#hes fucking great at being a pirate captain; fighting; coming up with plans; but getting his hands dirty? boring
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episode 8 fix it where izzy does get shot, but it doesnt kill him- its on the left side after all! a gunshot does more damage than a sword, so he has a longer healing time ahead, and with him still learning how to live missing a leg, they all agree that its best he doesn't sail away with them, that itd be better if he stayed on land while he recovers
conveniently, he just so happens to know two men who are looking to start an inn on land! he can stay with them, help them complete repairs (god knows neither of them knows what theyre doing themselves) he can whittle little souvenirs on his sick bed; he can help moderate their ideas ("theres no point picking drapes yet stede, we don't have a fucking window") he can heal in peace.
maybe he could try being someone else other than the great izzy hands, maybe he could make something new here. no captains, no first mates, just izzy and ed and stede
#honestly you don't even need to change anything the grave could be a 'memory of the great izzy hands; the pirate'#just have ed + stede walk into their inn and theres izzy- injured; but alive#after the fishing scene i am unapologetically making ed incompetent at physical labour#hes fucking great at being a pirate captain; fighting; coming up with plans; but getting his hands dirty? boring#thats izzys job!#nyxtalks#ofmd#ofmd s2 spoilers#izzy hands#israel hands#steddy hands#steddyhands#thats where this goes for me. no question about it#that was a 'there was only one bed' size inn and of course izzy needs it for his recovery but you think ed + stede will sleep on the floor?#NO#this is canon to me i refuse to believe he's dead. hes there with them in that inn.
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Finally got my thoughts together about Rayleigh!Sanji.
Germa is in Sabaody for some reason or another when Reiju gets Sanji out and to Shakky's Rip Off Bar with Sanji still in the helmet. Reiju bows to Rayleigh who is the only one in the bar and runs away and Rayleigh can't even argue because she's gone faster than he can recover so he looks at the kid in the helmet and sighs. He gets the helmet off with armament and looks at the starved and sunken face of the child trapped in the contraption and he's angry.
Sanji is skittish and jumpy and so fucking quiet and Rayleigh doesn't exactly know how to comfort this kid and wishes Roger were here because he would know. So they get the kid bathed and his hair brushed. Shakky asks what the plan is because someone might come looking for the kid and it's going to be even more suspicious if Dark King Rayleigh has him. They talk it over and as much as Rayleigh would like to keep the kid in one place, Sabaody is not the place to keep him.
So they set sail. The boat is small enough for them to both handle but strong enough to withstand the Grand Line. Rayleigh is wondering what to do to make money, he looks at Sanji and how scared the kid still is and tells it to Sanji plainly: that if they're going to stay together Sanji is going to have to learn to fight and be a pirate. Sanji listens and nods so Rayleigh also says they're going to need a crew. Also his bounty is going to fucking sky rocket.
They do actually manage to find some crew relatively easily, it's Rayleigh and he vets the crew as much as he can. Sanji sticks close to Rayleigh, training and everything else. He cooks with crew cook and Rayleigh sparsely lets him out of his sight. Sanji is learning quickly even if it's out of fear, not Rayleigh per say but his new life.
Rayleigh is of course right about his bounty and how it sky rockets and rocks the world that he is back. Luckily they get a new boat fit for the crew they have amassed and what's going on. They run into White Beard who looks at Rayleigh and asks why he set sail again. Rayleigh just grabs Sanji and holds him out to the fellow captain as White Beard starts yelling about his other brats. Rayleigh answers that he knows he fucked up and plans to apologize to them but look at this kid, he's a dead royal!
They party and drink and Sanji is around other kids, other brats for the first time. Rayleigh smiles as he plays and talks to other kids and tests his sword skills and everything. Rayleigh eventually grabs his brat who's about to pass out like he did when Buggy and Shanks were little. They leave with threats and promises aplenty.
Sanji isn't particularly protective of his hands after being in the New World for so long, he uses swords and is very skilled at them. He sets himself of fire. Rayleigh blinks at him and calls Shakky to ask what the fuck can set themselves on fire with no issue and she responds with a couple of options. Rayleigh sighs because yeah, okay. This tracks for him and the kids he's raised. He was never going to be dealt an easy hand and he should know that.
Rayleigh is titled an Emperor and he does his best, which is better than before but still not great, raising Sanji. They don't run into Shanks or anyone else. Sanji cooks all the time and is still just as good as he is in canon and still holds the 'if they're hungry I'll feed them' mentality because of the dungeon and how rough it was when they first set sail. They meet Ace and they talk before he leaves to fight Kaido.
They're back at Sabaody for to get news from Shakky. Sanji's bounty does list him as 'Silvers Sanji' as he heads to the auction house to watch the chaos. That new upstart from the East Blue is there and he punches a celestial dragon. Sanji chuckles to himself at the supernovas and their behavior towards one another. For some reason Rayleigh managed to get himself captured and is using his haki to knock almost everyone out and free the mermaid and the giant. Sanji calls to Rayleigh about the navy as he lights a cigarette and goes outside to greet the marines who are there. The marines widen their eyes at him as Luffy, Law and Kidd come out. He grins at them and asks if they're sure they can handle it but like no one really recognizes him because Law, Kidd and Luffy don't pay attention to other's really, especially not emperors yet.
After all that hubbub and before Kuma the Strawhats, Rayleigh and Sanji are in the bar and Sanji sits next to Rayleigh as he asks how the marines were and Sanji says 'lame as usual, always so surprised when I set on fire.' which makes Rayleigh laugh as they all talk. Afterwards they mention they're headed to Impel Down to go get Buggy which the Romance Dawn trio grits their teeth at. Sanji waves at them as they leave and the Kuma gets them.
Then the news comes out about Ace's execution and Rayleigh sighs. He can't let the kid die, it was his captain's kid and he's a pirate again. He has debts to be paid and dues to be collected when he boards the Dutchman and his crew nod and agree, they'll get Buggy and Ace. They get into Impel Down after Luffy and see the reckoning going on so they leave to head to the execution as they're putting their faith into Luffy for the moment there. They meet up with the White Beard fleet and Roger was never one for a fleet, neither is Rayleigh so when Luffy and those from Impel Down escape the war begins.
The battle rages and when Akainu goes to punch Luffy, Rayleigh interrupts, telling him to pick on someone his own size as they start fighting. When Shanks shows up as Buggy is filming everything Sanji grins as he skywalks Ace and Luffy to Marco and drops them in front of the bird man before bolting back with a salute. When Shanks lets out that huge blast of haki and ends the war for everyone to collect their dead and injured, Sanji sky walks back with Rayleigh who claims to be old for Sanji to be doing that. Ace and Luffy are staring at the blond they've both seen once as Shanks and Buggy stare wide eyed at the brat.
Sanji shrugs and lights a cigarette as he lands then introduces himself to Shanks and Buggy. Luffy asks why they didn't get here sooner and Rayleigh points at his ship which has a crew of like eleven people including him and Sanji and thanks him for getting Buggy out. They both apologize to Marco for his losses and how they couldn't protect more and Buggy interrupts to ask who the fuck the blond is and what their plan even was.
"Oh, we got news you had been sent to Impel Down so we were coming to get you." Rayleigh answers. "This is Sanji, my last brat, I didn't get a choice." Rayleigh laughs.
"I'm basically your little brother." Sanji nods as Shanks looks at Rayleigh and Buggy sighs and rubs his temples.
#silvers rayleigh#dark king rayleigh#black leg sanji#vinsmoke sanji#buggy the clown#redhaired shanks#redhair shanks#one piece au#rayleigh!sanji#monkey d. luffy#portgas d ace#shakky
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Some Ep 1 Live Action One Piece Thoughts
I absolutely plan to post at least a little something about each episode of Netflix's live action One Piece series. (Just dropped today!) I'll just be watching it at a fairly relaxed pace.
I've seen the first episode... and I think it got off to a pretty great start. I think anyone who had realistic expectations for it being good had already accepted that it's not the kind of series they'd be able to adapt scene for scene... but I thought the way they've reimagined it and brought it together so far was a lot of fun.
Beware for spoilers, and let's go!
I like to start with the Negatives first and end on a high note... and thankfully, there aren't that many of them:
It was cool to see Roger's execution scene brought to life... But I have to say, the narrator's voice wasn't as commanding and bold as what I would have cast for that role. Really minor detail, but... it stuck out to me.
I'm reserving judgement on the costuming department just now but... For a show that otherwise looks pretty good, sometimes the costumes feel just a little... off. Like cosplay that don't quite fit. There are places I suspect that's intentional... But too soon to feel decisive about it.
First 2 are the really minor details. There were a few story points that didn't hit quite right that are more worrying. Like, Zoro ends up strung up at Morgan's base because Morgan threatens to blacklist him at every other base if he doesn't join up with the Marines-- they'd refuse to accept the bounties he brings in. It was just a little more meaningful in the anime, that he was out there because they'd threatened to punish the mother and little girl he was defending instead.
Similarly, Captain Morgan isn't really made out to be a guy that even his own people loathe and fear in this version. Episode one ends with Morgan's defeat... but not a clear indication that the base is about to get a total rehaul in management. Making it a little strange that Coby would stay on here.
But there were far more things that impressed me than disappointed or worried me.
For all the moments the costumes looked a little off, there was someone they got just right. Morgan looked great. They somehow managed to bring his jaw shield and axe hand to life without looking totally ridiculous.
I can't say I have complaints about any of the acting so far, but surprisingly, Helmeppo's been the one who impressed me most. Apparently this is Aidan Scott's first major role, and I wish him nothing but success in the future, because he's really acing every aspect of the role in this first episode. Makes me excited to see what he can do when I eventually get to the more emotional scenes with Helmeppo bonding with Coby and breaking away from his dad's influence.
(Though if we're talking about great acting for the main characters, Mackenyu's really killing it as Zoro too.)
There are so many little details I want to shout out... Like, Zoro's name first comes up because Alvida's looking for him... because she's so vain and arrogant that she assumes the infamous pirate hunter must be looking for her. Which totally works.
And there's this quiet moment where Coby's left to wash the blood off Alvida's clubs at the end of the night... It really reinforces the horror of his situation more than being ordered to do the more ordinary menial chores would.
Zoro's entire introduction scene was pretty fucking amazing. In the anime, he has this throwaway line about how a member of Baroque Works once approached him and tried to recruit him. That attempt at recruitment (and the resulting fight) are what we get to see play out in his introduction scene in the live action. (And you gotta love that bit where the movement of his sword blew out every memorial candle except the two he had lit.)
(And yes, it can be a little quippy, like I suspected, but that aspect's honestly not making me roll my eyes like I thought it would. In fact, it's been genuinely funny sometimes.)
But I think my favorite scene of this first episode is not the one where our first 3 crewmembers meet... but the one where they're all first in the same room together.
Nami, Zoro, and Luffy (with Coby) all end up in the same restaurant in Shells Town. But they don't interact in that scene. They're all still following their own storylines at that point. It's a lot of fun to see it all come together, and the way they handle the 3 storylines all going on at once in the same place was really smooth.
We're off to a great start!
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Teen Titans Episodes Explained Badly
Divide And Conquer: Aight, first thing to establish here, you take any one Titan out of the equation and the entire team is fucked, thank you and goodnight.
Sisters: If you ever wanted to get your sibling arrested, here’s a handy dandy guide on how!
Final Exam: “Did you order a crack team of ace assassins?”
“No.”
“Great, here you go!”
Forces Of Nature: Some old dude convinces two teenagers who have never heard of stranger danger to start some fires
The Sum Of His Parts: Reject humanity return to robot
Nevermore: Journey to the centre of Raven’s brain
Switched: Anatomically accurate puppets give way to your classic body switch storyline
Deep Six: Beast Boy vs a hot guy. The Titans get wet.
Masks: A secret identity within a secret identity
Mad Mod: A cheerful reminder that school sucks and is full of creepy people. Also never trust British people.
Car Trouble: I steal your car
I steal your car
I steal your car
I steal your car
I st
Apprentice - Part 1: Slade, a bitter divorced father, hasn’t seen his children in a long time so he steals one of Batman’s children.
Apprentice - Part 2: Robin does not want to be Slade’s son
How Long Is Forever?: Back to the future
Every Dog Has His Day: I heard you like dogs so I traded your dog for a dog.
Also if it’s green, it will love annoying Raven.
Terra: The Titans let a homeless girl crash on their couch and she tracks mud everywhere
Only Human: Atlas’ entire life is this one video game and he probably lives in his mother’s basement
Fear Itself: Have your nightmares ever come alive and tried to kill everyone you care about?
W̶̢̧̖͚͎̙̗̰̦̹̏͗̽͊̒̊̂͐̏̏͒̌͠ͅỏ̸̢̥̻̑̌͑́̏̓̈͐͜͝ų̷̭̫͙̘͕̣̏̑͂̍̈̋̽̍l̸͖̙̭̩̘̩͇̱͎͑̌d̶̡̧̡̛͎̪̳̰͉͖̠͈̗̽̃̎̏͑̈́͊̚͝ ̶͖̞̅̂͌̅̏y̶̖̯̮̩͈̻̹̣͆o̶̙̰̽͆̆̔̿̂͠u̵̡̫̩̹̅̄́̅̈́͆̾̉̀̐̌̂̚ ̶̨̢̛̥̺͍͙͎̥̣̼͇̲̞̳̄́̂̇̉ͅl̵̮̿i̵̢̢̛̹̞͕̲͐̈́͜k̵̡̺̏̊͌̿͊͆́̅̍̂͑̕͘͝ͅe̵̛͇̕ ̶̧̧̨̟̺͍̞̤̱̗̲̦̺̹̌͂̏̀̌͌̚ţ̶̫̞̣̬̣̜̙͛̓̂̋̀̍̀̏͐̇͒ͅh̴̢̧̡̭̭̱̙͙̼̊͌̅̋̎͊̉̓̓̚͜͝e̴̥̩̩͔̰̫͆̇̇̐̂͛̊́̀m̴̡͇̀̊ ̷̦͚̖̯̌͛́̄̔̄t̶̢̤̫̰̲̖͚̗̜͔̫̫̖͚̿̓̑ͅo̴̳̹͎̗͍̜͂̆̅͛͐̈̐̈́͒̽͘͠?̶̨͖̲͈̩̲͎͍̪͇̤̺͑̾̇͂̆̾̈̈́̅̅
Date With Destiny: Sexual harassment ft. moths
Transformation: Puberty. That’s it, that’s the episode.
Titan Rising: Homeless girl joins team and doesn’t track as much mud around the house this time.
Winner Take All: Overgrown furry gremlin thing makes kids fight each other then shoves them inside a necklace
Betrayal: Bitter divorced dad ruins teenagers’ date
Fractured: Being from another dimension appears and accidentally turns the world into a crayon drawing
Aftershock - Part 1: Terra is evil? Terra is unyielding? I’m packing my little rucksack-
Aftershock - Part 2: You thought everyone was dead but no, they’re fine...wait, a volcano is erupting-
Deception: Cyborg goes back to school but it’s evil school
X: When your evil alter ego suddenly becomes a person in its own right.
Betrothed: Never let your sister plan your wedding
Crash: Get sick, eat everything.
Haunted: Robin gets poisoned and hallucinates vividly.
Spellbound: The dangers of getting way too attached to a character in one of your books
Revolution: History lesson on crack
Wavelength: Evil Academy 2 Electric Boogaloo.
The Beast Within: Reject humanity return to Bigfoot.
Can I Keep Him?: Please do not feed your silk worms mysterious alien goo.
Bunny Raven...Or...How To Make A Titanimal Disappear: “Hey kid, you wanna see a magic trick?”
Titans East - Part 1: A new Titans team but Brother Blood wants to make it Evil Academy 3 Steel City Drift
Titans East - Part 2: Hypnotism and violence. I hope you kids like the threat of death!
Episode 257-494: Fat nerd escapes into TV and becomes James Bond
The Quest: Robin gets advice from some talking animals
Birthmark: Slade is never getting invited to another birthday party.
Cyborg The Barbarian: Back To The Future but it’s the film where they end up way in the past. Cyborg falls for a dead girl. This boy is really not lucky in love.
Employee Of The Month: Beast Boy gets a job working for a talking cube.
Troq: The Titans help an intergalactic racist and don’t question it when he states they need to commit mass genocide for the good of the universe.
The Prophecy: Oh yeah also the world is about to end lol
Stranded: “Well thank fuck this planet happens to have an atmosphere we can all survive in.”
Overdrive: “I’ve started a gang. The current members are me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me and me.”
Mother Mae-Eye: Overbearing parent simulator
The End - Part 1: Satan comes to visit his daughter and burn everything.
The End - Part 2: Everything is on fire.
The End - Part 3: Raven tells her dad to fuck off.
Homecoming - Part 1: Meet The Parents, Beast Boy edition
Homecoming - Part 2: What would you give up to chase down a team led by a homosexual brain in a jar and his monkey boyfriend?
Trust: Madame Rouge melts in direct sunlight.
For Real: You ordered the Teen Titans, but we didn’t have it in stock. We’ve substituted and price matched Titans East, now without hypnotism.
Snowblind: Starfire helps Captain Russia™ face his radioactive personal demons
Kole: Jurassic Park but nobody gets eaten
Hide And Seek: Would you rather fight a giant gorilla or babysit children? Quickly now, we don’t have much time.
Lightspeed: No Teen Titans here, just bad guys and even worse flirting.
Revved Up: Basically Wacky Races.
Go!: “This is the story of how we met. Except I tell it better than Robin does, my version has pirates!”
“God damn it, Beast Boy-”
Calling All Titans!: “Here’s every single hero we could get the rights to for this. We sure hope no-one’s got any evil plans for all of them...”
Titans Together: Oops, evil won.
SIKE!
Things Change: Beast Boy harasses the fuck out of a girl who looks like his ex.
The Lost Episode: I hope you like music, ft. don’t trust British people 2 electric boogaloo.
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Hey, everyone.
So recently I've (predictably) very not well. Actually, whenever I don't post for long periods, just assume my body is trying to kill me. But I've gotten messages from three people asking if I. Okay, which is super sweet. I am actually trying to work on the next All Hearts, a really long ZoLaw post and two request fics, but mixing chronic kidney pain and capitalist society's mandate to work 40+ hours is not recommended.
But to prove I'm okay and still me, here is some Shanks antics with him being a total slut while Mihawk and Beckman just roll their eyes and go along with it. [Shout out to @jhaernyl who not only listens to me ramble about this stuff, but actively encourages it]. I also have many thoughts on the latest episodes and so many screenshots it's embarrassing. Hopefully, when I'm in less pain, I'll get around to actually posting those. Otherwise I just look like an insane person who literally takes by the second frame shots every time Zoro is on screen.
.... What is that? I look like that anyway? Fair.
Shanks Is A Bad Influence
It feels like Buggy and Shanks split up after Roger's death (the crew was told to, and they are the only ones who went to his execution) and I find it impossible to think Shanks didn't immediately set out and find a crew; like, pirating is the only thing this kid knows in life. This means two things:
He set out from East Blue. Also, he seemed at ease and familiar with the East so it's possible he spent like a year there getting everything together. Maybe he even played around in the other blues for a while before heading back to the Grand Line. I say this because his crew is from all over so either he found and recruited them in the Grand Line or visited various blues. Either way, I'm gonna say it took him about two years before getting a 'proper' start. In that case, he would have started out properly at the age of 17 and we know One Piece likes it's parallels.
That still puts Shanks at 17 to Benn Beckmen's 28. How the fuck did Shanks manage that? I'd call it grave robbing, but let's face it, the little tyke probably got up to some actual robbing of graves as well.
My point being everytime Shanks teases Mihawk about keeping this 19 year old kid on his personal island, mostly shirtless, Benn Beckmen just lifts an eyebrow.
Excuse me, captain, who had prefected the 'opps still don't have my sea legs' trip-and-fall into their first mates lap by the age of 17?
Shanks: Beckmen, you caught me! *Shamelessly nuzzles up* Thank goodness! I could be a devil's fruit user after all and - Ahh!
Benn: *Drops Shanks straight over the side of the ship into the water*
Shanks: *Sputtering* What what that!?
Benn: Checking to see if you had eaten a devil's fruit on us, Capatin.
Benn: You didn't.
Smart ass. But he can't resist Shanks forever. Shanks will wear him down eventually.
Next time Mihawk tracks him down for another match - because you know he gets bored way quicker than he'll ever admit and Shanks is at least amusing a challenge - Shanks makes a big deal out of how Mihawk follows him around, "accidentally" revealing they slept together, sighing about how it's so hard to resist him.
Benn Beckmen is just leaning against the side of the ship, sipping his booze.
Shanks: -and I can't stay for hours like last time!!
Mihawk: Are you quite done?
Shanks: *whispering* Does Benn look jealous?
Mihawk: He looks bored. Much like I am. Is this some strange attempt to get out of my challenge, Akagami?
Shanks: What? No, come on I told you I was game. But, hey, could you do me a favor? Maybe like try and kiss me or something? Like take a swing like your going to hit me but then stop shot and grab me by the waist instead.
Mihawk: .... Trickery is beneath you. Besides, you're absolute rubbish at it.
Shanks: Oh, come on, I would totally help you get laid if you asked!
Mihawk: .... *Sigh* I want a proper match afterwards.
Mihawk: *In a forced, monotone voice* After this I will take you to my lair and have my way with you, Akagami.
Mihawk: ... My lair? Really?
Shanks: *Holding up cue card with quickly scribbled line* What? That is how you talk.
Mihawk: I can't believe I wasted precious hours of light tracking you to this atrociously rural port.
Shanks: See? Now, read the next one.
Benn: Captain? If this is going to take all night, I am going to go join the rest of the men in the tavern.
Shanks: Huh? Wait! Benn! What if Miha really stabs me this time!?
Benn: *Salutes Shanks with his bottle* Sounds like that is his plan captain. Have a good 'challenge'.
Shanks: What? No... *Reaching out hand, like he might die if Benn leaves, looking completely devastated* Not even a little jealous...
Mihawk: You couldn't have thought that pantomime would actually work.
Shanks: Benny, don't leave me.... *Turns to Mihawk, immediately brightening* Oh, well, there's always tomorrow. Hey, Miha, guess whose free all night and horny as a pirate in the calm belt?
Mihawk: .... *Sigh* Very well.
Mihawk might as well get something for the trip he made. Although, he's reconsidering if the sex was actually worth the trouble after he ends up listening to Shanks worry half the night that Benn is shacking up with someone else (after a couple hours of rough and raw fucking, admittedly).
Is it the hat? He likes his captain's hat. Miha, you think his captain's hat is sexy, don't you?
Mihawk: It's utterly ridiculous.
Shanks: ....
Shanks: ....
Shanks: *Smile* Ahh, Miha, I knew you liked the hat!
Shanks: What do you old Northerns find sexy?
Mihawk: I am only four years older than you.
Mihawk: And silence.
Trying to convince Mihawk to go spy on Beckman for him. Shanks doesn't actually care if he does sleep with someone else, it's more that Beckman didn't immediately turn angry and jealous like Buggy would have that has him paranoid.
Mihawk is going to fuck this annoying red head again just to shut him up.
Mihawk: Maybe he doesn't like red haired boys who don't know when to be quiet?
The next morning Shanks is pacing among his poor crew that's gotten stuck listening to Shanks obsess about Beckman again. IS IT REALLY THE HAIR!?
It's not even a matter of Shanks's age (or obvious immaturity). I mean, Beckman got on board and stayed, didn't he? Beckman just enjoys watching Shanks try so hard to get his attention. Like Benn's attention isn't constantly on Shanks. He had to when his captain is always one step away from disaster.
He only left him with Mihawk because it was clear Dracule is not a real danger to Beckman's captain.
Except maybe insulting him to death. But Beckman is pretty sure Shanks can handle it. He's met Buggy. He's suspects Shanks LIKES it if anything.
It gets to the point where when they dock somewhere and see Mihawk waiting, or come back to the ship and spot his familiar silhouette, most of the crew goes off somewhere for another drink (sometimes the newer kids will stay to watch such an awesome fight, everyone else is like... Look, you'll have plenty of opportunities later. This is not a one off.)
Benn just takes a look around, nods to Mihawk (a silent signal for, "he's all yours, do with him as you please, if anything happens to him I will track you down and make sure your last few hours on this blue world are as painful as humanly possible") and heads off.
Oh, it's just the Hawk boy.
That's fine then.
Benn use to be a sailor on a trade ship between the North, East, West and Grand Line. He's seen it all.
They called him The Gun Slinger BEFORE he joined Shanks's crew and became a pirate.
So this young, broke ass kid from the streets of some near artic northern island trying to pass himself off as a Lower North rich type has a thing for his captain? Not really enough to keep Beckman up at night, no matter how good at swords he's supposed to be
Besides, he's pretty sure for the kid to keep tracking down Shanks, he must be bored out of his skull. He's not going to do anything to endanger their captain.
Not if Shanks is the only thing he can find to keep him entertained.
One day, Mihawk is going to be waiting on the dock when a bunch of Red Haired pirates are stumbling home, laughing and chattering amongst themselves (Shanks's crew always seems to be in a good mood). One of them will catch sight if Mihawk and walk by with a smile, patting him on the shoulder.
The captain's occupied. Seems likely he'll be 'occupied' for a good while, too.
Mihawk won't smile, but he will think "So you finally warmed him up to you, Akagami?" and snort lightly.
Poor Benn, though. Mihawk could never imagine being with someone so much younger than him. Shanks is only four years his junior and already it strains Mihawk to put up with his occasional moments of "youthful whimsy" (aka being an annoying, immature child)
"A young, cocky pirate with strangely colored bright hair"
Mihawk just putting that on his Not To Do List.
That lasted until Roronoa.
(Mihawk just looking at Zoro knowing this is bad news.)
Mihawk: *Takes list from Benn*
*Cross out, scribbles*
*Hands back to Benn*
Do Not Do:
- A young, cocky pirate with strangely colored bright hair a silly hat, who is overly dramatic and in any way, shape or form related to Gol D Rogers.
Ace: Hey what's up?
Mihawk: *Takes list from Benn*
Go ahead, Benn, laugh it up. Mihawk is aware he has a type. Young, pretty, and utterly insane.
After that night where Shanks was otherwise 'occupied', it's over six months before Mihawk sees his friend his rival again. He is, as expected, far too smug and proud looking.
Shanks: Oh, Miha, so sorry you came all this way, I'm-
Benn: Well, I'm off, captain.
Shanks: What!? But we, you, I... Benn, hessoeexyarentyouworriedforyourcaptain?
Benn: *patting Mihawk on the shoulder* Have fun with him. Don't forget to return him by noon tomorrow, we have a schedule. Oh, but if you can babysit him for at least four hours? That would be great.
Shanks: BABYSIT!?
Mihawk: I suppose I can be troubled to do so.
Shanks: TROUBLED!?
Benn: Thanks, Hawkeyes. I owe you.
Shanks: *Fake tears clinging to his lashes* You two are so mean!
No, don't feel bad for him. Shanks is just trying to guilt the two of them into bed at the same time, and they both know it.
Thanks no thanks, they're not into that. But Shanks can be pretty cute when he's trying so hard (Benn) and at least he's not as boring as everything else in this world (Mihawk) so they allow him to keep up the act
Shanks: *looking at Zoro's wanted poster over Mihawk's shoulder* But I feel like you'd gladly go to bed with him and his captain if he asked. That doesn't seem fair to me. You'd never go that far with me and Benn.
Mihawk: *Eyes Benn*
Mihawk: *DEAD. ONLY.*
Mihawk: I have my reasons.
They can and do agree on plenty of things, including reciprocally not being that attracted to each other.
Shanks: Sounds fake to me
Shanks: But guys!
Shanks: This isn't about you
He's gonna need you guys to drop the egos and focus on what HE wants. I.E., being in the middle of two sexy Northern men.
Honestly, so mean to poor Shanks!
#I LIVE#here have some#shanks x mihawk#shanks x beckman#shanks x buggy#mihawk x zoro#and you know there is some Law x Zoro goong on I just didn't cover it#I like my men like I like my civil war sides#Northern#idk but here you go#Shanks#akagami no shanks#dracule mihawk#benn beckman#DEAD ONLY#roronoa zoro#one piece#one piece fanfiction#but not really#just random fun#I jump between time periods like a game of hopscotch#what you gonna do about it#get lost probably
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Transformers: Harbingers
The Pirate Scream AU
Before I talk about it you guys are the best thank you for indulging me and my AU from this post xjdjd. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
@badlydrawntransformers @cosmic0de @warrioroffandoms @measlyfurball13 And a bonus thank you to those encouraging me in the tags as well ❤️
I plan to do art for it as well as accompanying written bits and maybe even an animatic but till then have some general info under the cut.
Also there is transformers: Prime spoilers below so open at your own risk.
TRANSFORMERS: HARBINGERS
So this AU comes from the same place many AUs heavily involving TfP Starscream come from: the unfulfilled potential in our boy Scream. Now deeper discussion of that is not gonna be in this post. It'd be a whole essay.
It also comes from just how salty I was that the Team's kindness never really benefitted them much and they kept getting slapped for it. And OP really wanted to win over a con and Starscream kept wanting a partner. ALSO ALSO Optimus was portrayed as keeping his emotions in check and then never really gets a message that it's okay to be emotional so... I'm doing that here.
And the Starscream Pirate AU was born...
Aka Transformers: Harbingers (maybe idk if it's catchy enough djjsw)
Why Harbingers? ''It's just a SHIP Starscream chills in for awhile in the show' ' I hear you say. WELL HANG ON!! I got two very good reasons!! .
First off: Starscream, with the help of some Cybertronians who he wins over one way or another (Ill get to that), help him essentially use the remains of the Harbinger to put together their own functional ship. It's smaller than the Nemesis and will take some pirate ship inspiration. While it is a hardy beast it's a bit jury rigged.
Second of all:
Imagine being a fictional character living in a ship with a name that basically means 'Foreshadowed bringer of change' and then going back to Megatron and his bullshit. I'm gonna grab this and run all the way with it. Highway to Hell just came on my Spotify so... That may be an omen.
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NOW LISTEN
I feel like Starscream and Optimus could really have had such an interesting dynamic but we never really got to see that in TfP and I feel cheated. Also both could have mutually benefitted a great deal.
So what do I do? I shove them together to be sorta begrudging Co-Captains. As a result there's a lot of shenanigans to be had!
How this happens OP has some run ins with cons and, through a way I'm still deciding, has the opportunity to extend a hand to Starscream. Starscream, being kindness starved, doesn't entirely know what to do about Optimus being nice to him one whole time with no sarcasm or ulterior motive and sorta starts trying to get his attention.
Starscream and his crew are a bit of their own team at this point. MEANING sort of new LOGOS!
I'm yoinking the crossed out Decepticon logo from the Dark Energon Starscream and Dark Energon Knockout toys cause I mean... It's right there and also kinda like a skull and crossbones. It fits too well guys.
Starscream essentially manages to win over the autobots enough so they can sorta make a mutually beneficial, if strained, alliance to aid their aligned goal: killing Megatron and revitalizing cyberton. This is aided by some slight changes to the plot of course. It's also a benefit, much to Ratchet's delight, since they finally get some cybertronian tech to work with.
And so they gotta work together to take Megatron out and there's much bonding moments esp later when the autobot base is destroyed. Starscream extends his hand to them and offers them a more permanent position onboard. (rubbing in how unfortunate their situation is and how this is such a big favour but he's paying Optimus back.)
And insert team dynamic stuff!! Like cons teaming up with Bots, Starscream and Optimus trying to stick with it leading their own teams but keep accidently backseat-leadering one another. I will write some other ex-con and bot dynamics cause there's a lot of chaos to be had.
Optimus doesn't open up to his crew for morale sake and masks his emotions well, and Starscream is... well Starscream is Starscream so he masks what he truly feels a lot and doesn't share a lot of personal stuff besides complaints with his team either. So there's a lot of tension.... That is until Starscream has had it at just how good a poker face Prime has.
Because he's absolutely paranoid got a harmless curiosity about Optimus's ulterior motives and wants potential dirty secrets he can use as blackmail to have power over the Prime, he essentially puts cybertronian booze (but kid friendly version of course fbejek) in Optimus's energon heavily expecting him to spill the beans when heavily drunk. What he doesn't expect is that Optimus is just... LIKE THAT to his core. He's smart but very sad and guilty. And maybe a bit weepy and exhausted cause this man has not shown an emotion for eons now. /s. Starscream doesn't know wtf to do but swayed by how earnest Optimus is he sorta softens up and does open up. Might have helped that he took a swig of the tainted energon to get on his level though. But it also helps that neither is the others subordinate so they don't need to maintain their image as badly with the Co-captain as they do their team.
The ex cons sorta accidently absorb some of the autobot's morals over time. The cons help the autobots have some fun. There's a lot of stuff learned both ways. Also the cons realize how cool humans can be and after a lot of argument and forced time spent with the kids, they want to protect earth too.
Starscream, helps Optimus open up a bit more and allow himself to be emotional. He also shows him how to be a little selfish. Optimus in turn helps him with self confidence and making friends. Both help each other with the shit Megatron put em both through and overall boost one another up. (This also does change the start of the war a bit but I'll get to that in another post.)
Miko tries to fight all of the cons at first but quickly changes her tune cause "BOOYAH PIRATE CONS!!"
Other bits about this AU:
Starscream will eventually get a slight design change. It'll be less scrappy and look more confident and put together. It'll be minor
Because they are on a flying ship but have less energon than the Nemesis, everyone gets equipped with mods for flight. There is a jetpack upgrade one can get or Knockout can straight up help change their alt mode surgically.
I'm working up a list of who gets what flight mod but... Ya'll should know that Wheeljack dares Knockout to make him into a flying car. Largely cause I just got the image of Wheeljack flying above vehicons and just turning into a car and dropping on them. That and driving up the side of the Nemesis and confusing the fuck out of Megatron. Out of all the characters you know that would be a Wheeljack thing.
Arcee and Knockout grieve together.
Knockout loves bugging the hell out of Ratchet. It's extra fun for him cause Ratchet often can't do shit about it since they both need the room and tools.
Knockout and Wheeljack become an insufferable duo with the nicknames they have for everyone.
Wheeljack won't leave Starscream alone and keeps coming up with worse and worse nicknames like he did with Ratchet.
Starscream and Ratchet become complaining buddies.
STARSCREAM'S SEEKER SQUAD REJOINS. Well some of them. Skywarp, Thundercracker and maybe other peeps.
Miko manages to befriend Skywarp and Bulkhead now has to watch both Miko AND Skywarp. Wheeljack refuses to help Bulkhead round them up.
Raf hits it off with Thundercracker.
Knockout: "FINALLY a team with fragging MANNERS!"
Instead of Beeftimus Prime from the forge, Optimus actually gets access to a third alt mode and.. Idk something else primely. So he actually gets wings.
Starscream and the other fliers are greatly amused because Optimus, as great as he is at his poker face most of the time, hasn't yet figured out how to not emote with the pair of wings he gets from the forge. Thundercracker is the one who eventually informs him while the rest of the crew are booing loudly in the background.
I actually do have designs of TFP Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Ironhide in the works.
Fowler and Starscream have insult battles. Oddly both grow a weird almost fondness for these verbal sparring sessions
They frequently raid the Nemesis
Miko keeps talking in a pirate voice. Smokescreen has joined her.
AND A LOT OF OTHER STUFF I'LL GET INTO WITH MORE DETAIL AND ART. I'll also talk more in depth about some of these things that isn't a ramble like this post is. xnwjskw.
Feel free to ask about anything you're curious about.
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I really, really wanted to contribute something to Essek Week, but unfortunately with two essays and a novel chapter due by Monday, I didn’t have the time or mental energy to write anything new. Cue me remembering that I’d actually started working on an Essek-centric shadowgast Pirate!AU last summer, that never saw the light of day! Though I did a whole bunch of research for it, summer ended before I could get farther than the first couple chapters. Still, I’m very fond of the premise, and I’d like to finish it one day. I can’t guarantee I will (life’s too busy to commit myself to another Big Fic Project atm) but in the meantime, here’s a little taste in the form of the first chapter.
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For @essek-week Day 7: AU
Courts of Silk (Chapter 1)
Essek startled from his trance to the crackle of blistering thunder overhead.
Mind bled of all drowsiness in an instant, he unfolded his legs and slid off the berth, drifting to the center of the room and tilting his ear towards the boards above.
A storm… but the skies were meant to be clear for days, and he trusted Avus to know it. Could the weather have turned so–
Boom.
Essek’s eyebrows flew up as the deck visibly lurched below his feet.
Not thunder.
Cannon fire.
More sounds now, hurried ones – an erratic tempo of feet pounding through the corridor outside his little room, the floorboards creaking dully under the weight of the crew scrambling over the deck above. He flinched as a louder noise pierced through the commotion: the rattling of a heavy fist falling against the door of his cabin, hard enough to shake the wooden frame.
“We’ve been boarded!” Zel’ra’s guttural shout startled him out of his confused stupor, and he flew to the door and flung it open. The quartermaster stood outside, her snarling jaw dripping with whitish battle foam, the kind that bugbears of Rosohna so seldom have occasion to sport within city walls. “Come on, magic boy, time for you to earn your– Shit!”
Then she was gone, and Essek was left staring dumbly at the empty corridor, as Zel’ra raced back the way she came. A moment later, there was a yelp, and the grisly crack of metal hitting bone. Then there was no sound at all, save the rocking of the ocean’s pulse against the hull, and the thump of confident, unfamiliar footsteps, coming closer and closer to his open door.
He had only a few moments to make his decision. The fight might still be going on above deck, but if intruders had already made it below, there was little hope of a favorable outcome for the crew of the Barren Bow. He hadn’t thought the Empire would be brazen enough to attack a diplomatic ship in open waters, but there were soldiers of all ilks on the open sea, and no government to hold them to account so far from land. He would not put it past a Dwendalian crew to sight a Dynasty flag on the horizon and decide to take the matter of revenge in their own hands. If so, there was no telling what treatment they might expect at the hands of their attackers. Rage was rarely tamed by abstract rules of engagement, and he doubted anyone would care to ask what the nature of their mission was, once the killing began.
But perhaps…
Quickly, Essek drew aside his sleeve and materialized the leather–bound contents of his wristpocket into his hands. His spellbook lay beside precious components in their embroidered fold, and there, at the bottom of the pile: the folio. He whispered a quiet word and the paper folded apart, revealing its damning – and perhaps, in the right hands, lifesaving – contents.
The letters.
If the tides were so unfavorable that he could not fight, perhaps that might be enough to–
He vanished the whole affair back into the ether as two shadows fell across the door.
From the darkness of the hallway, two figures stepped over the threshold. In front was a young woman: human, with swarthy skin made darker still by the weathering burn of long days at sea. Her hands were tucked beneath bare arms and her hip turned out to an unconcerned jaunt, adorned by a sash of deep blue. Behind her, and looming so tall that she had to hunch to fit through the frame of the door, was a giant of a woman. Taller even than Zel’ra, her bare shoulders glistening with rippling muscles and sweat, pale as moonlight – or as the steely glint of the broadsword at her back. The younger woman swept him over with piercing eyes, her confident grin not quite masking the focused gaze beneath. Though she bore no weapons, Essek could feel the stain of threat in every taut sinew of her body. He held still, waiting to see who would make the first move.
Her eyes finally paused, centered on the floor beneath his feet, and her grin dropped into something more like a startled ‘oh’. Too late, he realized his mistake – that his levitation, as natural and instinctive as standing on his own two feet, had just given him away.
“Mage!” she sputtered, and her hand was gripping his arm and twisting it behind his back before he even realized she’d moved. Essek dropped the levitation spell, hoping to get enough leverage from the sudden height difference to slip out of her grasp, but before he could so much as shuffle to the left, the taller woman was at his right, clutching his other arm with a grip strong enough to break bone.
“Shit,” the first woman spat as she stepped back, allowing the second to take both of his arms into custody. “Who the fuck did we just board?”
Essek kept silent, staring at her, searching for any sign of weakness and finding less than nothing. If he had just had his hands free for a moment longer… but that didn’t matter now. There weren’t many spells without a somatic component at his disposal, and cantrips wouldn’t save his neck, should the giantess move quicker to snap it than he could speak.
Without a means of immediate escape, he looked next for any way to identify his captors. They were human, but their loose, subdued dress – for the younger woman, a vest of blue cotton, the other, a braided grey tunic, and frayed ribbons in both their hair – was nothing like the silver and crimson finery of the Righteous Brand.
If not from the Empire, who were these people? Hired thugs? Mercenaries?
“Are there more of you skulking down here?”
He didn’t ask the woman to clarify, though he wasn’t sure exactly what she was asking. More drow? Yes, but he was not about to reveal the nature of the delegation travelling under his protection to her. More mages? No. As always, he had convinced the Bright Queen that his effort alone would be sufficient. For the first time in a very long time, he wished he’d been a little more conservative in estimating his own skills. Given the current situation, someone else’s power at his back might actually be welcome, rather than distracting.
Her burning gaze made it clear that he had to say something, and soon, but for once, the right words did not come. The truth did not matter: he knew that any unfavorable answer would be taken as a lie.
Still, Essek would not panic. The only way to regain control of the situation was by carefully gathering information, finding something that he could use to shift the balance of power at a more advantageous moment. That was his particular specialty.
“I do not know,” he answered coolly. “For I do not know who is above and below deck at all hours of the day. I can only speak for myself.”
“Beau! Fjor– fuck– Captain Tusktooth wants you on deck!” A new voice, its timbre high and grating, like glass against cold iron, echoed from around the corner. The woman – Beau, he filed away – turned her head and shouted back out the door.
“Just a second, we’ve got one more!” Then, “Tell him to get Caleb over here, we’ve got a goddamn mage to deal with!”
The giantess at his back leaned down, so close that her dreaded locks nestled amidst the silver chains that hung from tip to base of his pointed ear. “You aren’t going to give us any trouble, are you?” she murmured, and despite every ounce of training he’d undergone for exactly this sort of intimidation, he still couldn’t help the way he shivered at her dark tone. There was a deep quality to her voice that sung of violence, for violence’s sake, and though he wasn’t yet truly afraid, he had no wish to provoke her.
“How could I?” Essek gently flexed his arms in her grasp: not enough to challenge, but enough to reassure her of his helplessness.
Her lips curled back, and… yes. There was a little fear gathering there, in the back of his throat. A good kind of fear – the prudent kind. It would keep him alert, and focused, and ready to strike back when the moment was right.
When she started pushing him forward, he followed her lead willingly, and the two of them shadowed Beau into the corridor and up the steps that led back above deck. Essek winced as the bright noonday sun slipped into view, already anticipating the stinging burn that was sure to follow. He’d managed to avoid the deck for most of the voyage, much to the chagrin of the Assarian crew. He was not born into a body made for manning rigging, and certainly not under an unrepentant sky determined to scorch his face and hands and neck and leave him itching and miserable for days without relief. His better use was below deck, planning for the engagement ahead, and his hours of fresh air better taken in the evening, when the gentler light of the moons was merely a prickle beneath his skin, rather than a flame.
Everywhere he looked, he saw mismatched bodies. Though Essek hadn’t met the entire complement of the Barren Bow’s crew, he had to assume most of the scattered orcs, goblins, and bugbears belonged to their side. Most of the ones on their feet were being held in the shallow recess at the centre of the deck, where great cannons might have been lodged on a more modern ship. A handful of unremarkable humans, each equipped with a rapier – or, in one man’s case, a salt-encrusted retort – stood above them, keeping watch. Amidst all that humanity stood a wild–eyed goblin in a blaring yellow dress, hefting a crossbow composed of whirring gears and levers of an intricate make that rivaled Waccoh’s own craftsmanship. She was currently in the process of shouting threats down across the heads of his cowed compatriots. Some were clutching broken arms or wiping blood from contusions and burnt welts. Lying at the center of the group was an unconscious Zel’ra, the goose egg at the back of her skull already angry and red.
Finally, he spied the remainder of the drow contingent clustered by the ship’s rail. Diplomats, all of them, bound for a parley at sea and not trained for conflict beyond what it took to hold a dagger right-way up. He was the only one among them battle-tested, and even then, his means leaned more towards subterfuge than outright combat. Theoretically, the Assarian crew was meant to be their main line of defence in case of attack. Clearly they had not proven up to the task.
Essek would be filing a very unfavorable report with their commanders upon his return, if any of them survived the day.
“Captain!” Beau shouted, and a tall half-orc stepped away from the railing, his wide-brimmed hat only partially disguising the many scars that littered his face.
“Weather’s turning,” he said, casting his eyes towards the – as far as Essek could tell – clear horizon. Those same yellow eyes flickered up, above Essek’s head, and for a moment seemed to narrow before turning back to Beau. “You finished clearing the hold yet?”
“Didn’t make it that far.” Beau jerked her head, and Essek was thrust into the sunlight all at once. The glare was blinding, and apparently not just to him. The giantess’s hands jerked around his arms, like they wanted to fly up and shield her eyes as well. That was all the opportunity he needed.
With one quick motion, he jerked his arms from her grasp and drew his hands together, tracing familiar glyphs out of nothing but muscle memory as his mouth uttered an incantation, and the world exploded around him. The giantess was flung back against the doorframe, wood splintering beneath her weight, and both Beau and the half-orc slammed into the deck and began to hurtle towards the side of the boat. Forcing his eyes to stay focused amidst the chaos and the harsh light, Essek caught the glitter of a cutlass skittering along the boards as he took stock of his position on the newly reborn battlefield.
Nearly all of the boarders were in a concentrated area in front of him, and the rest of the Assarian crew were protected by the lip of the recess in the deck. The terrain could not be more advantageous. Essek allowed himself a small smirk as he raised his hand and prepared a vacuum blast that would level the whole of the upper deck, and deliver them all to safety in one swift stroke.
How arrogant, that this petty group of mercenaries thought they could capture–
“Counterspell.”
The magic sizzled and died in his hand, and Essek whirled, searching for whoever had spoken behind him. Thugs he could handle, but it was always best to deal with a mage first, when they could do such infuriating things as what had just occurred. But once he turned, he found himself facing an empty doorway, and an empty deck above that. No trace of whoever had cast the counterspell.
The giantess was gone as well.
He heard the click before he could parse what cold and heavy thing was tugging on his wrist, but he was horribly aware of what was happening by the time his other wrist was wrenched behind his back and small hands clasped the second iron band shut. A stomach-churning wave of exhaustion passed through him from scalp to toe, and he staggered, only barely holding on to consciousness. Head lolling towards the floor, he saw two soft-soled boots landing lightly on the deck in front of him.
With great effort, he managed to drag his head up from his chest, and found himself staring into blue eyes and dusty freckles, lips pressed into a thin line, all framed by tangles of copper-red hair.
“Good work, Nott,” the man said. His accent was one Essek had only heard once before, though through the mire of exhaustion he could not remember where.
Behind Essek, the half-orc groaned and pushed himself up off the deck. “Next time you have a brilliant plan for subduing the prisoner, maybe let’s try not putting us all in the line of fire, hm?”
The man ignored the sarcasm, still looking all too carefully at Essek.
“Are you finished?” he murmured, and though his body was lithe, his soft voice sung of as much violence as the giantess’s darker growl.
With a sigh, Essek let his shoulders drop. He could still feel the pulses of magic coursing through the iron bands around his wrists. Even if he got his arms free again, the cuffs would not be easily slipped, or broken. These people, whoever they were, came equipped to handle wizards like himself. Was that what they were, then? Assassins in disguise? Privateers? The blunt instrument of some government or another?
Not that it made much difference now. Whoever they were, he was at their mercy.
“Spin him around.”
Essek felt himself being maneuvered away from the man’s incisive gaze. Through bleary eyes he caught the looks of frustrated disbelief from the four drow delegates, lamenting their crushed hope in silent, huddled unity. He was meant to be their protection. Now that Essek was taken, what else could save them? Not one of them was brave enough to attempt it themselves. A shiver of disgust ran through Essek, as heady as the self-recrimination it concealed at having allowed himself to be captured so easily.
The half-orc strode up to Essek, the sword in his hand now replaced, though Essek hadn’t seen the man move to retrieve it. It was a silver cutlass, fine enough to cleave a person clean through and leave one half still propped up on the other. Too rich a prize by far for a simple mercenary – he must have come by it dishonestly, or been given it as boon or bribe. Neither prospect boded well.
The hand that gripped the sword told an equally foreboding story, for only the thumb was composed of green flesh. The rest of the fingers were severed at the third knuckle, and replaced by metal imitations fixed to the wrist by a harness of leather cords. Still, he held the hilt with all the confidence of a trained fighter, and the surety of his grasp left Essek little doubt as to its effectiveness, mechanical augmentation or no.
“My name,” said the half-orc, “is Captain Tusktooth.” A hint of bright teeth flashed from below the wide brim of the hat. “And this ship is mine now. Its cargo, mine too.”
The answer about the identity of his captors, at last, became clear, for what little good it did him.
Pirates.
“By whose authority?” Essek shot a harsh look at the foolish dignitary who had chosen this moment to find their courage, but Tusktooth only grinned harder.
“By my own.” Behind Essek’s back, Nott and Beau slipped back through the splintered doorframe and down into the depths of the ship once more. “Now, my crew is going to finish taking a look through your cargo. I trust that your captain has been honest about the contents of your hold. Are there any other surprises I should be warning my people of? Anybody else looking to make trouble?”
Would that there were. “You will find little of value to take. We travelled light.” He spoke the truth, having no more useful lie at his disposal. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth, and another wave of exhaustion teased at the edges of his mind. He fought it with all the strength he had – which was growing less and less by the minute.
“So your captain told me. But that wasn’t my question.” Tusktooth’s voice grew as keen as the blade in his hand as he lifted it and placed the edge to the shallow of Essek’s throat. “Are there others like you aboard?”
He did not flinch. Torment and torture were old friends: his own cherished instruments. He did not fear what this man would do to him, any more than he feared death itself. At least, that is what he told his errant heart, as sweat began to bead at the nape of his neck.
“No.”
Tusktooth stared him down for a minute longer, and Essek held his gaze as best he could with the sun still searing his eyes. But at last, the sword withdrew, and Essek’s breath came a little easier. “Then let’s call this an exercise in… mutual trust.” He smiled once more, and Essek returned the expression with a vague twitch of lips.
The tense exchange was followed by ten excruciating minutes of silence, during which Essek did his best not to fidget in his heavy robes, even when his exposed skin grew so heated he felt liable to burst into flames. As they waited, the redheaded man pulled Tusktooth aside for a private conversation, and Essek sweated, and watched, and tried to formulate a plan.
The pirates would find nothing of value to steal. The Barren Bow had provisions for the voyage, but anything else aboard was the purview of the Assarian crew, who had planned to head back towards the shores of Igrathad as soon as the parley concluded. There were no scheduled stops for trade, and thus, no trade goods in their hold. There weren’t even guns to offer. Essek would never dare to admit it aloud, but the Dynasty lagged sorely behind the rest of Wildemount in outfitting its fleet with the relatively new technology of cannonry, at least of the type that lacked a magical component. Firearms had only entered the sphere of weaponmaking some thirty years prior, and with Xhorhas primarily landlocked, the navy hadn’t been high on the priority list for refurbishment.
His best hope was that some of the crew had hidden stashes of coin in their quarters. Otherwise, there would be nothing for the pirates to take, and without anything to satisfy them, well… he did not want to be in manacles when that news was delivered to a man who’d already put a sword to his throat.
If only to convince himself he was not totally beaten yet, Essek watched Tusktooth and the redhead carefully, seeing what he could glean from body language alone. Their conversation was hushed but tense, and every few moments the redhead would turn his eyes towards the drow delegation, and then to Essek himself. He made sure to drop his own eyes before they could meet again, not wanting to spark another confrontation by appearing insolent. As for the pirate captain… there was confidence, yes, but the unwavering edge of confidence seemed to drop away from his shoulders as he spoke to the other man. His arms moved more wildly; his words were more rapid, and at a higher pitch. Perhaps his earlier confidence was not so unshakeable as it at first appeared.
At last, Beau and the goblin re-emerged from the staircase. “We got shit all,” Beau said, tossing down a half-empty sack by Essek’s feet. He winced as a few bruised tubers rolled out across the warped deck.
“...Shit.” Tusktooth ran a hand over his mouth. “Shit. Nothing?”
“Nott and I checked every inch of that hold, the crew quarters, everything. No money, no timber, no – fuck, I don’t know – fine silks or–”
“No cannons,” Nott added mournfully. “No black powder.”
“We went through all this for nothing?”
“Maybe someone’s holding out on us,” Nott said, brandishing her crossbow. “I could make ‘em talk for you, Captain. Make them squeal–”
“Oh–kay, Nott,” Tusktooth said, “let’s take it down a notch.” But despite his placating tone, his look was thoughtful. Again, he turned to Essek. “You never never did say what you all were doing out here, so far from home. You don’t look like a sailor to me.”
“Yes, friend,” said the redhead, stepping up to Essek from Tusktooth’s other side, alarmingly calm, and placing altogether too much emphasis on the second word to be trusted, “what is it you do here?” Essek took a half-step back, not liking the feeling of being pressed in from all angles, and walked himself straight into the chest of the giantess.
Nowhere to hide. And with his hands bound behind his back, no way to levitate up to a level where he didn’t feel every inch of height his captors had over him. Which, at his firmly average height for a drow, was many.
Focus, Thelyss. Focus.
“Why should I answer your questions,” he sneered, “when you have not done me the same courtesy? Who are you, to board a vessel commissioned lawfully by the Bright Queen herself?” It was a dangerous ploy, but a considered one – a hastily calculated risk. If the pirates could not be convinced there was nothing of value to be found, they might decide to punish the crew for concealing their rightful prize, and when even a beating couldn’t drive his compatriots to forfeit non-existent gold, the pirates might well scuttle the ship and leave them all to drown at sea. He doubted simple brigands would care much for the particulars of a diplomatic mission if there was no treasure involved, so there was little harm in broaching a subject that might be far more dangerous to discuss with more educated captors.
But apparently, some aspect of Essek’s logic had failed him again, because the redhead immediately shot a wide-eyed look at Tusktooth, before looking back to Essek. “The Bright Queen?”
Essek gave a little bow. His head swam as he dipped back up – the handcuffs, no doubt, though it could just as easily be the beginnings of heatstroke – and he had to swallow twice to find the fortitude to speak without slurring. “Essek Thelyss, Shadowhand of the Kryn Dynasty and ambassador of the realm.” The last part was an… embellishment, and if he chanced a glance over at the true ambassadors, he imagined there would be many offended looks. But thankfully, all attention was solely focused on him. “I assure you, you won’t find the prize you’re looking for on a diplomatic vessel, gentleman. Your friends have already given you proof – we carry nothing beyond our own provision. Unless you have a particular taste for the delicacies of Xhorhasian fashion, I’m afraid we have little to offer you.”
Nott snarled, but the redhead put up a hand. “Captain,” he said slowly, looking at Tusktooth. “Might I… make a suggestion?”
“You may.”
“It’s not something I’d usually propose, but times being what they are…” Tusktooth nodded grimly.
“We haven’t got many options left.”
“Precisely. I believe that our friend Mr. Thelyss here has lied to us.” He could laugh for the irony of it all; this was the most truthful Essek had been in years. “There is indeed something very valuable aboard this ship.” His blue eyes pierced through Essek, and it was only his determination to keep the – now violently pitching – contents of his stomach where they belonged, that stopped him from speaking up in his own defense.
“And that is...?”
“Himself.”
#critical role#essek thelyss#shadowgast#essek week#my writing#also since plank king essek is a... thing??? now#the timing seems appropriate lol#this fic is not that but it is still (eventual) pirate!Essek#and who doesn't love that
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HASO, “Take Me to Your Leader.”
I hope you guys are all having a great week, and I hope you enjoy the read.
Captain Kell sat in his room's boots up on the small desk space as he watched the news report filtering in from over the feed.
“Early this morning the chairwoman of the UN has announced a state of emergency and launched a formal investigation into the attempted assassination of the GA’s Admiral Vir. This all comes in response to the announcement by UN president late last night that they were unable to identify connections to any internal terrorist organizations after a woman was caught attempting to assassinate the Admiral during one of his speeches two months ago. The failed assassination was thanks to 25 year old marine Angle Ramirez who dove in front of the bullet for his commanding officer, and is now (as his family claims) fully healed and back to work. Since the incident, GA and UNSC leaders alike have encouraged Admiral Vir to stay away from earth as much as possible and remain on his ship until further notice. At a request from one of our journalists yesterday morning, he agreed to a statement from his ship the Omen.”
There was a flickering on the screen as a face appeared on the news feed. It was, somewhat from a distance, and the lens seems grainy from radiation interference, but the man seen was tall and blond and had one green eye though he was wearing an eyepatch. Captain kell thought he looked a little more lean than the admiral, but it was hard to tell with all the distortion.
When the man began to speak there was something missing in the voice as well, but it would hardly be noticeable.
There was a knock at his door and he quickly threw his feet down from the desk walking over to throw the door open and step outside into the hall. Angelo was waiting for him there and without saying a word the two of them walked down the long hallway and to the planning room.
Mace was still discussing with some of the other men and women there., and Geea and Beatrice were still loitering at the back.
Captain Kell couldn’t keep the distaste from his thoughts as he looked at the two of them. There was a prime example of toxic love if he had ever seen it. The two were clearly partnered or, at the very least, dating, but he had never seen two people who enjoyed pissing each other off as much as they did. WIth them there was plenty of jealousy and mistrust to go around. And as for Geea’s views on Drev religion, well they were backwards to say the least.
He had seem the same sort of fanaticism in certain shamed drev generals after the war, radical, and suicidal almost in nature.
She had no real idea what the meaning of the new law was.
As soon as he walked in the two women turned to look up at him, their arms crossed over their chests. Beatrice was playing with some big ass knives like that was likely to impress anyone, but really all he saw was some crazy asshole whose parents probably didn’t give her enough attention when she was a kid.
He sad down at the table.
Geea leaned forward expectantly.
“Setting course/”
He turned his head to look up at her, “Yes, setting course to whatever cesspit of corruption spawned you.”
Geea pulled back, “Excuse me, but we hired you for a job, not for insults.” One of her hands reached for the weapons on her belt, but Noble stepped forward spear at the ready. He was a good foot taller than she was, and he knew for a fact he was probably a better warrior. He had a natural talent for it.
He leaned back in his seat, “You hired me for a job and now expect me to fling my dead corpse at the Omen like my ship is going to be able to handle that.” he shook his head, “You hired me which means we are going to do this MY way, which means we are going to do it quiet, and we are going to do it proper. That means NONE of this comes back on me. If we show up at the omen right now and bust down their doors, we are going to get atomized by two platoons of marines and an entire clan of Drev. LEts not also forget that the Admiral Isn’t exactly going to be easy to just kill.” Captain Kell waved a hand wildly, “He has a fucking Drev SAINT on his crew, that is hardly something I think I want to deal with.” he shook his head, “No no, this is going to take me a lot longer to plan, and it is going to require a lot more material that I don’t already have.”
Geea bristled in impatience and indignation.
“I am not going to throw my life away for this mission, and if you want to push that, than I will throw you out of the airlock faster than you can say, “please captain, please I was just being a whiny little bitch.” The room was silent around Geaa’s seething, but he paid her no mind. She didn’t exactly scare him.
She was a minor player in the black market at best, and the way she moved told him she was no great shakes as a warrior either. Probably used to fighting humans so developed a habit of using brute force to overcome them with her height. As for Beatrice, he had a feeling that she made up for skill mostly in unpredictability and sheer fury.
Anyone can look scary if they scream real loud and flail their knives at you.
The way their crew behaved was enough to tell him as much. No one on the ship really respected them, and Geea ruled mostly out of ear, her men were not as loyal to her as she thought they might be, and he had a feeling that, for the right price, he could buy them off if he wanted.
He rested his palms flat against the table before him, “You understand if I am going to do this I am going to need all the right equipment. You want the man gone but I want it to look like some freak disappearance The last thing my crew needs is the long arm of the GA down on our heads.” he shook his head, “No we need to do this strategically, and we need to do this quietly, and we are going to start by getting the tech we need to pull this off without being seen.”
He turned to look at the two of them, “I am assuming that you two know where I can get those sorts of things…. Under the radar.”
Geea crossed her arms over her chest, “And YOU don’t. You are a pirate after all.”
“Yeah, I generally tend to STEAL from other people and sell it to middle men. I don’t generally tend to buy any of the goods.”
Geea stood, waiting for a long moment before finally uncurling her hands in annoyance, “Fine, Fine, but we make this quick.”
He nodded his head once and motioned her to continue on following her up and to the bridge where he watched her set a course.
He tried to make it look like he wasn’t watching her, but in the back of his mind he was quickly memorizing the coordinates that he saw appearing on screen. Granted he did have a bot installed that should copy it for him, but you can never trust technology to do exactly what you expect it to do.
When she was done, he moved forward and slid into the Captain’s chair, familiar with the machine as he prepared it for a warp sequence.
Despite him being very familiar with this ship, more than one time he found himself accidentally reaching for controls that weren’t there. He cursed his muscle memory, though he forced the ship into doing what he wanted, alerting the crew to the imminent warp before he could accidentally kill one of them by sheer freak accident.
Geea watched him from behind.
He knew she didn’t much like him.
That was fine by him. She wasn’t exactly the kind of person that he would want to be liked by.
They came out of warp a few moments later with a hard lurch through the internal dampeners were doing their job to avoid smearing him across the front windscreen like window pizza.
She walked up to stand beside him and rested her hand of the chair, the gesture reminded him of someone else, and it felt wrong to have her do it, though he tried not to show his discomfort.
“Just beyond that asteroid.”
Captain Kell raised an eyebrow. This was all very interesting. Here he was thinking they would end up back on Noctopolis, for he had been sure that that was the hub of all pirate activity in the universe, but he guessed not. As they came around another asteroid, his eyes fell on a large chunk of rock that must have been over ten miles wide in his shi[s estimation, and from here he could already see the hive of docking ports and extending protrusions built into the rock.
He blinked in awe at the glittering blue lights and the hive of activity surrounding the massive asteroid.
Ships flew in and out through open docking bays landing here and there on extending arms. Good were moved by silent crane arms through space as add ons were constantly being made by men in space suits scurrying over the rock. The palace was…. Amazing at the same time it was an absolute disaster of engineering. You would never see something like tat made by the GA or UNSC, but from here he could see plenty of influence from all parties.
As they flew closer, they were absolutely dwarfed by the massive rock, and it’s protruding arms. All around him he saw human building techniques, and Tesraki logos stamped on almost everything as they moved forward. Massive viewing screens were all around them doing advertisements on things would would never have seen on a location run by UNSC or GA interference.
The one to his right was some sort of bootleg pill for weightloss, while, on the other side, someone was advertising some kind of flamethrower. The screen above that was giving the specs for the newest design in railgun technology.
His eyes were wide as he stared at all of it, and his heart began to race fast inside his chest.
Now THIS was awesome.
Being a space pirate sure did have its perks.
Over the radio feed static rolled in and out as the broadcasts from the different advertisements tried to pick up his frequency.
But one voice came in clear and crisp above all others, “Unknown aircraft. Identify yourself.”
“This is the Infinity requesting docking.”
There was a momentary pause over the other end of the line, as their ship was likely scanned before, “Docking permission granted, please proceed to hanger E docking space 6.”
He did as ordered, flying his ship down to the entrance of the docking bay, where he was ordered to slow, and then a large mechanical hand grabbed them around the hull and pulled them further into the asteroid.
They were dragged inside a ways, though he could definitely have flown in himself, and eventually sat down on E6.
There was a sharp jolt as they made connection with the airlock, and he stood rom his spot, turning and walking past Geea and towards the cargo bay where his men were waiting. He looked at them each in turn, making slow eye contact with them.
“You know what to do?”
There was a nod as they recognized the true words behind his eye contact, and they quickly moved into pairs of two discussing which piece of “equipment” they were looking for. It likely wouldn’t take them long, but he didn’t expect that part of their mission to take that long anyway.
Following after them, he was accompanied by Geea, Beatrice and Noble as they walked out into the tube and finally, into the absolutely massive atrium of the hidden Pirate city.
He had to stop, he just couldn’t help it, it was like nothing he had ever seen before, and his mind just couldn’t wrap itself around the massive room full of people and billboards and holograms. There were railed transports on the floor, and there were vendors selling strange food at every turn. It might have been any normal metropolitan area if it weren’t for the sort of advertisements for weapons, and strange illegal creams.
There was one place that was advertising body modifications….. With a ten percent discount if you got the limb removed with them as well.
On another wall someone was advertising a new mechanical eye. The technology hadn’t been released to the public yet, but the features…. Well the features were amazing. He found himself dragged in and rendered mostly stunned. They had him hooked by the first demonstration.
He wanted a cool new mechanical eye.
But Geea grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him, “Aren’t we supposed to be doing something.”
Angrily he frowned and held up a hand turning on her with his eyes narrowed.
He prodded her in the chest in a show of dominance towards her. Letting her know that he wasn’t afraid of being insulted or intimidated by someone like her. To him she was nothing.
“Look, I’m not stupid. I know that this genius little assasination attempt wasn’t your idea, so right here and right now, you better take me to the asshole who set you up for this is you can color me gone. I don’t work through third parties.” He prodded her in the chest again with one finer, “I don’t trust them.”
The Drev stared down at him with absolute rage and consternation.
“Don’t touch me.” She hissed.
He prodded her again, “Just try and stop me.”
She reached for his hand, but he caught her by the wrist and twisted it. He knew the way Drev joints worked, so he knew exactly what NOT to do. She howled in pain and Beatrice moved forward to help, but a spear to her throat by Noble was enough to stop her in her tracks.
“Show me your boss, or your girlfriend becomes a kabob, your choice.”
There was a sharp growl and finally Geea agreed, taking her hand back with some measure of pain and annoyance, “Fine, fine…. Follow me.”
She stalked away grumpily and Noble kept an eye on beatrice as the were led further into the station.
The captain kept his head turning this way and that distracted by the bright and colorful ads, advertising things that he wanted, and some things that he didn’t.
To his surprise, more than once he saw advertisements for Iron eye Knockoffs. He would have dared get a procedure done on this back alley asteroid, but it was still quite shocking. This air of shock continued along with him as he was led down through the darkness and into the tight passages and tunnels of the Asteroid.
Eventually Geea stopped in front of a door and knocked once.
The camera above the door whirred and looked down at them. Geea waved to it and with a hiss it finally opened.
They were led into a small waiting room with pristine little couches as if he was expecting to see a doctor at any moment, but after a few minutes of sitting another door opened and they were allowed through into the next room.
Geea told him to stay put as she was led behind yet another door.
Not to be left Behind, Beatrice followed after, giving him the opportunity to slip over to the door and quickly deploy a small circular camera which used technology unknown to him to see through the door.
It streamed directly into his fake eye as he closed the real one, and glanced around the room.
He could hear voices, and enhanced the sound of his implants.
“Did you get the assassin.”
“Yes, but there have been some, hiccups.”
“What might that be?”
“He is insisting on meeting his employers.”
The voice seemed almost bored with the idiot pirates, “Then let him meet someone, he doesn’t have to know. Jerah over there will do just fine.”
He turned his fake eye towards the source of the voice falling on some sort of hologram. He quickly looked up just as Geea was turning back towards the door.
He managed to make it up to the person’s face, a Rundi, how str-
Then he froze in shock and disbelief.
Geea reached towards the door, and it was only with a swift movement he was able to pull his camera away in time an leap from the door as she stepped from the room.
He tried to keep the horror and shock on his face in check as he was led into the room to meet his “employer.”
He didn’t care though.
He knew the truth.
There was plenty of evidence on that camera. Evidence that the chairwoman of the GA had ordered his assassination.
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and down they fell
(another lovely prompt fill for the magnificent @ciaimpala)
“Keep your filthy hands off of him!” Jaskier screamed, flailing wildly in the arms of a Cintran soldier. “Let him go, damn it! I’m the one that started the damn fight! Take me instead!”
“We can’t just let him go you loudmouthed brat,” another soldier spat. “He’s a wanted criminal. We’d arrest you, too, but your father seems to be on good terms with the Duke.”
“Then do me and my father a favor and release Geralt immediately!” Jaskier argued. The man shook his head, the feather atop his helmet bobbing slightly with the motion.
“Listen kid, you and the rest of the Kaer Morhen’s crew are allowed to leave whenever you like, so I’d probably fuck off out of port and start voting on who takes over as captain. The White Wolf is going to hang for his crimes against the Cintran and Skelligan Navies. End of discussion.”
The tall man holding Jaskier tossed him towards the otherwise silent crew. Eskel caught and steadied the pirate/bard. He could feel the young man’s shoulders trembling; probably a combination of terror and rage. The first mate opened his mouth before Jaskier could yell at the guardsmen again and get them all into trouble, “We’ll be leaving, then.”
“Wha-”
“He’s the first mate, Jas,” Geralt agreed calmly. “Listen to him.”
Jaskier’s head whipped back towards the Captain, whose hands were being manacled together behind his back. The white-haired pirate kept his shoulders back and his spine straight even as he was fettered. He didn’t want to let his little siren know just how scared he really was. If they didn’t come up with a plan in time, or if they decided not to make a rescue attempt at all, he would hang in the morning. He knew that much.
“Geralt,” Jaskier said, tone firm. It was a promise. A declaration. Two much-adored syllables that encompassed the entirety of Jaskier’s world within them.
“Jaskier.”
The soldiers turned away, his darling White Wolf secured between them, and made their way towards the prison.
---
The Captain’s three closest friends could hear Jaskier’s wailing from their place in the galley, where they were planning his rescue. “Do you think we could get the lad to stop crying long enough to charm someone with that Voice of his?” Lambert asked.
“Maybe?” Eskel shrugged. “But I’d rather not test it out with the Captain in such immediate danger.”
“He’s going to upset the crew if he keeps caterwauling like this.”
“The crew is already upset!” Starkey huffed. “We should ask him to help us, though. Jaskier has gotten us out of more scrapes than I can count. Literally. I can’t count that high, my education was very limited.”
“You’re right,” Lambert sighed. Somehow he had become the little minx’s best friend aboard the Kaer Morhen. Maybe it was their equally sharp wit. Maybe it was their mutual love of teasing Geralt. Who knew? Not them.
“Jask?” Lambert called, knocking on the cabin door. “We’re going to save him but we’d really like your help. You’re the one who’s good with people.”
Jaskier opened the door and Lambert was surprised to see that his face was dry and his eyes were clear. The sounds coming from the cabin couldn’t have been crying, then, so what had he been doing? The blue of Jaskier’s irises shone dangerously beneath the light of a dim lantern and a sense of icy, foreboding fear crawled down Lambert’s spine. Why do I feel so afraid of being alone with him all of a sudden? It’s just Jaskier. What’s making me act like a child frightened of shadows beneath the bed?
As if sensing his discomfort, Jaskier flicked his hair out of his face and smiled confidently, “Firstly, I’m going to need a distraction.”
“Oh, you already have a plan. Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you know me.” The ex-noble strode past Lambert and towards the stairs to the galley, waving him along behind like a forgetful puppy. “Those sounds I was making weren’t cries of sadness, my dear. They were battle cries. Come along, Lamby, we don’t have all fucking week.”
The second mate followed him down, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and acceptance. Cintra had better be prepared. No army in the world could be as dangerous as Jaskier when the Captain is in trouble.
---
Jaskier yanked the hangman’s black hood from his head and screamed. How the young man had managed to break in, incapacitate the real hangman, and sneak onto the gallows platform was a mystery to everyone except the ex-noble himself (and he never did tell them the whole story).
Regardless of how he’d managed to get there, he was rescuing Geralt as promised.
The White Wolf’s mouth hung open in shock, his recently freed hands held firmly over his ears, as Jaskier released his pent up rage onto the crowd below. The sound was loud and full of fury. The siren’s shriek seemed never-ending, ringing out over the heads of the people that had gathered to watch his darling Geralt hang. Every passing second provided a fresh supply of wrath to fuel Jaskier’s Voice. These fools, these absolute bastards had come all this way to watch his darling Captain be murdered for injuring some noble pride (and perhaps maybe also stealing).
There was a wagon full of hay waiting beneath the door where Geralt stood. Eskel’s hands were tight on the reins of two strong horses, who would shortly be pulling them all towards the docks in a mad-dash for freedom. Jaskier knew the plan would go off without a hitch. As soon as he stopped his singing he would release the trapdoor and send them down into the wagon. Eskel would steer them to the lifeboat hidden in the cove. He and Lambert would row the smaller vessel back to the Kaer Morhen, which would take them out to sea just as low tide hit the main shore and stranded the quicker navy vessels.
He’d planned this excellently.
His Voice was growing tired from subduing so many people at once.
As soon as he ran out of air, Jaskier wrapped one arm around Geralt’s waist and reached for the trapdoor’s release lever with the other. He looked the pirate straight in the eyes and said with great certainty: “I’m yours, you know, and I’ll love you still in hell.”
And down they fell.
#of course they make it out alive#it's me!#protective jaskier#geralt of rivia#geraskier#swashbuckling au#geraskier swashbuckling au#geraskier pirate#geraskier pirate au#pirates#netflix the witcher#witcher fic#geraskier fic#geralt x jaskier#prompt fill
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it would kill me (if you didn't know)
I know. Trust me, I know. But I've been working on my novel, and when this fic slapped me in the face last night, I just went with it. And so should you.
Neverland AU - canon divergence for somewhere in 3a
(Blatant disregard of canon to follow--don't make me rewatch the show, please)
They saved Henry but all got separated in the process, and when they finally made it back to the ship, Emma realized that they were down a man. She's just gonna have to save him.
This features some pretty awesome Emma/David bonding, too.
This is a classic 'Killian's been taken while saving them and now he's being tortured and Emma isn't gonna stand for it' fic. I've read them all, and I just needed more. POV switches 3rd person between Killian and the others.
Thanks in advance for accepting the sidestepping of canon that I love to do.
Rated M for language and violence
length: 5k+
Read it on ao3
In retrospect, it wasn’t the greatest plan he’d ever had. But it also wasn’t the worst. Well, it could hardly even be called a plan, really, given that the consideration for it occurred in approximately three seconds, but he was hardly going to worry about it now. There were other things to worry about.
The thing that Killian Jones, pirate captain of the Jolly Roger and unofficial Neverland guide to Swan (and the others), needed to be worried about was the little demon child Peter fucking Pan who stood over him with that stupid evil smirk on his lips.
“Seems like you’ve finally lost, pirate,” Pan spat, but the amusement in his tone only sharpened the anger in his eyes.
Killian’s gaze flickered from the child to the grove in the distance, and when he saw not a trace of the others, he returned his attention to Pan. “Aye, I suppose so,” he said, his voice rough though calm and certain.
Pan’s brow furrowed. “Really? No witty remark? No promise to skin me alive?” he taunted. “You’ve changed your tune, Hook.”
He resisted rolling his eyes, instead gripping his wounded shoulder a little tighter. The arrow wasn’t poisoned—he’d have felt it working by now—but it wasn’t helping his predicament at all. Neither was the sizeable gash on his abdomen that Felix had been kind enough to gift him when he’d been distracted.
“Have I?” Killian asked. “I wonder what you’ll do with me now,” he added dryly. He knew. Oh, he knew.
Pan’s eyes flashed, and in an instant he was crouching towards Killian, his hand grasping the protruding arrow. “Now, I get to have my fun,” he declared with a cruel twist of his lips and an even crueler twist of the arrow.
But Killian Jones was no stranger to pain. They were intimately acquainted. That’s how he grit his teeth and buried it until nothing but a tiny grunt sounded from deep within his throat. Pan wouldn’t consider his torture much fun if he didn’t scream in agony, so he would keep playing until Killian could fight it no longer. And he’d let him. Because egging him on would make him lash out, and ensuring him of Swan’s victory would put her and the lad in danger. Pan had spent his time since their arrival playing games with them, distracting them from the important things they’d come there to do. It was only fair that Killian would return the favor.
So the demon could pull out all his toys, could whip him and carve into his flesh, could burn him until his skin was blackened ash, but nothing would stop Killian Jones from protecting his loved ones. And gods above, he loved Emma Swan.
--
All she wanted to know was how the fuck this happened. Their plan had been so perfect that even she couldn’t doubt it, but somehow the winds had shifted or their luck had run out or her luck had run out, and when they returned to the Jolly Rodger and the groups had reunited, they’d been down a man. Down a captain.
Neal, for all his talk of fighting for her, didn’t seem to mind not fighting for something that she actually cared about. He was running for president of the Let’s Leave the Pirate Here Club, and that wasn’t exactly a great way to get into her good graces, though that would’ve been hard enough as it was.
Regina, predictably, prioritized Henry to a fault—Emma was always for prioritizing her son, but not when it came to sacrificing her values or her morals or whatever, fine, she just didn’t want to sacrifice him. Henry was okay, he was safe, and they could take precautions to ensure that he would stay that way, but Regina just didn’t care or didn’t think it was worth it. A good option for Neal’s vice president.
In all her silent canvassing of the group’s feelings regarding Operation Save Hook (Henry was asleep, okay? He could come up with a better name when he woke up), Emma blatantly ignored Gold. For obvious reasons.
Tink was mostly for saving him, but not confident enough in any plan she could offer to make it stick. She’d tried to sway Regina, but that had been less than successful.
Then it was her parents. And, for once, they weren’t in total agreement.
Mary Margaret was sympathetic, to be sure, but not enough. She wasn’t in the Let’s Leave the Pirate Here Club, but she was Queen of Save My Kid and Her Kid Kingdom, so that was that.
But David—that’s what had caught her attention.
When they’d first discovered Hook’s absence and began discussing their options, Emma had held back and held her breath, unwilling to reveal her hand without knowing where the others stood. She’d gone into full Observant Mode, and that’s when she saw David, her father, and his reaction.
His face stiffened, an automatic move to hide his feelings, but Emma saw through it, even when Mary Margaret didn’t (or didn’t want to see it). It was a set jaw, a twitching lip that was almost a frown, tensed shoulders that eventually gave way to firmly crossed arms because apparently, Emma had gotten her Observant Mode from her father, and that’s what he was doing.
A few minutes into the conversation had nothing decided, but Emma shifted her stance, and her father looked her way. Their eyes locked, and while the others continued their pathetic excuse for a rescue discussion, father and daughter exchanged practically imperceptible nods, and then they were allies.
It’s what gave her the strength to step forward at last and disregard whatever half-assed ‘it’s too late’ speech Neal had been giving with a pointed clearing of her throat.
“David and I will go back for him while you guys get the ship ready,” Emma announced. Regina did that haughty half-step back that meant something between ‘I don’t care’ and ‘do whatever you want,’ and Mary Margaret’s only response was to look questioningly at her husband. Tinker Bell gave an enthusiastic nod of approval before busying herself with some bit of the rigging she may or may not have actually understood how to work.
Neal, however, was predictably Neal. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ems,” he said, that stupid nickname that he had no fucking right to use.
Emma’s head turned slowly to her ex, regarding him with the coldest gaze she’d ever offered anyone. Regina had some competition as head of the Looks That Could Kill Committee. “Hm, okay. Well, you don’t have to think it’s a good idea, because you’re staying here.”
“Emma—”
“There’s no discussion, Neal. No discussion from anyone, but especially from you. You have no right to talk, or interfere, and you especially have no right to argue against saving the man who is the reason your own son is alive and safe now.”
Mary Margaret was staring at her when she turned away from him, her eyes wide and openly confused, but she said nothing. David, however, had his eyes cutting into Neal, narrowed and calculating and damn, he was putting pieces together and he wasn’t liking the picture.
“Ready?” Emma asked her father.
He forced himself to look away. “Just have to grab one thing,” he told her, shaking his head at something Mary Margaret had said before he disappeared below.
Neal had huffed away after Emma’s little scolding, and he pouted at the exact opposite end from where his father pouted. Regina looked disinterested and mildly irritated, but when Emma glanced at her, she nodded towards Gold with a raised eyebrow.
Emma’s lips curled in something like a grateful smile, and she passed her bewildered mother on her way to the Dark One.
“You have something,” Emma said as soon as she stood in front of him. “Something to get Pan.”
“I do, Miss Swan,” he replied, that stupid tone that told her he had tricks up those stupid sleeves of his.
She hummed. “No, there’s no deal this time. No price. I’m done with games. So you can either give it to me, or I can take it from you.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Take it from me?” he asked, entirely amused by the concept.
“I’m done with your shit, Crocodile. You can play Dark One with me all you want, but we both know it’s just easier to just hand it over.”
He glared at her for a long moment, but eventually he cracked, and he glanced at his son who looked out at the water and away from them both. “Fine. But only because I’ve no use for it anyway.”
She took the box he offered, resisting the urge to mutter, ‘yes, that’s why,’ as he explained how it worked. When he’d finished, she offered him a simple but genuine “thank you,” before joining her father once more.
“Here,” David said, passing her another cutlass, one she hadn’t seen before. “You need a new weapon,” he added.
“And I’m borrowing…”
“Hook’s. An extra,” he said. “Figured he wouldn’t mind.”
“Right,” she mumbled, taking it with a frown and securing it quickly. “Well then, let’s go.”
--
For all his talk of being intimately acquainted with pain, Killian Jones was doing a piss-poor job of hiding it. The cracks in his resolve were starting to widen, and when hums and grunts became groans and low growls, he knew it was only a matter of time before Pan started to truly have his fun.
He’d been more clever this time around, to be sure. It had to have been at least a century since Killian had gotten cozy with the demon’s knife (or arrowhead, or branding iron, or whatever particular weapon he’d chosen to use that time), but Pan had certainly honed his skills quite a bit since then.
But Killian was sure that Swan had taken her lad and the others far away by now, and the knowledge that he’d helped her, that he’d kept his word, allowed him the strength he needed to keep the screams from coming.
For a while.
Pan, though, had used a trick on him he’d never experienced, and the shock alone was enough to get it working for a little while.
That trick came in the form of her, of Emma Swan, and the name had fallen from his lips like a prayer, hope that he’d never felt before rising like a rushing tide in his chest, and she’d smiled at him, a radiant, lovely thing that he’d never imagined could’ve been gifted solely for him, useless pirate that he was.
But then she’d started talking, and he knew it was a trick (tides always come back, because when there’s a rise, there’s also a fall). Not at first, he’d give Pan that, because it was easy enough to believe that the smile hadn’t been for him, that she resented him, that she hadn’t meant to save him, that they were better off without him. It wasn’t what she said that tipped him off, it was how she said it. Because Killian Jones had studied her since the moment she uncovered his pathetic hide in that pile of bodies, and he knew her—more than she knew herself, to her dismay—and he could read her. She was an open book, after all.
When her eyes didn’t burn like he knew they should’ve when she spoke of anger and hatred, he knew. When her lips didn’t quirk in that one specific way when she mentioned abandoning him, he knew. And then she spoke about her parents and Baelfire, and it was all wrong, because Emma Swan had walls, and even Neverland wasn’t enough to break them down so quickly.
Wherever she was, Emma Swan wasn’t about to run into her parents’ arms and live happily ever after with them and her True Love, because she wasn’t there yet. He knew her. He knew how hard it was for her to open up to him, someone who understood her from such shared experiences, and that wasn’t something she could just overlook as soon as she returned home. They’d hurt her—here, in Neverland, with assumptions and confessions and automatic behaviors, but also before. And if she did wish to ride off into the sunset with Baelfire, Neal, it wasn’t going to happen right away, because Killian had watched her while she shifted away from Neal when he’d moved towards her. He’d seen the way she recoiled at his touch, how she’d narrowed those jade eyes at his words, how she didn’t trust him, not anymore.
No, the Emma Swan that stood before his beaten and bruised body was a copy, and a bad one. When she hadn’t achieved her goal, she disappeared, and Pan took her place, and though he knew the demon was mocking him and prodding him with insults and hoping they’d smash the last of his resolve, he wasn’t ready to give in just yet.
Killian Jones was waiting for something. He just couldn’t figure out what it was.
--
“What’d he do?”
Emma faltered, the blade missing the piece of jungle shit in her path she’d been trying to cut down. “What? Who?”
“Neal,” her father said, clearing the vines for her before they continued on.
“Oh,” she sounded, pulling her lips together as she considered what to say. He’d noticed it before, and she knew that. He wasn’t stupid, nor was he as hope-prone and naive as Mary Margaret could often be. And they had another few miles to go, at least. “He left,” she said.
David stopped, a hand on her arm that was more than just an attempt to stop her from walking, too. “He left you?” he asked, his eyes somehow tight with rage and tender with something she wanted to dub dad-ness, because no one had ever looked at her like that before.
Emma huffed, because now was definitely not the time for Feelings, now was the time to rescue a goddamn pirate from whatever the hell Peter fucking Pan was doing to him. “He set me up to take the fall for his crime and let me go to prison instead. I didn’t find out I was pregnant until I was already in jail.”
David blinked once, twice, and then his expression was consumed by dad-anger (because it was just a different brand of anger that she’d also never seen before). “Emma—”
“It was a long time ago, dad.” They both started at the name, dad, because she’d never really used it before. A few times she’d said it, but it was something she’d had to force, a correction or a pointed joke, sometimes a near-death thing, but this was different. Authentic. Slightly heartbreaking.
“We don’t have time for this,” she muttered as she turned away, but neither was surprised, and even her dad wasn’t hurt, because Emma had her walls, and that was okay, because she’d needed them to survive this long. And if he had to put in a little time and effort to help take them down, that didn’t bother him one bit.
“I was kinda surprised that you wanted to come,” she said after a while, unable to bear the tense atmosphere any longer.
David gave her a half-smile, slicing another thicket (because they’d grown over since they’d returned to the ship. Fuck Neverland, honestly). “He did save my life, you know. And he was saving Henry when an arrow hit him—before your mother and I got separated from the group. I wasn’t about to leave him for dead after he took an arrow for my grandson.”
Emma froze, nearly dropping the cutlass that wasn’t hers. “He saved Henry?”
Her father’s eyebrows furrowed. “I thought you knew that,” he said. “So why are you so eager to help him? If you didn’t know.”
Her lips parted only to press together firmly, and when she spoke, they both knew it wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole truth. “Because I don’t leave people behind. And even without the arrow, he still saved Henry. He brought us here.”
David studied her for a moment, and these pieces were coming together faster now, and quite suddenly, the picture made a lot of sense. “He came back.”
“For Henry. And Neal,” she replied.
“And you.”
She couldn’t deny it, and he knew that. But it surprised him that he didn’t mind it as much as he had before. Emma’s walls, no matter how much he wished he could change it, were in part because of him and Snow. They saved her, yes, but they abandoned her when they did it. And Neal had likely been the cause of the other fortress that surrounded her, because he’d abandoned her, too.
So if the pirate had gained her trust and her respect because he hadn’t abandoned her, then that was good. David had seen plenty of love and devotion in his life, but he’d never seen loyalty like the kind that burned in Captain Hook. Centuries in search of revenge for the one he’d loved and lost. That wasn’t the man who would turn around and abandon her the second the opportunity arose.
No, without him or the pirate realizing it, he’d pretty much gained his blessing. Because David knew damn well that if the roles were reversed, not even if Emma herself were in danger, but if Hook were here in his place and someone she loved was being tortured, there’s no one he would trust more than Captain Hook to help her. Neal had barely batted an eye. But he was apparently quite skilled at leaving people to rot.
David was just beginning to contemplate how to handle that particular situation when the screams started.
He took his daughter’s hand, meeting her huge and watery eyes, and they ran.
--
He’d held on so long, but it was worth it. It was worth it. No, she was worth it. Emma Swan was worth it.
Emma. Emma. Emma.
Her name became a mantra, a song in his head to fill the space between screams.
Killian Jones had loved Milah. He never doubted that, and his love for another didn’t negate it, either. He wasn’t sure what made his love for Emma Swan sharper, deeper, but it was just different. His working theory was that they’d both loved before, both been hurt before, both lingered in something that was slightly less than pure. Whatever had happened with Baelfire couldn’t have been perfect, because it hurt her. And she’d been so young when she’d had Henry. Milah wasn’t faultless, either. Ironically enough, that point was proven by Baelfire.
Killian had spoken to her about it for hours. She’d spun tales of rescuing the lad, taking him from his pathetic father and bringing him aboard, but it never happened. It wasn’t until Henry was taken from Swan that he realized the downfall of his Milah. He’d known it, truly, but nothing would have stopped Swan from getting back her son, and it should’ve been the same with Milah.
For a moment, the pain of his guilt overwhelmed the pain of Pan’s lash that sliced into his back.
But that was what made his love for Emma Swan different.
Try something new, darling. It’s called trust.
Be a part of something.
Too bad he’d never have the chance to explain it all to her.
--
Emma had seen so much in her life. So much pain, so much ugliness—it had made her start to believe that there was really nothing else. But then Henry showed up at her door, and things changed.
Now, standing in her hiding place with her father, she was forced to watch as the demon child inflicted brutal and unrelenting torture to Captain Hook—no, no, he wasn’t Hook anymore. Not after this. He was Killian Jones, and she was going to save him.
She just couldn’t jump in and do it. Not without a plan.
Once they’d decided who was the distraction and who was taking the box, they were ready, but she wasn’t. Each scream pierced her heart, and by this point, the tears were just a permanent fixture that neither of them acknowledged. You couldn’t listen to that kind of pain and not feel it down to your goddamn soul. And she knew that as much as it hurt to hear it, Killian was hurting a thousand times worse while he endured it.
It had only been hours, maybe, but she’d never seen a person look so broken and not be actually dead, and it felt like her fault. Because maybe if she’d been strong and reasonable enough to let go of Henry’s hand for even a second, she would’ve realized that he wasn’t at her side like he was supposed to be. Sure, they’d all been separated into groups that slowly returned to the ship, but she should’ve known. She should’ve been there. He shouldn’t have been here.
None of that mattered now. It was time to save him, and then she could worry about everything else.
Her father kissed her forehead, brushing her tears with his thumbs and offering her a reassuring nod that said we’ve got this, and then he disappeared to play his part. When she stepped into the clearing, she was much more confident than she had any right to be.
“Pan.”
The kid snapped to attention, whirling around to look at her. “Really? You’ve come to rescue the pirate?”
His words, his face, his stupid grin pissed her the fuck off, but what really sold it, the thing that solidified everything for her was the sight of Killian’s hook tucked into Peter Pan’s pocket like it was a fucking souvenir.
“Well, you know what they say about us hero types,” Emma stalled, keeping herself from glancing at Killian where he lay in the dirt. “We don’t leave anyone behind. We come back for everyone. It’s just in our nature.” She had no idea what she was actually saying, she was just talking, just waiting until her father got into place.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you take the pirate, Emma. He’s mine, you see,” Pan told her, and she thought that he’d never looked less than a child with the straight-up evil in his eyes and the weapon in his hand.
She folded her arms across her chest, pulling on strength she didn’t have. “Hm, no, I don’t think he is,” she said, letting some of her anger seep into her voice. “He’s a pirate, sure, but you and I both know that he’s pretty determined about that good form nonsense, and he made me a promise, you know,” Emma continued. “He told me he’d see to it that Henry gets home safely. He can’t do that if he’s here.”
Pan’s shoulders shifted as his chest puffed out, and he wanted something. “How about this,” he said, “the pirate in exchange for your son.”
Emma scoffed. “As I told the Dark One earlier, I’m done playing games. No deals. I’m leaving this island with my son and my pirate and everyone else, and that’s it. You lose, kid.”
Peter Pan grinned, and if she hadn’t just seen David out of the corner of her eye, she would’ve been terrified. “How’s that? I’m not going to let you leave with Henry or the pirate, no matter how much you’re convinced I’m going to,” he said, almost petulant.
“Sorry, I should’ve been clearer,” Emma smiled, “I should’ve mentioned the part about you being captured. Whoops. Too late.”
Emma surged forward, snatching the hook just before Pan was sucked into Pandora’s box from David’s outstretched hand. Neither he nor Emma hesitated for a second before they rushed to Killian where he was no more than a pile of cuts and bruises on the ground, stripped of his coat and his vest and his bravado.
David rolled him onto his side carefully, shooting her a concerned look when he didn’t even flinch.
The hook fell from her grasp and onto the ground beside them. “Killian?” Emma said softly, her hand reaching out to ghost across his sweaty forehead. If she didn’t see the rise and fall of his chest in time with the shuddering breaths he took, she would’ve been certain he was dead, because anyone else would’ve been dead.
“Emma, I have no idea how we’re going to move him when he’s like this,” her father told her, and if he were someone else, that would’ve meant that they’d run out of options, but hope was the family motto.
Emma pushed out a breath, bringing her hands back to her face, running them over her hair and locking a few fingers around her necklace. “Alright, okay, lemme think,” she said, but of course that was when her brain turned to absolute mush.
Time, nonexistent here though it was, was marked with Killian’s shaky breaths, and several minutes passed before David spoke. “Emma…” he began, and when she looked at him, that family motto was shining in his eyes. “Emma, you have magic. You can heal him.”
“I—” I can’t, she wanted to say. But it didn’t matter that she’d never done it, that she had no idea how to, because she’d do it. She’d do anything to save this stupid, ridiculous, insufferable, amazing pirate. He promised that he’d win her heart, and she wasn’t about to lose him right when she finally had a chance to let him.
“How?” she asked, hoping—yes, Emma Swan did things like hope now—he’d know something helpful.
David hesitated, as if he were gathering everything he’d ever learned about magic. “Okay, your magic is about emotion, right?” At her nod, he continued, “Well, that’s good, because you’re feeling a lot of things right now. You want to help him, to heal him, so maybe think about why?”
Emma chuckled, and it was a watery thing, but she wiped the dampness from her cheeks. “I don’t think I’ve cried this much since…I have no idea when,” she confessed.
David met her gaze, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “Use it.”
She took a breath, her eyes slamming shut so she could focus, but her hand didn’t leave her father’s.
Why was she crying now, this much, after everything? She wasn’t a crier (you couldn’t be in the system that long and still be a crier), so what had changed? All at once, she knew.
Captain Hook is what changed. Killian Jones had towered her walls, and now she was crying over him. Because she felt things. Things with a capital ‘t,’ and it was the first time in her life that she was finally, truly letting herself feel Things, the first time she honestly wanted to. There hadn’t really been a choice with Neal. He was just there, and that’s why she’d loved him. She was young, and he offered her this tiny piece of security and she’d latched onto it, and that was it. It wasn’t even about him, not really, not when she broke it down like that. Everything she felt for Killian Jones was about him.
Right from the start, he’d terrified her, because he could see right through her walls like they were made of glass. He read her because he already spoke the fucking language, but she hadn’t let herself understand that piece until later. But how many times had she been standing beside her family (she had that now), knowing that things were off or just not feeling right because they didn’t quite get it—but then she’d looked over and he’d been watching her because he got it. He knew. And he came back.
Killian Jones had never abandoned her. Well, there was that one time he locked her in a cell, but that was only because she’d just chained him up on the top of a beanstalk and it was honestly only fair, so that was different. Every moment when she waited for him to race off while in Neverland, when leaving her to her fate would’ve been the smart and easy thing to do, he’d proven her wrong (but she wasn’t really wrong, because she didn’t really believe it. She’d trusted him right from the start, and each time he didn’t leave her was somehow both totally surprising and totally predictable).
But it wasn’t just that. It was everything she saw in him when he thought no one was looking. The shadows that crossed his face when they ran into something familiar, the hesitance when offered assistance by anyone, the mysteriously filled waterskins that appeared by her bedroll after his watch. Everything he did for her and her family was a promise that he was no longer a villain—that maybe he’d never actually been one—and she could doubt everyone else (except for Henry), but she couldn’t doubt Killian Jones.
She was falling for him. Hard. She probably already would’ve fallen if she’d let herself, especially if she’d gone with her gut at the top of that beanstalk and trusted him, so she wasn’t about to let him die.
Emma raised her free hand, feeling all of her Feelings and thinking all of the Things, and she healed him, because she needed to. She felt the warmth that radiated from her palm, and when her eyes flickered open, there was a brilliant light that washed over his face and followed the path of her hand as she hovered along his body. The cuts shrank, sealing themselves while the blood seeped back into his skin, and when his breaths were no longer labored, she knew he was healed.
Her father gave her a proud smile (it was watery, too), but their attention was quickly brought back to the groaning pirate.
Killian’s eyes took several fluttering blinks before they focused correctly, and when he spoke, it was no more than a disoriented grunt. “Swan?”
“We’re here,” she said, releasing David’s hand to take Killian’s. “We trapped Pan, Henry’s safe on the Jolly Roger, and now all we need is for you to take us home.”
His eyes were stormy when he looked up at her, and his rough palm lined up with her soft one, and for a single, fleeting moment, it was as if he’d never felt pain in his life. The warmth, the ease, the life he felt holding Emma Swan’s hand made him briefly forget the hours of torture from Pan, and for what may have honestly been the first time in his life, Killian Jones felt safe.
There were many questions that he needed to ask, ones he hadn’t had the chance to think of with his present exhaustion, but he pushed them aside, because she was smiling that smile, the one he’d never imagined could be directed and him, and it lacked the tightness that Pan’s version had. Where Pan’s version had pranced around words, the real Swan was straight to the point and not flowery about anything. But what was most comforting about this Swan was that even though her smile was warm and lovely and nothing like he’d ever seen on her lips, he could see her walls hidden in her gaze, that lingering hesitance, and he knew. She’d come back for him.
“Think you can walk?” David asked him, and it almost made the pirate jump (centuries of always being on his guard, always prepared and aware of his surroundings, and Emma Swan gave him one smile and held his only hand and that was enough to block out the rest of the realm).
Killian nodded, and with some careful maneuvering by Swan and her father, he was upright. He wavered slightly—blood loss, he reasoned, because Emma had definitely healed him with her magic, but there was only so much magic could do—but they secured both of his arms without delay.
“Oh,” Emma paused, bending down to grab his hook. “Thought you’d want this back,” she added with a smile that was almost sheepish.
It was the way she held it that made him lightheaded (not at all related to the blood loss). Her hand was wrapped around the metal like it was nothing but also everything. She didn’t fear it, didn’t scrunch her nose at it—the way she held it was like the way she held his hand: a part of him, something she couldn’t quite bring herself to let go of.
“Thank you, Emma,” he murmured, and all three of them knew it wasn’t just for returning the hook. He gestured for her to attach it, and after a glance of confirmation, she did. And he couldn’t help but feel whole.
#once upon a time fanfiction#ouat fanfic#captain swan#captain swan fanfic#cs ff#captain swan fic#ao3#Neverland fic#ouat neverland#this is me avoiding my novel and my other actual wip
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Forget What I Said (It’s Not What I Meant) 2/3
She continues to do what she does best. She ignores her feelings until she can’t anymore, and she deals with them by replacing them with the pleasure he brings her. A part of her tells her that she can’t continue doing this, but a bigger part of her tells her that it’s okay, because once they get back to Storybrooke, he’ll leave in favor of the sea or of finding another realm to pillage and plunder. Once he’s gone, she can forget any of this ever happened and move on.
It’s a perfect plan, except it doesn’t work. Because he stays.
Hello! @kmomof4 requested Monday morning smut and I am here to deliver. But remember, with great smut comes great angst. That is the way of CS fic. And so I give you part 2 of my @neverlandnewyear fic.
Also, @donteattheappleshook and I are aware that we’re basically writing the same fic. That’s how this all started. so enjoy a double dose of Neverland nonsense.
finally, thank you to @the-darkdragonfly for being my beta and my friend
rated E for smut and language
~3600 words
Part 1
Read on Ao3
Tagging: @courtorderedcake @kmomof4 @stahlop @klynn-stormz @laschatzi @emelizabeth88 @lfh1226-linda @kday426 @elisethewritingbeast @timeless-love-story @captain-emmajones @gingerpolyglot @ebcaver @ilovemesomekillianjones @teamhook @superchocovian @itsfabianadocarmo @tiganasummertree @gingerchangeling @jrob64 @onceratheart18 @xhookswenchx @winterbaby89 @swampmedusa @ultraluckycatnd @dancingnancyy @love-with-you-i-have-everything @shireness-says @snowbellewells @hollyethecurious @ouatpost @daxx04 @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook
She’s got to stop doing this. She told herself it would end after they got home to Storybrooke. Once they got home and he went off to his pirate life, things would go back to normal for her and she could work on getting her life back together. She didn’t expect the bastard to stick around.
She certainly didn’t expect him to tell Neal that he was backing off.
“I thought you were going to leave,” she shouts angrily as she boards his stupid ship. He pops up from below deck, holding his hand over his eyes to block the harsh afternoon sun.
“Come again, Swan?”
She rolls her eyes and walks closer to him, approaching the steps to below deck with forceful pressure. “It’s been two weeks and you're still here. I thought you were leaving after we got home.”
He shrugs, leaning his propped-up elbow against the archway he stands in. “Sorry to disappoint, love.”
Huffing angrily, she turns from him and rolls her eyes once more. “So what, you're just gonna hang around now?”
“It’s quite a quaint little town,” he reasons.
“And where do you get off telling Neal you're backing off? You realize he’s not going to let it go now, right?”
He hums in a way that makes her so much angrier. “And that upsets you?”
“Yes it upsets me!” she shouts, throwing her arms up and letting them slap against her thighs as she spins to face him again. He straightens and raises a brow, stepping onto the main deck with her and getting just a bit too close.
“Is there anything to be done to rectify that, Swan?” he asks, his voice husky and rough and his eyes sparkling too much in the bright sun.
“No.”
“Nothing?”
She laughs breathily, angrily, and says, “shut up,” before grabbing onto his lapels and forcing their lips together in a heated kiss.
He chuckles against her, pulling her towards the ladder that leads below, to his quarters and out of the line of sight of anyone who may be walking by.
“We have to stop doing this,” she mumbles as he presses her against the steps once they get to the bottom. His lips find the sensitive skin of her neck as his body grinds into her’s, making her moan.
“Do you want to stop?” he asks breathily as he licks along her throat.
“No.”
Lifting her shirt above her head, his lips find her hardened nipple once he pushes the fabric of her bra away, licking and sucking in a way that makes her moan again. “Neither do I,” he says against her, the hot air blowing against her moistened skin making her shiver.
He trails his mouth down her torso, biting her flesh and soothing it with his tongue before he reaches the button of her jeans and pops it open. Sliding the fabric down her legs slowly, she feels the sharp, cool metal of his hook gliding along her skin and she shivers again, breath stuttering when she feels it brushing over the curls between her legs.
With a smirk, he lifts one of her legs above his shoulder, granting himself the access he needs as she sits on the edge of one of the steps. “I must say, I’m glad that we’re continuing our little tryst,” he says, his mouth so close to her core that she can feel his hot breath over her. “As much fun as we had amidst the trees, having you on my ship is something else entirely.”
She wants to tell him to stop talking so much, because she can’t stand to think about the fact that she’s allowing this to continue, but her words fall flat when he drags his tongue along her core, gathering her arousal and latching his lips to her clit. She lets out a breathy moan as he artfully traces her skin with his tongue before swirling a finger around her opening. He alternates the pressure and speed of his tongue against her before sliding his middle finger inside, curling it slightly and making her stomach flip as she moans again.
The way he touches her is addictive. She can’t stop herself from thrusting her hips into him slightly, longing for more from him and nearly slipping off the ladder as she does so. He chuckles against her and the reverberations makes her whimper pathetically before he slips a second finger inside. “Fuck,” she groans.
“That’s the idea, love. But not until you come for me first.”
A third finger finds its way into her and she cries out, squeezing around them as he speeds up his ministrations on her clip. He always knows exactly what she needs, and it’s something she tries, and fails, not to think about constantly. Perhaps if she had any semblance of self-control, she wouldn’t keep coming to him. But the way he touches her like he’s known her for centuries and the way he talks to her in exactly the right way is too good to pass up.
She comes hard around him, squeezing her walls on his fingers and her thighs on his head as she falls with a shout. He gives her almost no time to recover before he drops her leg and stands, holding the back of her knee with his hook and wrestling with the laces of his trousers before he’s thrusting himself inside her. Finally.
There’s nothing like the feeling of him buried in her. She can try and deny it all she wants, but she can’t ignore the fact that she’s never felt this good in her entire life. She likely never will again, once she finally puts a stop to this. She puts away the thoughts of ending this… thing between them in favor of focusing on the way he slides in and out of her effortlessly at the most perfect pace. She cries out when he flicks his fingers against her clit again. Her last orgasm was so powerful and so recent that she finds herself falling off the edge again in record time. “Don’t stop,” she begs, as she does every time, but he never does.
“Come on, love,” he encourages, thrusting a bit harder into her. “I can feel how close you are; come for me again.”
She listens to his commanding voice, because what choice does she have, really? He knows her body too well, and she can feel his smirk against her neck as she lets herself fall off the cliff’s edge once again before he follows suit. His own moans are muffled against her skin as he holds her tightly to himself. It’s too tight, they’re too close, but she can’t help herself from tightening her own hold around his shoulders as she catches her breath.
She realizes herself and loosens her grip, pushing on the front of his shoulders until he releases her leg and backs away from her. His chuckle is self-deprecating as he tosses her a small cloth. “Aloof as always, aye Swan?”
She rolls her eyes as she cleans herself up and hops back into her jeans. “We really have to stop doing this.”
“Why?”
She laughs, but it comes out as more of a scoff. “Because it’s a bad idea. We’re not… doing this,” she says, gesturing her hand towards him and shrugging.
“Well,” he says as he ties his laces back up. “It appears as if we are doing this. If you want to put a stop to it, I suppose you’ll need to discontinue your visits.”
She clears her throat, adjusting her top and trying to fix her hair. “I suppose I will,” she agrees.
“Of course,” he starts slowly, coyly, “no one said we have to stop.”
“We do,” she says immediately, shutting down any suggestions he may be considering making. “I have responsibilities; I can’t keep sneaking off like a teenager. I have to put my family first.”
“Ah,” he says, looking down at his feet and looking as insecure as she’s ever seen him. “So I can assume you’ve made your choice, then?” Stilling, she sighs and turns away from the ladder she was about to climb. “You do know that having feelings is not a bad thing.”
“I don’t…” She doesn't have anything to say.
It’s his turn to sigh. “Aye, love, I know. If you’d prefer we stop here, then that’s what we shall do.”
She shouldn’t be surprised that he isn’t putting up a fight. He’s a man of honor, as he often claims. The fact that he’s putting her needs above his own desires shouldn’t leave her speechless. But in reality, all she can think of is how hard Neal has been fighting to be with her, and how unwilling he has been to take no for an answer.
~~~~
“Emma!” Mary Margaret calls once she walks through the door. She probably should have checked on the appearance of her hair and clothes before she walked home, but she’s hopeful that no one will know what she was up to in the middle of the afternoon.
“Hi,” she says back as she shuts the door.
“Where were you? We missed you after breakfast.”
“Uh,” she starts, her cheeks flaming and her steps towards the fridge halting. “I was, um—”
“Oooh,” her mother responds with a smirk. “I see.”
“What?” Emma demands as she takes a few more steps and grabs a water bottle from the fridge.
With a coy chuckle, her mother says, “Emma, you’re blushing, and your shirt is… well,” as she nods downwards. When Emma looks that way, she sees a bit of her bra uncovered before scrambling to straighten out her shirt. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me what you were up to. I think I can put the pieces together.”
She hopes beyond hope that that isn’t true. “Well, whatever you’re assuming, don’t worry. I already put a stop to it.”
“Oh, honey, no,” she responds, much to Emma’s surprise. “I can tell that you’ve been a bit torn lately, but it’s clear that you’ve been happier.”
She takes a sip of water, unsure if she can handle a hope speech right now, and shrugs. “It’s not worth it,” she says. “Everyone I’ve ever been with… it’s just not worth it.”
“Emma,” Mary Margaret says firmly as she walks over to her daughter and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Never say that. You’re right, it is a risk. But it’s one you need to take knowing that there are uncertainties. It’s scary, and there’s the chance that you can be hurt, but Emma, the pros so outweigh the cons. Trust me, some things are worth it. Love is worth it.”
“Woah,” Emma says, “no one said anything about love. I don’t have any feelings for—”
She laughs and places a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, I know a woman in love when I see one. And you said it in Neverland yourself! He is the father of your child. He’s your first love. There’s nothing wrong with still having those feelings, especially if things between you are… physical.”
She chokes on her water, placing it down and coughing, hitting her chest, hoping to not expose one of the many bites hidden under her hair. “Mary Margaret,” she stutters, “it’s not like that.”
“I realize this is awkward. We aren't exactly roommates anymore, so maybe girl-talk is off the table. But, Emma... if there’s one thing I would tell you, it’s to listen to your heart.”
She scoffs. Her heart has certainly led her astray in the past, and she’s unsure why she should trust it now. The first time she did, she ended up alone in prison and pregnant at 17. The last time she did, he died in her arms. Her heart has never had her best interests in mind, she thinks. Perhaps that’s why she started things with the pirate; because he could never be someone her heart would fall for. Perhaps that’s why she feels so betrayed now that she knows that isn’t working.
He’s made it impossible for her to ignore her feelings. To ignore the fact that she even has feelings. She wishes so desperately that she could put these to the back of her mind and ignore them as she has always done. She wishes she could ignore the way he knows her so intimately without trying. The way he can read her immediately and invariably. The way he knows exactly what she needs, and not just sexually. The way he cradles her when they’ve finished and the way he lets her go when she asks.
It’s too much, so she ignores it.
~~~~
She swore she wouldn’t wind up here.
She promised herself she would move on, and that her yellow bug would not find its way to the port on that or any night.
She vowed that her feelings, which she continues to stubbornly ignore, would not interfere with her plans.
But now here she is, watching him happily and fancifully stroke his stupid hook through her hair, tucking her flyaways back into her bun.
She hates herself for sitting here in her car, under the pretense of patrol, watching them flirt with each other and wishing it were her.
Tink laughs, Hook does too, and Emma nearly retches.
~~~~
“Emma!” She hears from the diner door days later, and when she turns she’s met with exactly what she was expecting: disappointment.
“Hi,” she mumbles once he sits across from her.
“Hey,” he says happily, giving her a smile she once trusted. The one that convinced her to do what she would never do now— now that she’s an adult with the experience and knowledge needed to make decisions. “How’s it going,” he asks causally.
“Fine,” she grumbles, noting her near-empty mug and the fact that he doesn’t notice her need for a refill.
“Cool.”
Things between them are far too awkward, and she wishes she weren’t in this diner. She wishes Henry hadn’t just left for school and that she had a bit of a buffer between herself and the threat before her.
She wishes she didn’t see him as a threat.
“Ems” he starts, leaning across the table at her. As he does so, she sees the Neal she knew twelve years ago and lets her guard down faster than she thought possible. “Go out with me,” he says in a tone that demands an affirmative response.
She clears her throat, hoping to remain strong and to consider what he put her through the last time they were involved with each other. “I don’t know,” she responds.
He smiles at her, that crooked smile she recognizes as the one her 17 year old self fell in love with, and takes a sip from his drink. “Come on,” he says. “You already stood me up once. I don’t have to ask you out again, but I am.”
She blushes at his mention of the last time they were here— when he waited for her to show up and she didn’t. “I’m sorry,” she says, without thinking about it and without truly meaning it.
“Hey, I get it. We went through a lot together, the whole Bonnie and Clyde act. But we’ve both grown up. And Henry thinks it’s a good idea.”
With a roll of her eyes she says, “of course he does. He’s eleven, why wouldn’t he want his parents to be together.”
“Why shouldn’t they be?”
“Neal,” she starts, but she isn't sure where she should go from here.
Before she can decide, he’s standing from the booth and she almost feels relief at the thought of him leaving. She’s almost able to take in another breath, let go of the one she’s been holding, but before she can, he’s sitting beside her and pushing her down to the end of the bench, encasing her in the booth and making it impossible for her to run. “Come on,” he says softly, leaning his face towards her.
The confusion she feels is overwhelming as he leans towards her, the warmth of his breath washing over her mouth and the scent of his cologne taking over her senses. She hasn’t been in this position in twelve years, and now that she’s back, she isn’t sure what to do. If he had found her here a year or two ago, she would have jumped at the opportunity to be with him again. But now, something has changed. Now, she realizes what life is like without him. Not only without him, but with someone else.
When his lips press to hers, the only thought she has is how chapped they are and how greasy his nose is as it glides against her own. The only coherent thought she has is how she almost raises her fingers to slide through his hair, but stops herself. She thinks about how wrong his goatee feels against her chin. She thinks about how unpleasurable it is when he bites her bottom lip lightly.
Breaking away from him, she wipes the back of her hand against her mouth to remove any evidence of him being there and pinches her brows together. “I don’t,” she says, but again, she’s unable to form a thought.
“So good it left you speechless?” he asks, and she scoffs.
“I have to go,” she says to him promptly, pushing on his shoulders and hoping that he backs off of the bench enough for her to exit.
“What do you mean?” he asks her forcefully.
“I mean I have to go. There’s something I have to…” She can’t continue, can’t finish her thought. She knows she can’t tell him what she’s about to do. Knows she can’t explain to him that, despite ending things between herself and Hook, she needs him more than she needs to breathe right now.
“Seriously?” His voice is vapid as she stands. “I’m Henry’s father. You can’t seriously be telling me that there’s someone out there who’s a better match for you.”
With another scoff and a shake to her head, she grabs her jacket and heads out the door.
~~~~
The ship is silent when she arrives, trying her hardest to sneak across the deck without the heels of her boots clicking too loudly against the aged wood. The problem is that her adrenaline is absolutely spiking and she’s finding it difficult to slow herself down. What she needs is the release that he’s guaranteed to bring her.
“Swan,” he says once he arrives on the main deck she’s trying to sneak across.
“Oh,” she exclaims in surprise. “Hi.”
“It’s the middle of the morning, love, is something wrong?”
“No,” she lies.
“Shouldn’t you be at the station?”
With a shrug and a few steps closer to him, she says, “something came up.”
He sighs. His nod and the purse of his lips tell her that he understands her meaning and why she’s here, so she proceeds towards him until her hands find his shoulders. “We can’t,” he says, much to her surprise.
She draws in her brows in confusion and leans towards him, saying, “of course we can.”
“No,” he says forcefully, pushing her back with gentle conviction. “We can’t. You said you wanted to end things.”
“Tomorrow,” she tries to reason. Then, “I want you now,” as she pushes forward again.
But he’s faster and stronger and he pulls away from her and grabs her wrist, keeping her from grabbing his lapel as she normally would do. “No.”
With an angry, childish scoff, she says, “come on, seriously?”
“Do you want me, or do you want a distraction?”
“A distraction from what?” she demands, practically shoving herself away from him.
“You tell me. I’m willing to bet something happened that’s making you come here. Something with Baelfire, perhaps?”
With an indignant laugh, she turns away from him. “Please. You think you know me so well?”
“Aye, I do. I think something happened that made you think and you couldn’t handle it. So you’ve come here to use me again.”
“Again!”
“You’re telling me, honestly, that you coming here every other night isn’t because of Baelfire, or because your mother pushes you to be with him, or because Henry wants his parents to be together? Are you honestly trying to tell me that you don’t come here as a distraction from all of this?”
“Hook,” she tries, but again, she has nothing to say.
“I have feelings for you, Emma. I want to be with you. With you.” His tone is so real and his eye contact with her so deep and intense that she has to look away.
“I could’ve sworn you wanted to be with Tink from the way you two were ogling each other the other night,” she says accidentally, slapping her palm against her mouth as she lets slip that she was here.
His laugh is self deprecating. It’s almost hateful as he shakes his head and turns away from her. “I want you, love, more than anything. But I don’t want to be your secret. I’m not willing to sit around and wait for you to come to your senses. If you don’t have feelings for me as I do you, then I think you should go.”
“Hook,” she tries again uselessly.
“Please,” he begs, refusing to look her way for the first time. “I’ve known enough heartbreak in my life. I’ve learned to prevent it where I can.”
With that, with his words hanging heavy between them and her eyes glassing over in response, she turns away and stalks towards the gangplank, careful not to let the tears fall and the sobs break loose until she’s locked away in her bug.
~~~~
~~~~
#CSNLNY#neverland smut#season 3 au#canon divergence au#no curse au#captain swan#cs ff#ouat ff#cs smut#captain swan smut#yes I did steal that scene from bridgerton
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~I’ll Make A Man Out Of You ~
Hey hey hey!! I was listening to some metal covers on YouTube the other day and since this singer happened to look like a non-curly version of Silver I jumped into the idea :D
So imagine Long John Silver singing this [“I’ll Make a Man Out of You“ (from Mulan) but it’s A METAL COVER by Dan Vasc] while "training" the troops in Black Sails s3-s4. So basically he’s just repeating what Flint, DeGroot, Billy, Anne or whoever actually knows what they are doing is instructing... and all the crews are really loving his way of telling things, so they gladly listen to him, lol. At the same time he’s taking a crash course in how to be a leader.
And if you want to add some sad meta stuff? Silver is building “A Man” out of himself too, instead of “just” being seen as a creature / cripple, a coward, a-not-joiner, a thief and so on, because he cannot be seen weak in front of the men anymore and now has to step up to play the part of the Pirate King... so it’s also a pep talk to himself.
OR! Imagine Flint singing the song (mentally in his mind if not aloud) while training Silver “to fight and not die”:
“Once you find your center / You are sure to win”
*cut to Flint playfully knocking out the new crutch a few times so Silver can start getting used to fighting with it and find balance* Add some training montage on the cliffs and admiring smiles and glances! “Let’s get down to business!” ;)
“You’re the saddest bunch [of lies] I ever met / But you can bet before we’re through / Mister, I’ll make a man King out of you”
Or just generally imagine Flint singing another cover version of the song (one fitting his vocals better?). Maybe already in s1 or s2 with his twirly mustache, sweaty ponytail and unhinged anger! >:D The song fits well his rousing speeches and him being better at everything than everybody else (and showing it too, lol) while promising to make them the princes men of the New World (and training them to fight against the civilization that is coming).
OR! (a long shot into the dark but I thought I would share it anyway...) somehow connect some later verses with Silver’s plan of returning Flint into “a mortal man” instead of the legend / god-like status of his name if you want to exaggerate or bring some fantasy elements in there... (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)
I don’t know how to put all these swirling thoughts into words properly... but first he’s singing about how Flint must be all the Forces of Nature (hello superstitious Silver! and hello James holding on to the part of being Flint even if it’s destroying him because he feels like he has to!).
Then Silver could be sort of singing how to bring “Captain Flint” down, make him walk away from the war and live, crying out the verse “How could can I make a man McGraw out of you?~“ before finding one solution and reuniting him with his old love... reorienting him to the daylight and to the man he once was, so to speak.
Too much? Oops! (ʘ‿ʘ✿) Back to the lighter stuff:
* * * * * * * *
The other voices on the song can be:
“I'm never gonna catch my breath” - (DeGroot, grumpily)
“Say goodbye to those who knew me“ - (Vane, that growl! xD)
“Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym“ - (Rackham or Featherstone)
“This guy's got 'em scared to death“ - (Billy, pleased with his plan but not yet knowing how majorly he just fucked up)
“Hope he doesn't see right through me“ - (Max or Eleanor)
“Now I really wish that I knew how to swim” - (Rackham, watching how Anne leaves to do some watery guerilla stuff while he stays on the ship, alone ;_; )
* * * * * * * *
Plus, I find that “Be A Man” choir in the background hilarious (in a good way). Imagine the training montage with the crews and especially Teach looking so stern and trying to drill those macho ideals in them because “it’s the only way to be a proper pirate” or something pfffft.
Also imagine the bonding and tentative friendships with the pirates and the Maroons if they have some joint exercises. Some levity to the grim reality of the upcoming war, let’s have some shenanigans!
Anyway, the point was, imagine Silver having to adapt and play the part of the Pirate King and it somehow manifests as singing metal* and rousing the people that way! >:D
(ﾉ>｡<)ﾉ ♩✧♪●♩○♬☆ヽ(≧▽≦)ﾉ (*and disney songs, lol)
You / We must be swift as a coursing river
With all the force of a great typhoon
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon ~
Time is racing toward us till the Huns Brits* arrive (*and Spain)
Heed my every order and you might survive
You're unsuited for the rage of war
So pack up, go home you're through
How could I make a man out of you?
* * * * * *
Lastly, maybe he gets swept by the high energy and the power of darkness the more he gets into doing it and ends up even enjoying himself sometimes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Oooh, also don’t forget that the music would be played with hurdy-gurdies, clacking bones, broken pianos and such! 8D
So yeah, some various thoughts happened *dumps these gleefully on your dash and continues enjoying the song * ☆ﾟ°˖* ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Here’s a quick bonus edit for the mood:
#black sails#bs crack#john silver#long post#I was listening to some covers on YT and suddenly came across this and got the idea#especially when the singer looks so much like a straight-haired Silver :O#and I wasn't sure if I should add the video#but I had to show the likeness :D#I just really like the idea of Silver ending up as Nassau's superstar accidentally#and singing. I want more METAL singing with Black Sails#oh now I can't stop thinking about that smile Madi gives in the cabin when they discuss about repeating whatever DeGroot says#and silver bullshitting his way and everybody knows it but they like it anyway#*Did they send me Daughters'' *winks at Madi who's overseeing the preparations and she winks back at him* <3#I mean he's met or directly worked with/against almost all the major female players at some point of the show :D#and minor ones but who still had a big impact on the events#so he knows and acknowledges how much power they actually hold#only Jack is another one of the men with as many female connections#(Flint doesn't even know who Max is)#Vane met many but didn't really work with them that much#oops I'm rambling better stop now#already had to delete like half of the tags to not go overboard#*blasts the song for a 100th time this week*
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Fireworks - Kid x Reader
One Piece of summer challenge - week 7
part of the challenge hosted by @doctorgerth & @laws-yellow-submarine I’m attempting all 11 weeks, 11 different prompts and 11 different characters! This was actually my very very first idea for the challenge, but I saved it for somewhere midway to keep myself just that little bit extra motivated to make myself stick through the entirety of the challenge. We all deserve some soft Kid and I am here to serve! Enjoy!
Prompt: Fireworks - Character: Eustass Kid - Word count: 1.5k
as usual with Eustass, there’s swearing involved.
“But there’s gonna be fireworks!”
“I don’t care if even the goddamn king of the pirates was there himself, we cannot make this stop y/n. And we will not make it. Period. Now get the fuck out, don’t you have something better to do than nag my head off?”
You felt your bottom lip quiver as you wordlessly left Kid’s workshop. After over a year of being together with him, you should’ve known better than to barge into his workshop after he was already in a bad mood. Some petty fight at breakfast that did not even involve you had made him slam doors and retreat to his little safe space on board. The only ones that could come in when he was in such a mood, were Killer and you.
You had gone in with the intention to de-escalate, calm him down a little, and that worked out pretty well, until you had used the wrong tactic. You had proposed docking at a nearby island. The newspaper had announced there would be a big fireworks show for some kind of holiday, and you really wanted to go, disguising your ask as a proposal to blow off some steam and do something ‘fun’ with the crew.
Kid had immediately said no, saying that the crew did not deserve any break for their poor performances last stop, and that it was only a week since you left that last island. There was no reason to stop, you still had plenty of supplies. Changing course and stopping needlessly was just messing with his plans and he would have none of that. You kept on pressing on, and it became increasingly clear that you really just wanted to do something with him, but for some reason that had set him off even more. Yelling ensued, and eventually he had kicked you out of the workplace, leaving you to stand outside the door, fighting back tears.
It was not like you guys barely fought. With a boyfriend with such explosive temper, fights were inevitable, and you were usually quite good at defusing the situation or letting off steam by engaging in a good old shouting match until Killer came along the tell you both to quit it.
You were just so disheartened right now, it could’ve been such a great opportunity to hang out with your boyfriend, maybe scare away some unsuspecting civilians. He liked blowing things up occasionally, and you had wrongfully connected that to maybe him liking fireworks. And maybe he did like them, but just didn’t want to hang out with you for now. That last option made you feel even worse.
You walked back to your cabin, the crew passing you on the way knowing better than to disturb you after a fight with Kid. The big difference now was that you weren’t even angry. You were just sad. You were not one to get overly emotional, Kid hated it when you cried, and not for the reason most boyfriends would hate seeing their girl cry, he just thought it annoying. So you locked yourself up in your room for a couple of hours, cried your heart out and you were back on your way.
A good cry cleansed your body and soul, and even though the situation was far from fixed, you could at least find some energy to last until the next time you saw Kid. You weren’t really sure how to feel about the whole relationship as of now, but you would try to talk it out. After all, it’s not like you didn’t know you started a relationship with possibly the most difficult man on sea.
He did not show up for dinner, and when Killer offered to go bring him a plate on your behalf, you thanked him, but proposed you’d do it yourself. You wanted to talk it out. You were not really sure what you wanted to accomplish by talking, but you really just wanted something. Let him know that you did not want to nag him, but also let him know you wanted to do something, anything together.
You knocked on the door to announce your entrance, and then came in, carefully carrying the plate so no food would be spilled.
“Have you come to nag again?” Kid didn’t even turn to face you, too busy tinkering with whatever mechanics you did not understand to begin with.
“No, I just...”, you put the plate down next to him, in a spot where none of his supplies were, “I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have pushed you... but babe, it’s been weeks since we did something fun. I get that you don’t want to please the crew for what they pulled on the last island... but I’m not just a crew member. I am also your girlfriend and i’d love for you to spend some time with me. And looking at some stupid fireworks was my plan. But anything goes really. I shouldn’t have hidden it under some crew bonding. I just want it to be you and me.”
He stood up from his workbench, towering over you, you stepped back a little, just cause you had been standing so close behind him to start with.
“You should’ve told me so doll”
“I know I know....” You sighed deeply.
“We’re still not going to that stupid island. It’s too late anyway.”
You nodded.
“But I guess if you find some other dumb activity to do for us, you can tell me. None of that sappy family-crew-bonding bullshit okay? If you want a date, you tell me.”
You smiled in response, giving him a quick peck on the lips to say goodbye, so he could eat and focus on his project again.
“Maybe we can get some stargazing done? Not tonight, but just... some night. No crew needed, no stops on a strange islands, just you and I and the sky, and nothing else special.”
He grunted in response, which you took as a yes, and you walked out of the workshop, a weight of your shoulders now that was resolved.
That night you were sleeping alone, not cause Kid was still mad, but it actually happened quite often that once he got busy in his workshop, and worked there all night, or at least most of the night. You were used to it, knowing you would wake up in his arms anyway. You were about to drift away when you heard the familiar footsteps in the hallway leading up to his cabin.
You shifted a little, making yourself more comfortable, preparing for some lazy cuddles. Usually Kid was pretty quiet - or at least attempted to be quiet when he noticed you were already sleeping -, so you nearly jumped when he slammed open the door and called out your name.
“Kid, what the fuck?”
“Come out, stargazing”
You were confused, sleepy and a little pissed at the sudden wake-up call, not even registering what he said.
“Stargazing?”
“Yes, dumbass, that’s what you wanted right? The sky is clear now, bring the blanket. It’s a little cold and I don’t want you nagging for my coat.”
You crawled out of the bed, blanket wrapped around you and followed Kid through the hallways onto the deck of the Victoria Punk. He sat you down on a certain spot, mumbling something about it being the best view and you looked up. There were actually not that much stars visible and you frowned a little.
“Kid... are you sure this is the best time to-”
“Just shut up for a second y/n”
He didn’t sound angry or agitated and you did as he said as he sat next to you and wrapped an arm around you.
BANG.
You jumped, Kid chuckled. Before you could ask him what the fuck that sudden explosion was, you noticed a sea of sparkles lighting up the sky and you stared at them, mouth wide open with amazement. The first explosion was followed by man others, fireworks lighting up the sky in all kinds of different colors, formations, even some shapes. You were completely stunned by the view, seeing your boyfriend grin from the corner of your eye.
“Is this what you had in mind?”
You couldn’t help but smile like an idiot.
“It’s even better. These are beautiful” You leaned up to kiss him, and cuddled even closer, pulling back and focusing on the beautiful fireworks again. They kept on coming, he must’ve spent nearly all day on it. That very idea warmed your heart. He probably was working on them as you went to bring him his dinner. It was his way of saying sorry, without actually saying it out loud.
“Hey captain?”
He looked at you skeptically, as he always did when you used that nickname outside of the bedroom. You liked using it here and there just to keep him on his toes.
“I love you”
He grinned proudly in response, pulling you in for another, longer and deeper kiss, pouring in the love from his side, fireworks still going of in the background. This was so much more intimate, so much better than any festival you could imagine.
He could definitely be a handful, but you wouldn’t trade him for anyone. He cared in his own special way, and for you, that was more than enough.
#One piece of summer#kid x reader#eustass kid x reader#fireworks#laws-yellow-submarine#doctorgerth#one piece x reader#one piece reader insert#one piece imagine#one piece scenario#eustass kid
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Why don’t you listen to me? Law x GN! Reader - Part 5
Spoilers for : Punk Hazard and Dressrosa arcs
[No gender used for the reader, no physical description, everyone is +18]
Words : 4547
Archive of our own
Blood, exhaustion, fighting, violence, despair
If you feel like I should put more warnings, send me a DM or an ask!
… Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
Considering I was responsible for Luffy, when I saw him take off with everyone else after the plan was detailed on the shore, I had to take off with him too. I had to use my power more than I thought I would with how fast he was, but managed to keep up. When we reached a restaurant, I stayed out of the way even more so when they annoyed the man I knew was from the Marine, they did not seem aware of who they had angered but I was not going to stress them out and ignored it.
However, when Zoro started running after some stolen good, I couldn’t stay out of it and had to catch up before he got lost. He was one of the strongest of the team and would do great damage in time but I did not know what to do. Stay by Luffy and make sure he’d follow the plan or follow Zoro?
By the time I made my decision and turned towards where Luffy was, he was nowhere to be found. “Fuck. Ten seconds of inattention and I’ve already lost him.” I looked around, desperately trying to see where they had gone. I did not even have a map of the place, the only one I had seen was Bepo’s badly done one that Law showed us on the ship. Even if the map was ‘good’ in theory, my memory wasn’t. Sighing, I walked out of the restaurant, making sure to pay for what had be consumed by the loud pirates and samurais. “There better be gold at the end of this stupid suicidal-mission because they cost more than they’re worth.” I mumbled to myself as I walked down the streets, dolls, puppets, and plushies were walking the same street I was.
Those usually inanimate objects made a huge part of the population, it was a strange sight but there was probably something grimmer behind all of this. Their eyes looked almost… human. A shudder ran down my spine, I had to pride my eyes away from them to avoid being suspicious. “It looks like a huge amusement park, there should be a map somewhere, right?” I stopped by some sort of souvenir shop and asked if they had maps, the seller stared at me in awe, then back at something under the counter. When he looked back at me, he smiled and nodded, handing me the map.
I was going to take it when his wooden hand gripped mine and brought me down closer to him, “It’s you! The King- I heard that the King wants to see you but…” He trailed off, his eyes gazing around in panic.
“Who’s the King? How does he know who I am?” I asked, snatching the map from his hand.
“King Joker, but it’s only a rumor… he says whoever finds you has to bring you to him, there’s bounty on your head,” then out of nowhere a knife was pulled from under the counter and planted in my arm, I grabbed the man/doll by the arm and threw him across the room before running out of the shop, the knife hit the ground and I scrambled to get it as I made my escape.
I made a short detour to run by a stand outside and grabbed a black drape to cover my head better than the cap Robin had given me. I thought I was the only one of the whole crew who wasn’t known, but for some reason Joker wanted something with me. But I was not going to let him catch me. For a second I thought, maybe Law was right and I should have stayed on the ship, then I got back to my senses and ignored that thought.
I was teleporting from places to places, to get off those streets and was now on the rooftop of a high building. “Right, maybe I overreacted. Maybe I could have just walked out of the shop, and play it off…” I pondered out loud, “But I didn’t, it’s alright though, I’ve got the map, I have-“ I looked at my right arm and saw the blood trickling down the stab wound that turned partially into a cut as I had pulled back from the puppet.
“And I have a stab wound, nice. I’ll just,” using the drape, I cut a part of it with the knife and wrapped it tightly around the wound. I was no doctor, maybe it was a bad thing to do but I did not care. At least blood wasn’t dripping on the ground anymore, which means they couldn’t follow me.
The building was not a high enough vantage point, so I opened the map and looked at it; Green Bits was across a long bridge that I could see from where I was, but it was very far away. Tucking the map away, I sighed and started making my way to the bridge. I had to pause every time to recharge, I was expecting to use my power a lot more than I used to but not for such things. I thought I’d be helping people out not running around like an idiot, but things never went as expected. I couldn’t begin to imagine Law’s face when I’d tell him I lost Luffy. He’d probably beat my ass then beat his, but, all in due time.
I had this strange feeling in my guts at each of my jump. The closer I was getting to the bridge, the heavier the air seemed to be. The fact of the matter was that if anything was happening there, I couldn’t be of much help considering the lack of items around me. I had not taken any weapon with me, except the knife the seller had used one me. It wasn’t the sharpest but it would do the damage. The plan was to trade off Caesar to the Marines at Green Bits but anything could wrong from there one. If I knew something from experience it was to never trust Marines nor pirates, all were crooked and while one of them claimed to be working for the government, the latter was corrupted to the core. I had yet to come across a truthful Marine.
Except that one guy that helped Law when he was younger, but once again… he was a spy among the pirates and I don’t know how I felt about that. I don’t know how I’d feel if one of my crewmates was actually a Marine. Maybe thinking the Marine would enroll a spy was giving our crew too much credits, we weren’t war criminals or anything… I think…
I was brought back to reality when I heard a loud crash. Looking ahead of me, I saw the bars on each side of the bridge get cut off, then four big animals jump of the water to loom over the two miniscule forms on the ground.
I hurried, recognizing Law’s fighting, he wasn’t meant to turn it into a fight just yet. He wasn’t meant to fight with Joker just yet, the plan wasn’t going as expected and I could see it from the desperate attempt to keep the Warlord at bay. Once I was close enough, I managed to get out of the large cut the blonde made, the fishes were cut in pieces and fell into the water with a loud plop. I looked from afar, needing the gauge if I could help, if help was even needed.
Law was running head on onto the man in front of him, he wasn’t thinking straight, he wasn’t running he was rushing. The grin on the Warlord’s face did not put me at ease, and soon enough he blocked Law’s attack. A huge explosion ensued, I was left speechless, staring at where my Captain used to be. For second my stomach did a flip at the thought of him dead, then I saw him running away from the rubble and sighed in relief. He must have seen me since his eyes widened and he screamed my name, telling me to get out of here. I yelled back, telling him I’d teleport him but he told me to go, now.
“What’s the matter Law, I thought you wanted to kill me?” Said the Joker. It made Law pause, and so did I, I watched. I observed how it’d end up, although I believed in Law, I could still very much notice he was at the limit of his capacity. He was out of breath, exhausted and clearly unable to continue. And yet he did, he tried to attack the blonde with the metal debris, only for him to slash them in pieces. I was going to sneakily grab him and get him away when he desperately went for another strike, I could see the bubble around him grow as he summoned his power.
I was just as surprised as the Warlord, I did not know how he could continue to go past his limits over and over again, but I could easily tell it wasn’t good. He exchanged places of Joker with a huge piece of metal and struck down with his sword, but once again he was blocked by the strings.
Grinning, the tall blonde man sneered, noticing that Law’s power was at its limit. I was surprised to hear he had faced a lot in the little time we were apart, a meteorite from one of the marine, rescued Sanji when they fought the first time? What was going here, how long had he been fighting? I couldn’t think more, they kept exchanging hits, only in vain. Law’s attacks were all blocked, and when he was catching his breath, the maniac shot him down with string bullets which sounded ridiculous but that thought only lasted half a second before I saw my Captain on the ground.
“Law! Let me-“ I cried out, but he raised his fist.
“Get out! Leave, it’s not safe!” My heart clenched at his attempt of fighting back once again, he tried to summon Room but it didn’t work, I looked away, fearing the worst but a phone rang. I turned around and look as Joker picked up his den den mushi and talked casually on the phone. There was another attempt from Law but he got taken down just as easily as before. When the call was done, he strutted towards Law, his walk more threatening than his outfit.
He started explained how annoyed he was with this little plan of ours and mentioned that if he didn’t trust the Straw Hat, perhaps as friends even but that was left unsaid, then he couldn’t have planned something this big. When he mentioned me, I was startled and looked at him in shock, he was staring right back at me but Law ignored it and said he trusted the will of D. That was the words too many, Joker turned into a full berserk mode and raised his fist and was about to strike down Law.
Seeing his state, I didn’t think, I reacted out of instinct and teleported closer to finally reach the blonde’s man back and try to hold his arm. He laughed manically and made cuts on my skin, making me let go of his arm but I was still holding tight onto him. It hurt a lot, but the adrenaline made me ignore it for now as I gripped his other shoulder tight.
“Let him go! You fucking psychopath, you’re not fit for a King, you’re not fit for a Leader- You’re barely a man as it is!!” I rambled as I grabbed the knife from my back and was about to shove it in his throat when he laughed some more in response and took if away from my hand forcefully. I say forcefully but it scared me, the ease with which he used his power to open my hand.
“You talk too much, I should finish you just like I’m about to finish him.” He raised his arm once more, but this time made sure I couldn’t move mine.
He did not hesitate a second more and started hitting Law over and over again, blood spurting around, grunts of pain following each strike. I wanted to throw up from the sight but did not let go of the Warlord. I couldn’t teleport away; I was gripping him tightly but if I let go there was no chance to find Law again. “You’re insistent, can’t you see he’s already dead?” Joker spat as he kicked Law into the air and followed the strings to get closer and closer, kicking my Captain further away at each kick.
“Fuck off, I don’t care if I have to strangle you myself-“ His laugh interrupted me, but it quickly turned into the deadliest expression. I couldn’t see it full well from my place on his back but he wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Guess I’ll kill you both, the traitor’s bastard and you.” He scoffed and gripped one of my wounded arms, lifting me off his back with ease before slamming me into the ground. I let out a painful groan and swore the best I could, this was not ending here.
The air got knocked out of my lungs, I had a hard time breathing but I tried hard to roll onto my stomach to look at the still ongoing fight.
The Warlord was stepping closer to Law’s body that was lying on the ground, motionless. The ground under him was crushed, I couldn’t imagine the pain he must be in. Slowly, Joker raised a gun and aimed it at Law.
A screech ripped out of my throat, I tried to teleport closer to him but I couldn’t. For some reason I couldn’t, I was fucking helpless. “Don’t! He’s-“ I coughed some dryness, maybe even blood, and placed my hands on the ground to steady myself. The Marine was there, I couldn’t stay here, but I couldn’t leave him there either. The so called ‘King’ ignored my attempt and cocked the gun. I could hear Luffy’s voice somewhere, he did not know what was happening but he tried hard to get any sort of information.
“You’ve pushed it too far, kid.” Joker said as he aimed the gun well, before shooting one bullet. My breath hitched inside my throat, then I cried out Law’s name in utter horror. He couldn’t be dead, right? One bullet was alright, the King doesn’t look like he’s a good shot- but two other gunshots rang. I looked at the scene in horror before collapsing on the floor, my arms too weak to carry my weight anymore. I covered my mouth to muffled the sound of my sobbing but couldn’t tear away from the scene displaying in front of me. “Law…” I gasped, pushing myself up to go up to him. “Don’t … die” my voice was weak; I could barely hear it.
He couldn’t hear it either, people were talking, arguing. A Marine stepped up in front of Doflamingo and was about to strike down Law when Zoro stopped it with his sword. I was silently thanking him with all my heart. After managing to stand up, I tried to take a step but fell to my knees. How hard have I been slammed into the ground? I’ve taken worse beatings, now is not the moment to be fragile. I scolded myself, pushing way over my limits and getting up once more. This time I was able to take a few steps but had to hold onto a nearby wall when the Admiral used his power and the pressure was back. I looked around; I couldn’t see Law on the floor anymore.
My heart was already beating fast in my chest, I felt it hammer against my ribs, I was exhausted from so little and scared, scared for Law’s life and mine too. Perhaps Law’s more than mine. I heard Doflamingo’s voice in the air and saw him floating, thanks to his strings, along the Admiral. The King was carrying Law like a grocery bag, I wanted to get up there and beat him up but I had no energy. I felt pure hatred towards the man, and except for being the worst kind of scum all he did was beat up my Captain... for now. I hated being so emotional and tried to force myself to calm down, but my hands were shaking.
I think the blonde said something that must have angered the Marines or maybe were they working together? Whichever it was, they started shooting at Zoro and Kin’emon; I was going to sneak away and hide when one of the civilians grabbed me by the arms and lifted me off the ground, “It’s the one!! It’s exactly like the picture- The king said we should-“ I mustered all my strength and got rid of them before teleporting myself to the roof on top of them, I barely made it through and was hanging on the edge. I had to bring myself up and doing so made it hurt everywhere. My throat was sore, my breath shallow and my arms wounded all over. But I made it and was now sitting securely on the rooftop.
“Fuck this, I knew it’d end bad…” I huffed, rolling up my sleeves to look at the multiples cuts on both my arms. It was more sore than painful, kind of like a cat’s scratches but when I touched it hurt a lot more. Hitting my head against the chimney I was resting against, I groaned. “I fucking knew it’d end up bad, but I promised everyone I’d look over him…” I’m a failure, I scoffed dryly, my hands gripping my thighs tight. I was trying so hard to keep the tears in but I was alone, I was horrified, I didn’t know what to do. “Always making stupid promises… if you can’t even keep them, what’s the point?” I wondered rhetorically, feeling the tears roll down my cheeks silently.
Hearing footsteps echo nearby I stood up quickly and jumped on another roof. I have to stay on the move, I can’t relax, I need to find the others. Wiping the tears away, I tried to hype myself up, even though I did not believe the words that left my mouth, I kept repeating them over and over again, “Maybe he’s still alive, maybe I can still save him, maybe he’s still alive…” But what if he’s dead? If he’s dead, I get over it. I’ll have to, the fighting is not over. Should I finish what he started? I’m not strong enough for that… I could become strong enough, I could come back later and finish Doflamingo. The thought made me giggle nervously, who was I kidding? If I came out of this alive, I wouldn’t come back here, I would never ask the Heart Pirates to follow me.
I cared too much about them to force them to join me- Stop thinking that like that, Law is alive, get to him in time and he’ll be fine! He won’t be fine though he’s on the verge of dying- but that’s okay, he’ll come through he went through worse right? I let out a frustrated groan at the mix of thoughts in my mind, I did not know if I should be realistic or optimistic so I kept moving towards the castle. I had seen both the Admiral and Joker make their way towards that building, chances were that Law should be there too.
After a while, the castle was finally in my reach. I was weary, drained and bloodied up, I no longer had the drape around my knife wound. When Doflamingo use his strings on me, he made sure to cut that too and now I had and open wound and tons of cuts all over my arms. Still, it seemed to be taking care of itself enough since no blood was dripping which was the bare minimum I was hoping for.
Stopping at one spot in the shadow, I looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone. It reminded me of Punk Hazard which immediately threw me off, I was very bad at sneaking around on Punk Hazard, maybe I was just as bad here. Out of the blue, I remembered something, Law’s vivre card. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I tried to find it amongst other things in it, soon enough I found it and looked at it, it was halfway gone but very slowly gaining back some of its life. A nervous breath of relief escaped my lips as I stared at the blank paper in front of me.
I felt relieved but couldn’t waste more time, tucking it away, I kept my back against the wall and peeked inside the room through the window. I could see someone sitting on the ground by the door as the man from earlier, the Admiral, stepped in and seemed to be talking calmly to Joker. They weren’t paying attention to anything else, but the blond had a victorious grin on his face. But perhaps was his face always adorned with such expression? Since I couldn’t hear them, I looked around some more and realized that someone was sitting on one of the four seats in the middle of the room, at the heart-shaped one… it was Law.
He was handcuffed to the seat, his head hanging low, beaten, bleeding, knocked out. I hated that a part of me thought he was still handsome like that, but the most logical part was anxious, how long could he stay alive in that state? I’m sure those handcuffs weren’t simple one either, they were made for fruit user. I was startled when Doflamingo tried to kick the Admiral, and moved to rest against the wall once more, I would rather not get caught.
After a moment, I looked back and there were more people inside the room. Law seemed to be awake and from what gathered, they were interrogating him. When he didn’t answer, the girl in the maid dress slapped in head, I felt my fingers tingle at the thought someone laying a hand on him when he was in that state, but gripped the wall tighter. I saw something move the back and realized Luffy was there with two other people, one of them being a doll soldier. Relief coursed through my body at the thought of not being alone if I was discovered, not that I was aiming to be.
My legs were starting to get weak from staying on the tip of my toes, on the edge of the wall. It wasn’t made to be walked on, but I was trying my best to stay balanced. I was careful not to look down, I was very high above the ground; One wrong move and I could fall down, which almost happened when Doflamingo slammed opened the window to overlook the city. He was mad, he was angry, he was more than infuriated. And I love it. I don’t know what had happened to make him mad like that but I was living for it, perhaps the plan was still ongoing and things weren’t as bad as I thought they were.
Things kept happening, one after another, I had no opportunity to get off my spot until a large man with a missing leg jumped out of nowhere and ‘heroically’ cut Doflamingo’s head off. But it was useless, it wasn’t the real him, and yet I took that opportunity and leaped back inside, the thumping of my feet on the ground made Law turn his face towards me. When our eyes met, I felt all the frustration that had built up since then melt away and I stood there, holding onto the edge of the window. “You’re alive-“ I was interrupted when Luffy came crashing in with a woman in his arms, “Torao!! You’re alive!!” he screamed.
That was supposed to be my line, but yeah sure go off, I guess. Luckily, they had the key to the handcuffs but the adrenaline and their over enthusiasm made it hard for it to fit the keyhole. And they said so, I was going to suggest I’d do it but Doflamingo’s double came back and everything went to shit. I heard him mention a birdcage, a grin spreading on his face, which was a huge contrast to the horrified look that painted Law’s face. The soldier raised his sword once more, but the Warlord was faster and was quick to get behind him and raise his foot, ready to kill.
I threw myself over Law’s seat and pushed it to the ground as Luffy threw himself on the man, I heard his name being screamed by the Straw-Hat Captain and learned it was Kyros. While Luffy was fighting with the blonde maniac, I scrambled to my senses a tried to find the key to Law’s cuffs. Stress was getting the best of me as my hands were shaking, it didn’t stop me from patting the ground to see if it was around. I stopped when I heard Law say my name, his voice gruffy and filled with worry.
“I’m trying, I’ll find it, I swear I’m trying-“ Why was my voice so uneven? Why was I getting so emotional, it was just a key, I had to take a breath and calm down… But it was mixed with elation from knowing Law was alive too, and I had a hard time getting myself under control.
He said my name again, but even though I heard it, I didn’t really hear it. I overheard it, I was too focused on the blood pumping in my ears and my hands on the moving ground.
“Look at me!” He said a bit louder this time, I looked up and met his gaze with panic. “You have to go, you can’t stay here, Joker he-“ Law bit back his words and gulped, it almost looked like he was getting emotional but I think it was his exhaustion that was getting the best of him.
“The birdcage, I know what it does. You have to go back to the Sunny-“
“I’m not leaving you behind,” I grabbed his hands, avoiding the cuffs knowing full well its effects. “I promised Bepo, I don’t care if I’m not part of the crew. I just…” His eyes were fixed on my arms, horror in his eyes. I pulled my hands from his and kept searching around the room, continuing in a lower tone, “I need you alive, that’s all.”
Before I could find the key, the ground started moving once more. It was guiding us towards the open part of the castle, towards the edge, towards a big fall. “Fuck-“ I tried to reach out for something, anything to grab to avoid falling, in vain. We were all free falling, Violet was screaming, Luffy was falling head first, Kyros and Riku were scared shitless too, but Law could not see what was under him. As much as he tried to keep his composure, there was terror in his eyes and I couldn’t help him. I was useless.
[Part 6]
#trafalgar law#one piece trafalgar law#trafalgar one piece#trafalgardwaterlaw#trafalgar law x reader#law x reader#one piece#fanfiction#writing#reader#one piece x reader#op x reader#AO3#physicalturian#ao3 writier#writings#why don't you listen to me#wdyltm
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Skyline Manor by GleefullyCaptainSwan Chapter 9/13
Read on AO3: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9
Or on FF
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Chapter 9: Wasted Years and Endless torment
“Mom, I’m home.” Emma heard Henry from her room and walked quickly to the living room, her son came running, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I missed you so much.” He whispered and Emma looked up nervously at Neal. Henry rarely came home so emotional. He ran off to his room, shutting the door behind him.
“Uh, is everything alright with him?”
Neal shrugged. “I dunno, he’s been a bit quiet this weekend. I was going to ask you if something was going on here.”
“Why would you think something was going on here?”
“The kid mentioned your neighbor a lot. Thought perhaps you and Graham were having trouble.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “First off, my dating life is none of your business. Second, he’s friends with Killian. He likes talking about boats and sailing with him.”
“Yeah I heard he wrote his whole poem about him.” She could see the pout in his face. She knew that look, he was jealous of Killian.
“Well maybe if you spent less time in Barbados, he’d write a poem about you.” She shrugged.
“Yeah I kinda talked to him about that this weekend.” Emma’s brow raised. “Was thinking maybe he could spend more time at my place.” Emma stared at the man across the room, trying not to let her body language show her anger. They had tried this before and Henry had only gotten hurt when Neal would miss his visits, or not spend any time with him when he was there. Neal always ran off when things got real.
“Why don’t you try staying in town for a bit before we talk about visitation changes.”
“I told you, I had business in Barbados.”
“Red head or blonde this time? I can never keep up.”
“That’s not fair, I’m a grown man, I have needs, Emma.”
“Well until you learn to put Henry’s needs above yours, you get him one weekend a month.”
“That’s not fair.” He started to complain.
“Tell it to a judge, maybe you can explain exactly what your business is while you’re at it. I’m sure he’d like to hear all about it.”
He rolled his eyes and yanked the front door open. “You can’t keep him from me forever.” He argued as he stepped into the hall.
“The only person keeping you from a real relationship with Henry, is you, Neal.”
“You’re the reason he hates me.” He yelled and Emma stepped toward him.
“Henry doesn’t hate anyone, but if he doesn’t want to spend more time with you, maybe ask yourself if it’s something you’re doing that could be causing that.”
“Why do you always have to blame me when the kid gets emotional?”
“Because you’re usually the one being a dick head.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Good, then leave.” Emma yelled. She spun to head back to her apartment when she noticed Killian standing at his door at the other end of the hall. His face a mixture of anger and concern. She nodded to him and then stepped into her apartment, slamming the door in Neal’s face.
~*~
Killian grabbed his helmet as he headed out the door, only stopping when he heard loud voices in the hallway. He stepped out to lock his door and saw Neal standing in front of Emma’s door.
“You’re the reason he hates me.”
“Henry doesn’t hate anyone, but if he doesn’t want to spend more time with you, maybe ask yourself if it’s something you’re doing that could be causing that.”
Killian locked the door, trying not to eavesdrop further on the conversation, but the two continued their fight and he was afraid to move any further up the hall for fear of walking into the middle of the fight.
“Why do you always have to blame me when the kid gets emotional?”
Killian was starting to feel angry, listening to the man slinging crap at Emma. Obviously, the weekend with his father had not gone as well as he had hoped. He was concerned that it seemed like Henry was negatively effected by the visit with Neal.
“Because you’re usually the one being a dick head.”
Killian stifled a laugh, not wanting to make noise from his spot at the door.
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Good, then leave.”
Emma sounded upset, her emotions boiling over and then she turned, and their eyes met. He should have stepped into his apartment but instead he was just standing there looking like an idiot at the end of the hall. She slammed the door behind her, and he started walking toward the man who had stormed toward the elevator. Stepping into the small box, he closed his eyes as the door shut.
“Are you fucking her?”
His eyes popped open. “Excuse me?”
“I can’t figure out why anyone would make friends with an eleven-year-old boy unless it was to get his mom in the sack.”
Killian was livid. “You think the only reason anyone would be interested in what your son had to say was if they were sleeping with his mother?”
“It’s not unheard of, look I don’t blame you, she’s a hot piece of ass, get it while you can. But leave my son out of it.”
“I beg your pardon; it just so happens that I am not sleeping with Emma. And your son is a very interesting kid. He has a lot of intuitive things to say, if you actually spent more than a minute talking to him.”
“Don’t lecture me about my kid.”
“Perhaps someone should.” He turned to face the man who was at least a head shorter than him and watched him cower away.
“Whatever, just don’t get what she sees in you.”
“I told you, Emma and I are not together. She’s my neighbor and I consider her a friend. Henry too.”
“Keep telling yourself that buddy.” The doors to the elevator opened and he sprinted quickly to his car. Killian just watched him leave, wondering what Emma had ever seen in the emotionally stunted man he had just spoken with.
“Unbelievable.” He grumbled to himself.
~*~
Henry spent the next few weeks hiding out in his room. He didn’t want to talk to his mom about spending more time with his dad. He avoided the conversation any time she brought it up. As far as he was concerned, once a month was more than he could handle. Instead, he focused on the fact that his mom and Killian had been acting strangely since he had returned home from his dad’s.
It wasn’t that they weren’t speaking, they spoke a lot when Henry was around. It was the moments when they didn’t realize he was watching them that told him something was up.
The first issue he noticed, was that when the two of them were mostly alone, they got quiet. In fact, he watched his mom navigate to the other side of the room when Killian had stayed for dinner the other night. Instead of taking the dishes to the kitchen after Killian entered, she suddenly needed to check on a noise she heard in the bathroom.
He also noticed that anytime Killian accidentally touched his mom, either her arm, or brushing against each other in the hall, he would jump and apologize to her. It was the weirdest thing, and he didn’t like it. It was like they were trying to stay away from each other, and that was the last thing he needed. Not if they were going to realize that they were each other’s true love.
Henry wasn’t sure at first, he had only hoped, but after the literacy fair, the way his mom and Killian had stared at each other over pizza, the way they started hanging out more, his mother’s special laugh she had just for Killian, Henry knew that Killian Jones was the one and only one for his mom.
Unfortunately, Graham wasn’t going anywhere, but that wasn’t going to stop Henry.
“So, I was wondering if you could watch Henry tonight, Graham wants to go out tomorrow night.” Will was sitting at the table as Emma put the dishes away.
“I wish I could, but I have plans.”
“Plans? With who?”
“Don’t make a big deal about it but I have a date.”
Emma’s eyes grew wide, “You have a date with who?”
“A girl. I don’t want to talk about it yet.”
“I’m really happy for you Will. That’s great news.”
He blushed. “Thanks, it’s still new, been seeing her on and off the last couple of weeks, online mostly but she finally agreed to go out with me.”
“Well hopefully you won’t keep her a secret for too long.”
“Eh, yeah maybe.”
His mom looked at Henry and frowned. “Ruby has a date tomorrow too. I guess you’re coming with us.”
“What about Killian?” Henry offered.
“Oh. Well, I mean, I don’t know if he wants to stay in with a kid all night. He might have plans.” Henry rolled his eyes and stood up from the table.
“I’ll go ask him.”
“Henry…” Before she could say no, he ran out the door and sprinted down the hall, knocking on his door.
“Hey lad, come to see Smee?”
“Actually, I wanted to know if you could come over and watch a movie tomorrow with me. Maybe Pirates of the Caribbean?”
“Oh…”
“Sorry, I was going to come ask you, but this one…” Emma rushed up behind him and ruffled Henry’s hair. “Got too excited and beat me to it.”
“Ask me to watch a movie?”
“No, um, I have a dinner date.” His mom started before pausing. “With Graham and well, Ruby and Will both have date’s so they can’t stay with Henry.”
“I see, well, I’d be honored to spend time with the lad.”
Henry smiled widely, “Great.”
“I’m leaving at 6 so if you want to come over a little before I can give you the instructions.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Henry saw it again, the weird way Killian was looking at his mom, he could almost see the disappointment in his eyes that she was going on a date. He knew it, Killian liked his mom.
“Alright, well, we’ll just let you get back to whatever it is you were doing.”
“Sure, see you tomorrow, lad.”
“Bye Killian.”
Henry practically skipped back to his apartment. All he needed to do now was find a way to ruin his mom’s date so that she came home and spend time with Killian instead.
Captain Jones followed Emma into the darkened tunnel as they made their way back to the castle. They exited through a painting in the East Hall. As soon as they were inside the castle, Emma went in search of a person she swore would be able to assist in the quest to find not only Baelfire, but now her son, Henry.
Turning a corner, they came face to face with the King who was talking quietly with the court’s jester. “Emma.” The King rushed forward, grabbing his sister, and pulling her closer to him. “I’ve been so worried about you. Is Henry with you?”
“No, Baelfire took him.” She cried and the man beside the King stepped forward.
“I went to get him from his room this morning and he was gone.”
“It’s alright Will, Henry snuck out to follow me.”
“Follow you? Did you leave the castle? What could you possibly be thinking?” The King scolded and suddenly there was a commotion behind them as the Queen came stumbling toward them.
“Emma. I thought you were dead.”
“I’m so sorry Your Grace, I did not mean to concern you. I was not expecting to be gone so long, but I was helping the Captain in his quest.”
“Why would you allow my sister to chase after this man, I thought I asked you for your discretion.” The King advanced on the Captain.
“Don’t blame him, I followed him. Demanded to know what he was doing at the castle.”
“Emma. Why are you always getting into trouble? This is why you need to marry, settle down with the Duke and live a quiet life.”
The Queen hushed her husband. “Where is that boy of yours?”
“Baelfire has taken him.” The Queen put her hand to her mouth and let out a squeal.
“I need the Huntress. We found Leroy tied up in his house.” Emma tried to explain.
“Leroy, but why?”
“I can’t explain, but I believe that the Huntress can track him through the forest.” The King and Queen shared a glance.
“Emma you know we can’t release her.”
“Who is this Huntress?” The Captain demanded. “If she can track Baelfire, we may need her assistance.”
“We keep her locked up in the dungeons. She’s a danger to herself and others.”
Emma grabbed the Queen’s arm, “I need to get to Henry before he takes him away from here.”
The King nodded and they followed him through the castle until they reached the stairway down into the dungeon. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“She’s my friend.”
They entered the dungeon, a steel cage at the end of the hall, housing a dark-haired woman sitting at a desk, writing in a journal.
“What is this?” The Captain asked.
“Oh hello, who is this fine man you’ve brought me?” The woman sashayed up to the bars, reaching out to touch the Captain.
“Ruby, I need your help. The Swan Thief has captured Henry.”
The Captain swore the woman’s eyes burned red for a moment, before she turned and grabbed her cape from her chair. “How long has he been gone?”
“A few hours at most.” Emma explained. “We were at Leroy’s when he disappeared into the forest.
“Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste, it will be dark soon, and I fear the moon is full tonight.”
Captain Jones shared a glance with the Princess, who only reached for the keys, unlocking the large gate, and releasing the woman from her prison. The two women hugged for a moment before the red cape was draped over her head and she took off toward the stairs.
The Captain grabbed the Princess’ arm, leaning over to speak only to her. “Who is she?”
The Princess met his gaze, “She is our only hope. Ruby, the Huntress.”
“Why the bloody hell is she locked up?”
“Because, when the moon is high in the sky, and full as it is tonight, she becomes, The Wolf.”
Killian dropped her arm, watching her as she followed the group up the stairs. “Wolves…” He paused, staring after the Princess. “Wonderful.”
~*~
“His bedtime is 10pm tonight and don’t let him convince you otherwise.” Emma was explaining as Killian watched her going down the list of items on the paper in front of her.
“Swan, he’s eleven, not two, I think I can handle a simple evening.”
“Ok but you know Henry, he can be a handful.”
“Aye, we are going to eat some pizza and watch Pirates of the Caribbean. What could possibly go wrong?”
Two hours later, everything had gone wrong.
Killian wasn’t even quite sure how to explain half of what had happened.
To begin with the pizza delivery guy got lost bringing the order and was 45 minutes late and then when the pizza was finally in hand, it got dropped, meat side down onto the floor.
After finally cleaning pizza off the floor, Killian made grilled cheese sandwiches and they sat down to watch their movie, only to have the Blu-ray player throw sparks at him and completely shut off.
Instead of the movie, Henry suggested they play a game and after twenty minutes of whatever the fresh hell Uno was, Killian decided perhaps they should just watch TV.
Imagine his surprise when they turned on the television to see full on nudity on the screen. Groaning he turned off the television, ignoring the boy’s newfound questions about women, boobs, and if it was normal for a man’s penis to be as large as the man on that was on the screen. Trying to divert the boy, he asked the lad if he wanted to read a book.
Killian was sure that whatever parenting was, he was doing a pretty terrible job of it. Even if it was only for the evening.
“I’m not feeling very well, can we call my mom?”
Killian looked at the boy who was holding his stomach. “You were fine just a minute ago?”
“I know but now I’m not, can you call her please?”
Killian groaned but wasn’t about to take a chance after the way his evening had gone, instead getting the number from the paper on Emma’s instructions and dialing it with his phone. After two rings, she answered.
“Hello, this is Emma.”
“Emma it’s Killian, I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but Henry says he’s not feeling well and I’m not quite sure what to do.”
“Oh no, can I talk to him?”
“One second.” He passed the phone to the boy and sat on the couch.
“My stomach hurts really bad mom. Yeah lots of pain. I think I’m going to be sick and…Oh ok, see you when you get here.”
The boy hung up the phone and tossed it to Killian. “She’ll be home soon.” He was almost sure the boy smiled but then he groaned, doubled over, and sat down next to him on the couch.
Whatever was ailing the boy was a mystery.
~*~
Emma apologized to Graham, and he immediately drove her home from their dinner date. She had never heard Henry sound so sick before and she had no idea what had caused it.
“You sure you don’t want me to come up?” Graham asked as he pulled up to the curb.
“No, you have to work early tomorrow, I’ll be fine.” She leaned over and pecked his lips quicky before exiting the vehicle and heading into the apartment complex.
When the elevator doors opened, she started to exit when she stopped in her tracks. Will was standing in front of his door kissing a dark-haired woman. When they pulled away, Emma’s blood boiled as she recognized the woman as Belle French, Killian’s girlfriend. They didn’t see her as they pushed open Will’s door and disappeared into his apartment.
How could she cheat on Killian? How could Will do this? Emma was furious.
She pushed the key into her apartment door, looking back angrily at Will’s apartment before stepping into her own.
When she got inside, Killian looked panicked, her house smelled funny and there was an entire box of pizza sticking out of her trash can.
“Mom’s home.” She announced, heading into the living room to see Henry laying on the couch. The boy sat up and smiled at her.
“Hey mom, I’m feeling much better now.”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “Baby, are you sure, you sounded so bad on the phone.”
Killian was glaring at the boy. “You were keeled over in pain two minutes ago.”
“I know, but it’s all gone now. Must have been gas. I’m gonna go to bed, I’m exhausted.” He said, yawning. Turning toward Killian he launched his arms around his neck. “This was the most awesome night I’ve had in ages. You’re the best.”
He ran off toward his room leaving Killian and Emma staring after him in stunned confusion.
“Ok that was odd.” Emma said with a frown. “Has he been like that all evening?”
“Honestly, this has been a terrible evening, the lad is being way too nice by stating that it was a anything but a disaster.” Emma had to laugh at the way his face appeared to be genuinely upset by the events of his evening.
“Ok well, just tell me what happened.”
“First off, the bloody pizza fell on the floor, your Blu-ray player almost burned the house down, Uno is the rudest game I’ve ever played, and you have porn on your television.” He ended with an exasperated sigh.
Emma stifled the laugh that was threatening to roll off her tongue. He was clearly having a bad evening. “So, when did Henry get sick?”
“That’s the thing, he was fine one minute and doubled over in pain the next. Is he always like that?”
“No, I have no idea what’s gotten into him.”
“Well, I’m glad he’s feeling better, and if there’s nothing else you need, then I shall take my leave as I have never been so exhausted in all my life.”
Emma cleared her throat. “Um, I actually need to tell you something first.”
“Is everything alright, Swan?”
Emma sat down on the couch and gestured for him to join her. He tentatively sat down next to her. “I don’t know how to say this.”
“Out with it, love.”
“Belle is cheating on you.” She spat out suddenly.
“Swan, are you concerned about my welfare?” He said with a chuckle and Emma couldn’t believe how casual he was acting after hearing the news.
“Did you hear me? She’s cheating on you. I just saw her outside Will’s apartment and they were kissing.”
He laughed. “Is that so? I guess they really hit it off.”
“Killian, aren’t you upset right now? I’m so sorry. I can’t believe that Will would behave like this.”
“Don’t be too angry with the lad. He spoke to me first.”
Emma’s mouth dropped. “You approved of him dating your girlfriend?”
“That’s the thing Emma, Belle isn’t my girlfriend, she never was. Not really. We just…existed. But I’m happy for her.” Killian stood from the couch and Emma rose to follow him.
“I don’t understand, she wasn’t your girlfriend?”
“Nah, Belle and I outlived our time. I don’t do relationships.” He said quietly.
“You don’t do relationships?” Emma stated incredulously.
“They just don’t…” He sighed. “Sadly, relationships don’t work out for me, Swan.” He paused. “Love brings nothing but wasted years and endless torment.” He smiled sadly. “So, believe me when I say, I’m happy for her, I hope it works out better for her than it did for me.”
~*~
Two weeks ago
“We need to talk.” Belle showed up at his door at 7am on a Saturday and Killian knew it couldn’t be for a good reason. She had been avoiding him for days.
“I’ve found that when a woman says that I’m rarely in for a pleasant conversation.”
“This isn’t working for me.”
“Aye, I know.”
“I love you, Killian. I really do.”
He sighed, “I love you too. And I don’t say those words lightly. I haven’t used them with another woman since Milah.” Belle frowned. “But I can’t give you what you want and that’s not fair to you. You deserve to be loved by a man who can promise you forever.”
“You need to stop running away from love or you’re going to be alone forever.”
“Don’t worry about me, love. I’m a big boy.”
She ran her hand across his cheek. “You deserve to be happy, Killian. What happened with Milah isn’t your ending. You weren’t the villain in that tale, you were a victim.”
“That’s a story we tell ourselves to sleep better at night.” He laughed. “I just want you to be happy, you deserve that.”
“I think I could be, but…”
“What is it?”
“I, I met someone. Nothing serious, yet, but we’ve been talking. Mostly online.”
“An online bloke?”
“About that…” She closed her eyes. “It’s Will.”
“Will, as in 4B, Will Scarlett?”
“Yes, I started watching his streaming channel and we just started chatting afterwards. He’s a really funny guy and so sweet.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He laughed. “I’m happy for you.” He wrapped his arms around the woman, hugging her tightly.
“Are you going to be alright?” She mumbled against his chest.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m a survivor, love.”
Killian let the door close behind him as he walked slowly to his apartment. Standing in the dark shadows of the room he tried to ignore the silence of the empty apartment, his feelings overtaking him for the first time in years as he wiped a stray tear from his eye.
#skyline manor#stacy's fics#killian jones#emma swan#captain swan modern au#captain swan fics#captain swan au#captain swan
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hello!! i just wanted to ask- i wanna do an ouat rewatch bc CAPTAIN SWANN but its pretty long and i honestly dont care for the other characters/how badly the overall writing was handled.. which are your favourite captain swan eps? anything them centered and i think ill just skip around to rewatch their romance as they did invent romance 😭😭 ty in advance <3
they absolutely did invent romance, you are right about that and i love them so much
UHMMMM as far as my favorite CS eps, here’s a roadmap of what I personally consider key eps in their journey (some of this is from memory but I haven’t done a full rewatch in a while so i’m going through the episode list as a refresher)
2x06: Tallahassee--this is a must-watch ep for any CS fan, and I really think this is the episode that sparked the fire that CS would become as a fandom. It has everything--flirtatious banter, all kinds of tension, deliberate parallels drawn between Emma and Killian’s pasts, as well as their first meeting being intercut with her relationship with Neal (which serves, especially in hindsight, to highlight just how sketchy that relationship was, and why she couldn’t bring herself to trust Killian--because the last time she felt this way about anyone, it ended horribly)
2x08 and 2x09: Into the Deep and Queen of Hearts--these episodes cover the race to the portal between Emma&co and Hook/Cora and while they don’t do a ton for CS as a relationship since they’re still enemies at this point, it lays great foundation for their future relationship development. Plus, sexy swordfight, Hook going out of his way to save Aurora’s heart--he may be a pirate, but he has standards ok--and Emma realizing Cora can’t remove her heart without her permission? Poetic Cinema
2x11: The Outsider--more of a Killian-centric episode, it shows a lot of Killian at his worst but it’s necessary for his overall character arc and I genuinely love looking back and seeing just how far he managed to come, to the point of eventually even letting go of his (very understandable) grudge against Rumplestiltskin.
2x12: In the Name of the Brother--am I including this purely for Emma&Hook banter in the hospital, and Killian saying ‘hey beautiful’ when he’s lying on the road because he just got hit by a fucking car? You bet I am. Also, go to youtube and look up ‘ouat season two deleted scene jello’, because it’s beautiful and there was a tremendous outcry in the fandom when we realized it had been cut from the episode lmao (It’s also the episode that made me start shipping Frankenwolf, which I’m still sad never went anywhere, but they had a lot of potential and great chemistry.)
2x22: And Straight On Till Morning--A few of the episodes in between have some fun minor interactions and flashbacks (and I always approve of episodes where Killian gets one up on Rumple, so 2x15 is fun for me if i ignore all the Neal bits) but the finale is where we finally get a glimpse of who Killian could be beyond his need for revenge. He didn’t have to come back, he didn’t have to bring back the bean and help the town--but he did.
Season 3a: there’s a lot of really good stuff here for Hook and Emma that is interwoven between the A plots of other episodes. I think, as far as half-season arcs go, it’s one of the best (and everything after 4a bombed hard, but I digress) But there are a few episodes that stand out if you don’t want to watch the whole season. (I recommend starting with the premier though, it was a really solid season starter overall.)
3x05: Good Form--this is the culmination of David’s poisoned-by-dreamshade arc, and is also Peak Captain Charming Bromance. Hook not only keeping David’s secret, but doing everything he can to help save him??? Poetic cinema. It also provides some crucial Killian backstory, showing how he lost his brother to the very same dreamshade. Plus, the character development--Pan offers Killian a chance to escape the island with Emma if he kills David, and instead, he saves him, refusing the deal and damn the consequences. Also also? The first CS kiss which drove the fandom WILD.
3X06: Ariel--not only to I love OUaT’s take on Ariel, but this episode has the infamous Echo Cave scene, which involves a lot of feelsy confessions and Killian being the one to tell everyone that Neal is alive and helping Emma save him despite his own growing feelings for her.....IT’S JUST A LOT AND I LOVE IT.
3x07: Dark Hallow--oh man, I’d forgotten about this episode, but it has Killian and Neal fighting over Emma, which may sound eye-roll worthy, but Emma is allowed to tear them a new one about it and it’s one of the few times she’s allowed to actually???? put her own feelings first so I have to include it here on spec
3x11 and 3x12: Going Home and New York City Serenade--these mark the end of 3a and start of 3b respectively, and it has some amazing shit like Killian vowing never to forget Emma and Emma smiling as she replies, “Good.” And then she and Henry are in New York with their memories completely altered, but Killian shows up because Storybrooke is back and in jeopardy, and he helps Emma get back to her family and her home and, much later, Emma finds out he sold the Jolly Roger to be able to do it and it’s just. It’s beautiful ok.
3x17: The Jolly Roger--there’s honestly not a whole lot in the back half of season 3 (until the CS movie) but of course anything named for Hook is a must-watch, and this is where we get the iconic line I swear on Emma Swan--which is Killian saying he’s in love with her before he even realizes it. We also find out just what he did to Ariel, and his attempts to make amends are what lead to Zelena being able to curse him, so it’s great from a character perspective as well.
The next four episodes round out the end of the season, and there’s a lot of great stuff in them--Hook refusing to get Emma to kiss him, but Emma feeling like she can’t trust him because he didn’t tell her about the curse to begin with, and then kissing him anyway to save his life regardless of the consequences.... but the only ones that are absolutely necessary are the final two episodes.
They are colloquially termed ‘The Captain Swan Movie’ for a reason, after all.
Killian and Emma essentially have an entire Time Travel adventure all to themselves, where they accidentally ruin her parents first meeting and have to fix it so that she’ll even be born, Emma finally getting into the storybook, the pair of them dancing at a ball, Killian rushing to save Emma only for her to get out of the cell herself, because “The only one who saves me is me.” Killian saying “I would go to the ends of the world for her... or time.” Finally fixing the timeline and making it back to Storybrooke and Killian feeling like he doesn’t deserve a place at the table so he doesn’t go inside, but Emma comes out to him anyway and finds out he gave up the Jolly Roger for her, the true start to their relationship...... IM CRYING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT I’M SORRY.
I personally really enjoyed 4a, the Frozen arc was one of the last good half-season arcs of the show, but a lot of people disliked it so it’s really up to interpretation. I don’t have as many Intense Opinions on this season (except hating almost everything about 4b and the queens of darkness arc), but I will say the episodes with good Killian/CS moments are 4x02 (Emma nearly freezes to death, Killian is desperate to save her, Captain Charming teamwork, my heart hurts), 4x04 (Emma asks Killian out on a real date, he tries to get his real hand back from Gold, things go massively awry and he winds up back under Gold’s thumb), 4x08 (Killian tries to save Emma from Gold’s plans), 4x11 (the 4a finale is just great in general), and then..... it cannot be overstated how much I hate season 4b, but 4x15 is the Killian-centric ep where his past with Ursula is revealed and he makes amends to her in order to get her to leave the QoD alliance and it’s great character stuff for him, and then there’s the season 4 finale.
Both parts are worth watching, if only because Deckhand Coward Hook still being a braver, more heroic man than ‘Hero Rumplestiltskin’ warms the very cockles of my heart, and of course the second part of the finale has him helping Henry to save Emma and it’s beautiful and also Emma watches him die for her and it is angsty as FUCK but gods I love it. Here’s where it gets tricky, though--my recommendation is, turn the episode off right after Emma finds Killian back in the present day of Storybrooke and they reunite.
Just turn off the episode there and skip right ahead to the s6 musical episode (Emma and Killian’s wedding ep) and pretend they got married and none of seasons 5 or 6 ever happened. >.> (Although I will say certain parts of the Underworld arc were incredibly feelsy despite how much I overall hated the season: 5x11 (the 5a finale, Killian as the dark one STILL being a better man than rumple, we love to see it), 5x15 (I am not immune to Brothers Jones feelings ok), 5x20 (emma literally takes a True Love Test trying to find a way to save killian, you don’t get more romantic than that--also Killian telling Emma to promise she won’t put her armor back up just because she lost him again??? my HEART), 5x21 (Hook does what he can from the Underworld anyway and zeus sends him back to Emma, they really just said ‘today I will invent romance’ and then Did That)
And then, yeah, just skip to the wedding. It’s beautiful, I enjoyed the music, personally, though I know musical episodes are hit or miss with most people. And if you turn it off when the last musical number starts (after the wedding ceremony, I believe) you can pretend it was the end of the show! =DDD
.....Oh my god I just rambled for years. I HOPE YOU FIND THIS USEFUL, ANON. I 100% support a CS-centered rewatch, their episodes were consistently some of the best across the entire series, and they are truly one of my favorite romances of all time.
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