#how do normal people react when reserved fathers finally open up to their children and show their emotions cause how i’m reacting tells me
Text
My Friend’s Father (Part Three)
Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader
Warning: Smut
Words: 2,947
Notes:
I have decided to make this into a series.
Alright, no judgment. This was a dream of mine and I felt like I had to write it down. Everyone in this Fic is over the age of 18 and this Fic is in no way based on Cillian’s real family life. It’s pure filth.
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Cillian’s POV
Shortly after Denise got home from her rather miserable date with Jeremy, Cillian went to bed. It was only 9 o’clock but he thought that he would spend some time finishing reading the book he had started to read two nights ago.
The problem was that, even when he tried hard to focus on the content of the book, he couldn’t.
His mind was overrun with guilt about what had happened between you all so suddenly and unexpectedly and he still wasn’t so sure why he had given into you so easily. It was almost like he had lost all of his self-control in that moment.
This kind of behaviour was unusual for him. Usually, he would have been more sensible than this. After all, he was 45 and never had a one-night stand in his entire life.
Would you share this with anyone?
Probably not, he thought. He had known you for a while and you weren’t the type of woman who was actively seeking attention. You were always somewhat nerdy and a bit of loner. For years, he had known you to be sensible and he always liked that you were looking out for his daughter Denise. You were more mature than her and were always somewhat shy and reserved.
With this in mind, he was even more surprised by your actions. You seducing him the way you did seemed out of character for you which made him nervous.
Did you have feelings for him?
He certainly hoped that you didn’t. For him, this was nothing but sex and he would hate to give you the feeling that it was something more. He didn’t want to hurt you.
He should never have given into you. He knew that it was wrong and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why he acted so selfishly because, in his mind, this was exactly what it was. An act of selfishness.
You were young and clearly inexperienced which made this whole thing even worse. It was obvious to Cillian that you hadn’t been with many men before and he felt as though he took advantage of you even despite the fact that you were the one who made a move on him. He should have stopped you.
The fact that he is seeing someone else in Manchester didn’t help either and, whilst it wasn’t anything serious or exclusive, it felt wrong to him to be intimate with you which, in his own mind, brought him to another dilemma all together.
Why didn’t he use protection when he slept with you?
He knew that he could have simply walked into his son’s bedroom and find what he needed. But he didn’t. Instead, he was so consumed by lust that he forgot all about the need to be play it safe. Of course, he always reminded his adult children about the importance of protection and yet, he failed to adhere to his own rules.
Whilst he knew that you didn’t have many sexual partners and any risk associated with contracting STDs was somewhat low, he worried that you weren’t on birth control.
Why on earth didn’t he at least ask you about it? Was it too late to ask you now? Why did you make him pull out?
WHAT THE FUCK HAD HE DONE???
He panicked and he knew he had to talk to you in order to ease his mind.
YOUR POV
After you listened to Denise about her date gone wrong and what an asshole Jeremy actually was, you also made your way to bed. You felt terrible for her but knew that she would meet someone else who would make her happy and treat her well.
But her date with Jeremy wasn’t the only thing you felt terrible about. Even more so, you felt terrible about sleeping with her father which you knew was wrong and yet, you tried to justify it in your head.
Why did you act so selfishly and gave into your sexual needs?
This was something you had never done before. You were rather careful when it came to getting yourself involved with guys.
You had taken a liking in your friend’s father several years ago when you were 19. But then, it was just a silly crush you thought.
When you heard about his divorce however, you began to fantasise about him in your sleep and this was simply a fantasy you had finally acted upon.
This, however, didn’t change the fact that he was your friend’s father.
Would she mind if she knew?
Maybe she wouldn’t. She might just think that you are disgusting for sleeping with her dad but, in the end of the day, you are two consenting adults.
Why couldn’t you stop even when you realised that what you were doing was wrong?
When you made the first move it was almost like you were in a trance. You were overwhelmed. You wanted every bit of it but you never experienced sex quite like this. It was intense and he certainly knew what he was doing.
Whilst Cillian was much older than you, you were extremely attracted to him. Everything about him was perfect in your mind and he felt incredible when he was inside you.
You wanted so much more and thought that, perhaps, if it was just sex, it wasn’t wrong after all.
Together Again
Just as those thoughts raced through your mind, you heard a quite knock on the door.
Thinking that it was Denise, you didn’t bother to cover up as you were sitting on the guest bed in black cotton panties and a tight cotton singlet.
To your surprise, however, it wasn’t Denise who walked into the guestroom when you called out ‘come in’. It was Cillian.
His chin dropped as soon as he saw you. For some reason, he took a liking in your rather simple but yet revealing outfit, your messy hair and your black framed reading glasses.
‘Hey’ you simply said shyly as he was standing there speechless.
‘Hey’ he responded, swallowing harshly before telling you that he needed to talk to you.
‘Sure’ you said, putting the magazine down which you were reading along with your reading glasses. Then, you scooted over on the bed and indicated to him to sit down next to you.
His scent was intoxicating. He was freshly showered and his hair was still wet but you could still smell a hint of his aftershave on him.
‘So, what do you want to talk about?’ you asked without bothering to cover up your naked skin and you could see Cillian’s mind working overtime while the tension was building.
‘About what happened between us’ he then stammered while he observed your eyes wandering towards where they shouldn’t. But, you couldn’t help it and, when you noticed that he was reacting to your presence, you bit your lips seductively.
‘What happened between us was just sex. It’s not a big deal. People have sex all the time and you can trust me Cillian. It will remain our little secret’ you said in a seductive voice while moving your hand over Cillian’s upper thigh, through the hairs on his exposed skin and then all the way towards the rim of his boxers.
‘Y/N’ he barely managed to stammer, swallowing harshly.
‘Yes Cillian?’ you then smirked, noticing the effect you were having on him and moving your hand farther up his legs and beneath his boxers where you began to stroke his cock.
‘You are so hard’ you then whispered as you received no response from him other than a groan and, just as you did, Cillian took hold of you and pushed you beneath him in one swift movement.
Without words, Cillian’s warm lips met yours in a passionate kiss. The kiss was more urgent than before and you loved the way he asserted his dominance as his tongue circled around yours.
He felt such desire for you that he thought he would explode and, whilst he was normally quite vocal, every word he tried to say and every question he was going to ask you, were caught in his throat.
Wrapping your arms round him you ran your hands up and down his firm back as your mouths ground together. Sucking on each other's lips and plunging your tongues into each other’s mouth.
You couldn’t believe how wonderful it was to be kissed in such an experienced, almost sophisticated way and Cillian was marvelling at how someone so young could have learned to kiss so well.
Within split seconds and in between heated kisses, Cillian’s t-shirt and your singlet landed on the floor.
It wasn’t long until Cillian’s mouth left yours and began to wander over your firm breasts and then all the way down to your stomach which is where they came to a halt.
He interlocked his fingers with your panties and pulled them down, letting them join the other clothes on the floor before his head gracefully disappeared in between your legs.
‘It goes without saying, but you need to be quiet’ Cillian chuckled and you barely managed to nod before you covered your own mouth with the palm of your hand as Cillian dipped his tongue straight into your wetness.
‘Oh god yes’ you whimpered quietly as the rasping roughness of his tongue slid along your velvety wetness and sent enormous tremors through you.
You had little experience of either, receiving or, giving oral sex. In your world of mainly inexperienced boys, it was hardly on the agenda as they were generally too keen to get their rocks off to worry overly about your pleasure. In any case in the usually rushed episodes in the back of cars or downstairs with parents in bed there was hardly the time let alone the opportunity for languid pussy licking or sensual cock sucking. In the world of the forty-five year-old man lying between your opened legs, however, it very much was on the agenda and he seemed to enjoy it just as much as you did.
You moaned loudly as you were holding Cillian’s head in both hands as he licked the length of your pussy. He did it slowly with just the right amount of pressure making sure that the tip of his tongue fully anointed both lips and licked just inside them on that especially sensitive area.
When you moaned a little too loudly again, he reminded you to be quiet just before he sucked and kissed you again, covering every inch of the outside of your pussy before pushing the straightened tip of his tongue inside and probing upwards licking the insides as he started to tongue fuck you.
‘This feels so fucking good’ you stammered, legs shaking and quivering while Cillian held you tightly and it wasn’t long until you reached an orgasm which sent convulsions through your body.
You moaned a little too loud again as your whole body tingled and felt tender to the touch and tears of pleasure and relief, with a tinge of guilt, poured down your cheeks.
‘That was amazing’ you eventually huffed out as you slowly came down from your high and Cillian kissed his way back up your body until his lips reached yours.
‘You taste so fucking good’ he then whispered into your ear after your lips drifted apart and, just as he did, you reached in between his legs and began stroking his cock which was still rock hard.
‘I want to feel you inside me again…please…just once more’ you begged and the sound of you begging alone made Cillian groan.
‘Fuck Y/N…I want you so much’ he whispered as he pulled down his boxers and his wiggling body urged your legs to open so that his cock lay between your thighs with the bulbous end of it pressed against your lips.
‘Then take me’ you groaned marvelling at the fact your friend's dad was about to fuck you.
With the tip of his cock just slightly parting the lips of your pussy and his arms round your body with his hands gripping your taught bum he muttered something you couldn’t understand. It was obvious to you that his mind was hardly able to accept what was happening. Nonetheless, he wanted it so badly and, with a shrug of his hips, he sank his cock deep into your gorgeously tight and wonderfully welcoming pussy.
‘Oh god yes, Cillian’ you groaned as your fingernails were digging into his back.
He pushed himself in as far as it would go, eliciting more groans from you which he had to quickly silence with his lips.
You felt light-headed and deliriously happy. You also felt very filled. Cillian was bigger than the other guys you had been with and you loved the feeling of being stretched. The folds of skin that guard your clit seemed to be open and that so sensitive place felt to be exposed, so as Cillian started moving slowly up and down it was as though his cock was rubbing on it. You had never felt anything like it before. Just as you had never felt like cumming when a man's cock had only been inside you for a few moments.
Somehow, however, you managed to delay your release just a little bit longer, enjoying as Cillian thrusted into you hard and deep until, eventually, the inevitable happened.
‘Let go, there is no need to hold back’ Cillian reassured you and, just as he did, you allowed your orgasm to wash over you.
‘Oh god Cillian, fuck’ you shouted out and he quickly covered your mouth with his hand as he continued to thrust into and watched you lose control.
Your legs were shaking once again as you gave in and, when you finally came down, Cillian pulled out of you.
Thinking that he was done and that he wanted you to proceed as before, you scooted up but, to your surprise, Cillian pulled you on top of him instead.
‘Your turn to take what you need Y/N’ Cillian whispered and you couldn’t help but shiver at his words. He wanted you on top and that was yet another first for you.
‘You can cum again’ he then said but you couldn’t help but shake your head.
‘I don’t think I can, but I am willing to try’ you smirked. He had already given you four orgasms that day which were four more orgasms than anyone else before him had given you.
‘I bet you can’ he then winked and you nodded shyly before taking his hard cock into your hand and lining it up with your entrance.
‘I will be sore tomorrow I think’ you whispered as, with a moan, you sank down on his hard cock.
‘Yes, you will be’ Cillian chuckled as, all of a sudden, he thrusted upwards and deep into your mound, causing you to cry out in pleasure.
Once again, he covered your mouth with his hand as you began to ride him.
‘You feel so fucking good, you know that?’ Cillian groaned as you began to move up and down on his hard shaft. He certainly had become vocal now and you loved it.
‘So tight around my cock’ he then groaned as he met your thrusts and he could hear you starting to whimper.
‘Oh god…yes, fuck my pussy’ you moaned quietly, holding his hand and keeping it near your mouth while sucking on his fingers.
‘Cum inside me Cillian. I want to feel it. Fill me with your cum’ you then demanded as you began to ride his cock harder and faster and, by this point, Cillian had lost all self-control.
The dirty talk, the tightness of your pussy and the way your lips played with his fingers was too much for him.
‘Cum with me Cillian’ you then moaned as you let go and so did he.
‘Oh god Cillian, yes…fuck’ you groaned as such amazing feelings flooded your body and you felt him push into you as far as he could go.
‘Fuck Y/N’ grunted as you both climaxed simultaneously and you soared to a height of pleasure you had never previously experienced when Cillian’s cock exploded sending streams of his cum into you.
‘Oh god that was amazing’ you eventually huffed out when you both stopped moving.
‘Jesus Y/N’ Cillian grunted almost at the same time before his eyes shot open and he saw your satisfied smile.
Carefully, you climbed off him, releasing his cock from your tight pussy before you sat down on the bed next to him.
You spread your legs and, with curious eyes, you looked down on yourself and watched some of Cillian’s cum leak from your core.
‘That feels so fucking good…so warm and wet’ you observed as you collected some of his cum with your finger and brought it to your mouth while Cillian cocked an eyebrow, wondering what you were doing.
‘Uhm…?’ Cillian chuckled, watching you almost speechlessly but yet somewhat turned on.
‘I never had a guy cum inside me but this is so fucking sexy’ you observed with a laugh before reshuffling yourself and collapsing into his arms.
‘Yeah, about that…’ Cillian went on to say…
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#cillian murphy smut#cillian murphy#cillian murphy x reader#cillian murphy imagine#cillian murphy x y#cillian x reader#cillian murphy x you#cillian x y/n#cillian murphy x y/n#smut#fanfic#fanfiction#agegap
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My prompt is just more trans au. Various people reacting to baobei. Just i love trans au so much thank u for this gift.
Baobai Pt 1 - on tumblr, on ao3
-
“Oh, hey, you have a kid,” Wei Wuxian said, out of lack of any other conversational topics that weren’t ‘so are you here to kill us all?’. Kids were usually a good, neural topic, especially when they were that small. “Look at her, she’s so tiny! Her parents know you brought her out here?”
“She’s da-ge’s,” Lan Xichen said with a smile and a nod towards Nie Mingjue, who as tall and terrifying as always. He was glowering at the half-grown radish fields as if he was personally offended by them.
“Congratulations, Chifeng-zun,” Wei Wuxian said to him, hoping to stave off any impending violence. The baby was young enough that the mom was probably still in isolation recovering, and maybe hadn’t consented to said baby being brought to the Burial Mounds of all places - certainly Wei Wuxian wouldn’t have agreed to cart a small infant all the way from Qinghe, and he’d thought mothers preferred to remain near their children in the few months after birth - but Wei Wuxian was not really in a position to object.
Certainly not after the quick work Nie Mingjue’s saber made of all of his defensive arrays. That man was scary.
“Thank you,” Nie Mingjue said, and it was awkward for a moment until he added, “Pain in the ass to acquire.”
That made everything better: Wei Wuxian knew how to deal with snark. “Oh yeah? Carried her yourself, did you?”
“Ten fucking months,” Nie Mingjue said, and Wei Wuxian laughed and shot Lan Xichen a wink, figuring that his stupid joke about having given birth to A-Yuan had made the rounds. Funny, he wouldn’t have pegged Lan Wangji to be the sort of person to pass on jokes…
At that point, Nie MIngjue twisted his head around to look at Wen Ning and Wen Qing, who were hovering nearby, trying to hide A-Yuan behind their legs, and said, “She’s your cousin three times removed, if I have my family tree down right, so stop being queasy and let the kid come see her.”
“Fuck,” Wen Qing said, and abruptly sat down. “I’m sorry.”
Wei Wuxian had the distinct feeling he was missing something, especially when Wen Ning’s expression shifted from equally puzzled to outright horrified.
“It’s not exactly your fault, you’re not soldiers,” Nie Mingjue said, and glared at the radish field again. “But in all seriousness: let the kid see her.”
Wen Qing waved a vague hand at A-Yuan, who correctly interpreted it as permission and zoomed over to the baby as fast as his little legs could carry him. He was in that another-kid-how-cool phase that all kids had, and babies were a particular fascination.
“You’re cousins?” Wei Wuxian asked Nie Mingjue, feeling a bit weird about. Three times removed wasn’t close, but still…of all people...“With the Wen sect? You?”
Nie Huaisang made a strangled noise that from anyone else Wei Wuxian would have said sounded a bit like he was going to imminently stab someone.
Nie Mingjue just gave Wei Wuxian a look like he was an idiot.
“No,” he said very slowly. “I’m not.”
Wei Wuxian continued not to get it, right up until he glanced at Wen Ning who mouthed a name at him and – wait, but no, that’s impossible – but he’d have to be – wait, he was from Qinghe –
Wei Wuxian suddenly noticed that he had sat down on the ground as well at some point.
“Pain in the ass,” he said blankly. “Right.”
Nie Huaisang was glaring at him like he really was going to pull out his never-used saber to start chopping Wei Wuxian into bits, and honestly that might be a preferable option to the sheer awkwardness of having just put two and two together like that in front of so many people. Maybe he could use demonic cultivation to open the ground up beneath him? It’d never been done before, but then again, that was most things he did…
“Why are people so weird about babies?” Nie Mingjue complained, picking up the baby in one arm and a giggling and blissfully ignorant A-Yuan in the other, swinging them both around a bit. “They’re like – lumps of little people. We were all babies once. It’s not that weird.”
“You heard him,” Jin Guangyao said to Wei Wuxian with a smile that looked like it had daggers in it. “It’s not weird at all. Right?”
“Right!” Wei Wuxian said hastily.
Apparently scary people flocked together. Though, did that mean there something he was missing about Lan Xichen..?
-
Lan Xichen smiled at Jin Guangyao, who smiled back. That was really the only good thing about these discussion conferences, he thought – they were long and draining and he had to meet a lot of people he didn’t want to see (Sect Leader Yao ranked highly), but he got to spend a great deal of time with his sworn brothers, which he didn’t often manage. And, really, that made everything worth it.
“How are things going?” he asked in an undertone, scanning Jin Guangyao with his eyes. Madame Jin did not have the reputation for being a kind woman, especially not about her husband’s affairs, and he couldn’t help but worry.
“Manageable,” Jin Guangyao assured him, though it wasn’t really that comforting. “It helps that this conference isn’t at Jinlin Tower – less to arrange, less work to fall on my shoulders. It’s positively easy by comparison. When did you arrive? We’ve been here for a shichen already, setting up.”
“Just now. They’re still moving our things into our rooms –”
“Er-ge! San-ge!” Nie Huaisang’s voice rang out, sharp and clear and murderous; they both turned to look at him at once to try to determine if it was the sort of murderous that meant someone had bought out a painting he’d liked before he got there or if it someone had actually offended him. He had a fixed smile on his face, which boded no one any good. “I was just looking for you. I want to chat.”
“What happened?” Lan Xichen asked, looking around – they were more or less alone, and a quick hand-seal made it so that they wouldn’t be easily overheard. “Did someone do something to Baobei…?”
He couldn’t believe they still hadn’t named her, the poor thing.
(Jin Guangyao had briefly been lobbying for them to name her A-Shi, but then Nie Mingjue told him that if he wanted to have a girl named Nie Shi he ought to man up and sire her himself, and ever since then Jin Guangyao had been proposing different names entirely. Possibly he was concerned Nie Mingjue would take back the offer if he used up the name.)
“Surely not,” Jin Guangyao said. “In the middle of the Lotus Pier…?”
“Not Baobei,” Nie Huaisang said. “But your father just figured out who carried her, and he just – he put his hands – he said he had the right to check on account of da-ge having misled them –”
Lan Xichen observed, a little distantly, that he’d previously thought that the phrase ‘seeing red’ was an exaggeration, rather than a perfectly accurate description.
“Did da-ge rip him to pieces?” Jin Guangyao asked, sounding as if he was very much in favor of that result.
“He did not,” Nie Huaisang said. “You know how he is during these conferences; he’s far too reserved. Slapped his hands away but didn’t do anything else about it.”
“Surely that would put an end to it…?” Lan Xichen suggested, mildly hopeful, but the expression on Jin Guangyao and Nie Huaisang’s face did not fill him with much expectation.
“He’ll try something,” Jin Guangyao said flatly. His voice tremored briefly, full of rage even he couldn’t hide, and he gripped his hands together tightly. “He will try something.”
“Sect Leader Jiang will help us keep them separate for the conference,” Nie Huaisang said. “He still hasn’t figured out the details of Baobei’s parentage, I think he’s convinced himself that men just bear children – in some way that man is as dumb as a rock, same as when we were teenagers, I don’t know how anyone is that gullible – but he’s offended on da-ge’s behalf anyway. But when the conference is over for the evening…”
“It would be unfilial of me to plan my own father’s assassination,” Jin Guangyao said, and his eyes slide towards Lan Xichen, questioning. “But if you wanted to have a theoretical discussion regarding the security system at Jinlin Tower, and the weaknesses thereof…”
“Yes,” Lan Xichen said, putting aside all concerns regarding the morality of assassinations, and found that he didn’t regret the decision one bit. He’d barely tolerated that lecher when he had no choice, when he was Jin Guangyao’s father and a powerful sect leader. But putting his hands on da-ge – thinking of doing more – “Let’s have that...theoretical discussion.”
“I knew I could count on you two,” Nie Huaisang said with satisfaction. “So here’s what I was thinking –”
-
One of the worst days of Nie Huaisang’s life started quite normally – waking up when his brother lifted him bodily out of bed and slung him over his shoulder.
“Da-ge!” he yelped. “Da-ge, no – it’s too early –”
“If you stayed up late, that’s your own problem,” his brother said with the sort of purposeful cheerful sadism that only a person who actually enjoyed waking up with the sun to go train could employ. “I told you yesterday that we were going to be training this morning.”
“But da-ge –”
“You missed the last three days. You’re not missing today.”
But it’s so fucking early, Nie Huaisang thought despairingly, drooping into dead weight over his brother’s shoulder – not that that helped, of course. His brother was too damn strong.
“Are you sure you’re not taking out your feelings about getting fat on me?” he asked, poking at his brother’s somewhat-rounder-than-usual waist. “That peacetime bulge of yours hasn’t gotten any smaller, you know…”
In all honestly, Nie Huaisang was delighted by the small swell of his brother’s usually flat stomach. His brother wasn’t vain – his body was a tool shaped for purpose – and the idea that his brother had finally let go enough, whether by eating more or resting more, to actually gain some weight…
“Whatever you say, pork bun,” his brother said, and Nie Huaisang yelped and hit him because he was not a pork bun! No matter how pale or chubby he might become!
It was a hot day, which of course made going through the steps of training even more miserable than usual. His brother was patient as always, showing him the steps and then making him repeat them a few times before starting up his own morning training routine; after a while, they both got into a nice rhythm, swings and chops.
Training wasn’t that bad, especially when it meant he could spend more time with his always-busy brother. He still didn’t like it, and obviously he had a reputation to uphold, and yes, it was obnoxious to get up early...but it could be worst.
And then, just as Nie Huaisang was turning to tell his brother a joke he’d heard the day before, he saw his brother abruptly turn pale and fall over.
He even dropped Baxia.
“Da-ge!” Nie Huaisang screamed, a thousand ancient fears rearing their heads at once, and he rushed over at top speed. “Someone get a doctor! Quick!”
Not a qi deviation, not a qi deviation, don’t be a qi deviation, he prayed, dropping to his knees next to his brother, who was already waking up – eyes clear, not red, and looking more confused than anything else. He’s too young, I’m not ready, I can’t lose him, not him, not yet, please –
On Nie Huaisang’s instructions, some of the nearby retainers helped Nie Mingjue back inside, even though he was insisting that he was fine.
“You collapsed,” Nie Huaisang snapped at him. “In morning training. You are going to see a doctor, and that’s final.”
Nie Mingjue held up his hands in surrender, looking amused at Nie Huaisang’s uncharacteristic fierceness. His amusement faded into sympathy when he realized why Nie Huaisang was so tense – their father’s death had hit them both hard – and he pulled Nie Huaisang into his arms for a hug.
“It’s not that,” he said confidently. “Not yet. The doctor will tell you.”
The doctor’s face did something funny, though, when he listened to Nie Mingjue’s pulse. Not the oh-no-it-really-is-a-minor-qi-deviation sort of funny or even a nah-total-fluke-you’re-overreacting sort of funny, more of a what-the-fuck sort of funny.
“What is it?” Nie Huaisang demanded. He knew enough medicine – the entire Nie sect knew enough medicine – to understand most basic diagnoses, as well as what they might mean for future health. “What type of pulse?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Well?” Nie Mingjue said. “Spit it out.”
“…a joy pulse,” the doctor said. “About five months, I’d guess.”
For a moment Nie Huaisang didn’t understand. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what a joy pulse was – he did have female friends, some of whom were now mothers – nor that he didn’t know that his brother was capable of carrying, he’d known that forever.
It was just that his brother was an antisocial misanthrope. He didn’t have any lovers, as far as Nie Huaisang knew, which meant he shouldn’t have a joy pulse.
Besides, five months ago they were still at war! His brother took his duties far too seriously to waste time on a battlefield dallying with someone, anyone, and especially not if there was a major battle around that time. Five months ago there must have been one – which one was it?
Five months…the main force of the army had gone up from Xingtai to Shijiazhuang six months ago, and then there would have been – Yangquan.
Yangquan.
When his brother had been duped by false information into leading an attack on what should have been a mostly abandoned outpost, but which turned out to be in the middle of being reinforced by Wen Ruohan personally – when his brother had been captured – tortured – and even -
“Shit,” his brother said, presumably realizing at that exact moment that Nie Huaisang was capable of math and also dates and possibly even logic. “Doctor, you can go, thank you.”
Nie Huaisang didn’t even hear the doctor leave.
“Huaisang…didi…” His brother was trying to pull him into a hug, but Nie Huaisang didn’t want one, struggling unsuccessfully to get away. He didn’t want to be any closer to – to that – to the creature sitting his brother’s stomach, weighing him down; to what he’d thought was a sign of peace and good times and what was actually nothing more than yet another scar left by the war.
He’d actually been happy about it, and the thought twisted his stomach.
“Can you get rid of it?” he asked, voice strangled. “You can, right? It’s still early…”
“Five months is pretty close to quickening,” his brother said, wincing. “After quickening, the medicines don’t work as well. It might not be that easy.”
“Do you know how dangerous childbirth is?!” Nie Huaisang demanded. His mouth was moving on automatic; he wasn’t even thinking about what he was saying. He wasn’t thinking of anything, anything at all, because if he was thinking he’d have to think – he’d have to – his brother – “What if it kills you? You can’t let them kill you! Not after everything we did to avenge A-die!”
“I’m not going to die,” Nie Mingjue said, holding him tightly, his chin on Nie Huaisang’s head the way they always where when they hugged. “I’m a very good cultivator, Huaisang. My golden core will keep me healthy, even if I start bleeding…it won’t be like your mother. I promise.”
Nie Huaisang started shaking. “Da-ge,” he whimpered, pressing his face into his brother’s shoulder. “Da-ge, tell me…”
“Anything,” his brother promised, and he’d regret that promise in another moment, Nie Huaisang knew, the question would only cause him pain, but he needed to know. The second they were out of this situation his brother would clam up, pretend that nothing had happened and that it was all fine, so if he had questions – and he did – then he needed to answer them now.
“Was it – who was it? Was it him?”
His brother stilled.
“You said you’d tell me,” Nie Huaisang reminded him.
“…I don’t know,” his brother said. “I don’t – it could be. But it might be – someone else.”
There had been more than one, then. Nie Huaisang swallowed back bile, wanting to be sick. His father’s murderer had forced himself on his brother, and he’d let others do the same, and now they had to deal with the fallout.
“I want to kill them,” he whispered. “I want – I want them dead – all of them –”
“If it’s anything, I’ve made a pretty good head start on that already?” his brother offered, and of course his brother was trying to find some levity in a terrible situation. “We broke them, Huaisang. Even if some individuals remain, there’s no Wen sect left. If I do end up keeping it, the child won’t have a paternal family to lay a claim – they’ll be surnamed Nie. Another Nie, like you and me. You’ll be their uncle; you have to forgive them, it wasn’t their fault...you have to spoil them rotten.”
His brother’s thumb wiped away some of Nie Huaisang’s tears.
“You’ll be a good uncle, didi,” he murmured, pressing his lips to Nie Huaisang’s brow. “If the child is surnamed Nie, that’s all that matters.”
“People will know,” Nie Huaisang pointed out. “About you, about…I’m not the only one who can do math. We won’t…it can’t be kept quiet, can it? People will know. About you, about - what happened.”
“Let people know,” his brother, brave as ever, said with an indifferent shrug. “What do I care? In the end, it’s just another way to show that even when they threw everything they had against me, I still won.”
-
“What a charming child you have,” the young man from the mountain – Xiao Xingchen, he said his name was, and he was already famous despite having only been around for a few months – said, smiling down at her. “She’s beautiful.”
Nie Mingjue was not currently feeling especially kindly disposed towards human reproduction at the moment, being currently heavy with his second – the world needed more Nies, he wanted more Nies, children to keep Nie Huaisang company if that qi deviation he was promised ever actually turned up, and he had a very good list of cultivators with various pros and cons willing to help him introduce some more diversity into the Nie bloodline to try to minimize the chance of future qi deviations for his descendants, but at the same time he hated waddling around like a stuffed hippo with a bunch of people insisting that he not even think of physical exertion – but he nodded his thanks regardless.
At least for once someone wasn’t going to comment about the child’s parentage, he reflected wryly. There was only so much purposeful playing dumb a man could do, and the first year or so of his little baobei’s life – by the time they’d finally gotten around to trying to name her, the nickname had stick so firmly that they’d succumbed to reality and made her given name A-Bao, though of course, it being Qinghe, no one actually called her that – had really strained his tolerance in that specific regard.
It was the quickest way to avoid awkwardness, to pass along the information while avoiding conversations he didn’t want to have, but still…
Nobody brought up on a celestial mountain would know about Wen Ruohan, though. He was pretty sure of that.
“And I see you’re expecting another? Sometime soon..?”
“I am,” Nie Mingjue said. “Soon enough.”
Not soon enough. He wanted to go back to training – why did he keep getting high blood pressure no matter how much medicine he took?
“I see,” Xiao Xingchen said. “You’ll have to let me give you a gift of some sort. Do you have a favorite form of cloth?”
Nie MIngjue blinked at him. “Cloth?”
That was a strange gift. Did Xiao Xingchen think that his sect was so poor that he couldn’t cloth a child?
Xiao Xingchen – who was really quite young – blushed red, the color going all the way to his ears.
“I’m sorry for my presumption,” he said, then hesitated, before saying, very delicately, “Have you finished preparing the nest for the egg, then?”
#mdzs#nie mingjue#nie huaisang#wei wuxian#wen qing#wen ning#jin guangyao#lan xichen#xiao xingchen#my fic#my fics#baby dage#thevasthonk
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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 22)
Today we'll talk about the Time-Travel Arc. Obviously, the focus in that arc is Yuka's past, so there's going to be a lot of content that I'll skip unless it's relevant to NatsuMikan. What ship/character content there is I will dissect heavily. This is just a warning that I'll be skipping even five or so chapters at time, and it might seem jarring. Sorry about that.
In this part, we'll see how Natsume and Mikan are in many ways fated, but also how selfless Natsume can be, even in the face of losing the person he loves the most forever. He's going to keep his promise to protect her no matter what happens, even if it means never seeing her again.
Chapter One Hundred and Seven
For most of this arc, Natsume and the others are merely observers of Yuka’s past. They keep the talking and interaction to a minimum. There will be some instances where Natsume does enough for me to be able to analyze him, but they’re limited to start with.
For example, when Tsubasa, Tono, and Nobara are finally able to join them, there’s a dramatic reunion.
Nobody has seen Tsubasa in some time, and his whereabouts were a mystery. Obviously he shares a meaningful embrace with Mikan, but he also makes eye contact with Natsume, who looks shocked and relieved to see him again, even if he wasn’t the one to find him. Tsubasa knows Natsume had searched tirelessly for him, so he apologizes for making Natsume and the others worry. For a moment, it almost seems as though maybe they will share the next reunion hug. But to show that everything truly is back to normal, Natsume’s demeanor shifts and he gets annoyed with Tsubasa for hugging Mikan for so long.
Thinking really hard about Natsume's love languages: nicknames, being willing to die for you one second and then pretending like you're a nuisance the next, never giving compliments so they hit like a brick when he does, just hanging around you, and physical touch.
Natsume doesn’t know how to show feelings properly. With Ruka, he can be more openly affectionate and loving, and now with Mikan he has recently (today) had the opportunity to be more honest about his feelings, but Tsubasa is different. For a very long time, he has pretended like Tsubasa was nothing more than a nuisance. Suddenly being honest with everyone would be tiresome. Besides, Tsubasa already knows that Natsume cares, since he struggled so much to find him.
If you want to hug somebody, Natsume says (or doesn’t say… this conversation seems to all be telepathic), go hug Misaki. Not my girl. It hardly matters that Misaki isn’t around and that idea is impossible to make a reality. So Tsubasa naturally shoots back that he will simply pretend Mikan is Misaki.
Natsume is a good person, as we have seen over the course of the manga. When he loves someone, he loves hard and with his whole chest. He doesn’t half-ass his feelings. Despite his occasional bouts into saying something kind and heartfelt, he is and always has been naturally a bit more reserved. His personality is one to withhold a little, and to interact with people through teases. Even at his most free, before he came to the academy, he would tease and insult before saying something sweet. His love will always be something that needs to be interpreted, because he hates being open about why he’s doing the selfless things he is. If he is too open, then people will know and then they might feel guilty or like they owe him something. He doesn’t want that. Another thing is that he just likes having fun with his friends and loved ones this way, with occasional taunts and teases. That’s just the kind of person he is.
Chapter One Hundred and Nine
We get introduced to Igarashi Kaoru, an upperclassman of Yuka’s and a mysterious figure. Yuka first met her in a compromising position, when she’s about to sleep with a boy who we will later find out is Natsume’s father. She looks very much like a more grown up, female version of Natsume, and they seem to have a lot in common when it comes to their basic personality.
Just like Natsume, Kaoru can be serious-minded and doesn’t take any shit. She’s also like him in that she shows affection through teasing.
Mikan, in this chapter, finally asks who this Igarashi person is, since she looks so familiar. Natsume sarcastically says, “Heaven knows.” I’m sure he wasn’t actually expecting to see his mother in these flashbacks. She died when she was very young and as a result she didn’t have the opportunity to talk much about Yuka. It must be a surprise to see that she played such an active role in Mikan’s mother’s life.
Heaven knows. Get it. 'Cause she's dead. Hahahaha.
To everyone else, it’s obvious that the Igarashi person is related to Natsume. Ruka might even directly recognize her from the painting he saw at the Hyuuga house that one time, but either way they look and act so similarly that it’s apparent to everyone but Mikan.
In any case, Natsume is seeing more of his mother than he ever has before. He knows very little about her, since she died when he was so small. He couldn’t have many conversations with her and he spent more time mourning and missing her than actually being with her. Not only is Mikan getting the chance to know the mother that was a mystery to her for her whole life, but Natsume is too. This is also his chance to discover his mother and get to know her, and it’s just his luck that Yuka and Kaoru actually had a strong bond.
After Kaoru intimidates Yuka at the Hana Hime den, Mikan and the gang react to the shocking scene. Kaoru is a force to reckon with, and Noda comments on how this force and tough love helped Yuka find strength in herself and confidence in her own alice.
Ruka insists on knowing more about Kaoru, and since everyone but Mikan seems to get that Kaoru is Natsume’s mother, we can see that Ruka is asking for Natsume. Natsume won’t ask. This is about Yuka, after all, and about Mikan. Natsume will see what he will of his mother insofar as she’s in Yuka’s life. Beyond that, he won’t ask for anything. Ruka knows this, so he asks instead. He wants to know about Natsume too, and what better way than to learn about the woman who seems to have so much in common with him? Natsume is touched that Ruka would go out of his way to ask a question Natsume will not ask.
Noda answers that Kaoru and Yuka will become best friends after this, and Mikan is shocked. How could someone so scary be Yuka’s best friend? But Noda explains: Kaoru has a compassionate and caring heart behind her cold front, just like Natsume, and Yuka could rely on her, even in her darkest moments. Yuka wouldn’t have gained confidence in her alice the way she did without Kaoru by her side.
That is a really fucking long red string!
And then Noda says it so even Mikan can tell now, that Natsume’s mother has always been beloved and a truly amazing person.
Chapter One Hundred and Ten
Noda further explains about Kaoru. She used her alice to spy on the academy for the HSP, and then after she graduated she continued to use her alice to expose corruption. She was deeply committed to doing the right thing and holding the academy responsible, and this commitment was inspiring to Yuka as well, who went down the path she did for the same reasons.
Somehow, their children met at the academy by pure chance, and are standing side by side now.
Here they are, standing together and in love with each other. Fate is a silly thing.
They are fated somehow. The same red string that tied Kaoru to Yuka now ties Natsume to Mikan. In fact, it’s his love for her that motivated him to go against the academy, more than his own misfortune or the wellbeing of other students or even because it was the right thing to do. The strong bond between their mothers now lingers between them, but differently, and maybe even stronger.
Natsume and Mikan are holding hands, looking at each other. Were they always meant to meet? To be together? Nothing is said out loud, but it’s apparent that they’re both thinking about their moms’ past and what exactly it means for their future.
Perhaps there's a difference between fated to fall in love and fated to be together.
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen
Lots of chapters are getting skipped because there simply isn’t enough content, if any, of Natsume, not to mention NatsuMikan specifically.
Izumi is about to die, and everyone knows it as they watch. Mikan has just returned from falling through the time window. She wanted to warn her father, but Tsubasa was able to bring her back without much changing. Natsume immediately goes to Mikan’s side when she is safely returned and doesn’t leave. He holds her hand because what she’s about to witness will be deeply traumatizing and he knows that she will suffer all the more because she wasn’t able to stop it.
Everything happens as it is meant to, perhaps. Izumi is dying from Rei’s alice, since his own nullification can’t fight against Rei when he uses so much power at once.
I don't have anything clever to say here. He just loves her so much.
Mikan is distraught, and although Natsume first just tries to keep her from approaching the window again, once he sees her crying, despairing face, he shifts. All he’s ever wanted to do was keep her happy, keep her from sinking into even a fraction of the darkness he’s had to live in. It hasn’t always been easy, because Mikan was also destined to suffer, just like him.
Everyone else is pleading with Noda to get them out of the hole, to stop the flashbacks, but Noda can’t. The window is too turbulent and any moves on his part might be dangerous.
Protecting her no matter what doesn't only mean protecting her from physical harm, it means protecting her from seeing horrible things that she shouldn't have to see, like the death of her father.
So Natsume holds Mikan close. It is the only thing he can do, to tell her not to look and to hug her. She doesn’t need to see anymore. Natsume doesn’t just want to protect her physical safety but her mental and emotional well-being as well. He fell in love with a girl who always looks on the bright side, who is so optimistic and kind that her cheerfulness bleeds into everyone else. From the start, he was concerned that if her life darkened, her own light would fade and become tarnished.
But Natsume doesn’t need her to always smile. He just wants to protect her the best he can. If she needs to cry, then she can cry on him. He will hold her and support her and comfort her. She can’t always be happy, but all he’s ever wanted was to be there for her when she can’t be. When she needs to crumble a little, he will be there for her, because she would do the same. She comforted him too, even if she never knew she was doing it. It's not about having her be happy all the time, just minimizing the trauma. He can't protect her from all of it. Everything else is more powerful than he is. He can't keep her ignorant and blissful forever. Nobody can. But if they can't escape the flashback, then he will keep her from looking.
He can do this openly now, so he does. He wants her to know that she can rely on him and seek comfort from him. No matter what happens, he will be there for her.
So as Izumi dies, Natsume and Mikan aren’t looking. She doesn’t need to see. He keeps his focus on her, to support her, because she has to process a deeply traumatic event in a very short time. After all, the flashbacks are still going. Time didn’t stop for Yuka, and it won’t stop for Mikan.
Natsume’s shirt is probably soaked with tears. Not that he cares.
He holds her, not just through Izumi’s death, but for most of the aftermath. He stays, holding her, for as long as she needs him to. He will only let go when she’s okay to stand again. He ends up holding her for a couple chapters, and even when they stop hugging he still holds her up. He'd hold her for hours if she needed it.
Conclusion
Natsume and Mikan learned that their mothers were besties and are now struck with the knowledge that by pure chance they managed to meet and become as close as they did. Natsume confessed to the whole DA class (including Mikan) that he loves her in the last part, and he's done nothing but prove it over and over again.
We'll wrap up what is left of NatsuMikan in the Time-Travel Arc next week on Monday. His low self-esteem, selflessness, and all-consuming love will all take center stage in the next few entries.
Thank you all so much for reading so far. I hope you have a lovely day!
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#gakuen alice#alice academy#hyuuga natsume#natsume hyuuga#natsumikan#sakura mikan#mikan sakura#my meta#ga#mine#ga meta#ga meta: nm#ga meta: manga#ga meta: manga nm#let's talk about natsumikan#let's talk about natsumikan: natsume#nm song of the day is.... synesthesia by mayonnaise#i found this song through an amv for them si#its really fitting especially around this time#ga is interesting when it comes to fate#fate and time and things being the way they should... that sort of thing#i personally am not a big believer of fate irl but with fiction i go ham with it#natsumikan are canonically fated. lots of soulmate stuff. i very much believe theyre soulmates#but theres also potential in those anti-soulmate aus that i love so much#because as much as i love that theyre fated and meant to be and all that i also love that especially mikan CHOSE to be with him#theres a lot of choice involved specifically with her love for him#and although natsumes doesnt really feel like choosing as much as just falling in head first and not being able or willing to stop#he also chose her in a lot of ways.#i guess it can be both. theyre fated on accident but they still choose each other. both can be good. anyway im conflicted. whatever
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Seeing Green Ch.14
Mayura led them to the top of Wayne Tower, where Hawkmoth had been waiting. She carried the unconscious Adrien over to him.
"I got him for you, sir. Are you sure about this?" She asked as she gave the man his son, then took a step back to put some distance between them.
"Of course. You saw, Mayura, that akuma had almost gotten the Miraculous. There are powerful people here, imagine what I could do if I could akumatize the likes of Batman, or of any of the numerous villains here." Hawkmoth gave his partner a thin smile as he laid his sleeping son on the ground, near the rooftop door. "Then I can finally get her back, Mayura. I can get her back and everything will be perfect again."
"Hawkmoth!" A voice drew both of their attentions away from Hawkmoth's usual dialogue, and drew back in shock at the sight of Ladybug and the other Miraculous holders joining them on the roof. Ladybug began marching forward, murder clear in her eyes. "Enough is enough!
"Ah, Ladybug. Are you here to finally hand over your Miraculous?" Hawkmoth grinned, and it took everything in Ladybug not to march over and slammed her fist into his face. She let herself get angry, get truly furious at him, for this was the end, she could just taste it. "I'll take the new Chat Noir's as well."
"The name is Tadmir, and we'll be taking yours first." The new Black Cat stepped forward to stand beside Ladybug, the others followed suit. They all stared Hawkmoth down, who simply let out an amused laugh and tightened his grip on his cane.
"You're all just a bunch of children, especially you, Ladybug. All these years and you've still barely tapped into your powers, still unable to hold onto your transformation after using your powers. How pathetic." He nudged the sleeping Adrien at his feet, causing him to stir. Green eyes snapped open and he sat up abruptly, letting out a startled gasp. Hawkmoth knelt next to him, wrapping a supportive arm around his son's shoulders. "Remember what I told you, Adrien. This is our only way to get our family back."
"Gabriel. Gabriel Agreste." Queen Bee snarled, her hands curling into fists as she took a step forward. "I knew it, I just knew it! You were always a crazy, creepy son of a bitch."
"I'd watch your language, Miss Bourgeois." Hawkmoth sneered, not seeming troubled by the fact they had figured out his identity. In fact, Ladybug felt unease curl in her gut at how casual he appeared.
Hawkmoth opened his cane, where a small dark butterfly was being kept. At the same time, Mayura pulled a blue feather from her face. In sync, both villains let their items float towards the boy kneeling at their feet.
Ladybug's yoyo shot out abruptly, catching the akuma before anyone could react, but missed the feather by a hair. She watched in horror as the blue mask framed Adrien's eyes, and something began to form.
It emerged from the shadows, a massive, sickly looking cat that looked over then all. It's glowing green eyes pierced the night, sending shivers down Ladybug's spine.
"What the fuck is that?!" Red Robin gripped his weapon tightly, the rest of his team joining suit. They watched as the cat yowled at them, showing off rows of sharp, yellowed teeth.
"Whatever it is, we're going to have to put it down!" Red Hood snapped and charged forward. The massive amok swiped one of its large paws, slamming it into Red Hood and sending him sliding across the rooftop, catching himself before he could go over the edge.
"You think you can handle it?" Ladybug kept her gaze on Hawkmoth, her body tensed as she readied herself to spring.
"We'll take care of it. You get those Miraculous before those two get us killed." Batman called out, and everyone leapt into action.
The Miraculous holders divided themselves; with Ryuko, Viperion, and Queen Bee going after Mayura, and Lady Vixen, Ladybug, and Tadmir going after Hawkmoth.
Hawkmoth was surprised by the sudden barrage of attacks he was hit with. Tadmir seemed to be more brutal than his son had been as the Black Cat. His strikes were more precise and had more weight to them, obviously of someone who trained and trained hard. But Hawkmoth had trained as well, and was certain he would never lose, not when his goal was just within reach.
Ladybug put her all into every punch, every kick, every scratch, aiming for one thing and one thing alone; the butterfly pin.
When she saw it, it only further enraged her. This psychopath had used and abused the Miraculous, abused Nooroo. This bastard was the reason her life had gone spiraling like it had. She could have had a normal life, with normal friends! She could still have Alya, have everyone else! Adrien wouldn't have been messed up so badly, she might have even ended up dating him, because she had loved him!
Tears burned Ladybug's eyes as she fought and fought and fought, her muscles soon screaming from the excess of stress.
But Hawkmoth did not go down easily, neither did Mayura, meanwhile Adrien rode atop his massive shadow cat and tried to reduce the Gotham vigilantes to paste. But when he saw Tadmir, realization hit him hard and he snarled in anger.
"That is my Miraculous!" Adrien's strong emotions made the cat grow bigger, its claws growing longer and sharper. Adrien's face became a mask of twisted rage as he turned his attention back to Batman and other others. "First, I'll kill all of you! Then I'll get my Miraculous back!"
The boy was under great delusions thanks to his father.
"Once I revive your mother, Adrien, I will allow you to make a wish of your own, I promise."
And Adrien completely disregarded that his father usually went back on every promise he had made before, more enraptured in the thought of what his wish would be; for Ladybug to be hopelessly in love with him. And then with that, she'd surely give him his ring back.
Ladybug risked a glance over to his teammates. Vixen was currently trying to avoid Hawkmoth's swings with his cane, while Tadmir was trying his hardest to land a solid blow to either his face or between his legs.
But all of them, even Ladybug herself, were so focused on the pin, on retrieving it, that Ladybug didn't notice the cane swinging in her direction. She let out a startled cry as it cracked against her head, sending her sprawling onto the ground, her vision going blurry, before blacking out.
When Ladybug came to, she was sprawled out on the rooftop, her visions full of dark spots. Once she blinked them away, she saw all of her comrades scattered across the roof, looking beaten and bloody. Luka, Kagami, and Chloé were all huddled, detransformed, bruised and thoroughly defeated. Evangeline was cradling a bloodied Red Hood close, her face battered with dark bruises, and Damian was sprawled out beside her, bleeding heavily from a wound in his gut.
"Damian!" Ladybug tried to get to her feet as frantic fear overtook her, but she whimpered when a foot stepped on her back, keeping her pinned. Then a bloodied silver blade pressed against her throat before she could even make a move.
"Well, well, I suppose that it's all finally come to this. I told you that I would get your Miraculous, Ladybug. Finally, I can get what it is I truly desire." Hawkmoth grinned as he knelt down and grasped one of the spotted earrings. He relished in pulling it free from her ear, detransforming her. Hawkmoth stared down at the teen girl who had been a thorn in his side for years, staring at her face, trying to place it but not quite able to.
"Marinette!" Adrien spat out, before turning towards Hawkmoth, a triumphant grin on his face. "I told you father! I told you it was her, she couldn't trick me!"
Hawkmoth paid no intention, instead taking the other earring. As Mayura stepped forward, Hawkmoth reared back his sword, then jabbed it into Marinette's back, making her cry out in pain.
"You can heal her with a wish." Hawkmoth said casually to Adrien as he slid on the Black Cat Miraculous, then forced the Ladybug earrings into his ears, despite not having them pierced. A little bit of pain was worth being with his Émilie again,his perfect, stunning, obedient wife.
"You bastard.." Eva snarled as she stood, her body shaking from her overtaking herself, but was knocked down by Mayura rushing over and backhanding her, making her collapse.
"Sir, I congratulate you in succeeding." Mayura smiled as she strode over to Hawkmoth, and Marinette wanted to hurl when she saw the look of adoration on her face. "I'll be happy when she returns."
"We'll be a happy family again." Adrien put it as both Tikki and Plagg appeared. Both Kwami looked devastated when they saw the condition of all of their allies, before their gazes turned hateful upon seeing Gabriel drop his transformation and stumble a few steps. The weight of such powerful Miraculous were a bit too much for him.
"Tikki, Plagg, I am now your Master." Gabriel grinned, and poor Nooroo flinched when he realized his dearest family would be subjected to the same torment to which he had been a long suffering victim. "I have a wish to make, and you shall give it to me."
"And what is your wish?" Plagg spat out acidicly, while Gabriel merely smiled.
"I wish for my wife to be alive and well once again. The damaged Peacock Miraculous had greatly hurt her and she lay dying beneath my home." Gabriel announced, and Marinette felt bile rise in her throat.
Tikki was quiet for a moment, before flying closer to Gabriel, meeting his gaze.
"Are you sure you want to do that, Gabriel? There is a law of equivalent exchange, no wish is for free." She warned, before Gabriel suddenly snatched her, squeezing her tightly.
"Do not question me! I am your owner and you will do my bidding!" Gabriel snarled, giving Tikki a sharp shake, before finally letting her go.
Once he did, Tikki and Plagg exchanged regretful looks before bowing their heads.
"As you wish, Master. Transform and make the wish." Plagg spoke out, his tone sounding flat and reserved, causing Gabriel to grin in triumph.
He transformed and made his wish, causing the entire area to quickly be filled with blinding golden light.
Then it faded and Adrien crumpled to the ground, his vacant eyes staring up at the dark night sky.
"Adrien?!" Mayura knelt beside him, then began to have a violent coughing fit. Her body shook once and she collapsed to the ground as well, her transformation dropping to reveal the body of Natalie with a now permanent look of shock on her face.
"What…?" Gabriel stared in shock down at the two people he had cared about most in the world. The man dropped the transformation as he went and knelt by the body of his son, cradling him close and he glared at the two Kwami that were now floating over him. "What did you do?!"
"Adrien..? Gabriel?!" Gabriel's head snapped up and he stared as his beautiful Émilie stood on the other side of the roof, looking horrified.
…
Marinette couldn't move and her vision was becoming blurry, then dark around the edges. She managed to reach a hand out and grasp Damian's, though her fingertips were beginning to feel cold.
Was this what it was like to die…?
"It's okay, sugar cookie.." A soft, warm voice murmured into her ear, and a gentle hand stroked Marinette's hair. "I'll save you, I promise."
Marinette went to speak, but she couldn't, her vision slowly going black as she listened to the clicking of heels move away from her and a cry of outrage.
Golden light flared, nearly blinding her, then everything went black.
She awoke to the feeling of being cradled in someone's arms. She glanced up and a sob left her as she saw it was Damian. Before he could say anything, she leaned up and hugged him, beginning to sob.
"I thought I had lost you.." She whispered, burying her face into his neck. He hugged back and they say there for what felt like the longest time, before she abruptly pulled back and frantically looked around. "Wait, Hawkmoth, he-"
"Don't worry about him." Batman smiled down at her, then pointed to where Gabriel Agreste was handcuffed and looking quite miserable.
Marinette stared at the man for the longest time, finding herself pitying him, in a way. The man had gone through all of that trouble just to revive his wife. He was quite pathetic.
A soft groaning sound could be heard and her attention snapped towards where Adrien lie, watching in shock as the boy sat up, holding his head.
Everyone was silent for the longest time, then Marinette got to her feet and slowly made her way over to him. Once their eyes met, she watched as tears began streaming down his face.
"Marinette..?" Adrien whispered, his eyes looking clear for the first time in a long time. Then a horrified expression flickered across his face and he began to sob. "Oh god, I was- Marinette- I was a monster…"
Marinette knelt beside him as he broke down in front of her, before she embraced him and let her own tears begin to fall. The Waynes, Luka, Kagami, and Chloé watched as the two broke down in tears, finally free from this burden that had plagued them for so long.
Once their tears subsided, their gazes shifted over to Natalie's body.
"I can't believe she sacrificed her life to make a wish, to save us." Marinette whispered, reaching out and closing Natalie's staring eyes. "I hope she finds peace, she really turned herself around in the end."
"Marinette!" Tikki came rushing forward, nuzzling her Chosen's cheek, holding the earrings tightly. "I was so scared, I thought I was going to lose you!"
"You'd never lose me, I'm your Guardian afterall. It takes more than a stab wound to take down Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Marinette grinned, quickly putting on the earrings, feeling a sense of relief and familiarity. Plagg, after realizing the coast was clear, flew over to Damian and handed him his ring, the two of them sharing a smile.
The cops soon came and hauled off Gabriel and Adrien, who went willingly, the heroes stood there and felt free for the first time in a long time.
"I guess we can go back to Paris." Ryuko hugged Ladybug, Queen Bee and Viperion soon joining in. "We'll see you when you get home. Should we be ready to give the Miraculous back?"
"I think so.. With Hawkmoth gone, I think the Miraculous need to go back into hiding again." Ladybug smiled sadly, looking down at the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous in her hand. "I can't have these fall into the wrong hands again. But I'll give you time to say goodbye, I'll be home tomorrow."
Kalki came when summoned and allowed the Parisians to go home, with Ladybug turning back to Tadmir, and hugging him once again.
"I guess we need to get going. My parents want to go home and get the school board to fire Bustier's ass." She joked, taking his hand as Kaalki changed the portal location to the Wayne Manor. "I think I'll have fun with that one."
"I can't imagine how your class survived with only her chaperoning." Nightwing joked, stepping through the portal with a slight skip in his step. Ladybug watched with a smile as everyone headed inside and was about to join them, before something caught her eye.
A few feet away from her was the Fox Miraculous, looking as if it had been tossed carelessly on the ground. She frowned and picked it up, this catching Tadmir's attention before he stepped through the portal.
"Tadmir, do you remember me giving the Fox Miraculous to anyone?" Ladybug asked as she made her way back to the portal. Tadmir looked thoughtful, before shaking his head. "Huh,maybe I accidentally summoned it. I didn't forget it, so I guess it's nothing worth worrying about."
When they stepped through the portal and arrived in the main hall of Wayne Manor, Jason strode up and ruffled Marinette's hair as soon as she detransformed.
"Well, pixie pop, what took you guys so long? I'm trying to convince Bruce here to let us get drunk and party it up." He joked, earning an eye roll from his brothers.
"I was just getting this." Marinette held up the Fox Necklace, and as she stared at it, she felt tears burn her eyes, and a few slid down her cheeks. And when she next looked at Jason, she could see he was crying as well, but looked as baffled as she.
…
"Marinette, you're okay!" Alix burst from the class as they exited the hotel to see Marinette standing by the bus that was waiting to take them to the airport. Marinette opened her arms and accepted the hug as Alix rushed to her. "Did you get him? Is it… Is it all over?"
"Hawkmoth is gone." Marinette smiled as she pulled back, and the entire group began to cheer and some even began to cry. The terror of Hawkmoth's reign was finally over.
"Now you and I have so much more time to spend with your best friend!" Alya shoved her way to the front of the group, then moved to hug Marinette, only for said girl to hold up a hand and stop her in her tracks.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Marinette rose a brow, not missing the looks Nino and Alix exchanged.
"Miss Bustier explained everything. I know all of that stress made you more susceptible to act out, but the stress is gone now and we can be best friends again, like how it used to be!" Alya explained, and Marinette turned her cold gaze to the smiling Caline Bustier.
"Well that's bull." Marinette snapped out, setting her hands on her hips. "Because you're not my best friend. You're Lila's, remember? And I'm too jealous of her because of Adrien, right?"
"Girl, please, she's a liar, she tricked me. And Adrien is a piece of trash, he convinced Nino to dump me, remember?" Alya rolled her eyes.
"Marinette, please, Alya is really trying." Miss Bustier spoke up, then motioned to the bus. "Now let's just make up and get to the airport."
"Oh that's enough out of you, she certainly wasn't trying when she threw champagne in my face and called me loose." Marinette snapped, her eyes full of fury now, as she could finally let loose and get it all out. "You can't keep enabling this kind of thing! It's not healthy, and it only makes things worse!"
"Marinette-"
"No, I won't be the example! You didn't even contact my parents, Mr. Wayne had to do that!" Marinette shook her head, then took a deep breath. "My parents called the education board."
Marinette turned away as she saw Miss Bustier go white, and went over to where Damian was waiting for her.
"I'll see you in a few months." She hugged him tightly, then softly kissed his cheek. "Take good care of Plagg."
"I already have some camembert ordered for the glutton." Damian joked, then gently cupped her cheek, gazing deep into her blue eyes, then softly kissed her. "I'll be counting the hours until I can see my angel again."
"I'll be counting the minutes, Mon Prince." She kissed him back, then gave him one last hug, before boarding the bus with her friends.
Damian watched, hands stuffed in his pockets, as the bus drove off, carrying his love back home. And he found himself smiling as he fiddled with the ring on his finger, feeling a rather bright future ahead.
Taglist: @realrandomposts @interobanginyourmom @ladybug-182 @ladylb @zalladane @mochinek0 @persephonebutkore @urbanpineapplefarmer @vixen-uchiha @angelofmusickaterinapetrova @thewheezingbubbledragon @northernbluetongue @violatiger8 @thequestionablyhuman @ginamarie1512 @maude-zarella @2sunchild2 @saphiraazure2708 @ayuchan07 @virgil-is-a-cutie @thepeacetea @miraculous786 @enchanted-nerd @ficsforthestars @emo-elaine13 @caffeinetheory
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Pairing: MadaraTobirama
Word count: 4571
Chapter: 30/42
Summary: Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom.
In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn’t happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.
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Chapter 30
Although his original plan had been just to invite Kagami and his mother over for a private dinner things changed when Madara mentioned that Susumu had been the one to help his cute little student disappear, allowing their ultimate triumph to happen as it had. Of course Tobirama asked his husband to send her an invitation as well. Then on the way home he ran in to Hashirama who had heard about a missing child and came to offer his help. Adding his brother to the party only felt natural considering his kindness for a boy he’d never properly met other than seeing each other in passing and asking Hashirama to dinner meant he would likely be bringing Mito as well. With a rueful sigh Tobirama asked the man to swing by, pick up Touka just to round it all out, and sent runners to everyone involved that he was going to reserve a table at a barbeque joint that had just opened up in the marketplace.
Despite his worries that the table would be cramped things actually worked out fairly well. Kagami’s mother sent word with her son that she wasn’t comfortable dining so casually in the presence of so much political power. Tobirama made a mental note to send her a gift instead. He found himself situated rather comfortably between Madara and Kagami, Hashirama across from him with wife and cousin on either side, and Susumu sat at the end of the table perched on a bar stool that she had dragged over for a bit of extra height.
Having quite literally all of his precious people gathered in one spot did something funny to Tobirama’s insides that he refused to pay any deeper attention to. Besides the birthday party they had been to not long ago this was the biggest social gathering he’d attended since his wedding, something that made him wonder why he didn’t remember seeing Susumu that night, but the usual discomforts that came with being forced to socialize were not present. Instead he found himself quite relaxed as he allowed Madara to press comfortably in to his side and listened to the never-ending chatter around him.
Watching Hashirama and Kagami interact was almost as much of a treat as watching Mito and Susumu but in the end Tobirama was much more distracted watching his ever proper sister-in-law try to decide how to react in the face of Susumu’s honest roughness. There was a certain entertainment he couldn’t deny in seeing Mito flounder for once. It was only made all the more amusing by the way her eyes flicked once or twice over to Touka, probably wondering why Susumu couldn’t be rough with more decorum the way their cousin did – which, in turn, was mostly funny because Touka had arrived to the restaurant and very promptly hunkered down to sleep. Apparently she hadn’t slept due to some sort of patrol scare the night before that turned out to be a false alarm.
“But you know how kids are,” Susumu was saying. “This cute little crumb was dead set on the world being over if he couldn’t have his favorite sensei and who could say no to such an adorable little ball of sugar, hm? I didn’t whelp him. That makes it my duty to spoil him!”
“Quite,” was all Mito said in return, her spine a little straighter than normal. Her eyes drifted sideways to glance at her own husband and Tobirama wondered if she was reconsidering their decision to try for children of their own soon.
“Sometimes you can out-stubborn a kid but it’s not something I’ve ever counted on. Why, I used to have to drag this disaster here home by his ears when he didn’t want to stop training.” Susumu jerked a thumb over at Madara who squawked in offense to have his childhood secrets laid bare so easily.
While his husband leaned over to attempt a very loving murder Tobirama watched Mito place a hand on her belly with furrowed brows. He would have pitied her the horror of carrying whatever spawn Hashirama might father but he happened to know that she had been given a choice of which Senju heir she wanted to marry and she was the one who chose Hashirama, not the other way around. He was glad of her choice, of course, but he had no sympathy for someone who got herself in to her current mess. It helped that he probably wouldn’t have to babysit very often. The Senju usually provided wet nurses for that sort of thing.
“Don’t listen to anything she says,” Madara looked over to plead with him, hands still occupied with trying to shove his old teacher off her stool. “She’s a crazy old bat and her memory’s failing her!”
“Ha! You wish, little one! I remember every minute of your childhood – every little embarrassing detail! Who wants a story?”
“Oh I would!” Hashirama piped up.
“Me too!” Kagami chimed in. Their expressions were eerily similar in their eager attention.
Briefly considering and then quickly discarding the idea of mercy, Tobirama leaned forward to support his chin in one palm with a smile. “I should like a story as well. What sort of man would I be not to show an interest in my husband’s beginnings?”
“I didn’t begin anywhere!” Madara insisted frantically. “I was born an adult! No embarrassing stories! Everyone shut up!”
Predictably, Susumu ignored him. As soon as she regained her balance she stood up on her stool in order to clamp a hand over Madara's mouth and regaled them all with a story about the time he had become convinced that jutsus lay dormant inside their elements until they were called forth with the correct hand signs.
“He waited for hours by the river just staring at the water and waiting for – what was it? Oh! A dragon! He kept saying he was waiting for a dragon of all things to spring up out of the water. You’d think by twelve he would have given up on such fancies!”
“Sorry, a dragon?” Tobirama sat up again to lift an eyebrow at his husband. “Can I ask why specifically one of those?”
Madara screeched out a few muffled sentences before he managed to tear Susumu’s hand away from his mouth. “I’m not crazy, I swear. The week before we’d been in a skirmish with a company protecting the target we were contracted to kill and I know what I saw. One of them called up an actual dragon from the river nearby!”
“Hey Tobi, that sounds like you!” Hashirama chirped. Tobirama nodded.
“It does indeed. Do you remember where that skirmish happened?”
“Dunno. Somewhat east of the old Yamanaka territory I think. Why does it matter where?”
“And you were twelve?”
Madara frowned and demanded a belligerent, “So?”
“I believe that may have been me,” Tobirama admitted. “I would have been around ten when I finally perfected the Water Dragon Jutsu and I was enamored enough to use it at every opportunity. And if I’m remembering correctly then I did run an escort mission through that area that my client barely escaped from. It seems we met quite a bit earlier than we thought, dear husband.”
“That was…you?” Madara blinked at him and Susumu harrumphed from the end of the table.
“Oh fine. Why don’t you just go ahead and justify his childhood idiocies?” she grumbled.
Ignoring her and leaning a little farther away from her hand, Madara scooted a little closer to Tobirama with a wondering expression. “That’s incredible that we might have met so many years ago and not even known.”
“So romantic!” Hashirama crooned. He squawked when Tobirama kicked him under the table without looking.
“It sort of is,” Madara admitted, his ears pinking ever so slightly.
“Perhaps,” Tobirama allowed.
“Do you think we would have…gotten along then too?”
For a moment Tobirama narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, wondering at the pause in his husband’s sentence. Something told him that was not what the man intended to say. Then he shrugged it off and said, “Perhaps if we had enough sense to be honest with each other. I was a cautious child.”
“No you weren’t! You were already blowing things up in your lab when you were seven!” Hashirama looked as though the memory still horrified him but, worryingly, both Kagami and Susumu looked intrigued.
“If we could move the topic away from reminiscing about our childhoods and back to the original reason we all came out for tonight?” Dropping a hand on Kagami’s head, Tobirama smiled when the boy began to squirm with joy. “Have you given thanks to Susumu for helping you today?”
“Thanks baachan!”
“I told you not to call me baachan!”
Having successfully removed the focus from himself, more than happy to allow the table to focus on Kagami instead, Tobirama leaned a little deeper in to Madara's side and simply observed for a while. They certainly were an interesting bunch when they were all put together but there was something about the cacophony of so many different personalities that actually managed to weave together in an odd sort of harmony. For the first time in longer than he could remember Tobirama had no desire to escape a social environment that involved more than two or three people.
It was with great contentment that he sat and listened to Susumu recount a clearly exaggerated tale of how she had caused a distraction so Kagami could put the slip on everyone. The mite took up his own story afterwards and described with great pride the way he suppressed his chakra just like he’d been taught and hurried over to their favorite training ground where he put all the energy he could in to finally performing the Chameleon Jutsu correctly for the very first time.
“And Kaachan says I did it even better than she can! It was great, wasn’t it sensei?” He looked up at Tobirama with shining eyes, unaware of the clenching heart sensation he caused.
“Very impressive indeed,” Tobirama praised him and tried not to think about how good it was to still be allowed that title. “Trees are a particularly difficult environment for that jutsu with the way leaves and shadows are constantly moving but your disguise was seamless.”
“Cause I’m awesome!” Kagami declared, puffing out his chest.
Tobirama nodded solemnly. “And quite humble as well.”
“What does humble mean?”
“It means not getting a big head!” Susumu answered from her end of the table.
With a delicate clearing of her throat, Mito finally spoke up again to say, “The world would be a much better place if more people taught their children humility. Allow me to add my congratulations, young Kagami.”
She even managed to make her voice sound warm and Tobirama supposed he could understand a little more why his brother loved this woman so much. Not to say that Mito had ever been exactly cold to him but he’d never seen her as the nurturing type ready for the chaos of having a baby in the home. If she could find some value in his cute little student, though, there was hope for her yet. Only a blind idiot wouldn’t think his student was cute.
Impressed as he was to watch Mito strike up a conversation with Kagami, Hashirama amusing himself by prodding Susumu for more stories of a young clan heir, Tobirama found himself quite distracted when Madara leaned down to rest that great mane of hair against his shoulder.
“What a day,” his husband murmured. “And it’s barely even a couple hours passed noon. Can we really say we’re taking them out for dinner? I would think this is lunch.”
“A celebratory meal of undetermined nature,” Tobirama suggested, amused to earn himself a wrinkled nose.
“So many people all talking at once, we’re jumping between conversations like rabbits. It’s exhausting. I love all of them dearly but when can we go home?”
Before Tobirama had a chance to answer Hashirama let out a bark of laughter across the table that startled Touka back in to the land of the living, whereupon she violently pinched his side in retribution even as she leaned around him to politely ask Mito how long she had slept. Hashirama's screech attracted the attention of several other tables around theirs and all the warm fuzzy loving thoughts Tobirama had been thinking went out the window. Why did he love any part of this circus act? Only Mito knew how to properly act her age.
“That’s what you get for not using your indoor voice,” Touka declared, glaring balefully down at the plate of food in front of her, long gone cold.
“I was just laughing! Sometimes I can’t help how loud I laugh!”
“Maybe you should learn,” she grumbled.
“Ah come on, let him be loud,” Susumu called from her end. “He’s not hurting anyone!”
Touka’s expression was a mixture of sour exhaustion and undeniable curiosity. “He’s hurting my eardrums. And who are you? I must have tucked off before any of the introductions were made.”
“Name’s Susumu but you can call me anything but baachan! I was the poor sod tasked with molding this useless lump of dough in to a proper tough biscuit. He’s still got a few rough edges but all in all I think I did alright.” Grinning, Susumu stood up from her stool so she could lean forward enough to shake Touka’s hand.
“I think we’ll get along.”
“You say that now. What about when you find out I’m actually a raging psychopath?”
Touka only shrugged. “So is everyone else here. Except the kid, maybe.”
Unsurprisingly, Susumu roared with laughter. “Little one, why didn’t you introduce me to your in-laws sooner? I like them all!”
“Yeah. That’s exactly why,” Madara grumbled. He looked utterly terrified to see his sensei and his husband’s cousin fall in to conversation as though they’d known each other for years rather than a few minutes, rough personalities playing off each other with all the beauty of a natural disaster one cannot help but stare at.
Although he did sort of agree that an alliance between those two women in particular could mean terrible things for the rest of them Tobirama decided after a few moments of thought that he would rather they get along than feud. The only thing worse than Touka and Susumu cooperating would be if they took exception to each other. With that in mind he let the table shield his actions and reached over to weave his fingers in to Madara's, squeezing lightly. His husband paused in the middle of grumbling to give him a startlingly soft look which made Tobirama grateful everyone else was too occupied to look at them at the moment.
Eventually, as much fun as it was to watch Mito try to keep up with Kagami’s chatter or listen to Touka and Susumu planning terrifying surprise drills for the security squads, there was only so long a large group like theirs could stay in a restaurant before the staff began sending them blatant signals that their table was needed for other patrons. Strangely even Tobirama found himself a little reluctant to end the gathering but he did decline when Hashirama and Mito kindly invited everyone back to their place for tea and more conversation. He was only a little surprised that Susumu took the offer.
It would have taken much longer to make their goodbyes if he were given to half of the emotional outpouring his brother was but Tobirama managed to send off every one of the guests he had called together for their little celebration and be on his way in a little less than ten minutes. The only person who came away with him and his husband was Kagami, obviously travelling in the same direction as they all made their way back to the Uchiha compound. Susumu looked almost on the verge of adopting herself in to the Senju clan just to terrorize them all.
They had only travelled a few streets away when his student stiffened between one step and the next, looking up at Tobirama with a guilty face as though expecting to be told off for something.
“I didn’t say thank you,” he mourned. “Kaachan told me I was supposed to say thank you for the meal.”
“You could say it now,” Tobirama pointed out, glad of his usual blank face for hiding a smile.
“Oh! Okay! Thank you sensei, I had fun! I like your big brother!”
Ignoring the way Madara started snickering next to him, Tobirama sighed. “Yes, I’m not surprised that you do.”
“He’s funny! I wish I had a big brother too!”
Tobirama would have answered – probably with something that made Hashirama the butt of a joke – were he not distracted just then by a familiar face trudging out of a rather shabby looking establishment. Izuna at least had the good grace to look ashamed for a few moments to be caught coming out of a bar in the middle of the afternoon. The moment passed quickly when it registered exactly who had caught him and his face soured immediately as he locked eyes with the brother-in-law he so clearly had never wanted.
More painful than Kagami’s confused head tilt was Madara's frosty silence. Tobirama wondered when the last time was that the two brothers had actually spent any quality time together during which his name had not come up at all. Looking at the way they carefully kept their distance now he wondered if maybe it was time he himself put in a little effort to making this easier for his husband as he had once promised to do. When it came down to brass tacks simply vowing not to fight wasn’t nearly the same thing as actually making an attempt to get along. Which, he would be the first to point out, might be an impossibility when it came to the two of them but that shouldn’t stop him from at least trying. For Madara's sake if nothing else.
Feeling rather like he was asking to have his own words thrown back in his face, Tobirama waited until Izuna’s glare came back in his direction before speaking.
“We were just heading home,” he stated with no inflection. “I’m sure Madara would enjoy having his brother over for a nightcap. Would you care to walk with us?” It was hard to tell who was staring at him with more incredulity, Madara or Izuna, but he wondered if they knew they made the same face while doing it.
“You don’t owe me any favors,” Izuna blustered eventually.
“I don’t owe you anything,” Tobirama agreed.
“And I don’t need handouts!”
Trying not to sigh tiredly, Tobirama only shook his head. “The offer was no more than it sounded. If you wish to send time with your brother I can promise that I will stay in the office at home until you leave to give you some space. My presence has been a wedge between the two of you for long enough, wouldn’t you say?”
While the child between them looked back and forth with a bewildered expression, clearly wondering what was going on between all the adults but knowing enough not to ask, Izuna deliberated with an expression of great difficulty. Madara wasn’t exactly helping. Instead of offering any sort of opinion or even agreeing that he would indeed like to spend some time with his brother again he was standing completely still with his arms folded, body language entirely closed off. When Izuna finally answered it felt as though every word cost him.
“I meant what I said. I don’t want any handouts from you. So just carry on with your cute little evening out or whatever it is you were up to.”
He lifted his chin with the same excess of pride and stubbornness that only kept digging him deeper in to his own hole but Tobirama only shrugged, recognizing that for once he was not being offered any bait to rise to and mentally applauding the other man’s restraint. Madara waited to see if his brother would say anything else and when the silence continued he seemed just about to give up hope when Izuna finally spoke up again.
“Certainly looks like you’re having a good time.” Having never heard that tone from him before Tobirama couldn’t properly decipher what that was supposed to mean but he supposed it wasn’t all bad when the snippy way Madara responded seemed more defensive than truly angered.
“We are happy. So good of you to notice.”
“Right. Then go on and…keep being happy or whatever.”
“Hmph. We will.” Madara sniffed and lifted his nose in to the air.
Deciding that leaving was the safest option, Tobirama cleared his throat to head off anything else and reached out to corral his student with one hand, pulling on Madara's wrist with the other.
“Right, come along Kagami. We promised your mother to see you home safely.” He kept one eye on Izuna as they trotted on by, more to satisfy his own curiosity as to whether the man would stumble back in to the bar to drown his miseries, but was surprised instead to find an almost wistful expression on Izuna’s face watching them all walk away. Almost as if he were immediately regretting his quick rejection.
More than anything else it was odd that he didn’t call them back to prolong the fight. Up until now even if they encountered each other at the office he had yet to pass on any opportunity to start shit. Surely by this point Tajima must have noticed but it would be laughable to think he would step in front of anything that might help him wage his own personal war against anyone who was born to the Senju head family.
“Sensei?” Kagami called up to him as soon as they were out of sight around a corner. “Why did Izuna-sama look like he needed to take a really big poop?” Madara choked on air while Tobirama bit the inside of his cheek until he could reply.
“That isn’t a very good description. Use your observational skills, Kagami, what was he feeling?”
“Uh…well he looked…sad I think. Kaachan makes that face sometimes when I ask her if we can get something from the market and she wants to say yes but she says no instead because we already spent our money on grown up stuff. Is that better?”
“Mn. Better, yes. Izuna is in much the same situation as your mother but it’s a little different. Imagine if rather than groceries your mother had spent all her money on a brand new dress she didn’t really need and then when you asked if you could buy something she wanted to give it to you but couldn’t, knowing it was her own frivolity that stopped her.”
While his student mulled this over Tobirama noted Madara looking behind them with a contemplative expression.
“So…Izuna-sama wanted to say yes and come with us but he said no because…um…” His tiny little nose wrinkled adorably as he tried to wriggle his mind through the complicated mess of adult personal problems.
“He started a fight,” Tobirama supplied flatly. “I offered to end the fight but I suppose he isn’t ready to admit his part in it. Does that answer your question?”
Kagami nodded. “Yes sensei! I think Izuna-sama is being silly!”
“So do I,” Madara grumbled.
Instead of offering his own opinion one way or another, Tobirama turned the conversation to other things. At this point his own personal grievances against Izuna were less important than the pain they were causing his husband and Madara's pain had become his own as soon as he started developing feelings for the man. He had extended an olive branch as blatantly as he could; it was up to Izuna now whether or not he chose to take it.
For the rest of their walk home Tobirama kept his student talking and drew no attention to Madara's continued silence. Perhaps it was not him that needed to reach out to heal the wound between two brothers. He did still feel some amount of guilt for being the cause of their rift even as he understood that he truly had no control over the issue Izuna had originally taken exception to. In his culture he had been raised to expect an arranged marriage. Dealing with the clash between his own upbringing and Madara's should have been between them; Izuna really had no right to hate him as badly as he did even before Madara had a change of heart on the subject.
On the upside it looked like the fool was finally starting to explore the option of having his own change of heart and Tobirama could only say he was relieved. Maybe not looking forward to it, he wasn’t sure either of them were capable of being friends with the other in any universe, but it would be a load off his mind not to worry about fighting a war against his husband’s family on two different fronts.
They said goodnight to Kagami at the fork in the road where their paths diverged, trusting him to make it back home by himself. When they entered their own abode Madara paused with his hands on his hips and looked around as though unable to decide what to do with himself.
“It’s only the middle of the afternoon,” he mumbled. Tobirama hummed in agreement, considered his options, and then gave the other man a solid push. As he went down Madara let out a very undignified, “Ack!”
“Shove up and make space,” Tobirama demanded.
“What the hell? If you wanted to get by you just had to ask!”
Huffing quietly, he pushed them both in to one corner of the sofa and reached for one of the books nearby that he was halfway through reading. “I didn’t want by.”
“Oh.”
It took several minutes but eventually all the tension flowed out of Madara's body when he finally got the hint. Tobirama refused to move so much as an inch while the other man shuffled around pulling a blanket of the back of the couch and snapping it out so he could drape them both in soft cotton. After sitting in a crowded restaurant with five other people plus themselves it was a nice change to sit together and read quietly for a time. Tobirama liked to imagine he could feel the stress of the outside world slipping away in moment’s like this, Madara's pleasant warmth beside him, one arm doing its best to circle his waist stealthily without drawing attention.
“It was interesting seeing our families interacting for the first time,” he murmured eventually.
“Our-? Hm. Yeah I guess…they are. Interesting is certainly a word for it.” Madara furrowed his brows until Tobirama turned just enough to kiss him lightly at the corner of those full lips he so loved to taste.
“Thank you, anata.”
He turned back to his book and pretended to read, listening to Madara harrumph and clear his throat and mumble his way through a few disconnected sentences. In the midst of all the drama that had plagued them in so many different ways lately, it was nice to have at least one quiet evening of peace together.
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Many ways to say I love you: Day Seventeen.
Kidge-a-palooza 2019
Prompt: Gamble.
Pairing: Kidge (VLD)
Universe: Garrison AU.
Status: Part ¾
It was the third time this week that her mother told her how wonderful was the show that Matt had prepared for Shiro a few weeks ago in Garrison, to finally commit himself after many years of courtship. It was nice and kind of lovely to see her mother so excited about the wedding planning to take place in six more months, and her father couldn't be prouder of the person Matt had chosen to live the rest of his life. Pidge frankly at that point, she was up to the top with the story.
At first, Pidge was excited when she had heard it the first ten times after arriving from a diplomatic mission from the planet Daibazaal with Keith and his mother. It had come as a surprise to everyone because her brother had kept it a secret very well, and with a pretty clever idea, even for him. Who after a private celebration in the headquarters where the high officials were enjoying a nice dinner after a strenuous semester, including her father, Matt had taken Shiro to the area where the central building could be seen completely. When the minutes passed, at exactly midnight Matt closed his eyes to Shiro to direct him to the desired place, where the lights of the building were switched on alternately to showing the words ''marry me'' in high.
It had been a risky proposition, given that Shiro preferred reserved and rather private gestures, but during the commotion and seeing Matt kneeling and holding a tiny box with a ring in the middle, Shiro couldn't help but accept between tears and laughter in happiness to the proposition of Matt, who was also to tears when he saw Shiro take the ring between his fingers. It hadn't been random; Matt had decided to do it at that time because midnight would be ten years from the Kerberos mission. The first time they both traveled into space and began to open up through a relationship beyond friendship.
Some people changed some parts of the story by saying that Matt had started crying since he had knelt, to Pidge's amusement.
Everyone had seen it and many agreed that it had been a pretty nice show to see how the lights were playing around the letters that were programmed to light at the desired time while congratulating them for deciding to formalize a relationship that had been developing for years.
Even Lance and Hunk had agreed that it was a pretty charming gesture to commit. Pidge could understand it.
But her mother was being exaggeratedly insistent with the subject. Especially that morning.
''Mom, I heard you the first few times since I got to earth, could you talk about something else?'' Colleen looked at her questioningly when she handed a piece of toast to Bae Bae, who was under the table.
''Sure ... Something interesting that has happened in your relationship, Katie?''
''No?'' She answered uncertainly. ''You know, nothing new. Keith will be leaving for a few months on a trip with the intergalactic coalition to investigate Balmera's robberies by space pirates. He will return before his birthday.''
''You mean that nothing has progressed? Nothing new?''
''What do you mean by that?'' Pidge asked sternly. Now she understood her mother's insistence on the marriage between Shiro and Matt.
''Oh nothing, you know ... You have been together for so long and many would think that you should begin to formalize a little more your adolescent relationship.''
''Our relationship is perfect as it is, thank you very much.'' Pidge replied annoyed. ''Besides, who is saying that?''
''Me, of course.''
''Then it's not important.''
''Katie...'' Colleen's tone made Pidge immediately regret getting up to end the conversation. Her mother, however, only sighed tiredly after a few seconds in silence. ''I don't want you to think I'm meddling in your relationship with Keith ... But it looks like they're not going anywhere, you know? You should think a bit about that.''
Pidge chose to briefly chew on what Colleen was trying to tell her, then say goodbye with a brief kiss on her cheek and take her keys to go to work. She had to give a class in an hour and she couldn't spend time thinking about things that had no meaning or answer.
Not that Pidge hadn't thought of it before. Although her relationship with Keith had lasted various years and they were on excellent terms with their friends and family, she didn't see a future if there were forced to change certain things.
While the marriage rate on earth was extremely low after the integration into the galactic coalition many centuries ago, and many people preferred to leave it as a legislative option before something they really needed for their relationship. Pidge and Matt had the fortune to grow up with parents who loved each other deeply even after many years, so both of them thought that getting married was also part of their life goals when they fulfilled their personal goals. It's not something they said openly, but it was something they craved.
Pidge after knowing about her brother's commitment was really happy for him because Shiro was an amazing person, but at the bottom of her heart, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
Maybe her mother had noticed her at some point.
She desired in some future to live in a house next to the person she loved. Share a space that they could order as they wish, accompany themselves while they were growing as people. With all the good and bad that entailed. And maybe, if in the future situations occurred and she felt prepared, having a child wouldn't be something really bad for her. Pidge felt capable of anything, and over the years was able to prove it not only in the world, but the entire universe that she didn't know the limits of the impossible.
But Katie wasn't able to see all that future with Keith.
She had never asked, perhaps out of fear or denial, but she was almost 84.8% sure that Keith didn't want to form a home or a family given his instinctive nature. He was a man of stars, not a person who wanted to get stuck in one place, much less have children.
And that was something that would surely end their relationship at some point.
She pressed hard on her computer to close it and rest her eyes on her current investigation, sighing heavily. She didn't like to think about those things.
''Pidge, is everything okay?'' She looked up to see Hunk approaching her with folded arms, Pidge buzzing affirmatively.
''Yeah, it's just that this code has been giving me problems.'' Lied. Hunk laughed with an incredulous look.
''That's impossible, no code gives you problems.''
''Well, I've been a little tired since my mom has been screaming all day about my brother's wedding.''
''Ahh that's in a few months, I wonder what kind of snacks there will be in the catering.''
Pidge smiled when she made her way to the coffee shop to prepare a coffee while taking a break. Being followed by Hunk who talked animatedly about various types of food that could be accompanied between Italian and Japanese culture.
''It's a misfortune that they will not leave you as a chef in the banqueter’s area.''
''Yeah, I know. But I should have been in charge of the kitchen instead of enjoying the marriage with all of you. That's why Matt and Shiro didn't ask me, although they did ask me for some suggestions for the main courses.''
''That's something.''
Before Hunk could answer, they could hear roars around the corridors and unmistakable voices that made them react with a strong migraine. The people around were afraid to be dragged into the apparent struggle they were having before entering the room with such force that Iverson hit them on the head to stop their discussion.
Lance and Keith nodded reluctantly when they approached Hunk and Pidge who did their best not to laugh at the situation. Or they would start again.
Hunk hit Pidge's shoulder to get her attention.
''I'm afraid to ask at this point what the fight started, but...''
''Surely it will be something stupid.'' Added Allura, who had seen the whole thing in silence when she walked towards them. ''Can you behave like normal adults for a day? You are diplomats and part of the armament that cares for the welfare and peace in the universe, for the ancients!''
''Keith was the one who started!''
''There they go again...''
Pidge commented exhausted as she saw them again arguing for reasons that no one in the room could understand. Although surely it wouldn't make much sense to try to do it. Lance liked to press Keith's buttons whenever he could, and Keith thanks to his competitive personality always ended up falling to Lance's provocations.
And her mother wanted to commit soon to someone like him?
Again, a painful twinge dug into Pidge's chest when she remembered what she was trying to avoid all morning. Calling the attention of Allura while Hunk tried to mediate a little the discussion of both.
''You're okay? You look a little sad...''
''It must just work stress.'' She replied when she averted her eyes slightly. Keith watched her intrigued.
''Did something happen?''
Pidge could answer anything and they would be kind to make her think they believed her until she was prepared to talk. But when she could see standing in front of her, while smiling so warmly. Something in her mind didn't let her take out a single word.
She was silent for too long. Until Lance huffed exaggeratedly causing Keith's eyebrow to contract with discomfort.
''Then I was right? It seems that your courtship is not as you thought.''
''Lance, I warn you.'' Keith's growl came from his stomach, rumbling in the entire room.
''What are you supposed to be talking about?'' Asked Allura trying to stop a future discussion.
''Nothing.'' Keith replied before Lance could say anything. ''I'm sure I could get my answer long before you, Lancey Lance.'' A cheeky smile emerged on both their lips.
''So, it was a bet?'' Pidge said, to which Lance shook his head slowly.
''It is rather a very interesting gamble that we both need to carry out. I hope you have the balls to not retract, mullet.''
''Same for you!''
The others lost the sense of conversation after they saw them return to the hangar of the fighter jets with a determined look and the fire that twitched around them.
Pidge preferred to go back to work, she had enough with one problem a day.
...
''You know? I thought you were too busy mocking Lance to ask us out.''
Keith stopped in front of the viewpoint they had visited after eating some hamburgers at the nearest McDonald's they found after leaving work. If there was something they both enjoyed very much, it was junk food before any elegant dinner. Maybe they would have to tell Lance that that wasn't the rule of all the appointments the next time he tried to invite Allura to dinner around.
Pidge kept a distance from Keith, not approaching him even though she was shivering cold under her jacket. She had decided to end their relationship that night before Keith left for an exploration to a distant galaxy and she had to wait for months. Again.
Keith swallowed hard before speaking.
''Yeah well, I wasn't going to waste my last day on earth with something like that, when I could spend that time with you.''
He took her hand even if she didn't make any move to get it out of the way, or reciprocate. Making her look directly into his eyes. In front of Pidge was the dark violet she had loved so much since she was a teenager.
''I brought you here to talk about something.''
''Is it about your trip?'' Pidge asked, Keith, shook his head, a little nervous at what he would do. ''So?''
''I ... I've been thinking a lot about this since we came to earth. When we heard that Shiro and Matt were engaged...'' Pidge opened her eyes in surprise at the mention of her brother's marriage. Giving him time to keep talking. ''I know that neither of us likes these exhibitionist things but ... Just watch.''
When Keith turned her gaze to the sky that had darkened many hours ago. She could see how several flashes of light coming from the stratosphere began to show through the sky. Taking her hands to her mouth of surprise, she could realize who this whole show was about while the words galra were painted through the stars in vivid colors, with slight explosions assimilating fireworks that, for some reason, galra loved to decorate with anything.
The words 'I love you' have never reached Pidge's heart as much as that night. Keith hugged her gently from the side and they watched the show he had prepared with BOM.
''I ... I know I'm not able to give you a stable future or a family as you wish, Katie.''
Her chest throbbed painfully at his words, staring at Keith when the lights reflected off his skin. His gaze was full of pain.
''I don't see myself able to abandon what I am or what I do, as you don't feel able to leave Garrison and accompany me through the universe.''
Pidge bit her lip, suppressing any refusal she could give since deep down she knew Keith was telling the truth. While she loved to know the universe and discover new technologies through galaxies, she didn't seem able to leave her own roots for something like that.
Keith took her chin to see him again, this time with a much more serene look than before.
''But I want to try, Katie. I want our relationship to move forward, even to form a family in the future...'' He looked away briefly before continuing. ''I can't give you something ideal like Shiro and Matt ... But only if you agree, of course...''
''I don't care about that, Keith... '' Answered, at last, smiling as her tears escaped through her cheeks. ''I know it's not the traditional thing, but... What does it matter? Nothing in the world is hundreds of years ago.''
Keith smiled at her when he lifted her into the air at her response, laughing with happiness as their tears mingled in a rather clumsy kiss. When they walked away, the sky had finally turned towards darkness. Seeing how the fighters were moving towards the sky.
''Whose idea was it?'' Pidge asked, Keith scratched his head, uncomfortable.
''From Kolivan.''
''Your uncle? Seriously!?''
''Hey, the advice he gives me has always been good!''
''Wow ... I never would have imagined it.'' She replied when she snuggled into his chest, looking for some warmth for her frozen nose. Keith breathed hard.
''It's pretty romantic when you take the time to meet him.'' Pidge hummed in response when they swayed around. ''When I return, and after Shiro's marriage, I will correctly ask you to be my wife.'' A sweet kiss on his lips was the answer enough for Keith's heart to calm down and give the evening a successful run and Lance's pride ended up on the floor.
''I'll count the days from today.''
After months, at last Pidge's chest felt really relieved.
#kidge#kidgefanfic#monthofkidge#kidgeapalooza#kidgeapalooza2019#keith kogane#keith (voltron)#katieholt#pidge gunderson#pidge holt#voltron#voltronship#lance mcclain
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haunted [TUA]
A/N This is a fanfic of The Umbrella Academy; Klaus-centric.
Read on AO3
Summary:
Klaus grows up seeing ghosts.
(Or, Klaus through the years learning the horrific nature of his powers.)
Word Count: 2927
Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence; minor character death; injuries; implied/referenced incest (Luther/Allison) but we do not condone that thx
-
At some point, they must have been just normal children, despite their powers.
Klaus doesn’t remember that point. Maybe it was the day they were born; when they were still with their mothers. That’s a pretty normal start – though he supposes that their births weren’t typical either.
Maybe it was the days following that. There were 43 of them, after all. Surely some of their mothers adjusted in the short interim before Reginald came and tried to collect them. Surely some of their mothers learnt to love their new children.
Klaus likes to think that his mother fought for him. He envisions her clutching her son, tears streaming down her face. He pictures Reginald yanking him from her arms and throwing money at her feet as a means of compensation, and then his mother, restrained by his new father’s security or whatever, yelling that no amount of money can ever come close to Klaus’ value.
Of course, he didn’t have a name then, so she probably didn’t say that, and Reginald would’ve gotten far more than seven if he had used force, but he dismisses those details.
In this fantasy his young, sober mind has concocted, he is loved.
-
He later learns that fantasies are just that – fantasies. He grows up, alongside his siblings. He is Number Four. He does not have a name. He does not have a living, breathing mother. He does not have useful powers.
He can see ghosts, though.
Four goes on missions and he isn’t just the lookout – no, because Reginald hasn’t given up on him yet. The old man still thinks that if he’s trained enough, he’ll harness his power.
Four is young enough to believe him.
One through to Six don’t question their orders. They are ten years old and this is their first “mission”, as their dad calls it.
Four watches as One and Two straighten up, proud that their dad thinks they’re ready. Three, Five and Six are excited. Four follows suit.
They enter in the bank, no armour on their tiny frames. Guns are pointed at them immediately and the bad guys say something like “move along, kids.” Four tries not to laugh – in simulations, they’re usually being fired at by now. He guesses being so young has its advantages.
The six of them glance at each other, a smile pulling at their lips, and they set out to work.
Being trained their entire lives for this very first mission, none of them stops to consider the ramifications of what they’re doing.
As bullets fly past, Four glances to his left and sees One punching the robbers into walls and snapping their necks. Two’s knives fly with deadly precision, impaling each and every target. Three uses this chaos to sneak up on some other dude. She leans in while he’s still watching the scene, mouth wide open in shock, and she whispers in his ear.
He spins around and shoots his friend.
Four ducks, shots whizzing past and ruffling his unruly hair. He lets out a whoop and tackles the nearest man onto the floor. The impact makes him wince, but it doesn’t slow him down. In a matter of seconds, Four has the man’s hands pinned behind his back.
While he’s deciding the best way to incapacitate his first catch, the rest of his siblings spread out through the bank.
Five teleports at convenient intervals, and bullets rip through the now-empty space he once occupied. They fly straight through some criminal, pummelling into their body. Six is mostly doing the same as Four, reluctant to “release the beast” without necessitation, but he’s still flinging himself with reckless abandon onto the backs of the robbers.
He catches Four’s eye and they grin.
The shots dwindle in number each passing second. The screams lessen too. Two sprints from victim to victim, ripping his knives out of their torsos and immediately whipping around to impale some other poor sod. They delve further into the carnage, and it becomes apparent that there are more in a vault underneath the bank.
Six is nominated for clean-up duty. His jaw tightens, but he enters nonetheless, lifting his shirt.
The howls seem louder from inside the vault than during combat.
Eventually, they finish up and Two cuts the hostages loose. The Hargreeves wait, ever eager for appraise, but the hostages take one look at them and run out the doors.
“Well, that was rude,” Six comments, and Four is inclined to agree.
“Considering the state we’re in, I’d say they were in shock. Also, it’s not every day that six children save the day,” Five replies.
Now that he’s said it, Four looks around. Their neatly pressed uniforms are considerably darker. Similarly, his, Six’s and Two’s hands are splotched with red. Four pulls a face and wipes them on the small part of his jumper that doesn’t have blood on it already. He hopes Mum doesn’t spend too long getting it out.
Any worries about the future fly out of his mind as Three exclaims, “We just had our first mission!”
The realisation sinks in, and the six of them, for the first time, come together to celebrate. They laugh and they cheer and they hug, and oh, Four finally understands what’s so great about hugging.
They break apart when the police burst in. Instantly, their backs straighten as they assemble themselves in a line corresponding to each of their numbers.
-
When they return home, Reginald scolds them for taking so long. They’re also scolded for “unnecessary death”, but they were trained by him, so can they really be blamed?
Four pulls a face and Six stifles a laugh. They’re dismissed without praise.
He retires to his room fairly early. One would be proud – he was always such a stickler for the rules and early bedtimes and whatever other favourite-child-shtick he spouts. He switches off his light and makes his way to his bed.
His eyes have only just adjusted to the darkness when he plonks himself on the edge of his mattress. The only warning he gets that his childhood is about to become even more fucked up is a loud, piercing cry before a man sprints up to him. Four lets out an ear-splitting shriek when he sees that although this man’s face is towards him, his body is backwards.
He’s not the only one, oh no. His room is filled with the dead.
The men leer out at him, all showcasing their horrific injuries while Four scrambles away, pressing himself further and further into the wall against his bed.
The ghosts – the people that they killed – all have mangled necks, or blood spilling out onto the carpet, or chests that have been shredded by bullets, or-
He almost vomits when he sees Six’s victims.
Giant, gaping holes. Chunks missing from chests, from shoulders, from legs, from heads.
He’s forced to look on in sickening, wide-eyed horror at the exposed muscle and intestines and bones and-
Four spots the man that he killed. He killed him. He’s a killer.
His thoughts spiral further and further until he’s gasping for breath, apologising over and over to the countless bodies surrounding him.
He begins sobbing at some point, throat too sore to make a noise.
That night, Four curls up in a fetal position, covered with his heavy blanket and pillow pressed tightly over his ears. It doesn’t block out the screams.
-
They learn to only kill when needed. Four doesn’t bring up the fact that they shouldn’t have to kill at all.
Now, they’re twelve, and they’ve drifted somewhat. Well, not exactly ‘drifted’. They’ve simply split. It happened after Five… after Five left.
They receive names as if that can heal the rift caused by his absence.
Four becomes Klaus.
Klaus and Six – now Ben – are inseparable but not in the way that Luther and Allison are, because, gross. Diego is mostly content to keep to himself, occasionally joining in on Klaus and Ben’s adventures. They become the “Even Squad”, as Ben dubs them. Vanya is alone by default.
It’s another bank robbery. They’re kind of over those at this point, but hey, at least they have a skill. Klaus isn’t exactly sure how “proficient at resolving bank robberies” would fit on a resume, nor is he entirely sure what a resume is either.
This one goes haywire almost immediately. The Umbrella Academy is well-known now, and these robbers don’t have any reservations about shooting at them. Or, at least, the leader doesn’t.
Luther reacts by snapping the closest person’s neck. The rest of the criminals pick up guns and aim them. Klaus tries not to think about how most of them are missing on purpose.
The situation now deemed appropriately violent, Luther, Diego, Allison and Ben jump into the fray. Klaus stands in the middle of it all, trying not to notice how some of these supposed villains take a bullet for one another.
He tries not to notice when one falls and another runs over, skidding on the floor as she kneels beside her fallen comrade, attempting to wake her up. He tries not to notice the desperate cries of “Don’t be dead, please, don’t be dead!” And he tries not to care when the woman stands up and faces him.
“That was my sister,” she tells him before she lunges at him, no gun in sight. Klaus lets her.
He’s pinned to the floor and he stares in quiet fascination as this person, this grieving sibling lifts her hand to pummel his face in. Her fist shakes in the air, knuckles pure white, and Klaus still doesn’t move.
Instead, his attention is drawn over her shoulder to a confused and newly-formed ghost. He watches as she startles at the blood smeared across her chest. She lifts her eyes and sees her corpse. He watches as it clicks.
The ghost then sees them, and Klaus’ and her eyes meet. She ignores him to run over to her sister, whose tears are now falling on his face.
She isn’t angry, like most ghosts. Instead, she seems impossibly sad. Her hand phases through her sister’s shoulder, and she lets out a wail.
Her sister lowers her fist. Not in a fast punch, like Klaus expected, but in a slow descent, coming to rest beside his head. His chest clenches when he finally looks straight up.
Her face is twisted in agony. Her body shakes and shakes and shakes, and all he can think about is that they were siblings. And he understands.
So, for the first time in his life, he willingly makes eye contact with a ghost.
She notices this, and whispers, voice-cracking, “Can you see me?”
He nods once, short and almost imperceptible. The woman lights up and kneels beside him.
“You have to- you have to tell her that- let her know that I love her. Tell her to run. Tell her that I’ll always watch over her, please. Please! Her name- her name’s Tanya.”
“Tanya,” Klaus repeats.
Tanya’s shaking pauses and her eyes fly open. “How do you-”
“Your sister told me. She told me to tell you that she loves you.”
“You can see her?” Klaus nods, and Tanya sits up. There’s no sign of disbelief, only the same aching sorrow Klaus saw in her sister. “Nessie, I love you too,” she murmurs.
“She says for you to run. Escape while you can. She’ll watch over you. She promises.”
Tanya’s eyes water again. For a second, Klaus wonders if she’s realised that he’s partly responsible for Nessie’s death and if she’ll kill him then and there, but that doesn’t happen. Instead, she stands up on shaky legs.
And then a knife embeds itself into her back.
He cries out as she makes a choked sound, blood spluttering out onto her shirt. He bolts up to catch her when she topples and then he gently lowers her to the now speckled ground. A low keening sound comes from the back of her throat. Klaus wishes he could ease her pain. Unfortunately, healing is not his power, no matter how useful that gift would be.
Despite himself, he starts crying. He shifts her onto her side and pulls the knife out, shaking all the while. More blood floods out. Klaus gags as he presses his hands against the wound, trying his best to stop the bleeding.
It’s pointless, in the end.
Diego runs up to him, pulls him away from the corpse and asks if he’s okay; if she hurt him. He stutters over his words, worry etched onto his face. Klaus doesn’t respond. He’s too busy staring at his red, dark red, bloody hands.
His brother drags him up and pauses for a moment, waiting for Klaus to say something. He can’t wait forever though, and he rushes off to save another one of their siblings or whatever.
Klaus lifts his gaze in time to see Nessie and Tanya reunite. They look so happy, even though they just died. Happy because they have their sister. Happy because they won’t be apart ever again. Happy because nothing, not even Klaus, can hurt them now.
It’s ironic that he loses Ben the very next minute.
-
He’s fourteen when Reginald decides it’s time for him to get over his fear of the dead. It’s also when he discovers the magic of alcohol. The old man forgets to lock his liquor cabinet and Klaus is the type to take every chance he can to rebel against him. Luther’s still a daddy’s boy, Diego’s a mummy’s boy, and Allison and Vanya like to keep the peace.
Someone’s got to be the fuck-up, right? And it’s not like it can be Five or Ben, Klaus muses with the opening of a bottle of Vodka to his lips. He ignores Ben’s futile attempts at grabbing it.
The first taste burns his throat. He revels in it, hoping that the other ghosts are seeing this so they can at least feel somewhat avenged. Another swig, and another, and soon the bottle’s gone.
Klaus opens his eyes and feels sick. He runs to the nearest bathroom and doesn’t bother turning on the lights before he pukes his guts out. After he’s cleaned himself up, he faces the mirror.
And freezes.
The room is empty. He whirls around, examining every dark crevice. Ben is chilling in the bathtub next to him, muttering “Told you so,” but Klaus waves that off because he can always see Ben. However...
Usually, the dead take the dark as a chance to scream at him. Except there’s no one.
A smile slowly creeps over his face. Ben doesn’t share his glee, especially when Klaus uses his new revelation to rationalise stealing half of Dad’s alcohol and hiding it under his bed.
The next mission they go on, Klaus stumbles over his own feet and is more of a hindrance than a help. He can’t see any fucking ghosts, though, so fuck the others and their glares!
When they come home, Luther rats him out and he gets demoted to the lookout until he “cleans up his act”, which won’t happen. He also gets locked in his room for a week. Klaus doesn’t give a shit – in fact, he takes it as a learning opportunity!
Once the week is through, Klaus knows how to escape the house without making a sound. He also knows the names of quite a few of the local drug dealers.
-
He’s sixteen when he leaves home with as many of Allison’s clothes he could fit on his body and pocketfuls of Dad’s stuff.
The streets are better than the hell-hole he was forced to call home. He can also get high whenever the fuck he wants and, if he accidentally sobers up, fewer ghosts try to kill him anyway.
He may be a homeless junkie, but he’s having the time of his life.
-
He’s eighteen when he gets admitted to rehab for the first time. It’s actually Diego that does this – he gets caught by his brother and instead of writing him up, as a good policeman-in-training should do, he gets sent to fucking rehab. What a fun god damn family reunion.
At least he got to meet his brother’s girlfriend. Euphoria, or something. He hopes that means Diego’s found happiness.
-
He’s twenty-nine when he time-travels to the middle of the Vietnam War. He falls in love and he is loved, for possibly the first time in his life.
He doesn’t hesitate in firing shot after shot at enemy lines, reasoning the entire time that he’s fighting not for himself, but for his comrades. If he kills someone, then that’s one less person who can hurt anyone on his side, and god knows that they need as many troops as possible.
(He fights the part of his brain that whispers that his enemies have Daves too. That they have families and loves and are just trying to protect the people around them. That’s not his problem… Right?)
-
And he’s thirty when Dave dies beside him, his cries for a medic unheard and too late.
Klaus has seen ghosts in varying degrees of dismemberment, decapitation, de-everything for the past ten months – war isn’t a good time to be high as a kite – but this… He can’t bear it. So he returns to the present with Dave’s dog-tag and probably PTSD or some shit and takes whatever cheap drugs and liquor he can get his hands on.
He’s already got his memories. He doesn’t need the ghosts to haunt him too.
A/N @interstellarroadkill you asked to be tag when I mentioned it over on my TS sideblog, so here it is!
Please tell me what you thought + any feedback, as this is my first Umbrella Academy fic!
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@kathexismania 🤝 + 51 :))))
fifty reasons to touch someone. || Open
51. [ dealer’s choice / randomise ]
11…in grief.
40... because the world is ending.
The red liquid still streams down at the side of her forehead, a small crimson river caused by the open skin where her hair begins and now is drying by the heat in the air. Red, red, it's everywhere she looks, above her head where there is this horrid sky on fire, the dark smoke casting these shadows on the wooden ground, shaking and breaking underneath her feet, chaos invading the scene in the most horrific forms possible. The ship will collapse sooner or later, the Tekunin have been finally defeated but there were sacrifices to reach the bittersweet glory, these metallic bodies were people once, now they will sink into the Sea of Blood along with the ship. A perpetual explosion caused by Sektor's command as a desperate way to kill his rivals has set the place on fire, along with the mainmast onto the deck. Everything happened too fast before her eyes.
Scrapped metal and shattered pieces of wood formed a prison for the cryomancer after the execution of the explosion, her head was hit at the moment, causing her to lose consciousness. It didn't stop her need for living, heard the fire cracking close to her ears, an erratic rhythm calling for her attention. That need for air pushed herself out of the trap of cyberized bodies, crawling from under it and being greeted by the intoxicating air of wires burning, a light blue scar in the middle of this red hell rises to see the disaster and regain the composure. Frost has only questions and more questions in her head, but the knowledge that her time is running out and won't be able to reach for the final battle against the Titan... wait... there is something out of place...
"Kuai?... Sub-Zero?... where are you?"
Nobody answers, waits just mere seconds to start asking again and prays for his voice to reply to her question. Nothing. Again?
"Sub-Zero?"
As she walks between this cemetery of metallic bodies she pushes from her path the pieces of arms, heads or legs with the little energy fueling her being still, bright lights flickering until they meet the final obscurity that greets these poor souls to their awaited destination. Oh, to be dead, wouldn't be a gift right now? Nothing but a dead leaf swaying in the wind and the slightest change in the air cracks you open to becoming simple dust? Swaying violently as Kharon's ship too, side to side to finally dive into the waters of the Sea of Blood. Removes pieces of the boat in desperation, is he here so that's why he's unable to listen to her voice? Frost repeats his name, his alias, asks to the wind now, where are you?
Can see his boots first against the deck, his legs laying normally, no, his torso presents damage, a scattered red piece of metal encrusted at his left side of his chest, the blood staining the blue of his clothes with a dirty dark purple, however, his face...
"Kuai?"
Removing the piece of metal required doing it steadily, with the eyes and perception of a hunter, her pale finger executed the task without shaking even if inside she's already trembling in fear. A lost child, where did your father go? Is he now with the angels? Older adults say that to the children when they leave just to avoid the word 'dead'. Her palm meets his emotionless face that has been sculpted by the years of grief and rebirth, death now uses the final stroke with its darkest tone. Frost has never touched the Grandmaster's face unless it was to perpetuate a hit with her fists when they sparred or trained together. Her hand slightly attempts to move his head, it simply hangs like a puppet without strings between his shoulders. If it weren't for the numbness of her skin when it comes to temperatures, she would sense how cold his flesh is now.
Now both of her hands held his face to coax him to look back at her, Kuai's eyes are merely open, the same kind of glance the dead ones see the world with. Pale lips begin to tremble at the realization of how real the inner fear has become, even if Frost doesn't want to think about the word to describe his current state, swallows heavily to ignore the annoying and useless lump in her throat and the itch at the sides of her sapphire eyes, the white turning red. The world, the universe, what else? Who cares? The thunderous noise of the outside has gone silent, futile, quiet, the fire cracking now has stopped in time from eating little by little any object it finds in its way, the sea, the violence, the gravity, does it matter now that she is alone? The sole survivor or the final girl, the only cryomancer left. Extinct.
Hasn't shed a tear, not yet, not here, that's what the Lin Kuei has in mind, yet her humanity betrays the trained warrior without consolation. Doesn't beg for him to speak or move his fingers, no, nothing, why even? Frost has accepted the truth and knew the risk of dying here too... shit... she has lost. Would it be selfish too to sink with the ship as well? Yes, very, no, is it really?
The energy comes back to her in waves, once they finish this battle, Frost must bury Sub-Zero in the sacred grounds close to the temple, which is a tradition and it must be fulfilled no matter what. The strength of a cryomancer is superior to the one of an average human being, it wasn't a problem to lift the former teacher from the ground to let him lay his arm on her shoulders, his body is heavy as she remembers. Another cracking noise, not from the fire this time but from main mast that collapses into the weakened wood of the deck, the force caused by gravity pulls the piece downwards and splits the ship in two, the real disaster wasn't just the growing gap or the chaos from screams and fire, but losing the body of the former Grandmaster from her grip, seeing it fall by the betrayal of her surprise into the Sea of Blood.
"Frost?! We have to go right now!" It had to be Hanzo and the warm grip of his fingers around her forearm, wake up woman! The war is not over. And he decides to appear now? But, she has no memory about the last time Frost saw Mr. Hasashi before the explosion, was he too near to her or too far away? The scenes will come to her soon. The cryomancer doesn't speak to him, the fingers over her skin confirm the reality of his apparition, a figure of flesh and bone and not a creation of her blurred thoughts. Moves but not under her own influence, believed to be stuck to the ground and if it wasn't for Hanzo, she might have stayed there. Not by brute force but enough with dedication to carry her to one of the remaining boats to escape from the mayhem, Hanzo is as sure of what he has seen before his eyes, his friend dead and being pulled down into the crimson sea, Frost hears him speaking as if he was too far from her to even decode the words out of the blur and the noise.
His voice is getting clearer and clearer, it repeats something she can't recognize yet, her moonlight skin is numb as much as her mind. ................... frost, frost, Frost? FROST!?
Lungs automatically fill entirely with the contaminated oxygen as is she was pulled out from the water, both of his calloused hands press the sides of her head to get her back to the Netherealm, hell, this is horrid! This click in Frost's mind warns her about what just happened in the last minutes. His voice pronounces her name, almost chanting it like a spell to wake her up from a fever dream. Out of instinct, stripped from a distant memory, the cryomancer pushes the Grandmaster with the violent strength reserved in her muscles.
"DON'T TOUCH ME AGAIN!!" The voice is almost guttural, a dangerous tiger warning about her system of defense as ancient as time itself. Composes again, where is she? Floating on a small boat with Hanzo as they return their way back to where Kronika's supposed to be. "I need to retrieve his body quickly, once this finishes, I've to take him to Arctika."
"Frost? There's no time to lose now, Kuai Liang has met his final place to rest in the Sea of Blood, he is gone." This fake calmness in his voice is completely astonishing for Frost in the worst way possibles. What? Leaving him behind? This battle can wait now, as for her eyes are jumping erratically from one tiny spot in the air from another, believed to have seen a ghost before her, the ghost of the Grandmaster perhaps, she could swear she was holding him a few moments ago and slipt from her paper pale fingers like sand.
"No, no, no, no you don't understand it! I must do it, I can't leave him here, for the universe's sake Hanzo! He would do the same thing for me, and also for you too."
This is simply exasperating, which other turns this living nightmare could take next? The Elder Gods are dead, the world they know no longer exists, the clan, the clan? The Lin Kuei? Doesn’t even exist now and their leader is dead, all because of the selfish desires of others, perhaps they can’t see between good and evil, heaven knows very well how hard is for her too, see the whole specter and not just white and black. The silence between them is the loudest she has ever experienced, as Hanzo rows the boat through the surface of the deep uncertainty of this unknown waters, the idea of jumping into the red liquid becomes more and more like a possibility... too bad, Frost is too quick, and hasn’t given Hanzo enough time to react and stop her from jumping into the waters, does she even know how to swim? How to hold her breath underwater? Now, he’s the only lonely soul in that wooden boat waiting for answers, the death of his friend is recently carving deeply into his chest... waits... and this incredible impatience, rage, and fear become so horrific that he thinks too about jumping into the waters... no, he must wait here or continue if this wait becomes too excessive. The impotence is starting to hit as well... the water doesn’t look disturbed, not a single hint from their bodies.
A hand grips from under the red surface onto the boat, almost turning it upside down, this hand is from a survivor, Frost came back as her lungs are full of air again. Without questioning her almost too childish decision of ignoring his advice, Hanzo pulled not just the young cryomancer, but the man his friend used to be as well. it’s obvious, this timeline has lost much more than expected, they have lost an important piece for them. “The Lin Kuei are no more” Frost murmurs with her sight losing its objective on the horizon, other ships continue with their path, the goal to get the Hourglass is not so far away from them, but... it no longer makes sense for her.
“Knowing Sub-Zero almost as much as you did, he would have put his faith in you to rebuild the Lin Kuei, just like he did before when the times were too obscure, we will have our vengeance, but you must think too in the future of your clan as well. You’re the Grandmaster now.” Of course... how she could forget? His words send her back to reality, the war is not over yet, might even be over one day? Doesn’t respond, no this time, they’ll have enough time to talk in the future.
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→ general information
full name: iris rose karam espino
nickname(s): sirenita (by her mother)
age: twenty six (26)
date of birth: february 15th, 1993
nationality: australian with a mexican/lebanese ethnic background
occupation: former marine biologist turned cafe owner
religion: catholic, non-practicing
sexuality: demisexual
hometown: newtown, sydney, australia
current residence: a cute little townhouse in ocean park boulevard
financial status: middle class
educational level: college graduate, masters in marine biology @ University of Hawaii Manoa
→ relationships
father: joseph karam - ever since her fathers infidelity which led to her parents subsequent divorce when she was around seven years old, she has not spoken to her father.
mother: miriam karam - with a very gilmore girls type relationship, iris talks to her mother almost every single day and when she doesn’t? her mother calls her asap.
siblings: two half sisters; younger karam & alondra karam
relationship status: single
when/who was your first kiss: ashton mitchell when she was in eighth grade courtesy of a very stressful game of spin the bottle.
are you a virgin: no
have you ever had a same sex experience: no
do you ever want to get married/have children: one thing iris has always wanted was to get married and have kids. both of which could have been possible had her relationship with her ex-boyfriend not gone completely south. now, she’s hesitant to even flirt with people let alone think of having a child.
what do you look for in a potential significant other: kindness, loyalty and a good sense of humor. though, iris is very touch starved so if anyone showed her only one of those when in a romantic situation she’d not know what to do.
→ personality
positive traits: intelligent, caring, carefree, adventurous, affectionate, romantic
negative traits: awkward, self-concious, stubborn, slightly clingy, impulsive,
biggest fear: getting trapped in an elevator
what’s more important- sex or intimacy: intimacy above anything unless she’s truly comfortable with the person and has that connection then it’s intimacy followed by sex.
do you believe in true love: she does but she believes that she simply hasn’t found it yet nor will she ever find it.
have you ever been in love: very much so because she was so in love with her ex-boyfriend to the point that it blinded her despite his behavior.
are you a leader or follower: leader
do you care what others think of you: not particularly. her mother raised her to believe that the only person who’s opinion should matter is her own and that’s why she lives such a carefree life. because it’s what she chose to have a philosophy.
how do you deal with stress: normally, she’ll go out and buy some takeout before proceeding to pick her favorite bath bomb in order to take a relaxing bath. when she doesn’t want to do that, you’ll normally find her sat on the beach just watching the ocean waves and listening to the sounds that come with it.
are you spontaneous or do you always need a plan: a mixture of both because it mainly depends on the situation. most of the time, however, she tends to be the latter because she feels like she’ll get more out of a situation if it’s planned. but she’s only human.
→ misc
If your character could change one physical detail about herself, what would it be? her eye color. she’s always wanted green or even hazel eyes to the point that she owns several pairs of contacts in those colors for days where she wants to be a bit more extra.
What is your character’s favorite physical activity? it’s a tie between surfing or swimming but in the grand scheme of things, she enjoys any and all aquatic activities more than anything outside of water.
What is your character’s least favorite physical activity? jogging, hands down. she never really did much before getting her dog but she’s been doing it more so her dog can get exercise but she always feels like death once it’s done and over with.
Your character comes face-to-face with her worst enemy. What is her first reaction? she’d probs be a shaking mess if that happened but she’d likely call the cops because she has no plans of letting him get anywhere near her when that ship has very much sailed.
What is your character’s favorite weather? warm weather. she loves the fact that it’s warm enough to go out and do things but not hot enough where you feel like you’re suffocating from the heat itself.
What is your character’s favorite season? spring time for the same reason as above.
What is your character’s least favorite season? winter time. there’s something about the cold that does not adjust well with her after growing up somewhere that was almost always warm so now she can’t stand it even if she does find snow gorgeous.
Your character keeps a photo album of memories from her lifetime. If she could only keep one photo, what would it depict? it would definitely be a picture of iris with her mother when they first moved to hawaii. it was the first time that iris finally felt like she had a home and all the potential to make friends whereas she’d never felt that way while in australia given her parents work.
Does your character keep any pets? she has one! a three month old blue merle australian shepherd puppy named aolani (meaning heavenly cloud in hawaiian) who’s a handful and a half but the sweetest dog iris has ever met.
What is your character’s fondest childhood memory? christmas when she was five years old and her father showed up in a full blown santa costumer with a giant bag of christmas presents for her while also sprinkling her with fake snow. everything she had asked for was in that bag including a kitten which she named toodles.
Someone asks your character to describe her family. How do they answer? ‘like many families, there’s ups and downs but my mum is always going to be my first ever best friend and the one person that could never let me down. she’s strong and courageous while also being poised. without her? i don’t know what i would even do with myself.’
Is your character a morning person, a night owl, or something else entirely? definitely more of a morning person. she loves to wake up early to go open her cafe then spends the rest of the day making sure everything is done because night time is reserved for staying in and relaxing or prepping for the following day.
What is your character’s least favorite color? green. more specifically, citron green.
A stranger makes a crude comment to your character. How do they react? she would either pretend that she didn’t hear anything and proceed to only act kind towards the person or she would turn around and instantly walk away because she isn’t going to allow that person to damper her mood. especially since she’ll likely never see them again.
What mythological figure best personifies your character? 110% a mermaid and she’ll forever feel robbed of the experience to be one since it’s what she feels she was destined to be.
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The Trouble With School by LittleRose13
Words: 4,166
Read it on AO3
It was Ginny’s idea originally to send the children to the local muggle primary school. She found the idea fascinating and was keen for her children to learn about the muggle world as much as possible before they started their magical education. Harry hadn’t considered the idea until Ginny suggested it when Albus was only days old. His only reservations came from his own experience at any school that wasn’t Hogwarts and Ginny gently reminded him that this would be different.
They went to visit the school, Ridge Oak Primary, with four-year-old James in tow (Al was with Mrs Tonks) who thought the school was the most wonderful place he’d ever visited. He was won over by the brightly coloured display boards and smiley teachers who laughed affectionately when he told them confidently he was a wizard who could do magic. They agreed to try it out but the second any of the children seemed unhappy, they would take them out of school.
James flourished at school, making friends easily and impressing his teachers with his above average abilities. Magical children tend to outstrip their muggle peers and Harry and Ginny glowed with pride at every parents’ evening. It also meant that, for six hours of every school day, the house was calm and peaceful and free from the squabbling and over-zealous ‘playing’ James tended to get up to with Al.
When it came to the time two years later when Albus was old enough to start school, he confidently told his parents he wanted to go too and be just like James. It was somewhat of a theme of Al’s life that he always wanted to be just like James. The teachers commented at parents’ evening that Al was quieter than his brother but also possessed the same abilities and was settling in well.
By the time Lily started, the headteacher was well acquainted with Harry and Ginny, having had them in her office a few more times than the average parent. The problem was, James was starting to get a bit bored of being top of the class and mastering the muggle work with no problems. This, combined with his magic starting to show, made for a few awkward conversations about just how the class hamster had ended up in Mr Mullen’s lunchbox when James had been seen with it last or precisely who was to blame for Mr Mullen’s car mysteriously disappearing from the car park and turning up round the back of the football field.
Harry wondered how his son, not even old enough to have a wand yet, could sometimes cause him more stress than his job as Director of the Auror office, answering only to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.
“It’s that Mr Mullen’s fault.” Ginny hissed as they left the headteacher’s office after yet another awkward meeting. “He doesn’t give James enough of a challenge, no wonder James is bored, he never acted up like this in year four.”
“Also, our son is a wizard.” Harry muttered in a low voice with a grin.
“So’s Al! We don’t get these problems with him, even with the accidental magic.” Ginny retorted in a whisper as they were shown out of the school by the smiling receptionist.
Albus’ accidental magic was another situation entirely. Where James seemed to channel his magic in frustration towards his teacher, Albus seemed to react magically when he was worried or scared about something.
“At least his teacher seems to understand him a bit more.” Harry sighed, thinking back to the memory.
Although Harry and Ginny had attempted to explain away Albus somehow managing to summon all of his teacher’s marking pens into his school bag after a particularly difficult maths test, Harry felt that Miss Emerson hadn’t been fully convinced. She had found it extremely difficult to understand why the normally polite and delightful boy had seemingly turned to thievery and she was even more confused as to how he had ended up with every single pen, even the ones she kept in her desk at home. Poor Albus had been mortified when he had to apologise for taking all of the pens. Miss Emerson had kindly accepted his tearful apology with some confusion while Harry looked on, feeling extremely guilty and already planning what treat Al could have.
“We’ll talk to James at home about reigning things in a bit, how’s that?” Harry offered as they walked around the side of the school building towards where the classrooms let out at the end of the school day.
“I’ll get Lily, you get the boys.” Ginny nodded and headed off towards the infant classrooms while Harry hung back, waiting on the playground for his sons. It wasn’t at all common for both Harry and Ginny to be at the school at the same time, Harry had had to take time off work to attend the meeting with the headteacher and he’d left one of his Aurors, Kevin Fenwick, in charge of the department in his absence.
Despite knowing he looked like a muggle, Harry always felt people were watching him more than usual when he collected any of his children from school. He didn’t dare think that it could be because their children came home talking about what ‘naughty James Potter’ had done that day.
The classroom doors started to open, the teachers scanning the faces of parents and directing children towards their various adults. James came careering around the corner, a huge grin on his face as he spotted Harry and came bounding over.
“Dad! I didn’t know it was your day to pick us up? Where’s mum?” he thrust his book bag into his father’s hand and bounced up and down on his shiny, black school shoes.
“Mum’s collecting Lily.” Harry said shortly and James stopped bouncing.
“Oh. You’re both here.” He said in a small voice.
“I assume you can guess why.” Harry said, slightly unsure how stern to be with his son. James bit his lip nervously. “We’ll talk at home.”
James stared down at the ground, kicking his shoe against the concrete as the crowds of children started to filter away. Harry gestured for James to follow and James didn’t dare stray from Harry’s side as they both walked towards Al’s classroom door, from which he was the last child to emerge.
“There’s Dad, Al.” Miss Emerson pointed to Harry and guided Albus towards him, catching Harry’s eye. Harry’s heart sank, what had happened now? “There’s a first aid slip in his bag, he bumped his head at lunchtime.” She gave Al’s hair a fond pat and Harry felt relieved that was all it was.
“It’s Miss Emerson’s birthday and look! She made us cupcakes!” Albus proudly presented the cupcake out to Harry. James threw a jealous look at his brother and his smiling teacher and his colourful classroom and his cupcake. Miss Emerson spotted the look and turned back inside the classroom for a second.
“Happy birthday Miss Emerson.” Harry said awkwardly as he took Al’s bag from the hand without the cupcake in.
“Would you like one too, James?” she was holding a tray of spare cupcakes out and looking at Harry for permission. Harry gave her a nod.
“Thankyou!” James said politely, selecting a cupcake.
“And here Al, take one for Lily too.” She smiled and placed another cupcake in Albus’ empty hand. Harry didn’t need to ask how Miss Emerson knew his other children’s names despite it being her first year at the school. If Al chatted away to her about home as much as he chatted away to Harry about school, it made sense that his teacher would know his brother and sister’s names.
“See you tomorrow Miss Emerson!” Al called over his shoulder as the three Potters began to walk away to meet up with Ginny and Lily.
“Am I in trouble?” James asked bluntly. “Because I swear it wasn’t me! Mr Mullen hates me…”
“Do you still like going to school?” Harry asked his son, taking him by surprise. He had discussed it with Ginny and they reminded each other of the promise they’d made when James was four. He didn’t have to go to muggle school and he certainly didn’t have to go if it was making him miserable.
“Do you still enjoy it?” Ginny asked when James failed to respond.
“I like my friends, and I like playing football at lunchtime almost as much as Quidditch!” he said enthusiastically.
“You don’t… tell your friends about Quidditch do you?” Harry asked, suddenly concerned.
“I’m not stupid Dad!” James huffed and saw his father’s expression and grinned sheepishly. “Yes, I do like school. Anyway, I’ve only got one more year before Hogwarts!”
“I love school!” Al said serenely, looking up from his book.
“That’s because you have Miss Emerson.” James said unkindly. “I wish I was in her class. I hope she teaches year six next year.” He stared off into the distance wistfully.
“Sorry James, year two.” Ginny said, reading from the letter the school had recently sent home with the teachers for the following year. “That means she’ll be Lily’s teacher.”
“Not fair!” James sulked for the rest of dinner.
Despite his reservations, James settled well into his final year of primary school and was acting up a lot less with his new teacher. He had happily told his family over breakfast about the science experiment he was planning to carry out that day and Harry thought fondly of the memory as he arrived at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for work.
His in-tray was already full and three paper memos flapped around his chair. Harry grabbed them as he sat down, reading each one in turn. Two were standard and uninteresting but one caught Harry’s attention.
Harry,
Are you free this morning? Don’t worry if not but I’m not sure who else to talk to about this.
Kevin
Harry confusedly scribbled a reply back, telling Kevin to drop by any time before twelve, wondering what his recruit needed to talk about.
Kevin Fenwick had come fresh from Hogwarts into the Auror training programme. He’d kept his head down and got stuck into the training, earning himself a spot as an apprentice on a high profile mission. Although he was only just twenty-three, he was one of Harry’s most trusted Aurors and was rarely seen not sporting some grizzly injury from the field.
There was a tap on the door and it opened to reveal Kevin, the memo clutched in his hand as if he had sprinted over as soon as he had received it. His cheeks were pink and there were bags under his blue eyes. His dishevelled, dark hair gave the impression he had been running his hands through it.
“Kevin, sit down.” Harry nodded to the spare chair and Kevin threw himself into it dramatically.
“What would happen if I quit?” he blurted with no preamble.
Harry blinked, taken aback. “Well, for a start, I’d have a seriously big hole in my next mission team. But mainly, you wouldn’t work here anymore.”
Kevin nodded as if deciding what to say next. “I don’t.”
Harry gave him a questioning look.
“I don’t quit.” Kevin continued. “Probably.”
“Probably? Kevin, are you not enjoying it here anymore?” Harry felt like he was asking James if he was still enjoying muggle primary school.
“I love it here!” Kevin’s head snapped up, offended. “I don’t know what to do.”
He gave Harry a desperate look and Harry felt a protective urge over the younger man. “Start from the beginning Kevin.” Harry presumed Kevin was perhaps doubting himself as an Auror, an experience he had been through and could offer advice on.
“It’s my girlfriend.” Kevin replied, stunning Harry.
“Your… girlfriend?”
“Yes, my girlfriend, Isabella. Her name’s Isabella. She’s my girlfriend.” He repeated himself erratically. “Well, I don’t want her to be my girlfriend.”
“Kevin, have you come here to ask for advice on how to break up with your girlfriend? Because I’ll tell you now, I am the worst person to-”
“Break up with her?” Kevin looked shocked and seemed to replay his own words in his head. “Oh! No, I mean, I don’t want her to be my girlfriend because I want her to be my wife.”
“And you… aren’t sure how to propose?” Harry suggested, feeling more confused by the second as Kevin twisted his hands in his lap.
“She’s a muggle.” Kevin said in a small voice, looking up at Harry. “She doesn’t know I’m a wizard.”
“Ah.” Harry said, grasping the situation.
“She thinks I’m a policeman. It’s been easy to hide it, my parents are pretty good at remembering not to mention magic. She thinks I went to boarding school; my Hogwarts friends invented one we all met at. I’ve stripped my apartment of anything obviously magical, even the fireplace is disconnected from the floo! But I don’t want to hide it anymore, I love her and I want to marry her and she says she loves me too but she doesn’t know who I truly am and what if she leaves me when she finds out?”
Kevin said all of this very quickly. Harry was still not entirely sure how he had ended up on the receiving end of this conversation.
“I wanted to ask, legally, do I have to tell her? Because I swear, I’ll snap my wand in half and go and live as a muggle if that’s the only way to be with her!”
“Ok, Kevin, calm down. You do not need to abandon wizarding society just so you can marry your muggle girlfriend. Your first step here is telling her what you are, if you love her, you can’t hide this from her.”
“I do love her.” Kevin said with a watery smile.
“I’m going to put you in touch with my brother in law, Percy. He’s married to a muggle. Maybe he can give you some advice on how to tell her? But Kevin, only you know if it’s right to tell her or not.”
“Thanks Harry.”
Kevin Fenwick was the sort to wear his heart on his sleeve and it became rather clear to Harry how the encounter had gone when, days later, Kevin bounded into the office with a huge grin on his face and Harry found a wedding invitation in his in-tray.
Harry stuck the wedding invitation on the fridge and Ginny smiled at it fondly. “It’s nice he’s met someone.” She sighed. “Will we all go?”
Harry shrugged. “Might be fun, a muggle wedding.”
“I know all about weddings!” came Lily’s excited cry from the kitchen table where she was making something. “I’ve learnt all about them at school.”
“Have you?” Harry replied, moving around the table to sit with her. “What’s that you’re making?”
“It’s a painting for Miss Emerson!” Lily said proudly, looking for Harry’s approval.
Harry stared at the painting, which seemed to depict a plate of pink sausages adorned with glitter. As this was nowhere near the weirdest thing Lily had ever painted, Harry wasn’t too surprised and didn’t find it difficult to express how beautiful it was and what a wonderful artist his daughter was.
“She can put it next to the blast ended skrewt you drew her last week.” Ginny said to her daughter, sharing a smirk with Harry. “She must be amazed at Lily’s imagination.” She muttered into Harry’s ear as she passed him.
“Probably expects it after the issue with Al’s homework last year.” Harry teased his wife.
“We don’t talk about that.” Ginny scalded, tapping him across the shoulder with the tea towel in her hand.
The year before, Albus had come home with his homework task: to write down everything he already knew about the Second World War, ready for the class’ new topic. Unfortunately, it had been Ginny’s turn to help with the kids’ homework and Albus had arrived at school the next day with his homework explaining everything he knew about the Second Wizarding World War including a detailed diagram of a scene from the Battle of Hogwarts. They had managed to pass it off by saying Al had misunderstood the homework task and thought he had to write a story. Miss Emerson had been bowled over by Al’s imagination and attention to detail.
Chuckling at the memory, Harry helped Lily roll up the strange creation for her teacher and instructed the boys to put their school shoes on so they could leave in time.
The day of Kevin’s wedding came round quickly and Harry was thankful everything had gone off without a hitch. They’d had quite a time of in the office recently and there was a period of time when it looked like Kevin would be out for the scheduled date.
Now that Kevin’s soon-to-be-wife knew he was a wizard, it was much easier for him to explain away some of the stranger things that happened to him but Harry doubted he would have been forgiven for missing his own wedding.
“Kids, one last time, what do you have to remember?” Ginny straightened Al’s collar as she spoke.
“No mentioning magic.” James replied in a bored voice.
“It’s a muggle wedding.” Albus added.
“Behave like we do at school.” Lily put in.
“Excellent.” Ginny praised them.
Kevin Fenwick’s wedding to his fiancée Isabella would be predominantly a muggle, due to the fact that the bride came from a huge family, all of whom were muggles. Kevin’s smaller family, his Hogwarts friends and some other fellow Aurors were the only witches and wizards in attendance.
The Potters hadn’t been invited to the wedding ceremony itself, only the reception. Harry and Ginny were secretly pleased as they knew their children would not have sat still for an entire muggle wedding ceremony without loudly wondering where the magic was.
The venue was dressed smartly with fairy lights hung from every possible surface. Albus was staring at them, waiting for them to move, and it occurred to Harry that he probably thought they were real fairies like they decorated the house with at Christmas.
There was a large, shiny dance floor and Harry could see James almost itching to take his shoes off and go skidding across it in his socks. Lily, meanwhile, was proclaiming everything to be ‘absolutely beautiful’ and ‘just like we learned at school’.
The music dimmed and a voice spoke over a microphone. “Presenting, Mr and Mrs Fenwick!” Everybody clapped as Kevin entered the room, his smiling, blonde wife on his arm, looking pleased and proud.
“He looks happy.” Ginny commented and Harry grinned at her.
“Mummy, who’s that lady?” Lily asked loudly, as the new couple started to dance together. A few people at their table laughed at her comment.
“That’s Kevin’s wife, Lily.” Ginny explained calmly.
Lily peered at the couple as they twirled a bit closer to their table.
“No it’s not!” she said, again loud enough for the rest of the table to hear.
“Who else would it be dear?” Ginny asked, amused by her daughter.
“That’s Miss Emerson!” Lily stated.
“What?!” Harry and Ginny both said in unison, staring at their daughter then looking straight back up at Kevin and his wife who were dancing, oblivious. “That’s not Miss Em-”
Harry stopped himself when he realised that Lily was absolutely right. The blonde in Kevin’ arms was in fact Lily’s school teacher. The school teacher both he and Ginny had worked tirelessly to keep magic from for so long. The school teacher who now very clearly knew all about the wizarding world, now she had just married into it.
“Are we at Miss Emerson’s wedding, Daddy? She told me all about it when I made her that card with her pretty ring on the front. I drawed her whole hand and her sparkly ring.”
Harry turned to his wife. “You know how it was your turn to have the next awkward school conversation?”
“Oh Merlin no, Harry. We’re doing this one together.”
They waited for the first dances to finish, all the while avoiding eye contact with the couple and preventing Lily from running up to her teacher in the middle of the dance floor. When the dancing had become much more informal, the newlyweds stood to one side, greeting various guests. Harry and Ginny shared a look and stood up to deal with this new, slightly awkward situation.
“Miss Emerson!” Lily cried gleefully, running to the bride and grabbing at her forearms. She looked down in shock at being addressed by her teacher name and smiled uncertainly when she saw it was Lily Potter.
“Lily! What are you doing here?” Miss Emerson held her gently and looked up, spotting Harry and Ginny. “Hello.” She said, slightly awkwardly, Kevin watching the exchange in confusion.
“Sorry.” Harry said as he came closer, “Lily, come away.” He removed Lily from Miss Emerson. “Er, congratulations.”
“Thankyou! You must know Kevin then.” She said simply, glancing around from Harry to Lily, then over to Ginny and down to Albus in her arms and James who hovered behind. Her eyebrows raised a fraction and her eyes widened. “Oh my God.” She breathed.
Harry knew that in that second she had guessed how they knew Kevin. Kevin’s sheepish look and mumble of 'how did you know?’ was interrupted.
“This explains everything!” she exploded, a huge grin on her face. “Lily’s paintings and Al’s homework and their grandad being so fascinated with my pencil sharpener and James. Oh yes, of course, it all makes so much sense now!” she seemed to be battling with some internal monologue. “You’re all wizards aren’t you?” she looked around at the Potter family, as if daring them to deny it.
Harry nodded, wrapping his arms around Lily from behind.
“I can’t even imagine how this would go down in the staff room!” she was grinning from ear to ear. “Oh if only I could tell Mr Mullen that everything James had done was magic. You should have seen him absolutely seething in the staff room last year, it was hilarious!”
James grinned proudly then caught his mother’s eye and let his face fall.
“And my pens last year!” Isabella Emerson reached out and gave Albus a warm hug. “I knew you didn’t steal them, Al. I just knew it wasn’t you but I couldn’t explain how I knew. And it was your magic wasn’t it?”
Albus nodded shyly. “You’re my best ever teacher.” He whispered.
“You’re my best ever teacher Miss Emerson.” Lily said.
“Mrs Fenwick now.” Isabella laughed, still looking around at each of them in bewilderment. “Mr Mullen didn’t stand a chance did he?” she grinned at James.
James shrugged. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Well, you can come to me if any more accidental magic happens while you’re at school. I can smooth things over.” She said kindly, smiling at James. Harry considered her words and shared a look with Ginny. It would be hugely beneficial to have a teacher in the school who understood that what the children could do was magic.
And so, when James’ teacher was off sick and Mr Mullen covered his class and somehow ended up with his pants on the outside of his trousers part way through a maths lesson, Miss Emerson (Mrs Fenwick now but it was hard to remember to call her that) swore he’d accidentally arrived at school like that and it had nothing at all to do with James Potter.
And when the headteacher expressed her concern at Lily’s behaviour on the playground, (because, really, she could have sworn the child was flying?) Miss Emerson offered to speak to her parents instead which ended up being a very pleasant chat over a cup of tea, during which Harry and Ginny amusedly answered some of Isabella’s more interesting questions about the wizarding world.
And when Al’s current teacher stumbled across the infamous war homework and expressed concern at the kind of films Albus was being allowed to watch at home, Miss Emerson explained how bright and imaginative Al really was. She then read the homework piece again, this time fully understanding what she was reading, and later she showed it to Kevin and he told her all about the war and the impact it had made on his family.
And the following year, when James was at Hogwarts, he got the shock of his life when he came home to find Miss Emerson (and Kevin) had come for dinner. She entertained him all evening with tales of Mr Mullen’s more amusing reactions to James’ magic.
And years later, when Isabella and Kevin had a child of their own, and Isabella found herself trying to explain to Darcy’s teacher just how exactly her daughter had been elected onto the school council she so desperately wanted to be on, despite not having been on the ballot paper, she realised just how lucky the Potters had been to have her.
#harry potter fanfiction#harry potter#ginny weasley#james sirius potter#albus severus potter#lily luna potter#fluffy fanfiction#potter family#mywriting#full fic#hinny#harry x ginny#spot the canon character#sunlitfirewhisky#thetroublewithschool
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ZevWarden Week 2017
Lythial Mahariel x Zevran Arainai
Rating M (Cuz it’s Zev)
For ZevWarden week
Enjoy!
Lythial Mahariel and Zevran Arainai had a start in this world, more alike than any, even each other, would realize. Both of their father’s died before they were born, leaving their heartbroken mothers to carry them alone. Lythial’s mother bore her into the world but left her, the pain of the heart over the love of a mother. Zevran’s died moments after his birth, not strong enough to hold onto life. Both small, cold, and alone. Fragile lives, thrown into fate.
Lythial found a parent’s love in Ashalle, a family in her clan, but ever still grew the hole of wanting to know where she came from. A blade was slipped into her hand when she reached the tender age of 6, like all children. She was to be trained, to be warrior or hunter was a journey she’d have to make on her own. The metal was cool in her hand, the blade shined in the sun, and something about it called to her. She took to it well, and was earning her Vallaslin at just 16 winters.
Zevran had no parent, nor anyone he’d consider family. Just a group of other boys just like him who he became close to for only survival. At 7 he was bought, like nothing more than chattel, for the Crows. There he was taught that he would either, fight and grow strong to live, or fail and die. Such things were pounded into him and he became good at what he did. First as necessity, and later because he had grown a taste for it. And in return he found something he never thought he would.
For all of Lythial’s skill in combat for both fighting, and for hunting, she’s nearly matched every step of the way by another boy her age. Tamlen is active and outgoing on the sparring fields. Always toe-to-toe with her, especially when dueling each other. Yet she noted that he was more reserved with others, preferring to wander the forest than spend time in camp. They were drawn together and a friendship was formed. And over time, even more.
Taliesen had formed a stronger and closer bond with Zevran than anyone before had. And when Rinna had been added to their group he was sure he’d found all he needed in the world. They melded seamlessly, easily playing off each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and became the best at what they did. And in time the three became romantically entangled.
It’s horrifying how a normal day can turn from a simple scouting mission, to your entire world crashing down. One minute you’re standing beside the man you love, and the next minute you’re waking up in a world where he’s gone. And darker still, you find you’re dying too. And in that moment, a choice must be made. Fight forever for a cause you do not care for, for people who would rather you dead, or waste away slowly. The choice wasn’t a choice, so with a heavy heart she departed her clan.
He loved Rinna, Maker he did, and he loved Taliesen as well. The mere thought of a betrayal burned in his chest like a hot coal. Painful, and deadly. But Taliesen insisted she’d betrayed them, what else was he supposed to do. He looked her in the eyes, claimed not to love her, and let Taliesen kill her. But nothing stopped the ache, even as they returned home. He wallowed in his regret, he should never have decided so fast, he should have listened. He ignored Taliesen’s attempts to draw him out of his sorrow. One that drove him deeper when he found it had been a set up. A simple way to get rid of Rinna for power, and to remind Zevran that they didn’t care for him, that he was simply a tool at their disposal. He broke. A mission came about, 2 Grey Wardens. He wouldn’t survive, there was no way. He made his bid, took the mission, and sailed to his death.
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Lythial saw the trap long before it could be sprung. It was rather sloppy work that made her more curious than cautious, and made it twice as easy to take down the attackers thrown at her. She, Alistair, Morrigan and Leliana had the fight over in a few short minutes. However she was surprised when the man who started the attack rolled over, groaning in the dirt. He was an assassin, utterly charming and honest. Despite his attempt at murder, she couldn’t find it in her to fault him. It was a job he’d been forced into. He fought or he died. Now he was offering to help her in return for his life. Alistair advised against it but in the end she couldn’t turn the man away. Thus she’d found another companion, one not too hard on the eyes if she’d admit it.
Zevran had expected to die. It was why he’d taken the job, why he’d made the trap so obvious. Logic dictated that if you attack and intend to murder two Grey Wardens, you die, it was simple really. So when he regained consciousness and found himself staring up into the face of one of the most beautiful women he’d had the pleasure of seeing, he wasn’t quite sure how to take it. But something in him told him this was a second chance, the ability for a second life. To do with what he wasn’t sure yet, but deep down he really wanted to live, so he made a deal, and the woman agreed.
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You could ask both Zevran and Lythial what exactly drew them together and neither could claim one specific event in general that lead them to sleep together the first time, or the many times after. They simply saw something desirable in each other. It grew more noticeable, until neither could ignore it anymore. Both reacted differently. While aware that they meant something to each other, neither knew how to completely handle it. Lythial was still torn open from the loss of Tamlen, and Zevran struggled to come to terms with what it all meant.
Lythial found both pain and closure one night. It was late and she burst awake after a vivid dream of the Archdemon. Moments later Darkspawn set upon the camp. The horde fended off easily by her Companions, but one had held back, and as Lythial approached it, her blood became ice in her veins. This was no ordinary Darkspawn; it was Tamlen, her Tamlen, now corrupted by the taint inside him, far too gone to save. He begged her to kill him, told her he didn’t want to hurt her. His final words were of love, before she plunged her dagger into his chest. The grief tore through her and she fled to her tent. She didn’t sleep that night, but she found closure. Tamlen was gone, he was not coming back. She had to move on to where she had been lead to move on to. And when she stepped out to see Zevran sitting by the campfire, looking at her tent nervously, she knew there was a reason things had played out the way they had when she met the assassin.
Zevran had struggled the entire time, between life and death. Rinna’s face staring at him in the campfire’s flames, the only time guilt had ever stuck with him. Thoughts of Taliesen were no better. He’d left him without a word. Which was why, when they ran into him and a few lower end members in an alley, and he offered to take him back, both to the Crows and more, Zevran was shook for a moment. He considered the offer for a moment. But then he looked at Lythial, a woman he’d sworn to follow, and had developed feelings far beyond simple loyalty, he knew he couldn’t kill her. The mere thought made him ill. He’d fallen, fallen hard for his Warden, and not the entire of the Antivan Crows could tear her away from him. So he helped strike Taliesen down to defend her, and mourned the man’s death.
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Acceptances of love came and were exchanged. The two did not trade proper vows before the Maker, or before the Elven Gods, but between themselves in the privacy of their own quarters the night before the world could end. There were the usual admittances, vows of eternal love and loyalty, to honor and respect and never abandon each other until death. But there were others exchanged as well. When Zevran took her hand in his, his calloused hands gentle but firm as he held her own scarred ones, telling her that he’d follow her to the Black City if that’s what was needed to stay by her side. Or when Lythial stared him straight in the eyes and swore to every divine being there was that he was the most important thing in her life and she would always put him first in any situation that was needed. For he meant far more to her than Warden vows ever could. And that night they lay together, curled up close to each other, desperate to not think of what the next day would bring for them.
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The Tale of the Hero of Fereldan would be told for Ages to come. The story about how a Dalish elf would rise to rebuild the Warden order of Fereldan after they were tragically slaughtered at Ostagar and make them powerful enough to fight back the horde of Darkspawn and how she would slay the Archdemon, ending the 5th Blight. But little could be told of what happened after. Of how she took the troops she’d acquired and returned to Vigil's Keep, their new base of operations. How she was promoted to Commander of the Grey and given the rank Warden-Commander. How she saw what friends she could off with a heavy heart. Of the crushing loneliness being there put her through. Alistair was on the throne at Anora’s side, where she hoped the two of them would work well in guiding Fereldan together.
Zevran stayed the longest, not wanting to leave his Warden, but they both knew it could not last. He had business in Antiva, the revenge business to be precise, and she supported what he felt he should do. She only wished she could go with him. But he knew she was needed there. The structure of the Wardens was too strenuous without her there. So early one cold morning she gave him a long good-bye at the gates, and watched as he rode away with a heavy heart. The two exchanged letters as often as they both could spare. Of course many were private letters, meant for bedchambers late at night, others were romantic letters where the words on the page were spilled directly from the heart, and some even were simple boring letters detailing the basic comings and goings of their everyday. Despite how naughty or mundane each letter was, they both cherished every scrap of parchment. And it made the distance a little easier to bare.
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Lythial was a Dalish Elf; that had not changed in the time spent away from her clan. She would always long for freedom and adventure. The exact opposite that the stone walls the Keep gave her. Even the missions she occasionally lead were barely enough for her to stretch her legs. But she bore with it, for the sake of understanding that the Wardens needed a strong structure again. 2 years of backbreaking hard work finally paid off as well. There was enough. Enough manpower, enough people with power, plenty of people who knew what they were doing. She penned her final orders after retiring early one evening and snuck out in the dead of night, disappearing without a trace. This caused a panic throughout most of Fereldan, and she had to chop her hair fairly short and fluffed it out around her ears to escape most notice until she could find a ship to take her to Antiva. She found she hated sailing, but she never felt giddier than knowing she was on her way back to Zevran.
Of course the problem with not telling your assassin lover that you were coming to them meant you had to search for him yourself. This was a chore until you happened past a section of road with the unmistakable small of leather being made and handled. The memory of him speaking about the leather makers and the smell that surrounded him as a boy struck her. Zev wasn’t necessarily a sentimental man, at least he wouldn’t admit it, but she’d seen plenty of times where that came out in him. So she narrowed her search to anywhere the smell of leather could be found, and after nearly a day of searching the area, and far too many greased palms, she was pointed to a small hut just within the search range.
Never one for a standard entrance, she opted to pick the lock instead of just knocking. The hut truly was small, an old bed in the corner, a medium table took up a good corner of the room and papers were strewn across it. A small cooking area with a dingy cauldron over it was the only other thing of not in the room. Not much, but she knew Zev had been with far less. The sudden body behind her and the knife gracefully pressed to her throat made her joltingly remember that her lover was indeed an assassin, an assassin who was being hunted, and a random cloaked figure entering his home was not a good thing.
Zevran had been interrupted by many different things in his life, and dealt with many strange and dangerous intruders. But a simple cloaked figure picking its way into his home and just taking in the scenery had him startled. Usually other assassins got straight to the killing, which he preferred. The only thing he could think about this person was perhaps that they were a thief, just happening upon his home, instead of an assassin. They did not seem to be aware of his presence in the very least. So he did the most sensible thing, he drew one of his knives and grabbed the figure, pressing the blade to their throat.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded of the figure, his voice deep and dark, intimidation leeched into every word. The figure shivered slightly under his touch, but he could not fault them for that, his voice was incredibly sexy.
Just hearing Zev’s voice after so long was having an effect on her. Lythial considered for a moment if that was sad or just a side-effect of love, but the blade being pushed slightly more against her throat broke her line of thought. She leaned her body back against his and cocked her head, letting her hair fall back slightly to reveal part of her face. “Well I was here to meet a lover of mine, but I can’t seem to find him,” she teased.
Zevran recognized the body against his nearly instantly. He’d made sure long before he’d departed her to commit it to memory. And when her head moved to reveal part of her face he quickly dropped the knife and stepped back, barely daring to believe what he was seeing. Even as she turned to face him, pushing her hair from her face and letting her cloak drop. All he could do was stare unbelievingly. Certainly he had fallen asleep and was merely dreaming of his love. It had happened so often. She stepped forward though, and pressed her hand to his cheek. A calloused and scarred hand, yet so small, and so warm, and he jolted. She was real and solid and there, right there before him. He caught her arm and pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around her so tight he wasn’t sure he’d ever let go.
Lythial was slightly startled when he’d pulled her against him, but the moment she felt his arms around her she melted against him, wrapping her own arms around him just as tightly. “Oh ma’vhenan, ma’arlath, I have missed you so,” she told him, her voice a shaky whisper. She was afraid he didn’t hear her, but he tipped her head up to look at him and she knew he did.
“And I have missed you my love, more and more every day since we have departed from each other.” His voice couldn’t arise from a whisper either, as if they were both afraid any noise too loud would shatter the moment and they’d be countries apart again. The mere thought made Zevran hold her tighter. But she simply smiled lightly and leaned forward, kissing him sweetly. The hand holding her chin curled around to cradle her cheek as he deepened the kiss. She dropped her pack off her back and threw an arm around his neck, tangling her hand in his hair. He stepped back, unbalancing them, and sending them falling onto the bed.
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“It is still hard to believe you are here. How did you get away from your duties?” he finally asked her later, after their heated reunion and the making of a small meal. She shifted slightly and took a long bite of her food before answering, making him raise an eyebrow in confusion. She sighed and looked at him finally.
“I didn’t necessarily just get away from my duties. More like I abandoned my duties.” Both eyebrows shot up at her admittance and he looked at her in surprise for a silent moment before the hut erupted into laughter. Lythial now raised an eyebrow in confusion at Zevran.
“It seems we are quite a pair my love. I leave the Crows, notorious for no one leaving them alive. And you leave the Wardens; a group said that no one can truly leave. It seems we were meant to defy odds,” he explains to her once he had stopped laughing, and she starts to laugh at his explanation.
“I do suppose you are right. I would say that makes us a destined pair,” she agreed.
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For the next 2 and a half years Lythial helped Zevran take down the Crows. And if Zev was unstoppable in taking them out before, his new partner made him invincible. They were a duo feared by the Crows, no matter who was sent for them, they were always found dead. And Lythial was content for a time.
A nightmare was what shattered her fragile peace. One of her, so young but stricken mad by the voice that came for every Warden. The thought of her pain at having to leave Zevran so she could die. The thought of the pain he’d feel at the loss of her. A life she wanted to live so much, torn away and wasted. She bolted out of bed and Zevran nearly fell out after her, startled and alert. But when he saw her across the room holding her head he frowned in concern and went to her. After gentle prying she finally opened up to him about the nightmare, about what would happen to her no matter what she did. He didn’t know what to say, or do, so he pulled her close instead, knowing no other way to comfort her.
A few days later she came to him with a proposal. She was going to find a cure for the Calling. It had happened before; a Warden named Fiona had suddenly been cured, though no one understood how. There were not a lot of leads to follow, but there were some, and she was determined to follow them. She explained how she would go West, investigating The Free Marches, which was full of varied lore and mystery. Through Nevarra, where all forms of different magic and mystery were held. And finally to The Anderfels, where the Wardens were started. Wardens kept so many secrets she wouldn’t be surprised if there was something hidden away there. If she couldn’t find anything that way, she would find a way to find more. She’d pick Orlais clean, command her way through Tevinter. She would find a way.
“The only thing is… this is a long journey Zev. I don’t know… I don’t know when I’d be back,” she admitted reluctantly, her voice sad, she couldn’t meet his eyes. He smiled lightly and tilted her head just enough to look in his eyes.
“My love, the night before we fought the Archdemon, what did I tell you?” he asked her, his voice gentle. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion before suddenly shooting up, her eyes widening. “I told you I would follow you into the Black City itself if I had to, to stay with you. And I meant it.”
“But the Crows-?”
“The Crows will be here when we return. You are far more important than the Crows,” he scoffed, a teasing smirk on his face. She beamed and threw her arms around him. “I know, I know, I am the best.”
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They were followed to the Free Marches by a group of pursuing Crows. Stubborn asses for sure. Lythial sent word to her Clan, who had travelled to Kirkwall, to ask to help Zevran. He promised to distract and hold them there until she could get the research she needed to do in Starkhaven done. This stop ended up with him running into none other than the Champion of Kirkwall herself, along with Isabela. He stuck around long enough to help with the mounting situation in the city, before hurrying to meet Lythial in Tantervale.
They both shared excited stories about their adventures while apart. Lythial had found a few scattered notes that she thought could help, buried in old Chantry archives. Zevran told her of the Champion, the violent explosion of the chantry there, and the mad Knight-Commander who turned into an odd form of Lyrium. Both agreed that things had become far too crazy and quickly escaped to Nevarra to avoid notice.
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They had stopped in a small town near the center of the country for a few days. Rented a small hut to stay in so they could use it as a base of operations. Lythial had decided to trek to the next town over for supplies and information while Zevran had stayed behind to plot out their next course. No one in the town had bothered them, so when there was a knock at the door, he was set on edge. He quickly stashed their papers and hid the satchel away under a loose floorboard before opening the door. Finding Leliana on the other side was certainly the last thing he’d expected.
“Ah Zevran, I’m happy my reports were correct about where to find you,” she nodded as she stepped in without an invitation. He was put on edge instantly. This… was a different Leliana, not as much as he felt she could be, but she was. He was very glad Lythial had taken all her things that morning, and more so that it would be late before she returned.
“It is nice to see you as well Leliana, though a surprise. What are you doing here?”
She turned to face him and examining him with a scrutinizing look. He gave her a moment to get whatever she was doing out of her system, before speaking up.
“I do not deny that I am handsome Leliana, but if I remember correctly you do not wish to have anything to do with me. So, why are you staring at me? Change your mind?”
She dropped her gaze then and sat in one of the chairs in the room, sighing deeply. “I will cut straight to the point. I know you know what happened to Kirkwall. A few eyewitnesses say you were there,” she started, looking at him again, this time without the look. He frowned but sat across from her.
“Yes, I ran into the Champion there while dealing with a pack of Crows. I stayed because she seemed a good woman and needed all the help she could get. Why? Upset I fought on behalf of the Mages?” he replied easily, if not confused.
She gave him a look. “That is not it. I’m sure you heard that after everything happened, the Mages voted to dissolve the Circles, and they and the Templars are at War.”
“Yes I have heard things about that, quite bold of the Mages to be honest,” Zevran nodded. Morrigan would be pleased, he knew that much, and Lythial had seemed quite happy about it as well.
“Yes well, the fighting is already so violent. People have been hurt, lives disrupted and ruined. Fereldan’s still reeling from the Blight not even a decade past and now this has happened,” Leliana said with a worried frown tugging at her lips. Despite how cold she seemed when she arrived, there was a touch of the old Leliana in her words now.
“Yes, that is unfortunate. But I do not see exactly what that has to do with me?” Zevran asked, finally getting to the point. This was already putting him on edge and while he believed Lythial would take her time, he could not be certain.
She leveled him with that look again and asked in a straight tone, “Lythial has been missing from the Wardens ranks the past 5 years. We, as in her companions, have helped keep her so while she was on the run. I misplaced a set of information here; Alistair missed a word when reporting there. We actually lost her after she entered Antiva, but we both know she was heading for you.”
“A few questions, why would you help her run, and what exactly are you here for?” he cut in, his voice dropping suspiciously. There was silence between them for a moment.
“We both know why we helped Zevran. We traveled with her too. We knew how much she didn’t want to be there. She became a Warden out of necessity, of survival, but she never wanted what was thrusted upon her. So when she ran, we felt the only thing we could do in return for what she’d done for us, was help.” The look on her face was solemn, but genuine.
Zevran could, however, sense some guilt in her tone. “But?”
“But we need her help. Everyone respects her; everyone will listen to her, or at least hear her out. The Mage-Templar war must end Zevran. Divine Justinia is working on a way to help fix things, or at least start to make them better. But we need someone at the front who the people trust and will give a chance. She is the best person for it,” Leliana sounded like she believed in this, like she truly thought it would work. But Zevran narrowed his eyes.
“You want to drag her back in there, to deal with everyone else’s mess again. Straight into the thick of it. Only this time she has even less of a reason to care for the problem. She nearly died after the Archdemon!” His yells had to have echoed out of the cabin, but Zevran couldn’t care at that moment. Leliana’s face was set in a scowl and she seemed to be refusing to look at him now.
“Look, I just want to know if you have seen her. I have lost track of her and you are the best person to ask!” she snapped at him finally. They shared glares for a long moment before Zevran sighed and leaned back.
“I have not seen my love for several months now. We were travelling together but she split off from me, following a lead for the cure for the Calling. I believe she was heading for Orlais if you would like to find her there,” he informed her finally.
She frowned but nodded finally. “I suspected as much, still I had hope. Thank you anyway Zevran, despite the circumstances it was… nice to see you again,” she told him as she slowly stood from her seat and started for the door.
“Leaving already?” he asked, turning to face her. She turned back to him, face already set in a neutral stance once more.
“I cannot lose a moment of time to find her. Every moment I waste is another moment she gets farther, and another innocent caught in this madness. I wish you well Zevran,” she replied before hurrying from the hut.
Zevran narrowed his eyes at her retreating back and slowly rose from his seat to close the door. Leliana was no fool. It was not in her nature to believe things so readily. He was a talented liar to be sure, but she was one to see through facades. The answer came to him immediately. She would track him. It was an obvious move in times like these. You tail your informant to make sure they are being truthful. He had to move fast if he was going to keep Lythial from Leliana’s clutches. He retrieved his satchel and took a clean sheet of parchment from it. He jotted down a note in code for her, disguised as a note to the owner of the hut and then quickly slipped out of the hut, making sure to extinguish all the lights inside. Then he took off for their next meeting place.
Lythial returned to the hut late in the evening, night almost upon her. Her feet were sore and her back aching, but she was satisfied from what she’d gathered. A few scraps of promising information and a sack full of provisions. But her heart fell as she caught sight of the hut in the distance. Despite the dark there was no spark of light from anywhere in it. So much for a nice night. She stowed the food and pulled her cloak around her like a burglar’s cowl, slinking along in the shadows before coming to the door. She picked the lock and moved inside, making sure to give the place a good upset, upheaving the bed, and clattering the few furnishings around as she checked over Zev’s note. With a destination set she slipped back out and headed away as fast as she could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was almost a 2 week trek north to a small town that fell just before the border with the Tevinter imperium. They’d chosen the spot out of sheer strategic position. No one after them would dare push into Tevinter territory, or even near it, without careful consideration. The town itself was little more than a tavern inn, which was all the better. Lythial slipped in and took a seat at the far end of the bar, cloaked in shadow. After attending to his preferred patrons the bartender finally made his way to her.
“What’ll you have sweetheart?” he asked, his tone gruff and full of distaste.
She looked up at him with a glare and replied in an icy tone. “Give me an ale. And if you refer to me as sweetheart again it’ll be the last drink you serve.”
He didn’t look quite sure if he believed her but he made his way away quite quickly, returning quick enough with the drink and not staying for another chat.
She sipped the foul drink slow enough. She’d tasted Conscription concoctions less foul than this, but a drink was a drink. Suddenly another glass was slid down to her, she caught it with reflexes honed from years of work without a thought and looked up at the bartender in confusion.
“Fella ordered it for you, said you looked like a woman with better tastes and said to tell you that if you wanted something even better to join him in room 3,” the man responded without even looking up.
She sniffed the drink and the scent was far better than the piss ale. It was a wine, definitely Tevinter in origin, as decent a year as one was to get out here she’d imagine. She held back a chuckle imagining how much was spent on it. She settled in and sipped it appreciatively, savoring it as it should be. Once it was gone, and how sad a moment it was, she left the payment for the ale on the counter and headed up to the room, a dagger drawn in her sleeve. She tried the door handle and it was open. With a breath she stepped in.
Only to let it fly out immediately and the knife fall to the ground. A great many things she expected to see when she opened the door, but that wasn’t it. Zev was as naked as she expected him to be for sure. But instead of laid out in some sexy pose waiting for her, he was sprawled across the bed completely asleep. She barely contained the laugh that wanted to escape her and instead quickly hurried into the room and shut the door, locking it. She hadn’t thought she’d taken that long, but considering how tired she felt, she should have known better. She supposed the happy reunion would have to wait and she set down her pack beside his. She stripped down to her underclothes and grabbed the tossed aside blanket. She wormed her way in to a comfortable position beside him and covered them with the blanket.
“Goodnight love,” she whispered to him before kissing his cheek and blowing out the candle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunlight escaping through a hole found in the moth-eaten curtains found its way straight into Zevran’s eyes and he peeked one open to glare distastefully at it. Was a comfortable single night’s sleep too much to ask he wondered to himself before turning over to escape it. Only to find himself running into another body. He nearly jumped out of his skin before registering just who it was beside him.
Lythial was curled up like a cat at his side, still deep in sleep and undisturbed by his movements. A small smile turned up the edges of her mouth. She looked completely at ease at his side as well. Admittedly he appreciated mornings he woke before her. When she slept she was the most at ease. Though as of late with him was a close second. He pulled up the blanket and tucked it back around her. He was rather disappointed at himself though. Not only had he fell asleep waiting to surprise her, she’d waltzed in and crawled in bed with him. As a hunted man it was nearly inexcusable, but as the man of her heart, it was the highest honor. He knew her presence so well; he could sleep well knowing it was her.
“What are you thinking about?” her voice, thick and hushed from sleep, inquired, breaking the silence of the morning. He looked down at her and smiled lightly, running a hand over her knotted hair to try and tame it down some.
“Nothing of great import my love. Just about how beautiful you are.”
She let out an ugly scoff and arched an eyebrow. “You’re a good liar vhenan, but even a good lie has to make sense in the situation.”
“Mi amor, I speak with complete honesty. You are always beautiful to me,” he insisted, covering his heart with his hand. She simply chuckled lightly in disbelief and wrapped her arms around him to cuddle closer.
“You fell asleep on me last night,” she said, changing the subject to the previous night’s transgressions. He wrapped an arm around her and looked at her in distress.
“I know, and it was very shameful of me! I had intended to treat you to a night of pleasures to make up for the many we missed while apart.”
She chuckled and looked up at him with half-lidded eyes. “I’m sure we can remedy that. And then you can tell me about what kept us separated over breakfast.”
“That sounds like a very good idea.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zevran finished stacking the last few crates in that days order and wiped the sweat from his brow. He stepped back and recounted them before nodding. Everything was ready for the next day’s shipments. He turned and headed back to the shed to put his things away.
“Messere Sabrae, we’ve finished loading the last of the goods onto the carts and the numbers have all been counted,” Cyrhel reported from behind him. He set the tools down on the shelf and turned to him.
“And the animals returned to their pens for the night?”
“Athel just returned with them and Taren readied the pens for them for the night,” he reported with a nod. Zevran smiled and nodded at the young man.
“Make sure Sorvin finished his tasks and then you can all head home. And remind everyone that I will need them before dawn tomorrow if we are to get all this to the Market on time.”
“If we live near Hasmal, why are we travelling all the way to Starkhaven when Tantervale is closer?” Cyrhel asked with confusion. Zevran noted that the boy seemed to be forcing the memory of the map in his head.
“Because Tantervale is a stricter city and has little love for elves. They would try to have arrested for something and none of us can afford that. So we make a little extra effort to make it to a fairer city,” he explained patiently as he lead them from the shed and locked it up securely.
“I had hoped once we made it from Tevinter we would be treated batter,” the boy said disheartened. Zevran frowned and patted the boy on the shoulder.
“We are not as well treated as we should be. But slowly we are making our mark upon the world. Look at the Hero of Fereldan and the Inquisitor. Both are elves who started at the bottom and are now known as some of the most well-known and influential Elves of the Age,” he urged him, fighting a small smile.
“But the Hero of Fereldan went missing. And there are a lot of arguments around the inquisitor,” Cyrhel argued back.
“The Hero of Fereldan went off to find a cure for the Blight they say. And there will always be arguments about those in power. But that is for the politicians to worry about. Here we work and labor together and as long as we know friend and foe we are safe enough,” he assured him as they reached the barn where the other boys were waiting.
“Alright lads get going before your families come to call with worry. You have dinners to eat and beds to get to early. It will be a long day for all of us in the morning,” Zevran instructed him as he waved them all out.
“Will Messere Lythial be joining us tomorrow?” Sorvin asked with a horribly hidden smirk. Zevran narrowed his eyes at the young man, but it was Athel who spoke up first.
“That’s none of your business. And you shouldn’t refer to her by her name. The proper way is last names,” he huffed. Sorvin scowled but looked away.
“Lythial is still supposed to stay home for a few more weeks until she’s recovered from birth. Now get going, and watch out for each other on the way home,” Zevran ordered them in a final authority tone and they all hurried off towards their own homes. He nodded in satisfaction and went to wash up before finally heading inside his home.
“Papa!” was what greeted him straight away and a small body was flung into his legs. He looked down with an amused smile as she ginned up at him, her arms wrapped securely around his leg.
“Now Rinna, I know that smile well enough. What did you do today?” he asked as he leaned down and scooped her up in his arms, suppressing a laugh of his own at her guilty giggles.
“Nothin Papa,” she insisted in a tone that would have convinced him had he not known her.
“Your daughter swiped half a pan of cookies this afternoon and ate them before I could catch her. She’s in a heap of trouble for it and she’s plenty well aware!” Lythial called from the kitchen and he looked down at his daughter with a sterner look. She returned it with enlarged eyes and her bottom lip puffed out just enough to be cute. She was indeed his, no doubt about that. He sighed and set her down.
“Don’t do it again. If you eat all the cookies, there’ll be none for Papa,” he chided her lightly. Her eyes widened in actual surprise and she looked up at him guiltily.
“I hadn’t thought of that! I’ll help Mama cook more tomorrow. Lots so you can have them when you come home,” she assured him.
“That’s a good girl, now go off and play until dinner,” he smiled and ruffled her hair. She grinned and bolted out of the door behind him. He shook his head and stood, heading into the kitchen.
Lythial stood before the fireplace, testing a chunk of roasting meat before moving over to check the bread oven, completely thrown into what she was doing. Which was his luck, he thought, as he crept towards her. He nearly had his arms around her-
“Vhenan it may have been many years since I have fought in a battle or hunted deep in a forest, but your daughter keeps me on my toes far more than those ever could. So if you believe you can sneak up on me so easily, perhaps we should spar again soon to remind you of what I can do.”
Zevran pouted a moment before leaning against the counter instead. “She is your daughter as well, at least the last I checked. I believe that was the agreement when we decided to take her in” he countered with a smirk.
“Any day she runs me as ragged as she did today, she is your daughter. She clearly gets it from you,” Lythial shot back with a smirk of her own. He pressed a hand to his chest as if insulted.
“I have always been a picture of calm and easy to handle,” he insisted. She scoffed loudly at that.
“You remember how we met right?”
“What a lovely day. The sky was clear, the air was crisp, and corpses lay all about us. You had quite an interestingly made knife pressed to my throat. But all I could pay attention to was your beauty,” he smiled fondly.
She opened her mouth to retort when a cry erupted from the basinet by the table. Zevran moved to it without a word and tenderly scooped up the little bundle that lay inside.
“Now there Tamlen, it is alright, there is nothing for you to cry about. Your Papa is here is he not,” he cooed at his son. This did not seem to reassure the babe as he continued to wail. Zevran frowned slightly and began to rock him gently.
“He’s hungry but I’ve been busy. Rinna’s cookie theft set my baking behind today. I wanted to send some with you and the boys for the trip tomorrow. It isn’t a pleasant journey,” Lythial explained as she pulled the first of the bread loaves from the fire.
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,” Zevran nodded as they traded spots. He passed Tamlen to her and stood by the fire to watch the bread, “Especially Sorvin,” he added.
Lythial laughed as she began to feed Tamlen. “He still has that crush I see. It is rather adorable.”
“You’ve seemed to make an impression on all my farm hands. Every day that you seem occupied that always ask about you. ‘Is Messere Lythial well?’ ‘Will Messere Lythial be joining us?’ It gets rather grating when they should be working.”
“Why Zev, are you jealous?” she teased.
“Of course not. They are mere boys. Still it is… frustrating.”
She stood and walked over to him, kissing his cheek. “Well do not worry; you are the only man I shall need.”
He smiled at her as she headed out of the kitchen. “I am going to get Rinna. Make sure the bread doesn’t burn or that’s your share,” she told him and he quickly turned to look at the bread, cursing as he realized it was overdone.
She loved to do that on purpose, he just knew it.
~~~~~
Late that night as their house settled around them Lythial looked up at Zevran from where she was settled on his chest. He was long past asleep, drifting off not long after they’d settled in, needing all he could for the long day tomorrow. His golden hair lay splayed out on the pillow under him and his mouth was open, soft snores escaping him. She nearly giggled at the sight, no matter how familiar. All she could remember is all the days past, and even now, where he insisted he was always handsome and charming. She wondered how he’d ever react if she really told him what he looked like while he slept.
She snuggled more into him and pressed a light kiss to the corner of his lips before lying back down. She supposed she’d spare him a bit longer. Besides, it was nice being the only one who knew this side of him.
Secretly she wondered how they’d really gotten here. Living on a decent farm in a comfortable part of the Free Marches. Away from those who pursued them and practically unknown to those around them. They were simply Lythial and Zevran Sabrae, the nice farming family who was always looking to employ anyone from a refugee family who needed work. They were like any other elven couple just trying to make a living for themselves and their children.
And children. Something she’d barely allowed herself to think of since the moment Duncan stepped into her life. They’d found Rinna, a wee babe abandoned on the border of The Anderfels and Tevinter. It was hardly a question of taking her with them. And Tamlen, carried and birthed herself. She’d never imagined such an ordeal, even growing up in her clan. And she was fairly certain and more of their children would come from any one of the Alienage’s orphan homes in the Free Marches.
Sometimes she wondered what her previous companions thought about her. She’d even considered contacting them, but it seemed too precarious. Alistair was a King now, and dealing with everything that happened, and was still happening with the Inquisition, despite the fact that she supported its continuation. Leliana was the Divine now, and beyond that she could probably track them too easy, even from a simple letter. She had no idea where Morrigan was, or Sten, or Ohgren really. Part of her hoped that they would be happy for her, glad that she found the peaceful life she wished for. But she knew, deep down, that it wouldn’t be that easy for Alistair or Leliana.
Despite it all she could not find regret in any of her actions. Everyone had to take the horns of fate and guide them to where they truly wanted to be. And right here, curled up to the man she loves, her children sleeping soundly, in their little cabin, was where she truly wanted to be.
I can’t do all the prompts for ZevWarden week like I wanted to, but I’ve had Lythial and Zev’s story sitting on my Computer for literal ages and it fits prompts 2,5,6, and 7 so I feel pretty good about it. It’s really rough and there’s probably some mistakes in there too. I’ll get it polished when I get back from my uncles funeral. I hope you all like it anyhow! :)
#ZevWarden Week#ZevWarden Week 2017#Lythial Mahariel#zevran arainai#I love these two I really really do omg
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Hello everyone!
I am back to writing again... I sincerely apologize for the delay and hope you all can forgive me for going away for so long.
Hana and I spent the evening on the nature reserve, simply watching the panda cubs falling over themselves while playing. We couldn’t bear to be indoors, it was as though we were suffocating.
“Do you remember this?” Hana asks as we play with the cute little panda cub.
“How could I forget?” The words are bitter, the memory of this place hurt more because this was the first time he had ever chosen to let me slip away. It was in Shanghai that I had discovered the plot against me had been by no other than Liam’s father.
He’d plotted against me, set me up, ruined my image… then to make matters worse he couldn’t come forward to clear my name, and the king couldn’t marry someone with a tarnished reputation.
“I admired your strength, coming back to clear your name, fighting for love,” Hana says as she holds the cub on her lap patting its head absentmindedly.
I laugh, “I was foolish thinking I could win; in the end, I was pregnant and scared,” I say blocking out the memories… there were too many. Watching Liam across a room, our eyes holding while he held another. Stolen moments that were never enough.
“I need to tell you something, it’s why I left the first time…”
“Okay.”
Her hands shook, her eyes blurred with tears and I knew whatever was going to come next would move the ground from beneath my feet.
“I left because I found out I was p...p…pregnant, and I wasn’t too sure what I wanted or if D…D…Drake would want a child with me, but I later lost the baby because I was out of the first trimester. Ectopic pregnancy.” She whispers, hand moving to her belly.
And I was right. Pain so real; loss for the child I never got to know felt as though it was about to rip me to pieces. What does one say to something like this?
“Hana, I’m so sorry! Why didn’t you tell me? I would have been there for you,” I say as she rests her head on my shoulder and I wipe away the tears.
“You were, you just thought I had a ruptured appendix,” she says with her chin wobbling. Even through it all, she tries to smile.
“I may not be able to have children” she sniffles batting her eyes to stop the tears. I was completely floored, as I pulled her into me and held her. No words were needed; we just shared her pain like I would have if I had known about this a year ago.
Our heart to heart was emotionally draining. We decided to skip dinner, Instead, we had popcorn and soda, cheese snack, and ice cream. We ate until we were both too full to move, playing games trying to make a lighter note from the pain.
“Oh, by the way, did I tell you I saw Maxwell and Olivia?” she asks with a giggle.
“Seems Maxwell may have broken through her icy facade,” she comments wistfully as popping a kernel into her mouth.
“Lucky them,” is all I say as I dive into my rum and raisin ice cream with gusto.
“Think we gonna be okay?” She asks when the room has gotten too quiet, each of us retreating into ourselves.
“We’ll just learn a new normal.” After twelve years when your heart still yearns for another, it’s time to learn a new normal do or be something different.
“I’m going to tell him about Leanna…” the words flow right out of me, making my heart race.
“Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not but it’s time to move forward. He should know. Let him make a decision; whatever happens, I won’t stand in your way anymore.”
I realize that my fears of his rejection were nothing compared to what Hana and Drake were feeling right now, both broken because of me. While Hana said it wasn’t my burden to bear, there was no way I could leave it all on Drake. This was part me, after all; he was only trying to protect me.
“I love you, Hana.” I tell her this, knowing the truth; that I would cross the oceans just for her chance at happiness.
“I love you more,” she says as she tackles me into a hug, and we are laughing on the floor with chips and popcorn scattered on the floor.
It’s just after 10 am when there is a knock on my door. I open it to see a smiling Leanna and a disheveled Drake. Leanna hugs me as though she hadn’t seen me in a week.
“Hey Baby!” She felt so good in my arms, her silky hair brushing against my face.
“Mommy!” She squeals and I feel her smile against me as she kisses my cheek.
“Daddy has been cranky” she complains as we enter my room.
Drake gives me an unsure smile; there is an uneasiness in the way he carries himself, and I pray that he and Hana can fix this, or I’d die trying.
“Where’s Aunty Hana? I want to see the exotic animals” she gushes as she toes off her sneakers and falls into my unmade bed.
“She’s still sleeping… we had a girls night. Are you hungry?” I ask and she rolls over with a grin on her face.
“Yes! Is Grandma Lorelei here? I love her cherry milkshakes” she lights up.
I was amazed by their relationship. The Lees were hard on Hana, needing her to be an overachiever. After my fall from grace, they had demanded a halt in our friendship. Hana did the scariest thing possible: she stood her ground, and she chose to follow her own path. One that had cemented our lives together for the last twelve years.
It had been hard on Hana, yet she stood by me until her parents finally came around; by the time the baby came, we were all one family.
Lorelei adored Leanna who seemed to bring out a softer side in us all.
While Leanna went to check for her, Drake finally turned to me. “I…” He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. There is a look of utter dread on his face.
On instinct, I move into his embrace. “We’ll fix this. I promise.”
His next words floor me. They floor me, causing the ground beneath me to swallow me whole.
“Liam knows…”
***Liam***
The room around me spins. My head pounds. My stomach quivers, rebelling as I move towards the bathroom. The last time I was this hungover was throughout my honeymoon. While the world thought we were going at it like bunnies, most of the groans heard were from my hangover, my roiling stomach.
She still cries every year on your wedding day. Drake’s words haunt me making me sick. I liked it better when I thought she had moved on; this reality felt as though it would break me.
Tossing back two pills for pain, I crawled back into bed and stayed there. I didn’t want to think about the little girl who had no idea that I was her father. I didn’t want to think about how much I missed and continue to miss.
You decide, what do you want? If you want her, and not as a conquest, you’re gonna have to fight for her. And don’t start the battle unless you are ready to win the war, because if you hurt them, I will be charged for treason.
I sat on the rock watching the water crash into river bed below. The Forgotten Falls. I often come here to clear my head, to feel grounded.
Years ago in the social season, I knew what I wanted; it had always been Riley. She had a way about her that made me dream, daring to hope, and believing my dreams would come true. She was fearless and bold. I had watched her win the hearts and minds of the people, of the press.
I’d also seen her hold her ground. Despite the rumors and scandal against her, she managed to smile. Always looking at the bright side. Even more, she always managed to care about me, the man behind the crown.
Now, so many years later I was here because I was a father; father to a child that calls another daddy.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was fate’s way of tying us together… did I have the right to even hope?
This wasn’t how I thought it would happen. A king shouldn’t be brought to his knees for regret; a father shouldn’t weep for the child he doesn’t know.
I sat, a million things racing through my mind: how the hell did I get here? Where do I go from here? Was it fair of me to uproot her? How would this affect Sabrina? How would the kingdom react to my love child? What did this mean for Riley? As her name floated around my mind I felt conflicted; part of me understood the reason behind her silence, yet the other part was angry at being robbed of those precious years.
There was no doubt I was indebted to Hana and Drake for standing by her; for putting their lives on hold for her. It was clear from the interaction with Drake and Leanna that he loved her as though she was his very own. They did an excellent job of raising her. She was thoughtful and kind. She was beautiful. She was her mother’s child, sweet and intelligent.
My mind still foggy, I find myself at Madeleine’s grave with a bunch of flowers. Sitting on the ceramic tiled grave, I place the flowers on her tombstone where it was inscribed: 'Queen, Wife, and Mother. Madeleine Rys’
“Maddie, she’s back and she’s once again pulled the rug from beneath me,” I tell her.
While Madeleine was not my first choice based on her calculated ways and seemingly aloof personality. Yet she was a great listener; she was goal oriented but beneath all that, when our heads touched the pillow she was a friend. She was human and kind and considerate. I’d watched her evolve as she worked endlessly to become the Queen the people needed.
“I’m not sure what to do” I whisper, laying back on the cool ceramic tile.
I just laid there, hoping somehow I could plan my next move; figure out a way that I could forge a relationship with my daughter, a way that I could work with her to make this happen but I couldn’t see a way out.
The clouds began rolling in as I caught her up what was happening at the palace. I told her about the passing of Bertrand and Savannah. I told her about Kiara and Penelope; finally, I told her about our child.
“'Brina has her first crush… what am I supposed to do about that?” I say aloud while I close my eyes.
I know there won’t be a response, yet it feels good to say it aloud.
“Thanks for listening.” I whisper to the emptiness as I leave for the palace, nothing clearer.
I return to my office, finding my journal. I wrote, hoping that by writing my thoughts I’d be better able to see a way through.
Returning to my quarters, I stop to check in on Sabrina who is so busy reading, she doesn’t hear me come in. I clear my throat and she looks up at me a ready smile on her lips.
“Father, did you have a good day?” She asks as I drop into the chair beside her.
“I had a lot of thinking to do today,” I tell her honestly.
“Does that mean you went to your secret place?” She asks curiously.
“Yes, I wanted to clear my head, then I went the cemetery,” I tell her.
“Did you bring mom flowers?” She asks her tone changing.
“I did. Now enough about me, what did you do today?” I ask her, as she climbs into my lap and I can’t help but smell her hair.
“Grandmother and I went to the stables, she bested me in a game of scrabble, then I spoke to Bartie, and found out Leanna is in Shanghai, I wish she didn’t have to return to her country,” she says sadly and I pull her closer.
“You’ve had quite the day. Did you take your medication?” She stiffens but nods her head.
“Alright, so… lowest part of your day?”
“Taking the medication, and finding out that Leanna is gone,” she grumbles, and I rock her.
She feels so small in my arms “Well, we know the medication is very important, but let me see what I can do about you spending more time with Leanna,” I tell her before asking about the better part of her day.
“So… what was the highest part?” She blushes and a little color tints her cheek. There is a real smile on her face.
“Grandmother says I mustn’t worry about you. That you will find love again, and someone who will love me for me, not just as a princess”, she says; she’s so happy at the prospect of having a mother I can’t help but smile at her.
“Well, in that case, I hope she is right.”
She laughs. “Thank you!”
“For?”
She hugs me and smiles into my chest. “Good night, father”
“Good night sweetheart,” I tell her as she climbs back into bed and snuggles in. I stay with her, listening to her soft snores before leaving to my bedchamber.
Still uncertain where to go from here.
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