#he drew a picture of her sleeping for those that are curious :3
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Sketches in the Rain
April 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo Day 1
OC x Arthur Morgan || SFW || 889 words
AO3
Rose and Arthur wait out the storm in the woods, and Arthur keeps himself occupied with the scenery.
“We can wait it out in here,” Arthur said, leading his horse into the nearby woods.
Rose followed behind, her own horse following Arthur’s as it navigated over the brush and roots. They expected rain, the gray clouds had littered the sky since the morning, but the sudden deluge made it near-impossible to see just a few feet in front of them.
Once a safe distance from the road, Arthur hitched his horse to a tree and Rose did the same, each sliding off their rides. Even under the canopy of branches and leaves, the rain snuck through every gap. Each drip into Rose’s soaked hair sent a shiver through her body.
“I hope this shit don’t last,” Rose muttered as she wrung out the water from her braid. She looked up at Arthur approaching her, his boots squelching in the mud. “What?” she asked, her tone sharper than intended.
He let out a soft huff through his nose before grabbing his hat off his head and placing it on hers.
Warmth filled her cheeks as she reached up to touch it.
“Can’t get a fire goin’, but…” He shrugged. “Might warm you up a bit.”
Rose blinked at him. “Thanks,” she said.
With a curt nod and something akin to a smile, he turned away from her and toward the direction of the road. It was odd seeing him without his gambler hat; he barely took it off even when in camp, but she was grateful for it, and a touch… well, ‘giddy’ wasn’t quite the right word, but she felt something silly like that.
Arthur had taken a few steps out, standing with his hands on his hips watching the rain as though he could stop it through sheer will. Arthur was something, but Rose had little faith in his abilities to control the weather. She opted to sit on a rock that happened to be lying beside a tree; not much else to do besides sit and wait. And wait. And wait some more.
Her companion rotated between pacing, petting the horses, trying his luck with giving the rain the stink-eye, and sighing in impatience. Rose didn’t offer much in the way of small talk; neither of them did. She didn’t care for it, and she figured Arthur didn’t either. Content with just listening to the rain and the sound of Arthur’s boots in the mud, Rose leaned back and let her chin fall against her sternum. The brim of Arthur’s hat obscured her view, so she simply closed her eyes and let the scent of wet dirt and rain and its soft serenade lull her to sleep.
She heard a light scraping sound, but it was the lack of the sound of Arthur’s restlessness that woke her. She had no idea how long she’d slept. Panic gripped her moment until she looked up. Arthur was sat across from her, leaning against his own tree with his head buried in his notebook, his hand furiously scribbling away.
He stopped, and she quickly dropped her head back down, appearing to still be asleep; she’d seen him write in that notebook often, though never saw what exactly he filled it with. Arthur would always stop to mark a particularly interesting spot or odd formation or building; Rose hadn’t any idea what was so interesting about the woods, but it didn’t hurt to give him the silence and privacy to finish up whatever he was writing.
It was almost amusing, listening to the dragging of his pen stop for a few moments before frantically beginning again, only to stop some minutes later. The pattern continued for a while, and Rose was close to falling back to sleep until she heard his pen stop entirely. She waited a bit, expecting him to continue again, but he didn’t.
Lifting her head, she saw him staring intently at the page. As if feeling her eyes on him, he glanced up and quickly closed his notebook.
“You find something worth writin’ about?” Rose asked.
A faint blush covered his rough cheeks and disappeared into his stubble. “Just passin’ time,” he grunted as he pushed himself up to his feet.
“Rain’s stopped,” Rose remarked. “Could’a woke me up.”
“Figured you needed a rest if you managed to pass out on a rock,” he replied. “But since you’re up…” He held his hand out to her.
She took it, his hand strong and calloused against hers. He pulled her up effortlessly and she offered a short nod of thanks. They untied their horses and headed back toward the road. The ground was still soaked, and the air still smelled of a fresh storm, but the sun was bright, catching on the moisture in the sky and creating a rainbow in front of them.
“So,” Rose began, looking over at Arthur, “what was it that you were writin’?”
“Nothin’,” he said. “Was drawin’.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then what were you drawin’?”
“The scenery.” He smirked.
“Trees. You drew trees.” Rose shook her head. “Gettin’ more’n two words outta you sometimes is like pullin’ teeth.”
“That hat fits you real good,” he said. “There you go.” He counted on his fingers. “Six words right there.”
Her eyes rolled again as her face warmed. “Right. Thanks.”
He chuckled, and they continued on down the road toward camp.
#red dead redemption#rdr2#rdo#arthur morgan#red dead redemption 2#red dead online#rdr#rdr2 fanfic#rdo fanfic#rose clarke#fic: radrabble#he drew a picture of her sleeping for those that are curious :3#I know I'm a day late on Day 1 of camp nanowrimo BUT I had some technical issues yesterday and couldn't use my computer#camp nano april 2022#alxxiis actually wrote something
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Fairy Godfather, part 3
Summary: The fairies have asked a monumental favor of Killian: be the surrogate for their babies—all nine of them. He’s been pregnant before, but this? This is a whole other level. What has he gotten himself into? And just how big will he get?
A/N: Another update! Thank you to @sancocnutclub for her continued encouragement...which will be very apparent in part 4 ;)
rated T / 2.4k words / part 1 / part 2 / AO3
Though he had just passed the first trimester mark in this oversized pregnancy, Killian was pleased to find he was not lacking in the energy department. Granted, his first pregnancy had been similar—he’d had the most energy during the second trimester, despite the increasing size of his belly.
But his belly was a fraction of the size back then. Now, at 13 weeks, it was much closer to the size he’d been at 35 weeks with Hope. But he had yet to slow down—as evidenced by his and Emma’s morning activities; he was even on top.
There was no denying his present form was bulky, but he’d been too fatigued at this size with Hope to do much but sleep and eat. That was not a problem now, and both he and Emma were reaping the benefits. Reaching orgasm while she was caressing his bump? It was impossible to describe how amazing that felt.
However, he’d hardly finished when Hope began to cry out from her nursery. As much as he was still feeling good, moving did take a bit more effort than it had. This bump also weighed as much as his last one, and was only going to get heavier; at least it hadn’t dropped yet. But it meant that Emma was still quicker to her feet than he was, and sprang up to retrieve their 13 month old before she tried to climb out of her crib on her own.
Hope finally figured out walking a month or so ago—just in time for her first birthday—and he was well aware of the comical sight he’d made at her party, chasing after her with his protruding stomach. But at least he still could, even if he got winded more quickly than he’d like.
Tink had been snickering at him during one such moment. “Hey,” he chastised and patted the bump. “Your kid is in here, so I’d watch the mocking when it comes to running after mine.”
“That’s fair,” she’d conceded. “Just let me know when you need help, though—I’ll gladly go after the little hellion.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
They hadn’t needed her help yet, but it was only a matter of time—especially by the sound of tiny but insistent footsteps that were getting faster every day as they ran down the hallway.
“Dada!” her little voice called out as she charged into the room and threw herself against his legs as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“How’s my little cygnet today?” he enthusiastically replied as he bent down to pick her up. He had to open his legs to make room for the bump, but it was still an achievable feat, and Hope giggled as she flew into the air and the curled in as he carefully tucked her into his side.
After a brief cuddle, she squirmed for him to set her down on the mattress, and gave his bump a gentle pat. “Hi babies,” she said (or tried to; some of those sounds were still being worked on). She’d noticed the bump a few weeks ago, once it had really started popping out. They couldn’t tell if she actually understood what was going on—and were glad she was young enough to not have to explain it—but she was at least careful and affectionate.
He just hoped that continued as she grew steadier on her feet—and he grew larger and less so.
Hope tucked herself back into Killian’s side and Emma sat down on the other. “This is a pretty perfect morning,” she sighed as she laid her head in his bare shoulder. “Do I really have to go into work?”
“I’m of the same opinion—but wasn’t Tiger Lily coming for training today?” She was the fairy who’d offered to take over his deputy duties once he no longer could—and he had a hunch she'd be an acceptable long-term hire.
“Yeah,” she complained. “Just wish it could wait another day.”
“Or,” he suggested, “we get through today and then we can spend tomorrow in a similar manner.”
“I like the way you think,” she replied, then pulled him in for a kiss.
He set Hope down on the bed, where she proceeded to tackle the pillows, and went about the process of getting dressed. His sleep pants still fit, although they were reaching the point where they were almost too snug on his hips, which had definitely widened more than last time.
Thankfully, his maternity jeans were as stretchy as ever, and he hadn’t yet exceeded their capacity; the elastic panel hugged his belly comfortably as he slipped them on.
Emma had bought him a collection of soft, short-sleeved t-shirts a size larger than he typically wore, and one of those slipped on easily, but the bump still stood prominently under navy cotton. Hopefully, they made these in several larger sizes.
They stopped at Granny’s before heading to their respective workplaces for the day, and Killian consumed a larger stack of pancakes than he’d like to admit; good thing Belle took his measurements yesterday. At least there was also a generous side of fresh fruit.
When he and Hope arrived at the library, he was only semi-surprised to see Blue there; she seemed to be showing up once a month or so to check in, but today had another goal.
“Would you be okay with getting an ultrasound?” she asked.
That was shocking. “Sure,” he said, “but will it be okay for them?” he countered, rubbing his belly. Inside, they seemed to be fluttering nervously.
“If it’s fine for a human baby, it should be for them. It’s just—I see all these thorough notes and comparisons, and I’m curious what that would reveal.”
“Whale says he has an opening,” Belle added, phone in hand. “Shall we?”
They did, and headed out en masse to make the short walk to the hospital. At least, it should have been short, but Hope insisted on walking on her own and Killian’s pace wasn’t as fast as it normally was.
Whale met them in the waiting room when they arrived, though, an eager look on his face. “Wondered if I'd see you this time around,” he greeted. “I’ve gotta say—I’m pretty curious about this.”
“Aren’t we all,” Killian answered dryly, bracing his hook against his lower back.
“Come on; let’s take a peek in there,” Whale beckoned, and led them to an exam room.
Killian passed Hope off to Blue and began the process of climbing up on the exam table; again—he was doing fine on the energy front, but a large bump was a large bump, and it not only was an obstacle to his mobility, but he was carrying around some weight he hadn’t been 13 weeks ago (and in more places than just the bump).
But he managed to get up there and lifted up his shirt without prompting; he knew the drill. During his seemingly arduous climb, Whale had been looking over Belle’s notes from both pregnancies. “Damn,” he commented. “I think your notes are more detailed than my charts.”
“That’s not reassuring,” Killian called out; Whale just chuckled and moved to ready the ultrasound machine while Belle rolled her eyes and readied her pen.
Killian had forgotten how cold the gel was, but he got over it quickly as Whale began to move the probe over his (thankfully stretch mark-free) stomach.
“Well I’ve never seen that before,” Whale said after a bit, and everyone focused on the screen.
“I thought those were only in black and white?” Belle asked.
“They are,” Whale confirmed.
And yet, as the tiny images of multiple babies appeared on the screen, each one was showing up in a different color—the color of the orbs they started as. Tink’s green stood out front and center, but as Whale moved the probe over the dome that was Killian’s abdomen, all the other colors showed up, except—
“Where’s mine?” Blue asked, understandably worried.
“Hmm,” Whale hummed, investigating. “One, two,” he started counting, finding 8 that were easily visible. “But it looks like…” He pressed harder on Killian’s belly, to the point of discomfort, but he didn’t complain—not when Blue looked so worried.
“Yeah, there’s definitely one hiding in there,” Whale said. “I just can’t zero in. There’s some color bleeding through, though…”
And in between a pink-hued and navy-hued fetus, a bit of bright blue was visible. Blue sighed in relief. “Yeah, she’s just being stubborn,” Whale assured her. “You can probably blame it on Hook.”
“Hey!” he protested, but Belle’s snicker suggested she agreed.
“Anyways—from a development standpoint, yeah, I’d put you right at 13 weeks, although probably half the size. Were it a normal pregnancy, I’d guess you’d only go to 30 weeks or so, for safety—but I’m guessing that won’t be the case here?”
“No,” Blue said. “He’ll go all the way to full term.”
Whale whistled. “Thank goodness they’re small then.”
Several copies of the sonogram were printed off—as mysteriously colorful as they were on screen—with Killian taking one, another going in Belle’s notebook, and the rest going with Blue. There was some discussion of doing another ultrasound at the second trimester, but it was ultimately deemed unnecessary.
Whale bid them adieu but they lingered in the room, if only because it took Killian a bit to clean off the gel (he hated the way it got caught in the bit of hair on his stomach). Belle was wrangling the kids, but Blue was staring at the pictures, almost in awe.
“You were worried, weren’t you?” Killian asked softly. “That she wasn’t there.”
“Yes,” Blue admitted. “It’s rare, but sometimes, they don’t all take. And I’ve just—I’ve waited so long for this.”
“I understand.” It had taken him and Emma quite some time to conceive Hope, and obviously they required assistance.
“I guess I’ll just have to be patient,” she sighed.
“Aye,” he agreed. “But—” He placed his hand on the top of his bump and furrowed his brow in concentration. “I’m almost positive she’s kicking my bladder at the moment.”
It drew the polite chuckle he was going for, but also meant he needed to excuse himself. Blue also took that moment to take her leave, but not without an emphatic thank-you.
He had to admit, as he shuffled off to the bathroom—he’d definitely been resentful of this arrangement to an extent. But seeing Blue’s genuine emotions there at the prospect of parenthood made that feeling dissipate.
He was sure he’d have a mountain of complaints by the end of this, but being able to grant so many others the joys he’d found as a parent—that would be worth it.
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At 16 weeks, he hit the same measurements he had when he was at full term with Hope (literally those of the day before he’d gone into labor). But the bump still sat high on his frame. “I wonder if whatever magic is preventing stretch marks is also holding it aloft,” he quipped as he traced the curve of his belly.
“It’s entirely possible,” Belle concurred. “Look at the difference.” In addition to measured data, she also had photographic documentation of his various milestones in both pregnancies; comparing the picture she’d just taken on her phone to the one from right before Hope entered the world, it was plain to see the similarities in how much they extended in front of him, but the difference in where it sat on his body.
“We’ll see how long it lasts, though.”
In answer to his theory, he got another few weeks before things began to sit lower, though his stomach continued it’s outward expansion—a couple centimeters every week. But by his 17th week, he finally started feeling the pull of gravity and had to dig out the belly band he’d relied on the last month or so with Hope.
But he soon noticed another issue. While he remembered what it was like to not be able to see his feet, and had gotten used to the obstacle about his midsection, he wasn’t prepared for it to stick out even more.
Case in point: one morning during his 18th week, when he was attempting to surprise Emma with breakfast (usually she rose first, but a flurry of activity in his belly had woken him early). However, he was a bit farther from the stove than he was used to, as well as the cabinets, and he kept knocking into the chairs around the table; Hope was watching him from her own high chair in amusement, far more interested in his slapstick endeavor than her cereal.
“What’s going on?” Emma’s sleepy voice asked after he cursed at nearly burning his belly on the oven.
“Nothing,” he huffed, rubbing the spot on his bump that was just a bit too warm. “Just a failed attempt at treating my amazing wife.”
She glanced around, then smiled. “You were trying to make me breakfast but then your belly got in the way?”
“Aye,” he sighed.
She walked over to him and pulled him into a hug—from the side, since she already couldn’t get close enough from the front—and turned his face towards her to kiss him. “You’re too sweet,” she said, tucking herself into his side. “And you treated me plenty last night,” she added in a low voice; he swallowed at the memory of their shared moment—probably one of the last times he’d be able to make love on top for a while, unless they got creative with the logistics, but dammit, he did it, and it was amazing.
“I can finish this up; take a seat, okay?”
“I should be able to do this, though,” he complained.
“And you will—in 5 months or so. But I told you I’d support you with this, so let me.”
He sighed again, but complied, and ignored the creak of his chair as he sat down (angled away from the table—he was also up a size in shirts, but his jeans were holding on…for now). “How did the gods see fit to bless this poor bastard with such an amazing woman?” he asked, watching the blush rise on her cheeks.
“The same way they did for this lost girl,” she countered, then put a (heaping) plate in front of him.
“I love you so much, Swan—thank you.”
She placed another kiss on his lips. “I love you too—always.”
Even if this wasn’t an ideal situation, he knew that he was blessed to have Emma at his side; he wouldn’t be able to get through this without her.
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thanks for reading! tagging @wyntereyez @jennjenn615 @superadam54 @ashley-knightingale @justsomewhump @teamhook @88infinity88 (let me know if you want a tag!)
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Tiger - (The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley AU)
Warnings: is getting a pet a warning? 🤔🙈
Word count: 5,205
Characters: Charlie Weasley and my OC Nova from TICW which you can find here
Nova
“Mum, when is dad coming home?”
Aoede and I were sitting on our sofa, watching cartoons and eating cookies. An episode of Tom and Jerry just ended and Aoede noticed that Charlie wasn't home yet.
“In a few minutes, sweetheart.” I ran my fingers through her soft hair, getting another cookie from the bowl.
“Is he late?” Aoede posed another question.
“No. It's five minutes until 3 o'clock so he hasn't finished working yet.”
“I wish he didn't have to wolk that long.” Aoede sighed.
“Oh, sweetheart, me too. But he works every day until 5 or 6 so he is already coming early today because it's Friday.” I wiggled the bowl to switch Aoede's attention to cookies.
“Fliday and Sunday ale my favolite. You know why, mum?” Aoede turned to me before trying to stuff an entire cookie in her mouth.
“Why?” I giggled, watching the chocolate get smeared all over her face.
“On Fliday, daddy comes home earliel and we have a cuddle day and on Sunday we have pancakes fol blefcast.” Aoede clapped excitedly.
“Breakfast, Aoede.” I corrected her.
“Bleak...fast.” Aoede furrowed her brows trying to remember the word.
“There you go! Nice job!” I pulled her in a half hug.
She was sitting next to me because my belly was too big for her to sit in my lap.
“You know what,” I said after I took a bite of yet another cookie, “Fridays and Sundays are my favorite too.”
“Leally? Because of daddy being home and pancakes?” Aoede's eyes were sparkling.
“Because we all cuddle on the sofa and pancakes.” I sniggered.
“What about dad?” Aoede asked curiously.
“Meh.” I swung my hand, trying to sound uninterested.
“Mum,” Aoede gasped, “stop it! You love dad!”
“I do,” I giggled, “nothing gets past you, does it?”
“You tlied to tlick me!” Aoede fully turned to me and took my cookie. “No cookie fol you!”
“Hey, give that back, I'm eating for two!” I made puppy eyes at her.
“Those only wolk on dad, mum.” Aoede giggled and put my cookie in her mouth.
“You are too smart for a 3-year-old.” I playfully shook my head.
“I am just good at taking youl cookies,” Aoede said with her mouth full.
“Want to watch another episode or should we wait for dad?” I reached for the remote.
“Wait fol dad. I will talk to the baby now.” Aoede cleared her throat after finishing the cookie.
I still didn't like the fact that Charlie raised his voice at her the night Bill and Fleur came by. I wasn't used to it as my parents rarely had to do it with me and I have learned from them that most of the time just talking peacefully works wonders.
Before Aoede was even born, Charlie expressed his concern about how his mother always shouted at him and his siblings and that he doesn't want to be like her and made me swear that I would scold him if I ever notice he is turning into his mother.
He might not have shouted at Aoede like Molly used to shout at her boys, but it was evident that he has lost his temper with her and I wasn't okay with that. Especially, when Fleur told me that she was the same when her sister was born and later Bill trying to calm me down telling me that he and Charlie were the same when their younger siblings were born.
Charlie and Aoede worked it out the second Charlie and Bill came back inside and he apologized to me 3 times that night before we went to sleep.
Even though I forgave him the second he sat down and talked to our daughter I couldn't help but notice that by raising his voice Aoede started to warm up to the fact that she is getting a sibling.
The first thing she did, she asked me when the baby is coming. Then she asked Charlie if she can join him when he was singing to my belly. To say that we were both shocked by her sudden change of heart was an understatement but at the same time, we were over the roof about the fact that we could talk about the pregnancy in front of her without her glaring at us.
She usually played with her Unicorn plushie or did puzzles – which her grandpa Artie sent her the second we told him she finished the dinosaur one – when Charlie was either talking or singing to the baby. It was progress that she didn't mind, but last week she got curious and actually listened to what he was doing.
Two days ago, when Charlie was still at work, she stopped playing all of a sudden and walked to me, avoiding my eyes. I had never seen her so shy around me so I asked her what was going on. After a lot of mumbling to herself and fiddling with her fingers, she admitted that she would like to try and talk to the baby.
I did my best, hiding the fact that her action shocked me and made her sit next to me on the sofa so she could sit on my legs and talk to the baby. She only introduced herself before getting too shy and jumping off me to go back to her toys but it meant the world to me.
Charlie, of course, couldn't believe it when I told him and was hoping he would get to see it and since she wanted to do it again today, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he will be able to witness this miracle sooner or later.
“Okay, whenever you are ready.” I smiled softly at her, gently stroking her hair.
“Hello.” She tapped on my belly so lightly that it tickled me. “Uhm, mum I don't know what to say.”
“Well, your dad usually tells the baby stories.” I encouraged her.
“Oh, I know plenty of those!” Aoede's eyes sparkled as they did every time she got an idea.
“Hi, baby!” She waved at my belly. “I love cookies. My uncle Geogie makes the best ones and I love when he comes and we make them togethel. I love the ones with chocolate the most! You will love uncle Geogie, he is so funny! But uncle Bill is my favolite. He has longel hail than dad and he lets me play with it. He isn't as funny as uncle Geogie but his stolies ale fun! He loves auntie Fleul. She is vely pletty and...”
Before Aoede could continue the front door unlocked and Charlie stepped inside.
“I'm home!” He sang.
“Daddy, shhh! I'm talking to the baby!” Aoede whispered with a finger in front of her mouth.
“You are what?” Charlie raised his eyebrows and locked eyes with mine.
“She's talking to the baby,” I whispered, trying not to giggle too much to disturb her.
Charlie was quick to put his jacket away so he could join us as he couldn't wait to be a part of this. He kissed Aoede's forehead and got a little groan in return for disturbing her. Then he gently pushed me upward so he could sit down and I positioned myself in his arms. He kissed the top of my head, listening to Aoede tell the baby all about her uncles and aunts and why she loves each of them.
“The last one is uncle Pelcy. I only saw him once. Daddy doesn't like him much I think...” Aoede gave her words some thought.
I looked up at Charlie who swallowed thickly, his eyes on our 3-year-old.
Percy came home for the first time about 2 months after the war. The reactions to his action varied. Arthur and Molly were just happy he was back. Ron, George, and Ginny didn't want to hear him out at all. Charlie and Bill were hesitant and asked him to give them some time to think everything through.
Because Charlie wanted Aoede to have all her uncles in her life, he invited Percy to stay with us at the end of last year. It was very awkward but I saw that Charlie tried to understand where Percy was coming from and even though their relationship is still a bit shaky, they exchange a few letters per month.
“I...ah, mum! Ah, what did I do?!” Aoede suddenly jumped in the air, her eyes widened in horror, looking at my belly.
“What happened?” Charlie got alarmed.
“Nothing,” I giggled, “the baby just kicked and Aoede felt it.”
“Oh.” Charlie sighed in relief, tightening his arms around me.
“The baby kicked?” Aoede tilted her head and slowly climbed back on my legs.
“Yes. That's what you felt.” I chuckled, finding her reaction amusing.
“I didn't hult you?” She was still in shock.
“No, sweetheart. You did the same when you were in my belly.” I gently grabbed her shoulder and pulled her toward me to give her a hug and calm her down.
“O-okay.” Aoede took a deep breath and buried her head in my shoulder.
“So, if I am not mistaken, it's cuddle day.” Charlie grinned at us, trying to make Aoede forget about the kick.
“Yes!” Aoede exclaimed and carefully climbed off me and jumped to the floor.
“Where are you going?” Charlie asked her as she started walking to the drawer where I had my art supplies.
“I want to look at mum's dlawings.” She explained as she pulled out one of my sketchbooks and walked back to us.
“I thought you'd want to watch cartoons.” Charlie teased her.
“No. Mum and I watched Tom and Jelly befole. I want to do this now.” She lifted her hands in the air for Charlie to help her back on the sofa.
“Do you want to watch a cartoon?” Charlie whispered in my ear.
“Sure.” I smiled at him and gave him the remote.
“Mum, look!” Aoede turned the sketchbook to me. “It's Blue but little!”
The sketchbook was opened on a drawing of a kneazle which I drew the year I came to Romania. Blue was Felix's kneazle and is now living with Andrei. Aoede loves to go there not only to play with the animal but also to spend time with Andrei who she calls her best friend.
The first time Andrei heard her say that he shed a tear and didn't understand what he did to deserve that title but gladly took it. Andrei is the one who first showed Aoede a picture of a unicorn and told her all sorts of stories about his interaction with the creature. Andrei is even better at telling stories than Charlie is so it's no surprise that unicorns are her favorite creatures.
“Yes, that's Blue when he was still a cub.” I thumbed through the book to find the other drawing of him. “See, that's him too.”
“Oh, so pletty. I love Blue, mum.” Aoede was admiring my drawing, her eyes sparkling.
“I know you do, sweetheart.” I watched her trace her little finger over the lines of Blue's ears.
“Mum, can we get a kneazle?” Aoede said more to herself than to me.
“You think you are old enough to take care of a kneazle?” I raised my eyebrows at her.
“Yes! My best fliend showed me how to feed Blue and how to make Blue's ful look pletty and shiny!” Aoede closed the sketchbook, her eyes locking with mine.
“Hmm,” I tapped my chin with my finger, giving the idea some thought. “I love your idea.”
I grinned at her, making her eyes even bigger and if it would be possible sparks would fly out of them.
“But we have to ask dad first.” I pressed my lips together knowing this is going to be very amusing to watch.
“Dad, dad! Mum and I want a kneazle!” Aoede was shaking from excitement.
“What now?” Charlie mumbled, his eyes still on the telly.
“A kneazle, dad! Oh, can we? Please!”
“What about a kneazle, Pumpkin?” Charlie asked absentmindedly.
“We want one!” Aoede started to look annoyed because Charlie still didn't look at her.
“Wait what?” Charlie turned down the volume and looked at his daughter.
“We want a kneazle, dad! We want a kneazle!” Aoede bounced on my legs.
“We?” Charlie cocked an eyebrow, his gaze switching from Aoede to me.
“I said she has to ask you first.” I winked at him.
“Why me? Why do I have to decide?” Charlie narrowed his eyes at me.
“You're the man of the house, aren't you?” I sniggered.
“Right.” Charlie nodded his head, still a bit confused about how we are suddenly discussing having a pet. “Well, what did you say?” He whispered to me.
“I said that I love her idea,” I replied.
“You did?” Charlie tilted his head. “You think she's ready to have a pet?”
“I am!” Aoede crossed her arms on her chest.
“Love, we are 14 days from your due date, we'll be busy with the baby. How are you planning to take care of a kneazle too?”
“You are making some good points, Charles.” I nodded. “However, I think Aoede has enough experience because of Blue to take care of one.”
“She's 3!” Charlie exclaimed.
“So that's a no?” I pouted. “I think that's a no, Aoede.”
“Why!” Aoede whined.
“Wait, how do you think this is a good idea?” Charlie ignored our daughter.
“Well, you know I wanted to get a pet ever since we moved to Romania but then we didn't have the time and now we have a house and you know we will always find an excuse and honestly since we both love animals so much, it's a miracle we don't have a zoo already.”
“Okay, true, but you know that Aoede is too young to take care of it alone and I will be at work so you will have to feed it and everything.” Charlie sighed.
“I am aware of that, Char. But it would also be a good opportunity to teach Aoede to be responsible and I can handle a toddler, a baby, and a kneazle.”
“Daddy, please!” Aoede looked at Charlie with the biggest puppy eyes I have ever seen. “I will help mummy, I plomise. I will feed it evely molning and evely night and I will tlain him to poop and I will give him lots of cuddles!”
“Yeah, there's no doubt about the last one.” Charlie tried not to look at Aoede because he knew he won't be able to resist her looking at him like that.
“Admit it, you want it too.” I nudged him, whispering.
“Of course, I want it.” Charlie ran his hand across his face, still not fully convinced.
“So we ale getting a kneazle?” Aoede gasped.
“Oh, I don't know.” Charlie gave it some thought.
“Please!” Aoede and I said in unison, making puppy eyes at Charlie.
“I swear if our second born has your eyes, you three will be the death of me.” Charlie sighed in defeat.
“I think that's a yes, Aoede.” I giggled and high-fived her.
“Yes!” Aoede thrust her hands in the air, carefully climbed off me, and started dancing around the living room.
“I can't believe I was the one who needed convincing for us to have a pet,” Charlie whispered after a few moments of us giggling and watching out daughter celebrate.
“I know it's kind of an impulsive and an irresponsible decision but I know we can do it and I believe Aoede will take care of it. She loves to help Andrei with Blue and honestly, he has taught her a lot about kneazles.” I defended my decision.
“That's true, she is pretty responsible for her age and I guess it would be a good distraction for her from the baby in case she ought to change her mind.” Charlie scratched the stubble below his chin.
“I mean we kind of owe her for having another baby.” I chuckled.
“Oh, great. So what are we getting her when we're having our third child?” Charlie raised his eyebrows at me, looking amused.
“Let this one be born first, will you?” I laughed.
“I can't wait.” He kissed me first on the nose, then on the lips.
“So, are you really okay with it?” I asked.
“Yeah, why not.” Charlie shrugged. “You tamed a chimera which is supposed to be untamable, how hard can having a kneazle be?”
“I guess we'll find out soon.” I nodded my head at Aoede who was still running around the room shouting that we are getting a kneazle.
Charlie
The morning after we decided to get a kneazle, we visited Andrei to see if he knows anyone who breeds them. Even though my girls convinced me to get one, I still wasn't sure it was a good idea. It wasn't that I didn't want one – in that regard, I thought it was a good idea too – but I was worried for Nova and how she'll be able to handle everything while I'm at work.
The second pregnancy has been draining her and I have no idea how she will be after she gives birth and Aoede is getting more energetic each day and even though I will help her as much as I possibly can, I will have to go to work too and I don't want Nova to be exhausted for the next year because we decided to get a pet.
When we woke up in the morning I told Nova that I will ask Andrei if he thinks it's a good idea and if he reckons we can take care of one with having a baby on the way.
We walked to the Sanctuary – well Aoede ran most of the way because she was too excited – and knocked on Andrei's door when we reached his cottage.
“Aoede! What a pleasant surprise!” Andrei grinned when he saw our little one.
He picked her up and twirled her in the air.
“Andy, Andy, we are getting a kneazle!” Aoede told him the news the second he put her down.
“You are?” He bestowed her with a grin before turning to us. “That's sudden.”
“Yes, very,” I spoke first.
“Charlie thinks it's a bad idea with the baby on the way.” Nova followed.
“I think your timing couldn't be more perfect,” Andrei said casually.
“Really?” Nova and I said together.
“Kneazles are the best pets to the people they can trust and they tend to trust children more. Aoede is great with Blue, he simply adores her meaning she is trustworthy. If a kneazle trusts the whole family then they are better behaved than most cats. All you'll have to do is feed it, comb its fur around 3 times per week and play with it, which I think won't be a problem.” Andrei nodded his head to where Aoede was sitting on the floor, playing with Blue.
“So they aren't too high maintenance?” Charlie wanted to know.
“Not at all. They are a much better first-time pet than crups. They learn faster because they are highly intelligent and they don't have as much energy as crups so they mostly like to cuddle with you.” Andrei continued with a smile on his face.
He then asked us how we came to the idea and Nova explained how Aoede saw Blue in my sketchbook and made him laugh when she told him how they convinced me to get one.
“Why were you against it, Charles? You and Nova have been discussing getting a pet since you moved here.” Andrei teased him.
“That's what I said!” Nova chuckled.
“Well, I was just hesitant with the new baby and I won't be home all the time to help around the house and...” I sighed. “I guess I just got worried.”
“Understandable,” Andrei nodded, “you know you'll get some time off when the baby arrives and in case your kneazle will be too much to handle you can always bring it here.”
“Thank you, Andrei.” His words calmed me down.
“Do you know anyone who breeds them or where we could get one?” I wanted to know.
“Mary would be your best call. She lives in the same village you do and Felix got Blue from her.” Andrei answered my question.
“Wait, you mean Mary Hucklewood? The one that has the drug store?” Nova got excited.
“The very same!” Andrei smiled.
“Oh, that's going to be easy, Char! She's a really sweet lady. I had no idea she's a kneazle breeder.”
“Yeah! Her kneazles won some amazing awards on shows and such. I am sure she'll be able to tell you more!” Andrei looked towards where Aoede was still playing with Blue.
“Did you hear, Pumpkin? We know where to get a kneazle.” I kneeled next to her and rubbed Blue's belly.
“Leally? Can we go now?” Aoede gasped.
“We can't just leave Andrei after being here for 10 minutes.” Nova giggled.
“I would love to come with you if you'll have me. I have to buy some groceries anyway and I haven't seen Mary for a long time.” Andrei said, winking at Aoede.
“See! We can go now! We can go now!” Aoede was jumping up and down.
Without saying another word, we walked to the door and headed back to the village.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Nova as we were walking hand in hand, Andrei, and Aoede right in front of us.
“The walk is doing me good. My feet hurt but I had to move from that sofa eventually.” She said softly.
“Not 14 days before your due date.” I tried hiding the concern in my voice. “And I'll massage your feet the second we get home.”
“Thank you, Char.” Nova smiled appreciatively at me before turning to see what made Aoede squeak.
“Mummy, daddy, we're here!” She pointed at the house on our left, hardly containing her excitement.
“Now, Aoede, even if Mary has a kneazle for us to adopt, it doesn't mean we will get it today, okay?” I kneeled next to her.
“I know, dad.” Aoede sighed disappointedly but I knew she understood the situation.
“Go ahead, then. Knock on the door.” Nova nudged her so she got closer.
Aoede took a deep breath and knocked on the door so gently that I was sure the lady inside the house won't be able to hear her.
It was amusing to see Aoede nervous but in a way admiring to watch her in this state because she showed me that despite being so young, this means a lot to her.
“I think we should let Aoede do all the talking so that we see if she is really ready for this,” I whispered to my wife.
“Okay, she seems a bit nervous.” Nova giggled.
“Yeah, she's adorable.” I followed her lead, waiting for someone to get the door.
“Maybe you should knock again, Pumpkin.” I encouraged our daughter when she started to turn around to look at us.
She did as she was told, her knock more determined this time.
“I'm coming, I'm coming! Pretzel, dear, move to the side so I can open the door.” We heard the voice in the house say.
The door creaked opened and a lady in her fifties was standing in the doorway.
“Andrei, Nova! What a pleasant surprise!” The woman grinned at them.
To me, the woman seemed familiar but Nova usually paid more attention to people than I did because she reckoned that we should know the people who live around us in case there would be any spies – that was back when we were at war.
“Hi, Mary! Long time no see!” Andrei waved at the woman.
“And you must be Nova's husband Charlie and I bet this little cutie is Aoede.” She locked eyes with me and smiled before bending down to shake Aoede's hand.
“That is me!” Aoede beamed. “Maly, this is my best fliend Andy and my mummy and daddy and we ale hele because you gave Blue to Andy and mummy and I want a kneazle. See, daddy isn't sule but he said that we can have one if we will take cale of it and I plomise, I plomise Maly that I will take the best cale of my kneazle. Blue leally likes me!”
Nova and I chuckled at Aoede's enthusiasm, Mary however looked surprised.
“You sure know how to make a good first impression, Aoede,” Mary said after waiting for a moment longer if Aoede is done talking.
“And all that she said is true, she is amazing with Blue and he adores her.” Andrei supported Aoede's statement.
“Oh, I have no doubt about that.” Mary nodded toward Aoede who was petting one of Mary's kneazles. “Pretzel doesn't trust a lot of people and he has certainly never let anyone touch him the first time he meets them, so your daughter is really good with animals.”
I blinked a few times before exchanging a look with Nova – getting all teary-eyed and proud of my daughter. From the looks of it, Nova wasn't doing any better, as she sniffed and couldn't stop smiling.
“Unfortunately, you would have to wait until the next year. I have given away the good kneazles from my last litter a few weeks ago so I am afraid you are too late.” Mary bowed her head, sadly. “Kneazles breed only once per year, if they do, so it's hard to say.”
“Oh,” Aoede tried her hardest not to sound disappointed even though I could see her eyes filling with tears.
“What did you mean with the good kneazles?” I asked.
“The ones that are suitable for shows and further breeding,” Mary explained.
“We would have it as a pet and we are not looking to breed kneazles.” Nova's voice turned cheerful.
“Well,” Mary put her hands on her hips, “there is one then. I was planning to keep him for myself but if he'd like you I would gladly give him to you.”
She invited us inside and we followed her upstairs.
“What's wrong with him?” Nova wanted to know.
“He is completely healthy and loves to eat,” Mary laughed, “but there was an accident when the litter was a few weeks old.”
“What happened?” Aoede got curious.
“He was trying to make friends with my Venomous Tentacula.”
Mary opened the door and motioned with her hand that we should come inside.
“Hi, sweetness, I brought you some company,” Mary said in a baby voice.
The room was full of kneazle equipment and the kneazle Mary addressed was the only one inside. He was orange with brown spots and the only thing I could see being wrong with him was the tipped left ear.
Andrei, Nova, and I stood in the doorway while Nova encouraged Aoede to enter the room. She made a cautious step toward Mary, fidgeting with her fingers.
“Go on, he's friendly.” Mary smiled at Aoede.
Aoede took a deep breath and sat down. Nova's eyebrows raised, while Andrei and I exchanged a look.
Aoede didn't move nor called the kneazle, she waited patiently for him to come to her. Since kneazles are big on trust this was a smart move and it blew me away that my three-year-old knew what to do.
The kneazle tilted its head to the side and observed Aoede as if she was the only one in the room. He looked very playful and after a few moments approached Aoede carefully. He sat down right in front of her and tilted his head again.
I have never seen my daughter sit so still. She was always running around or talking to us or drawing on my arm or making ponytails on my head or painting my nails. The only time she didn't move was when she was sleeping and even then we sometimes found her on the other side of the bed compared to where she fell asleep.
I can't find the words to express how proud I was of her at that moment and I felt like crying and hugging her and telling her that she's the best but I had to be patient like she was with the kneazle and do that later. If nothing else her behavior proved to me that she was ready to have a pet.
The kneazle took another step forward and extended his paw toward Aoede. She carefully moved her right arm and placed her hand over his paw. The creature purred and jumped in Aoede's arms.
“Oh, how wonderful!” Mary clapped excitedly.
Andrei looked almost as proud as I did and I caught myself observing the scene with my mouth open.
“Yeah...wonderful.” I turned to Nova who was sobbing and brushing away her tears.
“Oh, you ale so pletty! Look at youl ful and colols and oh,” Aoede gasped, “look at youl eal!”
“That's Tentacula's work.” Mary shook her head.
“He is pelfect!” Aoede turned around to see our reaction.
“I think he likes you, Pumpkin.” I sent her a wink.
“Mhm,” Nova mumbled, looking ever so proud.
“He's all yours, Aoede.” Mary walked to her and put her hand on her shoulder.
“I have to ask mummy and daddy filst.” Aoede gently hugged the kneazle and placed him on the ground so she could stand up.
“Can we have him, dad?” Aoede stopped in front of me, looking up and waiting for my answer.
I turned my head to Nova to see what she has to say about it. She nodded her head slightly and I bent down to our daughter.
“We can have him.”
“What is his name?” Aoede asked all of a sudden as if she has just remembered she doesn't know his name yet.
“I didn't name him for some reason. I just kept calling him sweetness, so the honor is all yours.” Mary smiled at her.
“Oh!” Aoede's eyes sparkled as she was thinking of the name. “Tigel!”
“Tiger?” Nova, Andrei, and I said at the same time.
“Tigel,” Aoede repeated.
“You're going to name a creature after another creature?” I raised my eyebrow.
“You're the one to talk!” Nova laughed. “Have you forgotten that you named an abraxan at my aunt's Dragon?” She nudged me with her elbow.
“Touché. I completely forgot about that.” I felt the heat on my cheeks as I scratched the back of my head.
—
“Another thing she has after you.” Nova giggled.
“And what's that?” I put my arm around her waist as we walked toward our house.
Andrei was helping Aoede carry Tiger and all the supplies Mary gave us for him.
“She is as bad at naming creatures as you are.” Nova pressed more into me, while I just playfully rolled my eyes.
I didn't care what she named him. Aoede had many moments so far that made me a proud father but her interaction with the kneazle beat all of those moments' arses by far and even though she probably got her intuition for animals from Nova, I was happy that she got the creature-naming after me – even though, I had to agree, not the best trait to inherit.
#harry potter hogwarts mystery#harry potter fanfiction#hphm charlie#charlie weasley#charlie weasley fanfiction#hogwarts mystery mc#the weasleys#hphm fanfiction#hp imagine#charlie weasley x oc#hphm imagine#charlie weasley imagine#harry potter imagine#weasley fanfiction#the burrow
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Chilled - Spencer Reid x Reader
WARNINGS: I mean, this is a cm fic so theres gonna be some gore involved, but nothing too insane. If you do get squeamish really easily though, this might not be the fic for you?
The air finally started to have a certain chill to it, one that no matter what you wore, you felt it in your bones. That paired with your day job left you feeling no warmth, not even if you were lit on fire yourself. And now, in the middle of January, you and the team have to travel to North Dakota, of all places, for a pretty touchy case. Since it was an above average winter, snowstorms were pelting the state at a quite alarming rate. This posed the perfect opportunity for the unsub they were hunting - as they would dump the bodies in huge snow drifts. The local authorities only started to find the bodies when snow started to develop an off putting color.
“Remember to bundle up my lovelies, you are going to be braving some serious sub zero tempetratures! I don’t want any of my favorite agents turning into popsicles.” Garcia says as she’s handing out the files to everyone at the round table. Peeling back the manilla folder, you almost wish you hadn’t. The discoloration on the snow was perfectly nauseating and what made your heart drop more was the shape that the corpses were in. There was clear evidence of asphyxiation and stab wounds on the body and, however, something didn’t feel perfectly right about the way that the person died. Not being able to put a finger on the thought, you slid the manilla folder into your bag and stood up like the rest of your team.
“C’mon, Y/N/N, better get going, yeah?” Derek asks, waiting for you to start walking. You nod and start walking out with everyone else, only for you all to get stopped by Erin Strauss.
“Hello agents, before you leave, we wanted to leave you all with something.” Standing up on your toes to peer over the guys in front of you - seriously, did Hotch, Morgan, and Reid have to be so tall? - you get a look at what she and some of her own agents were holding. Pristine new FBI jackets with those classic faux fur lined hoods were folded in her hands along with what looked like windbreaker sweatpants. “So you don’t get cold.” Erin states plainly, passing the clothing out to the squad.
“Wow, these are great!” Emily said excitedly, threading her fingers through the faux fur.
“And to think I packed three different windbreakers,” you joke, taking your time to unzip the jacket and slide your arms through it. You sigh and as the material instantly makes you feel a lot cozier.
“Jackets like these were actually first invented somewhat recently in 1936,” Spencer starts.
“‘Recently’?” you quip, flashing Spencer a smile.
“They were invented by a man named Eddie Bauer who almost lost his life to hypothermia when he went on a mid-winter fishing trip.” Chuckling a little, Derek patted Spencer on the back and jogged quickly to the plane due to Virginia’s January chill.
“If you're cold now, Morgan, I don’t know how you’re gonna react when we step out of the plane in North Dakota!” JJ laughs, earning a nudge from Emily.
Finally, everyone piles onto the plane, taking up seats and instantly turning on the seat warmers. You settle gently in the window seat of the two-seater, and Spencer quickly joins you.
“Mind if I sit?” He asks, motioning to the seat to your left.
“Not at all,” you smile. Both you and Spencer considered the other as good friends, maybe even best friends. You started a mere two years after Spencer did. Since the two of you were around the same age - him a few years older - and were newer to the force, you found instant solace and comradery in the other. Over the years, you and Spencer became a lot closer. Whether it was caring and being there for him when he had his dilaudid scare or either of you sleeping over at the other’s houses when the nightmares became too much, you developed a strong relationship full of trust.
“All I’m saying is that if we get there and it looks like the frozen planet Hoth, I’m going to be pissed.” You joke as the plane starts its descent.
“Oh come on Y/N, pretty boy will wrap you up in his jacket to keep you warm.” Derek said, ruffling Spencer’s hair. A light blush graced both of your faces as you began to gather any strewn files.
“Let’s not tease, Morgan, Capisci?” Rossi says, giving you a gentle smile. Rossi was always nice to you. He provided a much needed parental figure at the BAU, giving you tough love or a gentle guiding hand when needed. Soon enough, the squad was able to leave the place and be driven over to the local police precinct. The details that the police chief had were dished out to the team and talked over multiple times. It was tough, to say the least. They had no leads, no suspects, and no new facts.
= 3 Days Later =
Energy for the team was at an all time low. The heating was starting to slowly die, new bodies kept showing up everyday, and you were still no where close to finishing this investigation.
“Let’s go over everything again.” Hotch begins, his statement being said for the third time within 2 hours. “The victims are buried beneath at least 2 feet of snow, it takes between 1 and 3 days for anybody to recognize anything’s up, and there are stab wounds and evidence of asphyxiation…” Hotch droned on which led you to faze out a bit. All you could think of were your cold body, your cold feet, and your cold ass fingers. That’s when you realized something.
“O-oh my God.” You say, standing straight up as you re-examine the pictures. All eyes in the room turn towards you, curious. You start to pace the room as you hold the crime scene photos in your hands. “I know that there are stab wounds and asphyxiation evidence, but neither of those are what killed them. The wounds are in non-fatal areas of the body and the asphyxiation wasn’t severe enough to fully kill them.” You say, your mind going miles a minute.
“So what are you saying killed them?” JJ asks, leaning forward.
“Hypothermia,” you breath out, “the stab wounds prevent the victim from getting anywhere too far and look at the frostbite on the hands,” you say pointing to the darkened limbs.
“It’s progressed far enough to make your hypothesis possible.” Spencer says, standing up as well.
“Okay, so where could the unsub be keeping his victims in a place remote enough to leave them out in the cold?” Rossi asks, looking between you and Hotch.
“Garcia?” Hotch simply says, listening into the speaker on the table.
“Already there captain, I’m sending you the locations now.” Penelope sends three different locations to the squad making everyone gather around the computer.
“Alright Prentiss and Morgan go to the first one, Reid and L/N to the second, and Rossi and I will take the third, let’s move!” He says quickly. Everyone gathers their things and you and Spencer share a look and nod. Each duo climbs into their own car equipped with cold weather tools and sped off to the different locations.
“Great find Y/N,” Spencer says, giving you a reassuring look. You flash a weary smile at him and step on the gas, speeding off to the location.
The place looks like it’s straight out of a horror movie. There’s an old raggedy windmill on the left of a shabby wooden cabin, bordered by huge fir trees.
“My God, this place is terrifying.” You murmur, pulling your gloves on and your gun out of your belt. Spencer is on your right as you start to slowly make you way towards the building. Out of the corner of your eye you spot a tiny little shack just south of the windmill. “Spence, you take the house and I’ll take the shack, okay?” you whisper, making sure that no one else but him could hear you. Spencer looks a little shocked at you.
“Y-Y/N, are you kidding? We need to stick together on this!” He says quietly, grabbing your hand. For some reason, neither of you are shocked at his action. You only squeeze his hand tighter.
“I’ll be fine Spence, I promise. We’ll get a cup of hot chocolate after this, okay?” You say, giving him a small grin. Spencer nods back giving you a smile as well.
“Yeah but you’ll just ruin yours with too much whipped cream and cinnamon. It totally defeats the purpose of the hot chocolate.” He quips back. You give him a quiet laugh and nod, squeezing his hand one last time before you head towards the shack. It was a ways away from the main house making your trek a little longer than Spencers, but you finally made it to the small wooden building. You drew in a breath as you began to see footprints with small bits of red in them. Your gloved hand reaches for your flashlight. You jump as you hear increasing steps behind you and turn around quickly, aiming your gun and squinting your eyes until you realize it was nothing but a deer passing by behind you.
Be cool, Y/N, you’re fine. You’re good.
You kick open the door to find the unsub about to attack a near naked girl, knife in hand and a wild look in his eyes.
“FBI stop what you’re doing right now, drop the knife!” You yell. The man turns around to face you, knife still in hand and charging towards you. You fire a quick shot to his leg making him stumble, kick away the knife from his hand, and cuff him. You finally turn your eyes onto the girl who was terrified. “It’s okay, you’re okay now,” You say, helping her stand. That’s when you notice the condition that she was in. Her lips were almost purple now, the rest of her skin turning blue. You shrug your jacket and long sleeve shirt off of you as fast as you could putting both of them on her. You stuff your gloves on her hands and shimmy out of your windbreaker pants, leaving you in nothing but athletic shorts and a tank top. Screw it, you could bear these sub zero temperatures in these clothes for a few minutes, this girl needed warmth. An instant chill settled into your bones making your teeth chatter in seconds. You shout for Spencer as you help the girl to the door and make the unsub stand up, dragging him in front of you. Your friend finally came into view, running at full speed towards you.
“Y/N, oh my god, are you okay?” He asks you. You nod as you let out a sigh, already knowing that your lips are starting to stray towards periwinkle. You could see the rest of the team running towards the shack. Derek took care of handling the unsub while Emily helped the girl back towards the vans, surely to help try and heat her up.
“I’m pissed,” you chatter out, causing Spencer to raise an eyebrow. You roll your eyes and start rubbing your hands along your bare forearms, trying to generate any kind of warmth. “This place looks exactly like Hoth, and Morgan is gonna end up being right because I would kind of love to have your jacket right now.” You chatter-laugh, one of the weirdest sounds to ever come out of your mouth. Quickly nodding, Spencer starts to shed his jacket off of you, but stops halfway. “Spencer what the hell are you doing, my fingers are all already numb, it’s gonna hurt like hell to warm them back up.”
“I actually have a more efficient idea, but we might want to go into the car first.” Giving no complaints, you and Spencer raced back to the backseat of a car, waiting for him to blast the heat. He does so, but it’s still not warming you up.
“Is this seriously what you had in mind? Because I’m still feeling like a popsicle and Garcia will be very made to hear that.” You say chuckling nervously.
“No, it’s this,” Spencer says, opening the front of his jacket. He brings you close to him and rezips the jacket, making you pressed right up against him. Not that you would go around talking to it about just anyone, but he was built underneath that cotton gray shirt.
“Sp-Spence what are you doing?” You whisper-yell quietly, your cheeks burning up.
“Skin to skin, it’s one of the quickest ways to get warm.” What was interesting was that you weren’t really opposed to being in this position with Spencer. Actually, you kind of really like it. You get to feel his heartbeat and snuggle your head under his chin, which makes Spencer flush this time.
“Spencer,” you whisper, causing him to glance down at you.
“Yeah?” He murmurs back. You feel his heartbeat quicken, affirming what you were hypothesizing.
“Can you hold me?” You ask. He had never heard your voice speak so softly and so… lovingly. He felt special being able to hear you like this, seeing you like this. He always loved the fact that the two of you were such great friends and were able to confide in eachother, but he wanted more now. He wanted to see you like this a little bit more. So, he did as you asked and wrapped his arms around your cold frame, dismissing the cold that transferred into his body from yours. After a few minutes you were starting to feel a lot better but made no effort to leave. Instead, you snuggled into him more and let your hands splay out against his chest. You heard him hum lightly, pressing you further closer to him.
“Y/N.” He whispers this time.
“Yeah?” You respond, looking at him. The two of you make eye-contact and make no effort to break it.
“Can our hot chocolate outing be considered a date?” He asks, his face now mere inches away from yours. You nod instantly and bring your face closer to his.
“Can I kiss you?” You ask, bringing one of your hands to cup his cheek. Spencer doesn’t even wait to nod, he just closes the gap in between you. The kiss was sweet and tender, like gingerbread cookies right out of the oven. Spencer now brings both of his hands to your cheeks and deepens the kiss, making you melt into him. Things were starting to get a little more intense, that is, until the door to the car opens causing snow to blow onto the seats.
“HEY! IT IS FREEZING OUTSIDE AND-” You cut your words off as you see Morgan, JJ, and Prentiss looking at you and Spencer, all with smirks on their faces. You see two faces turn a little more frustrated, digging into their pockets and fishing out twenty dollars each. Emily smirks and takes the bills from JJ and Morgan, earning groans from the two of them.
“Y’all seriously couldn’t pace things?” Stumped, you look at them with your mouth hanging open.
“You bet on us?” Spencer says, his voice raising in volume.” Chuckling, the three of them close the door to the car leaving just you and Spencer, flabbergasted.
“So how about that hot chocolate now?”
#spencer reid#spencer reid x reader#reader x spencer reid#y/n x spencer reid#spencer reid x y/n#Criminal Minds#criminal minds x y/n#criminal minds x reader#cm#spencer x you#spencer x reader
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石田お寿司 18/9/21 stream summary Part 3
This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.
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(t/n: ** = translation may not be accurate, SY= Y****, TS= S******)
83. Ishida bad mouthed the assistant guy from the last stream, not realising that person was in the stream as well. He then asked whether the guy was able to wake up.
84. Someone mentioned Bleach’s author, Kubo sensei, as the one who could draw super fast. He said that being able to draw fast didn’t only include the pace you’re drawing the picture. The panels were also included. Even if you draw fast, if there’s 120 panels, it’d still gonna take time. On the other hand, if there’s only 70 panels, it’d take less time. Then there’s the art style as well. Those who use great amount of Kakeami would take a longer time. He then praised Kubo sensei’s drawing.
(t/n: Kakeami is a method of shading using only parallel lines.)
85. Takahashi Rumiko sensei, the author of Inuyasha was also mentioned as mangaka who drew fast. Ishida mentioned that she’s full of energy. He said young Takahashi Rumiko sensei was cute. She’s still cute now.
86. SY asked what kind of vehicle he wanted to ride. He said he’s scared of trucks. He also didn’t like riding buses. In conclusion, he didn’t wanna ride anything.
87. Ishida said it’s kinda hard to be motivated with digital drawing. He did want to draw on papers, but drawing digitally is infinitely better when he wants to fix or adjust things in his works. He often uses shortcuts as well.
88. He never really felt any sense of accomplishment, so he didn’t understand people who did. He did feel relief (?) when he completed something, but he didn’t understand the feeling of wanting to experience that sense of accomplishment again. He envied those who felt that way since he never felt it.
89. SY read TG manga for the first time the previous day. Ishida was surprised by it and asked him if he thought Ishida was just a streamer. People in the chat were also shocked by it, lol. There were people who only knew about JJ too. Ishida wondered how did SY come across his streams. Sy replied that he just thought Ishida was just someone who drew beautiful illustrations the first time he watched his stream. Ishida was grateful that he’s reading it. It didn’t really matter if he read it or not. When musicians told him that they read TG, he felt like they’re just trying to be considerate, but they probably did read it. It’s okay if they didn’t read it. He always thought that every time he met new people. He wasn’t being humble, it’s just that he preferred if people could just talk to him as usual.
90. Someone said that there were people who got shocked reading TG after they played JJ. He said it’s because JJ was a combination between his sister & him. He also already through with TG, so the vibe was different. However, he once said in an interview that it was hard for him to get rid off TG vibes inside of him when doing JJ in the early stages. He was teased about that by everyone.
91. He went to the bathroom for the 3rd time and someone guessed the correct flower.
92. He wants to invite Mr. Kunimitsu and Ms. Towada again.
93. He said 30,000 is quite a lot for a small fry youtuber like him. He’s amazed he could come this far just by his Animal Rap videos and his game streams.
94. He’s looking at the new illustration that Ms. Towada posted on her twitter. He said the illustration must’ve taken a lot of time. That kind of illustration was tough to draw. He said Ms. Towada seemed healthy when they talked recently.
95. It’s better to just have a conversation with Ms. Towada the next time she’s in the stream since he’d get distracted.
96. Takayuki Kondo, Takashina Sarafumi’s VA was streaming at the time and a fan commented that he was praising Ishida in the stream. Ishida wanted to know what he said about him so he asked the fan to record it.** Ishida was grateful about it.
97. A fan commented that Ms. Towada seemed knowledgeable about geography or local stuffs. Ishida told them it’s because she really liked to travel. She probably had gone to most prefectures in Japan. That’s why she’s very knowledgeable in local history.
98. He jokingly said that he already went to Kumamoto trip with 300 fans. He apologised to those who didn’t get invited.
99. SY commented something and Ishida asked him shouldn’t he be doing something at the moment. He hoped SY did something while listening to his stream. He wanted to think the viewers did that since he only talked about trivial stuffs.
100. A lot of people said they weren’t invited. Ishida said that the trip was only for old men. The trip was for those aged 40 years old and above.
101. He mentioned that he’s just gonna thank the viewers for 30,000 subscribers’ celebration, though he’s really grateful for it. He wanna aim for 40,000 as well.
102. Someone mentioned that Simon’s abilities were really cool to the point they wanted to try those abilities. Ishida also stated he wanted to try them.
103. A fan suggested Ishida going on a trip with 300 gals. He said it seemed tiring, but in actuality, he’d probably enjoy it.
104. A fan asked his opinion on anti-natalism. He wasn’t familiar with the term and searched for it. He wondered if the term was brought by Schopenhauer. He said Schopenhauer was just jealous of Hegel since Hegel was really famous. His books were full of criticism on Hegel.
(t/n: Anti-natalism is a principle that’s against reproduction. Anti-natalists believe that giving birth is wrong. Both Schopenhauer & Hegel were philosophers.)
105. His opinion on the subject was that it’s okay if anti-natalists exist. There are people who agree or disagree with the concept. If you don’t wanna have a baby, you don’t need to. If you want to have a baby, then you should go for it. He said recently, he finally understood why declining birth rate is a bad thing.
106. A fan suggested a stream where viewers could also participate to increase subscribers, so he asked what should they do together. People in the chat suggested games like tetris, bomberman, and Smash Bros. He didn’t wanna play Smash Bros cus he didn’t wanna get beaten again.
107. A fan said that a lot of people would be interested in having children if they had money. He said it’s better to provide support towards people who raise children.
108. Mashima Hiro sensei, Fairy Tail’s author, did an online signing session. He wondered how he did that.
109. A fan suggested playing Mario Kart with viewers, but he scared the same thing would happen to him, just like during Smash Bros.
*Ishida reading game recommendations.
101. A fan asked what kind of game should they play so he wouldn’t get his ass beaten. He said it depended on the players. It’s better to gather weak players, so he could be the strongest.
102. A fan suggested a correction session, where Ishida would look through everyone’s own manga and correct errors. But then, everyone had to draw a manga.
103. He’s still not over his Crazy Jump’s idea. He seriously wanted to publish the magazine, lol.
104. People asking him how many pages should they draw and he said just 2 panels.
105. He bought a lot of books about human history.
106. He drank a lot of proteins.
107. He said Hitman is fun if he plays it by himself. He becomes lazy when he streams it, so it feels boring.
108. He wanted to play Detroit again, but he wanted to finish Heavy Rain first. He wanted to play Heavy Rain but the game’s heavy.
109. He wanted to end the stream, but everyone asked him not to.
110. He’s probably gonna do his work or watch movies while trying to sleep after the stream ends.
111. He wanted to end the stream, but he’s really curious about Mama’s last illustration, so he continued playing Made in Wario for a bit. He fanboyed over Mama, Mona, and Penny. He wanted to get penny’s illustration, but he didn’t have enough money to buy items to increase Penny’s level.
112. He wanted to try go to a cabaret club. He wanted to try spending all his money on a cabaret girl. He wanted to go to a host club as well, but he thought he’d probably wasting the hosts’ time since they’d have to serve him.
113. In the end, he’s gonna take a look at Mama’s final illustration by himself. He fanboyed over her one last time.
Part 1
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The Bargain
For the @writersmonth challenge...
Prompt 4. Play
The King Under the Mountain’s daughter gets herself in trouble while playing explorer and finds some unexpected help.
(Still working on Prompt 3...)
Warnings: None
Find The Warrior and The King MasterList here
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Freya flattened herself against the stone, willing the guards not to see her. She breathed a sigh of relief as they turned into the other corridor. Now her way was clear, she sprinted down the hall, under the carved archway that led to the mines and into a little-used side tunnel. Her mother was away in Dale, and her father had a day full of meetings. She could play explorer for hours before anyone missed her. It was one of her favorite games, to picture herself as Kaylea Wolf, her father’s Woman, the golden-haired warrior, off on an adventure.
She paused to put on Thorin’s magic glasses, a gift from Kaylea’s land. They were special spectacles, feather-light with wide lenses, you hardly knew they were there. But when you put them on everything was bright as day, even in the deepest shafts. Thorin guarded them closely, she knew she was not supposed to take them without permission, but she planned to have them back before the King noticed they were missing. She would only need them for a few hours.
Freya picked her way through the old tunnels. The rock was solid, but there was a lot of old equipment and debris in this part of the mines. She loved to examine the rusty machines and wonder what they were once used for. As the princess of Erebor she had learned a bit about the business of mining, but her tutors were always more interested in teaching her the latest dance steps. She had persuaded her father to take her on a tour, but that had been in the working mines. Techniques had changed since her great-grandfather’s time.
She found a wide tunnel that led steadily downward, found herself imagining she was traveling through the great mines of Moria. She had once heard Kaylea describe a journey through those mines, it had sent shivers up her spine. To think of traveling under the Misty Mountains, with dangers on every side! She knew there were no orcs or goblins here, even in the deepest parts of the mines, but she could pretend. Freya came to a place where a shaft had been sunk right across the tunnel. It looked deep, but narrow. She was confident she could jump the gap. Freya backed up to get a running start and leaped across. She easily made the distance, but landed on a loose stone. The floor gave out from under her, she grabbed for anything to hold onto, felt herself falling.
Freya awoke, aware some time had passed. She had lost the magic glasses in the fall and all around her was pitch black. She felt panic rising in her chest, and tried to calm herself as Kaylea had taught her. Three short breaths, three long ones. She felt her body, bruised but nothing broken. She folded her legs and closed her eyes, concentrating. No one knew where she was, it might be days before any search party came this way. She had a miner’s helmet in her bag, the light should last ten hours, but she would have to be careful only to use it if she heard searchers nearby. She had some apples and a bit of bread, enough to last a few days. Freya opened her eyes, now adjusted to the dark, she could just see the walls of the shaft stretching up to the tunnel, about thirty meters away. The walls were smooth and damp, a current of air caught her hair, she could hear dripping water. Moving carefully, Freya started to feel the stone around her, she found she had landed on a ledge in the shaft, maybe four meters square, past that was open space. Something moved under her hand and she jerked back, then realized it was her father’s glasses. Gratefully, she put them on, looking around curiously. The shaft continued on past the ledge, she could not see the bottom. She had hoped to find a way to climb out, but there were no handholds in the stone. She started to feel panic again, but told herself that her father would come. Once he found she was missing, Thorin would tear Erebor apart to find her, of that she was certain.
Freya knew she could do nothing now but wait. She moved close to the wall, away from the open shaft and tried to make herself comfortable. She chided herself for not bringing more supplies, for not telling her handmaids what she was doing. Her mother would never let her hear the end of this. She rummaged in her bag, rechecking her supplies and realized she had her dice with her. Hoping it would pass the time, she brought them out and played a game with herself. That one where you shook them in a cup and then tried to guess what you had rolled. Her father had told her there was a pattern to it, but she had never been able to find one. She had been playing for awhile before she suddenly realized she was not alone, something was watching her. She took her hand off the cup, reaching for her knife as she looked up.
There was a little creature sitting at the edge of the ledge watching her. He wasn’t a goblin, or an orc, in fact he didn’t seem threatening at all. He was about half her size, dressed like a miner, with pointed ears and sharp features. His skin was the color of the stone.
“What is this game you are playing?” The strange creature asked. “Can you teach me?”
“Who are you?” Freya asked, curious despite her fears. “Where did you come from?”
“This is my home.” He moved closer, Freya drew back. “We have lived here longer than your people.”
“Why didn’t the dragon eat you?” Freya asked, without thinking. She scolded herself, hoping she hadn’t offended the stranger. He didn’t seem dangerous, but she did not want to provoke him.
“Dragons don’t bother with us,” the creature chuckled. “And we don’t bother them.” He put his hand on the dice cup. “How do you play this game?”
Freya swallowed hard. “If I tell you, will you show me the way out?” Her hand tightened on her knife.
“Ah, a bargain!” He smiled, showing pointed teeth. “Very well. But I will have to take you, the way we travel you cannot follow.”
“Maybe I should wait for my father.”
“It will be days before he finds you down here, your highness.”
Freya gasped. He knew who she was, but how? “You know who I am.”
“Of course, everyone knows the King’s daughter. The one so careful to follow the old ways.” The little creature smiled again. “It has been a very long time since I learned a new game. Shall we play?”
Freya was afraid, but she did not feel that he meant her any harm. And he knew a path to the ledge. She nodded. “Yes, let’s play.”
For long hours they sat in the dark, the princess of Erebor and the strange grey-skinned creature, playing dice. They traded wins, using little bits of stone to place their bets. Freya had accumulated quite a little pile before she found herself becoming very sleepy.
“I’m sorry,” she said, yawning. “I’m suddenly so very tired. I can’t play anymore.”
The creature stood up and bowed. “I think you know that I will not harm you if you sleep, princess. I have enjoyed our game very much.”
“I had fun, too,” Freya told him. “You may keep my dice. You can teach the game to your friends.” Her eyes were so heavy. “Remember your promise to take me away from here.”
The last thing Freya saw was the little creature giving her a look filled with compassion, a smile of his pointy face, she felt the touch of his hand on her arm. It was cold, like stone. Then she had the strangest dream. She was moving through the stone, she could feel it around her, the ores, the layers. It was flowing around her like water. And then all was dark and quiet.
When Freya woke, the first thing she felt was hard stone. She was no longer on the ledge, but in one of the mine tunnels, close to the active works. She could hear the hammers, the rumble of the ore carts. She barely had time to get to her feet before she heard shouts, iron-shod boots running toward her.
“Princess! Thank Mahal, you have been found!” The miner was staring at her wide-eyed, he moved to help her but then drew back, remembering he should not touch her. “Are you in need of a Healer, your highness?”
“No, thank you,” Freya drew herself up. “But if you could show me the way out, I would be grateful.”
“Of course, of course,” the miner bowed. “At your service! The King will be very relieved to see you, we have all been searching high and low.”
Freya felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry to have caused such a fuss. I was only gone a few hours.”
“A few hours?” The miner turned to stare at her. “Your highness, you have been missing for three days!”
As they came closer to the palace, Freya screwed up her courage to face her parents. She knew the trouble she was in. And she really didn’t have a good explanation for where she had been. Playing dice with a strange creature in an abandoned mine shaft! Her mother was going to tear her to shreds.
The miner turned her over to the palace guard. As they led the way to her father’s office she regretted not asking the man’s name, he was certainly due some kind of reward. Freya took a deep breath before opening the door, hoping she only had to face her father. Thorin was standing at the hearth, hands behind his back. When he heard the door open he turned, then rushed forward to fold his daughter into his arms.
“My girl, you will be the death of me!” He told her, hugging her close. “Where have you been? We have been searching everywhere!”
“You wouldn’t believe it,” Freya answered, pressing her head against his chest. Her father always smelled so good, she always felt so safe when he put his arms around her.
“Let me decide what to believe, daughter.”
Slowly, Freya told him all that had happened. Thorin listened intently, asking many questions about the creature she had encountered. He nodded when she told him of her dream about traveling through the stone of the mountain.
“I didn’t know there were any of those left,” the King smiled.
“Of what?”
“They have a lot of names. Kobolds, nisse. Men call them tommyknockers,” Thorin said. “They’re a kind of spirit, harmless most of the time, but they can be nasty if they are wronged.” He smiled at some old memory. “I thought I saw one once, when I was about your age.”
“I would still be in that shaft, if not for him.”
Thorin nodded. “Yes, you did very well!” He held out his hand. Freya stared at it for a moment before reaching into her tunic to hand him the glasses. “You are not to take these again, not ever. And you are not to be exploring without telling someone where you are going.” He frowned at her. “Am I understood?”
Freya gulped. “Yes, father,” she managed to answer in a small voice. “I am sorry I worried you.” She curtsied low. “May I be excused now?”
“Yes,” Thorin couldn’t keep himself from pulling her into another hug. “Go get cleaned up before you see your mother.”
Freya quickly hurried away to her apartments, already planning her next adventure.
#writersmonth2021#writing challenge#fanfiction#thewarriorandtheking#tolkien fanfic#thorin oakenshield#original female character#middle earth#writersmonth
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There... And Back Again?
Febuwhum2021 Day 12 - Who Are You
Summary:
For decades, Tony managed to lock his childhood memories away, never to be talked about again, but with the daughter he adored getting older and more curious, with the boy who he pulled back into his life as nothing less than a son, there were questions coming up, that Tony couldn't suppress any longer.
The Stark's drive upstate to the old Masion where Tony grew up. To Tony's horror, the trip takes him and the kids a lot further down memory lane than anyone could have predicted.
Read on AO3
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Part I
"Wait, you've never been there either?" Peter's voice rang clearly surprised.
"Nope," Morgan bubbled cheerfully, then paused. "Is that weird?"
They had left New York City about an hour ago. Super conveniently, Pepper had to attend an emergency meeting and sent Tony ahead with the kids on this trip from hell, which was great. Just great. Tony was only about 45% sure that she had set it up like this, forcing him to engage. He'd had little say in the matter as the fateful trip was arranged. A trip to his ancestral home. With a hyper-active Spider-kid and a chaotic 6-year-old in the back seat, it would be his hardest part playing 'Respectable Adult' to deliver yet.
Peter - to Tony's horror - had asked to be picked up on Bleeker Street instead of the Parker's apartment in Queens. It wasn't the first time that Tony had heard the odd clue that Peter had grown interested in what they were doing in that Sanctum. He would need to have a bit of a talk with Strange when they got back. The kid dabbling in witchcraft - or whatever it was those dudes were up to in the Sanctum - that just wouldn't do.
His eyes on the road, even with the excited voices chattering in the backseat, Tony couldn't help but hold onto his gloom. He had missed his window of opportunity. In all honesty, Tony had just been a coward, hoping that if he ignored every little mention of his parents, they'd just stay in the deep hole where he had buried all those memories years ago. Decades ago.
First, it had been pain and anger that had kept him determined to keep all of it hidden there. Years, he had carried all that baggage like a ball and chain around his ankle, the weight of it dragging him down for too long, never really allowing him to just let go of the past.
There had been moments along the way, that had lit up these flames before. When Tony had found out about how his parents had really died. The Snap and the loss that followed. Morgan's birth, when he had held his baby girl, while Pepper was sleeping, recovering from labor.
What wouldn't he have given for his mom to live to see Morgan, to hold her. To just be there and tell him what to do, how to do right by this little girl. Both of his girls, really.
At the same time, there were no words for the relief he felt that his father would never get the chance to touch Morgan. Would never get the opportunity to make either of his kids feel inadequate and small. To make them hate their lives like he had always made Tony hate his.
Howard would never get the chance to do that to his kids. And that sure felt like liberation.
There was a single portrait of his mother on the wall out in the hallway of the cabin right next to the black and white wedding picture of Pepper's parents. When they brought Morgan home from the hospital, Tony added another portrait. One of his father that still sat behind the framed picture of Tony and Peter in the kitchen cupboard. It was there as an ever-present reminder for Tony just in case, so he'd remember every day what he didn't want to be.
Tony had managed to suppress the topic of his parents, the good and the bad. But he didn't want to be trapped in the labyrinth of right and wrong anymore. Just sick of holding onto the pain. It was all too much.
So maybe the cracks had started with him, but Morgan had surely been a catalyst.
It took a few more years though till Tony had to outright confront what he had kept at a safe distance for so long. With the daughter he adored getting older and more curious, with the boy who he pulled back into his life as nothing less than a son, there were questions coming up, that Tony couldn't suppress any longer.
Howard Stark. The Titan. Maria Stark, the quiet, good soul. The anchor in Tony's youth. There came a time when the kids couldn't be held back with empty words, that had just not been enough to nip the whole topic in the bud. Maybe because Tony had never been the kind of father that would cut his kids' excitement and curiosity off like that. Maybe he could at least pretend that this was the father he had truly become. The patient and giving kind. There was still a chance that he could fake this, sell it just right so that the kids would never know what a disappointment he had been to his own parents. So that his kids would never know the coldness and heartache that had been the baseline of his childhood and adolescence.
Darkness had fallen shortly after they had left the city. What had hung as a heavy fog in Manhattan had quickly turned into even nastier weather, storm clouds gathering ready to wreak havoc. But the spirits in the car were high. Despite the dread Tony was trying to hide at the very prospect of this trip, the kids sure amused themself looking up the old house on the internet.
"Whoa! That's huge," Peter gasped. "How many rooms is that?"
"Let me see, let me see," Morgan begged. Judging by the commotion in the back, she was trying to wrangle the phone out of Peter's hand. "Whoa!"
Tony couldn't help but smirk at how she imitated Peter more and more often.
"Daddy, why have we never been to the Mansion?"
Tony cringed. He hated it when people called it that. The Mansion. It was what his father had called it, though it had probably been for the best since it had surely never been a home, at least not for Tony.
"We've been waiting for you to be old enough to clean it. It's a lot of rooms." He found the kids' eyes in the review mirror. "A lot!"
Morgan wrinkled her nose. "Why do I have to do the cleaning?"
"That job is always for the youngest sibling," Peter jumped in.
"But... but that's not fair! It's a lot of rooms!" She gasped, excitement nevertheless vibrating off her. "Maybe Doctor Strange knows a cleaning spell."
Peter spluttered out a laugh, but Morgan was adamant, grilling Peter for everything he had already learned from the wizard, which - at least so he claimed and Tony could only hope it was true - was nothing really. It wasn't until Peter gave in and spun Morgan a tale about ancient rituals, of witches and spirits that he had allegedly read about at the Sanctum that she stopped interrupting and hung on every single word. It was also the point where Tony once again regretted that his girl had ever even heard of Strange and his godforsaken Sanctum.
"It only happens every few millennia." Peter had turned towards her, his voice drowning out the rain that was pattering against the roof of the car, but not so much the soft thunder in the distance. "It happens when the sun reaches just the right position in the sky, its beams able to penetrate the earth's crusts and open the door to the underworld. It was in one of those nights when witches and ghosts formed their first secret pact, bringing back to life things and creatures that have been dead for a long time and--"
"Pete, seriously..." Tony looked up into the review mirror trying to catch his eye. "Can you not? I don't want Morgan up all night, terrified of some dumb ghosts."
"Come on, it's just a story, Tony. Morgan knows I made it all up, right?" Peter winked at her, then wiggled his eyebrows in a way that seemed kind of familiar.
"Yeah, daddy." But Morgan was full-on ignoring Tony, her eyes on Peter trying to imitate the wink and wiggly eyebrows he had just sent her way. "It's just a story."
He could do little more than groan as Peter continued to spin a tale of spirits and witches, ancient pacts and promises that had to be kept, ransoms that the spirits had vowed to retrieve.
"It was a night very much like tonight," Peter continued, his voice low and full of dreadful foreboding, "that the witches broke that pact they had signed with the blood of the innocent..."
Morgan's gasp morphed into a giddy giggle while Tony could only rub a hand across his brow and mumbled, "Blood of the innocent, give me a fucking break..."
But if either of the kids had heard, they weren't interested in his opinion.
"...and the spirits, they vowed to come back and settle the score one day. One day when the sun and moon would once again be perfectly aligned with the door to the underworld..."
"When did the moon become a part of this?" Tony braced his elbow against the window frame, cradling his head.
"...then they will come back and collect the price that they were promised so many centuries ago."
"What's the price?" Morgan whispered.
"The soul of mankind's bravest hero to punish humanity once and forever. The soul of the hero, that this world can't endure without."
Morgan gasped while Tony rolled his eyes hard enough to potentially sprain some eye muscles.
"In fact..." Peter hesitated, then drew in a deep breath, slamming his lips shut.
"What," Morgan asked, her voice slightly trembling with what Tony could only pray was excitement still.
"In fact, the way the moon and stars are aligned right now, it... it would suggest that the sun--"
Morgan gasped again and Tony was losing his last nerve.
"It's raining harder than it has in like 10 years," Tony groaned. "How could you possibly be able to tell how the moon and stars are aligned, huh? The sun went down 3 hours ago!"
"It's the vibes of the cosmos, Tony. I can feel them. Their energy calls onto me." Peter caught his eyes in the review mirror, sending him a looked that vibed a different message. Something like 'Why are you ruining this for me, man?' Then his eyes found Morgan again. "I feel like... like tonight might be the night. Tonight might--"
There was a flash of lightning that clearly wanted to turn the night into day, a strong current of energy that split the sky in two, followed by a massive bang and deep growling thunder.
Tony bolted upright in his seat, both hands now clutching the steering wheel as the car skidded across the drenched road onto the other lane before Tony countersteered and brought it back under control. Morgan was shrieking like a banshee in the backseat. At least she didn't catch the imaginative chain of curses that slipped over Tony's lips as he brought the car to a sudden stop. He spun around still panting, darting his eyes from one kid to the other.
"You guys okay?"
"Jeezes, Tony!" Peter panted, his face a little white. Morgan had immediately leaned over to him, both arms wrapped around his torso. "I didn't realize you were this freaked out by witches and spirits."
"There is no such thing as witches and spirits," Tony hissed through his teeth. His shoulders slumping with a deep exhale, he reached out for Morgan's leg, petting her in an attempt to make light of this. "You okay, Morguna?"
She nodded into Peter's chest. Her eyes were wide, shock clearly still clinging to her. In fact, she looked like she was only moments away from crying.
On a whim, Tony figured his only chance to turn this around was to just lean into the ghost stuff. Despite his still trembling knees, he plastered a wide grin on his lips and wiggled his fingers in the universal warning of a tickle attack.
"Well, just wait till the ghosts come and get you then."
Peter - jumping right into the abyss with him - pulled Morgan tight, tickling her sides, and like a miracle she didn't cry but burst out laughing as hard as he had ever seen her, squirming against her seat belt. Neither of them could resist joining into her joy and the shock from just moments before slowly slipped away.
Blowing out a deep breath of relief, Tony turned his eyes back on the road. It was time to just freaking get there. Get it over with. They were only half an hour away from the Stark Mansion. The closer they got, the darker the night seemed to turn. The trees were growing closer and closer to the road. There were fewer crossings that lead off to other towns, other houses. The Stark Mansion had after all been picked by his father first and foremost for its secluded location. Hard to get there, hard to get away.
It wasn't just the world outside the car that took a darker turn. The mood inside of it was slowly deteriorating too. Another glance in the review mirror confirmed that Morgan was still snuggled tightly against Peter, her eyes open wide, staring into the void. Peter had a hand in her hair, softly combing through it, his own gaze turned to the woods that stretched along either side of the road. The rain was still strong, drumming on the roof of the car.
15 more minutes. The kids would feel a whole lot better once they were there, some hot chocolate to calm the nerves - maybe with a pinch of rum for Tony's own - and by the time the sun would rise the next day, by the time Pepper would get there to help him with this mess, everything would be alright.
It turned out, that that next morning would not come as fast as Tony had wished for. The rain had still been lashing as he carried his exhausted, strung up little girl through the doors of the large mansion. Even as he sat her down in her pajamas in the ensuite of his old room to blowdry her rain-soaked hair, the mood was still foul. Not even the hot chocolate she was clutching seemed to make a difference.
"But I don't want to go to bed," she whined.
"It's already past 11 pm, Morguna. Look at you, you're all cranky. You need your sleep."
"But I don't want to." Big tears rolled down her cheeks, bambi-eyes turned up at Tony. "Daddy, please don't go." She hiccoughed stumbling through the words. "Please. The spirits will come and get you."
"On honey, baby..." He pulled her close against him, not failing to send a fiery glance at the Spiderling who was lingering in the door frame sporting a rosy flush on his cheeks. "That was just a story. Peter made that all up because you wanted to hear a scary story."
"It's true, Morg." To his credit, Peter was fast to slip into the bathroom and crouch down in front of Morgan. "I just made it up. It's not true at all."
"But the lightning," she sobbed into Tony's chest. "It was the door to the underworld that opened back up!"
"That was just pure coincidence! There are no wizards, no ghosts—"
"But Doctor Strange is a wizard. You said he's a wizard." Her little hands still clung to Tony's shirt, but slowly she peeked out from under Tony's arm at Peter.
"But... but that's different, erm..." Peter scratched his head looking to Tony for help.
"He's a good wizard, bambina," Tony tried. "You know the... universe-saving kind." He cringed at his own uselessness. "Come on now, you're just tired. Everything will be just fine in the morning, you'll see."
Between the two of them, they managed to get Morgan into bed at least, but it wasn't until Peter volunteered to sleep in her room for the night that Morgan was finally settling down. Tony pressed a long kiss against her forehead as he knelt next to the bed, letting her pull him close once again until his knees protested and he pushed himself back to his feet. By the time Tony had reached the door of the room, turned off the light, and shot a last glance at his kids, Morgan had already guilted Peter into slipping under the covers on the narrow bed, snuggling against him.
It was moments like this that made it all worth it. All of it. Moments, he had never been supposed to see, would have never been able to cherish if it hadn't been for his brave boy who had pulled him back to this life. Who had given him another chance.
"Love you, kids. Sleep tight."
Morgan's eyes were already closed, as she hummed an affirmative mumbled response that Tony could only decipher as "me too, daddy" because he had heard it so often. Peter squinted at him, his lips pulled into a smirk.
"Night, dad," he purred overly dramatic.
They weren't quite there yet. Peter never called him that unless it could be loosely interpreted as him playing along with either the jokes and teases the team made or for Morgan's sake who had by now unequivocally embraced him as her older brother. Still, Tony made sure that there never was any doubt about what his own feelings on the matter were. He loved the kid like he was his own. And Peter was his in every way that mattered.
The house was already getting to him. Tony didn't seem to be able to stop his thoughts drifting to his parents. He couldn't help but think of his mom. He wished that she could have seen those two rascals. Just as much, Tony would have loved to rub a moment like this in Howard's face. His father would have been mortified, scandalized even and Tony would have lapped up every second of it, bathing in the satisfaction that he didn't let that man break him. That he didn't care what Howard's bullshit parenting had tried to beat out of him.
It took all the strength and adult responsibility for Tony to close the door and not lean into his mushy feelings. He would just rile the kids back up, the way he was craving another big hug and mumbled declarations of eternal love. It had been a long day, a difficult drive. He just needed to get some shut-eye himself. His feet carried him down the dark corridor but he paused in front of the large authentic walnut door to the master bedroom.
It had been his parents' room for many years. In fact, Tony had never spent a night in there, not even as a kid. It would have been unthinkable for him to crawl into this room in the dead of the night during a storm like the one that was raging above them, or after he had been woken by a nightmare. No, a Stark was supposed to toughen it out. He was supposed to become a leader. Leaders didn't cry. They didn't whine either. Composure and class didn't include clinging to his mother's apron strings, let alone looking for comfort from his father.
A heavy lump in his throat, Tony reached for the doorknob but before his hand even touched it, he turned away. There had been enough talk of ghosts for one day. He could face those particular once another night. Preferably with Pepper by his side. Instead, his feet carried him back to the end of the hallway where he hit the stairs that brought him all the way down to his father's old workshop.
It was the one part of the house he hadn't had Pepper completely remodel. As he settled at his father's old workbench and wiped away decades of dust from the surface, Tony couldn't help but think of his old man. Of how different things would have been if the old bastard had been a little different. If he had at least tried and—
He pushed the thought away. What did it matter? All that was over with. Done and done. It was down there in the old armchair that stood by the open fireplace that Tony hadn't bothered to light that he fell asleep for the night.
Quiet knocking sounds woke him the next morning. For a second, cold dread had him freeze in the chair until he remembered. The Mansion. The trip. The kids were still upstairs probably up already, looking for him. Tony didn't hesitate. His limbs hurt from the odd angle but he would have to make sure not to mention any of it or there would be one of Pepper's lectures on sleeping on things that weren't designated sleeping surfaces.
The stairs leading up from the basement seemed to drag on and on but with every step, his muscles woke up a little more, felt a little more alive. Still, he took a short break to stretch in the landing, to shake the needles pricking his muscles from his legs, before he climbed up into the first floor to make sure the kids weren't already up to their usual shenanigans. As he arched his back and blew out a groan, he spotted a large picture frame on the sideboard right next to the stairs. Like a sack of rice, he imploded mid-stretch, reaching for the picture.
"What the..."
It was a family portrait. His mother, Howard, and little Tony. Smiles on all their faces. Decked out in their best suits. It made him want to gag from all the fakeness just looking at it.
"But..." Tony frowned. He had gotten rid of those. Had Pepper... no she wouldn't, would she? He had been clear that he didn't want any of these around.
There was a high pitched scream echoing through the hall. The frame slipped from Tony's hands and shattered on the floor as he sprinted up the stairs, forgotten all the aches from last night's uneasy sleep.
He pushed open the door to his old room, expecting blood or broken bones, but instead, he found his little girl on the bed, squirming in laughter. Next to her on the floor, Peter was holding his stomach, tears in his eyes while he could barely breathe from how hard he was laughing.
It took Tony a second to reboot his brain and realize what Peter was pointing at. "Sweet Jesus..."
There was a portrait on the far wall of the room. A portrait, well, that implied some form of artful expression, no. There was an abomination that covered half the wall. A painting his parents had commissioned when he had been roughly Morgan's age. A painting that he was sure, he had burned more than 30 years ago.
Tony's mouth was flapping open and close but he had no word.
"Daddy, is that really you?" Morgan sat up straight, eyes shining with utter joy. "You were so cute! Look at your hair! It's all so... curly!"
"No wonder you didn't want us to turn up the lights last night." Peter was still holding his stomach. "Are you wearing tights? Oh my—"
"Those are stockings," Tony growled like it was helpful. "It's Edwardian."
Peter snorted, rubbing the tears from his eyes. "But why?"
"Anthony Edward..." He shook his head, hands tangled in his messy hair like it could undo the ghost pains of those hair roller pulling at his scalp. "How in the world is this possible." He glared at Peter. "Stop it with the hysterics, okay?"
"I'm sorry, Tony, I just don't think I'll ever be able to unsee this." The smirk on Peter's face only deepened as he pulled up his phone. "And neither will Twitter."
The phone almost dropped to the ground only saved by Peter's fast reflexes as the door to the room swung open once again and hit the wall with a forceful slam.
"What in the world is going on in here!"
Tony's vision whiting out around the edges. His hands fumbled for something that would keep him upright but there was nothing, only sheer panic that was flooding all of his senses at once.
There was a man in the door frame. Taller than him, grey-ish hair. A man that looked an aweful lot like his father. Howard Stark, there was no doubt in Tony's mind no matter how impossible it was, that was his father who stood in the doorway glaring at him.
"Anthony, what the hell is--" He stopped the frown on his face turning even dark. "Who the hell are you and what... what is this?! What is—"
There was no time to think, no room for a single coherent thought as Tony lunged for him. With strength his trembling hands pulled out of thin air, he pushed Howard back far enough to slam the door shut right in his face. He turned the key twice, bolting the door shut, then spun around and leaned his back against it like it would keep the ghosts of the past out.
There was a beat of silence, only Tony's heavy pants echoing off the walls. His eyes flickered to Morgan who still sat up high on the bed that wasn't the bed he had put her in the night before any longer but held the old, dark wood frame of the bed Tony had slept in for most of his childhood.
Panic. That was all he could think of. That he was drifting into a full-on anxiety attack. This couldn't be happening. It was impossible. It had to be a dream or—
He squinted at Peter. "What did you do?"
Peter's eyes went wide. "What did I do?" He shook his head in bewilderment, frozen just like Morgan was. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Tony's voice was hoarse. This could still be a dream. He could still wake up but given his track record... "Did you bring back some mumbo jumbo from the wizards?"
"No!" He shook his head, scrambling to his feet.
"Peter, you need to tell me the truth! Did you bring them here? This is serious! What if—"
The door vibrated as Howard banged his fist against the other side of it. "Open the goddamn door! This instance! I will not repeat myself!"
Tony braced himself against the door like the devil was knocking from the other side, which in all honesty, it felt like he was.
--------------------
To be continued...
For your amusement, the picture I used as inspiration for Tony's portrait:
#iron dad and spider son#febuwhump2021#febuwhump day 12#who are you#howard stark#time travel#LYKHIW timeline#irondad#morgan stark#tony stark fic#iron dad fic
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So..
I’m planning on creating a larger fanwork to continue and deepen the story of Junpei and Chidori from Persona 3, making it a mix of drawings and writing. Whenever I get an idea I write down a scene or draw a sketch and keep it, hoping that one day I will have accumulated so much that I will be able to shape it all into a proper story. I’ve shown drawings, but I’ve never shown anything that I’ve written before, so.. If you’re interested feel free to read on and leave some feedback as well. It would be great to talk to mutuals more!
(little edit: I’ve been thinking about adding a part where Junpei dreams of being with her and because he has quite some of her life energy left with him she ends up having the same dream. I’d have to change things a little bit, but that could be interesting, too.)
"Hey, Chidori."
Junpei scratched his neck as he looked down a tad, but his gaze was caught by hers again, which was directed at him curiously, waiting for his response.
"Ah, I was just wondering, you know, whether you've got some time to spare.. like, on Sunday?"
She nodded in reply.
' I do.. why is it you ask? '
"Well, I thought we could.. you know, only if you'd like, but.."
- Ahw come on man, say it already! - he thought by himself before gathering his courage.
Under her curious gaze he finally managed to ask her.
"Would you like to.. catch a movie with me? They have some good ones at the theatre nearby.. Or anything you like, really, I'm not picky."
Just as long as he could spend more time with her.
Chidori kept looking at him for another second, then averting her gaze downwards, blinking, smiling a tad before she looked up to him again.
' I'd like that. ' she finally gave for an answer, which made Junpei smile in relief.
"Sweet! Sunday’s still okay, right?”
‘ If you don’t mind it being in the afternoon, yes. I wanted to go visit the old lady that keeps the flowershop, she wanted to have a cup of tea with me. ‘ she explained, seeming very happy that she would have so much good company.
“Ah, the old lady you’ve been telling me so much about? I’ve gotta meet her some time, too, she seems great!”
‘ She is. ‘
Chidori showed an earnest smile as she said that. .
Junpei smiled back, getting a little more sheepish again.
“So uh.. Wanna go back to the dorm again? We can think up something good for Sunday while we’re at it.”
‘ That sounds good, it’s getting a little colder again. I’m okay though. ‘ she said before Junpei could get worried.
And so they carried on their conversation on their way back to the dorms.
__________________________________________________________
Chidori was sitting on that very bench next to the flower shop at the Port Island Station.
It was a little early for her to be sitting there waiting already, yet she sat there, at some point growing tired of sketching flower bouquets.
As beautifully arranged as they may have been, somehow she just felt tired in general.
And as she drew, her thoughts drifted off and the flowers became more and more abstract, as though she'd be seeking to capture something entirely different.
Like that she closed her sketchbook and placed it to her left, directing her gaze towards all those wind turbines, eventually losing it in the sky and drifting off to sleep.
At first she was sleeping calmly before slowly all those pictures came up again.
Pictures she couldn't define, such that would only leave her with one feeling.
Longing for something.
She was longing for.. for someone? But who are you.. and where have you gone?
After a while she would wake up with this strong feeling again, but.. no, it felt different now.
The sun stood much lower than before, but alongside that...
' Jun..pei.? '
Chidori found herself leaning onto Junpei's shoulder.
He seemed to have fallen asleep right there, with both of them supporting their weight onto each other.
Puzzled and a tad flustered she looked up to him.
However, as she watched him sleep serenely, something became clear to her.
_____________________________________________________________
"Alright, alright.. You got this. You're da man. Just.. keep their advice in mind and don't screw this up, that's all." he mumbled to himself, on his way to Port Island Station.
As he got out of the train he adjusted himself and got down the stairs.
Like that he reached the bench, but..
He checked the clock.
No, no he wasn't late at all. Good. But still..
He looked over at Chidori, who was fast asleep right there in front of him.
To be frank, he didn't really know how to deal with this situation.
But, to be frank, he genuinely liked that sight.
And thus he kept watching her for another moment before he sat next to her, carefully, as somehow he just didn't want to disturb her sleep.
So he was waiting.
Then, after a couple of minutes she grew to be restless.
At first he thought she'd be waking up and he was already thinking up something to greet her with before he noticed that she was still caught in her sleep.. was she dreaming?
But he wasn't left alone long enough to finish this thought, as he saw how his lady shifted around a tad before her balance changed in a way that would've sent her lying flat on the bench.
That is, if Junpei wouldn't have given up on the polite distance he kept at first.
Like this she leaned onto him now, even snuggling up to him a little before she got calmer.
Junpei on the other hand gathered all his mental power to stay still, blushing a good tad as he thought about just how incredibly glad he was that he just took a shower.
So like this, somehow, he actually managed to calm down, though he was still incredibly stoked about the situation.
After all, it's been so long since he last...
Nah, he didn't want to overthink that, he just wanted to enjoy this moment with her.
Hence he carefully - very carefully - leaned onto her just a bit more to catch some of her scent, gently leaning his head onto hers, watching her just a little while longer before he closed his eyes.
In this serene moment, he drifted off to sleep.
______________________________________________________________
' Junpei.? '
Somewhere inbetween sleeping and waking he heard a gentle voice calling his name.
' Hey, Junpei. '
Someone was trying to wake him, and eventually she succeeded.
Amber eyes looked up to him as Junpei looked back at her, just studying her for a moment.
"Huh.. I'm not dreaming.. now am I?" he mumbled towards her.
Chidori smiled and shook her head, snuggling into him a little more.
He blinked for another second before he turned a lot more red, sitting up all straight before he started to talk really quickly.
"I-I'm sorry! I, you were sleeping and -" ' Hey.. ' "- I just really didn't want to disturb you but, you, you know, all of a sudden -" ' Hey, Junpei.. ' "I mean I didn't want you to fall and get hurt and -" ' Junpei, please calm down! '
Despite calling out to him her voice was still gentle.
As she finally had a calmer Junpei next to her, looking at her in wonder, she began to chuckle at his sight, blushing a little.
And whilst his heart jumped a tad, she patted his shoulder gently.
' Don't worry.. It’s okay, really. I didn’t mind being with you like that. ' she replied, surprised how she was able to say that without getting sheepish, but she really meant that.
His eyes got wide and he blinked at Chidori another second before he scratched his neck with a big smile on his face.
"Heh, you really think so?"
There she shared a bench with a genuinely happy man.
As their gazes met the moment was broken by a clock signalizing how time had passed on in the background. It has gotten late, as the evening was not yet there, but the sun stood rather low.
"Ah- the movie!"
' It's almost over, huh? '
Junpei shrugged in reply, but then spoke up.
"Hey, uhm.. I know it could get later than we said, but, well, you wanna go over to the mall instead? Like, there's this nice cafe over there. It'll probably get dark, but I'll make sure to keep all those thugs away from you on the way back!"
He tried to look all tough for her, posing a little, which made Chidori smile.
And he couldn't say it wasn't part of why he did that, as he smiled back at her.
' Let's do that, then. ' she said, as she picked up her sketchbook, got up, and pulled at Junpei's sleeve gently.
She didn't need to tell him that twice, that was for sure.
They had to walk over there, but it wasn't that long and neither of them minded the other's company.
In fact something seemed to have changed.
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we’ll take on the world.
Summary: Ziva contends with her anxiety about the coronavirus...with a little help. The second of my A Very Special Quarantine fic series.
A/N: I tried to portray this topic as sensitively as I could. I’m sorry in advance for any issues/inaccuracies.
TW: Anxiety/panic attacks; very brief Somalia mention
AO3 (Kudos/comments are appreciated!)
The edges of the world grew black as she hastily wiped the sweat from her brow.
Not again, she thought.
Ziva’s heartbeat quickened; she tried to steady her breathing with little success. Looking around in a frenzy, she took in her surroundings in a desperate yet futile act to ground herself. Shoppers with half-covered faces swirled around her. She couldn’t decide whether they were all staring at her, or if she was invisible, simply watching the store’s happenings from above. Maybe it was a little bit of both.
She promised him she’d call if it happened again.
Damn it.
As if on autopilot, she abandoned her shopping cart in the aisle, which had been filled with the contents of their dinner, and bee-lined toward the single-stall bathroom she knew all too well.
She managed to close and lock the door before her legs gave out. Sliding down until her butt hit the floor, she drew her legs up and let her head fall to her knees.
Tears now streaming down her face, she reached up and tore the dreaded mask from her mouth. Crumpling it up into a ball so tight it could probably injure someone should it make contact, she threw it as far as she could across the dirty tile floor.
Her hands shook dangerously as she pulled her phone from her pocket, hating herself as she clicked on his name and held the device to her ear. Why could she no longer manage to keep her emotions in check? Why did it always come to this?
It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful to have him; of course she was. She fought for years to have him. It was the only thing she wanted throughout all of this--besides Tali, which was a given. But she was used to taking care of herself. In her life, she needed to be able to take care of herself. How could she trust herself to take care of her daughter when she could barely handle her own issues? Even still, how could he trust her to do so?
And she had been finally, finally getting better, too.
Damn it.
“Ziva? Ziva?” Tony asked, increasingly concerned at her silence. “Ziva! Are you there?”
“I--yes. Sorry.”
His voice repeatedly calling out to her, once she finally processed it, helped a little to quiet the noise inside her head.
A little.
“Did it happen again?” he asked softly.
She started to nod before realizing that he couldn’t see her. Though, she suspected he already knew the answer. He always knew.
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to meet you?”
She was silent for a moment, contemplating.
“No. I just...I just need a minute.”
“Ok.”
She closed her eyes and listened closely to his breathing, forcing herself to slow down and match his. His presence was strong, silent but patient as he stayed in that place with her, until she was ready to face the rest of the world again. As only he could do.
“Ok,” she said after several minutes.
“Ok.”
The word had become their own personal code: A way to communicate without saying too much, without voicing things she wasn’t yet able to voice.
They were pros at reading between the lines, after all.
He stayed on the line with her as she rose from the floor, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She discarded her old mask into the trash can and retrieved the spare one from her bag.
She stared it down, sizing it up as if it was a foe in battle. Analyzing its features, its shape, its strengths and weaknesses. She didn’t realize how long she had been doing so until he spoke again.
“Ok?”
She breathed.
“Ok.”
Tugging the mask on, she forced herself to focus on him as she cautiously opened the door and stepped outside. The store had emptied a bit now; her cart was thankfully just as she left it. Drawing determination from her partner, she marched straight to it and then to the register.
So far, so good.
The clerk working the line she chose to stand in wore a dark, dirty black mask that covered most of his face.
Her breath hitched as the clerk looked on concernedly, hand extended waiting for her credit card.
“It’s ok, Ziva,” she heard in her ear. “You’re ok. I’m right here.”
She forced a smile to the poor man, paid and made it to the car in one piece.
Barely.
“I’m ok, Tony. See you soon.”
---
“Talk to me, Ziva,” he said quietly as they laid in bed. It was close to 3 a.m., but he knew she hadn’t slept yet. He couldn’t, either, when she was hurting this much.
He stroked her arm softly and turned to his side to face her.
“What happened today?”
A part of her wanted to pretend that she was sleeping. But, she knew that wasn’t honest or fair to him. Or to herself--to the larger part of herself that needed him to help her breathe again.
Deciding to be brave for the both of them, she switched on the light and turned to her side, mirroring his actions to face him.
“It’s those damn masks.”
She said it plainly yet in hushed tones, in the hopes that doing so would somehow make it a smaller threat.
He looked on in silent question, giving her the time he knew she needed to elaborate. He took her hand in his and gave it a soft kiss before gently squeezing in encouragement. He rubbed it slowly with his thumb and waited.
“With them on, I feel like I can’t see. I can’t evaluate potential threats. I know there likely aren’t any, but...but still. I can’t see.”
“It’s dangerous not to see.”
“It is.”
He nodded, searching her eyes for what remained unspoken. He saw the fear in them, and it almost killed him.
“What are the other reasons?”
She averted her eyes to his chest, then, and laid her hand over his beating heart.
“They remind me of another, much more...serious time I was unable to see.”
Tears started to form again--in her eyes and in his, this time.
“It reminds me of Somalia, Tony. I know it’s not the same, it was a very long time ago, and I can still technically see, and I’m safe, but still. It does. And I hate it.”
He reached forward and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair.
“I’m sorry, Ziva.”
“I know.”
“Thank you. For telling me.”
“Thank you for listening. And for earlier. I wish I could say it will be the last time.”
“It’s ok,” he said, gently caressing her cheek. “I’m here. Always. And one day, it will be the last time.”
Her silence spoke volumes.
”What?”
“I hope you are right. No, I believe you are right. I do. But until that day comes...I’m not sure I should be out alone with Tali.”
“What?” Tony asked, shocked at her confession. “Ziva. There is no doubt in my mind that if Tali was with you, you would make sure that she was safe, no matter what. Hell, that’s why you started having these moments to begin with. To keep her safe.”
She was tired, and desperately wanted him to be correct. So she relented, and accepted his words as truth. For now.
“Ok,” she said softly. “Thank you, Tony.”
_____
“Ima!” Tali exclaimed as she ran to where her mother had been reading in her bedroom. “Come here!”
“What is it?” she asked, smiling as she placed her worn bookmark carefully in the pages before rising to follow.
Tali grabbed her hand and led the way to the living room, where a crudely-wrapped gift lay on the coffee table. Tony sat near it, waiting for them.
“I have something for you!”
“You do?!” she asked excitedly. She gave Tony a curious look, who just winked at her.
“Yes! Open it!”
“Alright,” she said with a smile as she sat and unwrapped the package.
“My art teacher told us to decorate some, so I made one for you! Abba said you don’t like the others because they’re ugly.”
“Oh wow, Tali. Thank you!”
Tali grinned as Ziva examined the artwork with a touched smile on her face, running her fingers carefully along the edge of the mask.
She had drawn a picture of herself holding each of her parents’ hands. She labeled each of them--Ima, Tali, and Abba--in typical child-like penmanship. There was a bright yellow sun in the corner, haphazard grass below the names and a mass of pink hearts around the family of three.
Tali beamed as she watched Ziva pick the mask up and give it a soft kiss. She then jumped onto the couch and snuggled into Ziva, throwing her arms around her neck.
“It’s not ugly anymore, right?”
Ziva shook her head dramatically, clicking her tongue as she booped Tali on the nose. “Are you kidding? It is the most beautiful mask I’ve ever seen. I will wear it everywhere.”
She pulled Tali close and kissed her head, gently rubbing her back while finally taking another glance at Tony. Her eyes, now misty, glistened as Tony smiled back, raising his eyebrows playfully.
“Mine is much better than Abba’s, too.”
Tony’s eyes widened in a slight panic.
“What do you mean, Tali?” Ziva asked suspiciously.
“He made one for you too, but mine is more pretty. His is boring.”
Ziva laughed, and Tony looked sheepish.
“Tali, that was going to be a surprise for later.”
“Sorry!” she said cheerily, giving Ziva one last hug before hopping off her and wandering off to her room. “I’m going to make some more.”
When she left, Ziva raised an eyebrow back at him.
“So? You made me a present?”
“I may have.”
“Can I see it?”
He chuckled, now taking his turn to avoid eye contact. “I don’t know; it’s not ready really. I need to check something first.”
“Tony,” she said playfully as she rose and joined him on the chair, legs across his lap. “Please?” she asked, elongating the word and softly kissing his neck. “I really do want to see it.”
He smiled, uncharacteristically shy.
“Ok.”
He grabbed the parcel from where it lay in the end table drawer and cautiously handed it over. “I’m sorry if it’s not right, I wasn’t sure about it and wanted to go back to the guy and check--”
“Tony,” she cut him off, having already ripped open the package.
“Is it right? I know it won’t fix everything completely, but I was hoping...”
She smiled and paused for a moment before answering.
“It is...absolutely perfect. Thank you.”
The cloth mask was deep blue. Most of it was plain, earning disdain from their daughter. But, in the bottom right corner, a small and familiar phrase was printed neatly in Hebrew script:
Aht Lo Leh-Vahd.
“You’re crying again,” he said softly as he thumbed away a tear and wrapped his other arm around her waist.
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am. But for happy reasons this time.”
“Well, I’ll take it, then,” he replied and pulled her in, kissing her softly.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
---
She wore his mask like armor the next time she went out.
She kept Tali’s securely in her pocket, as her backup weapon.
It didn’t take away all of her anxiety; nothing but lots of time and therapy would possibly do that.
But, during a global pandemic, around covered faces and rampant fears of illness, she felt something unfamiliar.
She felt safe.
#tiva#ncis#tiva fanfiction#ziva david#anthony dinozzo#tali david dinozzo#tivali#tivali fanfiction#my fanfiction#my writing#kristen says things
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His Lady Pirate
Happy posting day, @makarias-mom! I hope you had a wonderful winter holiday, and a great Friday! Also, I hope this is IC for your girl and that you enjoy it! <3
Disclaimer: I am definitely making broadly sweeping guesses about what’s up with Jasper because he’s a mysterious one and we know very little about him lol.
After years of living on Vail Isle and multiple rounds of serving as a butler during the seven year summits, Jasper had been fairly certain that precious little could take him by surprise anymore. He had witnessed the slow decay of the summits’ influence, the widening schisms not only among the various kingdoms but also within his own people, and the varying and contrasting delegates sent to represent the kingdoms, all with their own personalities, strength, and goals. He knew of the clashes between the kingdoms, the fundamental philosophical opposition between Arland and Jiyel, the impatience and intolerance of Wellin and Skalt. The infighting within Revaire and the long-simmering anger between Hise and Corval. He and his people had spent years, decades, understanding the conflicts that threatened to boil up once more across the kingdoms, and the young lords and ladies caught up within them. He had prepared himself, just as he had every time, armed with knowledge of his delegate, with a keen understanding on the most recent state of the world. He knew that his assigned lady, as with most of the other attendees, was, in most eyes, nothing more than one of a set of pawns or bystanders, but no doubt had grit and determination, if she had been so eager to attend the Summit.
And yet, even so, Lady Erin of Hise had managed to take him entirely by surprise.
It was a strange thing. She should have been, by all accounts, just another lady from Hise, trained, as many of their delegates were, in both sailing and etiquette, though with perhaps more of the latter than was entirely typical, no doubt on account of her proper Wellish father. There was nothing signaling that it would be an assignment that would be unlike that of any other summit, nothing indicating the maelstrom that would descend upon his neatly, carefully organized life, eroding all his pillars of beliefs, turning those familiar weights and expectations from his position into shackles.
Nothing until she arrived on the isle in a whirlwind of personality and determination.
From the beginning, she had shown herself, her true self, if not to everyone, but at least to them. To Ria and Sayra. To him. She treated her servants with kindness and respect, something that was not altogether unusual for the Hisean delegates, but it was one thing to be unaccustomed to servants and quite another to treat them, to treat him, as she did, inviting them to her events and reaching out to them and befriending them, seeing them not as servants but as people, friends. Even Sayra, cautious and withdrawn though she so often was, had softened around Lady Erin, drawn to her light, a helpless moth to her bright flame.
Just as he was.
And even beyond that… she was too curious by far, had an unnatural talent in finding out information that it were better she didn’t know, often for her own good. While he didn’t follow her at every moment of every day, he saw enough, knew enough, to know that she had a tendency to go where she perhaps ought not, to snoop on information that could be dangerous to glean. After all, she had heard him, had she not? Had overheard his conversation with the Dowager Countess and who only knew how many others.
Guided only by the dim torches and the weight of the tray in his grasp, he stepped into her room, turning to ensure that the door clicked shut silently behind him. With a light sigh, so quiet that he himself could scarcely hear it, he ran a hand through his hair. So early in the morning, so that the sun had only just begun to peek over the horizon, he could allow himself a brief departure from formality, safe in the knowledge that, at such a time, not even she would be able to see him.
No, indeed, between her tireless work to defend Imogen in the upcoming farce of a trial and her pursuit of her own personal interests, she was doubtless far too exhausted to wake up at such an hour, even for her seemingly boundless energy.
With another, marginally heavier sigh, he carefully placed the heavy tray on the table before turning, his gaze drawn inexorably towards the bed, though not even he could be sure if he wished for or feared to find her awake, the reminder of just the previous day, of the understanding and connection and something more, something that he wouldn’t—that he couldn’t, not now, not like this—put name to, echoing through his mind.
Judging from the dull twinge in his chest, it was disappointment that won out.
He shook his head, hands balling into fists at his side. It was, he was, foolish to even think of what had transpired. Foolish for him to even enter her room so early, before the dawn’s light had served to cut through the night’s dangerous mystique. And even so, he could do nothing to tear his gaze from the strands of dark hair, normally styled neatly under Ria’s skillful fingers, that fell across her face, from the soft curve of her mouth, in slumber, still rather than curled into a friendly grin or set in a determined line… or pursed, gentle and concerned, when she looked at him.
She was a delegate at the Summit, had goals and ambitions and a life beyond the seven weeks spent on Vail Isle, spent with him. He knew that, knew that it was all only a pleasant daydream, one that he had no time for, even if she had taken his advice into account, even if she did seem to search him out, time and time again—
No.
Closing his eyes, he drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly, but still he couldn’t seem to turn away from her sleeping form, couldn’t do anything to combat his awareness of her, the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the soft, peaceful rhythm of her breathing. The comforting warmth that, even in spite of the ever-present mantle of his duty, seemed to lift the weight of the week from his shoulders, at least for a few minutes…
A faint creak cut through his thoughts and he barely resisted the urge to jump. Instead, he whipped around, the tension returning so quickly that his body winced, only to freeze as a familiar voice drifted from the doorway.
“Jasper?”
Letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, he inclined his head, taking the time to set his expression back to neutrality. “Ria.” His gaze darted to the taller figure waiting behind her. “And Sayra. Good morning.”
“Good morning.” The faint light from the hallway cast Ria’s face into shadow, but even so, he could picture the crease in her brow as she stepped closer. “You’re here early. Is everything all right?”
Ignoring the intensity of Sayra’s own knowing look behind her, he forced his face into a facsimile of a smile. “As well as they could be, all things considered.”
Her lips pursed into a faint frown. “I suppose so. After all…”
“I know.”
He hesitated, resting a light hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off, forcing cheerfulness back onto her face. “But I believe in Lady Erin.”
Glancing back towards the bed, he felt his mouth relax into a more genuine smile. “As do I.”
#7kpp#seven kingdoms the princess problem#7kpp secret santa 2020#Jasper#Jasper/MC#7kpp secret santa#Tina writes stuff.#Tina plays 7KPP.
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Couples Therapy
I got a lot of comments more like 3 or 4 on my breakup fic asking for a part 2 where Neil and Andrew patch things up and live happily ever after… This is not it. But you can read it as an alternative ending if you want. Or you can read it as a one shot, it’s up to you. 💁🏽♂️
I just thought: people are not always happy, and they don’t always talk, and relationships are not always perfect, so what if Andreil went to couples therapy? 😌
✨You can also read it on A03
✨Wanna read the rest of my stuff?
—-
Session 1
Sarah Barker was in her office and she could hear her 5 o’lock clients arguing outside her door.
“I don’t care what Betsy said, I will not talk to some stranger about our lives, Andrew.”
“You said you’d try. So get your ass in that office and try.”
“I can’t believe it. How can you be ok with this?”
“I… Just shut up and get inside.”
“Hi, I’m Sarah Barker” said the counselor and then, seeing Neil’s scowl, added “You must be Neil.”
“Whatever.” He said, taking a seat on the couch. Andrew wasn’t amused by this behavior, but it wasn’t unexpected.
“Hi, I’m Andrew”
“Hi Andrew, nice to meet you in person. Betsy has talked so much about you,” Andrew’s eyes narrowed instantly “Only good things, don’t worry. Anyway, what brought you here today?”
Andrew looked at his husband’s expression of fake boredom and began talking.
He told the counselor how they’d been fighting lately over the most stupid things like when Andrew forgot to take the clothes out of the washing machine or when he bought the wrong brand of cat food.
“And why do you think these things are ‘stupid’“ she said, adding air quotes with her fingers.
“Because who even cares about that? They’re such small things. He certainly never bothered about that before.”
And then they proceeded to perform a live show of a fight about said stupid things. Neil accused Andrew of being careless with his stuff, claiming he was tired of always having to pick up after him. This escalated quite quickly and soon Sarah was having to decide whether or not to believe in the stabbing threats she was hearing.
When the session was over, she took a deep breath and made a mental note to unfriend Betsy Dobson.
Session 2
Sarah greeted her clients and asked how they were doing. All she got in return was a grunt from Andrew and 50 minutes of complete silence.
Session 3
“This is useless. We are perfectly capable of dealing with our own shit.”
“If that’s true, then why did you sleep on the couch last night?”
“I told you I dozed off, it wasn’t intentional Andrew.”
Maybe this session will be more productive , Sarah thought. Only to be proven otherwise when her clients left early without speaking to each other.
Session 4
“Hi gentleman, how are we feeling today?”
“Like shit” was Andrew’s response. Neil just shrugged and took his usual seat on the couch.
“How was your week? Did you managed to talk about-“
“It was fine. Everything’s just fine .”
“Neil…”
“No Andrew, I told you this was bullshit. If anything it’s just making things worse.”
“How so?” Sarah asked.
There was a moment of silence before Neil sighed tiredly and began telling the past week’s events. He and Andrew had gone to a function last Friday. The whole team was there and it was supposed to be this huge fancy thing to raise money to the LGBTQIA+ youth shelter and Neil was really looking forward to it. Socializing had become easier over the years and he was excited he could help a cause so close to is heart. But Andrew had ruined everything when he pulled a knife on one of the guests . The man had asked Neil for a picture “Big Exy star like this, my kids are going to freak out” the older man had said. Everything was ok until the stranger decided to hug Neil without clearing it with him first. After that everything was just a blur of knives being drawn and the security escorting them out.
“Andrew, what was going through your mind at that moment?” Sarah asked.
“I was just trying to protect you,” he said staring at the floor, unable to look at Neil. “When I saw that man touching you without consent I just…“
“I get it, but we’ve talked about this, Drew. Not everyone is… Fuck. Do you know how bad things are for coach right now? For us?”
“Oh your precious Exy. Shouldn’t mess that up, right?”
“Ok, let’s take a deep breath and think for a second. I’m sure you’re not here just so you can hurt each other further.” Sarah said, trying to keep things from going south.
“I’ll give you a task,” Neil’s scowl was so deep Sarah thought he’d hurt himself. “It’s pretty simple. I just want you to write down what’s bothering you about your relationship. Doesn’t matter how small or insignificant you think it might be, just write. This should help organizing your thoughts and once the problem is ‘visible’, it’s easier to find strategies on how to deal with it.”
As Sarah walked them to the door, she said “It goes without saying, but please don’t read each other’s lists.”
Session 5
Of course they read each other’s lists.
“He doesn’t say ‘I hate you as often’” Andrew read the list out loud. “What does this even mean?”
Neil threw his arms in the air, exasperated. “It means stay out of my business Andrew” he finally said, snatching the list from his husband.
Sarah had to admit she was curious about that one. “What does it mean Neil?”
Neil groaned and threw himself onto the couch. “We used to talk more, about all kinds of things. And you used to be funny and I’d pester you because I knew that when you told me you hated me, it only meant that you hated how much you loved me.” Neil spoke the last part like it left a bittersweet taste in his mouth.
“That’s why,” Andrew said quietly.
“Why what?”
“Why I don’t say it anymore,” He sat down to look his husband in the eyes. “I love you Neil, and I don’t hate any part of it.”
Aha, Sarah thought, it was worth it. Am I not the best?
But damn her and her stupid thoughts, because two minutes later they were at it again.
“Once after sex you said it was fine .”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“We all know what that means, Neil!”
Oh Boy, this was going to be a bumpy ride.
Session 6
After the list fiasco, Sarah thought she’d have to take things slow if she wanted these men to talk about their issues without storming off.
The session started off ok, Neil was the first to talk and said nothing had happened that week. Suspecting the look on his face, Sarah asked “And how does it feel, having an uneventful week?”
“It’s fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Andrew snorted at that, but didn’t say anything.
“Last week you said you guys used to talk more. What changed?” Sarah continued.
“I don’t know. At first we just fell into this comfortable silence. Being around each other was enough and then we became so busy with the team…”
“uhm. I see. Do you agree with that Andrew?”
The blond was in silence for a while, and when he spoke his voice was almost a whisper. “I thought I was losing you. To the team… Let me finish” he said when Neil made to speak. “All those people were so brand new, no ghosts, no dead mothers and you looked so happy just to be around them. I thought I was losing you, Neil.”
Sarah sat in silence waiting for the other man’s response, but he just ran a hand through his hair and breathed loudly.
“Neil…” Sarah goaded.
“You are losing me Drew.” Andrew reacted with his whole body. It was almost like he had imploded, his heart in a million pieces. Sarah saw then how much he cared about his brooding husband.
“You are losing me… not because I have new friends, but because you refuse to move on,” Neil’s voice sounded strangled. “I know what you’ve been through, hell I was there for some of it, but I thought we could grow out of it. Together. Only you refused to let that happen.”
“I didn’t. It’s not just like that and you know it. You of all people-“
“Yes, me of all people. I know it’s hard. But I trust you Andrew. I trusted you with my life as soon as we met and I still trust you now. But I don’t feel like you trust me .”
“Don’t say stupid things.”
“Is it stupid though? Cause I don’t feel like you trust me enough to let me decide when I’m uncomfortable, or to tell me when you are not feeling safe. Instead you just lash out. That night… Yes that man didn’t ask if he could hug me and, yes, it was awkward, but I wasn’t scared .”
There was a silence before Neil continued to speak. “I need you to trust me Drew. I need you to know I can protect myself and that I’ll tell you when I can’t. But more than anything, I need you to understand that I love you. Scarred and glued together, just like you are.”
Sarah was not crying cause that would be unprofessional of her.
Session 7
“Well, last session was very emotional. I believe you have talked about it throughout the week…” Sarah said expectantly.
The men sitting in front of her exchanged a guilty look.
“All right… Let’s talk about it now, then.” She rubbed her hands together preparing herself. “Andrew, what do you think about what Neil said, you not trusting him enough and all that?“
The surly blond man didn’t answer.
“Neil, have you ever expressed those feelings to Andrew before?” She tried again, but only got a shrug in response.
Baby steps, she thought. We’ll get there. Even if I have to kick them all the way there.
Session 8
Sarah waited for her 5 o’clock appointment but they didn’t show.
Session 9
She was starting to get worried.
Session 10
“Hello Neil, Andrew. Nice to see you again.”
“Hey” they answered in unison. Huh
“So, how have you been?” Sarah said seating on a chair across from them. She couldn’t help but notice how close they sat to each other, their knees touching.
“Fi- Good,” Neil said, and then added “We talked about all the… stuff.”
“Oh I’m glad to hear that.” Sarah was irrationally scared that this was a prank. That they had teamed up to make fun of her one last time. “How are you feeling now? Andrew?“
The man looked at his hands and then up at his partner’s eyes. “I’m good.” Was that a smile on his lips?
They explained how they finally stopped avoiding the subject and just faced it head on. Neil had already said his piece during the session, but Andrew had a lot stuck on his throat. He trusted Neil with everything except with his own well-being. “Cause lets face it, you were never good at saying how you actually felt.” He’d said.
“I tell you that I love you”
“But not that I’m hurting you, and that’s the thing. You need to tell me Neil. How am I supposed to trust you like that?”
That had gone on and on until they reached an agreement. Neil would always be honest about his feelings if Andrew let him deal with things by himself.
“That sounds like a good deal.”
Andrew’s huff was barely audible.
“What was that?” Sarah asked.
“As a part of our agreement, he’s not allowed to wear knives at social gatherings anymore.”
I don’t think anyone should be allowed that . Sarah thought as she smiled pleasantly.
Session 11
“I have to admit, I was surprised when you called, Neil. Thought you’d want to be done with it.” Sarah said at the end of that session.
“Yeah, so did I,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck. “I just wanted to thank you… Guess it is good to have someone to help us see things clearer or whatever.”
“Well, I’m honored.” Sarah was quite pleased with herself. Two happy clients leaving her office holding hands, sharing secret smiles and soft kisses when they thought she wasn’t looking.
Maybe she should have given Betsy more credit…
—
Lots of words, I know…
But if you made it here, please let me know what you think.🥰
#aftg#Andreil#therapy#post-canon#the foxhole court#andrew minyard#neil josten#soft andreil#all for the game#aftg fanfic#see I can write something other than sadness#betsy dobson#potato writes
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Bai Qi In Love - Character Study
Archiving from Reddit. This is also the main post I wanted to bring over but it required my previous Bai Qi - Character Study post LOL.
So I went through Bai Qi's Spring Festival Date and I have not been the same ever since, so I wanted to expel all my emotions in another character post.
Had a couple of songs in the background while I was writing this, so feel free to put them on too while reading this post LOL.
Contains spoilers up to Chapter 15 and lines from unreleased CN cards. Translations are from the CN and JP version, so may have differing lines from the ENG version.
My road map this time is starting out with the origin of Bai Qi's love, moving onto his letter, how he's gone through his life with MC being his North Star, and then finishing off again with just how much he wants to share every moment of his life with her.
I mentioned before in my Speech Quirks post that Bai Qi always defaults to absolute sincerity when he's not sure how to respond to MC and I hope this reminds you of that, and just how he has a sixth sense when it comes to MC. Every cell in his body is attuned to her.
Normally, this level of devotion to someone is probably unhealthy but, well, MC is the paragon of goodness here so he's in good hands LOL.
FALLING SLOWLY (IN LOVE)
First (another song here!), this is the JP translation of ground zero in the [Campus Date]:
The man raised his knife and attacked Bai Qi, stabbing the sharp blade at him. But still, Bai Qi desperately countered.
Finally, everyone was knocked down but Bai Qi, who was bleeding horribly, stumbled. In his hazy consciousness, the sound of the piano gradually weakened. It was like falling into light from heaven.
In that moment, the boss of the gang took this chance to kick Bai Qi and, because of that hit, Bai Qi fell from the rooftop.
Bai Qi reached out with both hands, trying to grab something as he felt himself plummeting.
Suddenly, a melody reverberated, filled with a strong energy, pressure, and tension.
That sound crossed space and time and resonated with Bai Qi's memories.
The sight of his father wearing a military uniform and his gentle mother... memories of his childhood poured into him all at once.
"Lieutenant General, regrettably, there was no evidence of Evol in his genes."
"There's no meaning for such a useless thing to exist."
Since his mother passed away, he was always alone. It was like he was the only one in this world.
If he died, those guys would probably be happy.
Bai Qi heard rhythmical and strong piano notes and, as he was engulfed in the fierce winds, he felt his body becoming lighter.
"NO!"
Not like this.
His life didn't need his father, friends, or a meaning.
Bai Qi clenched his hands into fists with these strong emotions and the power, sleeping deep in his body, awakened.
He felt a pulse in the wind and, between the vast expanse of heaven and earth, life spread through on the wind.
The melody he heard eventually turned into something overflowing with emotions. In the depths of autumn, the gingko leaves blown up by the wind danced and glimmered in the air.
Bai Qi traveled through the air like a bird and small birds, with their wings spread, gathered happily around him.
Entranced with the piano notes, he hummed freely to the song.
The birds flapped their wings, startled by Bai Qi's sudden humming.
Bai Qi gently picked up a small bird and continued to hum.
It was joy for his reborn self and a declaration of the coming light and end of darkness.
He heard the singing of a girl along with the piano notes.
That clear voice had a powerful force which captured people's hearts and wouldn't let go.
The girl's singing and piano drew Bai Qi's mind and body over strongly.
The wind lifted Bai Qi's body and carried him to a window. Looking inside, he saw a girl playing the piano.
Maybe it was the reflection of the gingko leaves fluttering outside the window, but the girl's eyes sparkled like stars.
She continued to accompany herself on the piano and it was as if she was resonating with the wind.
It was an ordinary girl, but he felt a strong spirit from her.
The girl's hands danced on top of the white and black keys and her piano song shook Bai Qi's heart.
He quietly watched her, feeling that the seed sown in his heart was sprouting.
The girl had no idea that her piano saved a boy who was about to fall into a dark abyss.
And there was no way for the girl to know that the boy swore on his life to protect her.
BTW, the song MC was playing at this time was Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream). During the second anniversary, Papergames confirmed some of the piano songs in the game.
I don't think it needs to be said that Bai Qi was literally going to die at this moment. Not only physically but I'm sure he was mentally at his limits too. Despite the tough act he puts on about being used to loneliness and not caring for what other people think about him, humans are social creatures. He felt like he was all alone in the world and was about to give up on life. I feel like we can draw some analogies to depression here.
There's also an intentional foil in [Chapter 12] between Bai Qi, Jay, and Josie. There's a reference to Josie in [Chapter 7] and MC was sympathizing about how Evol made Josie get treated like a monster, and that sort of darkness can easily change someone. Bai Qi's reply is:
[Main Story 7-18]: "Then I'm very lucky. There was someone who caught me right before I hit the bottom."
But going back to the scene with Jay in [Main Story 12-8], when he's being interrogated, he accuses Bai Qi of not knowing anything about the despair he went through. But, as we all know, Bai Qi lost his father (when he didn't show Evol genes), lost his mother (in the fire), and lost his younger brother (their father took him away and their relationship soured after the death of their mother).
Yet, unlike Jay, he didn't lash out at society and turn to the darkness because he met MC.
[Campus Date] is such a critical date about Bai Qi's character and his convictions and how, while a part of it was formed to go against his father's version of justice, it really solidified because of MC. He learned to love life and cherish its preciousness because of MC.
Because of just how important this ground zero is for Bai Qi, we see references made to this scene again and again and again:
[Main Story 15-7]: "And you saved me. Don't lower your head, look at me. Don't feel insecure and don't feel like you're useless. You caught me again right before I hit the bottom."
[Spring Festival Date]: "The day I met her, there were gingko leaves drifting and falling slowly through the air, and it was the most beautiful time in late autumn. It was also the darkest time of my life. But she was the one who caught me tightly when I fell."
[CN Rumors and Secrets: Ashes]: Bai Qi is bleeding out and touches the picture of MC that he always keeps on him in his breast pocket and sees that a corner of it is stained red. Then he thinks back to the time he heard her play the piano, lightly, gently, slowly, and how it seeped into his body and heart. [Context: this is before he reunites with MC].
THE. LETTER.
We learn about it in [Chapter 7] and how Bai Qi gave it to Minor to pass to the MC, but she saw the bloodstains on it and, because of the bad rumors around Bai Qi and how she misunderstood the sight of him threatening a student to cough up (stolen) money, she thought the letter was a threat LOL.
I'm laughing out loud, but rest assured I'm actually crying inside.
However, the truth is that it was a goodbye letter:
[Main Story 7-20]: "What I regret the most? Probably not handing that letter to that girl personally. [Was it a love letter?] No, it was a goodbye letter. [Why did you write a goodbye letter?] Why should I tell you? [Bro, look, everyone's listening. Give me some face] Because that girl said that she hated it the most when people leave without saying goodbye. [One last question. Could you tell us what was in that letter?] It doesn't matter. Let's just leave that letter in the past. We'll have lots of time in the future together."
For those curious, the contents of the letter is from [CN Rumors and Secrets: Angled Light] but I think this is part of the Dream Heart Lake event series and so won't be released: "Saturday, 9:00AM, I'll be waiting for you in the school library."
By the way, to make things more tragic, you also learn here that he waited for 14 hours at the library, until he was forced out because it was closing, and before he left he slid a gingko leaf into a book that had a collection of Lord Byron poems, which the MC often carried.
The reason he wanted to say goodbye to MC was because, after his Evol awakened and he was going to graduate, his father enlisted him into special training and (threatens) points out that Bai Qi now has someone he wants to protect, but MC is special and she won't have a peaceful life. Does Bai Qi really think he can protect her (as he is)?
It doesn't say what page Bai Qi placed the gingko leaf into, but in [CN Rumors and Secrets: Ashes] Bai Qi thinks he finally understands one of the poems in the book.
Lord Byron's "Don Juan" - Canto the Ninth, XVI and I bolded the part he quotes:
"To be, or not to be?" — Ere I decide,
I should be glad to know that which is being?
'Tis true — we speculate both far and wide,
And deem, because we see, we are all-seeing;
For my part, I'll enlist on neither side
Until I see both sides for once agreeing;
For me, I sometimes think that Life is Death,
Rather than Life a mere affair of breath.
Meanwhile, in [CN Tide of Light SSR Chasing Dreams Date]:
"That year, I did want to give you that letter personally. But I gave myself a way out and left it up to luck. I knew that, at the time, I was still lacking a lot and so I decided that I had to meet you again with my best self."
On a last note, in [CN Yesterday's Breeze SSR Former Days Date] MC asks Bai Qi if he has ever imagined them not reuniting with each other again:
"I've thought about it before. I've thought about how, if I wasn't there, would there be people who would bully that girl and would there be anyone who'd get back at them for her? I've also thought about whether there'd be someone who'd give her a love letter and if she would end up loving someone else... So, if I was to ever meet her again, I had to make sure to catch her. And I'd never let go again."
BTW, in this date, MC has some sort of dream projection where she goes back to their high school days (but the past her also exists LOL so there's two of them) and she has some fun interactions with a grumpy high school Bai Qi. But the heartbreaking part is that MC sees the letter and runs to find him and you get to hear Bai Qi say, self-deriding, that he knew "she" wouldn't come...
HIS (GUIDING MOONLIGHT) NORTH STAR
So, after seeing just how important MC is to Bai Qi, is it any wonder that every atom of his body is attuned to her? SOBS HE JUST LOVES HER SO MUCH. Xu Mo may have the red string of fate, but Bai Qi has "all roads lead to you". She's his lodestone and his compass always points to her.
[CN Lost Forest SSR]: "I will always walk towards you first. You're forever my flag, the one I've kept to throughout every moment of my life."
[CN Go See Him: Military Uniform]: "This uniform and these medals are my convictions, and you are the direction I move forward in."
[CN Southern Wind SSR Road Trip Date]: "The start and end of this journey is you."
I feel like I'm missing more, because I swear the majority of Bai Qi's cards all seem to have some sort of direction quote and relating it back to MC.
Anyway, I won't bother bringing the examples I put in the other post (because they're over there) but this is also why it melts me whenever there's description about Bai Qi's eyes following MC or whenever he's just focusing his attention on her (with heart eyes) in the ASMRs.
Additionally, in my previous character study for Bai Qi, I talked about how MC and Bai Qi both encourage each other to grow with unconditional love and acceptance, but I want to add some quotes here about just how much he takes becoming a better person for MC to heart:
[Spring Festival Date]: "She's the one who told me I could live more strongly, and she's also the one who told me I could live more gently."
[CN Clear After the Rain SSR]: "You're the only one who can find the real me."
[CN Drunk Easterly Wind SSR Three Worlds Date]: "Regardless of whatever lives we have, I will always take my best self and give it to you. This isn't an undertaking and it's not a joke. All of these are just words from my heart."
[Slightly Drunken Date]: "No matter which side of me, they're all yours."
What can I say except that's love, baby! You don't need to complete each other, you just need to encourage each other to be the best version of yourselves!
FOREVER BY YOUR SIDE
Now that we've gotten through the bulk of what I want to say, I'm just going to dump all the romantic stuff Bai Qi has declared to MC.
It really bothers him that he wasn't there for most of her early life, but he maintains his optimism (wouldn't be surprised if he learned it from her) and looks forward to their future together.
[Prank Date]: "I wasn't there for your university, middle school, or elementary school years, and even the time before then. In my memories, there's only the sight of you in high school. At that time, your hair was longer than it is now. But it doesn't matter. From here on, we have time to create new memories."
[Love of my Life SSR Goodnight Wish Call]: "I just... thought about you in many small instances. For example... a movie, a song, a lyric, when I'm crossing the road, and... the moment I close my eyes [...] As long as you're willing, I want to take all the time that's considered yours and turn it to "ours" [...] I want to know how you were before I met you. I want to walk the roads you've walked before, see the sights you've seen before, and... brand my mark on all those moments [...] Yes. I really care about that. I want to make up for all the time I wasn't there in your life. But, right now, what I care about more is our future [...] In our future... I want to hold your hand and walk to the end of our ever after. That's the best future I can imagine."
[Mediterranean Date]: "The missed holidays, the dates I couldn't make, and the many times I had to disappear without being able to tell you... I've never had the time to make up for all of these things. So, no matter what we do, no matter where we go, as long as the person beside me is you, I won't have a single objection."
[Love of my Life SSR Wish Call]: "My wish? From the second I met you again, the wish I made to the stars every night has already been realized."
[2018 Birthday Message]: "Sometimes, whenever I pass an interesting place, I'll think about when I can bring you here to walk around. Whenever I eat something good, I'll buy one more on habit. And, whenever I run into danger on missions, I just need to think about you and my will to fight is rekindled. Because you're here, happy occasions went from being for one person to being for two people. And all the things that would worry someone have disappeared into nothing. Is it strange to hear me say this? But I want to tell you, just how important you are in my life. I don't believe in fate, but I believe in miracles. Meeting you is the most precious miracle in my life."
[Spring Festival Date]: "In the rest of my life, I want to use it all to accompany you, care for you, and love you. This is all genuine. They're all words I want to say to you... words said only to you."
[Main Story 14-22]: "I'll be with you, until the very last moment."
MOM, I LOVE THIS 2D MAN SO MUCH!! Haha, sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. Thank you for reading up to this point and I hope this lets people appreciate Bai Qi more. Gotta spread more propaganda for him and convince people that he's not just the boring vanilla character.
He's someone who was teetering on the edge of darkness and could have become someone who lashed out at society like Jay, but instead he chose to be a protector of the people and to uphold justice (even if his methods are unconventional and morally grey).
He struggles with insecurity but it never gets in the way of what he wants to do and instead motivates him to continue to better himself for MC. There's nothing wrong with setting someone or something as your goal to get through life. Baby steps until you learn how to run on your own, or not when you find someone who will walk the road of life with you.
He's a man who loved the person who literally saved his life (and is probably his raison d'être) for 7 years, never forgot her during that time, and has finally reunited with her.
Okay, ending this post for real now with the Lunar New Year card. BTW the ENG version is totally fine and I have no qualms with its translation, but I just like the nuance more in the CN and JP version.
CN goes 你是我的此生眷恋 which is literally like "you're my affection/attachment in this life". If I wasn't separating it from the English version, I'd translate it as "love of my life" too to simplify it and make it flow. But I find it interesting that 眷恋 (juan lian; sentimental attachment) is used instead of 挚爱 (zhi ai; true love) and the way you'd actually write "love of my life" is 此生挚爱 (ci sheng zhi ai) rather than the card's 此生眷恋 (ci sheng juan lian).
JP goes おまえは俺の一生の憧れ which is literally like "you're the aspiration/longing of my life". Again, I find it so interesting that neither JP or CN are using the character for love 愛 (ai) and JP's 憧れ (akogare) bundles in feelings of yearning, longing, desire, and aspiration. IMO the JP version drives in the fact that MC is someone Bai Qi's trying to catch up to. He's loved her for so long, tries so hard to better himself, and all of it is to become a person he believes can stand by her side.
#mr love queen's choice#mlqc meta#love and producer#mlqc gavin#mlqc bai qi#love and produc(ing) meta#mlqc
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Prompt: Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference. *Janhoo or Everlark
Vampiress Prompt - HG (Part II)
(Go here for Part I)
Peeta was nervous.
He hadn’t come off as a creep, right? But he was sure she was going to catch something worse than a cold if she stayed in those damp clothes, and the fire could only do so much.
A throat-clearing woke him up from his thoughts, and there she was. Katniss. She had on one of his shirts and warm flannel pants; her hair was loose but dryer than when he first had seen her.
“Oh, awesome, you look...uh...warmer.” Smooth, Peeta.
Katniss simply nodded awkwardly, and he quickly went to offer her a blanket. “Just, sit near the fire; I left you a cup of hot chocolate and some cheese buns. I’ll go put your clothes in the dryer.” She nodded again and Peeta practically bolted out of the room.
The vampiress sighed and looked around her. This was the second floor of the bakery, and it seemed this man, Peeta, lived here. It was a very warm living room: with the fireplace, a very comfortable couch, and a center table with some books and sketchbooks. He had insisted on getting her clothes dry, which really, she didn’t mind, but she knew how weird non-entirely-human reactions could make others feel uncomfortable. Only, when she realized what this might look like, she was uncertain. Would this man expect her to sleep with him? Here she was, a drenched woman seeking refuge in his bakery, who had accepted to go into his home and take off her clothes. Well, even if he did expect it, Katniss would first break his arm, or tear it off. It wasn’t the first time she had encountered a situation like this.
“That’s done.” Peeta claimed as he came back and sat on a single sofa opposite hers. “Was it too hot?” Katniss then noticed she hadn’t touched the cup with the warm beverage Peeta had made for her. She took it, blew a bit on it for show and drank.
Delicious.
What was happening? She was sure she hadn’t tasted anything as good as this in all of her second life. Sure, there had been times, like 373 years ago, when she tasted real honey for the first time, or that other, 286 years ago, the mango & cardamom syllabub... But this was just hot chocolate–it wasn’t her first time having it, and surely, the first time it tasted this good.
“This is delicious. Thank you,” she told Peeta, who in turn, looked shy at the compliment and scratched the back of his hair.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a TV here. I usually just watch things on my laptop or phone, and I don’t know if you would like that…”
“It’s okay, I’m not that much of a TV fan, anyway.”
“Ditto. My brothers think I’m crazy because of it.” He chuckled and stirred the fire a bit. “So...do you live close? I can give you a ride home if it’s not that far, or call you a cab when the rain stops.”
“I’m okay. I like walking, and I’m not that far away.”
After that, silence fell between them. Katniss sipped on her chocolate and Peeta drew in his sketchbook.
A chiming sound came to her ears, and she told Peeta.
“Oh, that must be the dryer. Give me a second.” He quickly stood up and left through the door.
Katniss quickly grabbed the sketchbook and gasped when she saw that his latest drawing-drawings-were of her. Her hands holding the chocolate cup, her eyes lit up by the fire, her face framed by her damp hair when she came into the bakery, and finally her just as she was now, sitting cozily bundled with a blanket and looking at the fire.
Checking the previous ones, she saw there were other people: men, women, children, although also some sunrises. His fingers were definitely talented; he had managed to sketch four drawings in such a small amount of time.
Hearing his steps, she quickly put everything back as it was and returned to her previous position.
“I put your clothes in my room, if you wish to change.” Katniss went to stand up when she saw Peeta holding something up. “Do you want to play?” he asked with a smirk.
“Cards? Really?”
“I don’t have anything here to entertain a lady, but I remembered my brother left a deck of cards last time he attempted to play poker. So, are you game?”
She was.
They played different games, some she knew, some she didn’t, and Katniss also taught Peeta some of her own, those she had played so long ago.
The smile came easily to her lips, and her laughter fell effortlessly amidst his attempts at being clever. And it wasn’t that he wasn’t a good player, but Katniss could detect even the slightest change in his heartbeat, so she won a lot.
She was stacking the cards again when a clock sounded loudly in the background.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“It’s midnight.”
“Are you serious?” Katniss hadn’t noticed how long they had been playing. She had spent almost five hours with this stranger, just like that.
“I better go.” She went to stand up, but Peeta beat her to it.
“You can stay if you want to.” She must have given him some kind of glare because he quickly put his hands up. “I didn’t mean it like that! I mean, it’s late, and you know how the city is not safe. My room has a lock and you can sleep in there; I can just crash here, wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I...appreciate the offer, but I need to go.” Katniss quickly followed the scent of her clothes and found a room.
Locking the door, she went to quickly change while her eyes roamed around.
There were some frames, Peeta’s art, no doubt, some wrestling trophies, a desk with a laptop and picture frames, some clothes strewn around. It had been a while since Katniss had been in someone else’s room...it felt too intimate, so she always avoided these types of connections.
Shaking her head, she folded the clothes she had just been borrowing and left them on top of the pillow. When she stepped out, she noticed, by her nose, that Peeta was still in the living room.
“I’m glad nothing shrank. I should’ve asked you if anything you were wearing was heat-sensitive,” was the first thing he said while putting away his sketchbook once again. It made Katniss curious. Could he have possibly done a new sketch in the few minutes she took changing?
“No, everything is okay. I’ll call myself a cab.” He nodded with a small smile and gathered the cups and plates they’d used, making Katniss feel ungrateful. “I can wash that.”
“No way. My house, my rules. My guests don’t do dishes.”
Katniss nodded, listening as he went down to put everything in the sink.
Her taxi app pinged, notifying her that the driver would be there in 3 minutes.
Perfect.
“I found a cab.” Her voice was at a normal volume, as she heard Peeta was behind her by the door.
“Good, then please,” he gestured with his hand, “I’ll escort you to the door.”
“There’s no need to, really. You’ve done more than enough.”
“My dad would kill me if I weren’t anything but a gentleman. Please.” His smile was something difficult to say no to, she realized, so she agreed. After this, she wasn’t going to see him again, either way.
Heading down the stairs, she realized they were both going at a turtle’s pace, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. Why was she stalling? Katniss had said ‘thank you’ tonight more times than in the past decade, probably, and she had managed to keep her usual rudeness at bay; there was nothing left to say.
Taking a deep breath, she turned around to say goodbye one final time before leaving, but when she whipped her head around to look behind her, Katniss found those piercing blue eyes so close it almost made her gasp.
“S-Sorry, I...was just going to warn you about the next step; the wood is a bit loose there.” Why was Peeta whispering? Why hadn’t he moved?
Why hadn’t she moved?
He was a step higher than her, making him seem even taller, and the stairs weren’t illuminated by any light above.
She wondered if there was some magnetic force that suddenly brought them together, because she was sure they had crashed their lips against the other’s at the same time. Katniss quickly found herself pinned against the wall, but she didn’t let go, only pulled at Peeta’s face with both hands, pouring need into the kiss.
The last time she did this had been centuries ago. She didn't need sex; she'd had sex for decades, and it had long since worked its way out of her system. Lust was something common to her race, but the fever dimmed throughout the immortal years, eventually only happening if you wanted it to. Right this second, she wanted to. And Peeta must have noticed.
The way he held her waist, tight against his own body told her that. She knew she was stronger than him, but the pure male scent that came from him at that moment made her pliant in his hands. Big, strong, those were the only adjectives her mind could come up with while he sucked the air out of her lungs.
When their lips parted, she simply dropped her head back, baring her neck to him, a gesture he fully took advantage of, biting where her pulse point should’ve been.
A shiver ran down her spine, almost making her weak in the knees. Peeta returned to her mouth, and just as his tongue ran across her lower lip, a loud honking noise made them jump apart.
“That was-” she began to say.
“I, um...I just…” he tried to say.
They stared at each other for a second before Katniss sprinted down the stairs, almost flying through them, not actually touching the steps.
She opened the door and turned around one last time.
“Goodbye, Peeta.”
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So this is another story I wrote a while ago and just wanted to share with you Tumblr maniacs. Don't mind the terrible title. I'm lazy okay.
Part 1 of 4 part weirdness series.
Nameless crush (ft Piccolo)
Part 1: Curiosity
So beautiful. I found a perfect spot in the forest. A beautiful view of the sun resting on the horizon. Gohan took me her a few weeks back when we were trying to escape fangirls and paparazzi cause I asked to take a picture of him in his Great Saiyan Man outfit. I chuckled at the memory off Gohan almost being stripped naked by a bunch of fan girls.
I stared at the horizon as the fresh breeze hit my face. I enjoyed every minute of it. The peace, the fresh air, the view, nature. You couldn't find any of these in the city. Other than that there was something else about this place that drew me in, I don't know if its just the beauty of mother nature but something in me keeps telling me to come back. Like I'll find something more.
But every time I came back there wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. I took out my earphones from my pocket and placed them in my ears. A song was already playing, probably because I never turn my music off. I listen to music more than I listen to people so I like to something playing just incase I need to tune out someone.
I laid there on the grass and looked up at the semi dark clouds in the sky.
"Hmm, could rain soon."I said to myself. Though I didn't really care if it rained. I don't mind getting wet. I closed my eyes and dozed off. Drifting into my secluded dream world.
I felt a wet, icy drop hit my cheek, though I dismissed it and went back to sleep. It wasn't until I heard a sound of someone moving, that I shot up and looked around, scanning my surroundings.
"Probably just another animal walking past."I said to myself as I let out a breath of relief. Though I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. It started raining harder. I took out my earphones, my I've already went through my whole playlist so my music stopped playing a while ago. I looked up at the sky, letting the water stream down my face.
"Shouldn't you be indoors right now?"asked a deep, male voice from behind. It startled me but I didn't show it.
"I could ask you the same thing."I replied, my face still enjoying the cool rain. "Its raining cats and dogs out here, why aren't you inside?"
"I like training in the rain sometimes."the man said. "Whats your excuse?"
I stood up and cracked back, my back still facing the man.
"I like the rain out here and I don't feel like going back to the city. Its so peaceful here."
"Don't earthlings usually get sick from sleeping in the rain though?"he asked. "Earthling?" I thought.
Is this guy one of the aliens I've heard of or just weirdo. I heard him take a few steps closer. With my guard up, I turned quickly turned around to face this strange man.
I jumped back in shock to see him right in front of me. His chest so close to my face. It looked like...is he green? His purple gi that stuck to his green, wet, toned body and a white cape that gently flew in the breeze.
"Ok so he's clearly an alien. Dare I look up at his face?"
I slowly lifted my head up at the green man...alien. His dark, ivory eyes looked down at mine. I tried my best to hide my nervousness but I guess he could sense it becuase he took a few steps back.
I stared at his face, his features for a while. He didn't look that bad, actually pretty handsome.
"So are you gonna answer my question or just keep staring?"he questioned with an annoyed tone. It snapped me out of my thoughts breaking me out of the trance I was in.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I was just-"
"Staring at the hideous monster before you?"
I waved my arms frantically in the air, with an embarrassing blush on my face.
"What!? No, no. I mean I was staring but," I trailed off. "You're not hideous, you're actually pretty handsome for an alien. Gah! Not that I'm saying aliens are ugly but-"
He raised his hand, cutting me off. "Its fine. I understand, most people react this way when they see me",he said. "At least before running away screaming. Which I believe now is your cue to do so."
"Why would I do that?"I asked.
"Why not? Most earthlings do." He seemed curious.
"Well I'm not most. Thats stereotypical."I said, glaring at him. His dark, cold eyes staring back.
We glared at each other for about a minute until...I sneezed. He chuckled a bit before going back to his stoic state.
"Whats so funny?"I asked.
"I guess that answers my question."he teased. "You should head home, before it gets worse." He turned and flew up a few feet in the air.
"Hey wait, you can fly? Then why not give me a lift!?",I yelled out. He stopped mid-flight and turned to me with a grin on his face.
"I don't pick up weirdo's who like sleeping in the rain.",he responded. "Sorry but you're on your own. I also noticed that you didn't come here with a car, better start walking."
He then flew off, leaving me here.
"Why you big green–ugh!",I yelled, stomping my foot on the wet ground.
"Guess its my fault anyway. But he could've been a little helpful."
I walked back to the city, it wasn't to far from where I was. Plus it wasn't that bad since the rain lightened. Everything I had on was soaked and the uncomfortably wet clothes made it almost unbearable. But I made it nonetheless.
I opened the door to my apartment, tracking water and mud all over my floor. I stripped and got into the bath. After what happened I didn't feel like another shower. After the 20 minute soak I got into my fuzzy PJs, and slippers and made myself some tea while binge watching My wife and kids. I didn't pay attention to most of it as I was busy thinking of that alien guy I met. I silently cursed when I realised I didn't get his name. My God he was handsome. I needed to take a picture of him next time.
~
I couldn't sleep. My thoughts of this guy kept me up. Question after question hitting my brain whenever I tried to sleep. I needed to know more, to see more, to hear more. I got up around 3 in the morning and packed all my stuff. I wore my favourite black and yellow hoodie, dark jeans and purple sneakers. I left the apartment and headed to the same spot. Multitasking trying to tie my hair and eat a chocolate bar for my "breakfast".
I headed to the spot, the sun started rising in between the moutains. Letting nice warm light hit my face.
"Oh, it's you again." That deep voice, it was definitely him. "Though I didn't expect you to be here so early.",he said, he sounded intrigued. "Or do you always do this every morning?"
"Nope, I couldn't sleep so I decided to come here and explore the forest.",I said.
"Oh really. There's a lot of places to go to but you decided to come to this exact spot. Why?"
I wanted to turn around and look at him but fear of staring into those eyes stopped me.
"I just wanted to enjoy the view first.",I said nervously.
"Ok let me not stop you. Enjoy.",he said somehow knowingly. I heard him walking further away from me with each step.
"Wait.",I said. He stopped. "What's your name?" I turned to him. His back facing me. He glanced over his shoulder, his dark pupils got a glimpse of me.
"Piccolo."he said.
"Piccolo." His name felt sweet when I uttered it. Leaving my lips tingling.
"Nice name.",I happily said.
"Aren't you gonna tell me yours?" He came closer but this time I showed no nervousness. I tried to keep a neutral face but a smile crept out when he took his final step.
"Nope. I don't go around telling my name to strangers."
"You're a weird one."
"Really? Thank you, I was always told I wasn't normal. Now here an alien is, proving everyones point by calling me weird."
He gave me a small smile before levitating with his legs crossed. His eyes never leaving mine. Like he was observing me.
"Didn't anyone tell you its rude to stare?"I asked.
"Thats funny coming from someone who couldn't take their eyes off me yesterday."
I couldn't say anything. I just stared at him as a light blush appeared on my face. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, like he found this amusing.
I let out a fake cough. "What?"
"Why are you nervous?",he questioned. I snapped myself out of it and stood confidently.
"I'm not. Why would I be?" I folded my arms and turned to the side avoiding his gaze.
"Your face."
"What about my face?" I then became self conscious. Was there something on my face?
"Nothing. So you're not going to tell me your name?"he asked, changing the topic.
"No, why do you wanna know anyway?" At this point I was just trying to distract him with questions so he'd stop staring.
"Just curious."
The sound of his feet touching the ground made me quickly turn to face him. He glanced down at my bag for a second before looking back at me.
"Guess I'll see you tomorrow then.",he said before walking away.
"How do you know I'll be here tomorrow?",I asked suspiciously.
"I know you will.",he stated before taking off.
I sighed. Sweet breath of relief. His charcoal coloured eyes stopped staring into my soul. At least I knew his name now.
"Piccolo."
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King chap 17 & 18
Your life changed completely when from a slave, you became a spy for the king. Will you be able to help him in his fight against slavery before it’s too late and the threat hanging over him comes true?
In this society where love comes after fortune, will your mutual affection be able to flourish?
Royal au fic pairing female reader and Kwon JiYong
Feat: YoungBae, TaeHyung, MinHo and SeoJoon (just because I had their face in mind when I pictured their character)
W.C: 5786
Warnings: no specific warning... Is there any?
Disclaimer: Everything in this story is fictional. There is no research to be politically accurate or to fit a certain period of time or place. In one word, it’s all invented.
Special thanks to my loyal and loving friend, that I love with all my heart. Princess @aspaceformyself I often tell you this but you are my safety net in that fic. Knowing you were reading me, made me explore a new way of writing. I wasn’t scared to make a mistake, I knew you would tell me id I did. And you did. When I was having a hard time, you were there to ask me the good questions. “Do you think yn would do it? Does it fit her personality? Isn’t she overreacting there? How is that possible”. Not because you told me I was bad or didn’t make sense. Juste because you made me reflect on my characters and plot. I am already overthinking. With you, I experienced overthinking x1000 :) But in a really good way. I think that my writing improved a lot and it’s a lot because of you.
Also, in chapter 18, my princess wrote a part. Like 2 or 3 paragraphs. Will you notice the difference in our writing??? :) I was imagining a scene in my head. I explained her and she said “hold on, can I give it a try?” And she did. It’s so perfectly written :) I love you, my sweet princess. You mean a lot to me.
Chapter 17
“The prince is coming, Cheon Ha, should I let him in as soon as he arrives?” the servant asked after he put your breakfast on the low table next to JiYong’s bed. Your bed.
JiYong wanted the moving to be done fast, he had sent his maids in your little room to pack and bring your few belongings. The night before yesterday, as soon as you arrived, JiYong had made you visit every little spot of his quarters as if it was the first time. “Here’s our bookshelf. Here’s our dresser you can... oops we’ll have to get another one, this one is full! Here’s our backyard, here’s our fountain.” He had dragged you in every room of his quarters and made sure you would have your little spot in each. “If you want to rearrange anything, just do it. We can change the furniture, we can change the tapestry, whatever you want to, we’ll do it”. Of course, there was nothing you wanted to change. You were used to sleeping in a stable, outside or in a little ‘room’ made with mug and hay. There is nothing in JiYong’s room that wasn’t already perfect.
The servants bowed at both of you, still in bed. But you couldn’t get used to it, so you hide under the duvet.
“Yes, let him in, thank you” he answered his servant. The morning had been lazy, you had expanded the night a little longer than the king used to do. The servants left the room and JiYong covered you both with the blanket.
“Shhh, let’s pretend we are sleeping, let’s see what he will do” JiYong said, smiling.
Both of you hid your face from the door and kept your ears open. You were trying to figure where Channie’s little feet would bring him. It didn’t take long before you felt the little boy jump on the bed and crawled between you and JiYong, making himself enough place between your intertwined bodies. He laid down heavily on the blanket and stopped moving. After a moment, you cracked an eyelid, curious to see what he was doing. His little fingers were toying his father’s hair as he’s other hand was reaching out towards you. JiYong had a content smile on his face. You couldn’t help but open your eyes wide and hold the little hand that was looking for yours.
“Father is sleeping, we have to stay quiet”.
“Ok, Channie” you whispered tenderly. Wanting a hug, he drew you to him with all his strength while he was still stroking his father’s hair. You could not have found the words to express your happiness at this precise moment. Your heart was swelling.
“Do you love my father, Y/n?”
“Yes, Channie, I love him very much”.
“I love him too,” he stated, serious.
Yesterday, JiYong had a diner with him, the queen and you. He explained that from now on, you’d be living together. Channie had clapped his little hands and hugged you both, happy. He accepted you in his life as easily as that. His mother had congratulated you but she stayed quiet, thinking.
“Do you think that your father loves me too?” you asked with a low voice, curious to hear what the little man would say.
“Yes, I believe he does”
“What makes you believe it?”
He thought of it, for an instant.
“When he looks at you, his eyes sparkles just like when he looks at his pork chops”
“Yaaaah! Channie” JiYong burst into laughter! “I love her more than food, what are you talking about?” he was unable to stop laughing.
“Oh! Lord! Your child is amazing JiYong!” you couldn’t stop laughing either.
Pretending to be upset, he started a tickling battle with Channie. They laughed and squirmed for a while, lost in their own little world. You felt privileged to be witnessing such an intimate moment between father and son. When you saw them complot something, you tried to snake out of the bed but you couldn’t. You found yourself the victim of the king and the prince’s tickling assault.
“Stooooop! please! I surrender”
“She surrenders too fast abeoji, we have to make her more endurant”
“I agree Channie! We’re doing it for her own good after all”
Their fingers were running on your sides, making you cry and scream in laughter.
“You guys are the worst” you managed to say, between 2 breathes. Trying to balance the forces, you decided to use an arm against them. The tickling battle became a pillow fight that stopped only when you got interrupted by YoungBae, smiling under a rain of dancing feathers.
“Cheon Ha, we have to go, everybody is waiting for you” He was very pleased to witness that domestic scene. Resigning himself to having to work, JiYong rose from the bed and kissed you both on the forehead before he quickly got dressed with the help of his maids. He left, escorted by YoungBae. Deprived of his laughter, his voice and his secure arms, you already missed him. Turning around to face the prince, you pat his hair.
“Let’s eat our breakfast, Channie”
“Not before I win the battle” He said right before he threw a pillow right in your face, giggling.
“Channie…” you took your serious tone “No my love, we have to hurry. Mr Kim will be coming soon. You’ll have your classes in the garden this time. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed Mr Kim was alone last time I sneaked in your apartments”.
“Oooh! Yes! I saw you! I was there… somewhere” he said, serious.
“Channie, it’s not the good time to escape. Please, promise me that you will listen to Mr Kim and stay by his side? Will you?”
“I’ll try my best, Y/n. I promise you I’ll try”.
“Oh! Lord! Like father, like son! What am I gonna do, with the both of you?”
“You’ll be just fine, you love us”, Channie answered, flashing his teeth.
“Aaaaw! I guess you’re right”!
+++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
By the end of the morning, you have received an invitation to meet the queen. Walking with your escort along the beautiful path, you couldn’t be happier. It was a humid and cool day. There were dark grey clouds in the sky and the wind was blowing so furiously, it looked like it wanted to chase the summer and bring the fall in his furrow. It will be raining later, for sure. Most of the people you know would have qualified today’s temperature as dull. This dark atmosphere was poetry for you. It seemed like the seasons had agreed to change at the same time that your life took a completely new turn. Living with the king, your love, was definitely the biggest change you faced so far. The most beautiful one as well. And that your new position in JiYong’s life was accepted so easily by his son, lighten your heart.
There were only three problems that needed to be solved. MinHo. SoYoung. MiNa and HyunSa. When everything related to them will be solved, you’ll be completely happy.
You were welcomed by the queen’s servants and sewers from the village. They came to present to you, in secret, beautiful dresses, shoes, jewelry and hanbok. The queen said it was her welcome gift for you. She was happy that you were sharing JiYong’s life. She could have been jealous and tried to chase you away from him but she was genuinely happy for her friend. Even if the latter was her husband.
“Y/n, I was honest when I told you I want to know you better. To befriend you. Please accept it as a proof of my good intentions. I’ve never seen JiYong this happy, he smiles a lot now. He was not used to smiling. You make my friend a happy man and I cannot be more grateful for that’.
“This is a little strange, Mama. I’m not gonna lie. But, I’ll get used to it”.
“Thank you Y/n. Now, I have something really special for you. I want you to look at it”
Were spread out on her bed, 3 magnificent pieces of clothing in white silk, lace and satin that you had never seen before. It was so short and delicate, you couldn't imagine that someone could wear such things.
“What’s this?” you asked, dumbfounded.
“This, my dear, are 3 beautiful nightdresses that I may have made sew for you only. Nobody else in the kingdom has those pieces of clothing”
“But, it’s so small… it doesn’t cover anything and I’m sure we can see through it”
She laughed, genuinely amused by your naivety.
“Yes, it’s exactly the point! The only purpose of these is to please your man’s eyes. You wear it under your handbok and he’ll have a beautiful surprise when he discovers it on you. Or, if you’re willing, you wear it alone and surprise him wearing only that”
“You wear clothes like that?”
“Oh! Yes! Believe me, it pleased SoYoung eyes a lot” she was sad when she mentioned it but she collected herself. “It’s also common for the honeymoon night among nobles”.
“But do you think JiYong will love it? Isn't it vulgar?”
“It would please every man in this world. JiYong included. Well, maybe not every one of them, cause we all have our thing, right?!”
“I’m not sure Mama, I don’t want to be indecent”
“Take it with you, you can show it to him first, if you’re not sure. JiYong is open minded. Trust me!”
“I don’t know if I have the confidence to wear such a nightdress. I feel like I would ruin the expected effect” you said, caressing the soft fabric.
“Y/n, you are so beautiful, please don’t say that. Look at you! How can you not be proud of this pretty face? Of that body shape? It’s a shame. Plus, I noticed how our majesty looks at you… There is no doubt he found you beautiful as well”.
“Thank you Mama”.
“HyeJin, please. Call me HyeJin”.
The maids laid the new garments in silk paper and placed them in beautiful boxes. You let them bring your new things to your new room. You weren’t used to receiving gifts or even less being served. You took the time to thank everyone, including the Queen for this magnificent gift. She seemed trustful, after all.
You carefully unboxed everything yourself and placed it in the cupboard JiYong had liberated for you. You’ll think about the nightdress, you were not so sure about it. But you loved the affection mark HyeJin had for you.
During the afternoon, JiYong called you out in the executive room. He wanted you to be there, when he would declare his new law valid. He wanted you to be by his side when he was giving the orders to his ministers. The moment was solem and touching. It was meaningful for you and you wished your friends would have been here to celebrate the official end of slavery with you.
The king had taken all the precautions to make sure the owners of the slaves would free them or send them to the palace. Not a single slave should be killed unless their masters want to receive the same treatment. He made sure to send a messenger on every single property that has slaves. Making sure each and every one of them would receive the good information.
“I’m so proud of you. So, so proud” you told him as soon as everybody had left the room. He was sitting on his throne while you were standing in front of him. He reached out and drew you to him, his arms encircling your waist and his nose nuzzling your stomach while you played with his hair.
“Thank you my love. I couldn’t have done it without you. Without your work, the japanese emperor would be still receiving the wrong documents and not only there would have been even more slaves but we could have been in war, too. I’m grateful for your help and I’m grateful to have you in my life”
“I’m happy I helped Ji. Working with you on those documents was fun. I could work like that every single day of my life”.
“Actually, I might take your words. Would you like to be our official translator? You could translate the stories written by the authors. Like, people cannot read the japanese authors, right? You could translate in korean for them. Countries have so much to learn from each other’
“Aaaw! This is such a good idea. Yes! I want to do it. I love to write, I love to use feathers and ink and parchment. And we could work side by side, when you are doing paperwork. I’m so happy! Mama was right, you really are open mind” You gently guided his chin up to kiss him.
“Oooh, you saw HyeJin? How is she? Still crying over the traitor?” he asked, half serious.
“She’ll be over him, hopefully. We should introduce her to TaeHyung. I’m sure they would be a perfect fit”.
“Yah! My woman is really clever! What a good idea”
You kissed him again as the thunder was heard, growling loud and long. The rain was about to fall. You had a thought for your friends, out on a mission to track down SoYoung. You hoped they were protected from the storm. The front door opened suddenly, making you jump even stronger than the storm. It was YoungBae, breathless. It’s your name that he called.
“Y/n! Y/n! You have to come here, please. Come fast. Run! You too, Cheon Ha!”
Trusting your man’s first counselor and principal guard, you obeyed without further ado. When you walked towards him, he bowed at you with his most genuine smile.
“Look” he said, he said, pointing in a direction.
Tae, Seo and the guards who had left for the mission arrived in the public square of the palace. All of them on their horses, their chin up in the air on their mounts. It took you a few seconds to realise that on the horse next to Seo, was a tinier person holding a baby against her chest, held by a piece of cloth tied around her. HyunSa and MiNa were here.
“Oh lord! Oh Lord! Is this true?”.
You didn’t lose time and you ran towards them, followed by YoungBae. JiYong stayed behind, smiling tenderly at the scene. Not aware that the king was supposed to be the one welcoming the soldiers coming back from a mission, you exclaimed:
“HyunSa! MiNa! I can’t believe that you are here! Thank you! Oh lord! Thank you!” YoungBae helped her get down from the horse. You couldn’t hold your tears as you were hugging your friend carefully taking care not to crush MiNa.
“She is not even a bit happy to see us back” you heard Tae joke from behind her.
“Take MiNa out of that thing! I want to hold her too. Oh! My! God! Thank you” you cried with baby MiNa against your heart, big fat happy tears running down your cheeks. You patted her little back and kissed her cheeks while telling her how beautiful she was.
“She’s older now, but she didn’t gain a lot of weight, we’ll have to feed her. I’m so relieved that she’s here” not all the children born on the plantation survived those conditions. The majority died after their first months.
“It’s over now, it’s all behind us SaSa. You’ll see, we’re really happy here” you wanted to chase that sad look HyunSa had on her face. Now that you know MinHo wanted you back, you’re sure he took his revenge on the other slaves when you left.
“I know, Seo told me so many good things, about life on the palace. About the people here and in the villages around” she answered with a weak voice. She seemed tired and she had lost weight. A lot of weight. “By the way, as soon as I have the chance, I would like to ask an audience with the king. I want to give him my gratitude. I hope he will accept to meet me.” she didn’t notice JiYong’s presence although he was austentatory wearing his royal robe, his crown and his jewels. There was no doubt he was the king. He walked towards you but kept a certain distance.
“You don’t need to thank me HyunSa. It’s my duty as the King to take care of the people in my kingdom. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you here sooner and that you had to suffer longer than your friends.” he exclaimed in a calm and assured voice, lowering his head in her direction. HyunSa’s jaw dropped open. She could never have imagined that the king himself would mingle with the people. Or even less that he could bow at her.
“SeoJoon, TaeHyung! Welcome back! I’m glad to see you again. I know a woman that will be relieved, now that her friends are reunited”. He smiled, looking in your direction.
Shocked, HyunSa looked at you. You smiled brightly at her. You were always a little surprised when you noticed the way people reacted to JiYong. But to see your friend, made you realise even more that indeed, it was the king that was sharing your life now. With his responsibility and his status. With the effect he has on people.
“Cheon Ha? Are you really the king? Please don’t look at me, I’m not presentable right now, I am covered in dust and mug” she said before she knelt down before him.
“It’s normal, considering you’ve been riding for a while. May I have a look on that little girl I have heard a lot of? She looks like you, SeoJoon, she has your dimples. What a beautiful baby!” He said, smiling brightly at MiNa.The affection oozing out of his eyes is making your heart melt.
There was a tradition in the kingdom that when the king holds a baby, the latter will be fortunate and live happily ever after. HyunSa knew it and she took MiNa from your arms and placed her directly in JiYong’s. Laughing, he welcomed the little girl and caressed her little hair tenderly. Your heartbeat fastened at the view, he must have been such a wonderful father when Chan was a baby.
“Welcome to the palace little MiNa. I wish you’ll have a happy and healthy life among us. I have the strange intuition that I will see you very often” he said, smiling in your direction.
HyunSa was crying happy tears, happy that her girl had received the king’s blessing. She also seemed confused about what was going on between you and JiYong. She had the feeling that it was more than an official relation. Damn Seo! He didn’t tell her while they were riding.
SeoJoon came by your side. He pushed TaeHyung who was hugging you, kissed your cheek and bowed at the king.
“Y/n, you look even more happy than when I left. I can’t wait for you to tell me what happened while I was away” He turned towards JiYong. “Majesty, we have to discuss as soon as possible. Jang MinHo is following us. He’s probably 4 or 5 hours behind. He didn’t like the way I took my wife back. You might receive his complaint.” He said, proudly encircling his wife’s waist. “We learned that your brother and chancellor Kyo had escaped in Japan. I’m sorry we couldn’t catch them”
“No worry about MinHo, the palace is already on high alert. You’ll tell me more about it later. Go freshen up and eat in your old room for now. I’ll ask the maids to prepare a little house for you and your family. Would you prefer in the village or inside the palace border?”
“The closest I can be to my friend” HyunSa answered “Thank you Cheon Ha, we’ll be working hard to repay for all of this. Thank you so much”
“Love” he surprisingly called you, in front of Tae, Seo, HyunSa and YoungBae. Tae was lifting you in his arms again, turning around from happiness.
“Tae, our king is calling me” you said, tapping on his shoulder to have his attention.
“Nah, he’s talking to the queen. Ooooh…. Sorry, Cheon Ha” His eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the endearing way the king called you. But no sooner than that, it morphed into genuine happiness. Like it suddenly clicked into place and everything made sense. His boxy grin rapidly spread across his face as he dropped you back on the ground.
“Love, can you go with HyunSa? Mrs Lin will assign them a house. Can you help them with all they might need? You’ll be escorted, please don’t go anywhere without your guards”.
“Yes, I can do, of course” you shyly bowed at him. It was strange to be ceremonial with the man you share your bed with. But it was a little funny at the same time. He came over and whispered in your ear, so that no one could hear.
“I’ll come back later. Please stay safe, meanwhile. I love you”.
Closing your eyes in contentment when you heard those words, you told him you love him back. “so much…” You were trying the best you could to keep a poker face but every one that knows you could tell, the king had told you something that made you melt like jelly. As soon as his face moved away from yours, he was no longer your lover. He had become the king again, authoritarian, cold and serious. He left the public square place, escorted by Young Bae and his guards. The men needed to talk about the mission, about his brother and about MinHo. HyunSa came closer and poked your side.
“What’s going on between you and our majesty? How can he talk to you in your ear and you’re still alive? I would have died! He’s the king Y/n… This is amazing. And he’s so handsome, I never saw such a perfect face before, it’s almost like he has been drawn by the gods themselves!!”
“He’s handsome, indeed. Have you seen his piercing and intelligent eyes? And his cute smile? Aaaaw! It makes me feel warm, just thinking of it” you said, dreamily. “I know, he’s the king but... I was working with him, in secret. It's a long story that I will tell you later. But we were alone together for many days, working in his office. I got to know him, the real him. Slowly, something strong built between us and we fell in love with each other. To me, he’s just JiYong and we live together, now”.
“You call him by his name? Have you lost your mind? WHAT? You what?” she was shocked at your revelations, not processing any of it, yet. “I thought he was married already? Is the queen alive? What’s going on?” she asked, question marks all over her face.
“I’ll explain everything my lovely Sasa. Now, let’s go to your new house. I’m so glad that you are here. We’ll chat like we used to. Give me my little girl. I missed her so much”
“Is that really true, Y/n? Is this over for real?” HyunSa asked.
“You probably don’t know yet, it just happened. The king had sent messages all over the country. All the slaves will be free from now on. You are not a slave anymore, HyunSa. And your daughter will never be one, either”.
“Woah! Can it be really the truth? What does it mean, exactly? How am I gonna live?”
“It means that from now on, you’ll be paid for your work, if you decide to have a job. Seo earns enough money for the three of you, you can rest as much as you want. It means that from now on, you have civil rights and the laws will apply for you too. I know, it may sound surreal, I couldn’t believe it either. But trust me, it’s all true. Our king is the greatest man I know.”
“I can tell… But it’s still hard to believe”
“You’ll get used to it, little by little. Come, you need to rest”
You followed Mrs Lin in the new house your friends will inhabit. The rain was flooding you but none of you noticed. The most important thing is that you were reunited, finally. And that slavery was forbidden from now on. Jang MinHo will never have any power on you, your friends or anyone. It was over.
Chapter 18
You have spent the rest of the afternoon at HyunSa’s house. When you arrived, you hid from Mrs Lin in a little spot in the house and told your friend everything between you and JiYong. She couldn't believe it! She was shocked. You held MiNa on you the whole time, it was almost as if the baby recognised you, which was impossible because she was so small when you left the plantation. But she felt safe in your arms and she smiled a lot, trying to grab your hair or your mouth with her little fingers while she was babbling.
EunMin, the official cook for the royal family, had come and brought something for MiNa. She had come by herself, which was surprising but in a good way.
“Duljjae mama (second mama, second queen), my husband has told me that there was a baby that needed to be fed. I personally prepared vegetable purees mixed with oat or barley. You have variety so, depending on the baby’s preferences, you can choose. Tell me when you need more or if you have a special demand”.
“Duljjae mama? Why are you calling me like that?” you were shocked.
“We all call you like that since you live with our majesty, duljjae mama”.
“Oooh! I see. But there is no need to be official with me, I’m just Y/n. Ok? Please? I don’t want to be a queen!”
“I will try”.
“Come and sit with me would you? You’re YoungBae’s wife, right? I love him. He’s a genuine man. He’s protective of JiYong, sorry… of our majesty and me. You’re lucky to have him in your life”.
“He only has good words for you too, duljjae mama. He said you were bringing joy inside the king’s heart. If you have any special demand for your meals, please just let me know. I would like to add dishes that you like on the menu”.
“I’m sure that our little prince keeps you busy enough, already” you laughed. “But I’d like to share a cup of tea with you sometimes, if you want of course”.
“Ooooh! It would be my honour”.
You have given MiNa all the food she wanted, you let her drink as much milk as she needed. You wanted her to gain weight, she was so petite and delicate. You didn’t tell your friend who was mostly sleeping today but MiNa looked pale and sick. It concerned you.
“Mrs Lin, is there a way to bring the doctor here? I would like him to auscultate my friends, just to make sure everyone is completely fine”.
‘It’s not for you to ask, miss. It’s an order the king, the queen or the prince have to give”.
“Hum Hum,” Jiyong cleared his throat from behind you. You turn around with a surprise to see Jiyong arrive with Seojoon at his heels as people shuffled around and scattered about the room to make room for the king. Upon arrival, Jiyong’s eyes scanned the room as they automatically settle on you. A tender smile gracing his lips. Almost like, everyone else in that room was insignificant compared to your presence.
“From now on, you will be taking orders from Miss Y/n too, Mrs. Lin,” He stated, a firm stance in his voice, his gaze was not directed at her, but his tone proved his authority, “She is someone important to me, the woman I’m sharing my life with. Therefore, I would like it if you obey her as well. I’m sure she will have reasonable demands.”
You shyly looked up at Jiyong at the overwhelming love and consideration he showed towards you. This was probably the first time he acknowledged your relationship among people who aren’t you, the queen or the little prince. It made your heart flutter and you couldn’t tear your eyes away from his. If you weren’t surrounded by so many people or if you were in the privacy of your quarters, you were pretty sure, you’d probably just jump him and kiss him stupid.
Out of the corner of your eyes, you were sure SeoJoon being the protective older brother he was, was sending the King, “You better take care of my sister or I’ll kill you”, glances. To which Jiyong just sent him another reassuring smile. The whole thing was so adorable, you weren’t sure if your heart could take more of it in the time span of one single day.
“Yes, CheonHa” Mrs Lin said, bowing as she left the room backwards. EunMin left with her, with the promise to come back tomorrow to check on the baby’s eating and health evolution. She kept you company today and she was adorable, you were happy that you got to know her. JiYong came closer and whispered in your ear so only you can hear: “Mrs Lin is the mother of one of my ex-courtesan. I guess she has a little something against me. Don’t take it personal, love”.
It was already the evening, the day went so fast! SeoJoon stood in front of you and reached his arms to have his daughter.
“Thank you, Y/n, thank you CheonHa. I too, would like to know if everything is fine with my girls”.
HyunSa, who had slept ever since she arrived, came by her man’s side. He drew her to him with one arm and placed his hand around her waist. You were never used to seeing any affection marks between them, Seo being private most of the time. But he missed her so much, he probably couldn’t help himself.
“Do you think you’ll have one baby on your own?” he teased you and JiYong. The comment made you sad. Considering your life on the plantation, you had come to the conclusion that you couldn’t get pregnant.
“I don’t know… Seo, don’t talk about it” you shyly said, uncomfortable.
“Love, I don’t have to hide my feelings here, right? So let me kiss you. I’ve missed you so much the 3 hours we were apart” He said in front of still under shock HyunSa. He drew you to him and kissed you, his arms encircling your waist. You tenderly combed his hair with your fingers. You couldn’t resist their softness. You hid your nose in the crook of his neck as soon as your lips parted. SeoJoon couldn’t contain his joy.
“Yes, they will certainly have little babies real soon”. he joked.
“That would make me very happy,” the king said, smiling at you.
Three little knocks were heard. YoungBae and TaeHyung came in, agitated. Even if the situation was serious, Tae took one second to kiss MiNa’s head and pat her little back.
“CheonHa, MinHo had killed a guard in the woods. He stripped him of his clothes. We think he stole his uniform to get closer to the palace without making waves. HaeChoo was making a round in the woods, he found the guard, he died in his arms”. Curiously, it’s Tae that delivered the message to the king. Not YoungBae.
JiYong was furious. He should have never let him go. But he had nothing that justified his detention and he didn’t want to become this kind of king. The ones who let his hatred rule the kingdom. But he regretted his decision. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes.
“Who’s dead? he wanted to know.
“EunMin’s brother” YoungBae answered.
“Oh, noooo!” you exclaimed. “Your wife’s brother?”
“Yes, duljjae mama. She doesn’t know yet, I’ll tell her as soon as I have the permission to leave”
The name surprised the king, Seo and Tae but none of them said anything about it.
“I’m sorry for your loss, YoungBae. He was a brave soldier, as far as I know. Too young to die…” Jiyong said.
“I guess, you’ll have another meeting tonight? I think I will go visit your wife after she knows, if you don’t mind YoungBae. I don’t want her to be alone in times like this”.
“No, no, no! There is nothing we can do for tonight. YoungBae, we’ll meet at the first hour tomorrow morning. You go and take care of her, we’ll handle the rest for now. Tae, you’ll be in charge of the operations for the night. I want the soldiers to do their rounds in groups of three or four. They also have to stay close to the border. Seo, Tae, I want you to assist tomorrow. We’ll be discussing military strategy. I count on you”.
“Yes, CheonHa” they answered in one voice.
“Good. Now, everybody else but Tae, you take the rest of the night, it’s an order. We all need to rest, the last couple of days were hectics”.
‘Yes, CheonHa”
You called YoungBae before he left:
“I met EunMin today, she’s a lovely person. If I can do anything for you and for her, please don’t be shy to ask me. I’m really sad for you, I know what it is to lose his family”.
“Thank you, I appreciate it. I will be going, if you don’t mind. It will be a tough night”.
Tae left along with YoungBae. He was clinging to his arm, like if he wanted to comfort him. You heard them exchange some words before they left in different directions. Turning to your man, you took his hand in yours and spontaneously kissed his palm, something you never did before.
“You’ll rest too, Ji. You need to sleep as well”.
“Yes, love! I’ll obey you” he joked.
He kissed your temple under the ‘whews’ and the ‘oooh’ of Seo.
“Are you sure, their arrival is a good thing” JiYong asked, forcing himself not to laugh when he noticed their stunned faces “I have the feeling that they will be teasing us way too much for my liking”.
“Yeah, give them a mission far far away from here’ you add, playing along with your man.
“Good idea! Come home my love. Let’s plot something as we go home” he joked and you left, your arm under his.
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The Awakening - Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Sabrina managed to put herself together before coming out of the bathroom, she and Elon were supposed to be leaving soon. He had left to say goodbye to some people and they were going to meet at the door in approximately 10 minutes.
She walked out towards the entrance of the house, catching a glimpse of Alec before opening the door. The tall blonde blue-eyed man approached her.
“You’re leaving?” he asked “I thought we were leaving together later”
“Yeah, I.. uhm, Elon’s taking me home” Sabrina said.
Alec’s eyes widened and a smirked formed on his face.
“I see” he said.
“Shut up” Sabrina said rolling her eyes and smiling at her old friend. “I’ll call you tomorrow”.
Outside, Elon was waiting patiently in his car, anxious to see her again. When Sabrina walked through the door he was already in front of it.
“Hey” she said getting in the car.
Elon smiled at her and then they looked at each other as if they had the world’s oldest most precious secret.
The ride to Sabrina’s place was silent. He could feel her breathing, feel the racing of her heart.
As they got out of his car, he walked ahead of her and took her hand. He drew back for a moment and stared down at her. Sabrina met his gaze steadily, In the moonlight her hazel eyes could have been black.
“Do you mind if we catch up tomorrow?” Sabrina asked before they could get inside.
Elon stopped and reached for her hand. He felt confused, wondering if she was doubting the feelings she had confessed earlier at the party, worried that Sabrina was regretting what happened.
She squeezed his hand lovingly reassuring him, almost like if she could read his mind.
Elon leaned in and kissed her forehead, then he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
“I’ll come by tomorrow” he said.
Sabrina smiled and nodded. She knew she needed time to process what happened today. Chemistry was never their problem but she knew there were other factors to the relationship, other people to consider, uncomfortable conversations they needed to have. But they were together now, and that gave her the comfort she needed to sleep peacefully through the night, knowing they could face any obstacle if they had each other.
Elon arrived early the next day, wearing his usual all black outfit and bringing some breakfast along, when he walked into Sabrina’s house, she was already awake and taking a shower.
Elon wandered through her house, a big Bel air Spanish house that she was very proud of buying on her own. He stopped to look at one of the pictures in the wall, it was an 8 year old Sabrina riding a bike, he smiled, imagining a child of the two of them together.
“Sorry I took so long” she said smiling, almost running down the stairs to finally throw herself into his arms. She gave him a kiss. “Missed you”
“Missed you too” he answered.
Sabrina was wearing jeans with a black tube top and some long gold earrings that Elon followed with his eyes as they moved, unconsciously leading his gaze to her neck. His thoughts were all over the place.
Sabrina smiled. They were now sitting at the table eating breakfast.
“Here” Elon said, offering her a piece of pancake with his fork.
Sabrina opened her mouth but instead of giving her food he took advantage of the circumstances and pulled her in for a kiss.
Dear god! A tongue like that should be immortalized with a monument or someone should find a way to preserve it for posterity. And those lips.. Sabrina didn’t want to stop and think about those lips and what they were capable of doing.
Elon placed his hand on her waist bringing her closer to his hips, in the exact spot where his jeans were feeling tight.
Sabrina felt how Elon was getting tense and his breathing was starting to get fast. They were getting carried away, and she feared that if they didn’t stop in that moment none of them was going to be able to stop later.
Even if she wasn’t happy about distancing herself from him, she softly pushed him away, freeing herself from his hands.
“Get it together” Sabrina said, teasing him and going back to her seat.
“It would be easier to behave if you weren’t so damn desirable” Elon said.
“Shut up” she said.
Fascinated by the harmony in his movements, Sabrina stared at Elon as he took a bite of some fruit. The idea of locking him in her bedroom for a whole month was starting to feel tempting.
Elon’s phone ringing took her out of her thoughts. He looked irritated as he looked at the caller ID.
“I have to take this” Elon said standing up and walking into the other room.
Sabrina also stood up and cleaned up the empty plates while she waited for him to come back.
“You’re ready to go?” he finally said.
“Sure”
Something was wrong. Sabrina could tell just by looking at him. He was driving but his mind seemed to be somewhere else away from his body.
She had tried several times to make him talk but he was just quiet. Sabrina thought about the call he received earlier, maybe it was that.
He parked in a public parking lot near the beach. Sabrina was unsure of where she was but she didn’t pay much attention to it.
“Wow, it’s really hot out here” she said as she got out of the car, feeling the dense hot air in her face.
She looked at Elon who looked really dashing with his black aviator shades on, a thin layer of sweat covered his skin.
“Is it too hot for you?” Sabrina asked him.
“I’m not gonna die if that’s what you’re asking” he answered almost like if he was too tired to speak.
“A little irritated, aren’t we?
“Sorry” Elon apologized grabbing her hand and then walking towards the exit of the parking lot. “I’m taking it out on you, it’s just work stuff”
��It’s okay” Sabrina said, her big eyes trying to find some kind of expression on Elon’s face. “If you have to go I understand”
“Don’t worry” he kissed her hand and continued walking. “So, we’re going to the aquarium, thought you might enjoy that”
Elon remained in silence as they bought the tickets and got into the building, he didn’t say a word until they were standing below the subaquatic tunnels that allowed them to see the different species in their natural habitat.
“Amazing” he babbled when a huge shark swam just over their heads. He had a childish expression and the light that shined in his eyes warmed Sabrina’s heart.
Suddenly, Sabrina’s phone started ringing. She took it out to see it was a call from her office.
“Hey, Ms. Vanderbilt” It was Mary, her assistant “I’m here at the office and someone broke in last night” she said.
“What?Why? Who would do that”
Sabrina caught Elon’s curious gaze. She offered him a smile and kept listening to Mary.
“No idea, the police is already here looking for clues and fingerprints. For what I’ve seen they didn’t take anything important, did you have anything valuable here?” Mary said.
“Just my computer” said Sabrina.
“Its still here, anything else?”
“No, I never leave anything important” Sabrina answered.
“Wait, the police officer wants to talk to you”
Sabrina waited until she heard the masculine voice.
“Ms. Vanderbilt?”
“That’s me”
“I’m officer Jones. It looks like they took your agenda and some files. Do you have any idea of who would be interested in that?” he said.
“Not really, do you need me to go over there?” Sabrina asked.
“No, no. We’re looking for prints but if you think of someone please let us know” Then, he gave the phone back to Mary.
“Do you want me to go?”Sabrina asked again.
“No, there’s nothing you can do. Really, it’s kind of boring” she said.
“Right, call me if anything happens”
Sabrina placed her phone in her back pocket again.
“Everything okay?” Elon asked.
“Someone broke into my office last night”
He frowned.
“What for?”
“No idea” Sabrina paused for a moment making Elon’s frown intensify while she thought about the possible cause. “I can’t imagine why someone would want my agenda or any of the files I have there. It’s really weird”
“Do we have to leave?”
She shook her head.
“It’s not needed”
Sabrina let Elon guide her through the different aquariums while he read to her the descriptions that explained details about the different animals.
God! How much she liked to hear the sound of his voice while he read. There was something so relaxing in Elon’s voice. He took one of his arms around her shoulder while they walked and she rested her head on him for a moment.
The sweet gesture caught him off guard and managed to debilitate him. Elon realized he spent hours wanting to feel the sweet touch of her body, he thought about how much better it would feel if they were naked right now.
When Sabrina smiled at him his heart began to race uncontrollably. She had something that made him feel things he never felt before. But deep inside he knew what it was, she saw the real him, beyond his appearance or wealth. She saw his soul. Could a woman so wonderful and compassionate like her care about some guy like him?
Sabrina stopped to read another inscription. Elon hugged her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, observing the animals swimming. The smell of his skin invaded Sabrina’s senses and she wished they were back at her place, where she could take his clothes off.
She wasn’t able to remember when was the last time that she desired someone as much as she desired Elon. In fact, she didn’t think it was possible that it had occurred before. She wished to feel him on top of her again, filling her completely.
Sabrina was terrified, he had a place in her heart that would destroy her if he ever left again.
Back at Elon’s place they spent the day in peaceful solitude and when the night came they sat in front of the couch over some pillows. Sabrina rested her head in Elon’s shoulder as he talked to her about some project he was working on. She was doing everything she could to hold herself and not turn around and explore every inch of his body with her mouth.
But Elon was still in a dark mood, ever since that call he received earlier.
“Tell me what’s bothering you” Sabrina said, sitting down correctly on the couch.
He looked away for a moment, contemplating if he really should tell her.
“It was Camille on the phone earlier” he sighed.
“Okay” Sabrina said urging him to continue.
“Nothing relevant, something about a signature for the divorce” He said.
“Is this about money? How much is she getting this time”
“No, she’s not getting anything. She cheated on me” Elon said darkly.
Elon’s answer took Sabrina by surprise, suddenly making her feel sad.
“I’m sorry” she finally said. “You didn’t deserve that”
Elon’s gaze finally met hers.
“Don’t worry, babe. It’s in the past now”
But she knew better, he was hurt. And as much as she would’ve liked to pretend that his whole relationship with his ex wife didn’t happen she knew he loved her at some point in time.
Sabrina carefully sat on his lap facing him, with her legs on each side of him. For once, he kept his hands still on her waist and only touched her with his lips, placing them on her own. It didn’t matter, Sabrina’s head began to spin anyway.
How could his ex wife had chosen another man? How could anyone reject him? He was heaven on earth.
Elon deepened the kiss, exploring Sabrina’s mouth with his tongue. Sabrina felt the beating of his heart while he got closer and closer and his muscles surrounded her.
She had never been so conscious about the presence of other human being. He took her to the limit, made her feel sensations that didn’t know existed.
Elon pulled away to look at Sabrina, making her skin crawl.
“I have urging desires to be inside of you, Sabrina” he mumbled “I want to feel your legs around me, your body beneath me, hear you moan while I make love to you slowly. I want your scent to be forever impregnated in my body.”
---------------------------
Sorry for taking so long to post this! And for ending it like that hahah I promise next chapter will be more interesting, will try to upload on thursday:) Thanks for reading!
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