#okay i admit it one of these grows in pastures
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fungi of the forest 🍄✨
#illustration#mycology#nature illustration#fungi#mushroom art#mushrooms#okay i admit it one of these grows in pastures#not forests....#but the alliteration was too fitting to pass up
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a late-to-the-game wip wednesday! still trudging away here. this thing is gonna be...woof. long, to say the least. hopefully it's enjoyable, though ♥️
Everyone had their experiences when the end came — for Alex, it was a lot of survival mode and getting to where they needed to go before it was too late. June doesn’t love talking about it; she spent most of her nights in the beginning wide awake and stressed to the point that Alex swore she was going to make herself seriously sick. Nora was similar, but not as extreme.
No one rested, no one functioned properly. It was terrifying.
“It’s a miracle we even made it here in the first place,” Alex starts. “It’s not like we had go-bags or a plan or anything, but what started as a whisper at the top of the food chain soon became an avalanche, and my mom was calling my dad and telling him to get us and get the fuck out of New York.”
“Your parents seem civil,” Henry says pointedly, and Alex could laugh.
“They haven’t always been. Believe me, when you live with two politicians growing up, it’s like real life Face The Nation.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“A political talkshow, don’t worry about it.” Alex focuses on the gentleness of Henry’s fingers and continues. “He called me and June up, told us to pack as much as we could and that he would be by us within the hour. We shoved the important things in suitcases, sentimental shit, whatever felt right. And Nora had actually just moved into a new place so she was pretty much ready to go from the jump. My dad grabbed us, and all he had was what he packed for his trip.
“My mom spent so much time in DC throughout the year, that she and Leo actually got a place there, so they were able to get what they needed. Then we got a hold of Raf and told him to meet us in Hudson Valley because this was Leo’s family’s place. Same thing with Zahra and Shaan, but they took a while to get here.”
“All of them?”
“Zee and Shaan were in DC, too, because she was my mom’s right hand, but they got caught in a major detour that took them into a weird part of Pennsylvania until they were able to turn around. And Raf was in a safe haven.”
At this point, Henry’s hand has gone still on Alex’s chest, his palm flat against his sternum. Alex offers him a smile. “It took the four of us three days to get here with all of the roadblocks, Mom and Leo arrived two days after. And then we figured things out as they came; the towns nearby evacuated, people went north or to the midwest, tried to get as far away from the congested areas as they could.”
“Why not just stay here?” Henry asks him. “It’s rural enough, no?”
“Couldn’t tell you,” Alex replies. “Maybe people just wanted to get to their families, if they could.”
“How did you handle all of it? Genuinely?”
“About as well as you could expect,” he admits. “No one knew what was going on.”
“No, I know that, but—you.”
Alex takes a deep breath. Okay. They’re going there. Something he hasn’t really done since he sat with June out in a pasture and watched the sunrise. “I really didn’t think we were going to make it past the year,” he admits aloud for the first time ever. He notably doesn’t look at Henry. “I thought it would all happen again and we’d be taken out.”
Henry sits up. “Alex…”
“It’s okay,” he tells him, smile falling tight. “I’m okay.”
“You’re okay,” Henry repeats.
#rwrb#rwrb fic#firstrprince#red white and royal blue#alex claremont diaz#henry fox mountchristen windsor#apocalypse au
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I want to ask about ALL THE FIC but I'll restrain myself. Okay. How about mommies & daddies always come back?
Y'know how it's great when you read a fanfic and you can tell that the author clearly knows a lot about a certain topic, enough to be able to be oddly specific about it? That's this fic for me, and the topic -- working in early childhood education.
It's an AU where Pike is Kaylie's daycare teacher at the time that Scanlan comes back into Kaylie's life, and them falling in love and navigating what the means as Scanlan's figuring out fathering and co-parenting and Pike's incredibly conscious of how she plays into that dynamic. it's actually a bittersweet tale -- with a hopeful ending, of course, because Pike and Scanlan will always find their way back together regardless of how long it takes them to go on their own paths.
the title comes from something that I overheard while working at daycare, a fellow teacher comforting a child with the words -- "Mommies and Daddies always come back". which I then turned into a whole AU because I was like,"...How would someone like Pike, with her past, respond to hearing something like that?"...as one does!
as with a lot of my AU ideas, this idea is more or less completely plotted out in bullet points. at the moment, I don't think that I'll ever get to it, but who knows! I'm officially moving on to brighter and better pasture in my career in 2024 and mayhaps, one day, I may just be wistful and nostalgic enough about my daycare years to wanna write a lil fic about it.
here's some snippets from my notes:
Chapter 2: introduce Scanlan
Chapter starts with Scanlan coming to pick up Kaylie
Some of the other teachers are eyeing him as he comes. Pike laughs with them but doesn’t join in despite her co-teacher egging her on
It’s been a couple months since Scanlan has started picking up regularly.
Kaylie runs up to Scanlan and Pike notes how similar they look to each other - same strong brow and big smile. Though Kaylie has her mother’s green eyes.
As they walk away, Pike watches them go and flushes when Scanlan looks back at her and smiles.
Charming, indeed.
Chapter 4: first date
That night, she calls Scanlan.
“You told Sybil about us.” Scanlan doesn’t hide anything. Yes, he did. He told Sybil as soon as he knew that he liked her. Pike reflects that that explains some of Sybil’s terse behavior to her a while back.
Pike expresses her concerns to him. She doesn’t want to ruin the delicate balance that Sybil and him have been working towards. Scanlan admits that he’s had some of the same worries, but he’s willing to give this a try if she will.
Pike asks him out. He agrees.
Chapter 5: Limbo
“What do you want?” You. This. But, Pike pulls back. She’s still Kaylie’s teacher. Everything Scanlan has with his family is still so new. They can’t do this yet.
Not yet.
They share one last kiss before parting ways.
Chapter 6: Epilogue, Years Later
Pick-ups are a bit more awkward but, soon enough, Kaylie graduates and moves on to Kindergarten. They stay in touch. Scanlan pursues his music further. Pike eventually returns to school to pursue social work.
They grow separately yet together.
Pike watches Scanlan gain more traction on Youtube, including one viral hit. She attends a couple of his local shows. When she scores her dream job, Scanlan is one of the first people she texts about it.
About two years later, they run into each other.
~It’s a beautiful new beginning~
#WIP meme#Pikelan#some of these ideas i hold the endings close to my chest#but i'm so sure that i won't get to this one that i'm like 'ENJOY IT ALL!!'
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STMPD Recommends Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction: Nemo Blank's Chaos Factor (Or, Ucchan is Best Girl)
Okay. Time for some changes around here.
Yes, that's right. You're not dreaming, dear reader. In my neverending Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath to waste my own time on the internet, I've decided to expand on beyond writing reviews of Bubblegum Crisis fanfiction to review... other fanfiction. My powers grow, and grow, and grow.
Okay, huge forewarning, let's just get it out of the way, I don't actually read a whole lot of Ranma fanfiction. I used to read a lot more, but my tastes always tended toward the somewhat shitty fanfictions, not the actually good ones. So I'm probably just gonna recommend two incredibly good Ranma fics, and then move onto other pastures. There's a particular Homestuck-Pacific Rim crossover I've always wanted to sell people on, stuff like that.
Anyway! Here's a good Ranma fanfiction, incomplete but uproariously funny and maybe too clever by half: Chaos Factor.
Well, then. What exactly is Chaos Factor about? It... um... well... fuck. Hang on.
Were this a fic with weaker writing, I would have a pretty hard time overlooking CF's tendency to veer wildly all over the place in terms of setting and what its attention is focused on. So let's start at the beginning: Ranma goes off to train in the mountains, is accosted by a soul-stealing demon, is saved by his Neko-ken being a giant spirit tiger that mauls the shit out of the demon - and wakes up to Ukyo Kuonji, everyone's favorite crossdressing Kansaiben okonomiyaki chef childhood friend waifu, holding him close to ensure his well-being with a side of pressing her cleavage into his side.
Of course within five seconds Shampoo, Akane, Genma, Soun, Mousse, and Ryoga all show up. Of course there's an altercation where Akane falls into a river, Ranma saves her, and she yeets him into the stratosphere. Reader, Akane is many things in this fic, but she's hardly a kind soul. Which - is okay?
Yeah, let me just get this out of the way, I don't really like Akane. She's a girl out of her depth in Ranma's insane martial-arts world, a normal, sane human being whose dignity is constantly put to the test by the irrationality that is Ranma, his rivals and fiancees, and their goofy superpowers. Oh, sure, she can be cute at times, but more often than not she's the worst sort of tsundere, the childish one who treats any entreaty towards what little order she has left in her life as an affront on her person and then proceeds to beat up Ranma. Oh, sure, the manga probably treats her better, but that doesn't change the fact that Ranma saving her again and again and again and neither of the two admitting they might like each other over and over and over again is not really a healthy relationship dynamic. Sure, the other girls are possessive and jealous too, but at least they can keep up with Ranma to a closer degree, at least they're honest with their own affection. Well, whatever, this argument has been had since Internet Time Immemorial and will likely be thus for years to come. So... Yeah. One of the best quotes from CF (and there are so, so many) speaks to this: "It was true love, all right. True love for eight-year-olds."
Anyway, Ranma lands in his mom's backyard (this is after the manga's failed wedding ending, mind you), and they talk. Turns out Ranma thinks he's got this duty to the Tendo family to join the schools (his dad lied), turns out he doesn't know how to deal with love (he likes the Tendo sisters, but only knows that he doesn't know if he loves Akane), and... suffice to say that Nodoka finally says: No, Ranma, you're staying with me from here on out, and each fiancé will meet me in person and I'll determine their suitability one at a time.
Which would be a perfectly interesting pitch for a fic, you'd think, Ranma having to arrange all those meetings and Nodoka meeting the girls as they try to be on their best behavior. Only, we only get to Kodachi and Shampoo in interviews, because other plot threads are introduced fast. Very, very fast. Blisteringly fast. Among the things that just happen and don't stop happening:
Ranma gets yeeted into the middle of the Sailor Senshi, assumes they're a bunch of fiancés or pervs or whatever, and proceeds to avoid their attacks effortlessly. As Ranma's rivals and the Senshi get more and more intertwined, it becomes clear that a) Crystal Tokyo relies on wiping out everyone save a few million loyal to Serenity, something Sailor Pluto is largely hiding from her charges, and b) The Senshi are terrible at actual fights. Ranma simply summons Happosai (calls his name three times) and misery is had. Now, I don't especially like how the Senshi are sort of the butt of the joke here, especially since many gags are made out of how utterly unstoppable Kuno is by conventional standards, and those jokes are quite funny. But you can't have everything.
As such, when Ranma beats up a Youma without trying very hard, he ends up on the national news. Nabiki's having the time of her life playing the tour guide for the Tendo Dojo, right up until the government decides Ranma could be a useful asset in the war against the supernatural.
Washu from Tenchi Muyo ends up in a time warp where she inadvertently becomes Nodoka's mother (and Ranma's maternal Grandma!) Ryoko thinks having a nephew-niece is nothing short of awesome, and she and Sasami hang out with him and Ryoga for a bit.
Ryoga's wandering capacity is played up as a space distortion, to the point that he can end up in anywhere while going to anywhere else. Kasumi follows him to the bathroom of their house and ends up going through Egypt for a few moments, Mihoshi follows him to an alien planet, things like that.
Ranma flees normal life again, is tracked down by Ukyo using a somewhat terrifying ninja technique involving sympathetic ki, and they fight a samurai ghost together. Ranma figures out how to turn into a dragon and Ukyo falls even more head-over-heels in love with him, because, uh, dragons amirite? Meanwhile, Ranma is convinced that Ukyo wants Ranma to be a waitress for her, and that's cleared up... but Ranma still is afraid of her world, especially because Ukyo wants to become the head of a national okonomiyaki restaurant chain.
And it's all... funny, and sweet, and even if the tone it nails isn't exactly the manga's irreverent tone, as far as harem-adjacent tales go let it be said that Chaos Factor has a tone, and it nails that tone, and it keeps on that tone for 81k words. even if it ends somewhat anticlimactically before, if I recall correctly, Ranma and his fiancés are to have an audience with the emperor.
Look, I'm having trouble describing this fanfic that I've read a half-dozen times over because it's simply that good. I don't just encourage you to read it -- I implore you to do so. You won't regret it.
#stmpd reviews ranma fanfiction#ranma ½#fanfic recommendation#fanfic rec#ukyo kuonji#stmpd reviews fanfiction#ranma saotome#sailor moon#tenchi muyo
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Filling Empty Spaces (Amy/Mitch), part 205
Mitch and Amy find an unexpected connection due to absent lovers. Set around season 11->.
A/N: I didn’t have a beta for this story, so hopefully there won’t be too many grammar errors.
* * * *
“”But you just” what?” Amy tried to get Mitch to talk again after he had suddenly faded out, and she was left wondering where this conversation was headed.
The man’s eyes were directed somewhere in the distance, and she could almost see the wheels turning inside his head, but now that he heard her voice, Mitch's gaze moved back to her.
“Oh, I...” Mitch stammered, trying to find the words again. “Sorry, I spaced. I’m not sure where I was going with that.”
He figured maybe it was best to think things through first alone before introducing them to Amy as this had not been what he had thought it to be. They had had such a nice time, and he didn’t want to ruin that.
Amy nodded stiffly, trying to figure out what kind of head-space Mitch was now in. It seemed like one minute he was eager to explain something to her, then suddenly, he closed up. She didn’t like that feeling as it made her feel left out and insecure.
“You okay?” she checked.
“Yeah”, Mitch said, smiling a little bit. He seemed genuinely happy that she was checking up on him.
It eased Amy’s mind a little bit. Maybe there weren’t any bad secrets he was keeping her from, the kind that would eventually jump out when she least expected it. It wasn’t like that with Mitch.
“I guess I just wanted you to know the horse was a good fit, that’s all. The rest... well, it’s just my own stuff I have to deal with”, he continued. “Nothing serious. The inmates just... well, I have to learn to be more okay with that. It’s new to me, that’s all.”
“Okay”, Amy nodded, hearing him out. She could understand why Mitch had his reservations, but it sounded like he was working on it. “Well, I still haven’t decided about the horse, so... if you feel uncomfortable about something around that--”
“It’s probably nothing”, Mitch repeated, now feeling a little silly about it.
“Even if it was”, Amy didn’t want to diminish Mitch’s intuition, because she knew that sometimes that was the only thing anyone could trust, “it’s a good thing I’m not in a hurry. Lyndy isn’t in that desperate need of a new, bigger horse just yet. There’s always going to be other horses.”
“Well, yeah”, Mitch admitted. “I mean, you did see her on Maverick? She’s so tiny”, he added with a hum.
“I know... But she’s growing so fast”, Amy sighed with a hint of bitter-sweetness in her voice. “How do I stop the time...”
Mitch smirked as he thought of something.
“Well, there is that saying...” he recalled, playfully swaying a little in front of Amy as he gently, but loosely pinned her against the truck.
Amy felt the bit of her stomach drop in a good way as she looked into Mitch’s eyes. She liked when he did this. She liked being this close.
The hours of build-up to this sizzled between them.
“What saying...?” Amy asked with a bated breath.
“Something like”, Mitch was trying to think, “if you want to make time stand still - kiss.”
Amy laughed a little, seeing where this was going. “Oh, is that what they say? I don’t think I’ve heard that one...”
“Well, should we give it a try?” Mitch suggested.
“I mean, it wouldn’t hurt”, Amy almost whispered before they closed the gap between them.
* * * *
Meanwhile, Georgie and Wyatt rode along the trail, pass one of Mitch’s pastures and noticed a horse grazing in the middle of it.
“That’s not a horse I’ve seen before”, Georgie commented looking at Whisky and trying to locate Maverick.
Wyatt, who was already feeling unsafe, wasn’t assured by Georgie’s words.
“Are you sure he actually lives here...?” he checked again.
“I am”, Georgie tried to convince him one more time. “But he just might have other horses that I didn’t know about. -- I mean, now that I think about it, it might make sense since he’s in the cattle business with Tim. He might need another horse sometim--”
Her sentence was cut short when she saw Amy’s truck in the middle of the yard. That was something she had not expected, especially given that Amy had said she would go to town to run some errands with Lyndy.
“What’s Amy doing here...?” Georgie wondered out loud.
“If there’s horses, it isn’t that far fetched to assume Amy’s there too”, Wyatt said, knowing that much about Georgie’s aunt.
He followed the girl’s lead to go closer even if he felt a little bit uncomfortable going into someone’s place unannounced like this.
As they moved closer and the view became clearer, Georgie instinctively pulled the reins when she saw Mitch and Amy pressed against each other next to the truck.
It looked like they were kissing.
For Georgie, the time stood still too.
“Woah, hey!” Wyatt screeched behind her. “You should’ve given me a warning you were gonna stop; Trouble almost bumped into you. I really am trying my best not to get killed during this trail ride--”
“We gotta go”, Georgie suddenly announced with a trembling voice and turned Phoenix around. “Come on.”
“What?” Wyatt asked, feeling confused, as he looked after her. “You said we could cut through here...” he reminded and gestured toward the yard.
“I know, but-- I changed my mind”, Georgie said. “Just... come on!”
Wyatt sighed and did what he was told.
* * * *
Back by the truck, Mitch swiftly brushed Amy’s chin after they pulled back from the kiss and as their eyes opened, their gazes met.
“So...? How was that?” he asked.
Amy smirked.
“I mean, whoever said that might have been right”, she admitted. “But I don’t think we can keep doing that forever to stop the time. As much as I would love it.”
“Yeah, maybe not. But we gave it a try”, Mitch said, moving his hand to open the truck door for her. “Well, I think you just have to accept that Lyndy’s going to grow up and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I guess so”, Amy nodded, glancing toward the backseat where the girl was sleeping in her chair. “Well, I guess I better get going. Cass is coming to look one of the horses in a few hours.”
Mitch nodded. “Drive safe.”
“Will do”, Amy said and before she could step into her truck, she kissed Mitch one more time.
Taking steps back after Amy turned on the engine, Mitch walked toward the house and gave the woman one last wave as she drove away.
He felt a warm glow around his chest, even though it was always sad to see her driving away too. At the same time Mitch couldn’t push away the thoughts that were trying to make their way in about Ty.
Why did the guy had to pop up into his mind and ruin this moment for him? Ty and Amy were divorced, he was in jail and was barely involved with Lyndy either. He wasn’t exactly a factor in any way right now.
But as soon as Mitch had found himself thinking that, he knew that Ty would be a factor - at some point. He would get out and it would possibly change things for them, no matter what the situation with Amy and himself was at that moment.
It wasn’t as if he was afraid Ty would come back and swoop Amy off her feet again somehow, but more-like what would Ty’s role as Lyndy’s dad look like in the future.
Would he be involved a lot? Would he linger around to look after Amy and Lyndy just because he felt obligated somehow as Lyndy’s dad and Amy’s ex?
Would Ty try to push him out before he had even had a chance to attach himself to Amy and Lyndy? Now that he was possibly in the beginning of that process, would he already have to think about losing that opportunity? Was this worth it if there was an expiration date?
Did Ty have a right to do that as someone who had a longer history with both Amy and Lyndy? Could he even argue with that?
What were the rules here?
He already had one failed relationship behind him where the father of the children had been very much involved with their ex and their children’s lives.
He wasn’t looking into getting a rerun of that.
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Sokeefe one-shot
headcanon that they both have awful nightmares and some night they’ll call each other for company and then end up falling asleep together
Sophie sighed, curling her knees toward her chest. Grady was off on an assignment again, and Edaline was in the goblin capital for consultation with her bodyguard. Tonight was the first night in a while Sophie was spending on her own.
The gnomes had assured her that they didn’t need help with the animals, but Sophie remained in the pasture anyway as the sun began to dip behind the mountains.
She rubbed the noses of the two baby alicorns spread on the grass besides her. Silveny and Greyfall were nearby, but Wynn and Luna refused to leave Sophie’s side whole she was out of the house. Gently, she kissed them each on the soft fur of their forehead and rose, Sandor following her as she wound her way back to the house.
It was a quiet evening, and after a late dinner, Sophie sat down to do some homework. She had been neglecting the growing pile lately, but it was enough now to cause a small amount of anxiety.
She struggled through her Linguistics and Inflicting work, but by the time she was done, she was yawning. With a glance towards the stairs, she decided to be done for the night. Lady Cadence insisted on assigning an extraordinary amount of work, and it was enough to make Sophie want to curl up and not move for a century.
She made her way upstairs, waiting outside her room as Sandor and Flori did their nightly sweeps. With a quick thank you, she slipped inside and shut the door behind her.
Sophie showered quickly, changing into a soft shirt to sleep in and leggings. She tied her hair into a quick braid, struggling to keep her eyes open.
Sitting on her bed, she reached for the memory log on the bedside table. But once she reached out, she hesitated, fingers wrapping around the pink sedative next to it instead. She turned over the vial in her hands. She hadn’t been sleeping very well, and the exhaustion was catching up with her. She almost fell asleep in history today. Maybe it would be smarter to take the sedative, just this once.
But she didn’t uncork it. She set the vial back onto the table and clicked off the lights, snuggling down in her bedding with Ella. Surprisingly enough, it was only a few minutes before she slipped into a restless sleep.
A loud, obnoxious sound echoed through her half-formed dream, and Sophie dragged herself back to full consciousness. Her imparter was ringing. She lunged for the gadget.
Keefe’s face filled the small screen. His eyes were wide, dark circles underneath, and instead of his normal messy hair, he was sporting a look unfortunately similar to Sophie’s pineapple-head.
“Keefe? What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” Sophie rubbed at her tired eyes, worry instantly rising.
He ran a hand through his hair. “No, I... I’m sorry, it’s not important.” He looked away.
“What’s the matter?”
“I had a nightmare,” Keefe finally admitted after a beat. “And I just... called you. I shouldn’t have, it was pointless, but I just—“
“I get it,” Sophie interrupter gently. “Do you want to come over?”
She glanced at her clock; it was nearly three in the morning. But it wasn’t like she’d be able to sleep now.
“Um, sure.” Keefe’s cheeks were flushed a light pink. He hung up, and Sophie climbed out of bed and grabbed a hairbrush, snapping to turn on the lights.
“Ms. Foster, there will be no inappropriate behavior.” Sandor called through the door.
Sophie stride over and pulled it open a few inches. “I know. Don’t worry, we’ll be good.” She tugged the brush through the knots in her hair.
“Mr. Ruewen would not approve,” Sandor warned her.
“Grady isn’t here. And it’s not like we’re going to do anything. I just don’t want him to have to be alone.”
Sandor had no reply to that, and Sophie dropped the brush onto the table again. After only a few moments, Keefe shuffled in, still wearing his pajamas and clutching Mrs. Stinkbottom. His hair was noticeably neater now.
“Hey,” Sophie yawned and patted the bed next to her in invitation, smiling when he sat. She folded her legs underneath her. “Are you okay?”
Keefe nodded. “I shouldn’t have woken you. I can go.” He made to stand, but Sophie leaned forward to stop him.
“Stay. Please.”
Keefe refuses to look at her, but didn’t move.
Sophie moved her hand from where she had set it on his wrist, scooting closer to lean her head on his shoulder.
He stiffened, but relaxed after a few seconds, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Sophie fought against her heavy eyelids, but it was only a few moments before she fell asleep again.
The sound of snores penetrated her dreamless sleep, and Sophie grumbled, snuggling closer to the warmth next to her.
Realizing what it was, her eyes shot open. She was curled up next to a sleeping, snoring Keefe. He clung to her and Mrs. Stinkbottom. Ella was still tucked under her arm.
Sophie glanced at the clock, grateful to see that it had only been an hour. Edaline wasn’t due home till mid-afternoon.
She thought about moving, but Keefe was so peaceful, and it was the first night in weeks that she had slept without nightmares. Quietly, she snapped her fingers, turning off the lights, and gently moved to pull one of the throw blankets from the foot of her bed over them.
Sophie snuggles in next to Keefe, under his arm like before. He shifted, bringing her closer. She didn’t know why, but she felt safer than she had in a long time, and fell asleep in only a few moments.
#love#spilled words#fanfiction#writing inspiration#kotlc keefe#kotlc fandom#kotlc memes#if i dont see more sokeefe im quitting#kotlc headcanons#kotlc headcanon#kotlc#sokeefe confession#sokeefe is endgame#sokeefe#sophie foster#edaline ruewen#kotlc sophie#grady ruewen
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Self care story of the day:
"Please don't pout, sweetie. It breaks my heart. I'll be back soon, okay?"
Steve watched from outside the paddock as Bucky tried to say goodbye to Cane. The massive animal wasn't having it; hooking his shoulder over Bucky's to try and pull him closer, tugging gently at his hems and sleeves and hair with his teeth, and making the most pitiful little chuffing noises that Steve knew were gonna devolve into whinnying cries when Bucky was able to extract himself from the pen.
It really was heartbreaking, seeing such a powerful creature cry out of loneliness for their favorite person. Steve understood it, and he told Cane as much, late at night when neither of them could sleep for missing Bucky when he left. And the tears in Bucky's eyes as he slipped through the railings made it that much harder. Steve pulled him in close, kissing the side of his head as Cane started kicking up a true fuss, making Bucky hiccup a soft sob.
-
The idea didn't come to Steve until a few nights later, after the day's chores were finished, Bucky had come and gone, and the moon was starting to rise over where he was perched on the railings of Cane's personal paddock. He'd been watching the horse as he morosely trod back and forth between his open stall and the fence facing west.
The direction to Bucky's.
Of course Cane knew that, as surely as Steve knew that. Steve figured he could walk from where he was right up to Bucky's front gate even if he was blind and deaf.
"I know, buddy," he murmured as Cane passed by him again, seeing his ear flick towards him, but not stopping. "I miss him, too. So damn much."
Steve wasn't too proud to admit that he'd asked Bucky to move in with him not long after they started spending time together. More than once, even. But Bucky--sweet, proud, independent Bucky--had simply smiled, kissed him, and explained just how much of himself and his happiness was connected to the little piece of land he'd cultivated with his own hands, and how he was nowhere near ready to give that up.
Not even for Steve.
And the rancher was okay with this. More than okay. He knew what it was like to stand and look out at what you've created and know that it was by your hands alone. And he'd never demand that Bucky give up anything to appease him in any way.
And so they walked the fence-line between their homes, or one would pick up the other for a dinner in town, or simply show up with a knock and smile.
But Cane...
Cane had healed by leaps and bounds under the loving care of Bucky Barnes, but it was always several steps backwards every night when Bucky left, or didn't visit at all during the day, for whatever reason. The horse was making himself sick with longing, and Steve knew Bucky was reaching a breaking point as well.
He knew that they'd have to wean off each other eventually, that such a relationship wasn't sustainable or even healthy, but it was still a very delicate time for Cane, and he needed all the stability he could get.
And with that thought, a plan began to form...
-
It took a few weeks to get everything set and in place, but Steve's late night brainstorm was finally coming to fruition. Supplies had been purchased, workers had been hired, and distractions had been implemented in the form of a day-long date in the nearest big city.
Steve wined and dined Bucky to the extent of his abilities, taking him to street markets, thrift shops, art galleries, greenhouses, and several amazing restaurants throughout the whole day. He'd even cajoled the brunette into staying the night in a hotel, both of them making eager use of the space, bring each other pleasure after pleasure until they collapsed, happily wrapped up in sweaty limbs and tangled blankets.
-
Steve was buzzing with excitement as he pulled into Bucky's driveway with a spray of gravel. He'd woken to a text notifying him that everything was done and ready, and he was near bursting with trying to keep it all a surprise. He was sure he was failing, because Bucky kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye with an indulgent smirk on his lips, the expression telling Steve that Bucky knew something was up, but he was willing to wait and see.
Steve practically dragged Bucky around the back of his cottage, watching those stormy gray eyes light up with delight, and his triumphant 'Ta-dah!' nearly lost beneath a deafening whinny of welcome.
Cane stood on the other side of the wooden fence circuiting Bucky's gardens, right at the end of the cobble path Steve had commissioned.
The wide stone walkway spanned the pasture between Steve's paddock and Bucky's gardens, with bleached wooden fencing and a suspended line above to attach Cane's reins to. There were solar lamps placed evenly along the fence, and even wire awning across the top for future vines to accumulate. Bucky had often talked about wanting to grow grapes, but not having the space.
The soggy sounding laugh Bucky let out had Steve smiling even wider, letting the other man go and greet Cane.
"Hello, babylove," Bucky murmured, pressing his slightly damp cheek to Cane's. "What do you think of my gardens, hm? You can only come visit if you promise not to chew on my lilac bushes, okay? I need those for my soaps."
"He'll be a good boy," Steve assured as he pressed up behind Bucky, wrapping his arms tight around his waist and pulling him close. "We had a long talk about it the other night. Didn't we, Hurricane?"
Cane chuffed as he lifted his head and lipped at Steve's nose.
Bucky's laughter rang out loud and clear through the gardens, and Steve was helpless not to join in.
The path saw a great deal of use, and was soon the cobbles were worn smooth and shaded by flowering--and only slightly nibbled on--grape vines.
Shadow, without at doubt, this is my favorite one you've ever sent in. This brought me so much comfort today and I cannot thank you enough for this. My heart is soaring.
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ANOTHER JJK WRITER??!?! I'M SO HAPPYYYY!! And you're accepting requests right now! I---I feel so cniwjebfiamxksownfjjw but 'nough said...
Idk what type of format is suitable for this request so it will be fine if you chose to write it using hcs or a oneshot.
Can I request where fem!reader is the Sukuna's vessel meets a civilian!Yuuji??
A/N: hello!!!!! this was sent in over a week ago but i’ve been so busy with streaming, art and work AAAAAAAAAA anyways imma do headcanons so i can cover more ground since i like this idea hehe :D
ALSO I FINISHED WATCHING HAIKYUU S4 AND I CRIED LIKE 4 TIMES PLS SEND IN MORE HQ REQUESTS OF THE CHARACTERS I LISTED THANK, I CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO THEM ;—;
fem!vessel!Reader meets civilian!Itadori Yuuji headcanons
as a born and bred Jujutsu Sorcerer, you honestly should’ve known better than to eat Sukuna’s goddamn finger. but in your defence, it was a stressful moment and the only other option was to die, let the cursed spirit eat the finger and inevitably kill Fushiguro Megumi—your only friend and someone who could probably keep the cursed spirit at bay long enough to escape
essentially it was: get killed and greatly inconvenience your friend or eat the finger and die and only somewhat inconvenience your friend
the only thing you did not anticipate was survive eating the finger, killing the cursed spirit in one hit and verbally abusing Sukuna until you regained control of your body
well… shit
life hasn’t changed that much if you were being honest, except now as the vessel of the King of Curses, the threat of being exterminated by the wise old elders was greater than before; but you don’t let that bother you too much since—
“So, if I eat all the fingers and Sukuna doesn’t take over my body… they’ll let me live?”
“That’s what they claim but we both know they’ll actually do,” your mentor and guardian Gojou Satoru said after returning from an emergency meeting with the people he despised the most. you could tell how pissed he was just by the slight inflection of his voice
“But I won’t let them lay a single finger on you,” he ruffled your hair, “got it?”
“Him.” Sukuna’s voice echoes in your head on one of your off days. hiding your mouth behind the bun you’re munching on, you ask him what he means
“The table across from you. That boy. He could have been my vessel.”
“… and?”
“… he’s interesting. Befriend him.”
“What? No, you absolute menace!” you don’t realise you’ve raised your voice until you notice a pair of wide brown eyes stare back at you. feeling your face heat up, you quickly stand and leave the cafe, tragically abandoning the super delicious chocolate bun half-eaten on the plate
“You’re attracted to him. Befriend him and it’ll benefit the both of us, you fool.”
“How exactly will it benefit you? And it’s too late. I’m not going back, not for the boy and not for my poor, poor choc bun :(”
you make it like, a few hundred metres before you feel a tap on your shoulder. when you turn around, it’s the boy holding your bun in a takeaway bag. he smiles like an idiot and though it feels like a huge mistake, you allow yourself the luxury of his company
shortly after you mean, during one of your many late night texting sessions, you learn that he had to move to Tokyo with his grandfather to seek better medical treatment
[11:43PM] Yuuji: so basically… what i’m saying is… i have no friends here :D be my friend?
[11:45PM] (Y/N): okay :)
“EXCELLENT”
“Sukuna… touch him and I will kill myself and you.”
when Gojou learns of your new friend, he gets super annoying (even more so than usual, basically) and makes a habit of spending more time with Megumi, claiming that you “don’t need both of them anymore ;—;” because you’ve “moved on to greener pastures”
but in all seriousness, he’s glad you’re making more friends. he’s done research on Itadori Yuuji and concludes that you’ll be alright
the first time you go out together, Yuuji sheepishly tells you he needs to drop by the hospital to give his grandfather some sliced fruits
“It’s okay if you don’t wanna follow, though—”
it takes you, like, ten whole minutes to convince him that you’ll be happy to meet his grandpa, though you have no choice but to withhold another big reason for wanting to tag along
as suspected, Yuuji’s grandfather’s being weighed down by a couple of small fry cursed spirits which you swiftly eliminate when they both have their backs turned to you—or so you think
unbeknownst to you, Yuuji saw the way you glared at the corner of the room, noticed how you did some odd hand gestures and how—almost instantly—his grandfather said: “is your girlfriend a lucky charm? my chest feels so light all of a sudden.”
[12:33PM] Yuuji: thanks for coming with me to the hospital today. my grandfather seems to really like you :) sorry he kept calling you my girlfriend
[12:34PM] (Y/N): no problem, i like him as well :D and it’s alright
[12:45PM] Yuuji: by the way, i have something i want to ask you
[12:50PM] (Y/N): … yes?
[01:03PM] (Y/N): Itadori?
[01:16PM] (Y/N): you there?
“A cursed spirit is after him.”
“You choose to tell me just now?!”
Sukuna doesn’t say it but he has no idea why he told you what he did. it doesn’t matter to him what happens to Itadori Yuuji and yet his gut tells him he needs to be kept alive. so, in a strange turn of events, he tells you where to go
sure enough, you find him fighting off a grade 1 cursed spirit in an alleyway, still alive and kicking despite being seemingly beaten within an inch of his life
although you’re a grade 2 Sorcerer, with Sukuna telling you what to do in your head, you win the battle with only severe bruises and maybe a hairline fracture somewhere
“Where do you live?” you ask and he points at a small house just across the alleyway. “Get your things, you’re coming with me tonight.”
he listens and walks quietly beside you as you make your way back to school
“Are you okay?” you ask once the adrenaline of it all has somewhat subsided
you can’t help but feel responsible for it all, knowing the cursed spirit must’ve hunted him down believing he’d lead him to you—the Sorcerer with Sukuna’s scent written all over you
before Yuuji can lie and say yes, he trips over his own feet but you catch him before he hits the ground
you decide to carry him the rest of the way, giving him a piggyback, his feet just barely off the ground due to your height difference
“What are you?” he asks softly, arms wrapped around your neck as the side of his head rests against your own
“I’ll tell you later. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, though.”
“I will,” he says without missing a beat, “I trust you.”
“It was most likely my fault you got hurt, you know?” you admit dryly, aware that you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if you kept it a secret him him
“Yeah…” Yuuji sighs and it stings, not gonna lie, but then he continues: “but you’re carrying me right now… and you helped my grandfather, didn’t you?”
“… yeah.”
he hums softly, feeling his eyelids grow heavy, “that’s enough for me… Thank you.”
you feel him press his lips to your neck before his head lolls forward. your heart nearly stops before an overwhelming sense of relief washes over you when you feel his chest rise and fall steadily
your knees feel like they’re on the verge of giving out but his body is so warm and his kiss made your heart flutter like never before, so, you carry him the rest of the way knowing that you’ll gladly do the same in the future with no hesitation
#jujutsu kaisen#jujutsu sorcerer#jujutsu kaisen x reader#itadori yuuji x reader#yuuji x reader#itadori yuuji#headcanons#fluff#slight angst#vessel!au
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country boy i love u
modern au, 1.7k, not to be dramatic but all of my training has prepared me for city boy dmitry and weird horse girl anya so buckle up
Dmitry wasn’t good with animals.
Or dirt. Though, dirt was something he was more familiar with, living in the city streets and all. But animals? Especially big animals? Terrifying. Unpredictable. Not recommended.
You could imagine his delight when, after another arrest, he was placed at a horse farm out in the middle of nowhere to fulfill his community service hours.
He couldn’t figure out why they needed his help. The breeding farm seemed to be pretty efficient, considering how nice and clean the barn was with its crisp white fences, loads of stablehands running around, the lawn an unnaturally bright shade of green. The manager hardly seemed to know what to do with him either when he showed up bright and early every day, too busy to really show him how to do whatever he was told to do. She just handed him a rake and a shovel and tossed him into a smelly stall and left. Or stuck him in front of a wheel-barrow and point him in a vague direction. Sometimes he was tasked with mechanical repairs of some of the equipment, which he was more comfortable with, but usually… he was thrown right into the path of some scary animals. And people.
The family who owned the place were pretty wealthy, clearly. The kids were obviously spoiled rotten, expecting their horses to be saddled and ready before their rides, not taking the responsibility for grooming afterwards, leaving a mess of tack in the aisle for him to clean up. He hadn’t really interacted with them much but could feel their judgemental stares burning a hole in the back of his head. Here he was, the exotic, dangerous, explosive disaster, who would never amount to anything more than a screw-up. Come look.
He wished he was in jail instead.
Today he was neck deep in mucking stalls, eyes watering as he shoveled through a particularly nasty one, hating every second and hating his father for dying and leaving him on this bottomless path and hating everyone who put him here, when he felt a tickle at the top of his head. When he looked up he jumped out of his skin— a horse in the next stall had reached its head over and started sniffing him. But, more particularly, there was a giggle.
“She likes you,” the voice said.
He spun towards the door to see a girl leaning against the railing. The youngest daughter, he’d gathered. She was the only one he’d ever really interacted with and it didn’t go well— she’d snapped at him not to light a cigarette in a barn and maybe he was a tad annoyed that his one reprieve of this god-forsaken place was literally snuffed out. He’d been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t heard her approach. “I don’t think I even knew it was here.”
“Clearly.” She slid the door open. “You were talking to yourself and she was curious.”
He frowned. “Or she wanted to bite my head off.”
Another laugh. “No! Luna’s a big softy. Come here.”
“Oh, I’m good.” He waved the handle of his shovel. “I’m serving my community.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can take a break for one second. Or are you too scared?”
“I’m not—” she quirked a brow and he swallowed. “... scared.”
“Come on,” she grabbed his wrist and tugged him out of the stall and he was immediately relieved by the lack of smell. “I’ll show you.” Two steps over to the left and she was opening the occupied stall door and stepping inside. He slowly came closer to the railing, watching. Despite her small size the girl approached this half-ton animal like it was a bumble bee, cooing all the way, hands moving over the gray coat with confidence and familiarity. Now that he could see the horse in its entirety he noticed the belly was… swollen? Was it supposed to be that round?
“She’s gonna drop her foal any day now,” the girl said, answering his unspoken question. “That’s why she’s in here in the middle of the afternoon instead of the pasture.”
He nodded, still watching the animal with caution.
“You can come in if you want,” the girl said casually. “You’ve been here for weeks now, surely you’ve gained some confidence by this point.”
“Actually, this is the closest I’ve been to one.”
“Really?” She stepped closer to him, the wall of the stall separating them, and she pointed at the animal’s head. “Okay, see her ears? They’re facing the side, which means she’s relaxed. If she was as grumpy as you,” she stepped back to the horse and pinned the ears flat against its neck with her hands, “they’d look like this.”
She released the ears and the horse shook its head indignantly. He allowed himself a small smile.
“And her head is hanging low, and her back leg is resting. That means she’s totally chill and the chances of her wanting to bite your head off are slim.”
He met her eyes again, startlingly blue. Why was she so intent on getting him near her? But she did make a point, when he thought about it. “Okay.”
She grinned and pulled the stall door open a little wider. He stepped through, straw crunching under his ruined sneakers, and closed the door behind him, still keeping his distance. The large eyes were curious but sleepy, so maybe it wasn’t so bad.
“Wanna touch her?”
He glanced down at his hands. His knuckles were still bruised from his last fight, a white scrape scarring his palm, and he saw nothing but danger. Tools of mistakes.
But a smaller hand circled his wrist and pulled him nearer, laying his palm gently onto the soft hair on the base of its neck. He blinked down and met her gaze before glancing away again. When nothing bad happened he stroked lightly for a few minutes over the hair and strong muscles.
“Wanna see something cool?” The girl asked. He nodded and she took his hand again, letting it glide all the way over the animal’s rib cage and to the swollen part of its stomach. “You feel it?” He frowned, unsure of what she was asking, when he felt it and gasped. A small tap against his palm. The baby had kicked. He met her eyes and grinned, the first genuine smile of his in months.
“Okay,” he admitted, “that was cool.”
“Isn’t it!”
The horse sneezed and he yanked himself back. When he was sure there were no signs of danger he returned to his spot, a little embarrassed by his own reflexes.
“You’re kinda jumpy.”
“You get jumpy when you live the way I’ve lived,” he snapped before he could think about it.
The next minute was too quiet for his taste. Maybe he’d already ruined it. She stepped away and he almost panicked when she walked out of the stall. “Wait, where are you—”
“Relax, I’m just getting something.” She pulled a couple of brushes out of a basket and held them up for emphasis. “Since we’re in here.” He dropped his shoulders. When she came back inside she shoved his hand into a brush. “Serve your community.” He snorted and nodded, but he still must’ve looked confused because she placed her hand over his again, guiding it, and he could only focus on the coolness from the hard brush under his palm contrasting with the warmth from where she met his skin. “Brush in the direction her hair is growing.”
When he made a few strokes on his own she nodded, passing a test, and left him while she worked on the other side. He tried to imitate her long and confident strokes, watching the hair and dirt float in the air. He cleared his throat. “I don’t see you in here very often.”
“I’m in the barn a lot more than you think.”
“Really?”
She pointed to the hayloft above the stalls across from them. “Up there, usually. It’s a good reading spot.” Like he’d know a good reading spot from a bad one. “Or outside in the sun. Or riding. Or in here. It’s just… a good place to think.”
“Hmm.” He wanted to scoff and ask what a girl like her had to think about that required this kind of quiet, but her voice sounded genuine, and she’d been so kind to him. Nothing like their first meeting, he thought. They certainly hadn’t started off on the right foot, and she must’ve wanted to make amends. He wondered what changed. “Why are you helping me?”
For a moment it was just the sound of bristles. And then, “Everyone deserves a chance.”
Well, that was a loaded answer. At least she didn’t say she pitied him. “The only thing I seem to be good at lately is messing up every chance I get, so,” he laughed bitterly. “Steer clear.”
“Well,” she circled around to his side of the horse holding out her hand for him to place his brush, “you haven’t messed this up yet.”
He ducked his head. Her eyes were too bright, too curious, too understanding for him to look at. “We’ll see how long that lasts.”
“Learning is a good start. See?” He hadn’t realized his hand was resting on the horse’s shoulder until she pointed it out. “It’s already making a difference. Maybe I can show you the ropes around here.”
His back straightened, smelling a challenge. It wasn’t like he had anything to prove— he’d lived enough years on his own now to know he was tough enough— but maybe he’d met his match when it came to having a competitive streak. What did he have to lose? The car he slept in? His fabulously decorated permanent record? “I’d probably just slow you down.”
She stepped even closer. “Or you could learn to keep up.”
He raised a brow, finally letting a grin spread over his face. When he nodded once she mirrored his expression. Then she backed away, leaving him in the stall. “See you around, city boy.”
He watched her until she was out of sight, a smile lingering on his lips. Okay, maybe jail was overrated.
#dimya#fanfiction#anastasia broadway#anastasia#my writing#one shot#this is SO niche#not me revealing myself as a horse girl :(#but also look at my url ajsgdhfk#anyway dmitry's a punk i love him
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Breach My Heart and Leave Me Broken
The first time Sirius Black lost Remus Lupin, he was fifteen years old. He spent his time in class staring at the back of Remus's head, doodling hearts and initials on homework assignments, and having imaginary conversations in which Remus admitted he had a thing for rebellious boys who wore leather jackets and could turn into dogs. He composed love poems about things he would never speak of, and he believed in true love.
He was also, to put it kindly, a fucking idiot.
These were Remus’s words, as screamed that fateful morning in the hospital wing as Sirius tried in vain to explain himself.
But how, whispered Remus, voice hoarse and tears pooling in his eyes, could there be any explanation for this? For is it not, when one puts his trust in another, a crime of the greatest measure to betray that trust? To take his secrets and use them for one's playthings?
Perhaps it was desperation that led him to say it. Perhaps it was the way Remus seemed almost like he wanted Sirius to give him a reason that made even the slightest sense. In any case, the last thing he would say to Remus for almost three months were a confession of love that he knew, even as he spoke, would never be taken as anything other than a half-hearted excuse.
That summer, he wrote three letters.
The first was to Remus—a plea for forgiveness, an attempt at explaining that which could not be explained. Hell, he was still trying to figure out why he’d done it, and this seemed the best way to get a grasp on it all. He sent it early one morning when he was still half-asleep, refusing to think about the consequences.
His owl returned the following evening. It carried his letter, the seal unbroken.
The second was similar to the first in nature, if not in recipient. If Remus didn’t want him in his life anymore, James probably wouldn’t either, but it was worth a try.
Years later, drunk and exhausted, James told him that he did read the letter, but then promptly burnt it.
The third, like the first, was to Remus, but as different as could possibly be in every other way. Where the first said ‘please forgive me,’ the third said ‘don’t trust me again.’ Where the first said ‘I promise to do better next time,’ the third said ‘I don’t deserve another chance.’ Where the first said ‘if you care about me at all, you’ll let me back into your life,’ the third said ‘if there’s anything fair about the world, I’ll suffer for this for the rest of my days.’
He sent it immediately after finishing, not bothering to read it over. He would have been surpsised if it was legible, with all the tears soaking the parchment, but this was something Remus needed to know.
To say he was terrified as he passed through the barrier to platform 9 ¾ would be an understatement. His heart was beating out of his chest, his mind racing as he tried not to imagine the ride to Hogwarts in an empty compartment. When James and Peter passed, chatting excitedly, he ducked his head and tried to blend in with his trunk.
He tried not to feel hurt when they either didn’t notice his presence or didn’t acknowledge it.
True to his expectations, the Marauders’ compartment had no room for him. Where he himself usually sat, there was Frank Longbottom, laughing at something James had said. Though he tried not to, Sirius could not help but wish things were back to normal.
As if hearing his thoughts, Remus looked up. Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Sirius tore his gaze away and ducked into an empty compartment, pulling down the blind and blocking out any view of the corridor.
He let his head fall against the window, wondering how he was going to live with his three friends (he had to stop thinking of them like that; they were obviously better off without him) if he wasn’t even allowed to sit with them on the train. Maybe Frank could switch rooms with him. He seemed to have been accepted quickly as part of the group.
The door of the compartment opened a crack. Sirius held his breath, keeping his eyes on the pastures outside.
After a moment, he heard the telltale creak of the door being swung open, and a click as it was shut again.
“I cried.”
“I know.”
He wouldn’t look at Remus. Not if he wanted to retain some semblance of composure.
“I’m not talking about when it happened. I mean when I read the letter.”
“Oh.” It was all he could force out.
“And, fuck, Sirius, you can’t just say something like that and expect to get away with it! You can’t tell me you love me and expect me to be okay with it!”
A tear slipped down Sirius’s cheek. “But I do. I do l—”
“No. No, you don’t.
“Because if you loved me, you wouldn’t’ve told Snape about the willow. You wouldn’t’ve abandoned me afterwards. You certainly wouldn’t’ve sent that letter.
“We’ll talk when you’re over this.”
He was sobbing by the time Remus had left the compartment, practically slamming the door behind him. His face, he knew, was red and blotchy, and his eyelids were growing heavy.
The last thing that Sirius thought before drifting off to sleep was that he had never asked if Remus loved him back.
@hpbrokenhearts
(Leave a ‘broken heart’ in the comments if I made u sad 😊)
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Royal Flour || NCT Jeno
Premise: Y/N is the child of a local baker in a small village within the kingdom's vast circle. While everyone in town is in love with Y/N, the poor child seems to never take notice, committing all of their time to her time to perfecting father's meticulous craft. What happens when the kingdom’s prince first lays his eyes on her?
Pairing: fem! reader x prince! Jeno
WC: 3.5k
Warning: this will be extremely cliche and cringe hehe
__________________________
Y/N hummed to the soft tune that danced into her father's bakery through the open windows. The local string instrument genius was out again like usual, and Y/N was so grateful for the boy who constantly practices out in the courtyard by her house. It gave her so much pleasure to listen to the beautiful tune as she rolled out her millionth dough in her lifetime. Even if it is repetitious, Y/N never saw baking as a chore, the love her father had for it really did transfer straight to her.
"Ah, good morning, Y/N!" Y/N looked up from her pin roller, a gentle smile climbing to her lips.
"Hey, Luna! The usual?"
The girl younger than Y/N by a few years nodded frantically, excited for the steaming, fluffy bread. No one's bread could compete with her father's bakery.
"How has your father been, Y/N?" Luna hummed, looking around the nearly empty shop. It was only the crack of dawn, so it made sense.
"He's recovering, I believe he will be back soon!" Y/N chirped, packaging up five loaves and a few pastries into a large canvas carrier. While Luna used to only get one loaf per two days, the girl now was a daily customer, heaving a whopping five loaves away every day. As a special thanks, Y/N always slipped in extras for Luna, the cute girl had a special place in Y/N's heart.
"That's great to hear. Tell him to get well soon for me, okay!" Luna gave Y/N a sweet look, gratefully accepting the large bag from Y/N.
"Are you sure you will be able to carry those all by yourself, Luna? I can ask a friend to help you. I'd come myself, but I can't leave my father's shop unattended."
Luna waved Y/N's concern off, "Stop worrying, Y/N. I'm capable of this much. I'm off!"
Luna set off to the door, but a question flooded Y/N's mind, "Luna!"
Luna's curly hair spun around, letting the petite girl look back to Y/N.
"I'm just kind of curious. I know all those loaves aren't for your family. Do you give them to someone else?" Y/N was always curious about Luna, she was a complete mystery to her.
Luna winked, "I do give them to someone else. Anyways, I'm late so I really gotta go, see you soon, Y/N!" She gave one last wave before leaving through the large wooden door.
~ ~ ~
Y/N stood over a small stone marking. Nothing within her mind. She set down some flowers, remembering an important person in her life.
"Ah, I see that you're here too." Y/N turned around, not expecting this voice.
"Father? You're not supposed to be out of the infirmary!" The girl chastised, quickly running over to the man who limped her way.
"Ah, you're no fun, Y/N. Besides, those ladies are always so stuck up and nosy. I needed to escape even for a little bit. You have to admit, this is a good reason." Y/N softened, today was her mother's official 20th year passed away. The two always made a point of visiting her mother at least once a year on this day.
Y/N supported her father to her mother's grave, his dear wife's grave. Y/N always felt so bad, her mother passed away while she was in labor with her. The doctors and nurses simply couldn't do anything for her. She only hung on long enough to make sure that her baby was alive and sat before she tragically drew her last breath. A tear flooded into Y/N's eye, it was her fault that such a lovely woman passed away.
"Come on, Y/N. I know exactly what you're thinking right now. The last thing your mother would want you to do is believe that it was all your fault, that you were a mistake. It was a risk that your mother was willing to take, you have no idea how much she loved and cared for you when you were in her belly. Want to know something that she told me, right after she was told that she could either save herself or her baby?" Y/N was silent, tears slowly streaming down her face. She solemnly stared at the tiny stone, the only marking remembering her beautiful mother.
"Yes."
"She told me that you were her greatest accomplishment in life. You were the masterpiece in her life, the only regret your mother had was not being able to see you grow up into the fine woman you have become. You bet your persistent mom is surely watching you from above, smiling and guiding you, just in another form."
Y/N, not able to form a word, simply wrapped her arms around her father. She didn't deserve such amazing parents, even if one wasn't there for her life. She knew her mother was always looking over her.
"Let's get out of here, hm? Mom must be happy that we visited her, but she would be even happier if the two of us stayed safe and happy, right?"
Y/N smiled up at her father's sweet look, "Of course, father. I'll take you back to the infirmary."
Y/N's father grumbled sassily, saying something about those rotten nurses, which Y/N's quickly laughed at.
"They're there to help you, father. Not make your life miserable."
"Says the one who doesn't have to deal with those nagging ladies all day."
(Hmm, why are my eyes sweating?)
~~~
"Breakfast really is the best meal of the day." A male sighed, eating his usual. One hard-boiled egg, a glass of orange juice, and two slices of bread with strawberry jam. He gave a satisfied look to the two ladies in the corner of the room.
"You know, the bread has been amazing lately. Was there a change in the royal baker?" The Prince asked, the two ladies shifted uncomfortably, looking at one another for help. The prince shot a look at the two, weirded out by their odd behavior.
"Yoona, I would also like to know about the baker." The King said, voicing out his son's thoughts.
"U-Uh, well, I don't know the baker personally, may I go figure out for you, your majesty?" Yoona curtseyed to the King quickly rushing out of the room, leaving behind the other maid.
Yoona busted into the kitchen, panic written all over her form.
"WE HAVE A PROBLEM." Yoona screamed, bringing the whole cooking staff to a halt, alarmed by Yoona's exclamation.
"What's wrong, Yoona?" A cute looking girl walked over to the older girl, waiting for her response.
"Who's that baker you always buy from?"
Luna's eyebrows shot up, not expecting this, "From a father, now his daughter, that sell bread in the middle of my village. Her bread is the best, right? I bet the royals love it!" Luna gave Yoona a thumbs up, clearly excited. Yoona, on the other hand was a lot less impressed.
"Yeah, they love it. A little too much I dare say. They want to know who the royal baker is!" Yoona exclaimed once again, leaving everyone a little more nervous than before.
"Huh, yeah we don't have one of those." Luna said, rubbing her chin with her fingers. Yoona desperately wanted to slap her forehead at the girl's innocence.
"Yeah, no duh. What do we do?" Yoona hissed. Another cook came forward, being the head of the staff.
"Well, we have two options. We either tell the truth that we have just been buying from a village baker for a little while, or we fake it till we make it."
"So, it's either that we piss them off now, or we piss them off later..."
Yoona, Luna, and the head cook all looked at one another, making a clear decision. Luna sighed, "Huhh, fine. I'll come clean..."
~~~
It was now later in the day and Luna was nervously twiddling her fingers behind her back. She looked down at her maid's uniform, waiting for her demise.
"Luna, I don't remember you being a baker?" The Queen remarked, hearing that Luna came to announce the arrival of the royal baker.
Luna hummed, ready to make the big reveal, "Well, your Majesties, there is actually not currently a royal baker." Silence effectively ensued. The King and Queen that were both sitting on their thrones were utterly confused.
"And how could that be, Luna? Who supplies that bakery items then?" The King said gently. Luna sighed.
"I've been buying from a small baker from my home village. It's the Heights District your majesties."
"Why didn't you just hire that baker, Luna? It's much easier than buying from this baker every day?"
The king and queen were taking this a lot better than Luna expected. She didn't want to even think about trying to persuade Y/N from leaving her father's bakery for the royal's kitchen. That task is virtually impossible, and that was Luna's specialty.
"Ah, well the bakers consist of only a father, who is currently in the hospital with a leg injury, and a daughter who has taken over. So-"
"How lovely! We can pay a lot more for her services here I bet. Miss Luna, please convince this amazing baker to come work for us!" The queen gleamed, Luna deadpanned inwardly. The queen was always... a bit of a ditz.
"She will be a bit hard to convince, though, you're majesties."
"Hmm, then bring my son. He is a very good persuader as you know. Now, run along. Hopefully I have good news by tomorrow." The king gave her a look, basically saying that this decision was final. Luna bit her bottom lip, but nodded nonetheless, waltzing out of the room.
She ran down the hallways, out to the expansive pastures behind the royal's castle.
"Your Highness!" Luna yelled, flailing her arms around like a mad man.
The prince, who was on horseback with his companion, quickly trotted over to the small girl, slightly frightening her.
"Is something wrong, Luna?" The prince questioned the girl who seemed like a little ant compared to him on horseback.
"Your parents ordered for me to take to you to my village to hire a baker."
The princes eyebrows raised, why was this his job to complete with a maid?
"It's a hopeless task for me. Your parents said to bring you along to maybe make the baker a part of the royal staff."
The prince sighed, the baker did bake some hella good bread. While he had a lot of questions, he shoved them down for now, trotting back over to his partner from before.
"Princess Mina, I have to depart early today. Sorry for the sudden interruption."
"But Prince-"
"Sorry." He said louder, stopping the princess who yaps like a chihuahua before she could even start. How could his parents even make him attempt to love this... desperate creature.
He quickly departed with Luna as soon as he could.
~~~
"Would you like to take the carriage your-"
"Let's walk, Luna. And besides, how many times do I have to tell you to address me by my name when we are in private?" The prince questioned with a playful smirk as the two finally set out on foot.
"But-"
"Luna." The prince growled.
"Fine... Jeno..."
The crowned prince, Jeno, gave her a fluffy smile, ruffling his hand through her hair. The two were close from a young age, but they also had to hide their close friendship from a young age as well. Once upon a time, Jeno had a large crush on the girl, but she viciously rejected it, saying that she only saw him as an older brother. While he thought he could win her over, he quickly gave in to her wishes as she was quite the stubborn girl.
"So, tell me about this baker, Luna."
Luna smirked, knowing how Jeno would react when he met the girl.
"Mmm, I'm not going to tell you." She said, causing Jeno to give her a deadly glare.
"You know who you're talking to, right?"
Luna shrugged, giving the boy an innocent look, "I thought you said we were friends when we were in private?"
Jeno quietly huffed, looking away, "Fair enough."
The two talked for their decently long journey, about this or that, about their childhood, anything.
"Man, you walk a long journey every day... Why don't you just live in the headquarters?" Jeno asked as they entered Luna's village.
"Ever heard of having a family?" She said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. Jeno rolled his eyes, "Hmm, okay then."
Luna saw Y/N's bakery sign up ahead, it's go time.
"Alright, we are here, Prince."
"I thought I told you-"
Luna ignored him, swinging the bakery's door open, the smell of bread smacking the prince in the face.
"Hello, Y/N! Are you here?" Luna called out as Jeno stepped into the small, but cozy shop behind the girl. He looked around, kind of confused why Luna called out a girl's name. He thought that the baker was supposed to be an older man, according to Luna at least.
"Ah, hello, Luna! You're never here around this time!" A beautiful voice called out, a youthful girl came out of nowhere, surprising Jeno.
Wow...
She's absolutely gorgeous...
Jeno's jaw dropped as he saw the girl fiddle around quickly with some equipment, taking pastries and bread out of a stone oven. Luna smirked, she knew this would happen. Y/N wasn't the village sweetheart for nothing.
Y/N finally turned around, swipping her hands over her floury apron. Her eyes widened when she saw the male standing next to Luna.
"You never told me that you had a boyfriend!" Y/N said joyfully, going on about how Luna was such a mystery. Jeno was so taken aback by her sheer beauty that he couldn't even say anything at the moment.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Y/N, the daughter of the baker who owns this place. He's currently unable to work, so I've been handling the place." Y/N offered her hand for a handshake, completely oblivious as to who Jeno was.
Luna paled as Jeno simply looked down at the baker's outstretched hand.
"A-Ah! No, Y/N!" Luna yanked the confused girl's hand away, giving a nervous glance toward Jeno.
"Well, we have come to explain something to you."
Y/N tilted her head, but complied.
"I just pulled out a batch of pastries, so why don't you two sit down for a little?"
Y/N brought the two to a small wooden table among the few that they had there. There really wasn't enough space...
Jeno gave Luna a glare immediately after Y/N left.
"You didn't plan on telling me that the baker was a girl my age?" He hissed, keeping his eyes on Y/N to make sure that she wasn't close.
Luna smirked, sipping on the water that Y/N provided to the both of them, "What's the big deal? I thought you were courting Princess Mina right now?" Luna smiled, knowing she was getting on the boys nerves. He was about to retort when some pastries were set in front of the two.
The both looked up to see Y/N standing, staring at the two, probably waiting from them to start.
"Aren't you going to sit with us, Y/N?" Luna said, her features scrunching up.
"No, you two are my honorary customers, so I couldn't possibly sit with you."
Jeno's eyes widened, Luna nor Jeno brought money with them. He heard Y/N chuckle.
"You two aren't paying today, it's on me."
Jeno's heart melted, everything about her...
"Ahem." Luna interjected between Jeno and Y/N's little staring contest.
"So, first of all, bring a darn seat to sit in, Y/N." Luna said with full authority. Y/N sighed, giving in.
"I've noticed that you have been wondering what I do, right Y/N?"
Y/N nodded, full of enthusiasm.
"I work for the royal palace."
Y/N's eyes widened, "Wow, that's so cool, Luna!"
"But, I've been kind of feeding your bread and pastries to the royal family... without telling them it was yours.”
Y/N nodded, a frown forming on her lips, "Did they think it was good?" Luna gasped, thinking that Y/N was going to be furious after hearing the news. But she took it in the most ideal way possible.
Jeno was surprised by her lack of enthusiasm after hearing the news, it's not every day that someone in their kingdom had the honor of having their items or goods used by the royals. There were lines ready to get the royal's approval to gain attraction to their businesses.
Luna nodded, "Y-Yeah, so much in fact that the cooking staff had a panic attack because you are sorta technically the royal baker at this moment..."
Y/N's eyes widened, "You guys don't have a royal baker? How unfortunate... I'd be willing to continue to send my products to their highnesses." Y/N then smiled, directing her smile to Jeno.
Jeno blushed, he'd much rather she become his future wife instead...
"Hmm, the thing is that the king and queen personally requested that you become the royal baker, though..." Luna said, tentatively. Y/N was silent for a moment, Jeno nervously awaited her answer.
"It's an honor, but I'm going to have to politely decline.
~~~
Jeno sighed as he sat down for breakfast the very next morning. He saw that very same loaf of bread from the pretty baker in Luna's village.
Y/N.
Everything about her made Jeno's mind go crazy. She was polite, hard-working, kind, slightly quirky, and had a sweet personality. He so desperately wanted to get to know her, but that would be difficult as she was too difficult to sway when it came down to the decision. He wanted her here, but he also understood why she wanted to stay at her bakery.
Jeno sighed once again, chomping down on the bread freshly made this morning, oh how much he would rather see her face than the product from her hands.
"Son, is something bothering you?"
Jeno looked up to his father giving him a stern look, he straightened up from his slumped position by his food. He gave his father a look, "I'm fine, your highness."
"You look unwell, dear." His mother cooed, concerned for his well being. He was being so difficult just at the thought of the girl.
"You have an engagement with Princess Yeeun today, Son. You better freshen up so that she doesn't see you in your miserable state."
Jeno huffed, while he was fine with Yeeun, he really didn't see her as someone he would spend the rest of his life with. He hated the tradition of engagements and decided who would be best to continue the royal lineage. There were so many girls that wanted to marry him, but just did not take a liking to any of them.
Later in the day, after his 'date' with Yeeun, Jeno walked out into the rose garden, looking around at the blooming flowers. Y/N reminded him of these flowers, maybe if he ever saw her again he could escort her through the gardens one day.
"Prince."
Jeno looked up from his place in the garden, watching a smirking Luna walking his direction.
"What is it, Luna?" He said as she neared him.
"Thinking about a certain someone?" She said, poking some fun at him. He choked, not quite understanding what she could be on about.
"Luna, the only people I think about are my parents and my horse."
Luna rolled her eyes, looking down at the flower that Jeno was cupping in his hand. A gentle smile rose to her thin lips, "First of all, a horse is not a human. Secondly, I saw the way you oogled at Y/N, Jeno. You can't fool me."
"And so what, I'm never going to have her, so why even think about it?"
Luna sighed as she saw Jeno's face gradually go sour. A thought popped up in her mind.
"Why don't you invite her to the King's birthday party?"
Jeno shot his head up, eyes wide. He looked down at his petite friend.
"A-Ah well, I'm going to have to deal with all of my potential suitors, though..."
"So what? I know you could give her a dance. Besides, I'll take her for the rest of the night. You can mingle with all you're girls you want, but her presence will show you how dumb you are."
"How dumb I am?" He barked, causing Luna to chuckle, "Yeah, how dumb you are for not trying to get her. I know your parents are strict, but why not try to court her? At least get to know her. Your dumb face showed me that you fell in love with her immediately after she opened her mouth."
Jeno blushed, why could Luna always read him like a damn book. He thought he was so sly about it.
"I don't know, Luna."
"Well, I'll invite her then."
Jeno gave her a look, "You little snot..."
"All in your best interest, Prince. Besides, every single guy in town wants to court her, and she's coming to an age where her father is starting to ask her about marriage. I'd stomp out your competition before someone does actually whisk her feet off the ground. Just a fruit for thought, though. See you later, Jeno."
Luna turned around, waving to him lazily before departing. Jeno looked down, Luna always had these crazy ideas in her head, but maybe this time it would actually work out? Or it could cause a war between the neighboring kingdoms...
Just a fruit for thought, huh?
_____________________________________
Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3
Hunnyuwu
^Jeno is a prince and no one can tell me otherwise:)
#lee jeno#nct imagines#nct x y/n#nct dream#nct jeno#jeno#jeno imagines#nct 127#neowritingsnet#jaemin#na jaemin#nct x reader#jeno x y/n#nct jaemin
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restless & wreckless | VDS | 8/8
This is the last chapter, guys! Thanks for reading along.
*
“Hey! You escaped imprisonment!”
Lucas smiled as Kes’ face popped up on the laptop screen, eyeliner smudged and dark hair falling in his eyes, jostled around as Jayden shoved his face next to Kes’.
“Oh my God, Luc! We thought you were dead.”
Shifting on his stomach, Lucas rolled his eyes at his friends, shoving the laptop a little further away on the bed, glancing up at the pitter-pat of rain on his window.
“If anyone asks, I’m doing homework,” he said as Kes and Jayden laughed and Jayden peered through the screen.
“Wait? Is that a nose ring? Bro! I can’t believe you did it without us.”
“Well, you weren’t here.” Lucas didn’t mean for it to come out quite so harshly, and he knew it had when Kes frowned. “I don’t wanna talk about what’s happening here. How’ve you been surviving without me?”
Lucas turned at a noise at his door, but his dad didn’t barge in, so he must be safe for now. He still didn’t have his phone, and Lucas was half-tempted to just get a cheap burner phone so at least he could text Kes and Jayden. Without them, he didn’t have anyone to talk to. Especially since he’d effectively shoved Jens out of his life.
“We’ve been suffering,” Jayden said, clearly sarcastic, grinning when Kes shoved him and the screen shook. They were outside somewhere, but Lucas couldn’t see much beyond their faces.
“It sucks without you,” Kes said seriously, pouting through the screen. “Are you at least doing fun things there? Hanging out with anyone?”
Scowling, Lucas shook his head. “There’s no one worth hanging out with here.”
Except Jens.
Shaking away the thought, Lucas focused on the way Kes paused.
“I’m glad you’re not in a rush to replace us,” he said slowly. “But you’ve gotta talk to somebody or you’ll go crazy.”
Frowning, Lucas didn’t answer. There was Jens, but he’d pretty much screwed that up. Even if he wanted to fix it, he was pretty sure Jens wouldn’t want to talk to him again.
“What about guys?” Jayden butted in when Lucas didn’t reply. “We know how you go through ‘em. There’s gotta be some hot guy you want to bang.”
Lucas didn’t even sigh at Jayden’s total lack of tact.
“No,” he said finally, and Kes eyed him through the screen as Jayden’s eyebrows rose as high as they could go.
“That was a suspicious no,” Kes said, and Lucas scoffed.
“It was just a word.”
“Luc,” Kes said, and Lucas was reminded why he didn’t video chat with people. Kes could always read him, even through a screen.
Pushing himself into a sitting position, Lucas ran a hand through his hair as he glanced out the window. The sky had been grey all day, alternating between rain and a persistent mist.
“There was someone,” he admitted begrudgingly as Kes and Jayden stared at him. “But it was nothing. Just a hook up.”
“And you’re being all cryptic because…”
“I’m not.” Lucas scowled. “I don’t tell you about everyone I hook up with.”
“Since when?” Kes demanded, laughing. “You even told us about that guy who came on to you at a fry stand.”
Jens wasn’t any different than any of those guys. Except that he actually liked Lucas, had told him so, had been willing to come out to his friends so they could be more than just a hook-up.
“Luc?” Kes asked when Lucas didn’t reply, biting his lip. As much as he hated admitting it, he had to tell someone. And who better than his best friends?
“I panicked,” he muttered after a long pause, staring at his comforter instead of Kes and Jayden on the screen. “He told me he liked me and I… I didn’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay,” Kes said quietly, and Lucas chanced a glanced up. “We’ve all been there.” He paused. “Well, maybe not Jayden.”
“Hey!” Jayden objected.
“But if he likes you, you can still fix it.”
Lucas wouldn’t even know where to start, if he wanted to start. If he fixed things with Jens, where would that leave him? With a boyfriend? He’d never thought of himself as the type, had never had anyone who wanted to try, wouldn’t know what to do, how to act.
“Lucas! Are you done with your homework?” His dad’s voice grew louder as it came down the hall and Lucas grimaced.
“I gotta go,” he said quickly, ending the call and cutting off Kes and Jayden’s shouted goodbyes.
Not a second too soon as his door opened without a knock and his dad frowned at the internet window open on his laptop.
“If you’re not going to use it for homework, I’m taking it back.”
Lucas merely glared as he dad turned and left the room. He was sick of being cooped up here with only his mistakes to think about. At least with Jens, he’d had something to look forward to. Something he could count on. Maybe that was what it would be. Maybe it didn’t have to be movies and sharing straws at cafes. Maybe it wouldn’t be any of those things Lucas had come to assume came with relationships, those things he didn’t know how to do, if he’d be any good at it. The only thing he knew for sure was that he’d fucked up with Jens.
Sliding off his bed, Lucas pulled open his bedroom door, listening. The television was on in the living room, and when he reached the end of the hall, he could see his dad and Katelijn watching some nature documentary. There was a clear path to the front door, and his eyes fell on his dad’s keys hung up beside it.
Careful, Lucas sneaked behind the couch, moving quietly to the front hall where he slid the key from its hook and edged out the front door, shutting it slowly.
Down the stairs and out the front door, he took a deep breath, cold air chilling his lungs. Smirking to himself, he swung the keys in his fingers. He figured his dad owed him for keeping his phone so long.
The car sat on the pavement and Lucas slid in without even checking over his shoulder for his dad. As he pulled away, turned the corner, Lucas felt the unease growing, the second-thoughts creeping in. He had to do it, though. He had to at least clear the air or he’d never get over it.
At Jens’ house, Lucas sat in the car for a minute, debating whether or not this was actually a good idea. But he’d never been one to take his own advice, so he got out of the car and climbed up the tree to Jens’ window without letting himself rethink.
Jens’ curtains were parted, and Lucas could see him lying on his bed, typing something on his phone, and for a second, he hesitated. This could be a terrible idea.
Shaking himself, he knocked on the window, drawing Jens’ attention from his phone, seeing the crease in his brow as he slid off the bed and moved over to the window.
“What are you doing?” Jens asked as he got it open, and Lucas didn’t crawl inside, lingering on the roof.
“I stole my dad’s car,” he said, nodding his head at the green little car on the street. “Let’s go.”
Jens didn’t move, staring at him as though he’d lost it. “Why would I go anywhere with you?”
“Jens,” Lucas said instead, watching him, hoping he could understand without him having to say it, without him having to explain. It was going to be hard enough to get the rest out.
For a second, Jens didn’t react except to frown, eyes moving from Lucas to the car on the street and back.
“Fine. But I’m not climbing out my own window. I’ll be down in a minute.”
It was unexpected relief as Jens shut the window and Lucas took a second to take a breath before shimmying down the tree. One thing done.
*
Countryside rolled past the windows, grey sky making everything dark, green grass and cows. Lucas didn’t really know where they were, just that they weren’t in the city anymore.
“We are gonna stop before we get to France, right?” Jens asked, half a joke, watching him from the passenger seat.
Lucas didn’t reply, watching the streaks left behind by the windshield wipers. He hadn’t exactly had a plan, dragging Jens out here, wherever <i>here</i> was. He’d half expected Jens to say no to coming at all, but apparently Jens was just as reckless as he was.
He heard Jens’ sigh beside him, saw how he turned in his seat from the corner of his eye.
“Are you going to say anything?” he asked finally, eyebrows furrowed when Lucas glanced his way. Shaking his head, he bit his lip. “You show up at my house with your dad’s stolen car and ask me to come with you. And what? Now we’re just not gonna talk?”
Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, Lucas frowned.
He didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good at explaining himself, talking about how he felt, even figuring out what he felt. He’d hoped they could just magically move on, move forward? He wasn’t really sure.
At another of Jens’ sighs, Lucas pulled the car off the side of the road, facing a pasture where a cow watched them for a moment before ambling on. Raindrops dotted the windshield as they sat there and Lucas took a breath.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say,” he said finally, avoiding Jens’ gaze. Long green grass rippled in the wind outside the car, and Lucas wished he could just get out and pretend he’d never thought this was a good idea.
“You could say you didn’t mean to freak out on me,” Jens offered, and Lucas frowned.
“But I did mean to. I mean—” Grimacing, he sighed at the steering wheel. It was frustrating, the feelings swelling inside him, what he knew he was supposed to say, how he was supposed to fix this, his inability to put any of it into words even as they sat there, completely alone with no one around to hear them. “I don’t know.”
“You know,” Jens said after a second, running a hand through his hair as he gazed out the window. “You have a hard exterior, but underneath, you’re soft and gooey like the rest of us.”
Lucas frowned instead of answering. What the hell did that mean?
Jens glanced at him. “I’m not expecting a declaration of love or something. I already told you I like you. You’re the one who broke it off. So if we’re out here for just a hook-up, I’d rather go home.”
Chewing on his cheek, Lucas paused. That wasn’t why they’d come out here. Why was it so hard to just tell Jens? Because everything would change. Everything would be different. He would be different. And he wasn’t sure he wanted that.
“Fuck you, I didn’t bring you out here for a hook-up,” he muttered finally, and maybe it came off too harsh as Jens’ eyebrows went up.
“Then why are we here?”
“I don’t know,” Lucas said, jerking his shoulders, more annoyed at himself than anything. “I thought maybe—” He huffed out a breath, knowing Jens was watching him. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”
He glanced over as Jens sat back, licking his lip slowly, thoughtfully. Why couldn’t Jens just know? Why did Lucas have to say it?
“You want to know why I had to move here?” he asked finally, watching a light blink on the dash. He knew Jens was watching him, waiting for some kind of explanation. “I didn’t set anything on fire or get in a fight with a bunch of homophobes.” He hadn’t done any of those things, those rumors, that had floated around school about him. He swallowed, staring out the front window at the rain gathering on the glass. “My mom had a breakdown, and they had to send her to a clinic. I tried to… break in, see her, but I got caught. My dad was so pissed and since he was moving here anyway, he forced me to come with him, forced me to leave her.”
Lucas hadn’t talked about it, about his mom, not even really with Kes. It had been months and he hadn’t even gotten to see her. Visiting hours were so short and his dad didn’t seem to want to acknowledge it at all.
For a long minute, Jens didn’t say anything as Lucas sighed. He hadn’t planned on telling anyone the real reason, had planned on letting them make up their own increasingly wild theories about what had happened so they’d leave him alone. But Jens had come with him, jumped in the car with barely a second glance, deserved something to explain why Lucas did the things he did.
“Shit,” Jens said finally, and Lucas almost laughed. So succinct. So simple. Shit. “Is she okay? You know, Robbe’s mom was in a clinic for a while. She got out and she’s doing a lot better.”
Lucas didn’t care about Robbe’s mom. He didn’t care about whatever advice Jens might have on the subject. That wasn’t why he’d driven them all the way out there, to the middle of nowhere.
“I didn’t want to come here,” Lucas said instead. “I didn’t want to move here, make friends, try to fit in. I just want to get this year over with.”
Jens nodded slowly. “So then why the hell are we out here?”
Sighing, Lucas set his hands on the steering wheel, the windshield obscured by water droplets, reflecting the green field beyond the car. Jens wasn’t going to make this easy, and he didn’t deserve it to be easy.
“Because I like you,” Lucas said, blunt, feeling his heart crawling into his throat, an unbidden thud against his Adam’s apple, as though he was actually nervous. He didn’t think he’d ever said that to anyone before.
Jens didn’t react to that, chewing on his lip, tilting his head to the side, and Lucas cursed to himself as his blood pounded in his veins. “You like me,” he repeated after a second. “And do you want to be with me?”
Lucas frowned. He wasn’t sure how things like this were supposed to go. Most of the time, he didn’t have to say anything. People just understood. “Yes,” he said finally, “but—”
“No buts,” Jens interrupted, a smile growing on his face, and Lucas shot him a look.
“But,” he pushed on, “I don’t know what that means. I don’t know how to…” He shook his head. “I hate those gross couples who make everything about them. What exactly does together mean?”
Jens looked surprised at Lucas’ response. He didn’t see how it was so surprising. His only relationship role models were either his parents, who had lasted all of fifteen unhappy years together before imploding, or his friends, who went through girlfriends at a surprising speed.
“It’s different for everyone,” Jens said finally. “My last girlfriend, we spent most of our time making out or fighting. We don’t have to do what other couples do, or we can do all of it. There are no rules on how to be together.” He paused, watching Lucas. “Is that what freaks you out? Having to be like everyone else?”
“No.” Lucas scowled, although the thought had occurred to him.
Jens smiled, though, as if he knew Lucas wasn’t telling the truth. “Okay. Well, we’ve established that you like me, and you want to be with me, so I have a question for you.”
Unimpressed, Lucas looked back at Jens, the rain-streaked window behind him obscuring the field. How many more questions could he have? How much longer was he going to drag this out for? Lucas had admitted how he felt, what he wanted. Maybe he hadn’t acknowledged that he’d screwed up, but he thought it was pretty obvious.
“Are you gonna kiss me or do I have to do it?”
Rolling his eyes, Lucas didn’t hesitate this time, leaning over and pulling Jens to his mouth. It felt like nothing had changed as Jens smiled against his lips and dragged him closer, exhaling gently as their lips parted and met again. Warmth blossomed in his chest, an unusually good feeling accompanying the way he kissed Jens slowly.
“Is that a smile?” Jens teased when they parted, and Lucas shoved his shoulder.
“Shut up.”
Jens paused for a second, licking his lips, hand still on the back of Lucas’ neck, eyes sincere as he caught Lucas’. “I get this is not going to be anything resembling normal, but I’m okay with that.”
Lucas couldn’t stop the small smile at his lips as he let out a breath. This wasn’t how he’d expected moving here to go, that he’d ever meet someone like Jens—someone he actually liked, someone who wasn’t terrible in this stupid place, someone who rightfully called him out on his bullshit.
Lucas kissed Jens against instead of answering, hoping that might be enough to convey everything he was feeling, all the words he couldn’t say, and he felt Jens’ arms slide around his shoulders, warm and safe.
“So,” Jens said finally when their lips were sore, hands heavy, smiles easy. “Where are we going?”
“I have no idea,” Lucas replied. “And I still don’t have my phone, so we’ll have to find the way back ourselves.”
“We’ll be fine,” Jens assured him as Lucas started the car back up.
As they pulled onto the road, Lucas couldn’t help sighing, content. They would be fine.
“Do you even have a license?” Jens asked as they zoomed down the road, and Lucas smirked as he glanced over, placing an easy hand on Jens’ thigh.
“No.”
*
FIN.
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Prompt: Anne/Gilbert courting they’re in Anne’s room and then marilla returns so Gilbert has to sneak out lol!
OKAY HERE WE GO! I actually finished something for once! It is TOO LONG and SELF INDULGENT and I had the BEST TIME! A few people have expressed interest in this (madmen, all), so I’ll tag you in then post with a cut, or you could rock on over to read it on Ao3! @platonic-oxymoron, @jump-on-winds-back, @chocolatelatte121, @andim-pirate, @neliel-deathberry
So without further ado (or only the brief ado it takes me to figure out how to cut on desktop)…
Summer had arrived in Avonlea. In all truth, summer had arrived in Avonlea several weeks earlier, but the inclement internal weather of Anne’s life of late had rendered the view rather cloudy from her window for a while there, and so perhaps it was better to say that summer had arrived—finally—in Anne.
And what a summer it was.
The Snow Queen had advanced her reach so far that year that, with Anne’s window thrown open to the warm breeze, her outermost boughs reached past the casement and allowed the scent of blossoms to settle without having to do the tremendous injustice of cutting any sprigs loose. In the deliciously lazy few hours after lunch, the sun was in its prime and perfect position to extend its rays into the gable room, that so beloved tree stepping in again to render the light not sharp or overbright, but soft and golden and glorious, throwing shifting patterns on the floorboards. All the air was warm, perhaps under other circumstances too warm but with the light wind, the shade being indoors offered, the lack of necessity—there, in her own space—for long thick stockings or fussy aprons, no one to tell her to roll her sleeves back down her arms, rather than oppressive the afternoon seemed sweet, a little sticky but not unpleasantly so, stretching out slow and endless like toffee.
The house was quiet, Matthew tending the back field and Marilla having retreated to Rachel’s for the afternoon, leaving Anne alone but for the beating embodiment of her sudden shift in seasonal outlook, making himself quite at home as he lay, barefoot and trousers rolled to the knee, nose in a book with his head hanging upside-down off the edge of Anne’s bed.
He had more freckles, in the summer. Anne could count them all, if she wished to, but for the moment found herself quite content to sit propped up against the footboard, a book of her own in her lap, watching.
Well. Almost content.
“I don’t believe for a moment that actually works.”
“Sure it works,” came Gilbert’s reply as he lazily turned a page, the book obscuring his face for a moment though she could hear the smile in his words. “The brain needs oxygen to function, oxygen is carried in the blood, blood is as amenable to the affects of gravity as anything else, therefore: lying upside-down makes your brain work better.”
“There’s a logical fallacy in there somewhere, I can smell it.”
“Oh can you?” Gilbert asked, the smile in his voice broadening. “Where?”
“Don’t know,” Anne replied with a sigh, flicking a strand of hair out of her eyes. “It’s too hot to think: ask me again in Autumn.”
“I strongly suspect neither of us will remember to raise the argument again come Autumn.”
Anne snorted. “Me, miss an opportunity to point out a flaw in your intellectual argument? I think not.”
“Well that’s true,” Gilbert agreed, his smile finally reappearing to Anne’s eyes as well as her ears as he set his book down, still open, on his chest. Blinking at her a few times (and looking rather comical doing so, being as he was upside down), he sighed. “I’ve been reading the same three pages for half an hour and I don’t think I’ve taken in a word of it.”
“Probably too much oxygen to the brain,” she quipped back, before setting her own book aside. “I never would have thought there was any circumstance that could deter me from the written word, but even I am struggling to process much from the page on so compellingly syrupy an afternoon,” Anne said, swallowing down a yawn and swinging her legs round so that she could lie back besides Gilbert, eyes drifting shut. “It’s like bathwater: I just want to fall asleep.”
“If you fall asleep now you won’t tonight, and then you’ll have hell to pay from Marilla when you refuse to get up in the morning.”
“Oh why should we get up in the morning, anyway? There’s so much day to be getting on with at the moment, surely some small portion of it could be given over to that most delightful and rare of luxuries that is the lie-in?”
“I thought mornings were for chores around here,” Gilbert said with the grin of one allowed entirely free reign over his own comings and goings.
Anne groaned. “Oh don’t, it’s summer: a season much too romantical to be tainted by the likes of laundry before ten in the morning. And don’t think I can’t feel your smugness without looking at you, Bash keeps you on entirely too long a leash.”
“Hey, I do laundry!”
“You do laundry precisely when you do everything, which is at whichever point in the day suits you. I love Marilla with the depth and wholeness of my heart, but Lord in Heaven does the woman love a schedule. I swear, once I have my teaching certificate and the promise of endless, uninterrupted summers, I won’t be getting out of bed before eleven a single day of them. I won’t even sleep that long, I’ll just wake up and stay in bed for hours and hours and hours, simply because I can.”
Gilbert’s grin softened at this, all teasing and fond. “I don’t reckon you could last ten minutes in bed after waking up without being bored to tears.”
“I certainly could,” Anne insisted, warming to her theme. “I’d keep a veritable mountain of books on my bedside table and spend the whole morning just reading. Maybe I wouldn’t even bother with a bedside table: just pile up all my books on the floor and balance my coffee on top of them.”
“If you don’t plan on getting out of bed,” Gilbert began slowly, clearly aware that he was walking into a trap and full of the imminent delight of being thus caught, “how do you suppose you’ll be getting ahold of coffee?”
Anne paused, then rolled her head ever so slightly to the side and cut a pointed and speculative glance at Gilbert.
The beaming, boyish smile that overcame his face was thrilled.
Gotcha.
“Now that seems decidedly unfair.”
“Well,” Anne sniffed, returning her gaze to the ceiling. “Doctors don’t get summer holidays.”
“That is a sore wound and rubbing salt in it is actually very cruel.”
“Oh how you shall suffer, upheld as you shall be as a paragon of upright gentlemanliness wherever you go—”
“I’ve no doubt you plan to make that very difficult.”
“Positively fawned over by your grateful patients bringing you flowers and cakes and… and jars of various preserves—”
“From which you will get equal if not greater enjoyment, so you are, in advance, welcome.”
“People naming their dear children after you—”
“God, I hope not.”
Anne pulled up short at that, snapped out of the playful exchange as she turned again to Gilbert with a frown. “Well what’s that supposed to mean?”
His face screwed up in evident distaste. “We have to swear an oath, you know: Do no harm. Not sure I’d be able to say I was honouring my promise if my presence lead some poor child to being named Gilbert.”
“What’s wrong with Gilbert?” Anne asked, contrarily offended on his behalf. “I like it.”
He gave her a look that suggested she might have gone quite mad.
“Well I do! I don’t think I’d considered it all that much prior to coming to Avonlea, and… I will admit for a while it did prompt a thrill of what I generally assumed to be rage, but now… names are just words for people, aren’t they? Gilbert is the word that means you, so naturally it has to be one of my very favourites.”
Again his faced softened, became something that wasn’t exactly a smile but was so unflinchingly open, so tender, Anne was of half a mind to look away. She didn’t.
“You know,” he said, absently tangling their fingers together on Anne’s faded quilt, “for someone who seems to relish in being mean to me you can be incredibly sweet when the spirit moves you.”
Anne shrugged. “I contain multitudes.”
Like that, the broad, delighted grin was back. “That’s Whitman—Song of Myself.”
“I know. I might have to wait until sunset at the moment but I have managed to do some reading.”
“And you chose to read Whitman.”
“Of course,” Anne said, genuinely a little baffled that he seemed so very pleased by the fact, as though it wasn’t obvious the copy of Leaves of Grass would leap directly to the top of her extensive to read list the moment he placed it in her hands. “I know it means a lot to you.”
He simply blinked at her for several moments, before his mouth went crooked in a wry smirk. “I might start handing you copies of The Lancet, just to see if you could force yourself through all that dull writing.”
Anne, forsaking for a moment the mantle of a mature young woman, stuck out her tongue. “Now who’s mean?”
“I suppose we’re equal.”
“Well then, rejoice old world, for all is as it should be.”
He squeezed her hand, his eyes soft and brown-sugar warm, something in them that, even in the summer, always seemed to remind her of Christmas. He smiled. “Yeah.”
Anne wasn’t sure, with all the years and years of promise she had ahead of her in order to test the truth of such a belief, that she’d ever grow accustomed to this part. For all the marvellous, sweeping romances she’d read through the years not one of them had ever truly provided any great detail on a kiss, shying away into the vagaries of metaphor which, while lovely, paled in comparison to the focus and specificity of the real thing, and to that entire grand pasture (until recently existing entirely unbeknownst to Anne even in her wildest imaginings) of all that was around a kiss in and of itself.
For example, this: those breathless moments leading up to it, wherein contact became an inevitability and yet still—even after several seemingly eternal weeks of increasing familiarisation with one another—the thrill of nerves, the restless, impatient aching in the palms, the sides of the neck, the small of the spine that those eyes, suddenly heavy, brought forth in her. The fading out of the outside world, only ‘fading out’ wasn’t quite right, it was more like fading in, all the focus that had been spared for other things narrowing its scope (and how could she ever have imagined that a narrowing of scope might bring such a rush of muchness!) until all it encompassed was her, and him, and them—this thing that they became together, united in purpose and humming like one of Miss Stacey’s wires, the length and breadth of them startling and electric and alive.
God, he hadn’t even touched her yet. Perhaps attempting this with their heads hanging off the edge of the bed wasn’t their wisest of plans: the whole thing left her light-headed enough when she was the right way up.
Still, Anne had never been one to back down from a bad idea, and Gilbert had never once tried to dissuade her—only ever asked for the chance to join in.
He asked her now, with the tilt of his head, his breath warm in the already warm room, the soft downturn of his softer eyelashes blurred to dark brown smoke from this close (and he really was terribly good at getting that close without Anne entirely realising it was happening. Probably she should ask how he did it, but really she already knew that the answer was magic).
Anne, as she was so often inclined to do where he was concerned (now that she had allowed her inclinations the free reign they rightly deserved) said yes.
Oh, she was certain she’d never get used to this.
It started soft, as it usually did, the barest brush of lips that sparked and made her breath catch, reminded her that she was breathing at all. His fingers, still intertwined with her own, tightened their grip involuntarily, and even with her eyes closed Anne could feel the furrow of his brow, that little line of concentration and control that baited her, bothered deliciously at her until she inevitably managed to soothe it flat, until he relaxed and melted into it like clay under her hands.
That wasn’t just yet, though: that part came a little later.
For now it was delicate and fluttering, not indecisive but unhurried, a little awed. There was no reason, Anne had concluded, no reason at all why placing one’s mouth on someone else’s ought to be so thrilling to every last thread of her, except for the fact that every point of contact, every movement of his lips against her own (a little firmer, now, a little longer, a little more intent) sang with the knowledge that this was Gilbert, Gilbert with the good heart and the gentle hands and the lopsided smile and the brilliant mind, and that that mind had chosen in that moment to put his mouth to her, to kiss her this way and then that, that of all the things that he could have elected to be doing right then it was kissing her that he wanted… that was where the thrill lay. Kissing in general, she supposed, might well be fine enough, but kissing Gilbert…
He shifted his attentions from Anne’s top lip to the bottom, and she pressed her sudden advantage to slot them together properly, like puzzle pieces sliding into place. Surely no-one else would fit her the way he did? Surely they were made for each other, when they worked together so well?
Ever so gently, his teeth scraped against her lip, and any question marks in her thoughts turned to dust.
Loathe to lose the contact, Anne decided against trying to sort out which fingers belonged to who on their entangled hands, instead rolling onto her side just enough for the hand she had spare to reach Gilbert’s face, trace the high of his cheek, the cut of his jaw of which she was so inexplicably fond—perhaps because its sharpness under her palm felt so very real, perhaps because the roll and motion of it took her back, again, to the mechanics and deliberation and will—his will, Gilbert’s!—behind his mouth on hers, or perhaps because of the way that every time she touched him there he shivered a little, and she felt the kick of it in her bones. She felt rooted, certain of and one with her skin in a way she rarely had the luxury of experiencing: she knew she was solid, and grounded, and there, because Gilbert was, and she had moved him. What a power that was, she thought as her fingertips skimmed the shell of his ear, found their way to the curls at the nape of his neck (which she had found she was also tremendously fond of)—to know that she could put her hands on him and he would move for her, just like that. She couldn’t entirely fathom what she’d done to deserve such a thing, but then she felt the instinctive shift of her own spine under his hand as it found her waist, and realised perhaps that was it: the utter trust it took Anne to be able to respond to him without thought or hesitation was a gift that earned the same in return. It was about balance, and faith, and equality, in this as in all things between them.
She loved it.
She ran her fingers down the line of his throat to his collarbone, felt him draw a sharp breath straight from her own lungs as his hand flexed, tightened against her waist, and then gave her breath back in the shape of her own name.
“Anne.”
She wondered whether that was one of his favourite words, too—it certainly sounded that way, when he said it—and decided it was only fair she got the same opportunity to voice the name of her own joy that he did.
“Gil.”
Things blurred and sharpened then, the passage of time becoming hazy and malleable even as otherwise minute details—the exact pinpoint location and pressure of his thumb against her ribs, the back of her foot brushing against his shin, how she could just feel his heartbeat against her palm with her fingers hooked over his shoulder, the only fast thing in a world gone slow as honey.
What a thing, to feel with her hand the impact she had on the heart of him; to know his love (he loved her, he loved her!) as something tangible, this thing she’d longed for no longer only curled through the landscape of her imagination but right there, held close, a rhythm against her skin.
His mouth sought out her throat, the exact spot just above the collar of her dress where her pulse beat strongest, and how could she do anything but smile, laugh breathlessly at the reassurance he was searching for? Yes, she said, with her fingers tangled in his curls, with the tilt of her head to make room for him, yes, Gilbert Blythe, I love you too.
And so they went, the tick of Anne’s clock forgotten amidst the heady sweetness of being together, and close, and in love in their own little corner of the world, into which nothing else might enter and from whence no-one might remove them.
Or… almost nothing. Almost no-one.
Divinely and determinedly distracted as she was, even Anne’s dubious sense of self-preservation cut sharply through that most pleasant of fogs at the creak (oh blessed creak!) of the kitchen door. Gilbert, who had eventually corralled enough mental direction to unwind their joined hands and set about one of his favourite pursuits—the utter destruction of whatever sense of order Anne had managed to impose upon her hair—displayed less wisdom, taking a few moments to respond not to the sound of the door itself, but the sudden tension of the girl in his arms.
“Anne?” he asked, withdrawing with evident reluctance from the crook of her neck, eyes dazed, colour high in his cheeks and—and this Anne noticed with a dangerously distracting level of satisfaction—his hair just as dishevelled as her own would inevitably be.
“Shh,” she hissed, utterly still as she strained to hear any further sound from downstairs, as yet hopeful that she might have been imagining things.
Footfalls, sharp and eminently recognisable. Anne’s eyes snapped back to Gilbert’s, wide and alarmed as the same sudden understanding dawned on his face. “Marilla.”
Sitting bolt upright (and fighting the sudden head rush the movement prompted), Anne let out a soft curse she’d never have voiced in any other company, hands flying to one of her braids as Gilbert followed suit, the protocol for such a disruption already perhaps an undignified level of established.
“I thought you said she wouldn’t be back until five?” Gilbert whispered sharply, doing, Anne had to admit, an admirable job of not becoming sidetracked as he combed his fingers through her hair and set about reconstructing her right braid.
“She’s an autonomous being, Gilbert: evidently she changed her mind! See this is precisely why we should meet at your house instead of here.”
“And risk Hazel wandering in? If you’d like to explain to Bash how his mother came to have a heart attack then be my guest!”
“You have a barn, don’t you?”
“You have a barn!” Gilbert replied, sounding just a little hysterical as he fumbled with her ribbon and dropped it. Twice.
“My barn is regularly occupied by both Jerry and Matthew, idiot.”
“And mine by Bash.”
“Better Bash,” she said, turning her focus to the potentially tricker task of flattening out Gilbert’s hair into some semblance of decorum, “than Marilla.”
“I… that’s fair. Okay, what am I doing?”
Anne bit her lip, casting about the room for escape routes. “You could climb out the window?”
“Out the window?” he repeated, managing to sound simultaneously amused and horrified. “Anne, I’d land directly outside the window downstairs, do you not think she might notice?”
“Well what if I climbed out the window?” Anne asked, rather clutching at straws at this point.
Gilbert was evidently trying to swallow down laughter. “What good would that do?!”
“Fine, okay, okay you’re just going to have to be quiet and hope she doesn’t come in here, and then we’ll… figure it out.”
“Anne, what do you—”
“Shut up, shut up she’ll hear you just, just shh!”
“Alright, alright I’m—” he stopped mid sentence, falling abruptly silent at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Again they stared at each other, eyes locked in panic, although it became rapidly obvious that this was a mistake as Anne felt a fit of giggles bubbling up her throat.
“Anne? Anne, are you up here?”
Praying that the Good Lord (being entirely responsible for sending trouble her way) might allow her passage through her current trials unscathed, Anne swallowed the laughter down and attempted to even out her voice. “Afternoon Marilla!”
If the look on Gilbert, eyes screwed shut and the back of his hand pressed to his mouth as his shoulders shook silently, was anything to go by, her attempt had failed.
“Oh, you are home! I’d not have expected to find you inside on a day like this,” came Marilla’s voice again from the other side of the closed door.
“I… it’s only, you know,” Anne began a little desperately, thwacking Gilbert with the back of her hand as the trembling of his suppressed laughter increased, “sunburn is such a tremendous pain to be dealing with, I thought I’d better not chance it.”
“Well now. How uncharacteristically responsible of you.”
At this Gilbert threw his head back, having to turn his hand to cover both his mouth and nose as tears pooled at the corners of his eyes, the suggestion of her responsibility whilst she desperately fought to evade the detection of a young man in her bedroom clearly proving itself too much for him. Not today, and perhaps not even tomorrow, but some day soon Anne was going to push him into the Lake of Shining Waters for this.
“Yes, well. Thanks.”
“Well I’m only back for a minute or two—Rachel’s gotten it into her head that she absolutely must furnish you with a new quilt when you leave for Charlottetown, honestly that woman has too many sons and is far too intent on spoiling other people’s daughters,” Marilla added in a undertone which threatened to unbalance Anne’s tenuous grasp on herself and reduce her to Gilbert’s level of amusement, “so she’s sent me back to collect all my patterns that she might judge the most appropriate.”
“That’s… that’s very kind of her. She really needn’t trouble herself.”
“As I have endeavoured to explain to her, though she’s having none of it. Still, I don’t suppose it can do any harm—I do hate to imagine you getting cold all alone, come winter.”
Something about the tone of Marilla’s voice bled the hysterical amusement from the moment, leant it a fond softness that Gilbert clearly felt too, since he was able to uncover his mouth and reach for her hand, thumb brushing softly across her knuckles.
Anne squeezed his fingers. “I won’t be alone.”
“No,” came Marilla’s reply, before a pause. Anne, who was well acquainted with Marilla’s various pauses, could hear the smile in it. “No, I don’t suppose you shall. Well, anyway, I just thought you ought to know my return may be a little later than I’d anticipated, what with Rachel on a mission, so you and Matthew may have to fend for yourselves for dinner. Stick to the stovetop, mind, and don’t be laying a finger on the cake in the pantry, it isn’t for you as you well know.”
“Yes, Marilla, I know.”
“Good. And enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”
“You too,” Anne replied, the tension slowly draining from her shoulders as she heard the footsteps retreating back down the stairs and then, a few moments later, the opening and closing of the kitchen door.
A further few beats of silence, and then a great relieved sigh from her co-conspirator. “Well. That was a bit close.”
Anne, entirely without hesitation and displaying the height of dignity, picked up the small cushion Marilla had sewn for her and whacked him over the head. “You rogue, you utter disaster of a man, could you not have made a little more of an effort to contain yourself? She could have heard you!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Gilbert laughed, sounding anything but as he raised his hands in defence.
“You are not, scoundrel, you’re no good at lies and they don’t become you so you’d do much better not trying. See if I invite you here again.”
“Perhaps it’d be wiser if you didn’t,” he replied, still evidently amused. “Wouldn’t want Marilla thinking you aren’t responsible.”
“Oh she already knows I’m not,” Anne said primly, standing at last from the bed and smoothing out her skirts. “It’s your dishonourable conduct she’d be shocked by: she thinks you’re such a nice young man.”
“Most do,” Gilbert agreed cheerfully, leaning back against her headboard with that lopsided grin again, entirely at his leisure. Oh how intolerable of him, to make her love him so even when he was being absolutely insufferable. “And what do you think, Miss? Do you find my conduct to be dishonourable?”
Though he smiled, Anne was attuned enough to him by now that she could detect the undertone of sincerity in the question. Seating herself again on the bed beside him, she raised a hand to his face then ran it back through his curls, flooded with impossible fondness at the way he leant into the touch. “I believe… that there surely cannot be anything dishonourable in offering a young lady precisely the affection with which she longs to be treated.”
“Well then,” he said, his hand coming up to cover hers where it had come to rest against his cheek. “Can’t imagine anyone else’s opinion matters all that much.”
Anne grinned. “Except Marilla’s.”
“Except,” Gilbert said, tilting his head in deference to her point, “perhaps Marilla’s.”
They sat like that in tender silence for several long moments, before Anne sighed and broke it. “You do realise you have to leave now, right?”
The wide-eyed, childlike disappointment on his face was Anne thought, tremendously comical. “What, why?”
“Because if you don’t we’ll only end up having this exact palaver again in a few hours.”
“We’ll keep an eye on the time!”
“Do you have the faintest idea what time it is now? No, don’t look.”
Having been instructed away from the small clock on Anne’s bedside, Gilbert narrowed his eyes. “… One…ish?”
“It’s half past three,” Anne informed him, unimpressed.
Blatantly disbelieving, Gilbert sat up to get a look at the clock himself. “It never is, it can’t…” He stopped, blinking at the hands. “Are you sure that’s right?”
Anne grabbed his hand and pulled, tugging him up from the bed. Probably her pillows would smell like him that night. “Come on, out.”
“No, Anne, come on, don’t make me go home: Dellie’s teething, the crying’s unbearable.” He fought her as she dragged him to the door, not hard but enough to make her laugh at his recalcitrance. And to think, she’d once thought mystery and melancholy to be the grand romantic ideal: how much better this was, to love and be loved by someone who shared his feelings with her unreservedly, however fleeting or ridiculous they might seem.
“Then don’t go home,” Anne suggested, pulling him behind her down the hall, then giving him a gentle shove in the direction of the stairs. “Go for a walk, get some fresh air: they say it’s terribly good for you, Doctor Blythe.”
“Sunburn isn’t,” he argued, somehow managing to reach the ground floor without falling as he took the steps half-backwards, eyes still on her as she followed him. “It’s a terrible pain to be dealing with, I hear: I could be laid up in bed for days, and then how would you feel?”
“Find some shade,” Anne said, restraining a grin as she held the kitchen door open for him.
“Surely, being the far greater adventurer of the two of us, you’d be much better at such a search than I would,” he said, standing firm in the doorway and giving her a look of such utterly unconvincing false innocence she couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, it’s a beautiful day: how could you stand to miss out on it? And think—it’s a matter of weeks before we’re off to the city, surrounded by smog and buildings and the great urban sprawl.”
“Eight weeks, which is in fact two months.”
Gilbert elected to ignore this correction. “Think how badly you’ll long for a summer afternoon with trees and flowers and rivers then. Can you really throw away this chance, when it’s right here for the taking?”
Anne crossed her arms, fighting a smile and doing, she knew, a very poor job of it. “I suppose it is a glorious day…”
“Glorious,” Gilbert agreed, nodding enthusiastically.
“And I wonder… have I introduced you to my very favourite tree yet?”
He tilted his head, considering. “The Sugar Maple, up near the Andrews’ place?”
“Elm, outside of town—past the old bridge beyond the schoolhouse?”
“Then no, I don’t believe you have.”
“Well then,” Anne said, answering his triumphant grin with one of her own as she fetched her hat from the hook by the door and slid into her boots. “Who am I to deny the most wondrous call of summer?”
“Who indeed?” Gilbert replied, grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her beside him, out into the sun.
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*brandishes glock* infodump the oc thats most on your mind... NOW
hi sorry i have been so colossally busy lately but i can do this now. So technically this would be the New Vegas OC i cant stop thinking about but this is the skyrim blog so if anyone wants to know about her it will have to be on @hancocks-firstlady
but here ill talk more about Lyrvekka
Lyrvekka owns over 5 cloaks because she is always hiding from the sun and it makes her seem super ominous even though she's not.
She has the fur one which is her favourite. Its the warmest one, and its enchanted so that the wind cant blow through it in the slightest. It basically never comes off when shes at the throat of the world or somewhere cold.
She has some lighter ones, the lightest being a really thin cloth one that's breathable but doesn't let the sun get in and damage her skin.
She is one of those people that you just fall in love with when she's not even trying. I think I've talked about this before but everyone who meets her wants to be her friend, her family or her lover.
She is painfully oblivious to flirting but its not her fault. Her mother taught her very little about romance and stuff like that before she died but not enough that she can recognize the signs of someone hitting on her.
At best she wonders why some men are SO nice to her at taverns, at worst she gets yelled at for “leading men on” when she finally does figure it out and rejects them.
The only town she had properly been to more than once or twice was Iverstead. The greybeards sent her down to get supplies sometimes once she was a little older and they knew she would be okay.
Her first-ever trip beyond Iverstead was with her mother to get a horse. She was 16, and they had heard of a man who was selling foals that had yet to be broken. The idea was that giving her a horse she still had to train would build a deeper bond and that horse would be more loyal.
And hoo boy did it work because that horse is nearly inseparable from her.
The man selling them was kinda sketchy but Lyrvekka didn't know any better and her mother knew that this man would be willing to haggle with her. They weren't very well off so this was the best bet.
He showed them the horses he had and claimed they were all around 6 months old. Lyrvekka was the one who found King.
The man had told her and her mother they could go into the pasture to see the young horses and she had been drawn to the stocky horse in the corner. He was the same size as many of the others but he was fuzzy and didn't seem to want to play with them.
He was nervous when the teenager approached but she pulled a carrot out of her pocket that she had stolen from the kitchen at home and the horse had no qualms taking it straight from her hand.
At this point, Lyrvekka was around her adult height of 4 foot 9, and this horse was already practically as tall as her.
The moment he finished the carrot he started sniffing and nipping her clothing and pulling on her to see if she had more, and her mother and the farmer watched as she laughed and played with him.
Lyrvekka’s mother talked the man down on the price a good amount because she knew there was something fishy. The man ended up admitting that King was younger than the others (only around 4 months) and he had no idea what breed. Someone had stolen the foal and sold it to him before he knew what was going on.
They bought the horse for cheaper than they expected since he had no idea about the foals background or anything, mostly because in the 20 minutes of discussion, Lyrvekka and this horse were practically running in circles together and had already started bonding.
And so the man got them a long lead, mother and daughter mounted back on her mothers horse, and they began the trek back to high Hrothgar with the new addition to the family.
(if anyone asks I would love to talk more about her training King Aegir and learning more about him as he grows, but this is long so ill end it here.)
#Lyrvekka#king aegir#king#aegir#oc#my oc#my character#skyrim oc#dragonborn#skyrim#im not proofreading this#craniacalcrainiac
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You know what Sonic likes? Long drives with his favorite Donut Lord.
You know what Sonic doesn’t like? Well, I’d be spoiling the story if I told you now. Read on, dear Tumblr folk, I hope you enjoy!
On an unrelated note, does anyone remember that one song by Post Malone? The one in the Spiderverse movie? Wonder what that was called…
Ever since almost dying on a road trip to San Francisco, Tom and certain a blue hedgehog took some time every couple of weeks to go take a drive. It was an unofficial tradition, and Maddie understood that it was kind of just a them thing.
Sometimes they picked out a destination and sometimes they didn’t. Honestly it was just fun to hang out with Sonic for a few hours and drive aimlessly. Gave them a chance to talk and let Sonic see a little more of Earth without potentially exposing himself.
It wouldn’t seem like much fun to most people, but most people hadn’t been living in fear and total isolation for years. A crooked road sign could entertain Sonic for five minutes, laughing and speculating what happened and wondering if he should fix it and ‘oh my god did someone paint on that one?’.
So yeah. It was usually pretty great.
Sonic pushed the buttons on the radio absently. “Any destination in mind?”
“Nah,” Tom replied as he batted Sonic’s hand away from the radio controls. “Think we’re just gonna drift for a while and see what we come across.”
“Sounds good. I’m always up for an adventure.” Sonic sat back in his seat. “So long as I can hop out every now and then.”
Tom gave him a warning glance. “Give me a heads up first.”
Sonic waved his hand flippantly. “Yeah yeah, I know. I promise I will not jump out the window without permission.” He started rolling down the window. “But just in case, I’m-”
“Nope,” Tom said. “Roll that back up.”
“I’m not gonna jump out.” He took his hands off the controls. “Halfway down. Deal?”
Tom narrowed his eyes. “Okay, halfway down, but not any further than that.”
“You got it, Donut Lord.” Sonic drummed his fingers the door. “You know, these trips are really cool. Because the world is, like, huge. And we only drive for a few hours, but you could see a lot in a few hours, and there’s still so much more to see later, you know?”
“Yeah, Earth’s a pretty big place,” Tom agreed. “You never really run out of new experiences here.” He took a left at the next intersection.
They usually took a right to heads toward a highway that could take them pretty far in a short amount of time, but Tom decided to take a scenic route. Sonic seemed more restless than usual, so he’d probably need to take a run soon. The highway wasn’t a good place for that.
“I mean, just think: there are whole other continents,” Tom said, “You could explore every inch of this mass of land we’re on and still have six other ones you could explore.”
Sonic tilted his head thoughtfully. “Yeah… I’m not so sure I’d want to explore Antarctica though. It’s cold there.”
“You know the continents?” Tom asked. “No offense, but I kinda figured that you didn’t have an education.”
“I don’t,” said Sonic. “But classrooms have windows, and there was stuff I wanted to know. Like reading? I definitely learned to read by hanging around outside a classroom.”
That’d be kinda creepy if it was coming from anyone other than Sonic. “That makes sense. Probably helps to know the language of the strange planet you’re on. Is our language written differently than yours?”
Sonic shrugged. “I mean, probably, but I never learned to read on my planet either, so I don’t really know what it was like.”
“You couldn’t read?” Tom asked. “Geez, how old were you? Four?”
“Somewhere around there, yeah.” Sonic’s brow furrowed in thought. “Or maybe I was three. Yeah, I think it was three. I was kinda preoccupied with surviving, so my memory’s a little hazy.”
Honestly, Tom wasn’t expecting a yes. “Oh. Um… that’s pretty young to be stranded on an alien planet.”
“I guess. It was better than the alternative though.” He tapped on the window. “Can I uh…?”
Tom slowed down a little. “Sure, go for it.” Sonic rolled down the window and zipped out of the truck. He checked the rearview to make sure Sonic couldn’t be seen from the road. Green Hills might be okay with Sonic, but they agreed they’d be a little more cautious with the rest of the world. For now, anyway.
After maybe thirty seconds, Sonic was back in his seat. “It’s really pretty around these parts. Lots of places to run around.” He went back to messing with the radio. Tom let him. It looked like it was gonna empty fields for a while and the radio was keeping Sonic occupied.
The roads were mostly straight and, aside from the few cars that passed by them earlier, empty. So Tom took the opportunity to gaze around. It seemed vaguely familiar but he didn’t know why. Maybe fields were just like that.
And, as he suspected, there were a lot of them. Some had crops growing. A few with tractors sitting idly in the middle of them. Every so often they’d even come across a pasture of horses.
They’d been driving for a while when Sonic said, “Hey, Donut Lord? You know I can see the horses too, right?”
Tom blinked at him. “Yeah. Why?”
“You keep… doing a thing. Every time we pass a field with some horses in you say something like, ‘Oh, wow, look at the horses’ or ‘Hey there’s horses over there’.”
“Oh. It’s just something people do while they’re driving,” Tom explained. “It’s, like, mandatory to acknowledge horses. And cows.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s-” His brain short-circuited. “Uh…” Why did people do that?
“It’s… what?” Sonic looked confused. “Is there not a reason?”
Tom, completely baffled, admitted, “You know, I don’t think there is. I don’t know why we do it, we just do.”
“That’s weird,” Sonic told him.
“You’re not wrong.” A hill in the distance caught Tom’s eye. He squinted at it, then he remembered why this stretch of road seemed familiar to him. “Oh… oh, no way.”
“What?” Sonic asked. “Is it another horse?”
Tom grinned. “Nope, but it’s gonna be something cool.” He started to pull off onto the shoulder. “And also pretty.”
“Cool and pretty?” Sonic took off his seatbelt. “Consider me sold.” They hopped out of the truck. “So where is it?”
“Up the hill,” Tom said. “Stay here a sec. I just wanna make sure it’s still there.”
A few years ago, he’d gotten lost in these backroads. He’d climbed the hill to see if he could recognize anything from a higher vantage point. It didn’t work because he was in the middle of nowhere, but what he did find was a field of sunflowers.
He’d meant to come back, maybe show Maddie someday. Then he completely forgot about it. Hopefully it was still there. The odds of an entire field of flowers dying out was pretty slim, but not entirely impossible, and he didn’t want to drag Sonic all the way up there if the flowers were gone. Not that it’d be any trouble for him, he’d be there and back before Tom took two steps.
Luckily, the sunflowers were still there, just as bright and yellow as he remembered them. They were in orderly rows, so it was obviously owned by someone. That meant they couldn’t go in the field, but they could admire it from a distance. Sonic was pretty easy to impress anyway. He probably wouldn’t need to be surrounded by the sunflowers to be amazed.
Tom waved for Sonic to join him and there was a blue streak at the top of the hill before he could even put his hand down.
“Here it is! We can’t go in the field, but we can go get a closer look.” Tom started down the other side of the field. “These are sunflowers. And they’re probably the biggest flowers you’re ever gonna see. Seriously. Some of the flowers are bigger than my head and the stems are… “
He realized Sonic hadn’t run ahead of him yet, which was strange. Looking back to the top of the hill, he could see that Sonic hadn’t so much as moved, his eyes fixed on the field.
Tom chuckled. “What’s the matter? Intimidated by the giant sun plants?” He thought that’d snap Sonic out of whatever trance he was in, but he was still staring blankly. “Sonic?”
Sonic not being excited about seeing some new Earth thing was… kind of concerning. He was usually bouncing off the walls about this kind of stuff. Tom walked back up the hill, thinking maybe he had said something that made Sonic upset, but he had no idea what it could have been.
“You okay?” Tom asked.
“I don’t wanna go down there,” Sonic said.
There was a slight quiver to his voice that made Tom immediately kneel at Sonic’s side. “Hey buddy, it’s okay. We don’t have to go down there if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t.” He took a couple of steps back. “I really really don’t.”
“Sonic,” Tom reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you oka-”
“Don’t!” Sonic recoiled so hard that he nearly fell backwards. “Don’t touch me, just… s-stay back.”
Tom stood slowly. “Do you wanna go back to the truck?”
Sonic’s gaze darted around. “I need to- I have to go, I-”
“No,” Tom said gently, “You don’t need to run, remember? I’m here to help.”
“Help?” Sonic asked. “I- no? I’m not…” Giving the field another panicked glance, he took a step back. “She wasn’t supposed to… it was my fault…”
Tom moved to block Sonic’s view of the flowers. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Sonic was probably the most upbeat kid Tom had ever met, but there were times when the years he spent alone broke the surface.
He and Maddie weren’t sure what to do the first time it had happened. There wasn’t always a conventional solution. Sometimes all he needed was a hug, other times he was so overwhelmed that just wouldn’t work.
They figured out that it was always best to just ask before doing anything. “Lil Blue, I need you to tell me how to help. Do you want a hug? Need to talk?”
Sonic instantly looked more terrified than he already was. “No.”
“No hug or no talking?” Tom asked.
“Yes. I mean no! I mean…” Sonic shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Tom tried again. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
Sonic shook his head. “You’ll h-hate me if I do.”
“No I won’t,” Tom reassured him.
“How do you know that?” Sonic demanded. “Y-you don’t even know what I did.”
“There is nothing you could do that could make me hate you.” Tom held out a hand. “Wanna go back to the truck now? We can head home if you want.”
Sonic looked past Tom for a moment, then nodded. “Okay… yeah, home sounds… nice.” He took Tom’s hand and they made their way back down the hill. There was a car that passed by, but Sonic was safely in his seat by then and Tom was getting ready to start the truck.
They drove in silence for a few minutes while Tom looked for a place to turn around. Tom didn’t ask Sonic to talk about what happened. The last time he and Maddie tried to force him to talk about something, it had resulted in him running. Not exactly what he needed right now.
“I wasn’t supposed to leave home.”
Tom was silent. Sonic rarely opened up about anything. The last time this happened, there was a massive storm that sent him spiraling into a panic attack. It took an hour before he was calm enough to talk, and even then he didn’t really say much.
“Longclaw would go outside with me sometimes. It wasn’t very often, but she only did it so I’d be safe.”
Now Tom was really making sure to keep quiet. Because as rarely as Sonic talked about his past, the thing he talked about the least was Longclaw. Were Tom and Maddie curious about her? Of course they were. Did Sonic flinch every time they mentioned her? Every single time.
“Longclaw, protected me. But I’m… you know, kinda reckless… and really stupid.” Tom wanted to argue that Sonic was most definitely not stupid, but he was still going with silence for now. “So one day, while she was asleep, I uh… I went outside.
“I shouldn’t have, and I knew that…” He grabbed his seatbelt like it was a lifeline. “I was just gonna go out and come right back in, I wasn’t even gone for that long.”
Tom spotted a driveway up ahead and pulled in to turn around.
“I came back. And I thought that… I thought everything was fine.” Sonic went silent for so long that Tom thought that he had stopped talking entirely. “Until they showed up. They chased us, they shot her out of the sky.”
Turning the truck around, Tom started heading for Green Hills. He wished he could text Maddie to prepare her for the emotional kiddo he was about to bring home.
“They were after me. And they never would have found her if I… if I had just.” He took a shaky breath. “She told me to go to Earth. That someone would always want my powers and I could never stop running.”
Well, that explained where the ‘I’m not allowed to have friends’ mindset came from.
“And I went through the portal. Can you believe it? I actually left.” Sonic shook his head. “I saw them, with bows and arrows and nets a-and spears and they were just running towards her and… I couldn’t leave her, so I tried to go back-” His voice broke. “But I wasn’t… fast enough. The portal closed before I could get to her.”
Tom could hear the tears in his voice and it was taking all of his willpower not to reach over and hug Sonic as tightly as he could.
“And you wanna… y-you wanna know what was s-so important?” Sonic managed. “I wanted to bring Longclaw a freaking flower.” He buried his face in his hands. “I-it was a little yellow f-flower, with a… a black center and I th-thought she’d like it.
“I never should’ve left her, Tom.” A choked sob escaped him as he cried, “It’s not fair, it should’ve been me.”
Now, Tom felt like he had earned the right to say that not much could rattle him. He’d befriended an alien, punched a government official, became a wanted criminal, participated in a bar fight, had his truck totaled by robots, fell off a building, helped send a mad scientist flying through a portal to a planet full of mushrooms, and that all happened within the span of two days. Safe to say there wasn’t much that could faze him at this point.
But that last sentence? That got to him. Sonic was thirteen.
Now was probably the time to say something. “Sonic,” Tom said in an even tone, “I don’t want you to say anything like that ever again.” The kid didn’t run, so he took that as a sign that it was safe for him to continue. “I can’t–and I won’t–deny that what happened was bad.
“And I’m not going to tell you that it’s gonna get better, because I don’t know that. I can’t pretend to know how that feels.” Truthfully, Tom couldn’t even begin to imagine it. He didn’t want to. “But I know it feels bad. And it’s going to feel bad, because that’s how feeling works.
“But it is not fair to blame yourself like that,” Tom told him firmly. “You can’t keep beating yourself up for a mistake that happened years ago.”
Sonic scowled. “But I got her killed.”
“Were you holding a spear?” Tom asked. “No? Then you didn’t kill her.”
“I should have done something!” Sonic shouted.
“You were three!” Tom responded with equal volume. Normally he wouldn’t yell, but this needed to be fixed, and it was getting fixed now. “Sonic, you can’t keep blaming yourself for a mistake that any kid would make.
“Everybody breaks a rule every now and then. Especially kids. You were a super-powered toddler who was essentially under house arrest for powers that you didn’t ask for. I can’t blame you for wanting to go outside for a few minutes, and I refuse to let you blame yourself.
“Bad things happen. But you walking outside did not kill Longclaw. Some assholes, who thought it was okay to hunt down a child, killed her. For no good reason.” His tone softened. “But like I said, I know that doesn’t make it suck any less and you’ve got every right to be upset. Just… don’t say something like that again, okay? It makes me worry.”
Sonic hesitated. “I… okay.” He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared out the window.
Tom, worried he’d gone overboard, asked, “You think you’re gonna be alright?”
He shrugged. “I mean, probably? I don’t know, it’s just… no one’s ever worried about me like that before. Not since Longclaw. Sounded like something she’d say though.”
“She sounds pretty smart.”
“Well, she was an Owl. So… yeah. Pretty smart.” Sonic fiddled with the window controls. “But, you know, you’re pretty smart too.” He cleared his throat. “And I uh… I’m sorry for freaking out about the… flowers.”
Tom patted his shoulder. “Don’t apologize. Everybody’s got their moments.”
“They just looked so much like the flowers from my island, except they were way bigger. Which was… scarier somehow. Like they were threatening me.” He glanced at Tom nervously. “Is that dumb?”
“Of course not,” Tom said. “Stuff like this just happens. You don’t get to pick what sets it off, or when.” He smiled. “But you know what we can do?”
Sonic tilted his head. “What?”
“We can go home to Pretzel Lady, then sit on the couch with way too many blankets and watch a movie.”
The kid managed a smile. “It’s not cold outside.”
“Hey,” Tom said, “There’s never a bad time for comfy blankets.”
“Whatever you say, Donut Lord.” The smile faded just as quickly as it appeared. That was fine. Tom didn’t expect his mood to improve immediately.
It was a while before they got back home, and Sonic hadn’t so much as touched the controls on the radio. He parked the truck and opened up the door, pausing for a moment to look over at Sonic.
Still hadn’t moved.
Tom walked over to the other side of the truck and opened the passenger side door. “Wanna lift?”
Sonic blinked, barely registering the question. “Huh?”
“Yeah, okay, c’mere kid.” Tom scooped up Sonic and closed the door. Sonic looked bewildered at first, then he relaxed and let himself be carried inside.
It wasn’t even hard to hold him. He was tiny. Tom wondered how small Sonic might’ve been when he was younger. How little was at age ten? Or five? Or even three, when he had first arrived here?
Maddie was just coming down the stairs when they walked in. “Hey boys! You’re home early.” She noticed Sonic in Tom’s arms. “Everything okay?”
Tom gave her a look that said he’d explain in a minute, then smiled at Sonic. “Why don’t you go pick a movie, huh?”
Sonic nodded and jumped to the floor. Maddie watched him leave with increasing worry. “Is he okay?” She asked once he was safely in the living room. “He didn’t even run.”
He ushered her into the kitchen. “We had a rough ride. Got something else to add to the ‘List of Things that Freak Sonic Out to All Hell’.”
Her expression became serious. “What is it?”
“Sunflowers.” He stopped her before she could say anything. “I’ll explain later, I promise, but the kid’s not having a great time at the moment. So I’m gonna grab some blankets-”
“And I’ll help him pick a movie,” Maddie finished. “Because it’ll take him forever to pick one himself.”
Tom gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
She rolled her eyes. “You may have mentioned it before.” Shoving him gently, she added, “Now get us some blankets, it’s movie time.”
He made the usual rounds around the house to gather up blankets. This was probably going to be one of their quieter movie nights, since Sonic was clearly in no mood to be his usual rambunctious self. And he still had no idea how he was going to explain all of this to Maddie later.
But he could cross that bridge when he got there.
Maddie was already putting on a movie when he got back, and Sonic was sitting quietly on the couch. Tom dumped the blankets on him unceremoniously. “So! What are we watching?”
Sonic unburied himself from the pile of blankets. “Something Maddie picked. The Incredibles, I think.”
“Really?” He plopped down on the couch and helped spread out the blankets. “No Keanu?”
“Nope,” Maddie said as she sat down on the other side of Sonic. “He hasn’t seen this one yet. Figured it’d be fun. Plus, I think there’s a character I think he’ll really like.” Dash, of course.
Tom tossed her some blanket. “Sounds good to me.”
Thankfully, Sonic seemed a little less upset as the movie progressed, even laughing about halfway through. But that didn’t stop Tom and Maddie from glancing at him every few minutes or so just to make sure.
He didn’t know when their next drive would be, but he hoped that it didn’t end like this one had. The three of them with a movie? Yes, absolutely. That was about the only good outcome of the trip.
But they’d definitely be avoiding that stretch road from then on.
#sonic the hedgehog the movie#sonic the movie#tom wachowski#sonic wachowski#maddie wachowski#i wrote a lil fic a while back#with some sonic and maddie bonding time#now it's tom's turn#random disaster writes
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Birthday Month in the Unremarkable House
Chapter Two
From the Smallest Seed
Mulder, Scully and Faith take a trip out of town to go apple picking, but of course that’s not all that’s on the agenda. Love, happiness, and normalcy are what they deserve.
And it’s what they will get. 🌳🍎🍁
Okay, so this one is a doozy! It’s a long chapter, but hopefully you will be whisked away into the trip away from home with Mulder and Scully. (Jesus, especially now.. )
Hope you enjoy!
14b/15
October 10th 2019
Mulder closed the back of the car down and walked to the driver’s side. Sliding in, he looked at Scully with a grin.
“Ready?”
“You’re the driver,” she said cheekily, causing him to chuckle as he turned the key in the ignition. He drove out onto the street and then the highway, heading toward the orchard they had decided on earlier.
It would be a long drive, but he knew it would be worth it. In fact, he had a few surprises planned for Scully, including where they would be staying for the next few days.
“So,” she said, looking at him with a smile. He nodded and smiled back, reaching for her hand. She interlaced their fingers together and he felt the ring he put there exactly one month ago.
Smiling again, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, glancing in the mirror at Faith as he did. She was shaking her crinkly panda book, making loud noises as she slammed it up and down.
He could see her looking around, those blue eyes wanting to see everything all at once. Shaking his head, he looked back at Scully, who was looking out her window. His two ladies, his whole heart. He kissed Scully’s hand again, laid them on his knee, and hummed as they continued on their drive.
About an hour and a half into their drive, they stopped for breakfast at a local diner before continuing on their way.
“Uhhh, Mulder,” she said, looking at him over an hour later, as they pulled up to a winery. He grinned, and she looked back out the window. “How long have you been planning this?”
“Welllll…” he drawled and she shook her head with a smile.
Pulling up to the valet, they got out of the car and two men came to unload the bags and other items they had packed. Walking inside, he watched as Scully look around, taking in the beauty of the room. He grinned as he shifted Faith in his arms and walked to the check in desk.
“A cottage, Mulder?” she asked softly, shaking her head as they followed the bellhop pushing the luggage cart and looking around the grounds. “This is beautiful. How did you find it?”
“You know a lot Scully, but I do still need Google sometimes,” he said with a smile, pushing Faith in the stroller. “Think of it as a… honeymoon of sorts. Except, we have a baby with us.” She laughed and looked at him, reaching for his arm.
“Here we are, the Sunshine Cottage,” the bellhop said, grinning at them as he stopped walking. “If I’m honest, this one is my favorite.” Scully smiled at him as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.
“Oh, Mulder,” she breathed, and he smiled.
The room was beautiful with walls painted in a light yellow, and floors of dark hardwood. An area rug of reds and yellows covered a large portion of the floor on which sat a cherry wood coffee table, a couch, and overstuffed leather chairs. A burgundy colored lounge chair sat close to the window. A stone fireplace sat to the right with a bundle of wood waiting to be burned. To the right of the fireplace, sitting diagonally on a low mahogany dresser, was a large television. Throw pillows and blankets sat on the couch and chairs.
A small dining room table sat next to the couch, a bowl of pine cones in the middle. Bar stools sat under a slate gray marble countertop off to the right, leading to a small but full kitchen. Pale yellow and red stone tiles and white cupboards completed the room.
There were two bedrooms off the living area, a smaller one painted pale green with a large bed. The other was the master bedroom, light gray blue, a high bed with a walnut wood frame. The bathroom had a large corner tub, a glass shower, and double sinks.
Scully looked at Mulder, shaking her head as they walked back into the living room. “This is so beautiful,” she breathed. He nodded and the bellhop chuckled.
“Yup. It’s a beautiful room, but you haven’t seen the best feature yet,” he said, motioning for them to follow him out the side door.
When they walked outside, Scully sighed happily. “Oh wow,” she breathed.
The dark stained porch was large and had two light yellow chairs sitting on it with a small table between them. The best part, however, was a huge tree growing right through the middle of the porch. A magnolia tree, if Mulder was not mistaken. It was huge and smelled spicy and sweet.
“This tree has been growing for years, well obviously,” the bellhop chuckled as he looked at the tree. “I love that it goes through like that, and the scent is amazing.” He smiled at them and Mulder tipped him as he said his goodbyes. He walked back inside and then they could hear him pushing the cart away, whistling as he did.
“Mulder, you had to have had this planned for a while. I saw a bridal party in the lobby. If there is a wedding here, I’m sure it fills up fast. How long?” She stared at him and he sighed.
“A few months,” he admitted, and she shook her head, a smile slowing stretching across her face. “After Father’s Day.”
“Oh, is this a bet situation?” she asked, her expression changing.
“No!” he shouted, and she stared at him, shocked by his outburst. “No,” he said in a quieter tone. “It’s a thank you. For Father’s Day, our wedding, for everything. We didn’t really get away after the wedding and have a proper honeymoon. Now this may not be exactly what you would consider a proper one, what with a little one in tow, and it might be a little tricky to have… alone time, but we seem to manage just fine at home.” He wiggled his eyebrows and she grinned, stepping closer and taking his hands.
“A thank you?” she asked, and he nodded. “Accepted and also extended.” He smiled as he bent his head and kissed her. A knock sounded on the front door and they broke apart, turning toward the sound.
“Right on time,” he whispered, and she shook her head, smiling once again.
He pushed the stroller inside and went to answer the door. A young woman was there, a basket in hand. “Mr. Mulder?” He nodded and she handed him the basket with a smile. “Enjoy.” He nodded as she walked away and he closed the door.
He set the basket down on the leather chair and looked at Scully. “Let’s grab a jacket and take a walk around the grounds. I’ll get the backpack and a blanket and we can have a picnic. There’s wine in the basket.” He raised his eyebrows, and she smiled.
They loaded up the stroller and set out, walking around the vineyard. There were horses on site and Faith was entranced by them. Mulder took her out of the stroller to let her get closer. She stared, watching them before she reached out and tried to touch. A black horse whinnied and shied away before stepping back and pushing toward her.
Mulder held her hand and let the horse smell her, speaking calmly to it. She touched his soft nose and then pulled her hand back quickly, looking at Mulder. He smiled at her and she looked back at the horse, her hand down.
“It’s okay. He’s a nice horse.” Mulder patted the horse’s neck and looked at Faith. She put her hand out again and the horse nuzzled into it as Mulder continued to pat him. “Yeah, see? He’s soft and a good horse.” She smiled as the horse pulled away and they ran to the other side of the pasture.
Mulder turned around and saw Scully smiling at them, her phone in hand. “Did you get some photos?”
“Just a few,” she grinned, and he nodded, knowing it would be way more than a few.
They kept walking, taking in the beauty, until they found a perfect spot for their picnic. Mulder laid the blanket out and they sat down to enjoy some wine, crackers, cheese, and grapes. The basket he had asked for had everything they needed: plates, napkins, and cheese knives.
They all shared the food, Faith drinking her afternoon breast milk from her hybrid bottle/sippy cup. She lay with her head on Mulder’s arm as he lay on his back with his hands locked behind his head. Closing his eyes, the food and the wine adding to the happiness he felt, he heard Faith humming as she drank and he smiled. Even now, no longer on the actual breast, she made the happy humming sounds as she ate.
Scully lay with her hand on his chest and her chin on her hand. He opened his eyes to look at her and found her watching Faith. She shook her head slightly, and he moved his right hand to touch her head and stroke her hair.
“Stay with us,” he whispered and he saw her blink back tears, laying her head down on her hand. It was hard not to think of the “what-ifs” but they were trying every day. “It’s okay, Scully. You know it is.” He felt her nod and she lifted her head, turning to look at him, her eyes wet. He brushed her hair back, and she gave him a small smile.
Faith finished her milk and dropped her cup down, sitting up and turning over to face Scully. She smiled and laid against Mulder’s side, mirroring Scully’s position. He moved his hand, placing it on her back as she sat still and they stared at each other. Faith laughed and reached for her, starting to climb onto Mulder’s chest.
Scully sat up and pulled her into her arms, kissing her and whispering how much she loved her. Holding her close, she looked down at Mulder and nodded. “I’m here,” she said quietly, and he rubbed her back as he nodded.
They went back to the cottage and he plugged in the base of the monitor in the smaller bedroom and the noise machine, set up the portable crib they had brought, and put Faith down for a nap. He closed the door and saw Scully sitting outside on the porch. Picking up the monitor, he stepped outside and sat beside her. Not opening her eyes, she reached for his hand. He took it, rubbing his thumb over the top of it, neither of them speaking, simply enjoying the peace around them.
Once Faith woke up, they left the winery and drove down by the waterfront. They walked around, heading into little shops and looking around. Fall decorations were up in every one of them, giving Faith much to gaze upon. She squealed and laughed at what she saw, pointing at things she wanted to explore. Mulder pushed her over to see anything she wanted while Scully shopped.
She found a large ceramic bowl painted in fall colors she said would be perfect for the apples they picked and he agreed. Purchased and carefully wrapped, they walked down to a small local pizza place and ordered a pizza. As they ate, Scully smiled and began taking them down memory lane, recalling little places they had eaten at over the years. Good and bad, they laughed about the places they had visited all over the country.
As they left, the owner gave Faith a purple balloon and her eyes lit up. Scully tied it to the stroller and Mulder held onto the string as Faith tugged at it, laughing and screaming as she did. He never let her have the balloon, knowing without a doubt that she would bite at it and pop it.
Leaving, they stopped at a grocery store to buy a few groceries before driving back to the winery. Mulder gave Faith a bath and took her out onto the porch, rocking and singing to her as Scully put the groceries away and unpacked their bags. When he heard Faith yawning, he smiled, knowing she was ready to sleep. He kissed her as he laid her down and walked out of the room, shutting the door.
“I was going to build a fire, but…” Scully shrugged and he smiled. She had changed into her pajamas; one of his old shirts and a pair of leggings.
“Tomorrow night,” he said and she nodded, handing him a glass of wine as they sat down on the couch.
She sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. “This is wonderful. Thank you for this, Mulder.” He hummed and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer.
They sat quietly, drinking their wine, his fingers running softly through her hair. He heard her breathing deeply and he smiled. Drinking the last of his wine, he moved it to his other hand, then took hers from her grasp, drinking the remaining few sips. Feeling her grow heavy, he smiled again.
Hating to wake her, but knowing she would not want to sleep on the couch, he roused her. She hummed out a moan and stood up clumsily. He guided her into the bedroom, setting the wine glasses on the counter as he did. He took the decorative pillows off the bed and pulled the blankets down as she stood and waited, her eyes closed.
“Okay, your bed is ready, Your Highness,” he teased and she opened her eyes slightly, climbing onto the bed and laying down.
“It took you long enough. A little more haste next time, if you please,” she breathed as he covered her and she closed her eyes.
Laughing, he kissed her cheek. “I’ll work on that,” he whispered. “Be back in a few minutes.” She nodded and hummed.
He left the room and put their glasses in the sink, checked to see if Scully had placed the bags of frozen breast milk in the fridge to thaw, turned out the lights, and grabbed the monitor. Using the bathroom and putting on pajama bottoms, he slid into bed beside her.
“You should be cautious,” she breathed sleepily, reaching for him. “This is the queen's chamber. Her husband doesn’t take kindly to squires laying beside her.” He chuckled as she snuggled closer to him, her arm wrapping around his waist and his around her shoulders
“I’ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty,” he whispered, closing his eyes and kissing her forehead as she sighed. He stroked her hair, her soft breathing lulling him to sleep.
______________
October 11th
He woke alone in bed, the sound of laughter and squealing coming from the other room. He closed his eyes and stretched, yawning as he did. Rising from the bed, he used the bathroom and walked into the living area.
Scully was at the table feeding Faith, who sat in their portable high chair which attached to the table. She looked up and smiled at him.
“There’s coffee,” she said, gesturing with her chin, and he nodded, walking into the kitchen. Taking down a mug, he poured himself some coffee.
“You want a refill?” he asked and she shook her head. Setting the pot back down, he yawned as he walked to the table. “Morning.” He kissed her head and then Faith’s as he sat down.
“Dada!” Faith yelled, smashing bananas on the table.
“Oh, what art is she creating today?” he asked as he took a sip of his coffee. Scully laughed softly and shrugged. He stared at her: her hair up in a messy bun, no makeup, wearing one of his old shirts, and he felt she had never looked more beautiful.
“What are you staring at?” she asked, grinning at him. He looked around the table and saw nothing she could possibly throw at him.
“A goddess,” he said quietly, and she stared at him. He watched her and could practically hear her thinking. Then, she surprised him, as she so often did.
“I’ll allow it,” she said, raising her eyebrows and shrugging, her eyes full of mischief.
“I thank you kindly,” he teased and she shrugged again.
“So, considering all the planning you’ve done so far, I’m sure you have something planned for today,” she said, standing up as she handed him the bowl of oatmeal. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready for the day.” She kissed Faith’s head and started to leave the room.
“There’s a huge tub in there and you’re going to take a shower?” he asked, moving closer to Faith, giving her a bite of oatmeal.
“That tub is big enough for two,” she said, turning to look at him in a way that extended down into his groin. “You’re busy, and it seems like a waste of water for just me. I’ll wait until you’ve got some time… to take the time.” Raising her eyebrows at him, he shook his head, exhaling out a breath. “If I’m gone too long, just know that Prince and I are working on a duet.” Glancing over her shoulder, he gaped at her.
“Not just a single?”
“Depends on how fast and good he is,” she said, closing the door with a chuckle.
“Your mama…” he said to Faith, giving her another bite. “She thinks she’s so funny.”
“I am funny!” Scully called through the closed door and he chuckled.
An hour later, they were packed up and heading to a children’s museum about a half an hour away. Scully kept smiling, happy and beautiful, the thin green sweater she wore highlighting her hair and the blue of her eyes.
“Good shower?” he teased, and she grinned, shaking her head. Looking at him, she rolled her eyes.
“Do you think I really brought that with me? The Prince has stayed at home this time. I have all I need right here,” she said, placing her hand high on his inner thigh and sliding it down. He jumped, jerking the steering wheel as he did. She laughed, moving her hand and crossing her arms.
“Jesus Christ, Scully,” he said, shaking his head. Exhaling, he looked around making sure he had not put anyone in danger. “Yeah, keep those hands locked down, you vixen.” She laughed again and looked at him, her eyes happy.
_______
The museum was quite busy, excited children running around, laughing and screaming with happiness. Fall decorations were up, smiling jack o’lanterns, happy witches, and grinning ghosts. Faith had huge eyes, looking all around as she took it all in.
A huge tree sat front and center, stairs wrapping around the outside and inside of it. Ducking down, they walked in and looked at the tree and what was in front of them. Scully pointed to the soft play area and they headed in that direction.
Mulder set Faith down and she stood for a second looking at the toys in front of her. She took a few steps and then fell to her knees, crawling like lightning over to the different things to play with, both of them chuckling as she did.
“I’m going to look and see what else there is for her,” he said and Scully nodded. He walked away and went to find out what else the place held, discovering a large room set up with a pretend camping section, a river, a restaurant, vet’s office, grocery store, doctor’s office, and a water play area. He kept going and found a playground on the roof. Smiling, he headed back downstairs to rejoin Scully and Faith. Stopping at the bathroom, he stepped past many children as he tried to get back to the toddler area.
As he came around the corner, he stopped in his tracks. Faith was walking, actually walking, and Scully was laughing as she followed beside her. Faith would stumble, start to lose her balance and wait before trying it again. Every time she did, Mulder heard Scully encouraging her to keep trying.
He looked at Scully, watching her joy and happiness as she watched Faith. He could see tears in her eyes, but he knew they were happy ones. Realizing his own were wet, he wiped at them, reaching for his phone before he remembered he had left it in the backpack.
Taking a mental picture, he wished he was a painter and could put brush to canvas, painting the beauty of this moment. Yellow for Scully’s joy, orange for the determination he could see in Faith, blues and greens, happiness and light. Instead, he committed it to memory, locking in the sound of Scully’s laughter, and the grunts and babbling of Faith.
He walked closer and Scully looked up at him, a huge smile on her face, and he answered with one of his own. He scooped Faith up, causing her to squeal as she grabbed at his shirt. “Oh, my girl,” he whispered, holding her close and reaching for Scully. They stood in a tight embrace before breaking apart.
A puppet show and story time was next. Faith’s attention was held until it was not, and they moved onto the best thing in the museum. At least, Faith and Mulder felt it was.
Inside of a plastic case, there was a vacuum tube. Neon pink, green, and orange scarves were laying on the side and the floor. Mulder picked one up and placed it close to the bottom of the vacuum and it was pulled from his hand and out the top, flying in the air. Faith stared at it in wonder and then she began to laugh, clapping her hands.
For nearly twenty minutes, Mulder fed the scarves into the vacuum tube, and made a whoosh sound as they shot out the top. Faith laughed hysterically as she watched them fly up and come floating down. She toddled over, picking them up where they landed, then handed them to Mulder, laughing as she waited for him to put them in the tube.
Scully took pictures and videos, laughing as she watched them playing together. He watched her, looking for any signs of sadness. Finding none, he smiled and handed her a scarf, taking her phone from her, and capturing pictures of her playing with Faith.
Watching them made his heart ache, the beauty of the two of them enough, but knowing the pain that would always lie beneath, made him want to weep. Instead, he focused on the happiness, finding the good in the bad, the light in the dark.
Driving back to the cottage not long after, she reached for his hand and sighed as he interlaced their fingers, her head turned toward the window.
The car was quiet but not silent. Scully was not speaking, but her body language was speaking volumes. Something was on her mind, but he remained silent, knowing she would tell him when she was ready.
With dinner eaten and a nighttime walk around the grounds completed, Scully put Faith down while he built a fire and opened a bottle of wine. She came out of the room, closed the door, and smiled at him as he handed her a glass.
They sat together, the fire crackling and the heat building. Scully sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, her thoughts now so loud, they were nearly deafening. He took a drink and waited, knowing she was about to tell him something weighing heavily on her mind.
“I’ve been thinking about going back to work,” she said quietly. He froze, not expecting that to be what she had been thinking about. Waiting again, he knew there was more she wanted to say. “I…” She sighed and took a drink before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about it, not anytime soon, but… I think I’d like to do it.”
“The hospital again?”
“Yes. I definitely did not mean the bureau.” They both chuckled and he thought about her words. “What are you thinking?” She sat up and looked at him, her eyes searching his. He brushed her hair back and smiled as he tucked it behind her ear.
“A few things,” he said with a small exhale. “What’s brought this on?”
“A few things,” she echoed softly and he smiled. “First... money. Second… I’m only 55, and I know a lot of people are thinking about retirement at that age, but… I feel like I still have time and expertise left to give.” He nodded and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “But mostly… Mulder, I want Faith to see me working. I want her to see that as a woman, she is important and she can be anything. I want her to have that positive role model and see her mom as… strong and smart and tough. That people listen to her and follow her instructions, because she’s an amazing doctor and a woman.” She stared at him and he slowly nodded, his thumb still stroking her cheek.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “Okay.”
“Okay? That’s it?”
“Of course that’s not it,” he smiled, moving his hand to her hair. “First, we are good for money, you know that. We have had it before and we’ll have it now. We don’t live a lavish lifestyle.” She raised her eyebrows and looked around, causing him to laugh softly. “This weekend aside, you know we don’t. Second… I agree, I think you have more to give and I would like to see you do it. Third…” He shook his head and sighed. “I understand, well, as much as I can as a man. Knowing you, watching you, being your partner for most of my life, Scully, you are… a badass, and I mean that with all my heart.” She laughed and dropped her head to his chest, her shoulders shaking as she snorted. He smiled and kept his hand on her head.
Raising her head as she stopped laughing, a smile still on her face; she wiped at her eyes and shook her head. He winked and took a drink of his wine. Sitting back, she laid her head on his shoulder, sighing as she did.
“That’s what I want her to see, Mulder. A badass woman who kicks ass and, I mean this in the kindest possible way, doesn’t take any shit from a man.”
“I take no offense to that, not with you. Especially as I’ve seen you take men twice your size to task,” he said, leaning his head against hers. “I understand what you’re saying, honey, but I don’t want you to think you have to work for her to see those qualities in you. She will see that whether you work or stay home, because you are you. I understand your desire and I support your decision, but… not yet.”
“No,” she said, and he could hear her smile. “No, not yet.”
They sat for a few minutes in silence, each of them thinking about what she had said. He was about to ask her a question when she stood up and drained her glass, setting it on the coffee table. Reaching for his empty glass, she added it to her own, and then put out her hand. Taking it, she helped to pull him to his feet, her hands going to his chest.
“You take care of what needs to be done out here, I’m going to run a bath.” She stared at him, her eyes full of fire. He inhaled, his pants feeling tighter immediately. Running her nails down his chest, she walked away, swinging her hips seductively. He quickly set about taking care of the nightly routine and also being sure the fire was out. Once he did, he headed toward the bedroom, taking off his shirt and unbuttoning his jeans as he followed the wonderful scent of lavender.
_________________________
October 12th
“Mulder. Mulder!”
“Hmmm… what?”
“Go get Faith, she’s awake and… hmm… go get her please.”
“Hmm… okay.” He turned his head and was almost back to sleep when a hand hit his chest. “Yeah… yeah… I’m up.” He groaned as he tossed back the blankets and stood up. Stretching, he yawned and stumbled to the door, intent on going to get Faith, whom he could hear on the monitor, babbling in her bed.
“Pants.” Scully said tiredly, and he looked down, finding himself completely naked. “Put on some pants, Mulder.” He turned his head and watched her snuggle into his pillow, her naked back appearing above the covers. He reached for a pair of underwear, smiling as he remembered last night.
The warmth of the water, the surprise of discovering the tub had jets, the bubbles rising as she had straddled him, her scented, naked slippery flesh highly arousing. Her lips had tasted of wine as she had moaned into their kiss.
The bubbles had been everywhere when ecstasy had been reached and they had the sense to turn off the jets. Laughing, they had dipped repeatedly under the water, coming up covered in thick bubbles from head to toe. He had wiped her face, kissing her laughing mouth.
Stepping out, they had laughed again as they had slipped and caught each other, drying off the seemingly never ending bubbles. Clean and smelling of lavender, they had fallen into bed, her soft and beautiful body enticing him once again.
Sliding his underwear on, he walked closer to her and kissed her bare shoulder. He watched her smile as he stepped back, tossing her his shirt from the chair as he started to walk out the door.
“Ha! As if she hasn’t spent the majority of her life with my naked breasts at her disposal,” she said as she threw the shirt away and smiled, snuggling deeper into the bed.
“Don’t I know it?” he lamented. “Beautiful torture, seeing that every day.” He heard her chuckle as he walked into the kitchen to get the bottle ready to warm while he went to collect Faith.
She grinned, standing up in her crib and reaching for him as he opened the door. He picked her up and kissed her warm chubby cheeks. Laying her on the bed, he changed her diaper, blowing on her belly and growling as he kissed her neck and her cheeks. She laughed and shoved her hands in her mouth.
Pajamas back on, he lifted her up and held her to his chest, her head laid upon it as he rocked her. “Faith Mulder, I love you so much.” She pulled her head back and gave him the sign for milk, squeezing her hand into a fist, and he laughed. “Okay, okay. I know. Food first, love and adoration later. You’re so much like your mama.”
Stepping into the kitchen, he grabbed the bottle and walked back into their bedroom. Settling her between them, she lay down with them on either side of her as she drank her milk. Scully’s arm lay across Faith’s little belly as she drank. Mulder rubbed her arm and then Faith’s chest, his eyes closed as he smiled.
Breakfast eaten, showered, and dressed, they headed to the orchard. Mulder smiled as he looked at the outfit Faith wore for their day out. White tights, soft brown boots, and a long sleeved purple onesie under a denim dress with fall leaves and a bushel of different colored apples, the words Sweet as Pie written underneath.
He looked at Scully in her red sweater and jeans, which always made him feel like drooling, and her comfy boots. They both looked very ready for fall, and he felt almost inadequate in his black turtleneck and jeans. Sighing, he shook it off, happy his ladies looked beautiful and ready for the season.
They drove to the orchard and waited in the small line to park. Scully looked at him, raising her eyebrows, and he smiled. “Looks like it will be busy today.”
“Uh huh…” she said with a smile of her own.
Parking the car, they got out and stood looking at the entrance: the big apple trees on the sign with the name of the orchard and the even larger pumpkin patch sign. Kids ran past their parents, who shouted for them to slow down, muttering under their breath how their parents would have handled that situation.
Mulder grinned at Scully and reached for her hand. She shifted Faith and grasped it as they walked in and paid the admission. They also rented a high sided wagon, bought an apple box, tickets to ride the train, and for the pony rides. Taking out a blanket from the backpack, Mulder laid it in the wagon so that Scully could set Faith inside. Adding the backpack for an extra barricade, they set off, exploring the area.
There was a barn to the right and they could hear goats bleating, lambs baaing, and chickens clucking. Deciding to head there after the apple picking, they continued on past the barn and the pumpkin patch.
There was a hayride that took people out further in the fields, but without discussing it, they decided to walk. The wagon alone would have been an issue, but more than that, he simply wanted to walk with his two favorite people. He glanced over to see Scully smiling as she looked down, her boots crunching through the leaves.
He looked at Faith, her head tipped back as she gazed at the large trees above her. It was one of those moments where it felt as though they were the only people in the world. Like the first snowfall when everything was silent and it felt as though the world was washed anew and nothing bad could ever happen.
“What’s going on in that head of yours, Mulder?” Scully asked, smiling at him, her eyes happy.
“Nothing,” he smiled back, once again adding a mental picture to his ever growing album. She stared at him and nodded, smiled at Faith, and then looked forward. He pulled the wagon, his heart light despite the weight of the cargo inside.
Finding a group of people around a worker, they heard which apples were ready to be picked and which were not. Rules were expressed and all the children agreed to listen to their parents when they began to pick the fruit.
As the crowd dispersed, Mulder went the opposite direction as the majority of people, wanting to find a quieter spot. They walked up a slight incline and stopped under a tree, taking a breath. Looking around, and then at one another, they smiled. Mulder took Faith out of the wagon and walked between the trees, telling her where they were and what they were doing there.
“See this tree?” he asked and pointed up, her head following his finger. “This tree is large now, tall and full of fruit, but it didn’t start out that way. No, not at all. When it began, it was a small seed and could be viewed as insignificant, but, oh my girl, it was not. Inside the little seed was all that was needed to create something amazing.”
He looked at the orchard, all the trees it held and he shook his head. “Now, to explain this better, I could go with the standard cliche and say it’s how I see you. That you will grow to be someone amazing, but… let’s not be in a rush on that one, eh? I am excited to see who you will be, my love, but take it slow on your old dad. Let’s have adventures and believe in the unbelievable as long as we can.” He rocked her and she babbled, pointing up at the tree.
“Your mama,” he continued, glancing at Scully. “My love for her started out like a seed… a seed.” He laughed softly, thinking of the thousands of sunflower seeds he had eaten over the years. The look she had given him when she dumped out various cups full of shells from rental cars or motel rooms. “It was a very small love at first, Faith, but it grew bigger every day. She was and is the person I was meant to love, the one I would and have gone to the ends of the earth for. My love for her was small, it was a blip, but... it has become the biggest love I’ve ever felt in my whole life.” He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking of so many things. Standoffs, hospital rooms, angry words shouted at one another, the ache when the other was suffering, elation when love was finally realized and spoken. Yes, it was like a seed, but it was so much more.
“Hey! I thought we were picking apples.” Scully's voice cut into his thoughts and he turned around. She had her hands on her hips and eyebrows raised. “We being the operative word. What are you two doing over there anyway?” Walking closer to her, he smiled and shook his head. No chance would he tell her what was going through his head. It had a happy ending, but their story was laced with pain and sadness.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, huh?” she smiled and he shook his head again.
“Nope,” he grinned, the happy pushing out the sad. “Just telling our girl how much I love you.”
“Gross,” she said with a shake of her head, her smile still on her face. She reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him down for a kiss. “I love you, too. Now start picking, buddy.” He smiled and handed Faith to her. She kissed her and then set her in the wagon, giving her an apple to hold onto.
“How many do we need? The whole basket?” he asked and she shook her head, stopping Faith from dropping the apple out of the wagon.
“I don’t think we’ll ever eat that many, but I'll leave it up to you. No, Faith.” She stopped her again as he set two apples in the basket. Faith leaned forward and put the one she was holding in the basket and tried to reach for another one.
“Here,” Mulder said, distracting Faith with a leaf instead. She held it and smiled as she looked at him. He looked at Scully and then began to search for another apple to pick.
“Oh no.” He heard just as reached to grab one and turned around to see an apple rolling down the hill. “Mulder.” He sighed and ran after the apple, bending to pick it up. “Mulder!” He looked up and saw another one rolling toward him.
Picking it up, he walked back up the hill to the sound of Scully’s laughter. He put them back and stopped Faith’s little hands from grabbing at the apples again. “Little girl, you best watch yourself,” he said as she stared at him and he tried not to smile. Straightening up, he looked at Scully. “Next time, you’re running down the hill, just so you know.” She grinned and he shook his head.
He picked a couple more apples before they moved on to find a different variety, needing to double back many times when they realized Faith was tossing them out, as though she were Gretel, leaving herself an apple path.
"You know, maybe she's actually a genius and she was just making sure we could find our way back," he said, as they picked them up once more. "If we have her path, we won't need to build a tower of bodies or hide from mothmen." He shrugged and Scully shuddered.
"Don't even joke about that, Jesus... " She shook her head with another shudder as she examined the many bruises covering the dropped apples. “At least they’ll still taste good in a pie." She laughed with a shrug and he smiled.
Finally having the sense to set the backpack in front of the basket to discourage any further calamities, Scully took his hand as they walked back to the entrance of the orchard. It was cooling down, the smell of rain hanging heavy in the air.
"I’m really glad we came here,” she said quietly and he nodded, squeezing her hand.
“Me, too. What do you say we take some pictures before it starts to rain?” he asked, pointing their joined hands to the left. She nodded and they walked over.
Ten minutes later, they had taken many pictures, laughing and exclaiming over each of them. A family walking by had taken a few pictures of the three of them, happy and smiling.
They paid for the apples they had picked and he took them to the car while she returned the wagon. Entering the barn, they heard the goats again and Faith craned her neck at the sound. Sitting down inside the open area, they pet lambs and goats as they ate the food offered to them.
The pony ride was a bust. Mulder thought Faith would have loved it, judging by the curiosity she had showed with the horses at the winery. She seemed fine until she was physically placed in the saddle and Scully begin to attach her buckle. Sticking out her lip, her eyes filling with tears, she reached for Scully. Quickly moving the buckle, Scully lifted her and held her close, moving from the paddock.
Knowing she would not go back, her mind made up, they rode the train, where she stayed in Scully’s arms, wanting a cuddle, rather than showing interest in the train. She fell asleep before they made it back to the station and thankfully stayed that way as they drove back to the cottage.
She woke up as they arrived, cranky and whiny, not going back down and finishing her nap. She was only a little better after she ate, but still clingy and wanting to be held. She attached herself to Scully, who read and played with her as she tried to make her feel better, but to no avail.
Deciding that a walk and fresh air might do her good, they went out, walking around the pathways. Faith pointed to the horses when she saw them, babbling and looking back at them. Mulder took her from her stroller, walking close to the fence and letting her decide when she was ready. Hesitantly, she reached for them as Mulder stepped even closer.
“Ha,” she said, touching its nose. “Ha.”
“Horse. That’s right. Horse,” Mulder said, smiling widely at her. “Horse.”
“Ha,” she said again, patting its nose.
“Such a smart girl,” he said, kissing her head, her foul mood disappearing as she smiled, touching the soft horse. He glanced at Scully beside him and she beamed, touching Faith’s back as she did. “See? She’s going to be amazing, Scully.”
________________
“Mulder,” Scully sighed, and he smiled at her in the bathroom mirror. “You’re sure?”
"I’m sure,” he answered as she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked beautiful, and he had half a mind to cancel the plans and stay in when he heard a knock at the door. She met his eyes in the mirror and he nodded. “I’m sure, Scully.” He kissed her head, adjusted his tie, and walked out to open the door.
A woman stood on the threshold, smiling as she smoothed back her hair. “Mr. Mulder? Hello, my name is Lisa. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She stuck out her hand and he shook it, smiling at her as he did.
Scully walked out and even though he had just been standing beside her, she still had the ability to leave him breathless. Her knee length, thin strapped, full skirted black dress and heels was the epitome of who she was; elegance in simplicity.
Lisa turned to her with a smile. “You must be Ms. Scully. Hello, I’m Lisa.” She put out her hand, and Mulder watched Scully hesitantly take it. “I know this seems odd, but I can assure you, everything will be fine. I’ve worked for the winery for ten years and I’ve watched over many children in that time. You’ve seen my credentials, but I can understand your hesitation.”
“We’ve never left her with anyone this way,” Scully said apologetically, and Lisa nodded.
“No need to explain, I do understand. I don’t have children of my own, but I have a cat that, while not the same as a child, I love very much. I would have a hard time leaving him with someone new,” Lisa said kindly, causing Scully to laugh nervously. “I assure you, your little one will be in good hands.”
Scully stared at her, then looked at Mulder. He heard her questions and worries just as loudly now when she was silent, as when she voiced them earlier. Dinner reservations at the winery and a babysitter for Faith had been scheduled, allowing them to go on their own. He nodded at Scully, and she relaxed her shoulders slightly.
“She’s down for the night, has been for a little while, so she shouldn’t wake up or give you any trouble,” Scully said, reaching for her lilac colored wrap. “If she does happen to wake up, there is a bottle ready in the fridge; it just needs to be warmed up by the warmer on the counter. She should drink it and go back to sleep, but like I said, she shouldn’t be any trouble.”
“Scully,” Mulder said quietly, attempting to stop her from beginning to ramble. She sighed with a nod, but did not move.
“Ms. Scully, she’ll be just fine. You two go have a good evening and I’ll see you in a few hours,” Lisa said in a kind voice. Scully nodded and looked at Mulder, who stepped closer and helped her with her wrap.
“Thank you, Lisa. We’ll see you soon.” He ushered Scully out the door, a hand on the small of her back as he heard the door lock behind them.
“Mulder…”
“I had her name before we got here. I called Skinner and he called a friend who did a background check. We’re more than good.” He smiled and offered her his arm. She stared at him, smiling as his words sunk in, and reached for his arm.
“Thoroughly vetted, is she?” She laughed softly and he nodded. Sighing, she shook her body, as though letting go of her worries. “Thank you, hon.” He nodded again and they set off. He could smell her perfume and he closed his eyes for a second, thinking of how that scent was hers and hers alone.
“Not sure if I mentioned it, but you look quite handsome this evening, Mulder,” she said, her heels clicking across the wet pathway.
He smiled, knowing she had not known about this dinner and wondering why she had needed to pack a nice dress. He had known of course and had packed a pair of black slacks, a dark gray button down shirt, and a black tie. Opting out of a suit jacket, he wore his leather one instead. He was glad of it, as the nights were definitely getting colder.
“Why thank you. You look stunning as always, Ms. Scully. Are you warm enough?” he asked, knowing that wrap was thin and not exactly suitable for sustaining warmth.
“For now,” she said, putting her head against his shoulder and pulling the wrap tighter. He hummed, knowing she would most likely be wearing his jacket on the way back.
They walked into the main hub of the winery and down to the restaurant. Mulder gave their name to the hostess and they were taken downstairs to the cellar where twelve intimate tables were set up, half of which were full. Scully glanced at him and he winked, knowing what she was thinking.
“Here is your table. There is a coat rack just there, if you wish to hang your things.” She pointed to one by their table. “Enjoy your meal.” Smiling, she walked away.
He took off his coat and helped Scully with her wrap. Hanging them up, he then pulled out Scully’s chair as she sat down. He took the seat across from her and watched her look around, taking in the beauty of the room: the vast amounts of wine, the candles on shelves as well as the tables, the flowers and elegance of it all. She shook her head, and he smiled.
“I’ll always keep you guessing,” he said softly with a shrug, and she smiled.
“Mulder,” she whispered, reaching for his hand.
The waiter came, telling them of the specials and favorite dishes. They ordered appetizers and their meals, planning to share everything equally. He requested a very expensive bottle of wine and she raised her eyebrows at him. The waiter made a show of opening and then pouring them each a glass before walking away.
Scully lifted her glass and paused as she brought it to her lips. Raising her eyes to his, she looked around as she leaned forward, and he did the same. “What if I hate it? Or worse, what if this wine ruins all other wines for me? What if the ten dollar bottles don’t cut it anymore?” she whispered with a grimace.
“Well, then you’ll have to explain to Faith why her college fund has been depleted,” he said. with a shrug of his shoulders. She laughed, and he winked at her. He raised his glass and they clinked them together before taking a drink, finding it to be delicious.
Their food arrived and, considering the cost of the bottle of wine, they drank every last drop of it before ordering another less expensive one. As the meal progressed, he saw her cheeks pinking up, a sure sign the alcohol was affecting her. Tipsy Scully was making an appearance and he grinned. He loved tipsy Scully.
Wanting to keep her happiness going, and seeing the second bottle was almost empty, he slid his nearly full glass of wine to her. She picked it up and gave him a look he knew very well.
As he cleared his throat and sat forward, his empty dish was taken from him and a small cake was set in its place. Five candles were lit and a small group of waitstaff quietly sang Happy Birthday.
They walked away and he stared at Scully, her eyes dancing. “How…?” he asked her, thoroughly perplexed.
“I’ll always keep you guessing,” she said with a wink and a giggle. “Blow out your candles, but make a wish first.” He stared at her, looking at her beautiful smile, and he knew he had all he could ever want. Keeping his eyes on her, he blew out the candles. “What did you wish for?”
“I can’t tell, you know that. Unlike prayer candles, this is a birthday cake,” he said, and she grinned. Then he felt her foot at his shin and her grin changed to a lip bite. His blood began to run south and his eyes widened. “Scully.” He warned and moved his legs from her reach.
“I’m ready to leave,” she said in a sultry tone that made it difficult for him to swallow. “Let’s see if we can’t get that cake to go.” Her foot found his leg again, going a little higher and he cleared his throat.
“Behave yourself,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Make me,” she said, picking up her glass of wine and taking a big drink, slowly licking the remnants of wine off her lips.
“Dana Scully,” he warned, as just then the waiter walked up, causing a distraction. Her foot moved, though her eyes still held his, telling him she was not done with him yet.
He paid the bill and they waited as the cake was boxed up. She finished her wine, her cheeks very flushed and her smile very happy. Once the cake was brought to them, he stood and collected their things, putting his coat on and helping her with her wrap before picking up the cake.
She took his arm and they walked out of the restaurant, through the main lobby, and out the door. She sighed happily as they did, letting go of his arm and lifting hers into the air, spinning around clumsily.
“Hey now, take it easy, tiny dancer,” he said, stepping closer to her, a smile on his face.
“Mulder, that was such a wonderful dinner. Thank you for this night out,” she said, turning to him and sighing. “I was hesitant, but this was… perfect.” He smiled and took her hand, not wanting her to fall down.
“You’re welcome, Scully.” She wrapped her other arm around their joined hands and laid her head on his shoulder.
“I love you. I love you so much, Mulder,” she said quietly and he grinned.
“Gross,” he said, bumping her hip and she laughed, relaxing her grip and looking up at him. He smiled at her and let go of her hand to stroke her cheek. “I love you too, love.” He kissed her softly and then reached for her hand again.
As they got closer to their cottage, they heard music playing close by. She squeezed his hand and they walked back to the sound of happiness, love, and laughter.
Unlocking the door, they were greeted with Lisa’s smiling face. She stood from the couch and put the book she was reading in her bag.
“How was your evening?” she asked kindly.
“Wonderful,” Scully said with a smile, holding onto Mulder as she slipped off her shoes, and then her wrap. “How was she?”
“Perfect. Not a peep aside from the sweet sleeping baby sounds,” she said with a soft chuckle. “She was the easiest child I’ve ever cared for.” They all laughed and Lisa walked toward the door as they moved out of her way.
“I’m happy you had a good evening. There is a wedding tonight; I’m sure you heard the music as you walked back,” she said, her hand on the doorknob, and they nodded. She smiled and nodded toward the back porch. “That porch is one of my favorites, for many reasons, but mainly because it’s great for hearing the music from weddings and parties. Have a good night.” They thanked her and she nodded, walking out and closing the door.
Scully sighed and smiled, reaching for the doorknob to Faith’s room. “I just need to see her,” she said quietly, answering his unasked question. She walked in the room, and he went into the kitchen, putting away the cake and checking on the milk while he was there.
He took off his jacket, used the bathroom, loosened his tie, took off his shoes and socks and went to find Scully. Not seeing her in the living room, he saw the back door was slightly open and knew she had gone out onto the porch.
He joined her, wrapping her in his arms, finding her skin already cool to the touch. Rubbing her arms to warm her up, he heard her sigh. “Have you had a good time on our honeymoon/orchard/birthday trip?” he asked and she laughed.
“I absolutely have,” she said and he nodded, starting to slowly sway to the music they could hear from the wedding. She wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed again. “It seems so impossible..."
“What seems impossible?”
“To be so happy.”
He sighed, holding her closer as he moved a hand from his waist and held it in his own, dancing them now, not just swaying. “Why does being happy seem impossible?” he asked her softly.
“I don’t mean anything to do with the past,” she said with another sigh. “I just… being so happy and normal seems almost criminal. It hasn't been us, but I want it to be.” He pulled back and looked at her, and she smiled softly. He nodded and smiled as cheers and applause erupted around them and they both looked in that direction.
“I think they agree with what we both want. Or maybe they know it's my birthday eve and I haven’t kissed you yet,” he teased and she laughed. Putting her hands on his chest, she gripped his tie and pulled, bringing his lips to hers.
“You also haven’t opened your gift yet either,” she said against his mouth. “But you can’t do it out here, or we might... no we will get arrested.” He leaned back and stared at her before grabbing her hand, pulling her inside, and closing the door.
Once in the bedroom, he unzipped her dress and watched it fall to the floor as he nearly fell to his knees. She was wearing the pink and black thing. The very one she had teased him with nearly a year ago when she had been very pregnant and they withheld from sexual activities, hoping against hope for his Halloween baby. God, he had never seen her look more arousing. Well...
He trailed his fingers over the lace, bows, and the thin straps as he looked into her eyes. “It took a little longer than planned to fit into it again,” she said, her breath quickening as his hands wrapped around her waist, feeling the many hooks of the remembered corset, the one that drove him mad. He popped one open and she whimpered. Another one and she gasped. He kissed her, his tongue grazing hers, as he opened another hook. His birthday gift, wrapped in lace and bows.
“Jesus Christ, Scully,” he breathed, his lips moving to her neck, as he realized she had been wearing that all through dinner. No wonder she had been so touchy and flirty.
“Happy birthday, Mulder,” she whispered, pulling him back for another kiss.
______________________
“I hope the music was loud enough to drown out the incredibly loud noises you were just making,” he panted out as she collapsed on top of him. He could feel her hot breath on his neck and laughed as he pushed her sweaty hair back.
She was still half dressed, both of them too aroused to get all the hooks undone. The straps were pulled down, her breasts falling out of the bra, and her panties thrown somewhere, but the corset was still around her waist. The hooks held together in the middle, as they were no longer able to wait to have each other.
Seeing her still halfway dressed, her breasts bouncing as she rode him, was almost too much. He forced himself to wait for her, thinking of anything he could to stave off his release. Her cries of ecstasy climbed higher and higher until she tightened around him and called his name, her nails digging into his chest. He gripped her hips, crying her name as he thrust into her once more, his release following hers.
“Oh, Mulder. Oh, my God. I… I hope the bride has half as much fun tonight as I just did and that, at some point tonight, she feels as amazing as I do right now. May her marriage be blessed by a well endowed man or one that knows how to use his tongue,” she said, her breathing still ragged.
“Or both,” he quipped as she moaned.
“Both… mmm.” She rose up and kissed him before moving and laying beside him. “I have definitely been blessed. Mmm… God, I do so enjoy your body.” He laughed and pulled her close to him, her arm wrapping around him.
They lay quietly, their breathing slowing and heart rate returning to normal. The wedding music was muffled and low, but they could still hear it. Kissing her head, he sighed, his eyes closed and a big smile on his face.
“Mulder." Came her soft voice, and he laughed, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
“You want some of that cake, don’t you?” he asked, knowing her so well. She whined and he laughed again. He kissed her head and moved from her embrace to do her bidding.
Walking into the kitchen naked, he took the cake from the box, debating if he should grab plates or forks, when he heard her shuffling out behind him. Turning around he saw she was topless, having taken off the corset completely. She had put her panties back on and he was aroused at the sight of her standing there that way.
Checking quickly to be sure the blinds were closed, he breathed a sigh of relief to find they were, not caring if anyone saw him, but not wanting her to be gawked at.
“We don't need plates,” she said, grabbing forks and heading to the table. He followed with the cake and sat down next to her. She took a big bite and he smiled, wiping the corner of her lip and licking the frosting from his finger.
“Good birthday so far?” she asked with a grin.
“Sex, cake with my topless wife, the pink and black thing back in rotation… I mean…” He shrugged with a grin and she laughed, taking another bite, as he did the same.
“If I keep eating like this and drinking amazing wine, the pink and black thing won’t fit so well for too long.”
“I like how you’re wearing it now.” He shrugged again and she laughed. “And you look beautiful no matter what, Scully.”
“Well then,” she said with a smile, taking a very large bite. He laughed and shook his head, impossibly happy.
_______________________
October 13th
Pulling up to the house, he smiled as he looked at all the decorations that greeted them. Except for that goddamn witch. He was trying to figure out an “accident” for her to suffer from, but had so far come up with nothing that Scully would not see right through.
She sighed beside him and he looked over at her. “It’s good to be home,” she said with a smile as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car.
She took Faith inside as he unloaded the car and brought everything inside the house. They made some dinner, gave Faith a bath, and put her to bed. Cleaning up, Scully added the apples to the new bowl she had purchased, bruises and all, as the tea kettle warmed on the stove.
She took her tea onto the porch, grabbing a blanket as she did. He put away the dishes and then took his cup outside to join her. Stopping in the doorway, he paused.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t plug in the witch,” she said in a teasing tone. “It’s your birthday, I’ll give you a pass tonight.” He sighed dramatically and joined her on the porch swing, covering up with the shared blanket as he pushed the swing lightly.
They sat, quietly drinking their tea, enjoying the peace of the evening. She sat forward and smiled at him. “Be right back,” she said and kissed him softly, taking her mug and heading inside. He nodded, wondering what she was up to.
She was gone for a few minutes and came back with a gift in her hands. Smiling, she walked over and handed it to him, taking his mug as she did and setting it on the railing as she sat beside him again.
“Scully,” he said quietly, and she smiled.
“Just open it.”
He smiled at the grey and green alien wrapping paper, ripping it open to find a white rectangular box. Believing it to be a shirt of some kind, he took off the lid and opened the tissue paper, exhaling as he did.
“Elise sent it to me,” she said quietly, “Until I saw it, I didn’t even realize we don’t have any pictures from the wedding. I don’t necessarily need them, but as soon as I saw that, I realized how wrong I was.”
“Scully…” he sighed, looking at the picture Elise had taken when they had not been looking and which Scully had framed.
He had an arm around Scully as he held Faith to his chest in her purple panda pajamas. Scully had one arm around his waist and the other on Faith’s back. All of them had their eyes closed, content in their own little world of three.
“This is perfect, thank you,” he whispered.
“Mmmm,” she hummed and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Come away with me in the night,” he sang softly, the song that had been playing that night. He lay his head on hers, as they looked at the picture of them together, the swing rocking slowly in the cool October evening. “Come away with… me."
_________________________________________________
I enjoyed writing this one so much. A real winery, museum, orchard- the whole deal was researched in the process of this story. Thank all the stars in the sky for Google and the things we are able to search and find. I was in the cottage with them, petting the horses, and in the orchard picking apples.
I hope you were too.
#The X Files#XF Fanfic#Post MSIV#Family Life: The Story Beyond the Series#Autumn#Winery#Fireside Chats#Children's Museums#Bathtub Sex#Apple Orchard#Cuddling and Snuggling#Petting Zoo#Birthday Dinner#Birthday Sex#Birthday Gifts#Love#Happiness#Fluff#Family Fluff#Happy Family
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