#from the half second we saw of berg i think they really are meant for each other (derogatory) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

princecupcakee · 4 years

Text

Park Bench | Reddie

Read on AO3

Rating: E

Pairing: Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak

Word Count: 3,320

Chapter: 2/8

Past Chapters: Chapter 1 (AO3)

Next Chapters: Chapter 3 (AO3), Chapter 4 (AO3)

Summary: Recently divorced and ‘incapable of love’, Eddie Kaspbrak moves to Los Angeles for work and a small, small hope of a fresh start. Broken up and never dated again, Richie Tozier tries to get back into love with help from his love of music. Quickly meeting eyes and one concert later, they think that maybe love isn’t that bad. So they try it one more time.

Chapter 2: What If Eddie Kaspbrak Was?, What If Richie Tozier Wasn’t? & Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak Have Breakfast

Tags/Warnings: Angst / Unhappy Ending / theres only one sex scene but this is explicit anyway / Bisexual Richie Tozier / Gay Eddie Kaspbrak / Post-Divorce / Implied/Referenced Cheating / Inspired By Remembering Sunday (All Time Low) / Inspired by The Book Ninja by Ali Berg / Implied/Referenced Child Abuse / Implied/Referenced Abuse / Implied/Referenced Manipulation

Tag-list: @richietoaster, @s-s-georgie, @mikeuris, @gazebobullshit, @that-weird-girls-blog, @tozierking, @thoughtfullyyoungduck, @s-onora, @bellarosewrites, @lermanslogan, @ambitiousskychild, @ghostnebula, @vanillaredvelvet,

(Ask if you wanna be on the tag-list!!)

Chapter 2

What If Eddie Kaspbrak Was?

He loves Beverly, he really does, but right now, in this gigantic crowd of people, he hates her. Really, really hates her. He thinks that everything and everyone (mildly excluding Ben, Beverly, Bill, Mike, and Mr. cute-Hawaiian-shirt guy-with-huge glasses-who’s-name-is-apparently-Richie) is out to kill him. Two groups of teenagers tried to sell him drugs, or something —he wouldn’t know. He ran away before they could say anything.

It was loud, and hot, and made Eddie, really, really uncomfortable. As much as he tried to avoid the touches of every person jumping around to whatever incomprehensible song was being shouted —yes, he meant shouted — it was too cramped. “You okay there?” Eddie heard a voice behind him ask, loudly. As he looked in that direction, Eddie decided that speaking would be useless, so he simply shook his head. He let Mr. cute-Hawaiian-shirt guy-with-huge glasses-who’s-name-is-apparently-Richie or, simply, Richie, take his hand and lead him out. “You looked really uncomfortable,” Richie smiled, laughing a bit.

“Uh, yeah, don’t do that well with big crowds and everything,” Eddie shrugged, attempting to look ‘cool.’

Richie laughed, “Lets go.”

“But, the concert?”

“I’ve seen ‘em before,” Richie shook his head, “I’ll take you back home, its pretty late anyway.”

“Thanks,” Eddie smiled as he took Richie’s outstretched hand.

“Where is your place?” Richie asked him, crossing the pedestrian.

“I uh, live with Ben and Bev.”

“That mansion? Well, I guess when the husband is an architect and the wife is a designer you get the Buckingham fucking Palace.” Eddie laughed at that (as much as he tried to hide it.)

“But, yeah, I’m staying at Ben and Bev’s while I’m here.”

“While you’re here?” Richie nods

“I don’t live in LA, I’m from New York,” Eddie replied.

“I didn’t think you were from here,” Richie smiled, walking backward to face Eddie.

“That’s dangerous.”

“And thats,” Richie points at Eddie “no fun.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, moving away from the topic, “Its like you guys have your own planet here,�� he says, scanning the scenery.

“Says the New Yorker,” Richie said sarcastically.

Eddie gave him a questioning look, trying to hide a smile. “You know, all the big pretty buildings and broadway, and all the big movies,” Richie jokes in a horrible Brooklyn accent.

“Don’t-don’t do that,” Eddie shakes his head.

“Thats my career.” Richie grinned walking into the subway.

Eddie ignored that, “I thought LA was all cars?” He asked.

“It is. I’m doing a kind of project thing though,” Richie smiles talking Eddie’s hand. That slightly throwing Eddie off. “See?” Richie points to a vinyl (yes, Eddie learned the word) with their intertwined fingers.

“I don’t think I understand,” Eddie says looking at Richie.

“I don’t think you need to,” Richie winks, seating Eddie further from the vinyl.

“For a comedian, you’re not funny.”

“Come to one of my shows then. Got one tomorrow night.” Richie winks.

“Sure.”

Richie stops himself before he says ‘its a date.’

“Where did you go?” Beverly asked Eddie as he walked into the kitchen where the rest of the group was standing.

“I went back here,” Eddie says, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room as he holds back a ‘and kind of got a date. Kind of. Well, no it isn’t a date. I’m just gonna watch his show-’

“Richie ‘went back here,’ too?”

“Oh- no, he just… it was really late and he-he walked and rode the train with me back here.” Eddie replied. Ben, Beverly, Bill, and Mike all exchanged looks while he wasn’t looking. “I uh- speaking of Richie though, what does he even do?” He asked, trying to be subtle. Keyword: trying.

Ben tried to hide a laugh, “Besides working at the shop he does some comedy, I thought we told you already?”

“Yeah, yeah, uh anyway, does he even have shows?”

Deciding that he didn’t want this conversation to last too long since Eddie would never bring up what he really wants to say, “He’s got a show tomorrow n-night, I think,” Bill says looking at Ben and Beverly, “Think we can watch it?”

“Totally, its at a bar not too far from here,” Ben smiles.

“Yeah, sure, why not,” Eddie says quickly, thankful that his friends ‘didn’t’ notice how much he wanted to go.

~~~

Eddie was alone on Sunday morning, tired after the concert the night before, —despite not being there for half of it—and he woke up at around 10. His four other momentary housemates were out for the day on whatever they were planning on doing on a Sunday morning in Los Angeles —he wondered what there is to do. Which made Eddie feel painfully single, but also made him feel a little better. An abnormal creek came from downstairs he shut the door to his bedroom, ‘I must’ve just imagined it, I need coffee.’

A loud crash sound rang inside the house and followed Eddie to the first floor. He ran into the kitchen, grabbed the first thing he could find, and rushed toward the direction of the sound, prepared to hit. “Holy fuck, please no!” Richie shouted, hands above his head, dropping the coat rack he was trying to put straight back up. Eddie dropped the pan in his hands and sighed, relieved. “What the fuck is this? Tangled?” Richie laughed, breathlessly.

“Asshole. I thought there was some, I don’t know, a psychopathic- killer- clown that broke into the house out to kill me.”

“I- I’m not even gonna fucking ask.”

Eddie sighs and rolls his eyes, ”why are you here anyway?”

“Just picking up something, what are you doing here?” Richie asked, ‘well shit. Now I look like an idiot.’

“Told you. I’m staying here.” Eddie answered returning the pan to the kitchen.

“Uh, right,” Richie awkwardly said, wanting to fill the silence. As much as he wanted to ask, ‘are you coming to my show tonight?’ He didn’t and instead, “so, how’s your mom doing? She okay after last night?”

“Ew. That’s disgusting,” Eddie said his face scrunching up, “I, uh, I’m going.”

As if he read Richie’s mind he clarified, “I’m going to your show.”

“Neat.” Richie smiled widely, “uh no. Not neat. No! Not that is it’s ‘not neat’ for you to come to my show, I mean not neat. Like, not the word ‘neat’. Jeez. Uh—“

“Yeah, neat.” Eddie laughed, “weren’t you going to get something?” He knew he was winning this.

“Oh right, uh,” The man in glasses began to walk towards the library —it wasn’t actually a library just an extra room Ben and Beverly filled with books and music things (Eddie honestly didn't know what they were). Again, their house is fucking like a mansion— and Richie came out with vinyl in his hands, “they borrowed it,” He said shaking it.

“Have you heard it before?”

“I don’t think so,” Eddie says walking closer.

“Lets go then,” Richie smirks going back into the room, putting in the vinyl. ‘Sittin' in the kitchen, a house in Macon’ rang the player, ‘Loretta's singing on the radio’

"Smell of coffee, eggs, and bacon” Richie sung.

“What is that?” Eddie asked.

“‘Car Wheels On A Gravel Road’, Lucinda Williams,” Richie replied just as the same line played.

“What kind of song even is that? Its all guitar but not-”

“First, its country and rock. Alt-Country. Second, not all songs with guitars have to sound like ‘The Carpal Tunnel Of Love’ or something,”

“I don’t even wanna what that is,” Eddie rolled his eyes, looking at the player —he didn’t actually know what it was called.

“You live under a rock. Not even a single rock— you-you live in a fucking cave.”

“Half the people I know don’t know what that is.” But Richie was already picking up a new vinyl — ‘is that a fucking sheep?’ Eddie wondered once he saw the cover.

Richie set the —‘what the fuck is that’ Eddie thought— on a place over the vinyl. “We take sour sips from life's lush lips” Richie sung, smiling at Eddie.

“Its so loud. What the fuck is that?” Richie just kept on singing.

“Whoa-oh, we're so miserable and stunning,” Richie sang. As, much as Eddie didn’t want to admit it, he sounded amazing.

“This is so loud. I’m not doing this,” Eddie said walking out of the room. The song being loud was the reason, he promised. It wasn’t because he knew he would lose it if he kept going, it was just loud.

“Hey, what? Eddie, wait!” Richie said stopping the music and tripping over himself to get to the door. “Have you been walking through life with earplugs on? Jeez,” Richie checked his watch, “shit, I’m gonna head back to the store. I’ll see you tonight?”

Eddie thought his heart stopped for a moment, and then he remembered he was going to Richie’s show. Nothing more. Because it shouldn’t be anything more. “Yeah,” Eddie said, watching as Richie walked out the door.

~~~

Eddie was alone in his room Sunday night, (or Monday morning? He couldn’t tell) tired of laughing, tired of being so far away from Richie. His set was amazing (not that Eddie would tell him that.) So maybe he was feeling something. Maybe he was feeling a lot. That doesn’t mean he must fall into Richie's arms. Or should fall into his arms —he thinks that Richie definitely can his hands and shoulders and just his arms are so big. He knows he shouldn’t fall in love again. The last time didn’t do well for him, and he had known her for years before they even started dating. And much longer before they got married. He shouldn’t be feeling this. But what if he was?

What If Richie Tozier Wasn’t?

As he walked out of the door from the Marsh’s house, he headed for the trains once again. Something in his head was pulling him away, not wanting him to continue the project, but what if its what’s good for him? What if Eddie didn’t like him the same way? This might continue to be like Connor. I mean, they saw each other in the store and started talking after ditching a concert? Is that how love was supposed to go? How is love supposed to go? On the other hand, Ben and Bev seem to like him. He trusts Ben and Bev. He trusts Eddie. But what if Eddie shouldn’t be trusted? This was something all too fragile.

Richie walked into the train, looking down on the vinyl he played Eddie. He took out the Sharpie from his pocket prepared to write on ‘Car Wheels On A Gravel Road’ but then his phone let out a ‘ping’ He opened his phone to a group chat with Stan, Patty, Ben, and Bev called: ‘The Four Hets Who Help With The Vinyl Project Thing’ —Richie was also surprised that it fits there.

Patty: Good luck on your date today!!! Stan: Yeah, have fun, rich. Ben: Tell us everything once its done :) Ben: By the way, Stan and Patty, we’re almost there. Stan: See you guys. Bev: Thats great and I absolutely love that for you. But I thought you were with [redacted] [Bev Deleted a Message.]

Richie didn’t catch what Beverly had written, but if it was deleted it probably wasn’t important. Richie opened the mail app on his phone to see the email that got him this date again. He had gotten it the day after he left Hot Fuss on the train, and he, Patty, and Stan had eaten out that night.

Subject: I found your vinyl From: Adam Wilson <@AdAmWIlsOn> To: Richie Toz <@Remembering_Records>

‘Hey, Richie. My name’s Adam. I found the Hot Fuss album you left on the train a few weeks ago. I used to love listening to The Killers but work took so much of my time that I didn’t get to listen to them much anymore, but when I listened to your album, I felt like I finally relaxed, you know? I absolutely love Mr. Brightside but Somebody Told Me is still running through my head (Smile Like You Mean it doesn’t even need to be said. Its perfect. Oh man but then there’s also All These Things That I’ve Done. The Killers are just perfect.)

I should probably tell you somethings about me. I’m a doctor. I moved here from Manchester, UK, around a week ago to start a new job. I also volunteer at animal shelters in my spare time.

If I don’t sound like a serial killer and you’re interested, I really would love a date.

P.S. Mr. Brightside or Miss Atomic Bomb?

Richie had replied to him simply and fairly quickly (he chose Mr. Brightside.) He was heading there now, over to a restaurant downtown. He looked back down at the vinyl in his hands, just as he remembered Eddie smile and laugh awkwardly when he didn’t know what was going on. There was something about Eddie. Richie had no clue what it was, or what it made him feel, but there was definitely something there. He’s never felt this way before. Not with his friends, not with his hookups, not with Connor. It isn’t that he didn’t like it. He just had to be careful with it.

On second thought, maybe he shouldn’t leave them in the subway. He has time to bring them home first, right?

~~~

Richie walked into the restaurant, almost an hour late. By the time he had gotten home, he and Adam were already supposed to be meeting up, since the train he was previously on was going in the opposite direction. He then decided that riding his car would be faster than taking the trains, but the traffic was unbearable. He had taken a few wrong turns heading to the restaurant, too. Not that he didn’t know the place, there was a concert a few streets away that blocked some of the streets. So, exactly 53 minutes and 20 seconds late for his date, he stood there. As expected, Adam wasn’t there anymore.

Richie walked into the backseat of his car, kicking the chair in front of him. Of course, he messed up his first date in years. Fucking years. The one guy was interested in him, now gone, because he- what was he even doing? If he just dropped the two pieces of vinyl, he could’ve gotten this date and would’ve had two or more possible other ones. He wouldn’t blame Eddie for this failed date. He couldn’t. That was all on him.

At least he picked a restaurant close to the bar he was doing his show at. Richie wiped at his tears and climbed into the front of the car. Driving down a few streets, he walked up to the ‘Golden Rookie’ sign at the front of his favourite bar. Taking a deep breath, and willing himself not to puke, he jogged backstage to see Riley rolling her eyes at him.

“Failed date,” Richie smiled jogging on to the stage.

“Hello and goodnight, everybody!” he began, earning applause from a few of the regulars. "So, I checked Twitter this morning and..." he began slightly walking around the stage. He scanned the room, and there, far at the back was Eddie Kaspbrak, slightly smiling at the stage. Eddie was still in his work clothes, a suit and tie. His grin somehow both left and widened the moment they caught eyes.

When Richie got home that night, he thought that his set was the best one he’s done in a while. He wondered why.

Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak Have Breakfast Eddie wondered what that sound was. It was loud, he didn’t think it was loud for anyone else. It sounded- it sounded like if a pebble hit glass without breaking it. Weird. Eddie looked around the room, the continuous clattering waking him up. “What the fuck is that?” He muttered, walking over to the window. Richie Tozier was standing outside his window, waving at him like a maniac. “What the fuck are you doing here? Its the middle of the night, Richie!” Eddie whispered loudly (he wondered how that worked) once he opened his window.

“Its actually Tuesday morning,” Richie smiled, “C’ mere!”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “go to the front fucking door.”

He changed clothes quickly, trying not to look like he fixed up before seeing Richie. What was he doing? Its the middle of the- its Monday morning, and he's going to go with a stranger to who knows where. He's probably going insane. This was probably a dream, why would this happen if he were awake? Though, a part of him wished it wasn't a dream.

Down the stairs and out the door on to the porch, “What the fuck Richie? Its,” he looked at his phone, “its five in the morning.” He saw a guitar around Richie’s shoulders, (huge shoulders) deciding not to ask.

Richie hummed in agreement. “Yeah, we’re getting breakfast,” Richie said as he locks fingers with Eddie.

“Its five in the morning,” Eddie repeated.

“We’re getting breakfast.”

“At… five in the fucking morning?”

“Yup. There’s a nice diner somewhere here, we can walk.”

“I hope you know I think you’re crazy. The sun isn’t even up.” Richie just nodded.

The two walked to the diner together in silence. Eddie wasn’t uncomfortable, just, surprised. There was a ‘comfortable’ silence between the two, Eddie never really had that before. He was always used to the controlling words, and reminders and the arguing with Myra. He didn’t see his friends much because of work, so when they would meet up, there was never silence. And now there’s Richie, who he barely knows anything about, holding his hand at a time too early, as they walk towards a diner in a city Eddie doesn’t even live in. ‘Its nice’ he thinks, as they walk into the diner. It surprises Eddie, how much it looks like the diners in movies. But everything (and everyone- some more than others) in Los Angeles surprise him. ‘Most things surprise me’, he guesses, ‘I don’t go out much.’ But he knew better than that.

The two took their orders hands still intertwined under the table. “Why are we here?” Eddie asked, now sitting across from Richie.

“Ask that again in,” Richie looked down at his watch, “In 32 minutes, and 19 seconds.”

“Thats weird, but you aren’t going to tell me anything about that until then.”

“Right. So, lets talk about something else. How’d you like my show?”

“You like your praise. Its not that bad.”

“Just ‘not that bad’?”

“Yup, just ‘not that bad.’”

“I had a clear view of you from the stage. I didn’t know you could smile, Eds.”

“Don’t call me ‘Eds.’ Not my name.”

“Whatever you say, Spaghetti,” Richie said as Eddie rolled his eyes, “Do you have work today?”

“Actually, no. Bill and Mike are doing all I need today since I covered them a few days ago. Why?”

“Mind if I borrowed you for the rest of the day?” Richie smirked. (Eddie wanted to hate that smirk, he really did, he just couldn’t.)

“Yes. I do mind. I need a break.”

“Exactly, I’m giving you the world’s best break.”

Eddie sighed, “Please don’t. I’m scared.”

“Come on, I know you missed me.”

“I didn’t. I really didn’t.” He did. “You know what, whatever. Just- why am I here?”

“Look out the window,” Richie nodded.

“Look out the- what?” Eddie said, confused. He turned his head and, "Woah."

Eddie saw, through the trees and the buildings on the horizon, a soft sunrise. Whoever painted the sky in the early mornings, Eddie praised them. “Its pretty, right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie stuttered, looking over at Richie, who was grinning widely.

“You should see the sunset after it rains. Its beautiful,” Richie held back, ‘kinda like you’.

#reddie #reddie fic #it #it chap one #it chap two #remembering Sunday + The book ninja au

22 notes · View notes

evalinkatrineberg · 4 years

Text

Family

A/N: In which @arin-schreave meets the Bergs. Only 10k words this time. Includes bad hand puns because Anna made a typo that I thought was intention. In conclusion, I am a dumbass.

It was almost too easy to be swept back into old family rhythms as we chatted at the reception. Half the time, it felt like I had never even left, like I had just been away for a night or two, sleeping over at a friend’s house, but at the same time, it felt like I was meeting my family for the first time, as if they had just adopted me, and were filling me in on the family secrets.

“You’ve missed a lot,” Lydia informed me, her face dead serious, but filled with energy as she looked at me. Behind her, our mother nodded, folding her hands in front of her as she looked around the room at the other families. There was an interesting mix of people in the room, I had to admit, though it seemed like most families were keeping to themselves, just as we were now.

“So, fill me in,” I instructed, rocking back and forth on my feet from my heels to my toes once as I looked at my sister again.

“Okay, well,” she began, pointing at our father, “we know it’s early, but Father packed some birthday presents for you, so don’t let us forget that!”

I narrowed my eyes at my father, who stood to my side, completely straight faced. “You didn’t have to do that!” I knew that more likely than not, I was still going to be here for my birthday, but there was always the chance I would be sent home before then. I was painfully aware of that, especially with Christina bringing back more and more rumors about the other girls’ relationships with Arin each time she came to my room. Somebody saw him kissing Lady Jen last night. Well, I heard that he and Lady Clemence were pretty cozy today. Do you see the way that Lady Leana looks at him? Somebody saw Lady Regina in his office earlier. I still can’t believe that Lady Idalia touched his face at the ball. Did you hear that he and Lady Melissa kissed? I haven’t seen him with Lady Octavia recently.

Every time she said something, I couldn’t help but look at my phone. I was beginning to wonder if asking for his number had been a bad idea. I was so used to being the one to leave others on read, that having his number, but him not starting any conversations felt like a complete turn of the table to me. Maybe we really were never going to be more than friends. I’d have to accept that and move on, if that was the case.

Yet, that kiss we had shared last week, before I had attempted to sleep again, hadn’t felt like something between friends. That had been something more, something careful, something intimate. I had never kissed someone like that, and then called them a friend, and nothing more. I didn’t think I had ever kissed anyone with that level of emotion tied to the kiss itself, either.

I was in so fricking deep over my head.

Lydia forged on, completely unaware of my internal turmoil. Waving a hand through the air, she fixed her brown eyes on me, cocking her head to the side. “What, like we’d leave you presentless on your birthday? No way!”

“Presents aren’t everything, Lydia,” I sighed, offering her a small smile despite myself. She meant well, and I knew it.

“No,” she agreed, “but we put a lot of thought into these, so at least take two seconds to open them, will you?”

“Speaking of your birthday,” Gabriel chimed in, looking over at me from where he stood a bit off to the side, next to Sam, “I’ll be here for it, if you want to do anything.”

“That was my next piece of news. Thanks for spoiling it!” Lydia rolled her eyes at Gabriel, crossing her arms as she turned her body to face him more. I raised an eyebrow at the both of them, waiting for their staring match to end, and their explanation to come. Family week would have ended long before my birthday, so there had to be a pretty good reason as to why he’d still be in Angeles three weeks later.

It was Lydia who broke first, turning back to me as she pointed a finger at Gabriel. “He got that job he applied for, at the chemical testing facility here, in Angeles.”

“I won’t be returning to Knoxville with everyone else, once family week is over,” he confirmed with a nod. “I just need to finish furnishing my apartment, and then I am good to go.”

“Gabriel!” How was this only the first I was hearing of this? I knew he had applied for the job - he had done it while we were all still home in May - but nobody had bothered to tell me that he had heard back, or was even looking in to moving out to Angeles. “Congratulations!”

My oldest brother simply nodded, keeping his same neutral expression, despite the great news he had just told me about. Having Gabriel close by would be very nice indeed, if our schedules ever lined up in a way that would allow us to see each other. He was like a piece of home away from home, steady and constant no matter the conditions, like a boulder breaking up the rapids of a river.

Still, there were logistics to consider, even if we were close by, that had me shaking my head. “My birthday is on a Wednesday, though. You’ll be busy with your new job, and I’ll have classwork.”

He rolled his eyes at me, flashing a frown in my direction. “You’re not doing homework on your birthday. I’m sorry, but I won’t allow it.”

“And who put you in charge?” I raised an eyebrow back at him.

“Anyway,” Lydia interjected, now pointing her finger at Randall. I dropped Gabriel’s stare, and turned instead towards my younger brother, who was looking around the room, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Randall has a solo in his competition a capella group’s lineup this year, and is competing for music scholarships!”

“Randall!” I whirled around to look at my younger brother, holding my hands up in my excitement. “That’s amazing news! Congratulations!”

“He’s not actually going to pursue a career in music,” my mother chimed in from where she stood behind Lydia. Her eyes narrowed at Randall.

Lydia frowned for a moment, but then turned back to me, smiling once more. “Now, onto the biggest news - me!”

I rolled my eyes, watching still as my mother came to stand behind Lydia, placing one hand on each of Lydia’s shoulders. As she did that, Lydia thrust her hand out towards me, the ring on her finger catching and reflecting the light from the room. “I’m engaged!”

“To whom?” She hadn’t even had a boyfriend when I had left Carolina! I reached forward, grabbing her hand in mine. I was by no means an expert on wedding rings, but I was pretty sure this was a big one. Whoever he was, he must have a good deal of money, and a lot of charm to boot, to woo my sister in such a short period of time.

“Devon Judge,” was her answer.

My eyes went wide. “Devon Judge? The one who plays for the Braves? That Devon Judge?” A professional baseball player - a Two. The size of her ring was beginning to make sense to me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned my head around to see my father standing behind me, nodding. Holy crap. This was happening. This wasn’t an episode of Pranked! or an elaborate joke of Lydia’s. My sister was engaged, to a professional baseball player, after having known him for a maximum of three months.

“Congratulations,” I finally managed to stutter out, still staring at her hand like a fool.

There was another tap on my arm before I could say anything more. I flinched a little at first, startled, and looked up. Arin. I couldn’t contain the smile that spread across my face as I looked at him, taking in his own smile. “Arin! How are you?”

Around me, the chatter of the rest of my family members ceased, and they turned to face Arin, various degrees of curiosity evident on each of their faces. My father and older brothers kept their expressions pretty neutral, the most reactive being Gabriel, who simply raised his eyebrows. My sister, on the other hand, was now looking at Arin like she was at the supermarket, and he was an apple she was inspecting for bruises. Randall only glanced at Arin for a second before something else caught his eye and his attention wandered. My mother just smiled, ever the polite, well-mannered woman of the house.

Arin glanced at each of them in turn, still smiling as he did. “I’m doing well. I came over to check on you, and say hi.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” I replied, still smiling as I gestured towards my family members, where they stood around me. “Let me introduce you to my family.”

Here goes nothing. I pointed to each of my family members in turn as I spoke, making sure Arin knew who was who before moving on to the next person. “This is my father, and my mother.”

My mother offered him a polite smile, while my father kept his face expressionless, simply nodding at Arin before I moved on. So far, so good. It was still early, though. There was plenty of time for someone to say something stupid, or for an argument to break out.

“This is my sister, Lydia. She’s the oldest.”

Lydia had withdrawn her hand, folding both of her hands together in front of her, and fixing Arin with a smile that looked a little too falsely saccharine for my own comfort. I had known going into this that Lydia was going to be the hardest for Arin to win over. The two of us had always told each other everything, and Lydia was also incredibly stubborn when it came to holding grudges. Already, she’d made multiple jokes about Arin’s behavior on our roller skating date, and she hadn’t even been at the palace for a full twenty-four hours. I doubted she would say anything outright, though. She was the queen of passive aggressive comments and backhanded compliments, her sweet words often so false in situations like these that they gave a new meaning to killing someone with kindness.

I moved on, not letting myself linger on my worries. Lydia would behave, especially with our parents around. I wondered if her new fiance could handle her as well as we had all learned to. He must have been able to, or else they wouldn’t have gotten engaged, right? I felt a pang of sadness as the realization of just how much I had missed at home while I was here washed over me like a wave, drowning out the rest of my senses for a brief moment.

I had been enjoying myself in Angeles, though. There would always come a point in life in which I would have to move on, and live without my family at my side every waking second. It was for the better that it had come sooner, rather than later.

I gestured towards my two older brothers, who stood a little farther away from my sister, my parents, and I, still facing each other, their heads turned towards Arin. “Then there’s Gabriel, and Sam.” Both just nodded once, their expressions almost a carbon copy of my father’s. Gabriel might be older than Sam by almost two years, but he still stood a full inch shorter than Sam and my father. Something about his build, the way he carried himself, still made it clear to me that he was the older brother, though. I knew it wasn’t something I had imagined, either. Many people often confused Gabriel for being the oldest out of all five of us, despite Lydia actually holding that title.

“And this is my younger brother, Randall.” I pointed over to the other side of my mother, where Randall stood, his head turned upwards as he analyzed something on the ceiling with apparent interest, seemingly having blocked out everything else that was happening around him. At seventeen, he was already a good four inches taller than me, and based on the broadness of his shoulders, which he hadn’t grown into yet, he still had a good few more inches to go. At the sound of his name, he looked over towards me, his eyes wide with confusion. Upon noticing Arin, he offered the prince a small wave, before turning back to whatever had captivated his attention before.

“Don’t worry if you don’t get all of our names right away.” By my side, Lydia inclined her head, smiling at Arin as if she was a lion sizing up her prey. “There’s a lot of us.”

I cut her a glance, but kept my mouth shut. Was this an insult - a jab at him, for having taken a while to remember my name, or where I was from, or anything about me, for that matter? If it was, she was being unnecessarily ridiculous. It had been months since I’d complained to her about that. Holding a grudge for that long couldn’t be healthy, and yet, I knew she’d hold on to all of his mistakes for as long as it took for him to own up to and apologize for them in front of her. Even then, she wouldn’t forget about them. Being the oldest hadn’t left her with the sense of responsibility and duty that many oldest siblings seemed to display, but it had made her extremely protective and defensive of the rest of us. It was a blessing, and a curse.

Arin didn’t waver under Lydia’s gaze. Instead, he kept his smile in place, extending his hand towards my mother. “Holly, right?” As the words left his mouth, he glanced at me for a split second, the question flickering in his eyes.

I offered him a small but encouraging nod, along with a smile. Where he had learned my parents’ names, I wasn’t sure, but at that moment, I couldn’t care less. He was going to make a good impression on them, at this rate. That was a good sign.

Lydia’s expression flickered towards one of surprise, her eyebrows darting up and down her forehead, but it didn’t last. As quickly as her expression had changed, it had returned back to normal, her sickly sweet smile finding its home on her face once more. A quick look at the rest of my family revealed that Gabriel was frowning, more at Lydia than anyone else.

My mother, bless her, commanded Arin’s full attention at the moment, the smile she was giving him genuinely pleased. “Yes,” she answered as she shook his hand, the motion light and delicate on her behalf. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I knew what her hands felt like without even having to touch them. Those were the hands that had held mine when I was young, cold yet soft to to the touch. Those were the fingertips, calloused from years of playing the violin, that had wiped away my tears when I was hurt. It almost seemed odd, now - the little details that stuck with me, despite being apart from her for so long.

I felt my father remove his hand from my shoulder, and I looked back up at him to see him wrap his arm around my mother’s shoulder, smiling down at her, his eyes alight with contentment, before he turned to look at Arin.

Arin inclined his head, turning his attention to my father and extending his hand to him. “Harald.”

I watched their interaction like a hawk, noting the way my father nodded once at Arin, and then shook his hand, his grip clearly firm. I couldn’t believe I was thinking it, but Arin almost looked kind of short, next to my father. Then again, who didn’t? I always felt like I was tall, in comparison to many of the people around me on a daily basis outside of my house, but I was still the shortest one in my family by a good two inches. Giants, they were.

I caught my mother as she attempted to subtly elbow my father in the side, as if that would prompt him to say something. My father must have taken the hint, because within seconds, he pulled his hand away, replying, “Pleasure. I got your phone call to my work phone, the other day.” His tone was almost curious, like he wasn’t entirely sure how Arin would respond to that fact.

“Ah, yes.” Arin cut me a glance, before turning his gaze back to my father. “Sorry that I missed you.”

I shook my head at Arin, frowning as I considered what my father had said. Had Lukas told him about the call, or had he been there the entire time? Why hadn’t he mentioned it to me, either? The morning after Arin had called him, I realized that I had three missed calls from my father, but he had never left a message, so I hadn’t really thought much of it, figuring that if it had been so important, he would have at least sent me a text, asking me to call him back. I set my gaze on my father then, raising an eyebrow. We were owed an explanation, just for his last comment to Arin, at the very least.

“All calls to the landline are recorded for quality assurance,” he explained, fixing me with a frown. “I thought you actually read your contract when you got your internship.”

Did anybody actually read those contracts? I blushed a bit, answering, “I guess I skimmed over that part.”

“You? Not being thorough about something?” Gabriel’s tone was amused as he took a few steps towards where my parents, Lydia, and I stood with Arin. He shook his head, grinning ever so slightly as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Unheard of.”

My father turned his attention back to Arin, paying no mind to what Gabriel had said. “Sorry about Mr. Bernhardsen.”

It was almost odd, hearing him refer to Lukas by his last name. I knew that my father hadn’t been overly fond of him since day one, simply claiming that he felt something was off about Lukas, but he had never been outwardly rude, or even cold, towards Lukas, whenever he had been over at our house with me and June. He had always called Lukas by his name, or simply by, “young man.”

Looking back at it now, it was almost comical how right my father’s initial impression of Lukas had been, without him even realizing it. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, after all.

“If you’d like to file a complaint for the way he spoke to you, I could make sure it gets processed quickly,” my father offered, keeping his face carefully expressionless, not revealing how he felt one way or the other. I knew him well, though, and could hear the faint note or urging in his tone. He wanted Arin to do this.

Had he really disliked Lukas that much? He had said that he never liked him, after he had watched me push him off our front porch the night before I left for Angeles, but I supposed I had never really considered to what extent he felt that way. Why did he feel that way? My father was generally good at reading people, so perhaps it was just a vibe he had picked up from Lukas, but he normally didn’t develop feelings this strong off of something so small.

Arin was silent for a moment, looking as lost in thought as I was. Knowing what I had told him, what I was still trying to process myself, I couldn’t blame him. I swallowed, watching as he turned his head to look over at me, and murmured my name, the sound soft, but still loud enough that my family members could hear.

Where was this going? A quick glance at my family members revealed that their thoughts probably held the same question as mine, or something very similar, as they looked between Arin and my father, question marks written in all of their expressions. Gabriel’s grip on my shoulder tightened, and when I looked up at him, I noticed his jaw was clenched, his eyes focused only on Arin. What had set him off? Was it the way Arin had murmured my name? This was a mess, already, and we’d all barely said more than a sentence apiece.

I bit my lip, hesitating for a couple of seconds before swallowing my apprehension. “Yes, Arin?”

He stiffened, but his voice was soft - almost distracted - when he spoke. “It’s nothing.”

It didn’t take a genius to realize that it clearly wasn’t nothing. He probably just didn’t want to say anything in front of my family. I didn’t know why that made me feel as relieved as it did.

I reached out, my fingertips lightly grazing his arm, my voice barely louder than a whisper, so that only he would hear. “Tell me later?”

He didn’t reply, so I forged ahead, a little louder this time. “I only heard half the conversation, so it’s your call.” Shaking my head, I looked from my father back to Arin, narrowing my eyes at both of them in turn. “Did he say anything bad?”

“He was pretty rude - not that that’s a surprise,” my father admitted, shaking his head a bit. “I don’t think many people would miss his presence in the lab.”

He did have a point there. Lukas has never exactly been popular amongst our fellow interns, but then again, neither had I, really. The professors and other staff had always seemed to like him well enough, though. How many times had they joked that he and I should get together, and become a couple? I swallowed as I thought back on it, coming to the realization that their seemingly innocent comments must have fed into his own desires. The lab’s Christmas party, the kiss under the mistletoe, stood out in my memory. Had he asked them to help orchestrate that? My father had been away for a conference in Waverly that week, meaning he wouldn’t have been able to put a stop to such nonsense. It was no secret in the lab that he was fairly protective of me, but I didn’t think anybody knew of his dislike for Lukas. They had probably seen it as an innocent, romantic gesture.

My mother’s voice snapped me back into the present moment, dragging me out of my thoughts before they could consume me whole. I had never been so grateful to see her glaring at my father. “This is no place for conversations about work politics, Harald.”

“I’d think this is the perfect place to talk about the political,” Randall argued, looking at the ceiling as he spoke, smirking.

Arin paid them no attention, instead glancing down at my hand, and then back to my father. “If it's alright with you, I'd like to think on it.”

“Of course,” my father replied, his eyes steely as they flashed towards me, and then towards the hand I had on Arin’s arm. I waited with baited breath for him to say something about it, but he only nodded. “You know where to reach me.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was my mother who made the first comment on my gesture. Her smile was polite, but there was something weary in her expression as she looked at my father. It vanished when she turned her attention to Arin, though, as if her curiosity about me placing my hand on his arm invigorated her. “It seems like you and Evalin have grown pretty close, over these months.” There was no malice in her tone, only genuine joy, as far as I could tell.

Arin had passed my mother’s test. That was the easiest one, though.

Lydia’s expression hadn’t changed throughout this entire conversation, and the smile that dripped with poisoned honey wasn’t going anywhere now. “Yes, it seems there’s been a big change of tune since your first date.”

“Lydia!” My mother frowned, and I couldn’t help but agree. Of course she would bring this up. Lydia would forgive, eventually, maybe, but she wouldn’t forget. Right now, she had yet to do either, on my behalf. I loved my sister dearly, with all my heart, and would be forever grateful to her for everything she had done for me, but it was times like this that I just wished she’d choose her own battles.

She looked over at our mother, her eyes wide, the picture of innocence. “What?”

I really hoped Devon Judge knew what he had gotten himself into.

A quick look upwards revealed that Gabriel was now frowning at Arin, as if he, too, was holding a grudge over this date that had happened months ago.

Was I going to make it through family week without losing my mind? I was skeptical. I shot Arin an apologetic smile, unsure of what to even say to smooth things over. Sorry for telling my sister about our horrible date, I was really upset at the time! I had a feeling that wouldn’t do anything.

His back stiffened again, but he still smiled at all of us. “Many things have changed over the last few months.”

“That’s good to hear,” Lydia replied, her voice lacking any ounce of genuineness.

“I’m sure it’s been a wild ride for you, as well,” my mother offered, looking at Arin with a polite smile.

Randall frowned, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. “It’s been quiet without Evalin - the opposite of a wild ride.” I could only imagine that it had been quiet, for him. The two of us were the last kids at home, and much of our time had been spent with each other, while our parents worked. There had been quite a few nights that we had stayed awake together, talking about everything from our worries about the future, to topics as simple as which childhood cartoon had been more entertaining. To have the house entirely to himself, now, when our parents were at work couldn’t be as fun as it sounded, I was sure.

“I hope there’s been some moments you’ve actually enjoyed,” Gabriel stated, his grip on my shoulder loosening a bit, though he kept his hand where it was.

Arin cut me a glance. “I can only speak to my experience.”

“I think it’s definitely been full of good experiences,” I offered with a reassuring smile, unsure as to whether in doing so I was saving him from my family’s questions, or setting him up for more. It was hard to tell, with my family. With there being so many of us, with very different personalities, it was easy for us to pull the conversation in separate directions, rather than working as a unit to move it down one path.

My mother beamed as she looked over at me. “Well, I’m glad to hear it, but -” She turned to Arin, her smile a little more subdued now. I had seen her use that look before, when a student was arguing with her over whether or not they deserved points off on a test, and she didn’t want to upset them by just outright saying that they did. “We are quite interested in hearing what you have to say. We would like to get to know you better.”

“Yes!” Lydia echoed, nodding enthusiastically. “Of course we’ve heard the stories, but seldom do stories do reality justice.”

My mother frowned at Lydia, and I was inclined to do the same. Before either of us could say anything, though, my father swept in, turning to Arin. “Evalin’s told us almost exclusively good things. The only negative word I heard from her was after your first date, but well -” he cast a nostalgic look at my mother, and I knew immediately what story he was about to launch into “- I wouldn’t worry about that. Holly called me a Three with a savior complex when I first asked her out, and we’ve been married for thirty-two years now.”

He really had brought up marriage, after meeting Arin for the first time. Was this some kind of test that my father was giving him, to see what his true intentions were? The possibility didn’t seem unlikely, to me. I had never thought I’d be envious of a chameleon, but I wouldn’t have minded having the ability to fade away into the background of this room, camouflaging myself from both my own family and from Arin until I could escape this conversation, right about then. Lydia might be ready to talk marriage after three months, but Arin and I? We weren’t even close to that point.

Once again, Arin stiffened, glancing over at me. “I guess only time will tell.” It was a non-answer, sure, but it was one of his better ones, if I was being honest. It wasn't entirely untrue, either. Only time would tell if he was going to send me home, or if I was here for the long haul.

I felt my brother’s grip on my shoulder tighten once more, and looked up to seem him grimace, before he met my gaze. After a second, he looked over at Arin, pausing again before offering, “You survived a conversation with Lukas without yelling, it sounds like. Kudos.” With that, he nodded, as if that fact alone was enough for him to accept Arin into our family.

I had suspected that Gabriel wasn’t too fond of Lukas, but we had moved past that part of the conversation. I narrowed my eyes, furrowing my brows as I kept my gaze on him. I had expected more resistance, more push-back, from him, if I was being honest, especially given the comments he had made to me before I had left for Angeles. He had been the one to warn me not to be, “the royal rebound,” after all. Why the sudden change of heart?

“So.” Lydia’s voice dragged my attention to her. She was frowning, looking at Gabriel out of the corner of her eyes as well, a hint of betrayal tinging her expression. She must have expected the same level of antipathy towards Arin from Gabriel that I had, then.

Despite that, she turned back to Arin, her smile genuinely curious now. “What else have you and Evalin talked about, or done? Someone -” she narrowed her eyes at me, pouring every ounce of accusation she could muster up into that one word “- has been a bit too busy to call often, lately.”

I narrowed my eyes right back at her, a snappy comment already on the tip of my tongue, but the look on my mother’s face stopped me. I knew that expression. It wasn’t quite a death glare, but it was as close as you could get to one while still maintaining a pleasant, polite air. It was better for me not to start an argument with Lydia here, anyway. We were a family, a unit. We put each other before all else, even if we did tease each other incessantly, and bicker amongst ourselves often.

“Books, mostly,” I answered, doing my best to soften my expression, despite the frustration I felt coursing through me. “He also took me to the ballet -” I shot Arin a teasing smile “- and lived to tell the tale.”

He looked between my sister and I. “We did go to the ballet, and I survived - which I actually have some experience with.” He paused again, and then added, “But I’d say Evalin had been fairly busy with school.”

With a roll of her eyes, Lydia turned her attention to me, placing her hands on her hips. “Of course you would come all the way here, and choose to focus on school. Would it kill you to take a break?”

I elected to ignore her comment, opting simply to elbow her in the side instead. Turning to Arin, I raised an eyebrow. “You have experience with the ballet? You never mentioned that.” He had seemed rather familiar with the layout of the theater, now that I thought about it, though. I supposed that would come from experience, rather than anything else.

“Ah, so you appreciate the arts!” My mother beamed at him, and I knew that she meant to take this as a golden opportunity to brag about all five of her children. “I made sure all of my children were involved in at least one music program when they were in high school!”

Arin turned to me first. “It never came up,” he said, his voice soft.

Never came up? We were literally at the ballet!

I kept my mouth shut, though, as he smiled at my mother and said, “I appreciate them, but not as much as I could. My sisters are more into the arts than I am.” He motioned to some of the paintings around the room, which my mother looked at as if she was seeing them for the first time.

“What are you into, then?” Randall furrowed his brows, looking first at the ground, and then at Arin.

I couldn’t keep from snickering at his comment - something I’d often wondered myself, when I had first been getting to know Arin - though upon seeing the glare my mother shot Randall’s way, I covered my mouth with my hand. Behind us, Sam sighed, and then walked over to Randall, ruffling his hair a bit when he reached him.

“I’m interested in reading, when I have time,” Arin answered, looking at Randall. He paused for a brief moment, and then added, “and running.”

“Oh,” Randall responded, looking over at me. “You’ve found a new running partner, then.”

I frowned. I hadn’t even known that Arin liked to run, and I definitely had never seen him out running in the mornings, when I usually ran. It was pretty empty in general around that time, which was kind of nice. We could all use a little reprieve from the hustle and bustle of palace life, sometimes.

“Randall, I doubt anyone is awake when she runs,” Lydia argued, as if she could read my thoughts just by looking at me. “Miss I’ll-Wake-Up-Before-The-Sun.”

“Yeah, I tend to run alone, these days. We have talked about reading, though,” I admitted, turning to look at my father. “I gave him the journals I published under Proctor.”

That seemed to pique my father’s interest. He hummed thoughtfully, turning his gaze to Arin once more, and raising an eyebrow. “Any thoughts on that?”

I had never seen Arin look so in need of a rescue. Either he had never read them, or he had tried to, but couldn’t understand what they were about. I really couldn’t blame him either way.

“Would you mind walking with me for a moment?” I asked, looking at him. I saw my father raise an eyebrow at me from where he stood, but he kept silent.

Arin shot me a confused look, but nodded nonetheless, motioning off to the side of the room. “Sure.”

I turned to smile at him as we walked, before casting a look over my shoulder at my family. They had formed a huddle of sorts, chatting with each other in a small circle, with little gesturing or animation. It was like watching a jury deliberate. They had to be talking about Arin, I was sure of that, but part of me would have killed to know what they were saying. At the same time, I was kind of glad I wasn’t close enough to hear, as if any negative opinions of theirs would taint the rest of my time here.

“Sorry,” I began, turning my attention back to Arin after watching Lydia and Gabriel leave my family’s huddle, walking off to the other side of the room. I pushed my curiosity about their actions out of my mind, wanting to focus solely on Arin. “I just needed to get away from them for a moment. They can’t be a lot.”

Arin simply shrugged. “I’ve experienced worse. They’re not that bad.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, I felt someone link their arm through mine.

“Good,” Lydia declared, looking over at Arin from where she now stood beside me. She must have snuck up behind us by taking the long way around the perimeter of the room, allowing her to avoid our direct attention. It had been a foolish mistake on my part for me to stop watching her. “Because as the oldest, and as Evalin’s only sister, I’m not done with you yet.”

“Lydia,” I sighed. I didn’t need a protector. I could handle Arin just fine on my own. I had been these past three months, with my family on the other side of the country. This display of hers was dramatic, unnecessary, and wholly in character, and I was beginning to get really fed up with it.

“Hush up, it's my job!” She elbowed me in the side, and then turned to her victim. I relented, giving her the silent permission to make her own bed, hoping that she was prepared to lay in it, too. “Now, Arin, I’m not going to give you the whole, ‘if you hurt her, I’ll kill you,’ spiel, but -”

“Lydia, leave them alone.” Footsteps and a loud male voice sounded behind us, and I knew it could only be one person. I looked over my shoulder only to see Gabriel, his face a mix of apologetic and disappointed as he took in the scene before him.

Arin raised his eyebrows at my sister. “Then what are you going to give me?”

This time, I wasn’t going to give her the chance to respond. She’d done enough damage, as it was. “She’s going to give you nothing because she’s coming with me,” I grumbled, shaking my head and shooting one last look Arin’s way. “Sorry.”

Lydia rolled her eyes at me as I led her back towards where the rest of our family - minus Gabriel, now - stood. “He’s not good enough for you. You know that, right?”

“I could bring home a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and you would still say that he wasn’t good enough for me,” I argued with a sigh. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate Lydia’s concern, but I was getting fed up with the way she was treating me as if I was a little kid who didn’t know what was good for her, or what she wanted.

“I’m just saying,” she began, coming to a stop in besides my mother. “You need someone who will help you lighten up, who will bring out that goofy side of you that we get to see when you’re with us. Arin -” she poked me in the side, looking over her shoulder at Arin, who was now deep in conversation with Gabriel “- is so uptight, and tense. Yes, you’re like two peas in a pod, but neither of you is going to help the other relax.”

I frowned, my eyebrows knitting together as I considered what she said. There had been moments with Arin, though, where we had joked around - like in the car, after the ballet. There was a more relaxed side to him, it just took some time for it to come out. How was she supposed to know that, though, without simply taking my word for it?

“Two things,” I decided, looking up from the ground to meet her gaze, “the first being that maybe, he was so uptight because you were about to threaten him.”

My mother’s eyes went wide, her hand coming to rest atop her chest. “Lydia Reidun!”

“The second thing, and you’re going to have to take my word for this, is that there is a more relaxed side to him. Even then, though, I wouldn’t be able to live the rest of my days with someone who was all play, and no work.” I shook my head. “I need someone who understands what it's like to devote yourself to your work, and above all else, I need someone who is going to make me happy.”

“Does he?” Sam asked, his face expressionless. “Make you happy, I mean.”

I nodded, looking over at where he and Gabriel stood once more. A part of my was tempted to walk over there and drag Gabriel away, but something held me back from doing that. He and Arin were around the same age - only a month apart, actually. Maybe they would become friends.

I turned back to Sam, nodding. “Yes.”

“Then he’s good in my book,” Randall decided with a shrug.

The rest of my family exchanged glances, shrugging intermittently as they did, as if they were all reaching the same conclusion telepathically. Only Lydia refused to join in, still glaring in Arin’s direction. “There’s more to him than he’s letting on, in more ways than one.” She shook her head, looking down at me. “Mark my words.”

Gabriel watched his sisters go, tempted to follow after them. He didn’t know the man before him - the prince - and he wasn’t fond of the power the monarchy held as a whole, which only made him more uncomfortable as he forced himself to stay put. There was a long list of things he should have done differently these past few months. There was an even longer list of things he would have liked to change about the past year. Having this conversation, as rough as he predicted it would be, was only the beginning to making things better for the future.

“Sorry about that,” he sighed, not looking at the prince as he spoke. “Lydia is just a little protective. We all are.”

He cleared his throat, stalling for time as he figured out how to best phrase his next words. It felt like he was talking to someone much younger than him, even though he himself was only about a month older than the prince. It likely had something to do with the fact that it was his younger sister that the prince was dating, for lack of a better word. Even then, though, Evalin was only two years and nine months younger than he was. It wasn’t as if she was a child.

Mistake Number One: not trying harder to persuade Evalin not to apply for the Selection.

“Evalin seems to trust you a lot, and she’s a good judge of character, so I don’t want to think you’d do anything, but…” he trailed off, grimacing at his own inability to effectively voice his thoughts without potentially offending the prince. He was his father’s son, through and through, his grandparents often reminded him. He didn’t know how to mince his words, and his temper had run hot for all his life so far. His father must have learned to hide it better than Gabriel had, though, because Gabriel was of the conclusion that his father’s temper ran as cold as ice. That didn’t mean that either of them was better than the other. They both still had tempers.

Mistake Number Two: letting Evalin go to that fraternity’s Halloween party last fall.

“You’ve spoken to Lukas. He’s…” Gabriel trailed off again, not for lack of trying. He had a feeling he was going to have to add this conversation to his list of mistakes sooner rather than later. “He did something bad, with Ev, last fall, and I don’t even think she remembers it, but Lydia, our father, and I were the ones who saw her after, and just seeing her like that…”

Their entire family had been home that weekend, for one of Randall’s concerts. His group had been competing for the regional title that weekend. Gabriel couldn’t even remember whether they had won or lost. All he remembered from that weekend was Evalin, sobbing, almost incoherent as he had put his arm under her shoulders, practically carrying her up the stairs. He knew objectively she wasn’t tiny, but in that moment, she had felt like the smallest child in his arms.

Mistake Number Three: Not being there for any of his siblings when they needed him.

He shook his head. “I think it broke all of us, a little bit. I guess what I’m trying to say is, we never want to see her like that again.” Another shake of his head, and then he took a step back.

Lydia had been the only one really capable of calming Evalin down long enough for her to fall asleep that night. Then Lydia had come downstairs, and unraveled in front of him and their father. Gabriel hadn’t been able to sew the pieces back together. Lydia had done that herself.

The prince was silent, his gaze locked in on Evalin, where she stood with the rest of Gabriel’s family, shaking her head at something one of them had just said.

“Evalin remembers,” the prince said, finally. “She told me what happened.”

Mistake Number Four: Never talking about that night, again. Until now.

He blew out a breath, running his hand through his hair. He watched his younger sister throw her head back in laughter, the look so full of freedom, of light, as if she didn't have a care in the world. She jumped up, reaching for something that Sam was now holding over his head. What it was, Gabriel couldn’t tell. He was too focused on the fact that Evalin, Lydia, all of them - they all looked as if they had never known any darkness or suffering.

She remembers.

“Shit,” he sighed out, not knowing what else to say. “Okay. We…The next day, she told her friend June - who had driven her home, that night - that she didn’t remember anything from that night, so we assumed…” He trailed off, shaking his head. That was where they had gone wrong. They had made assumptions, instead of gathering all of the possible evidence and data, and then drawing a conclusion.

Mistake Number Five: doubting his younger sister’s sense of judgement, despite knowing how good it generally was.

“Thanks for letting me know. The fact that she opened up to you like that…” Evalin told him, but not us. Why? “She trusts you a lot. More than I thought she did.”

It hurt him to admit. That his own sister wouldn’t come to him with her troubles, and instead had confided in someone she had only recently met, stung, but he could understand why that was. He wasn’t a warm person. He didn’t offer solutions. He was terrible at giving advice, and was quicker to anger than he was to hug.

He was beginning to see the prince - Arin - in a new light.

Arin swallowed, his gaze still locked on Evalin. It was clear to Gabriel that Arin cared about his sister quite a bit, though whether or not he thought of her as a friend or something more, Gabriel was unsure. He didn’t really care to ask, either. That wasn’t his business.

“I didn’t realize,” was all Arin said by way of reply.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, looking at Arin as he spoke for the first time since they had started this conversation. “Did you think she would tell you something like that if she didn’t trust you?”

“I -” Arin paused. “I just didn’t know that she hadn’t told anyone else.”

Oh.

“So I guess I realize a bit more, now.”

Mistake Number Six: hiding his knowledge of that night from his sister.

Gabriel hesitated for a moment, almost not wanting to admit what he knew had to come next. “I’m not sure she knows that any of us know. She was in pretty bad shape, and it’s not exactly something you can bring up in conversation easily.” How did you even bring up a repressed memory to your little sister - the one who you were supposed to protect? Did you mention it around the dinner table? Did you sit her down after she had excitedly told you about her new project, or the A she had just gotten on one of her assignments? Did you wait until it was late at night and you were both still awake, reminiscing about childhood memories?

He exhaled through his nose, pressing his lips in a line and shifting his gaze back to the rest of his family. None of them had been able to answer that question. He, Lydia, and their father had lived with Evalin’s secret, and none of the others had been any the wiser. “I don’t know how our father manages to see him at work every day without doing anything.”

Mistake Number Seven: lying - often.

He knew how his father managed. His temper ran cold, icy, always latent. It made him a patient man.

Arin frowned, his gaze shifting to Gabriel’s father now. “He knows?”

Hadn’t they already been over this? Arin’s memory must not be stellar.

“Yes,” Gabriel answered, matching Arin’s frown with one of his own. “I did say that it was me, him, and Lydia who saw Evalin after, didn’t I?”

He shook his head, looking back at his family, at his father, who stood there, ever calm, ever quiet. Gabriel wasn't the only one guilty of lying, whether it was outright, or by omission.

“I think he almost can’t bear to tell her - like he can’t handle the thought of her being upset.” Evalin had been their father’s baby since the day she had been born. Their father loved all of his children, yes, but there had always been a little extra spark in his eyes when he looked at Evalin. It was the same spark their mother reserved for Lydia, and their grandfather for Sam. Gabriel and Lydia had always assumed that Evalin would remain the youngest, for that reason. Randall had been a surprise, though definitely not an unwelcome one. “It’s hard to be certain, though. He’s a very private man.”

Mistake Number Eight: not dealing with Lukas himself.

Arin pursed his lips. “And why is Lukas still around?”

It was a valid question, though it still left Gabriel frowning. “Let’s say, hypothetically, we filed a report. The victim tells her story when she’s highly intoxicated, and then doesn’t remember anything about it the next morning, and still actively wants to be friends with the alleged perpetrator. She’s not going to make a statement against him. I’m no lawyer, but a case like that doesn’t exactly sound like it’s going to hold up.”

There were other options, though, and he knew it. Gabriel sighed. “Alternatively, let’s say my father and I pursued a less legal route, and dealt with Lukas ourself. Where does that leave us? Jobless? Imprisoned? Plus, Evalin still liked Lukas as a friend, so she would be upset.”

A lot of it did come down to Evalin still keeping in contact with Lukas, as if nothing had happened. Despite being a sweet girl, she had never had many friends. She had always been a little peculiar. That was likely why. Still, that fact alone had left him hesitant to rip away the veil of friendship, to pull the rug right out from underneath her.

“In another scenario, let’s say we tried to tell her what she told us. Ev is stupidly stubborn, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, and her mind was clearly repressing the memory for a reason. Either telling her breaks her, or she doesn’t believe us.”

Mistake Number Nine: not doing anything.

Gabriel pursed his lips, looking at Arin once more. “Believe me, I may be the world’s shittiest older brother, but I’ve given this issue a lot of thought.”

“But she already knows,” Arin argued, his frown deepening with each word that left his mouth, “and how can you know what she wants if you never talk to her about it?”

Mistake Number Ten: knowing he was in the wrong, but not allowing anybody but himself to tell him that.

He raised his eyebrows at the prince. “This is the first time I’m hearing that she actually remembers anything from that night. None of us knew that she remembered. You asked why Lukas was still around. That’s why. I think the fact that she continued their friendship after that night is proof enough that she didn’t remember until recently.”

The prince just nodded. “Okay.”

It wasn’t. Gabriel didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that Arin knew that, too, but he was tired of arguing. He had done his job, and said his bit. He could make peace with that, whether or not Arin agreed with him. He had never been there for the prince. He was only there for the girl now walking their way, a small grin on her face. He was only there for his sister.

I was beginning to think that I had left Arin and Gabriel alone for just a little too long, judging by the frowns on both of their faces. It was almost comical watching them talk, though, even if I hated to admit it. The moment one made a facial expression, the other mirrored it, going back and forth for as long as I dared to keep sneaking glances at them.

“Hold on,” I whispered to my father, inclining my head towards the pair chatting by the wall, “let me go retrieve Gabriel.”

It didn’t take me long to make my way to them, grinning as I looked at their identical frowns. They were more similar than I had ever dared to consider, I realized, now that I actually allowed myself to ponder the thought.

I raised an eyebrow at Gabriel as I got closer. “Everything okay over here? It looked like you were having a pretty intense conversation.”

It took everything in me not to laugh at the tight smile Arin gave me as he nodded. “Your brother and I were just swapping opinions.”

Oh, how I would have killed to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

I narrowed my eyes at the pair, looking from Arin to Gabriel, taking note of the details as I did. Arin’s answer was a bit vague, as per usual, his smile one of the most uncomfortable I’d seen from him in a while. Gabriel had on his pensive face, from what I could tell, his lips pressed in a thin line, and his eyes somewhere far away.

“Well,” I began, looking at Arin as I motioned to my brother by inclining my head in his direction. “Lord only knows he’s got a lot of them.”

There was no shift in my brother’s expression as he nodded. “Guilty as charged.” He began walking past me then, patting me on the shoulder along the way. With one last glance back at Arin, he nodded, and concluded, “Nice talking to you.”

I waited until I was sure that he had rejoined my family before turning to Arin, channeling all my self control into keeping myself from laughing at his facial expression.

“Are you enjoying your family being here?”

I nodded, placing my hand on his arm. “Yes, but that look on your face says you might not feel the same.” I shook my head, casting a quick look in my family’s direction, before flashing Arin an amused smile again.

When I looked back, his gaze was focused only on my hand. “I’m fine.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, grinning a little. “This looking-at-my-hand-whenever-I-touch-you thing is becoming a trend - and just when you’d stopped staring at me.” I shook my head, my curiosity getting the better of me. One of these days, I was going to have to formulate a list of all of the things about him that still mystified me, and go through it one by one.

On second thought, maybe that’s a bit too much.

He raised his eyebrows at me. “I hadn't noticed.”

I raised an eyebrow right back at him, the perfect pun popping into my head at that moment. “I guess you could say you’re a little out of touch.”

My joke landed on deaf ears, I realized, as his look turned to one of confusion. “Am I?”

Sometimes when talking to him, I couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible for someone to be so clueless. Laughing a little, I explained, “You seem not to notice a lot of things.”

In the silence that followed, it hit me, that my words might have been a little harsh. He had had the same reaction to my touch the night before, after I had told him about Lukas. Was he uncomfortable with having physical contact with me, now? No, that was absurd. We had kissed later that very same night, for crying out loud!

Still, it was only right that I ask. I hesitated for another second, then decided to go for it, keeping my voice as quiet as I could. “Does me touching your arm or hand make you uncomfortable? Is that it? You were so kind and understanding the other night, and I don’t want to mess this up either.”

“It's fine,” he reassured me, giving me a smile. “I promise.”

I promise. I didn’t take the weight of those words lightly.

I offered him a smile in return. “It was refreshing to talk as openly as we did then. Though, I -” I pressed my lips together “- I have questions, but now’s probably not the time or place.” A pause, and another smile, and then, “But thank you, for being a little more open with me, that night, and for handling my family.” I inclined my head towards them, laughing lightly for a second.

“No problem. It's what I do.” He followed my gaze towards my family, nodding once before adding, “and we can talk later.”

“I'd like that,” I admitted, smiling and nodding once, before inclining my head towards my family again, laughing a bit. “I should probably get back to them. You know, despite Lydia's thinly veiled threats, this is the most open I've ever seen them be towards anyone any of us have introduced them to.” There weren’t many precedents, but that didn’t make the statement any less true, or the sentiment any less real.

The news seemed to cheer him up a bit, as a small smile, genuine this time, flickered across his face. “Well, that's a good sign. I'm glad I made at least somewhat of a good impression.”

“You made a very good impression, I think. Not an easy feat, with that lot.” I chuckled. My family was big, and opinionated, and filled with strong personalities, but they were good people, truly. I could only hope Arin saw that too.

He chuckled a bit, as well. “You should see my family at Christmas.”

“That’s always the biggest holiday in our house,” came my immediate reply, accompanied with a smile as I thought about Christmases past. “It’s basically a month long affair - my grandparents always come over, and make enough Swendish Christmas cookies to feed an army, and Gabriel’s birthday is the day after Christmas, so that always becomes a celebration. My mother’s parents always used to come too, before…” I trailed off, wanting to stop at the happy memories. There was no need to dwell on the negative today. It was a good day. We were surrounded by good people.

“Some people are starting to stare I think,” he murmured, chuckling as he glanced around the room.

“Oh,” I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, even as I took a few steps back, folding my hands in front of me. “Sorry, I hadn’t noticed. I’d love to hear what your Christmases were like, at some point, though.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured me, nodding towards my family. “You should go be with them.”

I hated the way he phrased that. He wasn’t going anywhere, of course not. This was his home. Me, on the other hand - well, he could force me out anytime he wanted to, maybe even after this week.

I didn’t let myself linger too long on the thought, nodding instead, and beginning to walk towards my family. “I’ll see you around, then.”

I hope.

#selectionoc

5 notes · View notes

a-writing-bear · 5 years

Text

[PruCan] Chapter 10: Soft-Spoken Calling, They Want Their Shyness Back

Ao3 Link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11159997/chapters/48518471

This Has been cross-posted onto FF & Ao3 under Aliases: BearBooper

You can read this Fic on Tumblr under ‘Keep Reading’ - Ao3 version is formatted, tumblr version is not. Ao3 is recommended.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Fandom: Hetalia Axis Powers

Main Pairing: Gilbert Beilschmidt & Matthew Williams (Prussia & Canada)

AU: College AU - Art Student Matthew and Media/Film Student Gilbert

Age Rating/Mature: Teen And Up Audiences (12+ due to mentions of mature themes as well as swearing)

Trigger Warnings: Recreational Drugs & minor connotations of anxiety (Future addiction to mention themes such as addiction, rape etc.) WITHIN THIS CHAPTER - Mentions of Anxiety, Therapy, Counseling, and anti-depressants. (please note I am NOT anti-meds.) Family Issues are implied, Distance and abandonment suggested.

“Well. Let’s chat then schatje.”

Matthew shivered, not from the cold but the recall of his appointment. Tim had always been there for him, and was sort of desensitized, if not amused by Matthew’s squabbling and frustrated ramblings.

“Is it green or-”

“Nah left the baggie at home.”

His cigarette hung limp in between his fingers, twirling as he watched the hooded man wave his arms- half exhausted and only vibrant due to his stress. The Dutchman had taken out a box of marls, mainly cus he knew any kush would be noticed immediately- the last thing the two of them needed was the waiter ratting them out and the police on both their asses- and offered the sickly stick to his friend. Matthew grimaced, yet his hands grasped for the box searching for one as if he was desperate. He barely smoked. He justified himself that it was a social occasion that called for one and he could just down a coffee and hope his brother wouldn’t smell the tobacco on his worn-out hoodie. A flick of light from Tim’s Zippo was quick to latch onto the piece and the two silently dragged.

“I just don’t understand what she wants from me. She’s a great therapist but…. I’ve done the work... I’ve done the talking. I don’t- she wants me to call my dad.” the words fell out bitterly and ended so sour and abrupt, even Tim himself knew that the mere mention of Matthew’s father must have meant something was drastically serious. Oliver was not exactly an understanding of man.

“She wants YOU...to talk to your dad?!” Matthew’s throat aches with a slight comfort, his gut relaxed knowing at least it was as incredulous as he thought it was. The Canadian had a shaky relationship with his father (who wouldn’t when your father was an inconsolable dickhead?) and had always been a troublesome mess.

“Alfred said he hasn’t even called him. He’s still pissed. And I don't think my mum needs to know that life is still as shit as ever over here.” They both tutted, Matthew had ditched his smoke, stomping it out prematurely as he went to lean his back on the dusty wall of the diner, huddling next to his childhood friend. Tim had been fidgeting trying to find a comfortable leaning position on the wall and the two slowed down, next to each other in contemplative silence. “Alfred talked with Doc and I’m just kinda not feeling all of it ya know?” his voice drowned in exhaustion.

“...need a hug?” Tim’s voice came out lowly and quiet as if a secret offer, he never really was an affectionate person physically, and hugs from him were reserved for his sibling, his mother and Matthew. Always Matthew.

“Is the cold-professional businessman Tim Lars Van-de-Berg offering me a hug? I’m honoured~” Matthew joked as he stared off into the distance, not noticing the slight tinge of red that graced his friend’s cheeks. Tim scoffed and pushed his shoulder almost flinging him off the support of the brick wall, but caught him with a strong and solid grasp, wrapping an arm around the shorter boy’s shoulder and pulling him in some clumsy semblance of a side hug. Matthew was pressed amongst the warmth of his large jacket and hummed thanking his friend for the attempt at comfort. Matthew blushed once he remembered the question and insinuations his doctor had provided earlier pertaining to Tim.

“Hah. Paisley asked if I had a crush on you. Probably the only laughable thing I heard from her all month.” Matthew was too wrapped up in his amusement to notice the stiffness and the heavier hand that held him, nor did he sense the intake of bated breath of the Dutchman who just ruffled Matt’s hair then moved away. Tim was a lone figure, Always has been and the very idea that he had a remote interest in people like Matt was already so impossible to Mattie’s fragile self-esteem.

“Why do I feel like your brother is unlawfully attempting to woo Laura as of right now?” The conversation was being diverted.

“Doubt it. Al’s preoccupied with his long-distance crush- besides Luca would have prevented any comments.” The two snorted before resigning to go back in and face their siblings; one was hesitant due to his unresolved anxiety while the other was hesitant due to the warmth he had by his side.

“You’re going to Lukas and Matthias’ thing tonight right? Could you drive me? I got another prescription and I’m not sure I want to drive home high or drugged...defo not both.” Tim was not surprised- but he was indeed concerned.

“Are you sure you want to come tonight? I can always tell Mathias you aren’t up-”

“I’m fine. I want to go- It’s not often Lukas and Matthias host, I’ve been meeting to pass Lukas something anyway. I...I need the cooldown ya know?” his voice had pitched higher with defensiveness practically dripping off the vowels. Tim just nodded, ditched and smothered his bud and motioned for the two to go back in- lest they keep his sister waiting. There was gonna be a party tonight- the party being a very broad way of describing it.

The Canadian liked to keep to himself, he may be often alone but it was very rare he was truly feeling lonely; however, there was a group of people he’d mingle with on the weekends. To call them small would be an understatement. There were tons of people who would flock to these quieter house parties but the characters were the types to rather smoke and drink quietly rather than knock the walls down with blaring tunes. He’d know the Norwegian and Danish pair since orientation week and while Matthias bright-eyed smile reminded too much of his brother’s puppy eyes, and Lukas was just as cold towards conversations as an icicle he had enjoyed the company when they were together; they’re bickering felt endearing.

“Laura and Luca are probably hungry, Let's not keep em waiting, schatje.” the dutchman watched as the boy faltered, threw down the finished cig and fiddled with his hoodie. The two of them huffed and Tim had grasped onto Matthew’s palms to pull him in slight haste to get into the diner. Just as they were illuminated by the neon sidelights Matthew had found himself bumping into the back of Tim as the Older boy suddenly came to a harsh stop-

“Gilbert. What are you doing here?” Matthew perked up at the mention of his new crush friend. What was gilbert doing here? Oh...the Diner- he must have meant this dinner earlier. Wow. How convenient. Gilbert’s pale face had frozen as if he was a deer caught in the headlights- wide-eyed and surprised even though he had chosen to sneak behind here.

“Oh, I was...I thought I saw you so I just- heh... Nothing.” Gilbert stood awkwardly, the tall dutchman had been looking down at him and he directed his gaze solely on Matthew. The German knew vague amounts of Tim- he’d seen him around campus at the student bazaars- the man was always somewhere bargaining like some stone-cold dealer. “Right well- would..is it rude if I join you guys as I’m kinda alone tonight?” eyebrows raised from the two as they looked at each other in consideration. Simultaneously they answered: Mattie with a quick yelp of yes, whereas Tim had mumbled something along the lines of “my siblings…?

Fuck Tim, he hated himself cus the moment he saw the endearing smile that graced Matthew’s lips as he started trudging back to the front of the diner, he broke and motioned for Gilbert to join their already crowded dinner plan.

The door had jingled and the 3 men stumbled in, Matthew first as he navigated his way through the considerably empty diner back to the bench where Alfred and the Van-de-bergs were parked. The Van de Berg family was a curious bunch; their parents were living in Amsterdam on a big ranch while the 2 younger siblings had moved out to stay with their extremely capable brother as he went to Uni. Laura, ever the beautiful young lady, had just finished her high schooling but was taking a gap year to take care of her younger brother- Matthew always noted how cheerful she seemed, despite her teasing brothers. The youngest of the 3, Luca, had been dressed in a smart-casual getup, a blue and white striped shirt and a tie that had one of the local private school emblems bedazzled on it; They were certain Luca was just as smart and resourceful as his older brother yet what he lacked in Tim’s brawns, he just evoked a certain sense of charisma and had enough extravagance to scholarship his way into a private academic high school on a full ride-it was the reason the siblings came to live with their older brother.

Laura was the first to give Gilbert a dazzling smile- one that seemed to show some familiarity-

“You two always seem to come back with someone new!” Her voice sounded more amused than bothered by the new company. “We might need a bigger table at this rate!” unlike her warmth, Alfred seemed more off-put at the fact his brotherly bonding had become more of an extended gathering- and Gilbert’s newfound presence was less than wanted.

“Since when do you come here, Gil? And what are you doing with my baby brother huh?”

Matthew merely snorted as he pushed his brother to scoot over, “Alfred you’re the younger one. By 10 seconds.”

“Excuse you! It was 7 seconds-” Tim had coughed awkwardly, now pushed against the side of his brother, Luca cramped between his older siblings but still distracted by something on his phone.

“I was just passing by and caught these two on the way in, awesome right?” Gilbert seemed unperturbed by Alfred’s subtle aggressiveness- he had known the American through some other dodgy gatherings in the past and it was strange to know that quiet Matthew is associated to the blond- let alone related to him. The 3 latecomers ordered quickly, while the others had already received their meals; A bright pink milkshake had already been pushed into Alfred’s vicinity and a large number of fries scattered the tray across the group’s table,

“Mattie bro what do you-”

“Vanilla.” Tim had thoughtlessly interrupted, moving restlessly to lean forward towards Matthew opposite him, and attempted to light a cigarette before being chastised by his sister who was already tutting him and muttered something about being a bad influence on Luca. Alfred was about to say something before Matthie politely smiled at his sibling with a reserved ‘he’s right though- I do want vanilla’ grin that seemed more patient than cooperative. Gilbert had settled for a soda and made idle conversation with Laura who somehow mentioned she had seen him before:

“I’m quite sure I’ve seen you at that cafe on Acre Street?”

“Ah that was a while back but yeah- awesome..” it was only when Matthew's arms had jutted into his side that he noticed Matthew struggling to pour his drink into another empty glass- a glass that had been carelessly pushed towards him by Tim, who was more engrossed in talking to the youngest of the table about his homework-

Gilbert was confused and interested in the lavender eyed boy’s calculating movement, “Are you sharing your drink?” Matthew hummed, and tilted his head in thought, still carefully measuring out the white goop as if they were hazardous chemicals.

“Yeah I can’t have a lot of sugar, Tim and I usually share,” Matthew replied as if it was nothing- perhaps this was what he always did? Gilbert watched as Matthew seemed to be entranced in stirring his newly divided drink more than actually sipping it.

“Mattie used to puke all over..” The other twin seemed to indulge in embarrassing Matthew, and Gilbert only stopped from changing conversation due to the beautiful blush that had graced the Canadian's face, too pretty to prevent. Tim, on the other hand, seemed to nod in tandem with Alfred’s loud stories, as if confirming every cringe moment they recalled. I wonder how long they’ve known each other...

“...and then we had gotten up this huge ass slope and BOOM Matthew just-”

“Al. It’s near 9 pm.” Alfred's excitement halted for a second, before breaking out into a wide grin, and before a flash of over-eagerness came out in front of the van-de-bergs and the Beilschmidt Alfred faked an awfully obvious fake cough, quickly getting up and scrambling out the booth- hand pattingMatthew’s hair (why did people always touch his hair??)-

“S H I T. The car...I can't go... unless you’re ready to go Matt?” He can hear the whining tone ready to come out in Alfred’s quick downturn, Matthew was about to get up before Laura offered to take Al home, “Luca needs to get to bed too, he’s got an exam tomorrow- we can drop Alfie off on the way, the campus is really close! Besides, I know Tim and Matthew have plans tonight.” Tim choked up, his turn to awkwardly cough at the unintended insinuation his sister had thrown out (he says unintended but her eyes glistened with mischief- fuck laura sometimes) Alfred had only looked puzzled whereas Gilbert's eyes were darting back and forth between Matt and Tim.

“Perfect dudes, Mattie please stay safe and Tim.. watch Beilschmidt too..” he squinted and Gil just huffed and stuck his tongue out in playful annoyance at the American. Matthew sunk further into the booth, trying to ignore his brother's weird attempts at being a caring brother.

“Tell Kiku I said hi then and don’t forget to call-”

“Yeah yeah call dad or he’ll kill us- I got it I’ll see you later bro!” one last brotherly pat and Alfred had hightailed it out, two-thirds of the van de berg siblings following him behind, thus leaving the unlikely trio alone. Gilbert couldn’t make sense of it, but it seemed as if Matthew and Tim were telepathically communicating as it had been 3 minutes since the others had left and yet no one spoke a word.

“Soo….uh- you two dating or-”

“Nope.” Matthew blurted out, “we aren’t dating. At all.” clearly a question they get asked often huh? Gilbert’s eyes wandered ad his hands cradled his very watery soda in distraction. Tim’s smoke had finished before a word was uttered. Matthew hoped inside that this was a chance to hint towards his very open singleness-

“Look, I’d like to uh..invite you to our thing later but it’s a closed event.” Tim had jutted forward and was staring Gilbert’s red jewel eyes directly. Had it not been for Matthew sitting next to him fiddling with his straw and humming to himself he would have asked Tim what his problem was. Totally Un-Awesome.

“Rigggght. No, totally get it- I’ve got work anyway tomorrow.” He paused before turning to Matthew. “Just make sure we get time to work on our project alright? I think I should go home too.” Gilbert sighed, feeling a little left out but understood that perhaps he was overstepping into Matthew’s life too much- they barely knew each other. Gilbert got up and stalked out of the dingy diner and towards his bike(God, its perfect time for a drive right now)

He left. Left without noticing Matthew’s soft smile melt into a bothered frown as the hoodied boy watched him leave as if someone had kicked him the gut.

“You didn’t have to sound so harsh.”

“Well, you know we can’t just bring an outsider.”

“I know but- ...Gil is alright. He’s nice.”

“You think everyone is nice Matthew.”

Another cigarette was lit as Matthew watched those silver strands of hair disappear disappointingly on what looked to be a motorbike through the window. It doesn’t hurt to be nice all the time, Matthew thought to himself, his milkshake unpleasantly lukewarm in his grip.

#prucan #HWS Canada #HWS Prussia #SoftSpokenCalling #prussia x canada #hetalia #hetalia axis powers #hetalia world stars #Hetalia Fanfiction #hetalia fandom #hetalia fanfics #fanfiction #Multichapter #APH Canada #APH Prussia

6 notes · View notes

changji · 5 years

Note

Here we go I’m finally continuing our convo from like,, last week LOL but anyway 4-5k for an apartment I’m HOLLERING (yes i did it so you’d laugh) I’ve never lived in an apartment before but I’m pretty sure that’s really expensive for one sksks. Also personal chromebooks? My school literally can’t relate we share them with the rest of the students in the school. Tbh I don’t remember much from twilight so I’ll agree w you so that we don’t fight 🥺🥺

I normally go ham when I’m in a pool,, like I’ll start off w my hair up bc I don’t wanna get it wet but when I leave the pool everywhere is soaked. I haven’t played chicken in years?? Oml last time I played I was on my cousins shoulders and I was Puny. Haha most ppl are like “it can’t be that cold here right” and I’m “oh no it gets COLD” which I hate (but it’s colder in the territories so I’m thankful for where I’m at)

I’d rather it be hotter than colder bc at least there’s ac. I mean there’s heat but at least I can still walk outside without snow and ice everywhere. Don’t even get me started on freezing rain and winter tires and shovelling snow and OEUFIHD as you can see I hate the winter here. Tim hortons is so good I literally inhale iced capps 24/7. They’re pretty much blended frozen coffee but it tastes a lot better than it sounds!! I like to think of it as the Canadian pride and joy

I’ve actually never had timmies canned coffee… i’ve had the keurig pods things but they don’t taste as good as getting them from an actual timmies. But hey you never know maybe we will drink from ice bergs one day LOL. I’ll never back out from being your soulmate we’re literally meant To Be 😤😤 iced blonde vanilla lattes are so Good I’d probably inhale them as much as I do with iced capps if they weren’t so expensive

I didn’t even know that milk was a good portion of the drink,, when I saw a starbucks barista fill my cup with 80% milk I was like “hold up what” Your smoothies must be really good if your family specifically wake you up so that you can make them some hhh baker arella? More like smoothie expert arella. i usually make smoothies with whatever works and is in my fridge, but mango will always have my heart

People who eat pancakes plain should be banned from the world that’s disgusting,, you’re literally eating cooked flour,,,,,, I actually haven’t had waffles in 4 years oopsFrench is a mandatory course in grade 9 where I live but then after that you can choose if you wanna continue it or not. ASL classes seem so cool, I would totally take it if it were an option here. German & Japanese seem so hard; I look at the words and here ppl speaking it and I’m like ??? woah okay what’s happening

I’m terrible at English too, but then again I suck at every language? Is that even possible?? Jisung’s literally talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular skskdkf I am a Chan stan but Jisung wrecks me SO hard I can’t with this man. Pls don’t hurt my head too much with the fic I only have one braincell left bit ilyt 🥺 now I wanna try peet’s but I’m probably not going to the US for a hot minute 😔😔

(AJSDHJF I HIT THE LIMIT OF ASKS IM CRYINF) I saw what happened with ur Jisung drawing and I feel your frustration?? I was drawing a photo for an English presentation on photoshop and instead of closing my reference photo tab I closed the drawing (and i didn’t save it beforehand) so I lost the entire thing. Just thinking about it again makes me So Mad like,, how dumb can I be I literally can’t believe I did that!!

School sucks the life outta me I’m dreading going back and school starts in a little over a month? Fav vampire fic PLS I’m honoured. We fr out here as coffee soulmates look at us go 🤧👊

it’s so expensive like. whomst. I LOVE IT WHEN PPL SAY HOLLERING ITS SO FUNNY (ur so cute ily). living in an apartment is just Constant Stress esp bc i always accidentally slam a door open and make a hole in the wall and we have to pay but like i never learn LOL. the chrome books suck tho 😪 i would never fight w u LOL but i love twilight hhhh

today i just learned what “go ham” means like. i never knew. idk if i’m uncultured or ur weird (BUT ACCORDING TO CHAN WEIRS IS GOOD AND HES RIGHT.) i hate swimming sksks i burn easily and im Not here for it. i see why u would prefer the heat esp w snow, but i don’t have snow so i like winter LOL. i feel like i would die if i had to shovel snow like. i tried gardening and i gave up in .2 seconds. it was tough.

ooh an ice capp is like a frappuccino? i used to love them but they became too sweet. i believe in lattes and lattes only. keurig never tastes as good as the OG, i’ve had starbucks, dunkins, and peet’s keurig cups but it’ll never live up 😪 u r my soulmate and i snatched u, u can’t leave even if u wanted. period. LATTES ARE EXPENSIVE like. i pay $6.70 or smth like that bc of the vanilla flavoring and the extra shots. makes me wanna yeet myself off a bridge but there aren’t lattes in hell.

RIGHT omg the first time i saw them make it i was like. where r u giving me a cup of MILK but it tastes good so it’s okay. my stomach has not been cooperating and hurts whenever i get normal milk so i have to ask for almond and pay an extra 25 cents. like damn i $7 for a cup of coffee. but it’s okay it’s still good 🤧

& SMOOTHIE MASTER ARELLA HHHH my family is also Lazy like. it’s not hard to make a smoothie u FOOLS but i mean ig. they’ll just be hoes and force me to make them 😤 but it’s fine bc when i make the smoothies i’m let off of washing dishes 🤪

if u eat a pancake plain ur wrong on so many levels. it’s so painful to see. like. WHY. and cooked flour,,,, ada ur so funny omg waffles are so good like. it’s crispy but pancakes get soggy and it’s Gross. not here for it

i suck @ all languages too like grammar who? i only know keyboard smashes and incoherent screams. jisung is amazing and i love him w my whole soul. he’s such a good wrecker like whY are u so perfect?? i was bin biased but jisung came and made me double biased 🤧 i’m unloyal.

i don’t believe in no brain cells i believe in broken hearts and that’s what this fic is going for. angst angst and angst. i’ll send u peet’s and u send me tim hortons i look forward to gross and melted coffee 🤪

WLSKKSSK TUMBLR RLY OUT HERE UR SO CUTE AHHH i screamed for a good 5 minutes. i’m still upset. like. why did i do this to myself arella u big dumb. omg and did u save urself for the presentation? it’s worse for u bc like. it’s for school 😔 we can be dumb hoes together it’s okay

OVER A MONTH WHEN DO U START i have 2 weeks and a half. 3 weeks? i start on a thursday which is weird but Go Off. i’m gonna drop a class i’m not up for 7 classes esp w an AP and 3 honors 🤧 why did i take those classes i’m actually an idiot hhhhh

i stan ada and ada only (jk binsung but yk what they don’t count) stan TALENT my coffee soulmate ily

#gonna put a read more bc long long post oops #also like. do u have a dog or a cat or like a pet idk #queen ada 💞#mutuals #asks

1 note · View note

jrpneblog · 2 years

Text

Fantastic finale sees North End finish the season on a high

Trust North End to save the best till last with what was probably our best performance of the season at Deepdale. A goal from Alan Browne and a hat-trick from Emil Riis saw us comprehensively beat a Boro side with play off ambitions before the start of the game. The fact that the visitors had it all to play for made this a real game and not an end of season jaunt as some had predicted. North End were 100% at it for the entire match and once Alan Browne had opened the scoring you never really felt that North End were in any danger of losing. Quicker passing and no nonsense defending saw Ryan Lowe`s boys end the season on a real high at Deepdale after the disappoimtment of the derby defeat to Blackburn just two weeks ago. It all left North End in thirteenth place in the Championship final table with a very respectable total of sixty four points to their name.

Ryan Lowe made just one change from last weeks win at Barnsley with Bambo Diaby coming in for Patrick Bauer who was given some more recovery time having been withdrawn at half time last Saturday. North End started well and so did the visitors to be fair and it was obvious the game meant plenty to both sides. Riis had an effort early on but just after the twenty minute mark we took the lead when a cross from Potts found Browne in the box and the Captain made no mistake with a classy finish. It was all North End now and with ten minutes to the break Riis put North End two up when he cut in from the left and fired home, the ball taking a deflection off a Middlesbrough defender. North End continued to pile on the pressure and futher chances from Johnson and McCann almost sent us in at half time three up but we had to make do with two.

Middlesbrough must have had a rollicking at half time from Chris Wilder as they came out with real intent and purpose in the opening minutes of the second half. Poor defending from North End saw Tavernier pull a goal back after less than three minutes and for a few minutes it looked game on, much to the delight of the 5,688 travelling fans from the North East. Preston were having none of it though and when Archer put Riis through the big striker made it three with a delightful chip over the visiting keeper and into the net. From then on it was all North End and when Riis completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after seventy five minutes it was all over with Boro also down to ten men. The biggest cheer of the afternoon came with ten minutes to go when Paul Huntington replaced Diaby, the Cumbrian Cannavaro making his 306th and final appearance for the club he has graced for tem years.

So the 2021-22 season came to an end with North End finishing the campaign with two victoies to end the season on a high. There is no doubt the close season will be one of significant changes off the field with quite a number of the current squad being released and several new players coming in. The three loanees will go back to their parent clubs and whether any return we shall have to wait and see. Daniel Iversen had a clean sweep of the player of the year trophies and few of the Deepdale faithful would argue with that. I think the manager will have breathed a huge sigh of relief at the completion of this term as he can now really start to get to grips with things and make the squad much more like the one he wants. Good luck to the players leaving North End and thank you for your efforts at Deepdale but a special thank you to Hunts, a giant of a player both on and off the field.

PRESTON 4-1 MIDDLESBROUGH

iVERSEN 7

VAN DEN BERG 7 DIABY 7 LINDSAY 8

POTTS 7 BROWNE 7 WHITEMAN 8 McCANN 7JOHNSON 8

ARCHER 7 RIIS 9

Subs:

HUNTINGTON 10

O`NEILL 7

LEDSON 7

MOTM: Emil Riis

Attendance: 17,691

Preston Fans: 12,003 (67.85%)

0 notes

thedeaditeslayer · 6 years

Photo

'Evil Dead' to FX's 'Legion': John Cameron's trip from Detroit to Hollywood.

Here’s a rare interview/article about original Michigan Mafia member John Cameron who has been around since the early Super 8 shorts.

When FX's "Legion" returns for its second season on Tuesday, the first episode unleashes another of its signature jaw-dropping images.

A door opens onto a swarm of people standing like mannequins inside an unlit storage space. They are physically frozen except for their chattering teeth, which click without pause like a nightmare percussion section.

And that's before the opening credits.

"Legion" is probably the only show on broadcast, cable and streaming outlets that comes close to the mind-bending majesty of 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Like the humming monolith and galactic star baby of "2001," it is strewn with indelible scenes that are meant to be absorbed, not understood.

How fitting, then, that a key behind-the-scenes member of the series had a life-altering moment during his fourth-grade class trip to see a Cinerama screening of "2001" at the now-defunct United Artists movie palace in downtown Detroit.

"I was 9 years old, and I saw that movie and it really blew me away, honestly," says John Cameron, an executive producer of the innovative sci-fi drama. "And I thought, 'Well, I want to do that. ...That's the movie that started it all for me."

A trippy spin-off of the X-Men franchise, "Legion" is the creation of Noah Hawley, the same TV auteur who successfully adapted "Fargo" for FX as both an homage to the original movie and a narrative with its own strange magic.

Cameron says that "Legion" is "the product of the genius mind" of Hawley, who controls the story line of the show in his roles as executive producer and writer.

"The entire show springs from his unconscious, I think," adds Cameron.

The first season introduced mutant and mental patient David ("Downtown Abbey" star Dan Stevens), his body-swapping girlfriend, Syd (Rachel Keller), and his snarky friend (Aubrey Plaza), whose body was secretly inhabited by David's lifelong tormentor, an ancient spirit called the Shadow King.

At the institution where David was confined, a team trying to save him from a malevolent government figure (Hamish Linklater) included body-sharing duo Cary (Bill Irwin) and Kerry (Amber Midthunder) and a strong-willed therapist (Jean Smart), whose missing husband (Jemaine Clement) was living in an astral plane inside an ice cube decorated like a jazzy 1950s bachelor pad.

Season two promises to be even weirder, deeper and more complex, but that's OK by "Legion" fans. They aren't in it for explanations. Using Hawley's description, Cameron explains that while that most TV programming is an information delivery device, "Legion" is an experience-delivery device.

When you tune it to FX at 10 p.m. Tuesdays for ten new episodes, you take the ride.

As one of several executive producers for "Legion," Cameron's focus is on the many details required for the crew to bring that experience to life on film and stay true to Hawley's vision – all on a basic-cable budget

"The fact we even get the show done is a miracle as far as I'm concerned, and that challenge makes it interesting to come into work every day," he says by phone.

Ever since his teen years in Oakland County, Cameron has been collaborating with talented people to produce cinematic miracles. He was one of the kids who hung out with future "Evil Dead" franchise and "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi to make elaborate amateur movies using a Super-8 camera.

Cameron and Bruce Campbell, who currently stars in "Ash vs. Evil Dead" for Starz, were students in the Wylie E. Groves High School class of 1976. Raimi was in the class of 1977.

"(Raimi) is a year younger than us, although he looks 10 years older. I just want to make sure you get that," says Cameron, who enlivens an interview by feigning outrage at a question about his age – he's 59 – and being asked if it's true that he dropped out of college to help make Raimi's 1981 horror cult classic, "The Evil Dead."

"Where did you hear that?" he mock-accuses before confirming it with a laugh.

Cameron studied theater for two years at Kalamazoo College before transferring to New York University. Once Raimi, Campbell and Rob Tapert (another metro Detroiter who went on to a major film and TV career), raised enough money for the ultra-shoestring budget for "The Evil Dead," Cameron chose working on the project over watching and critiquing movies for class.

"I left (New York) winter break of my junior year and drove down to Tennessee for the second half of 'Evil Dead' and helped them make that movie basically the way we had been making movies since we were 12," he says. "After that, I didn't go back to school."

He's credited on "The Evil Dead" IMDb cast list as one of several Fake Shemps.

Cameron spent several years in the Detroit area working on TV commercials and the occasional Raimi film made out of state, plus a few movies made locally. One of them was 1985's "Crimewave," which was directed by Raimi and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen. The Coen brothers had met the Raimi gang through "The Evil Dead," which Joel Coen helped edit.

Ready to move to the West Coast to pursue a serious film career, Cameron contacted the Coens to say he was looking for work as a first assistant director.

"They had hired someone for 'Barton Fink,' but the next film they did, 'The Hudsucker Proxy,' Ethan remembered my call and (they) called me back and said, 'Hey, we're making another movie. Do you want to come do it?' "

"The Hudsucker Proxy," released in 1994, was the start of Cameron's lengthy stint with the Coen brothers on films like "Fargo," "The Big Lebowski" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

"For me, it was an ideal situation, because once we were into production, they were concentrating on directing the film, so a lot of the producing fell to me," he recalls. "That was an invaluable, unbelievable training ground for me as a producer, working with them for 10 years and seven features."

Cameron's impressive credentials also cover indie gems by other directors, including Wes Anderson's "Rushmore," the quirky Ryan Gosling romantic comedy "Lars and the Real Girl," and the football drama "Friday Night Lights." Directed by Peter Berg, "Friday Night Lights" sparked Cameron's transition to television when he helped develop the series adaptation that landed at NBC.

After "Friday Night Lights," Cameron went back to movies, thinking his brush with TV was over. Then he read in the trade papers that the Coen brothers were giving their blessing to a TV version of "Fargo."

His reaction: " 'What?!? What are you talking about?' As far as I know, these guys didn't even own a TV," he says, recreating his disbelief. Cameron phoned the Coens, who told him that it all came down to Hawley's script, which they urged him to read.

He loved it, too. "You don't get scripts like that much in your career," he says.

Cameron signed on to be an executive producer for FX's "Fargo," where he sometimes serves as a Coen brothers whisperer, aka someone who brings a certain insider knowledge about their approach to filming. The series, which has completed three seasons, is known for dropping Easter egg references to the Coens' movies into episodes.

On "Legion," Cameron enjoys the creative process, which he summarizes as the crew wondering what Hawley will come up with next, then working diligently together to figure out the big question: "How are we going to do this?"

If an idea can't be done within the confines of cable TV, Cameron says that finding a modification or alternative often leads to something even better.

"Working withing those fiscal limits makes us be inventive, I think. We can't just throw money at any problem. We have to use our heads and be smart. And that's fun."

Just don't ask Cameron for season two spoilers. He can't tell you anything, even about the episode he's directing this season. And it really wouldn't help much if he could.

"It wouldn't make any sense to try to describe it. As a 'Legion' viewer, you can't just hop into it. You have to be pulled into the world and hang on for the ride. There's not much I could tell you now that would make any sense whatsoever."

That's the beauty of "Legion." It provides a strange and beautiful puzzle, without the nagging worry of constantly wondering how it all makes sense.

"It's the experience of watching the show that's enjoyable to people," says Cameron. "Not so much discovering the mystery, but embracing the mystery."

#John Cameron #.The Evil Dead #Evil Dead #The Hudsucker Proxy

2 notes · View notes

rixwrites · 7 years

Text

The Chaser gets chased (2/4)

Author’s note: Hello again! Here’s the second chapter of my first Noorhelm story. I got several really nice messages about the first chapter, so fingers crossed for the second one. Do let me know what you think! I love reading your thoughts about it! Also, a little tip for people who are unfamiliar with the HP verse: take a look at the Harry Potter wikia page to get a better feel for certain terms - especially with this chapter featuring Patronuses!

Oh, something else: Noora and Eva are the same age as William and Chris in this story. Everyone else’s age is canon. Just to clear things up!

I found the source of the promt by the way: I’ll link it here. Maybe you might be inspired by the other prompts - please tag me if you are! I’d love to read your work!!!

Now, without further ado: chapter two! (Oops: The rhyming was completely unintended, I swear!)

CHAPTER 2

Two days have gone by since William and Noora’s spat in the Great Hall. The Gryffindor isn’t proud of it but she’s been going out of her way to avoid running into the Ravenclaw. Despite having her friends by her side distracting her as best as they could, Noora’s still licking her William-inflicted wounds.

Today’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class offered her a little reprieve from the heartache. The Sixth Year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs have begun studying the Patronus charm and, under the watchful eye of their professor, spent the second half of their two-hour period trying to conjure one of their own.

Noora is the only one in her class who’s managed to produce more than a few wisps of silvery clouds. Her Patronus was an Uncorporeal one, without a distinguishable shape to it, but she’s still high on endorphins when the professor dismisses their class.

“What were you thinking about, Noora?” One of her fellow Gryffindors prods.

“Yeah, Noora,” Another classmate shouts. “Tell us!”

Noora smiles but refuses to divulge how she did it. She’s not entirely sure she knows herself what memory she used. Eva looks proud of her.

“You’d think you were a rock star.” The Hufflepuff smiles teasingly. Noora smirks a little bashfully. “How about lunch, superstar?”

Noora hesitates when she and Eva get to the Great Hall: usually they’d go and sit with Chris and the others, but things have changed. Eva wordlessly grabs her hand and drags her best friend to the Hufflepuff table. They take a seat next to a group of younger girls.

“Hi, Eva, Noora.” The perky blonde smiles widely. Her friend, a brunette rolling a spoon around in her mouth and making eyes at one of her housemates, just nods in greeting.

“Hi Vilde.” Noora smiles back. “How did things go with that Charms essay of yours? Did my notes from our tutoring session help you in any way?”

Vilde nods gratefully. “Yes, I meant to thank you for that. I even earnt five points for our House in today’s class. Professor Banning was really pleased with my improvement.”

“Good job!” Noora gives the younger girl two thumbs up. “Let me know if I can help with something, okay?”

“Thanks, Noora. You didn’t have to.” Vilde sounds touched by the kindness of the popular older student. “I appreciate your help.”

“Don’t mention it.” Noora winks at her and dives into the food on her plate.

Vilde drops all talk of schoolwork and starts relaying today’s gossip. Noora usually stays far away from the rumor mill – too often involuntarily taking on a starring role in some of the juicier stories going around – but today she hums and gasps at all appropriate times. She could use the distraction and she’s pleasantly surprised when her name doesn’t come up once.

But maybe she spoke too soon. Suddenly, Vilde stops talking and just looks at the Gryffindor in front of her.

“What is it?” Noora feels a little uncomfortable with the staring. “Do I have something on my face?”

Vilde shakes her head. “It’s just…” She hesitates. “I was just wondering… You see, there’s talk about…”

Noora gets an uneasy feeling – fearing that the conversation will turn to a topic she really doesn’t want to discuss – when Eva saves her.

“Hey, Vilde,” Her best friend addresses the younger Hufflepuff. “What’s been going on today? It seems as if it’s quieter than usual in here.”

Vilde shrugs and drops her nosing in Noora’s personal life. “I heard something about the Sixth Year Care of Magical Creatures students being shaken up about class. Apparently, they’re studying Thestrals in that class. I guess I’d be freaked out too if I saw a winged horse with a skeletal body and a face that looks like a reptile.”

“Someone could see them?” Eva asks. Noora looks over at the group of Sixth Year Care of Magical Creatures students she knows rather well and notices the quiet surrounding the usually vivacious group of friends sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Her heart hurts when she sees William’s hunched form.

Chris Berg, Vilde’s friend, nods gravelly. “William Magnusson. He was the only one. I’ve heard he hasn’t spoken a word since class let out.”

Noora is still looking at William. He’s sat with his back facing her so she can’t see his face, but she takes notice of the tension in his body. The sadness comes off him in waves and Noora loses her appetite at the sight of the Ravenclaw in pain. She wishes there was something she could do to take his mind off it.

Noora absentmindedly gets out her wand and starts twirling it around her fingers. The secure feeling of the wood calms her nerves – almost like the presence of a friend. She can hear Eva talking to Vilde and Chris about their Defense class, praising Noora’s success with the Patronus charm, and suddenly Noora knows. Just because she isn’t within William’s proximity, doesn’t mean she can’t show her support. Or distract him from his thoughts.

The Gryffindor closes her eyes – forcing her brain to recall the happiest memories she has – and slightly lifts her wand. She doesn’t open her eyes when she whispers the spell but she does feel the magic sprouting from her wand. When she hears several loud gasps and a few surprised shouts echoing, she dares to peek.

She’s exceeded her attempt from class – the silvery cloud that escaped the tip of her wand now has a distinguished shape. There’s a brightly shimmering dolphin swimming through the air and as soon as it’s reached the Ravenclaw table, it starts tumbling above William’s head and trying to catch his attention.

William turns around when the Patronus hides behind his back – trying to keep his gaze on the playful animal. Noora’s lips curl upwards in a gentle expression when she sees the way William smiles. She feels as if she’s stepped into a warm beam of summer sunlight when she spots the awed look on his face. The fondness she feels because of William’s carefree expression makes her feel as if her heart is going to burst and her Patronus shines a little brighter as a consequence.

She continues watching William staring at her Patronus before she notices some movement behind the dark-haired Ravenclaw. The boy’s friends have all turned to look where the dolphin came from and Noora sees their mouths falling open when they realize she conjured it. Some of them waggle their eyebrows at her, giving her teasing smirks and mouthing ‘whipped’ at her, but Chris just winks at her. She doesn’t need to hear the words to understand that he means it as a ‘thank you’. Noora blushes a little and looks away from them.

Her eyes drift from William and her Patronus to the teachers’ table. Her Defense Professor has been looking for the student who cast the spell and raises his glass in congratulations at Noora when their eyes meet. At the very least, her silly little crush - like Sana, Noora’s favorite study buddy in Slytherin, had named it - will get her House some points for the House Cup.

The Gryffindor allows her Patronus to disappear – feeling the magic drain out of her the longer she keeps the spell intact – and feels a little guilty when she spots William’s disappointed look. The bell rings, signaling the end of lunch, and Eva bids Vilde and Chris a hasty goodbye before she grabs hold of Noora’s arm and drags her up the marble staircase to the first floor. The Gryffindor protests when she recognizes the bathroom they’re headed for.

“No! Absolutely not!” She digs her heels into the floor and tries to stop Eva from opening that door. “Not Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom! Whatever we talk about in there will be all over Hogwarts before the end of this period!”

Eva reconsiders her initial destination and then opts for an empty classroom on the other end of the hall.

“Are we skipping? Because I don’t think McGonagall is going to approve.” Noora rambles. Eva’s actions are making her nervous. “Besides, we’re studying Animagi and that’s about the only interesting thing we’ll see in Transfiguration this year and…”

“Oh, shut up, would you?” Eva locks the door behind them and casts a Muffliato Charm on the door. When she turns around to look at the blonde, she seems two seconds away from passing out in excitement. “Now, you want to tell me what that was about?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you?” Noora asks. She’s got a good idea what Eva’s hinting at, but she won’t give in that easily. “You’re the one making me skip class, dragging me into an empty classroom and casting spells to keep others from overhearing us! I love you, Eva, but I’m not making out with you and risking Chris’s wrath!”

Eva rolls her eyes at her friend. “Don’t act dumb, Noora. We both know you aren’t.”

Noora pouts. “I might as well try.”

“Well?” Eva asks again. “Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to guess?”

“What do you want me to say?” Noora takes a seat on one of the desks in the room and petulantly looks at the toes of her shoes. “What even is there to say?”

Eva wants to scoff and say ‘plenty’ but instead she chooses to go with a soft-spoken “What were you thinking of?”

Noora shrugs. “Don’t really know, to be honest. I just… I let my brain take over, let the memories flow freely through me, and just cast the spell.”

“What memories?”

“All kinds. Finding my wand, moving here, starting Hogwarts, meeting you and the guys and…”

“And William?” Noora doesn’t reply. Her breath hitching gives her away, though.

The friends fall silent for a bit, Eva giving Noora a moment to sort through her thoughts.

“I just…” The Gryffindor whispers. “He was looking so sad and… I wanted to make him feel better, you know. But I know that he doesn’t really like having me around all that much and after what happened the last time we had dinner together… I didn’t want to push it, I guess?”

Eva wraps both her arms around her friend’s thin shoulders. Noora’s blonde head nestles into the crook of the Hufflepuff’s neck. “This is nice,” Noora giggles. It sounds watery. “Now I understand why Chris keeps you around. You smell good.”

“I hope he likes me for more than just my choice in perfume.” Eva huffs. Noora giggles again. “Can I ask you something else?”

Noora nods. “Your Patronus got brighter at one point. Like… at first it shimmered, but then it looked like actual starlight…”

“William smiled.” Noora has her eyes closed and a soft look on her face. “He looked so carefree in that moment. He should smile more. William’s got a beautiful smile.”

Eva’s embrace tightens temporarily, her body stiffening up against Noora’s. She places her head on top of Noora’s.

“Oh, Noora,” Eva sighs. “This is more than a crush, isn’t it?”

“It was never just a crush.” Noora whispers. Her voice sounds really frail and Eva’s heart breaks for her friend. “It was always only William. It’ll always be me and William.”

“He needs to know.” Eva mutters. “He needs to know that you care about him. For real.”

Author’s note: Et voilà! There you have it, my darling readers: Chapter two. I really like this scene... dunno. Let me know what you think! I’ll upload again this weekend! And get ready for some DRAMA! Thank you for reading!

#noorhelm writing #noora x william #skam writing #hogwarts au #noorhelm au #noorhelm hogwarts au #the chaser gets chased #skam fic #noorhelm fic

35 notes · View notes

scripts4dreamers · 7 years

Text

Shameful Behavior pt. 2

Part One

AN: William decides to pick on someone his own size for once. Pairings: William x reader Characters: William Magnusson, Christoffer Schistad, Vilde Hellerud, Noora Saetre, Sana Bakkoush, Chris Berg, Eva Mohn Spoilers: None Warnings: None Prompt: “Can you please do a William from Skam x reader where she’s his friend and they fall in love and stuff?”

Of course, William had hooked up with Vilde. You should’ve seen that coming, considering that she was exactly his type. It brought a bitter taste to your mouth whenever you thought about it, especially because you’d actually become quite close to Vilde and her friends, so you had to listen to her obsess over him almost every day. Conversely, William hadn’t even mentioned Vilde since they’d slept together and, somehow, that was painful too.

You were standing in front of your mirror, inspecting your outfit for the seventh time that day and wondering if you should change. You were hosting a party at your house and, by the sounds of it; most of the school was planning on attending, which meant that you had to look stunning, or at least interesting. The top you had on was more low-cut than was normal for you, and the skirt was something you’d never imagined yourself wearing, but put together, you were feeling good. A faint tapping on your window knocked you out of your daydreaming and you spun around, clutching at your chest.

William’s smiling face met yours and you breathed out a sigh of relief, unlatching the window and stepping back so that William could clamber into your room with all the grace of a baby gazelle. You giggled as he tripped and scrambled to right himself, fixing his hair as he did.

He gave you a fond smile that made your heart pinch and pulled you into a hug.

“You ready?” He asked, with his chin resting on your head. You nodded and he let you go, taking your hands in his, “Let me see you then,” he said, scanning your body with his eyes.

You blushed, but didn’t move away. A muscle in William’s jaw jumped and his eyes hardened. It was a look you’d seen him wear countless times and it always made you feel a little breathless. When he looked like this, he was unknowable. He opened his mouth, ready to speak, when you heard a knock at your front door.

“Coming!” You called, shooting William an apologetic look as you darted down the stairs.

You flung the door open and pulled Chris into a hug, before turning to face the pretty, dark haired girl on his arm.

“Hi, I’m Iben,” she smiled shyly, “I’m Chris’ girlfriend.”

“Naaw, that’s so great, welcome guys.” You gushed, ruffling Chris’ hair with your fingers, “I’m Y/N Y/L/N. Come in, come in; you’re the first to arrive.”

Chris frowned as they followed you into the large living room that looked out onto your back patio.

“Really? Isn’t William here? He left before we did.”

“Indeed I am here,” Will answered, striding into the room confidently. He looked like himself again, and you relaxed, “I just don’t think than Y/N/N really counts you and me as guests anymore.”

“Fair enough,” Chris laughed, “Iben, I’m sure you know William?”

The girl nodded and shook his hand, looking nervous. You couldn’t exactly blame her, she was standing in a room with three third years who went way back, and who were well-known throughout the school. That would intimidate any second year.

“Did you guys tell the other Penetrators to bring drinks?” You asked.

“Of course, who do you think we are? Julian is bringing enough alcohol to feed an army.” Chris answered.

William put his hand on your shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. He knew how nervous you got before hosting a party, especially one this size.

“Don’t stress, we’ve got everything under control.” He promised, “You just worry about having a good time alright? The boys and I will make sure everything goes smoothly.”

You leant your head against his hand and breathed out, making a concerted effort to calm yourself down. This was just a party, it was just like every other party you’d gone to and it would be fine. The doorbell rang again and, as you welcomed in the floods of guests that were arriving, you sent a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. Please let the night go well, you prayed, please don’t let there be any drama.

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

“No, but don’t you think that we, as women, have a responsibility to not perpetuate stereotypes?” Noora asked.

You thought for a minute. You’d had quite a bit to drink already, but you were still sober enough to make decisions for yourself, which is why you were curled up on the couch with Noora and not out doing something dumb, like dancing on the bar, or crying over William. Both of which were pretty normal for you during your second year at Nissen.

“I think that, as women, it’s not our place to tell one another what our responsibilities are, you know? I mean, there are tons of women out there who want to be housewives, or who like wearing make-up and cooking and cleaning, just ‘cause that’s who they are. I think it’s only a problem when it starts to be expected of us just because we are women.” You answered, “Plus, we’re all guilty of being a bit of a stereotype every now and again.”

Noora nodded in agreement as Sana collapsed onto the couch next to you, looking mad.

“What’s up?” you asked, nudging her with your arm.

Sana rolled her eyes, “Vilde. She’s chasing William down again, as if stalking him is going to make him like her.”

You swallowed hard, torn between pitying Vilde and being horribly jealous, “Where are they?”

Sana shrugged, “I tried to tell her that it was a bad idea, but of course she didn’t want to hear any of it. Couldn’t you talk to her Y/N? I’m sure she’ll listen to you.”

You snorted and refilled your glass from a half-empty bottle of champagne that was left on the coffee table, “I’ve tried, multiple times actually.”

“And she ignores you?” Noora asked.

“It’s more like, she knows that I’m trying to be nice, but she doesn’t think William would talk to me about girls anyway.” You explained, “Which is ridiculous, because girls are pretty much all that Chris and Will talk about.”

Okay so that wasn’t entirely true, but you were annoyed with William, so you didn’t really care, and what had started off as a light buzz had deepened into something dangerously close to full blown tipsiness.

Noora and Sana laughed, “Boys are ridiculous,” Sana declared, “all of them.”

You nodded in agreement, “Truly, they are. If you girls stay away from boys, you’ll stay away from drama. Mark my words, everything bad that happens during your high school career will somehow be related to a boy, they’re pests.”

“Oh come on Y/N, don’t you think you’re being a little harsh?” Chris asked, appearing out of nowhere.

You shot him a look, “Don’t act all innocent Christoffer Schistad, you know that I’m right.”

The boy relented and nodded, shooting you an apologetic smile before turning back to the first years, “Listen to this one, girls. She knows her way around the block.”

You smiled dopily and nuzzled into Chris’ side, resting your head on his shoulder as he draped an arm around you protectively. The drinks had finally caught up to you and it felt like you were floating on a cloud of calm. Your head was pleasantly light and your body felt warm and heavy. The noises of the party buzzed around your ears like flies and you nuzzled further into Chris to block them out. He smelt like soap and something else that you were too drunk to recognize and it was comforting how familiar it all was. You’d always been able to rely on Chris. He made a questioning noise in the back of his throat and gave you a gentle squeeze.

“You alright Princess?” He asked softly, “Do we need to send everyone away?”

You shook your head, “William is off somewhere with Vilde, did you know that?” You said, the words bubbling out of you without your consent.

Chris looked confused but answered slowly, “Um, yeah I think I saw them together a while ago, why?”

You sighed, your head spinning but your chest feeling lighter than it had in ages, “They’re probably having sex right now, in my house too. How messed up is that?”

“Uh-“

“I mean, I know it’s William and I know he can’t help how many girls like him but, really? Can’t he just let me have this one party? Can’t I go one night without picturing him with another girl and just wanting to die? Is that too much to ask, Chris? Is it?” you asked as you sat up.

Chris’ eyebrows shot up and his mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to order his thoughts.

“Y/N,” he started, slowly, as if he was carefully choosing his words, “do you…have feelings…for William?”

You frowned, “Of course, I thought everyone knew that. See? That’s why it’s so unfair of him, because he knows how I feel about him and he’s still off somewhere sleeping with my friend, in my house!”

Chris threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter, his chest vibrating as he chuckled.

“Trust me on this Y/N/N, William has no idea that you like him, like, none. If he knew-you know what? I think you should just go talk to him.” Chris suggested.

“You know what? I think I will. He can’t just keep doing this to me anymore, no sir!”

Something in the back of your mind screamed that that was a terrible idea, but the warm haze of alcohol told it to be quiet and you stood shakily, swaying on your feet as your head spun. Chris held your arm to steady you and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek.

“Just-just remember that he didn’t know, okay?” he reminded you, “He really didn’t know.”

You nodded and gave Chris a lazy grin as you turned to stumble your way towards the back of your house, where you knew people had gone to hook up. If you’d been more sober, maybe you wouldn’t have gone, but you were angry and hurt and you needed it to be over, once and for all.

332 notes · View notes

pineapplesareunderrated · 7 years

Text

Best Minion Ever

Rhys meets sir Hammerlock and helps him repairs his arm while having a little chat.

Part 5�� Part 7

Few years ago, Rhys accepted a job offer from some low-class bartender. The task was to clear the man’s basement where a pack of kolcavacks had settled. Kolcavacks were nasty animals. They had familiar features to rats, but they were bigger. Holy god, were they bigger. Normal kolcavack had a size of full grown pig, but those? They were like aggressive cows living underground. Rhys had to kill about a dozen of those creatures, and one crazed naked guy who lived there with them and whom the bartender conveniently forgot to mention. From what Rhys understood, the man came to a conclusion that he was a kolcavack and lived there with the animals for about a month or two. Rhys will never understand how the man didn’t die of infection after spending a week in that place, let alone two months. Needless to say, Rhys himself smelled like a shit after the job was finished and the scent wouldn’t leave him for next three days.

But Rhys would go and do that again. He would go and do that again twice, if it meant getting rid of the stupid, annoying, soul sucking robot who he was currently stuck to. For almost an hour in a row, Claptrap was going on about his morning routine and whenever it started to look like the tell-tale had finally come to its end, he would just add another part of the story, which was even worse than the previous one. Rhys had found out about so many nasty things robots could do, that he will have nightmares about it for another decade.

Just when Rhys was on the edge of screaming, the bullymong with Claptrap’s eye jumped down from the ice hill they were just passing by, accompanied by another five smaller bullymongs.

Oh, thanks god. Rhys thought, loading his gun and fired first shots into the animals. The smaller ones were quick to kill. As soon as Rhys managed to figure out their weak points it turned into a child’s play. But the big one? He was just refusing to give up even after the other bullymongs were long dead. Plus, he kept throwing ice on Rhys, which was really annoying and it made his attempts to aim unbelievably difficult.

All right. Time for a change of strategy. He turned on his ECHO eye and quickly scanned the situation. It showed Rhys a few frozen stones coming his way from the raging animal. Also, it brought his attention to a frozen cliff that was on the edge of falling. One good aimed shot and it will break and fall down. It was heavy enough for Rhys to weaken or maybe even defeat the animal. But first, Rhys needed to get the bullymong under it. First idea was to have Claptrap do it, but then he remembered that the unit was still missing his eye. It would take eternity to make him understand what he was supposed to do. And even longer to explain how to do it correctly. Rhys sighed. Playing a bait himself it was then. He quickly sprinted from his hideout behind some old Hyperion capsule that was conveniently placed there and jumped in front of the bullymong. “Hey! You! Overgrown monkey! I was wondering, what are you going to do for a face when the baboon wants his butt back?” He wasn’t that naive to think it was possible for the animal to understand him, but it didn’t even mater. His plan worked and now the enormous four-armed mutant was chasing after him. He didn’t stop when he aimed for the rock, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to run right under it when the massive piece of heavy frozen water fell on the big animal, leaving him trapped underneath it, conveniently the only thing left untouched was one of his right palms, that was still holding the robot’s eye. Rhys grabbed it victoriously, calling for the unit to come out. Claptrap didn’t leave him waiting for too long, before he happily approached Rhys, congratulating him for retrieving his eye.

“So, do you want me to get it back in there or…”

“Oh, no minion. This is a delicate brain operation. I would rather leave it to professionals.”

“You sure? I hate to break it to you Claptrap, but I don’t see many professionals running around here.”

“We will need only one on them. He lives nearby. Goes under the name Sir Hammerlock.”

Rhys was silent for a second, looking at Claptrap’s offered hand. “Are you positive you don’t want me to do it instead? I mean I don’t wanna boast too much, but I know my way around the tech pretty well. It wouldn’t be that difficult for me to just...”

“No thank you. Let’s go, Sanctuary awaits.”Claptrap grabbed Rhys’ hand without waiting for any response and dragged him up the hill. They didn’t have to walk for too long before stopping in front of a huge iron door. “Old Hyperion security.” Claptrap snorted. “Child’s play.” He jumped in front of the door. “Aaaand opeeeen!” There was a blue light scanning Claptrap’s whole structure before turning red.

Fakely positive woman’s voice came out of the door. “Unauthorized attempt. Locking doors.” With heavy thud two iron plates came out of the wool, sealing the doors against any intruders.

“Well.” Claptrap turned to face Rhys, after a second of just staring at the lock. “It was nice knowing ya. I’ve heard that getting eaten alive by bullymongs isn’t such a bad way to go.”

“Wait. What?”

“Here. Let me fix that.” Rhys heard Angel’s voice before the doors opened.“There. Perks of being an AI. I am connected into all of the network on Pandora.”

“Of course, you are.” Rhys mumbled under his chin. “Thanks Angel.”

“You are welcome.” She smiled. “It’s a long way to Sanctuary. Take anything you need.”

The room they just entered was filled with numerous ammunitions, few insta health and what was the most important thing of all, guns. There were in total three guns. Revolver, SMG and one sniper rifle. Rhys’ favourite kind of gun. Without thinking he throw away the old useless shotgun and quickly equipped the new weapons. Rhys took a couple of seconds to study his new sniper rifle. It wasn’t the best one he had ever seen, but it wasn’t the worst either. Surprisingly, none of the guns were Hyperion issued, but Dahl and Torgue. The sniper in particular was Dahl. However, there was a long reload speed, meaning that he had to wait a couple of seconds before he would be able to shoot again and there were only five slots for ammo. He was going to be reloading very often unless he manages to reconstruct it. Damn. Now he really wished he wouldn’t lose all his tools in the train explosion.

“Whenever you are ready, Vault Hunter.” Claptrap called, standing next to the door in classic steward position.

“Alright.” Rhys nodded. “Let’s go.”

This wasn’t the first time he used teleport but still… Rhys will never get used to the feeling of his body being shattered into million tiny pieces and spread through the air just to be rebuilt again into the chosen destination. He couldn’t poop properly for at least two weeks after each teleporting trip.

When they finally “landed” they were standing in a land that was almost identical to Windshear Waste. Only with slightly less snow and more stones.

Once again, his ECHO beeped and once again it was Handsome Jack’s voice coming out of it. But this time it wasn’t a private conversation like before, but a broadcast meant for all people on Pandora who had their ECHO communicator with them. Meaning, for every single one. “Attention, people of Pandora! Handsome Jack here, offering a million bucks to whomever brings me the head of the Vault Hunter who just arrived in Liar’s Berg. Oh, and I’m still offering a reward for Roland, the mass-murdering leader of the Crimson Raiders. Good hunting, bandits!” Bitches.

The ECHO went off only for a second, before it caught another frequency. This one surely wasn’t meant for Rhys’ ears, but since the bandit who was now speaking didn’t know how to properly work with those things, his message ended up broadcast into the whole Liar’s Berg. “A million bucks? All right boys – this is Capitan Flynt. I want you to find that Vault Hunter and bring him to me! NOW!”

“Great.” Rhys moaned. “That’s just what I needed. And million bucks? Seriously? There were awards ten times bigger on my head from people who didn’t own a half of what Handsome Jack has.” Shaking his head, Rhys started to walk forward, dragging Claptrap behind him. It didn’t take long before they arrived to the lock gates of some small town. Behind them, Rhys saw a movement. Armed and bored looking man was walking in the middle of the residence, SMG in his hand, head in the sky. A watch. The brunet realized. He kept searching the area and spotted at least five more armed bandits walking around the place, chatting with each other. One of them was lying on the ground, leaning against a wall, head rested on his shoulder. He was either deep asleep or dead. Rhys would prefer the second option. Six outside. There might be more of them in the buildings. Rhys begun to plan his strategy. He could take out at least two of them with his sniper rifle before they spot him, but the sound of gunfire will lead out those who are in the buildings. Maybe if he used a garnet, he could…

His thinking process got interrupted by a sound of rowing animals.

“Bullymongs!” One of the bandits screamed, pointing out what was so painfully obvious. None of them hesitated in loading their guns and sending their bullets into the animals’ hard fur. But they were all idiots and none of them was aiming for the weak spots, instead they were just randomly shooting in the air, probably hoping for the animals to just run into the bullets. What a waste of ammo. Another four bandits ran out of the buildings, joining their teammates in the fight. All Rhys had to do was to wait and enjoy the show. After all the animals were defeated, only two bandits were left standing. Rhys had them already focused on their heads with his sniper rifle. Two clear shots were all there was needed for the town to become “of bandits and bullymongs free".

“Vault Hunter… Can you hear me?” Rhys jumped at the sound coming from a near old radio. “Oh good, the ancient thing is still working. My name is Sir Hammerlock. Thank you for clearing the town from bandits. And you brought Claptrap?! Well isn’t that…lovely. I am in the house with the large satellite on its roof. Let me just turn off the electric fence.”

Rhys headed through the town to the furthest building. “Please, Vault Hunter, let Claptrap go first.” The brunet stopped at the request, unsure why was it that this Sir Hammerlock wanted the unit to go before him. But then he noticed an electricity sparks on the gate. It’s still on?

Apparently, the unit didn’t notice, heading towards the fence. “I know Hammerlock very well. Me and him go way back. We are like a …” A sound of electricity spreading through metal spread across the empty city and Claptrap fell on his back.

“My sincerest apologies, Vault Hunter, but every time Claptrap speaks I feel my brain cells committing a suicide one by one.” Sir Hammerlock was coming from the now unlocked gate, smiling apologetically towards Rhys.

“Yeah, I can relate to that.” The Vault Hunter nodded, studying Hammerlock’s looks. He was a tall, slim guy in his mid-fortieth, dressed in the kind of clothes that archaeologists would wear. He had fancy glasses for only one eye. Classic. But what really got Rhys’ attention was his arm. It was a metallic prostatic, but his looked way older and less effective than the one Rhys owned.

“Hmm. This unit is missing his eye. You don’t happen to have it on you, do you.”

“Actually…Yeah. Here.” Rhys handed him Claptrap’s eye, using his robotic arm.

“Oh, would you look at that.” Sir commented when he spotted Rhys’ prostatic. “Looks like I found another member of fake limbs wearing club.”

“Guess you are right.” Rhys laughed, watching the man as he kneeled next to the unconscious unit. “Which type is it?”

“The basic one. Nothing compared to what you got.” Sir chuckled, pushing the eye into the robot’s socket with maybe too much strength for a delicate brain surgery.

“You know.” Rhys ran a hand through his hair. Damn, he will never get rid of that habit. “I could improve it for you, if you want.”

“What do you mean?” The man looked away from whatever he was doing on the robot’s head to face Rhys.

“When I got this,” Rhys pointed at the limb, “it was in the same shape as yours. But I made some improvements on it.” Sir didn’t respond. He just kept looking at Rhys with raised eyebrow. “What I am saying is that I can make it more flexible or maybe stronger? Depends on which you prefer. It’s not that hard, really, when you know what you are looking for.”

“And how much would that cost me?” Hammerlock was watching Rhys with stoned poker face.

“Cost? Oh, well…” Right. The only Vault Hunter who wouldn’t ask for money before doing anything. That’s Rhys for ya. “Well, I could use a shield? I lost mine when the train exploded.”

Rhys jumped as Sir Hammerlock unpredictably pushed on the eye one last time and it with a laud cracked turned on, blinked a couple time and Claptrap was functioning again. “Yeeaah I am back. And you, Vault Hunter are even better looking than I remember.”

Oh, god he is talking again.

“Correct me if I am wrong, Vault Hunter.” The man in archeologic clothes continued. “You want a shield for repairing my hand.”

“I mean…what I suggested was that…”

“That’s absolutely brilliant.” Hammerlock who was kneeling the whole time now jumped up facing Rhys with wide smile. “It’s unbelievably difficult task to find someone who knows his way around mechanical limbs in this area, and doesn’t cut your throat right after you pay him for the job.”

“Heh. I guess I know what you mean.” Rhys smiled, remembering that most of local population were mostly bandits and wild animals.

“We can do it right now, if you don’t have anything better to do.”

“Sure. Do you have any equipment that I could use? I lost mine when the train exploded.”

“I suppose I do. Come with me. It’s in this house.”

“Is the Vault Hunter going to do something with your lame looking arm?”

“The lame looking arm just fixed your ungrateful eye, but it can also break it without a problem. So, I would recommend you to remain silent while the Vault Hunter here is going to do his job.”

“Alrighty then. Don’t let me distract you. I will just wait he-” Sir Hammerlock didn’t wait for Claptrap to finish his sentence before shutting the door behind him.

“Ah, the robot will be my death one day.” Hammerlock sighed. “I don’t really have many tools because you see, aside from guns, most things on Pandora are barely impossible to find.”

Rhys quickly scanned the room. It was small and dark. Didn’t really make the impression of a room that has been inhabited by someone for a longer period of time. There were some personal stuff lying around, like bags filled with clothes, some equipment probably used for archaeology or something? Rhys wouldn’t know.

“The working table is over there.” Sir pointed at an iron piece of furniture. Rhys nodded, sitting on one of the wooden chairs that were next to the table. “Give me a moment, I will go get an equipment that you can use. Would you care for a cup of coffee when I am at it?”

“Yes please. With milk and sugar.”

The man nodded murmuring something about the first Vault Hunter who puts a sugar in his coffee. Sir Hammerlock disappeared into the other room, giving Rhys more time to look around. He noticed a frame with a picture of a young pretty lady dressed in a blue coat. Her skin had the same shade as Mr’s Hammerlock’s. He also noticed some other familiar features like the shape of her nose and the distance between her eyebrows. She was looking at the photograph with strict expression in her ice blue eyes.

“Ah, Aurelia, my sister. Terrible woman. She punched a puppy once. Said she wanted to know how it would sound like.” Hammerlock said, holding a tool box in one hand, and plate with two cups in the other.

“She looks familiar.” Rhys mumbled.

“Well. She is a Vault Hunter. You might have heard of her. She likes to call herself the Baroness. Describes her quite well, I would say.”

Baroness. That’s right. Rhys had the honour to meet her in one of the bars on Eden 4. But he’d never spoken to her. He only managed to overhear her dialogue with one guy, who probably hired her to do some job for him and didn’t want to pay her for it afterwards. So, she froze his neck. Just the neck. She turned all the meat, all the muscles into one big piece of ice and watched him as he gasped for air on the floor, blood running out of his nose. His face turned grotesquely purple and his swollen lips gained a weird shade of blue. Rhys heard her laugh as the whites of the man’s eyes turned red and begun to bleed, wheezing out his last breath. “Nope. Never heard of her. Let’s take a look at the arm, shall we?”

Sir Hammerlock nodded, sipping the drink out of his cup, and moved to sit on the other side of the table. Rhys opened the bag with his equipment. It was nothing special. The basic stuff you can find in everyone’s garage, but it will do just fine.

“So, tell me.” Rhys started, while opening the metal cover to see how the basic structure of the hand looked like. “How did you and Claptrap meet?”

“Oh well, it happened a while back. Short after Handsome Jack turned off the whole claptrap product line.” Sir Hammerlock started to tell the story, eyes locked on Rhys’ working fingers. “Well, almost the whole product line. I have been here for a while before that, studying bullymongs and other animals, when I saw a Hyperion convoy heading to the long abandoned Vault Hunter’s hideout. I noticed they were dumping some old robots’ parts in there before, so I went to check if there was something useful this time.” He went silent for a while, watching as Rhys played with the joints. “It was sad. To see so many of the robots, just lying there. I was never really a fan of the units. They were all kinda annoying and only making things worse everywhere they were employed, but still. Seeing them like that? Just didn’t seem right.” Another silence, only interrupted by Rhys’ working fingers. “Then I noticed a light in one of the unit’s eye. As if still fighting for life. It made a great impression on me. So, I brought him here. Repaired him and let him live here with me for a while. Before he decided that life with me is too boring and went to see the bandits. I haven’t seen him so often ever since.”

“Why would he want to go to bandits?”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful question my friend. But I worry that I am not the right person to ask. You might wanna talk to our robotic companion about it.”

Rhys sighed. “I guess. Well it will have to wait after I finish your arm. Do you by any chance have some Pagani Huayra bolts lying around?

***

It’s been more than five hours after he made his announcement about the price on Rhys’ head and still no respond. Those idiots on Pandora have only one job! Get him the head of the pretty Vault Hunter. One Vault Hunter! And he even offered to pay them for it. Honestly, after everything he had done for them, they should trip over themselves when it comes to returning him a favour.

Jack turned away from the photo of mentioned Vault Hunter. It was now set as a wallpaper on his computer screen. For the sake of irony of course.

He needs to distract himself away from him. Or he will go mad and break something–or someone–again.

“Meg!” Jack yelled into the microphone knowingly scaring the shit out of his young secretary.

The respond came–as always–immediately. “Yes, sir?”

“I feel like shopping. Tell me sweetheart, what’s the most expensive thing on the market right now?”

#choke on it #borderlands #rhack #fanfic #rhys #Handsome Jack

4 notes · View notes

edenwinchester · 7 years

Text

My Kingdom for a Horse -Eden Marie Series Part 7

Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Characters: Eden Winchester, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Mary Winchester (mentioned), Castiel (Mentioned)

Warnings: Language, Mention of Death

Word Count: 3241

Summary: Eden is working on a case during her spring break together with Sam and Dean

Author’s Note: I’m bad at titles. Sorry.

The case was easy: Two dead horses, their hearts ripped out, found in their boxes in the stables of Benaiah Van den Berg’s ranch around 2 a.m. Their death was similar to those of Mr. Burton’s sheep, who had his farm only a mile away from Eden’s godfather’s ranch.

Eden’s spring break had been rather boring until last night. All she did was going horseback riding in the Davy Crockett National Forest during daytime and binge watching series on Netflix at night. Only once her godfather’s new wife Polina took her to Houston for a shopping trip. Of course, that didn’t sound so bad, but now Eden that knew there was a werewolf to hunt everything appeared less exciting. Since the alarm system went off in the middle of the night, she couldn’t think of anything else but finding the monster that slaughtered two of Benaiah’s best stallions. Eden collected all the fact in a file including a map of the ranch and surrounding where she marked every house, farm or cabin in a radius of two miles, which she presented Sam and Dean after they arrived at the ranch to help Ben with his issue.

“I gotta admit I’m impressed, Eden,” Dean told his daughter.

“Yeah, you did a quite good job, Baby.” Sam agreed with him.

Eden smiled proudly. Maybe the research paid off and her dad would tag her along when they went out to hunt the werewolf. She just didn’t know when and especially how to break the news to them.

“So what are we-” she started her question, but then she saw how her dad and her uncle raised their eyebrows, “I mean you, what are you gonna do next?”

Dean looked at his brother before he answered her, “Sam and I might check out the boxes where the horses were killed.”

“I already did, there’s nothing. No footprints, no leaf of a special tree that only grows in a certain place in the woods,” Eden said dramatically “no weird smells apart from the smell of straw, horse droppings and… blood” Her voice started to shake at the end of the sentence.

“Well, maybe you should let us take a look at it because, we-” her dad pointed with his finger at Sam, then at himself and then back to Sam, “are professionals.”

Eden groaned and shot a helpless glance at Sam, who only smirked back. “Fine, I’ll show you the boxes!”

The stables were empty, the other horses were in the paddock, only Jordan the stable boy was mucking out the boxes. Eden led the boys to the place where the two stallions got slaughtered. It took them a while to inspect every corner of the two boxes.

“You were right. Nothing.” Sam said after a few minutes.

Dean groaned. “Awesome, now we have to check out every cabin on the map to find that thing. It’s gonna take us hours!”

“Not if you two split up.” Eden suggested, “Or maybe…”

“Sam and I won’t split up, Eden. So maybe what?” her dad asked her.

“Or maybe I could go with you.” The teenager said, but it sounded more like a question than an offer. The two men snorted amusedly. “What? Didn’t I just prove that really can help you?”

“No Eden. You wanted to help and that’s great and we’ll give you all the credit you want for that, but you’re not gonna go out there and risk your life for a bunch of horses.” Dean meant, lowering his voice in case Jordan could hear them.

She gave him a pleading look. “Please Daddy, please.”

“Quit begging, Eden. I said No!” he tried to explain. “And don’t Daddy me!”

“Sammy?” Eden tried the same thing with her uncle.

“No Baby, I’m with Dean on this.”

She crossed her arms and stared away. Dean rolled his eyes before he and Sam left her alone in the stables. Of course, they’d say no. To be honest she’d never expected them to say anything other than that. Now Eden was extremely mad at herself because she spent the night researching instead of sleeping.

After storming out of the stables angrily, Eden joined her father who was checking his guns in the trunk of his car. “You’re so unfair!” she yelled, “You and Sam were already hunting before you turned thirteen! I’m almost sixteen, Dad. You can’t keep me from hunting forever, it’s in my blood. I’d be a damn good hunter if you’d just let me, you know that!”

Dean closed the trunk so quickly that he almost bruised Sam’s fingers. At the sound of the slam, Eden flinched.

“Fine!” was all he said with his usually deep voice.

“Dude…What?” Sam protested and watched his brother getting in the Impala. Eden looked confused at her uncle. “Does that mean I can come?”

“No!” he answered her, “Dean, you can’t be serious.”

“I am being serious. If Missy thinks she can hunt I say we take her on a hunt. I don’t have the nerves for another fight with her.”

The teenager took her usual seat in the back of the car with a smugly smile on her face.

“Oh and you better watch your tone when you’re talking to me!” Dean reminded her, which shut down her smile quickly.

After hours of breaking into cabins and abandoned houses, the Winchesters decided to go deeper into the forest. It was already getting dark and Eden was already getting tired, but she didn’t complain, she wouldn’t give her father and uncle that kind of satisfaction. After a while, she was so tired that she doze off for a second and stumbled which caused her to fall down.

“I’m okay!” She said, feeling a little dizzy when Sam and Dean helped her up. “I’m fine."

Dean seemed to have lost his strict father attitude because he gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. "I’m sure we’re close. We j-”

He got interrupted by a gunshot echoing through the trees.

“Was that a gun?” Sam asked looking around.

“Of course, these are hunting grounds. The wildlife service has its cabin like ten minutes back that way.” Eden said pointing at the road the just walked up.

“And you couldn’t think about telling us ten minutes ago?” Dean stared at his daughter, who seemed a little over-challenged with the whole situation.

She took a deep breath. “Well… Didn’t we already checked it out?”

Sam gave her a worried look before he turned around to his brother, “We should go.”

The boys started running and Eden had to follow them. She arrived at the cabin about two minutes later than the others. There was a conversation coming from inside between her father and some other man that Eden didn’t know. Completely out of breath she loaded her gun and walked inside. Sam and Dean, both with their backs turned to her, were pointing their guns at two other men, who also had their guns pointing at them. On the floor behind them lied a dead body. Eden stepped closer to her uncle so she could have a better look at the strangers. The smaller one turned out to be Jordan, the stable boy, so Eden figured the older and taller one, who kind of looked like him, was his father. In the very few talks, Eden and he had before he mentioned to her that he was living with his father since his parents’ divorce.

“What is going on here?” Eden asked while she lowered her gun, staring at Jordan.

“Stay back Eden,” Sam said trying to guard her.

She gave Jordan’s father a quizzing look, pointing at the corpse behind him. “Is that the werewolf?”

“Hush Eden!” Dean ordered his daughter.

“Are you guys hunters too?” Jordan’s father asked them whilst lowering his gun too.

Sam glanced at his older brother, then at Eden before he put his gun away. “Yeah, we are. I’m Sam, this is my brother Dean and my niece, Eden.” He extended his hand to the other hunter.

“My name is Ray and that’s my son Jordan,” Ray said and shook Sam’s hand.

“We’ve been looking for that werewolf for some time now. We hunted his pack down in Arkansas but he managed to escape.” Jordan explained to the Winchesters.

After they buried the dead werewolf in the woods, Ray drove them to the place where Dean had parked his Baby. The men had decided to have a drink together and trade some stories before they’d go separate ways.

“Does your dad always takes you hunting with him?” Dean asked his arms crossed. His question got Eden to pay attention to their conversation.

The teenage boy looked at him confused. “Like most of the time he does. Why are you asking?”

“What about school? You still go there, right? I mean you can’t be older than sixteen.” Sam said, not responding to his last question.

“I’m seventeen and yeah, I still go to school.”

Before Sam and Dean could continue their cross-examination Ray came back from his van with a bottle of whiskey in his hands. “I don’t have any glasses but…”

“We’ll be fine.” Dean smiled.

Eden sighed. That was going to be a long night. After a couple of bad jokes and half a bottle whiskey later Dean was telling them the story of the Winchester Family Business with Sam commenting after every second sentence he said. Bored to death Eden sat on the hood of her dad’s car, going through her classmates snapchat story for the third time, trying to find out if Matt had a new girlfriend. Not that she cared, but when she came back from spring break she needed something to gossip about with Florence Atackley.

“So you’re a Winchester.” Jordan interrupted her lurking. “I always thought Benaiah was your father.”

She put her phone in the pocket of her sweatshirt and looked at him. Boy, was he hot! The muscles under his shirt, his almost black eyes, his dark skin. Eden wished boys at her school would look like that. She bit her lower lip. “Huh? No No No. See, Ben’s my godfather… and my mother’s cousin, that explains why we have the same last name.”

“And you’ve been hunting with your dad and uncle since she died?” he asked and sat down next to her. Eden noticed how her dad turned around to them for a second before he got back to his conversation.

“Well, actually I was on my first hunt today and that wasn’t really a hunt thanks to you,” Eden told him while she raised her eyebrows a little annoyed because of that.

“I’m sorry for that,” he gave a charming smile, “Maybe I can make it up to you some time.”

She smiled back, “I’m sure you can.”

Dean, who had heard every word, turned around again and knocked on his Impalas hood twice. “And I’m sure you cannot. Get in the car, Edie. We’re going home.”

Eden rolled her eyes and said goodbye to Jordan and his father before she got on the back seat. Sam, who sat down in the shotgun, looked at her and shook his head to show her his disapproval.

Even more annoyed Eden leaned out of the open car window and glanced over to her father who was talking to Ray alone. He spoke with lowered voice but Eden could hear what they were talking about.

“…Maybe you are too far down that road, but you have to keep your son away from it. My father, he raised Sam and me to become hunters, but we never actually had the chance to live a normal life. That’s why I’ve been trying to keep Eden from hunting. You can’t imagine the things I went through and I don’t want this to happen to her too. So, as a hunter and as a father I’m telling you to make sure Jordan doesn’t go down that path, ever.”

What Dean just said was nothing new to his daughter. She knew he had always felt that way. Eden leaned back in her seat. It may have been a stupid idea of begging him to tag her along, but she just wanted to be close to him and Sam since she only got to see them so infrequently. And now that her grandmother was back from death Eden didn’t even need to try to become their center of attention again.

“So? Do you think there is still food left from dinner?” Dean asked when he got in the car.

By asking that he made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to talk about what Eden just heard, so she just played along. “Maybe but you wouldn’t want to eat that. Since Polina moved in we always have some weird stuff for lunch and dinner. Something with celery and leek. She even made me eat a beet casserole.”

“What a cruel woman,” Sam said amused.

Suddenly Eden rubbed her eyes sleepily then looked at the rearview mirror just to realize the both men were watching her.

“Aw, Baby is tired!” her uncle teased her and Dean laughed.

She punched his shoulder. “Yes, I am. Can’t we just go?”

Her father nodded and started the engine. For a while, they drove in silence back to Benaiah’s ranch. Eden leaned over the back of the front seat, her head between Sam’s and Dean’s shoulders. She knew how much it annoyed them but she did it anyways.

“Are you guys already heading home tomorrow?” Eden asked them. Her dad and uncle never really liked her godfather, that’s why they never really stayed longer that they had to.

“No” Dean answered. “We’re leaving on Saturday and our coming with us, you have school on Monday, forgot?”

She shook her head, “No, I did not. But Saturday is in two days. Are you sure you want to leave Mary alone at home so long? Not that I want you to leave but… does she even know how to use the coffee maker or the microwave?” The corner of Deans mouth twitched. “It’s very kind of you that you worry about your grandmother but it’s the other way around, actually.” He said in a sad tone. “See Eden, Mom left us.”

“Uh?” Eden arched her eyebrow but then she noticed their sad looks. “Well, I’m sorry for that.”

“No need to, Champ.”

She wrapped an arm around each of them to cheer them up a little. “You have to look at the bright side of it: You still got me and I sure as hell won’t leave you!”

It didn’t really cheer them up, she knew it didn’t, but they smiled anyway. “I know you won’t,” Dean said and he sounded only half as sad as before.

Later that night, Eden was already in bed, Dean walked into her bedroom and sat down next to her.

“I think we should talk about today, Champ,” He told her and Eden moaned.

Sam already did that for about twenty minutes, without coming to a conclusion. “Like I already said before, you did a good job investigating the case-”

“But at the end, it wasn’t really worth anything” she interrupted him, pulling her blanket up to her chin.

“No, listen to me. You did great, Champ. Sam and I could really need your help sometimes.”

Eden glanced away from the TV to her father, half surprised half worried. “I thought I was the only one who bumped her head today.”

Dean smirked and shook his head. “The thing is, if we let you investigate for us, you’ll start to hunt soon and you know I don’t like the idea of you being a hunter. But like you said, you’re a Winchester, I mean you’re also a fancy ass Van den Berg, but you’re still a Winchester and, as hard as it might be for me to admit that, it means you’re also a hunter. Believe me, I wish it was different. You don’t have the slightest idea of what’s going on in our world, you think you do but you don’t. Which is why I’m gonna show you…”

The whole speech Eden stared at her father, wondering if he was possessed or something. The Dean she knew had sent her to a fancy ass boarding school, with her godfather’s money, because he didn’t want her to be involved in the hunting life.

“… until you wish I would’ve beaten you ass after you yelled at me this afternoon instead of tagging you along!”

She sighed in relief, which confused her dad. “Look, Daddy, I’m not that into hunting and, to be honest with you, I’m not that into spankings either.” Eden joked. Her dad never laid hand on her even if he said he would a hundred times already, so that wouldn’t scare her unless it was coming out of Sam’s mouth. “I just don’t want to be alone at home the whole time. Even with Cass home, it doesn’t change, all he does is nothing except driving me to school and picking me up afterward. You guys could just take me with you more often.” She saw how Dean opened his mouth to interrupt her, but she knew what he wanted to say. “I know I have to go to school, but I’m in sophomore year and I’m fifteen. I can go to school for the next four years tops!”

Dean gasped shockingly. “That means two years extra you are going to spent with Sam and me.”

“Would you bother?”

“Of course I wouldn’t,” he said stroking her hair, “You…You are my Baby Girl.”

“I know that Daddy” Eden smiled at him. He hadn’t called her Baby Girl in years, not since John gave him his car. “You wanna join Sammy and me for a movie night?”

“A movie night? It’s after midnight, I can’t believe Sam said agreed to that.” Dean didn’t sound angry or anything, he sounded rather calm.

Right in that moment, Sam walked in holding the complete Hobbit trilogy in his hand. He made a surprised face after he saw the two of them staring at him. “What?”

“C’mon Dad. Join us!” Eden offered again, while Sam put The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the DVD player.

“Fine!” Dean gave in, “But as soon as you two start geeking around and comparing the book to the movies I’m out.”

“We won’t!” she promised him, shooting cheeky smirk at Sam who winked back at her. Both of them knew that Dean would be asleep in fifteen minutes.

So Eden laid in bed between her dad and her uncle, humming the soundtrack to the movie, feeling extremely happy at the moment.

I don’t own these GIFs.

Tags:

@straightasdeanwinchester @daughters-and-winsisters

#dean winchester #Sam Winchester #Uncle!Sam #Daddy!Dean #winchester!daughter #deanxdaughter #supernatural #supernatural one shot #supernatural imagine #supernatural fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn one shot #spn imagine #SPN #castiel #eden winchester #writingwinchesterscontest

17 notes · View notes

inkribbon796 · 3 years

Text

Lost Pages Ch. 1: A Very Scary Book

Summary: Silver and some of the heroes face off against some of the most dangerous members of a very dangerous gang. Even if these two don’t really look the part.

A/N: For Silver’s birthday. This arc along with other things will be having an undercurrent of Dream SMP characters and them messing around with what the heroes are doing. There’s a bunch of the actual canon I had to chuck in the bin to fit the AU but fortunately Skeppy and Bad being BFF’s got to stay completely unscathed. This means that while I will spoil some of the SMP you do not have to be caught up to know what these characters are doing.

Chapters: 1, 2

“So what was taken?” Silver asked as Marvin was reading through the large magical tome with a terse frown on his face.

“Looks like some dusty old nonsense,” Chase commented.

Silver, Marvin, and Chase were inside of a small, cramped office at an auction house. Abe was outside getting eye witness testimony for the record.

“Where’dyah[1] get these?” Marvin closed the book and took his leg down from where he’d perched it on his knee.

“A retired police captain in Brighton, we get weird stuff all the time,” the auction house manager answered.

~::~ Five Hours Earlier ~::~

The auction house was bustling with people. Lots of high society people who were willing to pay a fortune for things that looked nice, but that they didn’t actually care about.

It was a charity event that doubled as a suit and tie occasion. It made two of the attendants stick out like sore thumbs. One because he was in a red in-lined black cloak over his black suit that helped him hide various distinctive features, and he physically towered over 99% of the other patrons. And the second was because of the light blue suit and a tuft of blue hair amidst dark, black hair, he was a little bit over half the size of his companion.

People were staring and some of the braver patrons tried to make small talk and they acted pleasant enough during the meet and greet and silent auction portion of the event.

Everything at the party was going well until the actual live auction portion began. Bidding over one particular item became fierce between the distinctive duo and two different collectors.

When the duo were unable to keep raising the bet and subsequently lost, the patron in the blue suit threw down some kind of vial and smoke filled the auction hall. The crowd became a stampede as a pair of blood red eyes glowed from the smoke and there was a flurry of wings before the display case was attacked and in the chaos of smoke and screams the tall patron stole four of the five books. The fifth only being spared when an auction house assistant reflexively tried to pull the case back and the old book flopped onto the ground, bending some of the pages in the process. But in the smoke and the chaos, the assailants managed to blend in with the crowd enough to escape outside where they disappeared with their stolen books.

Police and ambulances were called immediately and Abe arrived on the scene. When traces of magic were found, Abe called in some of the heroes to help.

~::~ Present Time ~::~

“So they must’a[2] known what these things were,” Marvin carefully set the book back on the desk.

“What is it?” Chase leaned closer to get a better look at the book.

Marvin stood up and took the book away, helping an assistant put it back into a protective case. “Dark magic. That book is one ‘a[3] the nastiest I’ve seen in a while. We need ta[4] find the others, people don’t just accidentally steal dark magic books.”

“So like necromancy?” Abe asked.

“Oh no, necromancy is the tip ‘a[3] the dark magic ice berg,” Marvin corrected. “Any mage with their head up their arse[5] can do necromancy.”

“Hmmm,” Chase nodded and hummed, but didn’t offer any other comment than that.

“What?” Marvin gave him the stink eye.

“Nah, nothin’, keep goin’,”[6] Chase insisted.

Marvin glared at him a little bit longer.

“So,” Silver stepped in to distract the conversation, “we know anything?”

Abe didn’t look happy. “One of the individuals was in a black cloak and super tall, another had blue hair and they were acting all nice until they lost the bidding war. Then they used some kind of smoke bomb and then they stole the book.”

“We got any names?” Silver asked.

“Not that anyone could remember after the panic they caused,” Abe sighed. “Fortunately this isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with at least the tall one.”

“Career thief?” Silver asked, they’d dealt with those types of people before, magical or not.

“No, the opposite, in fact,” Abe set his hands on his hips as an officer raced in to give him a thick file. “Oh, thanks.”

“So, a while ago, something like twenty years, I was working on a case to help bust up some cult,” Abe took a deep breath. “The cult went by the name of the Eggpire and they operated just outside of Egoton’s east forest, and usually if the authorities left them alone they left people alone. All they would do was vandalism and just do the whole “end is nigh, accept it” thing on the street corner.”

“What changed?” Marvin asked.

“One person in the cult was a double agent,” Abe reported. “He reported they were abusing the children in the cult and died to help bring the police in. I lost a partner that day. I’d managed to bury the case in the back of my mind until I heard reports of one of the guys who stole these books was described to me.”

“Was he part ‘a[3] the cult?” Chase asked.

“No,” Abe asked firmly and took several pictures out of the folder he had. “He was one of the kids.”

There was one group picture of seven kids, and seven individual head shots of the kids. Five boys, and two girls; all of them had fierce red eyes that almost seemed to glow with unearthly brightness. One of the boys, clearly the eldest but even he looked very young, probably no older than five or six. He was in almost all black clothes with black hair and skin even darker than midnight. The youngest child was a girl who didn’t even look old enough to walk.

“Not really the type of person who blends in with a crowd, is he?” Abe commented.

Jackie looked at the group picture, trying to come up with some kind of joke to lighten the mood, because they desperately needed one. “Did Dark adopt one ‘a ‘em when we had our backs turned?”[7]

“Actually, if I heard my sources correct, he did,” Abe admitted and pointed to the older of the two girls. “Apparently that’s Yan.”

Taking a deep breath, Jackie responded, “I was tryin’ ta lighten the mood.”

“Fook,”[8] Chase cursed. “Geez, when Kay told us their lives were shite b’fore they got ta Dark, he wasn’t jokin’ around.”[9]

“Okay, yeh[10] can give the bastard ‘father ‘a[3] the year’ later,” Marvin spat at Chase, the two glaring at each other for a bit.

“Anyways,” Abe continued. “When the arrests happened all the kids we found were seized by social services and most of them were able to go to extended family, except for Yan who only had family in the cult and had to be put up for adoption. After a while she just disappeared from the system and that must have been when Dark took her under his wing.”

“Seems like it,” Silver agreed, studying the picture still in Jackie’s hand, “can we get a copy of this?”

“Yeah, give me a second,” Abe told him and a copy of the group picture was quickly printed and handed to Silver as the Septics turned their attention back to talking to the manager again.

“We’ve already gotten three threatening calls to turn over the last book,” the manager warned.

“Tell them we have it,” Chase told the manager. “Maybe we can bullshite them fer a little bit, until we figure out what ta do.”[11]

“I’ll do you one even better,” the manager said and put the case right into Chase’s hands. “No book is worth my life, we’ll tell the dude who won the auction that it was damaged or stolen as well or something. The payment wasn’t even finalized.”

“Yeah,” Marvin agreed, reaching for the book before Chase pulled it away.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Chase pulled it away. “I don’t want yeh to be able ta raise another teenager from the dead.”[12]

“Let that go, Average,” Marvin ordered. “What are yeh e’en gonna do with that thin’?”[13]

“Keep it away from yah[10]?” Chase told him, then turned to the manager. “Can I get some gloves or somethin’[14]?”

“Yeah,” the manager pulled out some gloves for him. Chase took the gloves and quickly popped open the case and leafed through the book a little bit, frowning.

“We need an expert fer this thin’,”[15] Chase decided.

“I am right here,” Marvin reminded, blatantly offended.

“I meant fer[16] the weird symbols in here,” Chase corrected firmly, glaring at him. “I think I saw King working on some ‘a[3] these a while back. So he probably knows what these are.”

“Oh,” Marvin seemed to forgive Chase a little bit.

The heroes left to go and find King, Abe staying at the scene of the crime. However, for once King wasn’t at his park or the base. So their next guess for where he might be was with Dark. Who was a little harder to locate but Marvin began dowsing to find Dark’s aura trail.

The demon was in her red soul form with Yan, which Silver immediately decided that this was a great time to ask Dark where King was and to ask Yan how much she remembered.

It would probably amount to nothing, but it was always worth a shot.

Dark, of course, saw them coming and was waiting patiently with her aura curling around her and Yan.

“Another fight, heroes?” Dark smiled, fingers drumming on the table. They two were outside of some cafe, Dark always perfectly in the shade, Yan smiling in the warm sunlight as it warmed her skin, her sunglasses shielding her eyes.

“We actually wanted to talk to Yan,” Silver told them.

“Me?” Yan asked, pointing to herself, sitting up before Dark held out a hand.

“Whatever questions you have, you can ask it from a distance,” Dark warned.

“Yeah, we can do that,” Silver held up his hands, feet touching the floor. He pulled the copy of the photo he’d gotten from Abe. He held it out for Dark and Yan to see. “Have either of you heard of the Eggpire?”

“Am I supposed to know who a bunch of children are?” Dark asked, her aura plucking the photo from Silver’s hand to examine it closer.

“Yan’s folks were part ‘a[3] them,” Chase told Dark, keeping his hands in his pockets.

Dark went completely still, her echoes screaming and ringing shrill before it deafened and she passed the photo behind her to Yan. Yan looked at the photo in confusion. “I don’t . . .” She looked up at Dark, “I don’t know who anyone in this photo is.”

“Are her birth parents trying to get in contact with her?” Dark asked and Yan had a look of panic on her face, her hand curling into fists into her skirt.

“No,” Silver answered. “We’re just dealing with some of the other kids and we wanted to ask on the off-chance Yan knew something.”

“I don’t know anything!” Yan yelled immediately, a hysterical note to her voice. “I don’t want to talk to them! I don’t want to go with them.”

Chase took a step forward, mouth opening to start trying to calm Yan down, but Dark beat him to it, cocooning her only daughter in aura like a blanket.

“You’re not,” Dark promised, using her aura to dry her eyes. “You’re not going anywhere you don’t want to be.”

Yan snuffled and leaned into Dark’s aura.

Dark turned to the heroes, planning on dismissing the heroes and tossing the offending photo their way.

Chase was quicker.

“Abe was on some case a long time ago,” Chase cut in, taking another step closer. “The feds were busting up some demon cult, the kind that — fer once — worshipped demons. They had some kids that they had ta separate from their folks an’ one ‘a them had ta go inta state care. Probably wouldn’t be good fer these guys ta talk ta Yan again with how they probably treated the kids.”[17]

The Entity nodded “Yes, you understand our reservations, the last time one of Wil’s children were contacted by a family member, Yancy was put in prison.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Chase agreed. Then to the other heroes’ alarm he walked up and showed Dark the book.

“So yeh can’t keep this,” Chase prefaced, taking the book out of the case and flipping to the symbols he had seen while Marvin was reading it.

“Average!” Marvin balked.

Dark tried to take the book but Chase pulled it away, “Nah, I don’t think so.”

The Entity gave him an amused little smile and Chase couldn’t help but mimic the smile a little.

“No,” Chase smiled, “yah[10] don’t get ta[4] keep it.”

“I won’t,” Dark chuckled a little, leaning closer to get a better look at the book.

“Yeah right, like yah’d[18] give up the chance ta[4] get a book like this in yer[19] collection,” Chase couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. He would realize it until much later, when he was back home and replaying the scene in his head that he shouldn’t have been . . . he hadn’t meant to . . . he’d been teasing Dark in front of her own daughter and his teammates. “I’ll be holdin’ onta it.”[20]

Dark ripped the book out of his hand, “You think you’re much more clever than you actually are.”

“Hey,” Chase couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. “Give that back.”

The Entity opened the book to a page or two, ignoring Chase pointedly for a second before actually handing it back to him. “Do everyone a favor and burn it.”

“Is it that bad?” Chase chuckled.

“I have no use for the senseless ramblings of a bunch of children, and I’ve certainly seen worse,” Dark told him.

“Yeah, well we’re lookin’ fer King so we can get it translated,”[21] Chase told her.

“Oh, yes, I saw him and Lunky earlier,” Dark began to explain, her hand already moving to open up a portal before she startled and threw her aura in front of Chase as a crossbow bolt would have hit Chase directly in the chest but Dark protected him.

Down the street there were the two thieves, the dark one in the cloak and another in a blue hoodie with his blue tuft of hair. The blue one had a crossbow and was pointing it at Chase.

“We’re going to need that book,” the blue one ordered, a steely look in his eyes.”

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

Accessibility Translations:

1. Where did you

2. must have

3. of

4. to

5. ass

6. Nah, nothing, keep going

7. Did Dark adopt one of them when we had our backs turned?

8. Fuck

9. Geez, when Kay told us their lives were shit before they got to Dark, he wasn’t joking around.

10. you

11. Maybe we can bullshit them for a little bit, until we figure out what to do.

12. I don’t want you to be able to raise another teenager from the dead.

13. What are you even gonna do with that thing?

14. something

15. We need an expert for this thing

16. for

17. The feds were busting up some demon cult, the kind that — for once — worshipped demons. They had some kids that they had to separate from their folks and one of them had to go into state care. Probably wouldn’t be good for these guys to talk to Yan again with how they probably treated the kids.

18. you would

19. your

20. I’ll be holding onto it.

21. Yeah, well we’re looking for King so we can get it translated

8 notes · View notes