#more commissions yes i am making fast time on these its been 2 days and iv done 5 of them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrkhan75090 · 1 year

Text

The Click Engine Review - Get 100% REAL Buyer Traffic

The Click Engine Review - Get 100% REAL Buyer Traffic

Describe click engine

A safelist called The Click Engine is where your offer is presented to its users. Although it functions similarly to a single ad, this kind of email list has a few important distinctions.

The Click Engine is an email list that allows its owner to send emails to its subscribers. It's an online database of people, primarily internet marketers (members), who share the owner of Click Engine with other members their sale pages or landing pages, website URLs, or other offers to promote in order to generate leads. This internet marketing bargain is made to help people with their online income.

The founder of Click Engine

Before deciding to introduce the Click engine system, its developers [Jeff Aman] (the major vendor) spent many years working on many software development projects.

And one of the most effective tools in your arsenal for digital marketing, affiliate marketing, is what he is passionate about helping people like you and me do.

Watch Video

The Click Engine Overview

Name of the product: THE CLICK ENGINE

Category: Advertising

Supplier: Jeff Aman

Service: Video | Contents

Price: reduction of $30 to $4.90 ($25.1 saved today)

Yes, there are huge bonuses.

Refund Absolutely, 30 days of money back.

Visit the official website now!

How does Click Engine function?

A list of the members will be made by the Click Engine's owner. As of the creation of this article, there are 1000 people on the Click Engine's list.

The Click Engine's owner will give members of the Click Engine access to receive email offers and click on them if they sound interesting. Although not assured, you will get some leads.

Members of the Click Engine typically work as internet marketers; therefore, they frequently receive offers from other internet marketers. Because of this, using the Click Engine to publicize your offer is self-serving because you also get to consider someone else's offer in exchange.

How Does the Click Engine Work?

Anyone wishing to boost earnings, sales, and commissions from their affiliate links should consider this wonderful offering. The following will profit especially from this click engine system:

Internet marketer

product designer

Entrepreneur

local or small business owner new to the industry.

Bloggers

Freelancer

Internet marketer

Online retailers

Entrepreneurs

solo advertisers

Local businesses

Trainers

Join Today And Get The Following Fast Action Bonuses

Extremely Cool Bonus #1 (normally $147/Year!)

Extremely Cool Bonus #2

Extremely Cool Bonus #3

Extremely Cool Bonus #4

Extremely Cool Bonus #5

Extremely Cool Bonus #6

Extremely Cool Bonus #7

Extremely Cool Bonus #8

More Customer Success Stories

I know Jeff.. and he gives 110% in his online projects! His 'The Click Engine' WORKS! My Link has gotten four opt-ins and a sale so far too! Yippie! I'm very Grateful - Heather Dake's website

2 sales came from The Click Engine in the last two days... Love it! - Bob Riddell's website

I just wanted to give a huge shout out to you and The Click Engine. I've only been in for about 2 weeks and already have a sign up in my program. This is the first time for me and I am super grateful and looking forward to more sign-ups -Mary Guendler's website

Thanks Jeff for creating the Click Engine. It is awesome and your other training is fantastic.I had to make a testimonial, I had no choice. This has been the best investment I have made this year and so far your Click Engine and training is out performing everything else I was doing. . - Michael Harris' website

In total 9 leads so far and from those leads I got 3 recurring sales. Now that's buyer traffic! LOL.John Meuldijk's website

I just wanted to give you and Click Engine a quick BIG "Thumbs UP!" I got everything up and running quickly and effectively. What a wonderful way to add to my school teacher retirement income. At 77, I find Click Engine almost free "REAL BUYER" traffic producing sales daily. Thanks again Jeff, You Rock! - Larry Waltz' website

Thank you for this outstanding system and method of gaining extra income. This is a phenomenal tool and I just wanted to let you know the benefits and excitement it's causing. - Clive Anderson's website

From my own personal experience, buy the product and you will benefit a lot.

Grab The Click Engine - Get 100% REAL Buyer Traffic

Click Here To Get Instant Access Now!

Thanks With Sending Lots Of Love

#software #apps #technonogy #money #onlinemoneymaking #job #jobs #earnmoney #health #ebook #socialmedia #product #newproduct #world

0 notes

iwaisuke · 3 years

Text

confessions; but not remembering it

ft. kita shinsuke, sakusa kiyoomi x sick fem!reader

genre: fluff

masterlist

a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts for a while and then i rushed bc i was getting tired 🙃 also. sakusa's is a little ooc. sorry ab that

-» ˚⸙͎۪۫⋆

» the clean yet musty smell of rain filled the gym as the boys practiced. it was a surprisingly humid and rainy spring day today here in the country side of hyogo

» "achoo" you had been sneezing and coughing all day. you also had a terrible headache but took some medicine to see if it would help. the spring allergies really getting to you

» you didnt reay have the time to be worrying about yourself. As a 2nd year manager of the inarizaki team, (recommend by suna) and the boys working so hard practicing for nationals there was no way you'd let this little cold get in the way. you had to work just as hard as everyone else!

» "hold on, im about to hang up your jerseys to dry"

» "i got you guys some fresh towels!"

» "i can run and grab that coach. im headed that way anyways"

» the coach called for a short break to rest up for a bit. everyone was sore and exhausted from practicing every day. "here. i filled your water bottles up!" handing them to all the boys. "y/n you're all wet" akagi sounded concerned.

» "hm? oh its alright. I'll dry off in a minute. i took the shortcut to the drinking fountain to refill your waterbottles instead of taking the long way" you nonchalantly said. "so you ran through the rain like an idiot?" suna threw a clean towel over your damp hair and ruffled it. "suna!! stop!! you're gonna ruin my hair"

» "like i said. its alright" you reassured the boys.

» kita, on the other hand had noticed your fatigue. although he wasnt as perceptive on peoples feeling and thoughts as well as others, he could easily pick up signs like yours. he admired you dearly for how hard you always work for the team. how you willingly did anything to make them smile. how you always put others first before yours. needless to say, he had a bit of a crush on you.

» "l/n san. i think you should take a break too. there's no need for you to be running around for us while we're resting" kita assured you. "i still have a few things left on my list to do.. but afterwards I'll take a break!" kita let out a sigh. you were stubborn sometimes and kita knew you were the kind of person to not stop until you're finished.

» "I'll be right back. i gotta grab the laundry"

» making an excuse to leave, your heart was beating fast. you knew kita's words were the kind he'd say to anyone, but it made your heart feel fuzzy when he'd look out for you.

» the stone cold captain who you thought he was, actually was so kind. he was just a little awkward like you, and a little blunt with what he said sometimes. but you learned the great qualities he carries and how much he actually cares about others well being. he was a hard worker and you couldnt help but absentmindedly fall for the captain.

» running up the stairs to the second floor of the gym, you felt a shift in your step. head becoming dizzier than it was just 5 minutes ago. legs trembling, you started falling before feeling a presence behind.

» kita's arm wrapped around your waist, supporting you in efforts to not letting you fall over. "i told you to rest l/n san" kita said sternly. "you wont benefit anyone if you keep overworking like this."

» you knew kita was right, but you really didnt want to rest knowing you'll be letting the team down by not working hard.

» "i promise I'll rest as soon as im done with this one thing" pleading with kita. he let out a sigh, knowing you really wouldnt until you did finish so he allowed you to do so.

» finishing grabbing all of the dry jerseys and bringing them downstairs to pass out to everyone, you didnt really notice atsumu and osamu spiking volleyballs at each other until aran yelled

» "y/n! watch out!" honestly, you were too tired to move out of the way so you figured, it do be like that sometimes, and allowed the ball to hit you.

» or... so you had planned the ball to hit you.

» kita stood in front, blocking the impact of the spike that you had prepared yourself for. there was agitation in kita's eyes. more than you usually noticed when then twins were miss behaving. concern washing over, he looked you straight in the eyes

» "... is there something wrong kita san?" lifting up his hand to your forehead, he let out a sigh. "why didnt you tell me earlier you had a fever", then walking over to the coach meanwhile atsumu and osamu come over to apologise for being reckless.

» "get your stuff. we're going home" kita said bluntly.

» "huh? but practice is-"

» "please l/n san. for me"

» kita would only take yes for an answer this time. no if's ands or buts. so here you were, walking home with kita. only the sound of raindrops hitting your shared umbrella being heard.

» muscles starting to ache a little more and your legs becoming more tired than they were when you left the gym, you began to walk a little slower every step

» "get on my back l/n" "its ok kita san, i can walk. its already enough that you're walking me home" "i didnt ask if you wanted to. im telling you to"

» you couldnt tell if it was the fever that made your face warmer or if it was kita's words. nonetheless, you got on kita's back. he was a lot stronger than he looked and you couldnt help but stifen at being so close to your own crush like this.

» "relax. I'll make sure you get home." he reassured. you leaned into his back, warmth seeping in, your eyes began to feel heavy.

» "kita san" "yes?" "thank you for always watching out for me"

» a comfortable silence was met as the sound of rain filled your ears.

» "kita san" "hm?" "did you know..." your voice softened "i like you a lot kita san"

» did he hear you correctly? if he wasnt paying attention he wouldve missed what you had said, being drowed out through the pitter patter of water. now his heart thumping louder than ever before.

» "l/n san-" he was about to go on but was met with the gentle rise and fall of your chest and the soft snores of you on his back, knocked out from exertion. kita let out a light chuckle, finally relieved you were resting.

» you had missed the next day of school, but when you came back the whole volleyball team bombarded you with love.

» "WE'RE A FAILURE TO NOT NOTICE YOU FEELING SICK" atsumu cried. "how could we let our one and only precious manager get ill for taking care of us" akagi, clearly dissapointed in himself. "please let us know when we can take care of you too y/n" aran said.

» "its no big deal. really!" waving your hands in defense. "it was just a small cold. but i do have a question though"

» all the boys gathered around to hear what you had to say

» "how did i get home?? i really dont remember what happened after i almost got hit by atsumu"

» it shocked the guys honestly. you genuinely didnt remember a single thing due to your fever. "wait? you don't remember kita taking you home?" suna replied, your face becoming red. "k-kita san took me home-?" "yah. he left in the middle of practice to do so" osamu added.

» immediately, you got up to find the captain that apparently took you home the other day. he was in the storage closet cleaning and grabbing the equipment for todays practice.

» "kita san" "oh. l/n. glad you're feeling better" his smile brightened the musty closet. "about that, im sorry for troubling you and having you take me home the other day. i honestly dont remember what happened after i almost got hit by atsumu. my mind was really fuzzy that day, but im truly thankful for you going out of your way for me. it really means a lot"

» kita was dumbfounded. you really dont remember? "no need to apologize l/n. it was my responsibility as a captain. and afterall, what good would i be if i couldnt even take care of the person who means the most to me"

» your heart raced. 'person who means the most to me' ? cheeks blushing a rosy pink, you were internally thanking the musty store room from being dim.

» with arms full of equipment, kita walked by you and stopped.

» "by the way l/n san. did you know?"

» ears perking up at the vague yet familiar line

» "i like you a lot too l/n san"

» now we all know sakusa HATES germs and for the past week and a half, he's been telling you to keep up with washing your hands, wearing a mask at all times even when you eat omi it doesnt work like that. pls especially since you are prone to getting sick easily no matter how hygenic you are. your immune system just hated you. PERIODT

» you remembered sakusa scolding you for running out of hand sanitizer and then the next day you were out of commission. bed ridden with laryngitis, cough, slight fever, the whole works. it was like your body was making fun of you or something

» you texted komori, asking him to take notes in class for you and relay homework information while you were at home resting up. but there was one request you had and made komori PROMISE.

» DO NOT TELL SAKUSA YOU GOT SICK

» "he's probably gonna notice your absence y/n. he'll find out about it either way"

» "well if you dont tell him then he wont know. its not like he even cares about where i am like that"

» "thats what you might think. but i know he's gonna say something i can garuntee it"

» the next day at school, sakusa did notice your presence missing. it was quieter not having a 3rd person in the group of friends. not having you around to talk to him when komori was gone.

» pulling out his phone to text you, he asked where you were that day.

» "on a family trip :D !!! forgot to tell you, but I'll tell you all about it when i come back!" you wrote, attaching an old selfie of a different trip you went on to make it more believable.

» you had hoped this silly cold would get better in a day, but soon that day turned into 2 and then 3 and then 4... you pretty much missed the whole week of school at that point

» Friday rolled around and komori was on his phone all day. sakusa noticed his cousin fidget in his chair more than usual and it irked him to see him like that

» "what's with you today?" one eye raised, sakusa finally asked. "uhhh nothing really" komori wasnt very good at keeping secrets lets just start off with that, but he was trying his best.

» "well clearly somethings wrong. you're fidgeting." "well haven't you noticed somethings been different all week?" komori hinted

» sakusa sat there in thought. nothing's been different? he ate the same breakfast he usually does every morning. all his studies have been well. there were no tests this week so there was no reason to be anxious like komori was and even if there was, he would've done well anyways.

» "just tell me what it is." sakusa was starting to get annoyed. "y/n..." komori started. "y/n?" "do you know where she's been this week?"

» did you not tell komori about your family trip? you usually told komori everything, but then again you didn't tell him either until he asked you about it.

» "she said shes on a trip?" he nonchalantly said. komori's eyes started watering. "A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL THATS WHAT IT IS" he blurted out. komori didnt mean to let it slip , he was just so worried about your well being.

» "hospital?? what are you talking about. did she get injured on her trip?" "no omi. shes been sick all week and her mom just texted me saying she went to the hospital today because shes had a fever for 3 days straight. there is no family trip"

» sakusa's heart shattered. you were sick and didnt even tell him?

» before both he and komori knew it, his legs were running faster to get to the hospital than he had ever imagined he could ever run.

» and there you were. fast asleep in a bed with an IV drip. your face flushed, forehead sweaty and shallow breaths escaping your chapped lips. you were a hot mess but sakusa didnt care. stepping to your bedside to greet your mother she explained to him that she had to go to work and asked if he could watch over you until she gets back.

» sakusa said yes without even hearing the whole thing. his heart and mind saying yes to whatever it took to get you to feel better.

» gosh how he hated hospitals, but what he hated even more was the fact that you were in the hospital and he didnt even know.

» the doctor came in for their evening round and ensured sakusa that you were indeed getting better! your fever had broken not too long ago and your body was working extra hard to heal itself up!

» "is there anything i can do to help?" sakusa asked. he felt helpless in this situation just watching your face distort in uncomfort every now and then, and coughing your lungs out.

» patting sakusa's shoulder, the doctor told him that just being here for you is enough. "you gotta be a strong boyfriend for her alright son? she'll be able to go home tomorrow first thing in the morning if her fever doesnt come back"

» sakusa slumped in his chair at your bedside, the doctors words ringing through his head. 'boyfriend huh?' he thought to himself. "if i was her boyfriend..." he whispered to himself, "i would be a failure for not even knowing my girl was sick..."

» to kiyoomi, you were beautiful. even now in this sad state you were in. deep down he locked these growing feelings he had for you inside of him because he always felt like you were a better match with someone else and after this stunt you pulled of lying to him about going on a family trip, it only made him feel worse.

» it was now night time and you finally began to stir in your sleep, the fever finally gone. sakusa reached out to move some hair that was stuck to your face, fingers tracing the outline of your jaw. your eyes slowly opened and met with his dark orbs.

» "y/n?" "saku- wait this is just a dream. omi wouldn't be here. he hates hospitals" you let out a forced laugh and then a sigh through your sore throat.

» you reached out to sakusa's hands that were resting on the side of your bed. "omi would never let me hold his hand because he'd say im passing germs to him so hopefully dream omi wont be the same" you were aimlessly talking to yourself, not even realizing that this really wasnt a dream.

» he squeezed your hand in return. hoping that you wouldnt let go any time soon. a funny smile appeared on your face just at the thought of him. "even if you're stupid for not realizing how much i like you... i cant wait to see you again omi" you whispered before falling asleep again.

» sakusa didnt know what to do. he sat there frozen in his chair. it was his first time hearing you call him omi. heck. you literally just confessed to the boy. his brain was running wild. groaning in distress he let go of your hand to step out for a breath of fresh air now that you were back asleep.

» it was 5am and your mother came back to the hospital and thanked sakusa for staying by your side. He left in a hurry to make sure you didnt see him there.

» Monday rolled around and sakusa was waiting outside of the school gates for you. he had planned on asking you about your "trip"

» "good morning sakusa!!" your bright and cheery voice rang through his ears. honestly he was trembling inside. the memory of you confessing to him still fresh in his mind.

» "how was your trip?" you stopped dead in your tracks. "haha... it was good !! sorry i forgot to get you a souvenir" you were trying to play it cool but sakusa could tell you were forcing yourself. "i wouldnt want a souvenir from where you came from so its fine" sakusa's words threw you off. "i - im not sure im understanding what you're saying sakusa?"

» you felt a tug on your hand. "dont you mean omi?" his voice husky as he whispered into your ear. cheeks flushed, your brain felt like it short circuted. you've always tried your hardest to not let it slip that you want to call him omi since he hated when people called him that.

» sakusa smirked at your cute reaction he got out of you. letting go of your hand he began to walk into the school leaving you at the gate dumbfounded. "and by the way. you're just as stupid for not realizing how long ive liked you too"

-» ˚⸙͎۪۫⋆

thank you for your order! enjoy~!

#haikyuu x reader #hq fluff #haikyuu fluff #yinny!drabbles #sakusa kiyoomi #sakusa fluff #kita shinsuke #kita x reader #kita fluff

200 notes · View notes

tlou-1 · 3 years

Text

Joel Miller x Reader (Home) Chapter 20

Chapter 20 - Joel still hasn't returned from patrol, you set off after him and what you find is beyond what you could have worried about.

You look at the clock again, 11:15 and still Joel wasn’t back. You had been pacing the kitchen with Patrick playing at your feet, Joel was over an hour late. Another half an hour passed and you couldn’t sit in the house any longer. You picked up Patrick and made your way to Maria’s post for the day in town, “Maria it’s been two hours and none of them are back. Looks at the clouds out there, somethings wrong I can just feel it” You plead with her but she just says they have probably bunkered down with the snow, “and nothing on the radio either?” You ask, she shakes her head. Right that settled it, you turned and made your way to your sisters. Before Molly could greet you as she opened the door you began “Joel has been out since dark this morning and still isn’t back. I need you to take Patrick for me”, you try to hand him to her but she says “No”, there is a pause for a moment “No? What do you mean No, Molly I really need” but she interrupts you by grabbing a jacket and locking her door, “Because I am coming with you. We can drop him off at the day care”.

You and Molly try to sneak into the stables to retrieve a horse each but of course Maria had you sussed and was waiting for you. “Maria I need to go out there, I know it sounds crazy but I have a bad feeling” you argue.

“You’re right, it does sound crazy“ she responds, she was always so set on rules.

“Do you know what, maybe it does but it’s your husband out there as well. Tell me you aren’t worried about them being out there with no sleep, in a blizzard with reports of hoards of infected. I am more capable than most folk in this town and I am going out there” you say sternly close to her face and she knew you were not going to budge.

“Okay” she concedes and proceeds to pass you the reigns of the horse and your bag back filled with your gear. “I cant spare many folks to go out with you, Jesse, Dina and Ellie are already out there you can meet them at one of the posts” she explains. Jesus now your worry turned to them but your line of thought is interrupted by the radio, it was Jesse. “Maria, Tommy and Joel didn’t show to trade off” he explained. You take the radio from Maria, “Jesse its Y/N, where were they patrolling? Can you get, Ellie and Dina and meet me there?” You ask, he agrees to your plan. Your sister in laws body language had changed during the exchange.

“We need to go now” you shout to Molly as your get on your horse and take off. Behind you Molly is following and Maria had saddled up obviously now sharing in your worry.

The wind and snow was harsh and whipped at your face as you rode ahead as fast as the horse would carry you, you must have been not far behind Ellie now. Neither Joel or Tommy’s had been at their post but their tracks had led you to a Chalet you had visited a couple of times on patrols. As you approached closer you could see more than two sets of tracks, they were disrupted slightly from the storm but there was defiantly a number of different footprints, other people were here. You had to be smart about this, the rest of the guys were still a bit behind you. You move into the building as quietly as possible and have to take out one guy standing watch at a patio door, he had a fresh cut right across his face. If anyone finds him they will know someone else is here, you had to move swiftly. As soon as enter the lodge you can hear cries of pain, guttural cries. It makes your stomach churn, you were right to have had a bad feeling. One more girl is pacing in the kitchen, you silence her by taking your small knife down on her. It had been a number of years since you had taken the life of a living person but you didn’t hesitate after hearing those cries.

You follow the cries to a narrow staircase with a door at the bottom of it, you could feel your heart in you mouth as you took each step closer to the door. You peer through the slight crack and see a group of unfamiliar people and a figure standing above a bloody one. You take a breath remember where each person was standing, attach your silencer and pushing open the door quietly, you take out the three people closest to the door, one dead ahead the other two to your right side. You were still one of the best shots without a doubt, maybe just as good as Tommy. There were three left by the time they realised what had happened and your presence, a young man standing next to a women with cropped dark hair and a large women standing above the bloody figure, it was Joel along with Ellie and Tommy unconscious.

The man goes to grab a pistol, lying next to the body of one of the men you just shot and without hesitation you reach round to your backpack pocket. Thank god it was still there.

“Don’t any of you fucking move, or I will blow up everyone of us in this room” you spit out as you hold the grenade in their sight. They each stop in their tracks and the large girl standing above your husband loosens her grip on club. Joel tires to speak but barely a sound escapes his lips.

“You’re bluffing, why would y-“ she begins.

“Try me”, you challenge her and there is a long pause “You let them go… you leave here and everyone gets to walk away from this or every single one of us just end it here”. This was madness but what other chance had you got, either way the people you loved could wind up dead, the only thing to stop these strangers was the threat of loosing their own lives and if it meant you went with them, so be it.

“No, not him, not after what he did.” The girl lifted the club but you jump in “What ever he did, I am walking out of here with him, our daughter and that other man alive or none of us are”

“He took everything from us! Killed my father, ruined any chance of a cure” the women says lowly shaking her head.

“You’re fireflies?” You ask looking around at them but you already know the answer from what she had said.

“Were. There are none, left he made sure of that. Killed most of us.” She answers. You speak without thinking, a stupid thing to do.

“I don’t blame him… Protecting her, I would have done the same. They were going to butcher the brain of a child, our daughter for the smallest chance of cure. If that’s the price for a potential cure and humanity were so eager and willing to pay it, we didn’t deserve it. I know that much.”

She looks like she has seen red and goes to lift the club again but before she can send it crashing down one of the fireflies, the man stops her and you have pulled the pin on the grenade keeping your finger firmly pressed on the clip as he intervenes.

“Abby stop! She is going to kill all of us” he pleads with her looking between Abby and the women behind him with cropped dark hair that he called Mel. Your hand is shaking from your firm grip on the clip.

“Are you insane?” The man asked, “When it comes to my family, yes” You reply looking down at Joel and Ellie.

“Figures, crazy man, crazy wife” scoffs the other woman says looking between you and Joel.

“Don’t fucking touch him. I am giving you all a chance, take it. If I let go of this clip, dead or alive it only takes two seconds for this thing to go off”. You try sounding as calm as possible and it seems to pay off but inside your terrified more than you had ever been. In your head you pray, you had never prayed in your life, for them to leave, for the woman to put down the club, for them not to shoot you, for this bomb to be a dud like Joel had said but for them to not find out it was.

You can hear commission from upstairs as the rest of the search party have caught up with you, you had bought all the time you needed. Owen grabs Mel by the arm and leaves through garage door.

“You should go with your friends”

Abby looks torn for a moment her eyes fixed on Joel before she flings the golf club to her side and takes off, on horse back alongside her friends but you felt this part of the past would rear its ugly head again.

As soon as it sounds clear you carefully place the pin back in the grenade and fall to the floor, guess you will never know if it was a dud or you almost killed everyone in this room. Ellie is still breathing but bruised, you look across at Tommy, the same. Your husband, you crawl across to Joel, the ground around him covered in blood you can feel it soaking your jeans.

“Jesus, Joel can you hear me?” you say softly, tears in your eyes from the sight of him. His right eye swollen, strips of blood pouring down his face from a couple gashes he had taken on the head. You were worried to touch him in case it caused any more pain, it was hard to look at him like this.

“You got to stay with me, you cant leave me, you hear? You promised” you cry just as Maria, Jesse, Dina and Molly enter the room.

“Holy Fuck” Jesse whispers. You beg them to help Joel, Dina checks on Ellie who is starting to gain consciousness along with Tommy.

“The storm has almost passed, Jesse and Dina find something we can make a stretcher out of. We can strap it to one of the horses and pull him back”. Maria says at her husbands side, it was the best anyone could do in the dead of winter. No one even thought about going after the remaining three strangers, what was important was the three people who each of you loved in this room.

You rode behind Jesse who’s horse is pulling Joel the entire trip, he sometimes groans or shifts and all you want to do is ask to stop and let him rest but there was no time for it, you had to get back as swiftly as possible. As soon as you arrive back in Jackson men are there to carry Joel’s stretcher into the surgery, you follow behind asking Dr Henry if he would be okay. She didn’t respond focusing solely on Joel, she tells you to stay in the hallway and when you start to protest and push forward Jesse is there pulling you back and when you stop fighting him into a hug. You finally let out a cry from everything, the horror of what you had seen, what you had almost done and at the thought of your husband’s life still hanging in the balance. Everything goes to black for a moment.

*NOTES - I have to say I found this one pretty difficult to write so I apologise if it doesn't land as well as the other chapters. There is just so much that happens. I have decided to deviate slightly from the game, we have all seen the dark ending for Joel in the game so lets try something different

#the last of us fanfic #The Last of Us #The Last of Us Part 2 #The Last of Us Part ii #Joel Miller #joel miller fanfic #tlou fanfic #tlou joel #tloufanfic #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #Ellie Williams #ellie x joel #tlou ellie #tlou dina #tlou jesse

99 notes · View notes

bnhaficsforthesoul · 3 years

Text

BNHA characters and their genshin experiences

I've been way into genshin for the past couple months, if anyone wants to play with me message me (I'm lvl 45 rn) but be warned I have shitty internet and am a partial razor main

but this is mainly characters I can see actually putting time into genshin

Bakugou

Mains: Yanfei

his main has probably been most every pyro character at some point

he wants diluc so bad, whenever someone else complains that diluc ruined their pity he wants to ruin their existence

before yanfei his main was probably hu Tao

hed definitely play klee if he had her lmao but he doesnt and is patiently waiting for her rerun

he has a lot of 5 star characters and is f2p, he can always get banner characters within at least the first pity, but for standard 5 stars hes gotten keqing and qiqi way too many times and hes livid

especially as a previous hu tao main, he was begging for Jean, still has yet to come home

hes probably a very high level, not fully maxed out considering he hasnt been playing all that long, he was probably forced to start when the rest of the bakusquad started playing it and he just took off

has really shitty artifact luck though, like his characters arent bad or anything but they could be so, so much better

and ugh hes livid

explores everything, has 100% exploration everywhere, but hes not bored hes still got artifact farming to do and he enjoys terrorizing enemies

in co op he will set you and everything around you on fire. cope.

Todoroki

Mains: Xiao or Ganyu

probably only started playing because Izuku asked him to

kaeya has also been on his team since day 1 and he is never leaving doesnt matter his friendship has been level 10 for weeks now who cares

was f2p until xiao, who didnt want to come home at all, and he finally got him on his 180th pull

now he doesnt care and will buy primogems whenever hes bored

he has a lot of constellations on kaeya and hes so proud of that, probably c4, is considering buying way too many primogems just so that he can hopefully get his c6

now his artifact luck is godly, you'll go into a domain with him and be like ugh I got nothing and hes like I got a 4 piece set with all attack or crit rate/damage main stats like haha I hate you

but yeah his characters are very strong cause of this, but he doesnt put effort into building a lot of them, he only levels up and gives good artifacts to his team and a couple other characters he likes but everyone else just sits there for a while

hes not super obsessed with the game, but he does think its funny seeing bakugou get so upset whenever they do domains together

doesnt even bother doing daily tasks really unless hes trying to save primogems

Midoriya

Mains: Venti

hes so good at building characters, like he looks up builds online and watches those "do INSANE damage with these tips" videos - and he sets out to get them done and he does

bakugou is once again livid whenever they play together, because Izuku barely has to try and can do so much more damage than him

he does have to put in a lot of work for his artifacts though because he doesnt settle for the okay ones he needs the absolute best

he builds his favorite characters the most ofc, but he evenly distributes things to other characters he knows can be useful- those characters might not have insane stats but they're still good

will not kill timmies pigeons, hell hunt birds in the wild for fun though

definitely a food hoarder

also does a lot of exploring and probably has at least 90% for each area

Kaminari

Mains: Lisa

he is 1000% in love with Lisa, he took her quest very seriously

and so many people say shes horrible, he hates it, hes made her crazy strong out of spite

his team consists of only his wifus- meaning lisa, beidou, rosaria, and mona

for a long time beidou was his second but then rosaria came along and hes like ugh big tiddy goth gf, but lisa still remains queen

these are the only characters hes built though, save for a couple like probably razor and xiangling that he used before he fully got this team

is an ayaka saver

he doesnt care too much about most 5 stars but will sometimes get them just to say he has them, but they end up just sitting there rotting away because he never puts work into them

he does have hu tao though and would get ganyu if she ever had a rerun

Kirishima

Mains: Diluc Razor or Beidou

they're all on his team, the last person switches out but it's most likely zhongli or childe

hes all about dps, support who, he just wants to hit hard and do insane damage , so yes he made dps zhongli

except his builds arent that great, with some help his builds are decent, but on his own hell be like ugh that's some sexy 300 damage

probably didnt know what 90% of the stats even meant and just put random attack ones on people and went yeah that looks good

doesnt really care though and is just having fun so hell play how he wants (as he should) but he does have to ask for help when farming bosses

loves exploring but misses so much, hell get distracted easily and end up just messing around

honestly probably hasnt bothered to ascend his world since he got to level 35, if he did the quest hed probably go straight to 45 and even then hed still have extra exp because hes been there for so long oml

but eventually he would have to and hed be trying to do it like :,) this is fine and it takes him a lot of tries but he gets there eventually,,, only to immediately have another one waiting for him poor baby

Mina

Mains: Klee or Xiangling

thinks baizhu is hot (and is correct) so shes desperately waiting for him

was a I must play 24/7 player until after the last story quest, then she got kinda bored but still plays frequently so she can save primogems and likes playing co op

goes into random peoples worlds a lot

shes got some pretty strong characters and is proud of her account

definitely makes tiktoks of her playing with the bakusquad cause it's always v chaotic (it's probably only denki and kirishima most of the time, but sometimes either bakugou or sero will join in)

does all the genshin tiktok trends

shes a pretty high level since shes probably been playing for a while and has most everything done

she loves helping lower level people though she thinks it's so cute and loves the power she feels when she one shots things

Sero

Mains: Xingqui

hes a pretty casual player, kinda only plays when hes bored or the others make him play with them

but his stats arent too bad, they're fairly average but he gets by

has so many primogems because he doesnt bother to wish on anyone, probably wants kazuha though

he does get super invested into the story though, hes so curious about the world and where the story is gonna lead

probably watches a lot of genshin theory videos and now he over thinks everything in the game

he explores a lot, not so much to find every single thing but more so just because he likes looking at everything, hes very excited for all the new places

Shinsou

Mains: Childe

hes a very thorough player, he explores a lot and puts a lot of work into building his characters

most of them arent all that great but he has plans to fix them

his main team is very well built, not the best, but still good

he struggles when he has to switch someone out for a domain or something because his other characters are so painfully mediocre right now and he feels so bad

shinsou, playing a character that can do like max 200 physical damage and biggest damage is like 2 thousand, repeatedly saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you deserve so much better, I'm so sorry

even if it's not the worst damage by far, he feels bad about anything under his main team's stats because they're just so much higher

broke. has no primogems. spent them all on childe and his constellations. does he regret it? well he sure does appreciate his c6 so- hell manage

yes he spent real money on his stupid mass murderer who he loves very much

fights childe every day even though he already collected the treasure, he is but a humble simp

probably decently lucky with wishing like he can beat the 50/50 almost every time

Tamaki

Mains: Chongyun and Sucrose

he only started playing recently, probably kirishima got him into it, but he immediately fell in love

kirishima was like tell me when you're level 16 so we can play together !!! and 2 days later tamaki was level 16 and kiri was shook because how the hell did he do it so fast

hates domains, the dread he feels when he realizes the lower level isnt going to give him anything anymore, and he has to move up to the next, and the next,,

asks kirishima to help him only to realize he isnt much help, is too nice to say that so he let's kiri keep trying- one day kiri gets deku to play with the two of them and tamaki almost cries because finally he can get through the level 90 domain and actually get things ugh

cannot get xingqui to save his life he refuses to come home and poor tamaki is so sad he wants him a lot hes even got all his materials saved up

Monoma

Mains: Ningguang

honestly doesnt play all that much but takes pride in making his account seem v good, is a whale

but hes very good at the game, didnt know what the artifacts were for at first and gave people ones based on how they looked but once he figured it out hes fixed them

is a very standard player, logs in every day to do his commissions and use his resin then logs out, he doesnt put too much time into the game and doesnt worry if he misses a day or two

worships ningguang, also really likes xinyan, his other team members are probably venti and albedo

has every single banner 5 star that has come out since he started playing, probably doesnt have klee though and is v upset about it, and is thanking the heavens for all the reruns lately

also doesnt have keqing and wants her a lot cause he likes her

accepts every single co op request he gets, and despite what a lot may think hes actually a very nice person to play with, not toxic at all - unless you're someone he knows then he might be mean to you shshshsh

Shigaraki

Mains: Razor

haha isnt it so odd that they sound so similar haha (if you dont know they have the same japanese va and I'm guessing hed play it in Japanese)

obviously he can be kinda busy ya know being a criminal and all that but when hes not he puts a lot of time into genshin

sadly doesnt have very good luck when it comes to characters or artifacts, but hes doing his best even with 0 primogems and his 50% crit rate

doesnt explore all that much, most of the exploring hes done came from him trying to get all the oculus

his razor is so good though, except that's the only character hes put tons of effort into

except for now zhongli, hes not replacing razor but ugh does he love zhongli

but his other characters are pretty mediocre at best, he could build them if he wanted to, hes good enough at gaming to figure it out, he just doesnt have the time to spend to do it so he focuses on his main team

also (spoiler alert kinda) when we had to go to the wolf spirit to fight the abyss herald and razor was there, afterwards how razor was saying how he was too weak and stuff and was super sad, at that very moment shiggy decided the entire abyss order had to be destroyed - sorry aether (he chose lumine) but razor is more important than you

#theres probably more charavters that would play but i can add to this later #did i describe myself througout these #yes of course #anyways diluc supremacy if youre not apart of the 70% of the fandom that hates him then youre superior i dont make the rules #bnha headcanons #bakugou #shigaraki #todoroki #kaminari #kirishima #midoriya #deku #shinsou #monoma #amajiki

82 notes · View notes

threecrowsinatrenchcoat · 3 years

Text

Paint My Spirit Gold

Dukeceit Week Day 2: Green/Yellow

Fans of the YouTubers "Deceit" and Remus "The Duke" Sanders start to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the two of them are more than simple internet pals.

AO3 Link: [here]

Word Count: 2187

Warnings: n/a

@dukeceitweek <3

[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a watercolor-style painting of a snake. The snake appears to be made of melting chocolate, and there is a large bite taken out of its tail. Cherries and jam are leaking out of the snake at the bite wound. The snake's expression of horror is overly-exaggerated to the point of comedy. The caption reads: "liked your snake boi, @SerpenThyme. thanks for the inspo." /end ID]

A notification ding cut Janus off mid-sentence.

“Wow, someone left their cell phone on, so professional,” he said, giving the camera a dramatic eye roll. That someone was him, of course, because he was the only one in the apartment- just him and the running livestream- but that was no excuse not to be a drama queen about it. He finished wiping flour off his hands and grabbed his phone to silence it; but the notification made him pause. He flicked his eyes up toward the camera and gave a slight smirk.

“My goodness, I’m famous,” he drawled. “The Duke himself has graced little old me with some fan art.”

Most of the comments in the chat wanted him to show it, so Janus opened up Twitter to see the full post he’d been tagged in. It was a watercolor painting of the coiled-snake chocolate sculpture- lovingly named Jake by his viewers- he’d made for his YouTube video last week; it was wearing an expression of such comedic horror that Janus had to stifle a laugh. He flicked his phone screen toward the close-up camera on his counter so his viewers could see.

“How kind of you, Remus,” he said. “All of you should go scold him for what he’s done to poor Jake here.”

Most of his viewers would know he was joking- after all, they were the ones to nickname him Deceit when he provided neither a real or fake name for his online persona. They knew full well what he was like by now.

The oven timer dinged. Janus silenced his phone and set it aside.

“And our first batch of cookies is done. You know, why don’t we show the Duke some appreciation?”

[ID: An Instagram post by user @SerpenThyme. The photo is an artistically-framed shot of a stack of sugar cookies with green, yellow, and pink icing. Propped up against the stack is another cookie, with an intricate icing-drawing of an octopus. The photo appears to have been color corrected to have high contrast, low saturation, and a dark vignette at the edges. The Instagram user @OctoDukie is tagged. No caption. /end ID]

“You know, I have often been accused of actually being a little old lady, what with my fondness for knitted jumpers, rocking chairs, and incredibly fucked up murder mystery books. Today I am doing nothing to dispel this accusation, by making soup.”

The studio was dark and empty aside from Remus' workspace. Everyone else had left long ago, even his own brother, which meant that it was officially ass-o'clock in the morning (or, as most people called it, somewhere between 1 and 2 a.m.) But Remus was stuck in hyperfocus, honed in on putting the last touches on a commission that he'd been putting off for weeks. It's not that it was a tough painting- once he'd gotten started, it was actually a very creatively satisfying piece- but man, executive dysfunction could go suck a dick

“French onion soup, specifically. Because while I do like to pretend I am a classy bitch, I am also, regrettably, a lazy bitch with a distaste for anything that takes longer than one bottle of wine to make.”

Remus hated working in silence. It was stifling, almost suffocating. His brain needed noise like his lungs needed air. So when the studio had grown still and silent, Remus had flipped open his laptop and queued up some YouTube videos.

“So we have here three pounds of onions that we need to slice up, pole to pole. You’re going to cry no matter what, so if you have any memories you’ve been repressing since middle school, now is an excellent time to dredge those up.”

And if it happened to be 90% SerpenThyme videos, well. Sue him.

“Now the first rule of caramelizing onions: fast and sloppy is always better than slow and thorough… at least, that’s what every man I’ve ever slept with tells me.”

Remus choked and glanced over to his laptop screen just in time to catch Deceit's trademark smirk directed at the audience just for a moment. It was the deadpan delivery that always got him. Remus could barely hold onto a joke long enough to get through it without cackling mid-punchline, but this fucker could say the funniest shit like an off-hand comment.

He wiped his hands off on his jeans (what use were clothes if you couldn't use them as paint rags?) and pulled his laptop across the table. He typed out a quick comment, citing the timestamp of the joke, and after it was posted, he shut his laptop.

'Cause ass-o'clock was short for "get-your-ass-home-or-I’ll-kick-it" o'clock.

[ID: A screenshot of a YouTube comments section. The first comment is by user TheDuke, and reads: "10:42 wow, rude." The second comment is a reply by user SerpenThyme, and simply reads ";)" /end ID]

Janus plopped down on the couch with a slight groan. He didn’t need to stream today, but he really hated missing days. Besides… he was fine. Really.

He adjusted the camera until he was happy with the framing, and then checked the settings on his streaming software. Satisfied, he started the stream, and watched as his usual viewers rolled in.

“What do you mean I’m not in my kitchen?” Janus drawled, addressing the chat. He glanced around with an expression of faux-shock on his face. “My goodness, when did that happen?”

He chuckled, and then gestured to his surroundings. “Yes, we are in my living room today. If you must know, my closest and most trusted friend tried to murder me today- yes, Virgil, it was attempted murder and nothing less- and I survived with nary a scratch… and a broken foot, but that is beside the point. Anyway, I’m not allowed to stand for long periods of time, and I may or may not be somewhat inebriated by pain pills and couldn’t stand even if I wanted to. So we are cooking from my couch today.”

Janus paused for a few moments to read the chat messages as they popped up. A few get well soon’s, a few theories about the “attempted murder,” Virgil- who moderated his chat for him- vehemently denying the “attempted murder” but otherwise refusing to clarify the event, and a large volume of wtf why are you streaming today, take care of yourself comments, which made him smile. But one particular comment caught his eye, almost lost amid the torrent of an active chat: wait this kinda looks like the Duke’s living room?

“Oh, VampSuga,” he said, addressing that commenter in particular with a slight smirk. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. Anyway, since I can’t reach my oven from here, I thought some no-bake cookies were in order. For these you will need-”

[ID: A screenshot of a Discord conversation. The text reads:

“VampSuga: Ok ok hear me out. Dukeceit.

Starstruck96: who?

IneffableSnek: lmao

FeralBeauYasha: lol

VampSuga: Deceit and Remus Sanders! They’re totally dating. I will die on this hill.

FeralBeauYasha: Isn’t the duke w/ PatPat?

IneffableSnek: no thats his brothers bf

FeralBeauYasha: ohh

VampSuga: Did anyone see Deceit’s stream today? I swear that’s the Duke’s livingroom.

StarStruck96: idk that seems like a stretch

IneffableSnek: no wait i kno what u mean

IneffableSnek: im watching the duke’s old videos and that one where he shows off all his old weapons he’s in a living room kinda like deceit’s

FeralBeauYasha: They were acting all cute on twitter too

VampSuga: DUKECEIT” /end ID]

"Hey guys, been a while since you've seen my face and not just whatever my hands are busy with, when it's within YouTube's terms and conditions I mean. They used to be way more lenient…" Remus trailed off for a moment, then shook his head sharply and plastered on a grin.

"Anyway! In June me and a few other creators did a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, and y'all smashed the goal, so I let you decide what video I'd make this month." He paused, and gestured to the mountain of clothes piled behind him on the bed. "And you had so many juicy ideas to choose from, but you decided to dress me up like a Barbie instead."

Remus paused to scroll through his phone for a few moments. "Ah, ok, here we go. Twitter user YoonIsMyCat- oh, BTS, nice- sent in this first outfit. Uh… future Remus, put up the post here somewhere." He gestured vaguely to his right. "Y'all went with either a fuckton more clothes or a fuckton less clothes, which I respect. Apparently this outfit is called…” He squinted at his phone. “Amish chic? I take it back, no respect at all.”

Remus cycled through the outfits his viewers sent in, which ranged from the aforementioned “Amish chic” to “2008 rave attire” to “ok now you guys are just fucking with me” (which consisted of one of those big puffy snow coats, lime green in color; booty shorts with the shrug text emoji across the ass; fuzzy pink boots; and a yellow cowboy hat to top off the whole thing. It was awful. Remus loved it.) The mountain of clothes on the bed gradually became a mess of clothes spread across the floor instead, until there was just one outfit left.

“Ok so Twitter user VampSuga sent me this outfit that I’m gonna call ‘sexy librarian.’ I couldn’t find this exact sweater online, but-” he paused for dramatic effect, before brandishing a sweater toward the camera like a bullfighter. “My boyfriend had something that was close enough.”

Remus hopped up from the bed and switched off the camera so he could change.

“They’re going to lose their minds,” a voice drawled from the doorway. Remus threw his shirt at him.

“Shoo, I’m getting naked.”

[ID: A Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a selfie of YouTuber Remus “The Duke” Sanders, a Hispanic man with his hair dyed green and styled into a spiked mohawk. He is wearing a yellow knitted cardigan over a black button-up shirt. He is grinning widely at the camera. The caption reads: “my viewers pick my outfits! now live on youtube. go see what i look like as a sexy librarian!” /end ID]

DukeceitStan

first and only dukeceit shipper ig

DukeceitStan

wow there’s so many of you now! Hi!!

DukeceitStan

i want this to be canon so bad omg

DukeceitStan

i mean just look

[image]

how

[image]

cute

[image]

[ID: A series of three gifs featuring Youtubers SerpenThyme, aka Deceit, and TheDuke, aka Remus Sanders. Deceit is a black man with long, dreadlocked hair, and vitiligo patches along the left side of his face. Remus is a Hispanic man with green-dyed hair styled into a mohawk, many ear and facial piercings, and tattoos covering both arms. Each gif is edited so that the highlights are tinged yellow when Deceit is seen, and tinged green when Remus is seen.

The first gif depicts a close-up shot of Deceit’s hands as he carefully decorates a cookie with green and yellow icing. The cookie art he is working on appears to be a half-finished octopus. The gif then fades into a mid-shot of Remus, with his back to the camera, facing a canvas. The canvas is blank, and Remus appears to be laying out paints on a table to his left.

The second gif depicts Deceit seated at his couch, facing the camera. He has many ingredients spread across his coffee table (including oats, cocoa powder, and butter) and appears to be in the process of laying out several more. The gif fades to show Remus seated at a similar couch with a similar coffee table in front of him. The camera is angled slightly downward to better show the myriad of knives spread out across the table. Remus is gesturing wildly with a morning star held in his hand.

The third gif depicts Deceit in his kitchen. He is pulling on a bright, yellow knitted cardigan, and smirking toward the camera. The gif fades to show Remus in his bedroom, seated on his bed. He is holding up a similar-looking cardigan toward the camera and grinning. /end ID]

“Remus, it’s almost two in the morning. Come to bed.”

“I’m coming, sorry. Twitter distracted me.”

“Mm. I can’t believe the bird app is more distracting than I am.”

“You should try harder.”

“Come to bed and maybe I will.”

“Ok, ok, I’m coming. Hang on though, is it cool if I post this?”

“Sure. They figured it out anyway.”

“Sweet. Ok, Jannie, I’m coming.”

[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It reads: “Dukeceit is canon.” /end ID]

#dukeceit #dukeceitweek #remus sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides fic #kye writes

18 notes · View notes

thishintoflove · 3 years

Text

“Wildest Dreams” - A Prospect (2018) Fanfic

TSwift Songfic Week Day 2

Pairing: Ezra x F!Reader

Warnings: 18 + Explicit (Language, Sex Pollen, P/V sex, Unprotected sex, Outdoor sex), 2.2k words of smutty forest sex

A/N: Did I really just want an excuse to write a sex pollen fic? Yes, I did. Also Ezra strikes me as a guy who’d be into outdoor sex even without an extra aphrodisiac.

You’ve always loved the forest. When you’re out among the trees, watching the light spread across the forest floor in patterns of green and gold, there really isn’t anywhere else you’d rather be. This planet is filled with oxygen so there’s no need for a helmet, which means you can enjoy this peaceful wood with all five of your senses. You close your eyes every now and then, drifting along on the smells of the warm air and the sounds of native birds calling to each other between the leaves.

“Hey! Come on, Birdie, I hired you to be my guide, not daydream and get us lost.”

Ezra’s deep drawl cuts through the forest and interrupts your peace. The man has paused his endless pursuit long enough to stare back at you with an annoyed look.

“We’re on track, Ezra, just keep heading southwest. I’m right behind you.”

You’re a field researcher who was recently let go by your university, so you’re currently traveling between worlds as an independent contractor trying to make some money. That’s how you found yourself wandering through the vast woods of this backwater planet with a gruff gem prospector. It was your job to analyze the topographical maps, plot the route, and keep Ezra away from the dangers of the natural world as he searched for some kind of valuable gem. At first you were worried about being alone with a strange man for a weeks-long mission, but Ezra seemed respectful and fully dedicated to his job. He was handsome, you couldn't help but notice, but this was a job and you refused to let that be a factor. So you'd agreed to go with him on this trip, taking a 50% upfront commission, and now you're dragging your boots through the wet grass trying to keep up with him.

I thought heaven can't help me now

Nothing lasts forever, but this is gonna take me down

He's so tall and handsome as hell

He's so bad but he does it so well

Ezra is currently stalking along ahead of you, head bowed, eyes scanning the forest floor for any sign of gem pods. Every now and then he turns around to glance at you, to either ask you a question about the flora and fauna or just to check and make sure you’re still there. You could tell he was getting frustrated that it’s been three days of hunting and yet still no gems in sight. You were following along quietly, trying not to disturb Ezra’s hunt. You glance up from time to time to make sure you can still see Ezra’s dark head poking out from behind trees and under bushes, but generally you keep yourself entertained by studying the clumps of flowers and plants on the ground.

Suddenly a rustling sound in a nearby bush grabs your attention. You catch sight of something small and fluffy huddled behind a tuft of grass. You freeze and squint down at the tiny stir of whiskers and wiggle of white-- it was a lop-eared lapine! An adorable furry creature that was often sold in pet shops, but this one was huddling right in front of you in the wild, seemingly unafraid. The small creature lifts its head and turns two very large, very innocent eyes on you. You smile despite yourself, and crouch down as it hops silently towards you. Its fuzzy paws make next to no impression on the grass as it moves.

It hops until it stops right in front of you. You reach a hand out and upon closer inspection, you realize there’s a spiky burr stuck in its fur.

“Aw, let’s see if I can get that pointy thing off you, little buddy,” you mumble, reaching out and running your fingers through its soft coat. You gently grasp the pointy burr and give it a small tug, but to your surprise the bud isn’t nearly as hard as it looks. As soon as you squeeze it, the bud bursts open and releases a surprising amount of yellow pollen into the air. It floats up, getting caught in your nose and making you sneeze.

The sound makes the lapine squeak and scuttle away into the tall grass. As it disappears, you feel your head begin to spin. Your eyes stop focusing for a moment and there’s a hot surge in the pit of your stomach. Your heart clenches when you realize what’s just happened. The burr must have been a native reproductive pod-- one with powerful side effects for humans that was usually sought out for use in performance enhancement medication. And now you’re completely doused in it.

The pollen is still drifting through the air in a cloud, and you try to get to your feet but your legs are too wobbly. Suddenly, a large hand is gripping your forearm and hauling you up.

“Are you alright, my lovely bird?”

Ezra is giving you a concerned look, unused to seeing you so affected like this. You try to warn him about the pollen but your tongue feels thick and useless. Soon Ezra is sneezing too and you know he’s ingested some of it as well.

“I didn’t mean to… didn’t expect…” you try to form complete sentences but there’s a heat rushing through your veins and blush spreading across your entire body. Ezra is still holding your arm and you reach around him to pull his body closer. Heat pours off both your bodies but you still crave the contact. A low groan slips from Ezra’s lips and the sound goes straight to the now aching spot between your legs.

“Is it… some type of aphrodisiac?” Ezra asks between clenched teeth. He’s holding you flush to his body but he seems frozen. “I do not want to hurt you, Birdie. But I’m afraid I am losing all control of my senses here.”

“Yeah it is,” you gasp, feeling a little better now that you had him so close, “It’s okay to...you know. I want you to. I need you to.”

As if to prove your point, you thrust your hips against his. You can already feel the hardness in the pants of his flight suit, and your mouth literally waters at the thought of it inside you.

“Are you absolutely positive? I may still be able to get away from here. Away from you. If I go now-”

“Don’t you dare.”

At your confirmation, Ezra growls and pushes you forward until your back hits a tree. He presses his mouth against your collarbone and sucks, all coherent thought rapidly vacating your brain at his actions.

I said, "No one has to know what we do"

His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room

And his voice is a familiar sound

Nothing lasts forever but this is getting good now

You feel dazed, pressed against the tree with your hands pinned on either side by Ezra’s long, strong fingers. You bury your nose in his dark hair as he nibbles your pulse point, inhaling additional pollen, not that you care. He pushes his hips upwards into you, too desperate for friction to question how he’s become so hard so quickly. You rut against him, egging him on and enjoying the amazing sensation of the tight fabric against your clit.

Ezra breaks away from your neck with a gasp and mouths his way along your jaw until your lips finally meet. It’s your first kiss together but neither of you really care at the moment-- the kiss is sloppy in an eager, desperate way brought on by the pollen. You both open your mouths and you tremble with pleasure at the warm slide of Ezra’s tongue against your own. You moan softly into his mouth as you feel his hardness press more insistently against your thigh through the material of his pants.

Then he’s ripping at the zipper and velcro on your flight suit, pulling the top down enough to expose your chest. He keeps his mouth on yours as his hand starts to explore you. He palms your breast, teasing the nipple to a taut peak, and your trembling increases as you struggle to control the heat burning inside you.

"Ezra, please. I need you now. I need to feel you inside me," you beg.

“Relax, my lovely bird. I want to explore you first,” Ezra growls, feeling himself grow even harder as your nipples rise beneath his fingers.

You swallow, unsure if you’re able to comply. He was like a drug to you now, one you never knew you needed. It’s driving you crazy and you know your craving won’t be fulfilled until he’s fully in you. But you take a deep breath and try to relax into his ministrations.

Feeling your body relax, Ezra slowly begins an assault on your senses. He ducks his head and takes one breast into his mouth, running his tongue over the nipple. He sucks gently before biting down, and the jolt of pain-pleasure makes you arch against him and tug at the hair on the back of his head. As he continues to lavish attention on your breasts with his mouth, his hands slip down to slowly work your pants open. You’re almost too distracted to notice until suddenly you feel a thick finger enter you. Your pulse skips a beat as you tremble under his touch, craving more. He continues to pump in and out of you with one hand while his prosthetic arm reaches down to undo the fly of his own pants.

You cry out again as his finger hooks inside you, hitting that special spot that makes your toes curl.

"Ezra, please. I can't take it! I’m going to lose my mind! Please!"

"Fine, have it your way, Birdie," he replies.

In one fast movement he removes his fingers and replaces them with his cock. He slams hard into you, and winds his arms around your back to pull you as close as possible. You cry out at the sensation of finally being filled. You curl into him, your face in his shoulder as he buries himself inside you. He withdraws slowly and sinks back in while he muffles his groans of pleasure into your neck. He strokes in and out of you with a deep, steady pace.

You'll see me in hindsight

Tangled up with you all night

Burnin' it down

“You feel amazing, everything I need,” you babble as the burning sensation inside you begins to settle and shift into pure pleasure.

Ezra groans and pushes against your neck with his nose, “You look so splendid on my cock. Never imagined you would be so wet, so tight. I want to stay in your warm heat forever.”

A rough laugh escaped you at his words-- somehow still trying to be eloquent even with the pollen messing with his brain and tongue. You twist your head to meet his mouth in a passionate kiss. Ezra moans against your mouth as he rapidly chases his own orgasm, hips pounding into yours. Everything feels like too much and not enough at the same time. You’re no longer burning but you’re rapidly falling into a pit of pleasure that you’re not sure you’ll be able to climb out of.

Ezra feels so strong and rough against you. You break the kiss to grin wickedly at him, and lower your head to suck softly on the sensitive skin of his neck. As he speeds up his movements, you bite lightly and squeeze your inner muscles a little more aggressively in time with his thrusts. His balls tighten in response to the feel of your teeth on his neck, your nails in his back, the tightening of your wetness around him.

Ezra reaches down to press your clit with his thumb, and that’s all it takes to make you come undone. You gasp and shudder against him as he thrusts erratically a few more times before following you over the edge. He throbs and gushes deep within you as your walls tremble and tug at his cock. Your orgasms seem to be unending as wave after wave crashes over you both.

Someday when you leave me

I bet these memories

Follow you around

Finally, you come down enough to drop your leg from where it was wrapped around Ezra’s hip. Your head falls back against the tree and you close your eyes as you try to steady your breathing.

“Birdie? Can you look at me?”

Your eyes flutter open and you meet his gaze. Ezra’s dark eyes are filled with apprehension and his brow is low as he looks at you with concern.

“I am… uneasy with how our encounter just went. I want you to know that this isn’t what I had in mind when I hired you. I would never-”

“Ezra,” you say, cutting him off before he can bombard you with more unnecessary apologies, “It wasn’t your fault. It was my fault for not being more careful. This doesn’t have to change anything between us.”

Maybe it’s the remnant of pollen still in your system or maybe you just finally know what you’re missing out on, but you hesitantly lift a hand and reach up to brush the hair off his sweaty forehead, taking extra notice of the blonde tuft at the front.

“But... it could change something,” you continue, “If we both want it to.”

Ezra’s look of concern melted into something fonder.

“I believe that’s something worth discussing. I can’t promise you forever, Birdie. My line of work isn’t conducive to commitments. But if you’ll have me for a time, I would very much like to continue exploring this pleasurable path we seem to have stumbled upon.”

You smile up at him, pleased to see a lighter look in his deep brown eyes. “I believe I can agree to that.”

Say you'll see me again

Even if it's just in your (Just pretend, just pretend)

Wildest Dreams

#ezra (prospect)#ezra x female reader #prospect (2018)#ezra x reader #prospect (film)#prospect fanfiction #pedro pascal fanfiction #my fanfic #fanfiction tag #rumbelle

31 notes · View notes

pearlplusau · 4 years

Text

Chapter 6 - Part 2, The duel of swords and mind

The breaking dawn, at the sky arena.

The training arena has seen better days, due to the hundreds and thousands of sparring done by old gems and new, the once beauty of the arena is now slowly crumbling away from its glory days.

As the long, morning shadows of the pillars shifted, two pearls emerged from the dark and ready their stance at different sides of the arena. The pink pearl, looking rather engaged in the beautiful breaking of the dawn sky than the upcoming battle, was leaning on to her lance and gazing at the orange, pink hue of the morning sky.

It has been such a long time since they returned to the sky arena due to the end of the war. Coral couldn’t appreciate the breath-taking view up in the sky so high back then, due to the heavy training with the gems. Now, not so much either.

She was just about to suck in all the exquisiteness of the scenery but was cut short as she noticed the impatient white pearl at the other end, clanking the end of her staff to get the pink pearl’s attention. The white pearl, looking stern as ever, upholds a bright, glowing spear, with light smoke surrounding the point, indicating the cold air surrounding the heated weapon.

Pearl has her index finger and thumb on the bridge of her nose, looking irritated, “If you’re done dozing off into the sky like you always do, let me repeat the rules for the battle.”

She concentrated the gem on her forehead, and projected a simple visual of two figures.

“Rule 1, the battle must remain here, at the sky arena, for the entire duration of the spar. If one of us falls off the arena, the battle will be paused until the fallen warped back to the arena. Rule 2, There can only be one weapon at a time, this includes the quantity of the same weapon, even though I am ambidextrous, I will spar with only 1 staff for the sake of equality. Rule 3, the battle only ends when one of us is defeated, and when that gem is defeated, she must upload the end of the bargain. These are the main rules, if there’s no more gazing at the dawn sky, we can commence battle.” Pearl retracted her projected visual and waited for the usual questions from Coral.

This time, however, there were no questions asked. Coral was too busy trying to comprehend the rules but she felt like she got the gist of it. “Yeah, i'm good.”

“Good, we shall begin when the battle ground gets cleared up.” Pearl said, with her weapon ready.

The two pearls waited for the morning fog slowly departed from the arena, leaving the scene as clear as day, indicating the commencement of the battle.

Pearl leaped and advanced with her staff, taking the first strike on the oblivious Coral. But her battle reflexes kicked in and deflected the blow with her lance, heavy, but sturdy. The deflected pearl back flipped and landed on a wall, slightly surprised but not enough to take her down.

Coral took her stance, gripping her lance, and advanced as fast as she could. She aimed her point, but she wasn’t able to throw her weapon and Pearl easily unbalanced her aim. Almost losing the grip on the handle, she grabbed it with her other hand and defended a strike from Pearl.

When Pearl realizes it's gonna take more than sword skills to win, she turned to the next best thing, the power of the mind.

“You’re an old pearl, you know that? A rusty old gem, getting slower by the decade.” Pearl spoke as she took another strike, with Coral barely blocking the attack.

The two pearls have been out of commission for a very long time, but Coral was the only one getting harder to breath. “What’s your point, pearl?”

The two pearls parried side to side, lance vs staff, leaping around the arena like it was a mid day training session with their stance wide, lowered bodies, moving in swift motions as well as keeping their eyes on the opponent.

Coral was starting to get out of breath, but Pearl was just getting started.

“Back in the day,” Pearl started, “When I first started as the new pearl, I was doing all the work while you prance around the court with our diamond! You’re always causing havoc whenever you’re around her, leaving me with more work of cleaning up after you! ” She slashed and parried with all her might, with her opponent barely keeping up both ends.

Coral defended, in both swordsmanship and the unfair statement. “Havoc? Ohno, we were never causing trouble! You on the other hand, can be the wettest blanket I have ever met, we were just trying to have fun once a while until you rain all over our fun little parade! Do you know how stressful she feels every day??”

CLANK!

“Rain on your parade?” Pearl advanced, but barely missed and stabbed the bricked wall instead. Coral retreated and moved behind Pearl, who was struggling on getting her staff unstuck. The pink gem caught her breath and readied herself with her weapon, “Yes raining on our parade, you took my few chances to make her happy! It’s hadn’t been easy after rejection time and time again from the other diamonds of giving her a chance to prove herself!”

“Make her happy?” Pearl gritted her teeth while using all her strength and pulled out the staff, she turned and faced the pink gem, “I was able to make her happy while you were out of commission on the moon! While you were off conscious, tired from playing around with the earth simulator, I did my part and made her happy with mere pieces of wood from the planet! So it sounds like I did better than you ever could!”

Sorrow and anguish were churching inside the pink gem, she wanted to collapse down from the physical and mental exhaustion, but it looks like Pearl wasn’t done.

“And another thing!” Pearl wildly swung her staff around her, extending its length and planted it on the marble floor. “Your little nickname.” She sneered.

The minute Coral heard the intention and the tone, she became…

Defensive

Coral gripped tighter on the handle and scowled with a tired, slightly breaking voice, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh please,” Pearl retorted while adjusting her stance to match her opponent’s, “Your nickname, why did you think it was given to you? Did you really think it was “fun”, “adorable”, “cute”??”

“Uhh...no.” Coral tried to think of something reasonable, “She just didn’t want it to be confusing!”

Pearl took nothing from her reply. “That’s absurd, there's one reason you didn’t get to keep your old name and you already know why.”

Coral was panting, she was tired, she was on the edge of collapse.

She couldn’t think, she couldn’t understand why it suddenly bothered her when it never did thousands of years ago!

However, she did know the answer, but she also knows that deep down, it’s not an answer she could take.

The pink gem tried to keep herself from falling over by leaning on her lance planted to the ground. She tried to think of a comeback, but the only thing coming out from her mouth is, “Oh yeah? Well…I’m older than you!”

Pearl stood with her expression darkened, she gripped her staff and muttered under her breath, “Older, yes.” She stood her ground

“But.” She directed her staff, distracting the pink gem.

“Non.” She crouched down with her leg stretched out.

“the.” She tapped into her ballet moves

“wiser!” And swiftly propel her leg under the pink gem, knocking her down.

“Oooof!” Coral on her back, her lance disappeared into light.

Pearl took the advantage and gave an order, “Now stay down! And just admit it!”

Coral was down, but she somehow had the energy and rage to exclaim, “Admit what!?”

“Just admit nothing happened to you, and that all of what you’re doing is just a ruse!”

“I would if I can REMEMBER, you’d think I’d keep something like this and let Rose worry?!”

Pearl was slightly taken aback, she was not expecting this. A battle was commenced, and there must be a price. She swung her weapon down to the pink gem’s chest, “Any last words, Coral?”

The pink gem understood her intention, she took a deep breath, and went through the memories of being a crystal gem. The training, the court surprise attacks and recruitments, the fake shattering, the joy, the grief, the pain, and now, her last battle as a member.

She exhaled, moved the point away with the back of her hand, warily got up and dusted herself with what little dignity she had left.

With her last breath as a rebellious gem, she responded, “I guess you won, fair and square, and as for my last words, here they are: There was never a ruse, I just never knew me being hanging out with her...bothered you.”

She grabbed Pearl’s hand, and continued, “But now that I won't be there to keep you guys down, I hope you can help the rest of the gem monsters and keep the planet safe, even if I won’t be a part of it anymore.”

Pearl was trying to be vigilant and cautious, but something in her couldn't bear seeing the pink gem like this.

Pearl believed Coral was telling the truth, she wanted to take back everything she said, she wanted to break their agreed rules and hug her for dear life. But before any of that could happen, the ground rumbled, shifted as the air around turned,

hot...

And angry.

Pearl retracted her hand from Coral, and stood a few feet back, seeing that the entire arena was shaking with the familiar buzz and growl.

In the distance, a flying figure rapidly approaches the arena, and reaches the other end from the two pearls. It had wings of a giant bat, misshaped tube-like worm body form with hair and deadly spikes sticking out. As it came in closer, it roared with the echoing sounds of monstrous scree, shaking the arena even more, spreading poisonous venom as it disintegrated parts of the arena.

“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!”

Coral was scared and confused, she turned to Pearl, hoping she knew what they’re facing, but Pearl looked, horrifyingly, terrified. The pink gem shook Pearl by the shoulder, demanding an explanation!

“Pearl! Wh-what, what is that? And why is it here? What does it want?”

Pearl was not answering, but she shakingly lifted her arm, and pointed to the monster’s head.

Coral didn’t notice it before, but on the monster’s horrifying bee-like head, one of the horns was broken off.

“It…” Pearl whispered, “It wants me, shattered.”

End of part 2

(A/N: Heyy, so about that fusion monster. In the episode, “Earthlings” we saw Jasper was able to fuse with a corrupted gem, so it gave me the idea of two different gem monsters, fusing to get some kind of revenge, and with the same philosophy as Bluebird azurite, fusing for hate and vengeance and stuff.

Also, i’m not sure how many of you guys are actually reading and enjoying these stories so far. There’s like, more than a thousand ppl following but the only indicators for me to know how much of you enjoyed it is the likes and reblogs you guys left at every post.

Maybe i should consider creating an account on instagram and share some previews of the story there? I could really use some advise about this, so feel free to drop a comment or an ask.

Also i’ve noticed theres been random unfollowings, to which i’ll assume to be ppl who have actually realized this is not Tripixle.

Lastly, i am here to announce that I am open for more #askmeanything, but this time, the “anything” should preferably be anything related to the written stories, which is up to this 6th chapter. Like maybe you guys have some questions regarding certain aspects of the storytelling, or maybe you guys would like to give criticism, which I’ll take and consider for future writing. However, if what you sent me in the ask contains certain topics that may be a spoiler for any future plans, then it would either be set aside until that topic is issued, or something related to “naw gurl, not right now.” kinda deal.

And it looks like you’ve read to the end, and to that i say thank you for reading what i have to say, byee)

#stevenuniverse #pearlplusau #Pinkpearl #Pearl #Rosequartz #Coral #askmeanything

34 notes · View notes

shenanigans-and-imagines · 4 years

Text

A Study in Allies

Until We Meet Again: Part 2/?

Thrawn x Senator!Reader, Female Pronouns

Summary: You and Thrawn meet again, your fascination only growing.

A/N: I’m not exactly sure where this is going. I plan this to be a series of one shots revolving around this Senator!Reader. If your interested in reading more about her and Thrawn, feel free to send any request my way! And remember REBLOG AND COMMENT IF YOU LIKE THIS!!!

Word Count: 3.7K

As much as you tried to fight it, Lieutenant Thrawn did not fully leave your mind for the next twenty-four hours.

You had spent the rest of the evening performing your duties, shaking hands and introducing yourself to as many of the movers and shakers of Courscant as you were able. But as you finally made it home and drifted off to sleep, your conversation with Thrawn was the only thing to remain in your memory.

The next day was relatively light. As soon as you finished your morning calls, you spent your time researching what you could on the Chiss and Thrawn in preparation for your next meeting.

A small twinge of guilt twisted your stomach, but you suppressed it. All Thrawn’s military exploits were public record. It wasn’t as if you were digging up private, personal information. Besides, you had no doubt he was doing the same thing with you.

You ought to have been embarrassed by this strange new obsession, but he couldn’t help holding your fascination. You hadn’t met anyone like him before.

You had heard stories about leaders in various systems throughout the years. Conquerors, emperors, generals, all of which were described as having a strange aura of power and charisma. An unflinching confidence that inspired people to rally behind them.

You had met many political leaders over the years, from kings to admirals. None possessed the air described by the stories, except Thrawn. It was a rare quality, often lamented as occurring only once in a lifetime. Was it so strange then to want to be in its presence again?

Your comm rang, pulling your from your thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Pardon me Senator,” Cora, your aid, called. “But there is a Lieutenant Thrawn here to see you.”

You straightened, feeling a small smile touch your lips.

“Please, send him in.”

You stood from your desk as the door slid open.

Lieutenant Thrawn stood before you just as he had the night before; tall, confident, and dressed in his Imperial navy uniform. A part of you wondered if he possessed any other type of clothing.

The light of day also helped to clear a suspicion you had been harboring; he was handsome.

“Good afternoon, Senator,” he greeted, inclining his head in respect.

“Good afternoon, Lieutenant,” you replied, matching his movement. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”

You gestured to a small table and chairs placed just to the right of your desk. On the table was a small selection of fruits, meats and vegetables, along with a range of alcohols. You hadn’t been sure how long the meeting would go and wanted to be prepared.

If Thrawn was in any way affected by the spread, he made no indication.

“Thank you.”

He took his time choosing a seat as his eyes wandered your office, pausing at each of the paintings and sculptures you had scattered throughout.

You followed his gaze, noticing how it lingered on one particular painting; an impressionist interpretation of the sky of Danu just as the sun was rising; it’s pinks and oranges contrasting and over powering the purples and dark blues of the night sky. It was a gift to your family by one of Danu’s prominent art museums, and one of your personal favorites.

You turned your eyes back to Thrawn, whose attention still remained on the painting.

“See something you like?” you asked, with just a hint of teasing.

Thrawn blinked, before turning to you. His glowing red eyes now focused with inquisitive intensity.

“It is an interesting collection,” he said, smoothly. “Were these all selected yourself?”

“Yes. A bit eclectic perhaps, but I like them,” you said, taking the seat just across from him.

“And those in the reception area?”

You frowned, thinking of that rather gaudy display of golden vines and multi-colored flowers. “Those were chosen by Governor Lir. I’ll be replacing them once the commissions are finished.”

Thrawn nodded in consideration. “If you don’t mind, I would be interested in seeing them once they’re finished. I assume you asked the painting to be done by an artist from Danu?”

“Yes,” you said carefully. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Some of the sculptures have been done relatively recently,” Thrawn answered, easily. “Their subject matter and style match current trends in Danu art. I assume if you’re having a piece commissioned you want to keep them in continuity with your office.”

You wanted, very much, to ask him how he knew anything about current artistic trends on Danu or even how it was relevant. Upon brief reflection, however, you realized you didn’t have to.

You had done your research on him, he had done the same. His searches simply lead him to invest an interest in Danu’s art scene. And, considering what he was able to discern from the mural, it wasn’t so strange.

“I will say to make fast work,” he continued. “I understand you’ve only been on Coursant for a few weeks.”

You gave a casual shrug. “This will be my place of work and home for a long time if all goes according to plan. I might as well make myself comfortable.”

He raised his eyebrow slightly with an amused, possibly even impressed, half smile on his lips.

“Indeed.”

You couldn’t help but smile yourself a little. “Now Lieutenant, I believe you’re here to listen to some stories. Where would you like to start?”

You weren’t sure how long the pair of you talked and you didn’t really care.

You related to him all the stories you could bring yourself to remember about the Chiss. The image you had painted in your mind of honor bound warriors wasn’t as far off the mark as you believed they might have been, according to Thrawn. But, like all stories faced with reality, there were some more nuanced shades of grey.

He didn’t openly share any new information. But from small hints, decisive silences, and rather obvious dodges, you were starting to get a slightly clearer picture. The Chiss were warriors certainly, but they had their own bureaucracy to contend with, family squabbles, and pride which was always found within such systems. A pride Thrawn most certainly possessed, whether he wished to acknowledge it or not.

“May I ask you a possibly personal question?” you asked, pouring you each another glass of wine.

“You may ask,” Thrawn said, a note of suspicion in his voice.

You gave a small laugh. “It’s nothing too terrible, I hope. I simply wanted to know if Thrawn is your true name. From what I’ve come to understand, Chiss usually have much longer names.”

His shoulders relaxed slightly. “We do. Thrawn is my core name.”

“Then, what’s the rest of it? Or are outsiders not allowed to know?”

“Others may hear it. It is more a matter of efficiency,” he explained. “Those with Basic as their primary language have a difficult time pronouncing it. But, if you truly wish to know, my full name is Mitth’raw’nuruodo.”

“Mitth’raw’nuruodo,” you repeated back.

“Mitth’raw’nuruodo,” he corrected.

“Mitth’raw’nuruodo.” This time you tried rolling the “r”s as he did.

“Mitth'raw'nuruodo.”

Your lip pursued in concentration. You could hear how you were saying it wrong, but couldn’t quite figure out how to correct the mistake. But you had to try at least once more.

“Mit-thra-nur-uod-o,” you said, deciding to disregard the “r” roll and simply pronounce each syllable as best you could.

“Better,” Thrawn conceded. “But not quite.”

You let out a sigh. “I will get it eventually.”

A small amused smile came to his lips. “You may try.”

It linger there a while longer, but a small shift in his eye convinced you it was about something else.

“Is there something else you find amusing?” you asked.

“More interesting,” he said, diplomatically. “Your selection of stories is very different from others I’ve heard.”

“How so?”

“Ensign Vanto recounted stories of The Chiss’ military exploits or combat abilities. No doubt you have heard the same. You, however, chose to tell stories referring to our culture and traditions.”

“Maybe I assumed you have heard them before.”

“Perhaps,” Thrawn said. “But, unlikely. You stated yourself how you admired the times of peace in the Republic. Tales of war do not hold your interest.”

“Guns and battleships don’t hold my interest. It’s the people behind them that do,” you corrected. “Like you for instance.”

“How do you mean?”

You gave him a doubtful look. “Don’t play that game. You’ve done your research on me, it’s only fair I do the same. I only wish to parse out facts from fiction.”

Thrawn watched you closely. His glowing red eyes burned into you, but you did not look away as you did before. You held your ground, until finally he relented.

“What have you learned?

“Very little, I’m afraid,” you admitted, with a small smile. “Your recent military exploits speak for themselves. By all accounts a series of miraculous victories pulled seemingly from thin air orchestrated by a brilliant military mind who should by all accounts be an Admiral, but is instead the first weapons officer. This most recent encounter with the Dromedar being emblematic of that.”

He nodded. “You’ve heard about my court marshal, I take it. “

“There had to be some reason why you’re here,” you said, your expression turning apologetic. “I am truly sorry. The navy has no right to pursue you in such a way. As far as I’m concerned you made the right decision. Life should always be valued over profit. If there is any way I can help, please let me know.”

“I will,” he said, in a tone that made you feel as if not only did he mean it, but truly appreciated it. A small part of you had to wonder who, if anyone on Coruscant had offered him help.

“What else have you heard,” Thrawn prompted.

This part was tricky and for the first time that afternoon, you looked down.

“I understand you were discovered in exile, though the reasons why vary from telling to telling.”

“Which of these tellings do you believe?”

You glanced up again.

Thrawn sat coolly in the chair. His body and positioning were relaxed but still ultimately in control as he stared unblinking awaiting your answer.

You thought of the man before you, and the one described in the reports. You thought of the priority of minimal casualties on both sides. You thought of the crew of the Dromedar. And you thought of the calculation in his responses when talking about his people.

“You ordered a preemptive strike on an enemy,” you said with a confidence foreign to you. “But I have a hard time believing it was done in a fit of blind ruthlessness.”

“And what do you believe?”

He learned forward. It was just a hair, not many would notice, but it was enough for you to know you had to choose your next words very carefully.

“I think you would do whatever is necessary to protect who you perceive your people to be, whether it be your crew or The Chiss.”

“Do you?” he questioned.

You nodded. “I know a little something about that.”

For a long moment, neither of you spoke.

“Yes,” Thrawn said, quietly as if to himself. “I believe you do.”

Something flashed across his features. Understanding, perhaps? Or maybe admiration?

You didn’t have time to question it as all too quickly, he leaned back and his unreadable mask slipped easily into place.

“You’re quite perceptive, Senator,” he commended.

“Not really,” you said, with a shrug. “In my experience people are very open about what they want either through their actions or outright stating it. The only ones who aren’t are those who have yet to make up their mind. You don’t strike me as the indecisive sort.”

“Perhaps,” Thrawn said. “But do not belittle your abilities. Stating one’s wants is one thing, but often actions can be misinterpreted, their true meaning plagued by personal bias. Being able to clearly see someone’s reasoning for their actions is a rare skill.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” you said, feeling your cheeks warm slightly. “But you’re avoiding the question.”

“Which is?”

“Am I right?”

Thrawn was silent for a moment.

“You are right in the ways that matter,” he said. “I will always do what is necessary to protect my people.”

You frowned, but knew better than to ask further. Perhaps he wasn’t allowed to talk about the true reason for his exile. Which itself only lead to more questions.

“Something else?” Thrawn asked.

“Yes…” you said. Your stomach twisted, unsure if what you were about to ask truly was crossing some invisible line. But, you had come this far.

“Why join the Empire?”

Thrawn stared a moment as if surprised by your question. You didn’t blame him, but instead of anger or even indignantly you expected, there was just confusion. “As I have stated, and you have observed, I will do what I feel is necessary to protect my people.”

“So why not go back to them? How does joining the Empire do that?”

Thrawn’s eyes darkened, his expression going distant, almost regretful. “There are many dangers in the galaxy. Dangers greater than The Chiss Ascendancy or The Empire can face alone. I believe an alliance is necessary to face such a danger.”

“Assuming the Empire doesn’t turn on you.”

He glanced at you, titling his head curiously. “Do you believe it will?”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe,” you dismissed. “You obviously believe it won’t.”

“But you do have your doubts.”

It was your turn to remain silent as your own mind flashed to darker times. The Clone Wars. Your father. Danu torn apart and only now starting to rebuild.

You let out a tired sigh. “I suppose we each have to settle for an uneasy alliance to maintain peace for our people.”

“Spoken like a diplomat,” Thrawn said, dryly.

Your lip twisted into an ironic smile. “I have to get my practice in somewhere.”

Thrawn’s own lips turned upward slightly, giving just a hint of amusement. It softened his features, if only a little. You found you rather liked it.

His expression then shifted into an oddly thoughtful expression.

“Do you have a question for me?” you asked.

Thrawn shook his head. “Not a question. I was just musing on how you have heard so little of me and my people and yet are able to construct a fairly accurate picture. While I comparatively have heard much of you, and yet the reality speaks to something entirely different.”

“And what have you heard of me?”

For the first time since you met him he appeared uncomfortable. “I hesitate to say. As I said, the reality is much different.”

“I can take it,” you assured. “I promise not to shoot the messenger. And besides, you said it yourself; it’s often illuminating to hear stories about yourself from an outside source.”

Thrawn nodded in consideration.

“I understand you were made Senator four months ago,” he began. “Your family has lived on Danu for generations and is highly regarded within its sphere of influence. Your father was governor during the time of The Clone Wars, but was killed in a Seprestist attack.”

He bowed his head to you, his voice growing surprisingly gentle. “My sympathies.”

“Thank you,” you said, feeling your heart ache at the old wound. “Please, continue.”

“Governor Lir was appointed to the position soon after although not to the same success. He was the one to suggest the previous senator, Senator Trask. Unfortunately, Trask was eventually charged with corruption after being found in league with a pirate gang stealing and reselling food stuffs on the black market. Governor Lir was cleared of any involvement. It was then, your name was selected to be Trask’s replacement. From what I gathered, you made a name for yourself on Danu for various public works and, given your father’s legacy, it was the logical choice.”

You nodded in understanding. Governor Lir needed his name associated with your father’s to maintain his reputation. The thought made your stomach twist unpleasantly.

“As Colonel Yularen explained it to me, Danu lost much of its influence after the Clone Wars,” Thrawn continued. “It is now in direct control of its governors who are themselves controlled by Grand Moff Tarkin.”

“So, I’m a puppet head. A naive heiress, picked out of a hat because of her father’s accomplishments,” you said, feeling like you were about to be sick. Was that why Lir had been so insistent on showing you around, introducing you as some non-threatening, pretty young thing?

You gave a dry scoff. “Not a very flattering portrait.”

“No,” Thrawn agreed.

You laughed again, sincerely this time. “You really need to work on your interpersonal skills if you’re going to survive Coruscant,” you said dryly. You then let out a sigh. “Well, I’ve certainly got a much harder job ahead of me than I anticipated.”

“Perhaps,” Thrawn said. “Perhaps not. As I said before, what I have been told and what I have observed are very different. You may use that to your advantage.”

“How?”

“They will underestimate you.”

It was said so calmly, so matter-of-factly you couldn’t help but be taken aback.

“That implies I am more than what they make of me.”

“You are.”

And there it was again, that unwavering confidence that what he was saying was unquestionably right.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you doubt me?”

You blinked, pulling yourself back to the moment.

“I believe, you believe your words,” you said. “I can only hope you’re right.”

“Time will tell.”

It was at that moment, your comm buzzed.

“Yes?” you asked.

“I’m sorry Senator,” Cora answered. “But you asked to remind you about your appointment with Governor Lir.”

You frowned, but a quick look out the window told you she was right to do so. The sun was just starting to set, and Governor Lir insisted on meeting before the next round of parties you needed to attend.

“Yes, thank you for reminding me. Please message the Governor to let him know I’ll be a few minutes late.”

Cora offered an acknowledgement before clicking off the comm.

You gave Thrawn an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I really do have to attend to this.”

“Of course,” Thrawn said, rising from his seat. “I will not keep you from your duties any longer.”

You rose as well. “I only wish you could. You’re certainly more interesting company. Will you be joining in any of the festivities tonight?”

“I do not believe so. Ensign Vanto and I must meet with the high command tomorrow.”

“Of course,” you said, feeling a twinge of regret. It may be some time before you saw him again, if at all, but you pushed it down. You each had your duties.

You met his eye then with a gentle smile. “Thank you for your stories and advice. And, please know you have a friend on Coruscant, should you need one.”

Thrawn gave you an odd look. “Are we friends?”

“We were able to discuss art and politics without feeling compelled to throw things at each other. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is,” you said, dryly. “But, if the word is too familiar, could we at least part as allies?”

You offered your hand.

Thrawn hesitated a moment, taking your words into careful consideration.

“I do not believe either term is exactly the right one, but for the sake of simplicity, friend will have to do.”

Your brows furrowed, unsure about what exactly he could mean.

He gave not further explanation as he took a small step forward and took your hand in his. His skin was warm, warmer than you anticipated. He held you hand in an oddly gentle, but firm grip; his palms rough from years of experience and untold battles. It was a strange combination, but not unpleasant.

He held your gaze. You couldn’t even guess what he was thinking, all you knew was that your throat was going dry and your heart was beating rapidly against your chest.

“Until we meet again, Senator,” he said. “I look forward to your career with interest.”

“So do I, Lieutenant,” you managed. “Until then.”

He released your hand, and it was over.

You watched him as he walked out of the room, staring after him even after the door had hissed closed.

You let out a breath, willing your heart to calm to a walking pace. What could he possibly mean by neither friend nor ally?

Without thinking, you flexed the hand he had touched as if to make sure it wasn’t truly burning. Had he felt it too?

Mentally, you shook your head. It didn’t matter. You had no idea if and when you would ever see him again. He would undoubtedly get out of this court marshal and accelerate up the ranks of the Imperial Navy. Meanwhile, you had your duties here on Coruscant. Duties you had to attend to.

You quickly gathered your things, and walked briskly out of your office.

“Excuse me, Senator?” Cora said, her words stopping you in mid-stride.

“Something wrong?” you asked.

“No ma’am. It’s just…” she hesitated as if unsure if she was even allowed to know what she was about to say. “Lieutenant Thrawn asked me to give you a message.”

“Which is?”

“He asked me to remind you he would like a holo copy of the pieces you have commissioned for the reception area. And if it wasn’t an inconvenience, he would be interested in having holo copies of the pieces you have in your office as well.”

You blinked unsure whether to feel flattered or utterly exposed.

“Should I tell him you’re unable to,” Cora asked, tentatively.

“No,” you said, shaking out of your temporary shock. “No, go ahead and collect holo copies of the pieces and send them along. Contact Ensign Vanto of the Imperial Navy, I’m sure he will pass them along.”

Cora gave a look of confusion, but seemed to know better than to question a Senator.

“Yes ma’am. Goodnight.”

You barely gave her a wave of acknowledgment as you walked out the door, the same question reverberating in your mind; friend, ally, or something else?

#thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #thrawn x reader #grand admiral thrawn x reader #star wars #sw rebels #timothy zahn #thrawn x senator

181 notes · View notes

heliosphoenix · 3 years

Text

State of the Planet: 2020 Edition.

I know what you're thinking.

"How can you even think of doing one of these for this year? After everything that happened? You can't possibly be trying to do your little feel-good writeup!"

Well...you're right. I can't. That's right, State of the Planet is cancelled.

I don't really have to explain why, do I? I have no words to describe this year and I know you don't want to hear them anyway. I understand your anger, your frustration, your sadness, everything you're feeling, I get it.

This wasn't the year you imagined and almost certainly not the one you wanted. Thanks for being there the entire way, and I'll see you next year.

Okay, I'm just kidding. I couldn't do that to you folks, I just wanted to get some more mileage out of a dead meme.

I first started this missive several years ago when I noticed that people were developing a tendency to condense the previous lap around the ol Sun into a series of terrible, horrible, no good very bad events at the expense of anything good that may have happened. I don't know why this was done, maybe as a ways to ensure that the coming year would have to be better by default.

Well...we all saw how that worked out for this year, didn't we?

As you all know I prefer to do things differently. I prefer to go out on a high note and remember all the good things that happened in the past year. If nothing else, I think it helps remind us that as much as we want to bemoan and be pessimistic about the state of our culture, society, civilization and even species, there's plenty of evidence to suggest we're not doing so bad after all.

And even thought it feels like this past year the world went out of its way to teach us some rather harsh lessons, I'm still determined to find something good that happened. So let's take a look back at some of the good things that happened in 2020:

A circumbinary planet was discovered at the TOI 1338 system.

Luxembourg became the first country to make it's public transportation free.

The Bhadla Solar Park became the largest solar park in the world.

The BepiColumbo space probe departed for Venus, en route to an arrival at Mercury in 2025.

A fast radio burst was detected from a Magnetar in the Milky Way, the first time such an event has been detected in the Galaxy.

A team of British and Kenyan scientists discovered a microbe that can block mosquitos from transmitting malaria.

A black hole was discovered in the QV Telescopii system, at 1120 light years away it is the closest known black hole to Earth.

A 425 million year old fossil of a millipede was discovered in Scotland, one of the oldest fossils ever found.

SpaceX launched their Dragon 2 spacecraft on its first crewed missions, the first astronauts to launch from US soil since 2011.

The Perseverance rover was launched to Mars and is expected to touch down in February.

The Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE became the first operational nuclear power plant in the Arab states.

Wild polio was eradicated from the continent of Africa.

Skeletons of 31 prehistoric animals, including 200 mammoths, were found at a construction site in Mexico City, it was the largest finding of mammoth bones ever.

The 5.37 mile La Linea highway tunnel was opened in Colombia, it's the largest road tunnel in South America.

Kosovo, Serbia, Sudan and Bahrain all decided to normalize their relations with Israel.

Phosphine, a strong predictor of microbiological life, was discovered in the atmosphere of Venus.

Preserved remains of a cave bear were discovered in Siberia.

A 1634 edition of Shakespeare's final play, The Two Noble Kingsman, was discovered at the Royal Scots College's library in Spain.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed on the asteroid Bennu and collected samples for return to Earth in 2023.

The Falkland Islands were declared free of land mines.

Molecular water was detected near Clavius crater on the Moon.

An AI algorithm called AlphaFold was able to figure out the process of Protein Folding.

The UN commission on Narcotic Drugs removed cannabis from its list of dangerous drugs.

The EU committed themselves to reducing greenhouse emissions by 55% over the next decade.

A Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn occurred, the closest one seen in the night sky since 1226.

Comet NEOWISE passed by the Earth and was the brightest comet in the night sky since Hale-Bopp in 1997.

Among Us became one of the most popular games in the world.

Half Life: Alyx was released, the first Half Life game in 13 years (FINALLY).

Joe Biden was elected as the 46th President of the United States.

Remember all that? Good. Because that's where I'm at.

You, dear reader, are in the future. Perhaps you're reading this in the final hours of 2020, or the first hours of 2021. Or maybe so much time has passed that both those years are now confined to the history books.

Perhaps everything I listed above is not enough to overcome all the bad things that happened this year, and that's a fair assessment. Maybe at the end of the day there's nothing that can overshadow the fact that someone in China who ate the wrong bat resulted in the entire world coming to a stop. If that's your feeling, then I understand completely.

But let the record show that those things did happen. In a year full of chaos and uncertainty and anxiety and dread, there were still moments where we could objectively punch our fists in the air and say "yes!" Even if only for a moment.

So now comes the part where I have to take all the things that we just went through and sum it up in a single word. Usually I don't think about this until the day of, but this time I've actually known for months what I was going to say:

The word is...Goodbye.

It sounds both strange and appropriate at the same time, doesn't it? As we close out this year, as well as this decade (reminder that 2021 is the real start of the next decade) we can look back and realize we've had many experiences. Both positive and negative. Hopefully they were mostly positive, even during this year.

But there is at least one experience we've all shared together, especially in times like these: saying goodbye.

I will confess to you all that I have a hard time saying goodbye. Hell, I don't even like the word. Whenever I end a conversation, I always use some variant of "see you later", since, to me at least, "goodbye" just sounds so final. Though with that said, I will also admit there's some people in this world that I had no problem saying goodbye to, and I don't mean "till we meet again", I mean "get lost." And I'd be lying if I said there weren't some people who felt the same about me, but I digress.

In the last episode of his show, Red Green delivered a monologue about saying goodbye. A monologue that I am now shamelessly ripping off for your reading pleasure. Not just because it's a way to get this done quickly, but because I think what he said is very true.

Red says that when it comes to your good friends and your family, you never really have to say goodbye. Why? Because they're always in your mind. And whenever you think about them, you're together again. I can tell you from experience that works rather well, even when it involves people that I don't want to think about. But even in that instance, where our last interaction was a negative one, I can't help but think back to all the good times we had together, and for a moment I reminisce. It's nice when it happens.

We've all heard the phrase "nothing lasts forever" and we tend to dismiss it as a cliché. But we're still constantly confronted with that reality, even if we never realize it. As Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday; "When you get old in life, things get taken from you. That's a part of life."

We've all lost things in our lives, and I just don't mean toys that have been sold or people that we love who are no longer on this mortal coil. I'm referring to the moments in our lives where we're forced to accept that our circumstances have permanently changed, and that the way things were can no longer be the way things are. This is why you shouldn't be having kids when you're in your 70's, and no one over the age of 50 should be naked in public.

On a more personal note, this year I got that feeling once again. It's not just because I'm most likely leaving one job behind for another job, but there were things in my personal life that shifted so dramatically that I knew things could never be the same again. And seeing as how, for the most part, I liked how things were, I'd be lying if I said that this change didn't cause me some distress.

But that's all a part of growing up, isn't it? As much as I may cringe about reaching 30 years of life on this Earth, I accept it all the same. Because, if nothing else, it's a reminder that I need to keep moving forward. Is it sad that the good ol days are now just memories and dreams? You're damn right it is. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing, because even if they're not what's happening now, they still did happen. And who knows? Perhaps the days to come will be just as good, if not better. In my opinion, that's something to look forward to.

And the same is true for all of us: if we want to live a happy fulfilling life, we have to keep moving forward. We can reminisce about all the fun we've had in days gone by, but it's just as important to be ready for the days yet to come.

I think that's why New Year's is such a poignant holiday for all of us. It's a tacit acknowledgement that we have to say goodbye to the old, so we can say hello to the new.

And at the risk of making this entry so long that by the time you're finished it will be 2022, I'd like to do that now.

To all the people that have been with me since my early days, thanks so much for all that you've done. I appreciate you sticking it out with me this far and I hope you'll continue to do so for many years to come.

To all the people that I've met recently and have decided to join me on this ride, welcome aboard. We're glad you could make it and we hope you'll stay a while as well.

And finally, to all the people that are no longer here, whether they've merely left my social circle or left this mortal coil altogether, all I can say is that we've had a great run. Whatever our reasons for parting are irrelevant now and I wish you nothing but good fortune in whatever it is you decide to do. Perhaps, God willing, our paths will cross again some day. But even if they don't, I hope that every so often we'll think about each other and smile a bit.

And now I'd like to close with something different. Usually I ask you to comment below with something good that happened to you this year. You're more than welcome to do that. But if you're looking for a change of pace, may I suggest that you close out your 2020 (or open your 2021) by listening to this song from the great Ashleigh Ball and Michelle Creber (yes I know many of you are hoping to leave the Miniature Equines in the past, but I'm hoping you'll permit them one last indulgence).

https://youtu.be/XjkPH6sZM_o

This is the song that inspired me to write this missive (along with the aforementioned Red Green) and as you're listening, I want you to think about all of those you said goodbye to this past decade. Think about all the fond memories you had together and give yourself a smile as the clock strikes midnight. Even if they're not with us today, we still have all the memories of them that no one can take from us, no matter what happens to the world.

And now the time has come for me to end this missive. Let the record show that this was my final word on 2020 as well as my expressed hope for charity, kindness and goodwill to flourish throughout the world in the years to come.

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends

.And 2021 shall restore amends.

12 notes · View notes

mostfacinorous · 4 years

Text

GO Whumptober Day 28: Such Wow. Many Normal. Very Oops. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

The cause of the freezing, humans determined, was either merely ‘nature’ or ‘the growing climate crisis’, depending on whether the person speaking believed in that sort of thing. Either way, everyone could agree that it was unusual to unheard of, and no one much appreciated it.

It had eased off a bit, though-- still frozen, so the snow and ice was sticking around, but the wind had died off and the snow was no longer coming down in buckets, for which they were all very grateful.

The Bentley remained where she’d been parked since that first attempted afternoon out, and the plowed mountain behind her only grew ever higher and ever thicker.

Much like their American cousins from years prior, local heads of council had to remind their followers not to jump out of upper floor windows and into the snow, for fear of cars lurking underneath, and injuries that could and would result from such foolishness.

It didn’t fully stop it from happening, but it might have deterred an idiot or two.

Fortunately, neither Crowley nor Aziraphale was particularly interested in jumping out of windows.

There were, however, interested in having a bit of a walk, as it had warmed up enough to allow for it again, and they were feeling a little cooped up.

And so they packed their cocoa and coffee into a couple of thermoses-- carefully color coordinated in black and lightest blue tartan, so as to never be confused with The Thermos, of which they did not speak-- and headed to the park for a bit of time in the watery grey sun of London in winter.

The streets were clear enough to walk on safely and carefully, but the path round the lake was only worn down by others’ feet, and the snow had been trampled enough to have turned to mud, then frozen back to ice in places, making their usual habit of walking and talking more dangerous.

They had decided, after God’s admonition about getting closer, to try and keep their time apart to a minimum. This suited them both quite well, considering the trials and tribulations they’d faced of late, and it was delightful to finally have an excuse to be around one another that neither side could really argue with. After all, not being near Aziraphale when God arrived had put Crowley out of commission for days, and if he had been close, She may not have come at all. Thwarting at its finest, on both sides of the line.

And so, if they held hands to help steady one another, there wasn’t anything Heaven nor Hell could do about it, short of shaking their heads with disgust.

“I miss the ducks.” Crowley said suddenly, interrupting the silence that had descended as their last conversational topic had waned.

“Do you?” Aziraphale asked, surprised. “You always treat them quite poorly; I thought you disliked them.”

“I do not!” Crowley protested. “I play with them. Same as how they play with one another, innit?”

Aziraphale held his thoughts on the matter. He did glance out across the lake, though.

“I wonder how firmly frozen it is. Do you suppose they will be able to ice skate on it, after a storm like that?”

Crowley tilted his head and looked out over the ice.

“At least a couple of ‘em are gonna give it a go. Look.” He nodded off near the high reeds, where the ducks liked to put their eggs come spring, and where a few children appeared to be slipping off their shoes, with plans of skating over the ice in their stockings.

“Heavens.” Aziraphale said. “Perhaps we ought to do something to stop them.” He began heading in that direction, a little too far off to be heard if he yelled.

“Bit too late for that, Angel!” He heard as Crowley raced past him, realizing as he did that he’d pressed his mobile into Aziraphale’s hands. He looked up to see a child take off from the edge straight towards the middle of the pond-- and promptly fall through the ice and into the waters below.

“Bugger.” Aziraphale muttered under his breath.

Crowley was fast, faster than the other children, even, and he shouted for them to stay as he slid on his stomach towards the hole in the ice.

Aziraphael fumbled with the phone for a spare moment, then got a call in to emergency services. “Hello, yes, I am in St. james’ park, just north of the playground on the birdcage side of the lake-- a child has fallen through the ice and my partner has gone in after them. No, no, I can’t see-- they’ve surfaced. Please send help, I’m going to give you to a child now.”

Aziraphale handed the phone off to the young girl who was standing by, mouth agape.

“Help them find us, please.” He told her, a touch of miracle in his voice to give her the courage she needed to do the job, and then he turned to the lake.

“Crowley?” He called to the man who was clutching at the ice with inhumanly sharp talons that had sprouted from his fingers while he held a boy between his chest and the rim of the hole. “What can I do to help?” Aziraphale asked.

Crowley had lost his glasses, and his eyes were wide.

“Don’t come out on the ice- it’s not gonna hold.” Even as he spoke, his fingers on one hand went crashing through the surface, sending them both bobbing as the boy cried out.

“Tail!” Aziraphale shouted, hoping Crowley had enough presence of mind to handle the change. He had always been a better swimmer while serpentine, and perhaps, that done--

He saw the moment that Crowley gained the advantage and they became a little steadier in the water.

“Now then-- if you have to, put him on your back, and break the ice away between you and the shore until you can climb out safely!”

Aziraphale felt next to useless, but he supposed at least one of them had a mind that was not freezing or panicking, and thus was able to assist that way.

“You hear that?” He heard Crowley mumbling comfortingly to the boy. “I’m going to give you a piggy ride now. You hold on tightly, understand? And I’ll soon have us out of here.”

Aziraphale watched, fretting terribly as Crowley helped the boy to climb around on the other side of him, and then began the process of smashing through the ice with his claws.

Aziraphale turned around and saw the fire brigade approaching, an ambulance in tow, and turned back to warn Crowley to hide his transformations.

“The Rescuers are here-- it won’t be long now!” He tried to make it sound hopeful and not as though he was playing supernatural lookout. It seemed to work, though, as the first of them reached him and clapped a hand on his back.

“You’re the caller?” She asked, and Aziraphale nodded, pointing as he accepted Crowley’s phone back from her.

“They’re nearly to the edge,” He added helpfully, though there was a dark and obvious trail of broken ice that marked how far they’d come.

“We’ve got them.” She promised, and waved for backup.

A small army of men and women ran down to the river’s edge to lift the boy off of Crowley’s back as he final grabbed hold of solid land, and Aziraphale managed to shoulder his way through them to reach down and grasp Crowley’s hands.

“There you are, you brave, stupid fool.” He said, pulling him up and onto land and into his arms.

Crowley was shaking with cold, and he had already partially soaked through Aziraphale’s clothing when the team brought them emergency blankets.

“Come on now, let’s get you out of your clothes and warming up.” One of the men instructed.

Aziraphale turned to be sure the boy was receiving the same sort of care; he was already in someone’s thermals.

“Alright.” Crowley agreed, surprising Aziraphale. He was looking straight at the angel, though, not at the humans who were trying to shuffle him off to the trucks for treatment. “Stay with me?” He asked, almost a plea, and Aziraphale knew it was only partially to help him fend off discovery. The other part was God and the unspoken threat of having saved a human life-- and what Hell might do to him for it.

“Of course. Let me help him-- he’s ah, special needs.”

“Alright.” The officials were quick to agree, with the tiniest nudge from Aziraphale. “The parents are on their way, I’m sure they’ll want to talk to you and we’ll need to take down statements for our reports after.”

“Of course.” Aziraphale said again. “If you can just fetch us some dry clothing for him--”

He sent them scurrying, and turned back to Crowley.

“Shall we get out of here before they come back, my dear? Make a run for it?”

Crowley, still shivering as if his bones intended to shake out of his skin, grinned back at Aziraphale.

“Best idea you’ve had all day, Angel.”

They booked it, making it out of sight before Aziraphale dried Crowley with a miracle and warmed him with another.

The walk home was almost anticlimactic, after all that.

“Ohh… I dropped the thermoses!” Aziraphale lamented, and Crowley huffed.

“Shall we stop by that little teashop up near Piccadilly?” He offered.

“Oh, let’s. I suppose you could do with something warm to drink anyway.”

“I wouldn’t object. And then home, to a fire and several blankets.” Crowley insisted. He paused, then added, “Thank you, by the way. I saw the boy and didn’t think-- I ought to keep you around, have you keep doing that for me, when needed.”

Aziraphale bumped their shoulders together.

“You’ll be hard pressed to get rid of me, you’ll find, if you keep pulling stunts like that.”

Their usual routine resumed, they made their way towards the tea shop, and home, and left the humans to wonder why they had run, why the boy was swearing the man who’d saved him was a mermaid, and how the hell someone had happened to miraculously be in the right place at the right time to stop childish stupidity from turning tragic.

It was, all in all, a rather successful outing.

#GO Whumptober2020 #Whumptober #Good Omens Fic #GOFic #Crowley #Aziraphale #crowley is good with kids #Ineffable Husbands #that writing thing I do

7 notes · View notes

fangirlxwritesx67 · 4 years

Photo

Queen Rowena a Sam Winchester x Rowena MacLeod Supernatural fantasy au love story Chapter 1: Queen Rowena Chapter 2: Comfort Chapter 3: Casting Interlude: Confidence Chapter 4: Courage Chapter 5: Celebration

2500 words. Rating T (feelings, implied smut, wedding, passing mention of non-character death, alcohol)

Queen Rowena fell in love with her knight Sam over a lifetime, and agreed to marry him in an instant. Planning a coronation and a wedding, however, took longer than a month.

Through the weeks, her betrothed Sam remained by her side. By day, he commanded her Queensguard and sat on her Council, performing all the duties of his role. By night, he came to her bed and they spent hours exploring, enjoying one another’s bodies.

But not the night before their wedding. This night, by custom, they spent apart. Rowena hardly slept, so accustomed she was to his presence and the warmth of his body beside her.

She was awake and excited before the sun rose. She rolled over and parted the drapes on her bed to watch the dawn creep up over the horizon. The sunrise was brilliant, all pink and gold, illuminating the stone of her castle.

Her heart was light, her mind clear. Today marked the start of something new for her, both as a woman and a Queen. Today she would crown a Prince and marry him. She greeted the day eagerly, for everything it would hold. She smiled, a secret smile, looking forward to the moment that night when she would bring Sam to her bed as her husband.

Her handmaid Gwen stepped into the room, carrying a tray with tea, bread and fruit. “My queen?” she asked softly.

Rowena sat straight up, pushing the covers aside. Her hair was tousled, her face flushed, but her smile was wide. “Look, it’s a sunny day, just as I hoped.”

Gwen smiled too. “The sun is smiling on your choice. Even the earth wants to celebrate with you today.”

Rowena sat at her dressing table and submitted to her handmaid’s care. She was dressed in the finest clothing she had ever worn. The outer vest was entirely covered in embroidered flowers and gold brocade, from her bodice to her hem. Underneath, her gown was made of silky thin white fabric. More bands of gold needlework adorned her wrists.

She sat patiently at her dressing table as Gween braided and curled her long hair into red gold perfection. Her fingers were painted and her face was polished. She knew Sam loved her no matter how she looked, had loved her since she was a little girl running through the castle barefoot and wild haired, but she wanted to look her very best.

FInally, Gwen held up the crown she had saved for the occasion. It was one Rowena had never worn; the one her mother wore when she married her father. Rowena missed them both, especially on this most important day of her life. The crown was her way to remember and honor them. She lifted it carefully and looked in the mirror as she settled it on her head. She drew in a deep breath. It fit perfectly.

Rowena stepped away from her dressing table to her altar, where she lit one white candle, then watched it burn for a moment. The flame was tall and bright, a sign of success and good fortune. She gathered herself up and turned to go. Gwen was by her side, as she had always been.

Rowena smiled at her faithful handmaid.. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I don’t know if I would be marrying Sam today if not for your unfailing support.”

“My lady,” she answered with a laugh. “You certainly took your time. But I’m so happy for you now.”

They walked hand in hand down the curved stairs of the tower and into the Great Hall. There, both Rowena’s Council and her Queensguard were arrayed in ranks. She ascended the dais all on her own. For the first time in her life, the throne for a Queen’s Consort had been pulled forward side by side with her own.

Sam was waiting, kneeling below the dais. He was dressed, not in armor, but in the fine garments of a Prince. She stepped toward him and reached for his hand. He placed a lingering kiss on her fingers. His smile as he looked at her was like the sun rising all over again.

Rowena turned to her most trusted councilor, a man who had served her father before her and guided her reign. In his hands he held a wooden box with a simple golden circlet, peaked in front like a visor. It was not the crown of a king or of a consort but of a knight, a man experienced in battle. She had commissioned it especially for Sam.

She placed the crown on his head as he knelt before her. For long moments, their eyes spoke volumes of trust and love while her fingers lingered in his hair. Then she reached for his hand and drew him to his feet.

The two of them stood hand in hand, side by side on the dais as she proclaimed, “Samuel, Knight of the Realm, is henceforth a Prince of the Crown. He rules at my side. His words are my words and his wish is my command.”

One by one her Council performed a court bow. Then the Queensguard knelt in perfect military formation, armored knees hitting stone. Not a one, from councilors to knights, hesitated to welcome Sam as a Prince and equal to their Queen.

Queen Rowena looked up at Sam, her tall handsome Prince, with pride. He smiled, his gaze alight with such passionate love that she felt tears spring to her eyes. He lowered his mouth and kissed her openly for the first time in their Great Hall. A cheer started in the Guard and rolled through the Council. Queen Rowena smiled in the arms of her Prince. The confidence of her people, affirming her choice, meant the world to her.

In time her Queensguard began to move, marching out of the Great Hall in pairs. Her Council followed, making their way into the courtyard. Finally, Rowena and Sam walked out into the sunlight, hand in hand. On every side, they were thronged with people, filling the air with their cheers. These were her people, she was their Queen, and this was her happiest day. She absorbed the wave of their affection and attention as she and Sam walked by.

Finally they came to a tree, the oldest one in her castle. Its roots grew within the walls but its branches reached over towards the sea. It was the most lasting thing Rowena had ever known. It seemed the perfect spot for her to pledge her vows to Sam.

Underneath the verdant shelter of the tree’s branches waited Rowena’s oldest councilor, the one who had helped her crown Sam a Prince. One either side of him stood Gwen, her handmaid and closest friend, and the Queensguard’s second in command, whom Sam trusted with his life.

Hand in hand, Rowena stood with Sam. Finally the Councilor raised his hands and the gathered people fell silent.

“My Queen, Rowena,” he said with paternal care. “It is your intention to bind yourself today to this man?”

Her breath was quick, her knees shaking with excitement. She could hardly believe such utter bliss was hers. She paused for just a moment, trying to take it all in, before she answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

“And Samuel, a Knight of the Queensguard, now a Prince of the Realm, you intend to bind yourself to our Queen?”

He looked at her softly, earnestly. When he spoke, his voice was true. “Yes.”

Sam and Rowena turned to face one another. They clasped one another’s right hands between them. Sam’s fingers easily encircled her wrist. She could feel her pulse racing under his gentle touch.

“Then,” said their officiant. “Be bound to one another.”

Gwen was the first to step forward. She had ribbons in her hands, which she tied over their hands and wrists. The second in command of the Queensguard followed, with lengths of leather. Finally, the officiant wrapped a cord over the other bindings, and knotted it.

“Do you have vows with which to promise yourselves?”

Rowena’s heart was pounding, her chest heaving. Her entire body trembled with eagerness. Then she looked into Sam’s eyes. She saw love and assurance in the gaze of her oldest friend. He nodded, and she drew a deep breath. Her voice was even when she spoke.

“You cannot possess me, for I belong to myself. But as we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give. “

He answered earnestly, “You cannot command me, for I am a free person, but I shall serve you in the ways which you need.“

Rowena whispered the next words, an intimate promise: “I pledge to you that your name will be the one I cry in the night.”

Sam replied, “Your eyes will be the ones that make me smile in the morning. I’ll give you the first sip of my drink and the first bite from my plate.“

In that moment, Rowena saw only Sam. The castle and the crowds faded away. She felt as if the two of them were alone together before the tree, hand in hand under the sun. This was their day, their love.

The officiant spoke again and the world came back into focus. “Do you take this man to be your consort, and consent to bind yourself to him for life?”

“Yes,” Rowena breathed.

"And do you consent to serve this woman and bind yourself to her for life?”

“Yes,” he answered. “Yes, always yes, for you.”

“Sam.“ She raised her voice for everyone to hear. These were the most important words she would ever speak. “You will be my living and my dying. I pledge myself equally to your care.”

He answered once more,“You will be my living and my dying. I pledge myself always to your care.”

Their lips met to seal their promise. Their right hands were fasted together but Sam’s left hand found her face and she leaned into his touch.

Rowena heard the cheers of her court as she met the kiss of her new husband. She had chosen him to reign by her side. And he had chosen her, from the moment they had met.

The officiant directed them to grasp their binding ties and pull their hands apart, tying the ribbon and leather and cord into a knot. Gwen stepped forward and took it from them.

Hand in hand, side by side, Rowena and Sam turned to face their kingdom. The Queensguard greeted them with a shout, a clash of arms and a standard raised. Behind them, the kingdom let loose with cheers. They filled the air with waving flags, lit sparklers, and floating blown bubbles of soap. Rowena and Sam returned to their castle in a rainbow of love and color.

On that night, everyone would celebrate. The people would enjoy extra measures of wine and bread, and the court would feast. Rowena had never felt so fulfilled, nor so loved.

The feast celebrating her wedding was like nothing Rowena had ever seen or could have ever dreamed. For the first time ever, the chair to her left was filled. Sam sat there so perfectly, it seemed like he was always meant to be there.

Finally, as the bards began to sing and the minstrels to play, Rowena held out her hand and let Sam lead her on to the dance floor. Both of them thought immediately of the night, only months before, when they had danced the night away together.

Everything then had seemed so hesitant and fragile. Rowena remembered how much she had longed for Sam, and how fearful she had been to act on her desires. What a delight it was to be here on the day of their wedding, the deepest wishes of her heart come true. How wonderful it was to enjoy their love!

They danced and ate and drank and danced some more. For the first time since stepping into her role as Queen, Rowena didn’t stay to see the feast to its close. She let Sam lead her off the dance floor.

At the door of the Great Hall, they turned back. All their people, lords and ladies, Queensguard and Councilors were there, cheering them on, wishing them well.

Rowena smiled, then turned to Sam. She forgot everything else, and had eyes only for her husband. They walked up the stairs together, hand in hand. At the top, he paused.

“I know this is your castle, and your bedroom, but I think I should carry you over the threshold.” Rowena laughed and let him sweep her up in his arms. He lifted her easily and held her close as he pushed open the door to her - now their - bedroom.

“Just don’t drop us,” she said.

Sam set her feet down on the floor safely but suddenly. “Us?” he asked.

“Us,” Rowena answered. “Me and the baby.”

Sam’s eyes lit up, his gaze full of hope. “Are you sure?”

“It’s been almost three moon cycles,” she spoke with certainty. “I’m with child, your child.”

Sam’s laughter was instant and full. “That’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Rowena met his laughter with her own before she answered. “I spoke my marriage vows to you today.”

He wrapped her in his arms. “You’ve made me a Prince, a husband, and a father today. And I love you.”

“I love you, my dear, my Sam.”

“I love you, my queen, Rowena, my love.” … There is one more smutty interlude coming tomorrow but the storyline wraps up here. Thanks for reading! This was my first fanfic challenge longer than a one-shot. In 5 days I took 10k+ words from rough draft to published story, with a tremendous amount of time and attention from @there-must-be-a-lock and @mskathywriteswords I cannot thank you both enough! @samwenaweek this has been a ton of fun, and I am loving all the ship content. Thanks to @incorrectsamwena @ruthieconnells for letting me use their art.

SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho @dawnie1988 @deanwanddamons @divadinag @flamencodiva @fookinghelljensensthighs @idreamofplaid @kalesrebellion @maddiepants @magssteenkamp @onethirstyunicorn @the-chocolate-moose @there-must-be-a-lock @tloveswriting Sam Girl For Life: @awesomesusiebstuff @lilsylvia @winchesterxfamilybusiness Rowena My Queen: @delightfullykrispypeach , @lilsylvia @marril96, @pansexualdarling @songofthecagedmoose

#samwenaweek20 #samwena #sam x rowena #samwitch #rowena fanfiction #rowena my queen #queen rowena series

39 notes · View notes

ecoamerica · 2 months

Text

youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

15K notes · View notes

imaginedisish · 5 years

Text

Atlas: Touch (Five Hargreeves x Reader) (The Umbrella Academy)

A/N: HEEEYYY GUYS!!! So this is based off of a request I got today, and something I personally wanted to write. (The whole Five comforting the reader thing) The title + kinda sad nature of it all is based on Atlas: Touch by Sleeping At Last. I feel like this may be kind of a mess, but it’s honestly because today was just such a bad day. SOOOO ANYWAY, THIS IS GONNA BE A TWO PARTER!!!! YAYAYAY!!! Also, it’s a little shorter than what I normally write because of that...Soooo just be aware of that...now ENJOY!

Summary: Five comforts the reader after having a vision she really wished hadn’t seen...(Reader can see the future)

Warnings: References to murder, killing, blood, language, implied panic attack, a really terrible childhood, angst, cliffhanger (that will be resolved in part 2) FLUFF!

Word Count: 2,381

The wind is harsh and brisk, passing straight through your body as it eradicates any sense of warmth you once felt. A chill rolls down your spine, and a feeling of uneasiness fills your gut. The area around you was barren of life, save a large, vibrantly colored sycamore tree far off in the distance. Its presence made no sense, since there was no other sort of growth in the area.

It was almost dream like. You look up at the lightless night sky. Not a single star was shining. The moon was nowhere to be seen. It was dark, ominous, and strangely malevolent in sensation.

“Where the hell am I?” You ask yourself.

Then, you see a familiar shape lying under the tree.

“Five?” You call out as you begin to make your way over to him.

No answer.

“Five?” Your voice echoes back to you.

No answer again. You squint, trying to get a better look at Five. He wasn’t in his Academy uniform. He was wearing a Bowie shirt, with a flannel over it, and dark blue jeans. You walk a bit closer, and you start to see more.

In the center of his chest, you notice something dark, something staining through his shirt. In the center appears to be some sort of a hole.

Then, it hits you.

The dark stain was blood, and the hole must have been where a bullet entered Five’s chest.

Five had been shot, and you weren’t there to stop it. You were too late.

“NO!” You cry out.

You break out into a sprint, rushing over to him as fast as you possibly could. “Five!” You scream as you come closer to the great big tree. Suddenly, crows burst into flight from the branches of the tree, their shrilling squawks shaking you up a bit.

Finally, you approach Five. You kneel down by his side. Tears well up in your eyes. “F-Five?” You croak, swallowing harshly. You grab his shoulders. “F-Five, p-please. Stay with me, please!”

No answer.

You extend your index and middle finger underneath the right end of Five’s jawline, searching for a pulse. “P-please, p-please s-stay with m-me,” You stutter. You refuse to move your fingers, even though you feel absolutely nothing.

You shut your eyes tightly, and tears begin to stream down your cheeks at free will. You collapse in Five’s lap, sobbing heavily. You chant incoherently, “Wake up, wake up, wake up.” But he doesn’t. He can’t

He’s gone.

The crows that had left seconds ago return again, circling around the tree, cackling their cacophonous cries, telling the gods above that they had correctly predicted yet another death.

Then, there’s nothing by darkness. “Five!” You scream as you open your eyes, pushing yourself up in your bed. Light fills the room, but you can’t fight the overwhelming darkness you feel deep down inside.

Rain patters loudly against the window next to you as a tear slides down your cheek. You take a deep breath, but it feels like the air that once filled your room was sucked out by some sort of vacuum. The walls feel as though they are closing in. Your heart beats rapidly in your chest.

What the hell just happened? You ask yourself.

Your visions had been growing worse lately, but that specific one had taken you by surprise. Your visions never showed how something would truly happen, but they would give you some sort of intimation as to what would come to pass. Five and the rest of the Hargreeves swore to help you learn to use and control your abilities the minute they met you. They promised that with their help, you could dive deeper, and figure out more about your premonitions.

It was hard, of course, when you couldn’t stand to experience whatever it was you saw. All your life, you couldn’t stand your power. Most of your visions came on without warning, and depicted terrible, horrendous things. Worst of all, you were unable to control who’s future you saw.

Yes, being able to see the future could be a blessing at times. But, more often than not, you felt as though it was a burden. You had grown up in foster care, which had only added to your stress as a child. Not only did you deal with a power you couldn’t control, but you had no one to depend on. Your outbursts due to your premonitions caused you to move around quite a bit. Every foster parent you had deemed you “impossible,” which ruined your chances at becoming adopted. Kids bullied you from group home to group home, and you struggled to stay stable. One fateful day, when you finally felt as though you had enough, you ran away.

You planned to move to New York, and pursue music, the one thing that helped you throughout your life.

You stopped for some coffee at Griddy’s on your way out of town, and that was when you met Five. The minute he sat down next to you, you had a premonition: Five would temporarily lose his powers, causing him to be captured and tortured by The Commission.

It was often obvious to those around you when you had your premonitions, since you essentially travel to a dream world in some distant stream of you consciousness. Five immediately knew that something was wrong.

“I’m sorry, but are you alright?” He asked. You decided to take a chance on Five, and explain to him what it was you saw. There was something about him that told you he was just like you; he was a dysfuctional outcast, who simply wanted to be loved.

By the end of your conversation with Five, about what you had foreseen, as well as your powers, Five decided it would be best for you to come back to the Academy with him.

You had nowhere to go, no one to take you in. Somehow, running off with some seventeen year old boy who could move through time became your best bet.

Over the course of the last few months, you and that very same seventeen year old boy had created an unbreakable bond. Your childhood made you feel unlovable, and Five made you feel the exact opposite. Five cared about you. He was usually sarcastic and nonchalant with people. But with you, he was kind, and sweet. He made you feel like things were going to be okay, or possibly even better than okay.

Maybe things could be…good, just for once, You thought to yourself.

Most importantly, Five was the first person to ever say those eight words to you:

“I hate most people, but I love you.”

You hadn’t expected him to feel anything for you. Your whole life you felt worthless, and unwanted. But Five wanted you. He saw how incredibly special and important you were.

“I love you too,” You said back.

It was abundantly clear that you couldn’t lose Five. Not now. Not after everything you had told him, not after all of the late nights that you two had stayed up talking. You had built a relationship with him, and it was the first relationship that had ever truly mattered to you.

Suddenly, a knock at the door brings you back to reality. You look in the mirror across the room, revealing your puffy, tear filled eyes and red, soaked cheeks. You swallow harshly, frantically reaching over to the tissue box on your nightstand.

“(Y/N)?” Five calls, knocking again. “Are you okay?” You can’t speak. Everything hurts far too much. You look over to the door, and watch as the knob twists, and the door creaks open.

Five’s crystal blue eyes meet yours. He studies your face, instantly recognizes how disheveled and destroyed you look. You break down again, simply at the sight of him. You sob heavily. “I-I d-don’t kn-know what t-to d-do F-…” You choke on your words. Five rushes over to you, wrapping his arms tightly around your shivering body.

“What happened?” Five questions softly. “Did someone hurt you?” His tone immediately changes at the thought that someone did this to you. “I swear to God I’ll fucking kill whoever did this.”

“N-no o-one h-hurt m-me,” You stutter. “I-I c-can’t t-take th-this a-anymore Five, I can’t d-do this sh-shit anymore,” You say in between sobs. “I can’t fucking do this.”

Five furrows his brows, and presses a soft kiss to the side of your head. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” He whispers. “Shuuuush, it’s okay, I’m right here.” Five’s voice is soft and low. He holds you tighter, rocking you lightly back and forth. “I’ve got you now.”

You press your face into Five’s chest, sobbing heavily. You couldn’t breathe. “I-It’s n-not o-okay,” You struggled to say. Five pulls you in even tighter. “I-I saw something, F-Five. F-fuck, I-I c-can’t lose you.”

Five’s fingers gently come through your hair. “You aren’t going to lose me,” Five coos. But his words cut like a knife. Truth was, you knew you were going to. Everything felt so overwhelming. It felt like a family of elephants had sat on your chest, and your respiratory system could no longer function because of it. The walls of your room continue to close in on you and Five.

You pull apart from Five for a second, trying to catch your breath. “E-everything is too much. I c-can’t h-hande my p-powers anymore,” You cry out. “I can’t j-just be happy, for once? Things can’t just stay good, for once in my life?” You’re screaming now. “Of course all of this was too good to be true. I don’t deserve any of this! I’m nothing, and no one. I’m worthless shit!” More tears stream down your cheeks.

Pain and confusion spread across Five’s face. He inches closer to you, wrapping his arms around you yet again. You bury your face in his neck. “You are enough, (Y/N). You are more than enough. Everything anyone has ever lead you to believe about who you are, and what you’re worth, is absolute bullshit,” Five coos, his hands rubbing gently against your back. “I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Y-you d-don’t know that. I’m going to lose you, Five,” You sob.

“Tell me what happened,” Five whispers. “Where did all of this come from?” He asks.

You swallow harshly, preparing yourself to explain to Five what you had seen. “I-I h-had a premonition,” You pause, attempting to collect your thoughts. “Y-you, w-well y-you…” You trail off, pulling away from Five. You study his face, his piercing blue eyes, his chocolate brown hair. A single tear falls from your eye and rolls down your jawline “Y-you d-died. Y-you’re g-going t-to…” You can’t go on. Five pulls you in again.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Five says, his fingers combing through your hair again. “You aren’t going to lose me. It was just a vision. For all we know, it’ll remain a vision. It might not turn into anything more.”

You sniffle. “I know what I saw. Five, s-someone i-is g-going to sh-shoot y-you.”

Five stops playing with you hair, and he has no response. Silence looms over the room. Unfortunately, your visions were more ‘accurate’ if they showed a specific cause of death, and the bullet wound in Five’s chest was a clear and specific cause of death.

“Wh-what a-are we going t-to do?” You ask, pulling away from Five. For once in his life, Five is at a loss for words. He always had some sort of response for everything. He always had some sort of answer. Sometimes, it came off as cocky, or smug, but regardless, he always knew what to do. He always had a plan.

This time, however, was different. This could very well be the end of everything.

Five swallows harshly, his ocean eyes searching yours as if it was the last time he would ever be able to see you. “I-I d-don’t know,” Five says, standing up. He begins to pace back and forth. “Do you know who k-killed me?” Five asks.

“N-no, but you were under a sycamore tree. I don’t know what was so important about that, but that was…well, that was where I f-found y-you,” You explain.

Five shakes his head. “Maybe it’s The Handler, or The Commission,” Five begins to pace faster, his steps becoming more rushed and frantic. “Are you sure it was a bullet wound? Maybe Vanya somehow escaped again? Maybe it was her?”

You simply shake your head, unable to give Five a real answer. It’s impossible for you to form coherent thoughts or sentences at a time like this. Whoever killed Five could be anyone, or anything. Maybe Vanya did escape, and maybe she found a gun. Maybe The Handler caught Five messing with time again, or found something new to blame him for. Nevertheless, everything was happening so quickly. All hell was breaking loose.

“Is there anything else you noticed about what you saw, anything that could help us?” Five questions. He stops pacing, and sits back down on the bed next to you.

“Wh-when I f-found y-you, i-it was night,” You explain, sniffling a bit. You remember what he was wearing when you found him. “You had on a Bowie shirt, and a flannel, and jeans.”

Five scratches the back of his neck anxiously. “That’s what I was going to wear today. I had the day planned for us. I was hoping you’d want to go see a showing of The Man Who Fell to Earth at that old theater downtown…” Five trials off.

Tears continue to stream down your cheeks. “Th-then t-today i-is…” You don’t have the strength to finish your sentence.

“Not if we don’t go out. Maybe we can cheat death,” Five’s eyes light up with hope.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

To Be Continued…

tags: @drawingsupernova

1K notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 4 years

Text

(treat me nice) never let me go [branjie] 7/15 - pinkgrapefruit

chapter 7. i’m powerful with a little bit of tender

previous chapters 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

A/N - Hi guys, It’s been forever and I am really sorry but I’ve had some rocky times with my mental health recently and I had to take a break from tumblr and from writing. I really hope I can get you another chapter of this in less than three months but I make no promises. In other news we’re almost half way there now! Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this one - it’s an apology <3

ALSO I’VE BEEN DOING ALOT OF READING LATELY AND I’VE REALISED THAT COMMENTING IS SO REWARDING TOO. PLEASE COMMENT. I’VE BEEN ON BOTH SIDES AND IT’S FUCKING LOVELY.

When Brooke shakes Vanessa awake, she is already dressed. Vanessa rolls over gently, Brooke’s hand on her lower back as she looks up into the blonde’s eyes, getting lost for a second in her sleepy haze.

“Wake up, time to shop,” calls Brooke, cheery after a coffee and a protein shake. Vanessa sighs with a small giggle.

“You never sleep, huh,” she grumbles, squinting upwards at the ornate ceiling.

“You’re always grumpy in the morning,” Brooke counters goodnaturedly, although without giving anything away as to whether or not she does sleep. She stands straight and appears to dust off the navy blazer she is wearing before reaching into an inside pocket and pulling out her AmEx card. She hands it to Vanessa as if it was a piece of cardboard to be disposed of or something equally as meaningless. Vanessa takes it carefully. “Now, if you have any trouble using it, call the hotel,” Brooke reminds her, hand already on her briefcase. Before Vanessa can say anything, the blonde leans over and places a chaste kiss on her forehead, smiling slightly to herself as she goes to leave.

“So, more shopping?” Vanessa clarifies, causing Brooke to stop at the bedroom door. She turns around, puzzled at the tone.

“Yes,” she confirms as if it is obvious, “frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t buy more yesterday.”

“It wasn’t fun.”

“No?” Brooke drops the briefcase at the door and sits by Vanessa’s legs on the bed, any plans to leave forgotten.

“They were real mean to me.”

“Mean to you? Well then.” Brooke takes Vanessa’s hand and pulls her up out of the bed, her face like a man on a mission, except more pressed and less forgiving. “We’ll see about that,” she mumbles under her breath, hoping Vanessa won’t hear. She doesn’t see the smile that graces the girl’s lips.

Vanessa is barely dressed when Brooke comes back into the room. She’s got her hair piled in a bun on top of her head and one of Brooke’s shirts is tied at her waist like a crop top, attempting to bring a modicum more class to the hooker skirt on its third day of wear. Despite looking like a self proclaimed ‘mess on legs’, Brooke still watches Vanessa for a second, eyes raking her soft, toned legs and ass lifted by her red stilletos.

The blonde picks up the AmEx card off the table and slots it into the breast pocket of the shirt, mentally appraising Vanessa’s memory before forcing an iced latte into the girls hand and using the other to almost drag her into the main area. They stand facing each other for a second, Vanessa looking up expectantly.

“Don’t fidget.” Brooke starts, tone clipped. “Drink the coffee.”

“Yes, mami.”

“Ness.”

“Sorry.”

By the time they get to the store Vanessa is shaking. It’s in part due to the large coffee she drank in an inhumanely fast time, but mostly the sheer nerves of standing outside a place that managed to make her feel so small. Brooke notices, of course she does, and squeezes her hand comfortingly.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, quietly.

“People are looking at me,” she responds, shifting a little on the spot, hands running along the base of her skirt, nails buried in her palms.

“They’re not looking at you, they’re looking at me.” Brooke’s not wrong. She’s dressed in a white lace bodysuit, tailored navy cigarette trousers and a navy blazer, the outfit accentuating the impossible length of her legs and the gym workouts she does six days a week

“I don’t like stores like these, they’re not nice to people.”

“They’re never nice to people. They’re nice to credit cards,” Brooke counters with a tone that tells Vanessa they are done. She gives her a quick once over, smoothing one side of the shirt. “Quit fidgeting, get rid of the gum,” she commands. When Vanessa spits it out into the nearest street grate, the blonde just sighs.

Brooke leads them both into the store with a confidence Vanessa just doesn’t have. It’s been cultivated through years in a competitive field, and it oozes out of every barely existing pore on the blondes skin. Vanessa trails behind, timid and unsure, but immediately feeling the residual anger burn back up in her heart.

This store is painted in taupes and warm beiges, neutrals that extend as far as the eye can see. It even smells expensive, like if you step in without at least a million dollars you will be kicked right back out onto the street. Vanessa’s eyes get caught on the bright reds and golds and the deep sea blues covering the many racks and rails of the store.

They’re immediately approached by a tall woman in her mid twenties, red hair and green eyes that appear to reflect all the greenery Salifornia is missing. She has more conviction behind her eyes than she should when faced with Brooke, but it doesn’t turn Vanessa off in the way it should.

“Scarlet Envy, floor manager,” the redhead says, hand stuck out in greeting. Brooke shakes it in a business-like fashion, but her frown stays put.

“Brooke Lynn Hytes.”

“Ah yes, miss,” Scarlett appeases, acknowledging Vanessa for the first time - even with someone like Brooke she is still overlooked - people still don’t treat her like she has a voice.

“You see this woman?” Brooke gestures to the brunette behind her.

“Yes?”

“Do you have anything in this shop as beautiful as she is?” Scarletts smile falters for a second, her face overcome with confusion as she scans the shop floor.

“Oh, yes.” Brooke’s eyes darken. “Oh, no! No, no, no, I’m saying we have many things as beautiful as she would want them to be. That’s the point I was getting at, and I think we can all agree with that. “ Her face now matches her name and it makes Vanessa chuckle in a way that Brooke definitely banned her from doing earlier that day.

“I think,” the blonde tests, “that we’re going to need more people helping us.” Scarlet nods. “I’ll tell you why. We’re going to be spending an obscene amount of money here. So we’re going to need a lot more help sucking up to us. That’s what we really like. You understand that?” She flashes the edge of her black AmEx card and recognition flashes across Scarlet’s eyes. She nods again, this time with more assertion, and turns on her heels to find the appropriate amount of people to cater to the extortionate amount of money due to be spent.

As Vanessa is fussed and tended to, Scarlet approaches Brooke again, the taller woman with a soft smile and a warm demeanour peeking through her cold front. “Excuse me miss? exactly how obscene an amount of money were you talking about?”

Brooke chuckles softly.

“Just profane or really offensive”

“Really offensive Scarlet.”

“I think I like you.”

At that moment, Brookes phone rings and she sighs. The spell is broken, and she hurries past Vanessa, sliding the card into her hand and kissing her on the cheek. She’s halfway through the conversation before she leaves the store.

“Brooke Lynn Hytes speaking.”

“Oh, Brooke. Where the hell are you?” Brooke runs a hand through her loose blonde strands, stifling a yawn as her eyes scan the street for her car.

“Busy, Mr Charles.”

“The words all over the street. Cain’s gonna raise the offer.” Ru sounds more excited than Brooke has heard in god knows how long, but she’s unconvinced.

“She’s countering? God, she is a tough old bird. Where’s she gonna get the money from?”

“I don’t know. She, uh– I think he’s throwin’ in with the employees.” Her hand moves to her forehead, no longer caring about her makeup. She is tired and clinging onto the happiness of Vanessa - hoping she can get through the day and just get back to her.

“She still needs someone to underwrite the paper. Find out who it is, I’m on my way.”

“Yeah, okay. You got it.”

The line goes dead.

Back with Scarlet, Vanessa smiles to herself. She feels powerful in a store full of men and women who listen to her every whim. In the men’s section, she spots a red tie the colour of her lipstick. She taps the nearest woman and gestures to it. “Get me that tie, would you?” She asks - it doesn’t sound like a request though.

“Farrah, get miss Mateo the tie.”

She finishes up in that shop and orders a taxi to take her home - arms overwhelmed with the sheer number of bags she has. As they are driving down the street however, she spots a shop she has to visit and calls for the driver to pull up. She grabs four or five bags, and hops out, strutting into the store like she owns it.

“Hello.” She calls out as she steps through the door. She drops her bags on the floor dramatically and watches as two women hurry to pick them back up for her, moving them onto a stand ever so carefully. Carson is scurrying around in the back and she calls for him to come down to meet her. “Do you remember me?” She asks.

Vanessa is smirking because she can. She’s dressed like a rich housewife, and she has every intention of acting like one - all prissy and entitled because she can. She can do all of this.

“No, I’m sorry,” replies Carson and he sounds genuine. It’s a wonder what dressing well can do for you, she thinks to herself, dabbing at her forehead with a silk handkerchief.

“I was here yesterday. You wouldn’t wait on me,” she states.

“Oh.” This time his brow furrows and she watches as her remember exactly who she is.

“You work on commission, right?”

“Uh, yes.” Vanessa wishes Brooke could see her now. She imagines the blonde would look so proud as she slowly pulls off her white gloves to reveal chipped red nailpolish. With her now unclothed hand, she reaches into the breast pocket of her cream pantsuit and pulls out the AmEx card. She tries to embody Brooke as she smrks.

“Big mistake. Big. Huge!” She beckons for her bags and they are placed back in her hands. She gives them one last look and then raises an eyebrow, lip quirking. “I have to go shopping now.”

She leaves and she does not look back.

Vanessa stalks through the hotel lobby looking proud, chest out, head high. She has a few bags in each hand with Courtney carrying the rest up to the room and she feels powerful. She could get used to the way people’s eyes are following her for good reasons instead of bad, and yet the grasp of wealth feels scary. It sickens her to know how differently people treat her because of how she dresses.

Nina’s talking to people when Vanessa walks in and she doesn’t notice her at first, but as her clients’ heads turn, hers does too. She sees the short brunette in a cream pantsuit and a small smile grows on her face. She sees Vanessa as kind of her child now and, damn, is she proud.

Vanessa goes out of sight, but Nina’s smile doesn’t change.

Brooke enters her office already done with the day. At her desk sits Ru, her boss, looking unimpressed with her lateness as he slams the phone back onto the desk, shuffling his papers and pointing to the chair opposite him for her to sit in.

“Brooke Lynn,” he says, monotone and with little care.

“Mr Charles.”

His facade seems to drop almost immediately, lighting up like a kid at Christmas as he hands her a sheet of mortgages taken out by Shuga Cain. “You were right about Shuga. She mortgaged everything she owns, right down to her walking stick, to secure a loan from the bank.” Brooke feigns surprise before giving him a raise of the eyebrow that can only be interpreted as ‘I told you so.’ Ru’s face replies with ‘and there’s more’ before he says, “Not just any bank, Visage Banking!”

“Uhuh,” Brooke follows.

“I think it goes without saying that this deal means more to the bank than even to Cain. And we‘ve got an in at the bank…” he trails off, like he wants her to end his thoughts, but she refuses with a stare. “So…..”

“We gotta call the bank.” She finally exhales with a sigh. He looks disapproving and a little curious as to her mood.

“Alright Brooke. What the hell is wrong with you this week?” He breaks, leaning onto her desk like he’s supposed to be interrogating her, but with all the power of a golden retriever. Despite this, Brooke cannot find it within her to withhold much.

“You know what I used to love when I was a little kid, Ru?” She doesn’t wait for a reply. “Building blocks, Kinects.”

Ru sighs and runs a hand over his bald head. “So, I liked Monopoly - I don’t get what you’re saying.”

“In Canada, I help people build things. You don’t build anything, Ru. You destroy it.”

“I make money,” he counters with a stony disposition. “We’ve worked for a year on this deal. It’s what you said you wanted. I’m handing it to you.”

“You’ve worked for it. You want it. You don’t want your hands dirty.” Brooke gets louder as she says it, standing, hands flat on her desk.

“Morse’s jugular is exposed. It’s time for the kill,” Ru finishes, looking angry.

Brooke picks up her briefcase swiftly and has a foot out of the door when Ru calls after her, “Call the bank!” She doesn’t dignify him with a response.

When Brooke comes into the penthouse she is exhausted and frazzled, and cannot wait to relax into the sofa with a large glass of red wine and her Netflix subscription. What she does not expect (although it is not unwelcomed), is to find Vanessa lounged on her favourite armchair nude. The woman’s hair is tied in a messy bun on top of her head, single curls falling down to frame her face. The only item she has on (it cannot be deemed clothing), is a vintage red tie. It covers nothing, sitting perfectly between her breasts, and Brooke would be lying if she said she wasn’t fixated.

“Nice tie,” she gulps out, a little speechless.

“I bought it for you,” purrs Vanessa, tugging at it gently, teeth imprinting on her lip. She holds her hand out to Brooke and guides her through the archway into the ensuite.

They lay together in a bathtub full of bubbles, Brooke’s head on Vanessa’s chest as she slowly rubs a sponge over her torso, watching the bubbles lather and dissipate as if entranced. There’s something about bathing together that removes any sense of distance, and Brooke feels compelled to open up about things she’s never considered opening up about. She smiles contentedly before she begins to speak.

“My father always wanted me to be a man,” she states plainly, without preamble or caution. Vanessa’s hands stop briefly before a sloshing can be heard and then warm water is back, rolling over Brooke’s chest. “I suppose that’s why he never had a problem with me being gay - thought I’d make a butch lesbian.”

Vanessa chuckles at that and Brooke can feel the vibrations through her own body too. “You ain’t butch, Mary,” she gets out.

“I know,” responds Brooke with a lilt in her voice. “Anyway, back in my early twenties, I competed in Miss Continental. My dad,” she pauses to consider her words, “he was furious.” Vanessa places a warm hand on her shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “We fought for weeks, he always wanted me to be something, to follow in his footsteps and make something of myself, and insisted that I couldn’t do so if I won a beauty pageant.”

“Bullshit.”

“Exactly. Anyway, he all but disowned me - called me names I’ll never forget and, god, I was so angry.” She sighs and tries to run a hand through her hair, but it’s wet and knotted, so she settles on running her nails up her thigh. Vanessa notices and drops the sponge in the water, settling them both into a position where she can detangle Brooke’s hair easily. “It took me ten thousand dollars in therapy to say that sentence. I was very angry with him.” She repeats with a smirk as Vanessa giggles behind her. “I say that very well don’t I? I’ll say it again. I was very angry with him.” This turns the woman’s giggles into full fledged laughter as she feels her hair become lighter, until Vanessa’s fingers get back to detangling.

“Hi, I’m Brooke Lynn Hytes and I was very angry with my father.”

“I’d be real mad at the ten thousand dollars, boo, but you do you,” Vanessa chips in and Brooke can hear the smile in her voice, glad they’re both enjoying their bathtub rendezvous.

“I won Miss Continental,” Brooke announces finally, deeming it important to finish the story.

“Damn, babe,” she sounds impressed and it makes Brooke flush under the dimly glowing bathroom lights.

“I won Miss Continental and I used the money to put myself through law school. And then I got a job and opened a firm under RuPaul and the first case of his I took on - I helped buy out the company my father was president of. I helped buy it and then I helped sell it off, piece by piece.”

“What did the therapist say?”

“He said I was cursed.”

“Well, you got even, so that must’a made you happy then.”

“Did I mention my legs are about 31 inches from hip to ankle,” Vanessa asks, suggestively wrapping both her legs around Brooke’s waist and leaning to dot a kiss onto her shoulder. “So, basically, we’re talkin’ about 31 inches of therapy, wrapped around you for the bargain price of…”

“Three thousand dollars,” they finish together, laughing. Brooke turns her head so she can lay a soft kiss on the back of Vanessa’s hand, a ‘thank you for listening’ and a 'thank you for still being here’.

#rpdr fanfiction #pinkgrapefruit #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #scarlet envy #nina west #carson kressley #fluff #lesbian au #pretty woman #gay bathtub scenes #regrettable judgment calls made by shop assistants #grapefruits triumphant return to her favorite fic #concrit welcome #unless you are going to tell me it's been awhile in which case fuck you Mary I know

9 notes · View notes

sapphires-and-gold-fics · 5 years

Text

Fictober Day 25: “I could really eat something.”

Fandom: Game of Thrones / ASOIAF / Jane Austen

Characters: Jaime Lannister / Brienne of Tarth

Note: When October ends, this will transition to an actual chapter fic but, until then, parts -

Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Read Part 3

Pt 4 on AO3

xxxxxxxxxxx

He was the only person in the world who could at that moment be forgiven for not being Ramsay Snow; for though Sansa bemoaned Brienne’s propriety, the importance of her sister’s happiness far outweighed that in Sansa’s estimation, and so she sought to show Jaime the utmost cordiality, greeting him with even more warmth of regard than Brienne herself.

But in Jaime there was a deficiency of all that a lover ought to look and say - Brienne was cognizant of it, and had no doubt that Sansa was as well, and so Brienne carried on as if naught was the matter. Yet her sister saw and listened with increasing surprise. She almost began to feel a dislike of Jaime when she called to mind Ramsay’s attentions and how his manners were so striking in contrast to those of this brother elect.

Sansa tried even involving Arya in pushing Jaime and Brienne to walk together back towards the cottage, but Brienne and Arya both would always lead the discussion back onto group subjects saying “Mr. Lannister when were you last at Winterfell, you know we all loved it there at this time of year” (“I have not yet been there since the leaves have begun to turn but I am sure it is beautiful.”), and “Jaime, how long have you been traveling, are you hungry? (“Miss Arya I have not dined since yesterday - I could really eat something.”), and “Sansa we must show Mr. Lannister the godswood at Riverrun Park and let him tell whether it is not unlike that of Winterfell.” But on the latter, Jaime begged off - “I’m afraid,” said he, “that my father and Ser Brynden have some history which I do not wish to dredge up for the man on whose land I shall be visiting. I am glad to be seeing the Miss Starks, but I would not wish to impose my presence on any of the Tullys.”

Catelyn was surprised only for a moment at seeing Jaime, for his coming to Riverrun was, in her opinion, of all things the most natural. He received the kindest welcome from her; and his shy, if cold, reserve could not stand against such reception. His affections seemed to reanimate towards them all then, and his interest in their welfare became perceptible. But he was still out of spirits, which Catelyn attributed to some want of liberality in his father.

“What are Lord Lannister’s views for you at the present, Jaime,” said she when dinner was over and they had gathered close to the fire, “are you still to pursue a life in law or politics despite yourself?”

“No, thank the gods, I think I’ve now impressed on my father that his vision for me does not suit. Not that I’m any closer to the living I want, but still.”

“What of the living you’re owed by birth?”

“It’s not mine, Mrs. Stark - I have an elder brother who was meant to inherit - unfortunately he and my father have never gotten along; they had a falling out many years ago when I was rather young and my father disowned him. As much as I would appreciate a living, until my father makes peace with my brother, I shall not accept it. My brother thinks me a fool, but who are we if not our morals? And so you see, it is my own fault that I must rely on my sister and my generous friends - please do not pity me for that.”

“It is an honorable choice, Mr. Lannister.” Brienne thought she saw him return the sentiment to her with the quietest spark in his eyes, but then he turned back toward the fire. “Not all choices can be so, Miss Stark. But in this one I have confidence.”

“Honorable!” cried Sansa, “You should take it and then it will be yours to distribute. You will have an opportunity to help your brother then!”

Brienne glared at her sister, and Sansa returned it twofold.

“Nay,” said Jaime, “I do not want the privilege of it. There is too much notoriety in it. I have only ever wanted a quiet life. Being warden of the West holds no interest for me. I’ve made mistakes in my life, most of which I would hope will never be familiar to those whom I call friends, but please believe that I am not suited to the responsibility. It comes at too high a cost to my sensibilities.”

“I wish that someone would give me a large fortune,” said Arya from her forgotten corner.

Jaime seemed to lighten up at this, “And what would you do with it, Miss Arya?”

“Sail!” she replied, without a second thought, “I want to see what is beyond the horizon.”

Jaime finally smiled at that. “Indeed, I think you would. Truly, I think I know what each of you might do if fortune so favored you.”

This was the liveliest Sansa had seen Jaime and she encouraged him - “Very well, tell mother’s first.”

“Oh, Sansa. I would be puzzled on how to spend a large fortune if my girls were already rich without my help.”

“You must begin improvements on the house,” nudged Brienne.

“Miss Stark is right,” came Jaime’s reply, quiet but gaining confidence, “I’m reminded of your notions over dinner. The changes you wished to make to the front parlor and the addition of a veranda at the back overlooking the valley - that would make for a very pretty prospect, I think, and I’m sure the masons and carpenters would charge you prettily for it. But ah, you’re such a generous spirit you might rejoice in letting them cheat you!”

“Oh Jaime,” cried Catelyn, giddy, “you have the right of it.” How nice, Catelyn thought, that where Ramsay had been firm in his vision of the cottage, Jaime thought was kind enough to embrace hers.

“Me next, Jaime.”

“Ah, Miss Sansa - I know your greatness of soul - what a happy day for booksellers and music-sellers it would be. You would purchase all of your favorites over and over to prevent them falling into unworthy hands, and you would have every book that told you how to admire a weirwood - should you not?” He was smiling now, “You see? I’ve not forgotten our old disputes over poetry.”

Sansa smiled back, “I love to be reminded of the past, Jaime. You will never offend me by talking of former times, particularly when I see how warm you are to those memories.” She said this last with a pointed look at Brienne, who looked at her hands. Sansa then entreated Jaime to predict her elder sister’s use of their fantastical fortune.

Jaime turned to look at Brienne but then found himself looking into the fire. “Miss Stark would give a general commission to the printmakers, for every new print of merit be sent her, and when she should find one she dislikes, I think she would send to town for the finest brushes and pigments, and cover it until it was to her liking. And if any should question her preferences, she would challenge her critics and strike them down with her sword.”

Brienne felt herself coloring and could hear the smile in Jaime’s voice, though she avoided his glance, but Mrs. Stark laughed, “Do you call Brienne a perfectionist, Jaime! Or just proud?”

“Neither,” Jaime said, with a glance at Brienne’s hands, and finally shifting to meet her glance, “I would never do either. Miss Stark is discerning. And her tastes should guide the rest of the county. It would be only right for her to make better the inferior works. I would trust the decoration of my own home to no one else!”

Brienne felt a blush creep down her neck to her chest, and Jaime, seeing it, noticed his misstep immediately, and rose to fill his sherry glass. Thankfully, Arya was well on her way to distracting the others from his comment.

“What care I for finery and fashion and painting, I shall be a pirate queen!”

Jaime chuckled while Mrs. Stark glared at her youngest. “Captain Arya,” he said from the sideboard, “I do believe of all the Miss Starks, you could not be dissuaded from your goal, regardless of your future fortunes.”

Brienne could see, with great uneasiness, the low spirits of her friend and the way that he avoided discussion of that which touched him most, and it kept her from a sound sleep. She attributed his strangeness to the demands of his family - specifically his father who, being wholly unknown to her, was a convenient door at which to lay blame. Though knowing Cersei did not make that action any less convenient. Had she been in her own room Brienne might have eventually slept well after assigning her friend’s behavior to a cause, but she had given her room up for their guest, and now Sansa’s eternally cold feet were pressed against her legs, mocking her while her sister snored.

***

The following morning, Jaime joined the elder Miss Starks in the breakfast-room before the others were down; Sansa, eager to promote their happiness, soon left he and her sister to themselves. But no sooner had Brienne become aware of the door closing than Jaime was standing apologetically and exiting the room himself, claiming a need to check on his horse, and promising to return when Mrs. Stark was ready to dine. Brienne was left alone and no less concerned than the day before.

When they did all sit to break their fast together Sansa, sitting beside Jaime, observed on his hand a ring with a plait of hair at its center.

“Is that Cersei’s hair?” she enquired, knowing one to have been promised by their former hostess to her brother, “I would have thought the hair would be more golden in color, but that looks far paler.”

Jaime colored deeply and, giving a momentary glance at Brienne across the table, replied “Yes, it is my sister’s hair. The setting,” he muttered, “always casts a different shade on it you know.”

Brienne had met his eye, and looked conscious likewise. That the hair was her own she instantaneously felt as well satisfied as Sansa; the only difference in their conclusions was that what Sansa considered a free gift from her sister as she had done for Ramsay, Brienne was conscious must have been procured by some theft or contrivance unknown to herself. Brienne instantly began talking of something else, internally resolving henceforward to catch every opportunity of eyeing the hair and satisfying herself, beyond all doubt, that it was exactly the shade of her own.

***

Jaime remained at the cottage a week. He walked with the sisters to the village every day, toured the river with Brienne and Sansa while Arya kept her mother company on the now-familiar hill with the fine prospect, and sparred with both Arya and Brienne, remarking on the former’s improved skill, and giving credit to the latter’s tutelage.

Sparring was the only time that Brienne felt alone with Jaime - the only time she felt that she could be close to him without shying away. Even though they were in full view of everyone else, they moved around each other in a familiar dance and their foils sang to one another. Here they could tease each other in a way that, had they no swords in hand, would certainly have been called flirtation by an outside party. Here they were protected. It was the only place where one did not hesitate when their body brushed the other’s. And it was the only time that one touched the other purposely.

After several days of walking the unfamiliar picturesque landscapes and being among friends, Jaime’s spirits during the last two days of his visit were greatly improved, though still unequal to what a friend might call usual. He grew more and more partial to the house and its surroundings, and never spoke of going away without a sigh.

On one occasion, Lord Edmure and his uncle came to call unexpectedly, and even then, despite the anticipated cold greeting from the Blackfish, Jaime seemed rather at ease. The old battle axe dismissed him out of hand for being his father’s son, but on his leave-taking he embraced Jaime’s arm as one might an old comrade. Jaime and Lord Edmure were on more stable ground. Edmure enquired after Jaime’s brother, and accepted the reply (he had seen him of late, and hoped he would be in better spirits soon). Edmure invited him to come and stay at the Park the next time his brother was of a mind to travel, and Jaime gave an assurance that he would, by the leave of his friends the Starks.

What followed was a persistent state of half-cheerfulness which Jaime sustained through his own departure. When asked to whence he would travel, he indicated his decision to go to the North, saying that while neither King’s Landing nor Winterfell held much affection for him, his happier memories were in the North and so we would go to his sister; though he declared, with a nod to Catelyn, that his greatest happiness was with the Starks.

***

“I think,” said Catelyn at their breakfast that final morning, “that you would be happier if you had some employment to occupy your time, Jaime. I do not agree with your father, but you must allow that this idleness does not bring happiness.”

“That is true, Mrs. Stark. Yet I am not at liberty to choose my employment while my father quarrels with me. Perhaps one day he will allow me my independence but, until then, I must either hope for some windfall from a mystery benefactor,” he said this last with a wink to Arya, “or keep moving about the country until he gives up on landing me.”

“And should you one day have sons,” continued Catelyn, “they will be brought up to choose their own lives and occupations, and idleness would be discouraged?”

Jaime grew serious and quiet. “My dear Mrs. Stark, any of my children would be brought up to be as unlike my wretched self as possible. In feeling, in action, in condition, in every thing save perhaps my sense of justice.”

“You are a good man, Mr. Lannister,” Brienne insisted quietly, “pray do not abuse yourself so.”

Jaime’s mouth moved into a smile but it did not reach his eyes, and he did not look up. “You have always thought the best of me, Miss Stark, and set me to rights like one of your drawings. Would that you and your family were still in Winterfell, you might all comfort me through my sister’s intemperateness.”

This desponding turn of mind gave additional pain to them all in parting, which shortly took place, and left an uncomfortable impression on Brienne’s feelings especially, which required some trouble and time to subdue.

Jaime took his departure with as much ease as he could manage. Mrs. Stark embraced him and wished him a safe journey, securing his promise to visit again before the spring with a kerchief to her eyes as if he were going off to war and not to his sister’s manor. Arya bounded up to him from across the yard and he embraced the girl with affection. Sansa, determined to show what Brienne would not, stayed close and spoke up to him as he settled on his horse.

Brienne, for her part, was determined not to repeat Sansa’s mortifying show of distress of a fortnight past, and to prevent herself from appearing to suffer more than any of the other women.

Jaime waved his goodbyes, sparing the slightest hesitation when his eyes met Brienne's, and then rode away. Catelyn and Sansa went inside right away with some occupation or another, but Arya begged Brienne to stay awhile and watch until Jaime met the road. He did turn around once, as if looking back on a prospect that he regretted losing sight of, but he did not wave again, and he did not turn his horse and return, and Brienne did not weep.

Afterward, she busied herself, neither seeking nor avoiding mention of his name, appearing to interest herself almost as much as ever in the general concerns of the family, and if, by this conduct, she did not lessen her own grief, it was at least prevented from unnecessary increase. She did not push for solitude, nor did she, on regaining her room from their guest, lie awake the whole night to indulge in meditation, even if an aspect of him seemed to linger still in the air there. In the morning, in a state of half-sleep, Brienne would put her hand to the side table knowing that he had placed his hand there as well, but she found that once awake if she pushed those concerns away, she could instead be afforded leisure enough to think of Jaime and of his behavior in between her doings.

And if, in the days that followed, she undertook a task which enforced her solitude, it was not looked on strangely when she dedicated herself to it. Then, her mind was invariably at liberty and could not be chained in conversation or elsewhere; instead, she had leave to meditate on the past and future, on a subject so interesting before her, which engrossed her memory, her reflection, and her fancy.

#fictober #fictober 2019 #braime #brienne x jaime #jaime x brienne #jane austen #sense and sensibility #austen au #braime au #got au #put me back together #ao3 #ao3 link #mine #a ton of this is straight out of austen #reminder: it's an adaptation

9 notes · View notes

wandering-dogs · 5 years

Note

Hi! I hope this is ok to ask, but why'd you pick a BC to be your service dog? Definitely not judging, because I've been really strongly considering it myself, but everyone tells me that BCs are generally too sensitive for public access!

Oh boy, I just managed to delete everything I wrote on this. =w=;Well. This is REALLY fucking long, so… Under the cut we go.TLDR; there were a lot of personal circumstances to think about between my disabilities, money, and timing, and it was moreso that a BC fit neatly into those than I necessarily wanted a BC from the beginning.

So! First off, I should mention, you’re absolutely correct. When I got Wander, this was a thing I was warned about. I specifically asked for a dog who rebounded off of scares quickly, and I got just that. He definitely recovers fast, but he is, absolutely, a sensitive dog. Moreso than I would have wanted.

But, there were a few things I had to think about that led me to getting a BC, even with the warning that they were sensitive.

1. I’ve seen a lot of successful border collie service dogs. Like, a surprising amount. This was one of the reasons I even started looking into them! That, combined with a few questions placed at a few different people, really made them seem like an option. Not necessarily, the ideal, but…

2. I don’t like the main service dog breeds. Or, rather, I hate living with them. I’ve owned labs and golden retrievers, and I really, truly, did not want to have to live with another. I think they’re great dogs! I think all my friends should have one! But I know myself, and I know that it would not be fair to me or my dog to get one of those two breeds. Even if they have a higher chance of success, what would that have mattered if I was constantly getting annoyed at things that are perfectly normal for those breeds? Poodles, which were another option, I just didn’t know enough about. There’s a lot of grooming that goes into them for one, which I have no experience in (though I’d love to learn) and I know nothing about their temperaments other than they are retriever-y dogs. Which is why I ended up vetoing them to be on the safe side.

3. An organization was likely out of the question. I don’t know enough about organizations and how they should run to tell a good one from a mediocre one, to start. Then there’s also that they normally choose breeds that I just simply don’t get along with. But the real kicker is that I really couldn’t locate one that would work with me. I’m autistic and have PTSD along with some other mental issues. Finding an organization that works with autistic adults? Near impossible. I, to this date, have not been able to locate one that looks decent. And PTSD ones are mostly geared towards veterans, which I am not. The other issue is time frame; I did not have a ton of waiting time.

4. So, I was majorly depressed at the time. Like, sleeping for days on end, not getting out of bed, angry, depressed. This was partially due to processing multiple layers of trauma! The main issue however was that I hit an autistic breakdown. Think of it as a mental break. I couldn’t read for several years after this happened, for example. I still, to this day, have some days where I cannot read more than a sentence at a time without losing the ability altogether. Typing up a paragraph? This whole thing that you’re currently reading? That was a pipe dream for me at the time. And for someone who spent their whole like from age 4 (yes, four) to 19 reading chapter book upon chapter book a day to cope? That was a devastating loss. I have still not been able to read as many books, but I’m improving! (for reference, I’m currently 23)

4.5. Animals are my life. At the time, we had lost our old rescue lab, and just gotten Simon, who had settled in beautifully. I’d intended to see if he would work out as a service dog, but was told no immediately (family dog, not YOUR dog), and wasn’t allowed to work with him. This meant his anxiety worsened because I couldn’t continue his socializing, and by the time they realised I really needed a service dog, it was too late for Simon to have a chance. (He’s also protective, so it wouldn’t have worked out anyways most likely) But, I was depressed, in bed, and had no purpose. Caring for a puppy would force me out of bed. I knew this, my mum knew this, and so it just kind of… It didn’t have a rush or timeline. I was willing to wait. But it definitely was something I couldn’t just sit around and wait years for either.

5. Originally, I’d planned on getting a Berger Blanc Suisse. And in all honesty, I still plan on getting one! I still think they would be better suited to my needs, and I certainly prefer the look and size of them! But, I couldn’t find a good BBS breeder near me, and shipping/flying out was likely not an option either. Now that I know more of where to look, I have my eye on a few, but… That’s neither here nor there.

6. I was worried that the dog would wash out. I couldn’t be sure that I would be able to afford regular training, as I am paid based off of commissions, and knew my parents wouldn’t make it a priority (i was correct). This meant that there was a pretty decent chance that the dog would wash out, because I was the only one who’d be training him. I didn’t really have any local dog training friends, all I had was some practice on Simon and a plethora of videos and research. Which meant that the dog washing out had to be taken into account from the start. I’m not a person who would be able to rehome a dog I raised as my own, though I understand why and how others do. But I definitely needed some sort of backup plan. Border collies are good at sports, make decent pets in case the dog washed out into an ESA, and yet also were okay service dog prospects! Not ideal, but it was one of the closest I could find to an ideal dog. A little bit of sensitivity seemed like a decent trade off for a dog who I knew I could do a ton of things with, even if my plans well through.

7. I’d been looking into BC’s already, more as a backup plan if I couldn’t locate a BBS breeder that would/could work with me, when I got a recommendation towards a BC breeder. I went in, looked at her page, looked at her dogs, joined her pup group and poked around, and finally sent her a message, asking if she was going to have any future breedings that would supply a dog with the temperament I needed. She messaged back saying she had a puppy there already who fit, and we worked out a discount contract. I’d already had some money saved up between commissions and some donations, and my parents offered to cover the rest of the cost. After that, its history.

I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s… a lot of info anyways.

I want to be very clear though, now that I’m at the end.

I don’t regret getting Wander. I am not on good terms with his breeder anymore, after a lot of drama, but I do know a lot of people who own her dogs, and like them very well. I love Wander a lot, and he really was the perfect dog for me at the time. I don’t know if I’d change any of my choices if I had the chance; I can’t claim to know that.He’s not perfect. I’m not perfect. I call him a service dog in training still because I feel that he very much is. I can’t say for sure that I’d wash him out. He has flaws, and I am afraid that they’re worse than I think. But when given the opportunity to act out or be afraid? He doesn’t. He constantly surpasses my expectations.He does have a few issues caused by my dad when he was a puppy; Barking at strangers, for example, or people leaning over him, which makes him a bit nervous.He also is not a perfect dog because I’m not a perfect trainer. With the right experience, I think Wander would have already been a fully fledged service dog. But I don’t have that experience; I couldn’t give him that.

If you wanted reasons to go for a border collie as a service dog, there are plenty.They make great dogs if they wash out. They pay attention to you. They’re ready to go whenever you want or need to. They aren’t grooming heavy. They’re not as talkative as some other breeds (Wander for example is near silent). They’re gorgeous, multipurpose dogs.But there are just as many, if not more reasons to go with a golden, or a lab, or a poodle.So my advice, unsolicited as it might be, is to make sure that your reasons, however many there are, are weighed correctly. I had fewer reasons to go with a border collie, but they were more important reasons to me. They weighed more than the reasons I could have chosen another breed.

Next time, I doubt I’ll get a border collie. But for me, with the timing and other concerns I had? A border collie, especially Wander, was the perfect choice.

I’d also definitely rather have a trainer next time, but I’d also have rather had one this time too.

5 notes · View notes