him lighten up was exactly what she needed.

“Champ,” She said quietly just for the two of them. “I love you and everything you’ve done. My heart is full because you are here with me.”

“Shirl, you’ll always be my favorite.” He smiled at her and she returned the grin. They broke apart and they walked over to the rest of the group. She sat down and Tequila scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He pressed his lips to her hair and then laid his cheek against the same spot. She laid her hand on his knee and squeezed. They sat like that for a long time as the talk swirled around them. Soon Shirley sat forward.

“So, here’s what I know and what Malbec and I assumed. . . “ The authority in her voice filled the room and they talked for hours to bring this case to its finish.

---***---

Shirley stood in front of Jack’s desk, looking out the window. She was lost in thought and staring off into space when Jack found her. When he walked into the room, he paused a moment to drink her in. Framed out by a view of the Louisville skyline, Shirley looked soft and relaxed with all her tension gone. His mind flashed back to the moment in New York City.

She didn’t hear him come in and he slowly walked up behind her, wanting to surprise her. He put his hands on her hips and he pressed himself flush against her, snaking his arms around her waist. She jumped slightly before turning her head back to him, smiling.

“Sorry moonshine, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s okay.”

He leaned down to kiss her lips and he could taste the desire coursing through her. As they kissed, he dropped his hands down to the hem of the dress and slowly dragged it up her thighs, letting his fingertips graze along her skin. He gave her plenty of time to tell him to stop, but when she didn’t, he kept up the movement until his hands skimmed the edge of her panties.

She pulled her mouth away as her breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes fluttered shut again at the pleasure rapidly growing inside of her and she placed her hands on the desk to steady herself. She could feel his erection growing harder against her.

He slowly turned her around and pressed himself flush against her, trapping her between his body and the edge of his desk. She raised her hands and placed them on his forearms, her lips touching his. As the heat of the kiss increased, she leaned back into the desk. His hands reached up under her dress again and slowly came up her thighs.

This time he didn’t stop at her panties and moved higher, dragging his thumbs along the creases at the top of her thighs. The feeling sent unexpected spikes of pleasure through her and she pulled away, gasping loudly as her body jerked forward. Her hands immediately dropped to his wrists, stilling his movement. He smiled at her and bent down slightly to lift her up onto his desk.

She widened her legs when she got settled and he notched himself right where she wanted him. He began to slowly kiss down her neck and she cocked her head to the back and hummed at the combined pleasure at the heat of his lips on her collarbone and the heat of his arousal between her legs. She was certain her panties were soaked through and she marveled how quickly she was responding to her lover. Just like old times.

His slowly made his way across her collarbone as his fingers skimmed along the top of her panties. She was breathing heavier now, and her eyes were screwed shut as her body was overwhelmed with sensation. His hips slowly rocked against her, increasing the pressure with each stroke. She moved her hands from his wrists and up to the back of his arms and gripped hard as her hips began to match the speed of his. Just as his left hand skimmed over the top of her mound, a noise came from the doorway.

“Shirley? Champ and Ginger need you back in the tech room.” One of the office assistants gently knocked on the door. She looked down, blushing profusely. The door had been open, and she hadn’t expected to step into such an intimate moment. Jack and Shirley stilled at the voice. He looked straight ahead, and his jaw ticked wildly. She knew he was mad, so she placed her hand on his chest. Clearing her throat, she called out to the poor girl.

“Tell them I’ll be there in five minutes, Tannin. Thank you.” Her voice sounded so incredibly calm you would never suspect she had been writhing in pleasure just a moment before. They heard her footsteps quickly fade away and she took a deep breath. Looking up at him, she couldn’t help but smile.

“I swear to god, moonshine, I’m gonna fire her ass.” His voice was rough, and he stood rigid against her.

“No, you’re not, besides, she’s not your assistant, she’s Champ’s.”

“Fine. But I’m still mad as hell.” He looked down at her. He was consumed by her and he could practically taste her on his tongue. Damn all of this. He stepped back to let her slide off his desk, hands aching with emptiness. She straightened herself up and made sure everything was in order. The flush that had been on her cheeks had faded and soon it was like their little tryst hadn’t even happened. She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek before placing her hand against his crotch. He was still hard, and she smiled.

“Jack, take care of it. And we’ll finish later, love.” She rubbed her hand a little and his hips jerked forward. She winked at him before walking out of the room, stopping only to flick the lock on his door and closing it behind her.

He walked around his desk and sat in his chair. He unzipped his pants, grasped his cock, and leaning back, he closed his eyes and thought of nothing but white flowers against a purple background.

#agent whiskey #jack daniels #pedro pascal #kingsman: the golden circle #fanfic #agent whiskey x oc #agent whiskey x reader #pedro pascal x reader

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multisfabulis · 4 years

Text

The Road to Forgiveness Be Damned

Freed (Chapter 7/7)

Word Count: 8737

TW: Referenced child abuse

And with the release of this chapter lies the end of this story.

This took me almost a year and nine months to finish and it’s been a rollercoaster. Despite the mental and emotional highs and lows, I’m glad I committed myself to working on this until its completion and I can’t wait to work on the other projects I’ve got lined up!

As a final note, I apologize for the word vomit that is the architecture/interior design descriptions. It was in the middle of writing those that I realized this is a major weakness of mine because my mind cannot comprehend something of that scale. I also have no artistic sense at all so a lot of set drops are based off what I'm visualizing in my mind so there's bound to be many mistakes.

Read on AO3 | Read on DA | Support me on Ko-fi!

The sound of rolling waves was like music to Ven’s ears. Water ebbed and flowed along the shore as she breathed in the salty air. She opened her eyes to see fluffy white clouds scattered across an endless sea of blue, both above and below. An early spring breeze blew through, ruffling her hair and clothes. She took a deep breath and, steadying herself, tentatively walked towards the ocean.

It had been a little over a week since her and Ferreth’s return from Thal Esari. They left mere hours after Filaurel’s ruling, not wanting to spend more time than they already had by staying an extra day. She managed to finish reading Thessalia’s journal during the trip back and she had more questions than answers. The final entry was dated a day or so before her death and she still hadn’t made a decision on what to do with her. Rereading the last words she wrote felt weird, the image of her mother writing in her journal whilst not knowing it’d be the last imprint she’d leave in the world present in her mind. At least she knew that she’d never know what her fate would be if Thessalia survived and it may never be completely okay.

She also learned of something that shocked her. Something she had honestly never thought of but made so much sense looking back on it. It wasn’t just because of her hatred for Vlixeoxs, her contempt for her ran deeper than that. She was meant to be a second chance but it was dashed the moment she saw what she was. She was still coming to grips with what that bombshell revealed and it scared her to know how cruel someone could be to a child.

She shook her head to stop herself from going further. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about those dark thoughts. What she really needed to focus on was the limits in which her power could go. She never gave much thought as to what she could really do until she began wondering a few nights ago. Were the things she did just part of a dream or were they real? It was hard for her to believe she was that strong but she kept itching to try and do the marvels she had done in the dream. Today was the day she’d find out if there was more to her power she believed possible or not.

She stopped walking when the water reached her ankles. She nervously swallowed as she let out a shaky breath. Looking behind her to see if anyone was watching, she closed her eyes and held out her hands.

She thought of how her glaive looked, the weight and feel of it. How sharp its blade was, how tall it stood, she even remembered the tiny scratches on its hilt. She then willed her power to try and recreate her beloved weapon. She felt a weight in her hands almost immediately after she ordered it and opened her eyes. In her hands was a pitch black glaive made of darkness.

Her eyes widened in amazement as she examined the glaive. It felt solid and was light as a feather, not like the one sitting at home. She ran her fingers along the edge of the blade, realizing just how sharp it was. It even had the ribbon she tied around the top end of the pole. This was a glaive, a weapon she made with her power, something she could do all along but never the courage to do it.

She arced it up in the air, a fluid motion she hadn’t experienced before. Then she spun it above her head in one hand and passed it on to the other. She was beginning to really enjoy how smooth her regular moves flowed so effortlessly. There was just one more thing she needed to try out.

Tossing it high up, she waited for the perfect moment to show itself. Once the blunt end of the pole faced her, she kicked it forward with all her might. It was sent flying several feet ahead and, right before it sank into the ocean, she attempted to summon it to her hand. It came back like a boomerang, the force and surprise at how easy it was causing her to stumble back a bit.

She held the glaive up above her, looking at it in wonder. This was incredible to her, being able to create anything she set her mind to and with such ease! It may only be the first thing she planned on testing out but she was excited all the same. She dismissed the glaive and it dispersed into dark wisps from her hand.

Now it was time for the second thing she remembered doing in the dream. She closed her eyes again and imagined a wall behind her. The wall had dozens of daggers, swords, and whatever else she could think of trained up at the sky. Once the image was etched in her mind, she raised her arms. Barely any sound was made as she finished summoning the wall and turned around to see it.

Shock and awe filled her being as she marveled at her creation. The wall was tilted up towards the sky and it spanned the width of the beach. There were spikes protruding out of the surface, appearing about ready to fire. All she needed to do was lift a hand and wave it.

So she did just that. She turned back around, raised a hand up, and pointed two fingers at the sky. Her mouth curled up into a playful smile as she eagerly braced herself for the magic that was about to happen. Like pulling the trigger of a crossbow, she shot a barrage of dark bladed weapons high into the sky. They flew ahead in an arc and landed in the ocean, dissolving into wisps once more.

Adrenaline coursed through her body as she tried to keep herself calm. Her hands shook, butterflies fluttered around in her stomach, and her heart pounded against her chest. This may have been becoming too much for her but she wanted to keep going. How she wasn’t bouncing all over the place was anyone’s guess.

Time for the third and final phase. The thing she never ever thought would be possible, even if she knew how the other two worked. This was something she’d been looking forward to the most and, if she could do it, it’d be a miracle. It didn’t take much for her to remember the image because how could she forget such a sight? A weight was placed on her back and she wanted to squeal in delight.

She glanced over her shoulder. Two giant black wings were attached to the middle of her back, beads of darkness dripping off them onto the sand below. They weren’t feathered but they didn’t need to be to look beautiful. They were like a smooth onyx gem that shone a slight purple tinge when the light hit them right. She had only caught a glimpse of them in the moonlight from the dream so seeing them on a bright day like today made this moment all the more special.

She took in a deep, shaky breath, excited for what was happening next. Her wings lifted themselves higher and higher before coming down with a tremendous whoosh. Sand blew away from her as she flew up in the air.

She stopped just above where the trees’ canopy was. Her wings flapped behind her as she took in her surroundings. It was breathtaking to see the beach, the forest, the ocean, everything from a new perspective and she loved it. Now she could start to really have some fun with this newfound ability.

She flew under the rocky cliff that overshadowed the beach, weaving through the crags rising up from the ocean below. Then she soared on up to the clouds, bobbing in and out of them and feeling the wind and dew on her face. She swooped down to the sea and glided above its surface, sticking her hand in to feel the cool water go through her fingers. This was everything she could’ve ever dreamed of and she could do this at any time she wanted.

Then she had an idea. It was, admittedly, a very dumb and very risky idea because of how much danger she’d be putting herself in but the chance of it working was there. If it panned out, it’d be extraordinary.

She drifted up several feet above the water. Anxiety began to grow in her stomach as she realized just how dangerous her idea was. She could very well drown if this went poorly, due to her inability to swim. It could be hours or even days before someone found her and it’d be too late at that point.

No, she couldn’t think like that. This might work after all and she’ll have been worrying over nothing. She attempted to settle down her nerves before steeling herself for what was to come. Then, after relaxing her shoulders and steadying her breathing, she dove into the ocean.

It was like being in the swamp again, except she could see this time. Light filtered in from above, giving the underwater a crystal blue hue. There were many different plants and coral and algae and they were all so vibrant and colorful. Schools of fish quickly swam away when she glanced at them. It was so pretty to look at but she needed to get back up to the surface.

Her wings managed to stay with her after her dive and they were beating as hard as they could to help her. Her lungs began to burn from the lack of air as she tried to swim up, her arms and legs feeling like lead weighing her down. Fear started to set in, her heart about ready to stop at any moment. A burst of strength came to her once she got close to the surface and it gave her wings the power they needed to break through.

She shot out of the water like an arrow, sailing up several feet. Water droplets clung to her wings, trailing down till they fell back into the ocean. She drew them in and quickly unfurled them, shaking the last few drops off them. The sun cast her shadow across the water and she couldn’t help liking what she saw. That was her, her and her power, and she didn’t feel ashamed.

She flew back to shore, an exuberant smile on her face. Her idea worked, it wasn’t a failure. Heck, everything in her dream wasn’t a dream, it was all real. She had done those things and they were all her.

All her life, she had been shamed for being a Vlixeox. Her eyes, her power, they were things that alerted others of her race. She could only do so much with her eyes but she could hide her power. She could pretend it didn’t exist, it wasn’t a part of her, until she got home, where she felt safe enough to let the mask fall. She hated having to hide it but she also hated having it.

Every time she looked in a mirror, she was reminded of it. How she, a Vlixeox, was living among people who were normal, elves. The mirror reflected back everything she wasn’t. Even if they tolerated her existence, just seeing them go about their daily lives made her aware of how different, how other she was. It was a constant struggle to hide the parts that gave her true nature away and pretend to be like one of them and it almost killed her.

It was only when she took a chance and helped Eric with her power back in Brinegarde she didn’t have to hide anymore. He accepted her as she was and treated her like she was his friend. Her once tiny world grew after meeting him, he brought her out of the darkness and into the light. It’s because of his kindness she found people that didn’t care about what she was and she was happy.

Maybe it was because of her time here she felt comfortable knowing her power was a part of her. There was no need to conceal it anymore. She never allowed herself to have fun with it but today changed all that. It felt so nice and wondrous and…liberating to enjoy this and having this and being this. She didn’t know if she’d ever be completely okay with being a Vlixeox but she figured she was on the right track.

Her wings faded away once she was safely back on land. She looked over at the forest beyond the docks and her smile dropped. There, just before the trees made way to the clearing, was Ferreth.

A surprised scream escaped from her mouth and she jumped back, her butt landing on the wet sand. He started laughing as she drew her hood up to hide her face. Her face felt warm, no doubt from the blush she knew she had. She heard him quiet some before seeing him crouch down in front of her.

“H-how long were you standing there?” she asked, flustered.

“Just enough to see you flying around everywhere,” he replied, resting his cheek against his hand and a teasing smile on his face.

She let out an embarrassed whine. She felt mortified at how he may have seen everything she did and that was humiliating. It wasn’t that she was now regretting ever doing this or letting herself enjoy it as much as she did. Having someone see her act so…childishly was something she felt uncomfortable with.

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” he said, dropping his hand. “It was adorable, seeing how much fun you were having.”

Answering him with another whine, he continued on with, “I think that was my first time seeing you act so…openly, I guess. You’re a lot more withdrawn normally so it was a nice surprise to watch. It’d be nice to see you like that more often.”

She finally looked up at him, staring into his light green eyes. They were warm and full of love, her heart fluttering the longer she peered in. He placed a hang atop her head and petted it, her cheeks still warm as she pouted.

“Come on, let’s get you up.” He stood up and held his hand out to her.

Sighing, she let her hood down and took his hand. He helped her up easily enough and she tried to wring the water out of her cloak. It may have been stupid to hope it hadn’t gotten too wet, considering how she literally dove underwater earlier, but she would be devastated if it was ruined. It was too important to her so she needed to be more careful from now on.

They climbed up the steps and were east of town. Her blush cooled down as her embarrassment from earlier gave way to anxiety. Today wouldn’t just be her unshackling herself from the hate people imposed on her when she was a child. She was taking a leap of faith, trusting in the hope he wouldn’t think differently of her.

“Hey, Ferret?” They had just passed the first building when she called out to him. “Is it okay if you come with me to see Eric?”

Confused, he asked, “Sure, but is there something you need me to do with him?”

“No, it’s… I’m planning on telling him.”

That was all she needed to say for him to understand. She was going to tell Eric everything that happened in Thal Esari, both in the past and present. Even her crime, something she wasn’t looking forward to. The prospect had been brought up before when they were there but she wasn’t sure if she’d ever do it. Her fear of him becoming scared of her was still a real possibility in her mind.

As she said back then, Eric was the first person to befriend her, show kindness to her. He was the reason she lived in Aurora Zenith now, the reason she and Ferreth met, the reason she was finally coming around to accepting herself. She didn’t want to imagine him hating her over what she did. If their friendship shattered after everything was revealed, it’d just kill her.

Even so, he deserved to know what happened. She struggled with keeping the bad memories from overwhelming her when he first asked her about it. Now, after all she’s been through the past several months, she felt brave enough to tell him.

She was asking Ferreth to come with her so he’d give her courage. That was why he came with her to Thal Esari and he’d serve the same purpose here. If it somehow went badly, she’d also need him there for comfort. She hoped it wouldn’t end like that and it would go smoothly.

“What made you decide on telling him?” he asked.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and I feel like I’m ready. At least, I think I do, anyway…” she replied with a nervous laugh.

“Hey, if you think you’re ready, then go ahead. Just know that I’ll be there for you, okay? I doubt Eric’s gonna suddenly hate you or be scared of you so…”

His words were all that she could rely on for this. Even if he turned out to be right and Eric didn’t think any differently of her, it didn’t stop the thought of it actually happening from plaguing her mind. All she could do was hope and pray that things would be all right in the end.

They arrived at the plaza, busy as it would be after the start of a new season. It was strange how, even with Aurora Zenith being more condensed yet bigger than Thal Esari, she liked the ambiance. Maybe it was because she had felt welcomed and not terrified for her life like she thought she’d be. It was nice to have people actually accepting her instead of shunning her for being a Vlixeox. She missed this while they were gone and she was going to enjoy it.

The plaza was generally regarded as the marketplace, as evident by the many shops and stalls open for business. It was also the place for people to gather around and socialize, something she still wasn’t used to yet. The smell of freshly cooked food made her mouth water as she overheard the chatter and laughter all around her. A small smile rose to her face; she considered this place to be her home and she wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the whole world.

“By the way, there’s something else I wanted to tell you.” He leaned his head over to listen. “I decided to forgive Lady Filaurel for what she did.”

As if he swallowed something and it went down badly, he coughed a few times before exclaiming, “What?! I’m sorry, but what the fuck?”

“Okay, hear me out.” She took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to phrase what she’d say next. “All my life, I’ve been told that I was a monster. I was a monster because I was a Vlixeox, which meant I didn’t have the right to exist. I believed them, especially after what I did. I still believe them now but I want to prove to both everyone and myself that I’m not. To me, I think forgiving Lady Filaurel would be the first step to doing that because monsters wouldn’t know what forgiveness was. That’s just what I think, though.”

It may have been strange to those who didn’t understand it but that’s what she believed. The “monster” she faced in the swamp, seven of the people she killed, forgave her when she felt she didn’t deserve such a thing. She was the reason they weren’t alive anymore and they still showed her forgiveness. If they could do that to their killer, then she could forgive Filaurel for all she did to her. It was a choice she knew not many would agree with but it was still her decision to make.

“Am I wrong for doing that?” she asked. His feelings toward her had been made very clear so she had an idea of how he’d take this.

Running a hand through his hair, he replied, “You already know how I feel about her. I absolutely despise that bitch for all she’s done to you and, if it were me, I never would’ve forgiven her.

“But--” he placed both hands on her shoulders-- “you’re not me. I may disagree with your choice but it’s not my place to tell you what to do. If you wanna forgive her, then I’ll support you, no matter what. Who am I to judge on how you want to heal?”

“Thank you, Ferret. I appreciate it,” she said, smiling softly. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t mean that people like me should forgive those that have hurt them. It’s just how I see things.”

“I figured that’s what you meant.”

They walked up the stone stairs that led to Eric’s house. It sat nestled in a gathering of elm trees just growing their leaves back and on the cliff she had flown under earlier. The front was painted a faded silvery white and had a porch of the same color that spanned to both ends of the house. The front door was in the middle, two small windows on its left and a large on its right, the nailed-in shutters black. The porch steps creaked under their feet as they stopped at the door. It was a beautiful mahogany door with a simple bronze knocker sitting atop it. Above the knocker was the emblem for Aurora Zenith inscribed in gold.

She tapped the door with the knocker’s handle a couple times. As she waited for someone to answer, she looked up at the emblem. It depicted honeysuckle vines crawling up towards the sun, its ray of light shining down on the town below. This was meant to represent her home, the place she swore to protect. She hoped it’d still be her home after all was said and done.

The door swung open to reveal Delrelle. They were Eric’s housekeeper and, though she’s only met them once or twice, they seemed nice, if a bit stoic. Their face held no emotion as they greeted them with a bow.

“Lady Venlithea and Sir Ferreth, what business have you here today?” they asked, standing upright.

“We’re here to see Eric, we have something we wish to speak with him about,” she replied. “Could we see him if he isn’t too busy?”

“Let me check in with him.” They closed the door and, after a moment passed, they opened the door and stepped aside. “I’ll see you to his office.”

The two of them were then led to where Eric’s office was. They passed by a white staircase leading up to the second floor on their right and the archway that served as the threshold to the living room on their left. A white trim divided the light blue walls in the middle and a long white rug covered the hardwood floor, stretching from the foyer all the way down to the double doors in the back. Paintings of Brinegarde, Thornewind, Mapleshear, and Ravenstrand decorated the walls, what were once Eric’s sketches given life. Small side tables had trinkets such as a seashell, a windmill sculpture, a maple leaf preserved in resin, and a small bowl full of gemstones from the towns he visited over the past ten months. It felt homey.

When Delrelle knocked on the door, a second wave of anxiety swept over her. It was only a matter of time now until he learned the truth. A pit began to form in her stomach, growing wider and winder as she let out a shaky breath. Her heart pounded against her chest and she was finding it hard to breathe---

Ferreth’s hand took hold of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. No words had to be said for her to remember. He was going to be in there with her, be the beacon of courage she so desperately needed right now. She took a deep breath and squeezed back, letting him know she was okay.

After hearing a muffled “Come in”, the three of them walked inside. Eric sat at a maple desk with stacks upon stacks of paper piled all over, half read books sitting on top of some. Bookshelves filled with history, law, art, and story books lined the walls. They stood on a grand, ornate rug that blanketed the floor, the only thing in the room that carried some sense of sophistication. The whole room fit someone who valued simplicity over complexity but still had something to show for his position.

Bowing, Delrelle said, “Master, Lady Venlithea and Sir Ferreth have some matters they wish to speak with you about. I’ll leave them in your care.”

“Thank you.” Eric stood up from his chair to stretch as they went back out to the hallway, closing the door behind them. “Ven, Ferreth, what brings you two here?”

“Were you in the middle of something?” Ferreth asked.

“Nah, I was just taking a break before--” he raised his arms above his head, a soft pop echoing in the room-- “getting back to work. You had something to talk about?”

“It’s more like I had something to tell you,” she spoke up. “Something important.”

“Well, what is it?”

She swallowed nervously, the moment of truth finally here. The moment in which everything could change between them. Ferreth put a hand on her back to push her forward, his way of telling her to go through with it. Refusing to let her resolve be shaken, she looked Eric dead in the eye.

“Do you remember when you asked me how the people of my old village treated me back on the boat ride here?” she asked, trying to not let her anxiety show.

“...Yeah,” he replied, regret flickering across his face for a split second. “Am I finally gonna hear about that?”

“I’m finally ready to tell you everything. I’m honestly scared but you deserve to know every last thing that happened.”

“Ven, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. Don’t feel like you need to tell me unless you want to.”

“You’re the last person I ever wanted to tell this to because you mean so much to me. It’s because of that that I’m telling you.”

Then she told him everything she could remember. From how she’d commit petty thievery to survive to the horrific torture she endured. He was never good at hiding how he felt and the anger on his face was plain to see. She really should’ve known what his reaction would be upon hearing her story from the start.

She hadn’t told him the worst thing yet. The hope was that maybe, just maybe, he’d show mercy to her after learning of what happened that fateful day. He wouldn’t fear or hate her if he knew the reason behind it all. It’d still probably scare him to know she had killed fifteen people but he’d understand why. His kindness knew no bounds, even if it was shown to someone who didn’t deserve it.

“God, it sounds horrible, what happened to you,” he said, rubbing his hands over and over.

“There’s still more to tell you and it’s worse than everything else,” she added, the hairs on her body standing on end.

“What could be worse than what I’ve just heard?”

“Something not good. Something really bad.”

She looked to Ferreth, silently pleading for him to give her the strength she needed. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. She laid her hand over his, mustering up the courage to tell him.

“When I was eight years old, I was banished from Thal Esari.” A chill overcame her as she struggled to breathe. “The reason for that is…that I---”

There was a knock at the door. Delrelle cracked it open and said there was someone who wished to speak with Eric immediately. A pit of dread began to build up in her stomach as she anxiously wondered who was here. Her heart sank and her eyes widened in shock at the person coming in.

Filaurel walked up towards them, looking her absolute best. Her gray hair was down from its usual bun, styled to where it rested atop her chest. She wore a stunning floor length pearl white dress with a white and gold cape flowing down to her waist. She had her cane with her like always, though she seemed to be using it for its intended purpose rather than as decoration. Her chin was held up high as she sneered at her, standing before Eric.

Ferreth attempted to shield her from her but it was no use. He was probably wondering why she was here, much like she. Did she just arrive in Aurora Zenith? What reason was she here for? Did their actions on the day of her ruling play a part into why she was here? The biggest worry she had was what she could possibly do.

“I don’t believe we’ve met, my name’s Eric Travere, lord of Aurora Zenith.” He came around the desk and held out his hand. “Might I ask for yours?”

“Ah, yes, I’m Filaurel Crawraek and I’m what you’d call the ‘lord’ of Thal Esari,” she replied, gingerly shaking his hand. “Though I prefer being referred to as ‘Lady’.”

“So, what brings you all the way here to our little town?” he asked, leaning back on the desk with legs crossed.

“Well, I unfortunately come bearing bad news about your subordinates, especially concerning Venlithea.” She shot a cold glance towards her. “Has she told you of what she’s done in Thal Esari, both the past and present?”

It was as if a great weight crashed down upon her. She knew what she was going to tell him. She was going to reveal her crime to him and how she had selfishly asked for forgiveness, all because she questioned her authority. If he heard of it from her, that would be it. Their friendship would be over, he’d drive her out of town, and she’ll be all alone again.

“I mean, I know some of why she was there a couple weeks ago but I don’t know much of what she’s done in her childhood other than what she’s told me,” he replied, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”

“Then it’s of great importance I tell you this. You see, when she was a child, she---”

“Don’t tell him!” She grabbed onto her arm in desperation. “Please, I beg you, don’t tell him!”

“Unhand me at once, Venlithea!” She tried to get out of her grip but she held strong. “He has a right to know of what you did.”

“Please don’t tell him! I’ll---I’ll do anything you want, just don’t tell him!”

“When Venlithea was a child, she---”

“My Lady, please…!” Tears stung her eyes as she fell to her knees, still holding onto her.

“---took the lives of fifteen people. Cut them down mercilessly.”

Her heart stopped as she let go of her arm. She would’ve collapsed entirely on the floor if it weren’t for Ferreth gently lifting her by her arms to stand her up. His hands remained on her shoulders to steady her. It felt as if the floor had gone out from under her, the world a blur.

That was it, her secret was out. Eric now knew of the horrible deed she did. He had to be scared of her now, terrified of her hurting him. Maybe he even hated her and wanted her out of his sight. He was probably beginning to regret meeting her, befriending her, helping her. She was nothing more than a monster in his eyes, the very thing she wanted to prove to everyone she wasn’t. If he wanted her to leave and never come back, she’d do it. If he so desired that, she’d do it. She’d do anything he’d ask of her because she loved him. How tragic was it for a monster to love the person who wished he never saved her?

“Really?” he asked in disbelief. “What reason would she have to do that?”

“I honestly can’t fathom why,” she replied. “All I know is, she was sentenced to public lashing after committing yet another act of thievery and she just…snapped.”

Not even bothering to hide the anger in his voice, Ferreth retorted, “That’s bullshit and you and I both know it.”

“Ferreth...” Eric warned, attempting to quiet him down. “Could you tell me why Ven would do something like that? I just find it hard to believe that a child at the time could do such a thing.”

“Venlithea was always a troublesome child. She’d keep getting into skirmishes with the other children, pickpocketed others for their money, the list goes on. She got into trouble so often, I had to resort to the extremes to try and correct her behavior. I thought the multiple lashings would be enough for her to desist but…I was wrong. It is because of my pride that I paid the ultimate price.” She sniffled as if holding back tears. “She’s lucky I only banished her when I could’ve had her executed.”

All she said were lies. She never got into any fights nor did she steal money from people. She stayed as far away as she could from others and she only stole food from the marketplace; everything else she scavenged for. How could she stand there and lie through her teeth like it was nothing?

“Funny you say that, because Ven gave me a different version of events. She said people often spoke down to her and she would be threatened with a lashing if she didn’t exactly do what they said. There were days she’d starve or had things she found taken away from her for no reason. If she asked why, it was because she had broken a rule that had been set but she hadn’t heard of the rule until that moment. So, tell me--” Eric placed his hands on the edge of the desk and tilted his head-- “which of you are lying?”

Letting out a chuckle, Filaurel replied, “Well, you know how Vlixeoxs are. They’re well-renown liars. They’d say anything to make themselves seem innocent and Venlithea’s no exception. After all, she hadn’t told you of her crime and you saw for yourself how much she didn’t want you to know. How do you know she’s not using your kindness against you to suit her agenda?”

“Oh, you’re a real piece of work, you know that?” Ferreth’s hands tightened on her shoulders. “She was gonna tell him about that until you came in and she was begging you not to tell him because she knew you’d twist the truth of what happened to make her out to be the bad guy. You’re the liar here, you old crone.”

Why did it matter as to who was lying? What’s done was done and she had been outed as a killer. It can never be taken back. What point was there in defending her when it didn’t erase what she did?

“Another thing, your subordinate here--” she gestured to Ferreth-- “has quite the mouth on him. Let’s just say that, during our last meeting, he took it upon himself to call me very vulgar things, words I’d rather not repeat. I figured to let you know so you could decide on the best course of action to take.”

“Ohh…” Eric sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Ferreth, is she telling the truth?”

Letting out a breath, Ferreth replied, “Yes. I admit, I lost my temper and said some pretty…not so good things but I’m not apologizing or taking them back. I couldn’t just stand idly by while she tore into Ven with her remarks. I accept whatever punishment you give to me, my lord.”

“I see…” He took a moment to think on what he wanted to say next. “Well, as much as it may upset you, Lady Filaurel, there’s not much I can do. He was out of my jurisdiction at the time and, since he hadn’t broken the law over there and was considered a mere visitor, I’m not responsible for his actions outside of Aurora Zenith.”

“You mean to let him walk scot-free?” she asked, a tinge of anger dripping into her voice.

“The best I can do is a stern lecture but I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to hear that.”

Huffing, she asked, “And what of her? What do you mean to do with Venlithea?”

“From what I’ve gathered, she hasn’t done anything to warrant disciplinary action. Whatever she did back then doesn’t matter now and even if it did, she was already tried in your court of law.”

“She’s a Vlixeox, my good sir. It’s far too dangerous for you to let something like her wander around unsupervised. I’d suggest putting in some preventative measures to ensure that a massacre on the scale of Thal Esari’s doesn’t happen again.”

“Ven’s lived here for about a year now and no one’s had a problem with her, as far as I’m aware. I think we’ll be perfectly fine.”

“You’re underestimating her. Sooner or later, she’ll take matters into her own hands and you’ll be left with several people dead when their deaths could’ve been prevented. All I’m asking is that you don’t let a repeat of what happened in Thal Esari happen here.”

“Okay--” He pushed himself off the desk and stood up to his full height-- “forgive me if I’m out of line but you keep going on and on about this tragedy that occurred yet you’ve provided next to no explanations as to what her motive could’ve been. Have you ever thought that you might share part of the blame? Have you ever tried to take responsibility for her actions, since you were her guardian, I’d assume?”

“Y-you insolent…” She recognized the tone of her voice. It was the tone she’d use if anyone seriously crossed her. “How am I the one to blame for what Venlithea did? I’m not the one who tore their bodies asunder while others ran and pled for mercy! Do you have any idea how hard it was to raise a child such as she and it turn out to be a complete failure? I’m still paying for the mistakes she made! You clearly do not deserve the title bestowed upon you if you won’t heed my advice.

“Only a fool would trust someone who committed mass murder in the past. I’d only ask you don’t come crying to me when she inevitably kills again because you refused to see how dangerous the beast really was. You’ll be just as much a monster as she is for letting her do such a heinous thing.”

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Her mind kept replaying what Filaurel said with so much clarity. Eric, her light, her savior, would be considered a monster for what she did if the time where she’d kill again ever came? That wasn’t right; someone as kind and sincere as him could never be a monster.

A deep seething anger began to stir inside her. It was one thing to call her a monster when she already knew she was. She gritted her teeth and clenched her shaking hands into fists. It was a whole other thing to call Eric, someone that reached a gentle hand out to her, someone she loved with every fiber of her being, a monster. The words spilled from her mouth before she could stop herself.

“What did you say, Venlithea?” she asked indignantly.

Whirling around to face her, she heatedly replied, “I said shut up!”

She took a step back from her sudden outburst. “W-where do you get off on speaking to me like that? Have you forgotten who you’re speaking to, Venlithea?”

“I think the better question is, where do you get off on speaking to him like that? He’s a monster for whatever I do? How dare you… He saved me from the darkness you put me in, he gave me a reason to live from the hell you put me in, he gave me a home I’m happy in, and you call him a monster for helping me? You should be ashamed…you no-good, lying bitch!”

A resounding crack rang clear in the room. Her cheek burned from Filaurel slapping her as she stood there in shock, realizing what just happened. She only had one question on her mind: was that it?

A sense of extreme hostility overcame the room. She could hear a hiss followed by vicious growling beside her. Eric was warning Ferreth not to do anything stupid, which she figured to be bloody murder. Her eyes wandered over to Filaurel, hand still raised in the air after striking her. She touched her cheek and let out a short breathless laugh in utter amazement.

“Huh…that’s the best you can do?” she asked, a brazen smile on her face. “That’s what I was afraid of all this time? I used to be so scared of you but now I see there wasn’t any reason to be…Grandmother.”

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “This is hardly the time for jokes.”

“In one of the last entries Thessalia wrote before her death, she talked about how she had to swallow her pride and beg you for help because she was so lost on what to do with me. She thought you’d have a shred of love for her to know that she was scared, especially since the time I would be born was coming closer and closer. Instead, you told her she was on her own and left her all alone.

“I read all the ways you tried to control her and when she got away from you, you disowned her. I was your second chance at getting the ‘perfect’ child you always wanted but I turned out to be a Vlixeox. You couldn’t stand knowing that your grandchild, the baby you waited so long for to mold into someone you deemed perfect, was a Vlixeox. You took all your anger and hatred out on me and I didn’t know any better.”

“I tried my best to raise you but you refused to behave!” she exclaimed, tapping her fingers against the curve of her cane. “If I had known you’d turn out like this, I wouldn’t have wasted so much of my time trying to care for you. If you had just listened to me, I would’ve treated you better.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered what I did!” She kicked the cane out of her grip. “For years, I believed what you and everyone else said about me. I thought I deserved all the suffering I got because I was a Vlixeox and that meant I was bad. I tried so, so hard to be good and it was never enough. You hurt me over and over and over, even as I laid on the ground bleeding, wishing that I could die so the pain would stop.

“I was wrong to ask for forgiveness from you because I should’ve known you’d never give it to me. I didn’t have a chance in hell because your mind was set the moment I asked for it. You’re just a sad, bitter old woman that loved breaking me if it brought me a step closer to being your obedient pet.”

She took a deep breath and glared daggers at her. “I refuse to let you control me for the rest of my life. Both of us may believe I’m a monster but I did something I know you’ll never live down. I’ve forgiven you for all you’ve done to me but you better believe I will never forget it. Now get the hell out of my home and never come back.”

The room fell into an eerie silence. Filaurel looked at her in shock, as if she never expected her to finally stand up to her. If she was honestly speaking, it was a surprise to her, too. She probably would’ve stopped halfway through if it weren’t for her outrage at Eric being called a monster and the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Alek came in just as the quiet began to wear out its welcome. Eric asked for him to show Filaurel the way out, promising to explain what happened later. To everyone’s surprise, she went along with it, only stopping to pick her cane up off the floor. It was when she crossed the threshold she did it. She tossed parting words over her shoulder, seemingly directed towards her.

“I was wrong to think you were nothing like Thessalia. You got the rebellious streak I despised her for having.”

That wasn’t something she ever expected to hear. She never once thought she was similar to her mother in any way and reading through her journal seemed to confirm how different they were. Maybe she had more in common with her and it was just a matter of figuring out when and what.

“Holy shit, Ven, that was amazing!” Ferreth said excitedly, picking her up by the waist to hug her. “You finally told that bitch to fuck off!”

“Ah, yeah, I…I guess I did, huh?” she replied, her cheeks warm from the sudden hug. “Could you put me down, please?”

“Yeah, you did.” Eric put a hand on her head and started petting her after she was back on the ground. “I’m proud of you. You finally stood up for yourself.”

It made her happy beyond words to see pride in his eyes. There was no fear or regret in his voice, only a fond warmth she heard so rarely. Ferreth was right; he wouldn’t think differently of her and it was silly to believe otherwise.

She was lost in thought as Ferreth dragged her out to “celebrate her victory”. She never imagined her life would be like this when she was a child. She only had a day of no punishments to look forward to back then. She didn’t think she’d have friends, a home she was happy in, people who had love to give, a life. It was because of Filaurel banishing her that everything happened the way it did and…it was the one decision she made that turned out to be good for her.

If anything, it was thanks to Thessalia she even had a life. She may not have had much choice in the matter but she was still grateful to her for giving her life. She wondered if the voice she heard back at the graveyard was her, letting her know that she was watching over her. She liked to believe it was possible. She held the amethyst ring she kept around her neck between her fingers and smiled.

Would she be proud of her daughter and the kind of person she was becoming? Would she not need to worry over her anymore now that she was surrounded by people that truly cared about her? She had a home she belonged in. She knew if things ever got tough, she’d be okay. She still believed herself to be a monster but…she was beginning to think she was less of one now.

#airi's writing #oc; Venlithea #oc; Ferreth #oc; Eric #oc; Filaurel #Corona's Shadow #childhood abuse tw

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readbeneaththelines · 5 years

Text

The Bough That Broke

A/N: I don’t know why I am giving sweet loveable Jin some Whump and Angst.. I really do adore him, I promise!!!

Synopsis: Jin is injured from an avoidable accident, leaving him partially paralyzed from the waist down. Reader is the nurse that is hired to take care of him once he gets back to the dorms and begins the physically and emotionally painful road to recovery. Will she have what it takes to spark determination in him to get back on the stage?

Characters: Idol!Jin x Nurse!Reader

Genre: Whump, Angst, Itty Bittyamount of crack, itty bitty amount of fluff, maybeeeeeee some smut

Warnings: First few chapters are rough, starting out of the gate with the Angst and Whump. I’m sorry!!! Don’t hate me for hurting Jin.... pretty please!!I promise to make him all better in the end!

Word Count: 1630

Each Chapter will get its own warnings. If anything is a trigger, please read at your own discretion.

cr to gif owner

It was supposed to be a simple concert in a small venue. It was supposed to be a simple set. What it was supposed to be and what it actually was, though, are two different things.

“Hey, we’re here to help with stage set-up” the two girls piped up as they ran into a man that seemed to be in charge. He looked them up and down, scrutinizing their size. Hee looked past them, motioned for another stagehand to comeover, then turned back to the girls.

“Jongdae will show you what needs to be done. You will get paid at the end of your shift tonight and after break down tomorrow night.” Both girls squealed, then quickly recovered their composure and Jongdae approached them. He led them away, showing them where the equipment was being stored, and told them to get to work.

Little did they know, that was their first mistake. A mistake that could have ended a life.

“Hey Jimin, I’m going to run through my placement one more time, I might want to adjust the lighting a bit.” Jin headed back on stage, using his earpiece to communicate with the lighting crew above. He had the music start, going through the motions and words of Epiphany. He stopped short of stage right, looking up then back to the stage. “Can you adjust the lights here? I think a bit more from behind me will look better. I like the shadowing effect.”

With the earpiece in, and the music still blaring, Jin didn’t hear the loud strain of metal as the light moved directions. He continued until he was pleased with the outcome, unaware of what was hanging by a literal thread overhead.

That was their second mistake. A mistake that almost ended a life. Three strikes and someone might be out.

They put their hands in the center, one hand on top of the other.

“Bangtan, Bangtan, Bangtan Sonyeondan!” their hands flew up and they began bouncing on the balls of their feet. The air was electrifying, the energy thick and palpable. Seven young men, doing what they love, and giving their all to ARMY. Within minutes, they would be up on the stage, fan chants reverberating throughout the small venue. It was music to their ears, hundreds of voices singing their names over and over.

Two young girls flitted over to them, smiled stretched across their thin lips. They patted the members backs, wishing them luck, then scooted off just as quickly, giggling loudly and holding hands as the ran.

“What was that all about?” Jungkook leaned over to Hobi. Hobi shrugged as he looked to Namjoon.

“They helped with stage prep this morning. I guess they are a little excited.” He shook his head before leading the members to the rising platform that would bring them to the stage, and one of them to a life altering accident.

The roar of the fans penetrated through their ear pieces, smiles curling at their lips as they stepped onto the stage. The music filled the small arena, energy vibrating everywhere as their voices harmonized, flowing seamlessly from one song to the next. It was coming up on Jin’s solo for Epiphany. The piano began, Jin playing the keys with his eyes closed, his passion apparent. Oblivious to what was happening above him, he stood and made his way to the single spotlight. The gems that covered his suit jacket sparkled and scattered refracted lights across the fans, cheers erupting as he took one more step just outside of the light. It was at that moment that the spotlight was supposed to move behind him. The echoes of screaming fans drowned out the sound of metal snapping under the strain of being improperly setup, the support beam and light now hanging by just an electric cord. Jin lifted the microphone to his lips, but there would be no sound coming.

The next few seconds passed as the catwalk tech watched in horror as the metal beam and lighting fixture became disconnected and fell. The other members watched, frozen in place, as Jin was crumpled under the weight of the beam. No one could move, no matter how hard their mind fought to take a first step. The lights went dark, the music stopped. There was chaos in the stands, fans crying and running for the exits they were being ushered towards.

Namjoon was the first to break from his trance, trying to make his way to his hyung, his friend, his brother.

"Jin!"

He fought against arms that held him back. He turned in their grasp, swinging arms wildly. The others were also restrained by staff, allowing the medics access to the tangled heap of twisted metal and Jin's body.

“Get them out of here! We need more people!” Orders were being given from several of the men that were gathered around Jin. Five more men came rushing past, and all the other members could do was stand helplessly by. It was an eternity before they were able to lift the beam off and move it carefully away.

To see Jin from a distance,you would think there was no sign of life to be found. He was lifeless, not moving even as the weight was taken from him. Jimin wailed when he caught sight of the blood, the thick dark red pool growing by the second. Jungkook was the one to break free from the hands that were struggling to keep him back. He skidded across the floor, halting in his tracks then fell to the ground. The others were reluctantly aloud to go to Jungkook, each of them kneeling a short distance away. Then came the stretcher and three more medics.

“Keep his body as still as you can. Get the neck brace and straightboard.” somebody cradled Jin’s head gingerly as the brace was situated and secured. As space was made for the straightboard to be brought in, it was then that Namjoon and Yoongi noticed the awkward position of Jin’s lower half. It was as if someone had used him as a rag doll and twisted him at the middle before throwing him to the ground in disgust. Namjoon’s stomach churned and wretched, making him empty what little contents were still digesting. Hoseok and Yoongi aided him to stand and led him off the stage against Namjoon’s pained protests.

Jin was at long last strapped onto the straightboard and laid on his back. The medics scrambled to get him stable, starting an IV and covering him with a blanket. Vitals signs were being monitored, and the stretcher was brought out. He was lifted up with the utmost caution and care, being placed on the stretcher and immediately wheeled out.

The staff came to check on Namjoon and the others. They all insisted they were okay, only asking where Jin was being taken.

“They are airlifting him to the nearest trauma hospital. We need to get you all out of costume, then we can take you to where he’s going.”

Ushered off the stage, they ran to their dressing rooms, stripping out of their clothes along the way. Once dressed, they were piled into an unmarked van and set off for a long hour’s ride. Silence filled the interior, the only sounds were that of them each crying. When Namjoon could no longer ignore the inevitable question, he finally spoke up.

“He’s going to be okay, we have to believe that. Jin is strong and healthy. He has to be okay.”

Once they arrived at the hospital they were taken in through the ambulance entrance. With heads hung low, they somberly gathered around the nurses station. They could overhear the commotion in one of the bays, people talking over each other as they hurried to stabilize Jin. One of the nurses step around from behind the curtain, making her way to them.

“We are working on getting him stable. He is at a critical point right now, but we are doing our best.”

“When can we see him?” Taehyung asked, at last finding his voice since this all began.

“It will be a while. We have tests to run, scan to take. Why don’t you all find a place to rest, someone will come and get you when we know more.” She placed a comforting hand on Namjoon’s shoulder, the sympathy showing in her downturned expression. One of the nurses at the station led them to a private conference room. Their manager brought them food, and the nibbled and picked at the sandwhiches and chips.

Yoongi began pacing back and forth, his anger rising as the seconds passed at a snail’s pace. Jimin took his arm, attempting to make him stand still. Yoongi spun on his heel, glaring at the younger man, fists clenched tightly.

“Yoongi, please. Just take a seat. There is nothing we can do right now.” Jimin was pleading with Yoongi, but he was having none of it.

“Who set the lighting? What fucking idiot put the support beams and lights up? Who the fuck didn’t check it? “ His voice echoed off the walls, and Hoseok had to physical sit him down.

“We’ll figure it out, Yoongi. We have our hands tied right now. Let’s find out about Jin, first, then we will find out who did this.” Namjoon’s tone was calm, a false cover of how he was beating himself up inside. He was supposed to protect these men, he was supposed to ensure their safety and well-being, and he had failed. Sensing him turmoil, Taehyung plopped down beside him.

“Hyung, you didn’t know. None of us did. It’s not your fault, it’s not any of ours fault.” Namjoon let his head fall on Taehyung’s shoulder, silent tears dampening the younger one’s shirt.

@min-shookga-yoongi @beautifulseoulliar @agustd-suga-yoongii @astronomyturtle @aspaceformyself @dreamyoongi @holy-yoongi@trashkazuya @maxinaptak @micky1518 @rosiemilas @karri570

@seoulsunshineandstories @kwonnansi @xjamlessparkx @berryjam17

@kingsuckjin��@flora-jimin

#kim seokjin #jin #jin angst #jin whump #thekimlinenet #jin x reader #im sorry #but i couldn't help myself #please dont hate me #I'll make it better

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dizzying-faust · 4 years

Text

3 Men 1 Beach House

So I decided to start writing fanfiction and this is my first story hope you enjoy it!

May contain some slight N/S/F/W

Also on Ao3

“Hurry up! Hurry up! The storm is getting crazier!”

Yelled a bearded man with short brown hair. He was running to the beach house with two other guys following him, a short man with a long, blonde beard wearing what appears to be something of royalty and the other who was older than the two, almost in his 80s, wearing a woolen hat and a heavy beige coat. The three managed to get to the beach house in the heavy rain all soaking wet.

“Note to self, never try to go out boating before a big storm happens.” says the brown-haired man.

“Oh come on Greg!” the blond, bearded man yelled. “It’s not that bad! Back on Mewni, we Johansen’s all love fishing in the rain!”

“Yeah to you River,” The man, named Greg, replied. “But not us. Look at Joseph! He looks like he's about to pass out!”

“Don’t worry...about me…” The old man, named Joseph, tiredly. “I’m just not used to running that fast...blame old age.” As he finished his words, he walked slowly to the couch to catch his breath. Greg looked at him with a look of guilt.

“I’m sorry for making you run in that rain, I wished I could have brought enough umbrellas for the two of you. And I hate that you have to stay over here away from your wife.”

“Oh, it’s okay. I’ll let Suzi know where I am. Say, where are those three girls of yours?”

“Oh, you mean the gems? They are probably taking care of the other gems back in Little Homeworld.”

When Greg finished his reply, he started walking upstairs to his (well actually his son Steven’s) room. “I’m gonna go change my clothes, be back shortly.”

While Greg disappeared into his bedroom, River looked at Joseph with a miffed look on his face. Not hesitating to take off his coat in front of Joseph, revealing his naked body. “Pfft! That Greg, what does he know?”

River turned around to speak to Joseph, but before he could say something he noticed how the old man was awkwardly staring into him, almost like he was in amazement of something.

“Ummm...Joseph?” River questioned. “Are you okay?”

Joseph immediately snapped out of his daze when he heard River’s words. “Oh, um….sorry. I guess I was in a zone. That rain was getting to me.”

“...Okay, I’m just going to talk to Greg.”

River walked upstairs as Joseph was resting on the couch to continue catching his breath. What was that moment?

----

Upstairs, Greg was laying on the bed, shirtless, he still couldn’t get over what happened today. It was meant to be a nice day out to go boating with his River and Joseph on the new boat he brought with his money. Ever since his son left to travel the states, the latter two became comfort buddies to him. Sure there was Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, but they were busy with their own lives to hang out with him. Plus, it was nice to have male friends compared to the female friends he met. Though River almost ruined it by going diving into the ocean to go fishing his way. He almost started to drown until thankfully Greg was able to pull him out with a net that was installed with the boat. It also didn’t help that it was starting to rain which later turned into a big storm the moment they pulled him in. Still, despite this, he did admit it was nice while it lasted.

“Greg?”

Greg stopped with his thoughts when he heard someone calling his name. It was River who was also standing on the top of the stairs, shirtless. It didn’t take a while to notice how...kind hot he is with those abs. Come to think of it, he did notice during the boat trip when River was shirtless on the boat, he would always notice how hot he was. Wait, why was he thinking these kinds of things? It wasn’t like he was into guys was he? Before he could think more...unusual thoughts, he was interrupted by River calling his name again.

“Oh, sorry River! What’s up?”

“I just wanted to check on you. Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Is Joseph okay?

“Yeah, he’s just resting. Ya, mind if I join you?”

At first, Greg wanted to say no thanks, but for some reason, he just couldn’t say no.

“Sure I don’t….mind.”

River questioned Greg hesitance, but shrugged it off, walked over to the bed and layed down with Greg on the bed.

For the next few minutes, it was almost complete silence, like they didn’t know what else to say. They both just stared at the ceiling, along with their thoughts. Then, River suddenly broke the silence.

“Um...Greg.”

“Yes, River?”

“Do you think I’m a bad friend?” “What!?” Greg yelled out. “I don’t think you’re a bad friend at all! Sure you can be crazy at times, but not a bad friend!”

Despite Greg’s positive answer, it didn’t seem to uplift his mood.

“Is this about what happened on the boat?” Greg asked. “Because look as much as that nearly drowned, at least you’re okay.”

“Yeah,” River replied. “But I nearly ruined your boating trip. Maybe I don’t deserve to be your-”

Before River could finish, Greg picked him up from his shoulders to stare him in the face.

“Look River. I’ve met a lot of strange people, even my wife was just as strange as you. You may be crazy but you’re NOT a bad friend. You’re brave and strong. And that’s why I....”

Greg was almost tongue-tied at that last word.

“I….”

“I what?”

Greg couldn’t say anything. All he could do was move closer and kiss River on the lips. River was confused at this, but for some reason, he didn’t feel pushing Greg back and just let Greg finish the kiss. When Greg moved back, he was breathing heavily. Like, he can’t believe he just did that.

“Wha...what was that?” River questioned.

“I...I think I like you.” Greg answered.

“You what?”

“I mean I like, like you. I dunno when it came to be, but ever since you came to my life, I just have been having these feelings for you.”

As Greg finished his confession, he expected River to either react with disgust or scold him for the kiss. But instead, he reacted with a hearty laugh. And grabbed Greg on the shoulder.

“Oh, Greg.” River finally replied. “That is such a relief because I’ve been having feelings for you too!”

“Wait, what? You actually like...as in like like me?”

“Yep!”

“But don’t you have Moon, you’re wife?”

“Eh, she probably wouldn’t mind. After all, there is always room for one more.”

Greg was confused at how happily River was taking this. Especially this was a man who was already married and risking cheating on his wife. But on the other hand, he didn’t care. As long as River was happy, he was happy.

“So what do you want to do now?” Greg asked.

River grabbed the arms “Let’s make out.” And immediately kissed him, harder than Greg’s kiss. Greg didn’t hesitate and kissed back harder as well.

----

Downstairs, having woken up from his little nap, Joseph started taking off his hat, coat, and flip flops, leaving him in nothing but his shorts and a tank top. He still has his muscular figure, but he wasn’t as strong as he was in his younger years. He looked around wondering what was taking River so long, hoping he would be coming back downstairs after talking to Greg. Slowly, he walked upstairs, expecting that he and Greg were fast asleep.

But he could be no wrong.

What he saw instead was the two men, naked, making out. At first, he was about to shout his expected “OH MY GOD” line, but he didn’t have the urge to. In fact, he kinda liked seeing the two men making out.

As both Greg and River were tongue wrestling with each other, Greg spotted Joseph. The sight of him caused him to immediately push River off of him as he stumbled his words trying to explain himself.

“Oh Joseph, I...I didn’t see you there!”

“Were you two, making out?” he asked.

Greg was almost tempted to explain himself, but River stood up and interrupted him.

“Yes we were making out!” he answered the old man. “And what about it, we love each other and that’s final! What are you gonna do about it.”

When River said those last lines proudly, Joseph immediately walked over to him. Greg wasn’t sure what he was going to do to River. But what happened next was something that he didn’t expect. As Joseph went near River, he grabbed the blonde man by the shoulders, slowly moved near his face, and kissed him hard. Greg looked at this scene in complete shock, that the old man was suddenly kissing his new lover. And he wasn’t alone on this as River was just as shocked as Greg that Joseph was kissing him. He pushed Joseph away from him as he wiped his lip from that weird kiss.

“What the hell was that?!” River yelled in anger.

“That was a kiss,” Joseph replied. “I kissed you.”

“But, but why?! Aren’t you married?”

“Says you. Besides, Suzi is old news, was going to divorce me anyway, so why not get a new lover?”

River was in shock that he was cheating on his wife, though he wasn’t one to talk since he was doing the same to Greg.

“You know what!” Greg yelled out, “Who cares about our wives! My wife is gone and she probably would have been happy that I’m moving on. So honestly...”

As Greg said his last line, he crawled across the bed to Joseph, grabbed his head, and kissed him, hard and passionately. Joseph, despite the suddenness of this, kissed back and leaned over towards Greg. Greg started taking off his tank top, leaving him in nothing but his naked body, showing off his abs.

“Huh, didn’t know you still have muscle in you.”

“That’s what keeping healthy is for!”

“Hey!” River yelled out. “What about me?”

“Oh don’t worry,” said Joseph “You’re welcome as well!”

River squealed in delight as he joined back in with Greg, this time with Joseph around. What turned into a simple makeout turned into a three-man threesome. Greg was passionately kissing Joseph as River was kissing Greg’s back. All three men grinding each other with them moaning in passion, feeling themselves in the heat of this new love affair. As they were in the middle of this orgy, Joseph felt something in his shorts. Breaking from the kiss, he took off his shorts and sure enough, there was something sticking out of his underwear.

No….

“What’s wrong?” Greg asked.

“I think…” Joseph answered. “I think I got a boner.”

NO….

Greg crawled over to Joseph and noticed his erection. He starts pulling his underwear down and was met with his big, long…

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

----

“Aw come on I was just getting to the good part!” Peridot yelled.

“No!” Josuke yelled. “I don’t fucking care! I’m done! I’m fucking done! God, I can’t get the image of Mr. Joestar’s balls out of my head. UGH!”

Apparently, Peridot gathered everyone to the beach house to listen to the new story she’s been writing. Ever since she’s been binge-watching the new Camp Pining Hearts reboot, she’s been on a roll with making these stories, or fanfics as she heard. But lately, it has taken to writing fanfics about people she knew.

“Oh come on, my fanfic was getting good. Right guys?”

The crowd, composed of Steven (via video call), Connie, Amethyst, Pearl, Garnet, Jotaro, Josuke, and Star, were all in agreement of what the heck was going on with the story. Especially, how it would have continued if Josuke hadn’t interrupted.

Steven and Connie just looked at each other silently in disgust. The former wished he could have stopped Peridot sooner, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Especially since she wrote stories about him and Connie before, minus the…weirder parts. Pearl’s reaction was also the same as Steven and Connie’s. Especially when she noticed how Greg was written, not himself in his story. Amethyst was different from the three as she looked like she was about to burst out laughing. Sure she was disgusted, but the way the story was written was so bad it was funny, but she held her composure to try and not hurt Peri’s feelings. Garnet didn’t show a reaction, but she also was not fond of Peri’s story. And with her future vision, she knew what happened next was not going to be even more pretty. Jotaro was also the same. He was thankfully glad his grandmother, Suzi Q, was not here to hear the story. Especially during the part where Joseph said he was going to cheat on her, considering their current issues. Josuke was the most expressive about his disgust with the story. To the point he wished Crazy Diamond to come and fix his eyes from imagining his dad privates and almost doing the do. Finally, Star sat there with a blank stare. Apparently, that story broke her that she couldn’t muster out the words. She just couldn’t believe she had to read about her dad cheating on her mom.

“So?” Peridot asked again, breaking the silence. “What do you think of my story so far?”

“Well…” Steven replied. “It could use a little work”

“Yeah, a lot of work.”

“Definitely, a lot of work.”

“Ditto.”

“Seconded.”

“Eh, it was okay.”

“Please…”

“...Uh, I mean yeah you do need a lot of work with your story.”

“Well,” Peridot looked at the paper. “There are a few errors, maybe I should go and fix them before I read the rest.”

“Few is saying something.” said Josuke before getting a hit in the head by an invisible fist (probably Star Platinum).

As Peridot is walking to the warp pad to go back to Little Homeworld and everyone is going back to normal business, they are all interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

“Hey everyone, we’re back!” yelled Greg as he busted in wearing his captain’s outfit. Alongside him were Joseph wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip flops holding baby Shizuka, and River, who had no shirt on and was just in his pants, apparently soaking wet.

“Hey, Dad!” Steven yelled over the phone.

“Hey, Steven! How’re your travels?”

“It’s been fine. Just taking a break. How are you doing?”

“Oh me, Joseph, and River just came back from a boating trip.”

“Yeah,” spoke Joseph. “It was a wacky adventure.”

“What do you mean whacky?” Steven asked.

The two men didn’t say anything, only pointing to a soaking wet River Butterfly.

“Dad,” Star questioned. “What did you do?”

“What? All I did was do fishing my way!” River angrily shouted out. “And in the end, we did survive. I even caught a big, long-”

River’s words were interrupted by the sound of Josuke screaming and running into the bathroom. They could hear the sound of him retching and throwing up. The three men stared at whatever the heck just happened.

“I was just going to say I caught a big, long mackerel. What’s wrong with him?”

“It’s a long story…” Steven meekly replied.

#c's writings #steven universe #star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #greg universe #river butterfly #river johansen #joseph joestar #crossover

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